Hey gang, you did it! The week is underway. Let’s see what is gong on, shall we?
I legit thought he died of Covid a while ago.
Harvey Weinstein appeals sexual assault conviction with focus on juror who penned novel
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/weinstein-juror-appeal/2021/04/05/32f85876-9295-11eb-9668-89be11273c09_story.html
Ya think?
Chauvin ‘absolutely’ violated policy while restraining Floyd, police chief says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/05/derek-chauvin-trial-2/
Sprots!
Also, that basketball game is still going on at the moment, so I’m just going to go ahead and say Congrats, Baylor.
Stonks!
Dow climbs 370 points to close at a record high amid optimism on the economic recovery
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/04/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html
What’s going to be your new post-pandemic greeting?
Have a good one, Deadsplinters!
So it looks like there might be something to the Matt Gaetz extortion plot after all?
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/05/politics/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation-bob-kent-cnntv/index.html
This whole story is so strange. I blame Tom Clancy for inspiring all these nuts to think they can mount all these rogue operations with funding obtained through back channels to personally rescue American Heroes from Hostile Regimes, for Freedom! Still, if someone came to Better Half and said that they could make my legal and political problems go away if he gave them $25 million to rescue someone in Iran who might or might not be alive, he wouldn’t get far. First of all, Better Half is not a “powerful and influential” Florida Republican, but more importantly I have no problems, political, legal, or otherwise, that could possibly be blackmailable.
As for handshake alternatives, this reminds me that something like a year ago Prince Charles stopped shaking hands. He didn’t take up the elbow bump, and I can’t imagine any of them would, except maybe some under 30 who are like 84th in line to the throne and do not carry titles. But there was a photo of him…what is this called? Namaste-ing? Performing a namaste greeting? The recipients of the namaste were, I seem to remember, high-born Brits themselves and the venue was a formal occasion somewhere in London. Can you imagine their reaction? “Yes, er, um, namaste to you, your Royal Highness.” This was well before the virus was much understood, masking was extremely uncommon outside of hospitals, I think most venues were still open at full capacity, so this must have caught them by surprise. I know the photo elicited much commentary at the time.
The Namaste is the standard greeting in parts of India and Southeast Asia, because it’s the praying/respectful gesture in Bhuddism. Someone does it towards you, you do it back, just like a wave.
High-born Brits, colonizers of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia & Singapore, can fuck all the way off for acting befuddled by this.
I’m more than happy not to shake hands with people. I like to purposefully walk by and say ‘Hey’ and keep going, because small talk, ugh. Worst thing ever is when someone shoves their clammy palm at you and doesn’t pick up on any signal that you won’t shake it. Since I broke my femur though I got into the habit of using a cane, I don’t really need it anymore but I see myself waving it at would be handshakers. Sorry, no hands free. Yikes, I’m about 3 cats away from crazy cat lady, lucky for me my cat hates cats.
I have to work really hard to suppress my handshake reflex. It’s so deeply ingrained my right arm twitches when I meet someone new.
Another reason why I’m not a handshaker, I’m left handed, so that makes it even more awkward.
Same here, and I have a disability that hinders the use of my right hand anyway. I’d started reciprocating (never initiating) handshakes with my left hand, but I usually had to think to turn it the other way so as to fit the other person’s right hand, and the other person would sometimes get weirded out by this just the same. So, yeah, fuck handshakes.
Oh, and traditionally, men are supposed to take their cue from women on handshakes. I’m supposed to wait to see if you extend your hand, not shove mine toward you. Men aren’t supposed to touch women without permission. Seems like we could use a bit more of that these days for a LOT of reasons.
Speaking of Harvey Weinstein, what the actual fuck? We are one step away from arguing that nobody can be a juror unless they’ve never done anything in their lives, at all. One of the points of being a juror is that you’re supposed to be an adult with life experience. Otherwise we’d just seat toddlers.
A producer on a show that I did was a hugger – so he started asking people if they were okay with a consensual hug before he would dive in. If someone said no – he would just shrug and say okay and move on to the next person. It sounds creepy, but actually wasn’t.
In Hawaii everyone hugs or kisses when they meet. I never thought anything of it until I moved away. Now I feel awkward if I don’t do it when I go back.
I would definitely prefer this to the people who just dive in and say “btw I’m a hugger!” AS they squeeze the life out of you. I usually say “I’m not” and keep my arms down. Fuck em.
I told coworkers last April that I would happily never shake another hand again. I don’t like it. I have been in too many bathrooms where I hear someone get out of a stall and leave without washing their hands to voluntarily touch hands with others.
I don’t know if it was covered here, and also was too dumb to save the link, but going down the Russian stories rabbit hole on The Guardian led me to this gem from three weeks ago:
In an attempt to shut down Twitter’s video service because of all the pro-Nalvany clips, Russia accidentally made the Kremlin’s (and other government) websites go down for a while.
That is Boris and Natasha level incompetence!
Probably speaks more to how much social media had integrated into even government websites, but also the Boris & Natasha thing. When you aim a shotgun near your feet, you should at least know how wide the buckshot spreads.
I’m fine with either shaking hands or fist bumping. The minute someone wants to do a foot shake with me, I’m out.
Uh, yes. In addition to being stupid, that’s fraught with peril. I can easily see someone losing their balance.
Plus I have “Kung Fu Fighting” playing in my head right now just from looking at the illustration.
It used to be called footsie, and would be very strange.
Clearly you’ve never heard of the dance craze sweeping the nation known only as “The Hokey Pokey.”
I hated that stupid fucking song and dance routine when I was in kindergarten. It has not improved with age–and neither have I.
When I was a wee Mattie we used to go to an ice rink and during “children’s skate” we used to do it on ice as pre-teens. It was the 1970s. More blood on the ice than during a Ranger’s game, and no one cared. It’s a wonder no one died.
They still do it at roller-skating rinks. Significantly less blood, though.
oh….i will definitely be going for a foot shake with people
Related to yesterday’s vaccine discussion:
Biden sets new April 19 deadline for all adults to be eligible for vaccine
https://www.axios.com/biden-vaccine-eligibility-deadline-b0d626ff-84a9-4f4c-bd49-be5d11f105f2.html
Mayor Demings dropped the age to 16+ this week in Orange County, FL.
Okay, I think Jen Psaki has the coolest job in Washington right now. I would love to get to answer stupid-ass questions from Newsmax:
“…there is a private memo that’s being circulated in the business community and to some Republican senators that said that the $2.25 trillion price tag is $1 trillion off,” John Gizzi said. [Gizzi is a Newsmax dumbass]
“Sounds mysterious, the memo — the secret memo,” Psaki replied. “We laid out very specifically each component of the package and how much we’re proposing, so I’d encourage y’all to get your calculators out and charge that up and see how it compares to the secret memo,” she said.
https://www.rawstory.com/jen-psaki-newsmax/
That’s awesome. I can just hear the howls of indignant rage coming from all the right wingers about how “disrespectful” Psaki is toward the “free press.”
She and Buttigieg seem to have graduated from the same school of sarcasm.
I swiped right on someone on Tinder who’s profile said “Jen Psaki is my love language”
I have a huge girl crush on Jen Psaki.
SAME. Well, not the girl part.
The handshake is so ingrained. If I remember correctly, it was even taught in school? The waive works for friends, blown kisses for loved ones, but a business substitute is more difficult. Namaste feels forced, maybe the hand across chest option? The nod/head bow, maybe, but it would need to be quite crisp and unmistakable, as many people nod about for no reason. I like the Vulcan V live long and prosper sign as an additional alternative.
I think the big problem about head bowing is I think there’s kind of a hierarchy around it. In the West it’s rarely done, and the person wouldn’t do it back to you. I’m thinking how antique it is and done around royals. Like curtsying for women.
In Asia I know it’s much more common, but who does it first is the somehow subservient one, and the one who responds is acknowledging. I think, and maybe according reciprocal respect? In freewheeling America I suppose could just do it always to one another, and if the timing’s not exactly simultaneous, no harm no foul, right? I suppose handshakes are the same way. Kind of. But I’m remembering tons of situations where I’ve thrust out my hand in a business situation and said, “Mr. X, what a pleasure it is to meet you! [or some other bullshit]” and he would say, “Yes, same here! Mr. Crawley, Mr. Y, Mr. Z, please, have a seat.”
…I could be wrong but I believe some importance is also attached a on how deep the bow is…so if you bow first but not deep enough it could be seen as disrespectful…but equally if you overdo it it might seem like you were trying to take the piss…at least I’m given to understand it’s (sort of) that way in japan…the whole “face” thing is a minefield, apparently?
There’s a Pearls Before Swine where the new greeting is “Butts to you” and the two little guys shake their butts at each other. Kind of like dogs, but no sniffing.
I usually go with the half wave with a head bob, like you just accidentally cut someone off in traffic.
How about finger guns? “Pew pew pew” optional.
Meanwhile, to further disprove NY State’s general overall reputation of being a progressive place:
https://apnews.com/article/new-york-relationships-albany-98303c78331cc52373c1c3953cb27d4d
This surprises no one, but it reminds me of an old chestnut I like to trot out. Something like 30 years ago I had three friends staying with us and I took them down to Greenwich Village. (It was a lot gayer then, important for the plot.) We got stopped at an intersection and an older tourist couple, perhaps not realizing that the two men were gay and the two women were a Lesbian couple, and we were not two straight couples, anyway, the husband (I assume) asked, “Why don’t they just round up all these homosexuals and give them their own own island?” I ignored it, but my out-of-town gay male friend responded, “They did, it’s called Manhattan, and we’re standing on it.”
Here’s another good article, but a very different topic:
https://www.newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2021/04/nys-budget-minimum-age-for-hunting-deer-bear-with-firearm-crossbow-drops-from-14-to-12.html
As an omnivore I am not hypocritical enough to condemn hunting. In fact, some of my best friends (well, 2, out of 200 let’s say, maybe not “best friends” hunt) but 12-year-olds can hunt with firearms? I guess…
If anyone is interested – here is the breakdown of the GA voter suppression bill by Fair Fight. The whole water/food in line issue is just a good outrage smokescreen for all of the other more nefarious crap.
There’s another piece coming, but the press won’t touch it with a ten foot pole because of their pro-GOP bias.
It is the way the law will be unequally enforced to throw out minority votes, just like Jim Crow laws were. Literacy tests for black voters required explanations for Latin terms from legal dictionaries. White voters had tests waived.
This law is obviously intended to toss out votes from Democrats on the flimsiest grounds, but the press has vapors over reading the handwriting on the wall because they are bending over backwards to treat the GOP like they are acting in good faith. And after elections are screwed up, they’ll still treat it like a game.