"Mommy, what were you doing when the war started?"
[pause]
"Your grandma took us to a water park."
Napoleon went to a water park and enjoyed it.
My feelings for Fontainebleau are complicated.
You got the wrong idea about waterloo, ziggy.
Is ajay around? Anyone else know anything about aircraft? Three four engine prop plans just flew very low over downtown, directly over my office, heading towards the airport. Low enough that I could feel the vibrations. One after another. The Montana Air NG has some C-130s, but I'm not sure if these were those.
Are we being occupied? Is this ICE?
C-130J maybe? I didn't get a look at the front.
8: If I'm correctly using the playback feature on ADS-B Exchange, I see a military C-130J Super Hercules took off from your airport around 17:51 UTC, circled around an empty-looking area east of town (around Bonner Mountain?), at about 7,000 feet, then passed right over the middle of town at about 3700 feet as it returned to the airport, landing 17:59.
Just one though.
Correction, it took off 17:48. Playback from here.
Registration 11-5752, for which these seem to be photos.
Maybe the phantom antifa buses are book, cloaked even more invisibly than before.
For some reason I can't seem to follow the radar after 18:00. Maybe they only archive an hour at a time.
On the live feed a military C-130H is approaching the town. But it's at 26,000 ft and started in St. Paul, so that's just a ship in the night.
Aha, now I can see more recent playback. 11-5752 looked like it was landing, went right over the runway, but instead of landing it turned again, went near but not directly over the town at 18:01, this time higher around 9,000 ft & climbing, proceeded much further east, was joined by a C-30J around Deer Lodge... I'll keep looking, but that brings us up to 18:19 so past Charley's report. So I've accounted for two of the overflights. Three if you include the first eastward leg, though that was also not right over town.
3700 feet is pretty low. Airport is at 3206.
Seems pretty ridiculous. I guess they just wanted a quick look around.
From your link, they've flown away, and just over Garrison what was showing as one became two. I'm guessing the three were too close together to register as separate aircraft.
That site is pretty cool.
Oh, C-30J is the type code denoting C-130J for both.
8: can't help much beyond that I'm afraid, but there can't be much flying around in US airspace with four props that isn't a C-130.
If it was Bears we would have a problem. But if it was Bears Charley would now be deaf because those things are really rather loud.
You're right, the one that I said "joins" it further east (reg 07-46312) doesn't have a path tracing its history back, it just suddenly appears on the map. So close formation makes snese.
The only other person in my office today has a green card, based on the Jay Treaty. If either Trump or Noem ever learn of the Jay Treaty they'll surely repudiate it. We're not looking forward to a visit from ICE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Treaty
If I could do a Trump impression, I'd be blathering on about why this was a bad deal, the worst deal ever.
24: This provision?
As a result of the Jay Treaty, "Native Indians born in Canada are therefore entitled to enter the United States for the purpose of employment, study, retirement, investing, and/or immigration" if they can prove that they have at least 50% blood quantum, and cannot be deported for any reason.[27][28] Article III of the Jay Treaty is the basis of most Native American claims.[29] Unlike other legal immigrants, Canadian-born Native Americans residing in the US are entitled to public benefits and domestic tuition fees on the same basis as citizens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Treaty
That treaty has had detectors since the beginning.
Look, if democracy ends tomorrow, I don't want to be all "dang, missed the water park while the getting was good." No ragrets!
I'm thinking if democracy ended tomorrow, the water park would be fine.
And 11-5752 has just crossed over the state line into Nebraska, seemingly headed for Omaha.
There's lots of good restaurants there.
Moby, we're trying to transmit top secret info to the Resistance! We can only disclose the Code on Standpipe's blog.
29: oh really? the water park of JUSTICE??
26 Yes. Of course, she's had some difficulties at the border over the last several years. She was in Mexico for surgery and was detained at the border on the way back. Then once the border folks figured out what was happening, she got released even before the efforts of various of us calling on various worthies bore fruit. She has grandchildren in Canada, and visits more than once a year. The morons who guard our border have difficulty understanding this. (I also had the FBI wondering why I went to Canada so often during the years my parents lived there during the summer. Brains in vats pretending to be humans with whips.).
I would never have guessed that this treaty provision had survived, but apparently so.
Damn John Jay!
Damn everyone who that won't damn John Jay!
Damn everyone that won't put lights in his window and sit up all night damning John Jay!
22: P3 Orions are in the air with some frequency in the US, still.
And I've seen the A400 Atlas in the Boston area several times in the past few months.
After a significant recovery in the polls for Trump, he seems to be dropping like a rock again. Giving the timing, I'm thinking it must be immigration/LA.
41: It's because everyone hates a parade.
40 good lord. Really? I assumed they must have all been retired ages ago and replaced with P-8s.
And I wonder who's flying that Atlas. The US doesn't operate them, neither does Canada.
so are all the protests at 5 pm local times? or is that just here and austin? what time is the dumb parade?
There are two here. One at 12:30 and the other at 2. Then one on Sunday.
Either early news reports are exaggerated or billionaires can die from swallowing a bee.
There is one combined with the Pride Parade in Boston, so you don't get to march. There is an hour-long event in the town next door. I was leaning on taking the train to Boston, because that's easier than finding parking in Concord. Tim is sick, so I said I would stay to take care of him and tne dog, but I'm probably being lazy because of the weather and feeling very unsure of what the point of going to a gathering in Boston that you can't march in is for.
Anyone else in MA going to anything?
Control in MN House and Senate are even and +1 D respectively.
Representative and her husband were killed per Walz.
But apparently legislature not in session until January.
The bus downtown is full before it can even get out of Squirrel Hill. I'm not willing to make or fuss with a sign, so I just wore my Harris Walz hat.
About to catch a train into Penn, meeting nosflow and a couple of other friends
The flag on the city county building is at half mast, I assume because of the death of Rep. Hortman. But not the flag at court house.
I came down with whatever Tim had so I just skipped it and will proceed to feel guilty.
That Minnesota thing sucks.
On the train heading to the city center now. My poor mom is so anxious, worrying about things getting out of hand. But yeah. Don't want Rory having to tell the littles one day that their grammy stayed home to garden.
My neighborhood (Clintonville) protest is huge! ( for a neighborhood protest, obviously)
I was once at a baby shower in Clintonville, only baby shower I've been to. It was a lesbian couple expecting twin boys. They did not follow my suggestion and name them "Rod" and "Todd." If they don't want suggestions like that, they shouldn't have given me beer.
67: a lesbian couple baby shower is exactly the stereotype of Clintonville, for all of you far from the Heart of it All.
Wish we'd start marching. Standing still makes my hip hurt.
Now getting ready to march. I hope we sing "Do you hear the people singing?".
Passed a protest on the two-mile drive to the protest we were going to. Lotta horn-honking. Feels good to be reminded that there are decent people out there.
I can't be at a protest, so I'm pointing dumb stuff on BlueSky. Did you know that on the Great Seal of NYS, the escutcheon is supported by Liberty and Justice, and Liberty is treading a crown underfoot? Seems relevant lately.
Also lobbying against Cuomo in the FB comments of a friendly acquaintance who is one of those upsetting people with generally pleasantly liberal politics except for complete hardline support of the Israeli government, and elevation of that set of issues into areas where it's not relevant like the NYC mayoral race.
I did what I could talking up Cuomo's incompetence and corruption, and pushing Lander in his place: he's competent! He's experienced! [unstated: He's Jewish!]
But arguing about politics on FB is a stupid thing to do, and I really shouldn't do it.
I'm really glad I didn't wear my "Free Palestine (with purchase of greater or equal Palestine)" t-shirt.
75: I am so angry at the Dem establishment types who have decided to get behind Cuomo. Shitty Governor and all, but then sexual harasser too. Kristin Gillibrand pushed for Franken to resign and Cuomo's harassment was much worse and more systematic, but she seems to be ok with this. I am also angry with her about the Genius Act sponsorship garbage. It was about 45-50 years before we gradually forgot the lessons of the Great Depression. 16 years before we're willing to introduce worse systemic risk with the Genius Act. Cory Booker completely blew the good he did with his filibuster by voting for that garbage.
71: At least the 2nd of these in P'burgh we've both been at but not run into each other....
My sign was small and too indirect and pointlessly "clever," but I enjoyed coming up with it.
https://bsky.app/profile/jpstormcrow.bsky.social/post/3lrlr456ddc2g
There were at least fifty seven people there. I tried to count, but everyone moved.
Maybe a couple hundred in Berlin still there for No Kings when I turned up about an hour late.
Later on I marched with the Ukrainians and a smattering of Georgians. We went down the street from the Brandenburg Gate, and I stayed with them most of the way around the Russian Embassy, which is huge. The protestors shouted mean things about Russia, but nobody from the embassy appeared at the windows.
This is horrific.Guy still at large, list of protests and lawmakers found in his things, dressed credibly as a police officer. Be safe... chopper?
">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/democratic-lawmakers-minnesota-shot"> https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/democratic-lawmakers-minnesota-shot
We had 2000 people show up at our event. It was awesome.
I have not found a crowd estimate for Pittsburgh.
Just saw a Pittsburgh picture over on bluesky. Definitely 57+ in attendance.
It may just be a function of the people I follow on bluesky, and the posts they all choose to share, but the pictures I am seeing from across the country code as mostly to very white. I think that's both good and important.
The April one was reported as having a crowd of about six thousand people. This was clearly bigger. But I can't tell by how much.
71: Damn it. If I'd seen this sooner, I would absolutely have made it happen. Or, anyway, I would have sung loudly in the rough neighborhood of on key.
Turns out Tim has COVID, so I don't have to feel guilty about not going today.
I'm watching a buck in velvet while I grill dinner. I'm glad I'm cooking chicken.
I think he's going to fight me come September.
Turnout in Heebieville was huge! way bigger than I've seen in years. It was nice.
Supposedly, at the Trump Birthday Parade, the one Trump was at, they played "Fortunate Son".
but the pictures I am seeing from across the country code as mostly to very white
Yes. Ours was disproportionately families and older white people. It felt like a Unitarian Fellowship. I just assumed all the younger browner folks headed up to Austin or San Antonio.
Apparently an instrumental version of Fortunate Son, but still.
NYC No Kings was awesome and jam packed
76: https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-graffitti-mean/129787
Did anyone see any reliable numbers for it?
101: The first time I saw it, it was "Free Tibet."
Our crowd skewed old and white, but the folks honking and waving and thumbs-upping were much more diverse. Despite their reputation, I know a lot of very nice old white people.
Twin Cities report: of course, many were shocked and many more were horrified, but even though the governor ditched the rally at the Capitol, at least 80,000 people still showed up. I didn't make it over there this time, but that was about 2 and a half times the turnout for the big rally in April, so I didn't feel too bad. Additionally, there were smaller protests all over the region, in neighborhoods of MPLS and St Paul as well as the suburbs, so I wouldn't be surprised if the total turnout around the metro area was at least 100,000. One anti-choice cop wannabe with a few guns isn't going to keep Minnesotans off the streets at this juncture! "Praetorian Security" indeed! Fucking wanker doesn't scare us!
My sister and I did take my niece over to Louise Erdrich's bookstore, and she was an instant convert. And this evening we all met up with one of my niece's friends and her mom and saw the new how to train your dragon movie. That was pretty decent. I didn't cry, as much as it made me think about our poor old cat that we said goodbye to in February.
All in all a pretty fun day despite it beginning so horribly.
We changed up the formula for today's event because we weren't able to use the usual venue at the center of town. The Republicans had booked it for Flag Day. I understand dozens of people showed up.
So we ended up setting ours up as a festival at a more open area, a little outside of downtown, from which we staged a march. 1200 people left to march downtown and 1800 came back.
And when they did, there was a Grateful Dead cover band, grilled hot dogs, various arts and crafts and fun things that kept people engaged and having fun for a good chunk of time. No political speeches, just music and community building. In addition to the base of old folks, we had both families and the youth turn out, and had a whole bunch of different organizations participating.
It was probably the biggest event in the state, after Concord, Dover, Portsmouth, and Nashua. But those places are all in populated areas.
Excellent, Spike!
"1200 people left to march downtown and 1800 came back."
Love it!
I think I have milder covid and am trying to sleep it off. I wish we were eligible for 2x a year shots, because this is more than a cold, but he's not doing an urgent care video visit to get Paxlovid.
Boston had 1 million. Wish I had been able to go, but I don''t Want to expose people, on the train.
The last Trump flag I remember seeing in my parents' neighborhood has come down, probably within the past couple weeks. IIRC, this house had a Fuck Biden flag at one point last year.
The Washington Post gave those to staffers.
I'm seeing estimates that nationwide, yesterday surpassed 3.5% turnout. (Maybe barely.)
I'm also estimating that in Heebieville, we were probably at 1%. I don't know what I'm trying to extrapolate though.
108: fingers crossed that you both recover quickly.
You need 3.5% of the population for everyone to get av chance to catch a Pikachu in a hat that says "No Kings."
We had 8.5% of our city's population or 2.6% of our county population. Given other events around the county, in total its probably above 3.5%.
Our county is rare in that it is a rural place that is still blue - although it has been shifting red as one might expect. Events like yesterday's are an important way to advertise this area to left-wing newcomers who might help us to maintain the balance.
116: you have a big student population. Are any of them showing up to the demonstrations and how would that affect your percentage calculations?
Schools out for summer, so this was mostly not them. And the size of our student population isn't what it used to be since the Pumpkin Festival Riots.
We've had trouble getting them to show up in the past. I bet we have an easier time of it this fall, though.
We only just started having a proper Pumpkin Festival again.
Improper pumpkin, what's your function?
We have some peaches that are getting over-ripe, so our son used ChapGPT to see what to do with leftover peaches. He's now making peach jam and people who aren't me are visibly afraid for our kitchen.
My town had a turnout of 6-7000, about 3 times as many as showed up for the Hands Off protests.
I'm trying to figure out the jacket that the murderer was arrested in. I think Temu Barbour.
I'm late to this but just wanted to say to LB that caregiving is hard, and I hope it's going at least OK for you, and the person you're caring for is lucky to have you on the job. Take care of yourself.
The NYT's "no more local endorsements" Editorial Board with the weaseliest non-endorsement endorsement of Andrew Cuomo imaginable:
Given those polls, however, the crucial choice may end up being where, if at all, voters decide to rank Mr. Cuomo or Mr. Mamdani. We do not believe that Mr. Mamdani deserves a spot on New Yorkers' ballots. His experience is too thin, and his agenda reads like a turbocharged version of Mr. de Blasio's dismaying mayoralty. As for Mr. Cuomo, we have serious objections to his ethics and conduct, even if he would be better for New York's future than Mr. Mamdani.
The whole thing reads very Fascism Lite. Starts with a litany of troubles and what a bad past decade it has been thanks to mega-Lliberal Bill de Blasio (Covid not even mentioned!). Eric Adams provided hope for some improvements, but sadly, corruption.
You could argue they sort of endorsed Lander:
Mr. Lander is another Democrat who adopted dubious ideas, such as cuts to policing, during the party's leftward shift of the late 2010s and early 2020s. He has since moderated, though, which demonstrates a welcome ability to learn from experience.
But seem resigned to a choice between the sex abusing shithead and the dirty fucking hippie Muslim.
They blast Cuomo, but sadly it must be him.
Fortunately I feel like it's so weaselly-written as not to make an impact on potential voters. (They don't even say "rank Cuomo", they just say "don't rank Mamdani" and then trail off into a shrug.)
(going way back) 44: The A400 Atlas planes I saw near Boston were all German, and had generally bounced through YYT headed to IAD.
Mr. Lander is another Democrat who adopted dubious ideas, such as cuts to policing
Do these assholes even see what police are doing right now? Defund the police has been vindicated.
From wrong thread:
130 Follows a weekend where they did a nominally better job covering the protests and contrasting them with the parade (WaPo had a bombastic piece of garbage on the parade) but that coverage very quickly disappeared from the front of the website.
In print they had a prominent pair of demonstration/parade pictures dominating the front page* with an article contrasting the two, but the main protests-only article seemed to be one on page 20 that was headlined " Thousands(!!!???) Mobilize for 'No Kings' Demonstrations." (May have been more on local ones in NYC area).
*Also an insipid Peter Baker "analysis" I had missed which was full of Bullshit about Trump and foreign conflicts.
Similarly:
And am also noting that almost no one in the regular media seems to find it newsworthy that several Republican senators (Mike Lee and Moreno) made mocking social media posts about the Minnesota murders.
"Imagine if a Dem" is a tired trope, but holy shit, imagine if!!
My broken record, let me show it to you, but I do think it is hard to even begin to appreciate how fucked in the head almost every elite in the country is about the massively warped information space we live in. (I mean, it has led to us all being fucked in the head--as it was designed to do; so maybe don't listen to me. I don't know, but it's fuuuuccckkkked well and good.)
It's Brandolini's world, we just live in it.
Wow, I completely forgot all this weaselling is coming after the NYT Ed Board said it would stop endorsing in local races - including for Mayor.
Good guys with guns shoot bad guy with gun at No Kings rally, also kill innocent bystander.
" Thousands(!!!???)"
Technically five thousand thousand is still "Thousands", at least they didn't go with fifty thousand "hundreds".
I do wonder if some Senators and/or their staff are so addicted to Twitter and being fed right wing algorithmic garbage that they can't see anything wrong with mocking the assassination of member of the opposing party. They see it all the time on their pocket screen, isn't that a generally accepted response now?
I think the crowning idiocy of the Mike Lee thing is the idea that anyone who is actually involved in government would be surprised, or unable to understand the fact that bullshit advisory boards like the one. Vance Boelter was appointed to are almost always bipartisan/nonpartisan, and the significance of being appointed to or serving on such a board is virtually nil. And the stupidity of promoting the idea that if the assassin was in possession of fliers for demonstrations against the administration, that he must of course have intended to participate in the protests due to his ideological alignment with their stated purpose. As if there haven't been fascist counter demonstrators at every significant anti Trump protest of the last 10 years.
But, of course, since those ideas can't be expressed in bellicose single syllables, they're doomed to remain unrevealed to the broad mass of knuckle dragging Republican morons.
Didn't Mike Lee literally post a photo of a murderer with approving text?
There's a kid here in a t shirt with Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky firing guns out the window of a moving car. The background is a waving America flag with a few bullet holes. I'm thinking of asking where he got it.
NO DOUBT IT WAS AT THE ENVER HOXHA COMMUNIST BOOKSTORE
I'm bored. I wonder how hard it would be to find some middle aged Mormon lawyer to run against that failson.
They probably are all at the same bar.
145: Those are speed holes. They make the car go faster.
Trump's leaving the G7 early, calling the NSC (though who, I thought he fired everyone). This combined with his deranged tweet about evacuating Tehran bodes very ill.
The only thing that could possibly affect Fordow is a MOP*, but those are 30,000lbs and the IAF doesn't have aircraft that can carry it. So it looks like the antiwar president is going to get his war. Bonkers.
*I've seen those in a position to know express serious doubts about that even, but that doesn't mean it won't be attempted.
Maybe he's just going to ask the NSC if the UK is still in the EU.
Maybe they'll just dress up 15 2000lb bombs in a trenchcoat.
The raccoons have a trench coat, from when they went to the movies as a guy.
I just learned the aeropress coffee maker is from the same guy who made the aerobie frisbee.
The Times did end up with an Annie Karni article on the Mike Lee posts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/politics/mike-lee-minnesota-assassination-democrats.html
And it seems to now be getting some play in the Salt Lake Tribune.
At least when he said Tehran should evacuate it turns out he wasn't telegraphing the US about to formally enter*, just terrorizing a population for sport.
*still complicit of course
So, apparently GWB is speaking to a large crowd at Bio 2025 but only on condition that media are excluded.
Did Netanyahu just start this whole thing to avoid a no confidence vote?
160: Probably he knows the press won't be able to stop itself from writing stories that cast him as a venerable sage and he realizes how much of the current situation is his fault.
162: Mr. "Who cares what you think"? I think he just wants to stay out of the spotlight while he enjoys his millions.
162 was maybe not meant in seriousness.
Good-o. Goofs are perhaps harder to process this week.
US refueling tankers are mobilizing. Guess we'll see how deeply the centrifuges are buried. Mass flight from Teheran, grodlock. https://x.com/carlbildt/status/1934870342696132680
This feels like a war being planned by tweet (or RW-branded equivalent). At least for Iraq they said "Let's make a plan to invade and occupy," even if the planning faded off after that. This time there's no plan, it's just "Hit them!" Possibly on the Israeli side too.
Did you see the "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" tweet? If ever we needed a functional Congress to assert its War Powers it's now.
Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller and mayoral candidate, was just seized by masked ICE thugs.
Agree, I don't think Trump should have the power to announce an unconditional surrender. He didn't say who he was surrendering to- Putin? Bibi?
Yes, 167 based largely on that *tweet.
And here's JMM observing something very similar:
It's important to step back and recognize that there is really, literally no one in the inner discussion of U.S. foreign policy today who has any level of foreign policy or military crisis experience at all. That's a big statement. But I think it bears out. The two heads of the U.S. intelligence apparatus have zero experience in intelligence work. The head of the Pentagon is Pete Hegseth and he appears to have surrounded himself with lackeys... [T]here's really no one in the room, as it were, who is in a position to keep the President from just riffing. And I think there's a decent chance that's exactly what's happening.
Similar on the Israelis' part, even:
But they seemed to be saying, well, we'll start and then hopefully the U.S. will join in and do the big part. In other words, having a plan in which a critical element of the plan is something totally beyond your control.
(The big part being using our bombing capability on Fordow.)
A sign at a local protest: "IKEA has smarter cabinets"
I wish Fetterman could even clear the very low bar established by Trump.
The man looks like he's given up the will to live, just existing on pure spite alone.
Everyone here does. They still come up with more subtle policy positions than "bomb shit."
"But they seemed to be saying, well, we'll start and then hopefully the U.S. will join in and do the big part. In other words, having a plan in which a critical element of the plan is something totally beyond your control."
Deeply ironic, of course, because this whole war started because Hamas had exactly the same plan except it said "Hezbollah and Iran" instead of "the US".
Noem was hospitalized this afternoon. Since it is irresponsible to speculate, I'm going to have to assume it was for a meth overdose.
Bee stings are allergic reactions, right? Maybe the bees are finally fighting back with more force?
They killed a billionaire last week.
181: Just reporting what was in a CNN article and refraining from comments like "maybe she came into contact with truth."
How come you can go to prison for selling ketamine to Matthew Perry, but not Elon Musk?
It would have worked, too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids. Well, and if he hadn't died.
I hadn't really thought about this before, but no one ever gets in any trouble with the law selling drugs to rich and famous people, unless the the rich famous person dies of a drug overdose.
In terms of making people sad, Perry being dead is the functional equivalent of Musk being alive.
190: that's true, but I'm not sure if the ketamine is responsible for Musk still being alive.
Not enough ketamine is, in a way, responsible.
And too much ketamine is irresponsible. You want the hit of ketamine Goldilocks chose.