Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

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

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Fight them, without becoming them!

No one could have predicted…

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

In my day, never was longer.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans do not trust women.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

You are here: Home / Healthcare / Saturday Morning Open Thread: The News Never Stops

Saturday Morning Open Thread: The News Never Stops

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213Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Good on Stolz for doing his own research. I hope he has lots of friends he can preach the truth to.

  3. 3.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​

    His Fox-watching friends will tell him it was Biden’s body double that showed up in Racine.

    ETA: I wish I was joking.

  5. 5.

    JWR

    @Baud: On local CBS News the other day, I saw him, or someone who looked a lot like him, during one of Biden’s plant visits, and the announcer noted that the former Trump voter is now an enthusiastic Biden supporter. They asked him why, and he said something like just look around. Look at this plant, at all the cranes across this state, and you’re asking me why?! Did my heart good.

  6. 6.

    hueyplong

    Love that contrast about the concepts of federal databases for pregnancies and gun owners. The heat is being turned up, and we’re half a year from the election. I’m less worried than others about complacency.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    @JWR:

    Whoa.  I hope that news outlet isn’t ostracized by its media friends for featuring a Trump to Biden voter.

  9. 9.

    Nelle

    More in reference to the last thread…what time were all of you seeing the Northern Lights?  My insomnia failed to show up on its usual schedule.

  10. 10.

    JWR

    @Baud: Really! But I’m in SoCal, where we have Fox. but thankfully, no Sinclair TV stations. I don’t know about radio. though. I think they do radio.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    On Tuesday we got hit with a bad storm, 8 tornadoes I think was the final count, to our NW and S but here we just got golf ball sized hail and 2 1/2 ” of rain. Later that afternoon I saw something I’d never seen before: MODOT was plowing the leaves and branches off the roads.
    Even tho I understood why, I had to laugh.​

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In a lengthy statement, the former mayor said: “I’m learning from a leak to the New York Times that I’m being fired by John Catsimatidis and WABC because I refused to comply with their overly broad directive stating, word-for-word, that I’m ‘prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 presidential election’.”

    A copy of a letter from Catsimatidis to Giuliani, dated 9 May and obtained by the Guardian, said Giuliani was “prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 presidential election on your programs broadcast on WABC … and otherwise in your capacity as an agent of the station.

    “These specific topics include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud effectuated by election workers, and your personal lawsuits relating to those allegations.”

    Claiming “a clear violation of free speech”, Giuliani said he would address the situation further on social media on Friday night.

    Wah. His “free speech” that he charges WABC for. What a f’n snowflake.

  17. 17.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Claiming “a clear violation of free speech”, Giuliani said he would address the situation further on social media on Friday night.

    If it’s a violation of free speech, then the fact that I can’t get air time on WABC any time I want is also a violation of free speech.

    I DEMAND MY RIGHTS!!!!!!!!​

    //

  18. 18.

    hueyplong

    @OzarkHillbilly: The Republican concept of the First Amendment is arguably more twisted than their understanding of the Second.

    Hoping to hear them yelp about the perceived violations of the Eighth as the year goes on.

  19. 19.

    mrmoshpotato

    Katie Britt: Introduced a bill to create a federal database of pregnant women.

     

    Also Katie Britt: Opposes federal database of gun owners.

    These miserable assholes really need to find some hobbies that aren’t harassing women or humping guns.

    Maybe they wouldn’t be such miserable assholes then.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    Repurposing from the thread below, where the Barron Trump withdrawal was also mentioned:

    Melania hangs up the phone, turns to Barron, and says “How would you like to humiliate your father?”  And he grins…

    Though he might have said “But I like Pavel,” so she corrected “I meant my husband.”

  22. 22.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m sure with ten minutes digging, someone will turn up a lawsuit where Giuliani argued for a corporation’s right to impose conditions of employment. Heck, it would probably turn up one where the issue was speech restrictions.

  23. 23.

    AM in NC

    @Ken:  Lovely to think so re: Barron’s parentage, but he is a clone of DJT, unfortunately for him.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: I can’t imagine he might say anything worth listening to.

    @lowtechcyclist: RIGHT NOW!!!

    @hueyplong: As I noted the other day, the constitution says, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed!”

    Everything else is just guidelines.

  27. 27.

    Ken

    @NotMax: In other goings on, yet another solar orbit more or less successfully tucked under the belt.

    Congratulations. And the Sun even arranged fireworks for you!

  28. 28.

    Gvg

    @OzarkHillbilly: Such bullshit. 1st amendment is the government  restricting your speech. ABC is a private company, and it’s not a law or regulation telling him not to spout lies on the air, while doing the job. He can still do it on his own time, just not while representing his employer.

    It’s also not violating the first if your parents tell you to shut up about something. The first is a restriction on the government only, it doesn’t apply to social pressure or jobs.

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Gvg: He’s still free to go to the park and yell anything he wants at passing strangers. Until the cops haul him away at least.

  32. 32.

    Layer8Problem

    @OzarkHillbilly:  If it weren’t for that pesky Constitution I’d be quartering soldiers in peacetime in every damned Republican household I could find.  That is, if I were running things in this shebeen, which I’m not.

  33. 33.

    TBone

    Shero Michigan AG Dana Nessel will sue Big Oil

    With the suit, Michigan will join states such as Minnesota, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island that have filed climate fraud lawsuits against oil and gas companies, alleging petroleum products played a central role in contributing to the climate crisis.

    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/05/09/fossil-fuel-climate-change-big-oil-and-gas-industry-dana-nessel-michigan-lawsuit-private-law-firms/73624884007/

  37. 37.

    TBone

    @Gvg: I wish more people understood that.  I’ve had to explain it too many times and it’s very frustrating (they still don’t believe it).

  39. 39.

    WereBear

    @Baud: But this is the same thing.

    Q promised the revolution would come, which would cancel all debt and cure all diseases.

    They still want their miracle. 

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @TBone: I like to say that speech isn’t free, it costs. Don’t believe me? Threaten your congress critter and see what that costs you.

  43. 43.

    WereBear

    @TBone: They don’t WANT to, that’s why.

    It’s frightening how many people look like adults, but aren’t. And I think they get worse as they age and get bitter.

    Me, I just try not to be bitter…

  46. 46.

    TBone

    @OzarkHillbilly: the boneheaded knuckledraggers do not understand the concept of accepting the consequences of their speech (females included).  This is different from First Amendment issues and I’ve had to kick several people to the curb over both.  After spectacular tongue lashings.

  47. 47.

    Ohio Mom

    @Nelle: Apparrently there was a small window when the aurora was visible in southwest Ohio that I missed. By the time I went to look, clouds had rolled in. Hoping for better luck tonight.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Good news for snakes: Adder girl! Tunnels aim to encourage British snakes to mix and breed

    How did the adder cross the road? It didn’t – it was too scared.

    Now, however, road-shy populations of the increasingly endangered snake are being given a helping hand with the construction of Britain’s first adder tunnels. The two tunnels, which run beneath a road bisecting Greenham and Crookham Commons in Berkshire, have been designed to appeal to the heat-seeking reptiles. Britain’s only venomous snake has vanished from central England over the last decade because of persecution, habitat fragmentation and the growth of pheasant shoots, with non-native pheasants predating the small vipers.

    “We’ve got a biodiversity crisis. We need to be doing new and innovative things,” said Tom Hayward, of the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). “We need to be thinking outside the box as to how we benefit these species.”

  51. 51.

    TBone

    @WereBear: it’s a good goal for aging – keep our hearts frost free and open.  We’ll need them!  I’m not too bitter (I hope) but I am more selective as I age.

  52. 52.

    lowtechcyclist

    @TBone:

    I wish more people understood that. I’ve had to explain it too many times and it’s very frustrating (they still don’t believe it).

    Just tell ’em that they’re saying you have the right to come into their house and say whatever you damn well please, and if they kick you out, or don’t let you in in the first place, that’s a violation of your free speech rights.

  53. 53.

    Tony G

    @Baud: WABC AM radio in New York City has been a cesspool of right-wing propaganda for about 40 years, featuring Rush Limbaugh and his many clones.  When I was a kid in the sixties it had been the main top-40 station in the New York area, featuring The Beatles, Motown and other popular tunes, along with hyper-caffeinated DJs like Cousin Bruce.  Then I guess they figured out that there was a bigger market for hate.

  54. 54.

    TBone

    @OzarkHillbilly: made me think of this, misattributed to Chief Seattle:

    Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.

  56. 56.

    lowtechcyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     

    That reminds me of a bad joke:

    The Ark finally arrives at dry land, Noah lets down the ramp and all the beasts leave, except for two small snakes.

    Noah says, “Why are you still here? Didn’t you hear me tell you to go forth and multiply?”

    The snakes reply, “We can’t – we’re adders.”

    :d&r:

  59. 59.

    narya

    Today’s expedition is going to be in search of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout. A local liquor store is having a massive sale–many at 60% off. I will be a bit limited, because I’m not supposed to lift too much weight still, but I definitely want to get some. I’ve discovered my brother is a fan: he normally drinks Coors swill, but, it turns out, he likes the barrel-aged stuff.

  64. 64.

    JWR

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    What a f’n snowflake.

    And is it any surprise that Rudy equates one thing, that he’s being “prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 presidential election”, (Rudy’s version), with another, that being the “legitimacy of the election results, etc.,” (WABC’s version.) Hey, just like TFG’s mid-trial press availabilities, where he complains about his version of the gag order, vs. the actual gag order. Clever misunderstanding of the English language, ain’t it?

  66. 66.

    mrmoshpotato

    @TBone:

    I once had to threaten to take a dump on neighbors’ front lawn 😆 to get my point across. 

    Too long for a rotating tag! 😭

  67. 67.

    Jeffro

    @OzarkHillbilly:Claiming “a clear violation of free speech”, Giuliani said he would address the situation further on social media on Friday night.

    I’m surprised he didn’t go with ‘cancel culture’

    No, Rudy, it’s #ConsequenceCulture

  68. 68.

    narya

    @mrmoshpotato: at Binny’s, with a Binny’s card (I don’t remember if you’re in Chicago). 30th Anniversary is $15 (instead of $40); Angel’s Envy variant and Eagle Rare variant are $30 (instead of $40). 2023 BCS is $5 instead of $14.

  70. 70.

    Kay

    Anti woke media’s favorite Republican:

    Three months ago, Nancy Mace’s office was in disarray.
    The Republican congresswoman fired or lost nine staffers from her Washington D.C. office in three months – and many of them trashed her to the media on the way out.
    Now, the South Carolina lawmaker has dramatically hit back and accused the former aides of sabotage in an extraordinary interview with DailyMail.com.
    Mace, 46, says the departed staffers mismanaged $1million, hacked her phone, spied on medical records, and even submerged electronic devices in water and deleted files to cover their tracks.
    The mother-of-two claims they even went as far snooping on her childrens’ calendars and would monitor doctor appointments
    Another former staffer said, “This seems to be stemming from paranoia and trust issues. She’s clearly unwell and I hope she gets help.”

    The accusations that staff signed docs without her permission and mismanaged a million dollars are interesting – sounds to me like she’s covering her ass either ahead of an investigation or in defense of an investigation.

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    ‘Queen of the Con’ found in Maine ordered to be extradited to Northern Ireland

    A US-born woman who disguised herself as an heiress to a $30m fortune while scamming nearly $100,000 from a television producer – who later sent her to prison and documented her misdeeds on a hit podcast – has been ordered extradited to Northern Ireland on a separate set of fraud charges.

    Marianne “Mair” Smyth’s extradition to the UK was authorized by John Nivision, a US federal magistrate judge, on Thursday, more than two months after she was arrested at a short-term rental home in Bingham, Maine, court records show.

    Smyth was staying there after an early release from a prison sentence for defrauding podcaster Johnathan Walton, whose Queen of the Con: The Irish Heiress chronicled his experience with her; how she allegedly ripped off others, including in Belfast, Northern Ireland; and prompted the decisive tip about her whereabouts in Bingham before her 23 February recapture there.
    ……………………………..
    “It’s been said the pen is mightier than the sword, but let me tell you, the podcast is mightier still,” Walton said in a statement to the Guardian about Smyth’s extradition order. Alluding to how Queen of the Con helped authorities in the UK build a case against Smyth, Walton added: “My only desire now is for justice at long last for the victims in Northern Ireland.”

    It is quite the story, a made for TV miniseries.

  76. 76.

    kalakal

    The Guardian takes note of TFG’s legal strategy

     ‘Defense paints Trump as a distracted multitasker who signed papers without checking them first’

    He’s a great multitasker, he can fart and snore at the same time

  77. 77.

    mrmoshpotato

    @narya:

    If they’d hump women (with consent!!) and harass guns they’d be a lot happier. 

    I think you’re onto something here!

  79. 79.

    narya

    @mrmoshpotato: I thought I remembered that you were. The nice thing about BCS is that it does age pretty well–and was part of the genesis for the Beer from the Basement parties I threw pre-pandemic. (Two friends had stashes of lots of Big Beers in their basements, so, instead of meeting at a bar, I suggested we meet at my place and share/sample from their basements. There’s a core group of six of us, and it’s time to revive those get-togethers; it’s nice because you can sample/taste a whole lot more, because you’re getting a much shorter pour.) I also haul things like this to RoadAmerica, because they’re nice to share while sitting around a campfire, too.

  80. 80.

    Suzanne

    Open thread? Okay!

    I have been super-excited by the redbud trees here this season. There’s a lot of them in my neighborhood (single-family homes, but on fairly small lots and close together). My front yard is steeply sloping, and faces southwest. We have stairs approximately bisecting it, and we planted a Japanese maple when we first moved in. I have been wanting to plant a redbud on the other side of the stairs. I asked my neighbor if she had any thoughts or concerns, and she said she didn’t have a preference….. but that she didn’t want bumpy roots in her yard. So I have been trying to figure out how much “spread” the roots of redbud trees do. I don’t want roots to damage the stairs, either. Any insight?

    I won’t plant it too close to the house.

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

    Indulging in a (for me) rare treat as a snack, luscious fresh strawberries found at an attractive Prime member special at Whole Foods. (No way would have sprung for them at the original sticker price.)

    @Layer8Problem

    Dang you, Copernicus.
    :)

  87. 87.

    Suzanne

    @Kay: Oh man, if they need 20 feet, there’s no way I can do it. I think my lot is roughly 45 feet across.

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    I am still super creeped-out by that Britt video.  Just a-grinning away the whole time, she is… 0_0

  90. 90.

    Eyeroller

    @Jeffro: I didn’t notice as much fundy baby voice on that one but man, that weird, forced smiling was creepy AF, especially considering the topic.

  91. 91.

    RevRick

    @Baud: The Biden campaign relies heavily on local news coverage, which features positive news about administration accomplishments.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    They’re nearly a mid-size tree when mature and they’re shallow rooted. You could use the native dogwood or the Kousa dogwood.

  94. 94.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Suzanne: ​

    I do believe a good rule of thumb is the roots spread as much as the crown. Not always true. At any rate, I have a redbud in the Zen garden and the roots are below the top of the soil. I can’t say as to whether or not that is typical for redbuds. Can’t tell about all of the ones out in my woods, too many roots everywhere I step.

  95. 95.

    prostratedragon

    @Tony G:  It was where some people with money influence wanted to drive the market. Instead of diverse and often charming popular culture, some braincrusher bellowing about horses and wells.

  97. 97.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Ken: Reads more like “Rather than a nice family gesture to put his dad over the top, everyone is reading this as Barron making a political statement, so he and Melania withdrew like they saw a snake.”

  98. 98.

    Betty

    I see Katie Britt learned from her first big video not to use her kitchen as a background when discussing serious national issues. She did not, however, understand that the unrelenting toothpaste-commercial grin is also inappropriate.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    One of the young women I spoke with during the Ohio reproduction rights referendum campaign said “they could outlaw home pregnancy tests and make us go to the doctor to get one and track us that way”

    I keep thinking about that.

  100. 100.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Rep. Mace has a primary coming up on June 11. She and challenger Catherine Templeton both raised ~$460,000 in Q1 of this year, so this could be a real fight. Templeton is a former state cabinet officer.

  102. 102.

    cmorenc

    Is Britt’s proposal to create a mandatory database requiring any sort of medical caregivers of women to report any known pregnancies among their patients? What is her proposed enforcement mechanism?  Would it be modeled on reporting requirements for patients discovered to have dangerously infectious diseases like ebola? (Except that such reports would be about healthy women)?

    It’s not just the raw proposal, but the enforcement details that are sinister

  103. 103.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    They’ll make pregnant women wear a Scarlet P so they can crowd source tracking responsibilities.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    @cmorenc:

    It’s for a pregnancy website run by the federal government that would give “information” about pregnancy resources, but it has a questionnaire where people would input their information.

  105. 105.

    Spanky

    @Suzanne: I’m not sure I’ve seen roots from our rebuds above ground. Sandy soil here, though I don’t know that that would make a difference. And I doubt that the roots extend past the dripline.

  106. 106.

    RevRick

    @Tony G: FM stations playing albums took over the market in the late 60s, early 70s.
    BTW, Cousin Bruce can be heard on the Sirius XM 60s channel!

  107. 107.

    Suzanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, I’m struggling with this question. In AZ, the mesquites and jacarandas and palo verdes all have very shallow roots and they mess up the surface of anything nearby. Here, I see people put trees in these teeeeeeeeny planting strips. Our Japanese maple seems to have roots that go deeper…. The ground is smooth around it.

  108. 108.

    Kay

    @Suzanne:

    Saucer magnolias are nice. They have very showy blooms on bare branches – prior to leaves budding out – but I think the best part is the silver bark and how they grow sort of gnarled.

  110. 110.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Not exactly a primary from the Right. Templeton seems to be a Chamber of Commerce/Country Club type Republican. From what little I saw of her record as cabinet officer, Templeton was more technocrat than ideologue.

    Mace was one of the 8 Republicans who knocked Kraven McCarthy out of the Speakers chair, and his revenge PAC is backing Templeton. I think she decided to run independently of that event, though.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Suzanne: the mesquites and jacarandas and palo verdes all have very shallow roots

    Sounds like an adaptation to the desert environment as they try to maximize their intake of whatever moisture might fall from the sky, but I’m just spitballing that. My knowledge of desert plants and how non desert plants adapt to that environment is pretty much nil.

  112. 112.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    Interesting. Because Mace is a media star – the centrist ninnies adore her- so I guess Templeton will run on “I do actual work and am competent instead of spending all my time on Bill Mahr’s show”

  113. 113.

    Kay

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Arrests for illegal crossings on the U.S. border with Mexico fell by half in January from record highs in December to the third lowest month of Joe Biden’s presidency, authorities said Tuesday.
    The sharp drop is welcome news for the White House, even if it proves temporary, as immigration becomes one of the biggest issues in this year’s presidential election, with exit polls showing it is the top concern among many Republican voters in early primaries. House Republicans voted Tuesday to impeach U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his oversight of the border.
    Seasonal declines and heightened enforcement by the U.S. and its allies led to the sharp decline, said Troy Miller, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. authorities have repeatedly praised Mexico for a crackdown launched in late December.

    It might be temporary but the Biden Administration credits their “better” relationship with Mexico and the fact that Mexico is working with them – implied comparison to Trump administration.
    Sad news for the NYTimes political team. They will have more trouble cranking up their campaign season “invasion of the migrants” machine in August.

  114. 114.

    Nukular Biskits

    Good mornin’, y’all!

    Posting this prior to reading the comments, so this may have been answered already:  Did any of y’all see the northern lights last night?  They were beautiful on the MS Gulf Coast.

    Too bad I wasn’t there to see them. 😞

  115. 115.

    RevRick

    @mrmoshpotato: Surveys show that conservatives are happier than liberals. The reasons for that is that liberals want a better world and thus are discontented with the present situation, while conservatives enjoy inflicting misery on others. But I think that just demonstrates how shallow that definition of happiness is, reducing it to a pleasant psychological state.

    Philosophers would, on the whole, define happiness as “getting what you want, but only wanting what you ought to want.” Christian theologians would define it in a variety of ways. St. Augustine put it, “Love God, and do what you please.” St. Irenaeus put it, “The glory of God is a person who is fully human and fully alive.”
    The intention of both those theologians was to raise the obvious questions: “If you truly love God, what would please you?” “What makes people fully human and fully alive?” Given Jesus’ observation that the whole of theTorah is summed up as “Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself,” that clearly means that happiness involves connection, it involves the sort of world you seek to build, it involves the wellbeing of others.
    In contra distinction to those superficial surveys, the wisdom of philosophers and theologians alike would say that liberals are happier, because they have a holy discontent.

  116. 116.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    even if it proves temporary, as immigration becomes one of the biggest issues in this year’s presidential election, with exit polls showing it is the top concern among many Republican voters in early primaries

     

    If Biden doesn’t do something soon, he’s in trouble with Republican primary voters.

  117. 117.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty:

    That phony grin icks me right out. If I were actually in her physical presence, I would scream like Janet Leigh taking a shower.

  123. 123.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Kay:

    the former Trump voter is now an enthusiastic Biden supporter. They asked him why, and he said something like just look around. Look at this plant, at all the cranes across this state, and you’re asking me why?!

    thought of you when I saw this from JWR @5

  124. 124.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Suzanne:  Subject – Redbuds

    Redbuds, at least those down south, are small to mid-size trees.  As long as the subsoil isn’t too close to the surface, you shouldn’t have a problem with roots popping up above ground.

    Like all trees, however, the roots will go wherever they wish, particularly if they sense water.  I’d say about a 6ft standoff from the house should be sufficient.

  127. 127.

    Geminid

     

     

    @Kay: Mace’s self-promotion and naked ambition probably turns other Republican politicians off. And they may know more about Mace’s personal and ethical shortcomings than does the public. It could be time to cull Mace from the herd before some Democrat does.

    South Carolina’s 1st CD was made more Republican in the last redistricting, but it could be in reach for Democrats if Mace is damaged by scandal. Also, a Voting Rights Act case could make the 1st closer to a 50-50 district by the next cycle.

    The 1st CD runs along the coast from the Charleston suburbs to Hilton Head Island. Mark Sanford made his comeback there, when Rep.Tim Scott was appointed Senator. Then in 2018, Sanford got knocked out by a trump-backed challenger who went on to lose to Democrat Joe Cunningham. Then Cunningham lost to Mace in 2020.

  128. 128.

    Nukular Biskits

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I do believe a good rule of thumb is the roots spread as much as the crown.

    Good rule of thumb … but as you said, there are exceptions to the rule.

    Cypress trees are an example.  I love the way they look, especially in the fall but they’re a real PIA once the “knees” start popping up.

    Another is the  Chinese tallow tree, aka down south as the “popcorn tree”.  I’ve seen the roots on those bastards run out a good 50 ft from the trunk.

  130. 130.

    Kay

    @BlueGuitarist:

    Ha. My husband and I talk about all the cranes, too. I just love a humming economy.

    We had 16% unemployment in this county in 2010/11. I will never forget it. The piles of peoples belongings at the curb when they were losing their houses. Big wheels, the toys just killed me. Page after page of foreclosure notices and auction ads in the newspaper. Feeding kids at the public library. Every time I hear anyone complain about inflation I remember people crying in my office because they couldn’t get a job anywhere. Inflation is better for ordinary people than high unemployment. High unemployment knocks people back financially for years after the out of work period and it just saps them. Knocks them on their ass. Destroys confidence. I’m hugely grateful to Biden’s econ team for not putting us all out of work during and post covid. Larry Summers is wrong. Inflation is worth it.

  133. 133.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    They have totally decided that she is some “moderate Republican” that they are desperate to find. Truth is, she’s a right wing lunatic with the rest of them. She keeps on exposing herself, but they will fight this reality because they want an updated version of Susan Collins😠😠😠

  134. 134.

    CaseyL

    Seattle put on a great Northern Lights show last night!

    I went to Sunset Hill Park, which is basically a strip of lawn and trees on a bluff overlooking Shilshole Bay Marina. I figured it would have good visibility and I was not wrong.

    I also was not alone – I picked Sunset Hill in the hopes that not too many people other than the local residents even know about the place. That, I was wrong about! At least a couple hundred people were crammed onto that strip of lawn and trees, a fair percentage of them with cameras on tripods.

    It was a delight. At first we were all focused on a faint streak, pale in the sky over the water. People compared what colors they could see with what their cameras were picking up. Conversation cheerful if desultory.

    Then -THEN! – and all at once, it was like the entire sky lit up. From one faint little streak to streaks, banners, waves, covering half the sky. The crowd burst into spontaneous, simultaneous gasps, laughter, and “Oh my god!”s.

    Colors to the naked eye were still very faint, but the streaks, banners, and even stereotypical flowing curtain shapes were in fact very bright. Shifting so subtly yet quickly it was hard to comprehend. We were spellbound.

    It carried on like that for about an hour, by which point the entire sky had the kind of ambient brightness you get right after a fireworks display.

    I went home then (around midnight), though I think the show was supposed to last about another hour.

  136. 136.

    rikyrah

    @Baud:

    Will never forget that immigration was the number one issue for IOWA caucus voters.

    Yeah…that border crisis in IOWA.

    Iowa.. 90% White and few immigrants Iowa😠😠

  137. 137.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Suzanne: Hm. We have an Oklahoma Redbud that’s grown quite large (for a redbud) over the last 20 years or so. I’ve never noticed a surface root problem (though we have short ornamental grasses and low shrubs around its trunk). Certainly 20 feet out I don’t see any roots (I just came in from checking).

    So, sampling size of 1, but seems to not be a problem with that 1 tree.

  138. 138.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Right? “Staff didn’t pay my bills”. The absolute worst people blame their staff. Who hired the staff, Nancy? How did she get to 46 years old without someone telling her she can’t do that and still be a big grown up congresswoman?

  139. 139.

    narya

    @Baud: This is an excellent opportunity for men to be allies, I’d say, if anything like it comes to pass. It would be a real shame if a whole lot of men registered . . .

  140. 140.

    Scout211

    I did not venture outside last night but NorCal had a nice light show.  Here are viewer photos around NorCal posted on KCRA.

    I may venture out tonight.

  142. 142.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @rikyrah: 90% White and few immigrants Iowa😠😠

    Reverse those #s and you get an accurate breakdown of the demographics in the meat processing plants.

  143. 143.

    Barbara

    @Suzanne: If you go with the conservative assumption that a tree’s roots will have the same spread as its height, then you probably want a smaller sized tree, and red buds, serviceberries and dogwoods (or at least some varieties) are probably a good bet for indigenous early season pollinators.  Sometimes it’s good to just start googling and look at a bunch of sites like this one for ideas: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/trees-shrubs-vines/trees/popular-small-trees/

    Another site I like is run by the Missouri Botanical Garden: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c280

    We were asked by a neighbor to cut down our 30 year old silver maple because its extensive above ground roots were “encroaching” on their yard, which they wanted to pave over and put in a swimming pool.  We consulted an arborist and we were told that this is par for the course for maples, which make them less desirable in smaller yards.

    We refused to cut down the maple, but then it was seriously damaged during a windstorm when it was also hit by lightning.  So we took to heart the adage that the best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago, and the second best time is today. We opted for a willow oak instead because oaks develop root systems that tend to go further underground, even if they do end up being very wide.

    Also, according to my sister the horticulturalist, Japanese Maples attract invasive, undesirable insects. But they are pretty and popular.

  145. 145.

    eclare

    @Barbara:

    Huh.  I have a huge silver maple with no roots showing.  Maybe the type of grass makes a difference?  Or soil?

  146. 146.

    Kay

    Recognizing that they’ve been exposed as complete frauds on political speech, the anti woke Right and media (but I repeat myself) are really scrambling to explain how they’re ehtusiastically supporting police/state supression of protected political speech when it comes from the Left, but defend the 1st amendment when the speech comes from the Right.

    Surprise, surprise. They were seeking viewpoint discrimination all along. Political speech from the Right is protected by 1A, political speech from the Left is not.

    The anti woke ninnies position on political speech never made any sense- it was poorly thought out, incoherent garbage- and now it has completely collapsed.

  147. 147.

    MomSense

    Last night we were delighted to be able to view the northern lights.  Such beautiful greens and pinks in the sky.  One of my knitting friends has traveled to Iceland many times hoping to see the Aurora Borealis and finally saw them outside her apartment in Portland.  It really is humbling when you see something that reminds you we are part of a vast and amazing universe.

    I admit that I’ve been really tired lately with all the change and not really wanting to obsess about news the way I usually do.  I’m a week out from closing on my house and have found looking up kitchen and bath ideas and paint colors far more compelling.

    I will regroup and do my part in this campaign.  Sadly, I seem to be good at phone banking, especially persuasion calls, so I will likely spend a lot of time on the phone.  I hate the phone.  There is a part of me though that is just so fucking mad that we are in this situation.  I want to Moonstruck-Cher-Snap-Out-Of-It slap so many fucking people.

    It’s not just Bobby dumb ass junior with brain worms.  WTAF is wrong with half the country?  I suppose it doesn’t actually matter since they appear to be so far gone, but at some point we really do need to break this fever.  We can’t face disaster indefinitely.  There are big issues that humanity has to deal with if we are to survive and I really can’t accept that we are just going to condemn the next generations to such misery.

    Anyway, the author Lois Lowry will be on Velshi’s show soon.  She now lives in Portland part of the year.  She and my mom met when my mom was going through her divorce.  They discovered they were both dating the same guy and decided they liked each other more than they liked him.  That was in the Helen Reddy I am woman hear me roar days.  I didn’t fully understand it but I was fascinated by seeing their interactions.  She’s an incredible writer and gives a lot to the performing arts community in Maine.  I often see her at performances.

  148. 148.

    Barbara

    @rikyrah: Iowa is one of those places where there might be a low percentage of immigrants overall, but they are a higher percentage of people under 40, and especially, people under 18.  I am convinced that so much of “anti-immigrant” bias is really an expression of grief among the older, white residents that so many of their own children leave as soon as they graduate from high school.  It’s still despicable, especially when you are in favor of doing exactly nothing to figure out what might entice people to stick around.

  149. 149.

    Kay

    @Spanky:

    The resurgence of US manufacturing in the rust belt is the big untold economic story. I knew all those NYTimes reporters who visited the diners never really cared about us. We’re doing well. Now they’re not interested. They like us best when we’re failing. They prefer poverty porn of abandoned buildings in Detroit to telling the story of how recent immigrants have revitalized Detroit. They want us poor and miserable. They stil think this is a Bruce Springsteen song instead of peoples lives.

  151. 151.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: She and my mom met when my mom was going through her divorce. They discovered they were both dating the same guy and decided they liked each other more than they liked him.

    HA!

  152. 152.

    Barbara

    @eclare: Yes, possibly.  The soil here has so much clay that in previous generations people didn’t even bother building foundations for their houses, and yes, even when they had basements.   The tree was a volunteer that I let grow.  It gave us wonderful shade for a long time.  I hated to cut it down, and spent a lot of money getting a 20-foot willow oak to replace it.

  154. 154.

    MagdaInBlack

    @OzarkHillbilly: @MomSense:  I have a friend like that: we both dumped him because we liked each other so much. 🤗

    Eta: we used to laugh about how she resembled his 1st wife and I resembled his 2nd wife.

  156. 156.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MagdaInBlack:  we used to laugh about how she resembled his 1st wife and I resembled his 2nd wife.

    A good solid chuckle for that anecdote.  :-)

  157. 157.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: ​ I have types too, tho they have changed over the years. After my 1st wife I decided to give sane a try.

  158. 158.

    MagdaInBlack

    @MomSense: Apparently he alternated between curvy red-heads (my friend) and tall blondes. This time he went for the combo platter, as my friend joked.

  160. 160.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @MomSense: You know Lois Lowry? I am in awe. Love the story about her and your mom.

    ETA: Be kind to yourself. Moving house is exhausting, physically and emotionally. There will be plenty of time to GOTV come fall.

  161. 161.

    MomSense

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I don’t really know her anymore.  I see her sometimes and she is really nice.  She’s major now!!  Travels a lot. I’d like to try and get them together again.

  162. 162.

    MagdaInBlack

    @RevRick: If I have not said so before, I want to tell you thank you for how much I learn from and enjoy your commentary.

  164. 164.

    jonas

    @Tony G: Then I guess they figured out that there was a bigger market for hate

    Pretty much. A lot of people think the rise of Fox News was a result of nixing the Fairness in Broadcasting Act in 1987, but that wasn’t it. Fox is on cable, not the public airwaves. Where it changed everything was in right-wing talk radio. A lot of AM station owners discovered there was way more $$ in replacing their Top-40 format with right-wing shock-jocks like Limbaugh and here we are.

     

    @Tony G:

  168. 168.

    stinger

    @Suzanne: ​
     Redbuds can be spectacular for three weeks in the spring; after that, they don’t have much to offer in the way of beauty. I’d look for the ‘Forest Pansy‘ redbud variety for longer visual interest and nice branching.

  169. 169.

    jonas

    @RevRick:  In contra distinction to those superficial surveys, the wisdom of philosophers and theologians alike would say that liberals are happier, because they have a holy discontent.

    This is the whole point of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, right? Those who *think* happiness comes from material success or power will ultimately find themselves miserable because those things are fleeting. Those who find happiness in eternal truths and what is good will always be happy because those things last forever and aren’t contingent on the vicissitudes of fate and fortune.

  170. 170.

    Another Scott

    @Ken: +1

    And, the underlying point is that bad government doesn’t attempt to stifle popular speech (“Yay Flag!!  USA, USA, USA!!1”), it attempts to stifle unpopular speech and criticism that they don’t like.  Trying to square support for free speech and all the rest of the 1A with demands for government to shut down X, Y, Z is a textbook example of self-contradiction.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  172. 172.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay: I was just in Detroit again for the first time in nearly 20 years.

    Honestly, and I never thought I would hear myself say this, but if things went smash for me here in Colorado, I would more than likely hightail it back to Michigan as fast as humanly possible.

  173. 173.

    jonas

    @Baud: Networks are always looking to hire Republicans for “balance” in their coverage. The problem is that because of Trump there are no prominent Republicans out there who aren’t raving loons whom you eventually have to fire because they come with so much baggage or say completely deranged shit that will get you sued. So unless you’re like MSNBC and decide to give ex-Republicans like George Conway or Michael Steele a platform, you’re SOL and will always get burned putting some Trumpist lickspittle like Giuliani on the airwaves.

  174. 174.

    Ruckus

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Maybe they wouldn’t be such miserable assholes then.

    That Maybe is doing a hell of a lot of work there. I believe that the number of steps they’d have to take to get there could not be counted on using their fingers and toes. All of them together.

  176. 176.

    Another Scott

    @Kay:

    Aaron Fritschner
    @Fritschner
    20h

    Publicly fighting with people you hired and chose to keep in positions of public trust for years at taxpayer expense, and accusing lots of your own employees of incompetence and misconduct is very smart actually

    Yes, indeed. //

    It’s unsurprising that people who are famous for doing stupid things rather than their jobs continue to do stupid things.

    We need to vote the monsters out.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  177. 177.

    Kay

    @Miss Bianca:

    Isn’t it amazing? Young people go there for overnights now – clubs and then spend the night in a hotel. My middle son (he lives in Toledo, so short hop) goes because they have these kind of “pop up” clubs/parties where you pay at the door for drinks/music – one price. Apparently unregulated because they’re dancing until like 5 AM. He may build new there. He’s single and he dismissed buying an older home and renovating. He wants to do super energy efficient and small footprint. He has really good taste. I’m sure it would be simple and beautiful. They have so many empty city lots because they knocked down all those abandoned houses. I think the Detroit mayor making a positive pitch to draw new immigrants is the key. They’re providing all the small business energy.

  178. 178.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: There’s a big old magnolia (don’t know what kind) in the lot across the street north of me.  The canopy is maybe 30 feet across.  Beautiful tree, but it drops heavy waxy leaves all the time that migrate into my yard with the wind and try to bury themselves in my road gutter and yard.  It’s a messy tree, and the dense foliage means that no grass grows underneath it.

    It’s a big commitment, and can annoy neighbors.

    We’ve got a 2-trunk volunteer redbud that I moved maybe 10 years ago (when it was a couple of feet high) to be about 6 feet from the driveway and front walk.  There are some surface roots in places, but it seems fine.  It has a canopy about 20 feet across – I trim it every year to allow it to droop over the sidewalk without being too low to walk or drive under.

    Suzanne – don’t plant a redwood.  Those have pretty big surface roots around here.  ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  179. 179.

    Miss Bianca

    @MomSense: Maine would also be on the list! I have family in both places, and after the scare with my little brother, I am re-waking up my own self to the importance of family ties.

  180. 180.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: + eleventy billion.

    “Let’s read what GQP hack and bad-faith commentator Mr. Old White Guy has to say about what Democrats should do in this election campaign” Part MCMXXXIX.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  181. 181.

    Chris T.

    @lowtechcyclist:

    That reminds me of a bad joke:

    The Ark finally arrives at dry land, Noah lets down the ramp and all the beasts leave, except for two small snakes.

    Noah says, “Why are you still here? Didn’t you hear me tell you to go forth and multiply?”

    The snakes reply, “We can’t – we’re adders.”

    But then Noah and his sons went into the nearby forest and felled some trees. They made a platform of logs onto which they placed the snakes. You see, even adders can multiply on a log table.

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    @Chris T.:

    But then Noah and his sons went into the nearby forest and felled some trees. They made a platform of logs onto which they placed the snakes. You see, even adders can multiply on a log table.

    What’s the preferred drug of these snakes?

    Adderall.

  183. 183.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay: Gotta say, east side of Detroit felt like home again to me. Just across the border from Grosse Pointe I could pick up a house for a song and be right on the water (ok, the Alter Road canal, but still! Water view!) :)

    Funny how so little seemed changed to me from my youth and yet *so much*. Young energy! Immigrant energy! Which is so *missing* from my area of CO right now, which is the heart of aging, white, racist, rural grievance.

  184. 184.

    Central Planning

    That UAW clip made me tear up. Part of it was the pure joy in their celebration of winning. I think the other part is knowing they will have representation at the company.

  185. 185.

    StringOnAStick

    @BlueGuitarist: We drove through Burns, OR last week, first time in over 3 years; the contract from 3 years ago was striking.  Lots of road work from federal money no doubt, and actual signs of prosperity!

  188. 188.

    Kay

    @Another Scott:

    I think you’re talking about the southern magnolia- the broadleaf evergreen? They’re big (and messy) trees. The saucer magnolia is related but much different. It’s deciduous, for one thing. I lived in Atlanta in my early twenties and we rented a fancy house that was only affordable to us because the owners were in this nasty divorce that went on for years and the house was at issue. We agreed to month to month so they let us have it while they fought over it.  It had a huge pool ringed by giant southern magnolias and I was always taking their litter out of the pool, so I know what you mean.

    I don’t have a redbud but my neighbor does – I think the (mature) crown (drip line) is probably 30 feet, so I half that and add 5 for spacing. Suzanne could get away with less but I think a 20 foot spacing is very safe if her neighbor is territorial.

    I just put in crabapples at the house I’m relocating to in Michigan. I have not used them before but I wanted a fluffy “child’s drawing of a tree” type crown and they have that. I’m really pleased with how they look even so young. I wanted a larch but they’re crazy big – I had to be sensible :)

  189. 189.

    StringOnAStick

    @eclare: Soil and how deep it is are the factors.  Maples in general tend to have surface roots, but where we live it is layers of basalt a foot below the surface so it’s very hard for trees to make deep roots.  No basements here either, too hard to dig.

  190. 190.

    Ruckus

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    It may be the ground below the roots of that one tree. Could be rather rocky, which might cause the roots to grow farther outwards rather than down. IOW shallow topsoil.

  191. 191.

    StringOnAStick

    @Kay: Fruitless crab apple?  Because one that makes those huge numbers of fruit can be a messy PITA, and the crowns are so dense that grass doesn’t grow well under it plus seedlings every year unless you clean up all the crab apples.

  192. 192.

    KithKanan

    @Baud: Or at least believed in both. Hot Chocolate released “You Sexy Thing” in 1975, and there was plenty of conspiracy-believing then. Since it was the year of the Church Commission, some of them were revealed not to be so theoretical after all.

  193. 193.

    StringOnAStick

    @Suzanne: Before you decide on a tree, walk around and take a look at mature trees you see already in the ground in your area, both good and bad. That will greatly inform you on what does best (and what is bad) in your area.  Soils, tree variety, aesthetics are hugely variable by location in this country; local information is much more important than random opinions from around the blog.

  195. 195.

    Kay

    @StringOnAStick:

    It is fruitless, but I would probably put up with fruit for the birds. My neighbor up there, (MI) who is a garden snob, said “oh, crabapple. Those are popular”. I had only put one in and had two more to go but I didn’t tell her that. It’s a tiny house, large lot. I have huge white oaks at the house in Ohio and they are a pain in the ass -the leaf litter that is so acidic, squirrels, how greedy they are that they pull water from everything else and you can’t grow anything under them, but they’re just so grand and beautiful they’re worth it.

  197. 197.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    Inflation is a cost of a good economy.

    High inflation is a cost of a somewhat to an out of control economy, depending on how well the rate of inflation is handled and why it is higher than it should be.

    Business does well, gets a bit greedy, raises costs, employees see the cost go up, want raises/get them, and the world goes round.

    This is not the only scenario for inflation.

  198. 198.

    Geminid

    @stinger: Redbud seed pods are edible. I read that Native Americans ate them and that may be a reason Redbuds are so widespread. I think they are in the Legume family (like Locusts).

    The Chinquapin is a small tree native to the Appalachian and Piedmont areas. They trees and nuts are similar to Chestnuts but smaller. Over the last decades Chinquapins got scarce around Central Virginia, but last year a friend encountered a man who propagates them, at the Highland County Maple Syrup Festival.

    The Chinquapin guy said he found numerous Chinquapins on land he’d bought in nearby West Virginia. He understood why when he learned there had been a Native village nearby. Now he propagates them for sale, and he ought to do well because people are crazy about native plants now.

  200. 200.

    smith

    @stinger: There are also small weeping redbuds that only reach about 8 feet tall. Many have purple or purplish leaves, large and heart  shaped, so you don’t have a bland tree in the summer. The bare weeping form also is very dramatic in the winter.

  201. 201.

    Citizen Alan

    @AM in NC: Is he? I’ve never seen any pictures of Shitgibbon as a teen, but looking at them next to each other, I don’t really see a resemblance. TBH, I would kind of like to see a lineup of barron trump’s picture next to pictures of every chauffeur, bodyguard, and tennis instructor melania employed roughly ninteen years ago.

  202. 202.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Suzanne: If you want to help native birds in your area, I suggest you plant a native tree. I saw Kay had recommendations above. Native tree = insects = food for baby birds. But planting any tree is good 🙂

  203. 203.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, yet more news that while the DoD budget is comparatively huge, it isn’t so big that the Pentagon can do whatever it might want. TWZ.com:

    The U.S. Air Force has decided not to repair a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber involved in a mishap because of the costs and complexities involved and will divest the aircraft instead. The news of striking one of the precious B-2s from its fleet comes as the Air Force continues to move toward fielding its new B-21 Raider stealth bombers as replacements for its existing B-2s, as well as its supersonic swing-wing B-1 bombers.

    Details about the Air Force’s decision to get rid of the damaged B-2, which is set to formally happen sometime in the next year or so, were included in an annual force structure report that the Pentagon released in April. Aviation Week was among the first to report on this development. There are currently just 20 B-2s in the service’s inventory, including the damaged one.

    […]

    This is not surprising. The B-2s are extremely complex aircraft even when it comes to their composite structures and exterior coatings, the latter of which are extremely sensitive just to general environmental factors. The fleet is also very small and already extremely costly to maintain on a day-to-day basis. As is the case with many stealth aircraft, even relatively minor mishaps are often very expensive and complicated affairs.

    [ image ]

    How much the Air Force is already paying to fix the B-2 involved in the earlier 2021 mishap is unclear, but an initial assessment estimated the repair bill would be at least $10.1 million, and likely far higher in actuality. It cost the service $105 million to get another B-2 flying again after it suffered a fire at Andersen on Guam in 2010, but that also included the price of a planned overhaul of that aircraft that was performed simultaneously with the repairs.

    There is also a question of return on investment given that it can take years to return complex stealthy aircraft like the B-2 to service after a mishap. The B-2 involved in the 2021 accident is still at Plant 42 as far as we know. It took nearly three years for the bomber that suffered the fire on Guam to begin flying operationally again.

    […]

    Cutting edge (and even 1980’s cutting edge – the B-2 was designed in 1981 and production was 1987-1997) hardware is expensive.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  205. 205.

    Geminid

    @Another Scott: The Air Force hopes to be flying the B-3 bomber before the decade is over. They’ll probably retire the remaining B-2s once there are enough operational B-3s.

  206. 206.

    Martin

    Several UC unions are considering a vote strike over how the universities are responding to the demonstrations. I suspect that the TAs more than the others are the closest. They’re UAW and grad students are more likely among the protestors.

  207. 207.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid: The TWZ story mentions the B-21.

    The B-21 only entered low-rate initial production in January.

    BreakingDefense.com – NG won $7B contract for B-2 sustainment and maintenance in May 2024, so the AF has to spend to keep them in the air while waiting for the B-21.

    Officials expect to buy at least 100 B-21s, which will replace both the B-2 and Boeing B-1 Lancer. The Air Force will then drop to a two-bomber fleet once both aircraft are fully divested, as Boeing’s B-52 Stratofortress is expected to serve well into the middle of the century with new engines and other upgrades.

    (The B-52 apparently is much cheaper to run than these fancy stealth things.)

    Cutting-edge planes are notoriously expensive, so I personally wouldn’t expect that the AF will actually end up getting 100 B-21s (they wanted a few hundred F-22s, as I recall, and Congress ended up killing it because it was too expensive…). But time will tell.

    So, yeah, the B-2 is supposed to be gone by the early 2030s, but the best laid plans and all that.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  208. 208.

    trnc

    What if repubs had as much interest in voter rolls as the do in preggers database?

  209. 209.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    These kinds of planes are always expensive. I’m not looking it up but I’d bet the B-52 was not all that cheap when that program started. Military equipment rarely is cheap, the expected uptime is high, often the concepts of the whatever are new and unproven in production and production numbers are relatively small. It’s considered the cost of defense.

  210. 210.

    columbusqueen

     

    @Citizen Alan: Saw a recent picture of Barron with Daddy, & the kid’s whole expression (particularly around the mouth) was pure Trump.

  211. 211.

    sab

    @columbusqueen: He is 18 and no longer a delegate. I intend to give him a lot of slack until or if he rears his head again. No need to pound on a youngster with dreadful parents.

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