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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

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I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

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

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

All hail the time of the bunny!

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Nothing worth doing is easy.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

The words do not have to be perfect.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  April 30, 20107:32 pm| 98 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Pens hockey tonight.

BTW- a quick update on the bird feeder obsession. I’m now up to four feeders- one in front and three in the back, and I have quite a chirpy posse these days. My latest addition was one like this that I filled with sunflower seeds, and the cardinals are all over it.

And the craziest thing is my favorite birds to watch are actually the ones who don’t care about the feeders- the robins. I like how they just sort of hop around doing their thing then WHAMMO- out of nowhere a worm gets it. They don’t even see it coming. I saw a robin eat a worm so big this morning it could have been a snake.

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Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    Antonius

    April 30, 2010 at 7:36 pm

    So, I have this psychotic Robin that keeps slamming himself into the glass doors and windows facing the deck. He’s not making a mistake, he’s deliberately attacking the glass, over and over again, hanging out on the deck rail between bouts. Any ideas to get him to move on?

    Thanks,
    Antonius

  2. 2.

    JenJen

    April 30, 2010 at 7:37 pm

    Go Habs Go!!

    Sorry, Cole, for some reason I don’t even remember anymore, they were my first real hockey team love.

    So bring it, Cindy Crosby and the gang!! :-)

  3. 3.

    Mike Kay

    April 30, 2010 at 7:37 pm

    sounds like a Predator-Drone strike.

  4. 4.

    SIA

    April 30, 2010 at 7:38 pm

    Fantastic! Nothing better than watching birds enjoy your yard. I’m on the porch watching papa and mama go in and put of a birdhouse trying to keep some babies fed while another bird is splashing on the bird bath.

    When you get tired of the squirrels hogging the food use some sadflower seed.

    Good times.

    /retired partier

  5. 5.

    SIA

    April 30, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    Fantastic! Nothing better than watching birds enjoy your yard. I’m on the porch watching papa and mama go in and put of a birdhouse trying to keep some babies fed while another bird is splashing in the bird bath.

    When you get tired of the squirrels hogging the food use some safflower seed.

    Good times.

    /retired partier

  6. 6.

    sukabi

    April 30, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    you’re so flush with birds that by next week you’ll be cussing all the bird shit that’s covering the feeders, and the weeds that are sprouting in your yard from the spilled seed.

    LOL!!!

  7. 7.

    Jade Jordan

    April 30, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    John, beware the cycle of life. Next spring the birds will build nests in your trees and shrubs, have babies, and your husband won’t let you use the front door because you might upset the babies. Oh wait, that’s my life.

    The chirping of the always hungry babies will drive Tunch and Lily crazy.

  8. 8.

    Violet

    April 30, 2010 at 7:42 pm

    @Antonius:
    Get a fake owl and put it near the window. Or you could try to put something that moves in that area, like a fan or streamers. Something that makes it unattractive to birds.

    Excellent news in the bird feeders. Watching birds is really fun. Wait until you see a “new” bird, one you haven’t seen in your yard before. Very exciting times! Don’t wait to get a bird book, because when that happens you’ll want one.

  9. 9.

    Keith G

    April 30, 2010 at 7:42 pm

    …then WHAMMO- out of nowhere a worm gets it.

    What a riot. You complete me, well almost.

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    April 30, 2010 at 7:44 pm

    John Cole:

    I like how they just sort of hop around doing their thing then WHAMMO- out of nowhere a worm gets it. They don’t even see it coming. I saw a robin eat a worm so big this morning it could have been a snake.

    And it would eat you too if it could get to the size of its Tyrannosaur ancestors. Those robins may look cute, hoppety-hopping all over the place, but they think of nothing but murder all the day long.

    .

  11. 11.

    Hugh

    April 30, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    I don’t think worms see anything coming. Stupid worms.

  12. 12.

    MikeJ

    April 30, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    @sukabi: Onanistic birds?

  13. 13.

    JGabriel

    April 30, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    @Antonius:

    Any ideas to get him to move on?

    Cat?

    .

  14. 14.

    SIA

    April 30, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    @ all sorry for double post. Apparently can’t edit or delete from blackberry!

    Plus no such seed as “sadflower”. Fortunately.

  15. 15.

    soonergrunt

    April 30, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    Anyone who liked the old Mechwarrior franchise, there is great news:
    Download the original Mechwarrior 4, plus the addon campaigns and mech packs for free, fully patched and 100% compatible with Win7.
    Also, Smith and Tinker, a new company founded by FASA founders, has acquired the IP rights to the franchise is creating a reboot. The trailer is out.
    YAY GIANT ROBOT GAMES!
    soonergrunt +2

  16. 16.

    LuciaMia

    April 30, 2010 at 7:48 pm

    Re: robins. I love how they scuttle along, then suddenly stop and cock their heads like they’re listening. As a kid was told that they really can pick up the sounds of the worms underneath.

  17. 17.

    HumboldtBlue

    April 30, 2010 at 7:51 pm

    If it aint the Flyers it aint worth watching, although San Jose is a close second and then only because their radio play-by-play guy, Dan Whateverhisnameis is pretty damned awesome for a nasally-voiced hockey geek.

  18. 18.

    Martin

    April 30, 2010 at 7:52 pm

    In 2 years, Cole will be in here bitching about the need for bird seed entitlement reform.

  19. 19.

    JK

    April 30, 2010 at 7:53 pm

    Yin Yang in public affairs programming over the next few days.

    On the yin side, tonight PBS airs the final broadcasts of Bill Moyers Journal and Now. Another great news program, WorldFocus, aired its final broadcast earlier this month. It’s an incredible bummer to see PBS ending the broadcasts of 3 of its best news and public affairs programs. The loss of these 3 programs is made more aggravating by the fact that the cable news channels piss away millions of times greater sums of money than PBS producing bullshit infotainment masquerading as news.

    On the yang side, at the opposite end of the spectrum, tv offers up 3 super-sized, heaping servings of pure, unadulterated bullshit on Saturday and Sunday.

    1. The Cheap Babylonian Whores/Confederacy of Dunces Dinner, the Woodstock for Washington’s Wanker Class, also known as the White House Correspondents Association Dinner airs tomorrow night. A moronic exercise in narcissism by a bunch of preening, prissy, overpaid, underworked, airheaded lemmings who don’t know their asses from their elbows and couldn’t perform a serious act of journalism if their fucking lives depended upon it. It’s only fitting that smarmy, phony “Mr. Nice Guy” Jay Leno is the headline comedian at this year’s proceedings.

    2. MSNBC adds insult to injury with a special Sunday edition of its putrid, steaming mound of excrement known as Morning Joe to regurgitate the highlights of the WHCA Dinner.

    3. C-SPAN2 gives a big, fat, wet, sloppy, French kiss to Confederate History Month on Sunday from 12:00pm – 3:00pm with a live interview and call-in program featuring Pat Buchanan.

    RIP Bill Moyers Journal , Now, and WorldFocus. Also RIP to Benjamin Hooks, Dorothy Height, Wilma Mankiller, Ed Roberts, Evelyn Cunningham, Dede Allen, Dixie Carter, Malcolm McLaren, and Mike Cuellar.

  20. 20.

    Sentient Puddle

    April 30, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    Donated blood at work today. I get home, and it’s at about the four hour mark they recommend me keeping my bandage on, so what the hell, I’ll take it off. Blood begins squirting out of my arm.

    That was an experience.

  21. 21.

    robertdsc

    April 30, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    Cindy Crosby

    Can’t call him that anymore. He’s got a Cup and a gold medal to his name. I hate his guts but I won’t call him Cindy.

  22. 22.

    South of I-10

    April 30, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    The catfish farm we went to on the Kindergarten field trip today is very close to a rookery. As I was fishing a pair of Roseate Spoonbills flew over, they were gorgeous. Y’all will be happy to know that I caught two catfish and hooked a big one, but my line broke. I think the Dads on the trip were jealous of my mad fishing skills.

  23. 23.

    LuciaMia

    April 30, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    This was my big laugh for tonight, Headline over at Free Republic,

    “In a major development in the campaign to defeat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his campaign for re-election, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher – best known as “Joe The Plumber” has endorsed conservative Republican, Sharron Angle, in her campaign for U.S. Senate to Defeat Harry Reid.”

    Yes, ‘major!’ I’m sure a tremor went thru DC when this pronouncement was made.

    Just how the hell is Wurzelbacher spending his time these days, besides sounding less coherent than Palin?

  24. 24.

    khead

    April 30, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    And the craziest thing is my favorite birds to watch are actually the ones who don’t care about the feeders- the robins.

    Dad loves the crows/ravens. They are smart and will eat anything you put out once they start coming around.

    I watched one drag a steak off the lawn the last time I was home.

  25. 25.

    Nicole

    April 30, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    Just wait until the hawks discover the marvelous smorgasbord you’re serving up for them in your yard. Awesssommmme….

  26. 26.

    WereBear

    April 30, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    I’ve discovered that when I’m commenting from my iTouch, I “click” on the dateline of a post, and then the edit button appears. Likewise, the reply button.

    Go figure.

  27. 27.

    Elisabeth

    April 30, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    @JK:

    Sorry, but the president was a riot last year at the White House Correspondents shindig. His joke about John Boehner being a person of color still makes me guffaw. (The whole thing, though, is stupid as an institution.)

  28. 28.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    April 30, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    It is almost May here and cold as ice. Windy too. Temps will get down to near 20 fucking degrees. Glad I put off planting the mators.

    In other news.

    And if you feel any shortage of wingnuttery in the airs today, this should perk you up, as the godbotherers take their mean spirited crazy on the road.

    The American Taliban sticking their noses in other countries business half way around the world to make sure every nation state owns a woman’s uterus, even if having a baby will kill her.

    Abortions are illegal in Kenya under current law, but hundreds of thousands of women still seek them each year. The existing law, however, does allow a doctor to perform an abortion if a woman’s life is in danger.

    That exception is also included in a proposed constitution due to be put to a referendum later this year. Church leaders fear the phrasing will open the door to legalizing abortion, saying that defining a threat to a woman’s health could be interpreted broadly.

    “It opens the door to abortion on demand, which is why Christian organizations who are pro-life are so opposed to that provision,” said Jordan Sekulow, director for international operations at the anti-abortion American Center for Law and Justice, one of the U.S. groups now involved in Kenya’s debate.

    Jay Sekulow again, grim reaper from Jesus Street, US or A.

    Now back to Obama’s Katrina.

  29. 29.

    Cat Lady

    April 30, 2010 at 8:05 pm

    @Antonius:

    I had a cardinal outside my house that literally followed me from room to room flying into the (closed) windows of the room I was in. I named him Cujo, and he kept it up for two consecutive years. It freaked me out – it got so that I could identify his chirp in one chirp (Name That Chirp) and he’d start at the crack of dawn at the bedroom window and would hang on a window and look in and keep moving from window to window until he saw movement, and then would start tapping and crashing into the window. Then, one day, he was gone, and I have never been able to figure out how or why. That’s not helpful, but the expression “bird brained” exists for a reason.

  30. 30.

    Jennifer

    April 30, 2010 at 8:09 pm

    Re: the robins and the worms: just wait till you see them go after a snake. I’ve seen them do this in my backyard…they found a snake that was either hibernating or sluggish one winter day, and pecked its head off. They know who their enemies are.

    Re: the robin attacking the sliding door: probably a male, seeing his own reflection. It is bird mating and egg-laying season, and they get very aggressive not only with other birds, but with other animals as well. There are several weeks each spring where my cat really can’t enjoy the back patio, because the jays and mockingbirds dive-bomb her until she goes inside. She has a cafe table she gets on under the window, and one day last spring, I kept hearing this mockingbird bitching – went and looked, and it was sitting on the back of one of the chairs pulled up to the table, not even 3 feet from kitty, and screaming in her face. She, in return, was doing that bitchy “meow” back at the bird (and given your relationship with Tunch, I’m sure you know what that meow sounds like).

    I have a pair of purple finches who nest every year under the awning at my kitchen door – they’ve been nesting in this spot every year for the past 5 or 6 years now. The mama bird flies off when I go out the door – but only if I look at her. Babies just hatched a few days ago, so now they perch in the crape myrtle on the other side of the driveway and make distressed chirps whenever anyone is in the vicinity of the nest. But obviously they’re not too distressed, or they’d stop nesting there.

    Next up, Cole, you’ll be getting the martin house. Right about now is when the martins will be looking for housing in your part of the country. Great birds – but you have to keep after the sparrows or they’ll take over the house.

  31. 31.

    mr. whipple

    April 30, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    @South of I-10:

    Hey, did you get any catfish?

  32. 32.

    Corner Stone

    April 30, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    and I have quite a chirpy posse these days.

    Can’t your Doc prescribe something for…that…oh.

  33. 33.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    April 30, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    Wait till the Bluejays find you out. It will like a West Side Story
    rumble. The only ones that can tame the gangsters around here are the Curve Billed Thrashers who are the bad asses on the block. Fonzi Birds with ‘tude and miles of cool.

  34. 34.

    South of I-10

    April 30, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    @WereBear: Helpful tip! Sometimes the reply button would show on my iPhone and sometimes not. Now I know!

  35. 35.

    Antonius

    April 30, 2010 at 8:11 pm

    @Violet: Thanks! Maybe that explains all the fake owls in the neighborhood…

  36. 36.

    jackie

    April 30, 2010 at 8:12 pm

    @Cat Lady: A goldfinch has done this to me the last two summers. At first it was amusing but I started to feel really creeped out at him stalking me.

  37. 37.

    Antonius

    April 30, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    @Cat Lady: My crazy Robin gets uneasy and will fly off if he sees me on the other side of the glass, so now I’m counting myself lucky :)

  38. 38.

    Corner Stone

    April 30, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    @Jade Jordan:

    John, beware the cycle of life. Next spring the birds will build nests in your trees and shrubs, have babies, and your husband won’t let you use the front door because you might upset the babies.

    I loved where you were going with this.

  39. 39.

    LivingInWingnutHell

    April 30, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    @Antonius:

    That is so weird…we’ve got the same exact problem this spring. We’ve got this psycho robin who spends all day long attacking our windows. He’ll peck at the windows on the deck in the backyard and then he’ll fly around and do the same in the front.

    I love birds and birdwatching, but it’s about ready to drive me crazy. Not only does the noise wake me up on the weekends (he starts EARLY morning), but he’s crapping all over the deck and the stoop. I’m at a loss about what he’s up to.

  40. 40.

    Tattoosydney

    April 30, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    @SIA:

    /retired partier

    Hee.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    April 30, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    Military tells Congress to keep gay ban for now

  42. 42.

    Loon Juice

    April 30, 2010 at 8:15 pm

    The Pens seem to have some sot of plan going on the power plays. All three power play goals have been from straight up the slot after some passing.

  43. 43.

    monkeyboy

    April 30, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    JC sez:

    I saw a robin eat a worm so big this morning it could have been a snake.

    Are you sure it wasn’t a snake? video on Flickr

  44. 44.

    Gravenstone

    April 30, 2010 at 8:18 pm

    @soonergrunt: This was out almost a year ago. Although the Win 7 compatible download is a new touch (was only XP compatible when first offered).

    I agree it’s certainly drool worthy and I hope and pray it actually comes to fruition. However, last I saw, S&T didn’t even have a publisher lined up for the game. Plus, they appeared to be focusing their efforts on a totally different intellectual property.

  45. 45.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    April 30, 2010 at 8:19 pm

    @jackie: Maybe he just wants a date. A little dinner prolly wouldn’t hurt. Maybe a granola dessert. I had a young White Wing Dove do that to me. Used to land on the window sill and just stare at me lying in bed, looking all trollopy like. May September romance though with the seasonal migration thingy.

  46. 46.

    Ash Can

    April 30, 2010 at 8:19 pm

    The robins don’t care about the feeders because they’re too into the worms. They aren’t that big on seeds. In fact, I can’t remember seeing them eating the seeds in our back yard at all. I’ve seen them devouring the little crabapples on the tree in our front yard in the fall, and yanking worms out of the ground the rest of the time, but they don’t give the feeder a second look.

  47. 47.

    Jennifer

    April 30, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    Oh, and again with the “Pens” bit: on first read I saw that as “Pen*s hockey” and again thought, not good…not good at all.

    And also, I saw a golden eagle about a month ago. HUGE bird. He was chowing on a skunk on the side of the road and flew off when I drove by – his (or her) wingspan had to be about 6 feet.

  48. 48.

    Mark S.

    April 30, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    This should make everybody happy:

    Senior Pentagon leaders on Friday warned Congress not to tamper with the ban on gays serving openly in the military until they can come up with a plan for dealing with potential opposition in the ranks. In a strongly worded letter obtained by The Associated Press, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen told the House Armed Services Committee that forcing policy changes on the military before it’s ready would be a mistake.

    I have a hard time believing the military needs a year to study this. There’s something else going on here.

    ETA: I see Corner Stone got there first.

  49. 49.

    rknight44

    April 30, 2010 at 8:20 pm

    Yaaay! Bird Pr0n. You go, John Cole. Sorry, can’t stay; talking to folks (trying to talk them down) in very lower LA. You folks that pray – please throw an extra for the Gulf.

  50. 50.

    steve

    April 30, 2010 at 8:21 pm

    good Obamacare cartoon

  51. 51.

    Thadeus Horne

    April 30, 2010 at 8:23 pm

    Twelve years ago, I hurt my back so badly that I did not want to walk. I could walk, but it hurt so badly that I did not want to.
    For therapy, I built a bird feeder and stocked it. Then I started to identify the customers that came to my feeder. The variety of birds was amazing and the number was incredible. I found myself refilling the feeders numerous times each day. Those damn birds were making me walk again.
    Long story short, if it wasn’t for those birds, I probably wouldn’t be here now to torment you with this story.
    You can thank the birds.

  52. 52.

    SIA

    April 30, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    @ Tattoosydney
    Being a quiet homebody is rather pleasant. When one’s gone thru all the other options. :)

  53. 53.

    beltane

    April 30, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    @Thadeus Horne: That is a beautiful story. Thank you.

  54. 54.

    Cain

    April 30, 2010 at 8:30 pm

    @sukabi:

    you’re so flush with birds that by next week you’ll be cussing all the bird shit that’s covering the feeders, and the weeds that are sprouting in your yard from the spilled seed.

    Hah, that’s what I got right now. We are blessed to be living on a small mountain and it’s FULL of bird life and not the common robin variety.. it is quite nice. Unfortunately though they seem to have a thing fgor my garden furniture and I swear they are either doing some kind of bombing run because while there is a ledge nearby it’s not really that convenient to sit there.

    At least they aren’t crapping on the cats. Speaking of which, my tuxedo cat has decided to start some kind of ferry service for mice. He seems to enjoy it but the mice don’t seem to like the idea of not be given a choice for this service. Worse they don’t seem to survive the service. They don’t even get eaten, just tossed aside while the guy goes back to the forest to find new customers.

    cain

  55. 55.

    MikeJ

    April 30, 2010 at 8:32 pm

    I know that parsing Palinese is pointless, but I have to attempt:

    I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us a more secure, prosperous, and peaceful nation.
    __

    Will make us more peaceful? Is she flat out saying, “We won’t invade as many people if we drill here”? All the DFHs who said invading Iraq was about oil were right?

  56. 56.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    April 30, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    Make fun of Arizona all you want. At least the Arizona Senate has the courage to outlaw Human-animal hybrids! Take that you lefty pinko commie pansies. NO Human-Animal Hybrids in Arizona gosh darn it.

    The Arizona state Senate on Thursday passed a bill making it illegal for a person to “intentionally or knowingly creating a human-animal hybrid.”

    Gonna be a lot of lonely goat and sheep farmers in AZ.

  57. 57.

    JGabriel

    April 30, 2010 at 8:35 pm

    @South of I-10:

    The catfish farm we went to on the Kindergarten field trip today …

    Aren’t you a little young to be posting here?

    .

  58. 58.

    SIA

    April 30, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    @ JGabriel, haha! Thanks for the laugh!

  59. 59.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    April 30, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    @The Grand Panjandrum: They gave up on a law demanding Obama show his looooooooong form birth cert. Looks they opted to to go for something a little more passable.

  60. 60.

    sloan

    April 30, 2010 at 8:37 pm

    A song for John.

  61. 61.

    South of I-10

    April 30, 2010 at 8:39 pm

    @mr. whipple: Got the leftover fried catfish in the fridge. Little South was especially impressed at my ability to bait a hook with liver. Shoulda brought that Velveeta.

    ETA: Has anyone heard from Red Kitten? How is Sam Kitten today?

  62. 62.

    Cat Lady

    April 30, 2010 at 8:39 pm

    @jackie:

    Yeah, no shit. It’s quite an experience to feel bashful getting undressed in front of a tapping bird.

  63. 63.

    toujoursdan

    April 30, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    On the show “Daybreak” on CBC Radio One Montréal, they pointed out that there are more Canadians on the Penguins than on the Habs.

    But now that the Sens are knocked out, the Habs are my team.

  64. 64.

    mak

    April 30, 2010 at 8:41 pm

    WTH? Around here we’re lousy with robins,* but cardinals are about as common as hen’s teeth. Blue Jays are even harder to come by.

    *I assume they’re robins, and not orioles, cause they’re pumped up like Perdue chickens.

  65. 65.

    Cat Lady

    April 30, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    @South of I-10:

    He woke up feeling fine. All is well.

  66. 66.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    April 30, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    The horde of Baltimore Orioles just arrived yesterday. They’re now coming down to our feeders.

    One of the few advantage of living here in East Bumblefuck, Misery.

  67. 67.

    South of I-10

    April 30, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    @JGabriel: I only wish! No, kindergarten is a little too far back. I am probably older than you!

  68. 68.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    April 30, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    @The Grand Panjandrum:

    The twinkies of AZ are not letting up on their ethnic cleansing rampage, not a bit.

    Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Arizona Department of Education “recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English”:

    And for the cherry on top.

    Adding insult to injury, the Arizona legislature passed a bill yesterday outlawing ethnic studies programs:

    HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity “instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”

    The obligatory afterglow smoke

    It also would ban classes that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people.”

    Somebody hand Lou Dobbs a dry rag.

    I fully expect refugees to start arriving here in NM from the Republic of Arizona, before this is over. Nolo joking.

  69. 69.

    mr. whipple

    April 30, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    @South of I-10:

    Cool!

  70. 70.

    Morbo

    April 30, 2010 at 8:49 pm

    Hey, look at that, there’s a rabbit in my yard right now.

  71. 71.

    Boudica

    April 30, 2010 at 8:50 pm

    @robertdsc:
    I have to laugh. My maiden name was Cindy Cosby. The first time I heard his name, I did a double take. BTW, Sidney is now more often a girl’s name.

  72. 72.

    demo woman

    April 30, 2010 at 8:51 pm

    What did I miss today while painting the stucco from hell? Oh Obama called out the SWAT team in Illinois because he was to stupid to have free speech areas and he caused the biggest oil spill in US history that will kill all life on the LA coast. What am I missing? Oh, yeah, if McCain were President he would have overturned DADT by now.

  73. 73.

    slag

    April 30, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    It’s great that you’re enjoying your new feathered friends. But if you ever want to go into politics, make sure you don’t associate with any gangster birds: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0407/03.html.

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    April 30, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    @Mark S.:

    I see Corner Stone got there first.

    That’s what she said.

  75. 75.

    Tattoosydney

    April 30, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    @SIA:

    Being a quiet homebody is rather pleasant. When one’s gone thru all the other options. :)

    Believe me, you are preaching to the choir.

    /37, happily baking cakes this weekend instead of taking too many drugs and dancing till 7am

  76. 76.

    Yutsano

    April 30, 2010 at 9:08 pm

    @SIA: Ssshhh…you’ll give the poor lad ideas. He’s already seriously considering becoming a dilettante as it is.

    @Tattoosydney: You usually don’t have to audition to get into pastry school. Then again you might do things a wee bit differently on that side of the planet.

  77. 77.

    burnspbesq

    April 30, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    Mets appear to have broken open game 1 of this weekend’s series with the hated dickweeds from South Jersey Adjacent. 7-1 in the seventh.

    Edit: Make that 8-1.

  78. 78.

    jackie

    April 30, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck: I don’t want to give the taliban any traction with the first you let the gays get married and then you gotta let people do polygamy with goldfinches. Besides that bird looked like the jealous type. Both times it stopped when my husband got back in town.

  79. 79.

    jeffreyw

    April 30, 2010 at 9:14 pm

    Damn, I was out stalkin hummers and missed the open thread. Mrs J brought home a pic of the latest shelter addition, an adult basset hound-“George”.

  80. 80.

    Yutsano

    April 30, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    @jeffreyw: Someone needs to e-mail T-Bogg stat. Hell I’d think about getting that sweet boy.

  81. 81.

    DCLaw1

    April 30, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    Hey Cole –

    I should probably already know this, because I’m a (fairly) regular reader, but where are you from, Pens fan?

    I hail from the Little Pittsburgh That Couldn’t (aka Johnstown, PA), so Pens fandom is almost as required as Steelers obsession.

    BTW, here’s some random foolishness:

    http://insideoutthebeltway.blogspot.com/2010/04/lunch-is-stranger-than-fiction.html

  82. 82.

    S. cerevisiae

    April 30, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck: I’m sure that law is going to go over real well up on the Navajo Nation – or on any of the dozens of reservations in AZ.

    I have a nice big yard with many wild fruit trees and bushes, plus snags for nesting so I get a nice variety of birds. Yesterday there was a Pileated Woodpecker excavating on a spruce stump.

    Twins up 6 – 3, but I am flipping to it during the hockey commercials.

    The Gulf is fucked.

  83. 83.

    Mike Kay

    April 30, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    @burnspbesq: which part of city do you live in?

  84. 84.

    Tattoosydney

    April 30, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    @Yutsano:

    You usually don’t have to audition to get into pastry school.

    Can’t I just like cake?

    Then again you might do things a wee bit differently on that side of the planet.

    We do. We put beetroot in our hamburgers, never eat Bloomin’ Onions, don’t know what a “key” lime is, and eat both our national emblems.

  85. 85.

    Tattoosydney

    April 30, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    @Yutsano:

    dilettante

    I have several of those in my bedside drawer.

  86. 86.

    Tattoosydney

    April 30, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    an adult basset hound-”George”.

    That made me go “daw… puppy!” right out loud…

  87. 87.

    Yutsano

    April 30, 2010 at 9:48 pm

    @Tattoosydney: Bloomin’ Onions are pure caloric disasters. I don’t care for them myself. Key limes are just smaller versions of the common lime, they’re mostly associated with southern Florida although they do show up in Malay cooking. They’re a lot more tart than the original version too.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_lime

    Our national emblem is a big eagle, they tend to be a bit tough in the stew pot. In fact they were originally hunted only for plumage.

    @Tattoosydney: Methinks wifey may yet make a trip down south for that sweet face. She’ll be cooing for hours.

  88. 88.

    jeffreyw

    April 30, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    @Tattoosydney: Mrs J sez he’s a real sweetie. They found him wandering along a highway, scarfing down possum flats.

  89. 89.

    ChockFullO'Nuts

    April 30, 2010 at 10:30 pm

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck:

    At this point, Dems here are basically reeling. Trying to figure out what happened, under the cover of a yearlong series of daily stories of the legislature supposedly battling with crushing budget problems … suddenly it appears that they have unleashed a laundry list of crazy shit just before the end of their session.

    The Dem talk on the street here is that a strong Dem governor kept this in check until she got picked off to be in the Cabinet, letting a Republican Secretary of State assume the job and ….. caved into the nut fringe in the Republican legislature. Now the animals are really running that zoo.

    Dems are dazed. We thought we’d made serious gains here in this longtime red state, electing a liberal Dem governor, gaining more than half the congressional seats, making some headway. And now this. It’s unreal.

    I saw Rachel Maddow today do a very intelligent background check on the money and politics behind this stealth lunatic movement here in AZ, and it was sobering. The legislature here now is in thrall to the craziest elements in the Republican party. Even level headed Republicans here are worried.

    All of this seems timed to create maximum agita right at the start of the 2010 campaign season.

    Years of hard work by Dems and moderates here are going up in flames. LD and I are looking into hooking up with a petition drive to put SB1070 on the ballot, which could delay implementation for up to two years, according a story I read yesterday. It will take 76000 signatures to do this according to the wire story, and not a lot of time to gather them. More on this when I have some time to find out more.

  90. 90.

    Yutsano

    April 30, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    @ChockFullO’Nuts: I wish you much luck in that endeavor good sir. I think the best thing you could do about that is get Goddard into the governor’s chair and see if that will put some of the genie back in the bottle.

  91. 91.

    RedKitten

    April 30, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    @South of I-10: Much better today. He was a little feverish again this afternoon, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. I got some Motrin for him, which made a big difference.

  92. 92.

    Katie5

    April 30, 2010 at 10:59 pm

    Oh Cindy, you may be a girlie man, but you captain a dominating team.

    My Canadiens, the Cubs of Hockey.

  93. 93.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    April 30, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    @ChockFullO’Nuts: I know for a fact there are a lot of good dems in AZ, I hope you all can rally with each other and turn back this craziness some. Good luck

  94. 94.

    ChockFullO'Nuts

    April 30, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck:

    If only I could drink. Going through this sober is really adding insult to injury.

  95. 95.

    gbear

    April 30, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    @sloan: Ha. What a fun little song.

    How is Mr. Cole going to feel about Robins once he realizes that they’re already singing up a storm at 4:30 in the morning? I’ve got robins in my back yard too and I also love watching them, especially when the babies start showing up.

  96. 96.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 1, 2010 at 6:44 am

    @Mark S.: Haven’t they already had many years to study this? It’s just an excuse, damn it. Fuck it. I need a drink. Shit. It’s too early to drink.

    @jeffreyw: Squee! Puuuuppppeh!

    That is all.

  97. 97.

    matoko_chan

    May 1, 2010 at 8:46 am

    umm….in colorado ppl take their seed feeders down in may and put up hummingbird feeders….returning to seed in the fall.
    just sayin’.

  98. 98.

    patty gann

    May 1, 2010 at 10:59 am

    john, look at the robins with binoculars when they catch a worm. their eyes will totally freak you out.

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