The battle is nowhere near over, "[b]ut it was an unmistakable defeat for the governor and fellow Republicans, who had crafted one of the most far-reaching voting bills in the country — pushing restrictions championed by former president Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed that his defeat in the 2020 election was tainted by fraud."

This egregious piece of Jim Crow garbage will be back when Gov Abbott calls a special session for legislative redistricting later in the year, but it's going nowhere at the moment.

Kick, I would love to hear you had something to do with this achievement.

When your lungs are full lower the pipe or bong from your face.

Purse your lips in an oval shape 2 or 3cm wide, and curl your tongue into a tight cylinder shape and center in the middle of the "O" shape. Gently exhale, slowly and only tiny puffs. You should get bunches of little puffs from each toke, dammit!

Gently pass each little puff through theshape you've created with your tongue and lips. It's not nearly as challenging as it sounds, and it's fun!

Give it five minutes and once you've blown a couple of righteous smoke rings you'll be hooked.

IT'S LIKE GOLF, I suppose. A game I love way more than it ever loved me back.

Back now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPXpgz-HgF0

I Just Can't Help Believin'

<a href="Whatever Happened To Old Fashioned Love

riders on the storm

JL

at the Grand Ole Opry

When your lungs are full lower the pipe or bong away from your mouth.

thale it slowly through your lips in an oval shape, about 3cm wide.

Curl your tongue into a tight cylinder-like point and center the tip in the middle of the "O" shape. Exhale slowly with tiny little puffs. Bunches of little puffs per each toke, dammit!

Gently pass each little puff past the shape you've created with your tongue and lips. It's not nearly as challenging as it may sound like. But it's fun. Give it five minutes and once you've blown a couple of righteous smoke rings you'll be hooked. It's like Golf, I suppose. A game I love way more than it ever loves me back.

One or two well struck balls, dropping a long putt and all the flubs, all the embarrassments slip away from consciousness. Aaaand leaves me hungry for more.

Gonna go walk Betty, my Husky. Be back soon.

My favourite BJ Thomas song is none other than Raindrops Keep Fallin' ... along with my favourite part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!

Here is what an acid trip may look like.

You never give me your money.

Lungs good...
Mouth bad, Elizabeth

And, I'll have a contribution to that a little later on ...

Welcome, everyone to the CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party!

Tonight I would like to hear a few songs by the late and great BJ Thomas, who died yesterday. He had been battling stage four lung cancer. Ahem.

My favourite, aside from the theme from Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, is this gem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRm1yqSmsGY

Don't sleep through it! Watch High Maintenance (HBO) or Rick & Morty (Cartoon Network). Or listen to music (Soundgarden maybe).

Simple water pipes have a carburetor hole. You cover that and it creates a vacuum while you draw on the pipe. You uncover the hole to clear all the smoke from the pipe. The water cools and filters the smoke.

Very nice!

It's not like I don't feel anything at all. It's just that it's not as euphoric as I thought it might be. And, the 'high' doesn't last very long ... less than an hour.

Come to think of it, though, I've always headed straight to bed after smoking it. Maybe I have just slept through the high??? That would be just my luck. Humph.

How do you use a water pipe?

I highly recommend a water pipe.

The feeling you get is nothing like alcohol. It's much more subtle and difficult to describe. It's always just on the periphery unless you really over do it. Then it can be kind of "paralyzing" (not in a bad way). The worst part is feeling paranoid if you do, but it'll pass. Don't freak out and go to the ER.

Like Caddy said, I do believe it's easy for newbies to not recognize it.

https://weedsmart.net/product/mk-ultra-strain/?attribute_pa_weight=28-gram&fueid=44843&qid=69958

Lungs = Elizabeth crosses into her
New Frontier.

... I try to avoid very deep inhalations but I do hold it in my mouth for a second or two and then take a good breath and exhale the excess.

That's a wrong answer, Soldier! You're wasting product, and that hurts me. I'm feeling physical pain thinking about that luscious bud that your neighbors are enjoying just about as much as you seem to be.*smh*

Don't futz around! Man up -- er, woman up! And smoke it like you mean it. Yes you will cough some at first once you're doing it right.

But pay attention and in a jiffy you'll be toking in the max -- without coughing --needed to get 'er done, K?

And, revisiting point number 6 ... I don't smoke anything else. Oh, I've tried cigarettes as a kid and hated it! I saw absolutely no point to it and I was turned off by anyone who smoked.

Smoking weed is different, I know, but I still coughed a bit during the first one or two. I try to avoid very deep inhalations but I do hold it in my mouth for a second or two and then take a good breath and exhale the excess.

18 Klingon Phrases That’ll Save Your Life One Day.

Be prepared, I always say.

Okay, photography and pricing are right where I'd expect. So it ain't the weed. Here's some literature.

There are virtually countless individual differences in the efficiency and diversity of liver functions that could affect our experience with edible cannabis.

B-When you blow out a decent hit it should fill something approaching a m² in volume.
If all you get a tiny little cloud, you're worthless and weak and you drop and give me twenty!

Qapla!

--
Klingon for " to your success!

Think about it. Hell just has to be full of interesting women! I've surly dated a bunch of them "up here" and to tell truth I kinda developed a taste for them.

7-YOU CAN do this! I gotta walk a couple-kilometers sometime today, but otherwise I'll be here, checking in to see what's up.

I've smoked probably a dozen or so joints - all after grinding the flower and then filling an empty pre-roll. I've tried multiple different edibles from chocolates to gummies, from low to high dose - 100mg THC at a time, at the most, so far!

But, I haven't tried these, yet ... what say you!
https://weedsmart.net/product-category/marijuana-flowers/premium-flowers/

That's Inconceivable!
--The Princess Bride

Very important to tell me what you're using to smoke it, too. And you'll be high soon enough, my Pretty!

Dunno why that is! How new are you to weed? How many times have you smoked it? How many times did you mac down an edible?
How much are you spending per gram or whatever? Is there potency info on the container? With specific info I can easily guide you to the promised land.

I ask because back when I started no one got high the first time or two. No one. Weed was somewhere around 5% THC potency at the time.

But nowadays here in California 3½ grams of 20-30% THC flower for $30-45USD should lay you gently down into the couch...with an ice chest full of Ben and Gerry's...a-binge watching Rachel Maddow and John Oliver-- Woo-Hoo!

Am I High?

Well, that ain't happening. :(

The more you spend (remember, "Choosy shoppers choose Jif") the better the aesthetics of the experience will be. Things such as aroma, mouth feel, taste, any harshness issues going down and the aftertaste are considerations.

Look, I've got no complaints about the aethetics of the experience. Aroma, taste, mouth feel are all good and, there aren't even any real harshness issues, once I got the technique down. I just don't get stoned!!!

Tell me what I'm doing wrong!!??

That's a lot of words not to live by.

I've tried the high does edibles and the high price weed and neither gets me stoned for more than five minutes. Ahem.

I think I may be immune. Maybe I was the pot queen in a previous lifetime.

In any event, I'll be moving on to magic mushrooms ...

Or, could I be grinding too much? Or filling the pre-rolls too tight? I don't think so. Or, could it be that one joint, even a long one, just isn't enough for me? Perish the thought that I should have to smoke more than one of them!

Oh, and nothing beats a good Shiraz-Malbec from the Argentine when it comes to a good glass ...er, bottle of wine. :)

New Frontier

Spill That Wine

Papa Was a Rolling Stone

And, with your morning coffee (as at some of you weenie (l)East Coasters are likely finallllly up. Harumpf.

You Can Call Me Al

Lastly, for C.R. Stucki, if'n his coffee ain't kickin' in,

Wake Up

https://youtu.be/4lzqUe1Qfec

-- Indiana Jones
The first or second of the IJ© Franchise.

Whoops. We pick it up at the end of the fourth paragraph:

Since Covid started...

Until recently I dwelt in the, nasty, brutish and ultimately
unfulfilling Dread Swamp of sub-Ten Dollar wine. "'It was hell!' recalls former MtnCaddy."

Anyways, I followed advice that I sometimes gave to a particularly
Cheapo Real Estate Client of mine in Negotiations:

You know, you truly don't always get what you pay for, right? But I promise, you truly also NEVER get what you DON'T pay for. There is no Free Lunch in this world, I'm afraid.**

So I'd spend all my disposa

Since Covid started I've upgraded to $20 wine and $45 aforementioned Scotch. I drink less frequently but have a better experience. Agreed...before micro-breweries arrived from Heaven above, American beer sucked.

**It's shocking. Shocking, I tell you -- folks usually liked me for telling them the straight up truth.

i don't have the range or recency of experience to speak in respect to cannabis products, but where wine and spirits are concerned, price has only a moderate correlation with quality of experience.

you're unlikely to find a world-beater under ten bucks a bottle, but i've tasted wines in the fifteen dollar range that are just as good as those that cost fifty, as well as thirty dollar wines indistinguishable from those that cost in the hundreds. in other words, a buyer's knowledge and research yield more bang than bucks.

rose' wines aren't all terrible, but yes, cheap white zin might as well be vodka and fruit juice, just as most american adjunct lagers are essentially beer-flavored soda. it's not the varietal that's awful, it's a reputation earned by being the flavor of choice for a lot of crappy winemakers. merlot also had a bad reputation for years due to mass-production of poor merlots. but the up-side was that due to the depressed prices you could get a great deal on OUTSTANDING merlot.

JL

What? Again? (grumbling) I cannot believe it, folks, but the microphone crapped out on us again! If you can hear me out there, we're gonna do our veeery best to get back on the air tomorrow. This has been a Radio Free Green Valley Lake, high. Above it All broadcast.

(sound of the Nation Anthem)

DID YOU KNOW that Satan doesn't have to notify people that they may be monitored or recorded for training purposes? He's just like Trump -- you just wouldn't believe the stuff he gets away with!

Anyways, it ust be a slow day in Hell cuz The Boss heard about "us" and wants you to take a 4-minute Phone Survey. Se Habla Español And you'll receive two tickets, transportation and two nights stay at our -- I mean His -- most popular Theme Park The Hindenburg Express! All you gotta do is, when they call, What? You don't think Satan has everybody's cell phone number? just answer (in your very best Darth Vader breathing voice) "Yes (ptfttttt hissss) My Master! (ptfttttt hissss)" take the Survey Se Habla Español and allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of your Travel Itinerary. Speaking from, er, personal experience I'm sure that you'll have a hell of a time!

Um, sweet dreams!

***DEPARTMENT OF SOCIALIST CANNABIS INDOCTRINATION**

Fellow Travelers,

First, we're happy to see you've joined us here on the Dark Side. Bwahahahaha!

Ahem.

Setting aside the Satan and All His Works thing, in my four decades of experience with God's Grass I've come to believe that
weed is a lot like wine, with a couple of significant differences.

The more you spend (remember, "Choosy shoppers choose Jif") the better the aesthetics of the experience will be. Things such as aroma, mouth feel, taste, any harshness issues going down and the aftertaste are considerations.

And of course there's potency as well as cerebral effects, undesirable side effects, the power of phenomena like The Munchies and Couch Lock. And this is just off the top of my head.

IMO the main differences are that wine, unlike Cannabis, can be consumed in sufficient moderation that no intoxication need automatically. If'n you take even ONE toke you will get at least somewhat stoned.

The second difference is that wines have a certain range of alcohol content. You cannot spend enough to get a 80 proof wine -- they don't exist. Cannabis and Concentrates range from, say, 5% up to the 90% range. More buck means more bang!

Remember, you have the only vote that counts.
For example, I looove Merlot and the dank red wines, will tolerate a decent Chardonnay and feel strongly that "Friends don't let friends drink White Zinfandel" outta be in the Constitution. But who cares? It's a matter of personal taste.

Hope this is helpful. There may be a Pop Quiz next Stoneday-- I mean Sunday.

it's probably also not a good idea to mock the distinguished gentlewoman for being a stark raving lunatic either, but what's one to do?

JL

I don't approve of mocking someone's choice to use two last names.

As for confederation, well, it has worked for Canada. Of course, Quebec is still calling itself a 'nation' and wishes to be identified in our constitution as 'a distinct society' ... just before la belle provine secedes from the rest of Canada. Which failed in the last round of constitutional negotiations, talks that are a veritable Canadian sport!

And, the first inhabitants of Turtle Island, would say that 'confederation' has failed and continues to fail their best interests, miserably.

But, at least, we aren't shooting each other over it.

thoughts?

Ya-huh! My sentiments, precisely.

Weed out in California is just too strong to smoke it in joints. Potency has likely doubled or tripled in the last decade.

Actually, that sounds like my kind of weed. I think I may be purchasing from the wrong place, even though the place is in Vancouver. Go figure.

My latest purchase of flower was not recommended for beginners. Ha! Yeah, because they'd never go back for more!

Well folks we seem to be having a dead microphone issue here, so we'll call it a night.

Heh. I know the feeling ...

"Millions of Americans" perhaps read intense inside-Washington politics news. But how many millions - out of an electorate of a few hundred millions?

I read the other day on another (very respectable) politics blog that a poll had shown that a large majority of Americans cannot identify Mitch McConnell or Nancy Pelosi. (They do know who is president.)

The blog's (very respectable) authors noted their dismay and made dire remarks about the state of America's education system. But my reaction was more like, "been in the real world much?"

Most people do not follow politics closely - nothing like Chris' readership, or the people who read the NY Times, or the people who have completed college.

The use of the filibuster, and the maneuvers to discredit the GOP's 'bipartisan' whining enough to convince those final two senators to disable the filibuster and so pass the president's 2021 program in time to affect the 2022 elections, are entirely inside baseball. "Millions of Americans" have nothing to do with it, I think.

Chris has pointed this out from time to time, as he did today: no one benefitting from a government program asks how it got passed, and no one noticing that the government can't pass any laws asks who in particular is to blame. It's "the government" to most people, and prizes to any of them who can explain the difference between the federal and state levels of the Big G.

It is a party that still has room for Matt Gaetz, a Florida congressman under investigation over sex trafficking allegations, who this week appeared to incite supporters to take up arms. “We have a second amendment in this country, and I think we have an obligation to use it,” he said.'
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/28/republicans-capitol-attack-commission-vote-analysis

Has anyone noted that this is the FIRST vote in the 117th Congress that was blocked by a filibuster? (I only scanned CW's latest Republican-obsessed rant, so perhaps I missed it. If so, I apologize.) This bill was negotiated by a McConnell-appointed Republican in the House of Representatives and received suprisingly-high support from Republican House members (35, if I recall correctly). This bill is unpopular ONLY with the hardcore Trumpsters, so the (temporary?) defeat of the bill is a terrific message to the American voters about how far "down the rabbit hole" a minority of Republican Senators have gone.

If the first filibuster had been for 'infrastructure' or 'police reform' or any other more substantive bill, the Republicans might have made the case that their filibuster was justified, using the (tattered to scraps during "The Former Guy's" four years) historical talking points of the Republican Party

It's important to remember 2 things about Manchin and Sinema:
1) Manchin's voters overwhelming voted for Trump and Sinema's state is at best "purple". Neither can hope to be reelected espousing a progressive agenda.
2) Neither is running for re-election.

Theses two are the key votes to send the filibuster to the "dustbin of history". By demonstrating that the Republicans are blocking popular, BI-PARTISAN-supported legislation only for political gain, Manchin, Sinema, and other Democrats who may be on the fence can (we hope) finally cast their vote based on the groundswell of support from their own constituents (at least those who have a grain of integrity and common sense.)

Nevermind who said this, which country is this guy taking about?

And what other county come to mind as a second possiblity?

I'm doing all this on a smart phone, and while the underline fiction displays just in PREVIEW it does NOT post that way.

She was looking KINDA
Of dumb
With her fingers and
Her thumb
In the shape
Of an "L"
On her forehead

All Star
-- Smash Mouth

Yeah, I know. It is the healthier way of introducing hot, poisonous smoke into one's cardiovascular system.

She was looking
Of dumb
With her fingers and
Her thumb
In the shape
Of an "L"
On her forehead

All Star
-- Smash Mouth

Yeah I'd love to defenestrate Mitch as well. With every fiber of my being would be NOT be exaggerating. It'd be sooo much fun -- we could make t-shirts and everything! Political violence, a time (dis)honored American Tradition -- woot!

Anyways, I'd chose this tall, dark hotel in Moscow. Moms & I stayed there in 2000. My bed was so uncomfortable I named it Bleeping Stalin's Grand Inquisitor.

But did I mention that it's 30+ stories tall? It's in sight of the Kremlin so #MoscowMitch could give Putin a wink and a smile on his way, er, down. Just like in real life.

(thinking)

So, remember how the John Birch Society thought America and Ike were secretly controlled by the Commies?

Wouldn't it be a hoot if it turned out that today's GOP is being secretly controlled by Russia? Them Repugs have sure been trying to trash America saint Saint Ronnie, donchathink?