Finally, some good news! https://t.co/4Yc8PNjs9I
— ColinPClarke (@ColinPClarke) June 13, 2020
Scientist now understands that in 2020, there are no jokes:
… The reading of the Mayan calendar was wrong according to a conspiracy theory on Twitter, and while the world didn’t end on Dec. 21, 2012, as originally prophesied by calendar readers, Mayan doomsday is sometime this week or next.
“Following the Julian Calendar, we are technically in 2012… The number of days lost in a year due to the shift into Gregorian Calendar is 11 days… For 268 years using the Gregorian Calendar (1752-2020) times 11 days = 2,948 days. 2,948 days / 365 days (per year) = 8 years,” scientist Paolo Tagaloguin tweeted last week according to the Sun. The series of tweets has since been deleted.
If Tagaloguin is correct, adding up all the missed days, then the Mayan doomsday date is … this week…
Baud
Excellent. I can put a couple of work things off until week after next.
lamh36
Open thread…cool.
Today is my mommy’s birthday guys. She’s 61 years old today! She has a heart attack about 7 years ago and she almost didn’t make it. Now she’s living with Congestive Heart Disease, but she made it and she’s actually healthy and happier than she was 7 years ago!
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1271916926395170817?s=20
Baud
@lamh36:
Happy birthday to Mama Lamh.
dexwood
Good news for a change.
lamh36
@lamh36: Also, was just reminded today would have been my aunt 64th birthday. She was my bio-dad’s sister. Her and my mom shared a birthday. I think about her so much since her passing.
And now I’m thinking about how excited she would have been for me finishing grad school…☹️
Happy Birthday Auntie
oatler.
Still waiting for that Mahayuga.
dmsilev
What? Fail. The Julian and Gregorian calendars differ by three days per four hundred years. 11 or so day adjustments were one-offs when different countries converted over to the more accurate calendar.
edit: and yes, I know it was a joke, but it doesn’t even make sense on that level.
White & Gold Purgatorian
I have never been more ready.
NotMax
*prepares to max out credit card*
:)
lamh36
@Baud: lol.. thx.
She out with my sisers running da streets…LOL
Another Scott
(A reply on Twitter says that picture is of an Aztec calendar.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
Armageddon averted?
lamh36
This ABSOLUTELY should happen
dmsilev
@Baud: No, Ben Affleck still walks among us.
Baud
@dmsilev:
Now I’m pro-end of the world again.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Nah, I’m still here.
lamh36
So this coming Wednesday, I take my final stand on thie California licensure thing (Don’t get me started. Let’s just say it’s been an ORDEAL. Suffice it to say it’s not likely I’ll be able to get the California license in Micro. I may have to get a trainee license of all things).
I’m taking the board exam to get my national Microbiology Specialist Certification.
I have not studied as much as I should have, but I really need to review somethings before I take the test.
So after today, I’ll be a bit of a lurker until after Wednesday!
Yutsano
I swear WaPo is just trying for the divorce now. And yeah she’s as gross as everyone thinks.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lamh36: Good luck.
bbleh
This is Trump’s fault …
Mousebumples
Had a Trump reelection guy knock on my door and ask , “Can President Trump count on your vote in November ?” Unmasked, of course. I enjoyed saying No Way In Hell and closing the door.
No clue why they bothered, as I’ve volunteered for the Dems since moving here. Can they tell that I voted in the 2016 GOP primary ? (only in attempt to keep Trump from winning , granted, not that they’d know that)
Baud
@Mousebumples:
Yes.
kindness
I think they are all wrong. I think the Mayan tablet specifically says Donald Trump’s world is going to come crashing down on him November 4th, 2020. He won’t believe it though. He’ll fight it the whole way.
Ken
Armageddon hungry. Pizza tonight, I think.
White & Gold Purgatorian
@Mousebumples: Did you spit on him? I think I would, in those circumstances.
Luciamia
Love how in that carving, it looks like the Mayan gods are giving us the Cosmic Raspberry.
Major Major Major Major
@dmsilev: ah, good to know lol
Omnes Omnibus
Not in Wisconsin with everything on the single ballot.
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
Happy birthday, Cynthia!
mrmoshpotato
Twitter embedding is being weird.
Another Scott
@mrmoshpotato: Ramps have been a terror for him for a long time. Remember he had to grab Theresa May’s arm at the White House to go down a small ramp…
Cheers,
Scott.
senyordave
Almost lost in the shuffle between protests and the inevitable increasing Covid-19 case numbers is this nugget:
Treasury chief refusing to disclose recipients of virus aid
Details from the article: Building ramparts of secrecy around a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program for small businesses, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has moved from delay to denial in refusing outright to disclose the recipients of taxpayer-funded loans.
Mnuchin told Congress at a hearing this week that the names of loan recipients and the amounts are “proprietary information.” While he claimed the information is confidential, ethics advocates and some lawmakers see the move as an attempt to dodge accountability for how the money is spent.
The Democrats should make a BFD about this during the campaign. I think corruption is something people care about. In the absence of disclosure we should assume corruption if Trump is involved.
bluehill
@mrmoshpotato: The thing I can’t understand is that he seems to have problems with stairs, so perhaps with balance. However, he plays golf which would seem to require some balance since you’re swinging a club.
Mousebumples
@White & Gold Purgatorian: thought about it, but I’m pretty sure I’m covid negative. I wouldn’t want to risk him returning the favor since he seemed to be among the anti science crowd.
@Omnes Omnibus: that’s what I thought, but maybe this just means that they’re desperately going door to door searching for undiscovered supporters?
Spanky
@Luciamia: That’s just Gene Simmons.
Omnes Omnibus
Bingo.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: You have an open primary in WI?
James E Powell
I posted this before, but I thought it would be all right to do it again. I watched this again this morning and it’s really quite good.
Back when John Prine passed it seemed like there were quite a few fans around here. For any fans or for anyone really, you really ought to see Picture Show: A Tribute Celebrating John Prine.
If you’re a big fan, it’s an absolute must watch. It’s also a benefit.
prostratedragon
As modern textual analysis has shown, sucking is on the rise this year.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Open with same day registration.
Yutsano
@mrmoshpotato:
A bit more accurate no?
Martin
@Mousebumples: Wisconsin? Yeah, they’re desperate to hold Wisconsin. At a minimum they need everyone who voted for him in 2016 (who Trump hasn’t subsequently killed with Covid) to vote this year.
prostratedragon
@lamh36: Hey, Happy Birthday to her!
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
What does same day registration mean if everyone gets the same ballot?
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Damn. Now I’m gonna have to root for Cleveland.
mrmoshpotato
@Another Scott: Weren’t those stairs?
Anyway, another embedding attempt after restarting.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: You can register to vote at the polling place – assuming you have the required papers.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Ken
Well the rumor – which of course I don’t believe for a minute but it’s out there and people do repeat it and you know they say there’s no smoke without FTFNYT – is that Trump was thrown down a flight of stairs by the Russian mafia when he fell behind on his payments, and that’s why ever since he’s been Putin’s lickspittle toady.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It means you can get a ballot.
mrmoshpotato
Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby is now afraid of ramps!
Isn’t this the same pile of shit who said HIllary didn’t have the “stamina” to be elected?
Also,
And
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
I think you should prepare to notmax it out.
dmsilev
This is a positive sign.
Iowa Poll: Theresa Greenfield leads Joni Ernst in tight race for U.S. Senate
I don’t think Iowa was ever high up on the “must-win” states for the Democrats to flip the Senate, so seeing a competitive race there is very encouraging. And yes, it is just one poll.
Calouste
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Vaguely related: I saw a tweet where some knucklehead “fan” was complaining to Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine about his politics. One of the replies was “What machine do you think he was raging against? The dishwasher?”
Mousebumples
I know we don’t love Nate Silver, but I hadn’t seen anyone else mention a Des Moines Register poll showing Ernst behind to her challenger – https://amp.desmoinesregister.com/amp/5346215002
mrmoshpotato
@lamh36: Happy birthday to your mom and many more years of good health to her!
smedley the uncertain
@lamh36: Good Luck and best wishes.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@dmsilev: WHOA!
A Civiqs poll on Tuesday had Ernst losing by 3 points and now that’s confirmed by the Iowa’s Gold Standard poll.
I love the smell of landslide in the morning.
FelonyGovt
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
mrmoshpotato
So Testament didn’t lie to us through song? Well then, time to rock out to Testament – 3 Days of Darkness
Another Scott
@mrmoshpotato: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R6BwqBpqSU (0:33)
There are clips with better views, but he wasn’t holding her hand until they got to the ramp part of the walk (and wasn’t when it was flat again).
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Did he ever have the “second part” of his “annual physical”? I honestly can’t remember.
Agree with both twitterers you cited that a stroke is likely, or a form of dementia that manifests in these physical disabilities.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@SiubhanDuinne: No, he didn’t.
I hate to say this, because it’s so out of character, but it appears the Dump White House lied to us.
J R in WV
@lamh36:
Don’t worry, all you can do is what you have planned to do. Plus your Aunt and your Mom’s birthday, great. I’m glad she’s running around, what? New Orleans? Best place to run around in this side of NYC. Really, more concentrated fun in NOLA than in NYC. I love both cities for the music and the food!!!
Best wishes for all your exams!! I’m thinkin’ you’ve got it nailed, tho!
donnah
@Another Scott: Ramps are a problem because with the lifts in his shoes, he’s already pitched forward. But there seem to be other issues with his health and that two handed water glass move is weird, as is his odd stance.
The man is sick.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Trump didn’t just look unsteady on the ramp, he looked downright frightened and then looked very relieved once he got to the bottom on level ground.
J R in WV
@senyordave:
In the absence of disclosure we should
assumeknow for certain that corruption when Trump is involved.Yutsano
@dmsilev: @Mousebumples: Polls don’t vote. People do. But I’ve already said I’m greedy here. I want them all to get wiped out. Even the open seat in Tennessee.
Cermet
Technically, the end of the Mayan calender does not mean the end of the world but really was meant to signal the start of a new age for the world. So this appears correct; in of itself, it does not signifry great good or evil, just a new start. WE are certainly in that.
Amir Khalid
@dmsilev:
You know what’s worse? I used up all my 2012 jokes back on Dec 21, 2012 — right here in these threads, as a matter of fact.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lamh36:
Happy birthday to her!
mad citizen
@SiubhanDuinne: I was following the progress of trump physical, part 2, and about three weeks ago sent two or three tweets to the WH Press Corp, other news network twitter handles, and reporters about it. After my second or third tweet, NBC News actually had an online story about it, so I guess someone had asked the WH about it. The WH promised it again, and a week or two ago they did a press release with the bogus numbers.
The drinking water clip seems like a big problem.
Steeplejack
@lamh36:
Happy birthday to your mom. Many happy returns!
????
HRA
@lamh36: Happy Birthday to your Mom!
Baud
I wonder what Trump’s health will be like when Biden reaches 60% in the polls.
Jeffro
Currently wrapping up the 3rd of 3 nights in our Shenandoah rental, after some kayaking and major SNP hiking, plus all kinds of chill time out on the deck, looking at the water.
its nice!
I’m not quite ready for the end of the world yet. Lemme do this again next summer and then maybe… ?
Jeffro
@Baud: I’m excited to hear him and his sycophants use the phrase “declaring victory and going home”
Amir Khalid
@lamh36:
A very happy birthday to your mommy.
ThresherK
Okay, we’re deep into Rev. Gene Scott and pyramid inch territory now.
Kelly
John Prine Fans:
Picture Show a tribute to John Prine is available to stream until Sunday night. Gonna go watch it now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv05dPfmx40&t=2s
Baud
@Jeffro:
I’m looking forward to hearing the phrase “moral victory” being bandied about by the GOP.
Another Scott
@mad citizen: While video clips can always be misinterpreted, this one shows him being much more effusive with his left hand than his right (his right seems to be frozen on the lecturn).
And, you’re right, the drinking water thing is huge.
The press needs to get genuine answers about his health. Will they? Who knows. :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@Another Scott:
I believe his health is still under audit.
mrmoshpotato
@Calouste: LOL
James E Powell
@Yutsano:
Taylor Swift is on the job.
Ken
I would be OK with McConnell winning his seat, provided the new majority leader assigns him a humiliatingly tiny office in the basement.
mrmoshpotato
@Another Scott: Ah, I see.
Cheers (cracks open another beer) :)
zhena gogolia
@ThresherK:
Oh, man, I haven’t thought about him in years, but reading his name I can see his face vividly.
mrmoshpotato
And all through it he looked like a Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby who’s a traitor to the United States because…well…
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m reading Erik Larson’s THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE, about Churchill in WWII. Right now, I’m reading about some stuff I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of. In the few days after France surrendered in 1940, the English worried about the disposal of the French navy. They sure didn’t want it to be added to the might of the Germans, and they wanted it for themselves. So they seized ships docked in English ports like Southampton. That was the easy part. But then they set out to seize French ships at anchor in Dakar, Alexandria, and off Algiers. But of course the captains of those French ships had no idea they were coming and they were deathly afraid they’d have to fire on the French. It’s pretty interesting.
Larson wrote THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY which had a big readership though I somehow missed it.
ETA: If I have a short, wide glass like Trump was using, I have to use two hands. My hands are small and arthritis has destroyed the grip in the right one. I’m fine with a small glass or a water bottle. So I resist reading too much into that. Not that I don’t want to dump on him. I just feel like a hypocrite.
mrmoshpotato
Fixed. No charge.
lumpkin
I think that Paolo Tagaloguin made that all up to fool gullible people. The Julian calendar differs from the Gregorian calendar by 1 day in 128 years. The two calendars currently differ by about 13 days. Also, the Mayans knew nothing about future calendars when they made the prediction so it matters not at all what calendar we use now.
Martin
@Mousebumples: In case anyone was wondering why Iowa leg is so desperate to block mail-in voting…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@donnah: I have lifts in my dress shoes, I don’t have that problem.
Martin
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Trump is rumored to have some pretty big lifts – over an inch. Dude grew about 2 inches since he turned 30.
different-church-lady
@Baud: The problem is 40% of the country will still vote for even his rotting corpse.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jeffro: Madame and I hare headed to Joshua Tree either Tuesday or Wed. night*. She’s never been.
*There’s no one in the entrance stations to take your fee after 6pm so it’s free, also y’all know I’m going for the night lights.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Martin: I’m 5’4: and mine are about a inch and a half.
Mousebumples
@Yutsano: completely agree. I plan to operate like we’re 10 points down , but it’s nice to see that other people across the country are also getting frustrated with where things are going.
And I just spent 20+ minutes on the phone with what felt like a Trump push poll – trying to get him good poll numbers ??
Obvious Russian Troll
@Another Scott: The whole end of the world thing is largely bullshit anyway. They referenced dates after 2012. That the NY Post used an Aztec calendar to illustrate the article is icing on the cake.
They probably would have had a few nervous years toward the end, though.
Also, check out the classic picture of Yuri Knorozov used in the Wikipedia article. Knorozov was one of the key figures in deciphering the Mayan script, and I think he might have fit in here…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Knorozov
Yutsano
@Martin: It’s a bit trickier, but Iowa does allow no excuse absentee ballots. Sounds like the fight is to get rid of the complications.
Achrachno
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: I prefer the sight of GOP wreckage after it’s passed.
CaseyL
@lamh36: Best of luck on the exam, and happy birthday to your Mom!
So, other than the calendar being Aztec and not Mayan, plus the math being wrong, and the “End of the World” actually means “the world is changing to a new age” – other than those trifles, the prophecy is correct, yes?
You know, from 2016 to now each new day, month, and year have been more and more awful-yet-strange, it does somehow seem like living through the End TImes. Maybe it’s all an experiment to see how much surreality we can handle.
An experiment being conducted by white mice…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: There was an editorial from the WaPo editorial board a week or so ago about the White House being more forthcoming about Trump’s health.
Doug R
It’s just a bad translation.
It doesn’t say “end of days”.
It says “flip tablet over”.
Achrachno
@different-church-lady: I say we keep fingers crossed for 27% — could happen
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: He ran the “Church of the Open Door” in the old Biola building in downtown LA. It had a big neon “Jesus Saves” sign on it right next to the Central Library.
dmsilev
@Doug R:
I tried that, and all I saw was an Apple logo etched into an aluminum face. Also, I can report that touchscreen-typing upside down is a PITA.
danielx
You can’t hide your Mayan eyes….
Martin
@?BillinGlendaleCA: She’s never been? Dude. Should be a lovely evening. Might get to see the cluster of sats that SpaceX launched this morning.
lamh36
Ooof…The police departments in both cities would be smart to be open and transparent and go above and beyond to prove this shit was just a coinidence…
The first case is still an “open” investigation but they are adamant it was suicide. The 2nd city case is not quite a day old and they also say “no apparent foul play” and calling is a suicide
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Martin:
I hope not.
Martin
@Yutsano: The leg is proposing to eliminate mailing out applications and instead require voters submit a formal letter to the SoS along with proof of ID and request an absentee ballot.
Safe to say the leg will then tie up those reviews so the ballots aren’t received in time, and trust that the sheer difficulty of processing those requests will grind the process to a stop. Plus, willing to bet they challenge every submitted form of ID for not being original.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
@lamh36: Happy birthday to your mom!
And speaking of birthdays, happy birthday WaterGirl!
Jeffro
@Baud: I’m hoping the Biden Campaign can keep the same nose-punching spirit when it becomes the Biden Administration and blast the sh!+ out of the former maladministration every time it undoes its craziness.
Day30: yes, we went back to lower levels of arsenic in your drinking water, America. YES, trumpov really did that while y’all weren’t looking.
Day 122: finally tracked down where the last of that $500B in Covid recovery loans went…guess who got the last $10B? Yup, you guessed it…
just pound and pound and pound
Jeffro
@?BillinGlendaleCA: nice!
once we get Fro Jr off to college in a few years, we’re out of here in an RV. National Parks here we come!
ThresherK
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m a non-fiction reader and my wife loves novels. Devil in the White City may be the only book we’ve both read.
So I have to add that next Larson one to my list.
Martin
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, you shouldn’t. Nor the ISS.
debbie
@lamh36:
Absolute bullshit.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@ThresherK: Larson does a good job of bringing history alive.
In this event I posted about above, the French did resist and there was a battle in which the English blew up a French battleship, killing something 1200 French sailors. I had no idea.
debbie
@ThresherK:
You have to read In the Garden of Beasts.
lamh36
@lamh36:
IDK…I know folks used hanging as a method for suicide, but doing so in a public place, NOT at home seems weird to me.
But of course I’m no expert or anything. Just seems odd
Anathema Device
@WaterGirl and others re Dumpf and ramps:
I am very similar in my approach to ramps and stairs, especially going down. I have arthritis in my knees, and also have several times fallen and damaged the ligaments (not to mention permanently damaging one ankle. Ramps and stairs are not my friends. I take my time on them, but walk normally on the flat
I have not ever had a stroke, and I don’t have dementia (not that anyone’s told me :) ). LIke Trump, I am pretty obese. He’s a good bit taller (and I wager, heavier) than me, so if he falls, he’s going to hurt himself badly (and be embarrassed.) The chances of him having arthritic knees are high.
I don’t think you need to impute more than that, to be honest.
The water thing is more puzzling, but could just be a strained tendon or nerve damage in one arm or hand.
While he’s a prime candidate for a stroke or heart attack (we already know he has heart disease), your deity of choice doesn’t love enough to have him kick the bucket before November – if it did, the bastid would never have made it into the White House.
Gin & Tonic
@Jeffro: Few years back we were driving back home taking our time, and stopped at some obscure National Wildlife Refuge. Stopped in to HQ to pay and pick up some maps, and the nice young lady said “you can pay $4 to get in here today, or you can pay $10 and get admission to every National Park and Wildlife Refuge for the rest of your life.” That was a decision that didn’t take long.
I understand this offer is no longer valid.
lamh36
I’m going offline soon, see ya’ll in a few days BJ. At least until after my exam
I’ll leave you with this:
https://twitter.com/salobonavia/status/1271952440745697281/photo/1
Never change NOLA…NEVER CHANGE…lol.
Anathema Device
@lamh36:
Other than judicial executions and lynchings, I can’t remember ever reading about a suicide by hanging in a public place.
This stinks like week-old fish left in the sun.
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano: I wouldn’t call Melania “gross”, even though I disagree with all her choices.
Read the WaPo excerpt from her book, and briefly thought about posting about it. From that & the reviews, it’s an even-handed bio, describing a dedicated woman who decided at an early age that she was going to escape from her middle-middle-class roots in a backwater town, and her (perceived) attractiveness / fashion sense was the easiest option. For someone whose goal in life was ‘Rich enough not to think about money all the time, and powerful enough to live in pleasant surroundings without working all the time’, she’s done very well for herself!
Sure, she’s a throwback by *our* standards — the mad king’s last young concubine, grudgingly tolerated by his adult progeny as long as she keeps the old man relatively quiescent & doesn’t get too grabby. (Which is exactly what Julia Ioffe wrote, before the election, in an article that drew endless abuse & death threats from the ‘Alt-Right’ rabble.) She’s a co-conspirator with the rest of the Trump family, but I have the distinct impression that she’ll voluntarily “disappear” from public view approximately 15 minutes after the Squatter-in-Chief is ousted. Unless / until she ‘marries up’ next time — c.f. Wendy Deng snagging Rupert Murdoch.
Yutsano
@Anathema Device: It’s not for you to explain. That’s on him. It’s rather unusual to have that much trouble with a water glass.
Jeffro
@Gin & Tonic: I’ve heard that as well. One more thing that Uncle Joe and Co can undo for the nation. The national parks truly are a treasure.
Martin
@lamh36: It happens. Student at the school my wife was subbing at attempted it in the park next to the school. Thankfully survived.
That said, I can think of more probable explanations.
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: She made damn sure Barron was made a dual citizen. She makes sure he’s capable of speaking the language. Her reasonings are rather curious for doing these things. I know for a fact she would not want to leave New York, but she is smart enough to have an escape plan if she needs it.
By gross I mean how alike she and her spouse are.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: We were supposed to be at Joshua Tree on April 6th. Oh well, I’m working on plans for next year.
Steeplejack
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Neither do women in high heels, apparently.
J R in WV
@Anathema Device:
My first thought as well. Stinks. Nazis, they love that kind of murder!!
Kristine
@lamh36: Happy Birthday to your Mom! ?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic:
@Jeffro: If you’re over 62 you can still get an “America the Beautiful” lifetime pass for $80, though I’ve heard that Trump wants to get rid of it.
frosty
@Jeffro: That was our plan this year. We left in February. Made it to two before they all closed.
Benw
@SiubhanDuinne: sick. You win 1 internet :)
Another Scott
(elided – see below)
Another Scott
@Martin: I’ve always thought that was overblown, but …
Cheers,
Scott.
frosty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: If you (or any other jackals) want to learn more, I recommend a blog called ww2today.com. Each day it tells about something significant 80 years ago. With the exception that until VJ Day we’ll see some of the fighting in the Pacific from 1945.
The Eastern Front was horrific. We didn’t learn much detail about it until the 1990s.
Anne Laurie
@Anathema Device: Yeah, I’ve had (mild) balance issues all my life, and I’m damned cautious going down ramps too. But it’s been noted that for some reason we don’t get to see the Squatter-in-Chief going up stairs any more, either — that, as you say, sounds like arthritic knees. (After 60 years of favoring a mildly dysplastic right hip, there’s no cartilage left in my left knee; I have to climb stairs like a toddler, hitting each stair with both feet as I go.)
He’s also being very cautious about using his right arm… but, again, that could be a damaged tendon/muscle. What makes me wonder more, though, is that he seems to be gripping the podium like a lifeline — so either his knees or his balance seems to have deteriorated significantly, in the last couple of months.
Who knows, maybe it’s just being in lockdown & not having the impetus for even the mild exercise of swinging a golf club?
Benw
@lamh36: best wishes! You will kill it!
frosty
@Gin & Tonic: @Jeffro: If it’s the Senior Pass, it’s still available – or it was. It went from $10 to $80 in August 2018. I snagged mine the last week or so that it was cheaper.
$80 is still a good deal though.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
About BEING more forthcoming, or NEEDING TO BE more forthcoming? ’cause I have not noticed any forthcomingness recently.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: If things had gone differently we could have had a Balloon Juice stargazing meetup!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: Considering the fee for Joshua Tree is $35, the $80 pass is a great deal.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: There’s a WaPo story that Billin pointed me to (from June 2 or so) that gave his weight and total cholesterol numbers, but little else. Nothing about any neurological tests, or what happened in February.
The press needs to keep pressing.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): @lamh3
Mama LAMH and I share a birthday. I am honored. Happy Birthday to her!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: They were saying they need to be transparent on Trump’s health, obviously my phrasing was too charitable.
Happy b-day.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, sigh. I spent the trip learning how to use my new Sony a6000. Pointers would have been helpful too.
OTR pix are on the way. I’m about to do another submittal tonight.
ETA: and at 5’4″ we would have been able to see eye-to-eye.
Anne Laurie
There was a notoriously unpleasant couple among the PreRaphaelites, about whom it was quipped, “It was a public service that they married each other, and thereby made only two people unhappy instead of four.”
I doubt the elder Trump kids would ever allow Barron a position in the family crime cartel (assuming he’d want one). But I suspect his mom wanted him to be able to find a niche somewhere in Europe (quite possible Brussels, or Switzerland) where he could supplement whatever he inherits with a series of highly-compensated, undemanding positions on various Boards of Directors or quasi-governmental non-profits.
Frankensteinbeck
@Anne Laurie:
I have nothing against her marrying for money. Sex work is not degrading, people treat sex workers in a degrading way. All evidence is that she’s also a horrible person, but I have to say, the rest of the Trump family is much, much worse. Ugh. At least she seems to care about her child, because Trump sure as Hell doesn’t.
Kayla Rudbek
Well, I was looking at a list of Black-owned wineries https://www.winemag.com/2020/06/08/black-owned-wine-guide/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
and then one of them sells blue wine, so of course I had to order some of that
https://www.amourbluforever.com/
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic, @Jeffro:
I think the national parks lifetime pass is now $80. It’s for seniors only (62+), I believe. Still a bargain if you go more than once or twice a year. And an incentive to go more often.
Anne Laurie
It takes practice to climb steps / ramps wearing heels, especially descending. Even then, if you see women in stiletto heels on airplane steps, for instance, they’re cautious.
Trump won’t practice, because he’s lazy, and also can’t admit he’s ever less than perfect just as he already is.
J R in WV
@frosty:
We got a lifetime National Park pass years ago, have been to lots of them since. Worth every penny!!
National Monuments, too~!!!~
Steeplejack
@Another Scott:
C’mon, bone spurs stick out a lot. Need space for those.
frosty
@J R in WV: And Seashores! And Historic Sites! I got mine at Ft McHenry, my wife picked hers up at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Patricia Kayden
I’d do the same.
Anne Laurie
For hundreds of years, marrying for money was not only a woman’s best chance at prosperity, it was the most socially approved one!
Is it Melania’s fault (she said, semi-sarcastically) that her birthplace was fifty years behind the times, because of the Soviets?
J R in WV
@Patricia Kayden:
I think Betty Cracker already did this, but we didn’t get a video of it.
I’ve never had a contractor with any political signage whatsoever, but would ask one with a confederate flag to please go away.
Even though I’m pretty sure my paternal grandmother’s family, from Giles county VA were fer sure confederates.
That don’t mean I’m accepting of treason! I’m enough of a veteran to remember the oath, had nothing to do with West Virginia, nor especially Virginia. If Robert E Lee couldn’t figure that out, the hell with him!
patrick II
Happy Birthday Watergirl!
Jean
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I just finished reading it a few weeks ago. It was excellent!
joel hanes
@bluehill:
I think:
James E Powell
@Anne Laurie:
See generally, the novels of Jane Austen.
joel hanes
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
My family read Splendid and Vile in the first days of the shutdown.
More than I cared to know about Mary Churchill.
I had not known how strangely Rudolph Hess behaved.
Upper-class Brits of that period sure drank a lot of alcohol.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Reading of Mayan calender’s says time is circular one world ends and the next begins. Archeology, how does it work?
joel hanes
@Gin & Tonic:
I got that Golden Eagle pass for parks/refuges in 2017, but I never use it, because of all the dollars I pay to various governments, the dollars that go to national parks and wildlife refuges are the ones I’m happiest about.
Had there been a deal where I could pony up a thousand bucks once and never have to pay for the Pentagon budget thereafter, I’d have leaped at it.
Martin
@Anne Laurie: I’m sure Melania is fully aware that Barron could meet Tiffany’s fate.
Yutsano
@Martin: Marla saw up close how toxic that family is. As soon as the ink was dry she high tailed it to California with her settlement and kept Tiffany as far away as she could from Donald. Tiffany might just get married as quickly as possible so she can dump that name.
Martin
This is wild. Virginia republicans may dump an incumbent house member tonight because he officiated at a same sex wedding.
Virginia is not a state where electorate momentum is going in their favor, and they’re going to dump a guy for someone way to his right. Ok. Cool.
Martin
@Yutsano: Don Jr was apparently quite upset with dad over the rape accusation and they didn’t speak for years. Apparently an abundance of money and stupidity helped him get over it.
Yutsano
@Martin: He would have come back to the fold. That family has nothing but themselves. Which means they pretty much have nothing.
mrmoshpotato
Putin’s bitch was so scared of the ramp that he ran down it.
hitchhiker
@mrmoshpotato:
And lest we forget, the media could NOT stop talking about how Hillary Clinton HID her diagnosis of pneumonia from them, because as they ALL knew, she was just sneaky and dishonest that way.
It was about lack of transparency, see? Lack of transparency was a BIG reason to question her general character. Lack of transparency was evidence that, as usual, you just couldn’t trust that woman.
Of COURSE we don’t think it’s a big deal that she GOT pneumonia, citizens! We just worry about this pattern of dishonesty in her behavior.
Every major media outlet repeated that shit.
Sometimes I really can’t stand it.
mrmoshpotato
@hitchhiker: Oh my god! Hillary coughed! Is she going to die?!
Anathema Device
@Yutsano:
I’m not. I’m putting up a more plausible explanation that doesn’t label those of us with disabilities or mobility issues as demented or brain-damaged. Because, ya know, it’s pretty offensive when people do it.
Yes, I know he sucks, and he mocks people with disabilities, and he’s the world’s biggest hypocrite. But when people gleefully mock his physical condition, they manage to insult and demean all the other people with the same problems who don’t happen to be enormous sacks of festering poo.
He’s not going to tell the truth about what his health issues are, so you can’t pretend that all the speculation has a real purpose other than death wish porn.
SFAW
@Anathema Device:
You seem to be putting forth an argument that isn’t being made, i.e., that commenters/FPers here are ascribing “demented or brain-damaged” to a group, rather than to one person whose behaviors over the past four years indicate increasing dementia.
Do others of his “physical attributes” (so to speak) brag (more-or-less) about what great shape they’re in, how excellent their health is. and so on? No. His weight is 244? Right, and I’m a body double for an Olympic marathoner. [Hint: My BMI is a little north of 30.] Once again, your attempting to claim that commenters are lumping all obese persons (for example) with him.
He is, at least by virtue of his position, the “leader of the Free World.” His dementia — assuming the moderate-to-high probability that he has it — might somehow have a material effect on the lives of a few billion people.
You might consider not continuing to use that shovel.
Barney
“Scientist Paolo Tagaloguin” (plant sciences, it seems) hasn’t just deleted the tweets, he’s deleted his Twitter account. The Express seems to be the first tabloid that found this, but they didn’t take screen shots, so we can’t see if Paolo used obvious sarcasm, made the satire too subtle, or may have actually wanted people to believe it.
“Scientist” sounds better than “random Twitter user”, anyway. Or “expert”, as the Express puts it. I hope he didn’t need his Twitter account for anything.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@lamh36: ??????
Anathema Device
@SFAW:
Oh, ffs. One, all the ‘evidence’ of dementia the Internet has found is nothing of the sort. Every single ‘symptom’ analysed to death by supposed experts and armchair medics are just as easily explained by Trump’s dyslexia, lack of intellectual strength and curiosity, lack of exercise (and perhaps a long history of drug abuse), and profound laziness. He’s doing all the damage he’s doing out of racism, carelessness, and basic inability to think past the next five minutes or his own emotional needs. No need to invoke dementia.
Two, you know damn well that Trump could emerge for a press briefing naked and covered in shit, and absolutely nothing will happen other than Fox will start talking up about the new fashionable trend of ‘natural dressing’. ‘Discovering’ the smoking bullet that ‘proves’ he has Alzheimer’s will do diddly squat.
And three, you’re doing exactly what you claim no one here is doing – saying that common physical and mobility issues are signs of serious mental deterioration, i.e. dementia or worse. If it’s wrong for rethugs to do this to Joe Biden because of his stutter, it’s wrong for the left to do it to Trump because he might have bad knees.
I already acknowledged that Trump is an Olympic standard hypocrite and liar on these issues, and certainly his claims to be a superior being on any level are acutely risible. If you don’t care what harm they are doing to those who aren’t like that, who have the same visible physical problems, then that’s your opinion, and worth to me what I’m prepared to pay for it.
SFAW
@Anathema Device:
If you compare his current “performance” to his “performance” of 10-15 years ago, his deterioration is obvious. He can’t construct a simple, non-head-scratch-inducing sentence — never mind a paragraph — without a teleprompter. I realize that doesn’t fit nicely with what you choose to believe, but you might reconsider your oh-so-deeply-thought-out position.
So? Just because Fox would say that his BMI is 20 and his IQ is 250, we should not bother calling out his lies etc? [ETA: And we shouldn’t call out the guy with his finger on the nuke “button,” just because Fox will give him cover?] OK then
Nice goal-post moving there, conflating physical/mobility issues/deterioration with dementia — which I don’t believe anyone here has done, outside of you. As a certified old fart, I am well aware of the physical and mental deterioration that accompanies age.His apparent deterioration is somewhat more than one would expect. But I realize you’re looking for him NOT to be demented, or something, so … whatever.
Anyway, now you’ve migrated from your oh-so-righteous outrage because you perceived that people calling out Trump means they were broad-brushing an entire group (i.e., those with physical/mental disabilities) — which they weren’t — to the idea that “hey, there’s no dementia there, and you’re an asshole for saying that, because THERE JUST ISN’T. And anyway, it’s all explained away by drug use, racism, and the phase of the moon. And even if there were, Fox would lie about it.”
Barney
Wrong thread – ignore me …