WTF-Beta

Pee-wee German.

Some perspective:

Zohran Mamdani and Abigail Spanberger, both victorious in yesterday's US elections, offer two competing visions for the future of the Democratic party. His background is affluent and highbrow; her parents were a police officer and a nurse. His worldview is just the combination of blame-Israel-and-America-first third-worldism and modish socialism you'd expect from a child of privilege; she, while decidedly liberal, is far nearer the political center of gravity and, for instance, supported Trump's bombing of Iran.

Mamdani has never really had a career outside politics; Spanberger was an operations officer with the CIA, giving her credibility on national security, as well as a concrete sense of how the real world works. He, for all his genuine charisma, could never be elected outside a deep blue metropolis like New York City; she just won statewide office, and will succeed a Republican governor, suggesting her brand of politics has real crossover appeal. He openly embraces the "socialist" label, anathema to most American voters; she has openly called on Democrats to avoid it like the plague. And so on. In other words, Spanberger's model of political success is one that can and should be transferrable while Mamdani's victory only proves that any number of toxic views and associations can be overcome, if you have the good fortune to run against deeply compromised opposition in one of America's most left-wing cities.

Only 6k sq feet? Prolly need to buy 2 and combine them.

I remember that. Seems so ancient watching the clip.

Oops

He’s not wrong.

https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1978111065872269640?s=46

Or at least a cease fire. We’ll see.

It seems too early to judge, but a cease fire with hostages released is obviously a win regardless of what happens later.

What I find encouraging is Hamas’ supporters in the West are sad and so are Smotrich and his kind. That doesn’t mean the deal is good necessarily, but of either of those groups were happy we would know it’s a horrible deal.

There is very, very little trans participation in high school sports

Then we can at least agree it’s not worth losing elections over, right?

It seems to me there is no other way back to being a national party. We need to publicly recognize that there are instances where trans women’s desires conflict with biological women’s rights and the latter must prevail. Or at least be considered in a democratic process.

Gavin Newsom, for all my complaints about him, has figured this much out.

That’s wishful thinking. I would argue it contains no information unless they elaborate.

The party can be ‘out of touch’ because they spend too much time focused on how to make it legal to build housing in blue cities, or they can be ‘out of touch’ because they’re busy punishing high school girls for complaining when a bloke wins their sporting event. Or they can be ‘out of touch’ for keeping the southern border open. Or they can be ‘out of touch’ because they think inflation is solved when it drops back down below 2% forgetting that the when the average person thinks inflation he is really thinking about the price level. Etcetera.

Indeed. If he agrees to meet us halfway I’ll accept the coin.

@Steve-Miller said in What’s cookin’ good lookin?:

In an effort to eliminate doom scrolling, which was harshing my mellow, I’ve been watching YouTube cooking shows and listening to cooking podcasts.

The internet will just have to get along without me.

I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve especially learned that even classically trained chefs do things differently from one another. So I ask you:

Apron or no? Towel hanging from apron?

Bench scraper? Or scrape cutting board with knife? Blade up or blade down?

Garlic in with the aromatics or just for the last minute for fear of burning?

Jarlic? Frozen garlic?

Countertop trash bowl when chopping?

Mis en place?

Clean as you go or all at once?

Where do you stand?

No apron. Scrape board with knife blade up. Garlic early and often. Jarlic I confess unless it’s to be consumed fresh (not cooked). Mis - yes.

Re cleaning it depends on the recipe. Some recipes give you time, some don’t. If I can I do.

Yes very few people knew that what Harris was espousing was federal policy at the time, they just knew they were against it and she was enthusiastically for it. Chait’s point about the political efficacy of that ad is quite true and was quite relevant to the result.

Another viewpoint. (Gift link)

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/10/democratic-party-strategy-progressives/684453/?gift=_45A0uBZKnmz6xI_LFdGW2HX4nw4G92qAnPYJDGS9Dg&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Damn I always hated those shots. Felt more like a bee sting than a needle.

If you read the NYT piece he’s ending for next years kindergartners as a way to end the program while grandfathering the existing enrollees. Same as deBlasio. Re the third grade entry point he seems to be on both sides of that issue.

DeBlasio also wanted to end the specialized high school system but so far Mamdani hasn’t touched that.

Speaking of Mamdani, seems like he’s motivated by more than just ‘affordability’.

I’m not exactly sure what the Dems path to national electability is but it probably isn’t implementation of this meme:

My god. I’m so sorry you are living with this.

May February come quickly.

Apparently some of the generals are referring to them as Fat Man and Little Boy.