Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The revolution will be supervised.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

“woke” is the new caravan.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

“But what about the lurkers?”

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

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

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Is the Narrative Shifting

Reader Interactions

251Comments

  4. 4.

    Kristine

    They’re trying to lull Biden into a false sense of security while they try to excavate an October Surprise.

    They really don’t understand who they’re dealing with.

  5. 5.

    2liberal

    i’m monitoring red sox twitter for emergency updates,  since the owners just brought in theo epstein.

  6. 6.

    Tom Levenson

    I’m fighting my course management software.

    I actually have a bunch of stuff I’d like to post about, but I’m drowning in excessively cumbersome software.

  7. 7.

    Alison Rose

    I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of positive headlines on the NYT front page regarding the economy and jobs report. I’m sure the articles included a bunch of “but here’s why Biden and the Dems are still garbage and in trouble” crap, but…I guess we gotta take what we can get.

  8. 8.

    Jackie

    Seeing clips of Faux news pundits holding back tears of sadness and despair while being forced to say “the American economy is doing great and is the best in the world, by far”gives me tingles!😂

  10. 10.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    OK, John, you don’t have to read the comments, but you could just check the counts.

  11. 11.

    Bokonon

    I am in tech … and I just survived one of those decimating layoffs that everyone in the tech industry is doing.  So I don’t have much to say.

    Cut your way to greater profitability, people!  It’s hot!  It’s fashionable!  It’s economically efficient!

  15. 15.

    lollipopguild

    Nobody here but us chickens. I am currently building an altar to Taylor Swift so I can worship her properly. She is one of the few people who give right-wingers the heebie-jeebies just by existing and being herself.

  16. 16.

    Yutsano

    I was dealing with an Australian shepherd who was demanding all the attention until he fell asleep on my arm. He just got up and I finally have some space. Except I do need to get stuff cleaned up off my bed.

  17. 17.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    The US economy added 353,000 jobs in January, starting off 2024 with a bang

    ~ CNN

    U.S. created an extraordinary number of jobs in January. Here’s a deeper look.

    ~ NPR

    January Jobs Report: U.S. Job Growth Surges

    ~ FTFNYT

    Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500 Rise After Hot Jobs Report

    ~ Wall Street Journal

    5 takeaways from a stunning January jobs report

    ~ The Hill

    Why the Explosive Jobs Report Will Hit Trump Harder Than You Think

    The New Republic

    JUST IN: The US economy added a blockbuster 353,000 jobs in January, far exceeding expectations of 180,000. This is a really healthy economy. (December jobs revised up to 333,000)

    Unemployment rate: 3.7%

    Wage growth: 4.5% in past year —>far ahead of 3.4% inflation

    ~ Washington Post

    We had a blowout jobs report … I know many of my conservative friends are trying to drill holes in this report. But you know what, folks? It is what it is. It’s a very strong report.

    ~ Larry Kudlow, Fox News

    Anybody seen my old friend DOOOM, can you tell me where he’s gone?

    Dare I say it: the political press is seeing Morning in America

  20. 20.

    Steve in the ATL

    I’m at the Kalamazoo airport.  Or, more accurately, “airport”.  These baby airports are actually rather awesome: left hotel, gassed up rental car, returned rental car, checked suitcase, went through security, walked to gate.  Total time: 17 minutes!

  24. 24.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Jackie: ​ 

    It’s much wider than it has been in the past. They’re hitting Iranian supported areas in Syria on the border with Iraq. Heavy bombers are involved hitting IRGC and their militias.

  25. 25.

    Captain C

    @Alison Rose: “Joe Biden just won nearly 60% of the popular vote and nearly 400 electoral votes.  Democrats take the House and hold on to the Senate.  Donald Trump had an incoherent, profanity-filled meltdown on hearing the news.  Here’s why that’s bad news for the Biden campaign.”  — FTFNYT, Wednesday November 6, 2024

  27. 27.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: From Reuters:

    WASHINGTON– The United States has started carrying out tlretaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria, three US officials say, after deadly attacks in Jordan that killed three US troops and injured 40 others.

    These strikes are against Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq. The Houthis in Yemen may get their own airstrikes as part of the continuing exchange of ordinance in the Red Sea area.

  31. 31.

    HumboldtBlue

    At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States. The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.

  35. 35.

    citizen dave

    I’m a Polyanna, but I think no matter what the economy does between now and Nov 5, Biden will win, and Dem candidates will kick ass.  I think the orange guy and MAGA are just done.  More and more people realize the con, the criminality, the stupidity, the embarrassment of their bullshit.  Also, since a recession is 2 straight quarters of negative growth, we’re getting to the place where it simply cannot be recognized before election day.  Especially if 2024 1Q has positive growth, which seems very likely given the Jan. jobs report.

    Extreme competency operating government, defending freedom, personal choice, rights for women and nonwhites, and democracy all seem like fantastic things to campaign and win on.

  36. 36.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: I watched the Dignity Transfer Service at Dulles. Not ONCE did Biden check his watch…

    Snark aside, good for Biden to retaliate swiftly and with authority.

  38. 38.

    Ocotillo

    If Joe ends up winning in November, I give it 36 hours before the horse race stories start up again.

  39. 39.

    Nelle

    I have a limp,  sick grandchild on my lap, who wails at any disconnect. We’ve watched Daniel Tiger, Molly of Denali ( which has the name of my former village, Kaktovik, in the title song), Thomas the Tank engine, and have moved on the Nature and gorillas.  Just rocking and rocking.

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    They have been wishing for a recession. The MSM has been saying it every month for over two years.

     

    All of these layoffs?

    They want to cause a recession to help the GOP win in November, so that they can get more tax cuts. Remember, the Orange Menace has promised them.

  41. 41.

    Parfigliano

    If Biden cured cancer the US media would knock him for killing the jobs of oncologists.  No doubt throwing in a big scoop of this being further proof of the DEM party’s class warfare hatred of the rich.

  42. 42.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @cain: So sad.  Weathers was the epitome of cool and charisma in the 1980’s.  The Rocky films (1-4) and Predator are some of my favorite movies as a kid.  RIP Apollo

  43. 43.

    Anoniminous

    Megan K Hall has an excellent post on FaceBook regarding Taylor Swift.   Which I am reproducing here, in its fullness, because there is no other way to link it and I think it’s worth having.
    [I know I’m in violation of Internet etiquette and Bloghouse Rules. So no hard feelings if it is taken down.]

    The Woodstock Spirit is strong in this one. While this might sound like (just) a fandom post for Taylor Swift, it’s not. It’s a remark about how social media sways public opinion and how the patriarchy is still alive and well in American society today.

    If you’re not listening to Taylor, you cannot objectively claim a lack of talent. You cannot objectively claim she’s overrated. And you definitely cannot claim to not like her “genre” (unless you listen solely to like death metal or trap).

    Taylor has recorded 10 studio albums in 17 years. She has fluidly moved between country, pop, rock, synth, hip hop, folk, alternative, and indie genres.

    She has written or co-written 243 songs, some in collaboration with or even for such names like: Little Big Town, Miley Cyrus, Sugarland, The Civil Wars, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.In her 200 million records sold, Taylor has won 324 awards, including 12 Grammys, 23 MTV Video Music Awards, 40 American Music Awards, 40 Billboard Music Awards, 12 Country Music Awards, and an Emmy.She is the most-awarded artist of all times at the AMAs and BMAs, and she ties with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon for most Album of the Year Grammys.

    Swift was “the most streamed artist of 2023 on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music; the first act to place number one on the year-end Billboard top artists list in three different decades (2009, 2015 and 2023); and the first living artist to simultaneously chart five albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.”Rolling Stone described Taylor as “a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture,” and scholars and critics have compared her to literary figures such as Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, and John Keats, as well as to modern songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney.Over 20 universities include a Taylor Swift course in their catalog, including Harvard, Mizzou, Berkeley, Stanford, and Brigham Young.

    Taylor has acted in five movies, headlined six tours, and can play guitar and piano. She has developed, written, and directed several of her own music videos.

    She has influenced the music business by revitalizing vinyl records, championing artists’ rights on streaming services, and changing the way label contracts are written. Her journey to take back her intellectual property by re-recording her first six albums is one of the best business and personal decisions any artist has made regarding rights.

    She’s not just a talented performer and savvy businesswoman. She is also very human and fights for things she believes in. Taylor speaks up for the rights of women, LGBTQ, and artists.She has donated millions to charitable relief and philanthropic efforts, as well as to the arts. She generously gave millions of her revenue in bonuses to her Eras Tour team.

    She was sexually assaulted by a DJ in Colorado and reported it. The DJ was terminated and sued Taylor for $3 million in damages, so she counter-sued for a symbolic $1 and spent over two years in a legal battle that ended in a jury deciding in her favor. Since then, Taylor has been even more active in fighting for the rights for women to be heard.

    She genuinely enjoys her fans and has fun leaving clues and hints in her music to keep her fans engaged and like they’re part of the story. She always seems sincerely delighted to be doing what she’s doing.Her 17 years in the industry have proven her talent. It shows that she’s earned every fan she has and dollar she’s made. (And if you think she’s only country-pop, then you need to spend a day with Folklore or Evermore.)

    If you have a negative reaction towards her as a person, it’s because our society still goes after successful women in a way that men avoid. The media turns on celebrities – especially women – who dare to do things like countersue a sexual assault case, speak against corrupt politicians, or not laugh at misogyny.I will never apologize for being enchanted by this one. She is a poet, and she’s possibly the most self-aware artist I’ve ever heard speak.

    Author: Megan K Hall​

  44. 44.

    Captain C

    @Alison Rose: “Biden may have won a stunning landslide, but we talked to three local Republican officials used car dealers totally salt of the earth real people in rural Ohio and…”

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    I am soooooo feeling like no good deed goes unpunished.

    So I took puppy for a short run at lunchtime. I was a few blocks away from my house, and there was a big, old dog walking around on the sidewalk. Tags but no leash, no owner in sight. Puppy was afraid, so we crossed the street. But I felt badly…. what if the dog had escaped his yard? I tried to get a bit closer, but puppy was scared and the dog growled at me, so I took a picture and posted it on our neighborhood FB page. All I said was that I came across this big old good boy and asked for his owner to go outside and get him.

    Something like 40 increasingly nasty comments later, half of the neighborhood wants someone (but not them) to call Animal Control, the other half of the neighborhood doesn’t and thinks that the first half is a bunch of Karens, and a sizable minority think it’s completely fine to let an unleashed dog walk around unattended.

    ETA: And the dog’s owner says that it’s fine, the dog just goes outside to do his business and then goes back on the porch (not what I observed) and that the dog doesn’t go on the sidewalk (untrue).

  47. 47.

    TS

    @Alison Rose:

     I’m sure the articles included a bunch of “but here’s why Biden and the Dems are still garbage and in trouble” crap

    Headline down under this morning on the ABC (so called non-biased news source)

    Angry and disillusioned: The young voters who could cost Joe Biden a second term

    Anyone that says they will vote for trump over Biden – was NEVER going to vote for Biden. The complete article had ONE person saying  they would vote trump – mostly the others concluded Biden was the best option – so who on earth writes these headlines.

    This is listed as a concern re Biden

    At the top of his list of grievances are concerns that the teaching of African American history in classrooms is being restricted

    Which has ZERO to with Biden and 100% the red states.

    Seems like someone found a Fox News or NYT article to copy

  51. 51.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    @NotMax: ​
      There’s a large bomber base in England and the 5th fleet in the Persian Gulf and the 6th fleet in the Mediterranean.

  53. 53.

    Alison Rose

    @TS:

    At the top of his list of grievances are concerns that the teaching of African American history in classrooms is being restricted

    See. Okay. I try not to be down on young people, but some of them are fucking stupid.

  54. 54.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Alison Rose: Some people of all ages are fucking stupid. So it goes

    ETA: The elimination of African American history from classrooms is a legitimate concern. This individual has ober 9 months to figure out who to blame, it ought to take 5 minutes max.

  56. 56.

    Jinchi

    I see lots of positive economic news stories- are they just getting them out of the way so they can tank Biden all summer or is it just undeniable at this point?

    I think the media felt like they were “jinxing” the recession by predicting it continuously for 3 years without any payoff.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @NotMax: I don’t really know if the US would use Incirlink, since this is not a Nato operation. The big US base in Qatar might be a different story. A lot of the aircraft likely came from the aircraft carrier Eisenhower, and other US Navy ships probably fired cruise missiles.

    The US has started the process of pulling out our troops from western Iraq and eastern Syria. They’ve been there for 10 years as part of the war against ISIS. Iraq says they want them out, and Syria has never wanted them there. Iranian proxies have staged over 100 missile and drone attacks on them dince October.

    We also have a large military mission attached to the Kurdish Regional Government, in northern Iraq. They are unlikely to go anywhere, although Iranian-sponsored militias have been taking occasional shots at them also.

    We also have troops stationed at Tanf, on Syria’s border with Jordan. The deadly attack a few days ago was on US forces supporting the base at Tanf from Jordanian territory. We are unlikely to pull that mission either.

  62. 62.

    TS

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I guess we are all Keynesians again. Good on Biden for reversing decades of Miltonomics.

    If only – so much of the downside of economics since the 1980s can be blamed on Miltonomics. the obvious being the widening of the rich/poor divide and the lack of infrastructure replacement by successive governments. The continuing reduction of tax by conservative governments has created little but misery for so many people & the transfer of policy decisions from governments to the wealthy.

  63. 63.

    Jinchi

    @Yutsano: I was dealing with an Australian shepherd who was demanding all the attention until he fell asleep on my arm.

    Boy the farmers in Australia are a different breed from the Americans, aren’t they!

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    I see lots of positive economic news stories- are they just getting them out of the way so they can tank Biden all summer or is it just undeniable at this point?

    It’s undeniable.

    Also, throughout the Biden administration, business, financial and accounting news sites have generally been fair and accurate about Biden administration achievements with respect to the economy.

    Even CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and the WaPo have done fair reporting on the economy. But their front page headlines have often been downbeat even when the actual stories have been positive. And the MSM gives tons of space to right wing pundits who re-interpret the economic news in the worst possible light. These pundits will be back on the op-ed pages and Sunday pundit shows as soon as they can come up with a new round of negative commentary. Enjoy the break for now.

    But the media and the Beltway work in mysterious ways. The Republicans still talk crap, but notice that a bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans have hurriedly come up with a tax relief bill that sailed through the House and might get Senate approval. The bill includes more tax breaks for business, but also includes an expansion of the child tax credit.

    It is beyond strange that elected politicians can work together when they want, or when their donors demand it.

    And the media can do good reporting whenever they choose to. It’s a shame that they don’t do it more often.

  66. 66.

    Rusty

    Don’t worry, the NYT is back to “just asking questions” about trans people this morning.  By Sunday they will have found someone that feels the economy is terrible and a group of people that just can’t vote for Biden over one specific issue.  Nothing ever changes.

  73. 73.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Steve in the ATL: I’m at the Kalamazoo airport. Or, more accurately, “airport”. These baby airports are actually rather awesome:

     I went through the Pullman airport for work, a decade or so ago. The terminal was one large room, with a check-in desk, a single TSA checkpoint, and a tiny seating area.

    The staff person at check-in was chatting with a frequent flyer about Airport Cat, who had sauntered in from the surrounding fields a few years earlier and made itself at home in the terminal. “TSA arrived and said ‘no cat’: fur might mess up their machines.” Airport Cat then became a very pampered pet of one of the employees.

  74. 74.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Does anybody think these strikes against the Houthis is a mistake and risks a regional war in the ME?

  77. 77.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Does anybody think these strikes against the Houthis is a mistake and risks a regional war in the ME?

    I think having pur military posted up globally is a mistake. Such uses are all downstream from there.

    That said, Biden has been more restrained and sensible with his use of the military than any President in my lifetime. I’m not giving him a pass, but he gets my vote as long as his principle opponents are Republicans as Republicans have been since about the 70s.

  78. 78.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Ocotillo:

    If Joe ends up winning in November, I give it 36 hours before the horse race stories start up again.

    The WaPo’s Outlook section is their big Sunday opinion and commentary section.  The first Sunday after the Dems took back both the House and Senate in 2006, I was looking forward to seeing what they’d have to say about it, since it was kind of a big deal at the time.

    You know what they headlined that Sunday’s Outlook section with? The anticipated contest for the 2008 nomination between Hillary and Obama.

    So that would be totally believable.

  79. 79.

    JPL

    @Anoniminous:  My son happened to be on Marta going to Atlanta awhile ago, and it was filled with Swifties.   He then explained it to me.  Let me tell you after the backlash she received because she happened to fall in love with a football player turned me into a swiftie.   Okqy maybe not quite that far, but good for her and Travis.

    If they are together after this tour through Asia and Europe, kuddos to them.   Her work schedule is amazing.

  80. 80.

    New Deal democrat

    Yes, the economic narrative has been shifting. Here’s a headline in today’s NYT:

    Recession fears have eased. Growth and job gains are beating expectations. Inflation is cooling. Consumers are happier. The president is waiting to benefit.

    According to one wag, “Your work is done, DougJBalloon.”

    Two measures of consumer confidence hit two year highs this week. That kind of movement typically translates into presidential job improvement as well.

    if gas prices stay low, and the Fed starts lowering rates soon*, the economy should be in good shape for the November elections.

    *(Ironically, by already stating that he will not reappoint Fed Chairman Powell, Trump has given Powell nothing to lose by appearing to help Biden. Smart move, idiot!)

  81. 81.

    Alison Rose

    @lowtechcyclist: I fully expect one of the big horserace themes to be the possible primary match-up between Harris and Newsom. I presume Harris will run after her second Veep term (I am operating on the concrete belief that she will serve a second term) and it is fairly likely Newsom will run, too. Which will indeed be an interesting scenario, but I dread the commentary about it.

  82. 82.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Ryan Goodman on Twitter:

    This should end the matter.

    On efforts to remove Fulton County DA Fani Willis and Nathan Wade from prosecution of FPOTUS Trump. (Note: I have been critical of Willis and Wade.)

    Signed affidavit by Wade:

    – No relationship before or when hired by DA.
    – Shared costs equally.

  83. 83.

    New Deal democrat

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): According to Centcom an hour ago, the US military also made multiple strikes in Syria and Iraq against Iranian-allied militants there. And if Zi recall correctly, Biden said the attacks would also last days.

     

    Ironically, it was shrewd to announce that there would be such attacks ahead of time. Gave the Iranian overseers time to skidaddle so that we wouldn’t escalate by causing direct Iranian casualties.

  87. 87.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Ramalama: I had a neuropsych evaluation today. They had me list several random objects at several points throughout the test, leaving then returning to them.

    I’m very proud of my performance. The technician told me no one ever performed better. Expect me to raise this performance and the fact it proves I’m the smartest person ever obsessively for the rest of time.

  88. 88.

    sab

    @UncleEbeneezer: This is why people haven’t gone after Trump more and earlier. His people are utterly shameless in their efforts to smear the other side, and normal people (and the MSM) just seem unable to believe that Trumps crew routinely throw out completely fictitious allegations.

  92. 92.

    Old School

    @Baud:

    When was the relationship?

    Not sure they specified more than no personal relationship when hired in 2021, but personal relationship that began in 2022.

  93. 93.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @sab: normal people (and the MSM) just seem unable to believe that Trumps crew routinely throw out completely fictitious allegations.

    They’ve failed to notice this with Republicans, broadly, for decades. It was building over time, but Romney was proof of concept for Trump that a Republican can run a whole campaign on abject dishonesty.

  96. 96.

    Scout211

    Well maybe the tide really is turning.  NBC

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday allowed West Point to continue to consider race in its admissions process for now, rebuffing a request made by a conservative group.

    In a brief order, the court denied a request brought by Students for Fair Admissions, the same conservative group that brought the cases that led to the court’s ruling last year that ended affirmative action in higher education. That decision struck down admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

    Maybe not the total win we would like, but still.

    The record before this Court is underdeveloped, and this order should not be construed as expressing any view on the merits of the constitutional question,” the order said.

  97. 97.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Nope.

    “don’t start none, won’t be none”.

    The Suez Canal transit as we found out with The Evergreen and Covid, is a key global economic engine.

    The Houthi’s taking potshots at ships in transit, drives up costs for everybody across the globe.

    If the Houthi’s had stuck to impotently firing missiles and drones at Israel, the US and other Allied Nations would not have gotten involved.

    They would have still increased their profile in Yemen and have recruited the same number of new militia allies.

    They should have paid attention to the Persian Gulf aspect of the Iran/Iraq War. Major Nation’s don’t like it when their Merchantmen have to be convoyed, escorted by warships through “open” sea lanes.

    They should have paid attention to global reactions to Somali Piracy.

    They also should have paid some thought as to where their newer weapons and resupply are coming from. Iran is not flying that stuff to Yemen in commercial cargo aircraft, (which is kind of an immunity, you cant just go shooting commercial aircraft down, unless you are ruZZia). They are shipping stuff in in unregistered, small dhow’s, which are now going to get a fuckton of attention from everybody.

  98. 98.

    Steve in the ATL

    @H.E.Wolf: I’ll bet that was the cat’s plan all along. Sneaky bastards!

    When I looked up, the bar was full—all six seats taken.

    Also, the Kalamazoo airport has a bar.

  103. 103.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Barbara: Ay, I just showed up there trying to figure out why I’m always tired and find even beloved activities like gaming exhausting.

    Trump doesn’t have beloved activities, nearest I can tell.

    ETA: And my MIT professor uncle was by marriage.

  106. 106.

    Barbara

    @Steve in the ATL: The smallest airport I have ever been to is in Rutland, Vermont.  It’s a renovated house, with a single employee who handles all commercial airline and rental car duties. While four TSA employees staff security.  I don’t think the maximum capacity of any of the planes that fly there exceeds 8 passengers. I think there are a maximum of four flights per day.

  107. 107.

    Quaker in a Basement

    @Lyrebird: Luckily, I’m retired and don’t have to mess with any of them. The last I used was Canvas (as a student this time!). I’m partial to Moodle, just because it’s open source.

    Blackboard is notoriously balky.

  108. 108.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Barbara: AZO appears to have four flights a day—two Delta to Detroit, two American to Chicago—but bigger than that place.

    I quizzed the Delta agent about the “international” in the airport name.  She said, “Um, we have two flights a day to Detroit….[trailed off]”.  I suppose DTW is close enough to Windsor to count as international.

  111. 111.

    Xavier

    I’m even seeing some pushback on national debt hysteria. Steven Schwartzman had a piece the other day and the comments were heavily biased towards “If billionaires like you paid your fair share…

  114. 114.

    Harrison Wesley

    Sounds like our leaders have rolled the dice.  Big-time Middle Eastern war, yo!  Just what the US of A – hell, just what the whole world – needs.  2024 is mos def a gift that’s only started to give.

  115. 115.

    Steve in the ATL

    @japa21: almost as much as the people arriving in Kalamazoo!  Though, in the interest of full disclosure, I flew into Grand Rapids.

    I actually spent my childhood summers not far from here, at our cottage near White Pigeon, which may or may not be a real place.

  116. 116.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    I keep getting fundraising texts that start thusly:

    Democrat? Confirmed.

    Biden support? Not yet confirmed.

    Y’all got that exactly backwards.

    ETA: I think I’ve already even given a meagre(er?) contribution to the campaign.

  118. 118.

    Martin

    Takes a bit for the economic measures to be internalized. Plus, I still think the big economic story is parents that are doing great with their 3% mortgage or $1M paid off house, which is what the economic measures are capturing who think the economy is bad because their kids rent is wildly unaffordable. My economy is good but my kids economy isn’t, and the topline national numbers don’t capture that because they average this stuff together.

    I’ve been busy playing the Factorio cluster event. I got a factory to build.

  119. 119.

    Geminid

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The US been striking the Houthis on and off for weeks. We have also launched retaliatory attacks against Iranian-sponsored militias in Syria and Iraq. This attack is more of the same, except the scale is greater because the attack in Jordan killed three US soldiers and injured 40 more.

    So I don’t think tonight’s attack will trigger a larger war. This is still a possibility though, that’s been with us since the Israeli-Gaza war started.

    One factor at play may be the Iranian regime’s unpopularity at home. They cannot count on their citizens to rally behind them if they get into a shooting war directly with the US. The effect might be the opposite now.

  120. 120.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Scout211: I, like, I assume, most B-J posters, have written, defended, and litigated affirmative action plans.  Ironic, perhaps, for a guy who spent his life in all white private schools, including one named after Robert E. Lee.  While I was already painfully aware of my white privilege, it was as shocking to see just how clearly and consistently the racial breakdown was at each level of…pretty much every company.

    It’s a complicated issue.  Affirmative action is not a great solution, but it’s better than nothing—-and we have to do something.

  121. 121.

    zhena gogolia

    @citizen dave:

    Extreme competency operating government, defending freedom, personal choice, rights for women and nonwhites, and democracy all seem like fantastic things to campaign and win on.

    Right on!

  124. 124.

    Ken

    @Baud: Nowhere near as serious as last week’s brouhaha, when a scientist’s claim you should add salt to tea caused problems for the US embassy in Britain.

  128. 128.

    Old School

    Wayne Kramer, the guitarist who co-created MC5 – one of the rawest, most influential and politically engaged bands in US history – has died aged 75. His Instagram page announced the news: “Wayne S Kramer. Peace be with you. April 30 1948 – February 2 2024.”

  129. 129.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Here is a really fascinating article about the scientific research done in the White Mountains of CA:

    The Lab At 10,000 Feet:

    …

    In 1958, National Geographic put White Mountain on its cover, with the proclamation that a single specimen of the pine — nicknamed Methuselah by local botanists — was, at close to 5,000 years and thus “the oldest known living thing” in the world. That pine tree is still very much alive on White Mountain, and modern genetics confirms that Methuselah (whose identity and location is kept top secret to shield it from trampling well-wishers) is indeed the most ancient tree in the known world. Its reputation still brings in thousands of tourists who walk the trails every summer, hoping to find it. Mainly, they come to exhale and get a reprieve from everyday life as they step over fallen pine timbers that, preserved in dry environs, may be 11,000 years old.

    The National Geographic article marked a critical point in the evolution of WMRC. Originally opened as a U.S. Navy research center in 1948, it gradually evolved from being a test site for Sidewinder missiles into being a hub of scientific “big thinking,” complete with public open days and stylish bristlecone-themed T-shirts. As MacDonald and his crew now prepare to fully reopen WMRC for the first time in nearly four years, with lectures and community access, he wants to broadcast a simple message: “White Mountain is not just a region,” he says. “This is an entire planet.”

    White Mountain, named for its permanent snow fields and white dolomite stone, is one of California’s 12 “fourteeners,” (that is, a mountain with an elevation above 14,000 feet) and is beloved by hikers and mountaineers. The White Mountain Research Center did not just materialize on U.S. Forestry Service land — acknowledged by UCLA as the homeland of the Nüümü Paiute and Newe Shoshone peoples — as today’s complete package. Its gathering places, across four elevations, have evolved over time, with each having a different mission. Visitors arrive at the Owens Valley Station services center near Bishop, and then drive up to the Crooked Creek sleeping quarters at 10,200 feet. Two thousand feet above Crooked Creek are the more basic facilities at Barcroft Station. From there, an up-and-down, eight-mile switchback track takes you to the Summit Hut, at 14,200 feet.

  130. 130.

    Jay

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    It won’t, the point of the exercise was not to bar the Prosecution team, but instead, fill the MAGAt propaganda with taint.

    Years ago, I had to go to Civil court, because a customer, (a Lawyer) refused to pay me for work done. So I had filed a $55k lien against the property at the allowed 36% per annum interest rate. They sued me to remove the lien.

    The work was to renovate and repair a rental property that was poorly maintained, had some structural issues, and the tenant and her sons had trashed when they were evicted.

    Their case was based on the job being more than the first quote, two minor cosmetic issues, that it had taken more time than first quoted, and that I had hired my wife as labour. That was the big one to them.

    My case was photo’s, signed amendments by the Customer to the first contract, authorizing further work, (eg, not noticed on the first walk through were things like a dangerous fireplace, no grouting remaining, roof joists that were moving, BB dents in every wall and ceiling surface, etc). Further to my case was the fact that SWMBO and I had renovated in our time together 3 homes and built one from scratch, so she was someone I worked well with.

    The Court ruled in my favour. They either had to pay off the lien immediately, or let it stand.

    They chose to let it stand and file denied appeal after appeal, which I did not even have to attend.

    When they or their estate tries to sell the property, (and no, they cannot transfer it), they will get nothing, because by then, the lien will be worth more than the value of the property. They also can’t refinance, and any competent Contractor, doing a quick and free title search, wouldn’t touch that place with a 10 foot pole.

    It’s just a tactic of rage farming the MAGAt’s and that’s all it ever was.

  131. 131.

    Ohio Mom

    @Bokonon: Congrats. Ohio Dad was in tech and I do not miss the near constant anxiety about layoffs.

    Fortunately, the last layoff occurred when we were old enough for Social Security Medicare.

  132. 132.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Alison Rose:

    I fully expect one of the big horserace themes to be the possible primary match-up between Harris and Newsom. I presume Harris will run after her second Veep term (I am operating on the concrete belief that she will serve a second term) and it is fairly likely Newsom will run, too. Which will indeed be an interesting scenario, but I dread the commentary about it.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Whitmer runs in 2028 as well.  I think it would be too hard for the MSM to cast doubt on both women while giving Newsom a free ride without being more than a bit too obvious about it.

  138. 138.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Martin:
     

    My economy is good but my kids economy isn’t

    I’ll drink to that, even though it’s barely palatable Delta wine.

  139. 139.

    karen marie

    @lollipopguild:   Being an old, with no young relations, I’d never heard a Swift song, so I went to youtube and listened to one that’s apparently one of her “hits.”  Didn’t do anything for me but the video production was impressive.

    I then watched a Graham Norton show that she was on alongside Bono.  She struck me as a very smart person.

    It occurs to me, thinking about it here, that proof of her smarts is that she hasn’t responded at all to the RW rage directed her way.  I expect she’ll be sending some lawyers to shut down some of the crazier nutjobs with public platforms

  142. 142.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Alison Rose:

    Trust me, there is no way on God’s green Earth the MSM is giving Newsom a “free ride” on anything.

    Well, they’ll go easier on him than his female rivals until he’s just about got the nomination sewed up.

  144. 144.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @lowtechcyclist: There is always one Democrat, typically the most perceived as moderate, who gets plenty of love from the media throughout the primary process.

    As soon as that individual sews up the nomination, the attacks start.

  146. 146.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Also where the fuck is everyone?

    Still recovering from a pinched nerve. Had an epidural steroid injection which is helping, but after three weeks of excruciating pain, I’m wiped out. Taking a nap now.

  148. 148.

    smith

    @UncleEbeneezer: And of course, personal relationships are somehow not an issue on the other side. According to today’s filing, counsel for Ray Smith and counsel for Kenneth Chesebro are in a personal relationship. That would seem to me to be more problematic, since the interests of co-defendants are not exactly the same, and could possibly conflict. Within the context of the trial, the DA and the special prosecutor have the same interests.

    But if course, all of this was actually intended to paint Willis as a  scarlet woman without the moral standing to prosecute real Patriots. Thus the starring role of the wronged wife.

  151. 151.

    Jay

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Well, if they ever get self driving cars to work, (which they wont), the only good thing that will come out of it is a Country and Western song titled “My Truck Left Me”.

  152. 152.

    LadySuzy

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: Maybe this idea is completely stupid but here it goes:

    The Biden administration should create a big website where you can find all the information about WHO is to blame, on a number of subjects.

    Elimination of African American Studies ?  You name the places, the states, the republican officials who did it. FACTS, DATES, you give links.

    Banning of books ?  You name FACTS, DATES, and you give links.

    You make a list, kind of an index, with hyperlinks to the details on each subject.

    You find a great name for the website, something ORIGINAL that grab attention, and you placate it on big billboards all around the country, especially in swing states.

    There is SO MUCH disinformation out there, and LACK of information…. except for those who follow politics closely, people don’t know what’s going on. The media covers the horse race and doesn’t inform on policy. Legacy media, Internet media, this is such a bunch of noise for people.

    Give people ONE PLACE to find the most important info. If they go and look for one particular subject, that may be enough for them to realize that they have been misinformed or not informed at all.

    Naïve ?  Stupid idea ?  Irrealistic ? Too much work ?

    I don’t know. Thoughts ?

  153. 153.

    Alison Rose

    @lowtechcyclist: In certain ways, sure. Women are always gonna get it worse from the media. But the press here has never given him an easy time and is always eager to nitpick. Most of the MSM dislikes liberal Dems who are blunt and don’t tiptoe around their criticisms of Republicans, and they will throw every woe in the state at him as though everything is his fault and he should have been a wizard and magically fixed it all.

    Dollars to donuts someone mentions the fucking French Laundry, too.

  154. 154.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I just got back in after running around for the afternoon with my last stop at the machinist. He’s going to knock the race out of the housing, then check for swarf and inspect the surface of the seating area to see if it was improperly machined. He agrees with me that it does look like that seat in the housing was improperly machined but wants to confirm it before I contact the seller.

    Now what were we talking about? Oh well, I’m going to disassemble my wife’s noodle attachments for the KitchenAid and convert them from maracas to clean, well-oiled noodle-making machines.

  155. 155.

    Bill Arnold

    From wonkette (emphasis mine), January Jobs Report: US Economy Adding Jobs Like A MOTHER, Again! And people are actually starting to notice that Joe Biden’s economy is booming. (DOKTOR ZOOM, FEB 2, 2024)

    Powell said that the “executive summary” for the economy is that “growth is solid to strong over the course of last year,” and

    “The labor market, 3.7 percent unemployment, indicates that the labor market is strong. We’ve had just about two years now of unemployment under 4 percent. That hasn’t happened in 50 years. So it’s a good labor market. And we’ve seen inflation come down, we talked about that. We’ve got six months of good inflation data and an expectation that there’s more to come.
    “So this is a good situation. Let’s be honest, this is a good economy.”

    Chris Hayes characterized that on his MSNBC show Wednesday as being, for any country’s central banker, “the equivalent of stripping off your clothes and twerking for three minutes straight,” and thanks for that mental image.

  156. 156.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    OT: Is an BJer using Notion or AnyType for note taking?

    I had not heard of AnyType before. I have been looking for a good Android note taking app.

    I am looking into Any type but have not made a decision.

    I currently use some combination of Google Docs and Keep Notes.

  157. 157.

    Jay

    @LadySuzy:

    A phrase I use quite often, when I am asked how am I doing, or how is your day going is:

    “Can’t complain, doesn’t do any good and people stop listening.”

    If you are really concerned about Gaza, there is tons and tons of “good” information out there. Who did what to whom, etc.

    It’s not hard to find out about book banning, or LTBQ2S bans and persecution, or pretty much every other subject.

    My take is that many people rely on the internet for social media, and much of social media relies on clicks and rage farming. It’s infotainment and social cliques for the normies, not actual information.

    So yeah, I doubt it will have any impact, and who but us olds, even notice billboards?

  158. 158.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @LadySuzy: That could help. A whobrokeit.com

    I worry that such a site would only cater to the converted, but at worst that arms the lot of us with facts

    ETA: I also worry that it will be perceived as partisan and shrill. I recall the Clinton campaign and frequent complaints from people I knew as lifelong Democrats who ultimately supported Trump that her campaign was too negative, too focused on him. This was based entirely on advertising. The media’s insistence on not covering policy matters certainly didn’t help

    Then again, these young men (all) might have been fishing for an excuse.

  160. 160.

    Elizabelle

    @Jay:  Disagree.  People are super busy, and it takes skill to pull all that down yourself.  It is hard.  Plus:  paywalls are a real problem for trying to find substantive news.

    I think LadySuzy’s suggestion is a good one.

    Especially since the effing MSM deals in “the narrative” and disinformation.  They are pack animals, and stupid ones at that.

  161. 161.

    Elizabelle

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:  Some college kid put together a site in 2004 called, if memory serves, “John Kerry is a Douche but I am voting for him anyway.”  [I wish he’d left if up!]

    It was so helpful to send undecideds and curious that way.  People really appreciated hearing about it at the doors, and they took him for a less biased source than me.  Fine by me.

    Obviously, Joe Biden is not close to a douche, but we really could use a place to corral all this factual information.  And if some of it is entertaining or even humorous, even better.

    That reminds me:  the Biden campaign has added someone who worked on latenight TV shows.  They have got this.

  163. 163.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Elizabelle: Full disclosure, I refused to vote for Kerry. Granted, I’m in MA and would have decided differently in what I perceived as a swing state.

    I dropped even entertaining that notion when I saw Clinton lose PA and MI, which I always assumed to be safe.

    @Elizabelle: That reminds me: the Biden campaign has added someone who worked on latenight TV shows. They have got this.

    Latenight TV shows are mostly better political journalists than political journalists are.

  164. 164.

    Elizabelle

    @Steve in the ATL:  John Kerry (JFK, “Just for Kerry”) did not seem to have the common touch and approachability that Joe Biden has.  Problem.

    Have no doubt he is very smart, but intellectual does not translate that well.  Obama and Bill Clinton managed it, Kerry did not, and Bush or Trump, do not make me laugh.

    And, of course, Hillary and now Kamala are resented by some for being very smart and focused.

    Of course, the swiftboating was deplorable.

  165. 165.

    Jay

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    Donno.

    SWMBO is concerned about the “International Students” issue in Canada. Mostly because they have been a cash cow for her University, and so, in anticipation of the cuts, there is now a hiring freeze.

    She is not dumb, but, the Internet to her, is free TV show reruns and local news about weather and traffic.

    The “International Students” issue is basically that it has been poorly, almost unregulated. As a result, over the years they have been “flooding in” and there are tons of scams about it, from diploma mills to being under the table cheap labour for scammy employers.

    Back home, a Canadian Diploma is seen as being “worth something”, even if it’s from a diploma mill. Recruiters are out there telling them it is a fast track to citizenship, (surprise, it’s not). Educational achievements are being faked and financial stability faked, for entry. They are being blamed for the housing shortage. Some, are working 80 hours a week, 20 hours on the “book” as allowed by the rules, 60 hours “under the table”, at minimum wage with no class time at all. Some of the Diploma mills double the tuition every semester.

    For the “real” International Students programs at accredited institutions, the cap and new regulations should not be an issue at all, but the Administrations are still freaking out.

    Took me quite some time to talk her down off the ledge.

    All this hiring freeze is going to do is leave her University understaffed in September.

  166. 166.

    Elizabelle

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:  They truly are.

    Always thought one reason no one at NBC had Brian Williams’ back after his helicopter (?) story was that he left the very strong impression that late night was where you could get the story out; network news, you are constrained.

    Like he wanted to be one of the cool kids, instead a news reader.

    Accidentally told the truth there, even with stretching a story way too far.

  167. 167.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Jay: Apologies. With complete respect, I have no idea what you’re talking about or how it relates to me

    @Elizabelle: I’m, mercifully, blessedly ignorant of the details of the Brian Williams helicopter brouha. Suddenly seems relevent, though.

    “Constrained” seems consistent with at least one explanation I hold for the media’s continued foul behavior.

  168. 168.

    Soprano2

    I’ve been doing a doctor appointment slog this week. Had 2 appts for hubby this week and labs for him this morning and an appointment for me. I’ll be glad when the procedure to remove his kidney stones is over – it’s next Tuesday.

  169. 169.

    Jay

    @Elizabelle:

    I always start going down the rabbit hole with Wikipedia.

    But then, as SWMBO points out, I have “Google Fu”.

    When she can’t find something she is looking for on the web,  after half an hour of searching, she asks me to “look” and I then find in in 5 words or less.

    I am also well aware of “the scammers”. Both of the propaganda sides on Gaza for example are using recycled footage from other atrocities, mostly Syria, AI photos, etc to rage farm.

  173. 173.

    smith

    @Elizabelle: Although I’m not sure a central information site would reach the people who need reaching, it’s clear that there are a lot of people sailing along with no idea of what’s going on. There was this story about focus groups of independents in swing states, the participants in which were uniformly gobsmacked to learn of TFG’s claims to absolute presidential immunity. They immediately saw the threat (he could kill somebody and not be punished!), but had no idea that this was something he and his lackeys are actually arguing for. Likewise, some were completely unaware that he’s facing 91 felony counts.

    Unfortunately, I think that any information source they had to take action to access would not be used by the people who need it. Those of us trying to convince them might find it useful, but I think you’d get more bang for the buck from billboards and ads on social media.

  174. 174.

    Jay

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    My wife is smart, but she is not even close to being as “politically” involved as I am. Here we would class her as a “Normie”.

    Did an issue that has her, her Administration and her co-workers freaking out do some basic research on the issue. Nope, they just doom scrolled the news reports and social media.

    While she and her co-workers work with International students, as students, I have worked with them as underpaid co-workers for the past 5 years, so yeah, I knew lot’s of stuff they didn’t and their Institutions were ignoring and saw all this coming.

    What I am trying to point out, is if you use the Internet for factual information, are reasonably intelligent, it’s not the least bit hard to find out “whats going on”.

    If you use the Internet as an “emotional support system”, you are pretty much SOL, and a billboard or “one quick trick” is not going to have any impact.

    Some people like to learn things, some people like to be told things.

    I think the Biden approach, given the various gatekeepers, is about as good as it’s going to get.

  175. 175.

    Elizabelle

    @Jay:  I love Wikipedia.  And yes, it is how you ask for the information; 5 words will do it, if they’re the right words.

  176. 176.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Jay: Understood.  My initial and greatest problem was getting past SWMBO.

    The Biden campaign does appear to be using social media well. Granted, I view most social media through a filter I refer to as “Balloon Juice.”

    Honestly, I’ve been normie-ing out since 2016. I keep only vaguely abreast of what’s happening. If something interests me, I watch it live. Congressional hearings, no reporting.

    I know who the good guys are. I know who the bad guys are. I know the goal, in the end, is to make sure people thrive. If the order is upset and the nature of who is good or bad change, I’m paying just enough attention in the right places to be free to act. Prospects for decency in the Republican party, however, are currently grim.

  177. 177.

    Dan B

    @Sister Golden Bear: I feel (my) your pain.  I had excruciating low back spasms just before Thanksgiving.  I got up to pee in the middle of the night.  Petted the big orange cat who was on the sofa and boom!  It’s still spasming after chiropractic treatments, plus ice and heating pads.  The first few days my kitty was terrified of me from the operatic level screaming.  I hope you get relief.

  179. 179.

    Dan B

    @LadySuzy: A narrative by people who’ve been harmed would be crucial.  People are quick to reject facts but not to impugn an individual’s or group’s story.  One single site is a great idea.

  180. 180.

    SteveinPHX

    @Elizabelle: Good point. when you search Wikipedia, many times the search has to be rephrased. Sometimes it takes several tries.

    It takes having an idea about what you’re looking for and not being satisfied with a half-baked Wiki response. And often you find stuff you didn’t know!

    That quality makes a good reference librarian.

  181. 181.

    Kayla Rudbek

    I’m finally packing up the Christmas decorations and trying to clear out my office a bit. I joke that I need a backhoe, a blowtorch, and an exorcist to do a proper job of cleaning. Too much crafting supplies and books in one room. Too much clutter in this house in general, but I will have a short commute once I go back to working onsite, and it’s enough space for Mr. Rudbek and I to have separate home offices in the meantime, so no plans to move.

    And I have just received a Lego set that commemorates Galileo, so I need to decide if I will build it, if I should give it to my godson, or if I should leave it in the box.

  183. 183.

    Elizabelle

    @SteveinPHX:  The Washington Post has a terrible search function.  Useless.  It’s easier to google what you’re looking for, and add Washington Post.

    Do love finding all manner of incidental stuff when searching.  Some of it even true.

  184. 184.

    Alison Rose

    @Eduardo: What makes you so certain he’s fake? And that the others you mentioned are not? No one who lives in the public eye is 100% the same in public as in private. A candidate’s worth should be based on their knowledge, experience, and capability. We’re not electing a fucking prom king. Also, comparing him to someone who cheated on his wife while she was dying of cancer is pretty gross.

  187. 187.

    Nukular Biskits

    Also where the fuck is everyone?

    Note that our great overlord Mr. Cole will see this, but I’m currently sitting in the Honolulu International Airport awaiting my flight back to MS.

    Have I ever mentioned how much I hate flying?

  188. 188.

    Jay

    @Dan B:

    my back has been fucked since I was 19. Industrial accident.

    If I keep it stretched out and strong, (yoga and weightlifting) it’s fine. Sitting in a chair too long is bad.

    I use Robaxicet or a generic, extra strong when it starts twinging, along with a heating pad,

    but my injury is not a pinched nerve.

  189. 189.

    geg6

    @Baud:

    Everyone in the world is having a blast over Taylor Swift (and Travis Kelce).  Except the MAGAs.  Their tears are delicious.

  193. 193.

    different-church-lady

    @Steve in the ATL: They’re awesome as long as your flight doesn’t arrive after everyone has gone home and there’s no one around to ask if you’ll be getting your luggage.

  196. 196.

    DougL

    @Ohio Mom: I’m of the opinion that Joe knows Kamala (come on. A Black woman. In this country?) needs the boost of incumbency to win on her own. Why I expect him to resign after 2026 midterms.

  199. 199.

    Ohio Mom

    @Soprano2: Hate to tell you but the fun doesn’t end when the kidney stones are removed.

    The doctors leave a stent in the ureter, the tube between the kidney and bladder; Ohio Dad found it quite irritating but it did keep the ureter from swelling shut during recovery.

    A week or two later, the urologist tugged and pulled the stent out, and I’m told that while it hardly took any time at all, it hurt.

    But now it’s all just a dim memory.

  201. 201.

    Eduardo

    @Alison Rose: the comparison with John Edwards wasn’t related to him cheating on his wife, which I think is a case of being a major scumbag and not a fake.  But JE always screamed “insincerity” to me way before the scandal.  Same happens to me with Newsom.  Also, I can’t forgive his gay marriage stunt in 2004, which of course was ilegal, counterproductive for both gays and the Democratic Party but beneficial for him politically.

    We will see.

     

     

  203. 203.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Jay:

    It’s a rear end upgrade, one of a few. Ford 8″ differential that I’m changing the gears in from 3.00-1 ratio to 3.55-1 because of a change from a C4 auto transmission to a T5Z 5 speed with a .63 overdrive ratio. With a 3 to 1 rear ratio my top speed is about 190, which is a bit impractical so the re-ratio to a lower (higher numerically)  ratio takes away some of the top and makes the lower gearing in the transmission a bit more ‘spirited’ when you step on it.

    The problem is that I am changing out the pinion support, which is removable in that differential, for one that has larger bearings. The new pinion support has a problem with one of the bearing races not making contact all the way around on its seat. I’m not only putting in new gears and the heavy duty pinon support but also a Detroit Truetrac limited slip carrier and I want all of this perfect the first time. This stuff is expensive and I’m not in to creating metallic milkshakes (gear oil full of metal shavings), so everything is being checked and rechecked. I’ll find out Monday what’s up with it.

    I did get the KitchenAid noodle attachments cleaned for my wife so she is happy and we won’t die from tainted pasta! Win-win!

  206. 206.

    Renie

    I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes to go to Ferrari.

  207. 207.

    Jay

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    rear ends and front ends need to be tight and precise.

    I prefer mechanical limited slips over the clutch type, in the front for offload, full locker in the rear. For road cars, the clutch type work fine as long as you arn’t burning tires all the time as a stunt.

    I am guessing that these days, they have better tech to check engagement than blue greasey ink on the pinion, do a full rotation, then check the print pattern on the ring gear to check the crush and alignment.

    The new rear end plan sounds good.

    When I had my Montego, I had 2.11’s in the rear, massive engine, just for top speed. When I had my 4Runner, 4.11’s for crawling.

  208. 208.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Renie: so should I trade my Mercedes for a Ferrari?  Because then I couldn’t talk about me and Lorenzo rolling in the Benz-o. Never mind the increase in maintenance costs.

  209. 209.

    Alison Rose

    @Eduardo: It was NOT beneficial for him politically. Are you kidding? It made him a damn outcast in the party.

    A post from him from summer 2016:

    In 2004, after I ordered the city clerk to give same-sex couples marriage licenses, I quickly became a pariah in the Democratic Party. I was accused of endangering Sen. Kerry’s campaign for president, my speech at the national convention was cancelled, and most hurtful, major Democratic candidates and elected officials — some of whom were my friends — refused to be photographed with me or even be in the same room with me. I was being demonized by the left and the right. Only one major figure in the Dem party was willing to be photographed with me: Hillary Clinton. In 2004, we did an event together down at Delancey Street in San Francisco. I’ll never forget that moment — that when I was being attacked for my position on same-sex marriage and what we did in San Francisco, she was willing to stand with me in public when no one else was. #ImWithHer

    He did not do it for his own self-interest. It nearly ended his political career. He did it because it was the right thing to do. The fact that you mention it being “illegal” kinda gives your game away.

  211. 211.

    Alison Rose

    @Steve in the ATL: Oh for God’s sake. How many times are we gonna have to go over this on this blog? That was in 2005. It was a brief affair initiated by both parties. I don’t condone cheating, but I also don’t think a person who does so deserves to be pilloried for the rest of their life over it.

  213. 213.

    different-church-lady

    @LadySuzy: People who want to blame Biden for everything are not going to bother checking to see if reality aligns with their desires.

  215. 215.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    I can say that this rear end is hairless!

    @Jay:

    The Detroit Truetrac is a Torsen (geared, no clutches) limited slip differential with a 4 to 1 torque bias. The nice thing about it is that it transfers power to the outside tire in turns rather than just slipping like a TracLoc center. Much nicer in turns and in slippery situations. They are popular with the 4×4 crowd who don’t want/need to go the full locker route. While the rear will not transfer torque with one wheel in the air, lightly applying the e-brake or foot brake will transfer torque to the wheel with grip.

    No additives or clutches to maintain and just straight GL-5 oil. Gear checking is still done the old way but with a mustard brown/baby shit colored grease that you brush on a few teeth in a few places around the gear and then crank on it to run a pattern check on the drive and coast sides of the ring gear. The Ford diff is nice because you can build it on the workbench, not under the car.

    My experience is in marine powertrains so setups like this are old stuff. I also built the T5Z in the car, regearing it from 3.35 first to 2.95 using new Tremec gears and shafts. It’s behind a 351W Ford engine with a lumpy cam in it for that old school sound.

    The 8 inch survived with the C4 auto cushioning the loading of the rear end without a problem. The manual trans hits the rear with more force both on accel and decel so I’m toughening it up and improving it at the same time.

  217. 217.

    El Muneco

    @sab: My favorite recent example of this was the recent “controversy” about Biden using colorful language in private to describe TFG. A spokesman from TFG’s campaign was quoted as saying that Biden was “disrespecting the office of President” and in literally the same breath called the President “Crooked Joe Biden”…

  218. 218.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @zhena gogolia: @Dan B: Thanks. Fortunately, the epidural seems to be working. There’s still some trigger points in my neck and shoulder that have been in spasm for three weeks, which are causing residual nerve irritation. Today’s acupuncture session wasn’t fun, but seems to loosing them up.

  219. 219.

    Eduardo

    @Alison Rose: I am gay and followed the gay marriage fight obsessively to the point of being able to say how and when each state has gotten marriage equality until the Supreme Court made it legally nationally. hey I wasn’t even surprised we lost in CA in 2008 because I knew gay marriage was winning 1 percent a year in the polls and that would lead   CA at around 47/48% which is how it ended.  So, you can save your “gave your game away”.

    it was blatantly illegal because marriage is the jurisprudence of each state not a city.  The equivalent of some rural MA city forbidding gay marriage in 2004. And for Newsom doing that in 2004, when the bigots were on the offensive and the great majority of the country was against it even more counterproductive.  In fact, 10 days later, Bush came out in favor of an amendment to the constitution banning gay marriage.  It was a little bit scary and I could only relax in that sense when Bush in his first press conference after being re-elected declared “nope, we ain’t gonna do the amendment, we are privatizing social security”.

    I didn’t know the Democratic  *politicians* cut him “the water and the electricity” back then.  But that kind of made my point.  Good for them.

    was it good politics for him?  Well he went on to become governor of Cali, didn’t he?

  220. 220.

    El Muneco

    @Steve in the ATL: According to The Source Of All Knowledge, “An “international airport” can be named as such by simply containing customs and border control facilities to enable international flights, regardless of whether international flights currently operate to or from the airport.”

  221. 221.

    Scout211

    @Alison Rose: I guess I was not as actively online back then but I don’t remember him being a pariah in the party for performing those same sex marriages.  All I remember is how thrilled I was at the time and how hopeful I was that it would start a big change.  I thought it was a good thing to do.

    I also remember how much I hated Arnold for vetoing same sex marriage when that bill was on his desk. I even wrote to him urging him to sign it. He (or his staff more likely) wrote back saying it wasn’t needed because we had a domestic partnership law at the time.  I was not amused

    My grudge is still simmering to this day.

  223. 223.

    El Muneco

    @karen marie: I was prompted to check out some Swift songs for the first time as well. She’s definitely talented, and her music isn’t any more overproduced than is the norm in these degenerate days.

    Swift only dips her toes in genres that I’m most partial to, but for some reason when CHVRCHES does a “poppy” number, it doesn’t get the same perception that the Rolling Stones do when they do essentially the same thing. So I’m not looking down on Swift for that.

    I’m not going to seek her stuff out (until she matures into a midlife crisis “grunge” phase), but I readily accept that what is there is real.

  228. 228.

    El Muneco

    @Steve in the ATL: Heh. I got some sideways virtual looks at LGM when I posited that you could come up with a hell of an album if you cherry-picked from “Emotional Rescue”, “Tattoo You”, and “Undercover”.

    But I agree that each one, except possibly “Undercover”, is underwhelming for what it actually is.

  232. 232.

    different-church-lady

    @El Muneco: ​
      Every once in a while I tweak LGM by posting something like, “The Stones made fantastic singles and lousy albums” and I always get negs.

  234. 234.

    Steve in the ATL

    @El Muneco: props to “undercover” for name checking the Bois de Bologne, which is arguably rare for a rock song.

    Great place to sail miniature boats with your kids during the day and score smack and putains after dark.

  237. 237.

    different-church-lady

    @Steve in the ATL: ​
      Well, none actually — mouth fungus is still to active for me to imbibe. And my taste buds are all screwed up, so a lot of food and almost all booze tastes horrible right now. Praying to god it’s just the meds causing it…

  238. 238.

    Alison Rose

    @Eduardo:

    Well he went on to become governor of Cali, didn’t he?

    Because the voters chose him, and it was not solely due to the same-sex marriage issue. There are plenty of homophobes in this state who hated what he did. If he had zero other notable things in his career aside from that, he would have gone nowhere.

  239. 239.

    Steve in the ATL

    @El Muneco: was just listening to “another nail in my heart”, a great soling but deeply troubling to the music loving anal retentive pedant, since the actual lyric is “another nail FOR my heart”. #FML

  245. 245.

    Soprano2

    @Ohio Mom: Oh, joy…..🫤🫤 has to be done, he doesn’t have pain from them because it’s a partial blockage, but they’re causing kidney damage. I wish they would just have him take a shower there and then put on the hospital gown. Worst thing is we have to be at the hospital at 5:15 a.m. because I asked for the earliest time. He’s diabetic, so it’s hard for him to fast. Plus, I want him to have the whole day with me there to start recovering.

  247. 247.

    wjca

    @Eduardo: The governors of MI, PA and CO are all way better candidates.

    As you are discovering, the Californians on BJ tend to be staunch Newsom fans.  Personally, I agree with you that there are several other governors who would be better candidates.  (I also think Harris would be a better candidate.  I see her 2020 campaign as a serious learning experience, plus she’d have Biden’s campaign staff to lean on in 2028.)

    But I doubt you will convince anyone here.  If you want to try, just don’t get your hopes up.

  249. 249.

    brantl

    @LadySuzy:  Information works like the spread of ions in water, you spread to the influenceable / adjacent first, and then to the next, and the next in an outward chain. What you are talking about, if maintained will sway more people, over time. It’s a long slog, but it’s worthwhile. You have to find a way to keep pushing it out, though. And the MAGATs will never look at it, or get it.

  250. 250.

    Ruckus

    @citizen dave:

    Not matter how hard the haters push their hate, most people like it when the economy works, we aren’t war, the sky is blue and the president does not have to try to act human to make people think he (or she!) is/might be. Joe Biden is a good man because he likes people, wants them to be happy, fed, comfortable and get to laugh once in a while. It’s actually not that high a bar, which many people can’t even seem to imagine exists.

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