Can’t tell y’all how relieved I was to see Anne Laurie checking in here yesterday. We’ve been bumbling along as best we can without her, but it’s not the same. Especially in the morning, at least for me.
It’s like looking forward to a breakfast of eggs, home fries, bacon, toast with jam and dark roast coffee (an AL morning thread), and then someone plops down a bowl of plain oatmeal and cup of decaf Sanka (this post). I mean, you’re hungry, so you’ll eat it. But damn.
Anne Laurie, you are beloved and irreplaceable, and we’re all rooting for the fastest and most pain-free recovery possible so that you can be speedily restored to your feisty critters and Spousal Unit. And us.
***
If you’re a Democrat or other variety of non-fascist in the state, Florida politics are relentlessly depressing, but sometimes there’s a bright spot in the form of a slap-fight among terrible elected Republicans. That’s happening now as Ron DeSantis’s governorship lumbers toward its ignominious end and the knives come out among would-be power centers in the statehouse.
Ron set his wife up for a grift-o-rama and possible run for governor her own self with a charity called Hope Florida. They rolled it out with great fanfare, but it’s basically a referral service that funnels needy folks to existing programs, including GOP-aligned religious proselytizing/grift outfits.
It turns out Hope Florida also functioned as a dark money laundromat that directed $10 million in refunded Medicaid dollars to oppose a 2024 ballot initiative that would have made recreational pot legal in the state. Statehouse Republicans are investigating, and Ron isn’t pleased.
“We have this almost 3-to-1 supermajority of Republicans in the Florida House of Representatives, and it is rotten,” DeSantis said last week. “They are behaving more like Democrats. They are colluding with the left. They are colluding with the media to try to sabotage all of the great success that Florida has had over these last six years.”
The governor went on to call out what he said were manufactured smears against him and his wife.
“Some people feel threatened by the first lady. Let’s just be clear about that,” the governor said. “They know this; you saw her up here. You know, if you’re looking at 2026 and you’ve got some horse, you don’t want her anywhere near that. You’re very worried because she runs circles around their people. Everybody knows that.”
Everybody doesn’t know that! However, it’s true that Casey DeSantis, a former local Fox affiliate TV personality, can simulate humanity more effectively than her lumpen spouse. But that’s true of cypress stumps and fence posts from Pensacola to Key West. Anyhoo, rooting for injuries!
***
In other news, Trump tried to repeal the Civil Rights Act via executive order last night to — get this — “restore equality of opportunity and meritocracy.” The irony of a daddy-funded, serially bankrupt, corrupt felon yapping about “meritocracy” aside, do the Trump people even know how any of this shit works? Like laws and stuff?
It’s just Fox News theater, I guess. Seriously, take a look at that propaganda site every now and then if you want to understand what your brain-wormed neighbors are thinking. We aren’t living in the same country and haven’t been for a long time.
***
Lastly, to end on a more positive note, who wants to see a Roseate Spoonbill poop? You do!
Everybody poops. #birds
— Betty Cracker of Florida (@bettycrackerfl.bsky.social) April 24, 2025 at 5:06 AM
You are welcome.
Open thread!
ETA: To elaborate on the weird DeSantis quote above, the “other horse” Ron’s referring to is U.S. House Rep. Byron Donalds, whom Trump has already endorsed for governor. I don’t think Donalds has even officially thrown his hat into the ring, but Trump will never forgive DeSantis for running against him in the primary, so he moved to preemptively cut Casey off at the knees.
On The Road – Auntie Anne – Southeast Asia – The Mekong River, Laos 3 of 4
Baud
I see you more as cereal. And I’m a fan of cereal.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Lucky Charms! :)
JiveTurkin
I’m beginning to think maybe Trump is playing 4 dimensional chess after all. I assume he is always corrupt, 100% of the time. For exampl, the day he told his followers to buy stocks right before the announcement of the tariff delay. The market went up 10% that day afterwards. How much did the billionaires make? What was their kickback to Trump? Now he’s auctioning off access to him for investing in his $Trump coin. The coin jumped 58% after this was announced. We know he doesn’t give a shit about the country, maybe the tariffs are just another grift for himself and his kids. African money is pouring into his kids business ventures, just a bribe for tariff relief. Bribes are a way of life in many African countries, I understand why they would do it.
Phylllis
What kind of Yankee nonsense is this? Cheesy, peppery, buttered grits or gtfo.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Albatrossity
An excellent poop! I keep a shit list of pooping birds that I have photographed, and Roseate Spoonbill is not on my list. Perhaps I will have to start a virtual shit list of pooping birds that I have seen on the intertubes!
Jackie
I’ve been following the Pudd’n Boots/Tacky Jackie O Wannabe stealing from Medicaid story the past week or so… very glad it’s making the news! And that FL state republicans are rebelling!
Spoonbill pooping! Def a full service blog!
New Deal democrat
Despite T—-p’s claims that the trade war will ease (and – memo to Wall Street – 65% are still huge tariffs), China is going to let T—-p and the US stew for awhile:
“China on Thursday said that there were no ongoing discussions with the U.S. on tariffs, despite indications from the White House this week that there would be some easing in tensions with Beijing.
“‘At present there are absolutely no negotiations on the economy and trade between China and the U.S.,’ Ministry of Commerce Spokesperson He Yadong told reporters in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. He added that ‘all sayings’ regarding progress on bilateral talks should be dismissed.
“‘If the U.S. really wants to resolve the problem … it should cancel all the unilateral measures on China,’ He said.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/24/china-says-no-talks-with-the-us-on-trade-calls-for-canceling-unilateral-tariffs.html
Xi is going to ritually humiliate Trump, but only enough so that he becomes a supplicant, and not so much that saner heads in the US become truly belligerent.
Baud
@New Deal democrat:
Trump’s win was a free gift to them (and Russia). They’re not going to squander it.
danielx
I just can’t do it.
geg6
@Phylllis:
Ick, grits. I’ll stick with home fries.
I do not understand the allure of grits. I know Southerners love them but I found them to be just…ick. And yes, I’ve had them a few times because people keep telling me I’m wrong and I need to have “good” grits. Nope, no such thing. And since I will never step foot in the south again, I can stop trying to like them. We Northerners prefer our potatoes (which I am not really a big fan of either, LOL, but they’re edible at least).
Bg
Betty, to me you are eggs benedict.
The DeSantis thing is blatant corruption. The money came from a lawsuit settlement about a medicaid ripoff by a big corporation. The law firm representing the state negotiated a $67 million settlement to be paid to medicaid. The state fired the law firm and negotiated a new settlement for the same amount but $10 million of it would go to Casey’s “charity “, which laundered it to a PAC. So the money originally would have gone to medicaid and they stole it.
geg6
Oh, and Betty, you are eggs Benedict to me. Definitely a breakfast delight!
geg6
@Bg:
Maybe Rick “Voldemort” Scott showed them the way.
Jackie
Other Florida news:
Jolly is a regular commentator on Nicolle Wallace’s Deadline White House program. I’m glad he finally registered as Dem; he’s been a RINO for years now as a rabid anti-Trumper, anti MAGA. Florida will never elect a Democrat for governor if they’re labeled progressive, so if Jolly should run – he’ll run as a conservative leaning Democrat.
Betty Cracker
@geg6: I love both grits and potatoes, but it would be more accurate to say I love them as a platform to which you add stuff that makes both essentially bland foods taste good. Salt, pepper, cheese, butter, etc. Yum!
And now I’m hungry, but our well pump blew up last night, so I’m waiting for the repair guy to show up and will have to settle for a banana. :(
Baud
@Jackie:
Wasn’t Crist slammed for being that?
New Deal democrat
I was struck by the following post by a Dane, Lars Christensen, in re T—-p’s threats of aggression:
“I have always considered myself a non-American American patriot. I grew up with a deep admiration for the United States — for its ideals, its energy, and its global leadership. But after the events of the past few months, I find it increasingly difficult to view the US as a friend of Denmark.
“…. The Trump administration’s reckless rhetoric about Greenland, the open threats towards an ally, and the abandonment of Ukraine — a country fighting for its survival — have left many of us stunned. But perhaps even worse is the silence. The lack of outrage. The apparent indifference from much of the American public.
“…. This is a break in trust.”
The first response to this post was from an American, who wrote:
“The Trump administration does not represent the American people on many issues. Many of us are probably more upset by them than you are.”
And supplied a graph showing that, disturbingly to my mind, showed that only 57% of Americans fully opposed annexing Canada, and worse, only a minority of 49% firmly opposed annexing Greenland (the respective numbers in favor were 17% and 19% respectively, almost all GOPers).
Christensen’s response: “ I can’t hear or See them.”
https://bsky.app/profile/mamomvpy.bsky.social/post/3lndzsbzdak2o
The last is something of a common refrain. I’m not sure if it reflects a media blackout on coverage of the massive April 5 protests, or a response to the lackadaisical attitude of probably most Americans, who aren’t taking T—-p’s threats seriously.
On a personal level, a Canadian garden flag now flies in my yard facing a major street in my neck of the woods. The only neighbor who approached me about it was totally clueless.
Betty Cracker
@Albatrossity: I would subscribe to that site!
Old School
Some amusing content at the link.
billcoop4
And that’s fine. Madame Speaker’s words always ring true: “Just win, baby.”
BC
New Deal democrat
@Baud:
Making T—-p stew is not going to squander it, so long as they ultimately allow him an off-ramp after teaching him a lesson. In fact, teaching him a lesson will help.
Baud
@Old School:
I nominate “you can’t lick a badger twice” for the rotating tag.
ETA: Thanks for the link. That’s good stuff. Hours of family fun to be had.
Betty Cracker
@Jackie: & @Baud: Yeah, I’ve always got a whiff of the Crist Curse when Jolly talks about a run, but who knows? Also, I hate to say it, but if Donalds is the R nominee, Dems might have a chance as long as they run a generic white man.
Bill_K
“…you’ve got some horse, you don’t want her anywhere near that.”
Does Mrs. DeSantis have some peculiar tastes we should be concerned about?
WTFGhost
What the hell? There are bits of bacon, potato peels, toast crumbs, sticky with jam, and dark coffee stains on my laptop!
Juju
@Betty Cracker: Cocoa Puffs.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@danielx: Since Trump’s win, Fox is on all the time in the cafe in my building. IMHO, it’s bad for the health of the building’s occupants
NeenerNeener
Interesting that St. Upid tried to repeal the Civil Rights Act yesterday. I blew up a 50 year old friendship the day before because said former friend responded to a FB post that I found very offensive. It was 3 pictures, one of a KKK member, one of a blond guy in a hoodie with a black bandana over his nose and mouth, and the third was one of the college protestors wearing a “Palestine” headband. There was a question attached: “Which ones are Democrats?” and former friend responded “A, B and C”. I responded to her comment with the history of the KKK pre and post Civil Rights Act, then unfriended her. I should also have responded to B as being a Jan 6th insurrectionist, so Republican, and C as a foreign student who isn’t a citizen and therefore not allowed to vote, but I didn’t think of it at the time.
I have no patience with people on the wrong side of history.
Nancy
Betty Cracker
I hope all is well with you–as well as can be hoped for as you move through your ordeal–and thank you for the reminder about Anne Laurie. I “read” her post in sleep mode, a way of going back to sleep that I’ve inadvertantly discovered. If the writing is interesting, it will put me out. I won’t remember reading. Phone or tablet found beside me in bed is the only clue.
Anyway I hope she reads comments to your kind and very true words. I wish smooth and only slightly frustrating healing for her. And I miss her wit and cutting commentary on current insanity.
Baud
@NeenerNeener:
Sorry about your friend. You did the right thing.
Jackie
@Baud: He was; but in today’s FFOTUS/Muskrat regime – PLUS the ultra heinous MAGA Byron Donald running on the repug ticket, Jolly could be more appealing. I’m not a Floridian, so… <shrug>
Nancy
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Why is fox always on the large screens above the bikes and treadmills at the fitness centers?
Anti-wellness.
Fair Economist
@New Deal democrat: I think Xi wants to make China the world superpower and is delighted for the US to destroy itself. Maintaining these tariffs would cripple our economy and cause a depression here, leaving China the leading superpower. For Xi, that’s well worth some short term pain in China.
Geminid
@Jackie: I wonder if Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Donalds has cleared the Republican field. His endorsement of Ramaswamy didn’t clear the Ohio field; Ohio Attorney General Yost threw his hat in the ring and Tressel, the Lt. Governor might run for Governor as well.
Snarki, child of Loki
When the tRump DOJ announced that they weren’t going to be enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it said to the world “we’re open for business, baby! gratuities accepted!”
Baud
Looks like India/Pakistan is blowing up again.
@Snarki, child of Loki:
FCPA prohibited US companies from bribing foreign officials, not the other way around.
zhena gogolia
Of course we miss AL, but I love your posts! Always!
RandomMonster
I would never accuse you of serving Sanka, BC. Plus, your breakfasts feature a butter lamb once a year.
Dave
@Baud: They’d be fools to. I don’t particularly enjoy living with the consequences but can’t blame them.
YY_Sima Qian
The PRC is emulating the US’ playbook on export controls, now on rare earth elements & rare earth magnets:
Anonymous At Work
On Florida and the pot ballot initiative, DeSantis vetoed a Republican-backed bill to outlaw delta-8 THC in Florida because it was less than a month before the election and he wanted to keep the pro-pot crowd quiet. That he was funneling dark money into opposition doesn’t surprise me, that Republicans are investigating does unless they really are gonna stick him with 34 daggers in the well of the Florida Lege.
Anyway
@Baud: Oh no, last thing we need.
PS No on cereal, grits, … breakfast in general but black coffee yes! lots of it.
dww44
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Since 2009 if I enter a public place or even my dentist’s office and Fox News is on I asked them to change it to The Weather channel or some other non political programming. Obama’s election literally broke the brains of many white citizens. We would not have Trump were it not for that election and Fox News propaganda.
no body no name
Grits can be great. It has to be shrimp and grits or cheesy grits and the place has to know it but I’m down for that. Though if I could have any breakfast in the world I’d got with liver and onions.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
Yeah, yeah, whatever re: potatoes or grits.
The only thing that matters is bacon. It’s all four of the basic food groups, and (as far as I’m concerned) should be all seven levels of the (former*) FDA’s “food pyramid.”
* The current FDA has replaced it with Skump steaks for four of the levels, Skump hamberders (only available for purchase with $Trumpcoin), and Skump unpasteurized milk.
ETA: And the pyramid now has 23 levels, because it’s a “big, beautiful pyramid, the BIGGEST food pyramid,” etc. etc.
Old School
@Baud:
What did Vance break now?
Miss Bianca
@geg6:
This Northerner likes grits *and* potatoes. Tho’ not at the same meal, admittedly.
Professor Bigfoot
@New Deal democrat: That kinda describes the feelings of Black folks right here IN America— a very deep *betrayal of trust.*
Maybe it’s not all Americans*, but “‘tis enough, ‘twill serve. Ask for us tomorrow and you shall find us a grave nation.”
O. Felix Culpa
@Professor Bigfoot:
This. A Native American friend (Diné) said after the election, “I feel so hurt.” Her words struck deep.
LAC
Miss AL and continue to wish her a restful recovery. Her posts are the best and get my day going.
I hope DeSantis reign of error ends with legal consequences, but I will not hold my breath. Accountability seems to be hard to find these days.
Professor Bigfoot
@billcoop4: A “conservative” Democrat still believes that women, Black people, LGBTQIA+ people and immigrant people are still PEOPLE.
Which, as I think on it, makes them not “conservative” at all…
WTFGhost
@Nancy: It’s often the noisiest who get the channel set, and the Fox News fans are very noisy.
jonas
The vast majority of voters couldn’t locate Canada — you know, all tucked away down there — or Greenland on a map or tell you what they were to save their lives. They just hear the words “should the US take over…” and are like “yeah, sure, whatever, more the merrier, amirite?”
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: The (white) people here have had some type of democracy for almost 250 years. They take it for granted and think we can’t lose it no matter what happens. Many people have no idea what FFOTUS is doing because it doesn’t directly affect their life so they aren’t paying attention to it.
Scout211
Has this been posted yet?
Any thoughts, Illinois jackals?
jonas
No doubt. The kicker is — and this shocked me — is that FFOTUS got 40% of the native vote nationwide, with the men’s share much higher than women, as in most other demographics. That’s nowhere like the 60% he scores with white people, but damn.
Belafon
@Fair Economist: Especially since Xi doesn’t care about short term pain.
O. Felix Culpa
@Soprano2:
The very essence of (white) privilege. They don’t pay attention because they almost never have needed to. Vulnerable minorities, on the other hand, must always be on high alert, always scanning, scanning….
Miss Bianca
@O. Felix Culpa: Funny how a lot of the top tribal brass were all out loud and proud about their support for Trump, tho’, ain’t it? Among ’em the head of the Dine tribe himself, unless I’m misremembering.
But yeah, I’m with your friend there. And all of the Pueblo folks I know.
NotMax
Random media notes.
1) Wickedly odd series, Black Ops now available on Hulu. A respectable B+.
2) Triple header of turkeys coming up Friday evening on TCM. Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, Red Sonja and She>. Get the giant tub of popcorn ready.
3) Average at best but in a good way as Dawn (The Vicar of Dibley) French brings a certain je ne sais quoi to the anthology series Murder Most Horrid which has shown up on Prime.
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: @jonas:
Sadly, cupidity and stupidity know no demographic/ethnic bounds, especially among men in our culture. I wish I had solutions to the misogyny/toxic masculinity that’s so deeply embedded here.
David Collier-Brown
@jonas: They’re just resentful that they only got 13 of 20-odd the colonies when they broke off. They missed out on Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec (“Lower Canada”), Ontario (“Upper Canada”), the north-west territories and what later became British Columbia.
They invaded Canada in 1775 , again in 1812, and sponsored a whole bunch of raids. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Canada, and maybe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Bacon (:-))
I’d hoped they’d got over that.
Soprano2
@O. Felix Culpa: That’s exactly right. Most people tend to believe their life will go on as it has before, until it doesn’t. I think they vaguely know he’s doing some stuff that’s bad, but mostly they just don’t pay attention because they don’t think it will hurt them.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: I remember liking the episode with Jim Broadbent.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: Speaking of scanning, I wonder how you scan next year’s New Mexico governor’s race. Can a Republican beat Deb Haaland?
NotMax
@geg6</a.
People tell you you've never had true grits?
;)
YY_Sima Qian
Meanwhile, geopolitical tectonic plates continue to shift:
Japan is not going to align w/ the PRC agains the US any time soon, but it will also not decouple from the PRC as the price for a [temporary] reprieve from MAGA extortion.
StringOnAStick
@Old School: those AI responses are like a computer has finally achieved sentience and become the half sloshed know-it-all at the end of the bar. Just what modern life needs, Cliff from Cheers answering everyone’s questions with authority.
Betty Cracker
@StringOnAStick: Excellent analogy.
NotMax
@StringOnAStick
AI as Cliff Clavin.
//
O. Felix Culpa
@Geminid: Good question. I was worried about the voter tendency to swing to the opposing party every eight years (NM limits governors to two terms), especially since Michelle Lujan Grisham has had a disappointing second term. By disappointing I mean a combination of strange decisions against the Dem majority in the Roundhouse and being noticeably AWOL otherwise.
That said, I was encouraged when Deb threw her hat in the ring. She has a good chance of winning both the primary and the general. I haven’t seen any strong Republican candidates yet, which is a hopeful sign.
trollhattan
BBC overnight had equally depressing tales of the impacts of US withdrawing from WHO, just as they’re finalizing the pandemic response agreement, and a Trump official attending some kind of energy summit in the UK and declaring that any stanching of fossil fuels threatens humanity.
Also unsurprisingly, the war is simply Ukraine’s fault and stop not giving up on Crimea and those other bits. –Donny.
What’s the next level beyond Always Wrong? Because we’ve reached there and I’m startled at how bad has become worst imaginable.
MarkB
@Phylllis: I think the spoonbill in Betty’s video produced a heaping helping of grits.
Home fries or a nice toasted bagel with butter. A REAL bagel, not a flavored one. A nice flaky biscuit would be good as well.
StringOnAStick
@Betty Cracker: I’m inclined to believe Ed Zitron’s assessment of AI, especially his reveal of how Microsoft is backing away from creating huge amounts of computing power and energy generation for what will be at best a slight improvement in some tasks, but not the Next! Amazing! Thing! from Silly Valley, and layered with useless to harmful authoritative crap like “you can’t lick a badger twice”. I’m pretty sure I was clear on the idea that I didn’t need, want, nor desire to lick a badger once, and twice is right out.
YY_Sima Qian
More detail on the impact of the PRC’s export control of rare earth magnets on Tesla:
WTFGhost
@NotMax: You need to put on an eyepatch to get True Grit.
Miss Bianca
@YY_Sima Qian: Elon’s robots might not emerge on time? Quelle domage! Oh, well.
NotMax
@StringOnAStick
What about roller skating in a buffalo herd?
:)
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: I liked what Ben Ray Lujan told an Axios reporter about Haaland: “Deb knows how to win.” I hope the Senator is right.
Betty Cracker
@Scout211: Also wondering what our Illinoisians think about a successor for retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky. I’m generally in favor of people in their late 70s and 80s stepping aside, and I’m glad Schakowsky did since she drew a primary challenger (Kat Abughazaleh) who was basically running on “lets put Jan on the ice floe.” Schakowsky has been a stalwart as far as I know, so I’m happy to see her avoid what could have been a nasty battle.
MarkB
Guide to the Canadian provinces for the bewildered.
https://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/canada-day-2016.jpg?w=1024&h=963
Belafon
@Geminid: I like the text messages I get from Haaland stating she’s a 35th generation New Mexican.
trollhattan
Here’s a smart gal. Hope she enjoys hanging with the joeys and marmite on toast.
TBH I’d still worry about being kidnapped by the GRU, hauled back to Russia and sent to gulag. Also, hire a food taster.
O. Felix Culpa
@Geminid: As an addendum, I’ve stepped down from party leadership, so don’t have access to insider
scuttlebuttinfo anymore. My opinions are therefore impressionistic. Haven’t seen any polling data yet. It’s probably too early for that.RevRick
@Phylllis: @geg6:
Grits?! Seriously, you might as well eat the bowl, for all their nutritional value. What it’s really about is making a virtue out of necessity.
O. Felix Culpa
@Geminid: Ben Ray isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but he’s a good guy and knows the state. I think he’s right about Deb.
Harrison Wesley
@YY_Sima Qian: Pretty sure I can live without a Tesla robot.
trollhattan
@YY_Sima Qian:
Australia has noticed the imbalance.
It’s one thing to have the raw materials, another to have processing to bring them to market, but this seems important over the long term.
trollhattan
@RevRick:
Cheese grits are heaven in a bowl, grits grits not so much.
Sadly, the place that served them here burned to the soil and nobody has stepped in to remedy that.
Melancholy Jaques
Sadly, my cardiologist insists that I do just that. I don’t have to have decaf & I get fruit with the oatmeal, but bacon, eggs, hash browns, biscuits & gravy was always my favorite meal.
YY_Sima Qian
Molson Hart & Ryan Petersen on the oncoming COVID-like supply shock, a degree of which is already baked in, as the consequence of the cold turkey decoupling from the PRC that the Trump gang (possibly?, who knows) stumbled into:
Hart said he voted for Trump. I would not be surprised if Petersen did, too. One could say they are reaping what they sowed. However, they are also highlighting the mechanics of the damage to the US economic from Trumps escalated trade wars, at a level I have yet to see the MSM reach.
evodevo
@O. Felix Culpa: A LOT of Dine voted for Trumpy…goodness only knows why…I’d say they are currently in the FO phase…
https://navajotimes.com/opinion/columns/a-navajo-perspective-why-many-of-us-support-trump-over-harris/
trollhattan
@evodevo:
WTAF???
All I can add is when that fucker shows up in Navajo territory with free blankets for all, run like hell and take any bears with you..
Mr. Bemused Senior
@zhena gogolia: thanks for recommending Ludwig. Very enjoyable and of course great music.
They Call Me Noni
@trollhattan: I have fixed shrimp and grits for people who claim to not like grits. They each cleaned the bowl. You MUST use stone ground grits. Cannot be found in grocery stores in my area so I have to order online.
Same for pine nuts when making pesto They are outrageously priced in the grocery stores.
NotMax
@trollhattan
Cheesy grits (especially with garlic added)? Mmmm.
Also too buttery shrimp ‘n’ grits.
YY_Sima Qian
@trollhattan: The Australian mines are still sending the rare earth materials to the PRC for processing/refining, & what refining capacity is being built is licensing Chinese technology &/or have Chinese investment.
Obviously, the PRC’s actions to restrict REE/REM exports, even if just to the US, will precipitate reactions to diversify supply, including processing/refining. However, that takes a lot of time & capital investment & the projects relies upon high REE prices to be financially viable. In the meantime the PRC is playing this card to exact short term pain to decisively defeat Trump & MAGA in the current trade war. (As appears to be the current expectation, analysts are already throwing about parallels to the Suez Crises for Britain & France).
Once Trump de facto capitulates & a [temporary] deal is struck, the PRC can then turn on the spigots agin & flood the market & crater the prices, making the new ventures financially unviable. It will take sustained & consistent state support, at significant expense, to establish alternatives to the PRC.
O. Felix Culpa
@evodevo: Emphasis on Dine men. We have a men problem in this country, and it’s not limited to one ethnic group.
Obligatory not all men. I have two adult sons, both of whom seem to have avoided the worst symptoms of toxic masculinity.
RevRick
@Nancy: Demand that the channel be changed to something like Animal Planet.
suzanne
Man, I just love when the worst people in the world are fighting and humiliated and miserable.
YY_Sima Qian
@Miss Bianca:
@Harrison Wesley:
Tesla is just what baits clicks. The restrictions will hit every user of rare earth magnets in the US, including the MIC.
TS
@trollhattan:
Australia is also in the midst of an election campaign and the PM is saying many things that he thinks will bring in votes. The overwhelming sentiment at the minute is we should not be allowing trump to dictate what happens in our country. LW parties in Canada & Australia will probably ride to victory on an anti trump sentiment. Prior to the trump election the polls were showing a loss to our current government.
NotMax
@Nancy
Fox pays a lot of places for them to be the default channel when the screen is switched on.
Old Man Shadow
@Old School: Terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir. 26 killed. India is understandably mad.
India blames Pakistan and now they’re canceling visas, closing airspace, and India canceled a water sharing agreement.
At some point, the bullets and bombs will probably start flying because they hate one another.
At this point, I hope saner heads prevail and nobody else has to die and the nukes stay firmly on the ground.
RevRick
@MarkB: A bagel with cream cheese and lox platter is what’s for brunch for me ( which includes lettuce, tomato and onions with a side of capers and a crunchy dill pickle).
YY_Sima Qian
@New Deal democrat:
@Fair Economist:
I think this is a very good articulation of the sentiments in the PRC, & a very plausible articulation of the PRC’s strategy in the current trade/tech/Cold War:
espierce
Betty C:
I’m pretty sure Meatball and Tacky aren’t too concerned with Donalds. It’s Don Gaetz in the Florida Senate that’s pulling the strings on Hopegate for that kiddy diddler son of his.
Let them fight is the correct response!
Soprano2
@StringOnAStick: That’s not wrong. LOL
YY_Sima Qian
@YY_Sima Qian: Japan now explicitly communicating to both Trump & Xi:
NotMax
@RevRick
As you’re on the periphery of Pennsy Dutch country, I might have guessed smierkase and apple butter instead of lox.
;)
Betty Cracker
@StringOnAStick: Same. I know there are great use cases for it in scientific research and manufacturing and so forth, but as a consumer product that has to be shoved down everyone’s throat immediately whether we want it or not? Feh. It’s the most overhyped thing since, well, that last thing they set heaping pallets of cash on fire to boost and then failed to find a broad market.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: I was impressed by Representative/Interior Secretary Haaland. Then I read Deb Haaland’s Wikipedia biography, and I was really impressed. That’s a determined and resiliant woman, and I’m looking forward to her campaign.
RevRick
@NotMax: I was born and raised in the NYC metropolitan area. I’m still an auslander as far as the Dutchies are concerned.
I tried scrapple once. God, it was awful.
Oh, and I’m in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, which is basically a 75-mile arc extended out from Philadelphia.
Soprano2
@YY_Sima Qian: I was telling my manager last night that by fall we’ll be in a recession. He thinks we already are, I said not by the numbers yet but it’s coming. A couple of months ago he stocked up on Mexican tequila and Canadian whiskey; he said we’ll see how much prices have to go up when he has to buy it again. Our whole economy is speeding toward a brick wall but most of the press here is still sticking their fingers in their ears and singing “lalalalalala”. I’ve been telling people I feel like Cassandra, and I’ve discovered no one knows what that means anymore! LOL
Betty Cracker
@espierce: Ha, I forgot that old goat is back in the statehouse! I’m sure you’re right. That said, I dunno, the kiddy-diddler might be a bridge too far — even for Florida.
Bill Arnold
@StringOnAStick:
“LLMs give you information-shaped text, that can pass off as information. It is not real information, except by accident.”
(Seen, while ago, notes say “perhaps a tweet”.)
Paul in KY
@JiveTurkin: He’s just rampantly corrupt, IMO. I don’t think he could play 1/2 dimensional chess.
RedDirtGirl
@NotMax: Thanks! Black Ops looks good!
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: I think you would be a perfectly poached egg, with a big dollop of hot sauce!
Paul in KY
@New Deal democrat: He’s definitely not serious about Canada. He just enjoys pulling their chain, for asshole shits & giggles.
YY_Sima Qian
More subtle movements in the geopolitical tectonic plates, that could portent earthquakes:
I don’t think the PRC government cares about the European Council’s sanctions related to Xinjiang, it cares about clearing the obstacles toward ratification of the Sino-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment that has been on freeze at the European Parliament, shortly after it was signed in early 2021 (w/ a lot of energetic lobbying by the then incoming Biden Administration). The EU placed sanctions on CPC regime officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, & the PRC countered by sanctioning leading anti-PRC/CPC Parlimentarians in the EP, which in turn put the CAI in deep freeze.
For the EU, it wants significant PRC investment in batteries & EV supply chain, w/ tech transfer & possibly under JVs w/ the European legacy automakers, to ensure that the European auto industry does not get left in the dust, or alternatively, having to junk the climate goals to protect the auto industry). I think the PRC’s ask will be ratifying the CAI, capping the tariffs against imports of Chinese EVs at a relatively moderate level. I’ve read reporting that the PRC has already agreed to price floors for exported EVs to the EU, to help cushion the impact on the European legacies.
Paul in KY
@Bill_K: The poor horses…
YY_Sima Qian
@Soprano2: I too have read suggestions that the US is already in recession.
Also, people don’t know Cassandra?! What has happened to classical education in the US?!
NotMax
@YY_Sima Qian
“I’ve heard my grandparents mention her. Wasn’t she in The Mamas & the Papas?”
//
catclub
@Baud:
Because we used to have laws against bribery of US officials, so that part was already taken care of. The FCPA was written in those more innocent times.
Paul in KY
@YY_Sima Qian: If TFG can spark a rapprochement between the PRC and Japan….what a statesmen he would be!!!
catclub
@YY_Sima Qian:
You may have also already read (in 2023) that the US was in recession. It wasn’t.
Is there a term like onomatopoeia for an expression using al – al
then read -read?
catclub
@Paul in KY: Gotta get that Nobel Prize somehow.
YY_Sima Qian
@Paul in KY: Trump is a uniter!
Paul in KY
@evodevo: I hope the idiot who wrote that propaganda you linked to finds out quite hard.
Paul in KY
@trollhattan: TFG is the kind of evil jerk who would have laughed at the stupid Indians as he sold them the smallpox infected blankets he had gotten for free.
YY_Sima Qian
@catclub: This time though, things are in motion that has its own momentum, momentum that will be a lot of time to arrest.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: Hope he’s their nominee then.
catclub
@YY_Sima Qian: Yes, I agree.
zhena gogolia
@Mr. Bemused Senior: You’re welcome!
MCat
@Phylllis: Hi Phyllis. Coming from Boston, I’ve never understood grits. But anything with butter, pepper and cheese has got to be great
MCat
@rikyrah: Good morning, Rikyrah.
NotMax
@RedDirtGirl
Howdy, stranger. Long time no view!
;)
Ruckus
@JiveTurkin:
shitforbrains is not playing 4 dimensional chess.
He doesn’t understand even 2 dimensions, let alone 4.
He is an educated moron. Maybe he’s not technically a moron but his “thought” process is moronic. Moron is all he knows. It’s the best he can do. Especially as he is aging out. I mean he’s never been much of an actual human being, but every day he has a bit less upstairs to work with and loses what little humanity he had. Notice how much he is in public now? I wonder who is managing the strings that operate his physical being, you know like a puppet? We all slow down as we age, ask me how I know this. And we all age in our own way but he seems to be on the Rapid 1 bus, rather than the slow boat.
NotMax
@MCat
When served up in chi-chi establishments it’s called polenta.
;)
Scuffletuffle
@Albatrossity: Just put an asterisk after it…
Ruckus
@YY_Sima Qian:
Very good summation of the process.
People like shitforbrains do not really understand how much this is an entire world now, not the US in domination over everyone else. It hasn’t worked that way in quite some time. But people like shitforbrains have zero clue how much the world depends on each other for so much any more, how big the process of food and on and on cost and where things are made or how they are made. They don’t see this because they don’t look or listen and likely wouldn’t understand even if it was explained at an elementary school level.
Citizen Alan
@geg6: Expatriate southerner here. The only way I will eat grits is if you load them up with cheese and then top them with shrimp and andouille to hide the taste.
Citizen Alan
@Baud: To a degree, but I suspect it was mainly the repulsive oiliness. Not having seen Jolly on TV, I don’t know if he’s as repellant as Crist was.
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
It is important.
So many idiots fail to realize that few nations can actually exist in the modern world without global trade. Maybe exist is too strong but exist and prosper isn’t. This isn’t 200 years ago, like some in this country seem to think it is. Most of the world depends on some level of world trade because much of the world today depends on materials, and bits and pieces that other countries make. I worked for decades making tools that others used to make products that if I named them most everyone would know. We were not the only company that did this, many others did as well. The world has changed rather dramatically in the last 50-75 or so years, in technology, in who manufactures/produces what. It is world wide trade and innovation and production now. Where was your phone made? You know the one in your pocket or purse. It is an entire world now, not just one country.
And it can end a hell of a lot faster than it could be rebuilt/replaced. What would things cost if not imported, you know, has to be made here? I worked in making tools that others used to make products that most everyone would know. That business has changed significantly and will continue to do so, as business does. The world is a hell of a lot different than when I was born (I’m an OLD in case no one knew) and in so many ways that if one hadn’t watched it change one might not believe it. And many humans don’t watch because they don’t think about – really anyone else. It’s always been a big world, that hasn’t changed, but there is a hell of a lot more ability to see a lot more of it. Of course a lot of people don’t look.
Timill
@Ruckus: T***p is just in denali that this isn’t the McKinley era…
WTFGhost
@NotMax: I’ve had what I was told was “polenta” and it didn’t have the same flavor as grits. To me, “polenta” tastes like cornmeal, for good or ill. Grits don’t taste like cornmeal to me – they taste like cornmeal that someone did something bad to, to remove the corn flavor. (No offense to you grits fan – just, that’s my personal taste.)
And, to be brutal, that makes sense. Grits are treated with lye to remove the hulls and the germ, and those are what would give the corn-like flavor to the cornmeal. So, to me, grits can’t be polenta.
That said: I don’t know who sets the rules for these things. I just had some pedant explain that we don’t have yams in the US, we just have sweet potatoes with a different color flesh. So maybe polenta (which I remember having a distinct corn meal taste) really does count as grits (which I remember having a distinctly *not-cornmeal* taste), and it’s not my fault, it’s just the rules committee trying to screw with breakfast.
Nancy
@WTFGhost:
My choice when working out: Either get noise or invest in noise canceling headphones so I can hear myself think.
N
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
Not that it’s pleasant to say but we are talking about shitforbrains…
The next level is Always Fucking Wrong.
There is no next level without swearing.
Don’t like it but whatcha gonna do…