From bird-shaped kites dotting the skies of Jordan to geese flying in formation, take a look at some of @Reuters favorite bird stories to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day on May 14 pic.twitter.com/Sn5wfnGQ9V
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 14, 2022
Thousands of protesters are expected to march at rallies in Washington and cities across the country Saturday in a nationwide campaign to demand safe and legal access to abortion. https://t.co/65wS99CXpm
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 13, 2022
Gosh, that’s a shame!
"the global meltdown in #cryptocurrencies is creating anxiety, desperation & frantic posts casting blame in online forums that cater especially to the extremist right." great work by @thegregwalters & @misstessowen https://t.co/HvnPVU3HQo #Cryptocrash #bitcoin #fascism
— David "??????" Golumbia (@dgolumbia) May 13, 2022
Foreign affairs…
— Henry Laasanen (@Lassukat) May 13, 2022
Have threatened Sweden & Finland that them joining NATO means I will have to sink my ships on their coast as well.
— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) May 12, 2022
Receiving NATO "best recruiter 2022" award. pic.twitter.com/tMebVlGP9H
— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) May 12, 2022
what exactly is russia going to do? clutter swede and finnish roads with dead russian soldiers and burnt out vehicles like they're doing in ukraine?
the only person worried about this threat is oryx who must count the dead https://t.co/g7akKSLMhE
— matthew. (@iAmTheWarax) May 12, 2022
I don’t know what this guy is singing, but it slaps. https://t.co/fCN6UrzfI9
— Joe Wright ???? (@realjoewright) May 14, 2022
Baud
On a reddit thread about California’s budget surplus, someone put together reasons why the heavily Democratic state is the best state in the country.
We need to tout our success more.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us
Trump really was a chip off the old block so to speak. Both he and Putin are both prone to talking tough with nothing to back it up.
oldster
Was hoping to put up my many bird feeders and suet blocks, but the local bird-knowers tell me that this will only encourage the spread of avian virus. So, no bird-feeding this year. Sad.
Ken
Came across this in Jane Addams’ Newer Ideals for Peace (which I’m proofreading for Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders):
I must say it doesn’t appeal to me either, but what I thought was interesting was that writing in 1907 Addams, generally viewed as a humanitarian and social reformer, still thought it the most natural thing in the world that someone should work sixty hours a week just to afford boots.
geg6
So I missed it but I am overjoyed that Biden’s new USPS board members were finally confirmed. Time to get to work on firing that motherfucker DeJoy.
Suzanne
I sometimes do two yoga classes on Saturdays, but I did a long one last night. So I’m only going to do one today. So I am sitting out in my porch, drinking coffee, BY MYSELF, listening to the birds chirping it up.
After the dumbfuck dude broke into our house and got blood all over our outdoor furniture (which was nice and I was really sad about it), we had to dispose of everything. So now that it is getting to nice weather, Mr. Suzanne and I have been working on picking out new stuff. We are planning to order sometime in the next couple of weeks. So I want to spend some of the afternoon cleaning up the porch and getting it ready. We already got a new sunshade and new string lights. The porch is easily my favorite part of the house and I am excited. I am hoping to put my potter’s wheel out here, too, but I still need to figure that out.
Suzanne
The one bummer is that it’s still smelling pretty smoky. Yesterday afternoon, the house next to my next door neighbor (so two houses over) had a really bad electrical fire. Apparently they are hoarders, too, and it took like seven or eight fire trucks to come to put it out, and it burned for 45 minutes before they were able to get it under control. An interesting detail: the firefighters reported that there was ammunition in the house and the heat was making it go off. I guess they didn’t keep it in a safe.
I got a lot of video of the event, and I posted it to our neighborhood page with a warning to be aware and stay away. A local news outlet reached out to me and asked if they could use the video.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone???
rikyrah
@Suzanne:
???? for you and the family
JPL
@Suzanne: I’m glad that it was contained just to that house. Geez!
JPL
@geg6: Yes, it is.
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: I wonder if Terry Pratchett read that before writing the famous “boots” passage in Men at Arms (about how it’s more expensive to be poor, because the only boots a poor man can afford when he needs them are ones that wear out more quickly, meaning he spends more on boots in the long run).
JPL
Trump just endorsed Mastriano for Governor of PA. Hopefully that boosts the democratic nominee.
Trump must wake up and see what nut job he can endorse today.
Gin & Tonic
In case anyone is interested, the song the guy in Chornobyl is singing is a popular tune by the band Okean Elzy entitled “Все Буде Добре” (Vse Bude Dobre) or “All Will Be Well.” Here’s their version. The Tweet is by the band’s leader, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, so he obviously approves.
Gin & Tonic
Another day of preparing pickled ramps today. Cleaning them is a bit of a pain, though.
Suzanne
@JPL: Yeah, me too. This family is one of the old Catholic families who have lived here for probably fifty years or more. (This neighborhood, like many others, was a pretty working-class neighborhood and it is gentrifying.) The couple who own the house are now elderly and have mobility problems. They just had a wheelchair lift put in a few weeks ago because they can’t get up the stairs to the front door anymore. But I don’t think they can afford to maintain their property very well. They have a detached garage in the backyard that is basically a ruin, and it has been a bone of contention in the neighborhood. Ironically, the garage appears to not have gotten any more damage in the fire. But I would not be surprised if the house had old wiring, or if some of their belongings were what caught on fire. I never went in their house, but apparently they were the type of hoarders who, like, have a single path through a room. Well, after the amount of water that got dumped on their house, and the fire department had to cut out the roof…. I cannot imagine that anything is salvageable.
Honestly, they need to find a flatter place to live. But no one wanted it to happen like this.
Suzanne
@JPL: I’m scared we’re going to end up with Mastriano. This shit is not funny.
ETA: there is still bonkers Trump love here. There’s a farm that borders the south side of the PA Turnpike where the owner has made a Trump 2020 sign planted onto the face of his hill. Like, he literally spelled it out on the landscape.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Suzanne: That sounds absolutely lovely.
I’m going to clean our balcony today so we can use it. Same thing. Only less pretty. And no potter’s wheel
Ksmiami
Currently in Romania- less than 150 miles from Odesa. We need to stop Russia. Right here and Rt now. Send planes, artillery and missiles.
Betty
@Ken: Speaking of Gutenberg, I received a notice from Amazon that they would no longer allow me to download their books. Is it just my Kindle that’s the problem? Know anything about this?
Dorothy A. Winsor
Re the cartoon with the John Deere towing the tank, Deere officials must be horrified but pleased. (As I’ve mentioned, Mr DAW worked for Deere)
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: Oh you just had to share this while we are currently planning to move out of CA!
Seriously though, great find. The smears of CA by Conservatives/Libertarians has always seemed like utter partisan, cultural resentment, to this CA resident. Especially Texans. They’re just bitter because they know we are better.
Gin & Tonic
Looks like at least some GOP Senators woke up and smelled the coffee. But unfortunately, Rand Fucking Paul is still a member of their caucus.
Spanky
@Suzanne: I read where the fire chief wrecked on his way to the fire. I’m kinda curious as to what about a 1 alarm house fire draws the Pgh Fire Chief in full lights and sirens mode?
JPL
@Suzanne: In order to preserve my sanity, I had to take a break from the news. My fear is that Walker will defeat Warnock. ugh
oldster
@Gin & Tonic:
Now we are finding out who were Putin’s real friends, and who were only fair weather friends.
Boris Johnson? He seemed to be well and truly bought and paid for. But in the crunch, he turned on his old friend Putin and showed no loyalty.
The same for Moscow Mitch — couldn’t he have the decency to help a friend in need? Must be always put his own survival above everything?
Ah, but Rand Paul. There is a true friend. Not just a paid companion. Someone who does it for love.
Who are the true friends? Rand Paul, Paul Manafort, Nigel Farage, TFG — it’s a small group, but intensely loyal.
Ken
So not a folksy rendition of “Russian Warship Go Fuck Yourself”. I am slightly disappointed.
Spanky
@UncleEbeneezer: Got water?
Geminid
@JPL: After his “success” with Vance in the Ohio Senate race, Trump thinks he’s on a roll. North Carolina CongressmanTed Budd is likely to easily beat ex-Governor Pat McCrory in that state’s Senate primary next Tuesday, so that will be another feather in Trump’s crap. Or cap.
On the other hand, David Perdue’s challenge to Georgia Governor Kemp is starting to look like a lost cause despite Trump’s endorsement. And while Herschel Walker looks like he’ll advance to the general election without a runoff, the same Georgia poll that shows Kemp a few points ahead of Stacey Abrams shows Walker down a few points against Warnock. Walker is a weak candidate, a gift by Trump to Georgia Democrats.
Ken
@Betty: Sorry, no idea. At a guess, some digital copyright nonsense. Maybe they’re afraid one of the Gutenberg texts will turn out to still be protected (which happens, rarely), and they won’t be able to remote-delete it from your device.
NeenerNeener
@Gin & Tonic: I hope they checked after Moscow Mitch left to make sure he didn’t plan any bugs or trackers on them.
Ken
How refreshingly pagan. Since Matt McIrvin mentioned Pratchett, I’m reminded that he once characterized the Neolithic construction of chalk figures, barrows, henges, and so forth as using the entire landscape for the equivalent of writing “I’ve got a big tonker” on the bathroom wall.
There go two miscreants
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I had to laugh at this coming right after Suzanne’s “bonkers Trump love” bit.
rikyrah
@Gin & Tonic:
Funny how.they did it in secret.
Uh huh
They know who they couldn’t tell before the trip?
MagdaInBlack
@Ken: I remember that. ?
Was that in ” Lords and Ladies” ?
zhena gogolia
@Ksmiami: You’re in Romania?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@There go two miscreants: I asked Mr DAW to vacuum the balcony before I went out there to clean today. But I just had to point out that maybe 8:30 on a Saturday morning was not the right time.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@zhena gogolia: I think that’s one of his “letters home from the front” like the Civil War ones.
Betty
@Ken: It will be a major loss to me because I need a new Kindle and living where I do, it’ s the pretty much the only available library. If I can’t access their books, I sure won’t buy a bunch from Amazon instead.
Kay
NY Times political coverage is 100% Trump centered. It’s really remarkable. Every single race is viewed strictly through the lens of Donald Trump and Donald Trump’s voters.
Consumed, swallowed whole, by Donald Trump. The coverage, the books they all write, it’s all Trump all the time.
Ken
@MagdaInBlack: Yes, in a scene where Nanny Ogg and Casanunda are flying over the barrows. Some things are more obvious from the air.
Ksmiami
@zhena gogolia: yes- traveling throughout the country….visiting relatives of my spouse
Dorothy A. Winsor
Once Joe Walsh finally recognized the truth, he can’t unsee it
Kay
Trumpology.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Gin & Tonic
@rikyrah: I don’t blame them for security measures. Pelosi just said she and her crew were going to Poland.
Elizabelle
@Kay: Have you noticed that Biden is virtually invisible? Both the FTF NY Times and WaPost.
But Trump; numerous headlines. Photos. Using that jackass to hang stories and analysis on.
The FTF NY Times is a sick, sick newspaper.
Their US/DC political reporters are putting off a stench.
rikyrah
The Zandarsong’s Reprise (@ZandarVTS) tweeted at 8:46 AM on Sat, May 14, 2022:
I see Elise Stefanik, worried about being primaried by a Trump drone and losing in August, has decided to play up her racist Q-ball shitbag qualifications to stay in power.
That is the entirely of the GOP, and if you’re still a part of it as elected or voter, reconsider.
(https://twitter.com/ZandarVTS/status/1525472636066734080?s=02)
kalakal
@Betty: You can run the kindle app on any smartphone or tablet. There’s also a load of free ereader apps which will let you read Gutenberg, Smash books etc. I use Moon +. I have a kindle but only use it on long trips for the battery life. I hate the interface + find the smartphone app easier
Kay
@rikyrah:
It isn’t really Q though, is it?
Christopher Rufo, who is a mainstream Republican operative has spent the last 6 months saying all public school teachers are pedophiles, and he’s admired by people like Andrew Sullivan and given glowing profiles in the NYTimes.
The shock and dismay around this is funny. It was okay when the whole Republican Party were calling all teachers pedophiles and now it’s suddenly beyond the pale? This is mainstream on the Right. They thought the smear would be limited to teachers?
Geminid
@Geminid: The Georgia poll with Kemp vs. Abrams and Walker vs. Warnock was conducted April 23-27, and was published by Atlanta TV station “11Live.” There was a fairly large sample of 1300. The poll showed Kemp beating Abrams by 5 points, and Warnock beating Walker by 5.
Polls have only relative value, but I thought that such different results from the same pool of Georgians showed significant skepticism towards Herschel Walker. His primary opponents have been hitting him on his checkered post-NFL business career and private life and these attacks may be sinking in. Also, Warnock seems a very likeable man.
Another interesting aspect of the poll was that Abrams led among likely voters below age 50, and Kemp led among those 50 and above.
Kay
@rikyrah:
Here’s the glowing NYTimes profile of Christoper Rufo. April 24th. Gosh, I wonder where this pedophile smear came from. Must be “Q”.
zhena gogolia
@Ksmiami: It’s a beautiful landscape. Love Transylvania.
Suzanne
@Spanky: Well, I don’t know all the details, but there were units from our neighborhood, plus the two adjacent neighborhoods, and it still took a while to put the fire out. The fire department’s report indicates that it is “a hoarding situation”, so maybe the sheer amount of stuff made it more dangerous. Plus the ammunition?
kalakal
@Matt McIrvin: I loved that one. The Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of economics
Geminid
@Geminid: Of, course, Brian Kemp is a white man and Stacey Abrams is a Black woman, so that would account for some of the disparity in Kemp’s and Walkers performances in the Georgia poll. But I think Walker has problems specific to him personally.
Kay
I wondered when someone would bring this. It’s the parents rights approach. IMO it’s a really strong argument. “Parents rights” include the parent making decisions on health care that conservatives disagree with. It was inevitable someone would flip that right on its head.
rikyrah
Dr. Virgo, The Overeducated (@DrVirgo1981) tweeted at 7:12 AM on Sat, May 14, 2022:
These abortion laws are going to be black codes, watch.
Watch who gets prosecuted and thrown in jail and who gets nothing.
(https://twitter.com/DrVirgo1981/status/1525448937867558912?s=02)
rikyrah
I love her????
Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) tweeted at 11:49 AM on Fri, May 13, 2022:
New: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on prospect of retaliatory subpoenas to Dems should Republicans take House majority in 2022: “I’m not afraid of precedent. We’re seeking the truth. And we’re not going to be cowards like they are.”
(https://twitter.com/hugolowell/status/1525156334345363458?s=02)
Ksmiami
@zhena gogolia: heading there Monday… beautiful area … the longer I’m here though the more resolute we must all be that Russia get nothing from the invasion. Or this will happen again and again.
Ksmiami
P.S. Adam what are your next recommendations wrt Ukraine?
Baud
@rikyrah:
?
JPL
@Geminid: I do hope that Perdue voters stay home. That would help both Warnock and Abrams. Pence endorsement could backfire, if trump feelings are hurt. I’m not sure that trump’s fragile ego can take it.
Baud
@Geminid:
Sadly, the olds vote more consistently. I think I read that voters under 50 are now the majority, but it doesn’t help if they don’t show up.
This is not a new problem.
Ohio Mom
@Gin & Tonic: Zelenskyy does not look relaxed in that photo with the American Republicans, he looks on guard and ready to spring into action on a moment’s notice.
JPL
fyi Public Service announcement. Today is Stamp Out Hunger Day and local mail carriers are picking up can goods. You just leave it by your mailbox. My carrier left a card in my mailbox and I taped that to the bag.
japa21
@Elizabelle:
And if Biden is mentioned, it is usually in a negative way. Why hasn’t Biden cured inflation? Why is Biden letting the price of gas get out of control? Is Biden leading the Dems to their defeat in November (which we have already decided is a foregone conclusion)?
JPL
@Baud: Perdue hopes that he has an edge on early voting, because rural counties are turning out.
rikyrah
Why did this crack me up???
Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) tweeted at 8:22 AM on Sat, May 14, 2022:
We are watching someone literally crowdsource their due diligence to acquire a publicly traded company. I don’t even know what to say.
(https://twitter.com/cbouzy/status/1525466513045700608?s=02)
japa21
@JPL:
Mine went out at 7:30 today. Not a lot, but every little bit helps.
MattF
Erdogan has apparently calmed down about Finland and Sweden joining NATO. Possible that conversation with Biden made a difference.
Baud
@JPL:
Is there a reason to care which one wins?
Baud
@japa21:
We have yet to prove we are stronger than the media, so the media isn’t going to change.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
How does one go about getting a gig like that?
Geminid
@JPL: When both Warnock and Ossoff advanced to runoffs after November, 2020, observers discounted their chances to win on January 5th. Historically, the Democratic vote in runoffs dropped off more than the Republican vote.
In the event, the Democratic vote fell about 100,000, but the Republican dropoff was double that. It seemed that some of Trump’s voters were not loyal to the party, but rather were hostile to it’s “establishment.” This dynamic could be a problem for Georgia Republicans this fall. They can’t afford to lose many votes at all.
JPL
@Baud: I would love to see Kemp/Perdue in a runoff because it would cost them more money. With trump’s involvement, the race would become uglier, and that would insure a lower republican turnout in November. IMO
JPL
double post
Baud
@JPL:
Is there a third person in the primary?
SiubhanDuinne
@Gin & Tonic:
I wonder if Susie C. warned President Zelenskyy of the dire perils of sidewalk chalk.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
A third, a forth, and a fifth. Catherine Davis, Kandiss Taylor, and Tom Williams are also running in the primary.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
“We have both seen the horrors of war.”
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
? For a run off.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Bomb in little girl’s piano = dayglo pink “please”