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Posted
1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

In a serious take: I don’t birdwatch but have accepted a few invites to go. It’s not bad.

You’re outside, first of all, and you have a reason to disconnect from the bad news machine in your pocket. You engage your senses and combine it with just the right amount of focus. You’re listening and looking and paying attention but it’s not an adrenaline dump into your brain. And then if you do it right, you see this whole little animal that maybe you never saw or noticed before but that shares this planet with you, doing its own thing. And that’s cool. It’s some time using our senes the way they evolved over millennia to be used. 
 

I think you can get the same experience hunting or fishing or hiking or almost anything that motivates you to go touch grass, literally. 

You're not wrong, but it's possible to have multiple hobbies. I go hiking a lot with my dogs as well as playing games and doing other things that force me to socialize/touch grass.

Addictive things are only problematic if you don't practice moderation.

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Posted
5 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

Hey, someone figured out that maybe Dems shouldn't concede to the Republican framing of every issue! And dunked on a dishonest reporter! Maybe at least part of the party is capable of learning basic politics!

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Posted (edited)
43 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Hey, someone figured out that maybe Dems shouldn't concede to the Republican framing of every issue! And dunked on a dishonest reporter! Maybe at least part of the party is capable of learning basic politics!

Hakeem J answering that question. "Well, (yawning), first of all, I just want to say that I don't think the republicans are 100% in the right on this issue...."

Edited by Red Five
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Posted
12 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Platner is taking on water

 

Funny, this was published in the NY Times today and it sounds like he’s doing fine.  Comments on the article were also supportive. 
 

I Thought Graham Platner Was Finished. What I Saw in Maine Changed My Mind.

 

It would certainly stand to reason that a first time candidate would churn through staffers more than, say the governor, both because of a lack of professional network and because first-time candidates tend to need to hire fast due to urgency (plus, for the staffers, they simply don’t have the familiarity with the candidate like they would if they had campaigned together previously).  
 

I still think Platner is the horse to back because the other candidates in the primary are boring and he’s the best messenger of discontent.  

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Posted
13 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

The money guy saying the campaign isn't aligned with his professional standards is a pretty glaring red flag. 

Maybe?  He was hired in August and that tweet (errrr., bluesky post) is an even more catty bitch move than insisting you be recognized as the third of your name.  
 

I realize it’s politics, but Occam’s razor would suggest it’s more performance related and framing it otherwise is so his career isn’t hindered after prematurely jumping off the Swanson for MI Gov campaign.  

Posted
34 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Maybe?  He was hired in August and that tweet (errrr., bluesky post) is an even more catty bitch move than insisting you be recognized as the third of your name.  
 

I realize it’s politics, but Occam’s razor would suggest it’s more performance related and framing it otherwise is so his career isn’t hindered after prematurely jumping off the Swanson for MI Gov campaign.  

"Platner in Disarray!"

Posted
2 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Go where the working people go before or after their shift, and it will be delicious. 

That’s true, and Jackson Heights probably has the overall best ethnic working class food in America. 

 

2 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

More like this guy, fewer tired boomers

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

That’s true, and Jackson Heights probably has the overall best ethnic working class food in America. 

Also the home of Jackson Heights' own Randy Watson....

maxresdefault.jpg

So, that's pretty good.

b6b7d4b9b7eed78adc8bafeeb4ad0681.gif

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Posted
1 hour ago, wildcat09 said:

The money guy saying the campaign isn't aligned with his professional standards is a pretty glaring red flag. 

Maybe, but there was this one guy who ran for president back in 2016 that had some turnover on his staff due to public controversies and concerns over ethics, and he did OK.  

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Posted

I know everyone wants Schumer and Jeffries to be something they are not, but it’s pretty clear that the next version of the Democratic Party (I.e., the one that can win two elections in a row) is going to be fronted by different leadership.  
 

I hate quoting him as much as I do, but @Bozo_Casanova has said (and this is going to be to his chagrin, but Ezra Klein just said this, too) that the candidate changes the party, not the other way around and I think that’s a better road map for what comes next than to continually be disappointed that Schumer isn’t a wartime consigliere.  
 

@wildcat09I know you’re out on Platner, but he’s so much better as a template candidate than trying to run 72 year old Sherrod Brown again or 77 year old Janet Mills. 

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Posted
3 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Go where the working people go before or after their shift, and it will be delicious. 

@Brisketexan and I had this conversation years ago. If you drive around south Louisiana and look for the ramshackle cafe with a gravel crushed oyster shell parking lot full of white oilfield service trucks, you'll probably have one of the best meals of your life. 

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Posted

The "Beer Test" probably has a bunch of built-in misogyny. I won't say it's a good thing, but I will say that running candidates who are almost intentionally failing the Beer Test (which nowadays is more like the Long-Form Podcast Test) and then wondering why the party's leaders are seen as out-of-touch and inauthentic is a losing strategy.

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Posted
30 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

@Brisketexan and I had this conversation years ago. If you drive around south Louisiana and look for the ramshackle cafe with a gravel crushed oyster shell parking lot full of white oilfield service trucks, you'll probably have one of the best meals of your life. 

This works in Texas, too.  And add "parking lot full of police cars" to the list of good signs.  EXCEPT....for a super-shitty (and apparently, now-defunct) "barbecue" joint in Comanche.  Saw 5 squad cars in the lot, and pulled over to grab a snack even though I'd eaten lunch.

Was served a sad slice of gray, wet brisket out of a crockpot.  It was actually worse than it looked.

Every one of those cops should have their peace officer's license revoked for eating at that place.

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Posted
39 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

@Brisketexan and I had this conversation years ago. If you drive around south Louisiana and look for the ramshackle cafe with a gravel crushed oyster shell parking lot full of white oilfield service trucks, you'll probably have one of the best meals of your life. 

Bearing in mind I’m kind of a snob, this never proved true in my youth in Liberty, Chambers, and east Harris county*.  I feel like there’s a nostalgia for that @Brisketexan has perpetuated here that doesn’t stand up to reality.  
 

And let’s be honest, hungry oil field workers aren’t known for being discerning in their food, whiskey or women.  


*admittedly that’s not South Louisiana but it’s plenty coonass, nonetheless.  

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Posted
5 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

And let’s be honest, hungry oil field workers aren’t known for being discerning in their food, whiskey or women.  

Be careful where you're treading, motherfucker....  Hitting a bit close to home and all that.

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Posted
4 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:

This shit should be so easy, it's remarkable how hard most Democrats make it seem.  

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get money from corporate donors when we have radicals trying to move the party closer to communism??? 

ANY IDEA???

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Posted
1 hour ago, LCHorn said:

I know everyone wants Schumer and Jeffries to be something they are not, but it’s pretty clear that the next version of the Democratic Party (I.e., the one that can win two elections in a row) is going to be fronted by different leadership.  
 

I hate quoting him as much as I do, but @Bozo_Casanova has said (and this is going to be to his chagrin, but Ezra Klein just said this, too) that the candidate changes the party, not the other way around and I think that’s a better road map for what comes next than to continually be disappointed that Schumer isn’t a wartime consigliere.  
 

@wildcat09I know you’re out on Platner, but he’s so much better as a template candidate than trying to run 72 year old Sherrod Brown again or 77 year old Janet Mills. 


I don't think anyone here thinks Schumer and Jeffries are capable of changing their stripes. I very much wish Platner was what he had appeared to be, it's just clear to me that he isn't. You'll all get there soon enough. 

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Posted
On 10/23/2025 at 4:32 PM, chainsaw said:

The only Latino in Maine reporting from a town hall last night

 

Texas dems always have a poll a week or two before the election saying they are within three points of the incumbent republican shithead.  They just need more donations to get them over the hump and finally turn TX blue.

Then they get smoked by 10 points by Paxton / Cruz / Goeb.

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Posted
On 10/31/2025 at 1:53 PM, Pescado_Rojo said:

@Brisketexan and I had this conversation years ago. If you drive around south Louisiana and look for the ramshackle cafe with a gravel crushed oyster shell parking lot full of white oilfield service trucks, you'll probably have one of the best meals of your life. 

Pre Sarbanes-Oxley and general industry consolidation days, your nearest drilling fluids or drill bits salesman could give you a list of the best restaurants, bars, golf courses and underground brothels within a four state radius.  Pay wasn't great, but expense accounts were used to maximum benefit.

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Posted
On 10/31/2025 at 2:38 PM, LCHorn said:

Bearing in mind I’m kind of a snob, this never proved true in my youth in Liberty, Chambers, and east Harris county*.  I feel like there’s a nostalgia for that @Brisketexan has perpetuated here that doesn’t stand up to reality.  
 

And let’s be honest, hungry oil field workers aren’t known for being discerning in their food, whiskey or women.  


*admittedly that’s not South Louisiana but it’s plenty coonass, nonetheless.  

For refined tastes, you need to go a level above the white truck guys.  Think salesmen in their beige Crown Vics.  Alas, those days are long gone since Sarbanes-Oxley put a huge crunch on expense account disclosures.  The old days of a $3,000 expense entry for "Entertainment" that was approved without question were great.

Posted
47 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Pre Sarbanes-Oxley and general industry consolidation days, your nearest drilling fluids or drill bits salesman could give you a list of the best restaurants, bars, golf courses and underground brothels within a four state radius.  Pay wasn't great, but expense accounts were used to maximum benefit.

Sounds like being an AE for a beer and wine distributor.  I did a home loan for a guy who said of his profession “you’ll never make a million dollars, but you’ll get to live like you make a million.”  

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Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Sounds like being an AE for a beer and wine distributor.  I did a home loan for a guy who said of his profession “you’ll never make a million dollars, but you’ll get to live like you make a million.”  

Exactly the same.  Right after SOX came into play I was able to land an expat position that continued the good life for another 15 years until we got bought out by one of the then Big 3 service companies.

Overseas, the expense account debauchery went to 11.  Those $3,000 entries went to $9,999 and were labeled "Food and Drink".  Hell, we would get chastised by our boss for not maxxing out the expense account because if we didn't then the accountants would start imposing new lower limits.  I think I went 8 years in Thailand with never paying out of pocket for a beer, game of golf, or restaurant meal.  There was always a customer to expense it to whether they were present or not.

For most of those years I was just a peon Technical Services Engineer but my condo was right across the hall from the VP of Operations for the national oil and gas company.  Fine digs for sure.

Edited by Fudge Nuggets
Posted
On 10/31/2025 at 1:30 PM, HenryJames said:

 

People wonder why Dems in congress are so unpopular. Fuck that crusty old dingleberry

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Posted

Every internal D debate boils down to:

”Wow, this democratic socialist is really mobilizing the base in this D +42, 38 percent foreign born major metropolitan district! We need to replicate this energy nationally and push out the centrists!” 
 

“Noooo, you can’t do that! This kind of rhetoric hurts the D candidates in this rust belt, R +1.5 race! You need them in Congress and their voters in national elections. The radicals need to tone it down.” 
 

Then in national and most statewide races voters pick someone in between the two in primaries and the two poles lob bombs, bicker, and dont vote for the candidate in the general. Rinse, wash, repeat! 

Posted
13 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

People wonder why Dems in congress are so unpopular. Fuck that crusty old dingleberry

Vote Blue No Matter Who right Schumer?

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Posted
Just now, G650 said:

Laugh Lol GIF

The only thing the Dem establishment seems to care about is their donors. Losing elections bothering them would imply they actually want power and have a plan of what to do with it.

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Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Every internal D debate boils down to:

”Wow, this democratic socialist is really mobilizing the base in this D +42, 38 percent foreign born major metropolitan district! We need to replicate this energy nationally and push out the centrists!” 
 

“Noooo, you can’t do that! This kind of rhetoric hurts the D candidates in this rust belt, R +1.5 race! You need them in Congress and their voters in national elections. The radicals need to tone it down.” 
 

Then in national and most statewide races voters pick someone in between the two in primaries and the two poles lob bombs, bicker, and dont vote for the candidate in the general. Rinse, wash, repeat! 

 

1 hour ago, Chopper said:

Hopefully this will shake the dem establishment to its core.

 

The inability for most Dems in positions of power to interpret these results with nuance is maddening.  Yes, some of Mamdani's success is probably not replicable in other parts of the country.  But a lot of the excitement is generated from the fact that he's young, energetic, knows how to talk to the people, and seems like he actually cares.  That shit is replicable fucking everywhere.

Edited by Chuckie Finster
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Posted
5 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

 

The inability for most Dems in positions of power to interpret these results with nuance is maddening.  Yes, some of Mamdani's success is probably not replicable in other parts of the country.  But a lot of the excitement is generated from the fact that he's young, energetic, knows how to talk to the people, and seems like he actually cares.  That shit is replicable fucking everywhere.

This was the Barrack Obama formula. Difference being that Obama honed his rhetoric, skills, positions very early in a statewide race. 

Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

The only thing the Dem establishment seems to care about is their donors. Losing elections bothering them would imply they actually want power and have a plan of what to do with it.

They have a plan it's just more technocrat, like Obama, than it is populist or revolutionary. That's going to have to change. I think a few of the old-timers get primaried and shoved out next year, despite the backing of the party. Yeah that's probably overly optimistic but I've gotta believe.  

Edited by Chopper
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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, Chopper said:

They have a plan it's just more technocrat, like Obama, than it is populist or revolutionary. That's going to have to change. I think a few of the old-timers getting primaried and shoved out next year, despite the backing of the party. Yeah that's probably overly optimistic but I've gotta believe.  

I am skeptical they have some big technocratic plan. Technocratic bills are what they do when they grudgingly have to do something. And you know what? The Biden era technocratic schemes were actually pretty good, they just did not in any way sufficiently address the crisis the country was facing. The other problem with the technocratic approach is that the Republicans can easily undo them in about ten seconds whereas the changes the Republicans make linger in the system for decades.

But even to the extent this is true it is based on the idea that everybody likes the status quo and agrees it is good and we just need to make a few adjustments which is a very 1990s way of thinking.

Edited by Valmy77


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