Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

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

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Infrastructure week. at last.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Everybody saw this coming.

The willow is too close to the house.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

I did not have this on my fuck 2021 bingo card.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The math demands it!

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

No one could have predicted…

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

We still have time to mess this up!

It’s the corruption, stupid.

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

What Is Going Down My Friends?

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On the way to the shower this morning, I noticed that someone had thrown up on the floor in the hallway. I muttered something obscene, noted to not step in it on the way out after my shower, and went in and hosed myself off. Walked out, and discovered that someone had eaten it.

This is why having two dogs is always better than having just one.

Speaking of vomit, looks like Henry Cuellar might be in some legal trouble. Do Manchin and Sinema next.

In other vomit news, approximately three minutes into the Zoom call last night, but not before Watergirl surprised me and made me talk, my internet puked and I missed the entire zoom, so I will be watching the recording later on today, hopefully. It sounds like it was a great success.

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It Really Is Us vs. Them: ‘Failure Is Not An Option’

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This is Us

This is Them

 

Think about that:

“African-Americans are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.”

Appalling.

It really has  come down to this.  It’s us vs. them.  It’s democracy vs. authoritarianism.

It’s taking care of people vs. grinding them down and spitting them out because all that matters is power, not people.

It’s a place of respect in the world as a symbol of democracy vs. a banana republic.

Failure is not an option.  We all need to find a way to fight this every day.

⭐️

FYI: In a week or two, we’ll have a report on what a group of folks from Balloon Juice have been up to in our efforts on that front.  I have also heard a few ideas from other folks after last night’s zoom with Adam Schiff.

⭐️

In the meantime, I want to say that Jon Ossoff gives me hope.  I think he is a great man and I fully expect him to be president some day, assuming that our democracy does not fail first.

Balloon Juice raised a crazy amount of money for Georgia in 2020 and the runoffs, and a ridiculous amount of that was for Jon Ossoff.  Money well spent.

 

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Let’s Thank Adam Schiff for Joining Us for the Book Club Zoom

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Adam Schiff joined us on the Midnight in Washington Book Club Zoom last night, and I think it’s fair to say that it was as exciting and wonderful as we all thought it would be!

In case you missed the zoom, you can read about it courtesy of our amazing crew of live-bloggers in the post last night:

Midnight in Washington Book Club: Adam Schiff Joins Us Tonight at 8 pm ET

Let’s give it up for our live-bloggers last night: A Good Woman, Chmnna, egorlick, Lyrebird, Nancy and Scamp Dog!

You guys were fantastic!  Are you willing to do it again for the Feb 2 zoom with Adam Schiff?

And a shout-out to our fantastic questioners from Almost Retired (Curt) and WaterGirl!

Also, a major shout out to questioners Athenaze, Argiope and MomSense for asking great open-ended questions – and for asking them in an engaging and personable manner, as opposed to reading from a script. Also, thanks again to CaseyL for introducing the hostile workplace analogy, and to Ohio Mom, Geg6 and others for expanding on that in earlier comments to help us form the opening question. Adam really ran with that and it helped set the tone for the rest of the evening.

And a major shout-out to Almost Retired (Curt)

Almost Retired (Curt) deserves applause for his outstanding facilitation of the conversation with Adam Schiff.  Curt was a brilliant choice for facilitator, if I do say so myself!  :-)  He set the tone from the outset – a conversation rather than a Q & A.

Many thanks, Curt, for a fantastic job.

We recorded the zoom, so you can look for the portion with Adam Schiff on the front page in the coming days.

I have to figure out how to just include the first 45 or 50 minutes of the files, so if anyone has experience editing a video file (mp4) or audio file (m4a) please drop me an email with some tips.   I use a Mac and I have GarageBand, but I have never used it.

I would like to do something to thank Congressman Schiff after each of the two zooms he attends.

Let’s do a word cloud for Adam Schiff!

If you didn’t attend the zoom, comment in this thread as you always would.

If you did attend the zoom, please comment as usual but if you like you can list up to 5 descriptors for how you felt / what you thought about his time with us last night, or his book, whatever you want.   If you don’t supply an actual list, I will choose up to 5 words or phrases from your comment, and I’ll include those in the word cloud.

Subaru Diane suggested that we also send some BJ swag, I believe an email with ideas will be coming from her soon.  Feel free to add any of your ideas in this thread, too.

I am headed out for curbside pickup at our old time meat store.  It’s 6 degrees here, but weather underground says it feels like minus 10.  I say it feels really fucking cold.  But I need some meat, so off I go.  Back in 20 minutes or so, hope I am not frozen solid.

Open thread.

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DeSantis Admin Cancels Public Health Official

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Maybe the substackers who are fixated on “woke” student council edicts can spare a moment to condemn the state of Florida for silencing a public health official for discussing…public health. During a pandemic.

Dr. Raul Pino, director of the Florida Department of Health’s Orange County organization, was placed on administrative leave for sending an email urging the agency’s employees to improve their vaccination rate. Orlando’s ABC affiliate, WFTV:

(Dr. Pino) wrote that he had an analyst run vaccination data for employees, and that out of the 568 active staff at the department, only 77 had received a COVID-19 booster, 219 had two doses of the vaccine and 34 had only one dose.

“I am sorry but in the absence of reasonable and real reasons it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated,” Pino wrote. “We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300,000 and we are not even at 50%, pathetic.”

“I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it,” he added.

The good doctor is correct; that is a pathetic vaccination rate, especially among a group of public health agency employees. But note that Pino didn’t threaten to place anyone on leave or fire them over it. The state did that, as confirmed by the NYT:

Jeremy T. Redfern, the press secretary for the Department of Health, confirmed in a statement that Dr. Pino was on administrative leave, and that the department was “conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case.”

The decision to get vaccinated “is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers,” Mr. Redfern wrote.

This isn’t a case of people on campus tragically having to “self-censor” to avoid criticism about their weird theories on race or gender or whatever. Dr. Pino, who fled his native Cuba for more freedom in the United States, has been muzzled by Governor Ron DeSantis and his minions. This is the state suspending a doctor’s career because of speech that reflects the medical consensus but is at odds with the governor’s and crackpot surgeon general’s politically motivated, anti-science demagoguery.

I’ll be over here waiting for the anti-woke chicken littles to defend Dr. Pino. I’ll bring a very large cup of coffee and a few crossword puzzles to pass the time.

Open thread.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread: Proud to Be A Biden Democrat

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, Jan. 19-20

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On The Road – JanieM – Maine #3

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Submissions have really started rolling in, keep ’em coming!

We now have two submissions with Mr. Frogs, and the second one came in before the post suggesting Mr. Frog week even went up.  So I think there’s hope for a Mr. Frog week.

Other ideas that have been suggested: Peace Corps Week and First Timer’s Week.

JanieM

The ten-acre property where I live borders two other parcels: a huge tract of land owned by the school district, and fifteen acres of conservation land belonging to the homeowner’s association up the hill. When we first moved here, most of our property was separated from the neighboring land by an old barbed wire fence.

One fine breezy afternoon in May, sometime in the pre-mobile-phone era, I looked westward out the kitchen window and saw an alarming sight. Beyond the fence to the west were a man, a woman, and some burning brush.

As a firefighter’s daughter, I don’t take fire lightly. My farmhouse and barn were a couple hundred years old and built of wood; if fire came anywhere near the buildings, we were toast.

I ran across the field to ask what was going on. The man informed me, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, that they were burning the field for the sake of the haying. I told him I didn’t want my field burned, much less my house and barn, and that they’d better keep the fire off my property.

Indicating the walkie-talkie he was carrying and the small metal container on his back, complete with attached hose, the man said condescendingly that he was a volunteer fireman and he knew what he was doing. He wouldn’t let the fire come onto my field if I didn’t want it there, but his tone suggested that I was an idiot for minding.

I turned away, wondering whether to give him a chance or call 911 sooner rather than later. My decision was made for me by the fact that the fire was onto my land and making quick progress toward the buildings before I was halfway to the house.

I ran back to tell the guy to call for help, only to find him already assuring his buddy at the fire station that he didn’t need any help, he had it all under control.

This time I raced back to the house and called 911. “He does too need help!” was the gist of my message. Luckily, a neighbor had already done the same, and the fire trucks arrived before I could even end the call.

My kids were traumatized, several dozen baby trees were dead, and the fence posts were burned to the ground. The aftermath of this event, while minor, lasted for several years, but eventually the fence was fixed and a few new baby trees were planted.

The field has gone through many changes since then. This set of pictures captures its many seasons and moods.

On The Road - JanieM - Maine #3 7
1

Late autumn sunset.

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