Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

The revolution will be supervised.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

We won’t go back.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Let’s finish the job.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Our white squirrel is back…

Our white squirrel is back…

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Look who showed up in our backyard just a little while ago:

white-squirrel-nov-2016

I hadn’t seen it in a while and figured maybe a hawk got it. I am relieved to learn that was not the case.

Anyone watching college football today? I was out and about earlier and did not post a thread for discussion of that topic since my connectivity was spotty, but feel free to use this open thread for it. Go Gators!

Reader Interactions

256Comments

  5. 5.

    jl

    OK, that does it. Lady Cracker lives in some kind of enchanted wood.
    Mysterious pigeons visiting and walking around like some avian ambassador, white chipmunks, cranky old wizard chickens.

    I humbly request Cracker and her magic friends to cast an auspicious political spell for Tuesday, and bring gumdrop rainbows, cotton candy clouds, and perfumed unicorn farts.

    It don’t happen, we can all blame Cracker.

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I think the CO electorate is about 12% Hispanic

    @ realDenaldTrump
    Please join Melania in Denver, CO tomorrow at 9:30pm for a very important speech on illegals working in this country. We will BUILD A WALL!

  8. 8.

    bemused

    Re: Early voting. It’s obvious why Republicans hate it but it just occurred to me that I don’t exactly remember what excuse(s) they have been using to try to justify stopping it. None that could pass a slight whiff test that I can recall.

  13. 13.

    raven

    What kind of question is that? Auburn barely escaped Vandy and Pettway looks to be in bad shape. The Illini may beat the equally hapless Spartans. Hokies next and then PIP for the Dawgs and the game in redstick.

  14. 14.

    Shell

    The Big 5 White Squirrel Towns

    Marionville, MO (read)
    Brevard, NC
    Olney, Il
    Kenton, TN
    Exeter, Ontario Canada (web)
    Other Places with lots of reports

    Washington DC area
    Bowling Green, KY
    Minneapolis, MN
    Downtown Boston
    ***********
    I guess they’ve been slowly working their way down south.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: d’oh! I got distracted by the “BUILD THE WALL”
    ETA: and the Trump campaign and the media’s attempts to make Melania into a star

  17. 17.

    jl

    @ingrediorum: The albino ‘gator in Crackers enchanted subtropical forest flies and pisses wonderful subtropical cocktails made with the best, top, most terrific, organic fair trade hard likker and freshly squeezed fruit juices.

    The truth of that is obvious, easily inferred from what we already know. Why no pics, Cracker?
    And tell us about the rainbow Florida panther that sings lullabies on moonless nights. Pretty please?

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    @jl: My critters and I are focused on turning FL blue. The rest is up to y’all!

    @Shell: True story: several years ago, my mom, daughter and I took an RV trip through the Appalachians, and we stopped in Brevard, which has a yearly White Squirrel Festival and signs all over the place advertising the abundant white squirrels. We looked all over the place and never saw even one. Very shortly after we returned home, the white squirrel above (or possibly a relative) showed up in my yard.

  22. 22.

    Shell

    White squirrels make sense in places that get snow half the year. Not so much sense in Florida.

    I did the Google and it seems to be a combination of albinos (recognized by their red eyes) and a rare mutation in the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

  24. 24.

    WereBear

    @schrodinger’s cat: The colder the climate, the larger the mammals. It conserves body heat. Small bodies radiate it efficiently.

    Florida deer are like greyhounds. In my far North neck of the actual woods, they are more like Buicks.

  26. 26.

    sukabi

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: seriously? Man, that’s some funny shit…Melania, who knows all about illegally working in US to give a “let’s build a wall to keep out illegally working immigrants”…speech

    Ok, Betty informs that it’s not actually Donald, but is how they roll.

  28. 28.

    Pogonip

    @Shell: Also Clumbus Ahia, home of THE Ohio State University. When I lived there, during a couple of years my street had more white squirrels than gray ones, and one white one with a gray tail. The local cats ignored them all, but I saw hawks catch several.

    Kent, Ohio, is known for that college and for black squirrels.

  33. 33.

    Pogonip

    @WereBear: I have noticed a funny thing about deer this mating season. You see the usual casualty rate of one dead beside the freeway every 2-3 miles, but this year they are all female! Not so much as a little spiker road-harvested. It makes me wonder if the female birth rate was unusually high in 2014, and, if so, why.

  35. 35.

    Hal

    A woman came into the clinic in work in last week and when she was leaving my coworker said happy holidays to her. She turned around and said “oh no. Merry Christmas! We say merry Christmas”. It took everything in me not to say calm the fuck down Anita Bryant.

    Next Wednesday when Hillary Clinton is president elect I’m going to tie a string on my finger to remind me i’m at work and need my job.

  36. 36.

    Pogonip

    @jeffreyw: I guess in Olney they’re all albinos? Or at least the sign painter thought so.

    About 30 years ago I saw a black red fox (no grays in the area) in Columbus.

  40. 40.

    Gvg

    I saw a white squirrel at juniper springs more than 45 years ago. That’s near Ocala. I googled it awhile back and apparently there is still a population around that area.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Hal:

    She turned around and said “oh no. Merry Christmas! We say merry Christmas”.

    She must not have realized your coworker was thinking of Guy Fawkes Day festivities.

  45. 45.

    Pogonip

    @Shell: I looked up leukism too. I disagree with Wikipedia that it’s rare, at least around here. Around here if you watch the local critters you see more leukistic ones than melanistic ones, although that may be because the black ones are harder to see at dusk and dawn when wildlife is out and about. But if leukism was all that rare you wouldn’t see a lot of white critters.

  46. 46.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Pogonip: That would have been my response, all wide-eyed and innocent and Judgemental Southern Belle. “Oh, it’s too early for Merry Christmas.”

    Bless her heart.

  48. 48.

    ingrediorum

    @jl: Oh no, you do not want to hear the Florida Panther’s song… it’s the last thing many creatures ever hear.

  57. 57.

    scav

    @Hal: “Funny, I thought my lips were the ones that were moving and entirely under my own control.”

    or, maybe a variant of my usual. “Oh! Well then, WE say ‘Have a simply Miserable Christmas!” (Don’t like the wrapping paper? Don’t get the gift.)

  58. 58.

    Ruckus

    @Pogonip:
    I worked in Westerville for about 4 yrs till the company moved and never once saw a white squirrel. We did have a killer squirrel, lived in a tree downtown, would jump on unsuspecting passersby. I did see the squirrel in his tree but never saw him attack, but the stories I’d hear. I’m thinking bullshit, but the inhabitants of Columbus were not know for their BS. OK that’s a lie, I made it up, they bullshitted plenty.

  60. 60.

    Jeffro

    Banked 3 more hours of canvassing today – what a great day to be out walking around! Doing more shifts tomorrow and on Election Day. GOTV!

  62. 62.

    Doug R

    This thread about “white” squirrels and “black” squirrels- is this an allegory for something?

  63. 63.

    From Both Sides of the Pond

    And in other news, it turns out the television show I am an onscreen historian for premieres tonight on the American Heroes channel. As I’ve not seen the footage, it should be… nervewracking.

  64. 64.

    NR

    National polls have a 1 point Clinton lead. Get ready for a repeat of 2000 on election night. Unless the Johnson voters move over to Trump, in which case he wins easily.

    Why couldn’t we have picked a better candidate?

  65. 65.

    Ruckus

    @Pogonip:
    It was still dry when I worked there. We used to drive 2 blocks away and could sit any number of bars and restaurants and buy a drink. And yes the Temperance Museum is/was on the main drag. Could never be bothered to go inside. Even to laugh. I guess the city finally had enough pointing and laughing and got rid of the city wide dry ordinance,

  70. 70.

    debbie

    @Pogonip:

    They’re still plentiful. None of them seem to have healthy-looking tails though.

    Also plenty of foxes and even a mountain lion!

  77. 77.

    gwangung

    @NR: Snicker.

    Your postings are pretty much rote regurgitations, without much insight or sophistication.

    Keep it up. We need the amusement.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I know some Republicans may actually be fucking dumber than NR, but is it possible enough of them are to make this happen? I know Fiorina has a house in VA, and somebody said she was constituency shopping

    Maggie SevernsVerified account
    ‏@ MaggieSeverns
    New: If Clinton wins there’ll be a battle for Kaine’s Senate seat. VA Republicans are urging Carly Fiorina to run:

    I do believe she’s dumb, arrogant and ambitious enough to go for it, and rich enough to maybe scare anybody else out of the race.

  79. 79.

    dm

    We have black hipster squirrels around here.

    I have this fear. All these early votes (showing strong turnout among expected-to-vote-Clinton demographics) probably get counted later in the process, after the machine votes.

    Does this mean that Trump will shown exaggerated strength early on, which will vanish as the night progresses and the paper ballots are counted? Can you imagine what that will look like to the “election is rigged” crowd?

  82. 82.

    Betty Cracker

    @NR: After boring us for months with your pants-shitting lamentations, will you at least promise to show up November 8th when the race is called for Clinton and eat crow? There’s no need to ask if you’ll show up if it goes the other way (which it won’t) — of course you will. You clearly get off on it.

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Here, here! The best solution.
    When I do use my phone I know what you mean, it’s pretty surprising to start reading someone I’ve pied on my desktop and realize why I pied them in the first place. I also like John’s banning policy as if he did ban based on people not adding anything positive to the discussion, most of us wouldn’t be seen at all. (My $.02 is worth exactly that, or maybe less, the penny not being what it used to be)

  87. 87.

    gogol's wife

    Hamilton mixtape songs are showing up on YouTube — fun! Just when I was squeezing the last bit of enjoyment out of the cast album.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    I lose track of which troll is which. Was it NR whom you challenged to a “put up or shut up” wager a few months ago, or was that one of the others?

    Whichever it was, did they ever take you up on it? Pay up? (Pretty sure I know the answer to those last two questions, but I’m in a rhetorical frame of mind.)

  91. 91.

    Imonlylurking

    So my friends and I are having a viewing party on Tuesday. I’m trying to decide how much and what kind of food to have out. Maybe make your own tacos?

  92. 92.

    Corner Stone

    HRC will win NV, WI, PA, MN and MI. And quite likely FL.
    Trump has zero path to win, and Hispanics all across the US are loading up with metaphorical buckshot to make sure they stop this fucking monster.
    It would not surprise me in the least to see HRC also take NC, OH and be damn close in AZ. This will not be a nail biter on Tuesday night.

  93. 93.

    FlipYrWhig

    NR, loathsome piece of filth imperfectly wrapped in a skin-like coating that still allows noxious vapors to escape in the form of blog postings, will be back later to say something like “Why are so many of you so uninterested in having a dialogue of ideas?”

  95. 95.

    Schlemazel

    We have albino squirrels every year. Sometimes it is obviously not the same one as last year other times I can’t tell. A few blocks away, over by debts place, there are deep black squirrels which I find even more striking.

    Went for a gorgeous bike ride, about 20 miles along the Mississippi River starting at the Federal wildlife refuge Unbelievable weather! Ate dinner at a hole in the wall Mexican near Ft. Snelling. Leaving there I saw a campaign sign for a clown who lists himself as “Deplorable Ron Moey”. I had to look him up when we got home. He is endorsed by the gun rights assc. and the anti-choice MCCL but has no web presence. The neighborhood that coveres his Senate district is diverse including many new immigrants. So not just deplorable but a very stupid asshole

  97. 97.

    tobie

    Is anyone else having trouble with the Clinton phone banking tool today? I’ll start calling in one of their featured states and well before I hit call #50, which is the list size they’ve give me, they thank me for completing the list. I’m assuming this means that so many people are phone banking through the campaign website that it’s absolutely saturated and they cannot generate numbers fast enough for volunteers to call.

    (I’ve been going back and forth between Ohio and North Carolina. One woman called me back and spoke to me for about an hour. She’s not thrilled with HRC but is terrified of Trump and thinks the FBI has been playing politics. Abortion was a big concern of hers, and she told me that it was the principal reason why most members of her church would be voting for Trump. I reminded her that Jimmy Carter himself had said that what was important was to create the conditions so that people wouldn’t have to have abortions–conditions like good prenatal care, assistance for poor families, childcare for working mothers, etc. Didn’t feel great about saying all this but she seemed happy with the answer and she felt strongly that Carter was a good Christian. So I guess I convinced her and her husband to pull the lever for HRC on Tuesday.)

  103. 103.

    FlipYrWhig

    @tobie: I guarantee you that Donald Trump has personally paid for double digits of abortions. Nothing proves better the specious aspect of anti-abortion politics than the decision to sign on with Donald Fucking Trump, who spent about 55 years of his life sticking his member wherever he felt like it.

  109. 109.

    GregB

    Lol James Comey. He is the face flashed on the screen in Trump’s closing ad when Trump talks about the corrupt political system. Serves him right for being a coward unwiling to stomp on the renegades in the New York office of the FBI/KGB.

  112. 112.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @GregB: I love these signs that Trump thinks the whole country sits up all night watching cable news like he does (and maybe somebody sitting in my chair does too often, who knows?). Trying to gin up rage about “Sidney Blumenthal”, or showing a picture of James Comey. I suspect splashing Anthony Weiner’s name around has the same effect outside of New York and political junkie bubble.

  114. 114.

    some guy

    Bill Big Dawg came to town today. from the selfies seen on my FB feed, Bill is ready, willing, and able to play the role of FLOTUS. FL s gonna go blue, but hey, what about the nws out of NV?

    Go Culinary Workers!

  115. 115.

    ixnay

    @jeffreyw: There’s a “dominant white” gene in cats – not albinism, but an override of whatever other colors might be there. Maybe that’s the case with the white squirrels?

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    @Corner Stone: Agree with all of that except Ohio…(sigh)…

    As I mentioned to my kids, mostly just watching to see how NH, VA*, NC, and FL go – she’s either got this, or she’s got this BIGTIME.

    *VA just because I want them to feel like Team Fro had a hand in that win…it’s pretty solidly blue ;)

  117. 117.

    Another Scott

    @bemused: I think they use a few arguments:

    1) It’s too expensive. We can’t afford it.
    2) It’s unfair to everyone else who has to vote a particular day and time. We shouldn’t cater to lazy so and sos (if you know what I mean, and I think you do).

    Both are disingenuous. They don’t want to make it easy to vote because they know when turnout is high that Democrats usually win. They also know that their most rabid supporters are a fringe minority so that high turn-out swamps them, meaning candidates who cater to them risk losing.

    Just like it’s counter-productive to oppose sensible mass transit if you have to drive (getting more people off the roads makes it better for drivers), it’s counter-productive to oppose sensible early voting policies. Nobody likes waiting in long lines.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who voted in early October.)

  118. 118.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yep, I proposed a $100 wager with the loser contributing that amount to the winner’s favorite charity. I repeated the offer several times, but he (I think) never took me up on it.

    Seems to be an embittered Bernie supporter who enjoys pointlessly pissing all over the Democratic nominee and her supporters, which is pathetic. Had Bernie prevailed, I would have worked my tail off to get him elected. I certainly wouldn’t have tried to discourage fellow Democrats by whining about how we should have picked my preferred candidate and predicting doom and woe. What kind of asshole does that?

  119. 119.

    FlipYrWhig

    @The Lodger: He did say something like that the other day — “finally someone who wants to discuss the facts rather than fling insults like a grade schooler” or words to that effect.

  122. 122.

    Mnemosyne

    @tobie:

    FWIW, Hillary is one of the originators of a phrase that drives some pro-choice people up the wall: “Safe, legal and rare.”

    I think most people can agree that the best way to reduce the abortion rate is by making birth control widely available and by making it easier for mothers to get social services. It’s only the crazy forced birthers who want to cut off both things.

  123. 123.

    Redshift

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I know some Republicans may actually be fucking dumber than NR, but is it possible enough of them are to make this happen?

    Man, I hope so! She’d lose badly, probably after an ugly primary with all of the ambitious local wingnut pols.

  124. 124.

    Jeffro

    Btw folks, my kids think that the NYT election forecast (with all of its interactive ‘paths to win’ and what not) and 270towin dot com are quite fascinating to play around with. (This kid does too)

    GOTV!

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: he was a bitter Obama hater for years, around time of the ACA passage as I recall, then disappeared for a while. Still the same poo-flinger who believes (or pretends to) that True Progressivism can only be failed.

  126. 126.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Betty Cracker: He’s been a whiny asshole since WAY before the Sanders campaign. He’s a “the Democratic Party, from top to bottom, is taking a dive” diehard since the Obamacare debate at least.

  128. 128.

    Keith P.

    Wow, poor Florida kickoff returner got walloped to start the 2nd half. About as perfect a hit as you can see. This is the same Arkansas team that got beaten by Auburn 56-3 a couple of weeks ago, right?

  131. 131.

    different-church-lady

    @NR: Wow! Every national poll shows the exact same 1 point lead! I don’t think that’s ever happened before!

  133. 133.

    raven

    @Keith P.: Shit happens all the time, they own us in that bullshit “neutral” game and then get waxed by someone else. I wouldn’t play that fucking game down there of nuttin.

  134. 134.

    Major Major Major Major

    @PsiFighter37: I can’t believe I just had this exchange with giordano.

    Giordano: (he blocked me so I can’t see now but something about how Nate Silver is the gold standard)
    Me: @AlGiordano @ryangrim @NateSilver538 the Grim piece is awful but that doesn’t make Silver’s model not a terrible model.
    Giordano: Then do your own model instead of bed wetting about his
    Me: @AlGiordano evidence of bed-wetting please? You’re the one with the tweetstorm about it.
    Giordano: Now you’re just being a troll. Enjoy the block.

  136. 136.

    Redshift

    @dm:

    I have this fear. All these early votes (showing strong turnout among expected-to-vote-Clinton demographics) probably get counted later in the process, after the machine votes.

    I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. Paper absentee ballots get tallied later (and provisional ballots don’t get counted at all in some places if there aren’t enough to affect the outcome), but early voting is done in the same way as election day voting. In Virginia (and I bet most other places) it’s tallied first, to avoid the crush when the votes are delivered from the precincts.

  139. 139.

    WaterGirl

    @Major Major Major Major: That seems odd, too. What did you say before he did that?

    Just saw that you had put that upthread. I’m a big fan of Al G., but disagreeing with him about something does not make you a pants wetter or a troll. Disappointing.

  140. 140.

    different-church-lady

    @Redshift: I think this is going to vary state to state. Here in MA, I read that early votes will be counted along with the election day votes. I put mine in a sealed envelope, which presumably will not be unsealed until Nov. 8.

  141. 141.

    Pogonip

    @ixnay: Is dominant white lethal in cats like it is in horses?

    White in general is associated with neurological problems, which would probably do in wild animals in a hurry, so the squirrels peobably have some other white gene.

    When I was a kid, my uncle found out about white livestock the hard way. He imported expensive white Charlais cattle from France, ten or so. Those animals were so jumpy and nervous even Grandpa, who’d been dealing with cattle his whole life, found them too dangerous to handle. As an adult I found out this is one of the more common problems associated with white. Which explains why you rarely see white cows, I guess.

  142. 142.

    Betty Cracker

    @eclare: I and all the Gators I know have high hopes for him. This is only his second year with the program, and he’s definitely improved it over the train wreck Muschump left in his wake.

  144. 144.

    tobie

    @Mnemosyne: Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind for future calls. I’m always flummoxed by the anti-abortion argument, not because I don’t know what to say, but because I can’t say the thing I really want to when phone banking, which is that it’s no one’s business but the woman concerned and, after that, her physician.

  147. 147.

    raven

    @Pogonip: You read all the nasty shit in response to the dude who said his Trump FIL was a “lovely man”? I have a bunch of Trump fan buddies.

  148. 148.

    different-church-lady

    @raven: I dunno… at this point I’m angry enough to stop entertaining a gray area on the perimeter of the deplorables basket. I just can’t forgive “misinformed” anymore.

  151. 151.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: Seems like even the more reasonable folks can be short-tempered jerks on Twitter. Billmon, whom I’ve read for years (back when he had a blog) banned me for a mildly sarcasm comment that wasn’t even directed at him (I was replying to a Greenwald tweet to which Billmon was a party). What a dick! :)

    @raven: He is!

  152. 152.

    different-church-lady

    @Betty Cracker: I am finding it mildly satisfying Twitter has yet to figure out how to monetize conflict — especially considering how many others have.

  154. 154.

    some guy

    Gators getting walloped. Their D is beingtaken apart, del Rio’s arm is subpar t best ttoday. aaaargggggh.

  155. 155.

    jl

    @tobie: I think your answer was very good. It might have worked, seems like they listened and gave what you said some thought. If that sort of very sweet reason doesn’t work then I go to increasingly tough arguments (though not when I do GOTV, I follow instructions, then)
    “Look, we DO ‘protect unborn life’ now, in accordance with its probable viability outside the womb. Handsome Old Joe Biden got it right and he said…”
    “Do you want every woman how has an early miscarriage or still birth to go through a full blown homicide investigation? That would include tens of thousands of women trying to get pregnant every year. Or do you want selective prosecution of homicide laws?”
    “Not a word about abortion in the Bible except a suspicious husband can try to induce one as a good test for adultery”
    “Those hypocrite Xtian evangelicals were not against abortion until they figured out they could use the issue to manipulate marks for very worldly political purposes and money”. (Want to persuade them before you get to that one, which probably won’t work).

  156. 156.

    Bostondreams

    @some guy:

    As a Gator three times over, it pains me to say this, but we stink. Not sure we should even be ranked, with this horrific offense.

  162. 162.

    Pogonip

    @ixnay: Oops! Sorry! I just checked on myself. Dominant white and lethal white in horses are two different genes. *blush*

    White in general is associated with problems, though. Likewise blue eyes. Although I think the biggest problems associated with blue eyes were largely bred out of Siamese cats.

    White in horses is so bad that cowboys would avoid horses with white around the eyes, as they were prone to eye problems.

  166. 166.

    Ruckus

    @tobie:
    Another point is that abortions happen, legal or not and will continue to happen, legal or not. So if that’s the case then the best thing is to make it so that they are much less necessary, safe when they occur, and support those who choose not to have them, even if not married. And maybe cite some of the statistics about much reduced teenage pregnancy, showing that there is a better way than all or nothing.

  168. 168.

    gene108

    @Hal:

    I really do not get the hostility to Happy Holidays. Anyway, I think if you really want confuse people go with Happy Christmas, which is used in the other parts of the world, therby ny making it foreign enough to hurt a true patriotic American.

  169. 169.

    WaterGirl

    @Major Major Major Major: Not sure if you are being snarky or sincere there, but I think it’s a drag that he did that to you.

    Just saw the latest visual comment thread you posted last night. I think those are really interesting. But then I was a sociology major in college so of course I would find that kind of thing interesting. I do not get how/why anyone would perceive them as creepy. I hope you keep doing them.

  170. 170.

    Pogonip

    @jl: Item 2: I wouldn’t be so sure my targets were so stupid they couldn’t figure out the difference between an unintentional miscarriage and an intentional abortion. I’d go with one of the other items.

  171. 171.

    raven

    @different-church-lady: I’ve gotten used to being an outlier in certain social groups. One if my RWNJ’s actually LIVES in Vietnam, a fucking Communist country”. He sent me some stupid Trump shit and I pasted Trump’s “not getting VD was my Veitnam” and allowed that Trump was a lowlife motherfucker. Haven’t heard back.

  172. 172.

    different-church-lady

    @gene108:

    I really do not get the hostility to Happy Holidays.

    It’s a gesture of inclusion. That’s gonna piss of certain people every single time.

  173. 173.

    jl

    Looks like the Beyonce concert with HRC reminded GOPes of the depravity of marital sex, which I guess will ruin family values. What will we tell the children?

    .@Betsy_McCaughey seems perennially attracted to new ways to be awful and stupid.
    https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/795023939298848768

    Edit: I think she was saying this in last day, so it isn’t even new. Didn’t O’Reilly or some such goofball already fuss over Beyonce singing about she and her husband ‘doing it’?

  174. 174.

    some guy

    usually this season special team and Defense have gotten them a W. today Calloway iss the ONLY weapon that seems to work.

  175. 175.

    jl

    @Pogonip:

    ” I wouldn’t be so sure my targets were so stupid they couldn’t figure out the difference between an unintentional miscarriage and an intentional abortion. I’d go with one of the other items. ”

    Good point. Depends on whether the person is babbling about passing ‘life legally begins at conception’ laws. In which case the dilemma arises. If they didn’t bring it up, I wouldn’t go with 2.

  176. 176.

    Pogonip

    @different-church-lady: Am I the only one who thinks of the song “Happy holidays” when some poor clerk is instructed to say that to me?

    If she could say what she’s really thinking it would probably be something like “I’m about one nutty customer away from going postal!”

  177. 177.

    Major Major Major Major

    @WaterGirl: his loss. I wrote more @158/163.

    And thanks! I think it’s a neat way of seeing how people here interact. It’s really no more information than is already displayed and utilized by readers in the existing thread system so I don’t see what’s so creepy. It’s not like I publish them.

  178. 178.

    Betty Cracker

    @Bostondreams: Yeah, I think we’ve been inconsistent and overrated all year. We definitely shouldn’t be top 10 (as we were in one poll today).

  181. 181.

    srv

    And it will not be extremism:

    people will have less work to do and ultimately will be sustained by payments from the government, predicts Elon Musk, the iconic Silicon Valley futurist who is the founder and CEO of SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX.

    According to Musk, there really won’t be any other options.

    “There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation,” says Musk to CNBC. “Yeah, I am not sure what else one would do. I think that is what would happen.”

    At least under Marxism people had to actually work.

  186. 186.

    Pogonip

    Has anyone here ever played computer Scrabble? I am wondering why it will accept “zazen” (Zen meditation) and “zendo” (a Zen house of worship) but will not accept “zen.” And why it will accept “batard” (French for “bastard”) but not “nuit” (French for “night.”).

  188. 188.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wow. That is like a GOTV dream for the Hillary campaign.

    “Just in case you forgot how much Drumpf hates your fucking guts…”

    True story, I heard a really angry sounding guy yelling about sp*cs and how we have to send all the Mexicans back to Santo Domingo. This was in manhattan.

  191. 191.

    frosty fred

    @Pogonip: There’s two kinds of white in horses; the lethal form is the homozygote for a spotting pattern. There’s no problems with the other kind, or as far as I know with the white cats. Your uncle’s experience with Charolais was unfortunate, but in general they have the reputation of being relatively docile, since they were originally used as draft animals as well as for meat. I worked with them a bit in grad school.

  192. 192.

    Pogonip

    @Ruckus: Only in livestock. As far as I know blue eyes are not associated with neurological problems in people.

    Mine look green or gray or, very rarely, blue, depending on lighting and what I’m wearing.

  193. 193.

    Betty Cracker

    Ugh. Just had to sit through 30 seconds of Ivanka Trump extolling her creepy-ass father. But that ad was immediately followed by Clinton’s new “Roar” ad, which is pretty good, IMO, despite the fact that I’m thoroughly sick of that song.

  194. 194.

    Major Major Major Major

    @WaterGirl: probably. There’s some weird JavaScript bug on like a third of the posts (related to the ads) that won’t let me process them and I don’t care enough to fix. Are you vaguely tech savvy/have a Mac? I can walk you through doing it yourself, only a few steps and then you can see any thread you want that way.

    @WaterGirl: Except it’s only a party you think about like once a week when you’re across town.

  195. 195.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    HRC has a new video out, the history of her campaign from her/their perspective, it’s on the campaign website– no link cause you’ve got to through fifteen fundraising links to get to the main page. Looks pretty good to me, even if I only watched pretty much by accident on twitter. But what I’m wondering about, at the beginning it looks like she’s coming out of the house in Chappaqua with a dog, a poodle? Anybody know if the Clintons have a dog these days?

    They do some of Trump’s greatest hits, like bing bing bing boom boom, which cracks me up every time.

  196. 196.

    Pogonip

    @frosty fred: How long has that been? The nutty Charolais ( a good name for a rock band) were imported just shy of 50 years ago.

    It is also possible that the breeder figured a good way to unload his unacceptable specimens was to ship them to some damn fool thousands of miles away who ordered them sight unseen.

  197. 197.

    Jacel

    @Hal: Or say, “When I said ‘Happy holidays!’ I meant Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving Day. Why do you hate America’s troops and God?”

  202. 202.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Full Metal Wingnut: I’m embarrassed to say I fell for a fake Trump tweet. In my defense, that crazy fuck will say anything, and half the time he’s projecting and/or trolling, so Melania giving a speech on illegal immigration is within the realm of the batshit possible

  204. 204.

    frosty fred

    @Pogonip: Grad school? Right about 50 years ago, actually. But I was thinking the same thing, about unloading problem animals; or something like bad experiences in transit.

  206. 206.

    frosty fred

    @Pogonip: You’re right, I’d forgotten. Some white-pattern horses, and some Dalmatian dogs, are deaf also. I know pink skin around the eye is associated with cancer eye in Hereford cattle, have never come across that as a problem in horses. But then the leopard spotting pattern is associated with night blindness, too.

  207. 207.

    srv

    Even the John Coles of the Left will fight this gov’t overreach:

    Under FDA regulation, Nutella is considered a dessert product, meaning that one serving is calculated at two tablespoons. Currently, the mindful consumer looking at nutritional information on the big, brown jar will see that one little serving comes in at a whopping 200 calories.

    Now, Ferrero, the chocolate company that makes Nutella, is looking to have its crown jewel classified as a jelly or jam, and thus have serving size reduced to one tablespoon—slicing the calorie count of a serving in half in fell swoop.

    Ferrero even hired a market research firm that confirmed that 74 percent of people who bought Nutella used it as a spreading product and only 2 percent used it as a dessert topping.

  211. 211.

    Bostondreams

    @NR:

    who would be the better candidate? Certainly not the ‘socialist’ with the history of support for America’s enemies in Latin America, incendiary statement, and the spouse connected to incompetence and possible corruption as a college president.

    And that is how it would have been put nicely by Trump and his people. There is no better candidate.

  213. 213.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Just dropping in from Hillary HQ in Santa Fe to say the place is hopping! More canvassers than we were prepared for and many, many phone bankers. Nice people bringing in snacks too. So, back to managing data input. Ciao.

  215. 215.

    Kathleen

    @Jeffro: I think she’ll take Ohio. I canvassed this afternoon and talked to so many enthusiastic, smart voters who get that the FBI has its thumb on the scale and the media are corrupt. All of them will vote on Election Day (most people I’ve talked to prefer voting on Election Day because it’s a meaningful ritual for them). The people I talked with were African American, white, male and female, young and old. I had a great time. And the line at Hamilton County Board of Elections has snaked down the alley the last two days every time I’ve gone by. For the very first time, I am confident people will not be deterred by the MSM BS and will come out to vote for her and she’ll win.

  216. 216.

    ThresherK

    @srv: Scraping the bottom of the jar, huh? Pretty desperate crap even for you.

    My dad once tried to make quince jelly. As a grade-schooler I wasn’t impressed with the outcome. Maybe I have a more educated palate now. Can’t say.

    But at least quince is a fruit, like jams or jellies are made of. Not chocolate.

  221. 221.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Here’s a thought: When these inevitable hearings with no end start, I’d bet we’ll see newly elected Congressserpent Liz “Dick Jr” Cheney on one of the committees. Nice slab of red meat for Paul Ryan to throw at discontented Trumpkins.

  222. 222.

    Patricia Kayden

    Loved Maher’s interview with POTUS.

    @Kathleen: Hope you’re right about Secretary Clinton taking Ohio. We have so many people here working hard to get her elected. Applause for all you guys do!

  225. 225.

    Doug R

    @Major Major Major Major: I think Nate is covering his ass in case the elections get hacked or it ends up closer than we figure. Plus it drives clicks. Why wouldn’t he? Ryan has a good point, I think Al doesn’t want us getting complacent but he’s a little sensitive about the levels of denial involved.

  226. 226.

    JPL

    @debbie: Within a mile of my house, I’ve seen one Trump sign and one Hillary sign. Although I don’t think GA is close, it’s interesting because I live in a conservative area.

    Romney folks were proud of their decision. Trump folks not so much.

  231. 231.

    debbie

    If I cared much about football, I’d be very nervous about OSU’s chances against Nebraska.

  232. 232.

    Kathleen

    @Patricia Kayden: Maher can really get on my nerves sometimes but when he gets it he nails it. He was on fire with his monologue last night and I enjoyed the Obama interview. I appreciate your appreciation! I’m not doing nearly as much as others, but today it helped me more than Hillary, I believe. One young African American woman shared some lovely stories with me about her grandfather’s legacy to her and how her young son’s reaction to seeing Obama speak in person in juxtaposition with the American flag on the platform helped her see America in a different light. There’s something about interacting with real people who are passionate about their candidate vs listening to media spin which treats people as numbers in the horse race. The media focus is toxic. My conversations today were a wonderful antidote.

  234. 234.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Doug R: I think he’s overhedging, partly for selfish reasons (not wanting to be wrong, clicks) and partly because he doesn’t really know how to rigorously build a model. The kitchen-sink approach is a really amateur mistake.

    But don’t tell Al that or he’ll block you on Twitter!

  236. 236.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Pogonip: what about their eyesight? My 2 year old white cat has really bad eyesight – constantly runs into things. Is that a common trait with all white cats, or is it just her?

  237. 237.

    Ruckus

    @Pogonip:
    As a young kid I was the blue eyed, blonde cutie. Still have the blue eyes. No other part of that first description was left after about 7-8 yrs old. And no one else in my family has/had blond hair or blue eyes. Often wondered………..

  239. 239.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    I just saw that Gov. Puppet Pal Pat McCrory completely humiliated himself with the Angry Circus Peanut (thanks, Betty Cracker) here in NC today. “… an outsider to clean up DC, just like we needed an outsider to clean up Raleigh NC…” What a load of crap! He really went all in with the fascist. Can’t wait to see them both get handed their asses come Tuesday.

  240. 240.

    frosty fred

    @Just One More Canuck: The UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory discussion of white spotting and dominant white mentions the hearing defect with the latter, but there’s no indication of vision problems associated with either one.

  244. 244.

    Shalimar

    @Pogonip: I would hope computer Scrabble uses the official Scrabble dictionary for their list of acceptable words. I used to have several copies, but I have no idea where they would be on the shelves or in storage.

  250. 250.

    debbie

    @Kathleen:

    No, it’s pretty blue all over. The next county north is very red (Delaware). I’ll see if I can find a link to a recent GOP effort to change how City Council is set up (ward vs. neighborhood). It sunk like a lead balloon because it was so obvious what they were doing.

  251. 251.

    Pogonip

    @Just One More Canuck: I don’t think so; I think in cats white is only associated with deafness, and then only if it’s a blue-eyed white. The Siamese-ing gene can cause strabismus but I don’t think it’s too common in the modern Siamese (been replaced by a host of other problems).

    Siamese must be doing some serious slutting and tomcatting (so to speak). Over the last 10-15 years I’ve noticed it spreading in the general cat population. I see beautiful ferals indistinguishable from high-priced pedigree specimens.

  253. 253.

    debbie

    @debbie:

    Here’s a link to an article about the vote. They wanted half of the Council to be ward, the other half to represent neighborhoods. Because there are approximately 30 neighborhoods in Columbus, they decided we should start with maybe seven. Their suggested list was pretty much made up of the most conservative areas. I can’t imagine why they thought there would be broad based support.

  255. 255.

    columbusqueen

    @Pogonip: Yep, I remember that–I was at OSU, & there were several running around campus. They had dark eyes & lovely cinnamon-brown undercoats.

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