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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

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

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  August 11, 20116:38 pm| 276 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Mixer came today, and I am waiting for my dough to rise before I bake my first official loaves of bread made from scratch. I’m kind of excited. I’ve always wanted to teach myself how to bake, but was intimidated by it all. I’ll post pictures when it is done, but I modified this recipe.

*** Update ***

It is now out of the oven and cooling:

I think they look pretty good for a first attempt at baking.

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Reader Interactions

276Comments

  1. 1.

    Keith G

    August 11, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    And soon you will be baking your own homemade, extra healthy doggie biscuits for the girls.

  2. 2.

    JGabriel

    August 11, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    John Cole:

    Mixer came today, and I am waiting for my dough to rise …

    That’s a double entendre, right?

    Edited to Add: And why is it that people who see double entendres everywhere are said to have a one track mind?

    .

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    @JGabriel: Sadly, probably not.

  4. 4.

    Comrade Luke

    August 11, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    Reposting from another thread, I counter Martin’s 404 nomination with this.

    Not as ridiculous, but funny nonetheless.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    August 11, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    Picture of Rosie, please.

    With or without Lily and Tunch, whose photos have graced blog recently.

    Bread sounds delicious. Good luck.

  6. 6.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    the only bread i’ve ever been able to make from scratch is the ‘no-knead‘ bread. and it’s quite good.

    all the other breads i’ve tried have been hhorrifficc failures. grey, crustless, soggy. i think my oven’s fuxxored, really.

  7. 7.

    Derf

    August 11, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    DOW up +423 today. Where are the big booming breathless headlines on Baboon juice? That always seems to happen when it goes the other way that much. So it only stands to reason no?

    What say you Captain Doom John Chicken Little Galt Cole?

  8. 8.

    Felanius Kootea

    August 11, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    And Rick Perry finally lets us know he’s joining the presidential race. I can’t wait for the media to gush about what an asset his statements about secession are.

  9. 9.

    kay eye

    August 11, 2011 at 6:50 pm

    For a great oatmeal bread look at punkchef69.blogspot.com/ and no, that isn’t what you think. It’s his year of birth.
    Bread, with clear photos at every step, is in his April 2010 entries. The absolutely fabulous cinnamon rolls (leave out the lemon zest) are in the May 2011 column.
    These breads are outstanding and so are the directions for making them. Punkchef is also devoted to his Kitchenaid stand mixer.

  10. 10.

    Libby's Person

    August 11, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Without my dog to cheer me up and Cole’s updates on his food, drink, and animal overlords, I’d be too stressed to come out from under my bed these days. There must be something good happening somewhere. Anyone got any encouraging or happy news to share?

  11. 11.

    Yuppers

    August 11, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Modifying a yeast-dough bread recipe the first time out sounds a bit dangerous to me. Baking isn’t like the rest of cooking; it’s a very precise balancing act of food chemistry.

    Not that I’m an expert (I did work in a bakery before college, but that was a lifetime ago). Though my wife does make some of the best french baguettes I’ve had outside of France… but that just makes me a lucky spouse, not an informed commenter.

  12. 12.

    Southern Beale

    August 11, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    I used to bake a lot of bread. John, get yourself one of these. Best freaking bread EVER.

    Also, if you have a Romertopf clay baker (and they also are freaking AWESOME, if you don’t have one you SHOULD — I have TWO), they are also great for baking bread. Sort of give it that crusty French baguette vibe.

    Good luck.

    Never felt like I needed a mixer for bread … maybe I’ve been doing it wrong?

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    @Libby’s Person: Had a job interview today. Have another one tomorrow. For good jobs in my field. Does that help?

  14. 14.

    Lolis

    August 11, 2011 at 6:54 pm

    Huff Po claims Elizabeth Warren will run for Senate.

  15. 15.

    General Stuck

    August 11, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    WAKE UP!!

    You ain’t dead yet

  16. 16.

    Derf

    August 11, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    @Lolis: Huff Fluff also claims Arianna is a progressive so how exactly are they credible on anything?

    What next. You going to try convince me that Cenk Ugur is a progressive and has Democrats best interest in mind too?

  17. 17.

    demkat620

    August 11, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Can I wish you very very good luck?

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 7:00 pm

    @demkat620: Yes, please. And thank you.

  19. 19.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    Can’t wait for the bread pics. Sounds yummy.

    I’m having baby back ribs and corn on the cob tonight. Cooking outside because it’s too damn hot to cook inside and heat up the kitchen. I can just throw those on the grill and check every so often.

    In other news, four European markets are putting a temporary stop to short selling.

    A European market regulator announced on Thursday night that short-selling of financial stocks in several countries would be temporarily banned in an effort to stop the tailspin in the markets.
    __
    The European Securities and Markets Authority, a body that coordinates the European Union’s market policies, said in a statement that these negative bets on stocks would be curtailed effective on Friday in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain. They are already banned in Greece and Turkey.

    Apparently we did that in the US in 2008 and decided it didn’t work very well. I read elsewhere the European ban is 15 days. Not sure if that part is true.

  20. 20.

    Linkmeister

    August 11, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    I got a bread machine in November for my birthday. Here are some of my results.

    Believe me, I’d never have tried baking bread without this machine. Now I make at least one loaf a week if I’m not making pizza dough already.

  21. 21.

    map106

    August 11, 2011 at 7:02 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    You’re not doing it wrong, you’re right. Thirty years ago, I used to make homemade bread by hand when the only counter space I had was a 18 x 20″ cabinet top, and my oven was a 24″ NYC apartment electric stove. If I can do it, it can’t be that hard. And the kneading is the fun part.

  22. 22.

    piratedan

    August 11, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    yeah, but which mixer model did he get?

  23. 23.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    Good luck with the baking. I look forward to report and a pic.

    My two cents: buckwheat, Cole, buckwheat.

    I love buckwheat bread, and it is hard to get unless you can bake it yourself.

    If Cole learns the way of buckwheat, he can make buckwheat hoe cakes, boiled cabbage and salt pork, downed with whiskey, and eat they way God intended Americans to eat. He can be a good American again.

    Edit: and hush puppies of course, but that is not enough to go with boiled cabbage and salt pork for a real patriot, you need them buckwheat hoe cakes.

  24. 24.

    jacy

    August 11, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Good luck! (or maybe not luck, but wishing your prospective employers realize what I fine asset you would make…)

  25. 25.

    freelancer

    August 11, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    @piratedan:

    I think he said Kitchen Aid. Jesus, the things I wish I didn’t remember.

  26. 26.

    Libby's Person

    August 11, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    Omnes Omnibus, congratulations and good luck! Good things happening to good people does indeed help lighten the general news-induced gloom.

  27. 27.

    Comrade Mary

    August 11, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    Yay for mixer! You’ll have lots of fun with that.

    The Cook’s Illustrated variation of no-knead bread gives fantastic results.

  28. 28.

    Joseph Nobles

    August 11, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    Rick Perry’s 2007 executive order to mandate all 11-year-old and 12-year-old girls to get the Gardisil HPV vaccine is getting a lot of play on Twitter. It’s being talked up as “Rick Perry required STD shots for minors!!!” My personal memory of this was that if the vaccine did actually work as advertised, it was worth some grift to get out there. However, there appears to have been a lot more to the story:

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/06/04/rick_perrys_gardasil_problem_110089.html

    I’d like to see some more on this.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    August 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    @Lolis: This is from the NYTIMES

    BOSTON — Elizabeth Warren has enlisted two former aides to Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts to help her assess whether to run for the United States Senate and will make a decision after Labor Day, a Democrat familiar with her efforts said Thursday.

  30. 30.

    bkny

    August 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    halperin and heileman showing the love for perry… willing to overlook that pesky little issue like secession; and heileman’s comment was interesting — that perry was responsible for the texas miracle creating all those jobs although some people will say if you take a closer look they aren’t so great; but from 30,000ft it looks pretty good and he’s created more jobs than obama.’

  31. 31.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    Well, this week has been good: My amazing woman-friend made me a green-salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette, minestrone soup, eggplant rollatini, red-velvet cake balls covered in chocolate, and home-made carrot cake with cream-cheese frosting. All that plus a sixer of Two-Hearted Ale. What a wonderful birthday dinner! She got me the deluxe edition of Elegant Universe and a copy of DeLillo’s White Noise. Been having a great first week at my new job with the city’s water quality division and my name on an office, not to mention my chair has 4/5ths of its wheels. Can it get any better?

  32. 32.

    piratedan

    August 11, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    @bkny: the ol’ Why would Perry wanna be predident of a country he doesn’t wanna belong to question? yeah, I kinda don’t expect that’ll ever be asked on Faux.

  33. 33.

    Keith

    August 11, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    @cleek: I second this. The long rise makes the flavor very nice, and the steaming in a sealed put for the first 10 or so minutes is the only way I have ever been able to approach a bakery-level quality crust.

  34. 34.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    today, i started the day with my car showing me its “check engine” light. 20′ later, when i reached the end of my driveway, i discovered that the garbage truck had backed over the little steel fence on the corner of our lot, completely flattening it.

    then i got to work and was told about a bug that only happens sometimes, and only in one particular obscure version of our software, and only when running a job that can take more than 24 hours to complete. joy!

    email to the town about the fence was met with “talk to Waste Industries!” email to Waste Industries was met with an automated reply.

    but, i made the decision to drop cable, cause, you know … fuck Time Warner.

  35. 35.

    harlana

    August 11, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    will the republican candidates start turning on each other tonight? who will attack whom and for what? but in the end, they all end up saying the same thing – this is gonna be so interesting to watch republicans go “pinicking” on each other, i need popcorn, how bad will it get? teehee

    this has to be my entertainment in the next several months while i refuse to consider the blood-curdling possibility of ANY of these people running the country

  36. 36.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 7:19 pm

    @Joseph Nobles:
    This was a huge issue at the time. Perry is going to have to explain why he wants 12-year-old girls to have sex. Because that’s the argument that can be made against him by his opponents. Along with “government interference in private health decisions”, etc.

  37. 37.

    Felanius Kootea

    August 11, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: Sigh – just noticed John’s old thread on Perry. I can’t keep up with this blog :). Back to work for me.

  38. 38.

    MikeJ

    August 11, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    @Violet:

    Along with “government interference in private health decisions”, etc.

    Like measles vaccines?

  39. 39.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    @harlana:

    will the republican candidates start turning on each other tonight?

    hope a meteor wipes them all out.

    i’m watching the So, You Think You Canned Ants finale!

  40. 40.

    Jenny

    August 11, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    Rick Perry’s Saddam moment – part one.

    Rick Perry’s Saddam moment – part two.

  41. 41.

    dexwood

    August 11, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    @Keith G:

    Oh yea, my dogs get home baked treats. Research some recipes. Use sodium free chicken broth. They love pumpkin mixed in. You can use apple sauce. My guys love the biscuits with low fat cheese and Chimayo red chile flakes my wife makes. Be creative, experiment.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes.

  43. 43.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    @30 The unregulated free market Texas miracle story is total bunk, even aside from the low income and low quality jobs aspect. I don’t have the links now, but one thing Krugman and others have noted in the past, but Krugman seems to have forgot about in his recent posts on Texas, is that the state has fairly strict bank and other industry regulations. Think of it is as a little Switzerland on the Rio Grande, except with very much stingier social insurance.

    Banks, power companies, are regulated cartels. That is why there have been relatively few bank failures in Texas, compared to, for example, Georgia. The system was robust enough so that it did not break down much after the federal regulation pre emption in the middle of the housing boom.

    The power utilities are highly regulated by regional standards, and as I remember, pretty much walled off from the rest of the country.

    Texas does have a progressive history, from way back when, and it did a lot of good. Some old progressive policies from back in the day, those that can be seen to directly help the wealthy, have been retained, and have served Texas well through the recent housing boom and bust, and financial panic.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 11, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    @bkny:

    willing to overlook that pesky little issue like secession; and heileman’s comment was interesting—

    After the Great Clenis Obsession, the Bush years, the normalization of everything from torture to the filibuster, you think I’d be past being surprised by just how useless our political media is, but the fact that this is just one more No Big Deal just astounds me.

  45. 45.

    harlana

    August 11, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: best of luck, also!

  46. 46.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    OK, I have time for one link, list of bank failures. Not much Texas there.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008-2009_bank_failures_in_the_United_States

    Edit: Good luck to Omnes

  47. 47.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    USPS says -140K jobs could do the trick.

    yipes

  48. 48.

    Elie

    August 11, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    My husband got into baking bread two years ago for about 8 months. We both LOVED the fresh baked bread and promptly gained 20 lbs between us — most of it on my already “curvy” bottom. It was rough, but we stopped eating the wonderful bread…

    we both bake cakes and pies — ocassionally… but I just can’t go near that home made bread thing anymore…

  49. 49.

    Elie

    August 11, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yay! Break a leg, man….

  50. 50.

    MikeJ

    August 11, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    Ok, it’s a half hour before the sun is over the yardarm, but I’m going to open the Tanq anyway. I hope that meets with your approval.

  51. 51.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 7:29 pm

    @MikeJ:
    i approve
    +4

  52. 52.

    Lolis

    August 11, 2011 at 7:29 pm

    @Derf:

    I am not trying to convince you of anything. I don’t like Cenk so I don’t know where that came from. Whatevs. Try some Xanex.

  53. 53.

    Joe Bauers

    August 11, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    Mixer? Hell, just drink it straight, Alice!

    Wait, not that kind of mixer?

  54. 54.

    Citizen_X

    August 11, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    @Libby’s Person:

    Anyone got any encouraging or happy news to share?

    The Israelis protesting the government’s privatization/neoliberal policies (who we haven’t been hearing much about in this country, strangely enough) have put up a guillotine in Tel Aviv.

    Well it made me happy.

  55. 55.

    JC

    August 11, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    Pelosi offered up her Super Duper Friends.

  56. 56.

    Thoughtcrime

    August 11, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    @cleek:

    Best comment on the USPS story:

    Its scary reading some of these posts. Inefficient? These guys send packages across country for a few bucks in one week, and thats inefficient? You have to wait in line to send a package, and get upset because you cant figure out how to properly post a package, and you get bent out of shape.
    …
    I think that everyone posting here calling for the end of unions and saying the post office is inefficient has got to be under 40, and poorly educated to boot. Learn your history you foolish union busting nutjobs.
    …
    People died in front of factories, shot down by company hired goon squads – to fight for the right to unionize. Do you want to go back to 16-hour days? company stores? 6-day workdays? getting docked for needing to take a leak? Losing your job for breaking your leg on the job, and then ending up without workmans comp? or unemployment benefits? Unions have alot to do with labor reform.
    …
    You want to work like the paid slaves in China’s factories? living 4 to a room on the factory premises? You think this is a GOOD THING?!?
    …
    You people rooting for loss of union protections in this country, better go read some history – I suggest Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” for starters. But for the more lazy youngsters who think that anyone who is still working and is over 40 is an “inefficient dinosaur” – just do a google search for factory conditions in China. Do a search on the working conditions, on the living condition, and on the pay of those unprotected employees. Then come back here and advocate for that – here in the USA – advocate for that, for yourselves and your children.
    …
    Dumba$$es…

  57. 57.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    @jl:

    Texas does have a progressive history, from way back when, and it did a lot of good. Some old progressive policies from back in the day, those that can be seen to directly help the wealthy, have been retained, and have served Texas well through the recent housing boom and bust, and financial panic.

    It seems odd now, but every now and then, the South’s populist past makes a resurgence in one way or another. I think I remember reading somewhere that the South was actually more opposed to Bush’s Social Security privatization plan than the rest of the country was.

  58. 58.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    @MikeJ:
    Measles vaccines don’t have anything to do with sex, so therefore the government can interfere all it wants. Plus, measles vaccines have been given for a long time, so it’s not like the government is trying to add extra interference. Also, shut up, that’s why.

  59. 59.

    Derf

    August 11, 2011 at 7:36 pm

    @Lolis: Baboon juice is my Xanax. Seeing other people saying idiotic things I know aren’t true always seems to calm me down.

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    @Thoughtcrime: Damn, that was beautiful. I have a tear in my eye.

  61. 61.

    jak

    August 11, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    Good bread recipes here at King Arthur Flour Co.

    http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/

    Especially the no-knead oat bread and the hamburger buns.

  62. 62.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    @Thoughtcrime:

    People died in front of factories, shot down by company hired goon squads – to fight for the right to unionize. Do you want to go back to 16-hour days? company stores? 6-day workdays? getting docked for needing to take a leak? Losing your job for breaking your leg on the job, and then ending up without workmans comp? or unemployment benefits? Unions have alot to do with labor reform.

    The standard response to this is that “unions served a purpose but now we don’t need them anymore.” (I don’t think the people who use this even know what it means: it’s just a convenient out from arguments like the one this person just made).

  63. 63.

    Marginalized for stating documented facts

    August 11, 2011 at 7:40 pm

    They look very good for a first effort.

    In my experience, the big issue with baking your own bread is hot spots in the oven.

  64. 64.

    JGabriel

    August 11, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    John Cole:

    I think they look pretty good for a first attempt at baking.

    They do! And that’s even with your, uh — how to put this politely? — still progressing skills in food photography.

    .

  65. 65.

    freelancer

    August 11, 2011 at 7:43 pm

    My iphone is telling me there’s a FOOTBALL game going on right now! OMFG, real American football!, and I’m stuck at work for another 45 minutes. Gaaaahhhhh!

  66. 66.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 7:43 pm

    Bread looks good. I like the shiny crusts.

  67. 67.

    Thoughtcrime

    August 11, 2011 at 7:44 pm

    @Chris:

    The standard response to this is that “unions served a purpose but now we don’t need them anymore.” (I don’t think the people who use this even know what it means: it’s just a convenient out from arguments like the one this person just made).

    Yeah, just like how the Glass-Steagall Act and other financial regulations “served their purpose but now we don’t need them anymore”.

  68. 68.

    shortstop

    August 11, 2011 at 7:45 pm

    What do you mean it “came” today? Weren’t you just debating which kind to buy last night? Who delivers that fast?

  69. 69.

    General Stuck

    August 11, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    I tried for years to bake my own bread, but it was always too dense, like chewing hardtack. Just gave up after a while.

  70. 70.

    Fulcanelli

    August 11, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    @Thoughtcrime: That post was a thing of beauty. It’s stuff like that that the Dems should use to club the R’s and The Teabaggers who’re down on their knees servicing the “job creators” come election time.

  71. 71.

    shortstop

    August 11, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    @Southern Beale: Huge Romertopf fan here. Love, love, love that thing.

  72. 72.

    J.W. Hamner

    August 11, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    They do look good!

    I will say that (if you don’t own one) you should buy a kitchen scale if you plan to bake regularly… results are much more consistent by weight instead of volume.

  73. 73.

    CaseyL

    August 11, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Best of luck in the interviews! Maybe they’ll both want you, and they can start a bidding war over who gets to hire you!

  74. 74.

    Beauzeaux

    August 11, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    I recommend “Baking Illustrated” from the Cook’s Illustrated people. I have been baking their Rustic Italian bread every 7-10 days for the last seven years. Their foccacia recipe is excellent also.

    If I had to knead bread by hand, it would never happen. I HATE kneading bread.

  75. 75.

    handsmile

    August 11, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    Back from Maine, back to daily posting links to the Guardian…

    In response to Libby’s Person’s request (#10):

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/aug/10/bonobo-chimpanzee-cleverest-monkey-video

    May it be said of all us that we are “very keen on getting walnuts.”

    Also too, bakers of good bread are among the seraphim of this world.

  76. 76.

    Thoughtcrime

    August 11, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    @Fulcanelli:

    Let’s see…..

    A) Club GOPbaggers

    or

    B) Punch Hippies

    Wonder which it’ll be?

  77. 77.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 7:55 pm

    @cleek:
    @Thoughtcrime:

    In my humble opinion, post office services should be expanded, with more gumming post offices. For instance, post office banking, and post office telecommunications contracts, and electronic payment services.


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_savings_system

    Have come in very handy for me in dirty old totalitarian Yurrp, even if some of the post office workers there not as friendly as in US, at least the ones in CA that I have dealt with.

    Also, the USPS needs a better symbol, maybe like the cool postal horns you seen in Nordic countries and the Baltics

    http://post.ee

  78. 78.

    gypsy howell

    August 11, 2011 at 7:55 pm

    Watch this, then order the book.

    I’ve been making a variation on his recipe for almost a year, and I have to say, I’m making the best bread I’ve ever eaten. (I just mixed up a batch a few minutes ago to bake tomorrow.) Our French neighbors say it’s the best bread they’ve had in the US. Making bread is an act of love. Try it, John.

  79. 79.

    John Weiss

    August 11, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    @cleek: Hey-O! Get yourself an oven thermometer.

  80. 80.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    Fer gawds sake, moderation thug is at it again. Let’s try again.

    In my humble opinion, post office services should be expanded, with more gumming post offices. For instance, post office banking, and post office telecommunications contracts, and electronic payment services.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_savings_system

    Have come in very handy for me in dirty old totalitarian Yurrp, even if some of the post office workers there not as friendly as in US, at least the ones in CA that I have dealt with.

  81. 81.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    and

    Also, the USPS needs a better symbol, maybe like the cool postal horns you seen in Nordic countries and the Baltics

    http://post.ee

    Edit: thanks for bread pic. Let’s have an honest review about whether Cole can chew it, and how it tastes. Thnx in advance, Cole.

  82. 82.

    gypsy howell

    August 11, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    @gypsy howell:

    grr- screwed up link:
    http://www.tartinebread.com/video.html

    Probably will screw it up again. Sorry.

  83. 83.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 7:58 pm

    @Chris:
    who can answer this?

  84. 84.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    @CaseyL: They are both state positions, so no bidding war. OTOH, one would pay more, but the other would provide more opportunities down the road. It would be great to be forced to make a choice.

  85. 85.

    kt

    August 11, 2011 at 8:00 pm

    I started baking bread about a year ago and now make a decent sourdough loaf according to those who have tried it.

    I found this site excellent for instructions/tips/recipes etc: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

    If you get brave, sourdough is pretty cool stuff. It’s the way bread was baked for thousands of years and produces a richer more robust flavor. Best illustration of the difference between packaged yeast and sourdough is something like comparing a high volume big name American beer to beer from a microbrewery. Excellent instructions for creating your own sourdough starter here: http://yumarama.com/blog/968/starter-from-scratch-intro/

  86. 86.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:00 pm

    @cleek: I can. Wisconsin and Ohio.

  87. 87.

    Nemo_N

    August 11, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    Most Looked-Up Words in the New York Times:

    http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2939/

    I wonder which writer uses most of those words…

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    August 11, 2011 at 8:02 pm

    @shortstop:

    What do you mean it “came” today? Weren’t you just debating which kind to buy last night? Who delivers that fast?

    He’s hired the Lost in Space robot to make stuff for him in that replicator box.

    It’s the only explanation that makes sense, unless he’d already ordered one and was quizzing us in a fit of cognitive dissonance, or he ordered two and is sending back the one he decides to not keep.

    Which would be so unlike Cole.

    Also, too, the KitchenAid dough hook is pretty steller for the task.

  89. 89.

    ruemara

    August 11, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    @Southern Beale:
    I have one of those, but I’ve never used it for baking bread. It’s my go to chicken cooker.

    Good on you for baking JC, but it’s seductive, you may not like store bought again except for the best that’s out there.

  90. 90.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 8:04 pm

    Hey, Cole, if that bread is any good, why is there any left to cool by now? Huh? I ask you, why?

    Explain that, Cole.

    Note: Cole cannot explain that. Hey, I baked me some bread back in the day, if it was a good batch, you think it lasted long enough to take some picture of? No way. Never.

  91. 91.

    Citizen_X

    August 11, 2011 at 8:04 pm

    I think they look pretty good for a first attempt at baking

    And how! Do they smell as good as they look?

  92. 92.

    John Weiss

    August 11, 2011 at 8:05 pm

    @ John C: I’ve two bread-making books to recommend:
    The Baker’s Apprentice
    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_22?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+baker%27s+apprentice&sprefix=the+baker%27s+apprentice

    and Bread Science
    http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Science-Chemistry-Craft-Making/dp/0977806804/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313107418&sr=1-1

    Both books are technical but the concepts that they present are easily grasped. They improved my baking skills immensely.

  93. 93.

    jeffreyw

    August 11, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    Yay! Fresh bread! And now I know what to do with all those cherry tomatoes!

  94. 94.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    August 11, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    a) waiting for it to cool? Really? There is nothing better than a doorstep of fresh bread slathered with butter fresh out of the oven. Of course the heatburn is a killer later on but it is worth it.

    b) John, I have told you this before, go to a thrift store, there you will find at least half a dozen bread machines given as gifts to someone or someone who bought one on a whim and then donated it. There is no end of things that you can do with these machines, loaves of bread, cinnamom rolls, homemade stromboli, wonderful ham and cheese loaf (homemade hotpockets), dinner rolls, cake mixes, pizza crust, whatever they are truly wonderful. I can generally pick one up for about $5.00, right now I have three, one I am using, a spare and a backup to the spare.

  95. 95.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    August 11, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Add mine to those, and consider me pre-thanked, LOL. O/T I begin next week as Executive Director for the NAMI affiliate one county north of here, so will take my license inactive for at least part of this biennium.

  96. 96.

    daveX99

    August 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    NOM NOM NOM!

  97. 97.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    Question for the group: We have a metric ass ton of un-used cream-cheese frosting. Anyone have any non-cake related uses for this heart-attack in a bowl?

  98. 98.

    PurpleGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 8:14 pm

    @bkny: Texas has a lot — I mean a lot — of minimum wage jobs. I think they’re like #1 in the number of minimum wage jobs, let’s also mention that Texas has the least number of people covered by medical insurance.

    I just hope that he feels the karmic kick sooner rather than later for bragging about the (minimum wage) jobs.

  99. 99.

    jl

    August 11, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Won’t do no good, Cole won’t listen. But I think both pieces of advice are excellent.

  100. 100.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:17 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open): Try this.

  101. 101.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 8:20 pm

    @kt:
    I’ll second the sourdough recommendation. There’s something cool and almost magical about sourdough that I find very attractive. The bread is fantastic, too, though it definitely requires more dedication and planning than bread using packaged yeast. For those people who don’t like the sourness of commercial sourdough, it’s easy to make a sourdough that’s barely more sour than yeast bread by building up the starter several times shortly before starting the loaf.

  102. 102.

    becca

    August 11, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    I do no-knead round loaves in an old cast iron Dutch oven that belonged to my amazing grandmother. The steam does the fabulous crust thing. This is our Daily Bread and the dough keeps for days in the fridge.

    I only use my stand mixer for meringues and an Ultimate Brownie recipe where 8 egg whites and an obscene amount of sugar must be whipped 10 minutes and it is worth the hassle because they are fucking sinful in their fudgy deliciosity..

  103. 103.

    John Cole

    August 11, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    @shortstop: Amazon. I ordered yesterday, it came today. Didn’t even pay for one day shipping since I have Amazon Prime, and it would be here free in two days. It just came in one day, though.

  104. 104.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open):

    Anyone have any non-cake related uses for this heart-attack in a bowl?

    Feed it to Clarence Thomas so Obama has another opportunity to disappoint us with a Supreme Court nomination?

  105. 105.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    This being an open thread, may I mention that Anne Hathaway is hot?

  106. 106.

    cleek

    August 11, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    i’m not sure that answers it.

    the threat of having something taken away does not justify that something.

    may I mention that Anne Hathaway is hot?

    no argument there!

  107. 107.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    Because you all are my on-line family, I will share that my skin cancer biopsies came back benign. Not benign as in “Everything’s great and we don’t have to do anything” (as one friend assumed) but benign as in benign cancer vs. malignant cancer (i.e., melanoma, you’ve got six months to live). So there will be blood. Looks like Mohs surgery ahead, probably on the 25th.

    Had to laugh when I talked to the person from the dermatologist’s office. She said that my doctor, who did my previous Mohs surgery in 2005 (and took the biopsies this time), no longer does Mohs surgery, so it will be “one of his children.” I thought that was an infelicitous way to put it. And, wrapping up the conversation, she said there was no urgency in calling her back to schedule the surgery because “everything is benign.” Everything is benign. Cosmic.

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    August 11, 2011 at 8:27 pm

    I cannot bake bread well. respect those who do.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:28 pm

    @cleek: My point was more that what has happened in those states demonstrates that unions are still necessary to maintain the protections they originally fought to get.

  110. 110.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 8:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    may I mention that Anne Hathaway is hot?

    In other news, water is wet, and the sun rises in the east.

  111. 111.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    ‘I can’t eat that, it’s going to go straight to my butte’

  112. 112.

    shortstop

    August 11, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    @John Cole: Egg salad, as my friend Scott would say. Amazon always seems to deliver earlier than planned, in exact opposition to a certain clothing company that is invoking my bestest wrath right now.

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    @Steeplejack: This is good news then, right? Minor surgery is better than the alternative, so good on you, mate.

  114. 114.

    shortstop

    August 11, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    Where there’s a Will, Anne Hathaway.

    I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry.

  115. 115.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That and, I’d say, the fact that wages have been stagnating for the last thirty years (unions tend to be crucial to push for pay increases, which ripples across to more than just their members – but not if they don’t have anything behind them).

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    @Joseph Nobles: Love, love, love the title of that article:

    Rick Perry’s Gardasil Problem

    Too funny! Now I will go back and actually read it.

    Edit: okay, now I have read it. These guys are so transparent. What, they think someone won’t notice? Geez.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    @shortstop: You should be.

  118. 118.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Nice. One of my favorite Zep songs.

  119. 119.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    @freelancer: LLLALALGGHLLGGHALLGHH…FOOTBALL on ESPN!!
    I don’t even care Joe Theisman’s involved.

  120. 120.

    shortstop

    August 11, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I saw the electric socket and it’s like I was compelled to stick a fork in.

    Edited to correct patent nonsensicality.

  121. 121.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    @Steeplejack: I clicked on a few of the other covers that Pink did on that tour and I was impressed.

  122. 122.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    Anne Hathaway is very beautiful, but give me some Wednesday Adams any-day. NOM NOM NOM

  123. 123.

    Constance

    August 11, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    Beautiful bread! When I left work it wasn’t out of the oven yet. Nothing can stop you now.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: LLLALALGGHLLGGHALLGHH…Anne Hathaway…
    I’m not sure she’s ever going to look better than she did in Get Smart.

  125. 125.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    Congrats on the good news! I know it’s still not great to have to have surgery, but it’s so much better than it could be. What a huge relief. Go celebrate.

  126. 126.

    Linkmeister

    August 11, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    @Steeplejack: In a world of treatable v. non-treatable, I’ll take the former, and I imagine you will too.

    Obvious xkcd comic.

  127. 127.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    I’m not sure I’ve ever been this happy to yell “Screen!!” at my TV.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    @Corner Stone: Get Smart is on TBS right now. This fact prompted my comment.

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open): Tastes differ. Ricci is fine, but not the same. OTOH I also have a thing for Brodie Dalle of the Distillers.

  129. 129.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 8:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Is she hot or beautiful, or both? For some reason she doesn’t strike me as hot, but she’s definitely stunning. I just don’t get the hotness factor. To me she always looks like she might break if you dropped her. There’s some kind of fragility without vulnerability that makes her seem almost cold. To me anyway. I’m totally not her target demographic, so it probably doesn’t matter what I think. She seems like a nice person when I’ve seen interviews with her. And she’s definitely stunning.

  130. 130.

    Keith G

    August 11, 2011 at 8:44 pm

    @Steeplejack: Sounds like you will be okay. I’m glad.

    Are you insured thru the “big box”?

  131. 131.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    @Violet: For me, she manages both.

  132. 132.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    @rikyrah:
    Bread is actually a lot easier than its reputation. You should try one of the no-knead recipes, especially one that does the baking in a dutch oven. They’re surprisingly easy and should give you better results than you’ve ever had before. I wouldn’t say they’re foolproof, but they’re within the reach of any competent cook.

  133. 133.

    Scuffletuffle

    August 11, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open): Send it to me…I promise to return the bowl clean!

  134. 134.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 8:48 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Mmmm, watching the foosball on ESPN.
    Have Get Smart on DVD and for anyone who’s never seen it, it’s a ripping good time.

  135. 135.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    @Corner Stone: Preseason Seattle vs. San Diego? I don’t hate myself enough to watch that. I am patiently waiting for Saturday’s Green Bay game.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    @Violet:

    Is she hot or beautiful, or both?

    You know, I always thought she was pretty enough but maybe not “sexy”.
    Until I saw Get Smart and there’s a scene in there where she’s telling Agent Smart something like she’s had her identity changed and she gave up so much.
    And for some reason she really nailed it, for me, and I fell head over teakettle for her.

  137. 137.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m not sure she’s ever going to look better than she did in Get Smart.

    I keep expecting somebody to do an Audrey Hepburn biopic as a star vehicle for Hathaway. She’d be perfect and is apparently a Hepburn fan so she’d find the role impossible to refuse.

  138. 138.

    hamletta

    August 11, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    Yay for Omnibus! And Steeplejack’s no-fun-but-benign news!

    I’m having lunch next week with a dude who, a few months ago said his company was gearing up, and I needed to name my price. Then he dropped off the face of the earth. (He’s not a jerk, he’s just really busy. And a little excitable.)

    It’s about our Drupal Users’ group, though, so probably not a paying thing, but still!

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Sacrilege! May you drown in a melty vat of WI cheese and beer deliciousness!
    I’m just saying, I was petrified there would be no season. I’ll watch any gods damned dog’s breakfast they break out at this point.
    Put it on brother! I’m strapping in for the ride!

  140. 140.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 8:53 pm

    @Corner Stone: Actually, I think you are on to something. She is always beautiful; she isn’t always hot, but when she turns “it” on, she is smokin’.

  141. 141.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    @Corner Stone: If you haven’t see Rachel Getting Married do so, she has range.

  142. 142.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    August 11, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    .
    .
    Dashed Hopes – How Obama Disappointed the World

    By Marc Hujer

    As America’s first black president, Barack Obama electrified an entire nation. But now that the nation is in crisis, he seems unable to connect with the people. He wanted to change America and restore its reputation in the world. But now his opponents are dictating the country’s political course.

    .

    Fortunately, I’m sure this is just a simple translation error by Der Spiegel. The entire world couldn’t possibly be turning on this man now. Hey, der krauts, get ready to translate the words “Fierce Advocacy,” mkay? And I got some balloonemos that wants ta talk to yez.
    .
    .

  143. 143.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Eh, I get the feeling she is trying too hard. For my money, I will take a Paz.

    @Scuffletuffle: Shoot, the woman-friend would send it in a heartbeat, I am still holding out hope she has an excuse to make more carrot cake ;)

  144. 144.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    .

    ..may I mention that Anne Hathaway is hot?

    I hear that’s a good opening comment in a job interview, kind of like an instant ice breaker. :-)

    Seriously though, wishing you a great job interview tomorrow. I know you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you, so I hope you find a great match at one of these two places.

  145. 145.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open): You have totes inspired me. I’m gonna put on my white layered skirt and start slapping my funky bass.

  146. 146.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:00 pm

    @WaterGirl: Hey, it works better than “Nice tits.”

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus, @Violet, @Linkmeister, @Keith G:

    Thanks to all. I worked the day shift today and am off work tomorrow, so I am celebrating with a bottle of champagne after a rare “sit-down” dinner. My usual work shift is from 3:00-4:00 p.m. to (about) 11:00 p.m., so it is slightly weird to be home at a “normal” time, and to have a real meal vs. pre-work snacking or post-work snacking.

    Keith G, I do have health insurance through the big box–okay, it’s Barnes & Noble, I have to admit it now that Borders has gone to the big remainders bin in the sky–which is the main (and pretty much only) reason I stay at that thankless job. Remains to be seen what the copay will be, but this needs to be taken care of, so it is what it is. I’m just glad that at least some of it will be taken care of (and hopefully most/all of it).

    Everything is benign. Seriously, I mean it. This is the most cosmic thing I have heard/seen recently, except for Cole’s twits from last night:

    CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.
    __
    DO THESE ALL CAPS MAKE MY CAT LOOK FAT?

  148. 148.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open): Yeah, well, I always liked Courtney Love as well. And Shirley Manson from Garbage.

  149. 149.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ummm, I think you meant, “Corner Stone, as always, you are on to something.”
    /no further editing allowed

  150. 150.

    Keith G

    August 11, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    Cole’s a great blog host, but let’s review:

    Gardening, deck building, cooking, pasta making, loose leaf tea, bread making (anything left out?).

    What new OCD pastime will John next embark on and will it be a cry for help? My money is on macaroni art.

  151. 151.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    @Steeplejack: Breathing a huge sigh of relief for you! That is such great news. Yay!

  152. 152.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    @Corner Stone: Don’t push it.

  153. 153.

    John O

    August 11, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    @Keith G:

    Dog luvin’.

    But if John has OCD, I’ll take what he’s having.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I see you have tried both, and arrived at the opener that gains maximum effect. Go Omnes!

    Edit: was it Seinfeld who said “what’s tat, and how do you trade it for that other stuff?

  155. 155.

    Svensker

    August 11, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Yes.

    Jets!

    As for what to do with leftover frosting — eat it with a big spoon?

    Swirl it into brownie batter? Make double decker cookies? Try to make truffles and dip gobs of frosting into melted chocolate? Spread it on graham crackers and eat it with a big glass of cold milk? Broil/grill peaches and stuff the hollows? Stuff pitted dates or dried (or fresh) apricots? Send it to me?

  156. 156.

    Libby's Person

    August 11, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    Ah, good news to celebrate – a nice break from global and national insanity. I think I’ll boycott the news this weekend.

    Arm The Homeless: Congrats on the new job! People don’t appreciate their city’s water quality staff nearly enough.

    handsmile: Yes! Making love not war clearly is a mark of superior intelligence!

    Steeplejack: Congratulations! “Everything is benign” – wouldn’t it be great if that was a fitting motto for life in general?

    And tomorrow is Friday, at last! Cole’s bread is making me hungry – time for a snack.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    @WaterGirl: The tits one works really well with heavy-set men.

  158. 158.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: You made me laugh out loud.

  159. 159.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open):

    Fuck you. Your life is too ridiculously perfect. I bet your amazing woman-friend smells great too. ::grumble grumble::

    But congrats! Seriously.

  160. 160.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    @efgoldman: What’s your point?

  161. 161.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    Has anyone tried watching the GOP debate?

  162. 162.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ask efgoldman

  163. 163.

    beltane

    August 11, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I check in at Wonkette every so often to catch the highlights. So far, there haven’t been any highlights.

  164. 164.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:14 pm

    @Jenny:

    Heh. Win.

  165. 165.

    MikeJ

    August 11, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Just reading rumproast.

  166. 166.

    jeffreyw

    August 11, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    Moar puppeh

  167. 167.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Shirley Manson has her own wing in my FDIC insured spank-bank…

  168. 168.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Has anyone tried watching the GOP debate?

    Yeah, I’m watching it. Typical Republican nonsense, the answers to every question are 1) Obama sucks, 2) Tax cuts and 3) Deregulation.

  169. 169.

    Southern Beale

    August 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @ruemara:

    I have one of those, but I’ve never used it for baking bread. It’s my go to chicken cooker.

    Yup I used my Romertopf for chicken a lot too. First time I tried bread in it was a revelation though.

    The thing I love about the Romertopf is it’s pretty idiot proof. Just throw some browned meat in, some herbs and veggies, a splash of wine & a shitload of salt eh VOILA you have the best freaking dinner of your life.

  170. 170.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Has anyone tried watching the GOP debate?

    I’m waiting for the Balloon Juice filtered version. I followed Republican stuff for a long time just to know what was going on, but I’m at a point where I just can’t anymore.

    Besides, 2008 was more interesting – there was one guy (sometimes more than one) for each faction in the GOP all vying for power. This time, there’s only one faction (the Tea Party Movement), and they’re all just going to be competing on who can sound more stupid or sociopathic in order to appeal to that one. Boring.

  171. 171.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @MikeJ:

    It’s never not a good time to open the Tanq. Plus, if you’re mixing it with tonic water, you’re keeping malaria at bay. For realz, player!

  172. 172.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: No 9/11?

  173. 173.

    Worked2Death

    August 11, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    I’m in love with Elizabeth Warren. I told my GF about it. She was cool with it! :)

  174. 174.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That was Dennis Miller on SNL, before he went bat-shit crazy. One of his best moments.

  175. 175.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Has anyone tried watching the GOP debate?

    “Obama sucks. Cut taxes on corporations and eliminate capital gains taxes.”

    Repeat for an hour and a half or until you puncture your eardrum with a pick ax.

  176. 176.

    Southern Beale

    August 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    Has anyone tried watching the GOP debate?

    When Project Runway is on instead? Good lord, why?

  177. 177.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    .. and Pawlenty’s economic plan is going to magically grow the economy at 5% a year.

    Incidentally, Pawlenty’s name can be rearranged to Pelt, Yawn. He’s lost the pelt but he’s rocking the yawn.

  178. 178.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @efgoldman:
    a working class hero
    is something to be. . .

  179. 179.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Plus, if you’re mixing it with tonic water, you’re keeping malaria at bay.

    Safety first.

  180. 180.

    Jenny

    August 11, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    Ben Smith and Andrea Mitchell say Romeny’s “corporations are people” was a good response.

    Naturally.

  181. 181.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    On the bright side, Pawlenty and Bachmann are chewing each other up at the moment.

  182. 182.

    beltane

    August 11, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    They say there was a heated exchange between Bachmann and Pawlenty. I don’t believe it.

  183. 183.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    Bachman just called Pawlenty an Obama-lite. Pawlenty slaps back.

  184. 184.

    danimal

    August 11, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    I’m going to do my part to publicize an amazing blog comment from commenter Tom at the Washington Monthly blog (the post is titled “Chumps” and it references the GOP divide and conquer strategy). I’ve lifted the most salient parts, but as they say, read the whole thing.

    White progressives often think that African American elected officials are politically naive. We will far more credit to Cornel West, who has never been elected to anything, than to an elected state senator, or even the President of the United States. We think that Obama does not understand the nature of John Boehner, Mitch McConnell or Eric Cantor, as though he has not sat across the table from them. He doesn’t understand how mean they are, we think….

    Obama acts entirely within the tradition of mainstream African American political strategy and tactics. The epitome of that tradition was the non-violence of the Civil Rights Movement, but goes back much further in time. It recognizes the inequality of power between whites and blacks. Number one: maintain your dignity. Number two: call your adversaries to the highest principles they hold. Number three: Seize the moral high ground and Number four: Win by winning over your adversaries, by revealing the contradiction between their own ideals and their actions. It is one way that a oppressed people struggle….

    Obama is winning. Democrats are uniting behind him, although some white progressives think that they could do the job better. Independents are flocking to him. Even some Republicans are getting disgusted with their Washington leaders….

    If white progressives understood much about the politics of the African American struggle in the United States, we would see Obama in the context of that struggle and understand him better.

    It’s much more satisfying to look at Obama’s actions through a plausible alternative prism than to continue the intra-party food fight that’s intensified over the past few weeks.

    ETA: fixed grammar. And FYWP.

  185. 185.

    Anne Laurie

    August 11, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open):

    We have a metric ass ton of un-used cream-cheese frosting. Anyone have any non-cake related uses for this heart-attack in a bowl?

    Big flat sugar cookies?

  186. 186.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    Chris Wallace to Romney: When you were a businessman and governor, you presided over a whole bunch of lost jobs. Care to comment?

    Romney: Umm, err. I was a businessman! So was Cain, but he’s black so don’t vote for him.

  187. 187.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    Mike Wallace’s defective kid let ’em off the hook by moving to Romney. Fucker.

  188. 188.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    Eagles whuppin up on the Ravens

  189. 189.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    No 9/11?

    Giuliani isn’t in the race yet.

  190. 190.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    Mmmm…show some game film baby…show some break down on defense…oOOooOO…yeah…

  191. 191.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    August 11, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    Is it just me or does the audience sound like they’re watching Jerry Springer?

  192. 192.

    Anne Laurie

    August 11, 2011 at 9:27 pm

    @Steeplejack: Seems odd to say congratulations, under the circumstances, so here’s my best wishes for an uneventful surgery & a swift recovery!

  193. 193.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Romney: Umm, err. I was a businessman! So was Cain, but he’s black so don’t vote for him.

    Haven’t heard much about Cain since he backtracked on his “ban all mosques” policies, have we?

    I wonder how many of his critics had a sick, queasy feeling about him being black and just pounced on him at the first opportunity they had.

  194. 194.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:28 pm

    Newt Gingrich hasn’t answered a question yet without invoking Zombie Reagan.

  195. 195.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    August 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Gingrich is a complete twat.

    “I think you’re a big poopyhead!”

  196. 196.

    trollhattan

    August 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    @Violet:

    She has a certain look that certain of we guy persons find inordinately fetching. A quality shared (IMHO) by Liv Tyler, Eva Green and that T-Mobile girl. Also, too. (Nevertheless, was not overly impressed by her Oscars stint.)

  197. 197.

    beltane

    August 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    @J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: You mean they’re not watching Jerry Springer?

  198. 198.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Wallace: “Newt, your campaign has imploded. Care to comment?”

    Newt: “Stop picking on me. Reagan! McCain! Congress sucks!”

  199. 199.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    @Libby’s Person:
    @Steeplejack:
    @Svensker:

    She is the best, and she did it all while wearing wedges and looking like a goddess. I like to believe that some good mojo has come my way, and I hope to pay it forward. And, yes, people very rarely care about the folks who make their tap-water possible, unless they are hassling them about proper back-flow regulators; Then it’s the ‘man’ coming down on them. I will send all the best thoughts your way, most of you folks are the sanest people I meet all day!

  200. 200.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    Highlight of Baby Jesus getting drilled by the Cowboys D-Line! Hell yes.

  201. 201.

    Indylib

    August 11, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    @Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open):

    Spread it on graham crackers or use as a topping for baked french toast or filling for stuffed french toast. Yum, Yum, Yum.

  202. 202.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Liv Tyler, Eva Green and that T-Mobile girl. Also, too.

    I would venture out and say that Eva Green combines a little “dirty” in there with the pretty. Like she would mess you up when you took the cuffs off. And that’s freakin’ hot.

  203. 203.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:31 pm

    @Chris: Romney actually offered effusive praise for Cain and I didn’t pick up on anything prejudicial at all in what he said. dmsilev is a dumbass.

  204. 204.

    General Stuck

    August 11, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @danimal:

    Had not thought of it all through the prism of MLK teachings for non violent, or none angry struggle, as in this case of a black Potus. Thanks for posting this comment. The part about some white progressives thinking they can do it better is spot on, imo. Just another form, albeit milder than the wingnut kind, of white supremacy, that us white folk were force fed from the cradle.

    And I agree Obama is winning, but some folks will never see that. They want what they want, and now. Or else, Obama goes under the bus, since he isn’t repaying a sense of something owed, that really isn’t owed.

  205. 205.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Liv Tyler, Eva Green and that T-Mobile girl.

    Yeppers.

  206. 206.

    Corner Stone

    August 11, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    Man, I had to turn it off NFL pr0n to Cooking Channel pr0n just to back it off a notch.

    Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the football season.

  207. 207.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Romney actually offered effusive praise for Cain and I didn’t pick up on anything prejudicial at all in what he said. dmsilev is a dumbass.

    I didn’t mean Romney and the rest, I was thinking of all the people I read in right-wing comments sections at the time of Cain’s refudiation, going “well, sorry, it was nice while it lasted, but I just can’t vote for you anymore.”

  208. 208.

    Violet

    August 11, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Yeah, see that’s the quality that Anne Hathaway seems missing, as far as I’m concerned. I see how she’s attractive, even gorgeous, but that little bit of dirty, I just don’t see it. Hence she’s not hot, imho. But she’s definitely stunning.

  209. 209.

    Paul W.

    August 11, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    Where the hell is the debate open thread, this shit is hilarious!!

  210. 210.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:35 pm

    @Violet: Again, watch Rachel Getting Married, she’s hard core. (not in that way)

  211. 211.

    lamh34

    August 11, 2011 at 9:36 pm

    Damn, twitter is all ablaze about the Bachmann smackdown of Pawlenty.

    I think that’s it, Pawlenty is done. I guess ya’ll get to keep him in Minnesota.

  212. 212.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:36 pm

    @Chris:

    I didn’t mean Romney and the rest, I was thinking of all the people I read in right-wing comments sections at the time of Cain’s refudiation, going “well, sorry, it was nice while it lasted, but I just can’t vote for you anymore.”

    Cain has said some pretty stupid shit. Now he’s trying to play it all off a a joke. He just said “America has to learn to take a joke!” to explain one of the stupid things he’s said.

  213. 213.

    beltane

    August 11, 2011 at 9:36 pm

    Where’s Doug? We need a debate thread, not a bread thread.

  214. 214.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:38 pm

    Pawlenty had no choice but to up the ante. “She has a record of making false statements,” he complained. And then he went down her list of battles: “You fought Obamacare and we got Obamacare, you fought the debt ceiling deal and we got a debt ceiling deal,” ranted Pawlenty. If that’s her idea of leadership, Pawlenty said, “Please stop because you’re killing us.”

  215. 215.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 9:38 pm

    First time I heard that “out of time” bell ring, I thought Romney had gotten the answer correct. Sounds like a damned game show.

  216. 216.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    @Violet: Watch Rachel Getting Married as Raven (formerly stuckinred) suggested. You’ll see it there.

  217. 217.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    Anyone remember Obama’s mocking of the GOP re: immigration (“they’ll want a moat. Then they’ll want alligators in the moat”)? Apparently, half the GOP field still has the vapors about it. For a bunch of supposedly tough guys, they’re remarkably thin-skinned.

  218. 218.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: And speaking of an attractive actress, Rosemarie DeWitt is. She was the beat nick in Mad Men.

  219. 219.

    birthmarker

    August 11, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    @Anne Laurie: It freezes.

  220. 220.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    @dmsilev: Do they want alligators in the moat?

  221. 221.

    Arm The Homeless (formerly Third Eye Open)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    @Anne Laurie: Really? what would the icing stand in-place of? or is it just added to the cookie-dough? I was kind of thinking of turning it into some sort of sauce with peppers in it, or as a sweet covering for some other spicy dish, but it seems like that would be too sweet for an entre? What do you think?

    EDIT: @IndyLib: OMG, you’re a friggin’ jean-yus! Now I need to find the recipe for stuffed challah-bread French-toast that I got from a line-cook at Crescent Moon in Decatur, GA … before they closed (suxxors!!)

  222. 222.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Only if they’re non-union alligators.

  223. 223.

    Elie

    August 11, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    Nice bread you got there John. Its like crack cocaine — remember that. Eat it today, wear it tomorrow…

    Aint nothing like yeasty, wonderful, warm home baked bread… Crack cocaine…

    there probably could have been a picture of Alan and I lolling on our bed with distended, glistening stomachs and the remains of a loaf nearby along with butter, jam and other incriminating “enhancements”

  224. 224.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    August 11, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    Wait, what, Rachael got married, how the hell did I miss that fucking memo?

  225. 225.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:44 pm

    @dmsilev: Fuck the Gators, GO DAWGS!

  226. 226.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Getting

  227. 227.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    @Anne Laurie:

    Thanks. It’s more of a nuisance than anything else, except for the 7-10 days when you’re waiting to get the biopsy results. That’s like Russian roulette, because you’re pretty sure it’s no big deal (basal cell carcinoma = five empty chambers) vs. holy shit (melanoma = one chamber with a bullet in it). Added thrills this time because they called to get permission to send one biopsy (of four) out for a second opinion (without saying why they were doing that). Hence the celebration tonight.

    I got in trouble with a previous dermatologist because I noted that they pretty much burn, freeze or cut everything out and don’t seem very much interested in the whys and wherefores, so how is that different from medieval barbering? They don’t use leeches any more, so there’s that.

    Anyway, I don’t want to sound ungrateful. My current dermatologist—and “his children,” who have joined the practice—are very good, and I feel that I am getting the best care possible. Just sucks to need the care, but I guess that applies to all medical situations.

    ETA: FYWP! Didn’t like the word roulette! Sorry for the (potential) double post.

  228. 228.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    @Steeplejack: I had a similar urological situation and they save the worst for the last as they rule shit out!

  229. 229.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    Oh just to keep up the cheerful mood here, I offer the Raveonettes. Danish, garage band, go-go dancers. What’s not to love?

  230. 230.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    August 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: their name is kinda catchy

  231. 231.

    Chris

    August 11, 2011 at 9:48 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Cain has said some pretty stupid shit. Now he’s trying to play it all off a a joke. He just said “America has to learn to take a joke!” to explain one of the stupid things he’s said.

    Saying as many stupid things as could enter her head as loudly as possible, then getting cornered and trying to duck out. Sweet Jesus, he’s this election’s Palin

    (Although Palin never used the “it’s a joke.” She just ran behind Fox News’ skirts and bawled her eyes out).

  232. 232.

    gwangung

    August 11, 2011 at 9:49 pm

    Had not thought of it all through the prism of MLK teachings for non violent, or none angry struggle, as in this case of a black Potus. Thanks for posting this comment. The part about some white progressives thinking they can do it better is spot on, imo. Just another form, albeit milder than the wingnut kind, of white supremacy, that us white folk were force fed from the cradle.

    Yup. There’s a strong streak of paternalism and patronization among some white progressives, because they think that holding their values means thinking and acting just like them; any deviation is something incorrect.

    They’ve yet to learn that there are many paths to get to where they are; some of them gives hard knocks along the way.

  233. 233.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    There are some exercises you can do to, uh, delay your release.

  234. 234.

    lamh34

    August 11, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    jeez, why don’t Bachmann and Pawlenty just get it over with and shag already!!!

  235. 235.

    dmsilev

    August 11, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    Question: “If there was a deal that was 10:1 spending cuts:tax increases, would you walk away?” All candidates raise their hands for yes. Can’t we just cut to the chase and have Grover Nordquist run for President directly?

  236. 236.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    @Elie:

    Aint nothing like yeasty, wonderful, warm home baked bread… Crack cocaine…

    Just wait until you try wonderful, warm home baked sourdough bread. When it’s done right it doesn’t even need butter, since the sourdough gives it a buttery flavor without any additives. And it makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches EVAR.

  237. 237.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Go-go dancers? I’m in!

  238. 238.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, we lost him way too young. I can’t even bear to watch him for even a minute, now.

  239. 239.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, you should love it.

  240. 240.

    WaterGirl

    August 11, 2011 at 9:57 pm

    @Jenny: Don’t forget Hillary Clinton in the campaign:

    Lobbyists are people, too.

    Or something like that…

  241. 241.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred):

    Heh.

  242. 242.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    @WaterGirl: Crappy people for the most part, but people.

  243. 243.

    lamh34

    August 11, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    Wait, isn’t Rick Santorum in this debate??? Is is still brething???

  244. 244.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Ditto for Victoria Jackson.

  245. 245.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    @gwangung:

    There’s a strong streak of paternalism and patronization among some white progressives, because they think that holding their values means thinking and acting just like them; any deviation is something incorrect.

    I think there’s also a big streak of childish petulance and impatience. A lot of progressives feel like they’ve been pissed on by the conservatives and wanted to turn around and be the ones doing the pissing for a change. They’ll treat anyone who shouts at the Republicans as a hero, even if it’s ultimately useless or even counterproductive, and treat anyone who’s willing to cut a deal as a pariah, even if it helps to achieve a long-held progressive goal. They’re just as childish as the teabaggers; they’re just cheering for the other team.

  246. 246.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    @Steeplejack: In some ways, I find her a sadder case. I remember Miller as a Perotista back in 1992.

  247. 247.

    lamh34

    August 11, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    Alright, I’m gonna say it, Bachmann is crazy, but she’s trhowing ganstas “bows at this debate and there’s STILL 1 hour left!

  248. 248.

    General Stuck

    August 11, 2011 at 10:05 pm

    Your female Black Chinned Hummingbird

  249. 249.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    August 11, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    They could do one full debate with nothing but Romney vs. Romney.

  250. 250.

    hilts

    August 11, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Best of luck to you moving forward.

  251. 251.

    Yurpean

    August 11, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    The Guardian has a live-blog. There is much snark.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/12/republican-presidential-debate-iowa-live

  252. 252.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    @General Stuck: That one isn’t mine. Mine is taller.

    Great shot though.

  253. 253.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Awesome picture, Stuck (per usual).

  254. 254.

    Donut

    August 11, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Just turned on the latest Clown Car Debate.

    Holy. Fukkin. Shit.

    This is probably the worst group of contenders any major party has ever put forward in our history.

  255. 255.

    hilts

    August 11, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    @lamh34:

    If this were a sane, rational society, Michele Bachmann would be in a lockdown unit of a mental hospital.

  256. 256.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    @Donut: I am running the Guardian live blog per the suggestion above. I won’t hurt my TV by making it show this crap.

  257. 257.

    Roger Moore

    August 11, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    @hilts:

    If this were a sane, rational society, anyone who considered voting for Michele Bachmann would be in a lockdown unit of a mental hospital.

    FTFY.

  258. 258.

    hilts

    August 11, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    @Donut:

    This is probably the worst group of contenders any major party has ever put forward in our history.

    Agreed. However, if Mooseburger Helper Sarah Palin officially enters the race, that would be the cherry on top of a delicious double fudge sundae of monumental stupidity and epic fail.

  259. 259.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    @hilts:

    Thanks. I’ve been through this before, so it’s not a huge deal. But, as I said to Anne Laurie, there is a certain anus-puckering period when you’re waiting to get the test results back. The roll of the dice, as it were. So there is a giddy release when it comes up seven. Or at least that’s my excuse to pop the champers.

  260. 260.

    Suffern ACE

    August 11, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    @Donut: And they won’t even let Buddy Roemer or Fred Karger on the stage. And winnowed out Daniels, Trump and Barbour as darlings and still flirt with Christie.

  261. 261.

    Davis X. Machina

    August 11, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    @hilts: That wouldn’t be treatment in the least restrictive setting, though. That’s why she’s in the House.

  262. 262.

    Southern Beale

    August 11, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    Ari Fleischer on Twitter just now:

    @AriFleischer Ron Paul’s foreign policy scares the hell out of me

    I mean, just wow. This from the guy who sold the Iraq War. I’m just speechless.

  263. 263.

    The Dangerman

    August 11, 2011 at 10:25 pm

    After tonight’s debate, Perry jumps to the #1 position by fact that all these fuckers have proven to be nuts; shit, about the only person making sense is Paul, and he’s fucking certifiable.

  264. 264.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    @The Dangerman: Yeah, when Ron Paul is the sanest guy in the room….

  265. 265.

    Suffern ACE

    August 11, 2011 at 10:27 pm

    @Southern Beale: LOL. There’s sumptin wrong wid an army if it ain’t warring for our interests is the untroubling position.

  266. 266.

    JCT

    August 11, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Whoa, you nailed that. Shooting hummingbirds gives me my lowest keeper % every time.

    Holy crap — this “debate” is downright frightening. Any of them would be considered some fringe nutcase at any other time, now the whole stage is full of them. And this is without Perry.

    If this doesn’t put the fear of g_d into you re: next year’s election, nothing will.

  267. 267.

    hilts

    August 11, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I’ll drink to that. Maybe, in some parallel universe, Bachmann, Palin, and their supporters are residing in a network of mental hospitals.

  268. 268.

    Bruce S

    August 11, 2011 at 10:37 pm

    Stiglitz on a “the most optimistic economic scenario sucks” note:

    http://titanicsailsatdawn.blogspot.com/2011/08/long-malaise-seems-like-optimistic.html

  269. 269.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 10:47 pm

    I will add to this thread what is probably obvious: the drink bone is connected to the music bone. So I have been trolling through the lower depths of YouTube as I get my blood-alcohol level up into the “optimal efficiency/I’m not going to die of cancer” zone.

    Seem to have rested for the moment on repeated playings of Arthur Brown, “Fire.” The good audio quality version. Oh, wait, you wanted the one where his head is actually on fire? All right, then.

  270. 270.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 11, 2011 at 10:51 pm

    @Steeplejack: Arthur Brown is not the lower depths. You have much to drink and much to plumb this evening. Seek out the strange and terrible.

  271. 271.

    kt

    August 11, 2011 at 11:01 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Just wait until you try wonderful, warm home baked sourdough bread.

    Agreed! My favorite “lazy meal” is to rip off a hunk of fresh sourdough, a chunk of cheddar cheese and a Killian’s Red. Food of the gods!

  272. 272.

    Steeplejack

    August 11, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    True dat. I may end up going down a Floyd hole.

  273. 273.

    Steve V

    August 11, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    You’re a good guy Mr. Cole. If you ever find yourself in LA (visiting your baby mama, perhaps), I will be happy to buy you a drink at any Hollywood watering hole.

  274. 274.

    Dennis SGMM

    August 12, 2011 at 2:07 am

    @Steeplejack:

    I was at the Fillmore(I think, could have been Winterland) to see Arthur Brown. He swung from offstage on a rope with head dress burning, slid to a stop stage center, and shouted “I am the god of hell fire!”

    We believed him. Good times.

  275. 275.

    kindness

    August 12, 2011 at 11:20 am

    So John….which mixer did you end up going with? I suspect you already talked about it but I must have missed it.

  276. 276.

    Cosima

    August 12, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Mostly I just lurk around here, but the thread about jobs/unemployment got to me, so if there are any readers in Denver looking for work (any type!) or a way to make a few dollars, here are a couple of links that were sent my way:

    First, some info about an upcoming presentation:

    “Accomplishment statements? LinkedIn? Poken? Yikes!: Job Search De-Mystified” presented by Cyndy Redifer, career counselor and Regis University adjunct faculty member.
    Location: UCC Berkeley Church (3701 W. 50th Ave.) library from 6:30 to 8:00 on Wednesday, August 31. Call by Monday, August 29 (303-433-5881) to reserve your spot.

    Find out the latest information about finding a job in this tough economy. If it’s been awhile since you’ve taken a personal inventory, created a resume or even thought about professional networking, then you will find this FREE workshop useful. Cyndy has been a career counselor since 1984 and taught for Regis adult programs since 1988.

    A link ($150 for 90 minutes, not bad at all):

    http://denverresearch.questionpro.com/

    And a shout-out looking for part-time help:

    The Abbie Davis Agency of American Family Insurance is looking to hire a Customer Service Representative.

    Are you positive, fun, organized, good with computer skills and great with customer service? If so, this could be the perfect fit for you.

    Duties will include answering the phone, office organization, computer input, customer service and light marketing . Hours are Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 8:30-5. Future full-time position possible for the right candidate.

    Please email resume to abbie.davis at amfam.com
    Website: http://www.abbiedavis.com

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