Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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

This really is a full service blog.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

“woke” is the new caravan.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

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

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

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

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Late Night Open Thread: OMG They Admit It!…

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Oh My God He Admit It Tim Robinson GIFfrom Oh My God He Admit It GIFs


 

The News Gnus stampede… From the Guardian, “Why is the pundit class so desperate to push Biden out of the race?”:

… They have become a stampeding herd producing an avalanche of stories suggesting Biden is unfit, will lose and should go away, at a point in the campaign in which replacing him would likely be somewhere between extremely difficult and utterly catastrophic. They do this while ignoring something every scholar and critic of journalism knows well and every journalist should. As Nikole Hannah-Jones put it: “As media we consistently proclaim that we are just reporting the news when in fact we are driving it. What we cover, how we cover it, determines often what Americans think is important and how they perceive these issues yet we keep pretending it’s not so.” They are not reporting that he is a loser; they are making him one.

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The FTFNYT Challenge Open Thread

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I know we have a lot of talented BJ peeps.  One of our commenters took these photos of the NYT on a walk recently, and I thought with all this talent in the commentariat that perhaps some of you might want to have some fun enhancing one of these photos.  Two photo options, very similar, but slightly different.

Anyway, if you do, please have some fun and send me your new version.

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This is an open thread, you know what to do.

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War for Ukraine Day 864: Russia Sends the Shaheds Against Sumy Oblast

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A painting by Ukrainian artist NEIVANMADE. The words "NEVER AGAIN" are repeated over and over, from left to right and top to bottom, in a faded, washed out black against a white background. Red, the color of blood, runs and drips down across 2/3rds of the painting. "WHILE YOU TOLERATE TYRANTS" is written/painted in the bottom white corner below the three rows of "NEVER AGAIN".

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

A quick housekeeping note: Rosie is still doing well. She starts round 3 of chemotherapy on Monday. Thank you all, again, for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

Last night Russia launched a drone attack against Sumy Oblast, as well as other parts of Ukraine.

Here’s the full text of the first tweet:

⚡️Russian drones damage energy infrastructure in Sumy Oblast.

A Russian drone attack overnight on July 6 caused damage to energy infrastructure in Sumy Oblast, leaving several communities in the region without power, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

The Kyiv Independent has the details.

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

A Russian drone attack overnight on July 6 caused damage to energy infrastructure in Sumy Oblast, leaving several communities in the region without power, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

In recent months, Russia has intensified its attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in a renewed assault against the country’s energy grid.

Explosions were heard in Sumy Oblast shortly after midnight local time, Suspilne reported, as the Air Force warned of the threat of Russian Shahed-type drone attacks.

Emergency crews are currently on scene and are investigating the extent of the damage, the military administration said.

Earlier in the night, local officials in the city of Sumy said that a Russian drone attack temporarily cut off power to the local water system and disrupted the water supply. Water usage was restored by 7:30 a.m. local time, Suspilne Sumy reported.

As a result of the attacks on energy infrastructure, Ukraine began implementing rolling blackouts on May 15.

Due to dwindling energy supplies caused by Russian attacks, Ukraine’s largest privately-owned energy provider DTEK has warned that Ukrainians have only have electricity for 6-7 hours per day in the upcoming winter.

In a “worst-case” scenario in which Ukraine is unable to repair damaged energy facilities and prevent future attacks, Ukrainians could experience up to 20 hours of blackouts a day, DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk told the Kyiv Independent in an interview on June 9.

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

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Saturday Evening Open Thread: Good News!

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I say this ad should be running 24/7 in every swing state, and also on whatever tv channel TFG is most likely to be watching at Marred-A-Largo.

 

Bloomberg certainly can’t be accused of Democratic partisanship here, but even grudging news is good… “Biden Narrows Gap With Trump in Swing States Despite Debate Loss”:

President Joe Biden registered his best showing yet in a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll of battleground states, even as voters offered withering appraisals of his debate performance amid panic within his party.

Republican Donald Trump led Democrat Biden by only 2 percentage points, 47% to 45%, in the critical states needed to win the November election. That’s the smallest gap since the poll began last October. Biden now leads Trump in Michigan and Wisconsin. He’s within the poll’s statistical margin of error in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, and is farthest behind in the critical state of Pennsylvania…

The Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll is the first comprehensive survey of the states most likely to decide the outcome in the Electoral College since the debate on June 27. Its findings run counter to some recent national polls, which showed a worsening picture for Biden. The poll could turn out to be a statistical outlier.

While the results show a “modest boost” in concerns about Biden’s mental acuity, they’re “nothing to match the level of alarm expressed by prominent voices in the Democratic Party,” said Eli Yokley, US political analyst for Morning Consult. “This suggests the age matter was already baked into most voters’ minds: The only difference now is more Democrats are acknowledging it.”

The Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll also started four days after the debate — later than some national polls — giving voters more time to evaluate Biden’s performance.

The poll’s first responses came on the day the Supreme Court granted Trump immunity for criminal acts he may have committed as part of his “official responsibilities.” The issue of democracy now rivals immigration as the second-biggest concern among swing-state voters, and it’s one of few issues — including climate change, abortion and health care — where Biden enjoys a significant edge in voter trust…

Trump has his own hurdles to overcome. Some 62% of voters said he’s dangerous, an increase from 59% in February. That comes after a jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former US president to become a convicted felon. The survey is the first Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll since Trump’s conviction in late May.

“Biden’s debate performance may be more recent but Trump’s guilty verdict has not gone away,” said Matt Monday, senior manager at Morning Consult…

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Forewarned Is Forearmed Open Thread

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Two quick things for this open thread.

First.  Biden cancels his speech (scheduled for Sunday) because there is a strike, with picket lines, and we all know that Joe Biden will not be crossing a picket line. h/t Chris Johnson

You know what the media will say, you know what social media trolls will say; now you know what the real deal is in advance.  Forewarned is forearmed.

Second.   An interesting take on troll behavior, from Chris Johnson the comments.  I’ll be interested in hearing your thoughts on these thoughts!

I coin the term ‘Trollster’, check it out :)

You can (and we did!) get pairs of trolls with the following characteristics:

  • Instead of trying to persuade, they’re hammering narratives very unappealingly. It’s brazen, annoying.
  • The narratives may have a common factor (Biden bad) but will outline OPPOSITE positions. Trump stronk/weak,  Kamala Prez/dumped, like that.
  • The trolls WILL NOT intersect. Strictly one thread for the one, one thread for the other. If invited they will not intersect, though they seemingly have opposite takes.
  • If discovered they can retreat or one will drop out so the other can troll normally.

The purpose of Trollstering is to get information back about the subjects that have opposite takes. They, or somebody, is taking note of how they’re argued against and what sticks. The reason they will not intersect even when invited, is because it’s actively a rule for them not to do, and the reason for that is it’d ruin the data! They can’t argue with each other, they’re strictly gathering data on YOU. I would bet money there’s an actual rule against them posting in each others’ threads.

So, if the trollage seems unusually obnoxious and it really seems to be picking fights, check to see if you’re being Trollstered. Is there a nearby thread with a whole other troll, who is being just as obnoxious but over literally opposite points?

Getting normally trolled requires getting some sympathy, but getting Trollstered can be way more adversarial, because you’re being watched on how you respond to the side-issues. They’ll be incredibly on-message, but there’ll be another one where the message has a contradictory aspect. It’s a poll

Here’s the usefulness: it’s a window into what narrative might get pushed next, and it reveals weakness. If the narrative is going perfect they don’t need to do this.

If anyone has questions about how the pie filter works, we have answers.  Just ask!

Open thread.

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What Else You Got Going On Between Now and November?

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What else you got going on between now and November?
Surely nothing more important than this.

In the words of Tony Jay

The only thing that has changed since last week is that the corporate media have gone balls to the wall to create an ‘ongoing crisis’ for Democrats that they can milk until election day – which they were always going to do anyway – and the utter scum infesting the Supreme Court have gone balls to the wall inventing a Conservaconstitution to replace the one that has worked for 200+ years – which they were always going to do anyway.

You can’t do anything about that. Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of.

All you lot can do is donate, volunteer, campaign, and keep on taking any opportunity you can to remind ‘normal’ voters that the choice is between progressive Government under Democrats and a descent into crab barrel fascism under Stench and the Hench Party.

What else you got going on between now and November that’s a better way to pass the time?

We have an angel match from RaflW and (very likely) an external match, so donations will almost certainly be 4x.  The usual match rules apply.

We have a lot to do and a lot of boots to get on the ground between now and November.  

Let’s do this!
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Climate Solutions: More On Regenerative Farming

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I have so much information tucked away – including some dramatic changes in cooling – which as the planet heats, becomes a bigger problem and emissions contributor. There is also a lot of news out on batteries, new EVs and everyone’s favorite – fixing the grid (if you’re not following David Roberts Volts podcasts, I highly recommend, he covers most of those innovations) I really have not had time to aggregate any of it properly for posts.

But, there are two documentaries out that address regenerative farming. There is more and more data that if we heal the soil, carbon capture solutions reveal themselves.

This one is free to watch on YouTube:

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The Roots So Deep Documentary is now available to rent. It’s on my list, though I wanted to wait until I knew I could watch it uninterrupted.

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