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You are here: Home / Climate Change / How about that weather? / Odds and Ends Open Thread

Odds and Ends Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  August 26, 20195:33 pm| 112 Comments

This post is in: How about that weather?, Open Threads, Politics, Trumpery, Assholes, General Stupidity

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Our river is high — not quite at flood stage, but it’s higher than normal for this time of year and has over-topped a dam located upriver, which happens occasionally and isn’t a cause for alarm, they tell me. The dam acts as a filter, keeping pieces of the flooded swamp from floating past our house. Now that it’s underwater, we see stuff like this go by:

Islands on the move in the flooded river. pic.twitter.com/kFwu9xHvvq

— Betty Cracker (@bettycrackerfl) August 26, 2019

That’s nothing, though: Several of my relatives live on the Suwannee, which is a much more formidable river than our glorified creek. I’ve seen massive TREES float past their houses when the river is high.

I’m not worried about the water level — unless that storm off the Lesser Antilles heads our way. Things could get interesting then, but we should be okay since we’re on stilts. No point worrying about it in any case.

Speaking of climate change, Trump said many awful things in a surreal news conference this morning, including, when asked about his plans to address climate change, that Americans getting rich on oil and gas is more important than “dreams” and “windmills.”

He also bizarrely blamed President Obama for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and pitched his roach and bedbug-infested Doral shithole as the site of the next G7. But since I’ve become accustomed to open corruption, contempt for science and treason, this is my pick for weirdest news item of the day:

The White House had to clarify a baffling statement President Donald Trump made Monday in which he suggested that his wife, Melania, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had developed a friendship.

“Kim Jong Un, who I’ve gotten to know extremely well, the first lady has gotten to know, Kim Jong Un — and I think she’d agree with me — he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential,” Trump said during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron following the Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham clarified shortly after that, saying the first lady “hasn’t met” the North Korean leader.

“President Trump confides in his wife on many issues including the detailed elements of his strong relationship with Chairman Kim — and while the first lady hasn’t met him, the president feels like she’s gotten to know him, too,” Grisham said.

Grisham is lying, obviously; that’s her job. So what the fucking fuck? As someone pointed out on Twitter, the only plausible explanation for this is that Trump got the Third Lady mixed up with Ivanka, who, unlike the Third Lady, actually did tag along on the “historic” waddle across the DMZ. Gross!

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

112Comments

  1. 1.

    MattF

    August 26, 2019 at 5:44 pm

    Pretty soon Trump’s minions are going to have to offer an explaination for why he’s giving a press conference in the Rose Garden without pants.

  2. 2.

    Kay

    August 26, 2019 at 5:45 pm

    Holly Figueroa O’Reilly
    @AynRandPaulRyan
    8hAs
    @atrupar
    would say, beyond parody. Doral has had an infestation of bedbugs, a crazed shooter, and is bleeding money because Trump’s brand is for shit, but sure, let’s host the world’s leaders in this dump, and oh, while we’re at it, make it the G-8 by adding Russia.
    Quote Tweet

    Bedbugs are a dealbreaker for me. I don’t care if the United States is a corrupt regime run by this horrible family and I have to play along for trade or whatever, I would cause an international incident and stay at a different hotel.

    “oh- were we supposed to stay here? We thought that meant in the United States”

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 5:46 pm

    I’ve seen massive TREES float past their houses when the river is high.

    Got trapped by a flash flood on the Current River once, came up app 12′ in a half hour or so. While stuck on this ever shrinking island, the boys and I could hear trees literally exploding by the main channel when big one came down the river and got caught up in one of the sycamores or maples there. Made me real glad that even if I was about to lose my truck I didn’t have to worry about that.

  4. 4.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    August 26, 2019 at 5:47 pm

    I blogged about learning from good novels how to write your own. I used Fonda Lee’s JADE CITY as an example. If you haven’t read it, it’s a good book.

  5. 5.

    scott (the other one)

    August 26, 2019 at 5:49 pm

    Anyone know if Sean Duffy’s seat is a possible pickup in the House? The district is R+8 and he won pretty decisively last time but I wonder if his own internal polling showed him in big trouble. (Best wishes to his family and child with the health issues–and I’m sure he’s extremely grateful to have excellent lifelong health insurance through his soon-to-be-former job.)

  6. 6.

    MattF

    August 26, 2019 at 5:49 pm

    @Kay: There’s someone in the NYT newsroom you probably want to stay away from:

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/the-new-york-times-has-bed-bugs.html

  7. 7.

    LivinginExile

    August 26, 2019 at 5:55 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Went trout fishing and canoeing on the current once. Didn’t have much current when I was there, but I think I remember a huge spring emptying into it. Fun trip.

  8. 8.

    Marcopolo

    August 26, 2019 at 5:56 pm

    I don’t know about the rest of you but screw politics, here is something to really push my buttons (if true):

    Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker May Feature ANOTHER Death Star

    Oh FFS, can’t someone at Disney have an original thought/idea!?!

    /snark mostly

    And here is a link to two really lovely panoramic photos of Senator Professor Warren’s rally in Seattle yesterday. Really nice crowd, & she did indeed stay to take photos with everyone who was standing in line <4 hrs! That puts her at over 50K selfies to date.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    August 26, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    @Marcopolo: Did you see Rey’s foldable light saber though? :) I want one!

    ETA: Huge crowd for SPW!

  10. 10.

    Rand Careaga

    August 26, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    As someone pointed out on Twitter, the only plausible explanation for this is that Trump got the Third Lady mixed up with Ivanka

    We may draw some conclusions, or at least speculate, as to the nature of the personal connections that might have led to the conflation, if yew catch mah meaning, if yew git mah drift. Sorry to cheapen the discourse.

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 26, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    @scott (the other one): Dave Obey held the seat for nearly 30 years. Duffy won it as an open seat when Obey retired. Trump’s numbers are not good in WI these days. I know who I would love to see run, Mandy Wright (no link because I am on my phone). She is a great retail politician and also was the placekicker for her (my old) high school.

  12. 12.

    JustRuss

    August 26, 2019 at 6:05 pm

    Betty, I have it on good authority that if you just nuke the river when it threatens to flood you’ll be fine.

    Re Kim Jong Un’s BFF Melania, exhibit #2733 that the POTUS has lost it, not that any Republicans have noticed.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    August 26, 2019 at 6:05 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I’m holding out for light-saber-chopsticks.

  14. 14.

    Kay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    Hard times for farmers got tougher with President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now Midwestern farmers are filing the highest number of bankruptcies in a decade, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    August 26, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    @JustRuss:

    exhibit #2733 that the POTUS has lost it, not that any Republicans have noticed.

    I would suggest that they’ve noticed, they’ve just decided that it’s in their best interest to pretend otherwise.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    @LivinginExile: You were on the Upper Current and the spring you recall is Welch Spring. The river gets noticeably larger below that. The trout section is from Montauk to Cedar Grove and Welch is just below Cedar Grove (still trout there with fewer restrictions). There is some interesting history related to the spring and the cave it comes out of..

  17. 17.

    randy khan

    August 26, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    @Kay:

    Bedbugs are horrible. We had to deal with them in our place at the Shore (capitalized because that’s what you do if you’re from New Jersey) and it was a huge mess that, among other things, required us to buy a brand new mattress and box spring for one of the beds. We have taken steps to make sure it never, never happens again.

  18. 18.

    Jay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:12 pm

    NEW revelations on suicide of Jeancarlo Jimenez-Joseph @ Stewart: there was year-long vacancy for full-time psychiatrist. This meant postponement by a month of evaluation of his FIVE requests to up his med dose. They instead put him in solitary for 19 days https://t.co/ccJHpPSPU2— Azadeh Shahshahani (@ashahshahani) August 23, 2019

    ICE murders another refugee,……

  19. 19.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    August 26, 2019 at 6:13 pm

    My wife and I were staying at an Air B & B Friday night. A little one bedroom condo. Our pregnant friend was just about to turn out lights at 12:30 a.m. while the 3 of us were on deck. Lo and behold she saw something crawling on sheet. We were all in their 5 minutes later inspecting the scene. Bedbugs everywhere. Fucking horrifying. I’ve only seen that shit on the news. I am never going to get into another strange bed before checking every inch of it. I never bothered before. Fucking gross.

  20. 20.

    Kay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    @randy khan:

    My daughter had them too. Apartment in Pittsburgh, probably 8 years ago. I was obsessed with them for a while.

  21. 21.

    debbie

    August 26, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    Americans getting rich on oil and gas is more important than “dreams” and “windmills”

    In that case, I think this should be Trump’s 2020 campaign song.

  22. 22.

    trollhattan

    August 26, 2019 at 6:17 pm

    When we get our intermittent regional floods upstream, the intermittently mighty Sacramento River brings the wreckage through town, and it’s not uncommon to see recognizable hunks of buildings, houses especially, chug through the metroplex. It’s sobering because that’s somebody’s home. Really dislike the propane tanks and surprised I’ve never identified septic tanks or once-underground fuel tanks.

    And now for something completely different, imagine finding yourself sailing through a mid-Pacific pumice raft.

  23. 23.

    Jay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:17 pm

    Correction: the first study showing this was actually @beccalew's incredible Data & Society report, which got a ton of flack from the IDW and has proven to be 100% dead on. You should read it: https://t.co/ATRTymXMZ4— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) August 26, 2019

    Youtube as path to radicalization, YouTube knows, but wants to make money, so they won’t do anything about it.

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 6:18 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: Did you burn everything you brought in there? Including the clothes you were wearing?

  25. 25.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    August 26, 2019 at 6:19 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: Oh god. That’s a nightmare.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    August 26, 2019 at 6:19 pm

    @Kay:

    I’m shocked, SHOCKED that Trump would screw his favorite people like that.

  27. 27.

    Marcopolo

    August 26, 2019 at 6:20 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: There is also Blue Spring (one of the 2 Blue Springs) on the Current, but it is a tad smaller (like 20%) than Welch Spring. Not that there is necessarily any reason for a person to visit MO necessarily, but if you do check out our springs.

    19 Largest Springs in MO (and one in AR thrown in for some reason :))

    I’ve definitely gone swimming in both Big & Welch springs while floating on the rivers though that was decades ago. Nice cold water on a hot summer day.

  28. 28.

    LivinginExile

    August 26, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Interesting article, but I don’t recall any structures at the spring. It seems like the banks were lined with fishermen and all the trout we caught were about an inch under keeping size. We had to stretch a couple just to have supper.

  29. 29.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    August 26, 2019 at 6:29 pm

    All of our stuff was on the polar opposite end of condo. My wife ran all of it through dryer Saturday. My backpack is still sitting in the garage. She threw out her purse, suitcase, and our 2 nice, fat pillows. Owner paid for hotel room next night which was nice. If I see a bedbug in our house 7 hours from the scene of the crime I’m gonna freak. The wife would probably want to move.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    August 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They are wily creatures. I remember an episode of Fresh Air, where an entomologist recounted his trip to somewhere in Central America. He walked into his hotel room, saw bedbugs on the walls, and got another room. He walked in, saw that the bed’s posts were in bowls of water to keep bedbugs from crawling up onto the bed, and figured he was safe. As he was unpacking, he noticed a bedbug crawling up the wall. He watched it crawl up to the ceiling, across the ceiling until it was just over the bed, and then drop down onto the bed. He then packed and went to a different hotel.

    I’m pretty sure this was the interview.

  31. 31.

    randy khan

    August 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    @Kay:

    Ugh.

    My wife once ended up with some kind of, ah, infestation from a hotel where she stayed in London. She couldn’t figure out what was going on until after she got back, and ended up going to the ER, where the nice doctor showed her pictures of the specific bugs in a book that she happened to have handy. (Which makes me think that this sort of thing is pretty common in the ER.) It wasn’t so bad for her, other than having to take a bath in a viscous, unpleasant semi-fluid (which looked kind of, but not enough, like oatmeal), and we just had to wash our sheets in hot water. What was bad, though, was calling the friends she stayed with after she left London, to tell them they might want to check on their extremely fastidious teenage son and the sheets in his bedroom, since that was where she slept.

  32. 32.

    tokyokie

    August 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Betty Cracker: I’m holding out for light-saber-chopsticks.

    I got some light-saber chopsticks for my niece from a Japanese online retailer a few years back. So, yes, they do exist. Although both of us thought that the Totoro bentō box I got her that Christmas was far cooler.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    @debbie:

    They have their own chapter of the bankruptcy code, so they’re lucky the GOP Congress didn’t get a chance to gut it:

    Chapter 12 is designed for “family farmers” or “family fishermen” with “regular annual income.” It enables financially distressed family farmers and fishermen to propose and carry out a plan to repay all or part of their debts. Under chapter 12, debtors propose a repayment plan to make installments to creditors over three to five years. Generally, the plan must provide for payments over three years unless the court approves a longer period “for cause.” But unless the plan proposes to pay 100% of domestic support claims (i.e., child support and alimony) if any exist, it must be for five years and must include all of the debtor’s disposable income. In no case may a plan provide for payments over a period longer than five years. 11 U.S.C. § 1222(b)-(c).

    I imagine they’ll be more than a few fisherman, too. The thing is, this is the short term harm. How do they get those markets back once all the buyers have different suppliers? It’s complicated- the buyers have to set up a whole new supply chain, a whole different route. They can’t just plug it back in after Trump.

  34. 34.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 6:31 pm

    @Rand Careaga:

    Sorry to cheapen the discourse.

    This ain’t LG&M, that relationship has been speculated on here before. I tend to believe it’s true.

  35. 35.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 6:33 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    foldable light saber

    Hope Samsung ain’t makin’ it, it’ll never be released.

  36. 36.

    SRW1

    August 26, 2019 at 6:35 pm

    @MattF:

    Pretty soon Trump’s minions are going to have to offer an explaination for why he’s giving a press conference in the Rose Garden without pants.

    They will point out that decorum was maintained because his tie covered his ‘precious’.

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 6:36 pm

    @Marcopolo: Don’t forget Round Spring, or Pulltight, or the thousand other little springs that most folks float right past without ever noticing them. My favorite is a little one that bubbles up out of the ground and then flows about 100 yards to the river. We found it by accident and our first trip there we had some of the wild horses for company. Used to be able to drive to it (w/ 4wd) but they’ve closed the road. Just as well I suppose.

    And we haven’t even mentioned the Jacks Fork and Alley Spring and Jam Up Cave and….

  38. 38.

    Gravenstone

    August 26, 2019 at 6:36 pm

    @scott (the other one): Duffy (inexplicably) replaced a 15 term Dem, David Obey. SO yeah, the district will certainly support a Dem if someone decent runs.

  39. 39.

    MomSense

    August 26, 2019 at 6:37 pm

    I’m so upset about the fires in the Amazon rainforest. We are approaching collapse of the whole rainforest. That would be a catastrophic loss.

  40. 40.

    Patricia Kayden

    August 26, 2019 at 6:38 pm

    @MattF: “He had on pants. They were hand sewn by the great American designer Tomi Lahren herself. How dare you claim otherwise?!! This is why the American people don’t believe fake news.”

    I can hear them now. I can see Lindsay Graham slamming his hand down in faux outrage on morning shows.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 6:38 pm

    @LivinginExile: Sounds like you are remembering Montauk Spring which is the source of the river. They stock the trout there and they populate the river downstream.

  42. 42.

    Mai naem mobile

    August 26, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    There was a woman on our local NPR affiliate the other day from farm lobby. This is AZ. The tariffs are hurting cotton and pecan farmers . This is in exurban rural border areas I am guessing with red voters. There was an early poll out last week showing AZ in play for next year. The farmers are not going to help Orange Lump in AZ.

  43. 43.

    Mary G

    August 26, 2019 at 6:40 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I have worried about your house in case of the river rising, but kept forgetting to ask. Glad to hear you haver stilts.

  44. 44.

    Mai naem mobile

    August 26, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    Anybody else think the Trivago ad guy is a doppelganger for Jeffŕey Epstein? I am thinking he is going to lose his spokesmodel job because gf that.

  45. 45.

    Gravenstone

    August 26, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    For those who might have an interest, the WoW Classic servers look to be live, a day early. Currently in a slowly dwindling queue on Myzrael.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Ann: Fingers crossed. I’ve never had them but I’ve read they like to hitchhike on suitcases and anything else one brought into the room.

  47. 47.

    debbie

    August 26, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    @Kay:

    No, you’re right. They will never get their market back. If countries have found cheaper, more reliable partners, why would they come back here?

    This page has a chart showing Chapter 12 bks state by state. Not looking good for Trump’s base.

  48. 48.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 26, 2019 at 6:42 pm

    @dmsilev:

    they’ve just decided that it’s in their best interest to pretend otherwise.

    I believe quite a lot of them are cheering him on. They’re sick and tired of being wrong being held against them. Trump validates their desire to be an unhinged asshole who says whatever they feel like with no regard for the truth or reality and especially other people’s feelings.

  49. 49.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 6:42 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Hmmm, I’ve been to Montauk.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 26, 2019 at 6:44 pm

    @Kay: I was listening to a MN farmer who headed up some group/assn and he was saying how it took the years to get a foothold in the Chinese market and then expand it. Now? It’s all gone. They are gonna have to start from scratch all over again.

  51. 51.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 6:47 pm

    Steep checking in with the special travel nym on the Delta Airbus carrying me from Atlanta to Las Vegas. Just making sure the GoGo wi-fi is working for my (now) 3h 17m flight.

    Altitude 34,000 feet, outside temp −42°. Ground speed 507 mph. Hey, we’ve got a 44 mph headwind.

    I’ve got [something]-encrusted beef coming for dinner. And a glass of Prosecco. Not bad.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:47 pm

    @Mai naem mobile:

    In Ohio rural areas, Democrats just try to get all their voters out and hold down margins. They have a number they need- say, 10,000 and they try to hit that number. But it can work the other way too- a reduced R vote helps. They don’t try “persuasion” which pisses a lot of rural Democrats off but makes sense to me- you have to pick your battles. Every year we get complaints- “why don’t they come out here?” Because there’s X hours and X number of days and greener pastures. They can do an event here for 100 votes or do one in a more D area for 10,000. It’s not a hard decision.

  53. 53.

    Betty

    August 26, 2019 at 6:48 pm

    Checking in from Dominica. We are on tropical storm watch for Dorian. It is currently headed more directly toward St. Lucia as a possible hurricane. We still need to stay alert as they can change direction unexpectedly. Hoping for the best.

  54. 54.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 26, 2019 at 6:50 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): I remember the last time I got beef encrusted with something on an airplane. You’re in for a treat.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    August 26, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    @Betty:

    Good luck!

  56. 56.

    Kay

    August 26, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    That just occurred to me the other day. It’s so hard to build a market. I don’t even know how one goes about rebuilding one. Once they’re physically moving tangible things from a whole other part of the world can they just turn on a dime and start shipping from another? They would need some kind of incentive to do that.

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    August 26, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    @Betty: Good luck. It feels like you not so long ago reappeared after the hurricane did your island home wrong a year or two ago. Was that Maria?

    Hope Dorian just goes out to sea.

  58. 58.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 6:54 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi):

    Steep checking in with the special travel nym on the Delta Airbus carrying me from Atlanta to Las Vegas

    Paid a visit to Steve in the ATL?

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 6:56 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Sky High Airlines.

  60. 60.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    @Betty: Hope it stays out of your hood.

  61. 61.

    Betty Cracker

    August 26, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    @Betty: Hope it misses y’all and everyone else. May it hook out to sea and spin some fish!

  62. 62.

    Sab

    August 26, 2019 at 6:58 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: They won’t be starting from scratch. They will be starting from less than sctratch. I have relatives who work in marketing to Asia. Asian markets work on trust and relationships. We just blew about twenty years of work in two years.

  63. 63.

    Cameron

    August 26, 2019 at 7:00 pm

    @Mai naem mobile: He’s got other problems. He got busted by Houston cops for being passed out drunk behind the wheel – in the middle of the highway.

  64. 64.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Prosecco has many medicinal properties.

  65. 65.

    dexwood

    August 26, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    @Mai naem mobile:
    Well, he was arrested a month ago or so for DUI, if I remember correctly. I’d expect him to lose the gig for that.

  66. 66.

    satby

    August 26, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    @Betty: keep us posted if you can Betty! Fingers crossed that it stays away from your island and the others hit so hard last year.

  67. 67.

    dexwood

    August 26, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    @Cameron:
    Beat me to it.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:05 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    He wasn’t there, the bastard!

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Ix-nay on the video, says GoGo. Are you trying to crash the plane?!

  69. 69.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 7:07 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): It’s an old Alaska Airlines commercial.

  70. 70.

    geg6

    August 26, 2019 at 7:07 pm

    @Mai naem mobile:

    Glad someone else noticed that. Every time I see that commercial, that thought runs through my mind.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:08 pm

    @Cameron:

    They should have stayed with the cute Australian woman.

  72. 72.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:10 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I will obsessively check it after I’m back on solid ground.

  73. 73.

    JPL

    August 26, 2019 at 7:10 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Trump can fix it.

  74. 74.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 26, 2019 at 7:11 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Yeah, when you’re no longer subject to big Delta censorship.

  75. 75.

    Roger Moore

    August 26, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    @MattF:

    I think you mean there's an insect-tinged problem in the NYT newsroom https://t.co/tQwF7RD7FH— Lindsey Barrett (@LAM_Barrett) August 26, 2019

  76. 76.

    A Ghost To Most

    August 26, 2019 at 7:13 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Someone is not flying steerage.

  77. 77.

    Cameron

    August 26, 2019 at 7:14 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): Either that or they could go for broke and have him do the ads while he’s completely trashed.

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    August 26, 2019 at 7:14 pm

    ?????

    New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) Tweeted:
    “I have to get my head checked… My brain is f—ing tired… NFL i need some help with this shyt… F—ing help me please!!,” Le’Ron McClain, a Pro Bowl fullback, tweeted. @dpyoung13

    https://t.co/uR1FtNN9SK https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/1166072339064377344?s=17

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    August 26, 2019 at 7:16 pm

    @Betty Cracker: After I saw an article about the trailer/teaser vid, and reading comments that might as well have been written in Martian, I did some keyword searching and, apparently, Rey’s lightsaber appears to be the same model as the Jedi Sentinels who serve as the temple guard, except instead of the kyber crystals having tuned themselves to yellow in harmony with the sentinels they’ve been tortured by a Sith into bleeding red

  80. 80.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    August 26, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    @Kay: I swear, we give farmers everything…subsidies, bailouts, and when that isn’t enough, extra special bankruptcy laws. I mean, if you’re so bad at it that you can’t make ends meet with all that maybe pick another line of work. I don’t want to hear anything about how handing out free money doesn’t play in the Midwest until the person saying it actively advocates for zeroing out farm subsidies.

  81. 81.

    Michael Allen

    August 26, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    @scott (the other one): Your claim about Congresspeople’s lifetime health care is a right wing anti-government myth. They get health insurance and pensions on the same deal as any federal employee. (They may still be on PPACA plans instead of normal FEHB health insurance plans because of a provision Republicans passed in spite for the passage of the ACA, but a top PPACA plan would be similar to a FEHB plan anyway and they got to continue the employee premium subsidy).

    Anyway, the health insurance goes for one month after their last day of unemployment and then can be extended with COBRA with no subsidy just like for any federal employee.

  82. 82.

    A Ghost To Most

    August 26, 2019 at 7:18 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Were you a recurring character on “Big Bang Theory”?

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Correct! ??

    I fly so infrequently, and hate post-9/11 air travel so much, that this is the one luxury in my otherwise spartan life. Plus: dysfunctional family drama ahead! So, yes, my ass is up in first class.

    Ooh, dinner. Be right back.

  84. 84.

    J R in WV

    August 26, 2019 at 7:30 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi):

    Last time I flew from Atlanta to Tucson, I had a beef steak that was barely medium, still a little pink, tender and tasty. Coming home was something I can’t describe, didn’t eat, one nibble was too much. So you can’t ever tell how it’s going to be.

    Air France flights are the best food aloft!

  85. 85.

    laura

    August 26, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    @Betty: Betty! Good wishes for only fair winds this season.

  86. 86.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 26, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I hope that the recent gator made use of those benches, BC. They look great for river watching.

  87. 87.

    JDM

    August 26, 2019 at 7:42 pm

    “It was some woman I’ve had sex with”, clarified the president.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:43 pm

    @Cameron:

    Edgy!

  89. 89.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:50 pm

    @J R in WV:

    The something-encrusted steak was very good, with rosemary potatoes and broccoli on the side and a little Meyer lemon gelato for dessert. Micro portions, of course.

    I will say that for short flights I do ride steerage, but for this long a trip, leaving my house at 1:00 p.m. and getting to Vegas nine hours later, the cushy ride is appreciated.

  90. 90.

    TS (the original)

    August 26, 2019 at 7:54 pm

    @Kay:

    I imagine they’ll be more than a few fisherman, too. The thing is, this is the short term harm. How do they get those markets back once all the buyers have different suppliers? It’s complicated- the buyers have to set up a whole new supply chain, a whole different route. They can’t just plug it back in after Trump.

    Which is why, long term they’ll blame whoever is elected after trump, for not fixing the problem. Republicans are never to blame, their supporters may waiver for one term, but they always return to the true faith. I like to think after trump will be different, maybe, maybe not.

  91. 91.

    ola azul

    August 26, 2019 at 7:55 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi):

    “Dysfunction junction, what’s your function?
    “Fraying nerves and patience and relations
    “Dysfunction junction, how’s that function?
    “You pick yer homies, not fambly depredations.”

  92. 92.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 8:06 pm

    @tokyokie:

    I would love to have a Totoro bento box. I have a little Totoro figure (with umbrella) that sits by my computer. I should look on J-List.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    August 26, 2019 at 8:07 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi):

    Fancy-shmancy name for chicken fried steak, huh?

  94. 94.

    glory b

    August 26, 2019 at 8:08 pm

    C’mon guys! Think! Trump will need the federal government to upgrade Doral to make it habitable for the next G 7. Then he gets a major remodal on our dime
    I remember listening to a former Apprentice employee intrrviewed on npr (don’t judge me).
    He mentioned a decision, pushed by Trump, to film at one of his facilities. They connitted before they looked the place over. Turns out it was a dump, a pipe had briken at some point, and it smelled damp.
    The show had to do a quick renovation in order to film, so Trump maintained his appearance as a captain of industry.
    It was slap dash according to this guy, but what do you want to bet that Trump left it just that way?
    This time he’ll get a better free upgrade to a bigger place.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 8:10 pm

    @ola azul:

    LOL. They did a mini-set on SiriusXM Real Jazz a few months ago of those Schoolhouse Rock jazz songs. Can’t remember the composer’s name.

  96. 96.

    Sab

    August 26, 2019 at 8:15 pm

    @glory b: Maybe G6 elsewhere?

  97. 97.

    Evil_Paul

    August 26, 2019 at 8:17 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Ooooooh! Jade City is awesome! Fonda Lee not only creates an intricate world on the verge of a massive change, but then actually has that world change in a realistic and convincing way!
    I can’t wait to read the second book.

  98. 98.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    August 26, 2019 at 8:29 pm

    @Evil_Paul: I really liked it. I have the second book on my kindle, waiting for me. We’re taking a long trip in November and I’m trying to save the book to read then, but I don’t think I can do it.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 8:37 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Three months?! You’d have to have nerves of steel.

  100. 100.

    Mai naem mobile

    August 26, 2019 at 8:40 pm

    @Kay: people think of AZ as red but our US House Delegation is 6D/4R. I think the farm stuff could make a difference in two of the R seats and strengthen 1 of the Ds. I know we have cattle and citrus in AZ but I am not sure about those two and the tariff situation.

  101. 101.

    Searcher

    August 26, 2019 at 8:41 pm

    @Marcopolo: Maybe SWIX will finally feature a Death Star battle, with dozens of Death Stars on both sides, shooting at each other.

  102. 102.

    Mai naem mobile

    August 26, 2019 at 8:43 pm

    @Cameron: okay so the man we assume killed himself in a NY prison cell may actually be the Trivago guy and Jeffrey Epstein took off to places unknown. My QAnon antenna is working well today.

  103. 103.

    Aleta

    August 26, 2019 at 8:44 pm

    @Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi): A word about convincing an older person to accept some domestic help …(though I know the decisions may not be up to you). It’s understandable if a person’s opposition to having someone work in the house might merge with their fear of losing control. Or if they don’t have the energy to hassle with someone new who’ll do things wrong (things that look like no big deal to us).

    Truth is, sometimes the first person or first 1-2-3 people who come in actually aren’t the right fit. Or it’s the adjustment itself that’s too hard at first. (My older relative didn’t like how one helper tucked the blankets in too tight at the foot of the bed. ‘Why didn’t you just tell her to leave them untucked?’ But in the beginning she couldn’t figure how or when to do that.) After a couple of people who didn’t work out in her mind (no matter what we thought), she thought that the next person sent by the elder agency was a great fit for her.

    Thinking back, I bet it would have been good in the beginning to let her know she would have control over the situation. “Could we try it for a short time, see how it goes.” “If you don’t like the person, tell us and we’ll ask the agency for someone else.” (Elder help agencies are used to that I think.) My experience was that it helped to be relaxed about initial resistance, and show her that we trusted her responses instead of overriding them.

  104. 104.

    Betty

    August 26, 2019 at 8:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: Hi Elzabelle. Yes, that was Maria. The island has nearly recovered but emotionally no one is ready to go through that again. This one will pass across the Windward Islands. Not sure of its strength or exact location. Thanks all for positive thoughts.

  105. 105.

    Zelma

    August 26, 2019 at 8:56 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Saw your mention of Jade City and thought I’d check it out on Amazon. It turns out its on sale on Kindle for $2.99. Since I am a sucker for Kindle sales, I bought it without even looking at the blurb. Others here might be interested in the bargain.

  106. 106.

    J R in WV

    August 26, 2019 at 8:59 pm

    @Betty:

    Best of luck, Betty, and all the Island dwellers who are vulnerable to the hurricanes. We’ve visited the Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos, and none of them are really equipped to face a hurricane.

    so, best of luck!

  107. 107.

    Amir Khalid

    August 26, 2019 at 9:03 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    I’m sure you rememnber the exploding Samsung lightsaber.

  108. 108.

    Steeplejack (sky-high wi-fi)

    August 26, 2019 at 9:04 pm

    @Aleta:

    Thank you for your well-considered advice. Despite my jokes, I am going into this with a deep sense of purpose, and I want to help create a solution that works for all the stakeholders. But my mother is the first priority. I definitely will not be maneuvering her into some quick solution that let’s everybody else wash their hands and breathe a sigh of relief.

  109. 109.

    glory b

    August 26, 2019 at 9:32 pm

    @Sab: Maybe. Of course, I just heard on the Rachel Maddow show thatvthe White house is now trearing this as the odficial announcement of the next G7 licarion.
    Eveeyone who goes has to pay him.

  110. 110.

    Another Scott

    August 26, 2019 at 10:03 pm

    @Kay: Twitter:

    Rex Huppke Verified account @RexHuppke

    BREAKING: Trump to send Stephen Miller to his Doral resort in Florida to eat all the bed bugs #TrumpBedBugs

    [ appropriate picture of Miller ]

    4:55 PM – 26 Aug 2019

    Problem solved!!

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    lumpkin

    August 26, 2019 at 10:34 pm

    I’m guessing he mixes up Ivanka and Melania in his mind in other circumstances too, if you know what I mean.

    Edit: guess I’m not the first on this idea.

  112. 112.

    Tehanu

    August 26, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    Betty, hope you and yours stay safe with no water or alligators in the house!

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