Earlier this week I found receipt for heating oil dated April 2026. $3.09/gal. I use it heat water primarily and heat the house with wood because it's cheaper and more reliable in some ways. I've been needing to fill our tank but am trying to juggle finances without dipping into our emergency fund.
A month ago it was $4.69. Two weeks ago it was $4.79. I was going to call last Friday but alas, summer hours mean closed Friday. Monday it was $4.89. Oh well, I get paid Friday so I'll order Thursday, I thought. Today's price $5.19.
I heat with wood and I've been holding money for our firewood guy who is bringing me another two cords in a week or two. How Assface's approval rating isn't at 10% is beyond me.
Here in Pittsburgh most of the schools shifted to remote learning this week because of the heat and humidity. Most of the buildings are ancient and have no AC. We're lucky they have heat in the winter. :)
Hot idea - straight from my crystal ball - make it mandatory for utility companies to provide brand news HVAC systems to every public school. Of course California, but other states too. Maybe I'll drop a line to Mayor Mamdani.
Heh, heh, heh -I'm old and the heat must be going to my head.
I'll start over. Wouldn't it be nice if kids could spend their time in class thinking about the lesson rather than how bloody hot it is? Or to paraphrase Steve Miller...
"Republicans' largest donor (by far) is hosting a robust debate on his platform about whether Jews are white. Corporate Media will ask precisely 0 Republicans about their largest donor's all-consuming misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, he will instead by referred to as a visionary industrialist."
For right-wingers, Jews are “white” only when they acknowledge Christian supremacy, or when they’re Israeli - the right sees conflicts involving ancient or modern Jews in the Levant as fanfiction for American settlers versus Natives.
Next up, Das Gesetz zum Schutz des amerikanischen Blutes und der amerikanischen Ehre (The Law for the Protection of American Blood and American Honor)...
NYT, today: "The Trump administration released new proposed regulations, which the Treasury Department published on Thursday, that could revoke tax-exempt status from any school offering targeted support to Black or other minority students, a sweeping change that opens another front in the president’s campaign to reshape American education."
Brookings: "Targeting higher education is an essential tool in the autocratic playbook"
I'm stuck on how this would even work. what kind of tax? on what? they would pay a taxk on federal funding? or give the feds a portion of state funding? What does that even mean? They would force schools to spend more budget funds on property and sales tax? that makes no sense. obviously.
Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s fundamentalist revenge for the original motive behind the formation of the religious right - anger at Carter’s administration for lifting the tax-exempt status of whites-only religious schools.
"DSA members countered by highlighting the group’s focus on free food from a snack table, joking that their interest in donuts might reflect an affinity for socialism."
There shouldn’t be any such thing as utilities owned by shareholders. Make them government entities, or non-profit membership corporations like in most of rural America.
It's still very possible to get an excellent education in the public schools. My kids and their peers did. It does require that the parents take the lead role, and the schools supplement.
I don't think that's a new thing either.
It's also key to remember what, exactly, the public schools teach (and don't teach). We taught our kids to read, write, do simple math, and begin to think critically before they ever started school. The schools taught them a basic general curriculum, standards of how to find and use information, and then quite a lot about class, race, and how to deal with dysfunctional hierarchical authority systems.
That comes in incredibly handy, for a kid who has been prepared to learn it.
Newsom keeps "reaching out to Republican voters." It will not win him one extra Republican vote. And it is losing him his Democratic votes. Slick move, Ex-Lax.
He may be figuring that the Republicans will nominate an outright loon. But if history follows, the GOP voters he thinks he is reaching out to will either vote for the loon or stay home.
That's the difference between a "politician" versus someone like Mamdani or El-Sayed - you see them reaching out in "bipartisan" terms just by treating everyone with kindness and respect. Funny how people are responding so well to the latter.
I can hear my father's voice now: "You modern kids are so spoiled. Why, I had to walk 10 miles, barefoot, through 3 feet of snow to get to school, uphill both ways, carrying my little brother on my back."
His adult grandchildren still laugh about that story, especially as the distance got longer and the snow got deeper every time he told it. I wonder what he would say about AC in schools.
I used to collect large 16" radio transcriptions - discs used at radio stations or for special purposes that need a long audio program, like an exhibit.
I found some used in an electrical exhibit at the Century of Progress in 1933. One was an automated tour of a "classroom of the future" that talked about climate control and air conditioning for schools, among other things. My favorite part were the UV lamps in every classroom, shining down on students all day, every day, to give them the health benefits of the sun.
Luxury! Why, we was lucky if we only had to carry one little brother! I crawled through minefields 10 miles with three younger siblings on me back to get to school, where I was beaten mercilessly by demented schoolmasters! And I was happy!
You left out the river filled with alligators that you had to swim across. :-)
There's actually an excellent documentary called "On The Way To School" about children in four different Third World countries that do go to extraordinary lengths to get to school. It's worth watching.
All of those smarmy administrators denying the overdue environmental upgrades to American public schools do so from spacious, comfortably climate controlled offices.
𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑘𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑛𝑜𝑡.
Brooke, did you go to school in Huntington Beach?
Speaking of stupid shit like this...
Earlier this week I found receipt for heating oil dated April 2026. $3.09/gal. I use it heat water primarily and heat the house with wood because it's cheaper and more reliable in some ways. I've been needing to fill our tank but am trying to juggle finances without dipping into our emergency fund.
A month ago it was $4.69. Two weeks ago it was $4.79. I was going to call last Friday but alas, summer hours mean closed Friday. Monday it was $4.89. Oh well, I get paid Friday so I'll order Thursday, I thought. Today's price $5.19.
I heat with wood and I've been holding money for our firewood guy who is bringing me another two cords in a week or two. How Assface's approval rating isn't at 10% is beyond me.
A good, hard El Nino winter might change some peoples minds.
Promises made, promises kept.
PAB promised to cut home utility costs by 50 percent, and he's on the job as you've seen your heating oil cut up to $5.19!
Pray he doesn't alter it further -- I mean cut your costs more. If you don't watch out, it may be cut up to $6.19.
Here in Pittsburgh most of the schools shifted to remote learning this week because of the heat and humidity. Most of the buildings are ancient and have no AC. We're lucky they have heat in the winter. :)
What? So Newsome hates 𝘢𝘭𝘭 kids, not just the transgender ones?
Hot idea - straight from my crystal ball - make it mandatory for utility companies to provide brand news HVAC systems to every public school. Of course California, but other states too. Maybe I'll drop a line to Mayor Mamdani.
Heh, heh, heh -I'm old and the heat must be going to my head.
The water utilities here are owned by a private company, the county sold off the rights. Residents have complained of $600 water bills.
One lady called to yell at the profiteers and was told “I could lower your bill today, but where would I get that lost revenue from?”
There's always rolling people in dark alleys.
Crack. There’s a good profit margin.
Always worked for me.
Oh, wait...I was just watching Clockers.
Nevermind.
Wouldn't it be nice if we were older....
I'll start over. Wouldn't it be nice if kids could spend their time in class thinking about the lesson rather than how bloody hot it is? Or to paraphrase Steve Miller...
Feed the children who don't have enough to eat
Cool the students, sweating in their seats
Oh, oh, there's a solution
Fly like an eagle ? . . .
'til my spirit carries me...
Doot doot doo doo...
OT: Today, in the Nuremberg Laws...
"Republicans' largest donor (by far) is hosting a robust debate on his platform about whether Jews are white. Corporate Media will ask precisely 0 Republicans about their largest donor's all-consuming misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, he will instead by referred to as a visionary industrialist."
https://bsky.app/profile/davmicrot.bsky.social/post/3mul4poof5c2d
Do Beta Jews count?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Israel
Next do the Krauts!!
"Stephen Miller replies that they are 'better than white." . . .
For right-wingers, Jews are “white” only when they acknowledge Christian supremacy, or when they’re Israeli - the right sees conflicts involving ancient or modern Jews in the Levant as fanfiction for American settlers versus Natives.
*...snarls viciously*
These arrogant Nazis need to be reminded that the seething hatred goes BOTH ways.
Not to defend Musk, but is his response to that really antisemitic or racist? It seems kind of ambiguous. Maybe I just need more coffee.
I read it yesterday. The man thinks in cartoonish caricatures, but we knew that.
Consider the source, e.g., "their largest donor's all-consuming misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism."
Next up, Das Gesetz zum Schutz des amerikanischen Blutes und der amerikanischen Ehre (The Law for the Protection of American Blood and American Honor)...
Now that would be a fun DNA analysis.
NYT, today: "The Trump administration released new proposed regulations, which the Treasury Department published on Thursday, that could revoke tax-exempt status from any school offering targeted support to Black or other minority students, a sweeping change that opens another front in the president’s campaign to reshape American education."
Brookings: "Targeting higher education is an essential tool in the autocratic playbook"
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/targeting-higher-education-is-an-essential-tool-in-the-autocratic-playbook/
I'm stuck on how this would even work. what kind of tax? on what? they would pay a taxk on federal funding? or give the feds a portion of state funding? What does that even mean? They would force schools to spend more budget funds on property and sales tax? that makes no sense. obviously.
Also too: "The power to tax is the power to destroy" - McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).
Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s fundamentalist revenge for the original motive behind the formation of the religious right - anger at Carter’s administration for lifting the tax-exempt status of whites-only religious schools.
Establishment media still won’t say fascism because that would be partisan and divisive and open up accusations of elitism.
OT: Donuts for Democracy!
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗦𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹
https://killbait.com/en/proud-boys-attempt-to-intimidate-dsa-members-in-north-carolina-but-fail/
"Original title: Terror move backfires as ‘loser’ Proud Boys’ socialist hate collides with love for donuts"
"Nazi Fail" (the shorter version)
Better: "Nazis Fail Again"
I concede.
"DSA members countered by highlighting the group’s focus on free food from a snack table, joking that their interest in donuts might reflect an affinity for socialism."
Soooooooooo-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, pig!
So which donut flavors are more socialist and which ones are more capitalist?
Socialist-crullers
Capitalist - plain old fashioned
There shouldn’t be any such thing as utilities owned by shareholders. Make them government entities, or non-profit membership corporations like in most of rural America.
Notice how so much of Kansas is public power, despite how so many people there vote Republican.
That’s different because it’s freedom energy. With Patriot generators.
But that’s communism and it means George Washington died on the cross for nothing. ON NINE ELEVEN.
Most Americans stopped giving a tin-plated fuck about 9/11 almost immediately.
All of two years later I heard a Sears commercial say “sale ends September 11.”
Most Americans were asleep when it happened.
Almost all Americans did NOT know anyone immediately affected by the attacks.
Puts “I’ll call tomorrow” / “No, you’ll call today” in a whole different light.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4rqZZgVxnCk
The endless “tributes” at the time smelled performative to me.
Public school systems are no more than prisons for little people.
Yep. The decades-long wingnut war on public education appears to be over. The bad guys won.
It's still very possible to get an excellent education in the public schools. My kids and their peers did. It does require that the parents take the lead role, and the schools supplement.
I don't think that's a new thing either.
It's also key to remember what, exactly, the public schools teach (and don't teach). We taught our kids to read, write, do simple math, and begin to think critically before they ever started school. The schools taught them a basic general curriculum, standards of how to find and use information, and then quite a lot about class, race, and how to deal with dysfunctional hierarchical authority systems.
That comes in incredibly handy, for a kid who has been prepared to learn it.
Newsom keeps "reaching out to Republican voters." It will not win him one extra Republican vote. And it is losing him his Democratic votes. Slick move, Ex-Lax.
He may be figuring that the Republicans will nominate an outright loon. But if history follows, the GOP voters he thinks he is reaching out to will either vote for the loon or stay home.
That's the difference between a "politician" versus someone like Mamdani or El-Sayed - you see them reaching out in "bipartisan" terms just by treating everyone with kindness and respect. Funny how people are responding so well to the latter.
I can hear my father's voice now: "You modern kids are so spoiled. Why, I had to walk 10 miles, barefoot, through 3 feet of snow to get to school, uphill both ways, carrying my little brother on my back."
His adult grandchildren still laugh about that story, especially as the distance got longer and the snow got deeper every time he told it. I wonder what he would say about AC in schools.
uphill both ways!
I used to collect large 16" radio transcriptions - discs used at radio stations or for special purposes that need a long audio program, like an exhibit.
I found some used in an electrical exhibit at the Century of Progress in 1933. One was an automated tour of a "classroom of the future" that talked about climate control and air conditioning for schools, among other things. My favorite part were the UV lamps in every classroom, shining down on students all day, every day, to give them the health benefits of the sun.
lol
And he was THANKFUL, goddammit!
Luxury! Why, we was lucky if we only had to carry one little brother! I crawled through minefields 10 miles with three younger siblings on me back to get to school, where I was beaten mercilessly by demented schoolmasters! And I was happy!
You left out the river filled with alligators that you had to swim across. :-)
There's actually an excellent documentary called "On The Way To School" about children in four different Third World countries that do go to extraordinary lengths to get to school. It's worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZuyj2J79Ts
“whoa shit, whoa fuck, we are so not prepared for this big-ass motherfucker”
I like Ms. Binkowski. She speaks my language.
All of those smarmy administrators denying the overdue environmental upgrades to American public schools do so from spacious, comfortably climate controlled offices.