293 Comments

Who will stop the rain?

Expand full comment

"Posterity? So what? What has posterity ever done for us?" ~ Groucho Marx

Expand full comment

I read the word "flashlight" wrong. Really, really wrong.

Expand full comment

I was not saying it in that sense. For 10 days or so, when I went outside I smelt smoke and saw smoke. According to Google maps, I live 52 miles from Santa Rosa, so 40 as the crow flies? Wildfire is kind of primal to me, because of one we had when I was six. Also, I was near the fire area in the Oakland firestorm... And, it's changed things. A lot of what's there will now be different, although the eternal verities remain eternal.

tldr: Disaster and fire fascinate me, you gave me an opportunity to express that, and it sucks to be one of the persons affected, so yeah, thoughts.

Expand full comment

Meanwhile the FBI is talking about Black Identity Extremists, a made up term, to avoid dealing with dangeros right wing extremist groups or distract attention from them. It will use BIEs as an excuse to crack down on all blacks who protest against systemic racism which is fueled by white supremacy, whether they are peaceful or not. Black Lives Matter leaders, who.advocate for peaceful protests, were being hauled in and questioned even before Obama left office. I can only imagine what the FBI is doing under a bigot like Trump, but the media has called it out so maybe agents will not abuse AAs like they did MLK and others.

Expand full comment

It should be against the law. You want to raise money, Boy Scouts USA, you go out and beg other adults for it. Making kids do your dirty work is reprehensible.

Expand full comment

That would be correct. Somehow it doesn't have the same horror factor!

Expand full comment

Since I actually volunteered to be head of a Girl Scout troop (and it’s hard to find parents who are willing to do it for the girls) I try to donate something, instead of buying the overpriced stuff. Cookie economics are brutal. You order the boxes you think you’ll be able to sell. If you don’t sell them- you bought them. At one point I had $3,000.00 worth of cookies sitting in a spare bedroom. Then you have to corral relatives and friends who walk out with boxes “to pay you later”.And yes you get pennies on the dollar. But if the kids want to go camping, or on troop outings, that’s the only way to pay for it. Unless you want to get the parents to pay, and some of my girls families were on TANF and food stamps. So don’t screw them. Don’t buy the overpriced crap, but donate a buck if you can afford it.

Expand full comment

I have completed the IPA cleanse. Now comes the time for whisky.

Expand full comment

I hope so too, but I doubt it. I wonder what term they use to describe BIE's in private...too bad we can't surreptitiously record them discussing the issue.

Expand full comment

Point! Is Alex Ruthrauff a Ballchinian? Tune in next week to find out!

Expand full comment

Yep... like in the Bible...never understood why a bunch of Hebrews had names like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

Expand full comment

Tomatoe tomato!

Expand full comment

I thought it was "Marx Movies" and then I thought of Duck Soup and then

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Expand full comment

Okay Alex Ruthrauff, I get that the bird looking thing under there is how you follow you on Twitter, but what is the penis looking thing you're holding in your hand in your profile pic? Is that the dick of some hapless right-good god-fearing Nazi racist 2nd Amendment type that you stalked, sunk your fangs into, and cut off?

Expand full comment