I think DougJ and Mistermix are on the road (DougJ is somewhere really elitist, Mistermix said he was in Real America somewhere), and Anne Laurie is out and about, so I doubt there will be much in the way of threads today, because I have a ton to do.
Does anyone have any practical experience with this Fiskars Garden Cart
At any rate, I’m off to mow, weed-eat, edge the sidewalk, fertilize the lawn, weed the garden, and engage in some tomato bondage. I just can not pass up this 70 degree weather.
Brien Jackson
I swear to God, I just realized that this “eclipse” everyone is talking about on Facebook is one of those stupid Twilight movies and not actually an eclipse I hadn’t heard was coming. Does that make me stupid or morally superior?
cleek
@Brien Jackson:
ah… Twilight.
i thought everyone was excited about the Java IDE.
no, i’m just kidding. i really thought it was about the gum.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
I am thoroughly bored with politics anyways.
Svensker
But John, how can I avoid doing my work if you are working and not posting? This is not right and totally unfair to all procrastinators everywhere, especially me.
danimal
Tomato bondage??? This is a family website, for goodness sakes. Keep the bondage stuff for the overnight open threads, willya?
beltane
Sadly, No! has a bit about the Breitbart/Sullivan pissing match. Too bad the comment thread was hijacked by a very long-winded and persistent troll. http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/32153.html
beltane
@Brien Jackson: I have no use for vampires who don’t believe in premarital sex. How dull. The Hunger, with David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve, and Susan Sarandon was a real vampire movie.
PurpleGirl
A house I pass on my morning walk has two of the hanging tomato planters in the front yard. This morning I noticed a log of greenery hanging down. I didn’t see any tomatoes yet, but there is a lot of green leaves and stems and stuff. I’ll keep looking at them, waiting to see the fruit. (This yard is in the front of house, the house is far back at the back end of the lot.)
Rich Webb
I’ve been using this small ‘barrow and am quite happy with it. Small enough not to get in the way, large enough for a crappy gardener like me, non-rusting.
Doesn’t seem to have all of the kit that the Fiskars does but one point is that the center of gravity is between the wheels and the handle, while the Fiskars is in front of the wheels. One is lift and walk (or pull behind) and the other is push-down and walk (and probably no pull behind). Some prefer one, some the other.
I guess Amazon does carry everything …
cleek
@beltane:
the whatnow ?
is the blogosphere imploding ? is there nothing left to talk about but other bloggers and their fights with other bloggers ?
Bill H
I would avoid that cart like the plague. It looks totally useless.
Fern
That garden cart looks really badly balanced.
beltane
@cleek: That’s what Sadly, No does. It is a humor site that specializes in mocking conservative blogs, almost a more literary version of Failblog.
Irish Girl
I wish to the FSM that it was in the 70’s here…it’s supposed to be 112 (a heat warning is in effect).
PS: John, I have a female version of Tunch named Dusty…..I’ll have to share some of my photos of her malevolent slothfulness with you
KG
@cleek:
That’s a rhetorical question, right? Because I’m pretty sure that’s the entire point of the blogosphere.
BenA
I was just in Wisconsin and Illinois… are either of those places Real America? I don’t think Illinois is… especially because I was in Chicago. I did eat at Mike Ditka’s though, which was better than I expected.
I did drive through Indiana and Ohio… are those Real America anymore?
Or is Real America limited to Oklahoma, Nebraska, Mississippi, and parts of South Carolina?
YellowDog
I’m sure the Fiskars cart is good–everything else I have from Fiskars is first-rate–but I am a wheelbarrow man. Cheap, sturdy, good capacity, and, with a little practice, able to dump in a straight line–that describes the wheelbarrow (not me).
Rosalita
@beltane:
no kidding, on True Blood they do it all the time and Sookie likes getting bitten
beltane
You have to get one of those expensive wheelbarrows with the bicycle tires and the single handle. Anything else is more trouble than it’s worth. Here’s the Smart Cart from Organic Garden Supply in Maine: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/ogs/ogs_pic.php?pic=9271
Napoleon
To echo @11 and @12 above I would be surprised if you could haul a lot of weight in that thing (like gravel). After all you would be pivoting all of the weight on the axis of the wheels. Maybe it would be OK with grass clippings and only partially filled with dirt. It I were you I would try it at a garden shop or something before buying it.
AJ
Costco! I looked forever trying to find a good one at a reasonable price, and found the best there. Steel and aluminum and about $25 cheaper that than Fiskers you are considering.
Comrade Mary
Snoop Dogg has a thing for Sookie.
schrodinger's cat
Another use for the garden cart or a wheel barrow, you can wheel Tunch around so he can enjoy the great outdoors, it will be a good workout, so you can regain your girlish figure. A win-win for everyone!
NobodySpecial
@Irish Girl: You should totally see about mating Dusty with Tunch and raising alpacas.
BenA
I too need something along these lines… I was thinking about one of the double wheeled wheelbarrows… I have issues with the single wheel and the amount of crap (and rocks) I have to move.
Spaghetti Lee
@BenA:
Helpful hints: If you’re within 50 miles of a coast, or if the town you’re in has restaurants representing more than 2 ethnic groups, or if pro sports are more important than college sports, you’re not in Real America.
beltane
@BenA: The double-wheeled ones are much easier on the back and have the added advantage of being impossible to flip over.
QDC
This is epic. The 24 Types of Libertarian
p.a.
i have the true value plastic barrow also. as long as you are not hauling rock or mixing cement it does well. the base cracked after its 2nd or 3rd winter outside, but it still doesn’t leak.
merrinc
On my way home from a meeting last night, a small orange cat darted out in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and he disappeared into the woods. I put the car in reverse and then parked it and turned on the emergency blinkers. As soon as I called him, he came right to me and did not protest when I picked him up and put him in the car with me.
Got him home where our Dog Named Boo (who LOVES kittehs) was quite pleased to make his acquaintance. The four felines living here had mixed reactions. The oldest refused to acknowledge his existence, the laid-back tuxedo was mildly interested, the grudge holding gray&white was appalled, and the Maine Coon we adopted around xmas appeared somewhat annoyed before snubbing him (which is how her great big furry diva-ness treats pretty much everyone).
My 11 yr old daughter was thrilled even after I informed her that I would be calling a rescue org this morning. But…I forgot to instruct her not to fall in love with him overnight.
Just got back from the vet’s office where the new kitteh (since christened Tigger) got a clean bill of health and his first vaccinations. The vet thinks he’s around 12 weeks old and based on the area where we found him and his appearance (dried grease-type gunk on his legs and feet), we’re guessing the folks at a plant in that area had been feeding him occasionally.
Josie
The storm has passed after raining without stop all night with some wind – not too bad. My dogs are happily playing in the mud and looking forward to bringing it in the house. The cats have been released from the garage and have disappeared since they are afraid I will put them back in. The air conditioner seized up from all the water and the guys are here working on it while we sweat buckets. Good times.
some other guy
Two things:
1) Has anyone else noticed how AWFUL the new Google News layout is? Sweet jeebus, what were they thinking?
2) Why isn’t every Democratic congressperson and pundit calling up every media outlet they can to push this story. This is even worse for the GOP image than that idiot apologizing to BP, IMO.
cleek
@beltane:
yeah, i know S/N.
@KG:
it just seems like things have become a bit more meta lately.
cleek
@some other guy:
they’ve probably all left town for the holiday
ThatPirateGuy
@Brien Jackson:
Yes.
Corner Stone
Hmmm.
Joel
I’ve used carts like the Fiskars one. They work just fine for carrying things. Better than a wheelbarrow for that purpose. Totally useless for dumping things, however. Think about it as an all-terrain shopping cart.
inkadu
@Brien Jackson: I’m in the same boat. I thought Level 42 was a computer game and St. Louis Blues was a song.
catclub
Could anyone point me to a recent web posting/ website that
argued Hitler did not actually win many elections in order to obtain power? The specific one I have in mind had a table showing Unemployment rates and Nazi party vote fractions
over four time periods. The last one showed an unemployment rate of something like 52% !
It is bugging me like crazy that I cannot find it.
Likely places I saw the link: Here, Iglesias/ThinkProgress,
Tapped, Alicublog, LawyersGunsMoney
Thanks.
jibeaux
The Twilight movies with RiffTrax are pretty good. I certainly wouldn’t watch them without RiffTrax, of course.
My garden right now is a gorgeous explosion of leaves and blossoms and nothing to eat yet. Over the last week, okay, I’ve harvested two cucumbers and a handful of cherry tomatoes, but it seems to be perpetually on the verge of production. It’s really frustrating. Like Edward, in Twilight…… I am kidding.
I am growing some interesting things this year, like green and purple tomatillos, and some stripey pole beans, and a large number of tomatoes that I don’t know what they are. I was thinking if I ever actually get a yield, that I could just walk around the neighborhood with a basket and try to find anyone else growing a garden who might want to swap produce. Sort of my own little hyperlocal food movement.
SiubhanDuinne
@merrinc: Oh, what a sweet story! Twould have been better if you had been shopping for towels and pillowcases, but you can’t have everything.)
Congratulations to Tigger on his cleverness at finding you and your menagerie. You’re a good person, merrinc.
jibeaux
@some other guy:
I know that Senate rules are arcane and virtually incomprehensible, but how are they able to do this? And why were these rules drafted with the apparent intent to convey a superpower for evil?
catclub
Posted also at the end of the Barber thread:
Could anyone point me to a recent web posting/ website that
argued Hitler did not actually win many elections in order to obtain power? The specific one I have in mind had a table showing Unemployment rates and Nazi party vote fractions
over four time periods. The last one showed an unemployment rate of something like 52% !
It is bugging me like crazy that I cannot find it.
Likely places I saw the link: Here, Iglesias/ThinkProgress,
Tapped, Alicublog, LawyersGunsMoney, Sadly No
Thanks.
jeffreyw
Feeling very middle American right now. Mrs J is eating our first tomato with some salt, munching away on a hotdog with pickle relish and mustard. Honey mustard though, does that disqualify? Dammit.
Extra points: She’s gonna snap some green beans when she is done with lunch.
Dammit, we have some French’s she coulda ate.
some other guy
@jibeaux:
The long and the short of it is that the Senate can bypass most of the normal bureaucratic rules (committees, debates, amendments, etc.) and simply pass a bill through unanimous consent. This allows them to quickly pass no-brainer stuff and focus their time and attention on the harder stuff.
Unfortunately, Republicans have decided that it’s in their political interest to do everything they can to slow down and/or stop virtually anything that comes before the Senate so they’ve been denying unanimous consent on normally uncontroversial things stuff like benefits for homeless veterans.
schrodinger's cat
@merrinc: Aww what a sweet story. We can has pictures of the kitteh?
eemom
@cleek:
the question is, is the Breitbart-Sullivan pissing match Meta over Weigel-listserv-gate itself, or is it another layer of GrandMeta over the Greenwald-Goldberg pissing match?
Arguably the second, because B-S didn’t want to get outpissed by G-G.
John Cole
@catclub: You found that at… Balloon Juice. Follow the link in that thread.
Bob
That cart looks terrible. You would have to push down on the handle to get it to move. Looks like a back breaker.
arguingwithsignposts
@catclub:
It was a post by Steven Taylor at outsidethebeltway.com
jeffreyw
Hitch-22. Too bad, so sad.
Indie Tarheel
@inkadu:
This calls for a musical interlude.
Paul L.
Hard to come up with topics without any DailyKos polls showing how evil Republicians are or getting the daily Narative from JournoList.
Here is some spin from Media Matters
Reality 1, Breitbart 0
The “study” claims that the change in defining “waterboarding” as not being torture started in 2004. JournoList started in 2007.
The “study” also disingenuously uses words that describe methods of torture using water as being the same as waterboarding.
4jkb4ia
Gary Gensler attempts to imitate Kagan by joking that he left Goldman Sachs “a bar mitzvah ago”.
(Found liveblogging of yesterday’s proceedings at WSJ. They got bored with it about noon. Commented that the AIG folks were the least likely of anyone who has testified to that commission to admit they did anything wrong. Which is saying something.)
(Perceived that commission members were interested in roasting GS testifiers this morning. Gave them another heap of documents to submit.)
cmorenc
@John Cole
…regarding the GARDEN CART THING:
Lowe’s Home Improvement has a much better cart (which I own one of) than the Fisker’s-style cart (which I used to have a closely similar version of from another manufacturer). The Lowe’s cart is a 4-wheel wagon with sides that can optionally be unpinned and folded down, and a sturdy rubber bed on bottom (removable for cleaning) that sits atop a sturdy metal mesh/frame underneath. It has significantly larger capacity than the Fiskar’s-style cart without being unwieldy large, and is much more versatile. I keep mine down at my house at the beach, where the cart nicely does double-duty for both a variety of landscaping/maintainance tasks, as well as hauling chairs, coolers, umbrellas, etc back and forth to the beach from the house.
Lowe’s calls it a “Deluxe Garden Cart”, go to http://www.lowes.com and search for “garden cart”; the cart is bright yellow in color.
Kered (formerly Derek)
@catclub:
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/06/27/everyone-is-hitler/
All I did was google “Hitler balloon-juice.” Your Google fu is incredibly weak.
EDIT: Beaten by Cole. Bah.
Evolutionary
The wheels on that Fiskars cart are too small. It will sink into soft soil.
Get a garden way cart or Vermont garden cart.
We have had ours since 1985 and it is going strong! It is the large model with the dump front.
Kered (formerly Derek)
And it’s only two hundred dollars!!!
Tonal Crow
Here’s my nomination for Worst Commentariat Evah.
Corner Stone
Not to stoke the meta, but I just watched the Lara Logan interview on CNN’s Reliable Sources.
What a stinker that was. Taibbi had it right when he went after that nonsense.
jibeaux
I am in no way suggesting that anyone engage him in the substance of the debate, but as a sort of quick evaluation of my own status does Paul’s post make the slightest bit of sense to anyone else? Because if so, I will get more caffeine or a nap.
Tonal Crow
@jibeaux: You’re alright; it makes no sense.
Corner Stone
@Tonal Crow: Tangentially related, and to what El Cid likes to remind us of ~ I refi’d my mortgage in Jan 2010 for 4.75%, a rate I didn’t think I would ever see in my lifetime.
The same company would now qualify me for 4.625% if I wanted to do it again.
This is the absolute best time in modern history to borrow money. Anyone who says anything about the deficit should be strung up by their genitals.
jibeaux
@Tonal Crow:
Years ago, I think it was on MAD tv or something, they had a sketch mocking those daytime Maury-style talk shows. There was a blind guest, and everyone else was just over-the-top hostile to him. One audience member said “If I was blind I would like, try to learn to see!”. Another dialogue was:
other guest: “Have you read my book, ‘Coping with Blindness?’
blind guy: “No. Is it available in Braille?”
guest: “NO! It’s in English! The language of the United States of America!” (wild hooting and applause)
and on like that for a while.
Pretty much every news article comment thread reminds me of that sketch.
kay
@jibeaux:
It doesn’t make any sense to me, and I can ordinarily understand his comments, if not agree with them.
He’s now reached the point where he’s speaking a language accessible only to a select sub-sect of internet conservatives.
It’s in code.
harlana peppper
how can i stop the text from running off the screen??
Mike G
The 24 Types of Libertarian:
http://www.leftycartoons.com/the-24-types-of-libertarian/
cleek
@jibeaux:
looks like a fairly typical exaltation of pie, to me.
Corner Stone
@jibeaux: I think he’s saying Journolist was formed in 2007 with the intent to force people in the news to start calling waterboarding torture, which they stopped doing in 2004.
I can’t really make any other kind of sense of it if that isn’t it.
Rosalita
@harlana peppper:
use a browser besides IE….
Tonal Crow
@jibeaux: Precisely. They’re not even trying to justify their Hooverism; it’s all just hating on Obama, “Demonrats” and “lieberals”.
cleek
@Corner Stone:
i bought a (used) car last month. i got 3.2% without a fight. then, last week, they lowered the rate to 2.9%, out of the blue.
sweeeeet.
Corner Stone
Hey Cole,
Why’d you kill my comment at number 5, right behind Svensker?
harlana peppper
@Rosalita: but i hate firefox :(
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
Well, I’m no big fan of Hitch, but I wouldn’t wish esophageal (or any) cancer on him. Speedy recovery, Hitch, so you can get back to being the annoying cranky and gifted writer you are.
jibeaux
@Corner Stone:
You’re probably right. Yes, that sounds like a terribly, terribly scandalous thing, too. They’re worse than the torturers, those Journolisters.
Rosalita
@harlana peppper:
I use Chrome, it’s not bad
fucen tarmal
@some other guy:
because of the capitol containment dome, and the attitude of
“i’m ready for my junk shot mr. demint”
oil companies have been so powerful for so long, people still fear the backlash of holding them accountable.
Napoleon
@Corner Stone:
I am currently at 5.5% and when I heard the rates are lowest since they started tracking in 1971 I checked and I can get a 20 year at 4.375%. The payment works out to nearly the same, but it shaves 5 or 6 years off my term. So basically by paying an estimated $2900 in closing cost, plus whatever I loose in deductions, I loose 5 or 6 years of payments in excess of $1000 a month.
Now I just have to hope my house has not lost more then $20k since its last appraisal.
John Cole
@Corner Stone: Check the email you use to comment here. I sent you a message.
dr. luba
Slightly OT, but still Fiskars related. I bought the best pruning shears ever from Home Depot this year–a ratcheting pruner that is sold, sadly, only by Home Depot. They will cut through just about anything, so they are a useful thing to have if you are doing delayed yard maintenance.
Hey, I was busy the last few years.
fucen tarmal
@jeffreyw:
chrissy hitchens can be all kinds of wrong,but simultaneously intentionally and unintentionally amusing….i wouldn’t swoon in his presence but i was saddened to hear that.
twiffer
in news that no one cares about: it’s been a week straight with only 3 accidents, so i’m calling an official end to diapers! yes my son has decided he’s now potty trained. super-double high fives for everyone!
considering my lovely wife’s highly sensitive gag reflex resulted in my promotion to “master changer of poopy diapers”, i am rather grateful for this development.
jeffreyw
@Napoleon: My credit union is having a car loan special in cooperation with three local dealers, under 3% iirc it’s 2.68. I deled the email they sent me.
Edit: 2.65% one week only, just looked at their site.
Rochelle Lesser
It looks like the one my hubby Gary uses. Gotta ask him when he gets in.
Check out my Golden Retriever Alfie, inspecting dad’s green thumb in our organic garden, this year with incredible raised beds and a deer fence attached above our wood fence. The critters were eating and ruining everything, but not now!
http://wp.me/p27Fz-2V2
djork
Some of you may remember that I was having cat troubles last week. I just found out that my male cat, Luke, has sinus cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes. I’m pretty torn up because he is one of the best and sweetest cats I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I’m not really sure what the treatment options until I have a longer talk with the vet, but I am pretty sure that whatever they are, unless it’s under $1000 or there’s a really kick ass payment plan, I will not be able to afford it. To say I am depressed right now is an understatement.
I think that how I feel right now has killed any desire to have children I may have had. I can’t even begin to imagine how I wou dfeel if this was my child and not just an adopted “child.”
QuaintIrene
I’m in the market for a new garden cart too. I stupidly didn’t put mine away last season and it got socked with a massive ice/snow storm. The weight snapped the axle in half.
licensed to kill time
That story on Hitch led me to the Bulwer-Lytton Prize winner this year. The winning opening sentence:
Suck.on.that.
grandlaff
Hi John,
I’m a lurker, compelled to comment about the garden cart. I want to second Evolutionary’s comment at #57, the Vermont garden cart design is the way to go. I’ve had this collapsible aluminum one for 2 years and love it: http://www.cleanairgardening.com/alfoutgaca.html
Pricey, but lightweight, easy to fold and store, and, push or pull, makes loads far easier to move with minimal effort. Available from multiple sellers, just google “aluminum garden cart.”
We would like pics of whichever cart you eventually purchase. Preferably with pets riding in it.
Napoleon
@jeffreyw:
If you have money and are not afraid of loosing your job this has been a great time to get deals. A little over a year ago, which was about a year before I had intended to buy a car, the government instituted the program to boost car sales by allowing you to write off the sales tax, and Toyota was running 0% loans for 5 years, so I bought by convincing myself that even if I lost my job the money I would get from the old car would pay for the money I put down and a years worth of payments (I noticed Toyota running 0% loans, but I think less then 5 years, when they ran into their troubles recently).
Rosalita
@djork:
You know the treatment might be worse for your kitty than the illness, so a humane ending might not be the worse you can do.
Don’t give up on sharing your life with other “child”ren, furry or otherwise, it sounds like you have a lot of love to give. It will just take a little time to heal.
stuckinred
@QuaintIrene: Can’t you replace the axle?
Right Wing Extreme
@Svensker:
“But John, how can I avoid doing my work if you are working and not posting? This is not right and totally unfair to all procrastinators everywhere, especially me. ”
Me too. I don’t feel like doing for the company today.
jibeaux
@djork:
I’m so sorry to hear that.
I don’t know if it helps at all, but cancer is painful and awful, and if you have to choose euthanasia over doing nothing, I don’t think you should feel bad about that. I think the pet gods smile down on people who loved their animals and took care of them well, and let them go without suffering.
I was depressed for quite some time about the death of a house rabbit years ago. Socialized rabbits have a lot more personality than some people think.
stuckinred
@Rochelle Lesser: What a sweet pup! We used double loop ornamental fencing this year and it looks and works great.
Right Wing Extreme
@djork:
I feel for you. I recently had to let go of one of my furry children. He had developed a feline carcinoma caused by his vaccinations, and it was to late by the time they figured out what it was.
flukebucket
@Rosalita:
I use Firefox for Balloon-Juice and Balloon-Juice only. Works fine for me and I never have to deal with the text and strike through shit that comes up from time to time.
Oh, and I think I will take this home for the wife to read.
Ya’ll pray for me.
stuckinred
@jibeaux: Cancer treatment is painful and awful as well. Here’s a good article on pet hospice.
Corner Stone
@Napoleon: I was at 5.625% (which I was thrilled with!) so techinically I should not have refi’d for less than a full point off but I did it for personal reasons, plus it shaves a little off my total nut.
The paperwork fees and closing BS is so much straight ripoff it makes me sick to my stomach.
Plus, like I told the lady this time, “When I bought this house in 2003 I was done in 3 days. This time you all asked me for proof my great grandfather had a job and then slapped on the latex and bent me over to make sure I was warmblooded before you approved me. I enjoyed the slap and tickle, now give me my damn coupon book.”
stuckinred
@flukebucket: You take that home and you’ll need prayer!
jibeaux
I know this doesn’t mean what it sounds like, but it still makes me giggle Butthead-style.
beltane
@Napoleon: We just refinanced through a credit union at 4% for a 15-year mortgage. For the same monthly payment, we shave eight years off the term of the loan. Plus, my old mortgage was sold to one of the TARP banks who turned out to be real dicks right off the bat.
Corner Stone
@John Cole: I see it. I’ll get to it in a second. Right now it seems that admins at Yahoo! have suspended my account and need me to tell them my social security number, mother’s maiden name, bank account password and three credit cards to re-activate me.
Corner Stone
@jibeaux: “Monthly nut” aka total mortgage payment to make all bills.
But as a single dad, monthly nut also seems about right in other aspects.
harlana peppper
It seems everyone I know recently, including myself, has had to have one or more cats euthanized; my first experience doing that and I have never cried so much and so hard in my life, but it was necessary, you do what you have to do
licensed to kill time
@djork:
That is so sad. I have been in the same situation, and making the decision is not easy. Take it a step at a time, and know that whatever your decision you are making it out of love for your Luke. Letting them go painlessly is an act of love, if it comes to that. My heart goes out to you.
jibeaux
In other good news, for the month of July in the Carolinas only, you can get Cheerwine Kreme-filled Krispy Kremes. I know pie is popular, but I just don’t see how you’re going to top that unless someone comes out with a SunDrop Merengue filled Krispy Kreme.
Rosalita
@flukebucket:
that’s how I’ve been using Chrome, for my B-J reading pleasure… have to use the office-mandated IE otherwise
Napoleon
@beltane:
That likely works out to effectively getting one free college education for a kid if you have one at a pretty good private university. Good for you.
I read several months ago that income inequality rises in severe downturns in part because those who are not losing income get more bang for their buck. While some person in his mid-20s who was saving to buy a house now can not because he has been unemployed over a year and he may never fully recover financially, but we have been effectively handed ten of thousands of dollars for free, in a manner of speaking.
bryanD
“Does anyone have any practical experience with this Fiskars Garden Cart?”
eemom
The Wheel of Empty has a response up to John’s post of yesterday, for those interested in further useless meta-musing.
Napoleon
@beltane:
By the way, PS, since I went to college in the early to mid-1980s and the subsidized low interest rates on my student loans were something like 10-12-14% I can’t help feeling that being able to lock in at low rates now is something of a make up call from the God of Economics.
KG
@QDC: In my defense, I fall into the last category, or at least the “briefly tempting” one.
CynDee
@merrinc: Who’s a softie, huh, huh? Who is??
We can has pics of ALL yer critters? Hmm? Thanx..
Corner Stone
@Napoleon: And I thought my student loans at 7.5% were rude.
bago
Redstate: The Gathering.
This grammatical failure gets paid to write? Seriously?
jibeaux
@bago:
Plus, if they really wanted to support Arizona, wouldn’t they go to, I don’t know, Arizona?
Ah, I’ve got it. Damned hard to find wetsuits in Arizona.
Craig
Oh my God.
How does Goldberg follow up the Greenwald thing? By uncritically posting a column by America’s Concern Troll that is, quite literally, built entirely around Nazi analogies.
The man is a fucking disease.
licensed to kill time
@bago:
Redstate: The Gathering…sounds like a horror movie with erotic overtones.
You will be shocked at the rubbing in of hippie noses!
Won’t someone think of the children.
Sentient Puddle
@bago: They’ll be supporting Arizona…in Texas? Well played.
Also too, someone remind me to take a vacation those days.
Napoleon
@Corner Stone:
And to add insult to injury it use to be that you could write off any interest paid on consumer debt until the Tax Reform Act of 1986 which did away with the deduction (the deductibility of payments on your house is the “sausage making” result of the power of the Realtor lobby getting it exempted from the change in the law). Of course the year I graduated was 1986, the exact time I had maxed out on my consumer debt (at least until I bought a house years later).
(I also perfectly timed my entry into the work force with the Greenspan increase in FICA taxes that were sold as building up a surplus for people like me when I retired. Now that the government will need to begin paying off on the deal people like Pete Peterson and the WaPo editorial page want to screw me).
Corner Stone
@jibeaux: It’s a hell of a lot cheaper to fly into PHX then any airport near Austin. And PHX is set up to handle convention-esque business much better than Austin.
So I can only conclude that they are jealous and really just want to check out an actual cool environment, and needed an excuse to visit great people, food and music.
Corner Stone
@Napoleon: Remind me to never do the “jumping chest-bump” high five with you.
I don’t want any of that bad juju rubbing off on me.
Corner Stone
@Sentient Puddle:
Bullpuckey. I suggest you rent a vendor spot at the convention, or maybe right outside, and sell them all kinds of cheapass foofaraws, gadgets, and gimmicks.
Something with RW slogans, tax related shenanigans, pics of Joker Obama t-shirts ~ all made in China and marked up 700%.
This is your opportunity.
Napoleon
@Corner Stone:
I can’t say that I blame you, and I haven’t even told you about my love life yet.
cleek
Mark Theissen: soccer = soshulist.
why? well, among other things:
an epic fail, but just one among many.
Svensker
@jibeaux:
No! I can’t even imagine. Well, I can, and it sounds really yummy. Man. I’d like the donut, but even more, I’d like a large Cheerwine and a tray of Lexington BBQ, stat. Sigh.
MattR
@cleek: I recently heard a DJ on FM radio make a similar comment. And I had the exact same thought in response :)
jibeaux
@Svensker:
Cheerwine’s great, but now I’m secretly pining for a SunDrop-Kreme filled donut.
stuckinred
@MattR: Fucking morons are the reason I got out of running kids sports programs after 20 years. Back in the day soccer was really good because parents didn’t think they knew everything about it.
djork
How about the Cheerwine on your tray with the BBQ? A place called Smokin’ Stokes in Greenville, SC makes their BBQ sauce from Cheerwine. So freakin’ tasty.
BGK
Maybe you can spare some good thoughts for my Sophia kitty? She broke a fang, somehow, and is at the vet now, awaiting surgery to have the root extracted. This is the most serious thing ever to happen to one of the Black and White Cats, so I’m pretty nervous.
burnspbesq
@BenA:
I’ve been reading “Before the Storm,” by Rick Pearlstein. Interesting to learn that teh crazy has always been strong in South Carolina. It was the first state whose Republican party fell in love with Goldwater in 1960.
jibeaux
I can’t believe someone is actually saying “From each according to his ability” about the under-7 set.
Let me fill you in on a little secret about kids, Marc. They’re all leeches. Not a one of ’em since the Culkins pulls their own weight. And then they expect you to provide food and shelter and clothes for them. Also too, they all chase the damn ball.
Seriously, what’s wrong with these people? If you’re playing a game with a ball and a preschooler, if you haven’t reduced them to tears by the end of it you’re compared to an economic institution? I’ve said it before, but this isn’t a political philosophy, it’s an entry in the DSM-IV.
MattR
@stuckinred: My parents involvement with my soccer playing was to (a) drop me off at practice, (b) show up at games and cheer and tell me “good job” and (c) occassionally kick the ball around with me if I wanted to. My biggest regret is that I stopped playing shortly after getting glasses.
@BGK: Best of luck. Thinking good thoughts.
@jibeaux: This
Kered (formerly Derek)
@licensed to kill time:
Bulwer-Lytton sucks. Check out Lyttle Lytton. (Google it, I don’t think WP will let me link it here.)
Corner Stone
Just saw an NBC ad for Sunday Night Football.
Be still my beating heart.
MattR
@Corner Stone: That is exciting. My tickets for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremony arrived yesterday. Just a damn shame that everyone I was going with has had to cancel for one reason or another.
flukebucket
@burnspbesq:
Be sure you read Nixonland next if you have not already read it.
Real America scares me more than Afghanistan ever has.
Martin
@cleek: I remember playing soccer when I was 6 and learning how to throw an elbow against the other 1st graders without getting caught by the ref. Oh sure, the kid would go down and hold his face and cry and bleed and shit, and I’d just shrug and jog away backward. I mean, it’s their own damn fault for not knowing how to take a dive and drawing a red card against me, but it’s not like they didn’t get anything out of it – there were a lot of tooth fairy quarters at the end of the day for those kids, and did they ever thank me for that? Shit no. But that’s the free market for you. I never complained.
stuckinred
@flukebucket: If you have 6 months! God that’s a long book.
licensed to kill time
@Kered (formerly Derek): Hunh, learn somethin’ new every day, thanks!
Here is the 2010 winner:
(you’re right, WP disappeared my post when I tried to link the site, WTF?)
Corner Stone
I’ve had a few tame jalapenos recently but last night I made homemade tostadas and damn! I sliced a raw one for a little extra oomph and it like to kill a brother.
burnspbesq
@flukebucket:
Read Nixonland last year. Explains a lot about how our politics got to be the way it is.
burnspbesq
@Corner Stone:
If you have a spice death wish, go to the halal food cart on the corner of 53rd and Sixth in NYC, order the combo plate, and load it up with the red sauce. Seventeen on a scale of one to ten.
MattR
@burnspbesq: Worked at 53rd and 7th for a few years and was too scared (about food quality) to ever try any of the street cart items.
Kered (formerly Derek)
@licensed to kill time:
I think my favorite Lyttle Lytton entry of all time is:
“Pika…chu,” thought Pikachu.
Corner Stone
@burnspbesq: I do have a spice death wish but $350 airfare sounds a little high for the lunch special.
I’ll keep it in mind next time I’m there for business.
*Funny story, at least to me. The last few times I’ve been to NYC the person I work with has insisted we go to a BBQ place there for first lunch or first dinner.
Napoleon
@MattR:
I use to live in Canton. That is a fun event.
Chat Noir
Per Benen, the GOP is reversing course with regards to subpoenas in the BP probe. Glad to hear it though I still think the GOP is beyond loathsome.
And to the folks in this thread who have kitties with health issues, my heart is with you.
flukebucket
@stuckinred:
It is thicker than a fifty dollar Bible but I really enjoy Perlstein. His books are interesting and well written. Kind of like watching a good three hour movie. You don’t realize how much time has passed until it is over.
Spaghetti Lee
Pete Stark is shrill: http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/rep-pete-stark-mocks-minutemen-at-town-hall-who-are-you-going-to-kill-today.php?ref=fpi
MattR
@Napoleon: Done the trip twice already (2004-Barry Sanders and John Elway, 2008-Art Monk and Darryl Green) and it is a blast. It is a bit of a drive, but not too bad if you have one or more other drivers to help. We usually hit the Rock and Roll HOF as well. And this year the Indians are actually going to be in town so I was/am hoping to see a game.
Khârn the Betrayer
Who broke the website? Wordwrapping has failed in comments and the main page, and half the comments are struck-through. I frequently think of this blog like the twenty year old Nissan I drove in college – a car I was very fond of, but which was cantankerous and continually on the very edge of breaking down. One day it finally suffered a cascading failure that saw most everything under the hood spill out the bottom and onto the road.
BFTBG/SFTST
stuckinred
@flukebucket: Not when you read books like I do ! There were several things I was directly involved with and he did a nice job with them.
stuckinred
@MattR: I reached over and touched Gayle Sayers jersey there years ago!
flukebucket
@Khârn the Betrayer:
That is the beauty of Firefox. You never know the site is broken until somebody complains.
licensed to kill time
Presidential scholars rank the Prez’s: Obama is our 15th best, Bush in the bottom five.
MattR
@stuckinred: Nice. Well, I’ve got extra tickets if anyone is looking to go this year for Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, etc :)
BTW, ESPN recently did a good Outside The Lines piece on Kermit Alexander, the guy who hit Sayers when he tore up his knee.
Bob L
@Spaghetti Lee: hehe, my congresscritter in action. And here I thought the man was bland.
suzanne
@djork: Hugs.
I lost my Nico to kidney failure two years ago (and lost two doggies since, as well), and, God, it was so hard. I still miss that damn cat all the time.
Next week, the husband and I are heading to the Humane Society to bring home a new friend. It’s time.
suzanne
@suzanne: Shit, not all of my comment went through. ARGH.
Anyway, I was gonna say, give yourself the time to heal, and it will happen. When Nico was sick, the vet told me I could spend $15K on a kidney transplant, which, as a graduate student loving with her mom….yeah, RIGHT. So I know how the money thing can seem especially cruel. But just do the best you can do for your Luke, and let go of the guilt.
Hugs, for reals. Losing animals sucks ASS. But loving them is even better than losing them is shitty, thank FSM.
Napoleon
@MattR:
The only one I actually attended, as a guest, was the year Steve Largent and Kellen Winslow were inducted and we were treated to dueling right wing and left wing political speeches from those 2. I also got tickets to the dinner that year. Being a professional and young at the time you are kind of expected to actually work at planning and the events so I did that for years. Worse yet at the place I worked one of my bosses was the chairman of the board at the HOF (I just checked he is no longer but 2 other people I worked with are on the board) and they were a client of ours. It is considered a combination Miss America Pageant/Moon Shot/Mardi Gras type of event and a reason for being in that town. I did serve Fred Biletnikoff’s kid beers for him and his dad one year when working the bar
jeffreyw
Need moar puppies.
Randy P
@licensed to kill time: How did Bush outscore not just one but four other presidents?
Agree with the commenters that it’s absurd to rank Obama based on only 18 months in office.
licensed to kill time
@Randy P:
Well, if they had asked me, I would have given Bush a minus five. Worst.President.Ever.
MattR
@licensed to kill time:
And not just of these United States
Corner Stone
@MattR:
That piece bothered me. I haven’t puzzled it all out yet, but there’s a big missing chunk there.
stuckinred
@MattR: Quite a haul from Athens, GA. BTW did everyone see that our AD got busted for DUI last night with a 28 year old chick in the car.
RMidd
I’ve had the green Ames “Easy Roller” for years and I LOVE IT! It’s not strictly a wheelbarrow only — it performs many useful tasks for me and has held up beautifully. It steers easily… and it wasn’t expensive!
MattR
@Corner Stone: Did you read the column or see the piece on TV? The column is definitely more detailed.
@stuckinred: Good point. I have pretty much done the NYC to Athens drive (actually ended up in Cartersville, GA for work then headed to Athens to see my sister on the way back home). Was just me and the dog and it was quite a hike.
And since my sister is over the age of 28, no longer lives in Athens and is married, I had not heard about the UGA AD’s escapades. But 28 is a lot better than 18 or, as Lawrence Taylor recently discovered, 16.
flukebucket
@stuckinred:
Oh yeah. I read over on David Hale’s blog that there was going to be a press conference at 6:30 and Evans would be there. My guess is he resigns.
He fucked up big time.
Corner Stone
@MattR:
The TV piece.
The only ESPN I read is Sportsguy on Page2.
But that makes sense as I wasn’t sure what to make of the TV spot. It made me start reaching to make sure my wallet was still there and the doors were locked.
Corner Stone
@flukebucket: The DUI is def a problem. But the 28 yr old, even if not his wife, is old enough to make her own decisions.
MattR
@Corner Stone: If you have the time, go read the full article I linked to above. It talks about Kermit Alexander’s troubled past and how his mother had kept him on the straight and narrow when he started to stray (which was kinda important to see how/why he could relate to Tiequan Cox). The TV piece also really glossed over how Kermit turned back down that path to find his mother’s killers, how his future wife helped him turn his life back around (IIRC, they had a lengthy on and off relationship before it got romantic) and a few other things that will probably give you the context you were looking for. I was actually quite disappointed when I finally saw the piece on TV having read the article a few weeks prior.
PS. And then you can go read Simmons’s piece on the World Cup.
Dave Trowbridge
Just off-hand, looking at the Fiskars cart, I’d say the wheels are way too small and will tend to get hung up on things like curbs and such. Look for something with wheels that are almost bicycle sized–I had one like that once that my father built for me, and it went over obstacles much more easily and was easier to push around.
Also, your back will likely hate the Fiskars with any reasonable load in it, given the angle you’ll be pushing at.
I prefer wheelbarrows anyway. Much more maneuverable. But get one with a solid tire.
That Other Mike
Don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this, but – Sully is being a dick to Hitchens:
“I’m devastated by the news. We need Christopher around for a long, long time. I do not know the details and understand his need for privacy.
[…]
May the God he believes poisons everything be with him. And a simple word of encouragement: surviving a potentially fatal disease can be a form of liberation. I look forward to an even more liberated Hitch.”
I don’t know about anyone else, but this seems extremely inappropriate; we all know Teh Hitch has done his fair share to piss off religionists, but taking the announcement of his cancer as an opportunity to proselytise is kind of a dick move.
Ken Lovell
Put your tomatoes inside a cage, dummy.