Feverish morning.

Again with the apologies, and I’m sorry. Sorry to be scarce around here, sorry to be always apologizing for it. Monday afternoon I seem to have been struck down by an illness, and I’m not sure what it is. Might be allergy-related; this year has been an absolute mofo for pollen. It reminds me of the ear infection I got the last time I swam before I made wearing earplugs a regular habit, but my ears don’t hurt (yet). I considered going to a strip of doctors’ offices nearby and walking the halls until I found a nurse with an otoscope. But then the low-grade fever rose again, and I decided to go back to bed.

So that’s me, today. Alternating chills and sweats and really not wanting to do anything other than watch “The Great British Baking Show” from the couch.

Instead, I have links. They’re old links, because I gathered them on Monday, but maybe you haven’t seen them yet.

Check out the rocket trail on this chart, tracking overdose deaths in the U.S. Appalling. Wait until all those Trump voters realize they voted away their health care. This New Yorker story is instructive:

Michael Barrett and Jenna Mulligan, emergency paramedics in Berkeley County, West Virginia, recently got a call that sent them to the youth softball field in a tiny town called Hedgesville. It was the first practice of the season for the girls’ Little League team, and dusk was descending. Barrett and Mulligan drove past a clubhouse with a blue-and-yellow sign that read “Home of the Lady Eagles,” and stopped near a scrubby set of bleachers, where parents had gathered to watch their daughters bat and field.

Two of the parents were lying on the ground, unconscious, several yards apart. As Barrett later recalled, the couple’s thirteen-year-old daughter was sitting behind a chain-link backstop with her teammates, who were hugging her and comforting her. The couple’s younger children, aged ten and seven, were running back and forth between their parents, screaming, “Wake up! Wake up!” When Barrett and Mulligan knelt down to administer Narcan, a drug that reverses heroin overdoses, some of the other parents got angry. “You know, saying, ‘This is bullcrap,’” Barrett told me. “‘Why’s my kid gotta see this? Just let ’em lay there.’” After a few minutes, the couple began to groan as they revived. Adults ushered the younger kids away. From the other side of the backstop, the older kids asked Barrett if the parents had overdosed. “I was, like, ‘I’m not gonna say.’ The kids aren’t stupid. They know people don’t just pass out for no reason.” During the chaos, someone made a call to Child Protective Services.

At this stage of the American opioid epidemic, many addicts are collapsing in public—in gas stations, in restaurant bathrooms, in the aisles of big-box stores. Brian Costello, a former Army medic who is the director of the Berkeley County Emergency Medical Services, believes that more overdoses are occurring in this way because users figure that somebody will find them before they die. “To people who don’t have that addiction, that sounds crazy,” he said. “But, from a health-care provider’s standpoint, you say to yourself, ‘No, this is survival to them.’ They’re struggling with using but not wanting to die.”

We are all West Virginia now, or soon will be.

In 2018, the GOP strategy will be all about the media. I wonder if those of you who don’t work in this business know what it’s like to be universally loathed by the general public. I expect you do, because you’re in similar fields. We just keep doing the job, as strange as it can be in these times. I was doing spadework on a story a few weeks ago that was put on the shelf until the whipsawing in D.C. leads to a coherent policy, if it ever does, and this week I’m doing the same – working on something that could be overtaken by events before, like, Friday. And I’m sick, too. Woe, woe is me.

I don’t think it’ll be overtaken by events, though, because the event we’ll all be watching is the Comey Show, starting tomorrow.

I believe J.C. flagged this on Monday, but if you didn’t see it then, I wish to do so again: A teacher deep in Ohio’s coal country tries to school his students on climate change. This guy’s a hero.

Finally, Neil Steinberg wrote something elsewhere, on the science of falling. Interesting.

Back to bed for me. OK, no. I’m actually in bed. But back to work, anyway.

Posted at 7:40 am in Current events, Same ol' same ol' |
 

122 responses to “Feverish morning.”

  1. Danny said on June 7, 2017 at 8:22 am

    Nancy, if you ever get tired of earplugs, try the following concoction immediately after your swim: Half hydrogen peroxide and half isopropyl alcohol. I keep it in a small squeeze bottle that my wife had for her contact solution (clearly marked with black indelible marker!). It has always worked well for me.

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  2. Danny said on June 7, 2017 at 8:44 am

    A pet peeve, literally:

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/service-dog-attacks-passenger-delta-airlines-flight-article-1.3225177

    I really get annoyed at people who game the system and claim their dog is an emotional support animal. It’s a serious situation for people who have severe allergies to animal dander, like my lovely wife. And then there are the numerous times we go to the grocery store and see someone wheeling there pet around in the grocery cart with the animal’s butt planted in the area of the cart where people put their food. Or the people who slap on some fake “service animal” harness on their dog so that they can bring Brutus the killer pit bull into a retail establishment.

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  3. Connie said on June 7, 2017 at 8:57 am

    I have huge issues regarding so called service dogs at the library I manage. There’s this one guy …. And the last time he brought his nasty looking big dog into the library it was just as story time was letting out and all the kids ran over to pet the puppy. Safe? Mom? Then last week I had a young woman tie her dog right outside the front door where it could bark and leap at everyone coming and going. She was quite angry when we paged her to move it.

    Mind you I have two dogs of my very own.

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  4. nancy said on June 7, 2017 at 9:07 am

    One of Alan’s staffers brought his fiancé to the auto-show gala. She’s a flight attendant, and had photographic evidence that she’d flown with this notable “service animal.” She did say the turkey was very well-behaved, and followed its owner to the loo, waited patiently outside and followed her back to her seat.

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  5. nancy said on June 7, 2017 at 9:10 am

    That said, I just read the link Danny posted, and it looks like a sad story all around. The guy, a vet, seems to actually need that dog. However, he should consider traveling by car from here on out.

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  6. Suzanne said on June 7, 2017 at 9:13 am

    A guy I work with, a super conservative Limbaugh listening, Cruz supporting, goes to church every chance he gets kinda guy, mentioned to me how shocked he was to read that the state with the highest incidence of opioid/heroin issues is Ohio. Surprise. He said he thought it would be a state with larger populations of big city urban dwellers (in other words, minorities). Where has he been? In evangelical Limbaugh land, I guess.

    The thing is that he grew up poor in a dysfunctional family (mom with psych problems, dad no where to be found) so one would think he would have some perspective. But, I think, in his mind, he’s managed to get a job, not be in jail, and not be drug addicted so everybody else should be able to do so as well.

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  7. Danny said on June 7, 2017 at 9:22 am

    wheeling there pet around… their.

    Man, thumbing out posts on my iPhone SE kills accuracy.

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  8. Mark P said on June 7, 2017 at 9:34 am

    The link about falling is worth reading. I found it very interesting, probably because of all the personal experiences I have had with my mother falling, as well as my own falls. My mother fell many times in her later years. I once went to her house late in the afternoon and found her lying in her bathroom after having fallen in the early morning. She spent more than eight hours on the floor. She had a life alert type device but didn’t use it. She said she kept thinking she could get up. Just before she died she fell again, and all the imaging they did at the hospital showed old cranial bleeding caused by multiple falls. But even us young folks (I’m 67) fall. I have torn my rotator cuffs twice in falls. My one criticism of the article was that it didn’t give much helpful advice about falling. There are a few things (like get rid of those rugs in the hall, which I nagged my mother about for years), but I was looking for more. Anyway, I suggest that everyone follow that link and read the fairly long story all the way through, especially if you know anyone in the highest risk group, the elderly.

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  9. Icarus said on June 7, 2017 at 9:35 am

    “see someone wheeling there pet around in the grocery cart with the animal’s butt planted in the area of the cart where people put their food. ”

    you know the front “shelf” of the cart where you probably put some things versus inside the bigger area of the cart? How many kiddos do you think had accidents there?

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  10. Deborah said on June 7, 2017 at 9:51 am

    While the Steinburg piece about falling was fascinating I could hardly read it without cringing. Until my foot fully recovers from the pinched nerve in my spine I have to be extra vigilant. I hope I don’t end up walking around like a constipated penguin like I do when I walk on ice. My PT told me yesterday that it could take 12 to 16 months to fully regain the proper motion in my foot. Nerves regenerate very slowly.

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  11. Suzanne said on June 7, 2017 at 10:12 am

    That article about falling is incredibly interesting. My doctor has told me that walking is really a controlled fall. The best part of the piece? Discovering that there was a journal called “Guy’s Hospital Gazette”.

    The article also reinforced why I tell my kids that as I age, if I refuse to use a walker or cane when I need to, they have pre-permission from me to yell, scream, smack or whatever they need to do to make me do so.

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  12. Sherri said on June 7, 2017 at 10:40 am

    I found the role of hearing in preventing falls interesting. My mother has significant hearing loss, and has been wearing hearing aids since her 40s. She’s also lately been having some episodes of vertigo, has atrial fibrillation, and takes Coumadin, so a fall could be really bad.

    That hearing aids aren’t considered part of basic health but rather improving lifestyle is to not appreciate the isolating affects of not being able to hear. Even with her hearing aids, my mother has difficulty in groups of people where more than one conversation is going on, and difficulties with phone conversations. It gets tiring and embarrassing for her to keep asking people to repeat what they said.

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  13. Danny said on June 7, 2017 at 10:40 am

    you know the front “shelf” of the cart where you probably put some things versus inside the bigger area of the cart? How many kiddos do you think had accidents there

    Undoubtedly some kids, but they are usually wearing diapers and pants and the most parents probably ask for a clean-up on aisle 3 (and the cart) as opposed to definitely having some pooch’s worm-infested anus directly pressed into the area. Plus, I don’t know about other states, but California has health laws about having pets in grocery stores.

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  14. Dorothy said on June 7, 2017 at 10:45 am

    Most of you probably remember that my husband had a bad fall (2006) from a ladder while we were painting our two story hallway in our house in South Carolina. He fell 10 feet – the ladder slipped on the drop cloths we had on the hardwood floor. He dislocated and broke his right ankle and heel. He was lucky he didn’t hit his head. And he fell a very short distance from a block wall in our backyard in Mt. Vernon OH (2013) and broke some ribs. All he was doing was filling the bird feeder with seed. And in April my 81 year old Uncle Jack (who had fallen several times in the last 10 years, usually in their driveway) fell backwards while tossing back some cold pills, fell and broke ribs, and died on May 17 from congestive heart failure brought about from the cascading effects of the fall, pneumonia, etc. I slipped on wet leaves in October 2011 and badly sprained my right ankle, and landed on my left knee (which hadn’t been replaced yet). The bruises on my legs were ugly and amazing in their size. We have a wheelchair from his aunt who passed away in December last year. He keeps wanting to give it away. With our history, I’m insisting we keep it because the minute we let it go, one of us is going to have some terrible mishap and I’ll be supremely pissed that the chair is not available. It’s like my insurance policy against any more disasters to keep that damn chair in the house.

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  15. Julie Robinson said on June 7, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Way back in college I fell on the ice and despite treatment and PT it has never been the same, so the constipated penguin is my winter walk. It’s why we’re moving south after my hubby’s retirement. My sister falls all the time, most recently as she was being discharged from a hospital stay precipitated by, wait for it, a fall. Luckily she was wearing her alert necklace.

    How much do airlines charge for animals?–something as much as $100 per flight segment. It’s not hard to understand why that pet becomes an emotional support animal. I’m allergic to dander so I sympathize there too.

    What do we think of Trump’s new FBI pick, Christopher Wray? I only know that he was the attorney who somehow kept Chris Christie from being prosecuted for Bridgegate. To me that’s hardly the impeccable credentials that Trump claims make him qualified for the position.

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  16. Mark P said on June 7, 2017 at 11:07 am

    One of my rotator cuff tears was the result of a ladder twisting and falling when I was on the first or second rung. In other words, maybe two feet off the deck. It was an almost complete tear of the cuff. The surgery was over $25000. I literally could not use that arm at all. Imagine you’re a carpenter’s with no health insurance and you suffer that injury. Your work life may end at that point.

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  17. basset said on June 7, 2017 at 11:35 am

    I’ve been hobbling around since Saturday night after a near-fall where I never even hit the ground. Tripped over a curb, forward dive and twist to recover, strained something and that’s Sunday lying on a hot pad right there.

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  18. Connie said on June 7, 2017 at 11:40 am

    Dorothy, don’t worry about it, there are free wheelchairs everywhere. I bet Jeff(tmmo) could give you several right now. So could any local senior center, they have closets full of stuff, I have a wheelchair and walker from My local center’s closet of donated stuff.

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  19. Deborah said on June 7, 2017 at 11:41 am

    While we were in Charlotte, my brother-in-law who flew in from Seattle was recovering from a fall he had while gardening. He fell off a retaining wall and landed on his driveway, cut his cheek with his mangled glasses. He still had stitches in. I had a fall in Santa Fe when I got tangled up in the leaf blower cord, no injuries, but my point is that gardening/yard work can be dangerous. Who knew?

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  20. Sherri said on June 7, 2017 at 11:52 am

    I have a chronic ankle instability, from a couple of bad ankle sprains as a teenager, so my ankle tends to roll at the slightest provocation. I’ve gotten pretty good at folling with it and not hurting myself, and usually the ankle itself doesn’t even hurt, but the last time was a doozy. All I did was step off a step into our garage, and since I was between two cars, there wasn’t room to really go with the fall, so this time the ankle took it. My ankle balloned up instantly, and it was 6 weeks before I could walk on it without a brace without pain.

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  21. Dorothy said on June 7, 2017 at 11:59 am

    That’s me, too, Sherri. I fell in high school running down the steps at home, headed for school. That was the first time I really sprained my right ankle. I fell going off stage in a play once and we watched my ankle balloon up during intermission. Getting through the second act without walking much was Tony-award worthy, let me tell you. When I’d walk our dogs over the years, if I stepped on damn pebble, or an uneven street surface, that ankle would roll. It’s an awful feeling to be afraid of injuring it again.

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  22. Sherri said on June 7, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    I work on balance and strengthening the muscles, Dorothy, but there’s only so much I can do to compensate for those loose ligaments. It’s really annoying (and embarrassing) to go sprawling over things that nobody else even sees.

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  23. Bitter Scribe said on June 7, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    That New Yorker article is absolutely heartbreaking. Paramedics in that WV town recount visiting a household three times in one day, to take care of overdoses of a woman, a man and their teenaged daughter respectively. Even if you want to get clean, it’s hard when other people in the same house are using.

    I couldn’t get very far with that falling article, despite how much I like Neil Steinberg, because I’m squeamish—don’t even like reading about sickness or injury. (That’s why I could never work in health care.) But I remember the advice my football coach once gave us: When you’re falling, relax and go limp. That served me in good stead several times, on and off the field.

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  24. Jakash said on June 7, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    Nancy,

    The view from about 20 rows behind Brian in the nn.c. cheap seats is that there’s no need to apologize for anything. When one looks at, or remembers all the once-thriving, now defunct blogs littering the e-landscape, you’re holding up very well, indeed. Especially given the price you charge! Hey, at least you had the good sense not to name the blog “Everydamnday.” : ) Hope your illness is short-lived and you’re soon feeling better…

    “you know the front ‘shelf’ of the cart where you probably put some things versus inside the bigger area of the cart?” Way ahead of you, Icarus — I haven’t put anything there in decades…

    If one really *must* travel with a turkey, it seems to me that you should be arranging to fly with Pilot Joe. The hoi polloi in commercial steerage have enough to deal with as it is. [I meant that to be a simple prescription for those living a turkey-assisted lifestyle, then realized that it could be read to imply that Joe is a turkey. Based on some of his more provocative comments, I’ve decided that’s not a deal-breaker, though. ; )]

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  25. Connie said on June 7, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    “you know the front ‘shelf’ of the cart where you probably put some things versus inside the bigger area of the cart?

    Yes. That is the purse holder.

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  26. Peter said on June 7, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    Julie, I think Christopher Wray is Trump[‘s perfect choice for the FBI. If this guy can get Governor Tubbo off, he should be able to put the kibosh on any FBI work on the Trump Organization.

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  27. Jolene said on June 7, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    Here’s another sad story about overdoses, this one about how frequently they occur in a public library in Philadelphia. It’s one thing for paramedics and police officers to carry Narcan, quite another for librarians to have to be trained to use it, but that’s what’s happening.

    The Post also had a recent–and horrifying–story re the effects of the US demand for heroin in Mexico.

    What a world, what a world.

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  28. Jakash said on June 7, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    Any “Wallace and Gromit” fans here? The amiable actor who voiced Wallace has moved on to the great cheese shop in the sky, at a ripe old 96.

    http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-peter-sallis-wallace-gromit-256338

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  29. Jolene said on June 7, 2017 at 1:36 pm

    Am stealing a post from Jeff(tmmo)’s FB page as it has a bit of good health news to contrast with the dismal facts re heroin. Check out the decline in smoking since 1960. Top line is world; the other is the US.

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  30. Dorothy said on June 7, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    Oh Connie – ‘the purse holder’ – shame shame! (Just teasing) I never put my purse there. I’ve seen/heard about too many women getting their wallet stolen – or the whole purse. If I see someone with their purse in there and they aren’t paying attention, or have walked a little distance away from the cart, I always say something to them. Mine stays on my shoulder. I had my purse stolen in 1980 (but not from a grocery cart) and it’s scarred me for life. I’m annoyingly obsessed with keeping an eye on my purse (and, apparently, others’ purses).

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  31. Deborah said on June 7, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    I’m with you Dorothy, had my purse stolen a few years ago from the back of my chair in a restaurant, whenever I see women do that now I want to scold them. I don’t carry a purse anymore, I keep everything in my pockets or I carry a very (very) small shoulder bag that only fits my phone and my credit cards/cash if I don’t have pockets. I used to put my purse in the grocery cart baby seat too, but stopped that of course after I stopped carrying a purse. Do any of you wipe down the grocery cart handle with those wipes some stores provide? I see people wiping down the baby seat flap too. I never think of that.

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  32. Scout said on June 7, 2017 at 2:37 pm

    Comey’s prepared statement to Congress: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-jcomey-060817.pdf

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  33. nancy said on June 7, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    Big Wallace & Gromit fans here. One of Wendy’s many nicknames is Gromit, and sometimes I will call her in my Wallace voice: “Walkies! Ten minutes!” I remember a conversation with the genius behind W&G on “Fresh Air,” where he talked about the claymation process being informed by the line readings of the actors: “Wensleydale” was an unknown cheese, the dairy on the brink of bankruptcy, when Wallace offered it in a ‘toon, and everything turned around. The creator said he liked it because of the way he could make Wallace’s mouth move when he said it.

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  34. Jakash said on June 7, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    Good memory, NN. In his tribute on the Aardman Animation website, creator Nick Park says:

    “Peter’s unique, charming quality, together with oversized vowels and endearing performance, helped me fashion Wallace from the beginning; the way he first said ‘We’ve forgotten the Crackers Gromit’ and ‘Cracking toast Gromit’ or just ‘Cheeeese!’ soon lead to Wallace’s enormous ‘coat-hanger mouth’.”

    As for Wensleydale, Wikipedia notes:

    “In his essay ‘In Defence of English Cooking’, George Orwell rates Wensleydale as second only to Stilton among British cheese varieties.

    Wensleydale was one of the cheeses named by John Cleese in the Monty Python sketch ‘The Cheese Shop’, which originally appeared in a 1972 episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In addition, the shop owner, played by Michael Palin, was named ‘Henry Wensleydale’, which caused some confusion between the two when the cheese was mentioned.

    In the 1990s, sales of Wensleydale cheese had fallen so low that production was at risk of being suspended. However, the popular Wallace and Gromit animated shorts A Grand Day Out and A Close Shave had the main character Wallace, a cheese connoisseur, mention Wensleydale as a particularly favourite cheese. Animator Nick Park chose it solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate rather than due to its origins in northern England where the shorts were set. He was also unaware of the financial difficulties that the company was experiencing. The company contacted Aardman Animations about a licence for a special brand of ‘Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale’, which proved to be an enormous success. When the 2005 full-length Wallace and Gromit film, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses increased by 23%.”

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  35. Peter said on June 7, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    I don’t agree that Wensleydale’s an unknown cheese – Monty Python’s cheese shop sketch took place in the cheese shop of Henry Wensleydale – while John Cleese is guessing what cheese, if any, the store carries, he says Wensleydale, and Michael Palin answers him, then informs him that they don’t carry the cheese, it just happens to be his name….

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  36. Danny said on June 7, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    Wow, Nance and Jackash. That is great information about Wallace & Gromit. We are big fans here too.

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  37. Deborah said on June 7, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    I read what Scout linked to at #32. It certainly seems that Trump was doing his darndest to convince Comey to drop the matter, or let the world “know” that he wasn’t being investigated for tawdry behavior or whatnot. Then he fires Comey, obviously for not being loyal to him. Methinks that Trump is protesting too much. He obviously seems worried about it to a great extent. It looks like obstruction of justice to me, but what do I know. I wonder why they floated this statement out there ahead of time? Was it to give the right wing enough time to try and spin it?

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  38. Sherri said on June 7, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    Fucking Travis Kalanick is an amoral monster and Uber is a sucking morass of evil. None of the execs or investors should be allowed in decent company again.

    https://www.recode.net/2017/6/7/15754316/uber-executive-india-assault-rape-medical-records

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  39. Deborah said on June 7, 2017 at 4:15 pm

    Goodbye Chicago, at least for the summer. Tomorrow morning, early, we leave for NM. It’s been an interesting stay in Chicago, obviously for health reasons. But I have to say if I had to be stuck somewhere in recovery, being in this perch in the sky over the lake and the city for the last two and a half months hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had two glorious weather days since we’re back from NC, cool and sunny so it’s nice to go out with a bang. Tomorrow night in Abiquiu we will be sleeping on the roof deck of our cabin after making a stop in Santa Fe for supplies etc. We have to get through a half travel day first, groan. My husband will be returning to Chicago for brief trips from time to time to deal with his uncle and projects but I will stay in NM until early Sept. Looking forward to mild cool summer nights and dryness.

    Total side question to Coozledad: when is the season for magnolias to bloom in NC? It seems like every single time I’ve ever been there they’ve been blooming.

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  40. brian stouder said on June 7, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    Scout’s link is certainly worthwhile, as all of tonight’s and tomorrow’s headlines reside there.

    An excerpt –

    On the morning of March 30, the President called me at the FBI. He
    described the Russia investigation as “a cloud” that was impairing his ability to act
    on behalf of the country. He said he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been
    involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded
    when in Russia. He asked what we could do to “lift the cloud.” I responded that
    we were investigating the matter as quickly as we could, and that there would be
    great benefit, if we didn’t find anything, to our having done the work well. He
    agreed, but then re-emphasized the problems this was causing him.
    Then the President asked why there had been a congressional hearing about
    Russia the previous week – at which I had, as the Department of Justice directed,
    confirmed the investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the
    Trump campaign. I explained the demands from the leadership of both parties in
    Congress for more information, and that Senator Grassley had even held up the
    confirmation of the Deputy Attorney General until we briefed him in detail on the
    investigation. I explained that we had briefed the leadership of Congress on
    exactly which individuals we were investigating and that we had told those
    Congressional leaders that we were not personally investigating President Trump.
    I reminded him I had previously told him that. He repeatedly told me, “We need
    to get that fact out.” (I did not tell the President that the FBI and the Department
    of Justice had been reluctant to make public statements that we did not have an
    open case on President Trump for a number of reasons, most importantly because
    it would create a duty to correct, should that change.)

    The President went on to say that if there were some “satellite” associates
    of his who did something wrong, it would be good to find that out, but that he
    hadn’t done anything wrong and hoped I would find a way to get it out that we weren’t investigating him

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  41. Scout said on June 7, 2017 at 4:44 pm

    Josh Marshall’s take on the pre-release of Comey’s statements:
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/my-annotated-notes-on-the-comey-statement

    Someone on Twitter commented that Comey wanted this out there ahead of the testimony to insure his own safety. Given the mobster mentality of this admin, that might not be as far fetched as it sounds.

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  42. Jolene said on June 7, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    I heard that he wanted to guard against the possibility that Trump would, at the last minute, invoke executive privilege.

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  43. Charlotte said on June 7, 2017 at 5:11 pm

    Sherri — my grandmother lost most of her hearing the last decade of her life, and I’m pretty sure that she was losing her ability to comprehend language at the end. Even when you’d get through the hearing loss, she’d just get tired and look off into the middle distance.

    And the ankles. Oy. The ankles. Mine are wrecked — I twisted them so many times over the years. Had one rebuilt last year, the left one that had stopped functioning altogether — they clipped and tightened the stretched-out tendons, and cleaned out a big chunk of floating cartilage. Took a full 6 months before I could walk well again, and frankly, both my feet hurt all the damn time. I need to have the right one done at some point, but I couldn’t bear another 6 months of boot/crutches/cane. I did just buy a terrific pair of shoes from a company called Vionics — best footbed I’ve found yet for shitty ankles.

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  44. LAMary said on June 7, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    Sherri I have a left ankle that has been sprained and messed up too many times. Your description completely applies to my left ankle.

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  45. basset said on June 7, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    Wensleydale… our local Publix grocery has Mull of Kintyre cheese from Campbeltown, Scotland, the connection being obvious to any Beatles obsessive.

    And while on that topic… who can tell me which two Beatles were not born in England?

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  46. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 7, 2017 at 10:31 pm

    Connie @ #18 is correct — we’ve got everything right now but those “knee walkers” with handlebars and brakes. Those fly out as soon as they come in. But wheelchairs, transport chairs, walkers (wheeled and not), commode chairs, shower benches, you name it. Our Medical Loan Closet has it all when it comes to durable medical goods and a modest supply of disposables (bed pads, adult diapers, etc.). A great ministry for any church or group that has some square footage to share and some volunteer staffing.

    This is a tease to a larger work I’m already looking forward to, as I do anything Morris puts out:
    https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/did-thomas-kuhn-help-elect-donald-trump/

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  47. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 7, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    If your church or group wants to start one, happy to advise — easier than you’d think, but the key is a committed volunteer base.

    http://www.newarkcentralchristian.org/medical-loan-closet.html

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  48. Dave said on June 7, 2017 at 11:03 pm

    Without looking it up, Basset, isn’t that sort of a trick question? Searching my murky memory, I seem to remember that Pete Best was born in India. I’ve no idea where Stuart Sutcliffe was born.

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  49. susan said on June 8, 2017 at 12:27 am

    Jeff (tm-mo) – The Knights of Columbus operates a durable medical supply warehouse here, and that is such a helpful enterprise. Sounds just like the place you run. I’ve used it when I’ve had major surgeries. The occupational therapist at the hospital told me about it after she asked me how I was going to shower at home (I’d just had my hip replaced). Oh, uh, I have a bathtub with a shower in it. There was no way I would be able to step over the edge… Oh, I said, there’s a stall shower in the basement… Uh, oh, that’s only nine steps downstairs… That’s when I learned about those “transfer benches” that have two legs in the tub and two legs outside the tub; you can slide right on over. And that’s when I learned about the KoC medical supply place. Run by volunteers. They’ll deliver and pick-up when you’re done with the stuff, too. They charge nothing. You can keep stuff as long as you need it. AND, they don’t ask if you are a Jewish atheist like I am… I did buy three new transfer benches to donate to them when I saw that they were in high demand, going out as fast as they were returned, with a waiting list. Thing is, you can’t wait around when you need one. They were so grateful and surprised. Well, I was grateful, too, but I told them they had to put them together. So there’s that.

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  50. basset said on June 8, 2017 at 6:12 am

    Dave, it’s not if you’re into it far enough. And you got three-quarters of it, was indeed Pete and Stu… who was born in Scotland.

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  51. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 8, 2017 at 7:03 am

    I’ve learned so much about assistive technology, just from the stuff people bring in and ask “can you guys use this?” and we laugh and say “probably so, what the heck is that?” They tell us, and we put it on a shelf . . . and sure enough, a few weeks later someone comes in looking for just that.

    We also get a fair amount of junk, but that’s the other side of this ministry: when you’ve had a parent or spouse or someone at home for months and years, cared for them until they die, and then you’re looking around your home after the services — it’s really hard to just put this stuff in the trash. For the loved ones to do it becomes an additional source of pain. But they can bring it to us . . . Sometimes, the item is beyond salvage, but we never say that in so many words. “We’ll find the right use for all of this stuff!” And usually there’s two items we can repurpose and one we can’t. The blessing is that the family leaves it all with us and feels some positive closure, and then *we* can put the bent, stained, cracked item in our hearty industrial dumpster (which the provider doesn’t charge us for).

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  52. Suzanne said on June 8, 2017 at 8:18 am

    Former Hoosier Rep & Senator Coats really did himself proud yesterday by refusing to answer questions. There is some speculation that he is saving his fire for behind the scenes investigations. Who knows?
    I am so sadly disappointed in our state’s reps in Washington. Our guy In the house, Jim Banks, is all proud that he’s having his staff read books. Up first, Hillbilly Elegy and the Conservative Heart. Boy, those will make them think outside their norms.
    I also receive GOP Senator Todd Young’s email newsletter. Last issue he proudly spoke of UN Ambassador Haley taking the UN Human Rights group to task for failing to support human rights enough. This from a man who approved SOS Tillerson who recently stated that the US couldn’t let human rights considerations get in the way of our national interests.
    But, whatever.

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  53. Deborah said on June 8, 2017 at 8:23 am

    When I went to the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago (formerly RIC) for PT is was astonished to see all of the medical gadgets there are out there to assist people, and all of the people who needed the assistance. When you’re whole and healthy you think most everyone else is too. I have learned my lesson, being able is a temporary condition in your lifetime.

    Nancy, I hope you’re feeling better today.

    I’m at Midway, will miss the Comey show, but I’ll catch up later.

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  54. Deborah said on June 8, 2017 at 8:24 am

    I was not “is was”

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  55. alex said on June 8, 2017 at 9:06 am

    There is some speculation that he is saving his fire for behind the scenes investigations.

    Or saving his behind from being fired.

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  56. brian stouder said on June 8, 2017 at 9:45 am

    I think the Fox News website is spiraling.

    Here’s their headers:

    PHOTOS: Comey’s turbulent 12 months | CAPITOL ATTITUDE: Comey testimony already a page-turner
    Comey’s blockbuster hearing could have uncertain outcome for Trump
    EXCLUSIVE: Comey testimony ‘closely coordinated’ with special counsel, source says | READ COMEY’S STATEMENT
    DERSHOWITZ: Comey’s statement fails to deliver the smoking gun Democrats craved
    Trump has constitutional authority to stop investigation of any person, Dershowitz says
    Reps announce plan to file articles of impeachment
    OPINION: It all comes down to Trump’s request for ‘honest loyalty.’ Really?
    OPINION: Will there be fireworks? Not if Comey follows the law
    ‘HANNITY’: ‘Self-serving’ Comey statement clears Trump

    and, heeeeeeere we go!

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  57. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 9:46 am

    If my desk phone rings in the next two hours I’m going to be really peeved.

    This, from the NY Times this morning: Mr. Trump may be relatively new to Washington, but Mr. Comey is not.

    A savvy veteran of the capital who has worked in high positions in multiple administrations, he has usually emerged on top in any internal power struggle. And in the month since his dismissal, Mr. Comey has shown why presidents are normally loath to fire F.B.I. directors.

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  58. Heather said on June 8, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Oh shoot, the Comey testimony. I’ve been in Orlando since Monday night, working on a big presentation with a colleague down there, which we did yesterday. It went over well but now I’m exhausted. I even had to ask for an extension on my weekly assignment for grad school, as I knew it would just be too much for me to manage with the presentation and the travel. It’s an online program and everyone works, so the professors are accommodating. Luckily I did, because I brought the wrong book with me (and then left it on the plane, apparently). Oh well. I’m learning I have to learn how to not take everything so seriously, because my body really can’t handle the stress.

    Anyway, so now I’m going to have to sneak in some grad school stuff while I’m working from home and watching the testimony.

    Maybe it’s a sign I’m getting old, but Orlando actually seemed kind of nice to me on this trip. The town the office is in is nothing much, but I went to dinner in a neighborhood called Baldwin Park–great restaurant, even for this spoiled Chicago resident, and the area was very pretty (if a bit Stepford Wife-ish, as one of my colleagues said). There’s a nice lake with a path around it and I even saw a turtle hanging out. I also noticed my allergies cleared up down there. Well, it’s all moot anyway because the state’s going to be underwater in 80 years.

    I love Wallace and Gromit too and was sorry to hear of that actor’s passing–I’m sure he was pleased to have such a great role in the last years of his career.

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  59. Sherri said on June 8, 2017 at 10:50 am

    Comey testimony, or The Remains of the Day?

    https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/excerpts-from-james-comeys-opening-statement-to-the-senate-intelligence-committee-or-from-kazuo-ishiguros-the-remains-of-the-day

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  60. brian stouder said on June 8, 2017 at 10:59 am

    I nominate Sherri’s link for the Thread Win!

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  61. Julie Robinson said on June 8, 2017 at 11:11 am

    Heather, you were right next to my kids’ neighborhood, just a couple of streets away. Baldwin Park was a military base that was razed and redeveloped, and Stepford is a good description. Paper Towns was written about this area, though the movie wasn’t filmed there.

    Anyway, if you get back to the area, mosey on over to Audubon Park, especially East End Market on Corrine Drove. The houses are mid-century modern, getting bought and rehabbed by hipsters, who need their hispter hangouts. Farm to table? The veggies are grown out in front. This is also the original home of the Fleet Farm movement featured here: http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/fleet-farming-how-one-group-wants-to-turn-your-front-yard-into-a-full-fledge-farm-786826819895.

    Our daughter’s church has a huge Fleet Farm on their property (also a community compost site). We hope to put one on the house we bought there once it’s past the two-year time period of no lawn chemicals being used.

    Comey is fairly impressive so far. He’s using no notes, and has no one sitting next to him. No attorney to confer with or anything. Wouldn’t you love to be there at the closed session this afternoon?

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  62. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 11:14 am

    Sherri that was a terrific link. I can’t help thinking how amazing it would be to hear Trump testifying, or talked to this panel and the contrast between the two would be painful. Trump can’t put a pleasing sentence together to save his life, and has all the erudition of a turtle under water. My favorite part so far of Comey’s testimony was when he gave credit to his great parents and teachers for the ability to write that statement he released yesterday.

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  63. brian stouder said on June 8, 2017 at 11:43 am

    worth a chuckle

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/politics/comey-hearing-live?lf-content=198569346:lb-post-f7400735cc86b3f3787421bce9662962@livefyre.com&hubRefSrc=permalink

    (I’d say junior is transcribing the Donald’s spuddering spittle)

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  64. Heather said on June 8, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    Thanks for the tips, Julie! The company doesn’t send me down there often anymore. But I think they should–meeting remote colleagues really does make a difference.

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  65. Peter said on June 8, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    Hey, I just got here after spending time on the Slate comment board, and where are all the comments?

    My Apple with hopped up processors actually froze at one point and I had to reboot – there were that many people on the line.

    I think we’re approaching Super Bowl Monday levels of productivity today…

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  66. Charlotte said on June 8, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    Jeez oh Pete — what happened to Mavericky McCain?

    And can I state my relief in seeing grownups speaking in complete sentences (except for McCain), and taking this seriously. Comey on the Russian threat was pretty chilling.

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  67. Jakash said on June 8, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    As a little break from the drama of the day, a fun 40-second video of some obedient dogs with descriptive names:

    https://twitter.com/SportFailTV/status/870969682186166272

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  68. Mark P said on June 8, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    Heather, I have a cousin who had severe allergies when he lived in the Pittsburgh, PA, area. The family moved to Florida (Tampa-St Pete area) and they cleared up. It seems counter intuitive but apparently the movement of ocean air (devoid of allergens) over land is what does it.

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  69. Sherri said on June 8, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    Instead of watching the Comey testimony, I’m being a good little capitalist consumer and using a personal shopper at Nordstrom with my daughter to update her wardrobe to a more grownup look and get some interview clothes. A much less painful way to shop!

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  70. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    I enjoyed the HELL out of what I could hear of the Comey testimony. I am at work, and got interrupted a half dozen times or so. But I carried my cell phone with me to the bathroom twice so I didn’t miss much while I had to step away from the computer. Boy howdy I think Comey carried it off very well. I am amazed at the dearth of comments here about it, though. Is everyone still reading/digesting coverage online? I’m feeling pumped up after watching it. Can’t believe Paul Ryan is saying Trump is “new at this” and that explains his inability to figure out that what he was asking Comey was inappropriate. The average college Civics student would know better. I don’t buy this crap that Ryan is saying. Trump worries about Trump, pure and simple. He could give a shit about the country and the government. ALL he was consumed by was whether or not he personally was being investigated, and then he wanted favors for Flynn, etc. There has to be some way to get rid of this guy. The whole world saw the character of Comey today – and we already know pu**y-grabbing Trump’s character. That’s all we need to know about who is telling the truth and who isn’t.

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  71. Heather said on June 8, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    I was pretty amazed at the testimony but still doubt it will get the GOP to do anything. Paul Ryan said something to the effect that Trump was “new at this.” Um, he’s the PRESIDENT, not some college grad at his first job. I do think the public can successfully demand his resignation, and the situation is so dangerous that’s what we should do, but it’s going to take a LOT of pressure.

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  72. Heather said on June 8, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    Oh sorry, Dorothy, I didn’t see your comment about Paul Ryan before I wrote my response. Also, as someone pointed out on Twitter, Marco Rubio attempting to lecture someone about courage is pretty rich. Apparently he dined at the White House Monday night.

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  73. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    No apology needed, Heather. We’re all entitled to express our thoughts!

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  74. brian stouder said on June 8, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    I did the dvr thing, setting it for several hours (up past the noon hour, in any case) – so we’ll FF the thing to the key moments.

    Maybe the Donald was right about little-Marco, afterall!

    I did hear Oxy-Rush at the noon-hour, as I headed for lunch (with friends at a Chinese buffet – so no tv) and then back again.

    He sounded like Eva Braun, on wedding day

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  75. Suzanne said on June 8, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    Yeah, I thought the “Well, he’s new at the job” defense was incredible. That’s the excuse my kids would give me when they were in middle school. When you are the freaking POTUS, you make it your business to know. You have people in place to tell you. But you have to have the foresight to put people in place and then listen to them. Trump failed at both.

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  76. Scout said on June 8, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    I have been spending the morning reading a variety of take-aways of the Comey testimony. This one is pretty comprehensive: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/06/08/ten-takeaways-from-comey-testimony/eLLkE6G9WzduIHpHDYUJPL/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

    John McCain’s performance was simply bizarre. He took to social media later to explain that his line of questioning might have been “over people’s heads” and that he was just tired from watching the Diamondbacks the night before. It’s almost like he was trying to do his part to distract from the bombshells with that wacko, crazy old fart performance art piece. It didn’t. But hopefully it will put to rest any notion that he is any more principled than anyone else in the GOP.

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  77. Catherine said on June 8, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    This tweetstorm encapsulates why I didn’t listen to Comey’s testimony, as gratifying as it is to hear everyone in the room overtly or tacitly agreeing that Trump is a lying liar: https://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/872569553972318208. It’s not going to lead to the change that we need.

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  78. Judybusy said on June 8, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    As Nancy said way back in 2016, the Presidency isn’t an entry-level job. I’ve been a busy worker bee today. Listened to the beginning of Pod Save the People. Those folks don’t have to share much news before I get outraged. They talk about stuff that’s not getting coverage because it’s wall-to-wall Trump, Russia, Tweeting, etc.

    Today they informed us of The Law Enforcement Heroes Act, which would prioritize hiring of veterans for police forces. For about a second, that sounded good. But then I thought, we’re already concerned about the militarization of the police, and what about PTSD with that group of officers? Naturally the Marshall Project has done preliminary research which shows that there are more complaints about inappropriate force by veterans than non-veteran police officers.

    They also shared that the Trump administration is going to disband the Labor Department division that has policed discrimination among federal contractors for four decades. Same thing over at the Education Department. There are moments when I understand why people scream at Trump voters.

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  79. Jolene said on June 8, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    They are cutting back on civil rights enforcement across the government. Here’s a WaPo report that describes what they’re up to.

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  80. Sherri said on June 8, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    I mentioned earlier that I was at Nordstrom with a personal stylist and my daughter for a post-college wardrobe for my daughter (we were successful, and yes, we spent a lot of money, but we haven’t spent much money on clothes for her over the past 8 years because she didn’t care and I couldn’t get her to be bothered, so I’m looking at it as amortized cost!) While we were there, this older, 70ish woman came out trying on a spectacular gown. She looked vaguely familiar. We were all chatting, discussing how amazing the gown looked on her (she was quite tall, and the dark blue gown set off her white hair really well). Someone asked what the occasion was, and she said, “I lost 75 pounds!” She also added that her stepson was getting married.

    She asked me if I wanted her to tell her what her husband had told her about getting a dress, glancing at my daughter standing nearby. I said absolutely. She said, “He said, you’ve got a waist now, I don’t want to see you in a fucking muu-muu!”

    A bit later she was sitting waiting for her stylist to return with some shoes to try on, and I was waiting for my daughter to try something else on, and she asked me if I read murder mysteries. I told her I did, and she introduced herself. The striking older women trying on dresses back there with us was J A Jance, a best-selling mystery writer, and I told her that I had read and enjoyed several of her books. She then thanked me “for making this dress possible!”

    Quite entertaining!

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  81. basset said on June 8, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    Meanwhile, much of Nashville continues to be all excited about this hockey game tonight. Meetings I’ve been around have mostly ended with “go Preds”… surprised I haven’t seen any stiff-armed salutes yet.

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  82. Joe K said on June 8, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    Basset,
    I know your not a sport guy and that’s fine, but let the fans enjoy it, I don’t have a dog in this fight the Preds took out my Hawks in 4 straight, but I’m enjoying watching these finals, Preds are down 3-0 in the first.
    Stiff arm salutes? Come on and lighten up a bit.
    Pilot Joe

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  83. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    The Pens are embarrassing the Preds. 4-0 just three minutes into the second period.

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  84. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    Oh wait. It’s 5-zip. I’m going back and forth with the game and Rachel Maddow

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  85. Joe K said on June 8, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    Well Dorothy,
    It’s getting kinda chippy.
    Pilot Joe

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  86. Dorothy said on June 8, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    Yeah, that’s called “hockey” Joe. And as a reminder, the ones with the most points are the winners.

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  87. Julie Robinson said on June 8, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    Sherri, what a wonderful story! And just the palate cleanser we needed after today.

    I took my daughter to get a new wardrobe too, when she was doing her chaplaincy training at Northwestern’s Hospital up in tony Evanston. It was strongly suggested that seminarian jeans were not going to be acceptable. We got really lucky at the thrift store–it seemed someone in her size had just dropped off several ensembles that were perfect. They were recycled back to the thrift store after she got a position in your neck of the woods where jeans and a nice fleece were all that were needed.

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  88. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 8, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    I love J.A. Jance – thanks for that story!

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  89. basset said on June 8, 2017 at 11:26 pm

    Not gonna “lighten up.” Sports worship is beyond me and I can mock it if I want to. “my hawks” I don’t understand, can’t make that connection myself.

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  90. Sherri said on June 8, 2017 at 11:37 pm

    When someone asked Ms. Jance how she lost 75 pounds, she said she banished potatoes and breads and started walking 5 miles a day. Previously, she said, her exercise consisted of jumping to conclusions!

    She was quite something. And really, the dress was amazing. Her stylist asked if she needed a necklace for it, and Ms. Jance told her no, she had the necklace, and showed it off: a piece she was wearing with multiple diamonds in it. She said her husband had it made from old engagement rings and wedding rings they had. Both of them had been married before, and the rings were just sitting in a drawer, so he took them and turned them into a new piece of jewelry.

    If you’re a fan of J A Jance’s mysteries, you should read her book of poetry/memoir about her first marriage to an alcoholic, After the Fire. It’s pretty powerful.

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  91. Deborah said on June 9, 2017 at 12:11 am

    I’m in Abiquiu at our cabin and I said I wasn’t going to do this but I’ve just reviewed the Comey situation and I’m mad as hell. Yes Trump is a monster that no words can express, but the people who are making me furious are the freaking republican senators and reps. Have they no decency? Why don’t that come out and say how pathetic, immoral and unethical Trump is? Instead of saying he’s new to this, he’s the president of the USA for God’s sake. This just makes my blood boil.

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  92. Jolene said on June 9, 2017 at 12:51 am

    I second the emotion, Deborah. Trump is, as Barack Obama said way last summer, unfit–uniquely unqualified. He is, in my view, a monster–truly a terrible human being and a deeply ignorant man.

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  93. Peter said on June 9, 2017 at 8:59 am

    Sorry in advance for my John McCain imitation, but Comey’s testimony to me was a bit on the meh side. Honestly, was anyone surprised at what he said yesterday? The President is a liar? I had no idea. The President hinted at putting the kibosh on an investigation? What were the odds.

    I’m also not surprised at the Republican talking points, although the new on the job defense is interesting. Community Organizer Obama didn’t seem to have as many early missteps, and according to them he was woefully ill equipped to do the job. Hmm.

    No, the main takeaway I got from yesterday is that a lot of Republicans are realizing that the crap is going to hit the fan, bigly, and soon. Comey’s testimony is a wiener in a blanket appetizer; Mueller’s going to serve surf and turf. Some people are saying that the house vote on gutting Dodd-Frank was because they used Comey as a diversion; I think it’s because they’re robbing the bank and they only have a couple of minutes before the cops show up.

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  94. Sherri said on June 9, 2017 at 9:29 am

    We elected a sexual predator to the highest office in the land, and he is continuing to act like one.

    Ana Marie Cox, on her takeaway from the Comey testimony: http://www.mtv.com/news/3019180/comeys-testimony-reminds-us-that-trump-is-a-predator/

    Wednesday night, I went to my local Dems meeting, where we were voting on endorsements before the August primary. This cycle are mostly local city races and some King County races with a few special races thrown in, like our state senate seat. I lost count of the number of first time women and minority candidates who had long been active in the community but decided to run for office after the results of last fall’s election. A lof of media attention is spent on angry trump voters, but there are some angry women out here, too.

    They’re impressive candidates, too; generally better-educated and qualified than many male first time candidates I’ve seen.

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  95. brian stouder said on June 9, 2017 at 9:44 am

    So, I looked at Fox News’s website, and they actually surprised me. I was expecting sourness – and they went right past that to full blown, angry, spittle-specked non-sequiturs!

    The screaming headline (at the moment) was about this woman named Reality Winner –

    Reality Winner: Accused leaker wanted to ‘burn the White House down’

    and the subheads and so on are all denial/obfuscation/distraction and slurs

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  96. Suzanne said on June 9, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Oh, FOX News. They usually do report the news, but the top story everywhere else is buried half way down the main webpage. On TV, they’ll spend 30 minutes on something like Reality Winner and 3 minutes on a story about the possibility of V Putin running our country. Sad.

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  97. Jakash said on June 9, 2017 at 11:22 am

    Among the many problems with the “he’s new at this” defense is that Dolt 45 appears to be neither a quick study, nor someone who’s even shown any *interest* in learning anything that doesn’t involve enriching himself.

    Even if he were telling the truth, for practically the first time, and he has not colluded with Russia himself, he should be censured for his lack of zeal in condemning or seeking to find out what his “satellite associates” have done. And how did such folks *become* his satellite associates, anyway, when he only “hires the best people?”

    And how did the Party of St. Ronald go from “Tear down this wall” to “How long can we stall?” Well, we’ve lived through the answer to that one. Now that I think of it, Ronnie did also say “The 11th commandment is ‘Never speak ill of another Republican,'” and he rose out of the ashes of freaking Watergate. So, though McConnell, Ryan, McCain and the other enablers are beneath contempt, they *are* following the craven Republican “party (and money) before country” playbook — though the play this time is right into Putin’s hand.

    Neil Steinberg reminds us of some of the history of what Republicans *used* to think about Russia:

    http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2017/06/will-russia-reallay-conquer-us-this.html

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  98. Sherri said on June 9, 2017 at 12:22 pm

    There’s been much ink spilled over the economic plight of trump voters. Do they understand where the money has gone?

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/economic-inequality-it-s-far-worse-than-you-think/

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  99. Suzanne said on June 9, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    No, Sherri, they don’t understand where the money goes. It truly is about, as Obama said, God & guns. Most of the hard core Republicans I know (not all) will hold their nose and vote for someone like Trump because a vote for a Dem is a vote for a baby killing Satanist and a world in which gays will demand that we give up our religion. The monetary inequality is a secondary problem that is not given a lot of thought.

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  100. Jakash said on June 9, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Grover freaking Norquist, 2015: “Kansas is the future.” “Kansas is the model.”

    Grover freaking Norquist, 2017: “If you’re a Republican looking for a model, Kansas is not the model.”

    Among the comments to this tweet, a swell photo of some guys moving a goalpost…

    https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/873200405353811969

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  101. Jakash said on June 9, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    J. K. Rowling stormily concludes a 14-tweet take-down:

    “If your immediate response to a woman who displeases you is to call her a synonym for her vulva, or compare her to a prostitute, then drop the pretence and own it: you’re not a liberal. You’re a few short steps away from some guy hiding behind a cartoon frog.”

    https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/873207949564497920

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  102. Joe Kobiela said on June 9, 2017 at 1:02 pm

    Basset,
    I know you were watching game 5 in your​ Preds P.Js.
    Pilot Joe

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  103. Deborah said on June 9, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    Sherri at #98, I had no idea…
    From your link “The top 20% of US households own more than 84% of the wealth, and the bottom 40% combine for a paltry 0.3%” not 3% but freaking 0.3%!
    Mind boggling.

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  104. Judybusy said on June 9, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    Wow. People really take the threat of sharia law seriously. There are anti-sharia law rallies happening this weekend across the country. So, god, guns, and Muslims.

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  105. basset said on June 9, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    Joe –

    No, I missed it. mrs B watched, but Jr and I were in our bedrooms reading, then sleeping.

    And my approach to sleeping attire is not a mental image I want to inflict on the good people of nn.c…

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  106. Sherri said on June 9, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    This makes me so angry. So many kids traumatized by gun violence, yet we spend time fighting over a Muslim ban.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2017/06/09/run-gunfire-on-a-school-playground-still-haunts-the-first-graders-who-survived/

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  107. brian stouder said on June 9, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    And my approach to sleeping attire is not a mental image I want to inflict on the good people of nn.c…

    I’m thinkin’ Blake Shelton tee, and Boxers

    http://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-voice-are-blake-shelton-and-adam-levine-quitting-the-show.html/?a=viewall

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  108. Jakash said on June 9, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    Nancy referred in her post to the upcoming GOP strategy being all about the media. An example, from Ohio, that bastion of under-reported Trump pride. The editor of one of only 6 papers nation-wide to have endorsed the guy Rumpsplains why the local voters are “still with him,” and why the lame-stream media better shape up.

    “They appreciate Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda, not because they believe in isolationism, but because they believe the United States and its citizens should be the government’s top priority.” — Yes, because Hillary would have made some other citizens the top priority, just like that feckless Obama did. And as if Rumpy actually cares about any citizens who aren’t rich enough to play at one of his golf courses.

    “Yes, Hillsboro is a rural setting with a majority-white population. But that doesn’t equate to its citizens or its Trump supporters being racist, homophobic or Islamaphobic.” — Aw, Hell no! — he goes on to refer to the fact that they desegregated their schools in the 1950s, for crying out loud — that’s damn progressive!

    “Consider the fact that Trump won the popular vote in 30 states, but in most of those states not a single newspaper endorsed him. Could there be better evidence of the gulf that exists between what is called the ‘mainstream media’ and millions of Americans?” — That there’s a gulf, there is no doubt. That the problem lies on the side of the folks who *produce* newspapers and accurately saw what an incompetent charlatan the Maximum Leader is, among them *many* conservatives, and *not* on the side of folks who don’t even *read* papers and who were frighteningly-easily bamboozled by him is where his “argument” loses out. IMHO, of course…

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-towns-newspaper-was-mocked-for-endorsing-trump-heres-what-we-think-now/2017/06/07/3365e17c-4acb-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html?

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  109. Peter said on June 9, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    Judybusy at #104 – well, some people frown on Klan rallies, but change it to protest Mooslems, and it’s MAGA TIME!

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  110. Jolene said on June 9, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    A summer reading list from the WaPo book editors. Some excellent recommendations here.

    A list of recent books about military history by Tom Ricks, who is so smart on this topic.

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  111. Sherri said on June 9, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    This article on expectations of workaholicism in Silicon Valley is nothing new, and a big part of why women leave tech: https://www.wired.com/2017/06/silicon-valley-still-doesnt-care-work-life-balance/

    My husband did a startup with VC funding when out daughter was not quite 2 years old. I was in total support of him doing so, with two caveats: that we have health insurance, and that he come home in time to spend time with his daughter. He and I could tolerate stretches of ot seeing each other much, but his child couldn’t. He came through on both conditions, because his family was more important to him than his company.

    It is possible to succeed and not kill yourself. But the culture doesn’t like to admit it, and the tech world will take as much as you give it and chew you up and spit you out. I don’t know why more people don’t say no and set boundaries; we’re constantly hearing about the shortage of software engineers. There’s another job out there.

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  112. Mark P said on June 10, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    Don’t know whether anyone is still reading but Ryan’s defense of Trump seems in pretty stark contrast to Trump’s campaign speeches when he said he knew more about politics and politicians than anyone else, and that he alone could solve all the country’s problems. Surely he’s not saying Trump lied about that?

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  113. Suzanne said on June 10, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    Very true Mark P. Trump knows everything, he’s got the best mind ever, but needs some job training and rumor has it that he didn’t know we have a military base in Qatar.
    But he alone can steer the good ship ‘Merica because he’s not a politician. “Iceberg! Right ahead!”

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  114. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 10, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    Very happy to have two working acquaintances and one good friend all in the same article! And lots of good observations further in by the reporter about the complicated history of mainline/progressive Christianity and social justice politics.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/us/politics/politics-religion-liberal-william-barber.html

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  115. Dexter said on June 10, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    Joe: What in the hell was a 74 year old man doing at the Auburn airport, using a rough grass field as a runway? He didn’t know it was rough and not suitable for gaining airborne speed? He lived in the neighborhood, fer crissakes.
    Adam West, presente. He was one helluva a man, much-loved for decades.

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  116. Joe K said on June 10, 2017 at 11:13 pm

    Dex,
    Not sure, the bad part was he did it Thursday but didn’t report it till Friday from what I understand. It was his own strip and he is a mechanic, poor judgment I guess.
    Pilot Joe

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  117. Heather said on June 11, 2017 at 12:18 am

    Sherri, Apple just got a lot of criticism for running this ad about how a startup guy never sees his kids and that’s just the price of doing business: https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-mocked-for-proud-i-rarely-see-my-kids-ad/

    All I can say is, imagine if a woman had been the one saying that.

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  118. Sherri said on June 11, 2017 at 11:29 am

    I know Rohrabacher has always been looney, but this is beyond crazy: https://thinkprogress.org/republican-congressman-calls-isis-attack-in-tehran-a-good-thing-says-maybe-we-should-back-isis-a7e9382dbe1b

    And are the Tories really going to risk peace in Northern Ireland and form a coalition government with the DUP? Also seems insane. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/11/dup-deal-likely-to-be-economic-aid-and-no-vote-on-irish-unity

    It’s hard for me to keep up with how fast we seem to have gone from the unbelievable Brexit outcome to the madness today. At least my fitness level has dramatically improved; the only way I can stay sane is to exercise like crazy.

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  119. Sherri said on June 11, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    I’m sure no one here is shocked that the Republicans don’t care about the census.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-census-bureau_us_593aefcae4b0b13f2c6a2dbc

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  120. beb said on June 11, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    It would be nice if NN.c could generate a new thread whenever the comment count hits 100.

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  121. susan said on June 11, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    Jakash @100 – I like this comment, too:
    Why hasn’t some person drowned Grover Norquist in a bathtub?

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  122. Joe K said on June 11, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    Basset,
    I know your not by the computer because I saw you in the crowd shot on NBC down there at Bridgstone Arena cheering on YOUR Preds, if you didn’t get tickets hurry home and get your Jersey on settle in and cheer on the home team.
    Pilot Joe

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