Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

He really is that stupid.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

“Alexa, change the president.”

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

We still have time to mess this up!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Squishable Monday Morning Open Thread

Squishable Monday Morning Open Thread

by | 146 Comments

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The weekend just concluded seemed at least a week long to me, even though I had a pleasant view from my accommodations:

Cityscape

You can’t reserve that room on Booking.com, but it could be randomly assigned to you if you’re ever admitted to Tampa General Hospital. I’ll share a health update soonish but will note now that a TGH stay was not on the weekend agenda until suddenly it was.

Anyhoo, the above shot doesn’t capture just how great a view it is. If you move my vintage satchel out of the way, you would be able to see the fake tall ship used to stage the Gasparilla pirate invasion every year. From that vantage point, you can also see the mighty Hillsborough River flowing through the heart of the city, including commercial and private boat traffic as well as rowers from the University of Tampa’s team.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

146Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    You can’t get that view in countries with universal health care.

    Feel better, BC.

  4. 4.

    different-church-lady

    When I had five days of non-COVID (according to the cotton swabs) pneumonia back at the beginning of the pandemic, I was lucky enough to have a room with a view, and it was the only thing that kept me sane.

  13. 13.

    BlueGuitarist

    Sending healing hopes to you BC, and good, good, good, good vibrations.

  15. 15.

    stinger

    Truly sorry to hear this. Hope things are resolved in your favor, and soon!

    ETA: Hey, Nukular! You stole my stuff!

  18. 18.

    SFAW

    I hope whatever is bedeviling you is resolved quickly and well.

    Get well soon, BC.

  22. 22.

    Suzanne

    Oh man, I’m sorry. Best wishes for a quick recovery, and hang in there.

    Catch up on TV?!

  23. 23.

    J.

    That’s some view, but I bet you prefer the view from your windows at home — or that you were a visitor at TGH instead of a patient. Man, you’ve been through a lot. Hope you’re back home snuggling with the dogs and that the doctors were able to help you to feel better. (At least you still have a healthy sense of humor!)

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    Thanks, everyone. I am feeling better. I got back home yesterday evening, and even though it was a tad on the humid side, I spent the rest of my waking hours on the porch to counter the effects of having been trapped indoors for a few days.

  27. 27.

    HeleninEire

    Feel better. I hope you’re home soon

    ETA: I see you are home. Good news.

  30. 30.

    Nukular Biskits

    Were there any CONUS aurora sightings last night?

    I’m on business travel here in SAN and completely missed my opportunity Friday night. Besides, light pollution probably would have prevented me from seeing much.

    I was going to drive east into the desert for Saturday night but, by nightfall, the deep-dish pizza I had ordered for dinner put me into a coma.  Plus it had been a long week.

    Was going to try again last night but the Aurora – 30 Minute Forecast indicated there’d be no real chance of seeing one this far south.

  33. 33.

    WV Blondie

    Oh no, BC – glad you’re home enjoying your own view. Hope you feel better after your weekend detour😔

  38. 38.

    Ken In Hogtown

    Sending good wishes your way Betty.  Get well soon

    I see you are home!  Excellent!  Enjoy the view from the screen porch.

  41. 41.

    JMG

    I am glad to see BC is feeling better. For the record, Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. has a channel on its in-house TV system offering a view of Memorial Drive and the Charles River for patients whose room lacks such a view through the windows.

  44. 44.

    eclare

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think you were the one who turned me on to the Ina Garten show Be My Guest, there is a new season out if you want some “easy” tv viewing while you recover.

  45. 45.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @BC: Sorry to hear about your hospital stay. As others say, glad you’re back home.

    @Nukular Biskits: Super overcast here for days, including last night.

    I console myself with the fact that we had clear skies and a spectacular eclipse on our eclipse road trip.

    So the aurora is still on my bucket list.​

  47. 47.

    Rileys Enabler

    Hoping you’re feeling better and are back to the swamp of the gators, BC.

  48. 48.

    Rusty

    BC, sending prayers for a complete and speedy recovery.  There is something soothing and calm about watching the rhythmic motion of rowers at a distance, while up close they are working very hard.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    So sorry to learn you’re back in hospital, BC! I hope the medicos can find and fix whatever’s going on that shouldn’t, or isn’t that should, all with minimal discomfort to yourself

    Sending all the bright light, good vibes, and warm fuzzies I can muster.

    But it is a nice view.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    @Nukular Biskits: I missed my chance Friday night because I went to bed early on account of a poor night’s sleep Thursday night. The Northern Lights lit up Virginia while I snoozed.

    Saturday night was overcast, but I experienced the Aurora Borealis indirectly. My car has a good radio and I often listen to clear channel AM stations from Boston to Atlanta once the sun goes down. There was nothing but static Saturday night.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    @Betty Cracker: I’m so sorry to hear that your weekend plans were upended.  Feel better soon.

    btw you have a pretty spectacular view from your own abode.

  54. 54.

    Joy in FL

    I hope you’re all right after your hospital stay. I’m sure being home is its own medicine.

  55. 55.

    delphinium

    Glad you are back home now. Hope you’re doing much better and that your health continues to improve!

  59. 59.

    TS

    Best thoughts Betty – so pleased to hear you are home after the unexpected visit to the big smoke.

  61. 61.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    BCrack is back…home!

    Unplanned hospital visits are never nice.

  64. 64.

    R-Jud

    Feel better soon, Betty. Ongoing health issues are a blend of tedium and anxiety that one could really do without. x

  65. 65.

    Miki

    Really nice view, really crappy location.

    My sister ended up in the hospital for several days a few weeks ago. There were no beds available so they moved her to a room in the back of the ER.  The view was of the ambulance bay. (No sirens as they drive in but a bit disconcerting when it’s high traffic.)

    Get better, Betty.

  70. 70.

    la caterina

    So glad you are back at home with your critters, Betty.  Praying for a quick and complete recovery for you.

  72. 72.

    martha

    I’m so happy you’re back home enjoying your peace and (relative) quiet. Unplanned hospital stays just suck…I’ve had two and would prefer not to do it again. I hope you get some resolution and healing. Big hugs to you.

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    So, about that Jersey crowd…

    Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski
    Maybe after consuming a steady diet of Fox they actually thought they might hear someone sane & rational since they do their best to cover up his stark raving lunacy. Then they heard him & walked out. Then his cultists started posted crowd pics of Rod Stewart in Rio.

    Walter Masterson
    @waltermasterson
    Here is 35 unedited minutes showing thousands of MAGA walking out on Trump while he’s still talking.

  74. 74.

    Betty

    Happy you found some consolation despite the circumstances . Best wishes for good health going forward.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … Dean Baker at CEPR.net:

    After worrying for decades that the price of EVs was too high, we now have a different problem, the price is too low. China is now producing over ten million electric cars a year, some carrying price tags of under $10k. This has prompted terror here, with politicians tripping over themselves to find ways to keep people from buying them.

    The concern is that it will wipe out the domestic U.S. auto industry. After telling us for decades that Americans don’t want to buy electric cars, people like Donald Trump are yelling about how we have to take strong measures, like 100 percent tariffs, to prevent them from buying electric cars.

    This would be great comedy, except that it is a huge issue, and no one apparently cares that politicians are inconsistent. But those of us who are not running for office have the ability to talk about the issue seriously.

    First, if China wants to export cheap EVs to the world, we should see that as a good thing, not an act of war. The flat-earth society may not believe in global warming, but the rest of us don’t have that luxury. Tens of millions of low-cost EVs being sold around the world in the next few years would hugely help advance the effort to slow emissions. If China wants to subsidize this process, we should be thanking them.

    At the same time, it does make sense for us to protect our domestic industry. We do have a genuine national security interest in not being dependent on China for our cars.

    We can do this by stealing a page from Ronald Reagan. In the 1980s the U.S. auto industry’s survival was seriously threatened by a flood of imports from Japan. Reagan responded by getting Japan to agree to voluntarily export restraints on the number of cars they sold in the United States.

    Under this system, the major Japanese manufacturers were each allowed to export a certain number of cars each year to the United States. These restrictions gave the U.S. industry breathing space to adjust to changing conditions in the auto market and adopt more efficient manufacturing techniques. It also encouraged Japanese manufacturers to establish operations in the United States, where they now directly and indirectly support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

    We could adopt a similar approach with China. Obviously, there would be serious haggling over how many EVs the Chinese manufacturers could sell here, but at the end of the day we should be able to agree on a number.

    Since China will have capacity to export more EVs than the United States and other wealthy countries are willing to import, we can work together with China to promote their export to developing countries that currently lack a domestic car industry.

    In many poorer countries the EVs would be replacing older cars that spew large amounts of emissions. This would be great from the standpoint of slowing global warming, and also from the standpoint of improving the health of people in developing countries.

    We cannot determine what China invests in and subsidizes. But we can help bend their investment to make the world a better place while at the same time prevent our essential industrial base from collapsing. Gotta use our noggins…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    zhena gogolia

    I’m glad you’re home, and I hope the health issues are resolved happily. I hope Spooney comes for a visit.

  78. 78.

    Albatrossity

    No matter how great the view is from a hospital room, it’s still a hospital room. Hope you are doing better, and that you get a swamp view of a Roseate Spoonbill very soon!

  79. 79.

    Lyrebird

    Good thoughts and additional good-health and good-care wishes coming your way!

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: I’m not sure that non-insane Elon could have Tesla make the transition to being a cheap EV maker.

    I’m so old that I remember when a Tesla was a tiny $100k+ Roadster.  Its niche was mind-bending acceleration at prices lower than gas-powered supercars.  Going from that to a modern VW Bug or Ford Pinto never seemed like a sensible business plan to me.  That’s not their niche.

    Tesla was saved by subsidies from Uncle Sam.

    Once the industry gets big enough, those subsidies can and will go away.  And then what for Tesla?  I don’t see it.  They don’t have the R&D infrastructure to beat the big Asian giants on batteries.  They have demonstrated that they can’t innovate on their platforms in a timely way (the way even Kia/Hyundai can).  They’ve scammed people for a decade or more on their “full self-driving” BS.

    And, of course, lately he’s been playing games with the car prices (yeah, who’s going to pay $60k for a car when it may cost $10k less in 6 months, or be worth $20k less than expected in 5 years,…?) , firing everyone in the SuperCharger system (their golden goose), taking too long to deliver on their 4680 batteries that were going to enable them to cut their battery prices in half (and still won’t be cheap compared to better Chinese batteries), etc., etc.

    Not that the US big auto makers are doing themselves any favors.  The market for $60-100k cars isn’t that big, and people aren’t going to pay a huge premium for an EV right now (especially when away-from-home charging is still a pain and expensive).  They should be doing everything they can to come up with a $20-40k EV if they want to survive.  Fisker had the right idea, but was too small to execute it.

    So, I dunno.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @Another Scott: The big question is how easy it is for the big automakers to scale down to smaller, cheaper cars to meet competition. That’s what they had to do when faced with cheap gas cars from Japan in the old days, and it took them a long time. I don’t know if EVs pose the same problem.

  82. 82.

    CaseyL

    It’s great that you’re back home, not so great that you needed another hospital trip.

    Do please keep us updated.

    Much love, BC.

  83. 83.

    Soprano2

    I’m glad you’re home, Betty, and hope you don’t have to do that again.

    Hubby is going back to the urologist this morning. I’m going to stifle the urge to strangle him and just hope we don’t have to go back for another year.

  85. 85.

    Quinerly

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I read the Guardian piece. Morning Joe played a long clip on Trump’s going on and on about “the late, great Hannibal Lector.”

    I still can’t find out how Trump got to this Lector part. He was going on and on about Lector “having a friend over for dinner.”

    Does anyone know why this was all in his speech? What prompted? Context? I know with Trump there’s usually no reason for anything, but this seems particularly off the wall.

  90. 90.

    Gin & Tonic

    The market for $60-100k cars isn’t that big,

    The best-selling “car” in the US is the Ford F-150. In most models and trim levels it is north of $55k. Some are in the mid-$70’s.

  92. 92.

    Betty

    @Quinerly: The only context I have seen mentioned is the Stormy Daniels testimony about being invited to have dinner with him. Well, don’t ask me if that makes sense.

  94. 94.

    Hoodie

    @Another Scott: It’s kind of inimical to where US companies are at this point in their evolution.  They’re addicted to high profit margins per unit from years of selling SUVs and pickups (Ford  doesn’t even offer a normal sedan anymore).  They probably saw EVs as a way to continue that because of the example provided by Tesla, who until recently was selling its cars at inflated prices.   The Chinese (and, to some extent, the Koreans) go more for volume and market share, probably thinking the profit will eventually show up after getting rid of the competition.  Samsung operated that way in the semiconductor memory market.

  95. 95.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: Not to mention the fact that they have moved away from smaller cheaper cars with their total embrace of the SUV fad.

  96. 96.

    zhena gogolia

    @Quinerly: I can’t listen to him, but someone on here thought it had to do with Stormy saying she thought he was going to give her dinner but he just shagged her instead (sorry, been on a Bridget Jones marathon).

  100. 100.

    Baud

    @Bupalos: My understanding is that EVs that a being produced are selling out quickly.  The problem is how to encourage them to produce more, less expensive cars. I’m not sure giving out subsidies will do anything except make cars harder to find.

  102. 102.

    geg6

    @eclare: ​
     
    Speaking of easy tv for recovery, I highly recommend Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix. He’s kind of like a funny and not very sophisticated Anthony Bourdain. I really enjoy it for light viewing.

  104. 104.

    Miss Bianca

    Worried to hear you were in the hospital, glad to hear you’re home now. Get better soon, BC, we all can’t do without you!

  107. 107.

    Butch

    I think I can commiserate a little.  I spent Thursday at the ER; every since I’ve been getting calls from various organizations tell me I Absolutely Must come in for an emergency appointment….I’m scheduled to see my primary care physician tomorrow to decide on follow up and I don’t understand where these other calls are coming from.

  110. 110.

    pieceofpeace

    Good that you’re home and hoping everything turned out as you’d like.  Great view, love the satchel!

  112. 112.

    gene108

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Not to mention the fact that they have moved away from smaller cheaper cars with their total embrace of the SUV fad.

    Americans have never gotten over their love of big cars, relative to what they actually need.

    Foreign automakers with smaller less expensive offerings don’t even bother trying to sell them in the U.S.

  114. 114.

    eclare

    @geg6:

    Thanks!  I’ll check it out.  I alternate between Netflix and Hulu for streaming, and I have Netflix right now.

  116. 116.

    Elizabelle

    Stay on the mend, Betty Cracker.  Hope they have fixed whatever is ailing you.

  117. 117.

    Butch

    @eclare: Thank you!  I’m meeting with him tomorrow – some of the other callers have insisted I meet with those doctors before I see my primary care physician and I don’t understand what’s going on….told them I’d be in touch after I met with Dr. Hartmann.

  118. 118.

    Chris T.

    @Another Scott:

    They’ve scammed people for a decade or more on their “full self-driving” BS.

    Yeah, but the full self-serving mode works fine for Elmo, at least so far.

  120. 120.

    Tony Jay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Now that you’re home and recuperating you can fill the empty hours writing the pilot episode for a new show about an intrepid Floridian lady who keeps on stumbling across bizarre murder mysteries involving members of Florida’s crazy Republican ruling class.

    The first episode can cover her unplanned hospital stay coinciding with the secretive admission of a certain nameless governor who may or may not have been suffering from the sudden insertion of a pudding cup between his nether cheeks during a sex festival that got out of hand and put a working girl in the hospital morgue.

    You can call the show “Hotter – In Hell”

  121. 121.

    Jackie

    @Betty Cracker: So happy you’re back home!

    That beautiful view from inside TGH would make me want to be OUTSIDE enjoying it; not trapped in a hospital bed!😢

  122. 122.

    Wombat Probability Cloud

    Wishing you a quick return to health, and very glad to hear that things are moving in the right direction. I spent a lot of time in and around that hospital when my dad was there in 2003. The views over the water were a much needed balm.

  124. 124.

    espierce

    Betty:

    Let me know if you need someone  to come over and break you out! On the other hand, TGH is probably one of the absolute best places to be for health care in the SE.

    Get well soon,

    Pete

  126. 126.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    FYI. The entire auto market is in flux.

    10 Cars that Dealers Can’t Sell (link should go directly to the segment on the languishing Mustang Mach-E).

    Also too, from a USA Today article published late in 2023,

    Here’s why people aren’t buying EVs in spite of price cuts and tax breaks.
    [snip]
    A J.D. Power survey earlier this year said nearly 21% of consumers show up at a charging station only to find it’s broken. Additionally, overall satisfaction with speedier Level 2 public charging, which accounts for 71% of all public charging in America, declined 11 points.
    [snip]
    Still, as EV availability has lately grown “exponentially,” consumer acceptance has grown only linearly. “Those trends will likely continue, making for some very interesting market dynamics in the years ahead,” it said. “Change is never easy.” Source

    And, also from late last year, Car dealers say they can’t sell EVs, tell Biden to slow their rollout.

  127. 127.

    Another Scott

    @Gin & Tonic:

    [rant] The F-150 is used by lots of “businesses” at least in part because of the huge Section 179 tax write-off. It’s also a huge money-maker for Ford because of the LBJ-era “chicken tax” (25% tariff on imported trucks). Without those things, giant pickups wouldn’t be such a big part of the market. [/rant]

    I think I saw recently that the “Model Y” outsold the F-150 over some recent time period, so things are complicated. The market is changing, but cheap vehicles are a still too-small piece of it and US industry is going to have troubles if they aren’t nimble and able to adapt.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    Sherparick

    Best wishes on a quick recovery. Despite the views, I don’t like hospitals.

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    especially when away-from-home charging is still a pain and expensive

    Or if one lives in an apartment complex that has zero provisions for charging an electric car. My last apartment had 4 charging stations in the underground parking garage – and that was 6 yrs ago. There are a number of charging stations around though, and that seems to be increasing. Most of the public parking garages have them.

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    @Quinerly:

    He is a 77-78 yr old fart with mental issues, like thinking he’s the greatest human being on the planet, while actually all he can do/say is anything over the very low bar of barely human. Of course he’s been delusional for most of his life but really so over the last 20+ yrs. Having enough morons vote for him a few years ago swelled up that massively swollen ego even more. And of course his mental wellness seems to have fallen out of rather high flying airplane and is rapidly getting ready to bottom out in a dust cloud of epic proportions.

  132. 132.

    piratedan

    @Tony Jay: I’m not sure that she would be welcomed on Carl Hiaasen’s turf, maybe she can co-opt him into an executive producer role.

  136. 136.

    Another Scott

    @rikyrah: Relatedly, … CalculatedRiskBlog:

    […]

    Currently, over 64 million people (25 and over) in the U.S. labor force have a bachelor’s degree or higher. This is over 44% of the labor force, up from 26.2% in 1992.

    This is the only category trending up (although flattened a little recently). “Some college”, “high school” and “less than high school” have been trending down.

    Based on recent trends, probably half the labor force will have at least a bachelor’s degree sometime next decade (2030s).

    Some thoughts: Since workers with bachelor’s degrees typically have a lower unemployment rate, rising educational attainment is probably a factor in pushing down the overall unemployment rate over time.

    Also, I’d guess more education would mean less labor turnover, and that education is a factor in lower weekly claims.

    A more educated labor force is a positive for the future.

    The longer term looks very good. We have to get there though…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  137. 137.

    rikyrah

    And, who do you think is going to do the work?
    Of course, if your child is killed doing said work, they put in protections for the companies so that you can’t sue them for your poor work conditions killing your child.

    Jess Piper (@piper4missouri) posted at 8:59 PM on Sun, May 12, 2024:
    Lawmakers in 11 states have either passed or introduced laws to roll back child labor laws — a push that’s come from industry trade organizations and mostly conservative legislators as businesses scramble for low-wage workers.
    https://t.co/9eikqu9pOy
    (https://x.com/piper4missouri/status/1789837876848472562?t=diamFhvyafAG1zqwUwzm2Q&s=03)

  143. 143.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Another Scott:

    I’m so old that I remember when a Tesla was a tiny $100k+ Roadster.  Its niche was mind-bending acceleration at prices lower than gas-powered supercars.  Going from that to a modern VW Bug or Ford Pinto never seemed like a sensible business plan to me.  That’s not their niche.

    Starting at the high-end was a sensible business strategy at the time. Get started by selling low-volume, high margin products, to early adaptor customers who are more tolerant of delays/problems “because it’s cool,” while you work out how to scale things and introduce lower-cost versions. Which is why others like Rivian, Polestar, etc. have pursued the same strategy. (And it’s a not uncommon strategy in the tech hardware world.)

    Under competent leadership, Tesla might have crossed the chasm to become a higher-end mass market player, akin to a BMW or Mercedes (or an Apple in its earlier days), but…

  144. 144.

    Ruckus

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Why are you so cruel to bugnuts – aligning them with HIM?

    (As you might imagine, I’m actually trying to not have him sully the concept of bugnutty – he has to move up the scale a lot to get to bugnutty)

  145. 145.

    mrmoshpotato

    If you move my vintage satchel out of the way, you would be able to see the fake tall ship used to stage the Gasparilla pirate invasion every year.

    Looks like this is the most recent good post for me, so YAR HAR HAR and a bottle of SHIVER ME TIMBERS, MATEY!

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