So like most everyone else who does not live in NYC, I spent the day reading up on Zohran, and I gotta say this sounds ok with me:
Capital has ground New York down so deeply that the people who live here will not take it anymore.
Mamdani wanted this fight, he waged it, and he won it. He did what the people’s playbook said it would take to win it: He organized thoroughly, mobilized relentlessly, and promised the working class deliverable policies needed to keep their lives within their grasp—lower rent; free childcare; fast and free buses; cheaper groceries through public stores—despite the entire political and economic establishments laughing at those policies and those needs. He did not shy away from these needs. He championed them.
That sounds like the kind of shit a country concerned about low birth rates would rally around, and if that’s socialism, I am all for it. At any rate, good to see we avoided the unmentionable short term primary disaster and having to deal with cuomo for however long. Let’s hope they don’t fuck it up in the fall.
I have no idea what the geography or population of these new zones are, but a bunch of people might be surprised to see the military in their back yard now:
– The Pentagon will create two new military zones along the border with Mexico, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, a move that allows troops to temporarily detain migrants or trespassers.
President Donald Trump’s administration has hailed its actions along the border, including the deployment of active duty troops, as the reason for a sharp decline in crossings by undocumented migrants. Trump made voters’ concerns about immigration a cornerstone of his 2024 re-election bid.
The Pentagon has already created two military zones, but only four people have been temporarily detained on them, a U.S. official said.
A new “National Defense Area” will be created covering about 250 miles (402 km) of the Rio Grande river in Texas and administered as a part of Joint Base San Antonio, according to the Air Force.
We should be bussing people over the rio grande so our fucking crops don’t rot in the fields and giving them an easy way to become Americans.
Last night I stated: “You know what you are gonna get with Adams, and if you don’t know anything about Sliwa, go watch some old 70’s early 80’s “the blacks in the cities are gonna kills us all” movies. Anything with Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, or Clint Eastwood will do.”
Commenter Galaxy Being quickly noted that Lee Marvin was not in any movies like that, and you know what, they are right! I think my mind has just attached Lee Marvin at the hip with Charles Bronson because I watched Death Hunt so many times as a kid. FWIW I remember a cool story about Charles Bronson- something about him being raised dirt poor and just being a decent and generous person.
I am off to watch some more of the Day of the Jackal. Btw, it rained this afternoon, but it only dropped to 85 so you can imagine the humidity. Oh, and my fridge is dying. Buy a house they said. You’ll build equity, they said.
Baud
That’s every day here.
Dan B
Every bit of video I’ve seen of Mamdani has impressed me. One quote was that he asked people what they needed and Dems should do more listening instead of telling people what they would do. It seemed obvious but in context of everything else he talks about seemed brilliant.
BellyCat
I bought the same bridge.
sab
@Baud: We certainly were a snarling pack earlier today. The peacekeeper jackals were biting each other’s ankles. I was amazed.
I have been to NYC twice in my life and each time it overwhelmed me (not in a good way) so I can’t bring myself to care much about who their mayor is. I am not a fan of urban life. Cleveland near me is always in contention for worst mayor.
But I was amazed about how many people do care so much. New Yorkers who move away are a very loyal bunch.
Dan B
It’s fresh cherry season here and it’s a big agricultural deal. Much of the crop is rotting because farmers can’t get pickers. The orchards are in big Trump supporting areas.
Suzanne
Yeah, that’s true, and it doesn’t matter one whit in your life until the day you sell. I think this is why so many homeowners who are on paper wealthy feel poor AF.
Zohran wouldn’t have likely been my first choice, but I am thrilled that Cuomo lost. I also think it’s telling that a ton of people are calling him antisemitic, but were quieter than mice about all the Islamophobia directed his way.
bbleh
Yeah the Mamdani thing was a real breath of fresh air, plus a cool shower, plus, I dunno, spring flowers with a heavy dose of opium poppy or something.
REALLY tired of doomscrolling, but it’s hard to find anything else that’s not totally escapist right now.
Hopefully better once the heat breaks.
Dan B
@Suzanne: Lander, who co- endorsed Mamdani, celebrated his victory. Lander is Jewish.
Scout211
Have you called a repair person to get an estimate to see if it is worth repairing? If you do need to replace it, they still sell models that don’t have all the bells and whistles but work just fine and are less expensive.
But I will say that there are many times over the decades that I wished I could just call the landlord or property manager to fix something.
Added: The thing that we are facing next is a replacement septic leach field. It’s only 17 years old but it’s failing already. That’s a big ticket item.
different-church-lady
I don’t know what Mamdani can do to actually deliver lower rent, but the fact that he is at least willing to address it, instead of just waving it away, is quite a sea change from, say…
different-church-lady
Oh honey, a fridge ain’t nothin’ compared to what that place will be worth ten from now.
West of the Rockies
Has it been noted yet that DOGE dummy “Big Balls” (read No Balls) has left his position? Good riddance, creep.
Harrison Wesley
@West of the Rockies: Should we cue AC/DC for his exit?
suzanne
@Dan B: I know. It’s not my place to make a judgment about whether or not Mamdani is antisemitic, but I will absolutely judge as hypocrites some of the people who criticized him without saying a word about Islamophobia. There’s a ton of bad faith out there.
different-church-lady
@Harrison Wesley: Why waste a dopey song on him?
Doc Sardonic
Former repair person…… what are your fridges symptoms?
Doc Sardonic
@Harrison Wesley: Nah….AC/DC didn’t write a song about MTP peen.
Jay
If your fridge/freezer is not holding temp and it is a post 2000 model. Empty the contents into coolers and unplug the fridge for 30 minutes. Plug it back in, see if that fixes the problem.
Most modern appliances have a CPU, and those often get a “brain fart”. Unplugging it, letting it sit and plugging it back in, resets the factory settings.
Tehanu
@different-church-lady:
This. As a lifelong, yellow-dog Democrat, I’m so sick & tired of weasel words coming from Democrats, even though (obviously) I still have to vote for them.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Another noteable outcome from the NYC race: the dismal performance of Dems for Education Reform founder Whitney Tilson. The guy who basically ran on a platform preached by influential centrists/abundo/Reaganomic clowns who insist that Dems need to run like Michael Bloomberg (Charters! Go hard at unions!).
Tilson did and he got .8 % of the vote.
Mandami ran on ideas and policies that are not part of the tired, centrist/abundo/trickle-down bullshit preached by the likes of Klein/MattY/Smith/Atlantic/Vox and the rest of that crowd, and was predictably attacked as being unrealistic, he was inexperienced, anti-business or a pie-in-the-sky dreamer.
He was pitching “old school”, mainstream New Deal Democratic ideas. But in this era of degraded, corporate “liberalism”, it’s not a coincidence that the only socialist candidate made a full-throated case for what used to be liberalism’s bread and butter and that a ton of Democratic-voting New Yorkers who probably don’t’ consider themselves ‘socialists’ liked what they were hearing.
Sister Golden Bear
@Dan B: Trump take cherry.
Harrison Wesley
@different-church-lady: ’cause he’s a dope?
zhena gogolia
Thank you for exonerating Lee Marvin.
Scout211
@West of the Rockies:
All the news reports are saying that Big Balls resigned. But Wired quoted a former DOGE employee who said he was fired or let go. He said that many of the former DOGE team members who were then hired by the federal government are being let go since they are now probationary employees. LOL. I have no idea if it’s true, but it would be perfect Karma.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Winning is more persuasive than talking.
Geminid
@Dan B: I was struck by this appraisal of Mamdani-the-candidate. It’s from Neil Kwatra, an NYC political consultant whose firm worked for Cuomo. NYT City Hall Bureau chief Emma G. Fitzimmons reposted it:
Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of the DSA and DSA-adjacent portion of the Democratic Party. But I want to judge Mamdani with an open mind, as an individual; and I am looking forward to watching Mamdani campaign between now and November.
H.E.Wolf
If you hadn’t bought your house, we would never have met and loved Walter the dog!
Scout211
I don’t know anything about NYC politics but since Trump callled Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and Laura Loomer demanded Trump arrest Mamdani for terrorism, I think NY Dems may be on to something.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
The other key indicator of the NYC election outcome is the reaction of Larry Fucking Summers. He was on some show this morning calling the outcome “calamitous”.
This after yesterday calling Mandami’s policies “Trotskyite” meaning a key economic advisor in a previous *Democratic* administration felt the New Deal was essentially that.
If nothing else, I want Mandami to succeed just to experience the bitter tears of that bastard.
Baud
bbleh
@Scout211: they really aren’t very good at disguising their feelings, are they? And anything that gets them upset makes me think, “hmm, might be something good here …
(&btw, it’s episodes like this that make me nearly double over in laughter when people say the Orange Guy has executed some clever strategic plan. Guy can’t even keep his mouth shut ffs.)
Harrison Wesley
@Scout211: Alas, given the state of play in Merka today, I can easily see an unidentified group of armed men grabbing him off the street
Almost Retired
For most people, Lee Marvin is a super talented actor who starred in some great movies in the 60s and 70s. For California lawyers, he starred in the answer to the family law question on the bar exam.
NaijaGal
@Baud:
Yay!
I feel even better about Zohran Kwame Mamdani for making this happen :).
Dan B
@suzanne: I hope Lander campaigns with Mamdani and regularly points out that he, a Jew, has great respect and admiration for him. Opponents will keep pushing the “He’s a terrorist Jew hater!” propaganda because it works on people’s emotions.
gene108
The way global birth rates have been lowered are:
1. Increase girls access to education.
2. Older marriage age for girls/women.
3. Increased economic opportunities for women.
4. Increased access to family planning / birth control.
Reverse these four things and birth rates will increase. All the Northern European countries with better safety nets than ours have lower birth rates than here.
Giving girls/women as little control over their lives as possible is how birth rates will increase.
Baud
@Scout211:
All Dems get that treatment. Some have even been assassinated.
Steve LaBonne
@Geminid: I hold DSA in general in somewhat limited esteem, but AOC is a highly competent politician and it looks like Mamdani may be another.
Steve LaBonne
@Baud: Don’t mess with the Zohran.
Scout211
@Almost Retired: Ah, yes. Who among us olds can forget the “palimony” court case?
Suzanne
@Baud: I hope Andrew Cuomo enjoys a peaceful and secluded retirement.
Steve LaBonne
@Suzanne: I hope it can somehow be painful and humiliating.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@gene108:
Golly gee, funny how the modern GOP is basically against all of those things.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Bets on which NYT columnist will be the first to suggest he run for president?
Downpuppy
Houses appreciate in growing areas. West Virginia is..
M31
lol the WSJ is panicking about “hot commie summer” and now people are naming cocktails that
I’m thinking Campari, ginger beer, a Luxardo cherry, and a tiny umbrella with “jump you fuckers” written on it
Almost Retired
@Scout211: Fun fact. Michelle Triola (Marvin) moved on to a long term relationship with Dick Van Dyke. They didn’t marry.
Jackie
@Baud:
I hope that holds true. 🤞🏻
Heh! The NY Post confirms? I guess republicans really are furrowing their brows LOL
Suzanne
@Steve LaBonne:
Thank you, Daddy, may I have another?
Baud
@Suzanne:
Nominated!
Dan B
@Baud: Born in Uganda so ?President? Hmmmm…
Scout211
@Jackie: Right now it’s the NY Post with the scoop. But it sounds like we may need to wait for confirmation.
Doug R
@Scout211:
Yeah the new fridges use way less electricity than any fridge that’s on its last legs.
Baud
I don’t know that much about Mamdani but apparently the NYT hated him so he’s got that going for him morally speaking.
apocalipstick
Death Hunt? The Dirty Dozen or GTFO.
Geminid
@Steve LaBonne: My feelings about the DSA are mixed. I think their tankie-filled, Chomskyite International Committee is an albatross around the Party’s neck. But some members– including one I’ve talked to here– say the IC is a bunch of idiots and they stick with the party despite them.
On the other hand, most DSA members seem to be sincere and not cynical, and they are not accelerationists as are some others on what I call the Dirtbag Left.
They’re kind of fun to watch too, with 5 or 6 distinct caucuses debating each other over Party principles and direction. And I dig how they call each other, “Comrade.”
frosty
I think you meant nonsense.
Jay
@gene108:
Here, we have had that for decades, and yes, the birth rate fell.
Recently, it started to rise here. The cause here is 6 months of maternity leave, 6 months of paternity leave, job protections, rent control, raises to the minimum wage, (which pushed many other wages up), the Province, Municipalities and Unions pushing a “living wage”, and free or subsidized daycare.
Suzanne
@Geminid: There is also nothing to be gained by punching left. We’re not going to pick up votes on the right by doing so. All it does is stress the coalition. I understand that many Dems don’t share the DSA’s values, but we also don’t put together 50 + 1 without them, most of the time.
Jay
@Dan B:
I think Baud meant Cuomo.
Scout211
Yes, yes I did.
But far be it for me to insult the internet- connected Alexa-run refrigerator owners who can see into their fridge with a knock and let the fridge make the grocery list and then order the groceries for them and schedule a delivery. No, I would never insult those fridge owners.
currawong
I watched Day of the Jackel and really enjoyed it.
At the end of one episode they played a version of Wicked Game which I loved and Shazam’d it. It was by a band called Wolf Alice who had somehow escaped my attention for the last 10 years but are now on regular rotation.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Here we disagree. I think we always punch back, regardless of where the punch is coming from. Nothing saps energy more than telling people to shut up and take abuse.
I’ll never criticize anyone for fighting someone who hates us, whether right, center, or left.
Betty
@frosty: More things to go wrong and cost a lot to fix.
Another Scott
In other ShocKing News, … ArsTechnica.com:
Maybe buyers will get a free graduation certificate and box of meat to go with it,
whenif it is finally released.BUY NOW11!!1ONE
[ groucho-roll-eyes.gif ]
Best wishes,
Scott.
Jay
Comment in link.
https://bsky.app/profile/milesperhoward.bsky.social/post/3lshdychfmk2b
Old School
Take it out of Joelle’s dowry.
Elizabelle
@M31:
Sounds refreshing.
And those fuckers should jump.
bbleh
@Scout211: give my Web-connected refrigerator my credit card number? Well, of course! What could possibly go wrong?
Suzanne
@Baud: There’s a lot of punches thrown from the center toward the left, too, and I find it all exhausting and disappointing. It’s basically the fastest way to lose.
Now I’m remembering how many times I voted for Sinema and it’s making me feel gross and depressed.
Trollhattan
@Scout211:
Fired by Yuge Balls?
Harrison Wesley
@Geminid: “Comrade?” Sad!
Suzanne
@Scout211:
We bought a new fridge last year, and I wouldn’t let Mr. Suzanne get one with any sort of gizmos on the front. No through-the-door ice or water, no knock-lights-up panel, certainly no dumb screen GTFO. The aesthetics are bad. Reads as very new-money.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Yes, there are. Our enemies are all around us.
PsiFighter37
@Baud: Not surprising. His heart never seemed in this run, and when he actually faced someone who had some fight, from someone who really doesn’t have the credentials to run America’s largest city…I can understand why Cuomo doesn’t want to slog it out over the next 4+ months in what is likely to be a losing cause, no matter how much money Mike Bloomberg and Bill Ackman contribute.
That, and the fact he’s a serial sexual harasser. I’ll vote with a great deal of hesitance for Mamdani because another 4 years of a severely compromised Eric Adams is simply not an option. But I hope he chooses his advisors wisely, doesn’t pick unnecessary fights, and realizes that people will love him mostly if he makes sure things run smoothly and improve on the day-to-day basics. Shit like ‘global intifada’ has no place in Gracie Mansion.
Librettist
@Baud:
Since no one here can be bothered with primary sources, I’ll just note his concession speech was exactly that, and conciliatory towards the assemblyman.
He was clearly done.
Baud
@Librettist:
Glad to hear that Cuomo exhibited some class in defeat.
@PsiFighter37:
We’ll see. It’s always a bit of a crapshoot with any new person.
frosty
Exactly! When I bought my latest (and maybe last) car I got the previous model that didn’t have the sound system and climate control on a screen. Real knobs! Put the temperature dial where you want, crank the fan how you want, none of this “Set car at 74 degrees.” Ms F’s Jeep has that. It keeps blowing cold air in the winter.
Harrison Wesley
@Another Scott: Too bad they caught themselves. It would have been amusing to file a MAGA-enraged suit for false advertising.
Trollhattan
I’m riveted to NYC mayoral politics but only because fourteen presidents promoted from that very office.
Another Scott
We replaced our 20-ish year old Kenmore bottom freezer (Amana) with an LG. (We ordered it from Lowes and it was delivered in mid December. No problems at all.) The defrost drain on the old one was clogged and I couldn’t get it unclogged, so every few weeks water would drain out of the freezer onto the floor, making a mess (and probably working its way under the linoleum…) The power label says the LG uses about 1/3 the electricity and I believe it. It’s quieter, has more space inside, the ice and water on the door has been great. We’ll be here a while, so it will likely pay for itself fairly soon.
If you can swing it at all, and if your fridge is over 10-15 years old, getting a new(er) one is probably a good idea (but look at the labels).
(Yeah, there are horror stories about appliances, and some are true. But we all know that horror stories are not representative – otherwise they wouldn’t be so scary! :-)
Good luck!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Geminid
@Harrison Wesley: It is kind of quaint. But with all those different caucuses, “comrade” may provide a neccesary unifier.
There was a good article about the DSA in New Lines Magazine that I’ll try linking to in a while. It’s pretty good, like everything else I’ve read in New Lines
RaflW
I just looked at the fertility rate of all five Nordic countries, since they are all pretty darn good on prenatal & family support, and they’re all lower than the US. Not by a ton, but lower.
But here’s the thing: Other than figuring out how to pay for the retirements & health care of older citizens in all these countries, these ‘low’ birthrates don’t really matter! The earth is not going to become unpopulated (unless the Huckabee types get their Armageddon)
For moral as well as practical reasons should support American mothers, parents and families better. But it’s because it’s the right thing to do, not because people will have more kids.
Eolirin
@Baud: If that’s true, Mamdani is almost certainly going to be Mayor.
I’m still skeptical any Mayor can overcome NYC’s entrenched political forces, especially the NYPD and the old money, and I’m less hopeful than many this will lead to real change, but I would like him to succeed.
Doug R
It’s about time someone ran on improving rents.
I’m sure some margin of PM Carney’s victory was due to promising to double the rate of new home building.
lowtechcyclist
@Suzanne:
Or the day you make the final payment, but I expect most homeowners don’t get there.
PsiFighter37
@Doug R: Easier said than done. There is a lot of NIMBY behavior, especially from the crowd in NYC that purports to want more housing built.
Eolirin
@Baud: Like, it’s not even about it being a new person, it’s about recognizing that the mayor doesn’t unilaterally set policy and there are some really huge obstacles to improving things that don’t go away just because you get someone who is smart and has their policy agenda in the right place. I’d love to see him overcome that, but we need to temper expectations here.
Just like you can’t elect an Obama and then give the House and Senate to Republicans and expect good policy outcomes. It’s important not to get too far ahead in celebrating wins in what is really going to be a long protracted battle against powerful interests. (which is not to say don’t celebrate at all. But excessive exuberance is going to lead to extreme disappointment since this doesn’t fundamentally shift the on the ground reality of how city politics operates)
Geminid
@PsiFighter37: Curtis Sliwa said of Cuomo the candidate:
As reported by the NYT‘s Fitzimmons, Sliwa sounded kind of philosophical about this race. He didn’t seem like someone thought he had a chance against Mamdani.
TONYG
@gene108: Yes. And controlling women and girls is the real agenda behind that “have more white babies” rhetoric.
Jay
FYI, there has already been at least one death in the Concentration Camps from a pregnancy, in which the woman was denied medical treatment and died in her cell.
https://bsky.app/profile/dmehro.bsky.social/post/3lshkf66afk2t
Eolirin
@PsiFighter37: It’s kinda sad that we could drop rental costs by like a third just by cracking down on money laundering in the NYC real estate market.
Eolirin
@Geminid: He doesn’t have a chance against any Dem.
TONYG
@Geminid: It just cracks me up that the GOP is running Curtis Sliwa. A name that I’ve hardly heard of since the eighties!
Suzanne
@lowtechcyclist: 40% of homeowners in the U.S. own their homes outright. Record high. While we also have a record high percentage of people who are officially rent-burdened. Half of renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities, and roughly half of those people pay 50% or more. Bad situation.
TONYG
@Jay: Yes. The contemporary fascist movement is so very “pro-life”.
zhena gogolia
@TONYG: And that could have been Trump . . .
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
At least Mamdani is a dude. That’ll help.
Eolirin
@Eolirin: I should say though, being excessively exuberant about Cuomo losing badly is totally cool. Fuck that guy.
Suzanne
@Eolirin:
I wish there was some way for him to lose twice, or lose harder.
PsiFighter37
@Geminid: Silwa is not a serious candidate. He is a crank who lives on the Upper West Side with over a dozen cats and cosplays like it’s the 1970s. The uber-rich want nothing to do with him. He will be lucky to break 15% in the general election…Adams is going to siphon off all the opportunistic rich money and Republican votes.
Jay
@fucklapd.com and @fuckice.com have launched facial recognition programs to identify “anonymous” LAPD and ICE agents.
Gretchen
@Dan B: People are saying that Lander will be Deputy Mayor? Is that a real thing, or are they saying he will have a role in the administration?
Gretchen
I think a lot of those migrant workers would be happy to work here for a while and have visas to go back and forth and spend time at home with their families. I’m sure they’d rather be able to go home and come back without having smugglers sneak them over the border. There have been proposals for years to do that but the hardliners would rather have this police state thing than something that would work for everyone.
Marc
It’s weird, I know some of you consider what follows alarmist nonsense. The fascist ideal is to eventually restructure the corporate, professional, and semi-professional workforce around white (and approved minority) males. White immigrants are never going to be numerous enough to fill the need. That means a growing supply of white babies will be required. Childcare not required, as only childless white women will be encouraged/permitted to work.
PsiFighter37
@Gretchen: That would be good, but at the end of the day the administration will be driven by Mamdani and how he comports himself. If he is a chaotic agent himself, then it won’t matter who is working in Gracie Mansion.
I think the most fascinating thing to see is how the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn handles this. They are the most self-centered, selfish community out there in the city, IMO, and the favorable treatment / passes they have gotten for decades for basically operating a system and a community that is against the idea of American assimilation, is crazy.
mrmoshpotato
Link
Getting these charges dismissed because of Shithead Ted would be hilarious.
mark
Bring foreigners here to work the farms? How about we just start importing food from Mexico. We went to Cabo a number of years ago and stayed in our time share which had a kitchen. We weren’t forced to eat out for all of our meals. It was amazing how cheap groceries were in Mexico.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I guess I was just saying, there was a time when it looked as though Trump was going to be about as relevant in 2025 as Sliwa is. Thanks a lot, Mark Burnett.
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3lsgwddie3s2u
SUUPER GENIUS!!!!!!
zhena gogolia
OT, but I highly recommend Pee Wee as Himself on Max. Fascinating.
NaijaGal
@Jay:I love that man’s response.
When I was a student at Barnard, at the start of each semester, I’d move my stuff from Westchester to the Barnard dorms by taking a Bee-Line bus from Yonkers to the Bronx and the subway from the Bronx to 116th and Broadway.
There were always people (of different races) who would note that I was struggling with several bags and a suitcase, pick up my suitcase, carry it up the subway stairs, set it down and keep moving to wherever they were going without my asking for help and without waiting for me to say, “Thank you!” I was never worried about anyone stealing said suitcase.
I always think back to this and the statement I’ve heard since moving to LA that “New Yorkers are kind but not nice and Californians are nice but not kind.” I don’t have an opinion about whether Californians are kind, but New Yorkers definitely are, just gruff and no nonsense about it. Wish more people had a chance to experience this.
Belafon
Saw this online and I think it’s very important for us to keep in mind:
https://www.tumblr.com/runawaymarbles/779365836854034432/to-the-people-in-the-notes-acting-like-this-is-an
zhena gogolia
@NaijaGal: Yes, that’s my experience too.
zhena gogolia
@Belafon: Right.
mark
Discussion a few months ago about SS checks coming or not. Got mine this morning. I’m a fourth Wednesday of the month guy. Sweet socialism.
NaijaGal
@Doug R:
There was “The rent is too damn high” party guy but I believe he became a Republican!
Eolirin
@PsiFighter37: To be fair, we lost the house in 2022 in large part because Hochul and Cuomo pissed off that community. They’ve gotten passes for a reason, as much as it sucks.
lowtechcyclist
@Another Scott:
Ours is, and we can, but the problem (which IIRC Suzanne encountered not that long ago) is that except for the real low-low-end refrigerators, they’re taller than they used to be.
The difference is only a few inches, but the cabinet above the fridge was at a height that worked for refrigerators from the 1990s and earlier, but is too low for current fridges to fit underneath. Except for those low-end refrigerators that frankly would be a step down from the Amana we bought in 1994 and are still using.
dnfree
We made money on the house we bought in 1973 and sold in 1979. We did not make money on any of the following four houses from 1979 to 2019. Buy a house if you want living space and a yard.
mark
@lowtechcyclist: Employment opportunity for someone.
Johannes
The Charles Bronson story is, if I’m remembering it right, that Bronson and a young Kurt Russell had a friendship and that it continued well into their star eras.
dnfree
@different-church-lady: I don’t know about where John lives, but in small towns and cities in Illinois, property values stay stagnant for decades.
mark
@dnfree: Bought our first house in 1987. Microsoft is in the area. I cleaned up on that one. Thank You Bill Gates.
NotMax
FYI.
In the market for a new TV? While not exactly a steal the sale price looks like a helluva deal considering the specs.
This 55-inch QLED TV is on sale for $565 and looks like a picture frame when it isn’t being used
@Doug R
Absolutely. The new Energy Star* rated one installed in January has lowered my electric bill by one third.
*A program you-know-who is trying to quash.
Geminid
@Jay: Iran’s Majlis also voted to close the Strait of Hormuz a couple days ago, but the Strait was not closed because that act was subject to the decision of higher authority, just like this one is.
The Majlis is in form like a powerful Western parliament, but the Islamic Republic’s constitution subordinates it to the Supreme Leader and the Supreme National.Security Council he appoints. Same with President Pezeshkian.
I think you know that; I’m posting this for the benefit of people here who don’t.
PatD
@Belafon: we have no idea what we’re going to get because we have no idea how bad things will get between now and then. Every problem that people would like to see fixed is going to get worse in the meantime, not better. I don’t think we can even imagine the political consequences of that.
Many of us consider ourselves standard issue liberals and maybe even moderate to some degree. But we’re only 6 months into a fascist government. You might be surprised where you end up.
PatD
@Eolirin: didn’t screwing up redistricting play a role as well?
dnfree
Refrigerator-wise, the one that came with this house, freezer on bottom and double-door refrigerator, had issues at about 12 years old and we called several repair places who said they would not work on LG refrigerators—too difficult to work on. I don’t know if that’s true of current models. I hated that bottom freezer—too hard to find things. We got a side-by side so the freezer has shelves.
Interesting Name Goes Here
@Belafon: The difficulty is, the people who seriously need to keep that in mind are all busy gassing up New York as a sign that The Revolution™ Has Begun.
These are also the same people who fucked off in 2024, 2022, 2016, 2014, 2010, 2004, 2000, and likely for many, many years before that.
If they can stay on target for longer than three months, then I’ll start believing they have turned a corner. As of right now, though, I have no reason to believe that they’ve suffered enough pain yet to learn those lessons.
Another Scott
@lowtechcyclist: I had to remove the above-the-fridge cabinet when we got our Kenmore years ago. The bottom edge was about 1/2″ too low. I never trimmed it or put it back – it’s still in the basement. It was only held by 2-4 screws, so it was easy to remove. But of course that meant prepping and repainting that wall…
A bigger issue for us was simply finding one that we liked that we could actually get in our 1963 house because they would’t fit through the door. Many of them are huge now, even if you take the fridge doors off (and that can be a job if you get one with ice and water on the door). Going in our patio door would have been a huge job because of a few thousand pounds of bagged soil and mulch in the way, plus we would have had to take the sliding glass doors out of their tracks, etc., etc….
I hate shopping for house things, because there are so many constraints to consider… :-/
Good luck!
Best wishes,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: That is very sad. Totally an own goal.
But really, do we think Republicans actually eat fruit?
tobie
@Eolirin: Do you have any links on this? I’m genuinely curious what drives rental rates in NYC. They’ve always been high but they’ve gone up a lot, and I sometimes wonder if provisions in the first Trump tax bill opened up new opportunities for cheaters in the real estate industry beginning with Trump and his son-in-law Kushner.
Jackie
@mark:
Until 2034? SOMETHING has to change with SS, I just don’t know what the answer is. Even now more seniors are moving in with their children, helping with childcare and mutual cost of living expenses.
Jay
@Geminid:
The Majlis’s conditions for allowing the IAEC back in, makes it pretty clear that like the IAEC, UNSCOM and UNMOVIC in Iraq, it is not a monitoring and control Agency, but a Spying Operation.
Harrison Wesley
@Jay: Nobody here in the US of A should be surprised by this. And I have a terrible feeling that a lot of people were looking forward to it.
Geminid
@PatD: Albany Democrats attempted a fairly aggressive gerrymander in 2021, after the Census data was delivered late. Republicans found a favorable judge who struck the redistricting plan down. The Court of Appeals upheld him and sent the matter back to the judge.
He appointed a special master who drew a map unfavorable to Democrats. If anything, Democrats in Albany tried too hard to gain seats and got burned.*
That was one reason Democrats lost five New York seats that year. The other I think was that Democratic politicians and voters were complacent.. I can’t fault them but so much for that, because the complacency of Virginia Democrats cost us the Governor’s mansion the year before.
That same year, Illinois Democrats drew an even more aggressive gerrymander that was upheld; different court, and different underlying statute.
Another Scott
@Jackie:
Dean Baker at CEPR – Don’t Buy the Scare About Social Security: We Will Get Our Benefits Unless Republican Politicians Don’t Want Us To.
It’s a good read.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
@Dan B: Just gotta hope that nobody remembers there are women and POC republicans.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@NaijaGal: I moved from NYC to silicon valley in 1977 for work. I’m glad to read of your good experience there. I would only add, don’t count on it.
Geminid
@Jay: The people who call the shots in Iran will let the IAEA back in if they so decide, no matter what the Majlis says about the IAEA. I think we’ll know soon enough if they’re going to, because this matter is being negotiated right now.
YY_Sima Qian
@mark: That’d be too much competition, can’t have that in the land of capitalism!
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/adambonica.bsky.social/post/3lsgnpr3tuk2z
Graphic at the link.
PatD
@Geminid: I think IL Dems as a state party are far more ruthless and competent. I’m not sure how Jay Jacobs still has his job.
PsiFighter37
@Eolirin: 100% not true. It may have cost us one upstate district at most, but what cost us most was running bad candidates, absolutely failing at gerrymandering, and, most importantly, Kathy Hochul and Jay Jacobs running a completely shit-for-brains campaign at the state level. If state Democrats had any competence, they would draw the Orthodox community into a bright-red district and let them enjoy being hung out to dry every state legislative session.
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/mrsbettybowers.bsky.social/post/3lshbp62zxc2r
PsiFighter37
@Jackie: The answer is to restore tax rates to some semblance that existed when Social Security was established in the first place. If people think Social Security was established on the back of a top marginal rate of 37%, they need to read a fucking history book that wasn’t made in Texas.
SATSQ, and yet the morons out there, of all political stripes, cannot explain this.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
I wish the guy well, and hope for the best for NYC. He’s going to have a tough time. It’s not just the entrenched interests he’ll struggle with, but also unrealistic expectations from his core voters.
Scout211
I think that sentence could apply to just about all elected officials these days.
Jackie
O/T, but did anyone see this?
Good, bad, doesn’t matter?
jimmiraybob
As widespread panic sets in that a Democratic Socialist is in the running for mayor of New York, the following PBS documentary should be seen by everyone far and wide, “America’s Socialist Experiment.”
It involves beer. And the time that Milwaukee thrived under socialist government that fought corruption, picked up trash, opened public parks and more.
Please review and report.
Also too, anybody remember the joke with the punchline, “…the beer that made Mel Famey walk us”? Classic groaner.
Jackie
@PsiFighter37:
That’s reassuring. NOT!
jimmiraybob
@NaijaGal:
I have done that in DC.
Galaxy Being
@apocalipstick:Dirty Dozen is a great movie, filled with top actors, but my personal favorite is Point Blank. The poster alone is amazing, and I still don’t know what to think about the ending. I think Lee Marvin was probably a Democrat, he endorsed JFK for President.
Jay
Graph at link.
https://bsky.app/profile/davidjbier.bsky.social/post/3lsez2vftsk22
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@PsiFighter37:
@Gretchen: Brad Lander was & should be Mamdanis secret weapon, the Biden to Mamdani’s Obama-like rise. He’s an extremely competent classic NYC liberal Jewish politician & when he joined forces with Mamdani it screamed both “no antisemitism here” & “no loss of institutional knowledge.” His cross-endorsement enabled Mandani’s win, and when he joined Mandani’s victory party everyone chanted his name. I shall be extremely surprised if he isn’t Mandani’s deputy mayor.
@tobie: a lot of different factors are at play because there are a lot of different legal characteristics for different rental properties. However, I’d start with a tax on all vacant housing owned by anyone anywhere who files tax returns over $1 million & complete disclosure of all LLC ownership. That should get rid of a lot of deceitful rich people & rent a lot of space.
NY real estate can stand to fall a lot in price. Everything older than WWII looks exactly the same as the housing stock in Albany & Buffalo & should rent for the same amount of money (or less as we have no Frank Lloyd Wright houses). Real estate should be pure consumption & no more an “investment” than a luxury handbag.
Jackie
Never mind
Jay
@Chacal Charles Calthrop:
He’s NYC’s Comptroller, which has a lot more power than a Deputy Mayor.
He has the “power of the purse”.
Geoduck
Yes, Bronson grew up very poor and evidently it scarred him for life. He could be generous but he also reportedly had a temper and could carry a serious grudge.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Jay: Lander was, Levine is the new comptroller.
YY_Sima Qian
Inadequate human capital to support a manufacturing renaissance had always been the achilles heel of Biden’s attempt at industrial policy:
Filling the shortfall in blue collar manufacturing labor is actually not that hard, the whining of the CEOs that form the Business Roundtable notwithstanding: pay the workers better so that these positions are more attractive than shitty service sector jobs! Let them unionize, to secure & defend their interests! Make the necessary investment to train the fresh high school/community college grads! The US businesses are sitting on plenty of cash, which they prefer to spend on dividends & stock buy-backs, instead.
USG can formulate incentives differently, too. Instead of all the tax credits going to incentivize capital investment, divert more of that to hiring of blue collar workers, & heavily subsidize technical training, too, rather than just land acquisition & construction costs. That would be worker centered, rather than capital centered, policymaking.
The greater challenge is the shortfall in white collar workers to support a manufacturing renaissance – engineering, QA, operations management, program management, etc., due to great distortions in the development of the US’ human capital over the past several decades. Not nearly enough STEM graduates, too many of those in CS, too many of them then lured to finance or software/platform Big Tech. Very little has been done to address these shortages, & DOGE’s gutting of federal funding of STEM, MAGA’s assault on institutions of higher learning, & ICE’s harassment of immigrants, will all make the bad situation far worse.
All of the above are rather academic, though, in the age of Trump 2.0.
Lyrebird
@tobie: You might find this Prism article interesting, though it certainly doesn’t fully cover your question.
YY_Sima Qian
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: That’s some real “houses are for living, not for speculation” energy!
Steve LaBonne
@jimmiraybob: I used to live in Schenectady, NY, whose beautiful Central Park was created by a Socialist mayor.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@YY_Sima Qian: while we’re on the topic of NYC real estate, let me just point out that the whole reason a lot of NYC prewar housing survived decades of neglect (there were a lot of buildings that saw essentially no maintenance between 1929 & 1982) was that the immigrant labor that built them was accustomed to building what were in effect castles and the wood beams these buildings rest upon came from old growth forests that were sturdier than today’s farmed trees.
And the tenements were actually built like castles, with walls four bricks thick & no amenities except fireplaces. No plumbing, no gas, and of course no electricity. Even a lot of the luxury housing in Brooklyn & upper east & west sides was built before electricity. All the wiring & piping are added later & can be pulled out & replaced.
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/valontheborder.bsky.social/post/3ls52sb43l22g
Link to the story in the link.
Jay
@Chacal Charles Calthrop:
Levine won the primary, he still needs to be elected.
Lander is the Comptroller until November.
tobie
@Lyrebird: Thanks for the link. I’ve been gone from NY so long that I forgot about the switch from rent control to rent stabilization to no controls whatsoever. I need to get up to speed again.
Almost80
As for the TX border, and 250 miles of it, haha that is the southern part of it. Abbot can’t kneel down far enough…he keeps trying . No more money from this state is going into continuing the stupid wall (65 miles completed). That decision happened a few weeks ago, which surprised me. Any Air Force members on the ground are just going to love it. Hottest place in Tx during the summer. I’m too sleepy right now to put the pieces together…no more money for a wall, but Air Force in charge.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Jay: exactly.
jimmiraybob
@Steve LaBonne:
At this point, this is the kind of thing that should be shouted from the rooftops. Hint O mighty blog leaders.
Jay
That’s 4 months of shaping that can be done before the Administration changes.
Kayla Rudbek
@Jay:
@gene108:
whenever someone asks “why don’t they…” the answer is usually money
Geminid
@Geoduck: Charles Bronson grew up very poor, in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania. His father was a coal miner. Bronson was 11 year-old when his father died. He went to work at the coal mine, first as an office boy and when he’d grown some, in the mine. Bronson was 21 when WWII began and he left the coal fields for the Army.
Except he wasn’t Charles Bronson then; his name was Charles Buchinsky. After the war Buchinsky settled in California and learned the acting trade. Once he started landing TV roles, his agent persuaded him to change his name to Bronson. That was during the McCarthy era, and the agent thought his “foreign” name might hold Buchinsky back.
Jay
Excerpt in link.
https://bsky.app/profile/agordon.me/post/3lshchffki22k
Jay
@Kayla Rudbek:
Here, it’s resulted in a growth of 14% in GDP. Like most of North America, 90% of that go to the MOU, 10% goes to the people who actually work for a living.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: “Buchinsky” is suspiciously Polish or Ukrainian.
YY_Sima Qian
A sad sign of consumerism run amok, & businesses addicting customers to dopamine releases. Perhaps an interesting study in mass social psychology in these trying times, on both sides of the Pacific (gift link to WSJ article belo)w:
I was not even aware of the phenomenon until I started reading about it on X, from the international press, & then RedNote.
Kayla Rudbek
@Jay: all the Seditious Six should be impeached and disbarred, and then we can start on the circuit courts (Federal Circuit also needs a good housecleaning in my arrogant opinion)
Jay
@YY_Sima Qian:
Cabbage Patch Kids, American Doll Girls, Beanie Babies, etc.
mark
@Jackie: Everyone here should go to the Yahoo message board and lay waste to the DJT board. Kind of like the hunter/killer teams they talked about in the first Terminator movie.
Our brave new world.
Jackie
LOL!
Just days after launch, the FFOTUS – branded cell phone is already shifting its promises – and ditching its “Made in America” claim.
https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/693080/trump-mobile-t1-phone-made-usa
YY_Sima Qian
@Jay: Yep, we’ve seen this movie before.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: It’s a Lithuanian name. Bronson’s father came from Lithuania, as did his maternal grandparents.
Bronson said they did not speak English at home, and he had a very thick accent when he entered the Army. He must have worked hard to lose it.
I like all of Bronson’s movies, but The Sandpiper is a particular favorite. Bronson plays Elizabeth Taylors beatnik artist-friend, and in one scene he gets to live a classic American male dream: he punches out Richard Burton!
BethanyAnne
@Johannes: Here’s Kurt telling the story. https://youtu.be/R55cF-kA-zY
Doug R
@zhena gogolia:
We liked it so much that we hunted down the Judd Apatow produced Pee Wee’s Big Holiday (2016).
Good heartfelt fun.
Ruckus
@bbleh:
Guy can’t even keep his mouth shut ffs
That’s his mouth?
Considering what comes out of it I thought that was the other end of his intestinal system…..
Ruckus
@gene108:
BINGO!
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
A real shitforbrains phone?
I think I’m going back to bed and sleep, the concept of ANYTHING that has his name on it would be worth the walk to the trash to throw it away on it’s second day because it quit working!
Oh well at least if you saw someone using one you’d know to cross the street…..