No better sight to wake up to than this cuddlebug staring at you from your chest at 6 AM. Surprise your spouse this Halloween! https://t.co/EqntnIjcnF
— Pinboard (@Pinboard) October 14, 2023
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 15, 2023
It is now officially late enough into October to start planning your the Samhain cross-quarter day celebrations. (Yes, I know our major retailers put up their Halloween displays in late August, but that’s just cheap greed.)
Spousal Unit and I got our updated Covid and flu boosters shots Friday evening, and if it’s true that unpleasant aftereffects indicate a better immune response, we’re in good shape for the winter. Just in case you’re wondering if I’ve been neglecting y’all on purpose recently…
Also, the Biden campaign raised $2m from **Dark Brandon coffee mugs alone** in August and September.
— Matt Compton (@mattcompton) October 15, 2023
Speaking of exhausted, one can absolutely sympathize with President Biden right now. From what I’m seeing on social media, the MAGAts are absolutely furious about this interview, so I’m guessing it was a good use of his time regardless.
On The Road – Albatrossity – Well, hush my mouth
Trivia Man
“I know what makes you cheer, I welcome your boos”
-Hannibal Burress
jame
I’m awake, but not liking it.
Kay
Oh, I’m glad. Maybe this will quell some of the media screeching that he’s impaired. Yeah, right.
Good that normies see they’ve been lied to, though.
LiminalOwl
We waited until after my shoulder surgery to get our booster (and other vaxes)… and because we both got Covid during the recovery from surgery, we now have to wait another month. Ugh.
Trivia Man
My mistake – that’s originally Rick Sanchez from Rick & Morty.
followed quickly by “Every breath I take in your disapproval fuels my self esteem.”
(Season 7 just dropped, E1 was just silly, dumb fun with Hugh jackman making an appearance)
Cacti
6 year old Palestinian boy murdered and his mother injured by knife wielding MAGA terrorist in Illinois.
I bet the Mom won’t get a solidarity visit from Joe or Chuck Schumer.
I bet the media also won’t call him a terrorist despite his acts being the textbook definition of terrorism.
Ha Nguyen
@Cacti:
From The Guardian piece, he had built the child a tree house and a makeshift swimming pool before the Israel-Hamas War. He was their landlord. He was a good man before something about the war made him snap.
This is so sad.
Cacti
@Ha Nguyen: I’m sure it had nothing to do with western politicians and media outlets all parroting the “beheaded babies” lie. smh
Princess
@Cacti: Give it a rest. No one benefits from this tragedy.
Cacti
@Princess: Why? Is it shaking your illusions about western moral superiority?
Another Scott
Interesting; I thought Adam banhammered the prickly one.
Remember, one doesn’t have to feed the troll.
Have a good week, everyone.
[eta:] And poof! he’s gone again.
Cheers,
Scott.
Geminid
This morning’s Politico Playbook has an item about the ramifications in Congress of the war in Gaza.
There wasn’t very much about the Speaker fight, except for a proposal by Georgia Republican Mike Collins: “We should just have a lottery, and the loser has to be Speaker.”
Geminid
Looks like a commenter just got Craptured.
Ed. But maybe not.
Cacti
Adam and Ann Laurie:
Now censoring posts of anyone too critical of Israel and its mindless supporters.
Very progressive. 😆
Chief Oshkosh
@Princess: Cacti’s comment led to Ha’s comment, which led me to search for the Guardian article, which I didn’t know existed.
Emotions are running high; sometimes venting is good
ETA: And now I’m starting to regret that…
Cacti
@Chief Oshkosh: For some strange reason, the actual murder of this kid is getting a lot less media airtime than the imaginary baby beheadings.
Go figure.
Nettoyeur
Biden is truly impressive in this interview, and makes the MAGAs look small. He is obviously tired. I hope and pray that his staff can support him and amplify his efforts to get us thru tough time. As for the House GOP….1/3 or so are traitorous weasels and the rest of them are cowardly invertebrate slime.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Geminid: Re the Speaker fight, I can’t help but think it will be Jordan. As we say about the R presidential “candidates,” you can’t beat something with nothing.
mrmoshpotato
“Good morning. Did you have sweet dreams?”
ETA – OMG video!
🎶One, two, I’m looking at you
Three, four, forgot to close your door🎶
ETA2 – used that owl for the thumbnail, did ya?
narya
The fact that he raised that much from Dark Brandon merch makes my damn day.
RevRick
Any illusions that the media will stop harping on President Biden’s age are just that: illusions. And there are legitimate concerns about that. Decrepitude of all sorts soars in the eighties, and especially for men. But a lot of the concern is just camouflaged racist, sexist bigotry, because Kamala Harris is VP.
Few have been better prepared than her to step into the Presidency. Biden has made sure of that. You can be sure that she is in the loop on everything.
Think of all of the nincompoops the GOP has served up as VPs during the past 50 years or so: Agnew, Quayle, Palin, Pence. Think of George W. Bush and Donald Trump themselves, who were manifestly unqualified, but didn’t receive half the scrutiny, and Trump has proven dangerously so.
We cannot count on the media to get out the truth. So, it’s incumbent on each of us to do what we can via our own social media to make sure the message gets through.
Princess
@narya: It’s a lot of mugs!
Cacti
New name for the blog:
Zionist-Juice
Princess
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’d place more money on Jordan getting it than anyone else. The so-called moderates are supine and pretty right wing in any case. And Republicans are very good at falling in line.
if they had any guts and there were about fifteen to twenty of them, what they should do is collectively pull a Sinema. Call themselves the Independent Republicans and form their own block, and work with the Dems to elect a speaker. The media would slobber all over them.
teezyskeezy
I’m not sure it matters that Biden proves for the millionth time that he’s still got it together or touts all the good stuff his admin has done…it might get under the skin of some MAGA cultists a bit, which is always fun, but it doesn’t seem to stop the slow slip of his approval rating and I just can’t understand it.
Obviously we’ve lost a solid 35-40% of people to the right wing media bubble already and they will never see reality. Are we really losing more people to the right, or is it all the other sources of propaganda designed to scramble non-MAGAt brains to sap Biden’s base support? I know we have a tired MSM narrative that tends to fixate on his age and inflation, but I think they’ve been more fair on that lately, and the approval keeps slipping.
Whatever it is, I think we are losing the propaganda war in some subtle way that goes beyond our conventional frustrations with the MSM, It’s just deflating to have such a productive Presidential administration (not to mention a stable, non-pathological one) and it just does not matter to half the people.
CCL
@Ha Nguyen:
@Princess:
@Another Scott:
Awk. Dangers of inviting goblins, I guess. (Post title.)
Geminid
Someone may have taken the post title “Welcome the Goblins” too literally.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Is Raw Story subscription only now?
satby
@Ha Nguyen: The Guardian piece mentions CAIR, which misidentifies the murders as happening in Chicago when Plainfield is 40 miles southwest. Very red area, and I’m assuming the murderer is a Fox, or worse OANN watcher. That’s what I suspect made him snap, and that’s not by accident.
gene108
@Princess:
Jordan wants it more than other people. He’s already in line with the Freedom Caucus and Matt Gaetz agenda of performative outrage and tryng to look serious.
The one thing standing in his way is the amount of effort former Speaker McCarthy puts into sabotaging Jimmie. Kevin’s not happy he got ousted, even though the vast majority of his caucus supported him. He’s not going to let someone else take his old job without getting his pound of flesh.
Geminid
@Princess: This morning’s Politico Playbook piece had a comment by Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw to the effect that Jordan’s pressure tactics are undercutting his effort and making his adversaries dig in more.
I think these tactics show a certain irrationality. As my neighbors in Greene County might say, “That boy ain’t right in the head.”
MagdaInBlack
@Dorothy A. Winsor: No, you can click past that opening pop up and still read, but some of their stuff is now exclusive subscription only reading.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Geminid: Or maybe Gym Jordan doesn’t quite realize that the tactics that worked with collegiate wrestlers when he was a coach won’t work as well with with Congresspersons when he doesn’t have the position of authority with which to push them into line.
snoey
@Princess: Might work if they and most Dems called themselves the Back to Work caucus or something like that and AOC and a few others were given hall passes to protest from the left and give the whole thing that bipartisan centrist shine.
gene108
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@MagdaInBlack: Thanks
NotMax
FYI.
Kay
We’re just back from another trip to Denmark and this was a big deal. They’re thrilled but also really wary of the explosion in popularity and their exposure to risk with this much in a single company. Denmark is tiny – 6 million people – half the population of Ohio.
Ksmiami
@teezyskeezy: it’s because the media harps on him every day and gas prices Doncha know
Geminid
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Your comment reminds me of the appraisal of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld by authors Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor in their book on the Iraq War.* Rumsfeld was a college wrestler, they noted, and knew how to wear down opponents in the Pentagon and elsewhere with unrelenting pressure.
* Cobra II (2004) is the best book I’ve read about the runup to and first months of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Gordon is a former New York Times military affairs reporter and Trainer is a retired high-ranking general in the Marine Corps. They had a lot of good sources
Ed. Cobra II is probably better than Tom Ricks’ Fiasco and certainly way better than Bob Woodward’s books on the subject.
Anyway
@Ksmiami:
Gas prices under $3.00 here this past weekend – lowest it’s been for a while.
OTOH I came across a hair dryer listed at $400!!!! WTF – Thanks
ObamaBidenteezyskeezy
@Ksmiami: Maybe I’m wrong, but the harping doesn’t seem as bad lately, just because there’s so much else to cover (like GOP dysfunction and the Middle East). As for gas prices, yeah, I guess that always overwhelms any sense of decency or principle for many US voters and they’ll vote for any monster who might lower their gas prices. Sort of depressing in itself.
Shalimar
@Princess: I don’t think a single one of the so-called moderates objects to Jordan because he’s an extremist who wants to install a dictatorship, or because he’s an incompetent legislator who has never sponsored a single bill that has become law. They object to him because he has been an asshole to them personally. And most of them are willing to forget about that if it helps them get re-elected.
But only 5 have to stay firm for Jordan to have no chance. I still think more than that will hold firm in their personal hatred.
Ken
I had to check what a normal Cornish Rex looks like, and was amused that wikipedia, noting their sensitivity to cold, says “They like to stay near warm places such as computer monitors, light bulbs, laps and shoulders.”
Frank Wilhoit
@Ha Nguyen: Not “something about the war”. Something about the domestic propaganda.
prostratedragon
@Ken: In fact there’s one crawling all over me this vrry minute. //fakequote
Soprano2
@Geminid: That’s their best idea yet!
Soprano2
It’s my belief that about 95% of the “concern” over Biden’s age is actually about this, especially because a lot of these people also say Kamala shouldn’t be the VP either. They act like TFG would become president if something happened with Biden, which is dumb. The Democratic VP would become president, and things wouldn’t change that much, so why are they so het up? Geez, TFG is only 3 years younger and in much worse health and yet they barely talk about that. Why?
Frankensteinbeck
When the title said ‘goblins’ I thought it would be a Sphynx cat. Their owners widely call them goblins.
Mind you, Sphynx cats seem to be the professional mode of cat loving. You get a whole crazy cat lady’s worth of cat lover but they just own one Sphynx.
Soprano2
Boy, that last part sure is true.
Ken
@Frankensteinbeck: Another one I had to look up, and notable in that the top hits are all variations on “high maintenance”.
Soprano2
@Ksmiami: Gas prices in my part of the country are steadily dropping – down to $2.89/gal this weekend from almost $4.00/gal in the last month.
Trivia Man
@Soprano2: I track fuel as part of my job, anyone interested can get a very quick and easy look at current prices by state here:
gasprices.aaa.com
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
Exactly. So all that really matters is, can he do OK for the next thirteen months? I’m really not too worried about that.
After that, as you say, Harris is more ready for the Presidency now than TFG or Shrub anytime during their administrations, and more ready than a whole string of GOP VPs and VP candidates ever were.
Geminid
@Soprano2: This was kind of a good sign when I gassed up at the convenience store in Stanardsville last week.Gas was $3.39 a gallon, down from $3.69 10 days ago.
Kind of a bad sign was the shiny revolver on the hip of the worker behind the store counter. She was a tall, lanky country woman and looked like she’d use it
Ken
Say you are elected to Congress (and are a male). Would you use the Congressional locker room at the same time as Jordan? Discuss.
(I do recall a few stories about Congressmen saying they didn’t use the locker room when X was in there, but I don’t think it was Jordan.)
Belafon
@teezyskeezy: What was the popularity of other incumbents at this point in their presidency? I believe they were all under water at this point.
...now I try to be amused
@Ken:
Interesting that it’s called a Cornish Rex. Cornwall is a notoriously chilly place.
PaulWartenberg
It was chilly this morning in central Florida, around 63 degrees before sunrise as I headed to work.
I’m going to need to break out the windbreaker now.
Ken
@…now I try to be amused: Really? In the Agatha Christie novels, people are always going to Cornwall and Devon to enjoy the sunny warmth and beaches.
Then again, they’re from the UK, so maybe 60F counts as sunny warmth.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2:
Not to mention, TFG has been showing frequent signs of losing his mental acuity lately. That should be a BFD worth some serious reporting and a metric ton of punditry. Yet it’s crickets out there.
zhena gogolia
@lowtechcyclist: He gets a free pass on everything. “It’s Trump!”
zhena gogolia
I miss baud already.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Baud who?
/notorious American attention span :)
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: I think he’s dating Taylor Swift.
Frankensteinbeck
@Ken:
Yup. Kind of explains their owners. “Do you want a cat you have to personally bathe and keep warm and is pink and wrinkly instead of fluffy?” “YES I LOVE CATS MORE THAN LIFE GIMME GIMME.”
Soprano2
The truth is, there have been signs of this for years, but the press studiously ignores it. He says things like Biden will start WWII, or that he’s running against Obama, or that Obama is Biden’s boss, and they ignore it rather than having whole panels to talk about it.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Taylor who?
:)
trnc
I didn’t love the band 38 Special, but their early advice continues to be ignored at one’s peril.
Juju
@Nettoyeur: If Biden wasn’t tired I’d question his sanity. Tired is a normal reaction in a situation like this. I’m not president, but I feel exhausted thinking about what is going on in the world right now, and I don’t know or want to know all the details he has and has seen. That’s a rather stupid comment from Scott Pelley.
Geminid
@Geminid: Virginia is an open carry state and has been for decades, but I don’t notice many people with handguns on their hips. Virginia has a “shall issue” law regarding concealed carry, which requires a gun safety course and an additional background check.
When my friend Debbie and I clvisited the Rockingham Co-op in Harrisonberg last week, we both noticed “Concealed Carry” tags on some of the coats and vests. I guess they have a special reinforced pocket.
Rockingham County has a lot of serious farmers and the Co-op reflected that: racks and racks of thick Carhart clothing, and shelves full of heavy duty long underwear. Charlottesville just has a small co-op for hobby farmers and a Dick’s Sporting Goods/Field and Stream store for outdoors enthusiasts. I think there may be an REI store too.
Rockinham Co-op also had toys, and I bought some small balsa wood gliders. I gave two to Debbie for herself and Sam, her adopted son. Debbie and her wife are helping Sam buy a condominium apartment. He has a decent job but needs the help because Charlottesville housing prices are sky high.
Mai Naem mobile
@lowtechcyclist: the problem is that the media usually only shows a short clip of TFG and those clips basically sound like normal crazy TFG. You have to listen to a much much longer clip to see how much he’s declined and how out of control crazy he sounds.
...now I try to be amused
@Ken:
I was influenced by a Top Gear segment in which the presenters went to the Cornish seaside in their improvised RVs. It was probably well off-season but it was windy and everyone had to wear jackets. Jeremy’s triple-decker RV blew over in the night.
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: The Daily Mail:
Baud Breaks Travis’s Heart!
NotMax
@Mai Naem mobile
Sans further comment.
trnc
Some probably would, but some would immediately pick up the inevitable repub talking point – they’re traitors, they can’t be trusted, etc. Hopefully, it won’t matter, but I suspect any of the potential mutineers are already making this calculation.
Anyway
@lowtechcyclist:
This really pisses me off. One poor phrasing from a Dem pol gets repeated for weeks — anyone else here remember Howard Dean and the SCREAM and how it was brought up non-stop? Now Trump says some seriously crazy shit and they tiptoe around it …
cain
@narya: I bought a mug! Looks great! Although now I want that color changing one! :D
I still have my obama mug too!
cain
@Princess: I don’t think so – I think Jim has pissed off a lot of people with his arrogance and nobody wants to reward that because it would make their lives hell. Plus, he has no skills in fundraising, hell he hasn’t even gotten a bill through congress. The man is a total loser.
trnc
@trnc:
Of course, the flip side of this is that repubs still want to be repubs and fall in line. Regardless of what they think about Jordan personally, they share his policy agenda so a few pretty words from him to smooth things over will probably be all they need to vote him in.
NotMax
@trnc
Last time that trick worked was in 1864, when Lincoln won a second term running as a National Union Party candidate.
indycat32
Since this is an open thread which is nominally about cats and it’s been a year since the hell-cat and her four spawn showed up at my door, here’s an update for anyone interested. Hell-cat disappeared soon after her attempt on my life and her visit to the vet. The kitten who escaped prior to his vet visit never returned. The final three are a boy and two girls: Maximilian I can recognize by the few white hairs at the base of his tail. He’s friendly and permits a brief hold and hug every morning. Doesn’t talk much. Trixie is recognizable by the white patch on her belly. She does that on-her-back wiggle that says “ look at me I’m cute” which allowed me to know it was her before I learned her personality. She comes running whenever I go out, talks constantly, and will rub against my legs as long as I stand still. However, if I make any move toward her, or try to pet her, she backs off. And my favorite, Penelope. She’s solid black, the smallest of the three. She’s also a talker and bold. She comes inside every morning to say hello to Henry. Likes being held and cuddled. I can’t decide whether to bring her in permanently. I’d ask for everyone’s opinion, but I think I already know what you would say.
gvg
@Ken: There are 2 curly coat gene mutations in cats. One happened in Cornwall, one in Devonshire. They are different genes and recessive, so if you cross the cats, you don’t get curly coats, you get normal. One is supposed to be non-allergy inflaming but I can never recall which one. That is also the attraction of the Sphinx. Cat lovers who are allergic can have a cat anyway, Although from what I see online, it seems like the owners have embraced a culture of dress up your cat like a living doll. Since they are chilly, they learn to like it.
Rex cats (curly coats) have wavy fur that lies in a wave pattern sort of like medieval royal robes. They look very unusual from the side.
cain
@Anyway: it’s been around $5 here in Oregon. Groceries continue to be painful. Eating out as well. I hope prices come down or wages go up.
trnc
And mindset.
Geminid
@trnc: I think Republicans who are ready and/or willing to retire might defect.
Maybe 2 or 3 in jungle primary states also. Californians Valadeo and Duarte could be better off if they distanced themselves from this caucus. So might Young Kim.
Dan Newhouse (WA) wouldn’t be hurt if he defected, I think. He and Valadeo already survived their votes to impeach Trump, both physically and politically.
Ed. A vote for a Democratic or Independent Speaker won’t incur the blowback voting for Impeachment did, I think. This matter is very important, but I think for a lot of voters it’s “inside baseball” stuff.
cain
@teezyskeezy:
There is one new dynamic – people switching to electric cars. Portland roads seem to have a lot of them now and not just the Tesla 3 variety. Just a lot of variety.
Bring a >$30k electric car price point and you’ll get the masses. There will be a lot less worry about gas – but our electric grid is gonna suck. (especially if you are in Texas ;)
NotMax
@cain
“Every guy looks in his pocket and then votes.”
– Will Rogers
;)
kalakal
@Ken: They tend to benefit from the Gulf Stream so they’re usually a few degrees warmer, there’s some very famous grand gardens there with things like palms that wouldn’t survive anywhere else in the country. OTOH they’re exposed directly to winds coming off the Atlantic, the interiors are pretty exposed and they can get really bleak and cold when they want to. The trees all grow at the same 45 degree angle on the moors.
Best of all is the Scilly Isles, about 20 miles south of Cornwall which have a ridiculous temperature anomaly and have a world famous subtropical botanical garden, in the English Channel!
cain
@Ken:
I think that was Rand Paul but I am not sure. Just send in his neighbor.
cain
@lowtechcyclist: The irony is that if TFG did show these mental problems, they’d only pivot to apply it to Biden. If TFG became president with evident mental issues – they’d apply that to old Democrats still serving in Congress.
cain
@indycat32: Trixie eh? My ex’s dog was named Trixie – one of my besties when learning about the name said “Trixie?! That’s a stripper’s name!”
Then, maybe a year later – I’m watching Lucifer and..
youtube.com/watch?v=3egIslyHnLE
NotMax
@kalakal
(cue Peter Bull voice)
“Scilly rabbit, Trix are for progeniture.”
;)
cain
@NotMax: Truth! Although, I’m now at the point that I’d like to get rid of the Portland city reps and elect all new ones. Such a shit show. Because of the lack of housing, our homeless problem is growing and with it crime and other issues. The police department still pissed about BLM is basically just hanging out at the donut shops or giving each other back rubs or whatever the fuck they are doing instead of responding to calls.
:)
NotMax
@cain
So that’s how Ed Norton was able to afford a TV set.
;)
lee
@cain:
I remember it as Rahm Emanuel. /shrug
indycat32
@cain: So-named because she always tricked me with her chatter and that little wiggle into believing that this time! she’d let me pet her.
Steeplejack
@Trivia Man:
Thanks for that link—very detailed information at the state/county level.
kalakal
@NotMax: When it comes to the Scilly Isles, pronounced “Silly”, nominative determinism rules. For the last several hundred years the have been paying an annual tribute to the Duchy of Cornwall of 12 Puffins
Matt McIrvin
We had a literal cat up a tree last night–our ornerier cat, Luna, escaped as she often does, and for some reason ended up high up a tree that she didn’t know how or was too scared to climb down from. It was on the edge of our property on sloping, unstable ground so it was hard to even get a ladder there safely. My mother-in-law came up with the solution, which was to use a huge collapsed cardboard box as a kind of ramp she could sink her claws into.
trnc
I agree that voters would mostly not care at first, but that could change when the media takes their cues from 200 frothing at the mouth members of their caucus. OTOH, if dems continue to be able to control the narrative for a bit, they can talk about the brave republicans who came together to elect a speaker who isn’t batshit crazy.
NotMax
@kalakal
Reminded of the agreement between Italy and San Marino, under which Italy must provide an indeterminate number of matches annually.
;)
sab
Our little black panther looks a lot like that cornish rex, with the huge eyes and the very visible fangs. A very sweet playful cat with a scary face. She’s our friendliest cat, but you would never guess that looking her in the eye.
sab
@kalakal: Do they actually hand over the puffins?
BruceFromOhio
Biden interview would rattle the fascists if all he did was read a diner menu. Fortunately, he tells it like it is. Proud to be a Democrat, indeed.
Geminid
@trnc: I think a half dozen Republican defectors would get swamped with invites to appear on political TV shows. Reporters love that sort of thing. Viewers might be more like, “Sheesh! Don Bacon again?”
BruceFromOhio
@zhena gogolia:
@NotMax: Wait, what? What happened to The Pantsless One?
Soprano2
@Geminid: Like was said above, the press would slobber all over them, and credit them with fixing everything while ignoring the Democrats who also helped fix the problem.
NotMax
@BruceFromOhio
Said earl;ier he’ll be going partially dark until mid-November.
kindness
I wondered how long it would take for the fantastical adventures of Baud to explode across these pixels. It’s funny.
kalakal
@sab: Nope, it was one of these silly medieval things , casks of wine, dried fish & for some weird reason puffins. They just never got around to cancelling the treaty and everybody just ignores it
The Scilly Isles are absolutely tiny, pop 2,000 but have this weird micro climate. Their economy is based on tourism and exporting flowers
The Tresco Abbey Gardens
are great
sab
@kalakal: Doesn’t some city in England have to hand over to the Crown some rare variety of eel that they can only get nowadays from Lake Huron?
Lampreys given by Gloucester.
Geminid
@Soprano2: CNN Special: “Don Bacon: the Statesman from Omaha.”
Viewer: “Sheesh! Not more Don Bacon!”
CNBC: “Pork futures were carried higher today on the strength of strong bacon demand. This “Bacon Boom” was caused by a formerly unknown Nebraska Congressman who….”
Viewer: “Aaargh! Make it stop please make it stop!”
cain
@indycat32:
She’s such a tease! :)
Kathleen
@Geminid: Ohio is trying its best to give Texas and Florida a run for their money for Most Repugnant Republicans In The Universe. We might just win!
kalakal
@sab: Yep, Gloucester. Rent in the form of food goes all the way back to the Anglo Saxons, “eel rents” used to be a wide spread thing. Now they just do it as a ceremonial thing on big occasions
NotMax
@kalakal
Britain is replete with curious offerings. (From a book published in 1811.)
;)
Timill
@kalakal:
In 1976, just five days after the bicentennial of an event not widely celebrated in her own United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II came to Trinity Church to greet the people of a parish established by one of her predecessors, King William, back in the 17th century, and to collect 279 peppercorns in some very overdue rent.
Paul in KY
@narya: 2 mugs and a shirt from me!
sdhays
Yes, I agree completely. The only thing I worry about (but not much, since there’s nothing you can do about it) is something happening between now and November 2024 – e.g. Biden breaks a hip or something – because the feeding frenzy would be a dangerous situation.
But you take the good with the bad, and Biden’s got a lot of good. And his VP is fantastic. And Trump could easily break a hip too – he can’t even walk on stairs and Biden has taken a tumble or two on bike and didn’t break anything.
Eyeroller
@Geminid: There’s no REI in Charlottesville. There used to be a Blue Ridge Mountain Sports but they went out of business. Some other outdoorsy company took over their space but moved into a larger space recently.
I’m generally anti-gun-nuttery and anti-open-carry (and no-permit concealed carry) but I have some sympathy for a convenience-store clerk. Such stores have a high rate of robbery and the clerks are often injured or killed. However, I would not think middle of the day is particularly dangerous.
Chris T.
@cain: (re electric vehicles)
If it’s done right—and that, alas, is a very big “if”—EVs would actually help with grid stability. To see how this might work, consider that California has a new and weird problem: they have too much electric power during peak sun hours due to all the solar PV that has gone up.
Today, most (by far) electric generation is strictly demand-driven. You flip on a light switch, or turn on your air conditioner, or plug in your EV, or whatever, and somewhere Out There some generator has to work a little (or a lot) harder to put out the power you need. Turn it off and some generator has to ease up. Solar PV can’t do this properly though.
This is called “load-following” and with a few notable exceptions, it is the model by which The Grid (another misnomer but we’ll just use it for now) is run. The big exceptions are so notable because they’re things like rotating power outages, or pipeline curtailment (fluid pipelines like water and oil and gas need a lot of power for their pumps).
Batteries, however, charge and discharge. That’s their whole point! But what if we had all those charging and discharging batteries work counter-cyclically, so that when there’s lots of sunshine and PV and “too much” cheap electricity, the batteries soak it up … and when there’s not enough cheap electricity, the batteries either don’t charge at all or even supply some of their charge back?
This makes “the grid” more stable and reliable, not less. But actually doing it right is tricky.
The Lodger
@NotMax: If picking Andrew Johnson as his successor “worked,” yeah, well, maybe…
sab
@Kathleen: I told commented to Betty Cracker yesterday that I think that crossing ocver to vote in the Republican primary is pointless because they are all hopelessly awful. Then I saw the Republican Senate debate in Medina County for opponent of Sherrod Brown. OMG! Bernie Moreno and Frank LaRose are appalling. Also too LaRose is apparently extremely not bright and incompetent.
I am now seriously thinking of crossing over to vote for Dolan. Husband says ” Don’t do that! You’ll get us on Republican mailing lists!” We already are because my dad’s mail comes here. I will vote for Brown of course, but maybe turning up on R mailing lists will give me a little credibility if I have to call Republican politicians. Not that that is an issue in my city.
The problem with voting for the worst candidate in the primary so they will lose in the general is that that doesn’t always work in Ohio. Usually the Republican wins. Gym Jordan has been returned for 8 terms.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Frankensteinbeck: i am a cat lady, and can’t imagine owning a cat without fur. Shedding sucks, but there is nothing like cuddling or petting a furry kitty.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@…now I try to be amused: kittens with the mutation were first found in a litter born in Cornwall, I believe, hence the name
sab
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): Knitting tiny sweaters that your cat welcomes might be fun.
My nephew’s wife has severe cat allergies but she thinks cats are adorable and wants one.
Most cat allergy sufferers blame the cat. These baldish cats might have a place with people who really want them.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@sab: Sure, I agree hairless cats have a niche enabling allergic folks to have a cat. But for me, petting their fur is a desirable part of having a cat. That’s all I’m saying. It is very cozy having a warm furry cat purring in your lap.
I have to add, I think hairless cats are kind of ugly. Goblins, indeed!
Geminid
@Eyeroller: The sidearm didn’t bother me, it was just unusual.
This was evening. The store stays open until 11pm, while the grocery store and Dollar General close at 9pm. Sal’s Pizza might stay open until 10pm. I think one of the one of the owners comes by to close at 11pm. They are a Pakistani family, but this employee was of local origin.
There are the remains of a store near me that was abandoned 25 years ago when the owner was robbed and murdered. There is a new store half a mile down the road now, with a big, well-lit parking lot and security cameras. They open at 6am and close at 7pm.
evodevo
@Juju:
And Scott’s no spring chicken either…
sab
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): But weirdly warm.
I like furry cats. I don’t particularly like longhaired cats or dogs that need grooming.
Our new little black panther with the lovely disposition and scary face has a really nice thick soft short-haired cat coat. Her best feature after her personality and her funny curled tail. ( She has a curly tail like a pug or a husky dog. When she is cheerful it doesn’t go up straight, it makes a ring over her back.