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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  February 3, 20106:09 pm| 69 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Previous Post: « In Case I Have Not Stressed It Enough
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Reader Interactions

69Comments

  1. 1.

    srv

    February 3, 2010 at 6:11 pm

    Tunch is not our last hope. There is another.

  2. 2.

    buggy ding dong

    February 3, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    Dear GOP:

    Stop giving terrorists what they want by treating them as warriors.

    Try them as the common, cowardly criminals they are.

  3. 3.

    gwangung

    February 3, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    @srv: Um, is that a cat or is that a midget mountain lion?

  4. 4.

    Svensker

    February 3, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    @gwangung:

    Um, is that a cat or is that a midget mountain lion?

    I don’t see anything midget about that feline whatsoever. That is a LARGE cat. Very handsome kitty, tho.

  5. 5.

    beltane

    February 3, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    We are on our own. But we are needy, how will we survive on our own?

  6. 6.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    I wish it spring, screw the pony.

  7. 7.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    February 3, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    @srv: That is not a cat, that is a Little Person in a cat suit.

    What a beautiful feline.

  8. 8.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 6:17 pm

    @srv: whoa

  9. 9.

    Mark S.

    February 3, 2010 at 6:17 pm

    Is General Winfield Stuck now Alice B. Stuck? Just curious.

  10. 10.

    Zifnab

    February 3, 2010 at 6:18 pm

    You sure the lady isn’t just a Leprechaun or something?

  11. 11.

    Jon H

    February 3, 2010 at 6:20 pm

    Amazing.

    15 year old girl gets pregnant via oral sex

    Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1988 Sep;95(9):933-4.

  12. 12.

    srv

    February 3, 2010 at 6:20 pm

    @gwangung: It is believed to be a Maine Coon.

    h/t reddit

  13. 13.

    gwangung

    February 3, 2010 at 6:23 pm

    I don’t see anything midget about that feline whatsoever. That is a LARGE cat. Very handsome kitty, tho.

    I’d say it was very handsome, too, if I was within 25 feet of it.

  14. 14.

    R-Jud

    February 3, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    That cat is huge.

    We finally saw The Hurt Locker tonight. It was, like, 900 kinds of awesome.

  15. 15.

    The Ace Tomato Company

    February 3, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    All signs from the early financial report debates point to the Democrats shooting themselves in the foot once again.

    Dodd can go fuck himself and needs to be removed immediately. Of course Democrats won’t do this (better to have another financial crisis than sully the genteel rules of the Senate) and will spend most of their time alternating between watering down the proposal until it’s meaningless and being given swirlies by Republicans because they’re too big a group of pussies to punch back.

    If HCR fails and financial reform goes nowhere, I am done with the Democratic Party forever. We either get a reasonable third party, or this country deserves all the misery coming to it from impending Republican rule.

    Fuck I hate our government.

  16. 16.

    Martin

    February 3, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    @The Ace Tomato Company: You made this claim once before over HCR alone. Now Dems also need to fuck up financial reform, too? You’ll never get the party to take you seriously unless you actually shoot the hostage when you say you will.

  17. 17.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 6:31 pm

    Toby is not so sure that spring and summer are all that.

  18. 18.

    Alice B. Stuck

    February 3, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    @Mark S.: Yes. tis so.

    Alice be stuck in the wabbit hole to Wonderland to solve Obama FAIL and free the ponies. just adjusting to political surrealalities is all.

    edit – I bet the stuck part gave me away. drat.

  19. 19.

    The Ace Tomato Company

    February 3, 2010 at 6:34 pm

    @Martin

    Yup, like a gullible dumbass, I thought for a moment HCR may have been brought back from the dead. I’m all the more pissed for letting myself be fooled.

  20. 20.

    asdf

    February 3, 2010 at 6:39 pm

    Since this is an open thread, could we please have some more about food? The contributors here are GOOD. I learn from them.

    Outside of that, yes, I do love cats.

  21. 21.

    arguingwithsignposts

    February 3, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    Did someone say cats? The latest smudge portrait, just pulled out of the fixative.

  22. 22.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 6:45 pm

    @asdf: Really? BHF and I have teamed to bring you the latest in food prep tech and pet pictures. Just click either of our names to be transported into wonderland. LOL

    Or just click through my stream.

  23. 23.

    gbear

    February 3, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    over at TPM

    House Republican leaders are calling on their supporters to send money after last week’s extraordinary Q&A session with President Obama. Their recollection of the meeting, as described in the fundraising letters? We stuck it to Obama, so give us some money.

    In a fundraising email sent out to the NRCC list today, House Minority Leader John Boehner argued the GOP came out on top in the session “[Obama] finally acknowledged that we’d been offering solutions — Democrats just haven’t listened,” Boehner wrote. “You see, we’re not just fighting to put the brakes on their jobs-killing agenda – we’re showing what a new Republican-led Congress would do differently.”

    If Obama really did say that the GOP has solutions, it was only to be polite. Boehner sounds like a three year old.

  24. 24.

    asdf

    February 3, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    “If HCR fails and financial reform goes nowhere, I am done with the Democratic Party forever.”

    I’m sure the American Taliban will be happy to hear that.

    Let’s just give up.

    As a matter of fact, why stop there? Let’s kill the kids and kill ourselves. The fascists are just going to win. Why try?

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    February 3, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: Really great picture of Smudge, though my favorites are the back leg salute and walking the ledge.

  26. 26.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    This one is fresh, too.

  27. 27.

    Mark S.

    February 3, 2010 at 6:54 pm

    I really don’t want to read through RedState, so could someone explain to me why the teabaggers are upset with Palin and the shindig in Nashville. Is it just the price, because in doing some asking around it doesn’t sound like it’s that much more expensive than similar political get-togethers. Is it because Sarah wants 100k, which is supposedly her going rate? Is she supposed to charge less because these are real ‘Mericans? If that’s too much, I’m sure they could get Debbie Schlussel for 1/100th that price. Don’t these people love the free market?

    This is an honest question. I realize trying to grasp the minds of teabaggers usually leads to insanity, but I am genuinely confused.

  28. 28.

    Violet

    February 3, 2010 at 6:55 pm


    This
    is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages. Do be sure to watch to the end to see the unbelievable wolf in sheep’s clothing. Carly Fiorina is exceptionally full of fail.

  29. 29.

    arguingwithsignposts

    February 3, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    To add to the back leg salute, now there’s a middle finger salute with tongue for the next time some asshat Repub. or fundie says something stupid. Won’t be long.

  30. 30.

    srv

    February 3, 2010 at 7:03 pm

    US troops attend a girls’ school opening in NW Pakistan. Yes, Pakistan.

    No one could have foreseen this happening…

  31. 31.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    February 3, 2010 at 7:11 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: She is such a delicate girl. And that face, looks like she has some siamese in her.

  32. 32.

    Carrie

    February 3, 2010 at 7:14 pm

    @srv: OMG
    i want that giant cat!

  33. 33.

    Zandar

    February 3, 2010 at 7:15 pm

    Demon Sheep.

    It comes.

    FOR YOUR SOUL.

  34. 34.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    February 3, 2010 at 7:16 pm

    So I got this new cast iron skillet…it’s love, for sure. I’m thinking I want to try and bake a pizza in it. Anyone tried this, got any suggestions and/or ideas on the subject?

  35. 35.

    Violet

    February 3, 2010 at 7:17 pm

    @Zandar:
    That’s what I linked above. I simply cannot believe they made that video. It’s like a parody. It’s so bad it’s hysterically funny. The wolf in sheep’s clothing is beyond hilarious.

  36. 36.

    Annie

    February 3, 2010 at 7:19 pm

    @srv:

    OMG. I am not showing this picture to my two darlings, as I am always telling them how big they are. Next to this darling, my cats look like kittens….

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Lady Smudge gets more beautiful every day. How’s the toilet paper situation?

  37. 37.

    Martin

    February 3, 2010 at 7:20 pm

    @gbear: Actually, Obama said two things:

    1) That in the cases when the GOP offered solutions, the Dems adopted them only to have them voted against by the GOP. Paygo, anyone? Tax cuts?
    2) That in all other cases, the GOP offered ideas that were unrealistic, and therefore not solutions.

  38. 38.

    arguingwithsignposts

    February 3, 2010 at 7:21 pm

    @Annie:
    Re: the TP situation. I keep it in the plastic for the time being (since she hasn’t figured out how to unwrap the plastic shell – yet) until I figure out a better situation. She attacked a roll last night, but I was able to salvage most of it.

  39. 39.

    Carrie

    February 3, 2010 at 7:24 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: Smudge is a beaut as well. Compared to giant kitty, she looks very dainty.
    Every since i was little i’ve had this dream that i would find an orphaned lynx and raise it as my own little feral kitteh, but alas, i’ve never found one or even seen one in the wild….and i’ve looked.
    someday…..

  40. 40.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: Never done it, but it seems like a deep dish pizza would work. Or invert the pan and use it as a baking stone? LOL

  41. 41.

    Zandar

    February 3, 2010 at 7:28 pm

    Demon Sheep was all Rahm’s idea, secretly.

  42. 42.

    Something Fabulous

    February 3, 2010 at 7:28 pm

    @asdf: Funny, I was just feeling the need to boast, and wondered if I might have an opening! I AM A GENIUS!!

    I say this because lord knows I am no Jeffreyw; I barely cook at all. But I had bought this very delicious sourdough bread with chunks of roasted garlic in it from the farmer’s market and was worrying that it would go stale or moldy before I could finish it, so just now I came up with a savory bread pudding from stuff around the house… and it was DELICIOUS! Here’s, so to speak, the recipe:

    2 eggs, beaten with a big splash of milk, oregano, basil, salt, pepper
    4 slices of the delish bread, torn in chunks and lightly toasted in oven
    Wee handful of cheddar, diced small
    One green onion and some cilantro, chopped
    Bit of herbed goat cheese
    Bit of hot pickled pepper left over from Thai food take out, diced
    Dabs of butter
    Corn meal to coat dish
    Splashes of Marsala
    Parmesan shredded

    Preheat oven to 350
    Put a kettle on to boil
    Butter a largish single-size ramekin, coat with corn meal and salt and pepper. Swish around to coat.

    Place one layer bread in ramekin, sprinkle evenly with vegs and cheeses
    Another layer of bread
    Another layer of vs & cs
    Carefully pour beaten egg mixture in, bit by bit to avoid splashing and to see bread is soaking evenly
    Gleefully splash some Marsala over that so top is totally moistened
    Dab top with butter

    Cover with foil and place in larger ovenproof pan on cookie sheet, then slowly add boiling water to about halfway up the sides of smaller one (is this a “bain marie”?)
    Bake for 35 minutes, remove foil, bake 15 more
    Let cool in oven for a few minutes to avoid boiling water/molten cheese tragedy, then remove cookie sheet from oven, let cool in water bath a few minutes more, then remove from larger vessel and let cool ten minutes more. Grate parm over. Serve with one big fork and the last of the white wine.

    Serves: 1, plus samples for two cats, to distract them from computer while eating while reading B-J.

  43. 43.

    Martin

    February 3, 2010 at 7:29 pm

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: I’ve done it. It’s a little tricky but not too bad. I suggest some olive oil in the bottom, lay in your dough, toppings, and while your oven is heating to 500, stick it on a burner on low-med to get the bottom heating up. The hardest part of pizza in a skillet is cooking the bottom because the cast iron takes so long to come to temp.

    Once you get things dialed in right (some trial and error) it works pretty well.

  44. 44.

    Tax Analyst

    February 3, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    Jeezus, that’s one big kitty cat. Got that “Do as I sez and nobody gets hurt” expression in the left-hand photo.

  45. 45.

    Annie

    February 3, 2010 at 7:34 pm

    @Alice B. Stuck:

    Should we now refer to Charlie as Charletta?

  46. 46.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    @Something Fabulous: That sounds great! And I am not a cooking wizard, just play one on a blog.

  47. 47.

    Nellcote

    February 3, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    Michael Steele to debate Harold Ford on Thurs. …in Arkansas…to kick off Black History Month. Which one will be the first to post it to youtube?

  48. 48.

    Mike E

    February 3, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: Yes! Make sure you grease the skillet sufficiently before you put the pie in. Depending on how you are heating the skillet, it could turn out to be a deep dish pizza but I went a little gonzo–I put mine into a chiminea! Crazy, I know.

    I took ready-made dough and divided it in half, or in thirds, depending on the size of the skillet. Personally I prefer a thin crust, which means rolling and stretching your 1/3 pizza skin really thin. Make sure you also use pre-roasted veggies and already prepared meats, since this is gonna cook quick, like 15-20 min.

  49. 49.

    Annie

    February 3, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    LOL. Kitties are nothing if not persistent. As I sit at my desk preparing for class, Diesel tries to climb my leg for attention. And, it really hurts –nails and all.

    So I give him some kisses and tell him to go away. If I stop scratching him, he tries to climb again. To prevent this I scratch him and then tell him to go away. When I stop, he tries to climb again. I fear we are caught in some cosmic loop that I cannot get out of…

    The worst is when he looks up at me with those big, beautiful eyes that say, “Sorry, am I bothering you?”

  50. 50.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    February 3, 2010 at 7:55 pm

    @Mike E: and @Martin:

    You’ve both given me confidence, I shall try it!

  51. 51.

    AngusTheGodOfMeat

    February 3, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    No mench today of Obama’s masterful performance in front of the Congressional Dems?

    Talk about being the smartest guy in the room, Jeezus.

    If you get a chance to see it (say, on C-SPAN online) then take the time to watch it. And learn.

  52. 52.

    Alice B. Stuck

    February 3, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    @Annie: Charlie doesn’t involve himself in my personal silliness. He’s just Charlie.

  53. 53.

    jeffreyw

    February 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    Sudden attack!

  54. 54.

    Annie

    February 3, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    @Alice B. Stuck:

    Ah….then kisses to “Just Charlie.” And tell him that the terrible towel is in the mail….

  55. 55.

    4jkb4ia

    February 3, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    The fall of Pitt continues.

  56. 56.

    4jkb4ia

    February 3, 2010 at 8:18 pm

    And someone believed that Pete Hoekstra was willing to put his name on this, which does not even bother to define “electronic communication service provider”.

  57. 57.

    RedKitten

    February 3, 2010 at 8:42 pm

    New Sam video.

  58. 58.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    February 3, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    @RedKitten: Oh the cheeks on that little boy. And that tongue, so very cute. You know if he gets any more adorable, we may have to invade your country and claim that cuteness as our own.

  59. 59.

    Alice B. Stuck

    February 3, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    @RedKitten: Jeebus RK, Sam is getting huge. I see a future NFL linebacker in the making.

  60. 60.

    Tax Analyst

    February 3, 2010 at 8:58 pm

    @Annie:

    The worst is when he looks up at me with those big, beautiful eyes that say, “Sorry, am I bothering you?”

    I used to get that when the cat jumped up on my newspaper and plumped herself down right on the article I was reading. Actually, what she gave me was sort of an over-the-shoulder nonchalant glance with a couple of slow eye-blinks. More like “Don’t you have something better to do, like giving me your undivided attention?”

  61. 61.

    Annie

    February 3, 2010 at 9:26 pm

    @Tax Analyst:

    Exactly. I know that “look.” You don’t know whether to laugh or scream.

    Cats are masters of the “look.” Clearly, they own us, rather than us owning them.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    February 3, 2010 at 9:45 pm

    @jeffreyw: Your photo caption:

    Toby wonders why Bea is attacking him

    I laughed out loud, but still, that is not right! You are officially a bad person for doing it, and I am a bad person for laughing.

  63. 63.

    Yutsano

    February 3, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    @Bad Horse’s Filly: You shouldn’t forget dessert along with that!

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pineapple-upside-down-cornmeal-cake-recipe/index.html

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    February 3, 2010 at 9:47 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    To add to the back leg salute, now there’s a middle finger salute with tongue for the next time some asshat Repub. or fundie says something stupid. Won’t be long.

    I just got home and I haven’t made it through the thread yet, but I am relatively certain that your prediction has come true.

    Edit: Forgot to say that “middle finger salute with tongue” wins the naming contest, but still, for me, nothing beats the back leg salute, which is complete and utter dismissal.

  65. 65.

    Tax Analyst

    February 3, 2010 at 9:54 pm

    @Annie:

    Yeah, after removing the cat 2 or 3 times and having her jump back up on the paper each time I would give in. After 30 or 40 seconds of perfunctory petting I could generally get into it enough to give her more of what she was looking for. After all, who REALLY needs to know what’s going on in the world anyway? It’s not like I was the frickin’ President or anything.

    I just knew she had to be thinking, “It’s really hard to get good help”.

  66. 66.

    Max

    February 3, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    Programming note:

    I know there are a few BJ’ers who are diabetic (some borderline). Oprah (don’t laugh, I like her) is doing a full hour tomorrow on diabetes.

    I am diabetic and am looking forward to it. Dr. Oz will be on with her.

    Carry on.

  67. 67.

    Annie

    February 3, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    @Tax Analyst:

    LOL…We do live with the reality that we can be fired at any moment….

  68. 68.

    Platonicspoof

    February 4, 2010 at 12:15 am

    @Mark S.:

    You are watching cats being herded by grifters.

  69. 69.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 4, 2010 at 5:49 am

    @arguingwithsignposts: Aw, Lady Smudge is absolutely beautiful. Give her kisses from me!

    @jeffreyw: I am with WaterGirl. You are a very bad man for doing that, and I am a very bad woman for laughing. Bea and Toby look like a blast to have around.

    @RedKitten: Sam is one of the happiest, cutest, healthiest babies I’ve ever seen!

    srv, I was going to ask if that cat was Maine Coon. Holy cow! Almost literally.

    I gotta say, the least favorite thing for me with my boys is when one of them (Shadow) sticks his butt in my face and waits for me to sniff/lick it. I keep telling him that’s what his brother is for, but he still insists on presenting himself to me like that. Yeah, I know all the reasons why they do it; I still don’t like it.

    I love all the beautiful animals here at BJ. Still, TUUUUUNCH!

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