Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

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

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

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

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

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

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Archives for August 2015

Long Read: The Forward Interviews President Obama

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Sercon (serious & constructive), as befits a Vulcan like President Obama. A taste:

… Q: So let’s talk about Israel for a moment. Unquestionably, your administration has given unprecedented military and strategic support to Israel. But it’s also apparent that the relationship in many ways between the United States and Israel, between the governments and even, in some cases, between some peoples, has grown toxic. And I’m wondering now, looking forward, what do you think the Israeli government can do to repair this? What can your administration do? And what can American Jews do?

THE PRESIDENT: There are always going to be arguments within families and among friends. And Israel isn’t just an ally, it’s not just a friend — it’s family. The relationships between our peoples, the shared values, the shared commitment to democracy — those things are so deep that they have survived arguments in the past and they will survive this argument.

And so I understand the anxiety that it causes. But I think a testament to how sturdy the relationship is, is that despite this very significant policy disagreement, all the military, security, commercial, cultural cooperation that existed before this debate came up has continued unabated and will continue unabated.

I think that once we have completed the congressional debate and the deal is in the process of being implemented, it will be important for my administration and the Israeli government to move forward on what I’ve been calling for since April, when the political framework agreement in Lausanne was first announced, and that is to sit down and ask the question, what are the major security challenges that we together face in the region, and how can we build on the already robust, unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation that we have to make our security arrangements even stronger?…

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Monday Evening Open Thread: High Randomness

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Could’ve been worse, Cole…

On Friday, the Spousal Unit’s rescue cat Rocket (J. Trump) pulled another daring escape into the back yard (he’s an indoor cat; there are foxes & skunks & plausible rumors of coyotes in this neighborhood, not to mention the heavy truck traffic just beyond the yard). And I managed to gank something in my left wrist when I chased him down & grabbed him, because fifteen pounds of badly-balanced feline struggling to get away will do that. Nothing serious, but I’m wearing a wrist brace, and I can’t type more than a few words unless I take it off. So you’re free of my long bricolaged pieces, for the moment.

Apart from remembering how complicated every little task is when you can’t fully use both hands, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

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GREAT Cat News from England!

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british tortie bleg

Remember this sweetie? Well, here’s the good news from commentor LF:

Thanks so much for your help. We had an offer of a UK home from a Balloon Juicer, along with four other offers via Facebook and two from neighbours. We had just decided that, despite all these offers, we would keep her ourselves … But it doesn’t matter because this morning, Fudge was reunited with her real family!

I posted about her on our village Facebook page, and someone told me they’d seen the same cat posted as missing on another local Facebook page. I checked and sure enough, it was her.

Within an hour, I had tracked down her very tearful and happy owner. They live 6 miles away and Fudge is apparently 15 years old and much loved. This morning, mum and two little boys came to take her home for a well-deserved rest.

fudge-reunited
***********
(We’re deep into ragweed season here, so I have an excuse for my eyes welling up.)

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I was dreaming of the past

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For some reason, my wife and I decided to watch a terrible Diane Keaton/Michael Douglas rom-com that began and ended with the song “Both Sides Now”. As you may know, the popular version of that song prominently features a harpsichord.

What are the best songs with harpsichords in them? I’ll go with “In My Life”, though I also find that early Linda Ronstadt song “Different Drum” pretty catchy.

Have there been any songs with harpsichords in them in the last 30 years or was is just 60s/70s thing?

Update. I forgot about “Cypress Avenue”, that’s the best one. I have a weakness for “Walk Away Renee” too.

Update. Worst song would be “Touch Me Baby” by the Doors.

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Fighting Words (Open Thread)

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I’m not following pro football all that closely this year, but I think I heard something about the Jets’ starting QB being out because one of his teammates punched him in the face and broke his jaw. Maybe because of that, this rookie from Georgia (who played for Baylor), Bryce Petty, is getting some pre-season playing time. But boy did he step in some shit with the Jets fan base with this tweet:

One does not simply order pizza from a shit outfit like Dominos in the self-proclaimed (with some justice, IMO) Pizza Capital of the Universe. After attracting a mob of crust-flinging flying monkeys on Twitter, Petty relented:

But then he turned around and proved he’d learned nothing from the controversy:

No, it couldn’t be worse, unless maybe Petty punched a starter in the face. Will somebody shut this guy up before he starts talking about the great cheesecake at Bob Evans? (Note to New Yorkers: Bob Evans is a chain for people who think the food at Denny’s is too spicy.)

Open thread!

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Blow It Up, Burn It Down

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Meanwhile, outside the boat in dangerous, scary places:

Capture

Well, there must be a reason why the GOP hasn’t done this rather than the current strategy of “We won’t take any responsibility for this Iran deal whatsoever but we’re specifically not going to stop it and in fact we’ll basically make sure we can’t do so” but I haven’t figured out what it is yet.

In fact, by getting rid of the filibuster, the GOP-controlled Senate could make things extremely difficult for President Obama and force him to veto all kinds of things, but for some reason they haven’t decided to go this route.

It’s almost like they don’t want to do that.

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