Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

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

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Nothing worth doing is easy.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Let there be snark.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

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Dogsicle

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big-snow-09-035

Love to have some pictures of Lily in the snow, but I have no camera, so you will have to make do with Sam.

Also, looking out my window, there are some profoundly stupid people attempting to drive, and three cars are already abandoned on the hill. Note to people: unless you are bleeding profusely or about to give birth, don’t drive. And even then, call the pros. There is a reason Manchin declared a state of emergency, and it goes beyond just the formality of activating the Guard to assist with snow removal. It means that there IS A LOT OF SNOW AND YOU SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING. Also, it means the folks removing snow and trying to help aforementioned bleeding or birthing people don’t need the additional thrill of trying to avoid your stupid ass in a Honda civic sliding sideways down a hill.

Reader Interactions

106Comments

  1. 1.

    Svensker

    We canceled a trip to a friend’s house and she is all pissy because her kids were disappointed. She doesn’t have to try to drive up our hill in the snow.

    Oh well. Decorating the house and doing some baking. Yay snow!

  2. 2.

    Violet

    It’s a gorgeous day here. T-shirt weather. Very nice change after the fog, drizzle and cool weather we’ve had for the last week or so.

    I’m envious of all you who have snow. I know it’s a pain, but it’s so pretty and can be fun too.

  4. 4.

    Comrade Mary

    Aww, how cute! I hope there are booties on those little paws.

    I was in a wireless store today for a couple of hours, hanging out and chatting with a small crowd as we all waited for the sweet but overloaded sales guy to process orders. A fluffy little thing that was a dead ringer for Sam helped amuse us, even more when a leggy, friendly but hyper Chihuahua joined us and couldn’t seem to decide whether to sniff the fluffball and be friendly, or pee on him. So he did both. Twice.

    Which brings me to my iPhones questions for those of you so blessed:

    1) I could probably be happy with a 3G 8Gb as I already have a video iPod and don’t anticipate to be storing a lot of stuff on the phone. It has Google Maps with GPS — yay!!! — but doesn’t have video (which I can live without), but on the other hand, the 3GS is twice as fast. Anyone willing to recommend a decision tree for size or speed? Do you feel you underbought or overbought your current iPhone? Prices here range from $99 to $299.

    2) How much can you zoom the Safari screen? I was reading this site quite nicely in landscape view, but tapping the links at the right was frustrating even when zoomed, and I have little fingers. Is there an iPhone version of this site and/or some zoom or tapping trick I should know?

  6. 6.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Oh my!! What a cutie. My BP just went down 10 points.

    Charlie says hello Sam.

    Thank you Senor Cole!!

  7. 7.

    South of I-10

    I would love to see some snow, but it is a gorgeous day today! 60 and sunny. We had nothing but cold and rain for the last week. I just bought some black and gold fleur de lis cookies for the Saints game party tonight. Go Saints!

  8. 8.

    calipygian

    Here in the People’s Republic of Alexandria (VA) I went to Safeway yesterday at about 1600 and the place was out of meat, milk, pasta and toilet paper.

    I went to go get coffee near my house this morning and all the people at the Caribou were from New England or the Midwest. They were all scratching their heads, trying to figure out why people were buying six months worth of toilet paper and enough meat survive a Cormac McCarthy style Road trip.

    I’d hate to see what these NoVa pussies would do in the event of a REAL emergency, like a radioactive dirty bomb in DC or a major terrorist attack that takes the bridges across the Potomac down.

    It would be Mad Max cannibalism time around here.

  9. 9.

    donovong

    I am very thankful to FSM that all of our frozen precip has disappeared, elsewise we would also have more than our share of rednecks pretending to be reindeer. For some reason, the fact that four wheel drive does not equal four wheel stop does not register with folks here in SC.

  10. 10.

    bago

    If you look at my house with Bing street view, they took the pictures the day after the snow melted to the point of drivability. You can still see the cones/cylinders I used to block traffic on the hill. Seriously, these idiots would see tire tracks that went up a block and then spun downhill and think “I can make it”

  11. 11.

    freelancer

    @Comrade Mary:

    If you already have a video ipod (or a classic) then just go with the 3G 8GB. I don’t have an iPhone, but I have the new 32GB Touch. I find it completely indispensable.

    As far as Safari and zooming in, it can get as close as you want, and this video is pretty much a demo how it works and isn’t really exaggerating.

  12. 12.

    R-Jud

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    Hooray for Smudge! Whenever I’ve had a new pet in the house I always get this surge of tenderness when I see them show signs of settling in: grooming, eating, etc. Happy cats!

    That said, I’m a bit annoyed with the big ‘un (shown here, in flowerpot) at the moment. He’s been through three collars in three weeks. I guess his little pal from next door helps him take them off when they go sniffing around the neighborhood together.

  13. 13.

    demkat620

    Wow! It’s nasty outside here. My dog won’t go out because the snow is taller than he is now.

    Stay safe Juicers. And warm.

  14. 14.

    Guster

    How loud is a flight show? Air show?

    I don’t even know what they’re called. But I wanna hear that they’re v. loud. Anyone been?

  17. 17.

    MikeJ

    I’d hate to see what these NoVa pussies would do in the event of a REAL emergency, like a radioactive dirty bomb in DC or a major terrorist attack that takes the bridges across the Potomac down.

    I lived there on 9/11. 3 hours to drive from Potomac, MD to Fairfax.

  20. 20.

    R-Jud

    @Guster: They are INSANELY loud. I moved to Chicago during the weekend of the annual Air and Water Show. I was walking home with groceries when a jet suddenly went overhead on a practice run and threw myself on the ground, I was so frightened. When I got up I saw I wasn’t the only person who’d taken cover. I was, however, the only one with a dozen cracked eggs leaking out of a plastic bag.

  22. 22.

    Kryptik

    Ohhhhh, Good Grief that’s adorable.

    I’d never have our toy poodle out in the cold for too long though. We coddle the little bastard, but that’s because we care (that and he’s nowhere near as rugged as our chow/shepard mix and boxer were. Fuzzier and better insulated than the boxer was though).

    The only problem with this snow is that it just might put the kibosh on visiting the ‘rents back in Chapmanville unless things clear up at both point A and point B.

  23. 23.

    robertdsc-PowerBook & 27 titles

    @Comrade Mary:
    I have an 8GB 3G and love it. I don’t feel I underbought my 3G because I was in the market for a new phone at the time and am a longtime Apple guy.

    That said, there are instances where I wish I had the 3GS’s video features, so if you have the opportunity to purchase a 3GS, get it so you can have the option if an opportunity presents itself.

    As for the zoom, this is what it looks like at maximum size:

    iPhone Max Zoom

    There is currently no iPhone version of the BJ site, but before the most recent meltdown, a version for the iPhone existed and formatted everything in a highly appealing manner. Sadly, it vanished and now the site loads normally in the Safari mobile browser as it would on a standard desktop/laptop browser. Recently, John did some script tinkering that made loading times significantly faster, so the iPhone experience in reading BJ is acceptable to me.

    Hope this helps. :)

  24. 24.

    Guster

    @freelancer: I was actually hoping someone would tell a story that perfectly illustrated how loud they are–and do my job for me–but I was embarrassed to ask.

    Edit: And thanks for the YouTube!

  28. 28.

    calipygian

    @AhabTRuler: It’s about like that here.

    I’m about to go venture outside and wander down to the local shopping center to check out the damage.

    I have to cross an interstate over a footbridge and Im interested to see if the road crews could keep up.

  30. 30.

    Morbo

    I’ve seen a catsicle a couple times now. He’s very patient waiting for my neighbor to let him in.

  32. 32.

    robertdsc-PowerBook & 27 titles

    @Morbo:
    Can you imagine a Tunchsicle? What’s an iceberg doing in the middle of West Virginia? LOL.

    Sam is cute. Her eyes remind me of my parents’ dearly departed Scooter.

  34. 34.

    Chat Noir

    @Comrade Mary: I bought an iPhone 3GS (8 meg) this summer and it’s more than sufficient for what I need (my favorite apps are the Constitution of the United States and the tip calculator). I like having the video — just today I recorded our trip to the vet and groomer with a talkative/unhappy kitty in his crate and a stinky/dirty Wheaten Terror who was whining from the excitement of the car ride.

    As for Safari, at least it helps me read Balloon Juice when I don’t have access to a regular computer.

  36. 36.

    geg6

    Guster @14: If there are any military in the air show, it will be LOUD beyond your wildest dreams. A good friend of mine was in the Thunderbirds and I’ve gone to several shows when he and his crew were the highlights. My ex was brave enough to go for a ride (not me, thanks). Loud doesn’t begin to describe it. Tooth rattling? Bone shaking? All of the above?

  38. 38.

    freelancer

    @Chat Noir:

    Yeah the camera really is the only thing missing from the new Touches that should have been included. With Wifi and Skype, I have a better reception on my Touch than I do on my cellphone.

  40. 40.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Man, you know things are bad when the malls shut down the weekend before Christmas. D.C.’s prize-winning public transportation system fucked God knows how many people by shutting down the bus system at 1.

    And if you drive a Dodge anything, do me a favor and torch that sucker. Christ those things move like bricks in the snow.

  41. 41.

    gwangung

    I jumped from a very dumb cellphone (very bottom of the line) to an iPhone GS. HOLY COW. I’ve used damn near every feature in the past six months, even the ones I didn’t think were useful (I mean…video…it was fabulous to record dance rehearsal to show everyone, or to show someone exactly how big a space would play).

    Also, probably went hog wild, compared to some, on buying apps–the NY Subway maps were indispensible for my vacation to NYC. Have an app to track how late busses are, etc.

  44. 44.

    Comrade Mary

    Yay! Thanks for all the iPhone feedback. I think I’ve just talked myself into a 3GS 16Gb because after trying out the store demo, which had the compass, it seems that it was a 3GS. I don’t think I’d be happy with something half as fast as that. (Of course, the store was also in a WiFi hotspot, so God knows how fast or slow regular 3G service will feel.) $199 isn’t that bad, considering I paid $99 for my 7200-series Blackberry three years ago.

    Still figuring out zooming. The double tap method seems to zoom in not quite enough, but I’ve seen some complaints about the pinch method being too fast and extreme a few months ago, which leads me to think you can zoom in a LOT. (Sorry, robertdsc, I couldn’t get into that site without a login.)

  45. 45.

    Bill H

    Back when I lived in Atlanta there was a snowstorm. I think there were at total of eight cars abandonded on the freeway, but the national news made it look like hundreds and as if Atlanta were filled with people buried in snow and freezing to death. As I recall it was about four inches. Anyway, my family from Wisconsin, Idaho and Minnesota kept calling to see if I was okay and I didn’t know what they were talking about. I wasn’t watching the same national news they were and the local news knew they couldn’t hype it like the nationals were doing because we were there and could see for ourselves.

    That being said, I think you could be driving down the road on a clear sunshiny day in Atlanta, throw a glass of water out the window and cause a wreck.

  46. 46.

    The Moar You Know

    80 degrees here in San Diego. I had to put shorts on today. Typical Christmas weather.

    If it gets cold here (some years it does, this year it will not) it can get below freezing here. And it has snowed; last time it snowed in my particular neck of the woods was 1967.

  48. 48.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    @gwangung: I’m hoping the department stores and malls will have the cojones to ask for a two-day delay of Christmas, just so I can watch Santa’s Sponsored Soldiers try to explain why people who are against moving it are waging War Against Christmas.

  50. 50.

    freelancer

    @JenJen:

    Fuck. I’m torn between the incoherence and friedmanesque metaphor mangling of “Olbermensch”, the ALL CAPS frat-boy insanity of “Can your daughter marry a black?”, and the weird projection of “Symphony of ejaculation”:

    I saw your pussy ass on Pravada (er, I mean MSNBC) yukking it up with Keith Blubberman and spouting communist rhetoric. While watching it occured to me that you look like you crawled off the pages of a gay porn magazine. Seriously, I could practically picture one million tiny, shit stained, AIDS infested cocks ejackulating as one while you were on the air.

    They’re all fucked up but that last guy has his own Dark Passenger.

  55. 55.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @You Don’t Say:

    I adopted him about a week or so ago from the Humane Society shelter. He had been picked up as a stray in pretty poor shape.. From having him now for a week, I am fairly certain he was abandoned by his previous owner. Without any id, which is required in this country, and was at the shelter for about a month before I adopted him, without any contact of anyone claiming him. During a previous trip the week before I adopted him, he was at a local vet getting neutered, as best I can tell, or I would have taken him then. When I took him to the vet that had volunteered to neuter him for free, in hopes someone would adopt him, they were so happy to see someone had, because they really loved the little guy.

    He is what the shelter said is an Australian Terrrier, which looks to me about the same as a Corkie Terrier. And fully house trained and highly sweet natured and does not bark. And I mean that literally . He has not barked once. I asked the vet about that Thursday, and he said some dogs are like that, though I have never had one so.

    He is very low maintenance as far as any separation anxiety, and is the most loyal dog I have owned, and is that way after only one week.

    Also the first dog that I have owned that can sleep in my bed, without fidgeting and getting up and keeping me awake. He just spoons my feet or knees and stays there all night.

    I made a good choice this time.:) picture

  56. 56.

    bago

    Update for valdivia. It seems metro has shut down. It looks like I am hiking to Bethesda. The dubliner is open and has wi-fi.

  60. 60.

    bago

    I’d have to roll with “can your daughter marry a black”, if only for style. More caps = more win.

  62. 62.

    Gozer

    I’m just counting the days until I get to New Orleans to visit my folks…these PA winters are killing me (and it’s only my first winter)!

  65. 65.

    asiangrrlMN

    Dear everyone who has new, fresh, beautiful snow: Bite me, bitchez. Harumph. No new snow, and it’s a balmy twenty-five degrees. Bah, humbug.

    Cole, Sam is MUCH cuter as a dog than as Santy.

    @arguingwithsignposts: Oh my. She’s so adorable, and it looks like she’s settling in juuuuust fine.

    @General Winfield Stuck: You made an excellent choice. Charlie was obviously meant for you.

    @jeffreyw: Another masterpiece!

  67. 67.

    arguingwithsignposts

    There’s no way I’m wading through that much stupid, but this did stick out to me:

    i am well awear of the fact that liberals are immune to logic and reason, but allow me to try to prove to you that you are communist scum thrugh something called the scientific method:

    Logic and reason but not able to spell.

  69. 69.

    feebog

    Oh goodie, a weather thread. I just got home from playing golf. A tad windy due to the Santa Anas, but 75 and simply great weather to chase the little white ball around the links.

  70. 70.

    bago

    Hiking through the snow in DC hasn’t been too bad. Union Station to Dupont Circle was a breeze because most of the roads and sidewalks were cleared. It’s probably not going to be cleared near clevaland park.

  76. 76.

    Steeplejack

    @South of I-10:

    Yes, go Saints! If someone is going to remain undefeated and put the ’72 Dolphins to sleep, I hope it is the Saints rather than the reviled Colts. Actually, I wouldn’t mind the Saints accomplishing that in the Super Bowl. That would be super.

  80. 80.

    Annie

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    You are a sweet man. Charlie is awesome. In this latest picture, you can see him smiling…You can tell that he is happy to be yours, and you are happy to be his…You just can’t help but love this dog. I hope the people who abandoned him are left at a shelter at some point, with no one to adopt them…

  82. 82.

    burnspbesq

    Meanwhile, we are having the kid’s birthday party ay the historic cottages at Crystal Cove State Park. Sun is starting to go down, it’s about 60 degrees with a nice onshore breeze, and the view out to Catalina is clear as can be.

    I like playing in the snow as much as the next person, but I have to admit, this ain’t bad.

  87. 87.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Yutsano: I did propose to him at one point, and he was most unenthusiastic. Harumph. And, don’t forget entire threads.

    @AhabTRuler: You’re playing with my fire, and you don’t even have the courtesy to tell me? By the way, still lovin’ the pics even though I’m aflamed with desire for the snow.

    @Kristine: Aw, that’s just too sweet.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Power went out at 9:00. Candles deployed, enjoying the silence and the low light. Ambient light from outside is brighter than usual because of the snow reflection. Was going to watch Cowboys-Saints, but this is all right. I am just logging off and may be some time.

  89. 89.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: Bah. I might give up tonight. I offended LauraW and feel like fucking dirt about it. I should just go see if the rugelach dough is ready to be mixed up.

  93. 93.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: I’d think she might be being light-hearted save for the BoB comment. I mean, that right there is the blog standard for dumbass moves. I have to admit even with all that Chuck’s comment did make me chortle a bit.

  95. 95.

    RedKitten

    Sam is absolutely adorable, as always.

    And yeah, a lot of people become absolute idiots in snowstorms, deciding that they just HAVE to be out driving right then and there. The only people who should be driving in that shit are those who are bleeding, those with an “M.D.” or an “R.N.” after their name, those who are about to bring another human into the world, or Canadians.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    @Yutsano:

    I think you’re in the clear, based on her comment here.

    By the way, my power is back on and I am back on. But I must go away for a few minutes to see if I can engineer a Saints comeback against the reviled Cowboys. Saints are down 7 with 6:29 to go.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Yeah, now I have to pray for the Colts to lose to someone. They play the Jets next Sunday (they’re off tomorrow) and then the Bills on January 3. Ugh. Not likely.

  100. 100.

    Comrade Mary

    @RedKitten: Let’s omit Torontonians from the group of Canadians, OK? I swear that drivers here completely forget how to drive in even a little snow every year. I’ve learned not to ride my bike among them until the second or third snowfall of the year, when they’ve reached adequacy again.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    We’ll have to leave it there. The Colts have achieved so much success, and Peyton Manning is so over-adulated, that I can’t get behind them being the ones to break the record. The from-hunger Saints would have been much better.

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    @asiangrrlMN: It’s not even the fact that the Colts are perfect or the Saints finally had a loss. It’s the fact that every single fucking Cowboy fan in the universe now will act as if they won the Super Bowl. I can think of a thousand other things that sound more pleasant than that. Like a root canal with no anesthetic.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    @Yutsano:

    But then they’ll be talking about the goddamn Colts for the next 20 years. And they’re already talking about the Colts–specifically the godlike Peyton Manning–too much already.

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