Welcome to Sunday, July 28, 2024, and National Milk Chocolate Day. Cadbury’s used to be my favorite when I was younger, but I haven’t had it for years. Here’s how it’s made:
It’s also National Soccer Day, National Hamburger Day, Parents’ Day, Fiestas Patrias, celebrating the independence of Peru from Spain by General José de San Martín in 1821. Ólavsøka Eve in the Faroe Islands, and World Hepatitis Day, which I’ve celebrated by getting two out my three Hep-B shots for Africa (the third is in four months when I’ll be back, but I’ll have acquired a lot of immunity with the first two shots.
There’s another Google Doodle today (I guess there’s going to be a daily one during the Olympics., each honoring a different sport); click to see where it goes:
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the July 28 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*The advice for Kamala Harris is already coming thick and fast from the NYT, leaving aside the misguided encomiums like Lydia Polgreen’s “I was a Kamala skeptic. Here’s how I got coconut-pilled.” (???) More sensible words come from Harvard political-science professor Michael J. Sandel in a NYT op-ed called “How Kamala Harris can win.” It’s pretty obvious:
Over the past week, Ms. Harris has been campaigning on protecting democracy, the rule of law and reproductive freedom from another four years of Donald Trump. As a forceful defender of abortion rights and a former prosecutor, she is ideally equipped to make these issues the centerpiece of her campaign. She relishes reminding voters of Mr. Trump’s status as a felon. “I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” she declared in her first campaign rally, at a gym in Milwaukee on Tuesday. “So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Let’s stop here for a second. The Supreme Court has said that abortion rights devolve to the state level. Although I agree with Harris that Roe should be the law of the land, even if Harris is elected how can she make Roe the law of the entire country? It would require, I think, a constitutional amendment, and that isn’t going to happen. So making her “platform” the spread of abortion rights doesn’t seem sensible. But on with the Harvard professor:
But standing up to Mr. Trump and defending reproductive rights is not enough. To defeat him, Ms. Harris needs to address the legitimate grievances he exploits — the sense among many Americans, especially those without a college degree, that their voices aren’t heard, that their work isn’t respected and that elites look down on them. She needs a message that reconnects the Democratic Party with the working-class voters it has alienated in recent decades. Delivering this message may not come naturally to her as a former senator from California, and Mr. Trump has wasted no time attempting to brand her a “radical-left lunatic.” But if she wants to shape a progressive politics that can wrest the future from the MAGA movement, then she has to try. It could be the difference between victory and defeat this November.
. . .To begin addressing the anger and polarization gripping this country, Democrats need to recall what brought us to this volatile historical moment: An overwhelming majority of Americans — some 85 percent — believe that their leaders don’t care what they think and that they lack a meaningful say in shaping the forces that govern their lives.
This sense of disempowerment underlies the Republicans’ most potent issues in this campaign: inflation and immigration.
If Ms. Harris continues to repeat economic facts without acknowledging most voters’ feelings, she will fail to address the mood of discontent that has her running just behind Mr. Trump in the polls. Low unemployment, robust job growth, rising wages — by the usual metrics, the economy has been a success during the Biden years. And yet inflation looms so large for voters that most disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy. Why? Because inflation is not merely about the price of eggs. Many voters experience it as an assault on their agency, a daily marker of their powerlessness: No matter how hard I work or how much I make, I can’t get ahead or even keep up.
And why was the surge in illegal border crossings so troubling, even for voters who live far from the southern border? Not because they believe Mr. Trump’s florid demagogy about criminals, rapists and residents of mental hospitals pouring in but because they see a country unable to control its borders as a country unable to control its destiny — and as a country that treats strangers better than some of its citizens.
To me this seems exactly right. The problem is that these stands are not characteristic of the Democrats in general or of Biden in particular, and so Harris would be forced to explain what looks to the electorate like a pandering pivot (and in fact that’s what it will be). Trump on the other hand, has been banging this drum for years, and his choice of Vance was made explicitly to that end. Vance can’t be accused of a sudden volte-face to pander to the electorate, but Harris would certainly be hammered by the Democrats for hypocrisy of she suddenly became the Candidate of the Middle Class and Poor.
*A new Wall Street Journal poll shows that Harris has effectively erased Trump’s lead, so that the candidates are tied as of now:
The presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is essentially tied, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll that shows heightened support for her among nonwhite voters and dramatically increased enthusiasm about the campaign among Democrats.
The former president leads the current vice president 49% to 47% in a two-person matchup, but that is within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Trump held a six-point lead earlier this month over President Biden before he exited the race and backed Harris.
On a ballot test that included Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other independent and third-party candidates, Harris receives 45% and Trump gets 44%. Kennedy is backed by just 4% and 5% remain undecided. Biden trailed in the multicandidate contest by six points in the last poll.
Harris has made strides in reassembling the coalition that put Biden in the White House in 2020, one that had been fraying under the stress of unease about his physical and mental sharpness. Black, Latino and young voters all showed greater support for her than they did for Biden in a Journal survey taken in the days after his disastrous debate performance on June 27.
A reshuffling of the demographic mix of Democratic support could alter the states where Harris might be competitive against Trump, a Republican running for a third time. Greater backing among nonwhite voters could help her in the more racially and ethnically diverse battleground states—Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina—where Biden was struggling.
Harris is supported by 63% of nonwhite voters in the two-way race, up from the 51% Biden had in the last WSJ poll. While an improvement for Harris, her support is still below the 73% of nonwhite voters who, according to exit polls, backed Biden in 2020 when he narrowly won the White House.
The vice president is drawing a larger share of young voters, those under age 30, than Biden was earlier this month. But she still has less support among them than he did in his narrow 2020 victory.
These were the data as of yesterday afternoon:
This could be a temporary bounce or it could reflect a permanent change, with the race remaining too close to call right up to finish line. All we can do is wait and see.
*The Olympics have started with a stupendous opening ceremony on the Seine, even in the rain, including Snoop Dogg carrying the Olympic flame—which happens what looks like a huge blunt (see last tweet below)—and, to Matthew’s annoyance, an Olympic flame that isn’t even a flame!
I dunno, it’s all very impressive but it feels like a swizz. Turns out the flame isn’t a flame, just a load of fine water vapour with lights underneath it. It isn’t even hot… https://t.co/FM7nAjGQYX
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) July 27, 2024
The main Olympic results from CNN:
- The first full day of competition at the Paris Olympics saw Team USA secure its first gold medal of the 2024 Games, winning the men’s swimming 4x100m freestyle relay.
- Also in the pool, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus bested US legend Katie Ledecky to win gold in a closely-watched women’s 400-meter freestyle final. Australia continued its swimming dominance by setting an Olympic record in the women’s relay.
- Elsewhere, China took home the Games’ first gold in shooting, while host country France won gold in rugby sevens and won 20-year-old phenom Victor Wembanyama’s Olympic basketball debut.
- Generation-spanning Spanish tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz made their debut as an Olympics-only doubles pairing — and they did not disappoint.
- Outside of competition, dreary weather remained a factor, with rain postponing some events. The impacts of a “coordinated sabotage” on France’s high-speed train lines could also still be felt by travelers at the Games.
I was rooting for Ledecky, who had won 11 Olympic medals, seven of which were gold (I’m not sure the bronze from yesterday is in that total). And of course all eyes are on Simone Biles, who staged a remarkable recovery after pulling out of the last Olympics, and now seems to be in excellent form.
*Speaking of the Olympics, the AP has two more stories of interest:
First, an Aussie field-hockey player had part of his finger amputated so he could compete in the games. As far as I know, this is a precedent:
Olympians come in all shapes and sizes. Rarely do they come deliberately amputated.
Australia field hockey player Matthew Dawson took his determination to compete in the Paris Olympics to another level by amputating part of a finger to ensure he’s able to take part.
The 30-year-old Dawson severely injured the ring finger on his right hand two weeks ago in practice. Surgery would have required months of recovery time, jeopardizing his likelihood of being ready for the Olympics.
Captain Aran Zalewski said teammates were shocked. Dawson’s wife warned against making any “rash choice.” Despite that, Dawson told 7News in Australia he made “an informed decision.”
Considering himself “very fortunate that it’s just a little bit of my finger,” Dawson views this sacrifice as part of the commitment required to pursue his “Olympic dream” — much like the years of practice and tough personal decisions that define an athlete’s life.
Second, Canada, of all countries, has been penalized in Olympic women’s soccer for spying on an opposing team using drones!
FIFA deducted six points from Canada in the Paris Olympics women’s soccer tournament and banned three coaches for one year each on Saturday in a drone-spying scandal.
The stunning swath of punishments include a 200,000 Swiss francs ($226,000) fine for the Canadian soccer federation in a case that has spiraled at the Summer Games. Two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on opponent New Zealand’s practices before their opening game last Wednesday.
Head coach Bev Priestman, who led Canada to the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021, already was suspended by the national soccer federation then removed from the Olympic tournament.
Priestman and her two assistants implicated in the case, Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, are now banned from all soccer for one year.
FIFA fast-tracked its own disciplinary process by asking its appeals judges to handle the case.
As head of state, I think Justin Trudeau holds the ultimate responsibility for this reprehensible and unsportswomanlike conduct, and should be forced to resign.
*According to The Jerusalem Post, a rocket struck an Israeli soccer field in the northern part of the country, killing 12 people—including children and teenagers (all the dead were 20 or younger). At least 30 were wounded. It was a Druze town, which means the inhbitants were Arab Israelis. That could account for the terrorists retracting their responsibility (see below).
Following a direct hit in the area of Majdal Shams, a Druze village, on Saturday evening,
nine[now 12] were killed, among them children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 20. Dozens were wounded to varying degrees and were transported to hospitals by Magen David Adom teams and IDF helicopters, Magen David Adom said in a statement.The rocket hit a soccer field near a playground.
According to an IDF situational assessment and IDF intelligence, the rocket launch toward Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the IDF reported.
A senior official from Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, Mohammad Afif, told Reuters on Saturday that the group was not responsible for the strike.
Upon arrival at the scene, senior MDA medic Idan Avshalom stated, “We arrived at the soccer field and saw destruction and items on fire. Victims were lying on the grass, and the scenes were difficult. We immediately began triaging the injured. Some of the injured were taken to local clinics, and our teams were directed to those clinics as well. During the incident, there were additional alerts, and medical treatment for the injured is still ongoing.”
. . . The residents of several localities in Northern Galilee were told to stay near shelters, including in Nimrod, Neve Ativ, Odem, El-Rom, Merom Golan, Ein Zivan, Ortal, Sha’al, Qela Alon, and Ramat Trump Heights, according to military guidelines, following several barrages of rockets. Additionally, Wast Junction and Brown Junction in the area are closed to vehicle traffic.
In the most recent barrage of rockets since the hit in Majdal Shams, 100 rockets were reportedly fired, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network.
Earlier, a barrage of rockets was fired Saturday evening toward Neve Ativ at 5:55 p.m., which included approximately 10 projectiles from Lebanon, the IDF reported. All projectiles fell in open areas and there were no injuries reported.
This is a huge deal, not only because it was children who were killed, but because rockets have come from Lebanon ever since October 7, and up to now Israel has retaliated by simply trying to take out the missile sites. Only one or two people have been killed since the Iron Dome has taken down the missiles (Israel doesn’t ever fire at Lebanon first.)
Now we have a larger death toll, and Malgorzata says that “Israel must do something bigger now.” As the Times of Israel reports:
An Israeli security source is quoted by Sky News Arabic as saying Israel will respond forcefully to the deadly Hezbollah rocket strike on Majdal Shams, “but we don’t intend to spark a war.”
Although Hamas has a presence—and weapons—in Lebanon, it’s fairly certain that the rockets came from Hezbollah. First, there’s this:
Iran-backed Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the deadly attack, but the IDF and US intelligence have stated that the terror group fired the deadly projectile.
And then an admission of responsibility, followed quickly by a denial of responsibility—probably when the terrorists learned they had actually killed Arabs. “The Islamic Resistance” is a slogan used by Hezbollah.
Admission and then sudden denial, both reported by a Lebanese site sympathetic to Iran:
Here is the tweet from the same media just after 1.5 hours after they claimed responsibility with the full denial of the eventhttps://t.co/IkuPApP1Ak pic.twitter.com/WPziaUXnGE
— Michael Elgort (@just_whatever) July 27, 2024
I remember when Biden said last year that the U.S. would prevent any other country from taking advantage of Hamas’s attack on Israel, but so far he’s done absolutely nothing about these repeated war crimes (forbidden by a binding UN Security Council resolution) from Hezbollah. But now his administration says this:
The Biden administration is concerned that today’s deadly Hezbollah strike could spark an all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group, an administration official tells Axios.
“What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months,” says the official.
What it’s really saying seems to be this, “Hey Israel: don’t do anything except fire a few rockets back as per usual. If there’s a big war now, it’ll be Israel’s fault.” Maybe if Biden had kept his word and gone after Hezbollah months ago with sanctions or threats, Israel wouldn’t be facing this now.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the cats are trekking:
Hili: We are going east.Szaron: What do you mean, east?Hili: East from the western hedge.
In Polish:
Hili: Idziemy na wschód.Szaron: Na na jaki wschód?Hili: Na wschód od zachodniego żywopłotu.
And here is Jango, reader Divy’s tabby, who has a beautiful ticked coat:
*******************
From Philip Anderson in The Absurd Sign Project Censored 2. This must have been a Hispanic driver:
From Cat Memes:
From Dotty Jo Van Pelt at Strange, Stupid, or Silly Signs:
From Masih: another Iranian woman arrested, this time for filming the morality police harassing her for not wearing hijab. And if you read the long tweet, the woman was forced to “confess” and to repudiate Masih, who of course is now living undercover. On the right, she must have cut off her hair in protest.
The government in Iran arrested her for filming the morality police and resisting the forced hijab. Her name is #SepidehRashnu 30-year-old writer and student. I personally feel for her strongly because the regime also paraded her on state television, forcing her to make a… pic.twitter.com/w8PnckIujs
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) July 26, 2024
From Luana: transwomen go to other countries where they’re allowed to compete against biological women, thereby creating an unfair situation for natal women. Athletic associations are cottoning onto this stuff and starting to put restrictions or bans on transwomen competing in women’s sports:
The girl who would have placed 3rd is a 13 year old skater from Japan.
So she traveled from Japan to Canada and got bumped off podium by a man in his 30s…while countless adults stood by and watched it happen… https://t.co/zG2erSeHSS— Taylor Silverman (@tmsilverman) July 26, 2024
From Malcolm, a fake but funny meme:
Now with the bandage off, it looks like it looks like it was a direct hit. pic.twitter.com/kyZ74npBWC
— PaulleyTicks (@PaulleyTicks) July 22, 2024
I’m a big fan of Larry, the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, and am glad to hear he’s okay (Larry is now a Senior Mouser at 17 years old):
Life in the old cat yet! https://t.co/O8tNsdLUAO
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) July 26, 2024
This is ineffably sad and made me weep, but such is life—and its end:
92 year -year-old big brother says goodbye to his younger brother pic.twitter.com/scMqV4C5Mx
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) July 26, 2024
From the Auschwitz Memorial: one I retweeted:
Seven-year-old French Jewish girl, gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz. https://t.co/rYvxeneULH
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) July 28, 2024
Tweets from Professor Cobb. Here’s a musical family making fun of J. D. Vance to the tune of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”:
Holy Smokes, the Marsh Family has put out this parody song about J.D. Vance and not only is it catchy but it hits the nail on the head…
“Anti Trump a few years ago,
Called him out as a ‘Hitler’ show.
Now you’re playing his sidekick,
Kissing Donald’s ring”I watched it 70… pic.twitter.com/RzyG5EnVsc
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) July 25, 2024
I tweeted something like this and though I was original in noticing it. How stupid to think that I’d be the only one!
Snoop carrying the Olympic torch looks like he was just bestowed with some spaceage joint from the gods. pic.twitter.com/lifV353VMv
— ALLLLRIGHT (@Allllright) July 26, 2024
And a special tweet on Crick’s birthday:
It focuses on his friendship with the Beat poet Michael McClure – something that has never been described before. On the day that Crick died, McClure finished a poem, Moire 2, dedicated to his friend, based on his 1971 poem Moiré, also dedicated to Crick. Here’s a stanza. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/HhP6F49TYV
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) July 28, 2024






+1
What exactly is “unethical” about watching a competitor practice?
Spying like that is generally frowned on, because you get a preview of your opponent’s tactics and plays before you compete against them.
Using drones is too blatant. But football teams do spy on each other, and beyond simple counter-measures like high fences there is little they can do to stop it. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in secret trainings, as tactics have become more important.
But you can always watch game films of an opponent. Of course plenty of that is done now.
It should also be noted it is explicitly against the rules with big punishments. Just ask the Patriots who lost a #1 draft pick due to spying on practices of the Jets in 2007. Michigan’s football team was docked the ability to have Harbaugh on the sidelines for multiple games and faced stiff fines even though the infraction was less conclusive. It is not only looked down upon-there are explicit rules concerning spying on practices in multiple sports.
I was talking about association football. I suspect spying is less profitable in this sport. As late as the turn of the millennium, some prominent coaches were scornful of tactics. (Now every good team has a tactical plan for the upcoming game and knows how to play in a few different formations.) The teams are also only loosely associated with each other and not part of a franchise. Punishing teams is harder when it involves lots of arbitration rather than an order from above based on business logic.
> It would require, I think, a constitutional amendment
No, congress could just pass a law. The court did not say the federal government can’t decide the matter, just that there isn’t a guaranteed constitutional right to an abortion that overrides whatever legislatures decide.
It didn’t say it has to be _state_ legislatures, though obviously if state and federal legislation conflict the courts get to decide how that shakes out… but there is a long history of courts deciding Congress can pre-empt state legislatures on all sorts of stuff.
There was an attempt during Clinton’s presidency to get an abortion rights bill passed. But the supporters of the proposed bill could not agree on allowable amendments. One main disputed issue was whether to allow individual states to have the option of prohibiting abortion by minors without parental consent. The other problem was how to deal with Catholic hospitals. National legislation on an issue like abortion raises a large number of deeply divisive subsidiary questions.
Thanks for the correction. But of course unless both houses of Congress are of the same party as the President, this won’t work.
Congress could just pass a law – assuming the law is within Congress’s enumerated powers.
The only one even arguably applicable is the Commerce Power. Reasonable minds could differ. But I believe Congress could cobble together some sort of Commerce Power rationale such that a federal abortion law would be held to be constitutional.
Well, Biden has a plan, which is probably not his, to deal with the Court. If he or Harris packed the Court with abortion-minded Justices, they could overrule Dobbs, allowing Congress to pass a law on abortion. In theory.
But even with a packed Supreme Court there would have to be a new case to decide, wouldn’t there? The Court wouldn’t/couldn’t review the Dobbs case just because the President told the new justices this was a quid pro quo for their appointments, would it/could it? My understanding that packing the Court is a gambit to prevent it from making future rulings in a direction you don’t like.
Packing the Court would be very useful to prevent the states from prohibiting doctors from mutilating children who are confused about what sex they are, so bring it on! Word is the Alabama case will reach the Court this fall. There’s a window, but it’s closing fast. I guess we’ll see how badly you want abortions in red states.
It is entirely appropriate the Uber-driver Jesus was in an Accord, because we are told in the book of Acts that all the Apostles came together in one Accord.
You now win an appropriate *groan.*
+1
+1
I trust that Trudeau should resign comment was tongue-in-cheek.
As usual I hate to contradict our host but M. Trudeau is our head of government (and resident tyrant, as Leslie M. pointed out recently). Our head of state is Charles, whose representative is the Governor General (currently Mary Simon, who is Inuk eh?).
Um, ‘We like to say unsportspeoplelike”‘ – J. Trudeau.
Regardless, you can count on hearing something like this from Pierre Poilievre in the coming days.
Although the Olympics has a strict rule against athletes promoting any political message at the games, the flag bearer for Palestine, a boxer, wore an embroidered shirt showing bombs falling from fighter jets which were apparently hitting children.
Let’s see if the Olympic Committee acts against this. Then let’s pretend to be surprised when they don’t.
“In an effort to avoid escalation, members of the Israeli Olympic team did not parade into the opening ceremony wearing grey sweatpants stained with blood on the crotch.”
The boxer’s shirt is propaganda, but so is the news article about the shirt and about the boxer and his sad circumstances. It’s really exhausting to remind myself constantly that this news story (and so much other news about the Olympics) is not written and edited and published to inform me, but to tell me what to think. Like the Last Supper on the Seine, it’s about queering our sensibilities.
A friend of mine told me that Catholics were offended by something in the show. I was rather amused. There should be plenty of safe spaces that they can share with the others who are perpetually offended 🙂
The naked ball sack hanging out of the costume of one of the Last Supper dancers was gross no matter what one’s denomination. So were all the drag queens (a matter of taste I concede).
I’ve read this was a hole in the top of his stocking. I have to agree. Take a gander.
Agree on that.
+1
I’m too familiar with Catholicism to be fond of superstition, but this was simply disgusting. And every instance of this crap is a wasted opportunity to showcase genuine artistry and create something beautiful.
Well if any here are offended (I guess some are) Olympic Games organizers have made an abject apology:
“On the contrary, I think Thomas Jolly did try to intend to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence, we of course are really sorry.”
That should patch things up nicely 🙂
Pretty sure they were portraying Greek gods. That said, definitely an insult to the gods. The ample women with the headdress was meant to be Apollo! 🙄
My expectation regarding the Hezbollah attack at the soccer field in Majdal Shams that left 22 dead is that Hezbollah (which has already denied the attack) and the media will create such confusion that the general public will come to believe that this incident was an IDF attack against innocent civilians. Just watch. The goal is to turn this killing of Israelis by Hezbollah into an Israel-perpetrated atrocity.
And, at the risk of being dramatic, my main hope for the Summer Olympics in Paris is that the Israeli athletes and fans get through the festivities and return home without being attacked by terrorists.
Yes, the propaganda machine will be out to blame Israel for the attack on the Druze village.
I already saw claims that it was a misfired iron dome warhead. This is BS, as there were Iranian missile fragments scattered over the sight.
I was wondering if we might see some political dissing of Russian athletes in Paris. One can not want politics in the games, but I admit I am very conflicted about that one.
Putin is an appalling excuse for a leader. I completely agree.
That village in Golan (not “Occupied Golan Heights” as per western/hamas media) is almost entirely Druze. Druze who are valued and respected members of society and particularly the IDF.
Hezb’s direct attack on them MUST be answered for no other reason than to keep the Druze firmly “in the house” and not even hint at any disrespect. Over the life of Israel they have been some of its most loyal soldiers.
That area was Syria until 67 and many of the citizens have duel Israeli-Syrian citizenship (some by choice) so it is a weird little area.
Good to “drive” around on google street maps as it differs from “normal” Israeli cities.
I know a few Lebanese Druze but I don’t know how they get along with their brothers across the borders. In the Leb civil war they did their best not to be mashed by any of the many belligerents.
Onwards Israeli heroes.
D.A.
NYC
Yes, the current inflated prices are a serious concern for most people, as pointed out by Jerry, but what they want they can’t have, that is, prices going back down. That would be deflation which is a far worse economic condition than inflation. Falling prices would mean falling company profits, which would mean workers being laid off. At best we would be in recession.
Since falling prices is something they can’t have, inflation will be a permanent unresolved political issue. If Trump wins it will become his burden because there’s nothing he can do about it either.
Re: “Since falling prices is something they can’t have, inflation will be a permanent unresolved political issue.”
No, it won’t. As time goes by, people will simpy get accustomed to a higher general price level – after all their wages are higher too. How many people do you know who still complain that movie tickets don’t cost $1 anymore, etc.? (When a movie ticket’s price was $1 wages were a lot lower too.)
The US hasn’t had deflation since the Carter years (1976-1980). Is the inflation of the Carter years still an unresolved political issue?
I’d prefer Carter run than Harris but I fear old Jimmy isn’t old enough for American politics these days. 🙂
D.A.
NYC
>How many people do you know who still complain that movie tickets don’t cost $1 anymore, etc.?
None, as there are senior prices, theatres everywhere and at all times. But what the do complain about is, of a things, the cost of postage stamps, which as a comparative bargain.
The Olympics opened with a spectacle of art and fun… or so.I thought… or does it need policing and scrutiny for every offence, it rained from beginning to end so I give the performers a big ups for “the show must go on”
I assume the drone the Canadians were using in Paris was a small one, incapable of carrying a (deadly) payload. I have read that the presence of the drone was first detected, and reported, by the New Zealand team, and that the Paris authorities have claimed they can detect all drones, and that indeed all drones are banned for the duration of the Olympics.
I grew up in Birmingham. For a while lived in Selly Park, adjacent to Bournville. When there was a very gentle breeze in the right direction there was a waft of chocolate from Cadbury’s. Bournville was dry, the Cadburys being Quakers.
Nice part of Birmingham, Bournville.
Bournville the chocolate bar was the best Cadbury’s product. Any other opinion will be strongly contested.
The coconut-pilling referst to a Harris speech in which she said that her mother used to say that she didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree. (Imagine if Donald Trump had said the same thing.)
I’ve seen another comment by someone who should know that it was a parody of the Greek gods. Probably at least a bit of both.
I have no problem mocking Christianity. But a) this is not the time and place and b) in the land of Charlie Hebdo it underlines the fact that they wouldn’t dare mock Islam in the same way.
Of course, the biggest problem was the mocking of women. Drag is the new blackface.
>Snoop carrying the Olympic torch looks like he was just bestowed with some space age joint from the gods.
In this photo it looked to me like an updated version of a Swiffer® floor mop.
Here are the lyrics of the “Vance VP” song. That song is a very clever homage to “Dancing Queen”, which you’ll notice if you compare the lyrics side-by-side (or if you already know DQ’s lyrics by heart 🙂).
[Chorus]
Ooh, JD Vance, your’ve arrived!
Nothing you won’t sacrifice
Ooh, “Hillbilly Elegy”
King of hypocrisy
[Verse 1]
Anti-Trump a few years ago
Called him out as a ‘Hitler’ show
Now you’re playing his sidekick, kissing Donald’s ring
Looks like you’d do anything
Lots of money behind that guy
Pretty young and the beard is ‘fly’
Seize that state and abuse it?! January 6th was fine?!
It’s just a move for Vance
And if he gets the chance
[Chorus]
He’ll be the Vance VP
One heartbeat from autocracy
Cash machine
Feeding votes to the tangerine
He’ll advance climate change
Let Putin conquer Ukraine
Ooh, Screw the world, GOP
Chasing a fantasy
[Verse 2]
He’s a real chameleon
Social media posts have … *gone*
Atheist to a Catholic; names, he’s had a few
Doesn’t like immigrants
Unless they help finance
[Chorus]
Him being Vance VP
One Big Mac from the nuclear key!
Bad mouthing
All the Muslims in OUR country, oh yeah!
He might turn out to be
A New Right replacement theory
Ooh, Watch out world:
Note Putin’s glee
At the Vance VP
[Outro]
Rubbing his hands, you see!