Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

The willow is too close to the house.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

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

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I really should read my own blog.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

This really is a full service blog.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

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

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / And the Women Shall Lead Them: Janet Yellen Edition

And the Women Shall Lead Them: Janet Yellen Edition

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(AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday offered her strongest public support yet for the idea of liquidating roughly $300 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets and using them for Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction.

“It is necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these immobilized assets to support Ukraine’s continued resistance and long-term reconstruction,” Yellen said in remarks in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting this week.

“I believe there is a strong international law, economic, and moral case for moving forward. This would be a decisive response to Russia’s unprecedented threat to global stability,” she said.

The United States and its allies froze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian foreign holdings in retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Those billions have been sitting untapped as the war grinds on, now in its third year, while officials from multiple countries have debated the legality of sending the money to Ukraine. More than two-thirds of Russia’s immobilized central bank funds are located in the EU.

I hope this can happen.  And I love that it’s being discussed and suggested as an actual option.

It’s not nothing when the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury is saying it.

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat” was repeated quite often at our house when I was growing up.  Right along with “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. Clearly Biden and folks in his administration were taught the same thing.

Is there some other phrase that conveys something similar, but doesn’t involve something so horrendous as skinning a cat?  That phrase was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this article, and I would like to be able to replace it with something that is not disgusting.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

127Comments

  3. 3.

    VFX Lurker

    Is there some other phrase that conveys something similar, but doesn’t involve something so horrendous as skinning a cat? 

    Hm…

    • “There are many roads to Dublin.”
    • “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s.”
  6. 6.

    ColoradoGuy

    “Try, try again”. The universal rule for aerospace and engineering in general. Almost nothing works on the first try.

  7. 7.

    Ken

    You bring back fond memories of one of my childhood book series, “Freddy the Pig” by Walter R. Brooks. There was one story where the animals were arguing about cliches, and whether they were true. The cat, an evil glint in his eyes, suggested they test a few, starting with “Any old stick will do to beat a dog.” You can guess, I’m sure, the one the dog proposed testing.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: I have never heard of Freddy the Pig.  That story sounds fun.

    My memories related to skin the cat are happy ones of my Dad saying “skin the cat” when I was little, and up went my arms to put on a new shirt, or my PJs, or whatever.

    @ColoradoGuy: The rule for success in nearly everything, I would imagine!

  10. 10.

    Kelly

    Old timers around here refer to bulldozer operators as “Cat skinners”. Cat being short for Caterpillar tractors. Skinner probably delivered from calling folks directing mule teams as mule skinners. Not sure how the mule skinner name came about but I’ve read it because their cursing was coarse enough to take the skin off a mule.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    I would love it if the free world would turn this support for the idea of using those funds into the reality of actually doing it.  I am sick at heart with the realization that the Russian stooges in the House  are willing to let allies fight and die and possibly lose their sovereignty as a nation.

    They couldn’t be trusted to go to the store with a $5 bill to get a gallon milk, and they hold the future of Ukraine in their hands.

  13. 13.

    twbrandt

    A former coworker was greatly offended when I said once “There is more than one way to skin a cat.” Turns out she had a couple dozen (!) cats.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    Pentagon considering tapping last source of Ukraine military funding as Congress stalls on additional aid.

    I say spend the money NOW and dare the Rs to not replenish.  I can’t think of a single military situation that’s more important than this.

    The Pentagon is weighing whether to tap into the last remaining source of funding it has for military aid to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia even without guarantees that those funds will be replenished by Congress, multiple defense officials told CNN.

    The Defense Department still has around $4 billion in presidential drawdown authority funds available for Ukraine, which allows the Pentagon to draw from its own stockpiles to send military equipment to Kyiv.

    But the Pentagon had previously been reluctant to spend any of that remaining money without assurances it would be reimbursed by Congress through the administration’s $60 billion supplemental funding request, because taking from DoD stockpiles with no plan to replenish that equipment could impact US military readiness.

    But with Ukraine growing increasingly desperate for US military aid and Republican leadership in the House refusing to hold a vote on providing more funding, senior defense officials are discussing whether there is any financial cushion internally that would allow the department to spend at least part of that remaining $4 billion to help Ukraine fight Russia.

    No decisions have been made yet, officials emphasized. But the conversations about that option and other potential plan Bs have become increasingly urgent over the last several weeks as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine has become more dire, the officials said.

  17. 17.

    Dangerman

    Seems like a happy mashup of two sayings:

    possession is nine tenths of the law

    and

    liar, liar, your pants will soon be fired upon

    (I might be slightly off on that second one)

  20. 20.

    Shalimar

    If only NATO countries had listened to Trump, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

    Ok, I mostly joke.  But I think all of this money would be released immediately if European countries had arms industries that could support that level of purchases, and those industries would exist now if Germany et. al. had begun expanding their militaries 15 years ago when Putin first declared his shadow war on the west.

  22. 22.

    JWR

    NBC informs me that there might be a fourth candidate for McConnell’s position as minority Leader, and it is none other than Skeletor! Yep, lil’ Ricky Scott, medical moocher extraordinaire.

  28. 28.

    cain

    @WaterGirl:

    Seriously, just do it. There are enough GOP onboard that it’s bipartisan and sometimes you have to take a risk.

    Funding the military is pretty easy to understand and the risk easy to understand. It will be hard for the GOP to resist not funding the military. Of course, there is a shutdown happening so a lot of people are going to be feeling the pinch coming up.

    I sometimes think that these shutdowns are a way to encourage people to not work for the govt.

  30. 30.

    cain

    @JWR: If he puts himself in the ring, Ted Cruz isn’t too far behind.

    Personally? I would love to see Ted Cruz win the minority leader position only to lose it when he loses his senate election.

  31. 31.

    TBone

    Judge says Rump loses emergency bid to stay judgment!  LOSER! Lisa Rubin elaborating, but bond must be posted!  Interest still compounding daily 🤣

  33. 33.

    Ken

    @TBone: This is our fundamental freedoms on the line!  A court that can require Donald Trump to obey the law, could require anyone to obey the law! Only Donald Trump is standing between us and lawfulness!

  34. 34.

    smith

    Repeated from below: Appeals court has denied a stay of enforcement of the NY fraud case judgement. This is one of those temporary rulings by a single judge until the full appeals court can take it up. The interest clock keeps ticking, Letitia James sharpens her axe…

  35. 35.

    Searcher

    What mechanically happens to frozen funds when they’re frozen?

    Like, if Goldman Sachs has $50B of funds belonging to Russian oligarchs, when they’re frozen, does Goldman Sachs just get to keep managing these funds, collecting fees for themselves, or do they go into a limbo where no one benefits from the status quo?

    I’m just curious if there’s going to be pressure from MOTU to let them keep the money for as long as possible.

  36. 36.

    smith

    Looks like they are going to let TFG apply for loans from NY chartered banks for the purposes of this bond only. Wonder if there are any suckers out there.

  38. 38.

    Yutsano

    Dat’s mah boss. Yellen has done a lot for getting the IRS back to working again. It doesn’t surprise me that she’s also out in the world being a bawse.

  39. 39.

    JWR

    Lol! From Politico’s story on Hunter Biden’s closed door hearing.

    Democrats indicated to reporters, after the first round of questioning, that Hunter Biden was asked about previous testimony that he would put his father on speakerphone.

    “They seem to be obsessively focused on speaker phones and use of speakerphone. I did not know that that was the devil’s technology, but apparently it is. I believe, based on this first hour, that this whole thing has really been a tremendous waste of our legislative time,” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told reporters.

    I really, really like Jamie Raskin. (No, not that way, you pervs!)

  42. 42.

    gratuitous

    After helping a co-worker accomplish a certain task by other-than-conventional means, I left a stickie note on her desk: “[Number of ways to skin a cat] > 1.”

  45. 45.

    jame

    If at first you don’t fricassee, fry, fry a hen. — can’t remember source, it’s been so long …

  52. 52.

    Old School

    @WaterGirl:

    Pentagon considering tapping last source of Ukraine military funding as Congress stalls on additional aid.

    I say spend the money NOW and dare the Rs to not replenish.  I can’t think of a single military situation that’s more important than this.

    I agree.  I’ve assumed for a while that the Republicans would keep pushing off Ukraine funding until the Pentagon says previous allocations were all used up.

    Everything seems to be pushed off until it can’t be pushed off any longer.

  53. 53.

    smith

    @WaterGirl: Hmm. Looks like they can apply for loans for business purposes, not just for the bond, and continue for now to serve as corporate officers.

  58. 58.

    TBone

    @WaterGirl: don’t they still have an overseer though?  I was given to understand that they can’t even write a check without her permission.  She’s a former judge, can’t remember name.

  59. 59.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Paul in KY: ​There are many ways to skin flense Stephen Miller…

    FTFY. I vote for one without anesthetic.

    Tan…me hide…when I’m dead…Fred
    Tan…me hide…when I’m dead.

    So we tanned ‘is hide when he died, Clyde,
    An’ that’s it ‘angin’ on the shed. (All together now – )

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

     

    Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) posted at 1:33 PM on Wed, Feb 28, 2024:

    Recap: Cannon rulings over the last 18 hours:

    – Co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira DENIED access to classified material produced in discovery.

    – Trump’s motion to access CIPA §4 filings DENIED.

    She’s backtracking.

    Friday’s hearing will include, amongst scheduling and other topics, Trump’s whacky motion to compel discovery and DOJ’s motion to keep the names of potential trial witnesses sealed.

    (https://x.com/7Veritas4/status/1762924086668226704?t=i7RHPIHBVsmB8V9IaOqvuQ&s=03)

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    @schrodingers_cat: I had to go hunting for it because it didn’t come up in a search.

    First I looked at Jan 2022, no dice.  Then Feb 2022, and there it was.  I was pretty sure that was the one you created, but I wasn’t 100%.

    It really is lovely.

  67. 67.

    AlaskaReader

    @WaterGirl:  In the past, ‘to skin’ was a phrase meant to denote ‘tricking’ somone or something into doing what you wanted it to do.

    Hence, the term ‘mule skinner’.  The mule handler’s art was tricking the mule into doing the work that was desired of it.

    Has nothing to do with flensing.

  77. 77.

    Betsy

    @Anonymous At Work:

    @twbrandt:

    I also like to replace the expression “kill two birds with one stone.”  It’s stupid as well as cruel and pointless, because how would one actually do this?? and why do we want to kill birds …

    So I thought and thought and thought about it, and I came up with “Bake two cakes in one oven.”  It’s both possible, and desirable, right?

    Please everyone who reads this, help me out and start circulating this new idiomatic expression!

    :)

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    This, too!   The legal eagles ar walkabout how Cannon devotes 8 of her 9 pages to why she thinks Trump’s attorneys have made a great case – man is she ever stubborn.  Cannon apparently has no choice but to rule this way or she would be in direct contradiction to an 11th circuit ruling, but she still spends 8 pages to say why trump is right and that she COULD rule in his favor, but then rules against Trump with no explanation.   I will say again, she is stubborn.  She is pissed that she can’t rule the way she wants to without being overruled by the 11th Circuit.

  80. 80.

    AlaskaReader

    @zhena gogolia: I think it’s more likely because people have always surmised that cats have to be ‘tricked’ or otherwise coerced into doing what you want them to do, …cats being notoriously aloof and independent minded, similarly, the joke about ‘herding’ cats comes into play.

  81. 81.

    Carlo Graziani

    My favorite skinning technique for this particular cat is, the US should not violate International law by seizing Russian sovereign assets.

    Instead, it should transfer control of those assets to Ukraine, and let them seize them. Or at least give control to Poland, or Lithuania, then tsk-tsk solemnly as they are seized and forwarded to Ukraine within a day.

    The reason that I like this is that the US could do this without getting permission from any court, and by the time any US lawsuit gets fiked, the fait is accomplit, and the money is gone. By the time the courts catch up, Ukraine will already be shopping for war metal with Russian money. And Medvedev, Peskov, and Putin can publicly shit themselves with rage, to no effect.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    @WaterGirl:

    Test test test test test Test test test test test Test test test test test Test test test test test Test test


    Test Test test test test test Test test test test test Test test test test test Test test test test test

    Okay, the image doesn’t look crooked here, so it must have been an optical illusion because of all the white space up top.

  90. 90.

    AlaskaReader

    @Betsy: I see where you’re coming from, …however.

    Killing birds one wishes to eat with stones was/is pretty standard practice.

    Saving ammunition and minimizing effort is not pointless in that context.

    I’ll admit to being perfectly okay with killing two ducks I intend to eat if I can get two at once.  Ammunition and effort is not cheap.

  93. 93.

    Scout211

    O/T:  Trump’s short sale offer is a no go.  Link

    Former President Donald Trump must come up with the full bond amount to cover the $454 million verdict in the civil fraud trial, an appeals court judge ruled Wednesday.

    Associate Justice Anil Singh, however, lifted a ban on Trump’s ability to obtain loans from a New York bank, which could allow him to access the equity in his assets to back the full bond amount.

    Singh denied Trump’s request to delay his obligation to post $454 million until a full appellate panel hears his motion to stay enforcement of that judgment until his appeals of the civil fraud ruling are over.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    Any bank that is willing to give Trump a loan at this point is already dirty.

    Same for any entity that would post bond.

    It will be interesting to see who steps up, if any entity.

  98. 98.

    sab

    @Manyakitty: Contrarians have been saying that using those assets would endanger our standing as the world’s reserve currency. If Janet Yellen thinks it is safe and is  okay with doing it then so am I.

  101. 101.

    eclare

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Oh, I knew he wasn’t appearing as much in Curb anymore due to health problems.

    My favorite line of his , shouted in exasperation at Larry about helping a friend move, “This is not a marriage!  Can we just do this?”

  103. 103.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @smith: Wonder if there are any suckers out there.

    I AM HERE TO COMPOST BOND! FEERST FEDERATION BENK OF NOVO-IORK, I KHHHAVE TRUNKS & TRUNKS OF KHHARD KESH, EENK NOT EVEN DRIED JUST FLOWN IN FROM MOSKVA!!!

  104. 104.

    AlaskaReader

    @WaterGirl: Wait.  The bondsman is ‘dirty’ by association?

    Let’s hope you’re never in need of one.

    Bonding agents are a legitimate business and play a necessary and vital role beyond just within our court system

    . ( all kinds of transactions require bonding, not just criminals, and in that regard the innocent need bonding too.)

     

    Painting them dirty is hard for me to square with upholding the kinds of ideals we are supposed to stand for.

  107. 107.

    Miss Bianca

    @Carlo Graziani: Hmm…interesting take!

    ETA: And with regard to Ukraine using Russia’s money against them, I have to say that thought warms the cockles of my cold, cold heart.

  109. 109.

    WaterGirl

    @AlaskaReader: I’ll try again with what I was trying to say, and you can let me know if you still take offense.

    I’m suggesting that Donald has shown himself to be totally untrustworthy, and I’ll bet that nearly every property he owns is leveraged for some loan or deal, perhaps multiple times over.

    So while i am NOT suggesting that bonding agents by definition are dirty or untrustworthy, I am suggesting that any of them that would still do business with Trump now would likely not be on the up and up.

    Still offended?

  110. 110.

    Ken

    @Scout211: I’m thinking there may be a little cruelty to this ruling. “Good luck getting the bond for the appeal of your fraud conviction from the banks that you defrauded!”

  113. 113.

    Aziz, light!

    Putin says that Ukraine is Russia. So giving the money to Ukraine is the same as giving it back to Russia.

  114. 114.

    Scout211

    @Ken: Good luck getting the bond for the appeal of your fraud conviction from the banks that you defrauded!”

    Wouldn’t that be “ from the banks that colluded with you in your fraud schemes?”

  115. 115.

    trollhattan

    I scrupulously avoid boarding any sort of cruise liner and this is my reward?

    Norovirus cases have been climbing in the California region since November, peaking in January, the CDC reported. In January, the state issued a warning about oysters imported from Mexico that are potentially contaminated with the virus.

    “California is buzzing with norovirus right now,” Chin-Hong said. However, he said, many people sickened by the norovirus may not get tested for it because that test isn’t commonly administered.

    Experts get a better understanding of norovirus case trends by looking at wastewater studies along with postivity tests, he said. According to the California Department of Public Health, norovirus causes about 19 to 21 million cases of acute gastroenteritis each year nationwide. In 2022, California saw up to 2,520,000 reported or projected cases of norovirus-related illness and 108 deaths, according to the 2024 California State of Public Health Report.

    “Basically, what we see in the hospital and from test positivity is just the tip of the iceberg because many people are not testing,” Chin-Hong said.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article285987136.html#storylink=cpy

  119. 119.

    Ken

    @Scout211: Not as I understand it. Part of the state’s case was that the Trump businesses were providing false financial statements to lenders, which damaged the banks by depriving them of the income a higher rate would have produced.

  120. 120.

    AlaskaReader

    @WaterGirl: We can hope business people, (both bankers and bonders, and others), would/will take a question of simple morality into their minds when making business decisions, but we aren’t consistent in our derision if we pick and choose which businesses we choose to deride.

    In our capitalist system, there’s always the chance that any given business is dirty, hell, that ‘dirtiness’ underpins our capitalist system and always has.  It’s even designed to provide protection for such.  Any moral business decision is limited to an individual basis always.

    It’s not that I’m ‘offended’ as much as I’m wary of charges of guilt by association when there is the chance that, in this case, a bonding agent is pre-judged for playing a role that’s integral to our system.

    I’m guessing you can see the distinction.  I’m not faulting you for your hope that Trump would be denied assistance in his case, I would love for that to happen too,

    ..but I wanted to express that there are broader implications with expressing that in the manner you did.

    I can’t automatically paint any of the various bonding agents as automatically dirty because they decide to carry out the business they are in.  Like I said, innocent people, (not Trump), need bonding too.

  121. 121.

    Kelly

    @AlaskaReader: That makes sense to me. All the mule owning people I know talk about working with their mules. Wilderness packers talk about how their mules are more sure footed carrying a load than people are without a load. I know one old guy that has a team of draft mules. He talks about how they can do almost as much work as big draft horses, eat less and are smarter. But you have to work with them. I know a sheep farmer that keeps a couple mules with her sheep to protect the sheep from coyotes.

  126. 126.

    Torrey

    Coming in late because of work. Suggest “there’s more than one way to flip a script.”

    Usually, when the “cat” expression is used, what’s being done is flipping a script or something close to that. Expression is current and likely to be around for a while. It’s accurate, has the same rhythm as the original, and benefits from a near-rhyme in the two salient words.

  127. 127.

    Proxy War Lord

    @WaterGirl:

    On the contrary, I believe it’s terrible that the authors of this blog continue to support sending weapons to Ukraine in a war that Ukraine can’t win.

    Ukraine has lost ~20% of its land and both Russia and Ukraine have lost 100s of thousands of people.

    Considering the failure of last year’s counteroffensive, it is predictable that in 2024 Ukraine–now on defense–will lose more land and many more lives. The average Ukrainian soldier is now aged over 40 years! An entire generation is on the verge of being wiped out.

    The US & Ukraine could’ve negotiated peace in February and April of 2022, and Ukraine under those terms would’ve likely kept its prewar land. Pledging neutrality and a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine would’ve gone far in those negotiations. And we may have been spared another brutal war.

    But instead Boris Johnson on our behalf told Ukraine to forge ahead on what has become a suicide mission.

    Last year, even Mark Milley argued for negotiations and was shouted down.

    This year, Ukraine can only negotiate a peace from weakness.

    When will the US & Ukraine come to the negotiation table? How many must die? How much land must Ukraine lose?

    What is the best case scenario for Ukraine, if we continue sending weapons? Do you think Putin will somehow be toppled, even though Russia is winning? Who do you think would replace him? Someone like Prigozhin, a mercenary?

    If we stop sending weapons and negotiate, it could save 100s of thousands more lives.

    My argument is we should at least attempt a ceasefire and peace negotiation before it’s too late for Ukraine.

    I’m sure you will disagree with me, and you may be well meaning. I only ask that when this war ends and Ukraine is in a much worse place, that this blog’s readers reflect on the consequences and consider that all this suffering might’ve been averted if we had tried.

Comments are closed.