Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You cannot shame the shameless.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

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

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Fight them, without becoming them!

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Shovel Ready

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  1. 1.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Looters and moochers require shovels. The real Randian uber-man can clear snow with the power of his WILL.

  2. 2.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The best way to utilize a shovel, in the case of Rand Paul, is a swift stroke upside the head.

  3. 3.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    Well, at least I found out why I hadn’t heard back from anyone about the job in LaCrosse. The woman I interviewed with is no longer with the company and no one else there remembered that I’d applied until I contacted them. So I have once again been told that they will probably make a decision within a week.

  6. 6.

    jl

    There’s a pony in there someplace! I know it. We just have to find it. The Congressional GOP won’t be helpful, so we need to point the way.

  9. 9.

    elmo

    Ah, the first day of snow in DC. My normal commute from Southern MD to NoVA is about an hour, hour and ten minutes. It took me two hours this morning just to get to the Beltway, and another hour and fifteen minutes to get to the Dulles Toll Road. Three and a half hours door to door.

    I left the house at 8 am. When I walked in to the office at 11:30, my boss announced that we were closing the office at noon (he was kidding). I don’t anticipate a much better drive home.

    Thank GOD I’m traveling the rest of the week so I won’t have to deal with the Beltway again until Monday.

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    America’s #1 export product: Dangerous Morons.

    A pro-vaccination group have asked Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to deny a controversial American anti-vaccination campaigner a visa to speak in Australia.

    American osteopath Sherri Tenpenny is planning a speaking tour of the country to lecture against vaccination.

    Dr Tenpenny believes vaccines cause autism, asthma, ADHD and auto-immune disorders.

    “What is actually in those vaccines? There’s a whole lot more coming through that needle than you can possibly imagine,” said Dr Tenpenny.

    The March series of seminars are aimed at parents of babies.

    Seminar organiser Stephanie Messenger, of Brisbane, said the doctor was an “excellent speaker”.

    “She’s only been to the CDC archives and got a lot of information – that’s the Center for Disease Control in the US, so a Government place – and got all the information and I think parents have a right to know what the Government knows and is not telling people,” Ms Messenger said.

    She said people calling for Dr Tenpenny’s visa to be denied “clearly don’t believe in freedom of speech”.

    “They do believe in censorship and they don’t believe that parents have a right to have information,” she said.

    God, what an embarrassment. But hey, she “got a lot of information.”

  12. 12.

    zippity

    We got about 6-7 inches of light fluffy snow. Unfortunately, I live at the end of a dead end street, at the bottom of a slight hill. I can get out of my driveway, but can’t get enough momentum to make it to where the street evens out. I’m just glad I could reverse down the hill and back into the driveway so I’m not blocking the street when a plow finally comes. So, it’s a snow day. Guess I’ll take advantage and get some housework done.

  14. 14.

    jl

    @Bill D.: I’ve never understood that reasoning. I guess a person has to understand extremely complex concepts like “average”. Say there is an annual cycle of seasonal average temps from 0 d F in Winter to 80 d F in Summer. Say the average average annual temp increases by 1 d F. So now the average Winter temp is 1 d F in the Winter and the average Summer temp is 81 d F. So…. you can still expect some frozen water hanging around in Winter.

    But then, I don’t listen to Fox News and therefore have a defective understanding of Science.

  16. 16.

    Belafon

    @trollhattan: Maybe Austraila can wait until after she’s left here, and then we can petition that the government not allow an anti-vaccine campaigner into the US.

  18. 18.

    jl

    Speaking of shoveling horseshit, some news from the master… in which Bill seems to agree with David Duke that it is unfair to criticize him for being racist because Nelson Mandela was a commie, and the media did not obsess on that continuously. I don’t follow that line of reasoning, but then I am a silly liberal.

    Bill O’Reilly Says David Duke Won’t Get ‘A Fair Shake’ From The Media
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-oreilly-david-duke-shouting-match

  19. 19.

    elmo

    @MattF: So did I, and despaired. But I had to come in today, because I’m an idiot and I didn’t take my laptop home with me last night. D’oh!

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Amir Khalid:

    Yep. Though, of course, when I think of osteopaths, I always think of the witness in “Double Indemnity”:

    Jackson: There’s a very good osteopath in town I’d like to see before I leave.

    Keyes: Osteopath. Well, just don’t put her on the expense account.

    It seems that in the 1940s, an osteopath was basically a massage therapist, with similar connotations as it has today (some are legit, some are basically hookers under another name).

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    @jl:
    If the American public considers David Duke a racist lowlife, then he is getting a fair shake from the media.

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @raven:

    IIRC, medical doctors were called “doctor,” but surgeons were not (and still aren’t in the UK, as far as I know). Since surgeons dealt with the “mechanical” body and not with balancing the humors, etc, they weren’t “real” doctors. (Dentists also were not doctors.)

    It was a small character point on “ER” that a surgeon from England had to get used to being called “Dr.” because she was “Ms.” in the UK.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Speaking of dentists, I have an appointment to see mine in an hour and a half so he can tell me I need a root canal and send me to the endodontist. Damn it. At least I have a really good endodontist that I trust, but I’d rather not have a regular endodontist at all!

  32. 32.

    KG

    @elmo: it’s 10 am and 70 degrees in Southern California. It’s unseasonably warm, but I’m not sure I should conplain

  33. 33.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Do osteopaths in America really get to style themselves “Doctor”?

    @Amir Khalid: I gave my wife a ton of shit about going to see one as her regular doctor and “got educated”, as wives frequently do to their husbands when they’re being stupid. So here’s the deal – osteopaths are doctors here. You get the full 4-year medical school/residency/torture treatment like every other MD in America, and then you get to go to osteopath school on top of that. Think it’s six years total.

    So yes, not only do they get to call themselves “Doctor”, they really are doctors. Here. I understand in other countries this is not the case.

  34. 34.

    jl

    @MattF: My favorite surgeon maxim (which I have heard said jokingly several times): “hey, no end-stage organ, no end-stage disease”.Also: “When in doubt, cut it out”. SATSQ!

  36. 36.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    I asked because I wouldn’t consider an osteopath a real doctor. Or a homeopath, either, although I’m aware that many believe in these things. I would be unhappy if I saw either kind in a hospital as anything but a patient.

  37. 37.

    jl

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: I think that is the case here in the US too. I’ve dealt with medical students on rotation from other parts of the US who say that they will be osteopaths, not medical doctors. So, at least some have standard medical doctor training. Seems to be a lot of regional variation in where osteopaths practice and how state licensing works in US. Anyone know about how it works in the US, I’d like to know.

    Though I guess I could get on the wikipedia and see what it says…

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    We had an M.D. named Doctor Doctor in the neighborhood when I was growing up. Guess his occupation was preordained (no telling what would have happened had the surname been Feelgood.) A friend’s dad, Doctor Paine, was a heart surgeon. My friend, of course, was Tom.

  39. 39.

    Mike in dc

    My main thought when I got up this morning was “How long did I sleep?” It was clear when I went to bed…

  42. 42.

    elmo

    @KG: I’m originally from Southern California (Eastern San Diego County). Go ahead and complain, I would. I like cold weather, hate hot weather, and if it’s 70 degrees at 10 in the morning, your day is going to be unpleasant.

  43. 43.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    @jl: I meant the US. Shit, I even have a few on my Kaiser list. All full-qualified MDs as well as ODs.

    I asked because I wouldn’t consider an osteopath a real doctor. Or a homeopath, either, although I’m aware that many believe in these things. I would be unhappy if I saw either kind in a hospital as anything but a patient.

    The Wiki article is quite interesting.

    @Amir Khalid: In your neck of the woods, an osteopath appears to be what we here in America call a “chiropractor”, someone who professionally destroys your joints and spine for money.

    A “homeopath” is the US is a quack who sells magic potions out of the back of a station wagon emblazoned with screeds against the US Government and CIA mind control, is insane, and usually has a prison record as long as my arm.

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    Wikipedia tells me osteopathic medicine is a specialisation recognised in the US but nowhere else. I still wouldn’t want to see one in a Malaysian hospital.

  45. 45.

    rlrr

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:

    Osteopaths in the US are legit medical doctors licensed to practice medicine (my primate care physician is a DO and she is no different than any other medical doctor I’ve had dealings with). Some medical schools in the US started out as osteopathic schools and have morphed into normal medical schools over the years. The main difference between MD’s and DO’s is what school they went to.

  46. 46.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    @rlrr: Yeah, that’s what my wife said after I referred to her physician as a “witch doctor” one too many times. She was right.

    lol at “primate care”. Too accurate for a lot of folks but both funny and dead-on true!

  48. 48.

    Ben Cisco

    @jl:

    Nelson Mandela was a commie

    Had an old MSgt drop that line on me (a mere three-striper at the time).

    My response: “Yeah, how dare he align himself with the people who WEREN’T beating his ass!”

    I don’t think that was the response he was looking for…

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    @jl:

    I’ve never understood that reasoning.

    The people don’t want to believe in global warming, so they’re clutching at straws. It’s very, very simple.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    @Ben Cisco:
    Entire time in prison he was a moocher, what with taking that free room and board and all. Ayn Rand wouldn’t do that until later in life.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @MomSense:

    I couldn’t sleep last night even with ibuprofen, so that’s why I finally broke down and made an appointment today. I’m not worried about the root canal — I’m a veteran by now, unfortunately — but I’m still annoyed I’m probably going to have to have one.

    ETA: So far, I’ve been able to avoid the periodontist thanks to stellar work by my dentist, but that will probably be in my future as well.

  53. 53.

    Gene108

    @Amir Khalid:

    DO’s in the USA – Doctor of Osteopathy – are doctors, who pass the same board exams as other doctor.

    My nephrologist is a DO and he is very good.

  54. 54.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    I think the periodontal issues are hereditary. My Mom, sister and I have all had to deal with the same issues at about the same ages.

    Sorry you’ve been in so much pain. Tooth pain is about the worst. Hope you feel much better.

  55. 55.

    Comrade Mary

    VETO! VETO! VETO!

    President Barack Obama is planning to veto a bill that would force approval of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, according to the Associated Press

    I think Harper can see the writing on the wall about our petro-economy. Maybe another reason why he’s finally meeting with Ontario Premier Wynne, from a province where we actually build things.

  58. 58.

    Freemark

    @Amir Khalid: In the USA a Doctor of Osteopathic medicine goes through the same education and training as a M.D. doctor. They do the same surgery, prescriptions, etc as a M.D. In most other countries osteopath has a different connotation.

  59. 59.

    JoyfulA

    @Amir Khalid: We had Osteopathic Hospital here before it became a campus of BigHospital, and we have a good number of D.O.s in practice.

    Hahnemann Hospital and Medical School in Philadelphia (I think now part of Drexel University) is huge and, way back when, was strictly osteopathic. It’s probably the source of many of our osteopathic docs, as it’s 100 miles away.

    My understanding is that the D.O. has training in some aspects of chiropracty as well as full medical training.

  60. 60.

    replicnt6

    @trollhattan:

    I used to work with two people, one with the last name Doctor and one with the last name Emde. I always suggested that they marry, hyphenate, and go to med school together, so they’d be Dr. & Dr. Doctor-Emde, M.D.

    But nobody ever takes my advice.

  61. 61.

    Mike in NC

    First day of the 114th Congress, and yes, every day will require shoveling.

    Yeah, we can expect the 114th to be worse than useless. Obama will need to order up an extra large supply of veto pens.

    Currently 63 degrees and sunny here, but the Arctic Blast is due to arrive tomorrow night with wind chill down in the single digits.

  63. 63.

    shelley

    @Comrade Mary: Really can’t understand why there’s all this celebration on the right on the Republican takeover of Congress today. All the loonier attempts will simply be vetoed by Obama. And pretty much any of the wingnut’s fervent dreams (like Gohmert taking over as speaker from Boehner) is never gonna happen.

  65. 65.

    Xantar

    @Freemark:

    In all honesty, I’m not sure why ODs still exist in the USA seeing as they are virtually indistinguishable from MDs in training and academic requirements. The only difference is that they throw in a slight amount of woo which has been steadily shrinking as they continue to try to bring their curriculum in line with evidence-based medicine (i.e. what normal doctors learn anyway).

  66. 66.

    Comrade Mary

    @shelley: What are the odds that enough Democrats go along on a Keystone bill to reach the 2/3 veto-proof threshold? (I have no idea.)

  67. 67.

    Gravenstone

    @Mike in NC: I’ll gladly take above zero windchills. We’re talking -35 to -40 windchills tonight into tomorrow in the frozen tundra.

  71. 71.

    gene108

    @JoyfulA:

    Hahnemann Hospital and Medical School in Philadelphia (I think now part of Drexel University) is huge and, way back when, was strictly osteopathic. It’s probably the source of many of our osteopathic docs, as it’s 100 miles away.

    My understanding is that the D.O. has training in some aspects of chiropracty as well as full medical training.

    I believe UMDNJ (I think Rowan University now) also has school of osteopathic medicine.

    There is still some difference in the approach of how to treat patients vis-à-vis DO’s versus MD’s, as DO’s take a more holistic / total body approach rather than attack just specific symptoms.

  72. 72.

    Bill D.

    @jl: You’re being too fancy and sophisticated, elitist even. Common sense shows that if it gets really cold then things can’t be warming up. When it actually does warm up that doesn’t count.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Dentist says I don’t need a root canal, I need a correction of an existing root canal that has gone bad for some reason. It could be a cracked root, but the endodontist has to look at it. Ugh! ?

  74. 74.

    Ben Cisco

    Really can’t understand why there’s all this celebration on the right on the Republican takeover of Congress today

    I do; it’s easy actually. Because they’ve been told over and over and over again that all that was needed to reign in the milquetoast, yet tyrannical Muslin usurper was a honest-to-god, super-exceptional, über-patriotic, REAL ‘Murkan Congress®.

    And lo, the rubes ate it up like unto the most succulent of lamb.

  75. 75.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid: Yes, and their education mirrors that of the MDs, so that you have DO cardiac doctors, the whole gamut of medical specialists, trained alongside MDs in their residency specialties in the same hospitals. I’m not sure what the real difference ever was, but there isn’t any distinction now so far as I know. So this person being a DO is no excuse for her diseased imaginary beliefs on vaccinations.

    I don’t respect the opinions of any doctor who opposes vaccinations, as they have been proven to improve the general health of the population far beyond any possible detriment to 1 in a million cases. I believe in freedom of speech, but not freedom to distort and lie, or to yell “FIRE” in a crowded place. So F()k this crazy woman who managed to get a degree and pass her residency, without learning how the scientific method works, somehow, really.

    I don’t believe in Homeopathy at all… no evidence that it works, and the underlying theory only makes sense at all in the complete absence of the germ theory, whihc is proven as a cause of most illnesses…

    She could go to western Africa and treat sick people and do some good, but no, she’s going to lobby in favor of whooping cough, tetanus and measles and against preventing such diseases. As I said already, crazy!! I’m actually signed up to get a pertussus tetanus and measels revaccination very soon now myself, as they don’t actually last your whole life, and herd immunity here is already damaged to then point where these once-beaten diseases are now rampant again.

    You can break your ribs coughing with whooping cough, did you know that? That’s what this crazy bunch of people want for their children, broken ribs caused by their own tortured bodies!

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