Home » Open thread 6/13/24

Comments

Open thread 6/13/24 — 39 Comments

  1. We’re 41/2 weeks into a litter of Golden Retrievers. From 12-14 oz to 5-7 lbs. This is when they get to be fun for the next few weeks until they go their new homes.

    Other than the poop.

    The mother is making a pass around the pen looking for poop. Recycling. Yum-Yum. Licking their bottoms to stimulate pooping.

  2. Speaking of motherhood, there’s a lot of speculation about the political effect of today’s Supreme Court decision on access to the abortion pill. It is interesting that both the NY times and WaPo headlines state the court “maintained broad access to pill”. Democrats will of course still try to use the issue and will lie about it. But it does give Republicans some talking points.

  3. Puppies are so adorable. I adopted a 16 week old lab puppy, many, many years ago. She was adorable beyond belief. I will never have a puppy again.

    I know it was less than two months to housebreak her, but it was the longest two months of my life. I took her out to do her business every four hours. I learned a lot about snails back then. My apartment complex had a lot of snails. At 10 pm, they were heading one way across the sidewalk. When I went out at 2, they were just milling around. Eight hours later, they were heading back home. When one got squished, the rest would indulge in a canibbalistic feeding frenzy. But that whole period was exhausting.

    I took her to puppy classes for two months. She was a sweet dog, but not all her brain cells were firing. She was Miss Participation Ribbon. It was exhausting to do the puppy classes and the homework.

    I loved her so much. She passed away about five years ago at age 13. The Oatmeal hit the nail on the head in one of his cartoons: How to Be a Dog. “Step 1. Make someone love you. Step 2: Spend your whole life finding creative ways to kill yourself.” I spent so much money on the emergency vet: She crushed and sucked out the wet food from so many cans, too often. She ate two pound of Hershey’s kisses. (Which had the vet laughing at the sparkly emesis.) She ate moldy bread.

    I have two dogs now. Not labs. They aren’t as food motivated so it is hard to bribe them with things. My lab would’ve sold me for a treat. One of my current dogs acts like we are trying to poison her any time we give her food. Even her normal breakfast and dinner. She takes a piece of kibble out her bowl and examines it. Tries it out. And if it passes, she will start eating. She is a larger dog, getting older, and is starting to need a ramp. There is nothing I can bribe her with to get her to use the ramp. Maybe steak…

    The other one is a rescue. We got him when he was about three. He had a rough life before. It’s been three years and he is no longer afraid of feet or shoes. He sticks to me like glue. He’s now a happy dog, loves car rides. Loves one of the vet techs. Loves the groomer but hates getting groomed.

  4. The SC issued a few rulings. One deals with the abortion drug. The court was 9-0 , but was a procedural issue. Of course the MSM headlines are all about the drug still being available, not the standing issue.

    “Skinny: While consequential, this is again a procedural ruling. (It doesn’t have anything to do with whether one thinks the drug — or abortion, in general — is good or bad.) The court notes that it’s possible someone else might have standing to challenge the FDA’s relaxed regulation of the drug, but the plaintiffs here cannot show that they suffer any injury from the FDA’s actions (they’re not required to use or prescribe the drug), and so they cannot properly challenge those actions. ”

    https://redstate.com/smoosieq/2024/06/13/the-skinny-on-scotus-n2175428

    I wonder what the long term health impacts are related to having multiple abortions either by procedure or drugs. It can’t be healthy in the long run.

  5. @Liz:I wonder what the long term health impacts are related to having multiple abortions either by procedure or drugs.

    I am not a fan of legal abortion, but in fairness I’d note that multiple pregnancies also have long term health impacts. That doesn’t make multiple pregnancies bad.

    That said, there are so many alternatives that are neither abortion nor pregnancy. And some of them have some long term health impacts too. There’s long term health impacts from small choices we make every day that add up over time.

    All to say that I don’t think it’s good tactics for me to base opposition to legal abortion on long term health impacts, because then when someone shows the current or new methods don’t have them then where am I? I think my opposition is better based on the moral wrongness.

    People are always trying to cast moral issues as scientific issues, that’s what we do nowadays; the problem is science changes but morality doesn’t.

  6. Michael Ramirez said ‘I am still the same constitutional conservative, free-market capitalist I have always been.’ His views certainly reflect at least one-wing of the Republican Party, and this is apparently what a lot of them SEE.

  7. “I don’t think it’s good tactics for me to base opposition to legal abortion on long term health impacts”

    No, but it might persuade a few women to forgo abortion. Another persuasion is seeing the ultrasound of the baby.

    The main objection to abortion is the long term health impacts on the baby.

  8. ‘I am still the same constitutional conservative, free-market capitalist I have always been.’

    When someone sees a country practicing “free-market capitalism” let me know.

  9. As expected, it did not take long for Biden to try to spin the abortion issue. Here is his statement

    “Today’s decision does not change the fact that the fight for reproductive freedom continues. It does not change the fact that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, and women lost a fundamental freedom. It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,”

  10. Here is someone to think about: his family’s power, his criminal actions, but most importantly his fifty years as one of the most important designers of our education system. Read to the bottom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers

    Here is another important player in this drama–also located in Chicago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Federation_of_Teachers

    Looking at the entire Chicago education milieu we can see and understand more clearly what has happened to our children and our public education system.

  11. Have we not figured out they want to erase and replace the population with serfs

  12. Brian E – the unknown long term impact of birth control, abortions, etc was my point. And, if known, the impacts are not widely discussed.

    We do know that having too many children can impact health of the woman in some countries, especially if the woman is still working in the fields, has poor health, can’t breast feed her children, and so on. I saw a great educational tool for talking about family planning – a corn field planted too close together results in poor quality. Add some spacing and the crop is healthier. True with plants and true with children.

    We know that birth control can cause health issues, such as blood clots. I had a clot in my shoulder and got that question a lot.

    Abortions – how many can you have before the womb is messed up? I don’t know, but it was not an issue for me.

    Chemical abortions – again, how many can you have before it really messes up your system? I haven’t seen any reports, but… you have to wonder with the reports of impacts on health.

    We are reading reports on the impact of vaccines, puberty drugs, weight loss drugs on health, so questioning the impact of abortions and drug induced abortions should be questioned.

    Re moral issue – if a woman has no qualms about having abortions then perhaps talking about their future health issues may be the only way to sway their opinion.

    But, if their health is impacted by these drugs, then they would have “standing” against the doctors, drug companies, and so on.

  13. RE: Private UFO crash retrieval operations?–

    There have been recent allegations detailing how the U.S. government goes about UFO crash retrievals which, it is alleged, are ordered by an obscure CIA unit called the Office of Global Access, which uses all of the surveillance tools at the government’s disposal to pinpoint crash sites, then passes retrieval orders on to the DOD’s JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) which tasks various special operations units—the Army’s Delta Force, the Navy’s Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), the Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron, or the Army’s Intelligence Support Activity–to carry out these retrieval operations. Alternatively, the Office of Global Access sometimes orders retrievals to be carried out by private military contractors.*

    Surprisingly, in a recent interview, Dr. Garry Nolan alluded to the fact that some private organizations may be organizing their own crash retrieval teams, so as to get to these UFO crash sites before the government teams, and retrieve their own crash material, as Dr. Nolan said that he hoped that there would not be any firefights (if these two rival retrieval groups clashed).**

    See https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-cia-has-retrieved-at-least-nine-ufos-from-crasb-sites-worldwide/ar-AA1kGhcE

    See also https://www.businessinsider.com/jsoc-special-mission-units-delta-devgru-24th-sts-and-isa-2022-2?op=1

    ** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HAY_MUYcrI&t=0s

  14. OK – open thread, cute dogs in vid. I’m gonna tell you a funny about my two best dogs, Sam and Ollie.

    Ollie was a black lab, ninety or so pounds, very sweet and learn it on the third try intelligent. Sam was a Dober/Samoyed, same weight, friendly warrior kind of dog who was brilliant and understood English better than any other dog I’d known. Both of them were incredibly strong dogs, Sam like a sled dog and Ollie with jaws he could shred 2×4 ends like ham bones with. At the farm, Ollie was the home back up and Sam was the perimeter patrol guy.

    Spouse taught both of them that dillers bad (armadillos) and totally unwelcome as they plowed up gardens in one night. Sam would chase them off, Ollie would walk up and bite them across the spine like a staple puller and remove a chunk, killing them. Rather creepy to find the remains.

    Sam also ran off gophers and skunks. Thankfully, not Ollie as he was not the brightest. To whit:

    One night we were in the house and heard Sam ruffing at something under our captain’s porch. We figured a skunk.

    Ollie got curious and walked to the open door to listen. Half a minute later he “Woof!” pretty loudly which was followed by a “pufffffft!” from outside.

    In a bit Sam came in, stopped and gave Ollie a disdainful look that should have dropped him dead. It simply broadcast “You imbicile.” Ollie understood, left the room and spent the rest of the evening avoiding him. At least his eyes.

    Took four large cans of tomato juice to get the smell out inspiring the following Ozark haykoo:

    Heavy perfume finds my nose,
    A tear to my eye of memories past.
    Damn dog’s been messin’ with skunks again.

  15. RE: Private UFO crash retrieval operations

    The first thing which occurs, is, how can private organizations possibly be able to pinpoint crash sites before the government does, when these private organizations presumably don’t have access to anywhere near the level of surveillance capabilities that the government has?

  16. Bob Wilson: “… the court “maintained broad access to pill”. ” Well, at least from the media perspective, then they should not have any problem letting women who are having second thoughts about their chemical abortion having access to that anti-abortion pill as well, right?

    Lee Also: “My lab would’ve sold me for a treat.” LOL! Our lab passed at only 9 years old, but I did wonder looking into her eyes just what was going on in her brain behind them.

    Miguel: “Have we not figured out they want to erase and replace the population with serfs.” I have always wondered what can be the attraction to be dictator over a bunch of serfs or low ability people? Surely the only real thrill and challenge is having absolute control over your peers (or better) and perceive there is nothing they can do about it.

    NIketas Choniates: “People are always trying to cast moral issues as scientific issues, that’s what we do nowadays; the problem is science changes but morality doesn’t.” The core instinctual elements of our morality do not change, but culture and science impact each other, so the cultural aspects of our morality may well change with scientific advances. E.g., a doctor in the 1800’s would not be immoral in not washing his hands before assisting at a birth, but in today’s world it would be immoral for him not to (in a hospital setting). Not sure about the policeman who assists at an emergency birth by the side of the road, etc.

    Liz, et al. Reference “standing”, I wonder why the standing of the father is so seldom mentioned in these cases and discussions. Clearly many men impregnating a woman “by accident” are not interested in accepting the obligations of rearing a child, but some are. Since 23 of the chromosomes in the embryo/ fetus are not really part of “my body my choice” it seems very fair to ask why the original owner of those chromosomes might have “standing” as well.

  17. Re: Abortion

    liz:

    If I may append to your enumeration questioning abortion…

    Psychological. I might have had an older sibling but for an abortion. My mother never got over the guilt.

  18. Re: Disney’s Star Wars “The Acolyte”

    An avalanche of negative reviews and ratings have swamped “The Acolyte.” It’s amazing, heartwarming.

    Even Forbes’ initial review was withering:

    –“‘The Acolyte’ Episode 3 Review: One Of The Most Disappointing ‘Star Wars’ Episodes Ever Made”
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/06/11/the-acolyte-episode-3-review-the-worst-star-wars-episode-ever-made/

    Forbes is now backpedaling — no doubt in response to Disney pressure — but “The Acolyte” really is that bad.

    Disney isn’t entirely stupid. They’ve been doing proactive damage control for weeks now, always blaming the toxic male fans, never defending Disney’s choices to destroy male heroes so they may be replaced by girlboss Mary Sues with the right alphabet politics.

    It’s not working. I believe we are passing Peak Woke.

  19. Disney itself may be collateral damage. But that’s what they chose.

    I don’t see a way out for Disney. They’ve driven out the old-school creators who could make the Disney Magic happen and replaced them with young alphabet zombies lacking the talents to contribute to mega-million dollar film projects.

    Leslye Headland, the defiantly queer showrunner/writer/director of “The Acolyte,” tells the story of how she hired one writer for her team by asking her if she knew anything about Star Wars:

    –The Acolyte Writer Only Knew Star Wars as ‘Harrison Ford in Space With a Giant Dog’
    https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/acolyte-writer-only-knew-star-110831210.html

    Bang! Headland hired that writer on the spot and loves reciting the story on camera.

    Leslye Headland was Harvey Weinstein’s personal assistant for some time. There is speculation that her ascension from a minor Hollywood functionary to someone helming the $180 million “Acolyte” project might be because she knows where the Weinstein bodies are buried, figuratively speaking, I hope.

  20. So here’s the Critical Drinker on Episode 3:

    –“The Acolyte Episode 3 – I’m Done And So Is Star Wars”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yofjGi6LOVc

    Drinker’s theory is that the Disney woke folks know that the game is over, their efforts to push “Star Wars” and “Doctor Who” into the alphabet agenda have failed and will continue to do so.

    Drinker sees this as pure spite. If the woke can’t have “Star Wars” and “Doctor Who” they will destroy those IPs so no one can.

    That does seem to be working.

  21. Brian E. “When someone sees a country practicing “free-market capitalism” let me know.”
    I am wondering what you might be getting at. Perhaps:
    Government regulations smash the “free”, as in freedom to … compete?
    … Or ?

  22. Bob Wilson: “Didn’t take long for Biden to spin the SCOTUS 9-0 ruling on abortion pill”
    Yes indeed. It’s their MO to keep stoking fear and anger about losing “something or other”, even when they didn’t.
    Riling up the masses for votes, rain or shine. Lying or distorting is not a crime.
    It’s Joe’s forte.

  23. Marlene, government regulations will affect the cost as will taxes, but I was thinking of subsidies– which might show up as artificially low taxes or direct payments to keep goods cheaper.

    We’ve had a philosophy for agriculture to subsidize the cost of production through price supports, direct payments and subsidized insurance. It’s a benefit to us by keeping the price of food stable and affordable.

    Other countries do the same– but the net effect is the cost is distorted from a free market price.

  24. Yes, a previous litter with our other Retriever, had 11 pups with 8 nipples. One pup was malformed and died– after trying to feed with a sponge– so it was 10 pups.

    We divided them into two groups and she fed them separately for the first couple of weeks (they fed about every 2 hours). She wasn’t making enough milk and we supplemented early with goat milk.

    All ended up healthy and normal sized.

    This mom has 10 nipples and 8 pups– a piece of cake, ha ha.

  25. Its the worst one till the next one last one was fire in space this one was burning stone if you take it like mst3k

    The night sisters that arent in name are evil like the Sith, of course if we believe obi wan the jedi had been around for 20,000 years

  26. @Brian E:It’s a benefit to us by keeping the price of food stable and affordable.

    Every producer could say this about what they produce, but we can’t all be subsidized. Other prices of other things have to be higher to pay these subsidies.

    With subsidies I get to pay above market clearing price twice: once when I’m taxed for the subsidy, and once when I pay too much for it.

    We nearly got rid of farm subsidies in the 1990s but Congress (both Houses held by the GOP) brought them roaring back after 9/11.

    Obesity is a major public health problem in this country, maybe it’s past time we rethought this.

  27. Niketas, food is the only product that we can’t live without.

    Living in the byproduct of Grand Coulee Dam– the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project, where 1/2 million acres is irrigated by a network of canals from the Dam, I have seen both sides of the issue.

    Any central planning produces inefficiencies. I remember in the late 80’s the government had a set aside program– so farmers put marginal land in production for 1 year to qualify– and then were paid to not grow crops on land that wouldn’t for the most part been planted.

    Then I’ve seen bankruptcies as prices dropped below the cost of harvesting.

    I think we got rid of the worst of the maladministration. I haven’t been involved for years, so I don’t know the current programs.

    Obesity is from processed foods and yes, we need to stifle the corn mafia.

    But my point is Ricardo is a nostalgic theory that needs to be put to rest. I can’t believe I’ve abandoned the “Free Trade” chimera for the “Fair Trade” Bernie Sanders slogan.

    The economy is too intertwined to abandon government– so the best we can hope for is to minimize the worst impulses to control everything.

  28. In so far as other countries practice mercantilism we cant be disarmed

    Bernie is a whole nother class of knavery

  29. I first heard Bernie Sanders use the “Fair Trade, not Free Trade” slogan when he was running for President. I hadn’t heard it before.

  30. The Columbia Basin Project is not the byproduct of the Grand Coulee Dam. It was the main purpose. Electricity production only became important because of WW2. Only about half the land for the available water is in production. The system is supposed to be much larger.

    Wikipedia
    “ After thirteen years of debate, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the dam project with National Industrial Recovery Act money. (It was later specifically authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935, and then reauthorized by the Columbia Basin Project Act of 1943 which put it under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939.)[3] Construction of Grand Coulee Dam began in 1933 and was completed in 1942. Its main purpose of pumping water for irrigation was postponed during World War II in favor of electrical power generation that was used for the war effort.”

  31. Obesity because of cheap food, could be, or maybe everybody getting zombified by that hand held addiction device and the abandonment of physical activity?

  32. om, they didn’t need to build a dam the size of Grand Coulee if it’s only purpose was the reclamation project. The water is lifted 500 feet to what is now called Banks Lake.
    By the way, the first land irrigated by the project was not by gravity, but by a pumping plant northwest of Pasco that pumped water from the Columbia River to the Pasco Pump Unit. It was started in 1946 and by May 15, 1948 water was delivered to the farms.

  33. It was a government works project from the New Dealers, IIRC they had done big dams hydropower back east. The immediate beneficiary of the hydropower from Grand Coulee Dam was the Manhattan Project. Making plutonium takes a lot of electricity.

    In total eight of the nine plutonium production reactors did not produce any electricity, it came from hydroelectric power. That electricity also powered aluminum smelters in the Northwest. More significant economically than irrigated agriculture IMO.

  34. “According to the federal Bureau of Reclamation the yearly value of the Columbia Basin Project is $630 million in irrigated crops, $950 million in power production, $20 million in flood damage prevention, and $50 million in recreation. The project itself involves costs that are difficult to determine.”

    Doesn’t one of the reactors at Hanford make and sell electricity?

    My wife and I spent last summer following the Mullan Road. It went from Ft. Benton, Montana to Ft. Walla Walla (original location). It was authorized by Congress as a military road– though it was never used for that purpose. It was a wagon road built around 1860 that opened up Washington to settlers and miners. 20,000 settlers used the road the first year. It was a main route until the railroad came through in the 1870’s.
    Ft. Benton was the uppermost port that could be reached by steamships on the Missouri River.

    Not unique that a project was authorized for one purpose– with the ultimate goal another

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>