Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

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

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Giving up is unforgivable.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Night Open Thread

Thursday Night Open Thread

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I’m being judged harshly for not sharing my hunk of cheese and apple:

Although I am pretty sure they don’t care about the apple. Steve is punishing me and has been MIA since I got home. Lock him in a bathroom for six hours yesterday, then leave him with a stranger overnight. I wonder how long he is going to make me worry before he saunters in out of the blue?

Reader Interactions

91Comments

  3. 3.

    Teddys Person

    My Teddy loves apples (and carrots too). He knows the sound of me cutting both items on the cutting board and comes a running. Full disclosure, he loves cheese too.

  4. 4.

    sukabi

    Don’t worry about Steve. He snuck out and is making a deal with the local pepe la pew for a bit of perfume to drag home on his beautiful mane just for youuuu! ?

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    I suspect one day Cole will be torn to shreds and eaten as one of his dogs becomes Pack Master, ala True Blood.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    jordan
    ‏Verified account @JordanUhl
    9h9 hours ago

    HOLY SHIT. Just now at CPAC, @SebGorka just raised his hand and threatened to hit @Mediaite reporter @calebecarma, then got in his face, told him to fuck off and shoved him.

    I would still be beating his ass into the ground.

  8. 8.

    Bill

    I hear that Trump is going to pull all ICE agents from California. I just contacted my Rep and both Senators to see if my state could get in on that deal.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    @Bill: I know, right? Where are they all going to go? Georgia? Florida? Any Redstate that depends on immigrant workers to produce crops?

  11. 11.

    Josie

    @Corner Stone: I saw the video. The only reason he felt safe doing that is because he was a lot bigger than the reporter. He is a coward and a bully. I hope someone decks him at some point.

  12. 12.

    geg6

    Koda loves apples but is not wild for cheese. Whereas, Lovey would be in your face, bitching at you until you gave her some cheese and screw the apple.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    @Bill: Did someone explain to him that CA is dependent on immigrants and he should pull back on ICE? Or is there some awful reason I don’t know about yet?

  15. 15.

    Bill

    @WaterGirl: Trump said, “If we ever pulled our ICE out, if we ever said, ‘Hey, let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves,’ in two months they’d be begging for us to come back, They would be begging. And you know what, I’m thinking about doing it.”

  16. 16.

    Josie

    Duncan, the food obsessed corgi, would take both the apple and the cheese, thank you very much. The only food he has ever left alone was lettuce, and that just because he couldn’t figure out how to get it up off the floor.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    @Bill: That would be a stupid reason to do that, but I’m all for him pulling ICE out of CA.

    But Trump never does what he says, so this is unlikely.

  18. 18.

    jl

    The dog portrayed n the picture is not expressing a judgment, bur rather merely observing and outrage.
    You are welcome, Mr. Cole.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Bill:

    I hear that Trump is going to pull all ICE agents from California.

    No worries, California will come crawling back:

    “If we ever pulled our ICE out, if we ever said, ‘Hey, let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves,’ in two months they’d be begging for us to come back,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion about school shootings Thursday with state and local officials. “They would be begging. And you know what, I’m thinking about doing it.”

    WaPo link.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @Bill: Please do that Mr. incompetent malfeasant president. We Californians need to be taught our lesson. We’ll come crawling back to you on our knees for salvation, we promise.

  23. 23.

    lamh36

    @Underrated_Dom
    Y’all want teachers to
    • Effectively teach our kids
    • Don’t discipline them
    • Buy their own meals
    • Give extra credit no matter what
    • Carry guns
    • No overtime
    • Shoot back at school shooters

    but only pay them $40-50k a Year? #ThursdayThoughts
    https://twitter.com/Underrated_Dom

    And in some places…the teachers ALSO have to buy their own darn supplies…

  26. 26.

    Thoughtful David

    @Bill: He might be surprised–CA might be pretty happy about that, and could probably function just fine for years without ICE.
    So what would be the situation? Well, CA wouldn’t want people to flood across the border willy-nilly, but that wouldn’t happen: Customs and Border Protection is in charge of the border crossings and airport entry and so forth, not ICE. All ICE does basically is deport people. But if an illegal alien is being a good, productive citizen, why deport him? You don’t have to; he’s being a good citizen and helping the economy. And if he’s not being a good citizen, you don’t need ICE to arrest him.
    So you only need ICE if you plan to deport a bunch of folks.

  27. 27.

    jl

    @jl: Dear President Trump, please fund high speed rail and the earthquake alert system too. We volunteer to be an example to whole country on the foolishness of commie liberal ideas. We’re willing to suffer for the sake of the country, we’ll sacrifice ourselves to save the nation!

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: BillinGlendaleCA says he’s willing to be thrown into the old nuclear reactor site, Mr. Trump. He said you can be the MC on national TV.

    Edit: hah, they don’t know BillinGlendaleCA will emerge even bigger stronger and faster than ever before.

  28. 28.

    The Dangerman

    @Bill:

    ….let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves.

    Works for me. Secession, here we come; oh, by the way, Red States, prepare to pay up bigtime when you want to use our ports for trade with the Far East.

    ETA: I assume Oregon and Washington want part of that deal, too.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    It’s 7pm here, the two 4-month old pups I had with me for 10 days have gone home, and I am going to bed.

    The pups were so sweet, and a handful (!) and I cried when they left. But life is surely simpler than it was just a day ago. My little guy goes in for surgery on Tuesday, so this gives us a little bit of quiet time before then.

  31. 31.

    jl

    @Thoughtful David: To be serious about it, CA does have some problems with immigration policy. There have been some issues with dangerous criminal immigrants being let go. On the other hand, I’ve read that some of these problems are caused by incompetent and/or malicious ICE behavior, like not showing up to collect said criminal immigrants.

    I’d feel safer, on the whole, if the state took care of it as much as they could on their own. Might be some technical legal issues regarding jurisdiction needed to maintain some people in custody. I’ll check back to see if anyone in the BJ legal team has some info on that.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    Cole, one thing before I head to bed. Lily would never judge you harshly – I can’t believe you would even say that! She is very clearly looking at you and thinking “Don’t you love me anymore?” Shame on you if you didn’t share your cheese.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    @Thoughtful David:

    Customs and Border Protection is in charge of the border crossings and airport entry and so forth, not ICE.

    I’m guessing that Trump doesn’t know that, nor does he care.

    If I were Jerry Brown, I would start making sure the CA National Guard is fully supplied and staffed in case the Border Patrol gets yanked.

  36. 36.

    RoonieRoo

    The harsh judgment is justified. I expect you would be surprised about the desire for the apple.

  41. 41.

    Thoughtful David

    @jl: That sounds like it could be handled by regular law enforcement, though, without needing ICE.

  48. 48.

    JeanneT

    Pet report: I’m happy to say my dog Raleigh got his second clear check-up post cancer surgery this week. We’re on a roll! Also, all my dogs love apples and cheese (and lettuce and carrots and brocolli and bananas and…..)

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    Yesterday was my last day at my old office. I am really going to miss it. They have a great family culture there. I miss my colleagues a lot.

    New job starts on Monday. I bought myself a dress and boots to celebrate. Also going to get my armpit hair lasered off. Hey, the things that make us happy.

  52. 52.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JeanneT: Good news— and you’ve got me beat, my old lab would eat anything but raw leaf vegetables and citrus fruits. When we visited my parents, my mom used to cut up an apple and spread peanut butter on it for him, just like she did for her grandchildren. Once I brought him over to a friend’s house who had an apple tree in his backyard, goofy ass dog went to town on the windfall. His next couple of walks were… interesting. Same thing when he got into my parents’ tomato patch.

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Russian Blues are very stylish. I had one years ago who threw up like she was doing some kind of early Yoko Ono performance art as opposed to just yakking up a hairball on the carpet.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    @Suzanne

    When it comes to sculpting body hair, am vaguely aware there’s something called the Brazilian.

    What is having the equivalent done involving the armpit called? The Alabama?

  65. 65.

    efgoldman

    @Bill:

    And you know what, I’m thinking about doing it.”

    And I’m thinking about running the Boston Marathon.
    He makes as much sense, and is as credible, as a one year old just learning to babble

  69. 69.

    Jay Noble

    @Major Major Major Major: hospital socks are great. Unfortunately, I was too out of it at the time to save all of mine. They changed your sock color to match what department you were in or going to. And then they thew them away. Six years later I have the grey pair I was wearing when I was dismissed. They are great for bed socks.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    Hospital socks: readily available in an array of colors at Amazon!

    An interesting phenomenon that is still common, although reduced a good bit by the Internet, is the perception that there are certain things you can’t get because you’re not an “insider” of some sort. So you hoard the socks you get in the hospital and never realize that you can just go buy them yourself.

    I’ve seen the same thing in semi-obscure household tools, computer stuff, kitchen gear, etc. Years ago very few people would think to go to a restaurant-supply store to get a professional-grade skillet. Now that’s a common thing. Or you just pop on Amazon and have it delivered.

    My particular “a-ha” thing was surgical towels, or O.R. towels. (Example here, but many sources available.) I first saw them at my brother’s house (he’s an ophthalmologist). I appropriated some from him and got addicted. They are excellent for dish towels, cleaning cloths, casual napkins, wipes to have in the car, do-rags, whatever. I was always bugging my brother to bring me more, and then one day it dawned on me—Amazon! So I didn’t have to have an inside connection or go to some obscure medical-supplies place and prove that I was a bona fide medical professional to get them. Huh.

  76. 76.

    laura

     I wonder how long he is going to make me worry before he saunters in out of the blue?

    Five minutes after you’ve fallen into a deep and restful sleep.

    But then you’re rewarded with the deep and abiding warmth and love of a Big Kiki.
    And so the world is made right.

  78. 78.

    StringOnAStick

    Our two girl kittens got spayed today and aren’t very happy about being locked in their room. The vet says no stairs or a week, which is going to be hard. We also got told to stop with the kitten food because they’re getting pudgy, that wontbe popular either. What’s really going to be unpopular though are the cones of shame we have to get tomorrow since the bitter orange stuff to keep them from digging on their stitches isn’t working as well as it should. The one kitty is quite a character but also seriously willful

  79. 79.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Just commenting on the general phenomenon.

    Now reminded of when I used to go to computer trade shows in the ’80s (COMDEX, etc.) my company (like everybody else) would give out logo’ed souvenir items—T-shirts, pens, coffee mugs, plastic ponchos, etc. One year we gave out Rubik’s cubes with our logo on all six sides, and I thought there was going to be a riot. All these well-to-do or at least middle-class computer dealers and software industry people going nuts. Didn’t see that coming. Of course we ran out early, and then there was almost more rioting the rest of the week from people who hadn’t gotten one.

    Maybe it’s just getting something slightly out of the ordinary for free.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    @Steeplejack:

    You wear a do-rag?????

    I love my colonoscopy socks. Bright blue. I think it’s more fun if you took them home from a procedure rather than buying them on Amazon.

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’m not a do-rag guy, but I always kept a couple of the blue rags in my workout bag for wiping my sweaty brow, etc. They’re just great all-purpose cloths—and for like $1.50 a pop.

    Socks as a “fun” reward for an invasive medical procedure? Bqhatevwr.

  87. 87.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: The hospital socks. They are cheap and easy and perfect when I tell my mom and sis I don’t want them to waste a dollar on me. I wear them until they repent and become Christian…aka Holy.

  89. 89.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: As a side note, my RN ex brought home some scrubs for me a long time ago. And the pants are perfect for mid-level weather change or just puttering about the house. I am sure you could get the same on Amazon but for a while it was kind of sexy to play doctor and tell my nurse to…uh…yeah.

    So. Still useful, I guess.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    Yes! I forgot about scrubs. Very comfortable. Don’t have any now; had some in the distant past. I wouldn’t wear them out and about, though. Might be appropriate now for the aging shut-in lifestyle.

  91. 91.

    kattails

    Completely OT: Why is it that one of the sponsored websites, the one about guessing your IQ level, ALWAYS always has images of blond women? I mean, not even blond men, not brunette women. Certainly no gray anythings. Just young blonds of the female persuasion. About IQs. Is there a hint here? I’m gray so this is purely academic.
    And back on thread, cats are extremely sensitive, Steve has been worried sick about you. Go give the poor dude some loving reassurance.

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