Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Second rate reporter says what?

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

The lights are all blinking red.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

So many bastards, so little time.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

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121Comments

  2. 2.

    Nukular Biskits

    I have what must be a bazillion hummers on the three feeders in the backyard here.

    Had one get trapped in the garage earlier this morning.  Fortunately, he/she managed to find his way out.  At least I hope he/she did.

  9. 9.

    lowtechcyclist

    Here in southern Maryland, tropical storm Ophelia has paid us a visit.  Lots of rain and wind.

  14. 14.

    Omnes Omnibus

    A few weeks ago, I picked up my old violin from my parents’ house.  With life intervening, I had not had a chance to do anything with it until today.  I took it to a local luthier’s shop.  They reset the sound post and made some adjustments to the E-string peg.  Other than that, they said it was in great shape.  They even recommended keeping the old gut strings because you can’t get those anymore.  It’s a nice Roth 1714 Stradivarius copy that my parents paid what to them was a small fortune to buy for me back in 1975.  So anyway, I have a violin again.*

    *Like I said, exciting to me.

    ETA:  I also bought some new rosin.

  15. 15.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Just got back (as in still finding things I’d lost in the suitcases) from the 2020-postponed-to-2023 European trip. Many thoughts. As I get them (the pics, not the thoughts) organized, I’ll submit pics to WG for the On The Road series covering our three primary destinations: Köln aka Cologne, Dublin, and Reykjavik. Fun but really grueling every time we had to take a plane. We’re both over 65 and this may be it for the more-than-one-city style of vacation.

    As always when we go overseas, conversations with locals and experiences with languages are among my favorite memories. We got a chance to use a fair amount of German, and not just in Germany. German tourists seem to be everywhere! And in Reykjavik, Spanish turned out to be surprisingly helpful.

    OK, that’s the teaser. More with the pics.

    PS We’re very proud of ourselves for doing 18 days with only carry-on luggage.

  16. 16.

    JoyceH

    Lots of rain and wind in Virginia as well.

    And this is trivial but I can’t stop noticing it – both Gaetz and Boebert have weirdly sharp and pointy chins. What’s that all about? 

    AND! Got email from Jazzy’s breeder. Six puppies born on the 19th – 3 boys and 3 girls. One of those puppies is MINE!

  17. 17.

    Alison Rose

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s awesome! I love the violin and wish I had taken lessons as a kid. No idea if I would’ve been good at it — I took piano lessons for about a year and sucked, but I played flute in middle school band and was really good at that — but it’s just such a beautiful instrument to listen to.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MazeDancer: Andy Kim has already announced a primary challenge

    eta:

    Andy Kim @AndyKimNJ 1h
    After calls to resign, Senator Menendez said “I am not going anywhere.” As a result, I feel compelled to run against him. Not something I expected to do, but NJ deserves better. We cannot jeopardize the Senate or compromise our integrity. Please join me:

  20. 20.

    cope

    Even though we have left FL, the spoonbill will always be our favorite bird.  We have a beautiful action photo of one we bought from a very good nature photographer hanging on one of our walls.

    Thanks for the video, I hope she/he stirred up lots of little mud creatures on which to munch.

  23. 23.

    MattF

    @Baud: Well, there’s Mr. Brooks. He’s allowed as how his comment on the price of airport food (and drink) was ‘dumb’, but hasn’t apparently dealt with the ‘dishonest’ aspect of it. The man for the job, obvsly.

  26. 26.

    Nelle

    @Omnes Omnibus: New rosin too??  Living large.  Eta – my sister got our shared violin.  I think it is in DRC ( Democratic Republic of Congo); where she lived and to where she is returning shortly.  Not the usual retirement spot but it is where their hearts are.

  29. 29.

    frosty

    We’ve had spoonbills here and there in Baltimore this year, but I’ve missed them. The really weird one was a flamingo in a small pond near Chambersburg, PA. Every birder around made the trek. One reported that she was there with 75 other people. I’d been on the fence about a 130 mile round trip and waited to long; the flamingo took off.
    Funny thing is that there were no flamingos at Flamingo in the Everglades when we were there a couple of years ago, so this would have been my best chance!​

  31. 31.

    Lyrebird

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Andy Kim is a truly good man.  (NOTE: Sherill is sfaik a truly skilled and fantastic person and Representative as well!  I just know less about her.)

    If NJ ended up with the duo of Booker & Kim in the senate, well that’d be some stellar representation all around.

    Just expressing my admiration, not excluding other possibilities.

     

    PS:

    @Omnes Omnibus: yay violin back on the road, so to speak!

    If you haven’t seen the Biden ad in the previous thread, definitely watch it.

  34. 34.

    Tony Jay

    @rikyrah:

    That tik tok left me confuzzled. It’s not even a tiny bit surprising that British taxpayers’ money finds its way through all kinds of occult means into the bank accounts of wealthy families. That kind of very basically is what the British Establishment and the tax system it created is for.

    But I couldn’t quite get whether the Treasury Xeet on Xitter was saying that the UK had just finished paying off the interest on the £20 million in 19th century money the Govt borrowed to pay the financial cost of the compromise that ended Slavery in the British Empire in the 1830s, which seems crazy, but I can understand, or if it was saying that the British Govt was paying compensation to the descendants of slave owners until 2015, which I really can’t.

    It’s not like there’s (to my knowledge) a box you tick on your tax assessment for “Are you entitled to receive any benefits or annuities, such as child benefit, property abeyance or reparations for the loss of various human chattels six generations ago?”*, so I’m not sure how anyone would ever claim such compensation, unless it was just part of the convoluted legal infrastructure of certain large inherited estates – so exactly the kind of people you’d expect to still be profiting from past sins.

    * Not that David ‘That’ll do pig, that’ll do’ Cameron wouldn’t tick that box in a porcine second, because he totally would.

  35. 35.

    FastEdD

    They had the weekly South OC Cars and Coffee this morning. I drove my little Caterham (Lotus) 7 to it, like I usually do. They had a 2019 Red Bull Formula 1 car on display and I got to park mine next to the F1 machine and take pictures of them together. It was a very good day.

  36. 36.

    Percysowner

     

    I planned this weekend to be somewhat busy, but I got both my COVID and Flu vaccines yesterday and I just feel tired. So, I’m watching cooking shows, napping and lazying around and nursing a sore arm. The nurse warned me that the over 65 flu vaccine does hurt a bit. She was right.

  37. 37.

    Barbara

    @rikyrah: ​ I knew that reparations to owners was how the country brought about emancipation, but I did not realize it went on for so long.

  38. 38.

    JoyceH

    @WaterGirl: I presume a girl, I’ve always had girls. But that’s not set in stone. When I got Jazzy, I described to the breeder what I really liked about the recently deceased Maggie, and she immediately said, “I know just which puppy you want.” So I just let her pick for me.

  39. 39.

    Barbara

    @Tony Jay: ​Might have been a bond of some kind. UK loved issuing “forever” bonds in the late 18th and early 19th century to pay its debts. Or so I learned from the book on the birth of modern finance by Tom Levinson.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    @Tony Jay

    £20 million

    Barely covers the cost of a burger, chips and a few shots at Gatwick today.
    //

    British airports not having the best of days, BTW.

    As the chaos continued to unfurl, customers took to social media to express their anger at the ‘shambles’ with one person branding it ‘the latest episode of “nothing works in this country”‘. Source

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    We got our Covid shots today!  High five for getting up and out early during a big rainstorm!

    Also, our local Wegmans had a HUGE display of…Buffalo Bills t-shirts?  Some truly weird Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs designs.  I couldn’t figure out what they were doing there in central VA but then I think I remember that Wegmans is originally from upstate New York?

    Not gonna fly here, guys.  Maybe I’ll pick up the Josh Allen one as a joke once it’s 75% off.  =)

  50. 50.

    lowtechcyclist

    @JoyceH:

    Ooh, Sammies!! I love Sammies. My best friend has had a few generations of them going back to the 1980s.  Such wonderful dogs!

  55. 55.

    Dan B

    @JoyceH: Years ago the house we* were in bred a Samoyed and White Shepherd.  Dogs got stuck together in the tiny entry hall.  We were trapped until they were unstuck.  The puppies were the most gorgeous dogs ever, and smart.  I saw a couple at their new home 9 months later and they recognized me.  The pups fur was slightly shorter than the Samoyed father and their build was slightly longer, plus they were big and very loving.

  56. 56.

    Tony Jay

    @NotMax:

    They’re right. Absolutely nothing works, except the Public to Private moneyhose and the job market for gurning nobodies happy to gaslight about how everything is perfectly normal and nothing to get all hysterical about.

    The last chance to attempt a fix was 2019, now we’re just stuck riding the razor-blade bannister all the way down to the bottom.

  59. 59.

    Geminid

    @Jeffro: I think the Buffalo Bills are playing Washington tomorrow up in Landover, so Wegmans had the home office ship down some Bills stuff for the occasion. And at this point, there are probably as many Bills fans around Charlottesville as Commanders fans.

  65. 65.

    tobie

    I’m having a strong reaction to the new booster. I was sore, tired and feverish today and took a nap for 3 hours, which is something I never do.

    I have happy memories of seeing a Baltimore Oriole hiding out in a crape myrtle on Wednesday. Location: Delmarva. Today it’s wet, cold and windy

    ETA: Omnes, Enjoy getting to know your violin again!

  66. 66.

    Tony Jay

    @Dan B:

    They did it to themselves. It might have been the comfortably off, older Tory voters who provided the bulk of the Brexit vote, but where the Brexit vote was most intense tends to correlate with areas that are getting their ‘Brexit Benefits’ good and hard and rusty.

  67. 67.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: No, I wasn’t in the Con.  I am sure that if I had been I would have been one of those encouraged to go the music education rather than performance route.  I was good, but not great.  And I lacked the pure fire and desire one needs to move from one to the other.

  68. 68.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @rikyrah: Menendez is NOT going to resign. He has no shame.

    Why aren’t Republicans banging the drum about this?

    I couldn’t even find a mention of this on Fox News’s homepage. They have David Brooks’s bar tab, though.

    Seems Republican indifference to actual corruption covers both parties.

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    @Lyrebird: Like Andy Kim, Mikie Sherill flipped a Republican House seat in 2018. She had previously been an attorney and a prosecutor.

    Before that, Sherrill served in the Navy as a helicopter pilot and Russia policy expert, and spent a year on the staff of the U.S. Navy chief for Nato.

    Sherrill is an Annapolis grad and earned a J.D. from Georgetown, a M.Sc. in International Relations from London University and an Arabic Language Certificate from the American College of Egypt. She is 51 years old.

  70. 70.

    narya

    @Omnes Omnibus: where did you go to school that had a conservatory?

    @tobie: I had complete brain fog the day after my covid vax Monday. I lifted weights in the morning to help the arm along, but was mostly good for nothing. Went to bed early, was fine the next day.

  71. 71.

    Jackie

    New York Times: “If Mr. Kennedy does decide to leave the party of his famous father and uncles to run in the general election, one potential landing spot may be the Libertarian Party, which at the moment lacks a widely known candidate but has excelled at securing ballot access.”

    “In July, Mr. Kennedy met privately with Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian Party, at a conference they were both attending in Memphis — a meeting that has not previously been reported.”

    Libertarian is more RFK Jr’s true affiliation, but I’d prefer he switch to the GQP, if he continues to run for office.

  72. 72.

    bbleh

    @Tony Jay: and let me guess, that just makes them angrier and more resentful.  And while most of the burden (other than, say, the market no longer carrying some imported delicacy they like) is borne by younger people, that doesn’t stop many of the older ones (who enjoy much greater social benefits) from being just as angry, if not more so.  And they ALL blame someone else — city people, economic elites, and Others of both the continental and darker-skinned varieties.

  74. 74.

    eclare

    @tobie:

    I got the booster on Thursday.  I’m not tired, but my arm is more sore than from any of the five shots that I have had so far.  Still better than getting covid.

  75. 75.

    narya

    @Omnes Omnibus: My best friend moved to Appleton a year (two?) ago when she retired–she stumbled upon a house for sale literally across the street from her son’s family. I haven’t visited yet, but am looking forward to it.

  76. 76.

    jackmac

    After our first summer with a hummingbird feeder (and some consistent customers) we’re now down to one hummie at our northern Illinois home. They are fascinating little birds and we’ll leave the feeder up into November to hopefully catch some migrating to warmer climates.

  77. 77.

    bbleh

    @tobie: I got both the COVID booster and flu shot, and beforehand I over-hydrated madly.  Like twice normal or more.  And maybe it’s just coincidence, but it seems to have helped substantially — a couple of hours of being kind of out of it, plus some soreness.

  79. 79.

    Dan B

    @Tony Jay: Brexit Benefits are definitely sharp and dull, plus rusty, at the same time.  Australia seems to have avoided the worst of Murdoch rage and destruction.

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @narya: ​
      There are a couple of other Lawrentians who are Jackals and couple of people who work/worked there who are around. Appleton is probably the nicest of the cities in the Fox Valley.

  81. 81.

    Mousebumples

    @narya: My best friend moved to Appleton a year (two?) ago when she retired–she stumbled upon a house for sale literally across the street from her son’s family. I haven’t visited yet, but am looking forward to it.

    My neck of the woods! (ish) Decent area and drivable (*easier without little ones) to bigger metros if needed. Hope they’re enjoying it!

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: The current dean of the Con graduated with me.  After graduation, he had a Watson to travel around Australasia studying indigenous musical instruments.  He is a didgeridoo-ist.

  84. 84.

    Mousebumples

    @Omnes Omnibus: There are a couple of other Lawrentians who are Jackals and couple of people who work/worked there who are around. Appleton is probably the nicest of the cities in the Fox Valley.

    I hired a jazz quartet of Lawrence students to play my wedding 5 years ago. Great music. Biggest problem was persuading Lawrence to let them borrow a van to transport their instruments to our venue in Oshkosh. But they were amazing!

  91. 91.

    narya

    @Mousebumples: She loves it. Her other kid is in Madison, so family get-togethers are pretty straightforward. It just happened to work out that way–neither kid was originally living in WI–and the house sounds like it’s the perfect size for her. I’m so happy for her, and Appleton seems like a great place, despite its John Birch roots.

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    Genius college girl visiting home this weekend managed to lock herself out of her bedroom and after hours of trying to finagle our way back in we relented and called a locksmith, who himself could neither pick nor jimmy the thing, and resorted to little inflatable pillows that forced it open via the jam.

    95YO technology won its final battle, ’cause the lock is bent perhaps to the point of not being useful. Have my suspicions any modern lock set will fit in the old one’s place.

    God, I’d like to have that four hours back.

  94. 94.

    Mousebumples

    @narya: Appleton seems like a great place, despite its John Birch roots.

    I think Mccarthy (eg Mccarthyism) was from there, too? Ugh.

    But Houdini also spent most of his childhood there.

  104. 104.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus: No — to be clear, I don’t personally know the Dean (although he got his Ph.D. from my present institution). I just hear about the Conservatory from my friends.

  108. 108.

    zhena gogolia

    @NotMax: Yes, it’s a nice video. Just don’t want anyone to think that’s Appleton! I wouldn’t probably go tubing in the Fox (paper factories).

  109. 109.

    wjca

    @Jackie: Libertarian is more RFK Jr’s true affiliation, but I’d prefer he switch to the GQP, if he continues to run for office.

    Actually better to have him stay in the Libertarian Party.  Where, as a loud and proud anti-vaxxer, he could pull votes from whichever reactionary the Republicans nominate.  In a close election (which has been usual of late), that could be important.

  111. 111.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Just got back from getting our Covid and Flu shots.  Got dinner already most prepped to make it easy in case we start to feel lethargic.  Yesterday I was wearing my “Say Abortion” shirt and actually got an approving smile from a couple ladies, one was wearing a Planned Parenthood shirt.  She probably works at the one just down the street.  Anyways, it was cool since I almost never get any response for that particular shirt.  But it also got a compliment from the very cool lady at one of my fave burrito places :)

    Sex Education is back for it’s final season.  So stoked, though we haven’t started it yet.  And Bake Off returns in a couple weeks.

  112. 112.

    Lyrebird

    @Geminid: Hot diggety dog!

    Gee, why would we need someone with Arabic language and Russian political history expertise in the Senate  /s

    Seriously, thanks!

  117. 117.

    Scout211

    After hitting a curb, busting a tire, calling AAA to get the tire changed and then ending up at the tire place buying 4 new tires today, I saw something that made me smile.  A bumper sticker on a car.  It was blue on the upper half with  TRUMP in white letters also white lettering on the lower, red half.  It looked like it was going to be just another TRUMP for PRESIDENT bumper sticker.  But when my car got closer to the bumper sticker, it actually read:

                                         TRUMP

                                      FOR PRISON

    And it made up for the bad day.  😊

  120. 120.

    JAFD

    @tobie: ​
     Got this year’s flu shot back in August – had gone to get prescript refills, pharmacist said “That’ll take us a few minutes, want to get new flu shot while you’re waiting?” So I did, left me feeling under the weather the next day. Still better than ending up in ICU with pneumonia.

  121. 121.

    Citizen Alan

    @Barbara: That’s nothing. Has Haiti finished paying off the reparations France demanded in exchange for not invading them again after the Haitian revolution in the 18th century?

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