Tuesday’s Forum

FILED UNDER: Open Forum
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. OzarkHillbilly says:

    No! Really???

    FBI facing allegation that its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh was ‘fake’

    Why I never! Say it ain’t so! The next thing you’ll tell me is that a Republican led Senate would refuse to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat! Thank God we haven’t sunk that low yet.

    14
  2. OzarkHillbilly says:

    This is a gut punch:

    David Weissman
    @davidmweissman

    Please watch this powerful testimony of Brandon Boulware a father of a transgender daughter.

    I’m a little surprised Misery Republicans would allow such testimony in the state legislature.

    6
  3. Teve says:

    I can’t imagine being sexually attracted to other men. The idea that your brain could be female yet you’re born in a man’s body is even weirder. But biology is in fact weird.

    3
  4. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Memento is 20 years young.

    1
  5. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Mother charged with deepfake plot against daughter’s cheerleading rivals

    Pennsylvania woman accused of manipulating photos of three girls to make it appear they were drinking, smoking and even nude

    Mother of the Year?

    2
  6. OzarkHillbilly says:
  7. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Much like Wanda Holloway, certainly in terms of wanting a place for her daughter on the squad: http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-cheerleader-murder-plot/

    2
  8. gVOR08 says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: What I loved is that, at least as the reporter told the story, she got no sympathy from the other patrons in the bank.

    12
  9. Kylopod says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: @gVOR08: This is yet another example of the confusion these people have over the concept that just because the government allows something doesn’t mean a private business can’t ban that thing on its premises.

    8
  10. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Kylopod: Property rights for me, but not for thee.

    6
  11. Scott says:

    @Kylopod: I don’t think this was confusion. This was intentional, I am special, behavior. The confusion was that she thought there wouldn’t be consequences.

    4
  12. Sleeping Dog says:

    Bret Stephens, who is usually trite and at time glib, has a blind squirrel moment this morning. By its headline; America Could Use a Liberal Party, I anticipated that he was advocating that the Bernie-crats go off and form a progressive party, so that the center left and center right could coalesce into a centrist majoritarian party. But his thought is more interesting than that.

    Taking the idea that the true political divide in America is between liberals, i.e. those who support democracy, the rule of law and reasonably regulated markets vs. illiberals, that is the authoritarians. While he engages in some both siderism, he names, names on the right and only makes a vague wave at fringe wokeness on the left.

    All of this used to be the more-or-less common ground of American politics, inhabited by Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes as much as by Barack Obama and the two Clintons. The debates that used to divide the parties — the proper scope of government, the mechanics of trade — amounted to parochial quarrels within a shared liberal faith. That faith steadied America in the face of domestic and global challenges from the far right and far left alike.

    The new illiberalism is frightening. It could also be productive. Everyone who has been bitten by it, left or right, is rediscovering how capacious the old liberal faith was, how trivial its internal differences really were, how much they might yet have in common — including common enemies — with people they once regarded as ideological opposites.

    This won’t happen of course, the illiberal left is a fairly small cohort that even if did find a home with the illiberal populist right, would leave an unsustainably broad liberal party. Its hard to imagine a party with Bernie/AOC at one end and Jonah Goldberg/Kevin Williamson on the other.

    1
  13. CSK says:

    Yaphet Kotto, 81, has died. Fine actor. RIP.

    3
  14. Kylopod says:

    @Sleeping Dog:

    Its hard to imagine a party with Bernie/AOC at one end and Jonah Goldberg/Kevin Williamson on the other.

    Except Bernie/AOC don’t represent most of what Stephens is describing as the illiberal left. Most of the complaints from the right about MeToo and cancel culture concern decisions made by big corporations and have quite little to do with populist-left ideas like Medicare for All or the $15 minimum wage.

    4
  15. Sleeping Dog says:

    @Kylopod:

    My reference of Bernie/AOC are those who are within the liberal tent not outside it and to the left the tent likely extends to some who consider Bernie/AOC too moderate.

    The reason that I diminished Stephens’ criticism of the illiberal left is that it is a vanishingly small number of people who wield more influence than they should. Mostly, as you point out, due to the fact that corporations take the bait. You’re right, M4A and $15 minimum wage have nothing to do with illiberalism of the leftist fringe, but Goldberg et.al. won’t sign off on those proposals either, which demonstrates why a liberal party the Stephen’s envisions would fail. Though it should be pointed out that among those who Stephens’ would consider the liberal right, there has been an acknowledgement that on issues such as healthcare access, wealth disparities and racial/ethnic discrimination that the reflexive conservative responses are inadequate. Unfortunately the center right has not settled on a philosophical outline that could become proposals.

    2
  16. Paine says:

    @CSK: I just watched Alien (again) last week. RIP.

  17. Bill says:

    In other news of the weird, another dbag who should have never been released from prison, does what everyone expected he would.

    https://www.facebook.com/134486075205/posts/10166860245445206/

  18. Kylopod says:

    @Paine: I rewatched Midnight Run a couple of months ago.

  19. MarkedMan says:

    Yesterday, during another discussion, there was a throwaway comment that Democrats see themselves as the party of science. I didn’t comment there because it wasn’t important to the discussion but I definitely do not see a significant differentiation between the parties on acceptance of science.

    Both parties have people who believe in crystals and astrology (Nancy Reagan, anyone?), supplements and ghosts, despite decades and even centuries of those failing to meet any scientific standard whatsoever.

    Both parties have articles of faith that cannot be swayed by any scientific evidence. A relatively trivial example on the Dem side is the automatic insistence that Flint still has lead contaminated water. Every politician that shows up to campaign there brings bottled water with them and makes a huge production of handing it out. But after years of remediation Flint has better tap water than the vast majority of American municipalities and, more importantly, has measured it at the tap, repeatedly, at virtually every household in the city water district, an unprecedented level of evidence. Despite all this research and documentation, I’ll lay short odds that I’ll get pushback here about how gullible I am to believe what the “government” tells me.

    The one area that is different between the two parties, and it is extremely important, has nothing to do with the base voters but rather the role of the Republican Party as the errand boy of big industry. There are scientific truths that are very inconvenient to corporate profits and so the Republican leadership become champions of nonsense.

    8
  20. Kylopod says:

    f@Sleeping Dog: I don’t think we’re in any disagreement here, I’m just pointing out that conservatives–and some on the center-left–often lump together different trends they perceive as emanating from the far left. So, for example, Bernie gets tossed in with the “woke” crowd, even though he’s run aground of that faction on more than a few occasions.

  21. Gustopher says:

    @Bill:

    In other news of the weird, another dbag who should have never been released from prison, does what everyone expected he would.

    I don’t follow Facebook links. What did Manafort do now? (Flynn and Stone never actually went to prison, did they?)

    2
  22. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    And she’s got some competition for the title in Florida, where a Pensacola mother and daughter have been accused of tampering with the homecoming queen election so the daughter would win.

  23. Loviatar says:

    @MarkedMan:

    Your argument actually comes to the opposite conclusion from your introductory paragraph. On one hand you say, individuals regardless of party affiliation hold anti-scientific views, which is true. You then try to bothside the situation by pointing out that Democratic voting individuals in Flint MI. who are anti-science*, which you then conflate/confuse with Republican party policy. On one hand individuals on the other hand a party.

    What might be a better conclusion:
    The Democratic party has individuals who are anti-science, but the party is a party of science.
    The Republican party has members who believe in science, but the party is anti-science.

    —–
    * I really have a problem with this comment which you’ve made in various threads. The people in Flint are not anti-science, they are wary** of a government that poisoned them and their children.

    **I love the scene in Erin Brockovich where she tells the lawyers that the water they are drinking came from the wells in Hinkley. Notice the wariness of the lawyers.

    5
  24. Loviatar says:

    @Loviatar:

    The people in Flint are not anti-science, they are wary of a government that poisoned them and their children.

    I should have also highlighted that this issue is in a majority black city. With the United States historical treatment of African American communities as a backdrop, I think the citizens of Flint have every reason to be wary of government assurances.

    3
  25. MarkedMan says:

    @Loviatar:

    What might be a better conclusion:
    The Democratic party has individuals who are anti-science, but the party is a party of science.
    The Republican party has members who believe in science, but the party is anti-science.

    This is well put and I agree with it.

    My comment, probably not well put, had to do with the dialogue in the other thread, where people were referring to “Democrats” as being more science based. I think your parsing hits the nail on the head.

  26. DrDaveT says:

    @Loviatar:

    What might be a better conclusion:
    The Democratic party has individuals who are anti-science, but the party is a party of science.
    The Republican party has members who believe in science, but the party is anti-science.

    I was getting set to write a reply, but this was close enough to the main point I was going to make that I’ll piggyback here instead.

    “Won’t accept the results of the water testing” is not anti-science, unless they won’t accept any water testing results anywhere as valid. One is an anti-science position; the other is skepticism regarding the trustworthiness of specific individuals and institutions.

    The Republican Party takes official positions that require believing that the entire field of [insert scientific field here*] is collectively wrong about the facts. That’s anti-science. I cannot think of any corresponding field that the Democratic Party dismisses as incompetent and unreliable in formulating their policy prescriptions. Not even macroeconomics.

    *Climate Science, Epidemiology, Developmental Biology, Immunology, Sociology, …

  27. DrDaveT says:

    @DrDaveT: If I had an edit button, I would have edited the above in light of @MarkedMan‘s follow-up and clarification.

  28. MarkedMan says:

    I think the citizens of Flint have every reason to be wary of government assurances.

    I don’t fault the average person in Flint for being wary and nervous, and think they are wise to be skeptical. I’m finding fault with the leaders, especially outsiders, who are essentially saying: “I’m not even going to bother looking at the facts because there is no level of testing that will ever convince me.” For the majority of them (but certainly not all), I feel they want an emotional campaign event handing out water and definitely don’t want it mucked up with reality.

    1
  29. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    Late yesterday, Kathy wrote

    I’m more than a bit upset with my insurer right now.

    Surgeon’s fees aside, I’ve paid more for my care than the insurance did. Part of the problem is they refused to cover the PET CT, as well as the hematologist bills and one blood analysis. So instead of having used up about 4/5ths of the deductible pre-surgery, I only used up about 1/4th, as far as the insurer is concerned.

    I just got a bill from Oregon Health Science University detailing the charges on an ultrasound exam I took there recently.

    Imaging Services–Ultrasound $583.00
    [Name of Insurer] Complete Payment $0.00
    [Name of Insurer] Complete Contractual Allowance $458.95
    Patient Balance $124.05

    Virtually every statement I get for services other than office visits looks like this to some degree or another. Welcome to the world of health insurance. We’re not really buying coverage as much as we are paying a membership fee to a discount club with the product being healthcare in this case.

    9
  30. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Bill: Once again, I have no idea whatsoever about what you’re ranting about–not a facebook member. You aren’t even as good at this drive-by thing as gangstas are–they hit people by accident; you just miss completely.

  31. Loviatar says:

    @MarkedMan:

    First, thanks for the considered response. I really hesitated on responding as I didn’t want after the other day you feeling as if I was stalking you with negative comments. But then I said WTH, its the internet right. 🙂 😉

    —–

    For the majority of them (but certainly not all), I feel they want an emotional campaign event handing out water and definitely don’t want it mucked up with reality.

    Politicians want a political event. Que me surprised.

  32. CSK says:

    Trump looks awful:

    http://www.rawstory.com/trumps-health/

    He’s gained weight and clearly lost the bronzer and the hair dye. His eyes are vacant and his jaw is slack. I’m getting distinct Dorian Gray vibes. Yes, yes, I know Dorian Gray was young and handsome, and it’s been a long time since Trump was young, but even so…

    And what’s the ring on his cheek?

    2
  33. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @CSK: And growing up in Seattle, we didn’t even have homecoming court. The district thought it was a distraction from the educational mission of the schools. We did have an assembly one year where a bunch of guys from the football team came out in pseudo drag–wearing ill-fitting dresses and kiltie skirts–to compete for homecoming queen on an audience vote, but we didn’t even do that every year.

    2
  34. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @CSK: I wake up in the morning with similar marks from the headgear of my CPAP machine. Maybe he’s using some kind of ventilation at night when he sleeps and the photo was early in the morning. In any event, Nick Adams is hyperbolic on Trump’s appearance; he looks like “death warmed over” as the old saying goes. My grandfather was 93 years old and had Alzheimer’s last time I saw him, died shortly after and STILL looked better and more alert than Trump looks in that photo.

    2
  35. CSK says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    We never had a homecoming queen (or king) at my high school, either. As far as I know, it still doesn’t. To the extent I thought about it at all, which was practically never, I assumed homecoming queens were anointed at some colleges, mostly in the south and midwest.

    I’m grinning at the thought of a homecoming queen at…Radcliffe College.

    1
  36. CSK says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    My father was 94 when he shuffled off this mortal coil, and he looked better when he was dead than Trump does alive.

    Didn’t know about the CPAC machine causing marks. Thanks for letting me know.

  37. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @MarkedMan: Both parties have people who believe

    This is just more “both sides” bullshit. Sure, there are fact denying cranks on both sides of the aisle, but the vast majority of one party believes gender solely lies between the legs. The vast majority of one party believes climate change is a hoax/inevitable/good and that carbon building up in the atmosphere has nothing to do with it or that man is responsible. The vast majority of one party believes Covid is much ado about nothing, that all those overflowing ICUs and morgues are a figment of an over excited media. The vast majority of one party believes life begins at conception, that 16 cells hanging together is a person.

    As far as the water in Flint is concerned, I have not heard a single DEM say it is still dangerously tainted with lead, but then I don’t pay any attention at all to Michigan politics and even less to DEMs trolling for votes in Flint. Which is just to say that I believe you when you say every (almost? a majority?) time a DEM shows up there they pass out *bottled water* but that doesn’t even begin to correlate to “all DEMs think Flint water has dangerous amounts of lead in it”.

    **bottled water is a scam.

    1
  38. KM says:

    @CSK:
    Never underestimate the rejuvenating effects of adoration to a narcissist. It’s even worse if he does have undiagnosed BPD as a common descriptor of it would “emotional vampirism”. It gives them life and prompts them to get up and seek more. Attention and validation is what drives them and keeps their psyche intact. As the mind goes, so does the body. Trump’s been cut off from his supply and he can’t find a dealer with the hi-test goods his addiction needs. He might as well be going cold turkey at this point.

    I also wouldn’t count out the simple fact that no longer has access to the best healthcare in the world on demand. POTUS gets the best; it’s why Trump’s still alive as he got experiment treatment he wouldn’t have been able to access just as D. Trump, Real Estate Conman. The drop in quality would show almost instantly if that’s what was keeping him functional. Florida is called God’s Waiting Room for a reason; an bitter unfit elderly man that had COVID and several pre-existing conditions is the stereotype of someone running out the clock down there while pretending to be relevant.

    1
  39. CSK says:

    @KM:
    Indeed. Trump’s entire life has been a quest for approval by the “right” people. And he’ll never get it. For a while the adoration of the rubes was a fair substitute, but he’s cut off from that now.

  40. JohnMcC says:

    @KM: Had never reflected on the possibility that Mr Trump’s case of Covid would very likely have been fatal if he’d not won the presidency. But you’re right. As I recall his pulse ox readings were in the 80s weren’t they. We used to use 92% as the presumed point at which decompensation got a good start.

    1
  41. flat earth luddite says:

    @Sleeping Dog:

    Its hard to imagine a party with Bernie/AOC at one end and Jonah Goldberg/Kevin Williamson on the other.

    Dammit, you just made me choke on my drink… with laughter.

    Dog’s got the puck…from beyond the blue line, he shoots, HE SCORES!

    2
  42. MarkedMan says:

    For individuals, it is not as overwhelming as you think. Pew’s poll from 2019 showed that 77% of people who self identified as moderate or liberal (!!?) Republicans believe that human activity contributes a great deal/some to climate change. Even amongst self identified conservative Republicans, it was 53%. The numbers for Dems was much higher (over 90%) but given the relentless messaging of the Republican leadership, it’s actually pretty astounding that the average Repub can still cut through the BS, at least to some extent.

    I agree with Loviator, who says the Republican Party is anti-science and the Democratic Party is pro-science. When it comes to actual individuals that I know well, my lifetime of anecdotal experience tells me I don’t see a whole lot of people of any sort who look first to the data* and no big difference in whether they are Democratic or Republican.

    *I’m not presenting that as the ideal. I’m that way and as a friend once pointed out, I can spend half an hour in Bed, Bath and Beyond deciding between can openers. Hardly the best ROI…

    1
  43. CSK says:

    Ronald DeFeo, the Amityville Horror killer, has died at age 69 in prison. He sought a re-trial in 1992 by trying to blame his sister for the crimes. He claims he shot her when he saw what she’d done to the rest of the family.

  44. Jen says:

    @CSK: I agree with Just Nutha that those look like marks from a CPAP.

    He does not look well at all, and frankly neither does his daughter in law.

  45. Kathy says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:

    My sympathies.

    I had a long talk with my insurance agent, and it turns out he can’t tell me how much the insurer paid the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and assistants. The insurance letter authorizing surgery quoted a number above what the surgeon did, but apparently that’s dependent on subsequent factors. I get to find out on Thursday how that goes.

  46. MarkedMan says:

    @Kathy: The prevailing method of insurers in the US is to lead by rejecting everything, then only adjust once someone complains. They always have “reasons”, which are usually just talking points in a script, prompted by noting a key word in your call or email. So don’t give up and wear them down.

    4
  47. Kathy says:

    @CSK:

    Maybe that’s what he really looks like all the time without the makeup.

    Maybe he needed more time in the oven that day.

    and maybe he’s auditioning for the lead in Death Becomes Him.

    2
  48. flat earth luddite says:

    Got scheduled for my COVID vaccine for next Thursday at 0730. Surprised it’s that soon, as I only got on the list yesterday. At that time of day, I’ll take advantage of the free parking at the Convention Center and grab a donut and coffee on the way back to the ‘burbs.

    4
  49. CSK says:

    @Kathy:
    Oh, I suspect that’s exactly what he looks like without the Bronx Colors Boosting Hydrating Concealer in orange (yes, there is such a product) and the Clairol Nice ‘n’ Easy. And he has porked up a bit.

    The white rings around his eyes always made me suspect he used a tanning bed in addition to make-up.

    1
  50. Jen says:

    This is the lead-in posted on Facebook by NHPR for a story:

    Authorities say the group, including a former gubernatorial candidate and libertarian activist who changed his last name to Freeman; a man with a lengthy criminal record who changed his legal name to Nobody; and a transgender woman who identifies as a Satanist who lost a bid for Cheshire county sheriff last year, operated an unlawful cryptocurrency exchange platform that deceived financial institutions by claiming it was accepting donations on behalf of religious organizations they founded, including the Crypto Church of New Hampshire.

    Ah, New Hampshire…

    2
  51. Jax says:

    @CSK: My sympathies to that poor tanning bed. 😉

    1
  52. CSK says:

    @Jen:
    That’s hilarious.

    When my brother worked at one of the universities in NH, I joked that I was going to buy him two bumper stickers and put them on his car:

    “They’ll take my gun from me when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.”
    and
    “New Hampshire is the center of the universe.”

    He said he’d kill me if I did, so I refrained.

    1
  53. flat earth luddite says:

    Another confused participant in the January 6 love-in…

    “I’m not saying Hitler did nothing wrong, but did he do anything wrong?” accused Capitol rioter Timothy Hale-Cusinelli wondered on a February 2020 podcast. After January 6, he pulled that one off of YouTube and attempted to delete the pictures of himself sporting a distinctive mustache from his phone…

    Hale-Cusinelli, a member of the United States Army Reserve and security contractor at Naval Weapons Station Earle, admitted to the FBI and Naval Criminal Investigation Services that he was at the Capitol on January 6 to stop Congress from certifying President Biden’s electoral win. He was recorded by an FBI informant rhapsodizing about “the adrenaline, the rush, the purpose” that he felt during the invasion and his regret that more “patriots” hadn’t been there to take over congress.

    My biggest giggle over this particular numbskull (I can hear Ren Höek screaming at this substitute Stimpy) is the admission by his attorneys in court that “A representation was made by a family member that Defendant was offered an honorable discharge from military service however, it has come to counsel’s attention that this was a mistaken representation and is not accurate. Defendant submits this correction to the Court.”

    Oopsie.

    3
  54. Kathy says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    @MarkedMan:

    Having had this experience, here’s a thought:

    Suppose in the future I get another CT, say because my shoulder starts hurting again. Say the doctor ordered it either for diagnosis or surgery, and they notice something unusual nearby, say in the thyroid, lymph nodes, whatever. Then they recommend another PET, or some other study.

    I had the PET soon enough because, I figured, the insurance would cover it, or account for it as part of the deductible (which I guess is the same thing). But in the hypothetical, I’ll worry they won’t cover it, or maybe they would but as a different deductible, as they apparently apply separate deductibles for separate ailments.

    Maybe I decide not to have it done, or ask the doctor whether there’s some other kind of test available*. And maybe this impacts my health in some major way, and maybe not. WTF am I supposed to do?

    *When the PET was first suggested, I thought a biopsy would be even better. Since the hernia repair surgery was going to happen anyway, and the surgeon could do the biopsy as part of that procedure, why have the PET at all? The gastroenterologist explained things and told me I should get the PET, which I did. Had I known it wouldn’t be covered, I don’t know what I’d have done.

  55. Jax says:

    Soooo…..I need some advice on stand mixers. Are there good, reliable brands besides Kitchenaid? I have a Kitchenaid Classic with a 4.5 quart bowl and it’s not big enough or powerful enough, apparently, to handle what I’m throwing at it. I’m a habitual “double/triple-batcher” when it comes to bread.

    I’ve always enjoyed the process of making and kneading the bread, but I’m delving into egg/butter-heavier, sticky breads that don’t do well with hand kneading.

    Opinions, please! What do you guys have?

  56. Mimai says:

    @Jax: One word: Ankarsrum

    1
  57. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @CSK: I never knew this until my last changeover–I’ve been using CPAP for about 20 years–but a significant reason that people go for surgery to correct sleep apnea (which is a better option for some people) is because they don’t like seeing the impressions that the mask and headgear leave on their face and head when they wake up in the morning. I never noticed them myself. I was just grateful for being able to sleep through the night for the first time since… well ever.

    1
  58. Mimai says:

    @Jax: Bosch Universal is also top notch.

    1
  59. Jax says:

    @Mimai: Ohhhhh…..and the Ankarsrum also has multiple pasta attachments….that’s right up my alley. 😉 This little Kitchenaid I have can ALSO take pasta attachments, but I smoked the motor today just making a regular bread dough, so there’s no way it can take the torque for a proper pasta attachment.

  60. Jen says:

    @Jax: My Kitchenaid has been in operation for around 30 years, so I haven’t looked for others. King Arthur Flour uses them in their classrooms, so I always figured if I decided I needed a bigger/higher powered one, I’d opt for one of their more souped-up models. Let us know what you settle on, and how it works…I’d love to hear feedback!

  61. Jax says:

    @Jen: I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong, or what, but this Kitchenaid Classic is not working for me. The bowl isn’t big enough, and it overheats at stir. This is the THIRD time I’ve used it, and the dough recipe called for a 15 minute run with the dough hook, I had to shut it off when it started smoking. And it’s not even a double batch or extra egg-heavy, I’m just making bierocks with burger and cabbage!

  62. Flat Earth Luddite says:

    Just drove past the legal weed shop in my daughter’s neighborhood, and saw a sign I never thought I’d see:

    gluten free weed

    A first world problem I never knew existed. Remember Oregon’s motto, things sure are different here.

    3
  63. DrDaveT says:

    @Jax:

    Are there good, reliable brands besides Kitchenaid?

    FWIW, Consumer Reports does not currently recommend any other brand of stand mixer. They used to quite like a high-end Breville model (that was noticeably cheaper), but that is apparently no longer available.

  64. Jax says:

    @DrDaveT: That’s why I asked my foodie friends here, there’s got to be more brands available that are good!

  65. Kathy says:

    @Flat Earth Luddite:

    I think I’ve told the anecdote about a client who kept asking for assurances the beef we sold was gluten free.

    2
  66. Jax says:

    @Kathy: I would pay good money to see your facial expression while he asked it. 😉

    1
  67. Flat Earth Luddite says:

    @Kathy: we had a “topless” bar here that advertised gluten free lap dances.

    1
  68. Jen says:

    @Jax: Although KA is the one KAF uses in its classrooms, the Ankarsrum is the only one they sell on their website. Reviews seem to be very good, and with an 8-quart bowl, you shouldn’t run out of space.

    On the KA–I’ve heard stories similar to yours over the years. It’s possible that quality on the tilt-heads declined a bit. There’s also a chance you got a lemon, if it’s only the third time you’ve used it.

  69. Bill says:

    @Gustopher: just another poor minority lashing out against oppression!

  70. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I love that movie.

    First movie I bought on DVD.