Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Accountability, motherfuckers.

The willow is too close to the house.

I really should read my own blog.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

“woke” is the new caravan.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

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

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

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

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

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

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Reader Interactions

190Comments

  3. 3.

    Jade Jordan

    Hmmm BJ’s. Can’t figure out if you are going to end up with a love child like Arnold with the maid, or locked up like the IMF chief.

    Get it together John Cole before it is too late.

  4. 4.

    4tehlulz

    Writing a check “For BJ Trip” = win
    Writing a check to pay for someone else’s “BJ Trip” = fail

  5. 5.

    steviez314

    Well, YOU’LL never become President Governor Senator Congressman IMF Managing Director Oh, never mind.

  6. 6.

    Fred

    Wonder if the Koch brothers write “For Teabagging and Kochsucking” on their ‘think tank’ checks.

  7. 7.

    Jewish Steel

    I hope my gf doesn’t see anything I’ve ever written about a BJ meet-up with strangers on the internet.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano:

    I used to belong to an otherwise fairly bland organization whose name acronymed as SECCS. My colleagues got used to hearing me talk about “going to sex meetings” and saying things like “Yeah, I know so-and-so, I met him through sex.”

    Mercifully, the organization eventually disbanded.

    @4tehlulz:

    You made me choke on my pastrami sandwich.

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    @Jewish Steel: For absolutely nothing you stuck Frank Sinatra in my head. I’m gonna have to deal with that all day now. Thanks jackass. :)

    (lurvs ya)

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Mercifully, the organization eventually disbanded.

    AACK!! That’s comedic gold right there! I’m willing to bet the acronym was conceived in a more innocent time.

  16. 16.

    taylormattd

    Kay, I’ll be glad to handle the harassment claim, just drop me a line. :P

  17. 17.

    Yutsano

    @Jewish Steel: I don’t cure earworms. My brain is so musically wired it can run more than one track at a time. I think the record is five, but I was really stressed out that day.

  19. 19.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    Yay, just installed 11.04 next to Win 7 on my netbook, and everything seems to be working dandy so far. As compared to my experience trying to install 10.10, which was a freaking disaster.

    Oh, is that m-c/hgw/whatthefuckever back on the last Freddie thread? Sigh, this is why we can’t have contrarian front pagers.

  20. 20.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    Yay, just installed 11.04 next to Win 7 on my netbook, and everything seems to be working dandy so far. As compared to my experience trying to install 10.10, which was a freaking disaster.

    Oh, is that m-c/hgw/whatthefuckever back on the last Freddie thread? Sigh, this is why we can’t have contrarian front pagers.

  21. 21.

    grape_crush

    “For BJ Trip.”

    “I just flew over to Minneapolis and boy are my jaws tired.”

    Izzat too crude?

  23. 23.

    Linnaeus

    @efgoldman:

    I have actually had some of my bill-pay checks made payable to: “[Name of Company] Ripoff Artists”
    Also “[Name of Municipality] Parking Gestapo”.

    At the labor union I work for, we mail out forms for new employees to sign in which they indicate if they want to join as members or decline and pay the slightly lower service fee. About once a year or so, we get one sent back, with the choice to decline along with a really nasty note to the effect that we’re “thieves” and “union dogs”. One was so bad as to threaten sexual assault against our mothers, but the sender apparently thought it would be better not to do so, and tried to black out that particular comment with a marker. Hilarity all around, to be sure.

  24. 24.

    dmsilev

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I used to belong to an otherwise fairly bland organization whose name acronymed as SECCS. My colleagues got used to hearing me talk about “going to sex meetings” and saying things like “Yeah, I know so-and-so, I met him through sex.”

    When I was in grad school, I worked for a while with a piece of software called Source Extractor (it was written for astronomers, for finding images of dim stars on telescope pictures). The program was, probably inevitably, abbreviated Sextractor. My home directory on the department server had sub-dirs like ‘sextools’ and so forth….

    As one colleague said, “this program is going to get me fired”.

  26. 26.

    Yutsano

    @Fred:

    Are we supposed to read your mind and how is any of it relevant to this thread anyways?

    Open. Thread. She can talk about anything she fucking wants to jackass.

  28. 28.

    noodler

    will you have to issue a 1099 for that too? and what wat the final talley, something like $1600 for a BJ trip? yowza. Glad to have helped.

  29. 29.

    Will Reks

    @Fred:

    She’s talking about the latest version of Ubuntu (Linux) operating system. I haven’t upgraded yet myself. I’ve been using Win 7 primarily except whenever I need to use my cac card. For some reason it works perfectly in Ubuntu and not at all in Windows.

  31. 31.

    MikeJ

    @Amanda in the South Bay: What do you think of unity? I went back to gnome since the default install didn’t like running over a network. Silly window managers expected me to sit in the same room with the box, complained that my xdmcp login session didn’t have hardware accel.

  32. 32.

    jl

    Kay should get some free Balloon-Juice Gear, featuring Cole’s owners, to wear to the convention.

    To put fear into their hearts when she walks into the room.

    OK, that would be Rosie and Tunch gear, I guess Kay should wear the Lily gear for when she wants to have fun.

    It would be fun to see a pic of Kay wearing some piece of Tunch ‘Obey’ gear at the Netroots.

  34. 34.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Jewish Steel:

    earworm cure: Walk On The Wild Side. Never fails.

    I find “Lust for Life” even more effective. Of course I’ve had it in the ear before…

  37. 37.

    Bubblegum Tate

    Back in college when my friends and I all shared a house, our landlord insisted on a single check for rent every month, which meant that one of us would be designated rent-payer for the month and everybody else wrote that person a check for their share of the rent. We used to write all sorts of terrible, disgusting, hilarious stuff in the memo line; it became a real game of one-upsmanship.

    Ah, college….

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    @Will Reks:
    I’m waiting for Fedora 15, especially its systemd goodness. I’m going to put it on my netbook first just to see whether Gnome 3 is going to break my user experience. If it’s OK, I’ll probably update the desktop pretty soon afterward. If not, I’ll have to wait until they let you keep fixed desktops and don’t force you to move your mouse all over the screen to open applications.

  43. 43.

    Short Bus Bully

    You sending Rush Limbaugh on a trip with that check? Don’t forget the suitcase of viagra!

  44. 44.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    @MikeJ:
    I really didn’t like Unity on my laptop, but on my netbook…I actually don’t mind it. No problems whatsoever in installing it, unlike when I tried to install 10.10 and it didn’t recognize my wireless or ethernet.

    I can’t wait for late June, I can blow away Win 7 finally (its a dual boot, and I need VS for school).

  47. 47.

    Elizabelle

    @jl:

    Great idea to have Kay sporting BJ wear. Might sell some stuff to benefit the animals. And she’ll look way better than folks dressed in “Primary Obama” tee shirts (and frowns).

    NY Times today:

    Rating Agencies Face Crackdown

    The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed sweeping new rules on Wednesday to overhaul the rating business – regulations that would force tougher internal controls, curb conflicts of interest and even mandate that the agencies periodically test the competence of their employees.

    http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/rating-agencies-face-crackdown/?ref=business

    Competence of their employees. Tee hee.

  48. 48.

    slag

    @daize: Some people don’t understand how to use the English language. Apparently, many of them are current or former reporters. Isn’t that ironic?

  52. 52.

    Fred

    @Will Reks: I just installed v1.8.4 on top of 6.0 which uses the 2.6.32. The other package I installed was the new beta 2.3.1-1. All running with the 2.9 GUI plus latest patches.

    You all have absolutely no idea what I am talking about wrt to all the different software which I guess makes you all dumb according to the logic of some around here.

  53. 53.

    jeffreyw

    Earworms. Bah, you guys have it easy. The cat just dragged in a live chipmunk. I mentioned this to an online pal and he said “Alvin! Maybe he’ll start singing!”

  56. 56.

    gex

    @Billy K: Too true! Open and honest about what is meant to be hidden and come out in a scandal, Republican style.

    @Linnaeus: So to a libertarian/conservative a union fee is *exactly like* having your mom raped. These people have no sense of perspective, whatsoever.

  59. 59.

    General Stuck

    Man, I am lovin” the XM Sirius channel change up. The jamON station is exactly the kind I would create if I could. When they first merged, they dropped a couple of my fav XM spots. But now, all is well all over again.

  61. 61.

    Linnaeus

    @gex:

    So to a libertarian/conservative a union fee is exactly like having your mom raped. These people have no sense of perspective, whatsoever.

    To be fair, the vast, vast majority of people who choose not to join our union simply fill out the card, check “I decline” and send it in or give it to one of our reps. But yeah, this guy took things to a complete extreme – no perspective at all. I used a lot of White-out on that form when I turned it in to management.

  62. 62.

    Josie

    @Fred: I read every single comment and can’t find any but yours that called anyone “dumb.” Stuckenred called you a moron, but I don’t think he was referring to your understanding of computer geek stuff. I suspect he meant your predilection for trying to start a fight over absolutely nothing.

  67. 67.

    General Stuck

    @kay:

    Give em hell, Kay. Good thing I ain’t going, someone might have to call 911 before it was over. Be sure and pass out some purple plastic unicorns before it’s over. I got plenty of extras if you’re running low. :) and stay safe.

  71. 71.

    Martin

    @dmsilev: Heh. We have to do our sexual harassment awareness certification every couple of years and the presenters always give examples of what constitutes harassment in the workplace, such as leaving suggestive imagery (porn) where employees can see it. There’s always a few smartass guys who actually do research on social effects of pornography, or the medical guys that always have pictures of undressed people showing some medical condition, etc. that speak up and say ‘hey, but how can we do our work!?’. Mostly they like watching the presenters twist themselves in knots trying to explain why it’s okay that the social science or film studies guys get to watch and catalogue porn and show it off to their coworkers while nobody else can.

    After the 5th time through the training, you gotta entertain yourself somehow.

  73. 73.

    Culture of Truth

    If this is an open thread/computer thread can I ask if anyone would know why my new computer would recognize my neighbor’s wifi signal but not mine? (Which I know works because the old computer can find it just fine).

  74. 74.

    Paul in KY

    @daize: If you’re going to link to some anti-Obama asshat, at least warn so we can not give them a page click, if we so desire.

  75. 75.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    @catclub:

    I remember from being in the Army what that is. I just remember them being a gigantic PITA to figure out, probably cause they were pretty new at the time.

  76. 76.

    Alex S.

    @Amir_Khalid:

    Newt should get some kind of prize for the longest foreplay followed by the most disappointing act. 13 years of a presidential run in the making and only 2 days of campaigning until self-immolation.

  78. 78.

    gex

    Hey, at the anti-gay rally in NC yesterday, the counter protesters were told by the cops that they couldn’t have an “Equal Rights for All” sign.

    The Christian Reconstructionists have won.

  80. 80.

    daize

    @Paul in KY: I think the damage has already been done, since Eric Boehlert linked to the site in his tweet. But I’ll keep it in mind for future endeavors.

  82. 82.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    @stuckinred:
    I’m pretty sure your time in the Army waaaaay precedes mine, I got no idea what you are talking about.

    CAC cards are the military id cards with a color photo and a little computer chip in them. I see them all the time for civilians here at NASA Ames (and yeah, I do think its pretentious to wear it around your neck outside of work, just saying).

  83. 83.

    Catsy

    @Fred: It’s nice that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to software.

    You’re still a galactic douchenozzle for demanding that someone justify how what they’re talking about is relevant to an open thread. Who the fuck appointed you moderator?

  84. 84.

    stuckinred

    @Amanda in the South Bay: Ha! It was common in the Army back in the day,it was a sarcastic way of telling you to shut the fuck up. “Everyone is authorized one personal problem a day, go see the chaplain and get your TS (tough shit) card punched.

    Did ya’ll sing about Jody?

  85. 85.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Wow. Epic News is epic.

    This is the way it always worked. A lesser person could not have survived the first few minutes of the onslaught. But out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia emerged Gingrich, once again ready to lead those who won’t be intimated by the political elite and are ready to take on the challenges America faces.

    Bwahahaha

  86. 86.

    Linnaeus

    @gex:

    You used white out? I’d have let the bosses see what kind of tool this guy is.

    I was tempted to do just that, but apparently we had some agreed-upon procedure with the employer in which extraneous information on the forms would be covered up.

  87. 87.

    MikeJ

    @Amir_Khalid:

    They fired timidly at first, then the sheep not wanting to be dropped from the establishment’s cocktail party invite list unloaded their entire clip, firing without taking aim their distortions and falsehoods.

    Sheep go to DC cocktail parties and fire automatic weapons?

  88. 88.

    Martin

    @Culture of Truth: Two reasons:

    1) Your router may not be broadcasting it’s SSID. That’s a setting that you can turn on and off. If it’s off, then you need to explicitly tell your computer “There’s a network here with this ID (name)” and then it’ll go look for it and connect.

    If you can’t even see your network, this is probably the reason.

    2) Once you can see your network, there may be one of a number of different security mechanisms at work preventing your computer from actually being able to use it. The one most likely to be burning you in the case you describe is if you are filtering by MAC address. MAC address has nothing to do with the computer and means ‘Media Access Control’. Every device that can make an internet connection has one – so if you have a wired and wireless adaptor, you’ll have 2 addresses. These are dotted pairs and look like this: 01:23:45:67:89:ab. You may need to look up the MAC address for the wireless adaptor on your new computer and tell the router to allow that address to connect.

    If you can see the network but not connect and your other machine can, this is probably the reason.

    You may have both problems going at the same time. For example, my home router has 3 networks – two private, unbroadcast, password protected, MAC address protected ones, and one semi-public, broadcast, password protected but not MAC address protected one. The first two are for the machines, phones, etc. in the house that are always there, and the latter is for visitors so I can just give them an easy password and let them connect but they can’t connect to my media server, etc.

  89. 89.

    Fred

    @Catsy: Why thank you. And in keeping with the intellectual level of your post. Might I add you are a gimp!

    Sorry, I’m not as good at childish name calling as you.

  90. 90.

    Martin

    @gex: They should have scratched out the ‘For All’ and replaced it with ‘For Everyone But The Cops’ and asked if that was better.

  91. 91.

    scav

    @MikeJ:

    Sheep go to DC cocktail parties and fire automatic weapons?

    First hints of the breakaway Zoologically Challenged NRA?

  92. 92.

    Maude

    @Amanda in the South Bay:
    I did a clean install on a laptop of 9.10 because the laptop is old and can’t handle a newer version. It is a production machine and it is running well. I will do another laptop just like it as a backup. That was how I spent part of my morning.

    Edit, spell fail

    CT don’t know anything about wifi, but I bet you have to configure it. I’d rather hit my toe with a hammer.

  95. 95.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @MikeJ:

    Sheep go to DC cocktail parties and fire automatic weapons?

    I’ve always supported the right to arm bears, but this is a step too far, I say!

  97. 97.

    Tonybrown74

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    It’s funny. I told someone that Newt’s “campaign” wouldn’t make it to the first primary, and he refuses to believe me.

    At the rat Newtie’s going, I should have made it a bet.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne

    @Fred:

    wtf are you talking about 11.xx what? Freddie what?

    Freddie deBoer. Two threads down. Did you think Amanda was talking about you?

    Don’t flatter yourself.

  101. 101.

    Chyron HR

    @Amir_Khalid:

    Washington cannot tolerate threats from outsiders who might disrupt their comfortable world.

    Why must the Washington Wizards Insiders close ranks against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich?!

  102. 102.

    SIA

    @Yutsano: You’re a good man Yutsano

    ETA And I hate this new rude vibe from some of the commenters here. I always experienced BJ as a pretty polite place (excepting, of course, during the many flame wars). Why be such a confrontational ass for no reason?

  104. 104.

    Fred

    @Mnemosyne: Oh, so she is not talking about my made up anonymous name on some messageboard that is added by default by my browser cookie which I pay no attention to.

    Boy, you sure got me pegged. I was like totally thinking she/he (?) was talking about me. Now I feel like I just got stood up by my prom date. I’m so sad now. Mission Accomplished.

  106. 106.

    Amir_Khalid

    @MikeJ:
    Who knows what that even means. But if that’s what Newt Gingrich’s people say to the public on his behalf, the crash and burn of his presidential campaign after just two days is not so much of a mystery.

  115. 115.

    j low

    @Fred: 1. Anything is relevant in a “sex joke” thread. 2. Freddie thing: mc = matoko chan, hgw= Hermione Granger Weasley. Damn you, you made me type those names out loud. Next time figure it out yourself.

  116. 116.

    Mnemosyne

    @Fred:

    So the reason for your incredibly hostile response to her innocuous post on an open thread was just general assholery?

  117. 117.

    Ghanima Atreides

    Can you please move the LoOG to blogs we mock column NAOW?
    unbelievable.
    Libertarians Talk Seriously About Slaves

    Wrote Matt Yglesias:
    [

    W]hen I hear this stuff I think of my former professor, the late great libertarian political philosopher Robert Nozick who developed the notion (“demoktesis”) that democratic governance is a form of slavery. Nozick is a very smart guy and the position is rigorously argued. That said, regulated welfare state capitalism is clearly not actually the same as slavery.

    I was never lucky enough to study under Nozick, but I think the great libertarian might agree with his pupil.

    awesome.

  118. 118.

    Jesse Ewiak

    Serious Libertarian Jason Kuznicki basically agrees with the Pauls that Medicare and Social Security might be slavery.

  119. 119.

    Southern Beale

    Is anyone else having trouble with Blogger right npw? I can get to my home page, I can even comment, but I can’t get to the dashboard. It says I need to sign in and when I try to do that I get stuck in some “redirecting” loop.

  120. 120.

    Amir_Khalid

    Upon re-reading the statement from Newt Gingrich’s press sec, I found myself thinking: Hmm. A flock of sheep launch a commando raid on a DC cocktail party, but Newt Gingrich survives to emerge triumphantly from the carnage. There’s a movie in this; gotta be.

  122. 122.

    Southern Beale

    Serious Libertarian Jason Kuznicki basically agrees with the Pauls that Medicare and Social Security might be slavery.

    Well sure because when it comes to what constitutes enslavement, no one knows what that is better than a bunch of old white men.

    /sarcasm

  124. 124.

    jake the snake

    The only surprise about Neut’s gaffe was him accidentally telling the truth. Nothing surprising about recanting and apologizing to Paul Ryan.

  125. 125.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @Jesse Ewiak: in 2000 words or less.
    i hate how all libertarians are so freaking high word count.
    its like they are hiding something.
    or trying to.

  130. 130.

    DZ

    @efgoldman:

    You may be gone by now, but, if you want excellent pastrami and/or corned beef, order it from Katz’s deli in NY. Great stuff at decent price. I get mine in Portland, OR in 2 days

  134. 134.

    bryanD

    Race: “African”, seems awfully suspicious to me for a US birth certificate dated 1961.

    “Negro” or “colored” would have the correct terms at the time, and never mind that “African” is not a racial designation anyway. Especially at the height of white colonialism in sub-saharan Africa.

    Also, of course, this DOOZY. (paragraph 8)
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42519951/ns/politics-more_politics/t/ex-hawaii-official-denounces-ludicrous-birther-claims/

    “…half typed and half handwritten…”?

  136. 136.

    Southern Beale

    I think this is fucking awesome, though wearing one around Tennessee might get me beat up in a parking lot:

    Obama campaign turns tables on birthers with t-shirts
    __

    (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign took a light-hearted line against “birthers” on Wednesday by hawking “Made in the USA” t-shirts and coffee mugs which picture the longer form birth certificate Obama released last month.

  137. 137.

    geg6

    I just have to get this out.

    My Henry may have to be put down soon. He’s almost 13, pretty old for a big, fat (129 lbs.!) Lab. He’s had horrible trouble with his hips and legs over the last two years. But he’s losing bowel control now. He used to always bark if he had to go in the middle of the night and one of us (usually my John) would get up and take him outside. Sometimes we weren’t quick enough getting up or he wasn’t quick enough with the bark, but no big deal. He’s not even barking now and he’s pooped on the bedroom floor every night for the last week. He doesn’t even seem to know he’s done it. And he’s just laying around all the time, most under the bed as far as he can get with the bad hips.

    We have an appointment with the vet next week and I dread what he’ll say. It will be very sad for me, but it will be absolutely devastating for my John. Henry and he were together before I even came into the picture. It was just the two of them for about 8 years. Henry likes me a lot but he’ll drop me like a hot potato if John comes into the room. I’ve never had a pet before and I really don’t know how I’ll handle it or how to comfort John. Any advice would be appreciated.

  138. 138.

    Suffern ACE

    @Maude:

    Contacted by The Daily News, King insisted he was focused “entirely on getting re-elected to Congress” and not on the White House.

    “I’m not going to Iowa, not going to New Hampshire, not making calls, not raising money,” he said.

    Basically, the Republican country chair for Nassau said that Peter King is the bees knees (shock) and that he would sure support King for President, while King is saying, no (but wouldn’t turn it down if offered). He would probably win Iowa as the caucus participants would get him confused with the even more obnoxious King they have as a congressman.

  139. 139.

    Basilisc

    @bryanD: Interesting point. On the other hand, Barack Obama Sr was African.

    Does being full of sh*t require, like, constant refills, or does it just regenerate spontaneously after you spew it?

  140. 140.

    Southern Beale

    @geg6:

    Oh GAH that is awful. I’m so sorry to hear that! I had to put my 17 year old cat down last week. It’s so hard to know when the “right time” is, especially when their minds and spirit are still all there, but it’s the body that’s failing.

    There’s just no easy way to do it. But I do know when animals start peeing and pooping on themselves, they lose their heart and will pretty quick. That was definitely true of my Zelda, who had lymphoma.

    You’ll feel like shit either way. You’ll wonder if you did it too soon, or you’ll kick yourself for waiting too long. Seems like that’s how we’ve gone every time, and with a houseful of aged cats and dogs it seems like we’re making that decision every 6 months these days. There’s just no easy way around it, so just try not to beat yourselves up over it.

  142. 142.

    Mnemosyne

    @bryanD:

    Yes, why bother actually looking at the thing when you can make scaaary pronouncements about what it might look like?

    And you didn’t even mention how suspicious it is that Ann Dunham was identified as “Caucasian,” not “white.” It’s almost like Obama was born in a majority Asian-American state and not in the deep South, but of course we know that 1960s Hawaii was culturally identical to 1960s Mississippi.

  143. 143.

    fasteddie9318

    @Jesse Ewiak: You know, there are times when the participants in the comments threads at the LoOG would be better served if they all got on Chatroulette and masturbated with each other. That thread is clearly one of those times.

  144. 144.

    fasteddie9318

    @bryanD:

    “African”, seems awfully suspicious to me for a US birth certificate dated 1961.

    Interesting. You seem like a piece of shit douchebag clown to me. I wonder which of our respective suspicions is closer to the truth?

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    @geg6:

    Werebear has some great articles about it on her blog (there’s a whole series listed on the right-hand side if you scroll down a little). I referred some friends there when their cat had to be put to sleep and they said it helped a lot.

    Other than that, I will say that you will feel guilty no matter what you do, so you should keep Henry’s best interests in mind. You may want to call your vet and see if they have someone who makes house calls — a lot of people prefer to have their pet euthanized at home so the dog/cat doesn’t have to go to the vet’s office they’ve always hated.

  147. 147.

    Amir_Khalid

    @bryanD:
    These birther talking points were debunked long ago. You could at least do us the courtesy of pulling new ones out of your ass.

  148. 148.

    Mnemosyne

    The funniest part is, I think bryanD meant to post on the Barack Obama Long Form T-Shirt thread below. Maybe it’s all a scam to get us to pool our money and buy him one so he can examine the long form birth certificate at his leisure.

  150. 150.

    SIA

    @geg6: I’m really sorry to hear that. We’re coming up on 3 years in Sept since we lost Maggie, and my heart still aches. We had a very good vet once who said “we’d know it, and the dog would know it” when it was time. I think that’s true. We still have her food bowl out with the other two. We had a vet who came to the house and that made it a lot easier. But it’s still agonizing to experience. Thinking good thoughts for the 3 of you.

  151. 151.

    Brachiator

    @geg6: Very sad to hear. But whatever choices you make, I am sure that they will be to make sure that your cat does not suffer.

    Good luck to you.

  156. 156.

    fasteddie9318

    Fred, man, you’ve got to get yourself some other interests besides pie. You’re going to give yourself the diabeetus.

  159. 159.

    Chuck Butcher

    @geg6:
    This is a rotten thing to deal with. I will say that this is not about you guys, it is about Henry. I believe we owe something to our pets, it is about their well-being not our feelings. Our feelings can be addressed in that means – that we have done the right thing, that we did so despite our selfish desires, and that it was a debt we incurred when we took on the pet.

    Grieving will have to be done, but it can be done without guilt as an aggravating factor.

  160. 160.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @fasteddie9318:

    You know, there are times when the participants in the comments threads at the LoOG would be better served if they all got on Chatroulette and masturbated with each other.

    lool!

    fapfapfap …….markets!

  161. 161.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @fasteddie9318:

    You know, there are times when the participants in the comments threads at the LoOG would be better served if they all got on Chatroulette and masturbated with each other.

    lool!

    fap fap fap … markets!

  163. 163.

    WaterGirl

    @geg6: I’m so sorry to hear about Henry. Over the years, I have had to have 3 dogs and one cat put to sleep. It’s always heartbreaking. My approach is that I’m in it for as long as they’re in it, and when they are done, I’m done. I’ll share some stories with you in case it will be helpful.

    With my dog Mellon, a cocker spaniel, the vet told me I would know when it was time, but i agonized over it for weeks, not knowing what to do. My cocker spaniel had problems with her kidneys, but she was a trooper and was still happy, loved to eat, happy to see me, wanted to go outside.

    At some point things got worse, and the vet tried a new drug that she said would take a few days to take effect, so I heaved a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to make any decisions right away, and we would wait and see.

    Got up the next day and took Mellon out. I looked over at her while she peed, and she looked up at me and said “I’m done.” I don’t know any other way to explain it. I called my best friend so he could come over and say goodbye, then I took her to the vet. Once Mellon was done, there was nothing to do but that final act of love, and let her go. The vet was right all along. I just knew when it was time because my dog told me it was time. I never felt guilty; I never second guessed it. I didn’t do it too soon and I didn’t do it too late. She had been with me for 16 years and I loved her like crazy, but i never felt guilty.

    My next dog was A/C. (I don’t know what the name stood for, he was a rescue and had bounced around to multiple homes so I kept his name because I didn’t want to change one more thing in his life.) He started getting seizures, but there were meds and he did great for a long time. Then they came more frequently but he was still okay, but he was slowing down, but he was still happy. i came home one day and he didn’t get up to greet me. He wasn’t in pain, but he wouldn’t get up. He wouldn’t even try. I don’t know if he could have gotten up, but he clearly didn’t want to. He just looked at me and told me he was done. So I called the vet and she came over at 8pm that night. It broke my heart, but i never second guessed it, never felt guilty.

    My third dog was also a cocker spaniel who had been with me for 16 years. That one was trickier. She was old but still happy. Still LOVED TO EAT and go outside and was still happy. She had lymphoma, and it was getting worse. She also had these gross warty things on her back that were icky but the vet couldn’t do anything about them. She hung out with us on the deck on my birthday and had a wonderful night. I put her outside the next day and all these huge disgusting black flies were swarming around her like crazy. She couldn’t even be outside for a second without them swarming. It turned out that they were laying their eggs on her warts. Cleaner her up, but it was the same thing the next day. (the files, by the way, completely ignored my other dog. Even though she was still in it and still happy and it broke my heart, I called the vet and she came out the next day. It was just so wrong that they would be laying eggs on my sweet girl, and i figured she must be really ill for the flies to be doing that. But the vet arrived and Mellon was so happy to see her that the vet (not my usual one, but the partner) second guessed me. That was a nightmare. In the end i went ahead with it, but that one was a lot tougher. If I had to do it again i would do the same thing, but it was heartbreaking in a way that the others weren’t. The day I had her put to sleep… the flies were gone, never to be seen again.

    With my kitty it was a total nightmare, because it turns out it’s really different with cats than with dogs.

    All my dogs went peacefully, lying next to me. They give them one shot and it seems to make them fall asleep in a few seconds, then they give the second shot that ends things.

    i would always always want to be with my guys when they are put down, even though it’s hard. it’s the last loving thing I can do for them. But some people can’t do it, and for those people that’s what’s right. So whatever John wants, that’s what I would do, with no judgment. You’ll have your loss, and John’s, to deal with. I know you guys will get through it because it always sounds like you’re great together.

    Some people need to get another pet right away, others have to wait. You will also know when it’s time to get another pet.

    So with Henry, just listen to him. Is he telling you he’s done, or is he telling you he’s still in the game?

    Sorry for the long post, I hope this helps.

  164. 164.

    Jason Kuznicki

    @Jesse Ewiak:
    I wrote:

    [W]e do not have the government that [Nozick] (rightly) complains about.

    But you can always come over here and make stuff up, and they’ll believe anything. I don’t think Americans are slaves, and I don’t agree that universal health care enslaves anyone.

    But I guess it would be fair now to charge you with supporting the broccoli mandate. It would be just as truthful.

  165. 165.

    stuckinred

    @geg6: Water Girl has it right. Letting them go is the second best thing you can do for an animal. I had a Henry too. Don’t keep him alive because you can’t do it, it’s not fair.

  167. 167.

    WaterGirl

    @stuckinred:

    When I took him in to put him down he sat and put his paw on my knee and just looked at me. I like to think he was ok with it.

    Nice. I’m sure you’re right but that made me cry. But it was comforting, too. They trust us so completely. When it’s time, it’s the most loving thing you can do. The most unselfish things I’ve ever done, except for telling my dad that it was okay to let go. Not sure where I found the strength for that one. Love, I guess, just like with my guys.

    Those are absolutely stunning dogs, so I think I would remember. I wish I had seen them!

    Edit: the fly thing was truly awful. Sorry you had to go through it, too.

  168. 168.

    stuckinred

    @WaterGirl: Did you know “Friendly”? He was Laurie McCarthy’s (sister of Reagan’s secret service officer who got shot)dog. Big wire hair with grey eyes that hung on the quad.

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    @stuckinred: She is such a cutie! Isn’t there a photo of her driving in the car, or something like that?

    Early in that timeframe would have been when I spent the most time on the quad. There were some great dogs that hung out on the quad, so I probably knew her. I didn’t have dogs myself, yet, so I loved the quad dogs.

  172. 172.

    2liberal

    @Roger Moore: i wish someone would write a script and make all you furshlugginner linux geeks disappear from my balloon juice user interface.

  173. 173.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @Jason Kuznicki: hey Jason! I haz a question. Would you describe yourself as a libertarian or as a civil libertarian?
    I think i recall……libertarian?
    I’m collecting data for my Unified Field Theory of Libertarianism.

    thnx
    ;)

    and I agree with Jesse.
    you just sound so wistful.

    Yglesias: [W]hen I hear this stuff I think of my former professor, the late great libertarian political philosopher Robert Nozick who developed the notion (“demoktesis”) that democratic governance is a form of slavery. Nozick is a very smart guy and the position is rigorously argued. That said, regulated welfare state capitalism is clearly not actually the same as slavery.
    __
    Jason: I was never lucky enough to study under Nozick, but I think the great libertarian might agree with his pupil.

  176. 176.

    burnspbesq

    @Jewish Steel:

    “I lust after a Hammond B3.”

    A perfectly sensible thing to lust for.

    I lust for a 1959 double-cutaway Les Paul Special.

  177. 177.

    Ija

    @Ghanima Atreides:

    It’s laughable that anyone could consider Freddie de Boer a libertarian. The guy practically oozes “leftier-than-thou”. Go read his blog and his various screeds against other liberal bloggers for not being pure enough. Of all things to call him, this is the stupidest.

  178. 178.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @Ija: I have read Freddie for years. We go back to Culture 11. He usta be a liberal back than.

    Now he is a “civil libertarian” . He says so.
    I see “civil libertarians” as a subset of libertarians in my taxonomy.
    The Unified Field Theory of Libertarianism.

    If “civil libertarians” are not libertarians why dont they call themselves something else?

  179. 179.

    Jason Kuznicki

    @Ghanima Atreides:

    does this remind you of anything? Like maybe when DougJ trolled the shit out of you?

    Oh, you mean the time when he decided the League was full of creationists and AGW denialists… and then he had to admit he was wrong?

    Yes, come to think of it. I am reminded of that time. One difference so far: DougJ had the decency to admit publicly that he’d goofed. I do admire him for that.

    Would you describe yourself as a libertarian or as a civil libertarian?

    Both, although at the moment I think our civil liberties are vastly more threatened than our economic ones.

  182. 182.

    Paul in KY

    @geg6: You just have to come to the realization that he has lived a full & fun life & it is time for him to go with some dignity.

    He looks to you to make the tough decisions & he understands it is his time to go. I know he’ll love you all the more for releasing him. God bless you both.

    Edit: What Chuck said up above. Don’t ever feel guilty. Releasing him is what a loving pet owner does.

  183. 183.

    Paul in KY

    @WaterGirl: Heartfelt post, Watergirl. You’re a great pet owner. All your pets you mentioned wish you the best (I would think).

  185. 185.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @Jason Kuznicki:

    Would you describe yourself as a libertarian or as a civil libertarian?
    Both

    Thought so.
    thnx for helping validate my Unified Field Theory of Libertarianism.
    ;)

  187. 187.

    Ghanima Atreides

    @geg6: It is the contract you make when you have a pet. That you will not keep them in pain and misery just because you cannot bear to let them go.
    I’m sorry for your loss, but you must honor your bond.

    My jack russell had to be put down because he had an enormous tumor growing out of his ear. My parents could easily afford to have surgery and chemo, but his life would have been horrible. He would have had to live inside and be tortured with medical procedures for a year….how could I do that to my best friend?
    How do you tell your best friend, im going to cut on you and make you very sick for a year so you can stay with me?
    It was coming spring and the flies would have laid maggots in the scratch wounds he made in the exposed tumor. I was 13.
    It was very hard, but it was my responsibilty.
    I kept my bond.

  189. 189.

    Jason Kuznicki

    To paraphrase…

    DougJ: “Are you guys creationists and/or AGW denialists?”

    Me: “Well, I’m certainly not. The book of Genesis is a myth, and we should tax carbon.”

    DougJ: “Oh. My bad.”

    You have a funny definition of trolling. And if Doug thinks that’s trolling, then his definition is pretty funny too.

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