I will always be sorry that I just took a photo of this instead of buying it. So sad.
I mean, seriously, there were clearly 3 of them for sale. What was I thinking?
Totally open thread.
by WaterGirl| 66 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I will always be sorry that I just took a photo of this instead of buying it. So sad.
I mean, seriously, there were clearly 3 of them for sale. What was I thinking?
Totally open thread.
by $8 blue check mistermix| 61 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Hi, All — mistermix checking in because the biggest story of 2023 hasn’t been covered yet on this fine blog. In case you haven’t heard, Lauren Boebert decided to commit political suicide by changing Congressional districts. She’s going to run for seat in CO-4 vacated by the retirement of Ken Buck instead of trying to beat Adam Frisch in her home district of CO-3. Frisch is the Democrat who came within 543 votes of beating her last time, and he has a huge lead in fundraising going into 2024.
Let’s take a quick peek at the anemic numbers that Boebert has posted so far. As of the end of September, she reported $2.4 million raised versus Frisch’s $7.7 mil. She’s also spent a good part of what she raised ($1.7 mil), probably on stupid DC consultants who think that voters will reward a chickenshit weasel move like the one she’s making. I’m going to guess that the next quarterly fundraising numbers will be similarly grim for Boebert, since she decided to cut and run a few days before they’re due.
Now let’s look at the map:
CO-4 and CO-3 cover vastly different territory. CO-4’s rural Republicans are prairie rednecks who mainly farm the dry land over there — it’s basically Western Kansas and Nebraska. CO-3’s rural Republicans are mountain rednecks on the Western Slopes where there are a lot of ski resorts, fruit orchards and high desert. CO-3 is geographically larger than CO-4, and it includes two good-sized towns (Pueblo and Grand Junction), because a good part of CO-4’s population consists of the redder parts of the crowded Front Range suburbs. So, both of the more populous areas of these districts have different interests, not that Boebert would care. Boebert’s home town (Silt, near Glenwood Springs) is a solid 4 hour drive from the edge of CO-4. In other words, it’s not like she’s in a district in the Brooklyn and decided to move over to one in Queens.
That all said, Boebert is pretty well-funded for a Republican primary candidate in an open seat election. Her Republican opponents haven’t reported any fundraising yet, and she will probably have at least $2 mil to throw into shit-talking ads. But being a shit-talker isn’t a good look when you have a four-year record of not doing shit. Frisch almost beat Boebert by highlighting her non-record of all talk and no action. I’m guessing her Republican primary opponents, who have been waiting years for Buck to retire, are going to do the same.
Though I’ve heard some analysis saying this might be bad news for Democrats, since Frisch will now probably face an at least half-sane Republican opponent who isn’t on video feeling up their significant other at a concert, I’m not convinced. I’ve CO-3 is a R+7 district, which is a tough push, but at least now we’re going to see if a well-funded Democrat running in a Presidential (higher turnout) year can flip a Trump district. I’ll be watching that race closely. Also, if Boebert does win the primary in CO-4, she’s going to draw in a lot of money for that race, making what should be an uncompetitive race in a R+13 district at least interesting. If she pulls off a primary upset, I’ll be taking a close look at Douglas, Adams and Arapahoe counties to see if the better-educated voters in those Front Range suburbs are going to tolerate an idiot like Boebert.
If you’ve read this far, I guess the moral of the hopefully final chapter in her political story is that Boebert is running true to form: as a coward. She, like most Trumpian hate-talkers, runs away at the first sign of a real fight.
(I forgot that I had called that she’d be in trouble in 2022, but I did.)
by Betty Cracker| 117 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity
Dog knows Republican hypocrisy is nothing new, but the noisy wingnut school board shouters sure contain an above-average share of depraved and violent individuals. The latest example comes from Bucks County, Pennsylvania: (Source: PhillyBurbs.com)
A former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor candidate and outspoken voice in the conservative “parental rights” school movement has been charged with punching a teenager while hosting an underage drinking party at her Bucks County home in September.
Clarice Schillinger, 36, is facing criminal charges of assault, harassment and furnishing minors with alcohol during her daughter’s birthday party, according to the case filed in late October. Her attorney has denied all charges and said she will fight them in court…
In the recent criminal case, Schillinger is accused of punching a partygoer several times in the face during a series of alleged outbursts by drunken adults at her home on Liz Circle in Doylestown, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The documents state that during the event — which started Sept. 29 and went past midnight — Schillinger’s then-boyfriend allegedly grabbed a 16-year-old by the neck for intervening in a fight between the couple and hit a 15-year-old in the face during an argument over football. According to the allegations in court papers, her intoxicated mother* also punched the older teen in the eye and chased him around the kitchen island. Police said they had cellphone recordings of some of these reported events.
The report notes it wasn’t the first time the cops had been called to Schillinger’s house to bust up melees that involved underage drinking. According to the article, Schillinger poured shots for the teens and played beer pong with them before the fisticuffs broke out.
Like the scandal-plagued Moms for Liberty, Schillinger’s group appears to be an AstroTurf outfit run by Republican operatives that started locally and then expanded. While folks who care about children agonized over the human toll of the COVID crisis and its effects on students and public schools, these pricks, along with elected officials like Youngkin and DeSantis, sensed a political opportunity.
“Back To School USA is really going to be focused on putting candidates in place that will put our children and their education first,” Schillinger said. “Right now, we are not doing that. We are more focused on these woke and gender ideas.”
Well, I’ve heard enough from these panic-mongering hypocrites. Maybe we liberals who are rightly concerned about depraved Republicans assaulting our schools and corrupting our kids should think about forming groups of our own to chase the destructive bullies out of districts and see that lawbreakers like Schillinger are brought to justice.
We could think of catchy names for our groups to attract media attention. The Ziegler and Schillinger types have already co-opted motherhood. Maybe “Americans United Nationally To Indict & Expel Fascist Assholes” or “AUNTIE FA” for short?
Open thread!
*I feel so sorry for the birthday girl. Not only did her embarrassing and inebriated mom and the mom’s abusive boyfriend attack schoolmates — her drunk grandma did too! My advice would be to apply to West Coast colleges.
Another Conservative Mom Goes Buck(s) WildPost + Comments (117)
This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
So far, the Biden-Harris Administration has protected more than 26 million acres of lands and waters. @POTUS is delivering on the most ambitious land and water conservation agenda in American history. pic.twitter.com/DC8YEy74jp
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 26, 2023
it's not just the economy ?? https://t.co/ZuFTfiVePO
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 28, 2023
'Stunning Diversity': How Joe Biden Reshaped The Courts In 2023.The president’s pace of judicial confirmations slowed, but he put historic numbers of women, people of color and public defenders on the federal bench | @jbendery HuffPost Latest News https://t.co/8LEZ8bYTVy
— Patsy Cline (@chompie97) December 29, 2023
TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: End of A Long Short WeekPost + Comments (119)
by WaterGirl| 18 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
The Ms. and I happened to be in Baltimore at the right time to visit the Miracle on 34th Street, a block of the city’s Hampden neighborhood that goes all out with fun and over-the-top holiday decorations. It did not disappoint! Hampden is a quirky neighborhood of rowhomes, known for restaurants, art galleries, and vintage shops, and its character is a mix of longtime residents and artists who began to move in during the 90s. The Christmas displays were started long before that, and have been going on for 76 years!
On The Road – Redshift – Baltimore’s Miracle on 34th StreetPost + Comments (18)
This post is in: Excellent Links, Technology
Forget the Cybertruck, US drivers need an affordable EV they can fall in love with in 2024, @liamdenning says https://t.co/DPX4VNadfr via @opinion
— Bloomberg (@business) December 28, 2023
Here’s some catnip for a select bunch of you jackals… Lots of charts & data, worth reading the whole thing: Bloomberg columnist Liam Denning says “Let’s Resolve to Ditch the $100,000 EV in 2024”:
When you’ve been speeding at 100 miles per hour, just slowing to the limit can feel like hitting a wall. That’s where the electric vehicles sector is ending 2023 and will likely stay through next year.
The bad vibes thrumming around EVs of late seemingly defy the data. Sales worldwide, including plug-in hybrids, were up by more than a third, year over year, through September. Roughly one in every five passenger vehicles sold in the third quarter was an EV, up from one-in-20 just three years before. EVs aren’t commonplace, especially here in the US, but they are no longer rare beasts either. You’ll find yellow Tesla Model 3 taxis and Ford Mustang Mach-E cop cars prowling the streets of New York.
Remarkable as that is, it is not enough. Most industries might kill for 38% growth but EV sales were rising at more than 100% less than two years ago…
Bloomberg NEF estimates 14 million EVs were sold worldwide this year, trailing the 18 million needed under its net-zero emissions scenario. More ominously, the latest estimate for 2024, 16.7 million, implies growth slowing further to 20% and trails Bloomberg NEF’s less ambitious emissions scenario too.
Growing by a fifth is still good. It just isn’t great. And this industry, along with the climate goals it underpins, needs great…
We are entering what might be dubbed a transitional year for the US vehicle transition. Tesla seems to be reaching saturation point for its older models and the Cybertruck, undoubtedly big, is unlikely to be the next big thing. Meanwhile, Detroit’s EV efforts to date recall the old joke about the restaurant with bad food and, worse, such small portions. The pool of drivers willing to pay a premium for EVs is inherently limited; the point of subsidies is to encourage the production at scale of a range of models at competitive prices and which also happen to be electric.
Getting there naturally takes time, especially with domestic content requirements layered on, and there are signs of progress, even if the fruits of that will arrive beyond 2024.
This post is in: John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road", John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"
We are here. Today was an odyssey.
Details tomorrow when I am less exhausted.