In the absence of Tunch photos…
Mr. Whipple’s Punkie is shocked to discover that he has competition in the World’s Largest Domesticated Feline Hassock trials!
******
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
White supremacy is terrorism.
If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.
Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.
Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.
“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”
Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.
Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.
You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.
Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.
“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)
Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.
I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.
Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!
The worst democrat is better than the best republican.
‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’
It’s a doggy dog world.
They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.
They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.
Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.
Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?
Fuck these fucking interesting times.
The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.
Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!
Republicans in disarray!
Yutsano
Obligatory KITTEH!!
Hard to tell if the look says absolute terror or “Why are you not rubbing my belly?”
Wile E. Quixote
That should be captioned
Bill E Pilgrim
The little-known cat python can swallow animals whole but then will often remain immobile for days afterward digesting.
Prey includes: rodents, birds, other cats, and the occasional Roomba. Not to mention the occasional chair.
freelancer
Whipple, your cat’s aspect ratio seems stuck in 4:3, I think you’re looking for anamorphic widescreen or 2.35:1
Martin
Well, look at that:
Interesting, says the liberal, atheist, sexually exclusive commenter.
Dave C
@Martin:
I am also a liberal and an atheist, but, FWIW, I have it on authority from other liberal atheist scientists that those results are, more than likely, complete bullshit.
Edit: I should add: Dave C +5
Billy K
What… the HELL is THAT?
freelancer
@Dave C:
Still fuzzy on what Sexually Exclusive is referring to, whether that is monogamy or orientation, but I’m leaning toward being faithful to who you’re with.
As a white, straight, male, atheist, I’m biased towards the CNN report, but I also am aware of the inherent biases of science journalism and public portrayal.
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1804
Comrade Kevin
Holy shit, 8.8 Earthquake in Chile.
freelancer
@Comrade Kevin:
And off the Coast of Japan.
I said, “Kiss me, you’re beautiful..
These are truly the last days“
mai naem
Two big earthquakes today. Maybe the world is coming to an end. Also too, Chile was one of the countries I was thinking of emigrating too. Also too, Portugal which had the massive floods. I am going to stop looking at countries to emigrate to.
daryljfontaine
It’s a little disturbing, don’t you think, how Tunch is wearing that smaller orange cat’s pelt like a belly shirt?
D
valdivia
@Comrade Kevin:
Best coverage at BBC. Tsunami expected to hit south america and even Hawaii. We’ll see.
Chile seems to be coping thanks to great governance and infrastructure.
Lesley
Tunch’s stomach seems to have invaded Mr. Whipple’s Punkie.
SiubhanDuinne
Jeez, I just woke up to the headlines about the 8.8 in Chile. Haven’t seen anything yet about Japan. I know Chile has much better infrastructure than Haiti, but 8.8? I’m almost afraid to turn on the TV.
geg6
Chile got enormously lucky with that humongous 8.8. Apparently, the quake occurred very deep, not shallow like Haiti’s. This is not to minimize what happened, but it is this, in addition to better governance and infrastructure, that makes this a much less deadly occurrance. That said, thoughts out to the Chileans. And a shoutout to their very lovely and cost efficient wines.
jeffreyw
Toby was confident of his chances until he peeked at the competition in the high jump.
jeffreyw
So he developed an alternate game plan.
Linda Featheringill
Good morning, guys.
Thank the FSM that I have a job – even if it is transcribing operation notes. I am ready to immerse myself in blood and guts for the rest of the morning.
BTW, snow – I don’t have official measurements but I guess we got 10-12 inches in the last couple of days.
Have a lovely day, everyone.
GReynoldsCT00
What a great snuggly kitteh! Let me share Blue
Debbie(aussie)
We have had a Tsunami warning issued for Qld coast in 10-11hours time. BIG quake.
John O
That is one big kitty!!!
*YAWN*
Up too early…earthquakes, poverty, disease, and sadness still with us. Back to sleep, I hope. Once and if the critters settle.
SiubhanDuinne
TEST. Something weird is going on here.
geg6
Why the fuck did the Senate adjourn for the weekend when people on unemployment are set to be dropped from the rolls this weekend? WTF? For once in their lives, they can’t force Bunning to keep it up and show just what kind of assholes GOPers are? Was his whining over missing a basketball game on teevee just too much for their sensibilities? This shit infuriates me! Fuck.Me. Oh well, gotta get in the shower, go shovel the six or eight inches of snow we got overnight, and hit the ATM so my buddy who provides organic relaxants can come over to provide the ingredient to stop me from raging over shit like this all the time. Must.mellow.out.
SiubhanDuinne
TEST TEST TEST
This is very strange and disorienting.
mclaren
@geg6:
That’s an easy one. The senate is nothing but millionaires — this move shows the bottom 99% of Americans that they’re scum. The senate adjourned while Americans are starving and going homeless as their unemployment benefits run out for the same reason a medieval knight ran a peasant through with a broadsword when the peasant came running out of his burning hut begging for mercy. It’s to show who’s boss.
Now here’s a better question…Anthem Blue Shield in California just slammed small businesses with rate hikes of 76%. That’s not 7.6%, that’s a 76% premium increase in one year.
Why would they do that right in the middle of a huge push to reform the U.S. health care industry?
You’d think that kind of abusive greed would just give the proponents of U.S. health care reform more ammunition, right? Then why do it? What’s the point?
So I’m thinking about this and finally it occurs to me…this is war. It’s a war of the wealthy against everyone else. The top 1% have gone to war against the bottom 99% of the population, and the thing is, they’re out to win. It’s Sherman’s March to the Sea. Slash and burn. The top 1% don’t just want a little, they want everything. They want to own America, crush everyone, destroy everything they can’t own or bribe, kill everyone they can’t enslave.
What the top 1% are doing is exactly what you’d expect in total war: they’re making an all-out attack, showing their strength. A 76% rate hike sends the message, “We own you, bitches. You can’t do a thing to stop us. Today it’s 76% premium increases, tomorrow it’ll be 760%, and it will just get worse and worse and worse. Eat it. You have no choice. We own you. You are nothing.”
Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. It’s a way of sending the message loud and clear to the bottom 99% of Americans: “You are slaves. Crawl like the insects you are, and beg us for mercy.”
geg6
mclaren: Holy shit! I just read that article. Classic bait and switch there with the HSAs. And that last line about how these are just “awesome for consumers” is off the charts. I had to go back to the masthead to be certain I wasn’t reading the Onion.
mai naem
@mclaren: They’re talking about decreasing the minimum wage. Yes, not increasing it but decreasing it. WTF? It was just barely increased in 2006 after decades and now they want to roll it back to supposedly decrease unemployment. Given the choice between taxing the wealthy and taxing “cadillac” health plans, they pick taxing health plans, the senate picks taxing health plans. Never mind that the so called cadillac health plans were the kind most people had years ago.
Linda Featheringill
To McClaren:
Right on [to use an old phrase].
Who was it that said, “It is only a class war if we fight back”?
clyons11
FIrst, of course the Senate went home because they’re millionaires. This also explains the Senate’s work on foreclosures for the middle-class, getting the unemployed back to work on our crumbling infrastructure, and especially their fine work on healthcare. Also.
Secondly, I didn’t find any of our intrepid and heroic Trusted Names In News asking why the GOP was so fucking condescending when making fun of the woman who needed to take her sister’s dentures. Perhaps the Post could hire someone for that purpose.
jeffreyw
@mclaren:
Same old, different day.
mr. whipple
Punky is insulted by this sentence, as it implies backbencher status. He’s going to leave a crunchy on your couch, and your life will never be the same.
Linda Featheringill
To GReynoldsCT00:
Blue looks very nice on my desktop.
SiubhanDuinne
TEST TEST TEST
I simply cannot believe that there have been no B-J posts in the past hour and a half. I’ve submitted a few myself (mostly test messages at this point). They show up briefly in the thread, then disappear. True of this thread as well as “Wallace not Goldwater.” Not that my own deep thoughts are so important, but it’s frustrating not to see what everyone else has to say. Some kind of glitch, I guess (FYWP?) but whether it’s system-wide or just me I couldn’t say.
SiubhanDuinne
TEST TEST TEST
I simply cannot believe that there have been no B-J posts in the past hour and a half. I’ve submitted a few myself (mostly test messages at this point). They show up briefly in the thread, then disappear. True of this thread as well as “Wallace not Goldwater.” Not that my own deep thoughts are so important, but it’s frustrating not to see what everyone else has to say. Some kind of glitch, I guess (FYWP?) but whether it’s system-wide or just me I couldn’t say.
Oh, and of course I realize this one also may not get posted. Talk about whistling in the wind.
jeffreyw
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s a well known Word Press glitch. The relevance filter conflicts with the open thread designation resulting in an instruction set moebius loop. Usually a boot will fix it, though you will need a hammer if the boot is less than size 12.
A Mom Anon
I’m about to pull my kid out of public school. I mean THIS freaking close. I can’t take it anymore,and neither can he. He’s autistic for gawd’s sake,seriously,so he somehow deserves a constant barrage of shit to the point where he’s suicidal? Really? He’s just a kid,Jesus Christ.
It’s going to be a LONG time before the Civil War is over kids. Wingnuts have passed on a toxic waste dump of intolerance and hate to their kids and it seems like any sign of compassion or empathy is something to be stomped out and seen as weakness. My son is being tormented every fucking day by people who could care less if he lives or dies. I trusted this school to help him and no one gives a shit. The only thing stopping me from homeschooling is that I cannot for the life of me fathom WTF they’ve done to math here and the kid will never pass the final GHSGT to graduate. I can teach him everything else but that. So do I ruin his future by pulling him out of school now,or do I let these assholes destroy what’s left of his spirit?
Between this,my husband losing his job and the fucking right wing assholes who have pretty much taken over anything good and crushed it all to hell and back I’m OVER it. I’m about one step away from going postal. I HATE GEORGIA,HATE it. I want to leave but can’t. I am surrounded by idiots who think Obama is leading us right into communism and who think basic health care is a privledge,who think all the world’s problems are caused by anyone who isn’t whiter than KKK sheets and who think anyone with love and concern and empathy in their souls is a weakling who needs to suffer.
I have never felt like hurting people on purpose more than I do right now.
Sorry,end of rant.
mr. whipple
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m seeing them ok.
jeffreyw
Although one of the lesser known breeds, the Turkey Herder is fast gaining in AKC popularity.
geg6
A Mom Anon: I know it doesn’t help your situation AT ALL, but it’s not just Georgia (though the ratio of rational people to insane fuckwads may be higher here), but those people are all over the place here in Blue State PA, too. Hate them, I do. Hate them.
A Mom Anon
@geg6: This culture is mentally ill from stem to stern. It’s infected damned near everything and I honestly can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel anymore. I am not one to give in to hopelessness,but damn.
The school ain’t ready for me Monday morning. I may end up in jail because I am not leaving there until something solid is in place. If they make light of this or try to BS me,I’m taking my kid home and calling an attorney.
Linda Featheringill
To AMA:
Home schooling your child is a good option. You can get a tutor for the topics you don’t feel competent in. That is what tutors are for.
Other than that, how are you doing? I know that you and your family are trying to keep the wolves away from the door. Keep trying. Moving to another location might help or it might not help at all. Idiots populate the entire earth.
But back to you. How are you doing? I have found in the past that supportive counseling during times of unemployment was very, very, very helpful. I think the counseling shortened the recovery time. They charge on a sliding scale, so maybe you could find something you could afford. Your family physician could probably recommend some agency or something.
I recommend that you do two constructive things today: 1) Look into home schooling your child and 2) Look into getting supportive counseling for yourself.
Good luck, sweetie.
Svensker
@daryljfontaine:
Win
Svensker
@A Mom Anon:
There are a lot of programs available to home schooling families online, as well as support groups, etc. I bet you can find someone else to do the math portion of his education. It’s amazing what’s out there and I’d really encourage you to check it out. I’d offer you some direct links but our homeschooling days are years behind us now and what’s available is so much more than when we did it.
So sorry you and your son are having to deal with that.
Svensker
And in other news, Dems strip provision criminalizing torture out of House Intel bill because Republicans object. After they stripped it, the Repukes still refused to vote for the bill.
Makes me proud to be an American.
SGEW
@A Mom Anon: Best wishes and thoughts for you and yours; it sounds awful (awful!), but I sincerely believe that there is always a chance for light at the end of that tunnel.
I second Svensker (re: online resources for home schooling, esp. in mathematics), as well as Linda F’s recommendation for support counseling. My dear friend was helped out tremendously by a counselor recently (on a very reasonable sliding scale) while she was going through a tough period of unemployment while caring for her newborn child.
As to dealing with Georgia, I don’t know what to say. Is emigration really out of the question? (All apologies to other southerners here, but voting with your feet seems like a reasonable thing to do, sometimes.)
A Mom Anon
@SGEW: We can’t sell our house in this market without taking a loss,so no,leaving really isn’t an option unless the market picks up. I’d love to go almost anywhere north and/or west of here,but until things improve in this country overall,I don’t see it happening. Unless a company is willing to hire the husband,buy our house and pay moving expenses,HAHAHAHA,oh I laugh.
I’ll look around the interwebs for homeschooling stuff and the state laws related. Last time I checked,there wasn’t much beyond Christain based groups and materials. Which is another issue,the cost of decent textbooks and materials. I have to hold on to every penny until hubby finds a job. As it is right now,what’s left of our savings will get us through til summer,after that,I have no clue what to do. But really,I’m more worried about my son who thinks his life is worthless and that he’s a big stupid loser/freak/faggot/whatever other crappy stuff the kids at school have pounded into his head. And our health insurance is expired and the former employer hasn’t sent us any COBRA info(I think we qualify for a subsidy of 65%,which still ain’t cheap).
Linda Featheringill
To AMA:
Keep us informed on how you are doing. Even if you are off topic. I will be watching for your updates.
Okay?
eastriver
That thar is a carpet cow.
SGEW
@A Mom Anon:
Ah. That really is a damned shame; one of those unrecognized underlying tragedies of the current housing market fubar that nobody in the economics departments seems to understand (at least, not on a personal, visceral level). It’s a bad situation, all right.
Home-schooling materials: A former partner of mine was home-schooled, and told me that the so-called “Christian” materials are not so bad when it comes to mathematics (the biology and “social studies” books, not so much). It may be worth your time to look into that, and take what advantage you can from them.
As to the “loser/freak/faggot/whatever” stuff, let me offer what personal assurances I can (as someone who was definitely labeled the “other” throughout my primary public school education, mostly due to issues of sexuality and ethnicity, and as someone whose very close friend throughout high school (and to this day) is developmentally challenged) that it’s a hard, hard road indeed; but we come through it in the end. And wind up better for it, in some respects. As long as we have people who love us, and respect us, and remind us that those people are wrong, we can find a way to hold our own.
robertdsc
@daryljfontaine:
LOL.
JenJen
Steve Benen has an excellent piece up about the latest in Sen. Shelby’s hacktastic obstructionism; in response to CNN’s Dana Bash asking “Do you think the nominees you have holds on are qualified?” Shelby answers, “Oh, I have no idea.”
I’m not a fan of demagoguery, but this is one of those cases where if the Democrats don’t demagogue the shit out of this, they’re committing political malpractice.
Jules
A Mom Anon, I think it is better for our kids to be mentally whole and healthy and happy as we can help them to be when they become adults then worry if you can teach them “everything” they need to know.
Do what you can, get a tutor for the rest.
Find a nice support group that takes people no matter what their faiths or lack there of (might hard in Georgia if you are in a small town) and tell institutional schooling to fuck off.
I always liked using Oak Meadow materials when we home schooled. Secular and a bit montessori-ish (nice and gentle) for the younger kids and really well done after about grade 4 or 5.
WereBear
@A Mom Anon: I’m so sorry to hear, and glad that you have already gotten such good advice from people with homeschooling experience.
I have to agree with the posters who feel that the mental abuse is not worth any math advantage that may come of it; removing mental torment rates very high with me.
As a straight intelligent person who went to a small town high school in the south, I can attest that you don’t have to have anything out of the ordinary about you to become a target of bullying. In fact, tell your son from me that ENVY is just as much of a justification for bullying as perceived inadequacies are.
A lot of the people in high school look ahead, as much as they can, and see only a future as crushing and smothering as their own parents had. They are lording it over people while they can, because they know they will become the lordees in their turn; and for far longer.
To me, if your son wants to be homeschooled rather than run a gauntlet five days a week, that’s a good enough reason to do it. He can then concentrate on his talents, get help when and where he needs it, and live in an atmosphere where he is treasured and understood.
Which is probably something his tormenters never had, and never will.
licensed to kill time
@SiubhanDuinne:
BJ has been acting weird for me since yesterday. I had a comment just vanish (no big loss, folks) and two “database not found ” errors, and then suddenly all the html tabs on top of the comment box disappeared. I logged on today hopeful that they would be there but sadly, no. Which means I can’t blockquote, bold, link etc.
The neat little text formatting toolbar I used during the last WP fail no longer is compatible w/FF 3.6, it tells me. I opened Opera to see if the html tag buttons were operable (haha) through that browser and they are, so I guess if I have anything earthshattering to say I’ll have to use Opera instead of Firefox.
Anyone else having similar problems?
Skepticat
Just got the power back after about thirty-six hours, the cellar has water (putting a crimp in the Realtor’s plan to show the house this afternoon), we’re due for more rain/snow, the yard looks as though there was an explosion in a limb-branch-and-pinecone store, chemo kitty is constipated, sale of another property fell through, and carpenter ants toppled my mailbox. Apart from that things are great here.
fbjakes
@A Mom Anon,
We homeschooled two girls in GA from 3rd grade to completion, and it wasn’t hard at all. The laws are very liberal: basically keeping attendance and sending in a monthly “days/hours of schooling” report to the Superintendent of Schools office. Materials are available on CD at all expense levels (and a bargain on eBay for used copies), and if you can find a teacher’s supply store nearby (where are you? in Savannah here – a true educational backwater), you can get a workbook that covers each year’s curriculum requirements to use as a base for schooling (and it’s a very low base…). Our local HS groups weren’t too helpful (mostly very religious), but lots of web help out there. And it was fun! and both were accepted at very good schools, partly because they were homeschooled!
kid bitzer
i’ve been listening to that song for ages, and didn’t know there was a video.
awesome song; warnes, vaughn and cohen each at their best.
(to be honest, i’m not sure if i like anything else that warnes has done).
Genine
I don’t know what to say to help, A Mom Anon. But it seems like a number of people have good suggestions and advice.
I do feel for you, though. I am sending positive energy your way.
Mnemosyne
@A Mom Anon:
There are quite a few secular/liberal homeschoolers and I think you’ll feel a lot less crazy once you find them. They produce their own materials that are, you know, scientifically accurate and stuff. Just a couple of links that popped up in Google:
Here’s an Amazon.com list of recommended books
Here’s a list of links for liberal homeschoolers
Odd as it may sound, you might want to see if you have a UU (Unitarian Universalist) church anywhere nearby — apparently there’s been a homeschooling movement with a lot of UU members and you might be able to get in touch with families in your community who are liberal homeschoolers.
Tutoring in the subjects you’re not comfortable with is a great idea — if you have a college or university anywhere close to you, they could help you get in touch with a math major or graduate student who can help and it shouldn’t be uber-expensive.
Morbo
@Anne Laurie: You once again play right into my hand. Goth version here.
Tax Analyst
I think that cat needs to get some bigger back tires. The ones it has don’t look big enough to carry or stabilize the load properly.
asiangrrlMN
@A Mom Anon: I have a friend who home-schooled her two older kids, and she did not do it for Christian reasons at all. She did it because she wanted her kids to love learning, and she wasn’t seeing it in the schools around her. I can ask her for some advice if you would like. She home-schooled them through high school.
I would agree with the others who say to pull him out if the school is unwilling to work with you in order to help him. I was constantly bullied throughout school (elementary through high school), and it was hell on me emotionally. The difficulty is that those of us who are different in whatever ways and simply cannot fit in are oftentimes beaten (figuratively into submission). Those of us who survive with our sense of self intact usually go on to be quite interesting people–in our thirties. However, the problem is reaching that point.
I am very sorry that you have to deal with this on top of the other shit in your life. I really hope your son’s school comes through for you.
P.S. KITTEH! He is teh cuteness personified.
P.P.S. jeffreyw, I don’t think either Toby or Bea would win in a fattest cat contest.
Phyllis
@A Mom Anon: I see on the web that Georgia has at least two online public charter schools. The downside to that may be that their enrollment for the school year has closed (don’t know that for a fact, but it is the case for the online charter schools here in your buckle of the Bible belt neighbor in SC).
You need to find out what your district’s (and the state) policy is regarding dealing with bullying. Then hold their feet to the fire to make them enforce their policy. Are your district’s board policies online? Most districts have them available this way nowadays.
Putting a stop to bullying is hard, it requires every teacher and administrator working in concert sending the message that it won’t be allowed. Unfortunately, that’s not the case all too often.
Tax Analyst
@SGEW:
Nice advice. It’s hard to think back sometimes, but I remember how depressed I used to feel back when I was an awkward teen-ager – and I didn’t have any additional stigmas piled on top of me.
With time you learn to roll with the punches and accept yourself. I’m still plenty awkward in certain ways, but I guess you could say I’ve embraced my awkwardness.
Dawk!