Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The words do not have to be perfect.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

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

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

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

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

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

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

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

This fight is for everything.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Monday Shattered Dreams Open Thread

Monday Shattered Dreams Open Thread

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I’ve forgotten exactly what that giant gas ball in the sky is called, but it’s quite uncharacteristically bright out there right now, with the light bouncing off the wind-driven snowbanks. The Spousal Unit isn’t completely satisfied with the roof-raking guys that our driveway-plowing guy recommended, but while he was ‘supervising’ them, he struck up a deal with the clambering-around-on-the-roof guy working across the street, who’ll come back again tomorrow morning to deal with our remaining ice dams. Just in time for tomorrow’s predicted 1″-3″ of fresh snow…

What’s going on in your neighborhoods?

Reader Interactions

191Comments

  1. 1.

    Dumbspear O'Sparrow

    Re the image in the tweet above: This keeps happening every few months. Somebody takes a screenshot from Back to the Future 2, changes it, and claims that today is the day that it predicted. In fact, the day depicted in the original shot altered above was October 21, 2015. I can only hope that the coming of that day will finally put these games to rest, but I know it won’t.

  2. 2.

    dedc79

    Every few months, this circulates on the interwebs and turns out to be a doctored photo. I think the real one isn’t until October 2015.

  3. 3.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    I should be getting more done in my craft room today, but instead I’m still sitting on the couch in my bathrobe. Later, I need to watch some more Disney Channel cartoons for work, though I should probably get outside for at least a few minutes since it’s sunny and in the 70s. It’s a hard life, I tells ya.

  4. 4.

    buddy h

    In some ways for me, 1985 seems like yesterday.

    I’ve seen a few episodes of the new sitcom “The Goldbergs” and it makes me feel a hundred years old. One mistake I think they make: the mom on the show has a poofy 80s hairdo, a farrah fawcett do. But back in that day, a mom of that age would look like the early ’60s. The daughter would have that look. Older generations tend to stick with the look they had in college. For example, I notice lots of women in their forties with hair styles that look like a 1982 high school yearbook. And guys that age who are basically unchanged from 1978.

  5. 5.

    Botsplainer

    Got a state of emergency – Governor doesn’t want people stranded as temps do a subzero plummet.

  6. 6.

    lol

    So Bibi is now leaking details of talks with Iran to the press in order to sabotage them. Isn’t this the sort of thing that gets diplomats expelled?

  9. 9.

    max

    What’s going on in your neighborhoods?

    *Now* we’re getting snow. And it’s fucking cold. I liked it better when it was fucking cold and sunny.

    max
    [‘Some say extreme heat is bad. Others say extreme cold is bad. Nobody likes overcast. I live in a climate with all three! WOO!’]

  11. 11.

    Botsplainer

    @raven:

    So far today, traffic is way down. People stayed home, which also tends to leave roads less clear. While volume is down, wrecks and standings are way up – the temps are in that “you are in serious trouble if you get stuck out” territory, and continue to drop all week. Friday morning, it’ll be in that 5-10 below zone, which sucks in this house. I’ll be lucky to get thermostat above 60, and am going to have to shut off the water to exterior hoses.

  12. 12.

    J.D. Rhoades

    We’re expecting our first winter storm of the season here in NC. The roads are salted, the power company has linemen on standby, the schools are adjusting their schedules. IOW, we are ready for the winter weather—and therefore will not get any.

  15. 15.

    JPL

    @raven: My sister-in-law still has power though, so that’s good. She’s pretty isolated and because of the roads, wouldn’t be able to get out.
    There’s some nice drops settling on my tree limbs and it’s 32 according to my thermometer. It’s suppose to warm up around 6 pm.

  17. 17.

    askew

    I’m having a horrible day. I’ve been down with the flu/cold from hell for the past week and start work back up with an average review that gives me no bonus and less than a 3% raise after our company made record profits. Why? My boss doesn’t like me and doesn’t understand or value what I do. But, not to worry if I work really hard I might be able to get one of the bonuses next year maybe.

    Then, my credit card gets declined at the grocery store when I finally drag myself out of the house for the first time in a week. Why? Because apparently buying food at my usual grocery store is now suspicious.

    Today can kiss my ass.

  20. 20.

    Rosalita

    The good news was that the sun was out most of today, even it was so stupid cold that my convertible roof froze after going to the carwash – and I HAD to get some of the crud of the damn car. If we’re lucky only a few inches tomorrow.

    I feel for all of you in the Boston area. May Mother Nature get off of all our asses soon.

  21. 21.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @max: You sound like you’re quoting Robert Frost:

    “Some say the world will end in fire,
    Some say in ice.
    From what I’ve tasted of desire
    I hold with those who favor fire.
    But if it had to perish twice,
    I think I know enough of hate
    To say that for destruction ice
    Is also great
    And would suffice.”

    Or, I suppose, George R. R. Martin. That might be worse.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @efgoldman:

    Shhh. She doesn’t need to know that until next winter.

    (Though, generally speaking, the more densely populated parts of the city tend to have better-cleared sidewalks, if only because people are constantly walking on them, and the streets tend to be better-cleared because traffic has to get through. It’s the suburbs that tend to get hosed.)

  23. 23.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Also, having Holder stay in office until his successor is confirmed was a brilliant move. They hate him so much they can’t confirm Lynch so they still have Holder. It’s perfect R logic.

  26. 26.

    Violet

    We’ve had warm weather and the cold front swept through today and I’ve got to go out and cover all the citrus trees. Not looking forward to that. Although nothing to complain about compared to those of you in the winter weather danger areas.

    You can feel free to point and laugh in July and August.

  27. 27.

    Botsplainer

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini):

    Believe me, I’ve mentioned it.

    Ever since the city fathers shanked it in ’94 (that 18 inch fall was a surprise – weather dorks only predicted a bit of wintery mix, so all the removal equipment, salt trucks, etc. was uselessly sitting in depots, unreachable), there are now NWS conference calls and multiagency strategy meetings with followup press briefings. We approach storms (snow and wind) with the same organizational methods with which we handle the Derby.

  29. 29.

    Wayne

    Down here in South Florida we are up to our ear lobes in sunlight. It is quite irritating as there has been a run on mirrors (along with the requisite price gouging) to reflect that crap back up to the heavens. And sunglasses? Don’t even ask. Cannot find a pair anywhere.

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    I already bought it at Amazon
    ………………………………………..

    Why aren’t PBS stations airing the new Thurgood Marshall documentary in prime time slots?

    Martin Luther King, Jr. is the face of the civil rights movement, but the architect who tore down the framework of legalized discrimination, Thurgood Marshall, is often overlooked except, perhaps, during Black History Month despite his impact on American history.

    That’s why filmmaker Mick Caouette made “Mr. Civil Rights,” a documentary about Marshall’s early life, the time period before he successfully challenged separate public schools for black and white students in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education.

    Caouette said he first set out to do a story about civil rights activist and former NAACP executive director Roy Wilkins. But Roger Wilkins, Roy’s nephew and past publisher of The Crisis Magazine, thought Marshall made for a more interesting character study.

    “He’s been largely forgotten and I couldn’t understand why that was,” said Caouette recalling his conversation with the younger Wilkins. “I wanted to do something that would bring his name back to the forefront again. I found there was little on this part of his life, and I wanted to expose the courage of this part of his life and remind people of who he was.”

    “Mr. Civil Rights” was completed more than a year ago, but unfortunately, many public broadcasting stations have yet to air it. Of the more than 351 public television stations that receive support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; “Mr. Civil Rights” has aired on about 200 of them, Caouette said.

    The film was scheduled to be shown in 115 cities on Martin Luther King’s birthday, including Marshall’s hometown. WHUT at Howard University is also airing the film. But WETA, which broadcasts in Washington, D.C. have has not aired the film, and has no plans to at this time.

    Caouette said that some public broadcasting stations, like WETA, may be waiting to air the documentary during black history month.

    “They want to pigeonhole it into a black history day or a month. But that’s a little disappointing to me because this is everybody’s history,” Caouette added. “Thurgood Marshall is American history. My main complaint is not even that PBS has ignored it, or if it is even conscious, but the film has been placed in the ‘Black History’ mold, when in fact it is all of our history, black or white, good or bad.”

    …………………………….

    To see the film in your area, please contact your local PBS affiliate and ask when the station will air the documentary.

    http://alldigitocracy.org/fewer-than-half-of-public-broadcasting-stations-airing-thurgood-marshall-documentary/

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @Buddy H: I have that same baby gate for my puppy. Maybe if I send video to the manufacturer – of my little guy putting his head and part of his body through the opening and then pulling the gate open with his upper body – they will pay me not to post it on the internet.

    He also figured out how to get out of his crate, using his teeth, when he was 5 pounds. It’s not just the big dogs who are smart.

    Henry’s nickname is Houdini.

  37. 37.

    srv

    WEST VIRGINIA, Land of Flavor Evian!

    Emergency crews and environmental officials are responding to a train derailment in West Virginia that sent at least one tanker containing crude oil into a river and also caused a nearby house to catch fire.
    …
    West Virginia Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina said the tanker is leaking crude oil into the Kanawha River.

    Messina said at least one and possibly more tanker cars went into the river. He also said the derailment caused a house to catch fire.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @srv: Obviously, what few safety regulations there are on railroads need to be nullified so that the market will prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.

  41. 41.

    Buddy H

    @rikyrah: I remember being happily startled while watching the pbs documentary on Mark Twain. Late in Twain’s life, he sponsored a young man’s law school education. Warner T. McGuinn, who later became a celebrated civil rights lawyer and mentored… Thurgood Marshall.

  43. 43.

    Pogonip

    @max: I like overcast; the older I get, the more I am bothered by glare, even with sunglasses. Eye doctor says my eyes are fine, it happens sometimes to light-eyed oldsters.

  49. 49.

    Pogonip

    Anne asked what we’re all doing; my glute and I are getting back on speaking terms. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Dr appointment next Monday so I can see if I really need professional physical therapy.

  50. 50.

    Tommy

    We were supposed to get 6-8 inches of snow overnight. Got maybe, maybe 1.5. Supposed to get 5-7 today. We got maybe 1. I don’t what “Boston” snow, but I do like a good foot or so once or twice a winter. Where the weather guys/gals have been spot on all winter is the temp. Supposed to be a low of -4 tomorrow with up to 20+ MPH winds. Bet they will be right on that as they were when it was -29 with the windchill a few weeks ago. Why can’t they be right on the snow and WRONG on the temp. Why, please tell me why!

  54. 54.

    Tommy

    @ruemara: I can only speak to cats, and of course there are millions of jokes online about we being their pet, but I am not joking when I think my cat controls me FAR more than I control her. In fact, I think she is untrainable/controllable. Heck I think she has “trained” me.

    And her tactics have evolved over time. When she used to want something she’d roam around me. Meow. How if I am in a chair or in bed she will pawn me once on my bald head. Give me about 10 seconds to do something. Paw me again. Wait 10 or so seconds and then paw. Repeat until she gets something she wants.

    She almost ALWAYS gets what she wants.

    Did I mention there isn’t a single “wet” cat food she will eat. Only “human” canned Tuna. Oh and only StarKist. No generic, Bumble Bee, or Chicken of the Sea.

  55. 55.

    JPL

    @raven: nothing says patriotism as those who preach boots on the ground. It’s time for the countries in the Middle East to put their own boots on the ground.

  57. 57.

    Tenar Darell

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): Did you ever figure out about the shelves? I’ve got some experience with this. If it’s between two other bookcases, you might be able to gain the extra room you need by removing one or both sides of the bookcase and bracing/attaching the shelves directly to the other bookcases’ uprights. The only other thing I can think of is to buy the wall mounted tracks and braces, but use the shelves you have. (But I’m guessing there’s a reason you don’t want to do that, like a security deposit).

  60. 60.

    JPL

    @Baud: That will last until it’s their son or daughter whose boots are on the ground. Until the middle eastern countries step up, ISIS won’t be contained.

  61. 61.

    rea

    You know the Back to the Future arrival date was in late October, because the Cubs had just won the World Series (not likely but even less likely for Miami to lose to the Cubs in the World Series).

  62. 62.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @Tenar Darell:

    I have accepted that the Billy bookcase isn’t going to fit there, so I started looking at other options. The other complication is that the only outlet on that wall would end up behind the bookcase and unusable if I did manage to cram it in, and I don’t want to lose that option. I may try to get the couch in there first, see how much room it takes up, and decide from there. I saw a few bookcases on line that would fit the space if necessary.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: I see that you are conserving characters today. Are you also stingy with links to photos? You could attach the link to a single character if you are trying to give up characters for lent or some other reasons.

    Edited to weed out extraneous words and commas.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    Speaking of PBS Documentaries, just recorded one last night called -Spies of Mississippi, about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. A Government entity set up to sabotage the Civil Rights Movement. This was an Independent Lens production. The State Sovereignty Commission spies were the ones who fed the KKK the license plate and make/model of the car of Schewerner, Chaney, Goodman. The Sovereignty Commission had the exact location of their dead bodies long before they were ‘found’.

  66. 66.

    Kathleen

    @askew: Sorry to hear about your crappy week. The not being appreciated at work scenario totally sucks, especially when you work hard and it hits you in your wallet.

    My credit card was denied at a CVS in Florida (I live in Ohio) because the charge was for a large amount at a place I’d never charged before. I subsequently received a call from the Fraud Department stating scenario I described above was the reason my card had been declined. I do appreciate their vigilance in this, however, because on 2 occasions my credit card has been compromised. But it’s still scary when it’s denied because you’re not sure if someone else already stole your information. Hope things get better soon.

  71. 71.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): Jumping into this thread totally without full knowledge but have you looked at the modular units you can create at Menards? I know, their own is a far, far left loon. But my parents have been raving about the place for years and one opened by me not that long ago.

    A few weeks ago they dragged me into it for the first time.

    I’ve been looking to do a total custom closet for my bedroom and a combo custom bookcase/unit to put some nicknacks in my home office for ages. Looking at what it would cost at a place like the Container Store. Just more than I wanted to spend.

    What Menards has is clearly not the same quality, but the price (I thought there must have been a typo — couldn’t be that “cheap) coupled with the ability to customize almost endlessly is pretty freaking amazing.

    Just saying …. as I jump into a thread where I don’t have much (insert no) background :).

  72. 72.

    Kathleen

    @rikyrah: Several years ago HBO ran Lawrence Fishburne’s portrayal of Marshall in the play “Thurgood”. He was indeed a fascinating, courageous man who meticulously helped build the foundation of the Civil Rights movement in the courts (he was instrumental in the successful outcome of the Brown case).

  73. 73.

    Buddy H

    @Tommy: Very rarely, I’ll become absent-minded and go to bed without making sure our cat’s food dish is full. She will discover the outrage of an empty dish around three in the morning and let us know loudly.

    The funny thing is, she does this thing where I know she is approximating human speech. She make a meowing sound, but with “rounded” sounding vowels. It reminds me of a tape I heard of a whale that mimicked human speech.

    Her logic: I have to speak his “language” (or at least fake it like Sid Caesar) to make him understand I want FOOOD.

    The only time she does this is when her dish is empty in the middle of the night.

  74. 74.

    Tommy

    @gelfling545: How freaking about it. In the spring, my house gets crickets (I think the 5,000 acre corn/soy bean field in front of my house is a cause). For some reason, once they get inside they don’t seem to live long. If I could give her a diet of dead crickets I think she’d be in heaven!

  75. 75.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @Tommy:

    We don’t have Menards out here in California, though I’ve seen them when we visit Chicagoland. I haven’t made up my mind what I’m going to do, but I’ve seen some shelving units online that I liked and wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb next to the IKEA furniture.

  76. 76.

    Tenar Darell

    @raven: You’re right. I forgot to mention my shelf paper tip.
    @Mnemosyne
    You can use shelves from a standard laminated bookcase with tracks & wall mounts by wrapping the shelves in shelf paper. Which solves hiding the outlet too.

    Ooh, or something like this, a leaning bookcase!

    /vicarious shopping

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @Tommy:

    Also, I haven’t been very impressed with the quality of the furniture at the Container Store — it seemed way overpriced for what you got. A friend of mine at work did his closet with Rubbermaid products and has been very happy with them

  79. 79.

    jharp

    We’ve been Goddamned lucky in central Indiana.

    Last nights storm was mostly south of us and the 3 or 4 before that have been north of us.

    A pretty normal winter for us.

  80. 80.

    Hungry Joe

    In my neighborhood in San Diego we were back to walking our dogs later in the morning because it’s only supposed to get up to the low 70s today, after four or five days in the high 80s. The winter vegetables in our garden (collard, kale, chard, lettuce) were not amused.

    Hey, you asked.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @Tenar Darell:

    Ha! A narrow leaning bookcase is one of the options I was looking at. The trick is that it can’t be more than 14″ wide, but I saw at least 2 or 3 online that fit those specs.

    I may also be getting a Kallax unit from Ikea and laying it sideways under the window to be an end table/extra storage, but I still need to get the couch in and see if it will work.

  83. 83.

    FlyingToaster

    I wore my (prescription) sunglasses to shovel yesterday until the lenses fell out. One of the screws was stripped and when I tried to remove it, it disintegrated. Replaced it, reset the lenses, and I’m good to go for shoveling tomorrow.

    The planes spent all morning taking off over the Pike; every 90 seconds, another plane. If only that had been yesterday, I wouldn’t be here shoveling. Bastard blizzard. And the snow alley (from the steps to our driveway or the other steps to the neighbors’ driveway) is over my daughter’s head and up to my shoulders.

    At least the Sun sublimated all of the blown-in snow off of the steps.

    @Rosalita: @Tommy: The snow we now have in Boston is “Buffalo” snow. We last had this kind of mess 19 years ago.

  84. 84.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @rikyrah:

    I was watching Disney Junior last night and they had a Black History Month commercial break where they used Doc McStuffins to introduce a Black doctor who’s in family practice medicine. Since the channel is aimed at the pre-school crowd, I thought that was a good way to start getting the idea of equality across to young children without having to bring up murder and Jim Crow just yet.

  87. 87.

    Tenar Darell

    Next place I live I’m going to get someone professional to hang container store style tracks along the walls at about 8-10 feet and buy a bunch of the hanging tracks in 2 or 3 rooms and just fill those shelves with all my books. Add a hanging desk maybe. /the dream of enough shelves

  88. 88.

    Tommy

    @Buddy H: I hear you about the vocalization. I will have to pay more/closer attention. My cat is VERY vocal. I’ve had people over when she does it and they ask if she isn’t fixed and she is in heat.

    I am like no, she is fixed. She just wants something. I can’t always tell what it is though.

    Now this is about to get very meta for at least non-pet owners and maybe even non-cat but dog owners. She likes to take her food out of her bowl and put it on the mat under it, then eat it from there. I am somewhat OCD and when there is food there I take a Dirt Devil to the area. But I’ve found she will often come back and eat them. Problem is over time it all builds up and she won’t eat the older food. Did I mention I feed her small amounts of “dry” food at a time. It has to be “fresh” out of an air tight container.

    So I ordered this yesterday:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/221687984608

    I wonder if she doesn’t like the ceramic bowls her food and water is in. Will metal change that?

    There is another version of the above by another company that is similar, but has like a rim or mini-moat around the food so they can pull it out of the bowl and for lack of a better phrase “set it aside for later eating.”

    Those are more than twice the cost. I fear she will move me there next :).

    I hate to admit I almost ordered both, and since I have two cat feeding areas. One on each floor considered (no I am not joking) doing some A/B testing to see which she liked better based on food and water consumption:)!

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    I also discovered in my Disney Junior watching last night that Bing Crosby lives on in cultural memory as “The Crooner” since a Crosby parody turned up in one of their live-action shorts. It’s weird to see what gets perpetuated sometimes.

  90. 90.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Buddy H: My great aunt had a Pomeranian that could say “Out!” (after a few attempts). Our animals are often smarter than we think.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  91. 91.

    Tenar Darell

    @BillinGlendaleCA: D’oh. That’s right, I bought my cousin some knick knack safe grip stuff kinda as a joke when he was living out in SF area, but he said it came in handy.

  93. 93.

    Hungry Joe

    @Tommy: You have to rent “The Long Goodbye.” It’s a good movie anyway, but the opening scenes involve the detective (Elliott Gould) trying to trick his cat into eating an off-brand cat food.

  97. 97.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): The Container Store ALWAYS seemed over priced to me by many factors. I just like boxes and well containers.

    You can’t go wrong with Rubbermaid, which is the vast majority of what I have. My brother got a computer desk from Rubbermaid maybe 20 years ago. A desk with a two tier hutch he beat into the ground. Saw he was throwing it away. Grabbed it, threw away the hutch and have used it on my backporch for 6 years to pot plants and do that kind of gardening stuff. Still looks almost brand new.

    Now this may sound strange since you don’t have a Menards in CA. My parents drive like 100 miles roundtrip to get to one. They rant about it all the time.

    When I went into the place for the first time I have to admit I couldn’t not compute. There was too much stuff going on. Went there because they had the best deal on a 6.1 cubic foot freezer (I bought — best thing I’ve bought in years BTW). I walked out of there with almost $100 in some food but mostly socks.

    I am an avid hiker/walker/camper and what I had was getting old and tired. They had some of the best socks I’ve ever seen, and I generally shop at places like REI for that stuff.

    I thought they were a hardware store :)!

  101. 101.

    rikyrah

    GET DA PHUQ OUTTA HERE WITH THIS BULLSHYT!

    …………………………

    Alabama Secretary Of State: It’s Time To ‘Forgive People’ For Voter Suppression And ‘Move On’

    BY ALICE OLLSTEIN POSTED ON FEBRUARY 13, 2015 AT 8:48 AM UPDATED: FEBRUARY 13, 2015 AT 11:08 AM

    Just weeks ahead of the 50th anniversary of the violent clashes in Selma that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, lawmakers introduced a bill to restore that law’s power to protect voters against discrimination. Alabama’s newly sworn in Secretary of State John Merrill told ThinkProgress at a DC conference on Wednesday that he believes the new law should not cover his state, saying it’s time to “forgive people” for past voter suppression and “move on.”

    Civil rights groups and some lawmakers are already sharing concerns that Alabama — whose racially motivated redistricting case led to the gutting of the law in the first place — is not covered by the new version of the Voting Rights Act. But Merrill said he agrees with the authors of the bill that his state should not fall under the updated coverage formula.

    “I feel good about the kind of progress that we’re making and I don’t hear a hue and cry from our local officials about us not being able to meet the needs of all of our voters throughout the entire state,” he said. “I say, at some point in time, you’ve got to forgive people. If they’ve shown they are responsible and doing things the right way and have an extended period of success, then to me that ought to indicate that the strength is there, the desire is there, and you’ve got to move on.”

    When the Supreme Court struck down a key piece of the law in the summer of 2013, the federal government lost the ability to stop discriminatory changes to voting laws before they took effect in states and counties with a legacy of racism and voter suppression. Almost immediately after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Alabama pushed through the held-up redistricting as well as a voter ID law estimated to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters.

    Others say Alabama has not, as Merrill claims, demonstrated a “period of success” in protecting voting rights.

    “Alabama has a storied history of voter suppression. Although progress has been made, it is largely due to the protections granted by the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965,”said Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL). “We have witnessed a steady erosion of voter protections in the wake of Shelby County v. Holder that prove federal oversight is still necessary.” Sewell added that as recently as last January, courts found evidence of intentional discrimination against minority voters in Evergreen, Alabama. There, black voters were systematically photographed going to the polls as a means of voter intimidation, African Americans were improperly purged from the voter rolls using utility records, and the city’s voting map was redrawn to dilute black city council representation in the majority-black city.

    Under the new Voting Rights Act — identical to one that died in Congress last year — only voting rights violations committed over the past 15 years count toward deciding which areas get extra pre-clearance protections, and only four states would make the cut: Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi.

    http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/02/13/3622382/new-voting-rights-act-leaves-alabama-thats-just-fine-secretary-alabama/

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    Mission accomplished! Ventured out into the looming snowpocalypse at 3:45 and got ’er done: picked up the brother-in-law at work in Fairfax, drove him home to Arlington and then made my way back to Falls Church. Even scored bonus points for dropping off the nanny at the Clarendon Metro station. Got home a little before 5:30.

    The snow is coming down pretty hard, but it’s small, granular flakes, not the big, fluffy ones. And the (main) streets are in pretty good shape—sanded and salted, as needed. But wet and a little slippery when you pull away from a stop. Didn’t see any signs of plowing yet. But it’s supposed to start really coming down late tonight, and they’re still saying 6-10" by tomorrow morning. Which is fine with me: I’m snugged in with the housecat for the duration. Got her heating pad fired up, opened a bottle of red plonk and am having a glass of that with some hummus and crackers. Several good possibilities for dinner later.

    And I don’t have to take the BIL to work tomorrow. He’s going to drive my brother to the Metro to go downtown and use bro’ man’s SUV if he has to go to work.

    I hope all Juicers ride out the storm with no problems!

  103. 103.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): My bookshelves are bolted together in a corner arrangement(L-shape). I’m pretty sure they’d handle a moderate shake(<6). I had them bolted together up in Montrose in one long line and then used hollow wall anchors. They survived Northridge with just the hollow wall anchors being pulled out of the wall.

  104. 104.

    Hungry Joe

    @raven: Yup. But although the movie more or less follows the book, Gould — although excellent — isn’t anything like Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe. Doesn’t matter, though; it was an update, Robert Altman’s take on a ’70s ethos, and he nailed it.

    Sterling Hayden and a rather terrifying Henry Gibson (!) were great, too. Weirdly, Jim Bouton was also in it.

  105. 105.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @rikyrah:

    I still say that, thanks to the proven suppressing effect of voter ID laws in states like Indiana and Wisconsin, ALL changes to voting laws in EVERY state should be subjected to pre-clearance. No exceptions, because we know now that states that did not previously have issues with voter suppression will suddenly develop them if Republicans are put in charge.

    Plus then we won’t have to listen to whiners like that a-hole.

  106. 106.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Steeplejack:

    I hope all Juicers ride out the storm with no problems!

    We’ll be OK in LA, but thanks for your concern. Wait, you all sand your streets? Doesn’t that make it too smooth a surface to drive on. Reminds me I have to sand the wall before painting it.

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    water is wet news

    …………………

    Black and Latina women scientists sometimes mistaken for janitors

    By Brigid Schulte February 6

    In a series of famous studies designed to gauge at what age stereotypes sink into young minds, elementary school students were asked to draw a scientist. Kindergarteners’ drawings in these Draw-a-Scientist tests were all over the map. But by second grade, one standard image had firmly taken root: A scientist wore a white lab coat and glasses. And he was always a white man.

    So it should perhaps come as no surprise that a new report on women of color in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, found that 100 percent of the 60 scientists interviewed reported experiencing bias and discrimination.

    So much so that African-American and Latina scientists said they were routinely mistaken for janitors. “I always amuse my friends with my janitor stories,” one black woman scientist said. “But it has happened, not only at weird hours.”

    More than three-fourths of the African-American women scientists surveyed – 500 in an online survey in addition to the 60 in-depth interviews – reported having to provide evidence of their competence over and over again. They tend to feel they can’t afford to make a single mistake. And more than women of any other race or ethnicity, black women were more likely to report a sense of “bleak isolation.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/02/06/black-and-latina-women-scientists-sometimes-mistaken-for-janitors/

  110. 110.

    Tommy

    @Hungry Joe: Bookmarked. Will look for it on Netflix. That should be LOL funny. I know I will be able to relate.

    I tried to move Mather from the “cheap” food to the expensive stuff overnight a few years ago. At first we went from Nine Lives to I don’t know what, Scientific Diet. She would have none of it.

    I now have inserted baby steps. Moved her up the quality chain slowly and funny thing found no resistance.

    I don’t know where we will end. I asked about his on a few cat blogs, the best/healthy (or those two things the same) dry foods for a cat, and it was more mean and over-the-top in anger then if I called Obama the anti-Christ here. I am not joking. Told myself I would never go to a cat blog again.

    I just want two things in this order with how I feed my cat. (1) Her to eat the food because she likes it, not because she is starving and it is the only thing around (clearly) and a very close (2) It will make her healthy and let her spend more time with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Now I know somebody will ask what I feed her. Purina Beyond. From this I want to hop over to the non-multi-national pet food providers. Took time to get here from Nine Lives.

  111. 111.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    Forgot to mention that it’s 12°, up from 6° when I went out this morning. But the wind chill is 12°, too, so there’s that. And it’s actually getting warmer: the low tonight is supposed to be 14°, and the high tomorrow 31°.

  115. 115.

    rikyrah

    they voted him back in.

    elections have consequences

    …………………

    Brownback’s Right-Wing “Experiment” Is Bankrupting Kansas. His Solution: More Radical Cuts.

    By Danny Vinik

    Last year didn’t go according to plan for Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. First, the state’s revenue collections came up far short of expectations due to huge tax cuts that he pushed through the state legislature in 2012. Those tax cuts, however, didn’t spur strong growth, as the governor projected. Then, as his policies drew national criticism, Brownback found himself in a tight reelection contest, despite Kansas’ being a very conservative state.

    Brownback survived, winning by less than 4 points. But now he’s faced with a gaping hole in the state’s budget, thanks to his tax cuts—and his new proposal to fill that hole will hurt the poorest Kansans and undermine the state’s future.

    After the 2013 fiscal year, Kansas was in good shape. It had more than $700 million in a reserve fund, equal to more than 11 percent of its spending that year ($6.1 billion). In fact, state law requires Kansas to keep its balance equal to 7.5 percent of expenses. In total that year, the budget brought in about $200 million more than the state spent.

    But then the tax cuts kicked in. Revenue in the 2014 fiscal year came in $333 million below projections—and nearly $700 million below the 2013 levels. Spending fell by around $150 million, but the state still faced a deficit of $329 million. Because the reserve fund was flush with cash, Brownback and his Republican colleagues didn’t have to making drastic cuts or hike taxes to close the shortfall. They just subtracted it from the reserve fund, leaving it with just $380 million remaining.

    ……………………………………

    On Tuesday, Brownback signed legislation that would balance the budget by diverting money from other funds, particularly one for highway projects, to the general fund. It would also reduce contributions to pensions for teachers and government workers, pushing those costs into the future. It’s a deeply irresponsible budget that hides the costs of the tax cuts with short-term patches. But this is just the beginning: Kansas faces a projected $600 million budget shortfall in the 2016 fiscal year—and now there is no money in the reserve fund to cover any of it.

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121068/kansas-tax-cuts-deplete-budget-brownback-proposes-more-cuts

  116. 116.

    Pogonip

    @rikyrah: Neurologist doctorgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com , who doesn’t like to dress up, was once asked in a snooty tone when the doctor would be back. The asker, unfortunately for her, was a pharmaceutical rep. Her sales that week were not as high as expected.

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    @Just One More Canuck:

    They were all over it on the ’60s on Six channel on Sirius radio when I was out. Finally turned the channel because they kept going on and on. Not even playing her songs, just nattering and nattering.

    One of my favorite lesser hits by Lesley Gore: “Maybe I Know.”

  118. 118.

    Baud

    @rikyrah:

    I’m starting to be glad he won. Some poor Democrat would have been saddled with his mess, just like Obama was, and blamed for it.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @raven: Ed Schultz was to put the fucking army on the ground against ISIS. I always thought he was stupid.

    I haven’t watched his show in a long time but I’ll do just about anything to avoid finishing my taxes… I was glad he got a little push back for the retired colonel and Steve Clemons, who correctly called him out for responding with pure emotion. I pretty much quit watching Tweety when he shrieked something about the beheadings being an assault on every American, or something like that. Lawrence O’Donnell had a guy from the Weekly Standard on the other night to say John McCain’s right about everything.

  126. 126.

    bemused

    @rikyrah:

    When I see Brownback, I think robotic, zombie like. There’s no animation. Scott Walker is similar. Maybe they really are aliens sent here to destroy America.

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    @srv:

    Fortunately they’re getting rid of those pesky water-quality regulations that will hinder the cleanup.

  131. 131.

    Pogonip

    @Tommy: Is your cat not doing well on the Purina? And what does your vet say?

    Terriermandotcom has some interesting articles on dog food, boiling down to, snob-appeal yuppie-brand dog foods are not necessarily all they are cracked up to be. He suggests feeding your dog regular old food from a company such as Purina that has a lot invested in its reputation, enough to have its own plants ( a lot of the snob-appeal food manufacture, according to him, is contracted out, and we all know about contracting out!). This sounds logical to me and ought to extend to cat food, so if your cat likes the Purina, why not play it safe and keep her on it?

  132. 132.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: 6 years ago, I saw on my TV people talking about how CA was a failed state with an economy like Greece, ungovernable, and probably should just declare bankruptcy. We seem to be OK now. Something happened.

  135. 135.

    Baud

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Stable, continuous Democratic control (even with the supermajority requirement). You want to know why the country is in the state it’s in? It’s because Dems haven’t controlled the federal government for even four consecutive years since 1980.

  136. 136.

    shelley

    Gaaah, AMC is showing ‘The Day After Tomorrow”, directed by Roland Emmerich, he of ‘Independence Day’ fame.

    You know, it’s that film about super storm cells bringing a new ice age across North America. Please, right now we don’t need Art imitating Life.

  137. 137.

    Violet

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): Don’t know what the problem is with your shelves or what your need is, but since you’re looking at IKEA furniture you might like taking a look at IKEAhackers to get some ideas. You can search by the name of the furniture you’ve got or are considering buying, or just shelves or whatever.

  139. 139.

    Gravenstone

    @JPL: Might I suggest a formulation of sodium cyanide, with a nice bleach chaser for their ills? Too extreme?

  142. 142.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Has anyone seen how Megan Kelly and the one from Survivor: Rosie O’Donnell reacted to Jane Curtain’s shot last night? I’m assuming some website or other made an intern watch.

  143. 143.

    satby

    @Pogonip: I have this debate all the time with pet food snobs who can’t believe I feed all my rescues the appropriate chow.Purina has never been recalled (to my knowledge, and I do check the recalls) for all the contaminants other higher priced foods have been (I’m looking at you IAMS and Science Diet).
    Never had a single animal refuse to eat Purina either. And none of my animals get any wet food, so none of them ever have dental problems either.

  146. 146.

    Violet

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): Yeah, we had similar problems with some IKEA shelving. They’re great but they’re not custom so they don’t always fit.

    I think you said you have BILLY shelving. You might like looking at some of the BILLY hacks. People do some really interesting stuff and you can get some cool ideas. I got some ideas we used with our shelving.

  147. 147.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    From Charlie Pierce’s gob-shite round-up, Kathleen Parker, Pulitzer Prize winner and Villager of highest standing:

    PARKER: Well look, President Bush over… when he was president and had to go to war under the circumstances we all believed in at the time, he put in place a lot of tools, the Homeland Security, you know, the Patriot Act, all that as well as the authorization

    “had to go to war” and “we all believed in”
    and unless Pierce very selectively edited the transcript, and he didn’t, she got zero pushback from Chuck Todd. I’ve seen Parker do this on TV, she lies through her teeth with perfect poise and confidence. She knows her Village.

  148. 148.

    trollhattan

    Took a 2+ hour bike ride and at no time felt like puking, so win-win. Short-sleeve jersey, no jacket. Weeds have already conquered the yard so…sorry neighbors.

  149. 149.

    Pogonip

    @satby: Your account pretty much coincides with Terrierman’s. He has working dogs so he’s got to feed them well.

    In my opinion a lot of the problems that ail modern pets, physical or behavioral, are caused by people using them as substitute children. Treat your dog like a dog and your cat like a cat–it’ll be healthier and everyone will be happier.

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: I made the yummy rolls you recommended as good hamburger buns (recipe from king arthur flour). They are great! I initially made them for my spicy sloppy joes, but when I ran out of sloppy joes I used them for everything. They even make for a good breakfast sandwich with egg whites and cheese.

    I make my dough with my bread machine, so all you have to do is cut the dough into pieces, put a little butter on the top and bake them. So good! The really happy thing is that they didn’t go stale in a day. thanks for the recommendation.

    edited to include baking the rolls. wouldn’t want anyone to think i was eating them raw.

  158. 158.

    elmo

    @satby: IAMS and Science Diet are absolute crap, and I’m sorry, but Purina is known to use “triple-D” meat in their chow.

    “Dead, down, diseased.”

    Always read the ingredients. If it says only “meat,” without specifying what kind, then it likely includes roadkill, animals from labs, and dogs and cats euthanized from shelters. Science Diet contains ethoxyquin, which is a tire preservative. Vets sell it because Hill’s pays them to.

    Read the order in which ingredients are listed, and be conscious of ingredient-splitting: rice bran, rice meal, and rice are often split up so that “rice” isn’t the first ingredient. Same with corn products. Also be aware that “chicken” is mostly water, and “chicken by-product meal” is beak, feet, and feathers. “Chicken meal” (or lamb meal, etc) is the best value.

    Be aware that many dogs are sensitive to corn, wheat, and soy. If your dog doesn’t get digestive upset, doesn’t produce huge quantities of poop, has great coat and skin, and never gets ear infections, then you don’t need to worry.

    But here’s the real kicker: if your animal is doing well on Purina, including good coat, good eyes, good ears, and good stool – feed it Purina. I feed a grain-free high-end diet because my dogs don’t do well if I don’t. But lots of dogs do just fine on Purina, and you’re right – IAMS and Science Diet are certainly no better.

  160. 160.

    burnspbesq

    California’s invitation to load all your unwanted snow onto rail cars and ship it out here remains open. We’ve got plenty of underutilized mountains that we can dump it on until spring.

  161. 161.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: “oh, freezing”, i blurted out as my hand moved to smack my head in good “i should have had a V-8” fashion.

    any bread i freeze always tastes like the freezer. what am i doing wrong?

  162. 162.

    Pogonip

    @elmo: I would not be surprised if all pet food includes downer animals, dead circus animals, etc. including the yuppie brands.

  163. 163.

    rikyrah

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    PARKER: Well look, President Bush over… when he was president and had to go to war under the circumstances we all believed in at the time, he put in place a lot of tools, the Homeland Security, you know, the Patriot Act, all that as well as the authorization

    I didn’t believe in the war in Iraq. I was one of those accused of not loving this country.

  164. 164.

    Buddy H

    @elmo: My cat is unfortunately addicted to fancy feast. I tried giving her the better quality stuff, but she pantomimes scratching around her food dish like she’s scratching in her litter box. Her message to me: “this is shit.”

    I only buy her the pate varieties of fancy feast, because the stuff with gravy is mostly starch. And no dry food ever.

    Some people call fancy feast “kitty crack.”

    Funny line from the Simpsons: Homer is accused of infidelity. He replies “Why should I go looking for fancy feast when I have tender vittles at home?”

  166. 166.

    Elmo

    @Pogonip: if they SAY “chicken meal,” then at least they aren’t just saying “meat.” But I hear what you’re saying.

    At least they would be violating regulations in that case. If they say “meat,” they are 100% in compliance.

  167. 167.

    Elmo

    @Buddy H:
    I don’t have the ingredient list in front of me, but I bet it’s full of corn, which is of course sugar.

    It’s funny – studies show that pretty much all mammals are drawn to sugars and fats.

  168. 168.

    WaterGirl

    @Buddy H: i used to feed my kitties 2 meals of high quality grain-free dry food and one meal of fancy feast. i did that for 4 years.

    then they both got really sick and refused food. the vet said to make chicken for them for a few days. I kind of wondered if we had gotten a bad batch of fancy feast, so I kept feeding them chicken instead of the fancy feast. (the other 2 meals are the same dry food as before)

    holy cow! their coats changed, they are luscious and shiny now. my black kitty grew this amazing mane, which he never had before, this beautiful shade of black/brown that compliments his black fur. and all that occasional puking a few times a week that the vet said was normal? GONE not one puke pile in months.

    seriously, I will never go back to canned cat food again. i get the good local chicken (no hormones, no antibiotics) and I bake up a package of chicken, cut it into chunks and freeze it. not much trouble at all.

  169. 169.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Elmo: That’s because sugars and fats are yummy. Also bacon. Almost any dish can be improved by adding bacon.

  170. 170.

    Violet

    @WaterGirl: My friend did that for her kitties as well. One was really ill and the vet ran out of suggestions. They decided to try chicken and rabbit. I think they used raw but I can’t remember. Got a professional grade meat grinder and ground up the meat as well as bones. Froze it in little packs and would put one out in the morning and one in the evening.

    The sicker of the two kitties came back really well. The fur problems went away, the skin problems disappeared and both their coats got silkier and healthier. Both of them started acting like kittens again. A really amazing change. Things that they hadn’t done for a long time–jumping up on chairs or counters, things like that–they were doing again. Stiffness went away.

    She said the initial investment of the meat grinder was a bit expensive but after that it was just as easy as canned food. They got theirs on Craigslist so didn’t spend full price.

  171. 171.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    Now this is about to get very meta for at least non-pet owners and maybe even non-cat but dog owners. She likes to take her food out of her bowl and put it on the mat under it, then eat it from there.

    If the bowl is too small, it may be annoying her by brushing against her whiskers when she eats. A wider bowl that gives her whiskers plenty of space might be the fix.

  172. 172.

    Elmo

    @WaterGirl: EXACTLY. People don’t realize that ear infections, “doggie smell,” excessive dander, shedding, etc are often the result of poor diet. But think about how your skin and hair would react to a diet of Twinkies, hotdogs, and chicken McNuggets seven days a week for a year?

  173. 173.

    Buddy H

    @Elmo: Here’s the ingredients for the fancy feast chicken pate:

    chicken, chicken broth, liver, meat by-products, fish, poultry by-products, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, guar gum, potassium chloride, added color, salt, magnesium sulfate, taurine, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin e supplement, ferrous sulfate, niacin, sodium nitrite (to promote color retention), manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin a supplement, copper sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin k activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide

    It’s the varieties with gravy that have all the corn.
    I tried giving her Newman’s Own, but she did the scratching litterbox pantomime thing.

  174. 174.

    Buddy H

    People have told me to avoid dry food for cats. It’s too much carbs and not enough protein. And it doesn’t do any good for their teeth. The woman I bought our house from had two cats (age 19 and 20). She said they both ate dry food and developed diabetes. She put them on high-protein wet food and they recovered.

    The best idea is to just buy fresh chicken and boil it and chop it up. High quality protein. I’ll do this about once a week, along with boiled egg yolks. She’s healthy.

    I remember when we first adopted her, I gave her a can of friskies (with gravy). She ate it, then slept all day and most of the night. The excess carbs knocked her right out. And the asshole manufacturer has the nerve to call it “friskies”

  175. 175.

    Elmo

    @Buddy H:
    Thanks. Interesting – I know a lot more about dogs than cats. The “natural and artificial flavors” may hide a multitude of sins, and the liver and “meat byproduct meal” mean there is a good bit of organ and digest – which cats adore – but I don’t see anything immediately addictive like sugar.

  177. 177.

    WereBear

    @Tommy: Look at the list of dry ingredients. They should be grsin-free and have real meat in the ingredients.

    Canned is best for them but cats often have strong ideas.

  178. 178.

    JPL

    Sad cat story.. My son after a year and half adopted another cat. Previously he had Mr. Alice who although had feline leukemia, lived ten years. He was in several of the Balloon Juice calendars. He finally adopted a cat less than a month ago that was diagnosed today with f.i.p. The local humane society is really good but they took in cats for a shelter that was going to be closed down. They tested for feline leukemia and fixed the cat but didn’t have the cat long enough to check for other problems. He named him Spot. The vet doesn’t give the cat more than a few days, but my son being who he is brought him home. sucks

    oh and the cat has no spots

  179. 179.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @JPL:

    Ugh. I had a kitten die of FIP and it was pretty bad. You should probably have the vet standing by for when it’s time to euthanize (which will come on pretty quickly) but it’s very sweet of your son to be willing to give the kitty some good days and love, even if for a short time.

  180. 180.

    Pogonip

    @WaterGirl: I think your own pet food is always best, but Tommy seemed to be looking for commercial pet foods. Chicken and egg go a long way and the critters never seem to tire of it. And feeding them that way is certainly a lot cheaper than commercial pet food; a dog or cat will happily eat chicken necks, wing meat, all those little scraps. Probably the only way it wouldn’t be cheaper is if you have a pack of hounds or you breed Great Danes.

    Cats, and most dogs, like (carefully boned!) fish too, although you have stingy with tuna for some health reason I forget. We always used tuna for cat-carrier training. Once they get the idea that “If I get in here I’ll most likely get some tuna when I come out” they don’t even mind the vet much.

  182. 182.

    BruceFromOhio

    My friends in Richmond, VA are looking at 6-10″ and 17 degrees. They are completely inexperienced at dealing with that kind of event.

    Can’t wait to see what this damned fool of a politician Bibi has to say in front of his damned fool of a politician host.

  183. 183.

    Pogonip

    I was surfing and saw a claim that the population of Africa will hit 4 billion sometime this century. Considering climate, environmental hazards, and that many of the current billion are trying to go somewhere else–anywhere else–I find this estimate ridiculous. Can any of the scientist types here evaluate this claim?

  184. 184.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Pogonip: The UN web page has an Excel spreadsheet with all the numbers. Check the first link in the table. Under a “High Fertility” model, Africa will hit 4B in 2071. Under the “Low Fertility” model, the Africa population would be 2.8B in 2100.

    Nobody knows what will happen. It all depends on the assumed trends.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  185. 185.

    Bob In Portland

    In the very unlikely event that anyone at BJ would give a shit how the sanctions against Russia are being perceived in Russia, here.

  187. 187.

    The Gray Adder

    So why would the headline of the day be “Cubs Win World Series” in February ’15? I admit I missed that part. The Cubs were supposed to win this past year (they finished last, one of the worst teams in MLB), in which case the prophesy is bullshit. No hoverboards no Nikes with power-laces, none of it. It’s all BS.

    The whole timeline went away in BTTF 3, in which Marty goes to the 19th Century to rescue Doc Brown. Butterfly theory, and all that. For all we know, Marty McFly was the real reason the Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908. No “billy goat” curse, none of that.

  190. 190.

    ruemara

    @Buddy H: try natural balance. slowly phase it in by doing a 75/25, then 50/50 blend. I found my cats loved natural balance so much I had to stop feeding them it because they’d over feed. And over at work, for training, natural balance is a pretty high value reward, just under Cheez Whiz and peanut butter.

  191. 191.

    Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)

    @ruemara:

    No Natural Balance. Their fucking melamine-laced rice gluten killed my cat Boris and could have killed Keaton if the vet hadn’t realized what was going on and put him on IV fluids for a week. I will never trust those assholes again.

Comments are closed.