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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by $8 blue check mistermix|  September 26, 201111:31 am| 66 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Insert Monday, sports team or hangover comments, or anything else, here.

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Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    daveNYC

    September 26, 2011 at 11:36 am

    Steelers did very poorly against a Manningless Colts. They need to step that shit up.

    I’m not good at Space Marine multi-player, and even worse when drunk.

  2. 2.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    September 26, 2011 at 11:36 am

    Just sitting down for sushi at Wasabi in D.C. Reward for being good at the doctor’s earlier.

  3. 3.

    TheMightyTrowel

    September 26, 2011 at 11:40 am

    I have some problems digesting dairy fat. Last night I ate a meal in large part soused in garlic butter. It was amazing, but now i have a digestive hangover. UGH.

  4. 4.

    Phyllis

    September 26, 2011 at 11:41 am

    Braves aaarghhhh!

  5. 5.

    Brian S

    September 26, 2011 at 11:43 am

    Perhaps the best vow I made during my wedding earlier this year was the one where I promised breakfast burritos at least once a week. It’s a win-win.

  6. 6.

    harlana

    September 26, 2011 at 11:43 am

    Does hippie-punching count as a sport? =)

  7. 7.

    vtr

    September 26, 2011 at 11:43 am

    So who played worse yesterday, the Jets or the Patriots?

  8. 8.

    kindness

    September 26, 2011 at 11:50 am

    NPR & Cokie Roberts this morning wisely told us that both political parties are trying to shut down government. Yes, She/they said (more than once) that Democrats refusing to vote for a FEMA funding bill that eliminates a ‘Green Loan’ program that has worked very well, shows that Democrats are trying to shut down the government.

    OK….Who are these liberals who are still sending NPR any money at all? While I used to support them, I no longer do and it’s exactly stuff like this that keeps me from throwing coin their way.

  9. 9.

    stuckinred

    September 26, 2011 at 11:53 am

    @vtr: The Braves.

  10. 10.

    khead

    September 26, 2011 at 11:53 am

    @vtr:

    The Rams

  11. 11.

    opie jeanne

    September 26, 2011 at 11:55 am

    I have a baseball hangover. Damned Angels gave up 6 runs in the last two innings and lost, but it was the way they lost that is so awful.

    Three games to go and even though the math says they are eliminated, it would take two miracles for them to get the Wild Card, and yet we’ll probably continue to watch.

  12. 12.

    opie jeanne

    September 26, 2011 at 11:56 am

    @stuckinred: The Angels.

    Actually they were good until the bullpen took over.

  13. 13.

    debit

    September 26, 2011 at 11:57 am

    I am looking forward to the Vikings finishing the season without a single win.

  14. 14.

    HRA

    September 26, 2011 at 11:57 am

    Finally -at last – Go Bills!

  15. 15.

    Lojasmo

    September 26, 2011 at 11:58 am

    I have a hangover from dislocating my toe, then taking an oxycontin and wishing it down with five beers.

  16. 16.

    Linda Featheringill

    September 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    FWIW, occupy wall street is still at it.

    I wonder if their philosophy and goals will firm up a bit as time goes on.

    Calling themselves the 99% is actually rather clever, in my opinion.

  17. 17.

    Judas Escargot

    September 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    @kindness:

    NPR & Cokie Roberts this morning wisely told us that both political parties are trying to shut down government. Yes, She/they said (more than once) that Democrats refusing to vote for a FEMA funding bill that eliminates a ‘Green Loan’ program that has worked very well, shows that Democrats are trying to shut down the government.

    Well, if the Dems would just roll over and offer their bellies to the GOP like they’re supposed to, the GOP wouldn’t have to shut down the government. Mustn’t violate the Narrative of How Things Work, or the functionaries get upset.

    I’m really wanting to hurt the MSM lately: They’ve gone far beyond the point where a sane person could think “well maybe they’re just trying to be professional, and give both sides the benefit of the doubt.”

    NPR gets none of my money. But sadly, one man’s boycott isn’t going to be noticed, or change a thing.

  18. 18.

    de stijl

    September 26, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Right now on the Travel Channel’s Food Wars there are having a Mpls Juicy Lucy face-off. Go Matt’s!

  19. 19.

    debit

    September 26, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    @de stijl: Matt’s are the best!!

  20. 20.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 26, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    @Judas Escargot:

    NPR gets none of my money.

    Doesn’t matter, though, since they get like three billion dollars from the taxpayers.

  21. 21.

    TooManyJens

    September 26, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    47% of South Carolina Republicans think that a tax increase will be necessary to balance the budget, as opposed to 45% who believe in unicorns:

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/26/125229/poll-raising-taxes-is-an-option.html

  22. 22.

    Judas Escargot

    September 26, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Doesn’t matter, though, since they get like three billion dollars from the taxpayers.

    Which probably goes a long way to explain their “GOP is never wrong” style.

    Piss off the GOP, and they’ll cut your funding with a penstroke. Dems, as a party, don’t do the whole “go after you” thing, so there’s no downside to reporting as they do.

  23. 23.

    harlana

    September 26, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    @kindness: I quit listening to them ages ago, not long after we invaded Iraq. I think their coverage had something to do with that, it’s kind of a blur. Milquetoast Public Radio. bleh.

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    September 26, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    @Judas Escargot:

    Well, if the Dems would just roll over and offer their bellies to the GOP like they’re supposed to

    I don’t think it’s their bellies that the Republicans are after. It’s more like “turn around and drop their pants” that the Republicans want.

  25. 25.

    de stijl

    September 26, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    @harlana:

    Terry Gross on Fresh Air is still all kinds of awesome, though.

  26. 26.

    PeakVT

    September 26, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    Another reminder of how wildly successful austerity could be if we bring it to America.

  27. 27.

    harlana

    September 26, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    @TooManyJens: 77% don’t want to touch Medicare or SS – that is just beautiful – cuz they’ll probably vote for Perry anyways, cuz Obama eats white babies for breakfast. (and I’m from SC so I can say that)

  28. 28.

    de stijl

    September 26, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    @debit:

    Oh noes! It’s tied 2-2 and it’s all down to Ragnar the Viking as the deciding vote. Matt’s! Matt’s Matt’s. 5-8 Club can suck it.

  29. 29.

    de stijl

    September 26, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    And the winner is Matt’s!

  30. 30.

    Stefan

    September 26, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    The bad news: Friend’s brother in Afghanistan badly wounded.

    The good news: at least he gets to go home and won’t get killed or lose limbs over there.

    Further good news: the injury was not as severe as previously thought.

    Further bad news: since the injury is not so bad, he won’t be coming home and will instead stay on his FOB and in constant combat for the next eight months.

    Now, if you ask me for what purpose a man from Oklahoma has to fight Afghan villagers half a world away instead of tending to his job and family back home, that I couldn’t tell you.

  31. 31.

    Pliny

    September 26, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    This David Sirota column is pretty good

  32. 32.

    jurassicpork

    September 26, 2011 at 12:31 pm

    Doesn’t it bother anyone else besides me that Dick Cheney pals around with Canadian child molesters? Yet that’s what he’ll be doing at 5:30 tonight. A must-read.

  33. 33.

    catclub

    September 26, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: “Doesn’t matter, though, since they get like three billion dollars from the taxpayers.”

    Plus, if they cut that, you just _know_ it will balance the budget. (The same way that cutting $100B from defense, or getting $200B in taxes on the rich, won’t.) But will the Democrats agree to rein in the liberal media for the good of the country? No way.

  34. 34.

    Brazilian Rascal

    September 26, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Not to go all firebagger here, but anyone who is a serious political observer has to at least consider that Obama -might- be making pleasant noises to rally the base and not much beyond that. In this one case, it’s fair to say that ‘both sides do it’.

    In his worst moments, Obama reminds me of our former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Once a leader against the dictatorship, he kept talking high-minded lefty intellectuallism while surrounding himself with many of the same people who backed the military regime, servicing the financier class and uterly failing to realize what kind of administration the historical moment demanded. He cost us over a decade in social and economic progress, to the point that even some of the elite had to hold its nose and back a crazy bearded marxist afterwards.

  35. 35.

    Poopyman

    September 26, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    @Judas Escargot:

    NPR gets none of my money. But sadly, one man’s boycott isn’t going to be noticed, or change a thing.

    You are not alone.

  36. 36.

    debit

    September 26, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    @de stijl: Woot!!

    @ open thread: If you were an author of a best selling series that had been turned into an HBO mini series, one would think your website design would be something other than early 1990s My First Geocities account. :gouges out eyes:

  37. 37.

    PaulW

    September 26, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Go Bucs!

    Go Rays!

    Go USF Bulls (we’re gonna beat Pitt!)!

  38. 38.

    Cacti

    September 26, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    @Pliny:

    However, just because double-standard racism exists, that doesn’t mean it’s the automatic, case-closed explanation for every political problem faced by African American public figures

    And only white liberals like Sirota can be trusted to know the difference.

    Keep waiting for your moonbat messiah, Davy.

  39. 39.

    piratedan

    September 26, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44667234/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001#.ToCsjtRRS_Q

    “It’s my Southern Heritage!” she decries…. yes, a southern heritage of treason, glad you feel a need to celebrate that…..

  40. 40.

    Legalize

    September 26, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    Watching the Red Sox shit the bed in real time, coupled with the fact that the Pats can’t stop ANYBODY, is endlessly entertaining to me.

    Also, too, Moneyball is a pretty good movie. I’d say it captures the spirit of the book. The little montages in the middle where Brad Pitt explains to Eric Chavez and David Justice what sabermetrics is, is about the extent of the nerdiness.

  41. 41.

    daveNYC

    September 26, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    @PeakVT: I knew the Greeks were getting screwed, I just didn’t know how badly they were getting screwed. Kills me that the PM is saying that bankruptcy would be bad because hurt all citizens, but in the mean time he’s putting in place policies that are hurting all citizens anyway, with the added bonus that Greece will probably end up defaulting regardless.

  42. 42.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    September 26, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    I think the Amazon tablet is being overly hyped. It’s not gonna be an iPad killer, it’s a Nook Color killer. And tbqh I’d much rather have the nook, especially the rumored Nook 2 that is supposed to be out any day now.

  43. 43.

    Samara Morgan

    September 26, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    3:00 eastern.

    The U.S. hopes to avoid using the veto by convincing undeclared members of the Security Council — Bosnia, Colombia, Nigeria and Gabon — that it is not the right time to vote on Palestinian statehood in the council because the Palestinians and the Israelis need to return to negotiations first to resolve their differences.

    i think that means bribing them. Go for it! i hope Gabon, Bosnia, Nigeria and Colombia screw the US for billions in aid to buy their vote.

  44. 44.

    PeakVT

    September 26, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    @daveNYC: Yep, exactly. What I have no sense of is why the Greek government (currently Socialist) wants to hang on. Pride? Or are they genuinely worried about private external debt problems if Greece defaults and switches to a new currency?

  45. 45.

    geg6

    September 26, 2011 at 1:21 pm

    I am simply sad, sad, sad today.

    Our Henry is literally on his last legs. I usually feed him just before I go to work and he usually heaves himself off the bedroom floor, with great difficulty, and comes as fast as his old legs can carry him when he hears the food hit the dog bowl. This morning he just barked and barked and barked. I went in to see what the problem was and his hind legs wouldn’t work. At all. So I lifted him as best I could (he’s 90 pounds, after all) and tried to get his legs under him. Still couldn’t do it. I tried four times until I gave up and brought his bowls into the bedroom so he could eat laying down. And then went to my car and cried for ten minutes before I could drive to work.

    I know big dogs (especially Labs like Henry) don’t live super long lives, but he’s my very first pet and I’m losing it here, folks.

  46. 46.

    PeakVT

    September 26, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay: Uh, what?

  47. 47.

    Samara Morgan

    September 26, 2011 at 1:24 pm

    what American media wont publish, Haaretz will.

    Referring to Spain’s decision to recognize Israel’s right to be a Jewish state, the PA official said: “This is an erroneous position that could be the result of pressure on Spain, which is on the eve of elections. As for us, we won’t recognize the Israel as a Jewish state. They want to drive out of Israel 1.5 million Palestinians if such recognition is made. This is impossible.”
    __
    Abbas Zaki, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said that the Palestinians would face greater challenges in the coming weeks because of continued US support for Israel.
    __
    Israel, he added, “is regarded as the 51st US state and enjoys full American support and in the corridors of the UN. This means that the challenge to the Palestinians would be bigger from now on. But this will not dissuade the Palestinian leadership from pursuing its political battle to achieve membership in the UN.”
    __
    In yet another sign of strained relations between the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah and the US Administration, the PA’s official newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, launched an unprecedented scathing attack on Obama and his top aides.
    __
    Dubbing Obama a “Pariah,” the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Hafez Barghouti, said that the Palestinian issue “won’t continue to be held hostage by a group of Obama’s Zionist advisors.”

    That is why Palestians wont recognize Israel as a JEWISH state– because the Israelis will use that to expatriate 1.5 million Palestinians…..or anyone that isnt Jewish, i guess.
    Are there any xians in Israel? they cant marry jewesses, you kno.
    no freedom of religion.

  48. 48.

    debit

    September 26, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    @geg6: I am so sorry.

  49. 49.

    Dee Loralei

    September 26, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    @geg6:
    I’m so sorry honey. It hurts like hell and will forever. Be kind to yourself too. I’ll always have a Delilah sized hole in my heart, even though I have newer loves.

  50. 50.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 26, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    @geg6: Oh, damn. I’ve been having something similar with an older cat. It’s the worst. Hang in there…

  51. 51.

    Nemesis

    September 26, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    geg6

    Our Henry is literally on his last legs.

    Our Tito is in the same condition after almost 16 years in the family. Hind quarters just wont operate properly. That dreaded day is coming and all I can do is think about how sad and terrible and lonely it will be.

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    September 26, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    This here’s pretty cool: shipwreck with 200 “tonnes” of silver found east of Ireland.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15061868

  53. 53.

    Anoniminous

    September 26, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Greece is being used as a “pass-through” entity to funnel money from the governments of Germany and France to German and French banks and other financial institutions.

    Why don’t the German and French governments just give the money directly?

    Because Neo-Classical Economics trots out the Just-So Story, “The camel got a hump because it was lazy” and therefore, Shut-Up.

    ETA: “tonnes” is a measure of weight in the metric system and therefore More Better than those old-fashioned, pre-scientific, “tons.”

  54. 54.

    geg6

    September 26, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    @debit:
    @Dee Loralei:
    @FlipYrWhig:
    @Nemesis:

    Thanks for the good thoughts, all. It’s very hard to watch a tough old dog like Henry come to this. Thankfully, our Otis (only 5 yo) seems to sense what’s going on and is being especially sweet to Henry and us.

  55. 55.

    geg6

    September 26, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    And I’m in moderation. For too many thank yous, I’m guessing.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    September 26, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    @geg6:

    Thinking of you and Henry. He had a great life with you, and is so lucky that you are his person.

  57. 57.

    Mary Jane

    September 26, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    @ geg6, Nemesis and FlipYrWhig:

    So sorry about your dear ones. I wish there were words that would help ease your pain. Please know we care and sympathize. It’s damn tough.

  58. 58.

    PurpleGirl

    September 26, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    @geg6: That’s so not good. Please think of all the good times you and Henry (and family) had together. {{{{hug}}}}

    This reminds me of an evening when Hugo (my friends’ Doberman) was approaching the end. I was in Peekskill house sitting while both friends were on business trips. Hugo couldn’t get up the cellar stairs (how he got downstairs I never figured out — I had the baby gate up). Anyway, I couldn’t lift his hind legs (he weighed like 85 lbs.) so I brought some doggy cookies downstairs for him. About an hour later I turned around in the kitchen and saw him coming toward me. I just sat down and held him… and gave him some more doggy cookies.

  59. 59.

    contessakitty (AKA Karen)

    September 26, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I’ve lost three cats and it’s especially hard to watch your sweet kitty die as when you’re trying to make them as comfortable as possible. The pain doesn’t go away of course but if you let a new kitty into your heart, it does lessen a little.

  60. 60.

    Brian S

    September 26, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    @piratedan: When your response to your neighbors building walls is to put your flagpole higher, I think you lose any claim to not being racist.

  61. 61.

    HRA

    September 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    @geg6:

    So sorry for your pain. It’s always quite difficult to put the experience of knowing a pet’s pain and the loss of one in words. I wish you the best in this trying time.

  62. 62.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 26, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    @Mary Jane: @contessakitty (AKA Karen): Thanks. She’s still walking, although somewhere between stiffly and wobbly. So we’re trying to maintain hope. But I can easily picture geg6’s situation happening to her sometime not long from now.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    September 26, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    @Amanda in the South Bay:

    I think the Amazon tablet is being overly hyped. It’s not gonna be an iPad killer, it’s a Nook Color killer. And tbqh I’d much rather have the nook, especially the rumored Nook 2 that is supposed to be out any day now.

    The idea of an iPad killer is just another one of those meaningless horse race narratives loved by lazy writers. Since the unveiling of the device may be near, it might be more interesting to see what it is and what it does, and whether it sells, than to speculate on its impact on the iPad or the Nook.

    The next few weeks should be very interesting as far as tech announcements go.

  64. 64.

    shoutingattherain

    September 26, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    3 and OH! LET’S GO BUFF-A-LO!!

    Why not us?

  65. 65.

    Amir Khalid

    September 26, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    @Anoniminous:
    @trollhattan:
    tonne/metric ton = 1,000 kilograms.

  66. 66.

    Brachiator

    September 26, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    @geg6: Wishing you the best at this difficult time. I also hope that your Henry can be made as comfortable as possible.

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