Back from a week at Chautauqua, my first time there. The wife, much more conservative than I, expected it to be the kind of one sided left wing drivel that is portrayed on Fox. Instead what she saw was thoughtful discussion that acknowledged some weaknesses on the left and strengths on the right but largely illustrating why they thought the left has the better arguments now. It was also pretty patriotic and there was a lot of discussion on different faiths. The primary guest preacher was excellent and really made me think differently about Revelations, which I had always regarded as mistakenly added into the Bible. The guy was black and very much of the black church so it was something he educated us about. Lead us in a hip-hop version of prayer. Even my wife liked it. His Sunday sermon was one of the best i have ever heard.
The last day had a joint appearance by Axelrod and Rove. They were both entertaining and funny. There was a lot of pablum and softballs but a bit of good stuff. (Woodward was also surprisingly good the day before.) I did especially like one Axelrod comment when asked how kids should respond when a speaker they dont like comes to their school. He said schools have an obligation to provide physical safety and but not to protect their thoughts (with some exceptions). Instead they should view exposure to ideas they dont like as going to the “gym” where they work out to strengthen and refine their own ideas to better counter those they oppose. He phrased it better but I liked that analogy.
Good news: since the FIDE announcement banning transfem players from women’s chess competitions, the US, French, German, UK, and Finnish Chess Federations have all announced they’re going to ignore the FIDE policy and continue to welcome them to the events they sanction.
Back lakeside at the Adirondacks for the next two weeks, although I’m more or less taking one week of vacation spread over two weeks, so I’ll be working from a work sharing space a couple of days. Some years ago I realized I was more relaxed when I got back if I caught up on a bunch of checklist tasks that never made it to the top. Nothing that I have to interact with anyone though.
In any case the loons are here again, although we haven’t yet figured out how many. When we first came here 25 years ago they were still recovering from the DDT era. One of the nature societies or the park rangers had built artificial nests in the shallow end to attract them, and if I recall correctly there was a year or two in the beginning where we didn’t have any at all. But now an enduring impression of the lake is sitting out with a cup of coffee in the morning and watching a loon make its way slowly down. It’s mostly kayaks and canoes here and the loons no longer mind them in the least, but they tend to stay away from swimmers and rope swingers and paddle boards.
The most amazing part is that Trump far and away leads the GOP field among voters who place top importance on a candidate being “honest and trustworthy.”
It is a cult, I think we’re talking Jim Jones territory. Maybe even Manson.
@SenyorDave:
I’ve been of the opinion that MAGA is a cult and have said so for six or whatever years. I consider my position to have been thoroughly validated.
For those in need of some cute thing to close the weekend, here’s a collection of Lufthansa rubber ducks.
To get any of these, you need to be able to enter Lufthansa’s first class lounges in Frankfurt to Munich, including the first class terminal at the former. That’s a pretty pricey ticket for a rubber duck, IMO.
I’m sure they may be third party sellers online as well.
Russia’s first attempt to land a probe on the Moon since 1976 did a trump today and crashed.
So much winning!
Sorry. That’s the wrong dictator.
Back from a week at Chautauqua, my first time there. The wife, much more conservative than I, expected it to be the kind of one sided left wing drivel that is portrayed on Fox. Instead what she saw was thoughtful discussion that acknowledged some weaknesses on the left and strengths on the right but largely illustrating why they thought the left has the better arguments now. It was also pretty patriotic and there was a lot of discussion on different faiths. The primary guest preacher was excellent and really made me think differently about Revelations, which I had always regarded as mistakenly added into the Bible. The guy was black and very much of the black church so it was something he educated us about. Lead us in a hip-hop version of prayer. Even my wife liked it. His Sunday sermon was one of the best i have ever heard.
The last day had a joint appearance by Axelrod and Rove. They were both entertaining and funny. There was a lot of pablum and softballs but a bit of good stuff. (Woodward was also surprisingly good the day before.) I did especially like one Axelrod comment when asked how kids should respond when a speaker they dont like comes to their school. He said schools have an obligation to provide physical safety and but not to protect their thoughts (with some exceptions). Instead they should view exposure to ideas they dont like as going to the “gym” where they work out to strengthen and refine their own ideas to better counter those they oppose. He phrased it better but I liked that analogy.
Steve
This is truly funny:
ww.rawstory.com/trump-pac-hacked/
The site’s been fixed, but it took them about a day to do so.
The
fried fishheadline of the day- NJ town power outage blamed on bird that dropped fish on transformerThe Florida headline of the day- Florida woman spiked man’s drink with cockroach spray after they met at a bar, authorities say
@CSK:
Mske that:
http://www.rawstory.com/trump-pac-hacked/
Good news: since the FIDE announcement banning transfem players from women’s chess competitions, the US, French, German, UK, and Finnish Chess Federations have all announced they’re going to ignore the FIDE policy and continue to welcome them to the events they sanction.
@CSK:..hacky sac pac…
Thanks for the link. I went to rawstory.com and could not find the item.
@Stormy Dragon: The Finns, eh? How about that!
Back lakeside at the Adirondacks for the next two weeks, although I’m more or less taking one week of vacation spread over two weeks, so I’ll be working from a work sharing space a couple of days. Some years ago I realized I was more relaxed when I got back if I caught up on a bunch of checklist tasks that never made it to the top. Nothing that I have to interact with anyone though.
In any case the loons are here again, although we haven’t yet figured out how many. When we first came here 25 years ago they were still recovering from the DDT era. One of the nature societies or the park rangers had built artificial nests in the shallow end to attract them, and if I recall correctly there was a year or two in the beginning where we didn’t have any at all. But now an enduring impression of the lake is sitting out with a cup of coffee in the morning and watching a loon make its way slowly down. It’s mostly kayaks and canoes here and the loons no longer mind them in the least, but they tend to stay away from swimmers and rope swingers and paddle boards.
@MarkedMan:
At first I thought you meant someone here in comments. Enjoy your vacation.
@MarkedMan:
You wouldn’t happen to be at Loon Lake in Chester, NY, would you?
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I read this story:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/poll-finds-trumps-big-lead-133017037.html
The most amazing part is that Trump far and away leads the GOP field among voters who place top importance on a candidate being “honest and trustworthy.”
It is a cult, I think we’re talking Jim Jones territory. Maybe even Manson.
@SenyorDave:
Yes. They trust Trump to tell them the truth more than members of their own families, conservative pundits, and religious leaders.
When did OTB get a television show?
@SenyorDave:
I’ve been of the opinion that MAGA is a cult and have said so for six or whatever years. I consider my position to have been thoroughly validated.
For those in need of some cute thing to close the weekend, here’s a collection of Lufthansa rubber ducks.
To get any of these, you need to be able to enter Lufthansa’s first class lounges in Frankfurt to Munich, including the first class terminal at the former. That’s a pretty pricey ticket for a rubber duck, IMO.
I’m sure they may be third party sellers online as well.
KLM does sell its business class miniature Delft Houses online.