Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

We still have time to mess this up!

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

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

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

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

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

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Archives for 2024

Jury Questions Give Me Hope That This Is a (mostly) Sensible Jury

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I think I am more hopeful that Trump will be found guilty than most of you.  I don’t always have to be right, but I sure hope I am this time!

  1. First president in 28 years to not serve a second term.
  2. First president in 45 years not to release any of his tax returns.
  3. First president in 89 years to lose the presidency, the House and the Senate in a single term.
  4. First president in 102 years to allow more than 120,000 Americans to die in a single virus outbreak.
  5. First president in 129 years to lose the popular vote twice.
  6. First president in 152 years to boycott his successors inauguration.
  7. First president ever to fail to hit a 50% approval rating at any point during their presidency.
  8. First president ever to be elected with the help of a foreign nation.
  9. First president ever to be impeached twice.
  10. *First president ever to have a member of their own party vote for conviction in an impeachment trial.
  11. First president ever to have an arrest warrant issued against him by a foreign nation.
  12. First president ever to refuse to concede defeat. First president to be banned from social media.
  13. First president to refuse to ensure the peaceful transfer of power.
  14. First president to have their home searched for official national security documents.
  15. First former president found liable of sexual abuse, defamation & business fraud.
  16. First former president criminally indicted (also the second, third and fourth).
  17. First former president with a mugshot.
  18. First former president to await a jury’s verdict as the defendant in a criminal trial.
  19. So many firsts, so much winning. He must be sick of it.
  20. ?

*#8 gets an asterisk because Nixon and Reagan conspired against the US with other countries in order to get elected.

*#10 has been deemed incorrect by a commenter, with a reference to Andrew Johnson.  Disputed by Baud.

What’s everyone up to today?

Is spring gardening kicking anyone else’s butt?

 

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While We Wait Open Thread: Carson Dies More Often Than Kenny*

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Because of the way FB works, I’ll be forever grateful my cousin follows this group and liked a bunch of Carson is Dead – Again videos. Carson is a rescue opossum at the For Fox Sake Wildlife rescue in TN, and he is VERY DRAMATIC. While most possums will fake death when threatened, Carson fakes death if you look at him. So the videos of his vet checks went viral.

ETA: Forgot to say he was just released with 3 others, this week. And yes, he did “die” before he finally left his crate. They had to watch with binoculars to make sure he was finally on his way.

 

@forfoxsakewildlife Carson dies again. #wildliferescue #opossum ♬ Funeral Choir – Marc Straight


I LOVE that they made him a little coffin enclosure and added the funereal music.

@forfoxsakewildlife Carson dies again. #opossum #wildliferescue ♬ Church pipe organ & chorus – PeriTune

Here he is on CNN, with a bit more explanation.  Carson is dead again   (you’ll have to click over, but it’s worth it)

=========

Now we’re going to not only change lanes, but hit the gas because Randy Rainbow has a new video on MTG

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Thursday Morning Open Thread: News the Media Can Use

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Pandas!

Now, if they could just work up a similar level of enthusiasm for Democrats…

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Late Night Open Thread: The Cultists Are Uneasy

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Vox populi numbers not looking great for TFG…


Late Night Open Thread: The Cultists Are Uneasy

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War for Ukraine Day 826: Air Raid Alerts Up Over Most of Ukraine

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A screen grab of the air raid alert map of Ukraine from 7:13 PM EDT on 29 MAY 2024. Air raid warnings are up over almost all of central Ukraine from the eastern border with Russia to the central oblasts/regions.

(Air Raid Alert Map of Ukraine as of 7:13 PM EDT on 29 MAY 2024)

Quick housekeeping note: The girls are doing fine. Rosie is acting/being more her normal self than before she was diagnosed. Her next chemo treatment is on this coming Monday, which will be the first treatment of the second round. Until then there’s not much to report. Thank you all again very much for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations!

Also, it’s been a long couple of days, so I’m going to try to keep tonight’s update shorter.

As you can see from the map, most of Ukraine is under air raid warnings right now.

Kharkiv is being attacked as I write this:

As are several other oblasts and cities:

The Tu-95 “Bear” bombers are what is most likely responsible for the air raid warnings being posted so far west.

Sumy Oblast was also attacked again earlier today.

From Ukrainska Pravda:

The Russian army launched 17 attacks on settlements in Sumy Oblast on 29 May. In total, 68 explosions were documented.

Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

Details: In the afternoon, the Russian army launched a missile attack on the Krasnopillia hromada [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]. Two people are reported to have been killed. The number of people injured has risen to five.

One person was injured in a mortar attack in the Seredyna-Buda hromada, where three explosions were recorded.

In the Myropillia hromada, the Russians launched artillery attacks. Two explosions were documented. In the Esman hromada, there was a mortar attack (four explosions).

In the Shalyhyne hromada, Russia dropped 14 mines. The Russians attacked the Druzhba hromada using multiple-launch rocket systems (11 explosions). A mortar attack was recorded in the Putyvl hromada (17 explosions).

In the Velyka Pysarivka hromada, the Russians mounted attacks using UAVs (four explosions) and a mortar (eight explosions).

The Kyiv Independent also has details on yesterday’s attacks:

Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 81 times in 23 separate attacks throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on May 28.

The communities of Bilopillia, Khotin, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Berezivka, Seredyna-Buda, Novoslobidske, Putyvl, Hlukhiv, and Esman, were targeted.

Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, drone, and artillery attacks, while also dropping explosives from drones onto a community.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

The town of Velyka Pysarivka, located about 3 kilometers west of the Ukraine-Russia border, experienced the bulk of the attacks reported with 19 explosions recorded in the area.

Given the town’s proximity to Russia, Velyka Pysarivka has become a main target of attack for Russia over recent months. Much of the community’s infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian attacks.

Russian strikes against Sumy Oblast have become increasingly destructive in recent months. Amid intensified attacks, Ukrainian authorities ordered increased evacuations from the region.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on May 14 he expects Russia to launch a new attack in Sumy Oblast once the situation in Kharkiv Oblast stabilized, the New York Times reported.

Officials from Ukraine’s Border Guard service later said that Russia does not have enough troops on the Sumy Oblast border to launch a major attack on the region.

Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region’s vulnerable border settlements experience multiple attacks per day.

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

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Concerning Industrial-Grade Whataboutism

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Look. I care about climate change a lot. I'm close to a single-issue voter on the subject!

But we have GOT to stop worrying about what are, in the scheme of things, rounding errors. I hate, hate, hate this kind of personal-responsibility climate stuff, it's deeply counterproductive.

[image or embed]

— Django Wexler (@djangowexler.bsky.social) May 25, 2024 at 3:48 PM

And now, for something completely different… (BlueSky really does have some fantastic posters!)

According to their data here (which is, for various reasons, wildly overstating the case) buying 3 paper books per month for four years yields roughly a metric ton of CO2. That’s the equivalent of 110 gallons of gasoline. Less then 3,000 miles for a decent car!

If *publishing companies* want to take steps to reduce their footprint, that’s great — they have the scale to do real good. But to pretend that changing your individual purchasing habits for books is going to achieve anything is nonsensical.

The whole idea that climate change can be meaningfully address to consumers altering their personal decisions is so horribly counterproductive it’s not surprising to discover it was invented, in large part, by energy companies and other pro-climate apocalypse forces.

Because it generates maximum pain for minimum gain. Consumers seriously affect their lives and make compromises, in order to achieve essentially nothing. Politically, this

a) Staves off more effective government action, and
b) Convinces people that action is going to be a personal hardship.

You see this in conservative talking points — climate action is framed in terms of having to give up your pleasures, your oven, your favorite food.

Actual effective climate action overwhelming looks like regulation, taxes, and subsidies–to consumers, this might mean “pay a little more in taxes”.

Which, look, nobody likes paying more in taxes. (And there’s lot to be done to make sure the wealthy pay as much as possible.) But the government isn’t going to come in and take away your burgers at gunpoint.

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