Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

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

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

“woke” is the new caravan.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

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

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

“But what about the lurkers?”

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

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

When we show up, we win.

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118Comments

  3. 3.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Allergies are sapping my will to live.

    Although I have some other maladies, very little allergy problems in the dry climate. BAck east, it was a daily slog dealing with them, inside or out.

    As usual, Tunch is surveying at his Kingdom.

  4. 4.

    Svensker

    Beautiful kittycat. King Tunch.

    Are you taking anything — Allegra? It does help a lot of people.

  5. 5.

    R-Jud

    We got that look in stereo from our cats when we arrived home from vacation this morning. As usual, they’d both lost their collars, somewhere, too.

  8. 8.

    shelley matheis

    That cat looks like a piece of sculpted meringue!

    Sorry about the allergies. They do seem to be all over the place this year, as far as season and triggers.

  11. 11.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @John Cole:

    I got myself tested and mold spores were the offenders. Maybe you should see an immunologist to find out what your allergic to.

  12. 12.

    Dave C

    Mandatory Reading:

    WASHINGTON — After a mass killing of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Taliban prisoners of war by the forces of an American-backed warlord during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Bush administration officials repeatedly discouraged efforts to investigate the episode, according to government officials and human rights organizations.

    American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation — sought by officials from the F.B.I., the State Department, the Red Cross and human rights groups — because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the C.I.A. and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001, several officials said. They said the United States also worried about undermining the American-supported government of President Hamid Karzai, in which General Dostum had served as a defense official.

    ETA: blockquote fail.

  17. 17.

    John Cole

    BTW- I joined advertising liberally. I have to be the only blogger in both advertising liberally and at one time PJ media.

    Does that make mean I go both ways?

  20. 20.

    HumboldtBlue

    I got myself tested and mold spores were the offenders. Maybe you should see an immunologist to find out what your allergic to.

    I can’t stress my agreement more. I moved from a rural apartment to a downtown spot 6 months ago. In that time and for the first time in my existence I suffered allergy attacks I could not figure out why I had said attacks. It was the mold, century-old mold growing in the walls of a house built back when the locals were still chasing the Chinese out of Eureka.

    HumCo is a naturally damp place (ever wonder why those Sequoias grow to enormous heights? They take most of their moisture from the mist and fog, not from their root systems) so mold is a constant worry.

  21. 21.

    Pixie

    He IS a handsome cat! I looooves me some Tunch goodness! Seeing this pic makes me want to find my oldest, fattest cat (Strata) and give her extra snuggles!

  24. 24.

    Cain

    OK, so who has been playing Tales of Monkey Island? I just finished and I am “Oh so satisfied”. Good stuff!

    cain

  26. 26.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @HumboldtBlue:

    When I moved out west, I already knew I had mold allergies, but was working at high elevations in damp forests, when one night we stopped to camp in a stand of dead trees. By the next morning my face was swollen beyond recognition and my air way was closing rapidly. Luckily, we had a first aid kit with mega doses of Benadryl for reactions to bee stings/

    I forget the name now, but the area was inundated with a type of mold, which had downed the trees. That Benadryl saved my bacon, I am convinced/ Living in the dry desert now, and almost allergy free.

  27. 27.

    CynDee

    @John Cole:
    Here is a Chinese exercise you can do lying down. Some of my friends were surprised when it worked for them but were miserable enough to try it. I rely on it.

    You are going to press into the sides of the nose at the bottom and middle, and then the forehead.

    1. Beside your nostrils at the bottom corners, with the tip of each forefinger press quickly and gently 10 times. Stop, then do this two more times.

    2. Now slide your fingers along the sides of the nose up to about the middle. There is a little notch where harder cartilage meets softer. Do the 30 stimulations there, pressing into the indentation.

    3. Centered above your nose, about half an inch above the height of the eyebrows, with the two forefingers close together, stimulate that top point with the 30 presses. Sometimes I do more presses, but do the same number on each point.

    If you wake up feeling bad, you can always try that. Don’t know if you have actual sinus problems. This totally cleared mine up forever. I couldn’t have been more surprised. And if you just plain feel bad, it won’t hurt and might help.

    This also helped me after sinus surgery (which didn’t work). I kept smelling a burnt odor that didn’t actually exist in the air, or sometimes I would get a whiff of a bad odor that was in the air, and it would just stay with me for hours. This technique cleared that up, too, and it works in second Amazing.

    This is from the book, “The Complete System of Self Healing: Internal Exercises” by Dr. Stephen T. Chang, Tao Publishing 1986. It is out of print now, but I got it second-hand on Amazon. It’s quite something. Good luck.

  28. 28.

    MikeJ

    @Cain: Stop it. Just stop it. I still want to kick the ass of the person who talked about Plants v Zombies here and made me waste all that time. I don’t need you telling me other cool games, especially ones I’ve played the earlier installments of.

  29. 29.

    freelancer

    Does that make mean I go both ways?

    I dunno, have you ever scammed your way into having dinner with David Brooks by telling him you’re a Senator?

  30. 30.

    Josh Huaco

    Wow. Passive aggressive ftw.

    If you say so…

    All I can say is that I totally understand where you’re at John. I’ve had a maddening hives/chicken pox/red itchy rashy outbreak on my lower legs and lower arms and mid back for about the last month now. Took a trip to the ER a couple weeks ago, where they gave me a steroid shot and a week’s supply of Methylpred, which helped keep it down for a bit. Had a punch biopsy yesterday so we’ll see.

  31. 31.

    JK

    Note to Keith Olbermann bashers

    Olbermann was just discussing the CIA and warrantless wiretaps while CNN/MJ was still milking this fucking Michael Jackson story.

  32. 32.

    freelancer

    @JK:

    Yes, but was the question that he asked Richard Wolfe longer than Wolfe’s answer to said question?
    —
    EDIT: Sorry, starting in June, I power cycled through the The Wire again. S1-S5, back to back. I’ve been a pretty cynical Mu’fucka recently.

  34. 34.

    Skepticat

    That is one gorgeous cat.

    You’d better not be allergic to dogs.

    Hope you feel better. I’m suffering from serious lethargy, too, but I’m pretty sure it’s just a fibro flare. Or my body hasn’t figured out that it’s stopped raining and doesn’t know it’s supposed to be perkier in perfect weather. Now, where did I put that ibuprophen? Mutter mutter mutter whine whine whine.

  35. 35.

    The next-to-last samurai

    John, before you keel over, could you please update us on Lily? Not that I’m unsympathetic or anything.

  36. 36.

    geg6

    Keith has a great show tonight. He’s going batshit on the IG report. I’m loving me some Jonathan Turley.

  37. 37.

    robertdsc

    This must be his official portrait. How very handsome.

    No doubt. Love the Tunchinator.

  38. 38.

    geg6

    Oh. And Bad Horse’s Filly, was that you that asked about a pic of Henry? If so, you have finally given me the motivation to figure out how to download my CrackBerry stuff into my computer. I’ve only had the damn thing a year but what with my aversion to trying anything technical that I don’t understand, I’ve managed to avoid this up until now. But for you, I will bravely forge ahead and overcome my stubborn Luddism.

  40. 40.

    beabea

    @CynDee

    Yes, very handsome indeed. And since he appears to be seated on his throne futon, I think you’re right, it must be his official portrait.

    Hope you feel better soon, John. Not that I want to start another neti pot thread necessarily, but does that help at all? OTOH, if it does help, then maybe it is time for a neti pot thread.

  43. 43.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @The next-to-last samurai:

    John, before you keel over, could you please update us on Lily? Not that I’m unsympathetic or anything.

    Yeah John, has Lily started learning a new language with rosetta stone or joined mensa or is she still just doing ordinary dog stuff??

  44. 44.

    passerby

    That’s a great action shot of Tunch, maybe the best one yet. I think this would look great on a Fancy Feast can–so dignified.

    Allergies? I used to live on ClaritinD back when I believed in taking the pharmaceutical approach. Now, I don’t go any where without my bottle of Natural Factors Bromelain (500mg capsules).

    I take two first thing in the morning and if I’ve got a sinus headache, I take two with two aspirin and a cold glass of water. About a half hour later my sinuses start draining. Beautiful.

  46. 46.

    beabea

    @John Cole

    Does that mean $arahPAC will no longer be paying you money for the privilege of posting her ad here for us to mock?

    However, may I say thank you once again for no longer having to see that disturbing meat ad or the Pam Anderson mystery appendage.

  48. 48.

    The next-to-last samurai

    Thank you, CynDee! Does your book have any good metabolism boosting exercises? Also, I am neither liberal nor conservative, so Inormally find American politics annoying and frustrating–but I love Balloon Juice! Good job, John!

  50. 50.

    Annie

    Wow. i do love that cat. He looks like he is saying “Allergies. What allegies?! What about my allergies? I am living with a dog…”

  51. 51.

    passerby

    Yes, but was the question that he asked Richard Wolfe longer than Wolfe’s answer to said question?

    Yeah, KO’s questions are way too verbose. Occasionally, on the split screen I watch the guests face as they wait for KO to get to the end of the questions and sometimes notice they’re not really sure what the question was. You can see them take a moment to process all those words.

    But anyway, I count on KO and Maddow to get down with CIA illegal wire tapping and torture stories. I don’t watch CNN (though Nico Pitney gave a hat tip to them earlier today for being the only station covering Iran’s resurgent protests).

    CNN and the rest of ’em need to hang that MJ shit up. Enough is enough.

  52. 52.

    Hana

    Can anyone tell me why Michelle Obama was wearing a black veil and dress at the Vatican today? Is there any etiquette that demands black? Do even non-Catholic women have to wear veils, even not at Mass? Thanks!

  53. 53.

    beabea

    @CynDee

    I kept smelling a burnt odor that didn’t actually exist in the air, or sometimes I would get a whiff of a bad odor that was in the air, and it would just stay with me for hours.

    I get this too, and was wondering if I am hallucinating, or if my house (which was built in 1929) is rotting away from the inside, or if I’m just slowly being poisoned by the toxic air here in refinery alley. I am going to try the technique you suggested. Thank you!

    It never ceases to amaze me, the variety of useful nuggets of info you can get here at BJ. It’s not just for politics and pet pics!

  54. 54.

    The Saff

    That is one gorgeous Tunch. I love a big white/orange cat since I have one of my own.

    Is Bill Maher back live tonight? I thought he was but the Dish lineup says it’s the show where Paul Begala bitch-slapped Meghan McCain for being a dipshit.

    And did anyone watch “Hung” on HBO a couple weeks back? Really good show. And “Entourage” starts up again Sunday followed by “Mad Men” in a month. Thank goodness for non-network teevee.

  59. 59.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Laura W: Thank god yer here. I was way out my element tryin to fill in for you. Now I can go back to being pleasant and amusing. ;)

  60. 60.

    Bob In Pacifica

    John Cole, I sympathize with the allergies. Here in Cali they’re talking about making sudafeds a prescription medication. Now you have to sign a register. Soon you’ll have to go to a doctor. The other over-the-counter stuff doesn’t work.

    My girlfriend swears by that squirting salt water up your nose thingie.

    I wonder if meth clears your sinuses. You can still buy that on the street.

  61. 61.

    JK

    @freelancer: @passerby:

    I’ll take a long winded question by Keith Olbermann on an important subject any day of the week over another goddamned nanosecond on Michael Jackson.

    Note to CNN: Michael Jackson is still dead you fucking morons and guess what else is dead? Your reputation as a serious news organization (not meant to imply that MSNBC is any more serious – they can’t claim that designation as long as they piss away weekends on Lockup and To Catch a Predator)

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ CynDee/27
    @ beabea/53

    I had a couple of major surgeries several years ago and both times I experienced that weird, unpleasant, annoying “burnt” aroma for weeks on end. I think it’s some long-lingering effect of the anaesthesia. It’s nasty as all get-out, and because there’s never any proximate cause and nobody else can smell it, you also begin to feel kind of Gaslighted.

  63. 63.

    asiangrrlMN

    Love the Tunchinator so very much. This is a very regal picture of him.

    cleek, your cat is freaking adorable, too. What’s her name?

  66. 66.

    GReynoldsCT00

    @JK:

    Are they still speculating about where his brain is? This just really needs to stop…

  67. 67.

    Tattoosydney

    @Laura W:

    Hello. How you?

    I don’t have a music link for you today, but for the cooking inclined, I love this web site… the original in Portuguese gets posted to more, so is worth a browse and a babelfish translate, but the English site is also very good. I can’t promise that clicking on the link won’t lead to weight gain.

  68. 68.

    GReynoldsCT00

    Yeah John, has Lily started learning a new language with rosetta stone or joined mensa or is she still just doing ordinary dog stuff??

    I guess you missed the “rolling in dead shit” post from the other day

  74. 74.

    Anne Laurie

    Can anyone tell me why Michelle Obama was wearing a black veil and dress at the Vatican today? Is there any etiquette that demands black? Do even non-Catholic women have to wear veils, even not at Mass?

    I haven’t been a Catholic for 35 years, but I believe the etiquette for women meeting the Pope is still “No bright colors, arms, knees & decolletage covered; some form of head wear.” Notice that FLOTUS is wearing long sleeves, which can’t be fun in Italy in July. (And which won’t immunize her from the wails of outraged wingnuts, of course.) The thing on her head used to be called a mantilla back in my working-class parish — pre-Vatican II, pius Catholic women kept a version of this, or at least a lacy doily-shaped ‘cap’, stashed in their purses along with the plastic rain bonnet and the kleenex packet, but now only the most hardcore Mel-Gibson-level traditionalists insist on such figleaves except in the presence of ‘His Holiness’.

  75. 75.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    @JK: Unfortunately it looks like CNN is being rewarded for their bad behavior with sky-high ratings. Personally I turned the TV off all week (or 10 days that seemed like a year).

  76. 76.

    Ash Can

    @Hana: She didn’t need to wear a veil (nor do Catholics), and she didn’t need to wear black (ditto). But I’m sure she figured it was best to err on the side of conservatism, and although I haven’t seen any pictures I’m sure she looked smashing. I’m also sure there are a lot of little old grandmas all around Italy who saw how she was dressed and said, “Oh, what a nice girl.”

    ETA @Anne Laurie: Wow, bang-on, and does that ever take me back.

  78. 78.

    Tattoosydney

    @Ash Can:

    I’m also sure there are a lot of little old grandmas all around Italy who saw how she was dressed and said, “Oh, what a nice girl.

    Yep, and in Portugal, Poland, the Philippines, Honduras, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia …

    50 million nonnas simultaneously went “ahhhhhh”, and a wave of warm fuzzy swept round the world.

  85. 85.

    Tattoosydney

    @Ash Can:

    And yet somehow the wingnuts will make it a bad thing that that nice Mrs Obama and her nice husband made the mothers and grandmothers of almost every politician in Catholic countries all over the world feel happy and think how lovely those nice Americans are…

  86. 86.

    AhabTRuler

    @Tattoosydney: Well, she knows how to speak in a language that her audience understands.

    Plus, unlike some, more modern female vocalists, she can actually sing (although the deep note of Dancing Queen tests even the best of them).

    ETA: That performance was ridiculously cute.

    And she has an impressive butt.

    I like ’em with a little more round, personally, but she wouldn’t get kicked outta bed for eating crackers.

  87. 87.

    schrodinger's cat

    Tunchus Maximus, surveying his kingdom, affecting the look of royal disdain.
    I love this kitteh and his cattitude!

  90. 90.

    Comrade Mary

    Ahhh. Tunch looks great. I can now go to sleep with a smile on my face.

    Night, all!

  93. 93.

    Tattoosydney

    @AhabTRuler:

    Well, she knows how to speak in a language that her audience understands.

    Subtle, ain’t it?

    Plus, unlike some, more modern female vocalists, she can actually sing (although the deep note of Dancing Queen tests even the best of them).

    And is more than canny enough to know it isn’t her singing voice that is making her her money.

  98. 98.

    Darkrose

    @John Cole

    Tunch is a very handsome boy.

    Wish me luck–I’m going to have to bathe Joxur (the 22# Maine Coon) this weekend.

  100. 100.

    Cain

    Oh man, the song “Let the Mighty Eagles Soar” is totally awesome after you’ve had a couple drinks in you. I knew I had too much to drink when I started singing along.

    cain

  102. 102.

    Laura W

    “A doctor, getting paid by Mr. Jackson, would be unlikely to want to kill him.”
    -Larry King, 7/10/09

    I wish to hell they’d buried this guy in MJ’s coffin alongside him.
    He’s been dead longer than MJ, for shit sure.

  105. 105.

    Ron

    @MikeJ: HAHAHA. I don’t remember seeing Plants vs. Zombies here, but a buddy of mine showed me that game. He warned me how addictive it could be. (Though after I finished all the levels, puzzles and minigames I didn’t play it nearly as much)

  106. 106.

    Brachiator

    @Darkrose:

    Seriously? [Here in Cali they’re talking about making sudafeds a prescription medication]Fuck. When breathing is a crime, only criminals will be able to breathe.

    Enterprising drug dealers buy up craploads of sudafed because an essential ingredient is used in the production of Methamphetamin. Hence the irony of

    I wonder if meth clears your sinuses. You can still buy that on the street.

    robertdsc — Bow down before Love the Tunchinator.

    Fixed.

  107. 107.

    Bill

    The best cure for any pollen or animal hair allergies is a teaspoon of Honey from a local beekeeper. Thousands of folks (self included) swear by it.

    Caveat – Must be from a local beekeeper with hives within a 30 mile radius of where you live.

  108. 108.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    Tunch looks like he is thinking My manservant may be ill but damn I look good! ;)

    On the cat front at home here, Bobbi had to go see the wingnut vet due to having a bad case of mud butt. He gave us a weeks supply of FortiFlora and upon the arrival of the wife and cat at home I noted it had expired last December. Oops! A phone call straightened out the problem and she is on it now. She seems fine, just smelly and mud-butty (the cat, not the wife!).

    Sammy has had a problem with Tommy since day one and Tommy has done a good job of staying out of his way since Sammy growls and hisses every time he sees Tommy. We kept it calm for some time but a few weeks ago Sammy and Tommy met up in the hallway. Tommy tried to skirt Sammy as he usually does and Sammy decided to pounce on Tommy.

    Bad mistake. Tommy is about 1/3 again larger than Sammy, probably five times his age (ten or so), has four pounds and about the same advantage in inches of reach too. No blood was drawn but there were clumps of black fur all over the hall. Tommy was unscathed and it was clear that Sammy got his ass kicked by the (nearly) toothless old kitteh. Since then Sammy has been trying to avoid Tommy and he refuses to eat or use the cat box while in sight of Tommy.

    Sammy inadvertently caused himself another problem; now Tommy seeks out Sammy and parks his ass right in front of him and lets Sammy whine and growl his ass off. It is clear that Tommy is tormenting Sammy and loving every minute of it. He doesn’t growl, hiss or act aggressive, he just sits (or lays there) in front of Sammy and makes him miserable.

    Advice to the young, don’t fuck with us old folks. :)

  109. 109.

    asiangrrlMN

    @DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal): Aw, your cats are teh cute! Poor Sammy. I know it’s his own fault, but I still feel sorry for him.

    @Tattoosydney: I feel so guilty for saying this, but you made my night with the Kylie video. I think part of the appeal is that she’s just having so much dang fun.

    Napping, I kinda have to nap because I can’t sleep at night. Then, because I nap…that’s right! I can’t sleep at night. Woot!

    @AhabTRuler: God, I love Eddie Izzard in an unhealthy way!

  110. 110.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    Thanks asiangrrlMN, they are all good cats. Bobbi is the baby of the group and she gets along with both of the males. Yeah, I feel somewhat sorry for Sammy too but he needed to be brought back to earth. As my wife says, he has too much catitude…lol

    Here’s a pic of Sammy showing us that he’s the alpha kitteh. I laughed my ass off at this and had to get a pic of it.

  112. 112.

    CynDee

    @ next-to-last samuri

    Does your book have any good metabolism boosting exercises?

    I think if you do most of the suggestions in the book your overall metabolism will increase. The learning curve for most of them is a bit high.

    After many years of experimenting, I have found that the best way to increase my metabolism is:

    1. Drink water religiously throughout the day.
    OK, people, stop laughing.

    2. Eat a modest amount of substantial (real, whole) food before too much time goes by in the morning, so your body knows it’s not starving.

    3. Walk every day at least 15 minutes, but preferably 30 to 40. We’re in Florida so I have to have a treadmill for the too-hot-or humid days. Before starting I jog VERY lightly, 40 or 50 steps, just to get the blood moving then do a couple of leg stretches.

    4. Stretch and deep-breathe before bed. Have a routine of stretch-type exercises sometime during the day. Include deep breathing. I do 20 or 30 minutes of yoga and/or Peggy Brill’s Core Exercises. She has a book. I do deep breathing from Dr. Mercola’s website, mercola.com.

    5. Most of us can’t do all of this every day. No matter what you have to let fall through the cracks during the day, keep some kind of a walk and the deep breathing at all costs. I realized that when I concentrate at the PC I was hardly breathing at all. You can’t get by on a teeny amount of oxygen. Dr. Mercola’s deep breathing is simple and conditions the lungs and makes your life a whole lot better.

    6. Our household has been a LOT healthier since we gave up all factory farm foods, high-fructose corn syrup, and anything with a long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce. We almost never miss it, and an occasional sin hurts you a lot less than a daily one. We were amazed how easy these purer meats are to clean up. The fat in the pan is real clean, and just comes right out – all that sludge from the factory meat must be just full of terrible junk.

  113. 113.

    tess

    My bookmark for this site is just titled “Tunch,” so I’m very happy to see him today, looking majestic and less than amused. Not that I don’t love the ongoing tale of Lily’s emergence as a dog, but there’s something truly wonderful about the self-satisfied expression of a King Feline. (and Tunch is certainly that)

    I’ve spent the last four days trying to figure out if I have a cold, allergies, or am fighting off a sinus infection. I think it might be a combination of all three. The pollen in my vegetable garden is overwhelming–I picked a small handful of cherry tomatoes this morning and my fingers looked like I’d been eating pollen-flavored cheetos.

    Now that you have Lily, you’re likely getting exposed more closely to allergens, if only to clean off the dead shit du jour after your walks. When we took in a neighborhood cat that had been abandoned by its deadbeat owners, there was a 3-4 month period where we just had to push through with the allergens he’d bring in (and we’d get close to, because kitties do need the cuddles after being abandoned). My husband has it the worst since our little guy’s favorite thing is to rub the top of his dirty, polleny head on my husband’s bearded chin.

  116. 116.

    HyperIon

    hey, has anyone else seen the tooltip?
    Tunch is aware of his minions. And evidently appreciative.
    What a gracious kitty.

  118. 118.

    glocksman

    If John had bowed down (heh) a bit more when taking that picture, it’d be at the perfect angle for the Tunchinator’s ‘official portrait’.

    Coming soon to post offices and Federal buildings everywhere. :)

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