Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

No one could have predicted…

The revolution will be supervised.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Battle won, war still ongoing.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Republicans in disarray!

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Second rate reporter says what?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Release the Kraken Kittens!…

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89Comments

  3. 3.

    Marc

    @PurpleGirl: That video was taken Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Mind you that is only about four and a half minutes – they’d been at it a bit when got a clue and grabbed my iPad to catch the action – and they were still going at it after I stopped filming it. Got the bright idea when I got home from work tonight to feed them wet food, so with full bellies they’d go to sleep. Lolnope. Wound their little springs, and they’re still romping, almost two hours later…

  5. 5.

    Morzer

    Well, I guess the world didn’t come to an end – again. Why is it I can never find a cash-rich apocalyptic prophet to bet against when I need one?

  6. 6.

    Mustang Bobby

    What intrigues me about kittens — and puppies, for that matter — is the amount of BIOS software that is pre-loaded so that they know practically from the git-go how to respond to stimuli. No one taught them how to play, how to pounce, how to do what they do; it’s all there. Whereas it takes some humans years to learn how to wave bye-bye.

    And we think we’re the smart ones.

  7. 7.

    Schlemazel

    Years ago I was at the national zoo in DC and there was an enclosure for all the big cats. The keepers opened gates between the cages of about 4 or 5 different breeds and several of them began to play with each other. It was weird to see a black leopard and a jaguar stalk and pouch on each other. These were full-sized cats but they acted just like kittens.

  9. 9.

    ixnay

    What a most excellent bunch of kittens. Are they going to other homes, or is Marc keeping them all? If I can figure out how, I am going to share with my FB page. My mission in life is to prevent litters, but there is something truly irresistible about a litter of healthy, loved, well-brought-up kitties (kudos due to mom cat, as well as to Marc).

  20. 20.

    raven

    @Mustang Bobby: The floors were finished when we got back from LA and my bride thinks they are “too light”. Yellow pine with clear finish, what did she think they were going to be????

  22. 22.

    ixnay

    @raven: Interesting. I had suspected soapstone (which we chose for pretty much the same resistance to common maltreatment).

  25. 25.

    raven

    @ixnay: That is the kitchen, those are OLD heart pine. We wanted to do reclaimed in the addition but the price is astronomical.

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    Kittens! That was just the thing I needed this morning.

    @Marc:
    We keep trying to wear out the puppy but she only gets stronger.

    @raven: Beautiful kitchen, Raven.

  27. 27.

    ixnay

    @raven: Well, it looks beautiful to me. Our kitchen turned out to have 100+ year old rock maple under all the linoleum. I don’t do photography, but the overall effect is similar.

  28. 28.

    Suezboo

    I feel it is my sad duty to inform you that SA beat USA 64-0 in the Rugby World Cup match yesterday. Peace out .
    (Whispers : YEAH! Go, guys)

  29. 29.

    Peej

    Lovely way to start the day! I love kittens, but this clip reminds me why my next cats will be adults. I’ve done the kitten thing twice now and I think I’m too old at this time to put up with the kitten energy.

  32. 32.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Mustang Bobby: The more primitive the machine, the more that’s coded in ROM.

    Also, you’d be shocked how little brain tissue is required for an ambulatory organism. I knew some guys who were doing work with crabs with 9 neurons. Apparently they can learn stuff, too. Nine. Neurons.

  35. 35.

    Another Holocene Human

    @gene108: We are born with a strong intinct to “grope with hand, grasp with hand, move hand to mouth”. You see babies do this and comically miss a lot. While it has utility as a breast-feeding instinct, it persists as a way for babies and toddlers to learn about their world. They have more nerve endings in the mouth than on the fingers. (It also keeps caretakers very busy, as the choke and poison hazards are real.)

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: Solid tops are the only way to go (if’ns ya kin afford it) I made mine out of excess windowsills from a job I was working on. Epoxied them together, than laid them on 2 sheets of 1/2″ plywood laminated together, than trimmed the front edges with poplar. Worked out nice. And cheap too.

  39. 39.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Mustang Bobby: Well, I think the crab reproductive strategy is quantity over quality and the survival strategy is be-very-aggressive-with-big-nasty-claw, so, kinda?

    Millions of these fuckers get et every year, is what I’m saying.

  40. 40.

    Another Holocene Human

    @OzarkHillbilly: Nice. I don’t know how environmentally friendly epoxy is, but I’ve seen some awesome panels made with twigs and branches set in sold epoxy.

  41. 41.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Another Holocene Human: Even humans have a lot of their walking firmware coded in spinal reflexes that are present at birth. It’s the higher executive control that’s not there. If you hold a newborn baby in a standing position with its feet on a table, it will perform walking motions; it’s the spinal walking reflex operating without higher brain control.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Another Holocene Human: Different process here. I took 4″ windowsills and glued them together with epoxy so that I had a seamless top. But yeah, I’d love to get creative with poured epoxy. A buddy of mine has poured concrete tops. (after pouring, it is ground down to expose the chert aggregate and then polished) Unbelievable how beautiful they are. And damn near indestructible.

  48. 48.

    PurpleGirl

    I love how kittens just walk all over each other and sleep on each other in a pile. The bestest pillow is a sibling.

  50. 50.

    Anne Laurie

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I’m not sure they understand the point of a litter box though.

    Entertainment! — just like a two-year-old human who’s just discovered the fun of flushing the toilet. Over and over and over and over…

  51. 51.

    raven

    @Elizabelle: And that’s the deal, she has agonized over the color choices and she’s always right even if she doesn’t think so at first!

  52. 52.

    Marc

    @Iowa Old Lady: The big one you see in the foreground is Miri’s – it is big enough and deep enough for her to do her ‘Dig to China’ routine. There is a smaller one on the other end of the hutch, which is (mostly) used by the kittens. Both are convenient locations to play through when not in proper use (and even then, there has been some running kitten shenanigans while one of them was ‘on the throne’).

  53. 53.

    Tommy

    @PurpleGirl: They are amazing. Mom is cat. Got her and she was with cats at the time whan I got her. Pregnant. Gave birth to them on me. All found a home. Dad home yesterday and she is stunned how much she is like a dog. My cat rocks!

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    Marc’s such a good housekeeper. I love how the kittens have so much floor space to catapult over.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    And the Nobel for literature goes to … someone I’ve never heard of; maybe you have….

    Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarussian journalist and prose writer, won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,” the Swedish Academy announced.

  58. 58.

    Tommy

    I just put in a shit all expensive toilets, well two of them yesterday. I got buttons to push to flush :). I hope they do as they say and save a ton of water.

  63. 63.

    debbie

    I don’t even want to know what it is the white kitten thinks it’s hunting for in the litter box.

  64. 64.

    JPL

    Normally I don’t watch GMA, but I’m glad it was on today. Dan Abrams and Nancy Grace did a number on the judge who sentenced the abused woman to jail. Grace said now you have a woman abused with a baby in jail with a record. It’s not going to be easy to get a job when you have a record.
    They also covered the home depot shooter and how irresponsible it was of the lady to start shooting.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @debbie: I read a little more of the story and the district reinstated her. You are correct, that they didn’t have the evidence to charge her. How sickening.

  72. 72.

    Luci

    Oh Boy! Baby kittehs! That’s the best thing ever! Thanks! Also… I spent all night worrying about the apocalypse, and it never came, so do we get a refund?? ;)

  73. 73.

    Tommy

    @debbie: Yes, yes it is. I just put in two toilets yesterday, going from them back to what I want to do with each room …….

  76. 76.

    KBS

    I already have 3 cats, and my family won’t let me have any more. But if I lived nearby, I would have to try to steal one of the little white kittens–SO cute!!!

  77. 77.

    TaMara (BHF)

    I’m beginning to suspect Marc is keeping these guys. By this time I was so over kittens, as was momma kitteh, I had them all “adopted” though no one went to new homes until nine weeks. Well, except for one and since he’s been a front pager, you know from his look, no one ever told him what to do. So he stayed. And is sitting at my elbow right now.

  78. 78.

    Paul in KY

    @Suezboo: I tried to watch it, but there sure seemed to be a lot of stoppages (when score was 7 – 0) & I guess with my lack of knowledge of the game, it just didn’t grab me.

    Probably what a European feels when watching our football.

  84. 84.

    J R in WV

    There is nothing cuter than the kitteh herd rampaging through the house jumping on each other and raising hell!

    Nothing.

    We only had kittehs once, they were Maine Coon babies, and three were born on wife’s pillow, even though we did a couple of nests. She had the first one on the kitchen floor, he was cold and still, but when I put him on a hot water bottle, he came right back to life. No CPR needed.

    We have two very mature cats now, and I’m always tempted by the baby kittehs when I visit our Vet clinic.

    They have them in a big cage behind the counter, so everyone has to see them. Very smart when you’re trying to place kittehs to have them out where Everyone has to see them all the time.

  85. 85.

    karen marie

    Marc, have you cut their toenails yet? It is not that hard to do and really saves fabrics and skin from damage. Their new families will appreciate you introduuing the wee ones to the practice.

  86. 86.

    kc

    OH MY GOD THAT IS SO CUTE! I am grinning from ear to ear.

    Marc, thank you for taking care of them and thank you for posting that. Love it.

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