Greetings, good people of NN.c land. Sorry I missed the update last night, but I was in a January kinda mood. Seriously, yesterday I told Alan he needed to start with the Vitamin D along with me, because like Johnny Cash, we haven’t seen the sunshine since I-don’t-know-when.
But I’m rested and I’m between phone calls, so here goes, quickly.
First up, a question for LA Mary: Is this the bridge near your neighborhood that we drove over?
There’s just something about it that rang a bell in my head.
And yeah, that’s from “La La Land,” which you may have heard got a few Oscar nominations Tuesday.
In December, I did a story on this guy, who has done that rare thing – figured out a way to make news on the internet pay. Admittedly, only a narrow slice of news (the Iraqi oil market), but still. His readers pay about $2,000 a year to subscribe, and if you’re in the oil bidness, I bet it’s worth every penny. Anyway, one of the things they do is a daily, or near-daily, update from Mosul, which is still partially held by ISIS. It’s so smartly organized, with incidents exhaustively detailed, categorized and sourced (anonymously, for obvious reasons). I wish I could link, but valuable information isn’t something you just give away.
Anyway, I thought of this because apparently POTUS is talking about “taking the oil” again, and even as a casual reader of Iraq Oil Report, I can’t even.
Here’s a roundup of the remarkable leaks coming out of the Oval on, what? Day five? Man, we have a long road ahead.
Related, and nifty: Red feed, blue feed, or what Facebook looks like, depending on how your friend network shapes up. Illuminating. I wish Bridge had the budget to do stuff like this. Instead, we have to rely on good old legwork. Here’s our red/blue project, Divided Michigan, which kicked off this week. Feedback welcome.
Phone just rang. Back to work and see you tomorrow, I hope.
Dexter said on January 24, 2017 at 3:44 pm
Why can’t just one Trump adviser read Paul Wolfowitz’s Wikipedia page to him?
“Take the oil” was tried, anyone, ANYONE remember? The following is ripped from Wikipedia:
<> END _
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Dexter said on January 24, 2017 at 3:45 pm
On March 27, 2003, Wolfowitz told the House Appropriations Committee[41] that oil revenue earned by Iraq alone would pay for Iraq’s reconstruction after the Iraq war; he testified his “rough recollection” was:[41] “The oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years. Now, there are a lot of claims on that money, but … We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.”[42] By October of that year, “Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said ‘prewar estimates that may be borne out in fact are likelier to be more lucky than smart.’ [He] added that earlier estimates and statements by Mr. Wolfowitz and others ‘oozed with uncertainty.'” Di Rita’s comments came as a much less optimistic secret Pentagon study—which had been complete at the time of Wolfowitz’s testimony—was coming to public light, and when actual production results in Iraq were coinciding with those projected in the less optimistic Pentagon study.[41]
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brian stouder said on January 24, 2017 at 4:11 pm
My daughter pointed out this article to me – which compares President The-Donald to President Andy Jackson –
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trump-and-andrew-jackson/508973/
and it’s pretty good stuff.
‘Course, Andy Jackson was a fairly awful human being – but we digress
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Deborah said on January 24, 2017 at 4:29 pm
I read the Divided Michigan piece on Bridge this morning, It’s good, I recommend it to all.
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jcburns said on January 24, 2017 at 4:55 pm
Nancy, may I point you to this nicely-done guide to La La Land filming locations?
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alex said on January 24, 2017 at 5:52 pm
Check out that Red Feed. It’s no wonder Trump won if people are absorbing alternative facts like those and not reading anything else. God fucking help us.
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Sherri said on January 24, 2017 at 6:38 pm
trump’s advisors should get more creative, like making sure there’s nothing but footage of adoring crowds on any TV he’s near.
https://apnews.com/61415760238042f2ad7bc38acc2f468c
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Sherri said on January 24, 2017 at 8:04 pm
Timothy Burke, bless him, reads David Brooks so I don’t have to.
https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2017/01/24/you-will-never-be-good-enough-for-david-brooks/
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Suzanne said on January 24, 2017 at 9:54 pm
I happened to read the Brooks column today. Some of his columns have some good points, but this was a real clinker. And I mean clunker clinker ending with some reference to Hamilton, which, as we all know, ends with a messy death.
i think he’s a decent guy that just can’t grasp what his side has wrought in this country. So he denies it.
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alex said on January 24, 2017 at 10:02 pm
Just saw the Rachel Carson bio on PBS. How did I not know about this? I read Kon-Tiki which was number two on the NYT Best Seller List when The Sea Around Us was number one. (About forty years after both were published, granted, but still.) Amazing story, and even more amazing that the public in those days recognized industry spin and fake news and didn’t fall for it and Congress was moved to act because the people weren’t having it.
Well, I’m heartened. On that note, I hope to have a full night’s sleep. Nighty-night, everyone.
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Charlotte said on January 24, 2017 at 11:15 pm
The Standing Rock folks were tweeting this afternoon that this wasn’t the worst President they’d ever dealt with: “We fought Andrew Jackson.”
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basset said on January 24, 2017 at 11:27 pm
Let me see if I can get another topic going here… anyone been to England in the last few years? Mrs. B and I got our first passports recently and are planning to head for London in the summer, goals being to see the ancestral home and the usual tourist stuff, as well as walking across Abbey Road. (I suspect some of our number will find that entirely too lowbrow and cliched. If that’s you, bite me.)
Anyway, did you book a package or do the room, events, and flights yourself? Hand it over to a travel agent? Advice is definitely welcome.
Suzanne, I didn’t know that Hamilton ends with a messy death. Don’t care, either. Hip-hop and Broadway, deadly combination for me… could only be worse if Christmas music was involved.
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jcburns said on January 25, 2017 at 12:26 am
A travel agent? What’s that? But seriously, we just use the internet, and lots of it. Mucho Google Maps/Google Earth research. (Because my dear spouse’s research skills are second to none, this gets boiled down into a large exquisitely-detailed PDF document that we take with us for easy reference.) Check for flights on Kayak and Google Flights. Use Trip Advisor to look at B&Bs and hotels (but we often book directly from the place’s website or via emails.)
We got an inexpensive data-only SIM for our hotspot from three.co.uk and used ApplePay on our phones for everything from grocery stores to the London Tube.
Otherwise, bring an ATM card from a US bank and a credit card with no overseas surcharges (Capital One is a good one.) Have a little cash, but really, you won’t need much.
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basset said on January 25, 2017 at 12:34 am
(We got an inexpensive data-only SIM for our hotspot from three.co.uk )
a what for your what? and how did this help you? sorry, I’m old.
and your American ATM card works there?
I have been advised to get an Oyster card.
No way in hell am I gonna try to drive.
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susan said on January 25, 2017 at 1:25 am
Bassett @12 Hip-hop and Broadway, deadly combination for me… could only be worse if Christmas music was involved.…and accordions, bagpipes, children’s chorus, and recorders. Oh, and a panpipe.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 1:53 am
We went to London three years ago, and I booked everything myself online. Rick Steves puts out great travel guides that are helpful for pointing you in the right direction for things that are best purchased in advance and reasonable places to stay. No need to drive, the Tube was great.
Before you book your lodgings online, you should probably call your credit card company and let them know you’re about to make some overseas charges, otherwise they may decline the charges as a fraud alert. Definitely let your credit card company know when you’ll be overseas, so they will not turn off your credit card suddenly because a bunch of foreign charges suddenly show up. I don’t know if everybody’s credit cards are quick to flag such charges, but I’ve had to call my credit card company because I was booking hotel rooms in Canada and they rejected the charges, and Canada is only a few hours way here.
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Dexter said on January 25, 2017 at 2:06 am
I have always yearned to visit England but have never been to either the isles nor the continent. So no advice from me, but I remember when Don Imus, who flies around the USA constantly, told how nervous he gets when flying over water. He uses private jets and when he did take his one trip to London on either Citation Air or NetJets, he had the flight plan moderated so the plane would be over land as much as possible. After St.John’s Newfoundland however, it’s a long haul to Ireland and on to Heathrow London. I brought this up to compare jc burns’ modern pay preference to how Imus did it: his man-servant and chauffeur, Brandt, goes everywhere with the Imus party carrying a large case of cash. At some point the benjamins were converted to GBP (British pounds)and the whole trip was paid for in cash. Imagine that…a servant at your call, with a huge case of large bills in tow.
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Jerry said on January 25, 2017 at 2:51 am
Bassett, you are wise not to drive in London. I avoid it like the plague – the centre can be very difficult. And it does take time to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. For getting around in London I’d recommend the Transport for London website. You can enter your location and where you want to go and it will give you the options for getting from one place to the other is which tube, or bus or what route to walk.
As a matter of interest, where abouts are your ancestors from? And when are you travelling?
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alex said on January 25, 2017 at 5:32 am
My dad has an embarrassing story about driving in England and smearing the left side of the car on the wall around a traffic circle and flattening the tires.
Bassett, be sure and send us a picture from Abbey Road.
Once again I woke up in the wee hours and could not go back to sleep. This Trump bullshit’s gonna wear me out.
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alex said on January 25, 2017 at 6:15 am
Aw, those mean, nasty media people. Suck it up, buttercup, or soon they’ll be calling you the Snowflake-in-Chief.
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brian stouder said on January 25, 2017 at 8:28 am
Basset – if I was going to Britain, Silverstone would be on the ‘stop and see’ list.
I’ve no idea whether they’ve got a museum there, but since it’s the site of an old RAF base, and a marvelous race track – surely there must be something for general visitors, eh?
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basset said on January 25, 2017 at 8:32 am
Dexter, imagine what it must have been like for Charles Lindbergh, making an Atlantic crossing in a single-engine plane he could barely see out of… and a lot of it at night.
Silverstone sure would be interesting. We may fit the Imperial War Museum in there somewhere.
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Julie Robinson said on January 25, 2017 at 8:50 am
Not only does Rick Steves put out good stuff, he just sent a $50,000 check to the ACLU so I wouldn’t mind sending him support.
My driving experience in England came at the age of 18, when on an off-day from our theatre tour several of us decided to rent a car and strike out on our own. Somehow I ended up behind the wheel, learning not just left-side driving, but stick shift too. Aiee! What was I thinking? No accidents, thank God.
Remember when Trump said he would accept the election results, as long as he was the winner? What happened to that?
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LAMary said on January 25, 2017 at 9:02 am
That’s not the Shakespeare Bridge. I am pretty sure that’s the Colorado Boulevard Bridge and it’s not far from my home. It crosses the Arroyo Seco between Pasadena and northeast LA. It’s in lots of movies and commercials. The Sixth Street Bridge in downtown LA is in a lot of movies, TV, etc. but they just tore that down and it’s being rebuilt.
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Danny said on January 25, 2017 at 9:09 am
Basset, not only do not drive, but look both ways before you cross a street… and then look both ways again. Just sayin’. I’ve almost killed myself walkimg there.
Also you may want to take a boat ride down the Thames and check out the Battersea power plant that appeared on the cover of Punk Floyd’s Animals. I think they have turned it into residential lofts and shopping and eateries.
Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly are nice to tour as well.
I’ve only been to the U.K. Three times and all on business. Aberdeen about three years ago, London two years ago and Manchester and Huddersfield two weeks ago. I wasn’t able to take much time for myself, but I did walk quite a bit and took the Tubes. Mind the gap!!
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Danny said on January 25, 2017 at 9:11 am
Pink. Damn autocorrect
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Suzanne said on January 25, 2017 at 9:15 am
Trump is scaring me more everyday and with the utterly gutless GOP Congress, I get even more scared. He’s signing executive orders right and left and not a peep out of the conservatives who spent the last 8 years telling us how awful and illegal they are. If Our Supreme Leader declares martial law tomorrow, the GOP will just yawn and go along with it, and I am 99.9% sure of that. I’ve never been so disgusted with politics in my life.
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Danny said on January 25, 2017 at 9:16 am
Oh and if you want some other music oriented touring, you might take a bus down to Brighton, the coastal town that was the backdrop for The Who’s Quadrophenia.
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Heather said on January 25, 2017 at 9:18 am
Everyone’s heard about Trump’s tweets about Chicago, right? I read an interesting perspective from Feminista Jones on Twitter: This is part of a plan to “clean up” the south and west sides, i.e., get all the black and other PoCs out of there to make way for development. The south side especially is some prime real estate. Someone could stand to make a lot of money.
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Deborah said on January 25, 2017 at 10:40 am
So as I read this morning it’s going to be even worse than I thought. Now they’re saying that over 43,000 people a year are going to die if Obamacare is repealed with no adequate replacement. And a lot of the people who voted for Trump call themselves pro-life. 43,000 people a year will die because they won’t be able to get get medical treatment because they have a pre-existing condition and/or they’re not able to afford healthcare. These will include people of all ages, including babies, toddlers, school agers, teenagers, young mothers and fathers, middle agers, the elderly. Sure, you can say there will be an adequate replacement, but so far I’m not seeing that happening. And yes, Obamacare isn’t perfect, but why not work to improve it? This is just so wrong.
Sorry, I’m venting again, but I read the article this morning and I’m mad and depressed. And I was so happy there for a while after marching on Saturday. WASF!
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Charlotte said on January 25, 2017 at 10:43 am
Heather — I was just thinking about that. I accidentally cut through the worst part of the West side this summer when I was stuck in horrendous traffic, and there’s a lot of housing that looks just like Logan Square and Ukrainian Village before they were gentrified.
But this seems to be more revenge from Trump — against Rahm, and for the protests last summer when he tried to have the campaign rally.
And any of you who are on Twitter — @BadlandsNPS is still tweeting this morning, and have been joined by @AltNatParkSer “The Unofficial “Resistance” team of U.S. National Park Service. Not taxpayer subsidised! Come for rugged scenery, fossil beds, 89 million acres of landscape”
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jcburns said on January 25, 2017 at 10:56 am
Yes, most American ATMs will work in most European teller machines (ask your bank) and generally, you get the best exchange rates by getting cash that way (but you want to have a bank or credit union that doesn’t add international surcharges.)
The Oyster card is a good way to deal with London Transport IF you don’t have the ApplePay thing (which in our experience was way faster and we blended right in.) TfL (Transport for London) is really big into ‘contactless’ transactions these days.
I wouldn’t drive in London either not because of the craziness, but just because of pure density—it’s clogged, choked, and if you drive into the center city you pay a hefty surcharge and then parking is astronomical.
But! Driving around the UK countryside can be quite wonderful, and if you, say, want to visit a lot of archaeological sites, may be your best bet. And I kinda enjoy driving a five-speed manual with my left hand while sitting in the right seat. Good brain exercise. And if you use Google maps/smartphone navigation (we ALWAYS leave this to the passenger’s command and control, never the driver) then the voice prompts become a nice rhythm: “at the next roundabout, use the second exit.”
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brian stouder said on January 25, 2017 at 11:15 am
jc – agreed on the pleasant usefulness of Google maps.
Apropos of nothing, this article (about the recent visit of an Olympic gold medalist swimmer, to Fort Wayne) got me laughing. There’s a slight sense of absurdity in there, which sprouts and grows
http://www.journalgazette.net/sports/Phelps-drops-in-city-with-big-splash-17462096
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Deborah said on January 25, 2017 at 11:26 am
I lived in London off and on in the late 80s as I’ve mentioned here before. I never drove, always used the tube and buses, walked or used cabs. For trips outside of London, used trains. Those big black cabs were so cool. We went back to London about ten years ago and there were fewer of them, probably a good thing for the environment. When I worked there I ended up hating it for years after, which was because of our hideous client and the horrible project we were working on, a shopping mall in Hatfield. The client went through a bunch of architects after us and I don’t think it ever got built, fortunately. I did almost get creamed crossing the street once because I looked the wrong way before stepping out into traffic, one of my work colleagues pulled me back just in time. There is so much to see and do there, Basset you and your wife will have a great time.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 12:04 pm
Can anybody give me a rationale for why any Dem should have voted to confirm Mike Pompeo, a torture-loving Islamophobe, as CIA director? What does voting yes gain you? Maybe if you’re a Dem in a red state up in 2018, though I don’t think that vote will really matter, but Chuck Schumer? Tim Kaine? DiFi?
So far, Kristin Gillibrand is the only Senator who has voted no on all of trump’s nominees. Why do anything else?
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elaine said on January 25, 2017 at 12:24 pm
Took my first trip to England this past October with my sister, a big fan of Rick Steves. We stayed three nights at the Lime Tree Hotel in Belgravia, which was a good walk to the Underground and a healthy walk to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc. When needed we hailed black cabs. We visited the Tower and the British Museum, and rode one of the river taxis back to Westminster one day for a water view of the city. We also rode the train to Derbyshire to visit our great-great grandmother’s ancestral town. Except for the incredibly heavy traffic, I was amazed at how easy it was to get around London. P.S. Gave my credit union a heads-up regarding travel, including my stop in Boston so there was no misunderstanding. Worked out fine. And I’m glad I pre-ordered an Oyster card. It came really quickly, but I wouldn’t wait until the last minute.
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Charlotte said on January 25, 2017 at 2:15 pm
This makes me glad I subscribed to the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/01/24/the-true-correct-story-of-what-happened-at-donald-trumps-inauguration/?utm_term=.e619ce8957d7
Satire is our only hope …
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Deborah said on January 25, 2017 at 2:37 pm
I love these bad lip readings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gneBUA39mnI
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Little Bird said on January 25, 2017 at 2:55 pm
R. I. P. May Tyler Moore…..
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Little Bird said on January 25, 2017 at 3:17 pm
MARY! I really need to proofread better!
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 3:17 pm
Our state senate majority leader has signed onto a letter supporting DeVos as education secretary. This from the leader of the party who has yet to even eyelashes a plan on how to address the education funding shortfall the state supreme court ordered the legislature to address 4 years ago. They refuse to consider any new taxes, have made noises about wanting to take the marijuana tax revenues for education, despite the fact that those are already being used for marijuana related costs, with the remainder being used to fund the state’s part of Medicaid.
Why do Republicans claim to love America, but hate so many Americans? It’s the rural part of the state that gets screwed the most by underfunding education, by relying solely on property taxes to fund education, and by stealing money from Medicaid to change that.
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Deborah said on January 25, 2017 at 3:35 pm
“Why do Republicans claim to love America, but hate so many Americans?” That is the million dollar question, Sherri. And why are Republicans ok with that image of themselves. Joe? Danny? Jeff tmmo?
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basset said on January 25, 2017 at 3:57 pm
I have found a guide to Beatles sites which includes the film lab where the original film for “Magical Mystery Tour” was processes. Now, that’s detail.
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Deborah said on January 25, 2017 at 4:11 pm
Well, lookee there http://www.newsweek.com/trump-emails-rnc-reince-priebus-white-house-server-548191
I have to admit I’ve had nothing to eat today besides potato chips and shortbread cookies. My husband went to Rockford, IL yesterday for a meeting for his uncle’s foundation and his uncle’s wife gave him 2 large bags of these fantastic chips that they make there that for some reason you can’t find anywhere else. We leave for LA tomorrow and then I go to Santa Fe after that and I won’t be able to take the chips with me for logistical reasons so I’m making the most of it today. The cookies are to give me some relief from the salt from time to time.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 5:00 pm
After trying and failing to transfer some old 8mm videos to computer myself (I think there was a problem with misaligned heads on my camcorder, I couldn’t get very much audio), I decided to pay someone to do it. Costco would do it, but I also found this guy who does it in a more convenient fashion. He had great reviews on Yelp, so I decided to try him out with a few videos.
First off, he did great work, and very fast. He doesn’t have a storefront, so I met him somewhere and dropped the tapes off with him on Tuesday, and he has the result for me today, on Google Drive, and it looks (and sounds) wonderful. But here’s where it gets a little sketchy. He said he would send me the invoice, and I could pay it, or I could ignore it and pay him in cash when I met up with him to get my tapes back, and skip the sales tax.
He doesn’t know anything about me, and it’s less than $4.00 in sales tax. But it annoys the hell out of me that he’s doing that, and makes me wonder if he’s also avoiding income tax on his cash business. I’m debating on whether to call him on it, just ignore it, or turn him in. I’m done doing business with him, despite the quality of his work.
(I’d also note that sales tax is the major way government is funded in Washington, because we have no income tax of any kind.)
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MichaelG said on January 25, 2017 at 5:40 pm
Basset, shop all the varied ticketing sites for airline tickets. Do the same for hotels and then, when you have picked out a hotel you might like, call them direct. Talk to them, tell them what you want and you should be able to get a rate as good as any that is offered on line and you might even get a better deal. I always do that and have been very happy.
Your ATM card is the best way to get money. ATMs are everywhere and you get the best rate. I’ve used my card all over the place with no problem. You will notice a couple of odd fees on your next bill but you are still ahead. Definitely notify your credit card and ATM people that you are going overseas. Otherwise they will certainly freeze your card. You will get charged 1 to 3% for using a credit card in Europe. There are cards available that don’t nick you with that surcharge but what other gimmicks do they have?
Do not rent a car if you are going to stay in London and the immediate area. There are plenty of buses and trains and taxis. A car is a big stone tied around your neck. You are stuck with it. What do you do with the damn thing when you aren’t using it? Where do you put it? I would consider one if I were contemplating a leisurely trip from London to Glasgow or wherever but for around town, nope. I rented a car in Lisbon once and traveled all over Portugal from Nazare’ to Portimao. It was fun. Otherwise, no.
I buy two or three guide books and a couple of maps and study them before going to a new city. Even for return visits. I tend to like the Lonely Planet and Rick Steves guide books. I buy a map from International Travel Maps for a large, complete overview and ones from National Geographic and Streetwise. Streetwise is that plastic fold out thing that I find very handy. It and the Nat Geo map are a little focused but are excellent for downtown and touristy things.
Stay loose, be flexible, keep a big smile and go with the flow. You’re in their country and they do things differently. Differently is not better or worse. It’s just different. I love the differences and have a great time. You will too.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 5:44 pm
Of course the White House staffers are using other email accounts. Everybody does. People in the Obama administration had gmail accounts. This is not unusual and it is not unethical, per se. It doesn’t even necessarily avoid FOIA, just makes it harder. Using personal email for work and then deleting it to avoid FOIA is, of course, unethical, and using personal email when you accused your opponent of being a criminal because she used personal email is hypocritical, but we’ve already established that the Republicans have no shame. IOKIYAR.
I called Sen. Cantwell’s office today to ask (rhetorically) if there was any possible upside to voting in favor of any of trump’s nominees. The staffer who answered the phone laughed, and admitted that she, personally, couldn’t think of any, but she wasn’t speaking for the Senator. I then said I wanted to urge the Senator to vote no on all of them, that I could call every day and name each one, but really, I couldn’t see any reason to vote yes on any of them. She told me that there was a place on the form for that, and I didn’t have to call every day. It sounded from the background noise that the phones were ringing, and she was a little flustered when she answered the phone, thanking me for holding (I hadn’t been on hold) and not identifying the Senators office. This was the local office in Seattle. She’s my first call ahead of Murray because her seat is up in 2018 and she’s always more opaque about things than Murray.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 6:04 pm
All you can do is laugh at some things: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/25/mar-a-lago-membership-fee-doubles-to-200000.html
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MichaelG said on January 25, 2017 at 6:28 pm
IOKIYAR?
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LAMary said on January 25, 2017 at 6:36 pm
Here’s the Shakespeare Bridge:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiN19byut7RAhVCbiYKHTGKBKQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theeastsiderla.com%2F2014%2F04%2Fneighborhood-fixture-the-shakespeare-bridge-of-los-feliz%2F&psig=AFQjCNH9A0-DpNPr5L1sf2FZ_hMUrtxmKg&ust=1485473693010659
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 6:37 pm
Basset, we really liked the Churchill War Rooms when we visited, and wanted to go to the Imperial War Museum, but much of the museum was shut down to prepare for the WWI centenary. We loved the British Museum so much we went twice. Other favorites were the Victoria & Albert, the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s, and the British Library (where you can see some Beatles manuscripts). We also saw a play at the National Theatre (Othello) and traveled by train to Stratford-on-Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Hamlet, both of which were incredible.
We’d love to go back to London, and may once our lives settle down a bit. Maybe add a trip to Scotland, or take the Chunnel to Paris.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 6:38 pm
It’s OK If You’re A Republican.
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Deborah said on January 25, 2017 at 7:22 pm
IOKIYAR – as Sherri said, It’s OK if you’re a Republican.
I turned on the TV to MSNBC to see if there was anything of interest and immediately heard Chris Matthews say that Kellyanne Conman was going to be on later, so I turned it off. I could care fucking less about Kellyanne Conman. Quit putting her on the TV. She’s a menace, a liar, a creep. Geez.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 7:45 pm
Given how much TV trump watches, I really wish that TV news organizations would stop being toadies for authoritarianism, but I guess that’s too much to hope for.
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Ellen said on January 25, 2017 at 7:51 pm
I also recommend oyster card. They are easy to get once you arrive, too. I have no experience with apple pay so can’t compare. TMobile offers free text and data in most countries, including UK. On one trip several years ago we bought a cheap burner cell and sim card to make calls while in the uk. Consider using whatsapp to communicate instead of text msg. We travel as a family of 5 so end up renting apartments through VRBO or other sources. Great way to get a bit more space and also things like a fridge and washing machine if you are staying a couple of weeks. I can recommend a flat in Ealing neighborhood steps away from Tube if you want details. If you want cheaper chain hotel experience, we have had decent luck with Premier Inn. Re airfare, consider flying to UK via Amsterdam on KLM. We have sometimes found better deals than nonstop flight to Heathrow or Gatwick.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 8:38 pm
Dan Savage has resurrected something he did back in 2006, when he thought GWB was as bad as it got: http://www.impeachthemotherfuckeralready.com
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Peter said on January 25, 2017 at 8:47 pm
I’m sorry if someone mentioned this earlier, but what really got to me about Trumpolini’s tweet about Chicago is that it occurred less than an hour after he saw a screen shot on O’Reilly’s program with those statistics.
God help us if O’Reilly says that we need to nuke North Korea.
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Sherri said on January 25, 2017 at 9:34 pm
When will Bannon et al figure out they can manipulate trump by just faking what appears on his TV screen?
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 25, 2017 at 10:24 pm
And who would not want to visit a lot of archaeological sites?
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alex said on January 25, 2017 at 10:29 pm
Watching ABC’s David Muir, who has the thankless job of trying to nail down that slime ball. He’s so fucking unhinged I just cannot see how he’s going to make it for four years. The White House, if not the entire GOP, is like a dysfunctional family indulging an insane elder.
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Jolene said on January 25, 2017 at 11:07 pm
Exactly, alex. The idea that somebody needs to “manage” the president of the United States is . . . well, we all know what it is.
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MarkH said on January 26, 2017 at 5:15 am
Danny, from Sunday’s thread: what the heck is with the resurrection of Tom T. Hall?
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David C. said on January 26, 2017 at 6:31 am
This is an amazing young woman. If the patriarchy does something stupid, give it a good whack.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/world/europe/high-heels-british-inquiry-dress-codes-women.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
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Suzanne said on January 26, 2017 at 7:39 am
I dare anyone to read that story, David C., and ask why there was a Women’s March last week-end.
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Jolene said on January 26, 2017 at 8:34 am
Years ago, in my first job out of college, I launched a small revolution at my office job that led to a new policy allowing people to wear pants to work. No national policies were changed as a result, but I’m still proud of the accomplishment.
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Danny said on January 26, 2017 at 8:39 am
MarkH, it was because everyone was talking about terms of endearment like “Honey.”
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Danny said on January 26, 2017 at 8:39 am
MarkH, it was because everyone was talking about terms of endearment like “Honey.”
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2017 at 8:43 am
Best sentence in David C’s article about the woman sent home from work, for showing up with flat shoes on (they required a minimum 2″ high heel..!!)
On Wednesday, more than two years after Ms. Thorp, now 28, strode into that office in her chic but sensible black flats, the committees released a report concluding that Portico, the outsourcing firm that had insisted she wear high heels, had broken the law.
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basset said on January 26, 2017 at 8:46 am
Resurrection of Tom T. Hall? What?
the British Museum will definitely be a stop for us, and Mrs. B wants to go by 10 Downing St. and see if the cat’s outside 🙂
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Diane said on January 26, 2017 at 9:57 am
Sherri @35 If you figure that out, please post. I’m baffled. If it is some kind of Congressional professional courtesy, well, now is so not the time for that!
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MarkH said on January 26, 2017 at 11:38 am
basset, you might be the only one here to appreciate that. I should be a little embarrassed that I immediately knew those lyrics Danny posted, but it took me back to my first radio job out of OSU in 1976. Immediately south of Jeff(tmmo) in Fairfield County, WHOK is not there anymore, but when you did small town country music radio, you had to field repeated requests for songs like that, Red Sovine’s ‘Teddy Bear’, CW McCall, etc. Jeff knows all those people, I’m sure.
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LAMary said on January 26, 2017 at 11:48 am
I used to live in Golden, Colorado and I worked as a bartender. I know all those songs too. The baby ducks song is particularly annoying.
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Sherri said on January 26, 2017 at 12:35 pm
Diane @69, here’s what I’ve been able to figure out so far. The Dems in Congress believe that it would be wrong for them to obstruct everything trump does, because they complained about Republican obstructionism for the last 8 years. trump won the election, and presidents get leeway in choosing cabinets. They feel that even though their base wants all-out war, they should save the battles for the big things, like ACA, and hope they can peel off some Republicans if they don’t obstruct everything.
I think this is wrongheaded. I think this is the time for all-out war. Yes, we are the party that believes in norms and governing, but there are values and principles more important than those at stake. People matter more than norms, and protecting people should matter more than giving trump leeway on cabinet picks. How many people’s lives will Ben Carson damage at HUD? Don’t just talk about how comically unqualified he is, talk about the people who won’t be housed. Talk about the people who already were damaged by one of trump’s first EOs, which stopped a scheduled FHA mortgage insurance premium cut from going forward. That’s HUD, and that’s first-time home-buyers who now found the house they were thinking about more expensive. HUD isn’t just inner city housing projects and Section 8, which is probably how most trump voters think of it.
The only way I know of to force a little bit of spine into Dems is to let them know our displeasure. It’s important to call your Senators even if you think they’re doing the right thing, so that they don’t waver. It’s really important if you thought they would be doing the right thing, and they’re saying they want.
And then there’s DiFi. DiFi has voted in favor of every single one of trump’s nominees so far. Reportedly, she’s planning on running for election in 2018. In a state which Hilary won overwhelmingly, where Jerry Brown has all but declared open war on trump, DiFi should not be getting away with this, but evidently, her phones aren’t ringing enough. Californians, put DiFi’s number in your cellphone and give her a friendly call regularly. It doesn’t take more than a minute or two, and you really don’t need a script. You’re going to be talking to a low paid staffer on the other end who’s going to record whether you’re in favor or against something, not the nuances of your argument. Short and simple, put pressure on, make the offices busy answering phones!
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Sherri said on January 26, 2017 at 1:07 pm
It’s the articles by the international relations professors that scare me the most: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/01/26/never-underestimate-the-staying-power-of-autocratic-rulers/
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Dave said on January 26, 2017 at 1:44 pm
MarkH, I thought WHOK was still a AM station but a brief search reveals that it, like most stations, is greatly altered. Still, a shoutout to my home country where, 39 years ago, today, I know you were huddled up in a house on Hill Road in Pickerington while my family, minus me, were all camped out around a wood burning insert stove in their living room about four miles away. Me, I was on a train stuck in Paulding County, Ohio.
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Suzanne said on January 26, 2017 at 2:40 pm
And then there is this:
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a52600/state-department-senior-officials-resign/
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Icarus said on January 26, 2017 at 2:45 pm
Diane @69 what Sherri said and Ed enhances:
http://www.ginandtacos.com/2017/01/26/comic-relief/
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Deborah said on January 26, 2017 at 2:59 pm
I’m killing time at LAX waiting for our ride to the hotel.
When I happen to catch a snippet of the minority pres giving a speech like the one at the CIA, I’m appalled. And did you read what he said in his meeting with legislators about why he wants a voter fraud investigation? The man can’t say two words without patting himself on the back. Can’t Ivanka let him know how foolish he sounds. Really, it is absolutely worse than I thought it would be.
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LAMary said on January 26, 2017 at 3:18 pm
Deborah, I messaged my phone numbers to you. Feel free to call.
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Deborah said on January 26, 2017 at 3:38 pm
LAMary, I messaged you back.
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jcburns said on January 26, 2017 at 3:41 pm
The WHOK call letters are, of course, an homage to the Hocking River. Long may she hock.
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2017 at 3:43 pm
2 or 3 years ago, my son and I meandered around LAX for an hour or two, between flights (we were awaiting our connector flight to San Diego), and I was positively impressed, all around.
It was kind of mall-ish (I bought a “The Voice” tee shirt at one store, for Pam. We love that show)
Lots of places to eat, and the people-watching was fun, too
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basset said on January 26, 2017 at 6:10 pm
MarkH, I was doing the same thing the summer before at 250-watt WNDI in Sullivan, Indiana. Twenty-song playlist over and over, broken up occasionally by religion, rip & read news, and the Indiana State Police “Road Show.” We even recorded high school graduations on a Wollensak reel to reel and played em on the air the next day. Great place to start out.
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LAMary said on January 26, 2017 at 7:24 pm
Sherri, I think Jerry Brown is the best. His state of the state speech knocked me out. He loves his state and he’s a brilliant man.
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Sherri said on January 26, 2017 at 8:45 pm
Jerry Brown is the best. If only we had more of him, or if he were younger! I’m glad Xavier Becerra is the new AG in California; I need to start lighting a fire under our governor and AG to follow their lead.
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Diane said on January 26, 2017 at 10:41 pm
Sherri @73 and Icarus @77 Thank you, though reading that from Warren was really depressing. I think the Dem party really needs to re-evaluate. It’s one thing to go high but it is another to go stupid.
I was one of the oh so misguided people who thought that the Republican Party was on the way to imploding. Er, the Presidency, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court (soon) and most state houses is not exactly an implosion.
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beb said on January 27, 2017 at 5:44 pm
Why do conservatives hate Americans so? It’s because they believe that it’s a sign of weakness to take charity from others. Tornado blow down your house, the manly, American way is to rebuild it yourself – or with at most your local friends and family. Likewise if you get sick, lose your job, or want to go to college, you man-up and take care of it yourself. Of course don’t come between a conservative and it medicaid. That;s not a government hand-out. That’s their due.
In other news, Republicans regard anything a Democrat does as evil, corrupt, wasteful and/or demoralizing. But if a Republican does it, it’s perfect.
Keep these two things in mind and you’ll better understand conservatives.
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