Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Everybody saw this coming.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans in disarray!

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

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Finding joy where we can, and muddling through where we can’t.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

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Archives for 2024

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Coach Walz for Vice-President!

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On The Road – UncleEbeneezer – Early-Summer, Eastern Sierra Adventure (Part 4-of-5): North Fork Trail

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UncleEbeneezer

On the last full day of our trip we started by driving up to Keough Hot Springs for a relaxing dip.  After several days of camping it felt so good to get cleaned up.  Afterwards we headed back to our campsite and I decided to do an afternoon hike, while Kelly chilled out at our site, since her knee was bothering her and she’d rather just hang out and bird-watch.

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On The Road - UncleEbeneezer - Early-Summer, Eastern Sierra Adventure (Part 4-of-5): North Fork Trail 8
North Fork Trail, Big Pine Creek, CAMay 23, 2024

The North Fork Trail is one of the most well-known gems of the Eastern Sierra.  It takes you past waterfalls, through groves of aspens, past historical cabins and eventually to several lakes and the only glacier in California.  I was getting off to a fairly late start so I knew it was unlikely that I would have enough time to make it to the lakes, but I wanted to still get a taste of the trail.

The trail starts at the end of Glacier Lodge Rd., which starts down in Big Pine.  Once you go past the trailhead gate, the trail follows the lovely creek for 0.25 miles to the first waterfall.  It’s a lovely and relatively well shaded stroll.

Sad Klown Klaxon Open Thread: Sideshow Bobby Announces Farewell Tour

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Per ABC News, “RFK Jr. expected to drop out of race by end of week, plans to endorse Trump: Sources”:

… Sources tell ABC News that Kennedy plans to endorse Donald Trump — but when asked directly by ABC News if he will be endorsing the former president, Kennedy said, “I will not confirm or deny that.”

“We are not talking about any of that,” he said.

Sources cautioned the decision is not yet finalized and could still change, with one source adding that Kennedy’s hope is, in part, to finalize things quickly in order to try to blunt momentum from the Democratic National Convention.

One possible scenario being discussed is for Kennedy to appear on stage with Trump at an event in Phoenix on Friday, though the sources cautioned that Kennedy’s thinking could always change and sources close to Trump say no plan for Friday is finalized…

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan — who in a podcast interview published Tuesday said Kennedy was considering a move to “join forces” with Trump — told ABC News Wednesday that the choice is “Bobby’s decision” and that he has her “full support.”

Of the campaign’s discussions with Trump’s team, she said, “All we can do is gauge sincerity, and we’re gauging sincerity from Donald Trump.”…

For weeks, Kennedy, buried under an avalanche of lawsuits brought by Democratic groups challenging his place on state ballots, has accused Democrats of acting undemocratically by trying to strip his supporters of the opportunity to vote for him.

Shanahan on Wednesday said, “We’re getting prosecuted politically right now. This is not normal for democracy.”

Nicole Shanahan admits the sunk costs are not in her favor:

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Wednesday Night Open Thread: Good Vibrations

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Mr. Charles P. Pierce, at Esquire — “DNC Day 2: I Could Feel That Roll Call All the Way Up from My Feet”:

… In 2020, we learned that you could have a political convention in virtual space. No audience. No hype. No frenzy. The country was still living its aquarium life due to the pandemic, and everything was screens and chyrons. In fact, there were more than a few people who suggested that an actual political convention, which admittedly is a relic of another time, had become an unsupportable anachronism. Look at what we can do with our technology. Who needs people in funny hats? (This means you, Ben Wikler of Wisconsin. I saw you with cheese on your head.) Now, after two days of a convention that you can feel all the way up from your feet, that perception seems chilly and bloodless and irredeemably false.

This was a political party—and through it, a country—finally exhaling the way it’s needed to exhale since American Carnage Day in 2017. Lil Jon, and DJ Cassidy, and Bernie and the Billionaire were simply the individual expressions of a collective step into unfamiliar sunshine. It was a party, and a country, learning to breathe again, yearning to breathe free, as it says on the pedestal beneath the Statue of Liberty, a verse that was written to welcome waves of immigrants, but it was a verse that leaped to mind Tuesday night because it seemed that America was being welcomed back to itself. That’s what you could feel in your feet in the United Center on Tuesday night. Everyone was going faster miles an hour…with the radio on…

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Excellent Read: Michelle Obama & ‘the Affirmative Action of Generational Wealth’

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Philip Bump, at the Washington Post — “With six words, Michelle Obama rewires America’s conversation on race”: [gift link]:

… In one of the more memorable stretches of her speech, she equated the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, with the majority of Americans who never enjoyed Trump’s wealth and privilege — and the safety net that accompanies them.

Harris “understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward,” Obama said. “We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. No.

“We don’t get to change the rules so we always win,” she continued. “If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top. We put our heads down. We get to work.”

Trump’s name wasn’t used but it didn’t need to be. That line about the escalator, a call back to Trump’s 2015 campaign launch, made the point obvious, if it wasn’t already.

But there are six words in that stretch that extend well beyond Trump. Obama used a phrase that succinctly and elegantly reframes the ongoing debate over inequality in the United States and how it might be addressed: “the affirmative action of generational wealth.”

It’s concise, centered on two familiar concepts. The first is “affirmative action,” the term used to describe programs generally focused on ensuring that non-White Americans have access to resources and institutions they might not otherwise have. And the second is “generational wealth,” the transition of economic (and social) power through families and, at times, communities…

The linchpin of Obama’s phrase, though, is its shortest word: “of.” She isn’t contrasting affirmative action and generational wealth as conduits to power and success, she’s overlapping them. She’s noting that generational wealth is a form of affirmative action, here in the person of Trump but certainly beyond that.

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War for Ukraine Day 910: The Bombardment of Kharkiv Oblast Continues

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Three quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie is doing okay. She’s moving a bit more slowly and gingerly today, which is the normal Wednesday to Thursday systemic response she has to the chemo she got on Monday. So right now she’s up on the bed with me and Ruby and she’s just chilling.

Second, I am even more fried than I was yesterday, so we’re going to once again just run through the standard fare. Also, I’ll be racking out again pretty much as soon as I’m done with the update because I’m just tired, stiff, and sore from a combination of the project I’m working on and working out.

Third, while I know folks made you welcome in the comments last night/this morning, and a bit thanks to TaMara for approving your first comment, as the author of these updates I’d like to welcome Aggeriec and congratulate you on your first comment at 11:03 PM EDT last night. You are most welcome.

The Russians continue in their attempts to bombard Kharkiv into submission.

One woman has been rescued from under the rubble after the russian artillery strike on Kozacha Lopan in the Kharkiv region.

“Search and rescue operations continue, but the enemy constantly uses FPV drones, hindering their conduct. As a result of drone strikes, our municipal equipment has already been damaged,” reported the head of the community, Vyacheslav Zadorenko.

They are searching for two more women who are still under the rubble.

And that air raid alert is back up. As are the ones in Sumy and Poltava Oblasts.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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