Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

He really is that stupid.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Consistently wrong since 2002

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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124Comments

  2. 2.

    hitchhiker

    I wish someone would tell the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee that they ought to quit lying about Mike Espy’s polling.

    Every day this week I get email claiming that the race was within 1 point on Nov 6th and asking for money to close it out.

    Why the need for bullshit? The race on Nov 6th was within 1 point because another 15% of voters picked someone even more racist and terrible than the Espy’s opponent.

    I like that he’s running aggressively against that pathetic excuse for a woman. I like that her racist past/present is on display. I don’t like that the DSCC is trying to pry dollars out of my bank account by presenting me with phony numbers. They shouldn’t have to insult their supporters’ intelligence; they have a perfectly good story to tell.

  3. 3.

    A Ghost To Most

    A beautiful, sunny day here. but just a mile or two west, I can’t even see the foothills for the kick-ass snowstorm going on. Excellent, after an exceptionally dry summer.

  5. 5.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Just enjoyed watching England trounce Australia in Rugby. 30 something to 13. It got so bad that the manager started putting in his second stringers to give them the opportunity to earn a cap. (Playing for your country is referred to as “being capped”.)

  6. 6.

    James E Powell

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I need to find a way to watch rugby regularly. My introduction was watching the All or Nothing series on the NZ All Blacks. The more I watch the game, the more I like it.

  7. 7.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Steeplejack: We have a coffee roasters here in Lancaster. Established in 1837 in a beautiful old shop on China Street. The shop has not changed in all those years and it has actually become a tourist attraction for coffee lovers. Just walking by the shop when they are roasting is a joy, and I don’t like coffee that much.

    https://thecoffeehopper.com/

  8. 8.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @James E Powell: I love it. I have never been a fan of football (soccer) but I have always loved Rugby. I was a dedicated fan of the RN/RM Rugby team in Hong Kong the Tigers. I would spend every weekend on the sidelines watching them. When I was still in the US I got up at 3AM to watch the World Cup final several years ago. England v. Australia and Jonny Wilkerson scored a drop kick in the last thirty seconds to win the game, I was about apoplectic. I swear he could score kicking from the parking lot half an hour from the stadium, he was that good.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    @James E Powell:
    One of the more obscure Fox sports channels shows rugby, accessing it kind of depends on your cable company’s mood. Rugby is a gateway drug to Aussie Rules Football.

  11. 11.

    Steeplejack

    @James E Powell:

    If you have the NBC Sports channel on your cable system (it’s different from regular NBC), they show rugby quite a bit on there. Gloucester Rugby vs. Exeter Chiefs at 3:00 p.m. EST today. Warning: It’s a rerun from this morning, so don’t check the score on line!

  14. 14.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: Interesting. I was allowed to start drinking coffee when I was 10 years old. Been a part of my diet since. Of course it’s impossible to grow up in a Navy household where Mom insisted on working as well. I needed something to keep going after my younger brothers!

  16. 16.

    James E Powell

    Thanks for all the tips on rugby watching. I will definitely follow up with cable options.

  17. 17.

    HeleninEire

    Watching Ireland v. USA rugby. I thought the USA was gonna get trounced but 13 minutes in it’s tied 7-7. All the pubs around the city center are MAD and it’ll be even crazier after the match when the crowd from Aviva Stadium stumbles in

    ETA Aaaaand…it’s 14-7 Ireland.

  19. 19.

    Steeplejack

    @Yutsano:

    Dunno why. Both my parents were coffee drinkers. I just never picked up the habit. Started drinking it in hotels when I was traveling on business in the ’80s. I don’t seek, or get, a big stimulus effect from it.

  21. 21.

    James E Powell

    I started drinking coffee when I was just a kid, slowly decreased the amount of sugar down to zero, the amount of cream to just a touch.

  22. 22.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: It skipped a generation? At least for a bit.

    I’m a mite jealous. This means you can still get that nice warm buzz right away. Takes about three cups before I even feel something now.

  23. 23.

    Steeplejack

    @Amir Khalid, @trollhattan:

    It is a physical game, but I don’t see that much brawling in it. It’s pretty tightly officiated.

    I like the team names, e.g., St. Kilda, Geelong, Footscray—which I previously thought was a veterinary disease. Now rebranded as the Western Bulldogs, alas.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    @James E Powell: The first time that I had coffee it had sugar and cream, and I detested it.
    A few years later I tried it again, but black this time and that’s how I like it. My DIL convinced me recently to try a latte, and it wasn’t bad.

  27. 27.

    Steeplejack

    @Yutsano:

    I don’t get a buzz. I like the smell, it’s a nice ritual in the morning to make it, and it’s something warm to drink, preferably with a roll or a turnover. And I have to have heavy cream in it! No milk, no H&H.

    My father was a smoker, and I never picked up that habit either. Go figure.

  35. 35.

    WhatsMyNym

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    We have a coffee roasters here in Lancaster. Established in 1837

    My dad was from that area (a little further south). I wonder if he ever heard about it, he was dedicated coffee drinker.

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Who died and made Andrew Zimmern the authority on Chinese food in America?

    Well, the late LA Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, who died on July 21, was wonderfully knowledgeable about Chinese food, and yet I doubt that his ghost anointed this knucklehead Zimmern to be the next authority on anything. This guy is truly an idiot, and clearly is just trying to make a buck out of the ridiculous idea that he is uniquely qualified to lead white people to the Chinese food promised land.

    I am a bit annoyed at the author of the story, Ruth Tam, who falls into the silliness of the idea that only white people’s thoughts about Chinese food matter.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @Major Major Major Major

    Found this via Google right off the bat. (source)

    Laughing Man Coffee & Tea

    Let’s just start by saying we love any coffee shop with Hugh Jackman as a founder. To sweeten the deal they’re socially conscious as well. 100% of Laughing Man Worldwide revenue goes back to education, community development and new business development and 50% of Laughing Man Coffee & Tea goes back to Laughing Man Worldwide to further its mission.

    184 Duane St
    (at Greenwich St in TriBeCa)

  39. 39.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Brachiator: I don’t take cuisine notes from someone whose claim to fame is willingness to eat shit that you wouldn’t eat if you had a job.

  40. 40.

    CaseyL

    Just got back from spending Thanksgiving in Ocean Shores. It was, as always, a wonderful place to spend a few days. Now I’m home and my kitties are deciding whether they’ll forgive me for abandoning then to a stranger (a professional pet sitter).

    I may tune in to a sportsball game at some point.

  41. 41.

    Yarrow

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Oh and if you get BBC America on your cable they usually show all the big games.

    This is incorrect information. Many years ago BBC America had the rights to the Six Nations tournament but they haven’t had it for some time. They don’t have the rights to any rugby at the moment.

    @James E Powell: The North American rights to the international rugby games change all the time. As someone mentioned above, currently you can watch the Six Nations (that’s in the spring) on the NBC Universal online site. You have to buy the Rugby Pass for the year. They also have all the Premiership Rugby matches and show a handful of them on NBC Sports Channel.

    For the current Autumn Internationals you can watch them two ways: some of the matches are on ESPN+, which costs about $5/month. There’s an app you can download to your TV, Roku, tablet, computer, whatever. It works pretty well. The NZ All Blacks and Irish matches are on ESPN+. The other matches, including all the England matches, are on Flo Rugby. It’s an online site and you have to pay a monthly fee.

    Other options include streams and VPNs, but if you are not watching it live that can be hit or miss.

  44. 44.

    Yarrow

    @Litlebritdifrnt: No big deal. I just didn’t want someone to add BBC America to a cable package thinking they’d get rugby. It was great when they had it because they had the BBC feed with all the halftime analysis and interviews at the end. I wish they’d bring it back.

  45. 45.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Steeplejack: Meanwhile the Copa Libertadores is delayed because moron River Plate fans gassed the Boca Juniors bus, just like idiot Boca fans tear gassed River Plate players 3 years ago. And you think American sports fans are over the top?

  46. 46.

    Doug R

    I’m a little late for the dead thread downstairs, but as a previous resident of Alberta, I can attest to the conservative bent of the entire province and especially the rural areas. The right wing Reform party got its start there and provincially the Conservatives weren’t conservative enough, so someone started the Wild Rose party. Which peeled off just enough votes that the NDP was able to win the last election based on their strength in (R)Edmonton and some in Calgary and break about 30 years of Conservative rule. So now Alberta is run by social democrats, but the oil industry has its tentacles in so deep, their NDP government is fighting with British Columbia’s NDP government about pipelines and wine.

  52. 52.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Major Major Major Major: My favorite lower Manhattan coffee shop is Think Coffee near Union Square. Don’t know if you consider that close by or not. You may have a wait for a table but I think you’ll find that in any New York coffee house.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    Artsy movie theater I worked at while in high school was owned by a coffee company.

    One day, several pallets of bags of ground coffee showed up in the basement. Word was it had gone sour and would be stored there until someone could figure out what to do with it.

    Watched as the assistant manager opened a bag, filled his pipe and smoked the stuff. Not once, but repeated times before it was all whisked to who knows where.

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Eight O’Clock coffee was the staple in my household growing up. Haven’t thought of it (nor of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) for many a year.

  60. 60.

    NotMax

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Eight O’Clock coffee was the staple in my household growing up.

    Ditto. Don’t recall ever seeing any bags of their other brand (Red Circle?) in the house.

  61. 61.

    germy

    Lol someone asked me why I still had my Beto sticker on my laptop even though he lost 2 days ago

    IDK why do people have the confederate flag still. They lost 150 years ago.

    — Eric Rodriguez (@thefakecarmona) November 8, 2018

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Don’t recall ever seeing any bags of their other brand (Red Circle?) in the house.

    Yup. Red Circle and Bokar were A&P’s other house brands.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    The nastiest local rivalry in the world is going on as I write this. Boca Juniors vs. River Plate, the two big football clubs in Buenos Aires, are playing for the Copa Libertadores, the championship of South American club football. This rivalry makes Duke – Carolina, Liverpool – Everton, and Yankees – Red Sox look like ice cream socials.

  75. 75.

    Yutsano

    Since it’s open thread: go look at the WaPo opinions page today. They’re not only still all in on Khashoggi murder, they are ripping the president* apart for the MBS ball washing, It’s almost beautifully devastating.

  76. 76.

    Kathleen

    @NotMax: Kroger sells it. ETA But I know you don’t have Kroger in Hawaii. It looks like Amazon sells it also. It’s evidently still a thing.

  77. 77.

    HeleninEire

    @burnspbesq: Yeah but now my Irish friends are telling me that Ireland fielded the “B” team. So, yeah, America double plus sucks.

    ETA: Final score 57-14. Damn.

  78. 78.

    JPL

    @Raven: Now that Michigan lost, Georgia should be back in the top four. What happens when they play BAMA in the division playoff?

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Litlebritdifrnt:
    When I was a kid we had retired next door neighbors. In their 80s he had worked for Standard Oil and traveled around the world, spoke 5 languages fluently, which was rather exotic to me. Every morning the lady of the house would get up at 6am, and make fresh roasted coffee. The smell was a divine way to wake up in the morning. But the taste of coffee makes me sick. Love the smell – which I can’t do any more – can’t stand drinking it at all.

  80. 80.

    Raven

    @JPL: I’m sure bama will be a double digit favorite since no one has come close to them this year. We certainly will have a punchers chance but I won’t bet betting the farm on this one. We’re coming but it may not be this year.

  81. 81.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:
    Lived with a chinese american lady for almost 20 yrs. Now she knew chinese food, having grown up in a household where her parents didn’t speak english. A food critic in the Times? Pfffft.

  82. 82.

    Raven

    @Ruckus: My buddy in Oakland is married to a Chinese woman (and Cal Law School grad) and they took us to a joint in Daley City that was awesome!

  83. 83.

    JPL

    @Raven: This is where the divisional playoffs can upset the playoff scenario though. Ohio State is going to play Northwestern and GA is going to play BAMA. Clemson plays Pitt I think and Notre Dame gets a pass.
    Auburn is hanging tough against Bama, but true to form they have some really nasty players.

  84. 84.

    Raven

    @JPL: We have a really good team that is loaded with talent but it may not be enough. I didn’t get tix for next week and there has been no word on other post-season.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    Lived with a chinese american lady for almost 20 yrs. Now she knew chinese food, having grown up in a household where her parents didn’t speak english. A food critic in the Times? Pfffft.

    Unless you know Gold’s work, and have eaten some of the food he writes about, you cannot brush him off so easily.

    I used to watch this Japanese program on broadcast tv. A trio, two guys and a woman would travel all over the country, trying regional specialties. Even though they were natives, they regularly ran into foods and cooking styles that were totally new to them.

    And this was just Japan. China is a huge ass country. And the US has benefited from ethnic diversity. You can visit a few restaurants on a single street in Alhambra and eat food from several different regions of China. Home cooking, even great home cooking, might not always be as varied and expert.

    Also, not everyone could be lucky enough to eat the homemade cooking you may have eaten.

  95. 95.

    J R in WV

    @Brachiator:

    My thought is that if you go to a Chinese place to eat, and 50% or more of the crowd is Asian/Chinese, you’re kin a good place. Same for Japanese, we visited a Japanese place twice in our NYC vacation, more than half of the crowd was Japanese; wonderful food.

    In Houston TX that’s how we judged Mexican places – if there were Zero Hispanic folks in there, go, leave, don’t risk it. The best places were highly populated by the ethnicity of the chef, otherwise, just go down the street a block to a more genuine ethnic place.

  97. 97.

    raven

    OK, my friends in Paradise are ok but they sent a message asking for help for these folks. I don’t usually do this here but who knows, maybe some of us can help.

    My daughter and son-in-law 3 grandkids lost their home in the camp fire they have no renters insurance, daughter worked at Ace hardware and son-in-law worked at rental guys living paycheck to paycheck,not rich, in between middle class & poor. They were is spirt& love. I’m just there mom trying to raise money for them to get a place to live. Anything will help. 

  99. 99.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Brachiator: Sometimes what can be a little irritating is that a white person usually male is presented as a voice of authority for a certain cuisine or as an interpreter of the said cuisine to the average American (there is an unspoken assumption of who is the default too.
    See for example Christopher Kimball’s new show or many of Food Network’s shows. PBS is usually better than Food Network about this.

    It feels like Orientalism lite.

  103. 103.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Yutsano: you mean within the PAC-12, right? Cuz I don’t see USC for example beating Bama or Georgia or LSU or Vanderbilt.

  110. 110.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Brachiator: Some years ago (& maybe still) there was an Indian restaurant right around the corner from Piccadilly Circus in London that featured 3 regional cuisines – & changed their menu each month to feature 3 different ones – & did that for an entire year without repeating. That’s right, 36 distinct regional cuisines on the subcontinent. No joy searching on line – my google-fu appears to be google-FUBAR.

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:
    Like everything else there is good and bad in food critics. What I find is that most of them don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. The ones that do, like Bourdain did, like a lot of types of food and will try things that are different and that many would not eat.
    Was in Athens, the original one in Greece, and was hungry. A number of places had some sort of meat cooking on a vertical spit and a chunk on a stick was about 25 cents. No one else would eat it, it was great. Dumbasses missed the best meal they’d had in weeks.
    That lady and I went to her sisters reception and of course it was as traditional as mom could make it. First the family goes from table to table, there is no receiving line. Not being family I got to sit up on the stage where the family ate, by my self as the food was brought and served. Ex told me that I had to eat some of everything or it would offend. Ten yrs later she still wouldn’t tell me what I’d eaten that day. But it was all good so it didn’t matter what if any food aversions I had.
    What some food critics show me is that they are prissy about other people and their foods without good cause. And I admit that I’ve eaten some things over the years that I’d never serve to my dog, or your’s either. But I don’t get paid to tell people what to eat or what’s not eatable. It reminds me of whatever politician it was that was drinking $350/bottles of wine, not because it was good or not but because it cost $350 and they weren’t paying.

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    It was gray, spicy and good. My best guess then was lamb, but in reality it didn’t matter. I don’t speak Greek so all I could do was point and raise one finger, hand them money. Oh and go back for seconds.

  124. 124.

    Bonnie

    I am too old to even begin to listen to beloved Christmas songs sung in rap style–or whatever it is called. So, thanks; but, no thanks.

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