With four months of 2023 still left, the US has set a record for the most natural disasters in a single year that have cost $1bn or more, as fires, floods and ferocious winds were among deadly events experts warn are being turbo-charged by the climate crisis.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) announced on Monday that there have already been 23 extreme weather events in the US this year that have cost at least $1bn. The current figure surpasses the record of 22 such events set in 2020. So far, the total cost of disasters in 2023 is more than $57.6bn, according to Noaa.
The record figure does not include major disasters such Tropical Storm Hilary last month, as the cost of damage is still being totaled, Adam Smith, the Noaa applied climatologist and economist who tracks the billion-dollar disasters, told the Associated Press. Hilary brought life-threatening flooding and rainfall to the US south-west, leaving thousands of people without power.
Smith said the increase in expensive weather events is caused by a rise in the number of natural disasters and more communities being built in risk-prone locations. “Exposure plus vulnerability plus climate change is supercharging more of these into billion-dollar disasters,” Smith said.
…………………………………..
Smith added that he had thought the 2020 record would last for a long time because the $20bn cost of disasters that year smashed the old record of $16bn. It didn’t, and Smith says he no longer believes new records will last long, either.
We’ve made our bed and now we have to sleep in it.
A candidate’s family is not running for anything. If they want to remain anonymous and unknown, that should be their choice. End of story. Goes for Tim Scott. Goes for Trump and Melania. Goes for any children and relatives of candidates.
And candidates and elected officials should not encourage family press coverage by posting their cute family on Facebook or any other social media.
Trump wants Rupert Murdoch, Murdoch’s sons, and the editorial board of the WSJ to take a mental acuity test. “Nobody will even come close to me!” he claims.
@OzarkHillbilly: And in Africa there are ten thousand missing in the Libya flood after the two thousand dead in the Morocco earthquake. At least an earthquake isn’t AGW, although I’m starting to wonder.
@Scott: I read that Tim Scott story this morning and commented briefly, “Puff much?” I commented here a week or so ago that the papers no longer have news stories. It’s all, like that piece, thousand word essays about the news. I used to bitch that FOX never actually covered news. In the morning I read online, in order: WAPO, my local paper, a regional paper, and NYT. Of late I’ve added The Guardian so I can find out what happened in the world. WAPO and NYT have become almost as bad at actually covering news as FOX.
Given how much of Scott’s career is built on attacking the families of random queer people, I have zero sympathy for someone (if she even exists) who is upset there’s social consequences for dating a celebrity nazi.
@Stormy Dragon: I still say Tim Scott should just say “None of your damn business” and let the consequences fall where they may. Scott may be gay; he might be asexual; he might be repressed; he might be faithful. Human sexuality is infinite. Other people’s sexuality is none of our business. However, ambitions will prevail over principles. I just hope that Tim Scott will not go the Ed Koch route who squired Bess Myerson around as his beard.
@Scott: I’d settle for release of Trump’s tax returns. Noting we already have Biden’s. Has anybody even raised the issue of Trump’s tax returns this time around? Are his pre-2016 returns still under audit?
Per my rant above, @gVOR10: I’d also like the MSM to report what that “Person. Man. Woman. Camera. TV” test Trump brags about is. I’m old enough to get annual wellness checks. My Primary Care guy, rather sheepishly, gave me that test once. It’s not a test of cognitive ability, it’s an early warning test for cognitive decline. Absent cognitive decline it’s a trivial test. The interesting story would be whether his doctor saw some particular reason to administer it.
This is so sad. ☹️ My flight to Seoul is listed as United 893 and as Asiana 6615. Those poor, unfortunate Asiana passengers are paying Asiana-level fares (usually 2 hundred or so more) and only getting UAL-level service and room.
@gVOR10: Worse than that. You don’t need to get all five for a “perfect” (as in no decline) score. I missed 2 or 3 and the neurologist said that was “no big deal.”
@just nutha: Paying for airlines is just insane. Not only do you have to watch the fares rise and fall on a daily even hourly basis but you have to pay attention to code sharing. I remember just the reverse when my son went to Spain. Iberian always seemed to be cheaper than the American airline.
It always stresses me out when I have to buy airline tickets.
When looking online, there’s usually tiny print somewhere in the flight description that says “operated by —-” with the name of the actual airline.
You do have to watch out for it, but it isn’t all bad. Back in 2006, buying an Aeromexico flight nonstop to Orlando, was like $100 cheaper if bought on Delta’s code share. I never found out why that was the case.
@Scott: Hard disagree here. As Stormy said, Scott has made getting into other peoples sex lives a central part of his brand. Specifically he is campaigning on taking rights and acceptance from gay people. If he is closeted gay or repressed gay that is an important and legitimate subject
My feelings are quite different on that. While I haven’t read the article and don’t really intend to; I suspect that his team is floating the girlfriend issue to answer that question in some people’s minds. Or at least get ahead of whatever Trump and DeSantis will say about it.
That being said, forced outing is malignant and should not be supported under any circumstances. Never Never Never. I don’t care what kind of bigot Scott is against LGBT people, he doesn’t deserve to be outed at all if he is queer. I also think the implication Scott is queer is offensive because it assumes that there is something wrong or shameful about being queer.
I am not an absolutist about many things, but I am absolutely an absolutist on this issue. It’s not to protect people like Scott (whom I think is an asshole anyway), but to protect people who can’t protect themselves or would be greatly harmed by a forced outing.
@Kathy: We bought tickets from CDMX (Toluca, which I hope is okay) to Puero Vallarta on Viva. The impressive $30 fares blew up to about $90 after all of the nickel and dimeing. Still a relatively good deal, I suppose.
@Scott: Have we thought through the national security implications of the President having a girlfriend who is a citizen of a foreign country, who we have never met?
@Beth: I’m for exposing the hypocrisy, and if he gets outed in the process so be it.
There’s nothing shameful in being queer.
There is something shameful on being queer and being a Republican Senator. Or Presidential candidate. There is something shameful about being in a position of power, where you can change things, and hiding and doing nothing or enabling persecution.
@Beth:
Refusing to out Scott does nothing to protect other queer people. ‘Our’ restraint does nothing to restrain ‘them.’ Great strides were made when gay celebrities started coming out and the closet is more helpful to the bad guys than the good guys today.
I’m convinced by now the NY Jets are cursed.
And the curse gets worse when they acquire a former Green Bay superstar QB.
A couple of things:
(1) The Jets were taking a pretty big risk when they signed a soon-to-be 40 years old quarterback. I think the fact that Tom Brady played at a high level when he was 44 kind of blinded people into thinking that Rodgers could do this too. Worth the risk? Perhaps, but here we are. and rehab will probably take a year, byt then Rodgers will be 41.
(2) Met Life Stadium has artificial turf, and even though it’s better artificial turf-technology than it was 30-40 years ago, it’s still presents problems. Did you see how Rodgers’ foot/leg planted and the torque there? That is a lot less likely to happen on real turf.
A couple of years ago Nick Bosa and Raheem Mostert of the 49ers suffered season ending injuries at Met Life. I’m of the opnion that artificial turf at Met Life is part of the problem here.
Toluca is one of my favorite airports. It’s primitive and has few amenities (or did back in 2015 when I last was there), but boarding, taxi, and takeoff is fast.
The problem is getting there. If you are landing first at MEX, there is a tiny bus terminal which may run trips to Toluca. If they don’t, there’s an effing large bus terminal near the airport.
In its heyday, when Interjet and Volaris flew solely from Toluca (2005-2010), it was crowded but still faster to takeoff than MEX. Boarding is by stairs, and they open both the front and back doors of the planes. The apron is close to the runway.
@DrDaveT:
It is too soon, let the GOP continue to shoot itself in the foot, never interrupt an enemy when they are making a mistake, all that jazz.
McCarthy gave in to the Looney Tunes folks around him and voted to go forward with trying to impeach Biden. This is after they have scoured 12-14 thousand documents looking for dirt to link Biden to Hunters activities and came up bone dry.
Foolish is as foolish does when it comes to speaker McCarthy.
There’s a strong QB mystique in the NFL, where lots of teams are convinced a superstar QB will mean a Super Bowl win this season. Brady aside, there was Peyton Manning, too, though he was several years younger.
Do any cold weather NFL cities manage to keep natural turf in good condition into the playoffs in January and February? I think it would also be an issue for domed stadia.
@Kathy: Thanks for the info. We’re going to be spending a few days in CDMX and will (I’m assuming) take an uber from our hotel in Roma to Toluca. Looks like it should be maybe an hour drive.
I’m fine with boarding being a speedy process! Good to know.
You are correct, of course, and I wouldn’t out him, but from a social contract standpoint he’s declared war on my community and thus waived any claim on my protection, so I’m also not going to lift a finger to save him from those who will out him.
I think the point of making fun of Scott isn’t to “out” him. Hell, for all we know he might be a totally hetero dude who for whatever reason never got hitched up to this point. I don’t think that’s very likely, but it’s possible.
But even if for argument’s sake that’s the case, it’s still telling that he feels the need to prove it by introducing this unidentified girlfriend as if it’s part of the job requirement. It isn’t Dems who imposed this condition on him. He’s doing it because the voting base of his party not only doesn’t accept queer people, but looks with suspicion on anyone they think might be queer. He doesn’t just have to be straight, he has to prove it if he wants their vote. It’s practically part of the constitutional qualifications: over 35, natural-born, f*cks women, and only women. They demanded Obama’s birth certificate, and now they gotta have this other black guy’s marriage certificate if he’s to pass muster.
It is absolutely fair game for Dems to point all this out, and have a laugh about it.
Well, it looks like Kevin knows he can’t get the votes from his party for an impeachment inquiry, so he’ll go hypocritical and start one on his own.
I think the worst they’ll find is that Biden’s family might have traded on his name and position since he ran with Obama in 2008, but nothing beyond that. As Biden is not responsible for what Hunter et al do, I don’t see this progressing to an impeachment vote.
Well, not in a rational universe. In ours, of course there will be a vote.
In a rational universe, the motion to impeach would not pass. In ours, it depends. Does Benito threaten to primary every Republiqan who does not vote to impeach Biden for no reason? Can at least five GOP reps resist that threat?
It’s a political process*. If the Benito Wing of the Cheeto Party had the votes in the House and Senate, they could impeach and remove Biden for winning the election, or for wearing a tan suit, or just for kicks.
Is this any way to run a country?
*It’s odd that a process that involves the two legislative houses and the chief justice of the SCOTUS, pretty much runs without much reference to the law.
@Kylopod: Agree. I have no sympathy for politicians that target me for being gay — nor any hesitation about teasing them with the absurdity of their homophobia. Politicians who choose to use their enormous power to trample all over me and powerless gay kids will get no grace from me.
@Kathy: Impeachment is nothing more than a display of power. I know it’s fun when we talk about “twice-impeached Donald Trump,” but the fact that he was impeached proves nothing–nada, zip–other than that Dems had a majority in the House at the time. I believe the Dems based their impeachment on evidence, but I’m not basing this belief on the fact that the impeachment happened. At the end of the day, it’s all a numbers game.
If the GOP had gotten their red wave last year, Biden would be impeached faster than you can say “Hunter’s schlong.” The reason it’s tough for them now is because their majority is razor-thin and is in danger of disappearing next year even without there being swing-district Republicans casting a vote that will almost certainly be received by their constituents as overreach. On the other hand, not impeaching will threaten Kevin’s speakership. Which is why he’ll probably do it, in the end. It’s like the old Shel Silverstein poem:
If I eat one more piece of pie, I’ll die!
If I can’t have one more piece of pie, I’ll die!
So since it’s all decided I must die,
I might as well have one more piece of pie.
MMMM–OOOH–MY!
Chomp–Gulp–‘Bye.
Hot bounce for Biden’s approval and re-election prospects incoming.
Much of the softness in Biden’s polling is due to hesitation among Biden voters. Do-nothing extremist House Republican overreach in impeaching Biden over nothing should cause a nice little rally-round-our-guy effect.
There were moments when House Democrats had the numbers to impeach Bush and House Republicans had the numbers to impeach Obama. Neither was impeached.
It’s pretty obvious McCarthy does not have the votes to impeach Biden. This is not about numbers, but about McCarthy placating Hunter Derangement Syndrome extremists to save his job.
I think each impeachment is different. The post-J6 impeachment, when Trump had days left in office, is a particularly unique case. There was a very good reason beyond vote counting that Pelosi wanted to get this into the historical record, rather than just wait a week for Biden’s inauguration.
Much of the softness in Biden’s polling is due to hesitation among Biden voters.
THIS! Last few polls I saw had Biden around 65%-80%% among all Dems. Expect that number to climb when the “impeachment” word starts percolating through the lips of the various news readers on television, local news, and local radio across the country over the next few days.
Additionally, Biden is in a very similar polling position to Clinton, Obama, and Reagan, at similar points of their presidencies, before all three were re-elected. Other than political junkies like ourselves, no one is paying attention to 2024 yet. If it’s still all tied up in Sept of next year, I’ll worry. Until then, I think Joe has this.
A Republican election lawyer with ties to three of former president Donald Trump’s GOP primary opponents has joined a crowded field of individuals and groups exploring whether the former president can be kept off the ballot for his role in fomenting the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jason Torchinsky, a partner with the Virginia law firm Holtzman Vogel, has in recent days initiated conversations about the idea of trying to disqualify Trump with a range of figures, including a Democratic secretary of state, fellow election lawyers and a retired federal judge who has helped lead the push to question Trump’s eligibility, according to multiple people familiar with the calls.
The lawyer’s involvement reflects the latest escalation in an emerging legal fight over a once-obscure provision of the Constitution. The tussle has produced surprising alliances, and analysts say it will probably end with a ruling on Trump’s eligibility from the Supreme Court.
Torchinsky’s firm has done legal work for the campaigns of former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as for Never Back Down, the political action committee promoting the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
I’m cautiously optimistic Biden’s chances, barring a major health event or economic downturn.
To win re-election, Biden must keep Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan (all have trended blue to the point they now have Democratic governors, secretaries of state, and senators) and then one of Nevada, New Hampshire, or Georgia (all have two Democratic senators).
But I don’t envision a scenario where Biden is running strong enough in the Upper Midwest to win Pennsylvania and Michigan but lose New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Democrats picked up data and lessons learned from Mandela Barnes’s razor-thin 2022 loss to Ron Johnson, then easily won Wisconsin’s 2023 statewide court race.
I also think the winning campaign either wins both Arizona and Nevada, or loses both.
As of today, Trump’s best chance for a flip is Georgia. But Trumpism is unpopular in my home state: even with Gov. Kemp at the top of the ticket to juice GOP turnout, Herschel Walker could not defeat Warnock.
But who knows with all the variables this far out? There are upcoming elections that may indicate whether or not Democratic voters are still energized. (Democrats have been outperforming their 2020 results by 10 points in 2023 special elections.)
Do any cold weather NFL cities manage to keep natural turf in good condition into the playoffs in January and February? I think it would also be an issue for domed stadia.
Not sure that good condition is possible in the winter conditions of places like New England, Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, etc. But for years prior to the advent of the big all-purpose multi-use stadiums many November and December games were played in tough winter climate conditions – single digit temperatures, snow, wind, sleet, and all combinations thereof. It was considered to be an important part of football culture.
Also, Met Life Stadium (in New Jersey) is a big concert venue, as well as for football and various other events. Artificial turf reduces regular maintenance costs. Basically, it’s an ATM for ownership. I think artificial turf should be banned for NFL footbalI. The NFL is awash in money so the cost of taking that stuff out is relatively minor in the financial scheme of things.
However, the players have never negotiated this in their CBA. They don’t like artificial turf at all but their negotiating priority is always salary compensation, so obviously they’re willing to accept the injury risks.
It’s not about grace, protecting, or saving anyone. Forcibly outing someone is about having the power over someone to force them to expose core realities about themselves against their will. It’s saying you have the power and authority to control their lives because you say so.
We, rightly, get pissed about Republicans controlling women’s bodies. What’s the difference.
I know that if I had been outed against my will it would have destroyed me. I probably would have killed myself. I desperately wish I had the strength and courage to come out earlier, but I know if someone took that away from me. Hell, a dear friend of mine was forced to out himself under less than ideal circumstances and I worried for days that he was just going to off himself. Lol, he’s a pretty hardcore Republican who supports Ted Cruz (I know, I know, the closet does terrible things to people).
We shouldn’t forcibly out people, not because we’re protecting them, we shouldn’t do it because we’re protecting all of us.
I think NFL films has broadcast the Ice Bowl more than any other game. I hear in Minnesota fans think the Vikings went downhill after they moved to a domed stadium. Of course, with climate change, who knows anymore.
Word is several stadiums, including the Jets’, will switch to natural turf for the snoozefest in 2026, then presumably switch back. If they can do that for a handful of games, they can do it for the home games of the NY teams who play in NJ.
It’s fun but, as the Mandalorian would put it, “This is NOT the way.”
To abandon him his followers must come to view him as a loser. Instead they would ardently believe he would’ve won every state that kept him off the ballots. He must be defeated, and if that can’t be done with all the crap he has done we darn well should have a crazy clown as POTUS. The lawyers can’t save us from ourselves.
I agree with most of what you wrote, and what I quibble with is just a different interpretation of numbers along with a few personal anecdotes.
My thoughts…. mark it down: Given the Wisconsin GOP’s recent penchant for saying the quiet parts out loud, mixed in with the potency of the abortion issue, I think Wisconsin won’t be as close at 2016 or 2020 and will be an early call.
Ditto for Michigan, but even moreso. Whitmer is sitting on an approval rating of between 56%-60%. All statewide officers are Democrat, and they’re all popular. I saw Jocelyn Benson, the Attorney Genenal on CNN and was impressed as hell. Assuming the UAW strike doesn’t last six months and completely tank the Michigan economy, Michigan should be safe.
Pennsylvania will be close, but I can’t see four indictments helping him in PA. However, apathy in Philadelphia, Pittxburg, Allentown, Scranton, Erie, could make it closer than it needs to be.
I believe Georgia is replacing NC as the new Virginia. In that Virgina was trending purple, then suddenly was blue. I believe GA is that way. As more young people flood the Atlanta, Athens, and Savannah areas, the demographics are going to continue favor D’s. Additionally, what Stacy Abrams has done cannot be focused on enough. If she continues to get people to the polls who normally don’t go, that will also go a long way for making it less competitive in 2020. Lastly, I sincerely believe GA is a place where 4 indictments hurts Trump. I can think of a few families I know in Cedartown, Rome, Dalton, and Chatsworth, GA. These are hard core right wingers, who love them some GOP…. but they love their Lord and their moral consistency even more. These are the people who sat out in 2020, and will sit out again – but even more will do so in 2024 – because they can’t even fathom voting for a guy that has 91 charges against him. They won’t vote for Biden, and some will vote for other offices, but most will stay home.
I see AZ on a similar trajectory to GA but for different reasons. In AZ, the behavior of the GOP is causing moderates and suburban women to just say “WTF?”. And if the GOP primary is Kari Lake v. Blake Masters, get your popcorn out and watch the GOP tear itself up way before the General Election. Sinema is the wild card, but I think Gallegos can take her out in a primary, and most of the polling has shown that Gallegos could beat Sinema and Lake/Masters in a three way race.
Your analysis on WI might be correct, but I also think it’s possible that the WI GOP goes so hard in its authoritarianism that it becomes impossible to dislodge them. I think there’s a 50/50 chance that the GOP does something so awful there that the whole places goes up in flames.
I guess it all depends on how they handle that Judicial impeachment nonsense. I suspect if they do that they will like it too much and start impeaching every Dem.
Weird. A Russian airliner performed a successful emergency landing in a field, after suffering some kind of hydraulic failure.
What’s weird is the Aviation Herald reports: “The commander decided to divert to an airfield with longer runways, the failure of the green hydraulic system affected operation of spoilers and flaps and increased the landing distance needed. ”
Fair enough. Without flaps, one needs to land at a faster speed to maintain lift. But look at the photos. The flaps and slats are deployed.
I’d say wait for the accident investigation, but the way things are politically, it may not be published at all.
I know that if I had been outed against my will it would have destroyed me.
And you were not taking an active part in weaponizing queerness against people to destroy them.
There’s a line. It’s basically the line between an unprovoked attack and self-defense, with all the fuzzy messy boundaries that brings up.
I want Tim Scott destroyed. I want Lindsey Graham destroyed. Torn apart by their own supporters. They are attacking my community.
Would you reveal a Nazi’s Jewish heritage? I would. I think it’s the same thing.
It’s like old saying: if you break a Nazi’s arm, that’s one less arm doing Nazi shit.
Hell, a dear friend of mine was forced to out himself under less than ideal circumstances and I worried for days that he was just going to off himself. Lol, he’s a pretty hardcore Republican who supports Ted Cruz (I know, I know, the closet does terrible things to people).
Does he support Ted Cruz from the sidelines, tossing a vote his way every few years, or was he actively working to undermine the safety and rights of queer kids and adults?
I suspect the former, and he should not have been outed (in whatever complicated version of outing that is “forced to out himself under less than ideal circumstances”)
If the latter… I hope he is doing better now. Both doing better things, and doing better personally. The closet can fuck people up and they deserve sympathy and support, once they are no longer a significant threat.
(Also, please keep him out of swing states and close districts. Someone with really stupid, shitty beliefs is irrelevant in NYC or Beet Red parts of Alabama.)
——
Or, for Doctor Who fans: Was it wrong for the 13th Doctor to disable the Master’s Perception Filter, so the literal Nazis he was working with during WW2 discovered he appeared to be Southeast Asian? No, but it was pretty fucked up that the white writers thought putting the Doctor in a scenario where she would casually use someone’s race as a weapon.
We, rightly, get pissed about Republicans controlling women’s bodies. What’s the difference.
The difference is “women’s bodies” aren’t powerful Republican politicians using their enormous power to attack queer people and ethnic minorities.
“Women’s bodies” deserve my protection, grace, and compunction. Antigay Republican enablers of white supremacy do not.
Gay and queer kids have survived and will continue to survive the outing of hypocritical closet case Republicans who attack them. They will not survive our self-martyrdom, patting ourselves on the back for “going high” while their closeted attackers retain power.
The headline of the day- 70 Crocodiles Are on the Loose, Officials Say, After Deadly Storms Hit Southern China
@Bill Jempty:
Don’t we just call that Louisiana and Florida here in the states?
@EddieInCA: And don’t forget Indiana, the Florida of the Midwest!
Delete
US sets new record for billion-dollar climate disasters in single year
We’ve made our bed and now we have to sleep in it.
I’m convinced by now the NY Jets are cursed.
And the curse gets worse when they acquire a former Green Bay superstar QB.
@Kathy:..cursed…
Must be a reverse curse since they won the game in spectacular fashion!
I really hate stories like this one: Tim Scott’s girlfriend.
A candidate’s family is not running for anything. If they want to remain anonymous and unknown, that should be their choice. End of story. Goes for Tim Scott. Goes for Trump and Melania. Goes for any children and relatives of candidates.
And candidates and elected officials should not encourage family press coverage by posting their cute family on Facebook or any other social media.
I could go on but…
End of rant.
Trump wants Rupert Murdoch, Murdoch’s sons, and the editorial board of the WSJ to take a mental acuity test. “Nobody will even come close to me!” he claims.
Person. Man. Woman. Camera. TV. There. I did it.
@CSK:
Because he will be far behind?
Me, I think a complete, comprehensive physical should be released on both Trump and Biden. Also, their complete and comprehensive financial records.
That’s just me.
@OzarkHillbilly: And in Africa there are ten thousand missing in the Libya flood after the two thousand dead in the Morocco earthquake. At least an earthquake isn’t AGW, although I’m starting to wonder.
@Scott: I read that Tim Scott story this morning and commented briefly, “Puff much?” I commented here a week or so ago that the papers no longer have news stories. It’s all, like that piece, thousand word essays about the news. I used to bitch that FOX never actually covered news. In the morning I read online, in order: WAPO, my local paper, a regional paper, and NYT. Of late I’ve added The Guardian so I can find out what happened in the world. WAPO and NYT have become almost as bad at actually covering news as FOX.
Putin says that Trump is being politically persecuted. Trump will be ecstatic that his hero is supporting him.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/putin-trump-political-persecution-claims
@Scott:
Oh, Trump claims he’s in far superior physical shape because he just won a senior golf championship.
@Scott:
Given how much of Scott’s career is built on attacking the families of random queer people, I have zero sympathy for someone (if she even exists) who is upset there’s social consequences for dating a celebrity nazi.
@Stormy Dragon: I still say Tim Scott should just say “None of your damn business” and let the consequences fall where they may. Scott may be gay; he might be asexual; he might be repressed; he might be faithful. Human sexuality is infinite. Other people’s sexuality is none of our business. However, ambitions will prevail over principles. I just hope that Tim Scott will not go the Ed Koch route who squired Bess Myerson around as his beard.
@Scott: I’d settle for release of Trump’s tax returns. Noting we already have Biden’s. Has anybody even raised the issue of Trump’s tax returns this time around? Are his pre-2016 returns still under audit?
Per my rant above, @gVOR10: I’d also like the MSM to report what that “Person. Man. Woman. Camera. TV” test Trump brags about is. I’m old enough to get annual wellness checks. My Primary Care guy, rather sheepishly, gave me that test once. It’s not a test of cognitive ability, it’s an early warning test for cognitive decline. Absent cognitive decline it’s a trivial test. The interesting story would be whether his doctor saw some particular reason to administer it.
@Scott: I’m cynical enough to think Tim Scott’s girlfriend hasn’t shown up yet because the campaign is still holding auditions.
Margie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz are now feuding over who first started the move to impeach Biden.
This is so sad. ☹️ My flight to Seoul is listed as United 893 and as Asiana 6615. Those poor, unfortunate Asiana passengers are paying Asiana-level fares (usually 2 hundred or so more) and only getting UAL-level service and room.
@gVOR10: Worse than that. You don’t need to get all five for a “perfect” (as in no decline) score. I missed 2 or 3 and the neurologist said that was “no big deal.”
@just nutha: Paying for airlines is just insane. Not only do you have to watch the fares rise and fall on a daily even hourly basis but you have to pay attention to code sharing. I remember just the reverse when my son went to Spain. Iberian always seemed to be cheaper than the American airline.
It always stresses me out when I have to buy airline tickets.
@CSK:
Didn’t we update that test to be: gavel, judge, jury, lawyer, prison?
@Scott:
When looking online, there’s usually tiny print somewhere in the flight description that says “operated by —-” with the name of the actual airline.
You do have to watch out for it, but it isn’t all bad. Back in 2006, buying an Aeromexico flight nonstop to Orlando, was like $100 cheaper if bought on Delta’s code share. I never found out why that was the case.
@Scott: Hard disagree here. As Stormy said, Scott has made getting into other peoples sex lives a central part of his brand. Specifically he is campaigning on taking rights and acceptance from gay people. If he is closeted gay or repressed gay that is an important and legitimate subject
@Kathy:
We certainly could do that.
Trump openly supports Russia and Putin; this is easily documented.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is extremely unpopular in the US.
When will Trump’s opponents start to actually point this out to voters?
@MarkedMan:
My feelings are quite different on that. While I haven’t read the article and don’t really intend to; I suspect that his team is floating the girlfriend issue to answer that question in some people’s minds. Or at least get ahead of whatever Trump and DeSantis will say about it.
That being said, forced outing is malignant and should not be supported under any circumstances. Never Never Never. I don’t care what kind of bigot Scott is against LGBT people, he doesn’t deserve to be outed at all if he is queer. I also think the implication Scott is queer is offensive because it assumes that there is something wrong or shameful about being queer.
I am not an absolutist about many things, but I am absolutely an absolutist on this issue. It’s not to protect people like Scott (whom I think is an asshole anyway), but to protect people who can’t protect themselves or would be greatly harmed by a forced outing.
@Kathy: We bought tickets from CDMX (Toluca, which I hope is okay) to Puero Vallarta on Viva. The impressive $30 fares blew up to about $90 after all of the nickel and dimeing. Still a relatively good deal, I suppose.
@Scott: Have we thought through the national security implications of the President having a girlfriend who is a citizen of a foreign country, who we have never met?
Granted, Canada is an ally, so it could be worse.
@Beth: I’m for exposing the hypocrisy, and if he gets outed in the process so be it.
There’s nothing shameful in being queer.
There is something shameful on being queer and being a Republican Senator. Or Presidential candidate. There is something shameful about being in a position of power, where you can change things, and hiding and doing nothing or enabling persecution.
@Beth:
Refusing to out Scott does nothing to protect other queer people. ‘Our’ restraint does nothing to restrain ‘them.’ Great strides were made when gay celebrities started coming out and the closet is more helpful to the bad guys than the good guys today.
@Kathy:
A couple of things:
(1) The Jets were taking a pretty big risk when they signed a soon-to-be 40 years old quarterback. I think the fact that Tom Brady played at a high level when he was 44 kind of blinded people into thinking that Rodgers could do this too. Worth the risk? Perhaps, but here we are. and rehab will probably take a year, byt then Rodgers will be 41.
(2) Met Life Stadium has artificial turf, and even though it’s better artificial turf-technology than it was 30-40 years ago, it’s still presents problems. Did you see how Rodgers’ foot/leg planted and the torque there? That is a lot less likely to happen on real turf.
A couple of years ago Nick Bosa and Raheem Mostert of the 49ers suffered season ending injuries at Met Life. I’m of the opnion that artificial turf at Met Life is part of the problem here.
@reid:
Toluca is one of my favorite airports. It’s primitive and has few amenities (or did back in 2015 when I last was there), but boarding, taxi, and takeoff is fast.
The problem is getting there. If you are landing first at MEX, there is a tiny bus terminal which may run trips to Toluca. If they don’t, there’s an effing large bus terminal near the airport.
In its heyday, when Interjet and Volaris flew solely from Toluca (2005-2010), it was crowded but still faster to takeoff than MEX. Boarding is by stairs, and they open both the front and back doors of the planes. The apron is close to the runway.
@DrDaveT:
It is too soon, let the GOP continue to shoot itself in the foot, never interrupt an enemy when they are making a mistake, all that jazz.
McCarthy gave in to the Looney Tunes folks around him and voted to go forward with trying to impeach Biden. This is after they have scoured 12-14 thousand documents looking for dirt to link Biden to Hunters activities and came up bone dry.
Foolish is as foolish does when it comes to speaker McCarthy.
@Mister Bluster:
IMO, a game where the opposing team gifts you four turnovers should not go into overtime.
@al Ameda:
There’s a strong QB mystique in the NFL, where lots of teams are convinced a superstar QB will mean a Super Bowl win this season. Brady aside, there was Peyton Manning, too, though he was several years younger.
Do any cold weather NFL cities manage to keep natural turf in good condition into the playoffs in January and February? I think it would also be an issue for domed stadia.
The title of this speaks for itself. Excuse me while I go throw up.
http://www.rawstory.com/kari-lake-blasted-for-exalting-trump-as-a-9-1-1-hero-2665286072/
Trump must be in ecstasy. Imagine being defended by Vladimir Putin and praised by Kari Lake in a single day. It doesn’t get better than that!
@Kathy: Thanks for the info. We’re going to be spending a few days in CDMX and will (I’m assuming) take an uber from our hotel in Roma to Toluca. Looks like it should be maybe an hour drive.
I’m fine with boarding being a speedy process! Good to know.
@CSK: Of course, he cheated.
@Daryl:
Of course he did.
@Beth:
You are correct, of course, and I wouldn’t out him, but from a social contract standpoint he’s declared war on my community and thus waived any claim on my protection, so I’m also not going to lift a finger to save him from those who will out him.
I think the point of making fun of Scott isn’t to “out” him. Hell, for all we know he might be a totally hetero dude who for whatever reason never got hitched up to this point. I don’t think that’s very likely, but it’s possible.
But even if for argument’s sake that’s the case, it’s still telling that he feels the need to prove it by introducing this unidentified girlfriend as if it’s part of the job requirement. It isn’t Dems who imposed this condition on him. He’s doing it because the voting base of his party not only doesn’t accept queer people, but looks with suspicion on anyone they think might be queer. He doesn’t just have to be straight, he has to prove it if he wants their vote. It’s practically part of the constitutional qualifications: over 35, natural-born, f*cks women, and only women. They demanded Obama’s birth certificate, and now they gotta have this other black guy’s marriage certificate if he’s to pass muster.
It is absolutely fair game for Dems to point all this out, and have a laugh about it.
Well, it looks like Kevin knows he can’t get the votes from his party for an impeachment inquiry, so he’ll go hypocritical and start one on his own.
I think the worst they’ll find is that Biden’s family might have traded on his name and position since he ran with Obama in 2008, but nothing beyond that. As Biden is not responsible for what Hunter et al do, I don’t see this progressing to an impeachment vote.
Well, not in a rational universe. In ours, of course there will be a vote.
In a rational universe, the motion to impeach would not pass. In ours, it depends. Does Benito threaten to primary every Republiqan who does not vote to impeach Biden for no reason? Can at least five GOP reps resist that threat?
It’s a political process*. If the Benito Wing of the Cheeto Party had the votes in the House and Senate, they could impeach and remove Biden for winning the election, or for wearing a tan suit, or just for kicks.
Is this any way to run a country?
*It’s odd that a process that involves the two legislative houses and the chief justice of the SCOTUS, pretty much runs without much reference to the law.
Impeachment inquiry into Biden….
Hot times in the city on the Potomac coming
@JKB:
[Fart noise, wet]
@Kylopod: Agree. I have no sympathy for politicians that target me for being gay — nor any hesitation about teasing them with the absurdity of their homophobia. Politicians who choose to use their enormous power to trample all over me and powerless gay kids will get no grace from me.
@Kathy: Impeachment is nothing more than a display of power. I know it’s fun when we talk about “twice-impeached Donald Trump,” but the fact that he was impeached proves nothing–nada, zip–other than that Dems had a majority in the House at the time. I believe the Dems based their impeachment on evidence, but I’m not basing this belief on the fact that the impeachment happened. At the end of the day, it’s all a numbers game.
If the GOP had gotten their red wave last year, Biden would be impeached faster than you can say “Hunter’s schlong.” The reason it’s tough for them now is because their majority is razor-thin and is in danger of disappearing next year even without there being swing-district Republicans casting a vote that will almost certainly be received by their constituents as overreach. On the other hand, not impeaching will threaten Kevin’s speakership. Which is why he’ll probably do it, in the end. It’s like the old Shel Silverstein poem:
If I eat one more piece of pie, I’ll die!
If I can’t have one more piece of pie, I’ll die!
So since it’s all decided I must die,
I might as well have one more piece of pie.
MMMM–OOOH–MY!
Chomp–Gulp–‘Bye.
@JKB:
Hot bounce for Biden’s approval and re-election prospects incoming.
Much of the softness in Biden’s polling is due to hesitation among Biden voters. Do-nothing extremist House Republican overreach in impeaching Biden over nothing should cause a nice little rally-round-our-guy effect.
@Kylopod:
There were moments when House Democrats had the numbers to impeach Bush and House Republicans had the numbers to impeach Obama. Neither was impeached.
It’s pretty obvious McCarthy does not have the votes to impeach Biden. This is not about numbers, but about McCarthy placating Hunter Derangement Syndrome extremists to save his job.
I think each impeachment is different. The post-J6 impeachment, when Trump had days left in office, is a particularly unique case. There was a very good reason beyond vote counting that Pelosi wanted to get this into the historical record, rather than just wait a week for Biden’s inauguration.
Apple has put USB-C ports on the iPhone.
The end is near.
Oh, and so much for the prediction Apple would make all new iPhones wireless charge only, rather than submit to the USB-C tyranny.
@JKB:
I really doubt that this will go anywhere.
@Kathy:
Wasn’t it the EU that pressured Tim Cook into this?
Can the EU pressure Apple into releasing iMessage for Android?
@DK:
THIS! Last few polls I saw had Biden around 65%-80%% among all Dems. Expect that number to climb when the “impeachment” word starts percolating through the lips of the various news readers on television, local news, and local radio across the country over the next few days.
Additionally, Biden is in a very similar polling position to Clinton, Obama, and Reagan, at similar points of their presidencies, before all three were re-elected. Other than political junkies like ourselves, no one is paying attention to 2024 yet. If it’s still all tied up in Sept of next year, I’ll worry. Until then, I think Joe has this.
This is fun:
@EddieInCA:
I’m cautiously optimistic Biden’s chances, barring a major health event or economic downturn.
To win re-election, Biden must keep Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan (all have trended blue to the point they now have Democratic governors, secretaries of state, and senators) and then one of Nevada, New Hampshire, or Georgia (all have two Democratic senators).
But I don’t envision a scenario where Biden is running strong enough in the Upper Midwest to win Pennsylvania and Michigan but lose New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Democrats picked up data and lessons learned from Mandela Barnes’s razor-thin 2022 loss to Ron Johnson, then easily won Wisconsin’s 2023 statewide court race.
I also think the winning campaign either wins both Arizona and Nevada, or loses both.
As of today, Trump’s best chance for a flip is Georgia. But Trumpism is unpopular in my home state: even with Gov. Kemp at the top of the ticket to juice GOP turnout, Herschel Walker could not defeat Warnock.
But who knows with all the variables this far out? There are upcoming elections that may indicate whether or not Democratic voters are still energized. (Democrats have been outperforming their 2020 results by 10 points in 2023 special elections.)
@Kathy:
Not sure that good condition is possible in the winter conditions of places like New England, Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, etc. But for years prior to the advent of the big all-purpose multi-use stadiums many November and December games were played in tough winter climate conditions – single digit temperatures, snow, wind, sleet, and all combinations thereof. It was considered to be an important part of football culture.
Also, Met Life Stadium (in New Jersey) is a big concert venue, as well as for football and various other events. Artificial turf reduces regular maintenance costs. Basically, it’s an ATM for ownership. I think artificial turf should be banned for NFL footbalI. The NFL is awash in money so the cost of taking that stuff out is relatively minor in the financial scheme of things.
However, the players have never negotiated this in their CBA. They don’t like artificial turf at all but their negotiating priority is always salary compensation, so obviously they’re willing to accept the injury risks.
@Stormy Dragon:
@Kylopod:
@DK:
It’s not about grace, protecting, or saving anyone. Forcibly outing someone is about having the power over someone to force them to expose core realities about themselves against their will. It’s saying you have the power and authority to control their lives because you say so.
We, rightly, get pissed about Republicans controlling women’s bodies. What’s the difference.
I know that if I had been outed against my will it would have destroyed me. I probably would have killed myself. I desperately wish I had the strength and courage to come out earlier, but I know if someone took that away from me. Hell, a dear friend of mine was forced to out himself under less than ideal circumstances and I worried for days that he was just going to off himself. Lol, he’s a pretty hardcore Republican who supports Ted Cruz (I know, I know, the closet does terrible things to people).
We shouldn’t forcibly out people, not because we’re protecting them, we shouldn’t do it because we’re protecting all of us.
@al Ameda:
I think NFL films has broadcast the Ice Bowl more than any other game. I hear in Minnesota fans think the Vikings went downhill after they moved to a domed stadium. Of course, with climate change, who knows anymore.
Word is several stadiums, including the Jets’, will switch to natural turf for the snoozefest in 2026, then presumably switch back. If they can do that for a handful of games, they can do it for the home games of the NY teams who play in NJ.
@Michael Reynolds:
It’s fun but, as the Mandalorian would put it, “This is NOT the way.”
To abandon him his followers must come to view him as a loser. Instead they would ardently believe he would’ve won every state that kept him off the ballots. He must be defeated, and if that can’t be done with all the crap he has done we darn well should have a crazy clown as POTUS. The lawyers can’t save us from ourselves.
@DK:
I agree with most of what you wrote, and what I quibble with is just a different interpretation of numbers along with a few personal anecdotes.
My thoughts…. mark it down: Given the Wisconsin GOP’s recent penchant for saying the quiet parts out loud, mixed in with the potency of the abortion issue, I think Wisconsin won’t be as close at 2016 or 2020 and will be an early call.
Ditto for Michigan, but even moreso. Whitmer is sitting on an approval rating of between 56%-60%. All statewide officers are Democrat, and they’re all popular. I saw Jocelyn Benson, the Attorney Genenal on CNN and was impressed as hell. Assuming the UAW strike doesn’t last six months and completely tank the Michigan economy, Michigan should be safe.
Pennsylvania will be close, but I can’t see four indictments helping him in PA. However, apathy in Philadelphia, Pittxburg, Allentown, Scranton, Erie, could make it closer than it needs to be.
I believe Georgia is replacing NC as the new Virginia. In that Virgina was trending purple, then suddenly was blue. I believe GA is that way. As more young people flood the Atlanta, Athens, and Savannah areas, the demographics are going to continue favor D’s. Additionally, what Stacy Abrams has done cannot be focused on enough. If she continues to get people to the polls who normally don’t go, that will also go a long way for making it less competitive in 2020. Lastly, I sincerely believe GA is a place where 4 indictments hurts Trump. I can think of a few families I know in Cedartown, Rome, Dalton, and Chatsworth, GA. These are hard core right wingers, who love them some GOP…. but they love their Lord and their moral consistency even more. These are the people who sat out in 2020, and will sit out again – but even more will do so in 2024 – because they can’t even fathom voting for a guy that has 91 charges against him. They won’t vote for Biden, and some will vote for other offices, but most will stay home.
I see AZ on a similar trajectory to GA but for different reasons. In AZ, the behavior of the GOP is causing moderates and suburban women to just say “WTF?”. And if the GOP primary is Kari Lake v. Blake Masters, get your popcorn out and watch the GOP tear itself up way before the General Election. Sinema is the wild card, but I think Gallegos can take her out in a primary, and most of the polling has shown that Gallegos could beat Sinema and Lake/Masters in a three way race.
Other opinions welcome.
This will make you laugh:
Lauren Boebert was escorted out of a live performance of the Beetlejuice musical in Denver for vaping, singing, and otherwise causing a disturbance.
@CSK:
I will give anyone 10-1 odds on $5 that when the video(s) come out, Boebert will be drunk in the video(s).
I just cancelled my digital subscription to the Washington Post over that sleazy hit piece on Susanna Gibson. Complete trash.
@EddieInCA:
Your analysis on WI might be correct, but I also think it’s possible that the WI GOP goes so hard in its authoritarianism that it becomes impossible to dislodge them. I think there’s a 50/50 chance that the GOP does something so awful there that the whole places goes up in flames.
I guess it all depends on how they handle that Judicial impeachment nonsense. I suspect if they do that they will like it too much and start impeaching every Dem.
Weird. A Russian airliner performed a successful emergency landing in a field, after suffering some kind of hydraulic failure.
What’s weird is the Aviation Herald reports: “The commander decided to divert to an airfield with longer runways, the failure of the green hydraulic system affected operation of spoilers and flaps and increased the landing distance needed. ”
Fair enough. Without flaps, one needs to land at a faster speed to maintain lift. But look at the photos. The flaps and slats are deployed.
I’d say wait for the accident investigation, but the way things are politically, it may not be published at all.
@Kathy: That sure looks like a big burn mark on the forward half of the right wing root.
@Beth:
And you were not taking an active part in weaponizing queerness against people to destroy them.
There’s a line. It’s basically the line between an unprovoked attack and self-defense, with all the fuzzy messy boundaries that brings up.
I want Tim Scott destroyed. I want Lindsey Graham destroyed. Torn apart by their own supporters. They are attacking my community.
Would you reveal a Nazi’s Jewish heritage? I would. I think it’s the same thing.
It’s like old saying: if you break a Nazi’s arm, that’s one less arm doing Nazi shit.
Does he support Ted Cruz from the sidelines, tossing a vote his way every few years, or was he actively working to undermine the safety and rights of queer kids and adults?
I suspect the former, and he should not have been outed (in whatever complicated version of outing that is “forced to out himself under less than ideal circumstances”)
If the latter… I hope he is doing better now. Both doing better things, and doing better personally. The closet can fuck people up and they deserve sympathy and support, once they are no longer a significant threat.
(Also, please keep him out of swing states and close districts. Someone with really stupid, shitty beliefs is irrelevant in NYC or Beet Red parts of Alabama.)
——
Or, for Doctor Who fans: Was it wrong for the 13th Doctor to disable the Master’s Perception Filter, so the literal Nazis he was working with during WW2 discovered he appeared to be Southeast Asian? No, but it was pretty fucked up that the white writers thought putting the Doctor in a scenario where she would casually use someone’s race as a weapon.
@Beth:
The difference is “women’s bodies” aren’t powerful Republican politicians using their enormous power to attack queer people and ethnic minorities.
“Women’s bodies” deserve my protection, grace, and compunction. Antigay Republican enablers of white supremacy do not.
Gay and queer kids have survived and will continue to survive the outing of hypocritical closet case Republicans who attack them. They will not survive our self-martyrdom, patting ourselves on the back for “going high” while their closeted attackers retain power.
A noble slave is still a slave.