Outside the Beltway

Tabby Tuesday

Steven L. Taylor
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14 responses to “Tabby Tuesday”

  1. DrDaveT Avatar
    DrDaveT

    You can always count on the NYT to urge calm and procrastination in the face of an urgent crisis. “Some calm returns to markets” is pretty much analogous to “the patient’s seizures have temporarily subsided” — but the connotation is so much more mild…

    4
  2. a country lawyer Avatar
    a country lawyer

    How Tootsie Rolls helped save the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Réservoir.
    https://americangimuseum.org/tootsie-rolls-saved-the-marines-in-korea/

    2
  3. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    The ProPublica item above was noted by OTB contributor Scott on the Thursday Forum March 27, 2025.

    I am reposting my response here:

    Mister Bluster says:
    Thursday, 27 March 2025 at
    @Scott:..SIU-Home of the Dawgs…

    Thanks for the plug!
    As I’m sure I have mentioned in the past I arrived in Carbondale in 1968 to attend SIU and finish college. After five more years of allegedly attending classes I dropped out with no degree other than a major in Sex and Drugs and a minor in Rock and Roll.
    Fifty seven years later I still live in Southern Illinois about four miles south of the SIU campus in Makanda Township.
    If I could I would conjure up a Wizard who would entice about 10,000 High School graduates to attend SIU for the Fall semester 2025. Fall semester 2024 saw an increase in enrollment to 11,790. A 3.8% increase over Fall semester of 2023.
    I have never met Molly Parker although I am familiar with her reporting.
    Point of information. The photo captioned:
    “A mix of empty businesses and city buildings seen in a window reflection in downtown Carbondale. The university is the largest employer in the region.”
    was shot from inside a storefront recently vacated by Phoenix Cycles. Phoenix Cycles did not go out of business. It relocated to another downtown storefront nearby.

    1
  4. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    I’m not subscribed to the Atlantic, but it did let me see the subheadline to the Laura Loomer piece: “No one else with direct access to the president has been as outwardly bigoted.”

    My theory is that it’s in part because she’s Jewish, albeit one who gloms heavily onto the neo-Nazi crowd. A while back I heard Nick Fuentes denying being an anti-Semite by listing several Jews he liked, and she was the first name on the list (I never heard of the others). When Fuentes and Kanye went on Alex Jones shortly after their 2022 meeting with Trump at Mar-a-lago, she called in to voice her support. Then there’s this passage from her Wikipedia article, which has always amused me:

    In 2017, Loomer claimed to be dating alt-right activist Tim Gionet, who had tweeted a photoshopped picture of Loomer being executed inside a gas chamber, referencing the killing of Jews during the Holocaust. Gionet denied that the pair were dating.

    All that said, when Trump wants a Nazi in his inner circle, he’d prefer it be a Jewish Nazi. We knew that from Stephen Miller. And especially since Oct. 7, the right has seized on the Gaza situation as well as the broader Israel-Palestine conflict to paint themselves as white-knight protectors of the Jews. It doesn’t matter that they pander to the worst anti-Semites on the right (some of whom, like Fuentes, are pretty openly anti-Israel), or that they’re doing Nazi salutes, or that they’re promoting right-wing German parties with actual Nazi roots, or that they’re talking about Jewish Space Lasers, or that they’re constantly referencing Soros as some kind of all-powerful force controlling world events, or that they put a man who believes Covid was created in a lab so that Jews and Chinese would be immune as the head of HHS. None of that matters. All that matters is that the Israel issue gives them a unique opportunity to seize the anti-bigotry card for themselves. It’s the only type of bigotry they even pretend to care about, and they insist on viewing it entirely through the lens of Israel vs. the Palestinians, the latter of which you automatically become if you criticize Netanyahu.

    So while I don’t know how the Atlantic article explains it, it’s pretty obvious to me why Loomer is much likelier to be part of the team than other equally unhinged right-wing vagrants.

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  5. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Kylopod: That should be a gift link. If it isn’t, let me know.

    Regardless, your analysis is spot on.

    2
  6. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @Steven L. Taylor: Interesting. Now it works. I thought it didn’t work the first time I clicked on the link, but maybe I just assumed it because of the sign-in message at the bottom, and the fact that you have to scroll down quite a bit to see the body of the article.

    In any case, the article doesn’t talk about Loomer’s Jewishness, so my points stand on their own.

    2
  7. Tony W Avatar
    Tony W

    @a country lawyer: I am reminded of my son talking about how Silly String saved lives during his deployment during the Iraq war – they’d spray it in buildings that were newly breached to look for booby-trap wires. The Silly String was lightweight enough to hang on the wire without tripping the munitions.

    War is hell, and any creative way to survive is well-regarded.

    5
  8. Eusebio Avatar
    Eusebio

    @DrDaveT: “You can always count on the NYT…”

    And I would say the market’s wild volatility of late, including today, is the opposite of calm. Administration officials say things and the markets react, sometimes up and other times down. I wouldn’t expect calm anytime soon.

  9. DK Avatar
    DK

    Is the market calm in the room with us right now?

    New York Slimes gonna New York Slimes.

  10. Eusebio Avatar
    Eusebio

    Today, the S&P 500’s afternoon low was 6.6% lower than its morning high. That could have been quite unnerving, if not for the market calm.

    1
  11. Michael Reynolds Avatar
    Michael Reynolds

    Wall Street had an embarrassing bedroom incident. Almost there, almost there, oh god, oh god I’m gonna. . . aw fuck, I flashed on Trump when he fellated that microphone. Dammit. No, it’s not happening now. No, just let it go, it happens to everyone, alright? Can we just make some scrambled eggs, please? What? We can’t afford eggs?

    2
  12. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Eusebio: I agree. They made a leap based on the Asian markets and futures before trading.

    And today ended down over 300 points after that big open.

    1
  13. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    BTW: on the market situation, I have had two separate Trump-voting family members tell in the last two days something along the lines of “We’ll just have to see how it plays out” or “It will eventually come back” or things to that effect.

    I have never better understood Keynes’ statement “In the long run we are all dead” more than in this moment.

    7
  14. Daisy L. Avatar
    Daisy L.

    What a delightful celebration of feline charm! This Tabby Tuesday feature perfectly captures why tabbies hold such a special place in our hearts—their expressive markings, playful personalities, and that irresistible “M” forehead badge. The photos showcase their incredible diversity, from classic mackerel stripes to bold swirls. As a longtime tabby enthusiast, I particularly appreciated the nod to their historical significance (who knew they were Viking shipmates?). This post is equal parts educational and heartwarming—exactly the kind of content that brightens a weekday scroll. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go spoil my own stripey overlord with extra treats!

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