Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How stupid are these people?

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

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

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

People are weird.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

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

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Let me file that under fuck it.

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109Comments

  3. 3.

    Quinerly

    Snoring Poco. Fat, happy, stretched out John Lennon, fearless rescue kitty, right next to him. Ex street dog’s life is so very different from 5 years ago. He sleeps with a kitty now after chasing them for years.

  5. 5.

    lamh36

    I was just waiting for an open thread so I could share.

    I FINALLY have a blog post up about the Melbourne portion of my Australia trip. I’ve still gotta put together the post on Sydney (I have even MORE pics and even video from that portion of the trip).

    If folks want to check it out, they can check it out here:

    Good day, Melbourne, AussieVayKay Black NOLA Girl in Oz…Melbourne Days
    https://nellybellsplace.com/2018/06/08/good-day-melbourne-aussievaykay-black-nola-girl-in-oz-melbourne-days/

    ‪I’ve already emailed Alain and Adam with the links but wasn’t sure if I would make it in time for then to schedule anan actual post. So just in case I was waiting to post the link in an open thread so as not to derail the serious conversations going on today.

    I’ve got work this weekend so I’ll check back later tomorrow and post the link again for anyone who may have missed it.

    Have a good night…folks.

    Over to you BJ night crew!

  7. 7.

    Platonailedit

    What’s shaking people?

    DNC finally has developed some backbone to say FU to BS.

    DNC member Randi Weingarten, who is president of the American Federation of Teachers, posted a photo of the rules change shortly after it was added to the proposed draft call for the 2020 Democratic convention. Weingarten, who attended Friday’s DNC meeting in Providence, R.I., wrote that the party “changed the rules to ensure to run for President as a Democrat you need to be A Democrat.”

    The new rule would force candidates in Democratic presidential primaries to state that they are Democrats, accept the party’s nomination if they win the 2020 primary and to “run and serve” as a member.

    “At the time a presidential candidate announces their candidacy publicly, they must publicly affirm that they are a Democrat,” the rule says. “Each candidate pursuing the Democratic nomination shall affirm, in writing, to the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee that they: A. are a member of the Democratic Party; B. will accept the Democratic nomination; and C. will run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party.”

    The rule seems like a clear response to Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate but has steadfastly maintained his status as an independent. Sanders ran to the left of Clinton and identifies himself as a “democratic socialist.”

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    @John Cole: Listen, friend. People feel the way they do about a lot of things. But five hours of suicide, and reflections on suicide and nearby death can be a little over the top. Just saying that’s a little rough for some folks.

  11. 11.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @John Cole:
    Our blogmaster has graced us with his presence. All hail John Cole, lord of the mustard!

  12. 12.

    sfinny

    Had a neighbor come over and we were sitting out on the patio, guest cat went out on patio and walked around, then launched himself into a bush one floor below like an idiot, ran out to get him. Seriously it was like a stage dive. What the heck is wrong with this cat. He’s staying with me while my sister-in-law is in the hospital.

  17. 17.

    chris

    Off to bed after a rough week with thanks to Sen. Hirono for the LOL. She’s prime jackal material.

    Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono has been asking Trump nominees whether they have ever been accused of sexual misconduct.Republicans have criticized her for it.Hirono had this two word reply: "Fuck them." #MeToo #TimesUp https://t.co/IuogNEhgX7— Scott Dworkin (@funder) 8 June 2018

  18. 18.

    Yutsano

    Legs sore. Class slowly coming together although I cursed myself to early mornings for two weeks. Grabbing tea and my last ice cream sandwich soon.

  19. 19.

    Platonailedit

    Interesting to see this banner on ESPN a few minutes ago: "NBA FINALS CHAMPION WILL NOT BE INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE

    "— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 8, 2018

    As if any of the players from both teams wanted to meet this dipshit.

  20. 20.

    burnspbesq

    FWIW, Luke Heimlich was brilliant for Oregon State in the first game of the super-regionals today.

  21. 21.

    West of the Rockies

    @lamh36:

    Oh, I’m looking forward to reading your blog! My daughter leaves for down under in two weeks.

  22. 22.

    oatler.

    “Alexander wept for there were no new web stories to get pissed at.”
    I got pissed at web stories before 7AM this morning.

  23. 23.

    aliasofwestgate

    @Platonailedit: There have been people on my FB that have reacted to that with the usual BS about Wilmer being shut out. me: Wilmer needs to run as a fucking Democrat next time, and not an Independent inside the Democratic party and sucking up our funding. He lost fair and square. The DNC did not alter a goddamned thing to make him lose. Every state has its own voting roles, and if his voters didn’t follow those roles they couldn’t vote for him in the primary. I’ve been waiting for the backlash on this blog all day. But the Bourdain news took up all the space, which was completely understandable.

  26. 26.

    Duane

    Bought a half-dozen donuts from a place called Hurts Donut. One was a Cookie Monster. Like a work of art. Except not. Damn tasty though.

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Wallace asked a panel on “Deadline: White House” on Thursday about Melania’s and Ivanka Trump’s silence in the wake of the shocking comments and the president’s apparent support of them. “Are they just the most stoic human beings? Are they numb, are they dead inside, are they paid off? I mean, what’s their deal?” she wondered.
    Vanity Fair reporter Emily Jane Fox responded: “Yes, yes and yes. But I think they do not see President Trump the way that all of us see President Trump. They have such a distorted image of who he is that they don’t have the kind of reaction that we do. It’s almost some sort of trick or spell he has on them.” She called first daughter Ivanka Trump the “most masterful compartmentalizer that America has maybe ever seen.”

    I would say in Melania’s case the “trick” is what I suspect is a recently renegotiated business arrangement, and in Ivanka’s the “spell” untreated abuse-trauma

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    @Platonailedit: That was more or less the reason Trump gave for not inviting the teams, though he aimed his ire in particular at LeBron James and Steph Curry.

    Every time someone, be it a sports star or a leader of another country, tells him to Go Fuck Yourself (more or less politely depending on circumstance), it gives me a little thrill. Rejection stings him, it clearly does.

  32. 32.

    EBT

    Put more work in to the video game I have been playing. 182/186 achievements unlocked. Steam ranks me at 248th place for unlocked achievements, out of roughly 125,000 owners of the game.

  34. 34.

    kindness

    Golden State won another. Hope no one is trying to burn Oakland down tonight.

    Why do fans do that after winning a championship anyhow?

  38. 38.

    aliasofwestgate

    @Steve in the ATL: Thank all the gods above for that. I don’t like picking fights with them over the us/them shit they keep feeding. So i’ve pretty much ignored most of it, but today was just too much. I am probably going to watch either some tokusatsu (Kamen Rider Build to catch up on), anime (not sure which show at this point), or find a movie to bury myself in for a few hours. There’s also an intriguing new animated series on Netflix called The Hollow that has me curious to see how good the premise works for it. So yes, lots to distract me from the crazy. It’s a just a question of picking. *grins*

  43. 43.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    Maybe yesterday or the day before, someone posted a link to a hilarious twitter (I think) feed that had various animals doing all kinds of crazy, hilarious things. And now, of course, I can’t find the link. Can anyone remember it and repost it? Thanks!

  45. 45.

    HumboldtBlue

    I followed Betty Cracker here.

    Strangeappar8tus at rumproast put a bullet in his head.

    He missed.

    Just enough to be blind.

    I still cry for him.

    I don’t even know the motherfucker.

  46. 46.

    Ninedragonspot

    I see the Berniebots are revving up the Whining Wurlitzer once more. The normally unpolitical wife (sweet person) who happens to be married to an unfortunate Chomsky wannabe posted on FB some article which criticizes Dems for “[Playing] to the margins, especially in an election season, refusing to address substantive political and social problems instead f focusing on narrow cultural issues like gay rights, abortion, and gun control in our particular species of anti-politics.”

    She knows that my husband and I are gay. Can’t imagine what she was thinking.

    One less friend on Facebook now, which I suppose will marginally improve the efficiency of my days.

  47. 47.

    Platonailedit

    [making flamingos]

    God: bird.

    Adam: got it.

    G: but it stand still a lot.

    A: ok..

    G: on one leg.

    A: how high are you?

    G: make it pink.

    — Spanky McDutcherson (@thatdutchperson) December 29, 2016

  49. 49.

    magurakurin

    @Steve in the ATL:

    no one here gives a shit about Wilmer

    I sure as hell don’t care what that bitter old codger does. We can’t control with that grifter will do nor what his whacked out cult stans will do. All we can do is vote, donate, and get out the vote. We have to win the game, regardless. If the Berniestans want to fight against us, then so be it. That’ll be just one more challenge.

  50. 50.

    jl

    If Cole poss a petpic, that will ensure a very quick and successful resolution to the search for something to look at that won’t piss Cole off.

    That is a true fact. I am just the humble messenger.

  52. 52.

    magurakurin

    @John Cole: by the way, my wife and I watched The Dark Knight the other day. She’s warming up to Christian Bale Batman, but is still insisting she likes Ben Affleck Batman best.

  53. 53.

    ruemara

    @HumboldtBlue: Kidding me, was that today? Christ.

    I’m prepping to go to RenFaire. I’ve been wanting to go, but no one else has. So I invited some friends who’ve been struggling & haven’t had a family day out & gave them tickets, gas money & food money. They needed a break & stopped wanting to go but I felt it might be best if I go.

  55. 55.

    The Pale Scot

    @EBT:

    Put more “work” in to the video game I have been playing

    Which is why I don’t touch the things. Really, Like fantasy football is the opportunity to do accounting homework.

  57. 57.

    EBT

    @The Pale Scot: Everyone unwinds how they want. I have beaten bosses only a couple hundred players of this game have; and for me that feels like A Thing.

  58. 58.

    HumboldtBlue

    @ruemara:

    Your earlier post just got me remembering, that’s all.

    My sister sent a family text yesterday to display the sewing in progress for her grandkids for their RenFaire outfits.

    The beauty is what keeps me hooked.

  59. 59.

    SectionH

    Netflix tells me the final episode of Sense8 is available now. I liked the previous enough to want to watch the finale at some point. Not enough to rewatch earlier episodes, but I’ll probably remember most of the characters/stories eventually.

    eta, it does mean I liked the show. I’m srsly not a big Media fan. I’m not joking when I say I have about 17 DVDs. Kinda embarrassed sometimes tbh.

  64. 64.

    Corner Stone

    @SectionH: I have not watched the Finale yet. But the lead up has been very disorienting. I love Son Bak but am confused at Will and Riley. It was a great first season, IMO, but the 2nd went weird. I suspect the funding could not be sustained for all those sets around the world.

  66. 66.

    frosty

    @The Pale Scot:

    Like fantasy football is the opportunity to do accounting homework.

    I started playing SimCity back in the PC days and after a few rounds I came to the conclusion that it was just like my job as a planner. Ugh. Dropped it to go for something different in the off hours.

    Which now appears to be reading blogs for 3 hours a night!

  69. 69.

    frosty

    @Steve in the ATL: ‘xactly! Also spent an hour tonight working on Ry Cooder’s Feeling Bad Blues. It’s soooooo slow. There’s a beat in there, I can count it, but it’s hard to play. He’ll hit a note and rest for a whole measure. I’m not used to that!

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    You know how sometimes you need a pepper and you buy one from the store. And sometimes it tastes ok but is bland, heat wise. And sometimes it is KAPOW! I just ran into one of the KAPOW! varieties.

  71. 71.

    SectionH

    @Corner Stone: Agreed. The trailer looked pretty damn upbeat, which worries me a bit, iygmm.

    @Steve in the ATL: Thanks for the reassurance. I am a complete wimp about unhappy endings in my fiction. Too many possible bad ones in RL.

  72. 72.

    Quinerly

    @Steve in the ATL: slow night in Soulard. Porch sitting now with Poco. Cheap Spanish red wine. Day from hell… plus, had to fire a very good friend. Caught some snippets about your world.. hope your wife is doing better. Haven’t read all the comments. Sending strong, positive thoughts.

  75. 75.

    SectionH

    @Corner Stone: “Yes, the chilies were hot today…” Sigh, I used to love srsly hot chilies. We used to grow our own habaneros – they really do have a great actual flavor underlying the heat. Now I tolerate Mild spicey as rule. Getting old sucks. At least I can still usually enjoy Hatch chilies.

  76. 76.

    jl

    @lamh36: Thanks,Very interesting. Post as much as you can about the trip, please.

    Better than than the NOLA aquarium? I haven’t been to NOLA since before the hurricane, but that used to be a great aquarium. I’ve wanted to go to Australia for a long time, and that ups the stakes.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    @SectionH:

    I am a complete wimp about unhappy endings in my fiction. Too many possible bad ones in RL.

    I’ve known that life is full of unhappy endings since the day my best friend died of pneumonia when we were in preschool. My mom died of cancer about three years after that. And that was by no means the end of the deaths, car accidents, and other traumatic events.

    So, yeah, I prefer to read and watch fiction that has happy endings, because life is already too fucking tragic.

  81. 81.

    MobiusKlein

    I’m grumpy because I had to roll back a piece of software at 10 pm PDT because the metrics system is a POC.

    Will just have to fix it on Monday

  84. 84.

    frosty

    @waysel: Yes. One of my five favorite slide players along with Duane (also god) and Bonnie Raitt.

    I’ve arranged versions of Alimony and How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live that I can play but this one will take a while.

  85. 85.

    Steeplejack

    Getting ready to go to bed myself. I have to get up early to pick up Bro’ Man about 8:00 a.m. for a car-hunting expedition to Baltimore and the wilds beyond. The Sighthound Hall estate car (Audi SUV) has given up the ghost, and he’s looking for an even bigger replacement for kids, dog, entourage members, luggage, etc. I’m guessing Chevy Suburban or something like that. Anything to avoid the stigma of a mom-van.

    I just spent a tedious half-hour registering my brand-new E-ZPass transponder, which I will install in the doughty Kia tomorrow morning. I held off on getting one for a long time because I don’t run through toll booths very often and all the states around here had varying, and variously piratical, purchase/​payment schemes. Maryland even charged you $3 a month if you didn’t use the unit! GTFO. The best deal was in Delaware, but you had to drive to the one office in Dover or have a unit mailed to a Delaware address. I kept thinking I would make the road trip but never did.

    But then Maryland basically started giving the transponders away, trying to spur usage, and the other states are following suit. I just found out about this last week. So I picked up a Virginia one today at a Giant supermarket for $35, all of which goes toward tolls. Yee-haw. I guess. I’m sort of negative on toll roads. I don’t object to paying my share, but the whole scheme smacks of libertarian “pay as you go” bullshit. And it’s expanding around here.

    Also went by BJ’s today (local Costco-like place) and got the lone tire guy on duty to look at a slow-leaking tire on the Kia. He took out a small nail and repaired the tire for free. Apparently when I bought the set of tires about a year ago there was some “lifetime protection” plan included that has now worked out for me. That may be a first. Yee-haw again.

    It has been kind of a weird day. Bourdain’s suicide seemed to trigger a lot of stuff. I’m not caught up on the recent threads. Watched a very good episode of Vera on PBS, then whittled away a bit at the endless DVR backlog.

    And so to bed, as Samuel Pepys would say.

  86. 86.

    Chet Murthy

    @Ninedragonspot: Hey, you coulda given her a few more tries, and she’d have gotten in pay parity, sexual harrassment, racism, maybe a few others, wot! All marginal issues, not the core of what matters, riiiiiiight?

  87. 87.

    frosty

    @Steeplejack: I bought a MD EZ pass to save a couple of bucks on the Bay Bridge rhen found out they charge me every month (I’m out of state) if I don’t use it. Not returnable once you rip the package open. $35 down the drain unless someone on eBay wants it.

  88. 88.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Was in Costco this afternoon. Sauntered past a TV “on sale” at four grand.

    Sheesh. Shook head in abject disbelief and let out a few soft tsk-tsk noises. At that price, the least I’d demand is that it comes equipped with a Star Trek food replicator.

  90. 90.

    SectionH

    @Mnemosyne: Your shit when you were young eclipses mine by far. I did have years and years of parents fighting before finally splitting (“I don’t care if you kill each other, just do it quietly so I can sleep”), and 4 years of HS being a complete outcast, bullied at first, but mostly just ignored at least, because I was almost 2 years younger than the rest of the class, and much worse, I from Somewhere Else (St. Louis, ffs, but this was Kentucky, even if most of my classmates were children of the State U faculty) and I was brainy.

    I was damn lucky otherwise. Mr S lost his Mom when he was 7. And a couple of years later his Dad had a stupid altercation with his then girlfriend and ended up as a paraplegic… (reason Mr S is SO anti-gun. Like NEVER.)

    I have an Em-Aay in English Lit, which is why I made my income in Housing and as a Graphic Designer…

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    @SectionH:

    Your background sounds quite a bit like G’s background — that’s probably why we ended up with our respective spouses. ??

    And I don’t want to be all oh poor me and my tragic life because, frankly, a lot of people have had ot worse, even right here on this very website. But it’s why I’ve stopped being embarrassed to say that I think that I prefer my fiction to have a happy ending and there’s nothing about a sudden tragic ending that makes a book/movie more “authentic” or “realistic.” I already know that bad shit can happen out of the blue. I don’t need to read about it in my leisure time.

  100. 100.

    SectionH

    @Mnemosyne: Mirror twin thing? It does make a bit of sense.

    One of my fondest memories was getting so PO’d at a book I’d struggled through (because, doh) that when I finished, I threw it against the wall. And then I got up and did it again. FREE! It took years of follow-up to get that I didn’t have to keep reading a book I didn’t enjoy. Which of course is where most readers start from…

    Mystery fans (in my Graphic Designer role, we used to go to a lot of Bouchercons and Left Coast Crime cons) seem to mostly cheerfully sort themselves into “Cozy” readers and ?Hardboiled? – and damn anyone who can’t respect the other. I hope that’s still true – it was fairly recently anyway.

  101. 101.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl: Oh, silly jl; you really need to look at a map to learn a bit about Southern California Geography before you make a fool of yourself. The Conejo Valley is southwest of Simi Valley, west of the San Fernando Valley.

    ETA: I’m not snooty, but I am of small stature.

  103. 103.

    Joyce H

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I would say in Melania’s case the “trick” is what I suspect is a recently renegotiated business arrangement,

    That’s exactly what I thought! I think the Kidney Procedure was necessitated by a punch in the gut, and Melania has proof. After her hospitalization, she took herself off to a safe location, and demanded at least tens of millions of dollars to get her to come back. Deal: that asshole never lays a finger on me again, never even speaks to Barron again, and the money goes into my offshore account – or I have Bob Mueller and Michael Avenatti on speed dial. Explains a lot about that Camp David weekend. Don Junior had to be there to be directed to free up the money from Trump Org, and Tiffany was there because she’s had one whole year of law school and is family – the only person Trump would trust to hammer out the agreement without squealing.

    (Bonus speculation – Tiffany was wearing a wire.)

  107. 107.

    zhena gogolia

    @Mnemosyne:

    Everyone had recommended “Lady Bird” to us so we tried to watch it last night. I guess it’s good, but who needs to watch real life when they’re trying to relax at the end of the day? We gave up when Laurie Metcalf started yelling about the eggs.

  108. 108.

    J R in WV

    @lamh36:

    Looks like you had a great time and saw most of the marvelous sights to see in Melbourne and Sidney. And I’m glad you felt safe and were comfortable touring and walking on the other side of the world, and didn’t fall off~!! ;-)

    That was a flat earth joke if you didn’t see it whizzing by.

  109. 109.

    Jay Noble

    @NotMax: Back when the first HDTVs came out they ran $10,000. Working at Best Buy at the time, I heard one ladyexclaim to another “That’s more than used car!”

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