Rainy night here, following a stormy day. The yard is flooded. The chickens are pissed off. The dogs are stir crazy. What are y’all up to this evening?
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
T R E 4 5 O N
I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.
Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.
Republicans in disarray!
Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.
We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.
The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.
Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”
I really should read my own blog.
Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.
A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.
No one could have predicted…
Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.
Come on, man.
My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.
They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.
A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals
They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.
Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.
This chaos was totally avoidable.
Shut up, hissy kitty!
Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.
Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.
Fuck these fucking interesting times.
Corner Stone
Going to make flattened chicken tenders, coated and then baked in the oven. Alongside I plan to make roasted mashed potatoes to the max.
I’m going to put the potatoes, rosemary, garlic, onion and peppers on a tray, drizzle EVOO on top, some spices, then roast at 400F for about 45 minutes.
Put that all in a bowl with some butter and a splash of milk, then fork toss til roughly blended.
Sprinkle green onions on top.
Dog On Porch
For some reason, I’m suddenly in the mood for a chicken dinner.
Baud
I’m working on revising my personal conduct policy.
Trollhattan
We’d trade sunlight for some of that rain. Will toss in some wine for good measure. These folks must be wondering when they’ll ever get to go home, and if they’ll have homes at all. (Fire about forty miles to the east, started a week ago.)
Corner Stone
Betty, what’s going on with your wine foil art? Just hit a creative block, or moved on to other media?
I thought they were awesome.
BillinGlendaleCA
Betty’s description of the chickens made me think of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnBlst3T7bY
BillinGlendaleCA
@Corner Stone: She switched to gin.
BillinGlendaleCA +0 (4 years)
Corner Stone
@Baud:
1. Don’t punch anyone
2. Don’t whoop anyone
3. Don’t slip a mickey to anyone
Damn, throw in morning yoga classes and it’s like your a latter day monk or something.
Betty Cracker
@Corner Stone: I’m not sure I can top the Imperial Walker. But if anyone has requests…
Corner Stone
@BillinGlendaleCA: Can’t stand gin. Who thinks having a tongue that feels like it’s coated in soap is a good thing?
Violet
@Corner Stone: That sounds delicious. Where’s my invitation?
I’m actually cooking pork chops. Thin ones–probably pan fry. Maybe I’ll roast some vegetables to go with it. Plus potatoes of some kind. Not sure what kind yet.
Was just in the car and saw the fattest dog. I’m pretty sure it was a blue heeler. The owner was overweight so maybe that was part of the problem. The dog looked like a plump sausage on legs. It saw another dog across the street and was making a feeble attempt to bark and lunge at it. It looked out of breath just trying. A blue heeler so fat it could hardly move. It was somewhat comical to watch but I felt terrible for the dog. It’s cruelty to the poor thing that it’s that fat. Any dog, but especially a working dog like a blue heeler.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Corner Stone: My issue with gin was that it gave me the worst hangovers ever.
Violet
@Corner Stone: A proper gin and tonic is a thing of beauty.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: The car destruction scene by the football player in Fast Times at Ridgemont High ?
Betty Cracker
@Corner Stone: I dislike gin too. It tastes like Pine Sol-tainted vodka to me.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker: I no longer have to worry about the taste or hangovers, I quit drinkin’ 4 years ago(today).
Corner Stone
Speaking of child abuse, am I the only one who has been tormented by the fact that this exists?
Trigger Warning, not safe for just about anyone.
Booty ftg JLo and Iggy
You’re welcome.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
I’ll be working on revising the last few chapters of my novel. Once that’s done, it will pretty much be as good as I can make it on my own and it will be pushed onto the back burner until such time as I can hire a professional editor to help me take it farther. And so I’ll be working on short stories and the Kickstarter for acquiring said funds.
shelley
Eh, who knows. Is the ‘Roosevelts’ still on tonight?
jibeaux
Have 2 13-year-old boys here. Can’t understand them, bruh.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: I always associate gin with the blah cough syrups I had to choke down as a child.
It numbed everything, tasted vaguely floral, and was just awful for the next 45 minutes.
Corner Stone
@jibeaux: What do 13 yr old boys do nowadays, anyway?
Phylllis
Fixing to go pile up on the bed with my kindle. It’s been a long week and I’m ready for it to be over.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I have missed a few threads. What’s the backstory on that?
jibeaux
Got to try a local organic vodka yesterday called TOPO. Very smooth. Great cocktail with cucumber water, lemon juice, and a jalapeño simple syrup. Bit labor intensive for one drink, but definitely making a batch the next time there’s a crowd.
Corner Stone
@Violet: Only if you can soak a rag wrapped torch in it and then light it on fire to use as your way to light the spooky hallway down into the underneath area of an ancient Egyptian pyramid/burial tomb.
Corner Stone
@Phylllis: What’s on there? Give us a small taste.
jibeaux
@Corner Stone: video games, bruh. And we got Divergent from the redbox. Tomorrow we go to an amusement park.
greennotGreen
@Violet: Seconded, but I usually just drink beer.
For myself, I’ll probably throw a potato in the microwave, put some cheese on top, and call it dinner. I just do.not.cook. anymore, and I once delighted in throwing dinner parties.
Got two new foster dogs tonight after a lapse of a few months while the rescue I volunteer for has been in transition (semi-homeless.) Next month they move into new digs and the rotation of fosters will probably increase.
WaterGirl
You know, if you’re tired and just sort of skimming through the thread, this is enough to cause a double-take:
Violet
@Corner Stone: Nope. A gin and tonic is properly drunk while one is sitting on the verandah in the afternoon. And it must be served with lime, not lemon.
Of course, I’ll go for a mojito in hot weather as well.
Gex
I’m just sitting back and marveling at how, instead of somehow rebuilding my life this past year and a half, it seems to be falling apart even more. I just deleted the several paragraphs of TMI, in part because I don’t need to be putting all that out on the Internet. And in part because I’m afraid my stalker from last year will come bully me some more for having the temerity to come here and share my feels and try to feel better for having shared.
Good thing I am emotionally numb right now. Or I think I’d be in a pretty bad place.
As for what I’m up to? I have that mountain of work and that obscure error to deal with. More evening and weekend work for me. That’s the general plan for the rest of the year, or longer, until we are fully integrated with the new company.
Violet
@WaterGirl: That’s hilarious.
Phylllis
@Corner Stone: Right now it’s The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn about the shootout at the OK Corral; next up is The Double V by Rawn James, Jr. about how Truman desegregated the military.
Poopyman
Just got home at the end of the first week at the new job, which promises to suck. Wine is breathing downstairs.
Apropos of nothing in particular; every time an ambulance goes by I’m glad it’s not for me.
That is all.
Corner Stone
@Phylllis: Dang. That extra L in your name must stand for “Literary”!
You do know it’s Friday, right?
Steeplejack
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Congratulations!
Trollhattan
@Violet:
Summertime G&Ts are the reason I planted a lime tree. Damn things usually aren’t ready to pluck ’til mid-August, after mosquito season, but from that point forward everything’s okay with the world.
ETA Anybody else notice designer tonic water is now A Thing? We do love our fads.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: Did you have a cattle call flight on the way back home?
Violet
Just saw a clip of Roger Goodell’s press conference. He looks like a deer in the headlights actually having to deal with a real problem instead of hobnobbing with rich people. He comes across like a complete dumbass.
Mnemosyne
Fucking weather migraines.
That is all.
tesslibrarian
Husband is grilling chicken and a variety of vegetables because he offered, and I had to devil eggs and make gorgonzola-rosemary spread for the tailgate tomorrow morning before the mighty Troy game, so wasn’t much in the mood to cook. It’s nice not to punt and just get pizza (though that’s definitely what we’re doing next week–few things are as good as cold pepperoni & tomato pizza after a hot football game, cool shower, and comfy pants.)
Happily found a good home for our tickets, so we’ll socialize a bit, come home, watch the game on tv and save the sunburn for next Saturday’s UT game. Right now, time to pick a wine for dinner and open the windows in the house.
jayboat
Looks like the NFL situation has gone nooclear. Should make for interesting weekend viewing.
tesslibrarian
@Mnemosyne: I empathize–mine come in the spring, but it’s already getting a little phlegmmy in Georgia.
Mnemosyne
@Gex:
Somebody told me that year two of mourning is actually harder, but I can’t remember who. Hugs if you want them.
Corner Stone
@jayboat: In what way? Links?
Violet
@Gex: Sorry to hear about all that. I know it’s been a really difficult year for you. Hope things look up soon.
Phylllis
@Corner Stone: I don’t read much fiction anymore, except for really good mysteries. On the waitlist for the 2nd Cormoran Strike book from the library and going to treat myself to the 2nd book in the DC Belsey series on payday. That’ll be next weekend’s fun reading.
Betty Cracker
@Gex: Ugh, sorry it’s been so rough. Sometimes staying super busy helps, and it sounds like you have that covered. And fuck shithead stalker assholes. May they sink to the bottom of the nearest septic tank like the unusually dense turds that they are.
jayboat
@Corner Stone:
check espn or deadspin.. Ray Rice is now saying that Ravens mgmt tried to bribe him into silence. Looks very bad for them.
eta- I am hopeful that something similar happens to the Jersey Whale.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Gex: Best of luck to you.
Corner Stone
@jayboat: Good sweet Baby Jeebus. If the stuff on ESPN.com is even close…
When will these fucking idiotic millionaires/billionaires get this? Somebody always knows the truth, has access to the video, and wants to get paid to show everyone the truth.
rikyrah
WHY DOES GEORGIA KEEP GOING AFTER BLACK VOTERS?’
http://www.vice.com/read/why-does-the-state-of-georgia-keep-going-after-black-voters-918
Excerpt:
On Wednesday, the State of Georgia suffered a major defeat in its four-year odyssey to win fraud convictions against twelve African American voting organizers in the small town of Quitman. After a grueling five-week trial (and two previous mistrials), a jury cleared the state’s key target, Lula Smart, of all counts of voter fraud. In 2010, Georgia agents arrested and briefly incarcerated Smart and the Quitman group just weeks after they had led an unprecedented surge in the black community’s voting participation, ushering in the first-ever black majority on the local school board. The state has since failed miserably to provide evidence supporting the charges.
The defeat comes as Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, has begun aggressively pursuing another, larger-scale version of the Quitman case. The new investigation, uncovered just last week, targets a massive new voter registration project led by some of the state’s most prominent African Americans. Kemp’s move has revived worries that Republicans in Georgia are raising the specter of voter fraud to cast a pall of criminality on groups that register minorities. And the stakes are high: Democrats say the state’s unregistered 700,000 black voters could turn Georgia into a genuine battleground that’s more competitive in national elections. Kemp’s latest target, the New Georgia Project, has led this effort with eye-popping registration totals statewide. Kemp himself was recently caught candidly saying such efforts could spell doom for Republicans.
Pogonip
Can anyone tell me how to turn off an iPod? I got one and downloaded a song to see if it works, and it does, but if there is an Off switch I can’t find it. All I can do is stop the song. Also, there a bunch of U2 songs on there that came with it, how do I get rid of those? I don’t want to pay for them. None of the gadget mavens I know in real life are available at the moment.
Mike in NC
Grilled some steaks tonight after the rain stopped, then went for a walk around the golf course. It was so cool we almost needed jackets. Tomorrow the temperature won’t even reach 80F, which I can’t remember happening in several months.
Comrade Mary
@Pogonip: Is it one of the wee iPods? Press and hold the button on the top right and wait for the “closing” circle animation to show up on the screen.
Pogonip
@Gex: I’m sorry to hear that. Anything a bunch of people on the Internet can do to help?
Comrade Mary
And there’s a specific tool to remove your copy of U2’s CD, but you have to go through iTunes.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Thanks much.
jayboat
@Corner Stone:
Well, as our bff Willard showed us repeatedly, money- she don’t buy brains.
If I was in their shoes, I have no idea how I would deal with the situation.
It’s like ESPN deliberately waited until after Goodell’s latest press ‘adventure’ to drop the bomb.
Two large popcorns down here, extra butter.
raven
@tesslibrarian: White Tiger was covered up with kids tonight, mostly Chase St School. Ya’ll should come over sometime.
Comrade Mary
@Gex: Oh geez, Gex. So sorry that the year is going so badly.
If the stalker shows up, they can get collectively stomped.
Pogonip
@Comrade Mary: How wee is wee? It’s about the size of a smart phone.
Steeplejack
I’m still trying to ease back into “normal” life after three weeks out of town. Everything seems normal on the surface, but there’s a kind of corner-of-the-eye feeling that it’s really not. Weird. The housecat has finally normalized, after a couple of days of being very needy and not being able to settle down at night—up and down, walking back and forth across the bed, head-butting me to get petted. At least the weather has been perfect—sunny and highs in the mid-70s—so I have had the windows open all week to let in the fresh air.
@Corner Stone:
Yes, the plane was full, but the flight turned out to be not as awful as I feared. I was on the aisle, there was a woman in the window seat, and right up until the very end of boarding the middle seat was vacant. Fingers crossed—please, please, please!—but just about the last guy to get on the plane took the seat between us. He was normal-sized and had good seat etiquette, e.g., didn’t hog the armrests, didn’t splay his knees out to air-cool his crotch, so that turned out all right. I blanched when I discovered that the flight did not have wi-fi—I could have sworn that on the flight out I read that all United 737s have it now, but it’s only about half—because I had planned to spend the time surfing the Interwebs, but I hauled out my Nook instead and finished reading a couple of novels that had been idling on there. Splurged on a chicken wrap and a couple of G&Ts. I always get ravenous when I fly.
The best part was that the pilot put the pedal to the metal. The flight time is usually about 4½ hours (west to east), but even before we left Vegas he said it was going to be closer to four hours, and he ended up beating even that by a little bit. Must have had a good tailwind. But it felt good psychologically.
Comrade Mary
@Pogonip: OK, that’s humongous for an iPod. probably no button at the top right.
If there’s a wheel on the front, press Menu (at 12 o’clock) until you get back to the main menu, then press and hold on the symbols at the 6 o’clock mark.
WaterGirl
@Pogonip: Does it have a wheel on the front – for volume, etc? Or is it an iPod touch?
Also, the U2 songs are free.
Josie
@Poopyman: Sorry about the sucky job, but wine can make up for many troubles. I enjoy my two glasses each night – for medicinal purposes only, you understand.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: Welome home. Three weeks away is long enough to disrupt everything. I predict all is good by the end of the weekend.
Pogonip
It’s off! Thanks!
And the songs are still overpriced.
Apple makes fine products, but I am annoyed by their apparent belief that instructions are unhip.
WaterGirl
@Poopyman: Sometimes new jobs are not what they seem initially. Let’s go with that!
Corner Stone
@Comrade Mary: It has to be an iPod Touch.
Comrade Mary
@Pogonip: You may want to slide the hold button at the top left of the unit to keep it off. Those old iPods seem to enter protracted sleep rather than really turning off.
Corner Stone
@Josie:
*nods gently while thoughtfully rubbing my chin*
rikyrah
but,he was all big and bad yesterday
………….
BREAKING: Kansas Senate Ballots Will Be Sent Out Without Dem Nom
In an apparent reversal, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office is instructing election officials in the state to send out overseas military ballots without Democratic Senate nominee Chad Taylor or any other Democratic Senate candidate listed.
Kobach spokeswoman Samantha Poetter confirmed to TPM that the ballots would be sent out by Saturday, the deadline under state and federal law.
Poetter said that Kobach still expects Democrats to name a new nominee. But as for what Kobach would do if that happened after these absentee ballots had been sent out, she wouldn’t say.
“I actually cannot answer that for you,” Poetter said. The secretary’s office is exploring its options, she said.
She also would not say if Kobach would sue to force Democrats to name a new candidate.
The order to election officials cited “currently pending litigation concerning the United States Senate race.” A registered Democratic voter has filed a lawsuit to force Democrats to name a new candidate.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kansas-senate-race-ballots
Suzanne
@Gex: Hugs. Many, many hugs.
I am leaving in about 45 minutes to go to my pottery class. I was talking to a woman I work with at my new job who used to work at my old place before I did. She said that she would not accept any sum of money to work there again. I had been absolutely hating my life for the last 18 months there, and I was repeatedly told that I was “negative” whenever I would say I was having a hard time managing workload and I needed help. As I tended to do, I was really critical of myself and basically stopped talking at all, so no one could say I was negative. But I am realizing that that is all total bullshit. I’m not negative. I have a really good attitude about work. The problem was that I was being abused and taken advantage of, and I felt a sense of ownership and never wanted to disappoint anyone, but that was taken advantage of. In short, it wasn’t me—it’s them. Then when the head of my office insulted me when I quit, it proved to me that they deserve to fail. Fuck that.
Josie
@Corner Stone: Thanks for the laugh. You remind me so much of my middle son. Must be something in the Houston water.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
You too?
This year not as bad as some have been. Something positive for me for once. Given normal progress I should expect a safe or a grand piano to fall out of the sky on my ass any moment.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
Sometimes the hard road(in this case quitting a job) is the best one. Glad things are working out.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
If it’s overcast in the morning, I usually get a headache. Stupid sinuses.
tesslibrarian
@raven: It’s funny how stuck one can be in their own neighborhoods. When we lived in Decatur, only places like the suburbs (Lawrenceville, Marietta) seemed far away. We are spoiled with our Five Points location.
Are you going to the game tomorrow? I was really happy when I heard someone from our tailgate circle was looking for extra tickets. (eta: we’re about 6 rows up, on the aisle between 134 and 135. ~10th yard line, but TDs in our endzone are thrilling.)
Jebediah, RBG
@rikyrah:
Regarding that “registered Democratic voter“:
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I’ve often wondered about some sort of device for mine. Something like dynamite, maybe a tunnel boring machine. The split second between every other moment and the total end would be nirvana.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
There are days when the Makita looks tempting. But it’s usually gone the next day.
Weirdly, it turns out that mine can sometimes be tied into my asthma since I’m not actually allergic to anything. I may be trying a FODMAPs diet because of some food sensitivities I have — if it does anything for the migraines, I’ll let you know.