Actually, these pigs were so small we wondered if maybe they were someone’s escaped micro-herd of pet potbellied pigs:
Could be baby ferals too, but we didn’t see a sow lurking nearby. It’s a mystery.
Open thread!
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads
Actually, these pigs were so small we wondered if maybe they were someone’s escaped micro-herd of pet potbellied pigs:
Could be baby ferals too, but we didn’t see a sow lurking nearby. It’s a mystery.
Open thread!
by Betty Cracker| 171 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Sports, Assholes
It’s ridiculously warm here in central coastal FL, but not too hot to BBQ, so we’ve got the smoker fired up and are awaiting the football games. I’m trying out a BBQ beans recipe based loosely on this from Serious Eats — looks like a good option if you forgot to soak dried beans overnight.
Is it just me, or are the early NCAA bowl matchups uniquely non-compelling this year? I looked at the schedule and couldn’t find anything worth getting excited about until next Wednesday, and even then, it’s mostly “meh” until the playoffs.
Some of today’s NFL contests look kinda interesting. Here are my picks for the week:
My upset pick — Atlanta over Carolina — is probably 95% wishful thinking, but the Falcons have shown occasional flashes of competence; it just depends on which team shows up. I would be delighted if the Jets strafe the Pats, the Dolphins down the Colts and the Bucs bag the Bears, but that’s unlikely.
What are you up to today?
PS: Jim Webb strikes me as a slightly more egotistical Zell Miller. If he runs as an independent, will the sub-one percent of the electorate he peels off come from the GOP or Democrats?
This post is in: Garden Chats, Open Threads
Courtney Barnett is Australian, where it’s gardening season (insofar as that’s ever true in Australia). From the lyrics:
… The yard is full of hard rubbish it’s a mess and
I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab
We should amend that
I pull the sheets back
It’s 40 degrees
And i feel like I’m dying.
Life’s getting hard in here
So i do some gardening
Anything to take my mind away from where it’s supposed to be.
The nice lady next door talks of green beds
And all the nice things that she wants to plant in them
I wanna grow tomatoes on the front steps.
Sunflowers, bean sprouts, sweet corn and radishes.
I feel pro-active
I pull out weeds
All of a sudden
I’m having trouble breathing in…
***********
In our yard, it’s now 50F and raining, in late December. Which means you can see the hard rubbish. And also, everybody’s cringing under the suspicion we’ll get blasted with another ten-feet-of-snow January/February, as payback.
What’s going on in your neighborhood(s), garden-related or otherwise?
by John Cole| 91 Comments
This post is in: Dog Blogging
Directly behind my chair at my computer desk (which is actually not a desk but a big industrial strength table), Miss Lily lies on the couch, where she always is unless she is lying down by my feet.
There is rarely a moment in the day when Lily is not within 5-10 feet of me. Sometimes she goes outside to sun herself or potty, but I’d say a solid 99% of the time I am home, Lily is within arms reach. The other dogs do as they want, come and go as they please, but Lily is always around.
It’s gotten to the point that I don’t even notice her because she is basically a part of me. I don’t even notice when she gets on my lap most of the time, but suddenly realize I have been petting her for 20 minutes or so. Unlike the other dogs, she’s effortless. You have to tell Thurston to get down when he is on your lap and you want to stand up. Lily just senses when I am getting up and hops down and follows me.
She doesn’t follow too close, either. I never stop short and step on her. She’s by me, always watching. We make a mean team.
I was thinking about this when I was going to bed last night. All I have to say is “Alright, let’s go to bed,” and Lily hops down, goes outside and potties, and then gets in bed while I brush my fangs. I lie down, lift the blanket so she can get under the covers with her butt up near my armpit, and I scratch her ears and rub her head as we fall asleep.
Some dog.
I Just Want to Talk about How Much I Love My DogPost + Comments (91)
This post is in: Bernie Sanders 2016, Election 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, Open Threads
New @CNN poll: Post-debate, voters move to Clinton via @jennagiesta https://t.co/2p9KDg8bHB
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) December 23, 2015
Wait, I thought no one watched the debate. https://t.co/HzJlOVmaEu
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) December 23, 2015
Or is it just an “unskewed polls” issue? From the CNN article:
… Overall, Clinton tops Sanders among registered voters who are Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents 50% to 34%. That’s a slightly tighter margin than in late-November, when Clinton led 58% to 30% over Sanders.
But those overall results mask a shift back toward Clinton following the Democratic debate on Saturday night. In interviews conducted before the debate, Sanders ran closer to Clinton, with 37% support to Clinton’s 45%. Among those interviewed after the debate, Clinton’s lead grew to 60% vs. Sanders’ 27%.
The Sanders campaign focuses heavily on economic issues, and the new poll suggests he has boosted his standing on that issue. Yet Sanders continues to trail Clinton as the candidate better able to handle economic issues, 47% say they think Clinton is best able to handle it, 39% Sanders.
The former secretary of state has even larger leads on foreign policy matters and ISIS, however, topping Sanders 72% to 15% on foreign policy, 63% to 18% on ISIS. Clinton also holds a 21-point advantage over Sanders on handling gun policy, 51% prefer Clinton vs. 30% Sanders…
The gender gap that has persisted throughout the race for the Democratic nomination continues as the year comes to a close, with women favoring Clinton 56% to 23% and men about evenly divided, 46% Sanders to 44% Clinton. The gap is actually even larger when it comes to favorable views of the candidates: 82% of Democratic women hold a favorable view of Clinton, but that drops to 71% among men. And on Sanders, 84% of men hold a positive impression vs. just 64% of Democratic women.
Despite those gaps, Democratic men are actually more likely than Democratic women to say the party has a better chance to win in 2016 with Clinton than without her (64% of men say the best chance is with Clinton, 55% of women say the same). Overall, about 6 in 10 Democratic voters say the Democratic Party has a better chance of winning the presidency with Clinton as their nominee than with someone else (59% say the party has its best chance with Clinton, 38% someone else).
Democrats are more apt to see Clinton as holding several key attributes than they are Sanders. Nearly nine in 10 see Clinton as having the right experience to be president (89%), three-quarters call her someone they would be proud to have as president (76%), and 7 in 10 as someone who shares their values (72%). Smaller majorities say the same about Sanders, with the smallest gap coming on shared values (62% experience, 63% proud, 67% values)…
Your thoughts?
Open Thread: Another Pundit-Beloved Theory Blown to Hell?Post + Comments (210)
This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes, Schadenfreude
— Samwise Gramsci (@I_hate_it_here_) November 4, 2015
… of pissed pants (which is hardly what the original speaker had in mind). Jonah Goldberg, Doughy Pantload, laments in the NYPost…
… Only one candidate can unite us all in a way George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama could not. You’ve probably already guessed who I have in mind. But just in case you haven’t, it’s the Sweet Meteor O’Death, or, as he’s known on Twitter, @Smod2016.
I shouldn’t call SMOD a “he,” for as an inanimate hunk of ice and rock hurling toward our planet, SMOD has no sex. (In these gender-confused times, that in itself should be a selling point.)
Hate the “1 percent”? SMOD will erase all income inequality. Under SMOD, America will have no industrial carbon emissions, and the Islamic State will be crushed. Hateful speech will be silenced, and no gay wedding cakes will be baked. SMOD has no super PAC and takes no money from unions. SMOD already has the only endorsement it requires: the impersonal law of gravity…
Thought it might cheer y’all up to know that the Wingnut Welfare parasites are already bemoaning the sad fate of their mighty bench. And I’m hoping at least some of the True Believers ding the Pantload for mouthing the Liebral Line on the so-called “law” of gravity, which is only a theory!!!…
CHRISTMAS IS OVER
NOW IT'S JUST WINTER
— Caro (@socarolinesays) December 26, 2015
Sore Loser Open Thread: After Him, the Deluge…Post + Comments (57)
by Adam L Silverman| 64 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Here’s a thread for everyone to describe their left overs and those gifts that you’d like to be able to pawn off on someone else.
Or if you want to be overly literal, I highly recommend you watch HBO Films two documentaries on Ali-Frazier today. The first is entitled The Thrilla in Manila and deals with Ali and Frazier’s relationship and how the fight came about and ended. The second is Ali-Frazier: One Nation Indivisible. You can find them on youtube. I’m not putting the links in here so as not to cause us any copyright issues.