XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/7/2025 8:48 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

It's likely the guy with no knowledge of history is ranting about Biden,
not Trump.

--
Mark Jackson - https://mark-jackson.online/
It’s a good thing I had no direction.
I might have given up. - Jules Feiffer

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/7/2025 8:44 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:11 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:48 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

It's likely the guy with no knowledge of history is ranting about
Biden, not Trump.

Or Shouting Guy could be rating about Obama.

Or Adams.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> writes:

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Locally, we were assured that the shelves would be empty (as a result
of Trump's tariffs) by the last two weeks of May. Didn't happen. This
/may/ still happen, and some businesses have been affected, but so so
good.

Actually, look more closely. I've seen both empty shelves and
shortages in various stores on the west coast. Often the store
will attempt to dress those empty shelves in various ways
(I've seen cardboard filler boxes; I've also seen them spread
out existing merch to fill in gaps caused by sold-out or otherwise
unavailable items).

Check the overheads at Costco, and you may notice less stock waiting
to be sold. You may also notice more floor space in the warehouse.
(There has been a noticable reduction in customer traffic at my
local warehouse in the last few months).

The recent left wing-nut attempt to blame a flash flood on DOGE
appears to have collapsed: the warnings were sent, but nobody was
watching.

One might consider the NOAA staffing reductions to have had
an impact, if minimal so close to the actual layoffs)
on the forecasting and warning abilities. Something likely to
get worse over time due to Musk's toadies.

Four years until the financial apocalypse of the USA according to the=20 >>documentary =93The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047=94
=20 >>https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062= >328247

Normally, I would still be attributing the state of the economy to
Biden,

Please don't add to Lynn's "mandibles" nonsense. It's not a
"documentary", just right-wing apocolyptic fantasy.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

Taking "TDS" at its word, I would point out:
1. Tippecanoe (Harrison) is better than Trump (and arguably a few
others) /precisely because/ he didn't do anything.
2. Buchanan was President in 1859/early 1860 (still March, IIRC), but
what, exactly, was he supposed to do with horse-based land
transportation in that time? Have Congress (what was left of it) fund
a recruiting drive for the Army?

Trump is fighting every side. The liberals say that he is doing too
much and the conservatives say that he is not doing enough.

The wing-nuts are still ... wing-nuts.

Locally, we were assured that the shelves would be empty (as a result
of Trump's tariffs) by the last two weeks of May. Didn't happen. This
/may/ still happen, and some businesses have been affected, but so so
good.

The recent left wing-nut attempt to blame a flash flood on DOGE
appears to have collapsed: the warnings were sent, but nobody was
watching. The county wanted a cut of Federal money (parcelled out by
the State) to upgrade their warning system (not including an actual
audible alarm because the residents didn't want one) but were turned
down on both of their attempts by the State committee created to dole
the funds out. All these State-level groups were, it should go without
saying, not run by Democrats. So, in the long run, it is the
Republicans running Texas at the State level that appear likely at
this time to be stuck with the blame. And they may even deserve it,
who can say?

That would make it another example (like the Uvalde school situation) suggesting that being run by extreme right-wing Republicans is not a
good state for a State to be in.

The right wing-nuts appear to be espousing familiar positions:
1. Weather manipulation.
2. It's all a fake. Presumably with crisis-actors.
There may be others out there, of course.

Four years until the financial apocalypse of the USA according to the >documentary “The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047”

https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062328247

Normally, I would still be attributing the state of the economy to
Biden, as six months is normally not enough time for a new President
to have an impact. I'm not sure if that holds now, given Trump's
endless search for things to do to get his name in /all/ the
headlines, but a crash in 2029 (especially if in the first half) would
probably be attributed to Trump, not whoever succeeds him.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

In article <104i7is$3c9tq$3@dont-email.me>,
Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:44 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:11 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:48 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

It's likely the guy with no knowledge of history is ranting about
Biden, not Trump.

Or Shouting Guy could be rating about Obama.

Or Adams.

John or John Quincy? (note that they, along with Lincoln, were the only
pre-ACW Presidents that weren't members of or toadies to the Southern
Planter Class).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. —-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/8/25 13:41, William Hyde wrote:

Scott Lurndal wrote:

Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> writes:

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Locally, we were assured that the shelves would be empty (as a result
of Trump's tariffs) by the last two weeks of May. Didn't happen. This
/may/ still happen, and some businesses have been affected, but so so
good.

Actually, look more closely.  I've seen both empty shelves and
shortages in various stores on the west coast.   Often the store
will attempt to dress those empty shelves in various ways
(I've seen cardboard filler boxes; I've also seen them spread
out existing merch to fill in gaps caused by sold-out or otherwise
unavailable items).

Yes.

Check the overheads at Costco, and you may notice less stock waiting
to be sold.  You may also notice more floor space in the warehouse.
(There has been a noticable reduction in customer traffic at my
local warehouse in the last few months).

Us consumers are not buying because we will need money when
the prices go even higher. Why will they go higher? Very simple when
you give tax breaks to people who do not need breaks the money will
depreciated in value. The billionaires and millionaires made money with disaster, racking up profits during the Covid Crisis and their financial institution being provided with government payments during the
2008 real estate crisis.

Ontario, it turns out, has a multi-billion dollar greenhouse industry,
with most of the fresh produce until recently going to restaurants in
the northern US.

But as of a couple of months ago, there's suddenly a lot more in the way
of fresh produce in the stores here.  Even at Costco, the frozen bags of American vegetables are now supplemented by Canadian, and the latter are
both cheaper and better.  Even healthier.

Well it has not shown up yet but cherries are more expensive because of worker shortages, i.e. people are hiding from ICE's workplace raids.

One of my vices is pea soup with (warning, disturbing content ahead!)
ham.  This is  getting hard to get as a high end product as companies
cater to vegetarian and vegan customers (pea soup with lentils, yuck!).

I like Pea Soup with ham/spam/bacon and buy whatever i can get to pull that all together. I like to add more garlic and onions as well.
Lately using Trader
Joe's garlic and onion powders to save time and energy.
But I start with canned soup. In the Winter I might try it from scratch but
it gets too hot in my apartment on Summer days.

I've been relying on a Quebecois brand, which is so-so.  Imagine my
surprise to see that it had suddenly doubled in price!  Turns out
Campbell bought it out years ago.  I won't be buying it even after the tariffs are gone.

I may be reduced to making my own soup.

No! Mr Hyde, you will be elevating yourself by cooking your own soup but it ain't cheap and in addition to soup ingredients you will need glass storage for the Soup you cannot consume immediately.

The recent left wing-nut attempt to blame a flash flood on DOGE
appears to have collapsed: the warnings were sent, but nobody was
watching.

One might consider the NOAA staffing reductions to have had
an impact, if minimal so close to the actual layoffs)
on the forecasting and warning abilities.  Something likely to
get worse over time due to Musk's toadies.

The team leaders were cut. One can imagine that the leaders might
have been more capable of impressing the locals with the danger.

Although local authorities are looking very bad, the weather service situation is not clear to me.  Doge's cuts technically do not come for a
few weeks, but staffing levels are already down.  With more people the warnings might have been followed up with more personal contacts, as has happened in the past.

Nobody in the news seems to be focusing on the flood watch that was put
out Friday.  The watch says, well, watch.  Trouble may be coming, keep
an eye out for further bulletins.  Virtually all the commentary seems to assume that a watch is something to be ignored.  Even in an area known
to be prone to flash floods.

I think it was 1987 when another flash flood rose higher. Trump on site
dismissed this as a 100 year flood but it is much more frequent than that.
Due to climate changes which he believes to be a Chinese invention.

The two parties are confused on this issue. Democrats like NOAA and
argue that it is valuable, but in this case they want to claim that it malfunctioned due to cuts. Republicans dislike NOAA and would like to
abolish it as valueless, but in this case they need to say that it
performed well so as not to take blame for the deaths.

Both are foolish as the real need was for funding for a local
warning system which the local government dismissed as an un-needed
expense.

While it doesn't apply in this case (I think) the reduction in
radiosonde observations will degrade forecasts.  So future watches and warnings will be a bit less reliable.

But then you don't really need expensive forecasts when the president
can make them with a sharpie costing under $2.

Oh but his sharpie is not as accurate as the real Weather Models
to which we will be losing access.

William Hyde

Even San Francisco will suffer from the lack of accuracy in fprecastomg eventually. I was here when the smoke from wild fires to the North spread
over San Francisco. On one day it gave us an other worldly ambience but
the next day it settled and use of particulate mask (and it was during Covid restrictions) was essential to avoid excessive inhalation of fine
particles...

bliss - cooks for herself... But nothing too fancy.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/8/25 15:14, Lynn McGuire wrote:

On 7/8/2025 3:10 PM, William Hyde wrote:

Dimensional Traveler wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:44 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:11 PM, Mark Jackson wrote:

On 7/7/2025 8:48 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

It's likely the guy with no knowledge of history is ranting about
Biden, not Trump.

Or Shouting Guy could be rating about Obama.

Or Adams.

Everybody knows it's that damned John Winthrop.

William Hyde

Who ?

Lynn

Not sure but perhaps this John Winthop, learder of Puritans. <https://historycooperative.org/john-winthrop>

bliss

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/8/2025 11:45 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

One might consider the NOAA staffing reductions to have had
an impact, if minimal so close to the actual layoffs)
on the forecasting and warning abilities. Something likely to
get worse over time due to Musk's toadies.

The regional NWS office is fully staffed and started issuing flood
watches (IIRC) 24 hours before the incident. When they realized that the weather was likely to be worse than thought they brought in extra staff.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/8/2025 4:11 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote:

    The team leaders were cut. One can imagine that the leaders might have been more capable of impressing the locals with the danger.

Although local authorities are looking very bad, the weather service
situation is not clear to me.  Doge's cuts technically do not come for
a few weeks, but staffing levels are already down.  With more people
the warnings might have been followed up with more personal contacts,
as has happened in the past.

Nobody in the news seems to be focusing on the flood watch that was
put out Friday.  The watch says, well, watch.  Trouble may be coming,
keep an eye out for further bulletins.  Virtually all the commentary
seems to assume that a watch is something to be ignored.  Even in an
area known to be prone to flash floods.

The regional office (fully staffed and more) put out a series of watches
and warnings, the last being an extreme warning about an hour before the
flood, so late because the storm built so fast. Every time a storm of
any significant strength moves through the hill country and south of it
we get watches, warnings, and floods but the floods rarely raise far
enough to do much damage. Mainly because building is not allowed in the frequently flooded part of the floodplain. Most deaths occur from people driving through low water crossings, even when the gates are closed[1],
warning lights are flashing, etc. There are "Turn Around, Don't Drown"
signs at almost every crossing, billboards, and TV commercials but
people ignore it. [2]

So yes, we get complacent about watches and even warnings.

    I think it was 1987 when another flash flood rose higher.  Trump on site
dismissed this as a 100 year flood but it is much more frequent than that. Due to climate changes which he believes to be a Chinese invention.

The 1987 flood was lower by a few feet. the 1935 flood was higher by a
couple feet. The major difference was how fast it developed and the time
of occurrence. This flood was caused by a rain bomb that dropped 10" an
hour in a very localized area very early in the morning. Most of our
flooding occurs with moderate-to-heavy rain over a wide area building up
in the hill country creeks leading to the rivers.

Many of the buildings destroyed had been there 30, 40, 50, even a 100
years and while they may have been flooded before, now they are
completely gone. If I remember correctly, Camp Mystic was barely touched
in the 1987 flood.

A 100 year flood is also misunderstood. It means every year there's a
one in 100 chance of having a flood of a certain magnitude. It's
expressed better on floodplain maps. The basic areas indicated are: if
it rains there's going to be a flood in this area, there's a 1% chance
in a year of a flood in this area, and there's a .25% chance in a year
of a flood in this area. In San Antonio we had 100 year (1%) floods in
1998 and 2002.

From what I've heard many Kerr County residents didn't want the siren
system. The thinking being that it's going to be a bad as the
watches/warnings. They're going to go off at least a few times a year,
if not several, every time the river rises five feet so people would
just ignore them unless they are actually in the river.

I'll also note that this was not the only river to flood from this
system, just the worst. I think three others. We've had more rain in the
area and two storm systems moved through the San Antonio area, with
flood watches.

[1]I don't think I've seen one locked but since I don't go near low
water crossings when it's raining not positive.

[2]Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do. We recently had 15 people
killed in their cars. They were stopped at a traffic light on a
low-lying interstate access road when a wall of water came sweeping
across the road, carrying the vehicles into a creek and downstream for a
couple of miles.

Jay - who used to live a lot closer to the hill county but moved further
south, where we still get flooding.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/8/2025 11:29 PM, Jay Morris wrote:

So yes, we get complacent about watches and even warnings.

https://www.gocomics.com/speedbump/2025/07/09

Too soon?

--
Mark Jackson - https://mark-jackson.online/
It’s a good thing I had no direction.
I might have given up. - Jules Feiffer

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:

Paul S Person wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

Taking "TDS" at its word, I would point out:
1. Tippecanoe (Harrison) is better than Trump (and arguably a few
others) /precisely because/ he didn't do anything.

Somewhere, somewhen I read that in the 1800s the day for the
inauguration fell on a Sunday, and so for 24 hours the speaker was >effectively president.

Then there was "I am in control here" Alexander Haig....

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:

On 7/8/2025 3:41 PM, William Hyde wrote:
...

One of my vices is pea soup with (warning, disturbing content ahead!)
ham.  This is  getting hard to get as a high end product as companies
cater to vegetarian and vegan customers (pea soup with lentils, yuck!).

I've been relying on a Quebecois brand, which is so-so.  Imagine my
surprise to see that it had suddenly doubled in price!  Turns out
Campbell bought it out years ago.  I won't be buying it even after the
tariffs are gone.

I may be reduced to making my own soup.

...

The everlasting soup cauldron in the "Dies The Fire" series might be >inspiring.

IIRC, RAH describes such an everlasting soup cauldron in
"The Sixth Column" aka "The Day after Tomorrow".

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On Tue, 8 Jul 2025 16:15:13 -0400, Cryptoengineer
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

On 7/8/2025 12:45 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> writes:

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Locally, we were assured that the shelves would be empty (as a result
of Trump's tariffs) by the last two weeks of May. Didn't happen. This
/may/ still happen, and some businesses have been affected, but so so
good.

Actually, look more closely. I've seen both empty shelves and
shortages in various stores on the west coast. Often the store
will attempt to dress those empty shelves in various ways
(I've seen cardboard filler boxes; I've also seen them spread
out existing merch to fill in gaps caused by sold-out or otherwise
unavailable items).

Check the overheads at Costco, and you may notice less stock waiting
to be sold. You may also notice more floor space in the warehouse.
(There has been a noticable reduction in customer traffic at my
local warehouse in the last few months).

The recent left wing-nut attempt to blame a flash flood on DOGE
appears to have collapsed: the warnings were sent, but nobody was
watching.

One might consider the NOAA staffing reductions to have had
an impact, if minimal so close to the actual layoffs)
on the forecasting and warning abilities. Something likely to
get worse over time due to Musk's toadies.

Four years until the financial apocalypse of the USA according to the=20 >>>> documentary =93The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047=94
=20
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062= >>> 328247

Normally, I would still be attributing the state of the economy to
Biden,

Please don't add to Lynn's "mandibles" nonsense. It's not a
"documentary", just right-wing apocolyptic fantasy.

A single data point, but on Sunday I went to the local supermarket,
and the fresh produce aisle was notably missing a lot of fresh produce, >particularly things like sweet peppers.

Possibilities:

1. Sunday is generally a day with poor stock, but I'd never noticed it
in the produce section before.
2. Tail end the of long holiday weekend
3. 1&2 together
4. Lack of harvesting, due to immigration crackdown.

Nr 4 kind of depends on /when things are harvested/, does it not?

But this could be the start of a /real/ problem.

I have noticed one story about tomatoes being buried because there is
no market for them. But that's not the same thing, although it may
actually be worse overall in the long run.

I'll have to see if it continues.

The problem here is that if the shelves are /not/ empty next Fall, a
whole lot of people are likely to conclude that the left wing-nut
warnings were ... not well founded ... and vote Republican.

It would be better to wait until shortages /actually appear/ and then
point out who is responsible.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On Tue, 8 Jul 2025 14:11:03 -0700, Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> wrote:

<snippo: Texas floods>

I think it was 1987 when another flash flood rose higher. Trump on site
dismissed this as a 100 year flood but it is much more frequent than that. >Due to climate changes which he believes to be a Chinese invention.

See, that's what I mean by left wing-nuttery: it is sufficient to talk
about State and local governmental unpreparedness /without/ riling
people up by mentioning climate change. Do we want to /solve the
problem/ or just /tweak "their" noses/?

I /know/ the climate is changing: my maple tree starts budding earlier
in the Spring and leaves stay on longer in the Fall, leaving about a
couple weeks less time for raking -- a period during which the weather
is still nice enough /to/ rake, as opposed to later on.

But riling people up when there is clearly no need to do so is not a
productive thing to do.

The two parties are confused on this issue. Democrats like NOAA and
argue that it is valuable, but in this case they want to claim that it
malfunctioned due to cuts. Republicans dislike NOAA and would like to
abolish it as valueless, but in this case they need to say that it
performed well so as not to take blame for the deaths.

Both are foolish as the real need was for funding for a local
warning system which the local government dismissed as an un-needed
expense.

As I understand it, the /local/ government -- that is, the County --
wanted to upgrade the system but the /State/ government refused
/twice/ to allocate the /Federal/ funds they had been given for such
projects to that county. Or has that changed since yesterday?

It appears that the people living in the county expressed a strong
resistance to a warning siren or whistle. I have no idea why.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

I've been relying on a Quebecois brand, which is so-so. Imagine my
surprise to see that it had suddenly doubled in price! Turns out
Campbell bought it out years ago. I won't be buying it even after the >tariffs are gone.

I may be reduced to making my own soup.

Reduced? Homemade soup is so much better than anything commercial. For
split pea soup try the recipe in the older editions of JoC. You may have
to cook dried peas today a bit longer than back in the forties, but
otherwise the recipe works great. I use a super salty Virginia ham but
that is a thing you can select according to your own taste (which is another part of the superiority of making your own).
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/9/2025 8:58 AM, Mark Jackson wrote:

On 7/8/2025 11:29 PM, Jay Morris wrote:

So yes, we get complacent about watches and even warnings.

https://www.gocomics.com/speedbump/2025/07/09

Too soon?

Not for me since it rings true.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: rec.arts.sf.written

On 7/9/25 09:14, Paul S Person wrote:

On Tue, 8 Jul 2025 16:15:13 -0400, Cryptoengineer
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

On 7/8/2025 12:45 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> writes:

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Locally, we were assured that the shelves would be empty (as a result
of Trump's tariffs) by the last two weeks of May. Didn't happen. This
/may/ still happen, and some businesses have been affected, but so so
good.

Actually, look more closely. I've seen both empty shelves and
shortages in various stores on the west coast. Often the store
will attempt to dress those empty shelves in various ways
(I've seen cardboard filler boxes; I've also seen them spread
out existing merch to fill in gaps caused by sold-out or otherwise
unavailable items).

Check the overheads at Costco, and you may notice less stock waiting
to be sold. You may also notice more floor space in the warehouse.
(There has been a noticable reduction in customer traffic at my
local warehouse in the last few months).

The recent left wing-nut attempt to blame a flash flood on DOGE
appears to have collapsed: the warnings were sent, but nobody was
watching.

One might consider the NOAA staffing reductions to have had
an impact, if minimal so close to the actual layoffs)
on the forecasting and warning abilities. Something likely to
get worse over time due to Musk's toadies.

Four years until the financial apocalypse of the USA according to the=20 >>>>> documentary =93The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047=94
=20
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062= >>>> 328247

Normally, I would still be attributing the state of the economy to
Biden,

Please don't add to Lynn's "mandibles" nonsense. It's not a
"documentary", just right-wing apocolyptic fantasy.

A single data point, but on Sunday I went to the local supermarket,
and the fresh produce aisle was notably missing a lot of fresh produce,
particularly things like sweet peppers.

Possibilities:

1. Sunday is generally a day with poor stock, but I'd never noticed it
in the produce section before.
2. Tail end the of long holiday weekend
3. 1&2 together
4. Lack of harvesting, due to immigration crackdown.

Nr 4 kind of depends on /when things are harvested/, does it not?

Foods particularly fruit must be harvested when ripe and when they are not harvested they are wasted and the farmer must lose income. So prices
are raised due to scarcity.

But this could be the start of a /real/ problem.

I have noticed one story about tomatoes being buried because there is
no market for them. But that's not the same thing, although it may
actually be worse overall in the long run.

I'll have to see if it continues.

The problem here is that if the shelves are /not/ empty next Fall, a
whole lot of people are likely to conclude that the left wing-nut
warnings were ... not well founded ... and vote Republican.

It would be better to wait until shortages /actually appear/ and then
point out who is responsible.

Yes well that is a good idea.
The BBB worst provision will affect no one until after the 2026 elections.

bliss

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Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> writes:

On 7/9/25 09:14, Paul S Person wrote:

On Tue, 8 Jul 2025 16:15:13 -0400, Cryptoengineer
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

A single data point, but on Sunday I went to the local supermarket,
and the fresh produce aisle was notably missing a lot of fresh produce,
particularly things like sweet peppers.

Possibilities:

1. Sunday is generally a day with poor stock, but I'd never noticed it
in the produce section before.
2. Tail end the of long holiday weekend
3. 1&2 together
4. Lack of harvesting, due to immigration crackdown.

Nr 4 kind of depends on /when things are harvested/, does it not?

Foods particularly fruit must be harvested when ripe and when they are
not harvested they are wasted and the farmer must lose income. So prices
are raised due to scarcity.

I'd qualify that as "particularly fruit intended for preservation[*]" must be harvested when ripe. Fruit for direct human consumption is often harvested
a bit prematurely, and allowed to fully ripen in transit to point of
sale.

[*] e.g. Ketchup/Catsup, Sauces, canned goods, etc.

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On Wed, 09 Jul 2025 15:49:17 GMT, scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
wrote:

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:

Paul S Person wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jul 2025 19:48:32 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

Pearls Before Swine: TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome)
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/07/06

Taking "TDS" at its word, I would point out:
1. Tippecanoe (Harrison) is better than Trump (and arguably a few
others) /precisely because/ he didn't do anything.

Somewhere, somewhen I read that in the 1800s the day for the
inauguration fell on a Sunday, and so for 24 hours the speaker was >>effectively president.

Then there was "I am in control here" Alexander Haig....

I've always interpreted that as a mis-placed military instinct: when
the person-in-charge is removed, the next senior individual takes
over. A military unit is /never/ without a leader.

Sadly, civilian life doesn't quite work that way. For one thing, you
can't tell if you outrank everybody else by checking their uniforms.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

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