Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.
At the Kennedy Center Honors dinner in Washington on Saturday night, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, introduced honoree Linda Ronstadt with a play on the title of one of her best-known songs.
“Ms Ronstadt,” the most senior US diplomat said, “thank you and congratulations. And I will say my job, as I travel the world, I just want to know when I will be loved.”
………………………………..
“Ronstadt rose to the microphone a feet away from the host’s table and looked straight ahead. ‘I’d like to say to Mr Pompeo, who wonders when he’ll be loved, it’s when he stops enabling Donald Trump.’ Then she sat down.”
Actor René Auberjonois has passed away at age 79. He is probably best remembered for playing Odo on Star Trek Space Nine. Early in his career he was one of the many actors Director Robert Altman used over and over again in his movies. Like MASH, McCabe and Mrs Miller, or the quirky Brewster McCloud where he starts turning into a bird. He was also Clayton, the stuffy aide to Governor Gatling in Benson. I enjoyed DS9, Benson, and Brewster. RIP.
For America’s toy-makers the next few weeks are usually the most wonderful time of the year. But thanks to Donald Trump’s seemingly ceaseless trade wars this year is one of the most worrying in living memory. “It’s absolutely the nightmare before Christmas,” said Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun!
Just days from now the Florida-based toy-maker, whose licenses include Tonka, Care Bears and Baby Shark, will learn whether or not the president will turn out to be the Grinch that stole Christmas. On 15 December the Trump administration is set to impose another $155bn of tariffs on Chinese-made products imported to the US. Previous rounds of tariffs have mainly hit industrial goods and America’s farmers. This time the tariffs will include cellphones, laptops and tablets, office and schools supplies, Christmas ornaments, some clothing – and toys.
…………………………..
The industry is living with a sense of “impending doom”, said Foreman. He compared the situation to the hurricanes that annually threaten his home state of Florida. “It feels like we’ve got this hurricane of trade talks and friction and negotiations that have been lingering for a year or more.”
More infuriating still is Trump’s attitude. “Badly run and weak companies are smartly blaming these small Tariffs instead of themselves for bad management,” Trump tweeted in August. “Excuses!”
“It’s just galling coming from a guy who’s bankrupted so many businesses in his career,” said Foreman. “It’s the first time I’ve ever heard a Republican president criticize small businessmen. You know, entrepreneurship is supposed to be the backbone of this country. And when you have a president that’s working against entrepreneurs, it’s really shocking.”
…………………………………………..
Trump’s suggestion that manufacturers move production back to the US strikes manufacturers as ridiculous. With US unemployment at 50-year lows and Trump sealing the border to low-paid workers from Latin America, there is no way to make affordable toys in the US, said Foreman.
“We don’t have the labor here that is interested or willing to do the kind of work that you need to do to make toys, to paint eyeballs on Barbie dolls, to stitch up stuffed animals, to assemble action figures,” he said. Moving to India or Vietnam would mean more costly safety checks and who is to say Trump won’t decide to impose tariffs there too, or remove the Chinese ones after the toy companies have shifted production.
Nobody is winning in this trade war. According to a recent JP Morgan study all the proposed tariffs will cost the average American household $1,000 per year. The knock-on effects will be felt throughout the economy, said Woldenberg. “We pay taxes, we pay salaries and benefits that matter a lot to the people that work here and the wages that we pay are well above Illinois’s average pay. These are good jobs. And all that’s endangered,” he said. Even if Trump’s latest threat to hold off on a deal proves to be yet another bluff, the damage is being done. “I got to spend money to keep the business healthy, to make contractual commitments to lots of different people,” said Woldenburg. “But you can’t when the basic rules of the world are being decided at the last minute over and over again.”
China has ordered that all foreign computer equipment and software be removed from government offices and public institutions within three years, the Financial Times reports.
The government directive is likely to be a blow to US multinational companies like HP, Dell and Microsoft and mirrors attempts by Washington to limit the use of Chinese technology, as the trade war between the countries turns into a tech cold war.
…
“Cutting off technical services to Huawei will be a real turning point in China’s overall research and development and use of domestic chips,” he said in a social media post. “Chinese people will no longer have any illusions about the steady use of US technology.”
He also had a run as Paul Lewiston on the ABC legal drama Boston Legal as well as a lengthy list of appearances in theater, film, television, and on voice work for animated films and other media.
According to his Wikipedia biography, his genealogy also shows a link to Napoleon through his mother while his father was apparently a well-regarded Swiss painter to settled in the U.S. before his son was born.
He was on “The Practice” a couple of times, playing a judge. He had a memorable case, where the defendant escapes custody and goes on the lam. The verdict is delivered without the defendant present, and it’s “not guilty.”
and he played the chef who does battle with Sebastian in “The Little Mermaid.”
He also had a run as Paul Lewiston on the ABC legal drama Boston Legal as well
Boston Legal. I tried watching that show (It was free for Amazon Prime members) and gave up on it less than 25 minutes in. The partner in his underwear and the client who wanted an annulment parts were way over the top and tv shows are notorious for going down hill after their initial episode. I didn’t want to find out more.
“According to a recent JP Morgan study all the proposed tariffs will cost the average American household $1,000 per year. ”
What the Trump giveth through tax cuts, the Trump taketh away through tariffs… and his supporters won’t even notice because they’ve been thoroughly brainwashed into thinking that tariffs are paid by “someone else”.
@Kit: Yeah, I caught that. Didn’t surprise me in the least. I would suggest to Tim Cook that he avoids traveling to China and any associated territories. Tit for tat is contagious.
“Stalking” my ass. He lies to the Capitol Police to get them to eject a reporter (properly ID’d and all) simply because he’s too damn scared to take questions live. It’s like these idiots don’t understand cameras and Twitter work both ways – we can *SEE* you, Devin and man does it look like you’re a complete chickensh^t. Notice no one else is freaking out or acting like this is abnormal / dangerous because it’s *not*. This is not how innocent people act, GOP voters.
All the upvotes. I love all the Treks (except Enterprise – we don’t talk about that in this house!) because each has its own unique charm and perception of reality. I’ve heard DS9 dismissed as the UN of Trek and therefore boring but as we’re seeing in real life, politics is what makes or breaks reality. Not everything is grand sweeping episodic adventures or long slogs home through adversity and drama. For most of humanity, it’s usually just getting by in a crappy, run-down junk heap of a neighborhood with sorta sketchy neighbors filled with racial tension, religious complications, and a government totally willing to abandon you if it benefits them in the slightest. War shows up at your doorstep and there’s little you can do about it; questionable life choices come back to haunt you and ruin lives. No good deed remains unpunished, the bad guy skates far too often and a happy ending is one where you had what you started of with and nobody’s bleeding too much.
Also, it’s the final proof of the Star Trek Mad Science Meme aka “The United Federation Of Fuck It Hold My Beer I Got This” Apologies for it being a huge jpg but idk where the org post is – click to magnify and enjoy the headcanon start to make so much sense
@Teve:
There’s more out there because the org thread splintered with every OMG. Google “Star Trek Mad Science” for more. There was one about how how Vulcans think humans are a dog frathouse – we would all stick our heads out the spaceship window and go “weeeee!!!” if we had the ability. Not gonna lie – if I could, I would 🙂
“In modern history, we’ve never gone after impeaching a president in the first term” — Kevin McCarthy argues that there’s a precedent against impeaching presidents before their second term
I wish these open threads would take cognizance that some of us live in the West. By the time I awake, the thread has twenty five comments, and it is hard for me to hijack it. End this East-Coast Imperialism!
@Slugger: Speaking as the lead hijacker of these open threads, I live in the heart of the Ozarks (CST) and get up at 3:30 AM. Of course I’m usually done by 9 AM which mea… Opps 9:26, time to go.
We’ve been setting the open thread post to go up at 5:00 am Eastern time since they started. If the commentariat thinks a different time would be more appropriate I could discuss that with James and Steven.
That being said since it’s an open thread you’re free to post whatever you want at any time.
So ladies and gentlemen, what’s the consensus on posting time?
Personally speaking, I like the idea of getting the post up early in the day since it gives people a chance to post comments before leaving for work.
@Doug Mataconis:
Before work? Pftt, I’m lucky to get to work within a half hour of my (theoretical) start time – posting happens whenever I have time to open a browser and comment. However, I’m cognizant that not everyone is lucky enough to be able to post at work so morning works.
Nonetheless, if anyone does think we should change the posting time, then this is the thread to raise it in. Absent some overwhelming feeling otherwise, though, I’m inclined to say we’ll keep it where it is.
In response to the idiotic Republicans defending Trump in the hearings, Kevin Kruse has the best reply
@kevinmkruse
“Your Honor, the police charge that my client is a ‘drug dealer,’ but I’ll note for the record that when Mr. Vega phoned him from his car, my client repeatedly shouted he didn’t know him and said that Mr. Vega was, and I quote, a ‘prank caller, prank caller.’ I rest my case.”
I had a cooking blog briefly, but “Kathy’s Kitchen” was taken. I called it “Kathy’s Cooking Corner.”
I had little time, and less energy, to cook yesterday. So I slapped together some thin hamburger patties, dredged them in bread crumbs, and covered them with a simple sauce made of onions, garlic, tomato puree, yellow mustard, oregano, pepper, paprika, cinnamon, and fine herbs. Some cheese on top, and cooked them in the oven.
I love cooking things like burger patties or chicken breasts in the oven. they cook all at the same time! That saves all sorts of time.
On other things, I saw a recipe for Timballo Genovese in the Food Network. I don’t want to cook the whole dish, too complicated (and peas with bacon??), but the onion-based sauce sounds amazing. The thing is I’m unsure what cut of beef to use. I want to shred whatever beef I sue and serve it with the onion sauce, which seems to make eminent sense. So, if anyone knows whether a cut amenable to shredding would work, please let me know. Thanks.
@Teve: What infuriates women is the men who think that any nearby female body is there specifically to be mauled/slapped/fondled/grabbed/sniffed/kissed/nuzzled by them. I’m looking at you, Donald Trump, and you, Joe Biden.
@Doug Mataconis:
Here’s a thought on this that’s a little more “out of the box”…
What if the home-page were formatted so that the “Open Forum” was separate from the other posts…off to the right, or something. Say, above the “Popular Posts” and below the “Support OTB” headers.
And then have the comments load most recent at the top, rather than at the bottom, as the others do? That way you could just leave it open and let it run indefinitely. Maybe clean it out once a week or so. (I don’t know what the capacities are).
Just my $00.02.
IG Report is out.
Exonerates the FBI opening of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation…completely demolishing the cries of “Witch Hunt”.
The report does find issues with the Carter Page FISA warrant, which was issued after Page left the Campaign. Page is one of the few Trump Campaign top staffers that was never indicted for anything.
Baghdad Barr then immediately lied about the IG Report and tried to undermine it.
@Daryl and his brother Darryl: ABC News is confirming that Ivanka Trump was/is friends with Christopher Steele, going back to 2007. She met Steele at a London dinner party.
That would require a rewrite of the underlying formatting for the home page.
The other option would be to make the Open Forum post the top post for the day so that it would be at the top of the page for at least the day it was published.
@Daryl and his brother Darryl: I think this is hilarious. Imagine: Daddy’s Little Girl/Lust Object has maintained a 12-year friendship with the man Daddy hates most. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving pack of swine.
@Doug Mataconis: When I was a kid I used to see him on stage at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. I always felt a personal connection to him when I saw him on film, even though I was just one of hundreds in attendance at his performances…
We could endlessly debate the similarities between DS9 and B5. I will admit there are many, adn it’s likely paramount borrowed from JMS’s setting.
However, I’ll go with something Asimov once said. he wrote “Nightfall,” one of his most enduring short works, after John W. Campbell, editor at a science fiction magazine, showed him a quotation from Emerson. Later Asimov mentioned to him what the story owed to the quotation, and wondered whether it was his at all.
Campbell reportedly said “If I had shown than quotation to a dozen writers, I’d have gotten a dozen different stories.”
@wr: Delusional you are. Not the first time you’ve rejected reality.
@Kathy: Certainly they did finally do something decent with it once they decided on the Dominion war arc. The first time star trek did such a thing and gee golly wouldn’t you know there was another sci fi station show pitched prior with a similar overarching war concept…
Don’t get me wrong I’m totally glad they did it as Voyager was a mess with only a few decent episodes while DS9 as a whole has a lot of good and VERY good episodes. Certainly they made the concept their own before the show ended. I sometimes rewatch DS9 and B5 but for different reasons.
But it was a different kind of overarching war concept.
If it had turned out in the end the Dominion was spreading order while fighting the chaos-loving Prophets, or something, well. As it is, DS9 went more conventional, and less of a cold war allegory.
Still, the “borrowing” dis get me to make a few crossover scenes as taglines waaaaaay back in the 90s. I recall two:
Kira: What do you make of the Prophets, Ambassador?
Kosh: Amateurs!
—
Sisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine
Sheridan: Nine? Man! you guys are fraggingly persistent!
If it had turned out in the end the Dominion was spreading order while fighting the chaos-loving Prophets, or something, well. As it is, DS9 went more conventional, and less of a cold war allegory.
Ha nice one. I always kind of viewed the B5 story being more of a Tolkien style. I never claimed the DS9 crew stole the whole thing or anything of that sort. They found inspiration in the concept of a station based show with overarching story lines and went their own way with it.
Those end quotes lololol
Generally I much prefer DS9 over TNG as while TNG had some excellent episodes I just never have been a big fan of the every day is a reset button style of TV that TNG/TOS (and later Voyager) existed in. AKA the bottle episode concept. They can be interesting and entertaining but it’s just not my preferred style of show. I like overarching story lines twisting and turning piling and competing. B5 was a masterclass in foreshadowing and planning.
@Teve: duh? If you watched B5 you would of seen that first hand as even in the bottle episodes JMS would sprinkle in some foreshadowing, world building, and such.
Trek on the other hand almost always hit the reset button at the end of their bottle episodes. Well that was until later DS9.
@Kathy: I roasted this one in the oven at… 250 iirc. For what ever that is worth. I know a lot of folks are high on the insta pot but I still go with the old ways. Good luck.
Oh, well, with Vorlon Mother’s Day, Kosh’s mother sent Kosh a message to Babylon 5:
“Dearest daughter,
It’s been a long time since you’ve deigned to visit me. I am losing patience with your excuses. Yes, dear, I know a thousand years is not a long time for nearly immortal beings, but you are just being difficult.
So, I’m determined to see you by Mother’s Day, and I don’t care if the Shadows are attacking or Sheridan has some inane question, or whether G’kar needs guidance even to save his life. My only question is this: will you come to home world, or would you prefer I visit Babylon 5?”
Dumber things have happened. His qualifications include claiming Trump is not obese, and allegedly passing out pills like candy. And being unqualified to lead the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and unwilling or unable to recognize this and refuse a nomination before he became a laughing stock.
I don’t have an instant pot. I’ve thought about it, and it’s something I would like to try, but I pay too much for electricity already and don’t need another energy-hungry appliance.
Though I wonder if I could prep something, refrigerate it, then bring it to the office and cook it there 😉 I’d probably get flagged for doing so. But seeing as how I work some weekends, why not take those four extra hours to cook?
@Kathy: I think they could spare some electricity. Claim you need to tend to it, but you’re so dedicated that you want to work…. choosing between a chili and work, you choose both!
Anyone who doesn’t accept that is a monster and doesn’t deserve your work.
So, this weekend, I went to the cat shelter to get away from the constant pleading of my lonely cat, and to once again try to capture the attention of the aloof 15 year old cat who won’t give me the time of day.
Some young woman came in, and that cat (my cat!) made a beeline for her, sat in her lap and purred, while she was trying to get the kittens to play with her.
I entertained myself with the available pesky kittens, waiting for her to leave me and my chosen aloof 15 year old cat to bond.
Anyway, she went home with a senior cat, and I looked down at the 9 month old beast purring at me, and now I have a kitten. Sigh.
At least she is a tortie.
My socially retarded six year old cat has made the appropriate hisses and growls upon introduction, but then went to sleep about three feet away from the tiny beast. I think it will work out fine.
Currently seeking cat names of the food variety. Leading contender is “Sofrito” since you get to gently roll the r. “Posole” and “Scrapple” are also being considered.
New Cat is so much better socialized than my older cat. Anyone would love her. It takes a special person to love my special (socially retarded) cat.
Idiot cat has finally been promoted to favorite cat, a role she held provisionally while she was the only cat. Kitten probably thinks that just because she is better in every measurable way that she will be the favorite… she has no idea what makes a favorite.
A Polish man goes to the military police station and tells the Soviet desk sergeant, “Comrade, good day. I want to report two Swiss soldiers stole my Soviet watch.”
“Are you sure, comrade, it wasn’t two Soviet soldiers that stole your Swiss watch?”
@Matt: “Delusional you are. Not the first time you’ve rejected reality.”
Dude, I’ve worked in the TV business as a writer and producer for more than 30 years, I know both JMS and people who worked on DS 9 personally, while you pull what you call “reality” from whiny posts on fan sites. I think I have a little better idea of how these things work than you do. You’re welcome to think I’m “delusional” if it’s that important to you to stick to little fanboy conspiracy theories but frankly unless you’re 14 years old it’s just embarrassing.
@Matt: “the every day is a reset button style of TV that TNG/TOS (and later Voyager) existed in. AKA the bottle episode concept”
That’s not “the bottle episode concept.” It used to be called episodic, now it’s mostly called procedural — which used to have a different meaning (as in police procedural) but since so many of the shows featuring standalone episodes were of the CSI variety the name has come to be applied to any non-serialized series.
A bottle show is one that is shot entirely on a show’s standing sets, usually in order to save money.
@wr: And given that the first year of DS9 had none of the continuing plot lines that would be the hallmark of the later seasons and of the entirety of B5, that theory doesn’t even make sense. At that point you just have two space stations — DS9’s frontier town and B5’s UN.
I do expect that after a very shaky first season there was some retooling of DS9, and they may have looked at what was working with a large variety of shows, tried out a few longer arcs, gushed the reaction, and then went more into that for Seasons 3-7.
@wr: Wa! Watching SciFi fanboi threads develop is like watching a whole new variety of trolling evolve. Who knew?
It’s the video version of weed guys! Let people have their opinions. It’s not like anyone GAF, is it?
I won’t claim I was a big fan of Roxette, or even a fan, really, but two of the songs she sang, “Listen to Your Heart,” and “Fading Like a Flower,” were just amazing.
If any of you like bluegrass, go see the Dead South if they’re in your area. Great show, the songs sound every bit as good as they do on the album, with a whole lot more jamming out. 😉
Buttigieg releases names of consulting clients
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; Loblaws, a Canadian supermarket chain; Best Buy; the Natural Resources Defense Council; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Department of Energy; the Energy Foundation, an environmental nonprofit; the U.S. Postal Service; and the U.S. Department of Defense.
So it’s his fault that First Class postage is now 55cents.
(I did not know that Loblaws was still around. I remember my family shopping there when we lived in Rochester NY in the 1950s.)
@OzarkHillbilly: What did he expect? Hugs and kisses?
Actor René Auberjonois has passed away at age 79. He is probably best remembered for playing Odo on Star Trek Space Nine. Early in his career he was one of the many actors Director Robert Altman used over and over again in his movies. Like MASH, McCabe and Mrs Miller, or the quirky Brewster McCloud where he starts turning into a bird. He was also Clayton, the stuffy aide to Governor Gatling in Benson. I enjoyed DS9, Benson, and Brewster. RIP.
Trump’s trade war creates ‘nightmare before Christmas’ for US toy-makers
@CSK: He works for trump, the greatest president in the history of human kind, the chosen one. So yes.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Re: trade war
Have you seen this in today’s Guardian: China tells government offices to remove all foreign computer equipment
#owngoal
@BIll: Looking back at all the Star Treks, I think DS9 has risen to be my favorite. And Odo one of the defining characters.
@BIll:
He also had a run as Paul Lewiston on the ABC legal drama Boston Legal as well as a lengthy list of appearances in theater, film, television, and on voice work for animated films and other media.
According to his Wikipedia biography, his genealogy also shows a link to Napoleon through his mother while his father was apparently a well-regarded Swiss painter to settled in the U.S. before his son was born.
@Scott: that’s cuz DS9 was the best Trek.
@Doug Mataconis:
He was on “The Practice” a couple of times, playing a judge. He had a memorable case, where the defendant escapes custody and goes on the lam. The verdict is delivered without the defendant present, and it’s “not guilty.”
and he played the chef who does battle with Sebastian in “The Little Mermaid.”
@Doug Mataconis:
Boston Legal. I tried watching that show (It was free for Amazon Prime members) and gave up on it less than 25 minutes in. The partner in his underwear and the client who wanted an annulment parts were way over the top and tv shows are notorious for going down hill after their initial episode. I didn’t want to find out more.
@Kathy: He also had a funny turn as a marriage counselor on Rhoda and as a bossy, chauvinistic French psychiatrist on the original Bob Newhart show.
Better than the original? Nah…
@OzarkHillbilly:
“According to a recent JP Morgan study all the proposed tariffs will cost the average American household $1,000 per year. ”
What the Trump giveth through tax cuts, the Trump taketh away through tariffs… and his supporters won’t even notice because they’ve been thoroughly brainwashed into thinking that tariffs are paid by “someone else”.
@Kit: Yeah, I caught that. Didn’t surprise me in the least. I would suggest to Tim Cook that he avoids traveling to China and any associated territories. Tit for tat is contagious.
Nunes on camera actually shaking like the coward he is.
“Stalking” my ass. He lies to the Capitol Police to get them to eject a reporter (properly ID’d and all) simply because he’s too damn scared to take questions live. It’s like these idiots don’t understand cameras and Twitter work both ways – we can *SEE* you, Devin and man does it look like you’re a complete chickensh^t. Notice no one else is freaking out or acting like this is abnormal / dangerous because it’s *not*. This is not how innocent people act, GOP voters.
@Teve:
All the upvotes. I love all the Treks (except Enterprise – we don’t talk about that in this house!) because each has its own unique charm and perception of reality. I’ve heard DS9 dismissed as the UN of Trek and therefore boring but as we’re seeing in real life, politics is what makes or breaks reality. Not everything is grand sweeping episodic adventures or long slogs home through adversity and drama. For most of humanity, it’s usually just getting by in a crappy, run-down junk heap of a neighborhood with sorta sketchy neighbors filled with racial tension, religious complications, and a government totally willing to abandon you if it benefits them in the slightest. War shows up at your doorstep and there’s little you can do about it; questionable life choices come back to haunt you and ruin lives. No good deed remains unpunished, the bad guy skates far too often and a happy ending is one where you had what you started of with and nobody’s bleeding too much.
Also, it’s the final proof of the Star Trek Mad Science Meme aka “The United Federation Of Fuck It Hold My Beer I Got This” Apologies for it being a huge jpg but idk where the org post is – click to magnify and enjoy the headcanon start to make so much sense
@KM: that is The Best.
@Teve:
There’s more out there because the org thread splintered with every OMG. Google “Star Trek Mad Science” for more. There was one about how how Vulcans think humans are a dog frathouse – we would all stick our heads out the spaceship window and go “weeeee!!!” if we had the ability. Not gonna lie – if I could, I would 🙂
Trek headcanons are some of the best in fandom
@KM:
I don’t know. Discovery is shaping up nicely. though that might be the effect of Barney Stinson’s Only One Rule No. 618: New is always better.
What DS9 did very well was story arcs. Later in the series it took up the whole Dominion War as a long arc, as Babylon 5 had done before.
Now, I don’t mean to imply DS9 ripped off B5. Rather it borrowed a good story-telling technique, which has been done by plenty other TV shows as well.
@Teve: I guess no other president in modern history displayed blatant criminality in their first term.
I wish these open threads would take cognizance that some of us live in the West. By the time I awake, the thread has twenty five comments, and it is hard for me to hijack it. End this East-Coast Imperialism!
@OzarkHillbilly: Republicans have realized that their job is to pander to the lowest common denominator.
@Slugger: Speaking as the lead hijacker of these open threads, I live in the heart of the Ozarks (CST) and get up at 3:30 AM. Of course I’m usually done by 9 AM which mea… Opps 9:26, time to go.
@Slugger:
We’ve been setting the open thread post to go up at 5:00 am Eastern time since they started. If the commentariat thinks a different time would be more appropriate I could discuss that with James and Steven.
That being said since it’s an open thread you’re free to post whatever you want at any time.
So ladies and gentlemen, what’s the consensus on posting time?
Personally speaking, I like the idea of getting the post up early in the day since it gives people a chance to post comments before leaving for work.
@Slugger: I can’t believe somebody downvoted that. Somebody has no sense of humor, man. 😉
@Doug Mataconis: I say keep it as it is. I can even beat OzarkHillbilly if I so choose, being six hours ahead of the East Coast imperialists.
@Doug Mataconis:
Before work? Pftt, I’m lucky to get to work within a half hour of my (theoretical) start time – posting happens whenever I have time to open a browser and comment. However, I’m cognizant that not everyone is lucky enough to be able to post at work so morning works.
@Kit: Please. That’s East Coast libtard elites, thank you very much.
Of course this guy is a youth church minister. And I would bet $1000 he voted for Trump.
@Slugger:
Okay I now see you were mostly joking.
Nonetheless, if anyone does think we should change the posting time, then this is the thread to raise it in. Absent some overwhelming feeling otherwise, though, I’m inclined to say we’ll keep it where it is.
@Doug Mataconis: Time’s good. Anybody else vote for daily over every two days?
FYI I came back here this morning to flag the Afghan Papers story. I see you beat me to it with a full post.
@Slugger:
You just need to get up earlier or go to bed later. 🙂
@gVOR08: nah every 2 days is better.
@gVOR08:
You mean I’ll have to come up with a headline of the day every day? It is hard enough when these forums are every other day……
@gVOR08:..Time’s good. Anybody else vote for daily over every two days?
Open Forum every other day is fine.
If a new one is added it should be dedicated to the haute cuisine of the day.
Call it Kathy’s Kitchen?
In response to the idiotic Republicans defending Trump in the hearings, Kevin Kruse has the best reply
@gVOR08:
As full as it can be, the source documents are akin to the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War
@Mister Bluster:
I had a cooking blog briefly, but “Kathy’s Kitchen” was taken. I called it “Kathy’s Cooking Corner.”
I had little time, and less energy, to cook yesterday. So I slapped together some thin hamburger patties, dredged them in bread crumbs, and covered them with a simple sauce made of onions, garlic, tomato puree, yellow mustard, oregano, pepper, paprika, cinnamon, and fine herbs. Some cheese on top, and cooked them in the oven.
I love cooking things like burger patties or chicken breasts in the oven. they cook all at the same time! That saves all sorts of time.
On other things, I saw a recipe for Timballo Genovese in the Food Network. I don’t want to cook the whole dish, too complicated (and peas with bacon??), but the onion-based sauce sounds amazing. The thing is I’m unsure what cut of beef to use. I want to shred whatever beef I sue and serve it with the onion sauce, which seems to make eminent sense. So, if anyone knows whether a cut amenable to shredding would work, please let me know. Thanks.
@Teve: What infuriates women is the men who think that any nearby female body is there specifically to be mauled/slapped/fondled/grabbed/sniffed/kissed/nuzzled by them. I’m looking at you, Donald Trump, and you, Joe Biden.
@KM: I loved DS9 too, and your description of it is outstanding!
RIP, Renė Auberjonois
@Doug Mataconis:
Here’s a thought on this that’s a little more “out of the box”…
What if the home-page were formatted so that the “Open Forum” was separate from the other posts…off to the right, or something. Say, above the “Popular Posts” and below the “Support OTB” headers.
And then have the comments load most recent at the top, rather than at the bottom, as the others do? That way you could just leave it open and let it run indefinitely. Maybe clean it out once a week or so. (I don’t know what the capacities are).
Just my $00.02.
@Teve: Andrew Johnson says hello.
IG Report is out.
Exonerates the FBI opening of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation…completely demolishing the cries of “Witch Hunt”.
The report does find issues with the Carter Page FISA warrant, which was issued after Page left the Campaign. Page is one of the few Trump Campaign top staffers that was never indicted for anything.
Baghdad Barr then immediately lied about the IG Report and tried to undermine it.
@Daryl and his brother Darryl: ABC News is confirming that Ivanka Trump was/is friends with Christopher Steele, going back to 2007. She met Steele at a London dinner party.
@Doug Mataconis:
Agreed.
@CSK:
So Donnie is jealous? That’s why all the BS claims about Steele?
@Kathy: I slow cooked a chuck roast (with a mustard glaze, new recipe for me) a couple weeks ago and it came out eminently shreddable.
@Kathy: Well considering JMS pitched B5 to the same people that would then turn around to make DS9 there’s definitely something there..
@Daryl and his brother Darryl:
That would require a rewrite of the underlying formatting for the home page.
The other option would be to make the Open Forum post the top post for the day so that it would be at the top of the page for at least the day it was published.
@Daryl and his brother Darryl: I think this is hilarious. Imagine: Daddy’s Little Girl/Lust Object has maintained a 12-year friendship with the man Daddy hates most. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving pack of swine.
@Doug Mataconis: When I was a kid I used to see him on stage at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. I always felt a personal connection to him when I saw him on film, even though I was just one of hundreds in attendance at his performances…
@Matt: “Well considering JMS pitched B5 to the same people that would then turn around to make DS9 there’s definitely something there..”
No. There isn’t.
@Matt:
We could endlessly debate the similarities between DS9 and B5. I will admit there are many, adn it’s likely paramount borrowed from JMS’s setting.
However, I’ll go with something Asimov once said. he wrote “Nightfall,” one of his most enduring short works, after John W. Campbell, editor at a science fiction magazine, showed him a quotation from Emerson. Later Asimov mentioned to him what the story owed to the quotation, and wondered whether it was his at all.
Campbell reportedly said “If I had shown than quotation to a dozen writers, I’d have gotten a dozen different stories.”
@OzarkHillbilly:
This is cooked in a pot for about two hours, so it might work.
@wr: Delusional you are. Not the first time you’ve rejected reality.
@Kathy: Certainly they did finally do something decent with it once they decided on the Dominion war arc. The first time star trek did such a thing and gee golly wouldn’t you know there was another sci fi station show pitched prior with a similar overarching war concept…
Don’t get me wrong I’m totally glad they did it as Voyager was a mess with only a few decent episodes while DS9 as a whole has a lot of good and VERY good episodes. Certainly they made the concept their own before the show ended. I sometimes rewatch DS9 and B5 but for different reasons.
@Matt:
But it was a different kind of overarching war concept.
If it had turned out in the end the Dominion was spreading order while fighting the chaos-loving Prophets, or something, well. As it is, DS9 went more conventional, and less of a cold war allegory.
Still, the “borrowing” dis get me to make a few crossover scenes as taglines waaaaaay back in the 90s. I recall two:
Kira: What do you make of the Prophets, Ambassador?
Kosh: Amateurs!
—
Sisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine
Sheridan: Nine? Man! you guys are fraggingly persistent!
@Kathy:
Ha nice one. I always kind of viewed the B5 story being more of a Tolkien style. I never claimed the DS9 crew stole the whole thing or anything of that sort. They found inspiration in the concept of a station based show with overarching story lines and went their own way with it.
Those end quotes lololol
Generally I much prefer DS9 over TNG as while TNG had some excellent episodes I just never have been a big fan of the every day is a reset button style of TV that TNG/TOS (and later Voyager) existed in. AKA the bottle episode concept. They can be interesting and entertaining but it’s just not my preferred style of show. I like overarching story lines twisting and turning piling and competing. B5 was a masterclass in foreshadowing and planning.
Bottle episodes can be standalone episodes but they don’t have to be.
@Teve: duh? If you watched B5 you would of seen that first hand as even in the bottle episodes JMS would sprinkle in some foreshadowing, world building, and such.
Trek on the other hand almost always hit the reset button at the end of their bottle episodes. Well that was until later DS9.
@Matt:
That’s putting it lightly. It was at best a Tolkien “homage” (and often outright steals). All the Zahadum stuff in particular.
@Kathy: I roasted this one in the oven at… 250 iirc. For what ever that is worth. I know a lot of folks are high on the insta pot but I still go with the old ways. Good luck.
@Matt:
Oh, well, with Vorlon Mother’s Day, Kosh’s mother sent Kosh a message to Babylon 5:
“Dearest daughter,
It’s been a long time since you’ve deigned to visit me. I am losing patience with your excuses. Yes, dear, I know a thousand years is not a long time for nearly immortal beings, but you are just being difficult.
So, I’m determined to see you by Mother’s Day, and I don’t care if the Shadows are attacking or Sheridan has some inane question, or whether G’kar needs guidance even to save his life. My only question is this: will you come to home world, or would you prefer I visit Babylon 5?”
Kosh, dutifully, at once sends a reply:
“Yes.”
Mamma Kosh, infuriated, replies:
“Yes WHAT?”
And Kosh, again with duty in mind, replies:
“Yes, mother.”
Perhaps we will have Rep. Candyman (R-Texas)
Dumber things have happened. His qualifications include claiming Trump is not obese, and allegedly passing out pills like candy. And being unqualified to lead the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and unwilling or unable to recognize this and refuse a nomination before he became a laughing stock.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Thanks.
I don’t have an instant pot. I’ve thought about it, and it’s something I would like to try, but I pay too much for electricity already and don’t need another energy-hungry appliance.
Though I wonder if I could prep something, refrigerate it, then bring it to the office and cook it there 😉 I’d probably get flagged for doing so. But seeing as how I work some weekends, why not take those four extra hours to cook?
Still, probably not a good idea.
@Kathy: I think they could spare some electricity. Claim you need to tend to it, but you’re so dedicated that you want to work…. choosing between a chili and work, you choose both!
Anyone who doesn’t accept that is a monster and doesn’t deserve your work.
So, this weekend, I went to the cat shelter to get away from the constant pleading of my lonely cat, and to once again try to capture the attention of the aloof 15 year old cat who won’t give me the time of day.
Some young woman came in, and that cat (my cat!) made a beeline for her, sat in her lap and purred, while she was trying to get the kittens to play with her.
I entertained myself with the available pesky kittens, waiting for her to leave me and my chosen aloof 15 year old cat to bond.
Anyway, she went home with a senior cat, and I looked down at the 9 month old beast purring at me, and now I have a kitten. Sigh.
At least she is a tortie.
My socially retarded six year old cat has made the appropriate hisses and growls upon introduction, but then went to sleep about three feet away from the tiny beast. I think it will work out fine.
Currently seeking cat names of the food variety. Leading contender is “Sofrito” since you get to gently roll the r. “Posole” and “Scrapple” are also being considered.
New Cat is so much better socialized than my older cat. Anyone would love her. It takes a special person to love my special (socially retarded) cat.
Idiot cat has finally been promoted to favorite cat, a role she held provisionally while she was the only cat. Kitten probably thinks that just because she is better in every measurable way that she will be the favorite… she has no idea what makes a favorite.
(It’s seniority).
@Gustopher: Poteca? (pronounced po*tee*tsa, emphasis on 2nd syllable)
@CSK:
What are we out here on the West Coast, chopped kale?
Don’t we get a mention for being ‘West Coast libtard elites’?
@al Ameda:
Not unless you are interested in hijacking the open thread. Which I encourage you to do—it’s dead today!
Apropos of nothing, here’s a Soviet era joke:
A Polish man goes to the military police station and tells the Soviet desk sergeant, “Comrade, good day. I want to report two Swiss soldiers stole my Soviet watch.”
“Are you sure, comrade, it wasn’t two Soviet soldiers that stole your Swiss watch?”
“You made that claim, comrade, not I.”
@Matt: “Delusional you are. Not the first time you’ve rejected reality.”
Dude, I’ve worked in the TV business as a writer and producer for more than 30 years, I know both JMS and people who worked on DS 9 personally, while you pull what you call “reality” from whiny posts on fan sites. I think I have a little better idea of how these things work than you do. You’re welcome to think I’m “delusional” if it’s that important to you to stick to little fanboy conspiracy theories but frankly unless you’re 14 years old it’s just embarrassing.
@Matt: “the every day is a reset button style of TV that TNG/TOS (and later Voyager) existed in. AKA the bottle episode concept”
That’s not “the bottle episode concept.” It used to be called episodic, now it’s mostly called procedural — which used to have a different meaning (as in police procedural) but since so many of the shows featuring standalone episodes were of the CSI variety the name has come to be applied to any non-serialized series.
A bottle show is one that is shot entirely on a show’s standing sets, usually in order to save money.
@al Ameda: Of course you do, but Kit didn’t mention you, just East Coasters.
@wr: And given that the first year of DS9 had none of the continuing plot lines that would be the hallmark of the later seasons and of the entirety of B5, that theory doesn’t even make sense. At that point you just have two space stations — DS9’s frontier town and B5’s UN.
I do expect that after a very shaky first season there was some retooling of DS9, and they may have looked at what was working with a large variety of shows, tried out a few longer arcs, gushed the reaction, and then went more into that for Seasons 3-7.
@wr: Wa! Watching SciFi fanboi threads develop is like watching a whole new variety of trolling evolve. Who knew?
It’s the video version of weed guys! Let people have their opinions. It’s not like anyone GAF, is it?
Damn! Marie Fredriksson passed away.
I won’t claim I was a big fan of Roxette, or even a fan, really, but two of the songs she sang, “Listen to Your Heart,” and “Fading Like a Flower,” were just amazing.
She was just 61.
Don’t change Dicks in the middle of a screw. Vote for Nixon in ’72!
If any of you like bluegrass, go see the Dead South if they’re in your area. Great show, the songs sound every bit as good as they do on the album, with a whole lot more jamming out. 😉
So it’s his fault that First Class postage is now 55cents.
(I did not know that Loblaws was still around. I remember my family shopping there when we lived in Rochester NY in the 1950s.)
@Mister Bluster:
Founded by Bob Loblaw, if I remember correctly, which I do not.
@Gustopher:..Founded by Bob Loblaw,..
Per WikiP:
Loblaws was founded by Theodore Loblaw and John Milton Cork in 1919.
Maybe Bob is his middle name…nope his middle name is Pringle.