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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  June 2, 20128:37 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I just watched Tunch launch a failed sneak attack on a robin in the back yard. He “stealthed” up to about five yards away, then went to spring and something happened with his left foot (the loose mulch gave away or something), and he fell, rolled to his left on his side, and just sat there with his tail twitching as the robin flew off (no doubt thinking “You gotta be kidding me.”).

It was seriously the saddest most pathetic thing I’ve seen since the GOP debates. I laughed so hard I snorted, and my cheeks are still hurting.

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Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    BGinCHI

    June 2, 2012 at 8:39 pm

    Sounds like a rejected episode of “Sylvester and Tweety.”

  2. 2.

    lamh35

    June 2, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    Evening, been trying to stay away from political commenting as much as I can this weekend, espeically after the Friday job numbers freakout. So it’s work, then home to watch movies and videos.

    Last night it was Al Green video, tonight, I’m watching EVITA. Been a while since I’ve seen it.

    And sorry Madonna, best EVITA ever…Patti LuPone!

    http://youtu.be/LYTIUgSokf0

  3. 3.

    David Koch

    June 2, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    Oh Christ.

    On tonight’s ABC Evening News even the liburel Christiane Amanpour was effusively praising Hosni Mubarak.

  4. 4.

    muddy

    June 2, 2012 at 8:43 pm

    I only wish my cats were that incompetent. I had to deliver the coup de grace to 5 baby mice this morning. I hate that. Kill, or no kill, there should be no try. Stupid cats.

    I love the look they get when they fuck up and get laughed at though. So affronted.

  5. 5.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 8:45 pm

    Poor Tunch! My biggest cat, Gryff, had the indignity of being chased indoors today by a mockingbird. Territorial little fucker has a nest in my shade tree. Gryff is 12 years old, 16+ pounds, and has exactly zero interest in chasing birds; he is a big softy who lives to snuggle & sleep. He was lazing in the sun when the bird started dive-bombing him relentlessly. After a few passes, when Gryff mainly just stared at him with a “dude, can’t we just get along?” look, the bird started to actively peck him, & Gryff took off running for the door, being chased by this little bird. He then spent an hour sitting just inside the door, watching the bird own the back yard, obviously thinking . . . “Ass. Hole”.

    edited to add. . Of course, tho I gave him lots of sympathy & told him that he was right, the bird is a jerk, I did laugh my ass off. I mean, he just has to stand his ground & swat. . . the mockingbird is lucky he picked on Gryff & not his sister. She is meaner than a Republican & really dislikes birds.

  6. 6.

    BGinCHI

    June 2, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    We watched “We Need To Talk About Kevin.”

    Anybody else seen it? Great performance by Tilda Swinton, but I really didn’t think the film worked. I don’t know the novel, but I’m guessing it had the connective tissue the film didn’t. I was rooting for it, and it was tough to watch and narratively savvy, but too many holes.

    Worth seeing though if you have the interest.

  7. 7.

    Valdivia

    June 2, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    Oh Tunch! He is just big boned.

  8. 8.

    lamh35

    June 2, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    I’m kinda on a Broadway kick today. A friend of mine should have tickets for Momma Mia tomorrow.

    I’ve the traveling show of Cats and Dreamgirls. The Dreamgirls shows was great, but if there was every a musical I wish I had seen the original cast perform, it’s that one.

    I mean I enjoyed the movie version as well, but no one can do “And I Am Telling You…” justice like Jennifer Holliday, the original Effie White, could.

    http://youtu.be/kC_u_q-iND0

  9. 9.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 2, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    @cckids:

    While I’m tempted to say that the bird was concerned about capabilities, how dangerous is a 16 pound cat that isn’t making a move on the nest?

  10. 10.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 2, 2012 at 8:49 pm

    My dogs do that all the time. My Boxer is always chasing fireflies, butterflies, birds, squirrels, etc., but never catching anything. Thank goodness for that.

  11. 11.

    PeakVT

    June 2, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    $35 million seems like a bit much for a car, even if it is a 250 GTO.

  12. 12.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 8:53 pm

    @muddy:

    Yeah, one of our cats is a little too good at hunting cute things. We try to keep her in the house. Even though she’s getting pretty geriatric, she can still outstealth and out-murder the boy cats. Impressive, but really, I try quite hard to keep her from darting out the door at whatever bird, rodent, lizard, etc. is obliviously hanging out nearby. The whole playing so very happily with your half-dead prize before not-eating it is a bit much.

  13. 13.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 8:54 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: It doesn’t seem to matter! We’ve never had mockingbirds before, and I have to tell you, they really suck as bird-neighbors. They are incredibly loud, and they are always attacking the cats, my poor dog, who can’t even take a dump in relative peace, or any human who is outdoors for what they consider “too long”. In their favor, they do chase pigeons out of the yard as well, but really, they are jerks.

    Harper Lee, you were wrong. While I wouldn’t kill a mockingbird, it would not make me sad if it were dead. Or moved away.

  14. 14.

    BGinCHI

    June 2, 2012 at 8:56 pm

    @cckids: I suggest you play Creed really loud toward the nest with a boombox, causing the mockingbirds to kill themselves.

  15. 15.

    suzanne

    June 2, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    My cat Zelda gets spayed on Monday. Muahahahaaaa. I’m hoping that this calms her down in temperament a bit.

    I spent the hottest part of the day canvassing for David Schapira, who I hope will be the first Congresscritter from the new District AZ-9. Unfortunate that the AC in my car took a crap last week, but meh, not gonna let it get me down.

    Some dog rescue bleg: an acquaintance adopted a dog from a local rescue organization, not realizing the doggie was pregnant. I’m not sure of all the ins-and-outs, but somehow now she’s ended up with nine dogs, and she can’t afford them all (but refuses to send them to a shelter). So if you’re in the Phoenix/Tempe/Mesa area and ether want to adopt a pup, or don’t mind kicking in a few bucks for some dog chow, please email me at [email protected] and I’ll get you her contact info….just put PUPPY in the subject line.

    Sleeping baby on my lap. AWWWWW.

  16. 16.

    Josie

    June 2, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    I hope Tunch did not see you laughing, John Cole, or else you should probably not go to sleep tonight.

  17. 17.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:01 pm

    @cckids: Really? Mockingbirds are pretty badass. I’ve always liked their crazy songs and fearless/foolhardy protective behavior.

  18. 18.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    @BGinCHI: Nice. But this is Vegas, with our postage-stamp backyards, and I believe my neighbours might turn me in under the Geneva Conventions. Cruel & unusual & all that.

    Supposedly the best way to get rid of them is to import some crows, but how you go about that is beyond me.

  19. 19.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    @cckids: Oh Jesus no. You’d hate the crows more.
    Also, it’s probably mockingbird nesting season where you are, which makes them a bit more, er, energetic.

  20. 20.

    BGinCHI

    June 2, 2012 at 9:05 pm

    @cckids: What, yous guys ain’t got a Crows ‘r Us there?

  21. 21.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 9:05 pm

    @SectarianSofa:

    I’ve always liked their crazy songs and fearless/foolhardy protective behavior.

    Maybe it will grow on me. Right now I feel as though I’m fighting a rearguard action in my back yard. Hopefully they’ll mellow out a bit when their nestling grows up. He/she has an irritating rusty-gate peep peep noise. Also very loud. I’ve never had birds that were so . . . intrusive.

  22. 22.

    muddy

    June 2, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    @SectarianSofa: In the winter when it is inconvenient to dispatch them outdoors with a sharp stone to be chucked over the fence, I have sometimes used the “burial at sea” method. They are so wee I figure they drown before they get down the pipe, I hope it is so. But one time I had mineral buildup in the bowl, and when I flushed it gave the poor mouse a toehold from the whirlpool. No hope! Don’t have hope! I don’t want them to suffer, or to have enough time to hope they will get away. I had to hold him under with the toilet brush before I could flush him, I felt terrible.

  23. 23.

    Violet

    June 2, 2012 at 9:07 pm

    It was seriously the saddest most pathetic thing I’ve seen since the GOP debates.

    Is Tunch Gingrich or Perry?

  24. 24.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    @BGinCHI: Sadly, no. Tho, as SectSofa says, the crows cause issues too. I’ll have to take the Hermione kitty out with me. She’s also 12, but much smaller & agile. Doubt she’d catch it, but she might back it off a bit.

    Gotta get some pics up on Flickr or somewhere to share. My critters are as cute as anybody’s!

  25. 25.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    @cckids: Well, your mileage may vary, but they really do mimic birds and other sounds around them. It might be worth looking up some info on the googler, etc. to see if anyone has suggestions for auditory enrichment so that they get into something a little less annoying. I think I have a bit of Cole’s attitude on the pets as well — I always found it damned funny (for a bit, anyway) to see my cats flee from the dive-bombing. No harm done, and the cats have the incredulous “WTF?” reaction every time.

  26. 26.

    jeffreyw

    June 2, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    Put up two more Hummer feeders just now, they were swarming the others full.

  27. 27.

    Hill Dweller

    June 2, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    @cckids:

    Supposedly the best way to get rid of them is to import some crows, but how you go about that is beyond me.

    We have a nesting pair on the side of the house, who successfully raised two more babies this spring. They kick the shit out the crows(and damn near everything else) that comes any where near the yard.

  28. 28.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    June 2, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    @cckids: Go to a crow bar, of course.

  29. 29.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    @Violet:

    Is Tunch Gingrich or Perry?

    That’s just cruel.

  30. 30.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 9:14 pm

    @Hill Dweller: I believe it. They are mean little things.

    eta: maybe I do need to change my viewpoint & think of them as feisty, not mean. They’re just standing up for themselves & defending what they see as theirs, right?

    Hmm. This mindset is what makes me a liberal, I suspect.

  31. 31.

    dr. bloor

    June 2, 2012 at 9:17 pm

    @Violet: Tunch isn’t white enough to be either one of them, I don’t think.

  32. 32.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 9:17 pm

    @Tara the Antisocial Social Worker: Very nice, I hadn’t thought of that.

  33. 33.

    Ben Cisco

    June 2, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    So Mittens goes out to Solyndra and slimes President Obama.

    Karma has her A game going.

  34. 34.

    MikeJ

    June 2, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    @cckids: If you don’t like the aggressiveness of mockingbirds you would hatehatehate Steller’s Jays.

  35. 35.

    Suffern ACE

    June 2, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    @David Koch: What on earth for? His work ethic? You know, how he started out in poverty and ended up a billionaire?

  36. 36.

    jeffreyw

    June 2, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    @cckids: My mocker chases the crows off.

  37. 37.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    @muddy: I’ve more than once considered putting together some kind of damaged-animal euthanasia kit. (And a lot of reasons not to do this, but still….) At least our kitty is slowing down a bit, and doesn’t run for the door as often.

  38. 38.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:23 pm

    @cckids: An interesting question. Now that I think about it, I kind of think of mockingbirds as the plucky underdogs. (Mixed metaphor/idiom there, but I’ll go with it….)

  39. 39.

    MikeJ

    June 2, 2012 at 9:24 pm

    Related to previous thread: I don’t stand with ScottWalker.

  40. 40.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    @SectarianSofa: You’d think that, given the size differential, but their aggressiveness really tips the scale in their direction. Maybe if my cats were young again, or my dog a Rottie rather than an arthritic Pomeranian.

  41. 41.

    Allen

    June 2, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    Wish my cats were as ineffectual as Tunch. The oldest one, and the one that posses a Tunch like body, brought home a Chipmunk and I’ve never before seen a Chipmunk where I live.

  42. 42.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 2, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    Pics, or it didn’t happen, Cole. And, poor Tunchie.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 2, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    @Valdivia:

    He is just big boned.

    And floofy.

  44. 44.

    Maude

    June 2, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    @cckids:
    Cat birds attack cats, dogs and people at times. Mean little birds.
    We have a lot of crows. You don’t want them.
    To get rid of them, you need a crow bar.

  45. 45.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    June 2, 2012 at 9:31 pm

    I haven’t been following too closely the sillyness that is the Mass senate race, with all the talk about indians and E. Warren’s heritage. Just figuring it is the usual wingnut bullshit making mountains out of molehills, and projecting some lame meme of bigotry, or something.

    But parts of my own family are real estate brokers and agents, as in a family business run by my pappy, that a sister and brother have worked in. I’ve had not much to do with it, except helping some with the renovation work that is part and parcel to buying fixer uppers in foreclosure, and selling them for a profit. There is nothing predatory about it, and in the nineties, the real estate biz, and mortgage companies were still operating ethically, for the most part. That changed in the first decade of the new century,

    So this hit piece from the Boston Herald, crying hippocrite on Warren is total bullshit, her family buying houses, improving them, and selling them for profit. And her ventures seem to be just between family members. So the wingnuts are again waving a bloody flag and lying through their teeth about it being something other than it is. Predatory lending and corrupt banksters is something else entirely.

  46. 46.

    cathyx

    June 2, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    I made this great wine foil animal art and was going to take a picture to give Betty Cracker a run for her money and I remembered that my daughter took the camera with her to Seattle this weekend. Now I have to figure out how to do it with my non-user friendly phone.

  47. 47.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:36 pm

    @cckids: Definitely sounds like the context (older animals, tiny yard) makes the bird antics really annoying. Good luck — maybe at least you can get a songbird close enough to teach the mockingbirds a few new sounds.

  48. 48.

    Hill Dweller

    June 2, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    @Stuck in the Funhouse: With each passing day, I’m becoming more convinced this country is fucked. Corporate America is taking over the country, and the stupid voters don’t seem to care anymore.

  49. 49.

    Maude

    June 2, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    @SectarianSofa:
    There are bird .wav sounds that you can get at websites.
    I used to use them for sound events on Windows and the birdies outside would answer.

  50. 50.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 2, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    @BGinCHI: You may just end up with mocking birds that squawk Creed songs, something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

  51. 51.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 9:41 pm

    @Maude: Ah — cool. Thanks.

  52. 52.

    realbtl

    June 2, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    We’re coming into fawn season here so I have to check outside before I let the dogs out or the moms will kick the shit out of them. For 11 month and 2 weeks the deer just hightail it and the dogs make a show of chasing them off. Not now though. The dogs don’t seem to understand.

  53. 53.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    June 2, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    ELECTION FRAUD ELECTION FRAUD, ACORN ACORN ACORN.

    Livonia — U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter, plagued by a criminal probe into his nominating petitions, on Saturday said he is ending his write-in campaign for re-election and will focus on serving out the final days of his 10-year congressional career.

    The decision by the five-term congressman ends a stunning political week that began with the Secretary of State’s office determining he was ineligible for the Aug. 7 primary ballot with widespread invalid and tampered petition signatures

    .

    lORDY SAKES ALIVE.

    With about 87 percent of his nominating petitions tossed, McCotter, R-Livonia, didn’t meet the minimum number of 1,000 signatures to get his name on the ballot.

    87 percent tossed. Wonder how many of them were Donald Duck, or Mickey the Mouse. What a maroon.

  54. 54.

    redshirt

    June 2, 2012 at 9:44 pm

    The Adventures of Tunch (with sidekicks Lilly and Rosie) would be an awesome comic series.

    On a semi-related note, does anyone know if software exists that lets you draw comics fairly simply? IE not good at drawing. I’d love to draw a comic for my 9 month old niece for when she’s about 18 months or so, but I have terrible drawing skills. But I know how to use a computer very well!

  55. 55.

    David Koch

    June 2, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    @Suffern ACE: the stated reason was because he didn’t try to hang on like Khaddaffi, the real reason, he gave her exclusive interviews.

  56. 56.

    Merrily

    June 2, 2012 at 9:47 pm

    What worked for me with a dive-bombing mocker was having the hose going lightly, and when it took a dive at me, putting my thumb over the nozzle and spraying it.

    It flew off and looked at me suspiciously, and then tried again with the same result.

    Left us alone after that.

    But I love their songs, and I miss having one near these days.

  57. 57.

    burnspbesq

    June 2, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    Just got back from seeing “Crooked Arrows.” It’s three genre movies rolled into one (underdog sports team, coming-of-age, and find-your-true-self), and it’s got a triple helping of genre-movie cliches. But it’s a lot of fun.

    I especially liked it when the caricature rapacious real estate developer threatens to sue, and his former Native American front-man says “in what court? We’re a sovereign nation.”

    Tomorrow it’s the LA Philharmonic, with Dudamel conducting a brand-new (world premiere two nights ago) work by John Adams. Why, yes, now that you ask, I am stoked.

  58. 58.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    June 2, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    With each passing day, I’m becoming more convinced this country is fucked. Corporate America is taking over the country, and the stupid voters don’t seem to care anymore.

    Sure seems that way, but there are some bright spots with the justice system knocking down some of the worst bullshit on tampering with the vote. Long as we can keep elections that are mostly free and fair, there is hope, though the tunnel sure is getting dark for now.

  59. 59.

    jl

    June 2, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    Cole is talking about Tunch the Cat, right?

    I assume so, but have not read all the posts today, so not sure. Maybe the two Tunches met and hit it off, and are working out in the back yard.

    Someone let me know if I got it wrong.

  60. 60.

    PurpleGirl

    June 2, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    My friends in Peekskill had an indoor/outdoor cat, named Rowdy. One day Rowdy presented me with a present — a bird. I thanked him and wrapped the bird in newspaper and took it outside. I also told him, while I appreciated the bird, he didn’t have to give any more birds in the future. He just sat there by the bird with a grin on his face, proud of what he had done.

    Rowdy was also a mouser. When my friends moved to Boca Raton, the Peekskill neighbors were sorry to lose Rowdy’s mousing talents.

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 2, 2012 at 10:01 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    LA Philharmonic, with Dudamel conducting a brand-new (world premiere two nights ago) work by John Adams

    Sounds fantastic. I’m a huge fan of both Dudamel and Adams, and I sure hope this is a performance they’ll do in an HD Fathom broadcast soon. Please give us a review after the concert.

  62. 62.

    Hill Dweller

    June 2, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    @Stuck in the Funhouse: Charlie Pierce was ridiculing the Boston Herald’s mendacity recently. The most discouraging part is their hit job is probably the result of some rich/powerful a-hole calling in favors behind the scenes. That dynamic is happening on a larger scale nationally. I’ve heard the billionaire wingnuts are leveraging their millions in political ad money for friendlier Willard coverage on the networks.

    Citizens United was a disaster that should have people out in the streets. Instead, the wingnuts are likely to gain even more power in November, hastening this country’s descent.

  63. 63.

    cathyx

    June 2, 2012 at 10:05 pm

    Here is what I did with my Pinot Noir foil.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    June 2, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    I suggest you play Creed really loud toward the nest with a boombox, causing the mockingbirds to kill themselves.

    Dude, you’re talking about mockingbirds. They learn new sounds and repeat them. Do you really want to teach them Creed?

  65. 65.

    NeenerNeener

    June 2, 2012 at 10:13 pm

    @BGinCHI: @BGinCHI: Watched “Kevin” last night. The book was much better. The title doesn’t make any sense unless you know that the book was written as a series of letters from the wife to the husband. And the soundtrack for the movie was just awful.

  66. 66.

    NeenerNeener

    June 2, 2012 at 10:13 pm

    @BGinCHI: @BGinCHI: Watched “Kevin” last night. The book was much better. The title doesn’t make any sense unless you know that the book was written as a series of letters from the wife to the husband. And the soundtrack for the movie was just awful.

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack

    June 2, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    @cathyx:

    Eek! Snake!

  68. 68.

    AliceBlue

    June 2, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    Years ago one summer, a red winged blackbird took up residence around our house. It perched on top of the house during the day, and if any other bird landed on the feeder, the blackbird would dive straight at it, with a high pitched “screee” sound. He finally moved on, and I haven’t seen another RW blackbird since.

  69. 69.

    andy

    June 2, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    A friend bought herself a Red Wattle sow piglet with the idea of breeding her and eating/selling her progeny, and to help clear the undergrowth on her woodlot. The first day they had her, her worthless chicken-killing dog jumped the fence and tried to kill the little gal too, but luckily they caught her in time. The poor little pig got tore up a bit but they think she’ll be okay, but they finally had enough of the dog and put it down.

    In other news we have sunshine after some record breaking rain (8 inches in a week). Feeling lazy and a little down, too, so for dinner I just had a bit of chuck eye and a radish crostini.

  70. 70.

    Raven

    June 2, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Hey, incredible service out in the woods today.

  71. 71.

    geg6

    June 2, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    Heh. I can relate, Cole. Otis has balance problems and has been diagnosed with a bulging disc. He’s very fastidious about his pooping, what with holding the tail up and squatting just so and walking around gingerly to be sure to not step in poop accidentally. Last night, he squatted to far and over balanced and fell right on his ass mid-poop, right on the most recent turd. He often wipes his butt (I said he was fastidious, didn’t I) and he frantically tried to wipe his butt. I had to bring him in and spray him with Dawn and water to clean up. And I never quit laughing from the moment he tipped over. The look on his face was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

  72. 72.

    James E Powell

    June 2, 2012 at 10:22 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    With each passing day, I’m becoming more convinced this country is fucked. Corporate America is taking over the country, and the stupid voters don’t seem to care anymore.

    I know this feeling; I’ve had it for thirty years or so. And in addition to the voters who do not care, there are others, almost as numerous, who will enthusiastically support their own political and economic demise for a variety of reasons, all irrational.

    The question is and has been, what are we supposed to do about it?

  73. 73.

    Ben Cisco

    June 2, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    @Stuck in the Funhouse: Actually, I covered this a couple days ago, and it’s worse than you think:

    The Secretary of State has said that one of the problems with the petitions were duplicate signatures and when those are found, both signatures are ruled invalid. Some of the petition sheets also were photocopied and turned in.
    __
    Bureau of Elections Director Christopher Thomas said this morning that elections officials found an “unprecedented level” of obvious fraud, including dozens of identical petition sheets that had been photocopied.
    __
    There were also photocopies of petition sheets that appear to have been lifted from another document, possibly signatures collected during an earlier campaign, Thomas said.

  74. 74.

    gogol's wife

    June 2, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    I had a mockingbird that learned to mimic the sound of a truck beeping as it backed up. So anything is possible.

  75. 75.

    p.a.

    June 2, 2012 at 10:31 pm

    poor tunch. cat’s probably starving. ;)

    my former neighbor took up feeding a local feral cat, but the fucker left ME all the gift corpses- birds and snakes, but never a fieldmouse, which i wouldn’t have minded seeing d.o.a. and it never let me get near it.

  76. 76.

    piratedan

    June 2, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    anyone else being exposed to the latest hit job against the Pres? Realleader.org ads… talking about the “broken promises”…. hasn’t done enough…. and we need a REAAAAAL leader but naturally they refrain from endorsing any candidate.

    http://www.realleader.org/

    yeah, we can produce television hit pieces but we can’t be bothered to populate a web site…. Citizens United, the gift that keeps on giving, well produced anonymous hit pieces that answer no questions and offer no answers other than the “anyone but THAT guy”

  77. 77.

    TaMara (BHF)

    June 2, 2012 at 10:34 pm

    @cckids: My very first big, brave black Great Dane stood in the kitchen one day, barking, barking, barking. I went to look. There was a mouse and it obviously terrified her. It was just standing there looking at her while she barked at it. Frozen in fear or taunting her, I don’t really know.

    But I am pretty sure my cats were laughing their asses off at the whole episode.

  78. 78.

    p.a.

    June 2, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    @gogol’s wife: i had one mocker do a swinging creaky gate, including the click of the latch. i’ve heard several do car alarms. a few have nested in my firethorn bushes, but never bothered me or my guests.

  79. 79.

    mclaren

    June 2, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    I’m guessing you’re talking about the cat here. And not the athlete.

  80. 80.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    June 2, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    @Raven: Excellent. Wish I could have been there, but I’m planning on making it to the one in Charlotte when the arrangements are finalized. Did many people stay over?

  81. 81.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    @SectarianSofa:

    maybe at least you can get a songbird close enough to teach the mockingbirds a few new sounds.

    Jesus. My daughter read this & is now outside playing Glee songs for the birds, hoping they’ll pick it up. Thanks for the tip.

  82. 82.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    June 2, 2012 at 10:43 pm

    @Ben Cisco:

    and it’s worse than you think:

    LOL, it usually is with these knuckleheads.

  83. 83.

    TaMara (BHF)

    June 2, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    @cckids: Priceless.

  84. 84.

    Suffern ACE

    June 2, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    @cckids: Oh admit it. If the song birds broke into a glee production number when you went outside, it would be the best thing that happened to you this summer.

  85. 85.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    @TaMara (BHF): Funny! Our neighbour’s cat (Einstein, RIP), was the terror of the neighborhood – he was a huge, 20-lb tomcat who was allowed to roam as he pleased, and while he rarely fought, he just intimidated the hell out of most dogs & other cats. (he was a sweetheart to people, though).

    When we adopted our trio, they were 5 weeks old, about the size of Beanie Babies. They were sitting at the screen door when Einstein strolled up on his neighborhood watch. The dog & both male kittens ran for cover. Hermione hissed, then when he lowered his head for an incredulous look at her, swatted at him through the screen. He jumped a mile, then turned & sauntered away, tho with one WTF? look over his shoulder. He avoided her ever after.

    Attitude matters more than size, apparently.

  86. 86.

    Quaker in a Basement

    June 2, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    Cole, you have a deeply weird relationship with that animal. Some enterprising mental health researcher could become famous off you two.

  87. 87.

    cckids

    June 2, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    @Suffern ACE: Oh hell yes. It is an embarrassing pleasure at times.

  88. 88.

    Quaker in a Basement

    June 2, 2012 at 10:56 pm

    @cckids: Absolutely, cc. Currently, our 15-lb. Gobi is taking his orders from a 6-lb. newcomer.

  89. 89.

    amk

    June 2, 2012 at 10:57 pm

    loose mulch

    ?

    The lamest excuse ever.

  90. 90.

    Linda Featheringill

    June 2, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    Different animal: Nifty pics of turtles:

    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Willow13/comment.html?entrynum=18

  91. 91.

    Chris

    June 2, 2012 at 11:13 pm

    OT: Far-right and leftists clash in Hamburg. Apparently some neo-Nazis staged a big protest under the name “The Day of the German Future:” huge counter-protest, from people who “tried to stop the far-right rally by erecting barricades and setting them ablaze.”

  92. 92.

    gnomedad

    June 2, 2012 at 11:16 pm

    @redshirt:

    On a semi-related note, does anyone know if software exists that lets you draw comics fairly simply?

    I’ve played with stripgenerator.com. There are others.

  93. 93.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    June 2, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    Jeebus

    Police: Shots fired at Canada mall, 1 dead

    Along with

    Revealed: Victim of Canadian porn star cannibal is Chinese gay lover as police reveal ‘murderer’ is on the run in France… dressed as a woman

    WTF is going on up there in the attic. Cannibals and random shooting sprees.

    Too much American Teevee?

  94. 94.

    Jennifer

    June 2, 2012 at 11:21 pm

    My cat is plotting a squirrel holocaust.

    A friend brought me a bunch of pecans that were too small to bother shelling at the end of the winter, and I started putting them out for the squirrels. One young squirrel became tame pretty quickly, coming up to the back patio for nuts when both I and the cat were out there. After getting up in the cat’s grill (mostly out of curiosity, I think)because the cat had purposely situated herself in the middle of the nuts and the squirrel wanted them, the cat decided the squirrel was crazy and backed off.

    Before long, other squirrels noticed that the tame squirrel was getting all these great nuts, and they started coming up to the patio too. They’ve generally remained more cautious of the cat, but not enough that it keeps them from coming up for food while she’s out there.

    Mostly, she’s acted like she’s being disrespected as the fearsome predator she is, and she’s not happy about it. But she also knows she doesn’t really want to take on a squirrel. So what she’s taken to doing instead is making these wild dashes around the back yard that send all the squirrels running up the trees, where they sit and bark at her for the next hour. But still, they come down to the patio when she’s sitting out there. The other day the tame squirrel finally satisfied a bit more of her curiosity by walking up and sniffing the end of the cat’s tail. And this time, the cat didn’t make a move at the squirrel, she just sat there and watched it sniff her tail…she’s become inured.

  95. 95.

    Marcellus Shale, Public Dick

    June 2, 2012 at 11:22 pm

    john really is the jim davis of the blogosphere.

  96. 96.

    BGinCHI

    June 2, 2012 at 11:22 pm

    @NeenerNeener: Agree on the soundtrack. It made no fucking sense. I heard great things about the novel, but the film just didn’t deliver that. Would have been better as a TV series of 8 hours or something.

  97. 97.

    burnspbesq

    June 2, 2012 at 11:25 pm

    Krugman, DeLong, and Thoma are all up in Bernanke’s grille re his unwillingness to take action to jump-start the economy for fear of rekindling inflation. As near as I can tell, they’re right.

    Ben Bernanke has more influence over the outcome of the election than any other single person in the world. Wolfgang Schauble is a distant second. Obama and Romney are pretty much irrelevant.

  98. 98.

    SectarianSofa

    June 2, 2012 at 11:26 pm

    @cckids: I really didn’t see that coming.

  99. 99.

    Jewish Steel

    June 2, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    Whither Martin?

  100. 100.

    Yutsano

    June 2, 2012 at 11:37 pm

    @burnspbesq: It’s not like the Fed doesn’t have a mandate to stimulate employment. And inflation has been next to nil for years. I’m wondering if Bernanke isn’t trying to get Willard installed.

  101. 101.

    Hill Dweller

    June 2, 2012 at 11:41 pm

    @burnspbesq: Bernanke isn’t following the advice of his own paper on Japan’s inept response to their financial crisis.

  102. 102.

    burnspbesq

    June 2, 2012 at 11:46 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Under ordinary conditions, one can plausibly say that the Fed’s twin mandates are somewhat in opposition to each other. When we are in a liquidity trap, not so much.

  103. 103.

    burnspbesq

    June 2, 2012 at 11:50 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    Bernanke isn’t following the advice of his own paper on Japan’s inept response to their financial crisis.

    No shit. I thought Krugman’s comment about apologizing to the Emperor was pretty apt. The Japanese have the excuse of not having any historical precedent to guide them. We don’t have that excuse.

  104. 104.

    Suffern ACE

    June 2, 2012 at 11:51 pm

    @burnspbesq: If we look what qe I & II accomplished, I Don’t see the inflation. I feel like making one of those “without coordinated fiscal policy action…” statements. That liquidity is not getting down to our level. We aren’t getting paid more. We’re slowly paying off our consumer debt, but not fast enough. We do get higher stock prices. I don’t know where this recovery dampening inflation will be cingular from.

  105. 105.

    burnspbesq

    June 2, 2012 at 11:55 pm

    People who believe in the confidence fairy and the bond vigilantes just confuse the living heck out of me. From what fucking parallel universe do they get their data?

  106. 106.

    Not Jim

    June 2, 2012 at 11:56 pm

    Biologists claim that the only reason cats don’t kill their owners is due to their size. Die alone, and the cat will eat your face and eyeballs within hours. Get a dog.

  107. 107.

    Suffern ACE

    June 3, 2012 at 12:06 am

    @burnspbesq: We need to look harder. Tomorrow, Bernanke should announce that people have three weeks replace their dollars with the webs of garden spiders. That should get those fairies flying all over the place. Well see them out in public for a change.

  108. 108.

    sfinny

    June 3, 2012 at 12:09 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Last week I had a complete horror moment during my commute. Turtle crossing the road and me at 45 mph with cross traffic. Luckily, both sides of the traffic stopped and waited for the animal to cross. Of course some honked, but they probably couldn’t see the reason.

    ETA: They are really slow.

  109. 109.

    burnspbesq

    June 3, 2012 at 12:32 am

    California’s new unofficial state anthem.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPoRuNTo9U&ob=av2e

  110. 110.

    Cacti

    June 3, 2012 at 12:37 am

    @David Koch:

    On tonight’s ABC Evening News even the liburel Christiane Amanpour was effusively praising Hosni Mubarak.

    Mubarak was the good kind of middle east dictator…the kind that made nice with Israel.

    Better 80 million Egyptians should live under the jackboot of militarism, than 7.5 million Israelis have an unfriendly neighboring government.

  111. 111.

    muddy

    June 3, 2012 at 12:40 am

    @Steeplejack:

    Eek! Snake!

    Badger badger badger…

  112. 112.

    mai naem

    June 3, 2012 at 12:42 am

    @Not Jim: I have a friend whose dad died and his body wasn’t found for several days. He lived with two pits which kind of had their meals from him if you get my drift.

  113. 113.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 3, 2012 at 12:42 am

    @burnspbesq: While I like the sentiment, that song grated on me. Generic lower-tier 90s-style alt-rock

  114. 114.

    Cacti

    June 3, 2012 at 12:44 am

    @Not Jim:

    Die alone, and the cat will eat your face and eyeballs within hours. Get a dog.

    Humans have been known to eat their own fallen comrades to ensure their own survival.

    Congrats to the felines for not being so completely servile that they’d want to curl up and die if they didn’t have someone around to fill their food dish.

  115. 115.

    muddy

    June 3, 2012 at 12:46 am

    @SectarianSofa:

    I’ve more than once considered putting together some kind of damaged-animal euthanasia kit.

    A friend admired my flattish piece of slate by the fence, with matching hand held piece, he called it The Altar of Blood Sacrifice and the Neanderthal Hand Axe.

    I don’t feel the gods show appreciation for my efforts though, perhaps I need to sing a song first or something.

  116. 116.

    handy

    June 3, 2012 at 12:50 am

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    Can’t be any worse than this.

  117. 117.

    John Weiss

    June 3, 2012 at 12:50 am

    Cole! You should know better. Never laugh at a cat! At least not out loud. They have long memories and no mercy.

  118. 118.

    burnspbesq

    June 3, 2012 at 1:07 am

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    Well, I kinda get that, but Bethany Cosentino reminds me of a girl I developed a huge crush on during All-State Chorus rehearsals my junior year in high school, and couldn’t do anything about because she lived 40 miles away in what was then the middle of fucking nowhere and I didn’t have my license yet.

  119. 119.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    June 3, 2012 at 1:19 am

    @handy: Nothing is worse than Stapp. Except, possibly, for Limp Bizkit.

    @burnspbesq: I completely understand that.

  120. 120.

    trollhattan

    June 3, 2012 at 1:24 am

    @John Weiss:

    But Tunch no is cat, Tunch is schmoo. So is cool.

    If Tunch were cat, Cole be in beeeg trouble on account of cats no like it when they’re seen doing something embarrassing. Witness destruction program.

  121. 121.

    Raven

    June 3, 2012 at 6:30 am

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I’m sorry I keep missing you! I think a good number of folks were going to stay, we didn’t take our dogs so we came back in the early evening.

  122. 122.

    Andree-Anne Desmedt

    June 3, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    The poor guy could have had a mini-stroke. The same thing happened to a very much loved cat of mine, unfortunately defunct by now.

    Take Tunch to the vet.

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