February 16, 2021

This is bad. UPDATE 02-16-21

Internet is very spotty, but I have a little right now, so I thought I would update the Lounge.

We made it through the night. Still no power. No running water. We have food and bottled water. The minivan is keeping us warm. We have 3/4 of a tank of gas.

We’re bored but safe for the moment. Lots of snow expected tomorrow. We won’t be above freezing until Friday.

Thank you all for the thoughts, suggestions, and good vibes.

-Laelth

February 16, 2021

This is bad.

The daughter and I are caught in the East Texas winter wonderland in the Free State of Van Zandt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Zandt_County,_Texas

Electricity started rolling blackouts at 2:00 AM. At 5:27 AM, power went out completely. Daughter and I are currently living in a trailer in an RV Park. We lost water yesterday (all the lines are frozen), but we have sufficient water to survive. What we lack is heat. We have a propane-fueled heater, but it requires electricity to ignite. We have two space heaters, and they are sufficient to keep our space warm, but they require electricity. We have no electricity, and our local power co-op tells us that the State of Texas has ordered them through the auspices of the ERCOT. This is the Texas Regulatory Authority that is in charge of power allocation in the State. This is the organization that decided to divert power from my local co-op and has, in effect, condemned thousands of people to freeze to death this evening. How they make these decisions is beyond me, but I assume that the wealthy North Dallas suburbs are powered up. Predominantly African-American South Dallas is probably freezing, as are the predominantly White redneck rural areas surrounding the city.

https://www.tvec.net/ercot-calls-for-rolling-outages-to-reduce-demand/

We have propane, but we can’t use it to heat the trailer because the furnace requires an electric ignition and is run by an electricity-powered thermostat. We’re living in the minivan. As long as it’s running, we have heat. We just filled up on gas.

We tried to book a hotel room, but none are available within a 100 mile radius. The roads are very bad, so we’re hesitant to attempt to find shelter at any distance from our current location.

It’s currently 7 degrees, and we are heading for a low of 3 degrees tonight. Tomorrow’s high is not projected to exceed 25 degrees. The seven inches of snow that we have on the ground isn’t going anywhere. Then, on Wednesday, we are expecting another five to seven inches of snow—completely locking us in. Temperatures will not exceed freezing until Friday. There is no official report regarding when electricity may be restored.

I am not given to panic. Only a couple of times in my life have I been this frightened—for myself and for my child.

Please, wish us well.

-Laelth

February 14, 2021

Most likely, we're being watched closely, and it's OK.

This is a response to a thread that was self-deleted by marmar who wanted to understand why views seem so high this evening on DU (immediately following the conclusion of Trump’s second impeachment trial) compared to responses and recommendations. What follows is my theory.

National security and other bots are probably doing repeated word-searches looking for words like:

fight, kill, terrorism, attack, bomb, destroy, plan, meeting, murder, eradicate, secede, secession, war, castrate all Republicans, treason, traitor, vengeance, decimate, decapitate, genocide, annihilate, blast, drown, AK-47, boot, sacrifice, blood, eggs and omelettes, illegal, weapon, killing, homicide, gun, ammo, insurrection, barricade, hang, secret, shoot, poison, anthrax, slaughter, plot, and don’t forget tiny demonic wizards designed to penetrate Trump’s testicles and blow them up from the inside.

If this post doesn’t raise a red flag, then I wrote it very poorly. Seriously, people SHOULD be concerned that true Americans are rightly angry about the blatant miscarriage of justice that we witnessed today. It would make sense for law enforcement to pay special attention to us today.



-Laelth

February 10, 2021

Aaww, y'all are so sweet.

Thanks for all the hearts.



-Laelth

February 10, 2021

Trump's lawyers are panicked.

A number of posters and pundits have called attention to the fact that Donald Trump’s legal team appeared “disorganized” and “random” in today’s Senate trial of the twice-impeached ex-President for incitement to insurrection. Some commentators went further, calling Trump’s defense team terrible, awful, and incompetent. One particularly critical DU poster cut to the chase and described the Trump defense as “a bunch of babbling bull****.”

Undoubtedly, Castor and Shoen could have done better. What I offer here is a theory that explains why they didn’t. They’re panicked.

It takes a lot of time to prepare well for a trial. Castor and Shoen had barely a week to prepare, and they did the best they could. They prepared as solid a case as possible for acquittal on the grounds of due process and the unconstitutionality of the trial, itself.

Then, yesterday happened. The Senate agreed to bifurcate the vote (vote twice instead of just once). The first vote was on constitutionality. The Senate found the trial constitutional 56-44. Tomorrow, house managers will begin to argue the merits of the House’s case, but note that the decision to bifurcate only occurred yesterday. Trump’s defense team has mountains of arguments on unconstitutionality and due process. They have little or nothing to argue on the merits. They didn’t think that they would have to.

They had plenty of things to say today—too many, in fact. That’s why they sounded rushed, flustered, and disorganized. They didn’t have enough time to adequately cover all the material that they had prepared. I know that feeling. I’ve been there.

What’s probably worse is that they haven’t prepared much of a defense on the merits, and they have no time to do so because (at this point) they’re stuck in court all day. They’re seriously worried that when it comes time to argue the merits, they’re woefully unprepared.

As a fellow attorney, I pity them. Castor and Shoen only became aware of the actual structure of the trial the day before it began. That’s rough. Regardless, I understand why they looked mighty panicked today. I have to wonder whether they’re secretly hoping that Trump will fire them tonight.



-Laelth

February 4, 2021

YES! America is back.

America is back in its greater glory as a global leader in support of democracy, equality, freedom, and justice for all.

In addition, as our President clearly outlined, we now have LIBERAL government, of a kind we have not seen since LBJ.

Thank you, President Biden.



-Laelth

February 2, 2021

Mitch is now, officially, a post turtle.

“Have you ever met or saw someone doing a job and wonder, ‘How the hell did they ever get in that position?’

I once was told by someone that they referred to those people as ‘post turtles.’ When people say phrases like these, my curiosity is peaked.

‘Ok, you got me! What is a post turtle?’ He said, ‘Every once in a while you see a turtle on a fence post. He can’t go anywhere; he’s kind of stuck and he doesn’t know how he got there or what the hell he’s doing there.’

‘That’s a post turtle, but you don’t blame the turtle for his lack of post-sitting skills or finesse. It’s better to blame the dumb ass that put him there in the first place.’ “



-Laelth

February 1, 2021

Jen Psaki - Press Briefing - 02/01/21 - CSPAN

It’s a thing of beauty. I am intensely and repeatedly impressed by our Press Secretary.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?508510-1/white-house-briefs-ahead-meeting-republicans-covid-relief



-Laelth