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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / In other news…

In other news…

by Betty Cracker|  February 9, 20244:27 pm| 110 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics

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I made this fabulous mac and cheese:

In other news…I used Ina Garten’s recipe, skipping the sliced tomatoes on top because I don’t have any to spare. You can’t go wrong with Ina.

***

Larry Hogan is running for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat. According to HuffPo, two Dems are vying for a shot: Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. I don’t know anything about either of them, but the article says Trone owns Total Wine, so that’s a plus in my book. If there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, I plan to hole up in a Total Wine until it blows over.

***

In investment news, the S&P crossed 5,000 for the first time ever, according to WaPo.

The booming S&P 500 is a boon to millions of Americans who invest in the index through their retirement accounts. Investors in 2022 had about $11.4 trillion in investments passively indexed to either the S&P 500 or in funds that use the index as a benchmark, according to S&P Global.

The market rally began in earnest in the final months of 2023, as a spate of positive economic news convinced investors that recession wasn’t in the offing. Inflation has come down to 1.7 percent, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, while the economy has generated new jobs at a healthy pace and consumers have kept up their spending.

Bidenomics, baybee!

***

It got somewhat obscured in the ballyhoo about the Fed Soc Trump-affiliated special counselor’s inexcusable political hit job, but Biden’s press event last night contained the harshest criticism of Netanyahu’s Gaza campaign to date (WaPo):

The “conduct of the response in Gaza Strip has been over the top,” Biden said. “I’m pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage cease-fire. I’ve been working tirelessly on this deal … because I think if we can get the delay, the initial delay — I think we would be able to extend that so that we could increase the prospect that this fighting in Gaza changes.”

Biden, who has been resistant to speak in detail about the suffering in Gaza, also spoke in the most visceral terms yet about the desperation in the enclave.

“I’ve been pushing really hard to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. A lot of innocent people are starving. A lot of innocent people are in trouble and they’re dying and it’s got to stop,” Biden said.

The comments mark a stunning turnaround for Biden, who has an emotional attachment to Israel and has largely refused to criticize the country even as anger grows among left-leaning parts of the Democratic base over the war in Gaza and its enormous civilian toll.

Good. It’s a complicated problem, but expressing concern about the loss of lives and compounding misery of innocent people matters. The famously empathetic president knows better than most how much.

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

110Comments

  1. 1.

    japa21

    February 9, 2024 at 4:34 pm

    Would just like to point out that when Biden went to Israel, he very specifically warned them against doing what they have been doing.

    Also, when people scream about a ceasefire, they are usually talking about Israel stopping the fighting.  I believe Hamas is still firing rockets into Israel.

    Finally, one can be pro-Israel and pro-Palestine at the same time.  Biden is.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 4:38 pm

    High stock market and low unemployment, just like Obama and Clinton before him.

    I’m sensing a pattern.

  3. 3.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 4:40 pm

    Ooooh that would go really nicely with the chicken noodle soup I made today.  Ina Garten’s style (both personal and her style of cooking) suits me to a T.  I’ve contemplated sending her fan mail.

  4. 4.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 4:41 pm

    @japa21: bravo.  I distinctly remember his Rules reference from Day 1.

  5. 5.

    zhena gogolia

    February 9, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    @TBone: It looks really good, but we can’t take that much dairy.

    I make her turkey meat loaf all the time.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    Planning to do the monthly grocery and errand run into town, this time including the laundromat, on Sunday mid -afternoon. AFAIK kickoff time for that other thing is 1:30 p.m. Hawaii time.

    Anticipating lots and lots of empty parking spaces and stores devoid of crowds.
    ;)

  7. 7.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    @zhena gogolia: her recipe for Roasted Meatballs is bangin’!  You could use turkey there too 🥰

  8. 8.

    Hildebrand

    February 9, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    Does anyone have a buffalo chicken hot dip recipe that they have actually made and enjoyed?

  9. 9.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 9, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    I’ve been using a “southern” style mac and cheese recipe lately, with evaporated milk, eggs and such.

    Also:

    Here’s Vice President Kamala Harris, putting Special Counsel Robert Hur on BLAST for his bullshit, gratuitous comments in his report.

  10. 10.

    Old School

    February 9, 2024 at 4:51 pm

    I used Ina Garten’s recipe,

    Gruyere and nutmeg.  Interesting.

  11. 11.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 4:52 pm

    @Old School: she’s like a younger Julia Child.  Classic in every sense of the word.  Her recipes never fail.

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    February 9, 2024 at 4:52 pm

    Oooh. A 4.7 earthquake in Malibu. Nothing big, but I felt a nice little shake in the San Gabriel Valley.

  13. 13.

    JWR

    February 9, 2024 at 4:52 pm

    @NotMax: I was just reading your comment a few threads back about an earthquake, and just then SoCal got hit with one, too!

    Magnitude 4.7 earthquake
    7 miles from Thousand Oaks, CA · 1:47 PM

    Ride ’em, cowboy!

    ETA @Brachiator: I’m in the same neighborhood, and it shook for a good 30-40 seconds.

  14. 14.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    February 9, 2024 at 4:52 pm

    In other news, just had a moderate earthquake here in LA

    ETA: I see others have beat me to it

    ETA: Pretty close to one my favorite spots to shoot on the coast.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    The earth was angry today, my friends.

  16. 16.

    PAM Dirac

    February 9, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    @NotMax:

    AFAIK kickoff time for that other thing is 1:30 p.m. Hawaii time

    The most important kickoff time is 2pm EST for the Puppy Bowl.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    February 9, 2024 at 4:55 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:  That is excellent.  Thank you.

  18. 18.

    TaMara

    February 9, 2024 at 4:55 pm

    @Hildebrand: Like this? My Patriot fan friend loves this (hence, why I posted it as guest recipe on the blog)

    Buffalo Chicken Dip

  19. 19.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 9, 2024 at 4:56 pm

    @JWR: ​ 

    My sister is texting about it right now, she’s working in Camarillo and said it was very strong.

  20. 20.

    TaMara

    February 9, 2024 at 4:56 pm

    @Old School: It’s amazing – I’ve had similar at a restaurant and something about the nutmeg takes it over the top. It’s yummy.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2024 at 4:57 pm

    Yeah, it’s shake ‘n’ bake day in the islands.
    ;)

  22. 22.

    Hildebrand

    February 9, 2024 at 4:58 pm

    @TaMara: Awesome – thank you!

  23. 23.

    TaMara

    February 9, 2024 at 4:58 pm

    @Brachiator: Funny, I was just on the phone with an LA friend. I guess ’cause he was driving he didn’t feel it.

  24. 24.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 4:58 pm

    I made Ina’s Sunday Roast for Xmas dinner, with whole braised vidalia onions (braised in chicken stock with sprigs of rosemary, add a splash of cream near the end), and her Potatoes Anna.  A meal that will live in infamy.

    https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/sunday-rib-roast-recipe-1941847

    Oh, and Yorkshire Pudding!  And fresh steamed baby spinach

  25. 25.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 9, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    It got somewhat obscured in the ballyhoo about the Fed Soc Trump-affiliated special counselor’s inexcusable political hit job, but Biden’s press event last night contained the harshest criticism of Netanyahu’s Gaza campaign to date

    Saw this on bluesky, he’s ramping up the pressure in back channels too.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: The plot thickens.  Thanks for that.

  27. 27.

    skerry

    February 9, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Thank you for sharing that. I love our vice president.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    February 9, 2024 at 5:05 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Excellent.

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2024 at 5:06 pm

    Amusing in passing (to me). The AAA batteries in the TV remote finally gave up the ghost. Very minimal leakage just beginning inside their cubicle. What found amusing is the “best by” date printed on them: March 2020.

    Enough to mollify the sticker shock when traipsed to the hardware store for replacements. Which have a March 2034 date printed on them.
    ;)

  30. 30.

    JWR

    February 9, 2024 at 5:06 pm

    @Baud:

    The earth was angry today, my friends.

    I think she’s shaking off the Hur hit job.

    ;)

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    February 9, 2024 at 5:07 pm

     

    @TaMara:

    Funny, I was just on the phone with an LA friend. I guess ’cause he was driving he didn’t feel it.

    Watching the news. Some people in the area of the quake who were driving or even hiking up a hill didn’t feel anything. Moderate quakes are funny that way.

    I felt a definite rolling motion for maybe 20 seconds. Nothing alarming, but very noticeable.

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    February 9, 2024 at 5:08 pm

    Larry Hogan is running for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat. According to HuffPo, two Dems are vying for a shot: Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrook

     

    Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrook

    Before she was the County Executive, she was the State’s Attorney.

    Lifelong DC resident and PG County person.

     

    She’s 52. Trone is 68.

  33. 33.

    dmsilev

    February 9, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    @JWR: Yeah. It wasn’t particularly strong where I am, but definitely noticeable.

    I’m sure my colleagues with the very sensitive microscopes and similar would take issue with “not particularly strong” though;  their gear was probably screaming bloody murder.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    February 9, 2024 at 5:10 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    CLAP CLAP CLAP

     

    Thank you, MVP

  35. 35.

    jonas

    February 9, 2024 at 5:11 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Harris’s comments there were very good, and, as an aside, also fly in the face of the near-constant attempts to portray her as some kind of unserious, mealy-mouthed cipher who wouldn’t be up to the job of president.

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    February 9, 2024 at 5:11 pm

    @Baud: There was a BOOM that shook the house earlier today. My neighbor friend down the road and I were texting about it, wondering if a giant cypress went down in the swamp or something. Turns out it was aSpaceX rocket re-entry.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2024 at 5:12 pm

    For no particular reason other than we’re bringing up food, Marry Me Chicken.
    ;)

  38. 38.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    @rikyrah: MD elected a black governor recently, but he was running against a MAGA. Assuming Hogan wins his primary (no safe bet these days), it’ll be interesting to see how white Marylanders respond if she’s the nominee.

  39. 39.

    Geminid

    February 9, 2024 at 5:14 pm

    There probably is not much difference between Angela Alsobrooks and David Trone on issues. They differ in personal characteristics in that Alsobrooks is Black, female and 52 years old, and Trone is White, male and 68.

    Their political experience is another point of contrast. Trone is in his 3rd term representing a suburban/rural district with about 750,000 constituents. Alsobrooks is in her second four-year term as the elected chief executive of a suburban county of about 950,000 residents. Before that she served as Prince George’s County’s elected chief prosecutor.

  40. 40.

    TaMara

    February 9, 2024 at 5:16 pm

    @Betty Cracker: That reminds me of when the Shuttle would come into Edwards Air Base and we’d hear the boom in LA. So freaky.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 5:17 pm

    @jonas:

    also fly in the face of the near-constant attempts to portray her as some kind of unserious, mealy-mouthed cipher who wouldn’t be up to the job of president.

    Until a special counsel report contains a gratuitous, unprofessional aside endorsing that view.

  42. 42.

    Nina

    February 9, 2024 at 5:18 pm

    Trome has been saturating the airwaves and.social media advertising, so much so that I was unaware that Hogan was running.  Or the other lady, mores the pity. I will have to research her.  She may get some votes due to advertising fatigue.

    My husband is a Hogan fan, so I’m afraid he may vote for him.

  43. 43.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 5:19 pm

    One of the most impressive things about Biden is his ability to evolve.  Most persons’ opinions calcify after a certain age, not Joe.

  44. 44.

    Kristine

    February 9, 2024 at 5:19 pm

    Love Ina Garten. Some of her cookie recipes are faves. Her meatloaf recipe. Tuna w/ hummus sandwich.

    Her scalloped tomatoes.

  45. 45.

    Steeplejack

    February 9, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    If there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, I plan to hole up in a Total Wine until it blows over.

    👍 Amen!

  46. 46.

    PAM Dirac

    February 9, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    @Nina:

    so much so that I was unaware that Hogan was running
     

    He was kinda signaling that he wouldn’t run, but he filed the paperwork on the last day.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    @Nina:

    so much so that I was unaware that Hogan was running.

    I think he just announced.

     

    @Nina:

    My husband is a Hogan fan, so I’m afraid he may vote for him.

    Do you need a divorce attorney?

  48. 48.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    The mac and cheese looks scrumptious!  I also love Ina, except for her obsession with adding tomatoes to everything.  I don’t like tomatoes.

  49. 49.

    Alison Rose

    February 9, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Our Veep rules.

  50. 50.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 9, 2024 at 5:23 pm

    OT Question for the hive mind/

    Has anyone used Ipad Air with Apple Pencil 2 and how do you like it?
    Thanks.

  51. 51.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 5:23 pm

    @Kristine: oooh thank you. When tomato season hits, I’m on it!

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2024 at 5:23 pm

    @Steeplejack

    Was ’22 a good year for Chateau Amygdala?
    ;)

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    February 9, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    @Hildebrand:

    Chef John’s version is very good. Made several times by my brother and taste-test approved by me.

  54. 54.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    @TBone:

    Those onions sound heavenly!  Recipe?  Or is it another Ina?

  55. 55.

    Lyrebird

    February 9, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    @japa21: Thanks for saying that out loud.

    @Betty Cracker:

    Betty C, I really appreciate the care you have put into how you talk about such a legitimately hot-button issue.  It’s important, and my feelings are not so important, but I don’t feel like I need to hide on your posts, and I wanted to thank you.

  56. 56.

    MattF

    February 9, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    My gut feeling is that either Trone or Alsobrooks will beat Hogan. They are both seasoned MD politicians, and Hogan still has to get those Republican baseline votes, somehow, and not be written off as a RINO. He’s managed that in the past, but it’s going to be much harder this time. I am pleased to see that he didn’t fall for the ‘No Labels’ scam.

  57. 57.

    Geminid

    February 9, 2024 at 5:27 pm

    @Nina: Angela Alsobrooks has Governor Wes Moore in her corner. I think Senator Van Hollen has endorsed her also. I’d vote for her if I lived in Maryland because I think she is better qualified by experience. I don’t see Trone bringing anything special to the Senate.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @MattF:

    A lot of Dem states in the NE elect GOP governors knowing that the Dem legislature can discipline them to some extent. You don’t have that in the US Senate, since there’s no chance Dem will end up with a dominating position.

  59. 59.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @TaMara:

    OMG if I made that I would eat it all by myself!

  60. 60.

    Betty Cracker

    February 9, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @Steeplejack: You wouldn’t have to leave! There are enough snacks among the booze inventory to keep you going.

  61. 61.

    Alison Rose

    February 9, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    Hey, not too far from me! My nephew lives in Willits. I wonder if he knows he has royalty for a neighbor :)

    Edith Ceccarelli, the oldest known person in the United States at 116 years old, hails from the NorCal town of Willits – and the Historical Society of Mendocino County still has a copy of her senior high school yearbook.

    In celebration of Ceccarelli’s birthday on Feb. 5, the historical society created a video showcasing stills from the 1927 “Mistletoe” yearbook for Willits High School, many of which feature Ceccarelli née Edie Recagno.

    Ceccarelli was born in 1908 in Willits and has lived there for much of her life. She still resides there today at a residential care home (though she lived independently until 107 years old).

    The yearbook pictures serve as both a fascinating time capsule and a fun reminder of how little the yearbook format has changed in the past 100 years: Sports and club pictures abound, as do memories and jokes from the senior class.

    There are, of course, also the amusing contrasts between the 1927 yearbook and a modern version: The featured faculty members don nice-looking suits and frilly collars and an article attributed to Ceccarelli about “girls’ athletics” describes them as “regarded as but a side issue” (though perhaps that attitude is not as outdated as it should be).

    Ceccarelli appears in shots of the basketball team, concert orchestra and senior play (they put on “Nothing But The Truth”). A poem highlights her musical talents: “Edith is our class’s songbird / With the sweetest voice you’ve ever heard.”

    And as you might hope, she’s sassy:

    Her secret to a long life, according to The Times? “Have a couple of fingers of red wine with your dinner, and mind your own business.”

  62. 62.

    Suzanne

    February 9, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    I am glad to see Biden shifting strategy here. Netanyahu is absolutely murderous.

  63. 63.

    PAM Dirac

    February 9, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    Trone owns Total Wine, so that’s a plus in my book.

    It’s kind of weird that he is my rep here in Maryland, but the closest Total Wine is down in Virginia. I’m not sure who I will vote for in the primary. I think both would be great Senators and both are hard working, but right now I’m leaning toward Alsobrooks.

  64. 64.

    Scout211

    February 9, 2024 at 5:31 pm

    In weird news, I hired an electrician to change out all of our cheap CFL can lights to LED.  We have a total of 42 of them inside and outside of the house.

    He started on the porch and patio today. Those cheap CFL can lights have no covers on them so various and sundry pests and animals had crawled up into the openings over the past 16 years and left an assortment of nastiness.  Every can light that was removed rained down years of dirt, mud wasp nests, an untold gross amount of frog poop and three dead bats.  And of course, it all rained down on him. 😳 It took me a long time to get all of that swept up.

    Poor guy, he’s getting a big tip from me when the job is done.  

  65. 65.

    Warblewarble

    February 9, 2024 at 5:32 pm

    Israels campaign in Gaza is not”over the top” it is and for months has been intentionally murderous, fueled by weapons that Biden by passed Congress to provide. This is not a war for Israels survival (perhaps it’s for the survival of Netanyahu’s extremist government) The mass killing is not incidental. it is the point.

  66. 66.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    February 9, 2024 at 5:33 pm

    @TaMara: It was a triple boom with the shuttle.

  67. 67.

    Jeffro

    February 9, 2024 at 5:34 pm

    @TBone: love the recipe for mustard horseradish sauce that goes with the roast!   mmmm mmmm

  68. 68.

    misterpuff

    February 9, 2024 at 5:36 pm

    Brains! Brains! Brains!

    OOH! Brains with some fava beans and a nice Chianti!

  69. 69.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    February 9, 2024 at 5:38 pm

    @Jeffro: Great, now we have to find the mustard.

  70. 70.

    Jeffro

    February 9, 2024 at 5:38 pm

    @Scout211:In weird news, I hired an electrician to change out all of our cheap CFL can lights to LED.  We have a total of 42 of them inside and outside of the house.

    Your bank account is going to love you w/ those LEDs.

    Your electric company, not so much – too bad, so sad!

  71. 71.

    cain

    February 9, 2024 at 5:38 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: This is good – we need to show that we are serious about this ceasefire. That asshole, Bibi is stubborn MF – and he needs to cool it.

    Hamas should also stop shooting rockets.

  72. 72.

    PAM Dirac

    February 9, 2024 at 5:41 pm

    @MattF:

    Hogan still has to get those Republican baseline votes, somehow, and not be written off as a RINO

    Yeah he refused to endorse the MAGA nominee for governor in ’22 calling him a “QAnon whack job”. Probably not forgotten. On the other hand I don’t think drumpf will endorse any of the other R primary candidates so I guess he will win the R nomination. In the general the key is always whether the D voters in Montgomery, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel counties will get their bipartisan feels by voting R. I’m with you in thinking that probably not this time.

  73. 73.

    Princess

    February 9, 2024 at 5:41 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Harris did a good job. You need a VP who can stand up for the P and say the things he cannot say.

  74. 74.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2024 at 5:42 pm

    @misterpuff

    Did someone say brains?

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    February 9, 2024 at 5:42 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Inorite! Plus you could use the cheaper swill in flame throwers and Molotov cocktails against any zombie incursion.

  76. 76.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 5:43 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Good for MVP.  Restrained but clearly pissed, a tough needle to thread.

  77. 77.

    sab

    February 9, 2024 at 5:45 pm

    @eclare: Kindof like Jamie Oliver with bacon.

  78. 78.

    Geminid

    February 9, 2024 at 5:46 pm

    @cain: Hamas hasn’t gotten many rockets off the last few weeks, but Hezbollah fired 40 into northern Israel today. Israel and Hezbollah have been shooting  something at each other every day for months now, so hopefully this is just more of the same.

  79. 79.

    Doc Sardonic

    February 9, 2024 at 5:55 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I have an iPad Pro with the 2nd generation pencil and I like the pencil. I don’t use it for drawing other than a quick sketch of a cabinet or furniture piece, mostly for filling in forms when the form originator neglects to mark a text box for typing in a PDF and signing things. One suggestion is to get a drawing glove, it helps keep your hand from botching things up if you touch or rest it on the screen

  80. 80.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 9, 2024 at 5:57 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: I have a drawing glove. I have two drawing tablets but they need to be connected to a computer. So this would be like an on the go tablet.

    How do you like writing with the Apple Pencil on the ipad?

  81. 81.

    Doc Sardonic

    February 9, 2024 at 6:02 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: It took a bit of getting used to writing on it because you don’t have the “pen on paper” feeling from the screen, but once I got past that, it seems more like a notebook without the paper.

  82. 82.

    ColoradoGuy

    February 9, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    I have an iPad Air (5th generation, similar to last year’s Pro), a Zugu case, and Apple Pencil 2. The case has a convenient rubberized notch where the pencil magnetically charges and pairs up with the iPad.

    Haven’t used the pencil much, but it works well and is light. Double-tap the front and it switches from pencil to eraser and back again.

  83. 83.

    UncleEbeneezer

    February 9, 2024 at 6:12 pm

    @Princess: VP Harris illustrated precisely the way we all should’ve responded to attacks on Biden’s mental acuity for the past four years, instead of hemming and hawing, treating them seriously and giving them legitimacy.  Reject them forcefully as the bullshit they always have been and move on.  Not getting suckered into hearing them out and treating them as valid concerns.  It was a bunch of malarky from the get-go.

  84. 84.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 6:17 pm

    @eclare: it’s not Ina.  But it could be!

    https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/92754/onions-baked-with-rosemary-and-cream/

  85. 85.

    Sure Lurkalot

    February 9, 2024 at 6:22 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Close, have used an IPad with the Zagg Pro Stylus (well-regarded Apple Pencil knock off).

    The pen was a gift to my DH who is the one with artistic talent, he’s using it with Adobe Fresco and likes the combo as well as the two ends (one very fine, the other wide which works as a page turner as well).

    The Zagg works pretty seamlessly with Apple apps, for example, on Notes, converts your writing to text (I’m sure if your writing is illegible, you’re probably out of luck).

    DH has a Surface Pro that he was going to do art on so we spent $100 on a Microsoft pen…was never used. So, I really didn’t want to spend $100 on Apple’s pen and I got the Zagg for $25 on Amazon. They have a “2” version so the older model stylus was a reasonable price.

    If you go the IPad route for art, you may want to pick up an inexpensive not electronic stylus too, they have different nibs and work quite well on the myriad of drawing/painting/art apps out there.

  86. 86.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 6:22 pm

    @TBone:

    Thanks

    OMG that looks delish!  Definitely bookmarked.

  87. 87.

    TBone

    February 9, 2024 at 6:24 pm

    @eclare: the vidalias were key, the sweetness factor was important IMO. I wouldn’t use yellow onions for this.

  88. 88.

    eclare

    February 9, 2024 at 6:25 pm

    @TBone:

    Thanks again!

  89. 89.

    Sure Lurkalot

    February 9, 2024 at 6:35 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Thanks for posting the link. Just about every damn day there’s some blog post or comment that disses MVP Harris (I could link to one posted this very day). Yes, there’s the misogyny and the racism but it’s more than that and I just don’t get it. It’s a background job and thankless in many ways but I think she’s great–smart, personable, funny, self-aware, gracious. And no, she wasn’t my choice in the 2020 primary race.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    February 9, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    In a closed-door meeting with Arab American leaders in Michigan this week, one of President Biden’s top foreign policy aides acknowledged mistakes in the administration’s response to the war in Gaza, saying he did not have “any confidence” that Israel’s government was willing to take “meaningful steps” toward Palestinian statehood.
    The remarks came after months of public and private admonitions from the Biden administration for Israel to take a more surgical approach in a conflict that has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza. On Thursday, Mr. Biden himself declared that Israel had gone “over the top” in its response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
    The Biden aide, Jon Finer, a deputy national security adviser, offered some of the administration’s clearest expressions of regret for what he called “missteps” it had made from the beginning of the violence, and he pledged that it would do better.
    During the meeting on Thursday with Arab American political leaders in Dearborn, Mich., Mr. Finer said, “We are very well aware that we have missteps in the course of responding to this crisis since Oct. 7,” according to a recording of the gathering obtained by The New York Times. A National Security Council official confirmed the recording was authentic.
    The war in Gaza has become part of a cascade of political problems for Mr. Biden, who has remained publicly supportive of Israel and resisted demands within the Democratic Party to call for a cease-fire. His position since Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, along with his remarks casting doubt on the death toll from Israeli airstrikes and calling the loss of life “a price of waging war,” has angered young people, Black voters and progressives who are more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
    Mr. Finer and several other senior Biden administration officials, including Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, traveled to Dearborn on Thursday for a series of meetings, including the one in which Mr. Finer’s comments were recorded.
    “We will have to do things for Saudi Arabia that will be very unpopular in this country and in our Congress,” Mr. Finer said. “Will Israel be willing to do the hard thing that’s going to be required of them, which is meaningful steps for the Palestinians on the question of two states? I don’t know if the answer to that is yes. I do not have any confidence in this current government of Israel.”
    Mr. Finer also said the Biden administration should have been faster to publicly condemn statements made by some Israeli officials that, in his words, compared “residents of Gaza to animals.” He said officials had not done so because they were trying to work with the Israeli government.
    “Out of a desire to sort of focus on solving the problem and not engaging in a rhetorical back-and-forth with people who, in many cases, I think we all find somewhat abhorrent, we did not sufficiently indicate that we totally rejected and disagreed with those sorts of sentiments,” Mr. Finer said.
    He did not clarify which Israeli officials he was referring to, but in the conflict’s early days, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said, “We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.” Some other Israeli officials have also faced criticism for dehumanizing language.
    Mr. Finer’s most explicit note of contrition was for a statement released under Mr. Biden’s name on Jan. 14, marking 100 days since the conflict began. The statement focused on the plight of American and Israeli hostages being held in Gaza and made no reference to Palestinians who had been killed.
    “It did not in any way address the loss of Palestinian life during the course of the first 100 days of the conflict,” Mr. Finer said. “There is no excuse for that. It should not have happened. I believe it will not happen again. But we know that there was a lot of damage done.”

    Good. Big, damaging error but maybe they can make it right.

  91. 91.

    randy khan

    February 9, 2024 at 6:45 pm

    You can’t go wrong with Ina.

    Truer words were never spoken.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 6:46 pm

    @Kay:

    👍

  93. 93.

    Kay

    February 9, 2024 at 6:52 pm

    @Baud:

    Some Democrats are urging them to vote “uncommitted” in the MI prmary as a protest, which would be embarassing for Biden but also might excise some of the anger and allow them to vote the top of the ticket, later (in the general) having said their piece with the protest vote in the primary. I know they won’t vote for Trump. The danger is they’ll leave it blank.

    I’d rather have a protest vote now than in November.

  94. 94.

    sab

    February 9, 2024 at 7:07 pm

    @Kay: I had hoped that Biden would be a Nixon to China, who could say the unspeakable because his credibility and trustworthiness on the subject was irrefutible.

    Maybe so still. I realize that Israelis were reeling after October 7, but they also have for the most part been quite blatantly indifferent to Palestinian suffering for the last thirty years at least.

    One of the horrors of the October 7 attack was Hamas purposely attacked the Israelis most likely to be sympathetic to their point of view (the music festival.)

  95. 95.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    February 9, 2024 at 7:07 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: On a whim, because I like Welsh Rarebit, I made a baked mac and cheese with beer instead of milk in the cheese sauce…with Cabot seriously sharp cheddar. Very zippy which I like in my Mac and cheese but may not be for everyone.

  96. 96.

    Ohio Mom

    February 9, 2024 at 7:15 pm

    @Old School: Trader Joe’s has a cheddar/gruyere mixed cheese I use for my mac and cheese, mostly because Gruyère by itself is a little pricey for me. I use half that and half extra sharp cheddar, mostly for color (the block of mixed cheese is practically white).

  97. 97.

    Geminid

    February 9, 2024 at 7:16 pm

    @sab: Many of the residents in the southern kibbutzes that got hit were more liberal than most of Israel. Some of the residents murdered were long time peace activists who worked with Palestinians in Gaza. One resident had an IT company with employees and an office in Gaza. He was away that morning, but his daughter was killed. He intends to reopen his Gaza project when he can.

  98. 98.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    February 9, 2024 at 7:20 pm

    @rikyrah: I was not going to vote in the Democratic Primary for Senator, but with Hogan’s entrance into the race as the GOP candidate, I’m leaning towards Trone as even MD independents are most likely to not support a female.  After the 2016 election, I do not trust the electorate to support a woman.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    February 9, 2024 at 7:22 pm

    @Kay:

    Yes. The preseason don’t mean shit.  We’ve got one Superbowl we gots to win.

  100. 100.

    Quiltingfool

    February 9, 2024 at 7:23 pm

    @Kay: I want you to know how much I look forward to reading your comments.  You are clear and concise (no jibber-jabber) and I like that!

    This may make you chuckle, well, I hope it does, as the topic isn’t funny…I woke up very, very early Thursday morning and couldn’t go back to sleep; I started thinking about your comments on the anger some voters have towards Biden in re  Gaza and then began to worry about Trump prevailing!  Sleep was NOT happening when that hamster started running on the wheel in my brain!

    I got up and played solitaire until I felt alert enough to work on a quilt.  I probably woke up too early because I was hungry (had a permanent crown put on Wednesday so I didn’t eat much).

    Keep those comments coming!

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    February 9, 2024 at 7:57 pm

    @Quiltingfool:  Hello there.  Gonna put you on the spot.  Any chance you might do another Patron or two?  I missed the earlier opportunity (my bad) and really love that little guy and his country.  Would love to commission some work by you.

    Join you in being a Kay fan as well.

    Slava Ukraini!

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    February 9, 2024 at 8:00 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland:  I know.  It’s scary.  Although:  there is the Barbara Mikulski precedent.

    She is still alive!  87 years old and maybe not even 4’11” anymore.

    30 years in the U.S. Senate.

    Either Dem sounds good to me.  A must hold seat.

  103. 103.

    wjca

    February 9, 2024 at 8:02 pm

    @Baud: The preseason don’t mean shit.

    How can you hope to ever win an election if you dis on Spring Training?

  104. 104.

    Kay

    February 9, 2024 at 8:03 pm

    @Quiltingfool:

    Thank you. I think if you add up 100k Arab American votes in MI and then add all the state school votes (U of M, MSU, Western MI, etc)  you exceed Biden’s 2020 margin (140k) . Bottom line – he needs them. He can absorb a lot of protest votes in NY or CA or MA – he can’t in MI. MSU alone is about 20k votes. He needs Dearborn and Detroit plus colleges.

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    February 9, 2024 at 8:36 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: ​

    @rikyrah: ​The tone of her voice when she said, “I’m glad you asked. ” should have made every reporter ready for the righteous speech that was about to follow. And I’m gonna have words with anyone who says that she’s not a great communicator.

  106. 106.

    sab

    February 9, 2024 at 8:44 pm

    @Geminid: That was what I was trying to say.

  107. 107.

    Quiltingfool

    February 9, 2024 at 9:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: I saw your request too late to respond!  I am in the middle of a quilt commission right now – it’s a doozy – so I can’t say exactly when a couple of Patron blocks can be done, but I will be happy to make some!  I love that little guy!

  108. 108.

    Elizabelle

    February 9, 2024 at 10:01 pm

    @Quiltingfool:  Thank you, thank you!  No hurry whatsoever.  We can be in touch via WaterGirl.  Would love two, and maybe three.

    Good luck with your commissions!  We are delighted you have time to visit with us here!

  109. 109.

    pajaro

    February 9, 2024 at 11:08 pm

    @PAM Dirac:

    I’m not sure why Trump will refrain from endorsing someone against Hogan, since Hogan was a pretty clear critic of Trump when he was governor.  He was also really diligent on getting vaccines to folks, and he was even kind of tough about enforcing those mandates that existed at the start of the pandemic.  Not that it’s saying that much, but he would easily be the most liberal Republican in the Senate were he to win. It would also be very much like Trump to endorse someone else, as Hogan would be by far the toughest general election candidate for either of the Democratic hopefuls.

  110. 110.

    lowtechcyclist

    February 10, 2024 at 7:33 am

    .
    @Geminid: ​
     

    I’d vote for her if I lived in Maryland because I think she is better qualified by experience. I don’t see Trone bringing anything special to the Senate.

    Since I do live in Maryland, I expect I’ll be voting for Alsobrook in the primary. Trone’s been in the House for several years, and if he’s brought anything special there, I’ve missed it.

    And he’s old for just starting his Senate career, and the Senate’s got too many geezers already. It’s one thing to be a 69 year old Senator with most of your career behind you, but it’s whole ‘nother thing to be running to become a Senator for the first time at age 69.

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