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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  June 10, 20112:37 pm| 103 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Dow is crashing again because of fears of a weak global economy. I’m sure a jobs package is coming soon.

Totally unrelated, but Rosie is down at my mom’s playing in the big yard with Guesly, so Tunch has decided that I need no peace and is following me around the house bitching at me about something. His litter is clean, he has food, his water is fresh, he’s been furminated, and he has no health issues. After about 45 minutes of his piercing, shrieking, nonstop bitching, I chased him around the house yelling “I’M COMING TO GET YOU I’M COMING TO GET YOU” while waving my arms and screaming and may have even given him a love tap on the butt.

God damned animals.

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Previous Post: « Now That This Man Has Been Brought To Justice, I Say We Redouble our Tommy Chong Efforts
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Reader Interactions

103Comments

  1. 1.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    June 10, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    Yeah, always look to the gamblers for an idea of how the economy is doing. Baby needs new shoes!

  2. 2.

    Ronbo

    June 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    Let us celebrate Herbert Obama Hoover’s great economic achievement! Larry Summers says it’s so; so, it’s so.

  3. 3.

    Ronbo

    June 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    Let us celebrate Herbert Obama Hoover’s great economic achievement! Larry Summers says it’s so; so, it’s so.

  4. 4.

    David in NY

    June 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    I’m sure a jobs package is coming soon.

    Snark?

  5. 5.

    david mizner

    June 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    President Geithner is unconcerned and will continue with his “balanced approach.”

  6. 6.

    Steve

    June 10, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    A pedantic note: “Dow” is not an acronym, it is Mr. Dow’s last name, so it’s not correct to refer to the Dow Jones Average as “DOW.” In fact, “DOW” as a ticker symbol stands for the Dow Chemical Company.

  7. 7.

    shortstop

    June 10, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    Excuse me, the Dow is crashing because the emails of the First Strong Real American Woman President are being released, and they might do her some damage since people have always insisted on sending her gotcha emails, and she was totally going to beat the illegitimate president in round two if everyone from the elite side of America weren’t ganging up on her. But they are, which is unfair and lame of them.

  8. 8.

    JGabriel

    June 10, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    John Cole:

    DOW is crashing again …

    Dammit, how come that never happens when I have money to invest, so I can buy cheap while people are selling?

    (Because you never have money to invest — ed.)

    (Pause.)

    Oh, yeah. Right. Dammit.

    .

  9. 9.

    david mizner

    June 10, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    This story didn’t receive much attention: “White House Says Senate Jobs Bill is Too Expensive”

    —
    “The Obama administration on Tuesday night might have thrown a wrench into Senate Democratic plans to pass what they see as a jobs bill — by implying the bill spends too much money.

    In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House said it supports the broad goals of the bill.

    “However, the bill would authorize spending levels higher than those requested by the president’s Budget, and the administration believes that the need for smart investments that help America win the future must be balanced with the need to control spending and reduce the deficit,” the administration said.
    —

    If we look forward, not backward, and share sacrifice, we’ll totally WTF.

  10. 10.

    Bulworth

    June 10, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    DOW 36,000!!

  11. 11.

    david mizner

    June 10, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    @david mizner:

    link:
    http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/165299-white-house-says-senate-dem-jobs-bill-too-expensive

  12. 12.

    Culture of Truth

    June 10, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    No, investors hate “uncertainty”, therefore we shold make the tax cuts “permanent”, also the rich won’t “create jobs” because of “the debt.”

    Fortunately, there is some good news amid the doom and gloom:

    The top 000.1 percent of U.S. taxpayers would save an average of $1.4 million in taxes under Tim Pawlenty’s economic plan, according to an independent analysis.

  13. 13.

    Skippy-san

    June 10, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    145 points in this market is not the Dow Crashing. Just means its time to buy.

    545 points on the other hand………….

  14. 14.

    Gordon Schumway

    June 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    DOW is crashing again because of fears of a weak global economy. I’m sure a jobs package is coming soon.

    The markets are telling us they’re nervous about the deficit and regulatory uncertainty due to Obama’s socia1ism, you jackass!

  15. 15.

    Andrew

    June 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Actually I do think this means help will be on the way. When the stock market was going up, nobody cared about the economy, but this is too much. The suffering of rich people could actually cost somebody reelection. So expect TARP 2, and a shiny new nickel for everyone else.

  16. 16.

    Andrew

    June 10, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Actually I do think this means help will be on the way. When the stock market was going up, nobody cared about the economy, but this is too much. The suffering of rich people could actually cost somebody reelection. So expect TARP 2, and a shiny new nickel for everyone else.

  17. 17.

    chopper

    June 10, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    time to fire up the helicopters.

  18. 18.

    Violet

    June 10, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    Posted this in an open thread last night, but article on the front page of the WSJ yesterday was about China’s housing bubble beginning to deflate and how it will affect the global economy. Here’s the article reprinted.

    AFTER years of housing prices gone wild, China’s property bubble is starting to deflate.
    __
    Residential prices are heading downward in some major cities, damping some undesired real-estate speculation but raising the prospect that the Chinese economy may slow more rapidly than anticipated with profound consequences for global growth.
    __
    Real estate is a foundation of China’s phenomenal growth record in the past two decades, and its health is crucial to China’s construction, steel and cement sectors.

    and

    A downturn in property and apartment prices would harm Chinese industry and investment, and crimp consumer spending.
    __
    China is a “housing-led economy”, says UBS economist Jonathan Anderson, who estimates that property construction alone accounted for 13 per cent of gross domestic product in 2010, twice the share of the 1990s.
    __
    While China’s anticipated growth is still well above that of other large economies, any reduction could have deep consequences.
    __
    The global economy is now even more dependent on China for demand for anything from commodities to luxury goods, given the tepid recovery in the US and Europe’s continuing sovereign-debt problems.

    A “housing-led economy”? Gee, that sound familiar?

    And oil is dropping.

  19. 19.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    @Culture of Truth:

    Are we sure that the top 1% wouldn’t save a billion or a trillion, and not just a million?

    As Dr. Evil found out, millions don’t cut it nowadays.

  20. 20.

    Trinity

    June 10, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Is it too late to stockpile ammo??

  21. 21.

    Trinity

    June 10, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Is it too late to stockpile ammo??

  22. 22.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    June 10, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Call me a gaming nerd, but I’d love to see a deathmatch between The Confidence Fairy’s Chaotic Evil Imaginary Bond Vigilantes and the Lawful Good Invisible Hand Wielding Free Market Magic.

  23. 23.

    Suffern ACE

    June 10, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    @Andrew: If there is anything like TARP 2, I believe there will not be a single congressman who votes for it alive to run for re-election. Seriously, they will be beaten to death at town halls the at the first utterance of “Wall Street to Save Main Street”. I am assuming that their last words will be “Wall Stre”.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    June 10, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    @david mizner: The WH has completely abandoned the argument.

  25. 25.

    David in NY

    June 10, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    @Skippy-san: Even 545 today is a blip. Now, if you recall 1987, when the Dow dropped 508 points, that was about 23% of the index. The equivalent today would be a drop in the neighborhood of about 2700 points.

  26. 26.

    chopper

    June 10, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    @Violet:

    china’s real estate situation is insane.

  27. 27.

    Andrew

    June 10, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    @Suffern ACE: Point taken. They won’t call it TARP 2. But any stimulus will be trickle-down BS, massive handouts to the already wealthy. Its what they do.

  28. 28.

    Poopyman

    June 10, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    @Bulworth:

    DOW 36,000!!

    Well, once the Dow is measured in Yuan, it’ll be at 77,700 (@12,000 current), so 36K was long ago.

  29. 29.

    aisce

    June 10, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    oh look, more catnip for the blame obama first, last, and every time in between brigade! go team hater.

    because it’s clearly our president’s fault that greece is bankrupt, china is overheating, and japan had a massive earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown one-two-three punch during a time of ongoing political dysfunction.

    plus a republican house that is committed to turning us into a third world nation out of spite and bigotry and indecency and hatred.

    all obama’s fault. all of it. he should use the bully pulpit more, that sabotaging monster who will ruin us all…

  30. 30.

    Shinobi

    June 10, 2011 at 3:02 pm

    I’m reading a book right now about blogging and politics in a world where there are Zombies constantly trying to infect the populace. I kinda think I’d prefer actual zombies to zombie politicians.

    (Also the book is called Feed and is so far really quite good.)

  31. 31.

    patrick II

    June 10, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    @david mizner:

    the White House said it supports the broad goals of the bill.
    __
    “However, the bill would authorize spending levels higher than those requested by the president’s Budget,

    “The White House supports the broad goals, However…”
    Could be the hallmark catchphrase of this administration.

  32. 32.

    Mnemosyne

    June 10, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    His litter is clean, he has food, his water is fresh, he’s been furminated, and he has no health issues.

    So he’s probably following you around because he’s B-O-R-E-D. You should get him one of these. It’s the only thing that allows us to get 5 minutes’ rest from Charlotte.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    @chopper:

    Bubbles are, and they’ve been going on for centuries. “South Seas”. Tulips. Mississippi Trading Company. Dotcom. That one I was calling the equivalent of Tulipmania in the middle of, when I was helping to run an ISP.

    Those who get out before the bubble bursts are happy. The suckers left holding the bag are not so happy.

  34. 34.

    jibeaux

    June 10, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Sometimes I think John should maybe get out of the house more. I dunno.

  35. 35.

    lacp

    June 10, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Mr. Cole, Anthony Weiner is texting you his “jobs package” even as I type…..

  36. 36.

    jeff

    June 10, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    John, I’m sure that’s what Tunch wanted in the first place. That’s what my screaming annoying cat always wants, anyway. The market is now so bad many who came back to the market last year are losing. That may trigger a lot more selling. or not. It won’t trigger a lot of hiring though.

  37. 37.

    KG

    June 10, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    @Skippy-san: even 545 is just a couple of percent. Wake me at 800.

  38. 38.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    June 10, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    I can’t figure out if Tunch is causing the market distress or if the market is causing Tunch’s distress. Where is CNBC when you need ’em?? Doesn’t one of the C’s in CNBC stand for “cat”?

  39. 39.

    Suffern ACE

    June 10, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    @david mizner: I understand the concern, but what exactly was the Democratic Senate Jobs plan vs. the president’s plan. I’d like to argue these proposals on their merits. It is very possible that this additional funding isn’t going somewhere that would be productive. This is our Senate we are talking about here, filled with Senators, and we endlessly note their individual deficiencies. For all we know, it could be a bunch of toxic goo pretending to be a jobs bill.

  40. 40.

    eemom

    June 10, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    omg, this is AWESOME:

    Before she died, Elizabeth Edwards recorded a videotape memorializing in detail everything she knew about John Edwards’ affair with Rielle Hunter and attempt to cover it up and had it delivered to the prosecutors investigating him for campaign finance violations.

    http://gawker.com/5810717/elizabeth-edwards-haunts-her-cheating-husband-from-the-grave

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    June 10, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    @jeff:

    It won’t trigger a lot of hiring though.

    But what if we agreed to an extension of the expiring Bush Tax Cuts? Not too long, maybe say two years or so. We could also inexplicably tie UI extensions for 8 months or so to them as well.
    I’m sure some kind of package like that would bring unemployment down.

  42. 42.

    Whiskey Screams from a Guy With No Short-Term Memory

    June 10, 2011 at 3:13 pm

    I chased him around the house yelling “I’M COMING TO GET YOU I’M COMING TO GET YOU” while waving my arms and screaming and may have even given him a love tap on the butt.

    Video plz. Also, how did you do this without falling down and opening a major artery?

  43. 43.

    WyldPirate

    June 10, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    DOW is crashing again because of fears of a weak global economy. I’m sure a jobs package is coming soon.

    But Timmeh told Barack that the defict was what was important. And besides, Presidents don’t have any sway over the economy or any leadership responsibilities.

    signed– and Excuse Juice Opologist

  44. 44.

    cat48

    June 10, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    Sen. Kerry introduced an Infrastructure Bank Bill in March, after it was requested repeatedly for the last 2 years, also in the first Obama budget. I’ve been trying to find out the status of it. Sen. Delauro sp. was on promoting it earlier this week.

    I read somewhere they’re trying to repatriate all the US money to fund it. Politico said last yr. that lobbyists are working on this so it might happen.

    You might phone your Congress Critter if you’re really interested in a Jobs Bill & ask them to support Kerry’s Infrastructure Bank for job’s crisis.

  45. 45.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    June 10, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m sure some kind of package like that would bring unemployment down.

    Completely unnecessary. The stimulus of 2009 already brought it down from an imagined high of over mumblemumble percent.

  46. 46.

    KG

    June 10, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    the California redistricting commission has their first draft of the new maps out today. I’m looking at the Congressional one right now and it is much less gerrymandered than the old map – no more districts stretching across three counties and connecting towns that have nothing in common other than being R+4 or D+6. LA Times saying it could make California a battleground in 2012

  47. 47.

    MikeJ

    June 10, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    The US budget is like Oregon Trail.

  48. 48.

    Whiskey Screams from a Guy With No Short-Term Memory

    June 10, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    Dow is crashing again because of fears of a weak global economy because an economy in which people trade pieces of paper that have been assigned an arbitrary value in exchange for “labor” – which nowadays, save for some Chinese factory workers, means moving pieces of paper around – would someday crash to utter valuelessness as surely as the sun rises every day.

    Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will happen, and it will be in my lifetime. Stockpile ammo, beer, and cigarettes. They’ll be the only currency worth anything.

  49. 49.

    aisce

    June 10, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    @cat48:

    sen. delauro (?), a politico shoutout (??), and repatriation of “all the US money” (???) in one magical post. congratulations, cat48. you win the batshit incoherent prize of the day.

  50. 50.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 10, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    Maybe an earthquake is coming.

    Like precision clock work, my cat always freaks out, inconsolably, 3 to 4 hours before a quake hits.

    Countless pet owners claimed to have witnessed their cats and dogs acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    June 10, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    For TBogg & basset fans, think good thoughts for the noble Fenway, who’s suddenly taken ill. (Apologies if this has been posted before).

    http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2011/06/09/thursday-night-basset-blogging-170/

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    June 10, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    @Mike Kay (True Grit):

    They have those in WV? Although it’s certainly within Tunch’s powers to cause a quake his own self.

  53. 53.

    Steve

    June 10, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    @eemom: I realize the credibility of the National Enquirer, like that of Andrew Breitbart, has risen anew like a phoenix from the ashes, but it is still worth noting that this is an Enquirer story. That would be really something if it’s true, though.

  54. 54.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    @Whiskey Screams from a Guy With No Short-Term Memory:

    That Adam Smith guy had something to say about all that. Of course, what he had to say has been twisted around and lost in the intervening two centuries, but whatever.

  55. 55.

    Stefan

    June 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    @david mizner:

    Oh fuck me. Did the White House really just say: “However, the bill would authorize spending levels higher than those requested by the president’s Budget, and the administration believes that the need for smart investments that help America win the future must be balanced with the need to control spending and reduce the deficit”???

    Way to reinforce the Republicans’ narrative, guys. What the fuck is with this “the need to control spending and reduce the deficit”? Do Republicans routinely lard their speeches with Democratic talking points? No, they do not.

    Also, too, you know how you reduce the deficit? Jobs!

  56. 56.

    tamied

    June 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    @Mike Kay (True Grit): Now wouldn’t Cole feel silly if Tunch was trying to tell him about an upcoming earthquake and he responded like a crazy man?

  57. 57.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    @trollhattan: according to the googles, they do http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/06/seismic-events-triggered-explosion/

    But, we all have to remember we’re living in end-times, so maybe Tunch is sensing the upcoming Rapture.

  58. 58.

    Culture of Truth

    June 10, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    I chased him around the house yelling “I’M COMING TO GET YOU I’M COMING TO GET YOU” while waving my arms and screaming and may have even given him a love tap on the butt.

    I believe this is how Rick Santorum intends to win Iowa.

  59. 59.

    Georgia Pig

    June 10, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    Dow is crashing again because of fears of a weak global economy Bernanke is not going to make any more money drops to prop up stock prices.

  60. 60.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    @Steve:

    I really don’t fucking care.

    Edwards will never run for public office again. It’s over.

    No, no, let’s wallow in the mud a bit longer, by all means.

  61. 61.

    cathyx

    June 10, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    @Mike Kay (True Grit): Where do you live? Does your cat act like that only to earthquakes that are in close proximity to you?

  62. 62.

    Steve

    June 10, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I don’t really care if you care. But I like when wives make their cheating husbands pay a price. It sets a good example.

  63. 63.

    cat48

    June 10, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    HuffHo:

    President Obama has repeatedly endorsed a national infrastructure bank and proposed the idea again in the budget he sent to Congress in February. But the Senate bill (and a separate House proposal championed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro) have decided advantages over President Obama’s proposal. The president’s approach starts with a smart idea to create programs that work more with the private sector to find financing solutions. But unlike the Kerry proposal, it does not focus enough on the most powerful tools for leveraging private investment: loan programs that include a reasonable cap on the federal share of project costs. Obama’s bank would also be housed within the Department of Transportation, whereas the Kerry bill would make the bank an independent, quasi-public entity. That’s an important difference, because to attract hard-headed capitalists who expect a real economic return on their investments, the government’s financing facility must be genuinely free of political interference.
    An independent infrastructure bank would select projects based on their ability to generate real economic returns rather than their influential political patrons. As a self-sustaining entity that would not rely on future appropriations from Congress, the bank would not be subject to the pork barreling and earmarking that distorts federal and state infrastructure spending, especially on transportation.

  64. 64.

    MikeJ

    June 10, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    @cathyx: I hope it’s only the ones close to him. There have been 819 earthquakes in the US in the past week.

  65. 65.

    cathyx

    June 10, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    @MikeJ: Ha! That cat would always be freaking out otherwise. Good point. But maybe it acts odd for big ones only.

  66. 66.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    @Steve:

    Yet you insist on slurping over every fucking detail of others’ private lives.

    You should change your nym to “Gladys Kravitz”.

  67. 67.

    Violet

    June 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Can we have a picture of Tunch being ornery? I think I’ve only seen photos of him being King of His Domain. I want to see him ornery. Or maybe a video of him doing something besides sitting.

    Rosie is down at my mom’s playing in the big yard with Guesly

    Your dog has a playdate. That’s hilarious.

  68. 68.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    June 10, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I really don’t fucking care.

    Come on, you don’t secretly desire to know what Edwards’ pen1s looks like?

  69. 69.

    Studly Pantload, a full-service troll

    June 10, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    Is it just me, or are things a little exta, er, vibrant around here today? With vibrant berries?

    I’m blamin’ the pic of Weiner’s weiner. Maybe now a bunch of us feel we’ve got a little extra something to prove.

  70. 70.

    KG

    June 10, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    @Stefan: depends on the issue. Bush sort of did in the early days with education. that didn’t work out so well for him.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    June 10, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    @Violet:

    Think about it: if you’re holding a camera while near an ornery Tunch, how you gonna defend yourself? I’d have a garbage-can lid shield and a Taser.

  72. 72.

    Jon H

    June 10, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    Get him an iPad and the Cat Toy app. My cat loves that thing.

  73. 73.

    Martin

    June 10, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    @eemom: That’s hardcore. Good for her.

  74. 74.

    Cliff in NH

    June 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    @Stefan:

    were you paying attn to the campaign?

    He has ALWAYS run on responsibly reducing the deficit.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/world/americas/29iht-29fiscal.17331740.html

    Obama, his Democratic rival, has vowed to reduce the deficit and put it on a path to balance. He also promises an expensive effort to make health care insurance more widely available, a raft of other spending programs and tax cuts for most families and small businesses. He would raise taxes on the wealthiest households to help pay for his health care plans.

    If anything, yell at the obstructionists who have continually prevented the responsible part.

  75. 75.

    Violet

    June 10, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    @trollhattan:
    Camera built into the garbage can lid, perhaps? Third party filming at safe distance from Tunch?

  76. 76.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 10, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    @cathyx: It depends on whether she can feel it. She won’t react if a small tremor occurs 30 milies away, but she will sound an alarm if the quake can rock the house, even if the epicenter is far away.

    OTOH, if the tremor is slight, so slight that I can’t feel it and only know about from reading the periodic seismology report in my local paper, she still will sound an alarm if the epicenter is only a 2 miles away.

    It really is neat, because you look at the richter scale readings, and there is absolutely no activity hours before the tremor, but nevertheless she can detect it.

  77. 77.

    Lavocat

    June 10, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    When teasing animals, I wholeheartedly recommend a full frontal onslaught with a mega supersoaker bazooka squirt gun in one hand and an ear-splitting air horn in the other.

    It’s the animal world equivalent of The Rapture. They will literally think their world is coming to an end.

    If done properly, Tunch will promptly kill you in your sleep, with a smile on his feline face.

  78. 78.

    R-Jud

    June 10, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    Ugh. Took our Zeno to the vet to have him checked over because the conjunctivitis he’d been treated for last month has returned, and he’s lost some weight. One of his kidneys is swollen. They took blood, gave him a shot of an antibiotic, and we’re waiting to hear what it is he’s got.

  79. 79.

    Martin

    June 10, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    My mom had a hamster for a while named CT. Short for ‘cat toy’. Put hamster in ball, put ball on floor, happy cat, well exercised hamster. Repeat daily.

  80. 80.

    trollhattan

    June 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    @Violet:

    I like the sound of ShieldCam(tm)! I’d also consider assigning one of these gizmos to monitor Tunch remotely.

    http://keywui3.chosun.com/movieupPlayer/Player.swf?key=K_0fdfb1a55c9445e48b7c3c13e312b495&refer

  81. 81.

    Martin

    June 10, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Oh, and Cole should get one of these for Tunch. I give it a month after it ships for someone to make an RFID collar for the cat which allows the ball will follow it around the house.

  82. 82.

    mk387

    June 10, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Cole:

    DOW IS CRASHING

    Because it’s down 100+ points?? Really?? Do you have ANY idea what a market crash actually looks like??

    We added 54k+ net new jobs last month, the DOW is down and Cole wets his pants just like the rest of newly-found friends in the liberal blogosphere.

    Gimme a break. Grow a pair.

  83. 83.

    Studly Pantload, a full-service troll

    June 10, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    @Martin:

    That is well neigh awesome!

  84. 84.

    Alex S.

    June 10, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    I heard about 2 weeks ago that the end of quantitative easing II would lead to lower markets. Well, I believe that the market is a little inflated anyway.

  85. 85.

    jl

    June 10, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    But did Cole check Tunch’s anal glands(!)? That’s what I want to know.

  86. 86.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    June 10, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    Geez, slow news day.

  87. 87.

    les

    June 10, 2011 at 4:22 pm

    @cat48:

    An independent infrastructure bank would select projects based on their ability to generate real economic returns rather than their influential political patrons.

    In case anyone wondered why it won’t pass…

  88. 88.

    shortstop

    June 10, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    @Culture of Truth: Snort.

  89. 89.

    Studly Pantload, a full-service troll

    June 10, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    @Culture of Truth:

    Le win.

  90. 90.

    Phoebe

    June 10, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Tunch wants love. He looks like he likes it rough.

  91. 91.

    Alex S.

    June 10, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    I think that Atrios wants to join Balloon Juice:

    http://www.eschatonblog.com/2011/06/my-blog-is-boring.html

    And @Atrios: In this environment only snarky blogs thrive, like Balloon Juice or Wonkette. Anything more substantial, like the stuff Ezra Klein or Matt Yglesias do, is useless, because there will be no detailed discussion of policy as long as the Republicans control the House. Nothing useful will get passed.

  92. 92.

    Rosalita

    June 10, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    so Tunch has decided that I need no peace and is following me around the house bitching at me about something. His litter is clean, he has food, his water is fresh, he’s been furminated, and he has no health issues

    My Noah is like that. I also call him The Endless Black Hole of Need

  93. 93.

    Chuck Butcher

    June 10, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    @mk387:

    Do you have ANY idea what a market crash actually looks like??

    I think we had a pretty good example a few years ago. With the Dow down 170+, currently, it still isn’t really large. The fact is that “The Masters Of The Universe” smashed things well enough in recent enough memory that this shit makes a mark on the public consciousness.

    Given much of what moves the market the idea that it reflects actual economic conditions other than its ability to smash it is about ludicrous. It certainly does reflect the activities of the paper profit bunch.

  94. 94.

    Waratah

    June 10, 2011 at 5:15 pm

    Tunch misses Rosie? Tunch may know that Rosie is outside having fun and wants to go with Rosie.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    June 10, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    As an aside, apparently being the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Nokia is a lot like being the Number 3 guy at Al Queda. Short term in office is guaranteed.

    Rich Green’s only been with Nokia since 2010, making his way onto the leadership team in February when the Elopcalypse rolled through Espoo…. Well, we just got official word from Nokia that he’s taking a leave of absence for an unspecified duration for “personal reasons.” … The story first broke in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, citing two independent sources claiming that Green likely won’t be returning to the company because of disagreements over strategy.

    The company last lost a boatload of executives in October 2010. The battles popping up over tablets and smartphones and music services is heating up, and is even crazier than what goes on in the world of politics.

  96. 96.

    Cacti

    June 10, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    The google Dow ticker is showing the DJIA at 0.

    The end hath come.

  97. 97.

    Steve

    June 10, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: This post made no sense to me at all. Can anyone tell me what inspired that complete non sequitur that begins with “Yet…”?

  98. 98.

    handy

    June 10, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    @Alex S.:

    Heavens, what would his many 4 or 5 commenters do when he packs it in?

  99. 99.

    OzoneR

    June 10, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    @Stefan:

    Way to reinforce the Republicans’ narrative, guys.

    If 2010 taught us anything, it’s that the Republican narrative is embedded and you’re not going to defeat it. Even Kathy Hochul used it in her campaign.

    So yes, you do need to argue “more fiscal stimulus while controlling the deficit”- you do that by raising taxes.

  100. 100.

    OzoneR

    June 10, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    @aisce:

    because it’s clearly our president’s fault that greece is bankrupt, china is overheating, and japan had a massive earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown one-two-three punch during a time of ongoing political dysfunction.

    In fairness, I think the complaints also include the idea of having enough fiscal stimulus to weather what may come. What happens if we get a monster hurricane slamming Florida this year? or New York?

    But trying to talk the public into supporting more spending with a huge deficit and massive debt “just in case” is like trying to tell a vegan that they need to have just a little meat for protein. It’s not going to get through. Hell, this is a country that WANTS to actually default on our debt.

    The truth is you can certainly lower unemployment by doing what the right wing wants, it just means half of us are going to living in poverty and we’ll turn into a third world country, and that’s not any more acceptable than high unemployment

  101. 101.

    CynDee

    June 10, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    God damned animals.

    We’re all animals; to Tunch, Lily, and Rosie you’re a tall monkey who is NUTS. Never know what a talking (yelling) monkey is gonna do. Tunch really needs some time alone with you, the way things used to be.

  102. 102.

    Fred

    June 10, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    Dow is crashing? When? Where?

    If I were you I would stay away from stock investing. You would lose your shirt.

    http://www.google.com//finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1307744584074&chddm=4053497&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=INDEXDJX:.DJI&ntsp=0

  103. 103.

    RalfW

    June 10, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    Huh, I guess the markets are finally really pricing in the risk that the GOP are utter idiots who will kill the golden goose just to make that black guy in DC look bad.

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