Happy father’s to all the dads here. I’m back out to the garden.
2.
Baud
This is interesting. (WaPo)
Macron rose from relative obscurity to score a landslide victory in the presidential election in May, becoming the first winning candidate in decades to come from neither the traditional center-right nor center-left parties. But now, something even more momentous is happening: Macron is leading a total overhaul of an ossified political system. In a scenario that would have been unimaginable scarcely a year ago, the centrist, pro-European party of the new president is slated to win an absolute majority in parliament. En Marche is projected to win at least 400 of 577 total seats, according to polls.
……
The center-right Républicains, the party of former presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, is likely to win between 85 and 125 seats, polls suggest. The Socialists, once a bedrock of French and European politics, are unlikely to top 40 seats.
3.
Baud
And Happy Dad Day.
4.
Central Planning
Thanks for the father’s day wishes, and Happy Father’s Day to all the other dad’s out there.
Fun fact for our polydactyl cat – the cat has a total of 25 toes, and the vet can feel a bone spur that didn’t develop into #26. The world record for most toes on a cat is 28. So close!
5.
mai naem mobile
@Baud: NPR said the election had a record low turnout and that even though Macron’s party looks like it’s won a bunch of seats, it doesn’t mean national support. I wonder if that means a dispirited extremember right and if we can accomplish the same in this country with the Trumpist Teabaggers.
6.
Baud
@mai naem mobile: I don’t understand why turnout would be low since France has proportional voting, I believe.
Anyway, seats are seats.
7.
Baud
We need a pet parent day.
On the Baud! 2020! Platform.
8.
trollhattan
That’s a hellova speech from JFK, smartly setting up and puncturing the opposition’s framing of the term “liberal” up front. He and BHO really are once-in-a-generation communicators.
9.
Davis X. Machina
@Baud: I’ve been watching Taibbi et al. wrestle with the phenomenon.
Macron’s a non-party outsider. Half the candidates for En Marche have no parliamentary background. That’s good.
But Macron is also resolutely not a leftist — the French left is in pieces on the ground. That’s bad.
What’s the correct line? Life’s so complicated.
10.
bystander
I’ve been following Macron on facebook. I think he learned a lot from Obama and even Clinton, since an overarching theme of his campaign has been moving forward together. I’ve loved Macron since he showed Trump what a prissy French pianist’s grip is like. Also Giscard d’Estaing endorsed him the other day. I didn’t even know he was still alive.
11.
BillCinSD
@Davis X. Machina: is Macron an outsider? He was a bad part of Hollande’s government, but the stink from the policies he pushed settled on Hollande, not on Macron
12.
Aleta
@Baud: I’m picturing the ads for all the wonderful things we can buy for our pets to give us.
13.
Davis X. Machina
@BillCinSD: If people say you’re an outsider, you’re an outsider.
Ask John McCain.
Snowflakes like me would just feel bad when the cats didn’t remember.
16.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes
Been completely kitten-proofing one of the spare bedrooms.
Now to go retrieve the dog from the groomer/boarding, and will start cocktails in anticipation of tonight’s dinner with mom, dad, wife and my oldest daughter.
In a world of fascists, I’m going to go with the non-fascists.
18.
FlipYrWhig
@Davis X. Machina: Notice how all of the people rapturous about Corbyn beating expectations and what that OBVIOUSLY portends for social democracy in America have _nothing_ to say about Macron as a worthy of emulation. And if Ossoff pulls it off neither will they say “we need more Ossoffs!” They are such a tedious bunch of wishful thinking asswipes. The answer is always “people love us and clamor for more of us, because no one is more adored in American politics than touchy, funny-looking dicks.”
19.
SiubhanDuinne
This is interesting. I have a friend who is a restaurant manager, and she just posted this on her FB:
Last night in my restaurant there were campaign workers for Ossoff, probably a rotating party of 20. They were college age kids, so in my standard fashion I asked each one where they attend school. Not one attends a University in the state of Georgia or even the Southeast!! Granted almost every one mentioned was a top tier school. They were from the WestCoast, MidWest, NorthEast to LONDON!!! I couldn’t resist asking the group in summary, So no one is from District 6?” Not even close!!!
I find that extraordinarily encouraging, that a bunch of students from all over the country (and LONDON!!!) are working for the Democratic candidate in the runoff of a special election in an otherwise obscure and predictably GOP Congressional District. Not one of them from here. And I would imagine there are plenty more like them.
Doing my poll-watching volunteering on Tuesday. I live just outside the 6th so can’t vote in this race, but will be part of a big team working to keep things honest and transparent at the voting booth.
20.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s both good and bad. I hope he has significant in-state support as well.
Either way, this race seems interminable. I’m glad it’ll be over soon.
21.
Davis X. Machina
@Baud: The social fascist, one must remember, is the true class enemy.
22.
FlipYrWhig
@SiubhanDuinne: That was what sunk the Dean campaign in Iowa, though…
23.
Baud
@FlipYrWhig: I noticed that too. I don’t have a beef with lefties supporting lefties. It’s when they try to engage in political prognostication based on their subjective political beliefs that it becomes annoying.
24.
Tom
News report: A crowd at the convention of the College Republican National Committee erupted in laughter and applause when featured speaker Caitlyn Jenner joked Friday about the attack on a group of GOP lawmakers, saying: “Liberals can’t even shoot straight.”
I admired Caitlyn (nee Bruce) Jenner when she (he) won the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics. I was sympathetic to her plight when she decided to accept being transgendered. I even attempted to suspend judgment a few years ago when her reckless driving resulted in the death of that 69 year old woman. But after this, I’m done. For those of you who aren’t aware, bullets from military assault rifles are designed to start tumbling when they hit the human body, resulting in injuries so horrific that they can scarcely be believed if you haven’t seen them. I look forward to hearing if Steve Scalise finds this humorous.
And College Republicans – what is the matter with you people??!!
@Tom: They identify as republicans, what can you expect. It also pushes the idea they are the warrior party, liberals are wieners or some such other delusional crap.
@Tom: Jenner, it seems, is an attention seeker…in a few years at the current pace Jenner will be indistinguishable from Coulter, Malkin and the rights other “illuminaries”.
So Caitlyn has decided not to join Ted Nugent on the high road. Sad!
33.
Patricia Kayden
@TaMara (HFG): Including the dads of furry critters. Hope everyone is having a great day. It’s hot as hell here in Southern Maryland but since I live heat, I’m not complaining.
34.
Patricia Kayden
@Tom: So she would have been okay with the “liberal” shooter hitting his targets and thus killing GOP reps? I really don’t get conservative humor at all.
35.
Baud
Oooh. NBC is using a drone to follow a catamaran race. America’s Cup? It’s a cool angle.
That was what sunk the Dean campaign in Iowa, though…
First time I’ve ever heard that (although it is true he had out-of-state support). Dean and Gephardt had both spent so much time in Iowa, and their rivalry turned so nasty, that they ended up hurting each other, and Kerry and Edwards came swooshing in to fill the vacuum. But I just don’t think it’s the case that Dean was “sunk” by virtue of non-Iowa campaign volunteers.
And anyhow, it’s a very, very different kind of race (and 13 years later).
37.
Tom
@Baud: Damn it, Baud! I snorted my lemon lime seltzer water (it doesn’t get any more effete leftist than that) all over my keyboard!
That’s both good and bad. I hope he has significant in-state support as well.
I truly don’t think it matters where his volunteers live or go to school, as long as they manage to get out 50%+1 of the voters in a runoff of a special in GA-6.
Either way, this race seems interminable. I’m glad it’ll be over soon.
Now there I can agree with you wholeheartedly!
40.
amk
If Sekulow is right and Trump isn't under investigation then what's Sekulow's job?— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) June 18, 2017
41.
gene108
In a bit of a dilemma. My mother’s turns 70 this week. She is currently staying with me.
I want to do something for her on the day-of, but I am not sure what to do.
Here are the rules:
1) She is very health conscious (a good thing), so a cake is not something she would want
2) She is vegetarian
3) She does not drink alcohol
I am thinking of taking her out for dinner. There are plenty of places to eat at she would like. But I want to do something a bit more, but I am not sure what.
You know, my sympathy for these people wasn’t particularly high even right after the shooting, but if even they think it’s all a big joke, it’s getting even harder to care.
@Baud: I like the disturbed air overlay. I always tell students it’s about 7-10 times the height of the mast.
45.
Thoughtful David
@sukabi:
Since her coming out a few years ago, Jenner has struck me as someone who is desperately seeking attention. Hence the reality TV show, going showing up as an extreme nutcase, etc. I guess being famous from being an Olympic athlete got into her blood, and she started to feel neglected.
It’s the way I see some of the other Republican tokens, like Clarence Thomas and Michelle Malkin. By going full-metal wingnut they get attention because of their sex, race, orientation. “Sure they hate me, but I get to be on teevee!”
46.
dmsilev
@gene108: Dinner in a nice restaurant that meets her specs plus a concert or theater or something?
47.
FlipYrWhig
@SiubhanDuinne: I was thinking of various stories about how the young orange-hatted volunteers were a bit too visible. But it starts to be difficult to separate fact from fiction…
I picked yesterday afternoon to put in my raised beds. 15 bags of soil, two dozen plants, and one transplanted tree.
I am deeply stupid.
At one point I was doing a self-assessment and decided the dizziness and nausea meant it was time to go into the air conditioning for a while. My wife took one look at my face and said “Sink. Now.”
I’m a bit older than your mother, and I would want you to ask (rather than just have you decide to surprise her). If she enjoys eating out, or if it’s something of a treat to do so, she probably has a favourite restaurant that serves vegetarian choices. And you could probably work it out with the management to have them do a slice of carrot cake for her and present it with a candle.
50.
Baud
@Mike J: I’m a little surprised they allow the on-boat cameras. I’m sure they are light, but I would have guessed every ounce matters.
51.
kd bart
@SiubhanDuinne: Live in the district and have already voted. Can’t wait for the TV ads & mailings to stop.
52.
ruemara
@gene108: You can make two ingredient cookies as a treat. I actually grind the oats to flour or use coconut flour and I don’t bother with bananas after nailing the recipe. I’ve done it with kuri squash and pmpkin spice seasoning, blood orange juice & zest for a banana orange cookie. And I add a bit of baking powder to increase the rise.
You can also make a fresh granita and substitute sparkling water for the alcohol. I also do not use sugar and just go with the best fruit I can buy at peak ripe or a touch overripe for added sweetness. I’ve also based a vegan icecream onpure banana or pumpkin and shaved in chocolate bits, dried cranberries and ginger and cinnamon. To keep the consistency proper, I have to take it out the freezer and “churn” it for aboutan hour, so every 15 mins or so. Scoops reasonably well and my vegan friends love it.
@gene108: Cook her a south Indian meal from scratch. Buy her a silk saree or gold jewelry.
54.
Benjamin Mays
@Elmo:
: We are over on the Northern Neck. So, no, yesterday was not a good garden day. My wife and daughter have some new plants for our garden, but those will go in around 8 tonight. This is Mad Dogs and Englishmen weather.
A caucus is such a different environment. If Dean’s volunteers were all up in everybody’s grille on caucus night, I can see how that would be off-putting. The GA-6 volunteers are either working in boiler rooms, far from the public eye, or are door-knocking in pairs. Either way there wouldn’t be great contingents of them.
But I think in 2004 Dean had already lost so much ground to Kerry and Edwards by the time the caucus came around that the orange-hat brigade wouldn’t have made much difference.
I don’t mean to sound argumentative. This has always been an uphill fight in a district as generally conservative as the 6th, and while I’d very much like to see Ossoff as the newest member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, I won’t be overly surprised if that doesn’t happen. The trend lines are moving in the right direction but it would be terribly naïve to expect everything to suddenly flip.
Though, my B’day’s a few days after her’s, and it is something I’ve always wanted to try…hmmmmm…..
59.
Elmo
@Benjamin Mays: And there I was out in the noonday sun!
60.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne: This has always been an uphill fight in a district as generally conservative as the 6th, and while I’d very much like to see Ossoff as the newest member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, I won’t be overly surprised if that doesn’t happen.
that’s what I’m dreading, anything less than an Ossoff victory, in which the age-old trend of Rs coming home while Ds stay home reasserts itself, and we get another avalanche of “why can’t Democrats win?” chin-strokers from the chinless Chuck Todd, and keening wails of “Establishment betrayal” from those usual suspects. Clinton lost the district by IIRC 3 points, while Price won by over twenty. This still isn’t a swing district, from where I sit– far, far away.
@SiubhanDuinne: Even if Ossoff wins, it’s going to be a tough hold in 2018 when he’s not the only game in town.
64.
Bitter Scribe
What they mean by liberal is “n—-r lover.” That’s all and that’s plenty. It’s what keeps them winning elections despite being utterly, catastrophically wrong about every major policy decision in the last 100 years.
65.
Bitter Scribe
@gene108: Does she like theater or concerts? Why not take her to a show she’d like, even (perhaps especially) if it’s something you wouldn’t ordinarily go to?
66.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
even the Axis of Evil Guy, who wrote a book about Dumbya entitled “The Right Man”, has had enough of this shit
David FrumVerified account
Observation from a recent DC panel event, short thread …
1) Panel featured informed observers discussing highly specific Trump failures.
2) An audience member responded: “This is an Inside-the-Beltway discussion. I just returned from [pro-Trump state]. They still support him!”
3) I reflected: this is such a standard move. Why do we so seldom hear the opposite?
4) “This is a very inside-the-coalfield conversation. I just returned from California – they hate Trump more than ever.”
5) Why do so many casual political observers think it shrewd to note that one-third the country producing one-fifth its wealth think one way
6) And so beside-the-point that two-thirds the country producing four-fifths its wealth think the other way?
7) Maybe we need to reanimate the Beach Boys in order to persuade DC that California not only counts as “real America” but that …
8) As the old saying goes, “California is the America of America” – end –
ETA: Why do so many casual political observers think it shrewd
he’s on to something there, but he’s being way too kind to people he works and appears on TV with. Broderism is, among other things, a willfully simple-minded refusal to look closely at issues, because they’re too complicated and the solutions too hard. This dynamic is at play in the minds of everyone from Chuck Todd and Maureen Dowd, to affluent soi-disant liberal tote-baggers who vote for Rs to “keep the Democrats honest” (in real life to keep their taxes low), to those who stay home or vote third party or… other ways… because “both parties are exactly alike”.
@gene108: Do you have a particular cuisine in mind? Tarla Dalal’s website has excellent Indian vegetarian recipes. Does she like pav bhaji or misal? *
They are both easy to make and delicious.
71.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: If Ossoff wins, I’m sure that’s the excuse the GOP will give for the result.
72.
bystander
@gene108: Gift certificate for a facial or massage?
73.
raven
My sister’s husband is at the end of the line after a 20th year battle with various maladies. He has stage IV esophageal cancer and has been in hospice care for a couple of weeks. Apparently he can’t eat and they are not giving him water because it just extends the agony. It sucks to be so far away but it’s too late to get there in time to make any difference so I’ll just wait for the funeral.
74.
The Lodger
@gene108: A couple of hours of spa services? (Look for a place where she won’t be uncomfortable being the oldest customer.)
Okay. Sorry I snarled at you. I’m just wanting to get through Tuesday, see what the results are, and whatever happens, see what we can learn going into 2018.
@SiubhanDuinne: Whatever you get in California and are under the VA’s care is what he has. He had a traveling nurse before hospice and it turned out she was from Athens. My sis seems thankful for the care but is still struggling with the sheer agony of it all. She has three daughters and they are great so I hope for all their sake it’s soon.
82.
SiubhanDuinne
Nothing harder than seeing someone you love in great distress. I’ll keep the whole family in my heart and mind.
And fuck cancer.
83.
ArchTeryx
@SiubhanDuinne: If there was one class of disease I could wipe from this Earth, it would be cancer.
@raven: I’ve been reading a lot on hospice, etc., amd while it may not mean much refusing food and drink is fairly common and not painful. I hope your bil passes peacefully.
Your Only Sister (YOS) is a new, semi-annual literary art magazine dedicated to amplifying women’s voices and stories of resilience. We expect to publish our first issue in August 2017.
What’s the significance of the name?
YOS was inspired by my grandmother and great-aunt — two independent, resilient women raised by a powerful single mother. Throughout their lives, they have remained connected by words — the casual thoughts they exchange on the phone each night and the more sprawling ideas and stories they send to each other in letters.
90.
Barbara
@Tom: Caitlyn Jenner is making light of a shooting? So that is bad enough but it isn’t even clear that Scalise is completely in the clear, or just how compromised his organs are. I am truly shocked. And they laughed.
91.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: You might post that someone on Nextdoor was looking for extra spare rooms for out of state Handel workers. Both sides and all. I didn’t reply.
@gene108: I can’t recommend cooking tips, but Israeli like Indian cuisine is sometimes vegetarian. Also, if she’s health conscious does she like the outdoors? Is there a nice flat hiking area near water nearby where you live? (Not sure I remember where you’re located). Mass State Reservations has a number of waterside locations, including Ponkapog. Also, you could do a day trip to a place like any outdoor concert venue?
96.
JPL
@raven: I’m so sorry. My brother died of that a few years ago from that, and it’s a difficult situation for the entire family. Thanksgiving was one of his favorite holidays, and before they moved to Talking Rock, they’d travel from Chicago to my house for the feast. So even though he couldn’t eat, the family arrived at his house, and we brought the feast. He was able to dress with help, and sat with us. He died a few days after that.
It’s going to be difficult for your sister,and I am so sorry.
Unless your mom has specifically asked to be surprised, I would just ask her what she wants. You can always add a surprise to the main event that you know she wants to do.
That was what sunk the Dean campaign in Iowa, though…
This is legend, post hoc narrative, not reality. What sank the Dean campaign, apart from it never being as popular as it appeared, was 1) the campaign’s decision to abandon its plan to concede Iowa to Gephardt and win NH. This decision was made too late to build an organization in Iowa which is why the campaign begged for people to travel there, and 2) the decision of every Democrat and the entire press/media to unify in attacking him. Republicans also ran ads against him in Iowa.
One of the shittiest things a party can do is disparage the people who volunteer to work for its candidates.
Broderism is, among other things, a willfully simple-minded refusal to look closely at issues, because they’re too complicated and the solutions too hard.
It’s that, and it’s also the refusal to look too closely at issues because you don’t want to come to a result that’ll upset people (and specifically, the people you’re worried about upsetting). You go on saying “both sides do it” because the alternative is considered uncivil. Broderism has been the conservative half of the country’s participation trophy for three or four decades now.
Of course, it’s also the fact that saying “both sides are just so unreasonable. Why can’t they all just get along?” is the cheapest and easiest way to feel morally superior, like you’re a genius in a land of squabbling children. The appeal is easy to see. It’s not just inside-the-beltway-bubble pundits who do this: I meet ordinary people all the time who say shit like this and think they’ve come to some great insight that would solve the republic if only people would listen.
@raven: Condolences to you, your sis, and her kids. I’m sorry that his time is near, but take some comfort that he does have hospice care and that he won’t be alone.
Both of my grandmothers each had an only sister and no other siblings, and in both cases there were many years of single motherhood for their respective mothers. My own mother had an only sister and no other siblings. (I have one sister and two brothers.)
Especially with the grandmothers’ generation, they would each write to their sister nearly every day — certainly several times a week. Sometimes it would be just a couple of lines to accompany a news clipping or funny drawing or pressed flower; sometimes long multi-page handwritten letters. My mother and aunt also wrote regularly to each other, although far less frequently. And my sister and I? We talk on the phone a couple of times a year.
I know the argument kind of blew up the other day, but my point was supposed to be that it seemed unlikely that a 66-year-old white man in Belleville was a Democrat, not that most people in Belleville (or even most downstaters) are conservatives or Republicans. Downstate is much changed from when I was growing up in Lake County and it was solidly Republican (as was Lake County at the time).
The point was also that left-libertarians and right-libertarians have a lot more overlap in the racism/misogyny/xenophobia realm than some people on the left are willing to admit. He could have had left-libertarian beliefs like reforming the tax code, being anti-corporate and anti-Wall Street, etc. without being a Democrat.
107.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: I left you a comment at 91..
Nextdoor is a social forum for neighborhoods.
108.
stinger
@raven: This was my mother, a few months ago, and at this point withholding water is actually humane. Best thoughts to you all.
Also, too, if you can, call your sister and ask what you can do for her long-distance. Has she already gotten in touch with a funeral home to make arrangements, or can you do that for her? Stuff like that.
It was very weird for me, the youngest, to be put in charge of paying for the funeral and being the contact for the funeral home, but it had to be done. My mom made most of the decisions and I carried them out. You and/or your bride may be able to do some practical stuff like that for your sister.
My cousin, first member of “my generation” died from that very malady, back in 06 or 07. He was evidently comfortable most all the way through, which is a blessing. 90 days from diagnosis to death, home hospice the whole time.
I drove up to Columbus where he lived, with a big squad of grandkids and GGrandkids with my only cousin still here in WV one day, October, rainy weather.
Lou told us towards the end of our visit that he didn’t regret anything he had ever done, but that he regretted the things he hadn’t done. So that was something to think about for me. I retired 4 days after I qualified for retirement, because I knew I wouldn’t regret that. We travel some, which we enjoy. Dog and cat refuge, which everyone enjoys.
ETA: Obviously sorry for you BIL’s condition. Hope the VA is doing a good job for him. My dad’s Hospice people stopped giving him water towards his end too. Was peaceful.
TaMara (HFG)
Happy father’s to all the dads here. I’m back out to the garden.
Baud
This is interesting. (WaPo)
Baud
And Happy Dad Day.
Central Planning
Thanks for the father’s day wishes, and Happy Father’s Day to all the other dad’s out there.
Fun fact for our polydactyl cat – the cat has a total of 25 toes, and the vet can feel a bone spur that didn’t develop into #26. The world record for most toes on a cat is 28. So close!
mai naem mobile
@Baud: NPR said the election had a record low turnout and that even though Macron’s party looks like it’s won a bunch of seats, it doesn’t mean national support. I wonder if that means a dispirited extremember right and if we can accomplish the same in this country with the Trumpist Teabaggers.
Baud
@mai naem mobile: I don’t understand why turnout would be low since France has proportional voting, I believe.
Anyway, seats are seats.
Baud
We need a pet parent day.
On the Baud! 2020! Platform.
trollhattan
That’s a hellova speech from JFK, smartly setting up and puncturing the opposition’s framing of the term “liberal” up front. He and BHO really are once-in-a-generation communicators.
Davis X. Machina
@Baud: I’ve been watching Taibbi et al. wrestle with the phenomenon.
Macron’s a non-party outsider. Half the candidates for En Marche have no parliamentary background. That’s good.
But Macron is also resolutely not a leftist — the French left is in pieces on the ground. That’s bad.
What’s the correct line? Life’s so complicated.
bystander
I’ve been following Macron on facebook. I think he learned a lot from Obama and even Clinton, since an overarching theme of his campaign has been moving forward together. I’ve loved Macron since he showed Trump what a prissy French pianist’s grip is like. Also Giscard d’Estaing endorsed him the other day. I didn’t even know he was still alive.
BillCinSD
@Davis X. Machina: is Macron an outsider? He was a bad part of Hollande’s government, but the stink from the policies he pushed settled on Hollande, not on Macron
Aleta
@Baud: I’m picturing the ads for all the wonderful things we can buy for our pets to give us.
Davis X. Machina
@BillCinSD: If people say you’re an outsider, you’re an outsider.
Ask John McCain.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@BillCinSD: This is part of Davis’ typical sarcasm.
Aleta
@Baud:
Snowflakes like me would just feel bad when the cats didn’t remember.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes
Been completely kitten-proofing one of the spare bedrooms.
Now to go retrieve the dog from the groomer/boarding, and will start cocktails in anticipation of tonight’s dinner with mom, dad, wife and my oldest daughter.
Baud
@Davis X. Machina:
In a world of fascists, I’m going to go with the non-fascists.
FlipYrWhig
@Davis X. Machina: Notice how all of the people rapturous about Corbyn beating expectations and what that OBVIOUSLY portends for social democracy in America have _nothing_ to say about Macron as a worthy of emulation. And if Ossoff pulls it off neither will they say “we need more Ossoffs!” They are such a tedious bunch of wishful thinking asswipes. The answer is always “people love us and clamor for more of us, because no one is more adored in American politics than touchy, funny-looking dicks.”
SiubhanDuinne
This is interesting. I have a friend who is a restaurant manager, and she just posted this on her FB:
I find that extraordinarily encouraging, that a bunch of students from all over the country (and LONDON!!!) are working for the Democratic candidate in the runoff of a special election in an otherwise obscure and predictably GOP Congressional District. Not one of them from here. And I would imagine there are plenty more like them.
Doing my poll-watching volunteering on Tuesday. I live just outside the 6th so can’t vote in this race, but will be part of a big team working to keep things honest and transparent at the voting booth.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s both good and bad. I hope he has significant in-state support as well.
Either way, this race seems interminable. I’m glad it’ll be over soon.
Davis X. Machina
@Baud: The social fascist, one must remember, is the true class enemy.
FlipYrWhig
@SiubhanDuinne: That was what sunk the Dean campaign in Iowa, though…
Baud
@FlipYrWhig: I noticed that too. I don’t have a beef with lefties supporting lefties. It’s when they try to engage in political prognostication based on their subjective political beliefs that it becomes annoying.
Tom
News report: A crowd at the convention of the College Republican National Committee erupted in laughter and applause when featured speaker Caitlyn Jenner joked Friday about the attack on a group of GOP lawmakers, saying: “Liberals can’t even shoot straight.”
I admired Caitlyn (nee Bruce) Jenner when she (he) won the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics. I was sympathetic to her plight when she decided to accept being transgendered. I even attempted to suspend judgment a few years ago when her reckless driving resulted in the death of that 69 year old woman. But after this, I’m done. For those of you who aren’t aware, bullets from military assault rifles are designed to start tumbling when they hit the human body, resulting in injuries so horrific that they can scarcely be believed if you haven’t seen them. I look forward to hearing if Steve Scalise finds this humorous.
And College Republicans – what is the matter with you people??!!
Baud
@Davis X. Machina:
What’s that? A fascist that likes to party?
FlipYrWhig
@Baud: A/k/a, d/b/a, pundit’s fallacy.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@Baud: Link.
Mike R
@Tom: They identify as republicans, what can you expect. It also pushes the idea they are the warrior party, liberals are wieners or some such other delusional crap.
Baud
@FlipYrWhig:
Wait, they only have one fallacy?!
Baud
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Thank you.
sukabi
@Tom: Jenner, it seems, is an attention seeker…in a few years at the current pace Jenner will be indistinguishable from Coulter, Malkin and the rights other “illuminaries”.
Baud
@Tom:
So Caitlyn has decided not to join Ted Nugent on the high road. Sad!
Patricia Kayden
@TaMara (HFG): Including the dads of furry critters. Hope everyone is having a great day. It’s hot as hell here in Southern Maryland but since I live heat, I’m not complaining.
Patricia Kayden
@Tom: So she would have been okay with the “liberal” shooter hitting his targets and thus killing GOP reps? I really don’t get conservative humor at all.
Baud
Oooh. NBC is using a drone to follow a catamaran race. America’s Cup? It’s a cool angle.
SiubhanDuinne
@FlipYrWhig:
First time I’ve ever heard that (although it is true he had out-of-state support). Dean and Gephardt had both spent so much time in Iowa, and their rivalry turned so nasty, that they ended up hurting each other, and Kerry and Edwards came swooshing in to fill the vacuum. But I just don’t think it’s the case that Dean was “sunk” by virtue of non-Iowa campaign volunteers.
And anyhow, it’s a very, very different kind of race (and 13 years later).
Tom
@Baud: Damn it, Baud! I snorted my lemon lime seltzer water (it doesn’t get any more effete leftist than that) all over my keyboard!
Mnemosyne
@Davis X. Machina:
Hell, ask George W. Bush, the “outsider” candidate from Texas.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
I truly don’t think it matters where his volunteers live or go to school, as long as they manage to get out 50%+1 of the voters in a runoff of a special in GA-6.
Now there I can agree with you wholeheartedly!
amk
gene108
In a bit of a dilemma. My mother’s turns 70 this week. She is currently staying with me.
I want to do something for her on the day-of, but I am not sure what to do.
Here are the rules:
1) She is very health conscious (a good thing), so a cake is not something she would want
2) She is vegetarian
3) She does not drink alcohol
I am thinking of taking her out for dinner. There are plenty of places to eat at she would like. But I want to do something a bit more, but I am not sure what.
Chris
@Tom:
You know, my sympathy for these people wasn’t particularly high even right after the shooting, but if even they think it’s all a big joke, it’s getting even harder to care.
Baud
@gene108: Skydiving?
Mike J
@Baud: I like the disturbed air overlay. I always tell students it’s about 7-10 times the height of the mast.
Thoughtful David
@sukabi:
Since her coming out a few years ago, Jenner has struck me as someone who is desperately seeking attention. Hence the reality TV show, going showing up as an extreme nutcase, etc. I guess being famous from being an Olympic athlete got into her blood, and she started to feel neglected.
It’s the way I see some of the other Republican tokens, like Clarence Thomas and Michelle Malkin. By going full-metal wingnut they get attention because of their sex, race, orientation. “Sure they hate me, but I get to be on teevee!”
dmsilev
@gene108: Dinner in a nice restaurant that meets her specs plus a concert or theater or something?
FlipYrWhig
@SiubhanDuinne: I was thinking of various stories about how the young orange-hatted volunteers were a bit too visible. But it starts to be difficult to separate fact from fiction…
Elmo
@Patricia Kayden: Howdy, neighbor.
I picked yesterday afternoon to put in my raised beds. 15 bags of soil, two dozen plants, and one transplanted tree.
I am deeply stupid.
At one point I was doing a self-assessment and decided the dizziness and nausea meant it was time to go into the air conditioning for a while. My wife took one look at my face and said “Sink. Now.”
SiubhanDuinne
@gene108:
I’m a bit older than your mother, and I would want you to ask (rather than just have you decide to surprise her). If she enjoys eating out, or if it’s something of a treat to do so, she probably has a favourite restaurant that serves vegetarian choices. And you could probably work it out with the management to have them do a slice of carrot cake for her and present it with a candle.
Baud
@Mike J: I’m a little surprised they allow the on-boat cameras. I’m sure they are light, but I would have guessed every ounce matters.
kd bart
@SiubhanDuinne: Live in the district and have already voted. Can’t wait for the TV ads & mailings to stop.
ruemara
@gene108: You can make two ingredient cookies as a treat. I actually grind the oats to flour or use coconut flour and I don’t bother with bananas after nailing the recipe. I’ve done it with kuri squash and pmpkin spice seasoning, blood orange juice & zest for a banana orange cookie. And I add a bit of baking powder to increase the rise.
You can also make a fresh granita and substitute sparkling water for the alcohol. I also do not use sugar and just go with the best fruit I can buy at peak ripe or a touch overripe for added sweetness. I’ve also based a vegan icecream onpure banana or pumpkin and shaved in chocolate bits, dried cranberries and ginger and cinnamon. To keep the consistency proper, I have to take it out the freezer and “churn” it for aboutan hour, so every 15 mins or so. Scoops reasonably well and my vegan friends love it.
schrodingers_cat
@gene108: Cook her a south Indian meal from scratch. Buy her a silk saree or gold jewelry.
Benjamin Mays
@Elmo:
: We are over on the Northern Neck. So, no, yesterday was not a good garden day. My wife and daughter have some new plants for our garden, but those will go in around 8 tonight. This is Mad Dogs and Englishmen weather.
SiubhanDuinne
@FlipYrWhig:
A caucus is such a different environment. If Dean’s volunteers were all up in everybody’s grille on caucus night, I can see how that would be off-putting. The GA-6 volunteers are either working in boiler rooms, far from the public eye, or are door-knocking in pairs. Either way there wouldn’t be great contingents of them.
But I think in 2004 Dean had already lost so much ground to Kerry and Edwards by the time the caucus came around that the orange-hat brigade wouldn’t have made much difference.
I don’t mean to sound argumentative. This has always been an uphill fight in a district as generally conservative as the 6th, and while I’d very much like to see Ossoff as the newest member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, I won’t be overly surprised if that doesn’t happen. The trend lines are moving in the right direction but it would be terribly naïve to expect everything to suddenly flip.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: We all have our fingers crossed.
SiubhanDuinne
@kd bart:
Glad to hear you early-voted! Agree about the ads, although I’ve been spared most of them. But I hear things….
gene108
@Baud:
Not really in her wheel house…
Though, my B’day’s a few days after her’s, and it is something I’ve always wanted to try…hmmmmm…..
Elmo
@Benjamin Mays: And there I was out in the noonday sun!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
that’s what I’m dreading, anything less than an Ossoff victory, in which the age-old trend of Rs coming home while Ds stay home reasserts itself, and we get another avalanche of “why can’t Democrats win?” chin-strokers from the chinless Chuck Todd, and keening wails of “Establishment betrayal” from those usual suspects. Clinton lost the district by IIRC 3 points, while Price won by over twenty. This still isn’t a swing district, from where I sit– far, far away.
Mr Stagger Lee
RIP Flounder, thank you for making us laugh.
gene108
@schrodingers_cat:
Cooking her a meal has been on my mind. I need to make it something she would not normally cook, but would want to eat.
She has enough saris and doesn’t wear much jewelry.
@dmsilev:
Movie night might be good a good idea
@ruemara:
Links look interesting.
kd bart
@SiubhanDuinne: Even if Ossoff wins, it’s going to be a tough hold in 2018 when he’s not the only game in town.
Bitter Scribe
What they mean by liberal is “n—-r lover.” That’s all and that’s plenty. It’s what keeps them winning elections despite being utterly, catastrophically wrong about every major policy decision in the last 100 years.
Bitter Scribe
@gene108: Does she like theater or concerts? Why not take her to a show she’d like, even (perhaps especially) if it’s something you wouldn’t ordinarily go to?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
even the Axis of Evil Guy, who wrote a book about Dumbya entitled “The Right Man”, has had enough of this shit
ETA: Why do so many casual political observers think it shrewd
he’s on to something there, but he’s being way too kind to people he works and appears on TV with. Broderism is, among other things, a willfully simple-minded refusal to look closely at issues, because they’re too complicated and the solutions too hard. This dynamic is at play in the minds of everyone from Chuck Todd and Maureen Dowd, to affluent soi-disant liberal tote-baggers who vote for Rs to “keep the Democrats honest” (in real life to keep their taxes low), to those who stay home or vote third party or… other ways… because “both parties are exactly alike”.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Yeah, like that’s gonna help. I was counting on you for some good old-fashioned early-and-often voter fraud.
SiubhanDuinne
@kd bart:
So I guess we shouldn’t even bother now?
sukabi
@gene108: does she like movies or plays? How about music, is there somewhere that is having a concert that she might like…
Or, you could reminder her she’s still got a lot of life left and take her to a Chippendales type show.?
schrodingers_cat
@gene108: Do you have a particular cuisine in mind? Tarla Dalal’s website has excellent Indian vegetarian recipes. Does she like pav bhaji or misal? *
They are both easy to make and delicious.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: If Ossoff wins, I’m sure that’s the excuse the GOP will give for the result.
bystander
@gene108: Gift certificate for a facial or massage?
raven
My sister’s husband is at the end of the line after a 20th year battle with various maladies. He has stage IV esophageal cancer and has been in hospice care for a couple of weeks. Apparently he can’t eat and they are not giving him water because it just extends the agony. It sucks to be so far away but it’s too late to get there in time to make any difference so I’ll just wait for the funeral.
The Lodger
@gene108: A couple of hours of spa services? (Look for a place where she won’t be uncomfortable being the oldest customer.)
Baud
@raven: I’m sorry, raven.
raven
@Baud: Shit doesn’t seem very humane but there is no plug to pull so I guess they just wait.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I’m so sorry. I hope his end is swift and gentle. Please keep us updated.
kd bart
@SiubhanDuinne: Not saying that. His win sends a message for 2018 but it still will be a tough hold in 2018.
SiubhanDuinne
@kd bart:
Okay. Sorry I snarled at you. I’m just wanting to get through Tuesday, see what the results are, and whatever happens, see what we can learn going into 2018.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I hope at least he has the best palliative care.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Whatever you get in California and are under the VA’s care is what he has. He had a traveling nurse before hospice and it turned out she was from Athens. My sis seems thankful for the care but is still struggling with the sheer agony of it all. She has three daughters and they are great so I hope for all their sake it’s soon.
SiubhanDuinne
Nothing harder than seeing someone you love in great distress. I’ll keep the whole family in my heart and mind.
And fuck cancer.
ArchTeryx
@SiubhanDuinne: If there was one class of disease I could wipe from this Earth, it would be cancer.
Hal
Wow. Alex Jones is 43?!?!
https://twitter.com/SimonMaloy/status/876499474717315077
SiubhanDuinne
@ArchTeryx:
I suspect a lot of us are right with you on that.
Ruviana
@raven: I’ve been reading a lot on hospice, etc., amd while it may not mean much refusing food and drink is fairly common and not painful. I hope your bil passes peacefully.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@raven: My condolences to you.
MomSense
@raven:
So sorry, Raven.
raven
From a young friend of mine looking for submissions.
Your Only Sister (YOS) is a new, semi-annual literary art magazine dedicated to amplifying women’s voices and stories of resilience. We expect to publish our first issue in August 2017.
What’s the significance of the name?
YOS was inspired by my grandmother and great-aunt — two independent, resilient women raised by a powerful single mother. Throughout their lives, they have remained connected by words — the casual thoughts they exchange on the phone each night and the more sprawling ideas and stories they send to each other in letters.
Barbara
@Tom: Caitlyn Jenner is making light of a shooting? So that is bad enough but it isn’t even clear that Scalise is completely in the clear, or just how compromised his organs are. I am truly shocked. And they laughed.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: You might post that someone on Nextdoor was looking for extra spare rooms for out of state Handel workers. Both sides and all. I didn’t reply.
Barbara
@gene108: Spa visit? Formal portrait?
Barbara
@Benjamin Mays: My hubbie grew up on the NN and does not mind the swampy humidity. It makes me want to cry.
MomSense
@gene108:
Any nice museums near you?
Tenar Arha
@gene108: I can’t recommend cooking tips, but Israeli like Indian cuisine is sometimes vegetarian. Also, if she’s health conscious does she like the outdoors? Is there a nice flat hiking area near water nearby where you live? (Not sure I remember where you’re located). Mass State Reservations has a number of waterside locations, including Ponkapog. Also, you could do a day trip to a place like any outdoor concert venue?
JPL
@raven: I’m so sorry. My brother died of that a few years ago from that, and it’s a difficult situation for the entire family. Thanksgiving was one of his favorite holidays, and before they moved to Talking Rock, they’d travel from Chicago to my house for the feast. So even though he couldn’t eat, the family arrived at his house, and we brought the feast. He was able to dress with help, and sat with us. He died a few days after that.
It’s going to be difficult for your sister,and I am so sorry.
Mnemosyne
@Hal:
When you’re that ugly on the inside for long enough, it starts to show on the outside.
Mnemosyne
@raven:
Is it home hospice or is he at a hospice facility? The biggest home hospice company in So Cal is called Vitas, IIRC.
I’m sorry that your sister and family are having to deal with this. I know exactly hard it is.
Mnemosyne
@gene108:
Unless your mom has specifically asked to be surprised, I would just ask her what she wants. You can always add a surprise to the main event that you know she wants to do.
James Powell
@FlipYrWhig:
This is legend, post hoc narrative, not reality. What sank the Dean campaign, apart from it never being as popular as it appeared, was 1) the campaign’s decision to abandon its plan to concede Iowa to Gephardt and win NH. This decision was made too late to build an organization in Iowa which is why the campaign begged for people to travel there, and 2) the decision of every Democrat and the entire press/media to unify in attacking him. Republicans also ran ads against him in Iowa.
One of the shittiest things a party can do is disparage the people who volunteer to work for its candidates.
Chris
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s that, and it’s also the refusal to look too closely at issues because you don’t want to come to a result that’ll upset people (and specifically, the people you’re worried about upsetting). You go on saying “both sides do it” because the alternative is considered uncivil. Broderism has been the conservative half of the country’s participation trophy for three or four decades now.
Of course, it’s also the fact that saying “both sides are just so unreasonable. Why can’t they all just get along?” is the cheapest and easiest way to feel morally superior, like you’re a genius in a land of squabbling children. The appeal is easy to see. It’s not just inside-the-beltway-bubble pundits who do this: I meet ordinary people all the time who say shit like this and think they’ve come to some great insight that would solve the republic if only people would listen.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hal:
I would have guessed that he was at least in his 60s!
Quinerly
Background piece on the shooter. Seems he wasn’t involved in Dem politics in Belleville: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/us/virginia-shooting-james-hodgkinson-illinois.html?referer=
Another Scott
@raven: Condolences to you, your sis, and her kids. I’m sorry that his time is near, but take some comfort that he does have hospice care and that he won’t be alone.
Take care.
Best wishes,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Both of my grandmothers each had an only sister and no other siblings, and in both cases there were many years of single motherhood for their respective mothers. My own mother had an only sister and no other siblings. (I have one sister and two brothers.)
Especially with the grandmothers’ generation, they would each write to their sister nearly every day — certainly several times a week. Sometimes it would be just a couple of lines to accompany a news clipping or funny drawing or pressed flower; sometimes long multi-page handwritten letters. My mother and aunt also wrote regularly to each other, although far less frequently. And my sister and I? We talk on the phone a couple of times a year.
Mnemosyne
@Quinerly:
I know the argument kind of blew up the other day, but my point was supposed to be that it seemed unlikely that a 66-year-old white man in Belleville was a Democrat, not that most people in Belleville (or even most downstaters) are conservatives or Republicans. Downstate is much changed from when I was growing up in Lake County and it was solidly Republican (as was Lake County at the time).
The point was also that left-libertarians and right-libertarians have a lot more overlap in the racism/misogyny/xenophobia realm than some people on the left are willing to admit. He could have had left-libertarian beliefs like reforming the tax code, being anti-corporate and anti-Wall Street, etc. without being a Democrat.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: I left you a comment at 91..
Nextdoor is a social forum for neighborhoods.
stinger
@raven: This was my mother, a few months ago, and at this point withholding water is actually humane. Best thoughts to you all.
Mnemosyne
@raven:
Also, too, if you can, call your sister and ask what you can do for her long-distance. Has she already gotten in touch with a funeral home to make arrangements, or can you do that for her? Stuff like that.
It was very weird for me, the youngest, to be put in charge of paying for the funeral and being the contact for the funeral home, but it had to be done. My mom made most of the decisions and I carried them out. You and/or your bride may be able to do some practical stuff like that for your sister.
J R in WV
@raven:
My cousin, first member of “my generation” died from that very malady, back in 06 or 07. He was evidently comfortable most all the way through, which is a blessing. 90 days from diagnosis to death, home hospice the whole time.
I drove up to Columbus where he lived, with a big squad of grandkids and GGrandkids with my only cousin still here in WV one day, October, rainy weather.
Lou told us towards the end of our visit that he didn’t regret anything he had ever done, but that he regretted the things he hadn’t done. So that was something to think about for me. I retired 4 days after I qualified for retirement, because I knew I wouldn’t regret that. We travel some, which we enjoy. Dog and cat refuge, which everyone enjoys.
ETA: Obviously sorry for you BIL’s condition. Hope the VA is doing a good job for him. My dad’s Hospice people stopped giving him water towards his end too. Was peaceful.
HeleninEire
@raven: So sorry.
gene108
@The Lodger:
I like the spa idea. Thanks.