The frog pictured above visited us at our tiki bar the other night. Unlike its fellows who have stopped by in the past, this frog was chill and did not fling itself at our heads or land in our cocktails, for which we were grateful. It looks kinda stoned. Maybe it was out licking toads.
It’s a gorgeous day here — there’s finally a touch of fall in the air. Last night it plunged into the 60s, and I had to find a throw to ward off the chill. It’s supposed to get into the 80s this afternoon, though. Gonna watch some college football later (Go Gators!) and cook something, but I haven’t decided what. You?
PaulW
Rooting for the Gators as an alum, and rooting for the Bulls as a grad alum.
If USF beats Temple it’ll be the first time we’ve beaten a ranked team in years, not since the heady days of being in the Big East.
The school has been trying to stir up the Tampa Bay community and its alumni into turning out big for tongiht’s home game – attendance has been pitiful due to the collapse under Skippy Holtz and Taggart’s first two years – because this is an evening game and we need to build up fan support for conference games. If this were a ranked matchup against West Virginia or Pittsburgh or Louisville, this wouldn’t be a problem. But we don’t have any animosity towards Temple yet. :/
Betty Cracker
@PaulW: I’m trying to talk my daughter — a USF student to be! — into going to the game! The Owls are surprisingly good this year, aren’t they?
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: 60 degrees is a warm day here. I’m not getting the pic, probably my fault. My computer hates me.
OzarkHillbilly
As to what I’m doing today, I’m working on the ceiling of my front porch. It would be nice if I could get the majority of it done and have only details to work on tomorrow and the next day, but there is some joinery to be done and that takes time.
Spent the last hour perusing Cabin Porn to help inspire me this morn.
PaulW
@Betty Cracker:
It’s nice to see the American conference have a lot of solid teams this year. Temple IS surprisingly good (I had figured Cincy would have been the potential East winner) and it’s amazing what we’re seeing out of the West division teams like Memphis and even Navy. I had figured Houston to be the West leader, but if Memphis beats them… it’ll suck for the conference because then we’ll be losing our last unbeaten team and any hope of a playoff (yes, it’s slim but it’s there).
The best part is that UCF has fallen apart. I hope the Bulls are up for ending their season winless, that would be a delicious touch.
Unfortuately for me I have to work today, and I have commitments for NaNoWriMo tonight. But I will be rooting to hear “FIRST DOWN, BULLS” early and often over the Internet livestream…
raven
Gumbo. The Gators will get killed by Bama. Rotsa Ruck.
benw
Second week in a row with no pigskin rooting interest (amateurs played on Thursday, professionals have a bye). Playing Pokemon with my kids.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone.
Off to swim and take Peanut to a party.
greennotGreen
Painting. For the next two weeks if you ask me what I’m doing, it’s going to be painting. The builders will be putting in the tile floors upstairs while I paint the walls in the downstairs that has concrete floors. My sister was going to be helping me, but she has to tend my nephew who’s on IV antibiotics so he can be healthy enough to participate in a drug trial for his cystic fibrosis. Really puts the annoyance of endless painting in perspective, doesn’t it?
PaulW
Betty, I was there for the biggest game USF had, the home stand against West Virginia when they were #4 in the rankings and we had just come off a lucky win over ranked Auburn, and it was packed, the upper deck seats were half-full (most other games the upper decks were barely opened), and I swear to God the entire Ray Jay shook like an earthquake when Moffitt snagged that interception and ran it in for a Pick 6.
My parents were there with me: Mom is a PhD alum with USF but she’s a pure War Eagle, and she went to Auburn games back in college and she knows all about packed and rocking stadiums and she noted it was just like the good old days.
South Florida was so close to busting into the upper echelon of the Big Three in Florida – Noles, Gators, Canes – but Levitt just couldn’t get wins in November and blew up his own ego… and God help us getting Skip proved to be a disaster. Taggart’s had to struggle with the lack of recruits his first two years but this third year looks better and one hopes we get to a minor bowl game just to have something for postseason once more…
rikyrah
Would More Dinner and Golf Solve Washington’s Problems? Ray LaHood Thinks So
NOVEMBER 14, 2015 5:03 AM ET
excerpt:
This line of thinking frustrates Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan, who has written extensively about what he calls “a totemic obsession” that many Washington leaders have with the idea of bipartisanship.
Nyhan even has a theory for the wine-and-dine bipartisan outreach approach that LaHood argues for: The Green Lantern Theory of the Presidency.
“The idea that if the president only tried hard enough, he can get whatever it is he wants. It’s based on the powers of a comic book hero,” Nyhan explains. “If he only tried harder, if he only reached out more, if he only did this, that, or the other thing to appeal to Republicans, they would eventually fall at his feet and agree to his requests. There’s just very little evidence to suggest that’s the case.”
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/14/455908128/would-more-dinner-and-golf-solve-washingtons-problems-ray-lahood-thinks-so
schrodinger's cat
[email protected]
Did you kiss the frog?
BTW the site is borked in the mobile version
Bonus : Caturday Kitteh
Betty Cracker
@raven: Nah, they’re playing the Gamecocks! They could still lose — hell, I thought Vandy was gonna beat us last weekend. But it won’t be a ‘Bama beat-down.
Amir Khalid
Frog? I can’t see any picture of a frog.
HinTN
@schrodinger’s cat: My (Android) mobile borkage got fixed yesterday. It seems to be a rolling set of problems.
Last day at da beach today and Betty’s cold front is really settled in here in the Redneck Rivera
schrodinger's cat
@Amir Khalid: Its a tiny frog.
HinTN
@schrodinger’s cat: But visible, nonetheless.
Omnes Omnibus
@HinTN: Nope.
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid & @OzarkHillbilly: Gah! Stupid blog template! Here it is:
Omnes Omnibus
Now I see it.
MattF
Seeing an old friend this evening. Tried to make a dinner reservation at a nearby new restaurant, but couldn’t– they offered reservations for off-peak hours, but not for prime meal times. How does that make sense?
Betty Cracker
@schrodinger’s cat: It’s not a particularly small frog — it’s about two-and-a-half or three inches long.
Zippity
Since it’s an open thread…site question-not a complaint! I’m viewing the site on my iPhone using 9.1, and the majority of the time it comes up with the old version. It was the new version earlier today, but now back to the old one. Any ideas as to what I’m doing wrong?
Omnes Omnibus
@MattF: It’s already booked up at the prime meal times?
Amir Khalid
Weird. I hit Reply on Betty’s comment with the frog picture; I got kicked to a new post with no text, but with pictures of the Balloon Guy and the frog. We may need to pray to Mr God Mode to have a look at that.
Corner Stone
God, no. No James Woolsey, please. Make it stop.
MattF
@Omnes Omnibus: No, it’s no reservations/bookings taken at all for meals during prime hours. Weird.
rikyrah
U.S. Political Reaction To Paris Attacks Split Along Party Lines
NOVEMBER 14, 2015 12:17 AM ET
In the wake of controversy of any kind, even terrorist attacks, U.S. politics is never far behind. The American political response- — from President Obama to the candidates vying to replace him — in the hours following the Paris attacks has been unsurprisingly split along party lines.
What is interesting, however, is that Democrats, who are set to debate Saturday night, have kept their responses generally to thoughts and prayers — with little in the way of policy prescriptions.
That’s understandable, given that a Democrat currently controls the White House and the candidates wouldn’t want to appear to undermine the current president of their own party, especially on matters of foreign affairs. But they will be pressed on foreign policy and national security as a result of the attacks at the outset of Saturday night’s debate, according to a source with knowledge of debate preparations.
Republicans, on the other hand, are issuing lots of policy specifics and ratcheting up rhetoric, intimating that what’s being done — and been done in the past seven years by President Obama — to keep the country safe is not enough. They are calling for increased U.S. footprint in the Middle East, including “boots on the ground,” a halting of plans to increase the numbers of Syrian refugees to the U.S., and an increase in the role of the National Security Agency in surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities.
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/14/455976394/u-s-political-reaction-to-paris-attacks-split-along-party-lines
lamh36
Good morning BJ.
I must have missed that election…when did Barack Obama become the President of France?
same folk who said Obama had no influence overseas, now saying it’s his influence to blame for this Paris attack…really…really…
Corner Stone
Frog just wants to chill. Doesn’t want to be shouted at by shouty Balloon Man. That’s not right.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
Gotta get my hair colored this morning. It’s very annoying that I inherited my mother’s hair genes and am well on track to be completely gray before I turn 50.
lamh36
BTW, anyone else think, this whole “Syrian passport” found on one of the attackers sure seems very convenient
p.a.
Wow. Android phone, desktop version and this is the first time I’ve ever seen the comments’ numbers.
Betty Cracker
@Amir Khalid: That’s my fault. I took a backroom short cut to post that picture in comments.
OzarkHillbilly
@greennotGreen: I had a cousin die from CF. When my oldest was 2 they thought he had it. Tested him 3 times before they finally decided he didn’t. I had a lot of nightmares during that time. My sympathies to your sis and you.
MattF
@lamh36: Y’see… it’s not his ‘influence’, which would be a good thing– except that it doesn’t exist, it’s his ‘Obama-ness’, which is a bad thing and is pervasive– experienced by everyone, everywhere, all the time.
lamh36
Yeah I just bet he did try…douche.
Benw
@MattF: some restaurants want to generate a feeling of hipness and exclusivity so they make it hard to get a table during prime hours. Lines of folks waiting hours to get in make it look like a super popular joint. Some nightclubs will run under capacity to make sure they always have a line outside for the same reason.
Omnes Omnibus
FXM is currently showing “Modesty Blaise” to be followed by “How to Steal a Million.”
Corner Stone
Oh God oh God oh God. John Kerry is speaking French in Vienna.
hoodie
@lamh36: Oh, it will get worse. Just now watching MSNBC and they have that hack Jim Woolsey who launches into some lunatic theory about sanctuary cities. These fucking people are unbelievable, and the media’s willingness to give these assholes a stage is just as bad. And, for the umpteenth time, Eaglesof Death Metal is not a heavy metal band.
Scratch
I’ll tell ya this. I wait until after I run before I take a pain pill for the thumb that got broken on Wednesday, and that first one of the day hits kind of hard, but in that pleasant dopey way of becoming very relaxed.
I was horrified to hear of the news from France last night. Two things made me cry this week, from the two polar ends of humanity. Last night’s horrors made me cry.
But the generosity of all those who gave money to help find a cure for type 1 made me cry in a good way.
That Mess Known as Humanity
Omnes Omnibus
@hoodie:
Look, mate, they have the word metal right in their name.
/msm
D58826
@Corner Stone: i was about to make the same comment. According to Woolsey we have to stop such silly policies as sanctuary cities since that helps the terrorists. We should not have traded the 5 terrorists for the soldier, never mind they were Afghans and 5 terrorists more or less isn’t going to make much difference. We have to fight them here or we will be fighting them here so American boots on the ground (and that rational is the same one that we used in 1964 to get bogged down in Vietnam). Obvious he did not learn the lesson from Iraq which is that is exactly what ISIS/AL Qaeda want the US to do. It justifies their ideology in fighting the Crusaders.
The neocons still have not figured out that we can’t kill the terrorists fast enough to make a difference. It doesn’t mean that a military response should be always ruled out just that there is no long term military solution. It also means that the solution has to lie within these societies. The US can not solve the social problem of Syria or Iraq or Libya, etc.
Corner Stone
@hoodie:
He also said para “we have to kill the embryonic caliphate”.
The man is flat out insane and has been publicly acknowledged as off the deep end for well over a decade. How MSNBC, or any network outside Fox, could possibly put him on at this time is flat fucking outrageous.
MattF
@Benw: Hmm. That’ll work until the first negative reviews come in.
p.a.
@Corner Stone:
While windsurfing?
Hell, Obama has been trolling the wingnuts for months, let Kerry do it too.
JMG
Cable news has a vested interest in war and catastrophe. It’s the only time anybody watches it.
MattF
@Corner Stone: “…kill the embryonic caliphate” and replace it with what? They always leave out that bit of the plan.
Corner Stone
I contend that if you have a meeting with 50+ representatives of various nations/entities then you actually haven’t met with anyone at all. And had already decided what you were going to do.
Omnes Omnibus
@p.a.:
I doubt Kerry is doing it to troll wingnuts.
Elizabelle
@hoodie: I think I might start getting all my news from France 24.
Merci bien.
You’ve told us. Now tell MSNBC. That you will turn off their channel if they persist in foisting Woolsey on their audience.
Not kidding about NBC being p o r n for defense contractors.
raven
@Betty Cracker: I know who they are playing today.
Corner Stone
@MattF: To let it hang out there that there is any form of caliphate is to buy in to a radicalized, paranoid, insane worldview. The man should be in a padded room wearing a lot of white.
ruemara
Sitting here watching my laptop twirl as I try to buy Comic-Con tickets. Terrible timing on their part, I haven’t gotten paid yet. Not enough moulah for all the days I’d want but enough to ensure I get at least 2. I hope. Did a shoot yesterday, so hopefully they’re happy and I’ll get paid from that.
After this, today will be finding some scrounge for eggs, coming back home, and working on edits to the trailer, writing the pitch, maybe filming, sending out another job application and maybe cleaning the house a bit. Without me, the roommate has no idea that toilets need cleaning and when she drops rice and pasta on the floor, fairies don’t remove it while singing. Funny, that. Maybe watch this football thing, but more likely to watch Doctor Who.
p.a.
@Omnes Omnibus: no, but it is a nice bonus.
Rob
@p.a.: @p.a.#31:
The numbers are new for me too, Safari on a MacBook Pro.
I’ve just gotten out of a condo board meeting and ate some lunch. A walk or drive in the partly sunny breezes is next for me, looking at nature instead of at news.
@Betty, I love the frog picture. It’s too cold for frogs for me until next spring.
Hal
Had one friend on Facebook right out of the gate blaming Obama with a bunch of other would be Emperor Palpitines agreeing with him and calling on the U.S. to wipe out ISIS. Because it really is that simple and effective.
HinTN
On this Android mobile I saw what I took to be the new site design but that read rapidly supplanted by the traditional presentation, which still has no comment numbers. But hey, I’m happy to be able to view all y’alls un-numbered conversation.
NotMax
You could try (the dry rub part might be fun) but don’t think you’d enjoy the end product – kind of chewy and tough.
;)
D58826
It’s true that MSNBC should not ever have Woolsey on again but they have had a number of interesting guests on this morning. One security expert just said that the lesson we have to learn is that there are millions of people from Morocco to Indonesia who hate their governments, with just cause, and these folks are not going to accept American/Western leadership in their lives. They might not be ready to shoot up a theater but they view the West as the problem and not the solution.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Betty Cracker: I have a frog picture,but I fear killing the thread with a link. I’ll just send her too you. Her name was Wilma and she lived in our wee backyard pond, with scores of fish. I’d named her Fred, but on finding out Fred was a she, her name was changed to Wilma.
Omnes Omnibus
Humanity vs Brutality.
MattF
@Hal: That’ll work. Buying into ISIS propaganda and pursuing a phantom practically guarantees success.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Couldn’t Fred be short for Winifred?
ETA: Not canonically Flintstone, but it avoids confusion for the frog.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Or Frederica.
Germy
a gecko in an AT-AT costume
This is all I got.
srv
I’m wondering how that meeting with an ISIS funder is going to turn out for everyone:
Poor John, worst time ever to be sick:
D58826
OK I think it’s time that we as a nation just pack it in if this is the quality of policy analysis from a contneder for the presidency. From Huffington :
. As a nation do we still not understand that those ‘civilian casualties’ have relatives who will not be so tolerant of the deaths of their relatives at the hands of the US.
p.a.
@D58826:
Whaddaya mean? We’ve done a bang up job fixing our own.
Pogonip
I saw something to the effect that Cole is giving up blogging and turning the site over to someone else? If so, who will take on the critical duty of periodic announcements that ” I hate you all”?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m also sure that’s not why he’s doing it. He’s being respectful (and sincere). But it has the added benefit of trolling the wingnuts, which is full of win.
Germy
@Pogonip: good question. Doug! maybe?
Amir Khalid
@Pogonip:
As far as I know, it was just unfounded speculation (the very best kind!) from a commenter.
Elizabelle
@Pogonip: Did Cole say that? On twitter? A joke, or not?
@ Betty Cracker:
re the frog: charming wee lad.
He’s there to collect his wine foil princess.
debbie
@D58826:
I knew Cruz had secret dreams of being the next Buck Turgidson!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgyjlqhiTV8
ETA: “Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed…”
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: That’s reassuring.
Too captive an audience here he can call a-holes and miscreants. How could Cole give up that power?
We’re kind of his very own dictator’s balcony.
p.a.
@MattF: @srv:
The Venn diagram as 2 stacked circles.
Gindy51
@Betty Cracker: The stoned look is due to the flash. Like us they contract their pupils when too much light is in their faces. Gotta save that night vision for hunting bugs, doncha know….
Germy
@Elizabelle: I like John Cole’s twitter motto:
srv
@Elizabelle: That worked out great for Pope Benedict.
Corner Stone
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
There are worse things than killing a thread…unspeakable things…
***shutters***
Steeplejack
Just getting going this morning in Las Vegas. Still having some time-change lethargy, and I may be catching my brother’s cold (or I was exposed on the flight out here). I was up at dawn, however (6:15 here), to feed the sighthounds. They are teaching me the household routines. Apparently meals are very important! They have now morphed into couch pandas for their morning nap.
Got the brother launched on his Patagonian adventure yesterday: Aeroméxico direct from LAS to Mexico City, bit of a layover, then on to Santiago de Chile, where he will be staying tonight. He goes to Pucón, Araucanía, tomorrow, and that’s where the actual cycling begins: 2,200 miles on down to Tierra del Fuego. He showed me where his will and important papers are, so everything’s in order. LOL.
I’m going to check in with my mother in a bit and see if she wants to get together today. Otherwise I’ll take it easy with the dogs and recharge my batteries.
Germy
John Fugelsang quoted Emerson on twitter:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ron Fournier is calling for “national service” so the “we” all have something called “skin in the game”.
I guess “Let’s send our children to fight this war” is marginally less repugnant than, if just as stupid as, “Let’s send your children to fight this war”.
Betty Cracker
@Pogonip: I’m sure that’s not true, but if it ever came to pass, I’m certain others would willingly step in.
Germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ron’s job will to write about it all.
“Keep up the fight” he can say.
ruemara
Yay! She’s happy! And wtf, 55 pics ain’t enough? Booo!! Still sitting in the Comic-Con waiting room with half an hour left before they say that’s all folks.
Pogonip
@Betty Cracker: Well, I’ll certainly do my part: *ahem*. “I hate most of you!”
(I ain’t taking over the full job without due compensation.)
OldDave
@Betty Cracker:
Not knocking the school (after all, our daughter earned her masters at USF) but how can a school located in Tampa call itself the “University of SOUTH Florida”? I have to drive 200 miles NORTH just to get anywhere near it. :-)
srv
p.a.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I never liked to admit it, but the ‘universal 2 year military commitment’ increases diversity and tolerance by widening people’s exposure argument does make some sense. It’s sad that our society can’t do the same, as well as.
A counterargument being: give a general a weapon and he’ll find a way to use it.
Corner Stone
@Germy:
Already done, as noted:
“In one email, Rove asked, “How does our country continue to produce men and women like this?” Fournier responded: “The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight.”
Elizabelle
@p.a.: I like the idea of national service, and allow older than usual peeps to do it too, if they want to.
And then link lifetime healthcare availability to their national service. I actually agree on the “skin in the game” idea, and shared sacrifice.
Corner Stone
@Pogonip: “CALM DOWN AND QUIT YER BITCHING!” “CAPSLOCK JESUS IS THE COOLEST JESUS!”
There, done my part also, too.
Elizabelle
@srv: Wow.
Quand il pleut ….
J R in WV
Invited to old friends nearly neighbors for dinner last night, going out for a big Saturday night, first time in months.
Dinner at a nice sit-down restaurant, then Symphony with Piano Concerto by Ravel and Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. As a sometime, once upon a time pianist, will cry to listen to the beauty. Great music affects my emotions greatly…
Will no doubt run into friends, it is a small town. Sometimes dear friends, sometimes old acquaintances, all good.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV: Enjoy. Great weekend plans.
satby
@J R in WV: sounds lovely, have a great time.
Hal
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Can we start with his best bud Dick Cheney?
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
I have watched France 24 off and on for a while (on the MHz Worldview network on my cable system), started watching it a lot recently because their coverage of the Syrian refugees coming to Europe was outstanding. So last night my first thought was to look at their coverage of the Paris attacks.
andy
Armed goons to the one side, tragedy-humping right wingers to the other; now more than ever we need cat gifs, amirite?
Also, too, that’s a heck of a roomba!
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: Thank you for introducing me to France 24. Will become a habit. Does not appear in my cable lineup, but the laptop streaming is good.
Please enjoy some mountain views and desert air for me. Oh — and gin libations. Fer sure.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@p.a.: The most persuasive argument I know for national service (not necessarily military) is the breaking down of social and regional barriers, but I also know that if it applied to persons of a certain age (mine), I’d be less persuaded. I do think a broader chunk of society serving in the military would make it harder for the Fourniers and the Andrea Mitchells to sell their oh-so-well-nay-nobly!-intentioned interventionism, even among their peers.
SiubhanDuinne
@J R in WV:
And a short piece by John Adams, and Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony! What a terrific concert! Please post a review when you get home.
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
France 24 is shown in big blocks on the MHz network (also known as Worldview). I’d be very surprised if you don’t have it on your system, because MHz is headquartered in NoVa. I’m on Cox Cable (at home), and the several MHz channels are around 470-476 or so.
I will definitely enjoy my three weeks in Las Vegas. I love the desert environment, this is a perfect time of year—highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s—and there are great restaurants everywhere. Plus I’ve got dogs to keep me company (a whippet and a greyhound).