Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

So very ready.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

He really is that stupid.

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

This really is a full service blog.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

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On The Road – ema – Florals in Fashion

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ema

From the New York Botanical Garden’s 2024 orchid show, a fashion-inspired celebration of all things orchids.

Compared to last year, this year’s show had half the number of orchids and quite a few mannequins. Loved the orchids (look for them in an upcoming Garden Chat), quite meh on the rest. I mean, if you are going to be all artsy and have your mannequin wear plant pants, at least use orchids rather than succulents. What do you think, is the fashion part a hit or a miss?

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On The Road - ema - Florals in Fashion 7

The grand entrance display.

‘Should Be A Parody’ Open Thread: The Way We Live Now

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I am very much *not* on TikTok — I know my limits — so when this video started popping up on the twitter feeds I follow, I assumed (hoped) it was some kind of performance art / parody. But as far as I can tell from a brief google, this is a real person, this is her actual feed, she says she’s a 28-year-old ‘stay at home 3x boy mom’ / wedding photographer in North Carolina whose husband works insane hours, and… she’s making money off TikTok hate clicks. How much money is that?

neither they nor their spouse can possibly afford to get divorced. The number of times I have called opposing counsel for the first time and asked if their client is open to filing for bankruptcy. And these aren’t poor people! They’re just poor managers.

“what do you mean I can’t afford to get divorced?? We both make six figures!”

Well let’s break this down. Neither of you can afford the home on your own. Normally I’d say sell it and downsize but y’all have it mortgaged to the hilt and have mostly only paid on interest.

Ya got two $90k cars, a motorcycle, a side-by-side, a four-wheeler, a country club membership, and a timeshare, all of which you’ve paid for on credit. Oh and somehow you’ve also managed to wrack up $35k in credit card bills, mostly on expensive vacations.

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Just a Quick Update on Zander

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Today was hard, as we had to say goodbye to the Z-Man. He did really well since his diagnosis (liver cancer) and remained much himself, doing Zander things until a couple of days ago. He was totally spoiled with only his favorite foods, lots of scritches, and visits from his many friends. Tuesday he stopped eating and yesterday he stopped drinking. It was time.

Just a Quick Update on Zander

He will be missed. He was everyone’s cat, never met a stranger, and charmed everyone who entered the house, including a lot of repair people. He was always there to assist. And of course, he worked hardest at the non-cat people, as cats are wont to do. And didn’t leave my dad’s side when he visited last fall.

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Israel Agrees to Reopen Land Crossing and Port after “Unprecedented” Threat from President Biden

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Please let this be real.

I can’t help but wonder if the proposed date a new election in the fall might have been part of a  one-two punch resulting in  the change from Bibi.  (We can only hope that Bibi is feeling absolutely desperate, and with good reason.)

The article said the phone call was “spurred by”  the deliberate attacks that killed the 7 World Central Kitchen workers.

After U.S. ultimatum, Israel immediately promises to open new aid routes into Gaza  (CBC)

Israel promised it will open new humanitarian aid routes into Gaza on Thursday, immediately after its most important international ally appeared to threaten it with an ultimatum.

“There’s been growing frustration,” with Israel’s handling of the war, White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

In the coming hours and days, he said, the U.S. would look for several specific changes: new humanitarian aid crossings into Gaza, an immediate ceasefire as Israel takes new steps to protect civilians, and more movement in hostage negotiations.

This marked the first time the Biden administration has threatened publicly to use its leverage on Israel to get specific changes in Gaza, another indicator of the shifting politics of the war.

In Washington, criticism of Israel, once relegated to the fringe, has moved into the mainstream, with Biden facing particular pressure from his party’s left.

What’s less clear are the specifics of the U.S. ultimatum.

The White House had repeatedly refused to specify what it would do if unsatisfied with what it hears back from Netanyahu’s government.

“What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side. And if we don’t see changes from their side, there’ll have to be changes from our side,” he said.

“But I won’t preview what that could look like.”

This is absolutely horrifying.  I read about it earlier, but it’s just as shocking the second time.  

On a related note, Kirby declined to comment on news reports that purport to identify one of the reasons for a high number of civilian casualties in Gaza.

Israeli and British outlets this week reported on an artificial intelligence program, called Lavender, that the Israeli military has used to identify suspected Hamas operatives.

The list purportedly grew to 37,000 at one point — but was eventually scaled back — and those people were targeted for bombing, even if they were surrounded by civilians.

Military personnel rarely questioned the AI before approving strikes, according to the reports.

Monsters.  The leaders in Israel  have lost their humanity.

Hoping for real changes, BIG changes, immediately, not some bullshit pretense with incremental changes.  I don’t think Biden would accept that if Bibi tried it.

Open thread.

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Thursday Night Open Thread

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No Labels? More like no candidates, amirite:

oday, No Labels is ending our effort to put forth a Unity ticket in the 2024 presidential election.

Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before. But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.

So apparently the only thing deader than their efforts is Joe Lieberman. Shame, really, because now how are Nancy Jacobson and her scumbag husband Mark Penn going to grift this year?

***

The weather here is still crazy- raining off and on, and a state of emergency has been declared in the closest “city,” Wellsburg, where there river is expected to crest at 42+ feet either tonight or tomorrow. Apparently we also had hail today, but I missed it because I was in a zoom meeting and didn’t even notice.

Pleased to hear the solar eclipse is next week and I did not miss it. Although I doubt I will be much interested because I am having a colonoscopy on Tuesday and in the midst of the delightful prep during the main event. Technically, I guess Tuesday will feature a lunar eclipse of sorts.

I’m in the middle of watching Black Sails, which I had started several times and did not finish. I think this time it is going to stick.

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War for Ukraine Day 771: The Butcher’s Bill from Kharkiv

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a black border. There are grey buildings with black windows along the left side. The center is a yellowy-grey, perhaps Ukrainian wheat fields. There is a black shadow figure striding through it. The figure's legs and feet are all that is visible of it. On the right side are red Zs, which symbolize Putin's/Russia's "Z" war/special military operation in Ukraine. The sky above the buildings is light grey. "GENOCIDE IS GOING BUT WHO EVEN CARES?" is painted in black in the upper left hand corner.

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

The air raid alert was activated for Kharkiv just before I began drafting last night’s post. We now know the butcher’s bill.

First, Russia’s strike on Kharkiv’s civilian power generation and transmission grid put a nuclear facility at risk last night.

Second, Russia has again used its double tap strike tactics again last night.

Kharkiv. A young firefighter cries at the place of explosion, where russia few minutes before killed his father, a 52-year-old rescuer.

Eternal memory to Vladyslav Logienko, who died saving the lives of civilians.
Ukraine needs more air defense systems, to save our people from russian terror. Such tragedies should not be repeated.

📹: Ihor Klymenko

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

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Open Thread: Another Predictable Failure…

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The always readable Catherine Rampell, at the Washington Post — “The internet was supposed to make humanity smarter. It’s failing.” [gift link]:

Not long ago, humankind seemed destined to grow more informed over time.

After all, we’ve had millennia to accumulate scientific findings, brilliant literature and new technologies. Then something miraculous happened: The internet made it easy to disseminate and democratize all that wisdom. With reliable broadband and ubiquitous smartphones, the entire sum of human knowledge is now at our fingertips 24/7.

Yet here we are in 2024, and the internet seems to have made many of us so much dumber. Or at least, much more susceptible to wildly false information.

For example:
– Young women have been dumping their birth control because viral influencer videos claim ye olde “rhythm method” is safer.

– The tragic collapse of a Baltimore bridge, after a ship lost power, launched a zillion viral conspiracy theories blaming diversity education, capitalism, immigrants and (inevitably) the Jews.

– The Islamic State practically had to beg for credit for its slaughter of civilians at a Russian concert hall because too many conspiracy theorists have blamed other culprits. (“I had never considered before that we might solve terrorism by becoming so collectively stupid that no one can agree who perpetrated the attack,” observed tech policy researcher Eli Dourado. “No point in terrorizing if you don’t get the credit!”)…

So how is it that the internet has made so many of us less informed?

It’s easy to understand how mistruths can spread. Lies can be optimized for virality. The truth cannot because it’s constrained by reality, which is sometimes boring. So it’s no surprise that lies can do better online; they can be designed to appeal to their audiences’ biases and desires. The underlying principle is not new. As the saying goes, a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its boots.

The internet also makes it easier to find communities that can reinforce and embellish any given conspiracy theory, no matter how improbable. “Old wives’ tales” and hoaxes are not new, of course, but it’s hard to imagine QAnon lore proliferating as widely and quickly and with such elaborate detail in a pre-internet era. Those who wish to spread misinformation — perhaps for political or financial gain — can now efficiently share their message at scale.

The puzzle is why consumers haven’t grown savvier about spotting misinformation. During the 2016 election cycle, lots of Americans proved easily manipulable by Russian trolls and disinformation agents on Facebook. But those Facebook victims were disproportionately older users who hadn’t grown up in the digital era and presumably had less practice scrutinizing the credibility of online sources.

As new generations arose who were digital natives, I (naively) assumed Americans would become better at differentiating between a viral social-media anecdote and a vetted news story or credible statistical source. Somehow, the opposite has happened. Gen Zers appear to struggle with news literacy as much boomers, at least based on the large share of young people who trust and reshare random TikTok influencers for hard news…

To quote Men in Black: “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet.”

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