Hosted by saltimbocca.
[Recipe for the above chicken saltimbocca available here.]
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker bandit_queen: "What's something that you are extraordinarily bad at but enjoy anyway?"
Singing!
The Walking Thread
[Content Note: Spoilers are lurching around undeadly herein. Descriptions of violence.]
I bet that sign says, "Skill Floor."
When last we left our merry band of zombie slayers and human murderers, Grimes Gang had gone on the bestest murdering spree against the Neganites, except whoooooooops they missed some, who took Maggie and Carol
The moral of that story is: Make sure you always murder everyone always. Apparently.
So, we're well into the filler episodes now, which means that we spend one hour following a couple of characters doing something in which they're imperiled, but there's no real tension, because we know these characters are going to be just fine.
Which not only makes for boring viewing, but also for boring recapping!
I AM SORRY THAT THIS RECAP IS A DRAG BUT PLEASE DIRECT YOUR COMPLAINTS TO THE WRITERS OF THIS FUCKING SHOW THANK U.
Anyway!
So, Three Mean Misandrists and an Injured Dude (new band name!) take Maggie and Carol to some industrial slaughterhouse (SYMBOLISM) to hold them, while they negotiate with Optimus Grimes via walkie-talkie. The dude that Grimes Gang is holding can fix Injured Dude's arm, so Injured Dude is pretty keen to make a trade, but the Three Mean Misandrists are all: Fuck you, help is on the way, and we ain't trading.
They decide to keep Maggie and Carol alive for "insurance" while their backup makes its way to the slaughterhouse (SYMBOLISM), and they bind and gag Maggie and Carol and throw them on the floor.
A zombie lurches through, and is killed, and as the corpse is dragged across Carol's legs, a rosary is left behind, which Carol pockets.
When their captors return, Carol pretends to hyperventilate, and Maggie urges the Three Mean Misandrists to ungag her. Which they do. And Carol feigns fright and weakness, pleading with them not to hurt Maggie and her unborn baby. They mock her, but fall right into her tricksy hands! They don't even know she's not the meekling she appears to be, but is a full-tilt murder machine!
Injured Dude whines and complains that his arm is going to fall off or whatever, and they tell him to STFU. He and Mean Misandrist #1 get into a physical altercation, and Maggie and Carol maneuver to trip him and help Mean Misandrist #1 defeat him by pistol-whipping his face.
Mean Misandrist #1 tells them they're pathetic for helping. She orders Mean Misandrist #2 to take Maggie away for interrogation, where Maggie refuses to disclose the location of Aarontown. Mean Misandrist #2 tells her: "You're not the good guys. You should know that."
That is actually correct!
There are no good guys in the zombiepocalypse, but Grimes Gang is probably some of the worst guys.
Blah blah the captors and captives trade stories about what happened during the zombiepocalypse to turn them into monsters. They have a cool conversation about how they're all killers. Yup!
Eventually, Mean Misandrist #1 radios Optimus Grimes and tells him to meet them in a field nearby to make the exchange. But she detects a distinct lack of static on the radio and figures Grimes Gang is already close by, maybe even right outside. (Haha they definitely are.)
While no one is looking, Carol sharpens the crucifix at the end of the rosary and uses it to free herself. She finds Maggie, and Carol's all, "Let's GTFO," but Maggie's all, "No, we have to murder all of them."
And you know how it goes on The Walking Dead: MURDER ALWAYS WINS.
So they go back, only to discover Injured Dude has died of his wounds. TOO BAD. They tie him to a post so he will zombie-bite anyone who opens the door. Mean Misandrist #3 opens the door. Oopsy!
Mean Misandrist #2 gets into hand-to-hand combat with Maggie, and slashes at her belly. This makes Carol REAL MAD, so she shoots Mean Misandrist #2 in the head.
Mean Misandrist #1 shows up, and it's all fight fight fight. She asks Carol what she was so afraid of if she's so damn tough, and Carol tells her, "I was afraid of this," before murdering her, too.
Just then, the Neganite backup announces their arrival via walkie-talkie, and Carol tells them to meet them on the Kill Floor. While they wait, Carol and Maggie talk about how they've killed a lot of people. You sure have!
When the backup shows up and wanders onto the Kill Floor, Maggie and Carol shut the door behind them, but not before throwing a lit cigarette into a puddle of gasoline they've spilled onto the Kill Floor floor. Yikes.
They make their way to the exit, where they meet up with Grimes Gang at the door of the slaughterhouse (SYMBOLISM). Maggie and Glenn hug. Daryl asks Carol if she's okay, and she says no, and he hugs her.
Optimus Grimes asks the dude they've taken hostage if Negan is dead. The dude says, as have all the Neganites, "I'm Negan," and Optimus Grimes WHO DOES NOT SUFFER CULT FOOLS, shoots him.
If you're thinking: "Hey, it sure seems like this has become less a show about killing zombies and more a show about killing people," you are correct! This is two solid episodes of just watching the "heroes" kill a bunch of people. But they feel real awkward about it, so.
Next week: More of this garbage.
Shaker Thumbs
Shaker Thumbs is your opportunity to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a product or service you have used and that you'd recommend to other Shakers or warn them away from.
We haven't had a Shaker Thumbs in a year (!), so my apologies for being lax. Thanks to Shaker livi for requesting a new Thumbs thread.
Today I am giving a thumbs-up to the Scoops of Flower Measuring Spoons, which I got at ModCloth.
Iain has been learning more seriously how to cook, and he hates rummaging through the drawers to try to find the right measuring spoon, which he's still too much of a novice to quickly identify by size at a glance. So, to give him a little something to encourage him, and to help make the measuring spoon search a little easier, I bought him this cute spoon display.
Now the tiny measuring spoons are always in reach on the kitchen counter, and it's an adorable addition to the kitchen to boot!
As with all things purchased online, you're never sure if it's going to be what you'd hoped when you order it, but this was exactly as practical and adorable as I'd hoped!
Anyway! Give us your thumbs-up or thumbs-down in comments!
Just to be abundantly clear, I am not affiliated in any way with ModCloth, nor am I receiving any form of payment for recommending them. It's just a thing I've personally found super useful and am happy to recommend.
Daily Dose of Cute
Olivia Twist, being the sweetest girl. (For a change!)
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War on agency] Bad news in both Florida and Indiana: In Florida, the Republican-controlled state legislature has "passed an omnibus anti-choice bill that would include targeted regulation of abortion providers. HB 1411, sponsored by Rep. Colleen Burton (R-Lakeland), would create restrictions on abortion clinics, ban organizations that provide abortion care from receiving state Medicaid funds, and redefine the trimesters of pregnancy." In Indiana, the Republican-controlled state legislature has "authorize[d] an entire menu of grotesquely unconstitutional anti-choice TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws, as well as new forms of authoritarian, misogynistic devilry... [T]he new Indiana bill is in keeping with a series of laws that don't outright ban abortion, but which makes it really, really difficult to have a safe and legal abortion."
[CN: Antisemitism; Christian Supremacy] FUCK. THIS. "A North Carolina pastor warmed up the crowd at a Donald Trump rally by urging Sen. Bernie Sanders to become a Christian. Televangelist Mark Burns spoke to Trump supporters at a campaign event in Hickory ahead of Tuesday's North Carolina primary election, reported the Friendly Atheist blog. 'Bernie Sanders, who doesn't believe in God, how in the world (are) we going to let Bernie—I mean, really?' Burns said, as the crowd applauded. 'Bernie's got to get saved, Bernie's got to meet Jesus. He's got to have a coming to Jesus meeting.' Sanders describes himself as a secular Jew who is not 'particularly religious.'" This is inappropriate in half a dozen different ways, and I am really angry that anyone would talk about Sanders this way.
[CN: Bigotry] Sounds like Paul Krugman is reading Shakesville again! "Let's dispel with this fiction that the Trump phenomenon represents some kind of unpredictable intrusion into the normal course of Republican politics. On the contrary, the G.O.P. has spent decades encouraging and exploiting the very rage that is now carrying Mr. Trump to the nomination. That rage was bound to spin out of the establishment's control sooner or later. Donald Trump is not an accident. His party had it coming."
GOOD GRIEF THESE GUYS: "Dr. Ben Carson, who endorsed Donald Trump's presidential candidacy on Friday, appears less than enthusiastic about that decision. And the real reason the unsuccessful GOP presidential hopeful endorsed his former rival could be a violation of federal law. Carson told the conservative online site NewsMax TV on Monday that he backed Trump based on a practical calculus. 'I didn't see a path for [John] Kasich, who I like, or for [Marco] Rubio, who I like. As far as [Ted] Cruz is concerned, I don't think he's gonna be able to draw independents and Democrats unless has has some kind of miraculous change… Is there another scenario that I would have preferred? Yes. But that scenario isn't available.' Pressed to clarify, Carson said he meant he'd prefer to have backed one of the other candidates. Carson then said that Trump had promised him a role in his administration, 'certainly in an advisory capacity.'" Whoooooooops!
[CN: Rape culture; clergy abuse] "The Church of England is to make far-reaching changes to the way it deals with cases of sex abuse following a damning independent report that details how senior church figures failed to act upon repeated disclosures of a sadistic assault. The first independent review commissioned by the church into its handling of a sex abuse case highlights the 'deeply disturbing' failure of those in senior positions to record or take action on the survivor's disclosures over a period of almost four decades. The church acknowledged the report was 'embarrassing and uncomfortable.'" How terrible for them. Seethe.
[CN: Racism; class warfare] "Today (March 14) the U.S. Department of Justice charged state judges with the task of tossing out policies that effectively create debtors' prisons, filled with poor people who are unable to pay exorbitant fines for minor offenses. These policies are a major part of the government's lawsuit against Ferguson. 'The consequences of the criminalization of poverty are not only harmful—they are far-reaching,' Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. 'They not only affect an individual's ability to support their family, but also contribute to an erosion of our faith in government. One of my top priorities as Attorney General is to help repair community trust where it has frayed, and a key part of that effort includes ensuring that our legal system serves every American faithfully and fairly, regardless of their economic status.'"
Heads-up, gamers: "Xbox gamers will soon be able to play online against people using other systems such as PC and possibly even Playstation, Microsoft has announced. Currently gamers can only play together online if they use the same system. One of the first games to support cross-platform play will be Rocket League, which Xbox and PC gamers will be able to play together via Xbox Live. There is 'an open invitation' for other networks to collaborate, the tech giant said. ...'Cross-network play has been the number one most requested feature our community has asked for since Rocket League was first announced on Xbox One,' said Psyonix, the studio behind Rocket League. 'Today's announcement is a dream come true.'"
Neat! "The enigmatic circles of sand—burnt orange, almost impeccably round and rimmed by a fringe of tall grass—are spaced at surprisingly regular intervals across the otherwise barren landscape. Over the course of decades, they appear, expand and then fade, almost as if they had a life cycle of their own. And, viewed from above, they seem so perfect and improbable their existence can only be ascribed to something not of this world. ...It's not gods, scientists said on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and it's not dragons or bugs. It's the plants themselves. They've self-organised."
And finally! Fluffy Cat is soooooooooo fluffy! Hooray for fluffy cats!
An Observation
I really don't understand the appeal of this new "natural" and "pronounceable" ingredients marketing strategy.
"Would you like some all-natural and easy-to-pronounce hemlock?"
"Um, no thank you."
"It's organic!"
"Pass."
Primary Day!
Today is another big primary day, with both Democrats and Republicans holding contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio.
The Republicans also hold their caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands today.
So, what's interesting about today is that some of the Republican contests become winner-take-all today. In Florida and Ohio, the Republican winner will get all the delegates. In Illinois, it's winner-take-most.
That means that today could be a very big day for Donald Trump, especially if he wins both Florida and Ohio. Which he may very well do, despite the fact that two of his opponents are from those states: Marco Rubio is a Senator from Florida, and John Kasich is Ohio's governor.
The Democratic primaries remain proportional; that is, the delegates are awarded based on the percentages. So, although who wins definitely matters, what matters even more is by how much they win.
Have at it comments on all things Super Tuesday Deux!
Welp
At least he's finally being honest about it:
Bernie Sanders on Monday told NBC's Chuck Todd that he ran as a Democrat to get more media coverage.The right ethic? Okay.
During a town hall-style event in Columbus, Ohio, the independent Vermont senator said, "In terms of media coverage, you have to run within the Democratic Party." He then took a dig at MNSBC, telling Todd, the network "would not have me on his program" if he ran as an independent.
Money also played a role in his decision to run as a Democrat, Sanders added.
"To run as an independent, you need — you could be a billionaire," he said. "If you're a billionaire, you can do that. I'm not a billionaire. So the structure of American politics today is such that I thought the right ethic was to run within the Democratic Party."
As I've noted many times in this space, Sanders chose to run as a Democrat because if he ran as an Independent, he would not have had access to the platform and infrastructure and funding provided by the Democratic Party. He would not be on the stage at debates.
And yet even as he exploits the Party's resources, he refuses to do Democratic fundraising for down ticket races, despite the fact that his "revolution" is totally dependent on having a Democratically-controlled Congress.
Which is to say nothing of his campaign's indifference to how important the Democratic Party is to progressives in states with the least progressive state governments.
Sanders is running as a Democrat against the Democratic Party. That has been evident for quite some time. I guess I'm glad he admits it, but fucking hell what an aggressively indecent thing to do.
Gone Are the Dogwhistles, Replaced with Bullhorns
[Content Note: Racism.]
As I've said a number of times now, the thing about Donald Trump is not that he's fundamentally more extreme than the rest of the Republican Party: He's merely replaced the dogwhistle with a bullhorn.
The same is true of one of his most visible surrogates—Sarah Palin.
"Time is our most valuable resource," said Palin in Tampa, Florida today shortly after announcing her husband Todd had been hospitalized due to a snow machine accident. "It makes me appreciate the time that we have to spend and doing something so worthy and that’s to get Donald J. Trump elected president.I guess she didn't get the memo that the "quote, unquote protesters" are allegedly taking away Trump supporters' right to free speech, not to assemble peacefully. It's sort of AWWWWKWAAAARD when you go after the right to peaceably assemble when that's exactly the right that protesters are exercising.
"And what we don't have time for is all that petty punk-ass little thuggery stuff that's been going on with these quote, unquote protesters who are doing nothing but wasting your time and trying to take away your First Amendment rights—your rights to assemble peacefully," Palin said, fueling the crowd's energy.
She definitely got the memo about how "punk-ass thugs" is the coolest racist
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Wonder: "What would you do (or do more of) if it were less expensive?"
Travel.
The Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by rain.
Recommended Reading:
Stephanie: [Content Note: Biphobia] Bisexuality and Mental Health: The Double-Edged Sword of Stigma
Keith: [CN: Rape culture; victim-blaming] Texas School Assembly on Rape and Domestic Abuse Leaves Students in Tears
Ragen: [CN: Fat hatred] Best Response Ever to Thin Model Wearing Plus Size Clothes
Mike: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
Veronica: Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet's Ace Reporter
And finally! [CN: Rape culture] If you're on Facebook, check out Stephanie Gilmore's Artists Against Sexual Violence project.
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Chipping Away at Roe...
[Content Note: War on agency. NB: Not only women need access to abortion.]
Congressional Republicans continue to refuse to do the will of the majority of the people, wasting time and resources trying to pass anti-choice legislation for which there is no scientific basis nor overwhelming public support:
On March 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on two separate bills that would, among other things, impose a federal ban on abortion at or after 20 weeks post-fertilization (equivalent to 22 weeks' gestation). Both bills would do nothing to advance public health and are instead yet another attempt to politicize women's health and limit women's access to abortion care.Naturally, "a significant failure of public health policy" is a feature, not a bug. Indeed, it's the very objective.
The first bill, a 20-week abortion ban misleadingly labeled as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, is premised at least in part on the assertion that fetuses can experience pain starting at 20 weeks post-fertilization—a claim that is not supported by the preponderance of scientific evidence. The bill is patently unconstitutional, since it would prohibit abortion before viability without any exception to preserve a woman's health. The bill also includes particularly callous and cruel rape and incest exceptions that force rape victims to wait 48 hours and make two visits to see two different providers before having an abortion.
Moreover, the 20-week abortion ban would fall hardest on low-income women, the very group bearing a disproportionate burden of unintended pregnancies.
...The 20-week abortion ban bill would also impose a little-noticed provision that could be used to target abortion providers.
...The second proposed bill to be taken up at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, is redundant and harmful. Existing legislation, The Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002, already requires that a fetus that survives an abortion is entitled to emergency medical care. Critically, the current law does so without undermining the rights protected under Roe v. Wade. In contrast, The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would not only roll-back this carefully crafted bipartisan agreement reached in 2002. It would also add new criminal penalties against doctors and clinicians as a scare tactics that serves the sole purpose of scaring women away from seeking safe, legal abortion.
Taken together, the proposed legislation, if enacted, would constitute a significant failure of public health policy.
I have been writing so often for so long about the erosion of abortion access that I don't even know what I could say at this point that I haven't said a dozen times.
ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE. And any legislation that values the potential life of every fetus more highly than the people who carry them is dehumanizing horseshit.
A Tale of #TwoTrumps
[Content Note: Bigotry.]
I've got a new piece up at Blue Nation Review, on the Two Trumps—the performer and the deceiver:
On March 11, Donald Trump got a curious endorsement from Dr. Ben Carson:Read the rest at BNR. With my thanks, once more, for their terrific support.
I've come to know Donald Trump over the last few years; he's actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America. There are two different Donald Trumps: There's the one you see on the stage, and there's the one who's very cerebral—sits there and considers things very carefully; you can have a very good conversation with him. And that's the Donald Trump that you're going to start seeing more and more of.For his part, Trump initially agreed with Carson, saying, "I think there are two Donald Trumps: There's the public version, and people see that, and, I don't know what they see exactly, but it seems to have worked over my lifetime… Perhaps there are two Donald Trumps."
Then, later, in the same press conference: "I don't think there are two Donald Trumps. I think there's one Donald Trump."
So one Donald Trump agrees that there are two Donald Trumps, and the other Donald Trump does not agree that there are two Donald Trumps.
Well, that definitely clears it up.
Trump is certainly a man of contradictions—though not in the way the phrase is flatteringly deployed to underscore the complex humanity of a person of profound integrity. To the contrary, to say that Trump is a man of contradictions is to highlight his utter lack of a principled core.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Appearance mockery at link.]
"I have now been through dozens of interviews with Trump with a variety of interviewers, and I have never once—not once—heard him discuss anything, any subject of any kind, with any evidence of knowledge, never mind thought. None. Zero. He's like a skipping stone over a pond. ...You'd think at some point, something, anything would have engaged his interest enough to read up on it and think about it, but as far as I can tell, nothing has. Much more so even than George W., he appears to lack anything resembling intellectual curiosity."—A reader quoted by the Atlantic's James Fallows, on Donald Trump's "near-absolute lack of knowledge about policy or public affairs."
Daily Dose of Cute
Dudley cuddles goofy.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here's some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Terrorism; war; death] "Turkey has begun security operations against Kurdish rebels in the country's south-east and in Iraq. The moves come as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed a crackdown on terror after Sunday's attack in Ankara that killed at least 37 people. ...Four people were held over the bombings in the south-eastern city of Sanliurfa, according to Turkish media. Officials were quoted as saying the car used in the bombing was traced to a showroom there. A curfew was declared in three towns in south-east Turkey, while warplanes struck PKK camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. Eleven warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets including ammunition dumps and shelters in the Qandil and Gara sectors, the army said. The PKK (the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party) confirmed the strikes." Fucking hell.
[CN: Child explotation and violence] "We do not yet know who President Obama will name to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. We do know, however, that anyone the president names will be subjected to a brutal campaign to discredit them in the eyes of the public. A conservative advocacy group called the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) reportedly hired 'a team of about 10 researchers, including a number of lawyers' to conduct opposition research into potential nominees. Viewers watching Sunday morning's news shows got a taste of what these researchers have uncovered this past weekend. An ad funded by JCN attacked federal appellate Judge Jane Kelly, a potential Supreme Court nominee and former public defender, for representing one of her former clients. The inmate described in JCN's ad is Casey Frederiksen, who Kelly represented in 2005 during her career as a public defender. Frederiksen is unquestionably a terrible human being. [He was tried and convicted on child p0rnography charges and for the murder of a 5-year-old girl.] In the United States, however, criminal trials are governed by the Constitution, and that Constitution guarantees all people accused of a crime 'the assistance of counsel for his defense.' So JCN's ad is more than just an attack on Jane Kelly. It is an attack on a constitutional right."
[CN: Assault] "Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro are resigning from the company over the site's handling of Donald Trump's campaign manager's alleged assault on Fields, BuzzFeed News has learned." Breaking News: Garbage news outlet run by garbage people.
This story is a few days old, but I only saw it this morning: "Finland and the Netherlands have already shown their interest in giving people a regular monthly allowance regardless of working status, and now Ontario, Canada is onboard. Ontario's government announced in February that a pilot program will be coming to the Canadian province sometime later this year. The premise: send people monthly checks to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and utilities—no questions asked. It's a radical idea, and one that has been around since the 1960s. It's called 'basic income.'" Yes!
[CN: Union-busting] Goddammit: "When West Virginia's so-called right-to-work law takes effect in May, the majority of states will have laws designed to strip labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. West Virginia Republican lawmakers in February overrode Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's (D) veto of SB 1, which prohibits employers from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. Opponents of 'right-to-work' policies argue that they allow workers who are not union members—known as free riders—to benefit from the union's bargaining without having to contribute financially. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall) said during floor debate before the veto override vote that the legislation was an attack on people who work and their families. 'Some would say this is a historic day for West Virginia,' Kessler said, reported the Gazette-Mail. 'I submit to you that it is a horrific day. This is not based on any empirical evidence; this is based on a political attack upon unions, upon workers, upon families, upon our communities.' West Virginia joins Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin as states that have passed laws targeting labor unions in recent years."
[CN: Racism; appropriation; transphobia] Courtney Demone writes a reflective piece about her culturally appropriative tattoo: "Over the years, I began to feel there was something wrong with a white person sporting an Indigenous symbol as a tattoo and developed a quiet, passive shame. ...Despite my shame, I did nothing to address my appropriation. I intended to get the tattoo removed or covered, but it was never a high priority. I never learned more about Maya people and cultures. I never learned more about the symbol. I just let my ignorance fester. When my topless photos from the 'Do I have boobs now?' project went viral, I was finally forced to address my ignorance and appropriation. ...My intention for the project was to challenge systems of oppression and our complicity in them. In the process, I exposed my own unchallenged complicity in oppression and colonialism."
[CN: Misogyny] "By manipulating familiar images of historical moments, often in politics but also in other realms popular culture, [director Alyssa Boni of RSA Films] erases the many men pictured, leaving only their lonesome—and often singular—female counterparts."
"Air Force One Shielded by Double Rainbow Force Field in Austin." ♥
[CN: Video autoplays at link] The ladies of Saturday Night Live with another terrific digital short: "This Is Not a Feminist Song."
And finally! "Service Dog and Teenage Owner Dress Alike for Formal Dance." LOVE WITH ONE MILLION HEARTS.
