This song always reminds me of John Cole’s lovely Lily (even though it has an extra “L”):
My Gators cannot lose this weekend! (It’s a bye week.) Still, there are some interesting games later. I hope Georgia Tech can sack up and beat Florida State, though that’s unlikely. Will be watching the mighty USF Bulls vs. Southern Meth later.
Before that, I have to go upgrade my daughter’s iPhone, which means I get her cast-off! It’ll probably take awhile to get everything dialed in the way I like it.
What are you up to today?
WereBear
You will adore it. I like the fiddly bits… as long as all my favorite apps show up intact.
Baud
“Have to” being the operative words with teenagers.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone:)
Off to swim and run errands.
AnonPhenoma
Police and cameras:
As in any large population sample, increased oversight will likely cause a subgroup to (at least initially) respond to by being more cautious. Either by avoiding some situations
Or work to rule (trigger warning: it’s MSNBC’s shitty video website)
That is an issue. But it’s not the publics’ problem. It’s Managements’ problem, and Management complaining about and wishing the Tech Genie would go back in the bottle is not the sign of a good manager.
If you’re a manager who did nothing about the employees under your supervision who play fast and loose with the rules (or worse, the type who sought them out or praised them) you don’t get to complain when the environment/market responds with a solution you don’t particularly care for. And if that solution highlights the ‘problem employee’ under your supervision at the other end of the spectrum, the slacker, that doesn’t make it a bad solution. It just points out that you’re a bad manager.
Schlemazel
Any truth to the rumor that the RNC is going to file a complaint with the FEC claiming that the $4.7million spent by the Gowdy committee was an illegal campaign contribution to the Clinton campaign & demand she pay it back?
Elizabelle
Good morning all. Getting ready for an estate sale tomorrow and kind of rolling through the week.
Beautiful here. Leaves drifting down outside. Still a lot of green, but enough color to look approaching peak.
Another Holocene Human
@AnonPhenoma: lol, work to rule
nobody wants their employees to work to rule because it would cost them more money in personnel
they want and even promote people who cut all kinds of corners because it saves them money
the rules are then there to scapegoat an employee when some incident occurs that makes the dept look bad
or to harass the fuck out of a hire the direct supervisor/manager doesn’t like (or needs to get rid of so said manager’s nephew/sister/new lover can get hired)
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: Swim! That sounds nice. I need to take a shower, wait in line at the pharmacy, and then deal with my dear friend and her kids who have come to town even though I’m not prepared for it and have been very unwell lately. And my house is not toddler proof at all. And I have work papers strewn everywhere. And my cat is scared of the kids. And has been pooping and peeing in inappropriate places when she’s upset.
I need to convince her to take the kids outside.
Another Holocene Human
oops, innocuous comment derailed by the word ph$rm$c$
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: Swim! That sounds nice. I need to take a shower, wait in line at the [unmentionable place], and then deal with my dear friend and her kids who have come to town even though I’m not prepared for it and have been very unwell lately. And my house is not toddler proof at all. And I have work papers strewn everywhere. And my cat is scared of the kids. And has been pooping and peeing in inappropriate places when she’s upset.
I need to convince her to take the kids outside.
Southern Beale
We’ve got another Second Amendment Hero, accidentally shooting a shopper on aisle 4 for freedom!
SiubhanDuinne
@Another Holocene Human:
There’s a reason “work to rule” is sometimes also known as “malicious compliance.”
Southern Beale
2nd Amendment Hero accidentally shoots shopper for freedom.
Elizabelle
I propose that in late Spring 2016 we do a Balloon Juice snakehead fishing tournament and gourmet fish dinner.
Reading about the latest record size catch in the WaPost: Maryland guy killed a 17.49 pounder with a bow and arrow (my kinda fishing). Fish has a rep; I was afraid I was going to have to bring a revolver. (Not a Dept of Natural Resources approved method.)
Brought me to a recap by the Post’s weather guy on snakehead fishing (sounds fun) and snakehead cooking (sounds even better; snakehead was beating flounder, cod and tilapia in the deliciousness stakes).
Snakehead taste test — can a fish this ugly really taste that good? (Photos)
They did not steam the fish with ginger and lemongrass, which is what I’d like to try. Maybe with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.
WaPost readers feel this delicious and combative apex predator fish needs a better name for marketing. Most likes for “Potomac Pike.” Someone suggested “Trumpfish.”
Any interest? We could make it into the Baud 2016! Snakehead fishing and eating tournament, if we wanted.
Germy Shoemangler
The age-old question is asked again: Are cats domesticated?
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/are-cats-domesticated
jeffreyw
(He’s secretly installed Windows 10 on his wife’s desktop machine. Let’s watch and see if she notices.)
Germy Shoemangler
@Another Holocene Human:
I witnessed that at my last job. A very nice customer service rep; a nice and competent employee… suddenly she couldn’t do anything right (according to her boss). She would come to us almost in tears, and tell us how they kept picking at her. And then one day she was gone.
Someone else told me her boss hired a “friend from church” to take her place.
Mustang Bobby
Greetings all from South Florida. Already been to the car wash to get the Pontiac ready for the Cars in the Garden show at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens tomorrow.
And speaking of tropical botanics, my vanda orchid is in bloom yet again for the third or fourth time in a year. Two stalks are blooming, too, which means it must be really in heat.
WereBear
@Germy Shoemangler: I feel they domesticated us :)
We, after all, serve them. I welcome our kitty overlords.
Some guy
Betty, of you ate looking for a good place to watch the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party we always host for that game. Chili cheese dogs, teriyaki chicken wings and homemade ice cream. Dog and kid friendly party.
If we win the SEC East is ours. Forward to Victory, Comrades
Elizabelle
@Germy Shoemangler: I hate when that happens.
Heard of it happening to a secretary in the Commerce Dept years ago. She was perky and pleasant and the retired in the job types ganged up on her.
Some guy
@Mustang Bobby:
What kind of Pontiac are you showing off?
Mustang Bobby
@Germy Shoemangler: To quote the old adage: to a dog, you’re family; to a cat, to a cat, you’re staff.
Germy Shoemangler
@WereBear: It seems the more investigating scientists and archeologists do, the earlier they learn the domestication took place. Not as recent as previously thought.
Mustang Bobby
@Some guy: My 1988 Pontiac 6000 LE Safari station wagon. I’ve owned it since January 1989, and it has about 260,000 miles on it.
Amir Khalid
@WereBear:
I reckon it’s presumptuous of humans to speak of certain other animals that live on close proximity to us as “domesticated” — or worse, “tame”. Particularly cats, who remain their own creature and never forget to remind us of that.
Amir Khalid
@jeffreyw:
If a sudden angry shriek is heard from the study chez J, it was nice knowing you.
Some guy
@Mustang Bobby:
Nice.that had the 3.1 let 6 in it?
Restoring my 71 Dodge Charger right now. Getting ready to bring it to the body shop for a new vinyl roof and some minor rusty on the running boards.
Wag
@Schlemazel:
You win! LOL
Mustang Bobby
@Some guy: 2.8 litre with fuel injection and 4-speed overdrive. The 3.1 wasn’t available in that model that year, I don’t think.
Good luck with the Charger. Those are really hot in the collectible market now, and I’ll bet it’s a beauty.
WereBear
Don’t let it out in this condition, or you’ll have to deal with a batch of baby orchids.
Mike J
Race day. Having a second cuppa while watching Chelsea suck, will leave for the lake at the closing whistle.
WereBear
@Germy Shoemangler: I know! The outside estimate I’ve read is 12,000 years.
And the article completely misses the contributions cats have made to civilization. We couldn’t have made all the leaps stored food allowed in our development… without cats.
WereBear
@Amir Khalid: I think what throws many people off is the concept that cats want equality… and they find that hard to bestow on fellow humans.
Amir Khalid
@Mike J:
So it shall be, for so it is written: Any club where Jose Mourinho is in his third season as manager shall suck.
otmar
Grandma is taking care of the kids for the prolonged weekend. The SO and I are taking a timeout at http://www.blumau.com/
ruemara
I have 5 hours to tidy my apartment into shooting shape if II go back to sleep like I want and then it’s off to day 2 of filming at the big club scene. This is the complicated one. And first order pod business is rigging the site to look like a club. My throat is a also sore. Should be an interesting day and then it’s goodbye cast and crew; hello editing suite.
burnspbesq
GaTech couldn’t beat Duke or UNCheat, so its chances of beating Free Shoes U. look awfully slim.
Schlemazel
@WereBear:
I love this so much I look for reasons to repost it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKffm2uI4dk
diary of a sad cat
Germy Shoemangler
@ruemara: Rigging the site to look like a club: one thing I learned helping with independent films is Lighting goes a long way to create a set. Sometimes even more so than physical props.
Germy Shoemangler
@Schlemazel: Do you remember Henri, the existential French cat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M7ibPk37_U
Some guy
@Mustang Bobby: yeah, I am the second owner. Bough it from on off my profs when I graduated, drove it around LA for 2 years, then drove it to Florida when I moved here. Been sitting in the barn until I hauled it out to make room for my 2007 Charger RT. The kids refuse to believe the 383 4bbl on the 71 has a similar output to the 2007 Hemi, but am preparing to show them up.
The body shop guy is supposedly the best muscle guy in town but takes forever. Meticulous and expensive. Oh well
MomSense
I had to get a new phone yesterday because my old one was malfunctioning badly. It’s like a new world. I decided to get the large 6 and I can pretty much run my little knit/design business with it.
Ajabu
About to embark on what will likely be the most stressful couple of weeks of the past several decades.
Synopsis:
My wife took a job back in California (where our son & grandchildren still live) and left 3 months ago, leaving me to pack up our house, find a tenant and drive a 26′ truck – towing a car – back to California. (at my very advanced age…)
So, this week is the last in the house. I’m currently living surrounded by boxes, sleeping on the den sofa and working right through Thursday. Friday, the truck is being loaded. Saturday I’m on the road. Alone.
If everything fits in the truck, I’m golden. We’ll see. With my wife not here, I don’t dare to get rid of anything so I guess we’ll have a YOOOOGE yard sale on the other end. (Assuming I make it.) The last time I made this kind of move was 20 years ago when we went home to St. Croix. And I was that much younger.
Oh well. Keeps life exciting, I guess.
And, not incidentally, this puts my 50th Anniversary CD on hold a little longer.
And finally, for any BJers who might be in the Atlanta area this weekend — I’m doing my final performance here tomorrow (Sunday) for Groove Cafe @ 630 Travis St. – Atlanta from 4-7 pm.
I’d love some of you to come by and commiserate with me.
Wish me luck on this ordeal. I’m going to need it.
Only upside: If I survive this and can hang on for 7 years (till Mrs. Ajabu retires) we go back to the Islands!
Mike J
@Amir Khalid:
The Seahawks had two great years and suck this year. I propose a one season swap. Mourinho for Pete Carroll. Imagine when Mourinho and Marshawn Lynch are forced to give a press conference.
And now a red card. Fuck.
Schlemazel
@Wag:
Following the link provided by @Germy Shoemangler: I see that Andy Borowitz has the same thought in the New Yorker, his headline “Hilary thanks Benghazi committee for invaluable service to her campaign”
I am afraid if I post the link I’ll be consigned to moderation hell
Germy Shoemangler
@Schlemazel: And their daily cartoon today shows someone outside the committee door saying “Mrs. Clinton just called. She’s wondering if there’s any chance she could appear again.”
Germy Shoemangler
@Schlemazel:
I’ve been there. Full of unbaptized babies and spambots. And folks who ate ham sandwiches on Friday.
Amir Khalid
@otmar:
Das Kurort sieht wunderschön aus.
Tom
It’s Saturday so I’ve got my famous slow cooker chili going and we’re heading off to see the Steve Jobs movie.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemazel:
@Germy Shoemangler:
Carly Fiorina has been saying (as reported in various places) that the Republicans shouldn’t let up on Hillary. Given the results this week, can that be what she wants as a Republican?
ruemara
@Ajabu: back to St. Croix! I’ve vaguely entertained that notion myself except Jamaica. It’s not a bad retirement plan. Re: moving. Maybe she can give some phone guidance and you can delete a few items? Couldn’t hurt to ask. Sounds like a big adventure and you can find new music opportunities in CA. Welcome to Cali! It’s not bad.
@Germy Shoemangler: yeah, that is so. We’re working with the ambient lighting and balancing for tungsten with some well placed LEDs. Plus I have to review last night’s footage to make sure I have coverage and that stuff has no pickups. And search for a score.
ruemara
Halp! I haz been moderated
Schlemazel
@Germy Shoemangler:
to quote some guy who wrote a couple of books I think – “It was the worst of times, it was the best of times”
So much fun to skewer the wingnuts, so horrific to have to share a planet with them
Germy Shoemangler
@Amir Khalid:
And again Ms. Fiorina shows the good judgement that got her such great results in the business world.
It’s sort of personal with me when it comes to Carly. My father worked his whole life, two jobs. He didn’t have much education. One of his jobs was as a messenger for a wall street firm. The smart guys gave him stock “tips” and his dream was to leave his children some nice money in stocks.
When he died, I inherited his stocks. Sadly, there wasn’t much there. And Luscent was in there, with a big asterisk next to it.
Schlemazel
@Germy Shoemangler:
I can never remember if 2 or 3 links are permitted and have run afoul of that rule. I guess that there is a magic number that identifies spam; “Spam would never have only one link!”
But I guess, if they brought ham sandwiches with them we could picnic and then smash spambots for entertainment, doesn’t sound intolerable.
Mustang Bobby
@Some guy: If you’re anywhere close to Miami, come see some of our shows this winter. We do the Art Deco show on Miami Beach in January, and we also do the Memory Lane exhibit at the Miami International Auto Show at the Miami Beach convention center. We have a lot of Mopar folks in the club, too.
Schlemazel
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, she, like all good Republicans know that when you are losing you have to double down on the stupidity . Your voters simply know you are right despite all evidence to the contrary. Doubling down proves you are even more right and will not give up.
see: 53 votes against ACA
ixnay
Best thoughts to Martin Longman (Booman) on the loss of his brother.
Iowa Old Lady
@Ajabu: Good luck on the drive. Adventures in Moving.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemazel:
Per FYWP rules, it’s the third link (including the link to a comment you’re replying to) that makes a comment spam.
Schlemazel
@Germy Shoemangler:
The highly successful company I worked for was bought by Lucent, using the liar inflated stock as if it had value. She was the COO of Lucent while they were cooking the hell out of their books but claims to have had no idea it was going on. (THAT is fine leadership!)
Lucent literally destroyed the value of my original company & sold the remains a few years later for pennies on the dollar. They reset the strike price on my options from around $40 to $18, then to $12 then to $7 then to $2, I made about a thousand dollars when I sold them off after I quit, I had several thousand shares. Today, a decade after I sold out they are still around $3.50 a share.
Schlemazel
@Amir Khalid:
Thanks, thats what I thought but I keep forgetting.
I have to try the Animal Farm chant
“2 links good – 3 links bad”
WereBear
@ruemara: I like editing. The footage can refuse to cooperate, but not to the extent of the actors!
Brachiator
@Germy Shoemangler:
That just about nails it.
A talk radio show whose audience leans very conservative did a poll. About 78 percent felt that Hillary ended up doing well at the hearings. This is obviously “not scientific,” but when people who otherwise strongly dislike Clinton and who probably won’t vote for her are still able to peek beyond blind ideological hatred, you know the GOP has a problem.
Of course, when the dust settles, the Clinton haters will still insist that she is lying or hiding something and that the committee was either incompetent or on the take, but I think that this has done much to remove the cloud of nonsense and vague and unsubstantiated allegations that the GOP tried to hang on the Clinton campaign.
The GOP will look foolish if they bring this up any more, not that this will stop them.
Germy Shoemangler
@Schlemazel:
I wish all the fine journalists out there would do stories on the real people who had their lives altered by her bad decisions. It isn’t so abstract when we hear personal anecdotes like this.
mdblanche
Somebody’s going to be having an awkward family reunion this weekend.
Some guy
@Mustang Bobby: I am on Gainesville, but we may go to the keys in January with the kids, so maybe I can tome it for one of those shows. My kids love car shows.
Schlemazel
@mdblanche:
Given her age do you suppose mam can still whack JEB? upside the head like in the old days?
WereBear
@Ajabu: Best of luck on all your endeavors!
Moving. Even when it’s wonderful, it sucks.
Another Holocene Human
@Mustang Bobby: beautiful
Germy Shoemangler
Obama trolled the GOP again. He compared them to grumpy cat, and even made the face:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTH0V6jtxM4
gf120581
@Schlemazel: Bar is probably doing that to Jeb at the Bush family meeting this weekend.
Another Holocene Human
@Germy Shoemangler: Archeologists and especially historians seem to engage in fallacious thinking around peoples who don’t have written language, as if they don’t have this technology they must be very incapable. When the evidence that they were very capable stares in their face, they ascribe this evidence to different peoples or eras or start mumbling about mysteries which allows the ancient alien Lemurian woo peddlers to jump in.
I think the deal is that most of these folks haven’t trained in practical, work with your hands fields; all of their training is with language as the primary technology, followed by drawings. So there’s a failure of imagination when they encounter stuff that doesn’t come with badly transcribed instructions.
And anthropology has taken big strides to fight against this tendency. You have specialists now who can recreate ancient techniques. There’s an awareness that you need this side of it or you won’t know how to interpret wht you find in the ground. But I think the bias persists.
Elizabelle
@Ajabu: Good luck, Ajabu. If you were moving a few weeks later, I would help you drive! But no can do on Halloween weekend.
mdblanche
@Schlemazel: If not, I’m sure her tongue is still as sharp as ever.
Cervantes
@Amir Khalid:
From what I’ve seen here, three is fine; four is too many.
Germy Shoemangler
@Another Holocene Human: Very good points. The part about their bias and failure of imagination (because writing is their main specialty) rang true.
Cervantes
@Mustang Bobby:
Nice wheels. Have a great show!
Cervantes
@mdblanche:
In that family, as in many others, all reunions are awkward.
bemused
@mdblanche:
I’ve been thinking about this news wondering if someone leaked it. Breitbart piece called it an emergency family meeting. I have a hard time believing the Bush family would have wanted this crisis all over the media.
ruemara
@WereBear: at least your actors respond to treats. But, kidding aside, I was blessed with some very strong actors. I’m the weakest one in the bunch, which is perfect for me.
Cervantes
@Brachiator:
She did fine, as well as could be expected.
The Republicans managed to get her to say that she has lost a lot of sleep over those deaths in Benghazi.
Not something I’ve heard her say about many times more deaths in Iraq.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@mdblanche: I love how they are calling it a Finance Meeting, as if it was anything more than a family meeting. I’ll bet Barbara has some choice advice for John Ellis, since before the campaign began she said that we didn’t need another Bush in the WH
slag
@Germy Shoemangler: That was great!
NotMax
For the animal lovers, Happy (early) Halloween.
Brachiator
@Cervantes:
You clearly miss the point. It’s not that Clinton met expectations, it is that even people who hate her acknowledge that she was helped by the hearings.
I don’t recall that Clinton was president or even a Bush cabinet member when the war with Iraq began. Do you actually hold her as responsible as Biush and Cheney for Iraq? Does this also apply to every other member of Congress who voted as Clinton voted?
In practical terms, does this mean that you will not vote for Clinton if she is the Democratic Party nominee?
Schlemazel
@gf120581:
I was thinking she may be too old for that & now is just going to take her shoe off & throw it at him!
Or the worst punishment possible for the boy – “You are removed from my will!”
Schlemazel
Your joking, right? I never heard her or Obama call it a terrorist attack level of humor?
amk
@Cervantes:
why should she? typical non-sequitur idiocy from you.
Satby
@Ajabu: Good luck, and take it easy on the drive!
Satby
Making bread, Concord grape jelly (may try a bottle of wine with the leftover juice) and gearing up for litter box cleanup. Maybe after I take down the screen tent. It’s a lazy day around here ;)
dogwood
@mdblanche:
Her wit was still pretty quick a couple of years ago. I watched a CSPAN program with Barbara and Laura that was actually fairly interesting. At the Q&A a young republican idiot stood up and told the First Ladies that he was gearing up for a career in politics, and was having trouble finding a woman who would meet his standards for a potential First Lady and wanted their advise. Barbara essentially told him he didn’t need to worry about finding a First Lady, but he did need to worry about fining a date if the video of his question got out.
Suezboo
Watching a horribly tense SA vs NZ rugby game. NZ is winning but it’s close – my fingernails are suffering.
Cervantes
@amk:
Why should she tell us whether she lost any sleep over untold thousands of deaths in Iraq? I can see it’s an ever-deepening mystery to you. I’ll let you puzzle it out.
Yes, that must be what it is; I’m sure you’re right.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@dogwood: Good for her. What an idiot.
Cervantes
@dogwood:
!
Cervantes
@Schlemazel:
Not joking, no.
different-church-lady
Isn’t that backwards?
Oh wait, 21st century…
Elizabelle
NYTimes news alert: will meet with approval from Kay and rikyrah and numerous others:
Let teachers teach, not test. And get MBAs the hell away from our schools.
Linky to NYTimes story: http://nyti.ms/1H1bvuq
different-church-lady
@Germy Shoemangler: Of course cats are domesticated. And we humans are the domestic help.
Elizabelle
Someone here suggested the out of control testing and education policy could be Obama’s actual Katrina.
Maybe they’re working to correct that, in the wake of Arne Duncan’s departure.
Corner Stone
@Elizabelle: Fuck Arne Duncan. Fuck him up his stupid ass.
Schlemazel
@Cervantes:
then its just sad, I’m sorry for you, really and truly sorry.
Cervantes
@Brachiator:
Yes, that was your point and it was clear. My point was related but not the same. That OK with you?
But you do recall what she was at the time, yes?
No, but so what? I hold her responsible for her judgment and her actions. That OK with you or does it seem brutally unfair?
Bear in mind, there are things people did eighty and more years ago I haven’t forgiven. I’m just ornery that way.
Especially if they want to be Commander-in-Chief, yes. That OK with you?
That’s more than a year away. At my age, one shouldn’t count on anything.
Cervantes
@Schlemazel:
That makes me feel better already.
Thanks.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Cervantes: Aw, you’re not that old.
Ajabu
@ruemara:
I was born in Jamaica. The decision to live in St. Croix instead was a no-brainer. The entire USVI (St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John) is a U.S. territory. You’re in the Caribbean but with US dollars, zip codes & area codes. Nothing international, no residency issues, etc. I can call you from there & it’s just like a state to state call.
As to moving, I just found out I can leave “a few” things with the new tenant. They’re family to a close friend. That helps.
As to CA: Thanks for the welcome. It’s a welcome back. We lived there for nearly 30 years but were stupid enough to sell property before the real boom hit so it’s rental time now.
Thanks for the input!
amk
@Cervantes:
Yes, it is. Yes, I am. And yes, you are.
Suezboo
AAArgh ! < Cry of agony. NZ 20 – SA 18. We're out of the World Cup and NZ is through to the final against Australia or Argentina (probably Aus).
I hate kiwi birds and kakapos and everything New Zealand but I'll get over it. Sob.
gogol's wife
@different-church-lady:
My thoughts exactly.
slag
Going to DC for the first time for two days (on a weekend). Any suggestions for highest priority activities? (Couldn’t care less about bars or boutiques.)
gogol's wife
@slag:
Vietnam memorial. Lincoln memorial.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@slag: SMITHSONIAN!!
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@gogol’s wife: Those are excellent; we never made it to the Jefferson Memorial on our trip in 2005. I want to go back for that and more of the Smithsonian. Also, the zoo.
ETA found my cousin’s name on the Vietnam wall, as well as a friend from HS.
Amir Khalid
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
But if you see Ben Stiller on guard duty, hide!
Ajabu
@Elizabelle:
Well, at least I get on the road before the craziness starts in the neighborhood.
Although I will miss seeing the first grader (who’s in one of my music classes) who proudly announced that his Halloween costume is going to be ME! A first grader with white hair, a beard and a bad attitude. Should be perfect!
Chris
@slag:
The memorials and museums are the obvious recommendations – more specific than that, it depends what you like. The FDR and Vietnam are my favorites among the former, and the Air & Space among the latter. Also, I’ve never heard of anyone being disappointed by a walk around the tidal basin. Also, the Georgetown waterfront is a nice place to eat with a view, but that part of town isn’t necessarily the most accessible (no matter what your mode of transportation).
Mandalay
@Suezboo:
SA did not remotely deserve to win, and the close score was flattering to them.
slag
@gogol’s wife: If you had to pick btwn them, which would you pick?
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): Definite yes to the Smithsonian, but having a hard time figuring out which parts are going to get the time.
Debbie
@slag:
The National Gallery.
Cervantes
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
That’s … affirming.
@amk:
That’s … very affirming.
trollhattan
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
This.
Ajabu
@Satby:
Can’t take it any way but easy. I can’t believe I’m doing this shit at my age!
slag
@Chris: Super helpful. Thanks!
Linnaeus
@Another Holocene Human:
This may have been more true than not for historians in years past, but I wouldn’t say that that is accurate now. I have colleagues who do, for example, Native American history and they certainly don’t have this tendency.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I can’t cut and paste the text, but via Jake Tapper’s twitter feed, sounds like we may be witnessing the twilight of the Jeb!$$?
I’m of two minds: On the one hand, it’s fun to watch Idiot Princeling II crash and burn, and know that Bar and Poppy are lucid enough to see it, on the other hand, I’ve been enjoying watching him flounder and hoping the cash and the chaos would toss him up on the shore at their Convention, broken, limping, haggard and reeking of failure.
He also tweeted a picture of himself on the deck of an aircraft carrier, cause he’s really not good at this.
Chris
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
Oh yes, how could I forget the zoo!
the Conster
Boy, JEB sucks. He basically admitted he’s got “cooler” stuff to do then sit around watching gridlock, being miserable and demonized. shorter: he’s not being handed stuff so he’s called the waaaahmbulance.
James E Powell
@Germy Shoemangler:
The corporate press/media is never going to tell those stories because they are the corporate press/media.
The standard capitalist narrative is that whenever an employer closes, moves, or lays off thousands, it is because of: a) greedy unions, b) lazy workers, c) some Democratic politician who had nothing to do with it, or some combination of these three. Or another factor that has nothing to do with the capitalists’ constant need to lower wages and keep the working class in a state of anxiety.
Cervantes
@slag:
The National Museum of the American Indian.
Arlington National Cemetery.
The Vietnam War Memorial.
slag
@Debbie: Strongly considering it. Though art museums typically take a lot of time for me.
slag
@Cervantes:
Hadn’t considered this one. Interesting idea.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the enemy of my enemy can be funny when he trolls my enemy
I don’t know why that thing under the thing on Trump’s head hates Jeb! so much (I doubt it has anything to do with voter rolls or Terri Schiavo) , but I’m thoroughly enjoying it
Cervantes
@slag:
If you visit, go around lunch-time. The cafeteria serves Native American food from across the continent. It is excellent.
Baud
LOL Kevin Drum
Elizabelle
@Ajabu: Tis an honor to be the subject of a Halloween costume.
Gimlet
Got nothing to do with the availability of guns. Nope, nothing.
Comey said while there likely are multiple factors behind the spike in violence in cities, including Chicago, officers and others nationwide have told him they see “the era of viral videos” as a link.
“I don’t know whether this explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year, and that wind is surely changing behavior,” Comey said.
satby
@James E Powell: co-sign.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Agreed. I’m conflicted sometimes.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Debbie: Oooh, yes. The Peacock Room!
Highway Rob
At least three fatalities at Oklahoma State homecoming parade when car slams into crowd.
Link
Mandalay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wow – Jeb! is in full meltdown mode. And I can’t imagine any circumstance – real or contrived – where it is ever a good idea to invite people to vote for your opponent.
Whining from the moral high ground is a useless approach to winning the presidency.
Baud
@Gimlet:
Libertarians called police facists for years. No one complained.
Brachiator
@Cervantes:
No, your point was tangential, peripheral, divergent. OK with me? Doesn’t matter. This is typically your style.
RE: In practical terms, does this mean that you will not vote for Clinton if she is the Democratic Party nominee?
And this is an evasion.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Cervantes: I have to be nice about age; I’m only 65 but hope someday to reach your lofty age, and beyond.
Besides, Mr Pie is 3 years older and I had to behave myself when we celebrated his 40th birthday, because I realized all of our guests were his age or older. So, no “Over The Hill” banners. (That seems so long ago.)
And I understood what you were saying about Hillary re: her vote for the Iraq war, but I think she has since expressed regrets about that vote, which indicates that she has agonized over it even though she has not done so publicly. Or am I mistaken and she did not say that she regretted her vote?
Chris
@slag:
I’m assuming you’d find the government buildings interesting too, but I don’t remember exactly what the rules are for touring these and they might have changed them. But… IIRC, you used to be able to go to your congressman’s office and pick up tickets for certain tours of the Capitol (along with the usual stuff they’ll give away to visitors), so that would be worth checking out.
@James E Powell:
Yeah… I honestly think this is increasingly a problem with our capitalist class in general; they’ve become so used to blaming scapegoats for every bad business decision it doesn’t even occur to them anymore that any bad outcomes in the company they run might be traced back to them. Between the media outlets they own, the think tanks they own, the politicians they own, and heck, even quite a few regular people, they’re so surrounded by sycophants telling them they can do no wrong, and so used to dismissing anyone who finds fault with them as a jealous socialist who just wants their money, their perspective has to be completely warped beyond repair at this point.
It’s why you get some businessmen bitching that they can’t find good workers, without ever realizing that 1) they don’t pay enough to retain good workers, 2) they’re not willing to shell out the money to train good workers up to the standards they want, etc. That would imply finding some fault in themselves.
bemused
@Chris:
They would have to admit they want free stuff.
Baud
@Chris:
I always blame up.
(All the way to Obama.)
WaterGirl
@Ajabu: That’s maybe the sweetest thing, ever.
Closest I’ver ever come, I think, was hearing the story of my niece’s son -possibly my favorite person in the world – when he was visiting when he was 8. She was helping him with getting the shower started and she showed him where the shampoo, soap etc was, and she asked him which ones he wanted to use.
His answer: “I want to smell like WaterGirl”.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Baud: So when you’re president, we will have you to blame?
Baud
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
No. Because when I’m president, nothing will go wrong.
Corner Stone
@Gimlet: Fuck James Comey. Fuck him up his stupid ass.
trollhattan
@Baud:
“Libertarians” are so…weird. Anybody know how Drum’s cancer fight is going? I don’t follow him so not up to speed on his health.
bemused
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It must really burn that it was easier for his brother.
Chris
@Baud:
Depending on how one defines “up,” we could conceivably blame Canada.
Iowa Old Lady
@WaterGirl: When I was teaching report writing, another prof had his seniors do little skits to explain various points of writing their thesis. I saw a woman I’d taught as a first year student in the ladies room, and she was wearing a suit and was rearranging her hair. I told her she looked nice, and she gave this funny smile before saying thank you.
Turned out she was supposed to look like me because she was taking part in a skit where she was berating this guy for not know stuff.
I was flattered–I guess?
Baud
@trollhattan:
I don’t follow him on a daily basis, but I haven’t seen any recent updates about it. No news is good news, I suppose.
Brachiator
Actress Maureen O’Hara has passed away, aged 95.
I was just looking at a New Yorker video essay about O’Hara in the film “Dance, Girl, Dance,” from 1940.
Very interesting and talented woman.
http://video.newyorker.com/watch/movie-of-the-week-dance-girl-dance
Baud
@Chris:
Now that Trudeau’s in charge, I expect we’ll see more of that.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@bemused: The country’s mistake was making it easy for his brother. Huge mistake.
Germy Shoemangler
@Chris:
I’m old enough to remember the “help wanted” newspaper pages (many pages) and quite a few were entry-level jobs in big companies. “No experience necessary – will train.”
And these same companies would help pay your tuition if you wanted to further your education while on the job.
I’ve seen so many well-paid fifty-something year-old managers in corner offices who tell me “I started here as a clerk typist in 1977.”
If you were white, could tie a tie and keep your nose clean, you were in.
And now they’ve cut the rope ladder.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Baud: Good. You’ve got my vote.
Another Holocene Human
@slag: National Trolley Museum!
Okay, so it’s in Maryland. But still!
There are often free science talks at national monuments and at places like NIH, just start trolling to see what’s going on.
Nobody mentioned National Building Museum. That’s a good one, right at Judiciary Sq. Metro Station, great vista as you come up the escalator.
Air & Space is basically every tourist’s favorite. National Gallery East if you like contemporary art. On the other side of the mall they have collections of Asian and African art (next to Smithsonian, actually). Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. Supreme Court has bas reliefs and stuff to see if you can get in. If you go on a weekday you can get your US Rep to give you a pass to go to the Congressional gallery and see Reps do some soundbites for the assorted stenographers. If you go really early you can sit in on congressional hearings, though. Never been to Library of Congress but I imagine it’s really neat.
There are some other museums in town that aren’t federal, also, too.
If you get tired of walking up and down the mall, there is some shopping/food in L’Enfant Plaza (above the Metro station) and also a nice food court and shopping at Union Station (above the Metro station). You can also watch trains at Union Station especially on a weekday when the commuter trains are running. There’s also underground food/shopping at Crystal City but… why. Seriously. Just why. There’s some hifalutin grocery store at the Yellow line station in Arlington near Crystal City too. But why do that when you can go to Eastern Market? relatively near the Metro station. It’s historic. And uh. Well, it’s historic.
They probably don’t sell stolen goods outside the entrance any more. Bummer.
Baud
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
Nice. I’m now almost into double digits!
There’s something happening here.
What it is ain’t exactly clear.
Baud! 2016!
amk
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
the boy is imploding by himself.
so, what is the “establishment’s” plan B? … plan C … or D …?
WaterGirl
@Iowa Old Lady: That’s pretty funny.
As to “I was flattered – I guess?”… I have two rules: 1) If you’re not sure whether you like your new boss or not, decide that you like them, and 2) If you’re not sure if something is a compliment, or the opposite, just decide it’s a compliment.
Ruckus
@Ajabu:
Done that cross country move in a 26 with trailer 3 times, once in the middle of winter. I was younger then as well. But then I used to like driving. Now it’s just what I do to get someplace.
St. Croix. Haven’t been in decades but I liked it when I was there. Has it changed a lot? Looking for a place to retire to, and being an expat from the rat race sounds like a good idea.
Another Holocene Human
@Chris: Yes, if the Hill isn’t depressing enough, watch animals slowly lose their will to live penned up in tiny concrete enclosures. Oh, and some of the old animal cages are preserved so you can relive the glories of the fierce-beast-in-tiny-prison era.
Linnaeus
@Germy Shoemangler:
I’m lucky in that my current employer believes in doing on-the-job training, because it’s not necessarily obvious on paper that I’m able to do the work that I’m doing. Most other firms that do what we do wouldn’t have even interviewed me, let alone hired me.
Another Holocene Human
@amk: I guess Marco is plan B? He’s very compliant.
mellowjohn
just in case no one else has…
https://youtu.be/7BmkBroiw1s
Baud
@Another Holocene Human: Trump has mostly ignored Rubio so far. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if Rubio becomes the establishment’s go-to guy.
WereBear
@Baud: Good enough for me. Baud! 2016!
raven
@slag: The Einstein monument right across from the Wall. Also the Roosevelt at the Tidal Basin.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: The only political skill I’ve seen Rubio display is treating Trump like an annoying gnat, but Trump hasn’t zeroed in on immigration, which seems to be their third rail this go-round.
bemused
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
Yup. Thanks msm.
Aleta
Speaking of St. Croix, sort of:
In the 90s especially I used to swim in some bioluminescence on some nights on Cape Ann in MA. It was unpredictable when it would happen, and it would usually be around for a few nights in a row. I never knew what caused it. Would it be similar organisms to those in the famous bays in St. Croix? Or are there all different kinds of bioluminescents ?
amk
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
https://t.co/F738ZZiRUb
he has something for every one.
different-church-lady
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): @Baud: And you can believe him, because he’s always right, and he never lies.
Satby
@Germy Shoemangler: Honestly, they cut that ladder enough years ago that my thirty something sons told me they were going into trades, even though they’re both very smart. Or maybe because they’re that smart.
Satby
@Ruckus: I’m thinking Costa Rica, myself. Michigan isn’t exotic enough for my kids.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@amk: He started on the sweaty stuff a while back, and Rubio just kind of rolled his eyes, that’s what I meant, he doesn’t let it get under his skin like Jebbie does. But Rubio has flip-flopped and mealy-mouthed immigration, and I can’t imagine Trump isn’t going to point that out eventually. He’s weird and crazy and obnoxious but he ain’t stupid.
Ruckus
@Satby:
Costa Rica is so far #1 on my list. I’ve heard conflicting stories about how much it costs to live there. The low end is probably not much of living but the high end is more than what it costs where I live in Old Town Pasadena.
I also have a friend who lives in Panama and he likes it a lot and says it’s better than Costa Rica. At some point I’ve got to go there and check them both out.
catclub
I have noticed somebody at Slate is counting votes for debt ceiling increase. Last time all the democrats plus something like 30 republicans. Now, besides some of those democrats losing, some of those republicans lost too, replaced by wacko-birds.
It seems there may not be enough votes to pass a renewal. no worries, mate. Boehner has certainly not promptly gotten around to raising the debt ceiling. This may be why. He can count better than McCarthy.
catclub
@Ruckus: Montevideo Uruguay might be another choice. There is a very expensive
part of uruguay that rich Expats go to on the coast.
Suzanne
Went and lifted weights this morning. Now at Spawn the Elder’s volleyball tournament. The team is meh, but she is killing it. Damn. This is actually great to watch.
Ajabu
@Ruckus:
Therein lies the rub. I drive when I have to. No pleasure at all.
St. Croix remains St. Croix. More of a family island than tourist driven. It works for me.
catclub
@Germy Shoemangler: Yet I oppose everything.
Ajabu
@Aleta:
I don’t know. Locals don’t swim at night (myself included) and in the daytime you’d never know.
Suezboo
Well, we get phosphorescent growths here too. It’s called Red Tide by the locals and it is magic to swim by night with that glow in the waves and on you, isn’t it?
Suezboo
Aleta, is your one poisonous ? We always are forbidden to eat shellfish when the red tide comes around.
gogol's wife
@slag:
Vietnam, but you don’t really have to pick since they’re close to each other.
Aleta
@Suezboo:
I never noticed if it corresponded to red tide. Thanks for the idea.
Ruckus
@Ajabu:
Did some googling and St. Croix looks to be pretty expensive. But it’s good to hear that it’s comfy rather than touristy, that’s always a better place to live.
Thanks to our greedy, asshole friends in the money industry and trying to survive the not so great but yooooooge recession, I’m left with SS to live my life out. A few shekels extra that I’m earning now but it’s more of a bit to get me someplace rather than a retirement fund. And yes I know that I’m not alone in my predicament but that really doesn’t make it better.
Cervantes
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
She has said that the vote was a mistake, most notably in her book. How long did it take her to see she had made a mistake? How long did it take her then to admit the mistake? What steps has she recommended we take to avoid such mistakes in future? Can these questions tell us anything about her abilities, judgment, and forthrightness?
Moreover, she has continued to be too clever by half about that vote. In the last debate, for example, instead of justifying it on the merits or apologizing for it abjectly, or anything in between, she more or less argued that it didn’t need discussing at all because, after all, Obama had appointed her Secretary of State despite it. Some of her supporters apparently like this sort of cutesy cowardice; I do not.
Remember that in 2002 and 2003, there were millions of people who saw through the lies — utterly predictable lies — spewed by Cheney, Bush, and their thugs. Has Clinton explained in any detail how she, so wise and sagacious now, was so easily fooled by those two-bit lies back then?
Cervantes
@Brachiator:
That it’s a matter of difference in style is certainly closer to the truth than your earlier notion that I had missed your point!
But if you agree that differences in style don’t matter, then what exactly are you asking me, or complaining, about?
For my response to be an evasion, I’d have had to find your question worth evading.
Whereas I did find the question silly, because, no matter how many times you ask, you never know how other people vote (nor even how they plan to vote).
I also found the question mildly offensive, but that’s a more subjective thing, so I’ll leave it at that.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Cervantes: nope. I think she was either swept up by the drumbeats of war or more likely, she cynically voted to make her constituents happy. (That latter is sometimes a bit of a dilemma: do you vote to represent the idiots back home who sent you to Congress or do you vote your conscience.)
Obama wasn’t fooled, I wasn’t fooled, you weren’t fooled, but a lot of people were, just like our host. I bumped into a very liberal friend just before the war started and she was all excited about the upcoming invasion of Iraq, blah blah blah. I pointed out that none of those responsible had come from Iraq and were not there now and it was like I’d thrown cold water in her face, like she’d awakened from a trance.
So, you want Hillary to address the American people and explain and apologize for her vote. In May of this year she did say it was a mistake, with no equivocations. I don’t think the timeline matters, what matters is that she did finally say it.
Much more than that and I think it might hurt her politically. Think what the RW would do with that kind of confession. I don’t want another Republican in the White House and even though I will vote for Bernie I worry that he won’t be able to beat someone like Trump, if he is the Republican nominee. Maybe you think I’m being a bit cynical but I look at it as being practical.
slag
@efgoldman: Great suggestions. No kids but since I am a kid myself, it all applies. Thanks!
Corner Stone
@Cervantes:
One wouldn’t have to “find it worth” evading in any way. One would just choose to evade it, either passive or otherwise.
Cervantes
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
We’re not talking about a vote to name a post office after Adam Sandler or George W. Bush. We’re talking about a vote to authorize an unjustified invasion and occupation in which, predictably, thousands upon thousands of innocent men, women, and children will perish. One can argue, as you may be doing, that Clinton, seeing the lies for what they were, still voted to please her crowds despite the human cost. If we are making this argument, if this is how we explain her vote, then what sort of Commander-in-Chief do we think she will be?
Right, and, to a first approximation, the list of people who were fooled is the list of people I wouldn’t trust to feed themselves with a fork or a knife.
In this context, the only way to justify a vote for Clinton is to realize that the Republicans are far worse. (Does this justification matter before November, 2016? I’m not sure.)
That kind of honesty and courage would do the world a world of good.
Do I expect it from her?
When Obama dared to address racial division honestly and head-on during the 2008 campaign, I was not surprised.
Will Clinton surprise me? We shall see.
The leading Republicans of our day can’t argue their way dishonestly out of a wet paper bag. Clinton stared some of them down for hours just this week.
She’s smart. If she wants to make a transforming argument, it is well within her power.
Cervantes
@Corner Stone:
That’s your understanding.
Whereas to me, evasion takes effort — a different understanding.
Corner Stone
@Cervantes: That sounds like an active evasion.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Cervantes:
I’m not satisfied with our discussion , there is no way for me to agree with you nor you with me, so I will agree to disagree.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Corner Stone: It was, and it was impolite. He’s cranky, people were cranky with him up-thread, and now I’m getting cranky with him.
Cervantes
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
That’s perfectly fine by me, of course.
Or you could actually counter what I said. With an argument. That would be OK, too.
Cervantes
@Corner Stone:
Not really sure where you’re going with this. I’ve said plenty above about Clinton’s evasiveness regarding a serious matter. You haven’t really responded to it. If you feel like engaging with it, please do.
Corner Stone
@Cervantes: Why would I do that?