Relaxing Room #2

Tony Thompson

A social space for people to chit-chat, post links, and stay in touch. First time commenters will have their comments automatically sent into moderation (I’m keeping an eye on moderated comments so I can quickly approve them though). After that, you can post whenever you want.

This space will be moderated. There will be zero tolerance of any sort of bigotry: no ableism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, misogyny, racism, or any other form of bigotry. I want this to be a welcoming area for people who need somewhere to kick their metaphorical feet up and chill.

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Relaxing Room #2

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188 thoughts on “Relaxing Room #2”

  3. Lynna
    3

    This is a good roundup of the Republican failure(s) to understand the deal with Iran.
    Slate link

    A few excerpts:

    1. North Korea. In all three hearings, Kerry explained how the inspection and verification measures in the Iran deal are designed to rectify flaws that led to the failure of the North Korean nuclear agreement. He spent much of his opening statement outlining these differences. This made no impression. When the Senate held its next hearing a week later, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presiding Republican, dismissed the Iran agreement with a quip: “How did that North Korean deal work out for you?”

    2. Israel. […] Republicans point to criticism from Israel. But they seem more interested in the rhetoric of Israeli politicians than in the judgments of Israeli security experts. At the July 23 hearing, Kerry read from an article that quoted supportive statements about the deal from the former leaders of two Israeli intelligence agencies. Republicans batted the quotes away. […]

    3. The IAEA’s “secret deal.” Kerry and Moniz have repeatedly explained that the International Atomic Energy Agency, which enforces nuclear conduct agreements, publicly evaluates each country’s compliance but keeps some details about inspection logistics private. […] Republicans, having shrugged at this policy for decades, are suddenly outraged. Many of them seem to think the Obama administration is colluding with Iran and the IAEA.[…]

    Kerry’s clarification should have settled the matter. But it didn’t. The next day, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma grilled Kerry:

    Inhofe: Secretary Rice [sic] said she has seen the deal with the IAEA. … Did you see it at the same time, or prior to the time, that Secretary Rice saw it?
    Kerry: Senator, National Security Adviser Rice has not seen it.
    Inhofe: Well she said she did yesterday …
    Kerry: No. She has been briefed on it. I had—I gave her exact quote to Congressman Poe. … She has been briefed on it but has not actually seen it.
    Inhofe: OK, I will give you her quote and make sure it is in the record here. … “She said six days ago she had seen it and reviewed it, and that Congress will get to see it in a classified session.”
    Kerry: Senator, you are quoting Congressman Poe, and—
    Inhofe: Who is quoting her. This is quotation marks.

    [insert Lynna’s head-desk moment here.]

    4. EMPs.[…] Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked Moniz about a 2008 commission report on EMPs, electromagnetic pulses, which could be triggered by nuclear detonations and could knock out the U.S. power grid. Moniz […] told Johnson that he was unfamiliar with the report but that “if you look at our Quadrennial Energy Review published in April, we do identify EMP as a risk to transformers, and we are beginning to try to work up a response to that.”

    In the hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas used this exchange to portray Moniz as an idiot:

    Cruz: You told the United States Senate you hadn’t read the congressionally mandated commission on EMPs and that you didn’t know what an EMP was. […]

    More head-desk moments …
    It gets worse as the summary of the hearings continues. Republicans seem stubbornly unaware that seven countries took part in the negotiations, and they obnoxiously misunderstand testimony. The obnoxious guys are not fit to govern.

  7. Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
    7

    Oh, here you are. I go out for the morning and when I get back there’s a whole new thread.

    Anyway, I drove the Elder Daughter to the So Cal Bluebird Club meeting this morning – it’s farther than I’ve driven in several years, 46 miles round trip and mostly on the horrible scary 5 freeway. Nothing like looking at the speedometer and discovering that you’re doing 80 mph and still being passed on both sides, eep.

    But we survived, the rest of the drivers survived (as far as I could tell), ED got to spend social time with other birders, and I proved I could drive to south county and back again. Maybe next weekend I’ll go driving by myself, which I used to do all the time before I got phobic about leaving our immediate area, sigh.

  10. Nightjar
    10

    So I had to google that Karen Anderson Animal Communicator person, because I didn’t even know this “animal communicator” thing existed. (And yes, I should be working instead.)

    From her site:

    Connecting you with all animals
    Living or deceased…

    And your departed
    human loved ones…

    Living animals! Dead animals! Dead people! And all of this over the phone! But you need to cooperate with the cold rea-, sorry, I mean you have to cooperate with the energy connecting process.

    If I feel I’m being tested I will end the session immediately. So please, don’t waste my time.

    Don’t withhold information – This is a form of testing.

    Not responding to the messages is a form of testing.

    Please don’t do that either.

    When you hear a message it’s polite to respond as to whether or not you understand how it applies to you.

    Heh.

    She’s a reader alright. Just not of who she claims to read.

  12. Rawnaeris
    12

    Humans suck. Buzzfeed, CNN, USAToday etc are reporting that Cecil the lion’s brother Jericho was poached yesterday, days or less from when the researches had released the information that Jericho was protecting Cecil’s cubs.

    Fucking poachers. Fucking humans.

  13. Nightjar
    13

    Tony, I have no idea! I can’t see her FB page.

    Rawnaeris,

    Oh fuck. That’s… I can’t even find the words. Why? What the fuck is wrong with people?

  14. Lynna
    14

    I just realized that cicely sent a “pounce hug” my way on one of the previous pages of this thread. Love that. I hug you back as much and as often as is allowed.

    Sorry to have posted so much head-desk prompting news, but that’s the way it is right now. As others have noted, the interrogation of Kerry and his team is especially irritating (regarding the Iran deal). So much stupidity on display by Congress Critters!

    In more head-desking news, the governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback, just signed sweeping legislation that will negatively affect the LBGT community. The Kansas bill is one of those Republican “religious freedom” bills that actually aims to enshrine discrimination.

    […] WHEREAS, the recent imposition of same sex marriage by the United States Supreme Court poses potential infringements on the civil right of religious liberty; […]

    NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Kansas, I hereby order and direct as follows:

    General protection of the free exercise of religious beliefs and moral convictions

    The State Government is prohibited from taking any action inconsistent with the restrictions placed upon the State Government by the United States Constitution, or the Kansas Constitution, or the Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act, against any individual clergy, religious leader, or religious organization on the basis that such person or organization believes or sincerely acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.

    Specific protections for persons and religious organizations

    (a) The State Government shall not take any discriminatory action against any individual clergy or religious leader on the basis that such individual declines or will decline to perform, solemnize, or facilitate any marriage, based upon or consistent with the individual’s sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction described in Section 1.

    (b) The State Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a religious organization, including those providing social services, wholly or partially on the basis that such organization declines or will decline to solemnize any marriage or to provide services, accommodations, facilities, goods, or privileges for a purpose related to the solemnization, formation, celebration or recognition of any marriage, based upon or consistent with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction described in Section 1.

    (c) The State Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a religious organization that provides social services or charitable services, which acts or intends to act upon sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction described in Section 1. […]

    I predict this new Kansas law will not fare well in the courts. Here we are, fighting the same battle over and over. Commentary from Chris Reeves:

    […] Because the government equates providing services with “accommodations, facilities, goods or priveleges” we get into a VERY tricky area. Many hospitals and emergency trauma centers throughout the state exist as religiously held entities. The nearest hospital to me, in Overland Park, as an example is 7th Day Adventist. Nearby, a Catholic Hospital also exists – both intake emergency (911) care.

    Link

  15. Lynna
    15

    A fourth heavily-edited video has been released by the doofuses who are trying to discredit Planned Parenthood.

    The Center for Medical Progress’ fourth attempt to smear Planned Parenthood — by using deceptively-edited videos to falsely claim clinics are “negotiating a fetal body parts deal” — once again falls flat, providing no evidence that any laws were broken. Transcript of the full, undoctored footage reveals staff at a Planned Parenthood Colorado affiliate simply discussing legal reimbursements for safe donations, and reveals that the undercover actors admitted they were the “middlemen” who stood to potentially make a profit from selling tissue — not Planned Parenthood itself.

    http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/07/30/the-fourth-video-attacking-planned-parenthood-i/204693

  16. Lynna
    16

    Slate editors are asking for help to diagram a sentence uttered by Donald Trump.

    Here’s the challenging sentence:

    Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, okay, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, okay, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you’re a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.

    Maybe Sarah Palin can diagram that mess.

  19. cicely
    19

    FossilFishy these days, all of my +pouncehugs+—however exuberant—must be executed with a cautious eye to The Agony Of The Knees.
    Of which I have an unmatched pair, in that, while they suck donkey dongs in hell (to borrow a phrase), they each are possessed of different techniques for donkey-dong-sucking.
    As it were.
     
    Try visualizing the +pouncehugs+ as being done in Matrix bullet-time, allowing for maneuvering on the receiving end.
     
    You may even opt to receive them in bullet-time, for a lower-impact +pouncehugging+ experience. Happier Less-unhappy knees for everyone!
    ….
    Attack chihuahuas are worse.
    ….
    awakeinmo!
    +pouncehug+
    ….
    ….
    Assorted comics.
    ….
    Tony!:
    A comic by Ta-Nehisi Coates, you say?
    “Shut up and take my money!!!”
    ….
    Well done on the distance driving, Anne, Cranky Cat Lady!
    ….
    Lynna, I don’t reckon that +pouncehugs+ ever go stale.
    🙂
    ….

  24. Tony!
    24

    I’m looking at it now, and where you went wrong is that you closed the tag after the word ‘testing’, rather than after ‘link’.

  27. Phalacrocorax (@00burd)
    27

    It works! Yay! Before I continue, I think I should come clean and say that I post as dõki in Pharyngula. I used this nym Phalacrocorax a couple years ago, but I didn’t do anything more noteworthy with it than annoying PZ by playing with rot messages with chas/sven at the TZT.

    I also must confess that, despite what I said in the Pharyngula thread, in the end I think I did manage to catch up with the most important things that happened in the last couple months. Oh dear…

    On another note, hi there!

  28. cicely
    28

    Tony!, as far as I recall, I didn’t put anything after “testing”.
    +shaking head in confusion+
    ….
    Hi, Phalacrocorax; Welcome In!
    I believe the Questionnaire is currently under review (for length and general lack of cheese).
    ….

  35. Beatrice
    35

    Hey, Improbable Joe. To me these threads only seem to move too fast when I’m not around or when I’m too tired/busy/something to follow.
    When it’s a Sunday morning (european time) they always move too slow 🙂

  38. bluentx
    38

    Definitely ‘threadrupt !!!
    Thanks rq for the email and thanks Tony for remembering a sporadic poster (me) in you roster of ‘have they been contacted’. It’s SO NICE to be remembered.
    Limited Internet access at the moment (still trying to process this situation).

    Hope all here are well ….. and not giving up on some inexplicable benefits (until further clinical trials)……

    *Hugs offered if needed and/or acceptable *

    —-bluentx

  40. rq
    40

    FYI Tony I actually emailed you via yahoo instead of FB, if you’ve caught up, because work. (If you’ve already checked email, forgive me the extra vigilance!)

  41. giliell
    41

    Hello FossilFishy, and WMKkitty, and phalacrocorax, and awakeinmo, and bluentx and whoever I just forgot.

    YOB

    Her general response to me making such requests is usually “Don’t spend money on that. Make it yourself.”

    That’s how I learned sewing. Because as a highschool student and young college student, custom made was way out of affordable. By now I totally know that the prices charged are absolutely adequate, because I know how much work it is.
    THat’s one of the reasons why I decided against making my passion my job: people don’t want to pay you for waht it’s actually worth and waht you need to charge if you make a living with this. And I don’t want to kill the market for professionals by offering stuff for “pocket money” prices because I don’t need to pay my own health insurance and stuff

    Whisky
    Some weeks ago we had a discussion about whisky in which I mentioned that Laphroig tastes like “liking out the hearth after a peat fire.” Mr. objected with “but I like Laphroig”. WEll, I never said I didn’t…

  42. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    42

    Giliell
    Yeah, I learned to sew cause I couldn’t afford pre-made LARP costumes. Due to time and expense, I generally like to buy base pieces then mod/add to that. Plus, I’m terrible at making hats so I have to buy those for sure.

  44. Beatrice
    44

    Jesus fucking god damned christ. This plane was flying way too low. Sounded like it was flying straight into my building.
    Could we please cut this shit out?

  45. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    45

    Help me, math nerds. Your my only hope.

    Got a math question I’m hoping the group can help me with (since I completely suck at math.)

    I have a deck of 109 cards. Each card can be one of three different types. i need to figure out the distribution of card types for the deck.

    I guess I need a formula to determine the probability of drawing a particular type, where I can plug in different ratios so I can fine tune the deck.

    There will (I think) be more type A than (B+C) where B and C are the same amount.

    Does that make sense? Is that enough info?

    .
    .
    I’m kind of avoiding Boardgamegeek right now, so I can’t really post it there.

  46. rq
    46

    YOB
    (21 x 3) + 2 = 64 A
    21 + 1 = 22 B
    21 + 1 = 22 C
    (if working with fifths)

    15 x 4 + 3 = 63 A
    22 + 1 = 23 B
    22 + 1 = 23 C
    (if working with sevenths)

    12 x 5 + 1 = 61 A
    24 = B
    24 = C
    (if working with ninths)

    -> This is using your formula, where A > (B+C), just dividing into odd-numbered fractions and using the ‘major half’ (e.g. 3/5 or 4/7) for A and figuring from there. 🙂

  48. giliell
    48

    beatrice
    My sympathies. I live in one of the few areas in the world where fighter planes can fly without many restrictions, a direct result of having waged and lost WWII.

    YOB
    Well, depends on your ration, doesn’t it?
    Say you want card A to be twice as likely as B and B as likely as C.
    That’s A = 2 times B/C
    If you want A to be 1.5 times as likely as B or C, change accordingly.
    Now, your total is 109
    It’s composed of 1.5 X A + B +C
    109= 1.5X A + B +C where A = B = C = Y
    109 = 3.5 X Y
    Y= 109/3.5

  53. AlexanderZ
    53

    Hello everyone and hugs galore,

    Beatrice
    That military parade looks like a Communist heritage. It’s funny – Israel is much more militarized, but it has less parades than any of the former Communist countries.
    Hang in there and be glad that at least you’re not in Moscow – Russians have a parade for almost every week since many days are designated as a Day of Something (currently it’s Airborne Forces Day).

    Anne

    And yes, we saw birds during our drive, a red-tailed hawk, a raven, and crows, mostly.

    Seeing the red-tailed hawk and hearing its scream is one of the top things on my “must do before I die” list. Right there next to swimming with a dolphin and taking a bath in a hot spring with a Japanese monkey (I’ll even agree to do the whole delousing thing with them. It doesn’t seem to bother Jane Goodall much).
    Needless to say, you’re so lucky to have seen them during your drive.

    ===

    Speaking of Russia.
    Russian police detain activists rallying in defense of gay rights:

    Police in St. Petersburg have briefly detained several gay activists, who have held pickets in defense of gay rights on a Russian military holiday.
    Police on Sunday rounded up Yuri Gavrikov, the leader of a gay rights group, as he left his home to hold a one-man picket in front of the Hermitage Museum.
    Several other gay activists, who held individual pickets on the square, were assailed by veterans of Russian Airborne Forces, who tore up their posters. Police quickly took the gay activists away.
    Paratroopers gathered in many Russian cities to mark the Airborne Forces Day on Sunday.
    Russia has been widely criticized for infringement on gay rights following the passage of a law that prohibits vaguely defined “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” to minors.

  54. Nightjar
    54

    Birds

    Also envious of the red-tailed hawk sighting! Me, I saw a red kite some months ago and was in awe. Nowadays they are rare around here and I had never seen one before, so it was special.

    On the smaller, passerine side of birds… I’d like to introduce you all to the zitting cisticola (or streaked fantail warbler). I’ve been chasing this little bird around for years, literally. I see them often, but they are so difficult to photograph for some reason. That photo from July I just linked to may be the best I managed to date, but I’m still not satisfied with it. Will keep chasing it!

    Cats

    So, I mentioned a while back that I have a new kitten. An adorable female brown tabby from an abandoned litter that I helped two kids rescue in early June. I was walking home, earphones on, thinking about bacteria and enzymes and how many days I had left to finish writing my thesis… when I noticed two kids looking apprehensively into the street gutter. I stopped and approached them: they had heard meowing coming from a draining pipe and were trying to get the kittens out, but with little success. The poor things were scared, mom wasn’t around. They were dumped there, I’m almost sure. After a few tries and with my help we finally got them all out of the pipe. Three kittens. One of the boys said “we’re three and they’re three, if each one of us adopts one they will all have a home!” Indeed. I told them that if their parents didn’t let them keep the kittens to bring them to me again so that I could find them another home. Then I allowed them to pick the ones they wanted and brought the other one with me.

    Some photos here. She’s impish and talkative, always trying to destroy something while meowing like she means it.

  55. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    55

    [Squeeee] Java is sooo cute, Nightjar. Mia looks almost exactly like our cat, Fred. I mean like freaky alike.

    Sadly, Fred has not been seen for 9 days now. We have come to terms with the idea that he is probably gone for good. We knew that there was risk involved letting him come in/out but he absolutely hated hated hated being cooped up in the house.

    So, as of 2 hours ago, we now have a new family member… McMuffin the Guinea Pig. (Pics to come in a day or so, after he’s acclimated.)

  57. Tony!
    57

    Nightjar:
    Little kitteh is adorable.
    There’s a part of me that wishes I lived on a farm (or at least had a big enough home) so that I could adopt a lot of cats. I’d be ‘Cat Man’. Probably ‘Dog Guy’ too, if I had that much space.
    And it was so nice that one of the kids thought each of you should take a kitten.

  58. Tony!
    58

    AlexanderZ:
    One of the things on my bucket list is to swim with the dolphins. Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine. I’ve long had a fascination with dolphins.

  59. barkeeperin
    59

    Tony:

    “There’s a part of me that wishes I lived on a farm (or at least had a big enough home) so that I could adopt a lot of cats. I’d be ‘Cat Man’. Probably ‘Dog Guy’ too, if I had that much space.”

    My wife and I have long said that if we ever won one of those big lottery jackpots, we would buy some land and open a no-kill dog shelter (once our other bills were paid and the kids’ college funds were set up).

    As an aside, does < block quote > work? Or bolding, for that matter.

  62. Nightjar
    62

    YOB,

    So sorry to hear about Fred. Maybe there’s still hope. My first cat ever, Puma, went missing for over 20 days once, we never figured out why. He showed up skinny, scarred, and probably sick. We fed and cared for him and he looked like he was getting better… but then he started losing weight again and we couldn’t save him. More recently (and with a happier ending), my cousin’s cat Zuri went missing for 5 days. She came back looking very distressed and covered in dirt, they still don’t know what happened, but she’s fine now.

    I used to have Guinea Pigs too! Can’t wait to see McMuffin’s photos.

    Tony,

    Yeah. I never had dogs because I never felt like I had enough space. And I don’t have a lot of space indoors so I try to keep the number of cats below 3 or 4.

    Those two kids were awesome. They were really concerned with the kittens’ well-being and very upset at the thought of someone just abandoning them like that. “Why would anyone do this?” Well. How do you even answer that. I tried to make a point about the importance of neutering cats, hoping they will pass this information along to their parents…

  63. Rawnaeris
    63

    I can vouch for the awesomeness of swimming with dolphins. Though in my case it was more, “get in the shallow part of their pool and squeal with glee when they would beach next to me” than actually swimming. It was at an aquarium somewhere in Florida during family vacation when I was little. Swore up and down for years that I wanted to be a dolphin trainer after that.

    <<<<>>>>

    Major certification exam at work tomorrow. I have more than one chance to pass it, but I’m competitive and Husband already passed it first try months ago. It’s for promotions and the ability to telework.

  64. cicely
    64

    rq, the reason for burying Horse skulls under the floor and dancing on it, is in the hope that They would rest quiet…instead of demonically possessing the townspeople.
    Obviously.
    This could be the origin of the saying, “I’ll dance on Your grave when you’re gone”.
    ….
    bluentx!
    +pouncehug+
    ….
    Nightjar, Java is adorable! So perky and alert-looking! Mia is also a fine figure of a feline.
    (I have a special fondness for black kittehs.)
     
    (later)

    I tried to make a point about the importance of neutering cats, hoping they will pass this information along to their parents…

    Indeed! A teachable moment, which hopefully will result in fewer unwanted kittens being abandoned in the future.
    ….
    YOB, I’m sorry about your Fred. Still…9 days isn’t necessarily The End, even in extreme weather. Our Merp-cat used to scare us witless from time to time, disappearing for up to 2 weeks—once, in the middle of a freak ice storm!—before coming back like it weren’t no thang. She lived to be something like 18 years old. I miss the cantankerous little beastie.
    ….

  66. wmdkitty
    66

    I just spent the weekend with extended family. Exhausting! But it was fun to see my birthmom and my brother (and his boyfriend), and there was a lot of good food.

    Apparently this apple didn’t fall far from the tree. My birthmom (and siblings) are all nocturnal, too! It’s not my fault I’m up all night and sleep half the day!

  68. giliell
    68

    Good morning

    Nightjar
    THat kitty is adorable

    YOB
    Thumbs are being held for your kitty

    birdspotting
    I win.
    I live next to a zoo which has a big falconery section and since the birds often fly as they wish, I get to see bald-headed eagles and all kinds of birds of prey from my balcony.

    +++
    Weirdest dream:
    I was somewhere on a holiday with lots of interesting animals. I was taking pictures when suddenly a skunk appeared and everybody and all the lidlife ran away screaming like in an old Bigs Bunny cartoon. Only that I couldn’t run away because I was lying there flat with my camera, so I kept very still as to not to anger the skunk. The skunk decided to snuggle up against my legs.
    Then the alarm rang…

  69. bragimike
    69

    Hello everyone. Welcome to all those who’ve been kind enough to join us. It’s great to see all these familiar names plus new ones.

    Quick family tale: My daughter’s been waking very early in the morning recently and we’ve had to go in and convince her to to back to sleep. Yesterday morning she woke at a reasonable time and shouted for me. The shouts becoming louder and more demanding. So I walk to her room beginning to get a little irritated at the insistence. I go in and ask her, a little shortly, what’s wrong? She says ‘I want a cuddle’. Dammit, why does she have to be so sweet?

  72. Rawnaeris
    72

    Sorry for the triple post but, gah, fucking anxiety. That exam is today and my anxiety has me on the verge of flipping out. No panic attack symptoms….yet, but it feels like a yet/when, more than an if. Which causes a feedback loop of anxiety about having a panic attack.

    Which also tells me that I need to get my dosage of my medication tweaked. Which means calling the doc, and I hate using the phone.

    Jesus, even I can see the irrational spiral in what I just wrote. 🙁

  75. Tony!
    75

    ::yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn::
    ::stretches; feeling loopy, a queer shoop shambles out of bed, wishes he drank coffee; tries to wake up::

    Hi ::yawn:: all. Morning.

  79. Tony!
    79

    YOB:
    I’m picky. Don’t care for tea either. When I was a kid, I needed a bowl of cereal and an hour or so to reach peak awakeness. Today I don’t know what the heck I need.

  82. Lynna
    82

    Some of the details about water use in California are really troubling. Mother Jones took a look at water use for golf courses, lawns and pools.

    Some golf courses recycle gray water to water their courses, but many do not.

    […] Of the thirsty nonagricultural businesses, golf takes the lead: The average Palm Springs golf course uses the same amount of water in one day that a family of four does in five years. The 123 golf courses in the Palm Springs area use nearly a quarter of the region’s groundwater. […]

    Lawns and pools also make a big impact on water use.

    Having said that, we’re still looking at about 80% agriculture use of water as opposed to 20% municipal.

  83. Lynna
    83

    Donald Trump said some stupid stuff about the Obama presidency (not news, I know), but this time he made racist comments about how Obama has ruined the hopes of other African Americans.

    […] “But why do you say that means we won’t see another black president for generations?” Karl asked Trump.

    “Because I think that he has set a very poor standard. I think that he has set a very low bar and I think it’s a shame for the African American people,” Trump said in a phone interview. “And by the way, he has done nothing for African Americans. You look at what’s gone on with their income levels. You look at what’s gone on with their youth. I thought that he would be a great cheerleader for this country. I thought he’d do a fabulous job for the African American citizens of this country.”

    “Here you have a black President who’s done very poorly for the African Americans of this country,” Trump continued.

    Trump told Karl that he believes he will win the African-American vote and Hispanic vote. […]

    Link

  84. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    84

    Trump told Karl that he believes he will win the African-American vote and Hispanic vote. […]

    There’s a common superstition among my RW/fundamentalist friends and family that you can “speak a thing into existence”.

    :/

  86. cicely
    86

    +hugs+ and encouragement for Rawnaeris.
    ….
    Morning, Tony!.
    I drink coffee solely because of work-day mornings—because it is so embarrassing to fall asleep faceplanted on the keyboard, in a spreading puddle of drool….
    ….
    Test
    A comic.
    ….

  88. Lynna
    88

    Over the weekend, at a political conference organized by the Koch Brothers where mega-donors and Republican presidential candidates rubbed elbows, Charles Koch compared his network’s influence over U.S. elections to past “freedom movements.”

    “Look at the American revolution, the anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement,” he said. “All of these struck a moral chord with the American people. They all sought to overcome an injustice. And we, too, are seeking to right injustices that are holding our country back.”

    Koch also repeatedly cited his crusade for shrinking the government as a gift to the nation’s poor, as well as his organization’s criminal justice reform push. […]

    Link

    That’s what the Koch brothers say. This is what they do:

    Support campaigns to make all states demand a voter ID at the polls — in other words, disproportionately suppress votes from the poor, people of color, the elderly, and students. Why? Those people are more likely to vote for Democrats.
    Fight against the expansion of Medicaid made possible by Obamacare. “[…] which has most harmed African Americans who live in southern states.”
    Oppose not just raising the minimum wage; oppose having a minimum wage.
    The Koch brothers host speakers who are racist.Additionally, the brothers’ past political summits have hosted speakers with explicitly racist views.
    The Kochs talk about reforming the justice system, while backing candidates that promote long jail time for nonviolent drug crimes. Private prisons are also supported.

    Maybe the Koch brothers are just confused?

  89. cicely
    89

    Tony!:

    When I was a kid, I needed a bowl of cereal and an hour or so to reach peak awakeness. Today I don’t know what the heck I need.

    Moar sleep?
    But, srsly, nothing can bring me to “peak awakeness” in the morning, but time, if wake-up time was before about 10 o’clock.
    ….

  90. barkeeperin
    90

    re Waking up in the morning:

    All through school and into my 20s, I was able to wake up roll out of bed into my clothes, and function normally. Then I hit that metabolism shift and everything went to a steaming pile of doodie. I don’t think coffee (which I didn’t start drinking until a few years ago) brings me to a peak awakeness, but it does do a good job of keeping me from falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon.

  91. Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
    91

    I just had my first cup of actual leaded coffee in quite a while. It’s supposed to help me wake up because the two large mugs of tea weren’t doing the job. Mostly, though, it was a vehicle for cocoa powder, whipped cream and nutmeg. It was delicious.

    I had a very busy weekend and wore myself out. Today is therefore a Slow Day, not counting the laundry, payings of bills and other household usefuls slayage. Also, too, I have sorted seed beads and searched online for more 11/0 silverlined cranberry a/b Delicas so I can stop hoarding the last ones I have and actually apply them to the current UFO. I found something close, which I bought, and then did more research and found exactly the ones I wanted and bought those too. I need more cranberry (or marionberry or berry) seed beads in the hoard anyway. I have no shame when it comes to shiny things.

    If anybody needs me, I’ll be napping in the pillow fort. Stupid neighbors and their stupid loud late night parties…

  93. cicely
    93

    Tony!, I hate people who think that early rising is a virtue, and that failure to rise early is a Sin.
    ….
    Can anybody recommend some sort of tracing paper or transfer paper that will let you trace over a design onto fabric, then wash out when you’re done? I’ve looked at this—or, more truthfully, I’ve looked at pictures and descriptions of it—but there does not appear to be any place in town to sell me any; and ordering it sent in seems to result in a total cost of over $10 for a single paltry sheet of something that I don’t know will even do what I need.
    ….

  94. JimB
    94

    Ugh, Monday mornings are the worst. At least the commute wasn’t horrible.

    Saturday was a nice turn-around from the difficult Fri – wife & I had anniversary dinner (22nd) at our favorite local steak house.

    Hope everyone has a good week.

  95. Tony!
    95

    Someone send out the Skeptic Signal!
    Has Bishopville’s ‘Lizard Man’ returned? Photo apparently shows fabled SC creature.

    The fabled Bishopville swamp creature known as Lizard Man appears to have surfaced again Sunday afternoon.

    Sarah, a Sumter woman who says she went to church with a friend Sunday morning, stepped out of the sanctuary to see the Lizard Man running along the tree line.

    So she did what anyone else would do — took a picture with her phone.

    “My hand to God, I am not making this up,” she wrote in an email to the ABC News 4 newsroom. “So excited!”

    She says they were just a mile or so from Scape Ore Swamp, the site of a similar spotting of what may also be the Lizard Man in May.

    A man who asked not to be identified submitted a short video of what he thought was the Lizard Man Monday morning. He said he took the video in May while coon hunting but kept its existence quiet — until he saw the reports of Lizard Man outside a church.

    “I saw your lizard man story and it’s given me the courage to send you a video I took in early May,” the man wrote. “Though my wife believes me that it’s real, she said she would be embarrassed that everyone would think I was a loon so I kept it a secret.”

    The man said he took the video in Scape Ore Swamp just off Camden Highway in Bishopville.

    In the 20-second video, the photographer ducks behind a tree as a dark figure with what appears to be a long tail walks by some 30 or 40 yards away.

    The video stops as the figure appears to turn towards the camera.

    “If you’re wondering I absolutely believe it’s real. I also don’t know if it’s the same thing you posted,” he added. “When it noticed me I high tailed it out.”

    Scape Ore Swamp is the area where most of the Lizard Man sightings over the last 30 years have been focused.

    Yes, there is quite a lot of local lore surrounding the reptilian humanoid, including the first sighting in the summer of 1988.

    Known as the Davis sighting for the witness Christopher Davis, it starts with then-17-year-old Davis stopping on a road bordering the Scape Ore Swamp to change a flat tire at 2 a.m.

    He heard noises, turned to see a 7-foot beast charging at him, so he ran for the safety of his car. The Lizard Man jumped on the roof as Davis tried to drive away.

    There were scratch marks on the roof and one of the side mirror had been damaged.

    And the legend was born.

    There have been plaster casts of the mythical beast’s claw. There have been million-dollar rewards to capture the Lizard Man alive.

    Since the first sightings in the late 1980s, the Lizard Man sightings have trailed off.

    One of the last alleged encounter with the Lizard Man came in 2011 when a Bishopville couple reported their car had been mauled overnight.

    There were teeth marks in in the metal and saliva coating several discarded parts.

    Still, there have been searches by Destination Truth and Mysteries at the Museum as recently as 2013. In a 2014 episode of Ancient Aliens, the Lizard Man was mentioned.

    The tales have been documented in a cryptozoology book titled “Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster.”

    But the creature has not been seen in more than a decade — until now, possibly creating yet another ripple in the swampy waters around Bishopville.

    Note the lack of skepticism in the story.

  98. Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
    98

    cicely, tell me what you want to do with the design once it’s on the fabric. I will see what I have in my supplies that I could share, or if maybe there’s another way to put the design on without buying something new. Like, if it’s a fairly simple embroidery design, drawing on tissue paper with a permanent marker, then embroidering through the paper and tearing/picking it away when you’re finished.

    Also, too I have access to an assortment of craft, fabric and art supply stores around here, and I would be happy to buy things on your behalf and mail them to you, if it came down to that.

    I’m going to eat lunch and have a liedown, but I’ll check back later.

  100. JimB
    100

    Someone send out the Skeptic Signal!
    Has Bishopville’s ‘Lizard Man’ returned? Photo apparently shows fabled SC creature.

    Or, it shows someone in a B-movie rubber monster suit.

    I’m probably just not being “open-minded” enough. 🙂

  101. cicely
    101

    Anne and giliell, what I want to do is transfer an outline of a luna moth onto a white tee shirt, so I can paint it with Tulip ™Puffy Paint. I have carbon paper, but that shit does not readily wash out, and I’ve never yet been able to trace anything onto any other thing with the kind of precision I’d like.
     

    In short, I’m wishing to hide the evidence of my incompetence. 🙂

  102. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    102

    JimB:
    Gratz!

    Tony:
    Re: Lizardman link
    I get the distinct vibe from that article that the author does not believe that such a creature exists, only that many people do believe. Either way, that story has the distinct aroma of onions about it.

  104. Dalillama
    104

    Hi Phalacocorax. I remember your other ‘nym from Pharyngula.
    Hi FossilFishy, WMDkitty, awakeinmo, and bluentx et al.

    AlexanderZ:

    Seeing the red-tailed hawk and hearing its scream is one of the top things on my “must do before I die” list

    Come to Oregon some time; we’ve got loads of the things. Growing up it was a rare day I didn’t see one cruising overhead or perched on a telephone pole.

    Nightjar
    I used to have a little black kitty who looked just like yours. After she had kittens, though, she started picking fights with the other cats and the dog, and we had to give her to a place where she’d be the only pet.

    YOB
    Sympathies for the missing Fred.

    Rawneris
    hugs and sympathies. If it helps, I know that spiral well.

    Lynna

    Having said that, we’re still looking at about 80% agriculture use of water as opposed to 20% municipal.

    Maybe it’s time to start shifting California’s agricultural production towards less water intensive crops then. Actually, it was time to do that before they started, but what can you do.

    Jim B
    Happy anniversary

    Or, it shows someone in a B-movie rubber monster suit.

    I’m probably just not being “open-minded” enough.

    Personally, I’m going with a monitor lizard (probably someone’s escaped pet) seen standing on its hind legs, as they are known to do.

    I was never a morning person, and the fact that my work shift starts at 5:30 PM these days doesn’t help. For me, morning ideally starts around noon.

  105. Lynna
    105

    For today’s Moment of Mormon Madness, we have a mormon father bemoaning the fact that his son does not fear and hate gays enough.

    […]

    NPR spoke to Quin Monson, a former scout, current father of a scout and a professor at Brigham Young University. Monson talked about the century of shared history between the BSA [Boy Scouts of America] and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

    “The church took the Boy Scout program and decided its values and mission aligned closely enough with that of the church’s program for young men that they just wholesale adopted it,” Monson said. “Basically, if you are a young Mormon male, you join the Boy Scouts.”

    Now, in light of the national organization’s decision to lift the ban [on gay scout leaders], the Mormon church is considering severing its ties with the BSA. […]

    Monson said, “The BSA statement allows for leaders who are openly gay and what that means in practice is, I don’t think, exactly clear. But I think that it very well could conflict with the church’s own policy which is, ‘You can identify as gay and be an active, faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.’ The problem is acting on that same-sex attraction, so there’s a distinction between actions and orientation.”

    His own son said that he fails to see the issue with allowing gay scouts and scouting leaders.

    “He’s a pretty deep thinker, and a thoughtful kid, but his reaction was, ‘Well, I don’t see why it matters, dad. Why is this such a big deal?’” said Monson.

    “That’s the hard part about all of this,” Monson said, his voice breaking, “is that it impacts a group of young men who don’t necessarily understand why.” […]

    Raw Story link

  106. Lynna
    106

    Wildfires have gotten so out of hand in California that the governor activated the National Guard to support firefighters. Frantic. Fighting the wildfires has everyone in panic and frantic mode. Big fires have been doubling in size in less than 24 hours. Excerpt from coverage in Slate:

    A new study led by a U.S. Forest Service official found that, thanks to changes in weather patterns consistent with global warming, wildfire seasons have grown longer worldwide over the last 35 years. Regions of East Africa, western North America, and the Amazon basin have shown the most pronounced gains—an increase of more than a month.

    And in the U.S., more than 1.6 million acres are currently ablaze nationwide, totaling about half the size of Connecticut. To date in 2015, fires have burned nearly 2 million more acres than the ten-year average.

    Kind of appropriate for President Obama to give a speech about addressing climate change today.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33753067

  109. Dalillama
    109

    Now that the picture actually loaded for me, that’s a rubber suit, yeah. As far as the initial report goes (the one from the 80s that started all this shit), I’d still suggest that it might have been a monitor that person saw.

  110. Rawnaeris
    110

    Thanks Giliell, YOB, Cicely, and Dalillama.

    The encouragement and +hugs+ means more than ya’ll can know. Test is over now. It’s pass/fail, so there’s no stress pass hoping I passed.
    I’m gonna go home and get some sleep, I think.

    <3 to all Ya’ll

  112. Tony!
    112

    Taking a poll on a possible new name for this area after I move to the new domain.
    Keep Relaxing Room? Or change it to:
    The Break Room
    The Speakeasy
    The Nest
    The Back Room
    or, for old times’ sake, The Lounge (maybe 2.0). Let me know folks. It’s not just my blog, This is our space.

  115. JimB
    115

    Lynna:

    Wildfires have gotten so out of hand in California that the governor activated the National Guard to support firefighters. Frantic. Fighting the wildfires has everyone in panic and frantic mode. Big fires have been doubling in size in less than 24 hours.

    Holy crap. Clearly I’ve not been paying attention. I’ve got to head north about 2 hours on Fri for a weekend activity, I should probably check if there’s going to be any issues.

    Adding “pass” thoughts for Rawnaeris.

    Tony!:

    Taking a poll on a possible new name for this area after I move to the new domain.

    I kinda like The Speakeasy.

  116. chigau
    116

    I like Relaxing Room.
    .
    maybe
    Chez Antoine
    .
    but you people will hafta put some clothes on before you come in
    .
    an least pants

  117. Biped!?
    117

    Oh, oh, oh, I just had an idea. How about we rename it Le Salon? I am all for renaming The Relaxing Room. That name sounds so clinical. 🙂

  118. Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
    118

    cicely, I have embroidery transfer paper from Sublime Stitching and some good old-fashioned dressmaker’s pattern paper, the kind used with a tracing wheel. The stuff from SS says it doesn’t wash out, so your paint would have to go over the marks. The dressmaker’s says to use a sponge to clean the marks off, which sounds hazardous to your paint.

    However, I would be happy to send you either or both to experiment with. They’ve been sitting around not being used anyway. Also, I’m going to Michael’s tomorrow for a frame, and I could see what they have, if that’d help. It’s got to be cheaper than Amazon in any case.

    Let me know if you’d like me to send you the stuff I have – my email is rubberbandwmn at sbcglobal dot net, remove asterisks before sending, etc.

  120. chigau
    120

    or for an obscure reference from the before-time (it might have been on SciBlogs)
    Under The Stairs
    some of the regulars were tearing each other to shreds and some of the others hid
    ‘under the stairs’
    it was a protopillowfort
    .
    ?How about
    The Pillow Fort
    the pillow fort within The Pillow Fort would become Fractal

  122. Tony!
    122

    I’d rather not name it after me, bc it centers the place too much on me when, as I said this isn’t my place. It’s for all of us.

  128. cicely
    128

    Tony!, I vote for Tony!’s Lounge, or Tony!’s Place.
    (later)
    Or, since you don’t want to name it after yourself, I like The Speakeasy.
    ….
    Anne, the dressmaker’s stuff sounds like tracing paper that has failed me too many times in the past; and my oopsies—which will be many, for truly, I suck at tracing—really need to be wash-away-able. I tried looking at Michaels’ on-line presence, and they disclaim any knowledge of the item I seek. I tried every crafts and fabric store I could google-up here in Springfield, and while some admit to knowing of the item, none of them keep it in stock; it still comes down to having to send out for it, and the price goes ‘way up. Hell, I even tried Hobby Lobby. No joy.
    🙁 🙁 🙁
     
    I do very much appreciate your offer of assistence, though.
    🙂
    ….

  129. Anne, Cranky Cat Lady
    129

    cicely, you said it’s a white shirt, yes? What if you drew the design on paper with a good dark pen and a thick line and tucked the paper inside the shirt? You’ll need cardboard or something to hold the shirt steady for painting anyway, so if you taped the design onto the cardboard, the lines would be visible through the fabric and could be used as a guide for the painting.

  130. cicely
    130

    Anne: Hmmm…maybe. At any rate, a better idea than anything I’ve come up with—and I have the design-on-paper. I may try taping or pinning it to the shirt, itself, though, to prevent it shifting around. Right now, I’ve got it push-pinned to my cardboard shirt form with a sheet of waxed paper in between; if I replace the waxed paper with the design, it should show through nicely.
    Thanks!
    +exuberant hug+
    ….

  132. cicely
    132

    If it turns out okay, I’ll post a pic.
    If it doesn’t turn out okay, I’ll bury it in the furthest corner of the yard, at midnight, by the dark of the moon, and never speak of it again.
    😉
    ….

  135. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    135

    One of the bonuses of working in steel is that it is very very difficult+ to screw it up so bad I can’t make something out of it.

    +difficult but not impossible. In case anyone was wondering, it is possible to set steel on fire. 🙂

  136. Crudely Wrott
    136

    Tony!

    [This is Crudely Wrott. I had some problems logging in through WordPress so I’m using the generic format or logging in.]

    Mega thanks for providing this place.

    It’s wonderful to see so many familiar nyms and folks and new folks and just more of the wonderfulness I’d come to treasure back in the Lounge.

    I really need this sort of place; meat space is loaded with so much baggage. People that I deal with in RL and that I love unconditionally have a habit (one that they aren’t fully aware of) of putting me right off my feed.

    Hello, to Lynna and chigau and cicely and opposablethumbs and that Cranky Cat Lady and wmdkitty (met a fine kiddun nun nun today! His name is Butterscotch and he looks it) and YOB and rq!! and all you fine folks. Kinda like a reunion, eh?

    I has supergrins on. I also love pouncehugs and have the superpower of reflecting them back at the sender at a ratio of roughly (be warned; very roughly) three to one. Hope I don’t knock any one over by means of reckless enthusiasm.

    Tony!, you are one stand up guy. By hosting this site you are the glue that binds kind and willfully nice (not to mention determined) people together. Way to go, dear friend. Way to go.

    So, ahhh, do you think we should install an bar that automatically adjusts to the size of the crowd? I’ve a couple of new angles on how it might work if you’re interested.

  138. Crudely Wrott
    138

    Speakeasy is my provisional choice for a name for this new endeavor. The name speaks volumes as well as carrying reference to past times when people just went ahead and did what they felt was right and justified. Oh, them twenties! And almost a century since the Roaring Twenties. (Not that people just going ahead and doing what they felt was right and justified is constrained to times gone by; oh, no. It’s what we do best and it’s what has a habit of lasting and making a difference. Sometimes a large one.)

    If I may, another suggestion, somewhat frivolous but, hey! fun is fun, ain’t it? How about Lolligaggers? Or Lolligagger’s Lounge? It is amenable to pillow forts and tea and chocolate as well as to hugs and higgs and carries a cache of informality that, I scry, many here appreciate by virtue of spontaneity, off the cuff invention and the easy invention that comes with familiarity.

    Also, good will and hopeful thoughts for Ogvorbis, Definitely No Failure As A Human. I hope he finds this place. We could all use another Train Story.

  141. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    141

    So I’m giving “Supernatural” a try. Basically the typical two pretty men solve murders shtick. Except the murderers are always supernatural. I’m 4 episodes in and haven’t made up my mind if I’m going binge the rest or not. The two dudes are fairly uninteresting and generic, but the monsters are kinda cool. And they make no pretense to try to “explain” them, so that is a point in their favor, IMO.

  143. Crudely Wrott
    143

    Hey, YOB and Biped!!

    Like they say in New Hampshire, “Wicked cool to be here with you!”

    I love to say “wicked”. C’mon, say it with me, now:

    Wicked cool.

    Grin worthy or what?

  146. Crudely Wrott
    146

    Yo, Biped. That’s the spirit. In fact, that’s the ol’ smooth, easy rollin’ spirit — not beating up and not beating down.

    Is time to go to dream land now. Very tired while also very glad. I really didn’t want to lose touch which is what I feared when the PoopyHead shut down the Lounge. While I did understand his decision (this is why we can’t have nice things!) it was still a frightening moment. I have really come to rely on the Horde for sustenance as well as something like existential grounding.

    Good night, dear Hordelings. May your tomorrows be uplifting and gratifying.

    And thank again, Tony!, you have prolonged my faith in my fellow humans. The sure-to-be-growing commentariat here is my testimony.

    Peace and pouncehugs.

  151. rq
    151

    … And I had a nice comment about yesterday’s adventures that wouldn’t post and now it is lost to the sharks of the internet. Ah well. Archaeologically recognized pre-christianized fort mound for the win! Because nobody fell off.

  152. giliell
    152

    Crudely!
    Pouncy hugs for you!

    cicely

    What if you drew the design on paper with a good dark pen and a thick line and tucked the paper inside the shirt?

    And then you tape the thing to the window and draw your outline with one of those fancy magic pens that bleach out all by themselves after a day or two.

    YOB
    My secret super power? I can turn a t-shirt into half a yard of jersey. It usually happens when I do a complicated design, like combining three or four individual designs and it usually happens when I stich out the last design, after some 10-20 hours invested.
    Fortunately, most things can be salvaged in some way. The dress for my sister that I ruined became a skirt for the kid, the shirt for the kid I ruined was turned into a dress with the help of a T from Mr that was too small. Afterwards #1 told everybody that “this is the dress daddy grew out of”.

  154. opposablethumbs
    154

    Soo … I went to the Jeremy Corbyn rally yesterday. Tickets for the main hall were snapped up long before we got to the website, but we got overflow tickets. But when we got there, not only was the main hall all spoken for – they filled the overflow room … and then another overflow room … and there were still about 500 of us outside in the street, so he came out and stood on top of a fire engine with a mike and did a somewhat condensed version of his speech just for us, before going back in to do the official talk.
    Corbyn is that rare bird, a politician of integrity (with a long track record of actually sticking to his principles) and who doesn’t smarm to the media. Anti-war, anti-racism, pro-women’s voices in politics, pro-LGBT and hugely and intelligently anti-austerity – no wonder the 1% despise him (by old Labour standards he’s a regular centre-left; by current UK standards (Overton window having moved way right) he’s dangerously-far-left; by current US standards he’s probably off the curve altogether/RavingCommieRedBastard etc.). Not surprisingly, then, he’s always been relatively low profile (despite having a great record for many years as a constituency MP) … now he’s a serious candidate for leader of the Labour Party, which seems to have taken everybody by surprise (quite possibly including him). It’s almost as if there were people – a lot more people than anticipated – who are interested in having someone they can vote for without having to grit their teeth in order to do so.
    Looking forward to voting for him 🙂

  155. bragimike
    155

    opposablethumbs I seems to me that, since Blair, the Labour Party hierarchy has become dominated by career politicians who are more middle than left and in if as a job rather than a vocation. They seem to think that the days of a genuine left party are over and they would not get elected with Corbyn. To me it seems that they can’t get elected as it is, so why not go back to being the party of the people? Look at the popularity of the SNP!

  158. carlie
    158

    Hi all, thanks to Tony for creating the space and rq for inviting me in. Very thankful to have a place to keep up with you all. I just got back into town from family vacation – missed the entire Thing. I think I’m basically caught up now. I’ll miss the Lounge, but to be honest I need to spend less time online, so it’s enforced “do stuff” space. I’d like to pop in now and then but might not be too regular about it.

  160. Beatrice
    160

    Guess who gets to postpone her summer vacation for the second summer in the row?

    I didn’t have reservations for any trips so it’s not a huge hassle, but it’s not great either. The thing is… it’s always us unmarried, no-kids-attached women* who stay. It’s great that the company tries to accommodate women with children, but the result is that I always get the short end of the stick. I’m not proud of it, but I’m starting to feel resentment about it. If they were included, we could spread the shit summers around a bit. This way it’s always the same crowd.

    I don’t know what solution could make this better for women like me, while not making it worse for women with children.

    I keep saying women because in the position required there is a bunch of women and just one guy who was busy with another task last year and was already on vacation when we learned about this job this year

  161. rq
    161

    Today we went to the botanical garden and I discovered there’s a shade of rose approaching black and that I really, really, really want one for the garden. Make it variety 52. Or 49, actually, since there’s about 3 that double up.

  162. giliell
    162

    LOfty! Carlie!
    Good to see you

    beatrice
    holiday plans should at least be reliable. Around here most companies require folks to make their plans in January

  163. rq
    163

    Beatrice
    Is it possible to set a lower limit for when people can request vacation time? Such as, no later than a week in advance or something like that? And to encourage people to abide by this rule?
    Because children or no, it seems unfair that anyone should have to change their own plans simply to accommodate someone who is making plans at the last minute. I understand there can be medical emergencies and the like or sudden opportunities, but they’re not THAT commonplace to constantly disadvantage someone not of your own demographic.

  164. cicely
    164

    Crudely!!!!
    +pouncehugs with extra pounce+
    Pleased-and-relieved to see you!
    ….
    giliell:

    And then you tape the thing to the window and draw your outline with one of those fancy magic pens that bleach out all by themselves after a day or two.

    I has not one of them thar fancy magic pens; and—since I’m going to have to replace the shirt, having ruined this one in previous attempts in such a way as to be incompatible with the current attempt—I will not be able to acquire one in the short term.
     
    However, I have tested and found that the drawing can, in fact, be seen through the shirt adequately for my Sinister Porpoises.
     
    My current plan is to paint the outline onto the shirt in the faintest possible shade (Hue? Paled-down rather than darkened. Is “hue” correct, here? See what happens when you avoid art-related classes, kiddies.) of slightly-yellow green, since I want it for the veining any way. Then, after it’s dried, I’ll paint the rest of the moth; shouldn’t take me more than, oh, a week.
    ‘Cause I paint dead slow.
    (See what else happens when you avoid art-related classes, kiddies? I know it can be done faster—just not by me.)
     
    If it doesn’t work, I will cry, because I cannot replace the shirt a second time, and in my head it looks so cool, and matches my green capri shorts so well.
    Then, it’s out with the shovel and the flashlight.
     
    (I’m hoping to salvage the shirt at some later time, as tie-dye.)
    ….
    lofty!
    +pouncehug+
    ….
    YOB, I’ll keep my +tentacles crossed+ on your behalf.
    ….
    Beatrice, what is this “summer vacation” of which you speak?
    Srsly, I’m sorry you’ve lost yours; that sucks.
    ….

  165. Beatrice
    165

    Plans aren’t last minute, the particular job is. Some people are just immediately disregarded for it because family.

    Meh, I’ll deal.

    cicely,
    blush sorry. I know not everyone gets to take a vacation.

  167. YOB – YeOldeBlacksmith
    167

    Welp, good news “bad” news on the new teeth. Right incisor is in and looking good. Yay!
    However the bone around the left post has either not healed up completely or is just outright disintegrating around the post. We find out which in 4 weeks. If it’s the first, yay. If the second, I’m in real trouble cause disentegrating bone is bad, especially when that bone keeps my teeth in. +nervous+

  168. Lynna
    168

    This is another “the company you keep” comment. Donald Trump keeps company with many questionable people, mostly clueless guys who seem to think like he does. No doubt you remember that one of Trump’s lawyers, Michael Cohen, threatened reporters from the Daily Beast Cohen was also the guy that claimed, “You cannot rape your spouse.” Here’s an excerpt from Cohen’s threats:

    “I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen said. “So I’m warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting. You understand me?” […]

    Now it’s Trump advisor Roger Stone’s turn to say something stupid:

    Paid Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, who frequently appears on television as a political pundit, called political commentators Ana Navarro and Roland Martin “quota hires.” […]

    Stone is a professional dirty trickster who once formed an anti-Hillary Clinton group with the acronym “C.U.N.T.” after he tried “to come up with words for B.I.T.C.H. and just couldn’t do it.” He’s also endorsed birther smears against President Obama […]

    Media Matters link

    Trump did fire a political adviser, Sam Nunberg, when Nunberg’s racist Facebook posts came to light, so there is some line that Trump associates cannot cross. CNN link. Nunberg’s comments included references to Al Sharpton’s daughter as a “n____r.” He also called President Obama a “Socialist Marxist Islamo Fascist Nazi Appeaser.”

  169. Lynna
    169

    Two gay graduates of West Point fought back when they were confronted with homophobic slurs:

    Daniel and Larry Lennox-Choate know all about courage and standing up for themselves. Daniel served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, both are West Point graduates and they were the first male graduates ever to be married in a same-sex ceremony at West Point.

    With that in mind, imagine their surprise when an unknown man began shouting homophobic slurs and then physically attacked Daniel. […]

    The homophobe punched Daniel, and then Larry counterattacked:

    […] He left covered in his own blood with his tail between his legs after I handled the situation and tossed him in the street like the coward loser he is. The hate crimes division of the NYPD is on the case […] We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time.

    Link

  170. Tony!
    170

    ::sigh::
    It should be against the law to turn off peoples’ utilities or water. I just walked outside to see a guy from ECUA shutting our water off. I really, really hate my life right now.

  172. Rawnaeris
    172

    @YOB, I also hope it’s the first scenario and not the second. That sound scary.

    @ Tony! Oh, no! I really super hope you can find a job soon. Have you heard back from your friend (right?) yet?

  176. opposablethumbs
    176

    Tony!, shit. That is horrible. I totally agree that it should be illegal to do this.

    Carlie, it’s good to see you! YOB, tooth sympathies. I hope you get to keep the canine. rq, ooooooooh rose 🙂

    godsdammit, Tony!, I so hope you get a stint of better luck soon 🙁

  179. rq
    179

    Scheise, Tony, just caught up with your news. That is shit, and should definitely be made illegal – don’t they even have to warn you in advance?? Fuck. I’m sorry I don’t have a job for you. 🙁 But then, if I did, you wouldn’t ever be unemployed anyway.

  182. Tony!
    182

    I just checked my water bill and I see that I didn’t pay last month. Being on limited funds, I’ve been skipping months paying certain bills. The cutoff date was yesterday, and I didn’t keep track of that. So it’s on me in large part. Still, it sucks, bc I’d really like to take a shower.
    I think my parents can help me out, when they get off work tonight. So I’ll have it back on tomorrow more than likely.
    But still.

  183. Dalillama
    183

    Lofty,
    Indeed it should.

    Tony
    All my sympathies. The other day we got our electricity shut off after we’d paid it (via Western Union, because otherwise it takes weeks for them to actually transfer the money out of my account, which makes accounting a damn pain in the ass), and they charged a reconnection fee to turn it back on, even though we’d paid before the deadline.

  184. Tony!
    184

    Wendy Davis penned an Op-Ed for mic-
    Women should never have to do another filibuster about reproductive health:

    Let’s be clear: Monday’s U.S. Senate debate on defunding Planned Parenthood wasn’t about the use of fetal tissue for research and whether we agree with that practice. It wasn’t about the sham attempts of a group connected to a known felon to make it appear as though Planned Parenthood had violated the law. It wasn’t about hidden cameras. In fact, it wasn’t even about whether federal funds should be used to fund abortion care, given the Hyde Amendment’s prior prohibitions on the use of federal funds for that purpose. Monday’s vote wasn’t about any of that.

    Instead, the vote was about creating a vivid and age-old archetype, with an evil villain and the heroes who have come to conquer it. The vote represented political posturing of the worst kind. It was about embarrassing and demonizing a century-old provider of compassionate health care — including reproductive health services — to score conservative points. It was about conservatives who are desperate for an electorate to see Planned Parenthood as a fire-breathing dragon, and themselves as the heroes who slay it.

    Planned Parenthood is much more than an abortion provider, and defunding their non-abortion work, which this bill aimed to do, would threaten to eliminate the contraceptive care, diabetes, STD and cancer screenings Planned Parenthood provides. But while these are important and vital services, so is the access to constitutionally protected abortion care that makes up a small portion of what Planned Parenthood does. Let’s not shy away from defending that too.

    It is unconscionable that politicians are willing to sacrifice the health care of the 2.7 million Americans, the vast majority of whom are women, who rely on Planned Parenthood for basic health services in order to achieve political notoriety, to score points with an electorate that they know will be fired up by demonizing this organization. But it happened on the U.S. Senate floor Monday. And it happened again Monday night at the New Hampshire Republican presidential candidate town hall. It was sickening to watch.

  185. Tony!
    185

    I don’t know who it was, but some kind individual donated enough money so that I can get my water turned back on. It will be tomorrow since they’re closed now, but I can wait another 12 hours.

    While I’m thinking about it, is there any reason our taxes can’t be used to supply the necessary funds for water and utilities?

  186. Tony!
    186

    Folks,
    The great and powerful Oz, who has been working behind the scenes to get the new domain set up, has informed me that the transition is ready to begin. This will involve a migration of material from here to there and as a result, the blog will be down for the evening. Once everything is up and running over there, I’ll let everyone know where “there”. We can have a party and get drunk and have pillow fights and stuff!
    Thank you all so much for being friends and readers.

  188. cicely
    188

    Huh.
    Replacement Shirt was marked down, sometime between when I bought Original Shirt, and this evening—to $2.
    If I’d known that before we rang it up at the check out, I’d’ve thrown a couple more into the cart.
    ….
    YOB: Yikes!
    I hope it’s not the disintegrating bone option; there’s no way that kinda shit ends cheaply.
    ….
    Shit, Tony!, that’s terrible.
    +hugs+
    I agree—turning off people’s water should be beyond the pale.
    (later)
    And I’m relieved that some kind person was able to help you out.
    ….
    I’m starting to really worry that we haven’t seen Ogvorbis around here.
    ….
    Idris Ebla is extremely aesthetically pleasing to look at.
    ….
    Wendy Davis rocks, hard.
    ….

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