Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

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

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

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

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

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

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

Innocent people do not delay justice.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

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So yesterday Trump filed his appeal with the Supreme Court at the last possible moment. Just now, the Supreme Court gave Jack Smith ONE WEEK (until 2/20 at 4 pm) to respond to Trump’s request to stay the immunity ruling.

If the Supreme Court grants the stay, then that’s a HUGE win for Trump because the trial in D.C won’t start up again until or unless the Supreme eventually rules against Trump.  Could it be a temporary stay?  Even if it’s temporary every day / week / month that Trump can stall is not good for this country.

Is it possible that SCOTUS could rule quickly? Theoretically, yes. I don’t know yet what the legal eagles would have to say about the likelihood of that.

What else is happening this morning?

Update: oh dear. Sigh. This isn’t good.

Open thread.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Carne Vale

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Standing 9 feet tall, Raquel Potí regularly graces the front pages of Brazilian magazines and newspapers, and on Saturday the artist donned a lavish feathered costume and lacquered her body in gold glitter. At one point she charged the length of the street party, sweeping her rainbow wings like she was about to take flight. It was the latest of her charismatic stilt walking performances that has prompted some media to call her the muse of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival.

But on a recent weekend, she had reduced herself to her natural, petite size and patched jeans. During a class outside Rio’s modern art museum, she instructed a group of students to lock eyes with a partner. Each pair recalled someone who shaped them and shared their dreams. Then they hugged. Some wept, one while recounting how her grandmother taught her to smile.

“You weren’t tricked,” Potí, 40, told them. “This IS a stilt walking class. And it has already begun!”

The class is at the center of her outsized footprint in Rio, which includes managing several government-funded social projects to teach stilts, theater and performing arts, running a production company and recruiting members of her ever-expanding network for event appearances…

Click over for some fantastic video… and also, the Blocao Dog Parade!
 

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Squishable Morning Open Thread

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Josh Marshall at TPM made a point yesterday about the current moment in U.S. politics that rang true to me, at least partially. He was talking about the debate about Biden’s age, which IMO isn’t unwarranted but is completely pointless:

A lot of this “debate” comes down to the fact that people do not or cannot get their heads around the idea that Trump is popular. Roughly enough Americans want Donald Trump to be President again. We’ll find out in November if it’s just under enough, as it was in 2020, or just over, as it was in 2016. But in terms of who we are as Americans and the state of the country, that’s not a huge difference. For a lot of people it’s easier to inflate their own sense of agency, or that of the community they imagine themselves a part of, by believing that Trump’s ability to get elected can only be the product of Democrats’ mistakes. So Trump’s beatable, it’s just that Democrats are putting up a weak candidate, Joe Biden. Or Trump’s beatable, but Democrats are controlled by establishment neo-liberals. Or Trump’s beatable, but Democrats are too woke.

My quibble is I don’t think Trump is as popular as generally supposed. He owns a large enough plurality of the GOP base to rule the Republican Party through fear. But as we’ve discussed, he’s yet to crack 60% in a primary contest, which isn’t exactly a “strongman” result.

That said, I think Marshall may be right when he says there’s an element of denial among some folks who oppose Trump, a reluctance to accept that tens of millions of our fellow citizens are eager to restore an embarrassing fascist buffoon to power. I struggle to accept that myself, and I live among his supporters and therefore see daily evidence that the enthusiasm for his narcissistic effluvia and demagoguery is real.

Open thread.

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On The Road – TKH – Sinai Trail Part 1

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TKH

Over the course of seven weeks, beginning in late October, to early December of last year (2023) I backpacked the Sinai Trail on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. The hike was organized by sinaitrail.org, a Bedouin-run non-profit that aims to give the Bedouins an income stream from tourism that they themselves control. Apart from my predilection for hiking in the desert, this concept made me decide to go on this trip.

Over the course of 48 days we hiked some 550 km (320 miles), between 10 and 22 km (6-15 miles) per day. Owing to the harshness of the terrain, this was a supported hike. This means that supplies, most importantly almost all of the water the group drank and the food, was carried by either a Jeep or camels. Also, each of us had a “camel bag” with gear that would be ferried from camp site to camp site by these means. For my standards this was unusually luxurious as I am used to carry all of my gear and supplies on my back during my long distance hikes. However, doing this particular trek unsupported is not possible as neither the Bedouin nor the Egyptian government will allow unaccompanied tourists, foreign or domestic, in the Sinai. Moreover, the resupply of food and water are orders of magnitude more difficult in the Sinai than, say, in the Utah or Arizona backcountry.

We started the hike on the West shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, midway between Taba on the border of Israel and Egypt and the Bedouin town of Nueiba. Over the next 12 days we hiked to the oasis of Ein Kid, a location so small that it is not shown on any topographic map (it is at the bottom of the red line in the schematic map). From there, over the following 12 days we hiked to the small town of St. Katherine where we had a rest day, well deserved and necessary. From there in another section lasting 12 days we hiked roughly Northwest inland of the Gulf of Suez to Serabit el Khadem, an ancient turquoise mine from Pharaonic times. The last section brought us back from there to Nueiba on the Coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.

 

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On The Road - TKH - Sinai Trail Part 1 8
Sinai PeninsulaOctober 19, 2023

A schematic map of our route through the peninsula

Monday Night Open Thread

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Was a busy day- Monday’s tend to be that way. Got a bunch of work done and managed to sell two items on fb marketplace for a cool 170 bucks, which will cover the cost of paint and paintbrushes, so I’m pretty stoked about that. And one was an item Joelle had wanted to get rid of but just never had.

I am currently eating a salad waiting for our lasagne to cool. Nothing special- just made a sauce, browned some ground beef and veg, some ricotta, some mozz, some spinach. That’s the great thing about dishes like lasagne- use good stuff and season it well, and even if it doesn’t come out perfect it’s still going to be delicious.

I had a bunch of things I wanted to talk about but can’t remember what they were. I suppose I can update the post when one comes to me which it inevitably did while writing this.

That Revere Ware. Man is it special stuff. My grandmother had a full set of it and I remembered it being good, but our cookware thread a couple weeks back really jogged my memory, and I am so glad I picked up a couple pieces for Joelle. Stylistically they are perfect for her, but they are also just fucking indestructible. And they cook so well, and they don’t have the heft that would deter a wee person from using something like cast iron. Just great shit.

I mean as far as cookware goes for the masses, we probably should have just stopped with Revere Ware and probably should have done the same thing with Fiesta Ware and Corning Ware. We really didn’t need all these other brands, did we? Although I suppose getting the uranium out of the fiesta ware was a solid move, but hell, boomers and gen x basically ate lead and look how good we turned out.

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Feb 12 Is Here, and So Is Trump’s Appeal

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Today was the deadline for Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court.  Otherwise, the D.C. trial would start up again immediately.  No surprise that he appealed, or that he waited until the last possible day.  Delay, delay, delay.

Since it seems that SCOTUS is most likely to interfere with the 14th amendment case, you’d think they might let the clear ruling from last week stand.

Now we wait up to another 7 days to hear from the Supreme Court.  If they are smart, they will stay out of this one and let the D.C. trial proceed.

Auto Draft 93

 

If SCOTUS grants a stay, they won’t just be putting a thumb on the scale.  Oh what I would give to have a SCOTUS that could be trusted to do the right thing.

Open thread!

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War for Ukraine Day 719: Cry Friskies! And Let Slip the Cats of War!

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(The only cat image I’ve got)

https://twitter.com/Lyla_lilas/status/1753685644923097241

🐈 ❤️ Politico published an article about Ukrainian cats that help the military defend the Motherland. Among the heroes are Syrskyi, Shaybyk, Karolina and Gerych.

Cats usually come to the defenders at the front from nearby villages and towns, seeking human protection from constant shelling and explosions.

“When this frightened little creature comes to you seeking protection, how can you say no?” We are strong, that’s why we protect weaker beings who got into such terrible circumstances as we did, only because Russians appeared on our land,” explained combat medic Oleksandr Yabchanka.

We’ll get to the full article after the jump.

Mongolia’s former president wins the epic trolling of Russia award for today:

https://twitter.com/elbegdorj/status/1756818696700657935

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

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