Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

In after Baud. Damn.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

Alternative history is always a weak argument. Always.

Giving up is unforgivable. ~Joe Biden

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Fantastic Beasts (Open Thread)

Reader Interactions

97Comments

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    Hey Betty, when you come back, could you free Ohio Mom’s comment on the recipe thread from last night?

  14. 14.

    Ohio Mom

    Hey Betty,

    Can you free my comment that is stuck in moderation in the Saturday night meatloaf thread? It’s the next to last one.

    It’s in response to a question from WaterGirl. She’s emailed Anne Laurie to free it but IIRC, AL is nocturnal.

    Thanks!

  20. 20.

    Patricia Kayden

    Is Betty trying to send us a distress signal by posting upside down photos? Living in Trump’s regime is making me paranoid.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Is Betty trying to send us a distress signal by posting upside down photos? Living in Trump’s regime is making me paranoid.

    I know! I thought that was the secret signal that means we are all supposed to meet at the bat cave in WV.

  26. 26.

    scav

    You have to admit, that pup is exactly fantastic in his physical abilities. apparently all the front pagers and their companions are gaining in spooky skills.

    ETA: and now Adam is making Floridah Pup look all runofthemill? Is that even allowed under the blog charter!?!

  27. 27.

    Jeffro

    Hey folks – just for some double-standard fun, imagine if BREAKING NEWS hit that President Hillary Clinton had

    – nailed some male porn star ten years ago, while married to Bill
    – tried to talk another male porn star into making it a threesome, then
    – paid off (to the tune of $130k!) to said porn star so he couldn’t talk about it during the presidential campaign

    Oh, and then lied that all of the above occurred.

    We should have a “write the Fox News chyron” contest for this one…

  29. 29.

    tobie

    Inspired by this blog, I started writing 5 postcards a night with Postcards to Voters. Evidently they’ve written every Democrat in a very red, western Oklahoma district having a special election on Feb 13. Anyone have any experience with this group? The idea is cute but I don’t know how effective it is. Anyhow…5 cards a night took no more than 10 minutes so I guess I can keep scribbling.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @Ohio Mom: Thank you so much for all the great information! He had only mentioned two kinds to me, so I am thinking maybe he doesn’t know about the third one.

    I just sent all the info to my friend, and I will be sure to get back to you once I hear back from him. thanks again

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @tobie: I know nothing about the group you mentioned, but I wrote postcards to Oklahoma for General Wesley Clark in 2004 for the primary. One of the things they told us is that people really like to vote for the person who they believe is going to win, so we were to be sure to be hopeful about a win in our messages.

  35. 35.

    Yarrow

    Even right side up that photo is funky. The tree looks like it’s almost growing out of the dog’s nose and the person looks suspended from the tree.

  40. 40.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:
    Just really cold. It went from 50s to negative numbers so everything is frozen. We did have some freezing rain but I’m not sure how you would know if the roads are frozen from the rain or from all the melted snow.

    At least it’s sunny today.

  42. 42.

    Amir Khalid

    Two late goals by Manchester City, but Liverpool held on for the 4-3 home win and the end of City’s unbeaten season. What a relief.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: Sunny and cold here, too, but we’re not negative, so that’s good, at least!

    I imagine all this super-cold and changing weather is not helping the cold/flu season. From the progression of mine, I can surely tell that it starts to break up when it warms up and gets a little more humid, then the cold snap comes again and all that progress stops. Wouldn’t you think that with all the below zero weather, the flu bugs would have a harder time spreading?

  44. 44.

    lollipopguild

    @Jeffro: If what you just said about Clinton had actually happened Fox would have melted down into a puddle of goo from all of their happiness.

  46. 46.

    scav

    @Adam L Silverman: Wellllll, as there do seem to be local fans of dogs in strictly traditional orientations, consider yourself excused for the use of your awesome superpowers. But there are options in orientation available.

  48. 48.

    tobie

    @Humdog: @WaterGirl: I think I would have been touched if someone sent me a handwritten postcard about a special election but then again like everyone else here I’m into politics, so probably not the best judge of these things. Stay warm!

  50. 50.

    Karen Potter

    @MomSense: Here it is combination of melt and rain, since I woke the other night to find it pouring and the street in front of house a river flowing between snow banks. We had a couple hours where it was freezing rain which encased everything and lost power; then it just turned cold. So right now bright sunny single digits (above zero) strong north wind and everything is ice; I have no idea how deep the ice goes on snow banks and not looking to find out; I do know that Ginger didn’t want to go any further than bottom of steps to do her morning duty and the field she usually does laps in resembles an ice rink.

  51. 51.

    scav

    (it’s just a mashup of map / photo-orientation issues — why always have north at the top? — why not have the sideways pup of a few days ago and now this upside down one? — with some sexual orientation callouts along with our penchant for Floriduh stories and allegations of front pager superpowers. In a word, free-association silliness. no worries, you’re the sane one.)

  52. 52.

    Calouste

    @Jeffro: Someone should start calling pron stars and asking them if they have ever met the shitgibbon, or if they have an NDA that prevents them from talking about it. I’ll take the over on 10 NDAs.

  53. 53.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Cold as hell here in England. The problem with living in a non-central heated Georgian terrace house is that you can keep one or two rooms warm but the non-heated rooms are like meat lockers right now. Going from the living room (nice and toasty) to the kitchen to cook dinner is a nightmare, it is like a fridge in there. We ordered take out last night for that very reason I was too much of a wimp to go into the kitchen to cook. I am going for a bath after dinner but not until DH has put the small portable heater in there to take the chill off before I get into the bath. Other than that still loving the hell out of being home. Wandered down into town last week and went to a pub for lunch and bumped into some friends in the pub. That is what I love about being back here, there is always the chance that you will bump into someone. Had a lovely lunch with them and then went off and did some shopping in the street market. Pub lunches with friends, what could be better? Nothing in my mind.

  54. 54.

    Amir Khalid

    Rocking in the Free World. What a song And now The Girl and I know how to play it. Yay us.

  55. 55.

    Feathers

    @Jeffro: That would be the best Chuck Tingle novel ever! Saying this because he would find a way to make it hilarious and uplifting. A gal can hope can’t she?

  57. 57.

    Feathers

    @Litlebritdifrnt: The best way to bring back pub culture would be to ban central heating. That’s as popular as pointing out that the best solution to your small side street not being plowed is to get rid of on street parking.

  58. 58.

    Ohio Mom

    @Big Ole Hound: Yes, I have to admit I liked it better when the pic was upside down and I wasn’t reminded that as cold as it is in my neighborhood this week, people elsewhere are wearing shorts and short sleeves.

  59. 59.

    Teddys Person

    @Jeffro: I’ll give it a go:

    Hillary Clinton keeps multiple boy toys chained in sex dungeon located in the basement of DC Taco Bell. Private e-mail server accidentally records S&M sessions.

  60. 60.

    schrodingers_cat

    I saw Last Jedi yesterday and was thoroughly bored. I just don’t get the popularity of these non-stop action movies and even all the trailers before the movie were so comic bookish. There was a Jurassic Park retread, Marvel’s Avengers, and something with a huge gorilla and A Wrinkle in Time. I think I can give all those movies a pass. Probably, should have seen The Post instead.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    Hey folks – just for some double-standard fun, imagine if BREAKING NEWS hit that President Hillary Clinton had

    – nailed some male porn star ten years ago, while married to Bill
    – tried to talk another male porn star into making it a threesome, then
    – paid off (to the tune of $130k!) to said porn star so he couldn’t talk about it during the presidential campaign

    Oh, and then lied that all of the above occurred.

    I don’t know about Fox News, but I would say, “You go, girl!!”

    Actually, I take your point about the hypocritical outpouring of Faux News outrage that would flow like lava down a volcano.

    Also, I think that in general a woman would be punished more for a sexual indiscretion than would a male politician.

  63. 63.

    ThresherK

    @Amir Khalid: GF* Ms ThresherK (*now Spousal) and I saw that tour.

    The ad campaign was damn prescient: “When other tours are sucking wind, Neil Young is rocking in the free world”. Like 1984 and Springsteen, it took balls to write this in 1989 and tour on it in 1990. “We just won the Cold War, what’s the matter with that Canadian punk?”

  67. 67.

    Ohio Mom

    @WaterGirl: Glad to be of help. It took Ohio Dad four months to figure out what to have done and by who.

    It’s not a do-it-right-now-or-die thing but you don’t want to put it off too long. A bad valve means your heart is working harder, and like all muscles being worked harder, it gets thicker.

    As one of the surgeons told us, good for your bi-ceps, bad for your heart because thicken heart walls can lead to arrhythmia. Bad valves can also cause aneurysms.

    Your friend may also have to decide between a mechanical valve or one made from animal tissue.

    Mechanical valves last longer and are usually given to younger patients; they require you to take blood thinners ever after, with all the monitoring that requires. Some people do all right on blood thinners, and some never can get the balance between too thin and too thick, and there is no way in advance to know which category you’ll fall in. And also, mechanical valves tick with every heart beat, you will be like the crocodile in Peter Pan.

    Ohio Dad got an animal tissue valve. They treat them somehow to remove the proteins that would cause your body to reject it. When this valve wears out in 15 or so years, he’ll be a candidate for a trans catheter valve — they nest the new valve inside of the old one.

    Good luck to your friend!

  69. 69.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    So, my grandfather died on Friday. He was 86. He had dementia and really had been dead for me for a few years now. He passed peacefully, within 10 minutes of the hospital staff removing the ventilator. All the family was there in the room when it happened. Everybody felt it was time.

    He had been in a nursing home for the past year and had gone to the hospital with pneumonia a few times. We had originally hoped, that when he had first went into the home that he would somehow recover from his brain surgery that he had to have (nothing to do with his dementia). Sadly, he never did and only declined further. My mother, who handled his care and been his advocate, was very broken up about it. She didn’t want to see him die and stayed in the waiting area. I had always thought my grandmother would be the one to cry when my grandfather had died. She took it surprisingly well.

    For my part, I didn’t how to feel. I hadn’t really known him all that well. He never opened up that much to me at all while he was still lucid. Don’t get me wrong, he was a nice man and grandfather. I just wasn’t that close with him. I mostly saw him on holidays. I said my goodbyes before they pulled the plug. I only had the urge to cry when I saw my mother do so.

    The funeral will be tommorow.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    EXCLUSIVE PICTURES: Enjoying some Miami heat! Michelle Obama, 53, looks sensational in a white bikini and cut-off shorts as she and daughter Malia, 19, enjoy a winter weekend at the beach
    The mother and daughter were spotted walking off the beach on Saturday before grabbing dinner at a trendy Miami steakhouse
    The ladies made a rare appearance in swimsuits, with Michelle showing off her toned torso in a bikini top and Malia in a sweatshirt and black bikini bottoms
    Sasha and Barack did not appear to be on the trip with the mother-daughter pair
    By Valerie Siebert For Dailymail.com

    PUBLISHED: 12:30 EST, 14 January 2018

  71. 71.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I saw Last Jedi yesterday and was thoroughly bored. I just don’t get the popularity of these non-stop action movies and even all the trailers before the movie were so comic bookish.

    I liked but did not love Jedi, but then again I love action movies.

    I want to see The Post, but it will be hard for it to top my two favorite newspaper dramas, All the President’s Men and Spotlight.

    ETA. Man, I loved the old Lou Grant tv series.

  72. 72.

    danielx

    Australia? I thought it was the Kremlin.

    In other news, here in sunny central Indiana it’s 17 degrees and we are expecting snow starting at midnight and lasting on and off until seven pm tomorrow night. As someone else in another location noted, at least we’re having winter this year. Unlike last year, which was like an unpleasant extended fall.

    About to start making slow cooker Italian Beef for nommy sammiches this evening, which is a perfect meal on a day like today. My own recipe….

    Rump, round or chuck roast – 4 lbs or so ,give or take
    Beef bouillon, two cups
    Italian dressing mix, one envelope
    Pepperoncini, 16 oz jar
    Roasted red peppers*, 12 oz jar – maybe half the jar
    Onion, one medium Spanish, sliced
    Bay leaf, one
    Salt and pepper

    Salt and pepper on roast, all sides, Place half of sliced onions on bottom of slow cooker, along with half of pepperoncinis. Put roast in slow cooker. Pour Italian dressing mix over roast. Cram remaining sliced onions, pepperoncinis and roasted red peppers in beside roast. Put in bay leaf. Pour bouillon into slow cooker. Cook on low for 10-12 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. (Usually on high for me because I’m too lazy to get it started at six in the morning, also because I’m impatient.) Remove beef and slice or shred, depending on how sharp your knife is. Return to cooker for 15-30 minutes. Serve on sliced bolillo rolls with giardinera relish, hot or mild as strikes your fancy. Can also put on munster cheese or whatever else, although purists will argue this for hours. Varying amounts of broth dipped on sandwich to taste (dry, dipped or wet to use correct terminology).
    Optional: roasted potato wedges as a side.

    Perfect for a cold day or evening, provided you watch cholesterol intake for the next three months.

    *Purists would argue that roasted red peppers are not traditionally included. I disagree, so fuck them.

    ETA: pro tip – place slow cooker inside a big aluminum pan or roasting pan or something to forestall inevitable mess when it boils over.

  73. 73.

    Yarrow

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Very sorry for your loss. Everyone reacts differently to death and loss. You may find it hits you a few days, weeks or months later. You may also learn new things about him as your family moves forward. May the funeral be a comfort for your family, particularly your grandmother and mom.

  80. 80.

    chris

    Tampa? What is that building in the background? Looks almost Russian…

    ETA I see I’m not the first

  82. 82.

    Suzanne

    @Brachiator: I saw “The Post” last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to a great story well-told, the look of the movie was great.

  85. 85.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Action is fine, but not action for the sake of action. It didn’t engage me.

    I disagree that it was action for action’s sake, but this is largely a matter of taste, and I fully acknowledge your own perspective on this. Also, I did not feel fully engaged either.

    It was slightly better than the horrid prequels but not by much.

    If you mean the last first three films, they were a special kind of bad as far as I am concerned. I think the level of filmmaking in The Last Jedi is superior to the prequels in every way.

    Also I have to admit that I am eagerly waiting for The Black Panther, down to the inevitable cheesy Stan Lee cameo.

  88. 88.

    Ohio Mom

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: My condolences. I think you already know there isn’t a right or wrong way to feel. Just a right way and wrong way to respond to the feelings of others — kindly, obviously.

    Every death and funeral I have attended has provided me at least one new and surprising insight about someone I thought I knew well. Sometimes it is about the deceased, other times it is about a survivor, and often it is profoundly moving.

    When my favorite uncle died, and his girlfriend decided to wait six months for an invitation-only memorial service, I felt cheated because I suspected that would cut down on the serendipitous side of such events. I can never know that, but I think maybe I would have met some of his work contacts (who were not invited) and learned more about that aspect of how he lived his life. I’ll always have his stories but will never have faces to it with them.

  93. 93.

    J R in WV

    Weather report here:

    Raining hard enough to start the little waterfalls behind the house, which when the windows can be open is wonderful. Now it just means the ground was really wet. 74 in the middle of last week when we went to town and caught our colds – upper resp infections, actually, all the symptoms of colds but with something antibiotics appear to be helping with a lot.

    Then night before last the rain froze as it passed 32 headed down to mid teens, so lots of ice before it turned to snow, we still have a couple of inches though today’s sunshine helped is sublimate some. Still in the teens, tho. Depressing until the sun came out this morning, which made everything super bright!!

  96. 96.

    realbtl

    Jaysus reading about everyone’s weather makes me glad I live in Montana where it is fairly simple: November the snow comes, late March/early April it goes away (except for the occasional Spring blizzard). None of this warm/cold shit.

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