Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

The revolution will be supervised.

The house always wins.

There will be lawyers.

Reality always wins in the end.

I swear, each month of 2020 will have its own history degree.

This is all too absurd to be reality, right?

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Fuck if i know. i just get yelled at when i try it.

We need fewer warriors in public service and more gardeners.

Han shot first.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Where tasty lettuce and good mustard aren’t elitist.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

False Scribes! False Scribes!

It’s been a really long fucking year.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Remarks By President-Elect Joe Biden On The Electoral College

Reader Interactions

232Comments

  2. 2.

    Mary G

    Just left this Twitter bot recommendation in the last thread, but I’m repeating it here, because I’m sure Uncle Joe is watching something like it too:

    1 Month, 5 Days, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes, and 57 Seconds— When Is Trump Gone? (@DaysLeft4Trump) December 14, 2020

  8. 8.

    dmsilev

    @Elizabelle: Per Mary G’s post above, we have

    1 Month, 5 Days, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes, and 57 Seconds

    left to wait. Minus a few minutes.

  10. 10.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Baud:

    I hope that’s all it is. Speaking of, how have you been feeling? I know you mentioned you were getting tested

  16. 16.

    Elizabelle

    “Politicians don’t take power.  People grant power to them.”

    and he mentioned that “abuse of power” would not interfere.

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    My blood pressure is down just listening to President-Elect Biden’s soothing voice and sanity.

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    “The results in Georgia were counted three times.  Didn’t change the outcome.”

    Listen up, dittoheads and foxbots.

  25. 25.

    mad citizen

    Slightly OT but I was thinking that Joe will find a way to have Kamala speak during the inauguration.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    I’m sure there are already media pundits looking around for fainting couches because Biden is “being partisan” and “is not reaching out to understand Trump’s supporters”.

    Fuckem.

  29. 29.

    Elizabelle

    Lost the electoral college, lost the popular vote …  refused to honor the law … and our Constitution.  Speaking of united Supreme Court.

    Someone orange is fuming in his misbegotten White House.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    I wonder if a physician could spray Joe’s throat with something soothing for future speeches.

    All those morons who believed Biden was “senile”, on Rush’s word.  Now they can worry about … something else.

  46. 46.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    The best thing about this speech…no whining. After these last four years, I love that so much.

  47. 47.

    dmsilev

    @FelonyGovt: Today’s fun read from Alexandra Petri:

    Please don’t call me ‘Doctor.’ I, Victor Frankenstein, am the Monster.

    Everyone, everyone! Please, do not address me, Victor Frankenstein, as “Doctor.” Technically, I am that Modern Prometheus, the man whose hubris has set him to steal fire from the gods and seek to create life from a reanimated corpse. Which is to say that addressing me as “Doctor” would be a mistake. I am, clearly, the Monster in this novel.

    Also, I am not technically a doctor. My whole life people keep addressing me as “Doctor,” erroneously, I think because I am a man, or perhaps because I created life where there was none in a wild fit of hubris and science has yet to determine a good term for someone who does that!

    I agree, I do technically possess the kind of knowledge of the natural sciences that might cause someone to be addressed as “Doctor,” and you would think, rationally, that the conversation would stop there. But nothing with me ever stops at a rational bound! I’m Victor Frankenstein! I steal body parts and reassemble them into an enormous being of my own design, I am ignorant in my pride of science, and now, I am writing an op-ed in a major newspaper asking for someone with an advanced degree to be addressed in a less respectful way.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    Michael Steele re trump’s time is over:  “You want to turn this crap off.  You want to go take a shower.”

    Tell us about it!

  51. 51.

    lamh36

    Lordt Jesus…we can finally get back to saying MY President and MY Vice President again! Come on through Jan 19, 2020!!!

  54. 54.

    Bluegirlfromwyo

    @Baud: Nor do real women. You’ll never hear Kamala Harris whine like Trump. Guaranteed. So tired of all the whining.

  55. 55.

    Kattails

    I’m very glad he called this shit out for what it was and still is, short of just saying they’re poisoning the well.

  57. 57.

    cain

    @Roger Moore:

    If there is one good thing that came out of this – it is the fact that Marco earned a nickname that apparently will stick to him like shit on a boot.

  64. 64.

    lamh36

    No inside shit for Fox news anymore.  Honestly hope Biden does like PBO and never go on any of their bullshit shows.

    Hell fuq even their “legit news” shows…they can all suck it. Fox gonna dry right on up with Chump joins that weird OAN bullshit and compete directly with Faux News…fuq’ em all.

    @GeoffRBennett

    ·
    2m

    As Biden concluded his remarks, Peter Doocy of Fox shouted out to the president-elect to ask: “When did you find out your son was being investigated?” Biden turned back and with a dose of sarcasm replied: “Thanks for the congratulations. I appreciate it.” – via
    @mikememoli
    https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1338649160984223746?s=20

    good for you Joe…fuq’ em

  65. 65.

    Soprano2

    Half of that speech was Biden basically saying “Fuck you, Trump and Republicans, you lost and we won.” About time someone on our side said it forcefully.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    I want to thank everyone who stepped up today with a donation to Raphael Warnock after Stacey Abrams asked for donations for him, specifically, today.

    Balloon Juice raised 15,000.00 for Warnock today.  We did that!  You guys make me proud to be a jackal.   In case anyone missed the thread and wants to get in on the action:

    Raphael Warnock

    Goal Thermometer

    Let’s help give Joe a blue senate.  I think that would be a lovely housewarming gift for the new president.

  67. 67.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    That was refreshing.

    It will be nice not diving for the mute button every time someone reports on something the President said.

    @Elizabelle: All those morons who believed Biden was “senile”, on Rush’s word. Now they can worry about … something else.

    Oh, I imagine Fox will continue to doctor video and keep going with the senile story line. The question is whether any of the MAGAts will accidentally see un-doctored video, triggering head explosions, etc.

  70. 70.

    Mary G

    Somewhat OT, but since he’s soon to lead HHS, I’m stretching it:

    (LA Times) SACRAMENTO — California is taking Amazon to court to force the online retail giant to cooperate with a months-long investigation into whether the company is doing enough to protect its workers from the coronavirus, Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Monday.

    Becerra said his office had asked a Sacramento County Superior Court judge to order Amazon to comply with outstanding investigative subpoenas, alleging the firm has not adequately responded to requests for information.

    The attorney general’s office issued the subpoenas in August as part of an investigation into Amazon’s protocols for protecting employees from COVID-19 and the status of virus cases at the company’s facilities throughout California.

    “Amazon has made billions during this pandemic relying on the labor of essential workers. Their workers get the job done while putting themselves at risk,” Becerra said in a statement Monday. “It’s critical to know if these workers are receiving the protections on the job that they are entitled to under the law.”

    He’s not lame ducking it!

  71. 71.

    Spanky

    @Mike in NC:

    After January 20th I think liquor stores across the country will experience a drop in sales.

    Sales of Coors Lite, Bud, and other piss will go up, but yeah, sales of the good stuff may suffer a drop.

    Or not! I know I’ll be doing my part.

  73. 73.

    JoyceH

    @Elizabelle:

    I wonder if a physician could spray Joe’s throat with something soothing for future speech

    Or hot tea with honey, something. In the midst of a pandemic that is a respiratory disease, that throat clearing is scary. We need him healthy! He’s probably just been talking too much what with all the transition stuff, but they need to find something that works and use it before every public speech.

  74. 74.

    lamh36

    folks really need to be prpared for the bullshit.

     

    Remember this!

    @Sifill_LDF

    Here’s the new Acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen, at his confirmation hearing for Deputy Attorney General in 2019.
    https://twitter.com/Sifill_LDF/status/1338649242861252611?s=20

    …

    @NAACP_LDF

    “Jeffrey Rosen’s failure to endorse the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education is unprecedented and unforgivable.” –
    @lisa_cylar
    Read our statement urging Senators to vote no on Mr. Rosen’s nomination: http://bit.ly/2VqL6Ze #CourtsMatter

  78. 78.

    zhena gogolia

    This speech coincided with our dinnertime. I’ll try to watch it, but all your comments about his dry throat are scaring me off.

  79. 79.

    Mary G

    We’re up to eight GOP Senators cutting the orange baby loose, including Lindsey Graham, who’s probably getting ready to become the moderate making deals with his old buddy Joe.

    Cascade of GOP senators acknowledging @JoeBiden won:

    Sen Blunt: “We’ve now gone through the constitutional process and the electors have voted, so there’s a president elect.”

    Sen Capito: “It certainly looks that way…it’s time to turn the page and begin a new administration.”

    — Nancy Cordes (@nancycordes) December 14, 2020

  81. 81.

    leeleeFL

    @dmsilev: If all the pearls I own had not been my Mom’s, I would loan them out for the Clutchers!

    Also,  too, a rusty pitchfork they could fuck themselves with.  Just to be nice.

  84. 84.

    Jeffro

    @dmsilev: I am SO glad he took trumpov to the woodshed over and over in that speech.  Doubly so for the 17 AGs and 126 House GOP traitors.

    I know Nancy Smash is going to seat the traitors but I sure wish she wouldn’t.

  85. 85.

    Dopey-o

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Biden is killing it right now.

    “His own cyber security chief”

    What nexus – if any – between Trump’s cybersecurity chief’s resignation / firing and the ongoing russian hacks of DHS, Commerce Department and dog-only-knows what other federal agencies?

    Anyone know if Christopher Krebs will testify before House committees?

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    Totally OT: Balloon Juice calendars, three things:

    1. If the initials on the credit card you used to buy Calendar A are J.H., and your name rhymes with Benny Coward, please send me an email.  Virtually every other calendar order has shipped, but yours has not.
    2. If the credit card you used to buy Calendar A today can be shortened to Tom O., please get in touch with me by email unless you intended to cancel your order.
    3. All other calendar orders have shipped!
  92. 92.

    Jeffro

    @West of the Rockies: why?

    trumpov spent his whole term being president* of his minority of voters.

    Biden kicked his ass by 7M votes

    When exactly does a president, ANY president, listen to Democratic voters???

    (I know the answer is ‘never’…I just want someone to ask Mara)

  94. 94.

    sab

    @JoyceH: Welcome to the world of Ohioans. Sherrod Brown loses his voice at the end of every campaign. Hasn’t hurt his career a bit, but scares all of his constituents who love him.

  96. 96.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @WaterGirl: My BJ calendar arrived today! I proudly showed it to my wife, who had no idea there was such a thing let alone that our guys were in it.

    She informs me that I misspelled the cat’s name.

    I think we’re going to have to do a product recall.

  98. 98.

    lamh36

    @notcapnamerica

    “President Trump should be taking a victory lap for single-handedly forcing the scientific community to come up with a vaccine”

    https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1338658769115488258?s=20

    same line Rick Santorum was pushing on CNN after the tally from Cali put Biden over the top AGAIN!

    Talking bout “this has actually been a good couple of weeks for…” in reference to vaccine and of course completely ignoring all the legal smackdowns to Chump’s bullshit lawsuits

    <a href=”https://tenor.com/view/jim-halpert-face-yeah-ok-then-sure-gif-13416222″>Sure, if you say so</a>

  101. 101.

    Dan B

    @Mary G: Beckerman Becerra has taken on a hospital chain, Anthem?, that has taken over a huge number of hospitals in NorCal and raised rates dramatically, plus other immoral practices.

    Putting Amazon’s feet to the fire is another sign he could be a fantastic HHS chief.

  102. 102.

    Martin

    @Jeffro: I’m writing to Katie Porter asking that she push to not seat them, to at least go through the process outlined in the amendment that they individually come up for a ⅔ vote to be seated.

    Even if they do vote to seat them, one by one, calling them by name, enumerating their actions to overturn the election, it points to a following of norms. The 14th amendment says they shall not be seated, but may be with a ⅔ vote from both houses. Make them go through that process at a minimum.

  103. 103.

    Mary G

    @dmsilev: I was surprised, too, but he’s a shameless lickspittle with a nose for the highest power, so I chose to think of it as good news. Probably getting an angry call from Twitler around 2 a.m.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Well, we can fix that and you can order another one, where the name will be correct.  Maybe you can gift the first calendar to someone who won’t know the difference?

    Whose name is spelled wrong?  Sam would be hard to misspell.  Should Tonya be Tanya?

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: It reads like trumpov trying to sound like Barr, resigning to trumpov.

    they probably put it in front of ol’ Bill and he was like, “whatevs”

  113. 113.

    Dan B

    @Dan B: Becerra,  not Beckerman… WTF autocorrect?  I don’t know any F’in Beckerman!

    BTW auto blech tried to change F’in to Feinstein ;<()

  114. 114.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Benw: I spelled Tonya with an O, like Tonya Harding.

    The cat’s been with us 2-1/2 years and I just learned today her name is “Tanya” with an A.

    @WaterGirl:  See above.

    I’m kidding, it’s no big deal. I’ll fix it in 2021, assuming we do this again.

    Sam would be hard to misspell.

    There’s a “Throat Warbler Mangrove” joke in here somewhere.

  115. 115.

    Roger Moore

    @dmsilev:

    Wow, I guess I was expecting Lindsey to be one of the last rats to abandon the sinking ship.

    I’m not the tiniest bit surprised.  Look at how quickly Graham started sucking up to Trump when John McCain died.  He has always needed a stronger man to follow, and losing officially makes Trump weak.  It was inevitable Graham was going to jump ship the moment Trump’s loss became official.

  117. 117.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: They give a bad name to bastards.

    And snakes.

    But, “useless as dicks in a  sschooof Piranhas” or “spoiled whiney Hellbeasts” don’t  rhyme.

  118. 118.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    OT: Just walked the dogs and found some half CTO gel along the road, I’ve been planning on getting some but it’s a bit pricey.  This isn’t in perfect condition, but it’ll work for doing light painting for my nightscape photography.  And it’s FREE!

  120. 120.

    lamh36

    OMG…I was trying to recall what I remember her from. I was pretty sure it wasn’t her musical or the Broadway work (although did know about her legendary status), but I was looking at her with clips playing in my head of her and now I recall… she played Ms Farrell in movie Annie in 1982

    @Variety

    Ann Reinking, Tony Winner and Star of Broadway’s ‘Chicago,’ Dies at 71

    https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1338628732295258123

    Wow. Memories from childhood really do last don’t they! RIP Ms Reinking!

    Here she is!

    We Got Annie – https://youtu.be/0Taa70VQ66M

  124. 124.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @zhena gogolia: Whatever my wife declares is her name, is her name. Period.

    It’s not that far-fetched. There’s a lot of paperwork you fill out with vets and adoption agencies. There’s a name that goes on that paperwork. I’m guessing that it’s the A spelling, but I have no idea where any of that stuff is.

    Edit: And I just checked a recent email from the vet. The A spelling is apparently what we gave them.

  130. 130.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @zhena gogolia: Not about that anyway. I often catch her staring at me looking judgmental, and I have no idea what I’ve done, so I’ve learned to ignore it.

  136. 136.

    sab

    @Dan B: I paid premiums to Anthem on the individual market for five years before they noticed I had a pre-existing condition (that I had told them about when I applied) that disqualified my coverage going forward. I kind of hate them.

  138. 138.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    @WaterGirl: Thin orange plastic sheet used to alter the color of light.  If you light a scene with a flashlight, it’ll look blue, they makes it look more natural.

    ETA: What was really surprising, when I did a Google search to try to buy some, there was nobody local that sold it.  This is Hollywood.

  141. 141.

    sab

    @lamh36: I worked as a stagehand on a community theater production of Annie back in the 1980s. I didn’t much like musicals then. I still have nightmares about Oliver. But after a couple of nights I fell in love with Annie.

  147. 147.

    lamh36

    @sab: Annie I believe is my first introduction to musicals.  As I said, in 1982, I was 6 years old.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t see it in the theatre (my mom was never into movie theatres).  I somehow saw it in the developing year tho cause I remembered her almost vividly soon as I saw her face..

  150. 150.

    CaseyL

    @Martin: Excellent idea!  I hope enough of us who have Democratic Representatives contact them about doing *something* to the Seditionist Ten Dozen, for them to actually do something.

    If not seating them at all isn’t an option, all Dems standing and chanting “Shame!  Shame! Shame!” as the douchecanoes make their way to their desks would be nice.

  151. 151.

    Dan B

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:  been experimenting with high CRI (color rendering index) LED’s for a year.  A friend does graphic design and in our sunset-at-four winters it’s hard to review proofs.  They’re wonderful in the home as well.  I haven’t seen them in flashlights yet but they’re used in lighting for TV and movies.  Do you know how they compare to your gels?

     

    I’ve  been amazed by some 98 CRI LED’s even in 5000 K lamps that should look icy cold.

  152. 152.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @zhena gogolia: My cat (see July, Calendar A, sprawled between a keyboard and monitor) has a title, a style, and a name: Her Serene Highness Princess Mocha.

  154. 154.

    TS (the original)

    @West of the Rockies:

    Mara on NPR saying Joe should talk to Trump voters…  what a pinhead she is.

    Can’t ever remember anyone in the media saying trump should talk to  Hillary Clinton voters. Never.

  157. 157.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: I’d check the CRI (color rendering index).  If it’s over 95 they should be easy to work with although modern digital cameras can do a lot of processing to compensate for lighting and produce the desired effect.  Most LED’s are 80 CRI.  They are deficient in red bands and violet.  It helps with rendering skin tones and flower/ foliage.  BIG will likely have better info.

  158. 158.

    mrmoshpotato

    “Dump was repeatedly punched in his fat, orange, fascist face by the courts. Because he’s a loser who brought loser lawsuits before the courts. Loser!”

  159. 159.

    Kattails

    @zhena gogolia: my attitude is, if one can reply to various BJ posts (in the midst of doing something otherwise important), one can grab a few sips of wine. Probably why I am not in a position to grade papers. But your point about spelling of cat names is well-reasoned… wait, reading backwards, Jonathan Creek? is that still on or reruns or what? it was fun. Danse Macabre as the theme song.

  161. 161.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @NotMax: That reminds me a lot of Lesley Ann Warren’s showstopping number in Victor/Victoria.  I think that’s what Blake Edwards had in mind.

  162. 162.

    mrmoshpotato

    @West of the Rockies: Mara on NPR saying Joe should talk to Trump voters… what a pinhead she is.

    Ok!

    Actually, I’ll let RudePundit take this one. Rude…

    Hey, Trump voters: You lost. Get over it. Also: Fuck your feelings.— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) November 6, 2020

  169. 169.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Amir Khalid: Two Corinthians go to a Taylor Swift concert… trying to work a joke here, but it’s not going well.

    Oh well, maybe another beer will help.

  174. 174.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    Calendars arrived at 8:30 this morning. Stunning. As always.

    Don’t know exactly when but I’ll be delivering the gift one probably next weekend.

  175. 175.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Good observation.

    “We’re watching a man hear the word ’no’ for the first time in his life, at age 75. Someone who has been afforded one of the easiest lives ever handed to a human being, a life of beautiful excess and gluttonous, sinful luxury, was just denied something for the first time, ever. He’s not just fucking around. He truly believes the presidency, and the country, are his to own and keep, and he is completely unable to comprehend how he can’t have something he wants after never experiencing that a single time. It’s fascinating to watch.”

    — Mike Pridgen

  177. 177.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: I found the CRI  of your lighting kit:  96+  

    That’s  great!  It’s not something most amateurs would know to look for.  You can do a lot in post processing to compensate for missing light spectrums but it can insert colors where you don’t want them – not often but if you don’t have to do that additional step it makes for an easier workload.

  179. 179.

    Kattails

    Gotta get offline but somewhere in a long phone conversation a political junkie buddy just noted that Kayleigh McEnemy has degrees from Georgetown and Haavaaahd?? So neither of those actually teaches ethics. Bummer.

  180. 180.

    Doc Sardonic

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:  Square grouper is slang for the occasional bale of dope that washes up on shore. So half CTO gel hit my brain hmmm, new form of weed oil, not thinking at all of photography, joke was there…had to make an attempt.

  181. 181.

    WaterGirl

    @Dan B: So you don’t think we can go wrong with this one?  I don’t want to get something that he’s gonna outgrown in a year.

    I was going to say a year or two, but maybe everyone outgrows their professional toys every two years?  I know nothing about photography except I know what I like.  :-)

  184. 184.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kattails:

    We have it on Britbox or Acorn or something like that. I adored it when it originally was on. The first three seasons with his original sidekick are great. We’re now into season 4, and his chemistry with Julia Sawalha leaves something to be desired. Still quite entertaining, though.

    I never drink while grading. At my age, though, I can’t even drink the night BEFORE grading. It makes my mind fuzzy.

  187. 187.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: Just found your comment about 96+ CRI.  Fantastic!

    I’ve played around with 20 or so different 95 – 98 CRI lamps, some from manufacturers whose primary business is professional lighting for photographers, and TV / movie photographers.  The 98+ are better compared side by side with 95 CRI but it also depends on the manufacturer.  I love high CRI lamps (lightbulbs) at the dining table since good looking food can look disappointing with 80 CRI LED’s.  The red and violet spectrum are the difference between a roast chicken with vegetables looking stale and looking dazzlingly sumptuous.  They also help in the kitchen and living room.  People’s skin looks more vibrant.  White people look healthy and black people look like gods – well, most do.

    P.S. It’s expensive to dope LED’s to get high CRI.  I believe the developer of violet won a Nobel Prize, or something equivalent.

  191. 191.

    WaterGirl

    @Dan B: Great!  What does this mean?

    It’s expensive to dope LED’s to get high CRI.

    Either dope is a technical word there that I don’t understand, or autocorrect has struck again.

  192. 192.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: I’d guess that for the price they may come in handy where a highly portable system is useful and as supplemental lighting to a larger system.  Lights from additional angles is always welcome.  This system looks good for closeups and supplemental intimate outdoor lighting where reflectors don’t work: personal shots with shade  from trees or smoothing dappled light.  Depends upon his career path.

  193. 193.

    Kattails

    @zhena gogolia: Humm, if on Acorn, I really should subscribe, it would take 3 years to get caught up with so many shows. I could get a lot of embroidery & crochet done. Also, sorry, I’ll quit teasing about the wine. A bit carried away with finally nailing this down.

  194. 194.

    trollhattan

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    “We’re watching a man hear the word ’no’ for the first time in his life, at age 75.

    Swear I read that as “heard the word ‘ho’ for the first time” and had an entirely different reaction than later.

  195. 195.

    Amir Khalid

    I’ve gotten into the habit of taking a pause from whatever I’m doing and giving Bianca a cuddle. She’d purr, and maybe lick my cheek or whatever was in reach. I really miss that right now.

  196. 196.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: Real technical word. It means to carefully add very small amounts of some impurity to an otherwise-pure material to carefully tweak its behavior. In the case of silicon (ie the transistors in your computer), introducing dopants changes how the material conducts electricity and, well, makes it useful for transistors. For the various other materials used to make LEDs, doping changes the color of light that’s emitted.

  198. 198.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @WaterGirl: It’s a technical word in semiconductor manufacturing.  To dope is to add extremely small amounts 1×10^-20 of other elements to a semiconductor (like with a LED) to change it’s electrical properties.

  199. 199.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: Doping is the addition of different chemicals, usually metals or alloys, to get an LED to emit specific spectrums.  It took years to develop the compounds and processes to get vibrant reds that are clear.  It’s less challenging to get brownish reds that make apples and white cheeks look okay but dull.  I have some paintings and large ceramics in earth tones that look dull in 80 CRI and rich and vibrant in 95+ CRI.

    The biggest challenge was violet.  I’ve got a variegated houseplant, related to Prayer Plant, that looks magical with 95+ CRI and truly amazing in my one 98 CRI lamp.

    Typical LED’s are great at yellows and good at blues.  The combo makes human skin look very slightly greenish.  Many other things look a bit dull.  Changing to high CRI with the same lumens makes most things look brighter, as though you turned the light up, even though you did not.  Even green vegetables look better because they are green with other secondary colors that are often indicators of health and nutrition.  It’s  the same principle as leaves turning red or gold in Fall.  The green chlorophyll is reassured before dormancy and the secondary pigments revealed.

    Hope this  makes sense.  Doping is adding compounds to the LED mostly during the process of making the diode, instead of applying compounds afterwards

    I see several others have commented with clarity and brevity.

  200. 200.

    Jeffro

    @sab:I am beginning to mistrust DC insiders’ advice on the brilliance of people they happen to know socially or professionally.

    Ya think?  ;)

  202. 202.

    Jean

    @Jeffro: From reading comments lately, I understood that she can’t refuse to seat them, but can she refuse to recognize them on the House floor?  Is there some kind of censure possible?  I don’t think this seditious behavior should pass without consequence.  They’ll do it again and again.

  205. 205.

    Jeffro

    Rampell breaks it down for the rubes: The GOP Reckoning that Never Came

    (yet)

    Over the years, Republican politicians seemed many times to be on the cusp of a reckoning — a realization that a lunatic fringe had seized control of the party’s more pragmatic center and that conspiracy-theorizing, race-baiting, science-denigrating demagogues had transformed the GOP base into ungovernable paranoiacs. The situation seemed untenable; the fever had to break eventually.

    Yet the party’s radicalization continued, and the reckoning never came. Today, U.S. democracy is paying the price as millions of Americans refuse to acknowledge the results of a legitimate election, and their leaders appear too cowardly or too powerless to disrupt the collective delusion.

    RIP, GOP, and also F.U.

  206. 206.

    Dan B

    @Amir Khalid:  That image.

    So sorry to hear.  I hope that these memories become sweet memories soon, or at least bittersweet tinged with sadness.  She definitely wanted you to be happy because you made her the happiest, most content, cat.

  208. 208.

    BruceFromOhio

    @dmsilev:

    I steal body parts and reassemble them into an enormous being of my own design, I am ignorant in my pride of science, and now, I am writing an op-ed in a major newspaper asking for someone with an advanced degree to be addressed in a less respectful way.

    This describes the FTFNYT op-ed pages to a T.

  211. 211.

    dnfree

    @sab: The stage musical is so much better than the movie. I’ve noticed that as a general trend. When they “open up” the stage version for a movie they add so much unnecessary plot that the original humor is turned into forced excess. Examples besides “Annie” include “A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum”. Our local community theater did a better job with Miss Flanagan than Carol Burnett. .

  212. 212.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: Others have commented on doping of semiconductors, but I don’t think that’s the major thing going on with high CRI LEDs.

    Until we have high-efficient LEDs that can operate without phosphors (thin layers of materials that absorb light (or energy from an electron beam like in an old tube TV) at one wavelength (color) and emit at a different visible wavelength (color)), then most LEDs used for white light will consist of one that emits in the near-UV and uses phosphors to get the kind of simulated white light that we like. Note that, in general, phosphors reduce the efficiency (lumens per electrical watt) compared to the bare LED emission.

    So, the magic happens in the phosphors. And the phosphors are excited by different light wavelengths and emit at different wavelengths, so one approach is to combine 3 LEDs in a package to meet all the objectives.

    A recent paper that talks about some of the technical issues is here:

    Abstract

    Phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes (pc-WLEDs) are excellent energy-efficient light sources for artificial lighting applications. One goal of artificial lighting is to make objects/images look natural – as they look under the sunlight. The ability of a light source to accurately render the natural color of an object is gauged by the parameter – color rendering index (CRI). A conventional pc-WLED has an average CRI ~ 80, which is very low for accurate color reproduction. To utilize the pc-WLEDs for artificial lighting applications, all the CRI points (R1 – R15) should be above 95. However, there is a trade-off between CRI and luminous efficacy (LER), and it is challenging to increase both CRI and LER. Herein we propose a novel LED package (PKG) design to achieve CRI points ≥95 and efficiency ~100 lm/W by introducing two blue LEDs and a UV LED in combination with green and red phosphors. The silicone encapsulant, the current through the LEDs, and the green/red phosphor ratio were optimized for achieving high CRI and LER. Our re-designed LED PKG will find applications in stadium lighting as well as for ultra-high-definition television production where high CRI points are required for the artificial light source.

    (Emphasis added.)

    tl;dr – TMI!! :-)

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  214. 214.

    WaterGirl

    @Amir Khalid: Amir, you are so good at writing these tiny little vignettes, describing little moments with Bianca that make us feel like we can see it perfectly.

    What if you write a letter to Bianca, telling her all the little things you loved about her and your life together, what she meant to you and what she means to you, still.

    Remember:

    Remarks By President-Elect Joe Biden On The Electoral College

  217. 217.

    Elie

    @Amir Khalid:

    I wish you wonderful memories of Bianca.  I’ve had my own “wonder cat”, my Buddy — who passed four short years ago.  He was totally wonderful companion.   There is no substitute for that love…

  219. 219.

    Anotherlurker

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Got it! I do audio now but I have a friend who is on a 3 year TV job, in NY. He would probably send me some scraps if I ask nicely.

    Fun fact, color correcting is getting easier with the advent of LED instruments.  I get to fool with some LED panels in sports broadcast booths. They are a real labor saving device!

  220. 220.

    Dan B

    @Another Scott: Thanks for this.  I thought some LED’s were using doping to achieve higher CRI.  I also knew a bit about phosphors  but spaced it out.

    That plus the color temperature (Kelvin) and different forms of lamps (Par’s and their different dimensions, plus shortness vs. long neck, MRI’s, etc. Which are of interest to me for residential applications.)  The variables add up logarithmically and the science behind it all went by this brain, at least temporarily.  I do have some manufacturers I think do a great job and some that do an excellent job for a much greater premium.  A $5 lamp can seem nearly as good as my $$37 spluges from Soraa.  And several $10 lamps from Cree can only be distinguished from Soraa by an expert and are equal to Waveform’s products in my home.

  222. 222.

    Another Scott

    @Dan B:  Solid-state lighting is an amazing field. A huge amount of progress has been made in just a few decades. And since lighting in general is a major consumer of electricity, improving efficiency and reducing costs is an important part in addressing global climate change.

    Akasaki, Amano, and Nakamura’s Nobel Prize was very well deserved, indeed. But the people working around the world to make the technology work even better are unsung heroes as well.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Who made a mistake above – most “white-light” LEDs have a blue LED not near-UV…” ;-)

  224. 224.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: One more comment on the Neewer lighting kit.  It can be tuned from 3200 K to 5600K.  This is a very good range.  It duplicates morning light ~3200 to mid day ~5600.  It doesn’t go all the way to 2400K: larmte sunset.  Anything below 3000K is very warm with loads of red.  You can achieve this with kits that run into a couple thousand and up.  It’s a good place to economize since you can achieve this in post production and there probably isn’t much demand.

    Also it can be returned until Jan 31st if he needs something better.  I’d go for it.  Looks cool to me for a beginning photographer

  225. 225.

    Dan B

    @Dan B:  I see that BIG has pointed out that 2400 -2700K is popular with night and sunset photographers like him.  The system Watergirl is thinking of won’t work for this purpose.  Sigh.

  226. 226.

    Lyrebird

    @Dan B: Wow, thanks for the info…

    I want to reduce waste, but I cannot stand most of the high efficiency bulbs.  Target’s store brand floods in 2700 are pretty good.  GE’s supposed daylight ones are painful.  Anyway, Cree having affordable bulbs and ceiling fixtures is a great thing…  some of the cans are falling out where I live, so we need to plan to replace more than I want to admit.

    Here I am rambling on an older thread, but if you read this: thanks for the useful info!

  227. 227.

    Dan B

    @Another Scott:  I thought it was the blue light LED not the near UV.  Was the near UV which gave us the elusive Violet?  I’ve got several things – plants, paintings, photographs, eggplant, a Chinese panel, etc where the Violet really makes a difference.

    The Chinese folding panel is odd because the amber and gold Koi and the pale gold and pink blushed lotus show up against the dark background with the Soraa MR 16 lamp which is noted for its violet wavelengths.  Other lamps without it don’t do as good a job.

  228. 228.

    Dan B

    @Lyrebird: I love the CREE par 30 3000K, 1000 Lumen lamp!  It’s CRI 93 and seems better than 93.  It’s  dimmable which is good.  We have dozens of can lights and the ceilings are low at 7′-10″.  Not all dimmers are compatible but I’ve found several.  They come in short neck and long neck. $10.29.

    The one I use most is Euri E26, 3000k, 5.5 watts.  I believe it’s 90CRI and seems higher. Also dimmable.  $5.50 as I recall.  These are only 2 1/2″ wide so they don’t fill the can. We we set them up higher in the can so they show less.  We have 24 of these in the house!

    I believe both of these are 40 degree floods.

    I ordered from 1000 Bulbs.  Enjoy!

  229. 229.

    Another Scott

    @Dan B: See my #222 above.  Yeah, most “white light” LEDs are a blue LED plus a phosphor that converts some of the blue (not near-UV) to yellow so the total looks “white”.  Sorry for the error.

    The details of what wavelength LED is used depends on a huge amount of factors – 1) adding Indium to the Gallium Nitride (a few atomic percent, so “alloying” rather than “doping”) shifts the emission wavelength from the UV into the visible, but adding too much indium kills the efficiency because of defect formation.  Plain GaN LEDs emit at around 3.4 eV (around 365 nm, near-UV); almost all commercial “white light” LEDs have InGaN quantum wells that shift the light into the visible blue region.  2) Adding indium and/or aluminum is important for controlling the carrier injection efficiency and thus the efficiency of the light emission, and in guiding the light through the device, but there are the defect issues if one overdoes it.  3) The actual physical processes governing the light emission are complex and are still being worked out (to some extent) to try to increase the efficiency of (especially) green LEDs – e.g. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep34586 4) And all that is before one addresses the phosphors to get the final actual light emission that we see.

    (Green laser pointers use a “frequency doubling” crystal with an IR AlGaAs diode laser and work differently than blue lasers.)

    You photography and video folks know much more than me about the effect on the light colors on what we find pleasing.  ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  230. 230.

    BretH

    @watergirl I think you might be better served with a pair of softboxes (of which there are a ton on Amazon). The led panels will possibly be a little harsh unless diffused, but that will cut the light output, and with photography it’s hard to have too much light available. Also the reason the lights can change color temperature is because half are warm and half are cool. So at either end you are getting half the stated  output. You can add a small led light for accents and highlights.

  231. 231.

    Dan B

    @Another Scott: The chemistry / metallurgy of diodes is fascinating.  If you know enough to get past the basics.  I don’t know the difference between red, green, and blue lasers, let alone x-ray and IR.  Short of a couple additional lifetimes I’ll rely on your clear analysis.

    I will read up on the proposed blue, blue, near uv LED.  The advances sound exciting.   And to have something that makes your home beautiful, something that was unimaginable a couple decades ago, is amazing.

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