Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Infrastructure week. at last.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Let’s finish the job.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Let there be snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

I really should read my own blog.

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Reader Interactions

95Comments

  2. 2.

    blingee

    Kos said Himalayan Pink is number #1 on the list of most preferred artisan salts so it must be true.

    All out of song lyric ideas? How about “I’m not aware of too many things, I know what I know if you know what I mean”.

  4. 4.

    NonyNony

    I’m visiting my sister in Portland, OR for Thanksgiving and even at the supermarket where real Murkins shop,

    Sorry. No real Murkins live in Portland. Too far North.

    ETA: Beaten to the punchline by Ailuridae.

  6. 6.

    Gravenstone

    @Kurt Montandon: Actually, you can use it as a cooking surface. Just place it on a burner, then cook directly on it once hot.

    Yes, I’ve seen a few too many episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, why do you ask?

  8. 8.

    greennotGreen

    Are there any real Murikans in Portland? Everyone I ran into there seemed to be of the DFH or NPR tote bagger persuasion.

  9. 9.

    kathy a.

    portland is perfectly civilized, and american. besides, this is obviously designed for tourists or nerds (did you notice the jurassic reference?) to buy.

  11. 11.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @DPS:

    Funny how they don’t use the more accurate term “Pakistani Rock Salt.”

    Or, even more accurate, “Low-Grade Pakistani Rock Salt For Western Yuppie Idiots.”

  12. 12.

    Yutsano

    I wish the weather was better for you DougJ, but this is pretty typical for the Northwest. And just think if you feel the urge to gay marry or take a toke you’re one bridge ride away!

  13. 13.

    Grover Gardner

    That’s something I wasn’t aware of! :-) Have to try that. Of course. we’re down here in lowly Medford, which is defenitely “Murkin. But even the cheap-cheap Winco has an amazing selection. And we just got a Trader Joe’s to boot! (Nyah, nyah Ashland!) I love living in Oregon.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    Pfft. They sell that at World Market, the strip mall’s idea of exotic food and housewares.

    I bought some so I could make these but haven’t gotten around to it yet. The pink salt will make them adorable.

  15. 15.

    greennotGreen

    In editorial comics, they call this a “Yahtzee”, when a bunch of people have the same idea at the same time.

    BTW, there are probably a bunch of real Murikans in Portland, TN, but I doubt you can find any pink salt there. Unless someone dropped a strawberry in the Morton’s. Portland, TN is famous for its strawberries.

  16. 16.

    TimE

    Welcome to Portland, Doug. For those joking about how Portland isn’t Real Murica, etc, travel just a tad south to Clackamas county. There is a huge conservative, keep the liberal commies up there, anti-‘sprawl’ kind of movement going on. Interesting. Great place to eat and drink here, by the way.

  18. 18.

    RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    BJ has been tagged as a liberal echo chamber. I resist believing that because I like it here. But seriously, how many places could you make a joke about an obscure SALT and have every expectation that it would connect with the readership?

  19. 19.

    IowaOldLady

    Are you saying that’s salt?

    I can’t imagine how long I’d have to wait for that to hit the shelves in Iowa.

  21. 21.

    cathyx

    @TimE: Hey, I live in Clackamas county and not all of us are like that. In fact, we’re split 5/50 I’d say. We did vote back in Kurt Schrader you know.

  22. 22.

    Suffern ACE

    Hmmm. Well the original “The Meadow” is out there in Portland. Its kind of the heartland of the artisan salt fad. They sell plates made of the stuff. Interesting store.

    (Not that I actually have any, yet. Or much, anyway. I’m still working my way through mustards, thanks.)

  24. 24.

    beltane

    What do you do with a big block of salt like that, put it in the center of the table and let everyone take a lick? Where I live this would be considered a deer lure.

  25. 25.

    Francis

    Speaking of McMegan, how exactly does one make parmesan foam and, more importantly, why would you want to? What ever happened to croutons on tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on the side?

  26. 26.

    jl

    I think by GOP standards, only the eastern third of Oregon is GOP enough to be considered real Amercia.

    The lower 48 Pacific Coast and Hawaii was called for Obama like, what, ten minutes after the polls closed? That don’t sound like GOP real Amercia at all. The region as a whole, is lost.

    BTW, saw a featured news story that M_tt R0mn-y was spotted ‘pumping gas’ last day or so. Not news at all now and they report it. Was important news a few weeks ago, and they didn’t. Our failed corporate media experiment is funny, ain’t it?

  29. 29.

    Jeremy H

    Seriously guys, it’s just salt. Just because Megan McAwful likes it doesn’t mean you need to have daily One Minute Hates for it.

    Yes, it’s from Pakistan, but that doesn’t mean that “Himalayan” is wrong. Pakistan has some of the Himalayas, you know.

    Yes, it’s a little more pricey than some salts, but not greatly so. And how much salt do you use anyway? Two cents worth a day maybe?

    Yes, it’s pink, but that’s merely because it has lots of trace mineral content, especially iodine – which is important and which most people are still quite deficient in.

    And yes, it actually has a subtle, different flavor, well suited to more delicate foods like fish. Or is delicate fish n

    What’s the problem about all this? Hearing you slag it off as something that only hoity-toity elites use just makes you all sound like Republicans.

  30. 30.

    danah gaz

    I just got a free 7″ color android tablet. w00t.

    It’s a nextbook7p (generic) but I hacked it to give it official android status w/ Ice Cream Sandwich and access to google marketplace (stock it won’t do it, because it’s a chinese knock off and not sanctioned/licensed by google)

    hehehe. yay. =)

    the tablet is a 1ghz w/ about 2gb of NAND flash and an SD slot. It’s actually a good device, but it’s only major shortcoming was the offbrand android-like OS, which I fixed.

    My s/o’s boss gave it to us because I fixed her netbook for her and upgraded the ram and ssd

  32. 32.

    magurakurin

    @NonyNony:

    Sorry. No real Murkins live in Portland. Too far North.

    Uh, take a stroll south of Woodstock Blvd. Or east of 82nd Ave. for that matter. Lots of real mercans in Portland.

    Can you say Errol Heights/Brentwood? I knew that you could. Go there and you will find this incredibly scary place. I lived three blocks from there for several years. Some real pieces of work in that neighborhood.

  35. 35.

    Schlemizel

    There is a high end grocer here (Byerly’s) that sells all kinds of pink salt shit. Rocks, plates, bowls, mortar and pestle. I have never paid any attention to what the crap costs.

    They do carry some things you just can’t find anywhere else but by and large its the kind of story McGargle would feel smuggly at home in.

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    Should DougJ miss him some Real Murka whilst visiting the Peoples’ Republic of Portlandia, he can go to Lake Oswego and get runned over in the Whole Foods parking lot by a Ford Excursion or Eff Three-Fiddy.

    Also, too, Voodoo Donuts. (Mmmm, donuts.)

  37. 37.

    beltane

    @Schlemizel: My son gave me a pink salt candle holder that is alleged to promote well-being by releasing negative ions into the air. Maybe I should take a hammer to it and see if it works better as a seasoning.

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    @Jeremy H:
    India phoned to say they have a few hundred nukes that say Pakistan doesn’t own any of the Himalaya range AT ALL.

    Those assholes might go to war over control of water someday. I can hardly wait.

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    @danielx:
    I think it’s best to explain to Ross that for McMegan, HPS is the single-end-triode of salts, also, too. The Thermamix is her horns.

  44. 44.

    muddy

    @beltane: There’s a place downtown in Rutland that has a chamber made of pink Himalayan salt. I’ve not been in it, but according to woo it is healthful to sit in there and breathe it.

  45. 45.

    Schlemizel

    @Francis:

    I don’t know about foam but I love little parm crisps. place 3-4 tablespoons of grated parm in a heap on a cookie sheet, flatten them out a little and then pop into a 400 degree oven. After 4-5 minutes they will have melted into delicate crisp just slightly browned. take them off the cookie sheet & allow to cool. They are great with soups or broken over a fresh salad

  46. 46.

    DPS

    @Jeremy H:

    Yes, it’s from Pakistan, but that doesn’t mean that “Himalayan” is wrong.

    Well, sure, but the fact that it comes from Punjab does mean that “Himalayan” is wrong.

  47. 47.

    Yutsano

    @MikeJ: Yeah well feux toi aussi marpon. :)

    It’s lojasmo and clan, after Thanksgiving I think the following week. I think. I’m hoping he’ll confirm that.

  48. 48.

    taylormattd

    Meh. The people of Portland are posers.

    Let them get back to you after they strong arm the rest of the state into pot-filled gay marriages, like we did in Seattle.

  53. 53.

    jrg

    I hear pink Himalayan salt is excellent on ragamuffins and waifs. It also makes the elderly less tough and gamey.

  54. 54.

    Chris

    Since this is an open thread… anybody know anything about the “connection timed out” problem that happens when websites get too much traffic?

    I’m trying to apply for something whose deadline runs out at 2AM tonight, and the guy on the phone tells me he’s had calls from people saying they, like me, can’t get through to the website, but some applications are still coming through so obviously some people can. Anybody know if there’s anything that can be done from my end or is it 100% the gods of the Internets?

  55. 55.

    Onihanzo

    Oh sweet jesus… I cannot stop laughing at this article.

    My tentative conclusion is that we may be back to the nearly even balance between the parties we saw between 1995 and 2005. Since then, we’ve been in a period of open-field politics, with big swings to the Democrats in 2006 and 2008 and a big swing to the Republicans in 2010.Both sides hoped those swings would prove permanent. 2012 suggests both sides were disappointed. It looks like we’re back to trench warfare politics at the national level.

  58. 58.

    redshirt

    Oh, I am so ashamed. The shame! I bought some of that there pink Himalayan salt and I love it! It tastes better than regular salt. And it’s pink.

  60. 60.

    dopey-o

    @danah gaz: i just hackintoshed my hp laptop. so now i’m bored. please put up some of those linky-thingies for upgrading the device to ICS, please.

    are you commenting here with it?

  62. 62.

    Constance

    Get over it. Some people use Pakistani pink salt because it has minerals in it. Ever looked at the ingredients in Morton’s salt and Hain’s salt. They have fucking sugar in them. Sugar. I had no idea who Megan was when I bought my Pakistani salt and a tiny grinder to grind it in. I had no idea it was trendy. I bought it because a nutrition website pointed out it was a way to get minerals without taking yet another expensive supplement. Since I control my blood sugar problems with a strict diet, I did not want my salt to add sugar to my diet. Then I started reading BJ and discovered that Megan the Awful uses Himalayan Pink Salt. Who the fuck cares? I decided not to quit using it because some twit uses it.

  65. 65.

    Linus Pickle

    That is a very large grain of salt. Great gift for a skeptic (“you can take it with everything!”) or any horses you may have as friends.

  68. 68.

    mvr

    Have breakfast at the Bijou if you have a chance (Chanterelle omelettes might be in season now)and the muffins are always very good. If you like Spanish Coffees, Hubers makes a theatrical version that tastes pretty good too, once it stops burning.

  73. 73.

    Bmaccnm

    Dang! How many folks here hail from PDX? I’m from Buckman, myself. All the cool people live on the east side.

  75. 75.

    Anna in PDX

    @Bmaccnm: Yes the east side is where it’s at. North Portland (Arbor Lodge) here. I went to Grant High in NE Portland in the 80s. So proud of my town and happy DougJ is visiting it. Are we doing a meetup?

  76. 76.

    Yutsano

    @Lojasmo: Saturday is best for me but I MIGHT be able to bend Friday night if I get on asking for it when I get back from vacation. Which isn’t until next Monday. :)

  78. 78.

    Soylent Green

    Sellwood in my case. For some reason BJ attracts a lot of Oregonians (and other freethinkers).

  79. 79.

    Thoughtcrime

    I like you, Doug. I always liked you. Yor were always the best of ’em. Best goddamn blogtender from Tibuktu to Portland / Maine. Or Portland / Oregon, for that matter.

  81. 81.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Constance: Seriously? Are you selling this stuff through an MLM scheme? My Morton’s has NaCl and I in it, bitches. I decided I needed more minerals too, so guess what I did?

    Guess–huh? Huh?

    I bought Morton’s Lite Salt. Half Na+ half K+.

    Because science is awesome.

  82. 82.

    Djur

    @trollhattan: Oh, please, not Voodoo Donuts. Insanely overrated, crowded. Tonalli’s on Alberta. Get the buttermilk bars. Or the apple fritters. Or anything.

    Or go out to Beavertron for some Sesame Donuts.

    Grant ’05. Living in Foster-Powell now. And there should be a meetup, yes.

  87. 87.

    schrodinger's cat

    @redshirt: You mean colder right?

    I don’t know if its related to the pink Himalayan salt, but the rock salt that you can buy from Indian/Asian grocery stores, makes an excellent addition to cocktails like margaritas, it has a spicy after bite.

    The rock salt that I am talking about is more reddish brown rather than pink.

  88. 88.

    ThresherK

    I’m looking for unrefined sea salt, for bathing with a skin condition. (This is distinctly not treated to be safe for eating.) Anyone have any good sources?

  89. 89.

    rdale

    You can get the real thing, dug right out of the very ground right here in Utah, from RealSalt:

    [from their website] “Real Salt’s unique coloring comes from more than 60 trace minerals, which also lend an amazing flavor that has helped Real Salt become the best-selling brand of sea salt in health food stores. Real Salt is best tasting, healthiest sea salt you can find.”

    http://www.realsalt.com/

    It’s got all kinds of mineraly-goodness, and they are really nice folks; my wife goes to the National Book Festival every year and RealSalt donates hundreds of little 2-oz containers to give away at the booth. The mines are in Redmond, in central Utah; I’ve got a great big 5-lb chunk of it sitting on my desk at home that they gave me. It looks just like that picture, except it’s not all squared off. They have various flavors, too, and kosher.

  91. 91.

    The Other Chuck

    I have that Real Salt stuff too, got it because the jar has a decent shaker plus it has iodine, but I must be the only one who doesn’t pour so much of the stuff onto my food that I simply can’t tell the difference in taste. Oh well, it’s like a couple bucks difference for what will probably last two years, at least it’ll look keen on a margarita glass. Actually it looks kind of like flecks of dirt but what the hey.

  92. 92.

    Lost Caustic

    I’m in Northeast Portland. And my nephew works at the Meadow! Portland is keen about condiments. And beer, also.

  94. 94.

    Thatgaljill

    I don’t know how long you’re going to be in Portland, but I HIGHLY recommend a meal at Papa Haydn… and enjoy the ZERO sales tax.

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