Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Democrats are back in array!

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Holiday Decorations

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Holiday Decorations

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Nothing wrong with the occasional holiday humblebrag:

Like the Post Office, Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…

Per the Washington Post, “Jill Biden unveils a crafty, candy-filled White House Christmas” [gift link]:

While it’s easy for adults to become jaded about holiday decorations — whether it’s because of the cost, the hassle or the inescapability of it all — children tend to feel unbridled excitement over the bright lights and the promise of toys. It’s that glee that the White House wants to capture with this year’s sparkling holiday display, with its “Magic, Wonder, and Joy” theme.

“It is a time for our senses to awaken — for each of us to smell the aroma of favorite family recipes, to hear the warmth of a dear friend’s voice, to see the glow of lights and decorations, to taste the sweetness of candies and treats, and to feel the quiet stillness and strength of faith,” first lady Jill Biden writes in her introduction to this year’s Holidays at the White House booklet.

While the Bidens were eating turkey and shopping in Nantucket over Thanksgiving, a dedicated crew back in Washington worked on yuletide trimming. Three hundred volunteers — one of the highest numbers in recent history — from across the country came together to bring the vision to life. The glittering offerings include 98 Christmas trees fitted with 33,892 ornaments; 142,425 holiday lights adorning the trees, mantels and historic moldings; and 14,975 feet of ribbon.

Despite the grandeur and sheer volume of decorations and volunteers, though, the White House’s holiday display has one thing in common with a regular home: the rush to get everything done in time. “We were scrambling a bit” to complete everything before the Bidens returned, says Carlos Elizondo, White House social secretary. “We did some final touches and some final things, and then they came down and they loved it.”…

Reading, a major focus for the first lady, is highlighted in many of the rooms. The Library displays vignettes that celebrate the tradition of holiday bedtime stories, including a cozy brass bed with a cat that resembles Biden pet Willow snoozing on top of it. Stacks of children’s books surround the scene, with stars and moons hanging above…

The centerpiece — an 18½-foot Fraser fir from Fleetwood, N.C. — stands floor to ceiling in the Blue Room. Fitting for the home of someone known as Amtrak Joe, there’s a re-creation of a vintage passenger train circling the tree. It rides through rainbow forests of bottle-brush trees and tiny towns. Ornaments of homes and neighborhoods depicting the 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia decorate the branches.

The East Room, the largest room in the White House, is filled with three-dimensional, multistory interactive advent calendars that resemble the People’s House. Each evening, someone will open the window corresponding to that day. The first lady will be among the participants, and her social media accounts will share photos from the events…

Reader Interactions

152Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    A true honor to be able to celebrate the holidays with the most pro-youth administration of my lifetime.

    Can’t even imagine the hate he got in the replies.

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    Good morning folks.  Love Dr. Biden’s take on Christmas decorating!

    I woke up thinking how amazing it is that House Dems spanked James Comer SO HARD over the past year that Comer can’t even take Hunter Biden up on his offer to testify, ’cause it would be in public.  LOL

    Watching Comer, various Fox hosts, etc try to ‘spin’ and pretend that testifying in secret is somehow 1,000% totes better than testifying in public was an early Christmas treat!

  8. 8.

    dmsilev

    Sigh. I miss Melania’s “A Very Pan’s Labyrinth Christmas”.

    You have to admit, it was …unique.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    I was on a walk with my husband last night and we encountered a mail carrier still out at 7:30. It’s my neighborhood and he’s not the regular carrier (they call the extras ‘jump’ carriers – they just deliver parcels to back up the regulars) and I really wanted to help him – felt like he and I together could knock it out in 30 minutes. Poor thing.

  11. 11.

    Scout211

    @Baud: Does Fox even talk about the War on Christmas anymore?

    I think that the larger “war on woke” has superseded all of the smaller wars the brave soldiers on the right are battling.

    Or maybe Melania lost the war on Christmas in that bloody battle in the hallway.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Love the lightness and brightness of this year’s WH Christmas decorations. Finally, the garish, nightmarish Melania holiday experiments are fading, fading from memory……

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: Dammit! Their propaganda machine is just too enticing for all the little ones. I’m gonna rain fire on all of Whoville.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Oh, me too. But I appreciate her jumping in – lotta followers. It’s going to have to be a volunteer effort because as we know political media aren’t going to do any work. They’re all busy meeting with lawyers to hash out book deals.

  27. 27.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I don’t have a war on Christmas, just deep apathy at this point in my life. Logistics make it hard for my family to get together so we’re celebrating it on the 10th, I hate decorating for any holidays when there’s no kids around to enjoy it, and retail is such a treat (not) to work during the holidays.

  30. 30.

    eclare

    @satby:

    At our family get togethers I am second youngest at 55.  Just not as festive.  What, a kiddie table of two where one person is 55?

  31. 31.

    Alice in co

    Biden’s in my state today! touting (among other things) an expansion of wind and  solar in the Pueblo area.  According to news articles, the Inflation Reduction Act has created 3,500 jobs in Colorado thus far.  Unfortunately, in order to read the news a person had to read about Boebert too.  I’m glad, though, that Biden’s making efforts to turn her very conservative district around.

  33. 33.

    topclimber

    @Baud: “You can fool some of the people all of the time” is the motto of the NGA (National Grifters Association)–lifted without any stovepipe hat tip to Honest Abe because these are grifters after all.

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I see Raymond Burke finally got what was coming to him. FAFO he did. I have a big smile on my face.

  40. 40.

    satby

    @eclare: Right? Of my kid’s generation in my and my sister’s family, only 1 out of seven has a child, and that’s child, singular. Not as fun.

    @Omnes Omnibus: Holidays are fine, I think it’s the enormous expectations and frenzy of activities I can do without. Plus, a good chunk of my cousins celebrate Hanukkah anyway.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    A second multi-billion-dollar electric vehicle battery plant is coming to Kokomo.
    Stellantis and Samsung SDI will invest over $3.2 billion in a battery manufacturing facility, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced, right next door to the $2.5 billion factory announced in May 2022.

    My middle son is working on this plant in Kokomo. They have hundreds of electricians. He’s sleeping in his Lincoln Navigator – he doesn’t want to rent until he decides if he wants to stay for the whole project. Stellantis is Chrysler and Fiat. He says the car companies are joining with electronics companies because the car companies need expertise in electronics/batteries for EVs.

  43. 43.

    satby

    @Kay: just too bad Indiana got the projects. Lousy state, lousy worker protections, lousy politics. And every elected official down there probably voted against the infrastructure act that made it possible. But they’ll act like they made it all happen and get away with it.

    I’m surprised too, because the education levels in this state suck donkey balls. It’ll be hard to staff.

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    I ran out of coffee creamer (almond milk, unsweetened) this morning, so I used some of SuzMom’s. Peppermint mocha. I took one sip and spit it out. Now I need some black coffee to get that fucken taste out of my mouth.

    I love the Christmas season, but pumpkin spice can kick peppermint chocolate’s ass every time.

  46. 46.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: On the other hand, it’s good that at least one party is committed to serving the whole country when it holds power, whether individual states voted for the party or not. Trump was the first POTUS in my lifetime to blatantly use his power to screw over states that didn’t vote for him. It was a red line that sumbitch crossed, and it should remain an aberration.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @satby: If Indiana’s Republican Congress members want to claim credit for these plants, it’s the job of state and local Democrats to contradict them.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    Sure. I’ve never advocated screwing over red states for reasons unrelated to good public policy. I just wish Republican voters would object to being lied to by Republicans. If they still want to be conservative for honest reasons, so be it.

  55. 55.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: That happens a lot here now. I’ve taken to turning my porch light on for them, because sometimes we don’t get our mail until 7 or 7:30. I guess they’re still short on employees.

  56. 56.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:I just wish Republican voters would object to being lied to by Republicans

    THIS

    It’s like, “Could y’all please just raise your standards, just a little bit?  At least demand that your elected officials respect you kinda sorta somewhat?”

    But they always just settle for that brief racist, misogynist, or Dem-bashing sugar high.

  58. 58.

    Manyakitty

    @satby: I kinda hope Intel yanks its planned factory out of Ohio. Who will want to move here when they can’t educate their kids and the inbred morons in our state legislature can’t stop stepping on each other’s dorks in their manic race to the bottom.

    Argh!!

  59. 59.

    Jackie

    @satby:

    Oh, good news: the 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India have finally been rescued. All of them!

    That’s WONDERFUL NEWS!

  60. 60.

    Geminid

    @Baud: This will be a problem nationwide, so maybe locals can get some national funding to place billboards near the plant sites:

       This project was made possible by Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act…andd not your lying, cheapskate Republican Representative.

  61. 61.

    satby

    @Geminid: Having lived among them, it won’t matter. Facts don’t matter, proof doesn’t matter, their own children running away from the hellscape they’ve created doesn’t matter. If it’s not on OAN it’s a lie, according to most of them when I’ve tried.

    How will these plants attract competent workers in a state that won’t adequately educate their children and will let the women in the family die if a pregnancy goes wrong?

  64. 64.

    Kay

    @satby:

    Ramping up for EVs is booming all over the upper midwest though. I don’t think people recognize how big this transformation from gas to electric is – huge. And it’s 100% Democrats – Republicans contributed nothing. It won’t help us in IN but it will in MI and WI. He says it’s chaotic because they don’t really know how to bid these jobs- they’ve never done them before- so the contractors underestimate how long it will take and then get fired and replaced when they don’t meet benchmarks. There’s a lot of frayed nerves and screaming and people storming off :)

    He just finished one in Detroit where he worked under 3 different electrical contractors over the course of the project.

  65. 65.

    Layer8Problem

    @zhena gogolia:  Ms. Van Pelt didn’t specify how far east, but this Christmas thing does seem to have Middle Eastern roots.  It may go deeper than we realize . . .

  66. 66.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker: @Baud: What Baud said. 

    These plants get located here because of the tax incentives that rob the states residents, laxer worker protections, and right to work laws. They’re private entities, not government ones.

  67. 67.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: People vote their interests, I don’t think people are necessarily fooled just because their interests don’t align with mine. Preserving the current racial and gender hierarchy is an interest too.

  68. 68.

    catclub

    @Betty Cracker: Trump was the first POTUS in my lifetime to blatantly use his power to screw over states that didn’t vote for him. It was a red line that sumbitch crossed, and it should remain an aberration.

     

    Ummm, no. I wish.

    See the Katrina response for Mississippi versus Louisiana, which had a Democratic governor at the time.  Pure political bias.

  69. 69.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Baud:

    wish Republican voters would object to being lied to by Republicans

    agree.
    Wish a serious journalist would pass on the usual diner bs to find  out if the specific individuals ripped off have seen the scam:

    The folks who paid for building wall when Mexico didn’t
    money stolen by Bannon and other crooks
    TFG pardons Bannon for ripping off his base

    or folks who got credit card scammed into monthly donations

    And if they’ve seen the scam why will they still vote for him and his enablers?

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @satby: You talk about “them” like the residents of these areas all think alike and always will. I too have lived in Republican areas for decades, and what I’ve seen does not support that view.

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    This is still kind of mind-blowing to me.  It shouldn’t be, but it is.

    trump’s edge over Haley and DeSantis might be bigger than most people think

    This Haley “surge” is going to do her, and the GOP, exactly zero good in the long run.  Should have had higher standards after J6, Republicans.  Should have impeached him and cut him loose a looooong time ago…

    In fact, between Trump’s disastrous Election Day 2022 and mid-February of this year, 14 quality polls tested a head-to-head matchup between him and Ron DeSantis, who was fresh off a big reelection win as Florida governor. DeSantis actually led in every single one, by an average of 10 points.

    That is, to put it mildly, no longer the case. DeSantis has trailed in his four most recent head-to-head polls with Trump by an average of 37 points.

    Some pollsters have tested this matchup repeatedly, and Trump has gained even more ground on this measure than in his overall poll numbers.  In polling from Marquette University Law School, Trump has gone from trailing DeSantis by 20-plus points in November 2022 and January 2023 to leading by 42 points this September and 29 points earlier this month.

    And the extremely hysterically funny, and also sad thing, is: Ron DeSantis is going to get almost all the blame for the GOP’s predicament.  If only he hadn’t sucked so badly, saith Fox News
    LOLOLOL

  72. 72.

    Kay

    @satby:

    They can bring skilled workers in, just like they’re doing to build the plants. My son is a Toledo IBEW member and the job was posted with them because apparently Indiana doesn’t produce enough electricians.

  73. 73.

    geg6

    @Suzanne: ​
     
    I will never understand what anyone sees in flavored coffee. Never. I think it’s all awful. Just gimme a cuppa plain ol’ DD regular roast with a little lactose-free whole milk. My theory is that people who drink flavored coffee/creamer don’t really like coffee.

  74. 74.

    Geminid

    @Kay: In the Washington  D.C. area, the IBEW has thrived with more stable but steady growth in the commercial building sector. The big news station there is WTOP  and they introduce the hourly national news with:

      The WTOP Producer’s desk is wired by IBEW Local 26: where electrical contractors come to grow!

  75. 75.

    satby

    @schrodingers_cat: don’t disagree totally, but there’s been 40+ years of propaganda and that has an effect. Just as it’s had all over the world in the rightward turn of many countries. White supremacists are getting louder because they’re losing. Not just in national demographics, but within their own families. Lots of meemaws and pawpaws have mixed race grandkids in Indiana.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    I’m so grateful to Haley for taling about how Republicans must cut Social Security.

    We should chip in to her campaign. She’s not going to win – she’s basically running to be the favorite of political media. There aren’t enough of them to elect her and in the meantime she’s like “I am coming after your retirement!” You go, Nikki.

  78. 78.

    geg6

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Not gonna sue and I’m glad you like.  I hate every bit of it except the two week paid vacation I get.  And I’d like that a lot better if I didn’t have to do or attend a bunch of things for a holiday I hate and end up with only a couple of days that I really enjoy.

    I’d so love to skip the whole holiday aspect.  But I have to fake it to make others happy.  Ugh.

  79. 79.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby: I thought the IRA played a role in making the new plant possible, hence Biden taking credit and Repubs who voted against it also trying to take credit?

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @geg6: Maybe some people think that the flavor of coffee is complemented by another flavor.  FWIW I take my coffee strong with a generous amount of half and half, no sugar.

  81. 81.

    FastEdD

    Wingnut Uncle started bagging on EV’s at Thanksgiving. I cut him off, “Do you own one? Have you ever driven one? Do you have any idea what you are talking about?” I said that yeah, I own an EV and I love it, it kicks ass. And that I was an engineering teacher and the discussion was over. Pecan pie or pumpkin?

  82. 82.

    schrodingers_cat

    @satby: Propaganda can’t make you do what you don’t want to do. There are many who are follow the herd, so propaganda works on them. Not everyone who votes R is a bigot but bigotry is not a deal breaker for them. They will make excuses to vote for the bigot.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    Construction trades wouldn’t work without unions. Contractors can basically pick up 1 or 300 trained, skilled workers who have their own health insurance and pensions/accounts on an as-needed basis and then let them go the minute the contract is up. It is absolutely a mutually beneficial relationship.

  86. 86.

    Jeffro

    OT but here’s (D) Rep Jared Moskowitz’s response to Comer’s inability to accept Hunter Biden’s public testimony due to “Jamie Raskin, Daniel Goldman, and ‘little Moskowitz jumping up and down’  ”

    Have you been injured in Committee? Have you been caught lying and found it hard to function? Are you hearing voices in your head from the political trauma. Call the law firm of Raskin, Goldman, and Moskowitz, We deliver!

    LOLOLOLOL

    KEEP POUNDING, HOUSE DEMS!!!

  89. 89.

    Jackie

    @Geminid:

    If Indiana’s Republican Congress members want to claim credit for these plants, it’s the job of state and local Democrats to contradict them.

    Loudly and repeatedly! Political ads with GQP sound bites opposing the Infrastructure bill.

  90. 90.

    Geminid

    @satby: My more general observation is that most Congressional districts now are composed of the same diverse types of people, just in differing proportions.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    @satby:

    I think about that in Ohio too. Huge, highly trained industriy areas like health care. The Cleveland Clinic. Need a LOTTA degrees to staff that place. Yikes. Ohio has dropped 15 places in public education rankings since the GOP takeover. It’s just a straight line down because other places don’t stay the same! They get better! It breaks my heart. Just the WASTE of taking a solid school system and making it worse to pursue ideological “free market” goals. All those decades of effort thrown away.

  92. 92.

    Betty Cracker

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s how I like my coffee too — strong with lots of half-and-half, no sugar. When I worked in Tampa, I was addicted to Cuban coffee with sugar and will still drink that when I get the opportunity. So good!

  93. 93.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: she must be running to be the “I told you so!” GOP candidate in 2028.  (Like they’ll repent or admit they should have gone with someone other than Mega Loser Trump.)

    The great thing is, so will DeSantis…only with more head bobbing and weird flicking of the tongue.

    And even clowns who didn’t run, like Sununu and Youngkin, will be saying it.  “You should have drafted me last time.”  Not that they did anything impactful to rid their party of Mr. ‘My Fellow Americans Are Vermin’ Man.

  94. 94.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @geg6: My theory is that people who drink flavored coffee/creamer don’t really like coffee.

    Don’t get me started on the “coffee” drinks that consist of a slightly coffee-tinged cup of steamed milk and three inches of whipped cream and caramel syrup.

    I remember once watching a guy go through the coffee pots at the local grocery story during an era when they thought it was cool to put descriptions on all the coffees that read like pretentious wine reviews. “Notes of chocolate and cherry with an aftertaste of…” Finally he laments out loud, “can’t I just get a regular cup of coffee?”

    There were in fact several unflavored coffees there, you just couldn’t tell from the description.

  96. 96.

    satby

    @geg6: or maybe you enjoy coffee so much, that like food, different flavors are enjoyable as well as plain black. Because I can enjoy coffee almost all the ways, except too sweet.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @geg6:

    I’m a coffee purist too. My father used to say “you like that drink, fine, but it’s not coffee”. I like black when I’m working and some cream when I’m not but nothing else :)

    Lately I’ve been drinking tea – I am in love with Darjeeling.

  99. 99.

    satby

    @Kay: exactly.

    It’s all such a waste, and it seems we’re destined to cycle through it over and over

    Tea is my afternoon drink of choice, and I’m on a Darjeeling kick too.

  100. 100.

    zhena gogolia

    @satby: I haven’t been able to drink coffee for years, but I used to like it all sorts of ways, except too sweet, as you say. A hint of hazelnut or chocolate is delicious.

  102. 102.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Same thing is happening in Florida, and yeah, it sucks. One of the few things that wasn’t a joke in Florida was the public education system. It wasn’t perfect, but the work of generations to build it is now being squandered by reactionary clowns, and it’s a sad thing to witness.

  105. 105.

    eclare

    @satby:

    I feel the same about Ford investing billions here in TN.  Ford’s solution to the lack of education here is to build their own tech college.

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    @geg6: I like one of the flavored coffees as, like, a weekend treat, maybe with a biscotti. I will order it with approximately 1/3 the amount of flavoring/sweetener that they want to put in there, though.

    Mr. Suzanne had gotten me a combined drip coffeemaker/espresso machine a few years ago for my birthday. It was broken when the methhead broke into my house and smashed up my kitchen. We got a new coffeemaker, but it was just for drip. SuzMom is getting me an espresso machine for my birthday. I’m so excited! Cappuccinos!

  108. 108.

    eclare

    @Suzanne:

    Nope.  This time of year means that my favorite flavor of ice cream is in season:  peppermint.  And I get the good stuff, Van Leeuwen.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @geg6: I’d so love to skip the whole holiday aspect. But I have to fake it to make others happy. Ugh.

    I stopped celebrating it because I am a lousy liar, faking it just didn’t work. Pissed off a few people but it didn’t last long. Now, everybody knows my feelings on the subject and just accept it.

  114. 114.

    cain

    @Kay: Everybody is getting into software. Should be fun. I’m hoping we will see more work on open source. I know that a number of car companies have that.

    I hope they have a plan on how to recycle old batteries.

  116. 116.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    We were busy with the abortion ballot issue so we didn’t get to make a big stink about it but DeWine cut out the (elected) state board of education and hired some hack czar.

    Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is moving forward with an overhaul of Ohio’s education department and state board of education despite a Franklin County judge extending a temporary restraining order to prevent that from happening.

    It’s an absolute power grab by Republicans who are hostile to public education and want to eradicate public schools. It’s anti democratic too, so in line with what has become a whole theme in Ohio where conservatves are grabbing more and more power away from the electorate. It woud have been beautiful to marry it with the August power grab (defeated by voters) and the abortion power grab (defeated by voters) but it’s like there’s too much shit to deal with at the same time. I’m really looking forward to winding down my deal here, selling the house and going to MI full time. I’m exhausted.

    People used to say Ohio was a good place to be “from” – meaning going away so not that complimentary but really it meant a good place to grow up. It no longer is. The only one of our children who stayed is the unmarried, childless one – my youngest has no intention of returning. That’s not an accident.

  118. 118.

    Miss Bianca

    @Alice in co: I was thinking seriously about trying to get to Pueblo for the Presidential appearance – alas, I think I got too many other things going on today. But it’s just down the road from me!

  120. 120.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: “can’t I just get a regular cup of coffee?”

    Oy. You took the words right out of my mouth.

    eta: I’m not picky about it either, French roast, Italian roast, Ethiopian beans, Mexican beans, just a straight black coffee for me. My wife on the other hand…

  121. 121.

    Miss Bianca

    @Suzanne: There are some flavors that, wonderfully as they pair with chocolate (and seriously, what *doesn’t* pair wonderfully with chocolate?) should *never* be allowed near coffee.

    One of them is peppermint, the other is raspberry. Pumpkin spice, on the other hand, may pass. :)

  122. 122.

    cain

    @satby: ​
    I’m surprised too, because the education levels in this state suck donkey balls. It’ll be hard to staff.

    It used to be very good at least where I grew up in West Lafayette. Our city have produced some amazing people over the years.
    Can’t say about the other cities though.

    Also, they will have to bring learned people elsewhere – and that means that there will be demands for better education and also means it will bring more liberal people in, and more union.

  123. 123.

    Kay

    @cain:

    He’s interested in the whole thing so fun to talk to about it. He’s excited about it. The first time I saw an electric scooter was in his garage so he’s been following EVs for a long time. He gave me a scooter he had repaired – it was sweet to give it to me – he’s the only one of my kids who treats me like I might have been a person prior to having them – but it’s too scary. I rode it once to show him I’m fun (not) – I don’t want to break my teeth. I could break a hip!

  124. 124.

    eclare

    @satby:

    I don’t know the details, like if the students are guaranteed a job with a certain GPA, but if it works like an apprenticeship, more or less, that seems like a good thing.

  125. 125.

    Soprano2

    @geg6: If you like the flavor, it’s good with a little sweetener added. I don’t like flavored coffee without a little sweetener. I also like my regular coffee black, so it’s not that I don’t like coffee. People who put a bunch of creamer and sugar in coffee don’t really like coffee.

  126. 126.

    Geminid

    @cain: The Department of Energy has announced at least two big battery recycling plants that are being built with the help of DOE loan guarantees. I think one is in Nevada.

  127. 127.

    satby

    @Kay: The only one of our children who stayed is the unmarried, childless one – my youngest has no intention of returning. That’s not an accident.

    Exactly my point. I sometimes think lots of the red state bitterness toward blue states and “university elites” is because so many of their own children reject their lifestyle and leave. So, the red staters double down.

  128. 128.

    cain

    @Kay: Electric vehicles have a lot of zip in them thanks to all that torque – so I can see why it might be a bit frightening. It feels better in a car than in a scooter :D

  131. 131.

    Soprano2

    @geg6: It’s hard when all of the culture is telling you that it’s the happiest time of the year and that you should love it all. I wonder if there are more people who dread the holiday season than who love it. I think we all love it when we’re kids because we get a bunch of presents and don’t have to do any work. To me it’s all a lot of work. If I had my way I’d have a small tree like my grandmother did, and put up a few other decorations, but not do much else, at least for now. I do love looking at other people’s decorated houses – a couple of my neighbors have done a nice job with their houses, making them pretty but not going too far. I’m thinking about doing an adopt a family thing on my own this year to try to make the season more meaningful, because my husband’s illness is making it harder than usual for me this year.

  133. 133.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: I figure the Pueblo Chieftain* will have a good article or two on Joe Biden’s visit. Do you think the local media sites you write for will also?

    One thing I’ve noticed about the many new battery, electrolizer and EV plants spurred by Democratic legislation is that they seldom get attention from “national” news media. They get a lot from local and state media though. There are a lot of industry-focused news sites that also cover them well.

    *Did you ever read the Chieftain’s article on Pueblo’s 2021 Columbus Day celebration, where Lauren Boebert spoke? It was hilarious, especially for Patty Consentino’s comments. Consentino’s grandfather helped build Pueblo’s Columbus monument, and she remembers the Columbus Day her WWII veteran father was a guest of honor. She said of Boebert’s rambling tirade: “I didn’t come here for this shit.”

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    All those decades of effort thrown away.

    Rethuglicans want to go back in time, to when they could win by lying to everyone, including themselves, to a time when they had the power to screw up everything – so they could stay in power because they’d have something to fix. They are like the guy that has no skills or work ethic and works on his house more hours a week than on a paying job. And the results show it.

    Communications is the bane of rethuglican politics, because someone might actually learn how crappy they are at doing anything. They exist to control. And when that doesn’t work they attempt to throw a tantrum. They don’t want nor are capable of leading, only controlling. Problem is they don’t understand the difference.

  136. 136.

    Gvg

    @satby: companies should always expect to do some in house training too. Awhile back apple was complaint they couldn’t find workers that already knew everything they(apple) needed, and my dad got quite sarcastic. He said tech companies always had to train their own because they were inventing the product in house so it was naturally impossible to hire already ready people. Dads degree doesn’t match what he did because his field didn’t exist when he was in college, it happened where he worked. He was a computer designer for defense contractors. That means he designed chips and the whole physical instrument to do…things. I know he worked on night vision including for the military helicopters. Started in the space program, early home calculators next, did something on the Patriot missile system, and more I never heard about. None of that was taught in college in the early 60’s. He also had to teach in house many times. Useful that he was married to a teacher.

    Not that we should ever stop trying to do our best for our kids in public schools. That will never end. But it is a society wide thing and companies are always going to be doing some custom improving for their own specific needs.

  137. 137.

    Miss Bianca

    @Geminid: Yes, I treasure that recollection. Always funny to see Republicans start to realize just who and what it is that they have elected.

    As to the local news outlets I write for – I don’t know whether anyone is on deck to go to Pueblo. It would likely be me if it were anyone. So…probably not. Oh, well!

  139. 139.

    Soprano2

    @Betty Cracker: I’m afraid of the same thing in MO, too. Our local school system is going to lose a fantastic math teacher due to micromanagement, which I think is caused by the fact that our county opted in to the “if you’re over 65 you get a huge rollback in your property taxes” that the state legislature passed last year, so the local school system is going to lose upwards of $20 million next year and every year after that. She says it’s become unbearable, there is so much paperwork and other crap. I think it’s also partly in response to all the fuckery around libraries and other things, they’re reacting to that.

  140. 140.

    Hannah

    I love coffee with low-fat 1/2&1/2, sometimes with a vanilla flavor.

    I’m telling everyone who needs a new TV show:  SLOW HORSES on AppleTV! Season 3 starts today. I know John Cole likes it. Think John Le Carre spies gone to seed or victims of political jealousies and working in a s—thole in contemporary London. Also, it stars Gary Oldman at his seediest and Kristin Scott Thomas at her most chic/competent.

  141. 141.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud:

    But I also some people are fooled, and often choose to fool themselves.

    Sure, especially if its lies that’s comforting.  Its always easy to blame immigrants, women, billionaires or whoever for your problems than to question your own priors.

  144. 144.

    Paul in KY

    @Jeffro: ‘Yup, I know Rep Comer thinks we is stupid, inbred, hicks and all that. But, I knows he hates them blackity blacks & furriners a Hell of a lot more! So, he’s goodn nuff for me. Hyow hyow!”

  148. 148.

    StringOnAStick

    @Soprano2: Every newly retired or current teacher says the same thing, no matter where they are: The teaching aspect is great and the part they love, and everything else, the administers, the parents, the funding, is what drove them out or is about to.

  149. 149.

    glory b

    @Kay: There’s an Instagram site where they ask random (and not so random) people about their jobs, what do you do, how much you make, the best & worse parts of your job, what should someone wanting to get into the field do.

    They spoke to 2 IBEW apprentices who were making low 6 figures & were very happy with their jobs, except for some of the travel.

  150. 150.

    steverinoCT

    @eclare: I don’t know the details, like if the students are guaranteed a job with a certain GPA, but if it works like an apprenticeship, more or less, that seems like a good thing.

    My BIL lost his job as a vacuum cleaner repairman when the shop owner retired. He’s a Linux hobbiest, and signed up for a training course at General Dynamics/Electric Boat. They trained him up on their software and hired the whole passing class. Now we’re inundated with “Come build submarines!” ads. And at a training center where I went to take a cert exam, there was a big shop with a sub hull mock-up where there was training going on.

  152. 152.

    Geminid

    @steverinoCT: The same thing is going on in Tidewater Virginia. The Huntington-Ingalls shipyard there builds submarines and aircraft carriers, and the Navy shipbuilding budget jumped a few years ago. The Australian submarine deal will add even more work there and in Connecticutt.

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