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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Republicans don’t trust women.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Come on, man.

In after Baud. Damn.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  June 28, 20098:23 pm| 115 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I feel compelled to blog, but I have nothing to say, which, when I think about it, really sums up the history of this website.

I will point out this bit of agreement with BTD over at Talk Left. Right now, I am just done with the Sunday talk shows. Right now, they serve no purpose other than to throw nonsense into the national dialogue, and I watch them and I want to kick puppies. That was ok before, but I have a puppy now, so now it is no longer acceptable.

Also, how long before President McCain is demanding that Obama take a tougher line with the Honduran government? My guess is as soon as one of his staffers explains where it is.

Also, this zucchini idea seems pretty good.

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115Comments

  1. 1.

    garyb50

    June 28, 2009 at 8:25 pm

    I have a lot to say but I don’t feel like saying it.

  2. 2.

    robertdsc

    June 28, 2009 at 8:26 pm

    I’m watching Naomi Watts and Edward Norton in The Painted Veil. Naomi kills me every time.

  3. 3.

    sturunner

    June 28, 2009 at 8:27 pm

    Any more pictures of Lily?

  4. 4.

    PeopleAreNoDamnGood

    June 28, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    Bob called me a dick.

  5. 5.

    PeopleAreNoDamnGood

    June 28, 2009 at 8:31 pm

    McCain to Obama: You’re a dick.

    Obama to McCain: Bite me.

    Biden to Cheney: You’re sweating like an iced tea pitcher.

  6. 6.

    SGEW

    June 28, 2009 at 8:31 pm

    I am just done with the Sunday talk shows.

    Huzzah!

    Another victory for the anti-television movement.

    Seriously, you’ll be amazed at how much saner the world seems.

  7. 7.

    jl

    June 28, 2009 at 8:31 pm

    My only comment on the new unstable government front today, is that from what I have heard on radio and TV, many reporters, mannequins, whatever they are, seem to confuse Costa Rica with Honduras, or do not seem to understand the difference very well. Anyone else notice that? Or have I had bad luck today in my media viewing?

    From my understanding it is “coup in Honduras'” and “coup-ed Honduran president sent to Costa Rica” (Costa Rica having no army to coup with). Is there a way to get the word out to the news celebs?

  8. 8.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 8:32 pm

    @PeopleAreNoDamnGood: You are a dick. Hell, you are proud of that most the time.

  9. 9.

    jl

    June 28, 2009 at 8:33 pm

    Also. Lily -no pics? Where is Tunch? Not that I worry about Tunch. Tunch can take care of himself. I worry about Mr. Cole when he does not document the whereabouts and activities of Mr. Tunch.

  10. 10.

    Incertus

    June 28, 2009 at 8:33 pm

    Leverage is back on soon–next week, I think; the DVR will let me know. But Sunday television is supposed to be for sports, as far as I know.

  11. 11.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    and I watch them and I want to kick puppies. That was ok before, but I have a puppy now, so now it is longer acceptable.

    You are so lucky that Lily rescued you!

  12. 12.

    PeopleAreNoDamnGood

    June 28, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    @John Cole:

    Bob said your dog is a dick.

  13. 13.

    Violet

    June 28, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    I am just done with the Sunday talk shows.

    I’ve been done with them for awhile. They’re boring. Same old stuff every week. Yawn. I wish they’d let the guests ask the questions for a change. I might watch that. Maybe grab random people off the street to ask questions like, “How much money do you make, David Gregory?”

    The zucchini idea is pretty much how I garden. I can’t plant food too far from the house because people steal it. But otherwise, I put food plants anywhere I can. It’s a great way to fit in that extra tomato or broccoli plant. Plus it helps with crop rotation and not re-planting the same things in the same place year after year.

  14. 14.

    donovong

    June 28, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    What? You mean they took Jacko off the TeeVee long enough to run the Sunday Republican News Hour ad nauseum??

  15. 15.

    D. Cloyce Smith

    June 28, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    Senator McCain was born in Panama, so I suspect he knows where Honduras is. But I have not personally seen his birth certificate so I am unable to verify that he is in fact a U. S. citizen.

  16. 16.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Also, I think I have a tooth going bad.

  17. 17.

    SGEW

    June 28, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    @D. Cloyce Smith: McCain also certainly knows where Brazil is.

  18. 18.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    And I don’t mean it is wearing baggy pants and listening to gangster rap, either.

  19. 19.

    MikeJ

    June 28, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    I am just done with the Sunday talk shows.

    Does that include WWDTM? They do tend to get sorta stupid faux centrist, but not as bad as most of the other shows.

    NBC should really consider replacing Gregory with Mo Rocca.

  20. 20.

    Genine

    June 28, 2009 at 8:45 pm

    I’ve been done with Sunday talk shows for a while now. They really add nothing valuable to the political discourse. I’d even go so far as to say they poison the well.

    They don’t see it that way, of course. It’s “the Village” after all. I just wait for the day when some of them poke their heads outside of the village to take a peek at reality.

  21. 21.

    Kris

    June 28, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    @John Cole:

    That would be SKINNY JEAN baggy pants to you sir. Good lord, I’m watching the BET awards and after listening to MJ for the past few days–it is more than obvious that music is DEAD.

  22. 22.

    Cat Lady

    June 28, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    When was the last time a Sunday talk show changed anyone’s thinking about anything, do you suppose? In this media environment you’re already watching what reinforces your view. The kids get their opinions from blogs and Jon Stewart, which is why MTP is bleeding out. Old fart Bob Schieffer doing a lead in to his show trying to feign enthusiasm about Haley Barbour is just sad. I just hope that because the MSM and the RNC are talking to each other in an isolation booth, they believe the country really is waiting for an old white fat jowly drawling good ol’ boy to emerge.

  23. 23.

    Ron Beasley

    June 28, 2009 at 8:46 pm

    You got the Honduras thing and McCain all wrong. The ousted President was a lefty so McCain will demand that Obama congratulate the military.

  24. 24.

    Incertus

    June 28, 2009 at 8:48 pm

    @MikeJ:

    NBC should really consider replacing Gregory with Mo Rocca

    Oh god no. I turn off episodes of Iron Chef America when he’s a judge.

  25. 25.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 8:49 pm

    Larry King is going to be “Live” (double air quotes) tonight with CHER and CELINE DION in a tribute to you-know-who.
    Can you live blog it for us and can we come up with a really fun drinking game to pair with it between now and then?
    It just seems like the perfect chaser to this whole entire bloody boring freaking weekend coverage.
    OK, there’s my word: “Freak”. Every time someone says “freak” in regard to MJ, I’ll drink a half bottle of Spanish Grenacha. On ice.

    I think we should also make it obligatory that every comment include a Cher or Celine video link.
    Smoky Robinson will be there too, so I guess if you have to link to him, that’s OK too, but not nearly as disturbing, and only half the point value.

  26. 26.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    @Laura W: I honestly would rather be a victim of prison rape.

  27. 27.

    WereBear

    June 28, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    See, when I watch the Sunday shows, I want to kick them.

  28. 28.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    @John Cole: If you could just edit that to say “Freakin’ prison rape” I will happily drink a half bottle of Spanish Grenacha (on ice) in advance of Larry King “Live”.

  29. 29.

    Incertus

    June 28, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    @John Cole: I’d rather wear Billy Ray Cyrus’s thong as a hat–backwards–than watch that.

  30. 30.

    MikeJ

    June 28, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    Spanish Grenacha

    Jumilla?

  31. 31.

    SGEW

    June 28, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    When was the last time a Sunday talk show changed anyone’s thinking about anything, do you suppose?

    I used to think that adults ran this country. Sunday talk shows helped to change my thinking about that, let me tell you.

  32. 32.

    Eric U.

    June 28, 2009 at 9:00 pm

    I haven’t watched a news show since 2000. Haven’t been able to stomach it. I’ve been much happier. I’m so glad Limbaugh immediately put his foot in it when ESPN had him on. That would have killed sports for me too.

  33. 33.

    gwangung

    June 28, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    @Incertus: Well, if you’re a regular denizen of Kung Fun Monkey then you’d KNOW it was July 15…

    Had several pals audition for the Special Asian Episode of the show…probably none of them will snag parts…

  34. 34.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    I think Hung makes its debut tonight.

  35. 35.

    jl

    June 28, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    No pet pics yet? Where is Tunch and what is he up to?

    Iran, Honduras, which authoritarian regime will fall next?

    When poor John Cole wakes up and finds that he is the gamma mammal in the house, well, he got friendly warnings about that.

    I would keep tabs on Tunch at all times, if it were me, but I am over 2000 miles away and I assume I have nothing to worry about… right? Right?

  36. 36.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    @MikeJ: Oh damn. I’ve been trying to avoid you in hopes you would not ask me this.
    Calatayud. Las Rocas.
    My favorite wine dealer had it on discontinuation sale for 9.99 and saved me a case. I saw him last Thurs, and to be honest with you, I threw away the post-it upon which I’d written your recommendations. And I was too embarrassed to ask you again.

    There. I’ve said it all now.
    I wear my shame like a tattoo.

  37. 37.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    Forrest Gump is on one of the HBO’s.

    Lt. Dan might be one of my favorite characters of all time.

    It is summer, so Tunch is in the living room in the window. Lily is on my feet.

  38. 38.

    RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)

    June 28, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    And I don’t mean it is wearing baggy pants and listening to gangster rap, either.

    That’s good, then. I saw a kid this weekend who just made me shake my head. He had the baggy “shorts” (that went down almost to his ankles, due to the fact that they were belted under his arse), a white wife-beater undershirt, a ball cap on sideways over a bandanna, white high-tops, and was riding a bicycle while smoking. Yes, I know I’m not a teenager anymore — far from it — but I’m trying to fathom how ANY teenage female could find that look even remotely attractive. And I’m also trying to figure out when that look will go away — it seems to be taking its sweet damn time, doesn’t it?

  39. 39.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?

    I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.

  40. 40.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    @John Cole: You’re live blogging GUMP?
    Cher is talking, Dude!

  41. 41.

    djork

    June 28, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    Laura W.,

    I just returned from a trip to Highlands, where I saw your ad in the Mountain Laurel.

    I guess your commenting here is building some sort of brand. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

  42. 42.

    CynDee

    June 28, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    I am just done with the Sunday talk shows.

    John, you have chosen well.
    Talk shows = death and destruction.
    Growing food and talking about using food = life and health.
    Puppies = everything good for all time.

  43. 43.

    geg6

    June 28, 2009 at 9:06 pm

    There are two Sunday pundit shows I still watch. I usually catch the roundtable portion of Snuffleupagus. I do it for two reasons. I love to point and laugh at George Will. And even my John approves of pointing and laughing at Will as often as possible. And Krugman often shows up and gives one of the Village idiots his patented mild mannered shiv in the kidney. Then I almost always watch Zakaria. He can make me nuts sometimes, but he usually covers stuff no one else does in an intelligent way even if I may disagree. A perfect example was his showcasing of the blatherings of war criminal Tony Blair today. But he made up for it by having Krugman on. During which segment the good doctor provided an even more forceful but painfully polite knifing of, um, I think it was supply side and tax cutting solves all Johnson of Stanford. Paul Krugman was a ninja today. They never saw it coming. I hate to admit it, but I might be getting a bit of a crush on the Shrill One after today.

  44. 44.

    JK

    June 28, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    I feel compelled to blog, but I have nothing to say

    John,
    Many thanks for your indirect reference to Tristan Tzara (“I am writing a manifesto and there’s nothing I want”). That really hits the spot big time for me.

    People who are obsessed with Obama’s birth certificate are referred to as birthers.

    What’s an a appropriate term to describe people, like Jack Cashill http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/breakthrough_on_the_authorship_1.html
    who are obsessed with proving that William Ayers is the ghost writer behind Dreams From My Father?

    Authorshippers?

  45. 45.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    @djork: Er, by “my” ad do you mean the ad for the Mountain Film Festival?
    ‘Cuz I took the hundreds of thousands of dollars I paid them last year for MY personal mosaic ads and gave it all to John Cole this year.

    I guess your commenting here is building some sort of brand. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

    You and me both! It’s the reason why I don’t hook my handle to my web site. I mean, I tend toward potty mouth, and not everyong likes that in an artist. Dunno why not, frankly.

  46. 46.

    gbear

    June 28, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    @Laura W:

    Maybe Cher will die during the show, but how will we be able to tell?

    @John Cole:

    I think Hung makes its debut tonight.

    I don’t EVEN want to know what that’s about.

  47. 47.

    Dennis-SGMM

    June 28, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    What’s an a appropriate term to describe people, like Jack Cashill…

    Dicks

  48. 48.

    geg6

    June 28, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    John Cole: I read a rather shell shocked review of “Hung” on Salon. Shell shocked in that the reviewer expected to hate and ended up thinking it was smart, funny, and had several excellent performances. I plan to check it out now even though my original thought was that I have seen enough men in my life that think I should be impressed with their dicks to not really be interested in a fake one on my teevee.

  49. 49.

    John Cole

    June 28, 2009 at 9:20 pm

    I thought I’d try out my sea legs.

    But you ain’t got no legs.

  50. 50.

    Elie

    June 28, 2009 at 9:22 pm

    The only Sunday show that I watch is Fareed Z.’s GPS. Good discussion, guests and worthwhile topics…

    The rest of ’em are worth nothing, nothing, nothing. Who ARE these people and what the hey are they talking about? Disconnect doesnt express it well enough — These people are members of a dying elite and they are talking to themselves.

  51. 51.

    PeopleAreNoDamnGood

    June 28, 2009 at 9:22 pm

    @John Cole:

    LOL. That was my exact thought.

  52. 52.

    RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)

    June 28, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    Maybe Cher will die during the show, but how will we be able to tell?

    She IS still able to blink, I believe. That’s what you have to watch for.

  53. 53.

    PeopleAreNoDamnGood

    June 28, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    @gbear:

    It’s about what you think it is about. It’s about Dana Milbank, and a dick.

  54. 54.

    geg6

    June 28, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    I cannot believe anyone here would voluntarily subject themselves to Cher, Celine, and Larry. Shudder.

  55. 55.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    @gbear:

    Maybe Cher will die during the show, but how will we be able to tell?

    Excellent point. And we will never know. She phoned it in.
    (I’m sorry but I can’t stop thinking about Chastity going transgender. If I ever do pursue that Master’s in Depth Psych, I aim to do something with the whole Cher/Chas relationship dynamic. Fascinating!)

  56. 56.

    Linkmeister

    June 28, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    Zucchini should either be cut lengthwise into planks and grilled or sliced into 1-inch chunks, battered, deep-fried and dipped into a ranch-style sauce.

    /Zucchini pontification

  57. 57.

    OriGuy

    June 28, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    @gbear: My first thought was the guy from American Idol.

    Laura W. Any Michael Jackson drinking game has to include Elizabeth Taylor. I couldn’t find out what she was drinking in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. I found the drinking game for that, though. A good way to destroy your liver quickly.

  58. 58.

    Johnny B. Guud

    June 28, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    Is this what“green shoots” look like?

    Regulators Shut 5 Banks; 45 Failures This Year

    NEW YORK (AP) — Regulators on Friday shut down five small banks, boosting to 45 the number of failures this year of federally insured banks. More are expected to succumb in the prolonged recession.

    ***

    As the economy has soured, with unemployment rising, home prices tumbling and loan defaults soaring, bank failures have cascaded and sapped billions out of the deposit insurance fund. It now stands at its lowest level since 1993, $13 billion as of the first quarter.

    ***
    While the pounding from losses on home mortgages may be nearing an end, delinquencies on commercial real estate loans remain a hot spot of potential trouble, FDIC officials say. If the recession deepens, defaults on the high-risk loans could spike. Many regional banks hold large numbers of them.

    The answer, of course, is to cut taxes. And oh yeah, where’s the birth certificate?

  59. 59.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 9:31 pm

    @geg6: I’m so over that. I’m living for “Hung” now.

  60. 60.

    AkaDad

    June 28, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    I cannot believe anyone here would voluntarily subject themselves to Cher, Celine, and Larry.

    The original Axis of Evil.

  61. 61.

    geg6

    June 28, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    Thank FSM, Laura. I was worrying about you.

  62. 62.

    JK

    June 28, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    I am just done with the Sunday talk shows. Right now, they serve no purpose other than to throw nonsense into the national dialogue.

    According to I. F. Stone biographer D.D. Guttenplan, Stone was a regular panelist on Meet the Press until he questioned an official from the AMA a little too harshly on one broadcast. The Sunday talk shows would suck a lot less if they booked panelists like Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, Alexander Cockburn, Norman Solomon, Glenn Greenwald, Joe Conason, Michael Tomasky, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Les Payne on a regular basis.

  63. 63.

    Jay C

    June 28, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    BTW, I’ve scanned a few rightie blogs tonite, and most of the commentary about Honduras seems to be the usual reflexive sneering at President Obama – for some reason, official statements coming out against military coups in foreign countries seem to offend these people. Most comments are mainly bilious crapola about “Obama’s socialist buddies” (as if Barack or Hillary wouldn’t first think “Manuel Zelaya” was the new third baseman for the Nationals or something) and snipes at “meddling” – i.e., the usual damned-if-he-does/damned-if-he-doesn’t spite wingnuts can’t help but spout any time Obama’s name comes up.

  64. 64.

    anonevent

    June 28, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    @JK:
    Like @Dennis-SGMM said, but a public term might be ghosters.

  65. 65.

    TX Expat

    June 28, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    RE: Tunch

    I have been helping friends move for the past three weekends in a row and now have met not one but TWO cats that I think could take Tunch.

    Tui is 24 pounds and when we went to move her house she let out sounds that I’ve never heard any animal emit and I had to help to catch this wild beast that I’m quite sure would have eaten my entrails if given half the chance. Death match between me and that animal? I hate to say it but my money would have been on that cat.

    The catch sequence was hilarious because I’m deathly allergic to cats so can’t even touch them without having to use an EpiPen – my role was to herd and corner (and try not to shiver in fear).

    Sunday shows? Do they still have those? Haven’t watched in so long that I wondered if they still existed or not.

    Cher video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWeezUxIzaE

    Of course, this song always makes me think of that awesome X-Files episode “The Post-Modern Prometheus”.

  66. 66.

    Delia

    June 28, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    @JK:

    According to I. F. Stone biographer D.D. Guttenplan, Stone was a regular panelist on Meet the Press until he questioned an official from the AMA a little too harshly on one broadcast. The Sunday talk shows would suck a lot less if they booked panelists like Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, Alexander Cockburn, Norman Solomon, Glenn Greenwald, Joe Conason, Michael Tomasky, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Les Payne on a regular basis.

    Indeed. But then they would not be the Sunday talk shows (or more properly, the talky-talk shows) and the Villagers’ heads would all explode. Not that that would be a bad thing . . . .

  67. 67.

    Ash Can

    June 28, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    I couldn’t tell you the last time I watched one of those Sunday AM gabfests. They just got to be too damned boring, and I finally came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth the waste of time to watch for the too-rare interesting session. And this was years ago. I have far better things to do on Sundays.

  68. 68.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 9:52 pm

    @TX Expat: Now we’re talkin’.
    I love you in a place where
    there’s no space or time.

  69. 69.

    Linkmeister

    June 28, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    @JK: I’d add Sheila Bair and Elizabeth Warren to your list, as long as we’re asking.

  70. 70.

    gnomedad

    June 28, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    @RedKitten (formerly Krista – the Canadian one):

    I saw a kid this weekend who just made me shake my head.

    I keep imagining that this started when a school administrator somewhere banned that sort of apparel on a bet that no kid would be stupid enough to take the bait.

  71. 71.

    PGE

    June 28, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    I have no more interest in Cher as a person than in any other stranger; I positively dislike Cher as a musician; but Cher as an actress is as nearly a foolproof an indicator of a movie that’s worth your time as you can find.
    Also, cancelled cable a couple of months ago but, before that, had stopped watching any of the Sunday c**p other than Stephanopolis occasionally.

  72. 72.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    @PGE: Very well said. I agree with you.

  73. 73.

    Svensker

    June 28, 2009 at 10:07 pm

    @Incertus:

    Oh, man. I gotta go wash. Ewwwww.

  74. 74.

    Svensker

    June 28, 2009 at 10:10 pm

    @Laura W:

    @John Cole: You’re live blogging GUMP?

    Right?

    I hate that movie. Something about Tom Hanks in that show (and I usually am OK with T.H.) makes me want to climb through the screen and strangle him, after having committed numerous violent acts upon his person.

  75. 75.

    Yutsano

    June 28, 2009 at 10:12 pm

    Also, cancelled cable a couple of months ago but, before that, had stopped watching any of the Sunday c**p other than Stephanopolis occasionally.

    Wouldn’t mind cancelling my cable and telling Charter to stuff it except for two points:

    1) Cable Internet beats the tar out of DSL hands down. Especially with my brothers moving in increasing the bandwith demands.

    2) I’m wayyy too much a Food Network addict. I’m serious, I almost need rehab for it or something. It’s all I watch before I head to work in the mornings.

  76. 76.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    June 28, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    I have to relate this because it’s an open thread and I’m still shaking my head on how truly bizarre this was. I ran into my ex on a hiking trail today. It would have been less bizarre to run into John Cole on that hiking trail (if I knew what he looked like) than my ex. I’m trying to figure out what cosmic crap must have aligned for this to happen. And why does the universe hate me? (BTW, if looks and intention could kill, he’d be dead before he got down the mountain – my ex, not JC).

    BTW, where is Just Some Fuckhead? I’m missing his insightful interjections. Laura?

  77. 77.

    PGE

    June 28, 2009 at 10:18 pm

    @Yutsano: When I cancelled cable, Charter told me I couldn’t get an internet-only package: had to get tv. But you’re right: DSL sucks. So I tried Charter again, and either they’ve changed policy or I had been talking to an idiot. So I just signed up for internet only. And stream TDS and Colbert to get my tv fix.

  78. 78.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 10:21 pm

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    BTW, where is Just Some Fuckhead? I’m missing his insightful interjections. Laura?

    Last I heard he was killed by a mosquito truck, but I don’t know Jack.

  79. 79.

    Svensker

    June 28, 2009 at 10:22 pm

    Bad Horse’s Filly — bad luck. How far apart do you live?

    We have a super abundance of squash blossoms and I was looking at them today and then I realized — stuffed with goat cheese and herbs then pan fried in olive oil. Will be first course tomorrow night before the fresh pesto and linguini. Mmmmm, love summer food.

  80. 80.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    June 28, 2009 at 10:23 pm

    @Laura W: Aaah, that explains it. I need crib notes to work here.

  81. 81.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    June 28, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    @Svensker: Obviously not far enough LOL!

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    June 28, 2009 at 10:25 pm

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    I have to relate this because it’s an open thread and I’m still shaking my head on how truly bizarre this was. I ran into my ex on a hiking trail today.

    You weren’t hiking the Appalachian trail were you? I hear that strange things happen there.

  83. 83.

    Yutsano

    June 28, 2009 at 10:26 pm

    When I cancelled cable, Charter told me I couldn’t get an internet-only package: had to get tv. But you’re right: DSL sucks. So I tried Charter again, and either they’ve changed policy or I had been talking to an idiot. So I just signed up for internet only. And stream TDS and Colbert to get my tv fix.

    It may have just been a policy change, as when I was originally signing up for the package (I opted for the TV too because circumstances were taking the satellite away) I could sign up for just phone, cable, or Internet, any of the two, or all three. However, since it is Charter, I cannot discount the idiot theory either.

  84. 84.

    b-psycho

    June 28, 2009 at 10:27 pm

    Weren’t Mittens & Graham Cracker on MTP last week?

  85. 85.

    Dennis-SGMM

    June 28, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    @PGE:
    I’m waiting for Verizon FIOS to be brought in. Until then (Supposedly next summer) I have Verizon DSL. I get 2.6MBPS down and 700KBPS up – more than fast enough for my modest requirements. Had Adelphia cable modem before that and I loved it but then Adelphia was bought by Time-Warner and the service went to hell.

  86. 86.

    Yutsano

    June 28, 2009 at 10:31 pm

    We have a super abundance of squash blossoms and I was looking at them today and then I realized—stuffed with goat cheese and herbs then pan fried in olive oil. Will be first course tomorrow night before the fresh pesto and linguini. Mmmmm, love summer food.

    Have ALWAYS wanted to try these. Never could manage to pick any of my squash blossoms, mostly because I tend to love the squash too much, especially when it’s the only really fresh veggie you can get in the winter months (it still amazes me how acorns will keep on the ground for a really long time!). I have a GREAT local store whose produce buyer must be a farmer’s market nut, because he/she will bring in really different stuff all the time and I SWEAR they had squash blossoms once. Or they were tailed on the zucchini they had for sale, I can’t really remember now. I just know I gotta get me some of the heirloom tomatoes they had in there the other day!

  87. 87.

    Rosali

    June 28, 2009 at 10:33 pm

    Watching an excellent Tom Hanks right now on Saving Private Ryan on TNT. Waiting with bated breath for Matt Damon to make an appearance.

  88. 88.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    June 28, 2009 at 10:38 pm

    @Brachiator: How’d you guess? And my ex’s name is Sanford.

  89. 89.

    Anne Laurie

    June 28, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    Yes, I know I’m not a teenager anymore—far from it—but I’m trying to fathom how ANY teenage female could find that look even remotely attractive.

    I always thought the goal was to impress, or at least intimidate, other teenage males. Just as it is for their female peers (and we know what Jane Austen said about that). Up till about the age of 18 (later for frat boys & sorority sisters), attracting the opposite sex through one’s wardrobe seems to be a secondary goal — what’s important is not getting a negative label from one’s own gendermates, not least because the gendermate ‘hot or not’ ranking is at least as important in attracting the opposite sex as one’s actual looks, yes?

  90. 90.

    Svensker

    June 28, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Have ALWAYS wanted to try these. Never could manage to pick any of my squash blossoms, mostly because I tend to love the squash too much,

    The trick is to only pick the male blossoms. Not kidding. The female blossoms have the swelling at the base that will become the squash. The male blossoms are just transitory sperm producers, poor fellas. So pick the male blossoms, take out the middle, and stuff away. (Why does that remind me of Otto — “pork away!”?)

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    June 28, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    @Laura W:

    I like everything by Sade. That song made me think of Nicky Holland’s “Ladykiller.” Something about the bass. Here you go. (Stupid video. Great song.)

  92. 92.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    June 28, 2009 at 10:55 pm

    Laura, I’m sure you’ve signed off for the night, but have to tell you I downloaded some cheesy J. Geils onto my IPOD today and now I’m going to go jump. :-)

  93. 93.

    Dennis-SGMM

    June 28, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    @Anne Laurie:

    I always thought the goal was to impress, or at least intimidate, other teenage males.

    Because nothing is more intimidating than a guy with his pants down around his ankles.

  94. 94.

    Brachiator

    June 28, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    @RedKitten (formerly Krista – the Canadian one):

    Yes, I know I’m not a teenager anymore—far from it—but I’m trying to fathom how ANY teenage female could find that look even remotely attractive.

    What is it about us human beings? Is there some drug released in our brain that makes us forget how ridiculously we dressed and behaved when we were teens?

    Whenever I want to be especially humbled, I pull out pictures from my high school days and show them to my niece and nephew (age 10 and 12). They often fall on the floor laughing.

    And I’m also trying to figure out when that look will go away—it seems to be taking its sweet damn time, doesn’t it?

    Don’t worry. It will be replaced by something worse.

  95. 95.

    Laura W

    June 28, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    Oh Good God Lord Woman!

    BHF: I haven’t jumped in months. I bore easily. It was predictable.

  96. 96.

    gbear

    June 28, 2009 at 11:17 pm

    @gnomedad:

    I keep imagining that this started when a school administrator somewhere banned that sort of apparel on a bet that no kid would be stupid enough to take the bait.

    The low slung pants look got started because you can’t wear a belt in prison.

  97. 97.

    gbear

    June 28, 2009 at 11:21 pm

    @Svensker:

    Something about Tom Hanks in that show (and I usually am OK with T.H.) makes me want to climb through the screen and strangle him, after having committed numerous violent acts upon his person.

    I had the same reaction to his monotone performance in Sleepless In Seattle. I wanted every character to DIAF and I’ve never forgiven the date that took me to see that movie.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    June 28, 2009 at 11:25 pm

    @Laura W:

    ¡Caramba! Forget the song. Just the opening shot of her in that backless dress did it for me. Mama.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    June 28, 2009 at 11:39 pm

    @Laura W:

    And I always liked her version of Timmy Thomas’s “Why Can’t We LIve Together.”

    Ah, here she is doing it in the same set you chose. (Song gets going at about 1:00 after some junk.)

  100. 100.

    Polish the Guillotines

    June 29, 2009 at 12:04 am

    I’m bummed. I’ve been recording the Pitchmen series on Discovery and it’s been really entertaining. And now, Billy Mays is dead. 50 years old. Could be the result of a head injury from a rough plane landing.

    Wow. Fucking wow.

  101. 101.

    Indylib

    June 29, 2009 at 12:11 am

    @Anne Laurie: I have anecdotal evidence that this type of attire is more about impressing one’s male friends than attracting the opposite sex. My daughter’s boyfriend dresses this way and she thinks it’s ugly and has tried to talk him into at least wearing his pants up around his waist instead of somewhere in the vicinity of the underside of his butt, all to no avail. She doesn’t like it, but doesn’t think it’s important enough to break up with him or make a big fuss about it. I just keep hoping one day the boy will wake up and decide men don’t dress this way. I tell myself that he will grow out of it one of these days, probably when he gets a job where this kind of attire is not acceptable.

  102. 102.

    Anne Laurie

    June 29, 2009 at 12:20 am

    Because nothing is more intimidating than a guy with his pants down around his ankles.

    Was it nutso Larry Sinclair’s lawyer who showed up at court in a kilt because, he claimed, his tackle was too large for suit pants to be comfortable? I’ve heard of white rappers offering the same explanation for the low-slung-pants look, even though the gangsta-connection no-belts-in-jail theory is almost certainly the true origin. (The fact that I have ever heard the names ‘Larry Sinclair’ and ‘Ashton Roth’ is probably another sign the Apocalypse approaches.)

  103. 103.

    gbear

    June 29, 2009 at 12:30 am

    Fort Worth Gay Bar raided on 40th anniversary of Stonewall

    Because patiently waiting for our rights without getting pissed off or making waves about it has gone so totally beautifully fucking well.

    One of the people arrested suffered a fractured skull.

  104. 104.

    gex

    June 29, 2009 at 12:53 am

    @gbear: Grrrr… Methinks that the government specifically and deliberately treating gays as so completely other that the normal rules don’t apply has a pernicious effect.

  105. 105.

    Bob In Pacifica

    June 29, 2009 at 1:08 am

    How ironic. Big Tent Democrat kicked me out of Talk Left because I pointed out Hillary Clinton’s hypocrisies during the campaign.

    Too bad, because I liked a lot of what Merritt wrote about issues not involving the worship of H. Clinton. Now I hardly go there. I find plenty of other places with good information that don’t feel the need to hue free thinkers from their body of true believers.

  106. 106.

    John Hamilton Farr

    June 29, 2009 at 1:38 am

    I’m with @SGEW (#6)…

    Congratulations on giving up on the Sunday shows! Now that you have a puppy, absolutely, but even if you didn’t. I never watched a one of those shows in the olden days but what I didn’t feel all sick & twisted inside. Haven’t watched teevee news or what my wife used to call “the shouters” in over 10 years.

    Not sick any longer, just twisted.

  107. 107.

    ninerdave

    June 29, 2009 at 2:16 am

    Also, this zucchini idea seems pretty good.

    I started this morning to make Pho, for my wife who’d never had it. Then I realized it would take all day. I decided that we would have Pho this week from a restaurant first before I went through the process. Even though it looks fun, and I like Pho a lot, I don’t need a weeks worth to eat by myself.

    So I BBQed turkey and buffalo burgers. Buffalo is red meat to die for. I made a standard heirloom tomato, basil and crumbled blue cheese salad with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic. This time I added some sun dried tomatoes and cucumbers. YUM!

    Dessert was a fruit salad using some new melons and pears that I’d never seen before, marinated for an hour in a mint simple syrup (boil the water w/mint then make a standard simple syrup), then served over vanilla ice cream with a few drops of Grand Marnier.

    Fantasico!

    Topped off with a fantastic Chardonnay. Fat, happy and sleepy.

  108. 108.

    Calouste

    June 29, 2009 at 3:54 am

    The State reports that they have names of three women in relation to Sanford, and presumably none of those names was Jenny Sanford.

    Btw, Sanford doesn’t seem to be a savvy political operator. If you piss off a 8-year state House and 6-year state Senate veteran (Jake Knotts) from your own party by endorsing their opponent and even appearing in TV spots for that opponent, you shouldn’t be surprised if that Senator is the one who starts calling the press when he catches wind that the governor is unreachable.

  109. 109.

    mclaren

    June 29, 2009 at 6:09 am

    Hey, John — so you finally figured out that listening to one of the 3 guys along with Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz who was one of the prime movers in planning and promoting the invasion of Iraq back in 2001 (namely, Fareed Zakaria) might not be the best way to get an unbiased picture of current events? Maybe listening to Fareed Zakaria pontificate about how to improve America’s geopolitical strategy is like asking Jack the Ripper how to eliminate violence against women?

    Glad to hear it.

    “In State of Denial, Bob Woodward delivers this sparkling scoop: Fareed Zakaria attended a secret gathering convened by Paul Wolfowitz in late 2001. The task at hand, according to a fellow participant, was to draft “a forceful summary of the best pro-war arguments” which became a blueprint for the Bush Administration’s PR campaign. Although he was a columnist at Newsweek and was editor of the magazine’s international edition, Zakaria didn’t attend in a journalistic capacity—in fact, he signed a non-disclosure agreement beforehand.”

    “Because the United States cannot afford to lose the war on terror, it must stay in Iraq.”—Fareed Zakaria, 2005.

    “Could DeMuth quickly put together a skilled group to produce a report for the president, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice and Tenet?
    …
    DeMuth recruited a dozen people. He later said they agreed to serve only “if I promised it would all be kept secret.”

    Included in the group were Bernard Lewis, a Cheney favorite and a scholar of Islam who had written extensively on Middle Eastern tensions with the West; Mark Palmer a former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary who specialized in dictatorships; Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International; Fouad Ajami, director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at SAIS; James Q. Wilson, a professor and specialist in human morality and crime; and Ruel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA Middle East expert. Rumsfeld assigned his consultant and general fix-it man Steve Herbits, to participate. Herbits, who had devised the original idea and encouraged Wolfowitz to push it, called the group `Bletchley II.’
    …
    “The general analysis was that Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where most of the hijackers came from, were the key, but the problems there are intractable…”
    …
    “Saddam Hussein was different, weaker, more vulnerable. DeMuth said they had concluded that `Baathism is an Arab form of fascism transplanted to Iraq.’
    …
    “We concluded that a confrontation with Saddam was inevitable. He was a gathering threat – the most menacing, active, and unavoidable threat. We agreed that Saddam would have to leave the scene before the problem would be addressed.” That was the only way to transform the region.

    Copies of the memo [that Fareed Zakaria helped draft in late 2001], straight from the Neoconservative Playbook, were hand-delivered to the war cabinet members. In some cases, it was given a SECRET classification. Cheney was pleased with the memo, and it had a strong impact on President Bush, causing him to focus on the “malignancy” of the Middle East. Rice found it “very, very persuasive.”
    [From State Of Denial by Bob Woodward]

  110. 110.

    Elizabelle, Lily fan

    June 29, 2009 at 9:13 am

    I think most people are done with Sunday talk shows. Except the superpartisans on either side.

    Why give up precious time to watch those who will never get it interviewed by those who don’t get it? And both are so removed from the vagaries and cares of middle class life.

    Only talk show role seems to be soundbite fodder for the equally irrelevant network news.

    Saw George S asking about the tax cost of healthcare. (This after Charlie Gibson expressed concern about 47 million additional patients swamping the medical system — that beyond the ERs.)

    While millions upon millions of Americans soldier on without health insurance or adequate health insurance. They’re going bankrupt, or down for the count without it.

    America is more than tax policy and ideology. At least, it used to be.

  111. 111.

    Bulworth

    June 29, 2009 at 10:37 am

    “Right now, I am just done with the Sunday talk shows. Right now, they serve no purpose other than to throw nonsense into the national dialogue, and I watch them and I want to kick puppies. That was ok before, but I have a puppy now, so now it is no longer acceptable.”

    Amen. Although I was long done with the Sunday talk shows even before Lilly.

  112. 112.

    Karen

    June 29, 2009 at 11:26 am

    “Also, this zucchini idea seems pretty good.”

    Zucchini is also just about a perfect food for Plecostemus (a freshwater alge eater), Tinfoil barbs & Bala sharks. Mine are fed 1 whole zucchini a day. Most people lose their plecos at 6 months or so, from starvation. Raw zucchini supports growth (mine are 15″ long & 4 years old) & the sharks, as well as the barbs have a “snack” when needed. I use kabob skewers to anchor it down at night, the next evening all that’s left is the peel. The fish love it.

  113. 113.

    passerby

    June 29, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    @mclaren: Thanks for the summary mclaren. Each talking head in the msm works for a corporation. The all have their marching orders. These Sunday shows are not intended to inform the public as much as they are to establish “conventional wisdom”. I don’t watch tv and given the complimentary things that folks here said about FZ I was wishing I could tune in. But, as you point out via B Woodward, FZ had/has(?) a role that is, perhaps, not in our best interest.

    Hmm…grain of salt.

  114. 114.

    PattyK

    June 29, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Zucchini is all right but eventually you can get tired of it. A better suggestion is to grow fava beans. Plant the seeds as early as December, as late as February for a fabulous harvest in May. http://www.chapelhillbeat.com/forum3.aspx?item=Down%20on%20the%20Farm

  115. 115.

    CalD

    June 29, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    Right now, I am just done with the Sunday talk shows. Right now, they serve no purpose other than to throw nonsense into the national dialogue…

    I actually haven’t watched a Sunday talk show or a cable “news” shout-fest in over a year now — ever since it hit me one day that I apparently know more about politics, history and current events than virtually anyone appearing on any of them (and already believed that I knew everything I needed to know about Michael Jackson). The funny thing is I don’t really seem to be significantly less informed as a result than when I routinely glued myself to the TV set for 3 – 4 hours every Sunday and at least an hour every evening consuming all that posturing and punditry. I do however, feel cleaner.

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