One of our neighbors put up a Trump yard sign. No biggie there, and not unexpected. In today’s environment, it’s a step up from the QAnon people, whom we also have nearby. I noticed two things about the sign: It’s smaller than most yard signs, and it says only TRUMP. No Pence, not even in smaller type. Not implying anything, just sayin’.
So I step out to walk Wendy the other day, and the sign seems different. We walk closer and it looks like it’s been defaced. Closer, and it seems something has painted another name over Trump’s, but it’s not Biden’s. Looks like…STUART? Maybe it’s a friend, playing a prank?
Closer still, and I can read it. It says SHART.
Hmm. Once again, it doesn’t quite work as a punchline, but again – maybe it’s a friend, with an inside joke about a wet fart. I heard the recently departed Geoffrey Nunberg’s tribute on “Fresh Air” on my drive this weekend; maybe he’d have been able to say something about it: “A portmanteau of two vulgarisms, neither of which is suitable for this program or even public radio…” Or maybe it was just bad graffiti.
So. A whirlwind trip from southeast Michigan to southeast Ohio this weekend, with barely a moment to stop. The drive was pretty fast, and the revelation was the now entirely four-lane high-speed highway between Columbus and Athens. When I was in school, it was four lane/two lane through the whole trip, and you drove through, not past, the city/towns of Lancaster, Logan and Nelsonville. The last of those is an Appalachian town of obvious poverty but also the home of Rocky Boot Co., provider of the red-laced pair of hiking boots worn by, I swear, every single student at Ohio University. I’ve talked about them here before; how they saved my life through two terrible winters. You could see their lug-soled prints all over campus in the snow.
Nelsonville is also the birthplace of Sarah Jessica Parker, if you’re keeping score at home. My brother-in-law calls her Miss Nelsonville.
Anyway, the new four-laner makes the trip from Columbus to Athens about an hour, less if you’re coming from the east side. And I was so very pleased to see that the trip is simply beautiful, especially past Lancaster. The low hills are almost impossibly green, without the bagworms you see on trees in northern Michigan. Just a great drive.
The bagworm in the ointment, however, was rain, which made a walk around campus less than appealing. We couldn’t even find much of a patio dining scene to have lunch, although we finally found a mediocre restaurant that had some umbrella’d picnic tables out back. The hostess wiped them down for us, and we took our chances. It was fine, the food just OK, and for those of you who remember the Athens of my era, get this: It’s the former Mr. Magoo’s.
Mr. Magoo’s was the closest thing to an obnoxious frat bar that Athens had, although it was usually full of Arab exchange students, men, dressed up in disco clothes and hoping to score some American nookie before they had to return to Tehran or Riyadh and find a nice girl. The OPEC oil boom was still ramping up, and the Arab world was sending its students abroad in vast numbers, with generous living allowances. OU had a good intensive-English program, so they’d roll in, spend a year learning English, then transfer out to petroleum-engineering programs elsewhere. The car of choice: A Trans Am with a screaming firebird on the hood. Footwear: Stacked heels. If you’re thinking the Ackroyd/Martin “wild and crazy guys” you’re on the right track.
Anyway, Mr. Magoo’s – pronounced MAH-goose by these young men – advertised “Texas cocktails,” i.e. big ones. I think I went there twice. I preferred the more English-major vibes of the Union, Swanky’s, the Frontier Room and of course the steak sandwich at the Pub. Now MAH-goose is the Pigskin Grill. I had a pulled-pork sandwich that was on the dry side, and the waitress expressed puzzlement when I asked if it came with slaw on top. Ah, well. At least it was outdoors. Kate informed me she hadn’t eaten in a restaurant, period, since March.
But we had a nice time together, talked a bit. Her roommate is a slob, but she still likes him, and anyway he’s moving out, she said. How much so? “He gets up from the table after eating, and he doesn’t even put his dishes in the sink,” she said. I thought of how long it took her to learn that, and felt: My work here, it is done.
I think also, just to drive far out of town was a thrill. I need to travel more. Not just to Morocco and overseas, but to, I dunno, Indiana or Pennsylvania or Toronto, if they ever let Americans in again. I interviewed a Canadian immigration lawyer for a story last week, and it was like talking to a person who’s visiting you in the hospital. They don’t have the fever you have, and they’re so, so disappointed to see you like this.
Of course, is Justin Trudeau trying to sabotage the post office? No? THEN MAYBE YOU SEE WHY I HAVE THIS FEVER.
Bloggage? I’m working my way through this Olivia Nuzzi look at the re-election campaign, and surprise, it’s a shitshow, as we see from the Pennsylvania volunteer effort:
It was 7 p.m. on July 23, and Team Trump had scheduled a training session for campaign volunteers in the area. Before I arrived, I had worried about my exposure to the virus. I imagined a scene that was part local political-party headquarters and part anti-quarantine protest. I imagined a lot of Trump supporters, maskless and seated close together, breathing heavily on a reporter leaning in to record their comments. But the office was quiet. I walked through the arch of books by right-wing personalities (Bill O’Reilly, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh) and past the portraits (George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan) and maps of Pennsylvania voting precincts. I didn’t see anyone there.
In a blue room in the back, beneath an American flag with the words MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN printed in block letters inside the white stripes, a woman sat alone at the end of a conference table. She wasn’t participating in the volunteer training. She was the volunteer training. There just weren’t any volunteers.
…Fifty miles away, at the GOP headquarters in Lancaster, another event was scheduled for 6 p.m. the next night. When I arrived, the local field director, Jason, was talking to an elderly man. “I appreciate all your support, sir,” he said. “Oh, absolutely. I think this election is more important than 1864. Then, we would’ve lost half the country. This time? We could lose the whole country.” Nick, the Trump-Pence regional field director, asked me if I was there for the food drive — which was part of the campaign’s “Latino outreach effort,” he said — or the volunteer training. The elderly man had made his way out the door, and now there was nobody left in the office besides the two men who worked there. “There’s pretty light turnout,” Nick said. But not to worry, as things were “going really well,” Jason said.
…A few days later, on July 30, the campaign scheduled two voter-contact training sessions at Convive Coffee Roastery on Providence Boulevard in Pittsburgh. The evening session was supposed to start at 7 p.m., but when I arrived, early, at 5:30, the shop had already been closed for half an hour. A girl cleaning up inside came out to talk to me (even when it’s open, like many such establishments, the pandemic rules are takeout only). She said she had no idea that any campaign had scheduled any kind of meeting at the place where she worked for two hours after closing time. But she hadn’t worked the morning shift that day, when the first event was scheduled, so she texted a co-worker who had. He told her a few people came into the shop and asked about a Trump-campaign meetup but that he didn’t know what they were talking about and couldn’t help them. “I don’t know if they figured it out or not,” she said.
And if you’re interested, here’s a decent WashPost explainer on how the president came to fixate on the post office as a font of problems for him.
The week lies ahead, and let’s make it a good one.
Bitter Scribe said on August 16, 2020 at 5:34 pm
What’s the over/under on when he decides to hold one last, huge, rousing, screaming, pack-’em-in, fuck-the-coronavirus rally somewhere in a swing state, just before the election?
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NancyF said on August 16, 2020 at 6:13 pm
“Trump” means “fart” in British slang. So — next level?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBxMraozJuk
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Suzanne said on August 16, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Nothing would make me happier than for Trump to drop VP My Pants like a hot potato. It would prove that there is a God.
We have eaten out a grand total of 2 times since March, carryout excepted. Once was just for a beer and a snack, both times we sat outside far from others. As much as I would love to sit at a restaurant with friends and sip a beer or a glass of wine, I think it’ll be a while.
Heck, we’d like to just go somewhere for an overnight trip, but don’t feel comfortable doing so with COVID numbers booming in Indiana. So, we drink wine at home and try to think of things to talk about.
I talked to a friend last week who lived in Bloomington, IN for years and years and has friends there who work for the university. She said they are terrified about reopening.
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Brandon said on August 16, 2020 at 6:39 pm
The two articles linked below are on the front page of today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser and take up four additional pages.
“Obama and the Beach House Loopholes.”
“Bones Found on a Property Tied to Obama, Causing Tension With Native Hawaiians.”
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David C said on August 16, 2020 at 6:59 pm
We haven’t eaten in a restaurant since this started. I’m not sure when we will either. I don’t have enough trust in my fellow Americans whether they are restaurant owners or patrons. I still see far too many who obviously don’t care.
The orange one is making a stop here in Oshkosh tomorrow. It looks like it’s land, grunt at the goobers in a hanger at the airport, and take off again. I got a Facebook message from a cousin telling me how lucky we were and asking if I was going. Fortunately, my grandmother isn’t alive so I could tell him I’d rather be dead in a fucking ditch. Considering all the vile shit he sends my way I don’t feel too bad about it.
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Jeff Borden said on August 16, 2020 at 7:12 pm
The last time we ate at a restaurant was March 13. I had a pressed corn beef sandwich on rye with English mustard and a side of fries drenched in malt vinegar. And a Guiness. I never thought that would be last meal in a tavern for five months. Since Johanna has COPD and chronic asthma, we’re in no hurry to return.
Any of you voracious readers out in NN.C land ever read any of Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther novels? I just finished his sixth and plan to order the others tomorrow. Such compelling historical fiction.
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Charlotte said on August 16, 2020 at 7:25 pm
Those students from the oil nations are now at Montana State — although several of mine didn’t seem like the wealthy kids, but more like somebody’s-cousin-who-the-family-promised-to-look-out-for. I teach writing so most of them drop my class right away, but the few who stuck around also seemed quite lonely here in snowy Montana. Didn’t stop them from trying to hustle me for a grade though. Aziz, who never came to class, would come to office hours to ask how he could get his grade up. “Come to class,” I told him.
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Jakash said on August 16, 2020 at 7:42 pm
I had an awesome pair of Rocky winter boots that I got for $35 at a clearance table in the middle of summer in Chicago. I thought it was cool that they were made in Ohio.
An Arab exchange student acquaintance in college, for whatever reason, referred to scoring some American nookie as “fixation.” Regardless, he was way more successful at it than I was.
None inside, one “restaurant” patio for us since March, also on a road trip, with nobody else sitting there. (Culver’s off I-69 in Fort Wayne — surely some here are familiar with it?)
Even I know today’s earworm, for a change! … “Long-haired freaky people Need not apply,” etc.
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Indiana Jack said on August 16, 2020 at 7:45 pm
My wife and I have been pushing the envelope. That translates into balancing risk and reward, which is a little tricky given our age group. I am 71 and on the fast track to 72, while she is 70.
We have eaten inside restaurants as well as outside and have had take-out as well.
We ventured up to the remote family cabin in New England last month, and that entailed a night in a hotel on the way up and on the way back.
Our take: Restaurant and hotel staffs are doing their best to make things safe. Masks, gloves, tables separated by distance, enough isopropyl alcohol in the lobby to make your eyes water.
It’s not perfect, but folks are trying. Did we feel 100 percent safe? Nope. But we didn’t have that degree of safety on the highway either.
Meanwhile, back in Indiana, use of masks barely hits 75 percent.
No wonder there’s a spike in the Hoosier State.
Meanwhile, OT, the situation in Belarus continues to go sour. Check rfe/rl.org or the website of spring96 for details. My fear is that Putin will step in to “stabilize” the situation.
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Jeff Borden said on August 16, 2020 at 7:58 pm
I’m grilling chicken kabobs on the Weber tonight and we’ll eat on the patio. The backyard is green and fresh while a fountain in the corner mimics a babbling brook.
As close to a restaurant experience as we’ve had in awhile.
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Dave said on August 16, 2020 at 8:02 pm
Other than someplace like The Union, don’t most of those bars change names every few years. I’m trying to remember a Mr. Magoo’s from when I was there, maybe six years before you but it’s not bringing up any memories. I do remember the CI on N. Court Street, a place I probably should have ignored but didn’t and a place directly across the street. I just now tried taking a virtual drive up Court Street via Google and didn’t recognize much of anything. Fifty years makes quite a difference, when I was there, the Martings Department Store was still open on N. Court St., a name I was familiar with because of shopping in the one in Portsmouth with my grandparents when I was a child.
You haven’t had to drive through Logan for a long time and I think maybe you didn’t, either. I think they may have built an overpass or two near Logan but it’s skirted the south side of town for years. I’ll give you Nelsonville and Lancaster. The last time I was down there, the Nelsonville bypass was not quite finished, that was 2012. I once drove from a party at Lake Logan to Lancaster where I consciously realized I was in Lancaster, not remembering any of the trip or leaving. I’m very grateful that nothing happened and rather ashamed of the confession to this day.
Oh, totally off topic but the Tampa Bay Times had this interview with friend of NNC Laura Lippman in today’s paper:
https://tampabaytimes-fl.newsmemory.com/?selDate=20200816&goTo=E005&artid=0
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alex said on August 16, 2020 at 8:13 pm
Went to a nice gathering of neighbors for a cookout today and it was a most enjoyable group. Hope we do this more often. I’m loving this neighborhood more than ever.
Passed by a ragtag little Trump rally on the courthouse square in Auburn yesterday and the chuckleheads were holding QAnon signs. The local paper ran an item about it this morning and quoted a few people at length about the lying fake news media but the story was little more than an air kiss and did nothing to challenge any of the nutty assertions made by the interviewees.
It’s a Sunday night again and it still holds the same amount of dread for me that it always has. Weekends are simply too short.
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Dave said on August 16, 2020 at 8:25 pm
I was looking at nn.c history, as I sometimes do, just to see how far back I may have posted anything. I find that in 2005, Widget Bliss, I made a comment but Deborah has a post and says that it’s her first. Oh, and Mary, before she became LAMary, I think it’s her.
There’s 15 years gone. Oh, if that doesn’t make you feel old enough, Elvis died 43 years ago today.
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Julie Robinson said on August 16, 2020 at 8:44 pm
Jackash, we are familiar with all three Culver’s in Fort Wayne. They have nice big salads if you’re going healthy and butter burgers if you’re not, plus of course that scrumptious ice cream. Lately, though, we’ve only done carryout from any place.
So we wrestled with how we would celebrate our anniversary this week. Would a patio be okay? We decided on more carryout and taking it to a park instead of just eating at home.
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Brandon said on August 16, 2020 at 9:44 pm
@Dave: It’s also Madonna’s 62nd birthday.
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jcburns said on August 16, 2020 at 9:48 pm
Nancy, I’m raising up a virtual bag of Carol Lee’s donuts (the day-olds, of course) in salute to your successful sojourn to Athens. Great reading about all the (iterations of) bars people half-remember in the Court Street/Union Street metro area.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 16, 2020 at 10:10 pm
My son’s student teaching is going surprisingly well, or so it seems, as he shares bits and pieces passing through to the basement where he’s ensconced with us for now; I only wish he were still down in Athens so I had reason to breakfast at Casa Nueva a few more times, but even with the highway it’s a little far to drive just for huevos rancheros.
In theory we go back down there one last time for a commencement in December, but I’m not counting on it.
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Sherri said on August 16, 2020 at 10:14 pm
No restaurants for us, other than takeout, but we have done a few small backyard dinners with friends who we know are keeping the same degree of care as we are. Masking is pretty universal here.
Everybody is dreading fall and winter, though, when the dark and rain come. I’ve ordered a pop up canopy and a propane fire pit in hopes that we’ll be able to continue having a few friends over for dinner on our deck even when the rains come.
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LAMary said on August 16, 2020 at 11:11 pm
I became LAMary when another Mary showed up. If another LAMary had shown up I would have switched to NELAMary. The part of town where I live is hip now so it’s NELA. It used to be where the the Avenues gang hung out. It’s a very old gang. You can see geezers with neck tats on the street still. The Avenues is still recruiting young guys too. MS13 also used to be in this neighborhood. At least they tagged it up a lot.
Those Iranian students were at University of Denver in droves. They were Biz Ad majors there. They had those black Firebirds there too. I was pretty friendly with one of them, an econ major. He had the standard black mustache and Firebird, but we all figured out he was gay and deeply closeted so he wasn’t one of the Iranians on the prowl for US nookie.
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alex said on August 16, 2020 at 11:44 pm
In college, I used to carpool home to the Fort from IU Bloomington with a white girl who lived in a large apartment with a bunch of Iranian men. For all I know she was their U.S. nookie. What I remember was that this was in 1979-80 when the Shah was deposed and the country was in turmoil and when she first talked about her roommates before introducing them to me she described them as “Persians.” “Oh, you mean Iranian?” I responded. I think she was concerned that I might hold their nationality against them and I assured her that this was not the case. So I got to meet them and hang out with them and don’t remember much about it but they were an interesting group and obviously well financed.
Not falling asleep easily tonight. Hope I won’t be paying for it tomorrow. It has just been such a lovely weekend that I wish it weren’t over.
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Jakash said on August 17, 2020 at 12:19 am
Glad you pointed out that 2005 post from the wayback machine, Dave. A number of other folks checked in sharing their nn.c origin stories, in addition to Deborah. Interesting to read all these years later. Thanks.
Yeah, the guy I referred to in my earlier comment was Iranian, as well, now that I think about it.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 12:36 am
I visited the student center at Ohio University in maybe 2005. I was there because the architecture firm I worked for then had gotten the job to design a new student center at Ohio state and the local architect of record that we were partnered with, a black firm had recently done the student center at OU, so we went to look at it. Shortly after all that we lost the Ohio State project because, I kid you not our project manager was a Michigan alum and he wasn’t shy about letting them know that. He was pretty arrogant actually. No one was surprised when we were dumped from the job. All I remember about it was doing research about what buckeyes are, and by that I mean the botanical kind.
I read that Olivia Nuzzi piece and laughed and laughed.
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nancy said on August 17, 2020 at 6:13 am
As we say on the internet: Who’s gonna tell her?
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Mark P said on August 17, 2020 at 1:03 am
I wish we had 75% mask wearing here. Walmart was maybe 50% and Lowe’s was maybe 20% when I went in last week.
We have been dining in at a Mexican restaurant for huevos rancheros the last couple of weeks, but they closed last Wednesday because someone tested positive. They have reopened after everyone else tested negative. Hope there were no false negatives. They claim a deep cleaning, but my doctor thinks touch spread is not the real problem. It’s person-to-person airborne spit.
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beb said on August 17, 2020 at 1:26 am
You say “bagworm” I said “tentworms” How different Indiana was from Ohio.
I must have missed a posting or something because I wasn’t sure why you were rushing to Athens. What confused me was that I only know of two Athens, the one in Greece and the other in Georgia. And why did Kate show up in the middle of your story? Oblivious Man needs to know.
Not much else to report around here. The only times I’ve been in a restaurant was to pick up carry-out orders. It feels kind of weird being in our favorite meal places with most of the lights turned off, the dining area taped off like a crime scene and handing money and food through a door. But they still make great food. And after a while it’s nice to let someone else do the cooking.
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wade said on August 17, 2020 at 7:19 am
If you ever attended Oh, You! in the summer, Magoo’s was the only game in town. I have fond memories (vague, but fond) of sipping gin n’ tonics there because they glowed nicely under the backlights. That may have begun as the summer of the Green Death (Jack Daniels Green Label chased with Rolling Rock) until I started reflexively gagging at the smell of sour mash.
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nancy said on August 17, 2020 at 8:21 am
Oh, Wade…
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 17, 2020 at 7:44 am
For reasons of geography and habit I only have been in our Home Depot since March, but people whose work runs them into both are currently saying Lowe’s is marginally masked, while Home Depot is pretty good, but I’d say all staff & 75% of customers. They have a sign up since the governor’s order went out, telling customers they must have face coverings to enter, but they’re not putting staff at the door to press the issue. Lots of bandanas.
For all the media & online angst, I’d say around here for public places after a slow two week ramp up following the governor’s statewide mask order, we went from say 20% to 75ish%, but it’s very patchy. Our college town’s hub grocery store is 9%+%, WalMart over in the county seat is struggling to hit 50%, but I’d say staff in businesses are 100% even in this fairly conservative area. I’m told Phoenix Tactical the clerks have masks under their chins, but I’m not in the market for cheap Glock knock-offs, so I’ve not seen that for myself.
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basset said on August 17, 2020 at 8:26 am
No petroleum engineering at IU in the 70s but there was one Iranian guy on our dorm floor who was known as, and would answer to, “The Persian Perversion.” Don’t remember if he had a Trans Am, definitely wore the disco outfits though.
Mrs. B just finished a weekend binge watch of “Land Girls” on Netflix, a BBC 15-episode drama, and there was indeed plenty of drama, about young women sent to the British countryside to work the land during WW2. I thought it was OK but she got really interested for some reason.
IU bars… Mother Bear’s was still there last time I was in Bloomington, and Nick’s will still be filling buckets after the nuclear apocalypse.
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Julie Robinson said on August 17, 2020 at 9:30 am
The Iranian students across the hall from my Bloomington apartment circa 1977 ran their AC ALL winter long. I thought they wouldn’t like winter, but what did I know? On a sadder note, the IDS just reported the new international center has halted construction after razing the old buildings and prepping the site. They say it’s just on hold, but between Covid 19, money woes, and Trump student visa issues, I don’t see it getting built.
In five years at IU I never went to Nick’s, just not a bar person and never liked smoky atmospheres. There is a Bears on the outskirts of town, looks very suburban, but still the same old greasy pizza!
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basset said on August 17, 2020 at 9:43 am
I wasn’t much of a bar guy at IU, mainly because I was broke most of the time; some of my dorm years were in a “co-op” unit where we got a break on the fees in return for cleaning the public areas and working in the kitchen. My brother worked at Nick’s in the 90s and early 00s, he said the smoke and breaking up frat boy fights did get old.
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basset said on August 17, 2020 at 9:55 am
Hadn’t heard about the international center. In the course of googling it I ran across IU’s capital improvements pages… they’re spending $99 million to build an extension on McNutt?
https://cpf.iu.edu/capital-projects/projects/student-residence-new/north-housing-addition.html
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Icarus said on August 17, 2020 at 10:17 am
I didn’t get to enjoy the bar scene in Kirksville, MO. By junior year my mom was broke and rather than sign forms to get financial aide, she felt it best my college be put on hold. it was the beginning of the end of our relationship.
We had been ordering takeout or delivery about once a week since March to help support local business and give ourselves a break since we have to come up with more meals with the kids out of school. I’m sure those of you who have had children know how picky eaters they can be. I tried only feeding them every other day but my wife frowns on this strategy.
We did go to Old Irving Brewer a couple weeks ago on the way back from getting my knee looked at. Had the shawarma burger which was phenomenal. Staff wore masks, we didn’t have to at our table. Seating was spaced out and I believe they cleaned the tables well.
On Friday we ordered from Las Tablas. Nightingale loves the Steak and Octopus combo, so we got two of those. More than we should be spending right now but still a good price for what you get.
I wear a mask when I go to the store or pickup food. I do not wear one when I am outside running because I figure even my slow self still passes people quickly enough. Perhaps I’m not taking this as seriously as I could, but I also don’t interact with anyone besides my family.
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Suzanne said on August 17, 2020 at 10:34 am
If memory serves me correctly, an Iranian tried to date me at IU even though I was engaged at the time. He may have even asked me to marry him. I had trouble several times by being extra nice to international students because they seemed lonely and then they wanted to marry me.
I didn’t hit the bars much either in college at old IU because I was pretty much paying for it myself and just didn’t have the money. I did hit Nick’s a few times and still like Mother Bears.
They recently relocated the IU Carillon (https://www.idsnews.com/article/2020/01/iu-grand-carillon-rings-for-the-first-time-as-part-of-bicentennial-celebrations) and I saw in yesterday’s paper that President McRobbie has announced his retirement next year. So changes are underway. The restrictions on international students has to have had a negative effect. They rely on them and out of state students to make up the shortfall from the state legislature being more and more stingy.
It’s IU’s bicentennial this year. Heck of a year for that!!
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LAMary said on August 17, 2020 at 10:37 am
Inevitably, if I go to my mailbox, which is about ten feet from my front door and I’m not wearing a mask, someone shows up and gives me the stinkeye. Hey,I’m not even completely outside of my front gate. Just move a few feet away, people.
I’t stinking hot here. 100 plus for the past few days. Today we may only make it to 98. My little home office has a window air conditioner, so there’s that. My day today will be creating postings for covid related jobs in LA county. This means reading county job descriptions. I was doing this on Friday afternoon and I was losing the will to live after about two hours.
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Joe Kobiela said on August 17, 2020 at 10:45 am
Ride the airlines at least once a week, staying in hotels 16 days a month, flying 4-6 legs in the king air every day, eating in restaurants, using public bathrooms, lifting at the ymca no mask, running every day no mask, mask on to go into restaurants comes off when we sit down, no mask in cockpit have it on to greet passengers most passengers take theirs off while flying if they have one on at all. Refusing to live my life in fear, I don’t know anyone who has had it, or know anyone who knows anyone who has had it. Be glad to see this go away on November 4th no matter who is elected.
Pilot Joe
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 10:47 am
It was 130 degrees in Death Valley yesterday, glad I’m not there now. High of 80 expected today in Santa Fe and 50% chance of rain this afternoon, fingers crossed.
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Jeff Borden said on August 17, 2020 at 10:51 am
Well, goodie goodie goodie for you, Pilot Joe.
I don’t live my life in fear. I live my life to protect my wife, who has chronic lung issues. It’s called being a responsible adult.
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Heather said on August 17, 2020 at 10:55 am
Yeah, it’s not like people who are asymptomatic and refuse to wear masks are some of the biggest spreaders and part of the reason we are going to be dealing with this crap for months/years! Oh wait, yeah it is.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-asymptomatic-presymptomatic-silent-spreaders/
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alex said on August 17, 2020 at 10:56 am
Joe I’ll be glad to see you go away because you’re an asshat to beat all asshats.
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Jakash said on August 17, 2020 at 11:10 am
I’ve done a lot of selfish, irresponsible things in my life and gotten away with them, too, PJ. Congratulations on both your good fortune and on always managing to live up to your image around here.
On to something more pleasant — a guy started a thread of people posting photos of their favorite Post Offices:
https://twitter.com/bgoldst/status/1294636465025146880
Gonna go out on a limb and guess that this might be one of Deborah’s choices:
https://twitter.com/LEEBEY/status/1294820833030963202
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susan said on August 17, 2020 at 11:15 am
I think he’s a cock-hat.
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Mark P said on August 17, 2020 at 11:28 am
Living my life in fear. That’s why I wear a seatbelt, have insurance on my house and get a colonoscopy when the doc says to.
I wonder if PJ does a preflight. It must be terrible to live in fear that something will go wrong with your airplane. Sad!
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Jeff Borden said on August 17, 2020 at 11:57 am
Perhaps I’ve been living life wrong. Starting today, I’m going to ignore all traffic signals because I’m a ‘Murican and my freedom will not be curtailed by some governmental stoplight infringing on my rights. Government bureaucrats also put up them speed limit signs, so fuck them, too. My freedom gives me the right to go however fast I want and I want to go fast ’cause I’m a ‘Murican. No more fear for me! Just sweet, sweet anarchic freedom, baby.
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Suzanne said on August 17, 2020 at 11:59 am
Joe, I attend a church of about 600 members. Two of our families have tested positive for COVID, people in their 30s and 40s with kids who had it as well.
At my job, we discovered today that clients, a couple in their 80s both have it and are hospitalized.
Not fear, caution. Caution like you use to make sure the tank is full on the plane your about to fly before you take off. Or maybe you don’t do that…
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nancy said on August 17, 2020 at 12:04 pm
The worst thing about Joe’s comment is, I’ve read it before. About 5,000 times before, because it appears to be the boilerplate for anti-mask/anti-lockdown wingnuts: I do all these things, I’m fine, everyone I know is fine, but hey — “live your life in fear if you want. I just don’t.”
Do they pass out a script? Insert relevant details from one’s own life, but include these talking points. No. 1: I will not live in fear. Knowing their propaganda empire, I wouldn’t be surprised.
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nancy said on August 17, 2020 at 12:46 pm
I should also add that not only do I know people who have had this illness and/or tested positive for it, I’m currently not seeing some good friends who just learned their teenage daughter spent some significant time in close proximity to a positive tester.
And to me, the scariest thing about this is the insane range of reactions to the virus. Many test positive and feel nothing. Some have symptoms, but mild ones. Some get sick and recover completely. Some get sick and mostly recover except for a lingering set of symptoms that don’t go away — rapid heartbeat and other cardiovascular problems are the ones I hear about most often. It’s the not knowing what this illness will do to me, in the short and long term, that keeps me careful. Do I want to have a resting heartbeat over 100 for, say, the rest of my life? Nope.
So hey! I guess I do live in fear! It’s the smart emotion to have, if you ask me.
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Sherri said on August 17, 2020 at 1:00 pm
Didn’t I tell y’all about the secret meeting I was in back in February to come up with a plan to destroy the economy and make Trump look bad? A pandemic had already been decided on, and we were deciding which suburb of Seattle would kick it off. I thought Redmond had a good chance, but we decided that Microsoft made it too prominent, so we went with Kirkland instead.
Never thought we could pull of 170k dead and still have people see through the hoax, but what can I say.
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David C said on August 17, 2020 at 1:03 pm
It seems to be a general rule of life, or at least virus life, is that anyone who publicly downplays the virus soon gets it. You’re an annoying pain in the ass Joe, but when (if) it’s your turn I hope it’s only a mild case.
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Jakash said on August 17, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Thanks for taking out my repeated comment, NN. 🙂
Way back in February, some people with sense realized “Hey, if we do everything right: close schools, lock down, wear masks, etc., maybe we could have so few cases that people will say ‘Aw, it was no big deal — what a waste to have done all this stuff.'” Instead, our Maximum Leader told us it will just go away soon like a miracle and that it’s no worse than the flu, and PJ and folks like him thought that sounded good. Many states responded much more appropriately, though, and many, many lives have been saved by lots of citizens taking this seriously and actually trying to follow the protocols.
Now, 6 months later, millions have not died (so far) as they might have if everybody behaved like Cult 45 members. However, almost 170,000 folks have died in this country — yet, ridiculously and disgustingly, “Real Americans” *still* try to claim that it’s no big deal. There’s no getting through to them, as PJ makes clear over and over again.
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Colleen said on August 17, 2020 at 1:30 pm
I don’t think it’s fear, I think it’s caution. I wear my seat belt, use my turn signal and lock my front door at night. Am I afraid of midnight marauders? Not really. But locking the front door is a simple step I can take. Like wearing a mask.
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ROGirl said on August 17, 2020 at 1:50 pm
I’ve been in 2 car accidents caused by another driver. In one of them the guy drove through a red light at full speed, didn’t even slow down. My car hit his. If he had hit me, I might not be here today. To this day, when I see a car approaching from the side, I take my foot off the gas and slow down until I know another asshole isn’t going to blow through an intersection.
I never knew that kind of fear until it happened to me. Oh, the seat belt held me in the seat and the airbag saved me from smashing my face into the steering wheel.
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Sherri said on August 17, 2020 at 1:52 pm
Meanwhile, get ready for the next “miracle cure”, being promoted to Trump by the My Pillow guy: oleandrin! Yes, the incredibly toxic extract of the oleander plant.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 1:53 pm
You all have said it much better than I could.
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Julie Robinson said on August 17, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Well, I do know someone who died from Covid, and just heard that a friend’s daughter-in-law has it. She was going to get on a plane for work travel and had a headache and stuffy nose, but no fever or other symptoms. She decided to postpone the trip to get a test, and was quite surprised that her “allergies” were Covid. It seems a mild case but she’s still miserable and having a slow recovery. She has never run a temperature.
Why did she postpone her trip? When she called her mom and told her how she was feeling, mom said do not get on that plane. Listen to your collective mom, Joe!
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beb said on August 17, 2020 at 2:05 pm
Just a note to say that the song Nancy references in the title of today’s post is the most obnoxious song I ever heard.
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Jim said on August 17, 2020 at 2:24 pm
beb: bold statement!
To cleanse your head, listen to what I listened to last night:
Ball of Confusion
Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone
Tell Me Somethin’ Good (now that is a talking guitar!)
and a bunch of Fanny.
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Connie said on August 17, 2020 at 2:39 pm
Papa was a rollin stone is my birthday song. First line!
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Suzanne said on August 17, 2020 at 2:52 pm
Not only old folks get really sick, either.
https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/mother-of-iu-football-player-tells-harrowing-story-of-her-sons-battle-with-covid-19/
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Scout said on August 17, 2020 at 3:37 pm
Everyone else has covered the cut n’ paste king’s latest nonsense quite ably, but what stood out for me is that he thinks CV will go away after the election. The implication being that it really IS a hoax manufactured to harm dear leader?
Robert Trump died this weekend, after having been hospitalized since June with an unspecified ‘serious condition’. I’m guessing we’re all thinking the same thing… Anyway, Donald commemorated his brother’s passing by golfing and shit tweeting about Kamala Harris. I guess the only death for which he’d miss tee time is his own. The trending twitter tag this weekend was #WrongTrump.
This is a good piece by Josh Marshall about the USPS phuckery.
“This is a case where a sitting President has not only sought to subvert a national election but sabotage a core government service on which hundred of millions of Americans rely – all for the purpose of corruptly maintaining power.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/make-him-own-it
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Colleen said on August 17, 2020 at 5:15 pm
Oh, and I know two people who have lost parents to Covid. How do you get 170 thousand people to agree to die for a hoax?
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Jeff Borden said on August 17, 2020 at 5:41 pm
The University of North Carolina is moving all classes online just one week after opening. Too many Covid-45 cases. This is likely to keep happening every fucking week.
This is what an absolute lack of national leadership has wrought. Just think of the months wasted because of a depraved and mentally ill president and a political party consisting of sycophantic weasels.
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Dorothy said on August 17, 2020 at 5:43 pm
Well I guess Joe ignores my posts just like I try to ignore his (I scrolled past his @34, but then I saw other people jump on him for what he posted, and I had to read it). I guess he didn’t see me share that my son had Covid. Maybe I don’t count because PJ doesn’t actually ‘know’ me. I have two colleagues at work who lost a father and a grandfather to Covid. I watch the news regularly and see countless reports about people who had it, died from it, recovered but have so many continuing health issues, health care workers telling their awful stories about treating people with it. But if the criteria is “I have to know someone who has it” so as to start acting responsibility, then we all know PJ will never act responsibly. Assholes are gonna asshole.
I didn’t see this new post until today so I missed my chance to chime in yesterday to share that we ate breakfast at a restaurant that morning. We got to First Watch at 7:07, hardly anyone was there, and we kept masks on unless we were drinking or eating. Service was very fast and we were out of there in 35 minutes. It was the first meal we ate out since March 13. It felt surreal and the Eggs Benedict Florentine almost made me cry, they were so good. And we are going on a road trip over a weekend in September when there’s a baby shower for my niece who is having twin girls, due in December. The shower is outdoors, we’ll be wearing masks even outside, on the road we’ll eat meals in the car only, I won’t go to my sister’s house but will see her at the shower, and I expect we’ll have a marvelous time albeit a little nerve wracking to drive 5.5 hours to get a much needed ‘fix’ to see some family. It’s not that I’m not afraid of the virus – you’d have to be a fool not to be – but I am not overly worried about it. I am philosophical and cautious and careful. The overwhelming feeling I have every f’ing day is how badly I want to thrash that perverted, demented guy who is playing at being President, who’s careless with the citizens’ lives in this country, and has not a single redeeming quality other than he’s a child of God. And even that is up for discussion.
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Dave said on August 17, 2020 at 5:43 pm
We learned over the weekend that the granddaughter of our next door neighbors in Florida had Covid. She’s 21 and was ill for about eight weeks. She’s doing better now but we were told she had a very bad two weeks. Luckily, she had her parents and grandparents nearby to help her and bring her supplies during that time.
We’ve mostly been in Virginia this summer, there’s no mask issues here. Every store we have been in has signs prominently displayed requiring masks and we’ve been in mostly Wegman’s grocery, Target a couple of times, and a couple of other places. We’ve seen no issues or altercations.
Amen, Dorothy, right above. We ate breakfast in a mostly empty restaurant last week, it was so good but I wonder how they are staying in business. It’s a chain and they’ve closed the other local location, probably never to return.
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Julie Robinson said on August 17, 2020 at 5:43 pm
The mask under the nose is my latest subject of ire. A friend, or soon to be former friend, just posted pictures of the fun day their family had at the zoo. In every picture her husband has his mask under his nose. My 88 yo mom would so love to go to the zoo. She would so love to go anywhere. I can’t take her to the zoo because of jackasses like him, and like PJ. I’m feeling a lot of rage right now.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 5:44 pm
Not to mention all the Drs and coroner’s Office would’ve had to go along with the hoax. And don’t forget the other countries all over the world. Everyone conspired against Trump apparently.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 5:49 pm
They call those under the nose wearing masks “dick masks” around here.
I ordered a really cool new garden hose that expands and contracts and it’s super light weight. It came today so that insured it would rain today, and it did. I will have to wait until tomorrow morning to try out the hose, but I’m not complaining because we need rain badly. Our old hoses were the pits, kinks everywhere and clunky as hell.
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Scout said on August 17, 2020 at 6:11 pm
Deborah, if you could find a link to share for that hose, I’d appreciate it!
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Little Bird said on August 17, 2020 at 6:15 pm
Does Joe know that wearing a mask isn’t to keep the wearer safe, but to protect the people around them? I don’t wear my mask for myself, I wear it for everyone else around me. I go to shops, right now I’m staying in another family’s home (pet sitting). When I’m around people that I don’t live with, I wear a mask.
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Sherri said on August 17, 2020 at 6:48 pm
So, UNC tried to have in person classes, brought everybody back, and within a week, discovered, who could have guessed, that bringing a bunch of people into close quarters sparked a coronavirus event. So now, they’re going online, and presumably, some of those exposed students will be returning back to their home communities for the semester. Wheee!
I would be delighted if this all went away on November 4. I would be even happier if we didn’t have more than 200k dead by then, but I don’t think either is likely.
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Deggjr said on August 17, 2020 at 6:58 pm
One standard scripted Coronavirus line is: “If I get it I get it.”
Not said: “If I get it I’ll pass it on to other people. And they will pass it on to other people. And they will pass it on to other people. And so on and so on.” Not said because the speaker doesn’t comprehend how pandemics spread.
Also not said: “Sooner or later someone who I care about it will get it and die.” It’s not said because the only person the speaker cares about is the speaker.
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David C said on August 17, 2020 at 7:10 pm
Our local schools were supposed to have full days for K-6 and half in person for 7-12. The parents went nuts so they’re reevaluating. How many examples do the need that it isn’t going to work? UW Oshkosh, last I heard was going to have students back half time, but how does that work with dorms. It’s all crazy.
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Joe Kobiela said on August 17, 2020 at 7:22 pm
Dorthy,
I read your post and I’m glad your son is feeling better and on the road to recovery. Did you say that your daughter in law was also tested and the nurse guaranteed she had the virus? I may be wrong but didn’t she thankfully test negative?
J.B stop signs, stop lights and speed limits are laws if I remember correctly but I can’t find any law that says I have to wear a mask. Please let me know if I’m wrong.
Pilot Joe
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 7:32 pm
Nancy, whoops, can you delete my link #71. It gives some personal info I didn’t think would show up. Can you do it soon? Delete the whole comment please, and sorry about that.
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Julie Robinson said on August 17, 2020 at 8:03 pm
Deborah, when I clicked the link to look at the hose, it didn’t have your info, it showed my own account, so I think you’re fine. I will be interested in a review, though, because every fancy hose we’ve bought has been a disappointment.
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Mark P said on August 17, 2020 at 8:14 pm
No law, at least not in this benighted country. It’s just a matter of being a decent person. That is apparently asking too much for some people.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 8:15 pm
Julie, when I asked LB to click on it it had my Address info on her phone, but it also said She had to sign in so maybe it’s ok. I hope so.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 8:17 pm
So I used the hose and it’s a little complicated, seemed simple but when I tried to wind it up it got weird because it was still full of water. I have to figure out how to drain the water all out, not ready to recommend it to anyone yet.
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Dave said on August 17, 2020 at 8:24 pm
Likewise, Deborah, only my personal information came up.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 8:50 pm
Is anyone else going to be watching the Dem Convention tonight? I’ll be live streaming it on my iPad. I like that it’s on from 7-9pm here in mountain daylight time.
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Tajalli said on August 17, 2020 at 9:07 pm
Mark P @75: Municipal ordinances are laws passed by a local municipality – city, county etc within a state. My county in the SF Bay Area has now put into law that a person not wearing a mask in public is to be fined $100 for the first infraction (no warnings anymore) with escalating costs into the stratosphere for subsequent infractions. This was enacted to manage all the non-mask wearing and non-social distancing behaviors that have resulted in a huge uptick confirmed COVID cases county-wide.
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David C said on August 17, 2020 at 9:09 pm
Law or not Joe, your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose. Nobody knows if they’re spreading this virus. For you to gamble with someone else’s health and life isn’t liberty, it’s license. Sometimes you have to think of something other than your own narrow interests.
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Mark P said on August 17, 2020 at 9:16 pm
Takalli — Indeed. A local ordinance is a law. Unfortunately in my own neck of this benighted land, the governor has finally, generously allowed local governments to require masks only in public buildings, not private businesses. So people who do not give a fig (or any other foodstuff whether entering or exiting) for their neighbors can still refuse to wear a mask in many of the places where they are most needed.
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Sherri said on August 17, 2020 at 9:38 pm
A mandate or order issued by the governor during an emergency, such as the public health emergency that COVID represents, has the force of law. It doesn’t have to be a law passed by a legislature. It doesn’t have to be an ordinance passed by a city council. A mayor can issue an order for a city in such a situation.
When a curfew is issued, that’s not a “law”, either, it’s an order issued by an executive. Do you think that means that if it’s not a law, you can ignore it?
(Why are conservatives so ignorant about how government actually works?)
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alex said on August 17, 2020 at 9:42 pm
Pilot Joe only comes into this room to fart. Good luck convincing him that he has an obligation to protect the air that others breathe.
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Joe Kobiela said on August 17, 2020 at 10:00 pm
To quote Monty Python,
Only in your general direction Alex.
Pilot Joe
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Sherri said on August 17, 2020 at 10:05 pm
It’s interesting, though not surprising, to contrast the different attitude towards philanthropy exhibited by Zuckerberg and by Mackenzie Scott (formerly Mackenzie Bezos).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/08/16/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-black-employees/
https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d
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Julie Robinson said on August 17, 2020 at 10:05 pm
Get ready for some vomitous commercials:
“LINCOLN CITY, Ind. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced trip back to Indiana to go to the site of Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home.
The former Indiana governor flew into Evansville Regional Airport at midmorning Monday and then traveled by motorcade to the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in nearby Spencer County.
The memorial, which is operated by the National Parks Service, announced it would be partially closed to the public Monday “to provide security and ensure public safety during a filming event.”
Pence waved at a group of about three dozen supporters who gathered near the Evansville airport as his motorcade headed out.”
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jcburns said on August 17, 2020 at 10:06 pm
Joe, do you get that the masks lessen the spread of aerosol virus crap both incoming and outgoing? You get that science, right? Your choice to wear one helps others and yourself. Win-win. Do you disagree?
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Bitter Scribe said on August 17, 2020 at 10:29 pm
COVID-19 deaths yesterday:
France: 18
Australia: 14
Spain: 12
UK: 11
Japan: 10
Germany: 8
Canada: 5
USA: 1,120
Remember when those kind of statistics were reserved for gunshot deaths?
And it’s mostly because we have to live in a country with people like Joe.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 11:21 pm
JC, can you delete my comment #71? It may be revealing some private info, that I didn’t realize, in my link. Sorry to be a pain.
I watched the first night of the convention, it was a little weird but not that weird. Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama speeches made it worthwhile.
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Deborah said on August 17, 2020 at 11:56 pm
There’s something I don’t understand, about Democrats video and advertising production, with much of Hollywood being as progressive politically as it is, why can’t the Dems get some production excellence from them. There were some that were ok tonight but none were great. Did we discuss this here before?
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Dorothy said on August 18, 2020 at 4:29 am
I recorded the convention because I was too sleepy to stay awake that late. But I’ve been awake for a little over two hours right now, so I put on the convention, fast forwarded to hear Gov. Cuomo and Michelle Obama. It actually went a little over two hours! I barely got the last bit of Michelle’s wonderful speech. If you say Bernie Sanders was good, Deborah, I’ll take your word for it. I can’t really listen to him talk. He looks and sounds a little too mad professor for my tastes.
I have so damn much work to do at my office; yesterday was crazy busy and today will be it’s twin. And now I have to face the day on just 4 hours of sleep. I’d love to try to go back to sleep, but I have a 9 AM meeting with my boss and the other secretaries in the office. We have to have a conversation about how to handle the responsibilities of a secretary who gave her notice 10 days ago. We all work so cohesively with each other, but we don’t know the intricacies of each of each others’ jobs. On top of the usual extremely busy start to a semester, we’re dealing with the fallout of having been furloughed over the summer. Work we would have normally done then was postponed; we’re scrambling to get up to speed, and on top of all that we have to put up signage in 20+ practice spaces, get hand sanitizer in each location, deal with evolving classroom assignments, etc. etc. Is it any wonder I could not get back to sleep at 2:15?
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ROGirl said on August 18, 2020 at 4:37 am
Not a law, but an executive order in Michigan.
https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MIEOG/2020/07/17/file_attachments/1498115/EO%202020-153%20Emerg%20order%20-%20Masks%20-%20re-issue.pdf
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Deborah said on August 18, 2020 at 7:39 am
Thanks Nancy, or JC.
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Deborah said on August 18, 2020 at 8:27 am
If you liked the “vote” necklace that Michelle Obama wore you can purchase it here https://bychari.com/products/the-original-spaced-letter-necklace-vote
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 18, 2020 at 8:32 am
Loved the Springsteen music video. It was getting lots of chatter on social media until someone showed up at the end and wiped the board clean with her closing address.
I was fascinated to find I missed applause, just as a mental break as well as a pause between speakers. Almost the same for ads; I think the comparison (made by some on social media) to a telethon is not quite apt, but that feeling did come with the ad-less trot from one segment to the next.
Wondering if they will have early each night a signature tune, used for a running message element, as they did with “The Rising” last night?
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Icarus said on August 18, 2020 at 8:36 am
Twitter does not disappoint
https://twitter.com/abbycohenwl/status/1295558649566253056?s=21
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 18, 2020 at 9:45 am
Trump pardoning Susan B. Anthony the morning after Michelle Obama’s speech at the #DNC is genius level trolling.
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alex said on August 18, 2020 at 10:28 am
Wonder which evil genius gave him the idea. I doubt he even knows who Susan B. Anthony was. And she committed voter fraud besides.
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Suzanne said on August 18, 2020 at 10:35 am
How long until Trump claims that nobody knew about Susan B Anthony until now and that she “is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.”
Just like Frederick Douglass.
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LAMary said on August 18, 2020 at 10:44 am
Trash Limbaugh and Ghouliani accused Kamala Harris of being a sex worker and dope smoker(while prosecuting dope smokers) respectively. Nothing sexist or racist about those statements. She’s got some nerve being female and black. I think the ugliness is going to continue and grow for the next two and a half months.
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4dbirds said on August 18, 2020 at 10:57 am
Dave, I too live in Virginia, Northern Virginia and people wear masks here. It is so refreshing to have considerate people in our area.
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Mark P said on August 18, 2020 at 11:22 am
Yes, the weeks leading up to the election will be full of ugliness, and even if sanity prevails, the ugliness will continue until the inauguration. And then, since ugliness is the new white, it will continue on and on.
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4dbirds said on August 18, 2020 at 11:32 am
Sort of not being able to take my sight off of a horrible car wreak is watching JTFP devolve before our eyes.
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susan said on August 18, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Deborah @94, I just got a “VOTE” mask, that supports Stacey Abrams’ fair fight for voters’ rights..
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susan said on August 18, 2020 at 12:04 pm
ƒü¢k!ñ§ Trump “pardoned” Susan B. Anthony??? Really?
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4dbirds said on August 18, 2020 at 12:17 pm
susan @105 What? She wasn’t hot and I bet she didn’t shave her underarms. Nasty.
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Colleen said on August 18, 2020 at 12:42 pm
Even worse….sources indicate she was…..(stage whisper) GAY.
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James said on August 18, 2020 at 1:35 pm
https://twitter.com/KeinanAlejo/status/1295416825996435456
Reminder :
@TulsiGabbard
was 1 of 7 candidates that earned delegates during the Presidential primary. It has been a tradition that spanned decades for any candidate who earned a delegate to be offered a speaking slot at the convention.
Tulsi was not invited.
https://twitter.com/davidsitrick/status/1293558846041055232
Nobody should be allowed to talk about excitement for Kamala Harris and not mention she got less delegates this primary cycle than Tulsi
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jcburns said on August 18, 2020 at 5:13 pm
FEWER delegates, not ‘less’ delegates. But, uh, who cares? Kamala Harris is the VP pick. Tulsi Gabbard is someone who lost her primary challenge.
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Deborah said on August 18, 2020 at 1:46 pm
Who fricking cares about Tulsi?
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Jim said on August 18, 2020 at 1:51 pm
I certainly don’t care about Tulsi, and I don’t care about candidates who only get a tiny fraction of the delegates.
And I am NOT James.
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James said on August 18, 2020 at 1:57 pm
People who care about peace.
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jcburns said on August 18, 2020 at 5:20 pm
Take this in, James: Kamala Harris cares about peace. She’s pro-peace. She’s pro-choice. She’s pro-human. Joe Biden? What a coincidence. ALSO cares about peace. Is also pro-choice. Also pro-human.
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James said on August 18, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Jim, yes, Tulsi got two delegates. But Kamala got NONE.
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Sherri said on August 18, 2020 at 2:07 pm
Look, y’all, we got our very own little Russian bot!
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Sherri said on August 18, 2020 at 2:10 pm
Yep, in-person school in areas of high community spread is just fine.
https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1295462052757221378
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Jakash said on August 18, 2020 at 2:35 pm
Hey, James, I’ve got a few Tweets for you, from somebody with more than 244 followers, too!
“we have a choice between an imperfect candidate who definitely wasn’t my first choice, or a full descent into fascism”
“Removing Trump from office is an existential necessity for this country, and if you don’t see that, you’re just jerking off and please go do that in private.”
https://twitter.com/tomtomorrow/status/1295566806292271104
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Jim said on August 18, 2020 at 3:27 pm
James: yes, 2 > 0. As a math prof, I know that.
I wonder which of them has more votes in a Senate race?
Also, K leads T in VP nominations 1-0.
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Scout said on August 18, 2020 at 4:03 pm
I’m not the boss around here, but… Fukkk off, James. The position of troll is already filled at this watering hole. You’re redundant and much less charming.
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Deborah said on August 18, 2020 at 5:44 pm
What a stellar lineup https://mobile.twitter.com/DrRJKavanagh/status/1295575747382435840 probably Diamond and Silk, Ted Nugent (if he’s still alive) and Scott Baio.
Meanwhile I was shocked at how old Steven Stills looked last night. Reminded me of my high school days in Miami when a sister of my good friend was a Stills groupie. She had taken some of his expensive wool paisley shirts to the cleaners for him and he left town for Ibezia leaving them at the cleaners. She was trying to sell them to pay for the cleaning. She offered some to me for $20 each. I didn’t have the money but I could kick myself now for not trying to scrape some money together to buy one.
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Mark P said on August 18, 2020 at 6:28 pm
Sherri — James’s English is quite good, considering. I wonder if the Russians have the same excellent spoken English today as they did back in the good old days.
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susan said on August 18, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Stills looks pretty damned good for 75. But I guess if you hadn’t seen him for 50 years or so, well, time does its revisions.
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LAMary said on August 18, 2020 at 7:07 pm
Being less charming than PJ is quite an accomplishment. The spelling and puncuation is better. I’ll give him that. It’s a low bar.
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LAMary said on August 18, 2020 at 7:34 pm
Recalling my old NYC food broker days, I’d say that the Russians in Brighton Beach do not have perfect English. Nor do the Poles in Greenpoint. Those were not usually my accounts but if the other salesperson was on vacation I would head into those neighborhoods. One time a butcher asked me to come into the back room to inventory the pickles. I followed him back there and he got handsy real fast. I smacked him and word got back to the office before I got back to the office that I was not welcome there. Same thing happened at a German butcher store in Yorkville. It’s a butcher thing, I hear.
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Julie Robinson said on August 18, 2020 at 7:41 pm
Moving on: we finally got to talk with my mom’s sister in Cedar Rapids today. They got their power back but two of their kids are still out eight days later. Everyone has a story to tell, of trees down, homes or cars wrecked, and it’s taking a long time to get help. My aunt had a mastectomy with some complications, so in the middle of all this she has daily wound care at a hospital that’s 45 minutes(!) away. They hadn’t called back because they don’t know how to get their messages on the cell phone.
Secondly, we got brave and went into a restaurant for our anniversary dinner. We decided to go early and see how busy it was, then either stay or get takeout. We ended up being the only ones in our section for most of time we were there, and it did make it feel more special than just carrying out. Everyone was wearing masks over both mouth and nose.
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beb said on August 18, 2020 at 8:11 pm
LAMary, in hindsight, ‘inventorying the pickles in the backroom’ should have been a giveaway right there.
I never listen to speeches they are always too long, I tend to lose interest between words.
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LAMary said on August 18, 2020 at 8:14 pm
I know, beb. Stupid, but not an unlikely request. I think the German guy wanted me to check the spaetzle.
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Dorothy said on August 18, 2020 at 8:15 pm
Happy anniversary Julie and Dennis! My niece is 20 today. Roberto Clemente WOULD have been 86 today. It’s 13 days until my birthday and I THINK it’s 11 days until Jeff (tmmo)’s birthday. I made the mistake of thinking this out loud yesterday: if I get Covid, a really nasty case of it, this might be my last birthday! Now I can’t stop thinking that. Dammit anyway.
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alex said on August 18, 2020 at 8:27 pm
Come to think of it, Tulsi was a troll. A DINO who went on FOX to savage fellow Democrats like the cheap whore that she was. Amazing she has any admirers and even more amazing any would pop up here. Guessing “James” is either that gin-blossomed libertarian plaintiff’s attorney in the old Plymouth Neon or that bi-curious evangelical from San Diego by way of Baltimore.
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LAMary said on August 18, 2020 at 9:08 pm
NPR said Bob Woodward is 59 today. That would mean that in 1972, when he and Bernstein got famous, he was 11.
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Julie Robinson said on August 18, 2020 at 9:23 pm
I heard that one too, Mary! And someone else here was married the same day and year, was it you, beb? Or basset?
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Suzanne said on August 18, 2020 at 9:23 pm
My husband discovered the insanity of QAnon today by reading this article. He’s still in shock. He had no idea.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/
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Mark P said on August 18, 2020 at 9:51 pm
The Russians with good English were the government types. Some of them had spoken English that was indistinguishable from a native speaker. But, a discriminant here is that they were also smart.
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Dexter Friend said on August 19, 2020 at 3:48 am
A regular caller to a radio show I listen to everyday (XM 103) called Tuesday to check in. He’s “Frank from The Bronx.” He had a bad case, many days hospitalized on a ventilator, recovered finally, now disabled due to recurring blood clots in both legs, a new one for me, as I have read and heard of many heart issues post-Covid negative testing, but not blood clots, one after the other.
I gassed the car for the trip to the Toledo VA for my eye exam and for the first time forgot my mask. I was ashamed. My hip was killing me, not from my arthritic hip joint, but a fucking tick attached to my backside and got in there. It fell off in the shower, then blood ran steadily down my leg for 40 minutes. I calmly called nurses and doctors until I could get an antibiotic dose to prevent Lyme Disease. I never knew a tick bite to bleed so much…At least ten thick paper towels soaked all the way until finally coagulation took over. Now I gotta watch for bull’s eye bruising circles, the tell-tale sign of Lyme’s. The doc said the one-dose double-strength doxycycline should prevent the Lyme’s however. The VA is still only doing telehealth . I’ll need labs before my November appointment, so I asked the RN of my “team” how do I do that … she said no labs unless the doctor REALLY thinks a patient needs it. That seems fucked…they used to check me every 3 months, then 6 months, then yearly…and now not at all. It’s Covid 19, yeah, but …oh well…under Obama’s watch this never happened…they found ways to get shit done.
And…Carla Lee’s days of rehab are running out, she just had another spacer inserted a week ago and eventually will get her new (another ) knee, and she still needs weeks of rehab and care. Our old 1920 house is not handicapped accessible at all, so for at least several weeks she will be taken care of by our youngest daughter way down south of Columbus. It’s a long way back to health yet, but she and I know there are many many worse off. People are living in tents in Iowa and will be for weeks due to derecho damage.
Restaurants? Never, since March. I try to clean and do laundry, care for the pets, cook twice a day, keep up with car repairs and lawn care, make sure the bills are paid. Then maybe watch a couple innings of baseball and a Prime binge show. And that’s what I call…ballin’ the jack.
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basset said on August 19, 2020 at 6:03 am
“check the spaetzle”… I think we have a new euphemism.
April 4 for us, Julie.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 19, 2020 at 7:29 am
The political conventions were heading for changes at some point, and I think much of what we’re seeing this year will stick. I’m old enough to miss, just a little, the intervals of applause and bands playing “Happy Days are Here Again” when Walter up in the booth asks Dan a question down on the delegate floor, but not that much.
My general church body just announced that next summer’s assembly in Louisville is cancelled, and that’s another every other year big “people in a hall” event that’s been cruising for demolition for a while, too — harder for the parent org to make back the investment, fewer who want to go, and it’s not like the “votes” on the floor mean anything anymore. Those days are gone; virtual is in some ways more personal and immediate than the mass event carefully stage managed can be.
If you haven’t seen “State of the Union” (1948) with Tracy & Hepburn, you’ve missed out on a good piece of cheese, with some fun political background (as implausible as “Dave” in some ways, but hey), and Angela Lansbury playing a wonderfully evil character that set her up, casting-wise, for “The Manchurian Candidate” some years later. If you only know Disney & “Murder, She Wrote” it’s a whole ‘nother Angela.
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Heather said on August 19, 2020 at 9:45 am
Judging from the reaction on Twitter, the state roll call last night was a big hit–many saying we should keep the virtual format permanently. I agree–I loved seeing the backdrops, in many cases the cultural dress (NM, the Northern Marianas), and in the case of Rhode Island, the food! (I think they should add a requirement for every state to feature a regional dish.) It was much more effective and touching than the usual blowhard speeches in the arenas.
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Jeff Borden said on August 19, 2020 at 10:24 am
The findings of the Republican-led Senate committee yesterday underscored how strongly tRumpy the Klown is tied to Vladimir Putin and Russia. Paul Manafort and Roger Stone are revealed as absolute traitors, working hand-in-hand with Russian troll farms and Wikileaks. Both should be guests at Leavenworth for a very long time, though justice for rightwing shitstains seems unlikely these days.
I’ll say this again. Fuck this kumbaya baloney if Biden/Harris wins. I want full-scale investigations into all the parties who have worked so diligently on behalf of Moscow to undermine our democracy. Two of the biggest mistakes Obama made was not initiating investigations into how our financial system collapsed 2008 and how we were lied and manipulated into an unnecessary war with Iraq in 2003. The Biden administration should learn from those errors.
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Deborah said on August 19, 2020 at 11:43 am
Suzanne, that QAnon piece was creepy. We’re in steep devolution for sure.
I very much enjoyed the state roll call segment of the convention, as you say Heather especially the ones that celebrated their cultures. I was flummoxed when Delaware passed at first but then got it in the end when they wanted to be the ones who ended and declared Biden the winner. I was kind of dreading John Kerry speaking when I heard about it earlier, but it turned out to be pretty good. Jill Biden seems like a decent person, intelligent, hard working etc. One of these days we’re going to have a FGOTUS (G for gentleman of course) although it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like FLOTUS.
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Icarus said on August 19, 2020 at 11:52 am
Two of the biggest mistakes Obama made was not initiating investigations into how our financial system collapsed 2008 and how we were lied and manipulated into an unnecessary war with Iraq in 2003. The Biden administration should learn from those errors.
we have been forgoing proper punishment since the Civil War ended and Grant didn’t punish Lee and company in order to heal the nation. Same with Ford and Nixon. This needs to stop.
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Julie Robinson said on August 19, 2020 at 12:10 pm
Obama wanted to play nice with everyone and naively thought they would play nicely in return. He should have paid attention to the R leaders saying their goal would be to make him a one-term President. There’s no playing nice with people like that.
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Sherri said on August 19, 2020 at 12:36 pm
I met Jill Biden a few years ago when she was the speaker at the big fundraiser luncheon for a local nonprofit. I’m a long time supporter of the nonprofit, and friends with the CEO, who invited me to sit at the head table with her. She was very nice and gracious, and patient with the long line of people who wanted to see her.
I fear that Biden will think his personal relationships with Republicans will allow him to get things done in a bipartisan manner as President. It won’t, and that should be obvious by now, but I suspect he’ll try.
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beb said on August 19, 2020 at 1:03 pm
First headline I see on Google News circle 1 pm “Trump Campaign Bashes DNC…” Second headline is “Hits and Misses from Day 2 DNC” So much for our “Liberal” media. No headlines from the convention only Republican reactions to it.
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beb said on August 19, 2020 at 2:00 pm
Julie, I’m a little unclear what the reference was to, but I was married on August 18th but in 1979 not ’72. It’s a little hard to celebrate 41 years when going out to a nice restaurantis not possible / wide. So we had take out Mexican from out favorite Mexican restaurant topped off by a Costco cake that must have been a 1000 calores per bite. Delicious but my glucose this morning is through the roof.
I understand that Biden wants to reach out to persuadable Republicans this election cycle but still I think a line ought to be drawn whether this is a Democtric convention of a Republican-Lite convention. Kaisch? Colin Powell? These people do not need to take time away from Democratic speakers.
Good speakers feed over of crowd response so I don;t think virtual conventions work well. Also it kind of prevents break-out stars from getting air time and a chance to be noticed.
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Julie Robinson said on August 19, 2020 at 2:22 pm
’79 for us too, beb. ’72 was LAMary’s reference to Watergate.
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basset said on August 19, 2020 at 3:58 pm
Let me ask the group’s advice on something. In the course of de-cluttering, Mrs. B and I have come up with a lot of stuff we need to get rid of. I used to sell on eBay years ago, it seems to be considerably more expensive and complicated now though… much of what we have wouldn’t be appropriate for Etsy, local Craigslist and FB Marketplace haven’t been real effective, and I’m not familiar with the other online auction/sale sites. Anyone have any guidance or warnings for us?
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Jeff Borden said on August 19, 2020 at 5:05 pm
The doppelganger to the DNC next week is shaping up to a real shitshow. Among the “speakers” are the drunken white people who pointed guns at BLM marchers outside their fake palazzo in St. Louis, the little shit who faced off with a Native American elder in D.C. and later successfully sued CNN and the Washington Post, the one parent of a Parkland High School student slain in a massacre who believes we need more guns. . .the whole wide, beautiful rainbow of Americans from very pale to pretty pale to kinda pale.
Fuck Republicans.
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Dorothy said on August 19, 2020 at 5:47 pm
Bassett you didn’t say what the items are. I’m not really familiar with a lot of online second hand sales of things, but like you, we had sold a bunch of stuff on eBay in 2010 after my father-in-law died. When Mike’s aunt had to move into assisted living and we emptied her condo, we donated a lot of stuff and got a tax write off. We took more valuable items home with us in his truck, and there’s a terrific consignment shop in downtown Columbus. I think we sold just about everything there – a large 3 section wall mirror, a Japanese folding room divider that was very pretty, some nice lamps, that kind of thing. So if there is a consignment shop (or more than one) in your city, walk through it and check it out and see if you think your items might be sell-able there. Of course they get a cut of the sale but at least you get some money for your items, and you don’t have to worry about postage, something breaking in the mail, etc.
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basset said on August 19, 2020 at 5:55 pm
Hmmm, didn’t think of consigning them. A lot of different stuff, some nice, some junk, the two pieces within arm’s reach right now are a Dooney & Bourke purse and a Don Larsen autographed baseball.
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Little Bird said on August 19, 2020 at 6:16 pm
Basset, look on Facebook for your local Buy Nothing group (or similar) if you’re okay with giving the items away. There’s probably also a buy, sell, or trade group that’s local to you. I’ve gifted several items within my local group.
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Suzanne said on August 19, 2020 at 7:16 pm
I have sold a few things on Craigs List but I always meet the buyer in a very public place. I find Facebook Marketplace frustrating. I post something and get 5 or 6 messages about buying it and then when I try to pin them down about where to meet, never hear from them again.
Consignment shops are usually good if there is one nearby.
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LAMary said on August 19, 2020 at 8:25 pm
Any of the women in here have big feet? I have a pair of Nikes, women’s size 11. Never worn. I bought them online two years ago. They’re sort of beige with some very pale mauve accents. I refer to my feet as duck feet because they’re narrow in the back and wide in the front. These Nikes don’t fit my duck feet and I completely spaced out sending them back. They were in the box with my home office stuff, which I just unearthed to work at my new job. I will gladly give them to anyone who wants them. Let me know.
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basset said on August 19, 2020 at 10:49 pm
Obama just finished speaking. DAMN, that was strong.
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alex said on August 20, 2020 at 7:28 am
What? Only one post about the speeches last night? They were worth staying up late. Obama definitely knows how to rise to any occasion.
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Deborah said on August 20, 2020 at 7:41 am
I had high hopes for Obama’s speech last night and he came through. I thought Kamala was excellent too. I’m losing track of who spoke which night. It has all been very worthwhile watching.
Is there something wrong with Twitter this morning?
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Suzanne said on August 20, 2020 at 8:08 am
“ When we account for the massive injury Trump has done to this Country it is important to always remember he had help. He couldn’t have done it without his accomplices and enablers.“
Total scorch of several oleaginous cretins.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1296151125754863616.html
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Jim said on August 20, 2020 at 10:10 am
I’d laugh, but I’m too depressed about the US of A: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-build-the-wall-indictment/index.html
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Jeff Borden said on August 20, 2020 at 10:28 am
Well, sure, Kamala Harris and Barack Obama hit ’em outta the park, but don’t you think they’ll be equalled –perhaps even surpassed– by the eloquence of the smug kid from Covington Catholic at the RNC next week?
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Suzanne said on August 20, 2020 at 10:33 am
I don’t know about the Covington Catholic kid, but Diamond & Silk will likely bring me to tears.
And don’t forget Scott Baio. Well, just about everybody else has, but still…
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Julie Robinson said on August 20, 2020 at 10:46 am
Zing, Suzanne.
And in other news, Steve Bannon and three others were indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection to a crowdfunding campaign to build a border wall. Remember that one?
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Jakash said on August 20, 2020 at 11:02 am
Suzanne,
Since you put the link up yesterday I decided to read the Atlantic piece about QAnon. I’d purposely avoided paying any attention to it before then. That’s some crazy shit. Though if one can find a way to still support this traitorous charlatan, they’ll believe anything, I suppose. My favorite understated excerpt was this: “In Toledo, I asked Shock if she had any theories about Q’s identity. She answered immediately: ‘I think it’s Trump.’ I asked if she thinks Trump even knows how to use 4chan.”
Your link @ 154 is bracing, as well. So sad to see the right-wing vipers who’ve done so much harm to the nation turning on each other, isn’t it?
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Suzanne said on August 20, 2020 at 11:25 am
The QAnon stuff IS craziness but yet, I know several educated, otherwise sensible people who have glomed onto it. One just posted something about it the other day from RT (credible source LOL!) about the FBI guy who pled guilty to lying with his comment of “Just the beginning…”
A local financial planner has also posted a bunch of conspiracy stuff on her personal Facebook page.
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LAMary said on August 20, 2020 at 11:46 am
I am recruiting jobs that exist because covid exists. The higher level ones like biostatiticians, epidemiology analysts, microbiologists are getting an applicant pool that’s about 80 percent immigrants. All those foreign students who got H1B visas are applying and the have amazing CVs.
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Jakash said on August 20, 2020 at 12:12 pm
In my blue Chicago bubble, I don’t chat with many Trumpers. In fact, I recently had probably the second political conversation with one that I’ve ever embarked on — goaded into it by a friend, whose leanings I was not actually aware of. It took no time at all before the alternate reality that he lives in became apparent. And, yeah, he promptly mentioned “the FBI guy who pled guilty to lying” and indicated how this was the tip of the iceberg and just watch what happens now. My response was to counter with the many people on Trump’s team who’ve been indicted and convicted, but he had nothing to say about that. The really telling part — obvious, I suppose, but remarkable to me — was when this over-60, college graduate railed against newspapers and proudly stated how he never read them. This, of course, after having started things out by excitedly reporting how he and his adult son love to watch YouTube videos, which is where I assume he gets many of his talking points. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes, but made clear to me how useless trying to talk to such folks is. It must be *really* frustrating for you to be surrounded by them, Suzanne.
The analogy that their house is burning down, but they’re in your yard complaining that you should mow your lawn seems to pretty well cover it.
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alex said on August 20, 2020 at 12:19 pm
Suzanne, it seems like financial advisors embrace this sort of shit because it helps them find marks more easily. Remember Ric Runestad with the Sunday morning infomercials? He used to be a contributor to the News-Sentinel, writing about Agenda 21 and Rothschild Illuminati and so forth until they cut him off for being too nutty. Jason Arp, the Fort Wayne council member who nutted his way into Politico Magazine a few weeks ago, is also a wealth advisor of some sort. These folks like to join evangelical megachurches because the fleecing’s good there too.
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Sherri said on August 20, 2020 at 12:43 pm
We used to go camping several times every summer in the various parks in the Santa Cruz Mountains, especially Big Basin. It’s sad to watch them burn. And it’s only August. September and October are usually the worst of the fire season.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/20/historic-buildings-destroyed-at-big-basin-redwoods-state-park/
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Tajalli said on August 20, 2020 at 1:16 pm
“Really, Jean-Luc, I’m quite hurt that you don’t recognize me.” Dare I say, “Bazinga.”
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ROGirl said on August 20, 2020 at 1:52 pm
Went into a grocery store this morning that I have been going to regularly. There were a lot of people with masks under their noses, the cashier had hers slung below her upper lip.
What the fuck, people? Wear your masks ON your faces!
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Jim said on August 20, 2020 at 3:48 pm
Even Hannity knows tRump is a loon: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/08/sean-hannity-fox-news-staffers-feel-trapped-in-trump-cult
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David C said on August 20, 2020 at 4:05 pm
If only the Fox people had a platform where they could speak out about how crazy they think tRump is.
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