For only the second time in our 179-year history, the editors of Scientific American are endorsing a candidate for president. That person is @KamalaHarris. | Editorial https://t.co/dOsFW8BQCn
— Scientific American (@sciam) September 16, 2024
Swifties: With your help, we’re gonna defeat the smallest man who ever lived. pic.twitter.com/Amvf6MxIjk
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 15, 2024
History has just been made with far too little acknowledgment:
President Biden sat down with The Washington Blade — marking the first time a sitting president has given an exclusive interview to an LGBTQ+ news outlet.
Read the president's full conversation with Christopher…
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 16, 2024
Pretty much your standard beat-sweetner, except: (a) The Blade is explicitly an LBGTQ+ outlet; and (b) Once again, it ain’t the FTFNYTimes.
Writing about President Joe Biden’s legacy is difficult without the distance and time required to assess a leader of his stature, but what becomes clear from talking with him is the extent to which his views on LGBTQ rights come from the heart.
Biden leads an administration that has been hailed as the most pro-LGBTQ in American history, achieving major milestones in the struggle to expand freedoms and protections for the community.
Meanwhile, conservative elected officials at the local, state, and national levels have led an all-out assault against LGBTQ Americans — especially those who are transgender, and especially transgender youth, who face an uncertain future with Donald Trump promising to strip them of their rights and reverse the gains of the past four years if he is elected in November.
Biden shared his thoughts and reflections on these subjects and more in a wide-ranging sit-down interview with the Washington Blade on Sept. 12 in the Oval Office, which marked the first time in which an LGBTQ newspaper has conducted an exclusive interview with a sitting U.S. president…
On LGBTQ issues more broadly, Biden said, “I think there are a lot of really good Republicans that I’ve served with, especially in the Senate, who don’t have a prejudiced bone in their body about this but are intimidated.”
“Because if you take a position, especially in the MAGA Republican Party now, you’re going to be — they’re going to go after you,” he added. “Trump is a different breed of cat. I mean, I don’t want to make this political, but everything he’s done has been anti, anti-LGBTQ, I mean, across the board.”
Project 2025, the president said, “is just full of nothing but disdain for the LGBTQ community. And you have Clarence Thomas talking about, when the decision was made [to overturn] Roe v Wade, that maybe we should consider changing the right of gays to marry — I mean, things that are just off the wall — just pure, simple, prejudice.”
“What I do worry about is I do worry about violence,” Biden said. “I do worry about intimidation. I do worry about what the MAGA right will continue to try to do, but I’m going to stay involved.”
“I’m going to remain involved in all the civil liberties issues that I have worked for my whole life.”
lmao just the 'Battleground States?' Oh so she can…accurately…call him a Nazi-coddling rapist in Brooklyn then? How about Kansas?
God you guys suck at this. Just ask her to take her name off the ballot in Michigan next time. https://t.co/tr6PyF8LMz
— zeddy (@Zeddary) September 17, 2024
This is a great argument for Repubs to make to Repubs to vote for Kamala Harris https://t.co/r3V6wEMUn0 pic.twitter.com/JL0cC8Bs30
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 16, 2024
Sharing this for a morning smile, and also to share a new speculation going around on social media: It’s possible that TFG assumes ‘transnational criminal gangs’ really means ‘transgender criminal gangs’ — a perversion of the natural order which Democrats would certainly facilitate — just as some people think his Hannibal Lector fixation comes from a confusion between ‘asylum seeking migrants’ and ‘insane asylum escapees’. Because, after all, he’s just a poorly educated Boomer who’s chosen to marinate his remaining brain cells in toxic wingnut sludge…
Jeffg166
https://margaretandhelen.com
Baud
Is our Democrats learning?
Marleedog
Wasn’t Donalds convicted of bank fraud? I do not think that he is the sharpest tool in the shed.
Does he have a challenger that has any realistic shot?
eta. Evidently not, FL-19 is deppest darkest red.
JennyMenace
I’m a lurker but a regular reader. Could you please include the following links for supporting the Haitian community in Ohio in a future post?
Resources list: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ohio/comments/1fgqnxg/comment/ln4dq55/
Haitian Community Help & Support Center: https://www.haitiansupportcenterspringfield.org/
Direct donation link for the HCHSC: https://paypal.com/donate/[email protected]&source=url
BR
Because I know NC could be the whole ballgame on election night (meaning because NC results come in early, if Harris wins NC that’s it), I just dug up Charles Gaba’s ActBlue and donated $60 to each of the NC candidates. Anyone with me?
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/endgame200d
TBone
So many RWNJ heads about to explode across the nation😆 MAGA tears incoming! YUM
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Either someone on the campaign’s media team reads BJ, or the idea of giving interviews to a wide range of outlets who don’t, necessarily, promote modern fascism as the holistic cure to everything that ails ya was just so obvious it had to happen.
SatanicPanic
I just read that James Cameron is working on a new submarine that he hopes can descend deep enough to locate Byron Donald’s dignity
TBone
@BR: sadly, a couple best friends’ only child son had a severe medical emergency (very severe) and I donated what was gonna be political money to the GoFundMe so he won’t be homeless and destitute (which may happen anyway despite our efforts)…SS Disability is the only hope for their future – he only just got married and bought a house last year.
New Deal democrat
Two quick points:
1. Trump has successfully taken the spotlight off his horrible debate performance and focused it on one of his two strongest issues: immigration. But the *way* he has focused the issue may backfire. Because instead of focusing on nameless hordes pouring across the border, he is focusing on local townspeople’s *neighbors*, who have names, jobs, families, and businesses. And most people (like those in Springfield), approve of their hard working immigrant neighbors.
2. Dan Guild’s post-debate aggregate of State polls has continued to show Harris’s lead inching higher, now slightly over 4%.
catclub
I was convinced of this before I saw others saying the same.
BR
@New Deal democrat:
I saw your morning economic update. To what extent do you think CNBC / Bloomberg types (not partisans) will be crying “recession” when the October jobs numbers come in? Or will it be mediocre numbers but combined with a rate cut everyone will be in “wait and see” mode?
Jeffro
that Donalds “request” sure has brought a big ol’ grin to my face this morning =)
right??!?
They just can’t abase themselves enough for Dear Leader, can they? pathetic!
BR
@TBone:
Sorry to hear!
catclub
@Marleedog: They say the hit dog hollers, and the Trump campaign is screaming that saying Project 2025 is theirs is a total lie.
Quinerly
@Jeffg166:
OMG….I had totally forgotten about them. Followed them for years many years ago. Thank you for posting.
catclub
Doesn’t even matter. The economy in the late spring is what usually registers with election year voters.
And the economy this spring was great. ( I want to a do a Tony the Tiger greeeeeat!)
Quinerly
@BR: I have been throwing a little money for the last few months into my birth state. I really think Harris can win it. So many pockets of strong Blue. Just a few more votes and we can take it.
Soprano2
@catclub: Even though a video surfaced of TCFG telling Heritage that their plans are key for his next term. LOL They can try to run from Project 2025 all they want, but they know a lot of it is also in TCFG’s official “plan”.
Frankensteinbeck
@New Deal democrat:
The ‘Haitians eating pets’ was his horrible debate performance. He hasn’t successfully taken the spotlight off of anything.
BR
The way young people look at Harris and Walz is a sign of true leadership. I’ve shared these clips before, but they’re the kind of thing worth sharing with others and asking “don’t you want leaders who inspire the next generation?”
https://www.tiktok.com/@dinks4kamala/video/7406089836861394207
https://www.tiktok.com/@timwalz/video/7415365782412021035
different-church-lady
UNDECIDEDS: “We really don’t want to vote for either of these two very old white men.”
DEMOCRATS: “Okay, we’ve removed one of them.”
UNDECIDEDS: “Gosh, this is still a tough call…”
Baud
@different-church-lady:
We all knew that was coming.
Soprano2
@Frankensteinbeck: Well, people seem to have forgotten his garbled lie about Harris wanting undocumented people in prison to get free transgender surgery. It was such a target-rich performance, it’s hard to pick. If not for the “Hatians eating dogs and cats” stuff that would have been the craziest thing he said.
New Deal democrat
@BR: Unless there are some really big surprises in the next month, like an actual loss of jobs, the economic narrative for the election has basically already been set: decent but not great growth, slowly improving real wages, decelerating inflation. It also doesn’t hurt that voters aren’t going to hold Harris accountable for “Biden’s inflation.”
different-church-lady
@catclub: Saw my first sub-$3 gas sign in quite a while yesterday.
topclimber
OT: Following up on yesterday’s AOC for Mayor bandwagon, here’s a little quirk: NYC mayoral election is always an off year compared to Congress. Next up being 2025. So no need to give up your spot in the House to run for mayor.
If the congresswoman has executive ambitions, NYC is a natural fit. Probably around 2029, say, right after Kamala wins her second term.
OId Man Shadow
It’s not that difficult.
He brought normalcy and competence back to the Federal government. He ended a forever war. He navigated tough political waters to push the country to the left and implement climate change progress. He reinvigorated NATO. He was labor friendly in a way that no president has been in four-plus decades. He advanced civil rights.
He will be a one-term president because none of that really matters to Americans or voters who might still piss on his legacy and burn all of his accomplishments and the Constitution to the ground.
Almost Retired
@BR: I recall Watergirl saying that BJ would be targeting North Carolina candidates soon with guidance from the groups we are supporting in the State (Black Alliance and North Carolina Asian Americans Together). So I’m holding off until then
BR
@New Deal democrat:
Thanks, that makes sense.
Anoniminous
@Tony Jay:
Julie Chávez Rodriguez
Rodriguez is Harris’ campaign manager and knows everything about dealing with the fascist press and how to get around them to deliver the message.
Salty Sam
Welp, this day just took an unpleasant turn- Salty Spouse got a call from her brother “J” in Minnesota. There was good news and bad news: J just broke up with his (Trumpish) girlfriend (YAY!)- unfortunately, not before she turned him. He’s now full on Trumper himself.
What is most disheartening is that before, he was a sweet guy, 25 years in addiction recovery; a Tim Walz kinda guy, who would show up and shovel a neighbors sidewalk after a blizzard, coached hockey and drove the team bus to away games… a very simple guy who was avidly apolitical. Now he’s spouting off about how Kamala Harris is evil, Dems want to destroy the country, etc,etc,etc.
Uff-da, it is to despair sometimes.
Frankensteinbeck
@Soprano2:
Undecideds reeeeally hated his doubling down on Jan 6th, but the public focus went on something they hated almost as much. I do hate the collateral damage caused by every single thing out of that shithead’s mouth.
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: Harris will rightfully be praised for this approach, but I feel like Biden really opened the door to this great possibility by treating the Media with the contempt they deserve and refusing to take orders from them. Fortunately, Kamala has great instincts for taking it to the next level with influencers, small media, podcasters etc., but Old Man Biden paved the way.
Falling Diphthong
I’d like to propose some framing for the wannabe Trump assassins:
God is sending them. To rub Republicans’ faces in their complete hypocrisy on gun control: A gun in 1000 yards of Trump? Assassination attempt! Wait, he turned off and is instead taking his AK 47 to the grocery store? He’s just a fun-lovin’ 2nd amendment enthusiast and you libs need to calm down!
A Donald Trump rally is one place in America that will have guns only in the hands of a small subset of carefully screened law enforcement personnel. Because when Trump’s life is on the line, no one around him tolerates nonsense about the safety of open carry or good guys with guns. That they save for the rest of us, going to the grocery store or park or school. “Fact of life; nothing we can do; just gotta get over it.”
UncleEbeneezer
@Salty Sam: That sucks. I hate to think people can be headed in the right direction and then go GOP. Sad.
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired: Thank you! Right now, we were are in a big push for Arizona and you are correct right after that will be putting up our North Carolina candidate thermometers.
if North Carolina is someone’s most important thing, then I would recommend clicking on 2024 activism in the top menu, clicking on targeted fundraising and giving more money to NCAAT and North Carolina black Alliance where they can put that money to good use by registering more young people of color!
Soprano2
@different-church-lady: I bought gas at our Bucee’s for $2.51 last Thursday. Bucee’s, like Cracker Barrel and a gas station gave birth to a full-grown adult.
kindness
It’s sweet watching previously unwinnable states (for Democrats) become possible Democratic pick up states. I mean, I sincerely doubt Kamela wins many red states but I will bet she wins a few. Getting out the vote is all the marbles now.
Can I say we need to start a new Constitutional Amendment making the presidency a direct popular vote and shitcanning the EC? Yes, yes I can.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Geoduck
I suppose even now, the NYT still expects Biden to give them an interview.
Chris
@different-church-lady:
“Ugh, they’re just two very old white men” was always a convenient way to pretend that undecideds weren’t racist, and if anything, the opposite.
Baud
@Salty Sam:
I’m sorry to hear that. It’s sad.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Soprano2: The regional chain WaWa, which used to be a chain of little 7-eleven type convenience stores, have spawned a whole new generation of (relatively) big WaWa’s with 8-10 gas pumps. Many of the little stores have been torn down. It must be hugely profitable.
Soprano2
@Frankensteinbeck: Like I said, his debate performance is a target-rich environment. I heard a report on “Morning Edition” where one of the hosts watched the debate with an undecided voter (TCFG 2016 Biden 2020), and that guy was really disgusted with how TCFG answered the question about January 6th. He said something like “Everyone knows what he did, he should take responsibility for it”.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@kindness: When I allow myself to dream (which I probably do more than is healthy), I start thinking that a majority Senate will lead to DC statehood and two more senators. Then just imagine the stuff we can get done! Add your Amendment to the list.
Puerto Rico is also a candidate for statehood of course, but opinion is at best divided there as to whether they want it.
Chris
@Salty Sam:
Ugh. My sympathies.
I had to cut off a friend in 2020 who’d spent the last decade going from Obama-voting Democrat to anti-anti-Trumpist who almost definitely voted Trump in 2020. I don’t regret doing it and probably should’ve done it sooner. But I still miss the pre-brain-worms friend.
Manyakitty
@Salty Sam: maybe he can come around now that he’s escaped the malign influence.
Chris
@Falling Diphthong:
Still love this cartoon: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2F6ha-KfUyxWMBh6bCLyHc2z4NalIb-VWtVX4zOakb5I0.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D4d3cb7c8431326e70a7bda14021ede73713a0a9e
Betty
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Mitch has described that scenario as his worst nightmare. It would be great.
Manyakitty
@rikyrah: hellooooo! 👋
Peke Daddy
@SatanicPanic: Have to scoop out the Marianas Trench to bare basalt to get close.
Jeffro
Mrs. Fro identifies as a “WaWa-ist” or “WaWa-ite” and has for years. If they had services on Sunday, she’d be in the front pew. Their subs are good but not that good, peeps.
(and yes, they are hugely profitable!)
OldDave
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Now take that WaWa and multiply it by eight (or more). The Buc-ees I’ve seen have well over sixty pumps. It’s just nuts
ETA: https://www.clickorlando.com/food/2024/06/04/buc-ees-to-open-largest-store-yet-but-it-wont-match-whats-coming-to-florida/
Manyakitty
@Jeffro: never tried Wawa, but I do love me some Sheetz. 😉
Also, too, any scoop or insights from Froette?
lowtechcyclist
If they can’t stand the heat, they shouldn’t let the kitchen door hit them on the way out. Fuck ’em.
BR
@lowtechcyclist:
Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything bad about ol’ Joe but this constant praising of the character of GOPers who show none of that character…well as Harris says, We’re Not Going Back.
Jeffro
My favorite amendment idea? An amendment that lowers the threshold for passing an amendment! Tough job but we only have to do it once. =)
The usual fantasies (not all of which require an amendment):
TNR’s latest issue has as its theme, “will there be a United States of America in 2050?” with a bunch of related articles. One of them is essentially noting that unless we pull off a workaround for Article V of the Constitution, we’re going to be stuck here forever.
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: The way the complaints about the economy got a bit quieter when Harris swapped in was as noticeable as it is nonsensical, but it’s working for our side so I can’t complain too hard.
narya
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I want a minimum of 13 justices on the SC (one for each circuit–but two per circuit would be ideal!) and I want an expansion of the House of Representatives to more fairly reflect populations in the states.
Soprano2
@Salty Sam: This happened to my mother when she remarried. Before she met him, she was a regular conservative – this was late ’80’s. He was a radical conservative even then. By the time they got divorced she was a lot like him, and she just got more and more conservative as the years went on and she watched more and more Fox News and listened to conservative talk radio. I found some scary stuff in her notes after she died, like links to the vdare Web site. The woman she was before him would never have looked at things like that.
Anoniminous
@lowtechcyclist:
Exactly why I dreaded another Biden administration. He simply doesn’t ‘get’ the modern GOP.
Soprano2
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think that Bucee’s we have here has between 50-100 gas pumps! I can see why travelers like it – lots of pumps, the store is clean and well-lit, the bathrooms are big and clean.
lowtechcyclist
@TBone:
Sorry to hear about your friends’ son. Helping them out is way more important than political contributions – don’t worry, we’ll pick up the slack.
Matt McIrvin
@Chris:
I heard a lot of that from young Zoomers who then went all-in for Harris, though. Sometimes the vibe really is what it is even if we don’t think it makes sense.
New Deal democrat
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Completely OT, but a long time ago I heard the (allegedly) true story of the founding of Wawa’s.
The family that owns it made their first, smaller, fortune shipping tomatoes to Campbell’s soup factory in Vineland, (southern) NJ. They bought a farm in rural Chester County PA, where they made friends with the Heritage family, which owned a small regional chain of convenience stores.
They approached Mr. Heritage and said, “We’ve been thinking of setting up a store to sell our farm’s produce. Would you mind showing us how you run your convenience stores.”
And Mr. Heritage, to his everlasting regret, did so.
—-
Later, when national gas chains started setting up in-house convenience stores in the area, Wawa’s essentially said, “Oh yeah? Well two can play at that game!”
Belafon
@Salty Sam: Turn the TV on MSNBC and break the controls, and he can probably be slowly deprogrammed.
Eolirin
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: DC becoming a state is important, if only because residents of DC deserve representation, but it only really gets us, effectively, one extra senator since the majority threshold goes up too. It won’t help that much when it comes to keeping power in the senate.
Though turning a 50/50 split into a 52/50 split, still has significant advantages, even with only one extra vote, just by removing the need for power sharing agreement bullshit and freeing up the vice president. So I hope we can get it done if we have a majority. Since unless we get Florida, or Texas, or Nebraska, 50 is our best case.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Jeffro:
@narya:
Clearly on Day 2 of the Harris administration, they need to hire a bunch of mall Santas, say in the Capitol Rotunda, and have rank-and-file Democrats line up to sit on their knees and present all these wishlists.
I’ll generously allow that creating an office to prioritize and implement them can wait till later in the First 100 Days.
OId Man Shadow
@Matt McIrvin: If those kids are incapable of seeing the difference between the two old men, then they’re profoundly stupid.
Geminid
@topclimber: Virginia has a similar political dynamic on account of its odd-year legislative races. . A state Senator or Delegate can run for Congress without giving up their General Assembly seat. At least 3 state Senators ran in the primary to succeed Rep. Jennifer Wexton in the 10th CD.
The winner was Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, and I look forward to his elevation to U.S Representative. Subramanyam is a 37 year old Obama White House veteran and whip-smart.
He’s also a volunteer fireman/EMT. I expect he’ll still run some weekend shifts once he takes up his new job. Subramanyam lives in Ashburn, not far from Dulles Airport where his parents landed 50 some years ago when they on their way from Bangalore, India to Houston.
lowtechcyclist
@different-church-lady:
I filled up the tank for $2.92/gallon last week – golly, this inflation is so terrible!
This was at the Shell station in Edgewater, MD, just south of Annapolis. All the gas stations on MD 2, the main N-S drag, were under $3 yesterday. Sam’s Club in Annapolis was $2.90.
Scout211
It sounded to me like Biden is calling them cowards. But he’s doing it in an old school politics kind of way. That’s part of Joe Biden’s charm and why he’s been able to stay in politics for such a long time.
But it’s also why it’s better that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are running against Trump and Vance this time. They and their campaign team, as well as all their surrogates and social media influencers are better at counteracting the Trump-Vance team.
Anoniminous
@Salty Sam:
@Soprano2:
The power of propaganda.
Jeffro
@Manyakitty: I just checked out Sheetz’s sub menu and they seem to offer more toppings, add-ons, and sauces than WaWa does.
(including something called “ranch dust seasoning” 0_0 )
Sheetz is also privately held. Interesting.
As for Froette: not too much new stuff going on…she has moved over to the Senate side for the fall and says it’s a lot quieter. Well yeah, it’s the Senate, and plus when you were on the House side you were smack-dab in the center of the action!
I’ll see if I can get any good info out of her – we’re having lunch this coming weekend. =)
Eolirin
@Scout211: Harris added some people, but it’s mostly the same campaign team…
K-Mo
@catclub:
See also: “strongman”
Matt McIrvin
@OId Man Shadow: With them it wasn’t so much that there was no difference, more of a gritted-teeth “well I guess I have to vote for Biden, but I’m not happy about this situation at all…”
suzanne
Fuck you, Joe Rogan. Being better prepared, better practiced, better coached….. that doesn’t mean there’s a “puppet master”. It means your boy is a lazy piece of shit who got beat.
Chris
@Matt McIrvin:
But that vibe was largely there among people for whom the choice was “vote Democrat or stay home,” not people for whom the choice was “vote Republican or vote Democrat (or stay home).”
The latter is what I understand – possibly wrongly – by “undecideds.”
Baud
@suzanne:
When your fan base is a bunch of incels…
OId Man Shadow
@suzanne: Mediocre white guys really cannot believe that many women and Black people are way smarter than them.
Chris
@Eolirin:
Yeah. Basically, every bit helps.
bbleh
Cooper is SO good. And she looks CONSIDERABLY less insane there than the Felon did IRL.
I was struck by his color, in particular his cheeks. His BP must have been enough to run a fountain.
Timill
@OldDave: I recently filled up at the Richmond KY Buc-ees location on pump #264…
Anoniminous
@OId Man Shadow:
Profoundly ignorant, they know nothing. The capture of the press by Corporations ensure they know nothing.
Tony Jay
@Anoniminous:
Top quality hires add a lot to a campaign, don’t they?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Ah, the Sheetz vs WaWa competition:
https://www.paeats.org/feature/sheetz-vs-wawa-documentary/
Years ago, the Wa(com)Post did a big piece on the emerging rivalry between the two former “stop and pee” chains. Something more recent:
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2024/04/18/wawa-sheetz-expansion-pennsylvania/
In Misery, and across a section of the Midwest, the equivalent, kinda, is QT. Over the last decade, QT has taken more than a page or three outta the Sheetz/WaWa playbook in updating their places and establishing new ones.
QT’s in KS and MO basically print money.
hueyplong
@bbleh: “I was struck by his color, in particular his cheeks. His BP must have been enough to run a fountain.”
And that’s showing through a metric ton of “foundation.”
suzanne
@OId Man Shadow:
Not just smarter. They resent that effort gets results, and that Black people and women spent decades learning how to outdo them.
NOBODY WANTS TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@OldDave:
Buc-ees, jfc, so quintessentially ‘Murkin in scale.
They plopped the first one in CO earlier this year:
https://coloradosun.com/2024/03/17/inside-first-colorado-bucees/
And, I shit you not, I saw billboards for that location at various spots in KS last week during my road trip (in my Bolt!) to KC and back to Denver. I’m in the middle of the godforsakenwesternplainsofkansas and I want to make a trip up I-25 toward Ft Collins to visit it? Again, only in ‘Murka.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Here in Maryland we have Royal Farms – same concept as Sheetz. We also have Sheetz making inroads. Across the border in PA there’s a chain called Rutters, which seems to be trying to give Sheetz a run for their money there but I don’t think I’ve seen a Rutters in Maryland yet.
I see Sheetz around Frederick, MD and parts West of there. Royal Farms from the DC area East
Kristine
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Here in NE Illinois we have Casey’s and a few others. Most are truck stops located near I-94 ramps, but they’re also filling in the corners at major intersections like 41 which used to support smaller gas stations.
In addition, major stores like Walmart and (local) Woodman’s have put up their own gas stations. Usually a few cents cheaper.
Belafon
The restrooms at Buc-ees are what you would hope those at stadiums and airports would be run like.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
More on the emerging competition between Royal Farms, Sheetz and WaWa:
https://www.knightcrier.org/top-stories/2022/02/28/the-battle-of-gas-stations-wawa-vs-royal-farms/
Regarding Caseys, they began a massive expansion across the Midwest in the mid-90s. They took the “gas and pee” approach and plopped it in towns that hithertoo had never seen anything like it. Their big selling point was their pizza. I recall reading something way back then about their business operations and expansion.
Over the years, they’ve had to step up their game as well because of competitors like QT where their market presence overlaps. But Casey’s focused on small, rural towns during that period.
Kristine
@Matt McIrvin:
I’m still enjoying the fact that 60 is regarded as young.
(I know. It’s all relative.)
Manyakitty
@Jeffro: exciting! Does she know which senator she’ll be working with?
Quinerly
@Soprano2:
Late back to the thread.
I said on this here blog on debate night he was mixing up transgender with transnational. He is an idiot. Half the population doesn’t see it or doesn’t care.
suzanne
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
One of my hottest takes is that Royal Farms is terrible. (Sheetz is far better and QT is far better than either.) Royal Farms’ fountain drink and snack selection is anemic in comparison.
I dearly miss QT and their multiple flavors of iced tea.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: I remember Royal Farms from the Baltimore area. Their sandwiches and coffee were very important to me when I was taking courses at Johns Hopkins. There’s actually one a few minutes from us here in PA, just off I-95. Only one I’ve ever seen outside of MD.
TF79
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/lebanon-pagers-attack-hezbollah/index.html
Assuming this is a targeted attack (presumably by Israel?) using exploding planted beepers on Hezbollah members, this is some pretty wild, James Bond shit
Quinerly
@different-church-lady:
$2.89 Friday when I filled up on San Felipe Pueblo, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. NA pueblo/reservation gas is always cheaper, though. Less taxes, I assume.
SatanicPanic
@TF79: So they implanted pagers with bombs, then got them into the hands of Hezbollah members and then waited around to blow them up? How? That’s crazy
Soprano2
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: So do Kum and Go’s, which are eventually going to turn into Mavericks. They used to be Git and Go’s. We don’t have Wawa or 7-Eleven here. We used to have 7-Eleven when I was young, but they’ve all moved out. I think Git and Go ran them out.
geg6
@Jeffro:
We love a Sheetz here in the ‘Burgh, but we prefer a Get Go. They are a division of regional grocery giant, Giant Eagle. With their loyalty card, you can get $$ off gas by purchasing groceries at their stores. Get Go also has very good fast food items. I’ve gotten lunch at the local one many times.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@suzanne: I really have no basis to judge. I don’t think I’ve had food at Royal Farms, ever. As for Sheetz I’ve had a pre-made sandwich from their grab and go section once or twice but wouldn’t judge them based on that anyway.
I think it’s been 2 years or more since I had a soda pop so obviously fountain drink selection is of little importance to me.
UncleEbeneezer
@Matt McIrvin: I mean, I totally get it. Representation matters. But it’s such a superficial criteria to base your vote on, especially considering the fact that Harris and Biden are so similar on actual policy. It’s like admitting it’s all about looks/age/race.
geg6
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I’ve never even heard of Rutters. They definitely haven’t made it to Western PA. Here, it’s all Sheetz and Get Go.
geg6
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Their MTO options are quite good for gas station fast food.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@geg6:
An Axios reporter became a gas station food critic last year:
https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/07/21/royal-farms-sheetz-wawa-richmond
The Baltimore Sun’s dining critic also weighed in:
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2021/05/25/royal-farms-vs-wawa-vs-sheetz-vs-highs-which-maryland-gas-station-has-the-best-food/
Mr. Bemused Senior
It’s no surprise that some politicians have little to no core beliefs and are just ambitious. To me Vance is the epitome of this.
Biden has been a master of working in a constrained environment. His accomplishments are all the more amazing given the makeup of Congress.
Right now, though, we just have to defeat them as much as possible.
UncleEbeneezer
TBone
@BR:
@lowtechcyclist:
Thank you for that reassurance! I’m SO grateful that I chose BJ as the place to reopen my big mouth after clamming up for a long time due to my serious aversion to social media. Every day, a Jackal renews my tattered faith in humanity!
I still have plans to do a financial blitzkrieg in October despite the recent funds depletion to my friends’ son. I wisely invested in CDs when interest rates made it worthwhile and that free money is gonna help save democracy!
different-church-lady
@suzanne: That is some hardcore “girls can’t do math” bullshit right there.
suzanne
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: So I am not a soda drinker. I love unsweetened iced tea and seltzer, though. I love QT because they have an array of unsweetened drink choices. Raspberry iced tea, passion fruit…..
UncleEbeneezer
White (Xtian Male) Supremacy seems to be a pretty damn big core belief for this couch-fucking Nazi.
narya
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Honestly, they could do a whole lot worse than listening to the regulars on this top-10,000 blog. Folks who comment here are well-informed, live in red and blue areas (and rural and urban areas) of the country, have a variety of experiences, and are actual Democrats. Not to mention, with the lead of WG, have donated a ton of time, money, and effort to get Democrats elected! We certainly don’t all agree on everything, but I bet that, on many issues, we could get to a consensus. (My observation is that a lot of discussions of what we “should” do don’t always take into account the predicates, e.g., holding the Senate, taking the House, being able/willing to overcome a filibuster, etc.; if we knew the priors, it would be easier to reach a consensus that is reality-based.)
Ed: clarity
Mr. Bemused Senior
@UncleEbeneezer: and they probably used pagers because they thought they were less hackable than cell phones. Must have watched the Wire. [or not 🙂]
different-church-lady
@UncleEbeneezer: That one is blowing my mind: they must have figured out a hack that would overheat the batteries and somehow gotten it to just the targeted pagers.
It also blows my mind people still use pagers in 2024.
UncleEbeneezer
@different-church-lady: And Anti-Semitic too, considering her Jewish husband and the age-old, Puppet-Masters trope.
PST
@narya: SCOTUS should hear more cases. It would be convenient to have 15 justices who could sit in panels of 5. They could sit en banc for cases of epochal importance.
BR
Tim Walz is going to be doing a rally in NC later today. I’ll dig up a live stream link when I find one.
TBone
@SatanicPanic: 🏆😆
Matt McIrvin
@suzanne: Funny–back in 2020 the scary rumor was that Harris was Biden’s puppet master!
suzanne
@Soprano2: So my one moment of anonymous internet virality came thanks to Kum and Go. One time when we were visiting my in-laws, we saw that a terrible building on a prominent corner near their neighborhood had been replaced by a gas station….. and we were cracking up at the name. So we started joking about alternative names. I suggested “Ejaculate and Evacuate”, which my son thought was hilarious. So he posted about it on some thread (Reddit? Tumblr? Whatever). Years later, a screenshot of his post went around the internet. So that’s my contribution to society.
Chris
@UncleEbeneezer:
Yeah, and for once I don’t think it’s even mostly blameable on the media. It’s just “a tribal view of politics that’s painfully shallow and stupid to the point of self-harm is not, as it turns out, limited to white men, or white people, or even conservative people.”
TBone
@Jeffg166: I missed them so much I just realized! Thank you for reminding me 💙
lowtechcyclist
@Kristine:
She’s still 59 for another 33 days.
BR
Barack Obama did a short interview with a TikToker:
https://www.tiktok.com/@laronhinesofficial/video/7415609156654124318
Sister Golden Bear
@Quinerly: Nah, the way the cultists have been attacking us trans people I’m sure “transgender” was intentional. Throwing out red meat buzz words, especially given the lie about schools forcibly subjecting kids to genital assignment surgery on random afternoons. It’s just that it got jumbled in the word salad.
Matt McIrvin
@narya: Our disagreements tend to be much more often about political strategy than about policy goals. There are exceptions but even with some of them, if you follow the chains of reasoning out long enough you realize most of us here really want the same thing, if not how to get it.
Caroline
@JennyMenace: Thanks for this – I’m going to donate right now.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@geg6: I have a cousin in State College I visit regularly. I take one of three different routes to get there from the DC area and there are Rutters along all of them (but also Sheetz of course). So they’re in, what is that, South Central PA? Maybe a bit East of central? There are several Rutters in that area but I haven’t seen them elsewhere either in or outside PA.
RSA
Here’s a longish story about that. My read, though I might be oversimplifying, is that Trump’s claim isn’t literally wrong but rather misleadingly framed.
Ken
@suzanne: Trust me, you aren’t the first to notice the humor potential in “Kum and Go”. I was on a work trip with youth once, and we were stuck at the gas station for an extra fifteen minutes because every one of them had to have a picture in front of the sign.
prostratedragon
States whose election officials received suspicious packages yesterday: Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Iowa. All the packages turned out to contain harmless substances.
frosty
@OldDave: I counted 100 gas pumps at a Buc-ees outside of Houston. The inside was about 5 or 6 different kinds of fast-food places. Plus souvenirs and knick-knacks.
suzanne
@Ken: Oh God, the humor potential is so great that I genuinely wonder how it happened. Like, when focus group-ing the name….. the hysterics must have been epic.
One of the other “alternate names” we came up with was “Blow Your Load and Hit the Road”.
Belafon
@Ken: After suggestions that the word should begin with a C the company replied that “Kum and Co” just doesn’t make sense.
Mike E
@Almost Retired: Cooks has Don Davis in NC 2nd as being in a toss up contest for reelection, if you would like to get ahead of the curve.
Ken
OK, it’s probably the combination of this and the earlier reference to “Kum and Go” stores, but my inner fourteen-year-old is hyperactive. Fortunately my outer sixty-year-old retains enough to rot13 this old, NESFW* joke to protect any delicate sensibilities**:
Jul pna’g jbzra qb zngu? Orpnhfr gurl xrrc trggvat gbyq guvf (ubyq svatref nobhg guerr vapurf ncneg) vf rvtug vapurf.
* Not Entirely Safe For Work.
** One of the worst things about Vance is that I can no longer refer to “fainting couches” without the inner fourteen-year-old chortling.
BellyCat
Good people on BOTH sides, right?!?! (C’mon, Joe….)
Chief Oshkosh
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Same in Arkansas.
Ya know, when I was a kid, going to a convenience store was a sign of failure — very, very mild failure — but still, failure. See, it meant that you hadn’t planned your day in town correctly, that you left something off the shopping lists (plural), so you had to grab it (“it” possibly including gas) at a place that charged extra for convenience.
Nowadays, and sadly, going to town for provisions means going to the QT/Buc-ees/WaWa because that’s all there is for a “town” once the Dollar General closes for the day. I don’t know that there is anything to be done about it, but it is just sad.
Harumph! You kids get off my lawn! And what’s up with those clouds!
frosty
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: In PA it’s typically Sheetz in the west and WaWa in the east. Rutters in South Central. Royal Farms has started crossing the Mason-Dixon Line, heading north, too.
Sheetz has crossed the mountains. I think there are a couple on the Philly side of the Susquehanna now.
TBone
Hinky at every level. Secret Service has been ignored by Dumbvict every step of the way…he just blew them off as we say…
A commenter elsewhere reasons that, if our children do not deserve the protection of advanced security (via gun legislation), why does private citizen Dumbvict deserve any better since he’s the expert at literally everything?
https://crooksandliars.com/2024/09/so-trump-knew-all-along-his-golf-courses
raven
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Bukees!!!
Belafon
@different-church-lady:
The same people saying she’s a puppet were saying that she was controlling Biden. The Democrat is always being controlled by some puppet master, most likely a globalist, but occasionally someone who wants to impose Sharia law.
Mr. Bemused Senior
You could switch to “clutching pearls” [hmmm, that has some potential…]
frosty
@geg6: @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: Rutters started out as a dairy in York. The milkman delivered glass bottles from them and left them on the front porch. (Yeah, that’s going WWWAAAAYYYY back!)
rikyrah
@Salty Sam:
Sorry about this
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@frosty: Sheetz is definitely in the Frederick MD area, which is just East of the mountains. Don’t think I’ve seen one further East of that though. But it’s probably coming. Sheetz is also in Virginia – I know there’s been one in Warrenton for a couple decades now.
Anyway
yep There’s a Sheetz in Elkton now … seems out of place to me.
TBone
@frosty: we had a milkman deliver milk every morning when I was a child in Drexel Hill, PA in the early 60s. And Charles’ Chips came to the door from a delivery man, in big tins.
Ken
@TBone: I could swear I saw complaints from Trump about those photographs. Probably he was just mad at any that he thought were unflattering (and I can totally see him ordering the SS to selectively go after photographers based on that).
TBone
@frosty: Wawa is fighting back, we’re getting one on this side of the Susquehanna all the way up here in Union County. I abhor Sheetz.
prostratedragon
@RSA: Classic “Keep my name out of your mouth” stuff. Some people just cannot/will not talk right.
Booger
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Maybe TFG could give JV Vance a pearl…no, I can’t even bring myself to complete that thought.
TBone
@Ken: exactly so. There is literally no bottom to his narcissistic depravity and if he could, he’d have us all killed for a photo opp. He’s been flirting with Lucifer since he was born and I say he’ll get the shitty end of his bargain before all is said and done. I hope we all see it in real time because The Denouement is real and it is picking up steam!
🎶
https://youtu.be/Qt87bLX7m_o
narya
@TBone: I grew up about 1.5 hours north of Philadelphia, and we also had Charles Chips delivered in big cans! We had milk delivery when I was a kid, and also the Jewel T man.
TBone
@TBone:
Even catturd has noticed The Hinky:
https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1835742317505921425
TBone
@narya: 💙 golden memories of childhood. Remind me what is Jewel T, please (sounds so familiar)!
prostratedragon
@TBone: Oh, that chair!
suzanne
@TBone: Sheetz is a bit too loud and obnoxious in their branding for my taste. I will give them credit for usually having sufficient and clean bathrooms, which is difficult.
Wawa annoys me for different reasons.
mrmoshpotato
@TBone: Yup. Old Scratch has claim tickets for Dump, W, Cheney, Rice, etc.
narya
@TBone: I believe it was actually Jewel TEA–and I suspect it was somehow related to the current Jewel stores in Chicago (see this). They did home delivery (I don’t remember what my mom purchased from them, other than pudding mix), though it probably stopped by the time I was 10 or so, so by the late 60s.
lowtechcyclist
@geg6:
Neither have I, but I’ve heard of Sgt Rutter’s Only Darts Club Band. :D
BR
@suzanne:
The whole clip from Rogan bashed both Trump and Harris, and I’m seeing a lot of folks saying she should do an interview with him. It turns my stomach but if the campaign thinks it can reduce the margins Trump has with the sorts of men who like Rogan, then maybe it’s worth it.
Jeffro
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: there’s both Sheetz and WaWa down in Charlottesville (and all along the way on Rt 29)
JML
Kwik Trip made a big invasion here after one of the others violated a territory agreement they had, and they’ve done very well because all their stores are new, so the older ones where ownership hadn’t spent a dollar on keeping them from looking like trash looked even more dire. Plus, KT was offering decent grocery options for people needing to pick up dinner on their way home while stopping for gas, when others had little beyond beef jerky and hostess cakes. Some of the old school joints (Little Dukes, Holiday, SA, etc) have been either investing or panicking, because the competition is here and not going away.
TBone
@narya: YES now I remember! Thank you!
Visions of collecting Green Stamps from the A&P with grandma and pasting them into our book to get enough for housewares prizes also too ❤️
The Audacity of Krope
I always consider convenience stores as places to indulge my bad habits; lottery, red bull, marijuana preparation materials, junk food, gasoline…
Trollhattan
@BR:
“I learned last month from Robert Kennedy, that wi-fi clobbers our immunity systems, turning us into disease sponges. We got rid of ours; as president, what will you do to outlaw wi-fi?”
Probably pass.
mrmoshpotato
@narya: That site looks awesome.
TBone
@prostratedragon: I’m not following, please to forgive, to what chair do you refer? My inquiring mind needs to know 😂
mrmoshpotato
@The Audacity of Krope:
The gasoline is for your car, not for drinking. :)
TBone
@suzanne: that is exactly what is so abhorrent about Sheetz for me too. Wawa is not great, but it’s my hometown DelCo’s prized mascot, so they always win.
The Audacity of Krope
@mrmoshpotato: Right, that’s the problem smart ass. 😊
lowtechcyclist
@different-church-lady:
Speaking of obsolete stuff, for reasons I won’t go into, the other day I had to look up how to get a USPS money order.
Now you’re saying, “Money orders? Does anyone still use them?” but our HOA gets a couple of dues payments each year via money order so yes, they’re still out there.
But the kicker is that USPS says it takes payment for them in cash, debit cards, or travelers checks. Travelers checks?? I haven’t seen, let alone used any of those since the 1980s. American Express doesn’t even issue them anymore. They’re history.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
A great reddit thread on Sheetz, WaWa and Royal Farms:
https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/16sxkyx/royal_farms_wawa_or_sheetz/
Sheetz almost croaked in the early 80s. A store manager came up with the MTO concept and that basically brought them back from the brink. I remember when they were nothing more than your standard, small, gas & pee places.
The EEOC filed a job discrimination suit against them earlier this year:
https://www.wesa.fm/courts-justice/2024-04-19/sheetz-job-discrimination-lawsuit
Per a comment by Jefro above, WaWa is also still a privately-held company.
K-Mo
@suzanne: What a dumb@ss. That’s the entire job, buddy: the willingness to do the work, the ability to harness and assimilate good advice, the aptitude to place it into context, the discipline to stay focused on the goal, and the talent to communicate it effectively.
Trump being played like an accordion and literally just saying whatever popped into his addled brain was a stark contrast.
TBone
@mrmoshpotato: visions of Walter Huston in ‘The Devil and Daniel Webster’ are dancing in my head.
mrmoshpotato
@UncleEbeneezer: What? Is Reagan back from the dead and President again?
lowtechcyclist
@Ken:
Which reminds me of the jokes in our car the first time we ever saw a BJ’s Wholesale sign. Sorry, but certain things just can’t be wholesaled!
TBone
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I lived in Riddlewood, right near their original dairy farm on Route 1 Baltimore Pike for years. Good to know they haven’t yet sold out. A lot of friends’ first jobs were in their plant further down Route 1 in Glen Mills.
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: 😎
prostratedragon
Taterhead is at it again:
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
I wanna go to a Buccees for:
the brisket sandwich
the fudge department
the bathrooms
Yes, I wanna see the bathrooms..LOL
Leto
@suzanne: that’s not even a hot take. We had one open near us, Pottstown PA, and we decided to stop in after they opened to check out their chicken. Some of the worst chicken I’ve ever had. How their shit could be both that greasy and dry? The fact that it was all white people who came through during our half hour experience further cemented my opinion.
Our singular Sheetz experience with both coffee and food was enough to justify not going inside if we stop there for gas.
Chief Oshkosh
@lowtechcyclist: I just completed a transaction using a USPS money order. Yes, it’s old school. But you know what? I didn’t have to worry about digital security. Maybe somehow I should have, but I didn’t. Just paid for the money order and the priority envelope and stamp, mailed it to the seller, and now product is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I’m probably jinxing it, but a Saturday-to-Wednesday turnaround spanning nearly 1000 miles, all by USPS, is pretty impressive.
Soprano2
@rikyrah: Those bathrooms are something else. The stalls are actually little rooms like the ones you see in Europe. I like them. It’s something you have to experience to understand it. I didn’t understand why so many people here were excited when they heard Bucee’s was building a place right outside town.
rikyrah
TMZ
@TMZ
According to the indictment, from 2008 to the present, members of the Combs enterprise allegedly engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
https://x.com/TMZ/status/1836039195372249205
Leto
@frosty: we have a few around here, general Reading area, including heading down south to Lancaster/York. I’ll stop to get gas there, but that’s about it.
Kent
You know you are in Texas when the biggest tourist attraction is…[checks notes] a gas station.
When we lived in Waco there was one on I-35 between Waco and DFW and also one between Waco and Austin which were two routes I drove a lot. I went in once to check it out and the only thing I really remember is that they had a tremendously huge selection of different beef jerky. Artisanal beef jerky is kind of a Texas thing too. The bathrooms were nice though.
Normally I just got gas at Costco which was cheaper both for gas and for food.
Kent
@prostratedragon: The only reason Tuberville can do this is because Chuck Schumer enables it. Out of some misguided notion that future Republican administrations will give them the same deference to place holds on Republican nominees. Just like they did with SCOTUS nominations. Right?
prostratedragon
@rikyrah:
Arson? Shit, sounds like a detailed criminal strategy.
Elsewhere, this other
mothercouchfucker pretends to shape his mind as if he never admitted he was lying and would continue to do so:Kent
My daughter had to get one (or several) to pay the security deposit for a new apartment she was renting in Bend OR last year when the asshole management company wouldn’t take a personal check or electronic transfers and she didn’t have a local bank where she could go to get a cashier’s check since we use USAA and they don’t have branches in OR.
Kind of a pain. She had to go to the post office and use her USAA debit card to buy money orders to then deliver to the apartment management office in order to move in.
prostratedragon
@Kent: The Senate might vote on the appointment. But I think (might be wrong about this) to get the rule changed needs all 50+1 and, well, guess what …
Kent
@Soprano2: Buc-ees is pretty much peak oil or peak gasoline.
I gotta imagine they will soon slide into obsolescence as we continue to electrify our transportation. Or perhaps they are perfectly positioned to transition themselves since each one has enormous acreage and the space to put in hundreds of chargers. Plus the attractions to keep people occupied and spending money while their car charges. Unlike ordinary gas stations that have much smaller footprints.
EDIT: I see the Buc-ees in Temple that I used to drive by now has 48 Tesla Superchargers which apparently makes it the biggest Tesla Supercharging station in Texas. So they are apparently way head of me on that one.
Kent
@prostratedragon: I’m confident they could have changed the rules at the beginning of this current Congress (or the last one) had it been a priority. Even if it had meant arm-twisting or buying off Manchin.
It just wasn’t a priority or even something they wanted to do. Traditions and norms you know, in the “world’s greatest deliberative body”
rikyrah
Jess Piper (@piper4missouri) posted at 8:44 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
Where would I move? If we don’t stop the privateers and oligarchs in my state, they will just move on to the next until they’ve taken over the entire country.
If I’m not safe in Missouri, no one is safe in any state.
(https://x.com/piper4missouri/status/1836038614490173825?t=wX4x-XJmbxCuCNSrwA-ZPA&s=03)
Matt McIrvin
@lowtechcyclist: I was explaining what traveler’s checks were to my daughter when we were planning to go to Japan. They were pretty much killed by the ability to use your financial services easily across international borders, and in particular to use foreign credit/debit cards. But the situation is actually a little dicier with Japan than with many other countries people routinely go to from North America and Europe (not all foreign credit cards Just Work there for all purposes–for some reason, MasterCard seems to be your best bet–and my ATM card definitely wasn’t going to), so I was thinking about it.
suzanne
@Leto: Every time I am at a Royal Farms, I wonder how they exist.
Kent
@rikyrah: I like Jess Piper and agree up to a point.
We lived in Texas from 2003 to 2016 and I watched the state go from reasonably purple to blindingly bright red during that time. It gets wearying to be on the losing side of every single local and state political argument again and again and again. Everything from local bike lanes and sidewalks to state education funding and policy.
My sanity, mental health, and quality of life is all much improved since we moved to Washington where I am on the winning side of many if not most local and state political fights. Not all mind you, but enough to know there are some like-minded people in positions of power. And to know that our state and local governments are pushing in the right direction at least some of the time.
I understand Jess is deeply rooted in MO and not going anywhere and I respect that. But for us, we didn’t want to spend a lifetime tilting and windmills and losing every political battle we fought. That is the luxury of being relatively mobile and cosmopolitan I guess
We also didn’t want to raise our kids to be Texans. That was a big part of it. Where you raise your kids completely affects their future geography and trajectory from college choices and beyond. And we wanted to lay down roots in a place that would be good for our children, grandchildren, and future generations. Texas was not going to be that place and MO certainly wasn’t either.
Matt McIrvin
@Kent: I grew up in Virginia when it was a deep red state and that idea that you’re always going to be the loser in every political argument is still kind of deeply ingrained in my mentality. I got out of there and then it went blue! Kind of.
rikyrah
ProPublica (@propublica) posted at 8:00 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
Many states have enacted school voucher programs that give parents taxpayer money to spend on private school tuition. Now Ohio has cut out the middleman, providing millions in grants directly to these schools.
https://t.co/7XTZMCKNwB
(https://x.com/propublica/status/1836027441250218339?t=VHW4KSQfXBZ0Sk9DFtxJyw&s=03)
rikyrah
Patrick S. Tomlinson (@stealthygeek) posted at 8:06 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
Peter Thiel is paying Nate Silver to lie to you because part of their plan is fall back on rigged polls when Trump gets destroyed on Nov 5th as proof the election was “stolen.”
This will be taken to Trump’s illegitimate SCOTUS, which was the plan in 2020 but they weren’t ready.
(https://x.com/stealthygeek/status/1835847886728278076?t=q44r8PFswI4ZLQ-nHaenbw&s=03)
SatanicPanic
@rikyrah: Glad they’re finally getting that guy. What a terrible person.
rikyrah
Steve Benen (@stevebenen) posted at 8:01 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
A presidential candidate, in the final weeks of his campaign, appears to be meandering from one get-rich-quick opportunity to the next, without regard for merit or dignity.
What could possibly go wrong? https://t.co/95Sv7sehAF
(https://x.com/stevebenen/status/1836027687736930596?t=cKine0g7rTmNEiEqTn-eQw&s=03)
rikyrah
David Pepper (@DavidPepper) posted at 7:09 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
BREAKING (Ohio’s rule of law)
The absurd OH Sup Court (the same one that ruled that “boneless” meant with bones), just approved deceitful ballot language on Ohio’s Issue 1 (which actually BANS gerrymandering) that leaves the impression that the reform will somehow https://t.co/v4U1ZOZ9Yr
(https://x.com/DavidPepper/status/1835833503591604383?t=2Ztvg8wgQ74DYgSfV0zsQw&s=03)
rikyrah
Drew Comments (@sjs856) posted at 11:10 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
The Trump campaign strategy is to spread phony propaganda, lean on white fear, and disseminate disinformation in minority communities via social media and literature.
It’s the most Russian thing I’ve ever seen.
(https://x.com/sjs856/status/1835894079206351152?t=zc2Xyr6s-E-cEadHS-Se7w&s=03)
rikyrah
Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) posted at 8:47 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
Democrats tried to push through a bill that would force companies to disclose exactly WHAT CHEMICALS are burning when there’s a disaster like this.
Republicans killed it.
(https://x.com/GeneforTexas/status/1835858167130984651?t=xNrRwY_wHXo4U9NNHcmSWw&s=03)
rikyrah
Taniel (@Taniel) posted at 11:15 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
A Democrat has never led the HarrisX/Harvard national poll in all of 2024. They had Trump up on Biden or Harris by 4-6% in all their polls from January to July; and they had a tie in early September.
Their newest national poll has Harris up 52% to 48%.
(https://x.com/Taniel/status/1836076409921339440?s=03)
rikyrah
President Kamala’s Hand (Again) (@myronjclifton) posted at 0:23 PM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
Sean Combs put up his $48m mansion plus his mother’s home, plus they got his kid’s passports.
He’s offering all this so he can bond out.
I don’t think he allowed those women and girls to bond out of his freak parties so .. keep him locked up.
(https://x.com/myronjclifton/status/1836093587442012501?s=03)
Marc
@Matt McIrvin: Since everyone is going to Japan these days, I’ll repeat this: US credit cards (aside from MasterCard, which always work for some strange reason) can be hit or miss, but generally work everywhere except the tiniest shops, restaurants, etc. US debit cards do not work at most Japanese bank ATMs (aside from airports), but do work at the postal ATMs located at every Japanese Post Office (and there are stand-alone ones in many malls and large train stations). I tend to carry a lot of cash there, it’s easier (and you are unlikely to get mugged). That is all.
Citizen Alan
@BellyCat: Actually, I kind of love this. The implication is that even if your Senator or House Rep isn’t one of the those Republicans, they’re still cowards who will never stand up to those Republicans, so you should vote them out anyway.
rikyrah
chris evans (@notcapnamerica) posted at 10:05 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
.@HillaryClinton: “The press was merciless in its coverage about Joe Biden after the debate.
I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for the press to have a consistent narrative about how dangerous Trump is.”
https://t.co/z558Y6cPSX
(https://x.com/notcapnamerica/status/1836059030176837852?s=03)
rikyrah
Donate to Downballot Democrats (@Needle_of_Arya) posted at 11:23 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
Someone else on here said that 30 white dudes will try to primary President Harris from the “white Democrat” wing of the party.
Of course they will. This 2028 is expected. They’re the same people who kept wanting to replace her on the ticket during Biden’s entire single term.
(https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/1836078499456569570?s=03)
rikyrah
Open Source Intel (@Osint613) posted at 9:17 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
IMPORTANT 🚨
This is a developing story, and all information is preliminary, with numbers and info subject to change.
Roughly an hour ago, Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus.
Initial reports from Lebanon estimate around 1,000+ casualties so far.
Hezbollah has instructed all its militants to immediately discard their pagers, calling this the most significant security breach they’ve ever encountered.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reports that Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was injured when a pager exploded.
https://t.co/pWpDePcFUv
(https://x.com/Osint613/status/1836046946978402426?s=03)
rikyrah
ProPublica (@propublica) posted at 0:07 PM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
New: Cannon, whose oversight of the Donald Trump classified documents case has garnered widespread criticism, has repeatedly violated a rule requiring that federal judges disclose their attendance at private seminars. https://t.co/GhZserXCt4
(https://x.com/propublica/status/1836089484615499859?s=03)
rikyrah
Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) posted at 10:14 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
Yeah. I read @jodikantor’s piece about John Roberts. And while the report wasn’t surprising to me, it highlights something people need to understand: Roberts is in the tank for Trump and will help him in this election if he can.
My latest in @thenation
https://t.co/ec1SDgrdOt
(https://x.com/ElieNYC/status/1836061239400595801?t=9PVbuLUIn08JCmUkO2uiTQ&s=03)
Elizabelle
@Jeffg166: Margaret and Helen are still around! Woo hoo. Thank you. It’s been years since I checked out their blog. Good times.
Ken
@rikyrah: The cherry on top of Trump’s crypto project is the two guys he’s trusting to run it. One, Chase Herro, once described himself as “the dirtbag of the internet”. The other, Zachary Folkman, used to teach classes on how to pick up women.
Though from another perspective, it’s not worse than the judgment he showed in his cabinet picks — as even he will tell you, now that they’re all out there writing tell-all books.
rikyrah
Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) posted at 9:33 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
The Colorado State Patrol again pushed back on the false claim made by conservative influencers and former GOP gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl that the man who ambushed and shot a trooper was a Venezuelan gang member. #copolitics https://t.co/JeRL8ZxyVT
(https://x.com/KyleClark/status/1835869592918331727?t=mPIYfPDVgFRtP6MazakehQ&s=03)
rikyrah
James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) posted at 0:49 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
People keep saying Harris has only done one solo interview. She’s actually done three. But since one was with a Latino radio network and the other was with a black radio host, they apparently don’t count. https://t.co/1QgU2hQuBG
(https://x.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1835737766778339665?t=pVUNQD2a2Gi08Uv1DSJmBQ&s=03)
rikyrah
@rikyrah:
The Biden Accomplishments Guy (@What46HasDone) posted at 6:11 AM on Tue, Sep 17, 2024:
VP also taped a 4th that will air today at 10AM EST (Spanish radio) and is sitting for a 5th live one today (NABJ), but I imagine for similar reasons, they’ll discount both as well.
Meanwhile, while Trump does “press”, 90% of it is Fox News or white nationalist podcasts.
(https://x.com/What46HasDone/status/1835999891467747510?t=_DWyj-zuGNQ4Ul1UgMimyA&s=03)
Jackie
Re the exploding pagers:
So it’s possible Israel’s involved?
rikyrah
Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) posted at 8:38 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
Hillary Clinton tells #Maddow “I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for the press to have a consistent narrative about how dangerous Trump is.” https://t.co/zsFNcrAcCv
(https://x.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1835855722531197251?t=SiuZaigx_XjXGq8QqQXAug&s=03)
catclub
He just did his 16th interview with a rwnj conspiracy theorist. And the MSM yawns. Meidas Touch covered it
rikyrah
Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) posted at 9:39 PM on Mon, Sep 16, 2024:
A group of Hispanic men gathered for a car club meetup at a park in Arvada on Sunday. The call to police reported that Venezuelans had taken over the park, were firing shots into the air, and starting a fire. #copolitics https://t.co/BATLsK977C
(https://x.com/KyleClark/status/1835871127752659088?t=syoC6-eDljkCirnZgwDG-A&s=03)
prostratedragon
@rikyrah:
From the comments: “Donald Trump OK ‘d 42,000 Venezuelans temporary visas before he left office. Just so you know. You can stop blaming Biden/Harris.”
The Audacity of Krope
Are they being racist or breathing their own rarified farts?
¿Por que no los dos?
Belafon
@Kent: You could easily occupy yourself for the 80% charging time in a Buc-ees.
BritinChicago
@OId Man Shadow: Adding: he articulated an alternative to neo-liberalism/trickle-down economics, really for the first time, and did something to implement it—would have done a lot more if he’d ever had truly function majorities in both houses, but he showed us the way. IF MVP wins and IF she can go further in the same direction, then he will be the Moses who showed the way without himself getting to the promised land. A great President.
Kent
Probably works out even better for them to put in chargers rather than gas pumps. Because people will stay longer and the longer you stay the more you spend. And all the revenue from places like Buc-ees is in the food and drink sales, not the gas (or electricity).
Kind of like how movie theaters make all their money from concessions rather than the ticket sales (which mostly go to the studios).
TBone
@rikyrah: thank you, that is my new pet bugaboo. He’s the Manchurian Candidate of the Supremacists Court and I hope this story doesn’t get memory holed.
catclub
I see it as getting explosive set into the pagers, not just making a battery explode. Simultaneous Timing was too close for overheat.
Matt McIrvin
@The Audacity of Krope:
Indeed, it’s the same thing really.
Matt McIrvin
@Marc: The Postal ATMs are a great tip and one that I didn’t hear about until after I got back… however, my experience is that my credit union’s debit cards almost never work overseas in any country (even if you notify them of your travel in advance), so I wonder if they’d work there.
Re MasterCard: What I recall from discussions of trying to use the JR ticketing websites (one of the pickiest) from overseas was that they had a practice of verifying a credit card by making a 1-yen transaction on it (about 0.7 cents), and that a lot of foreign credit cards would reject these, but MasterCard was cool with it.
2liberal
speak correctly
//// :)
TBone
@prostratedragon:
I finally figured out what chair you referred to. It’s the one in the video! 😆
Ivan X
@Matt McIrvin:
Same. Some young people I’ve talked to seemed to really be craving someone they could project on to and/or “believe in,” and Biden’s affect — not going to say age, because clearly a certain kind of old man (cough Bernie cough) could work for them — felt unrelatable and unexciting to them in the same way at least one of their grandparents or great grandparents probably are. They’re psyched for Harris.
SomeRandomGuy
Erm. Technically, he’s a *very* well educated boomer. He’s just stupid.
Kayla Rudbek
@Kent: yes, Mr. Rudbek figures that charging an e-bike at the pub would cost less than one pint of beer. And the charging time would probably be long enough that he would have two drinks. Maybe the bars in old town Alexandria need more bike racks to get the cyclists in…