Looks like everyone could use a diversion from the serious posts, so here’s something to take your minds of all the meshugas.
Also, anyone in the Houston area that needs to get animals to shelter (h/t: The Jester):
#Houston – 281-459-1400 – 75 acres of high and dry for livestock, kennels. Trucks and trailers to help transport. pic.twitter.com/ZiHhPmFGIO
— JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³º¹ (@th3j35t3r) August 29, 2017
— SCIENCE Pony (@co_pony) August 29, 2017
Open thread!
Quinerly
OT…Nowhere to leave this little interesting tidbit and I’m going to bed. Seems Kelly won’t let John Bolton hang with Trump anymore: https://www.axios.com/top-trump-ally-says-he-cant-get-a-meeting-with-the-president-2478917816.html
Smitty
Philip Glass etude #6 I think.
Adam L Silverman
@Quinerly: Good. My understanding from the reporting is that no one comes to the White House without an appointment or scheduled meeting or a reason. So no external drive byes. And he’s closed the Oval Office door and the doorway to the hallway that leads to the Oval Office. So no internal drive byes either.
Davebo
Thanks Adam. A nice way to end a crap day.
Stay dry folks!
Amir Khalid
As a newbie musician, I’m impressed by that bear.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I love this tweet from our host: “This new A&E show “Dick Dynasty” is going to be a ratings flop.” (with a picture of Ted Cruz)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: I’ve seen a whole band made up of Bruins.
Major Major Major Major
I was expecting the bear to do slightly more, I guess.
Adam L Silverman
@Quinerly: Also, I just read Bolton’s information paper on abrogating the JCPOA. It is shallow, poorly reasoned, makes huge assumptions about key allies and partners that are highly unlikely to happen, presents no actual evidence that Iran is in violation of the agreement, and is basically a laundry list of wishes that Bolton and his fellow travelers have had regarding Iran for decades. It also ignores the assessments of Israel’s intelligence and military leadership regarding the deal by pushing forward that of the political leadership, who are the least capable of understanding what is going on, in a technical sense, with the Iranians under the agreement. If a student of mine at USAWC had turned that in as a policy proposal paper it would have required several rewrites regarding the substance to get it to a passing mark.
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: You’re welcome.
I’ve got to go rub some doggy bellies. It has been monsooning here all day, though nothing like what is happening in Texas, and my four foots would like some attention.
You all have a good night and I’ll catch you on the flip.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
Mom made me take lessons as a child. Of course it didn’t help that I am dyslexic and dramatically less musically inclined than the bear. I can hear it fine but lessons in piano, trumpet and accordion and decades later the guitar, were a complete waste of time and money.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: So the Walrus thinks the other signatories will go along with new sanctions? Wow, I could make some money off of that moron.
bago
Math is fun!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYTrSaHgS-Z/
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Well of course that’s why Bolton is a RWAH. He knows nothing, regurgitates it regularly and appeals to other RWAH who also know nothing. No evidence will sway him from his appointed stupidity.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: RWAH?
eta nm i figured it out
Mike in NC
In other words, a great future for Bolton under Trump until we send them all to jail?
Quinerly
Crazy Louise Mensch story today but frankly my brain was too tired to process it. Anybody have any thoughts about it. She bugs me.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Thought you might.
RWNJ just isn’t quite enough for the likes of JB. Maybe FRWAH fits even better.
Major Major Major Major
@Quinerly: Ignore Louise Mensch.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Quinerly:
Are there any other kind of Louise Mensch stories?
Amir Khalid
@Ruckus:
As I recall, Bolton’s being a know-nothing xenophobe was precisely why George Walker Bush figured he should be Ambassador to the UN.
Origuy
A horsey friend of mine reports that the US Equestrian Federation is working with the Houston Humane Society, and is accepting donations at http://www.usef.org.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Bolton doesn’t believe in the UN, so it was the perfect place for him. It’s the Republican thought process at work.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Pasadena City Hall.
ETA: That’s a two shot vertical panorama. I should have used my 12mm wide angle for it.
Davebo
@Origuy:
We’ve got people volunteering pastureland north of Houston for horses now. The trick is getting your horses out.
danielx
@Amir Khalid:
It wasn’t like being a know-nothing xenophobe was a disqualification for high office under the Bush administration, any more than it is under the Shortfingers regime.
seaboogie
Bears are so damn chill…they be all like “yeah, I’m coming into your houz, and I’ll play your piano, hey – what you got in that refrigerator thang – cuz I’m all over that.
If they start rifling through the medicine cabinet, I’m just going to join them.
ETA: I might be flying on an Ativan high, because I had to drive a scary freeway today. Hate that I need to take drugs to do what normal folk do.
NotMax
Greetings from Noo Yawk.
Part of today spent repairing Mom’s stovetop and shower. Sometime next week (when it arrives) will be installing a rear view back-up camera in her car.
One *could* suspect there’s an ulterior motive behind her request for a visit….
:)
On the other hand, went to the half-price ticket booth at Times Square on Sunday and the line consisted of only three people ahead of us,
Y’all are probably aware that there are people dressed in a variety of costumes (or sometimes next to nothing at all) who work at Times Square garnering tips from people to pose with them for pictures.
Happy to report that this year there is a Dolt 45 doppleganger, complete with crappy suit, tie and forward combover who, as we passed by, had no takers for pix and whom people walking on the street were giving an extra-wide berth.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@seaboogie: You obviously never watched the “Threat Down” on the Colbert Report. I learned that bears are vicious killing machines.
bago
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Godless, too.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
Birds of a feather and all that.
seaboogie
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I think that Grizzly fanboi figured that out. But it is kind of funny watching a bear inside our house.
OTJ today, my colleague was letting me in the joint and mentioned that she hoped a snake wouldn’t come in with us as one had done on a previous day. I asked her what kind of snake, and she said “rattler”. And I was all “whelp – guess we’ll hear it then.” Not the least bit concerned.
So – panic driving on the freeway – about a six. Panic about a rattlesnake in the bushes – zero.
Grizzly fanboi being the dude who was fascinated, careless, and killed by one.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@seaboogie: Most rattler bites for hikers happen when they step on the snake.
Major Major Major Major
@seaboogie: Hopefully the benzo was after the driving!
seaboogie
@?BillinGlendaleCA: And my colleague asked me if the overturned semi on I-80 had been cleared yet. I am much more confident of my chances with venomous snakes who want to avoid an encounter. They are not multi-ton vehicles traveling at 70 mph.
Although the truckers are much more predictable in their driving v cars – but I hate feeling trapped and the whole thing is an ordeal for me.
seaboogie
@Major Major Major Major: Nope! Took it early in the am. Onliest thing that made the drive possible for me. Dosage is critical though – must not be sleepy.
Not sure who I am more jealous of – folks who can sing, or folks who can drive on a freeway without nearly passing out from anxiety.
lgerard
@Amir Khalid:
I remember reading that the British diplomats negotiating Gaddafi’s surrendering of his weapons of mass destruction refused to continue unless Bolton was barred from any further participation in the negotiations.
Mel
@seaboogie: I once made the mistake of driving a rented convertible on the Pacific Coast Highway. Heights don’t bother me if I’m moving under my own volition, but put me up high or near a drop off in a moving vehicle or any sort of mechanical lift, and it’s white knuckle terror time.
Tarragon
@seaboogie:
I saw some gif/meme thingy somewhere that I particularly liked.
“If you can make neurotransmitters of your own store bought is fine.”
Mandarama
@seaboogie:
I know this feeling, but let me just say YOU DID IT! I’ve struggled with anxiety like this for years, since my mom died at the same time I was expecting my first kiddo. Medication has let me do so many things with my life and my kids–I ain’t even about to regret it. (One aspect of these drugs–when you are in full adrenaline tilt, a modest dose just brings you to normal instead of causing drowsiness or impairment. And of course I have to take care with length of use.)
I’ve gone on trips and adventures with my family and continued my teaching job, survived marriage problems and worked through them…honest to God, better living through chemistry. No shame.