The Etsy primary (# of fan-made products):
Warren: 1,803
O'Rourke: 708
Harris: 651
Booker: 196
Biden: 189
Gillibrand: 48
Castro: 40
Klobuchar: 20
Buttigieg: 13 pic.twitter.com/WGR3kH3OKx— ryan teague beckwith (@ryanbeckwith) February 11, 2019
I have no idea what the Bernistas are doing, and after the last time (remember the sequinned granny panties?) I’m not gonna go looking, either.
Speaking of creative numbers, intrepid Canandian reporter Daniel Dale checked out the Liar-in-Chief’s El Paso rally…
(Really regretting my decision to watch this rather than the Raptors game)
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 12, 2019
As almost always, Trump was lying about his crowd size… https://t.co/WDv7CEB0U7
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 12, 2019
…Trump was also lying about the O'Rourke event, which he pegged at a maximum of 300 people… https://t.co/Bo8t2gPrZY
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 12, 2019
…and Trump was lying about the number of people watching the rally on screens outside. That is a crowd size liefecta. https://t.co/bD54snuHGv
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 12, 2019
.
Anyone who’s actually got a twitter account, feel free to share this:
Please, whatever you do, do not share this with @realDonaldTrump but @BarackObama has been named the most admired man in America for the 11th year in a row. https://t.co/LAXkGyRUZR #ThanksObama
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) February 9, 2019
Mary G
You know that’s sticking in Twitler’s craw. “If they didn’t print soooo much Fake News, I would be the favorite, not the black guy who was totally born in Africa.”
OzarkHillbilly
Blech.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Etsy is rigged!
OzarkHillbilly
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Where do you find the Hillary #s?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Massive crowds for Beto
(Photo #1)
(Photo #2)
(Photo #3)
OzarkHillbilly
All the #s from Gallup:
Most Admired Woman
Michelle Obama 15
Oprah Winfrey 5
Hillary Clinton 4
Melania Trump 4
Queen Elizabeth 2
Angela Merkel 2
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2
Ellen DeGeneres 2
Nikki Haley 1
Malala Yousafzai 1
Nancy Pelosi 1
Most Admired Man
Barack Obama 19
Donald Trump 13
George W. Bush 2
Pope Francis 2
Bill Gates 1
Bernie Sanders 1
Bill Clinton 1
Dalai Lama 1
Joe Biden 1
Elon Musk 1
Mike Pence 1
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Speaking of Michelle,
This was only the hardback sales and did not include the millions of ebooks and audio books also purchased.
Patricia Kayden
The Obamas are warm, compassionate, decent human beings. Such a stark contrast to the garbage currently occupying the White House. Thank goodness for Mueller and the mid term elections for putting a thorn in Trump’s presidency.
geg6
I may have imagined this as it was a quick clip I heard when I was getting out of bed, but I think Trump was mocking the idea that you’d have a dog. Derisively saying something like well, Obama had a dog, so…
Are they really going to go anti-dog? Seriously?
Patricia Kayden
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Good on Beto for even holding a counter rally. Nice to see such a huge anti-Trump crowd.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@OzarkHillbilly: I tried to find it, but their catalog is down, right now.
Patricia Kayden
@geg6: I can’t remember who Trump insulted with a comment that he or she “was fired like a dog” but I gather that he doesn’t care for dogs.
geg6
@Patricia Kayden:
But the crowd was shouting with glee at the idea that having a dog was bad. Surely some Trumpers have pets they love?
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@geg6: there was some television report on how he’s the first president not to have a dog in 120 years and of course he’s so thin skinned he has to rant about it.
geg6
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Maybe that’s what set him off. It just caught my attention and I was so puzzled and kind of upset by it. Didn’t see the context, so perhaps he had a point but just was weird, even for him.
Kay
I think they’re reaching the point where they have to actively cover Trump excessively, to make up for flagging interest.
He’s a bore. He says the same things at all these rallies. Even his insults are boring. He was chanting “lock her up” yesterday. Two solid years of the same tired lines. It doesn’t even shock anyone any more. He can’t even get a negative reaction.
I’m hoping the Trump-whisperer reporters start seeing slipping market share. There’s something desperate about the coverage- “wait ’till you hear what he said this time!” except it’s all the same.
Reality shows change the cast members every season because they’d be an absolute fucking bore if they didn’t. Team Trump has been cycling thru the 2016 season f or almost 3 years. The one and only reason the shut down drama was at all interesting was Democrats took the House and Pelosi added some interest. I was grateful Democrats took the House just because I would see someone else on tv other than Donald Trump and his tiny group of low quality hires.
JPL
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Trust me, we don’t want trump to own a dog.
OzarkHillbilly
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: You mean they finally “locked her up”?
@Patricia Kayden: He’s a germaphobe. Hell for him is being locked in a room with a bull mastiff.
Kay
“Donald Trump gave another speech where he lied constantly, stoked phony outrage over imagined incidents and insulted people”
Year Three. I guess the question is if Americans watch this shitty, low quality depressing reality show for another season, or if they just stop tuning in. They’ll have it shoved in their faces! It’s an actual business model now and a small group of people are making a lot of money on it. They’ll have to actively turn away.
The only thing that will stop it is if it’s stops producing revenue for the tiny (and powerful) group of people who benefit from it.
OzarkHillbilly
Nothing like trying to kill an emerging economic engine to broaden a partiy’s base, not to mention donations.
eta: I should state that analysts see *“It’s an optimistic report despite the fact we’re seeing job declines over the past two years,” said Andrea Luecke, CEO of The Solar Foundation. “That’s because the macro-picture since we first started tracking solar jobs in 2010 has exploded.”*
Chyron HR
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yes, but much like the Democratic primary, the results were “skewed” by letting too many black people vote.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
They are building a huge solar plant outside Toledo.
The contractor who are building it got the job based partly on the fact that THEY, the contractor, converted to solar. Their headquarters is solar. They want to be the go-to for those plants and also conversions. They’re huge themselves so they’re making a big bet. It’s so funny how it’s still treated as “alternative” when it’s so mainstream now :)
Kay
Schools closed again because we had a huge ice storm over night. I heard the ice hitting the windows. I don’t mind driving in snow but I hate ice, so February and March are worse winter weather than January.
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly: From the end of that article:
@Kay: That is good to hear. They note that most of the layoffs have occured in states where solar is well established (CA, AZ, MA) but that it is still growing in others (FL, TX, IL). The main impact of trump uncertainty has been on large installations for utilities and such. My pig farming buddy just went fully solar recently. I hope to be able to as well.
TS (the original)
How can trump get voted #2 – I find this quite scary – despite all that is known,, has happened, people admire him??
NotMax
@Kay
Some of us still consider touch tone phoning an alternative technology.
;)
OzarkHillbilly
For once I hope this idiot soon has a meeting with old friends Sam and Ella.
He probably thinks dropping babies on their heads inoculates them against concussions because it didn’t hurt him any.
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
One of my roommates in college, named Sam, actually did end up marrying a woman named Ella.
Coming up next on FOX, discussion of whether the whole Hiroshima and Nagasaki thing was a hoax, since Hegseth insists he cannot see atoms.
;)
David Evans
@Patricia Kayden: Muslims don’t like dogs. Suspicious, no?
BR
Looks like Etsy is matching my personal preference pretty well, at least in terms of the top three.
OzarkHillbilly
@TS (the original): The 27% always will.
BR
@BR:
I should have added — it seems like Warren should just call out that any other candidate would go ask a political consultant how to spin the various stupid media reports, but that she’s just responding straight up, like a person would. Maybe not the best strategy now, but it’s better than folks wondering if she’s too easily baited into stupid fights about nonsense issues.
Immanentize
@Kay:
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly:
I have solar on my house now and even in the winter, it is covering 85% of my electric usage. And, in the next couple of months, I am having a battery wall installed which should carry me through just about everything. The question then is — do I convert my heat from natural gas to electric?
NotMax
@Immanentize
¿Por qué no los dos?
Immanentize
@TS (the original):
I think people freeped the poll.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Immanentize
@NotMax:
Sadly that will probably the result.
I think you will get the fire from Kilauea. I will get the ice from the vortex.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I think that would depend on how long before it paid for itself.
Tenar Arha
@geg6: Daniel Dale has a summary of what he said.
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: Good morning, rikyrah. It’s pouring in Richmond.
Really love this weather when I don’t have to go out in it.
debbie
I was following Dale’s feed last night. How does he post so quickly with such command of both facts and the entirety of Trump’s past statements? It was truly awesome.
Elizabelle
@Tenar Arha: I do not think any dog should be subjected to Donald Trump.
But: aren’t dogs one of the few sources of unconditional love? Not surprising, somehow, he never figured that out. He would have a dog following him from room to room, bathrooms too, and cannot get enough of his company. Never upstages him with wit, either. Dog could even be blonde.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Ice????
Scared of it something fierce.
Be safe, Kay
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
I think it was a good bet, to be first. “GEM” is the electrical contracting arm of Rudolph Libbe and they’re considered good employers. You notice non-profits took the risk first though- the National Guard and a university. The first wind turbine I ever saw here was at a university. It was 15 years before anyone did them commercially, and now they’re all over the place. I do think people downplay the turbines effect on a place though- they are HUGE and acres of them absolutely dominate a flat landscape.
OzarkHillbilly
@Tenar Arha:
Besides, wouldn’t that be a little redundant?
(i know, that’s an insult to dogs everywhere)
Kay
@rikyrah:
I just drove to work at 25 miles an hour in a 35.
You just have to bear up under the pressure of men in pickup trucks tailgating. Stand firm! :)
I’m right! It’s 25 MPH weather. I’ll let them know when it’s safe to drive their usual 10 miles over the speed limit.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
debbie
@Tenar Arha:
Did he even think for a nanosecond it be might be a good thing for Barron to have a dog?
NotMax
@Tenar Aha
He left out the unspoken intimation that Obama was a lazy slacker who wasted time on a dog.
Also too, calling German shepherds old-fashioned? The breed is barely over a century old, newer than telephones or electrification.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
It’s hard to find a place in Iowa without one.
Baud
John Delaney isn’t going to get 1% of the vote, but this Vox interview about his health care plan is revealing about the politics of health reform.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Colbert had a bit last night where someone is selling used Kleenex and pimping them as a way to build immunity.
ETA: Link: http://www.fox5atlanta.com/facebook-instant/company-sells-80-used-tissues-claims-to-help-prepare-people-for-flu-season
Just One More Canuck
@NotMax: two of the girls on my daughter’s soccer team are named Sam and Ella
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: The last time I drove in such weather, I ended up doing 55 mph while upside down. Lucky I didn’t get killed. Never again. No job is worth dying over.
Baud
Baud
Elizabelle
@Kay: I was driving through the mountains near Las Vegas a few years ago. At night, just after Christmas. Noticed from onboard thermometer it was just about freezing. Pickup trucks and SUVs flying past me, annoyed I was in their way.
Caught up with them, spun out in ditches, not far ahead. Photographed the ice on the road, while I was stopped. And then the police closed the road just after I had passed through. Eeriest feeling ever: I was the last car on the road for the miles and miles of highway to Las Vegas. Never another set of headlights behind me. You can see for 15 miles or so there, easily.
People do not treat the weather and particularly ice with the respect it deserves.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax:
He lost that bet. Nowadays to have a GS without the lowslung hindquarters is apostasy. Never mind that it leads to hip dysplasia.
Elizabelle
FWIW, that’s a bad etsy likeness of Elizabeth Warren. Who is blonde.
It looks more like the late and great Wilma Mankiller, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Was that the point?
Betty Cracker
Posted this on Twitter yesterday.
The MAGA chuds changed their WiFi to this over the weekend and put up a giant Trump 2020 sign in their back yard facing my house. Luckily, there’s a swamp between us, so it’s mostly obscured by trees and not right in my face, but still!
We don’t socialize with these neighbors and haven’t discussed politics with anyone around here. We don’t have stickers on our vehicles to indicate our political preferences. But it’s possible they overheard us raking Trump over the coals or something. Or looked us up online and learned we’re registered Democrats. Or maybe this has nothing to do with us at all. That’s my husband’s belief — he thinks they’re just gearing up for 2020 and that I’m paranoid to believe it’s directed at us.
He also says I should ignore the WiFi thing. You’d think the man hadn’t lived with me for a quarter of a century! Of course I’m changing our fucking WiFi name! The only question is, to what?
Thought y’all who aren’t on the Twitter might have some ideas to throw in. “ThePeeTapeIsReal” and “TrumpIsASentientWhoopeeCushion” are my front-runners so far. More ideas welcome!
satby
Ice storm overnight that’s turning to rain in a few minutes according to accuweather. Everything had a skim of ice outside, and the wind made the trees crackle. Kind of cool, but I’m not driving until the temperature is above freezing in a couple of hours.
satby
@Betty Cracker: TrumpTraitor is short and to the point.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
ObamaBeatsTrump would really enrage him.
TS (the original)
@OzarkHillbilly: My fear is that it is more than 27% – I hope it’s just my paranoia
Dorothy A.Winsor
@debbie: I was surprised he even knew Barron played soccer. So no, he didn’t think about a boy and his dog.
Princess
@Elizabelle: Elizabeth Warren was naturally very dark haired. The blonde is dyed. If you see an old photo of her, it looks just like that. FWIW (And yes, seeing the older photos, it does not shock me that she has some native people in her ancestry)
danielx
@Betty Cracker:
You could always fall back on the classics: ObamaAkbar!
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: What fuckers.
MuellerIsComing
TrumpFor20+20YearsPrison
TrumpIsForTraitors
VladimirLikesYourWifiName
ETA: cleaned them up. _is_for_luddites.
Elizabelle
@danielx: That’s the best.
bjacques
@Betty Cracker: Change it for the season. TrumpsTaxRefund for now, TrumpShutdown next week (but I hope not), whatever suits the occasion. or even FbiFreeWifi.
Dorothy A.Winsor
@Betty Cracker: I vote for the pee tape.
Dorothy A.Winsor
And my vote on Betty’s wifi name change seems to be in moderation.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: I don’t think “TrumpIsASentientWhoopeeCushion” is factually accurate.
JWR
Fun little article about AOC’s mastery of Twitter. It ends thusly:
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
It’s winter and you don’t live in a state with no real winter. How does solar cover any of your electric bill, let alone 85%?
Elizabelle
@Princess: Lighter hair is becoming to most of us after a certain age.
Interesting re the earlier photos. Maybe once some of them get out, and some viewers can make the connection …
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker:
Sort of subtle but how about
“LockHimOut”.
Goes to Trump and the wifi
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: Don’t let them get in your head. If you change it, make it something positive.
KamalaForThePeople if you like her.
MuellerIsComing
Stuff like that. Don’t mention Donnie. He and his minions want everything to be about him – it’s not, of course.
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: How’s about PutinGrabbedUsByThePussy?
Dorothy A. Winsor
I just retyped my nym etc to see if that will keep every post I make from going into moderation.
ETA: And it worked. That was interesting. Two posts went to moderation. I thought I’d been put on the naughty list.
Baud
@Another Scott:
Or to really twist the knife: MuellerEstáVenido
Jeffro
Here’s some creative numbers for you: far more Americans trust Mueller than trumpov: we’re almost down to the crazification factor, it’s GO TIME!
In short:
O happy day!
Baud
@Jeffro:
Wait, coordination with Russia is far worse than obstructing justice.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Two years and the useless idiot still doesn’t get this isn’t enternment. So F-ing what Trump. The crowd size that matters is the one at the polling booth.
Betty Cracker
Good ideas — thanks, everybody!
@bjacques: I like this idea too, but it’s such a pain in the ass to change the WiFi name since you have to reconfigure the connection for every device.
danielx
I have to admit – this is one of those days when I started thinking about five minutes after I woke:
How did this happen? How did sixty million people decide that this….this fucking oaf, this fool, this con man, this lying manchild famous for ignoring contracts, debts, payment schedules and marriage vows, how is it they decided he was worthy to hold the same office as Lincoln, Roosevelt and Obama for that matter? Did they really think he cared for his oath of office any more than he cared for those other things? Are there really that many people out there who are stupid enough to confuse reality television with reality, and to confuse a four-time business failure with a business genius? Donald Trump has been known as an asshole for decades; if there was an Asshole Hall of Fame he’d be in the top ten. How did evangelicals decide this guy was worthy of adoration?
I have lived too long.
Baud
@danielx: Yep. I feel the same every day.
Citizen_X
@Betty Cracker: MeltDownTheGuns
BabyParts4Sale
Baud
@Citizen_X:
WeWillTaxYou
danielx
Yet another column by my man David Brooks where you don’t have to read the article, just the title (no link for Dave):
How The Left Embraced Elitism
Did I or did I not see SOTU the other night? Did I or did I not see people of every description on one side of the aisle, including a lot of women in white, and on the other, a sea of white men in dark suits?
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Thanx for this. He makes some legitimate points but I found his handwaving at the cost of healthcare in this country as compared to other 1st world countries a little bit problematic.
Amir Khalid
@Tenar Arha:
Trump, bless his heart, is not fit company for a decent upstanding canine.
Lapassionara
@Betty Cracker: Twitter tells me that Trump’s 2020 campaign slogan will be “Stronger Together.” Irony is dead, but if you used strongertogether, maybe their heads would explode?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Agree. I thought his point about the politics of Medicare was accurate, although I’m sure any health reform will be demonized in that manner.
One of the difficult things we’ll have to deal with is distinguishing between legitimate and specious concerns, as well as between good and bad faith arguments.
The Midnight Lurker
I don’t not care what you see or read tomorrow (today) about the anti-Wall rally and Beto. And Trump.
It is perfectly clear to anyone who took part in the anti-Wall rally, then watched the subsequent TV and streaming reports that the MSM is nothing but a bunch of goddamn liars. And I’m sorry to say, that includes MSNBC, AP, and the Washington Post. I used to not believe this, but their coverage (as of last night) is a fucking disgrace.
The crowd size for Beto’s anti-wall march was easily 10 grand. Most of the cops I spoke with confirmed that with a few estimating 12 to 15. It started off kinda lame, but swelled very, very quickly. And the fucking energy! An honest-to-God snapshot of America. Interestingly enough, I saw way more American flags at the anti-Wall rally than I did at Trump’s (more on that later). A couple of people were flying upside down American flags, and although I completely sympathize with the sentiment, I wish they would please knock that shit off!
And the signs! Incredible artwork on a lot of them. Other were just damn clever! As many Trump is a racist/Nazi/KKK as there were anti-wall signs. And many, many signs saying IMPEACH. See if you see any of that shit on TV today.
Beto was electric. Watch it! Say what you will about the man, but he is electric! There was a lot of talk that he might announce, but I’m glad he didn’t. Somehow I feel it would have cheapened the rally. The sun went down before he spoke (it goes down quick in El Paso because of the mountains) and the crowd thinned out some (weekday too – school, jobs, etc.). But I’m going to guess 5 to 6 grand stuck around. Easy. The man really gets a crowd worked up.
Just as Beto was finishing up, I got tapped to check the crowds outside the Trump rally. So me and a buddy ditched our cameras and phones and double-timed it over there (less than a mile, but we’re old men), donning our MAGA gear. It was a little nippy, and we didn’t go full ‘Waking Ned Devine’ but it came close. Got a few strange looks as we dashed past, and one cop, after giving us the hairy eyeball, bust out laughing. He figured out what we were doing.
BTW: Just about every elected offical in El Paso, even their Republican Congresscriter (whom I’ve met and like) HATES what Trump is saying about their town. I heard their was some Decree or something, denouncing his visit, but I haven’t seen it so don’t quote me.
We got to Trump’s event and after quickly determining our escape route and a rally point should something (heh-heh) go sideways on us, we started mingling and meandering our way through the crowd.
Trump was on loud speakers and flat screens everywhere, just booming. As a matter of fact, earlier we could hear the music from Trump’s rally at Beto’s. Some of the MAGA were staring at the the screens, hanging on every word, but most of the attendees outside were clustered in small groups, talking s themselves. I wasn’t paying attention to Trump as I was counting heads, but I heard all sorts of crazy shit.
There was something about sending someone ‘home to mama’ and the crowd cheered. I figured it was a protestor. I had heard earlier that a number of protestors had already been ejected before Trump took the stage even. Then something about how he would like to own a German Shepard, but it would be phony to walk it on the White House lawn? WTF??? Worst reason not to own a pet ever! Then I heard what sounded like another protestor disruption, and Trump said something about ‘crying’? It was fucking surreal. You compare Beto’s speech… hell, any speech to Trump’s and you plainly see the man is just a babbling ass.
About a half hour later we met back up and went over our figures for the areas we had covered, The sad news was we both agreed there were about 6 to 8 grand outside. Mostly white, but with about a one-in-three or four Hispanic mix. I kinda expected that, but it’s disheartening to see it anyway. The only black faces I saw were vendors selling water and t-shirts. A shit-load of MAGA’s were crowed around the taco trucks too, which I thought was just HILARIOUS! WISH I HAD MY FUCKING CAMERA!!!
The parking lot was about 3/4 to 4/5 full, the remainder blocked off for official use. The line went back about six to seven city blocks. We heard it had been longer earlier.
Then the good news; we figured a good portion of Trump’s crowd were lookie-loos, people trying to get in just to see Trump. I don’t want to venture a percentage, but enough that we both noticed.
Then my buddy asked me, “How many people do you think are in there?” I looked the place over and told him I didn’t think it would hold anywhere near 10 grand. I guessed it was half that. One cop said 7500 max, but another, really young cop (possible reserve wannabe) said he heard some safety guy talking about 6,600 was all they were going to let in for tonight.
There was such a feeling of anger and despair at Trump’s thing as opposed to the high energy at the march. There were a few isolated pockets of die hard supporters, but a lot of people there seemed to me to be kinda shell-shocked (it got really cold too after the sun went down). And although there’s still a lot of anger, it’s much, much less than it was last summer. Mainly, they just seem afraid. And more now seem to want to engage in some form of one-sided dialogue as opposed to just outright screaming at you.
They are losing. And they know it.
P.S. – to my spelling and grammar Nazi jackals; terribly sorry if there are errors. I dashed this out on my iPad mini early this morning. Please forgive. Oh, and fuck you.
P.S.S. – And I never did see the Trump blimp, damnit!
Bed now.
Jeffro
@Baud: I agree with you. Perhaps some small portion of the people polled believe obstruction is more likely to have happened, and instead of answering the poll correctly, they’re skewing their responses according to whether or not they believe it occurred? Who knows…
@danielx: I saw that and was gonna follow the same game plan: no need to read this BS, that’s for sure. When karma catches up with Brooksie it’s going to have to be something like leprosy + bankruptcy coupled with a woodchipper accident. Wishful thinking, I know.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@danielx: @danielx: It’s like living in opposite world. The gaslighting is constant.
zhena gogolia
@The Midnight Lurker:
Wow, really interesting account, thank you.
Sebastian
@Betty Cracker:
SpankyToadstool5G
Dorothy A. Winsor
@The Midnight Lurker: Thanks for the report. To me, the most interesting things are not the crowd size (though again, thanks) but the differences in speech substance and crowd mood. Substance vs shit stirring. Hope vs hapless fury.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud:
In a society as “tribalized” as ours that is going to be THE problem
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: unions have an unfortunate tendency to miss big shifts and are usually highly risk averse. It gets frustrating on my end when I’m trying to adapt a contract to the current world and they are stuck in 1970.
Obviously the biggest problem that unions have is the republican legislative and judicial assault on their very existence, but another big problem is their failure to demonstrate their relevance to workers in the modern economy,
Betty
@danielx: I know that feeling.
Baud
@Steve in the ATL:
What makes these stories frustrating is that we’re constantly told by some people that we failed the unions. The reality is more complex.
Immanentize
@rikyrah:
We get about 9 hours of sunlight a day at the darkest day. My panels face south west at a pretty good angle so I get great afternoon and evening sun, maybe about 7 hours worth of some energy each day?
Even snow covered, some light gets to the panels. Then it heats them a bit and the snow and ice slide off much quicker than just snow on my roof.
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Just how many times did you link to “The Loophole?”
Betty
@The Midnight Lurker: Thanks for an honest to goodness report.
Mary G
Gabby Gifford’s husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, has announced he’s running for Senate in Arizona. Seems like a contender.
TS (the original)
@The Midnight Lurker: Great account – many thanks
satby
@Steve in the ATL:
I have a very hard time convincing my younger son that unions have value and he works at the Toyota assembly plant in Kentucky. He was born a few months after Reagan fired the air traffic controllers and has only known weakened, ineffectual unions his whole life.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: I’m still traumatized.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steve in the ATL: Unions are very myopic, caring only about jobs. They will support any Republican if they are pushing for big infrastructure projects in their home district.
sherparick
@danielx: Because the “White Fundamentalist-Evangelical” church in America has been factory for creating assholes for over 200 years once creating a justification of slavery and patriarchy became its “raison d’etre.” See those pictures of lynch mobs from the 19th and early 20th centuries. All made up of “good, God-fearing, regular Sunday church people.” Its so easy to do the most awful things to other human beings if you believe you are doing it in the name of God.
Immanentize
@Steve in the ATL: @Baud:
The structure of unions is inherently self-destructive. Not only are unions super conservative to protect current members, but union leaders are themselves management and have problems viewing the big picture outside of their (hard earned no doubt) power in the Union structure. I think European Unions largely solved this last dilemma by bring unions into the management team structure. But in any case,
I’m a Union Man all the way!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@satby: The most effective union action I’ve seen recently has come, not from the traditional heavy industry groups, but from teachers. And yesterday, the flight attendants association (is it a union?) said they wouldn’t work if the govt shut down again because it was unsafe. Maybe some of this is non-union but union-like. I’m thinking of the fast food workers demanding $15/hr. I don’t know what to conclude from that. Unions and our ideas about them need to change? Maybe our ideas about unions resemble our ideas of “working class,” ie white men in jobs that demand physical strength.
Elizabelle
@The Midnight Lurker: You are courage itself to have braved that crowd. Thank you for the report.
They are losing. If MSM reported accurately, as Lurker notes, it would be more evident.
Immanentize
@The Midnight Lurker: thanks for that. What’s the old line?
They got the guns, but we got the numbers.
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
The SEIU has done a lot of good work with service workers in the Boston area -+ including effective strike actions.
Just an FYI because you are a teacher — the AAUP, which has been the traditional bargaining union for faculty, is getting stiff competition from the SEIU. Our contingent (adjunct) faculty unionized and management was so happy that the lecturers went with the AAUP because the SEIU has had much more demanding and therefore contentious negotiations. Good for the SEIU, I say.
schrodingers_cat
@The Midnight Lurker: Thanks for that report!
Kay
@Elizabelle:
It happens to me all the time in Michigan. They’re the freaking worst about that. The area around Grand Rapids MI is like “every 10th car is in a ditch”
They’re nice though. I flipped a car once there- I was unhurt although the 15 pounds of change in my purse flew around and pelted me. So many people stopped to help. Probably because they’ve all done it :)
Kay
@Baud:
This is really mild criticism. We’re probably going to have to weather the brutal battering of “I have some concerns!” if we want a Green New Deal :)
They’re not obligated to rubber stamp it, and it IS vague and ill-defined. They’re allowed to weigh in. Weighing in is literally their job- they’re advocates.
The Moar You Know
They just borrow Jesus’ cross when it suits them. Kind of the same way they use the Democratic party.
Ruckus
@geg6:
I thought that the only emotion that drumpf lovers hold is hate. After all look at who they admire.
geg6
@rikyrah:
My sister has solar and her whole house, except her stove, is run by electric. And we definitely have winter here. And her highest electric bill in the two years she’s had it has been $15. It’s pretty amazing that you can do that here in Western PA.
Elizabelle
@Ruckus: Their emotion is actually “fear.” Fear can easily be turned into hate.
different-church-lady
Is this like the Puppy Bowl?
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
I think that ship has sailed a while ago.
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
A lot of people like dogs. drumpf knows that if he had a dog, people would like the dog more than him. Far more than him.
Besides I’d bet he’s afraid of dogs, thinking that they’d all turn on him in short order, dogs know who is good and who isn’t. So does the shitwhistle, he knows who he is, he just can’t help himself from being the asshole he is.
piratedan
@Betty Cracker: I would go with BankruptedacasinoX4 to get your message across :-)
Citizen scientist
@The Midnight Lurker: thanks for the onsite reporting.
Saw earlier that Donnie’s closest advisor, Sean H., is panning the proposed funding bill. Guess we’re going to have another shutdown this week!
J R in WV
@Betty Cracker:
My tip on a great Wi-Fi name:
Citizen Alan
@Ruckus:
I like the mental image of Shitgibbon being unable to approach a dog — hell, any dog, even down to a miniature poodle — without it suddenly barking aggressively at him. Dogs can sense sociopaths, I think.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize: Our faculty unionized about two years ago, but adjuncts (moi included) remain outside that tent and – you will be shocked to hear – grossly underpaid.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@Betty Cracker: how about FBISurveillanceVan?
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: Agreed, Green New Deal is great sloganeering like Medicare for All, but the details are fuzzy.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Trumpsux. Short and to the point.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@J R in WV: And you beat me to it! by two minutes!
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: I love that!!
Brachiator
@The Midnight Lurker:
Thanks for the eye-witness report.
I am not a big Twitter user, but social media is supposed to be good with breaking on-the-spot impressions, so I wonder whether some Twitter feeds were more honest than many media reports.
CBS radio news this morning in Los Angeles was pretty fair about crowd size, and noted that local GOP officials who attended Trump’s rally were on record as disputed His Orange Majesty’s claims of crime in the area or the effectiveness of walls.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Ruckus: The dog is to the show the Great Man is like the family, signs he is an actual alpha chimp and can provide for others and not thinking only about himself. So pretty much Trump the useless idiot fails even that.
And let us note you never seen Trump with Baron. Now I don’t know any man over 65 who doesn’t dote on his kids and grand kids. It’s like lack of a mother figure in Trump’s circle, that’s weird in a guy.