Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

This really is a full service blog.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Republicans do not trust women.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The lights are all blinking red.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sometimes It’s the Simple Things

Sometimes It’s the Simple Things

by | 185 Comments

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I love this so much.

Auto Draft 92

Between that and finally getting my new TV set up just the way I like it with Tivo, and with my new Apple TV, today is a good day.  (Thank you, PatrickG for the friends & family discount on the Apple TV!)

My old Apple TV and Sony TV were from 2007.   They had a pretty good run!  I think my Sony TV gave out when the new uppity Apple TV arrived and said, ‘What’s up, old-timer?”

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

185Comments

  1. 1.

    VFX Lurker

    1. Yay, Apple TV!
    2. Yay, $83 million judgement! (I bought a cake from the grocery store yesterday to celebrate)
    3. For schrodingers_cat: In response to your earlier comment, I’m in the middle of switching from Evernote to Obsidian because Evernote’s current management fired all the Evernote engineers. I’m still learning Obsidian, but they have generous community support. Yesterday, the Obsidian Blog posted the community-voted 2023 Gems of the year winners. It includes a nice list of plugins, themes and tutorials.
  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    @VFX Lurker: I missed the earlier discussion about Evernote.

    I LOVED Evernote and have used it for years – it’s the repository for basically every bit of information I care about.

    But they TOTALLY FUCKED UP Evernote with the big upgrade they did awhile back, which I accidentally clicked on and they will not let you go backwards.

    I am bereft.

    What’s this about all the Evernote engineers being fired?  Does Obsidian do something similar to the old Evernote?

  4. 4.

    AM in NC

    Made Ina Garten’s lemon drizzle cake today in honor of the $83.3 million verdict.  Sweetness all around.

  6. 6.

    VFX Lurker

    @WaterGirl: shrodingers_cat asked only about Obsidian, a darned amazing note-taking software.

    I used Evernote as my digital filing cabinet for 13+ years. When the software changed and the price went up, I didn’t think too much about it. However, when I learned that the new owners laid off most of the Evernote staff in 2023, I knew I’d better move my notes to another location.

    Evernote has lots of competition, but I decided to replace it with my ScanSnap software for my Fujitsu ScanSnap scans, Obsidian for notes, and Calibre Library for PDF books. I set up regular backup copies of all three folders to my Dropbox folder, and I signed up for Obsidian Sync to view Obsidian notes on my phone.

    I’m using “Yarle” to port my Evernote ENEX exports to Obsidian, though Obsidian is working on improvements to its own Evernote->Obsidian importer plugin.

  8. 8.

    Jackie

    Alina Habba throws majority of TIFG voters under the bus, defiantly calling the mostly white non college educated male jurors, who rewarded Carroll $83.3 million, “those ridiculous jurors.”

    Keep it up Alina!

  9. 9.

    Kristine

    I upgraded my Apple TV device last year when it could no longer access the PBS app because it was so old. I also needed to port whatever Disney Plus program I was watching to my TV via my phone because that app couldn’t work with the old device. Definite improvement overall, but I did go in to each streaming service to turn off every autoplay I could find. I still don’t like that Disney Plus shrinks the end credits so it can show a still of the movie it thinks you might want to watch next. I’m one of those people who likes the credits.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    Enjoy the new rig!

    Got a new set–Sony–last summer and bequeathed my never-say-die Samsung to the kid. 4K OLED FTW, but the whole Google TV infrastructure ain’t terribly user-friendly. Integrating TV with the receiver via the latest HDMI standard eventually had me upgrading that box as well–the knock-on effects got loud on my wallet.

    OTOH 4K is fricking amazing, as is Dolby Atmos.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @trollhattan:  This is the TV I just got.  I did NOT want Google TV or Roku TV built-in, so there weren’t a ton of options but this turns out to be a great TV.  4k OLED, etc

    I was able to turn off or hide all the crap, and as of today am finally able to turn the TV on and automatically be in whatever I was doing when I turned off the TV.  If I was watching thru Tivo, that’s what comes up.  If I was watching Apple TV, that’s what comes up.  No stupid cluttered main screen for me to go through.

    Yay!  I bought mine through Crutchfield.

    LG OLED42C3PUA

  19. 19.

    VFX Lurker

    @WaterGirl: Can you import Evernote notes into Obsidian?

    Yes! This is the process:

    • From Evernote, right-click on a Notebook and choose “Export notebook…”
    • Choose ENEX format, check all the boxes, and save the ENEX file to disk.

    You can then use an Obsidian plugin to import the ENEX file into your Obsidian folder. Or, you can get fancy and use Yarle. Both methods get covered here on this Obsidian help page.

    Because I made heavy use of the Evernote web clipper, I am using Yarle to convert my notes. It is more thorough at this time. However, the Obsidian team is offering a $300 bounty to whoever can fix reported issues with their own Evernote importer over the next 10 days.

  21. 21.

    FelonyGovt

    @WaterGirl: About Evernote (and you and I have discussed this)– they completely ruined it as far as I was concerned. I was a paid subscriber for years, cancelled my subscription in December and have not looked back. I’ve moved almost everything to Apple Notes, and what I couldn’t move, I’ve saved as favorites or Reading List in Safari and/or as spreadsheets.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @VFX Lurker: I loved the web clipper, and then several years ago it just stopped working.  I am on a mac.  It seemed like they removed that feature?

    Or maybe they still had it, but it stopped doing things the way I wanted?

  24. 24.

    FelonyGovt

    @WaterGirl: I loved the Evernote web clipper and like you, it stopped working well for me (on a Mac as well) a year or two ago. Just one more reason…

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    @WaterGirl: ​
    Well bought! They’re remarkably reliable now, too, versus our old HEAVY CRTs (there’s that non-word again).

    I headed to Costco to buy either the Sony or LG closest to my wishes, both were on sale. First store had the LG but no Sonys in stock–a check found another area store with plenty of each. What I also saw was a couple hundred more knocked off the Sony below the on-line price making it the cheaper option. Off we went and nabbed that deal. Sweet!

    Postscript–the kid had made a schoolhouse out of the Samsung box at the time I got that, so it’s a little prosaic she now has the in her college apt.

  31. 31.

    eclare

    @WaterGirl:

    That looks very nice!  I bought my Panasonic plasma tv around 2007 from Crutchfield.  Still going strong, although the speakers aren’t as good as they used to be.

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    @eclare: When I found the TV it was $896.  A few days later, I went to buy and it was $1,086.  But they have the 60-day price guarantee thing, so if the price goes down they send you the difference.

    I looked on Wednesday and it was back down to $896, so they deposited $220 in my checking account.

    Very happy with them.

  40. 40.

    JoyceH

    Apropos of nothing whatsoever, here’s a puzzle I’ve been pondering. Assume a state wants to gas a death row inmate. Okay – why nitrogen? Why not the suicide’s gas of choice, carbon monoxide, the gas so painless that it kills people every year because they don’t even realize it’s happening? They SAY they don’t want the execution to be painful, right?

  41. 41.

    VFX Lurker

    @WaterGirl:

    I loved the web clipper, and then several years ago it just stopped working.  I am on a mac.  It seemed like they removed that feature?

    Or maybe they still had it, but it stopped doing things the way I wanted?

    PC/Android here. The web clipper still worked for me until I froze my Evernote usage in general, in preparation for porting Evernote notebooks to Obsidian. I think other notetaking apps also have web clippers, but I have not yet tried them.

    I’m not happy about Evernote circling the drain. I loved using it as a digital filing cabinet. However, I’m glad I found Obsidian.

  43. 43.

    karen marie

    Since we’re talking TV, I have a movie recommendation.

    Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse – “A struggling comedy duo discovers that surviving the apocalypse is almost as difficult as surviving in Hollywood.”

    I watched it on Prime a few years ago and loved it.  It’s free to stream now on Plex.  Watch it while you can!

  44. 44.

    RSA

    @JoyceH:  Why not the suicide’s gas of choice, carbon monoxide, the gas so painless that it kills people every year because they don’t even realize it’s happening?

    Reddit has some interesting comments here:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9uwpye/why_dont_we_use_carbon_monoxide_for_capital/

    The most plausible answers, I think, have to do with danger to staff and observers, in case procedures go wrong. Apparently carbon monoxide is flammable, and it can cause permanent damage even at small doses.

    All this was new to me, and interesting.

  47. 47.

    SeattleDem

    @RSA:

    nitrogen is also painless and sneaky. NASA has lost several batches of employees who got into nitrogen atmosphere rooms and didn’t notice until they fell over and died.

  48. 48.

    Hob

    @JoyceH: Asphyxiation by nitrogen (or any other inert gas, like helium) is painless, in itself. We know this from a long history of people who came close to dying from it but were rescued, and were able to recount how they didn’t even notice anything was happening till they passed out. For that reason, advocates for legalizing assisted suicide have for many years promoted nitrogen as a method, and it’s been used that way quite a bit. That’s also true of carbon monoxide, which if it’s in very high concentrations normally produces unconsciousness and death pretty quickly.

    The issue is not really that one is reliable and the other isn’t (although as RSA’s comment points out, there are some other issues about handling CO). It’s that the prison in Alabama did this in a way that was virtually guaranteed to be slow and painful regardless of what gas they used. If you’re trying to painlessly die by inhaling either CO or N, you do not put a mask over your face, because 1. if it doesn’t fit well then some outside air will get in and slow down the whole process, 2. if it does fit well then you have a small chamber preventing exhaled carbon dioxide from dissipating, and CO2 is what causes the desperate feeling of air-hunger when you hold your breath, 3. having compressed gas blasted directly into your face is in itself painful. Whatever prison employee put this together may not have had any medical expertise, but it’s also likely that they simply didn’t give a shit, since at least one euthanasia expert had viewed their setup and immediately told them all of the reasons it was wrong.

    If they took their alleged goal of quickness and painlessness seriously, they would use a large hood or a sealed room, not a mask. To be clear, I’m not advocating for this, or for any form of execution. And I think even if they had gone through the motions of doing it “right”, they would’ve still found some way to fuck it up, because they don’t actually care about quickness and painlessness. But the problem was not that inert gas asphyxia in itself is unreliable or poorly understood.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @VFX Lurker: PC Magazine and Reddit both have reviews of competitors to Evernote, so I have a little bit of homework to do.

    But I was just hating on Evernote earlier today, so the timing for someone mentioning Evernote is good.

  54. 54.

    TBone

    Courtesy of tiedrich today (simple thing):

    Hey look, it’s the Patriot Front!

    shut the fuck up.
    you dudes are white supremacists, right?
    shut the fuck up.
    what are you guys doing in New York?
    shut the fuck up.
    you seem to be having some trouble with these subway turnstiles.
    shut the fuck up.
    you know, millions of people use these turnstiles every day. none of them have the problem you’re having.
    shut the fuck up.
    many of them are blacks and Jews.
    shut the fuck up.
    look, you put your fare card there, slide it, and go. why is that so hard for you?
    shut the fuck up.
    by the way, what’s with the masks?
    shut the fuck up.
    is it because you don’t want anyone to know how stupid you are?
    shut the fuck up.
    because nothing says “master race” more than “outwitted by a turnstile.”
    shut the fuck up.
    more like disaster race, am I right?
    shut the fuck up.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Suwr2uDKmLA

  55. 55.

    Ken

    @JaySinWA:  I think they believe that’s how lawyers are supposed to work.

    That was one of Brian Manookian’s points in his twitter thread. Each time Carroll’s lawyers introduced evidence, Habba said “No objection.” Manookian speculated that was because she’d seen it done in other trials. But, he went on to point out, that had the effect of waiving any grounds for appeals on evidentiary issues.

  56. 56.

    zhena gogolia

    My People magazine e-mail alerts used to all be about royals and Kardashians. Now they’re all horrible murders. Why???

  58. 58.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Republicans saying the quiet parts out loud: their goal is to eliminate trans healthcare for everyone, regardless of age, but “I think what we know legislatively is we have to take small bites.”

    It’s part of the larger end goal of eradicating trans people from public life. Project 2025 explicitly purposes a strategy of legally defining anything having to do with trans people as inherently obscene, and then outlawing obscenity — including trans people appearing in public anywhere children might be present, i.e. everywhere.

    I really don’t want to restart the shitshow thead of the other day, but yeah, if you don’t know a trans friend who’s terrified by all this, you don’t have a trans friend, you merely have a trans acquaintance.

  60. 60.

    Dan B

    @Sister Golden Bear: Trans people are the replacement for Abortion.  There must be Monsters!

    They’re also looking to eliminate all LGBTQ people.  Immigrants are also part of the bundle.

    Hang in there.

  62. 62.

    pajaro

    One of the nice thoughts one can have concerning the Trump case is how much the jurors seem to have been turned off by Trump.  Imagine going from 3 million to over 80 in the space of a few months.  Like Giuliani, he was really punished for being unable to keep his mouth shut during trial.

    I never thought there was a chance Trump would testify at any of his criminal trials, but this just makes it so much more likely that he won’t take the stand.  That’s good for the rest of us, as it’s going to be much more difficult for the defense to argue his lack of criminal intent when the defendant himself is not testifying to what he claims he really believed.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @SeattleDem:

    There have been issues at factories, too, e.g. the 2021 Georgia incident with liquid nitrogen:

    The liquid nitrogen leak occurred shortly after 10:00 a.m. EST.[2] It was falsely initially reported to have been an explosion.[4] The leak occurred in a freezer room at the plant.[7] Three workers entered the freezer room and immediately died of asphyxiation.[1][8] Additional workers subsequently entered the room, two of whom also died immediately.[7] A sixth person died while being transported to the hospital.[4] Local and county firefighters were notified by 10:12 a.m. of burn victims at the plant;[4] they arrived to find evacuated workers, some injured, outside the building.[2] At least four firefighters reported respiratory issues and were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center.[2][4] About 130 factory workers were bussed to a Free Chapel church campus in Gainesville and examined for injuries; some were hospitalized.[4] Of the ten people who were hospitalized, three were placed in intensive care.[4]

    :-(

    The nitrogen liquid to gas expansion ratio is 1:694, so it doesn’t take a large liquid leak to create a huge amount of gas and oxygen depletion in a confined space. And even if it doesn’t kill you immediately, it only takes a relatively small reduction in the amount of oxygen in the air to cause problems.

    The sooner we outlaw capital punishment the better.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    zhena gogolia

    Charles Fried has died.

    At the Harvard panel last year, titled “Why I Changed My Mind,” Mr. Fried said his intellectual evolution from conservative to moderate had also been shaped by conversations with his adult children and grandchildren. “We talk, and I have to listen as well as talk,” he said. “So, in the course of that, it has changed me.”

  66. 66.

    Alison Rose

    If any jackals in the Vegas area are looking for a new pad: This $6M “underground swinger house” in Vegas is impossible to sell

    From the street, the two-story house at 3970 Spencer St. in Las Vegas looks like any other suburban tract home. But in this case, looks are deceiving: Tucked underneath it is a 1970s-themed party paradise, a whopping 14,000-square-foot space complete with a pool, dance floor and pole for dancing — all completely hidden 26 feet underground.

    “It’s pretty surreal,” the house’s listing agent, Stephan LaForge, told SFGATE, speaking of the basement, where part of the space looks like you’re outside even though you’re belowground. “You step off the elevator onto a yard with trees, and you’re looking at a house, and you look up at a painted sky.”

    The trees are fake; several of them hide steel beams that support the entire structure. The yard’s “grass” is green carpet, and faux boulders are strewn across the “grounds,” along with ’70s-era yard furniture. There are two hot tubs, a putting green, a sauna, a grilling area and a separate guesthouse.

    …

    The home’s subterranean features could have some other benefits, however. One social media user described it as an “underground swinger house,” and LaForge says that’s a valid use case.

    “Honestly, it would be a great use, because you want someplace where nobody’s going to peek through the windows,” LaForge said, adding that one potential buyer was interested in purchasing the home and using it as a swinger’s club.

    The photos are really something.

  67. 67.

    VFX Lurker

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks so much. I was also wondering if there are any YT channels you could recommend for Obsidian.

    I’m watching a lot of Nicole van der Hoeven’s YouTube channel. She has great tips and tricks.

    This 12-minute No Boilerplate “Hack your brain with Obsidian.md” video has a great overview of starting from scratch with Obsidian. I especially liked his suggestion of creating placeholders for later notes while writing a note.

    The official Discord server for Obsidian is also helpful.

    I also borrowed the audiobook of Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain from my library. He has two key thoughts:

    • Write things down so you don’t forget them
    • Organize that you can find your note when you need it.

    His book has suggestions on how to write and organize notes to make them easier to find later.

    I have not yet adopted his “PARA Method” folder structure, but his book affected the way I write notes. I try to condense each note I write to the most important information from a lecture, book or article, with a link to the source material in case I really want to take the time to re-read or re-watch. I then highlight the most important info in each of my notes so that it stands out when I review the note. I also add tags to my notes if I’m not sure the writing alone is enough for the Obsidian search engine to find it.

    I’m still learning Obsidian, but so far it’s been great.

    One more thing: make sure you have a backup solution for your notes! Whatever you use to back up your most important documents on your computer should also be used to backup your Obsidian folder.

  68. 68.

    VFX Lurker

    @Kristine: I used EverNote for a while, then switched to Apple’s native Notes app. What extras does Obsidian offer?

    In my case, I needed an escape route from Evernote. Obsidian fit the bill. Obsidian also has a nice graph representation of one’s notes and how they link together.

    If you’re happy with Apple Notes, stick with Apple Notes. I’m leaving Evernote because the new owners fired most of the existing Evernote staff, so I am not confident about Evernote’s future as as service. As far as I know, Apple Notes has no such management trouble.

  70. 70.

    teezyskeezy

    One simple joy is that the number of comments was pisces when I got here, aka SIXTY NINE, DUDE! and that is a simple thing I enjoyed and now am ruining it for everyone by commenting which puts us to 70 now.

     

    PS-I only find that juvenilia funny because of Bill and Ted.

  71. 71.

    FelonyGovt

    @Sister Golden Bear: That link is fucking horrifying. Trans people, like women of childbearing age, don’t really know what they want and/or can’t be permitted to decide what’s best for them.  Because these fuckers are the sole arbiters of what is “wrong”. We have to stomp them.

  72. 72.

    teezyskeezy

    @Sister Golden Bear: These anti-trans people are monsters and *they* are the ones who must be removed from public life and I want to be clear that just means ridiculed and ignored and left to fume and gnaw at themselves in the indignity of their evil in the darkness they’ve prepared for themselves.

  73. 73.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Dan B: Doing my best. But I admit, I’m starting to dust off my ex fil plans to flee to another country if it comes down to it — which I admit is an extremely privileged thing to do be able to even contemplate.

  74. 74.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    That’s horrifying. I’m so sorry. I read through that article and it makes my blood boil how these fucks think they should decide what other people should do with their lives. There has to be something that can be done to stop them, sooner rather than later

  75. 75.

    FelonyGovt

    @Alison Rose: I have a R/E broker’s license and about 5 years ago I helped a friend (female, my age) purchase a condo. We saw a lot of strange ones… including a “swinger’s condo”, so described by the selling broker, similar to the one you linked to in intention, if not quite as “lavish”. My friend and I had a good laugh about that one.

  76. 76.

    gene108

    @TBone:

    That’s a fuck ton of turnstile jumpers. They just gave up using the MTA cards and had one dude prop a turnstile open. What total pecker heads.

    It’s a NYC subway. NYC has a lot of visitors. Find someone and ask them for basic help, like directions or how to use the transit card. It’s not uncommon.

  77. 77.

    Alison Rose

    @Sister Golden Bear: It’s utterly repugnant. I have a number of trans and/or nonbinary friends, or kids or partners of friends, and I’ve heard from many of them that they are seriously considering leaving the country. But of course, that’s not an option for everyone, or even for most people, and it must be terrifying to know you have to stay here and that your very existence could become impossible if the GOP has their way

    (ETA to note I meant “you” in a general sense, not you specifically, SGB, since of course I don’t know your circumstances re: moving)

  83. 83.

    Alison Rose

    @SteveinPHX: LOL I wouldn’t spend one minute in Vegas. No, it was on the SFGate homepage and that headline caught my eye, as you might expect.

    I do have a friend in Vegas who is a bit of a sexual heathen though, so I sent it to her and told her she and some friends should crowdfund for it :P

  88. 88.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @AM in NC: I made a lemon icebox pie in honor of Betty Cracker who posted about making one earlier this week. I’d never heard of a lemon icebox pie before she posted but am excited to try it out.

  89. 89.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @teezyskeezy:

    I think wherever it’s possible, referendums should be placed on the ballot to protect LGBTQ+ rights like with reproductive health/abortion. I’d hope they would pass with similar margins

  90. 90.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @SeattleDem:

    I vaguely remember a story from many years ago in central Washington of people breaking into a fruit and vegetable storage facility and later being found dead because the facility used a nitrogen atmosphere to reduce spoilage (longer term storage). I lived in Spokane then and I think it was in the early 80’s.

  91. 91.

    Dangerman

    Donnie might be on the hook for about half a billion next week.He’ll be lucky if Melania doesn’t jam a stiletto in his ass. I mean we know who wears the pants in that family.

    No, I didn’t just turn on the Baud signal.

  95. 95.

    SteveinPHX

    @Alison Rose: No interest in Vegas either! I couldn’t afford the mailbox on that address!

    And I don’t know how you could have a good sound system in an underground cavern like that. Everything would sound like “Monster Mash,”

     

    @Alison Rose:

  96. 96.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @teezyskeezy:

    Oh no, I meant to reply to you. I was just continuing my thoughts from the first comment you replied to of mine

    ETA:

    Secondary concern is what they’re going to try to define as “obscenity” and how far they’ll go

  99. 99.

    TriassicSands

    What to say to Donald Trump, who just got clobbered for $83.3 million:

    1.  It wasn’t nearly enough, you digusting, woman-hating POS.
    2.  Take it like the man you are not, you whiny, sniveling loser.
    3.  Keep on talking you moron, maybe the next judgment will be for $500 million; still not enough, you rapist.
    4.  Only a real asshole would use other people’s money to pay for his own criminal behavior.
    5. Why do you need to grab “pussy?” You’re the biggest pussy on the planet.
    6.  Can you spell schadenfreude?
  100. 100.

    teezyskeezy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Well I am a pessimist so I think there won’t be that much pushback.  Everyone likes their own “imagery,” and we all know the right wing voters probably have questionable taste about what imagery they prefer, so we think, ah, they can’t outlaw porn cuz they only have weird freaks who are into weird ass porn voting for them where will their base GOOO??? But these voters we are talking about will keep voting against their own interests even when that starts to be about their web browsing interests and not just economic.  They aren’t the most rational of players.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Hob: I think that very few people who have the necessary expertise to kill people without torturing them are willing to participate in executions. And the state doesn’t really not want to torture them, though this raises constitutional objections.

  102. 102.

    Alison Rose

    This is from a couple of months ago, but this Daily Show segment with Ronny Chieng as the host and John Oliver as the guest, discussing being immigrants and doing comedy and such was really great. Choice quote from John, regarding how immigrants have to constantly prove they “belong” her and they like the country and such: “What is more quintessentially American than coming to a country you don’t belong in and deciding you’re going to stay?”

  104. 104.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Alison Rose: I’m fortunate that I have enough assets (a home in NorCal) and savings that I’ve got options. But still, the prospect of having to leave a place I’ve lived all my life, of the life I’ve built here, with possibility without even being able of visiting again… well… Plus pre-survivors’ guilt about being able to potential do so when so many of my fellow trans people can’t. But OTOH, I wouldn’t be help them from afar if I’m effectively (or literally) in a concentration camp myself.

    it must be terrifying to know you have to stay here and that your very existence could become impossible if the GOP has their way

    I’ve heard from people in that people in that people and it’s absolutely terrifying for them. We saw an increase in suicide attempts among trans kids right after those states banned trans healthcare for kids.

  106. 106.

    Alison Rose

    @teezyskeezy: Oh, the 1st too, but it only applies them. “Freedom of speech? Yes, but only when WE speak. Freedom of religion? Yes, but only for OUR specific religious beliefs. Freedom of the press? Yes, but only for Fox and NewsMax. Freedom of assembly? Yes, but only for our Nazi rallies and attempted coups.”

  107. 107.

    RSA

    On Evernote, from arstechnica:

    Evernote, the app that has sought for two decades to find a large paying audience for its “external brain,” is moving its operations to Italy, home of its parent company Bending Spoons. It’s yet another big shift for a company that’s been useful, but not quite profitable, since at least 2004.

    Bending Spoons, which acquired Evernote in November 2022, had laid off 129 workers in February 2023, stating that Evernote had been “unprofitable for years” and “unsustainable in the long term.” Whatever unspecified number of remaining employees remain in the US (and Chile) received notice of the move on June 23, then the layoff on July 5, according to a company blog post. Staffers typically received 16 weeks of salary, one year of health insurance, and a pro-rated performance bonus, along with assistance for those working on visas.

    “Our plans for Evernote are as ambitious as ever: Going forward, a dedicated (and growing) team based in Europe will continue to assume ownership of the Evernote product,” wrote Francesco Patarnello, Evernote’s CEO. “This team will be in an ideal position to leverage the extensive expertise and strength of the 400-plus workforce at Bending Spoons, many of whom have been working on Evernote full-time since the acquisition.”

    I’m guessing that the company could have offered Bay Area engineers the option to move to Milan and join the engineering team there? I’m not sure what people think is fair when it comes to international acquisitions.

  108. 108.

    VFX Lurker

    @Sister Golden Bear: Doing my best. But I admit, I’m starting to dust off my ex fil plans to flee to another country if it comes down to it — which I admit is an extremely privileged thing to do be able to even contemplate.

    My late Armenian grandmother, who survived the Armenian Genocide at age 7, had a saying: “It’s better to be kesh than esh.” Literally: “It’s better to be ‘evil’ than stupid.” A gentler interpretation might be: “It’s better to be selfish than stupid.”

    Examples of me being ‘evil’ from my own life: quitting a toxic workplace instead of suffering for others; leaving an ailing company for a much better job instead of staying for my struggling co-workers; blocking toxic people on social media.

    If your frickin’ life is on the line, don’t worry about us. Do what’s best for you.

    (Hoping it doesn’t come to that, hoping the bigotry gets purged from this country, hoping you can stay in safety).

  109. 109.

    Alison Rose

    @Sister Golden Bear: Do you know if there are funds or organizations, akin to abortion funds, for trans folks? Like, places people can donate to and where trans people could go to for aid with travel costs or such? I don’t have money to spare right now, but if there are things like that, I’d certainly want to signal-boost them at least. I’m familiar with orgs like Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Transgender Equality, but I wonder if there are more direct and quick for people to get financial aid?

  110. 110.

    teezyskeezy

    @Alison Rose: speaking of religion…kidding. I believe in solidarity until our common enemy is vanquished…and then prob more solidarity after that. I’m easy going irl.

  113. 113.

    Chetan Murthy

    @VFX Lurker:

    “It’s better to be selfish than stupid.”

    Sister Golden Bear is in NorCal, like me.  If our state government were acting with a sense of purpose to prepare for the possibility of a Fascist takeover, if they were preparing to resist, to defy unjust Federal edicts, if they were banding together with other Blue states to do the same, if they were training militas to resist, then it would make sense to hang around: b/c an organized resistance can prevail.  So, somewhat like Ukraine.

    But if our state governments don’t do this (and that’s what appears to be the case) then if TFG wins, it’ll be like Syria: a sporadic and unorganized resistance, which the military can roll over without stopping.

    I have a relative who said to me that if TFG wins in 2024, she’d “stay and fight”.  I wanted to  say to her “fight with what?  You can’t shoot, and you’ve always been a peaceful person.  What you mean is that you’d resist peacefully; and the Fascists would grind you up for hamburger.”  I didn’t, b/c why be that hurtful.  Unless we can see our state governments actually standing up real resistance and defiance, it’s *stupid* to stay if you can leave.  Unless of course, you think you’ll be safe.

  114. 114.

    evodevo

    @Hob: Yep…I explained the physiology of this on LGM a couple of hrs ago…you don’t feel like you are “smothering” if the setup is getting rid of CO2 as it is exhaled.  A normal human does NOT notice a lack of O2 until they pass out; it’s the buildup of carbon dioxide that makes one feel like they are smothering.

  115. 115.

    eclare

    @Alison Rose:

    That was great, especially the discussion of what immigrants to America go through under the “right” way to get a visa, green card, or citizenship.  John is such a gifted comedian/journalist, glad he wanted to come here.

  117. 117.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @pajaro: i heard quite a few of the jurors were from the suburbs of NYC not proper NYC(apparently the jurors are selected from an x mile boundary area.) So not only 6 white males on the jury but also suburban residents. Also, several didn’t have a college education. He really should have had one holdout.

  118. 118.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Chetan Murthy:

    I mean, you’re talking about preparing for a hot civil war. If blue state governments did as you suggest right now, red state governments would follow suit and things would escalate from there. I think blue state governments want to avoid that and follow the rule of law

  119. 119.

    different-church-lady

    1. Acknowledge the loss (“Hey asshole, you finally got a little bit of what you deserve!”)

    2. Offer comfort (“But hey, everyone does things that seem like a good idea at the time. I mean, not this kind of shit, that’s really fuckin’ dumb, but hey.”)

    3. Share a memory (“Remember when you thought grabbing them by the pussy was all fun and games?”)

    4. Tell them how you can help (“Are you familiar with the expression, ‘Tough titties?’”)

    5. Recognize how difficult the grieving process can be (“This shit sucks. You’re probably a pile of incoherent goo right now.”)​​​

  121. 121.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): No, not a hot civil war, but rather, prepare for outright defiance, in concert with other Blue states.  If they did that, the Fash would have to back down.  B/c we’re the ones who generate all the money, all the wealth.

    For instance, if all the Blue states *together* announced that they would NOT allow enforcement of anti-abortion laws, and that they had criminalized anybody who voted for such a law, this would stop such laws in their tracks.  Those Talibangelicals may like to live in fucking Texas, but they still wanna parTAY in California and NYC.

  122. 122.

    Alison Rose

    @eclare: If you’ve never seen it, the Last Week Tonight episode on “Legal Immigration” is incredible. He goes into a lot of detail about how people come here, how hard it is, all the limitations on country caps and such, and really puts the lie to the “get in line” bullshit from xenophobes.

  124. 124.

    RaflW

    For people who live in the dozen or so safer states for trans people, please become attuned to networks that are providing aid to folks who are trying to relocate from actively anti-trans states.

    These internally displaced people and their families are looking for short term housing while they try to afford new rent deposits, accompaniment to services like getting driver’s licenses replaced, just all the tasks and costs of starting over.

    As soon as I get a link and the okay to post it from a trusted nonprofit doing some of this work (I attended a presentation last week from a very reputable org, they’re still finishing some details because the anti-trans environment is so hostile that even posting a public facing fundraising campaign needs extra vigilance and security), I’ll be sharing it here on Balloon Juice.

  125. 125.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I think blue state governments want to avoid that and follow the rule of law

    Red states are planning for, or have already enacted, laws that criminalize helping somebody cross state lines to get an abortion, right?  That’s an abortion in a state where it’s legal.  So Blue states should (again, in concert) criminalize *passing such laws*, as well as making it a tort (in the form of the $10k bounty for anybody who helps somebody get an abortion).  Do the same thing for all officials who defy federal law[1].  And all of this is legal, b/c after all, that’s exactly what these Red States are doing.

    What the Blue states are doing, is not “follow the rule of law” but rather “unilateral disarmament”.  They’re hoping that “if we don’t poke the bear, he won’t wake up and eat us.”  Sure, maybe.  But that’s the same thing as doing nothing to prepare for the bear’s awakening.  And sure, maybe that’s the smart move.  But in that case, anybody who *can* flee, *should* flee.  B/c when the bear wakes up, we’ll have done nothing to prepare for it, nothing to protect ourselves.

    [1] I’m referring here to Gov. Abbott and his cronies and what they’re doing at the Texas border.  Make that a California crime: a felony.  So that none of those Texas officials can ever visit California.  Or WA/OR/NY/MA/etc.  Make these bastards *stay* in their hellholes.  Confiscate all their property in the Blue states.  All of it.

  126. 126.

    RaflW

    @Alison Rose: I can say that at least regionally, PFund Foundation is raising and distributing money to assist in relocations for people coming to Minnesota.

    My post a bit above also touches on the notion that another way people can contribute is through volunteering. If one lives in any of the safer states, there are efforts under way to find short term hosts, people able to do accompaniment work (drive people who might not have access to a car, just go wait in line with a vulnerable feeling newcomer at the social services agency or DMV office, etc) or bake and deliver cookies.

    There may also been need for overnight accomodations for people transiting less-safe states who can’t afford a hotel or don’t feel safe accessing commercial accommodations where using a bathroom “of the wrong gender” could be illegal (ie: fucking Florida).

    IOW there are likely non-cash ways we can help, in addition to your generous wish to give when you might be able to.

  127. 127.

    Alison Rose

    @RaflW: Unfortunately with my health issues, I can’t really do any non-cash things either. But being able to spread the word about places folks can donate to/volunteer for would be a small thing I could do.

  129. 129.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Alison Rose: Even for people who “do everything right” it is interminable and infuriating. I know I posted many comments here about the tribulations my son (a US citizen) and his wife (not) went through to allow her to get her GC. It really, really tested their relationship.

  130. 130.

    Tony G

    I suggest that every one of the members of Trump’s MAGA cult send him one dollar to help him pay this fine.  That’ll make a dent!

  131. 131.

    RaflW

    @Alison Rose: Cool, thanks. For now what I know is PFund linked above, and I’ll post soon about the Pink Haven program (the name is not embargoed – details TBA).

  132. 132.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @VFX Lurker:

    My late Armenian grandmother, who survived the Armenian Genocide at age 7, had a saying: “It’s better to be keshthan esh.” Literally: “It’s better to be ‘evil’ than stupid.” A gentler interpretation might be: “It’s better to be selfish than stupid.”

    Oh definitely. I’m hoping it won’t come down to that.

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Unless we can see our state governments actually standing up real resistance and defiance, it’s *stupid* to stay if you can leave.  Unless of course, you think you’ll be safe.

    Exactly. I’d like to think that we’d see Blue States united, but I’ve seen too many instances in the past where people were willing to throw LGB, and especially T, folks under the bus for the sake of “maintaining the peace.” I mean FFS, in Maine after right-wing attacks Democrats just voted down a trans refuge law (similar to California and 13 other states) with the cosponsor recommending his own bill be killed in committee.

  133. 133.

    Alison Rose

    @Gin & Tonic: Yeah, Oliver really makes it clear how infuriating and archaic and exhausting the whole process is. And how absurdly long the wait times from some countries can be. Like decades. And people fucking wonder why some come without documentation.

  134. 134.

    Almost Retired

    @RaflW:  I did some research on behalf of a dear high school friend in my wretched Iowa hometown about support networks to relocate her trans son.  I think it was called Transcend, and it focused on LGBTQ plus (why can’t I find the plus sign on my phone) in Iowa and the Dakotas to get healthcare and relocate.  IIRC they did a lot more than just hand out bus tickets to Minneapolis.  But moving to Minneapolis is no panacea.  It’s just damages mitigation.

  135. 135.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Alison Rose: There is an organization raising relocation funds for at least 100 families with trans kids who were fleeing Ohio — IIRC that was about a fifth of all families with trans kids receiving trans care in the state. Don’t remember the name off hand.

    There are other efforts as well, but some of them are intentionally under the radar due to laws in some states making it a felony to help trans kids get healthcare out of state — just like with abortion. Texas is already trying to threatening a hospital in Washington to force them to turn over health records to enforce this.

  136. 136.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Sister Golden Bear: I fully expect that if TFG is reinstalled, even CA will knuckle under.  Federal agents will conduct roundups of undocumented, abortion will be criminalized and abortion clinics will be shuttered and doctors prosecuted, and there won’t be any real pushback.[1]  B/c the vast middle class will go “but my mortgage!”  It’ll be the do-gooder Dem version of the Texan Bubba’s “but muh boat!”

    This is part of why I get so angry when people talk about how TFG’s indictments mean he’s seeing “consequence”.  No, “consequences” is him in prison, not able to run for President. All this court action is just a cost of doing business for him: and he’s been litigating like this throughout his life — it’s just business-as-usual.

    [1] what woud real pushback be?  Sadly, only assassinations and firebombings would be enough.  Marches?  Demonstrations?  Pfft.  He’ll invoke the Insurrection Act and send in his Bureau of Prisons goons, like he did in DC during the Floyd protests.

  139. 139.

    frosty

    @Chetan Murthy: “Blue states”. JFC there are no blue states. There are blue cities in a sea of red. You think Bakersfield is going to go along with what SF and LA want? Not a chance.

  140. 140.

    Alison Rose

    @Chetan Murthy: I don’t know if it’s fair to say California would knuckle under. CA under Newsom has been pretty damn strong defending abortion rights, queer rights, etc, and pretty vociferous in denouncing such attacks. You seem fairly certain that all the Dems in our state government are only pretending to care and would easily give it up. Why is that?

  141. 141.

    Chetan Murthy

    @frosty: That’s what a state militia is for.  To use force if necessary.  We outnumber the Neanderthals in Bakersfield; they can and should be made to bend the knee.

  142. 142.

    Alison Rose

    @Chetan Murthy: Dude, are you Ksmiami? You want the state to send a militia into red cities/counties to use brute force to make them provide abortions or something? WTF?

    I can’t recall — were you the one who just recently moved here, or was that another commenter? Honestly not sure.

  143. 143.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Almost Retired:

    But moving to Minneapolis is no panacea.  It’s just damages mitigation.

    Yep. Helping people to flee and rebuild their lives is better than them living under Republican tyranny, but they still have to rebuild their lives, and potentially be cut off from friends and family — there’s a number of trans people who’ve fled Florida who justifiably feel they can’t return, even to visit dying family members because it’s too unsafe.

  145. 145.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Alison Rose: I’ve lived in SF for 17 years.  Let’s imagine that TFG retakes power.  He sends his “deportation force” to round up undocumented immigrants in Bakersfield.  Or his agents to shut down abortion clinics in the Imperial Valley.  Either CA acquiesces to this (in which case, it’s the same as “defeat in detail”) or CA refuses to allow it — and that means *with force*.

    NO, I don’t like this.  But these are Fascists: they aren’t going to stop if we ask them nicely and allow them to bust a few of our heads: that’s not how it works.

  147. 147.

    Ksmiami

    @Alison Rose: look at pics from the 1850s… that wretched version of the USA is what the red state fuckers want… but with the conveniences to iPhones and air conditioners.

  148. 148.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Another aspect to all of this is how Red states are becoming chokepoints for trans people, even if they don’t plan on visiting there. For example, I could be arrested for using the “wrong” restroom during an airport layover in Florida or Texas (plus other states, and soon Salt Lake City). So that affects which flights I can/can’t take.

    At a personal level, I really want to see the eclipse in April, and weather-wise Texas is one of the best places to do so. I’m having to decide whether it’s safe enough to go there even for a few days. (Yes, Mexico is an alternative, but there’s fewer flights/places to stay because the eclipse tourism gets booked out months in advance.) And yes, I know that’s an extremely First World Problem.

  149. 149.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Ksmiami: They want this: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2015/04/deadwoods-historical-accuracy

    Moreover, the age of consent in Iowa until the 1890s was 10. That’s right. 10. As it was in most states. This meant that if a girl came from a house not considered “respectable,” she was open game for sexual exploitation by men without legal means to punish them. It also meant that statutory rape charges could not be issued against men who had sex with young girls. In September 1891, a 10 year old Davenport girl named Ada Ammerman disappeared from her home. After three days she and two other young girls named Dolly Hamerly and Mamie Woods were discovered. Their clothes were soaked with semen. Three men were soon arrested and charged with 8 counts of rape. But they were found not guilty. While reformers wanted to end this practice and save these girls, men, including the entire political establishment of the city, defended the sporting men’s right to sexually use women they found on the streets. Rather, the defense successfully used the argument that these girls’ families had failed the city by allowing their girls on the street where they would be irresistible to men. The girls were already prostitutes by coming from poor families and being on the street. These girls were publicly tainted with this definition of them. Soon after this, Dolly Hamerly was sold to a brothel by her family. Eventually, this trial and other similar events led Iowa to raise the age of consent. To the ripe old age of 13.

  154. 154.

    Ksmiami

    @Sister Golden Bear: Biden and blue state Governors need to explain what Abbott et Al are doing and crush their civil war ambitions Rt now. And blue states need to show the Emmy will stand up for their citizens vs Republican tyrants

  157. 157.

    kalakal

    @Gin & Tonic:

    It’s the way they deliberately try to derail the process. My now wife then fiancee is American, I’m not. Now I’ve been married and divorced and naturally the immigration people want to see my divorce certificate so I send them a copy. 3 months later I get a letter saying the certificate is no good as “it’s not signed by myself and my ex-wife” and I must send them a properly signed one in the next 2 weeks or its game over. UK divorce certificates aren’t signed. It’s no contest divorce and nobody actually shows up at the court except the staff, who on not hearing an objection stamp the form and go on to the next one. Now mail to the us can take up to 2 weeks. I race down to the courthouse, and a very nice magistrate stamped a copy of the certificate, signed it and attached a short letter explaining UK divorce process. So all well and good. What makes this so petty and evil is US immigration knows damn well UK divorce certificates aren’t signed. I refuse to believe I was the first ever divorced person from the UK to come to America

  159. 159.

    RaflW

    @Almost Retired: Yes, Transcend is the campaign at PFund that I linked to upthread! Certainly moving to Minnesota (wether Minneapolis or nearby) doesn’t fix the larger national problem, and has personal, relational and emotional costs.

    But MN is doing what it can with our governor and D-majority legislature to make life safer for trans people who live here already or who arrive. A handful of other states are doing this, too.

    And one hopes these sanctuary states will do all they can if the worst comes to be in November. Let’s fight to stop that, of course!

  160. 160.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Ksmiami: Agreed. That said, Abbott etc. are clearly trying to bait Biden into using force first — or at least creating situations (such as nationalizing the Texas National Guard) that are likely to lead to kinetic confrontations.

    I don’t envy being the people figuring out how best to respond. But I hope they find creative ways to hamstring the Republicans trying to provoke a civil war.

  161. 161.

    Chetan Murthy

    @kalakal: I’ve read that the key to making the process easy, is having a high-priced immigration lawyer and an infinite budget.  Absent that …. well, INS always was an unaccountable bureaucracy whose agents wielded unreviewable authority to wreck the lives of the people petitioning for visas/naturalization.

    Also, sounds like the UK Home Office and their “hostile environment”: your story seems not so different from the many stories of EU citizens getting ground up by the UK Home Office.  Not that that’s an excuse — just an observation.  In both cases, the bureaucrats in charge simply DGAF.

  162. 162.

    Alison Rose

    @Chetan Murthy: Defying federal law is not like a teenager staying out past curfew. You’re acting like if a federal law was passed, and if states with Democratic governments obeyed that law, it would only be because they are weak ass loser pieces of shit.

    The state could try to find ways to surreptitiously evade the law, but you are living in a dream world if you think they could just climb the clocktower and beat their chests and say FUCK YOU FEDS WE DO WHAT WE WANT and then engage the federal government in a civil war and all would end up peachy keen.

    Fuckin a. Grow up, dude.

  163. 163.

    Hob

    @Chetan Murthy: if all the Blue states *together* announced that they would NOT allow enforcement of anti-abortion laws, and that they had criminalized anybody who voted for such a law, this would stop such laws in their tracks

    Of the three clauses you wrote there, I have no idea what the second one is supposed to mean. The first one is certainly a thing that they could announce, but I don’t see how announcing it or not announcing it would make any difference in terms of their ability to decide not to enforce them if the time comes, and I see no reason to think that it would “stop such laws in their tracks.”

  164. 164.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Alison Rose: Two observations:

    1. that is precisely what Texas is doing, and 25 other states are supporting TX in doing that.
    2. Perhaps now you see why my working assumption is that if TFG is reinstalled, it’s game over ?
  165. 165.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @eclare: Me too. The April eclipse is the last one that I’d be realistically be able to get to in my lifetime.

    I’d hoped to see the one a few years ago in Kansas City, but the day that historically that almost always had clear skies instead heavy cloud cover and storms that day. I did at least get to see the temporary darkness. Truly a unique experience.

  166. 166.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Hob: TX has a law allowing anybody to sue anybody who helps somebody get an abortion, for $10k, right?  Imagine a CA law allowing anybody to sue anybody who votes to pass such a law, any prosecutor or judge who applies such a law, again for $10k per offense.  Also, a law making it a felony with 10yr hard prison time, for having voted for such a law.  Imagine now some TX politician with a nice vacation home in San Diego.  Boom!  Gone.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.  Also, none of those TX officials will ever be visiting Texas, since they’d be arrested on the spot.

    You say: “but that’s unconstitutional!”  Yes, just like what Abbott is doing.  Just like Dobbs.  Unilateral disarmament maybe a fine way to keep the peace (until the Facists come for you with guns blazing) but it’s not going to actually prevent Fascism.

  167. 167.

    Hob

    @Chetan Murthy: To elaborate a little more on my bafflement about your “criminalize anybody who voted for such a law” idea— you’ve been strongly insisting that you, unlike all the wishy-washy ineffective liberals you dislike, are all about concrete results and specific harm to wrongdoers. If Trump loses lawsuits or is convicted of crimes, but he doesn’t go to prison, then as far as you’re concerned nothing has really happened to him. So I think it’s fair to ask what you think is supposed to actually happen if California says “any legislators who voted for anti-abortion laws are henceforth Criminalized.”

    ETA: OK, you posted your response @166 while I was writing that. Sorry I asked. That’s ridiculous, and I’m sure you know it— for you I don’t think this is actually about solving any problems or defending anybody, it’s simply about being able to loudly express anger, which you’ve certainly done, congratulations. No, you fucking nitwit, it is not “unilateral disarmament” to think throwing legislators in jail for voting for a law is outside of the powers of a democratic (small or large D) state, both morally and practically. But I know you don’t give a shit. I wish you (and all of us) well but I’ll go back now to never, ever trying to talk with you.

  168. 168.

    Hob

    At least this time I finally remembered that the new pie filter exists. There are only two currently active commenters I’ve got on it, so I guess that’s a better situation than it’s been some times. I really hope Chet doesn’t end up going down the same road as e****** in terms of finally declaring that since everyone here but him doesn’t have what it takes to correctly oppose the fascists, we all deserve to suffer and so he’s going to vote for Trump to help burn it all down and that’ll show us. A couple years ago I wouldn’t have thought that was a real possibility for him, but now I’m honestly not sure.

  169. 169.

    Ksmiami

    @Sister Golden Bear: if I were Biden et Al, I’d probably move quickly to relocate all federal assets from non compliant states and show the red state idiots who actually is the boss. It would be over quickly

  171. 171.

    Alison Rose

    @Chetan Murthy: So you think liberals should emulate conservatives and act like lawless idiots? No. They can bring lawsuits, they can try to push back through legal mechanisms, but if you think elected Dems — most of whom are centrist, which I’m sure makes them not good enough for you — are going to go full on flaming lefty anarchist, you are not dwelling in reality.

    Lemme ask you this: Who the fuck do you think performs abortions? It is not politicians. In red states, we’ve seen doctors have to stop performing abortions because they don’t want to get thrown in prison. Are you saying you think that makes them weak-willed little bitches who aren’t BIG AND TOUGH like you?

    Do you know how to perform abortions? If things go the way you seem to think they will, are you gonna go get trained on performing abortions and open a 24/7 clinic where you will personally perform every abortion needed, even if it means you might get imprisoned for God knows how long?

    You are coming across here like a foot-stomping toddler who is also The Only True Liberal. I am sure, because I have a far better opinion of our state government than you clearly do, that they ARE thinking about this scenario and they ARE gaming out what it would be possible for them to do. Just because they aren’t calling you up to train them in Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo doesn’t mean they’re doing nothing.

  172. 172.

    TBone

    Walk softly but carry a big stick.

    “the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis”

  175. 175.

    PatrickG

    Late to the thread but since I’ve been name dropped: always happy to use my Apple employee discount for any juicer that wants it.

    Don’t pay full sticker price for Apple products! Email WaterGirl to get 15% off instead! (She’ll connect you to me.)

  177. 177.

    RaflW

    @eclare: Geez, I just looked at Mazatlan, which is in the path. Flights for the week around totality are bonkers expensive. I’d expect hotels would be, too.

    If we go, we might stay with friends in Kirkwood, MO (another shitty anti LGBTQ/book banning state) and scoot over to Illinois for the eclipse. Our previous trip, to Columbia MO several years ago, was touch-n-go on clouds but it worked out. It was very cool.

  178. 178.

    Almost Retired

    @RaflW:  yes sorry I failed to hit your link and see that we were talking about the same organization.  I scrolled too fast!

  179. 179.

    wjca

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: So she failed at voir dire too.

    Consider all the other routine bits of trial procedure that she was manifestly unfamiliar with.

    Also, using a French term would make it even harder for her to guess what was happening, let alone what she should/could do.

  180. 180.

    Chris T.

    @WaterGirl:

    Cruel and unusual punishment.

    Yeah, but once they do it every hour of every day, it becomes cruel and usual punishment, and then it’s OK!

    (do I need a /s here?)

  181. 181.

    VFX Lurker

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I also have recalled Forte’s book from my local library.

    What do you think about Nick Milo’s channel?

    I saw good tips on Nick’s channel, too. Right now I’m mostly watching Nicole van der Hoeven’s channel, but I hope to watch more of Nick Milo’s tips, too.

  184. 184.

    Citizen Alan

    @Sister Golden Bear: The man I consider my little brother lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two kids, one of whom is  a trans daughter receiving gender affirming treatment. And six months ago, he told his parents living back in Mississippi that when the time came they would have to handle their own funeral arrangements because he would not return to Mississippi for an reason while the state was run by people who thought he should be in the state penn just for taking care of his daughter.

Comments are closed.