Yesterday, I ran into an amusing phenomenon in my local paper. I sometimes comment on an article, express my opinion etc. The article was a straightforward news piece on the last COVID vaccine coming out this month. Fully expecting those with oppositional behavior disorders to write in response, I injected this benign factual comment:
Planning to get updated booster and high dosage flu end of Sept/early Oct. Just like last year. Need to read up on the new RSV shot.
That was it. Didn’t advocate for vaccines. Didn’t express any opinion about what I thought about anti vaxxers. Didn’t start any argument.
The replies were swift and plentiful as if I were planning to sauté babies for Labor Day brunch.
Says a lot about the people out there. But I’m supposed to be understanding.
Chef Reactions
@ChefReactions
Caring for a senior citizen is great because several times a day I get to play a game called “Napping Or Dead” which really gets the ol’ heart rate going….
Republican Larry Hogan, the former Maryland governor, told “Face the Nation” this weekend that he has “not closed the door” to seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 on a No Labels ticket.
@Bill Jempty: FWIW, this may not be as big a deal as it sounds. The Great Wall is actually the Great Walls, and there are thousands of miles of them, most of which is in tumbled down disrepair. In fact my family and I stayed near the wall just outside of Beijing and trekked up the hills through the farmland to reach it. When we arrived it was to a section that had withstood centuries of neglect. We could still walk on top of it but there were trees growing through and we frequently had to climb down rubble and back up the other side of significant gap. After a half hour or so of this we abruptly came to a one of the regularly spaced guard towers that straddled the wall that appeared to be in perfect condition. We climbed in through the window on our side and emerged out the other side to find… Disneyland. Perfectly restored and maintained Wall, full of tourists and stores selling souvenirs and snacks. We ended up riding a sort of toboggan down.
“Elon Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League on Monday after blaming the nonprofit for an advertising revenue slump on X since he led a takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter,” Axios reports.
“Musk accused the ADL in a post on X of ‘trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic’ after it reported a spike in hate speech on the platform following the reinstatement of banned accounts there.”
We are recovering from our first bout with COVID. My husband developed AFIb, which, according to his cardiologist, is all too common with this strain. Back to masking and grocery pickups.
I have read this version is not that contagious, but I have doubts that’s true. We are the homiest of homebodies and managed to stay Covid free until a couple of weeks ago.
@OzarkHillbilly: If you click on the link, the funniest thing in the article was that he’s insisting that if/when he wins the case, he’s going to insist that the organization change its name to the Defamation League.
More than trying to win, the Emperor Mars God of Phobos might be taking a page from Benito’s playbook. Lawsuits are expensive to defend against, even when the accusation is weak and frivolous. Effectively if you want to punish someone, you sue them if you can afford to (it’s not free for the plaintiff, either).
I look at it this way: any lawsuit a lawyer won’t take on contingency, is likely undertaken as punitive action.
What St. Elon should do next, is take another cue from Benito and stiff his lawyers.
Today the trial in the Texas Senate for the impeachment of our adulterous, indicted felon of an Attorney General Ken Paxton begins. If you want to know all about it, the Texas Tribune is the best account.
What makes this mess so different than anywhere else in the country is that this impeachment is not Republican vs Democrat for left vs right. It is politically violent Republican on Republican action. The 20 articles of impeachment passed the Texas House 121-23 with Republicans voting 60-23 in favor.
The Texas Senate started the impeachment trial (2/3rds required for conviction) this morning. There are a bunch of pre-trial motions going on but the main one (dismissal of all charges) failed 6-24. Let’s hope this holds as 21 votes is required for conviction.
Far right political actors are putting up ads against fellow Republicans and promising to campaign against them. Will be fascinating the ultimate impact on Texas politics.
@Kathy: I don’t think the ADL has anything to worry about. Indeed, I think the party that has the most to lose is any lawyer for Musk, who would stand a very real chance of getting hit by sanctions.
Of course, I don’t think Musk is serious about going through with this. If he was, he wouldn’t just be talking about it.
But I do agree that at bottom it’s an attempt an intimidation. The ADL is a big enough org to be able to withstand that tactic, but less well-funded entities and persons could be scared into silence by this type of chest-beating.
Indeed, I think the fact that Musk chose to go after the ADL, and not the various other organizations that have noted a rise in hate speech on the platform, is telling. I also find it interesting that he seems to be more offended by being criticized for anti-Semitism than for any other type of bigotry, even though the discussion about hate speech on Twitter has generally been just as focused on attacks on PoC and queer people.
The ADL didn’t even accuse him of being personally anti-Semitic, but ironically, his choice in attempting to depict himself as the victim of powerful Jewish interests almost seems to confirm the charge.
@becca: I hope you feel better very soon. There’s been a significant uptick in the number of covid cases around here (NH).
We have a vacation planned in late October, I’m hoping I can stay healthy. Looking forward to my booster shot (planning to get it in late Sept. along with my annual flu jab).
@Kathy: The COVID death count in Florida has now passed that of New York state, with 82,000+ COVID deaths in Florida versus 77,000+ in New York. Those are roughly equal per capita rates, but half of the New York deaths came in the first year, while Florida’s big spike came after vaccines were fully available.
Still hoping for an answer to my question from yesterday about the Florida redistricting decision:
So is it the map itself that is unconstitutional, or the process that put it in place? Is this just a “go back and follow the proper checklist” ruling, or must the end result preserve the majority-minority district in order to be compliant?
Paxton’s team lost on all of its pretrial motions that required a Senate vote. Here’s how the trial will proceed, according to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick:
Each side has 1 hour for opening statements
24 hours to present evidence
1 hour of rebuttal
1 hour for closing arguments
Also Patrick has said that Paxton cannot be compelled to testify.
Query to Bing:
In regards to the Florida districting process, is it the map itself that is unconstitutional, or the process that put it in place? Is this just a “go back and follow the proper checklist” ruling, or must the end result preserve the majority-minority district in order to be compliant?
Response from Bing:
According to a recent ruling by Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh, a Florida redistricting plan pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis violates the state constitution and is prohibited from being used for any future U.S. congressional elections since it diminishes the ability of Black voters in north Florida to pick a representative of their choice1. The judge sent the plan back to the Florida Legislature with instructions that lawmakers should draw a new congressional map that complies with the Florida Constitution1.
The voting rights groups that challenged the plan in court “have shown that the enacted plan results in the diminishment of Black voters’ ability to elect their candidate of choice in violation of the Florida Constitution,” Marsh wrote1.
It seems that it is the map itself that is unconstitutional and not just the process that put it in place. The decision was the latest to strike down new congressional maps in Southern states over concerns that they diluted Black voting power1.
I hope this helps clarify your question. Let me know if you have any other questions.
@Kylopod: If he hadn’t been coaxed into saying that he was open to running as an indi in his pre-interview, how likely would his appearance on “Face the Nation” have been?
Would you find believable an engineered lifeform that incorporates electronic circuits, and which requires to consume sand (silicon oxide) from time to time?
@Scott: I’m sure there are some differences but to this Miserian this is very reminiscent of the tussle between then Gov. Grietens and the MO state GOP. Grietens thought that just because he was governor, that made him top dog and he could piss all over the low lifes who helped him get into the gov’s mansion.
I’m always searching for honest and smart conservative voices. Ross Douthat fills that bill. I sometimes find him wrong-headed, but more often he is just coming from a different set of values than I do. He writes quite a bit about religion and is of the “non-believers are doomed to an unfulfilled and desperate life” ilk, which I find tedious. But today he has opinion piece (no subscription needed) where he is responding to an Op-Ed writer longing for a Church of the Nones, and I find it well reasoned and well written, and his sometimes hectoring tone is moderated. FWIW
You know, I am beginning to think that some right wingers targeted Musk with an influence operation. Obviously, giving him money isn’t going to work all that well, but telling him he’s a good person might well. I mean, the guy had an ogre for a father, after all.
Time was when he was a very unorthodox guy who wouldn’t dream of fighting it out in court. But now he’s adopting a very standard playbook.
@MarkedMan: and is of the “non-believers are doomed to an unfulfilled and desperate life” ilk,
1st, speaking as a nonbeliever who has lived a very fulfilling life, I can only say fck him and his self-righteous blinkered certainty that his life of belief* is the only path to happiness. Also I’m not sure what exactly he means by desperation, but part of what made my life so fulfilling was overcoming the desperate times.
* just want to note once again that even tho I am an atheist, I have no problem with others believing in a god or many gods. It matters not at all to me.
Oh my…did anyone else notice that @Mimai never indicated that the Bing answer was ending before the subsequent conclusion and offer to help with more questions?
It turns out Mimai is actually an AI. Took a long time to fail the Turing Test. Impressive.
Indeed, I think the fact that Musk chose to go after the ADL, and not the various other organizations that have noted a rise in hate speech on the platform, is telling. I also find it interesting that he seems to be more offended by being criticized for anti-Semitism than for any other type of bigotry, even though the discussion about hate speech on Twitter has generally been just as focused on attacks on PoC and queer people.
The Musk comments on the ADL happened only after there was a very coordinated campaign to get #BanTheADL trending on Twitter*, filled with exactly the antisemitic content that you would expect. So many Nazis and Sparkling White Nationalists.
Peruse that at your leisure, and see what gems you find. It’s Nazi shit, and a few people commenting on Nazi shit.
I did find this surprisingly cute cartoon — possibly the most adorable antisemitism ever. It’s vile and hateful, and leaves no ambiguity on its hatefulness, but it’s pretty cute.
And Musk then decides to wade into the mess, and offer proclamations siding with Nazis. Because it was trending and he cannot leave it alone.
He didn’t decide to go after the ADL, his little Nazi friends baited him and gave him a push, and now he will double down and believe the antisemitism more strongly. The power of social media laid bare, when the owner is not immune. We get to watch the radicalization of Musk in real-time.
I’m not saying that he was a good person before. You don’t go from decent person to openly siding with Nazis overnight. But, he wasn’t willing to say it out loud in public.
——
*: I will call his company by the chosen name when Musk calls his trans kid by their chosen name.
**: Trigger warning put in just to trigger Michael Reynolds.
Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
Peter Navarro’s trial is next week. He says this case will cost him $1.7 million in legal fees and he has only raised $360K in donations, so he needs people to urgently send more money.
Hmmmm… Maybe, just maybe, the rubes are beginning to wake up.
@Mimai: Unfortunately Bing has no real way of separating “truth” from what it simply thinks you will respond positively to. So there is no way to know whether this answer has any validity unless you do the research. Note that it doesn’t include sources that can be checked. And although under certain circumstances generative AI does include citations it is a known issue in that they can just make them up.
@Jay L Gischer: Remember when must offered to give a woman a horse for a handjob? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
He was never a lefty, but his path is just a variation on the usual post-left Putin-loving men, like Matt Taibbi, etc. They’ve been engaging in shitty behavior for ages, and when called out on their shitty behavior will change literally anything else in their life but their shitty behavior.
The right will excuse the shitty behavior (“a horse is a fine payment for a handjob, and there’s no need to accept your trans kid”) and they shift to that.
It tends to happen more often with people in the just slightly left of Bernie Sanders community (the Bernie Bros who think he would be transformative) than Tech Bro Libertarians, but in the end a Bro is a Bro.
The MAGAs are dense, in addition to being totally Trump-focused. Most of them have no idea who Navarro is, and in any event, they’ll give and will continue to give all their money to Trump.
@OzarkHillbilly: I went 24 for 24. I still have an AOL account I started in 1997, the email inbox of which contains approximately 350,000 emails. Delete button? What’s that?
Constitution for the United States of America Article VI, Section 2
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
…constitutional provisions are
A) law?
B) mere guidelines for actual law?
@Mikey: @Scott: I never played an Atari, I never made a mixed tape or owned a Walkman, and I never ordered anything from Colombia House, not even sure what they sold (music? Books?)
I did open a MySpace account, but after I did that, I never went back. I can’t even remember what motivated me to open one. I am still not on facebook.
Scored 20. However I think that I am due extra credit:
I just wrote a check today.
My dad was a photo editor for World Book Encyclopedia.
When I worked in the landline telephone industry I installed rotary dial phones and replaced telephone cords that the cat had chewed on.
I delivered the local telephone directory and was always amused how when I delivered to the homes of black folks they would get all excited and say “The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!”*
*Yes! This really happened! More than a few times!
@OzarkHillbilly: @Mister Bluster: @Mikey: It occurred to me that this list is mostly items from the 80s/90s. I guess those folks are considered old now. How about:
Listened to music on a turntable
Had 45s and LPs
Used punchcards
Phone numbers that had letters (AN1-2225 was my earliest remembered phone number)
coaster brakes
Ate at a HoJo
So it’s clear how they vote will go, even if Jesús appears to them with Jefferson’s ghost and tell them they should disqualify the Orange Ass.
I’m more cynical than you. I think it depends on timing. If it’s after Trump is nominated and therefore a question of Trump or any Democrat, they’ll find 6-3 for Trump. If it were early, so that it’s a question of whether Trump can be nominated, the Crows, Singers, Kochs, etc., etc. might weigh in against Trump then put all their money behind DeUseless, Ramaswamy, Haley, or whoever they think is electable and more malleable
@Scott: Yeah, A lot of folks are saying, “I was too old for some of this stuff.”
One I saw many moons ago was “You know you are old if all your childhood pics are in B&W.” That’s me and my older brother and sisters. I do remember one family portrait in color taken by a pro, I was 2, maybe 3 at most, so ’60-61.
@OzarkHillbilly: No MySpace and no AOL, but I do have a Yahoo account that is more than 20 years old. So 22 our of 24.
My nominations:
– Had to change your phone number when you moved, no matter how close
– Analyzed your phone bill every month so you could divide the long distance charges properly with your roommates
– Got your email account from your ISP and had to give it up when you changed ISP’s
– Saved money on long distance calls by purchasing a discount card which let you call into an 800 number, enter an incredibly long sequence from the discount card, and finally enter the number you were dialing in the first place. Make one mistake and start over!
– Since there were no mobile phones, but needing to exchange information while traveling with another person traveling separatel, you a) called their answering machine and left a message, then b) they would call their own answering machine and when it picked up enter a secret code allowed them to play back their messages, then c) they would call your answering machine and reply, and d) you would call your answering machine and enter your secret code, and finally e) go back to “a” and repeat as often as necessary
@MarkedMan: Thanks for the link! Not a fan of Douthat–though probably less of a detractor than others here, too–and this essay didn’t really add anything for me. What he’s discovered, in my take at least, is the sort of anodyne apologetics that Campus Crusade and Malibu Club were shooting for when I was of the target age, so this is more of a “seen this before” (as opposed to a “been there/done that”) than a revelation.
I feel a little grieved for the sake of the “nones” guy because he seems to be struggling with his discovery of what being at the top of an evolutionary chain means–if only to him. But I got nothing to offer.
@Kurtz: Dude, I’ve been dropping hints for a while now. Whatever. It’s just so nice to finally be seen! [insert jokes here about hallucinating, irony, and mustard]
@MarkedMan: Thanks Ezra, but I’m well-versed in this stuff too.
Note that it doesn’t include sources that can be checked. And although under certain circumstances generative AI does include citations it is a known issue in that they can just make them up.
The “1” notations in the pasted response link to this PBS story.
There’s also a “Learn more” feature at the end (not included in my, ahem, its pasted response) that contains links to other stories on this matter.
On net, it seems to stand up well against the median internet commenter.
@OzarkHillbilly: I think it was Carl Rogers (Mimai can probably correct me on this if necessary) who proposed two conditions for what he called congruence: awareness of who you are and contentment with your state or condition. I’m glad for you that you seem to have congruence and, as I noted above, somewhat grieved for the “nones” guy in Douthat’s essay, who seems not to.
awareness of who you are and contentment with your state or condition
Way back in my 20’s someone asked me about my perfect woman. I thought about it and said, “She knows what she wants and is happy when she gets it”. Shortly thereafter, I realized that pretty much summed up the path to obtaining a satisfactory life for me too.
As late as the 90s, we hired a long distance callback service. I forget many of the details, but essentially you dialed a free 800 number, let it ring once, and hung up. A short moment later, your phone would ring and you got a recording with instructions on how to dial the number you want to call. Using the service to fax something was a chore.
This was at a time when long distance charges from Mexico to the US were, to be charitable, highway robbery with prejudice.
I honestly don’t know what the rates are today. For one thing, I no longer make any such calls at my current job. For another, you can Skype, if that’s still a thing, or call using Whatsapp.
@Gustopher: Can anybody explain why Twitter (or X or whatever it is now) will allow me to see LodrosWar, but when I clicked to go to Ban the ADL‘s post it asked me to sign-in to or join the app?
@OzarkHillbilly: I missed on Walkman (although I did have a portable CD player at one point), My Space, Columbia House (though I did have an account with Musical Heritage Society for a similar type of account while I was studying musicology), and AOL (though I obviously have an internet service). Is my score also 20 or higher?
ETA: Do I lose another point because we don’t have “cheques” in ‘Murka?
AETA: Rechecking, I realized that I never made a mix tape, either. I’m feeling younger already! 😀
@Just nutha ignint cracker: I’ve lived a good life, certainly not a boring one. I’ve seen and done things that few others have and even a few that nobody ever had before and one at least that no one has done since. I saved my sons’ lives a couple of times, and they had a hand in rescuing me from a dicey situation. I gave them both a youth that was incomparable to… I don’t know anybody who did the things my sons did growing up. I fought more than a few battles just because not fighting was unacceptable to me. Lost a few of them, won a few.
In the end, I have very good relationships with both of my sons (something that was in doubt on more than one occasion) and their wives. I have 5 beautiful granddaughters who I get to see on a not infrequent basis. And best of all, I have a beautiful wife I love very much and who loves me. I have made her only one promise in the past 17 years and that is to outlive her, even if it’s only by 5 mins.
@Scott: I’d add listening to 78s….using an HP calculator
Remembering the Moon landings?
(I’ve also got stuff like “remembering when you could only buy chicken whole” but I think that was a regional thing.)
Oh, and when you got your stock dividends by clipping out little pieces of paper and sending them in an envelope in exchange for a cheque. I used to watch my mother do that.
@Scott: No punchcards (didn’t study computer science or data entry anywhere because I can’t type fast/accurately enough), and never lived/traveled anywhere that had HoJos.
– Saved money on long distance calls by purchasing a discount card which let you call into an 800 number, enter an incredibly long sequence from the discount card, and finally enter the number you were dialing in the first place. Make one mistake and start over!
@Grumpy realist: @OzarkHillbilly: We weren’t a trading stamps family. Both my parents believed that the premium one paid at stores that gave stamps was larger than the savings one accrued using them. Also, Seattle had very few places that did Green Stamps.
I still use that value system as it relates to Costco and Amazon Prime memberships. Paying however much it is a year to prepay delivery charges on Prime really baffles me. (But I also only shop at Amazon about two or three times a year and group purchases in order to qualify for free shipping anyway. And no, I don’t understand why they still give me free shipping on items that will be sent separately.)
Slide rule – straight or circular
Coleman stove using “white” gas i.e. unleaded premium – still have it
Coleman lantern with silk mantels
laser disc player
folding wood ruler inherited from grandfather
carburators/distributor caps/points
Rode in the back of a pickup on the freeway.
Got a Big Mac, Fries and a Coke for less than a dollar.
Had a party line telephone.
Had an 8 track player in my first car.
I had both. My circular slide rule was a prized possession. It disappeared somewhere along the lines, probably in my divorce. I lost a lot of shit in that mess.
I don’t have all my vinyl LPs any more, or my cassettes either (no 8-tracks for me, that was Dad). But I have most, if not all, of my punchcard decks from the days when I learned programming!
@OzarkHillbilly: 22 out of 24 for me — never had MySpace or AOL account. (They didn’t ask about Prodigy, and the AOL account was my younger brother’s…)
@Scott: My attempt at a cross-cutting not-just-tech list:
* Used a telephone operator to help you make a call
* Listened to a 78 rpm record
* Wore gaiters, spats, or galoshes
* Used a manual embossing label maker
* Used a soldering iron
* Ate Cream of Wheat or Shredded Wheat for breakfast
* Ate a molded gelatin dish containing canned fruit
* Watched television on a black and white only set
* Played tennis with a wooden racquet
* Played golf with wooden clubs
23/24, no MySpace. I do pretty well on everything listed. How about…
Had some Rock em Sock em robots
A Daniel Boone hat
Watched Captain Kangaroo
The Honeymooners
The cartoons before the start of the movie at the theater
Remember the gas wars? especially when the price would near 20 cents/gallon
Girls couldn’t wear jeans to school
Your grade school teacher openly wore KKK paraphernalia (You probably had to be lucky for this one)
We still have AOL too. We still sometimes write checks, meaning my wife writes them as I am not allowed to touch the checkbook.
@DK: I missed Charles Krauthammer, too. The difference is that I started missing him while he was still alive. Those last few years were pretty scary to my delicate aesthetic sensibilities.
Since we’re talking about older tech, how many accessed the internet from home (not from work or college), using a dial-up modem before there were commercial ISPs or AOL?
I used to dial a number that connected to a public university’s server, then used the “telnet” command to hook up with a server at Case Western Reserve University, which ran a project called The Cleveland Freenet. This let anyone use the internet for free, and included an email address.
Aside from email, I accessed USENET for newsgroups, and LINKS for the very primitive days of the Web. All text, as I had a monochrome PC running DOS 4.01.
Used Compuserve
Played Strat-O-Matic baseball without the help of a computer to keep your team’s statistics.
The Late late late show
Watch Creature Features
Watched movies at a revival house.
Your Mom and Dad are told you need your tonsils removed. I still have them 54 years later.
Television stations were not on 24/7 and their broadcast for the day would end with the national anthem.
World Series games were played during the day
The Super Bowl would sometimes be played on your birthday. January 12- Super Bowls III and IX.
@Kathy: I was on my third computer* before I accessed the internet from anywhere other than the college where I was teaching at the time.
*I can’t remember why, but I swapped my Leading Edge computer with two floppy ports with one of my high school students for a 2nd Generation Leading Edge with only one floppy but also a hard drive.
ETA: Yes, I’ve always purchased lower end technology.
When I changed from an Apple][e with two floppies at work to a PC with a hard drive and one floppy, I was surprised to learn software had to be installed on the latter, rather than run off the floppy disk.
@Bill Jempty:
Dodged that particular wave.
I have a feeling they were more popular in the US than in the UK; I can’t recall ever seeing a 8-track player in anyone’s house, and only once in car.
8 track tapes, I remember those pretty well actually. My Dad had a stand alone 8 track player and he used to own 8 tracks like the Bee Gees, and Buffy Saint Marie.
@DK: I miss Krauthammer too. He used to offer a fun game. He was a very good lawyer. It was fun to analyze his arguments. It’s always possible to think George Will or Ross Douthat or David Brooks believe what they say. But Krauthammer’s lies were so carefully crafted there was no question they were deliberate.
@Kathy: I’m being reminded of the first personal computer I used. I was doing engineering cost estimates in VisiCalc on a company owned Radio Shack TRS-80, always referred to as the Trash 80, with two floppy drives. 8″ floppies.
Since we’re talking about older tech, how many accessed the internet from home (not from work or college), using a dial-up modem before there were commercial ISPs or AOL?
I first used the ARPAnet before it was the Internet.
I first used the Internet before there was a World Wide Web.
I used Gopher before there was such a thing as a web browser.
In 1979, I used a dial-up modem from my home to connect to a computer in Exeter, England via the transatlantic cable to experience the very first Multi-User Dungeon (MUD). (My father was a system administrator for a VAX cluster at NIH that was on the ARPAnet.)
Which means that the future of religion depends, in some way, on thoughtful people like Bacon coming around to the realization that this skeptical sense of things, this default to nonbelief, is itself just an intellectual fancy, a myth and a mistake.
…and there’s the rub. You have to believe in this particular Magic Sky Daddy for any of it to work, to get the social and communitarian benefits of religion. (It’s not clear whether Douthit feels that this belief needs to be correct, or merely shared.) That’s a non-starter for people with actual functioning brains.
It’s a fascinating question — is there really no communal belief system that both imparts the benefits of shared religion AND doesn’t require belief in an objectively random nonsensical mythology?
Yesterday, I ran into an amusing phenomenon in my local paper. I sometimes comment on an article, express my opinion etc. The article was a straightforward news piece on the last COVID vaccine coming out this month. Fully expecting those with oppositional behavior disorders to write in response, I injected this benign factual comment:
That was it. Didn’t advocate for vaccines. Didn’t express any opinion about what I thought about anti vaxxers. Didn’t start any argument.
The replies were swift and plentiful as if I were planning to sauté babies for Labor Day brunch.
Says a lot about the people out there. But I’m supposed to be understanding.
@Scott: As the late great EF Goldman said, “Fuck ’em.”
The Florida headline of the day- 4 killed in crash, including 3 children, when 15-year-old runs stop sign in Osceola County, troopers say
The headline of the day- Excavator used to damage section of Great Wall, two people detained
Chef Reactions
@ChefReactions
Caring for a senior citizen is great because several times a day I get to play a game called “Napping Or Dead” which really gets the ol’ heart rate going….
Three Service Secretary’s are out with an op-ed slamming Alabama Senator and Florida resident Tommy Tuberville for his hold on appointments.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/04/army-navy-air-force-secretaries-tuberville-military-hold/
So much for MAGAt’s supporting the military.
@Daryl:
Stopping abortions of any kind is Coach Tommy’s Number One priority.
For your “Say what?” political headline of the day.
@Bill Jempty: FWIW, this may not be as big a deal as it sounds. The Great Wall is actually the Great Walls, and there are thousands of miles of them, most of which is in tumbled down disrepair. In fact my family and I stayed near the wall just outside of Beijing and trekked up the hills through the farmland to reach it. When we arrived it was to a section that had withstood centuries of neglect. We could still walk on top of it but there were trees growing through and we frequently had to climb down rubble and back up the other side of significant gap. After a half hour or so of this we abruptly came to a one of the regularly spaced guard towers that straddled the wall that appeared to be in perfect condition. We climbed in through the window on our side and emerged out the other side to find… Disneyland. Perfectly restored and maintained Wall, full of tourists and stores selling souvenirs and snacks. We ended up riding a sort of toboggan down.
The world’s top free-speech warrior wants the government to silence a private organization:
Here’s your daily reminder the COVID pandemic is over.
@Kylopod: I so very much hope musk’s lawyers are every bit as idiotic as he.
We are recovering from our first bout with COVID. My husband developed AFIb, which, according to his cardiologist, is all too common with this strain. Back to masking and grocery pickups.
I have read this version is not that contagious, but I have doubts that’s true. We are the homiest of homebodies and managed to stay Covid free until a couple of weeks ago.
@OzarkHillbilly: If you click on the link, the funniest thing in the article was that he’s insisting that if/when he wins the case, he’s going to insist that the organization change its name to the Defamation League.
@becca: Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
@Kylopod:
@OzarkHillbilly:
More than trying to win, the Emperor Mars God of Phobos might be taking a page from Benito’s playbook. Lawsuits are expensive to defend against, even when the accusation is weak and frivolous. Effectively if you want to punish someone, you sue them if you can afford to (it’s not free for the plaintiff, either).
I look at it this way: any lawsuit a lawyer won’t take on contingency, is likely undertaken as punitive action.
What St. Elon should do next, is take another cue from Benito and stiff his lawyers.
Today the trial in the Texas Senate for the impeachment of our adulterous, indicted felon of an Attorney General Ken Paxton begins. If you want to know all about it, the Texas Tribune is the best account.
What makes this mess so different than anywhere else in the country is that this impeachment is not Republican vs Democrat for left vs right. It is politically violent Republican on Republican action. The 20 articles of impeachment passed the Texas House 121-23 with Republicans voting 60-23 in favor.
The Texas Senate started the impeachment trial (2/3rds required for conviction) this morning. There are a bunch of pre-trial motions going on but the main one (dismissal of all charges) failed 6-24. Let’s hope this holds as 21 votes is required for conviction.
Far right political actors are putting up ads against fellow Republicans and promising to campaign against them. Will be fascinating the ultimate impact on Texas politics.
@Kathy: I don’t think the ADL has anything to worry about. Indeed, I think the party that has the most to lose is any lawyer for Musk, who would stand a very real chance of getting hit by sanctions.
Of course, I don’t think Musk is serious about going through with this. If he was, he wouldn’t just be talking about it.
But I do agree that at bottom it’s an attempt an intimidation. The ADL is a big enough org to be able to withstand that tactic, but less well-funded entities and persons could be scared into silence by this type of chest-beating.
Indeed, I think the fact that Musk chose to go after the ADL, and not the various other organizations that have noted a rise in hate speech on the platform, is telling. I also find it interesting that he seems to be more offended by being criticized for anti-Semitism than for any other type of bigotry, even though the discussion about hate speech on Twitter has generally been just as focused on attacks on PoC and queer people.
The ADL didn’t even accuse him of being personally anti-Semitic, but ironically, his choice in attempting to depict himself as the victim of powerful Jewish interests almost seems to confirm the charge.
@becca: I hope you feel better very soon. There’s been a significant uptick in the number of covid cases around here (NH).
We have a vacation planned in late October, I’m hoping I can stay healthy. Looking forward to my booster shot (planning to get it in late Sept. along with my annual flu jab).
@Kathy: The COVID death count in Florida has now passed that of New York state, with 82,000+ COVID deaths in Florida versus 77,000+ in New York. Those are roughly equal per capita rates, but half of the New York deaths came in the first year, while Florida’s big spike came after vaccines were fully available.
Still hoping for an answer to my question from yesterday about the Florida redistricting decision:
@Scott: Update on Ken Paxton’s trial.
We’re in the Room at the Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial. Follow Along Live.
The Gateway Pundit is throwing a Save the Electors Telethon starring Steve Bannon, Jim Hoft, Kari Lake, and more!
@DrDaveT:
Query to Bing:
In regards to the Florida districting process, is it the map itself that is unconstitutional, or the process that put it in place? Is this just a “go back and follow the proper checklist” ruling, or must the end result preserve the majority-minority district in order to be compliant?
Response from Bing:
According to a recent ruling by Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh, a Florida redistricting plan pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis violates the state constitution and is prohibited from being used for any future U.S. congressional elections since it diminishes the ability of Black voters in north Florida to pick a representative of their choice1. The judge sent the plan back to the Florida Legislature with instructions that lawmakers should draw a new congressional map that complies with the Florida Constitution1.
The voting rights groups that challenged the plan in court “have shown that the enacted plan results in the diminishment of Black voters’ ability to elect their candidate of choice in violation of the Florida Constitution,” Marsh wrote1.
It seems that it is the map itself that is unconstitutional and not just the process that put it in place. The decision was the latest to strike down new congressional maps in Southern states over concerns that they diluted Black voting power1.
I hope this helps clarify your question. Let me know if you have any other questions.
@Kylopod:
Thing is the God Emperor has already sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate. So he does mean to legally harass anyone who points out Xitter’s metrics.
@Kylopod: If he hadn’t been coaxed into saying that he was open to running as an indi in his pre-interview, how likely would his appearance on “Face the Nation” have been?
Would you find believable an engineered lifeform that incorporates electronic circuits, and which requires to consume sand (silicon oxide) from time to time?
@Scott: I’m sure there are some differences but to this Miserian this is very reminiscent of the tussle between then Gov. Grietens and the MO state GOP. Grietens thought that just because he was governor, that made him top dog and he could piss all over the low lifes who helped him get into the gov’s mansion.
Turned out, not so much. Oooopps.
I’m always searching for honest and smart conservative voices. Ross Douthat fills that bill. I sometimes find him wrong-headed, but more often he is just coming from a different set of values than I do. He writes quite a bit about religion and is of the “non-believers are doomed to an unfulfilled and desperate life” ilk, which I find tedious. But today he has opinion piece (no subscription needed) where he is responding to an Op-Ed writer longing for a Church of the Nones, and I find it well reasoned and well written, and his sometimes hectoring tone is moderated. FWIW
@Kathy:
It’s pretty close to free for Trump when you factor in how many times he stiffs his lawyers on the bill.
You know, I am beginning to think that some right wingers targeted Musk with an influence operation. Obviously, giving him money isn’t going to work all that well, but telling him he’s a good person might well. I mean, the guy had an ogre for a father, after all.
Time was when he was a very unorthodox guy who wouldn’t dream of fighting it out in court. But now he’s adopting a very standard playbook.
1st, speaking as a nonbeliever who has lived a very fulfilling life, I can only say fck him and his self-righteous blinkered certainty that his life of belief* is the only path to happiness. Also I’m not sure what exactly he means by desperation, but part of what made my life so fulfilling was overcoming the desperate times.
* just want to note once again that even tho I am an atheist, I have no problem with others believing in a god or many gods. It matters not at all to me.
Once the question of Benito’s eligibility to run for office reaches the supreme court, for once the bought and paid for justices will have a chance to vote based on self-preservation.
If they allow the Cheeto to run, Democrats and others will think them illegitimate, will stage protests, and will urge measures to reform the court.
If they bar him from running, they may face outright assassination attempts, or even worse things.
So it’s clear how they vote will go, even if Jesús appears to them with Jefferson’s ghost and tell them they should disqualify the Orange Ass.
*I really think what would be decided is whether constitutional provisions are law or mere guidelines for actual law.
Oh my…did anyone else notice that @Mimai never indicated that the Bing answer was ending before the subsequent conclusion and offer to help with more questions?
It turns out Mimai is actually an AI. Took a long time to fail the Turing Test. Impressive.
@Kylopod:
The Musk comments on the ADL happened only after there was a very coordinated campaign to get #BanTheADL trending on Twitter*, filled with exactly the antisemitic content that you would expect. So many Nazis and Sparkling White Nationalists.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/BanTheADL?src=hashtag_click&f=live
Peruse that at your leisure, and see what gems you find. It’s Nazi shit, and a few people commenting on Nazi shit.
I did find this surprisingly cute cartoon — possibly the most adorable antisemitism ever. It’s vile and hateful, and leaves no ambiguity on its hatefulness, but it’s pretty cute.
(Trigger Warning: Antisemitism**)
https://twitter.com/LodossWar1492/status/1697450122819645686?s=20
And Musk then decides to wade into the mess, and offer proclamations siding with Nazis. Because it was trending and he cannot leave it alone.
He didn’t decide to go after the ADL, his little Nazi friends baited him and gave him a push, and now he will double down and believe the antisemitism more strongly. The power of social media laid bare, when the owner is not immune. We get to watch the radicalization of Musk in real-time.
I’m not saying that he was a good person before. You don’t go from decent person to openly siding with Nazis overnight. But, he wasn’t willing to say it out loud in public.
——
*: I will call his company by the chosen name when Musk calls his trans kid by their chosen name.
**: Trigger warning put in just to trigger Michael Reynolds.
Hmmmm… Maybe, just maybe, the rubes are beginning to wake up.
@Mimai: Unfortunately Bing has no real way of separating “truth” from what it simply thinks you will respond positively to. So there is no way to know whether this answer has any validity unless you do the research. Note that it doesn’t include sources that can be checked. And although under certain circumstances generative AI does include citations it is a known issue in that they can just make them up.
@Jay L Gischer: Remember when must offered to give a woman a horse for a handjob? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
He was never a lefty, but his path is just a variation on the usual post-left Putin-loving men, like Matt Taibbi, etc. They’ve been engaging in shitty behavior for ages, and when called out on their shitty behavior will change literally anything else in their life but their shitty behavior.
The right will excuse the shitty behavior (“a horse is a fine payment for a handjob, and there’s no need to accept your trans kid”) and they shift to that.
It tends to happen more often with people in the just slightly left of Bernie Sanders community (the Bernie Bros who think he would be transformative) than Tech Bro Libertarians, but in the end a Bro is a Bro.
I scored a 20 out of 24.
@MarkedMan:
It’s so very human.
@OzarkHillbilly:
The MAGAs are dense, in addition to being totally Trump-focused. Most of them have no idea who Navarro is, and in any event, they’ll give and will continue to give all their money to Trump.
@OzarkHillbilly: I went 24 for 24. I still have an AOL account I started in 1997, the email inbox of which contains approximately 350,000 emails. Delete button? What’s that?
…constitutional provisions are
A) law?
B) mere guidelines for actual law?
You be the Judge!
@OzarkHillbilly: 22 out of 24. Never had a MySpace account nor made a mixtape.
delete
@CSK: The silver lining in the cloud that is trump.
@Mikey: @Scott: I never played an Atari, I never made a mixed tape or owned a Walkman, and I never ordered anything from Colombia House, not even sure what they sold (music? Books?)
I did open a MySpace account, but after I did that, I never went back. I can’t even remember what motivated me to open one. I am still not on facebook.
@OzarkHillbilly:..old enough…
Scored 20. However I think that I am due extra credit:
I just wrote a check today.
My dad was a photo editor for World Book Encyclopedia.
When I worked in the landline telephone industry I installed rotary dial phones and replaced telephone cords that the cat had chewed on.
I delivered the local telephone directory and was always amused how when I delivered to the homes of black folks they would get all excited and say “The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!”*
*Yes! This really happened! More than a few times!
@CSK: What th’ fork??? [head exploding and eyeroll emojis]
@OzarkHillbilly:
22/24, but I turn 52 this Saturday so I am no spring chicken, lol.
@OzarkHillbilly: @Mister Bluster: @Mikey: It occurred to me that this list is mostly items from the 80s/90s. I guess those folks are considered old now. How about:
Listened to music on a turntable
Had 45s and LPs
Used punchcards
Phone numbers that had letters (AN1-2225 was my earliest remembered phone number)
coaster brakes
Ate at a HoJo
I could go on. Good grief, I’m getting old.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Seventeen out of twenty-four.
@OzarkHillbilly:
The MAGAs also claim they have a plan to get Trump elected even if he’s kicked off the ballot.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Yeah, a telethon. You can call into a number and make your pledge to help defend the persecuted Michigan fake electors.
@OzarkHillbilly:
24 out of 24.
Yay me! Old me!
@Scott:
I still have a turntable, 45s and LPs.
And play them regularly, as well.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Most con men know they can get the sucker to empty his wallet once for sure, twice maybe…but after that the going gets tough.
@Kathy:
I’m more cynical than you. I think it depends on timing. If it’s after Trump is nominated and therefore a question of Trump or any Democrat, they’ll find 6-3 for Trump. If it were early, so that it’s a question of whether Trump can be nominated, the Crows, Singers, Kochs, etc., etc. might weigh in against Trump then put all their money behind DeUseless, Ramaswamy, Haley, or whoever they think is electable and more malleable
@Scott: Yeah, A lot of folks are saying, “I was too old for some of this stuff.”
One I saw many moons ago was “You know you are old if all your childhood pics are in B&W.” That’s me and my older brother and sisters. I do remember one family portrait in color taken by a pro, I was 2, maybe 3 at most, so ’60-61.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I scored 21 of 24, no atari, Mixed tape, boombox. Maybe on the last one, I had a Sanyo radio you could carry around.
@OzarkHillbilly: No MySpace and no AOL, but I do have a Yahoo account that is more than 20 years old. So 22 our of 24.
My nominations:
– Had to change your phone number when you moved, no matter how close
– Analyzed your phone bill every month so you could divide the long distance charges properly with your roommates
– Got your email account from your ISP and had to give it up when you changed ISP’s
– Saved money on long distance calls by purchasing a discount card which let you call into an 800 number, enter an incredibly long sequence from the discount card, and finally enter the number you were dialing in the first place. Make one mistake and start over!
– Since there were no mobile phones, but needing to exchange information while traveling with another person traveling separatel, you a) called their answering machine and left a message, then b) they would call their own answering machine and when it picked up enter a secret code allowed them to play back their messages, then c) they would call your answering machine and reply, and d) you would call your answering machine and enter your secret code, and finally e) go back to “a” and repeat as often as necessary
@JohnSF:
No 8-track tapes?
@MarkedMan: Thanks for the link! Not a fan of Douthat–though probably less of a detractor than others here, too–and this essay didn’t really add anything for me. What he’s discovered, in my take at least, is the sort of anodyne apologetics that Campus Crusade and Malibu Club were shooting for when I was of the target age, so this is more of a “seen this before” (as opposed to a “been there/done that”) than a revelation.
I feel a little grieved for the sake of the “nones” guy because he seems to be struggling with his discovery of what being at the top of an evolutionary chain means–if only to him. But I got nothing to offer.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Beat me, by 1. On the other hand I may have played on an Atari and forgotten about it. I’m so old I’ve written code on punch cards.
@Kurtz: Dude, I’ve been dropping hints for a while now. Whatever. It’s just so nice to finally be seen! [insert jokes here about hallucinating, irony, and mustard]
@MarkedMan: Thanks Ezra, but I’m well-versed in this stuff too.
The “1” notations in the pasted response link to this PBS story.
There’s also a “Learn more” feature at the end (not included in my, ahem, its pasted response) that contains links to other stories on this matter.
On net, it seems to stand up well against the median internet commenter.
ps, I didn’t take you for a DYOR bro.
@OzarkHillbilly: I think it was Carl Rogers (Mimai can probably correct me on this if necessary) who proposed two conditions for what he called congruence: awareness of who you are and contentment with your state or condition. I’m glad for you that you seem to have congruence and, as I noted above, somewhat grieved for the “nones” guy in Douthat’s essay, who seems not to.
@Kurtz: Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha. 😀 😀 😛 😛
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Way back in my 20’s someone asked me about my perfect woman. I thought about it and said, “She knows what she wants and is happy when she gets it”. Shortly thereafter, I realized that pretty much summed up the path to obtaining a satisfactory life for me too.
@MarkedMan:
As late as the 90s, we hired a long distance callback service. I forget many of the details, but essentially you dialed a free 800 number, let it ring once, and hung up. A short moment later, your phone would ring and you got a recording with instructions on how to dial the number you want to call. Using the service to fax something was a chore.
This was at a time when long distance charges from Mexico to the US were, to be charitable, highway robbery with prejudice.
I honestly don’t know what the rates are today. For one thing, I no longer make any such calls at my current job. For another, you can Skype, if that’s still a thing, or call using Whatsapp.
@MarkedMan: Ah yes, the good old days!
@Gustopher: Can anybody explain why Twitter (or X or whatever it is now) will allow me to see LodrosWar, but when I clicked to go to Ban the ADL‘s post it asked me to sign-in to or join the app?
@OzarkHillbilly: I missed on Walkman (although I did have a portable CD player at one point), My Space, Columbia House (though I did have an account with Musical Heritage Society for a similar type of account while I was studying musicology), and AOL (though I obviously have an internet service). Is my score also 20 or higher?
ETA: Do I lose another point because we don’t have “cheques” in ‘Murka?
AETA: Rechecking, I realized that I never made a mix tape, either. I’m feeling younger already! 😀
@Just nutha ignint cracker: I’ve lived a good life, certainly not a boring one. I’ve seen and done things that few others have and even a few that nobody ever had before and one at least that no one has done since. I saved my sons’ lives a couple of times, and they had a hand in rescuing me from a dicey situation. I gave them both a youth that was incomparable to… I don’t know anybody who did the things my sons did growing up. I fought more than a few battles just because not fighting was unacceptable to me. Lost a few of them, won a few.
In the end, I have very good relationships with both of my sons (something that was in doubt on more than one occasion) and their wives. I have 5 beautiful granddaughters who I get to see on a not infrequent basis. And best of all, I have a beautiful wife I love very much and who loves me. I have made her only one promise in the past 17 years and that is to outlive her, even if it’s only by 5 mins.
I hope I can keep it.
@Scott: I’d add listening to 78s….using an HP calculator
Remembering the Moon landings?
(I’ve also got stuff like “remembering when you could only buy chicken whole” but I think that was a regional thing.)
Oh, and when you got your stock dividends by clipping out little pieces of paper and sending them in an envelope in exchange for a cheque. I used to watch my mother do that.
S&H Green stamps?
@Scott: No punchcards (didn’t study computer science or data entry anywhere because I can’t type fast/accurately enough), and never lived/traveled anywhere that had HoJos.
@Grumpy realist: S&H Green stamps! Boy, do I remember my mother saving them.
@MarkedMan:
That’s not being old. That’s Korea in 2010!
@Grumpy realist: @OzarkHillbilly: We weren’t a trading stamps family. Both my parents believed that the premium one paid at stores that gave stamps was larger than the savings one accrued using them. Also, Seattle had very few places that did Green Stamps.
I still use that value system as it relates to Costco and Amazon Prime memberships. Paying however much it is a year to prepay delivery charges on Prime really baffles me. (But I also only shop at Amazon about two or three times a year and group purchases in order to qualify for free shipping anyway. And no, I don’t understand why they still give me free shipping on items that will be sent separately.)
Old things once used:
Slide rule – straight or circular
Coleman stove using “white” gas i.e. unleaded premium – still have it
Coleman lantern with silk mantels
laser disc player
folding wood ruler inherited from grandfather
carburators/distributor caps/points
@Just nutha ignint cracker: Yeah, that’s how I called home from Japan in the 80s. Plus it got you the ATT operator who spoke English
@OzarkHillbilly:
24/24
Also –
Rode in the back of a pickup on the freeway.
Got a Big Mac, Fries and a Coke for less than a dollar.
Had a party line telephone.
Had an 8 track player in my first car.
I had both. My circular slide rule was a prized possession. It disappeared somewhere along the lines, probably in my divorce. I lost a lot of shit in that mess.
same here.
I don’t remember what I was paying back in the late 60s which is probably when I first had the independence to do so.
Me too.
Ooooooo… You must have been special. 😉 😉 My first 3 or 4 p/u didn’t even have radios. For that matter, the one I drive now doesn’t have a radio.
Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys got 22 years for seditious conspiracy.
@gVOR10:
I don’t have all my vinyl LPs any more, or my cassettes either (no 8-tracks for me, that was Dad). But I have most, if not all, of my punchcard decks from the days when I learned programming!
@OzarkHillbilly: 22 out of 24 for me — never had MySpace or AOL account. (They didn’t ask about Prodigy, and the AOL account was my younger brother’s…)
@Scott: My attempt at a cross-cutting not-just-tech list:
* Used a telephone operator to help you make a call
* Listened to a 78 rpm record
* Wore gaiters, spats, or galoshes
* Used a manual embossing label maker
* Used a soldering iron
* Ate Cream of Wheat or Shredded Wheat for breakfast
* Ate a molded gelatin dish containing canned fruit
* Watched television on a black and white only set
* Played tennis with a wooden racquet
* Played golf with wooden clubs
I’m 100% on those… What’s your list?
@Scott:
AOL and myspace for me.
Otoh, I was taking pics when they brought in the first load of dirt.
Thank you, thank you. I’ll just show myself out.
@OzarkHillbilly:
23 out of 24. Never had MySpace
@MarkedMan:
David French is good too.
But I miss Charles Krauthammer.
@DK:
Try Tom Nichols.
@Kathy:
Or, to paraphrase, “Enrique Tarrio got sentenced to imprisonment until the inauguration of the next Republican president.”
@DK:
If only that were true.
23/24, no MySpace. I do pretty well on everything listed. How about…
Had some Rock em Sock em robots
A Daniel Boone hat
Watched Captain Kangaroo
The Honeymooners
The cartoons before the start of the movie at the theater
Remember the gas wars? especially when the price would near 20 cents/gallon
Girls couldn’t wear jeans to school
Your grade school teacher openly wore KKK paraphernalia (You probably had to be lucky for this one)
We still have AOL too. We still sometimes write checks, meaning my wife writes them as I am not allowed to touch the checkbook.
Steve
@DK: I missed Charles Krauthammer, too. The difference is that I started missing him while he was still alive. Those last few years were pretty scary to my delicate aesthetic sensibilities.
@CSK: I have. He’s not as toxic, but Nichols reminds me more of later Krauthammer than anything else.
Since we’re talking about older tech, how many accessed the internet from home (not from work or college), using a dial-up modem before there were commercial ISPs or AOL?
I used to dial a number that connected to a public university’s server, then used the “telnet” command to hook up with a server at Case Western Reserve University, which ran a project called The Cleveland Freenet. This let anyone use the internet for free, and included an email address.
Aside from email, I accessed USENET for newsgroups, and LINKS for the very primitive days of the Web. All text, as I had a monochrome PC running DOS 4.01.
@DK:
From your lips to God’s ear.
Other things
Used Compuserve
Played Strat-O-Matic baseball without the help of a computer to keep your team’s statistics.
The Late late late show
Watch Creature Features
Watched movies at a revival house.
Your Mom and Dad are told you need your tonsils removed. I still have them 54 years later.
Television stations were not on 24/7 and their broadcast for the day would end with the national anthem.
World Series games were played during the day
The Super Bowl would sometimes be played on your birthday. January 12- Super Bowls III and IX.
@Kathy: I was on my third computer* before I accessed the internet from anywhere other than the college where I was teaching at the time.
*I can’t remember why, but I swapped my Leading Edge computer with two floppy ports with one of my high school students for a 2nd Generation Leading Edge with only one floppy but also a hard drive.
ETA: Yes, I’ve always purchased lower end technology.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
When I changed from an Apple][e with two floppies at work to a PC with a hard drive and one floppy, I was surprised to learn software had to be installed on the latter, rather than run off the floppy disk.
@Bill Jempty:
Dodged that particular wave.
I have a feeling they were more popular in the US than in the UK; I can’t recall ever seeing a 8-track player in anyone’s house, and only once in car.
@JohnSF:
8 track tapes, I remember those pretty well actually. My Dad had a stand alone 8 track player and he used to own 8 tracks like the Bee Gees, and Buffy Saint Marie.
@DK: I miss Krauthammer too. He used to offer a fun game. He was a very good lawyer. It was fun to analyze his arguments. It’s always possible to think George Will or Ross Douthat or David Brooks believe what they say. But Krauthammer’s lies were so carefully crafted there was no question they were deliberate.
@Kathy: I’m being reminded of the first personal computer I used. I was doing engineering cost estimates in VisiCalc on a company owned Radio Shack TRS-80, always referred to as the Trash 80, with two floppy drives. 8″ floppies.
@OzarkHillbilly: @EddieInCA: Two words: FM converter
@Kathy:
I first used the ARPAnet before it was the Internet.
I first used the Internet before there was a World Wide Web.
I used Gopher before there was such a thing as a web browser.
In 1979, I used a dial-up modem from my home to connect to a computer in Exeter, England via the transatlantic cable to experience the very first Multi-User Dungeon (MUD). (My father was a system administrator for a VAX cluster at NIH that was on the ARPAnet.)
@MarkedMan:
…and there’s the rub. You have to believe in this particular Magic Sky Daddy for any of it to work, to get the social and communitarian benefits of religion. (It’s not clear whether Douthit feels that this belief needs to be correct, or merely shared.) That’s a non-starter for people with actual functioning brains.
It’s a fascinating question — is there really no communal belief system that both imparts the benefits of shared religion AND doesn’t require belief in an objectively random nonsensical mythology?
@Bill Jempty:
When I was playing freshman football we got out of class so players could watch the Oakland A’s in the ’73 series in the gym. That was fun.