Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

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

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

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

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

We still have time to mess this up!

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

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Open Thread

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Didn’t get half as much done as I needed today- apparently this is the busiest time of the year for the DMV (at least in WV), because lots of tags become due on 1 July.

On the the upside, I did go get some tags for Rosie for her collar (or, as my friend Jill says, I picked up some “bling”), so I guess she is official now. She goes to the vet for shots and a chip next Tuesday.

Reader Interactions

102Comments

  2. 2.

    ellaesther

    Congratulations on the official absorption of Rosie into your family! Resistance, as I believe you knew all along, is futile.

    Also, too: I finally remembered today to place an Amazon order through your link. So, you know, have a piece of gum on me!

  3. 3.

    Violet

    How’s Rosie’s training coming along, John? How’d she do with your houseguests over the weekend?

  4. 4.

    frankdawg

    The wingnuts have been cackling all day about how the media would never mention Bryd’s membership in the KKK a hundred years ago & this would be the ultimate evidence of their liberal bias.

    Since every story I have seen or read about him has included this fact do you suppose the wingnuts will consider the possibility they are wrong? STILL

  8. 8.

    DBrown

    Please don’t put the Go* Damn chip in her until you research the issue – a few years ago I read in a science mag that the rate of cancer in dog’s with implanted chips was huge (haven’t followed since but the friend I told it to at the time had his dog chipped (is that even a verb?) and it is now being treated for cancer.) I don’t see how it is possible but you had better check (and don’t ask a Vet – like most MD’s, they don’t know their own as* from a hole in the wall.)

  9. 9.

    Midnight Marauder

    On the the upside, I did go get some tags for Rosie for her collar (or, as my friend Jill says, I picked up some “bling”), so I guess she is official now.

    Is that collar made out of diamond encrusted lobsters? It would have to be, naturally, since we found out over the weekend what a highfalutin elitist you are.

  10. 10.

    freelancer

    Just capping off a priceless 4 day weekend. I can’t even describe how perfect the last few days have been for me. I don’t even care what I missed, politically speaking. How are y’all?

    I’m up in the woods.
    I’m down on my mind.
    I’m building a still
    to slow down the time.

    Congrats JC, for the new addition to the family.

  11. 11.

    Bob Loblaw

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/west-virginia-sec-of-state-no-election-for-byrds-seat-until-2012.php

    Despite the fact that Byrd died before the cutoff date, the WV Democratic party has found a loophole to avoid having to run a special election this November. Instead, there will be two separate elections in Nov. 2012. One for the new Senate term (2013-2019), and a simultaneous special election for the two months between November and January 2012. How very democratic of them…

  12. 12.

    Ash Can

    And this was all because you went out to get some bed linens. Think of what could have happened if you had gone out for a mattress and box spring.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: My two kitties came with microchips, so the BJ comments about microchips in this thread sent me right to google. What I read worries me – I am wondering if I should consider having them removed. Any thoughts from our resident cat expert? Others?

  15. 15.

    Bob Loblaw

    @MikeJ: If this was the GOP conspiring to do stupid shit, you would be bitching. And rightfully so.

    How many times are we going to need to go over this Senate nonsense? If a seat is vacant due to retirement or death, let the Governor fill a replacement ASAP, and schedule a special election within 6-9 months. The people deserve to vote for their own damn representatives, regardless of how that screws up the vote count in Washington.

  16. 16.

    Violet

    @Bob Loblaw:
    But all the states make their own laws as to how to deal with a vacancy. If you’re suggesting it be standardized with a federal law, that won’t go down very well with the individual states. Although I do think some measure of consistency in how its approached would benefit the country as a whole.

  17. 17.

    MikeJ

    “Loopholes” are laws somebody doesn’t like. Whenever somebody complains about somebody else “getting off on a technicality” or “exploiting a loophole” what they mean is “obeying a law I don’t like.”

  19. 19.

    Joshua Norton

    so I guess she is official now

    Yeah, but.. is she even marginally aware that her new name is “Rosie”? I always wonder how long that takes to set into a new pet’s mind.

  20. 20.

    Bob Loblaw

    It isn’t “the law.” The state is penalizing politicians from both parties for not filing on time in 2010 for an election that wasn’t on the ballot yet. It’s a good thing Robert Byrd didn’t die a month ago or else the people of his state might have gotten to vote for his successor for the next two and a half years. But this is America and we wouldn’t want that.

  21. 21.

    Mark S.

    @Violet:

    It still seems pretty silly. Who the hell is going to run for the two month term? Maybe Cole should run.

  22. 22.

    Joseph Nobles

    @frankdawg: Not only will they recognize they are wrong, I guarantee you that Glenn Beck will state tomorrow that Fox was the only media outlet to bring it up. Well, maybe not. Jon Stewart did thrash him about that tendency just recently.

  25. 25.

    The Dangerman

    Since this is an Open Thread, I’ll use this opportunity to ponder the sad fate of a person fired for dressing “too sexy” at Citibank. Pictures of Ms. Debralee Lorenzana are here. Personally, she’d make a potato sack look good; I, um, feel for her.

  26. 26.

    John Cole

    @Bob Loblaw: And they’ll probably fix the fucked up law now that this has happened. But you don’t just get to not follow the law.

    Besides, I’d have more faith in your argument that we would be bitching if Republicans were doing this if many Republicans weren’t actively courting a repeal of the 17th amendment.

  27. 27.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    Republicans pull a lot of dirty shit I don’t like, and I bitch about it to no avail. What goes around comes around. One dirty trick, provided it’s not illegal, deserves the same from the other side. Balances the yin yang of political skullduggery.

    Other wise, one side gets an advantage, while the other gets to savor a moral victory. Dems are experts at delivering moral victories, that also correspond with electoral defeats. No one in politics gets out alive, or untarnished by shenanigan.


    There are no heroes in politics, left or right, only people who want something, and people who want something else.

  28. 28.

    Zuzu's Petals

    @Bob Loblaw:

    Well, it isn’t a “loophole found by the WV Democratic Party,” it is (as others have pointed out) state law. I think the WV Sec. of State explains it pretty clearly:

    “Section 3-10-3 states that for terms with more than two years and six months remaining, such as this one with Senator Byrd, the Governor will appoint a replacement who serves the unexpired term until a successor has been elected.

    “But that election will not be the 2010 General election. Part of this same section of code, requires the candidate to have filed during the filing period. That filing period has already passed. There was a legal case in 1994 decided by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals that up held that position of requiring candidates to file during the filing period.

    “That means the election for the unexpired term would be the next election cycle which would take place in 2012. Candidates will be nominated in the primary and elected in the general of 2012.

    ETA: What John said @26.

  29. 29.

    HumboldtBlue

    I know Joe Shenanigan (his family comes from Galway, like mine) and you sire, are no Joe Shenanigan.

  30. 30.

    stuckinred

    Washington (CNN) — Ten individuals have been arrested in the United States on charges of being Russian agents, the Justice Department announced Monday.

    The 10 were “trained Russian intelligence operatives,” a Justice Department spokesman said.

  32. 32.

    WereBear

    @WaterGirl: This is the first I’ve heard of it. I did some googling, and concluded:

    The chip is implanted in the back of the neck, where vaccination shots are also administered. There could be some confusion as to cause, since vaccinations have been implicated in the past, and now they are recommending every other year, or as needed.

    I’ve run across enough cases of vaccination related cancers that I’ve taken a holistic approach and don’t vaccinate very often. But then, my cats are indoors only. Dogs, and outdoor cats, would be different.

    I’m also under the impression that it’s not that the chip emits a signal, like a cell phone. It’s passively waiting to get “pinged,” which wouldn’t happen very often.

    Also, even in rats, it was something like 1%. Is that significant?

    Also, I don’t know how many people chip their pets. I’ve been doing it for a dozen years now, with probably ten pets all told; haven’t had any problems, but that’s a small sample.

    Glad to be corrected on any point.

  34. 34.

    Randy P

    @stuckinred: Huh. In Cold War days the FBI didn’t typically arrest them, they’d just keep an eye on them. Actually arresting or deporting the spies usually resorted in an equal number of known US agents being deported or arrested in Russia.

    Wonder why the arrests? Are we mad at Russian intelligence for some reason?

  35. 35.

    QuaintIrene

    “Rosie”? I always wonder how long that takes to set into a new pet’s mind.

    You’d be surprised how fast.
    The shelter had given her the name ‘Anna Laurie.’ After I got her home, I christened her ‘Kate,’ mainly cause her high cheek bones reminded me of Katherine Hepburn. Took her two days to respond to it as if it’d always been hers.

  36. 36.

    Randy P

    @WereBear:

    I’m also under the impression that it’s not that the chip emits a signal, like a cell phone. It’s passively waiting to get “pinged,” which wouldn’t happen very often.

    Yep, it’s what is called RFID. Doesn’t emit a signal on its own. Same technology as in an EZ-Pass toll collector if you’re familiar with that.

  38. 38.

    Cain

    Since it is open thread, I was watching some stuff on PBS on the media and whether it is doing journalism properly. It wasn’t bad but I couldn’t pay full attention.

    Then there was some other show kinda like the McLoughlin group but less irritating. Charles Krauthammer (sp?) was in it and he was spouting some seriously stupid ass shit about how we wasted our time doing health care when really we should be going to war with Iran. I mean really…. that was just clear bullshit.

    Just about everybody was all over him on that. It was refreshing watching people recoil from this ass hat. The dude wouldn’t give it up, he started talking shit and at least one person was going “Oh Charles..”

    That guy is an ass of epic proportions.

    cain

    edit: the first one was the “future of news” and here is the link it’s the one with Dan Rather about citizen journalists. Good stuff.

    Can’t find the second one though.

  39. 39.

    inkadu

    Test post. If you can read this, tell me to shut up. (Third post on this thread. I seem to be so boring even the WordPress program can’t be bothered to post me.)

    Edit: Looks like I made it to the big time.
    Hm. Mentioned a pain killer. That might have been it. But no “your comment is in moderation,” business. Odd. I also mentioned Buddy Dwyer.

  43. 43.

    inkadu

    @Randy P: I swipe my RFID’d cat on the Mobil Speedpass every chance I get. So far it hasn’t worked to get me free gas. I’m also considering swapping my passport for the cat for international flights. Better company.

  44. 44.

    jeffreyw

    Congrats on the new addition! I’ve been too busy even to mow. Eye doc appt, then shopping at the Asian market. Been all afternoon making daikon and carrot pickles. There is a huge lasagna in the oven right now.

  47. 47.

    Randy P

    @inkadu: I think you have to have the cat Velcro’d to the upper part of the windshield, same place you put the EZ-Pass. Try that and let me know how it works for you.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    the friend I told it to at the time had his dog chipped (is that even a verb?) and it is now being treated for cancer.

    There are a LOT of pets being treated for cancer these days, unfortunately. Part of the increase, no doubt, has to do with the many many toxins and stresses common to our daily lives, human and animal both. But an even larger part has to do with the fact that companion animals are no longer considered fungible by many people. A generation ago, even a beloved pet cat or dog wasn’t expected to live more than 10 years or so at best — if it didn’t ‘disappear’ on an unsupervised outing, or get hit by a car, or just become a nuisance and get ‘given away’. When age or illness struck, the conventional wisdom was that it was “kinder” to put an animal to sleep and replace it with another pet, especially since there wasn’t very much most veterinarians could offer in the way of treatment.

    Today, people are willing to spend considerable sums of money to keep their pets alive, and the use of research animals to develop the vastly improved cancer treatments for people mean that vets have many more and better tools for treating animals as well. It’s by no means an easy or a universally available option; we spent something like $5K treating our dog Flicker for colon cancer, but the Spousal Unit doesn’t regret burning that hole in the family finances in return for an extra 16 months with his second-favorite redhead.

    The key argument in favor of microchipping, to my mind, comes from the American Veterinary Medical Association:

    A study of more than 7,700 stray animals at animal shelters showed that dogs without microchips were returned to their owners 21.9% of the time, whereas microchipped dogs were returned to their owners 52.2% of the time. Cats without microchips were reunited with their owners only 1.8% of the time, whereas microchipped cats went back home 38.5% of the time. (Lord et al, JAVMA, July 15, 2009)

    If you’re 100% sure that your cat is an indoor-only cat, and will always be an indoor-only cat, then maybe you don’t want to bother with an extra vet visit and the $25/$50 cost of a microchip. On the other hand, to use a blog-specific example, Tunch is an indoor-only cat and not exactly a skittish little athlete — and he’s still managed to “escape” at least once, and nearly give John Cole a heart attack by doing so. And dogs, of course, almost always ranger further and more often than cats. I’d worry a lot more about giving myself a tumor by using my cell phone than I worry about giving my pets cancer by having them microchipped!

  50. 50.

    stuckinred

    @Anne Laurie: Ditto, we spent $20+K on boo-boo’s cancer treatment. He made it 2 1/2 years which seemed pretty good. What we didn’t, and could not know until we lived through it with him, was what a toll the chemo/radiation/surgery took on the little fella. We say we wouldn’t go to that length again, just make them as comfortable as possible. That’s what we say now, ask me what we decide when push comes to shove.

    He was chipped and this is the first I’ve heard of this issue.

  51. 51.

    ellaesther

    Also, and on a related note, a commenter linked to a great interview with Kathryn Schultz, author of Being Wrong: Adverntures in the Margins of Error http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201006221000 in which Schultz quoted Thomas Jefferson: “The spirit of liberty is never being too sure you’re right.”

    This may explain why Texas conservatives want Thomas Jefferson drummed out of history.

  52. 52.

    geg6

    Well, looks like I’m about to get domesticated again. My John and I discussed living together again over the weekend. And very seriously this time as the deadbeat daughter has finally given notice that she’s moving in with her mother as of August 1. We have decided that I will have the studio apartment in the basement that deadbeat daughter lives in as “my space.”

    Do I have a great guy or what? A bedroom (probably as a second guest room), a walk-in closet and another storage area, a bathroom, and a sitting area all my own! If you could see the size of my current apartment, you’d know how exciting that sounds.

    Oh, and Cole, doesn’t WV do registration online?

  53. 53.

    Brittany Guy

    @Bob Loblaw:

    The filing date was closed before Senator Byrd died and his seat was declared vacant and an election could be listed. Fucking stupid troll !!

  54. 54.

    kay

    @Bob Loblaw:

    I have a crippling weakness for liberal goo-goo principles, my bad. I must learn how to be a better partisan.

    It’s state law, interpreted by the elected Sec of State and she relied on a state supreme court case from 1994.

    I’m not sure why your personal interpretation would be any more valid than all that.

  56. 56.

    Anne Laurie

    @WereBear:

    I’m also under the impression that it’s not that the chip emits a signal, like a cell phone. It’s passively waiting to get “pinged,” which wouldn’t happen very often.
    __Also, even in rats, it was something like 1%. Is that significant?

    Not very, especially when you consider that those rats were from lines specifically bred to develop cancer.

    From what I can see on The Google, the “microchips cause cancer” stories got started with people who explictly wanted to discourage the use of RISD chips in things like grocery & gas cards, because they believe there’s a civil liberties issue involved. There are reasons to be wary of giving the government too much information, just as there are reasons to be wary of giving kids (and pets!) too many vaccinations, but hyping tiny statistical variations into ooga-booga friend-of-a-friend urban legends does not strike me as a net social positive.

  57. 57.

    inkadu

    @Randy P: Excellent idea!

    I’m not sure how I feel about animal euthanasia. I feel different about it than I do about for people. People know it’s coming and understand it, and that can cause a lot of emotional pain. Animals don’t understand and don’t understand what it means to die, so the suffering is much less. But it’s certainly hard to know when to euthanize. I’ve waited too long twice; but nobody’s every had something expensive to treat. I don’t look forward to that decision.

    @geg6: Congratulations. Sounds roomy.

  58. 58.

    Anne Laurie

    @geg6:

    A bedroom (probably as a second guest room), a walk-in closet and another storage area, a bathroom, and a sitting area all my own! If you could see the size of my current apartment, you’d know how exciting that sounds.

    Congratulations! I know this is a big step for you, and I’m glad you’re feeling so confident & happy about it.

  60. 60.

    getsmartin

    Jeebus… I dropped a comment on a friend’s FB page this weekend about the Gulf oil disaster (I live on the Miss. coast, btw) and the resident wingnut chimed in with this (claiming that the administration is preventing oil skimming operations):
    “Oil on the beach makes it easier to implement his cap and tax marxist agenda with our energy policy “.

    Honestly, I’m not in the mood to engage assholes like that. It’s amazing they’ve really convinced themselves that this bullshit is true.

  61. 61.

    WereBear

    @Anne Laurie: Oooh, if there’s anything that makes me froth at the mouth, it’s making stuff up/exaggerating facts to make some marginally related point. If you don’t like something, argue on its own merits, don’t drag in tangents.

    @inkadu: I waited too long once, simply because I didn’t realize he was that sick. Now, especially if they are older, they get whisked to the vet. If the news is bad, I don’t delay. They are suffering, and I can’t stand that. Why should they?

    For help with this dilemma, I wrote this article: How to Know When It’s Time.

  62. 62.

    inkadu

    @stuckinred: I guess I’m speaking for the skeptics. I guess religious people might be more unsure; but that would make them more likely to want to die. Except for the fact that without the prohibition against suicide, it would only be logical to do it to get to a glorious afterlife sooner.

  64. 64.

    inkadu

    @WereBear: Thanks for that Werebear. Good stuff. You’re right. It’s most important to distinguish between our wants from the animals.

    They should guardian ad litems.

  65. 65.

    debit

    @geg6: Congrats! The set up sounds very nice; I don’t need all of my house, but I sure appreciate the space to spread out, and the spaces that are just “mine.” Your guy sounds like a winner.

  66. 66.

    stuckinred

    @inkadu: Confusing ain’t it?

    Iris DeMent puts it this way:

    Everybody’s wonderin’ what and where they all came from.
    Everybody’s worryin’ ’bout where they’re gonna go when the whole thing’s done.
    But no one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me.
    I think I’ll just let the mystery be.

    Some say once you’re gone you’re gone forever, and some say you’re gonna come back.
    Some say you rest in the arms of the Saviour if in sinful ways you lack.
    Some say that they’re comin’ back in a garden, bunch of carrots and little sweet peas.
    I think I’ll just let the mystery be.

    Everybody’s wonderin’ what and where they all came from.
    Everybody’s worryin’ ’bout where they’re gonna go when the whole thing’s done.
    But no one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me.
    I think I’ll just let the mystery be.

    Some say they’re goin’ to a place called Glory and I ain’t saying it ain’t a fact.
    But I’ve heard that I’m on the road to purgatory and I don’t like the sound of that.
    Well, I believe in love and I live my life accordingly.
    But I choose to let the mystery be.

    Everybody’s wonderin’ what and where they all came from.
    Everybody’s worryin’ ’bout where they’re gonna go when the whole thing’s done.
    But no one knows for certain and so it’s all the same to me.
    I think I’ll just let the mystery be.
    I think I’ll just let the mystery be.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awmgpZFXHfk

  68. 68.

    eco2geek

    Re the safety of using RFID chips in animals, from Wikipedia:

    RFID chips are used in animal research, and tumors at the site of implantation have been reported in laboratory mice and rats. Noted veterinary associations responded with continued support for the procedure as reasonably safe for cats and dogs, pointing to rates of serious complications on the order of one in a million in the U.K., which has a system for tracking such adverse reactions and has chipped over 3.7 million pet dogs.

    We once met this homeless guy, a vet, I think, at a park. He went everywhere on a bike, pulling a little trailer behind him with a tent on it for his posessions and his dog. Some time later, we were at the county animal shelter to give them a feral cat when the homeless guy showed up. He’d bicycled there, over 10 miles in the rain, because his dog had gotten loose and someone had taken it in. By the time the homeless guy got there, they’d already put a chip in his dog. We were going to give him a ride back to the part of town he usually stayed in, but he got in an argument with animal shelter staff about how the chip was a way for the government to track him. We decided he could find his own way back just about the time staff summoned a county deputy to the front counter.

  69. 69.

    Smileycreek

    Doesn’t it feel just fundamentally weird to microchip a dog?

    When I got my rat terrier puppy three years ago (dog #3) he was the first dog I ever got chipped. It weirded me out at the time.

    He’s not the least bit inclined to run off (unlike JRTs, rat terriers seem to tend to stay close), but I am so hopelessly besotted with The Dude (he does abide) that I’m eternally grateful that if he ever got lost in an emergency or something he could be traced back to me.

  70. 70.

    debit

    I feel odd saying this, but I am about to call Animal Control on my neighbors. They have two dogs that never stop barking. Never. The dogs are not mistreated; they just never stop fucking barking. I cannot go out to my backyard because the dogs will throw themselves against the fence (if they are out) or the sliding screen (if they are in) and scream-bark until I go back in.

    The owner knows it’s a problem. He smiles sheepishly and says, mildly, “Now, boys, quiet down.” And is totally ignored by his dogs as they continue to scream bark and try to get at me through the fence. It’s a hundred times worse when I let Chloe out. To her credit, she ignores them.

    But after two years of this, I simply cannot deal anymore. I cannot have a window open, because they bark. I can’t move about in my kitchen, because they hear me and bark. I can’t use my own damn backyard, because they froth like they are rabid. I honestly have just had enough.

  71. 71.

    Davebo

    Smileycreek

    I found a beauty of a Yorkshire Terrier female puppy and we took her to be scanned.

    Found her Dad, called and arranged a meeting at a Tex Mex joint on the patio, and it was one of the greatest experiences I can think of.

    Still have her “lost” flyer hanging in the bar with the word FOUND!

  72. 72.

    OriGuy

    So any speculation as to whom the WV Governor will name to the Senate? Anyone we know?

  73. 73.

    WereBear

    @debit: Well, some animal psychologists would say they are being mistreated; by being allowed to bark incessantly like that.

    Not normal… not by a long shot.

    It’s pretty obvious the human is not the boss. And that’s probably 90% of the problem.

  74. 74.

    inkadu

    @stuckinred: I’m not confused at all. And, contrary to Ms. DeMent, there’s no mystery in being a piece of meat. There’s really only one logical conclusion to life.

    I did like the song when I heard it many years ago… but that’s Iris for you.

  75. 75.

    Svensker

    @getsmartin:

    “Oil on the beach makes it easier to implement his cap and tax marxist agenda with our energy policy “.

    Yup. I just shut off a couple FB “friends” who were doing the Obamarxist thing constantly. Finally had enough. If you wanna be crazy, don’t do it on my time, thanksverymuch.

  76. 76.

    Davebo

    And within the next month I’ll chip my new pony pretending to be a six month old Lab puppy.

    Maybe I should think GPS, but then, I could probably spot him from Google Earth.

  78. 78.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @debit: My next-door neighbor rescues dogs and has a permit to shelter up to, I think, six at a time.

    So not only do I get the non-stop barking but it’s always a different dog every other week with some hideous shriek bark that makes ya understand why someone tossed it out in the first place.

    Nothing worse than an untrained, ill-mannered dog. Except an old lady that lets ’em sit out back hackshriekbarking for hours.

  79. 79.

    Svensker

    @debit:

    Sounds right to me. Having an occasional problem with a neighbors’ kid/dog/party, etc. is normal, live and let live. But when you can’t be comfortable in your own home because the guy’s too much of a wimp to make his dogs behave? Nuh uh. Call them.

  80. 80.

    inkadu

    @debit: I’d guess the dogs have a lot of energy that’s not going anywhere. Do they ever go out for walks? Have you thought of introducing yourself to the dogs? Maybe throw them some food, too. Might not work, but you’re desperate.

  83. 83.

    Anne Laurie

    @debit: You don’t have to feel strange, calling Animal Control is the right thing to do in those circumstances. It’s not healthy for those dogs to be working themselves up this way, and shame on their owner for neglecting them and abusing you.

    P.S. Chloe is such a cutie! Gotta love a dog who appreciates the cut direct.

  84. 84.

    frankdawg

    @DBrown:

    (and don’t ask a Vet – like most MD’s, they don’t know their own as* from a hole in the wall.)

    Who should we ask, Jenny McCarthy?

  85. 85.

    debit

    @inkadu: The dogs know who I am. I’ve greeted them before, through the fence when they had a moment of calm. However, the next time I reached in to skritch one, the little fucker bit me.

    No, they don’t get out for walks. The owner said he can’t control them, despite them being on the smallish side. I was going to offer to try them out with Chloe, since she gets a walk at least twice a day, but that was before I was bitten. Now there’s no way.

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Violet #24:

    *Draft John Cole! Cole for Senator!*

    “Lily for the House! She’s House-trained!”

    “Tunch for the next Supreme Court vacancy! If it was big enough for Taft, it’s big enough for Tunch!”

    “Rosie for Secretary of Housing! Also, Bedding, Bathing, and Beyonding!”

  88. 88.

    debit

    @Anne Laurie: Heh. Those are the only dogs she ignores. She refuses to greet them, or engage in any way. They get the back. Okay, she’ll kick her poop in their general direction. But that’s it.

  90. 90.

    inkadu

    @debit: Yeah. Those dogs are out of control — through no fault of their own. Their asshole owner is just plain irresponsible. Call the warden and report back. I’d be interested to see if anything is done.

    I have a similar situation, though much attenuated. I have about three dogs caged up maybe 30 yards from my bedroom window. They bark a lot and they rarely go for walks. I go for walks every day and wouldn’t mind taking an extra one; but my girlfriend’s talked to them before, and she doesn’t think they’d go for it. In fact, they’d probably think it was downright weird.

  91. 91.

    JoePo

    So, we just got a five year old poodle that was neglected and possibly abused at its last home. The Humane Society guy said she was probably on a leash all the time, which is why she runs around in tight circles constantly. The big problem now is she refuses to go outside, and seems to have found a favorite spot in the bedroom. I’ve looked up some tips elsewhere on how to get her to pee outside (the key is catching her in the act and immediately taking her outside; we just did that to no avail) but wondered if anyone else here has dealt with it… I assume so, but that just sounded like the polite thing to say.

    On the plus side, we’ve had her two days and she’s noticeably less skittish around me, even lets me pet her, when before she’d run the hell away if I but looked at her. She’s clearly more anxious around men than women.

  92. 92.

    debit

    @JoePo: Poor little girl! Okay, I’m no expert, but I would suggest tethering her. That way you can catch her before the act, as it were. Or do leashes freak her out?

    @inkadu: Well, I left a voice mail and will document my complaint. My next step will be to record the barking. And I don’t want them to lose their pets, or to even pay a fine. Just to deal with it. They can’t be happy living with them. God, I’d go insane.

  93. 93.

    JoePo

    @debit: A few people have suggested tethering; sounds like a plan to me. She seems to be just fine with leashes. Giant freakish (to her) human hands, not so much.

  94. 94.

    debit

    @JoePo: Then I’d try it, and praise the hell out of her when she does go outside. If she can’t cope with physical affection yet, verbal praise and treats should be your secret weapon. Good luck! And, um, pictures? And what’s her name?

  95. 95.

    JoePo

    Her name’s Maddy – I can’t upload photos right now (can’t find the right cable) but will soon. Thanks for all the help!

  96. 96.

    debit

    @JoePo: I am sure that if Anne Laurie is still checking the thread she’ll have some excellent advice for you; she’s been a great help to me with my rescue dog.

    Maddy is an excellent name. Can’t wait to see pics and hear how she settles in.

    And with that, ‘night all.

  97. 97.

    Jenn

    @JoePo:

    Congrats on Maddy! :-) My 2 cents: If she’s more confident on leash, then yeah, keeping her on leash for a time sounds like a good plan. I don’t know what kind of setup you have, but when I was housetraining my pup, I’d take her out regularly, and praise the heck out of her when she went to the bathroom (I didn’t wait for her to signal me, just took her out at regular intervals regardless). Having a catchphrase (e.g., go pee, or whatever phrase you don’t mind being overheard saying!) is also good, because once it’s become an association you can use it as a command. There are also those indoor lawn/pad things that apartment dwellers use for their housebound pets if an intermediate measure is needed/you’re not home during the day.

    Good luck! :-)

  98. 98.

    LiberalTarian

    The DMV here is a sometimes rotten experience, near the first of the month, particularly. The last year or so, since it has been closed in California 3 Fridays a month, it has been more so.

    Now, those lucky duckies working at the DMV will only have one floating furlough day a month, and a 10% cut in overall pay.

    And they are fine with it, because at least they have a job.

    Yay. Hell in a handbasket. Now I know what it looks like.

  99. 99.

    DPirate

    From wall street post, regarding Toronto protests:

    Such groups, which police have taken to calling “black bloc,” for the black clothing members often wear, study police tactics to determine how to inflict the most damage without getting caught, Mr. Thompson said.

    Such a great sentence! Do you suppose he meant that to read like it does? Police tactics are how to commit the most violence without getting caught! lol

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703485304575331211225729570.html

  100. 100.

    asiangrrlMN

    @debit: Don’t feel bad. I live next door to a guy who always has an overweight red…wanna say retriever. When one dies, he just gets another. Each dog howls at me every time I go outside. He’s old, and he walked the dog maybe once a day. Couldn’t be in the house because his wife doesn’t like dogs. On the other side, the woman has a little yap dog that ALWAYS yaps at me despite her, “No, no, no”.

    I don’t like the new Bobtroll as much as the old one (and I never read the comments of the old one, so that tells you something). I like pie much better.

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