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Monday Open Thread: Not Done Yet

I know it is hard to believe but I am still moving. Every day I go back and forth from the old place to the new place and bring more Jeep-filled loads of stuff. I had the movers just do the furniture and that took four of them seven hours even though the places are four blocks apart. They worked hard and were very good. I have decluttered and downsized but it never seems to end. I gave away a ton of pots, pans, cookware, utensils, appliances, sheets, towels and even some art. I'm moving the rest myself.

Tomorrow is the second to last day -- You've Got Junk will come and haul out the king size bed, a couch , an armoire/dresser, solid wood bookcases, the dishes and glassware and everything else that's left. Wednesday the move-out cleaners will come and make the old place look beautiful.

I absolutely love my new place, in the next open thread I'll write why and post photos of the really pretty mountain and downtown views.

I have not watched much tv, or heard any news, so it will be some more days before I'm up to speed. In the meantime, here is an open thread, all topics welcome.

< Moving Hiatus and Open Thread | Dorian and Tuesday Open Thread >
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    Trump too busy with affairs of state, (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by KeysDan on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 05:05:32 PM EST
    to attend climate change meetings at the G-7.  The White House announced that Trump did not attend the climate session because he had to attend other engagements with German Chancellor Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Modi.

    Totally understandable.  Oh wait, CNN photos show that Merkel and Modi both attended the climate session.  Trump did not.

    Trump is angling to have the next G-7 meeting at his Doral Club in Miami.  He promoted the Club during the meeting in France, including being a hop, skip and an emolument away from the Miami Airport.

    Easy for even Putin to get to. Although, Putin may feel at home among other roaches at the Doral.  The Club has been cited for over 524 health code violations over the past several years---such as live and dead roaches, with between 20 to 25 live roaches in the kitchen.

    Wouldn't it be great (5.00 / 3) (#7)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 05:17:02 PM EST
    If the other 6 refused to come if Putin is invited?  

    Parent
    Even if Putin wasn't invited (none / 0) (#22)
    by Zorba on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 03:49:55 PM EST
    and didn't attend the next one, I'd like the other 6 to refuse to attend if Trump insists on having it at Doral, and have an alternative G6 summit in one of the other member countries.

    Parent
    Bedbugs (none / 0) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 03:53:25 PM EST
    Every day that trump opens his mouth... (none / 0) (#9)
    by desertswine on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 06:08:29 PM EST
    he proves himself to be a bigger idiot than he was the day before.

    Parent
    It was 40 years ago today (5.00 / 3) (#69)
    by Repack Rider on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 08:47:01 PM EST
    [I wrote this for DailyKos, and made the rec list with it (DK link if you want to see the graphics). I thought I might drop it here also.]

    It was just 40 years ago, late summer of 1979.

    For a couple of months Gary Fisher had been riding a custom balloon tire bicycle he had built on a frame made by Tom Ritchey. I had a similar bike built by Joe Breeze a year earlier. Gary and I had been roommates for about four years, but Gary had recently rented a small cottage where he lived alone. During the time we had shared a house, we had evolved a hybrid off-road bike built on an old Schwinn frame, which we used for downhill racing on a steep section of fire road we called "Repack." More recently we had taken the next step, which was to create bicycles built for the purpose using modern bicycle materials and components, along with the big tires.

    When Tom built Gary's bike, in addition to Gary's input he took advantage of what Joe had learned by building ten bikes like mine. The idea of building such bikes and selling them was far from our minds. The world's supply of such bikes was thirteen, ten built by Joe Breeze, and three built on Tom Ritchey's frames. To us, that seemed like all the world could possibly want.

    Almost unique among American frame builders of the `70s, Tom worked "lugless," using bronze welding to join tubes instead of the cast sleeves commonly used on steel road frames. That meant he was not limited in the diameter of the tubing he used, or the angles he chose to join them. He immediately used larger diameter tubing than he used on road bikes, and geometry nothing like that of a road bike.

    When Tom built a bike for Gary, one for Gary's friend James and one for himself, he had a revelation. Building off-road bikes was simpler than building custom road bikes, and the materials cost far less.

    First, he didn't need to use an expensive double-butted tube set with tapered stays. He could buy straight-gauge chrome-moly tubing in 20-foot lengths straight from the foundry, in the larger diameters he preferred. Second, he didn't have to build each bike as a unique one-off, like all the custom road frames he was building. He could make two sizes, and even paint them all the same color. By standardizing the frame design, he could cut a dozen tube sets in an afternoon and build bikes the next day.

    For the time and money invested in building one custom road frame, he could build five or size balloon-tire frames. They were so easy to build that he built nine more frames after Gary collected the two he had ordered, in hopes of selling them to his own friends. Tom rode regularly with a group who hit the trails south of San Francisco on what would now be called "gravel bikes," drop bar, skinny tire bikes built to take abuse.

    But because their passion was exploring, not downhill racing, they didn't care for bikes with heavy wheels and big tires, built to take a downhill pounding. Tom couldn't unload any of his nine new frames.

    Finally Tom called Gary, who had been his only customer when he bought two of Tom's frames and sold one to a friend. Maybe Gary could find a few more buyers for hand made balloon tire bike frames that were as beautiful as anything made for the Tour de France.

    Gary drove the fifty miles to Tom's place in Palo Alto and picked up the frames. Later that day he tracked me down in Fairfax. He opened the trunk of his battered BMW, and showed me nine beautiful bicycle frames. He explained where they had come from.

    "Hey man, you want to sell bikes?"

    Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had said no, but I didn't, and it set me off on the greatest bicycle adventure of the 20th Century.

    We pooled the money we had in our pockets at that moment, about $200, and rode a few blocks to the bank where we opened a commercial account to handle the profits soon to come flooding in. The bank executive filled out the form and asked what we would call the company. Gary and I agreed that "MountainBikes" was a catchy title, for both the name of our company and the product we intended to sell.

    Later on several bicycle companies bought some of our hand made bikes and mass produced them. Within six years the name of our company had become the generic name for all similar bicycles, and mountain bikes dominated the bicycle market. In 1996 mountain biking became an Olympic sport.

    That's the short version.  Here's the much longer version. And the blog.

    Dorian seems to be headed (5.00 / 2) (#83)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 03:59:53 PM EST
    Straight for Mara Lago.  How funny would be if it flattened it.

    Currently (5.00 / 1) (#86)
    by FlJoe on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:15:36 PM EST
    I'm at ground zero, I need some Valium.

    Parent
    No worries (none / 0) (#92)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 05:00:04 PM EST
    Trump has cancelled his trip to Poland just in case he needs to nuke Dorian to save Mara Lago.

    Parent
    On a more serious note (5.00 / 1) (#95)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 06:25:25 PM EST
    Friday marks the beginning of Florida's King Tides, a term that refers to the highest tides in any given period. These high tides follow a cycle -- after all, tides are caused by the moon and follow a predictable pattern. King Tides, sometimes called Spring Tides, typically appear in the spring and fall. (Though the term "Spring Tides" refers to spring as in the action, not the season).

    However, this latest round of King Tides in Florida will be strengthened by a dangerous alignment of factors: One, the moon will be especially close to the earth, an event called "perigee." Two, fall tides in Florida are generally the highest of the year because the water is at its warmest point.

    "The fact that this storm is hitting during some of the highest tides of the year is very concerning," Miller says. "The King Tides adding a couple of feet to the water height is almost like the storm being a category higher on scale."



    Parent
    perhaps (none / 0) (#100)
    by jmacWA on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 05:15:35 AM EST
    he can head there with a small tactical nuke

    Parent
    Protecting (5.00 / 2) (#102)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 06:56:16 AM EST
    Stay safe. (none / 0) (#96)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 07:24:57 PM EST
    I hope this one is not as bad as is being projected.

    Parent
    You don't think... (none / 0) (#98)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 11:42:20 PM EST
    the King of the Grifters wouldn't find a way to stick to us taxpayers and have us bail his orange as@ out?

    Parent
    He totally absolutely (none / 0) (#101)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 06:53:48 AM EST
    Would try.  More than anything, I want to see him try.

    Parent
    Merde a' Lardo (none / 0) (#103)
    by leap on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 08:53:11 AM EST
    as some call it.

    Parent
    Better Mar a Lago than Orlando. (5.00 / 2) (#84)
    by fishcamp on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:14:47 PM EST
    Many of the people that leave before hurricanes go to Orlando because they have thousands of rooms.  The tourists don't go but Disney is still ok.  

    Some vacationers in Key West like to stay and `ride one out', but the hotels just turn off the electricity and the people leave.

    Looks like it could be 4 (none / 0) (#88)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:18:30 PM EST
    When it arrives at Mara Lago.  It should weaken quickly after that.

    Parent
    I have a friend (none / 0) (#93)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 05:00:09 PM EST
    who literally just moved to Vero Beach 3 weeks ago from West Cobb. She said she went to buy stuff for the hurricane and she got the last 2 packs of bottled water and was completely overwhelmed by what was going on. She and her husband do not know what to do. They have friends here in the metro Atlanta area that they could stay with but she said she would have to sit in traffic for hours and running out of gas on the freeway might be worse than sitting in the house during a hurricane.

    Parent
    A hurricane (5.00 / 2) (#147)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Sep 01, 2019 at 10:54:51 AM EST
    AND a mass shooting.

    Cable news can't decide about which to talk endlessly and say nothing.

    The (5.00 / 1) (#148)
    by FlJoe on Sun Sep 01, 2019 at 04:19:14 PM EST
    shooting of course, they have a distressingly short shelf life.

    The hurricane for better or worse will we with us for days and with it on my door step time has slowed to a crawl.

    Parent

    The attempt to ensnare a prominent Democrat (5.00 / 5) (#170)
    by Peter G on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 09:36:54 PM EST
    with tissue-thin, abusive charges supposedly growing out of the Manafort case has ended in failure for the U.S. Attorney in D.C.  Former Obama White House counsel (also part of the Clinton impeachment defense team) Gregory Craig was acquitted on all charges by the jury after a few hours of deliberation, following a three-week trial.

    RIP Ric Ocasek (5.00 / 1) (#172)
    by McBain on Mon Sep 16, 2019 at 10:06:22 AM EST
    Link
    Ric Ocasek, lead singer of the new wave rock band The Cars, died Sunday in New York City, police said. He was 75.

    More from the link...

    "(T)he Cars were the ultimate New Wave dream machine: a hook-savvy super-charged quintet that fused 60s pop, 70s glam and avant-rock minimalism into a decade of dashboard-radio nirvana," the band's biography reads on the Hall of Fame website.
    The band had 13 Top 40 singles and four Top 10 LPs, according to the biography.
    Ocasek founded the group in 1976, the biography said.


    I think this is a SITE VIOLATOR (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 02:56:23 PM EST
    A very sneaky one.  

    yes it was (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jeralyn on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 03:28:55 PM EST
    and I zapped him

    Parent
    Three way (none / 0) (#3)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 03:09:02 PM EST
    The three candidates are bunched together, each receiving about the same amount of support (Sanders 20%, Warren 20% and Biden 19%) from registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters.

    Monmouth

    Elizabeth Rising.

    Hitler (none / 0) (#4)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 03:19:29 PM EST
    I got started watching this series and it was amazing how much it seemed like they were telling the Donald Trump Story.  I don't know if it was intentional but I can't believe it was not.  Almost every line could literally have been used for either story.

    try it if you have the time

    It's so hot here.. (none / 0) (#8)
    by desertswine on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 05:56:48 PM EST
    We're running way above the normal highs.  Locally, we've been pushing 100 every day for weeks.

    Wow. (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Chuck0 on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 03:01:43 PM EST
    We've got the opposite issue here in the Susquehanna Valley. Been dropping into the 50s at night. Mid 70s in the daytime. A week ago it was in the 90s.

    Parent
    Epstein story got worse. (none / 0) (#10)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Aug 26, 2019 at 10:24:17 PM EST
    Video unusable.

    They may be a bunch of total screw ups, but they would be much better managing your health care.

    Seems to me (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 01:26:59 AM EST
    They managed Epstein pretty efficiently. And appear to continue to.

    Parent
    From the Bill Barr School of Criminology, (5.00 / 2) (#18)
    by KeysDan on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 12:37:40 PM EST
    Rosemary Woods Campus:

    Suicide watch discontinued, no cell mate, both guards (one a fill-in) asleep, atypical neck and collarbone breaks from hanging, and, now---video footage in the hallway in front of Epstein's cell is flawed and unusable. However, other footage away from the cell area is clear.

    Well students, the answer is suicide.  Coincidences happen. Failing grades for suspicion, skepticism, and, no basis in fact (as there was in that ring operating out of the basement of the basement-less pizza parlor) for conspiracy.  Nor, for coerced suicide since that equates with murder.  

    Parent

    I have no idea what they mean (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by Peter G on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 04:28:06 PM EST
    by "unusable." I've never heard that term employed in this context before. Defective? Overexposed? Didn't turn on correctly? Accidentally not preserved? Maybe. But "unusable"? Why can it not be used? Unusable by whom, and for what purpose?

    Parent
    The person (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 04:02:34 AM EST
    responsible for this is Bill Barr. I don't think he's going to be running healthcare anytime soon.

    Parent
    Conspiracy theory? (2.00 / 2) (#14)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 07:18:53 AM EST
    Barr strangled him personally or gave the orders? Not likely.  He may not be running health care any time soon, but there is little reason to expect different results from the same system.

    Open thread link.

    Parent

    Sure, you could have (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by MKS on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 10:02:48 AM EST
    the insurance companies run healthcare instead.

    And, love it that you absolve Barr of any responsibility for Epstein's death.  The buck stops where?

    Parent

    You can fire your insurance company (none / 0) (#17)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 12:06:14 PM EST
    The government is forevet

    Parent
    No, you cannot (5.00 / 7) (#21)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 03:38:15 PM EST
    fire your insurance company you silly fool. When annual enrollment time comes around you can decline to have insurance but that is about it. Of course, if you decline you make everybody else pay your medical bills. If you get insurance through your employer you are stuck with whatever insurance company they decide on.

    When it comes to this type of thing, your ignorance is simply astounding but that is what conservative media does to you. It makes you fearful and ignorant.

    Parent

    Seriously (5.00 / 1) (#109)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 12:47:27 PM EST
    dude, you don't think that happens all the time at hospitals around the country that are not VA hospitals? And no, you cannot fire your insurance company. And if you believe that the VA is the worst care in the world why are conservatives advocating or legislating that kind of care for pregnant women?

    Parent
    The only thing that's ... (5.00 / 1) (#118)
    by Yman on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 03:55:31 PM EST
    ... "laughable" is when conservatives drag out their broad brushes and sophomoric "logic" to try to smear government institutions.

    BTW - In the land of reality, the VA consistently ranks equal to or better than private hospitals.

    Try again.

    Parent

    More on point. (none / 0) (#108)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 12:12:55 PM EST
    I've never been (none / 0) (#131)
    by CST on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 09:27:17 AM EST
    In a position to hire my insurance company. That's not something that most Americans ever get to do.

    Parent
    A private hospital (none / 0) (#143)
    by jondee on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 03:34:42 PM EST
    almost killed my daughter during a routine appendectomy. And not because it was a "gun-free zone".

    So much for privatization and the profit motive being the golden road to effiency and meritocracy.

    Parent

    Pathetic analogy fail (5.00 / 4) (#25)
    by Yman on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 05:24:01 PM EST
    So you're (laughably) trying to connect incompetent prison guards to government healthcare, because they're all government employees?

    You realize many people can't "fire" their insurance company, right?  Or that - using your logic - any example of private companies being incompetent, corrupt, thieving, fraudulent, etc., means that all private companies would be just as bad as the fraudulent companies, because they're all part of the "same system"?

    Heh.

    Conservatives and logic - they just don't mix.

    Parent

    A bunch of petulent (5.00 / 2) (#28)
    by jondee on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 12:05:27 PM EST
    thirteen-year-olds who want to do what they want when they want, in the interests of their libertarian utopia.

    As if private organizations composed of fallible human beings were any less prone to selfishness, delusion, destructive behavior than the dreaded "government".

    Parent

    No, silly (5.00 / 4) (#20)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 03:34:00 PM EST
    Bob Barr is the one that was managing the Epstein case much like healthcare is case managed. Barr is the one who is responsible for the federal prison system.

    Are you fine with our current healthcare system? What is your solution? This is what is wrong with conservatives. All they do is whine and say this is what is going to happen, they use fear and smear. The picture at the bottom should be this is what your insurance company executive does with your premiums. I guess you're fine with 11 million dollar bonuses?

    Parent

    Finally (none / 0) (#13)
    by FlJoe on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 05:07:00 AM EST
    we have the Republican health care plan, throw the sick in jail?

    Parent
    Well, (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by KeysDan on Tue Aug 27, 2019 at 09:35:04 AM EST
    The Chosen One has chosen to hereby order good health for all, thereby, meeting his campaign promise "to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something terrific"

    Parent
    The Republican (none / 0) (#26)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 10:32:04 AM EST
    healthcare plan is go around putting jars in gas stations begging for donations, beg on Go Fund Me and go around begging to charities hoping someone will give you money enough so that you get treatment.

    And considering the fact that our governor here in GA has mandated government healthcare for pregnant women I guess he believes that they deserve inferior care according to our right wing troll.  

    Parent

    Congratulations! (none / 0) (#27)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 10:36:12 AM EST
    When you can move your own personal items you've really clobbered downsizing/decluttering.

    Looking forward to your views.

    Today marks the 5-year anniversary ... (none / 0) (#29)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 01:20:53 PM EST
    ... of what still has to be the stupidest Beltway-manufactured kerfuffle ever:

    "Ronald Reagan wore tan suits during his presidency. So did Dwight Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But on August 28, 2014, when President Barack Obama showed up for a White House news conference dressed in beige, the light colored suite became a matter of national import."

    Even after five years: Oy.

    Yes (none / 0) (#30)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 01:48:04 PM EST
    The Audacity of Taupe. (none / 0) (#31)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 02:08:00 PM EST
    I have no recollection of this imbroglio.

    Parent
    That was a reply to Donald (none / 0) (#32)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 02:08:07 PM EST
    So
    I had a bowling martini lunch with my Trumpster buddy.

    After listening to utterly delusional in the bubble Krap for a while I had a thought.  One that I shared with him.

    What he is doing, what THEY, are doing right now is in some funny ways exactly what doomed democrats in 16.  They really do not understand, and seem unable to understand, how broad and deep the hatred is for their candidate.

    Parent

    Well (none / 0) (#33)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 02:38:01 PM EST
    in 2016 there was the misogyny issue which we are now shooting down with regularity. People are pushing back against stuff they let slide in 2016.

    Parent
    Pushing back (none / 0) (#34)
    by MKS on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 02:48:27 PM EST
    I do hope so.   We will see if Elizabeth Warren gets the nomination.

    Parent
    Warren is generally (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:05:09 PM EST
    perceived as too far left as her main problem. She's near the bottom for me but anytime I see misogyny hurled at her and even people who don't care for her defend her against misogyny. One of the main positives of her campaign so far is she is holding Bernie back.

    This primary has been very frustrating to me because I feel like the worst candidates we have are on the top while some very good candidates are languishing in the bottom.

    Parent

    Have you seen this (none / 0) (#40)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:09:47 PM EST
    Trumps worst 2020 poll yet

    Democrats have to stop being afraid of our shadow.  Trump is disintegrating mentally and politically.

    I'm starting to think we could nominate my golden retriever and he would win 49 states.

    Parent

    Feh (none / 0) (#52)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:23:55 PM EST
    I'm not afraid of my shadow. My problem with Warren is that she supports Trump's trade tariffs.

    I tend to agree that almost any candidate would beat Trump and that's really why I don't have a candidate yet. I'm looking for the one I think will make the best president and I have not seen it yet.

    Parent

    The one thing in Trumps life (none / 0) (#56)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:40:22 PM EST
    That he is correct about is that China is and always has been run like a gang of thieves.  They have been screwing us and robbing us pretty much for ever.

    China needs to be taken on.  Preferably by someone with a passing acquaintance with sanity.

    Parent

    What China (5.00 / 1) (#61)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 06:19:41 PM EST
    has done is find the Achilles heel in corporate America and exploit it.

    Parent
    If by Achilles heel (none / 0) (#72)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 07:52:08 AM EST
    You mean gleefully and openly violating pretty much every international law and norm from territory to licensing to human rights, yeah.  

     The thing is they do not have to be allowed to exploit it.

    Parent

    No I mean (5.00 / 2) (#81)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 02:21:54 PM EST
    the love of extraordinarily high profits that need cheap labor to happen.

    And yeah, I have read that the intellectual policy theft coming out of China has been horrible. We all knew that China has horrible human rights abuses but yet company after company builds factories there.

    Parent

    I definitely don't agree (none / 0) (#130)
    by CST on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 09:24:42 AM EST
    With Warren on everything but she's reasonable and not senile or stubborn to the point of narcissism. It is ridiculous that that has become the bar in a year that "anyone can win" but here we are.

    One of the things I like most about her is that she tends to listen and grow in the right directions.  I don't worry about her presidency as much as I do for others, but my political views are probably to the left of yours.

    I totally get holding out, I just don't see anyone else coming.

    Parent

    She might (none / 0) (#35)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:03:46 PM EST
    And I think she can handle it.

    I have started thinking I would really like to see a Warren/Trump debate.

    Parent

    For that matter (none / 0) (#37)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:05:23 PM EST
    I'm looking forward to the Warren/Biden debate.

    Parent
    Do you really (none / 0) (#39)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:08:23 PM EST
    think she will take him on? I would love to see them take each other on but so far Warren has punted on directly challenging anyone.

    Parent
    I'm bettin (none / 0) (#41)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:12:33 PM EST
    That changes next debate

    Parent
    Which is now set BTW (none / 0) (#48)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 04:23:11 PM EST
    Midnight today is the polling cutoff

    It's down to 10.  They will be standing next to each other

    Sept 14

    Democratic Debate Field Nearly Set As Latest Polls Point To Single Night On ABC News/Univision



    Parent

    Gillibrand (none / 0) (#49)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 04:26:18 PM EST
    Is out

    Parent
    Oh noooooo (none / 0) (#59)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:57:26 PM EST
    We blew our big chance


    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    A sad day for the Democrats, Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out of the Presidential Primary. I'm glad they never found out that she was the one I was really afraid of!



    Parent
    good (none / 0) (#60)
    by leap on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 06:18:27 PM EST
    I wish we could replace her with Al Franken. Pish on her.

    Parent
    Exactly. (5.00 / 2) (#112)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 01:54:58 PM EST
    My opinion of Kirsten Gillibrand cratered in the last two years and yeah, it was her determined effort to short-circuit Sen. Franken's right to due process and give him the bum's rush and heave-ho that did it for me. To be sure, there were others who joined in the piling on, including our own Sen. Mazie Hirono who's since lamented, "We jumped the gun." But Gillibrand was the instigator.

    And now, with the publication of Jane Mayer's meticulously researched article in The New Yorker last month, which cast very serious doubt on the motivation, honesty and credibility of Franken' chief accuser Leeann Teeden, Gillibrand has been revealed indirectly to be nothing more than another craven political opportunist, who sought to capitalize upon a colleague's misfortune to make a name for herself at his expense.

    It's too bad she didn't have the decency to hold her pity party in private yesterday. As for many of Mayer's own recent critics in the media, who only last year were singing her praises, they've similarly been unmasked by the Franken affair as journalists who were far more interested in scalp-hunting than truth-telling.

    And yeah, I'm still angry about what happened to Al Franken. We lost a good man because of Senate Democrats' failure of nerve. Chuck Schumer needs to go as Senate Democratic Leader.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    yes, what you said. (5.00 / 2) (#114)
    by leap on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 02:49:10 PM EST
    I listen to Al Franken's weekly podcast and always end up getting so upset he's not in the Senate doing the people's work. He's so damn smart and prepared. He's also a good interviewer and questioner. And he truly cares for this country and the people who are getting screwed over. Oh, and he's funny! Listen to the podcast he did with Dana Carvey. For the opposite effect, listen to the one he did with Howard Fineman, about the egregious Mitch McTurtle.

    Gillibrand can go pound sand.


    Parent

    and so can Chuck Schumer. (5.00 / 1) (#115)
    by leap on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 02:51:14 PM EST
    n/t

    Parent
    I don't cry over Franken (none / 0) (#129)
    by CST on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 09:17:11 AM EST
    And I'm definitely not mad at Gillibrand for the fact that he resigned. He's an adult and he made his choice.

    Furthermore, he was accused of misconduct by eight different people, and it was that, not the single photo incident which caused Gillibrand to ask him to resign.

    He could have waited for a hearing,  he could even run again. But he is the one who is ultimately responsible for his actions. And frankly, he was and is replaceable.  Just like everyone else.

    Parent

    Yes, Sen. Franken's the one who resigned. (5.00 / 1) (#141)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 02:43:07 PM EST
    But there is certainly more than reasonable doubt about his primary accuser's veracity and credibility. It is truly ironic that in an era when women's accusations of sexual discrimination and harassment and violence are only now finally being taken seriously by society as a whole, after decades of sexist belittlement and often disrespectful dismissal, some are now finding it offensive to subject the claims of accusers to even a scintilla of scrutiny.

    Further, the obvious fingerprints of right-wing media, which facilitated this roll-out of accusers (half of whom remain anonymous, BTW) to a far greater extent than most people realize and / or are willing to admit, make this sad episode look increasingly more like a calculated and well-orchestrated political hit job that clearly sought to piggyback on the righteous public indignation of the #MeToo movement, than a spontaneous outpouring of victim outrage.

    Al Franken both immediately requested and deserved due process in the wake of these allegations. Kirsten Gillibrand, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and a number of his Senate Democratic colleagues responded with a very public, concerted and ultimately successful effort to deny him that, preferring instead to kick his legs out from under him as a means to compel and hasten his departure from the Senate.

    Given his role here, Sen. Schumer in particular should be singled out for significant criticism because as Minority Leader, he threatened to strip Franken of his committee assignment and introduce a censure resolution against him if he didn't announce his resignation by 5:00 p.m. on December 7, 2017. Honestly, what sort of congressional leader seeks to undermine a colleague's right to due process of law and / or administrative procedure, simply in an attempt to climb out from under a bad news cycle? (Answer: A really, really terrible one.)

    I would also further note that eight of those 36 Democratic senators -- including my own Mazie Hirono -- who demanded Franken's resignation in Dec. 2017 have now voiced their own personal regrets for having rushed collectively to judgment in such a peremptory manner, before all the actual facts were established and known. As well they should have. After all, we elected them to represent and lead us in Washington, and to not act as deer caught in the headlights of manufactured outrage amid a wildly overblown political scandal.

    If we can learn anything from this tawdry and miserable affair -- that is, other than the fact that given the opportunity, female politicians can be just as ambitious, craven and self-absorbed as their male colleagues, and that the timid and shabby Chuck Schumer really has no business being the leader of anything -- it's that in this day and age of #MeToo, we also need to give as much serious consideration to such matters as due process, proportionality of punishment, and the adverse consequences of acceding to Internet-propelled social outrage, as we do to the complaints of those who are victims of sexual harassment and violence.

    Because when we fail to safeguard the right to due process, as we so obviously did in the case of Al Franken, everybody will inevitably be both tarnished in luster and diminished in stature for the experience.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    excellent, Donald (none / 0) (#142)
    by leap on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 03:07:25 PM EST
    n/t

    Parent
    Al Franken is not a child (none / 0) (#146)
    by CST on Sun Sep 01, 2019 at 07:24:36 AM EST
    He is responsible for his choices.  All of them. Including the choice to resign.

    It was mounting accusations from seven other women who reported that he groped them. I'd expect anyone to want to stay anonymous, and half of them did not do so.  Dr. Ford is still out of work by the way, there is a cost to coming forward.

    If he wanted to stay and fight he could have done so.  He wasn't accused of rape.  But I'm tired of making excuses for the rest of this shit.  He WAS replaceable.  Everyone is.

    Parent

    Nobody here has said otherwise. (none / 0) (#166)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 01:54:01 PM EST
    CST: "Al Franken is not a child[.] He is responsible for his choices.  All of them. Including the choice to resign."

    However, you appear to be contending that because Al Franken chose to resign his seat, therefore what Schumer, Gillibrand, et al., did to give him the bum's rush is okay. No, it isn't okay.

    (And isn't it an amazing coincidence how, unlike the case with Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Cosby, Bob Packwood, etc., the "mounting accusations" against Franken immediately ceased mounting once he announced that he was stepping down?)

    Unless and until #MeToo transitions from its current path of scalp-hunting and vengeance and instead charts a course toward truth, reconciliation and yes, forgiveness, the movement risks an eventual slide into irrelevance, once their targets develop a capacity to cope with the tactics presently being used against them.

    Because its adherents and followers better understand that it doesn't matter what THEY think of themselves but rather, what others think of them. And it would be a shame to see the movement lose credibility simply because its bullying ways were so easily hijacked in the service of other people's personal agendas, as appears to be the case with Franken.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    To be honest (5.00 / 1) (#168)
    by CST on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 06:53:18 PM EST
    I think a lot of people are tired of giving a d@mn about credibility in the eyes of those who have fought against this kind of reckoning every step of the way.

    I'm not sorry that Al Franken was replaced by Tina Smith.  I'm not sorry that Capuano was replaced by Ayanna Pressley in MA even though there was no metoo moment and Capuano was a great representative. I'm definitely not mad that Gillibrand took a hard stance against groping from her coworkers. But that's just me. I don't care about a backlash, I am the backlash.

    Parent

    Sometimes (none / 0) (#169)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 06:57:44 PM EST
    it takes zero tolerance like Gillibrand was talking about to get the point across.

    Parent
    The mounting accusations (none / 0) (#167)
    by CST on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 06:42:37 PM EST
    As you call them never rose to the level of criminal activity. It was what it was, they said he groped them and it made them uncomfortable. What did you expect to happen after that?

    It's like the Biden hugging. People are allowed to be sketched out by that behavior even if it's not criminal, even if they are Senators, and even if it doesn't erase everything else about them. Hell I voted for Ted Kennedy and I'm still coming to terms with that myself. But we have other options these days, and I for one am not sad about that.

    Parent

    Wasn't voting for her (none / 0) (#65)
    by Chuck0 on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 07:10:00 PM EST
    anyways.

    Parent
    Yes, I do think (none / 0) (#44)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:26:06 PM EST
    Senator Warren can effectively debate Trump. That is, if Trump agrees to debate at all.  Seemingly, in ordinary times, that would be a fatal step for a candidate, but Trump did not show up for one primary debate last time around, and he may try it in the 2020 general election...tweeting that he will not be on the stage with that... (insert insult).  

    But, Elizabeth Warren was a debate star at one time, and she will handle Trump not just using the Marquess of Queensberry Rules.  After all, she was a professor who, undoubtedly, has confronted insecure, show-off, approval-seeking students.  So, she has good experience along these lines.

    Parent

    Of course it was. (none / 0) (#42)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:12:49 PM EST
    So my senator (none / 0) (#38)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:07:28 PM EST
    Johnny Isakson is resigning his senate seat at the end of the year.

    This presents an interesting problem for democrats. We are going to have to run 2 primaries or just one with number 1 and number 2 being the nominee? So far I have not found an answer to this.

    Very dicey (none / 0) (#43)
    by MKS on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:12:51 PM EST
    Technically, I think you file to run for a specific seat.....

    It would be great to have the top 2 run for the 2 seats....but The Dems could have the best candidates all in one Primary.

    Parent

    Well, I think (none / 0) (#51)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:21:12 PM EST
    some of those running may refile to run for Isakson's seat. We have a powerhouse candidate running in the primary to face Perdue already.

    Parent
    Saw that Jon Osoff (none / 0) (#53)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:25:43 PM EST
    is considering a run for senate.  At least, he would not have to move into the state.

    Parent
    He definitely (none / 0) (#63)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 06:24:57 PM EST
    has a voting base. I'm not sure it's enough to win statewide though. A lot is going to depend on who the GOP nominates whether they keep Isakson's seat or not. Don't be surprised if they nominate a Roy Moore clone.

    Parent
    Can Governor Kemp (none / 0) (#67)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 08:07:57 PM EST
    give a leg up to the Republican candidate by appointing  him/her to the Isakson vacancy until the Nov 2020 election for the remaking two years of Isakson's term?   A Roy Moore would not look good for an already discredited governor.  But, then he probably does not care.

    Parent
    Seems so (none / 0) (#68)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 08:14:27 PM EST
    Kemp said.

    "I will appoint Sen. Isakson's replacement at the appropriate time," he added.

    the hill

    Parent

    Yes, Kemp (none / 0) (#71)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 05:14:50 AM EST
    will appoint someone to serve until 2020 and then in November of 2020 that person will be elected to finish out Isakson's term which will end in 2022. But as we saw in Alabama many times those appointed candidates don't fare so well and get primary challenges.

    Parent
    Powerhouse (none / 0) (#57)
    by MKS on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:48:49 PM EST
    But not Stacey Abrams?

    Parent
    I think she may (none / 0) (#58)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:51:58 PM EST
    Hear the call

    Parent
    Stacey (none / 0) (#62)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 06:22:44 PM EST
    has already said she is not running.

    The GOP has already put up billboards against Teresa Tomlinson and the primary hasn't even started. Should tell you something.

    Parent

    Sally Yates (none / 0) (#74)
    by KeysDan on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 11:35:22 AM EST
    Is being urged to run for the Isakson seat.  

    Parent
    This is interesting (none / 0) (#75)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 12:02:16 PM EST
    Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who has ruled out running for president or for the U.S. Senate seat in her state, reiterated Wednesday that she'd "be honored" to be the running mate of the Democratic presidential nominee.

    That's seems like a polite reminder that if she was VP she could help win both senate seats.

    That's from the Post

    Parent

    Didn't Uncle Joe (none / 0) (#78)
    by MKS on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 01:14:58 PM EST
    float that idea a long time ago, and get grief from everyone for doing so?

    Parent
    Perhaps (none / 0) (#79)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 01:20:31 PM EST
    This is a heads up noting grief notwithstanding she is fine with the idea.

    So am I

    Parent

    Apparently (none / 0) (#82)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 02:23:44 PM EST
    people have been urging her to run for quite a while and she has said no over and over. So maybe this will be different but she has been extremely resistant to the calls before now.

    Parent
    You are hereby ordered (none / 0) (#45)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 03:50:36 PM EST
    to break laws, in the service of Trump's re-election.  Trump wants to complete the WALL in time for his re-election rallies telling aides to aggressively seize lands, forget contracting procedures, and disregard environmental rules.

    Trump says, just "take the land," and assuaged worried subordinates by promising to pardon them for any wrongdoings that them may incur. Those Texas ranchers probably don't mind the seizure of private property. But, it does sound like socialism to me.

    Given that his aides are "the best people" they may really believe that Trump would have their backs. And, of course, a Trump pardon would not cover violations of state laws.  And, too, there is that nettlesome issue of being involved in a criminal conspiracy --instruction to break law with promise of pardon.  Trump is not concerned, since dangling pardons is no big thing, apparently, not enough for an Article of Impeachment, at least yet.

    No need to impeach Trump since the country can safely wait out the 2020 election.  After all, what damage can he do before then?  Nuking the Constitution along with hurricanes, while over Florida, some may say. Just an update to shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.

    Setting a NYTimes colleague straight. (none / 0) (#46)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 04:04:11 PM EST
    In a column by Jeremy Peters (NYTimes, August 28, 2019), the Tea Party Republicans are featured, with Peters stating that "Ten years after a summer of rage over spending, trillion dollar deficits are back."

    NYTimes columnist, Paul Krugman, replied to this article saying: "Oh God, are we still pretending that the Tea Party was about small government and concern about budget deficits?  It was always, from the beginning, about racist anger, opposition to big government only to the extent that it help "Those People."

    Peters (none / 0) (#47)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 04:08:19 PM EST
    Is a Tools Tool

    Parent
    It is a competition (none / 0) (#54)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:29:37 PM EST
    between Peters and Peter Baker for the title.

    Parent
    I wish (none / 0) (#50)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:16:13 PM EST
    Obama had listened to Krugman more when he was president.

    Parent
    The best of NYTimes, (none / 0) (#55)
    by KeysDan on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 05:35:28 PM EST
    are Paul Krugman and Michelle Goldberg.  Charles Blow, too.

    Bret Stephens
    , the conservative, never-Trumper, climate skeptic, showed his colors with his reaction to a George Washington University professor, making a joke about Stephens being a bedbug (metaphoric), in the context of story of about bedbugs at the NYTimes offices.

    Parent
    Those NYT (none / 0) (#64)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 06:27:16 PM EST
    reporters and columnists largely have the thinnest skin on the face of this earth.

    Parent
    Because of their inflated egos (5.00 / 1) (#66)
    by MKS on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 07:24:34 PM EST
    I got my first mountain bike (none / 0) (#70)
    by McBain on Wed Aug 28, 2019 at 09:27:35 PM EST
    from Palo Alto Bicycles as a gift many years ago.  Great bike. I didn't do any significant off road stuff but it got me through college.  

    Comey broke the rules not the law (none / 0) (#73)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 09:21:48 AM EST
    That's the verdict.  And the DOJ declines to prosecute the referral.

    I wonder if they might have partly decided that because of what a whole big trial thing might mean for everyone involved.

    DOJ watchdog says James Comey broke FBI policy by keeping, leaking Trump meeting memos



    Given his (5.00 / 1) (#76)
    by KeysDan on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 12:27:42 PM EST
    findings of Trump's coordination and linkages to the Russian government in obtaining the presidency and the multiple unlawful attempts to obstruct and cover-up the devastating truth and risk to national security,  Mueller should have broken that DOJ that rule about not indicting a sitting president.

    Just a rule,  and considering the stakes--- and on balance, should have been a patriotic call.

    Parent

    To paraphrase Mr. Bumble ... (5.00 / 1) (#91)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:39:34 PM EST
    ... of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, if that be the FBI's policy, sir, then the FBI's policy is an a$$.

    And yeah, so is James Comey, but we've had that discussion numerous times.

    ;-D

    Parent

    Wonder (none / 0) (#77)
    by KeysDan on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 12:30:47 PM EST
    If McCabe will be so lucky with this crowd.

    Parent
    LEVEL 16 (none / 0) (#80)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 01:25:36 PM EST
    Ran across this on SHO OnDemand.  It's really good.

    Collider

    The latest from Canadian filmmaker Danishka Esterhazy, Level 16 builds a compelling, complete little world in the halls of this institution that would feel right at home in a better-than-average YA novel, though here it's perfectly scaled down for the requirements of a 102-minute movie. Esterhazy tells us exactly as much as we need to know, keeping the mystery of Vistalis alive and threading along the mystery until the grotesque ultimate reveal. While Esterhazy's society of oppressed girls certainly has threads of The Handmaid's Tale in its analysis of how traditional feminine values can be used to silence and subdue women, it's teenage tale isn't focused on sex and motherhood, but other ways the female body is exploited and peddled in ways that help keep women down.

    It's also about how women overcome those burdens, and more broadly, how we fight back against conformity and obedience to discover freedom. Esterhazy gives these girls an empowering fight for independence and self-discovery,



    Sounds interesting (none / 0) (#85)
    by McBain on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:15:22 PM EST
    hopefully it won't be too preachy.  

    I enjoyed the first episode of The Righteous Gemstones.  Didn't love the second one.

    Parent

    It was that nut shot (none / 0) (#87)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:17:37 PM EST
    Wasn't it?

    Parent
    Which literally made me fall off (none / 0) (#89)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:24:13 PM EST
    The couch laughing.  

    Seriously.  It's worth finding the episode on demand just for those few frames.

    Within the teased forbidden relationship between young Gemstone and the Satan worshipper

    Parent

    I was sure that still (none / 0) (#90)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 04:25:34 PM EST
    Would have made it online.  But I cant find it.

    Parent
    College humor fatigue (none / 0) (#97)
    by McBain on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 08:26:08 PM EST
    In the second episode there were two sets of characters doing similar shtick.   I made it through Eastbound and Down, not sure I can continue this one.  

    I was a big fan of Veep until they went in a similar direction with dialog.  It's kind of like a stand up comedian working blue.  It can be funny but a little goes a long way.  

    I did think the projector scene from the first episode was funny but I'm more interested in the Dermot Mulroney angle.  So far he's basically being a straight man which makes McBride and company's juvenile behavior work.  Having the new set of characters be just as immature, doesn't have the same effect.

    Parent

    Never much of a fan (none / 0) (#138)
    by Chuck0 on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 11:35:24 AM EST
    of Danny McBride. He essentially plays the same character in everything that I have ever seen him in. And he's not very funny.

    Parent
    He is perfect here (none / 0) (#139)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 11:44:21 AM EST
    I feel the same way.  Liked the idea of Vice Principals but couldn't watch it.

    He is the center of this in a way because he is the Voldemort
    A really stupid entitled racist misogynistic self righteous Voldemort

    He is the Christian Right.

    And everyone else is amazing.  Every one.  Of course John Goodman.

    Parent

    Salon (none / 0) (#152)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 02, 2019 at 02:17:40 PM EST
    This potentially unsettling blend of capitalism and Christianity is on full display in "The Righteous Gemstones," as well. The satellite campus that threatens the livelihoods of the Locust Grove pastors? It's located in an abandoned Sears, pastored by Baby Billy Freeman ( played by Walton Goggins, with all the smarmy swagger of a Southern televangelist preacher). While people wander the mall with their Orange Julius and try on new sneakers, a flock of congregants sings "Amazing Grace" behind closed doors.

    What the megachurch tells us about evangelicals in HBO's "The Righteous Gemstones"



    Parent

    Great photos (none / 0) (#154)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 02, 2019 at 04:36:01 PM EST
    Seriously creepy (none / 0) (#94)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Aug 29, 2019 at 05:53:41 PM EST
    LiveScience

    Scientists created miniature brains in the lab that formed intricate networks and produced brain waves similar to those fired by the developing brain of a preterm human baby, according to a new study.



    Hah - we already have miniature brains (5.00 / 1) (#99)
    by desertswine on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 12:19:57 AM EST
    living in the White House.  Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Mar-a-Looney wash out into the Atlantic.

    Parent
    One of the most odious mouths (none / 0) (#104)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 10:05:17 AM EST
    On cable, Hans Nichols just said

    "It really really helps in a disaster when the president and the governor are from the same party because they don't have to question each other's motives."

    This is what we have become
    What a perfect comment to time capsule.  On video because future generations won't believe it otherwise.

    First of all, (none / 0) (#105)
    by KeysDan on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 10:16:56 AM EST
    Trump would blame Obama.  Second of all, it would give occasion for Trump to renovate, redo the landscaping, get new and bigger crystal chandeliers, and more golden furniture.  And, a needed contract with Orkin Pest Control.  All hereby ordered to FEMA.

    I was thinkin (none / 0) (#106)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 11:38:51 AM EST
    At least it might wash the bedbugs away.

    I got a text from my neighborhood cult member.  He was in high dungeon that ANYONE could EVER WISH A hurricane would destroy .....something.

    I love it when he get like this.

    It was a response to asking if he thought Trump would nuke Dorian to save Tara Lago.

    Parent

    If Mar A Lago (none / 0) (#122)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 06:54:11 PM EST
    gets wiped out are the evangelicals going to claim it is a sign from God that Trump is really evil?

    Parent
    Of course they will (none / 0) (#123)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 07:09:27 PM EST
    And we will, in fact, pay to fix it as it turns out.

    But if you are consumed with schadenfreude at the idea of Mar-a-Lago underwater, there is something you should know: The federal government will be stuck with the bill if it does.

    That's because, according to a 2017 investigation by the Huffington Post in the run-up to Hurricane Irma, Mar-a-Lago is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides federally subsidized flood insurance at steep discounts to properties at risk of flooding.



    Parent
    If he didn't have (none / 0) (#126)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 07:16:46 PM EST
    flood insurance we would still end up paying for it. I hope if it gets damage it's not flood damage so he can't legally stick the tax payers. He will attempt to defraud insurance carriers though.

    Parent
    Mar a Lago is so old (none / 0) (#110)
    by fishcamp on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 01:19:35 PM EST
    the foundations could be cement mixed with salt water, which is no bueno.  Many docks and foundations down here were built in that shoddy manner.  It washes away very fast.  He will charge that to us along with his new gold doorknobs.  It should be turned into a National monument for we the people.

    After reading the 2:00 Dorian update (none / 0) (#111)
    by fishcamp on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 01:35:38 PM EST
    I see it's located near 24.8 degrees N latitude, which is my exact distance from the equator.  It is near 70.3 degrees west longitude  and I'm at 80 W, so it's about 600 miles directly offshore of me.  It's a calm nice day down here and we won't have problems...hopefully.  🌴

    Good luck brother. (5.00 / 1) (#113)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 01:55:26 PM EST
    Thanks sarc... (none / 0) (#116)
    by fishcamp on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 02:51:54 PM EST
    We're still catching fish down here.  Went offshore on a big boat for a few hours and caught six mahimahi's.  They were lifters, like ten pounds, and some gaffers, which are bigger.  The world record for mahimahi is 88 lbs.  lotta rain, thunder, and lightning in the afternoons down here. It's a young man's game.  Damn early too.  You seeing any fish out there?

    Parent
    Just (5.00 / 2) (#160)
    by FlJoe on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 06:17:06 PM EST
    Hit 28 Lat 28 dead East of me, inside edge of eye wall 90 miles out.

    Not bad, wind around 25-30 gusting to 35-40. Just started the steady rain looks like a few heavier squalls up stream, but looks like we dodged a bullet.

    Parent

    I'm (none / 0) (#119)
    by FlJoe on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 04:14:15 PM EST
    right on lat 28, the latest update has it making landfall about 60 miles south and then coming straight overhead. Yikes!

    Some of the models are trending to east so there is hope.

    Parent

    I'm (none / 0) (#120)
    by FlJoe on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 04:14:17 PM EST
    right on lat 28, the latest update has it making landfall about 60 miles south and then coming straight overhead. Yikes!

    Some of the models are trending to east so there is hope.

    Parent

    The latest track (none / 0) (#125)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 07:15:32 PM EST
    Looks like a pretty much worst case scenario

    Turning north and staying just off coast so it does not weaken and going right up the east coast

    Parent

    Tulsi Gabbard (none / 0) (#117)
    by KeysDan on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 03:31:38 PM EST
    appeared on FOX to complain about the DNC's process that did not permit her passing muster for the third Democratic primary debate.  And, not just any old Fox show, but the Tucker Carlson Show. Tucker, all refreshed from his involuntary vacation after his "..white supremacy is a hoax" contretemps, was in full supportive and conspiratorial mode.

    Another supporter of Tulsi is Susan Sarandon, who tweeted that Tulsi's voice is needed in the debates.

    Of course (none / 0) (#121)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 06:52:32 PM EST
    Tulsi would appear on Fox to make her complaints known. That is how she rolls.

    Parent
    Tucker's disoriented (none / 0) (#127)
    by jondee on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 07:31:06 PM EST
    dog-staring-at-a-doornob expression when he's pretending to listen to people, is almost worth tuning into his show - with the sound off.

    It's beyond me how anyone with 'progressive values' can ever appear on his show and refrain from telling him to shove the entire network up his as*.


    Parent

    you mean like this? (5.00 / 1) (#128)
    by leap on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 08:48:12 PM EST
    Tucker Carlson looks at all his guests like they're eating mayonnaise straight out the jar.

    Parent
    Valerie Harper has died (none / 0) (#124)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Aug 30, 2019 at 07:10:33 PM EST
    Funny lady

    That's sad news. (none / 0) (#144)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 03:52:08 PM EST
    Valerie Harper had been quite candid with the public about her decade-long battle with cancer, which began in the lungs and eventually metastasized in the cerebral fluid surrounding her brain. That she continued to work steadily during this entire time is a testament to her strength and fortitude.

    As for Ms. Harper's legacy as an actress, well, if friends know where the bodies are buried, then your best friend is the one who first showed up at the door with the body bag, mop and shovel. The deep and abiding sisterhood between her wisecracking character Rhoda Morgenstern and straight-laced Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" remains one of the most indelible portraits of human friendship to ever grace our TV airwaves. Rhoda was always the sort of loyal confidante that everybody wanted, and frankly we all deserve.

    Given their onscreen chemistry, it's not at all surprising that working so closely together throughout the 1970s subsequently spawned a real-life friendship between the two actresses that ultimately transcended their TV shows and lasted nearly five decades until Ms. Moore's death in January 2017. And now, Rhoda and Mary are together again. There's something oddly comforting in that notion.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Johnson & Johnson (none / 0) (#132)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 09:28:14 AM EST
    I don't have a problem with them being fined.  I think the fine should be bigger.  But I have not heard anyone say they could have made twice as many and there would not have been this problem we have if doctors were not handing them out like candy.

    I have personal experience with this.  I have, at various times, three opioid addicted family members.   They all go to the same doctor.  

    Difference? (5.00 / 1) (#153)
    by Repack Rider on Mon Sep 02, 2019 at 03:51:47 PM EST
    What's the difference between the pharmaceutical industry and a pistol packing drug dealing sociopath standing on a corner selling heroin to pathetic addicts?

    A. The pistol.

    Parent

    They also all have the same drugstore (none / 0) (#133)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 09:34:33 AM EST
    Which according to the WaPo database was the second biggest provider of opioids in that county.  The first in the county is owned by the same guy.  One and two.  Between the two they pushed almost 3 million pills in the time tracked by the post.

    The population of the county is 12,055.  And the others in the top five country wide sold almost as many.

    A lot of people knew this was happening and said nothing because they were making money.

    I don't have a plan for "fining" them.  But I think they should be publicly shamed.

    Parent

    Excuse me (none / 0) (#134)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 09:35:17 AM EST
    More than 3 million.

    Parent
    The rough math (none / 0) (#135)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 10:21:53 AM EST
    Is about 500 pills for every man woman and child in the county.  And that just one rural county.  They are all the same story.

    Funny thing, in most rural counties Walmart is the top distributor.  Sometimes by a lot.  But in that county they have aggressively fought to keep WalMart and all box stores out

    In my current county it's Walmart by a mile.

    Parent

    Based on the output (none / 0) (#136)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 10:22:44 AM EST
    Of the top five drug stores.  There are of course many others

    Parent
    11 others (none / 0) (#137)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 10:39:20 AM EST
    According to google

    Parent
    When Oxycontin (none / 0) (#140)
    by jondee on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 01:18:32 PM EST
    and some of the other synthetic opioids like Oxymorphone appeared on the scene, the pitch was that they were safer and less-addictive. Which was pretty much exactly the way Heroin was aggressively marketed 120 years ago by Bayer et al; back in the days when they sold morphine-laced teething medicine for infants.

    All just more proof that profits are the Real most mind-altering, addictive drug known to man.

    Parent

    Go Ducks... (none / 0) (#145)
    by fishcamp on Sat Aug 31, 2019 at 06:22:12 PM EST


    Oh no, Ducks! (none / 0) (#149)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Sep 02, 2019 at 02:49:27 AM EST
    As last-second losses go, that one has to hurt. Maybe you should watch women's volleyball, where Oregon is ranked No. 11 to start the season, and opened the 2019 campaign with consecutive three-set victories over UC-Irvine and Boston College.

    Parent
    The American Shooting Gallery: (none / 0) (#150)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Sep 02, 2019 at 03:21:04 AM EST
    "Failure happens. None of us is perfect. But you must train yourself not to fear failure. Fear instead inaction when it is time to act. Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all."
    - John Wooden, UCLA men's basketball coach (1910-2010)

    As of Sept. 1, 2019, there have been 37,664 incidents of gun violence across the United States.

    283 were mass shootings, which are defined as a gun violence incident with four or more victims not including the assailant, and which don't necessarily result in fatalities.

    Gun violence this year has resulted in 9,933 deaths and 19,869 injuries. 2,521 of those victims have been children under the age of 18.

    Behold, the perpetual consequence of inaction.

    Give Texas a few more years (none / 0) (#151)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 02, 2019 at 01:33:39 PM EST
    and wildly shooting into a crowd will become a legally-sanctioned form of protected speech.

    Parent
    Not bad news (none / 0) (#155)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 01:43:34 PM EST
    Maybe it's in the air


    Responding to the recent spate of mass shootings, two of which were carried out at its stores, Walmart has announced that it will ban people from openly carrying guns at its locations and will also stop selling certain kinds of ammunition, Business Insider Reports



    Jojo Rabbit (none / 0) (#156)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 02:17:03 PM EST
    A comedy about Hitler could be exactly what's needed.

    DarkHorizons

    The story revolves around a lonely German boy (Roman Griffin Davis) whose only ally is his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler (Waititi). The kid's world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic.

    Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism. Sam Rockwell, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen and Rebel Wilson co-star



    It's already been done. (none / 0) (#157)
    by leap on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 03:00:02 PM EST
    How about "The Producers"? Hard to beat "Springtime for Hitler."

    Parent
    Why you knuckleheads... (5.00 / 2) (#161)
    by desertswine on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 09:09:08 PM EST
    On January 19, 1940, the Three Stooges released a scathing parody of Hitler and Nazi Germany called "You Nazty Spy!" This parody was made nine months before the more well known Charlie Chaplin movie, The Great Dictator.

    It is said that Der Fuhrer wanted to have them killed.  But they were Jewish so he probably would have wanted to kill them anyway.

    Stooges mock Hitler.  

    Parent

    Long history (none / 0) (#162)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 10:16:09 PM EST

    Numerous works in popular music and literature feature Adolf Hitler prominently.

    In Germany, before he came to power, Hitler was often portrayed satirically in newspaper cartoons and propaganda by political enemies.[10][11] The photomontagist John Heartfield regularly depicted Hitler in absurd ways in his anti-Nazi poster designs. After the Nazis came to national power in January 1933, Hitler was mostly depicted as a god-like figure, loved and respected by the German people, as shown for example in Triumph of the Will, which Hitler co-produced.[12] An exception was the German movie Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (The Testament of Dr. Mabuse) from 1933, which was banned by the Nazi propaganda ministry.[13] Many critics consider Fritz Lang's depiction of a homicidal maniac masterminding a criminal empire from within the walls of a criminal asylum to be an allegory of the Nazi ascent to power in Germany.[14]

    Outside Germany Hitler's persona was often parodied. George Bernard Shaw's 1936 play Geneva includes a caricature of Hitler as Herr Battler, appearing at an international tribunal with his friends Signor Bombardone (Mussolini) and General Flanco (Franco). There are numerous cartoons satirising his distinctive features, such as those by David Low.[15][16]



    Parent
    What I meant before was (none / 0) (#163)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 10:18:36 PM EST
    Right NOW a story about a boy confronting his blind nationalism might be particularly timely

    Parent
    The German comedy (none / 0) (#158)
    by McBain on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 04:05:17 PM EST
    Look Who's Back is pretty funny.  Hitler somehow gets transported to modern day Germany and everyone thinks he's an actor doing a comedy bit.

    Parent
    Mel Brooks was not first (none / 0) (#159)
    by Peter G on Tue Sep 03, 2019 at 05:00:56 PM EST
    Have you seen Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" (1940) or Ernst Lubisch/Carol Lombard/Jack Benny's "To Be or Not to Be" (1942)?

    Parent
    Looking at video of the Bahamas (none / 0) (#164)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 08:24:39 AM EST
    I have never been happier to live as far from a coast as is pretty much physically possible

    Sorry (none / 0) (#165)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 04, 2019 at 01:49:12 PM EST
    Guess that was harsh for the coastals

    "I too often say what I think "
           -Hannibal Lecter

               

    Parent

    I have never hated (none / 0) (#171)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Sep 12, 2019 at 04:10:23 PM EST
    The so called DC press as much as I do for the way they are covering the House.  From the stupid impeachment "confusion" to the stupid questions about why they don't pass a bill they passed in February.  

    I'm liking Nancy a lot for the way she is handling them.  I'm amazed she hasn't grabbed one and shaken it as hard as she could.

    They are doing exactly what they should be with impeachment.  Trump and the DC media have a wet dream.  It's called officially announced impeachment hearings.

    Trump has been flailing because Mueller is gone and he requires an enemy.   If you think he could not turn it to his advantage ...... not sure how to finish that.

    It's looking like SDNY might just indict him.