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Discussion: Bring Out Your Dead! The celebrity death thread....

Ipanema Girl, Astrud Gilberto, has died at the age of 83.

She became an overnight superstar in 1964, after singing 'The Girl from Ipanema'.

The song won a Grammy in 1965 for Record of the Year, with Gilberto receiving nominations for the Best New Artist.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65818566

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Discussion: Smoke Gets In Your Eye

Jaytee said:

I don’t think climate change is something new for the planet. Everything on this planet has changed for millions of years, evolution is a fact, climate change is a fact. We’ve been lucky a big enough meteorite hasn’t hit us in centuries. Wildfire is a part of the evolution, cows burping is a part of the process, dinosaurs farted also, methane is a natural occurrence on this here planet. Things burn, things rise up from the oceans, things erode back into the ocean. It’s us who refuse to accept that the planet wasn’t created specifically for us to live in without the inconvenience of the evolutionary process. 

A rock will erode naturally when exposed to water.  If a person comes along and aims a high pressure hose at that rock, it will erode faster. If the foundation of your house rests on that particular rock, you may be in trouble.

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Discussion: Influx of Homeless Individuals

Food insecurity, which was a problem during COVID, is still a problem today. There are many in our community who were food insecure before COVID and continue to be food insecure today. Programs such as SNAP are reducing benefits and making it harder to qualify. The sharp rise in food prices is contributing to a rise in the number of people who rely on the fridge to meet their food needs.

The community fridge has advantages over existing food pantries.  It can contain fresh produce, dairy, meat, and other items requiring refrigeration that most food pantries cannot handle.  It is open 24/7/365.25, not just one short interval every week or two.  There is no registration requirement; use is anonymous.  

There are disadvantages too.  Most obvious is the unreliability of being able to find the food you need when you go to the community fridge.  Another is the reliance on generous residents who donate food without any coordination as to schedule or food donated.  The program needs to be improved without detracting from the advantages that make the community fridge an important part of our community.

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Discussion: Bring Out Your Dead! The celebrity death thread....

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Pat Robertson.  

Thank you, Jesus.

It is almost impossible for me to gin up any kind of Christian compassion relative to this passing. This is a man who saw the Bible as a cudgel and inflicted horrible harm on people, purportedly in the name of Jesus.

I sometimes ponder an afterlife, in which one’s eyes and heart are opened to the meaning of true compassion, love and acceptance of all fellow humans. And where the full effect  of all of one’s sins are revealed to that person, all of the emotional and physical pain that others may have endured as a result of your deeds and words. 

The thought of some thing like that, waiting for me beyond this life makes me squirm. I’m not sure I want to be faced with all of my failings, and be given a true insight into how those failings affected other people. But it is a thought which gives me a sense of justice, that maybe someone like Pat Robertson shows up at the pearly gates, expecting to be escorted inside to a giant palace. But instead before he can do so, is required to review his life and understand the hurt he inflicted.

I’m not claiming to understand what awaits all of us once we depart this mortal realm. It’s just something I think about.

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Discussion: Twitter is a Private Company

Twitter’s own lawyers refute Elon Musk’s claim that the "Twitter Files" exposed US government censorship https://t.co/4Bf3Kx9hvn

— CNN (@CNN) June 6, 2023

Paul owes us an apology

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Discussion: Twitter is a Private Company

nohero said:

paulsurovell said:

(b) We have a Musk hater on the thread who has wished ill upon Tesla (despite his laughable denial) / image 1

A post from me is in "image 1". I should feel honored that something I wrote has been misrepresented by Paul the same evening he doubled down on misrepresenting something Nicholas Kristof wrote.

Between that and the Onion article, I think Paul simply doesn't recognize jokes.

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Discussion: Inconsequential Chat

Saw a chameleon today. 
I'm assuming it wasn't a very good one.

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Discussion: Hilton house in the Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/realestate/small-home-maplewood-nj.html

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Discussion: The Rose Garden and White House happenings: What does 2024 portend?

nohero said:

dave said:

ml1 said:

was he as pompous in person as his posts suggested?

70% of his online persona's pomposity.

I imagine he didn't call dave "sick", "depraved", or "demented" to his face.

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Discussion: The Rose Garden and White House happenings: What does 2024 portend?

dave said:

PB2 stopped posting when he took a senior banking position in London and moved there.  Met him twice in Hong Kong when he was here on business just after he stopped posting.  He's a traditional conservative Catholic who would likely join Opus Dei if he hasn't already.  Enjoyed meeting him even though we see the world differently. And he spends time in Vietnam, where his wife is from, so we share an Asia connection. 

Did you address each other with your "Christian names?"

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