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.

Be a wild strawberry.

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

Books are my comfort food!

Wait, what?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

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

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

This fight is for everything.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

“Alexa, change the president.”

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Win, Place, Show (Open Thread)

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In the first two GOP early state primary/caucus contests, Trump notched wins with 51% and 54% of the vote, which analysts called dominating performances. And they were big wins in the sense that losers DeSantis and Haley got clobbered.

But this is what it looks like when a party leader has a unified base behind him:

Win, Place Show (Open Thread)

According to the most recent poll I can find for South Carolina, Trump is beating Haley 58% to 32% in her home state. That’s embarrassing for her, but alarm bells should be ringing at Trump HQ since Orangemandias still ain’t cracking 60% so far.

We’ve known for almost a year now that, barring a black swan event, Trump is going to be the GOP nominee. A plurality of Republican base voters are hard-core cultists, and a not-insignificant number who don’t directly worship the buffoon nonetheless experience vicarious transgressive thrills from Trump’s antics. I think of the latter as the “just want to watch the world burn” faction.

But while it remains frightening and repulsive that tens of millions of our fellow citizens are such feckless fuck-squibs, this is not a strong start for Team Trump. Maybe the candidate himself dimly senses that, which might explain why last night he begged cultists on his tumbleweed-choked, knock-off social media platform to participate in his pathetic delusion that he looks like…Elvis Presley. Who died in 1977.

Win, Place Show (Open Thread) 1

And speaking of pathetic, in South Carolina, Rep. Dean Phillips finished third behind the Crystal Blue Persuasion lady with a whopping 1.7% share of primary votes. Sadly, it appears no one loves him enough to tell him he’s humiliating himself and should slink back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Open thread.

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Turning Towards Spring

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Turning Towards Spring!
 
Thank you, commentor JeffG166:

2.3.2024

I haven’t seen these for years. I thought they died out. Found them as I was cleaning up the garden. They were here when I moved in 26 years ago.

Per Wikipedia:

… Snowdrops are hardy herbaceous plants that perennate by underground bulbs. They are among the earliest spring bulbs to bloom, although a few forms of G. nivalis are autumn flowering. In colder climates, they will emerge through snow. They naturalise relatively easily forming large drifts. These are often sterile, found near human habitation, and also former monastic sites. The leaves die back a few weeks after the flowers have faded. Galanthus plants are relatively vigorous and may spread rapidly by forming bulb offsets. They also spread by dispersal of seed, animals disturbing bulbs, and water if disturbed by floods…

In 1983, Andreas Plaitakis and Roger Duvoisin suggested that the mysterious magical herb, moly, that appears in Homer’s Odyssey is the snowdrop. One of the active principles present in the snowdrop is the alkaloid galantamine, which, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, could have acted as an antidote to Circe’s poisons. Further supporting this notion are notes made during the fourth century BC by the Greek scholar Theophrastus who wrote in Historia plantarum that moly was “used as an antidote against poisons” although which specific poisons it was effective against remains unclear. Galantamine (or galanthamine) may be helpful in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, although it is not a cure; the substance also occurs naturally in daffodils and other narcissi…

Early names refer to the association with the religious feast of Candlemas (February 2) – the optimum flowering time of the plant – at which young women, robed in white, would walk in solemn procession in commemoration of the Purification of the Virgin, an alternative name for the feast day. The French name of violette de la chandaleur refers to Candlemas, while an Italian name, fiore della purificazione, refers to purification. The German name of Schneeglöckchen (little snow bells) invokes the symbol of bells.

In the language of flowers, the snowdrop is synonymous with ‘hope’ (and the goddess Persephone’s/Proserpina’s return from Hades), as it blooms in early springtime, just before the vernal equinox, and so, is seen as ‘heralding’ the new spring and new year….

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In case y’all missed my previous hints — Yes, I need more photos!

That being said:

What’s going on in your gardens (hoping / planning / memories / indoor), this week?

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What the Fuck With This Guy?

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Not to interrupt this apparent homemaking/travelogue with anything relevant to the current world, but as predicted, Joe Biden won South Carolina with 96.2% of the vote, with Marianne Williamson coming in a close second with 2.1% of the vote, which translates into approximately 2500 deluded souls who probably should not be allowed to own sharp knives (Ior anything with an edge, for that matter).

Speaking of not so sharp tools, we shan’t forget good ole Dean Philips, who came blasting across the finish line with 1.7% of the vote, or approximately 2200 sad persons who maybe we should let own sharp knives just to see if this problem takes care of itself. At any rate, our Dimestore David Duchovny was very pleased with his performance:

I don’t get with these people. I just googled this fucking guy and his net worth is 64 million dollars. Don’t you have any hobbies or anything. You could be doing literally anything else in the world with this money. Fucking hell I’d start a free kitchen. Or an animal sanctuary. Or build the world’s most elaborate cattery in the backyard above and around the fucking pool I would have obviously installed.

And I know I have said this a billion times and you have to be sick of hearing it, but dear lord baby jeebus I do not understand these motherfuckers.

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Saturday Night Open Thread

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This post is a shout to everyone who read my post earlier in the day and mentally thought to themselves “there’s no fucking way they are getting all that done” because you are tonight’s big winner. And a hearty fuck you to all of you, btw.

At any rate, to elaborate on what is going on, Joelle’s living room has the front door (that we do not use) and is connected to the galley kitchen with a door to the carport (that we do use) and on the other side connects to the hallway to the two bedrooms at the end, the bathroom in the middle, and a sun room that we call the dog room that connects to the patio and the backyard. We had a bunch of indoor outdoor 50’s tiki furniture that was gifted to her in that room that I picked up in Flagstaff a couple weeks ago.

So what we did is we threw out her aged couch and end table that she wanted to get rid of (that she put on FB marketplace and was GONE in an hour) deep-cleaned the living room, chose our paint colors from the samples we put up, and cleaned the tiki furniture and moved it into the living room temporarily. Tomorrow we are deep cleaning the sun room/dog room, and then while she is at work next week I am going to pain the sun room and the hallway. Once those are done, we will move the tiki stuff back into the sun room/dog room, and then we will paint the living room. Exhausted? Me too.

I was a spaz all day long and could not figure out what Joelle wanted me to do and she is quite frustrated with me right now, but what can I say, it’s a fucking package deal. I was unwittingly working against her because I thought we were painting the living room first- the list never got made, btw.

Another thing I keep forgetting is that I am an ogre. I would have no problem living for a week with the living room completely torn up and there being no other “space” to live. I mean I can get to the kitchen, the shower and shitter, the office, and the bed. What else do I need? Not all people ‘live’ like that or can just completely blot things out.

The other thing is that she is also very sentimental so this is all a big deal for her. I’m not so much. I look at something and scan for threats and utility, and in that order. Aesthetics follow, to varying degrees. She doesn’t think that way. She just has a different worldview that I will never fully understand but can respect and need to learn to get better at being sensitive to or in a couple years you might hear Josh Mankiwiecz on Dateline talking about a woman who slowly poisoned her husband to death by putting thallium in his topo chico. At any rate, the temporary living room with sunroom furniture while we do the other room and hallway. From the front door angling across the room to the galley kitchen:

Saturday Night Open Thread 3

A side view from one of the tiki seats against the wall.

Saturday Night Open Thread 4

And from the galley kitchen door:

Saturday Night Open Thread 5

If you look at the first picture, yoiu will see a picture of Marilyn Monroe, except it is not! It’s Joelle back in her youth when she worked in Wheeling and someone asked her to be a hair model. I think she looks like Ana de Armas in the picture:

Saturday Night Open Thread 6

At any rate, that was today. Currently I am researching textured walls to figure out what the fuck they are made of and what I can do to hang a picture or shit in them without destroying them.

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War for Ukraine Day 710: The House Majority GOP Caucus Announce’s the Abandonment of Ukraine To the World

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And there it is:

NBC has the details: (emphasis mine)

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Republicans on Saturday that the House will vote next week on a stand-alone bill to provide aid to Israel, with no offsetting spending cuts.

Johnson made the announcement in an afternoon letter to colleagues while criticizing the impending Senate legislation that would pair Israel aid with funding for Ukraine and a package of tougher border security and asylum laws.

“While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed doors negotiations, their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation,” Johnson wrote, adding that the House “will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed.”

Johnson blasted the Senate for what he called its “failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion,” arguing the House needs to act in the absence of leadership from the upper chamber amid “the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel.”

“Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” he wrote. “During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”

The bill is set to include $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for U.S. Forces in the region,” Johnson’s office said. A prior bill passed by the House, early in Johnson’s speakership, would have provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, attached to IRS cuts that Democrats said were a poison pill.

The legislation, called the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, is set to be introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., the speaker’s office said.

The unexpected move indicates that Johnson is digging his heels in against an immigration compromise and Ukraine funding, while suggesting that Israel aid is the only part of President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental request that House Republicans are prepared to pass.

It’s unclear whether the Senate will take up a stand-alone Israel aid bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants to start voting next week on the broader supplemental and immigration bill, with text expected to be released on Sunday.

The White House has previously signaled opposition to a stand-alone Israel aid bill, with the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, saying in November, “The president would veto an only-Israel bill. We — I think that we’ve made that clear.”

Johnson also, apparently, reiterated this week, in public, and caught on video that the Deity told him he was Moses.

https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1753172582860275911

People that believe that the Deity has given them specific orders and that in carrying out those orders will ensure they are right with the Deity CANNOT be negotiated with. They can also not be deterred or persuaded using any conventional means. This is why Israel is not getting their hostages back, why the Gazans are going to be the real long term victims of that war, and why playing whack a mole with the Houthis won’t work. Also, why there will be no negotiating with Speaker Johnson or his caucus.

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

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Local Races Open Thread: Does Colin Allred Stand A Chance Against Ted Cruz?

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I know Texas is heavily gerrymandered / wired for Republicans, but Allred seems like a good legislator, which Cruz is… not. Apart from being a notorious sports jinx, looks like Cruz has decided to respond to criticism of his ‘Flight to Cancun’ epic in the most Cruz manner possible:


Per Politico:

… The Texas Republican — infamously photographed by a gawker while en route to Cancún in 2021 — is proposing a bill amendment that would offer lawmakers a dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited screening outside of public view. That could make it much less likely that the politicians’ comings and goings would become fodder for embarrassing news reports and late-night comedy mockery.

The measure would also provide the same special treatment to federal judges and Cabinet members, as well as a limited number of their family and staff. Cruz is trying to attach the amendment to a major aviation policy bill, S. 1939, that is expected to be marked up in the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday.

Asked about the need for his amendment, Cruz told POLITICO that it’s about ensuring that political VIPs aren’t endangered as they pass through public spaces in airports. The draft says the extra security would be available to those who are currently or have previously “been the subject of a threat.”…

Political leaders’ air travels could become harder to decipher under Cruz’s draft language, which was obtained by POLITICO. The amendment would mandate that the TSA help “arrange” a security escort — which the provision says could be local law enforcement — for “the entirety of the time” the VIPs are at an airport. In addition, it would grant lawmakers under protective escort the ability to be screened without delay…

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Mid Day Open Thread

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I had forgotten just HOW MUCH work goes into repainting a room, particularly in a house with 3 dogs and 2 cats. You gotta take everything out take everything down take down the curtains deep clean and keep the animals out while it dries then tape then paint then touch up all with animals detained. I was getting very manic and Joelle relegated me to the kitchen and is making a list for me to work off of rather than just firing in 8 directions at once.

So that is how my day is going.

A quick thank you to everyone moving off recurring paypal donations to patreon. It’s just a logistical mess anymore, paypal is.

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