Tuesday’s Forum
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36 responses to “Tuesday’s Forum”
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Brand said he had been sitting at home on Friday night watching football when the doorbell rang and a man in a van asked him for help to unload some merchandise. “I asked him, ‘What are we going to unload?’. He said with a smile, ‘Well, the paintings of Medemblik’,.”
After the initial burglary in September, Brand had been widely quoted in the Dutch press as saying the thieves should have stolen six bikes, as these would be easier to resell.
Those comments, plus the publicity surrounding the Van Gogh recovery, probably led the thieves to simply hand the paintings back, Brand said.
“In some cases, they burn them, just to get rid of the evidence because they find out they cannot sell them,” he added. “So I’m very thankful that they decided to do the right thing. Stealing is wrong, but if you return it, at least you do something right.”
Both stories are worth the quick reads that they are. Oh yeah, almost forgot this part:
The authorities in Medemblik had offered a reward of €10,000 for the safe return of the paintings but this was unclaimed. Brand said he would not be collecting the cash. “I told them to give me a good book voucher,” he joked.
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I am looking for a blog recommendation. I try to follow stuff with a variety of viewpoints. Way back when I started setting up blogs to follow, I added Jezebel, which was supposed to be feminist, but these days it’s more celebrity gossip than anything else. What are some good blogs that represent the feminist viewpoint?
I would also be open to any other blog recommendations in general.
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For political insights, perhaps this:
https://yastreblyansky.blogspot.com/
For culture, movies tv etc,:
This site is run mostly by trans lesbians, LGTBQ+ with a focus mostly on the “L”.
Good for recaps of shows like “Yellowjackets.”
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The Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz spent time last weekend hobnobbing with Liz Truss, the shortest-serving British prime minister – but news closer to home suggested he might have reason to fear for his own job security.
Really? Liz Truss? She who couldn’t outlast a head of lettuce? That Liz Truss? No wonder you have loser stank all over you Ted.
As reported by the Dallas Morning News and the Texas Tribune, the Democratic congressman Colin Allred, Cruz’s most likely opponent for re-election next year, reported $10.9m raised since declaring his candidacy in May. That was nearly 20 times as much as Allred’s closest Democratic rival, but it was also, the papers said, almost $2m more than fundraising reported by Cruz in the same period.
The hard-right Republican – who was elected to the Senate in 2012, prompted a government shutdown in 2013 and ran for president in 2016 – reportedly raised $8.8m in the same period.
Yeah, don’t get your hopes up, this is Texas we are talking about.
Either way, Allred, a former Tennessee Titans NFL linebacker elected to Congress from his native Dallas in 2018, presents a formidable figure.
Hmmmm… Than again, a football player in football mad Texas? He just might pull it off. But I’m not gonna hold my breath.
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News from Poland that has cheered me up a bit:
Looks like the populist/conservative PiS are going to lose power. They got most votes of any single party, 35.4%, but not enough, in a proportional representation chamber to govern, or any others who’ll coalition with them.
Civic Party (centre/left), led by Donald Tusk, has 30.7%, Third Way (centre/right) 14.4 and Leica (left) 8.6% and already have a coalition pact agreed. -
@JohnSF:
Saw an article this AM that stated that there are observers in Poland who fear that PiS won’t give up power. We’ll see.
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@Bill Jempty: Same here. I never sleep well during a sleep study even though I’ve been using a CPAP machine for about 20 years and have had several sleep studies done. For some reason, it’s stress inducing for me.
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@OzarkHillbilly:
I wrote a novel about art theft (which I’ll be re-releasing one of these days) in which I reimagined art theft to make it profitable. TLDR: turn theft into extortion. Steal the Mona Lisa and where the hell are you going to sell it? Resale value: 0. But steal the Mona Lisa and threaten to burn it in 24 hours unless a ransom is paid? That makes economic sense. -
@just nutha: I have trouble sleeping but that is mostly due to pain. Docs recommended I do a sleep study and the more I thought about it I realized any results would be truly meaningless and besides, the study was just a tool to convince me to get a cpap which I would never get anyway. So yeah, I cancelled it.
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@Sleeping Dog: I’ve read they have already conceded.
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@Michael Reynolds: Crypto would be perfect for it.
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Same here. I never sleep well during a sleep study even though I’ve been using a CPAP machine for about 20 years and have had several sleep studies done. For some reason, it’s stress inducing for me.
Around 15 years ago, I went to have a sleep study performed. It was a disaster. I had a small personal accident as it was only just beginning and had to leave. This time around everything went smoothly,
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@OzarkHillbilly: Some sleep studies test for phenomena other than sleep apnea. But yeah, if you’re disinclined to use a machine but your doctor thinks sleep apnea is the issue, the sleep study may be wasted.
ETA: It’s not all about CPAP anymore though. Some sleep studies are about qualifying the patient for an Inspire implant these days. 😉
Why does your doctor suspect apnea? Snore? Wake up gasping? Morning headache? Narcolepsy? (By the way, I was 4 for 4 on those before treatment.)
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@just nutha: I snore, always have. Never had any of the other symptoms you mention. Pain is the main driver of my broken sleep as I have to roll over/straighten a limb/or jump up to scream and shout as another agonizing charlie horse drives me to the edge of suicide.
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@Sleeping Dog:
President Duda is a PiS pol, and will remain in office until 2025.
He may be tempted to appoint Kacsyski as PM to give them first shot at forming a coalition.
But that just delays the inevitable; they just don’t have the votes in the Sejm to sustain a Cabinet.
Unlike the US, the Polish President is head of state but NOT head of the executive.
So what would be the point?I really can’t see Duda attempting a autogolpe, though it’s a certainty there will be butting of heads between Prime Minister and President over the next couple of years.
Most likely Duda will try to preserve the PiS instutional power-base to enhance it’s chances of a comeback in the next parliamentary elections in 2027. -
@Michael Reynolds:
@OzarkHillbilly:Crypto would be perfect for it:
With the possible twist that when the FBI, let alone the Big Ear and the Big Eye, look hard enough, there are indications that crypto ain’t quite as cryptic as it’s more naive enthusiasists fondly assume.
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@Sleeping Dog:..Geo. Bush…
The Republicans could do no worse than nominate the corpse of Richard M. Nixon vs. the corpse of George H. W. Bush for Speaker of the House then hold the vote on Halloween.
It may take that long for these phantoms of political responsibility to get anything worthwhile accomplished. -
Something I read years ago & really enjoyed. It’s a complex story and I am thinking about dusting it off on a rainy day (fingers crossed) and going another round with it to see what I might have missed the first time.
https://theoxfordculturereview.com/2015/07/22/review-an-instance-of-the-fingerpost/
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@Mister Bluster: Henry Kissinger is still alive. If the goal was just to find the most evil man possible for Speaker… you would have a hard time finding worse.
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@Gustopher: Diane Feinstein….Too soon?
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@Gustopher:..Henry Kissinger is still alive.
Kissenger at 100 has me conviced that karma (what ever that means) is firmly entrenched with the wicked.
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DEAR GODDESS! STOP MANIFESTING!!!
Don’t you know, we’re in the dumbest timeline. Don’t make it worse.
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@Beth: The job of Speaker is going to be Hell On Earth. Since I don’t believe in an afterlife, I want Kissinger to experience that.
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@Mister Bluster: Kissenger at 100 has me conviced that karma (what ever that means) is firmly entrenched with the wicked.
Speaking as a 65 yr old union carpenter, I can attest that if the gods really wanted to punish me, they would keep me around for a 100 years or more.
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Surveillance video appears to show failed rocket launch causing Gaza hospital blast
Surveillance camera footage shows the moment a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip appears to fall short and explode inside the Palestinian territory.
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@charontwo: Like Hamas cares about Palestinians?
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@charontwo: we have a Palestine thread. I think we should let people have their silly fun open thread whenever possible.
I’ve screwed up once or twice and posted to the open thread over the past week, but I try. I encourage you to do the same (try, not screw up… few of us need much help screwing up)
(I was on my iPhone, got distracted, had no idea where I was on the site, and tiny screen didn’t show me enough of the page)
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@anjin-san: I read that and enjoyed it when it came out, and I have occasionally considered rereading as well. But if I may offer an alternative suggestion, if you’ve never read Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx it is as long as Fingerpost and even twistier, a brilliant Dickensian mystery that never stops astonishing.
