Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

All hail the time of the bunny!

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

Books are my comfort food!

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Pet Rescue NCAA Hoops Open Thread

Pet Rescue NCAA Hoops Open Thread

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If you’ve been intending to go buy swag from the Balloon Juice store (link here, or click the Tunch icon to the right), now would be a great time to do it. There is a month-end, tiered bonus based on total sales that can really add up once we hit a certain level. Charlie’s Angels will be receiving their first check in a few weeks. From store launch on Feb. 13 through the 28, over $800 was raised. That money will be used to rescue animals like this sweet German Shepherd:

Brook was wandering stray with wounds on her paws, having been hit and rolled by a car. Animal Control reached her owner who told them to put her down since he could not afford the vet bills. They talked him into allowing Charlie’s Angels to pull her from the kill shelter. Evelyn Bridges took her to the vet and after x-rays, vaccinations and an overnight stay, the bills totaled $246. Brook is hoping to join a family with a male Shepherd in need of a nice lady friend.

This week alone, Charlie’s Angels has paid $240 to have four dogs spay/neutered and heartworm tested (that’s a typical week); $200 for kenneling due to lack of foster homes (at a greatly discounted price); and $315 in vaccinations, also offered at a large discount. Since the first of January, Charlie’s Angels has pulled 111 dogs, 12 cats and two bunnies from the Transylvania County Shelter. You can see how poor and inadequate the conditions are in the lower photo.

All Balloon Juice Cafe Press profits go to the rescuing of shelter animals. Every dollar helps!

In other news- GO MOUNTAINEERS!

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  2. 2.

    Tiparillo

    Go Gaels – as an SCU Bronco that hurts to say but gotta pimp the WCC.

    Oh wait, they play tomorrow…..

  3. 3.

    Warren Terra

    I realize this has nothing to do with dogs or with sports, but as this is an open thread, I really think there should be some discussion of, or a post on, David Frum’s firing from the AEI for refusing to Clap Louder, and especially of Bruce Bartlett’s revelation:

    Since, he is no longer affiliated with AEI, I feel free to say publicly something he told me in private a few months ago. He asked if I had noticed any comments by AEI “scholars” on the subject of health care reform. I said no and he said that was because they had been ordered not to speak to the media because they agreed with too much of what Obama was trying to do.

    Speaks volumes.

  4. 4.

    gogol's wife

    Great dog. The Balloon Juice products are beautiful and high-quality. I highly recommend them. (I hope to get some more Tunch-related items soon.)

  6. 6.

    4jkb4ia

    The way this is going, albeit very early, West Virginia may be the only Big East team left!

    (Another Syracuse turnover)

  7. 7.

    Maude

    I can’t handle sad animal stories. My parakeet died when I was a kid and I sobbed for two weeks.

  11. 11.

    stuckinred

    I have 2 rescues. Bohdi is a 5 years old husky samoyed that looks like your Lilly and Lil Bit is a Cocker of unknown age. She was dumped in a box at out vet who called us to check her out. She’s had bladder stone surgery, cataract surgery on both eyes, is anemic and she is incredibly sweet!

  12. 12.

    Steeplejack

    Ah, a propitious open thread. I was wondering where to comment. I have a rare evening at home, was checking the TV listings and saw that we have a Balloon Juice double-header tonight: first Cole’s Mountaineers in action–just starting now–and then Gen. Stuck’s Wildcats immediately after. Good luck, gentlemen.

    In other news, I am playing with my new toy: an Iomega eSATA drive that has increased the capacity of my DVR about 8x. I went from 100 percent full to 13 percent full after installation. Too bad it didn’t arrive in time for the Kurosawa marathon yesterday. But now I can fulfill my lifelong dream of recording every episode of Highlander with Adrian Paul (now showing at 1:00 a.m. weeknights on SyFy).

  14. 14.

    Warren Terra

    @John Cole:
    They have to prove they’re sufficiently venal. I’m not entirely comfortable respecting Frum – he apparently is still a firm believer in Dubya’s foreign policy, I have no idea of his views on Habeas or torture (but given his foreign policy views I have some dark suspicions), and he did some really scuzzy things in the early 00s. And in any case, I’m a pretty hardcore liberal. But I think it’s vitally important that the Conservatives have sane, reasonable, respectable people contributing to the dialog – and for the last few years, Frum has been about the only person claiming to be a Republican who seemed to be trying to fit the bill (Bartlett no longer considers himself a Republican).

    Of course, all that evidence of sanity is automatically disqualifying from Fred Hiatt’s playroom.

  15. 15.

    Violet

    I’m trying to make myself go to the gym and failing miserably at getting my rear end out of the chair. I’ve been failing at this attempt for three days. Not quite sure what the problem is, as I’m usually very big on exercising regularly.

    Instead of going to the gym, I’ve just demolished what was left of the Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies in my pantry.

    Help!

  17. 17.

    Admiral_Komack

    Sanford Humiliated At Hometown Hibernian Event

    By FITSNews || S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford was humiliated at an annual St. Patrick’s Day banquet sponsored by The Hibernian Society of Charleston, multiple sources are confirming to FITS.

    The event, which featured prominent Democratic strategist James Carville as its keynote speaker, was held last week at the historic Hibernian Hall in Charleston, S.C. After Sanford was introduced – and as he was preparing to give a few brief remarks – someone cued up the song “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,” which began blaring through the loudspeakers.

    One of our sources described what happened next:

    Sanford got red in the face and refused to make a few remarks. The crowd, lubricated with Scotch, whistled, cheered, jeered, and laughed their asses off.

    http://www.fitsnews.com/2010/03/25/sanford-humiliated-at-hometown-hibernian-event/

  20. 20.

    LuciaMia

    Ah, poor Brook, I hope he’s not panting from fear or pain. My first thought was he reminded me of one of my old dogs, Burt. He had a tongue that could reach from here to next Tuesday.

  22. 22.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    Wouldn’t it be cool if West Virginia and Kentucky played each other. It would be kinda like The Stillers v. Browns but reversed, sort of.

    GO CATS!!

  25. 25.

    Admiral_Komack

    @Violet

    “I’m trying to make myself go to the gym and failing miserably at getting my rear end out of the chair. I’ve been failing at this attempt for three days. Not quite sure what the problem is, as I’m usually very big on exercising regularly.”

    “Instead of going to the gym, I’ve just demolished what was left of the Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies in my pantry.”

    “Help!”

    -Maybe you needed the break.
    Don’t be too hard on yourself.
    Go to the gym tommorrow and have a good workout. :-)

  27. 27.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    This week alone, Charlie’s Angels has paid $240 to have four dogs spay/neutered and heartworm tested (that’s a typical week); $200 for kenneling due to lack of foster homes (at a greatly discounted price); and $315 in vaccinations, also offered at a large discount. Since the first of January, Charlie’s Angels has pulled 111 dogs, 12 cats and two bunnies from the Transylvania County Shelter. You can see how poor and inadequate the conditions are in the lower photo.

    God’s work, if you believe in such things, and otherwise really really good job. Bravo Charlies Angels. Charlie gives a paws up.

  28. 28.

    R-Jud

    @Violet:

    I’m trying to make myself go to the gym and failing miserably at getting my rear end out of the chair. I’ve been failing at this attempt for three days. Not quite sure what the problem is, as I’m usually very big on exercising regularly.

    This happened to me yesterday. I ate a small pizza and went to bed at 7 pm. Turns out I just needed the rest.

    Get all your gear together tonight and leave it by the door so it’s there for tomorrow.

  29. 29.

    Violet

    @Admiral_Komack:
    Hee. That’s funny. Poor guy. What’s he going to do with his life now?

    @Omnes Omnibus: @stuckinred:
    I doubt there will be an Girl Scout cookies for sale there, but you never know. Studkinred, that’s what usually happens to me too, but for some reason right now I just don’t want to do much of anything. Post HCR letdown, I’ve decided.

  30. 30.

    JGabriel

    @Violet:

    I’m trying to make myself go to the gym and failing miserably …

    I sympathize. But then, my personal philosophy regarding workouts and gyms is: No pain, no pain.

    .

  36. 36.

    Violet

    @Admiral_Komack:

    Go to the gym tommorrow and have a good workout. :-)

    That’s what I told myself I was going to do today, and then….

    Honestly, I’m just tired I think. We’ve got a lot going on and the HCR thing really got me wound up. I seriously think I’ve been in post-HCR letdown all week. After the bill got signed on Tuesday I finally let down my guard. And now the Senate has done their thing. I don’t think I realized how much I had invested in the whole thing. It was a Big Fucking Deal.

    Honestly, I think I’m going to go ahead and go. Maybe I’ll just do a quick 30 minutes on the bike or treadmill, but it’s better than sitting here and hunting down another box of Girl Scout cookies.

    Thanks everyone!

  40. 40.

    RedKitten

    @Admiral_Komack:

    “I’m trying to make myself go to the gym and failing miserably at getting my rear end out of the chair. I’ve been failing at this attempt for three days. Not quite sure what the problem is, as I’m usually very big on exercising regularly.”

    Oh, I hear you, honey. I have got to get my ass in gear and get rid of the baby weight. What I would do sometimes is go to the gym and just tell myself “I only have to stay for 15 minutes.” 90% of the time, I’d wind up doing a full workout. The other 10% of the time, those 15 minutes felt like forever, and I knew that it just wasn’t happening that day.

    I imagine I’ll be losing some weight soon chasing SamKitten around, now that he’s mastered the commando crawl. The kid is FAST.

  42. 42.

    Dollared

    The Huskies/Hokies thing is loosening up. But gotta like the Hokies, with Pondexter in foul trouble.

  43. 43.

    freelancer

    @Violet:

    Tell me about it. I need to get back on the damned Bike. I just sent my check in for this year’s RAGBRAI ([Des Moines] Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). This year, I’m hoping to do all 7 days, 442 miles.

    I got 120 days to get in enough shape. I’m no slouch, but you need to be in top shape.

  44. 44.

    Mystical Chick

    Thanks for the reminder of how much good y’all are doing for the shelter – it motivated me to *finally* get a Tunchinator mug of the DIAF variety. :)

    It makes my heart happy to see the pets being cared for so lovingly.

    Well done.

  45. 45.

    gregw

    billmon’s last paragraph must be included here somehow

    You know, for the disinformation professional who wrote Cantor’s statement, it must be tough to craft such a masterpiece of the art, only to realize you’ve thrown your very best pearls down before a pack of journalistic swine.

    He was my first go to blogger back in the day and got me hooked on this stuff.

    Anyone missed the link downstream his greatness is at

    Wish he would come back to his place. I still have it bookmarked after these many months of no activity.

  49. 49.

    Mark S.

    I thought they really liked me! Reason finds out what conservatives really think of them:

    Libertarians like him might hold any number of outlandish, anti-conservative views — not just open borders but legalizing prostitution, for instance, or privatizing the Air Force — but so long as they keep those views to themselves, they can be useful allies for actual conservatives.

    Oooh, that pissed them off so much that the next post was about how Social Security is a scam and the only way to save it is to privatize it.

  50. 50.

    FormerSwingVoter

    That pic of the German Shepherd inspired me to look up some KISS videos on YouTube. What can I say? She reminded me of Gene Simmons.

  51. 51.

    Jessican

    Okay, long time lurker, first time order…er. I placed my order for my Lily mug and water bottle. This is not only most balanced political site on the web, but one that puts it’s money and effort where it’s mouth is. Balloon Juice has the best comment section on the web. As a well traveled lurker, i really mean that. You all are intelligent, good mannered, hilarious, and do a fairly good job of dealing with trolls.

    Seriously though, I wanted to stop by and thank Balloon Juice and it’s commenters for what you guys did in organizing phone calls for health care. You guys were on top of things and so reasonable (um, I guess that = not crazy). It’s hard to find communities on the internet that care about shit, but that don’t go crazy over shit. So thanks, Balloon Juice, for all that shit…..shit.

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    @AhabTRuler:

    Do tell–not about the RAID, about the ripping to lossless.

    This is a blind spot for me. I am a major audio hound, but I have never taken the time to really research this aspect of things. So I get by with ripping my CDs to the hard disk (WAV and MP3) with an ancient version of CDex&#042, then burn mix CDs with Roxio or copy MP3 files to my phone’s microSD card as needed.

    So clue me in on the whole lossless thing.

    Oh, and I use Windows Media Player to play music on my computer, but I hatey-hate-mc-hate Media Player. Alternative?

    &#042 “Ancient version of CDex” may be probably redundant.

  54. 54.

    rh

    Billmon is easily the best, most incisive left-leaning polemicist of the last ten years, in any media. I can’t understand how TNR/The Nation/American Prospect or some other publication never made him an offer he couldn’t refuse and snapped him up.

  56. 56.

    Violet

    @freelancer:
    Ooooh! RAGBRAI! A friend of mine does that every year with his brother. It’s tough if you do the whole thing, but they say it’s really wonderful – all the small towns and home made baked goods and all. Go on! Get on the bike!

    Thanks to everyone for the pep talk – I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. Not a lot, but better than sitting on my rear end. I’m sure I’ll sleep better tonight for it.

  57. 57.

    gregw

    @rh:

    1 a : an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another b : the art or practice of disputation or controversy —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

    I had to look that up to be sure what you meant. Right on use of the word, especially the second def.

    I mean the def of polemicist.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    @stuckinred:

    I also hatey-hate-mc-hate iTunes, but, in all fairness, that is based on the version from about three-five years ago. I do software development, try to keep my computer “clean,” and iTunes stuck its tendrils everywhere. And it was only marginally more user-friendly than Media Player. A pox on both their houses. I keep thinking I should (re)investigate WinAmp, but I never get around to it. Which is why I need some big swinging audio dick to lay it all out for me.

  60. 60.

    Genine

    You all are intelligent, good mannered, hilarious, and do a fairly good job of dealing with trolls.

    I’ve been around a few years now and I would agree with all except….

    “good-mannered”? is there some alternative Balloon Juice that I am not aware of? ;-)

    Seriously, for all the crazy people here, this is one of the most sane places in the blogsphere. I also loved the calling/mobilizing effort to make a difference.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack

    @stuckinred:

    Hey, if you got the knowledge, you got the knowledge. Make your case for iTunes. I have a PC rather than a Mac, don’t own an iPhone, and I have an LG duh-phone (which I like a lot, and it has an 8GB microSD card for mah tunez), so iTunes would be a software-only play for me. In other words, no bonus points because it connects to a bunch of gizmos I don’t have.

    And, on the rare occasions when I buy music files, I do it from Amazon.

  63. 63.

    Genine

    @Violet:

    I’ve been there, Violet. But don’t beat yourself up, you’ll only make yourself feel worse. Then you’ll eat more cookies.

    I want to go to the gym, but I can’t- doctor’s orders. But that’s change in a few months.

  64. 64.

    stuckinred

    @Steeplejack: I only have an iPod but I work on both platforms and find that iTunes does it for me. I have about 10,000 songs and don’t do whole lot with playlists and such. I wasn’t thrilled when they disabled the ability to burn mp3’s in favor of acc but it hasn’t ruined my life. I also work in iTunesU so I’m sorta biased.

  66. 66.

    Anne Laurie

    @freelancer: LOL, but the fReichtards should be bustin’ Boehner’s windows — he’s the one who promised, and failed, to protect them from the horrors of access to medical care!

  67. 67.

    AhabTRuler

    @Steeplejack: Well, theoretically (and I haven’t researched the meat and potatoes of the various formats that use the .mp4 shell) any lossless compression format is going to give you a full digital copy w/o taking up quite as much space us an uncompressed file. Functionally (for the end-user, that is), it is the same as a .WAV while being a little smaller.

    On the system I have set up now, I literally cannot hear the difference between the .AAC, the Apple Lossless, and the .WAV, although that may well be my ears. Nonetheless, I like to have as pure a copy as is possible, cause it always easier to cut a board than to stretch it, if you catch my drift.

    I use iTunes, mostly because I have an iPod. I’m still on my first, a 60GB that is the first video model. I’m keeping the .AAC copies for it on one computer, while creating a master library of the larger files on the server for later use.

  68. 68.

    Betsy

    OT whining:
    I found out today I didn’t get a postdoc that I was a finalist for, and that I had been told by an inside source I was likely to get. I’d stupidly gotten excited about it, and now I feel like shit. UGH I HATE THIS FUCKING JOB MARKET.

    Ok, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. On the bright side, yay HCR passing! And cheers to the continued self-destruction of the Republican party. I don’t really expect it, but as a historian I’m excited at the possibility of living to see the first significant change in the party system in more than a century and a half.

  72. 72.

    Ash Can

    @RedKitten: Girl, just you wait till he starts walking. If he’s anything like my Bottle Rocket, he’ll be walking for about 20 minutes, then he’ll think, “Fuck this slow shit,” and he’ll start running. And he won’t slow down to take a breath till he’s 8.

    @Jessican:

    It’s hard to find communities on the internet that care about shit, but that don’t go crazy over shit. So thanks, Balloon Juice, for all that shit…..shit.

    Methinks you fit in just fine here. Heck, toss in an f-bomb or two, and you’ll sound like a front-pager. :)

  75. 75.

    gregw

    @stuckinred: As an Oregon Duck fan I hate to root for the Dawgs but I gotta love the Pac 10 doing so well with only two teams left, out of two teams in. heh.

  81. 81.

    Montysano

    Fuck…… I just spent wasted the last two hours listening to MSNBC blather about wingnut assholes, when I could have been watching Butler dealing with Syracuse? I’m a Hoosier and a roundball player, and spent several happy afternoons at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Fuckity fuck…

    Bulldogs!

  84. 84.

    KDP

    I’ve been putting it off, but have finally purchased my Balloon-Juice swag. I will enjoy consuming my morning caffeine fix in my new Pet Overlord mug, and carrying my textbooks up to school in my Pet Overlord tote bag.

  86. 86.

    Morbo

    Congrats to WVU for being the last of the almighty unstoppable invincible Big East teams still in the tournament.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack

    @AhabTRuler:

    So which is your preferred (lossless) format? ACC?

    Nonetheless, I like to have as pure a copy as is possible, ’cause it always easier to cut a board than to stretch it, if you catch my drift.

    Drift caught.

    I’m keeping the AAC copies for it on one computer, while creating a master library of the larger files on the server for later use.

    “Larger files.” Are those WAV files? Or Apple lossless? Or wha’?

  89. 89.

    KDP

    @Jessican: I feel the same way about this community. Stumbled here from Sully’s place during the primary season because I liked the name and I’ve been reading and occasionally commenting ever since.

    @Violet: I feel you. I’ve been feeling tired and dragged out (partly due to hormonal shifts), and letting that be an excuse to not make it to the gym. Good intentions falling prey to inertia. I forced myself to go on Tuesday evening. Started to do just 20 on the elliptical and some circuit reps. Ended up staying for the Tuesday Cardio Abs workout, and I’ve felt great for the last two days.

    Tomorrow, I will get myself down there again. When I worked in an office, I carried my workout clothes with me me and stopped in on my way home. Now that I work from home, I find it helps if I wear my workout clothes during the day as that way I have no excuse to not go. I like RedKitten’s strategy, just get there and commit to 15 minutes.

  92. 92.

    AhabTRuler

    @Steeplejack: Apple Lossless, or I should say “Apple Lossless”. The file ends up (very) roughly 60-80% of the size of the .WAV file. Again, I prefer that only cause I am wedded to apple formats. I don’t particularly love Big Fruit or iTunes as a program, but I do like my iPod very much.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    @AhabTRuler:

    Thanks for clarifying all that. Think I need to look for a “neutral” program that will do non-Apple lossless (ACC?). Not opposed to Apple, but I think my duh-phone will play only MP3 and maybe a few other “open” formats. Although I guess I could store them on the computer in the Apple format and copy to MP3 as needed for the relatively low-quality phone output. Hmm, just blue-skyin’ here . . .

    In an unrelated note, I will say that I have had most of a bottle of champagne over this long evening, and I will restate that in a perfect world I would drink champagne every day. That is all.

  97. 97.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    D’oh! The newly steroid-enhanced DVR is suddenly recording two things at once, so I got bumped off the B-ball game. Damn it.

  98. 98.

    Paul in KY

    UK vs UWV at 7 PM Saturday. Buwhahahahaa, gonna get us some Huggy Bear. We beat WVU with Gillespie, so John we’re coming for ya.

    As the general said, this will be like Stillers & Browns (only we’ll be the Stillers this time).

    Go Cats!

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