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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Evening Open Thread

Wednesday Evening Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  January 25, 20129:13 pm| 136 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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(Pat Oliphant via GoComics.com)
__
By request. So: What’s up in your neighborhood?

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Previous Post: « Useful idiots
Next Post: Late Night Open Thread: Pointing & Laughing »

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  1. 1.

    cathyx

    January 25, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    I don’t get that comic.

  2. 2.

    Schlemizel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    Any full time vegetarians here? I have been cooking veterinarian meals for years but it looks like I may have to become a full time one. I’m looking for a good source for nutrition information. actual scientific ideas not new-age-macrobiotic-brown-rice bullshit.

    I’m good with eggs & dairy but any kind of meat is torture. I have several cookbooks but really need to learn some must & must-nots to insure I am getting proper nutrition.

  3. 3.

    JGabriel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    TPM:

    According to Newt Gingrich — and Democrats — Mitt Romney is the “most anti-immigrant candidate.” But, is he also the only Mexican-American candidate?
    __
    That was the question posed to Romney by Univision’s Jorge Ramos as part of Univision’s “Meet the Candidates” Forum on Wednesday. The question comes from the fact that Romney’s father, George Romney, was born in a Mormon colony in Mexico. Under the Mexican constitution, that made his father a Mexican citizen. Romney decided to make light of the question:
    __
    “I would love to be able to convince people of that,” Romney joked in response, “particularly in a primary in Florida.”

    Shorter Romney I:

    Cuban, Mexican, what’s the diff?

    Shorter Romney II:

    I’m not Mexican! Look, my dad’s American because his parents were born in America. And I’m American because my Dad was born in … NO FAIR, TRICK QUESTION!

    (Reposted from last thread.)

    .

  4. 4.

    Schlemizel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    @cathyx:
    Congress is not going to help us in our time of great need. Sort of like that gutless Captain in Italy

  5. 5.

    James E. Powell

    January 25, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    @cathyx:

    You are not alone.

  6. 6.

    scav

    January 25, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    @cathyx: If we hinted Try it in Italian, would it help?

  7. 7.

    dww44

    January 25, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    Just got this in an email from our State Democratic Chairman about the hearing in Atlanta tomorrow about whether President Obama will be on the Georgia Primary ballot in March:

    “Several lawsuits were recently filed against President Obama questioning whether he is an American citizen in an attempt to remove him from the Georgia primary ballot. Despite the fact that these issues have been thoroughly litigated, a hearing has been scheduled in these cases for Thursday, January 26, 2012. The Democratic Party of Georgia is not a party to any of these lawsuits.

    “This afternoon we received a letter from counsel for the President directed to the Georgia Secretary of State asking him to intervene in these lawsuits and bring them to a halt, because it is well established that there is no issue here – a fact validated time and again by courts in this country.
    “In the letter, counsel also indicated that they had no interest in continuing to appear or participate further in the litigation and have suspended their involvement.
    “We respect the President’s position and urge the Secretary of State to bring this matter to a conclusion. We also believe that each political party has the absolute legal right to determine who should appear on their primary and general election ballots according to their own rules without interference from outside parties. “In light of these developments the Democratic Party of Georgia has no plans to continue to be involved in these baseless cases. Furthermore the Democratic Party of Georgia will cooperate with the President and his campaign in any way requested to make sure that his name appears on the primary and general election ballots for 2012.”

    I bolded the truly interesting part to me, that the Democratic party gets to decide who appears on its primary and general election ballot. Your average nutso birther doesn’t get to make that call.

  8. 8.

    mark

    January 25, 2012 at 9:24 pm

    Open thread, Hello!

    So, i had a demented idea. There are all kinds of programs out there discounted for the poor,free service for those below a certain level of income.

    What if we gave them, say one or two “first class only” cars reserved for only the richest 10,000 people’s use (based of that years’ tax returns, they’d get a card mailed back or cell phone qr code or something) on each and every train for free, unlimited use, if they give the rest of us a nation-wide, world-top-speed HS rail with limited mag-lev lines? and like the post office, it has to be priced to cover operating costs run like a non-profit, yet unlike the post-office, health care is taken care of in the new exchanges?

    well?

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    January 25, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    It’s not often that I’d agree with Fidel Castro, but I’d have to say he nailed this one:

    “The selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is — and I mean this seriously — the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been,” the retired Cuban leader wrote.

    Get that man a Sunday morning talk show, stat!

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    @cathyx:

    I don’t get that comic.

    It’s comparing Congress to the captain who abandoned his ship in Italy, leaving others to drown while he “fell” into a lifeboat.

    .

  11. 11.

    Raven

    January 25, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    @Schlemizel: Jodd Maxey, http://www.vegetarianepicure.com/

  12. 12.

    Jeffro

    January 25, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    Just watched an hour of Doug Stanhope (NO REFUNDS), now working on Chris Rock (KILL THE MESSENGER)…oh, my sides are gonna be feeling this tomorrow morning…

  13. 13.

    freelancer

    January 25, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    @mark:

    So, i had a demented idea…

    I wouldn’t go that far, but incoherent in its current form sounds about right. Keep working.

  14. 14.

    Benjamin Franklin

    January 25, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    @cathyx:

    I don’t get that comic.

    Insider trading privilege, Cadillac healthcare plans, extended vacations.

  15. 15.

    cathyx

    January 25, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    @JGabriel: Was the captain naked?

  16. 16.

    MikeJ

    January 25, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    @dww44:

    I bolded the truly interesting part to me, that the Democratic party gets to decide who appears on its primary and general election ballot. Your average nutso birther doesn’t get to make that call.

    I would be thrilled to have states completely out of the primaries. If any political party wishes to decide who they will sponsor, they should hold their own election or caucus and not expect the state to pick up the tab. In that case the state would have no say in who they pick. As it is, the states spend millions on primaries that only help to strengthen the two major parties and sideline all the other. That being the case, the state should set rules for who gets on the ballot.

    That said, the lawsuit is obvious bullshit. The birthers have no standing.

  17. 17.

    wobblybits

    January 25, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    @cathyx: Whose naked in the cartoon?

  18. 18.

    robertdsc-PowerBook

    January 25, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    I am really going to miss Steve Benen at WaMo. This blows.

  19. 19.

    lamh35

    January 25, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    So twitter was ablaze over something Jan Brewer did today when greeting POTUS when he arrived in Arizona. Apparently she and POTUS had a “heated” discussion over something Brewer brought up and she apparently wagged her finger in the President’s face. Here’s the excerpt from HuffPo:

    Jan Brewer, Obama Face Off Over Book, Immigration Issues

    Arizona Governor Jan Brewer traded words with President Obama after she greeted him at a Phoenix airport Wednesday

    Brewer and Obama “spoke intensely for a few minutes” after he landed at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, according to a White House pool report. At one point, the GOP governor shook her finger at the president…

    Hmm, waving her finger in his face, pretty disrespectful, IMHO. But doesn’t surprise me.

  20. 20.

    cathyx

    January 25, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    @wobblybits: Congress

  21. 21.

    p.a.

    January 25, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    @Schlemizel: google ‘world’s healthiest foods’ website

  22. 22.

    dmsilev

    January 25, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    @dww44: I’m a bit behind on my birther-ology. After the President released the fabled Long Form Certificate, what twisted arguments are they using now to allege that he’s not eligible to be President?

  23. 23.

    lamh35

    January 25, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    So two stories about the Somalia rescue mission from last night. This certainly gives the mentions of the Navy SEALs team in the SOTU more weight and gravitas doesn’t it.

    President Obama Orders Successful SEALs Rescue of Hostages in Somalia

    More On the Navy SEALs Rescue in Somalia

  24. 24.

    David F

    January 25, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    @Schlemizel: Any cookbook by Deborah Madison, ex of Greens vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco. She has several books that have recipes that are elegant, innovative, and yet not that hard — and they always, always work beautifully. She has a soup book, a seasonal/farmers market book, and at least one Greens-based book. They’re all excellent.

  25. 25.

    Raven

    January 25, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    @lamh35: McRaven speaks respectfully of bush as Commander in Chief, saying he “made some very, very tough decisions.” About Obama, without a question to prompt him, he waxes lyrical and at length. The planning and decisionmaking for the bin Laden raid, he volunteers, “was really everything the American public would expect from their national leadership.”
    “The President was at all times presidential,” he says. “I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. He had leadership skills we’d expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military.”

  26. 26.

    p.a.

    January 25, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    open thread! Got new company phone Monday: crapberry g3. Junk. Between it and my palm (which I don’t love, but do like), I think these companies account for 1.5 % of smartphone market share.

  27. 27.

    David F

    January 25, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    @Schlemizel: Also, so long as you’re willing to incorporate eggs and dairy, and you eat a good variety of vegetables, you really don’t have to worry too much about nutrition, so long as you avoid or limit processed foods, sugar, and too much flour/wheat products. Strict vegans will have a harder time – though certainly not impossible – keeping a good nutritional balance than an ovo-lacto vegetarian.

  28. 28.

    scav

    January 25, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    @cathyx: No, they’ve got clothes on — you can see the collars. Basic idea, Capt. drives ship onto rocks, panics, lies to Coast Guard about problem (although may or may not be in communication with company), doesn’t order evacuation for an hour, claims to have fallen into lifeboat and thus abandons ship before all passengers are evacuated, lies about this to Coast Guard, gets yelled at by Coast Guard to “Vada a bordo, cazzo!” (which is now on tee-shirts across Italy). Replace above actors with Congress in the role of Capt., throw in the idea of the Ship of State and add Obama in SOTU as shouty Coast Guard.

  29. 29.

    JGabriel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:51 pm

    @cathyx:

    Was the captain naked?

    Only his cowardice.

    .

  30. 30.

    Benjamin Franklin

    January 25, 2012 at 9:53 pm

    @Raven:

    So much more than the chickenhawks who preceded him….

  31. 31.

    mark

    January 25, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    @freelancer:

    i just did it yodish to try to get it more attention.

    try:

    What if in exchange for a nation-wide, world-top-speed HS rail with limited mag-lev lines, we offer the right, on each and every train, one or two “first class only” cars reserved for only the richest 10,000 people’s free, unlimited use. They could be selected based of that years’ tax returns, they’d get a card mailed back or cell phone qr code or something, no “hard limit” for late filers, whatever. and like the post office, it has to be priced to cover operating costs off the rest of us, and be run like a non-profit, yet unlike the post-office, health care is taken care of in the new exchanges?

    thoughts?

  32. 32.

    Raven

    January 25, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    @lamh35: I have no doubt she is a nasty bitch but I’m not sure the still photo really portrays what went down.

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 25, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    In the cartoon, the guy on top of the Congress pyramid has a pancake on his head! Awesome.

  34. 34.

    Arundel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:57 pm

    I just read Tom Friedman’s “Average Is Over” op-ed from today’s NYT, and I am staggered at it’s stupidity and amorality. Does he really want to see some class warfare?

    Mustache’s thesis: Those Chinese slave-labor factories where they make iPads are AWEsome, and we should do that here. He speaks admiringly of workers being roused in the middle of the night to start a 12-hour shift because Apple changed its mind about something. He thinks that is really cool and admirable.
    He says average Americans are simply going to have to retrain to become rocket scientists because the awesome exporting of Americn jobs till there aren’t any left is simply an inexorable law of the universe. Bootstraps! All you lazy underachievers are just going to have to work harder, become smarter, and pick a higher social class and education. Or marry a real-estate heiress like he did!

    Oh, I detest him so heartily.

  35. 35.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    January 25, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    @dmsilev: Here’s a site devoted to tracking birther stuff.

  36. 36.

    jibeaux

    January 25, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    I got my taxes filed. I wish I could say it’s because I’m really organized rather than I just really need the refund.

  37. 37.

    Arundel

    January 25, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    “its” not “it’s” ! Oh for an edit button..

  38. 38.

    JordanRules

    January 25, 2012 at 10:02 pm

    @lamh35: Don’t believe their framing or headline, they’re notorious for this sh*t. She isn’t built to go at the President like that so who knows what the story is.

    If it really was some heated exchange then yeah, definitely disrespectful and likely another sign that she isn’t fit for office. And as a constituent of hers, I know that latter part to be true.

    She’s just foul either way, but so is the source helping shape these stories. Ari is foul as sh*t too.

  39. 39.

    Martin

    January 25, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    @efgoldman: Well, so much for the GOP standing up for open carry laws.

  40. 40.

    lamh35

    January 25, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    @JordanRules:

    the reports are yes it was a stunt by Brewer. she’s been going on tv and she’s been milking it.

    and yes, she said it was heated. it was disrespectful.

    she’s making herself a “hero”

  41. 41.

    smelter rat

    January 25, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    +5c today on the Canadian prairies. It’s fucking January people! It’s just not right.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 25, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    @dmsilev: Well, he is near.

  43. 43.

    JGabriel

    January 25, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    @efgoldman:

    On the other hand, Weekly World News is, in its own way, a predecessor to The Onion.

    Antecessor, actually. One of the guys who ran, edited, and wrote Weekly World News was an Onion alumnus.

    .

  44. 44.

    suzanne

    January 25, 2012 at 10:13 pm

    So Prez Obama was practically in my backyard today. I was at work, so I missed him. BUMMER.

    I did, however, note that the dumbass in charge of my fair state shook her finger at him. She fucking sucks so much ass.

  45. 45.

    Martin

    January 25, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    @JGabriel: Nah. WWN dates back to the 70s. I don’t think The Onion is that old.

  46. 46.

    JordanRules

    January 25, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    @lamh35: Ugggh that is so disrespectful. I’m still surprised that she went there even though I know she’s a wingnut, her famous speech flub revealed a character not ready for prime time. And still I would believe she’d milk a less than truthful meme.

  47. 47.

    Chris

    January 25, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    @Arundel:

    Great. Let’s have an economy that doesn’t actually produce… well… anything, because whatever we need, hey, we’ve got ChiComs who’ll do it for us! And never mind the national security implications that these guys are supposedly wild about.

  48. 48.

    Jay C

    January 25, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    @dww44: @MikeJ:

    Not that I would for a moment wish to agree in the least with anything any “birther” plaintiff might bring up regarding President Obama (I think they do it just because they are professional assholes), I think that, in public elections, you have to have some sort of authority with the say-so to control the ballots: and State-level authority is pretty much the way to go (with, say, Federal standards for Presidential elections). It’s a stretch to assume that a State-wide national Party (like the GA Dems) would agree to nominate a candidate without the proper qualifications for the relevant office; but establishing the principle that it’s completely “up to the Party” is, IMO, just opening a door to abuse (and probably by Republicans).

  49. 49.

    opie jeanne

    January 25, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    Supper tonight:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowwhite/6763606605/in/photostream

    zucchini and olive flatbread. yum.

  50. 50.

    dmsilev

    January 25, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): Thanks. Though I’m not really sure I want to climb down the rabbit hole to understand what passes for logic in birther-land.

  51. 51.

    MikeJ

    January 25, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    @lamh35: I’d love to read that first link but it’s b0rked over at ABL’s place. Complains about mobile safari even though I’m on desktop ffox. If in that first story she links to another source, can you post that?

  52. 52.

    Steeplejack

    January 25, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    Road trip tomorrow to take sighthound K to Philadelphia to have her teeth ultrasonically cleaned (and nails trimmed while she’s under the anesthetic) at the National Greyhound Adoption Program facility. They do great work.

    Subtext is that I will try to have lunch at Nick’s Roast Beef in South Philly. Cheesesteak!

    ETA: Edit is back and it works. Yee-haw.

  53. 53.

    lamh35

    January 25, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    @MikeJ:

    heres the link to the first story directly from Yahoo I believe:

    Obama to Panetta at SOTU: ‘Great job’ on Somalia rescue

  54. 54.

    MikeJ

    January 25, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    @Jay C:

    but establishing the principle that it’s completely “up to the Party” is, IMO, just opening a door to abuse (and probably by Republicans).

    If the state were not involved in primaries (as I believe they should not be) of course it would be up to the parties.

    Primaries exist so that the party can decide who it will back. Why the state should pay for this purely internal function is beyond me. And talk about abuses, how many states hold a primary for any party other than the big two? Don’t get me wrong, I think anyone who votes for a third party in a general election is a moron, but I don’t think the big two should be subsidized while other legally valid parties are given the shaft.

  55. 55.

    lamh35

    January 25, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    @MikeJ:

    and here’s the link to the WH statement:

    Statement by the President on Successful Hostage Rescue

  56. 56.

    Nutella

    January 25, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    Does anyone else find it amazing that half of the Republican primary candidates have children with Ayn Rand names? Rand Paul and Taggart Romney, that is.

  57. 57.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    January 25, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    @dmsilev: The top article on the site is the letter sent to the GA SOS basically forcing him to decide if he’s a birther and go against a ruling made by his state Supreme Court.

  58. 58.

    Debbie(aussie)

    January 25, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    I missed the photo of John others keep mentioning in comments. Where can this great revelation be found, please? :)

  59. 59.

    RossInDetroit

    January 25, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    Any full time vegetarians here?

    I stopped eating meat in ’94. Many years ago a vegetarian told me the worst part of a no-meat diet is everyone thinks you’re obligated to explain yourself to them for choosing not to eat what they do. He was right.
    Anyway my diet is mostly carbs, which is supposedly bad. But my BMI is smack in the middle of ‘healthy’, which means everyone thinks I’m too skinny. And my blood chemistry is textbook so all grains can’t be that bad.
    All sorts of dietary scolds are waiting to lecture you on the one true way to feed yourself. Ignore them. Eat what you like, change it often and avoid too much of one thing.
    And don’t feel obligated to explain.

  60. 60.

    Schlemizel

    January 25, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    @smelter rat:
    as a resident of MN I can translate from Canadian to American – that 41 degrees! About 80F above normal, right rat 8-{D

    @Arundel:
    I’ve given up trying to help the world differentiate between its & it’s so I don’t care any more. I still object to “him and me” and the various ‘theres’ but thats it.

  61. 61.

    BO_Bill

    January 25, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    TEA Party associates need no edit button. Anyway, did anyone else note that President Obama’s, errr, ummm, progressive ‘advisors’, were more than willing to shoot a few Somalis in exchange for a line in a campaign speech?

    Angry Black Lady is smarter than you people give her credit for.

  62. 62.

    clayton

    January 25, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    By request.

    Corner Stoned again.

    @cathyx:

    That’s why you don’t get it.

  63. 63.

    Nutella

    January 25, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Callista Gingrich III called 911 to report a mother for nursing her baby on a park bench in the oh-so-wholesome Gingrich family’s “family neighborhood”?!?!?!

    And said “We will not allow people like this to infiltrate.”
    And “We are trying to rebuild the America we love, and there is no room for obscenity.”

    Jesus H Christ on a crutch.

  64. 64.

    Steeplejack

    January 25, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    @Debbie(aussie):

    Top of this thread.

  65. 65.

    WaterGirl

    January 25, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    @Schlemizel: I wish I had some useful information for you. Maybe try again in the late night threads?

  66. 66.

    Alison

    January 25, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    @Schlemizel: http://www.herbivoracious.com/ has a nice variety of recipes, interesting but generally widely appealing, I’d say.

    As for “proper nutrition”, you don’t need to worry about it as much as most omnivores would have you believe. Trust me, humans don’t need the protein equivalent of a whole cow every day to be healthy. Especially if you’re eating eggs and dairy, and if you also include some soy sources and/or beans/legumes/nuts, you’re fine on that front. With a good assortment of vegetables and grains, that’s all you need. In fact, vegetarians tend to eat a much wider variety of produce, and a lot of those lesser-eaten veggies can be rich in vitamins and minerals.

  67. 67.

    Martin

    January 25, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    T-Paw on Lawrence O’Donnell trying that double taxation bullshit.

  68. 68.

    Schlemizel

    January 25, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    @RossInDetroit:
    so you’re not concerned about the B vitamin deficiency? I know I can get enough protein (which is what most people worry about) but the B’s.

    I’m not surprised that you can maintain your BMI on a high carb diet, for most of human history people have done OK with that. It wasn’t until everything we eat is corn based and mega-sized that carbs became evil.

  69. 69.

    lamh35

    January 25, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    @Martin:

    T-Paw is so boring. I’m seriously wondering what Romney has offerred T-Paw to have him licking Romney’s boots this long…damn I hope Timmy gets something for all his troubles.

  70. 70.

    freelancer

    January 25, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    A friend just linked me to this tumblr. AWESOME!

  71. 71.

    General Stuck

    January 25, 2012 at 10:49 pm

    Pardon if this has already been posted today, though I didn’t see on the usual pol websites

    JEFFERSON CITY — Orange stickers with an image of rifle cross hairs were found yesterday on the office nameplates of several Democratic state senators, prompting an investigation by Missouri Capitol Police, Senate Administrator Jim Howerton said.

    Just peachy, ain’t it?

  72. 72.

    RossInDetroit

    January 25, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    so you’re not concerned about the B vitamin deficiency?

    I’m in my 50s and my doc told me to start taking old-person daily multivitamins, so I do that. I have quite a bit of dairy in my diet and occasionally eggs. Doctor says keep doing what I’m doing & stop worrying.
    My dad is a pharmacist and is up on the vitamin bioavailability studies. He says a good quality multivitamin covers any trace element gaps you might have n a restricted diet. If vegetarianism really was unhealthy per se, we’d see it in the large population of people who shun meat for religious purposes.

  73. 73.

    RossInDetroit

    January 25, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    By the way, we all just missed our chance to bid on a one of a kind edition of Moby Dick typed on rolls of toilet paper. I was at work and didn’t have internet access. What’s your excuse?

  74. 74.

    Debbie(aussie)

    January 25, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    @Steeplejack: Thanks. I know just how John feels. Dont have photo of self on facebook for exactly same reason, only I am almost 50.

  75. 75.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 25, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    @Nutella: Um, that story traces back to Weekly World News, which has, shall we say, a pretty casual relationship with “facts.”

  76. 76.

    Nutella

    January 25, 2012 at 11:05 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    Wikpedia says: Good sources for B vitamins include kombucha, whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, tempeh, beans, nutritional yeast, brewer’s yeast, and molasses. Vitamin B12 is found in foods that come from animals, including fish and shellfish, meat (especially liver), poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products.

    So if you include eggs and dairy you’re fine. If you don’t then take a B12 supplement.

  77. 77.

    Nutella

    January 25, 2012 at 11:08 pm

    @Nutella:

    I thought the quote sounded a little much.

    Will wait for confirmation from more respectable sources.

  78. 78.

    Ailuridae

    January 25, 2012 at 11:13 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    How do you feel about fish? I don’t eat dairy but take in a ton of protein every day from fish (like a pound and a half of say tilapia) and can help you out there.

  79. 79.

    RossInDetroit

    January 25, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Regarding dietary protein, here’s a CDC page that lays out the recommendations. I should be getting 56g/day. I’m sure my intake is much higher than that and I never touch meat.

  80. 80.

    Arundel

    January 25, 2012 at 11:20 pm

    @efgoldman : Ah, I see. Just remembered I’d disabled Javascript, that’s why I didn’t see the edit function. (Main machine is down, am on an old laptop that Javascript crashes the hell out of. ) Good to know it’s still there.

  81. 81.

    Violet

    January 25, 2012 at 11:24 pm

    @Schlemizel:
    If you’re not happy with what you find on the internet, try asking around in your area for a nutritionist who is comfortable designing diets for vegetarians. You might have to do some digging and they probably won’t come free, but you might get some good solid info that way.

    Also, everyone’s bodies seem to work a little differently, so just because you’ve got a vegetarian friend who swears you don’t need all that much protein, you might find you do need a fair amount of protein. I found that out after about a year of being a strict vegetarian. I was always tired and frequently lightheaded. I was also craving meat. When I finally broke down and had some meat, I immediately started feeling better. I have finally worked out that my high-carb diet (good for me carbs, but still carbs) didn’t work well with my metabolism (blood sugar issues) and I needed to eat more protein and good fats to slow down the carbs. Other friends who eat veg seem not to have those kinds of problems.

    Good luck with it. I think it’s generally much healthier to eat a plant based diet and it’s also a lower carbon footprint.

  82. 82.

    jibeaux

    January 25, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: True. But if you go to the WWN link, there’s a great picture of a mom with her boob hanging out and the nipple covered by BatBoy. No, really, there is.

  83. 83.

    Anya

    January 25, 2012 at 11:33 pm

    @Nutella: No mention of this story in Jezebel, so I say this story is a hoax.

  84. 84.

    Linnaeus

    January 25, 2012 at 11:33 pm

    Breaking out the Luksosowa tonight. That’s what’s going on right now.

  85. 85.

    General Stuck

    January 25, 2012 at 11:40 pm

    @Violet:

    I found that out after about a year of being a strict vegetarian. I was always tired and frequently lightheaded.

    Same here. I felt like I had aged to my 70’s or near. All kinds of little problems, that I didn’t notice until I went back to getting animal protein. I haven’t eaten cow meat for 8 years, but do have mostly seafood a couple of times a week, to augment my primarily bean and grain diet. And a lot of organic peanuts and peanut butter as regular snacks.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    January 25, 2012 at 11:41 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    I’m not a vegetarian, but IIRC the B vitamin deficiency concern is more for vegans, who don’t eat eggs or dairy. Regular “ovo-lacto” vegetarians seem to get plenty of B. But, as others have said, if you’re concerned, a plain ol’ multivitamin should round out any deficiencies.

    If you were going vegan (no animal products at all), that’s where health concerns start to creep in because you have to be sure you’re getting enough calcium, protein, etc.

  87. 87.

    TaMara (BHF)

    January 25, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    OMG, the regressives are imploding. Brewer jams her finger in Obama’s face and follows it with: Brewer said Obama was “somewhat thin-skinned and a little tense, to say the least.”
    “I was very surprised. I was taken aback. I really was,” she said. “I was shocked by the sternness of it all.”

    And Mrs. Gingrich the third has a woman arrested for breast feeding in park. Countdown to a breastfeeding sit-in in the park in 3…2…1

    Yowza.

  88. 88.

    joel hanes

    January 25, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    The New Laurel’s Kitchen

    Any of the Moosewood cookbooks.

  89. 89.

    General Stuck

    January 25, 2012 at 11:44 pm

    @TaMara (BHF):

    That woman is an idiot that probly commutes by broom.

  90. 90.

    TaMara (BHF)

    January 25, 2012 at 11:46 pm

    @General Stuck: Which one? LOL Or is that witch one?

  91. 91.

    jl

    January 25, 2012 at 11:48 pm

    @TaMara (BHF):

    Interesting picture. Obama looks a little amused. I tend to react to tantrums that may well be rehearsed displays like that too, so, hey, I can identify with the Pres.

    I think Brewer is pulling a long drawn out PR stunt, but not sure.

  92. 92.

    General Stuck

    January 25, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    @TaMara (BHF):

    Brewer. She makes my skin crawl. I’ve never heard Mrs Gingrich #3 speak a word, so I have no idea what goes on in her head. Though marrying a warlock probably says something about her.

  93. 93.

    Chuck Butcher

    January 25, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    @MikeJ:

    If the state were not involved in primaries (as I believe they should not be) of course it would be up to the parties.

    You’ve managed a couple of mistakes, first – the State offers this as a service to its voters, it is not the other way around, the Party is not making the State do a damn thing. The Party has a right of free association and assembly – which is what the Primary vote is. This would be why Parties can set whether a Primary is open, closed, or a varient and the State cannot tell them otherwise. You may have noticed in WI that the Party cannot keep ratfucker GOPers off its ballot if they change Party and get the required sigs.

    The OR Leg in 07 talked about moving the Primary ahead in violation of DNC rules, the DPO promptly informed the State that such a move would mean the DPO would Caucus and there would be no “D” Primary.

    When talk turned to “first two past the post” which would make a Primary a non-party outcome, DPO informed the state that under free association that regardless of the state’s ideas about how a Primary outcome should be – the Democratic Party was in no way bound to their ideas through right to free assembly. That system involved the consequence that two members of the same party would move to the GE. A Party is free to use its own methodology to put forward a candidate provided they don’t muck up with Civil Rights. One of the “other” Parties in OR used an online convention to select its candidate in one instance and they had the sigs to be on the GE.

    The 08 FL mess with FL Dems losing convention delegates was an outcome of the State Party going along with the FL Leg while they could easily have Caucused or figured out how to self-finance a vote. They didn’t and Hillary didn’t win her arguement with DNC either because the Party has its own damn rules and the RIGHTS to enforce them.

    Most States find it in the public interest to broaden the public input to the process to fund Primaries, that gives the State no especial standing in Party business, the State finds it in its OWN interest which in no way binds the Party to the State.

  94. 94.

    kvenlander

    January 25, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    @Schlemizel: Jumping in without reading all the comments, but I’m kind of in the same boat – I have cut down on meat radically. I still eat tender dinosaur breasts and fish.

    I bought Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and it has a lot of real information about nutrition too. I like it.

    Anybody have a favorite Indian vegetarian cookbook? The ones I’ve seen tend to have prominent meat recipes and then some veggie recipes here and there as an afterthought. There’s a whole effing subcontinent half full of vegetarians, I want to find out what they know.

  95. 95.

    wobblybits

    January 25, 2012 at 11:54 pm

    @kvenlander: My vote is for, “Cooking at home with Pedatha” by Jigyasa Giri
    Amazing cookbook

  96. 96.

    dww44

    January 25, 2012 at 11:56 pm

    @dmsilev: Sorry, I left BJ after posting this. But according to the Atlanta Journal:

    Last week, in a surprise ruling, a Georgia state administrative judge declined to quash a subpoena directing Obama to attend a hearing Thursday at the Fulton County courthouse on a challenge to strike him from the Georgia ballot this fall on claims he is not a natural born U.S. citizen.

    The administrative judge ( appointed in the 1990’s by then Gov. Zell Miller when he really was a Democrat) didn’t like the response he received from the Obama legal people, so he scheduled the hearing for tomorrow. Obama’s still not going to appear at the hearing tomorrow.

    Here’s a link to more info:

    http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/judges-order-in-birther-1313941.html

  97. 97.

    dance around in your bones

    January 25, 2012 at 11:58 pm

    Whoa – what’s with the new scary buttons?

    Imma gonna edit – just because I CAN.

  98. 98.

    Anya

    January 26, 2012 at 12:02 am

    @TaMara (BHF):She’s gonna milk this for all its worth; and that’s a lot in the wingnut circles. What a dipshit.

  99. 99.

    Hill Dweller

    January 26, 2012 at 12:02 am

    @jl: It was a stunt. She’s been playing the victim for anyone with a microphone since the “incident”.

  100. 100.

    Comrade Mary

    January 26, 2012 at 12:04 am

    @dance around in your bones: The green button is a tribute to the Jackson 5. The grey button next to it is a tribute to goatse. (Goatse explanation with no pictures here, if only to prevent the innocent and the curious from Googling the term and actually hitting the image unawares.)

  101. 101.

    Steeplejack

    January 26, 2012 at 12:05 am

    @Debbie(aussie):

    Today is my birthday–in fact, in a few minutes, at 12:07 a.m., it will be exactly the time of my birth–and in the mail yesterday I got a framed picture of myself from college many years ago. Yeowch! They say it’s not the years, it’s the mileage, but sometimes it is the years.

  102. 102.

    jl

    January 26, 2012 at 12:06 am

    @Hill Dweller:

    The ‘incident’ means the WH meeting where she thinks she was dissed?

    I don’t understand why the fact that she is consistent means it is not an act.

    But, I said I am not sure, so if anyone has some info on what is going on with her, I’m interested in what the deal is.

  103. 103.

    Comrade Mary

    January 26, 2012 at 12:06 am

    @Steeplejack: Happy Birthday! (one minute early, I know)

  104. 104.

    dance around in your bones

    January 26, 2012 at 12:07 am

    @Comrade Mary: Oh good Gawd, I mistakenly googled goatse once and was splattered with the image RIGHT IN MY EYE!

    p.s. I don’t get the spellcheck feature – it takes you to some site that checks your spelling? Anyway, Firefox already checks my spelling, TYVM.

  105. 105.

    Anya

    January 26, 2012 at 12:08 am

    @Steeplejack: Happy B’day!

  106. 106.

    Comrade Mary

    January 26, 2012 at 12:09 am

    @dance around in your bones: Oh, good, you’re inoculated. (Wait, maybe that’s the wrong way to put that …)

    Spell check is kind of neat: it puts a solid red underline under all “incorrect” words (like “colour” — hmph!) but doesn’t suggest the right spelling. Yes, I like Firefox’s spell check, too.

  107. 107.

    dance around in your bones

    January 26, 2012 at 12:11 am

    @Comrade Mary: Well, it certainly FELT like a shot in the eye!

  108. 108.

    Steeplejack

    January 26, 2012 at 12:13 am

    @Comrade Mary, @Anya:

    Thank you. Now I’m off to bed, because I have to drive the hound to Philly in the morning. Have a good night shift, all!

    ETA: The embiggened edit box scares me.

  109. 109.

    dance around in your bones

    January 26, 2012 at 12:15 am

    @Steeplejack: ¡Feliz cumpleaños! I always enjoy your comments, Steeplejack. You’re one of the good guys ;)

  110. 110.

    kvenlander

    January 26, 2012 at 12:15 am

    Oh, goatse (DO NOT GOOGLE). Had a guy at work once who loved to change people’s browser homepages to either that or the NAMBLA homepage (DO NOT GOOGLE either).

    Err, can’t really say “good times” about it…

    (Don’t blame me, I TOLD you not to google!)

  111. 111.

    Hill Dweller

    January 26, 2012 at 12:16 am

    @jl: By ‘incident’, I was talking about today’s conversation.

    She made a big show of handing the President an envelope as soon as he got off the plane. Why not give it to a member of his staff? Why not actually send it to the WH?

    She wanted a confrontation. I’m sure the President caught on quickly, and pointed out she lied about their last meeting. Hell, Brewer actually contradicted her own original statement on the meeting in that book.

    Giving multiple interviews after the fact doesn’t exactly scream credibility.

  112. 112.

    dww44

    January 26, 2012 at 12:20 am

    @Jay C: Actually, thanks to Belafon and his link to a site called Ohforgoodnesssake.com, this issue is front and center. They’ve got the entire response by the President’s Attorney to the Secretary of State. According to comments attached to that posting is this:

    Georgia statutory law does not give the Secretary of State the power or authority to make a determination as to “eligibility” of candidates on the “presidential preference primary” ballot.
    The procedure for getting on the Georgia primary ballot is that the executive committee of each political party provides the SoS with a list of candidates, determined according to whatever process the party sets.
    There is no requirement that the candidate be “eligible” to be President. Primary winners do not take office. The outcome of a primary merely determines the composition of a slate of delegates to a party convention — again, by internal party rules.

    http://ohforgoodnesssake.com/?p=20991#more-20991

  113. 113.

    Punchy

    January 26, 2012 at 12:23 am

    Newt now 2-1 to win R nommy in vegas. Was 4-1 less than a week ago. Wow

  114. 114.

    GregB

    January 26, 2012 at 12:26 am

    Time for Joe Biden to have an open mike moment and call Jan Brewer a scorpion or something.

    She needs some open ridicule.

    It was nice of Jan to let the Gabby Giffords call for comity last about 8 hours.

  115. 115.

    jl

    January 26, 2012 at 12:33 am

    @Hill Dweller:

    Interpretations may differ, but to me, I think your story indicates she is trying to pull a political stunt. The theme: That scrappy lil’ Copper Stater can stand up to the muslin imposter.

  116. 116.

    Chuck Butcher

    January 26, 2012 at 12:33 am

    @dww44:
    Hmmm. Sounds a bit like #96

  117. 117.

    fleeting expletive

    January 26, 2012 at 12:35 am

    Over a couple of evenings I have tried to watch “Black Swan”. The first time I abandoned the endeavor because it looked like just the usual Natalie Portman (or Keira Knightly) being all distressed and whatnot. I just watched maybe the last half of Black Swan and I still don’t really get it? Was that movie about more than beautiful ballet sequences? I don’t like to feel like a dunce in these matters, but I didn’t get why that movie was Great, as in Oscar or whatever?

  118. 118.

    suzanne

    January 26, 2012 at 12:37 am

    Jan Brewer is such a horrible human being. I feel lke FourLoko is our damn governor.

    I wonder if Brewer says “cudlips” and “substrate” a lot.

  119. 119.

    Hill Dweller

    January 26, 2012 at 12:41 am

    @jl: As I said earlier in the thread, I think it was an obvious political stunt.

    Have you ever seen a Governor do that sort of thing? She made sure to hold up the envelope for the cameras to see. Then she subsequently ran to talk radio and TV to call the President ‘thin skinned’.

    Love him or hate him, ‘thin skinned’ isn’t exactly what comes to mind when describing the President.

  120. 120.

    Suffern ACE

    January 26, 2012 at 12:45 am

    Yeah. It looks like she was trying to serve him with a summons rather than just request a meeting properly. I love the thin-skinned meme. “She was surprised by the sternness.” I think he has a great sense of humor but doesn’t suffer people well who treat their offices like jokes.

  121. 121.

    Larkspur

    January 26, 2012 at 12:45 am

    Happy birthday, Steeplejack!

    Otherwise, what is happening is that I am feeling very pugnacious in regard to everything and everyone, but I have no pug-related show ‘n’ tell, so instead I direct you to a cool boxer pup video:

    Cute Overload

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2012 at 12:47 am

    @Steeplejack: Happy Birthday, Steeplejack! Hope you have a great trip!

  123. 123.

    Martin

    January 26, 2012 at 12:57 am

    Hey, happy bday Steeple. Today was my recently departed F-in-laws birthday as well. We’re having a bit of a melancholy celebration.

  124. 124.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 26, 2012 at 1:18 am

    Noot wants me to contribute to a “Knockout Punch Money Bomb”.

    Oooooooooohkay!

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    January 26, 2012 at 1:18 am

    @Martin: Hey, Martin. Not sure if you saw this funny website that Comrade Mary posted earlier this week.

    Louis and Rick

    Maybe it will add a bit of cheer to a melancholy day.

    Edit: I thought they were all funny, except #9.

  126. 126.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 26, 2012 at 1:21 am

    Sounds like Brewer is angling for some of that sweet sweet “Putting the Kenyan anticolonialist in his place” action Gingrich has been grifting on. Gingrich/Brewer ’12: Marshmallow/Leather!

  127. 127.

    RalfW

    January 26, 2012 at 1:26 am

    Nevermind. Old item came up. Firefox acting weird tonight.

  128. 128.

    Yutsano

    January 26, 2012 at 1:37 am

    @opie jeanne: You didn’t invite me. I haz a sad.

    I keed of course. I get off work too late to do much of anything after.

  129. 129.

    hamletta

    January 26, 2012 at 1:55 am

    Happy birthday…to you…happy birthday…to you…happy birthday, Mr. Steeplejack…happy birthday…to yooooouuu!

  130. 130.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 26, 2012 at 2:09 am

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Gingrich/Brewer ‘12: Marshmallow/Leather!

    Stay Puft Marshmallowman/Dolores Umbridge ’12?

  131. 131.

    Elizabelle

    January 26, 2012 at 2:10 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Happy Birthday, Steeplejack.

    Does the sighthound get a Philly cheesesteak too?

    What are teeth for, after all?

  132. 132.

    Yutsano

    January 26, 2012 at 2:36 am

    @Steeplejack: YAY BIRFDAY!!

    We of course will be requiring your long form birf certificate for verification purposes.

  133. 133.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 26, 2012 at 2:39 am

    @Steeplejack: Happy birthday Steeps.

  134. 134.

    JGabriel

    January 26, 2012 at 6:33 am

    @efgoldman, @Martin: I stand corrected.

    WWN started in 1979, The Onion in 1988.

    Mea culpa.

    .

  135. 135.

    Steeplejack

    January 26, 2012 at 6:54 am

    Thanks again, all, for the birthday wishes. Off to Philadelphia now.

  136. 136.

    xian

    January 26, 2012 at 10:30 am

    @Nutella: it would be as if Democratic candidates had kids named Che and Vladimir.

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