As I write this, the Senate is working up to or actually voting on that evil clusterfuck of a bill. The pundits have begun the usual “are they a yes- they’ve spoke against it” bullshit, like Susan Collins or Just Hawley are going to save the day. I don’t have the fucking energy to play along and then be surprised that Susan Collins’ concerns didn’t matter a hill of beans. And if I am wrong, I will be pleasantly surprised. I called my Senators. They don’t care it is going to crush West Virginia and will vote for it anyway. So that’s where we are. I’ve done what I can short of going Cassian Andor.
The NY Times has released the top 100 movies of the last century, some of which we can all agree on, some of which are just pretentious but whatever, some that make less sense, and then there are some egregious omissions like the fact that neither Ex Machina nor Napoleon Dynamite appear on the list. I personally find it a little egregious that Little Miss Sunshine is only at 63 and the fact that City of God is not in the top five. I think I have talked about City of God here before, but it was probably a decade or so ago, but it really is, for me, at least, a remarkable piece of film-making that made me feel more deeply than before I watched it. It is at times a deeply sad and disturbing movie. At any rate, here is a gift link to the list (I have a free account).
In other pop culture news, I saw this the other day and thought it would go over well with this audience:
I’m waiting on yet another massive rainstorm tonight. We can’t cut anything right now because it is just so wet. Normally if it rained tonight by tomorrow at 10 am it would be fine. But we have just had so much rain that the ground is so saturated no more can be sucked up. The wells and aquifers have to be near capacity after all the water we get just goes rushing wherever it goes in the flash floods. And Wheeling’s lowlands are about wiped out after the past couple weeks.
At any rate, off until tomorrow. Here’s to hoping our calls and everything work and the bill fails.
Elizabelle
Yes. May that bill fail, and the GOP senators who voted for it go straight to hell shortly after.
Back to Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft singing in Polish.
Baud
Just saw on Blue sky that this trade union came out against the bill as a job killer.
https://bsky.app/profile/joncooper-us.bsky.social/post/3lsp5jnm36c2s
If it doesn’t stop it, hopefully it’ll at least make Republicans slightly more accountable.
MattF
For your browsing pleasure, there’s Lucy Darling. Improvisational comedian, magician, fire-eater— what more could you ask for?
ETA: NYT list isn’t bad… includes Michael Clayton, leaves out Barbie.
HeleninEire
I absolutely loved Little Miss Sunshine. I remember sitting in the theatre with my 2 friends and we all were just crying laughing at the end.
A perfect movie.
Another Scott
According to WARNING TheHill, there are some noises that the Senate might not get it done before July 4. And there are GQPers in the House saying that they can’t support the Senate version, so …
Yeah, much of this kabuki, everyone wanting their particular 30 pieces of silver, and it’s still more likely than not that they’ll pass something (since it’s their last chance to destroy everything), but they really aren’t very competent …
Forward!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
RaflW
The death cult has decided to just swing the wrecking ball with full force. I don’t know what happens in a month, 6 months, two years. It seems grim, but also extremely high risk for Republicans, too.
And no, I don’t (so far) believe that elections will be cancelled. I do think the GOP might try it, but successfully? That would likely be a line too far. But it’s all a crap shoot now.
JoyceH
Update: I think I mentioned my sprained ankle many threads ago. The update is that it turns out that I fractured my fibula. So much for my fitness plan. I’ve got a big old bulky boot on my right leg and sounds like I’ll be wearing it for a month. Sitting here listening to my muscles dissolve.
Archon
@RaflW: I think Republicans are banking on the usual strategy of ramping up a cultural or non existent issue to 10 around October of next year.
Another Scott
@RaflW: Some of the RWNJs back in W’s day proposed postponing the 2004 elections. W’s people shot it down quickly. I think that 47’s minions would have even less success with such a proposal this time.
ForeignPolicy (from July 2020, via archive.is)
Forward!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Another Scott
@JoyceH: Ouch!
Heal quickly and completely!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Bulgakov
Sent this to my two shitty Senators (Moran & Marshall) today.
“If you vote for Trump’s tax bill (the Big Beautiful Bill) I will work against your reelection with all the passion I can muster.
One needs a mission in life 😊”
Another Scott
I LOLed at this.
Enjoy.
(via https://mastodon.social/@VeroniqueB99 )
Best wishes,
Scott.
laura
@JoyceH: apply liberal amounts of cheese until further notice. Seriously, best wishes for a prompt and strong recovery, but also, cheese.
Nukular Biskits
Good evenin’, y’all.
This:
Ditto here for MS. Neither Roger Wicker and especially Cindy Hyde-Smith really give a fuck. They’ll make out okay and they’re counting on the stupidity of a lot of Mississippians to reelect them again.
Unrelated, the statewide “conservative” talk radio network, SupertalkFM, had that asshole Newt Gingrich on either yesterday or today and bragged about it on Twitter::
I couldn’t resist so I posted a screenshot of that (IMHO) classic Betty Cracker comment about Gingrich:
Just as true today as it was years ago.
Craig
How is Michael Clayton only 93? Good Grief!
Jim Appleton
@MattF:
Does she do windows?
Almost Retired
@HeleninEire: I too loved Little Miss Sunshine. We had Australian friends who stayed with us for a night on a long layover at LAX. When they found out we lived in Redondo Beach, they wanted to see the pageant hotel from the movie. Alas, it was actually in Ventura, so I appeased them by taking them to the Portofino Inn – the West Coast terminus for the Cannonball Run race and movies. They were only partially appeased.
montanareddog
The NYT list ain’t bad – I have seen most of them. There are several in the top 15 that are genuine all time classics. 2 movies not mentioned in the top 100 I think should be there: Ash is Purest White and All of Us Strangers.
Gin & Tonic
@JoyceH: Sorry to hear that. Muscle tone deteriorates very rapidly. I lost about 12 weeks due to a small tibial plateau fracture, and I’m nowhere near back to what I was lifting before.
zhena gogolia
Love the video!
hueyplong
I might have scrolled too quickly, but I didn’t see The Big Short or The Road to Perdition. On the other hand, I’m pleased to see the possibility of a consensus that Michael Clayton is underrated at 93.
The list would be a good topic for Sunday night.
Craig
@hueyplong: way underrated
Suzanne
@JoyceH: Ughhhhh, I’m sorry. That’s rough.
John Sterling
Oh, the 100 films of this century. Considering I stopped going to movies at about that time, there’s not much I recognize. I was expecting 100 best films of all time, but that could get really subjective.
hueyplong
@Craig: It’s top 5 for me, and Sydney Pollack is the most realistic big firm honcho in movie history.
Sister Golden Bear
Griefcat gets me.
Especially tonight since I’m getting over a nasty cold (doesn’t seem to be Covid) that’s left me exhausted for a couple days not. Definite FOMO about missing SF Pride (Trans March last night, Dyke March tonight), but just going out to a women’s coffee meetup earlier today wiped out to the point of need a nap. Bleech.
Matt McIrvin
@Archon: Nah, they’ll just put the Democratic nominee in prison. Simple.
I do not believe any Democrat will ever be allowed to win a Presidential election again. The Republican nominee will probably be Trump.
I’m not even convinced death will stop him. You know who is the current president of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea? It’s not Kim Jong Un. It’s his dead grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Eternal President.
With AI technology you could do a lot more with this. He could keep on tweeting, even make public appearances by video.
Suzanne
I am not a big movie watcher, but I enjoyed going through that NYT list. I have seen 32 of them, and I have some huge gaps. Quite a few movies that I had wanted to see and just never got around to. I am on vacation starting tomorrow and I am going to make sure I watch at least one.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Nice try, but I’m still blaming Democrats for everything.
NeenerNeener
I saw 49 of the movies on that list, and I hated at least two of them, Frances Ha and The Royal Tenenbaums.
JiveTurkin
Fetterman Joins GOP to Defeat Anti-Trump Bill
Piece of fucking shit!
YY_Sima Qian
A couple of days ago, I posted the below:
This attitude is exactly what the Sunni Arab states are afraid of:
A succinct take on the implications for the US:
zhena gogolia
@NeenerNeener: Someone read me the top 10 yesterday. Violence and grim stuff seem to be the major qualifications to make the list.
pajaro
In addition to Michael Clayton, I thought Black Panther and Spotlight should have made it higher on the list. I was pleased to see Amour, Aftersun, and The Lives of Others make the list, as they are movies that really knocked me out when I saw them but that I had kind of forgotten about.
Archon
@Matt McIrvin: I have never been a particularly patriotic person. And while I don’t think Americans killed in battle are losers like Trump does, I believe America has fought in very few wars that was “worth” dying over. Having said that I am prepared to risk my life and DIE to prevent Trump and his minions from cancelling elections.
If someone low on the patriot scale like me is prepared to fight and die to save our Republic then there must literally be millions of others prepared to do the same.
YY_Sima Qian
Also, more evidence of utter lawlessness by settlers in the WB (link to ToI article below):
Pretty much:
bbleh
@Another Scott: sadly agree. Still make noise, call Senators & yell at them, make sure they know they are despised for their evil — who knows, maybe it’ll lead to SOME easing SOMEwhere that will reduce the suffering they intend to inflict. But yeah, Republicans are ALL ABOUT transferring wealth upward, so the only question is exactly HOW they will screw the non-rich, not whether.
I keep marveling at how the MAGAts told each other all these years that the Libruls HATED them — even as said Libruls did things like, y’know, guaranteed affordable healthcare coverage for 25-30 MILLION Americans who otherwise wouldn’t have had it — and now, finally, at long last, they may actually be bringing their own wishes true! I for one am not nearly as benignly disposed to the MAGAts as I once was. Talk about self-actualization!
zhena gogolia
I’ve only seen 12 of the 100 movies, and none of the top 10.
JoyceH
@Gin & Tonic:
Boy howdy! Last year, right before Thanksgiving, and the day after I returned from Italy, I tested positive for COVID. Not at all a bad case, I didn’t feel in any danger or even feel very bad, but I pretty much slept for three weeks. And there went the muscles I’d built up for the trip. So this year, I started early in the year, getting myself built back up for England in October. Think I’d gotten back to where I was before COVID, or close to it, but I learned in Italy that my state of fitness then wasn’t enough. So this year, I started early, by gum, I was gonna be soooo fit! I’d be a walking fool! … sigh…
eclare
I’ve seen 29 and agree with Cole that City of God is a masterpiece. The film is like a rollercoaster, taking you along for the ride.
Craig
@hueyplong: extremely powerful movie.
Gin & Tonic
@JoyceH: Yeah, I’m not at all sure I’ll be starting next ski season in the shape I started the last one. There’s a lot of work to do.
Another Scott
C-Span.org:
Vote is 46 yea : 50 no at the moment on the motion to proceed.
JV is at the Capitol in case he needs to break a tie.
Lummis (WY), Scott, Lee, Murkowski have not voted yet.
Exciting!!1
:-/
But it’s not over yet.
Best wishes,
Scott.
YY_Sima Qian
These rankings tend to say more about the pretensions of the people doing the ranking than the movies themselves.
Nevertheless, I am pleasantly surprised by In the Mood for Love ranking so high. I think both Oppenheimer & the Dark Knight should have ranked higher. (I was initially slightly underwhelmed by Oppenheimer, due to the immense hype. Felt more like a montage than a movie. However, the more I rewatched it the more immersive the experience, & it is an experience, it got.)
Agree on Michael Clayton & City of God. & shouldn’t all 3 films of the LOTR trilogy be on the list, or as 1 12 hrs long film but ranked higher? Surprised that Dune is MIA. I would have included City of Life & Death by Lu Chuan (about the Rape of Nanking), as well. & how could Scorsese’s Departed, a remake, be on the list, but the better (IMhO) Hong Kong original Infernal Affairs missing?! & I say that as someone who enjoyed Scorsese’s take.
There is my pretentious take.
YY_Sima Qian
@hueyplong: Forgot about the Big Short!
hells littlest angel
In fact, it’s the 100 best movies of this century. Are we planning to wrap this one up early? That might not be a bad idea.
lowtechcyclist
CNN:
ETA: I see C-Span (via Another Scott @43) is saying it’s 46 for, 50 against, with Lummis (WY), Scott, Lee, Murkowski having not voted yet.
mrmoshpotato
@Another Scott:
Fixed.
WTFGhost
@Archon: The good news is, before then, people will have told Trump he can’t have his tariffs, they’re insane, and, they’ll have a hard time making headway. I hope.
@Nukular Biskits: Well… so long as its only a quick dip, so it doesn’t destroy the nerves and nerve endings; honestly, you could probably substitute 99% isopropyl for the sulphuric, and, if you ensure the light bulbs are compact fluorescent (heavy metal poisoning, donchaknow), then I can’t think of anything wrong with it off the top of *my* head.
@Matt McIrvin: People would figure it out by his using the right words and so forth.
@Archon: Well, and this is the one thing I don’t think Republicans and right wing boogaloo boys think correctly about. That’s right, you would, if you had to, fight against a Trump monarchy. Well, they think they hate you because you something something electric cars something something trans people something something.
You’d know you hate them, because you’re missing Sunday brunch for the 80th week in a row, and you won’t get to relax and have a nice brunch on Sunday until these assholes admit they lost. Or, whatever real life thing just pisses you off the most about having to fight against a Trump monarchy. That’s a hell of a lot hungrier than vague fears and cranky racism.
mrmoshpotato
@hells littlest angel:
WTF? There are 75 years to go in this century! Fuck the fucking dumbshit New York Times!
funlady75
Where was The Shape of Water? or The Hours..
also 12 years a Slave should have been higher on this list….
Craig
This may be my favorite part of the times list. On The Grand Budapest Hotel.
“Wes Anderson is king! (I love Ralph Fiennes also.) This movie in particular reminds me of a beautiful Cocteau-style creation — an artist could only dream up the world we witness here.”
Pamela Anderson, actress
mrmoshpotato
@laura:
Covered in cheddar!
Suzanne
@zhena gogolia: #1 is Parasite, and I found it absolutely riveting. I watched it on an airplane…. pretty much the only time I get to watch anything uninterrupted. Anyway, by the end of it, I had both hands covering my open mouth and my nose was about three inches from that little tiny screen. Incredible movie.
I also adored Moonlight. I saw that one in a theater, and it’s so emotional and the ending is so satisfying and fulfilling. I remember walking out of the theater, and I told Mr. Suzanne, “That’s the best movie I’ve seen in the last ten years”.
Another Scott
@mrmoshpotato: Wensleydale!
Best wishes,
Scott.
prostratedragon
Not bad as a listing, though there are a few missing that I would have included, while many are on it that I haven’t seen yet. As a ranking, don’t see how it could be taken that seriously, and I say this as a big fan of Mulholland Dr. I mean, how does one “rank” such distinct and disparate things?
lowtechcyclist
@lowtechcyclist:
TPM says Murkowski has voted yes. Rick Scott and Mike Lee are the only Senators who haven’t voted. Can’t imagine why either of them would vote against the motion.
Lyrebird
Now THAT was a top film!
Craig
Just finished Times list. Psyched that In the Mood for Love made top 5. It’s one of the most elegant, beautiful things I’ve ever seen on screen. The ending devastated me, and rewarded me at the same time somehow. The Grandmaster belongs somewhere on that list. That’s of course the nature of lists.
Another Scott
It looks like James Walkinshaw won the primary to replace Gerry Connolly for VA-11 in the US House. It looks like he’ll have a majority, even with many candidates running.
(Gerry endorsed him.)
Forward!!
Best wishes,
Scott.
YY_Sima Qian
@Craig: Forgot about the Grandmaster, too!
Another Scott
@lowtechcyclist:
The C-Span Live Feed says Lummis (WY), Scott (FL), and Lee (UT) haven’t voted yet.
47 yea, 50 no.
They need all 3 of them.
Best wishes,
Scott.
YY_Sima Qian
@lowtechcyclist: Lisa Murkowski comes through for the Repubs yet again.
Timill
@mrmoshpotato: Blessed are the cheesemakers…
Craig
@YY_Sima Qian: fight on the train platform in the snow wearing a sable coat is one of the most gorgeous things ever. Her fur hat wearing Second with a monkey on his shoulder is just chef’s kiss.
Elizabelle
@YY_Sima Qian: Gawd no. Shame on Murkowski. Is this just the cloture vote??
Steve LaBonne
@YY_Sima Qian: The phony moderates do that every single time. They are worse trash than the true believers.
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: Yes, this is the vote on the motion to proceed.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Lyrebird
@Another Scott: Thanks for the VA update. The Blue Virginia link says this was record turnout, and it’s so good to see so many of the other contenders chiming in to support the new candidate.
Chetan Murthy
@Steve LaBonne: Or, they are better salesmen? I think too often we Dems expect politicians to have convictions, to have deeply-held beliefs. But even on our side there -hacks-, and on the G(r)OPer side, I think most of them are hacks at this point. They do what they have to do, to keep power, keep their hands on the spigot that controls the cash, and devil take the hindmost.
Murkowski, Collins, they’re just better at it than Moses Johnson is. That’s why they can keep their seats in arguably swing states.
ETA: Johnson’s probably a better infighter, better at the politics of the House caucus, than Collins is in the Senate. But would he survive in a swing district?
frosty
I’ve seen 12 of those, surprising because I don’t watch movies or TV much these days. A lot of them like Wall-E were movies I must have caught when the kids were young.
RaflW
@Elizabelle: This is the cloture vote. I guess it’s still not in the bag for Thune? He’s a very weak Majority Leader.
I hate Mitch with the heat of 1000 suns, but he would not have this sort of open time, vote when you are done with backroom negotiations bullshit that’s happening now.
I hope the caucus flies apart when it comes time for House and Senate to conform the different bills. Johnson is weak, too.
Whatever does finally get done will suck, but I want the GOP to suffer, look shitty, and have to pare back as much as possible in this shitshow.
Soprano2
@Another Scott: I’m so old I can remember Republicans complaining about Democrats making them vote on bills that they hadn’t had a chance to read. Like all their other complaints that was bullshit.
mrmoshpotato
@Timill: For they shall recurd the Earth?
Soprano2
@JoyceH: I’m sorry, that sucks.
Timill
@mrmoshpotato: for they shall be called children of Gouda…
WTFGhost
@Craig: HEY! I didn’t give you permission to video record that date!
Unless you’re talking about a movie, in which case, pretend I didn’t say anything.
(NB: I didn’t say the date was *with* Craig, just to be clear.)
WTFGhost
@JoyceH: I have sympathy as only a person, visiting his wife with a broken hip, and hearing horror stories from a family member who seems to have broken one bone in each of the 48 continental United States, can have. Said friend mentioned, after he had his first elbow-to-wrist cast taken off, he looked at the resulting bony limb with such disgust, he was thinking “better they had amputated!” for a while. He got better (as did the arm). Still: I have a better appreciation for the broken bone horror than I had even 24 hours ago.
Kayla Rudbek
@JoyceH: ouch, hope you recover thoroughly
@laura: second the recommendation for cheese, milk, other dairy products (or Daiya nondairy products if you can’t handle dairy – Daiya actually adds calcium to its products)
Kayla Rudbek
@Sister Golden Bear: I think I need to send you this shawl: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/kaylarudbek/full-spectrum let me know if you want it and I can mail it to WaterGirl and she can send it to you.
TS
@Baud:
And of course they supported trump – what did they think would happen?
Soprano2
@TS: Another one for the “leopards eating faces” Reddit.
Another Scott
Last I saw, the motion to proceed vote was 51:49 (so one of the previous Nos flipped to Yea). They’re reading the bill now (and it’s got another 11 hours or so to go), then up to 20 hours of debate before the vote.
The senate floor staffers are earning their pay tonight.
Best wishes,
Scott.
WTFGhost
@frosty: Wall-E was a fine adult movie, too – I know, I watched it from Netflix, when they were cool, and had DVDs, including hard to get (but still in print) DVDs.
MagdaInBlack
Not much of a movie watcher but since weather was mentioned in the post: NW Chicago-land is finally cool enough to sit out on the balcony at midnight and not sweat.
JWR
@Matt McIrvin:
I posted this sometime during the last few days: At first I thought it might be a huge typo, but nope, it ain’t. From
IndiaEconomic Times,I think.WTF?!!!
prostratedragon
— Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
Eolirin
@Another Scott: Well, that’s going to pass. The only question left is whether the house holds together, and I expect they will. The damage from this thing will take a very long time to reverse. And it’s going to kill a lot of people.
Gloria DryGarden
@JoyceH: th3 thing wher3 they tell you to do le* straightening and isometrics to keep up your quads strength: do it.
I didn’t when I had a broken fibula, and surgery, a cast. Boy was I sorry when it came time to use both legs together for walking.
The extra atrophy could’ve been prevented, if I’d been on top of it. ROM took a long time to get back, too. If only I’d had a boot, I might have been able to do ankle circles and such.
wishing you speedy and thorough healing, and strength soon after.
sab
I got my tax accounting degree in the 1980s when Reagan ruled. They did all sorts of tax changes. They were heavily publicly discussed. I didn’t like most of them, but at least I knew what they were.
This cobbling together a radical tax change bill in utter secrecy is a new low for a Republican Party that I didn’t think could have new lows.
How can businesses tax plan? How can people tax plan? How can businesses even plan in general with tariffs in flux, taxes unknown?
But somehow to Republican legislators it’s all okay. I know they expect that they will retire after their political lives to cushy think tank or lobbying jobs. I just don’t see what economic benefit their billionaire benefactors see in this economic chaos. Maybe they are not as smart as they think they are.
rikyrah
Susan Collins represents one of the OLDEST STATES , in terms of population. The cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will result in disaster. Yet, nothing from that trifling trick😠😠
rikyrah
@JoyceH:
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Odie Hugh Manatee
@WTFGhost:
Soak him in hydrofluoric acid for about a minute, let him shower afterward and then send him on his way.
I knew someone who was briefly exposed to it (occupationally). A slow and painful end.
sab
@JWR: Any constitutional amendment beyond the Second is contrary to the intent of those 18th century slaveholders who walked on water and wrote our laws.
They put in mechanisms for changing the constitution but that was just a joke to fool the rubes.
So the originalist Bill of Rights is Amendment One (our rights are defined by our nutcase local pastor) and Amendment Two (we need guns to enforce One). The rest was just PR for the rubes.
sab
@rikyrah: She is a lumber baroness. The little people in her state aren’t her problem. They are just clutter in her background.
MagdaInBlack
@sab: Maybe?
( I think there ain’t no “maybe” about it.)
sab
Regardless of your political persuasion, our economy is the fishtank we are all swimming in, and the Republicans are determined to poison it to own the libs.
sab
@MagdaInBlack: Isn’t that chilling? Our economy is ruled by very rich idiot savants.
Chetan Murthy
@Gloria DryGarden: This is SO TRUE. I have patellofemoral injury in both knees, and periodically I get depressed and don’t leave my bed. Or during the pandemic, when I didn’t leave my house. So the legs, esp. quads, get really weak. By the time I was going out-and-about again after the pandemic, I had to clutch the handrail to go down stairs. Oof. It took a while of isometric exercises, and static leg presses (one leg at a time, knee at 90deg, hold with some weight for N seconds, switch legs, do it again, back-and-forth) before I could go down stairs comfortably again. Oof. Oooooof.
Those isometric quad sets are really important.
sab
I should be asleep. It is night here. You other eastcoast and midwestern jackals should be asleep. The Aussues should be arguing while we sleep. But here we are awake and they are elsewhere.
MagdaInBlack
@sab: I revert to both feral and nocturnal on weekends. Eat, nap, repeat. Thus I am here, and listening to podcasts.
p.s. we have lightning bugs. Not many, but they’re out.
sab
@MagdaInBlack: Our lightning bugs are thriving. Hot and humid. What is not to like for a bug? I am glad to see them.
MagdaInBlack
@sab: I downloaded that cool Merlin birdsong i.d. app because there are some birds at work whose jabbering I cannot identify. But, it has been so gd hot all week the birds have been off hiding in some cool spot, and not a jabber to be heard, all week
Here at home, only the house sparrows have been active.
TS
@sab: This aussie is here – not believing what the US has become & so annoyed because our so called labor (left wing) government is out there doing deals with trump.
We should be doing all we can to get US bases out of our country & have nothing to do with the trump administration. They are going around the world telling autonomous countries what they should do, how they should spend & why they should worship dear leader. My beloved father, who fought in WWII with the Americans (Yanks as he called them) will be turning horrified in his grave. He used to laugh about teaching them jungle warfare – and get annoyed about how they treated African Americans in their ranks – not allowed to mix outside working hours when in Brisbane. My dad mixed with anyone, he wasn’t a saint & he had some racist tendencies, but anyone fighting the axis in WWII was his friend for life.
MagdaInBlack
@TS: I am wondering if it’s not so much what we have become as it is the veneer has been peeled off. I know that’s how I’m feeling about what is happening here.
sab
OT We did have some good news for just us.
Husband has had an aneurysm for years that his doctors are watching. This Spring they thought it had grown substantially. He also has a chronic MRSA infection mostly controlled by fierce antibiotics.
The MRSA means he cannot get a stent because it might be immediately infected. Non-organic implants have no immune system.
So he would actually have to have open heart surgery and organic grafts. Sort of twenty years ago major surgery. Still with MRSA. We were terrified.
This week we learned his aneurysm isn’t nearly as bad as we thought. Minimal risk, no surgery needed for now.
All our birthday plans were based on this being his last. We are thrilled to readjust our expectations
ETA We take aneurysms seriously because a much loved dog died of one. Had an issue at the top of the stairs, howled in pain, then collapsed and fell down the stairs dead.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
MagdaInBlack
@sab: That is major news and certainly lowers that anxiety thermostat. I am glad for both of you ❤️
sab
@MagdaInBlack: Call me naive, but I don’t believe we were always like this. Something lately has brought out the worst in us.
MagdaInBlack
@sab: I don’t know. All this hate doesn’t spring from nothing. Feels like it was lying dormant.
I don’t know.
sab
@MagdaInBlack: Me too. I have spent this summer thinking about how I could cope without him. I couldn’t see a way forward. Now that is back on the backburner.
sab
@MagdaInBlack: I agree. The idea of neighbors having so much hate for me and mine tends to stun me. What? Us?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
That’s great news!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@MagdaInBlack:
@sab:
What disturbs me the most is that this phenomenon isn’t limited to just the US, as we’ve seen the rise of the far-right and backsliding elsewhere
prostratedragon
The Hungarians appear to be tiring of Orbán.
JWR
@sab:
I started writing what I thought was a hilarious retort before I realized it’s way past my bedtime and it wasn’t funny at all. But needless to say, I’ve given you a very nice up-vote. ;)
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): OT: Would you like a NE Ohio meetup late summer or early fall?
JWR
He’s baack, and I’ve been noticing his glorious absence:
I suppose he’s trying to pull his cars and stupid truck out of the gutter.
sab
@JWR: Does anyone other than Trump (wanting his money) give a rat’s ass about what Elon Musk thinks about anything? Possibly Grime, but she is Canadian and also a nitwit so who cares what she thinks.
ETA Trump did transfer an evil muskrat over to Social Security. That should end well. The muskrats do not realize that we have spent forty years worrying about the integrity of Social Security, because that is our actual retirement fund.
sab
@JWR: I hate the Big Beautiful Betrayal Bill as much as Musk does, but I hate Musk more.
Just saying.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
Either works for me. The only potential snag is that I’m going on vacation around the last week of August/first week of September
sab
@sab: Like all the youngs since forever ( me too in my youth) they believe FIRST that social security will be gone ( I did too forty years ago. Now it is my main source of income.)
SECOND That in the upended and heaving economy you are facing that you will be able to save for you old age on top of paying your mortgage and feeding your family.
You really believe that?
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Noted. Thanks.
Splitting Image
@JWR:
He’s mad that the Republicans are doing a better job of destroying the country than he did, and he’s worried that his shareholders will decide that Trump would do a better job of destroying Tesla too.
sab
My stepson came over the other day and “improved” our cable. Told us nothing. Typical IT asshole. Now I can’t work the basics.
Fuck that. Deducting cable fees from our joint account. Husband can figure out how to benefit from our new improved cable, and also how to pay for the service that has become useless to me.
I am on a low key but determined rampage. Basically WTF!!!!
Gloria DryGarden
I am so happy to see Past Lives on the top 100 movies. I loved it so much I watched a second time the next day.
now that I’ve watched Andor, I may have to search out michael Clayton .
Tony Gilroy’s writing was so compelling in Andor.
There are a bunch of horror thrillers I won’t be able to watch, sadly. And some things I think would creep me out.
I tried to watch y tu mamá también, so enthralled with Diego Luna in Andor, but the free sex, and the rapid spanish were difficult to hang in there with. Perhaps I’ll try again. There’s something about young men having insouciant easy sex that gets to me; I’m always thinking, what if she gets pregnant, how would that be, don’t they care? Even with birth control, things happen; I’ve heard stories from all my girlfriends and clients. Do people just relax and not think about it?
my neighbors son complains that he didn’t want any kids, but he has 7. It baffles and shocks me.
Baud
Geminid
Posted by Nicole Grajewski, a Fellow at the DC-based “Global Think Tank” Carnegie Endowment:
This link might work:
https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2025/06/iran-strikes-us-impacts-iaea-nuclear-weapons-monitoring?lang=en¢er=maybe
Grajewski’s article is titled, “The Most Significant Long-Term Consequences of the U.S. Strikes on Iran.”
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: She has been strongly skeptical of the Israeli strikes, & the later US strikes, from the very beginning.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@YY_Sima Qian:
Entirely too predictable.
prostratedragon
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Lady Bird is great and both Saoirse Ronan and Lauri Metcalf should have won an Oscars.
Nice to see something from Charlie Kaufmann’s brilliant period.
Everybody should see ‘The Zone of Interest’.
#1 makes no sense. Top 100, yes. Best movie of this century to date, particularly given that list of films, hardly.
Another Scott
For those curious, WARNING TheHill says the hold-up in the Senate was the monsters demanding more Medicaid cuts.
Grrr….
Which will make it harder to pass the House.
(I still expect the monsters to pass something. But they are increasing our chances to flip seats in the elections.)
Eyes on the prizes.
Best wishes,
Scott.
evodevo
@sab:
It’s typical of his generation lol…our son STILL does that crap – he did something to his father’s phone a couple months ago, and it STILL isn’t right. Used to do that to our computer, too, when he lived with us. Better to not complain about anything tech when they are within earshot, and talk to someone else about it…
Geminid
@Geminid: Iran’s Foregn Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a statement yesterday in English where he answered Trump’s recent bragging with some Trump-style language of his own:
I found the language preceeding this truculent passage interesting though:
Arahhchi then pushed back on Trump’s trash-talk about Iran’s Supreme Leader:
Then came the paragragh I first quoted. Araghchi followed that Trumpian blast with the simple dictum:
So is Araghchi slamming the door on a prospective deal? Not nearly; it’s more like he is outlining basic conditions for one. I suspect he’s speaking to Rubio and Witkoff here as much as he is to Trump, who Araghchi knows is essentially a powerful idiot..
YY_Sima Qian
A couple of articles on the fecklessness of Europe in face of rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape.
For the Economist (gift link below):
Along similar lines:
The PRC will not respect or take seriously an EU that is incapable of acting w/ independence, effectiveness, unity & credibility. It will double down on divide & conquer, exploiting intra-European fissures, & minimize concessions.
Geminid
@Geminid: The Iranian Foreign Minister does not call the shots on basic Iranian policy. Those decisions are made by higher authorities. He has been back in Tehran the past few days though, and presumably has been discussing strategy with top officials close to Supreme Leader Khameini.
In other remarks, Araghchi pushed back on a story about his trip to Geneva two Thursdays ago, when he conferred with European foreign ministers just 36 hours before the US bombed the Fordow and Natanz facilities. Many prople including myself believed the US had intervened with Israel in order to allow Araghchi to fly from from Iran in safety.
Araghchi said no, he traveled overland from Turkey and flew on to Geneva from there. Araghchi flew back to Turkiye afterwards and conferred with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of an Organization of Islamic States conference in Istanbul.
Turkiye seems to have a “frenemy” relationship with their neighbor to the east, and they did seem too stressed out about Israel’s bombing campaign or the US strike. President Erdogan railed against Israel’s “banditry” but took no concrete action, and he did not denounce his “good friend” Trump’s decision to bomb Fordow.and Natanz.
Erdogan’s right-hand man Hakan Fidan expressed Turkiye’s current stance yesterday, in remarks summarized by Ankara-based Clash Report: