We usually leave our Christmas tree up until January 2nd. Not this year. I’m ready to put 2017 in the rear-view mirror, so I de-Christmasified the house this morning. Onward!
But first, as the squeaky screen door of time swings toward 2017’s ass, here’s a quick look back at some hopeful things:
Every damn person who showed up to a Women’s March event anywhere in the world gave me hope, including the millions who joined my family and me in the chilly streets of Washington, D.C., where we put the previous day’s inauguration crowd to shame with our numbers and general fabulousness.
Also, here’s a special shout-out to the sisterhood that ensured Trump will go down in history as the man who was rejected by the most women in a single day, ever.
And speaking of women who are tired of the bullshit, here’s a shout-out to the #MeToo movement. I’ve seen too many “Year of the Woman” magazine covers through the decades to ever expect a smooth progression or easy answers, but I’ll take a national conversation when we can get one.
Here’s to the Resistance writ large; let us resolve to work our asses off in the coming year to turn Trump and his band of elected sycophants out.
Yes, the ocher skidmark is a daily embarrassment, a constant degradation to be endured. But it would be fair to describe his administration as “besieged,” and those of us who have showed up at protests, made phone calls to our reps, registered new voters, attended town halls, joined activist groups, donated to campaigns, etc., have laid siege to those motherfuckers!
Let’s keep it up next year as we hope for better things. Open thread!
tybee
:)
Betsy
I read that squeaky door sentence as ending in “some hopeful hinges.”
Here’s to hopeful hinges!
arrieve
I’m adopting “the ocher skidmark” as my new catchphrase. Happy 2018 to all.
JMG
We take our tree down the day before the first trash day after Jan 1. which in 2018 will be Thursday. The DPW comes around and collects trees that week and the next to give it a summer’s worth of mulch.
Another Scott
I was in DC there with you, BC. I know several other jackals were as well. It was impossible to move where I was, but it was amazing. I hope to be down there on the 20th of January, also too. Here’s hoping for a similarly inspiring turnout!
Keep warm, everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
I’m weary of calling my Tea Party rep but the thought that I’m laying seige to the motherfuckers, well that gets me a bit more fired up. Thanks BC!
Oh, and “ocher skidmark”. Excellent. One must be very careful not to get crosswise with Ms. Cracker if she has a keyboard in front of her.
Major Major Major Major
Great summary, rah rah! With their senate majority down to one and their reconciliation bill used up, damage will be, not minimal, but minimized; we can focus instead on winning elections with our newly-emboldened majority. Onward!
Also let’s all definitely use Twitter less.
debbie
Yes, hope is where you find it!
For instance, I peeked at Twitter and this morning, Trump’s tweeted twice about how horrible it would be if Dems were voted into Congress. I think someone whispered to him, “Be very afraid,” and now he’s believing it.
Jerzy Russian
Hmm, that middle finger is sure being shrill.
Betsy
Btw for a few who asked in a previous thread, the historic house I’m trying to buy is under contract. At this point, I’d almost dare to show a picture as requested. Keeping fingers crossed.
tokyocali (formerly tokyo expat)
Happy New Year from Japan!
Thank you, Balloon Juice for just being. I mostly lurk but I visit severL times a day. You keep me connected to what’s happening in the US and you keep me from giving up on my country. Thank you for this wonderful community of jackals.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Given the fact that AM Joy is still doing a clip show, and this isn’t being screamed all over the internets, I’m gonna guess this Second Amendment Rights activist is of European descent.
ETA:
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major:
I guess I could stop reading the tweets in posts here.
MomSense
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
And the paper plates scream Sov Cit.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Gee, another original thinker.
Ohio Mom
@Betsy: It’s good to feel rooted. Here’s hoping it all works out.
schrodingers_cat
New Year’s Agenda
Things to deal with in 2018
T
T party in the Congress
T publicans
T voters
gammyjill
I was in DC with you – and hundreds of thousands of others. I flew from Chicago to Newark with a friend on Jan 20, stayed overnight, and then joined a group leaving on buses for DC at 5a the next morning. I had thought there would be maybe 200,000 people there, but then realised how big it might be when we were on I95. We were just one bus of seemingly 100’s. We rented a car at Union Station after the march and drove back to NJ, not wanting to wait for the bus back. All in all, it was a fabulous experience.
I had been at the Obama Inauguration eight years earlier, and noticed the completely diverse crowd there, celebrating Obama and his election. The same sort of crowd at this year’s march – fewer men, but still more than I thought would be there. My friend and I were wearing the red MAGA hats, with the lettering in Russian. Most people “got” it but a few didn’t and we received some odd looks. I’m hoping to go to the Chicago march on the 20th.
By the way, does anyone know the real crowd size in DC for the “Women’s March”? I’ve seen so many estimates, but no final number.
brendancalling
Happy New Year, ya’ll!
Not to be contrarian, but I quite like Twitter, to be honest. I use it to get news and interesting threads on Russiagate etc. I also it use to harrass my elected stooges, usually using my all caps, poor spelling, and loud declarative sentences (it seems that’s what they respond to). So a tweet to, say Diane Black, looks like “HAHAHA DIANE BLACK SOLD OUT TENNESSEE, WILL NEVER BE GOVERNOR, JESUS WILL ANSWER DEPART I NEVER KNEW YOU AND THROW HER INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE” and then maybe a link to that Bible verse about rich men and camels. I’m quite popular with her.
Now, Facebook on the other hand: I had to force myself to stop using it, because I was getting depression.
germy
The biggest losers of 2017
Brachiator
Absolutely great way to describe it.
And it helps provide the framework for the battles to come.
The Republicans hid from voters when people wanted to talk about preserving Obamacare.
Trump can post lies all day long about what he has accomplished. But 2018 will be an opportunity not just to lay siege, but to kick ass.
schrodingers_cat
@brendancalling: Yeah me too. I follow the Twitter feeds of two immigration lawyers, Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star for all the news about the Deranged Troll in the WH and Nikhil Wagle for news about India.
Also in my daily read is Washington Post and Balloon Juice.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@debbie:
Fucking real estate hucksterism – always talk yourself up, and any lie will do.
That old Supreme Court case on “mere puffery” did an infinite amount of damage to American civic discourse and our overall culture. I’d tank the fucker.
Baud
I left Twitter a few years ago. I’ve considered going back, but I’m concerned it would exacerbate all my worst qualities. Since those are my only qualities, I figured it’d be a bad idea.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: How was your trip? You were missed.
brendancalling
@schrodingers_cat: Oh yeah, that too. I have some daily blogs: Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice, TPM, Eschaton (not as much as I used to), and then traditional media mainly.
Betsy
@Ohio Mom: thank you :)
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: It was probably a bad idea. I think I have lost the will to get back into the scrum.
geg6
My year started with despair and then, very quickly, a bit of hope with the Women’s March. I wasn’t in DC but we made a great showing here in Pittsburgh, too. My year has ended with despair, after my friend was murdered by her ex. But it has turned to anger and resolve. Anger over her senseless murder that was completely avoidable if gun laws were strengthened and resolve to, among many other reasons, make sure that the GOP suffers as much as possible by the end of 2018.
Betty Cracker
@gammyjill: Our first inkling of the size of the march was when we arrived at our suburban Maryland transit station the morning of the march. It was mobbed! Then we emerged into L’Enfant Plaza and were bowled over again by the size of the crowd. Not sure how many people participated, but I’ve read that about five million people marched worldwide, and about half a million in D.C. alone.
J.
Wishing you a happy, healthy, and hopefully Trump-free New Year, Betty!
Frankensteinbeck
The best thing about 2017 for me was seeing the early protests turn into later activism. Women stayed angry and energized. The motivation did not die down, and a whole year after Trump’s election, women and minorities have been kicking Republican electoral ass in utterly unprecedented ways.
My particular thanks to black women, but I am grateful to everyone who rose up to save us from my demographic, white men.
oatler.
Testify, Algie!
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
Never on Twitter, I an’t no twit.
Miss Bianca
Betty C, thank you for the “Laying siege” insight. I too had succumbed to an end-of-year “what’s the point of contacting my RWNJ representatives, there’s no way in hell they’ll listen to me” jag, but I resolve to start 2018 “fired up, ready to go”!
All of yez jackals here have formed a rock for me to stand on in the shit-tsunami of news and events that threatened to drown me this year. Thank you all and Happy New Year!
debbie
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
And we know where that real estate hucksterism will lead us. :(
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
And yet, far, far smaller than Trump’s Inauguration crowd! :-/
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I was never that active. I still use Twitter for things like breaking news and local traffic, etc.
cain
Despite the shit with Trump, it hasn’t been that bad of a year. i was unemployed, and now I’ve got a new job, I got to travel all over the world and generally am now settled to try to make a new life in Denver.
I’m now trying to get involved in local state politics in Colorado, and apparently, am in talks with the Democratic candidate for Governor of Maryland to see how I can help them. She’s a south indian, and I of course want to help people like her. I expect to be a lot more active in everything next year. But for all of us, we need to really focus on local races in your states.
But more than that, we also want to start infilitrating the media as well. We need better reporters, better editors, better everything. With the right wing going nuts, we hae an opportunity to go after establishment media while they go off and create their own media.
debbie
@Frankensteinbeck:
And it remained strong thanks to #MeToo.
Yarrow
2017 was so much better of a year for me than 2016. Given that 2017 sucked, that’s an indication of just how bad 2016 was. I am grateful for the terribleness of 2017 to show that it’s possible for a year to be merely awful and not the bottom-dropping-out endless horror show that was 2016.
Major Major Major Major
@Yarrow:
Absolutely for me as well.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
Multiple police shot as they answer domestic dispute in suburban Denver.
Argiope
Hoping for some digital camera advice for teen with a newfound interest in photography. May have missed Roger Moore and BiG since the last thread, but all ideas for a starter camera are appreciated! Said teen has no experience beyond her phone, and this will be a first foray into the medium. Here’s hoping it helps develop more patience for her.
Ohio Mom
@oatler.: I have that poem on the bulletin board in my Girl Cave! (aka the guest room/office). For some reason, in my darkest moments, I find it very reassuring.
Another Scott
@Argiope: Figure out how much you’re willing to spend. You can get decent deals at the used department at B&H (or at least have a baseline for what a good price would be).
I’m a fan of Canon stuff myself, but J has had Casio cameras that she’s liked (very portable – some were Japanese models via Amazon).
HTH a little.
Cheers,
Scott.
Marcia
The nearest march next month to where I live is in St. Louis. I want to attend but there’s one little problem: deafening silence on where in St. Louis it will start.
There’s a Facebook page with endless enthusing over the event — except for that info. I’ve sent messages asking but just get canned replies. If anyone here knows, please share!
This one does NOT sound like it’s going to be a smashing success.
Yarrow
Cat update. I’m taking care of my neighbor’s cats while she’s out of town. Was concerned about the way-too-full litter boxes given they’re eating the same amount of food they always do. Update this morning is litter boxes look fine and normal.
I do have a question. A bit of background– I have taken care of the cats in the summer when it’s hot and the neighbor leaves the a/c on at a warmer setting to save money. It’s not uncomfortable but it’s warmer than she’d have it while she was there. I know how much the cats drink from the water bowl at that time. Now in winter she has the heat set slightly cooler than she’d have it if she was home, but it’s still comfortable. Over the last week the water bowl is emptying at a much faster rate than in the summer. Is this something I should mention to her? I was wondering if it could be an indication of a kidney issue in one of the cats. I hate to worry her, but given the extra full litter boxes I didn’t know if those things might be related.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I have alerts from the local tv station for breaking news, and Google Maps for traffic. And, of course, Balloon Juice.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m perversely encouraged that people seem to get that things aren’t good. The eternal pessimist in me is trying to hope people make the connection between that feeling and midterm and local elections.
Argiope
@Another Scott: Helps a bunch! Thanks.
Chip Daniels
@oatler.:
I like that very much!
Who wrote it?
Cermet
So out in Colorado a shooter has killed a deputy and shoot but currently only wounded four more. So, the last day of the year is following the norm. If it turns out to be a white man with right-wing ideas then this will be utterly dropped once he is captured or killed. Same old.
Citizen_X
@frosty:
Well, you know, Rome didn’t fall in a day.
Cermet
@Yarrow: Note that the humidity in a house that is heated is much lower, on average, than in the summer even with AC. Very likely the cause of the increased water intake. If the intake is a factor two, then maybe an issue.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
just saw a clip of Lindsey Graham on Face the Nation saying there’s no evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and Russia. MSNBC didn’t show the part where John Dickerson said, “Jesus, Lindsey. The email to Fredo said the Russian gov’t wants to help the trump campaign. Slabhead Donnie’s response was “If it’s what you say it is, I love it, especially later in the summer’. Who are you fucking with, seriously ?”
Teddys Person
@Yarrow: If it’s forced air heat, it may be making the cats thirstier and causing a little more evaporation than usual.
Citizen_X
@Cermet: Could also mean just greater evaporation into the dry air.
FlipYrWhig
@debbie: I know Trump is _particularly_ outstanding in the field of braggadocio, but why is there this persistent belief verging on conventional wisdom that Democrats are bad for the economy and especially as measured by the stock market? Stocks were way up under Obama; the economy overall boomed under Clinton; there was a massive financial crisis under Dubya Bush. Why would anyone think or even just _sense_ that only Republicans are good stewards of the economy? It’s based on nothing.
cain
@brendancalling:
That’s because they are people you know and like and they are espousing thoughts and opinions that are contrary to your beliefs. I don’t post much on Facebook, other than to say something snarky. The best part people dont even know I’m mkaing political statements, they are all dog whistles. :)
Yarrow
@Cermet: @Teddys Person: Could be. I’d thought of that. I took care of them last winter and didn’t notice anything like that, though. I’d say the water intake is about twice as much intake or more than in the summer. They have a bowl and also one of those always-full water cooler things. I observed one of the cats drinking from that, but one of them at least must be drinking from the bowl because it’s been way down twice.
p.a.
@Argiope: young’uns are also getting into film cameras (they gotta be different ;-) ) and you can find them for a song. Check lenses for fogging, mold, and internal paint chipping.
HeleninEire
I just saw Sunset Boulevard. It. Was. AWESOME. I kinda want to be Norma Desmond. BUT. The best part was when William Holden said to her “Norma, you’re 50. There’s nothing wrong with being 50 as long as you don’t act 25.” The whole theatre laughed.
Guys, I (and apparently everyone else in the theatre) thought she was a well preserved 80. I guess 80 is the new 50! So when I’m 80 I want to be her. Not now.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Argiope: Starter camera…I don’t know that I’d get something big and bulky and I’m not sure that locking into a lens platform* would be all that useful for a starter camera. What I would look for is a larger sensor than the phone’s camera and the ability to shoot RAW(though the higher end phones do that already) and zoom. A larger sensor is useful in low light and works better for post-processing. Personally, I think a higher end point and shoot might be the best idea.
*If you get an entry level DSLR (say Canon, as Scott mentioned) and then want to move to a mirrorless camera, say a Sony; then you have to go to a whole new set of lens.
Yellowdog
@MomSense: I thought the paper plates were for snacks at the NYE celebration.
Teddys Person
@Yarrow: Have they somehow eaten more than usual? This past fall, Teddy (a dog) got into his food container and ate with gusto for about half a minute before I discovered him feasting. In the following couple of days, there was more drinking and pooping b/c of the extra food.
ETA: Also, is it colder than the last time you cared for them in the winter. The heat could be running more even at a lower temp setting thus drying out the house more.
Betty Cracker
@p.a.: Yep. My 19-year-old collects old cameras and bought a typewriter at a yard sale. ?
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You’re not alone!
Betty Cracker
@HeleninEire: She was supposed to be 50? Damn!
debbie
@FlipYrWhig:
And Trump would have agreed with you, up until he decided to run for office. Any belief he voices holds as much sincerity as his Christianity.
MomSense
@Yellowdog:
If only that were our world.
debbie
@HeleninEire:
Gloria Swanson was perfect in that role! “It’s the pictures that got small.”
JMG
Caught a real New England scene just now. Discovered we are out of cooking wine for the shortribs, so I went to the local liquor store, which was naturally bustling since it’s New Year’s Eve. Guy in front of me in the checkout line had both arms full. In the right arm, three bottles of Moet et Chandon. In the left arm, a giant bag of ice melt.
Argiope
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks, Bill and p.a.! I’m clearly going to have to google a few terms as part of this quest, but I have a month before the bday so this is all very helpful. Much appreciated!
Teddys Person
@FlipYrWhig:
It’s based on conservatives in government, the media, and business telling them for the past 40 years that baby-killing, gun-confiscating, religion-hating Democrats want to sacrifice economic growth to regulation as well as take all of your money and give it to those people.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
Nice looking apartment complex.
Major Major Major Major
@Betty Cracker: ok, typewriters are silly, but what’s so bad about film? I’ve been shooting on an asahi-era Pentax K1000 for fifteen years.
NotMax
C-c-c-cold musical interludes.
Yellow Snow for the ears. From the world’s southernmost music festival (ushering in 2017), Icestock, held New Year’s time.
Also too, in Norway, frozen rhythm.
Ohio Mom
@Yarrow: I’m finding your concern for your cat charges very moving. No wonder your friend asked you to look after them.
I have no specific advice, knowing next to nothing about cats. Maybe you should visit Were Bear’s blog, Way of Cats, and ask her. She’s a cat expert who used to comment here frequently, and always seemed very compassionate.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Dear god, an MSNBC anchor just asked if it wasn’t “a good thing” that trump is so accessible to the simple folk at Mar=A-Lago
danielx
Staying in this evening, as has been the case since the daughter unit’s natal day twenty four years ago. One of her pals called two days ago asking what she was doing on New Year’s Eve, to which she responded “staying home with mom and dad to watch the ball drop”. Cutting to the chase, it transpires that she (the friend) is coming over here for New Year’s Eve and spending the night. Because her dad, bless his black flabby heart, has/had plans to go out with his girlfriend for dinner etc…..leaving his special needs child at home by herself the whole night long. Not that I had any plans which her presence would disrupt, but the guy really and truly pisses me off. The miserable bastard isn’t very nice to her anyway, and he’s using us as his baby sitters. I don’t mind a bit; Annie is a good kid, but the guy just….really….pisses….me….off. Part of the gig when you have a special needs child is that you include her or him in holiday events as much as their condition allows, no matter if it cramps your personal style, which I admit it has on occasion, at least in my case. This shithead is not doing right by his daughter and that irritates me no end.
ETA: end rant. A Happy New Year to all you jackals, and may it be better than annum horribilis 2016.
FlipYrWhig
@Teddys Person: I know, I know. Which just goes to show how much it’s a theology rather than a memory of lived experience.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: How long does the flu/cold crud last. Unfortunately I’m asking for me.
NotMax
@HeleninEire
Did you catch who else was sitting around the card table with Swanson playing bridge? A trio of silent movie stars: Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson, and H. B. Warner. (Keaton was known as one of the top bridge players in Hollywood.)
Teddys Person
@FlipYrWhig: That’s a nice, succinct way of putting it. I will be stealing.
JPL
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Responding to domestic disputes is the most dangerous assignment for police officers.
So sad.
Mike J
I need to do some cloning. Anyone use Easeus or Acronis True Image and have thoughts one way or the other on either?
Yarrow
@Teddys Person: No, they haven’t eaten more than usual. The food is locked away and they only get what they get. Unless they’ve somehow found a mouse or something, but I’ve seen no sign of that. Or smell. LOL. There is another person doing the evening shift and she’s a bit concerned too. We have no idea how there was so much extra output the other day. We will probably talk to my neighbor when she gets home. I hate to do it because she will PANIC. She’s a total animal person and gets very upset when something is wrong with her animals. Or might be wrong.
@Ohio Mom: Awww, thanks. My neighbor is the best. I want to do right by her and her kitties, who are good and sweet cats. I have a good time going over and seeing them. Just want to make sure they’re healthy.
Eric U.
I wish facebook would allow tagging something as politics and also allow you to not see any politics. Of course, that’s counter to their interests, so they haven’t done it.
I quit twitter when someone I liked blocked me. Then someone tried to take over my account and reactivated it. You can’t actually delete your account immediately, it stays dormant for a month or so. But 2 factor is gone, so hijacking is a lot easier. Many people pretty much block any new user that comments on their timeline. Hard to get a foothold nowadays. Anyway, I’m back active. Some days it’s a really bad idea and ruins my mood.
danielx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“Simple people”? Like there’s anybody who will be in attendance at the shitgibbon’s gala who has a net worth of less than eight figures.
Teddys Person
@Yarrow: I second what Ohio Mon said. Monitoring our furry friends intake and output is the primary way we keep and eye on their health. So, the fact that you notice and are concerned with how much they’re drinking and pooping makes you an awesome cat sitter in my book.
NotMax
@Mike J
Acronis is very good (and recommended for years and years by friends whose profession is computer service and repair). Haven’t used the other one.
Matt McIrvin
@FlipYrWhig: It’s based on the myth of Carter and Reagan (which itself has remarkably little substance behind it).
The end of the 1970s stagflation under Reagan (after a brutal recession in Reagan’s own first term) got people convinced that Reaganism was economic magic, and retroactively identifying Jimmy Carter with the bad old days. Even though, in hindsight, those bad old days started under Richard Nixon and Reagan’s boom wasn’t actually that great. Boomers remember all this as adults and GenXers vaguely remember it as stuff that happened when they were children/teenagers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@danielx: TBF, that was my sarcastic phrase, but her tone was so chirpy she might as well have said that.
HeleninEire
@NotMax: Also Cecil B DeMille played himself! Very good movie all around.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@HeleninEire: Everyone should watch that movie so that they get my joke about Bob Woodward being the Norma Desmond of punditry. “I am still big, Mika, it is the scandals that have gotten small.”
HinTN
@Another Scott: The innertoobs are providing conflicting reports about 20 Jan 18 in DC. Do you have a link to orgsnize by?
PS: Could not find the IEEE tent at the Scientists’ March or I would have been by to say hi.
wvng
@Betty Cracker: The only time I have seen Metro with heavier ridership was at the Stewart/Colbert rally. It was absolutely insane that day, scary. I was expecting it to be that bad for the women’s march and was quite pleased that it wasn’t. But then the crowds were the largest I’ve ever seen, seemingly even bigger than Obama’s first inauguration.
Betty Cracker
@Major Major Major Major: Nothing! Just agreeing with p.a. that it’s a thing.
@JPL: I’ll let you know — still got it. :(
kindness
I’m so glad 2017 is ending. Fucked year. Politically though, 2018 has no way of not being worse. Trump will go off the deep end and we’ll see which segments of society work to keep us together (hat tip – it won’t be Republicans). I hope there is something left after the Arsonist in Chief is stopped from burning it all to the ground.
Happy New Years everyone. Hug those you love and tell them what they mean to you.
NotMax
@HeleninEire
Also too, re: your mention of age above, Swanson was born in 1899 so was 51 when Sunset Boulevard was first released in 1950.
FlipYrWhig
@Matt McIrvin: A just-so story, then. Might as well be that Jimmy Carter was the dragon who swallowed the sun.
Betty Cracker
Something that just occurred to me about the photo above with the silly-ass Trump Yoots trying to start shit with the marchers: They were all wearing khakis and white shirts (jackets too, of course — it was chilly). I never realized that was a de facto uniform until Charlottesville.
scav
@danielx: There’s always the alternative definition of “4. of low or abnormally low intelligence.” Or maybe, they’re just impressed by how many staff the Orange Magnificence employs and thus exposes his presence to.
Redshift
I was there for the march as well. I’ve been to a lot of marches in DC, since I’m local, and this was by far the biggest. Obama’s first inauguration was the only thing that compares. The DC police and park service haven’t done official crowd estimates for years (they got tired of people bitching about them), but it was definitely more than half a million.
HeleninEire
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh, that’s perfect.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: That’s encouraging.
marcopolo
So here’s something cool & happy heading into 2018. I live in St. Louis but just made my last donation of 2018 to Laura Moser, a first time candidate who is running to take out a R congress critter in TX 07. Plus 7R district so doable if the current conditions exist in Nov 2018.
After I donated, curiosity took me to the actual ActBlue website. Apparently they do a running in-real-time total of contributions to candidates on the site. About a $1000 every few seconds. I’m guessing easily $1million an hour maybe closer to 2. I know, I know, I am an elections geek but I got a really warm feeling inside watching that counter run.
Patricia Kayden
@Another Scott: First time that I’m reading that there will be another march in D.C. Good to hear. Hope the resistance remains strong even as the NYT is working overtime to normalize Trump. I assume by late next year, NYT will be lauding Trump for his innovative presidency and decrying previous presidents as being way too timid and demure.
marcopolo
@Redshift: I did the ’89 & ’92 pro-choice marches in DC. The ’89 one was pegged at 600K participants. Definitely the largest mass protest I have ever been involved with. It was incredibly energizing to be a part of it. And very organized with marching by states. The best sign I remember from it all was “Grandmothers reminiscing for Pro-Choice.” I stayed in St. Louis for the Women’s March last Jan. We had 11-12,000 folks which felt like a good turnout for St. Louis.
chopper
@Mike J:
I’d say start with a sheep, then make your way up to a human. that advice isn’t just for cloning, either.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
There was no way I was going to drive into downtown LA so I walked over to the Metro train line. The platforms were dangerously packed. The trains that came through had no room, not one square inch left. They stopped, we all were disappointed and then realized how big the entire thing was. Never got on a train but the air was electric with hope anyway. I was truly amazed at how many men showed up. And were as pissed as every woman was.
I just went to the Women’s March website and don’t see any march for this year scheduled. This would be a great thing to at least let people realize not to give up. Is there something scheduled that I’m missing?
frosty fred
@NotMax: I remember an interview with Swanson toward the end of her life where she claimed they’d made her up to look older in Sunset Boulevard, because Holden, 19 years her junior, didn’t look it. Pretty sure she said he was “no spring chicken.”
Mr Stagger Lee
Simon Sebag Montfiore, author of The Court of The Red Czar and other good books on Russian History, says that Trump Don IL wants to be the first American Czar and his family the American Romanovs. Franklt\y I want the Trumps to be the Capets ca1790.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
You’ve gotta go to the Women’s March LA site for local information — they’re scheduled for 1/20 and deep in planning.
Although Facebook is the devil, being subscribed to the Women’s March LA Facebook page has kept me in the loop with the planning. I’m probably still going to be stuck on crutches, though. :-(
Mnemosyne
Between having to be Heimliched back in March and almost falling headfirst down cement stairs in October (which is how I wrenched my knee), I’m superstitiously convinced that 2017 is trying to kill me, which is why I will be spending the day and evening safely (I hope!) at home waiting for this bitch of a year to pass me by. Hopefully 2018 will be a better one for all of us.
Ohio Mom
@Betty Cracker: I will never be able to look at my photo of 18 month old Ohio Son in his khakis and white polo shirt (and the dribbling popsicle) the same way ever again. I used to find it so adorable…sigh.
@danielx: This story could have had such a different twist. If Annie’s dad was a decent sort, he would have proposed a trade, one night off-duty for another. Then you would have had some respite yourself.
I would be beyond happy if autistic Ohio Son had a friendship like your daughter and Annie share — so many people with disabilities do not have enough friendship in their lives. And then I would be plotting like mad with the other parent(s) how to set the kids up as roommates in their own (supervised) living situation. Annie’s dad does not realize his family’s good fortune.
Kristine
@schrodingers_cat: I like Twitter too. It’s good place to be when news breaks. @brendancalling
NotMax
What’s on the menu for tonight?
Modified version of shrimp etouffe. Modified because some traditional ingredients not in stock at the abode and no way am heading to the market today. So gonna be making a sauce which is a cross between garlic shrimp and etouffe, punching it up with spontaneously decided upon additions to cover the lack some usually included stuff. Only reason to set foot outside is to grab some lemons from the tree in the backyard, which at the moment has somewhere in the neighborhood a million lemons ripening on it, for fresh squeezed juice.
Mike J
@NotMax: It seems like I’ve used acronis, but it’s been a while. Glad to hear it’s still ok. I try avoid hardware stuff because I just don’t know anything about it.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
So the gamerbros are reacting much as expected to the arrest of the swatter, when what they should be looking into is the sad terrain of their wasted, socially neglected lives. There are great hobbies, especially for those who prefer some social isolation. Sport, hiking, swimming, reading, and if the line games, there is always chess or gambling.
Young Tyler is going to be genuinely saddened by his regime of no computers, a checkerboard with paper checkers (the hard plastic makes a fine shank point), and being passed around in exchange for meth and heroin.
debbie
Totally OT, but is canned food which has frozen dangerous to eat? (Store-bought cans, not home-canned food.) I just realized the cupboard where I keep canned stuff is by an outer wall and there’s no insulation.
Ruckus
@Teddys Person:
It’s also based on how the republicans do it. They always manage to give a small tax break early on after they get reelected, to lots of people, and that’s good for them. (Remember shrub’s what was it $100 deal?) And then they stick their hands down your pants and rob you and everyone else blind. After a while you realize they are all fucking assholes and vote them out for a while and then their message/lie is repeated over and over till they win again. So they can give you a nothing burger tax holiday and then stick their hands down your pants again.
People have short memories about who and what is fucking them and republicans use that to their advantage. Democrats can’t because they aren’t trying to fuck everyone.
Daddio7
@danielx: Well at least he did not totally abandon her. My wife is a pediatric home care nurse. Five out of the six children she has tended this year live with their divorced mothers. I will be alone tonight while she tends to her current patient so the parents can go out. The 12 year old child has only the limited use of one arm and an infants mentality. The mom and stepdad spent Tuesday through Thursday at the hospital with the child. I think they deserve a little respite and so does the government. It is paying for my wife to be there. Too bad you couldn’t get a little help when yours was younger.
debbie
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
I didn’t know they’d found and arrested him, but I hope they make an example of him. And then make him pay the bill for whatever the incident cost the swat team.
randy khan
@Another Scott:
The Women’s March was the best day in 2017. I’ve been to a lot of marches over the year and they generally are fairly pro-forma affairs. This one was all energy and determination – a totally different vibe.
Election Night 2017 was a clear second, though, seeing the results of the determination of the Women’s March take shape here in Virginia.
Brachiator
Well, the New Year will give us Sir Ringo Starr.
Very apt, perhaps, since Ringo always seemed to be the most happy go lucky, optimistic Beatle.
germy
@Ruckus:
I remember the small check I got, and I particularly remember the check had the name of a Texas bank for some reason. It was supposed to make me feel grateful to Bush, but I despised him even more.
NotMax
@debbie
Not a doctor, but first thoughts –
Depends on what the can holds (how much water is in there). Would suggest that if a can is in any way deformed (bulging), toss it; if not visibly deformed, give the contents a good close sniff when you open the thawed can to check for any off aroma.
Also, place cans on paper towels when thawing, there could be pinhole leaks in some.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Thanks!
Sorry about the crutches though. Did it end up that you didn’t do as much damage as you first thought? I’ve been off and on BJ for the last couple of weeks, just too much personal health crap that any extra stress really isn’t good for, I thought I read that you didn’t.
frosty
@Argiope: My wife has both a DSLR and a Sony mirrorless. I really like the Sony. It’s not as bulky and takes better pictures than a point’n’shoot or a phone.
HeleninEire
@NotMax: Be right over.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@germy: We were going to a Unitarian church at the time, and Bush Bucks donations were how the church paid off its mortgage. People just passed them on through.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Had to go to the VA ER, was going to say last night but it actually was rather very early this morning, turned out to be a nothing, just a byproduct of the angiogram from a week ago that will resolve over time. What looked like a bruise just showed up after a week and these things can be very serious or nothing at all and it has to be checked out. Amazingly the entire 50 mile round trip and getting in and seen took an hour and a half. I’ve sat in the waiting room for 6 hrs before, just waiting to be seen.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
I still need to get final confirmation from the orthopedist, but the physical therapist looked at the MRI report and said that I may have only partially torn the ACL and damaged but not torn the rest. Ironically, that’s why it still hurt so much — a partial tear hurts more than a full tear since there’s nothing left to cause pain after a full tear.
She gave me some home exercises and that’s been helping with the everyday pain even though the exercises themselves hurt. If I’m really dligent with the exercises and can build the knee muscles up, I might be able to avoid surgery depending on what percentage of the ligament is torn. Fingers crossed!
Ruckus
@germy:
Yeah that bribe had the smell of fresh baby diaper before the envelop was even open.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
Yikes! I’m glad it turned out to be nothing and that it was a quick trip, to boot. Kaiser once had me go to their ER in Hollywood for chest pains that turned out to be pleurisy (which is painful, but not life-threatening). They did an EKG as soon as I arrived and then I had a long wait once that came out as normal since I was not in immediate danger.
chris
I like Twitter and follow Daniel Dale, Sarah Kendzior and William Gibson regularly but I have no wish to participate and do not have an account.
Where else would I learn things like the actual name of the Republican disease?
Mike J
@chris: The best reason to have an account is to make it easy to follow the people you follow.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@debbie:
By all (now finally accurate) reports, the sleazy little shit has been honing his craft on swatting – threatened to shoot police, site immolation, the works. Plus, his interview with that keemster jackoff will be exhibit A at his trial, as will his twitter accounts. The nasty little fucker needs to rot under the jail, and hopefully, some inmate will put him down like the rabid dog he is and make the world a better place.
trollhattan
Our march was very well attended too. Here’s hoping there’s real inertia a year later, now that our worst expectations have been shamed by how inadequate they were.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Advice from someone who also has had to try to revive torn joint muscles. Two different joints.
Which I’d bet you know word for word. Follow the routine, be hypervigilant as to how it feels, if it’s getting better or worse.
My shoulder, torn rotator cuff, I did 6 months PT, surgery (because the first six months didn’t do squat) and 6 more months PT. Ankle, I did months of PT and it’s fine. But I get along with crutches about as good as you do so that one was fun. I’m lying, in case you didn’t get that. I can imagine that a knee is far worse to heal than my ankle was and while not having use of your dominate arm has to be experienced to believed, not being able to walk really, really sucks more. Good luck, work hard, complain often. BTW I know someone who broke both wrists. At the same time. He said that if his then girlfriend hadn’t been the most amazing person he’d have been in deep shit. Literally.
TriassicSands
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t know what kind of crutches you’re on, but if you have to spend any significant time on them you really should have forearm crutches. They are both better and safer than underarm crutches. You should be able to rent them for a few dollars a week.
Probably the only reason to avoid forearm crutches would be if your arms and shoulders are very weak. Having had many knee and ankle surgeries, I’ve spent many months on crutches. At first, I always used what they gave me at the hospital. Then, I did a little research and switched. I went on 10-mile hikes on forearm crutches, something I wouldn’t have done on the underarm variety.
chris
@Mike J: I just use tabs. I don’t trust Twitter any more than I do Facebook. They can stay outside the firewall.
Jeffro
Ski trip is all wrapped up and I am ready to fly home super early in the morning. Not sure this is something I want to keep doing given the expense and the risk – I really can’t afford to keep aggravating my reconstructed right shoulder ( which of course is what I managed to land on three times this week )
2018 is going to be a historic year and in multiple good ways, peeps. I’m encouraged. We are going to have it out with this maladministration and all of its enablers. Let’s stay active and angry and organized and crush these bastards November !
Mnemosyne
@TriassicSands:
One of my friends is married to a British woman and apparently the NHS moved to forearm crutches a long time ago. When he was helping her rehab after her knee surgery this summer, he didn’t see a single person on underarm crutches.
@Ruckus:
Thanks! It’s been a little stressful for poor G because I am NOT a good patient, so we’re both hoping I can avoid surgery.
arielibra
@debbie: If the can is still can-shaped (i.e. no bulges), the contents should still be safe. The texture can undergo strange changes, however, to the point that you may not want to eat it. Campbell’s tomato soup is still food after being left at the cabin over one winter, but after two or three years, not so much.
debbie
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
I am an old, so I Googled Keemster and read through his Twitter feed. These kids need to get out more.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Just to make you puke before you drink too much tonight, here’s a headline in today’s dead tree edition of the WaPo.
Subhead:
debbie
@NotMax: @arielibra:
Thanks. There have been other cold winters, but I guess it never occurred to me to move the stuff.
Ruckus
@TriassicSands:
I went to school with a girl with polio and really all she could use were forearm crutches. She had much better control and with polio that looked to be critical. I think she may have used less energy to walk as well, I think that is because the pivot point for forearm crutches is something much closer to what we are used to.
Matt McIrvin
@FlipYrWhig: There’s also been a concerted propaganda effort to rewrite the history of the Great Depression, and convince people that it happened because Hoover was too liberal, FDR’s New Deal only made it worse and it was fixed by the magic of war (and the mechanism there was forced consumer austerity, not forced massive industrial spending). The people who actually remember it are pretty much dead, and the propaganda has worked on younger generations of conservatives. I actually hear guys saying that Keynesian economics is a poison that destroys national economies wherever it’s used.
germy
Mnemosyne
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:
Too late now, chumps. Trump played you and your silly cultural resentments like a fiddle, and now we’re all screwed. Nice going.
Matt McIrvin
…Also, stocks do tend to rally in the short term when Republicans are elected, because the guys who trade stocks are Republicans and it makes them happy.
Mnemosyne
All right, I need to go start browning meat for tonight’s crockpot beef stew and then prep some novel stuff that needs to be emailed to the leaders of a workshop I’m taking in a couple of weeks. Later, jackals!
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I’m a great patient. Maybe it’s because I’ve had so much practice. I’ve spent more time with docs and in hospital in the last 5 yrs than I did in my first 12 yrs. That’s not a good statistic to go in that direction, that reference level was way too big.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@debbie:
They’ve got their games, porn, and mommy to bring down trays of hot pockets.
John Revolta
@Brachiator:
Small wonder. Don’t get me wrong- I love the guy, but he’s gotta be the luckiest man in history.
If you look up “Right place at the right time” you’ll see his picture.
Mike H
Too bad that didn’t happen at the polls.
trollhattan
@John Revolta:
While certainly true Ringo was also a drummers’ drummer, very respected for his work.
trollhattan
@germy:
“…we’re just getting started.” Jesus, he never stops with the threats.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@John Revolta: Ever heard of Bernard Purdie? Check out what he says about Ringo, some crazy stuff.
John Revolta
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Purdie always claimed he played drums on a lot of the Beatles’ records.
I dunno if it’s true but I can hear things on some of their songs that I’m pretty sure Ringo didn’t do.
I saw Purdie do a drum clinic in Chicago in the 70s. He’d been stacked up over O”Hare for an hour or so and was pretty drunk. He was hilarious.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
@John Revolta: Yep, that’s what I was thinking about.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
We have enough jackals in NC that it’s worth passing this fostering bleg around here, I think.
The owner is very sick and is temporarily moving in with family, and the pup can’t go with her. They’re looking for a foster (and potential adopter if the owner’s health continues to decline).
germy
Dave Barry weighs in:
frosty
@John Revolta: From one Beatles book I read, Ringo was also known as the best drummer in Liverpool. If so, right guy, right place, right time.
TriassicSands
@Mnemosyne:
@Ruckus:
Underarm crutches can be very dangerous when descending stairs. With forearm crutches, you can safely take several steps at a time — though that isn’t necessary. Whenever you see someone who is permanently on crutches they are almost always using forearm crutches.
If you’ve got the money ($600 to >$1000), you can get titanium forearm crutches. If I had to be on crutches permanently, I’d find a way to pay for titanium. Needless to say, insurance wouldn’t.
germy
@John Revolta:
He claimed to have been hired to “punch up” some of the early Beatle recordings that featured Pete Best on drums. That has nothing to do with Ringo.
Pete Best was not the greatest drummer, so it’s possible that’s true. But from what I understand, Ringo played on all the Beatle records (except during the White Album sessions, when Paul took over briefly on I think one or two tracks).
Ringo could rock AND swing, something many successful drummers admit they haven’t been able to duplicate when covering Beatle songs.
youtube.com/watch?v=vl9188EPdLI
Argiope
@frosty: Thanks! I appreciate all the ideas.
Ksmiami
@Mr Stagger Lee: just remember the czars and his family ended up in anonymous graves in nowheresville- a very happy thought
Brachiator
@John Revolta:
I think that Ringo is sometimes underrated. Also, in some ways he was temperamentally a perfect fit.
But the luck thing is very interesting. I seem to remember that he had a serious illness as a child.
germy
@Brachiator:
He’d been playing here and there around Liverpool. The band he was in (The Hurricanes) was scheduled to appear on a bill with Eddie Cochran. Ringo wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue full time as a drummer.
Ringo was so shocked by the senseless death of Cochran that he realized he wanted to stop fucking around and devote his life to music full time. If he hadn’t continued, it’s likely John and Paul wouldn’t have become aware of him or his talent.
Life is always a weird mixture of luck and tragedy and timing. Hard work and dedication is a factor, as well.
Brachiator
@germy: Interesting stuff about Ringo and Eddie Cochran.
And there is this from the Wiki
Steeplejack
@Argiope:
Late to the thread, but I’ll weigh in anyway.
I agree with ?BillinGlendaleCA that you probably don’t want to invest in a camera with a separate lens system. The teen can decide on that for herself if she continues with photography and decides that she wants to upgrade. By that time she’ll have some preferences about what kind of system she wants.
A few years back a friend who is a professional photographer and videographer recommended the Canon PowerShot SX30is as basically what Bill suggests—a point-and-shoot on steroids. It has tons of features, allows you to set everything manually and basically do everything “camera” except swap out lenses. My photographer friend said it had become her go-to camera for everything except the most involved, technical jobs, and it was what she recommended to people who wanted to get into “serious” photography without loading up on a ton of gear and committing to a particular lens-system religion.
At that time the SX30 was already a few years old and could be picked up fairly cheap. It’s obsolescent at this point: it does what it does, but it has been superseded by newer models. A quick search on Amazon turns up the SX60 (about $430), itself about three years old now. It’s got much better specs than the SX30 and shoots in RAW mode, which Bill requires (and with which I agree). Digital Photography Review write-up here.
I’m not trying to promote Canon’s products. Other manufacturers have equivalent models. I’m suggesting a starting point for your research. I started with film cameras in high school, have owned various Nikons and Canons (film and digital) and have done (semi-)serious photography in various jobs, but these days I’m strictly an amateur.
I think that for someone starting out in “serious” photography it is important to have a camera that feels like a “real” camera, so that they get used to hefting it and getting a feel for how to handle it. If they move to an SLR with interchangeable lenses later, they’ll have a better idea of what they want that camera to feel like and what hardware features are important (placement of controls, etc.). And they’ll have a better idea of which lens(es) they want to start with.
Digital Photography Review is a great resource. Excellent set of “beginner’s guides” here. Collection of “2017” roundups here. You’ll probably want to start with the articles on “enthusiast long zoom” cameras and “consumer long zoom compacts.” The reader comments to the articles are often very useful.
Ha! From a quick look, it seems the SX60 is still a viable contender, so I’m not completely out of date!
Another Scott
@HinTN: Sorry for the late reply.
The only thing I’ve seen is this, from BlueVirginia:
The main Women’s March web page says there is going to be a big Power to the Polls March in Las Vegas on January 21.
It sounds like lots of events are planned that weekend, but maybe not a single huge event on the 20th.
With any luck, there will be more information in the next week or so.
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@germy, @Brachiator:
When the remastered Beatles albums were released (09/09/09) I was working at Barnes & Noble, and I enjoyed asking people why they bought whichever album they did. One guy turned out to be a professional drummer, so I asked him some version of the “Ringo—luckiest musician ever?” question.
This guy said that Ringo is vastly underrated:
1. He had phenomenal metronomic precision. On the later albums, when they were combining complex takes from different sessions and different days, Ringo’s stuff almost always matched perfectly and rarely had to be redone.
2. He was able to grow and adapt as a drummer as the Beatles’ music grew from its early rock ’n’ roll roots to the complex later stuff. As germy said, he could rock and swing—and other stuff as well.
3. This one’s a bit hypothetical. Drummer guy said that Ringo probably was a tremendously important stabilizing factor in a supergroup that included two, arguably three musical geniuses. That “temperament” thing that Brachiator mentioned.
Porlock Junior
@John Revolta: And yet, think lots of people who plainly advanced through good luck (or thought they did) have wound up with guilt feelings and a drive to Prove Themslves.
Hence we can give Ringo credit for reacting so rationally. Knighthood, I don’t know, but needn’t care, not being British or a queen.
J R in WV
@FlipYrWhig:
The hard statistical facts prove that Democratic administrations have ALWAYS produced more economic growth and higher standards of living than Republican administrations every have.
Republicans have been responsible for all great economic crashes, all giant budget deficits (excepting existential war aka WW II) and generally poorer financial results for both big business, wealthy people, working people, disabled people, everyone EXCEPT the Republicans plugged in to steal from the government.
Thieves always prosper during Republican administrations, because the people in charge shovel money out of the government coffers to their buddies for a rake off of the total monies passed out. Think USAF cargo aircraft filled with shrink-wrapped pallets of $100 bills with no accounting of how it was distributed. Plane loads of cash!! Where did it go??? No one knows who is also willing to tell.
Tenar Arha
@HeleninEire: Ohh, I’m sorry I missed your comments. Glad you enjoyed. (I was out to see Call me by your name this afternoon).
J R in WV
@debbie:
Only if the cans are damaged, swollen til a seam opens for example.
J R in WV
@Steeplejack:
On cameras, I’ve been through the DSLR (really SLRs back in film days) period, and quit some years back when the superzoom cameras came out. Panasonic Lumix FZ200 was my first, and later I got an FZ1000, rather than the FZ2500 which was more expensive.
These cameras can shoot in very dim light hand held, have good optical staballization, lenses designed by Leica, good big imaging chips, the works. I just gave the FZ200 to a friend who rebuilds instruments (guitars and violins mostly) and put images of the detailed work he does on his facebook page. Otherwise I would offer it to you guys.
The FZ200 isn’t available new, but might be around used. The FZ1000 is around $700 with a memory card. That’s a little steep for a beginner.
I see Amazon has the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ70 for $199, it looks like a good choice for anyone.
amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-FZ70-Digital-Optical-Stabilized/dp/B00DY2Y28M/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&…
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
Anybody interested I have a Nikon 5300 with lenses that I’d let go reasonable. Hardly ever used, still has the original tires and all that.
I thought I might get into photography, I used to have to do a lot of very close up stuff for my job but I end up just not being interested enough in the process to work at it.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
That FZ70 is a good-looking camera.
I have a tiny Lumix DMC-ZS40 with a Leica lens that takes amazing pictures. Just got it out to fondle it and thought, Man, I need to use this more. Resolution for ’18!