I mean I know they are more purplish than they look, but they've been republican strongholds for a decade now. Not that I do not have high hopes! But I get the feeling the press insisting they are swing states is some sort of set up
If voters in NC are truly upset about gun deaths then they’d should turn out to clean house (and senate) in the gun-happy NC General Assembly, which conveniently have a Democratic candidate available for selection in ALL 170 LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS (including yours, paw-paw) thanks to NCDP chair Anderson Clayton who made those races a priority (unlike pretty much every one of her predecessors).
I wouldn’t worry too much about Roy. He’s probably the most popular politician in the history of the state other than maybe Jim Hunt. He has never lost an election. At any level. Ever.
And Michael Whatley is… EXACTLY what you think he is. Out of his depth, and with no job qualifications other than an “R” and a Trump endorsement (which doesn’t have the same shine it used to have). He was a party functionary of some kind before this, but that “R” doesn’t have quite the same shine it used to either. Take a ride through haywood County where they’re STILL trying to rebuild after Helene almost 2 years later, after getting stiffed by Trump on federal funds and the aforementioned NCGA spectacularly FAILING to pass a budget (their ONE JOB) for over 1000 days, and passing a budget ”hurricane relief bill” that didn’t appropriate a dollar of “hurricane relief”, but they had to put that fig leaf on it so they could get the bill that put elections in the office of the State Auditor during the 2024 lame duck session because he was the only Republican elected to a position in the Council of State that they could make people believe was suitable for the job. Sec of State Elaine Marshall (who’s had that job since approximately the end of the last Ice Age) is a Democrat, as are the Governor and Lt. Gov (Rachel Hunt, daughter of the aforementioned Jim Hunt of NC political royalty) and the AG…
This just tells me that we should have sent all of those Swift Boat losers to prison when they started turning outright lies into political ads. I'm sure there are earlier examples, but that's the first one I remember being so grievous.
Baconz started a new job 2 weeks ago. They wouldnt "pick me up" after the training period.
I suspect why. I refused to sign non disclosure agreement.
I said to (unHuman Resources). "This NDA is pretty open-ended and intentionality vague. According to this if I don't report fraud, or hiring maleficent...legally I would become an accessory after the fact if I didn't report it. But if I did report it you will litigate me for a violation of a contract?"
"That is not what it says" she responded
"NO. It is actually specifically vague in what it states about this 4th paragraph. I will sign a No Compete Contract. But not an NDA"
Sorry to hear this, Baconz. But I suspect that the cases you mentioned would vitiate confidentiality. Like, if your lawyer gives you advice on how to get away with your special crime, attorney-client privilege doesn’t cover that. People like to think that you can’ pierce that veil, but there are cases where you can. This doesn’t help with your current situation, but still good to know.
The best thing about the Republicans' campaign in Minnesota is that they've got me all het up to get my COVID, Influenza, and now Pneumococcal Pneumonia vaccines ASAP.
I was inspired by GOP ads making veiled attacks against Democrats for how Minnesota handled COVID in 2020, because apparently that's their hot issue now in 2026; to check my health provider's website.
They don't have the new COVID or Influenza shots yet, but the Walgreen's a block away does. Hell, I could get them all 2 hours from now, were I so inclined. I may wait until Friday afternoon, though.
Had the Republicans not kept yammering about how terrible it is that the Democrats appear willing to try to avoid another pandemic, I might have blown that off for a few more weeks. But I have travel coming up starting the end of the month, and a few projects. My work involves being in large crowded spaces so COVID and Influenza are occupational hazards. And I hear they're both going around right now. Anecdotally of course, as we seem to have agreed as a nation to pretend people don't get sick anymore.
I need to schedule my flu and COVID shots, but I need to do it on a Friday or Saturday. Because the COVID shot has knocked me on my ass for a day every time.
I've gotten, I believe, 7 COVID shots. About half of them, I barely noticed. One or two knocked me out. The others, I got that feeling of "coming down with something," which I have in the past 6 years learned is actually the feeling of my immune system downshifting and revving up.
The Influenza shot sometimes nails me too.
So I get both at the same time, one in each shoulder. 'Cuz that's how I roll, brothas and sistas. Live fast, die old, leave a meh-lookin' corpse.
Except for 2020, I’ve always done mine together too, just because it’s had to get 2 appointments. But in 2020 I was still waiting for my cohort to be eligible and decided that a flu shot was probably a good idea, because being down with the flu was probably *not* going to help me fight off a COVID infection.
Flu shots USED to do that to me, and I avoided the for decades because of it, but the ones that used to lay me out were the (mandatory) ones I got in the army back in the mid-80s, and I guess they’ve improved a lot since then. Now, the only effect I usually feel is a sore arm for a day or two.
Speaking as I'm having my first dance with COVID, you're wise to get vaxxed. As soon as I'm officially over the hump, I'm getting the latest vaxxes. No recommended three month wait for me.
Asked about it when I went to the docs yesterday. Wasn't proscribed it since I was already three days into infection. And they weren't sure how bad the side effects would be on me.
I got my first vax April 1, 2021. Haven't missed one since.
Got COVID for the first time in mid-May, 2022. I'd had 3 doses of Pfizer by then. I was working in Las Vegas. Every time I do that, the indoor air quality is so bad I get eye/ear/nose/throat symptoms anyway. I call it "The Vegas Crud." So I probably had COVID for a couple days before a 5-minute sneezing fit tipped me off that it was more than the usual "Vegas Crud."
I really wasn't very sick. Had I not already had 3 doses, who knows.
I got a breakthrough infection in August of… 2022 I think? Felt like Twice Cooked Death for about a day and a half, and then I just got bored from staying in my office almost 24/7 until the danger zone passed.
I'm so surprised it's taken you this long to get it.
I got my first back in 2023. Unless I had an infection that was asymptomatic.
I was super super sick for like 2 days and then was better. B/c of the vaxx. I would have been knocked on my ass for over a week if I had been unvaxxed or worse.
My mom had the "razor throat" variety last winter that I think you have (you described having a really bad sore throat) and with her it was the same. Sick for like 2 days and then OK. And she's like 74.
Six years was a good run, honestly. As some have said 'round these parts, COVID has become endemic, something to be monitored and managed. Don't have to like it, but I accept it.
I'm sure keeping up with the vaxxes (the only one I'm fuzzy on is 2025) is why I'm dealing with this better than I otherwise would. Had I not finally gotten the 'Rona, I'd be getting the vaxxes tomorrow.
And yeah, throat felt like razor blades yesterday morning. That's what spurred me to have a home test administered.
At it's peak about 26,000 agonizing deaths/week (= 1,350,000/year). I'd say taking precautions to slow the spread were absolutely the correct thing to do. But what do I know?, I'm not a fucking Maga idiot.
I expect a lot of the rural Republicans to simply refuse to vote for him. Trump and the state party shoved him down everyone's throats before the Primary, and those good ol' boys aren't happy.
I heard him speak the other day and that man can PREACH! I got emotional for real. I truly hope Texans come through for all of us and kicks paxton to the curb for good.
i have said that acton should sue for defamation. my friend said "but she's a public figure". the information provided by Brooke indicates why i believe malice can be proved, since as usual the R's are fucking lying about everything.
In theory you may be right -- even though the bar for "actually malice" is higher still for a woman plaintiff appearing before a dude judge --
but in practice I don't know anyone in recent political history who's been able to prepare & bring a defamation action and run a successful campaign -60 days out for a major election at the same time
i don't care when she does it; she can wait until after the campaign (whatever the results) for all i care. i would just like to see somebody pay the price for all of this shit going on 24/7.
I just saw that Israel is having to use their underground water supply for drinking water because their desalination plants are shut down. Why are they shut down, you ask? Not because of any act of war or terrorism, but because of algae clogging the system. A problem it seems would have been avoided if they repaired the wastewater treatment plants in Gaza. So, Orange Boy's algae problems are spreading to his allies. But seriously, this was avoidable.
Still have my mom's pendant, which she wore every day from about 1969 until the Americans had mostly come home (so, long after the war was officially over). And, we had a huge poster in the bathroom (along with many rock & roll band music store posters, all covering up the drywall that had not yet been mudded, taped, and painted). My mom didn't even follow rock n roll, but she liked the artwork.
War never seems to hurt the people perpetrating it. Israel isn't killing Hamas, and Hamas didn't kill Likud politicians in their 10/7 attack; innocent Israelis were the victims.
It kinda is an act of war. Or at least classic "blowback."
Israel destroyed the wastewater treatment plants in Gaza, or at least made sure they weren't working.
As a result, there's a huge algae bloom spreading from there up the Mediterranean coast, and that's what's clogged up 5 of the nation's 6 desalination plants.
The Geneva Conventions do discuss the ramifications of destroying water and sewage infrastructure during war. They're opposed.
The way propaganda has taken over in the absence of factual reporting, I should mention that I saw a mention of this on a site I consider dubious. So I searched it, and found stories on it on the websites of Ha'aretz and Times of Israel. Those articles detailed what I mentioned.
The only thing positive for me with Musk buying Twitter was this guy's video being restored. I don't know who he is but his trolling COVID protestors in April of 2020 is one of my favorite things ever posted on there.
It wasn't until a couple of days ago. It had a cease and desist and I'm not sure how it went down but it's back for now.
It could be that since Twitter is mostly people posting images/text from other places there is no good reason for xcancel not to be allowed the same privilege. Just a guess.
since when are ohio and NC swing states?
I mean I know they are more purplish than they look, but they've been republican strongholds for a decade now. Not that I do not have high hopes! But I get the feeling the press insisting they are swing states is some sort of set up
So they think they can just Dukakis everybody?
If voters in NC are truly upset about gun deaths then they’d should turn out to clean house (and senate) in the gun-happy NC General Assembly, which conveniently have a Democratic candidate available for selection in ALL 170 LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS (including yours, paw-paw) thanks to NCDP chair Anderson Clayton who made those races a priority (unlike pretty much every one of her predecessors).
I wouldn’t worry too much about Roy. He’s probably the most popular politician in the history of the state other than maybe Jim Hunt. He has never lost an election. At any level. Ever.
And Michael Whatley is… EXACTLY what you think he is. Out of his depth, and with no job qualifications other than an “R” and a Trump endorsement (which doesn’t have the same shine it used to have). He was a party functionary of some kind before this, but that “R” doesn’t have quite the same shine it used to either. Take a ride through haywood County where they’re STILL trying to rebuild after Helene almost 2 years later, after getting stiffed by Trump on federal funds and the aforementioned NCGA spectacularly FAILING to pass a budget (their ONE JOB) for over 1000 days, and passing a budget ”hurricane relief bill” that didn’t appropriate a dollar of “hurricane relief”, but they had to put that fig leaf on it so they could get the bill that put elections in the office of the State Auditor during the 2024 lame duck session because he was the only Republican elected to a position in the Council of State that they could make people believe was suitable for the job. Sec of State Elaine Marshall (who’s had that job since approximately the end of the last Ice Age) is a Democrat, as are the Governor and Lt. Gov (Rachel Hunt, daughter of the aforementioned Jim Hunt of NC political royalty) and the AG…
This just tells me that we should have sent all of those Swift Boat losers to prison when they started turning outright lies into political ads. I'm sure there are earlier examples, but that's the first one I remember being so grievous.
The Arnold Festival will be back.
"stick atound"
HERE IS SUBZERO...NOW PLAIN ZERO
OT
Baconz started a new job 2 weeks ago. They wouldnt "pick me up" after the training period.
I suspect why. I refused to sign non disclosure agreement.
I said to (unHuman Resources). "This NDA is pretty open-ended and intentionality vague. According to this if I don't report fraud, or hiring maleficent...legally I would become an accessory after the fact if I didn't report it. But if I did report it you will litigate me for a violation of a contract?"
"That is not what it says" she responded
"NO. It is actually specifically vague in what it states about this 4th paragraph. I will sign a No Compete Contract. But not an NDA"
So now I'm unemployed again.
True story.
Anyone hiring?
UGH. NDAs suck overall.
Just ask Melania.
Sorry to hear this, Baconz. But I suspect that the cases you mentioned would vitiate confidentiality. Like, if your lawyer gives you advice on how to get away with your special crime, attorney-client privilege doesn’t cover that. People like to think that you can’ pierce that veil, but there are cases where you can. This doesn’t help with your current situation, but still good to know.
*This* is one way to strike back against the Confederate narrative, Ls and Gs
"Why GIULIANI Should Not Be At the 9-11 Memorial" -- Michael Fanone Talks with Dean Obeidallah - live
https://open.substack.com/live-stream/356399
Oooh. Fanone & DeanO? That's gonna be a good one.
OT and sign of the times
Yahoo-
Former Republican Kansas governor endorses Adam Hamilton in US Senate race
Ryan Newton
Wed, September 9, 2026 at 9:31 AM CDT
Adam is a commie DFH liberal.
NOICE!
I think there might be a little bit of a wave on the horizon.
Reminds me of the tall "horizon" on the planet in the movie Interstellar.
The best thing about the Republicans' campaign in Minnesota is that they've got me all het up to get my COVID, Influenza, and now Pneumococcal Pneumonia vaccines ASAP.
I was inspired by GOP ads making veiled attacks against Democrats for how Minnesota handled COVID in 2020, because apparently that's their hot issue now in 2026; to check my health provider's website.
They don't have the new COVID or Influenza shots yet, but the Walgreen's a block away does. Hell, I could get them all 2 hours from now, were I so inclined. I may wait until Friday afternoon, though.
Had the Republicans not kept yammering about how terrible it is that the Democrats appear willing to try to avoid another pandemic, I might have blown that off for a few more weeks. But I have travel coming up starting the end of the month, and a few projects. My work involves being in large crowded spaces so COVID and Influenza are occupational hazards. And I hear they're both going around right now. Anecdotally of course, as we seem to have agreed as a nation to pretend people don't get sick anymore.
Don't get ill; don't need/use health care! Mission Accomplished.
I need to schedule my flu and COVID shots, but I need to do it on a Friday or Saturday. Because the COVID shot has knocked me on my ass for a day every time.
I am going to do mine this weekend if I can.
I've gotten, I believe, 7 COVID shots. About half of them, I barely noticed. One or two knocked me out. The others, I got that feeling of "coming down with something," which I have in the past 6 years learned is actually the feeling of my immune system downshifting and revving up.
The Influenza shot sometimes nails me too.
So I get both at the same time, one in each shoulder. 'Cuz that's how I roll, brothas and sistas. Live fast, die old, leave a meh-lookin' corpse.
Except for 2020, I’ve always done mine together too, just because it’s had to get 2 appointments. But in 2020 I was still waiting for my cohort to be eligible and decided that a flu shot was probably a good idea, because being down with the flu was probably *not* going to help me fight off a COVID infection.
Oh, Swmnguy - if you are ever in Chicago, look me up! You sound like fine people!
Me, too. And flu shots have always done that to me, too.
Flu shots USED to do that to me, and I avoided the for decades because of it, but the ones that used to lay me out were the (mandatory) ones I got in the army back in the mid-80s, and I guess they’ve improved a lot since then. Now, the only effect I usually feel is a sore arm for a day or two.
Speaking as I'm having my first dance with COVID, you're wise to get vaxxed. As soon as I'm officially over the hump, I'm getting the latest vaxxes. No recommended three month wait for me.
Get Paxlovid. Tastes like ass but the possible benefits outweigh the week of gross.
Asked about it when I went to the docs yesterday. Wasn't proscribed it since I was already three days into infection. And they weren't sure how bad the side effects would be on me.
I got my first vax April 1, 2021. Haven't missed one since.
Got COVID for the first time in mid-May, 2022. I'd had 3 doses of Pfizer by then. I was working in Las Vegas. Every time I do that, the indoor air quality is so bad I get eye/ear/nose/throat symptoms anyway. I call it "The Vegas Crud." So I probably had COVID for a couple days before a 5-minute sneezing fit tipped me off that it was more than the usual "Vegas Crud."
I really wasn't very sick. Had I not already had 3 doses, who knows.
I got a breakthrough infection in August of… 2022 I think? Felt like Twice Cooked Death for about a day and a half, and then I just got bored from staying in my office almost 24/7 until the danger zone passed.
Honestly, same. Getting the vaxxes sucks way less than the real thing.
I'm so surprised it's taken you this long to get it.
I got my first back in 2023. Unless I had an infection that was asymptomatic.
I was super super sick for like 2 days and then was better. B/c of the vaxx. I would have been knocked on my ass for over a week if I had been unvaxxed or worse.
My mom had the "razor throat" variety last winter that I think you have (you described having a really bad sore throat) and with her it was the same. Sick for like 2 days and then OK. And she's like 74.
Six years was a good run, honestly. As some have said 'round these parts, COVID has become endemic, something to be monitored and managed. Don't have to like it, but I accept it.
I'm sure keeping up with the vaxxes (the only one I'm fuzzy on is 2025) is why I'm dealing with this better than I otherwise would. Had I not finally gotten the 'Rona, I'd be getting the vaxxes tomorrow.
And yeah, throat felt like razor blades yesterday morning. That's what spurred me to have a home test administered.
I hope you feel better soon! That throat thing is miserable from what I understand.
Everybody please make sure to check out Brooke's "Firehose of Bullshit" link
Incredibly instructive and I wish all the Democratic operatives had memorized it WAY before this since it looks as if it was first published in 2016
At it's peak about 26,000 agonizing deaths/week (= 1,350,000/year). I'd say taking precautions to slow the spread were absolutely the correct thing to do. But what do I know?, I'm not a fucking Maga idiot.
I love the thought of Ohio Nazis being forced to vote for "Satanist" (i.e. non-Christian) token brown person du jour Vivek Ramaswarmy.
Even better, his political career will be deader than his rapper ambitions if he doesn't win.
I expect a lot of the rural Republicans to simply refuse to vote for him. Trump and the state party shoved him down everyone's throats before the Primary, and those good ol' boys aren't happy.
ohplease ohplease ohplease; so tired of his bullshit
I’m sure many of them will stay home, given a choice between a brown non-Christian man and a white woman.
I hope more subtle people than I will find ways to keep reminding Republicans in Ohio that he's not a Christian.
In October 2025, Vivek Ramaswamy posted a photo of his kids in their Halloween costumes with "Happy Halloween!"
One was Spiderman, and the other was a Storm Trooper.
The nicest comment was, "Take your two little shitstains and get the fuck out of my country."
I feel for his kids, but fuck him.
I love that for him.
Those bigots don't do subtlety. "Vivek Ramaswamy is an Satan-worshipping anchor baby posing as MAGA" should do.
they can still use that clip from trading spouses.
I love how their little pea brains can't comprehend complexity or nuance.
So, if you're not a Christian you're automatically a Satanist.
They can fuck off to Hell and I hope we tell them that soon en masse in no unfuckingcertainterms.
ENOUGH IS FUCKING ENOUGH FROM THESE SCUMBAGS!
And not just any Christian, it needs to be their brand of Christianity, otherwise you are going to hell.
Yep. This.
Look at what they are doing to Talarico.
I heard him speak the other day and that man can PREACH! I got emotional for real. I truly hope Texans come through for all of us and kicks paxton to the curb for good.
i have said that acton should sue for defamation. my friend said "but she's a public figure". the information provided by Brooke indicates why i believe malice can be proved, since as usual the R's are fucking lying about everything.
In theory you may be right -- even though the bar for "actually malice" is higher still for a woman plaintiff appearing before a dude judge --
but in practice I don't know anyone in recent political history who's been able to prepare & bring a defamation action and run a successful campaign -60 days out for a major election at the same time
/ just saying
i don't care when she does it; she can wait until after the campaign (whatever the results) for all i care. i would just like to see somebody pay the price for all of this shit going on 24/7.
OT!
I just saw that Israel is having to use their underground water supply for drinking water because their desalination plants are shut down. Why are they shut down, you ask? Not because of any act of war or terrorism, but because of algae clogging the system. A problem it seems would have been avoided if they repaired the wastewater treatment plants in Gaza. So, Orange Boy's algae problems are spreading to his allies. But seriously, this was avoidable.
Please stoppe these worr.
Worr hurts everybody.
🫂
Birb like everybody, want everybody live.
War is not healthy for children and other living things, as the 1970s slogan put it.
When I was a kid the posters where EVERYwhere.
Still have my mom's pendant, which she wore every day from about 1969 until the Americans had mostly come home (so, long after the war was officially over). And, we had a huge poster in the bathroom (along with many rock & roll band music store posters, all covering up the drywall that had not yet been mudded, taped, and painted). My mom didn't even follow rock n roll, but she liked the artwork.
I wanted the Zappa Crappa poster. Heh.
A true
War never seems to hurt the people perpetrating it. Israel isn't killing Hamas, and Hamas didn't kill Likud politicians in their 10/7 attack; innocent Israelis were the victims.
Extend claw of peace
Agree
A thamke
ALL of this shit was avoidable!
It kinda is an act of war. Or at least classic "blowback."
Israel destroyed the wastewater treatment plants in Gaza, or at least made sure they weren't working.
As a result, there's a huge algae bloom spreading from there up the Mediterranean coast, and that's what's clogged up 5 of the nation's 6 desalination plants.
The Geneva Conventions do discuss the ramifications of destroying water and sewage infrastructure during war. They're opposed.
The way propaganda has taken over in the absence of factual reporting, I should mention that I saw a mention of this on a site I consider dubious. So I searched it, and found stories on it on the websites of Ha'aretz and Times of Israel. Those articles detailed what I mentioned.
Something something do unto others something something
Obligatory
https://youtu.be/xLy2SaSQAtA?si=vdhmhunM6G_u36Xt
Imagine if he was still alive. (pun intended)
probably used the same contractor.
The only thing positive for me with Musk buying Twitter was this guy's video being restored. I don't know who he is but his trolling COVID protestors in April of 2020 is one of my favorite things ever posted on there.
https://xcancel.com/debiowens/status/1254954207221817344
I LOVE it!
"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Daddy issues. Fuck you, you piece of shit"
It's glorious in its crude simplicity.
how xcancel still alive??
The more important question is, how is he still alive?
It wasn't until a couple of days ago. It had a cease and desist and I'm not sure how it went down but it's back for now.
It could be that since Twitter is mostly people posting images/text from other places there is no good reason for xcancel not to be allowed the same privilege. Just a guess.
good lawyers?
they're bound to be outnumbered.
That just means Elon has lots on money to pay judgements with.
Looking at his recent legal track history, I'm comfortable betting against Elon.
NC Republican nasty is a special kind of nasty.