Count me among those who were underwhelmed by most of the just-concluded “Mad Men” season, but blown away by the finale. It’s a hard thing to do, to drag out an unpleasant story for 10 or so hours and then turn on a dime and make you see why it had to go like that. It certainly wasn’t perfect — I could see a million squandered opportunities to flesh out lesser characters and bring them to bear on the main plot lines, but ultimately, eh, that’s showbiz.
I think it was hearing Judy Collins singing “Both Sides Now” over the credits, a song that applies to most of the main characters (especially Peggy), and is sort of sentimental, but worked more or less perfectly.
I’m easy to please in these matters. I loved it. Now to wait another year.
“Low Winter Sun,” the show they’ve been promo-ing during the last few episodes, is being shot in Detroit as we speak. The executive producer is renting on a one-block-long oasis street called Harbor Island, one of those little-known places that never gets mentioned in the national stories about the decline of Detroit.
Speaking of which, this Michael Barone piece in RealClearPolitics is a perfect example of the form — the ignorant Detroit essay. You’ll never guess what caused our current predicament. Ready? Lean in close: Liberals. I know, I’m as amazed as you are. Deadline Detroit runs down the inaccuracies.
If you didn’t see Sherri’s link to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ piece on Paula Deen, it’s here. And it’s good.
For those of you paying attention, it’s looking like Wendy may stick as the dog’s name. I got her a dog-park pass today, which catapulted her quality of life well beyond that of many Detroit children. That’s the unfortunate truth around here: A Grosse Pointe dog will live better than thousands of human beings in the city next door. She has: a comfortable place to sleep, high-quality food, focused attention, medical care and, now, a pass to a restricted park reading “Wendy Derringer.” She’s looked at life from both sides now. I ask you.
Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 1:05 am
Yay Wendy.
I’m with you Nancy, on the Mad Men finale.
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Dexter said on June 25, 2013 at 2:31 am
Both Sides Now~Judy Collins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8jGFu7ys64
Wendy Derringer is a lucky dog, but the thought of comparing her situation to unfortunate Detroit children reminds me of a conversation I had with fellow soldier/medic Ken Dowd in California mere days before I was to ship out to Vietnam. Ken had already done his year in the war, and this was sort of a mentoring session for me. Aside from my well-based fear of dying over there, I was stricken for a long time with grief for all the tens of thousands of Americans that had already died, and I felt compassion also for the families of the millions of Vietnamese the US had killed. I was as far from being a bloodthirsty soldier as I could be.
Ken set me straight, telling me “You can’t mourn them. You just have to do everything in your power to not join their ranks.” He went on to tell me the odds were in my favor, and it was up to me to increase them by being careful in every way. He told me the time was not right to feel mournful, it would mess up my mind, and I had to really keep it together, and I could mourn in later years on Memorial Day.
I am back in from left field now; my point has been that I am glad and looking forward to many blog topics about Wendy, and we can keep up with Detroit’s nasty side on other days.
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Brandon said on June 25, 2013 at 2:45 am
If no one has yet shared this, on Justice Samuel Alito’s adolescent gestures:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/samuel-alito-rolls-eyes_n_3492704.html
Be left, be right, just don’t be rude.
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Candlepick said on June 25, 2013 at 3:26 am
Pardon me while I continue to tout the work of a friend. A few months ago I pointed you to this essay on lipreading: http://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=59977
Here’s a TEDx talk (complete with mostly unnecessary subtitles) given by its deaf author: http://tedx.stanford.edu/2013/speakers/rachel-kolb/
Smart and inspirational stuff.
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David C. said on June 25, 2013 at 7:07 am
When my grandfather was blatantly racist, I let it slide. He was born in 1893 and it would have done no good to try to correct him. When my parents, who are slightly older than Dean, occasionally stray into their more subtle racism, they get called on it. As far as I’m concerned, the statute of limitations is up on that one. That Dean had been steeped in Southern culture doesn’t give her a pass. I know they have their separate history down there, but does anyone actually believe it? I doubt it. I hear the same crap from my transplanted to Texas and now more Texan than most Texans uncle. When I heard him say “the war of Northern aggression”, I knew it was all bullshit. More of a Masonic handshake than any belief in the phrase as true history.
On another subject, last week I took a few tests and yesterday, at age 53 was diagnosed as dyslexic. All the struggles I’ve had over the years now make sense and finally, someone is going to teach me how to cope with it. I wish I had a lot of years back now. All the embarrassment of not reading well out loud, all the times I was called lazy because my assignments were such a mess, and all the tears because of it seem so wasted. I sure hope dyslexic kids today are diagnosed and have a better chance than I did.
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Michael said on June 25, 2013 at 7:19 am
Michael Barone is a native Detroiter. I met this conservative pundit in 1972 when he was working in the (wait for it) George McGovern campaign.
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LinGin said on June 25, 2013 at 7:43 am
I rescued a Maltese/Bichon mix over a year ago and he has been my joy and my love. So Mazel Tov to you Nancy. A mitzvah!
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alex said on June 25, 2013 at 8:31 am
Wow, Dave C.—did you harbor any suspicions before this?
I have some dyslexic relatives on my mother’s side of the family who came to recognize it later in life although I’m not sure they were necessarily tested and given an official diagnosis, and while reading and writing were never their strong suits, they excel in engineering and the conceptualization of things mechanical and structural. Was that your experience?
Regarding the Coates piece, I hear/overhear enough blatant racial animus on any given day in Indiana to know that the backlash against the Food Network is doubtless coming from people who don’t see anything wrong with expressing such sentiments out loud. It seems that with the rise of the extreme right, particularly since Obama became president, these sorts of folks have been pushing back against social decorum with particular vigor and there is a lot of ugliness being tolerated lately that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. (Or maybe my perception is skewed because I lived in Chicago for twenty years and I’m undergoing culture shock.) Of course, these sorts of people are equal opportunity haters. One in recent memory was bitching about having to pay deference to Jews when dammit they need to get right with God and declare Jesus their Lord and Savior. This was a woman with an abusive husband and sports shiners every so often. Downtrodden, mad enough to spit nails, and full of venom for all sorts of “others.”
What stands out in the Coates piece for me is the anecdote about Deen speaking before a crowd of NYT people who laughed along, albeit uneasily. I see this all the time and very seldom does anyone have the courage to voice an objection.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 9:11 am
Alex: it’s because if you voice an objection to that kind of person, they lose their shit. They’re really going to lose their shit when they find out that Smithfield foods don’t like losing all that money they get from selling products to a particular racial/ethnic subset.
That invisible hand just acts so ugly sometimes!
Paula, Paula
The whole day through
Just a minstrel song
Keeps Paula’s old refrain
I said a Paula, Paula
A song of you
Comes as sweet and dense as phospholipids through my veins
Biscuits heaped on tabletops
Sharecroppers, choppin crops
save some chicken for the cops
The road gang’s comin’ through
I said Paula, oh Paula, no peace was gonna fly
that freed all them slaves
And poked your pappy in the eye.
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Scout said on June 25, 2013 at 9:12 am
Thank you for sharing your stories, Dex and David C.
alex, it pains me to recognize that the election of our first bi- racial POTUS has been a mixed bag for racial attitudes. It’s been disheartening to witness so much blatant racism since 2008. Coates is always a thoughtful read.
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 9:39 am
Scout, Yikes! The weather forecast for Saturday’s high in Phoenix is 118!!!
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 9:45 am
Further to Mr Coates’ thoughtful essay regarding Paula Deen, a question hereabouts has arisen in this morning’s paper.
What happens when you plaster the flag of the defeated southern confederacy in your annual parade?
People bitch and moan (Huzzah!) – despite the fact that the pussy cats…errr…. “Lions”…insist that it’s all just a misunderstanding on the part of their critics
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130625/LOCAL0201/306259964
“We have to have a theme that’s broad enough” for people who put floats in the parade to come up with various ideas, Berry said.
The flag design itself wasn’t meant to be racial or political, Berry said. “It’s just geographic,” with the flag representing the old South. “It’s a geographical thing, not political.”
I mean, come on! Right?
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nancy said on June 25, 2013 at 9:49 am
God, Frank Gray is such a hack:
“I’ve never been to the Mermaid Festival, which starts on Wednesday and runs through Saturday, and I’ll be busy cutting grass and cleaning and doing laundry this year as usual.
It seems like a well-intentioned event, though, and one hopes that this flap doesn’t end up tainting the whole thing.”
Way to take a stand!
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 9:53 am
(I wonder what the Lions [et al] would say if we included swastikas at the next Germanfest…)
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MaryRC said on June 25, 2013 at 10:02 am
Wendy sounds right, although she did look like her name might start with an “M” — Molly or Maxie or Mitzi.
I think the problem with this season of Mad Men is that we’ve been encouraged to root for these characters, even bad-boy Don, and it’s tough to watch their downward trajectory. It was hard to remember fresh-faced Peggy, the hopeful young screenwriter, and see the lonely place she’s in now. I’m sure that her story with Ted has played out in real life a million times, word for word. I was listening to the radio yesterday when that Manhattans song “Let’s just kiss and say goodbye” was playing and realised that this was Ted in a nutshell, that passive “Hey baby, I know we had fun but it just dawned on me that I have a family so we better call it off.” Maybe you’ll meet another guy.
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alex said on June 25, 2013 at 10:05 am
I read that Frank Gray piece of shit this morning too. Graphics festooned with the stars and bars is “well-intentioned” alright — it’s a deliberate sop to bigots. Anyone who can’t see that is a horse’s ass and anyone who denies it is a coward. I’m sure the Lions Club thought it would play well in that butthole of a town and if only one person has called them out for it, well, see my earlier post.
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 10:20 am
MaryRC, I think differently about Ted, I can see it from both sides, so to speak. Peggy is at fault here too, she knew he was a married man with a family, she was playing him along. He knew he was playing with fire and needed to get away from her and do the right thing with his family. Neither is without fault, but I think there is more to blame on Peggy’s side.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 10:49 am
Now they’re free to turn your state into a flaming Nazi shithole, Like NC, or Alabama, or Georgia.
The country has changed? In what fucking way?
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-ruling.php?ref=fpa
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adrianne said on June 25, 2013 at 11:02 am
Way to go, Supremes, just allow the racists to deny voters’ rights in the deep South and everywhere else, for that matter.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 11:14 am
Maybe they should march all the state legislators and their new election laws before the FISA court, eh?
We trust that sonofabitch with far more – before lunch, each day – than whether or not Uncle Buck gets to vote this year or not…
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Bitter Scribe said on June 25, 2013 at 11:30 am
I think it would be more newsworthy if Michael Barone ever got anything right.
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Randy said on June 25, 2013 at 11:37 am
I think Wendy Derringer could be the name of Don’s secretary if he starts a new agency next season. And we’ll find out “Wendy” had a whole other life! As a dog!
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Bitter Scribe said on June 25, 2013 at 11:44 am
Chief Justice Roberts thinks everything is just hunky-dory in terms of racial protections in voting:
I know you get isolated there on the Supreme Court. (Mario Cuomo called it being “entombed,” which is why he refused a chance to be a Supreme Court justice.) But honest to God, does this guy never read a newspaper or watch the news?
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 11:46 am
I was skimming the Barone piece, and tripped across where he snidely attacks Mayor Young for not attacking black activists; and deploring that the mayor attacked white suburbanites.(!)
What?
TNC could have some fun with Michael Barone, if they were ever on a panel discussion
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 11:52 am
Bitter – Justice Roberts ought to tell Travon Martin’s family about how much has “changed”.
True enough, the methods and mechanics of lynching* a guy has changed a little…but the result is the same
*and I betcha Justice Thomas will leave his whole “high-tech lynching” pile of rhetorical bullshit entirely alone, in the face of real, modern-day/old fashioned lynching
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nancy said on June 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm
A local editorial writer pointed out that Barone’s column assumes Detroit exists in a vacuum — that nothing outside the city ever affected its fortunes. Not the changes in the auto industry, not the suburbs that openly pandered on its distress, anything. A big theme at Chamber of Commerce functions around here is “regional cooperation,” to which I always say: Call me when it arrives.
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mark said on June 25, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Yes, those nasty racists in Virginia should have to seek pre-approval from the Justice Department for any changes to their voting laws. The open-minded people of Florida, Idaho, Texas, Tennessee and Indiana should not have such a requirement. Nothing has changed in 50 plus years.
This decision struck down the pre-approval requirement, which existed in only a relatively small area. From the decision: “…the covered States included Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia. The additional covered subdivisions included 39 counties in North Carolina and one in Arizona.”
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Bitter Scribe said on June 25, 2013 at 12:08 pm
mark, six-states-plus is not “a relatively small area.” And if you really think things have changed that much, I suggest you Google the phrase “voter ID laws.”
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Jakash said on June 25, 2013 at 12:27 pm
FWIW, if ever a dog’s appearance cried out for it to be called Spot, it’s Wendy’s…
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Scout said on June 25, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Deborah… I know, right? It is typical for the temps to get high like that in late June creating a pressure cooker atmosphere ahead of the monsoons that will roar through the state in July and August. Unfortunately (for him) our son is visiting from LA this weekend. Needless to say, we’re not planning anything outdoorsy.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2013 at 12:37 pm
The Voting Rights Act passed the Senate 99-0 and only 30 something hardcore Teabangers voted against it in the House. Shrub signed it. What the hell is it with these paleoconservative activist judges? If anything, the VRA should be expanded to places like FLA and PA, where GOPers spoke openly and gleefully about suppressing votes, and some of their vile techniques, like the tax andtuition penalties on parents of kids that decide to register where they go to school. GOPer voter suppression isn’t just racism anymore. It is systematically aimed at young voters, female voters, and all minority ethnic groups. The GOP is like Israelis that see themselves becoming a minority in their own country, and feel that any skullduggery up to which they can get is justified when it comes to electing “rill Murricans”.
When people get defensive and start playing the “tradition” card regarding the Confederate battle flag, I make a point to ask them how, if they are so concerned with heritage, they allowed the Dixie flags to be entirely coopted by murdercycle clubs and skinhead nincompoops?
Bobby Blue Bland died yesterday. Everyone should own a copy of the great live album he did with BB King. Bobby Bland had a great song that could be Don Draper’s theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGmV7z3YBY8
Barone sure buys Charlie LeDuff’s schtick, hook, liner and sinker.. LeDuff always seems to me to have invented his own revisionist backstory a la Nancy Medusa Grace.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 12:38 pm
The Obama administration last year used the pre-clearance requirement to stop Republican-backed voter-identification laws in Texas and South Carolina. Several other states have passed voter identification laws that Hispanics say are intended to keep them from casting ballots. Last week the Supreme Court threw out an Arizona law that required evidence of citizenship when people register to vote.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/520710/supreme-court-update-special-why-are-you-not-drunk-already-everything-is-awful-edition#bea2PL5WjG3AtfGE.99
The Republican brand is polling somewhere around hookworm laced shit. The only way they can win is to put their people in with the courts, or to fuck with voting.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 12:47 pm
At a minimum this ruling does us all the favor of watching the racists come out in its defense. No surprises so far.
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 1:27 pm
Yes – and the right-wing nutocracy went berserk, and declared that the Supreme Court doesn’t undertsand the US Constitution, which clearly allows Arizona to tell its Hispanic citizens to go to hell, on election day.
But indeed, if you sign a form “under penalty of perjury” declaring to the United States Federal government that you are a citizen and entitled to vote, then that testimony (your signature) is itself proof, no?
If sworn testimony ain’t proof, then criminal trials (for example) should never have testimony in them
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 1:58 pm
Well, hell. We’re at the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington, and the 48th anniversary of the lynching of the three voting rights activists who went into Mississippi*…so the Republigoons and their fellow-travelers on the Supreme Court are just doing their re-enactment of the “bad guy” part. (Scaley looks a bit like Bull Conner; and Roberts looks a bit like one of his trusty German Shepherds)
Just remember to laugh uproariously the next time you hear one of these people call their party “the party of Lincoln”**, or when they point to the pre-Southern Strategy days of institutional southern Democratic Party racism.
Same bad American stuff, different labels.
*and the 4th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s passing – but we digress!
**Fort Wayne alert!! Harold Holzer will deliver a free public Lincoln lecture at the Allen County Public Library tomorrow (Wednesday) evening (at 7, I think). Be there or be square, I say!
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Prospero said on June 25, 2013 at 2:00 pm
BB King and Bobby Bland, ripsnortin’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGmV7z3YBY8
Scalito is all for judicial restraint, except when it comes to their own behavior.
It was not all that long ago that AZ had a goober-nor named Evan Mecham that called black children “pickaninnies”. And racism aimed at Latinos in AZ is casual, second nature to people. And nobody has ever documented any actual instances of the voter “fraud” GOPers claim is rampant. There have been fewer than 80 cases made since 1960, and the majority of those were unintentional.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 2:07 pm
The NAACP and Latinos will probably partner for a march on DC. Coupled with a national strike, it ought to remind folks who do the work of this country.
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Prospero said on June 25, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Choice words for Alito in comments on this article. Pretty damned funny, but he did the same bushleague shit at the State of the Union. Classless and clueless dickhead.
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 2:55 pm
I guess I’m jaded because the Supremes did just what I expected. I think this will backfire on the GOP however, it will energize non-whites to vote Democratic more than ever. Sure there will be many efforts to suppress those votes but the eyes of the nation will be on those efforts and hopefully they will be squashed. It is unfortunate in the short term, but in the long term I think there will be progress. Call me naive.
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redoubt said on June 25, 2013 at 3:31 pm
My congressman, John Lewis, is not happy, and rightfully so.
Incidentally my wife, who is also from southwest Georgia, thinks that Ms. Deen has her “fantasies” mixed up.
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Scout said on June 25, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Deborah, I agree. Look what happened in the 2012 election. All the voter suppression nonsense only motivated the very people the GOP hoped to squash.
Call ME naive, but I have this crazy hope that they released this crappy decision as a bone thrown to the Cons as a consolation prize for how they’ll rule on the two Marriage Equality decisions they’ll announce tomorrow!
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 3:51 pm
Scout, I hope you’re right.
I hope it is like their ruling on the Affordable Care Act (which they said was simply an extension of Congress’s power to tax), wherein they simply produce a ruling that Americans can marry who they wish, and have all the rights and privileges that any other married American couple has, period.
It would be troubling if they issue a contingent decision – like the affirmative action decision, or an outright, 5-4 slap-down as on this Voting Rights Act thing.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping Ms Ginsburg retires at some point after the term, before we get too close to the 2014 election cycle….and if Secretary Clinton doesn’t want to be President, she’d make a fine Justice, I think.
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Dexter said on June 25, 2013 at 5:57 pm
redoubt: Thanks for the John Lewis blog. Damn-straight I am bookmarking that blog. John Lewis is my hero. I remember when he was almost killed by repulsive cops.
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kayak woman said on June 25, 2013 at 6:02 pm
Off topic but heard you on NPR during my commute home today. My poor little non-political brain struggles to understand and keep up with a lot of these issues and I thought you did a great job!
Also, I follow @NancyFlanagan, an education blogger who has retweeted some of your articles. (Coincidentally, I was acquainted with her in college although I doubt she remembers me.)
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MaryRC said on June 25, 2013 at 6:07 pm
Deborah, I guess I’m more cynical about Ted. I agree that Peggy shared the blame and I wouldn’t have wanted to see her break up a family, which was the only other place that this could have gone. But Ted was the one who betrayed his family then used them as an excuse to retreat, as I saw it. He reminded me of Mr. Sheldrake in The Apartment!
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Wait, Kayak Woman, who did you hear on NPR, our Nancy?
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nancy said on June 25, 2013 at 6:09 pm
Yes, it was me, talking about a story I wrote recently. School-funding policy in Michigan, Greek to 99 percent of you. Nothing to see here, move along…
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David C. said on June 25, 2013 at 6:12 pm
I had no clue I had dyslexia, Alex. I had a new person checking my paperwork at work. He just happens to have a wife who specializes in teaching dyslexics. He thought the pattern of my errors was an indication and urges me to get tested.
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kayak woman said on June 25, 2013 at 6:19 pm
It wasn’t Greek to me, despite my pea-brain.
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alex said on June 25, 2013 at 7:21 pm
Well, Dave, I certainly wouldn’t have known it from any of your writing here. Perhaps there are degrees of dyslexia. I’ve heard that some dyslexics can spell perfectly some of the time but not at other times. I guess it’s another one of those mysteries surrounding how our brains are wired.
I’m finding in middle age that words become scrambled when I’m keyboarding, but wonder if it’s because of neural pathology. My right arm and hand have been affected to some degree by cervical spine issues and the sensation and strength are not quite up to snuff, and my hand is swollen a fair part of the time due to nerve irritation. I have exercises that are intended to restore function but all they seem to do is slow the progression.
Does anybody have any suggestions for how to treat a stray cat with an obvious infection? Our delightful outdoor calico mouser has a fat lip and it looks like an abscess and she seems to be finding it too painful to eat. We have Amoxicillin out the wazoo and have been mixing the powder from capsules into food, but she seems to be finding it extremely painful to eat and barely consumes anything. I’d try breaking up a Vicodin into it too but not so sure that’s a good idea. I guess if things get worse we can shell out for a vet to give her antibiotics via injection and get clawed up and get abscesses of our own in the process.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Alex: Acupuncture might be worth a shot for your arm. I ripped a few tendons in my elbow not too long ago and it helped me through the worst of the pain. I’ve got pretty good mobility in that arm, which is an iffy proposition even with prompt conventional treatment. I did my own acupuncture, too. It can only be better with someone who knows what the fuck they’re doing.
The cat might have an autoimmune thing with its lip. We’ve got an elderly girl with similar problems. she has convinced us the problem is dry food, so she gets potted meat. See if your vet has a topical antibiotic suitable for cats. They’re very sensitive to anything that might do them any damn good.
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Sherri said on June 25, 2013 at 8:08 pm
Brian, I’m torn between hoping that Justice Ginsburg steps down before she dies at an inconvenient time, and hoping that she lives forever because Senate Democrats are too spineless to confirm a justice nearly as good as she is. I’d love to see Pam Karlan on the Court (if Alito can’t keep from rolling his eyes at Ginsburg, imagine how he’d react to a younger lesbian justice!) but the Dems would be too afraid of letting Ted Cruz go nuts.
Charles Pierce, as always, sums up today’s decision best: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Last_Of_A_Bad_Day
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Prospero said on June 25, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Uh, Ted was at least Peggy’s second married man.
Wow. George Zimmerman has a dickheaded fool for a lawyer.
Ms. Smith goes to Austin.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 9:20 pm
A free and fair election, and the inevitable destruction of the latest Republican doghair.
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2013/massachusetts-senate-results
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 10:04 pm
Wow, that Pierce piece points out that they sure aren’t wasting any time on the vote suppression tactics. This is going to be fierce.
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Prospero, was Pete married when he and Peggy made that baby? I think he was engaged to Trudy, not married yet, but I could be misremembering.
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coozledad said on June 25, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Whores like McDonnel and McCrory don’t stand a chance in a democracy. They’re electoral poison, so you have to restrict the electorate.
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Deborah said on June 25, 2013 at 10:47 pm
prospero, I was wrong, I looked it up, Pete showed up at Peggy’s apartment and they slept together after his bachelor party before he married Trudy. Their second encounter was on Pete’s office couch a few months after he married. So Peggy did have an affair with a married man before Ted.
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MaryRC said on June 25, 2013 at 10:55 pm
Deborah, as I recall, Pete and Peggy had two sexual encounters, one before Pete’s wedding to Trudy and one after, and it was after Pete was married that they made the baby.
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Sherri said on June 25, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Kevin Drum puts today’s Court decision in context with their other voting rights decision: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/06/compare-and-contrast-laws-protect-white-voting-vs-laws-protect-black-voting
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brian stouder said on June 25, 2013 at 11:38 pm
And again Sherri – thank you.
That’s the best – and most succinct! – takedown of today’s supreme crock of shit that I’ve read or heard.
I’m braced for a bad day tomorrow.
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Dexter said on June 25, 2013 at 11:56 pm
Weiner explodes into first place in NYC mayoral race.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/weiner_explodes_to_first_place_in_7cDrrbmsOqXFZYePxBD8qN
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Charlotte said on June 26, 2013 at 12:08 am
Alex — I had good luck with acupuncture for keyboard issues, although at one point, I did have to break down and buy (and wear) the carpal tunnel wrist braces for a couple of months. Moving to a standing desk did more to help than just about anything — it’s been two years and my wrist problems have nearly cleared up. FYI.
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LAMary said on June 26, 2013 at 12:57 am
I have tennis elbow frow keyboarding, and lately my hands have been cramping. Time to find some non typing career. Right.
Today is my first born’s 23rd birthday. We had a birthday feast of spaghetti and meatballs and two kinds of cake. The standard vanilla cake with dark chocolate frosting, and a cornmeal and almond bundt cake with fruit compote. Blackberries, kiwi, strawberries and blueberries macerated in orange and lime juice. The original recipe required pomegranate juice and arils, sweetened and reduced, but I went for the summer fruits. It was very good.
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brian stouder said on June 26, 2013 at 8:37 am
That sounds marvelous!
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Maggie Jochild said on June 26, 2013 at 10:36 am
DOMA is dead!
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