I saw this headline earlier:
“It may be one of the most important democracy decisions of our lifetimes.”
Pop quiz: Is that about funding for Ukraine? Or Jack Smith’s decision to go directly to the Supreme Court?
Oh, and to get you in the mood for the holiday:
Subaru Dianne sent me the holiday decoration!
Totally open thread.
RedDirtGirl
That’s about the size of my holiday spirit this year!
sab
I love that minimalist Christmas picture. Maybe I can get my spouse to go for that this year.
eclare
What is the answer to the quiz?
eclare
@sab:
I love it too.
zhena gogolia
I guess Supreme Court. Although the other would also be true.
WaterGirl
@eclare: I thought we might want to entertain more guesses before I give the answer?
rekoob
Given the stakes, I’ll vote for Ukraine funding.
WaterGirl
Who wouldn’t want this cheap huckster for president?
I kept this image really small so that anyone who doesn’t want to see the face can skip right past it. If you actually want to read it, you can click for a larger image.
I think (fake) Jack Smith has it right when he calls it a one time offer on cheap DNA samples for future lawsuits. Did he ever have to give his DNA to the court?
cain
So to conclude the story with my wife – she’s getting paid out to the end of the school year in June with pay and insurance. She won’t be going back. They decided to keep her file with whatever crap in there they complained about. She plans on putting a rebuttal there. But she has scrubbed her work history of working at the school. As far as she is concerned, it never happened.
The teachers and kids are going to be devastated. Her office is filled with notes from the kids and teachers. Just really sad. For 3 months she gave that school a taste of what a good school could be and that school system prioritized an incompetent woman (who took credit for all my wife’s successes) over her. She’s going to find out some things because having been given a taste of competence – that woman is going to feel some serious pressure. Also taking credit for things also means they expect you to perform that level. (well the teachers, apparently the administrators are just fine with whatever performance she’s at)
A school lost today. We should all be sad about that. We can only wonder why you’d not put successful administrators in charge and lift all boats?
WaterGirl
Highlight below for the answer to the subject of the article that headline was attached to.
Personally, I think it fits both, and I would be hard pressed to choose between the two. We’ll have to work hard to win on both fronts.
Jack Smith going straight to the Supreme Court.
catfishncod
Trick question – The answer is “both”…
Baud
@cain:
Too bad for the school, but glad she’s out.
eclare
@WaterGirl:
Gotcha! I also go with SCOTUS.
WaterGirl
My comment at #10 gave me an idea. If we were planning an insurrection, could we do it in plain sight with comments on a blog that only show up if you happen to highlight a blank area?
Insurrection planning only on comments that are multiples of 5? And only in pet threads? The Feds would never figure it out!
edit: JOKE
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I haven’t even been elected yet, and you’re already planning a coup?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Don’t forget to keep it watered, WG!
HumboldtBlue
Who ate the toilet roll?
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: So, he’s selling random scraps of cloth sourced from the discard bin at the local tailor, and calling those “authentic”?
WaterGirl
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Put it in a shot glass for water at night, clip it back in the clothespin in the morning!
NotMax
@RedDirtGirl
Seems to fit the prevailing mood?
:)
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: Worth about as much as an NFT.
HumboldtBlue
Why do Americans pronounced the letter Z as zee instead of the English way, zed.
Baud
@HumboldtBlue:
Because that’s how it’s spelled.
HumboldtBlue
Bad Lip Reading, Congress edition.
sab
@WaterGirl: Good way to get BJ shut down. Liz Cheney still thinks Portland was burned down by Antifa, and 6/9 of S Ct agree.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Contingency planning in case you don’t win.
Yarrow
Don’t know if anyone is an X-files fan, but even if you’re not this thread is great fun. Like old Twitter, when it was good. This is a Nitter link so everyone should be able to see the whole thread. It started Dec 5, so apologies if people have seen it. It keeps going, though.
https://nitter.net/laurenancona/status/1731900441800155459#m
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: Well, you can at least use a scrap of cloth for a few things. Patch a hole in something bigger. Kindling for starting a fire. Mopping up a small spill. That’s already more useful than any NFT.
Jay
@cain:
sorry for that, your wife deserves much better.
Suzanne
@dmsilev:
God. I am just crap at making money. I keep thinking one should “provide value” and “be transparent” and “do a good job at something which requires expertise and diligence”. And here is this clown selling scraps of fabric and he’s richer than I’ll ever be. I was thinking about this with George Santos charging $600 per Cameo, and tons of people are paying this clown.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Applying the Boy Scout motto?
;)
sab
@Baud: Brits are odd. 0 is pronounced “naught” (or maybe “nought” by them.)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I’ve got an idea. What if there was a huge phone/fax campaign to call on GOP members of Congress to vote to approve funding for Ukraine? To show them there’s an overwhelming show of support from Americans?
Baud
@Suzanne:
I also made the mistake of believing in these loser values.
Matt McIrvin
@WaterGirl: Ouyay ustmay alktay inay Igpay Atinlay orfay eatergray ecuritysay.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Girl Scout motto!
sab
@Matt McIrvin: I am so old that I can’t read pig Latin anymore.
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: hahaha
@sab: I am apparently not that old, because I could read it just fine. Not sure if I could have typed it out, though.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Where’s a Navajo code talker when you need one?
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Are you a voter in Trumbull County? Call your Prosecutor while you are at it.
Calls work to some extent, but only if you are in their district. Otherwise it is just an annoyance.
So you are losing Bill Johnson to YSU. So sad for YSU. Not so much for you.
NotMax
@HumboldtBlue
And why is it labour and colour but not motour, elevatour and alligatour?
Martin
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): There is no correlation between voter approval of a piece of legislation and whether it passes or not. The only correlation exists between large donors and passage.
Get your billionaire friends on the phone and its done.
CaseyL
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Traditionally, members of Congress only pay attention to people who live in their district. Tens of millions of people calling from elsewhere moves no needles.
Nowadays, though, GOP members of Congress don’t pay any attention at all to the people who live their districts, much less those who don’t. The only entities who matter to them are whoever is shoveling money their way – and right now, those entities want Ukraine support to end.
WaterGirl
Jack Smith still not taking a day off. I sure hope Trump and his attorneys aren’t starting to feel overwhelmed. //
Alison Rose
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): You’re mistaking Republican officials for people who give a shit.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: That was my guess. Do you have the link?
sab
@NotMax: I don’t know about alligatour, but elevator is lift and motor is probably engine.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Because it’s “lift.”
[Drat, I’m too slow]
Martin
@Mr. Bemused Senior: We invented the fucking thing, I think we get to name it.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl up top:
It’s festive as all fuck, and I wish I could claim credit for calling it to your notice, but ‘twasn’t me this time!
Now I’ll go back and read the comments to see if the rightful person has claimed credit.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: If you get elected, we’ll all be planning a coup. //
sab
@sab: @eclare:
Spouse said “No way!”
sab
@SiubhanDuinne: I guess I will have to have my own little personal Christmas decoration. But I have to get a spruce sprig somewhere. A yew sprig will poison the cats.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Now that three Appeals Court judges have been empaneled, expect them to expedite the question and the Supremes to shelve Smith’s request and defer to them for now.
zhena gogolia
@Yarrow: That’s cool. What’s also cool is that Michael McKean (of Spinal Tap) is in that scene.
ETA: Forgive me, David St. Hubbins.
Betty
On a serious note, Mike Johnson is a lying creep. His clip explaining his objections to Ukraine funding is full of utter nonsense. So insulting to the Ukrainian people and the sacrifices they continue to make to save their country. He needs clarity! Bah!
DesertFriar
MAGAs “If we could only touch the hem of his garment!”
eclare
@cain:
I am so sorry for your wife and the kids at that school. Everyone lost.
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Nominated.
#festiveAAF
eclare
@HumboldtBlue:
Dog guilt is so funny.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: Oooh. I rather like “alligatour.”
A lizard that went to
collegeuniversity.HumboldtBlue
@NotMax:
You ask, English nerd man answers.
NotMax
@Betty
Rusty farm implement can provide that lickety-split.
//
HumboldtBlue
@sab:
Or nil, when it comes to sports.
Bayern beat Manchester United today, 1-0, the Brits would say one-nil.
eclare
@Suzanne:
Jimmy Kimmel paid for a few, sending in ridiculous things for George to say, pretty funny.
https://youtu.be/iyoRHDkJKlo?si=ax1-Sb5B77D4FHUJ
The cameos are toward the end.
Harrison Wesley
@Elizabelle: “So what did you do in Florida?” “We took the alliga-tour!”
Martin
@HumboldtBlue: We would say ‘nil’ is incorrect. Nil means no value. ManU had a value, it was zero. Before the game it was nil-nil. After the game it was one to zero.
Cheryl from Maryland
Fab decoration. My spouse was not good at wrapping, but give him a brown paper lunch bag, some markers, and a red clothespin, and he would create the most fun gifts under the tree.
mrmoshpotato
@zhena gogolia: That’s the Christmas spirit!
Yarrow
@zhena gogolia: It’s a great thread. Old school Twitter looking for something and with help from everyone finally finding it. A feel good story.
The song has been found and is on YouTube. The two guys who wrote/performed it were amazed and overwhelmed that it has had such a fan base for so long. It’s been fun to follow. Link to song.
The whole story has been written up in Rolling Stone and a lot of other places. Feel good story for everyone.
sab
@HumboldtBlue: Webster (American born and raised and highly educated) v Caxton (English born, Flemish raised, ??educated.)
mrmoshpotato
@Yarrow: Hooray for Internet sleuthing!
RaflW
@dmsilev: It’ll have the same texture as one of his steaks.
Tony Jay
@HumboldtBlue:
Full relish, please.
The result was 0-1, because Manchester United were playing at home and absolutely had to try to win the game while hoping Copenhagen v Galatasaray ended in a draw. Bayern Munich ambled to an easy victory, never getting out of 2nd gear, while United managed one shot on their goal.
Oh, and because they finished rock bottom of their group, United don’t even qualify to drop into the Europa League, so we won’t get a chance to beat the shit out of them there as we’re going to do at Anfield in our Premier League clash on Sunday.
Will the humiliation of getting owned by Liverpool cost yet another failed United manager his job? Certainly hope so. It’s just so Christmassy!
sab
@Cheryl from Maryland: Our grand-daughter continues with her unicorn obsession.
It was hilarious to watch my 72 year old husband scannng Google in search of the perfect unicorn product for a 9 year old girl.
He had to consult me on girl stuff, like sizing, and whether zippers or hoodies were better.
He gave up on stuffed animals because of her mother. “She has nine years of large stuffed animals! Enough already! Her room is full!”
ETA When she was three we bought her a large stuffed pony. She ate its mane, which wasn’t safe for her so we got it back. Maybe I should just strap on a horn to the forehead and give it back to her. Tell her it’s a boy to go with pink and white one she already has ( girl?)
Almost Retired
@cain: I’ve followed your story with great interest – partly because I’m an almost retired employment lawyer and partly because my wife was a HS Vice Principal who went through something similar at the hands of a new principal with big ideas about educational reform (ie right wing bullshit). The new principal forced my wife out after 25 years for her resistance to nonsense. The school crashed and burned almost immediately and the principal was fired and has been a …um… consultant ever since. Meanwhile my wife got quickly snapped up by a much larger and more prestigious school and retired on her own terms last year. I hope you have the same happily ever after.
ETA: This is Los Angeles so the very temporary Principal clearly didn’t understand the community.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Hard to imagine the song isn’t listed someplace within the show’s end credits.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Yarrow
@NotMax: It was not. You have to read the Nitter thread I posted to follow the whole story and learn why. It’s apparently been a big question for 25 years for X-files fans.
Hoppie
@dmsilev: Well, NFTs did cause lots of people to look up the meaning of “fungible”, so there is that.
NotMax
@Yarrow
Will take your word for it. I don’t Twitter. Or Nitter. Browser configured to reject those outright.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@sab: I can suggest a book, Sophie Johnson Unicorn Expert
Strap-on horns feature prominently. 😁
Yarrow
@NotMax: Fair enough. Here are some media stories about it:
https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2023/12/07/hidden-gem-country-song-from-the-x-files-will-be-released-thanks-to-one-fans-extraordinary-hustle/
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/what-is-the-x-files-country-song-listen-1234918774/
sab
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Yikes! Full service blog!
I will look into it. She needs reading matter. Thank you. Good suggestion.
ETA : Originally I thought it might be dirty. Bad me. Hence the Yikes!
Layer8Problem
@DesertFriar: “And now you can! Operators are standing by!”
Brachiator
@cain:
This is very sad. I wish your wife well.
I didn’t see your previous posts on this, but it still immediately struck a chord. I have a few friends who were involved in similar situations.
Take care.
cain
@eclare: my wife cried the other day after teachers texted her saying they missed her and so did the kids. A lot of those kids are on the spectrum. It’s such a tragedy.
cain
@Almost Retired: I’m glad your wife had a happy ending!
In this case, I just can’t seem to understand why you’d not snap up someone who is just killing it in terms of building up the school – everyone wins – especially the teachers and the kids. You’d think it was good for everyone’s career. Just damn puzzling.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@sab: my granddaughter, age 8, shares this obsession.
cain
@Brachiator: Thanks – everything will work out in the end. Extraordinary people will get snapped up by people who actually understand their value.
Elizabelle
@Harrison Wesley: “We motoured over to see that colourful gator. Boo yah!”
Elizabelle
@cain: Hope this will be the beginning of the end for the bad boss.
And may your wife shine brightly at another school.
The kids are just collateral damage, I guess. Very sad.
Trivia Man
@sab: that’s why I call the years 2000-2009 the Naughties
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose:
Link to the article (CNN)
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh, dear!
HumboldtBlue
@Tony Jay: </p
Wonderfully put.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Trivia Man: And Baud’s posts from that time are the Baudy Naughties
Almost Retired
@cain: Someone will! I obviously don’t know the details about your wife’s situation, but my wife initially thought her career was over. And then found it wasn’t. There’s a lot of churn in the administrative ranks, but if you’re in a small town it may be more complicated.
wjca
I confessed that I’m amazed that nobody has thought to pick “None of the above.” Given how headline writers roll, it seems like far the likeliest choice.
WaterGirl
@wjca: Cynic!
wjca
Realist!
WaterGirl
@wjca: Truce! :-)
Gina
@Baud: Bwahahaha. You are right!
WaterGirl
.