• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

In my day, never was longer.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Let me file that under fuck it.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread

Late Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  March 24, 20092:56 am| 45 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

I couldn’t sleep, and earlier in the day I promised my friend Gigi a thread in her name, so here it is.

BTW- there are times I think I should get another cat to be a friend for Tunch, and then there are times I think what he really needs is a boxer.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « “A Hazy Shade Of Geithner” would have been better
Next Post: The fire sale next time »

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    The Cat Who Would Be Tunch

    March 24, 2009 at 3:10 am

    Tunch needing a boxer? What does he do that makes you think that?

  2. 2.

    Studly Pantload, Would Be Minion of John Cole

    March 24, 2009 at 3:23 am

    Kitty needs company! One of my cats I originally brought home as an only kitty. When I’d get home from work, she’d meow her li’l head off at me. Then, she got a brother, and I could tell by the fact that she no longer meowed up a fit when I got home that she appreciated the company when I was away.

    Oh, and the two bonded like brother and sister. To this day, over 10 years later, they still lie together and give each other baths about the ears and head.

    Another kitty would quite likely enrich both Tunch’s life and yours.

  3. 3.

    OriGuy

    March 24, 2009 at 3:27 am

    Mt. Redoubt has a few words for Bobby Jindal.

  4. 4.

    Tattoosydney

    March 24, 2009 at 3:53 am

    A box of what?

  5. 5.

    Andre

    March 24, 2009 at 4:41 am

    Tunch needs a kitty treadmill!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjzd320gew

  6. 6.

    AnneLaurie

    March 24, 2009 at 4:55 am

    BTW- there are times I think I should get another cat to be a friend for Tunch, and then there are times I think what he really needs is a boxer.

    Bit you again, did he? Or is he just being overly helpful with your not-sleeping issues? Get him a kitten of his very own… because revenge is a dish best served cold.

  7. 7.

    bago

    March 24, 2009 at 5:27 am

    Rachel Maddow.
    She’s not only cute in the physical sense, but she’s smart as a whip and asks the right questions.
    If this is the kind of talent the general bias against "teh ghey" has been denying us, then f-it.

  8. 8.

    Comrade Vida Loca

    March 24, 2009 at 6:05 am

    John,

    The only boxer I’ve ever known personnally was a wonderful dog in every way but one: he would have cheerfully mauled any cat he could have caught. He hated cats, and I’ve read that this is not atypical in the breed.

    You may find other more knowledgeable people here who disagree but my $.02 worth would be to get a different breed if you want a non-cat companion for Tunch. Hell, get a Jack Russell — you know what you’d be getting into there.

  9. 9.

    DanJoaquinOz

    March 24, 2009 at 6:23 am

    In my experience, adding another cat makes both cats more catty. They emphasize eachother’s slyness, sloth and self-sufficiency. Kevin Drum’s are perfect examples.Those happen to be things I really like about cats (along with their obsessive cleanliness), but if you’d like to enhance Tunch’s sociability and engagement with the outside world, definitely add a dog. A boxer could be great because their singular flaw (apart from some health issues) is their abject neediness. Even more than most dogs they suffer from loneliness and a need for dominant affirmation. With a few quick scratches and some feline disdain, Tunch would have the boxer joyously, slavishly fetching his catnip. You do realize you’ll have to walk a boxer twice a day though? Not such a bad thing, but 730 walks a year is more of a commitment than I’m willing to make for any living creature…

  10. 10.

    cleek

    March 24, 2009 at 7:05 am

    our first cat reacted to our second cat with fear, anger and resentment. two years later, little has changed – though first cat will sometimes slip up and start grooming second cat. that always ends in hissing and running, though, since second cat generally responds to attention with playful biting.

  11. 11.

    MMM

    March 24, 2009 at 7:23 am

    John Cole is becoming an old cat lady.

  12. 12.

    gnomedad

    March 24, 2009 at 7:24 am

    @Andre:

    Tunch needs a kitty treadmill!

    John already tried this, but attempted to suppress the video of the experiment. Thanks to the Intertubz, the truth is out.

  13. 13.

    gnomedad

    March 24, 2009 at 7:55 am

    In my experience, adding another cat makes both cats more catty.

    our first cat reacted to our second cat with fear, anger and resentment.

    I’ve had both experiences. I think the favorable outcome is more likely, but the odds are worse the older the cat is. Tunch’s biological clock is ticking.

  14. 14.

    Krista

    March 24, 2009 at 7:56 am

    A dog wouldn’t be a bad idea, but there’d be some heavy-duty socializing that would need to happen. If you can find an adult dog at a shelter who was raised around and likes cats, you’d be halfway there. But the question lies with Tunch — how is he around dogs? Did he spaz out when the JRTs visited, or was he cautiously curious, or did he just ignore them and act imperious?

    Get a dog, John. I saw a Jack Russell Terrier named Gizzy listed at the Parkersburg Humane Society. He’s leash-trained, loves to cuddle, and is good with kids, dogs and cats. Another JRT with a "G" name…it’s meant to be.

  15. 15.

    Montysano

    March 24, 2009 at 8:01 am

    @bago:

    If this is the kind of talent the general bias against "teh ghey" has been denying us, then f-it.

    Then add in the pot smokers who stay on the fringes because of fear of the pee bottle.

  16. 16.

    Paulie Chestnuts

    March 24, 2009 at 8:05 am

    BTW- there are times I think I should get another cat to be a friend meal for Tunch…

    Fixeded.

  17. 17.

    Dennis-SGMM

    March 24, 2009 at 8:10 am

    Cue the screaming:
    U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

    The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.
    The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

    Look for the wingers to go to Defcon 1. Beck will broadcast from an undisclosed location in full camo.

  18. 18.

    harlana pepper

    March 24, 2009 at 8:15 am

    What kind of tease is this? You drop a comment like with no corresponding Tunch pic?? wtf?

    And if you’re looking for a boxer, helloo? I’ve been offering my lovely, "mature" tortie as a companion for some time. And she can box, my friend, she *can* box.

  19. 19.

    passerby

    March 24, 2009 at 8:31 am

    Today, Obama has issued a global editorial which ran in 20 publications around the world. Here’s a link to the text from the Baltimore Sun.

  20. 20.

    passerby

    March 24, 2009 at 8:33 am

    @Montysano:

    Then add in the pot smokers who stay on the fringes because of fear of the pee bottle.

    This is so true.

  21. 21.

    harlana pepper

    March 24, 2009 at 8:49 am

    Dennis: I hope he will be wearing a satellite dish on his head a la Al Franken.

  22. 22.

    harlana pepper

    March 24, 2009 at 8:53 am

    In all seriousness, if you are going to get another pet, make sure it is a kitten or puppy. Since Tunch is grown, he is much more likely to bond with a "baby" because he won’t feel threatened.

  23. 23.

    cleek

    March 24, 2009 at 8:59 am

    this is one of the first times our first cat got a good look at our second cat (who was just an 8-week-old kitten at that point).

    much swatting and arching followed.

  24. 24.

    passerby

    March 24, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Obama is asking congress to expand the powers of the US Treasury to include the ability to seize non-bank entities. Here’s a link from the Washington Post.

    From the article:

    "The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document. The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

    "Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process."

    And:

    A reminder that Obama is conducting a press conference at 8pm EDT tonight at the Whitehouse.

  25. 25.

    2th&nayle

    March 24, 2009 at 9:07 am

    @harlana pepper: Yeah, I agree, a kitten or a puppy might trigger some dormant nurturing instinct that Tunch doesn’t even know he possesses. Might not be so inclined to ‘kill on sight’. OTOH,…..

  26. 26.

    harlana pepper

    March 24, 2009 at 9:13 am

    2th: Just don’t get a 3rd kitteh. . . TRUST me, thees is mistake!

    Completely OT, but vaguely related to a previous recent post, my friend’s boyfriend is losing his job in a couple of weeks (works in engineering) — he is now trying to get a job in Afghanistan.

  27. 27.

    Keith

    March 24, 2009 at 9:14 am

    This is just a single experience, but when I introduced a year-old kitten/cat into my house, only one of the existing ones was OK with the level of play the kitten wanted (it led into a hunting partnership, which is odd in cats). The rest of the old guard found the young one annoying more than anything, although now he’s accepted but just at the low-end of the cat totem pole.
    However, 6 months earlier, I introduced a pit bull puppy, and the old guard seemed to enjoy the "ownership" of the dog, as if they gain some sort of satisfaction in being able to lift a paw and have the dog lie down & pout. Now, there are caveats to that (like I avoided a female dog due to aggression, and I got a pit bull from a very passive bloodline), but IMO the older cats liked raising the dog moreso than the young cat.

    BTW: John, I can’t thank you again for recommending the Furminator in an earlier set of threads. All 4 of my cats LOVE the thing, and it genuinely has improved their moods.

  28. 28.

    Dork

    March 24, 2009 at 9:23 am

    and then there are times I think what he really needs is a boxer.

    Porsches are expensive.

  29. 29.

    harlana pepper

    March 24, 2009 at 9:23 am

    Keith, thanks for reminding me – I am ordering my Furminator 2day! it’s shedding time now

    Also, my friend wants to go to Afghanistan also, b/c of the monies. Desperate times.

  30. 30.

    Punchy

    March 24, 2009 at 9:27 am

    Get Tunch a retired racing greyhound pal. I kid you not–he’ll be whatever is the opposite of obese in 2 weeks flat. And probably sleep-deprived and exhausted to boot.

  31. 31.

    harlana pepper

    March 24, 2009 at 9:29 am

    Is Tunch indoor/outdoor? That would be a factor as to whether to get a greyhound. I like how John throws this stuff out there and then expects all of us to figure this shit out for him.

    :)

  32. 32.

    jibeaux

    March 24, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Who is AlfonZo Rachel, and why must "President Zobama" and the "Zonation" as a whole share in his affinity for the last two letters of his first name? Bring back the tea party ads. Surely there’s going to be more tea parties, right, after their raging success before…?

  33. 33.

    jibeaux

    March 24, 2009 at 9:36 am

    @Dork:
    isn’t that a Boxster?

  34. 34.

    Shinobi

    March 24, 2009 at 9:39 am

    I got my first cat a second cat when she started dragging cat shaped stuffed animals around the house and wrestling with them. It was sad, I’d come home and she’d have a stuffed husky in the middle of the floor and be wrestling it and licking its ear.

    Oddly enough she did not greet the additional kitty with open arms until she realized they could play. And it did cure her of a lot of her annoying habits like yowling incessantly at nothing.

    However the second cat…. she is perhaps even more annoying than the first cat ever was.

    I got them a Husky. (he’s partially blind, this is otherwise not recommended.) This really hasn’t changed much except the cats generally fear for their lives more than they used to. (Though after nearly 2 years they will now walk past him, very very very slowly.) And now I have to keep their food up on the counter, so they have gotten in better shape, though my fat black cat is still roughly equivalent to Tunch.

  35. 35.

    Libby

    March 24, 2009 at 9:46 am

    I think what he really needs is a boxer

    You’re going to adopt Muhammad Ali?

  36. 36.

    Cat Lady

    March 24, 2009 at 9:47 am

    @MMM:

    John Cole is becoming an old cat lady.

    It’s a feature, not a bug.

    /old cat lady

  37. 37.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 24, 2009 at 10:01 am

    My older cat, he is 6 now, was quite lonely when he was our only kitty, we got another cat, a tiny orange kitten (female) when he was about year and a half, they both get along well most of the time, however there are occasional hissing and spitting matches, but I think they are playing since they never hurt each other or draw blood. Go ahead get Tunch a kitty friend, he is probably lonely, my cat used to play rough and bite me when he was the solo kitty but now he does that rarely if at all. He harasses his kitty friend instead.

  38. 38.

    Cris

    March 24, 2009 at 10:51 am

    I promised my friend Gigi a thread in her name

    Tank hay-veyn, four leetle GUURLS

  39. 39.

    tess

    March 24, 2009 at 10:52 am

    Late to the party, but how old is Tunch? Sometimes older cats don’t cope too well, especially if they are pretty happy with having the place to themselves. You’re home a lot, so I don’t know if Tunch really requires a buddy. I think you’d know if he were feeling lonely a lot–you wouldn’t be able to get anything done.

    That said, males often take to a new animal better than females do. We have an 8-year-old male we adopted from the neighborhood who was primarily an outdoor cat, and he spent a couple of years hanging out with and playing with this younger cat from the neighborhood. When the friend showed up, he was maybe a year old to Bub’s 3 or 4, and they would chase chipmunks (we watched Bub teach the other cat to hunt) and generally hang out. It surprised me–my two old lady cats from college never really hung out together and certainly weren’t happy when we started to allow Bub inside and regularly smelled like him. I think he really missed his friend when the family moved away.

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack

    March 24, 2009 at 10:54 am

    @Punchy:

    Uh, I don’t think getting a greyhound, especially a retired racer, would be a good idea. Think about it: they spent their entire career chasing small(er) furry things in the hope of killing it. And they’re fast.

    My brother has a retired racer and a whippet, and neither is cat-safe. They take that whole "sight hound" predator thing way too seriously. They are sweet as can be around people and other dogs, even small children, but give them a peek at something that looks like prey and they go nuts.

  41. 41.

    Cris

    March 24, 2009 at 11:35 am

    I introduced two kittens to my single-cat household two years ago. My big guy was 11 years old at the time, and he took to them pretty well after the expected adjustment period. But he has entertained house guests several times in his life, so I’m sure it really depends on the particular cat.

  42. 42.

    Delia

    March 24, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    Cats are totally unpredictable. Some will tolerate or even like other cats. Some will not. Some will accept cat tolerant dogs. Others will hate them. I’ve had both in my life, and as far as I can tell it’s a total crap shoot.

    My vet thinks that you have better luck bonding a male with a female, even though they’re both neutered. If you go to a shelter, look for a cat that’s known to be tolerant or to like other cats. That’s the sum total of my knowledge on the subject.

    PS: If Tunch has never lived around dogs, I’m not optimistic about him adapting after his life habits have been set.

  43. 43.

    The Pale Scot

    March 24, 2009 at 1:07 pm

    Gigi?? Gee, that sounds cute.

  44. 44.

    Comrade Nikolita

    March 24, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    @cleek:

    That`s what happened with our two cats. :( Although I suspect it’s because we didn’t introduce them properly.

    The first one was an only cat for about a year and a half, with me, and was spoiled rotten. When my boyfriend and I moved, we got a kitten. Thankfully over the past year he’s learned that she doesn’t always want to be touched, or just wants to be left alone, but there are times where he’ll chase her or jump on her just for the hell of it, and she’ll hiss and growl right back.

    I’m hoping that as he gets older they’ll both mellow out, because I feel really bad for my first cat. We got her another cat to be a companion, but she hated him from day 1. At least she’s been declawed in her front paws, so she’ll only swat at him and play-bite him.

  45. 45.

    Shell Goddamnit

    March 24, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    Here’s how to deal with this: become a foster cat home for a rescue. Or a foster dog home. Or both. Basically, you are taking a creature in for a limited time; you can find out how Tunch deals with other creatures of the dog & cat kind. Rescue people won’t put a cat-killer dog in your house; if you choose rescue cats, with any luck they will move through your house on a semi-regular basis; you can find creatures that get along with Tunch and each other and keep them.

    http://www.petfinder.com

    oh, er, warning: this is how I ended up with three cats, a dog and two geese. be very very careful…

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Albatrossity - The Birds of May 3
Image by Albatrossity (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Martin on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 7:28pm)
  • Baud on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 7:26pm)
  • John Sterling on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 7:25pm)
  • Betty on Years and Years (Open Thread) (Jul 12, 2025 @ 7:22pm)
  • Gin & Tonic on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 12, 2025 @ 7:18pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!