Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

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

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

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Afternoon Open Thread

Friday Afternoon Open Thread

by | 120 Comments

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talking animal strips arlo n janis
(Arlo and Janis via GoComics.com)
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This is why the Internet is winning the competition with print media — when we demand funny cat pics, John Cole gives us funny cat pics.

Speaking of the Blogmaster, this one cracked me up:
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old man on the patio arlo n janis
(Arlo and Janis via GoComics.com)
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What’s on the agenda for the start of the weekend?

Reader Interactions

120Comments

  5. 5.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    Recovering from everyone being sick during the week. Stomach bug for the whole family.

  6. 6.

    BGinCHI

    @Face: Cold and rainy, but friendly and good looking.

    Sun but chilly tomorrow, nicer Sunday because Jesus loves us.

    And remember, no ketchup on your hot dog.

  8. 8.

    John Weiss

    Gods! Is Friday already? I think that the wife and I will have some sushi this evening.

    One of the best sushi joints I’ve ever enjoyed is here in tiny Brookings, OR! Now if only had a decent Indian restaurant we’d be in hog heaven.

    JW

  12. 12.

    Redshirt

    It’s snowing here. SNOWING. I’m supposed to get 4-6 inches.

    Where’s Fat Al Gore to bring me Global Warming? Now pleaze?

  17. 17.

    Anne Laurie

    @Redshirt:

    Is this a first? Bigfooting your own post?

    Figured people wouldn’t want to talk about eating out and concerts on a Gitmo thread, or Kay’s healthcare post either.

  26. 26.

    different-church-lady

    I gotta say it: the talking cat is really reinvigorating Arlo and Janis.

  30. 30.

    Amir Khalid

    Kuala Lumpur’s residential areas are now liberally festooned with party flags, now that we know the general election is set for May 5. Word on the street is, it’s going to be the closest general election since 1955, the one before independence. People actually reckon it’s possible the ruling coalition will lose for the first time ever.

  31. 31.

    the Conster

    Longest.week.ever. This is the last day of Phase I of my two week liver detox diet – six days of nothing but fruits and vegetables, and I mean nothing – no salt, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, starch, protein, dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes or grain. All I can think of is a bag of potato chips and a glass of wine. I can start whole grains tomorrow (for 5 days), with almonds, seeds and miso. Woohoo!

  33. 33.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Amir Khalid: Is Malaysia a democracy? If yes what kind? Parliamentary or Presidential? Wasn’t it ruled by the British? Or do I have that wrong.

  36. 36.

    schrodinger's cat

    One of my favorite uncles just turned 60. A question to the guys on the forum, what gift do I give him. He used to like to tinker with electronic stuff when he was younger.

  38. 38.

    Jebediah

    For those of us who have been following the Lucy story:
    Here is twenty seconds of Lucy being cute and goofy, and below is (as far as I know) her most recent medical news:
    __________________________
    FYI, everyone!

    as relayed by ML (Much Love Rescue group) ‘s MG about Lucy’s condition.

    I guess keeping her out of the sun means between 10:00 am through 2:00 pm, when UV is highest?

    I guess the best course of action is wait and see? Better than radiation, costly at 6-7K and painful..

    Krissy, thanks for everything and thank Dr. Downing.

    Patti

    On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 5:56 PM, Krissy Goodman wrote:

    Hi Patti and Cole:

    Here is the rundown that I sent to the lead volunteers at ML about Lucy. Please feel free to edit and share with your group. The prognosis was neither bad nor, “she’s perfect and nothing to worry about!” but I feel like as long as we monitor her and get her back on her feet, and keep her out of the sun, she’ll be fine for quite a while.

    Best,
    KG

    ———- Forwarded message ———-
    From: Krissy Goodman
    Date: Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 5:26 PM
    Subject: Re: Lucy
    To:
    Cc: Much Love

    Just got back! Meanwhile, Lucy is such a sweetie. She was really tense and scared at the doctor’s but never snapped or anything during the exam. She also loved being in the car both before and after the appointment.

    Dr. Downing said the type of cancer she has is most closely associated with skin cancer, and she was very happy with the work that the surgeons at Brentwood did at getting everything out that they could. She said chemo is not an option for this type of cancer, but radiation is, although it is costly ($6-7K), painful, especially for where the big tumor was located on Lucy’s hind quarters, close to her sphincter muscles (?) and therefore very sensitive and the radiation would cause blistering, she’s have to take 2 weeks off to heal the blisters, and on and on.

    So, the prognosis is that we should watch for any other tumors that develop, because they could pop up at any time, and then we should have them removed immediately. And radiation is the additional option. But wait and watch seemed to be the one that Dr. D was emphasizing, since she said she couldn’t advocate for one over the other. She just said the radiation could be helpful, but might not be, and would definitely be a trail for Lucy.

    Dr. D. will send a more cogent explanation of all of this to Christine, who will hopefully fill in the gaps for everyone with the stuff I missed or glossed over.

    But she is a sweet girl who doesn’t seem to have any interest in other dogs, but definitely wants to chase cats if she sees them outside, according to her foster. She’s been eating normally and had loose stools last night and today, but not diarrhea.

    Best,
    KG

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    Not doing much this weekend. Trying to continue the decluttering project. May try to hit a few of the shops for the LA Yarn Crawl, but I have too many other things to do to try and hit them all.

  46. 46.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Redshirt: It was snowing here in the mountains of Western Mass but now it has turned to rain and it is down right chilly.

    I can has spring?

  47. 47.

    lamh35

    Going to check out the food and fun at the French Quarter Festival with my sister and my nephew on Saturday.

    Then going to seee “42” on Sunday with my cousin, my godkids, my nephew and probably my sisters

  49. 49.

    Trollhattan

    Thanks, again, Massachusetts for sending Liz Warren to the Senate instead of Scotty hotpants.

    (via Wonkette)

    LIZ: Let me make sure I understand this completely. I want to know, on a bank-by-bank basis, the number of families that were illegally foreclosed on. Will you give me that information?

    HAPLESS REGULATOR: Eventually we were going to issue a statement to the public where we provide additional information to the public, but if we go through the processes I described previously, we can share it with Congress in its oversight capacity.

    LIZ: So you’re saying you will make that information publicly available?

    HAPLESS REGULATOR: I did not say that, I said that we are planning on issuing a public statement that wraps up the IFR.

    LIZ: That’s not what I’m asking for. What I’m asking for is a bank-by-bank analysis of how many families they illegally foreclosed upon. Will you give us that information?

    http://wonkette.com/511691/why-is-liz-warren-yelling-at-bankers-today-video#TOki6fwMZogsFmeY.99

  50. 50.

    Jebediah

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Another Western Massachusettsianer.
    When people ask me where I’m from, and I say Massachusetts, at least half the time they say “Oh, from Boston?”
    You ever get that?

  54. 54.

    schrodinger's cat

    I has some ideas for a gift for my uncle who is turning 60.

    1. Monogrammed silver cufflinks. ( He wears shirts with French cuffs and is a bit of clothes horse)
    2. Or a bottle of Gin
    3. Or a Leatherman tool or a fancy Swiss army knife.

    I finding gifting men extremely difficult. I appreciate any suggestions from BJers.

  56. 56.

    Trollhattan

    @lamh35:

    Nice. To be “fair” they’re still contesting the final score of the War (“Wowah”) of Northern Aggression, which muddies the waters of the whole Jim Crow=Bad thing.

    I need a reminder, what century are we in, again?

  57. 57.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Jebediah: Better than people thinking you live in Canada, which happened more than a couple of times when I used to live in Maine.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    We have a British-style parliamentary democracy. The Wikipedia article on Malaysia, for quick reference.

    How democratic we actually are, or become, may well hinge on the outcome of this coming election. As I said upthread, we might just see our first-ever change of power at the federal level.

    Yes, we were under British colonial rule until August 1957.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jebediah:

    So who gets to be in charge of applying sunscreen to a dog that big?

    ETA: Not to mention how much sunscreen you’re going to need. May as well just put a kiddie pool full of the stuff in the garage and let Lucy roll around in it.

  62. 62.

    muddy

    @Capri: Never mind CS, hopefully he didn’t actually read about this, or he would not have replied so cavalierly. Then again he may well have anyway, he’s odd.

    I read about it in The Atlantic, it’s mind-boggling. Besides killing infants he was infecting everyone with everyone else’s diseases!

    I’m sorry you have this connection, I hope you did not have any ill effects from their dreadful “care”.

  63. 63.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    People actually reckon it’s possible the ruling coalition will lose for the first time ever.

    Great! I figure that a country is barely democratic if it never actually avails itself of the opportunity to change its government. Besides, my parents were tear gassed while they were in Kuala Lumpur last year, which has lowered my already low opinion of Barisan Nasional.

  64. 64.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I vote for a knife or Swiss army tool. Men like knives. When we were going through my dad’s stuff in January, my brother found a mini flashlight and a penknife in every drawer in the place — next to his TV chair, in the kitchen, at his desk, etc. I think we ended up with 6 sets.

  65. 65.

    Woodrowfan

    for a 60 year old man? a 30 year old call girl with bazumbas out to here!

    Just kidding. A bottle of good liquor (if they drink) is nice. A REALLY good bottle of wine. Maybe a CD-set of his favorite music.

  67. 67.

    Jebediah

    @the Conster:

    Just tell ‘em you live westa Wista.

    I’ll try that!

    I also occasionally have to explain that not every person in the whole fucking state has a Boston accent. I usually don’t bother explaining that not everybody in Boston has a Boston accent.

  68. 68.

    RoonieRoo

    @BGinCHI: I had to specifically find a Levison post after that comment.

    @Baud: I can’t believe I missed it the first time. I found it via another site I was reading. Just cracks me up.

  71. 71.

    muddy

    @Jebediah: Or you could say it’s southern Vermont. Altho I have to say the signage on US7 really deteriorates south of the border.

  73. 73.

    Woodrowfan

    I love that part of the state. Every spring I go visit a buddy in South Hadley to go out metal detecting.

  74. 74.

    lamh35

    today’s SASQ headline of the day…”No Shit Sherlock”:

    Did Being Black Cost Obama Votes?

    A new Harvard study concludes that “racial animus in the United States appears to have cost Obama roughly four percentage points of the national popular vote in both 2008 and 2012.”

  75. 75.

    Amir Khalid

    @efgoldman:
    Not up to Barisan Nasional. (Touch wood.) The 2008 GE was a wake-up call for them: they lost their 2/3 Parliamentary majority for the first time to the new Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Which suggests they don’t actually have the capability to rig elections and guarantee victory.

    Since then, Pakatan’s main parties have not fallen out among themselves, and have done decently well in governing the states they won in ’08. So Pakatan’s got a better case to make, whereas Barisan must contend with a public that’s ever more curious to see if someone else can do a better job at the federal level.

  76. 76.

    Jebediah

    @Mnemosyne:

    I vote for the kiddie pool. Or maybe a hat with a really, really wide brim. An umbrella attached to her collar?

    I recently had invasive melanoma, so maybe Lucy and I can form a small support group. I will give her skritches and belly rubs and she can just be cute and whatnot. I know I’ll feel better!

    And now my workday is done – time to run on home and give Otto a nice belly rub and let Juno chew on my nose for a while…

  77. 77.

    Roger Moore

    @lamh35:

    Guv don’t want to be seen as “taking sides”. Ugh…segregation or intergration, what to do, what to do…jackass!

    Bullshit. He’s already taken the wrong side, but he doesn’t want to admit it.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jebediah:

    Given the location of the tumors, she may need an umbrella attached to her tail instead. Or a hat covering her tuchus.

  81. 81.

    Redshirt

    @Jebediah: There are several distinct Maine accents as well, and the “Can’t get there from here, ayuh” accent is but one, and rare. True downeast and inner downeast only.

    Accents are awesome, and I’m sad that like everything else, TV is killing them.

  82. 82.

    Redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    Hey, nobody made you leave the big city and move up there to farm potatoes and raise paper pulp trees. We could get maple syrup from Canadia, also too.

    ETA: Sleet, maybe, in Worcester tonight. Happy April.

    Not entirely, true, but true enough. And here I am on top of a mountain in Western Maine complaining about snow! First World Problems! Except I don’t ski, and am done plumb tired of shoveling! Those snowbanks were too high!

  83. 83.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    One of my favorite uncles just turned 60. A question to the guys on the forum, what gift do I give him. He used to like to tinker with electronic stuff when he was younger.

    If he likes gizmos for gizmos sake, for starters you could get him a retracting mini booklight. At the touch of a button a little arm folds out and deploys the LED light, and then with another touch folds back in again. Just now I was able to google one which looks similar to the model I have at home, using the phrase “Portable Automatic Retractable Folding Mini LED Book Light”; some other combination of those words may work to find one for sale online to your liking.

    They have a James Bond Q gadget quality to them that belies the fact that they are riduculuously cheap.

  89. 89.

    lojasmo

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I would suggest soemthing American made.

    Leatherman tools are manufactured in Portland, Or.

    ETA: as somebody suggested kitchen knives. Cutco (I know, cheezy sounding name) are US made, and union made, with a lifetime warranty. Pricy, but absolutely the best knives we’ve ever owned (we are buying one at a time to mitigate cost)

  91. 91.

    lojasmo

    @Jebediah:

    Does Lucy need donations to cover radiation? Bleg thread plox if so.

    Since open thread:

    Ran for 33 minutes at a 10m/m pace. Pretty slow. It’s my former marathon pace (which was pretty slow in itself) I need to lose about 40 pounds, at least, so it’s a start.

    Then I walked home from the gym. Meh.

  92. 92.

    muddy

    I liked the 2nd cartoon, now I will think of those things on Cole’s feet as “patio shoes”.

  93. 93.

    Hypatia's Momma

    Light reading and came across this:

    “In such a way did irresponsible men play with a nation’s destiny, as if they themselves could escape its consequences.”

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    Maybe Lucy needs to wear cool surfer trunks to protect her tail region.

    Glad to hear she’s progressing well.

    Is General Stuck still MIA?

    Those with snow: you don’t even want to hear how pretty Northern Virginia is tonight.

    Thinking on heading downtown after dinner to witness some cherry blossoms.

  97. 97.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh35:

    Thank you for providing the telegram. Interesting how JR calls him “Martin King” throughout. And JFK himself fell to gun violence less than five months later.

    Look forward to 42, and will take some Kleenex.

  98. 98.

    Maude

    @Hypatia’s Momma:
    Can’t see a doc recommending such a diet that puts the electrolytes in imbalance. Extreme food programs are not good. Moderation is much better.
    The heart doesn’t like this kind of thing.

  101. 101.

    Corner Stone

    Just saw the Xfinity commercial featuring “Insane Bolt”, Usain Bolt’s brother who is twice as fast as he is.
    That is a hilarious freakin concept, even if the commercial isn’t awesome.

  105. 105.

    Original Lee

    @Capri: My FB page has exploded because several of my friends went to Gosnell back in the day, too. They are indignant about the lack of media coverage of the trial, as well as the lack of government oversight. Sympathy for your *gack* moment, though. I would be totally freaked, too.

  106. 106.

    Hypatia's Momma

    @Maude:
    Nor would I, except under medical supervision and for a damned good reason. Such as incipient kidney failure or something.

  107. 107.

    Joel

    Conor Frierdorf’s article on that abortion doctor in Philly is showing up all over my Facebooks via wingnut friends of friends. Weird.

  108. 108.

    Maude

    @Hypatia’s Momma:
    I knew someone who was going to have a kidney transplant. She ate food. She ate very well done hamburger. The transplant was successful. She was in her early twenties. She was on a form of dialysis.

  112. 112.

    Jebediah

    @lojasmo:

    As I understand it, that’s still undetermined. Eldad’s very generous donation hasn’t been spent yet and no decisions have been made about further treatment. When she needs donations I will be definitely requesting a Lucy-bleg post.

  120. 120.

    Scamp Dog

    @lamh35: Ya know, I think the thing to say would be something like “This is one community, so it should have one prom. This being a free country, the students should be free to ask anyone they want, and go with whoever says yes to them.” If anyone disagrees with that position, you don’t even have to accuse them of racism, you just say, “why do you have a problem with freedom? Do you really need to control who spends time with whom, simply based on other people’s prejudices?”

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