El Cinco de Foro
Steven L. Taylor
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Sunday, May 5, 2024
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38 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Remind me again of how many dogs trump has had? I ain’t buying that, trump “expressed disgust with Noem’s killing of Cricket” BS.
Yeah, that’s more like it.
Are these people serious? Or is this a joke or a Poe or what?
“Link“
@OzarkHillbilly: I can sympathize with her position–well, no I can’t. Not one bit. But I understand why she’d be surprised by the backlash. She’s in a party devoted to a man who has mocked veterans and the disabled, and with a fellow Midwestern politician who boasted about castrating a pig. One can be forgiven for assuming the party has got no sacred cows (or any other species) left.
Of course you can find distinctions. Dogs are more beloved than pigs in “real America.” As for Trump, he can get away with things his MAGA acolytes cannot. But that’s all with the benefit of hindsight. The party’s entire brand is based on saying “politically incorrect” things (i.e. talking like a deranged sociopath) and reveling in the outrage their words cause among the snowflakes. There may be a lot of MAGA dog owners, but I doubt very many of them are card-carrying members of PETA. Even I’m a little surprised this story appears to be having the damage to Noem we’re seeing, after the years of cruelty and derangement by Republicans that not only fails to wreck their careers, but often gives them their greatest boosts.
@Kylopod: Agreed. It would seem there is a bottom of the barrel after all.
In Montreal this weekend, and earlier walked a couple of blocks to one of the famed Montreal bagel stores. If you are not familiar with them and you’re an old, think NYC bagel before they inflated to the size of a small pillow and the hole closed up. Now imagine a crispier crust, and a slightly richer sweetness, as part of the added sugar is honey. Very subtle but you can detect it if you know it is there. And toppings cover both sides. Brought back a sack of them along with lox, cream cheese and capers. There’s a Nespresso machine where we are staying, so a decent cup of coffee with my bagel. Alone for a few minutes with my NYT’s puzzles. Heaven.
@charontwo: It’s not a cult, not at all. Never. No way, Jose.
Continuing the AI thing, a couple of gadgets incorporating AI, and little else, are out in the wild. The reviews are not good. Here’s one of the Humane AI Pin, where the title “The Worst Product I’ve Ever Reviewed,, For Now” would seem to make it unnecessary to view the video. And here’s another one.
Another such gadget is the Rabbit R1.
Between the cost of these gadgets and the complaints in the reviews, I predict the successful AI gadget that uses a Large Action Model, Large Language Model, and so on, will be a smart phone that incorporates major AI functionality.
The latest Samsung flagship phone does to a surprising degree (I think three links are as many as won’t send the post to moderation; so look up Samsung S24 Ultra for details), and with some major drawbacks. Like most of the AI magic happens outside your phone, on servers in the cloud. You phone more or less merely displays it. So you’d best have good and cheap WiFi around at all times, or pay for a generous data plan from your cell provider.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Love is blind, so I suppose hero worship is also. These people say they are “getting ahead of the story,” but I can’t see how getting ahead of this story helps.
@charontwo: Sounds like getting ahead of the story is better than getting behind it.
Some good news on the family front: My very talented niece has gotten a full ride scholarship to Washington University in STL. I called little bro yesterday and left a congratulatory message but haven’t heard back yet. I suspect it is in Fine Arts (my eldest sister got her Fine Arts degree there).
@Kathy:
In my experience, the rabbit has always received excellent reviews. I agree that size and integration are key features for optimal functionality. Chacun ses goûts.
Here are some pictures of Portland State University’s library, trashed by protestors:
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/05/walk-through-of-portland-state-universitys-library-after-three-night-occupation-reveals-damage-its-ugly.html
Two reactions:
(1) This benefits no one.
(2) The spray-painted message, ANY FORM OF ANTI-IMPERIAL RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED, is alarmingly stupid.
@OzarkHillbilly:
In Ivana Trump’s memoir, which I haven’t read, she apparently mentions that Donald hated her dog.
@charontwo:
I think they think they’re owning the libs. They look like MAGAs.
@OzarkHillbilly: She also put in a passage about meeting Kim Jung Un, despite having never met him.
I have a growing suspicion that she never had a dog, a goat, three horses or a gravel pit, but thought that the story would make her look cool in the eyes of the Republican Fan Base, and show that she could “make the hard decisions and get things done.” I don’t know whether that would be more or less horrifying.
I want to say that killing the dog in a gravel pit, and then deciding that there was more to be done and getting to goat is more horrifying than making it up, but making it up is a pretty clear promise that she will kill other “undesirables” for her fan club.
I’m not saying that Cricket wasn’t real, I’m just saying that so far the only evidence we have of Cricket is the word of a woman who pretended to meet the North Korean dictator and thought that a story of taking the family dog to a gravel pit and shooting it would be a good story.
@Gustopher:
I’ve had a growing suspicion that the passage may have been invented by her ghostwriter. Not saying she didn’t okay it before publication. But she thinks–not without reason–that it would be more damaging to admit that she not only didn’t write the book but that some portions are fiction, despite the open secret that this has been true about a lot of politicians for eons.
@Gustopher:
Noem pondered aloud to CBS News whether Biden’s dog Commander should be shot for biting SS agents and WH staff.
“Say hello to Cricket,” she jested.
@Kingdaddy: The slideshow of damage would be a lot more powerful if they didn’t have random photos of staplers on the ground, or a bag of potato chips.
I feel like I know every bit of damage to those buildings and that there is literally nothing else if the potato chip bag had to be included to pad out the slideshow. Cut back, and let the readers use their imagination.
Even the filing cabinet carefully laid down next to the elevator as a barricade is kind of pushing it. There are a lot of barricades in those photos, made of pallets and other non-library things. Or chairs in the stairwell. (Chairwell?)
Anyway, I hope the powers that be preserve at least one of the bits of graffiti for historical purposes. Specifically the spot where someone wrote on the wall “this tent was moved to keep this hallway accessible & safe” with the three little hearts.
@CSK: I’m not saying that she isn’t a horrible person who would ok the wholesale slaughter of everyone in a homeless encampment anywhere in these here United States of America. Along with all illegal immigrants and anyone of a darker-than-her complexion that isn’t traveling with documents proving they are a citizen. And maybe even those with documents.
I’m not even a full fledged Cricket Truther.
I’m just saying that there’s some doubt to her story, and we should just assume the worst about her, whatever that may be.
If the story is made up, I’m sure she went to the animal shelter this week (in disguise, probably), to adopt the sweetest, cuddliest puppies you can imagine and dragged them to a gravel pit to make the story true.
Meet the leaders of the movement
I wanted to make chicken and bean stew, but in the pressure cooker rather than the slow cooker. Problem is the beans need more time than the chicken. after some online reading of various recipes, I concluded overcooking the chicken would not be a good idea, even if it’s immersed in liquid under pressure.
So, I read a bit more, and without finding enough validation decided to do it in two stages.
Stage one, cook the beans and barley in broth for 12 minutes (not long enough), along with the aromatics and spices.
Stage two, add the chicken breast and a diced potato, and cook for another ten minutes.
In between stages, it’s necessary to do a quick pressure release (which took a bit under ten minutes).
The end results were great. The chicken was tender and shredded easily, the beans maybe were a little bit overcooked (so ten minutes stage one next time). I also did a “natural” pressure release for about 20 minutes before moving the valve to “vent.”
Today I’m making chocolate yogurt ice cream.
@JKB: You’ve convinced me: we need to tax the living shit out of millionaire ad executives.
@Gustopher:
Come on. The guy travels so much, it’s like he’s a citizen of the World and not the absolute ruler of North Korea. Why, just the other day I bumped into him at the grocery store where he was buying bananas and bread. I really stared him down, too, after I deplored his taste in the men he chooses to write love letters to.
@Kathy:
IIRC, you’re not supposed to quick release when pressure cooking foods with a lot of starch (like beans) because it can result in the pressure value getting clogged.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Why fine arts? Why not try a little harder and go for great arts?
@Mimai:
I’ve never used one, but I keep coming across terrible, horrible, no good reviews about it, and of the Humane Pin as well.
Both seem like good ideas with low functionality. Both also seem to lack a case for their use, never mind the expense. And both seem as they would work best either built into a phone, or paired with one.
WaPo has a headline article entitled “How Pope Francis opened the Vatican to transgender sex workers”. Top of their website right now.
I’m not reading it, because I’m positive that anything I just make up based on that headline is going to be better than whatever the truth is.
Because I’m imagining a high-end Vatican brothel that caters to the whims of Bishops and Cardinals, now expanding to better meet customer demands. A brothel so exclusive (and well paid) that people want to work there because that’s their kink. If someone’s kink is to be paid to do the naughty things with Cardinals, Bishops and the Pope, I’m not going to judge them.
Also, I want a musical like The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, except with the Pope instead of Burt Reynolds. Dolly Parton can stay, even if it makes the musical a bit more like Victor/Victoria.
I would swap things around so “And I Will Always Love You” is sung by the Pope as “And He Will Always Love You”, with the He in question being Jesus.
Maybe there can be two versions in the musical, with the one calling back to the other, like how Jesus Christ Superstar has both Mary Magdalene and then Judas singing “I Don’t Know How To Love Him.”
There’s no way that actual article will live up to my dreams. The article is probably very sad in parts.
@Gustopher:
Okay, but why not “with the Pope, but still played by Burt Reynolds”?
@Stormy Dragon:
I didn’t know that.
The valve doesn’t seem to have clogged (whew). I would have noticed when washing the lid afterwards. According to the very abbreviated manual it came with, there’s an “anti-clogging” thing in the underside of the lid. I always remove it and wash it separately. It looked as pristine as usual.
But thanks for the tip. I’ll do it differently in the future.
@Stormy Dragon:..Burt Reynolds…
I think Burt will have to play Jesus first.
You know, the part where he comes back from the dead…
@Kathy:
The rabbit certainly isn’t for everyone. Some are more adventurous with their devices. Others less so.
A few things I’ve learned along the way about the rabbit:
-always purchase new, never used
-it can function as a stand alone and can also pair with other devices (and people)
-it doesn’t work well with all third parties, no matter what they might say
-don’t expect it to do too much
-takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it
-size is important
-battery life is sufficient for most users but there are some outliers
@Kylopod:
As such she feels a desperate need to appear tough because she doesn’t know for sure that she is tough. Those who have had to be tough have had to make the tough calls and, unless they are psychotic, do not love those moments. They are not proud of those decisions. They do not brag about them, silently pray they won’t have to make another, and don’t give a damn who thinks they are tough or not.
@JKB: “Meet the leaders of the movement”
Yup, here’s another guy who’s more successful than JKB. Probably even went to college and everything. How can JKB possibly find the time to hate all the people who have better lives than him?
@dazedandconfused: This. All of this. Part of my job is to relieve the suffering of the animals I care for when that time comes. It’s not fun, or something to be proud of.
@Michael Reynolds: Heh… Speaking as a union carpenter who never got beyond community college (for curiosity’s sake), I really wouldn’t know. Only repeating what I remember, however imperfectly.
ETA: I wish I could have saved more of my sister’s art. Truth is her death hit me like a punch in the gut. She and I were the black sheep of our family, the ones who would always disappoint, the ones who had nothing to lose by speaking truth to “power.” (the old man) And we spoke often of the forbidden topics.
I miss her still.
@Jax: Many years ago I made the decision that I would never put one of my layers down unless it was obviously necessary. Decided that as long as they could breath, they had earned the right to another breath with all the eggs they had gifted us with.
I know. Not too $ smart.
Not judging others who decide differently.
@OzarkHillbilly: Congratulations to her! I wish her well.
@OzarkHillbilly: I hate having to put my favorite chickens down as much as I do my horses, cattle, and dogs, but they deserve better than to suffer. It’s not because they pissed me off, it’s because I couldn’t save them no matter how hard I tried.
Interesting side note, at my elevation, it’s usually chickens and cows I have to put down because they are suffering. I’ve started buying PAP tested bulls, and I won’t buy Brahma chickens anymore because they all die too young of what we call “altitude sickness”.