Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

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

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

An almost top 10,000 blog!

T R E 4 5 O N

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

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

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Second rate reporter says what?

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open thread

Reader Interactions

81Comments

  2. 2.

    Ann Rynd

    Chugging a NYC-double-size testosterone shake to get in shape for the dem convention. Practicing fist pumps.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    This might be of interest to the Juicitariat: Yahoo news has fired Washington DC bureau chief David Chalian for saying Mitt doesn’t care about black people suffering.

  4. 4.

    thruppence

    General house maintenance, trying to figure out WordPress, and setting up a ride for my wife from Newark EWR to Ossining in Westchester. Any advice?

  5. 5.

    LanceThruster

    I’m moseying over to the food plot set out for our office left over from the training conferences. It’s all fair game, no?

  6. 6.

    Anoniminous

    Trying to decide if the GOP Convention last night was loathsome:

    Causing hatred or disgust; repulsive: “this loathsome little swine”

    or despicable:

    Deserving hatred and contempt

  11. 11.

    PurpleGirl

    @thruppence: Take the bus from the airport into Manhattan (Grand Central area) and get MetroNorth to Ossining.

    ETA: Sorry, I forget the name of the bus line but I used to take it all the time when I met a friend at Newark for dinner when he was in on business.

  12. 12.

    taylormattd

    I’m considering going out and fathering a bunch of sons (definitely not daughters, because that is super gay)

  13. 13.

    ? Martin

    @LanceThruster: Indeed. My rule of thumb is as an employee, any food paid for by my employer is fair game. That’s almost never the employers intention, mind you.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    What are all you dominant bucks up to today?

    Hey, look, somebody scattered all this beer under this big tree….

  15. 15.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    Trying to remotely fix a computer in another office that got dorked after a massive update push yesterday.

  17. 17.

    eric

    @taylormattd: pro tip: if you are going to speak macho, you are going to “sire” not “father” children. gays can be fathers too, but they cant sire, or so I am told by the manly gary bauer.

  22. 22.

    Merryl

    Avoiding debugging my code by skimming blogs, reading a recent paper that cites mine (woohoo, 9 citations in 3 years), and looking forward to the end of the work day so I can go home and play Guild Wars 2 >.>

  24. 24.

    Josie

    @eric: I’m sorry, but the use of “manly” and “gary bauer” in the same sentence is grammatically incorrect.

  25. 25.

    Getsmartin

    Patiently waiting for this effin’ hurricane to clear out of the area. We’re high and dry, but sans power…

  27. 27.

    thruppence

    @PurpleGirl: That’s what her brother suggested (who lives there but can’t pick her up) but she won’t be getting in until 10 pm after flying from Ireland and expects to be exhausted. Business limos seem too expensive for us. I’m currently scouring Craigslist and trying to weed out the dodgy ones…

  28. 28.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    As if further proof were needed that Romney is a huge asshole.

    Romney opens hurricane remarks with a joke: “I appreciate this invitation to join you on dry land this afternoon.”

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    What the hey? The Miles Davis version of Salt Peanuts, and not Dizzy Gillespie with Charlie Parker

    Are you high?

    What are all you dominant bucks up to today?

    Making notes related to a massive project I’ve got going later instead of digging in.

    Been catching up on Amazon Prime Instant Videos. Watched Three Days of the Condor. Much still holds up, although the love scene between Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway probably could never be included in a remake since it is clearly too rapey by contemporary standards. It was rapey even back in 1975.

    Next up is Arsenic and Old Lace. Have never seen the entire movie.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    @Amir Khalid:

    I forgive Kanye West many of his sins of hubris and arrogance just for the pants-pissing expression on Mike Meyers’ face when West went off on his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” rant on national television.

    ETA: Not that it has anything to do with your post, but “Republicans don’t care about black people” always makes me think of that. And laugh.

  32. 32.

    Harlan T. Fescue

    As a Romney/Ryan “Freedom Trebuchet”-level donor, my time during the convention is, as you can imagine, quite occupied with contributing additional funds to the campaign and making sure that none of the common convention attendees are able to gain access to the High Donors Suite. But I am very excited to announce that tomorrow evening, around the time of Mr. Romney’s acceptance speech, we may be able to offer the world-premiere of his very own children’s book, written and illustrated by Mr. Romney himself. It will demonstrate conclusively that a true American leader can pen a children’s book far superior to the effort of the Kenyan fake-president currently occupying Our White House. I will update this liberal fascist forum with more information when I can.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    Next up is Arsenic and Old Lace. Have never seen the entire movie.

    It’s okay — not my favorite Cary Grant. Just keep the subtext in mind, which is that Grant has just gotten married and is desperately trying to get some time away from his family so he can finally have sex with his wife.

    It’s text in the stage play, but they had to make it essentially subliminal in the movie due to censorship.

  35. 35.

    quannlace

    Read about how Rick Santorum picked a metaphor for his speech (‘hands’) and drove it into the ground. The examples quoted were pretty hilarious.

  38. 38.

    Calouste

    @Professor:

    Last time I looked IOKIYAR is still the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution, so the media won’t do it.

    Although I do expect to hear from Harry Reid again once the conventions are out of the way and there is some space.

  39. 39.

    quannlace

    Romney opens hurricane remarks with a joke: “I appreciate this invitation to join you on dry land this afternoon.”

    Har-Dee-Har-Har. Bet that lady at MSNBC, who just lost her New Orleans home to floods is gonna find that hilarious.

  40. 40.

    Suffern ACE

    Me? I’m thinking about the plight of the emus and emu farmers in India now that the emu bubble has burst. And I have a fantasy football draft in a few hours that I am unprepared for. In other words, first world concerns.

  45. 45.

    Cassidy

    @Merryl: Urban, but being Florida, I imagine there is a little bit of both. I’m already an EMT, so after this I am hirable in the state of Florida.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    RE: Next up is Arsenic and Old Lace. Have never seen the entire movie.

    It’s okay—not my favorite Cary Grant.

    My favorite Cary Grant film is probably Holiday. Wish I could track down the 1930 version with Ann Harding and Mary Astor.

    But I am mainly burning through Amazon Prime Instant Freebies, because I am just that cheap. Holiday is not available as a free streaming video. So, since no Holiday, I will probably go with My Man Godfrey next. I’ve seen this one before, but I’m in a Powell and Lombard state of mind.

    From having seen the first third of Arsenic, I get the subtext thing. Don’t know if Mortimer Brewster was initially anti-marriage in the original play, but this would add to the sex farce aspect of the thing.

  51. 51.

    ? Martin

    @Cassidy: Impossible. Government never created a single job.

    And congrats. Have a lot of firefighters named Cassidy in the family.

  52. 52.

    Brachiator

    @lamh35:

    “Ann Romney Woos Hispanic Voters, Urging They Get Past ‘Their Biases’”

    Ann is offering Latino voters a deal. Mitt will tie them to the top of his car and personally drive them out of the country after they vote for him. Doesn’t matter that they are legal citizens. They’re the first to be outsourced.

  54. 54.

    Raven

    @Cassidy: My best pal in the Nam ended up a San Francisco firefighter for 20 years. He is currently sparkin up on the big island.

  55. 55.

    Cassidy

    @? Martin: Well, getting a job will be different, but I’m thinking that FF hiring will pick up soon. The good thing is I can start applying as soon as I’m done. Paramedic comes next.

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    @lamh35:
    “If you people knew better, you’d be voting for my Mitt.” Yes, Ann is certainly showing the way to win over the Hispanic community. I think they call this the “catching flies with vinegar” gambit.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:
    Idle question: Was there any white backlash back when Michael Jackson released They Don’t Really Care About Us?

  59. 59.

    Linda Featheringill

    @lamh35:

    Ann Romney and the Latino community:

    Is that the best they can do? “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll vote my way. Quit being so biased and wake up!”

    Very seductive argument, I must say.

    BTW lamh: Everybody safe and dry?

  61. 61.

    Raven

    @Soonergrunt: My office suite crashed after I installed Lion and some dude in Dehli remotely fixed it today. It was a trip watching him delete all those damn files getting it ready for the reinstall.

  62. 62.

    Aet

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/29/opinion/kaur-sikh-leads-prayer-rnc/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

    “The Republican National Convention will make history Wednesday night. Ishwar Singh, wearing a turban and beard, will take the stage and lead thousands of conservatives in prayer. ”

    The optimist in me hopes that this will be a case of genuine social progress. The pessimist is expecting the worst, in a genuinely spectacular manner. The realist wants me to go buy popcorn. The atheist is shaking his head at a religious invocation at a political event. The agnostic can’t figure out if he agrees with the optimist or the pessimist.

  64. 64.

    lamh35

    @Linda Featheringill: yep, my fam is safe and dry. My mom, my sisters and my younger cousins are all out of the city. Some of my older fam are still in NOLA, but they are so far safe and sound, but without electricity. Still way better than situation in Plaquemines.

  65. 65.

    Soonergrunt

    @Raven: What’s shocking to me about that story is that you knew he was in Dehli. Normally those guys go to all sorts of extremes, sometimes pretty comical, to make you think they’re in the states.

  67. 67.

    zzyzx

    Hey Doug. I assume you have a bunch of accounts at Red State and Free Republic and maybe even Rapture Ready or something. Post a link to this article from Mitt’s sister and freak them all out. http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-election/jane-romney-my-brother-won-t-ban-abortion-20120829

    Mitt Romney would never make abortions illegal as president, Jane Romney said when National Journal asked her about the subject after a “Women for Mitt” event. “He’s not going to be touching any of that,” she said. “It’s not his focus.”

    Sure would be sad if they all sat home, wouldn’t it. It’s not like we’re going to buy that, but they just might.

  68. 68.

    Phylllis

    Watching Moonstruck and psyching myself up to go back to zumba class tonight after two weeks away.

  70. 70.

    gogol's wife

    @Mnemosyne:

    I have been in love with Cary Grant since I was 5 years old, but I could not watch that movie. It was getting on my nerves terribly after about 15 minutes. The whole thing with the cousin who thought he was Teddy Roosevelt? Really tiresome.

  72. 72.

    Harlan T. Fescue

    @zzyzx: As a Romney/Ryan “Freedom Balrog”-level donor, I would echo what Mr. Romney’s sister is saying here. Our intention is not to make abortion illegal; I mean, for Pete’s sake, who among us hasn’t needed a quick, clean wiping of the slate for a wayward niece or a wife who’s been a little too familiar with the help? We simply seek to make the procedure geographically and financially nonviable for women who are beneath a Certain Dignity, so that they might stop debasing themselves as harlots and embrace a moral lifestyle.

  73. 73.

    lamh35

    OT, but can we say Condeleeza Rice just got “Katie Couric-ed” by Norah O’Donnell in an interview.

    Condi Rice Can’t Name A Specific Obama Foreign Policy Failure

    Today on CBS’s morning show, former Bush administration Secretary of State and top Mitt Romney surrogate Condoleezza Rice could not offer any specific foreign policy failures made by President Obama. Romney’s allies, led by Rice and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are expected to attack Obama on national security grounds tonight in at the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

    But when asked to offer specifics this morning on CBS, all Rice could come up with was some vague attack on Obama’s Syria policy, which, host Norah O’Donnell noted, the president himself might agree with…

  74. 74.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: Not as I recall, but maybe someone remembers something I don’t.

    PS: There is this freaky high bridge in one of Malaysia’s national forests that’s like 3000 meters in the air. I can’t recall the name but I think I wanna gothere. My extreme acrophobia notwithsanding. :)

  75. 75.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    I’m nearly done assembling the 2-stroke retrofit for my s/o’s mountain bike. 150mpg, 2.65bhp, top speed 35mph. heh.

    I made several modifications to the kit, including rubberizing the motor mounts, and elevating the gas tank so that the open cable brakes weren’t interfered with – the guide said I should sheath them, but they can get bent, I don’t want the brake cable sheaths rusting out.

    Had to reverse engineer the throttle system in the carburetor because the instructions basically skipped how to assemble it. Apparently you are just supposed to know. Or you pick up the instructions on shortwave transmissions in your molars – I’m not quite sure what they expect someone to do otherwise.

    whew… that was some serious work. I still haven’t tested it. I’ve got to tighten every thing down and probably make some final tweaks. I’ll try it tonight. Hopefully we don’t kill ourselves in the process. =)

    ETA: Also, I broke a nail. =( – so I had to cut them. And they were about 1.2cm off of my fingers. People were asking me if they were real – they only do that when I get them that long. =( I have to start over again. so sad.

  76. 76.

    Suffern ACE

    @lamh35: He didn’t get the Olympics for Chicago and he gave the queen cheap gifts, bowed to low to the emperor of Japan, made BP pay up for its oil spill And insulted our allies by returning statues of Churchill, probably in favor some mau mau anti colonialist bust of Mugabe. Jeez she really needs to pay attention.

  78. 78.

    Brachiator

    Blue Moon Coming

    Skywatchers should circle Friday (Aug. 31) on their calendars, for the date offers the last chance to see a so-called “blue moon” for nearly three years.

    The moon reaches its full phase at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT) Friday, marking the second full moon of August (the previous one occurred Aug. 1). Stargazers won’t be able to see two full moons in a single month again until July 2015.

    Friday’s full moon won’t actually be blue, unless a load of dust or ash in the atmosphere lends it that particular hue from your vantage point. In any event, blue moons aren’t named for their color, and they look like any other full moon in the sky most of the time.

    Rather, the term has always been associated with an “extra” full moon. In the first half of the 20th century, for example, it apparently referred to the third full moon of a season — spring, summer, winter or fall — that boasted four full moons instead of the usual three.

    But that definition was misinterpreted over the years, and today we call the second full moon in a single month a “blue moon.”

    The phrase “once in a blue moon” suggests that the celestial phenomenon is exceedingly rare, but that’s not the case. Blue moons come along once every 2.7 years on average, and sometimes much more frequently. In 1999, for example, blue moons occurred in both January and March (with no full moon in February).

    Blue moons exist because our calendar months aren’t perfectly synched up with lunar months.

    It takes 29.5 days for the moon to orbit Earth, during which time we see the satellite go through all of its phases. But all calendar months (except February) have 30 or 31 days, so occasionally two full moons get squeezed into a single month.

    Like this August. Or this September, if you live in the Kamchatka region of the Russian Far East or New Zealand. In those locales, Friday’s full moon actually occurs after midnight on Saturday (Sept. 1), making the following full moon — which comes along Sept. 30 — the blue one.

  81. 81.

    hep kitty

    I have never heard such a load of BULLSHIT in my life! WTF with Rand Paul? srsly oh FUCK you, you whiny little bastard

    What about Mitt, btw?

Comments are closed.