Ever since I saw a photo of a Thai zoo’s new online superstar, Pygmy hippo Moo Deng (“bouncy pork”), she reminded me of someone:
But I couldn’t think of who. It finally came to me:
That’s how Pete acquired his newest nickname.
***
We’re waiting to see where future Hurricane Helene will go. The current track keeps it well to the west of our location, and if that holds, we don’t expect much more than a bit of rain and wind.
It sounds like the steering currents are pretty unpredictable with this one, so we’re keeping an eye on it. I hope everyone who might be affected is ready. (A local medical marijuana dispensary is doing its part with a 30% off sale!)
Open thread!
On The Road – Captain C – Road Trip, April 2024 Part 2: Vermont part 1
Baud
Mammals share a common bond.
piratedan
now that Judge Chutkan has given Smith the okay to do so, wonder when we’ll see his brief (so to speak) or if we get a day or two worth of speculation before it’s dropped before the weekend.
also too….
stay safe Southern Jackals! (especially you Ms. Cracker)
Nukular Biskits
Sorry, BettyC, but I think you’ll understand me hoping it stays far east of me.
And I understand you hoping it stays far west of you.
Such is life here on the Gulf Coast this time of year.🤣
Tony Jay
When the cute quadrupeds tell you something amazing is just over your left shoulder, believe them.
That’s the ethos I’ve lived my life by. Never let me down yet.
satby
Good morning! Today the cat distribution system will be assisted by a round trip to Akron, OH with the two sibling cats. I know sab has been anticipating them because she’s said so, so if you read this early sab: answer your email or text I sent!
Call me crazy, but I like to have a final confirmation everything is a go before I drive 500+ miles with 2 cats.
piratedan
@satby: one for Navigational duties and the other to play the audiobook.
NotMax
Eine kleine <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7NcPs–olQ"wettermusik.
;)
NotMax
Rats.. Fix.
Eine kleine <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7NcPs–olQ"wettermusik.
;)
NotMax
Why is FYWP being so recalcitrant? One last time.
Eine kleine wettermusik.
;)
Baud
I think someone quoted this the other day, but this is a nice video for Christian jackals.
David Chop
Checking in from the far reaches of Thailand here (Udon Thani, ~1 hr. south of the Lao capitol). It can’t be overstated what a phenom that little hippo is here. Seriously. Hours of coverage on multiple news channels day after day. Social media is even worse. It’s all Muu Daeng all the time.
At least our little fatty here is cute. That tub-o-lard that’s all over US media ‘aint even close.
satby
@Baud: My not at all religiously inclined younger son sent that to me. It’s really resonating online with millennials and Gen Z. I think Talerico will go far if he stays in politics too; Texas certainly needs legislators with his understanding of the proper role of religion not as a part of government.
Should note there’s several clips of him I’ve seen. He’s studying to be a minister in whatever denomination he’s in. But his evisceration of the pious frauds in TX legislature is awesome.
satby
And we’re officially a go for Akron!
sab
@satby: Sent you an e-mail 5 minutes ago. We are so excited.
Baud
@satby:
It brought to mind that expensive right wing “He Gets Us” Jesus marketing campaign.
The question they should be asking is “Do you get him?” Because right wing Jesus is a piss poor Jesus.
satby
@Baud: oh, he’s good. Like Buttigieg levels of clarity.
TBone
I just saw a new text on my phone from ‘Gemini’ the Google AI bot.
I blocked and reported it as spam.
Baud
@TBone:
You should be able to turn it off in settings.
TBone
@Baud: thank you! I just woke up with a splitting headache 😣 and found out that hubby took the last of the Tylenol last week. He has been to both the supermarket and the CVS since then, and neglected to replace it. I almost blocked and reported him!
BellyCat
@TBone: Fairly certain that not replenishing Tylenol is a valid legal defense for manslaughter in most states, including PA.
TBone
@BellyCat: this is why I chose BJ. I love youse guys! 😍
He wouldn’t even apologize for his oversight until I made him understand that his life is in danger 😆
Baud
On MSNBC, they’re saying Jack Smith’s filing will be sealed. So we won’t get to see it.
BellyCat
@Baud: The entire thing? Was under the impression that only portions would be sealed. Sux if all is sealed.
TBone
@Baud: gah! I posted the docket link at court listener yesterday in the hope that we could read his brief. 😔 Dang!
Princess
@Baud: It’s almost like Trump is the anti-Christ.
satby
@Baud: from Mueller She Wrote:
JCJ
@David Chop: My wife watches news from Thailand all the time. I would imagine not much else is reported other than this little hippo from the number of videos she has shown me. Too bad you are so far away, otherwise you could brave the mobs at KK Open Zoo!
Baud
@satby:
Thanks.
sab
@TBone: Yeah. I came back from the grocery the other day to a sad face. “No milk? We’re out!” ” Well, why didn’t you put it on the grocery list when you finished the last gallon?” ” I dunno.”
TBone
@Princess: as I’m sure you know, tons of ink have been spilled on that subject. Still, the blind will not see. A web search returns many, many articles pointing out the ways in which he should be recognized. Top result today:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/01/11/yes-donald-trump-antichrist
TBone
@sab: no matter how well and how many times we think our attempts at training have been successful, we are proven wrong at the most crucial moments!
“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” —Alexander Pope
satby
@Baud: Her newsletter on this was amusing.
sab
@TBone: My husband loves to say: “I am so glad that you are the one that screwed that up, because otherwise I would be in big trouble.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
Pete really does look like that baby hippo! No offense, Pete. You are super cute.
TBone
@sab: 😆 points for best non-apology apology! It is always his fault when I screw up!
(He frequently does something so thoughtful and considerate that I can’t stay mad about anything. Today, I am still waiting for that to occur.)
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: Damn it! when you have a good mad going on and they go and do something nice 😉❤️
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
That is a good clip, thanks for sharing!
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: right? Sometimes you just wanna keep a good mad on. Well, at least the RWNJs exist for that purpose when our loved ones fail us 🤣
TBone
Today gives new meaning to my newly acquired moniker DelCo Dawn! 😆
zhena gogolia
@Baud: That’s really good.
zhena gogolia
Is Pete’s nickname “Moo deng” or “bouncy pork”?
lowtechcyclist
@TBone:
What’s that flower you have on? ;-)
Mai Naem mobile
PBS’s Frontline this week is about the ’24 election and the biography of the 2 choices.
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-choice-2024-harris-vs-trump-kn5v3p/
It’s 2 hrs. I couldn’t watch the whole thing because of the length but what I saw was pretty well done. It’s goes back and forth between Harris and TFG. I kind of wish they’d done a straight hour on Harris and a straight hour on TFG.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Mai Naem mobile: It they’d done straight hours, people would turn off one or the other. God knows, I wouldn’t watch Trump
Geminid
@TBone: Do you ever read the comments to Common Dreams articles? That’s some weird shit.
TBone
@Geminid: no I do not! I have enough in my own head to keep me entertained for a lifetime! 😆 I go to a different tankie website when I wanna see what dreck Pooty is spouting for the rubes to parrot.
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: it for sure is not a faded rose. I prefer members of the nightshade family.
Kyle Rayner
For those who enjoy metal, Marilyn Manson’s 1996 album Antichrist Superstar is a concept album with the main storyline being that the Antichrist runs for president, churning up people’s hate for others and themselves into a mass ecstasy. It ends poorly for everyone.
I thought about it a lot in 2016 and ever since.
stinger
I was afraid to scroll down to the second photo, but so glad I did!
Now I’m hungry for moo shu pork and it’s only breakfast time.
Geminid
@TBone: I’m not recommending it. I seldom read Common Dreams now because I know what they’re gonna say.
It’s kind of like a time warp though. I used to hear peope saying the same stuff back in the early 70s. I guess these are the ones who didn’t get swept up by the New Age movement.
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: p.s. I meant to thank you for pointing out that I wasn’t about offering detail when my little attempt at a joke failed the other day.
TBone
@Geminid: exactly
Ken In Hogtown
Hope you are all stocked up Betty. Hogtown was pretty busy last night. Fingers crossed for just rain and light wind here! UF will let us know about closures at noon today.
Chris
If what I read about this hippo the other day is true, being an Internet sensation has not been good for it. It’s kept in an enclosure that has barely any separation from the tourists, who end up throwing shit at it all day in an attempt to get a reaction. The zoo has reacted by… scolding the tourists, restricting how many of them can visit the hippo at a time, and moving to copyright the image of the baby hippo, but not actually taking any steps to shelter it from tourists.
Josie
@Baud:
Thanks for posting this. I’d love to see a front page post with clips of speeches he has given over the past few years. Such an impressive young man.
TBone
@Chris: I read the same with concern 😤 and have therefore not given any clicks.
I can’t even comment on today’s Covid update post either. Humanity sucks so bad sometimes.
Jackie
@BellyCat:
Think of it as all damaging to TCFG😉
RedDirtGirl
Here’s a postcard writing question for the hive mind…
In some of the scripts I’ve gotten they tell us to write the following: Who you vote for is private; whether or not you vote is public information.
I find that kind of ominous and threatening. Does anyone have a more benign take on it? I really don’t want to write it, but of course I have to write what the script says…
Geminid
@RedDirtGirl: You don’t have to write what the script says if you don’t want to. Who you vote for is private, and what you write on a postcard might as well be.
I remember this type of messaging being flagged in 2022. It sounded sketchy then; made me wonder about the outfit promoting it.
twbrandt
@satby: He’s pursuing a degree at the Austin Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian (PCUSA) school. The PCUSA (my denomination) is one of the most progressive.
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: Yeah, if the rest of the script is good I would just leave that part out. I’ve slightly modified scripts many times in the past.
Kristine
@RedDirtGirl: I found it threatening as well. Hell, I received a postcard a few years ago with that message, and I did not care for it.*
I’m doing Postcards to Swing States and luckily had other messages to choose from.
*yes I know the fact I am an active voter is a public record. The way that sentence is structured and the fact that it arrives from an unknown sender strikes a very sour note for some.
Ramalama
@zhena gogolia: My question as well.
Well, Betty?
Inquiring minds.
CaseyL
@RedDirtGirl:
The wording struck me as a bit odd, but I figured it meant only that whether one votes is open to the public.
A little bit of pre-emptive non-public shaming? “We’ll know if you just didn’t vote, and that will make us sad”?
Or maybe it’s meant to reassure: “We’ll know whether you vote, but not who you voted for!”
The organization says everything is tested with polls, surveys, and beta tests. Pretty sure that means they go for the most anodyne wording.
MazeDancer
Hope Helene stays out of your way. Good to hear you don’t think you will be imapcted.
And sending Light to those who are affected.
Heidi Mom
@Kristine: Same here. I don’t care if it’s the one they determined was most effective; I chose the “friends and family” one.
Quaker in a Basement
Hi, Betty!
It’s great to see a post from you. Here’s hoping you’re having a good day.
Elizabelle
Pete is adorbs. As is the baby hippo. One of these animals has a better life and more privacy. Plus, access to Ms. Cracker.
Good to hear of Texas Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin). I like that he speaks so slowly and meaningfully. Hope he has a bright future, in national politics too, if he wants
ETA: Another Talarico Youtube: 18 minutes: JT delivers sermon against Christian Nationalism.