While I’m sure all of our reader, commenter, and lurker cat owners are already aware, just a quick Easter weekend cat health PSA:
Easter Lilies are Deadly to Cats
Lillium sp. and Hemerocallis sp. of lilies, including Easter, Asiatic, tiger, and day lilies are all incredibly toxic to cats. It is not known what causes this toxicity.
Ingesting any part of the Easter lily plant causes acute kidney failure in cats. This appears to be due to the death of kidney cells, but the exact mechanism by which it occurs is not known. Cats can be poisoned by Easter lilies in the following ways:
- Eating less than one lily leaf can cause a cat to develop kidney failure.
- Cats may rub up against the lilies or walk through pollen that has dropped from the flowers. When they groom the pollen off of their fur or paws and ingest it, they can be poisoned.
- Chewing on and swallowing the flower of the Easter lily results in toxicity.
Signs of Easter Lily Toxicity in Cats
The following signs are seen in cats that are poisoned by Easter lilies:
- Within two hours of ingestion:
- Vomiting is often the first sign of Easter lily toxicity.
- Anorexia, or unwillingness to eat accompanies the vomiting.
- The cat develops lethargy, and doesn’t want to move around or play.
- Increased urination may be present in between two and twelve hours after the cat consumes the lily. After that, the cat may stop producing urine altogether, as the kidneys shut down.
- Death usually occurs within three to four days of lily toxicity that is untreated.
If you know or even suspect that your cat may have ingested any part of a lily plant, take your cat and the plant, if you have it, to the veterinarian immediately.
The following therapies are all used to treat cats that have ingested lilies:
- Induction of vomiting to remove as much of the plant as possible before it is absorbed into the cat’s system. This needs to be done fairly quickly after ingestion.
- Activated charcoal is administered to the cat to absorb as much of the remaining plant product from the stomach as possible and carry it through the GI tract without allowing to be absorbed.
- Intravenous fluid therapy is administered at a high rate in order to flush the system of the lily toxins and support the kidneys.
If treatment is delayed until eighteen hours or more have passed since ingestion of the lily, your cat’s prognosis for recovery decreases dramatically. When it is caught early and treated aggressively, lily toxicity usually carries a good prognosis for full recovery.
For those who observe have a Happy and (cat) Healthy Easter. Everyone else: have a nice weekend.
Adam L Silverman
I just couldn’t bring myself to do a national security post today…
Brachiator
Donald Trump sez,
Grab a pussy if you see it eating an Easter Lily
Grab it even if you have small hands.
ETA: Wow. Lost in moderation! Donald Trump sez, the Russians did it. Not me. I didn’t know anything about it. We need an investigation. Maybe Paul Ryan was up to something.
La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)
We understand. Take it easy. And thanks for the PSA!
Roger Moore
@Adam L Silverman:
Pet posts are always appropriate.
Hal
Look how cute that cat is in his hazmat suit!
Baud
But wouldn’t the cat be resurrected after 3 days?
Important PSA, Adam. Better than the crap you see on TV.
Miss Bianca
Poor Adam! I’ve been reduced to snarky posts on my Stein-curious friends’ FB pages, to the effect of, “whew, thank God we didn’t elect that mean warmongering email lady, right?”
wormtown
boy – I buy Easter Lilies every year; and I have never had a problem……I have heard this about poinsettias, but not Easter Lilies.
I guess I will have to move the plant somewhere Spike can’t get to it (does that exist?).
The Moar You Know
Adam: thank you. I’ve been a cat owner for over forty years of my fifty spent on this planet, and didn’t know this.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: You should think about branching out into national insecurity. It’s a growth area.
HumboldtBlue
That’s all and well and good Mr. Front Page security matters man, but what the hell do I do about my cat who simply insists that the water in the mud puddles in the alley is far better, tastier, and healthier than the fresh water I put into her dish?
Huh?
Goddamn lilies, smdh
lollipopguild
When I was a kid we had a cat that left us a dead bunny rabbit by the back door. It was Easter Sunday and we discovered the present on our way out the door going to church.
Couldn't Stand the Weather
This is better for my sanity (ragged as it is, these days) than another example of Trumpenstein’s stupidity and malfeasance.
Adam, thanks for your work in general.
Mike in NC
To use an old Navy expression, we all may soon be in deep kimchi if the situation in North Korea continues downhill.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Miss Bianca: Dodged an ICBM there.
J R in WV
We’re going to an old friend’s farm tomorrow. He’s worked building two houses for us, and on many other houses in the neighborhood. Including a timber frame for a straw-bale house the community built to replace a wonderful log cabin style house that burned to the ground.
He’s going to be 70 next week! A fabulous musician as well, banjo old time style, also in a rock band, guitar a little bit, farming by hand to grow much of what he eats. A blessing to all the people he knows.
No Easter, tho. Gave it up for Lint.
ETA: We did have klilies in cut flower arrangements until recently, because they last a long time AND smell good. Until we learned that they are deadly to kitties. Hence klillies. I know, sorry. Can’t help it.
dance around in your bones
Maybe I’m a cat and just don’t know it! Maybe that’s why I feel so bumdiddlyumbum shitzoid.
I was living in Santa Barbara and all was well – now I’m in El Paso and all is shit. I need a hip replacement and it ain’t happening in El Paso. I’m at the point where I’m checking Craigslist for possible dudes to marry me in CA because I’m that desperate.World traveler, widow, lonely and (for the body conscious) thin and once upon a time beautiful. 63 years. been there done that in about everything you can imagine and more. Currently broke.
Ok. feel stupid now. Now in El Paso but California is my forever home. New Mexico too.. Feel free to ignore this Craigslistian friggin post. I probably would.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Well it appears that the strategy they’ve decided upon – as in worked up via the Interagency through the National Security Staff – is “Maximum Pressure and Engagement”. It appears they’re going to engage with the PRC, as well as US regional allies such as South Korea and Japan to place maximum pressure on the DPRK to achieve the strategic objective of abandoning its nuclear weapons program. While I highly doubt that objective can be achieved, it is not an unreasonable approach to take.
That it has been announced that the President travelled to Mar a Lago without any of his senior staff, including national security staff, would indicate 1)they are not expecting to do anything over the weekend, 2) contingency orders have were issued prior to the President’s departure, or 3) authority has been delegated to the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Advisor, in conjunction with the Geographic Combatant Commander, the Service Component Commanders, and the theater commanders (Commander US Forces Korea and Commander US Forces Japan) to take action should the DPRK do something way out of bounds. Whether another nuclear weapons test counts as out of bounds is something I do not know.
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: I was going to do a post about how they caught the Janesville guy that sent the anti-goverment manifesto to the President and everyone was shocked to find out it wasn’t Speaker Ryan.
Felonius Monk
@Adam L Silverman:
Don’t blame you. With the current occupant of the WH, there is no national security.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: I have paperwork in to go back onto small team operations.
Adam L Silverman
@HumboldtBlue: I have dogs…
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Well played!
Diana
final proof (should anyone need it) that cats are not christians…
Adam L Silverman
@Felonius Monk: I think Josh Marshall’s most recent post is spot on:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-the-problem-of-militant-ignorance
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: Does that mean you would no longer be posting here?
raven
Dark chocolate is supposed to kill dogs but my varmints have eaten it and, besides the $500 emergency vet bill, they were fine.
ruemara
@dance around in your bones: I’d gay marry you, but I’m not sure how you’d fit into my apartment.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: Probably means intermittent interruptions…
I can’t say anymore. I’m activating my exfil plan!
Adam L Silverman
@ruemara: She said she was thin. Probably wouldn’t take up too much space.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman:
Like
Baud
@dance around in your bones: Glad to see you here, but saddened that you are in a bad spell.
JPL
@Felonius Monk: Yup.
dance around in your bones
@ruemara: Darlin’, I’d gay marry you for your sense of humor! Apartment be damned. But, thanx ;)
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: More seriously I have paperwork in for about four or five new assignments. Depending on what I get picked up for, and which I decide to take, there may have to be some adjustments. Nature of the business.
jl
@Adam L Silverman:
” Whether another nuclear weapons test counts as out of bounds is something I do not know. ”
I heard a news report this morning with some defense analyst citing unnamed DoD sources, that they expect more tests, and if NK did one for the big jerk’s B-day party this weekend, that would not trigger a US military response, but rather next step in more aggressive approach to what is essentially, the Obama policy. Whether the fact that both countries are run by toxic fools who say whatever random shit gets them off at any given moment will create a serious crisis, though, I don’t know about that.
dance around in your bones
@Baud: Baud! Do you know I have an Intertubes crush on you?!
Lo siento, esposa possible ;) Or random gfriend.
Elmo
@raven: It’s a highly individual reaction. The active ingredient that’s dangerous is theobromine. Some dogs tolerate it just fine throughout their lives. The problem is that it can cause heart failure in dogs that are sensitive, and you don’t know which until it happens. And dogs can develop a sensitivity, so just because Patches ate that entire pan of brownies with no ill effect doesn’t mean you can safely feed him M&M’s.
J R in WV
@Adam L Silverman:
Small team operations? Would that mean you would accompany special forces teams as they move into unsettled areas as a cultural advisor to the SpecOps team members? As in carrying arms, wearing armor, providing advice for the officer in charge?
Perhaps you could get on with the Dallas Police Dept? sounds safer…
Or start a NatSec blog? Even enlist and hit OCS? Or are you well enough established to enlist as a Major or Lt. Col.? Or do they not do that any more?
I’m having a margarita, we were out of tonic for a G & T. Hitting harder than I expected. I’ve cut back a lot, won’t do another! Fizzy water with dinner!
Best of luck!
lollipopguild
@Adam L Silverman: And if you told us any more you would have to kill us.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: What is so awful about this election is not the man himself but the fact that millions of Americans saw him and decided it would be a good idea to elect him, President.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: I’ll think of you when I see the mushroom cloud.
jl
@J R in WV: Adam needs to post, so we understand what is going on.
At first I thought ‘small team assignments’ had something to with the BJ blog. Maybe looking for the many various small items Cole misplaces, like mustard jars. Or doing threat assessments for Cole’s activities of daily living.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Agreed.
dance around in your bones
@Adam L Silverman: Dude, you’re taken too, no?
I have a cougar-like history since my husband died. Ok, well ONE guy.It was fun!
Baud
@dance around in your bones: I didn’t know that. I assumed you had better taste. ;-)
Betty Cracker
I had no idea. Don’t have cats, but if I ever do, I’ll banish Easter lillies from the house!
@dance around in your bones: Good to see you!
Adam L Silverman
@jl: That was what I was seeing starting last night. DOD started pushing back hard and fast on what had been reported by NBC about potential for preemptive action.
What you’re seeing here, as with the case of Operation Inherent Resolve, and several other ongoing operations, is a basic continuation of the policies and strategies of the Obama Administration with some tweaking. This was, for all intents and purposes, how the Obama Administration did things when they got the hand off from the Bush 43 Administration. Some of this is that these are complex problem sets that require extensive review (90 days ain’t going to cut it), discussion, reflection, more discussion, wargaming, etc before making significant revisions and changes. Some of this is that 20, 30, 40, and in some cases 50 plus years worth of policies and strategies, combined with the political reality that Congress can’t even pass gas so no ability to establish new funding mechanisms and pools of funds for significant revision, has the US locked in.
The former is simply reality. The latter is a significant problem as it constrains even positive policy change and strategic adjustment.
zhena gogolia
@dance around in your bones:
haha, get in line, dear!
Iowa Old Lady
@Adam L Silverman: I saw Marshall’s post earlier. I thought it was right on.
Another Scott
Via Drum – Major Major Major Major’s Samwise’s cousin may have some stories to tell when he gets back… (2:00)
Cheers,
Scott.
Adam L Silverman
@J R in WV: Nope, small team of researchers and analysts doing support work on a contract.
Amanda in the South Bay
@Adam L Silverman: Isn’t Pence visiting South Korea soon? It doesn’t make sense we’d launch a preemptive strike with him there.
Mike J
not shopped.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9ZwsqVXYAAlSki.jpg
Adam L Silverman
@jl: There isn’t a funding stream large enough to cover that!
Gin & Tonic
@dance around in your bones: Some of your stories led me to conclude you were a bit older. You must have been a precocious teen.
Sorry that things are coming up snake eyes for you now. I’d offer to help, but I don’t live in CA and I’m already married.
dance around in your bones
Uh, no matter HOW desperate I got I would ever even contemplate the tangering thing. Just want to make that clear.
My post has been kind of a ‘hey, let’s talk about THIS instead!’ Anything but the mandarin maggot.
rikyrah
Thanks for the info
J R in WV
@dance around in your bones:
Glad to hear from you. Sorry your hip is giving you fits. I had both shoulders replaced in 2015, wife had both knees done in 2016, we’re hoping nothing else gives out before we have a chance to travel a little the next couple of years. Bucket list, informally, not well enough organized to have a real one, just see something, say, Yeah! We need to do some of that!!
Best of luck, holding on til you qualify for Medicare! Always assuming that lasts for us!!
Keep in touch! And remember, there are always people for whom you are a sweet youngster! Yes!
Adam L Silverman
@J R in WV:
There are laws in place that prevent the direct ascension of subject matter experts at ranks senior enough to equalize to their civilian credentials and experience. Right now there is a push on to offer rank up to colonel for cyber specialists willing to bring their expertise to the Army, but I’m not sure, and I’m not sure anyone else is either, whether this will actually happen. They know they’re having a recruiting issue, but the conventional Army has serious organizational immunity to proposals like this.
Unless there is a Declaration of War and a draft, where they would have to do something like this, it is just not going to happen.
Adam L Silverman
@dance around in your bones: I have dogs!
More seriously, as long as I do the work I do, and, as a result, am deployable, I do not socialize.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman:
You may be in luck!
Adam L Silverman
@Mike J: So what flavor do you think he is? Does Ben and Jerry’s even make a turkey breast and chicken liver with schmaltz on marble rye with an egg cream flavored ice cream?
schrodingers_cat
Sahir Ludhianvi’s Woh Subah Kabhi to Aayegi. Its a dream of a better tomorrow for all.
Sahir was a life long socialist /Communist and Muslim by birth, he has penned some immortal Urdu/Hindi poetry, some as a lyricist for Hindi movies. Sahir was born in what later became Pakistan, but he moved to India after partition because he missed his Hindu and Sikh friends. He has penned many ecumenical poems calling for more understanding between the subcontinent’s religious traditions.
Woh Subah Kabhi toh Aayegi (That morning will surely come, someday)
is Subah Ki Khatir Yug Yug Se ( the morning for which since many epochs)
Hum Sab Mar Mar Kar Bhi Jeete Hain ( we all have been sacrificing )
Jis Subah Ke Amrit Ki Dhun Mein ( the morning for whose sweet music)
Hum Zehar Ke Pyaale Peete Hain ( we bear all the hardships )
In Bhooki Pyaasi Roohoan Par ( on these hungry and thirsty souls)
Ek Din To Karam Farmayegi ( one day that morning will shine)
Woh Subah Kabhi…
Complete translation here
jl
@Adam L Silverman: I’m probably not seeing something important here, but NK nukes are here, it is now a de facto nuclear mini-power. I can understand formulating policy so that no one formally admits that is the case. But was anything wrong with the Bill Clinton, or the Obama policies?
Seems like a situation where MAD logic should work. NK seriously threatens anyone with nukes, there will an overwhelming, devastating response by US. And in the meantime gradual policies can work away at solving the problem.
Seems like we have a nice experiment. The Dub/Cheney policy was a demonstrated failure. Hard to see how you could do worse than that (except, Trump without the central casting generals telling him what to do would probably be worse). Clinton and Obama policies kept situation manageable and from sliding out of control too quickly.
What would a brand new, properly funded, better policy look like?
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: Usually kittehs are pretty good at not eating things that are harmful to them. They are finicky eaters.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: Not going to happen. Certainly not with the current Congress. Not a single member of the majority in either chamber will ever reclaim that power that has been ceded to the Executive Branch over the past 60 years. And none of the same people have the guts to institute a draft no matter how much they scream about this (ISIL) or that (North Korea) existential crisis to the US. That is one reason we know they’re insincere.
Adam L Silverman
@jl: I don’t know. I’m not a non-proliferation specialist, nor am I specialist on North Korea.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: They’ll institute a draft before they institute tax increases to pay for their wars. But you’re right, not gonna happen.
Mike J
@Adam L Silverman: In the background on the table there’s a box that says Frozen Flakes. Seems appropriate.
Baud
@Mike J: That’s what you get with the Trump FDA in charge of inspections.
KS in MA
@Miss Bianca: Ha!
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Socialize, or fraternize? //
I know, I know, I’ll see myself out…
MomSense
@Adam L Silverman:
I don’t blame you. I sent my kids a text message apologizing for the shitty world I brought them into.
SiubhanDuinne
@dance around in your bones:
But it is lovely to see you posting again, dance. Welcome back to BJ!
Baud
@MomSense: I knew it was your fault.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Both.
Jacel
@Adam L Silverman: Obviously this weekend Trump wants more of that chocolate cake all to himself.
bystander
Any dog owners out there with experience taking care of a dog with arthritic hips? Our 11 year old Frenchie is on Tramadol and a couple of heat pad treatments per day. We are thinking about acupuncture or MLS Laser Therapy but if anyone has advice, I’m all ears/eyes.
dance around in your bones
@Adam L Silverman: Belly rubs work with two leggeds, too! Dude.
Adam L Silverman
@MomSense: It’s not that. In early 2013 a unit I helped prep to go downrange, and who I was providing reachback support for, asked if I would be willing to join them for several months and if USAWC and TRADOC would approve it. I indicated yes, and my command did as well. While it never happened because the unit couldn’t secure the necessary authorizations on their end, I had just started dating someone. And I made a decision that instead of slow walking things, which wasn’t fair to her, because I could be given the go order any day, I would simply stop dating, which I did.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
It’s quite a line! I dropped out for the futility of it.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
The right on concluding sentence:
bemused
Do I have to worry harming our cats if I buy insect repellant containing promethium? I’ve been researching insect repellents to repell ticks because tick born diseases are on the rise in northeast MN including the one results in a developing a dangerous allergy to beef. There have been newspaper reports of two people with the allergy in our county.
dance around in your bones
@Gin & Tonic: I started my adventures at age 15. I’ve been around the world and lived in Amsterdam, Afghanistan, Nepal, India – well. I can’t go on.
Basically, if one was too young to do just about anything. I’d have done it already. Example: smoking hubble-bubbles in AFG in the 70’s, loaded with has and tobacco. Been there, done that. Tennis ball size stashes of opium? Been there, too that. Made the button bazaar and fabric bazaar in Kabul a total enjoyment.
I could go on, I won’t go on.
dance around in your bones
@Baud: @dance around in your bones: I didn’t know that. I assumed you had better taste. ;-)
It’s your mind and sense of humor that I crush on. Believe it! I don’t care what the commentariat says.
Steve in the ATL
@raven: my golden retrievers have eaten a shitload of dark chocolate and never had even loose stools from it
Adam L Silverman
@bemused: If you mean permethrin, then yes:
https://icatcare.org/permethrin/owner-info
efgoldman
@Amanda in the South Bay:
With human beings in charge, you’d think so. But….
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
I will love Josh forever for coming up with this.
schrodingers_cat
@Diana: Kittehs is supreme, they don’t need your religion. In their religion they are gods, and we their servants.
–kitteh servant
dance around in your bones
@Betty Cracker:
Danke, Betty C! You give me reason to live, No shit.
debbie
@efgoldman:
Malignant narcissism. Militant ignorance. There’s a recipe for a wonderful human being.
Adam L Silverman
@Amanda in the South Bay: He arrives Sunday.
HinTN
@Adam L Silverman: We, the unchurched, are not amused. OTOH, fuck all this national security theatre. And please, everyone have a marvelous weekend.
JPL
Trump is playing his second round of golf today. I know some want to complain about his being a hypocrite, but truthfully I feel safer when he’s on the golf course.
germy
Felines Of New York is a great place to see witty city cats.
http://felinesofnewyork.com
HinTN
@The Moar You Know: IOW, it ain’t worth knowing.
bemused
@Adam L Silverman:
Sorry, I misspelled. I was interested in the spray for clothing because we are out walking on our wood paths a lot but that is probably too big of a risk. I may have been confusing ingredient picaridin in some insect repellents but that doesn’t seem to be effective against ticks.
Adam L Silverman
@bemused: I figured it was an autocorrect issue, so no worries. I figured it out.
debbie
@JPL:
I do too. Also, I just checked the daily polling, and his approvals haven’t changed. Hopefully, the lack of improvement will calm his itchy trigger finger.
HinTN
@ruemara: She’s thin
Denali
@Dance around in your bones,
Good to hear from you! You liven up this place!
HinTN
@Adam L Silverman: So I should read ahead…
HinTN
@Adam L Silverman: Any require the Fifi attire?
Lava
There are reports that daylillies (hemerocallis) are toxic to cats, but daylillies are really different plants compared to the true lilies (different family), and not dangerous to the degree that real lilies are. If eating a few pollen grains from daylily was as deadly as with lilies we would have lost our Ernie a long time ago. We have about 2 acres in daylily cultivation, and have never had a problem with our cats. Ernie follows my spouse around in he flower beds, and they both come home with pollen and petal pigment stuck to them during breeding season.
SiubhanDuinne
Pretty sure most of you know by now that the White House will no longer routinely be releasing visitor lists as in the past, but this little tidbit was also part of the Friday-before-a-holiday-weekend news dump:
Wow! That’s, like, $23,000 saved per year! Ten of those and you’ve bought a membership at Mar-a-Lago!
This administration is fucking insane. Not just the President. All of them.
Adam L Silverman
@HinTN: I have no idea what that is.
dance around in your bones
@zhena gogolia:
Haha! You’ve got the Baud, too?! It’s catching ! !
Central Planning
Just had done Mormons at my door. I need to have some “Why atheism” pamphlets ready to go. My daughter wanted to invite them in and try and convert them to atheism.
Roger Moore
@Amanda in the South Bay:
You’re assuming that A) trump is capable of predicting consequences from actions and B) is interested in keeping Pence around. I’m not 100% sure of either of those things.
bemused
@Central Planning:
My 94 father-in-law who passed away a couple of years ago would invite Jehovah witnesses in to argue Bible beliefs. He thought that was fun plus he had a lot of questions about why only so many get to heaven and so on. My mother-in-law would sigh, here he goes again.
SiubhanDuinne
@dance around in your bones:
Oh, Baud has a regular harem around here! He keeps us spry.
? Martin
@Roger Moore: I’d add in C) that Pence is smart enough to realize that for his own safety they didn’t take him to South Korea and instead is in Australia.
dance around in your bones
@Gin & Tonic:
Dude, you’re on the BJ Most Desired List too. Tell su esposa!
I operate on mental machinations/comment history only. Since I can’t put images to nyms I fantasize, and y’all look hot! Or “garam makast” as we used to say in Dari/Persian. Look it up.
( I don’t speak perfect Dari/Persian, I could order eggplants in the veggie markets and fabric in the bazaar.)
danielx
@Adam L Silverman:
His ignorance is like a black hole exerting gravitational force on world events.
Am I wrong in thinking that this man being in charge of the world’s most powerful military is nothing more or less than an existential/international crisis? At what point do other countries start saying in unison “hey, America, you either do something about this guy, or…”?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My hundred pound lab once ate a souvenir box of fancy French chocolates, mostly dark, about the size of an animal cracker box, IIRC (do people under thirty know about animal crackers?). Vet said it wasn’t enough cocoa to hurt him. It didn’t. Nor did the chicken bones he found in a park, nor assorted other voracious misadventures. Dog had a gizzard like a velociraptor, I figure.
Worst dog-poisoning by people-food I ever heard of was a Jack Russell who ate a whole box of high vitamin cereal. Can’t remember what got him, but he had to be on an IV to clear it out of his system.
Origuy
More of this, please.
MomSense
@Adam L Silverman:
Ugh. Sorry. You are one of the good guys, Silverman.
MomSense
@bemused:
What about diatomaceous earth ( food grade) or cedar oil?
Gravenstone
@Central Planning: I got to do my telemarketer rebuff in real life last weekend. Well dressed older lady knocks on the door. As she starts to say “why, hello… “, I notice she’s holding the Bible beneath a copy of “the watchtower “. I cut her off with “I’m sorry, I’m not interested. Thank you. Goodbye. ” She looked like I’d poleaxed her. Slunk away as I closed the door. Brightened my morning nicely.
Adam L Silverman
@danielx: You are not wrong in thinking that. And I have no idea.
Adam L Silverman
@MomSense: Nothing to be sorry about. I chose to continue in this profession. I have watched too many of my friends and colleagues have their families torn apart by it. And I won’t impose the stress and worry on anyone else.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
I outed myself as a Baud groupie the other night!
Roger Moore
@bemused:
Given that Promethium is radioactive, I would lean toward yes. As for permethrin (which I think is what you meant), you should also avoid using it around cats, since it’s highly toxic to them.
MomSense
@Adam L Silverman:
Ya know, if someone decides to embrace you and your life knowing the risks and rewards then you can accept with a clear conscience.
MomSense
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Anti freeze will do it. The treatment is to keep the dog loaded on an IV drip of vodka.
MomSense
BTW I took the dog for a quick walk in the woods and on the way out we started hearing the coyotes. Hearing them communicate all around you without seeing them is a bit spooky.
Roger Moore
@SiubhanDuinne:
They aren’t being insane; they’re just looking for a semi-plausible excuse to do what they’re planning on doing anyway. Any kind of openness costs money, since there are costs associated with preparing and disseminating information, so eliminating it can always be justified as saving money.
dance around in your bones
Ok. this commenting bit by bit is driving me nuts.
Siubhan Dunne – your comments are among the most literately astute on the planet. I always love reading your bits.
schrodinger’s cat : I click EVERY SINGLE LINK you post about Indian movies/Persian songs/any bloody thing you link! because they are always worth it. I thank you for this, muchly ;) I have traveled extensively through northern India, not southern, but I `relate to every post you make.
I helped a British guy drive a beautiful sculpture through India/Pakistan once and my primary concern was driving on the left. Truly.
He was hot, though. We chased each other all through the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. I said Northern India !!!
bemused
@MomSense:
I have no idea how to use either.
Tokyokie
My cats are lethargic haven’t come close to a lilly.
Roger Moore
@Tokyokie:
Are you sure that they aren’t just lazy?
bemused
@Gravenstone:
After too frequent Jehovah visits years ago I realized that “no thank you, not interested” wasn’t sufficient. When I said please take me off your list, I will never be interested, the visits stopped except for one a couple of years later. The woman asked if I was still on the no visit list. I said YES and that was the last time. They at least paid attention.
It killed me that they would take along kids.
WereBear
@dance around in your bones: What a bummer. I hope things get better.
MomSense
@bemused:
Cedar oil you can use on your person and in your home. Diatomaceous earth (food grade) you can apply in your yard. You can also use it in standing water to prevent mosquitos. Actually you could probably apply diatomaceous earth in your home as well but I’ve never tried that. I have friends who also apply cedar oil in their yards to prevent fleas and ticks.
WereBear
In addition: ALL BULBS are dangerous to cats, even onions and garlic.
Thanks, Adam!
Waratah
My daughter and I were shopping for some herb plants and she spotted the cat grass. They are inside cats and as soon as she repotted the grass they have gone crazy. The first time they have done anything together instead of fight.
Mnemosyne
Keaton and Annie both had to spend a weekend at the vet getting fluids because Keaton had eaten part of a lily and we weren’t sure about Annie. We got them there within about 12 hours and they’re both fine — no long-lasting effects. It was very scary, though!
bemused
@MomSense:
I wouldn’t use anything outside. We live in the country with a lot of acreage so it would be a waste of time. We also have two dogs so we don’t use any insecticides on weeds either.
danielx
I really miss this guy.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@dance around in your bones – It’s so nice to see you! I hope things turn around quickly for you. And you’ll have to get past me for Baud and Gin & Tonic (who appreciates the difference between eager and anxious, among other thins dear to my pedantic heart). Just so you know.
@bemused: I’m told “I’ve been disfellowshipped” also works.
bemused
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:
Funny. They probably vamoose pretty fast after hearing that.
SiubhanDuinne
@danielx:
I can hardly stand how much I miss him.
dance around in your bones
@Gravenstone:
My husband and I used to claim to be 1:Muslim 2:Jewish 3: Agnostic or 4: Pastafarians.
Once my guy said “I’ll listen to you if you listen to my AC/DC album first, Balls To The Wall, y’all!” Needless to say the Jehovah’s Witnesses declined.
Roger Moore
@Waratah:
Some cats, including mine, really go for the cat grass. It’s very easy to grow, too; it’s really just sprouted grain. You can grow it easily from whole grain wheat, rye, barley, oats, etc. from the bulk bin at the supermarket.
SiubhanDuinne
@dance around in your bones:
My dad used to greet them with “I’m Buddhist.” This was in the early ’50s, when almost nobody in the country had even heard of Buddhism, let alone in Georgia.
zhena gogolia
@dance around in your bones:
You are hilarious!
zhena gogolia
@MomSense:
Right.
Gravenstone
@dance around in your bones: Well, I am agnostic. So I’m always happy to tell them that there is literally nothing they can say about their religion which would interest me.
And it’s really good to have you back. I hope you know that you’re adored here
dance around in your bones
@WereBear:
@
Me Too! Thanks! I have to get back to California ( dream of Californication, whoo – oo )
Anthony Kiedis? a donde estas??!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
an article in Salon a few years ago, by a woman raised JW, said if you say “I’m apostate” they’ll run like you’ve got the Steven King super flu
Gravenstone
@Roger Moore: Tried cat grass with my idiots. No dice. But leave a piece of lettuce or some celery or some corn husks about and my tom in particular is all over that shit. Unfortunately, soon followed by green vomit when the corn is involved.
zhena gogolia
@Gravenstone:
They always try to send some of the flowers home from church for us, and I say, no thanks, my cat will eat them and then vomit all over the place. Same with the palms from Palm Sunday.
Steeplejack
Pundit upgrade! Joy Reid hosting All In on MSNBC.
Mnemosyne
@bemused:
The insect-repellent clothes you can get from Ex Officio apparently work pretty well, and they have frequent sales.
Central Planning
@dance around in your bones: they offered me a Jesus business card. I said no thanks. They said they had lots of them. I said I would just throw it out.
I think I broke them with that… Who would throw out a business card with Jesus on it?!?
schrodingers_cat
@dance around in your bones: I am glad you like them. I sometimes wonder whether I should share these links at all, because most people commenting here don’t understand Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Marathi, Punjabi etc.
jl
@dance around in your bones: “Presbyterian’ scares them off too.
bemused
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I had that mental picture. Flee, flee from the blasphemous exile.
MomSense
@schrodingers_cat:
I love your links!!
bemused
@Mnemosyne:
I might be interested in that for gardening and walking in the woods but my hubby wouldn’t spend the money when he’s usually doing grubby work outside and wears his oldest clothes no good for anything else.
Suzanne
@HumboldtBlue: We almost lost a cat who drank the water that the paint roller was soaking in while my husband was painting our living room. Yet the nice, clean, fresh water sat untouched! Fucking CATS.
Tokyokie
@Roger Moore: Well, that’s kind of the point. I don’t know if I could identify lethargy in the little boneheads.
Tokyokie
@WereBear: Probably best if they didn’t eat light bulbs, either.
Tokyokie
@dance around in your bones: I had a friend who would answer the door naked and then feign interest in what they were saying. They weren’t sure whether to be alarmed by the large, naked man or be joyful about a possible convert.
Suzanne
Oh, just FYI, Mormons keep a list if you’re ever rude to the missionaries who come to your door.
Tokyokie
@Central Planning: I used to like to take business cards from especially obnoxious people, then leave them in the bowl for a drawing for a free lunch at a restaurant two states away.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
But they can only read it looking through their hats
Suzanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You gotta be wearing magic glasses, too.
efgoldman
@Suzanne:
To send a larger conversion party? To tag your front door with “Here, There be Heathens”? To put you on the death non-conversion list in SLC?
Tokyokie
@Suzanne: And if you’re ever in Salt Lake City, you can fill out a card at the LDS Welcome Center to have a Mormon missionary visit the person’s whose address you wrote down. Which the aforementioned friend who’d annoy JWs by answering the door naked and I have been known to do for a mutual acquaintance. (Yes, I have to come to Balloon Juice for social interaction because I’ve annoyed all the other people in my life too much.)
Suzanne
@efgoldman: My former-Mormon friends (Formons, we call them) said that it’s a list of people to actively avoid. Kinda like Suppressive People to the Scientologists.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Note to self: Look into custom made door mats, or holiday wreaths: “Here it be Yule”
schrodingers_cat
@MomSense: Thanks!
For you : Katrina Kaif dances up a storm to percussion only arrangement by A. R. Rahman. This one has no words (from 0 to 3.15), but some awesome footwork. The number at 3.15 is a bit of a snooze.
Sab
@Adam L Silverman: You may have saved my father’s cat’s life. Dad’s home nurse always brings in an Easter lily. This year she put it on the floor by a window instead of on the sideboard in the dining room. I didn’t think anything of it, but the cat spends a lot of time looking out that window. I just moved the lily to its usual spot.
Suzanne
@Tokyokie: You sound like my kind of person.
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit by me.”
Central Planning
@Suzanne: I think many of us live by that statement
germy
A few months ago my wife brought home a big houseplant.
A big potted norfolk island pine. Put it by the front window.
The past few weeks I notice the cat vomiting more than usual. Couldn’t figure it out.
Then I googled “norfolk island pine” and “cats”
I thought the cat was too smart to eat poisonous stuff, but she apparently couldn’t help herself.
We got rid of that plant.
Spanky
@dance around in your bones: What the fuck are you doing in El Paso, and how can you get out?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Love this, even if I doubt Princess Tackycrap will see it
Miss Librarian got three times as many “likes” as Ivanka. FWIW. I guess not much. I heard Ed Rendell of the Peterson Corporation (as in Pete) saying that Ivanka and Jared will be a moderating influence on the Rough Beast.
efgoldman
@Spanky:
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
Nighttime would find me in Rosa’s cantina
Music would play and Felina would whirl
.
Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina
Wicked and evil while casting a spell
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden
I was in love but in vain, I could tell
Spanky
@efgoldman: Yeah, and that story ended so well.
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Didn’t the New Yorker recently do an exposé on the family’s dealings in Iran?
https://twitter.com/KatieAnnieOakly/status/847109717025533956
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: And English…//
Adam L Silverman
@Sab: Glad I could be of service.
Suzanne
My allergies are just killing me today. I feel miserable. Ergh.
Adam L Silverman
@germy: Yes, And Maddow on MSNBC. There is speculation in some twitter quarters that allied Intel services have provided actual SIGINT derived evidence of criminal wrongdoing in this, and other deals, to the CI task force and to AG Schniederman in NY. And that indictments are coming. Time will tell if those speculations are accurate.
debbie
@Suzanne:
Amazing that that’s become an issue in AZ.
Mnemosyne
@schrodingers_cat:
Given how many opera lovers we have who don’t speak French, German or Italian, I wouldn’t worry.
Roger Moore
@Adam L Silverman:
I’ll believe the indictments when I see people doing the perp walk.
germy
@Adam L Silverman: Sorry if this has been covered already, but is Louise Mensch someone to follow on twitter (in your opinion)?
Mnemosyne
@Suzanne:
Like, a list not to come back to that house, or a list so they can get back at you in the afterlife?
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike in NC: That’s an old Army expression as well.
I haven’t read the entire thread, but has someone pointed out that one is owned by a cat, one does not own a cat?
“Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.”
Adam L Silverman
@Roger Moore: I do not disagree.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore: No reruns of Fitzmas, please.
Adam L Silverman
@germy: As much as anyone else on twitter. She clearly has some quality sources. The issue isn’t, per se, the information she gets from them. The issue may be the narrative she’s constructed to make sense of what they’re telling her. Here too only time will tell. She got the FISA warrant story correct and several other things too. Based on her sourcing.
I’ve seen a lot of good analysis that links backs to the reporting it is based on. This includes a number of social network and link charts, as well as other charts and diagrams showing connections. And while the reporting they’re based on is in legit publications, some of the people doing the secondary analysis to produce these charts and diagrams use nyms. So it looks good, the original reporting is legit, but I have no way to validate the people doing it… In the case of Mensch, you know who she is, what her biases are, what her background is. And we know she’s got some decent sourcing. As with anything, including what I write here, being legitimately critical is appropriate.
dance around in your bones
@Tokyokie:
Ooooh, I love that! I’ma gonna try it next time if I’m home alone. (Currently living with sister and her hubby) ( HE might have a coronary if I did it while he was home. AND he’s a doctor!)
BCHS Class of 1980
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Of course the Steven King superflu gives you calves the size of cantaloupes ? ?
J R in WV
@Gravenstone:
Many years ago we had a functioning spa downstairs, with a huge dehumidifier to go with. The front of the house had dual doors into the hot-tub room. We invited a number of friends to come anytime to tub and swim. One day two buxom belles were all pink and wet when the Witnesses came, for the very last time.
Cate bounded out, wrapped (kinda) in a beach towel, and invited them into a steamy nude hell~!! They never came back. Ever! The dehumidifier died, a replacement was twice the pricey initial cost, so the spa is no more, sadly. Been gone for 10 or 12 years. Miss it a lot!
J R in WV
@debbie:
Suzanne is in Phoenix, where they throw water around like – well, like water, and have lawns and flower gardens and trees, all irrigated with Colorado River water. So people who moved to AZ for their allergies and asthma don’t get any better than they would at home. Tucson isn’t as bad for that.
Villago Delenda Est
@J R in WV: I remember a 60 Minutes piece with Morley Safer back in the 70’s where it was pointed out that bringing all those trees and plants from the Northeast to Arizona brought the allergies with them that people moved to Arizona to get away from.
Achrachno
I wonder why there are any outdoor or feral cats left in So. Cal. given that day lilies (Hemerocallis) are dirt common bedding and general landscape plants. Maybe cats mostly don’t really like lilies all that much?
Steve in the ATL
@J R in WV:
Pics or it didn’t happen
workworkwork
@Gravenstone: My littlest kitty loves baby spinach. When I’m making salad, I have to give her a leaf of her own so she’ll stop bugging me.