So close, but yet so far. Another long day on the road, and I could have conceivably made it home tonight, but I decided I would rather stop and do the last five hours tomorrow than drive in the dark when exhausted. I’m really too tired to talk in detail about the trip, but I will fill you all in tomorrow night when I am settled at home. The route I took home sucked compared to the trip out, I’ll just say that.
I would like to give a shout out to the amazing people in Missouri who made this billboard a possibility.
I was unable to react fast enough to get a picture of the billboard for the Uranus Fudge Factory, but it does in fact exist.
War for Ukraine Day 756: A Brief Wednesday Night Update
Albatrossity
Missou-RAH!
zhena gogolia
I say Missouree (born and raised there).
RepubAnon
That’s worthy of a road stop! Uranus fudge… maybe gift packages to some anti-gay activists!
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: I thought you were a Yankee.
Honus
Re the thread below about kids’ names, when you get home ask your colleague Gary K about Carman Harman and Jett Black. Pretty sure he went to high school with both of them.
Mike in NC
I’m too old to handle any road trip in excess of an hour. When my brother and his girlfriend came to visit last summer, they did the drive up to New Hampshire in something like 12 hours straight.
Geoduck
If you ever wondered what became of this guy, now you know.
Scout211
I had to click.
Truly a classic sales pitch.
teezyskeezy
@zhena gogolia: Born and raised, and I say, outside of KC, STL, and *maybe* columbia, SHIT HOLE HELL HOLE
EDIT: although, Elephant Rock is kind of interesting. Exceeds the culture of its surroundings, for sure.
TaMara
I’ve been contemplating making my next LA trip a driving adventure. A friend wants to send home a bunch of cuttings from her garden for me. I used to do it all the time, several times a year and I would do it in sweep. About 15 hours. Part of that was mountain driving – oh, yay.
Just the thought of trying that now exhausts me and I would definitely have to break it up into two days. So I’m super glad you decided to stop and rest for that last 5 hours.
Mousebumples
Safe travels, Cole!
Hope the trekking is better with less pets in the car, but I’m sure Joelle is missed.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Are all billboards in Misery blurry or just the ones about Uranus?
Denali5
Glad you decided to stop. You will be happy to know it has snowed all day here in the frozen North. Sigh.
Jackie
@Mousebumples: Let’s see how long it takes John to miss Thurston – or at least a doggo to come home to 😉
AlaskaReader
The effort to force that treasonous House Speaker to bring action on Ukraine aid is ongoing.
But. Only 3 more representatives signed the discharge petition today.
There are 213 Democrats in the house.
Every single one of them should have signed by now.
Call and write those representatives who have not yet signed,
…and if/when you find a representative who has not yet signed,
…name them and shame them here,
…then some more of us can call them and write them also.
Juju
I’m glad I didn’t see that sign while driving. I’d probably have ended up in a ditch waiting for a tow. As it is, I almost spit decaf tea on my phone.
schrodingers_cat
@AlaskaReader: Has the Squad signed it yet?
NotMax
“9 out of 10 satisfied customers agree, Nobody comes close to the Uranus fudge packers.”
//
Mousebumples
@Jackie: or how long until another doggo in need finds their way into Cole’s home.
Jeffro
@Geoduck: ah good ol’ Pierre Delecto!!
Omnes Omnibus
@AlaskaReader: Some are holding off because of concerns about the Israel funding. I don’t agree with it, but I do understand that someone could make that decision.
Hoppie
@teezyskeezy: Ms. Hoppie is from SwampEast Missouri, Cape born but St. Louis raised. Senloo is quite an interesting place. Our kitty Talayna was named after a restaurant there.
Jackie
@AlaskaReader: Unfortunately several refuse to sign because of the Israel funding package because of Bibi’s stance against Gaza. I know Biden’s trying like hell to support the Palestinians, yet apparently it’s still not enough to satisfy some congressional Dems. I have no idea how that’s going to be resolved to “everybody’s satisfaction.”
Chetan Murthy
@Jackie: cutting off their noses to spite their face.
Jackie
@Mousebumples: Yes!
ceece
My rep, Ro Khanna, hasn’t signed it yet either. He’s squad-adjacent, but I thought he was smarter than this. Time to call his offices! again.
In case you are also calling your reps, you are asking them to sign the McGovern discharge petition (house resolution 1016 to advance the bill HR 5673)
Jackie
@Chetan Murthy: ☹️
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: Oh, no.
cmorenc
@Omnes Omnibus: are the ukraine discharge petition holdouts, especially on the D side, concerned about linkage to israeli funding, because they are concerned it will: a) help an undeserving israel get funding, or b) because it might hurt a deserving israel frim getting funding?
yeah, i know – a substantial portion of the R caucus won’t sign it because trump is against it and so are their masters in russia. But there are quite a few R members who do (or at least would) support it if it ever cane to a vote.
Omnes Omnibus
@cmorenc: For my rep., Mark Pocan, it is definitely “a.”
Delk
Uranus looks gassy.
BR
I’m reading that TFG is now openly saying he’ll do Jan. 6th again:
https://techhub.social/@rayckeith/112131149072282008
Seems like the media (who am I kidding) should be asking GOP members of congress if they support his call to do Jan. 6th again after losing the election.
Brachiator
When I graduated college, some friends and I drove home from East Coast to West Coast. We had great food at a restaurant in Kansas City.
I have relatives who like to drive all over the USA, but one cross country trip was enough for me.
Poe Larity
Are you going to drive by the Subaru monument?
Chetan Murthy
An open thread, so …. I found this article to be really thought-provoking: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/mar/19/end-of-landlords-surprisingly-simple-solution-to-uk-housing-crisis
What I found fascinating about the article, was its description of the government’s focus on getting landlords out of the business. “municipalization” and “the end of landlordism”. And the rationale of eye-watering rent controls as a means of doing so. I also found it fascinating that it didn’t take that many years to actually pull it off. It’s clear that the goal was also to increase owner-occupied housing in addition to socially-owned housing. Really worth a read.
And *lots* of food for thought.
stacib
@Brachiator: I drove Chicago to Phoenix on mainly U.S. 40 over 2.5 days. I will NEVER forget the nightmare of driving through the mountains for so long that when you come out, your brain kinda freaks out from getting so much information after being enclosed between walls hours. I won’t do that again.
RaflW
@AlaskaReader: Surprisingly, Dean Philips signed on March 19th.
My oft disappointing Rep. Omar hasn’t. I’ll send a message now, and call tomorrow.
scav
Isn’t it good to see an old properly out-of-focus photo around the place again.
Quadrillipede
I believe the Ancient Greek pronunciation of Uranus is closer to oh-RAH-nos than the modern English one, but can’t see how that should make it any less entertaining.
Brachiator
@BR:
When he loses, he will be in a much weaker position, and unable to start much trouble. Still, it is worth challenging the GOP on this.
Ph64n
@zhena gogolia: Me, too. Born in st louis, spent next 10 years in KC, then moved back to Florissant, then worked towboats for 15 years. On land, I say Missouri with a short ‘i’, on the river, I say Missouruh. Only at Leonard Wood or other army installations do I pronounce it Missouree. In any case, Cole, did you go past the that shop with the big Mick Jagger lips?
Quadrillipede
Also, I’m only familiar with British road trips, which are probably like driving from one side of Rhode Island to the other.
BR
@Brachiator:
I especially think it’s good to talk about this because Jan. 6, 2021 or 2025, either way, means we’re talking about him as a loser. He’s saying he’s going to lose again and then stir up trouble after losing. The more we talk about him as a loser the better because it’s never good for a tyrant to seem weak.
Quadrillipede
Spent about 31 hours awake flying over to TW (with a ten-hour migraine in the middle, because of course my analgesics were in my suitcase), then proceeded to crash for about the next 14 hours, during which I had some of the most vivid and internally consistent lucid dreams I think I’ve ever had. If I had to speculate, I think my brain decided it needed to defragment regardless of my current waking/sleeping state.
Very very bizarre, but it did feel like I got about 6 hours of rest out of it…
Brachiator
@Chetan Murthy:
Haven’t looked at the article yet, but there is still a housing problem in the UK and the current Tory government is not interested in trying to solve it.
The Irish prime minister unexpectedly resigned and also noted that Ireland has a thorny housing problem facing the country.
Ohio Mom
Ohio Family would have stopped to tour the Uranus Fudge compound but that is why it takes us twice as long as anyone else to get anywhere.
2liberal
LINK
a clearer picture of the road sign
Jackie
@BR: I think that’s the main reason TIFG can’t get financing for the half million plus; those in the know, expect he’s going to lose the General Election biggly, and they’ll never be reimbursed.
Chetan Murthy
@Brachiator: The article addresses that. A pull-quote:
TS
@Chetan Murthy:
Until Thatcher, local government in the UK ran the social housing/rental market. A majority did not own their homes but rented all their lives. All was fine until thatcher decided to make 1 generation rich & sold them their council houses. There were then few rentals available & councils had no housing stock but were still obligated to provide social housing. Sent so many councils broke.
If they are getting back to the original format – a great option
karen marie
@Omnes Omnibus: You’re more understanding than I am.
Soprano2
@zhena gogolia: Me too. John must have come through Springfield if he saw that sign. I’ve never been there but I’ve seen the sign many times on the way to St. Louis.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jackie:
Trump has no intention of repaying his bonds. He’s doing his favorite thing, spending other people’s money. That’s why when Chubb asked for collateral on the (much) bigger bond, he wouldn’t do it. That would put him in a position of actually having to pay them back. No, he wants to just get out of the entire penalty by tricking someone else into paying it and then just drag his feet and never pay that person back.
Chetan Murthy
@TS: The article discusses this, and also describes a time prior to the one you’re describing, where landlords owned most of the housing stock (60% of dwellings) and how that was reduced to a small fraction (9%), with owner-occupiers and esp. councils taking up the stock. The article argues that the methods that worked back then can work again, and free up that housing stock for people to live in.
Chetan Murthy
@Chetan Murthy: Here’s a quote:
mrmoshpotato
Just looked the site, and those anuses in Missouri are hilarious.
Brachiator
@Chetan Murthy:
A question.
Where has the current government actually applied this solution and what has been the result?
This seems to be in conflict with Tory free market fantasies and disregard for actual governing.
Jackie
@Frankensteinbeck: The good news is TIFG will be running for re-election as a financial LOSER. And his MAGA supporters will have to deal with supporting a bankrupt LOSER!🤭
Chetan Murthy
@Brachiator:
Oh, for sure no current government in the UK or US would apply such a solution. The entire idea of restricting what an owner can do with his property is pretty much anathema. But from the article it appears thatA previous British government did try it and it did work. And this is what is so fascinating: The tools we know about like rent control can be used to increase housing stock by driving landlords out of the business.
Suzanne
@Chetan Murthy: That piece is really interesting. The U.K. has somewhat different dynamics than the US — our urban population has grown more than theirs has — but I am totally on board with ending or at least seriously limiting landlording.
mrmoshpotato
@Jackie:
Well, his supporters could decide to stop being Trump trash…
AlaskaReader
@schrodingers_cat: @Omnes Omnibus: @Jackie: @ceece: @cmorenc: @RaflW:
Remind the holdouts that the discharge petition only brings the bill to the floor,
…if someone wants to cut parts of the bill out, when the bill is on the floor gives them the opportunity to make their case.
If they prevent the bill from even coming to the floor, they play into the Republican plan to hold aid to Ukraine hostage for their immoral and treasonous campaign efforts
Democrats need to show solidarity in their opposition to the Republican House Speaker’s un-American gamesmanship and obstruction.
wjca
@Chetan Murthy: .
I see that they calmly cite the number of housing units per 1000 of population, and cheerfully ignore the detail that household size has changed (dropped) since their reference dates. And thus the number of households per 1000 of population has increased.
Wonderful how you can be selective, and so buttress your predetermined conclusion.
Chetan Murthy
@wjca: True; then again, if household size has dropped, ostensibly those households can fit into smaller flats. And regardless, the topline argument is that reducing landlordism can increase the provision of social housing, and that that can be achieved simply by making it eye-wateringly unprofitable to be a landlord.
karen marie
@Chetan Murthy: Would that it were so.
Chetan Murthy
@karen marie: Certainly I see no possibility that this can happen in the US: Teh Market (sic) [PBUH] Uber Alles after all. Things are instead going in the other direction, b/c we’re a nation of temporarily-embarrassed millionaires, to the last. Ah, well.
ETA: but even if one reads that article as just a defense of rent control, it’s a great read. I will certainly remember the arguments for the next time a discussion of rent control comes up.
RaflW
@Brachiator: Wait, what? Taoiseach Varadkar just resigned? He was in D.C. with Biden on St. Patricks.
Whip snap. I’m sure FOX has cooked up a conspiracy already.
RaflW
@stacib: I’m an oddball, but I love mountain driving. Which is good because I do I-70 between the Denver airport and the Keystone/Breck area a lot (shuttle service for friends, relatives and the BF).
Also drove Dillon, CO to Park City the back way this winter, partly on US 40 (Dinosaur, CO & west) . It was cool!
Quadrillipede
Here’s a 14-minute introduction to Metamodernism, which seems to be a relatively new attempt to move past both Modernism and Postmodernism, by taking the good parts of both and synthesizing them into something new:
Steeplejack
@BR:
Did you also read this at the top of your linked piece?
BigJimSlade
Goodness gracious. (that’s in regards to the whole uranus fudge factory thing – they rulllly lean into it!)
Ruckus
@TaMara:
I used to fly a lot for work. When I say a lot I traveled 8-9 months a year, home for maybe 4-6 days a month, never in a row. A Hertz clerk told me once that I was in the top 5% of Hertz renters. I traveled A LOT. I’ve driven across this country several times. Coast to coast once in under 3 days. Solo. I’ve driven across in cars several times and twice in a truck, once towing a 50 ft trailer. But I’ve been completely done doing that or anything like it ever again – for a number of years.
Sure Lurkalot
@Hoppie: I worked at Talayna in high school (the 70’s). Mostly in Creve Coeur and a few times at the one on Skinker. Place was always packed and I made good money for a teenager. In those days, I had diners who would leave a doobie for a tip.
Jackie
@AlaskaReader: Totally agree. Sadly my congressman is on the record stating No. He’s not 100% MAGA, but he’s pretty damn close.😡
TeezySkeezy
@Hoppie: I used to enjoy random Missouri restaurants more when I didn’t think I was surrounded by Trumper pigs. The Trump stank ruins social trust and social connection, and ruins almost everything.
sdhays
@Jackie: Apparently he has the numbskulls on his campaign trying to find someone stupid enough to post his bond for him. They’re not doing anything campaign-related at all for now. He doesn’t have his own staff to handle his personal stuff; his campaign is that staff. So they will be focused on keeping Trump Tower off the chopping block and whatever else necessary to keep Derp Fuhrer out of prison rather than running a campaign.
Which, it seems, they may not have the money for anyway. We’re going to have a real experiment on whether any of that actual campaign effort actually matters when it comes to Republicans.
AlaskaReader
The hole left by the Christian Dark Ages
sdhays
@TeezySkeezy: Co-sign. So many places I would have loved to go to 15 years ago are just not places I want to go anymore.
Hoppie
@Sure Lurkalot: Skinker was our place. Maybe we tipped you!
Always enjoyed it back in the day. Talayna was a wonderful kitty, showed up at our door as a kitten. We spotted a similar kitten down the street and surmised someone had dropped off an unwanted litter. Layna very cleverly figured out the house with four cats already might not notice another!
Ruckus
@mrmoshpotato:
Well, his supporters could decide to stop being Trump trash…
And completely decimate their entire concept of living?
I’m not seeing it….
Hoppie
@Sure Lurkalot: Skinker was our go-to. Ms. Hoppie’s grandmother lived in Central West End. Remarkably, her house was a copy of my grandparents’ house in Minneapolis
Upper middle class houses in the Midwest for the win!
Brachiator
@RaflW:
Pretty big news story.
Quadrillipede
It’s unfortunate that he’s spent the last several decades publicly and systematically stiffing anyone foolish enough to lend him even a single cent.
If only everyone other than him had the memory of goldfish…
wjca
It probably shouldn’t, by this ooint. But it still boggles my mind that someone could sign up to work on a political campaign, and find themselves working to find financing for a court judgement, without asking themselves: “What is wrong with this picture???”
Clearly they don’t. But I just can’t wrap my head around it. I mean, I know some folks who are definitely in the lower half of the intelligence distribution. But they would have no problem figuring out that something was very wrong, even if they struggled with figuring out just what.
Mai Naem mobile
@AlaskaReader: my rep(Greg Stanton) has signed but for whatever reason Raul Grijalva hasn’t signed. It looks like none of the Squad has signed. I also didn’t see Maxwell Frost’s or Debbie Dingell’s name on it. BTW I didn’t realize Robert Menendez’s son is a congressman whose name is Robert Menendez(he goes by Rob Menendez.) He’s in his first term. I wonder if he’ll win a second term with his dad’s issues and people maybe confusing him with his dad.
prostratedragon
“Uranus the Magician”
Steeplejack
@Chetan Murthy:
Thanks for that link. I also found the article very thought-provoking. Bookmarked it for future reference.
Mai Naem mobile
@wjca: nobody except a foreign oligarch would pay for the bond. You can’t just put up the 10% because TFG’s a bad risk and it’s too much money. Even for somebody like Jeff Bezos it wouldn’t be couch change. The other possibility is if he can find 25 billionaires each of whom would be willing to kick in $20M.
Eric S.
Last summer I conducted a rescue mission for my brother and family. They had major automotive issues while on vacation in Branson, MO. The first time just Uranus I didn’t react fast/safely enough to take a picture. The second time past I was at the wheel if a 20-foot Uhaul towing a 27-foot camper. I was… too busy for pics.
Yutsano
@wjca:
Racism is a helluva drug.
EDIT: I had to fix your typo. Sorry it was just bugging me.
Also too: FYWP
cain
A saw a billboard on the way home and cracked up laughing. It was from a plumbing company and it said it like a joke:
” how do you man-explain getting water ? By ‘well, actually ‘ lol
piratedan
@Mai Naem mobile: I pinged Grijalva asking for him to least sign the petition to bring it to the floor for a vote.
wjca
Of course, they would all have to be dumb enough to believe that he would somehow win on appeal. Otherwise they would just be making him a gift of the money.
mrmoshpotato
@Ruckus:
Yeah. Doubtful too.
Steeplejack
@Ohio Mom:
LOL. I love this!
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Quadrillipede: And the modern Greek pronunciation has the accent on the last syllable, like “oo-ran-OS” (also the Greek word for “sky”).
Quadrillipede
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Greek pronunciation is changed quite considerably over the millenia IIUC. I recall listening to someone reciting the modern Greek alphabet (on Wikipedia, I think), and some of the contemporary letter names are quite striking. “Veta” for β, “Thelta” for δ and “Taf” for τ were a few of the most memorable for me…
NotMax
@Bruce K in ATH-GR
By George, How to Pronounce Uranus.
:)
yellowdog
@Jackie: They wouldn’t get reimbursed if he won, either.
mrmoshpotato
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Stop wrecking our fun! u r anus!
NotMax
@yellowdog
“Here’s a blanket lifetime presidential pardon for you, and a blanket lifetime presidential pardon for you….”
//
sab
@Ohio Mom: That was my family travelling. Dad and oldest sister loved outings. Rest of us were just baggage on the ride. Drove me nuts my whole childhood.
sab
@cain: I don’t even get the joke.
Major source of amusement for my husband is the jokes I don’t get.
sab
Driving while exhausted is as dangerous as driving drunk. Just don’t do it.
ETA 15% of us can function when sleep deprived. 85% might as well be drunk. Not just driving. Just life skills. We are not all supermen. Most of us are just people.
Be sensible. Stay safe. Your family probably needs you.
Chris T.
The ostensibly-correct pronunciation of Uranus-the-planet is “you’re-en-us” (accent on the first syllable, and a schwa in the second one), not “your-anus”.
Unfortunately that is a complete homonym for the word “urinous”, meaning “like urine”. So it’s not really an improvement, except that someone has to have a larger vocabulary to get the giggles from it.
different-church-lady
YUR-ann-us.
different-church-lady
@NotMax: “How to pronounce YOU’R anus, buddy!” (Flips bird)
Old School
@sab:
I hate to mansplain a mansplaining joke, but in this case the humor derives from knowing that a source of water can be a well.
So saying water comes a “well, actually” is similar to the mansplainer’s “Well, actually…”
Paul in KY
@RepubAnon: When hearing that name, would not get me saying “Yes, please!”.
Probably pretty good. Like “With a name like ‘Uranus Fudge’, its got to be good!”
Paul in KY
@Scout211: I had always heard that Neptune made the best fudge…
Paul in KY
@sab: My 2 worst wrecks occurred when I fell asleep/passed out while behind the wheel. Very true.