Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

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

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

White supremacy is terrorism.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

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

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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200Comments

  1. 1.

    wobblybits

    I finished my written prelims yesterday and only the oral examination stands between me and ABD. I’m rewarding myself by staying in my pjs all day and watching football (currently watching Oklahoma beat Texas like they stole something).

  2. 2.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    Thanks, mon. IU runs back the kickoff against the Illini. We fumble, they drive. 10 zip Hoosiers. The Illini answer with am AJ Jenkins 77 yd catch and run and we’re back in it.

  4. 4.

    ET

    What are the Raider gonna do without Al Davis? Seriously that’s gonna be weird for them. Always was a fan of the Raiders.

  6. 6.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @wobblybits: If your committee has done their job you should be in good shape. I got my wisdom teeth out, divorced and defend my prospectus in the same week!

  7. 7.

    wobblybits

    @ET: I detest the Raiders and was never an Al Davis fan.He meddled way too much. Having said that, condolences to those who loved/admired him.

  8. 8.

    wobblybits

    @ET: I detest the Raiders and was never an Al Davis fan.He meddled way too much. Having said that, condolences to those who loved/admired him.

  9. 9.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    I’m glad to see that WVU is picking it back up in the second half. However all that is muted by the nagging, sinking feeling that we’re irreparably fucked over by the realignment bullshit. Being told that L’ville is higher on the list for anyone to take than WVU hurts.

  11. 11.

    fleeting expletive

    Definitely enjoying seeing OU kick Longhorn ass, and I don’t even watch football. OU is just that good.

  12. 12.

    The Dangerman

    It would appear the Longhorns learned a lesson in tossing out a Freshman against a really good team. I saw women shielding their childrens eyes in the stands like they were going by a bad accident. Ugly.

  13. 13.

    burnspbesq

    I also thought they played rugby in England, and I was clearly mistaken in that belief.

    “Your fly-half was a hamster, and your wingers smelt of elderberries.”

  14. 14.

    BGinCHI

    @wobblybits: Now all you have is the joyful experience of writing a dissertation.

    Actually, it’s more fun than you think it’s going to be. Depending on your field.

  17. 17.

    wobblybits

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Wow! Now that is a committee! I absolutely love my committee and my chair is just awesome. I’m looking forward to moving on and doing this thing lol.

    @BGinCHI:I’m actually excited about the dissertation, that is once I have decided on a topic :-)

  18. 18.

    Amir Khalid

    Speaking of football, have Manchester City fired Carlos Tevez? He refused manager’s orders to come on as substitute against Bayern Munich in the Champion’s League. He had a hearing Friday with City’s HR department at an undisclosed location, but no outcome has been reported.

  19. 19.

    burnspbesq

    @BGinCHI:

    Ireland-Wales last night was the first match that interested me enough to shell out $30 for pay-per-view. Wales suddenly looks like the real deal.

    The other two quarterfinals are late night/early morning tonight, US time: Australia vs. South Africa and New Zealand vs. Argentina.

  20. 20.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @wobblybits: Hmm, you haven’t settled yet. I remember one of my members kept saying “that is great but THAT is NOT your study”! Narrow that pup and focus on it like a laser beam in your dream!

  22. 22.

    burnspbesq

    @Amir Khalid:

    They’re in a real bind. Corinthians are now saying that they are no longer interested, so Man City are most likely going to have to settle his contract on the best possible terms and let him go on a free transfer in January.

    Maybe he’ll end up on the Montreal Impact when they start play in MLS next year. ;-)

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    I had actually stopped checking BJ because I didn’t expect a football OT. That said:
    Cocks!!

  28. 28.

    BGinCHI

    @wobblybits: My advice? Don’t take a year to decide on the topic…. Get on it as fast as you can and maximize your momentum.

    What field?

  33. 33.

    BGinCHI

    @burnspbesq: The PPV fee is killing me.

    I so wanted to see that match. We are big Wales fans (Mrs. BG speaks fluent Welsh). The Irish have been inconsistent.

    Should be great matches from here on out. Sucks they aren’t showing them on regular TV, at least in fucking replay!

  38. 38.

    Corner Stone

    I’m giving Connor Shaw at USC a solid A- for today.
    A little slow on his reads the first half, an extended throwing motion he needs to tighten up, and a certain hesitancy and happy feet while doing his check downs.
    BUT, made accurate throws and didn’t kill the team momentum. Good runner to the corners. Seemed to get better from 1st half to 2nd in terms of mental clock. Gave the ball to Lattimore when he needed to.
    I’ve got solid hopes for the kid if they can build on this and coach him up.

  39. 39.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Corner Stone: I broke my leg in 18 fragments in jr high and fractured my spine in 75. The shingles may have been the most painful thing I have experienced.

  41. 41.

    wobblybits

    @BGinCHI: My chair doesn’t do that whole year thing. She expects that I will have submitted and defended my proposal before summer and be out on the job market after three chapters are under my belt. I’m in the German Studies department but my dissertation is culture studies slanted (Latin America and Germany).

  42. 42.

    burnspbesq

    @BGinCHI:

    The fee for the whole tournament has been reduced from the original $150 to $100, and it includes on-demand access to prior matches. Worth a thought.

    Our cable has Universal Sports, so it looks like we get the semis and final.

  44. 44.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @wobblybits: We watched “Ship of Fools” last night. Cheery flick about a boat ride from Vera Cruz to Germany in 1933.

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    Have I ever told the story here where I played dice with Andre Ware at a friends house?
    Dude raped people. Just an incredible string of lucky throws at the right times.

  47. 47.

    wobblybits

    @Corner Stone: Thanks. I have to admit that I didn’t really start to enjoy it until I started prepping for my prelims. Confidence in my academic voice, I haz it now :)

  49. 49.

    BGinCHI

    @burnspbesq: I get Universal Sports, which is where I watched the other matches.

    Will look for semis and finals. Thanks.

    ESPN2 showing a bunch of international matches Tuesday, starting around noon, CST.

  50. 50.

    Amir Khalid

    @burnspbesq:
    That dumbass Tevez has wiped out much of his own transfer value. Refusing manager’s orders is gross insubordination, and any club would think again about wanting to sign him. City will have to write down tens of millions in potential transfer fees, no matter when or on what terms he leaves. Who makes them whole on that?

  52. 52.

    BGinCHI

    @Amir Khalid: I get that Tevez is a pain, but it’s hard to know how much responsibility Man City bears in this.

    And also, fuck Man City and their giant spending spree. I wish FIFA would do a salary cap or revenue sharing or something to keep leagues from getting skewed so much by money.

    I know…wishful thinking.

  56. 56.

    Stillwater

    Football open thread? Doug, it’s good to see you’re keeping the old trads alive. Unlike *some* bloggers aroung these parts. I’m with CS, tho: it’s all a little too tl;drish to pass muster. I didn’t even think about checking til I thought about checking. What’s that all about?

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): I can only use so many exclamation points.

    But, yeah. Last season we would have had 30 or 40 more people clamoring and banging any open football thread.
    Now, those people are largely gone.
    It’s just a different focus here now, and a different base clientele.
    Is what it is, I guess.

  60. 60.

    Corner Stone

    @Phylllis: Hells to the yeah baby!
    Go Cocks!!

    The first half didn’t make me want to break any QB’s arm so I thought that was a big plus!

  62. 62.

    Dee Loralei

    Well my beloved Sooners did it! Tuck Fexas!

    Used up all my phone batteries tweeting and texting the game.

    Now I’m trying to decide whay else to watch.

  64. 64.

    Stillwater

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Ha! Good point! It’s gone beyond the point where we miss the football open thread – we don’t even miss missing it anymore.

    That’s how low things have gone since Cole discovered twitter and baking and loose leaf tea.

    Christamighty.

  67. 67.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: I mean, not to be too melodramatic about it or anything.

    Good point, Unarguable. I mean, only a twittering baker would think you’re being melodramatic about this. And even then, they’d have to *focus* to actually get that, you know?

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    There’s something wrong here. I have something, some clear substance, dripping from the roof. I’m a little freaked out right now.

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    I’m thinking either Lady Gaga or JLo will come out shortly with their new break out hit “Sexy Baguettes”.

  71. 71.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: That’s kinda freaking me out to hear you say that. I’s watching the Texas game during a rainstorm and was distracted by a drip drip drip. Comeing from the *inside* of the window. !! ?? !!

    After many minutes in the rain dragging ladders and my ass up it, I discovered some worrisome gaps in the place where shingles are supposed to cover the roof and subsequent walls.

    So I poured a drink to level out the emotion to fact ratio.

  72. 72.

    Corner Stone

    @Dee Loralei:

    Now I’m trying to decide whay else to watch.

    Well you can’t watch my Cocks any more today as they’re done overpowering the Can’tucky team.

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    I’m sorry. But I just can’t get the image of Cartman singing “Sexy Baguettes” out of my mind.

  75. 75.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: The too-quick assessment revealed a gap between the ‘drip edge’ (who the hell uses those anymore?) and the shingles. Rain apparently likes to travel some distance between and under this gap. Some degree of re-roofing is necessary.

    More to the point – drinking is definitely a part of any solution to the problem.

  77. 77.

    Stillwater

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Only if you run the shingles out and over the drip edge. In this case, the roofers left a drip edge reveal that only causes problems.

    Also, where I live no one uses drip edges anymore. We just run shingles out over the edge of the roof.

    ETA: tho I’m willing to admit that maybe we’re doing it wrong.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    That’s it. Fuck this thread. I’m going to spank my funky bass for a while.
    Fuck you John Galt Chicken Little Captain Doom Sexy Baguette Cole!

  79. 79.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Stillwater: Huh, I would assume the edge was inside the shingle. I have a pretty big metal roof on my back porch with drip edge that works well.

  80. 80.

    Stillwater

    {{{Donk, donk. donk}}} Anyone out there?

    Miami making a game out of it. Yes?

    “The intensity has picked up”

  83. 83.

    Stillwater

    Big hit there! But Miami on the door step.

    I’m alright with the call’s just so long as the game is close.

  89. 89.

    Stillwater

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Yeah, that was some pretty sloppy defense. But give the Canes some credit: their taking advantage of bad calls and poor defense. Lots of Big Ten teams would still find a way to lose even then. :)

  104. 104.

    arguingwithsignposts

    How overrated are the Hokies when they can’t even handle Miami Correctional Institute easily?

  115. 115.

    Stillwater

    Wow. what a great game.

    Last good hokie game I saw was the Boise state game like, what? two years ago, last year?. Good game there as well.

    Gotta love Beemer ball.

  117. 117.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    All together now’
    Cocksucker
    Motherfucker
    Bing Bang Boom
    I’m a Georgia Bulldog
    Who the fuck are you!

  118. 118.

    Amir Khalid

    @burnspbesq:
    City thought highly enough of Tevez to appoint him team captain. (They took his captaincy away during the close season, after he’d started with his want-away nonsense.) I doubt he was a head-case when they gave him the armband.

  125. 125.

    Stillwater

    @Linnaeus: I’m a huge Michigan fan, but I lived in Evanston for a few years, so there’s that.

    Still, hedging my bets, I gotta root for the wolverines. But my allegiances sometimes sneak up on me. If NW makes a game of it, I’m *very happy* if they win.

  126. 126.

    FlipYrWhig

    @wobblybits: Congrats, wobbly. This weekend I’m working with page proofs on my first book — which is still indebted to the dissertation I started sketching out in 1999 or so. Listen to your committee and don’t try to make the diss perfect. That’s what I tried to do and it took me many extra years for very little reward. Just keep moving forward. It’s better to talk to your advisor about how to fix the junk you’ve been writing than to have to talk to her about why you’re still not writing… he said from bitter experience.

  128. 128.

    FlipYrWhig

    @burnspbesq: I’m still mourning/grousing over the demise of the Phillies. I think I jinxed it by trash-talking the Yankees fans I knew growing up.

  129. 129.

    Linnaeus

    @Stillwater:

    I grew up in Michigan as a Michigan fan, and went to school there. So I’m pretty dyed-in-the-wool. That said, I think this game won’t be as easy as it may look on paper.

  132. 132.

    Stillwater

    @FlipYrWhig: You have that kind of power? could you jinx my financial prospects in the same way you jinxed the Phillies? I’ll give a cut of the action?

  138. 138.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Corner Stone: The dawgs went for 4th and short twice on the opening drive and once just a second ago.

    Big Balls in Cowtown as Bob Wills would say.

  139. 139.

    Stillwater

    Al Davis has passed. Sad. But I think it means the Raiders will get better.

    (This is a sports thread, right? So that’s not insensitive. Right?)

  144. 144.

    Corner Stone

    @Stillwater: FlipYrNick’s main power is the ability to equivocate between things that are and things that should be.
    Or as it is colloquially known, propaganda.

  146. 146.

    Ed in NJ

    Well, just back from Rutgers dismantling of overrated Pitt. I know it’s not that big a deal to most college football fans, but we just completed the “FUCK YOU ACC” sweep by beating Syracuse and Pitt back to back.

  148. 148.

    burnspbesq

    @Amir Khalid:

    You could see this coming for quite a while. He’s been whining for at least a year about his family situation. And there have been concerns about economic issues from the day he and Mascherano showed up in England “owned” by a third party.

  149. 149.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Corner Stone: You can talk about what you’d ideally like to see happen in politics, or you can talk about what’s actually happening and what the reasons might be for that. When you get them mixed up, everyone talks past each other and gets frustrated and/or stores up little tidbits to fight about later, in the middle of some entirely different discussion, like for instance one about sports or graduate school.

  152. 152.

    Stillwater

    @burnspbesq: Burnsy, you’re revealing … something … when you say you don’t like the talking baby etrade commercials.

    Making money trading is so easy even a baby could do it!!

  155. 155.

    Corner Stone

    @Stillwater: I like you so I want to be clear here…please tell me you’re not dissing Scott Pilgrim vs The World
    This may come to blows.

  157. 157.

    Corner Stone

    @FlipYrNick: Yeah, you can talk about what did happen, or you can talk about what you think should have happened.
    For some reason, a lot of your comments start with “I’m more interested in talking about what should…”

  159. 159.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    Did you know that if you lose your #1 running back it limits what you can do offensively? They pay these guys to tell us this shit?

  160. 160.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Uh, I came here to talk about sports, weighed in on wobblybits’s grad school experience, and then Corner Stone decided to stir the shit about something unrelated, not uncharacteristically. That makes me the one with a problem?

    @Corner Stone: True. And the comments that don’t do that, you’ll notice, are often on threads where we agree, like about Occupy Wall Street, or Salma Hayek.

  161. 161.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Stillwater: Those talking baby commercials are the bane of my existence. First, the whole idea of a talking baby is creepy. Second, that particular talking baby for some reason has the personality of Vince Vaughn.

  165. 165.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Stillwater: Well, it’s not so much what you _would_ ideally do with Salma Hayek, and more a question of whether it’s possible to create the conditions whereby you might. From what I understand, that’s the kind of thing I usually say.

  167. 167.

    Stillwater

    @FlipYrWhig: yeah, and it kills the fantasy off before it even begins to take hold! Surely you can see that, what with all your realism and all? :)

    More importantly, tho, we agree about Salma Hayek. We agree about the ideal case.

    I mean, to paraphrase Bogy, “We’ll always have Salma”.

  168. 168.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @FlipYrWhig: No biggie, I’m so wrapped up in the Georgia game that I’m not doing that great a job of critical reading.

  169. 169.

    Corner Stone

    I can’t decide who to root for in Auburn v Ark. I guess Ark since Auburn beat my Cocks.

  171. 171.

    Stillwater

    If you need you’re momma to defend you, you’re doing it wrong.

    If you’re momma does defend you in public, you’re doing alright.

  173. 173.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Stillwater: She such a loudmouth idiot it’s unreal. My wife is a breast feeding advocate and she was on Barbara’s radio show a few years back. Instead of giving an airing of the benefits Barbara could not stop saying stupid shit about how “I don’t care, I just don’t want to SEE it”.

  175. 175.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    Fuck these douche bag announcers. “I don’t think Georgia should run the ball here”.

    Touchdown Georgia!

  177. 177.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Stillwater: The piece they played on the game was ok but if you’ve listened to that voice for 26 years it makes you cringe. I actually like Derek, I saw him play in high school a couple of times.

  178. 178.

    Corner Stone

    @Stillwater: My Cocks obviously just got off too quickly against Auburn. And the Cocks were unable to recover in time to make it a stiff competition.
    Unfortunately, the Cocks beat themselves in that contest. They should have come out on top.

  182. 182.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: I think it was determined at the line play. If your Cocks could have maintained a rigid line throughout, penetrating on offense, stiff and firm on defense, they might have been able to achieve a more satisfactory outcome. But they couldn’t maintain the pressure and subtle control required to win a long and hard fought contest. In the end, the were exposed as too soft to get a W.

  186. 186.

    Corner Stone

    @Stillwater: Absolutely incorrect.
    The Cocks line was stout, voracious and unrepentant in its obstinacy.
    The issue, as always, was betrayal. The wayward Cocks QB gave the game away, delivering the goods right into the warm embrace of another.

  190. 190.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    Now these weenies are going to explain why losing the guy that just caught a 70 yard pass is bad for the offense.

  194. 194.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: Verlander abides by the rules. For better or worse. He’s a champion’s champion. He’s getting his ass handed to him, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

    [[Did I really just say that??]]

  195. 195.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: Verlander abides by the rules. For better or worse. He’s a champion’s champion. He’s getting his ass handed to him, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

    [[Did I really just say that??]]

  196. 196.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: Verlander abides by the rules. For better or worse. He’s a champion’s champion. He’s getting his ass handed to him, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

    [[Did I really just say that??]]

  197. 197.

    Stillwater

    @Corner Stone: Verlander abides by the rules. For better or worse. He’s a champion’s champion. He’s getting his ass handed to him, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

    [[Did I really just say that??]]

  199. 199.

    Corner Stone

    Apparently you believe in V so much you just said it 4 times.
    That’s conviction amigo.

  200. 200.

    Stillwater

    Apparently I really wanted you to hear that CS.

    Did you hear me?

    {some kind of weird computer snafu going on on my end.}

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