(John Deering via GoComics.com)
__
Romney’s so toxic these days, apparently even Dubya doesn’t want to be seen with him. Per Paul Constant at Seattle’s Stranger, “George W. Bush Not Able to Attend Romney Fundraiser in George W. Bush’s Own Home, Probably.”
(Okay, it’s probably fifty-fifty the Romney handlers not wanting him associated with the C+ Augustus, and Dubya’s handlers not wanting the R-money stink on their boy. Or just not being able to sober him up sufficiently for public viewing. Our awesome meritocracy!)
Apart from mocking the GOP monkeyhouse, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
trollhattan
Wow, it’s the political version of getting the dog to play with the unpopular kid by hanging a pork chop from his neck. Willard’s sportin’ the pork chop.
Brilliant ‘toon BTW.
Evolving Deep Southerner
Florida beats Tennessee by 3. You heard it here first.
raven
Oh nothing, just waiting for the football thread!
Schlemizel
Bottled a Belgian wit I have been fermenting for 3 weeks. It turned out very different this time. Not bad, in fact it tastes very good, but it seems a bit thin, not a lot of depth like previous efforts.
We spent $200 for tests on the falling down kitteh and came up with nothing. Vet said we could spend $1700 on an MRI but thats not happening in my life time. Oddly enough she has not been falling down the last few days. Shes still weak & a little wobbly when she walks but not as bad & not collapsing. Another of lifes little mysteries I guess .
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: God I wanted Auburn to lose!
Corner Stone
It’s kind of sad that Romney is too gauche to be seen with the Bush Dynasty’s greatest success.
raven
Aite get this NASCAR shit out of here!
Schlemizel
@trollhattan:
I thought this was a great toon
http://www.gocomics.com/bensargent
Ben Franklin
Deering; Too funny
zombie rotten mcdonald
What’s on the agenda?
Oh, nothing much, just seventh row seats for Elvis Costello….
JPL
@raven: It is an open thread. GT is playing VA or maybe GT is playing and VA is watching.
Oh, BAMA appears to have everything under control.
The Dangerman
Yet experts (and Dick Morris) keep showing up on FOX saying that Romney will win. Some Folks are in for a rude surprise.
scav
Schlemizel’s not only fermenting and bottling Flemish comics but he’s done it before?
(I’d have thought it would take longer than three weeks but maybe they’re small-boned ones. . . )
raven
@zombie rotten mcdonald: Last time I saw him Higlado was playing with him. Awesome!
quannlace
Saw the title of one blog post, “For what would you sell your soul to the Devil?”
Me, Immediately, ‘To have the basement washer and dryer on the first floor.”
Hell, I’m a cheap date.
Schlemizel
@The Dangerman:
Thats simply so they can claim it was fraud & theft to win so as to keep the wingnuts in a constant state of aroused anger. Its hard to imagine but I expect the loony wagon to pick up speed next year. I’m seriously expecting some nasty stuff – but then I have always been an optimist
Maude
@Schlemizel:
Did kitty have some kind of a cold? If so, the inner ear could have been off and kitty would fall down with that.
Don’t see how they could diagnose that one.
Mike in NC
We took a long meandering drive through rural NC and SC today in search of flea markets. I spotted three Romney yard signs, two of which were at stables.
jnfr
Atrios says it’s almost time to start planning this year’s War on Christmas. He says it’s gonna be the best one ever. I always look forward to the War on Christmas, so I am very excited!
Maude
Is anyone else having trouble getting on Twitter?
Schlemizel
@Maude:
I was thinking ear infection or stroke when I took her in but her ears were clear. It was odd because her font end was stable but her rear end would just fold under her.
Shes 17 so it could just be getting to be that time sad to say
Maude
@Corner Stone:
It;s cool enough to feel like making apple crisp.
Juror #7
@Maude: Yes. I thought maybe it was just me.
The Dangerman
Twitter’s up.
Not so MY football game, which is on the Pac-12 Network…
…which hasn’t exactly penetrated to my neck of the woods, apparently. Hell, I’m not sure where the P12 network is seen (their website blows).
raven
@The Dangerman: SC Stanford?
Litlebritdifrnt
@Mike in NC:
I saw the first two large Romney/Ryan signs go up in my town this week. Have not seen any bumper stickers or yard signs at all. Having said that McCain won this county by 60% last time so I am guessing that the Romney campaign doesn’t think it needs to spend the money.
We do have a OFA office here in town though, that will mainly be a voter registration, get out the vote effort.
The back of my car looks like an Obama/Biden fansite, I have at least six bumper stickers and several home made ones in the back window.
Felonious Wench
@Maude:
Evil woman. Just figured out what I’m doing tonight.
The Dangerman
@raven:
I forgot about that one; should be a ball burner.
ETA I see I’ve never listed my game: UCLA/Houston.
Anne Laurie
@The Dangerman:
They’re getting paid to say Romney will win. When Romney loses, they’ll get paid by FOX to explain that it’s all Romney’s fault, because the GOP cannot fail, it can only be failed. Like Blackwater (or Xe, or Academi, or whatever the latest rebranding) they’re mercernaries, and their only reliable loyalty is to their fat paychecks.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: I did, too, brother. I did, too. I really thought they would. That team is having a helluva year, aren’t they? If they’d have won, they’d have been in first place in the SEC West, wouldn’t they? :)
Geoduck
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I live in a fairly blue town in a solidly blue state, and I have seen exactly one Obama yard sign, and none for Romney. Fair amount for the more local races, though.
Xantar
I’m a first time cat owner and I need advice! My cat (Schrödie) has only been here for two days, and so far hasn’t destroyed any furniture. Actually, she doesn’t seem to want to scratch anything which seems strange (don’t they pretty much have to work their claws as a matter of biology?). So I have a scratching post which is one of those that hangs off a door knob (my apartment isn’t big enough for a standing one). Schrödie ignores it profoundly. Any tips to get her to use it?
Evolving Deep Southerner
AAAAAAAAAAAAnd Tyler Bray throws perhaps the stupidest pick of this young season.
Mrs. EDS is a UF grad. She is happy right now. Never thought I’d ever be cheering for Florida.
Maude
@Felonious Wench:
There’s a craft fair today and tomorrow on Main Street. I am buying Cortlands, Empires and Yellow Delicious from a local orchard.
I also make an apple cake, no eggs or milk. It’s a modified Fannie Farmer. That one is too dry.
Linda Featheringill
@Schlemizel: #22
Poor baby. What’s her name?
Think maybe she’s having TIAs? You’d probably have to have an MRI to diagnose that.
jwb
@jnfr: Saturnalia, here we come!
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
You did that on purpose, didn’t you?
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: I want Derek to come to town undefeated but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.
The Dangerman
How is Arkansas still ranked after losing to the some team from Monroe? I’ll guess a 45 to zip game will do the trick next week.
Maude
@Xantar:
You can’t control a cat about scratching. Some don’t destroy carpeting and furniture, others do. I’d hang a batta bird on the doorknob. Maybe kitty will bat bird and get the hang of the scratching post.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: I don’t think it will, either. It doesn’t matter to me how he comes to town. What matters to me is that he leaves town disgraced.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Willard is gonna be non-personed by the GOP like a disgraced Soviet bureaucrat. Tagg and Gagg and Dopey are gonna have to move to Utah if they want to continue the “Mormon Kennedy” delusion.
Let the Santormania ’16 begin!
jwb
@Litlebritdifrnt: I have seen exactly one Romney bumper sticker so far this year. Obama bumper stickers are everywhere. No signage for either candidate yet.
Alison
@Xantar: Honestly, some cats just aren’t into it. Mine isn’t, and also doesn’t scratch furniture or anything. (She has a much less destructive but incredibly odder preference – she licks everything. Furniture, windows, blind slats, plastic bags, anything. Whatev!) But, if your cat likes catnip (which mine does not, another quirk of hers) you can try rubbing some on the scratchy toy to attract attention.
But again, not all cats like to use them…
sacrablue
@Schlemizel: Several years ago our 19 year old kitteh, Harry, had identical symptoms. Unfortunately, the diagnosis was kidney failure. Keep an eye on your little guy’s water intake. That was the beginning of the end for my favorite cat of all time.
Linda Featheringill
@Xantar:
She will scratch when she wants to.
Is your hanging scratchy thingy impregnated with cat nip? If not, maybe an eau-de-nip spray could be applied.
Also, get a bottle of spray-on cat repellent. When she starts scratching in the “wrong” place, you can spray that on. You’re just making the acceptable scratching place more attractive than the forbidden ones.
And congratulations on your new family member!
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike in NC:
Probably some of Rafalca’s friends.
maya
@Xantar: seeing as you’ve only had the cat two days you have much to learn, Grasshopper. Cats will scratch when they feel like it. In fact, that applies to most things about the feline domesticus line.
Don’t worry about it. Just be thankful she’s not shredding your drapes, tp or best shirt on the back of the chair.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: You better not let his mommy hear that!
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: Is it just me, or have the SEC’s officials decided not to call holding this year?
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: Oh, hell, no. Nobody wants that crazy woman on their ass. And she has always – always – been crazy as a shithouse rat.
Maude
@maya:
I had one that scratched books as well as everything else.
Villago Delenda Est
@Xantar:
My cat didn’t like that at all, but otherwise loves to scratch. ANYTHING.
The hanging one wasn’t stable enough for her, didn’t provide immediate resistance. We nailed it down against the arm of a couch, and that worked. Cat went to work on the formerly loose hanging scratching post, not the couch arm.
We’ve got some of those stand up scratching posts as well, and the cat really likes it when I hold it down and because I’m increasing the resistance and stability, she goes nuts on it. You can feel how strong her scratching is…for this nice little delicate, svelte 6 year old coon-something else mix, she’s got a hell of a scratch.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Or horsecollar. There was one in the Bama game that couldn’t be missed. Mizzou had 2 last week and I assume that was an SEC crew.
Amir Khalid
George Walker Bush maybe not showing up at his own home for a Mitt campaign luncheon? It sounds hinky. It would be a tremendous slap on the face for Mitt if W isn’t bothered to attend; If W thinks you suck that bad, his house would be the last place to hold such an event.
SiubhanDuinne
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I know what you mean. I have little Obama shrines all over the place. On my car, at home, on the iPad.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: My wife works in breastfeeding and was on a local radio show with Barbara. Dooley just bitched and railed, I JUST DON”T WANT TO SEE THAT!
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: I mean, when a fucker’s got a handful of jersey and it’s sticking out eight inches from the other guy’s body, and the ref’s right fucking there …
I have never been able to fathom why the best college football conference in the country has, hands-down, the shittiest officials in the country. Every. Single. Year. And yet that’s the case.
Schlemizel
@Linda Featheringill: Yeah it could be TIAs since there was nothing else wrong it could be. We got her at about a yer and she had been abused it took a while to bring her around and she still is a very angry cat who doesn’t like people she doesn’t know.
Her full name is Edward Wellington Mouse Ripper III or ripper for short. I believe every cat should have a full name that has 2 parts, a fluffy part and a vicious part and a short name that reflects their nature. So a Fluffy Blood Claw might be called Fluff or Claw for short depending on their personality
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: I gave up on worrying about officials when I was driving all over fucking North Georgia calling high school hoops.
wrb
@Xantar:
Our cats don’t scratch. But they are free to go outside & roam, which might burn off the energy.
They don’t even kill much anymore. Lazy and useless.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: And now we’re tied in Knoxville. Coach Boom isn’t taking it well.
Schlemizel
@sacrablue: Thanks, they checked her kidney function & it was OK but the vet suggested we keep an eye on that.
Why do we allow these little guys to get into our hearts when we know we will out live them so much?
wrb
@Schlemizel:
Both of our Hannibal Lecter’s names are decorous.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Fuckin jerk
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: Well I worry about them every fucking weekend.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: It’s a hopeless pursuit.
My old man coached high school hoop and football for years. Later he became an official and really regretted how much he focused on it as a coach. He came to believe EVERY coach needed to officiate for real, not some seminar shit but for real.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: He really is a gaping asshole with anger management issues, isn’t he? And on the other side of the field, Son Of Dooley is Mitt Romney-grade weird/awkward.
cckids
@Xantar: Some cats (like mine) don’t like the scratchy things that move. We got one of the small (8″ x 18″) & velcroed them to the carpet in a corner. It helped; our girl cat loved it & uses it ostentatiously whenever the boys get in trouble for scratching on the stair carpeting (grr.)
Schlemizel
@Villago Delenda Est:
Our current cats don’t scratch anything other than the rug. Our last cats tore every piece of furniture we own to shreds while ignoring any scratchy thing we offered as an alternative.
Its maddening but maybe they got lucky.I like your idea of putting the scratchy thing over the furniture, wish we had thought of that when we had the demolition twins!
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: I watched Derek at Clarke Central. Vince couldn’t even go to his games behind the NCAA rules.
Schlemizel
Anybody ever try one of those cardboard scratchy pans they advertise on TV? Don’t need it but they look pretty effective.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Meanwhile I am disgusted with the Georgia schedule. I’m not draggin my ass over there for the second of three high school teams they are playing. That’s $120 down the shitter.
JPL
@raven: Let your wife know that when I lived in CT 33 years ago, it was not a problem then. Maybe times have changed but it was a natural occurrence. In fact I can remember seeing malls with special breast feeding rooms and saying wow to my teenage son and he said well where did you feed me. He looked at my face and said never mind I don’t want to know.
cckids
@Schlemizel: Yes, that’s the thing I was talking about in #70. Works great, lasts years.
patroclus
On today’s telecast of the SMU-A&M game, they showed the George W. Bush Library, which is currently under construction. We (well, I) were all joking that the “Torture Wing” was gonna go there, and the “Destroyed the World Economy Wing” was gonna be there and the “Katrina Wing” was gonna be over there. I suppose you had to be there…
raven
I put my old van on craiglist today. I’m selling it cheap and going to be honest about the issues it has. I got one bite from some lady who said “her bank needs to see it” and one from some Japanese sounding dude. When I googled the asian gentleman the ripoff sites just loaded up.
JPL
@raven: A friend whose husband is a big Clemson fan mentioned that they only schedule weak teams to help the little schools. hahaha
raven
@JPL: She’s the head of the Community Breast Feeding Coalition and den-mother for the BF Peer Counselors. She’s even made movies promoting workplace BF. She is down with the 411 on the BF.
Hungry Joe
Saw my third Romney bumper sticker today: “MITT” … on a Prius. My brain shorted out for a couple of seconds. A so-so number of Obama stickers, but this is California, so it’s not like there’s a battle going on.
Our backyard thermometer hit 106.4 yesterday, 105.1 today. In San Diego. We’re about five miles from the ocean, but still. I’d never seen it above 103, and it has hit 100 only handful of times — maybe two handfuls — in the last couple of decades. We’ve had temps well into the 90s (mid-80s is normal for this time of year) almost every day since mid-August. Something Is Not Right.
Schlemizel
@cckids: Thanks – if the time comes for replacements one of those might help them
raven
@JPL: Oh yea. I mean I know with the addition of the 12th game they have to fill the schedule with cream puffs but this is bullshit. We’ll get the joynt rockin when Vandy comes next week.
Mike in NC
@Amir Khalid:
Dubya had made a previous commitment to spend some time with his close friends Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker.
Mr Stagger Lee
@efgoldman: I want to see Stanford beat USC, I hate Lane Kifflin.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Just switched from the Alabama-Arkansas bloodbath to Florida-Tennessee.
And, as someone else pointed out, this is an open thread.
I’m trying to summon the motivation to make my quarterly visit to Whole Foods for the few items that I really like there and can’t find anywhere else. Don’t know why it has to be tonight, but some inner urge is nagging me.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: Yep. When people at work have asked me who Georgia’s playing this weekend, I’ve been alternating by answering “Sisters of Mercy” and “Electoral College.”
raven
@Hungry Joe: It was blazin on the 405 up by the Getty yesterday.
sacrablue
@Schlemizel: I’m afraid the four that we have now will outlive me! We bought a cheap floor scratching pad at a big box pet store a few months ago. It came with catnip and a little ball that rolled around inside. Our guys found it entertaining for a day and a half! Now, not so much. Well at least I tried.
dance around in your bones
@Xantar:
The best cat scratcher thing I ever had was a piece of driftwood picked up on the beach. My cats would scratch the hell out of that thing.
The second best was some corrugated cardboard thing that (once it was scratched out) yielded a bunch of little black things at the bottom of the box that I finally figured out were catnip seeds. Threw ’em in a pot and started growing fresh catnip, which teh kittehs loved, and loved to sleep in (the pots, with the catnip, I mean.)
Hang in there, your kitteh will let you know what she likes soon enough. Possibly to your dismay ;)
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: If Florida doesn’t start rattling Bray’s cage and not giving him all day to throw, it’s going to be a long-ass day for them.
J.D. Rhoades
@zombie rotten mcdonald:
Hating you so much right now.
(kidding…have a great time)
As for me, I’m going to try and finally get this arrangement of “Scotland the Brave” for dulcimer (mountain, not hammer) nailed down. And maybe watch some Breaking Bad.
raven
@Steeplejack: Ha, I’m locked down for the night. The bride went to some “white” party. I guess it’s some fashion deal.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: THAT was funny!
Mike G
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I just spent two weeks touring the Repuke-hardcore mountain west (UT, ID, WY, MT) and saw a grand total of two Rmoney yard signs and one bumper sticker.
Plenty of signs for the MT senate race, but The Least Interesting Man in the World and his granny-starving sidekick are generating all the excitement of giving your wife socks on your anniversary.
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: You gettin those weird “woooo ooooooo”sounds?
Schlemizel
@sacrablue: as bad as kids at Christmas! Probably would play with the box more 8-{D
pk
If Romney loses in Nov the amount of hatred unleashed on him by the wingnuts will not be funny. Every candidate has a group which likes him/her. Even Romney’s supporters don’t can’t stand him. I am almost beginning to feel sorry for the guy.
Steve Finlay
I wonder. It has often been suggested that Dubya is staying quiet or being kept quiet because of a fear that his unpopularity would rub off on Romney. But after Romney’s idiotic comments about Libya, I wonder if the situation has reversed: Could it be that Dubya, who actually WAS a president, understands Romney’s comments from Obama’s point of view and is highly pissed off by those comments?
Schlemizel
@dance around in your bones:
We have a spot of nip out back and have taken to calling it kitty crack. Our 2 go nuts for it, they eat it they roll on it & rub it into their fur. Its funny to watch them when they know we picked some, like junkies jonesing for a hit!
Litlebritdifrnt
Have you guys seen this video of Mitt talking about a Chinese factory that Bain was interesting in buying. He was impressed that the factory had barbed wire on the outside not to keep workers in (in 12 people dorms) but to keep people OUT. This mother fucker is the most vile human being I have ever seen on the political stage.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/09/15/hidden_video_shows_romney_at_a_fundraiser.html#050237a
GregB
Nice of the Glorious Peoples Tea Party Congress to knock off early and take a 2 month vacation.
Hardest workers ever.
Corner Stone
@raven:
I…err…ummm..
raven
@Steve Finlay: You put W and understand in the same sentence? Come on.
raven
@Corner Stone: Yea, isn’t that fucking hilarious?
realbtl
Here in NW Montana I have seen more Palin 2012 bumper stickers (1) than Romney/Ryan (0).
Hungry Joe
@Mr Stagger Lee:
Any way they could both lose? I mean, theoretically, could that happen — double forfeit, maybe? Ah, dreams …
Corner Stone
My 7 yr old and I have been making various baking soda and vinegar bombs all day.
We started out talking about relative weight, pressure, elasticity, then gravity…and mysteriously made our way to demi explosives.
Not really sure how.
raven
The Braves are pre-empting SC-Stanford!
? Martin
@Corner Stone:
How doesn’t matter. The only important thing is that you got there.
Corner Stone
@Hungry Joe: You’re not a Hobo by any chance, are you?
arguingwithsignposts
The civility police are out on Facebook thanks to this LA Times piece.
I haven’t said anything to these high-minded individuals (who feel happy to put their religious stuff up all the time), because if you don’t want to talk about politics on facebook DON’T TALK ABOUT POLITICS ON FACEBOOK.
fuckin Americans Elect m-f’ers.
/rant
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
@Steve Finlay:
Let me stop you right there (only half snark)– if this story is true, I suspect it has more to do the with the Bush family fantasy of getting the White House back in the family where it belongs. Third time’s the charm! as they say.
At this point, I think Willard’s disinterest in foreign policy has gone from an under-reported and important political story to the symptom of an undiagnosed psychological disorder. The fact that he heard about the anti-American demonstrations and went straight to his talk-radio talking-point bag o’tricks is really bewildering. I usually subscribe to the “don’t blame the help” theory of campaigns, but the fact that Romney has no one around him who is willing/able to pop the bubble, or maybe no one who is aware of the bubble, is kinda scary. At least one Republican gets it, Joe Klein reports:
Klein goes on to prove, yet again, he is permanently stuck with one foot in 1991 and one foot in Broder’s grave by explaining that Obama’s policies used to be Republican, and could have been improved with more Republican input! but it is interesting that at least one professional Republican gets that this is not a “gimme election” that Romney is blowing all by his lonesome.
Corner Stone
@? Martin: I grew up with “friends” who made p[pe b0mbs before we were aware of bad people across the world doing the same.
It’s a wonder we didn’t kill someone or each other before we stopped.
Killed lots of other shit though. Inanimate shit.
IowaOldLady
I’m looking at an article on Republican attempts to “Carterize” Obama and wondering which voters they think they’re talking to. Carter’s presidency is a fuzzy memory at best, and most people know him only as respected international figure, making sure elections are fair and building houses for the poor.
I realize the Iran hostage crisis was traumatic, but that was more than 30 years ago. The pain has faded.
dance around in your bones
@Schlemizel:
They’re just waitin’ on the man, not even $26 dollahs in their hands!
Chris
@arguingwithsignposts:
That’s what unfriending and blocking from mini-feed are for.
Actually, politics is a wonderful tool for making you look at your facebook friends and ask yourself “do I really give a shit about this guy or should I just unfriend him?”
(Birthdays are another one. “It’s who‘s birthday? Who the hell is that? Bye bye, buddy.”)
Steeplejack
@Xantar:
I will defer to WereBear on all things feline–check her site, The Way of Cats–but in my long experience cats want their scratching surface to be stable, and hanging from a doorknob doesn’t get it.
If you don’t have a lot of room, you can use a “scratch pad.” I was given one when I got my current cat. It’s about 14" by 16" and is basically a hemmed rectangle of rough sisal rug. It lies on the floor, is heavy enough that it doesn’t move much, and if the cat is standing on it, which happens a lot, it doesn’t move at all. It has a pouch on the reverse side where you can put some catnip to get the cat interested in it. Brand is Whisker City, which I think is available at PetSmart.
And some cats just aren’t into scratching very much.
The best scratching site I ever had was a six-foot piece of driftwood, about eight inches in diameter, that had a graceful curve and arch to it so that it stood solidly on the floor and actually looked sort of cool. The cats loved to get on it and do their “jungle predator” routine while giving you the “Yeah, I could shred your ass” look. God, their claws were sharp.
ETA: I see others have answered already.
Corner Stone
@raven: My inner 13 yr old thinks so.
Which is to say, “yes”.
Steve Finlay
@raven:
Yes, I admit that’s a hell of a stretch.
Steve Finlay
@raven:
Yes, I admit that’s a hell of a stretch.
MD Rackham
The bumper sticker I’ve been seeing a lot of (3 cars) the last week is “I Support Religious Freedom. Romney/Ryan 2012”.
The cognitive dissonance is so great I just force them off the road out of compassion.
But this is Orange County, so I shouldn’t expect anything better.
And now it’s 102° a mile and half from the beach. What’s the point of living here, then?
sacrablue
@Schlemizel: Yeah, boxes and paper grocery bags used to be popular in our house. Now, they’re bored with everything, unless it has wings and is still alive when they bring into the house.
Corner Stone
@MD Rackham: What do you drive?
Schlemizel
@dance around in your bones:
Don’t bogart that nip my friend
pass it over to me.
I have a funny story about that song being blasted out over a loud speaker in a tiny town in Northern MN (Walker) a very conservative place. But you really needed to be there at the time.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@raven: Yeah. I think SOD is beating that blue-tick hound on the sidelines because he fucked up his TO/challenge management on that tipped pass. But I guess it worked out for them just now, so maybe he’ll stop.
And what Jarvis Jones is going to do with Tyler Bray will not be funny.
raven
@arguingwithsignposts: Maybe I was wrong to tell my half-brother that I didn’t want him posting shit on my political posts. I said I was happy to talk with him about his kids and sports but, when I saw him and his pig of a wife posing with “the great Sheriff Arpaio” that was it.
Schlemizel
@Corner Stone:
We used to make a contact explosive. Equal parts iodine crystals and ammonia. You take the participate & as long as it is moist it is stable but dry it will go off with contact.
We would paint it on the feet of school desks & then set them down & let them dry. When someone sat on a dry one (or more likely moved it after they sat down while it was still damp) you would get a small pop & purple smoke!
We would have caught heck & gotten detention if we had ever been caught. Today we would probably get 7-10 in Levenworth.
Anne Laurie
@Xantar: Some cats like horizontal scratching surfaces better than vertical ones, and as many commentors have already told you, most cats prefer stable surfaces in whichever orientation!
One thing that may work especially well in a small apartment: Lots of cats will use a sisal or copra door mat as their favorite scratching surface. Find one of the rubber-backed ‘weighty’ welcome mats that people use outside their back porch doors, and you’ll both be able to use it. Sprinkling a little catnip (or catnip spray) on the new mat may make it more attractive, but only 3/4s to 4/5s of all cats have the gene that makes catnip irresistable, so don’t worry if she doesn’t respond to it.
Finally, may I recommend our own Werebear’s Way of Cats blog? I’ve been living with house panthers for almost 50 years now, and I still learn stuff reading her!
? Martin
@Corner Stone: Yeah, we never went as far as pipe bombs. The closest was an old oak tree stump that had a deep hole in it. We’d drop lit M-80s in there and put something over the hole and watch it get blown 100 feet in the air.
If you’re particularly encouraged, water/dry ice in a 2L bottle is quite spectacular. Pretty good physics lesson in that one too.
Hungry Joe
@Corner Stone:
Nope. Cal Bear.
MD Rackham
@Corner Stone: Why? Looking to test a pipe bomb?
MikeJ
@? Martin: Sodium and a lake is even better.
Corner Stone
@Hungry Joe:
Oh, ok. So next best thing then, eh?
sparrow
@IowaOldLady: Indeed. If I may represent a certain generation (I am 29), I have mostly positive associations with Carter because of what he did post-presidency. Even in my republican rat-nest of an ancestral home in Oklahoma, I have heard absolutely nothing about the guy. My history knowledge is crap (this goes without saying because I went to school in the US…) so I didn’t even know about the importance of the Iran hostages until my boyfriend (much older) told me about it the other day (ironically, the day BEFORE the attacks… weird).
Exurban Mom
@zombie rotten mcdonald: Deeply, deeply green with envy. Enjoy the show and report back what he played…Elvis Costello is a true musical genius.
dance around in your bones
@Schlemizel:
Well, I was around for the original song, only in a mid-size (ok, Abq, actually the largest town in NM) but I would love to hear your story :)
I am currently watching (for the bazillionth time) A League of Their Own and just got to the “There’s no crying in BASEBALL!” scene….I was just trying to describe that to the grandkids the other day when they were trying to cry whilst
playinglosing a card game.“There’s no crying in CARD GAMES!”
eta: I actually let them win all the time. I’m not Mitt Romney, fer Pete’s sake!
Corner Stone
@Schlemizel:
I’m not even going to get into the sheer stupidity we brought amongst the mayhem.
Just know that some where, at some time, some certain amounts of Halloween pumpkins didn’t make it to the other side.
We really were fucking stupid. Black powder and threaded pipe caps. Dumb, dumb sons of bitches.
Steeplejack
@raven:
They’re following the “Heidi doctrine”: you don’t cut away from the end of a game to go to anything else–not even a different sport you’d rather see.
And now the game has ended. Problem solved.
jeffreyw
Jonah Kitteh
Corner Stone
@MD Rackham: No, you said you ran them off the road. Just looking for second car purchasing options.
Thanks
Corner Stone
@IowaOldLady:
I disagree.
Carter is a symbol for all that encapsulates “epic failure”. Whether it’s the Iran hostages, solar panels on the WH, the malaise speech or “lusting in my heart”. Jimmy Carter is a shibboleth of failure for all right wing nut jobs. It doesn’t matter how old they are, when they became politically aware or anything else.
Take a 21 yr old RWNJ. Sit him down and say “Jimmy Carter”.
Guaranteed he will “hmph” like Paul Ryan giving a speech and smirk a little thinking of history’s greatest monster. He probably couldn’t pick him out of a lineup but that doesn’t matter a damn.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I’m in the market. How many miles and what are the issues? (FWIW I have a 14 year old Saturn with 226K miles on it. Still runs but is definitely showing wrinkles, gray hairs and arthritis.
Like many of us.
SiubhanDuinne
@jwb:
Yup. Same here.
wrb
@Corner Stone:
yep.
I got to see my first swat team and first FBI agents. It was at the height of Vietnam & revolution was in the air & it turned out that the guy who was in charge of bond trading for Merrill Lynch, the guy in charge of Wall Street operations for THE PHONE COMPANY, and the guy in charge of the US Steel pension fund and a US Representative owned the houses amongst which we were blowing shit up.
They were concerned.
I think a helicopter came.
Schlemizel
@Corner Stone:
Yeah I had a real epiphany about 30 years ago. I was on the fire dept & working an extraction. Two teens, very drunk, took dads 280Z for a high speed run. I was working over my head as the car was inverted and wedged between to trees.
I thought of all the stupid stupid things I had done & the number of times I could have died or had someone with us die. Never drunk racing but enough stupid things,
“There but for the grace of His Noodley Appendage go I.”
Anne Laurie
@IowaOldLady:
Pain — ppppht! Those GOP strategists remember the ‘October Surprise’ as the peak of their careers, when the glorious Morning in America Revolutionaries recaptured “their” White House from the cowardly Demon-rat traitor and his false ideologies. They can’t believe every other American doesn’t have the same warm feelings etched into their very souls.
Think of the annoying acquaintance (now assistant sales manager at his dad’s car dealership) who never shuts up about making the winning tackle in the big homecoming game at his high school. Everyone else is like, “Dude, that was thirty years ago, most of us didn’t go to your high school, and some of us don’t even care about football”, but he’s all “WOOO! Am I a STAR, or what!?!”
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike in NC:
Hmm, that’s really strange. I heard he was heading to Chicago to spend time with the Teachers.
IowaOldLady
@Corner Stone: I suppose whether the Carter thing works or not is an empirical issue, and someone must be focus-grouping it. I’m just surprised. Even 20 years ago, college freshmen I taught were startled to realize Carter was anything other than a do-gooder.
A lot of politics seems to be generational, affected by whatever traumatic things happened when the voter’s political opinions were being formed. For my age group, it was Vietnam and specifically, the draft. Ten years later, for many of my students, it was the rise of Ronald Reagan. I mean, they actually saw that as a good thing.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: If you put 2000 Chrysler Town and County in Athens Craiglist it should come up. It’s got 180,000, New brakes and hides. It was doing this goofy thing where it would just die on deceleration once in a while. I ran the computer, nothing, took it to my mechanic and the dealer, nothing. Every once in a while the AC will blow hot. Same procedure, nobody can find nuttin! I have it listed at $1700, rock bottom on Kelly’s. I’m really in no hurry to sell it and I don’t think it would be worth it to come way the hell over here but that’s the score.
SiubhanDuinne
@J.D. Rhoades:
Please, when you do, please put it up on YT. Loves me some Scotland the Brave.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
You bettah hope.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: She was all up in this cowgirl outfit. Worked on it all week!
Liberty60
Had to share this:
Gay Dinosaurs!
Link is to a howlingly good poster of gay T Rexes with text about how being both gay and Satanic led dinosaurs to extinction.
article says- “Quite possibly a parody.”
which makes it all the more hilarious- Poes Law in action.
Mike G
@IowaOldLady:
Having deified their fantasy image of Ronald Reagan out of their pathetic need for an authoritarian daddy figure, the bereft-of-ideas Rethugs are now rerunning the 1980 election campaign. If they magically wish that Obama is Carter, then they’re sure to win a landslide like last time!
raven
@Liberty60: I was just telling someone today I was amazed how many mutual Facebook friends Trex and I have!
raven
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Jarvis ain’t playin.
Corner Stone
@raven: How does this lock you down? Are there children involved?
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Pix, or, y’know….
raven
@Corner Stone: I just ain’t goin out. I can hear the crowd from here but I’m stayin put.
Lojasmo
@SiubhanDuinne:
I have an Obama/Biden magnet, and below that a “protect your lazy ass” helmet use promotion sticker.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: Women parties do not threaten me. Bless their hearts.
catclub
@Anne Laurie: I better find the yglesias figure on how the economy was doing in 1980.
I think it was down about 6%. No way Carter could win with that
going on. Paul Volcker was stamping on the brakes at the time.
Iran was icing on the cake.
here is the chart:
http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/11/forecasting-obamas-chances-in-2012.html
1980 is Carter. No chance he gets re-elected.
Corner Stone
@raven: I was in CHI a couple days this past week. I love visiting that place.
But damn, the traffic makes me long for Houston commutes.
raven
@Corner Stone: In the city or the burbs?
the Conster
Watching the CNN Romney bio story, and thought it was going to be a total RNC approved puff piece, but they jumped right into the hair cutting assault. Wow.
ETA: CNN also managed right off the bat to mention that he’s very rich and has a huge house in New Hampshire for all 28 family members, which they made to sound as creepy as it actually is. Interesting..
muddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=L7t79RktA9g
My friend just sent me this link, which is quite disturbing/funny (not sure). Supposedly the parrot witnessed some sex, I’m not sure if the funny part is the sounds, or the way he’s going to town on the hand.
My mom had a budgie who humped his false-bird-on-a-spring all the time. She said it was because he was “manly”.
Corner Stone
@raven: I was downtown at a hotel by the lake on one day but the next I had to go to a center out by Rosemont which is near O’Hare and that took 1.5 hours of stop and go BS. We did 30mph like once. At one point I told the driver to just take the turn for Milwaukee and call it a fucking day.
Gravenstone
@Schlemizel:
I had a professor booby trap our lecture hall with that shit one day. My pack still had the iodine stain in it years later from the spot that was laid by my seat. Did you also know that letting that shit dry on an organic substrate (say, filter paper) makes it go BOOOM!! most emphatically? Bastard had loaded up a few rounds of that too, then decided to set one off whilst in the middle of a pop quiz he sprung on us. I jumped so damned hard, I nearly ripped my seat from the floor moorings and my pen bounced off the ceiling (15′ up). I just turned my quiz over and spent the rest of the period glaring at the bastard because I completely forgot the subject matter when his little surprise went off.
raven
@Corner Stone: Yea, I’m from Villa Park, just on the other side of O’Hare.
Gravenstone
@Corner Stone: I’ve heard that empty 35 mm film cases work nicely for that. Just wrap heavily with tape.
/wanders off, whistling innocently
IowaOldLady
@muddy: That is disturbing.
Is it wrong that my first thought was that someone had staying power?
the Conster
@muddy:
not.getting.out.of.the.boat.
Corner Stone
@raven: The guy driving said when he was younger they used to go across the WI border to buy beer because it was 18 yr law back then. I said something about chasing the Sconnie women and he said there wasn’t much to look at. I had a hard time believing him. Is that true? Since you have a fantastic memory and all.
raven
FAU is jamming it right up Georgia’s ass. There is NOTHING to be gained from these games.
raven
@Corner Stone: Hell yes, lot’s of kids got killed driving back. As far as the women, I was too busy riding my Honda 150 dream to Lake Geneva to worry about girls. I waited until I got to Korea if you know what I’m saying.
They also had beer in the Union’s of all the Wiscy schools and tons of people went to them. Stout was a big one.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@raven: We had a ’98 T&C that had a similar problem. Every now and then it just wouldn’t start, and it wasn’t the usual suspects. I took it to the dealer and he said something along the lines of “It ain’t broke so we can’t fix it.” I told him a car that doesn’t start randomly is nothing but a 2-ton hunk of junk and that I’d leave it with him until it didn’t start.
Three weeks later he said it didn’t have a problem. I suggested he have his mechanics on a break just sit in it and keep starting it until it didn’t work.
A week later he called me up, said they’d found a short in a circuit board in the ECU, replaced it, and charged me $800. Worked fine after that.
raven
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I actually read on a mopar message board that they got shorts in the instrument panel. I told the dude and he blew it off. This starts, it just randomly dies.
the Conster
@the Conster:
If CNN is trying to make Mitt into a human by telling his story and quoting him and his acquaintances, it’s not gonna work. The little story of Mitt’s father George converting Ann for Mitt is just really fucking weird. REALLY fucking weird.
Oh jeebus with a jumprope, the whole family is really fucking weird. I can see people all across the country sitting down to watch TV and tuning into this and saying to themselves, we thought Obama was weird? LOLWUT? These weird Mormon family stories earnestly told by Mitt and Ann are seriously creepy. CREEEEEEPPPPPYYYYYYYY.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@catclub: But R squared = 0.381? That’s a lousy correlation between economic performance and incumbent reelection. Those points are scattered all over the place.
muddy
@IowaOldLady: I know, I kept checking to see how much time was left in the video.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@raven: Too much electrical shit in cars these days. I started out with Brits and I don’t trust any electrical systems. Don’t want power windows, power seat adjustment, power anything.
Hell, the index to the electrical system in the Miata shop manual is more complicated than the whole wiring diagram for a TR-3.
Q: Do you know why the English drink their beer warm?
A: Lucas made all the refrigerators.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
I’m from Oak Park!
Couldn’t be prouder!
And if ya can’t hear me
I’ll yell a little louder!
I’M FROM OAK PARK! etc.
the Conster
@the Conster:
Here comes all the Mormonism with the temple shots – OK, here’s the play to the religious nutjobs he should have had sewn up months ago, except, oh, there’s that ex-Mormon feminist taking Mitt to the wood shed. Ouch, that’s gonna hurt. Next up – “the Bain Way”. Here we go.
IowaOldLady
@the Conster: You are making my evening, Conster!
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: My old man was a principal in the Belwood-Berkeley District. I had a great friend that went to Fenwick, killer full back in 68.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: People have no idea. When my dad played at York their were EIGHT schools in the entire suburban conference.
Dennis SGMM
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Now that made me laugh out loud. I drove Brit back in the Sixties. The only electrics that were worse than Lucas was some of the Marelli stuff that Alfa Romeo put into the Giuliettas.
raven
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: The newer dodge van I bought has power fucking doors! What could go wrong?
Lojasmo
@sparrow:
Shit, I am 44. Reagan was first elected when I was eight. I was predisposed to dislike Reagan, and I remember only good things about carter.
raven
One thing I wonder about. I had a windshield leak. It ended up stopping but I keep thinking maybe something behind the dash got fucked up.
the Conster
Bain – profit! Success! Lead by example! Pay off!
Not job creation though – Mitt created value for investors, and now the story about mixing it up with the Kennedys – “were you a liberal?” he was recently asked. Mitt – “you can call me anything you want.” Mitt was for gay rights – “Was he an opportunist?” a friend and business partner was asked – “you have to look at his political positions like you look at his business deals.” OUCH!
Marion Indiana – PEOPLE THERE ARE PISSED! Obama ad is being played. Now the blacks can’t be priests thing during his campaign against Teddy- showing Mitt being a hypocritical asshole to Ted Kennedy, and a PISSED OFF Ted Kennedy shooting back, and George standing up for his losery son, and then he lost and went back to hiding behind Ann….
CNN is going to leave a smoking crater where Mitt’s campaign once was…
the Conster
@the Conster:
OH NOES POOR ANN – MS!
Villago Delenda Est
@the Conster:
They’d better hurry, before OvenMitt beats them to it!
Burnspbesq
SEC football? Bah.
You want to see a power conference? ACC lacrosse. With Syracuse and ND joining Duke, Virginia, Maryland and UNC, that’s more than half of all the championships in the 41 years that there has been an NCAA tournament. The last time all six schools weren’t in the tournament was 2007. Only four times in the history of the tournament (most recently in 1987) has there not been an ACC team in the championship game.
Also too, FIGHT ON!
karen marie
@Xantar: I buy the cardboard scratching things, just the insert part. My Gracie loves them. They’re fairly small so they don’t take up much space on the floor. She also enjoys a piece of wood or one of the sisal door mats others referenced.
Also, too, I recommend cutting the cat’s nails at least once a month. It helps with them not snagging on things and, with a house cat, it eliminates the chance of any one nail growing too long. Good cat nail clippers are pretty cheap, and it’s not hard to do, although you may not be able to do all four feet at the same time. Gracie’s used to it because I’ve been doing it since she was a baby but YMMV.
Congratulations!
Might I also recommend my method of cat pan maintenance? I use clay litter only and only one coffee mug of it in the pan instead of the whole bag. It gets cleaned twice a day or as needed. When I had more space I had two small pans each with just the one mug of litter. Gracie would poop in one and pee in the other. I’ve been running my cat pans this way since 1983 and it’s worked great. No odor, no litter kicked out of the pan and very little litter tracked out.
muddy
“With the help of some money from the federal government…” Lordy, can’t they mention the amount? “Some.” Jeezum crow.
Maude
@raven:
I’m glad to hear this, I don’t like power stuff in a car.
Jags are known for electrical nightmare problems.
raven
@Maude: My dogs like vans, period.
the Conster
Poor sick Ann talked Mitt into saving the Olympics – you must save the Olympics, Mitt! (Isn’t that the same story about him running for president?)
But, did he leave Bain? Or didn’t he? Used a Bain partner to save the Olympics balance sheet – like a Super Bowl every day for two weeks! ZOMG! and sick Ann the whole time! OH NOES!
9/11 – Mitt walking on water in Utah, except Ken Bullock from the Olympic committee who says he “was not on Mitt’s team”, and thinks Mitt and his Bain buddy oversold the “trouble” the Olympics was in to make himself look good. Huh. Mitt lying? [It would be irresponsible not to speculate].
CNN is laying IEDs all around Mitt’s stories.
JustAnotherBob
Haven’t had a cat for a while but was just remembering back to one I had several years ago. She would start to scratch so I would trim off the very tip of her front claws. Just a tiny bit – the “sharp bit”. Just used my human nail clippers.
That stopped the scratching for a long time until it was time for another trim.
I also would notice that soon after I’d see the “outer husk” of claws laying around.
Looking on line I found this under destructive clawing…
“It conditions the claws by removing the dead outer layer or sheath.”
I’m guessing that by taking off the tip I facilitated shedding of the outer layer.
Next cat was more Trunch-like. Scratching would have involved major lifting on his part….
Another Halocene Human
@Corner Stone: I thought “lusting in my heart” was Jimmy Swaggart.
At any rate, there are solar panels on just about every public building in my neck of the woods, and why the hell not? Failure to me is dumbfucks like Reagan and his successors not building a sustainable energy policy and blowing our lead in technology and innovation.
Maude
@raven:
Vans and mini vans are great. they have space inside. It seems that a lot of the SUVs lack interior space. Kind of like coffins on wheels.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Dennis SGMM: There’s a bunch of Lucas jokes out there. Try these.
Click on the “Haynes Manual” joke link and check out the eBay auction for Lucas Replacement Wiring Harness Smoke.
Burnspbesq
@the Conster:
I like Fallows’ take: this is the first post-truth campaign.
raven
@Maude: They also are really easy for the doggies to get in, especially because this baby had “stow-and-go” seats that fold into the floor. That was worth the price of admission.
the Conster
Olympics not even starting yet but Mitt has other plans.
Governating! Winning!
Who could’ve predicted he wouldn’t be liked? Two years in, he has other plans, and needs a winning issue. Health care! Abortion rights! Except, oh dear, now stem cells suddenly inexplicably give him a big sad, or is it AMBITION? Personal beliefs or public persona? Who knows? Doubts about his convictions and doubts from Christians about his “cult”.
Next, McCain pants him in 2008.
CNN – hit job or puff piece? They report, you decide.
Maude
@raven:
If I ever get a house, I’d like a mini van to stuff thousands of bushes and plants in.
trollhattan
@Another Halocene Human: Jimmy Carter Playboy interview. Admitting to thinking what Clinton later acted upon.
The usual suspects were all aflutter.
Had Carter been in charge of our energy policy this whole time, we’d be in pretty good shape.
trollhattan
@Maude:
Those normally go into the garden. See Cole, J. for more detailed guidance.
Dennis SGMM
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Thank you! One of my first cars was a 1951 MG-TD. It was when I bought a Brit manual for it that I first encountered the phrase “controlled weepage” to describe the tendency of those cars to leak oil no matter how many gaskets I replaced.
trollhattan
@Dennis SGMM:
Happened across a mid-70s Fiat 124 Spider today. All pieces seems to be in place and I couldn’t see through the rocker panels. I wonder what time capsule it’s been in all this time?
raven
@Maude: We have 2 houses, 2 dogs, a van a truck and a car!
eta And lots of plants!
etaa and no frickin cats although there are plenty of ferals and whistle pigs hanging around!
the Conster
Ann – 2008 is “Hard Times”. OK yeah sure. Alex Castellanos haz a sad – Mitt’s a “private guy”. Ann – MS IZ HARD.
2012. Ewick son of Ewick speaks – no one says “severely conservative” except Democrats against Republicans, Mitt says “not the time to doubt people’s words”. “ROMNEYCARE PRO-ABORTION BAIN CAPITAL”
BAIN FLIP FLOPS TAXES SECRECY but crawled across the finish line.
“The presidency is about trust, your story, who you can believe.”
“People say you’re secretive, out of touch, you play by a different set of rules” Romney – OBAMA IS TEH SUXXOR! and my Daddy has character eleventyone plus Ann and my children! Also too.
Jeebus, if you sat through this whole thing you can’t help but fucking hate this sneaky lying shit. Wow.
Another Halocene Human
@Litlebritdifrnt: Honestly the barbed wire is probably just theft deterrence. What do you bet there are bag searches and pat-downs when workers leave for the holidays?
Maude
@trollhattan:
Win
@raven:
WE used to have feral cats around and they were a big problem. I think there’s a new feral cat around.
Never heard a pig whistle, myself.
xian
@Anne Laurie: no, they’ll blame voter fraud and the liberal media.
raven
@Maude: Groundhog, they have a high pitched whistle.
Here’s a movie of Bohdi chasin one. It’s too long and done with a wavy cam but what the hey!
Another Halocene Human
@trollhattan: lol, I guess I would cringe hearing that come from Carter, too. Probably because who wants to hear the kindly old pastor dude talk about lust?
Maude
@raven:
I bookmarked it, thanks.
raven
@Maude: It’s silly.
Anne Laurie
New Open Thread up top, if your RSS feed is griefing you.
Let’s see how long it takes JC to bigfoot it, now…
Another Halocene Human
@raven: meh. My feeling is you sell to a broke person, they may turn around and find a pretext to sue you. Hold out for cold, hard cash.
Cervantes
@Lojasmo:
Either you were 12 when RWR was elected or (and here’s the good news) you’re only 40 now.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@Burnspbesq:
Spoken like a true ACC man.
Corner Stone
@Another Halocene Human:
As otherwise mentioned, Playboy interview.
And what Ronnie et al did was not a failure measured by their backers. Removing the panels from the WH and demonizing the very idea that we didn’t need Saudi Arabia stuck right up our ass was their goal. And they have massively succeeded.
Ruckus
@Another Halocene Human:
Holidays?
WTF are those?
gvg
Could the kitty with the walking problem have eaten a skink? I think it’s a neuro toxin in the skin but my child hood cat got one and walked like the worst drunk you could imagine for a day. The emergency vet recognized the symptoms.
A recommend cypress wood for kitty scratching. It dries soft and light, easy scratching and you do get sawdust but they like it better than cardboard.
I’ve read kittens don’t react to catnip until about 6 months or more.