Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Bark louder, little dog.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

“woke” is the new caravan.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

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

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

People are complicated. Love is not.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / What Has President Biden Done For Us Lately?

What Has President Biden Done For Us Lately?

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What has Joe Biden done for us lately?  A picture is worth a thousand words.

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Not just settlers, but the whole outposts.

(Axios)

The Biden administration is expected to impose new sanctions as soon as Thursday on two illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank that were used as a base for attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians, three U.S. officials told Axios.

Why it matters: It would be first time U.S. sanctions are imposed against entire outposts and not just against individuals.
The move comes as the Biden administration ratchets up pressure on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a range of issues, including settler violence against Palestinians and the war in Gaza.

There were nearly 500 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians between Oct. 7 and Jan. 31 of this year, according to the UN humanitarian office (OCHA).

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

244Comments

  3. 3.

    hueyplong

    We’re looking at nearly 8 months of Biden competently doing things to help American voters while Trump threatens people, acts out during his civil and criminal trials, lashes out against insufficiently loyal members of his own party, openly accepts huge cash bribes to change his position on issues, and both mentally and physically deteriorates in real time.

    On the other side of the scale, Biden will be 8 months older.

    So, both sides.

  5. 5.

    Kristine

    Thinking about the GOP House retreat and SFF convention hotel deals and wondering if there’s a minimum # of reservations required and if the GOP will need to pay for empty hotel rooms? Be a nice bit of salt to rub into wounds.

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: Pretty sure it is the Republican Congressional Committee which, wasting the money of a bunch of plutocrats is just fine with me.

  13. 13.

    Jackie

    @hueyplong:

    On the other side of the scale, Biden will be 8 months older.

    As will be TIFG. And everyone else, including you.🤷🏼‍♀️

    ETA: I’m done with the Biden ageism – even when said in jest.

  14. 14.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: Pretty sure it is the Republican Congressional Committee

    There’s a pot of Republican money which Donald Trump doesn’t control? He needs to be told about this ASAP.

  17. 17.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Woke up to 40 mph gusts in the San Gabriel foothills which is always a bit scary.  One cat is hiding under the bed, the other two are mad that we won’t let them go outside.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I missed this yesterday, too funny not to pass on:

    A sand dune that cost homeowners on a Massachusetts beach more than half a million dollars to construct has washed away after just three days.

    An affluent group of beachfront property owners in Salisbury, Massachusetts – a coastal town 35 miles north of Boston – are mourning the loss of their investment after a safety measure they took to protect their homes failed.

    The dune, made of 15,000 tons of sand, was meant to keep dangerous tides from encroaching on to the shore and damaging beach houses. The dune had just been completed in February but was gone within 72 hours.

    Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change, the volunteer organization behind the dune project, said on Facebook that even though the expensive protection mechanism was destroyed within days, “the sacrificial dunes did their job”, arguing that much more could have been destroyed were it not for the presence of the dune.

    Puts me in mind of the Monty Python Castle in a swamp skit:

    Everyone said I was daft to build a castle in a swamp, but I built one all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp.

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: I think today is gonna be a day.

    There’s a good chance we’ll find out today whether Fani Willis will be disqualified.

    There’s all sorts of stuff going on in the MAL documents case today, and I imagine the best we can hope for is that Cannon will do something really stupid that can be appealed to the 11th circuit.  Worst case, she could dismiss a bunch of the charges for bullshit reasons.

    This timeline gets more unbelievable every day.  A book or a movie where the former president who is on trial for ILLEGALLY POSSESSING CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS is running for president again, and they are planning on giving him classified briefings.

    THAT’S RIDICULOUS – THAT COULD NEVER HAPPEN!

    Yet here we are.  It’s crazy town.  We are all being tested.

  23. 23.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: That Jesus guy also said something about building houses on sand.

    On the positive side, half a million dollars has been transferred from people who clearly have more money than sense, to a bunch of construction and landscaping workers.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Ken: Guessing that the affluent group of beachfront property owners in Salisbury, Massachusetts are more likely to be republicans than not, I can only say this:

    They don’t seem to listen to that Jesus guy about anything else, why would they listen to him about this?

  25. 25.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl:

    There’s a good chance we’ll find out today whether Fani Willis will be disqualified.

    Judge McAfee said yesterday, he was pushing himself to get his decision down on paper for his self imposed FRI deadline. So don’t start holding your breath until tomorrow 😁

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: Yeah, I still think there’s a good chance that it will be today.  Especially if he wants his decision to get lost in all the MAL case news.

    We’ll see.  Not holding my breath.

  28. 28.

    catclub

    @Jackie: I am optimistic that if he had planned on booting Fani Willis, he would not have bothered to kick out 6 of 41 counts.

    The case is likely to collapse if he boots her, and he would have had all the time in the world to do that if the State of Georgia actually keeps on pursuing the case.

  30. 30.

    catclub

    @Ken: That Jesus guy also said something about building houses on sand.

     

    But they were not building houses.

    I think this is more:  “Like sands through an hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”  3 in this case.

  31. 31.

    catclub

    @catclub: never mind.

    cheers to SpaceX for its monumental flight test.
    Though the fate of the Starship spacecraft and booster is uncertain, SpaceX never intended to recover either vehicle after this mission.
    Even before the flight, SpaceX noted that Starship’s fate wouldn’t be certain, saying only “Excitement guaranteed!”

  32. 32.

    Ken

    @catclub: They already built their houses on sand; the dune was a futile attempt to protect them.

    According to the Guardian article, the homeowners group is calling this a success, since the damage would have been worse without the dune. So they’re asking the state for another 1.5 million, which I suppose will get them through the next three storms…

  34. 34.

    JPL

    @WaterGirl: I’m totally speculating, but I assume it will be tomorrow.   If he rules in Fani’s favor, which he should, he’ll probably want to leave town for the weekend.    trumps goons will be out in force.

  36. 36.

    Butch

    @catclub: Looking at how his businesses such as Hyperloop and The Boring Company have fared, I never understood the “going to revolutionize space flight” stuff from the Musk fanbois.  I even saw it on progressive sites.

  37. 37.

    Jackie

    @catclub: I’m not too worried about Willis, but I won’t assume anything by any means!

    TIFG’s best buddy, Aileen Cannon, on the other hand, has me fretting. I just hope Jack Smith has plenty of ammunition and tricks up his sleeve to circumvent her being able to dismiss the case!🤞🏻🤞🏻

  38. 38.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    Oh wow. Schumer is pretty pro-Israel historically. Big shift.

    ETA: Of course, supporting Israel does not equal supporting BIbi.

  46. 46.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl: Just a minor nit-pick, imo, it’s better to frame it as “willfully and illegally retained documents pertaining to National Security” since that aspect of the crime has nothing to do with classification status and is the most slam-dunk part of the charges.  There’s really no legal defense for it at all.  Trump very much wants everyone to focus on whether or not they were classified so he can claim he de-classified them or that they were his personal property etc.  It’s a distraction effort.

  48. 48.

    catclub

    @Butch: I never understood the “going to revolutionize space flight” stuff from the Musk fanbois.

     

    I think manned space flight is incredibly hard, and NASA has been crippled by emphasizing that [keeping the shuttle and the space station] over other things that could be done in space. OTOH, NASA has the most experience in getting astronauts back from space, which is very hard.

     

    So if he is trying to revolutionize manned spaceflight, that is hard.  If by revolutionizing he means unmanned, then he might have a chance to be better than NASA.

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Back in October, when Netanyahu was dragging his feet on a deal to bring Benny Gantz into an emergency government, Schumer had a long phone conversation with the former Defense Minister and made sure it was well publicized. That was a clear message from Israel’s most powerful Congressional supporter. The PM caved soon after, under pressure from the U.S. and within Israel included senior members of his own Likud party.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    @Baud: GOP had changed their position on mail in ballots and started encouraging them.   trump’s position is the opposite and if elected, I’m sure he’ll try to ban the practice.

  54. 54.

    catclub

    @Geminid: I have no faith in the Israeli electorate to ever throw out Bibi.

    They have had many opportunities to do so. And have not taken them.

  55. 55.

    Kay

     

    I’m not an expert – there are attorneys who specialize in defending lawyers who allegedly violate ethics rules – but I was on a state board to evaluate claims against attorneys for a decade. Not malpractice, which is different, but violations of the Ohio ethical code for attorneys so I evaluated a lot of claims. We do it as a committee, the attorney is entitled to due process and presents a defense. We use the state ethics code to evaluate the complaint as it comes in. This is the Georgia code but they’re all the same – based on a national model.

    So I watched the Fanni Willis testimony wearing that hat and evaluated the Trump claim of a conflict and I just can’t get there. They have some not so good facts for her but once you really try to put them within the code they don’t amount to a claim. If they’re not within the code they’re just not a violation. I could see how people who aren’t familiar with the codes and the process thought “aha! we got her boyfriend, trips, something something!” but that’s not it at all. The key to the whole thing is the behavior has to harm the client. The client here is the county (and “the administration of justice” is also in play- prosecutors have an additional duty). I couldn’t get there.

  56. 56.

    Jackie

    @Jeffro: For those of us (me) who don’t know what you’re referring to re Schumer:

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an “obstacle to peace,” the Wall Street Journalreports.

    “His speech is the latest in a series of high-level warnings and White House moves aimed at pressuring Israel and Netanyahu’s government to permit more humanitarian aid into Gaza and to rethink its plans to attack Hamas, the U.S.-designated terror group whose bloody Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked the war.”

  59. 59.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Israelis usually pay more attention to American politics than we pay attention to theirs, especially now. So Schumer’s remarks will be news over there, like his October phone call with Gantz was.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kay: Yeah. The two things that stick in my head from my Prof Resp class as a 3L are “Who is the client?” and “Don’t commingle funds.”  I suspect I am not the only one.

  63. 63.

    Jackie

    @Baud: This.

    In a victory for the extremist wing of the Republican Party, it looks like Donald Trump’s hand-picked leadership team at the Republican National Committee has officially scrapped the GOP’s plan to encourage early voting this election cycle. Instead, the party is taking steps to prioritize legal challenges to voting systems ahead of November.
    As part of the layoffs and budget cuts carried out this week by the newly installed leadership team, they are shuttering a program dedicated to mail-in voting.
    https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/main-in-voting-bank-your-vote-republicans-rcna143291

  66. 66.

    Kristine

    @3Sice: But if he gave them a sweetheart deal or a full-on freebie, wouldn’t that be considered, well, something Dems would be drawn and quartered for if they’d done it?

    I realize the GOP operates by a totally different set of standards but I would like to imagine someone on their side getting stuck with a bill.

  67. 67.

    Jackie

    I’m sure Katie Porter will announce the Ohio Senate primary race is RIGGED!

    Democrats are meddling in Ohio’s Senate GOP primary at the 11th hour to boost Bernie Moreno, the candidate former President Donald Trump endorsed to face vulnerable Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

    Duty and Country PAC, a group affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, is spending over $2.5 million to air with a TV ad that heavily touts Moreno’s support from Trump and calls him “too conservative for Ohio.” It will begin airing on Thursday and is set to run through Tuesday’s primary.

    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/13/dems-meddle-in-ohio-senate-race-to-boost-trump-backed-candidate-00146928

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kay: You are right.  It was nearly 30 years ago, and luckily I’ve never been in the kind of trouble where I had to worry about it.

  70. 70.

    p.a.

    @Baud: Thanks.  Good news.  The GOP used to rely on mail in voting for their rural and older voters.

     

     

    USA has been (unusually?) fortunate in the stupidity of our home-grown fascists.  2016: the fascist squirrel found a nut.

  71. 71.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Kay: Yup.  Several legal podcasts I listen to reached the same exact conclusion.  People may not like the way it looks but neither Georgia statutes or the ethics code say that what Willis did was wrong, creates a conflict of interest or provides a justification for her removal from the case.

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    @catclub: Musk does not mean unmanned. He’s heavily into the old science-fiction romance of Manifest Destiny In Spaaaace. Boots on soil. He wants to be D. D. Harriman from Heinlein.

  73. 73.

    eversor

    I think that tiktok is going to be a huge issue in the election.

    Tiktok has north of 150 million users in the US.  The users are mostly younger voters and women.  For many of them tiktok is their social life or their source of income.  If you take that away there will be hell to pay.  Not really voting for Trump (who was smart enough to change his mind about it!) but also staying home.  And if you think they won’t keep in mind this “liberal bleg” where you all think you’re the rational ones still use X which is run by Nazi Billionaire Elon Musk and fuels Nazis and Christian Nationalists so you are NO position to complain about this at all.

    Not only that but the youth organize on tiktok.  They won’t use other platforms.  And knocking on doors, phone banking, and all that stuff for politics is even more annoying than door to door religious nutters trying to convert you or asking you to take a survey.   So no way in hell are you going to make up for this by the type of activism boomers and genX types enjoy doing that is going to make it even worse.

    If Biden doesn’t ban it he’s soft on China.*  If he bans it he’s done.  If they simply try to force a sell off to another American billionaire China just doesn’t part with the algorithm and the product is officially a turd and broken.

    *Yes tiktok is spyware.  However all social media is spyware.  If you are any sort of social media your data is already out there and can be bought.  China doesn’t need tiktok to get your data they already have it.

    Democratic foot, meet rake.

  74. 74.

    Ken

    @3Sice: Jim Justice owns the Greenbrier, so… LULZ.

    “Psst, Donald…. The House Republicans are staying at a resort, and it’s not one of yours. A different Republican politician is getting all that money. As a friend, I thought you should know this.”

    (Hopefully that will have much the same effects as Iago’s whispers to Othello about Desdemona.)

  77. 77.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @eversor: New persona as the explainer/translator of youth culture to the elderly?  I am not sure this one is any more appealing than the last.

  78. 78.

    Ken

    @Matt McIrvin: [Musk] wants to be D. D. Harriman from Heinlein.

    Been a while since I read the stories, but didn’t Harriman die without seeing his dream completed?  Googling…. Of course Delos D. Harriman has a wikipedia page. Looks like he died shortly after lunar landing, and was buried on the Moon. I’m happy with Musk pursuing that.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    @eversor:

    But you’re voting for Trump, right? Because you’re edgy and ironic and anti religious, but really just a fairly conventional Republican who rejects the religious Right. There’s a lot of them.

    You like the cut of his jib! It’s fine.

  80. 80.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Butch: I get the SpaceX thing – for a while, it was the only company innovating on rockets and spaceflight in a meaningful, fast way. They did this by blowing hiring a bunch of really talented people and getting them to work ludicrous amounts for half a decade, spent a ton of money and straight-up planned to fail a huge amount of the time until they got something working.

    The US Government won’t let NASA run that way and won’t fund them adequately either, so it was nice to see someone else foot the bill. They’ve petered out a bit now, but their contributions to spaceflight over the past decade really has been excellent.

    Tesla really did make EVs popular, but they “go fast and break things and underdeliver” methodology really doesn’t work for tunnels or cars, and it’s not surprising they’re having issues now.

  81. 81.

    Jay C

    @Baud:

    ETA: Of course, supporting Israel does not equal supporting BIbi.

    You’re quite right, of course: however, there is a significant lobby of political influencers in this country devoted to promoting that proposition as a matter of official policy….

  83. 83.

    geg6

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    And talking to students here, they are cutting way down on all social media.  TikTok is used mainly just to scroll, not post.  Instagram seems to be the favorite around here.

  84. 84.

    JML

    @Omnes Omnibus: the 3rd thing was supposed to be “don’t sleep with your clients”.

    Unsurprisingly the idiot from my year who was asking about ways around that concept is the one who got disbarred and sent to prison for wire fraud…

  85. 85.

    catclub

    @eversor: The users are mostly younger voters and women.

     

    Younger voters????? How do you know?

    I would have guessed – younger non-voters.

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    @catclub: That’s funny, because most Israelis think he’ll be out before too long. This includes senior members of his own party. And as Omnes ooints out, Netanyahu was in opposition during the last government that ran Israel from June, 2021 until December of 2023.

    The Israeli electorate likely would have elected a similar government in the Nov 1, 2022 election, but two parties missed the 3.25% electoral threshhold and their combined 6% was negated.

    The left wing Meretz party had 3.15% and another few thousand votes would have won them four Knesset members. Instead they are out of the Knesset for the first time since they were formed as a peace party in the 1990s.

  89. 89.

    trollhattan

    @eversor: IDK why it would stand apart from myriad other issues, but the House having a threatdown is nothing, since the Senate has not lifted a finger. But never fear, a Trumper is here!

    Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he wants to help buy TikTok as the Chinese social media app faces a possible ban in the U.S.

    “I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin said during a Thursday morning appearance on CNBC. He said he would organize a group to purchase TikTok from Chinese owner ByteDance.
    “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin said.
    Mnuchin said TikTok “should be owned by U.S. businesses,” and that China would never “let a U.S. company own something like this in China.”
    The House passed legislation Wednesday that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance doesn’t sell its stake. The bill passed by a 352-65 vote and is now on its way to the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain.

    My kid’s cohort are married to Insta and Snapchat.

  90. 90.

    catclub

    @Jay C: Which did you mean?

    There is a significant group of political influencers promoting support of Netanyahu  as equaling support of Israel.

     

    or

    There is a significant group of political influencers  advocating that support of Israel  is NOT  the same as supporting Netanyahu.

  93. 93.

    catclub

    @Geminid:

    That’s funny, because most Israelis think he’ll be out before too long.

    I hope they are right, but I have watched them vote before.

    This includes senior members of his own party. And as Omnes ooints out, Netanyahu was in opposition during the last government that ran Israel from June, 2021 until December of 2023. [Actually Dec 2022 – a year and a half]

    The Israeli electorate likely would have elected a similar government in the Nov 1, 2022 election, but two parties missed the 3.25% electoral threshhold and their combined 6% was negated.

    This is exactly what I mean. They had a chance and blew it.

  94. 94.

    Hoodie

    @Kay: My understanding is that it boils down to whether case law requires an actual conflict or merely an “appearance of impropriety.”   I can’t see a conflict at all unless Willis’ relationship with Wade conflicted with her duty to represent the state, and I’m not sure that type of conflict is sufficient grounds if isn’t detrimental to the defendant.   I guess one could argue that her relationship led her to hire Wade and thus put the state at a disadvantage if he was not sufficiently skilled for the role he was hired to perform, but the defendant didn’t really have much evidence this was the case and the DA’s office put on witnesses that essentially showed that Wade was a reasonably qualified guy for the tasks he was hired to perform  and available at the rates the State of Georgia pays for outside representation.  I can’t imagine that DA is required to hire the theoretically best possible person, especially given constraints on availability and willingness to work for the specified rates.   “Appearance of impropriety” is ill-defined and the DA has argued that the cases cited for this concept actually have holdings that are based on a finding of an actual conflict, i.e., it’s meaningless dicta.

  95. 95.

    TBone

    Missed this development in a documents case (related to Ukraine and Pentagon leaker):

    A defense official confirmed to ABC News that Teixeira remains on active duty in the Air Force and could face U.S. military charges after the civilian criminal charges have been adjudicated. As a Massachusetts Air National guardsman, he had been placed on Title 10 active duty status in the Air Force, which would determine if Teixeira should also face military criminal charges.

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/pentagon-leak-suspect-jack-teixeira-agrees-accept-16/story?id=107772933

    He pled guilty.

    There is much talk of war today on the tankie website I check on to see what brand of crack they’re smoking.  I can only stomach a bit at a time but they are crowing about our “(pre)defeat.” AS IF.

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    @catclub: I did not know you followed that election so closely.

    Ed. The March, 2021 election seems to have flown right past you. But a lot of people paid no sttention to the Bennett/Lapid government since they did not negotiate a Two-State settlement and they did not carry on a terribly destructive war either. Slackers!

  97. 97.

    trollhattan

    @Anoniminous: They also normalized owning an EV, similar to how Toyota normalized hybrids via the Prius. A commonality: each is instantly recognizable.

    I think Tesla is underappreciated for tackling battery production and not relying on outside suppliers. Secondarily, the charging network, and guessing right on charging tech.

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kayla Rudbek: He is originally from WI. He has a degree from UW-Madison and owns a home in Madison.  He also works in CA and lives in a huge house in CA with an ocean view.

  100. 100.

    Old School

    The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the manner of death of 16-year-old nonbinary Owasso High School student Nex Benedict a suicide.

    The summary autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office lists the probable cause of death as Diphenhydramine and Fluoxetine combined toxicity. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine to relieve allergies, and Fluoxetine is an antidepressant.

    The medical examiner in the report ruled the manner of death as suicide. It’s unknown how much of the two prescription drugs were in Benedict’s system.

    Officials with the Owasso Police Department and Owasso Public Schools said Nex Benedict was involved in a fight on Feb. 7 in a bathroom at Owasso High School’s west campus. Their mother took them to a hospital that afternoon, and they were examined and discharged.

    The next day, authorities received a 911 call from Benedict’s mother asking for medics for them. Court documents say the teenager was posturing and that their hands were curling, their eyes were rolling back and they had shallow breathing.

  102. 102.

    topclimber

    @Omnes Omnibus: But gone after five months because the anti-Bibis could not keep their shit together for long. He was preceded by a non-Likud right winger for a year as part of a power-sharing deal.

  104. 104.

    cain

    @Jackie: Looks like they are going to be legally attacking mail in voting everywhere.

    Won’t work here in Oregon – we love our mail in voting.

  107. 107.

    CaseyL

    Open thread:  I want to rant about veterinarian costs.  Everything is incredibly expensive now, and I don’t know if it’s the same factors driving up the price of everything else (corporate profiteering/greed) or just that vet clinics assume everyone has pet insurance, and veterinary health care is now getting as fucked up as human healthcare for the same reasons.

    I just canceled an order for blood pressure meds for Oscar because they were being filled by a third-party pharmacy not even in Washington state, and the cost of the medication itself would have been increased by shipping charges and service fees and god knows what else.  Why did the vet clinic chose an out of state pharmacy??  We have compounding pharmacies right here in Seattle!

    It’s getting so I don’t trust vets anymore!  Whatthehell kind of fucked up timeline is it when you can’t trust your companion animals’ doctors?!

  109. 109.

    cain

    @p.a.: Wait till they find that out and have to do an about face and start doing legal challenges to overturn the shit they did to not do mail in.. wow the crying will be epic.

  111. 111.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kay:

    really just a fairly conventional Republican who rejects the religious Right.

    Honestly, I think it’s a classic troll, just saying whatever is necessary to be annoying and especially hoping to start a fight.

  116. 116.

    cain

    @eversor: My wife is on tik tok all the time. She will not be well pleased to have that taken away. I stay far away from it as I think it has just as much propaganda as X.

    I like this site, and mastodon. I think what makes Balloon Juice valuable is that we can disseminate  propaganda here because we have a wealth of people with different background and we all know how to smell bullshit.

  117. 117.

    cain

    @Kristine: why the hell are we doing this to save a bunch of rich people’s home? Hell why is insurance companies even supporting it? It seems ridiculous to me.

  118. 118.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Butch: I never understood the “going to revolutionize space flight” stuff from the Musk fanbois.

    My guess is that you haven’t tried very hard to understand it. Yeah, it’s rocket science, but not in the urban-dictionary use of the term as “something incredibly difficult to grasp.”

    Historically, the cost of sending things into space is almost entirely due to throwing most or all of the launch vehicle away after a single use. The Shuttle program threw everything away but the orbiter, which took months to be refurbished between flights, mostly to inspect and repair the heat shield that kept it from burning up during reentry.[1,2]

    SpaceX is trying to develop launch vehicles that after quick and relatively inexpensive refurbishment are reusable for multiple launches. It has already demonstrated this with its Falcon 9 first stages. It is now trying to develop the Starship/Heavy combination so that both stages can be reused for multiple launches – in which case, the cost of delivering payloads to orbit almost reduces to the cost of the fuel.

    After 3 flights of Starship/Heavy, SpaceX has achieved near-orbital flight (about 2/3 of escape velocity). They have yet to retrieve either stage of the vehicle in good enough condition to be readily refurbished. They have yet to demonstrate the ability to

    Relight enough of the first-stage engines to permit a soft return to earth;
    Relight the second-stage engines in vacuum for a de-orbit burn to send the craft back to earth for a soft landing;
    Validate their heat-shield implementation as adequate to protect the second stage from destruction during re-entry and allow for rapid and economical inspection and replacement of heat-shield components (i.e., ceramic tiles)

    IMO tasks 1 and 2 will not be show-stoppers; a solution may be in place by the next test flight in mid-spring. The real b*tch will be Task 3[3], and the depth of b*tchiness won’t be clear until data from this flight is analyzed; it may take several iterations and a dozen more test flights until the problem is solved.

    But all in all it’s a heckuva start.[4]

    [1] And it still could fail due to damage during launch, e.g., Columbia.

    [2] Actually we’ve known how to bring stuff down from orbit more or less unscathed since the mid-1950s, but that involves ablating (burning off) a ceramic heat-shield that obviously can’t be reused.

    [3] For many years I’ve maintained loudly that the X-Prize was a sick joke, because sub-orbital flights to 100 km altitude are relatively easy. The real challenge is survivable re-entry from orbit. There should have been a Y-Prize for the first company to orbit 2 persons in a capsule, irrespective of launch vehicle, return both occupants to earth unharmed, and do it again with 2 more people in the same capsule with modest refurbishment within a month. That sort of capability would IMO easily be worth $100M to the human race.

    [4] And if Sunk Mole’s team can work up a way to suck O2 and CO2 from the air and install enough renewable energy to run the Sabatier process and make methane on a large scale, it might even end up carbon-neutral. Imagine that – carbon-neutral space flight!​​

  119. 119.

    cain

    @trollhattan: I’m on snapchat but I don’t really use it other than to comms with family. I’m on:

    WhatsaApp (indian family diaspora)

    Snapchat (my wife’s family)

    Mastodon

    Twitter/X (only for a few people I am friends with)

    I’m not on instagram anymore, and I dunno. I don’t stray much past my few areas which is good because expanding will just lead to danger. The internet is a dangerous place these days.

  120. 120.

    Jackie

    @rikyrah: Ohio’s primary’s are partially open – allowing for crossover voting.

    But, I gathered the Dems will run ads leading repugs to vote for their “preferred” wackadoodle candidate to face against Sherrid Brown.

  121. 121.

    cain

    @catclub: Bibi has repeatedly managed to take control of the govt. He’s like an evil energizer bunny. Just keeps on going and getting more and more extreme.

    I have no idea what’s going on with the Israeli electorate.

  122. 122.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @cain: A parliamentary system can work that way.  You can get a significant minority of the votes but still cobble together a coalition that puts you in charge.

  123. 123.

    cain

    @CaseyL: Just taking a visit to the vet and it is easily $180 dollars for a check up. I’ve gotten health insurance for my critters.

    But it seems to me that we need to add vet care to the ACA. I don’t know how much regulation we have in this space, but it does irritate me especially if you’re trying to deal with behavioral issues which can take many visits and time.

  124. 124.

    Spanky

    BREAKING NEWS: I just dug the first tick of the year out of my calf. To be fair, I had been traipsing through some meadows.

    It was a Lone Star, for those keeping score at home.

  126. 126.

    Geminid

    @topclimber: Yair Lapid headed the caretaker government that ran Israel from July until December, 2022; that was after Netanyahu torpedoed the coalition that June. Lapid put the coalition together in June 2021, after Netanyahu failed in his try. Lapid let Bennett be PM as an inducement to join, and took the Foreign Minister post. Gantz was Defence Minister, which post he held in the previous coalition led by Netanyahu.

    Lapid’s 8-party coalition included liberal parties like Meretz, Labor and Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Gantz’s centrist party, and Bennet’s, Saar’s and Lieberman’s center right parties. It also included Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party, whose voting base is the Bedouins in the south. Ra’am was the first Arab party to be in government for decades. Its Knesset members increased from 4 to 5 in the last election, so Arab Israelis evidently liked what they saw.

  127. 127.

    cain

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    yeah, that kind of scares me. I mean look at the UK – I still can’t figure their shit out. I mean both Torys and Labour looks like they’ve moved rightward together.

  130. 130.

    Jackie

    @cain:

    Won’t work here in Oregon – we love our mail in voting.

    I think all Blue states with VBM will raise bloody hell if the TNC – née RNC – try messing with our VBM!

  137. 137.

    Captain C

    @Geminid:

    The Israeli electorate likely would have elected a similar government in the Nov 1, 2022 election, but two parties missed the 3.25% electoral threshhold and their combined 6% was negated.

    The left wing Meretz party had 3.15% and another few thousand votes would have won them four Knesset members. Instead they are out of the Knesset for the first time since they were formed as a peace party in the 1990s.

    Didn’t this happen at least partly because Labor refused to run on a joint ticket with them (Meretz)?

  138. 138.

    trollhattan

    @CaseyL: Same.

    Corporations have been scooping up vet practices and seem to have if not a monopoly, pricing collusion amongst themselves. Mars Corporation? How the hell does a candy corporation get into veterinary medicine?

  141. 141.

    JMG

    I think it is fairly apparent that while efforts like Hayes’ are praiseworthy, the decisive bloc of voters in the electorate, the ones who do not follow nor like politics, are completely immune to facts which contradict their vibes on an issue. Even more, the vast majority of news media have completely absorbed this development, and now cover vibes rather than facts.

  142. 142.

    Jackie

    Sigh… I HATE that Menendez is embracing MAGA methodology. Just go away already!!!😡

    Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is now mulling running for re-election as an independent, NBC News reports.

    This would allow him to continue to raise money which he could use to pay his legal bills.

  144. 144.

    PST

    @Baud:

    Oh wow. Schumer is pretty pro-Israel historically. Big shift.

    ETA: Of course, supporting Israel does not equal supporting BIbi.

    Schumer has been firmly and consistently pro-Israel over the course of his career. He is also highly attuned to the opinions of prominent, influential American Jews who are similarly pro-Israel. I don’t think he would lash out like he did against Netanyahu if his views were not representative of a whole class of critically important friends of Israel. That’s not to say that he is playing to this constituency: he’s one of them, and they increasingly have had enough. Netanyahu’s policies have already sapped enthusiasm for Israel from a generation of young Jewish Americans, and that disillusionment is getting broader and deeper. There might be an analogy to the way opposition grew from the bottom up to the Vietnam war. Losing Schumer is like losing Walter Cronkite.

  146. 146.

    Betty

    @CaseyL: Same inflation has happened with vision and dental care. The first question they ask is whether you have insurance. I don’t.

  149. 149.

    rikyrah

    @cain:

     

    Yes, the VP, but, they are also paying attention to the WH, when they talk about the appointments to the Judiciary. and then, we have Secretary Pete, and Yellin and Austin.

    they truly mean anyone who isn’t a straight, white man

  150. 150.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: Was Good Company there when you were?  Bar/restaurant right off campus on College Ave.  Basically next to Brokaw.  They had free appetizers on Friday afternoons starting around 3:00pm.  You could start there before the happy hour at the Viking Room.

  153. 153.

    JMG

    @Baud: I have my doubts it’ll be an effective one. Hard to see many small donors pitching in for a candidate arrested with literal gold bars in his house. And large donors may well be aware all of Menendez’s finances still are under scrutiny by the DOJ.

  154. 154.

    Jackie

    As Doris Day would sing: 🎶 “Que sera sera!”🎶 My accompanying instrument: 🎻

    Daily Beast: “Trump is going to have to park his jet in New York for the crucial early months of the presidential campaign, thanks to his upcoming trial in Manhattan court.”

    “Once the Stormy Daniels hush money trial begins on March 25, the former president will be in court four days a week for much of the subsequent two months. His only free day to leave the city for campaigning and fundraising will be Wednesdays.”

  155. 155.

    Soprano2

    @Jackie: TFG seems to believe that any voting that doesn’t happen in a polling place on election day is fraud and/or cheating. It’s mind boggling. I’m sure the RNC people who know what they’re doing (all the ones who were fired, probably) are tearing their hair out at what this will do to all the down ballot races.

  156. 156.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus: No, that wasn’t there. I was thinking about DeBruin’s, where I went to drown my sorrows after a morning Calculus final. It was full.

  157. 157.

    Jeffro

    OT but Steeplejack, I saw your question in the last thread (about my RWNJ dad wanting me to watch a segment on Laura Ingraham’s show earlier in the week).

    It was a segment at the end of the show about DEI positions in higher ed (specifically, at UVA).  According to Ingraham, the university spends $20M+ on DEI positions.  The university’s response was that $20M is incorrect (it’s more like $5M) and of course Ingraham laughed that off.  “Of course they said that…”

    And then to wrap up – this will shock you, you’d better sit down – she had on Chris Rufo, who promptly let us all know that “the numbers don’t matter” (of course not, now that your fake $20M number is out there) “even one DEI position is too many”.  Chris is so predictable, I’m thinking of going into business for myself and offering genuine “Chris Rufo quotes” on any subject for half the price.  I’ll nail it every time, easy.

    So, anyway no great surprises from the broadcast.

    What was a surprise to my dad was when he followed up with me the next day to get my reaction, and I kicked it off with “Jesus, I hope I never have to subject myself to another hour of that woman’s hate-mongering and mental health issues again”.  (you’ll have to picture the stunned silence on the other end for yourself).  Because to him, she’s a perfectly normal conservative saying perfectly normal things on his tv for an hour every night…in addition to three. more. hours. from those other noted normal conservatives, Watters, Hannity, and Gutfeld.  BARF

  159. 159.

    cain

    @PST: they see all this ultimately losing support for Israel and driving antisemitism. It’s a lose lose situation.

    And honestly, we went from 8 million Jews dying to Israel running an open air prison.

  160. 160.

    Jeffro

    @Jackie: “prosecute me and I’ll run as an independent and drain enough votes from my Dem replacement that the Republican will win” -B.M.

    thug shit.  throw him in jail.

  164. 164.

    Jackie

    @Soprano2: The irony is TIFG VOTES BY MAIL/ABSENTEE BALLOT.

    What’s okay for me is NOT ok for thee 😡

    BUT, I’m really okay with him screwing over GQP/MAGA voters 😁

  165. 165.

    Soprano2

    @trollhattan: I heard a comparison on a podcast to China owning TikTok. They said that during the Cold War we never would have allowed the USSR to own a TV network like NBC or CBS, and they do have a point there.

  167. 167.

    CaseyL

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’ve ordered stuff from Chewy, but…:

    In 2017, Chewy was purchased by PetSmart, a retail entity backed by private equity firm BC Partners

    … as quixotic as it sounds, my latest hobbyhorse is trying to do as little business with anything owned by private equity firms as possible.  I’m not sure how do-able this is, since private equity owns just about everything, but in any case I’m trying :)

    (FYI: PetCo is also owned by an investment firm, CVC Capital Partners.)

    TL;DR: I’ll try to find alternate suppliers.

  168. 168.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL: As I understand it, from my phone call to the pet insurance company to ask why the hell premiums went up by 70% in ONE FUCKING YEAR… what’s been happening is that more people have pet insurance so more people go ahead with more stuff for their pets, and *somehow (doing a lot of work) that translates to higher prices at the vet.

  169. 169.

    Mousebumples

    @CaseyL: pharmacist note – depending on the med, lots are available from people pharmacies. Not all drugs are appropriate for both species, but worth googling “cost of XYZ drug.”

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think it’s still in Appleton, last time I was in town, anyhow. Not sure when it opened…

  173. 173.

    Jackie

    @Jeffro: His polling numbers are in the gutter, which is why he decided to get out. I really don’t think he thinks he’ll hurt the Dem nominee. It’s all about $$$ But I wish someone who really cares for him will dissuade him.

  180. 180.

    catclub

    @CaseyL: … as quixotic as it sounds, my latest hobbyhorse is trying to do as little business with anything owned by private equity firms as possible.

    I think taking their money when they are providing a service at a price which is below their costs…. is fine. e.g. early years of uber

     

    I still don’t understand how my prime membership pays for all the free shipping I get. But I’ll take it until somebody offers a lower price.

  181. 181.

    Geminid

    @Captain C: Yes, Labor leader Merav Michaeli refused to run a joint ticket with Meretz. As a result, Meretz was blanked and Labor nearly was. Also, Yair Lapid tried to consolidate liberal voters behind Yesh Atid’s slate. His gains were at the expense of his allies, a process known as “cannibalization.”

    The opposition was shocked at the result and there were intense recriminations. It seemed to me that Michaeli and Lapid were counting their chickens before they hatched, trying to improve their positions in the coalition they thought would follow the last one but didn’t.

    Polls showed a 60-60 tie or 61-59 advantage for the opposition, and they weren’t that far off. But the polls did not predict Meretz and Balad missing the threshold and the resulting windfall for Netanyahu’s coalition. It was the 5th election in 4 years, and much of the electorate was somewhat apathetic, but Netanyahu’s voters were hungry for power. It was a little like Virginia’s Governor election in 2021, but with much more dire consequences.

    Senior Likud leaders were shocked also. They had plans to ditch Netanyahu after his anticipated loss. Instead, he got to form what many Israelis are now calling “the Government of Destruction.”

  182. 182.

    geg6

    @Mousebumples: ​
     
    I do that with my Lovey’s insulin. After consulting with the vet and checking the cost at all the local pharmacies, I found that Walmart was the best price (not thrilled with that, but the price difference was significant). I pay $28 per vial. She goes through a vial every month or so. Everywhere else, it was at least $8-$10 more.

  183. 183.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Old School: Oh god.  I spent a lot of time there when it was Pat’s Tap.  Smelled weird.  Definitely a day drinking bar. I think it opened around 7:00 am.

  186. 186.

    japa21

    Concerning vote by mail. This could be particularly important this year. There are a lot of former Trump voters who will not vote for him. If they were doing VBM, they would probably still go GOP down ballot. If it isn’t impressed on them to VBM, they may wake up on election day and say to themselves, “It’s raining. I’m not heading out to the pols since I’m not voting for President anyway.”

  187. 187.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Old School: Given how hinky OK officials have been, color me skeptical that it was a suicide until an independent autopsy concurs. As far as I know the coroner hasn’t said the amount of Benadryl and anti-depressant found in Ned’s blood.

    Also worth noting that the police officer who interviewed Nex after the assault was trying to talk them out of filing charges. Given Nex had been severely bullied for a year, and school officials refused to do anything about, I can understand why a teen might decide it wasn’t worth going on. Plus apparently people with concussions are more prone to suicidal ideation.

  189. 189.

    wjca

    @Jackie: TIFG’s best buddy, Aileen Cannon, on the other hand, has me fretting. I just hope Jack Smith has plenty of ammunition and tricks up his sleeve to circumvent her being able to dismiss the case!

    Question for the lawyers: can a judge’s action dismissing a case be appealed?

  190. 190.

    Hob

    @catclub: I think taking their money when they are providing a service at a price which is below their costs…. is fine. e.g. early years of uber

    I don’t want to get into an argument about Uber specifically, but I will say that the purpose of running at a loss is often to kill off the competition. So adopting a general philosophy of “I’m fine with buying from private-equity-backed assholes as long as they’re not making money from me” often means helping to reinforce a situation where businesses that want to straightforwardly offer a product or service, and don’t have ridiculous amounts of money backing them, can’t survive. You may not be providing a profit, but you’re still furthering the assholes’ goal of market dominance and hurting all of their competitors, which makes things worse for everyone except the big money guys in the long run. So I would suggest at least considering whether that applies in the case of whatever kind of business you’re dealing with.

  192. 192.

    Soprano2

    Man, I just figured out I’m less than 2 hours from the totality of the eclipse that’s happening on April 8th. Makes me so sad that my husband is in the shape he’s in because when he was “normal” we already would have planned to drive over there to see it. Less than 2 hours…….

  193. 193.

    TBone

    @Mousebumples: I paid $300 for kitty’s “asthma” inhaler at our pharmacy when Covid rampaged thru our household the first time.  Luckily, he has never coughed again. I had a special tube type contraption with a little rubber piece that fits over nose and mouth to administer the inhaler to kitty.

  196. 196.

    scav

    @Eyeroller: I’m not convinced there is a coherent personality behind the everconstantpie.  Certainly a black hole for attention and the easiest way to attain that is a barrage of vacuous low-hanging low-rent contrarianism.

  198. 198.

    wjca

    @Omnes Omnibus: He is originally from WI. He has a degree from UW-Madison and owns a home in Madison.  He also works in CA and lives in a huge house in CA with an ocean view.

    And Tuberville is Senator from Alabama while luving in Florida.  Apparently some people don’t see this sort of thing as a problem.

  199. 199.

    Paul in KY

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’ll sure win him some votes in freaking bar-on-every-corner Wisconsin!!!

    I assume his campaign consultants have started drinking at 0800.

  203. 203.

    WaterGirl

    If you guys are ready for a new thread, the fundraising thread is also an OPEN THREAD.

    I thought about putting up a new open thread, but I imagine we will have breaking news soon, on some front, that will warrant a thread of its own.

  207. 207.

    Hob

    @catclub: Since you mentioned Amazon… even though that’s not an example of private equity being involved, it’s a good example of how predatory pricing(*) is used to consolidate power and squeeze out those who can’t use such a strategy. Amazon undercut everyone in bookselling for long enough, both by selling stuff below cost and by not paying sales tax, to achieve near-monopoly dominance: they’re not literally the only place to buy books online, but publishers are under Amazon’s thumb in ways that no other retailer comes close to. That’s allowed them to squeeze money not just out of customers, but out of publishers— they’re notorious for imposing absurd wholesale discounts and fees, which then cause smaller publishers to have to set higher cover prices just to survive. Amazon doesn’t really care if this hurts publishing and bookselling overall; that’s just a small part of their huge conglomerate business now, what matters is just maintaining control and making it harder for customers to find alternatives.

    (* using the term loosely; I know that the legal definition of predatory pricing is harder to enforce, since IIRC it requires being able to show that they’ll really be able to make their losses back after crushing everyone)

  208. 208.

    catclub

    @TBone: a little rubber piece that fits over nose and mouth to administer the inhaler to kitty.

     

    this sounds like a prequel to ‘There will be blood’ if tried at my house. I guess if the cat is sufficiently starved of oxygen you have a chance.

  209. 209.

    geg6

    @wjca: ​
     
    IANAL, but I don’t think so. However, the charges can be refiled. All she’d need would be tighter evidence.

  211. 211.

    Paul in KY

    @japa21: I bus toured through there one time. Must have gone through the Pentecostal areas, as there was only 1 bar on every corner.

  212. 212.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Soprano2:

    TFG seems to believe that any voting that doesn’t happen in a polling place on election day is fraud and/or cheating.

    He would have won on same-day voting in 2020.  Trump is a petty, vindictive dimwit.  He will hate vote by mail forever and consider it evil and cheating, and no amount of evidence will ever move him.

  213. 213.

    Kathleen

    @Jackie: Between the Senate primary and the primary for OH#2 (Weinstrup retired) it’s crazy. 11 Rethugs are vying for that spot. All the Rethug ads are bad parodies of 80’s SNL bad parodies of political ads. David Pepper’s friend Phil Heimlich is one of the candidates and he thinks Phil would be great (he hates Trump).

    The ads are so bad I fully expect to see ad with Rethug biting the head off a baby gerbil to show fealty to Trump. I am not kidding.

  214. 214.

    CaseyL

    @Hob: You said it very well.

    I’ll also note that some businesses which provide terrific plans for their more lucrative customers (such as the credit card companies’ “cash back” cards) offset any losses by sticking it to their less lucrative customers (credit card company 25+% interest if your credit score is below a certain level).

    Over the past few months, I’ve come to the conclusion that private equity investors are global parasites who do not care one jot or tittle if they crash the entire global economy, as long as they get their quarterly bonuses first.

    They own just about everything, and their enshittification  proceeds apace in all directions, in all sectors, all at once.

    I am going to try to not do business with the companies they’ve engulfed, though that’s going to be VERY difficult and probably very expensive.

  215. 215.

    TBone

    @catclub: yeah, it’s def a struggle but when kitty is in a weakened condition, hooman intervention prevails.  I have one cat who actually gave me her best, imploring look, stood on her hind legs, hugged me around the neck with both arms/paws, and pleaded not to have any more yukky ABX liquid squirted down her throat once when she came home from vet with kennel cough.  She knew just how to get me (right in the feels 🤣).

  216. 216.

    evodevo

    @cain: Yeah…Kitty Hawk had the right idea…if a storm comes in and washes out your expensive beachhouse, you don’t get to rebuild.  – “Oceanfront construction setback is measured landward from the first line of stable natural vegetation, or a static vegetation line when applicable.”

  217. 217.

    WaterGirl

    @geg6: I read a whole twitter thread from some group that said explained in detail why pursuing either of the options for getting those back in would both delay the case for a very long time, and open some stuff back up that would not be to the benefit of the prosectutors

    As much as a year or two of delays.  I don’t have it at my fingertips or I would post a link.

  219. 219.

    Citizen Alan

    @cain: I’m sure tony j can speak to this better than I can. But my impression is that rupert murdoch and other RW plutocrats (some of whom are Russian oligarchs) have seized control of virtually every private media source. And throughout the 80s and 90s, they use their influence within the Thatcher government to push the BBC to the Right, with the end result that there is no meaningful way to express left wing views in the public sphere. So naturally, Labour feels compelled to position itself at what it considers the leftmost range of acceptable speech and marginalize Labourites who would go farther. The whole thing is very 1984-ish to me. Make political change impossible by first making it impossible to talk about such potential change and be heard by the larger population.

  220. 220.

    Soprano2

    @WaterGirl: It might, I think he’s improving but extremely slowly. Last night I thought he might go to the bar with me, but in the end he decided not to. In the spirit of Baud, I think he didn’t want to put his pants on!

  225. 225.

    Delk

    What has Joe done?

    Jill and I are heartbroken by the recent loss of Nex Benedict. Every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are, and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities. Nex Benedict, a kid who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here with us today.

    Nonbinary and transgender people are some of the bravest Americans I know. But nobody should have to be brave just to be themselves.

  226. 226.

    Anyway

    @CaseyL:

    Over the past few months, I’ve come to the conclusion that private equity investors are global parasites who do not care one jot or tittle if they crash the entire global economy, as long as they get their quarterly bonuses first.

    Yes, PE mo is sucking the “value” out of every system that took decades to build and nurture – after the parasites have had their way what’s left is a shell  that cannot function as before and leaves employees, customers, citizens in their destructive wake.

  227. 227.

    TBone

    Dagnabbit!  Rug pulled out from under me again 😔 Thirty day delay request by Manhattan Prosecutor

    https://electionlawblog.org/?p=141983

    It only recently obtained the records from federal prosecutors, who years ago investigated the same hush-money payments at the center of the case.

  228. 228.

    wjca

    @geg6: IANAL, but I don’t think so. However, the charges can be refiled. All she’d need would be tighter evidence.

    IANAL either.  But I have the feeling that whether or not they can be refiled depends on if they are dismissed “With prejudice” or without.

  232. 232.

    Dan

    The one and only time we’ve heard Trump talk to a child is when he told a 7 year old that he was stupid for still believing in Santa.

  233. 233.

    Warblewarble

    Netanyahu belongs in the dock as a war criminal, However  Israels conduct in Gaza has been under the direction of the war cabinet. That includes its starvation policy and numerous other violations of humanitarian law, which are not solely to be labeled “Bibi’s War” as is being done by some of Israels  notable American supporters. Gantz and Gallant that the west now wants to whitewash, have just as much blood on their hands.

  236. 236.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jackie:

    Me too. I mostly love Stephen Colbert, frex, but he leans waaaay too hard on the “Biden’s so old” trope. It got unfunny at least a year ago.

  238. 238.

    cain

    @trollhattan:

    We’re really got to stop all this businesses merging. It’s no wonder everything is so expensive. This is every administration’s fault for allowing these mergers to happen.

    It’s time to start breaking companies up.

  241. 241.

    Ruckus

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    It’s a distraction effort.

    It always is with ShitForBrains, it’s the only possible thing he can do is distract. But there is one small problem. He isn’t any better at distraction than anything else – IOW he’s shit at every thing. Hence the real name on his birth certificate – Shit For Brains.

  242. 242.

    Gvg

    @Hob: Amazon originally just listed other sellers of second hand book, not new, and so did several other similar sites. Their prices were not better, but their web organization was, plus they had the rating system which was very useful. They still do that part better than others, even though they have almost left the used book market.

    Their prices are not significantly better than Barnes and noble nor Books a Million. What they do better that ends up getting my business is shipping and tracking plus being up front about it. When BN or BAM have a better price but tell me 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes AFTER the order which didn’t say that….and Amazon says 2 days and I know they will do it….well Amazon wins my business, over and over. That’s how they make the shipping costs, volume. And BN/BAM have had years to figure this out but haven’t Apparently even tried to change. They aren’t publishers, but their prices are about the same, it’s just they are slow service. Walmart is adjusting. So are some others, but not all. Change happens. Amazon is not even the same company as it was originally.

    Amazon is also NOT doing some things as well lately. Their search has gotten a lot less successful at finding what I want due to letting sellers pay to move up in ranking of the algorithm. Too many fly by night companies mostly Chinese right now and refusing to give me highly rated companies I have bought from before.

  243. 243.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Are you trying to say SFB is not the sharpest pencil in the drawer?

    Because you’d be 100000% correct.

    He’s not even the smartest dipshit, which of course is part of his problem, he’s incapable of being the smartest dipshit – a rather low bar, even for him.

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