Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

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

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

The choice is between normal and crazy.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

Republicans in disarray!

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

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

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

He really is that stupid.

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

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

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Reader Interactions

130Comments

  3. 3.

    gbear

    that second picture is all like:
    “This is your Dog.”
    “This is your Dog on Drugs.”

  4. 4.

    simley

    Not sure what Lily does here, but sometimes I can get her so excited she drags her hind legs on the grass behind her…
    She loves you, John. That’s masturbation.

  7. 7.

    gbear

    Remember how awful an idea everyone thought the WaPo’s Salon was? Turns out The Atlantic has done over 100 of them.

    These aren’t one-off events, by a long shot. The Atlantic has held approximately 100 of them since 2003, according to Zachary Hooper, a spokesman for the magazine.
    And they’re by and large initiated by the corporation that pays for them, according to Hooper. “The corporate sponsor” — with whom the magazine generally has a longstanding business relationship — “comes to us and says, ‘We’re interested in having a discussion on a certain topic.'” The magazine’s business staff, said Hooper, takes things from there.
    The events, as described in the flier, appear strikingly similar to the dinner planned by the Post — right down to the use of the word “salon” to create an aura of intellectual inquiry. Just as the Post reportedly sought to have health-care lobbyists pay for an event on health-care reform, the Atlantic flier makes clear that the “salons” are paid for by corporations and focused on a public-policy issue in which the corporate sponsor has a major stake. It offers the following “sampling of salon dinner sponsors and topics”:

    How can we ever trust Sully again?

  9. 9.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    John, you said she had fleas, she is just scritching her belly is all, my dogs do it all the time.

  10. 10.

    gbear

    @MikeJ: ?? again how? Am I repeating a comment from a previous thread or is the ‘again’ something about The Atlantic?

  11. 11.

    Comrade Stuck

    Sweet Jeebus. The Reds are down 10 zip in the first dern inning. And today The International arrived and it’s supposed to be awful. Just another day in paradise.

  12. 12.

    SGEW

    @gbear: The Wall Street Journal does them too? Oh noes, not the WSJ! Who could have predicted, shocked, shocked, I tell you.

    How long before we find out that the LATimes and the NYTimes were up to the same lobbying practices too?

    Print isn’t dead. It just smells bad.

  14. 14.

    MikeJ

    @gbear: It was a response to your final line, “How can we ever trust Sully again?” Some of us never trusted him the first time.

  15. 15.

    bystander

    The commando crawl. I once had a dog that interpreted down – stay as stay down. The result was an on the belly crawl not too unlike the pic.

    Lily looks like she is having the time of her life. Lucky, lucky Lily. Good on ya, John.

  18. 18.

    JGabriel

    gbear:

    Remember how awful an idea everyone thought the WaPo’s Salon was? Turns out The Atlantic has done over 100 of them.

    I can’t remember the last time I found an article from The Atlantic enlightening, or even particularly interesting. Offhand, the last one I remember was a profile of mathematician Paul Erdos, from about 10-15 years ago. And Yglesias’s old blog there, if we’re including online content.

    The point being that for magazine reporting, I’m far more like to rely upon Harper’s, The New Yorker, and The Nation. The Atlantic has felt, for over a decade now, far too corporate and center-right. These pay-for-play salons feel like a natural outgrowth of The Atlantic’s on-going evolution.

    And that’s a bad thing, though unsurprising.

    .

  19. 19.

    SGEW

    @MikeJ: You know, strangely enough Sullivan is one of the very few bloggers I kind of actually do“trust”: not for his factual accuracy, nor his keen insights or his intellectual honesty, but for his emotional honesty. When he posts something, I pretty much believe that that’s what he god damned feels right then, and more or less what he’s thinking at that moment. I have a great deal of respect for this, even when he is spectacularly wrong (and even more so when he changes his fickle mind). Kind of like a certain other former Bush supporting Iraq invasion cheerleader who wound up endorsing Obama in 2008 (cough cough).

  20. 20.

    Zuzu's Petals

    Wow, just comparing these recent Lily pics to these, taken just a month ago … what a difference.

    Very few things in life can be described as an unqualified good. Your adopting Lily is one of them.

  21. 21.

    MikeJ

    When he posts something, I pretty much believe that that’s what he god damned feels right then, and more or less what he’s thinking at that moment.

    I’d have to disagree. Once he’s signed on to a cause, he’ll say whatever it takes to back his side, true or not. I simply can’t believe that anybody as smart as people think he is could be a trig birfer honestly.

  23. 23.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    If I was Lily, I’d put my left ear on the ground and run around in a tight circle.

  24. 24.

    Susan Kitchens

    What’s the origin of “also.” ?

    There’s a sentence (or paragraph) — usually written in wingnutese — that comes to an end (period, full stop) but then is followed by a short one word sentence. Also.

    Or else it shows up as the end of the sentence just before the period and also.

    It’s now become standard use here on the internets. I assume it pokes fun at someone who said it. And also.

    Does anyone know the origin? (and d’ya realize how impossible it is to google that? As opposed to, say, googling aware of all internet traditions, which is easy to pinpoint. Seeing as how it’s a phrase and not just a single word. Also.)

  25. 25.

    asiangrrlMN

    Look at Lily doing dog-like things with her dog pal! It’s amazing how fast she’s blossomed, John. I love watching her progress.

  27. 27.

    Nathan R

    What’s the origin of “also.” ?

    Sarah Palin, during her now-infamous rise to the top, would insert the word into just about any second, almost as a verbal tic. Much like a normal person might say “um,” Ms. Palin would say also.

  30. 30.

    demkat620

    @Comrade Stuck: Lolz! Some years it sucks to be a Phils fan too. In fact lots of years it sucked. Just not right now.

    A black man is President of the United States and the Phils are the world champions of baseball.

    Who’d have thunk it?

  31. 31.

    WereBear

    Since it is an open pet topic:

    Here’s a sneak look at a post that will publish at noon on Tuesday, about the Pet Food Scandal of 2007.

    A guest blogger has the address of the judge who is going to pass sentence on the two people who knowingly let the adulterated gluten get into so much pet food.

    He’s asking concerned pet lovers to let the judge know that three years probation and a $5k fine apiece is pretty light for killing and injuring thousands of pets.

    He’s been following this from the beginning and has a lot of good information. So if you feel so inclined, tell it to the Judge:

    Judge John T. Maughmer, U.S. Magistrate
    U.S. Magistrate Judge Room 7662
    US District Court for the Western District of Missouri
    Charles Evans Whittaker Courthouse Building
    400 E. 9th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

    Thanks, anyone, who wishes to follow up in this way.

  33. 33.

    Susan Kitchens

    @Nathan R: Thanks for that. I guess I’ll have to go back and have a look/listen to the “in what respect, Charlie?” vids of last fall to see it.

    Gotta say, tho, that putting together the word Sarah + Palin + also makes googling lots more fruitful. There’s this video!

    (and, if I may add, once you get started down that strange sarah syntactical path, it’s nearly effortless to construct sentences this way. Also.)

  35. 35.

    abo gato

    Made me laugh, Pika! I call my dog frog legs when she lies on the floor with her back legs splayed out like that.

    Around here, where it’s been 100 degrees nearly every day for a couple of weeks though, I think she does it to try to get cool.

  36. 36.

    Michael D.

    Quote for the day:

    The mountains on a Coors Light can are poor arbiters of taste.

    The peaks turn blue at “optimal drinking temperature,” or 39°F and colder. But beer loses flavor at that temp: It releases fewer volatile chemicals, and your tongue’s ability to taste bitterness is diminished. Luckily, with Coors that makes little difference.

  37. 37.

    shelley matheis

    That is so funny. And familiar! My dog, Kate, does a similar thing on the couch when she’s getting really goofy with a toy or a treat. She’ll drag herself off the edge of the sofa letting her legs stretch out behind her.

  38. 38.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Pet open thread? Okay here is Tilly and Treacle. Tilly had four kittens but unfortunately three of them died the night they were born, just not meant to be I guess. The remaining kitteh (recently named Treacle) is now being socialized in the kitchen with her Mum. She is doing quite well until Cueball comes on the scene at which point her eyes get huge and she looks at him as if to say “WTF is THAT!” And yes, both Tilly and Treacle will be fixed ASAP, every other animal in my home is fixed and these will be no different.

    http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/MsNick40/July52009014.jpg

  39. 39.

    Comrade Stuck

    @John Cole:

    Also.

    Even someone as grammatically challenged as me, sees the fail of adding also onto sentences that stand alone as a topic.

    But she just needs a little time to season into a coherent wingnut electoral dynamo. You betcha! also.

  40. 40.

    bago

    Also is a conjunctive tick famously used by Palin as a period. Normally you use punctuation and grammar to separate sentences. She does Also.

  41. 41.

    David

    *Breaking News*

    Todd and the Palin Children® have decided to remain on for use as photo ops for the new governor of Alaska after Sarah departs.

    Developing . . .

  42. 42.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Michael D.: True dit, the Royal Marines go out to Norway every year for a cold weather training exercise. They set up in the ice and snow complete with barracks, etc., including a “NAAFI” bar. The manager of this particular bar figured he would save a bit of money and as opposed to cooling the beer he would just store it outside in the snow and ice. He couldn’t figure out why the marines were coming in, having one pint and falling down drunk. Then he figured out that the freezing temperature for water is higher than that of alcohol. He was serving the marines pints of pure alcohol (all water having frozen). The marines were really annoyed when he figured it out.

  43. 43.

    Comrade Stuck

    @bago:

    Also is a conjunctive tick

    And now I’m humming the PBS tuneConjunction junction what’s your function in my head.

    Nolo gracious.

  44. 44.

    Gus

    My dog does the same thing. First thing in the morning he grabs a dirty sock, jumps up on the bed and crawls with his butt shaking.

  45. 45.

    JK

    @John Cole:

    Sarah Palin is a linguist’s dream.
    She should use her downtime to learn a second language –
    the English language.

  46. 46.

    emrventures

    Sam looks like one of those writhing silhouettes in the iPod advertisements.

  48. 48.

    Rosali

    Anyone see or hear from John McCain lately? Also, was Mark Sanford out there reassuring his citizens when the serial killer was terrorizing the state?

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @Susan Kitchens:

    What’s the origin of “also.” ?

    Based on Tina Fey’s comic take on Sarah Palin’s interview style.

    A great example of Tina in action (followed by Sarah herself with Katie Couric) can be found in this video clip.

    Also, too.

  51. 51.

    Eric U.

    @gbear: I had a subscription to the Atlantic and a subscription to Harpers. Magazines drive my wife nuts for some reason, and I told her that she could cancel the Atlantic subscription, but she canceled the Harpers subscription instead. This was a big mistake. The magazine seemed to be getting better, but I canceled it anyway. Too much half-disguised right wing and corporatist nonsense mixed in with the good stuff.

  55. 55.

    South of I-10

    I have a newly developed Pit Bull problem. The house next door has college students in it (Daddy bought the house, daughter and roommates live there). Two Pit Bulls moved in about 3 wks ago, and have been digging out of the fence ever since. They dug into my fence the other day, about 3 seconds after I brought little South, doggie and kitty inside. They are now tethered in a thunderstorm which seems to me to be a good way to get a really aggressive Pit Bull. Anyone have any ideas? We have talked to them about 6 times already.

  56. 56.

    geg6

    Lily! Silly Lily and Sam the Maniac. Cute and happy doggies. Love them. Saw my sister’s new rescue, Belle, again yesterday. She has recovered nicely from the bout with worms and is the cutest thing EVER. Though a yellow Lab/border collie mix, she is a very small, softer but stil short haired blonde Lab. The border collie only really shows right now in the freckles she has all over the end of her muzzle. 13 weeks old and a total puppy. My other sister’s. 12 year old spitz, Cookie (whose home the party was at), was first curious and then, seeing all the attention drawn away from her, disdainful. They both cracked me up.

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ Litlebritdfrnt/38: I love Tilly and Treacle, and what great names! That pic makes me think of the A. A. Milne poem that starts:

    Tattoo was the mother of Pinkle Purr
    A little black nothing of feet and fur,
    And by-and-by when his eyes came through
    He saw his mother, the big Tattoo.
    And all that he did, he did with her:
    “I’ll ask my mother,” says Pinkle Purr.

    (This is from memory, so I might have the odd word or punctuation mark wrong. It’s a lovely poem of four or five verses, I think, and for some reason never caught on in popularity the way so many of Milne’s other poems did.)

  59. 59.

    ninerdave

    @South of I-10:

    They are now tethered in a thunderstorm which seems to me to be a good way to get a really aggressive Pit Bull.

    Call animal control. This will at the very least get them talked to and depending on where you live this might even be illegal and the dogs will be confiscated. In my area, the local police work in conjunction with animal control and you can call them as well

    Although they have a nasty reputation, most pits aren’t aggressive or vicious unless they’ve been raised to fight.

  60. 60.

    Joshua Norton

    If you want to see the masters of “also’, go over to Wonkette. They’ve made it into an absolute art form.

    Also.

    The end.

  61. 61.

    Susan Kitchens

    Thanks. Those Tina Fey impressions of Sarah (Also) Palin were stunning. Especially where Tina just parroted what Sarah said.

    I think that part of the uproar over The Quitta from Wasilla’s performance this week is that it allows us all, in retrospect, to revisit the “did we really go there?” incredulity of last fall.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    @South of I-10:

    They dug into my fence the other day, about 3 seconds after I brought little South, doggie and kitty inside. They are now tethered in a thunderstorm which seems to me to be a good way to get a really aggressive Pit Bull. Anyone have any ideas? We have talked to them about 6 times already.

    Gather photographic evidence of the fence digging. Document the dates involved. Find out who the parents are and who the owners of the house are (not necessarily the same thing). Find out what relief you may be able to get via Small Claims Court. Make sure you have all your ducks in order.

    Make another request that the dogs be reined in. Then be prepared to sue.

    Edited to ad: what ninerdave said, too. Where I used to live, Animal Control was useless, but is much better in more generally pet aware communities.

  64. 64.

    Max

    @South of I-10: I feel for you. I have an aggressive english bulldog and pit bull on the other side of my rear fence and the bulldog pushed his head thru the rickity fence quite a few times. My dog doesn’t understand that not all dogs are friendly, so I was really concerned about the three of them “meeting”. Neither of the neighbor’s male dogs are neutered and that makes them all the more scary to me.

    I talked to the dogs’ owner and we renailed all 33 planks (top and bottom) and introduced the dogs to one another, hoping that it would cut the tension. They still bark like hell when my dog is on the other side of the fence, but I’m comforted that the fence will hold. My dog likes to lean on his side of the fence and look at them.

    Maybe if you introduced your family to the dogs, you will feel a little more at ease, should they get into your yard.

  66. 66.

    Cat Lady

    Also also followed closely on the heels of Miss Teen South Carolina’s epic fail – she coined the memorable predecessor to Also – Such As. Also quickly became the new such as, such as Sarah Palin also became the new Miss Teen South Carolina. Also.

  67. 67.

    tams

    of all the pics you took tonight, of course you choose the maniac version of my dog. don’t foget at one point tonight sam was the one behaving and you had to tell lily to calm down. never thought i’d hear you say that! lily has become quite the little love bug. she whimpers when cole is away from her and will only do the lily dance when cole says “who’s a good doggy” – she will also only do the crawl for cole. i am determined to get her to do it for me. she did give me numerous kisses tonight – she truly is blossoming!

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne

    @South of I-10:

    Until you get the problem resolved, you may want to try and keep your small pets indoors. ninerdave is correct that pit bulls aren’t necessarily dangerous to people, but they could easily see your cat as prey and act accordingly.

  69. 69.

    Susan Kitchens

    @Comrade Stuck:

    yeah, do it w/ Ed Wood directing, music by B-52s, plus lots and lots of theramin.

    Then again, to do really scary horror angle, use O Fortuna as soundtrack under all those alsos. Or night on bald mountain.

  70. 70.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I have lots of them, Lari all black, Nelson all black (well sort of brown and nasty dreadlocks until I shaved him), Alpha (black and white) Tilly, all black and of course Treacle, her baby. For some reason my luck with cats is due to the fact that they are black. Lari is 13, Alpha 12, Nelson 11, Tilly is a year old, the daughter of the manic and totally insane Peaches (pink and white). Con is grey and white, Arnamade and Tigger are Orange, and Max and Cadbury are tabby. However, my black cats seem to be the ones that survive our horrible North Carolina environment (with its snakes, and spiders, and possums, and raccoons, and foxes and all other things that can harm cats).

  72. 72.

    Mike in NC

    I still check out the daily online version of the Washington Post after having left the area almost two years ago and happily canceling a print subscription. Today Anne Abblebaum had a short article on the idiocy and hypocrisy of Sarah Palin. It drew 1400+ reader comments, mostly from rabid wingnuts with their usual typos and poor grammar. Oy.

  73. 73.

    JGabriel

    Talking Points Memo has a story on teabagger 4th of July celebrations and the GOP losing control of the teabagger movement, which may as well be titled:

    Pitbull Trained To Attack Politicians, Attacks Politicians

    .

  75. 75.

    Anne Laurie

    Two Pit Bulls moved in about 3 wks ago, and have been digging out of the fence ever since. They dug into my fence the other day, about 3 seconds after I brought little South, doggie and kitty inside. They are now tethered in a thunderstorm which seems to me to be a good way to get a really aggressive Pit Bull. Anyone have any ideas? We have talked to them about 6 times already.

    NinerDave is right — call your local Animal Control (if you can’t find a number for them, call the police & ask them). Those poor dogs don’t deserve to be tied outside in bad weather, especially during a thunderstorm, and in many places doing that is legal grounds for at least an official warning & possibly confiscation. Many Pits are lovely animals, but they ARE incredibly strong & fast, so if they’re mistreated (or even just neglected) it can turn into a tragedy very fast. The college kids need to be told by someone they have to respect that treating those poor dogs that way is cruel & unacceptable, and if they can’t do better, they need to give responsibility for their welfare to someone who can handle it better!

  77. 77.

    RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)

    Aww…love those photos. Sam is such an adorable little Muppet, and it’s so delightful to see Lily having so much fun and just experiencing the pure, unadulterated joy of being a happy, safe, well-loved doggie.

  78. 78.

    RedKitten (formerly Krista - the Canadian one)

    @tams: Oh, that IS sweet. It looks as though John and Lily are equally smitten with each other, doesn’t it?

    And please give Sam a scratch behind the ears for me — I think she’s one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen.

  79. 79.

    WereBear

    Amen to letting animal control handle it. Look innocent if they complain to you.

    Sorry about above link 404’ing, just checked it on my touch. “Worked in browser” is my excuse, but can’t sleep…

  80. 80.

    South of I-10

    Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. One of the dogs is male and one is female. The female does not seem particularly aggresive, just interested in the play that is going on in our yard. Animal control and the police are kind of useless in this situation, other than cite them for a leash law violation, there is not a lot they can do, unless they are actively mauling something. The male is the one that bothers me, he was standing in my elderly neighbor’s yard yesterday when they got out barking at her, and I could tell she was scared. I am going to start calling everytime they get out and reporting it. I may call the owner, as he lives in another town and probably has no idea he has these dogs shacked up at his house. He may need a reminder that his homeowner’s insurance is not going to cover it if they bite someone. Thanks for letting me vent, I am really frustrated.

  81. 81.

    ninerdave

    @Brachiator:

    Edited to ad: what ninerdave said, too. Where I used to live, Animal Control was useless, but is much better in more generally pet aware communities.

    Well could be they are extremely underfunded and understaffed. That’s the case where I live.

  82. 82.

    Fulcanelli

    @South of I-10: The home owner’s insurance scare with the landlord will probably be your most effective tactic.

    Know any lawyers? Hire a lawyer to send the landlord a “strongly worded” letter threatening to sue him personally for damages if the dogs damage your property including your fence, your pets and yourself.

    There’s a virtually nil chance he’s paying an insurance rider to be able to have pit bulls on a property he doesn’t live at. Many companies won’t write insurance on a property with pit bulls at all.

    Have the attorney send the same letter to his home owners’ insurance company. They will drop him faster than he can blink, and his mortgage holder will be all over him too.

    I promise, you will get his attention and the dogs will be gone. However, you may want to start with the nice, understanding, but firm discussion with both the residents of the house and then the landlord first in the interest of being neighborly.

  84. 84.

    Demo Woman

    I just watched Tell No One and it reminded me of the old Hitchcock thrillers. There are many twist and turns that you sit on the edge of your seat while watching it. The music is great, ALSO. It is a foreign film but if you enjoy Hitchcock type of thrillers, you will find that a minor inconvenience. I found myself turning up the volume a few times.
    Comrade Stuck was it you who mentioned this film a few weeks back.

  87. 87.

    grumpy realist

    My Shiba mutt (Shiba + ?) used to do “the crawl” as well. I think it has something to do with their prey instincts.

    And I hafta say, *goddammit* birds can be stupid! Cats, lurking in bushes? Nah. Our cat would sit, all 15 lbs of himself in dark grey right under the bird feeder in the open and wait. Bird comes down, he’d reach up and…..

    I noticed he never caught cardinals or bluejays, but certain other avian species don’t seem to be very high on the noticing-a-cat-in-plain-sight level.

  88. 88.

    MikeJ

    And before anyone else says it, yes, watching South Park means I have the sense of humor of a middle-school aged boy.

    When I was in middle school I liked funny stuff.

  90. 90.

    Barbara

    Sout of I-10:

    I have had two awful experiences with pit bulls, and I think calling the owner, followed up by a letter, would be a good idea. It annoys me no end when students get dogs they don’t seem able to care for properly. With dogs like pit bulls, that can lead to some terrible consequences, usually for other animals, but sometimes for people as well.

  91. 91.

    Brian J

    @gbear: The Wall Street Journal does them too? Oh noes, not the WSJ! Who could have predicted, shocked, shocked, I tell you.

    Did I miss something? He was talking about The Atlantic, not The Journal.

  95. 95.

    2liberal

    @JGabriel:

    I can’t remember the last time I found an article from The Atlantic enlightening, or even particularly interesting. Offhand, the last one I remember was a profile of mathematician Paul Erdos, from about 10-15 years ago. And Yglesias’s old blog there, if we’re including online content.

    i started a subscription from them last year sometime. I canceled after a lead article was entitled “What Rumsfeld Got Right”

  98. 98.

    mcd410x

    this was my fave from ace:

    I don’t really care what people believe. If you want to believe this all part of Sarah Palin’s incredibly counterintuitve and convoluted secret surprise plan for the presidency — that’s fine. But please, for the love of God and everything holy, stop attempting to bully other people into playing Let’s Pretend along with you.

    I will leave you undisturbed in your fantasy if you are willing to leave me undisturbed in my reality.

    Is it wrong to enjoy this?

  99. 99.

    ninerdave

    So apparently there was a massive Deadliest Catch marathon over the weekend and now I have 3 days worth of them on my MythTV.

    The more I watch the more I realize that I could totally do that job, with the following conditions:

    1) I’m captain in the warm wheel house.
    2) There is someone actually driving the boat who knows what they are doing.
    3) Said driver knows where the crab is.
    4) I can sleep 8-9 hours a night in the captain’s quarters (I hate sleeping in the same room with others unless they are my wife), plus I snore.
    5) The waves don’t get too high, as I get seasick (took a ferry from Swansea to Cork once, and puked the whole time).
    6) Could have a scotch or glass of wine while I’m watching the crew do their thing.
    7) Oh, I’d need ‘net access or a crossword, since watching people work would get a bit boring after a while.

  100. 100.

    ninerdave

    @mcd410x:

    Is it wrong to enjoy this?

    Not at all, this was my fav:

    ” I do, however, greatly mind being called a traitor, of harboring a secret agenda I hide from you in order to advance the MSM’s interests”

    Gee, I’ve heard that crap from wingnuts since the start of the Iraq war.

  101. 101.

    Comrade Stuck

    @Demo Woman:

    Yes. Just a great film all around, wasn’t it?. As for being foreign, I used to hate “reading movies” but these type of high quality smart movies just aren’t getting made in English so much these days. The Europeans and even South American movie makers have really taken up the slack, IMHO. Though GB still makes some fine films.

    You should also check out Zelary, if you haven’t already. It’s a Czech film set during WW 2 and is just beautifully filmed.

  104. 104.

    SGEW

    @Brian J:

    He was talking about The Atlantic, not The Journal.

    Read link in referenced post, plz, wherein the WSJ was also mentioned (my beloved New Yorker too! (sobs)).

  105. 105.

    mcd410x

    I think it’s interesting that they don’t understand that using your kids as a human shield is wrong.

    I think it’s interesting that they think it’s ok to question someone’s patriotism or birth or desire to improve their own station in life but question sarah and it’s the worst thing evah.

    I think it’s interesting that they think they’re too individualistic when they spend most of their time making sure everyone is clapping more loudly.

    And by interesting, I mean totally fucked up.

  106. 106.

    KG

    The Wingularity may be fraying, Ace of Spades has two posts taking shots at the “Sarah Palin made a great move by resigning” crowd. Actually calls the lot of them out for running a giant con game with “magical thinking”.

  107. 107.

    Martin

    Anyone have any ideas? We have talked to them about 6 times already.

    Skip the college students and go straight to the owner (dad). Send something on letterhead (if you have a lawyer friend, all the better) saying that you’ve spoken to the renters 6 times about the pitbulls and that no action has taken place. Let them know that you will pursue every legal avenue if the dogs get into your yard, damage your property or harm your pets. CC your city’s animal control.

    The students have nothing really to fear – they have no assets. Dad does, however, and a big motherfucking lien against the house won’t serve him well. Tracking his home address down and sending it there really makes it clear you are serious.

  108. 108.

    Comrade Stuck

    @KG:

    You got to give the wingnuts credit when due. When they throw a circular firing squad, it’s puts ours to shame. Nothing but fury and fur.

  110. 110.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    I think sooner or later we just have to face the fact that Sarah Palin could go literally, visibly, completely insane and babble in Sumerian that her brain stem is being attacked by bees and therefore she’s quitting politics to start a helicopter factory and there would be people on the wingnut right who would say “Great move for 2012!”

    “Great move for Palin!” is the new “Great news for McCain!”

  111. 111.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Litlebritdifrnt: You tease! Must see pictures!

    Bill E Pilgrim, you got it. Sarah Palin could shoot Todd, eviscerate him on live television, eat his innards, and her supporters would say he deserved it somehow. The cult of personality, indeed.

  112. 112.

    Wile E. Quixote

    I was over at Huffpo and saw that people are calling Palin’s resignation the “Iquitarod”. Peter Doau, who strikes me as one of those guys who claims to be really concerned about women so he can get laid, has an article up expressing a predictable amount of PUMA outrage over the bashing of Palin.

  113. 113.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Yes, and I think also the way to understand the seeming complete insanity on the Wingular right these days is that if anyone had told you a few years ago that a black Democrat would be President and Al “Air America” Franken would be the 60th Democratic Senator, you would have said “Impossible! But if it did ever happen, the Wingnuts’ heads would explode.”

    Well, here we are. What we’re seeing is shrapnel. It’s not supposed to make sense.

  114. 114.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    This made me laugh. Governor Sanford refuses a suggestion to resign from a colleague:

    “He said resigning would be the easy way out,”

    Come on, Wingnuts, get your story straight! I thought the new line was that resigning was the difficult, road less traveled, that you do anyway for the good of the country, and so on.

    I think maybe they should talk. Between the two of them maybe they could find a middle ground. Like oh, I don’t know, stay in office but stop being obsessed with being a right wing religious operative and actually govern.

  115. 115.

    JGabriel

    asiangrrlMN:

    Sarah Palin could shoot Todd, eviscerate him on live television, eat his innards, and her supporters would say he deserved it somehow.

    I’m not sure that’s a good example. For all we know, Todd does deserve it. I mean, look at him. He’s guilty of something.

    For this speculation to really bring the point home, I think you need to change it from Todd to The Baby Jesus. As in:

    Sarah Palin could shoot The Baby Jesus, eviscerate him on live television, eat his innards, and her supporters would still say The Baby Jesus deserved it somehow.

    .

  116. 116.

    Blue Raven

    @Persia:

    Someone just linked me to this pretty awesome cartoon about Michael Jackson. Considering the ‘memorial service’ crack earlier today, I thought I’d pass it on.

    Awesome is the word for it.

  117. 117.

    passerby

    @ninerdave:

    I don’t watch Deadliest Catch so I’m not familiar it, but this:

    The more I watch the more I realize that I could totally do that job, with the following conditions: 1)…

    sounds great!! I love to get on that waiting list. I’m sure there’s a waiting list, right?

  118. 118.

    Currants

    Also.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2201158/

    The sentences of Sarah Palin…I don’t think you have to be an English prof to find this funny. I found it reassuring last fall to see that my impression of her oral presence (vacuous, nonsensical, inane) was supported by non-political analysis. Then again, it is typically comforting to have one’s biases affirmed….

  120. 120.

    Dog is My Co-Pilot

    Lily is the luckiest doggie in the whole world. She looks so happy.

  121. 121.

    South of I-10

    You will all be happy to learn I just called animal control – pit bulls were out and tethered all night and it stormed all night. I work for lawyers, I will talk to one of them today.

  122. 122.

    Betsy

    @South of I-10:
    Good for you. Animals should never be treated like that. (Not like you don’t know, but it makes me so mad that I have to say it anyway.)

  124. 124.

    South of I-10

    That is what is so frustrating. I am afraid of the male, I don’t want them here, but at the same time I feel sorry for them.

  126. 126.

    mary

    @South of I-10: If there are any active and reputable rescue groups (breed specific or otherwise) in your area it might be worth getting in touch with them to see if they would consider trying to talk the kids into surrendering the dogs. It’s a long shot, but if it worked out it would give the dogs a shot at a much better life.

  127. 127.

    South of I-10

    @Mary: That is a good idea. I have a friend who works with the “dangerous” breeds – I turned a pit bull that had been dumped over to her a few years back. I’ll give her a call.

  128. 128.

    HRA

    John, the photos are personally awesome in showing Lily doing the Tiki crawl and Sam doing the Tiki stand. Sam looks a lot like Tiki. Tiki is my shorkie. I would have sent a pic ages ago. Gary nixes all of them as not being good enough (sigh)

    I do remember my English professor saying the usage of certain words were verboten. Also was one of them which he characterized as showing a lack of knowing the English language and used too often as a filler. The words but and because were off limits as well.

  129. 129.

    Al Swearengen

    John, admit it, if you had 6 nipples you would rub them in the grass every chance you got too.

  130. 130.

    S.E. Croft

    I just had to chime in here. At the risk of sounding a bit perverse…. I’m purdy sure if you could drag your naked belly and thighs across the cool sweet grass to the puzzled but adorning looks of your owner, you probably would too, also, lol, John. Just a thought from a something like a dog whisperer.

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