Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

This really is a full service blog.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: Veterans Day

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168Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Plenty of Democrats are “irritated by the chest-thumping and celebrating” from the Biden campaign after Tuesday night, said one Democratic operative, who argued that “last night wasn’t a win for Biden.” Operative says Dems like Beshear won despite Biden.

    Name them.

    ETA: My guess is Team Dean Phillips.

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    I think Rosenberg’s theory is correct. In addition to lowering the bar for Biden, Fox News propaganda about the president’s alleged senility raises the bar for Trump, who frequently trips over it.

  4. 4.

    raven

    I noted last night that I share a birthday with the Marine Corps. Most of my family is Navy and Marines and I went in on both the Corps and my birthday. They were drafting in the Corps at that time and, because I enlisted in the Army (under duress) I broke the mold and went in the Army! Eat the apple and fuck the corps!

  5. 5.

    bbleh

    “A deal is a deal. 2/3 of those House Republicans voted for this deal.”

    Said, one presumes, knowing full well that (1) Republicans do not bargain in good faith and any “deal” they “agree” to is worth less than the paper it’s written on and (2) their base celebrates it as “alpha” behavior — Real Men do what they want, not what they say, or some such nonsense — so if anything it will amuse them.

    I continue to hope that elections over the last SIX years indicate that this is increasingly a minority attitude …

  7. 7.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    Name them.

    This. If they can’t quote Dems who are reacting this way, it’s bullshit.  Quoting the ‘operative’ without getting some names from him to contact is crappy reporting.

    Not that that’s unusual these days.

  10. 10.

    TBone

    Dark Brandon adds maga tears to his coffee every day and I’m so here for it.  Mocking them is the best way to defeat fascists, short of exile or execution.  More, please!

  12. 12.

    lowtechcyclist

    @bbleh:

    “A deal is a deal. 2/3 of those House Republicans voted for this deal.”

    Said, one presumes, knowing full well that (1) Republicans do not bargain in good faith and any “deal” they “agree” to is worth less than the paper it’s written on and (2) their base celebrates it as “alpha” behavior — Real Men do what they want, not what they say, or some such nonsense — so if anything it will amuse them.

    Most normies would, I expect, share the attitude that a deal is a deal.  We know the GOP is a bunch of bad-faith actors, but most normies are just taking the first steps towards realizing this. Every little nudge gets them a bit closer.

  13. 13.

    BruceFromOhio

    So done with “operatives” and “some Democrats say” bullshit. Gonna swing that cone of silence around to that bullshit so I can stand outside and not have to hear it for another year.

    Pretty clear there is a “but her emails” campaign already underway, and the fascist-enablers and clickbaiters have the FTFNYT template ready to go. One possible antidote is quoting TFGs fascist manifesto statements and asking every voter and every GQP in office, “do you support this?” Over and over and over.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    About a month ago my wife did some reprogramming thing to my computer that then required a pin# for me to open it. She opted for 071858 and wrote it down on a piece of paper for me. Every time I went to sign in I’d have to first read it from the scrap of paper. I think it was last wkend that I finally recognized the number as my bday.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    BTW, anyone else notice that, since we’ve been winning more than losing since 2016, ain’t no one talking about the DNC anymore? Blame but not credit.

  18. 18.

    oldgold

    Biden looked and sounded better at the UAW event than he has for a while. I thought his use of self-deprecating humor to address the age issue was effective.

  19. 19.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @OzarkHillbilly: Had a similar thing with my Greek Social Security index number – I’d been using it for about ten years before I realized that the first six digits of that number are the user’s date of birth, with the last five digits being a unique identifier. I’d been mentally splitting up the digits three, three, five, instead of two, two, two, five.

    Then again, in Greece, coherent and consistent usage rules seem to be something that happens only in foreign cultures, as far as I can tell. Don’t get me started on whether a person’s given name or family name comes first.

  20. 20.

    kalakal

    @OzarkHillbilly: For some weird reason even after over a decade I cannot remember my US Social Security number, which gets asked for a lot, whereas I can remember my UK National Insurance number perfectly and that is never used in everyday life.

    I still have problems with US dates, after over 50 years it’s not easy to think of your birthday in the wrong order

  22. 22.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    Who doesn’t need a scapegoat? I’m hoping to pick up a couple myself on Black Friday. I’ve got too many problems that need to be blamed on others.

    You should be able to get a really good deal on them – they should be priced to sell since nobody seems to want them right now.

  23. 23.

    Ramalama

    Why specifically does the GOP want to steal Karine Jean-Pierre’s salary? It’s so obvious, right: black lady should not be earning a salary for the work she does. Or is there something else going on?

  24. 24.

    prostratedragon

    @Ramalama:  Oh, they’ve also gone after VP Harris, Austin, Buttigieg, … It does seem as though there are certain criteria for this nonsense.

  25. 25.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Ramalama: ​
     

    Why specifically does the GOP want to steal Karine Jean-Pierre’s salary? It’s so obvious, right: black lady should not be earning a salary for the work she does. Or is there something else going on?

    I think it’s a combination of ‘black lady’ and ‘gets under their skin.’ I think they also tried to do the same thing to Fauci earlier on.

    But it’s a preview of how they’d be if they actually controlled the government. They’d be zeroing out the salaries of any GS-14 who didn’t hew to their party line.

  26. 26.

    trnc

    @Betty Cracker: In addition to lowering the bar for Biden, Fox News propaganda about the president’s alleged senility raises the bar for Trump, who frequently trips over it.

    I would agree with that if cognitive dissonance wasn’t thriving. I think it’s actually in the republican party platform.

  30. 30.

    Soprano2

    The GOP does performative things like vote to lower Pete Buttigieg’s salary to $1, then want to be taken seriously. 🙄 There’s a budget crisis looming, and that’s what they’re doing.

    Things like that Sahil Kupar story are why liberals get so mad at them now. Can you imagine the glowing stories they’d be writing if R’s had swept the elections? It would be all about the mighty power of TFG, even though he wasn’t on the ballot and barely campaigned for anyone!

  31. 31.

    trnc

    @lowtechcyclist: But it’s a preview of how they’d be if they actually controlled the government. They’d be zeroing out the salaries of any GS-14 who didn’t hew to their party line.

    If they get full control of the White House and congress again,  the salaries will stay the same or go up because there won’t be any non-republican employees for very long.

  32. 32.

    suzanne

    No matter what your opinion is of his job performance, his age, whatever…. Joe Biden seems like a normal-ass person. It’s refreshing.

    A few years remove from the Trump debacle, and I just can’t stop thinking about how fucken weird he is.

  33. 33.

    Gin & Tonic

    @kalakal: I seem to have a thing for remembering numbers. My SSN, my dear wife’s SSN, the phone number of my parents’ house from 50 years ago, things like that, never an issue. Names and faces, though? I have to meet and be introduced to someone at least a half-dozen times before I have the slightest chance of recalling.

  34. 34.

    Scout211

    Happy Veteran’s Day to all of you jackal veterans.  And thank you.

    Mr. Scout served two tours in Vietnam Nam (before we met) and then finished out to retirement, serving in the reserves.  My SIL served almost 10 years active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now in the reserves.

    So also, thank you to the military spouses and family members who are a big part of the team.

  35. 35.

    trnc

    @Baud: Anonymous sources should be used to obtain factual information about something newsworthy. Not for laundering opinions.

    Yes!

  36. 36.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @kalakal: My SS#, which as you note is asked for regularly, I have no problem remembering. My birthday? It usually takes me a week or 2 to notice I’ve had another.

  37. 37.

    suzanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: So I have a basic four-digit number that I use for PINs, password manager login, etc. I couldn’t figure out for years why I liked this number, found it so easy to remember, just found it comfortable. It was relatively recently that I realized that it’s essentially the ZIP code for the first home address I ever memorized as a kid (the first two digits added together).

  40. 40.

    Ramalama

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Good way to drum up some news themselves – Democrats should accuse the Republicans of wanting people to work for free, “like slaves or something.”

    Or even just talk about wage theft, which is something lots of people of all ilks have experienced while working in fast-food joints and other places.

  41. 41.

    Gin & Tonic

    I’m not trying to fat-shame here, just genuinely curious. I saw a clip of Chris Christie at some political event in the last couple of days. I could have sworn he had bariatric surgery a couple of years ago and that this was public knowledge (was it?) At any rate, he seems to be shaped approximately the same as he was before that. Is this something that fails to work as intended sometimes?

  43. 43.

    Gin & Tonic

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    My SS#, which as you note is asked for regularly

    I’d bet in 90% of those cases it is asked for illegally. I’m pretty much an asshole about this; my default response is “I decline.” Other than the IRS, your employer and your bank, there is almost nobody who can legally ask for it. I’ve trained my kids in this as well.

  44. 44.

    suzanne

    @Gin & Tonic: I don’t remember hearing that Christie had bariatric surgery. I know he was in the ICU with Covid.

    OTOTH, Mike Pompeo has clearly had surgery and I don’t think he’s admitted it.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    I thought I read however, that he also didn’t stay away from Biden when Biden visited Kentucky after a disaster. And to my knowledge, he also didn’t specifically campaign against Biden.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    Be cautious on over-interpreting the Ohio GOP’s sternly worded letter about how they don’t plan to recognize the passage of Issue 1.

    They passed a 6 week abortion ban in 2019. That went into effect when Roe was overturned. Then providers sued so it’s not currently in effect – abortion is legal to 22 weeks in Ohio right now. They don’t have to DO anything to “recognize” Issue 1- Issue 1 is about them NOT doing anything. Just let it play out a little before declaring them the winners.

    In the mean time, they’re out there swearing to ignore voters and (somehow) re-ban abortion, which helps Sherrod Brown and other Dems on the ballot.

  50. 50.

    Josie

    @Gin & Tonic: ​ My understanding is that, if the person doesn’t get counseling and education on the cause of the weight gain, they will eventually return to the habits that caused the problem in the first place. Some people are successful because they change their habits. Others have a problem with that and gain the weight back. The stomach seems to be able to stretch into its previous size at some point.​
     ETA: And, yes, I read that he did have the surgery.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Just let it play out a little before declaring them the winners.

     
    It’s like you don’t understand Democrats at all.

  53. 53.

    oldgold

    He is a shameless bastard.

    Coach Tommy Tuberville

    @SenTuberville

    Nov 10

    For 248 years, the @USMC has valiantly protected our great nation. To all our Marines, thank you for your service — and Semper fi.

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @evap: All the best people are born in July. My mother was born on August 2nd, but she was pretty good so I made her an honorary July baby.

  56. 56.

    Eunicecycle

    @Kay: I am trying not to get too worked up about it, but it just PISSES ME OFF. They cannot accept when they lose anything now, thanks to TIFG. They’re out there mewling about “saving the babies” but have nothing to say about our high neonatal and maternal death rates.

  57. 57.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    The Great Legal Minds on the Right are right now formulating a plan…

    End Abortion Ohio’s Austin Beigel is on board with that. “There are processes through our system of government that can change things around,” he said. His idea would be to use the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution to rule that the state constitution is now in violation of the equal protection clause. This is often called the “personhood” argument.

    The plan is to have the US Supreme Court declare that life begins at conception and have them outlaw abortion nationally. Can you imagine the response from women in blue and purple states? There won’t be a Republican pol left standing outside the deep south.

  58. 58.

    narya

    @Gin & Tonic: @Josie: A close friend and her brother both had surgery. She has maintained the weight loss for well more than a decade; he did not. (He died a few years ago, but he had a few other things going on.) She has done an awesome job maintaining it, too–she knows what she needs to do, and the changes are just incorporated into her life.

  61. 61.

    DrDaveChemist

    @Gin & Tonic: Absolutely agree with you on the SS#. No reason for my dentist (for example) to have that info.

    Spouse and I use our wedding anniversary (and location) for all sorts of PINs and passwords. Easy to remember and not personally identifying, especially since the venue changed its name a few years back. We also both have “fake” birthdays that are easy to remember for all the loyalty programs that want to give you a special treat. I get to start the celebration about a month early!

    As a mostly lurker, I’m disappointed that I missed the lurker thread yesterday. Thanks to all the regular commenters for keeping me enlightened and entertained.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    @Kay: I think some people are predisposed to gloom and negativity.  It’s almost like they are inexplicably drawn to it, which doesn’t seem healthy.  And it’s certainly not helpful if you, you know, actually want to win the fight you are in.

  65. 65.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Can you imagine the response from women in blue and purple states?

     
    I can only assume they would find Biden too old.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @Eunicecycle:

    But it’s just a letter. They’re controlling, authoritarian assholes. We thought they would admit a loss? Never.

    Preemptively though, Democrats need to start talking about the health of the mother. I talked to several hundred “normie” women voters in the course of the campaign and what scares them is a problem during pregnancy where they are denied treatment. They don’t think of this in the context of abortion- they think of it in the context of pregnancy. When anti choicers muscled their way into every examining room and  started dictating what medical care should be denied to pregnant people they threatened ALL women, not just women who want an abortion.

    Anti- choicers did not consider that millions of women have health issues and complications during pregnancy and that these laws deny them treatment. They didn’t consider it because they have contempt for women and their religions dictate that women should be sacrificed for a pregnancy.

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    @Gin & Tonic: I learned frm yesterday’s Politico Playbook that Representative-elect Gabe Amo will be interviewed on Katie Phang’s MSNBC Sunday show. Between Mr. Amo (36) and Rep. Seth Magaziner (40), Rhode Island will have the nation’s youngest House delegation.

    And for those who can stand the excitement, Virginia Senator Mark Warner will appear on Fox News Sunday.

  69. 69.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Sometimes I wonder if my short stint as a Greek army conscript before being medically mustered out counts as being a veteran. At any rate, I feel like I shouldn’t be thanked for my service, because it was against my wishes.

  72. 72.

    Eunicecycle

    @Kay: that’s exactly how I changed some minds on the issue, talking about the way the 6 week heart beat law affected treatment of miscarriages. How the law made women carry unviable pregnancies. I usually got the argument “but there are life of the mother exceptions!” but how the exceptions basically don’t work in practice.

  75. 75.

    JPL

    @Kay: In TX they have exceptions for the health of the mother and the state decides.

    The Washington Post had a story about a woman whose child would only live a short while because his lungs weren’t developed.   It was impossible for her to get an abortion in the state of Florida.   She decided that she would hold him until he died.   For ninety minutes he choked to death.   Her dad said it was torture and it was.

  77. 77.

    citizen dave

    Random item–was just checking on my local IMAX upcoming offerings, and saw Napoleon.  I mean, Joaquin Phoenix has done some great performances and great movies, but I saw the preview of this move at the same IMAX (Killers of the Flower Moon) recently, and there was silence in the theater.  It looks like it’s gonna be a real turd of a movie to me.  On a par with the Brad Pitt Troy debacle.  He looks absolutely ridiculous in the big hat.

  78. 78.

    Layer8Problem

    @Gin & Tonic:  Names and faces are my downfall, every time.  Stupid wacky trivia’s been sticking in my head for years, but when it comes to new people I want to remember I sometimes have to write down or type somewhere their name, what they’re associated with, and occasionally even a description.  I consider it an actual handicap.

    Once I was in an oil change place and a woman in the waiting room who obviously knew me started chatting.  She finally reintroduced herself as my kid’s second grade teacher, who I had had some significant conversations with in a different place.

  80. 80.

    oldgold

    @Kay:

    There have been some horrible Supreme Court decisions. The usual historical suspects being Dred Scott, Plessy and  Lochner. Recent entries  being Gore, Citizens United, Heller and Dobbs.

    One that escapes these lists is what I believe is the Granddaddy of them all – Marbury v Madison.  It came to be, continues to exist and poses a threat to democratic governance as a consequence of Article III of the Constitution being poorly drafted and never fixed.

  83. 83.

    Geminid

    @oldgold: I never thought Heller was as bad as some people make it out to be. Plenty of good gun safety laws have been passed since Heller and upheld on appeal.

  84. 84.

    RaflW

    @Baud: Kapur is heavily invested in the bash Biden beltway bullshit. And of course finding one unnamed Dem operative to go negative is about the easiest damn bit of “reporting” imaginable. 90 seconds in a D.C. bar at 11pm could turn up several low-level wankers who are bitter about their life choices.

  85. 85.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Layer8Problem: My wife is a very social person who knows a lot of people in a lot of contexts, many of whom have apparently been introduced to me at some point.

    So I’m constantly being addressed in public by people who know me by name when I have no idea why I’m supposed to know them and am too embarrassed to ask.

  88. 88.

    RaflW

    @bbleh: “A deal is a deal. 2/3 of those House Republicans voted for this deal.”

    This is a message aimed at a few percentage of voters standing on the two yellow stripes in the middle of the road. Of course it won’t persuade any Republican elected officials or even every-day R voters.

    But it could work on some frustrated centrists who need to be shown in precise terms who is blowing up the precious bipartisan consensus they crave.

  91. 91.

    Scout211

    I just read this morning about our former awful mortgage servicer, Mr. Cooper [**spit!**] exposing data of more than 4 million customers in a cyber attack.

    I feel really bad for all those customers, but I’m relieved that they sold our mortgage to another company earlier this year.

    There was a discussion in a thread months (years?) ago, with several jackals complaining about Mr. Cooper, so this is a PSA for anyone who still has their mortgage serviced by this company.

  92. 92.

    Trivia Man

    My son was in the military for 4 years, today is his first Veterans Day as a veteran. He’s having a very difficult time transitioning back to civilian life, the holiday was an unexpected trigger.

    im going out west next week to spend a few days with him, I hope he will accept some advice and some transition money. Wish me luck.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    Arm (non-dominant one; no fool I) really, really sore and throbbing around the injection site of yesterday’s semi-annual COVID shot.

    Peace of mind comes with a price.

  94. 94.

    Steeplejack

    Re Sahil Kapur’s tweet above about a “Democratic operative” saying that Beshear won despite Biden, this from @Zeddary:

    lmao Beshear’s victory speech opened by ticking off a dozen projects all made possible by CHIPS, the IRA and infrastructure bills. Give this nameless nerd a wedgie

  95. 95.

    RaflW

    @Layer8Problem: I was in sales. I can remember sitting in my car outside a business I had an appointment with. I said the managers name out loud to myself like 3 times, while reading it on the page in my planner.

    Got out of the car, walked in, and schloomp! there was an empty space in my brain where her name had just been.
    It’s an endless curse for me.

    Another one:
    BF and I are friends with a couple we now (not to their faces, but with loving self-mocking humor) always call Klondike & Dawson. Because for the longest time I simply could not remember either of their names when I’d say to BF, “Hey, should we find a time to invite (Keith & David, it turns out) over for dinner?”

    I’d just stand their saying “Kevin & Derwood?” “Kurt & Deandre?” uhhh … those guys in the mid-mod in Edina, y’know… (blank) …

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: When my dad died, and we were doing the inevitable sorting of things, I discovered that my dad had written the date of their wedding anniversary in thick black marker on the wood on the underside side of the small top drawer in his tall dresser.

    All he had to do was pull out that little drawer – for handkerchiefs or whatever – and he always knew their anniversary.

    I thought that was very sweet.

  97. 97.

    MazeDancer

    To all Veterans – Thank you for protecting our country.

    And defending our Constitution.

    You are the backbone of Freedom and Equality.

    And we are grateful for it

  101. 101.

    Trivia Man

    @Gin & Tonic: As we downsize I have been going through old papers to shred. I am shocked at how many documents have the SSN just…. Printed on them.
    Old pay stubs particularly. But random bills as well. Back in the 1980s my state made it optional to put the SSN on the license. I opted out and my friends all called me paranoid.

  104. 104.

    Trivia Man

    @DrDaveChemist: when traveling, if a grocery store has a loyalty program try (local area code) 867-5309

    Its never failed me and I get the store special price.

    I like the idea of a place holder birthday for casual sign ups. I generally use 1/1 so

    i don’t have to scroll

  105. 105.

    Ken

    @RaflW:  And of course finding one unnamed Dem operative to go negative is about the easiest damn bit of “reporting” imaginable. 90 seconds in a D.C. bar at 11pm could turn up several low-level wankers who are bitter about their life choices.

    And, judging from the diner safaris, said wanker would turn out to be a Republican party official, a fact that thirty seconds with Google would reveal.

    Though it would explain why said wanker is bitter about their life choices.

  106. 106.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @schrodingers_cat: William of Ockham would approve.

    It seems obvious, but quite a few of us simply cannot accept it.

    Everything they do makes sense if you accept that they’re actually defending white male supremacy.

  109. 109.

    DrDaveChemist

    @Trivia Man: Spouse also uses 1/1, but I don’t want extra treats around the holidays.

    In my area code (401), a big plumbing company apparently took Jenny’s number after Brown University (the original holder of the number) got tired of prank calls. I had to do a double take when I looked into having them install mini splits last year!

  111. 111.

    Trivia Man

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I am excited (and terrified!) to think of a future with google glass functionality that will help me identify people just by looking at them. With notes in a pop up screen reminding me of context.

    So not worth the downsides… but if it does come it will help me overcome my face blindness. Prosopagnosia is a real thing. At faceblind.org you can take a little test to see how bad you have it.

  114. 114.

    Trivia Man

    @Scout211: Thank you

    A big reason for going out is so I can look through them and point out, face to face, what bits may be helpful. Harder for him to ignore me when I’m sitting on his couch!

    Of course the entire government may be shut down by then 😟

  117. 117.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: Didn’t you say they were telling people abortion is legal in Ohio already so they didn’t need to vote for the amendment?

  118. 118.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Soprano2: The “budget crisis” has but a single source: tax cuts for the already morbidly wealthy.  For the last 20 years, tax cuts are the problem, not the solution, and specifically the tax cuts targeted for the benefit of the parasite overclass.

  120. 120.

    Scout211

    @Trivia Man: Of course the entire government may be shut down by then

    OMG, you are right.  This VA services chart list services that will and will not be affected by a government shutdown.  Sadly, transition services WILL be affected.  ☹️

  123. 123.

    MobiusKlein

    @Scout211: For a data breach like Mr Cooper, don’t assume it only impacts current customers.

    Depending on their data deletion processes, it could be a decade untill it is all gone.

  125. 125.

    Scout211

    @MobiusKlein: For a data breach like Mr Cooper, don’t assume it only impacts current customers.

    Yeah, I do realize that.  Just like all the other notifications I have gotten over the past decade or more.

    The companies don’t even offer free credit monitoring anymore like they used to (which was basically PR). I won’t be surprised if we get a form letter in the mail sometime in the next six months or so giving us the bad news.

  126. 126.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @raven: Happy Belated Birthday Raven!  Also Happy Veterans Day to all the Vets. Just adding ‘Happy’ to Veterans Day doesn’t sound right especially if you were drafted.

  127. 127.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Geminid: Thanks for that pointer.

    And as someone who’s been a pain in the ass around these parts on the issue of old elected officials, I am delighted we now have the youngest set of Representatives. Even our Senators are not that old, for Senators.

  128. 128.

    narya

    @Trivia Man: Maybe turn him on to Jason Kander? There’s a book, podcast interviews (e.g., on Chris Hayes’ “why is this happening”), etc.  Sending good thoughts your and his way . . .

  130. 130.

    smedley the uncertain

    Retired our house flag at 11 11 11with prayer and thanks and a few memories.  Flag will be raised next year on Memorial Day and will fly until 11 11 11.  Peace and blessings.

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    I like water so did the Navy. Wasn’t all good, wasn’t all bad. I didn’t get to join you in your escapades to the west of us but did get to see a lot of salt water. And got shot at (once) for my troubles. And one thing about that water stuff, the ship I was on didn’t seem to be able to make enough fresh water, till a fella on another ship told the guy in charge of distilling fresh water from that salty stuff that we floated in to throw the manual as far away as possible and do what what worked. It was like those guys finding gold way back when. Being able to shower more than once a month is nice. I’ve often wondered, how many other vets liked that last step off the ship or out the door as I did? Bet it was more than a few. And now we see a dipshit that likely wouldn’t have been accepted into the military to do any more than peel potatoes screwing us all. What a world we live in.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @Trivia Man:

    For many/most it is a major change.

    Give him encouragement and time. That 4 yrs he had no control and all structure, now he has all control and no structure. It is a transition.

  133. 133.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @raven: Today would have been the 93rd birthday of my favorite high school teacher (Geometry and Trig Analyts) who was also my fiercest competitor in the school chess club, an ordained minister who spoke 6 languages fluently, who scored a PhD in statistics in his 40s and became my intellectual father-figure and partner in thought-crime and one of my very best friends. We lost him to a fatal heart attack the day before the 2000 election – we surely would have been burning up the transatlantic phone lines analyzing the foofaraw – and I miss him almost as much as my parents after all these years. RIP, Marinus.

  135. 135.

    steve g

    That Biden, he is so unpopular, yet he and the Democrats keep getting all the votes. It’s a conundrum!

  137. 137.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … Science.org:

    A plan to build a novel nuclear power plant comprising six small modular reactors (SMRs) fell apart this week when prospective customers for its electricity backed out. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), a coalition of community-owned power systems in seven western states, withdrew from a deal to build the plant, designed by NuScale Power, because too few members agreed to buy into it. The project, subsidized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), sought to revive the moribund U.S. nuclear industry, but its cost had more than doubled to $9.3 billion.

    “We still see a future for new nuclear,” says Mason Baker, CEO and general manager of UAMPS, which planned to build the plant in Idaho. “But in the near term, we’re going to focus on … expanding our wind capacity, doing more utility-scale solar, [and] batteries.” NuScale, which was spun out of Oregon State University in 2007, declined to make anyone available for an interview. But David Schlissel of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says, “The communities and their ratepayers have avoided a giant financial debacle.”

    To some observers, the plan’s collapse also raises questions about the feasibility of other planned advanced reactors, meant to provide clean energy with fewer drawbacks than existing reactors. NuScale’s was the most conventional of the designs, and the closest to construction. “There’s plenty of reasons to think [the other projects] are going to be even more difficult and expensive,” says Edwin Lyman, a physicist and director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

    The U.S. nuclear industry has brought just two new power reactors online in the past quarter-century. In a deregulated power market, developers have struggled with the enormous capital expense of building a power reactor. Two new reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia, one of which came online in May, cost more than $30 billion.

    […]

    People have been promising “cheap” nuclear power for something like 75 years now. It still isn’t.

    (Fission) Nuclear is great in some niche applications – ships and submarines, maybe on Mars, maybe a few other things (like powering huge CO2 and methane capture plants, maybe). Otherwise, it will never be cheap and will never make much sense when there are alternatives. Given the nuclear hype industries’ promises for fission, I am a huge skeptic of fusion as well but I’m not willing (yet) to say “never”.

    Caveat emptor always applies. There are always plusses and minuses and opportunity costs and …

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  138. 138.

    lowtechcyclist

    I don’t know if this has popped up in comments before, but even though I already took it for granted that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a horrible person, she’s even worse than I figured.

    A mentally disabled man has already served 30 years for a crime it’s generally acknowledged he didn’t commit.  Another man confessed, and there was DNA evidence tying him (and only him) to the crime.  His lawyers filed a plea for clemency, SHS turned it down, and said he could apply again in six years.

    The whole thing is even worse than that summary.

    Fuck SHS with every goddamn rusty farm implement in the state of Arkansas and all the surrounding states.

  139. 139.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @oldgold: Semper Fi, Tommy Boy?

    Might want to be careful about how you sling that around. I’ve known Marines who’ve been in actual combat. Some of them don’t like it when shitstains like you use that phrase.

    Shit, Tommy Boy, do you even know where it comes from and what it means?

  140. 140.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Another Scott:

    People have been promising “cheap” nuclear power for something like 75 years now. It still isn’t.

    What’s the deal, then, with European countries that derive a good portion of their electricity from nuclear power? France gets something like 2/3 of its electricity that way.  Is electricity really expensive there? Or heavily subsidized?  I know little about the subject, but I’ve been curious for a long time about why whatever special sauce the French have, won’t work here.

  141. 141.

    Soprano2

    @Villago Delenda Est: I meant that they’re about to shut down the government because they can’t pass anything reasonable for the Senate to vote on. Instead, they’re passing things like bills that cut people’s salaries to $1.

  142. 142.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … Phys.org:

    A new study, conducted in collaboration between researchers at Michigan State University and Central Michigan University, found that public spending on social safety net programs and on education spending each independently impact high school graduation rates, which are a key predictor of health and well-being later in life.

    The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, tested whether public financing for education and social safety net programs that aim to help improve the lives of low-income people affected high school graduation rates over a seven-year period. The study used data on high school graduation rates from all U.S. public elementary and secondary schools, public spending on safety net programs and education in each state, and characteristics of schools and counties.

    […]

    “Assuming the other form of spending remains at average levels, we found that a one percentage point increase in high school graduation rates is associated with an additional investment of $437 per child in social safety net spending or $720 in educational spending,” said Ignacio Acevedo-Polakovich, co-author of the study and associate professor in MSU’s Department of Psychology. “Our findings underscore the importance of adequately financing both high-quality public education systems and social safety net programs.”

    High school graduation is a key predictor of public health and well-being. Individuals who dropped out of high school have an annual income that is on average $10,000 less than high school graduates and over $36,000 less than those with a bachelor’s degree. High school graduates have a reduced risk of health conditions later in life and an increased life expectancy.

    More information: Sharon Kukla-Acevedo et al, Beyond Education Dollars: Does Social Safety Net Spending Affect High School Graduation Rates?, Journal of Adolescent Health (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.08.050

    (Unfortunately, the paper is behind a paywall.)

    Imagine that – spending a little more on a public good gets you better outcomes that last throughout life. Shocking!!1 //

    One really, really good thing about ubiquitous cheap computing and giant databases is that we can evaluate and test competing claims about the effects of public policy on the real world. We don’t have to rely on just so stories and our truthy guts any more when thinking about how to make the world better.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  143. 143.

    Ruckus

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Many (most?) of the olds who were drafted last time it was active are likely to be happy they get to celebrate that they made it this far. As are at least some of those who joined for 4 yrs – like me. VA healthcare isn’t bad.

  144. 144.

    Another Scott

    @lowtechcyclist: Everything is subsidized everywhere, some things more than others.  ;-)

    Reuters.com (from 9/30):

    PARIS, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Fears over a repeat of last year’s low nuclear availability in France during the winter have eased and power demand is set to remain subdued, bringing French forward power prices further down towards more stable German levels on Wednesday.

    Nuclear availability in France fell to a 30-year low in 2022 after a stress corrosion problem took a swathe of reactors offline, compounding the struggles of neighboring countries who had to cope with reduced gas flow from Russia.

    In the early months of 2023, worries persisted that the nuclear supply problems would continue, but availability gradually improved over the course of the year, falling in line with operator EDF’s target of 300 to 330 terawatt-hours (TWh).

    The fall in prices is directly linked to more confidence in nuclear availability, as the market has seen a decent ramp up in the last few weeks, Kpler analyst Emeric de Vigan said.

    To date, 11 of the 16 reactors most sensitive to stress corrosion have been repaired, and four more are expected to be fixed by the end of the year.

    […]

    The sharpest fall in the contract premium has been recorded for the first quarter of 2024, which has fallen to 148.75 euros ($159.70) per megawatt-hour (MWh), down by more than two-thirds of its height of 460 euros recorded in April.

    Analysts agree that the collapse in price is due to the improved nuclear availability projections and demand savings, with some saying it can still fall further.

    “The 1Q24 contract is still inflated by risk premium and, therefore, has the potential to drop by a further 10-15% before the end of the year,” ICIS analyst Luca Urbanucci said.

    […]

    (Emphasis added.)

    France doesn’t have any secret sauce.

    EU statistics show French residents paying 0.232 euros / kWh (about $0.246 / kWh) – in the lower-middle of the pack in that graph. But it obviously depends on the timeframe given the huge variability above. The average in the US is $0.17 / kWh (with a lot of regional variability).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    @lowtechcyclist:

    We get electricity from nuclear here but this country is a tad bigger and more spread out than France. And what are the alternatives for them? It can make sense but does it actually do that in the US? We can put up a lot of solar and storage, we have a reasonable amount of hydro generated, at least in some areas. We’ve tried nuclear but it is very expensive, so the question remains, is it better or cheaper than the alternatives? Burning petroleum, very likely. But it has taken us a very, very long time to build and bring on line.

    I think it is not an unreasonable approach, seemingly better than burning stuff, works 24 hrs a day, unlike solar, but then can batteries do more, reasonably, safely and environmentally? Part of the question has to be – are we doing all we can to reduce need? My apt complex is changing our lights over to led from florescent and filament which will save a lot. I use led bulbs in my lamps and they use far less electricity for the same amount of light. IOW there are options to use less.

  152. 152.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    This is often called the “personhood” argument.

     

    Personhood failed…in MISSISSIPPI

     

    Phucking MISSISSIPPI when they tried it.

     

    Also proves once again that ‘ leaving it up to the states’ was absolute bullshyt. And, people know that it was bullshyt, because they continue to go after the access that women have in Blue States, by trying for the NATIONAL BAN.

  153. 153.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

     

    Anti- choicers did not consider that millions of women have health issues and complications during pregnancy and that these laws deny them treatment. They didn’t consider it because they have contempt for women and their religions dictate that women should be sacrificed for a pregnancy.

     

    As you have said for a long time now, they simply don’t care about the health of the WOMAN as an individual, outside of pregnancy.

  154. 154.

    Geminid

    I think the Air Force still intends to get one of those mini-reactors up and running at a base by 2027. The base is in the Aleutian Islands, and its current power plant burns coal that has to be kept warm and dry in a a big barn.

  156. 156.

    Ksmiami

     

    @Trivia Man: Don’t know if this helps, but USAA has a lot of support recommendations and they like hiring recent transitional soldiers. Good luck to your son and to you.

  157. 157.

    RaflW

    @rikyrah: Based on GOP contempt for funding prenatal care or anything associated with the ACA, I’d say they don’t care about health of the woman as an individual during pregnancy.

  158. 158.

    Bill Arnold

    @Another Scott:
    The prize we need to keep our eye on is decarbonization.
    About 60 percent of US electricity generation is from fossil fuels.
    At 1000 tons of carbon emissions per human life (that assumes roughly 1 billion reduced human population, mostly killed , on the lower end of estimates), that’s a lot of human lives eliminated by US electricity generation, in the fullness of time. (Ignoring the cost and vileness of mass extinction of tens/hundreds of thousands(/or more) of other species.)
    (methane pollution from grossly sloppy natural gas production and transmission makes fossil fuel use worse.)
    Any new or resurrected fossil fuel electric plant is a killing machine. Especially odious if it is replacing a shut-down nuclear power plant.

    On a similar note, there are regions with little capacity for hydro power or solar or geothermal, like the UK. Such regions could use nuclear power. (They do buy a lot of (nuclear) power from France.)

  159. 159.

    Polish The Guillotines

    @oldgold:

    Don’t forget Buckley v. Valeo:

    Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court on campaign finance. A majority of justices held that, as provided by section 608 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, limits on election expenditures are unconstitutional.

     

    The insidious “money == free speech” decision.

  160. 160.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid: Made me look… I think you’re referring to this:

    The Department of the Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency–Energy have released a request for proposals (RFP) for the construction and operation of a microreactor in central Alaska. The Department of Defense wants a 20-year supply of electricity and steam from a 1–5-MW microreactor, but the Eielson Air Force Base (AFB) Microreactor Pilot Program will go beyond a simple power purchase agreement and put the reactor through its paces with tests, at least annually, of the reactor’s walk-away safety and black-start capabilities. The final RFP is available at sam.gov.

    “The release of the RFP for the Eielson AFB microreactor is a critical next step in furthering the development and deployment of reliable and clean energy technology at Department of the Air Force installations,” said Nancy Balkus, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for environment, safety and infrastructure. “This program is extremely important to mission assurance and sustainment in the face of climate change and continued national defense threats, and demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensuring our installations have a safe, reliable supply of energy, no matter their location.”

    […]

    The USAF has a fancy movie about it here. The DoD was directed to pick a site for a new reactor in the 2019 budget, and it has to be operating by 2027. Not much time is left; we’ll have to see how it goes.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  161. 161.

    Another Scott

    @Bill Arnold: Except in certain niches, I don’t think that nuclear is a solution, even to CO2.  It takes a lot of power to make the fuel, a lot of CO2 goes into the concrete production, etc., etc. And there’s the perpetual problem of nuclear waste.

    Yes, one can’t put solar and windfarms everywhere.  We need a larger, more resilient, more efficient power grid to move power around.  And we need improved power storage (of all kinds, not just better batteries).

    I keep hoping for a breakthrough in ocean thermal energy conversion and industry-scale thermoelectrics, but we’re not there yet.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  163. 163.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: You are correct. He thanked President Biden profusely in context (disaster relief, appearance at Brent Spence Bridge with Biden, Brown, DeWine, McConnell etc.) but he did not “identify” with Biden or Dems in other campaign ads; he focused on his accomplishments for the state. He walked a tight line very well.

  164. 164.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: I felt they started introducing that into the ads closer to election day. I wanted them to hit that theme more but I understand that they want to keep the message simple.

  166. 166.

    Another Scott

    You folks going to-and-from Europe soon, keep an eye on Phys.org – Iceland:

    Iceland declared a state of emergency on Friday after a series of powerful earthquakes rocked the country’s southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, in what could be a precursor to a volcanic eruption.

    “The National police chief … declares a state of emergency for civil defense due to the intense earthquake (activity) at Sundhnjukagigar, north of Grindavik,” the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said in a statement.

    “Earthquakes can become larger than those that have occurred and this series of events could lead to an eruption,” the administration warned.

    The Icelandic Met Office (IMO) said an eruption could take place “in several days”.

    […]

    Prior to the March 2021 eruption in an uninhabited area around Mount Fagradalsfjall, the Reykjanes volcanic system had remained dormant for eight centuries.

    Volcanologists believe the new cycle of increased activity could last for several decades or centuries.

    An April 2010 massive eruption at another Iceland volcano, the Eyjafjallajokull in the south of the island, forced the cancellation of some 100,000 flights, leaving more than 10 million travelers stranded.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  167. 167.

    Geminid

    @Another Scott: It’s too bad Senator Scott Surovell doesn’t live a few miles further south. He would make a good candidate for the open 7th CD seat. I guess Surovell will get his chance when Don Beyer retires.

    Rep. Beyer has been around for a while now. I was reminded yesterday that he ran for Lt. Governor in 1993 and won.. That was the year George Allen beat Mary Sue Terry 58 to 40%, but Beyer trounced home schooling advocate Michael Farris.

    Mr. Farris is now a leader in the movement for a Convention of the States that would revise the Constitution. This week Farris figured in a Politico Magazine article about Speaker Michael Johnson’s ties to the Convention of States movement.

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