Some good news to start the week, from commentor Dem Taterz:
I’m happy to report that I delivered Strawberry Shortcake to her forever home Sunday morning, and even happier to report that she was adopted by a fellow Balloon Juice reader – commenter Marc. Thanks to all of you, she’s gone from the Phoenix streets to a kitty-centric home with no less than four (!!) big cat trees and a new owner who’s vowed to train her to be a lap cat. If you’re wondering how she’s settling in, this picture should say it all.
I wish I had more to report about her health, but in predictable fashion, after showing up faithfully for breakfast for a month, she was a no-show yesterday until she’d missed her appointment with Arizona Animal Welfare League. Marc still agreed to take her as planned and to take over her care, so he will be providing updates from here. She’ll be getting checked up at Banfield on Wednesday and scheduled for spaying then.
“Yes, of course that’s MY mat. Why do you ask?”
Enjoying one of her MANY cat trees.
First of many brushings.
Update from commentor & new cat servant Marc:
Bedtime.
*************
Apart from that, what’s on the agenda for another Monday?
seaboogie
As a cat mistress of one almost 20 years old (she is deaf and arthritic and has decided that I am her personal servant), I have to give it up to cats, especially the ones who rescue themselves.
This seems like a pretty good anthem for Strawberry Shortcake, and other strays who have rescued themselves: youtube.com/watch?v=cHocJSlcuSA
Valdivia
sweet, so happy for her.
Valdivia
I have to get back to writing my lecture now so I will just drop this here
David Attenborough interviewed by POTUS from the BBC yesterday.
raven
The farming crew is supposed to start today!
Amir Khalid
@Valdivia:
Alas for me:
“The uploader [BBC America] has not made this video available in your country.”
raven
@Amir Khalid: Feelin better?
Pogonip
May she and Marc live happily ever after!
Schlemazel
@Valdivia:
I saw part of it and it was an odd interview, more a conversation between the two but it was very good.
@raven:
Are they going to be farming your addition?
Amir Khalid
@raven:
Getting there.
raven
@Schlemazel: Yes, we’ve had a couple week delay on this phase but it should crank up today!
Schlemazel
This seems appropriate for a rescue thread:
gocomics.com/kliban/2015/06/29
@raven:
Will the farmers bring their own tractors or do you supply?
JPL
@raven: teehee… framing crew!
Congrats to the kitty for finding a wonderful home.
Schlemazel
@JPL:
I figured you needed the levity as your home improvement project entered it second decade
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: Are they planting Corn or soybeans?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: That’s what happens when we try to enjoy Malaysian pop. :(
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: Glad to hear you are on the mend. Stay well! Allah does not want you back in the hospital. Nor do we.
And you don’t want to tick US off.
Elizabelle
What do you guys think about the Greece crisis? I think I would be supporting Tsipras.
I hear all the gnashing of teeth — those irresponsible Greeks! They’re in crisis! They need to eat their austerity and listen to very important people.
Also: CNN had a story today — not so fast about calling the Tunisia attack an ISIS attack. Sure, they’re happy to take credit. But could have been a lone wolf, pretty much with collusion via internet.
JPL
From the NY Times
In a move that has already endeared the government to some Greeks angry over capital controls, subway and bus travel is free today — and riders expect it to continue to be so until July 6, the day after the referendum.
Elizabelle
Also: very happy for Marc and his new cat. Good all around. Cheers for Dem Taterz for rescuing that strawberry blonde miss, and to Marc for giving her a forever home.
Nice to wake up to on Monday morning.
And it’s beautiful and even chilly here in NoVA.
Amir Khalid
CNN reports that the founder of Dick Van Patten‘s Natural Balance Pet Foods, who also played the dad on the TV show Eight is Enough, has died after a long illness at the age of 86.
Gimlet
Greek flu
Puerto Rico’s governor, saying he needs to pull the island out of a “death spiral,” has concluded that the commonwealth cannot pay its roughly $72 billion in debts
OzarkHillbilly
@Elizabelle:
About the same as I felt about the bank bailout. What about the crooks who caused the problem to begin with? Every one was happy as clams as long as they were all making money. But now it’s all the fault of Greece?
Elizabelle
Morning Joe just earned “off” on the remote.
It’s Joe himself, scoffing at President Obama for not always being out in front on gay marriage. Mocking him.
Fuck Joe Scarborough. We all remember his successful presidency.
Bummed that BBC America got rid of its early morning news. Used to be able to park there. Now it’s Top Gear and Cash in the Attic. Nope.
Elizabelle
@OzarkHillbilly: Yup. And the big guys exempted themselves from paying taxes, too. Lots of graft too, I would imagine.
Tired of the moralizing.
satby
Thank you Marc for rescuing such an adorable little girl! She seems perfectly content to be safe inside with her human. This is a great start to the week!
ThresherK
I have not been following well enough. I totes missed the part where we were told that this orange cat was a female.
So, love the name!
(In all fairness, my Spousal Unit and I have been consumed with a close friend’s daughter’s wedding and reception and after-party. We had sooo much fun.)
Schlemazel
@Gimlet:
$72B? Whats that, about one day of our DoD spending?
Sadly, the greeks are screwed no matter the outcome of their situation. it would take someone a lot better then I have heard to figure out which road will prevent a complete collapse. Both probably could do it if the right people are in charge but if they chose default & separation there will be a lot of powerful forces helping to insure failure. If they eat their austerity like good boys and girls there will be long-term suffering with resentment and anger added. It was no surprise that fascist elements did very will there as they thrive in the environment Greece will be in if they continue belt tightening.
Elizabelle
CNN host to Jim Obergefell: how do you feel about being associated with the good and the bad (that comes from the Friday victory)?
Today is stomp on Friday’s victory day. Morning Joe was sneering at Obama for not being out in front — taking away any credit (and wouldn’t a GOP administration have been fighting against marriage equality, 24/7)?
ETA: I think Jim Obergefell is one of the kindest and most appealing plaintiffs I have ever seen. Marvelous man.
danielx
Blissed out kitty and equally blissed out human, no doubt….congratulations to both.
Some kind of REALLY annoying script on the page this morning.
MattF
@Elizabelle: About the Grisis, I guess I’m following Krugman. The Eurocrats are simply wrong to force Greece into ever deeper recession. How, exactly, does making the Greek population poorer fix anything?
There are also clear ‘structural’ problems in Euro-land that have been known for a while, although their seriousness maybe hasn’t been appreciated. Evidently, the euro area has a common currency– it used to be called the deutchmark.
kc
Love it! Thanks to Dem Taterz & Marc for hinging her a home.
Iowa Old Lady
I just finished reading Bacigalupi’s THE WATER KNIFE. Great near-future story about struggles over water rights in the southwest US. Bacigalupi can really write. Also, it scared me.
MattF
@Iowa Old Lady: I’ve got his previous novel “The Wind-up Girl” in my to-read pile.
Iowa Old Lady
@MattF: I didn’t finish Wind-up Girl. I’m an impatient reader and the flood of detail was too much for me. Also, I cringed at some of the cruelty. I’m a wimp.
WereBear
My favorite moment of Joe Scarborough was when his show would follow Olbermann’s and Olbermann would do one of his between-the-eyes editorials and then they would immediately cut to Scarborough… looking like he’d been hit on the back of the head with a shovel.
The rest of the time, I can’t bear to look at him. And I don’t believe he’s changed a bit.
chopper
@MattF:
I’m greally worried about this grisis. there might be a grexit after the greferendum.
beltane
Wow, EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker just told the Greek people “Don’t commit suicide because you fear death.”
Not sure if this message of hope was accompanied by some Godfather-style music.
Iowa Old Lady
@Elizabelle: So I assume Joe was “out front” on marriage equality? What a useless waste of air space.
WereBear
YAY for the kitty! And another one for Marc.
OzarkHillbilly
@beltane:
“Because we want the pleasure of torturing you first.”
NotMax
Something which may have gone unnoticed in the tsunami of news clicking last week is that the proverbial snake has a new bulge.
beltane
Juncker: “I will never let the Greek people down, and I know the Greek people don’t want to let the EU down.”
Whitey Bulger couldn’t hold a candle to this man.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m reading the updates on the NY Times and it does appear that Juncker is having a meltdown.
Althea
Good morning, Strawberry Shortcake! You look as though you are adapting quite nicely!
Valdivia
@Amir Khalid: Sorry about this being blocked for you :(
@Elizabelle: I saw this already this weekend. First making it out to be good for the GOP, bad for those who won (as per the interview you just mentioned from CNN) and also, Obama not deserving of any credit for this because of the way this victory unfolded (also waiting for institutional fix for DADT instead of executive action). Whatever the nuances I just wish we, on our side, would learn to take the win as DougJ said yesterday because the media and the right wing will stomp on all of them every way til Tuesday. I am now waiting for all the Dems who will be accusing the President of abandoning Israel because of the Iran deal. Le sigh.
Off to teach, have a good day BJ people, keep fingers crossed for a not horrid day at SCOTUS.
JPL
It’s my opinion that Roberts saved healthcare, not for the public but for the insurance industry. His vote on Michigan vs. EPA could prove me wrong. At least, I hope so.
Elizabelle
My attempts to watch Morning Joe rarely survive exposure to Joe.
Vile. Got to realize, the man is in a world of butthurt. But making Obama out to be to the right of Pat Boone on gay marriage, and Joe Biden forced the issue on him, and Obama people in the White House were so appalled at Joe Biden that he was (direct quote from Joe: “persona non grata”) and they didn’t want to have anything to do with Biden.
Sounds like rightwing fan fiction, does it not?
And it’s being excreted by MSNBC, libtard cable channel.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
You can tell how much Obama hates Joe whenever they are together. The body language speaks volumes.
Riley's enabler
Three cheers for Democrats Taterz, Marc, and the little Miss for making this happen. Perfect ending to an all-around good week.
Thank you for giving one small girl a happy forever home.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
It seems to me the referendum is a last-minute passing of the buck. If he really cared what the Greeks thought, he’d have held a vote well before the deadline.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: He had to have something people could vote for or against before he could hold a referendum. Small detail, I know.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Except that this didn’t just start over the weekend. The issue of defaulting vs. austerity has been in the news for a couple of weeks, hasn’t it?
ETA: It seems to me he’s been holding this as his ace in the hole.
mm
I’m so happy for the kitty. One of my dreams is to have a house full of orange cats.
beltane
@OzarkHillbilly: They were in negotiations until yesterday. Tsipras was elected on an expressly anti-austerity platform, while Juncker was demanding more austerity in perpetuity and a debt payment plan structured in such a way that the debt can never be paid off. If, as Juncker assures us, the Greeks are doomed anyway, it is only right that they be able to chose their form of death.
beltane
It’s ironic, or not so ironic, that Juncker’s career was built on overseeing the tax haven activities of his native Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands of Europe.
beltane
The Guardian refers to the EC’s offer as a “payday loan with serious conditions attached.” theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2015/jun/29/greek-bailout-a-payday-loan-with-serious-conditi…
Eric U.
@debbie: he thought he could get a decent deal out of the bankers, but they doubled down
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: They have been trying to ‘negotiate’ a ‘deal’. They have now reached a ‘deal’. Now Greece will vote on whether to accept the ‘deal’ that they have arrived at. They couldn’t do it before because there was no ‘deal’ to vote on.
beltane
@Eric U.: The ECB makes FIFA look like rank amateurs in the corrupt thuggery department.
Joy in FL
So happy for the kitty and her new human. Photo updates will be welcome!
scav
It is good to see a quietly happy cat, especially in the midst of things.
ET
Based on the first photo it looks like the pretty girl knows what to do.
NotMax
Great title, not so great (and that’s an understatement) movie at 12:30 p.m. today on TCM.
Zombies On Broadway.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Elizabelle: Bummed that BBC America got rid of its early morning news. Used to be able to park there.
That’s why I love my local NPR station. BBC World Service until 10 am.
Poopyman
@NotMax:
Wow! Fat-shaming done wholesale!
Punchy
On Friday, I said this:
Looks like I booked this correctly. Ladies and gents, I give you Texas bigots
rikyrah
Glad to read the happy ending. May they have many good years together.
MazeDancer
Yay Marc! Yay Dem Taterz!
Happy kitty pictures so uplifting. Just wonderful to see and especially wonderful to know how there are people with big hearts doing such good things! Thank you, thank you!
Elizabelle
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Good idea. Will check on radio.
Kind of liked what I saw of CNN this morning. Hmmm.
kc
@kc:
“Hinging?” Where is autocorrect when you need it?
gvg
Kitty looks like she has been in a house before. Adapting pretty nicely and photogenic too.
My last rescues were a mama and last baby. Mama had clearly been a house cat before, baby boy hadn’t but came to appreciate it pretty fast as they had been sleeping defensibly in trees before and I would sometimes hear another cat tom trying to bully them. I had delayed bringing them in to get baby tame enough to let me touch him. They would wait by the back door for breakfast then be waiting for dinner when I get home. I would go out and garden in the evenings and they followed me around. Boy cat kept hanging out closer and closer until he let me pet him. I still remember how surprised he was that it felt good to be stroked. After that taming happened rapidly. He was undergrown when I took them in but a deworming shot caused a fast growth spurt and he became the biggest cat I’ve ever owned. Mama had a happy 6 months then died of heartworms. My sister had taken her and was very upset. Emily used to sit on Sis’s chest and purr every night and loved being inside.
Boy cat has been pretty content but the last couple of months has been escaping alot. doesn’t go far but I think he likes the attention of being chased. Its been around 12 years.
TaMara (BHF)
Day. Made.
ruemara
Beautiful. The pictures, the rescue and all the humans.
Aleta
@TaMara (BHF): check. Thank you Marc. She looks like a hot ticket.
dw
Marc, I’m so glad you took this little girl into your home. There’s something special about her.
NCSteve
@TaMara (BHF): Yeah. For some reason, I was really rooting for this one.
Kristine
Yea for kitty! Thanks to Marc and Dem Taterz!