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FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

Please don’t feed the bears.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

This fight is for everything.

Republicans don’t trust women.

We still have time to mess this up!

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Open Thread

Open Thread

by | 72 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Kind of tired and still trying to get a bunch of stuff done before the holidays, so no more from me tonight. The heating pad and ice rotation and alleve seem to be working, btw, so thanks for the advice.

Also, it appears that the Obama children were not the only ones who were promised a post-election puppy, as Joe Biden is now the owner of a new dog.

Finally, this picture just came in, and even though I have about 75 pet photos to still get out there from you all, this gets moved to the top:

I will spare you all the obligatory Ghostbusters reference.

*** Update ***

Via LGM, the best scientific work ever:

“Research shows that the bigger allowance you get from mom and dad,” explained Andrew M. Sum, director of Northeastern’s center, “the less likely you are to work.”

No kidding…

Reader Interactions

72Comments

  6. 6.

    Michael D.

    Obviously, I am not going to post anymore. But if I did, it would be to tell you all that I quit smoking 3 weeks ago today! (“today” has to be Saturday, Dec. 13, for this to be true.)

  11. 11.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @dms: My first thought was that it was a pic of Cheney meeting with Senate Republicans about the bailout.

  12. 12.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    @dms:

    I’d say those splayed tails on the skunks are not good signs.

    I would say a rather large family of skunks on the front porch steps doesn’t look all that promising either.

  13. 13.

    Laura W

    my mother now feels guilty, but would like to point out that of the umpteen dogs she has had

    Is umpteem indigenous to PA? The only other time in my life I hear this word is from my 93-yr-old grandmother, who was born and raised in PA. It’s quite a startle to see it in writing, on a political blog, mostly because it has such a defined and specific place in the vernacular of my life.
    A sweet word anyway…feels like home.

  14. 14.

    carrie

    John,
    keep taking the aleve and rotating the heat and cold for a few hours and then ask a frien to come over and give you back massage. The trick to those is doing rotating strokes (starting from the lumbar area) all the way up to the neck but mind the (and this is very VERY important) spine and scapula (shoulder blades).
    Have the massager use some regular baby oil and a couple of dashes of cayenne pepper and really work your lumbar area with the bottom pad of their palms again, in circular motions.
    but then again, what do i know….. i’m just a a really bad massage therapist.

  15. 15.

    Calouste

    @Laura W:

    Nope. I have heard it in other places as well, specially Britain, although most often as umpteenth. As in "This is the umpteenth time I ask you do something."

  16. 16.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    @Michael D.: Tomorrow, I will have been quit smoking for 3 weeks.

    Well done! And even more so to you, Josh Hueco.

    Tomorrow will be only six days for me, so I’m not sure I can really really count it as "quit" but that first day is the bastard.

    I’m using Teh Patch; cold turkey made me utterly crazy, and the gum and lozenges do horrible things to my gums. Plus I like the weird dreams I get wearing Teh Patch at night.

  17. 17.

    Jen

    You have to check this out: A search engine for the wingnutosphere:

    — Search Wingnut Blogs

    It’s a custom Google Search that only indexes the wingnut blogs. Not only entertaining, but a useful tool.

  18. 18.

    Delia

    my black & white kitty has been sick. She was a stray my daughter picked up in Santa Rosa, CA and has always been very healthy, except for a tendency to eat too much. Two days ago she threw up her breakfast, didn’t really eat for the rest of the day and yesterday, continued to throw up a little more, and basically hid in a closet. I was all ready to call the vet this morning, but I was able to tempt her out with some chicken broth and brought home some fancy organic cat food which of course I had to share with her compatriot. She seems to be doing better tonight, so hopefully we’ll avoid a vet visit.

    Oh dear. What’s happening to us?

  20. 20.

    smiley

    Research shows that the bigger allowance you get from mom and dad,” explained Andrew M. Sum, director of Northeastern’s center, “the less likely you are to work.”

    No kidding…

    Damn, I got it wrong. I shoulda decided to study the obvious.

    Here’s my next grant application: To what extent does Greek food lead to garlic breath? I’m sure I’ll get thosands to study that now that I know how the system works.

  22. 22.

    Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist

    Research shows that the bigger allowance you get from mom and dad,” explained Andrew M. Sum, director of Northeastern’s center, “the less likely you are to work.”

    And if you think that your allowance is work, you’re hopeless. Certain Goldbergs and Kristols and such come to mind.

  23. 23.

    dms

    Stuck,

    Rather good point.

    Guess it’s the eternal optimist in me. I would have considered the arrival of a family of skunks (albeit a hazardous omen) an interesting and unique phenomenon. The splayed tails, however, would have been the point at which I smacked myself in the head for my naivete, and started making arrangements to sell the house.

  24. 24.

    Laura W

    @Delia: Man. I’ve edited this post 8 times already. I just don’t have the energy to engage on issues tonight. (I don’t mean you, Delia.)
    As long as she is eating and not hiding 24/7, that is good.
    I will hope for the best for your kitty girl.

  28. 28.

    Delia

    @Laura W:

    Thanks Laura. About four years ago I had an eight year old cat who I suddenly noticed had lost weight and started to vomit a bit. I took her to the vet thinking she had a parasite, and it turned out she was in the last stages of a liver disease and was dead within a week. So I’m a bit paranoid now whenever my cats’ eating or regurgitation habits go off. OTOH whenever you take an animal to the vet it’s at least $100 so I like to make sure there’s really cause before I go. There have been times when my dog has gone off his food and water for a day or so because he ate something hideous and all it took to set him right was a can of chicken broth.

  31. 31.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Sacre bleu! Cat and photographer must have sinuses of steel. (Or a serious coke habit.)

    One skunk going peacefully about its business is kind of hard to ignore. FOUR skunks in "See this? Don’t make me use this!" mode … quelle horreur!

    Not only entertaining, but a useful tool.

    A useful tool for keeping track of useless tools.

    That’s almost Zen.

  32. 32.

    LiberalTarian

    Baby skunks are SO cute. Adult skunks with revenge on their minds, not so much.

    That is once cool cat in that picture. Heh.

  35. 35.

    Josh Hueco

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    I like getting the constant flow of Nick O’Teen that the patch provides, which means I don’t have to ‘remember’ to pop gum or a lozenge when I get a jones.

    Plus I like the weird dreams I get wearing Teh Patch at night.

    So friggin’ true, except for the one night I dreamt I was a cop and punched some guy in the face. The problem was I accidentally popped the Hopefully-Someday-To-Be Mrs. Hueco in the back of the head as I was doing it. I am blessed to have a very gracious and understanding woman in my life.

    I’ve also been playing a continuous loop of old ‘Lights Out’ radio plays while I sleep. Those create crazy dreams too.

  36. 36.

    Warren Terra

    That may be one cool cat in that picture, but if the skunk sprays the cat may discover it’s ceased to be a house cat and become a yard cat for some time to come …

  38. 38.

    carrie

    John,
    keep taking the aleve and rotating the heat and cold for a few hours and then ask a friend to come over and give you back massage.@carrie:
    you do have friends, don’t you?

  40. 40.

    J. Michael Neal

    When I was a teenager, we had a skunk move in under the shed attached to the house. We saw the thing about once a month, tops. Never had anyone sprayed, even the dog. When you were coming home late at night, you just made a lot of noise as you approached, to give her time to get out of the way.

  41. 41.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    you do have friends, don’t you?

    Just me, Carrie. And I ain’t driving six hours to give him a back massage.

  43. 43.

    John Cole

    With all due respect, I would rather suffer than have any of my friends rubbing oil on me. I think they feel the same way.

    Unless you meant “lady” friends, in which case I like how you are thinking.

  46. 46.

    Elroy's Lunch

    Delia,

    Keep an eye on your cat. Is her fur and skin okie-doke? Elroy did the same thing and then sort of fell off a cliff. We thought he was just having a general "eat-too-much-of-the-wrong-thing" kinda experience like your dog and would be okay later but an emergency visit to his favorite sister-in-law the vet turned up (rare in cats) Cushings disease. Caught it early and now we slip in a trilostane tablet with his morning ration of barbeque. Back to normal. Which means generally pretty annoying around feeding time…

    And that is one laid-back cat in that photo.

  50. 50.

    michilines

    @Laura W:

    umpteenth is fairly normal language use in all parts of the country. I’ve heard it from people with a variety of hometowns.

    That you copied and pasted something from another thread just to point it out on a political blog seems odd.

  51. 51.

    Laura W

    @michilines: Yes well, call me odd then.
    I’ve only heard it in two contexts, as I said, and I posted it in an Open Thread, which in my understanding, on this blog, means pretty much anything goes. It was an inquiry into the origin and usage of the word itself. It caught my attention earlier today, in that previous thread, but it felt more appropriate to post it in an Open Thread, hours later.
    Don’t know why this is an issue for you, but hope my further explanations satisfy.

  53. 53.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Laura W:

    Don’t know why this is an issue for you, but hope my further explanations satisfy.

    Trust me, it ain’t you. (Makes twirly finger beside ear re: Michilines.)

  54. 54.

    michilines

    @Laura W:

    I didn’t call you odd.

    You: It’s quite a startle to see it in writing, on a political blog

    I don’t know why you made that distinction. As for your inquiry: asked and answered.

  55. 55.

    Tattoosydney

    @Laura W:

    Well there you go…

    My Shorter Oxford says that "umpty" is a slang term used by WWI morse code signallers for a dash (dating from 1917), which came to mean an indefinite number, and then transmogrified into the variants "umpteen", "umpteenth" and "umptieth".

    Or are we not allowed to talk about that any more?

  58. 58.

    Joshua Norton

    Ah, as I once found out the hard way. Feed the kitties outside and the skunks will come a-calling. I happened upon my 2 Siamese sharing a food dish with 3 skunks, all cozy and friendly. They didn’t get sprayed, but they still stunk to high heaven.

    Dipping your kitty in tomato juice is something I’d recommend everyone try, just to see the great merriment that ensues.

  59. 59.

    Delia

    @Elroy’s Lunch:

    Yes, the cat’s skin and fur seem to be fine. But I’m definitely keeping watch over her. She’s only four or five and was just in at the vet for her yearly checkup ten days ago and was fine. And she’s not hiding anymore. So I’ll just make sure nothing else goes wrong.

  62. 62.

    Brick Oven Bill

    My tree split into three pieces after this storm. I need to break out the chain saw in December. My chain saw is but small, but the tree is huge.

    A branch fell only feet from my head as I slept! Have compassion.

  63. 63.

    AnneLaurie

    You are right- I’m pimping my skunk babies again.

    Just to be sure… your cat *has* gotten her rabies booster, right?

    Here in the Northeast, at least, rabies is endemic among the skunk population, which is another reason to discourage fraternization. Some of the local authorities have put out rabies-vaccine ‘baits’ which have been proven moderately effective with the local raccoons, foxes & coyotes, but *not* unfortunately with the skunkses.

  65. 65.

    blogreeder

    Research shows that the bigger allowance you get from mom and dad,” explained Andrew M. Sum, director of Northeastern’s center, “the less likely you are to work.”

    That doesn’t sound liberal enough for this website. It should read:

    Research shows that the bigger allowance you get from mom and dad, the less likely you are to work unless mom and dad are the government and you’re an underprivileged minority from the inner-city.

  66. 66.

    R-Jud

    Keep it up on the quitting front, Michael D. Mr. Jud has just finished a solid year without smokes today and in addition to being generally healthier, he also paid off our last credit card with the cash saved and booked us a long weekend in Spain. (Cigarettes are about $8.50 a pack here in Limeyland).

    @ bago: I’ve suggested to Change.gov that the Humpty Dance be part of the Inauguration. It could go like this:

    CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: (administering oath)… solemnly swear to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States?

    OBAMA: Step off, I’m doin’ the Hump!

    MUSIC. OBAMA dons a large false nose and glasses.

    OBAMA: (rapping) Aight, stop what you’re doin’/ ‘Cause I’m about to ruin/ The image and the style that you’re used to…

    And so on.

  67. 67.

    J.

    Smells like a winner to me. What an amazing picture. Though it would have been even funnier if it was a black cat with some white, a la the cat in the Pepe Le Pew cartoons. (I wonder if any of the skunks spoke in a French accent…)

    Thanks for helping me to get out of my Jennifer Aniston funk, John. (Talk about a picture that rose to the top.)

  68. 68.

    MBL

    Okay, I know Ghostbusters as well as anyone and I cannot for the life of me think what "the obligatory Ghostbusters reference" would be with this picture. Can someone please make me feel stupid?

  69. 69.

    Damned at Random

    AnneLaurie-
    The cat in the photo, Prairie has a current rabies shot. The three strays I’m feeding outside have been more of a problem. Trapped the little girl and got her shots and spayed, but with the skunks at large, I’m reluctant to try the trap again for the boys.

    By the way, the skunks don’t smell and there have been no spraying incidents.

  70. 70.

    reality-based

    Delia – when my cats have an upset tummy and/or the general sulks, the best thing to get food and water into them is baby food – preferably Beech-nut, (although Gerbers will do), the little jars of ground-up turkey or chicken – it has a lot of water in it, which is good, and the kittys adore it. Kitties can hear the "pop" of an opening baby food jar from miles a way, and come running, begging frantically. It’s not cheap – 80 cents a jar or so – but then, organic kitty food isn’t cheap either.

    She’ll love it, I promise.

    I know your dilemma – I once had a cat, acting the same way, who turned out to have a blood parasite called hemobartinella, which got fixed up with antibiotics – but that experience cost me hundreds of dollars in unnecessary vet visits over the next couple of years, until the paranoia wore off.

    Hope she feels better.

    And John, re visits from friends – I forgot, when I was urging you to have a friend come over with videos and food, that you are a guy. Wrenching out your back is hard enough when you live alone – but at least we women will call for help!

    My back-pain buddy who has come over with treats and sympathy the last two times I did this is a guy – and I had to berate him and verbally slap him around for not calling ME for help/nursing when he was horribly ill with the flu.

    This is why all guys need women friends (and not just love interests) .

  72. 72.

    Damned at Random

    Delia-
    About the baby food- check the label carefully for onions or onion powder- onions are very toxic to cats.

    Also, for a very finicky appetite, heat the food to just above body temp (better aroma).

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