Fact is, the number of categories has grown dramatically over the years not only, the more cynical among us might say, because of new (more or less) generically different books, but as a sales tool. There is also the fact that the NYT lists are curated, both in terms of sales outlets whose data are used to compile the lists and as a matter of editorial discretion. Of course what is offered for sale to begin with, and is bought, by and large, depends on a secretive Amazon algorithm, not the NYT's lists or that of any other entity in the publishing world.
Re Substack: According to Google, "In January 2024, Substack had 49.4 million unique visitors to its website across desktop and mobile devices. This was a 41.95% increase from August 2023."
And Ann Telnaes's Substack itself is up to more than 67,000 followers in just these few weeks since she quit The Post. That's not a drop in the bucket. Anntelnaes.substack.com
And guess what? Because I get (until February 11) the Washington Post in digital form, and because you have to search out opinions and cartoons, I had never seen Ann Telnaes's stuff until her cartoon was killed. Now I subscribe to her Substack. Am I the only one?
I get a rundown of headlines every morning, which includes plenty of opinion, including cartoons. And beneath each cartoon are links to all the other recent ones.
At least one company has not become yellow-bellied Orange Aid – Turner Classic Movies. I think it was no coincidence that their programming Tuesday, all day, consisted of films showing the consequences of beliefs and behavior we’re now seeing from Trump and his followers.
Among the excellent pictures included were “Black Legion,” “Confessions of a Nazi Spy,” “The Great Dictator,” “The Mortal Storm,” and “Edge of Darkness.”
It was chilling to hear a Nazi commander explain to one of his agents the steps in their plan to take over the U.S., realizing we are seeing exactly those steps unfolding now.
I wonder why nobody (but me) ever points out that DJT makes a fist like a girl? Yes it's a sexist observation, but what if that is psychologically (physically?) germane? The way to make fist as most little boys instinctively know, and if not most fathers soon teach them, is to wrap the knuckle tightly around the closed fingers between their first and second joints. That is, on the side, or bottom, of the projected fist for maximum power and protection -- striking with knuckles not projecting thumb. (Untutored in this, it is why females typically don't throw a punch from the shoulder but strike from elbow downward ((with thumb on top of fist and out of the way so it doesn't get broken)). DJT closes his stubby fingers and lays his fat thumb over the top, covering the spiral, where he could break it if he ever laid hands on any human besides a woman. Thousands of photos bear this out. This also bears out the inescapable conclusion that The Bully has never struck anything but a pose. Historical note: the first critical observations of Trump's digits were not about hand size and corresponding whatever. No, it was Grayden Carter, I believe, writing in Vogue? Vanity Fair?, describing Trump as a "short-fingered vulgarian." Carter maintained Trump sometimes after that sent him photos of his fingers in vain attempt to prove they were normally sized. Carter also observed that Trump never once complained about being recognized as a "vulgarian." C'mon, can't these baby fists grow legs? Photo collections?
Shout outs to 4 Hon Mention dwarf names that made me 'ha!' aloud: Bigly (perfect pitch on the description), Sloopy (I think there's an age floor on getting this one, but I laughed), Disney (So true, and also perfect 'lawyer' tone), and Soapy (my vote for cleverest wordplay). My fave of the winning for was actually Berny, in part because it also tied directly to the actual movie, which most entries did not. All that said, there wasn't a single entry I thought didn't deserve ink - really well done, y'all! :-D
The quick answer to whether Biden could have issued a blanket pardon to the roughly 11M undocumented immigrants is...not an answer. It would have raised novel questions about the extent of a vaguely defined but enshrined constitutional presidential power. Yes, Nixon received a preemptive, blanket pardon but that was for what would have been one of more obvious criminal charges. Under traditional practice and precedence, presidential pardons have been exclusively for actual or presumed federal crimes. "Unlawful presence" is a civil offense under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. That is not to say the theory that the presidential pardon power can extend to forgiveness of civil offenses couldn't have been tested but, there is also the inevitability of a compromised Imperial Court making the final call.
I’m not a lawyer. It would have been distinct from Carter’s pardon of draft dodgers? Or might that have been different because (presumably) we knew all their names and could include them in the pardon? Sort of a moot point now.
Two things Sam. A presidential pardon need not be for specific individuals; it can be for groups or even classes of people. Also, evading the draft was a criminal offense under the Selective Service Act (still in force, btw, in the event a draft is again needed), while as I said, being in the US illegally or undocumented, by itself, is a civil offense and not (so far) thought to be included in the presidential pardon power granted by the Constitution.
“ I tried to watch the video and respond to the poll yesterday and got the "page not found" message across all of Substack -- I was worried that the Fuhrer had spiked your platform!”
What I encountered were 502-Bad Gateway errors, not 404-Page Not Found. This is actually encouraging. It often means that there is server overload issues from too many page requests, meaning that a lot of people are trying to visit Substack at the same time.
The link to the Constitution of the United States that Mad Chatter’s wife pointed him to at Whitehouse.gov returns a 404 error as of Monday. The Wayback machine at archive.org shows that it was active on the 19th. Also, all Spanish language pages have been removed.
I’m gonna have to change to Bigly because it epitomizes Cheeto in every way possible from the start of his ruinous advent into politics. It was a word he invented and which has been used frequently in our home for years. It means nothing, but describes him perfectly.
It is not all politics. Some really do care about the price of eggs. And " Can anyone smarter than I am – basically anyone on Earth – answer this definitively?" may not have a good answer. Just to say that Trump will be Trump and the first term had so many "protecting him" that his worst instincts were kept under cover. Let him do his will. Give him what he wants. Either it will work or his supporters will turn on him. Not by logic. Just when the price of eggs is too high. "It is the economy ...!!"
The problem with your self-immolation approach is that he could take many lives with him, to say nothing of the years it could take to fix or at least ameliorate his egregious actions --- assuming the ability to stop or effectively counter them is unavailing. IMO, the price is potentially too high to simply let him do his worst in the hope a sufficient number of the faithful will finally see the light.
We will see. If he wants to believe getting rid of workers will end inflation and fix the housing shortage, then give him an opportunity to prove it. I do not see "self-immolation." If he is as wrong as I think, every one will see. But the main link is to let all know exactly what happens. Too many never know what is going on. Lies do work. Inform rather than supress.
Everyone "seeing it*" pales next to the damage that could be done, assuming the damage cannot be prevented or stopped. Depending on what it is, "seeing" may well be too late or irrelevant. The midterms are two years away and unless something fortunate happens, he's in office for two years more after that. You, presumably willing to give him enough rope to hang himself (since you didn't like self-immolation), unfortunately could also send the innocent to the gallows with him, or more likely before him.
Re the NYT bestsellers -- There are so many because there are so many different NYT bestseller lists! This is from novlr.org:
The New York Times Bestseller list is not just one list, but rather several lists grouped by genre and format. These lists include:
Adult Fiction – combined print & eBook list (weekly)
Adult Fiction -hardcover list (weekly)
Adult Fiction – paperback list (weekly)
Adult Nonfiction – combined print & eBook list (weekly)
Adult Nonfiction – hardcover list (weekly)
Adult Nonfiction – paperback list (weekly)
Adult Nonfiction – advice, how-to, and miscellaneous list (weekly)
Middle-Grade – hardcover list (weekly)
Young Adult – hardcover list (weekly)
Picture Books (weekly)
Children’s Series (weekly)
Business list (monthly)
Graphic Novels and Manga list (monthly)
Mass Market list (monthly)
Middle-Grade – paperback list (monthly)
Young Adult – paperback list (monthly)
Audiobooks – fiction (monthly)
Audiobooks – nonfiction (monthly)
Fact is, the number of categories has grown dramatically over the years not only, the more cynical among us might say, because of new (more or less) generically different books, but as a sales tool. There is also the fact that the NYT lists are curated, both in terms of sales outlets whose data are used to compile the lists and as a matter of editorial discretion. Of course what is offered for sale to begin with, and is bought, by and large, depends on a secretive Amazon algorithm, not the NYT's lists or that of any other entity in the publishing world.
Re Substack: According to Google, "In January 2024, Substack had 49.4 million unique visitors to its website across desktop and mobile devices. This was a 41.95% increase from August 2023."
And Ann Telnaes's Substack itself is up to more than 67,000 followers in just these few weeks since she quit The Post. That's not a drop in the bucket. Anntelnaes.substack.com
And guess what? Because I get (until February 11) the Washington Post in digital form, and because you have to search out opinions and cartoons, I had never seen Ann Telnaes's stuff until her cartoon was killed. Now I subscribe to her Substack. Am I the only one?
I get a rundown of headlines every morning, which includes plenty of opinion, including cartoons. And beneath each cartoon are links to all the other recent ones.
At least one company has not become yellow-bellied Orange Aid – Turner Classic Movies. I think it was no coincidence that their programming Tuesday, all day, consisted of films showing the consequences of beliefs and behavior we’re now seeing from Trump and his followers.
Among the excellent pictures included were “Black Legion,” “Confessions of a Nazi Spy,” “The Great Dictator,” “The Mortal Storm,” and “Edge of Darkness.”
It was chilling to hear a Nazi commander explain to one of his agents the steps in their plan to take over the U.S., realizing we are seeing exactly those steps unfolding now.
The response to this contest was exceptional. I don't there was a single entry that didn't make me laugh.
All of my entries didn’t make you laugh
I wonder why nobody (but me) ever points out that DJT makes a fist like a girl? Yes it's a sexist observation, but what if that is psychologically (physically?) germane? The way to make fist as most little boys instinctively know, and if not most fathers soon teach them, is to wrap the knuckle tightly around the closed fingers between their first and second joints. That is, on the side, or bottom, of the projected fist for maximum power and protection -- striking with knuckles not projecting thumb. (Untutored in this, it is why females typically don't throw a punch from the shoulder but strike from elbow downward ((with thumb on top of fist and out of the way so it doesn't get broken)). DJT closes his stubby fingers and lays his fat thumb over the top, covering the spiral, where he could break it if he ever laid hands on any human besides a woman. Thousands of photos bear this out. This also bears out the inescapable conclusion that The Bully has never struck anything but a pose. Historical note: the first critical observations of Trump's digits were not about hand size and corresponding whatever. No, it was Grayden Carter, I believe, writing in Vogue? Vanity Fair?, describing Trump as a "short-fingered vulgarian." Carter maintained Trump sometimes after that sent him photos of his fingers in vain attempt to prove they were normally sized. Carter also observed that Trump never once complained about being recognized as a "vulgarian." C'mon, can't these baby fists grow legs? Photo collections?
“Short-fingered vulgarian” is from Graydon Carter’s 1980s satirical magazine Spy.
BEERMY and NOPEY catch me!
Shout outs to 4 Hon Mention dwarf names that made me 'ha!' aloud: Bigly (perfect pitch on the description), Sloopy (I think there's an age floor on getting this one, but I laughed), Disney (So true, and also perfect 'lawyer' tone), and Soapy (my vote for cleverest wordplay). My fave of the winning for was actually Berny, in part because it also tied directly to the actual movie, which most entries did not. All that said, there wasn't a single entry I thought didn't deserve ink - really well done, y'all! :-D
The quick answer to whether Biden could have issued a blanket pardon to the roughly 11M undocumented immigrants is...not an answer. It would have raised novel questions about the extent of a vaguely defined but enshrined constitutional presidential power. Yes, Nixon received a preemptive, blanket pardon but that was for what would have been one of more obvious criminal charges. Under traditional practice and precedence, presidential pardons have been exclusively for actual or presumed federal crimes. "Unlawful presence" is a civil offense under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. That is not to say the theory that the presidential pardon power can extend to forgiveness of civil offenses couldn't have been tested but, there is also the inevitability of a compromised Imperial Court making the final call.
I’m not a lawyer. It would have been distinct from Carter’s pardon of draft dodgers? Or might that have been different because (presumably) we knew all their names and could include them in the pardon? Sort of a moot point now.
Two things Sam. A presidential pardon need not be for specific individuals; it can be for groups or even classes of people. Also, evading the draft was a criminal offense under the Selective Service Act (still in force, btw, in the event a draft is again needed), while as I said, being in the US illegally or undocumented, by itself, is a civil offense and not (so far) thought to be included in the presidential pardon power granted by the Constitution.
Got it, thanks for the clarification.
I liked Sloopy who just hangs on!
“ I tried to watch the video and respond to the poll yesterday and got the "page not found" message across all of Substack -- I was worried that the Fuhrer had spiked your platform!”
What I encountered were 502-Bad Gateway errors, not 404-Page Not Found. This is actually encouraging. It often means that there is server overload issues from too many page requests, meaning that a lot of people are trying to visit Substack at the same time.
The link to the Constitution of the United States that Mad Chatter’s wife pointed him to at Whitehouse.gov returns a 404 error as of Monday. The Wayback machine at archive.org shows that it was active on the 19th. Also, all Spanish language pages have been removed.
I liked BIGLY, SLOOPY, and DINKLAGE. But why was the third runner-up misspelled?
To play off the names of the real Dwarfs.
Congrats Mike Bardallis for your first ink with Bigly -- my favorite.
Is it just me, or do the expressions on Jeff Crank's wife and son say, "Jeff/Dad, you're so full of shit."
Thanks for letting me in. I need this kind of discussion during these dark times.
I’m gonna have to change to Bigly because it epitomizes Cheeto in every way possible from the start of his ruinous advent into politics. It was a word he invented and which has been used frequently in our home for years. It means nothing, but describes him perfectly.
It is not all politics. Some really do care about the price of eggs. And " Can anyone smarter than I am – basically anyone on Earth – answer this definitively?" may not have a good answer. Just to say that Trump will be Trump and the first term had so many "protecting him" that his worst instincts were kept under cover. Let him do his will. Give him what he wants. Either it will work or his supporters will turn on him. Not by logic. Just when the price of eggs is too high. "It is the economy ...!!"
It was NEVER about the price of eggs, so the price of eggs going up, up, up, will not impact his faithful.
The problem with your self-immolation approach is that he could take many lives with him, to say nothing of the years it could take to fix or at least ameliorate his egregious actions --- assuming the ability to stop or effectively counter them is unavailing. IMO, the price is potentially too high to simply let him do his worst in the hope a sufficient number of the faithful will finally see the light.
We will see. If he wants to believe getting rid of workers will end inflation and fix the housing shortage, then give him an opportunity to prove it. I do not see "self-immolation." If he is as wrong as I think, every one will see. But the main link is to let all know exactly what happens. Too many never know what is going on. Lies do work. Inform rather than supress.
Everyone "seeing it*" pales next to the damage that could be done, assuming the damage cannot be prevented or stopped. Depending on what it is, "seeing" may well be too late or irrelevant. The midterms are two years away and unless something fortunate happens, he's in office for two years more after that. You, presumably willing to give him enough rope to hang himself (since you didn't like self-immolation), unfortunately could also send the innocent to the gallows with him, or more likely before him.