Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

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

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

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Reader Interactions

154Comments

  1. 1.

    Tommy

    I don’t own a gun. Will never own a gun. Fired one twice.

    Now with that said I am maybe more pro-gun then most liberals. Yet I don’t understand the world where I’d want to wear a gun on my hip to Starbucks.

    To be very blunt, if I felt I needed to have a gun with me to be safe, I might move. Just saying.

  2. 2.

    Linnaeus

    What’s on the agenda in your neck of the woods?

    Looking for another job. But a glass of wine first.

  9. 9.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    I’m continuing to recruit support for Team Bella Q at the upcoming Stigma Busting Stroll. Of course people all over are using the existence of psychiatric disorders to deflect discussion of how the availability of firearms is also a factor in mass shootings – and most shootings. Tragedies like these reinforce stigma about people with psychiatric disorders, most of whom are more likely to be the victim of a crime than the perpetrator.

    Most shootings involve people who don’t have a psychiatric disorder, but do have a firearm ready at hand. Being an asshole with impulse control issues is not a psychiatric disorder.

    Working to eliminate the stigma about the physical illnesses known as psychiatric disorders feels like an uphill battle that just got a lot longer and steeper. If you can spare a small bit of scratch it will be put to good use for education.

  10. 10.

    Karen in GA

    I hate my job. In early August I whined about it here, and bitched about being stuck because I’ve been there less than a year. Belafon and Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason pointed out to me that there was no set rule about staying with a job for a certain amount of time before leaving, and offered a bit of encouragement. So I said what the hell, and sent my resume out to a decent company closer to home with an opening that appeared to be exactly what I was looking for.

    They called me, I had three phone interviews, and today was the final interview onsite. Other than today’s interview, everything up until now has been done via email — scheduling the interviews, reference requests, etc. But this evening, I got an email from HR: “I hope you had a good experience today and that you’re still interested in the position — can we connect tomorrow morning?” They’re calling me at 8 a.m.

    So even if it all goes to hell tomorrow at 8:05 a.m., it went far better than I thought it would. Thank you for the info and encouragement, Belafon and Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason. May you have many things go better than you expect for the foreseeable future.

  11. 11.

    The Other Bob

    @Tommy:

    To be very blunt, if I felt I needed to have a gun with me to be safe, I might move. Just saying.

    I have said before, that if you need to carry a gun in everyday life, you either need to move, hang with the wrong crowd or are just a coward.

  12. 12.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader?

    I have a lot of guns but I’m not a fan of Starbucks. When I think of drinking burnt coffee, it makes me shooty.

  14. 14.

    srv

    I think my trainer is trying to kill me. He keeps mixing up the workout so I can’t discern any pattern. Random reps, so I can’t count on my own. I guess you’re just supposed to surrender to their fascist socialist agenda.

  17. 17.

    Linnaeus

    @WereBear: @JPL:

    Thanks for the encouragement. My current job isn’t awful or anything, but there are some downsides that are starting to have a noticeable impact on me and I figure that might be a sign that it’s not a good fit for me. So I’m looking elsewhere to see what might be a better fit.

  18. 18.

    PsiFighter37

    Getting my exercise on. I feel like if I eat right and exercise daily, I can get my body back into shape easily enough. That said, I think I’ve stopped growing / my metabolism has faded…so I can fall out of shape just as quickly.

  22. 22.

    Felonius Monk

    @Hungry Joe:

    we got Spike Jones on the box

    I am certainly pleased that someone still appreciates good music. Long live the Spikester and his City Slickers.

  23. 23.

    PsiFighter37

    @Captain Comrade: I don’t understand the affection for coffee. I don’t mind it as a subtle flavor in ice cream or stout beers, but please keep me away from the drink itself. Plus, I see everyone at work down 4-5 coffees daily, and all I can think is that it must really suck to fade from that caffeine high at the end of the day.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    Could Starbucks want to change their policy because they are expanding their menu to include beer and wine? Of course, they could.

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    To be very blunt, if I felt I needed to have a gun with me to be safe, I might move.

    The gun nuts’ problem is that there’s nowhere they could move to that would make them feel safe. The danger is in their minds, so they’ll just wind up bringing it along with them.

  29. 29.

    scav

    @PsiFighter37: Well, it’s just a personal choice of headache delivery vehicles, with slight differences when it comes to operating heavy machinery and choices in dates to take home.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    Has there been news from Tamara? I checked her and Jeffrey’s blog (what4dinnersolutions) and she hasn’t updated since the weekend.

  32. 32.

    Captain Comrade

    Coffee beans they grow on trees. And this is where birds make crap. So you wonder as the steam tickles you nose what that stink is and maybe it is birds. I say at McDonald’s they at least have no organic things and sterilize everything not sure the agent but in no case will there be germs.

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    @PsiFighter37:

    That said, I think I’ve stopped growing / my metabolism has faded…so I can fall out of shape just as quickly.

    That’s a big part of getting older. You get into shape slower and out of shape faster, so it’s more and more important to keep it up so you never get out of shape in the first place.

  34. 34.

    Tommy

    @The Other Bob: The coward thing hits home.

    I lived in NE DC and was mugged twice. Car broken into. House broken into. My girlfriends car stolen. I never once thought well I need a gun. Now I can defend myself, the two times I was mugged I didn’t give the person anything. But alas I am always fearful if I had a gun it might be taken from me and used on me. That isn’t a pleasant thought.

    I know folks are way more bad ass then myself and pulling a gun on that person, well who knows where that ends.

  36. 36.

    Jerzy Russian

    @PsiFighter37:

    Getting my exercise on. I feel like if I eat right and exercise daily, I can get my body back into shape easily enough. That said, I think I’ve stopped growing / my metabolism has faded…so I can fall out of shape just as quickly.

    Same here. I have lost 20 pounds by eating less and exercising more. Old habits are hard to change, but I am trying.

  38. 38.

    Heliopause

    @Tommy:

    Gun fetishists chose Starbucks for reasons similar to why al Qaeda chose the World Trade Center; it’s a symbol of everything that pisses them off. When you think about it, why couldn’t this high profile battle have been fought in any of a thousand different places? Because Starbucks is the heart of left/liberalism in their worldview. It’s weird, but we’re talking about fetishists after all.

  40. 40.

    raven

    @Tommy: I’ve had guns since I came home in 1969. They have never been for self defense except a couple of years ago when we got messages from the University alert system that a dude had killed 3 people down the street and was on the loose in the neighborhood. It took me 10 minutes to get the ammo and the guns together but I’ll be dammed if I was NOT going to be prepared in that situation.

  41. 41.

    PopeRatzo

    I own a gun, but not for self-defense. It’s strictly for target shooting.

    What kind of coward needs a gun for self-defense unless they live in a horribly dangerous neighborhood? I’m starting to really wonder about these gun “activists” who talk about “defending themselves”. Didn’t they have fathers who taught them how to protect themselves with their hands?

    Think about that worm George Zimmerman. The very image of a coward. Even his trainer said he was “soft”, a “marshmallow”. So of course he needs a gun. Nobody should be on a neighborhood watch unless they’re capable of defending themselves against a skinny 17 year old. If George Zimmerman’s dad had taught him how to put up his dukes, Trayvon Martin would be alive today. There are worse things in the world than being on the losing end of fisticuffs.

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    @Captain Comrade:
    Three points:

    1) Coffee beans are seeds from within a coffee cherry, so the surface on which birds might crap has to be removed.

    2) Coffee beans are roasted at a high enough temperature to kill any pathogens that might have gotten on them

    3) Roasted and ground coffee beans are extracted with water that is also hot enough to kill any pathogens. Hot beverages like coffee and tea became popular in part because heating the water to make them killed off pathogens often found in untreated water.

    Shorter: Hot coffee is not going to give you germs.

  43. 43.

    Central Planning

    What’s on the agenda in your neck of the woods?

    iPad upgrade. ~3mm left on the upgrade bar!

  44. 44.

    Tommy

    @Heliopause: It hurts my head. I live in a pretty rural, not so liberal town. If you walk into a place with a gun I am 110% the owners of the place will say, “not so cool.” I just don’t know who these gun folks are. I really don’t. I know a lot of Republicans, heck they are my family members, and they don’t understand either.

  45. 45.

    Mike E

    Miss E is making a surprise visit from college to help a friend move, and is napping on the couch adjacent as I type this. Itchy dog missed her sumptin fierce, so she’s all snuggled up with her with her paws hanging off the edge, sweet.

  47. 47.

    nineone

    @JPL: It’s been simmering all Summer, but all the “scandals” have pushed it out of the news cycle. When PBO pitched the Syria debate to Congress it began to sploot out of the pan. Now it’s red-hot, Doc and should melt down to slag any day now, Jah willing. One last desperate plea for comity and bipartisanship from Bama-lam, along with an offer to take HRC out of the equation for ’16, should do the trick. The cognitive dissonance should hot things up to the melting point quite nicely.

  48. 48.

    PopeRatzo

    @Ted & Hellen:

    Commence PUMA-Obot wars!

    I am reminded of the movie Raging Bull, in which Robert DeNiro, as Jake LaMotta, talking about a popular fighter who is said to be good-looking, says to a thug, “How ’bout I put the two a yous in the ring together and you can fuck each other?”

    For some reason, thinking about Hillary vs Obama, and their respective loyal fans, brings that scene to mind.

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack

    Just got home this afternoon after five days out of town. Had some unwelcome excitement—the luggage decided to wait and take a later flight, then one of the two bags decided to take a later flight than the first bag—which just finally got sorted out with the news that the airline is going to deliver them both sometime in the next four hours. The luggage is going to my brother’s house, so I don’t have to worry about that. I did my part with the backing and forthing with the airline (which wasn’t that much, thankfully). All I have in my bag is some clothes and a Dopp kit—nothing I need tonight.

    So. I had a great trip, but I am delighted to be home in my own quiet space. I am torn between: (a) just going into hermit mode, maybe watching a little TV, catching up on Balloon Juice and then going to sleep for a long time; and (b) going out to get a bottle of wine or some beer and then proceeding to (a). I really would like (b), but the inertia is incredible. Why can’t the pizza place deliver a six-pack along with the pie? Huh?

    I know, I know—First World problems.

  50. 50.

    WereBear

    @PopeRatzo: Didn’t they have fathers who taught them how to protect themselves with their hands?

    It’s my theory that a lot of them were terrorized when they were young and defenseless. They are protecting themselves from their own childhood; which they refuse to face, because conservatives don’t believe in psyches or psychiatry.

  51. 51.

    PsiFighter37

    @Jerzy Russian: Just tough to. My main weaknesses are beer and cookies, neither of which are stellar for the figure. If health wasn’t an issue, I would be housing a shitload of double-stuff Oreos.

  52. 52.

    Tommy

    @WereBear: I used to get beat up and picked on as a kid in the 70s. I told my father this and he called the school. They didn’t seem interested in helping me. So my dad taught me to defend myself. I wouldn’t call myself a bad ass, but if I can take your first punch and grab you, well bad things will happen in rapid fashion.

    Oh the best thing he ever taught me was to always turn away, walk away. Only fight when you have to, and then, well take no prisoners.

  53. 53.

    Eric U.

    if a gun is a possible solution, then it colors your thinking. Poisons your thinking. We really have got things so screwed up that there is more than zero probability that you could get shot by someone who will get away with it without punishment. Of course, if you are dead, it doesn’t matter if they are punished or not

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Roger Moore:

    That’s a big part of getting older. You get into shape slower and out of shape faster

    Unfairunfairunfairunfairunfairunfairunfairunfairunfairunfairunfair

  55. 55.

    Redshirt

    I’ve been cleaning the woods around my house. Literally – pick up all the dead wood (all of it – there’s a lot), then rake up decades of leaves (all of them), leaving behind a picture book pretty pine forest. I love it. I’ve been moving in a circle around the house and I’ve entered one of the last quadrants. Soon this project will be complete, and I’ll need to….

  56. 56.

    Jane2

    @Roger Moore:

    You get into shape slower and out of shape faster, so it’s more and more important to keep it up so you never get out of shape in the first place.

    NOW you tell me.

  57. 57.

    JPL

    @nineone: Today seemed to be a tipping point for the news media. I know Obama has spoken about it and Carney mentioned it today but hopefully, it does gain some steam. Maybe Chuck Todd’s stupid comment will indirectly help.

  58. 58.

    Redshirt

    @Tommy: I have the same experience. I’ve been shot at, stabbed, had several other guns pulled on me, etc. And I would never own a gun, because I know that as soon as I did, I’d be far more likely to die by gun. No thanks.

    And if the government goes full fascist and we start a rebellion? Well heck, I’ll join in! I’m sure someone would lend me a gun. Or if the zombie apocalypse goes down? No problem – I’ll find a gun somewhere, and make do with an axe until then.

  59. 59.

    Tommy

    @Redshirt:

    Or if the zombie apocalypse goes down? No problem – I’ll find a gun somewhere, and make do with an axe until then.

    Funny. I don’t own a gun and never used one, well twice, but a friend took me rabbit hunting and I was fearful I might hit his dog with the shotgun and not the rabbit.

    But I am a stud with a bow, so if zombies starts coming after me, that is the first thing I’d grab :)!

  61. 61.

    muddy

    @Steeplejack: In Vermont, early 80’s, there was a pizza place that not only delivered the food but items from their convenience store as well. We used to get them to bring beer. Got it down to a science of how little pizza you’d have to buy to get the beer.

    They got sick of it, but my bf convinced the guy to bring it on his way home, and he could join the party – lots of girls! This guy shows up and there weren’t lots of girls so the bf says that they left because they don’t like pizza. They never brought it again, which teaches one a lesson about abusing a privilege. Still we used the “don’t like pizza” line on each other for years, so maybe it was worth it. #misspentyouth

  62. 62.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven: What a great photo!

    Harvest Moon is the name for the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Harvest Moon sometimes falls in September and sometimes falls in October. But the Harvest Moon is more. Nature is particularly cooperative around the time of the autumn equinox to make the full moonrises unique around this time.

    EarthSky

    The Hunter’s Moon – also sometimes called blood moon – follows the harvest moon and in indigenous lore signaled the time to hunt. Practical was best back in the day.

  63. 63.

    muddy

    @Redshirt: You’ll need to drive to my house and do my woods and stone walls next. I know you like to do it so much that I have saved all the work for you.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @PsiFighter37:
    Everything in moderation. Especially cookies and beer.
    Most males in good/decent shape start about 30-35 to peak. At that point your body changes and starts to store fat easier and lose muscle faster. It is one reason why a lot of endurance athletes seem to have their better years about 35ish. The body is pretty much done with growth and has turned to maintenance. Women do the same thing but the timing is different. People still do sports that require power, lifting, boxing, bicycle racing. But they generally are not quite as quick but start to have better endurance. All of the above is about people who are in a trying to stay in decent shape. The next ten years 35-45 you will lose a little of your edge but not much. About 45-50 is when you start downhill even if you try to stay in shape. Of course there are always exceptions. I had a customer in my tri shop who still raced very well at 68-70. I have a friend who is about my age and she had her best Ironman at 62. She earned a spot at Kona that year and had a good time. You don’t have to give up, you just have to work out a little smarter because your body will wear out.

  67. 67.

    Morbo

    Well, in Syria today one of the actual Al Qaeda affiliates briefly took over a town near one of the main Turkish border crossings for foreign aid to Syria after serious fighting with other opposition groups. They may or may not still be in control of the city, although the FSA apparently still controls the border. After the FSA called for reinforcements the violence subsided. All of it started when the AQ group tried to abduct a German doctor from the local hospital and the FSA stood up to them.
    Meanwhile the same AQ group took an FSA headquarters hostage in north central Syria. Maybe, sort of.

    All in all a fun time.

  69. 69.

    mai naem

    Howard Schultz is just worried that there’s going to be a mass shooting at a Starbucks and the phrase “The death toll from the -X-day mass shooting at the -X city- Starbucks stands at 11 including the shooter” gets repeated a gazillion times by every media outlet. Massively bad free publicity.

  73. 73.

    different-church-lady

    C’mon Pirates! Don’t blow your good thing. Everyone want to see the long-suffering little guys get up off the carpet. A post season with the Pirates and without the Yankees would be just delicious.

  75. 75.

    Lymie

    @Karen in GA: Ditto, as it were, for courage, and pretending to be self confident,”When ever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect, and whistle a happy tune, and no one ever knows I’m afraid”… or something like that.

  79. 79.

    MomSense

    @Roger Moore:

    I’m in good shape, exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and I found out I still have high cholesterol! Pretty soon I will be eating nothing but nuts and berries.

  80. 80.

    different-church-lady

    @Tommy:

    But I have to admit I get for a fan of the Pirates you deserve a better team, one that will finish the year.

    Actually, I’m a Bostonian — I’m just one of those people who like to see the little guys win once in a while.

    Cardinals have enough championships for the moment. Share the wealth.

  82. 82.

    Mike in NC

    Next mass shooting spree could easily be at a Starbucks or even a WalMart, because “America, Fuck Yeah!”. Odds are shortly before Christmas.

  84. 84.

    Tommy

    @different-church-lady: Last couple years they have been amazing the first half of the year, then fell apart. I can only assume that is a painful thing to watch happen. This year they are really solid. Problem is the rest of the regular season the Cardinals don’t play a team above .500. Pretty much everybody the Pirates play has a solid record.

    Will be hard for them, but push comes to shove something totally bizarre will have to happen for them not to either (1) win the division or (2) get a wildcard.

    But I am with you, always like the “little guys” to get a chance.

  86. 86.

    Redshirt

    @muddy: It’s lipbalm, cuz it’s cold, so very cold up here.

    But rock walls are awesome. There’s a ton in Maine in the middle of the woods, because there’s woods now where once there were farmer’s fields. We’re returning to a state of noble savages.

  87. 87.

    p.a.

    Fred Clark over at Slacktivist is hitting a rough patch of road. I’ve always enjoyed his work, even tho’ I’m in the un/anti-religious column. If you can spare some positive thoughts, not to mention $$$, head on over.

  88. 88.

    dogwood

    Got a call from my oldest friend. We go back to kindergarten. She has free miles and wants to get me a ticket so i can house sit and take care of her dogs for six weeks. She lives on the south shore of Kauai , so I guess I’ll do her a favor.

  90. 90.

    eemom

    What’s on the agenda in your neck of the woods?

    Cleaned the fucking oven.

    A small step for Easy Off, a giant leap for womankind.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    @Redshirt:

    Crossfit came to our town and they are all paleo but I was afraid to ask too much about it because I’m pretty sure Crossfit is some kind of cult.

  92. 92.

    muddy

    @Redshirt: Yeah, the walls and chimneys (chimbleys) and cellar holes in the woods are really cool. I have heard that 150 years ago Vermont was 75% cleared. It’s the opposite now. There are a lot of old rights-of-way through the woods too, old roads that are long gone, but you can still legally walk there.

    I used to be really good at rock walls, well I was a draftsman for a civil engineer. But in my old age I have an old wound kicked up in my knee. The main one I need rebuilt really requires taking that posture, so it remains undone for now. Mostly I am waiting for the plants to die back so I can get in there.

  93. 93.

    muddy

    @MomSense: My niece does Crossfit in a big way, competitions etc. They are apparently quite happy to admit that it’s a cult, it’s a point of pride nearly.

  95. 95.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Cool website. Some of those movies I have seen and others have been on my list for a long time so this is good motivation to watch. Looking forward to reading more posts at your place.

  97. 97.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Didn’t Schultz start his own No-Labels type operation? I seem to remember seeing a collection jar at Starbucks

  100. 100.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Yatsuno: That’s so cool! Liked it so much – I found the “Rolling in the Higgs” one and watched that too. Kid’s got a bright future.

  103. 103.

    Tommy

    @muddy: I live a long way from Vermont. But my state (IL) did the same thing, we defrosted large parts of the state. Still the case in many areas, but where I live in the south of the state we got forest and woods for as far as the eye can see. As a hiker/camper I love it.

  104. 104.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Ha! As soon as I hear Tits and Ass I immediately launch into “bought myself a fancy pair. Tightened up the derriere. Did the nose with it all that goes with it”

    One of the consequences/benefits of being a theater person is that just about everything can segue into a show tune.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    @muddy:

    Thanks a lot, you ruined it for the rest of us.

    ETA: Never did go out. The inertia was too much. Watched Modern Family, then the end of the Nats’ loss, then (just now) the end of the Orioles’ win.

  107. 107.

    the Conster

    @Tommy:

    I just don’t know who these gun folks are. I really don’t. I know a lot of Republicans, heck they are my family members, and they don’t understand either.

    Gun = p3n!s. These guys are all outing themselves as tiny dicked losers, and they don’t even know it. They’re just fucking creepy and pathetic. They’re tiny dicked creepy losers with nothing else but their compensating tool, and they don’t realize they’re not fooling anybody.

  108. 108.

    Captain Comrade

    This evening at the Circle-K, there I stood behind two females. Between them they had purchased six candy-bars and four sugar-sodas. The younger female explained to the clerk, who was attractive, that the candy-bars tasted like girl-scout-cookies. The clerk pretended to be interested. These were not thin females buying the candy-bars. So I purchased my beer, and walked out of the Circle-K. There in the parking lot these two females were sitting in a Ford Escort, eating their candy-bars.

  110. 110.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @The Other Bob:

    It will be interesting to see if gun owners respect the private property rights of Starbucks owners and respect his request.

    Of course not. These assholes think that their personal rights trump everyone else’s. That’s a function of being an asshole. All Randians are assholes. They mouth about how they respect the rights of others, but they don’t mean it. Everyone but them is a serf.

  111. 111.

    Tommy

    @the Conster: There is a gun story I tell which I think is telling, My father has a lot of guns. Small family. I can count my direct family members on one hand. I actually have a gun permit, cause if my father would die tomorrow I would handle his estate. I was like dad if you died that is the least of my concerns, I have a gun permit. He made me get that permit cause we follow the law. A point of pride for my father.

    I thought it was stupid, but then I also get his point.

    He isn’t worried somebody is going to take away his guns. He doesn’t mind that he has to get a permit. He doesn’t have a desire to carry a gun on him at all times. Why the far right gun freaks … well freak me out.

  116. 116.

    the Conster

    @Tommy:

    What’s really creepy if someone self identifies as a gun lover. I can understand being a car lover, but a gun lover? You’ll never hear of someone being a hammer lover, or a chainsaw lover, but when someone says they’re a gun lover, you automatically know there’s something deeply creepy and compensatory going on, and to keep those people out of your life.

  118. 118.

    ? Martin

    @TooManyJens: Yeah… The conspicuous attempt to avoid mentioning the girl’s hairy armpits, tractors, being touched by Al Franken, and Obama electronically monitoring his toilet flushes is a dead giveaway.

  119. 119.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Yatsuno: I know the other day you said Spokane (where I’ve never been) is strange. So there’s this:”Two teenage boys have been arrested in a bizarre sword attack on one teen’s mother that reportedly included a discussion of killing the woman and eating her liver, a Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman said Wednesday.”

  120. 120.

    Tommy

    @the Conster: Look I can see how somebody might really like guns. Collect them. Enjoy using them. Personally I don’t understand, but there are many things I don’t understand. What I don’t understand, can’t wrap my mind around, their hatred. I am about as far left of a dude you’ll find but I don’t want to take their guns away. I just want registration. Background checks. Oh and every few years you pass a safety class, you know like what I have to do to drive a car.

  122. 122.

    dogwood

    @the Conster:

    I agree these gun lovers are creepy, but I can’t even understand loving cars so I figure I’m not really in the mainstream. But you know what else is creepy? The ballad of the candy bar girls at the Circle-K.

  123. 123.

    Gin & Tonic

    @the Conster: You’ve not been around enough dudes. There are guys who can wax poetic about their chainsaw, who have almost-religious preference for, say, Husqvarna over Stihl. Not to mention arguing about table saws, or pretty much any other piece of mechanical equipment. I don’t own any guns, never have and probably never will, but I can certainly appreciate the mechanical engineering involved, or even the industrial design aspects. Other than the fact that a gun can kill people and a fly rod can’t, is there really that much difference in the fetish-ability? Guys will spend $4k for a goddamn fishing pole, for Pete’s sake.

  126. 126.

    Suzanne

    @Tommy: In my experience, the people I call gun nuts are invariably one of two types: 1) Overweight, middle-aged, balding, mostly uneducated white dudes who have a pervasive fear (though they won’t admit it) that they won’t be able to provide for themselves and their families because women and minorities have “taken their place” and reduced the number of well-paying jobs available to mediocre mental/physical specimens, and 2) Middle-aged white SAHMs who think that every (black) man that looks at them wants to kidnap them, rape them, and throw their corpses in the desert.

  127. 127.

    Tommy

    @dogwood: I am kind of new here, but that Circle K rant made me uncomfortable.

    I could rant for hours about health and the weight of people. I have very strong opinions, but I have learned this is a topic that is best talked about in private, face-to-face, and not in public.

  129. 129.

    MomSense

    @Yatsuno:

    Ok, at least I know what meth is. Apparently we are inundated with “bath salts” up heah in Northern New England and I know they are bad but I don’t know what they are.

    Does anyone know what is in bath salts?? I have asked many people and no one seems to know.

  133. 133.

    Tommy

    @Gin & Tonic: I have something of a fetish for mechincal pencils. A few other “strange” things. So I totally understand folks likeing a table saw or a fishing pole.

  134. 134.

    dogwood

    @Gin & Tonic:
    The image I got was of him sitting in his pick-up, fantasizing about the attractive cashier and guzzling beer while watching the candy girls in the Ford Escort.

  135. 135.

    eemom

    @MomSense:

    at least I know what meth is. Apparently we are inundated with “bath salts” up heah in Northern New England and I know they are bad but I don’t know what they are.

    dunno either, but I’d wager there’ll be a teevee series about it soon.

  137. 137.

    Jebediah

    I found that I have a technique for getting the last corner of a fitted sheet done while a ~70 pound goofball dog is occupying that corner of the bed.

    It doesn’t work, of course. But I have a technique.

  138. 138.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Howard Schulz is the most spineless jackass that ever lived. He will do or say anything in order to not have to take a stand on an issue, and now he’s fucked, because the gun nuts aren’t going to let him slide on this one, and the non-crazies have stopped showing up at stores where lunatics are swinging around AR-15s the way that Starbucks employees are swinging around brooms.

    Plus, I’m sure he’s having, oh, let’s say “employee retention issues” at the stores where the homicidal maniacs are having their weekly Tea Parties.

    I’ve been waiting fifteen years to see Howard get caught in a situation where he’ll have to piss off a bloc of customers*. Schadenfruede doesn’t begin to describe it.

    *Full disclosure: fifteen years ago I was written up while working at Starbucks for throwing a man out of the store who had just sucker-punched another customer and threatened him with a gun (the customer on the receiving end of this psycho’s fist had been sleeping with the lunatic’s wife). The guy who threw the punch got a gift card and an apology for being tossed from the store. I got a lecture on how the customer was the most valuable asset (HR had to do it by phone as both my store manager and district manager refused to). I left two weeks later.

    I hope the NRA fascists burn all his stores to the ground. Won’t happen, but a man can dream.

  139. 139.

    Tommy

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: I am a huge coffee snob. I just wish I could get folks to get a French press and point them to some small local rosters where they can get better coffee for pennies on the dollar of what you pay at Starbucks.

  141. 141.

    cckids

    @Tommy:

    Only fight when you have to, and then, well take no prisoners

    This is what my daughter’s TaeKwon Do master taught them; she’s a 2nd degree black belt. She (and her classmates) would NEVER start a fight. You can be damn sure they would finish one, however.

  142. 142.

    Tommy

    @cckids: As I said about the best advice my father ever gave me. You can say the rudest things to me. Push me. Heck even hit me, and I will attempt to walk away.Back me into a corner I can’t get out of, and as you said I will finish that fight.

  143. 143.

    Yatsuno

    @YellowJournalism: Elma got eaten by cows. And Spocompton has just gotten worse since their main economic engine closed and the city council can’t find its ass with both hands, a bloodhound, and a GPS. Except for Gonzaga and Fairchild, there is literally nothing happening there.

  144. 144.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    I am a huge coffee snob. I just wish I could get folks to get a French press and point them to some small local rosters where they can get better coffee for pennies on the dollar of what you pay at Starbucks.

    @Tommy: Everything I learned about making and appreciating good coffee I did not learn at Starbucks. I have friends of mine in the Bay Area who will send me some Blue Bottle every now and then, awesome stuff, not cheap. I wish we had a good local roaster here but the brutal truth of the matter is we do not. But prep is half the battle – I can make most coffees taste great so long as the beans aren’t actually burned.

    I’ve been learning the hand drip method. Blue Bottle does that really well in the stores. It’s a bit of a pain in the ass if it’s just you making coffee for yourself, but damn it comes out nice.

  145. 145.

    Tommy

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: There is a show on the Travel Channel called Dangerous Grounds. I think it got canned, but there are 4-5 shows that are rerunning. Guy is a local coffee guy and he travels the world, in the most far off places you can imagine, looking for locally grown coffee. It is amazing.

    I just HATE Starbucks on so many levels. They want me to pay them like $3-$4 for a cup of coffee. You can buy amazing beans for $12. Really amazing beans for $20. Some of the best in the world for $35. Just a couple of cups at Starbucks.

  146. 146.

    ? Martin

    @cckids: Growing up in NY in the 70s, a family friend who ran a karate studio told me – “Sometimes you’re going to be forced to fight. Most important rule is make sure they don’t get up. That’s how you make sure the fight ends.”

    Had to employ that advice a few times. I was once jumped by two larger kids. Put one of them in the hospital for almost a month. The other for a week. Had my dad’s pipe wrench hidden in my sweatshirt after the same two guys spent a walk home a few days before trying to push me in front of moving traffic. That’s when I learned I have a quite Irish temper when pushed too far.

  151. 151.

    magurakurin

    @Tommy:

    jesus, dude,get over it. It’s just fucking coffee shop. Some people like it. Some people like Diet Coke, I can’t imagine why,but so fucking what. Starbucks coffee is way better than is available at a lot of places still today and it is way,way,way better than what the average cup of coffee in the Unites States was 30 years ago. A lot of those amazing coffee roasters didn’t exist until Starbucks created a market for it. Outside of little enclaves in San Francisco, New York and the Pacific Northwest, coffee was majorly shitty before Starbucks swept across the plains in the early 90’s. Supermarkets now all sell a large variety of whole bean coffee, but when I was kid it was all big tin cans of Hills Brothers and Folgers. Taster’s Choice actually wasn’t bad when you compared it to most of the dreck that passed for coffee in the States. So, rag on Starbucks all you want, but if you want to pretend that there was simply awesome coffee everywhere all the time before Starbucks, you’re dreaming.

    And if that’s a fact, then tell me…am I lying?

  152. 152.

    Central Planning

    @raven:

    Once you get the damn thing downloaded you may have to hit the install link numerous times, it’ll work but they are slammed.

    Yup, it didn’t work earlier today. Figured I’d give it one more go before bed.

    It’s back. I’m not terribly excited about the new theme.

  153. 153.

    John M. Burt

    Martin @146: I always told guys when I was in the Navy: “I’m not going to fight with you, but if you make it worth my while, I’d be willing to break your arm, and I’ll make sure you don’t get a chance to fight back.” Oddly enough, I never actually had to have a violent confrontation with anyone . . . .

    @Hungry Joe: In 1994, I became the adoptive father of three children from Ethiopia. One of the proudest moments of my parenting career so far has been teaching kids who were only just learning English at all how to sing “Der Fuhrer’s Face”.

    Anachronism and non sequitur are important parts of parenting.

  154. 154.

    John M. Burt

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: I’m big on coffee essence, myself.

    Grind a pound of beans as fine as you can manage, soak it in cold water overnight, filter it, refrigerate. Reconstitute one part of essence with three parts of hot water (my preference is actually for one part of milk and two parts of tea). Almost as easy as instant coffee and orders of magnitude better. All the flavor and a lot less of the nasty acids, much easier on the stomach.

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