Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

T R E 4 5 O N

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Not all heroes wear capes.

The willow is too close to the house.

Second rate reporter says what?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Let’s finish the job.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

We still have time to mess this up!

After roe, women are no longer free.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

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RIP

Lest We Forget: Hiroshima Day

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Congressman John Lewis, February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020: Rest In Peace

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Congressman John Lewis, February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020: Rest In Peace

(Congressman John Lewis Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama; 15 FEB 2011)

Congressman John Lewis has died.

Here is his speech from the March on Washington:

Everyone should get into good trouble in his memory. And may his memory be for a blessing!

Open thread!

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Memorial Day 2020: Memorial Day In the Time of Pandemic

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I imagine that during Memorial Day 1918 and 1919, in the midst of the swine flu pandemic that emerged from the training barracks at Fort Riley and somehow got blamed on Spain, people tried to make sense of the day and what it was supposed to symbolize and commemorate while the US was at war abroad and Americans were dying at home of communicable disease. As I wrote last year, Memorial Day has sort of evolved into a strange observance in America’s civic life and civil culture:

Memorial Day has assumed a strange place within American civic culture. It has become the Federal holiday that signals the start of summer, while at the same time, because of the changes to how Americans respond and relate to the US military, has become a de facto second Veteran’s Day. And, of course, for those that have served, or those related to them, or those who have known them as more than passing acquaintances, and those who have some civic self awareness, the holiday retains its original purpose: to commemorate America’s war dead.

All of this together is a strange civic cultural mashup.

Memorial Day 2020, and the long holiday weekend that comes with it, is even stranger than the holiday usually is. This year it has become part of the partisan, tribal attitudes and actions surrounding how Americans should be responding to SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19. We’ll know in two to three weeks just how bad the damage from this weekend’s activities is. How many who would not have become infected have become infected and how many who would not have died will have died. Further ripping at and tattering our civic culture and further poisoning the life blood of the Republic.

Eventually Americans will figure out how to recognize, commemorate, and collectively mourn those who have died as a result of COVID-19. Tens of thousands of whom would likely still be alive if the President, his senior advisors and staff, his surrogates, Senator McConnell and his Republican majority in the Senate, and Fox News, OANN, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart, and the rest of conservative news, social, and digital media didn’t approach the pandemic, and the challenges it presents to the US, as some sort of partisan game to be won.

It seems strange to focus on commemorating America’s war dead when we are approaching 100,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 and significant portions of the US seem to think that reality is somewhere between fake news and not their problem. America’s soul has been sick for a long time. Some of this goes back to the original sins of America’s founding. Some of the poison has been more recently injected. But the strange reality of Memorial Day 2020 makes America’s civic soul sickness brutally clear.

Rest well Michael, Nicole, Paula, Gregg, and Terry.

Open thread.

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I Thought I’d Share an Alain Story: Sourdough Edition

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A number of you all indicated you loved the stories Alain would tell in his posts and his comments. And before I go any farther, I was in touch with Carol today and what you all wrote in your comments to Cole’s post, as well as mine last night and today really made her load a little lighter.

On the 6th I was texting with Alain – I had asked him about upgrading to a new 4k AppleTV as I’ve been running my old one and as a result was unable to watch my superhero cartoons and movies adapted from comic books in glorious 4K Dolbyvision – and I wanted his opinion on whether it was worth it. Yes, I asked a tech guy who was also a tech gear guy if I should upgrade my tech. Silly me!

After establishing that I should upgrade, which I have done (hence the HDMI cable references yesterday), he asked if I wanted some sourdough starter. Before we go any further, while I love sourdough bread, I don’t eat very much of it because I don’t do well with refined carbohydrates and refined sugar. So I largely avoid bread and all the other things I love that are made of refined carbohydrates and include refined sugar. He lulled me in on the sourdough by asking about a candy store in Tallahassee and then segued into the sourdough. Here’s what happened:

(ETA: When I first entered Alain’s information into my phone, I entered it based on how it sounded when he pronounced his last name or how I thought it sounded, so Chamot wound up as Chailmont – don’t judge, I’m tone deaf…)

Alain Chailmont: Look up Lofty Pursuits or Pd.net. Public displays of confection. I’m so jealous you can drive there.

Adam L Silverman: Ok

Alain Chailmont: Just amazing craft and addictive watching. Candy making.

(Adam here: at this point I’m looking up Lofty Pursuits to try to figure out where they are so I can determine how long it will take me to get there)

Adam L Silverman: Ok. That’s a six hour drive depending on traffic. So I could drive there, but I could also drive to Atlanta

Alain Chailmont: Yeah. But it’s a fuck closer for you than me! lol

Adam L Silverman: Yes, but…

Alain Chailmont: You won’t be stopping by, I dig.

Adam L Silverman: Not any time soon. Also, statewide and county wide shelter in place order

Alain Chailmont: Neither will I. I don’t expect business to take me to Tallahassee Which is why I ordered a week and a half ago from them. Can’t wait to get my order.

Adam L Silverman: Gotcha. Enjoy! Time for me to walk the dogs!

Alain Chailmont: Careful of the ?

Adam L Silverman:

Floriduh! Man Never Takes a Day Off! Even During a Pandemic!

Alain Chailmont: I showed Carol that earlier, she figured some folk would finally listen because that’s a relatable distance. Lol. Any interest in some Sourdough starter? My new batch is almost ready to dry and I’d be happy to send you a sample.

Adam L Silverman: Passover starts this week so no bread and I also can’t tolerate refined carbohydrates, so I generally avoid bread. But I appreciate the offer. I’m sure TaMara would appreciate a batch!

Alain Chailmont: Just for thought – my primary usage is sourdough pancakes. When the starter is cultivated well, they are so complex. The fermented flour is usually easy on digestion for those with issues.

I’ll send her one!

Adam L Silverman: Okay, send me one. I’ll find a use for it

Alain Chailmont: Shall do. Hott Stuff Sourdough is my brand ? it’ll await your efforts indefinitely as long as you keep it dry and in the dark.

Adam L Silverman: Not a problem. Thanks!

By now you’ve noticed that 1) I didn’t actually want any sourdough starter, but…, 2) I threw both Passover and TaMara at him as a distraction, neither of which worked, and 3) when that didn’t work I gave in. What you can’t see in those texts is that I gave in because I could feel through the texts that I wasn’t being a good friend. That the sourdough starter was important to him, so I’d take some and find a use for it because that would make him happy. And because it was an easy thing to do to make him happy. And it did make him happy.

Two days later, feeling the need to extract a bit of payment for knuckling on the sourdough starter, I had this conversation with Alain:

Adam L Silverman: You got Popehat in trouble

Alain Chailmont: Haha lol

Adam L Silverman: Do we need to schedule an intervention?

Alain Chailmont: I. Am. So. Cool. For once.

Adam L Silverman: Don’t let it go to your head

The next day, while kibbitzing about Passover seders, or in my case the lack thereof, Alain returned to sourdough starter:

Alain Chailmont: My new batch dries tomorrow and so i begin shipping again Saturday lol

Adam L Silverman: Just so you know, you can’t sell that stuff within 500 feet of a school or a playground!

And that’s my Alain sourdough story. I didn’t want any, I could feel through the texts on my phone that not wanting any was upsetting him, so I said I’d take some. I’m sure there’s a packet en route in the mail, and I’m going to put it to damn good use in his memory!

By the way, Gretchen Koch an amazing graphic artist with a PhD in religion, she did this on the fly for Popehat:

I Thought I'd Share an Alain Story: Sourdough Edition 1

 

Open thread!

PS – I’ve got a baking/confecting post I’ll put up tomorrow night. I made chocolate coated peanut butter truffles earlier sweetened only with agave. They’re setting up right now in the fridge.

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We Lost a Good Man in Alain

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By now you have heard the horrible, no good, awful news about Alain. I received an email earlier this afternoon from his fiance telling me had died, and I was in such a state of shock I immediately fired off a completely inappropriate email in response that consisted of “OMG. What happened.” The stun of the news made it so that it took me a few minutes to realize that that was completely the wrong response to someone who is going through what Carol is and emailed her back, and while waiting to hear back from her contacted Adam and the rest of the front pagers.

I asked Adam to make the announcement, as he and Alain had a special friendship, and he would best be able to describe Alain, and he did a superb job. Alain really was a kind, patient, gentle, decent person, and this is such a horrible loss.

You may not be aware of this, but it will probably come as no surprise, but I am an actual fucking nightmare to work with at times. When it comes to technology, I am a total pain in the ass to deal with. I just want something to do what I want it to do, and I really do not care to learn how to code to get something done. Alain, bless his heart, was the kind of guy who if you asked him what time it is, he would tell you how to build a watch. So imagine that poor guy trying to explain things to me and I am basically tabbed out and in an other place mentally, only to come back five minutes later and tell him basically “Just make it so people stop emailing me.”

And he would. He was the engine behind the website for several years, never complained, always there, and just loved all of you and took great pleasure in keeping this place running for you all. Many of you have posted stories about his acts of kindness towards you. I have my own stories, and we’ll talk about them later, some day. He may be gone physically, but Alain will be here in spirit for as long as this shitty little hole on the internet exists.

Rest in peace, brother.

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In Memoriam for Alain Chamot: May His Memory Be a Blessing!

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In Memoriam for Alain Chamot: May His Memory Be a Blessing!

(G. Alain Chamot: 5 February 1971 – 14 April 2020)

I cannot express how sorry I am to have to write this post and inform all of you that Alain passed away sometime in the early morning hours between last night and this morning. He simply did not wake up and efforts to resuscitate him failed. His fiancé Carol has indicated that, as of now, they don’t know what happened. She has let both John and I know that as more information comes in, she’ll update us. And I’ll update you.

Most of you here knew Alain as the guy who kept the (old) site together with spit, baling wire, rubber bands, and a combination of hope and determination that he could stay one step ahead of whatever might stop working next. And that’s how I knew him, and had largely been interacting with him, until something tragic happened: his mom took ill and then died. We were friendly – I’m not sure Alain could be anything other than gregariously friendly – but I wouldn’t have said we were good friends. When his mother became ill, I stepped up communication to check on him. When she died I did what everyone from my religious community does when someone we know has someone pass away: I sent him food. Specifically a batch of brownies. I got his address from John, baked the brownies, and overnighted them too him once cool and set the next day. And with that I had transformed a friendly acquaintance into a friend for life. He called me up after the brownies arrived to thank me and until today, we’ve been in regular touch ever since.

Some of you may know that Alain struggled with his mother’s passing; they were very close. What got him through was his fiancé Carol’s support, his cats, his other hobbies and pursuits, and this place. No matter how frustrated Alain might have gotten with trying to keep the site up or running, he loved this place and everyone here. Just as I know he loved Carol and his cats. And his other passions like fishing, mushrooming, freemasonry, cooking, and baking. Last week I finally succumbed, despite not eating bread – even when it isn’t Passover – and told him to go ahead and send me some of his sourdough starter. I told him I’d find something to use it for and then I’d do a post about it for him. There was just no saying no to his infectious enthusiasm.

Alain and I talked about once a month on the phone, but we texted far more often. He was always excited about something. A fishing trip he was planning – the pandemic put that one on hold. Or the house hunting and then house purchase that he and Carol spent most of last year doing. Or some new cooking project he was working on. Or, more recently, now that he and Carol had finally found their house, bought it, and moved in, getting to work on the wedding plans.

We never met in person. Every time I was scheduled to go to DC for meetings, like last month, something came up. And when I was informed last August I was moving to the DC area for work, Alain was, if possible, more excited than I was and he had plenty of suggestions for what I thought would be my relocation. That assignment didn’t happen. And it is to my now everlasting regret that I never made it to the DC area over the past four years so we could meet in person.

Just yesterday we were texting about something completely trivial – HDMI cables. His last text to me, when I informed him the right cable had arrived by delivery, was “Excelsior!”. I almost called him today, about a 1/2 hour before John sent me the bad news. I had a stupid tech issue I was trying to fix for my mom, but decided it was so trivial there was no reason to bother him – I could look it up online. Alain never failed to make time when my mom needed tech help beyond my basic abilities. He never met her, I think he spoke to her once on FaceTime while he was walking me through troubleshooting whatever was the problem on her computer. But he was always there if I needed help.

And I don’t know a better way to sum him up: he was always there if I needed help. He was always infectiously gregarious. And he was always excited about something: Carol, his cats, freemasonry, opera, his other hobbies, and just life.

Let’s all keep his fiancé Carol in our thoughts. And for those of you who do such things, our prayers as well.

 

In Memoriam for Alain Chamot: May His Memory Be a Blessing!

G. Alain Chamot: 5 February 1971 – 14 April 2020.

May his memory be a blessing.

Open thread!

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Fuck

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John Prine died today of complications of a coronavirus infection.

Let me be as clear as I can be: Donald Trump and his criminal associates who through incompetence and a criminal disregard of the clear and imminent danger in service of a campaign advantage opened the US to this virus. He and they share direct responsibility for each and every death that the US has suffered: they were and are in charge; they were warned; and they chose explicitly to fuck up.

So, yes, in my eyes, Donald Trump is an accessory to the murder of John Prine, as he is to each one we’ve lost, famous or not.

Fuck.

That’s it. That’s all I got. I hate the suffering that’s spread around the country. I hate the losses we have endured, are facing, will suffer. I hate those who have led us into such misery. I hope for my son and all of us that we will find a way to banish them to the outer darkness, so that we can mourn those who matter to us without constant rage corrupting our grief…

…and that we can then take their memories for a blessing.

Good night, y’all.

 

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