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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  November 23, 20109:20 pm| 133 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging

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My brother snapped this picture of Rosie earlier today, sitting and begging me for just a taste of whatever it was I was eating (cold pizza):

She can sit like that forever. It’s really funny. I think she looks like Opus.

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Previous Post: « That Is The Only Lesson You Could Learn
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Reader Interactions

133Comments

  1. 1.

    eemom

    November 23, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    drat. I just posted an OT on the last thread.

  2. 2.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    Are you keeping her after all? I don’t think I can stand to admire her cuteness if she will be gone soon.

  3. 3.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    November 23, 2010 at 9:25 pm

    I give Max the crust. Then around 3am, he shits all over the rug in front of the door.

  4. 4.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    November 23, 2010 at 9:28 pm

    Maybe the government can pass a law requiring that companies spend between 80 and 85 percent of their earnings on the company and employees. Only 15 to 20 percent can go as profits to investors.

  5. 5.

    kuvasz

    November 23, 2010 at 9:29 pm

    I do believe that there is a kangaroo somewhere in Rosie’s family tree.

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    November 23, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    Introduce her to a piano keyboard and she can go viral in no time.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    November 23, 2010 at 9:38 pm

    Kute puppeh. She still looks a little…big boned, but less than when she first hopped into your vee hikkle.

  8. 8.

    geg6

    November 23, 2010 at 9:38 pm

    Damn, she looks cute doing that, Cole.

    I, for one, am ready for my favorite holiday of the year. My John will be cooking me dinner tomorrow for my birthday (steamed oysters, spinach salad, filet mignon with mushroom demi glacé and potato and leek pancakes, a surprise dessert, a Chardonnay, and a Pinot noir). And then the big family feast Thursday with lots of wine, hilarity with my crazy family and whatever strays my sister rounds up, and football. I prefer occasions/holidays that center on food and drink and good company more than the holidays just down the road that center on presents and stress. A half day in the office tomorrow and then the good times can start to roll.

  9. 9.

    demkat620

    November 23, 2010 at 9:38 pm

    As a fellow person owned by a JRT, I have to say the stare is most unnerving.

    My Jack can stare at you for days.

  10. 10.

    Violet

    November 23, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    Cute! Who’s the dog in the background? Is that Boghan (sp?). He’s getting big!

  11. 11.

    farmette

    November 23, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    Rosie is nervous in her graciousness. I think somewhere and often along the line she was given harsh and inconsistent responses to her needs. Now she has a home and is trying very hard to bring it all together. And that pizza is key. Hi Rosie!

  12. 12.

    General Stuck

    November 23, 2010 at 9:53 pm

    Aside from the always lovely Rosie, that is a very well done photo.

  13. 13.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 9:54 pm

    Workers in Portugal are planning a massive strike for tomorrow. The media says this is bad because it “undermines investor confidence”. Boo hoo.

  14. 14.

    MikeJ

    November 23, 2010 at 9:55 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): They did recently say insurance companies have to spend 80%+ on health care. But of course since Obama is worse than HitlerBush and sold us out, we never hear about it.

  15. 15.

    Annamal

    November 23, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Our first cat could do that by distributing her massive bulk downwards to balance, was adorable!

  16. 16.

    salacious crumb

    November 23, 2010 at 10:10 pm

    you wear your shoes in the house? and no one complains?

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    November 23, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    Happy birthday early, geg.

    And post some of that dinner for us, will you? Sounds delish.

  18. 18.

    Kifaru

    November 23, 2010 at 10:23 pm

    My basset used to sit like that. She looked a bit more like a person because she had longer legs:) Then again, she thought she WAS a person.

  19. 19.

    Annie

    November 23, 2010 at 10:24 pm

    @geg6:

    Have a Happy Birthday and a glorious Thanksgiving!

  20. 20.

    Cain

    November 23, 2010 at 10:26 pm

    @salacious crumb:

    you wear your shoes in the house? and no one complains?

    Well it is his house, the only other creatures living wtih him can’t really talk. heh.

    cain

  21. 21.

    You Don't Say

    November 23, 2010 at 10:29 pm

    She does look like Opus!

  22. 22.

    General Stuck

    November 23, 2010 at 10:32 pm

    Been watching the KY Wildcats play Washington and it is early season ugly by a bunch of freshman, though very talented freshman. i guess Calipiri is running something like a minor league for the pros, one season of the cream of last years high school crop, then bye bye. Don’t know how the deeply b ball crazy KY fans will take this, but as long as they win, the natives are usually happy.

  23. 23.

    freelancer

    November 23, 2010 at 10:32 pm

    DougJ, this smbc‘s for you.

  24. 24.

    suzanne

    November 23, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    Rosie is adorable.

    My mom is in New York for a week visiting relatives, so I am dog-sitting her chihuahua Chica for a week. Chica is kicking my Luna’s ass, despite the fact that Luna is about 55 pounds of solid Lab/Pit Bull muscle. It really does prove that is *is* the size of the fight in the dog.

    I realized a few minutes ago that this will be the first Thanksgiving in four years that I haven’t spent at school in studio working on architecture crap. For that, and for finishing master’s degree, I am feeling thankful.

  25. 25.

    Annie

    November 23, 2010 at 10:37 pm

    I am into self-torture. I am watching the finals of Dancing with the Stars. Bristol P has to be the worst dancer EVER. And, yet she is in the finals. A metaphor for the upcoming GOP in 2012. Sarah P — the worst Presidential candidate ever — yet in the finals. Why, why is this uneducated, nasty, horrible family constantly in our faces? And, why, why do we pretend that they are more than what they are?

  26. 26.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    November 23, 2010 at 10:38 pm

    Crap, almost forgot to post this:

    As a lowly grocery store cashier in my spare time when I’m not in school, please, oh fucking please be nice to your grocery store cashiers when you stock up on Thanksgiving crap during the next couple of days. I have to work on Thanksgiving day itself, and if you forget a few things, its okay to go shopping that day. But please wake up early, and do all of your major shopping tomorrow. Don’t wait till 10 minutes before the store closes on Thanksgiving to buy a shitload of items and fuck over poor cashiers who want to go and enjoy their holiday.

    This has been a PSA from Amanda HQ.

  27. 27.

    Joseph Nobles

    November 23, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    I think Bristol won DWTS. ETA: Apparently not yet.

    Anyway, does Rosie do a sighing grumble when you resist doing something she wants done? Henri, the JRT I took care of for a year or so, would do that. He’d stare for a while, then lay his head down on his paws and give out the most grumbly, disgusted sigh you’ve ever heard.

  28. 28.

    gogol's wife

    November 23, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    @Annie:

    How can you possibly watch that? I used to be a DWTS fan, and I would have enjoyed seeing Jennifer Grey, but I cannot even look at the still pictures from this season.

    I’ll just look at Rosie for a couple of hours and be more entertained.

  29. 29.

    Annie

    November 23, 2010 at 10:46 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    You are awesome…Have a great day, and I hope your message goes far and wide….:)

  30. 30.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 23, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    @Annie: you’d think she’d lay off the candy bars. yesh. dancing with the chunky stars.

    http://www.blogcdn.com/www.stylelist.com/media/2010/09/bristol-palin-dancing-with-the-stars-590bes092110.jpg

  31. 31.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 23, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    BREAKING: this just in, in a shocking upset, Bristol Palin has won the Heisman Trophy.

  32. 32.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 10:49 pm

    @Annie: Because reality TV cheapened almost every aspect of American life. These days it’s the trashier the better and the Palins fit the bill very nicely.

  33. 33.

    MikeJ

    November 23, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    @freelancer: Deflation doesn’t decrease the value of money. It increases it. Cartoonists should stick to funny, stay away from money.

  34. 34.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    @Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century): One of the gossip rags at the supermarket checkout had a picture of Bristol Palin with the caption: “Bristol: I’ll never be a size 0”. Judging by the picture I saw I doubt she’ll ever make it to a size 8.

  35. 35.

    Joseph Nobles

    November 23, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    Bristol got third place. Our long national nightmare is over.

  36. 36.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 10:54 pm

    @Joseph Nobles: Great, now the teabaggers are going to mount their scooters and go on a rampage, turning over cars and setting trash on fire.

  37. 37.

    You Don't Say

    November 23, 2010 at 10:54 pm

    @Annie: At least she came in 3rd.

  38. 38.

    SammyV

    November 23, 2010 at 10:55 pm

    Cheers on the Bloom County reference! I haven’t thought about that strip in years. Great stuff.

  39. 39.

    Annie

    November 23, 2010 at 10:55 pm

    @Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century):

    LOL…She just came in 3rd. Apparently even the tea party backers weren’t enough to take her to the top…Sarah as we speak is probably thinking how to shoot the judges from a plane…

  40. 40.

    Annie

    November 23, 2010 at 10:58 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    Jennifer just won. They were truly an awesome couple.

  41. 41.

    Joseph Nobles

    November 23, 2010 at 10:58 pm

    @beltane: Oh, lord, Grandma put her teeth in. There will be blood.

  42. 42.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 23, 2010 at 11:06 pm

    @Joseph Nobles: “WE DEMAND A RECOUNT!”~ teaparty trash

  43. 43.

    something fabulous

    November 23, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    ROSIE: Pleasebabypleasebabybabybabypleeeeeeeeeeeeeeez…

  44. 44.

    Annie

    November 23, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    @Joseph Nobles:

    LOL. Unfortunately, I think our national nightmare is only beginning….This family will never go away.

  45. 45.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 23, 2010 at 11:11 pm

    @beltane: I guess next year she’ll be competing on “biggest loser“, after which she’ll graduate to “Celebrity Rehab”.

  46. 46.

    Anya

    November 23, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    @Annie: Bristol is just like her mamma. For a short time I felt sorry because she seemed like she was a proxy war between those who dislike her mom and the crazy teabaggers but then she started sounding like her mom and embracing her victim mentality. She kept talking about “the haters” and tonight she said: “winning would be a big middle finger to the people that don’t like my mom and me”. Like mother like daughter.

    How soon before the teabaggers ask for recount?

  47. 47.

    Anya

    November 23, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    @Annie: Bristol is just like her mamma. For a short time I felt sorry because she seemed like she was a proxy war between those who dislike her mom and the crazy teabaggers but then she started sounding like her mom and embracing her victim mentality. She kept talking about “the haters” and tonight she said: “winning would be a big middle finger to the people that don’t like my mom and me”. Like mother like daughter.

    How soon before the teabaggers ask for recount?

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 23, 2010 at 11:18 pm

    @Annie #44: Disagree. Within ten years, anyone with the surname Palin is going to be a tough trivia question.

    (I have to believe that. I *have* to.)

  49. 49.

    Violet

    November 23, 2010 at 11:18 pm

    I wonder if Bristol is going to disappear from view for the next few months to take care of her “problem”? I hope the paparazzi stay on her. She’s gained so much weight during the run of DWTS, but I still can’t tell if she’s pregnant or just fat. If she got fat during the show, she’ll be the first “star” to do so.

  50. 50.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 23, 2010 at 11:18 pm

    @Anya: well, what do expect from a high school drop out.

    http://tinfoiler.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/bristol-palin-levi-johnston.jpg

  51. 51.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 11:19 pm

    @Anya:

    “winning would be a big middle finger to the people that don’t like my mom and me”

    I guess Jesus decreed that we were not destined to get the middle finger tonight.

  52. 52.

    beltane

    November 23, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    @Violet: Her arms are quite flabby for someone so young. As to the fat or pregnant question I think we will have to defer to Andrew Sullivan.

  53. 53.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 23, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    @Violet: that’s a very good, point. everyone says they lose a lot of weight from competing on DWTS because of the intense dance training. Add to that that she is 19, a time when metabolisms are high, it’s odd that she gained weight.

    of course she can’t be pregnant, seeing that she’s a spokesperson for abstinence.

  54. 54.

    geg6

    November 23, 2010 at 11:25 pm

    @beltane:

    Heh. Looks like Bristol and her mama got flipped the finger instead to me.

    And thanks forcthe birthday wishes all.

  55. 55.

    Violet

    November 23, 2010 at 11:26 pm

    @Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century):
    When they ran her “season retrospective” video after she came in third, you could really see the difference in her weight from the first week to now. Either she’s hardly rehearsing (possible, since she’s not very good) or she’s eating enough for two. Or she does have a bun in the oven.

    I really hope the paparazzi don’t leave her alone. If her plan was to do three or four weeks on DWTS, take the money and run, then hide in AK to deliver her abstinence spawn, that got shot to hell. If she is pg, she’s been hiding in plain sight. But at some point you just can’t hide it, especially a second pregnancy. Time will tell, I guess, unless the Paylins buy off the press. Eventually they won’t be able to.

  56. 56.

    geg6

    November 23, 2010 at 11:33 pm

    Jeebus. JoePa says he’s coming back for another year. There had been some talk that this year was it. No such luck. Penn State may be taking the recent zombie craze a bit too far.

  57. 57.

    Yutsano

    November 23, 2010 at 11:36 pm

    @geg6: He’s gonna die coaching. I’m convinced of that. He will drop during the fourth quarter of the last home game of some year in the not too distant future. I’d even put cookies on that. Although there is no convincing my Pennsylvanian Marine co-worker of this, he is convinced JoePa is immortal. And Sidney is the Second Coming.

  58. 58.

    Hal

    November 23, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    My sisters Rat Terrier doesn’t sit up on his legs. He sort of cowers and shakes like he’s having a seizure until you give him some food. It usually works, just because I’m afraid he’ll stroke out if I don’t share my french fries.

  59. 59.

    danimal

    November 23, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    Because we haven’t had a thread on this topic in hours…
    Let me give you may contrarian take of the day. It may be Slate-worthy.

    The TSA patdown and scanning procedures are good politics for Obama.

    The uproar makes Obama look like a tough daddy figure and middle Murkans like their presidents to be tough daddies. Polling shows a majority still support the policy and the uproar is mostly coming from a relatively small group of ‘elites.’ I’m not sure Joe Sixpack really cares if the anchorman from Channel 8 has his junk touched. If anything, there may be a number of people that take pleasure from seeing all the angry opposition. IOW, some of the dynamics that have frustrated liberals for the past decade may be playing for Obama’s benefit on this issue. The louder the screams, the more popular the policy becomes.

    Also, the threat of terrorism, while small, is still real. And these measures are easily tied to specific terrorist attacks. Proactive measures to protect people from terrorism are still popular. In all, this may not be such a political loser as the elite media portrays. In fact, it may be beneficial.

    Please note that this is an analysis and not a support for the procedures. I’m not sold on my own analysis yet, but it may be one reason TSA has been sticking to their guns. FWIW, I fly a few times a year and don’t really care about the scanners myself, so I’m rather apathetic about the whole issue.

  60. 60.

    Halfasthero

    November 23, 2010 at 11:45 pm

    Just checking in since many months ago.

    Saw DWTS and was almost relieved to see justice served. Jennifer is a sweetheart but also a very well trained dancer. Should have gone to #2.

    Also, how about the U of Minn finally getting to 15 in basketball polls (granted, against West Virginia, but wth)! Have to cheer about something after the Twins collapse against the FNYY and the Vikings general 2010 collapse.

  61. 61.

    Halfasthero

    November 23, 2010 at 11:49 pm

    Just checking in since many months ago.

    Saw DWTS and was almost relieved to see justice served. Jennifer is a sweetheart but also a very well trained dancer. Should have gone to #2.

    Also, how about the U of Minn finally getting to 15 in basketball polls (granted, against West Virginia, but wth)! Have to cheer about something after the Twins collapse against the FNYY and the Vikings general 2010 collapse.

  62. 62.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    November 23, 2010 at 11:53 pm

    @danimal:

    The uproar makes Obama look like a tough daddy figure and middle Murkans like their presidents to be tough daddies.

    Unless he nukes North Korea for today’s shelling incident he’ll not be seen as tough. He will be seen as enforcing the Security State apparatus on innocent real Murkans, which the righties have suddenly come to loathe now that God’s Other Son the Decider has gone back to Texas.

  63. 63.

    Anya

    November 23, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    @Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century): According to her mom’s book, she went to college.

    She went to college. And worked full time. And took care of a needy, colicky baby though many, many sleepless nights, doctor’s appointments, and lonely, cold car rides to and from babysitters.

  64. 64.

    Dream On

    November 23, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    How about a North/South Korea thread? It would be irresponsible not to speculate…

    Or a good old Microsoft vs. Apple debate. That will entertain those stuck home for the holiday…

  65. 65.

    General Stuck

    November 23, 2010 at 11:55 pm

    @danimal:

    I can remember when I, other liberals, and democrats in congress were arguing righteously against the Bushies “fight em over there, so we don’t have to fight them here” bullshit for fighting terrorism. On about any liberal blog, and from dems in congress the watchwords were more non military actions for tightening security at our ports and borders and airports and planes, instead of gallivanting around the world blowing up shit.

    Now, when a dem administration tries to put into action those sentiments here on our shores, we hear wails of foul play from the left, and civil liberties violation shrieks on privacy invasion from concentrating on defensive measures instead of offensive ones.

  66. 66.

    Redshift

    November 23, 2010 at 11:59 pm

    @danimal: I just wish that someone with a megaphone larger than mine would use this uproar to answer the question about “why can’t we have more effective/less invasive security” and point out that such a system requires a large number of well-trained and well-paid personnel, and despite the constant talk about how we should be willing to “do anything” to ensure security, our political system will only allow us the choice between underpaid government employees and very underpaid contract employees.

  67. 67.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 24, 2010 at 12:03 am

    I don’t get any of the hub-bub, I enjoy being frisked.

    what’s the big deal: feel me, touch me, squeeze me.

  68. 68.

    jurassicpork

    November 24, 2010 at 12:03 am

    Friends, Americans, fellow bloggers, lend me your ears: My liberal/progressive rock-n-roll novel, American Zen, is on sale on Amazon Kindle. So if you own any of the 10 varieties of Kindle, please give my novel some consideration. If you like what you read at Pottersville or Give Us This Day Our Daily Dread, you’ll love American Zen and its take on love, life, politics, etc. TIA.

  69. 69.

    danimal

    November 24, 2010 at 12:04 am

    @Redshift: I’m not convinced that the machines are more effective than dogs, and they just want to get paid with some kibble and a good scratch behind the ear.

  70. 70.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 12:04 am

    @Kifaru:

    My basset used to sit like that. She looked a bit more like a person because she had longer legs:) Then again, she thought she WAS a person.

    I’ve always thought that it was cats who think they’re people. Dogs think that everyone’s a dog.

  71. 71.

    Anya

    November 24, 2010 at 12:04 am

    @Dream On:

    Or a good old Microsoft vs. Apple debate. That will entertain those stuck home for the holiday…

    What’s there to debate. Mac rules!

    /proud member of the Apple Cult

  72. 72.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 12:05 am

    @geg6:

    Heh. Looks like Bristol and her mama got flipped the finger instead to me.

    Acorn. New Black Panthers. It’ll be in tomorrow’s papers. Just you wait.

  73. 73.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 12:09 am

    Sweet pic of Rosie, Cole. I hope she got some pizza for her efforts.

  74. 74.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 12:11 am

    Regarding the insurance company rating thing, I worked for years in life and health company IT departments. I ran a lot of rating projects. I was told that our rates would not be approved unless 95% of the rate revenue went out to claims.
    Note also that insurance companies make a lot of their profit from income on reserves. Life and health companies have billions and billions in safe investments to cover future claims, especially life insurance policies. They can actually run some policies at a loss and still make money overall because of the income from reserves. Premiums and claims are far from the whole story.
    Or so a couple of really smart actuaries told me.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    November 24, 2010 at 12:17 am

    @jurassicpork:

    You should look into putting your book on the Barnes & Noble Nook, as well. I don’t know the details, but I saw that they have some program where you can basically upload your own stuff to the Nook database and get a pretty good royalty on any sales (40-60 percent, depending on the retail price, which you set). Driving the sales is your problem, of course.

  76. 76.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 12:18 am

    Top Gear US is on. Pretty bad, but marginally better than I expected. Of course I know how this first stunt will turn out. You’re not allowed to beat the US military on TV.

    The Stig’s fat American cousin will have to do better than the cardboard cutouts they have for hosts to make this show halfway bearable.

  77. 77.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 12:18 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Hi hon. Only got to go in late today, even though today was worse travel-wise than when they sent us home yesterday. Tomorrow no one knows for sure what it’s going to do weather-wise, so it should be hella fun figuring all that out.

  78. 78.

    JWL

    November 24, 2010 at 12:23 am

    Gary Larson knew the score when he created this cartoon: A couple, along with their faithful dog, are staring up at an army of flying saucers in the night sky.

    To their shock, the dog speaks: “At last, they’ve returned”.

    Advise your brother to watch his step.

  79. 79.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 12:27 am

    @Yutsano: I went out last night to pick up a friend who sat on a bus on I-5 from 4pm to 2am. Drove up the other side of the interstate, swooped into the inside breakdown lane across from the bus, she leaped the barrier. Ugh.

  80. 80.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 12:29 am

    @Yutsano: Hi. Sounds like you did not have a fun day. How you be otherwise?

    @Steeplejack: Hey, Steepman. How you be? Haven’t seen you for a bit.

    @MikeJ: What. The. Hell?

  81. 81.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 12:31 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Trucks and buses spun out all over the place, blocking three lanes of traffic. Mass hysteria.

    We had a quarter inch of snow.

  82. 82.

    MattR

    November 24, 2010 at 12:32 am

    @Ross Hershberger:

    I’ve always thought that it was cats who think they’re people. Dogs think that everyone’s a dog.

    There was a way cool episode of Nova on PBS that dove into various aspects of the dog-human relationship. One of the things they talked about is that dogs have picked up on the fact that human emotions are generally displayed more fully on the right side of the face. When looking at pictures of humans, their eyes flick to their left (the picture’s right) first. When looking at other pictures, their eyes are equally likely to shift in either direction off center. The moral being that dogs apparently do recognize humans as unique creatures.

  83. 83.

    Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century)

    November 24, 2010 at 12:33 am

    @danimal:

    If anything, there may be a number of people that take pleasure from seeing all the angry opposition.

    I don’t get. What’s wrong with patdowns?

    The only thing I can think of is if you’re homophobic and get freaked over being touched by a guy or if ya got a tiny trunk and ya don’t want to be laughed at.

  84. 84.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 12:34 am

    Thursday will be grim. There’s a big weather system headed across the plains toward the Great Lakes. We’re driving west from Detroit right into the lake effect snow zone. This time of year a cold front can pick up cubic miles of warm lake water off of lake Michigan and drop it as snow on the west side of the state. Feet of snow at a time. Gotta get to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, though. Best pies on the planet.

  85. 85.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 12:36 am

    @MikeJ: Holy shit. Where the fuck you live? That’s just batshit insane.

    @Yutsano: But you guys get rain. Snow isn’t all THAT different. WTF? I am puzzled by this freaking out in Seattle over a little itty bitty snow. Down south? OK. I can see it. They don’t get below fifty hardly ever. But Seattle?

  86. 86.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 12:36 am

    @asiangrrlMN: It’s Seattle. We don’t do snow well. Since I went to college in a place where this right now would be considered light, I’m greatly amused by all this.

    @MikeJ: Half my office didn’t make it in today. Granted we get a lot of folks crossing the water and Bremerton got it MUCH worse, but yeah, it’s a bit sad. I half expect us to be closed tomorrow.

  87. 87.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 12:38 am

    I recently read a blog post from a female TSA agent who said she doesn’t like patting down women because she’s not into women, she’s into men. Personally, I don’t want someone to be able to chose to pat me down because they’re ‘into’ my gender. Being into me or not should be the last consideration in our security. Do your job and leave your preferences at home.

  88. 88.

    suzanne

    November 24, 2010 at 12:38 am

    @MikeJ: Dude. That’s some crazy shit.

    Is your friend matoko_chan, perchance?

  89. 89.

    Steeplejack

    November 24, 2010 at 12:38 am

    @MikeJ:

    Too bad. I am a late convert to Top Gear U.K., but I have really come to like it. Good chemistry among the stars, and always good intros for the Stig. “Some say he lives in a tree. Others say his sweat can be used to polish precious metals.”

  90. 90.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 12:38 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Seattle. Here’s video. Check out the bus 3 minutes in.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    November 24, 2010 at 12:40 am

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Was on a major downward glide path this weekend. Sort of reading the threads but not up to commenting. Feeling better now. Looking forward to T-Day, assuming I can get through the bullshit tomorrow. And I have to open on Black Friday, but I am putting that out of my mind for the moment.

  92. 92.

    MattR

    November 24, 2010 at 12:46 am

    @MikeJ: Yowza. I got a kick out of the two top rated comments to the video. The first time I drove a car my dad took me out to a snowy parking lot, showed me what the car would do under various circumstances and taught me how to react. Of course he grew up in North Dakota and did not think it unreasonable to drive through 6 inches of snow. My mother had to constantly remind him that the problem was that other drivers in suburban NYC did not have that experience and were likely to react like the drivers in that video.

  93. 93.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 12:46 am

    @Steeplejack: Sorry to hear. I understand, though. I skipped many threads, too. And, Black Friday opening? That fucking sucks, man. I hope you at least enjoy your T-day first.

    @suzanne: I am SO glad Yutsy brought you into the family. You made me laugh. Thank you.

    @MikeJ: Holy. Shit. I actually gasped at the bus. Dear lord. You people need to just shut down when you get snow.

  94. 94.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 12:49 am

    @asiangrrlMN: There’s really only one minor justification for the freakitude: Seattle has hills. Like steep hills. Like burn your calves halfway up you’re panting regardless of what shape you’re in hills. This of course explains nothing as far as the stupidity on the highways and flatter parts.

    @Steeplejack: As a fellow haz to work on Friday duck, I share your pain brotha. Fight the power.

    /Huey Freeman.

  95. 95.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 12:50 am

    @MattR: As a former Bostonian, I’ve decided I can either laugh or have a stroke watching the attempts at driving. In good weather I lean towards yelling, but I just have to laugh at them in the snow.

  96. 96.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 12:52 am

    @Yutsano: Yeah. I get that. I see the hills. We don’t have nearly as hilly hills, but we still have them. Do you get black ice, too? ‘Coz that would massively suck.

  97. 97.

    MattR

    November 24, 2010 at 12:55 am

    @MikeJ: I felt similarly regarding the weather for the brief time I lived in Arlington, VA. It was amazing what any amount of precipitation would do to traffic.

    OTOH, there was absolutely no way that bus was gonna make it down the hill safely no matter who was driving it.

  98. 98.

    JGabriel

    November 24, 2010 at 12:56 am

    @Mike Kay (Democrat of the Century):

    BREAKING: this just in, in a shocking upset, Bristol Palin has won the Heisman Trophy.

    IN another shocking upset, Sarah Palin has been given the Nobel Prize for Literature.

    Upon being contacted for a quote, Palin said, “Like a broken calendar, even those nasty foreign European liberal sociaIists are right twice a year.”

    (Like a broken calendar? It’s Wasilla, Jake. Just go with it.)

    .

  99. 99.

    MattR

    November 24, 2010 at 1:00 am

    Random question that has been floating in my head recently. I was thinking about the shortage of doctors in this country and was wondering what percentage of Americans actually have the mental capacity to be doctors if they chose to be one. Call me an elitist, but I will go with the magic number of 27%.

  100. 100.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 1:01 am

    @MattR: With absolutely no data to back me up, I would say that sounds low to me. I’m going to wager 35%.

    @Yutsano: I’m glad you’re safe, then. That bus veering out of control was scary. P.S. plz 2 check ur email. kthxbai.

  101. 101.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 1:01 am

    @MattR: Metro (the Seattle bus system) canceled about half their routes today and scaled back a ton more of them. That really should have happened as soon as it was clear what a massive Charlie Foxtrot it would turn into. But that bus looked pretty full so I’m guessing it was the last ride or something.

    @asiangrrlMN: We get it all: ice, snow, black ice, you name it. I was almost in panic mode thinking about just driving to the transit center this morning. Fortunately it wasn’t too terrible. The streets of downtown Seattle were another story. Yuck.

  102. 102.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    November 24, 2010 at 1:02 am

    @General Stucky:
    .
    .

    Now, when a dem administration tries to put into action those sentiments here on our shores, we hear wails of foul play from the left, and civil liberties violation shrieks on privacy invasion from concentrating on defensive measures instead of offensive ones.

    In a typical balloonbagger gambit, you misrepresent past arguments to claim victory over current straw men. “The left” at no time advocated violating some Constitutional amendments instead of violating others. Not all “defensive measures” are created equal, and “the left” always demands that the government conduct itself Constitutionally at all times, even when the President is Mr. Barack Obama.
    .
    .

  103. 103.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 1:04 am

    We have a doctor shortage? Not everywhere. Poor and rural areas go begging for an MD. High income areas are just flat covered up in them. There’s no shortage, just uneven distribution. Close down 80% of the elective cosmetic surgery practices and give degrees to more pediatricians for low income kids and and a lot of disease could be headed off before it happens.

  104. 104.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 1:08 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Checking. Haz it open. Haz nothing from you, unless it’s stealthing again.

  105. 105.

    MattR

    November 24, 2010 at 1:11 am

    @Ross Hershberger: That’s not a very fun answer.

  106. 106.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 1:13 am

    @Yutsano: The fuck?

    OK. I might not have replied all. I re-sent. Check please!

    @MattR: I guess I’m the only one playing along!

  107. 107.

    Ailuridae

    November 24, 2010 at 1:14 am

    @MattR:

    Its not the lack of qualified applicants; it is the lack of spots in medical schools. And, yes, that is a feature and not a bug.

  108. 108.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 1:18 am

    @MattR:

    That’s not a very fun answer.

    I was just reading something about inequality in access to health care. The patient/doctor ratio varies by 30:1 from lowest income areas to highest.
    In a real soshulistical society there would be mandatory community service (with deferred student loan repayment) for, say, 5 years in a low income area for every new MD before opening that new practice in a wealthy community. That would go a lot farther toward improving our country’s typical access to care than most of the proposals put forward by politicians.
    But no. Not fun.

  109. 109.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 1:19 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Got it. Answered. And yes the last part I’m half-joking, although I bet if that were the punishment for misuse it would be a rather effective deterrent.

  110. 110.

    suzanne

    November 24, 2010 at 1:22 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Awww, thankee. :)

    It was unseasonably cold today. A friend of mine in Boston said it was warmer there than it was here in Phoenix. I put the dogs out for ten minutes to do their thing, and when they came back in, they were both dogsicles. I had to wear my down-filled jacket tonight, and that’s with a 35-week-old space heater living in my belly. It was rad.

    I miss living in the snow. Even with stupid drivers, even with shitty roads. I can deal so much better with extreme cold than with extreme heat. I’m tempted to move.

  111. 111.

    MattR

    November 24, 2010 at 1:24 am

    @suzanne: Of course the southwest will have a cold spell just as I am flying to Vegas from Jersey. Hopefully I will get a couple nice days by the end of next week.

  112. 112.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 1:24 am

    @Yutsano: Bwahahahahahha! I like it!

    @suzanne: Come to MN! We got cold. We got snow! I knew you were a soul sister.

  113. 113.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 1:25 am

    @suzanne:

    I miss living in the snow. Even with stupid drivers, even with shitty roads. I can deal so much better with extreme cold than with extreme heat. I’m tempted to move.

    Considering the political climate in your state, I’d think once the space alien has come out you look right at your husband and demand he start looking for transfers out of that hellhole like yesterday. You could even do this on the birthing table if you wanted. I personally recommend Whitehorse, Yukon, but I’m biased.

  114. 114.

    suzanne

    November 24, 2010 at 1:30 am

    @Yutsano: Unfortunately, the husband is a SLP, specializing in Spanish speakers. Not a lot of Español in the Yukon, last I checked.

    And if all the liberals leave, who’s gonna piss on Boss McCain’s grave when he finally kicks it?

  115. 115.

    asiangrrlMN

    November 24, 2010 at 1:32 am

    @suzanne: Well, forget MN, then. Unless he knows Hmong, too. And, Cindy McCain?

  116. 116.

    Ross Hershberger

    November 24, 2010 at 1:33 am

    Josh Marshall on Huck talking about pat-downs: gutter-minded, scurrilous, Lurid, Corrupt.

  117. 117.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 1:36 am

    @suzanne: Heh. What makes you think they’re gonna stick him in the dirt in Arizona? He really only moved there because Cindy’s family money is there. I bet he demands an Arlington shrine to his eternal glory.

  118. 118.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 1:38 am

    @Yutsano: Bury him in his homeland. Panama.

    ETA: What the hell. He’s a North Vietnamese ace. they’d give him full military honors.

  119. 119.

    freelancer

    November 24, 2010 at 1:41 am

    @Yutsano:

    I had the same thought. And lo if they won’t try to bury him in his birthplace, the Panama Canal.

    Breathes There the Man
    …
    BREATHES there the man with soul so dead,
    Who never to himself hath said,
    This is my own, my native land!
    Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
    As home his footsteps he hath turn’d
    From wandering on a foreign strand!
    If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
    For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
    High though his titles, proud his name,
    Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
    Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
    The wretch, concentred all in self,
    Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
    And, doubly dying, shall go down
    To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
    Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.
    __
    Sir Walter Scott

    ETA: @MikeJ:
    High five.

  120. 120.

    suzanne

    November 24, 2010 at 1:45 am

    @Yutsano: I have the feeling we’ll be cursed by him forever. He’ll poison the groundwater for generations.

  121. 121.

    Yutsano

    November 24, 2010 at 1:50 am

    @MikeJ: I personally think Obama should put his presidential library in Kenya, just to piss off the right and start a whole new round of frothing. But seriously, I hope it’s in Hawai’i. Nothing against Illinois, but he is no doubt an islander. Plus how fucking cool would that be?

    As for Walnuts, I bet he cremates himself just so he can be as many places as possible. Directly relates to @suzanne. Which is also another great incentive to bug the fuck out.

  122. 122.

    Linda Featheringill

    November 24, 2010 at 2:11 am

    @MikeJ:

    Greater Cleveland area here. I looked at the video. You guys appearently got a little icy snow, which melted on the pavement and then promptly froze again. No salt/grit trucks?

  123. 123.

    Martin

    November 24, 2010 at 2:12 am

    @Yutsano: He’ll put it at ground zero. That’d really piss them off.

    Over the door will be a big sign ‘All this shit was bought with white people’s money. Thanks for the reparations, bitches!’

  124. 124.

    Martin

    November 24, 2010 at 2:15 am

    When do the wingnuts start burning shit down now that the lamestream media has discriminated against baby snowbilly?

  125. 125.

    freelancer

    November 24, 2010 at 2:20 am

    Deleted because I don’t like being a scold. Especially wrt to speech issues. Also, y’all were talking about libraries. My bad.

  126. 126.

    Lesley

    November 24, 2010 at 2:41 am

    She looks very comfortable. If she were my dog I’d invite her to sit at the dining room table.

  127. 127.

    kdaug

    November 24, 2010 at 2:55 am

    @Lesley: God help me, I thought you were talking about Bristol at first.

  128. 128.

    Ruckus

    November 24, 2010 at 2:56 am

    @Linda Featheringill: I’ll bet you know this but not every state has a road salt budget bigger than the highway patrol budget. OK I’m kidding. I lived in OH for a decade and couldn’t believe how much salt was put on the road. Did make driving a bit better though it was somewhat tough on the cars.

  129. 129.

    S. cerevisiae

    November 24, 2010 at 3:31 am

    @Yutsano: Kenya? Yeah that would drive them into mouth-frothing rage. Or how about Indonesia for extra Muslimy goodness.

    But seriously Hawaii would be cool. I am worried though that by the time they will be thinking about his library flying anywhere is going to be ridiculously expensive.

  130. 130.

    patrick II

    November 24, 2010 at 3:36 am

    My brother in law sent me about five different videos from people in Seattle sitting on their front porch recording car and bus accidents. I guess they don’t salt their roads and the combination of hills, snow and freezing temps doesn’t work.

    Click to about the 2:15 mark.

  131. 131.

    Joseph Nobles

    November 24, 2010 at 4:52 am

    Oh, criminy. I just watched a Judge Napolitano clip (why?) with Geraldo (double why?) because Geraldo is starting to slip onto the 9/11 Truth train, a topic that exercises me. :D So they go through that whole rigmarole and then in a parting shot, the Judge asks him about the TSA “porn or grope” choice, and Geraldo says that he’s ready to call for racial profiling at the gate.

    Well, if a Supreme Court Justice doesn’t understand the 14th Amendment, why should two blowhards on Fox?

  132. 132.

    MikeJ

    November 24, 2010 at 4:52 am

    @patrick II: They do salt here, but it was too cold. Salt will lower the freezing point of water, but if it’s cold enough it will still freeze.

  133. 133.

    Montysano

    November 24, 2010 at 7:37 am

    @Anya:

    Bristol is just like her mamma.

    I don’t watch DWTS, but I’ve seen a couple of clips (how can you avoid it?), and my impression is that she’s not like her mom. She lacks the total self-confidence and unshakable belief of the true sociopath/grifter. She seemed, more than anything else, deeply sad, like someone whose normal life was taken away and replaced by a 244/7bizarro-world circus. I felt badly for her.

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