LL had her strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. But I can't remember any mention of her being remotely connected to or interested in anything fancy designer-ish.
I'm currently reading the graphic novel adaptation of 1984. It's astonishing how much of it is painfully relevant and prescient. Doublethink - the internalization of hypocrisy, erasure of facts and history, the general mood of the country descending into aggressively yelling slogans, "two minutes of hate" - with Fox, it's more like hate 24/7, vilification of knowledge and science, so much more.
I first read (or tried to read) the novel in high school, when my English wasn't really up to par, so I understood the references in pop culture, but reading it now is blowing me away, not to mention depressing the heck out of me.
I have both read the book and watched the movie. Actually the movie is banal compared to the book. The movie seems like a love story that went bad because of the politics. The book gives a much better insight into the rewriting of history and the brainwashing of people. I wonder, based on current events, how many think that 1984 could never happen.
Which version of the movie? The original with Edmund O'Brien or the remake with Richard Burton? The original was pulled from release by the copyright owners of the book in an attempt to goose the ticket sales to the remake.
Steve Chapman is wrong about Illinois being the pioneer in making all single person toilets gender neutral.
NYC was first & Illinois copied them.
I don't know if notorious advocate for child molesters Gym Jordan asked Johnson any questions, but if I had been there, I would've said "Mr Chairman, I don't answer questions from the defenders of child molesters!"
As for Gill's question about paying for abortions for illegal aliens, the correct answer is "Congressman, you don't want anchor babies & so abortions for illegals eliminates anchor babies. Does nothing satisfy you?"
I’m sitting here listening to the morning news. Burger Boy is about to axe the Education Department. If your child has special needs or is low income and gets food assistance, good luck. Oh, I know- Burger Boy Boy said states should do it. And if they don’t have the capability or your local district refuses? Good luck! Oh wait- cue for MAGAs claiming that the department isn’t improving test scores. That’s not what the department does. Also, Burger Boy is canceling the legal status of Ukrainians that fled the war. He’s going to hand them right back to Putin. The questioning of Brandon by some Republicans was disgraceful. “You suck at answering questions”? I thought members of Congress were supposed to have at least reached the age of puberty.
I'm sure I'm not the only person in this comment community who wonders why you consider "Burger Boy" to be apt and insulting. is it based on his weird decision way back to serve fast food to a championship sports team that visited the White House? Or his personal penchant for fast food? And THAT's the act/character trait that most witheringly defines him? Please explain!
Back in his first term, he expressed a liking for fast food, particularly cheeseburgers. His expensive suits cannot hide the results. So I suppose it might not really be an insult, but factual. One thing that I never did during his first term was use “President” and “Trump” together. I will not start now. I have never in my life used that policy for any other White House resident. Yes, I suppose there are more insulting terms I could use. Fascist dictator. Liar-in-chief. Rude churlish bully. It’s a long list of possibilities. Others in this forum have done much better than I have. But I’ll keep it simple. I personally believe that taking a pretend leader of the free world and calling him Burger Boy is insulting enough and juvenile on my part. But I have my senior moments. I make exceptions for a person who has said a lot worse about anyone that dare disagree with him. My deceased mother, an avowed liberal, but old fashioned in most ways would be very disappointed in me.
Jimmy Kimmel brought up a great one about how truly stupid the fat fascist traitor & his minions are.
The fat fascist traitor went on about $8 million for studying "transgender mice". Except the money was actually spent on transgenic mice, which are used to study diseases that humans get.
Incredibly, the morons occupying the White House doubled down on their mistake the next day when the mistake was pointed out to them.
Anything to defend their demented, deranged, IQ of 73 leader they worship!
That's why i call the current White House press secretary, Frau Josefa Goebbels, she lies like her namesake & does so with a shit eating smile on her face all the time!
The following is from a friend of mine RE: transgender v. transgenic "The overconfidence phenomenon is well known to psychologists. When the facts show that a person was wrong, the overconfidence phenomenon prompts people to insist they were right or almost right."
Ms. Schmich is terrific, as usual, about the Pauls. It is my 84th birthday today (the fourth twenty-first is not as much fun as the first). I thought that old age beats the alternative but have been reconsidering since January 21st.
Like EZ, I watched the entire congressional hearing with the sanctuary city mayors and completely agree with his take on it. Besides noting how much sharper and more natural Boston's Michelle Wu and Denver's Mike Johnston were, I couldn't help but notice how our insecure mayor had to constantly say "under my leadership". While Wu defended Boston and Johnston would say "we", Johnson kept puffing himself up as the savior of Chicago. And I would love to have some fact checking on some of the things he said. Has he really hired 200 more police detectives? I thought that with attrition he had not come near that goal. I would like to see an audit of his claims on affordable housing and mental health clinics too. Are we actually serving more mental health patients than under Lightfoot or spending housing money wisely?
That said, while there is a real discussion to be had about local governments circumventing federal laws, the information presented by the Cato institute speaker was actually the most informative part of the hearing. And the absolute hatefulness and grandstanding on the part of many of the Republicans made all the mayors look good!
"Do you support taxpayer-funded abortions for illegal aliens?"
Perhaps Johnson should have answered, "No, I prefer women to bleed out in the emergency waiting room due to a miscarriage because you Republicans would deny any woman medical intervention."
I was obviously raised in the wrong culture, but I don’t get the apparently very popular quip about ashes in the shape of an L. I do know the usual shape is a cross.
I got it right away, but I have the advantage of having three girls who, back in the day, would do a whole routine (complete with hand motions to the forehead) about "Loser, double loser, whatever ..."
I've heard many complaints about the VA over the years, but one I can't recall ever hearing was there were too many people sitting around with nothing to do. I would love to hear veterans who voted for Trump explain how firing 80k+ employees will make the VA work more efficiently and provide better services to those who rely on them.
I agree. Slash and burn is a stupid way to try to address efficiency. But I also don't know why the VA added 80,000 staff between 2019 and 2024. If it was a covid spike in staff then shouldn't it be addressed? Is 482,000 the right number of staff?
My issue with the VA is that it is a poor way to provide standard health services to vets. A free or subsidized healthcare plan would be more efficient. My dad and uncle both had to travel long distances to VA facilities for care that was readily available in local health care facilities, and it took a long time to get appointments. It makes sense to me that the VA is a good way to address unique, specific service-related needs in both care and research. But geriatric services and long-term care might be better delivered elsewhere. This is another political 'third rail' where merely investigating is considered an attack on veterans.
The VA's Community Care program should be expanded to allow most veterans eligible for VA services to get treatment locally, no doubt about that. But I think a change like that should come BEFORE slashing 20% of the workforce, especially when (as you point out) wait times are long and VA hospitals are so spread out.
Last week, Jon Stewart interviewed the former Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Rupa Bhattacharyya, about DOGE's indiscriminate staff cuts at such programs. Her response was that the bureaucratic red tape is there to try to eliminate waste and fraud, and that cutting so many people will make it more likely that such abuses will go undetected.
I agree, and it is true that some red tape and staff are specifically for verifying eligibility for benefits. Which is entirely appropriate. The DOGE boys are data wonks with no knowledge or experience. A blunt instrument that will cause significant damage and disruption. They might have been useful to identify targets of opportunity for spending cuts. But I can't see any alignment with the budget or spending bills.
The Republicans put forth a bill to cut $880B from Medicaid under the guise of "cutting waste, fraud, and abuse." As AOC points out in this clip, they started with the number they wanted to cut with the intent of labeling stuff they don't like as "waste":
Free healthcare for veterans would be socialized medicine, no? Probably why I am in favor of it. The MAGAs would hate it because when health care was available for old people, the disabled, and the poor, the number of people denied it and subject to the insurance industry's cruelty would shrink and that number would want in.
I think there’s a point here being missed. Burger Boy is obsessed with ridding of anything Biden did, positive or negative. Biden increased staffing because of a zillion complaints that the VA wasn’t getting the job done. I wouldn’t put it past the fat fascist bastard(sorry, Garry) to let President Muskrat make cuts, then backtrack like he already has on tariffs and take credit for fixing things.
Coincidentally, I am also a veteran who just had shoulder replacement surgery (not retired, though). After six months I still have some weakness and occasional twinges of pain, but I'm told it's not unusual for it to take a year or more to fully heal.
Here’s best wishes for a speedy recovery. Besides my sister, I know someone else that recently underwent the surgery. Recovery is apparently arduous. Good luck! I have had two heart procedures, ankle, and knee surgery. But like you said, it’s not bone spurs so I feel sorry for Burger Boy- or am I not allowed to say it because it’s not nasty enough?
Thanks. I actually felt much better immediately after the surgery and was driving two days later. At this point I'd say I'm about 90% recovered, but that last 10% is being stubborn.
As a vet, I can't understand anyone who served being enamored with Dump -- I mean, it's one thing to dodge the draft the way he did, but to then call those buried in Arlington Cemetery "suckers and losers" is infuriating. I don't get the allure.
Regarding the Mother Jones article, I don't know that Jay Bhattacharya should be leading the NIH, but he was more right than wrong regarding covid. Moreso than the majority of experts. He generally pushed for a model closer to some European countries like Sweden, and was unfairly canceled for it. He seems reasonable in interviews. Out of all the horrendous Trump nominations, this one I don't feel as bad about.
LL had her strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. But I can't remember any mention of her being remotely connected to or interested in anything fancy designer-ish.
Charlie's on break til March 12.
There were a lot of good quips this week!
A few, anyway. Amazing how tastes differ on them.
"until we all get used to Trump’s newspeak"
I'm currently reading the graphic novel adaptation of 1984. It's astonishing how much of it is painfully relevant and prescient. Doublethink - the internalization of hypocrisy, erasure of facts and history, the general mood of the country descending into aggressively yelling slogans, "two minutes of hate" - with Fox, it's more like hate 24/7, vilification of knowledge and science, so much more.
I first read (or tried to read) the novel in high school, when my English wasn't really up to par, so I understood the references in pop culture, but reading it now is blowing me away, not to mention depressing the heck out of me.
Whenever someone mentions 1984 I feel old. I read that book when 1984 was still in the future.
Yep, we are living 1984. So depressing.
I have both read the book and watched the movie. Actually the movie is banal compared to the book. The movie seems like a love story that went bad because of the politics. The book gives a much better insight into the rewriting of history and the brainwashing of people. I wonder, based on current events, how many think that 1984 could never happen.
Which version of the movie? The original with Edmund O'Brien or the remake with Richard Burton? The original was pulled from release by the copyright owners of the book in an attempt to goose the ticket sales to the remake.
Burton
Steve Chapman is wrong about Illinois being the pioneer in making all single person toilets gender neutral.
NYC was first & Illinois copied them.
I don't know if notorious advocate for child molesters Gym Jordan asked Johnson any questions, but if I had been there, I would've said "Mr Chairman, I don't answer questions from the defenders of child molesters!"
As for Gill's question about paying for abortions for illegal aliens, the correct answer is "Congressman, you don't want anchor babies & so abortions for illegals eliminates anchor babies. Does nothing satisfy you?"
I know that politicians like to evade questions, but giving a nuanced essay question and only accepting a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is dumb.
“Mayor Johnson, have you stopped beating your wife?”
We learned in media training that the correct answer to this question is “My wife and I are getting along great.”
I'll take that as a no!
There’s another way to answer it. “No, I haven’t. But she’s getting better at Checkers.”
I’m sitting here listening to the morning news. Burger Boy is about to axe the Education Department. If your child has special needs or is low income and gets food assistance, good luck. Oh, I know- Burger Boy Boy said states should do it. And if they don’t have the capability or your local district refuses? Good luck! Oh wait- cue for MAGAs claiming that the department isn’t improving test scores. That’s not what the department does. Also, Burger Boy is canceling the legal status of Ukrainians that fled the war. He’s going to hand them right back to Putin. The questioning of Brandon by some Republicans was disgraceful. “You suck at answering questions”? I thought members of Congress were supposed to have at least reached the age of puberty.
I'm sure I'm not the only person in this comment community who wonders why you consider "Burger Boy" to be apt and insulting. is it based on his weird decision way back to serve fast food to a championship sports team that visited the White House? Or his personal penchant for fast food? And THAT's the act/character trait that most witheringly defines him? Please explain!
Back in his first term, he expressed a liking for fast food, particularly cheeseburgers. His expensive suits cannot hide the results. So I suppose it might not really be an insult, but factual. One thing that I never did during his first term was use “President” and “Trump” together. I will not start now. I have never in my life used that policy for any other White House resident. Yes, I suppose there are more insulting terms I could use. Fascist dictator. Liar-in-chief. Rude churlish bully. It’s a long list of possibilities. Others in this forum have done much better than I have. But I’ll keep it simple. I personally believe that taking a pretend leader of the free world and calling him Burger Boy is insulting enough and juvenile on my part. But I have my senior moments. I make exceptions for a person who has said a lot worse about anyone that dare disagree with him. My deceased mother, an avowed liberal, but old fashioned in most ways would be very disappointed in me.
His supposedly expensive suits are baggy so they can hide his huge pot belly & the fact he wears a diaper all the time!
Jimmy Kimmel brought up a great one about how truly stupid the fat fascist traitor & his minions are.
The fat fascist traitor went on about $8 million for studying "transgender mice". Except the money was actually spent on transgenic mice, which are used to study diseases that humans get.
Incredibly, the morons occupying the White House doubled down on their mistake the next day when the mistake was pointed out to them.
Anything to defend their demented, deranged, IQ of 73 leader they worship!
That's why i call the current White House press secretary, Frau Josefa Goebbels, she lies like her namesake & does so with a shit eating smile on her face all the time!
Ms Goebbels must be a DEI hire-woman with good job-not possible. Was Usha Vance a DEI hire-must be-woman with good job-Maga would not be pleased
The following is from a friend of mine RE: transgender v. transgenic "The overconfidence phenomenon is well known to psychologists. When the facts show that a person was wrong, the overconfidence phenomenon prompts people to insist they were right or almost right."
Now see, EZ questioned my use of Burger Boy as an insult. I doff my chapeau to Garry, who is much more talented than am I.
Great grammar, I must say. Plus "doff my chapeau?" Perfectamente! If it weren't so late I could remember the French, but I cannot.
Ms. Schmich is terrific, as usual, about the Pauls. It is my 84th birthday today (the fourth twenty-first is not as much fun as the first). I thought that old age beats the alternative but have been reconsidering since January 21st.
Happy birthday Michael⛄️, I hear you completely. I recently had my third eighteenth and dearly hope that I’m not around for a fourth.
congrats, steve K! i'm just about to have my 4th 18th. hope to be arnd to congratulate you on your 4th 18th - which wd be my 5th 18th!
Happy birthday!
I hope I'm not being too morbid in wishing that you not only outlive Trump's presidency, but Trump himself. Please eat healthy and exercise :)
Happy Birthday!
HBD!
The dead goat game sounds more interesting than live Bears.
Watch Rambo III. A dead goat is used as the ball.
In regard to the Tush Push, I think it should be allowed, but only when the players are fully naked.
You're welcome!
Sounds kinky. I like the term tush push. Sounds like there are better venues for it than football fields.
😂
I notice that Channel 2, at least in weather reports, makes reference to “the Gulf coast”. Maybe WGN could use that too.
Or maybe just The Gulf. Sometimes you have to refer to the body of water.
I honestly didn’t know that Channel 9 was still on the air.
It’s actually the best of the local newscasts (unless you count Chicago Tonight), which isn’t saying much.
Like EZ, I watched the entire congressional hearing with the sanctuary city mayors and completely agree with his take on it. Besides noting how much sharper and more natural Boston's Michelle Wu and Denver's Mike Johnston were, I couldn't help but notice how our insecure mayor had to constantly say "under my leadership". While Wu defended Boston and Johnston would say "we", Johnson kept puffing himself up as the savior of Chicago. And I would love to have some fact checking on some of the things he said. Has he really hired 200 more police detectives? I thought that with attrition he had not come near that goal. I would like to see an audit of his claims on affordable housing and mental health clinics too. Are we actually serving more mental health patients than under Lightfoot or spending housing money wisely?
That said, while there is a real discussion to be had about local governments circumventing federal laws, the information presented by the Cato institute speaker was actually the most informative part of the hearing. And the absolute hatefulness and grandstanding on the part of many of the Republicans made all the mayors look good!
"Do you support taxpayer-funded abortions for illegal aliens?"
Perhaps Johnson should have answered, "No, I prefer women to bleed out in the emergency waiting room due to a miscarriage because you Republicans would deny any woman medical intervention."
I'd just be afraid that the questioner would say "I agree". Never pays to be ironic in congressional hearings.
I was obviously raised in the wrong culture, but I don’t get the apparently very popular quip about ashes in the shape of an L. I do know the usual shape is a cross.
https://tinyurl.com/7z5skvvr
I am so glad not to be connected to popular culture.
I got it right away, but I have the advantage of having three girls who, back in the day, would do a whole routine (complete with hand motions to the forehead) about "Loser, double loser, whatever ..."
I've heard many complaints about the VA over the years, but one I can't recall ever hearing was there were too many people sitting around with nothing to do. I would love to hear veterans who voted for Trump explain how firing 80k+ employees will make the VA work more efficiently and provide better services to those who rely on them.
I agree. Slash and burn is a stupid way to try to address efficiency. But I also don't know why the VA added 80,000 staff between 2019 and 2024. If it was a covid spike in staff then shouldn't it be addressed? Is 482,000 the right number of staff?
My issue with the VA is that it is a poor way to provide standard health services to vets. A free or subsidized healthcare plan would be more efficient. My dad and uncle both had to travel long distances to VA facilities for care that was readily available in local health care facilities, and it took a long time to get appointments. It makes sense to me that the VA is a good way to address unique, specific service-related needs in both care and research. But geriatric services and long-term care might be better delivered elsewhere. This is another political 'third rail' where merely investigating is considered an attack on veterans.
The VA's Community Care program should be expanded to allow most veterans eligible for VA services to get treatment locally, no doubt about that. But I think a change like that should come BEFORE slashing 20% of the workforce, especially when (as you point out) wait times are long and VA hospitals are so spread out.
Last week, Jon Stewart interviewed the former Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, Rupa Bhattacharyya, about DOGE's indiscriminate staff cuts at such programs. Her response was that the bureaucratic red tape is there to try to eliminate waste and fraud, and that cutting so many people will make it more likely that such abuses will go undetected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA-AJiC-Yk4
I agree, and it is true that some red tape and staff are specifically for verifying eligibility for benefits. Which is entirely appropriate. The DOGE boys are data wonks with no knowledge or experience. A blunt instrument that will cause significant damage and disruption. They might have been useful to identify targets of opportunity for spending cuts. But I can't see any alignment with the budget or spending bills.
The Republicans put forth a bill to cut $880B from Medicaid under the guise of "cutting waste, fraud, and abuse." As AOC points out in this clip, they started with the number they wanted to cut with the intent of labeling stuff they don't like as "waste":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OSCEhR9kl8
Free healthcare for veterans would be socialized medicine, no? Probably why I am in favor of it. The MAGAs would hate it because when health care was available for old people, the disabled, and the poor, the number of people denied it and subject to the insurance industry's cruelty would shrink and that number would want in.
I think there’s a point here being missed. Burger Boy is obsessed with ridding of anything Biden did, positive or negative. Biden increased staffing because of a zillion complaints that the VA wasn’t getting the job done. I wouldn’t put it past the fat fascist bastard(sorry, Garry) to let President Muskrat make cuts, then backtrack like he already has on tariffs and take credit for fixing things.
My sister is a retired vet that just had shoulder replacement surgery. Don’t put her and Trump in the same room unless you like violence.
Coincidentally, I am also a veteran who just had shoulder replacement surgery (not retired, though). After six months I still have some weakness and occasional twinges of pain, but I'm told it's not unusual for it to take a year or more to fully heal.
It's not bone spurs, but still...
Here’s best wishes for a speedy recovery. Besides my sister, I know someone else that recently underwent the surgery. Recovery is apparently arduous. Good luck! I have had two heart procedures, ankle, and knee surgery. But like you said, it’s not bone spurs so I feel sorry for Burger Boy- or am I not allowed to say it because it’s not nasty enough?
Thanks. I actually felt much better immediately after the surgery and was driving two days later. At this point I'd say I'm about 90% recovered, but that last 10% is being stubborn.
As a vet, I can't understand anyone who served being enamored with Dump -- I mean, it's one thing to dodge the draft the way he did, but to then call those buried in Arlington Cemetery "suckers and losers" is infuriating. I don't get the allure.
Regarding the Mother Jones article, I don't know that Jay Bhattacharya should be leading the NIH, but he was more right than wrong regarding covid. Moreso than the majority of experts. He generally pushed for a model closer to some European countries like Sweden, and was unfairly canceled for it. He seems reasonable in interviews. Out of all the horrendous Trump nominations, this one I don't feel as bad about.