Pariah

So I started fighting off my annual November head cold a couple of days ago. Lady P was concerned, so we all went and got tested this morning. She and the kids came back negative. I came back positive.
 
It's the weirdest thing. I haven't had any of the so-called typical covid symptoms. My smell and taste are just fine, I haven't had a fever, etc. It has just felt like a bad cold. But the test came back positive all the same.
 
I did receive the vaccine in January and February. That's the soonest it was available in my area, and because I'm a public school teacher over 50 I was on the high priority list. I assume, or maybe I'm just hoping, that's why my symptoms have been comparatively mild.
 
So I'm in quarantine for the next 10 days, and unfortunately my family is too. I hate that my wife and my kids are all missing school next week because of me. I confess, I'm not thrilled with the idea of missing a week of school myself, but I'll figure it out. I swear, being a teacher is the only profession where it's harder to stay home than to actually go into work.
 
Wish us luck, everybody!

Suicide doors? Whitewall tires? Rear wheel well covers? Sweet!

Suicide doors? Whitewall tires? Rear wheel well covers? Sweet!

Suicide doors? Whitewall tires? Rear wheel well covers? Sweet!

Suicide doors? Whitewall tires? Rear wheel well covers? Sweet!

Antimatter is best but requires special handling that it won't get in that event.  I suppose we replace a few logs with magnesium beams, and hose the whole bonfire down with a few dozen liters of liquid oxygen right before lighting it.  That last should be done from a few dozen meters away.  Maybe the flaming arrow trick they used for the opening of the 1992 Olympics.

Someone stole my dictionary.
I have no words.
 
 
I just replaced my cat's litter sand with pop rocks. Now, we wait.
 
 

My daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago
Back in the U.S.A. back in the bad old days   In the heat of a summer night
In the land of the dollar bill
When the town of Chicago died
And they talk about it still
When a man named Al Capone
Tried to make that town his own
And he called his gang to war
With the forces of the law   I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!
I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!   And the sound of the battle rang
Through the streets of the old east side
'Til the last of the hoodlum gang
Had surrendered up or died
There was shouting in the street
And the sound of running feet
And I asked someone who said
"'Bout a hundred cops are dead!"   I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!
I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!   And ther was no sound at all
But the clock upon the wall
Then the door burst open wide
And my daddy stepped inside
And he kissed my mama's face
And he brushed her tears away   The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!   The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!   The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

I got fired from my job because I kept asking my customers whether they would prefer "Smoking" or "Non-smoking".

Apparently the correct terms are "Cremation" and "Burial".

Good Twitter comment:  
 
 
And why pick one when all three fit?

Good. 
 
Bradley Aldrich's name removed from Stanley Cup at Blackhawks owner's request following sexual abuse scandal
 
Having one's name on the Stanley Cup is a singular honor in the sport. I'm happy to know that his won't be on there any longer.

Good. 
 
Bradley Aldrich's name removed from Stanley Cup at Blackhawks owner's request following sexual abuse scandal
 
Having one's name on the Stanley Cup is a singular honor in the sport. I'm happy to know that his won't be on there any longer.

My friend Phillip did that, too!

Basic science fact: one guacamole is equal to 6.0221415x10^23 guacas.  This is known as Avocado's Number.

Q: What's the difference between a Jack-o'-lantern and Donald Trump?
 
 

I think the problem people have with the Eternals fitting in isn't so much tone and style as the fact that it takes place on earth, but has no interaction with any other Marvel characters or history.  Its just a separate story with them fighting Bad Guys Who Have Always Been With Us but had no interaction or appearance with the MCU at all, in ways that have nothing to do with any other MCU film, etc.  Its like doing a series of stories about the French and Indian wars in the USA then doing a big story about big groups who just happen to be there at the same time but never showed up before and have nothing to do with Indians, Frenchmen, or the British troops.
 
The Guardians of the Galaxy honestly don't fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe except very tangentially with a few small appearances in the last two Avengers movies.  They're almost entirely disconnected when not stitched into the Big Story. 

The lesson to be learned here, I think, is that Perfect is the enemy of Good. 
 
Yes, Democrats, you have the White House. You have a small majority in the House. You have the tiebreaker in the Senate. That's hardly a mandate.
 
As Dean was saying above, focus on things A} that are accomplishable and B} that are going to matter to the voters. Baby steps. For example: Green New Deal? Unlikely. Incremental steps toward cleaning up the Earth and reversing (to whatever extent possible) climate change? Desirable, attainable goals that even clear-thinking Republicans will support. 
 
You won't be able to do everything you want, everything you think is important. But do something. Give the voters a reason to vote for you. "I'm not Donald Trump" isn't enough, just like "I'm not George W. Bush" wasn't good enough in 2004 and "I'm not Barack Obama" wasn't good enough for Republicans in 2012. 
 
I'm old enough to remember Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show. When he was done, Hall quipped something like, "Finally a Democrat who can blow something other than an election!" Let's not make that an isolated incident, please. The future is too precarious to trust to the GOP right now.

The lesson to be learned here, I think, is that Perfect is the enemy of Good. 
 
Yes, Democrats, you have the White House. You have a small majority in the House. You have the tiebreaker in the Senate. That's hardly a mandate.
 
As Dean was saying above, focus on things A} that are accomplishable and B} that are going to matter to the voters. Baby steps. For example: Green New Deal? Unlikely. Incremental steps toward cleaning up the Earth and reversing (to whatever extent possible) climate change? Desirable, attainable goals that even clear-thinking Republicans will support. 
 
You won't be able to do everything you want, everything you think is important. But do something. Give the voters a reason to vote for you. "I'm not Donald Trump" isn't enough, just like "I'm not George W. Bush" wasn't good enough in 2004 and "I'm not Barack Obama" wasn't good enough for Republicans in 2012. 
 
I'm old enough to remember Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show. When he was done, Hall quipped something like, "Finally a Democrat who can blow something other than an election!" Let's not make that an isolated incident, please. The future is too precarious to trust to the GOP right now.

The lesson to be learned here, I think, is that Perfect is the enemy of Good. 
 
Yes, Democrats, you have the White House. You have a small majority in the House. You have the tiebreaker in the Senate. That's hardly a mandate.
 
As Dean was saying above, focus on things A} that are accomplishable and B} that are going to matter to the voters. Baby steps. For example: Green New Deal? Unlikely. Incremental steps toward cleaning up the Earth and reversing (to whatever extent possible) climate change? Desirable, attainable goals that even clear-thinking Republicans will support. 
 
You won't be able to do everything you want, everything you think is important. But do something. Give the voters a reason to vote for you. "I'm not Donald Trump" isn't enough, just like "I'm not George W. Bush" wasn't good enough in 2004 and "I'm not Barack Obama" wasn't good enough for Republicans in 2012. 
 
I'm old enough to remember Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show. When he was done, Hall quipped something like, "Finally a Democrat who can blow something other than an election!" Let's not make that an isolated incident, please. The future is too precarious to trust to the GOP right now.

Well, I've thought Democrats were -- again -- snatching defeat from the jaws of victory ever since House Democrats decided to make passing the "hard" infrastructure bill contingent on passing the social spending bill. As pundit David Brooks said, the infrastructure bill was a trillion-dollar aid package and love letter to the working class -- a class that Dems spent decades alienating as the party became more college-educated, accredited, and wokishly obsessed with cultural reform instead of jobs.
 
I am told the strategy was that Joe Manchin would hold his nose and vote for the full Progressive agenda, rather than see the bill he helped negotiate and pass go nowhere?
 
But that seems like a flipping stupid strategy. When your majority is so razor-thin, the chief concern should be increasing it in the next election. I think the way to do that is to keep showing voters that Dems can deliver what the voters want. So, pass something practical -- anything -- every few months. Start off with the infrastructure bill. If Republicans want to take credit, let them. Biden's the President, he's the one people will associate with the bill and the results. Move on to other programs with overwhelming public support, such as the child tax credit program that was putting money in millions of parents' pockets through the pandemic. Even a mojority of Republicans liked that. Pay for it with an inheritance tax on trust funds. If Republicans shoot it down, the attack ads write themselves -- "Republicans care more about the children of their billionaire donors than about YOUR children!" Funding for Historically Black Colleges & Universities is another potential easy pass: Even Trump backed that, in an attempt to curry favor with Black voters.
 
First try to pass such bills by standard means. If a few Republicans want to be seen assisting practical legislation, that's good for everyone. If they stand firm and block it, everyone knows who's responsible, and Dems can move on to budget reconciliation or other tactics.
 
It's also worth remembering that while solid majorities support many individual progressive policies, that doesn't mean a solid majority supports the full progressive package. So the strategy for progressives should be to seek small and narrow victories instead of some big, utopian vision. Yes, that means abandoning climate change legislation... for now. Manchin makes it impossib le... for now. But if voters see Dems passing bills that improve their lives, they might be more inclined to vote Democrat in 2022 -- perhaps enough to increase their Senate seats, so they no longer need to placate Manchin.
 
Dean Shomshak