After a long and (I’ll be nice) tiresome process in determining whether or not the local schools are reopening, the district my kids attend finally bit the bullet and let my kids in—in phases.
The younger of the two are already attending while my oldest will finally allow me to do anything on Zoom while working from home prior to 0830. Why you ask, that’s the boy’s first class of the day, how can he bother you? That first class of his day is band.
This is my review of El Segundo Brewery’s Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA:
The tiresome part of the process is that I assume whatever decision is made will be the least reasonable out of a plethora of already unreasonable options. No matter how low I set the bar for the school to figure their way around “opening safely“ they find new ways to surprise me. This is the protocol for band:
Band Room
* The band rooms will be set up with social distancing. Each member of the band will have at least 6′ x 6′ of space to utilize during class
* Students will be assigned their own locker. The size of the locker will depend on the size of the instrument. Students may keep all band materials and instrument in their locker.
* When needed, we will be using the Percussion room. That room will also be set up for social distancing.
* There will be an “In” door and an “Out” door, so that classes are not entering and exiting from the same location.
* Hand gel and disinfectant spray will be available, however it is recommended that students also carry their own in their backpacks.
Okay, fine. Placate the neurotic parents. So far so good.
Safety Protocols
* Masks must be worn at all times. Masks for wind instruments will be provided (see below).
* [Band teacher] will teach from a very safe distance
* All brass players will need to use Puppy Pads. This is to collect condensation (spit valve), during class. Brass students will need to throw away their pad at the end of each class. It is recommended that brass students buy their own pads, but [Band teacher] will purchase a couple packets of spares. A box of 50 should last the entire semester. Here is a link to Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/puppy-
pads/s?k=puppy+pads * All wind instruments, except for flutes will be provided with a bell cover.
* Rehearsals will be limited to 30 minutes of playing music with with instruments.
I like they are collecting and culturing students’ condensate.
Daily Routine
* Students will enter the room with masks, go to their locker and find their seat, which will be indicated on their stand.
Did The Simpsons predict this?
* Students (except for percussion) will be provided a mask for band use only. The mask has a slit in the middle to fit a mouthpiece inside. Flutes will insert their instrument into the side of the mask while playing. The masks will be distributed to each student on the first day back. They will be in a ziplock bag with each student’s name on the outside. The masks may be reused by the same student, as long as they are only used during band class, and the masks are placed back into the bag and sealed. [Band teacher] will replace the masks when necessary. Students will be instructed when to remove their cloth masks and put on their band masks.
* All students will get set up in their area before taking out instruments. This will include taking out all of their band music and materials. Brass players will set up their Puppy Pads at this time. The playing of instruments can ONLY occur when [Band teacher] says it’s OK.
* In person learning will be 74 minutes long. The guidelines for rehearsing is limited to 30 minutes of playing. [Band teacher] will therefore structure the class in two parts, with a break in the middle in which students can take a walk outside and get some fresh air.
The good news, children with any reasonable intelligence will be turned off from participating with the rest of humanity as soon as it is feasible. Why wear a mask at all if you need to manipulate a mouthpiece through a hole in order to play it? Whatever you are trying to keep in the mask is getting launched and amplified. I assume the issued bell cover will stay with the student. There was no explanation as to how they planned to apply the puppy training pads since not every brass instrument can rest easily on the bell. A trombone for example might need a table to rest the bell with the slide overhanging. If they plan to affix them to the bell to capture the evil spirits from being launched from the brass section at high speeds…I might have to get a recording of this muffled school band conducted by a guy in a separate room.
It is infortunate my kid is in the brass section, because all of those kids are clearly going to die while the percussion section sits safely in a separate room, when necessary. Because somebody will ask, how can I just sit here and let this happen to my own kid?
Public schools reliably convince people of the practical incompetence of government better than I ever could. So why impede that process? I’m also doing something; I’m making fun of them on the internet.
When I bought this beer I planned to roll with the obvious triple entendres of The $6 Million Man, the guy overshadowed historically by Sam Houston, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I assume this has to do with the wrestler because its a pretty brutal IPA. If thats your thing, you’ll probably give it a HELLYEAH. I’m still not into it. El Seguno Brewery’s Steve Austin’s Broken Skull IPA: 2.5/5.
I wanted to First at 12:01st but the article was late.
Steve Austin putting out an IPA is one of the saddest betrayals of America I have heard in some time.
/reads stupid Lil Rona Panic protocols
/decides to start drinking early
My son is in a music school full time. Those rules aren’t even scratching the surface of what they have come up with.
To their credit however, they started the year on time and have done everything they can to stay open. But it’s looney tunes paranoia 24/7 there.
I need to give my liver a break after this drink until it is time to head to the pub tonight.
+1 6-hour chip
I was a choir nerd (long before they were called “Gleeks.”) I hate to think what they’re making those poor kids do – if they’re even able to have live classes at all.
This? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059314/mediaviewer/rm3004125440
Wow. I remember that scene and exactly nothing else about the entire movie.
“The circus is a wacky world. How I love it!” Over and over again.
Am I right?
Yes! ? ?
(And no, it’s no A Star is Born.)
I remember that scene being on the TV as a kid and for me, too, it was the only part of the movie I remember. The “the circus is a wacky world” thing seemed to go on forever. Didn’t she blow up or set the studio on fire right after that? I seem to remember Natalie Wood walking away with a building in flames behind her.
She blows up her beach house at the end of the movie.
She shoulda had some water…
*narrows gaze*
Natalie Would, amirite?
“Natalie Wood and Tab wouldn’t” was a pretty open joke in Hollywood.
That’s because it’s not a very good movie.
’tis the season… for a musical horror film.
I was thinking this.
I could have gone with this. It’s currently available on Amazon Prime, watch Paris Hilton’s face fall off! Join my girlfriend in wondering how they got Sarah Brightman to participate in it!
“I was a choir nerd”
Tonight at 11. How one lady went from choir girl to the worst.
Puppy pads!! FFS.
Who knew Mike Judge would turn out to be the nation’s greatest documentarian?
There is definitely something missing from Idiocracy about all this though. The desire for control maybe? The 1984-esque rules.
The mandatory tattoo might become prescient, dog forbid.
Idiocracy was a bit too strong on the “unthinking drift” part and a bit too weak on the “evil manipulation” part.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but Idiocracy assumed a world where the elites were absent and the idiots were in charge. In reality the self-declared elites are the idiots, and it’s compounded by their hypocrisy and arrogance.
” They will be in a ziplock bag with each student’s name on the outside. The masks may be reused by the same student, as long as they are only used during band class, and the masks are placed back into the bag and sealed. [Band teacher] will replace the masks when necessary. Students will be instructed when to remove their cloth masks and put on their band masks.”
That makes no sense.
Sounds like a good way to incubate some really nasty bacteria/fungus and then have the kids breathe that in for 30 minutes or so.
That was my thought. Covid minstrel theater is getting increasingly harmful to personal health.
I see this brew at my local beer jobber, but I’m really losing my taste for the hoppyness. My kids are only in the schoolhouse on Fridays and the NYCDOE has provided us all with a telephone application (I can’t wait to see all the API calls this piece of Chinese malware makes) wherein one must answer “NO” to the 5 magic covid questions before a wee window pops up allowing the child to enter the building. Also, grades are using different entrances (despite the fact that school starts at the same time for everyone), so I have do the questions and get my 1st grade son through one door, then walk all the way around the block to the other side of the school and do the questions for my 5th grade daughter. Attrition has already reduced their 3 chorst per grade down to to 2; kids are fleeing for the fully open Catholic schools or homeschooling.
That should read “3 cohorts per grade”
Thought of you when I picked up this one the other day. One has been set aside to be sent to the niece as part of the remember Ohio pack.
That looks yummy. You bailed out from the Zoom thingie before I could show you the 2016 Tweak (Stout with coffee added, aged in Bourbon barrels – 16% ABV) from Avery Brewing that my beer guy had hiding on the way back of the shelf. Also, I was bit off about the Oskar Blues we spoke of last week. It’s their TEN FIDY imperial stout; they are tall cans, and $49.99 for a 4 pack or $72.99 for a sixer.
Yeah. I had a 08:00 spin class this morning.
I’ve had the Tweak before, and have a couple of the Avery Demon series in the basement. Standard TEN FIDY for $50 a 4? Or is it the barrel aged TEN FIDY? Both are really good.
The store I stopped at today had several 2019 Goose Island Bourbon County Stouts on the shelf. It’s been a whale for one of my friends, so I picked him up a bottle.
It’s the barrel aged version. Also, I just cracked open a Stone Neapolitan Dynamite to have with my burgers. It is not nearly as sweet as I expected. It is quite good.
That makes more sense price wise. I think I still have two cans of that in the basement.
I really need to re-inventory the cellar…
“$49.99 for a 4 pack or $72.99 for a sixer.”
I don’t think there’s any beer I’d pay that much for.
They’re few and far between. Usually they’re above 10% ABV, and have extensive aging and adjuncts in the production. The longer it ties up space, and the longer it has to be kept without infection, the higher risk the production is. There was a documentary series a while back (Brewmasters) following Dogfish Head, in one episode they had to dump a batch of 120 Minute IPA (18-21% ABV IIIPA with a 2 hour boil, and continuously hopped through the process) because the yeast stalled and they couldn’t get it to ferment out. 120 Minute retails at ~$50 a 4 pack/12 oz bottles. It was painful to watch.
2016 Tweak (Stout with coffee added, aged in Bourbon barrels – 16% ABV)
Sounds delicious.
Teachers unions: Perfect, more funding for
usthe childruns.Chorst: the sound one makes when things stick in one’s craw.
LOL… AKSHUALLY, teachers have been owed a tremendous amount of back pay since the last new contract was signed in 2009 (all the other city employees got their checks but the teachers were owed so much that the City begged the union for some breathing room); they were supposed to be paid lump-sums on 01 OCT, but now the City is saying well… we’ll be able to pay 25% of what we owe you on the 15th and then amortize the rest out over the next 2 years. They owe Wifey close to $60k, she was really hoping for that check at the beginning of the month.
Things are weird downstate then. Our budgets just keep going up regardless of enrollment.
That’s bonkers. I doubt anyone’s getting that money any time soon. There is none to hand out.
And if they’re fucking around with teacher salaries, you know the situation is dire – because the teachers fucking run this town.
I would have guessed the firefighters run NYC.
Nah. There are way more teachers and more importantly, their union donates the most money to Democrats of any organization.
Catholic school enrollment in NH is up.
The Diocese of Manchester punked the Clown Prince by making their announcement concerning school reopening before he made up his mind about how schools should reopen. None of the Clown Prince’s orders about schools applied to private schools, though many closed.
The Diocese of Manchester announced that all schools run by the Diocese (there are a few independent Catholic schools in the state) would be open for in-person learning. Exact details on Lil Rona Panic Protocols would be left up to the individual schools as they can best judge local conditions and parents’ desires. The Diocese offered a tuition discount for anyone that transferred in from a non-Catholic school to a Diocesan school.
A couple days after the Diocese made that announcement, the Clown Prince made up his mind to let schools reopen and let school districts decide how to handle in-person learning and Lil Rona Panic Protocols. Public schools in NH are a mish-mash of all remote learning, partial in person learning, and all in person learning. From what I have heard, very few parents of public schools kids are happy.
“ but I’m really losing my taste for the hoppyness.”
I was at a job at a hop farm last week and popped a whole Amarillo hop bud into my mouth. I think I can still taste it. The owner seemed pretty amused.
Yep. First time homebrewers who like hops will sometimes make the mistake of putting one of the pellets (highly compressed and dried hops) into their mouths. The reaction is usually quite entertaining.
I walk by the public elementary school on the next block all the time and see the fence is littered with signs for where each cubbyhole of kids must stand at their assigned time before being allowed inside and my brain hurts.
Then I pass the Lutheran school across the street… nothing. Business as usual.
Hoppyness is a warm gun.
Is that Stone Cold or Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin?
The Republic of Texas would like a word…
What do they have to say?
“Stephen Fuller Austin was an American empresario. Known as the “Father of Texas”, and the founder of Texas.”
In case anybody is still around.
I tried some Ace Pumpkin Hard Cider this week.
I was pleasantly surprised. Really mellow. The pumpkin was a compliment not a statement. It actually took me back to my orchard days when I was REALLY young. If you’re into ciders or just alcohol not kicking your teeth in, I’d give it a shot.
I played trombone and baritone horn for a while. I wasn’t that dedicated and would have immediately quit rather than deal with any of the bullshit described above.
“They’re pulling out all the stops to control information before the election. ”
https://twitter.com/RubinReport/status/1314616489840844803
“imagine your phone company going
“we are concerned that people are calling each other and spreading misinformation so we are going to block some phone calls and disconnect people’s service””
https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1314908767587373058
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NI_wyiY4vyk
But this is funnier. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Am9jOInn4nc
I suspect Twitter is doing it because they know the Left can’t meme.
Is it wrong of me to want to see the Washington Mall decorated with the heads of hundreds of public health tyrants on spikes? With some governors sprinkled in.
Dare to dream.
Well okay then, don’t mind if I do….
I’d like to see the lot of them lined up on the length and breadth of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and bayoneted in the back so they all fall simultaneously into the water. They would be left there indefinitely. Let the stench of the swamp rise.
I’m feeling grumpy because I missed Zoomies last night. 🙂
I think they’ve definitively proven that they are of little value.
http://www.kimdutoit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/00-hanging-tree.jpg
Yes, it is wrong.
You should be wanting to see them thrown into woodchippers.
How long before someone gets a federal grant to study the effectiveness of kids wearing a mask with a hole in it? How can anyone possibly defend that as anything other than showmanship?
This reminds me of when everyone at work was given a ridiculous plastic face shield that had to be worn at all times except when alone at our desks. This was in March when The Settled Science told us not to wear masks. But “We Must Do Something!”
I was a little relieved at the collective eye rolling from the other engineers. At least there may be a few people left who haven’t completely lost their minds.
They already have a 99.997% chance of surviving covid. How would a study show a difference?
Yup, unfortunately all 50 of us post here…
I am also picturing the school meeting where these ideas were brought up.
“Well what if we just cut a hole in the masks?”
“Great idea! And we can put down old newspaper, or puppy pads for the drippings.”
“Brilliant idea. This will really show that we are going the extra mile. For safety.”
At least old newspaper would be thrifty.
Convenient for rolling up and bopping bureaucrats on their noses, too.
“No! Bad rule! Unconstitutional!”
(HS, re your ballot: do you have any business in Kearny Mesa? I will probably insist on dropping mine off at the registrar, not especially early. Don’t know how soon you want to send it, or how well you trust your mail carrier.)
Kearney Mesa isn’t too far. I sometimes have to go down to Miramar. I think I’ll drop mine off as in-person as I can.
Do the other engineers still feel the same way?
That is some of the stupidest shit I have read about all the covid BS. People making these nonsensical, non scientific rules deserve a kick in the nuts. Shit is out of hand.
Why come you no love the SCIENCE?
I went to Georgia Tech’s football game last night. Apparently the athletic department was displeased with the lack of covid theater compliance at the last game, so they decided to have people walk through the stands all game with signs reminding people to sit in their assigned seats and wear masks. The sign carriers wore their masks below their noses and kept touching people as they passed by /facepalm
Lord, Tech is a hard team to figure out. Win last night, lose to Syracuse and UCF.
I have no explanation
Sometimes they’re rambling. Sometimes they’re a wreck.
*golf clap*
Good one.
It’s always been that way.
Just wear your mask like Fauci at a baseball game.
Oh, I took full advantage of the “while eating or drinking” exception to the mask requirement, but I also wasn’t running around passive-aggressively getting in other people’s personal space while proclaiming the virtues of masks and distancing.
Hey hidin’ Biden
Why the fuck you lyin’
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-voters-deserve-packing-supreme-court
For those who think their vote doesn’t matter. Remember the Surly unionization vote that failed earlier this week?
Effort To Unionize Surly Brewing Company Workers Fails By A Single Vote
Huh. Close call for those that want to work in a meritocracy.
https://frinkiac.com/caption/S04E13/1216998
Pardon my recidivism–
I used to be able to play Jingle Bells on the recorder and Keyboard. Then I took up drums and was way better at that. But I haven’t played in years.
*Eyes drum set in spare bedroom*
drinking commences soon
UF @ TAMU (on now) maybe the Aggies can pull off something to give my Vols some room in the east
UT @ UGA annual house divided event for me and the lovely NewWife (it seems very wrong not to be at this game: will watch in town on neutral turf)
Miami @ Clemson do tune in to see if D’eriq King can throw a scare into the Tigers
Trump doing slightly better in battleground states in 2020 than at the same time in 2016.
I have been repeatedly assured that Biden is up by 20 points anywhere and everywhere.
If you’re not voting for Biden, then you ain’t human!
I am of the opinion that he wins with pretty much a repeat of 2016 unless the voter fraud is particularly successful.
I’m afraid we are about to see new levels of brazenness in vote fraud.
I like how polls get framed as if they capture objective reality.
If Harris didn’t win the election for Trump the other night, I don’t know what else can.
I clicked on one of those click-bait articles (from Forbes) on the states with the most outflow and inflow of residents. They used the relative growth of net migration, not absolute numbers. The results (2018 data, absolute numbers in parens):
Inflow:
#10: Texas (+220K)
#9: DC (+820, no K) OK, it’s not a state, but it’s on the list
#8: Alabama (+11K)
#7: Arizona (+107K)
#6: Rhode Island (+900)
#5: Tennesse (+47K)
#4: New Mexico (-2K) Yes that’s negative, but apparently much less so than before — I didn’t choose the metric
#3: North Carolina (+93K)
#2: Washington (+69K)
And, drumroll please…
#1: Idaho (+26K)
The states with most change in net outflow:
#10: Connecticutt (-6K)
#9: Indiana (-15K)
#8: Nebraska (-2K)
#7: Delaware (-8K)
#6: New Jersey (-9K)
#5: Louisiana (-19K)
#4: Illinois (-92K)
#3: South Dakata (-3K)
#2: West Virginia (-4K)
#1: New York (-20K)
I checked and California had 190K net outflow, but the rate of increase was less than the other states. I’m surprised the absolute number for NY wasn’t bigger.
I checked some slightly more up to date numbers and NY had -181K, more believable.
And what kind of accent says South Dakota as “South Dakata”?
It’s South Dakoter.
“checked and California had 190K net outflow”
Obviously, all in TX now. No wonder they think they can flip TX to blue.
Somewhere else I read that 86K of that was to Texas, 69K to Arizona, and 56K to Washington. That means they are still attracting some poor suckers from other states.
Spendy homes are selling like hot cakes in Tucson.
I want one, but my wife said ‘Eek, scorpians!’.
Well, every rose has its thorn.
Yeah, I told here that. And then she fussed about the heat. I can’t have FL either apparently, because gators.
Apparently I made a Poison pun for a Scorpions post, but the Florida option lends itself to getting rocked by, if not like, a hurricane.
That’s not the scorpions.
“That’s not the scorpions.”
But it is poison.
I saw 3 California plates here in TX in the 5 minute drive to the soccer field this morning.
*ominous music in background*
Something like this?
It is known that Californians are drawn to soccer fields.
I’m surprised NJ is that high in net numbers. Lots of people are leaving, but lots of New Yorkers are arriving.
Honestly, that sounds like a draw.
I’m happy to see fans in the stadium at the OU / Texas game. It could be more full, and no masks would be nice, but it’s a start.
More details on the attack of the Japanese pianist in NYC discussed a day or so ago.
Japanese Jazz Pianist Tadataka Unno Badly Injured After Attack In Subway
Can confirm it was in Harlem. You will note there is no description of the “young people” who attacked him. I can speculate why given the location…
Been a while, but that’s mostly a Dominican neighborhood, if I recall.
I concur. That said, that’s a busy station pre-plague. No idea now.
My coworkers who live in the city (aka Manhattan) have all made note of the increase in violence.
Sounds right, the Dominicans moved in to replace the Puerto Ricans of my generation who mostly assimilated and moved to the burbs.
That area near St. Nicholas and Morningside Parks has been a really rough area for decades and through all the waves of whoever’s living there. Other parts of Harlem to the east are getting safer. I would be reluctant to live where that poor guy does.
(((Them))), Amish, or Proud Boys?
A bunch of crusty old vets from the local American Legion Hall got a bit too soused and hyped on on their reminiscing of the Pacific Theater?
That’s Boston, dude.
There are (((them))) in Boston. They’re everywhere!
They’re everywhere! – nonsense. I just looked in the closed and not a (((one)))
My sons are (were) both in college ensembles, one in jazz band (trumpet), the other in chorus. Was disappointed that both are a no-go this year; jazz band is gone due to the absence of the director (whereabouts unknown), choir because, well, the vid. I think this might be better than what you described. On the bright side, this bullshit has not gone unnoticed, I have two more hard core libertarians in the family now.
My sons are (were) both in college ensembles, one in jazz band (trumpet), the other in chorus. – which one gets you laid more?
In their case, neither. We are late bloomers.
Just the other day, I watched an All In The Family that had the following exchange –
Interviewer – “Mr. Bunker, the job pays $3.90 an hour.”
Archie – “$3.90 an hour? Where is it, in Puerto Rico?”
Interviewer – “Close. 97th street and 3rd avenue!”
LOL.
Speaking of things you can’t film today, I was channel surfing last night and came across Back to the Future. I had completely forgotten about the Muslim terrorists.
I can’t see Amish terrorists working in that movie.
Marty! It’s the Libyans!
My neighbors had that VW van like the Libyan terrorists—cracked us up as kids.
Let’s just shut down vaccine production in general people!
A Coronavirus Vaccine Could Kill Half A Million Sharks, Conservationists Warn
TW: NPR
Welp, so long sharks, and fuck you for eating all the fish.
Anyone want to invest in my shark farm? Not just for oil mining. We could also put laser beams on their heads.
Nice perspective there. Are these the same conservationists who object to forest management, then blame global warming for forest fires?
OT: I told Tundra it was too early to declare a stupidest-thing-I-will-read-today.
Well, here is my entrant.
It only gets worse from there. I will add that in Bay Ridge, where I live, I would estimate that around half of the “people of all colors” are not wearing a mask – and hardly any of them are Hasid cuz those guys hang out about a mile to the east. Oh, and more to the point, there is no fucking law or even edict to wear one unless you’re not “social distancing”, whatever the hell Bill decides that means on any given day.
Clinton Hill – was this named for Bill or Hillary?
George.
Specifically the one related to DeWitt, and not the funkadelic one.
*googles*
It’s named after DeWitt. I wasn’t aware of his relative George. Sigh, there goes my joke.
Lashon hara
See I was thinking Kapo.
Tattle-tale?
It’s almost as if physics is a thing.
I will add, dye your hair white and not purple and cosplay as Storm and then……would.
You’ve already got your Black Panther costume picked out for that scenario, don’t you?
A crossover as Green Lantern Stewart.
Acceptable.
I’m mildly disappointed that the Justice League series hasn’t popped back up on streaming (other than DC Universe, which is effectively D-E-D).
Seconded.
A google image search for her shows she is married though, so it would probably just have to stay a fantasy.
physics is colonialism
I was going to do something productive today and now that looks less likely. I am ok with that. The only thing productive happening around here is green chili smothered chicken enchiladas. Took two trips to the store because I am poor at planning but I got this. Uuuurp.
Green chili chicken enchiladas sound delicious. How do you make the sauce?
Not sure yet. I am thinking a sort of traditional green chili but with tomatillos, lime and cilantro added. I have never made a green chili or green chili sauce the same twice because I rarely remember what I put in them. Chicken is in the pot with stock, white wine, an onion, bunch of garlic, several different chilis and salt. It smells good. I will cook the chicken and then take a nap while it cools enough to shred. I like naps.
“ traditional green chili but with tomatillos, lime and cilantro added”
Aw hell yeah. Enjoy!
Sipping some Wild Turkey listening to Rex’s schlock, slop, and bop on WFMU.
Oh that reminds me I need to get started on something similar with some chicken.
I made “Puerto Rican” chicken and asparagus, yesterday. Although, I cook the rice separately.
“Green chili chicken enchiladas sound delicious.”
Agreed, I’m doing hot wings. Got another bottle of Crystal sauce at the store and some celery.
It’s time for me to be productive.
It’s time for the exciting, thrilling, and action packed conclusion to Man Vs. Lilacs.
I’m going to drink bourbon and play guitar. I’ve got to do some laundry. I should check the mail too. Then back in my pajamas and wife, sofa, Netflix for the rest of the day.
Man vs. Lilacs is now done.
I applied a coat of paint sealant on my truck. Ready for winter now.
That reminds me I need to change the oil, etc.
I got my wife all registered to vote so we can go vote for Bad Orange Man together, walked 5 miles, went to the grocery to get a few things and bought wifey glowers, all orange.
Then I called a local tax service and asked them if they can help me fill out a form 709 for a gift of equity. I said ‘I understand how this works, but this form looks overly complex’. He says ‘well, it’s the government, what else can you expect?’. I got sort of a chuckle out of that, a tax guy admitting the government makes stuff overly complex.
We had a cross-country meet this morning. It was officially supposed to be the Middle School state championship meet for an organization of private schools and homeschools in GA. Mrs. Tree is the coach for the Christian school here that has homeschoolers on the team. So everybody there is already somewhere on the nonconformist spectrum.
The crowds were business-as-usual, and even heavier than a normal year because the cooties has messed up the schedule for regionals, so everybody in the state was there. No distancing practiced at all, and a very few folks in masks. The funny part was that at the finish line (where the crowd usually gets packed to watch), they had a little area penned off with a little sign at the opening that said you had to have a mask on to be there. It was totally empty until the race started. Then it filled up with people stepping over the tape and never even seeing the sign.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SomeBitchIKnow/status/1314952604535975936
Joe Biden – “voters don’t deserve to know” When asked about packing the courts.
Trump ads better run that shit.
“voters don’t deserve to know”
“voters don’t deserve to know”
“voters don’t deserve to know”
It’s insane he said that outloud.
He’s such an elitist prick. It seems him and his family have some parody “how to be a political class family” pocket book they must be reading as literal instructions.
And yet they pat themselves on the back for serving the public good and believe that their own guiding hand is essential.
Holy shit.
I’m torn on whether America deserves this guy good and hard.
First time picking a supreme court justice to be confirm in an election? I hope that reporter called him out on that one…quick search shows 12 have been selected for confirmation during an election.
Also, define “during an election”. When are we not in an election?
We’re always been at war with East Asia?
The unmitigated gall is astounding. At least the media is at least making to look like they want an answer?
They’re convinced that this is the last campaign in US history because their mail in ballot scheme is going to work.
Happing camping comrades.
How does one mitigate for gall?
With the proper forms. Submitted in triplicate.
What about Camela saying that people are not qualified to make decisions for themselves.
But they are qualified to make decisions for everyone else. Democracy!
I think Joe is so dumb that when the reporter asked whether the public deserves to know, he just stupidly regurgitated the reporter’s words without conscious thought.
Not one joke about Mex leaving his wallet in El Segundo?!
I AM DISAPPOINT.
He left his “d” in El Seguno.
Enacting labor: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WILyWmT2A-Q
I instantly searched for “wallet” when I saw the name of the brewery.
I, too, am disappoint.
I’m on a telephone Trump rally.
Blink twice if you need help.
I think possibly he was live on the phone. It was specific to Grand Rapids and typical long winded rambling Trump. Short version is:. Everything Trump has done is fantastic,. Biden wants to destroy everything and Michigan’s governor is a disaster.
I can agree with 2 out of 3 of those things.
#metoo
Apparently the night out at the casino was more for the wife. With her business exploding, she hasn’t had much time to just let loose. I have been socking away some FU money just for that and she had a blast. Sure we walked away losers but nothing more than if we went to a dinner and show. Happy wife, happy life.
Glad it was a good time. While they may take my money at the tables, I try to hit them in the bourbon as much as I can while sitting at them. I still remember one waitress who thought that Bulleit was a fancy drink… instead of a call bourbon.
The girlfriend is currently griping because she wasn’t able to put a bet on the Browns during our usual trip to Vegas in April, and they’re winning this year. She doesn’t quite grasp that being 3-1 does not mean they will win it all.
So you expect them to let her down one more time?
Oh, I fully expect them to let the whole city down again. I’m just hoping for a winning season, of course, that was my hope last year and we saw how that worked out.
But other then the first game against the Ravens, the Browns have actually looked good. It’s really strange to watch.
Not as good as Buffalo 😉
Not taking anything away from the Bills. Just enjoying the ride at this point before the wheels come off.
And with Chubb on IR, there’s a good chance that could start tomorrow.
Oh, just joshing/commiserating. It’s good to see some improvement from both of them in recent years.
No worries, it was taken entirely in that way.
It always amuses me to watch people who were wearing gold and black (fscking Steelers) last year start wearing the brown and orange.
Today, on the hot crazy matrix:
https://twitter.com/Mulaflare/status/1314733099901546497
She’s way heavy into crazy.
Wife has become an OAN fangirl. They do seem to have taken the Fox News anchor approach and turned it up.
The wiki page is a hot mess. Why aren’t they running Russian fever dreams and how dare they assert Planned Parenthood promotes abortion? Instead they’re running stories like Trump was being illegally wiretapped (it was legal, so false!).
Didn’t know David Hogg’s father is a retired FBI agent. Interesting.
The Hogg family home dynamic must be nauseating to witness.
One America News Network?
Looks like a bunch of white supremacists to me.
Yep.
It finally feels like fall here. A little chill in the air when the wind blows or the sun is behind a cloud, shorter days. The deciduous trees have dropped their leaves or turned color.
And college football is on. Really surprised they had maskless fans in the stands. Need more of that.
People need to unplug from the filtered TV news and social media, and just look at the world around them. What’s really going on? Roving gangs of Nazis? Armed warfare in schools? Plague victims spilling into the streets?
Or is it that local freedoms are being curtailed for no reason other than to control you?
Real life observation can be a powerful tool. Are you better off now? 1 year ago? 5 years ago?
I was better off 1 year ago.
Well, you are in that other country west of here named California, yes?
Yes. And I was better here under Trump than in Minnesota under Obama.
I get it. I think a fair majority of Americans agree with you on that. At least according to that recent poll. Another one the MSM have buried, just like the embarrassing Telemundo presidential polls.
I wish Cali was like it was when I was a kid. I loved Simi Valley.
I noticed that Minneapolis is buying an Extended Stay hotel downtown to “house the homeless”. No doubt that will solve the problem, and no more homeless will appear on the streets.
So, in other news, I apparently learned today that you can vote in an election in MD if you are 16 years old.
How does that work?
Democrats 2016: phases of election reaction:
1) RHEE!!! Trump won! Woe is us!
2) It was Russia meddling! Investigate Trump
3) All the evidence of Clinton /Russia collaboration is proof of Putin-Trump alliance
4) kavanaugh #metoo
5) impeach trump / embarrassing loss
6) COVID panic
7) 25th amendment stoking
Really, 4 years of continuous fit throwing is impressive.
Just wait for the next 4, it will be a lot worse.
Number 6, that’s far more than just a democrat hissy fit, it’s a worldwide concerted effort to push a sinister agenda onto the sheelpes. Sorry, conspiracy theory sounding I know. But unfortunately, I feel something very sinister going on with this. You know how you just get this feeling about something and you cannot shake it no matter how hard you try? And you know it’s worse than it appears, even though most people don’t see it? It’s like that.
I did see a sign today:
Trump 2020
Make Liberals Cry Again
Liberals? [Insert Raspberry Sound Here] As my longtime Democrat FIL used to say, “You have to have an open mind to be liberal. They don’t.” They (in-laws) voted Republican for the first time in their lives in 2012.
I also hate the term progressive. It’s bullshit. They’re regressive and repressive.
I fear you are right. Since the late 90s, “they” (a group of international pro-government pro-socialist elites) have thought they could use Global Warming to herd the sheeples into turning over all their rights.
But people didn’t believe global warming, or didn’t believe it’s bad, or think a govt cure is worse.
So COVID came along and unexpectedly offered a fear that they can peddle and shove in your face, which they then cover in a mask to further de-person you.
I just don’t know what / who “they” are.
You left out 1A) Faithless Electors
STAY SCARED !!!1!!1!!11!1
Gov. Chris Sununu voiced strong disagreement with President Donald Trump on Thursday, saying that despite the president’s recent Twitter message, “I’m afraid of COVID.”
“I think everyone should be very concerned about COVID,” Sununu said at a briefing.
Trump tweeted Monday, just before he left the Walter Reed Military Medical Center, “Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
He added, “We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
Sununu said Thursday, “I completely disagree with that sentiment that came out of the White House. The COVID virus didn’t get weaker. If anything, our immune systems are getting weaker.
“If anything, our immune systems are getting weaker.”
Well, let’s make sure that happens by keeping everyone locked indoors. In fact, let’s just put everyone in a bubble so that after a little while, the common cold will kill them.
I’ve been really frustrated about the New England Journal of Medicine editorial about how terribly the US has handled the pandemic. Frustrated especially because, as someone who does a lot of formal peer review of scientific research journal submissions, that it is so blatantly political while ignoring some key questions that any researcher worth their salt should be asking:
1. Are other countries’ covid death totals just deaths attributal to covid, or do they also include huge numbers of “deaths with covid” like the US numbers do?
2. Do other countries’ hospital reimbursements include financial incentives for covid cases? Because US Medicare does, and the vast majority of US covid deaths were in patients whose age means they were almost certainly covered by Medicare. Might this not inflate US totals?
3. Can the authors point to ANY reputable medical or political authority calling for a total lockdown of the country in March? Because 20/20 hindsight is meaningless. You can’t fault the government for not doing something 7 months ago that absolutely zero people were recommending at the time. I’d especially like to see any evidence of anyone recommending the Chinese approach of welding people into their apartments back in March; no, everyone in America who saw that was horrified seeing that at the time. Now we should have done that, since you say that China “got it right”?
4. Please provide an opinion on what the major press in this country would have said in March if Trump, whom they were constantly warning was an autocratic dictator waiting to pounce, would have advocated for a total national lockdown, especially as no medical experts were supporting this approach at the time?
These are just the easy questions. If I were given this editorial to peer review, and a couple of days to work on it, I could probably come up with multiple pages of shortcomings.
Q: Is NEJM the kind of publication that allows Letters that question previous articles? If so, you might want to write on. Of course, by the time it could appear, Biden will have solved the pandemic with his magic and the crisis will be over.
Right on.
I’m not in any way connected to that field but seeing this happen is disgusting to me. It’s so blatantly political.
Absolutely. The entire screed is a pile of horseshit completely devoid of context, and in some cases, evidence.