Saturday Morning Open Thread: We Persist

by 4:52 am. It has 91 Comments.

… Because we must. From Politico:

Former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, in California as part of her 16-city book tour, said Monday that Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren will need “a high pain threshold” if they run for president in 2020 because of the way female candidates are treated.

When asked what she would say if she were advising Harris (D-Calif.) or Warren (D-Mass.) on a run for president, Clinton said she would counsel that “you have to have a high pain threshold, because the double standard is alive and well … this is endemic to our political system, to business, to the media, to every part of society. So don’t be afraid to talk about it and take it on.”

“[J]ust be prepared … to have the most horrible things said about you,’’ Clinton advised. Based on descriptions on some websites, she explained, “I’m … the most amazing serial killer you ever met.”

“There’s a particular level of vitriol, from both the right and the left, directed at women,’’ she said. “Make no mistake about that.” …

“Everyone, regardless of political parties, should be disturbed that Russian agents used Facebook and Twitter and Google to place targeted attack ads … not only to hurt my chances, but to fan the flame of divisions within our society,’’ Clinton said. But Vladimir “Putin is not just interfering in our discourse because he’s bored … he’s got a strategy,’’ she told the audience, which greeted her with wild cheers and applause. “His goal is to undermine and perhaps even destroy Western democracy itself. Their weapons of choice may not be tanks or missiles. But let’s not mince words. This is a new kind of Cold War, and they are just getting started.”

She noted that new findings show that “Russians posed as gun rights advocates,’’ civil rights advocates and LGBT activists to stir up dissent on social media sites like Facebook — and that Facebook has acknowledged it sold $100,000 worth of ads that were “seen by at least 10 million people in crucial states” like Michigan and Wisconsin — two of the states that “decided the election by razor-thin margins.”

Clinton said Russia’s hacking activities during the 2016 election, which also involved “getting into voter rolls and looking for weaknesses,’’ may be a worse transgression than Watergate. “Watergate was a good old-fashioned physical burglary’’ between political adversaries, she said. But Russia is “a foreign adversary.”

Clinton said that while some critics, even in her own party, have suggested she get off the stage and retire into private life, she has no intention of muffling her voice on such issues. “I’m going to do everything I can, going forward, as an active citizen to speak out.” …

***********

Apart from staying strong, what’s on the agenda for the day?

Speaking of persistence:

… To celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage in the state, the Museum of the City of New York’s new exhibit focuses on New York’s contributions to the women’s rights movement. The exhibition will chronicle the struggle leading up to women’s suffrage in 1917 and through the 2016 presidential campaign. Divided into four periods, it will feature Eleanor Roosevelt’s handwritten speech from 1932, a signed Shirley Chisholm campaign poster, and one of Clinton’s pantsuits among other photos, costumes, and ephemera. The exhibit also looks to the future with an interactive installation that will prompt visitors to voice their opinions on issues women face today. Beyond Suffrage: A Century of New York Women in Politics opens this week and is on display until July 22, 2018…

Maybe a little too on-the-nose, sometimes…


Late Night Primitive Vertebrates Open Thread: Young Jared Would Like to Move On Now, Thank You Very Much

by 1:17 am. It has 43 Comments.

Young Jared glides through his very nice life like an eel through water, boneless and frictionless, buoyed up by an ocean of money. Sometimes he darts out to snatch at something eye-catching — a building development, a newspaper, the well-appointed daughter of another powerful ocean-dweller. If his foray doesn’t work, he glides away, on to the next target, impossible to entrap. Or so it has been, until now. Suddenly the ocean seems smaller, the lights brighter, the predators larger and meaner…

… President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser messaged the former chief White House strategist to say he thought the TV hit was a success, according to multiple people who were dining with Bannon at Del Frisco’s steakhouse across the street from Fox News’ Manhattan studios when the message popped up.

The attaboy from a campaign ally-turned-West Wing nemesis was surprising on multiple fronts. For one, Bannon associates and White House officials said Kushner hasn’t reached out to Bannon since he was ousted from his White House post in August.

But even stranger was that members of the Del Frisco’s dinner crew, which included conservative media personalities, thought Kushner was belatedly endorsing an anti-establishment strategy that has many Republicans concerned about losing control of the Senate altogether — one that undercuts the very members of Congress the White House needs as partners if Trump wants to pass any part of his domestic agenda, including tax reform…

Kushner has recently been hosting bipartisan dinners at his Kalorama mansion, Axios reported, breaking bread with people like conservative Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin to identify areas where the White House can score “bipartisan wins” on issues like criminal justice reform.

His thumbs-up to Bannon — which one person said elicited a warm thanks in response — seemed at odds with that patina of dinner party diplomacy. And it could be seen as a sign of the irreparable relationship between the White House and Corker. The outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was once one of the Republican senators closest to Kushner, advising him on Middle East issues and defending him publicly amid reports that he tried to set up a back channel with the Russian ambassador during the transition last year…

No hard feelings, Steve! Nothing personal, Bob! Aren’t we all inhabitants of the same ocean?

Via Dan Drezner’s twitter feed, Newsweek:

Jared Kushner “enriched himself” by not revealing his ownership of a real estate tech business that raised millions of dollars while he served in the government, said a member of the House Judiciary Committee, calling it part of a pattern of unethical behavior that he believes should cause the White House Senior Adviser to be stripped of his security clearance.

Congressman Ted Lieu told Newsweek that Kushner’s failure to list a company called Cadre on his initial financial disclosure forms—an oversight that could mean millions for the president’s son-in-law—is an ethical lapse that should have severe ramifications…

The timeline suggests more than just an inadvertent oversight, but an effort by Kushner to hold onto Cadre rather than be forced to divest his interests in the emerging company, according to ethics experts.

On March 9, Kushner submitted his original financial disclosure form to the Office of Government Ethics. It did not specifically list Cadre as one of Kushner’s assets, though he co-founded the company with his brother, Joshua Kushner and his Harvard classmate Ryan Williams, who remains Cadre CEO.

The company was already attracting attention in New York’s real estate and tech circles because of its promise to disrupt both industries by allowing investors to buy shares in real estate developments much like they would buy shares of companies on the stock market.
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Triskaidekaphobics Take Flight!

by 10:47 pm. It has 90 Comments.

Open thread!





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Writing Group and Denver Meet-Up Updates

by 9:53 pm. It has 45 Comments.

This is the carousel near the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. It’s suppose to be unique…I find it a bit creepy.

I’m planning on a writing group thread on Sunday – I’ve had a request to discuss NaNoWriMo and I’d also like to continue the topic of self-publishing.  Same bat-time, same bat-channel (here, 12:30 edt, 11:30 cdt, 10:30 mdt and 9:30 pdt).

On to the Denver meet-up. I need some help here – I thought I could take the time to put this together, but I really am swamped with work and I’m heading out of the country soon, so I don’t think I can pull it together. I was looking at meeting on Thur 10/19 or Sun 10/22 at Rosita’s, but I think for that to happen, someone else will have to take the reins. Email me (whats4dinnersolutions at live dot com) and let me know if you can, otherwise I’m afraid time is not on my side right now and I’ll do a poor job of juggling all the pieces to make it happen.


This Week’s Fall Menus

by 8:56 pm. It has 35 Comments.

JeffreyW makes a yummy pot roast

I’ve been running to keep up with things and it looks like that is going to continue until the holidays, but I want to try and continue with the weekly menus. Here is the first of our October’s menus. I will do my best to keep this up…

Monday is my favorite Taco Salad and Tuesday is a super easy Creamy Chicken.

Full menus are here: October Menus 1

Wednesday features a Slow-Cooker Pot Roast and a sweet Ice Cream Delight for dessert.

JeffreyW makes Gumbo

Finally, Thursday is an easy Gumbo and Creole Salad and Friday is kid favorite Chili-Mac. 

The week’s shopping list can be found here: October Weekly Shopping List 1  Remember it’s color-coordinated so you can eliminate any items from recipes you aren’t using.

In honor of Friday the 13th, this week’s bonus recipe is Bewitched Roasted Squash and Apple Soup, below.

That’s it for this week. What’s on your menu for the weekend? What’s tasty in your kitchen tonight?

Tonight’s bonus recipe:

This is based on a recipe sent to me. I punched it up a bit. The first thing I did was roast the squash to help bring some depth to the dish. I added a little heat and finished with a splash of lemon juice to brighten everything when it was done. I don’t think of it as a stand-alone soup (like my very favorite Tomato-Spinach soup – next week’s bonus recipe), but I think it would work well as a first course in any meal.

Bewitched Roasted Butternut Squash and Spiced Apple Soup

  • 4 medium butternut squash, halved and seeded
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 large apples – tart works well, but I used my neighbor’s backyard apples which worked great
  • 1 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 12 cups (3 quarts) water or vegetable broth
  • splash of lemon juice

baking dish, dutch oven or large saucepan

Put about 1/4 inch of water in the baking dish, put squash face down and roast at 375 degrees until it is easy to put a fork through the skin. Turn over and continue roasting until tender and squash are golden brown. About 30-40 minutes. You can turn the heat up after you flip them to brown them, if desired. Remove to cool.

Meanwhile, core and slice apples into about 1 inch pieces. No need to peel or get fancy with the dicing since this is a puréed soup. Melt butter in the saucepan, add apple, onions and sauté until apples are soft and onions are golden. Add spices and coat the apple mixture. Scrape squash from skins and add to the apples, add water or broth. You can use chicken broth, but to keep it vegetarian I used vegetable broth. Let simmer for 30 minutes, purée until smooth, heat an additional 5-10 minutes, adding water if necessary and add a splash of lemon juice just before serving.

You can use a blender or hand blender to purée the mixture. If you use a blender, add a couple of ladles of soup to the blender, cover and blend slowly to start, to keep the mixture from expanding too much. I’ve seen hot liquid blow the lid off…you don’t want that. Blend in small batches. With a hand blender, keep it immersed and again blend slowly, to avoid splattering the hot liquid.





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Friday Evening Open Thread

by 7:47 pm. It has 190 Comments.

Here’s a bloom on our turmeric plant:

Nice, huh?

We’re chowing down on Italian sausage, peppers and onions on a roll with mustard, accompanied by potato salad. And waiting for the Astros-Yanks game to come on. Go Astros! You?

PS: “Mustard Pee” would be a great band name.


Just Saying – Open Thread

by 4:23 pm. It has 231 Comments.

A number of commenters have said that Trump’s behavior makes them afraid. His behavior is, in many ways, frightening. He is spiteful and ignorant and willing to use the power of his position in destructive ways.

But he wants us to be afraid. Fearful people are more malleable. That is part of his schtick, and part of why he thinks he is a good negotiator. He uses fear.

So we need to get past that fear and figure out ways to deal with him and the problems he is causing.

My mother always used to tell me to “Whistle a Happy Tune.” It’s stuck with me.

Corny, I know, and we can complain about colonialism, but I’ve found that the song, out of its context, helps. Open thread.





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The Battle for Kirkuk Has Begun!

by 1:32 pm. It has 112 Comments.

Three weeks ago, in the run up to the independence referendum called by Masoud Barzani, I wrote:

One of the major issues in play here is who controls Kirkuk. When my teammates and I conducted our tribal study and social history in 2008, with in depth interviews of over 50 sheikhs, imams, political, and business leaders in central Iraq (predominantly from Mada’ain Qada, but also including interviewees from across Baghdad Province, and a few from Diyala and Wassit Provinces) Kurdish independence was only brought up by about five or six of our interview subjects. But when it was brought up we were told that any attempt to declare an independent Kurdistan, especially if the attempt included taking Kirkuk, would be unacceptable. We were specifically told by several sheikhs that this was one issue that would unite Sunni and Shi’a Iraqi Arabs and could lead to an Iraqi-Arab versus Iraqi-Kurdish civil war.

The Iraqi army launched an operation to retake Kurdish-held positions around the disputed oil city of Kirkuk on Friday amid a bitter row with the Kurds over a vote for independence last month.

A senior Kurdish official said thousands of heavily armed fighters had been deployed to resist the offensive “at any cost” and called for international intervention with the federal government in Baghdad to prevent the confrontation worsening.

The Iraqi army and the Kurdish peshmerga have been key allies of the US-led coalition in its fight against the Islamic State (IS) group and the threat of armed clashes between them poses a major challenge for Western governments.

Ethnically divided but historically Kurdish-majority Kirkuk is one of several regions that peshmerga fighters took over from the Iraqi army in 2014 when the jihadists swept through much of northern and western Iraq.

Baghdad is bitterly opposed to Kurdish ambitions to incorporate the oil-rich province in its autonomous region in the north and has voiced determination to take it back.

Al Jazeera reports:

“Thousands of heavily armed peshmerga units are now completely in their positions around Kirkuk,” a top aide to KRG President Masoud Barzani posted on social media on Friday.

“Their order is to defend at any cost,” Hemin Hawrami wrote on Twitter.

The Iraqi Kurdish/Iraqi Arab civil war has begun. This was both predictable (see my September post) and preventable. No one was so naive as to think that the Iraqi Kurds would not declare independence when the fight against ISIS was over. Everyone knew it would happen. Doing it now was just strategically stupid. It will divert attention and resources allowing ISIS to regroup. It will provide openings for the Russian and Iranian backed Assad government to advance their interests. The US led coalition against ISIS is facing a strategic nightmare: a civil war among their host country allies.


The President’s Speech on Iran and the JCPOA: Live Stream

by 12:47 pm. It has 214 Comments.

Regardless of what the President says, Iran is in formal or technical compliance with the agreement. The result of today’s remarks will be to further muddle US strategic communication, to further irk and annoy US allies who are parties to this agreements, to irritate Iran, and to punt the whole thing to Congress. It will be up to Congress to decide if they impose new sanctions that force Iran out of the deal. Or if they just change the law so the President doesn’t get upset that he has to recertify that Iran is in compliance every 90 days. This last one is the real issue. The President just doesn’t want to do it. And it makes him upset and angry when he has to do so. Whether Congress would do so or is even able to do so give the dysfunction within the GOP majorities in both chambers is another matter entirely.

Open thread!


Another One for the “Ivanka Privately Opposed” File

by 11:25 am. It has 181 Comments.

Trump — a leering, thrice-married degenerate who used to invade dressing rooms to ogle underage beauty pageant contestants and is on tape bragging about sexually assaulting random women — is addressing the Values Voter Summit today. But let’s beg Irony to come down from the ledge because the organization running this shindig, the Family Research Council, is actually a hate group, so it all makes perfect sense.

Via BuzzFeed’s David Mack, here’s a sample of the swag the “Values Voters” receive before hearing the orange shart-cannon’s remarks:

The pamphlet makes the case that hordes of promiscuous gay people are endangering public health by spreading STDs. This may be the one topic Trump could address with authority since he once said STD avoidance was his “personal Vietnam.”

Walking Jack T. Chick tract Roy Moore is also addressing the assembled hypocrites. That the event won’t end with a precision meteor strike is further proof of an amoral universe, in my book. Open thread!


CSR thoughts this morning

by 8:19 am. It has 41 Comments.

Okay, I’m trying to process and think through the next week on Cost Sharing Reduction news. Here is what I am expecting:

    • Lawyers and lots of them doing lawyer things in a lot of court rooms
    • Well capitalized insurers in states that planned ahead for no CSR to practice their Scrooge McDuck dives
  • Every health plan actuary to report to the company health clinic to receive a central line for a caffeine drip
  • Talk about some insurers pulling out of the Exchange
    • I think the mechanics of not selling plans in 2018 are far easier legally than mid-year termination
  • Some states attempting emergency rate re-filings

Anyone who is telling you that they know for sure what will happen is either blowing smoke up your ass or disclosing insider information.





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State choices for CSR ramifications

by 7:01 am. It has 15 Comments.

This is a tentative/preliminary inventory of how states are planning to deal with the non-payment of Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) subsidies.  If you find out more, please e-mail me or leave it in comments

The data is here:





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This Name Seems Familiar

by 6:39 am. It has 52 Comments.

There’s some guy named David Anderson writing in the NY Times about the ACA and he seems to know what he is talking about.

I bet he is friends with that Richard Mayhew fucker who used to write here.

Congrats!





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On the Road and In Your Backyard

by 5:00 am. It has 14 Comments.

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

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Early Morning Open Thread: Roy Moore — Take the Money & Sc(r)am?

by 3:59 am. It has 87 Comments.

Huntsville, Alabama news station WHNT:

The Republican Senate Nominee Roy Moore was the keynote speaker Thursday night at the Madison County Liberty Gala. It was his first major public appearance since several news stories broke this week involving his personal and campaign finances.

Most notably, the Washington Post ran a story about him taking more than a million dollars in undisclosed money from a charity, later run by Moore’s wife.

Moore was scheduled to speak to reporters after the speech, but we got word just about an hour before his address that Moore was not going to be taking any questions.

No reason was given for why that was canceled.

Moore did not directly address any of the controversies that surrounded his campaign but did say, he’s been accused of things he has not done…

Urban cynic that I am, I begin to suspect that ol’ Judge Moore had settled happily into a quasi-legitimate semi-retirement grift until the unexpected success of a certain Donald Trump roiled up the rubes all across thisyere great nation. What with a Godless fella like Trump getting his face and philosophy all over the tee-vee, suddenly doing a trickle of expense-account speaking gigs while his family cashed steady checks for their talent at being related to Judge Moore just didn’t seem… sufficient for God’s devoted servant.

Then the WaPo struck again — “Charity once led by Roy Moore has listed its headquarters for sale, a move that could bring him $540,000 windfall”:

… The 1850s-era building was put on the market in April for nearly $1.9 million by Moore’s wife, Kayla, now president of the charity, said Ed Fleming, the listing agent for the property. Fleming said Kayla Moore and her husband were “thinking of moving and retiring” at the time.

“I deal with Kayla. She made the decision,” he said.

The circumstances of the listing add to questions swirling around the charity and more than $1 million in compensation for Roy Moore while he was working part time from 2007 to 2012. Kayla Moore took over as president in 2013, earning $65,000 a year.

On Wednesday, The Washington Post revealed that the nonprofit group, the Foundation for Moral Law, agreed to pay Moore $180,000 in annual salary, far more than the charity reported paying him in most of those years, and to honor the agreement even in years it did not have enough in contributions.

Moore was given a promissory note for back pay in 2011, tax filings and mortgage documents show, the first public indication that his annual compensation surpassed what had been reported. The note, backed by a second mortgage on the building that serves as the charity’s headquarters, was eventually worth $540,000, mortgage records show.

Kayla and Roy Moore declined multiple requests for interviews…
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