Afternoon Thread

Busy with some things.

Don't Believe Everything You Read On The Internet

I think email forwards have been forgotten. Before "social media" and really the internet generally there was dumb shit that people forwarded over email.

It wasn't so different.

Morning Thread

Monday. Bah!

Sunday Night

I don't even hate Bon Jovi (local boy, sorta) but this video suddenly made me mad.



One free subscription to whoever figures out why!

Freedum

Had this chat with a couple of other smug people in similar situations earlier, and the while so much marketing involves convincing us that cars make us free, I am so thankful that I actually don't need one for my daily life. Sure cars are useful things and sure I rent them sometimes (carshares or actual rentals) and of course late at night I grab a taxi sometimes but I can get by without them daily and I would pay a lot for that privilege. As much as people pay to own them, at least.

Elder Care

I am of that age when my peers are dealing with elder care issues and wow is it a nightmare. The sad fact is that as some point our bodies and minds start to fail us and other people have to step in. That there is no simple comprehensive system dealing with that - even an imperfect one - is tragic. It becomes a full time job for those people who care and can at least try, and if not...

Afternoon Thread

enjoy

It's Ok If Vegetarians Aren't Perfect

I used to be more dumb about this stuff, but really if your friends have any dietary restrictions (not limited to being vegetarian) they don't have to be perfect and you shouldn't interrogate them about this stuff. Their dietary restrictions - for whatever reason - are not passing judgment on you (unless they say so) and they'd really rather have a meal without being asked about it. Related is getting mad at fat people for being fat and then being weird about how they try to navigate a diet without being a recluse. Meals are a social thing and demanding people diet is demanding they violate social customs.

Many vegetarians eat a piece of chicken occasionally. Let it go. Eating is a fundamental human need and whatever choices people make they don't want to be asked about them constantly.

I am not a vegetarian.

Happy Hour Thread

May be abbreviated so get your happy on!

Brexited

I appreciate the change of subject but it's a bit funny that after years of being about nothing else the UK political conversation has sort of abandoned Brexit. Sure there is talk in the context of the Tory leadership contest (aka the Prime Minister Election) but they are all totally full of shit about it and there is no real talk. There is no renegotiation with the EU. May's "deal" is, give or take a few commas, the "hardest possible Brexit." Nobody knows what's going to happen and no one really talks about it anymore.

Summer In The City

They don't open for long enough but I am always amazed when I go past a city public pool. We built these things that people can just use?

Morning Thread

Paul Rebmann has his newsletter up. Click through for his photos of wildflowers and achieve your morning Zen. Best way to start the day.

Dinner Thread

Tuna fish salad sandwich with a vine ripened tomato. Yum.

Solidarity

I don't think conservative rule hastens the revolution, or that heightening the contradictions automatically leads to better things, but at least it helps to provide a bit of unity to the opposition. I think liberalish people become more hardened to liberal positions than they would have otherwise during the Bush years. And, sadly, softened on some during the Obama years.

The flip side is that it was and is a thing to say that WE CAN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT DEMOCRATS. Yelling at them is always the role of activists. You know who really complains about Democrats? The rich people they talk to every day.

Wow They Are Bad

Obviously none of this is about MEEE, really, but I gotta blog and wow is it hard sometimes. How many ways can you point out that Sarah Sanders is a big horrible liar and also Trump is bad too?

I still maintain that the Bush years were worse (so far) for many reasons, but they did at least fake running a real administration. Criticizing that required a bit of nuance. Sometimes at least. But now it's just LOL DONALD TRUMP IS PRESIDENT DID YOU SEE HIM ON TEEVEE.

Lunch Thread

enjoy

Democracy. Whisky. Sexy.

Weird but dangerous people.

Trump is the symptom of the Republican Party’s turn toward illiberalism, not its cause; even before Trump ran for president, some Republican elites were plotting to diminish the political power of minorities and enhance those of white voters. Whatever their disagreements, the leaders of both the populist and establishment wings of the Republican Party have concluded that they cannot be allowed to lose power simply because a majority of American voters do not wish them to wield it. The president speaks of imprisoning his political rivals and his voters cheer. He valorizes political violence and his followers take note. His attorneys argue both that Congress cannot investigate criminality in the executive branch, and that the president has the authority to end criminal investigations into himself or his allies, while ordering them against his opponents. Trump’s supporters exult in the head of state attacking private citizens who demand equal rights, then wave the banner of free speech exclusively in defense of expressions of bigotry. In the end, Trump will dictate the course of his party on these matters, and his base will do whatever he gives them license to do. Writers like French and Ahmari cannot shape this course, they can only argue about it after the fact.

Thread

Enjoy

Congratulations Sarah Sanders

After your much hard work not actually doing anything except maybe whispering in Maggie's ear the Harvard IOP welcomes you with a 7 figure fellowship.

Afternoon Thread

Enjoy

Pay Me

I don't begrudge media outlets for landing on the strategy of asking readers to pay them, but it has ruined the internet. There is nothing you can link anymore which isn't behind some sort of paywall, or blocks your adblocker, or has annoying popovers. And this would be ok in concept if any of them managed to keep you logged in but somehow they don't even if you do pay.

Infrastructure Week

She's so corrupt there's nothing we can do!

House Democrats are poised to launch an investigation into the Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao over allegations that she used her position to advance the interests of her family and her husband’s political career.

But even as some members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee say such a probe is inevitable, other Democratic lawmakers have expressed doubts about whether the current evidence is sufficient to warrant it, according to three lawmakers with direct knowledge of the conversations that have taken place over the last several days. And some lawmakers who spoke to The Daily Beast expressed unease—at this time—to call out the secretary for fear that doing so would impact their ability to advance infrastructure projects in their home districts.

There wasn't even ever an infrastructure week.