Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

…and a burning sense of injustice to juice the soul.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

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

I really should read my own blog.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

It’s the corruption, stupid.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

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

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Still Good In The World

Open Thread: Still Good In The World

by | 130 Comments

This post is in: 

This was my neighborhood temps today:

My poor ducks spent most of the day in their coop. Which they hate, but better than frostbitten little-webbed feet. They’re good to about 20 degrees. Below that they have to stay indoors. We will be back in the 50s by tomorrow.

With those cold temps in mind, my local firefighters got busy:

Around 9:30 this morning, firefighters were called to assist one of our furry residents that had gotten herself in a bit of a situation. Lily the cat had been up this tree about 45 feet for 3 days and her owners were concerned with the extreme cold we’ve had. We know it’s cliche, but yes, sometimes firefighters do rescue cats from trees!

Because there are still good things. Hope Lily is getting plenty of warm snuggles and tuna tonight.

How are you spending your first day of 2019?

Open thread

Reader Interactions

130Comments

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    We had an early (by a few days) birthday party for my niece and nephew. Early so I could attend before flying back to California tomorrow. It was good, and it’s hard to match the purity of pleasure of a pair of seven year olds tearing into a couple of new LEGO sets.

    There was of course some competitiveness (‘Mine has more pieces’, ‘yes but mine has more stickers’) but mostly just digging through the bags of pieces and starting to assemble the things.

  6. 6.

    dexwood

    A tip I learned from an experienced chicken keeper might work for ducks, too. February 2011 and February 2012 we experienced below 10 degrees weather, night and day, for about a week each year. Fucking cold for my NM location. Anyway, my friend recommended coating our chickens’ feet with Vaseline to protect them from being frostbitten. We had no problems with our hens, but it’s definitely a two person process, one to hold, one to smear.

  7. 7.

    Steeplejack

    LOL. Even after three days, that cat still has that “I meant to do that” cat look.

  8. 8.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    I hope Omnes is ok. I haven’t seen him commenting in a few weeks and shortly before that he going through some serious issues.

  9. 9.

    Ken

    @Steeplejack: “There was a squirrel.”

    The ability of squirrels to survive winters sixty feet above the ground in a ball of twigs and leaves has always amazed me.

  10. 10.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Simon Maloy @ SimonMaloy
    I guess holidays only sharpen the reality that the president has no interests, hobbies, or genuine human relationships and so he’s got nothing to do but watch TV and hoot like a dipshit on this website

    quoted for “hoot like a dipshit”

  11. 11.

    eclare

    My ex is a firefighter. He said the official policy here is that they do not rescue cats in trees, but in real life, yeah, they do. Glad it ended well.

  12. 12.

    CaseyL

    I am sweating out a final firing of a second attempt of a commissioned fused glass piece. My last few projects have all thrown huge image-distorting bubbles, and I keep trying various techniques to prevent them. However, nothing seems to work consistently. Mood: Anxious as hell.

  14. 14.

    Yarrow

    That’s a great story. I’m making black-eyed peas in a little bit. Got some collards to go with.

  17. 17.

    CaseyL

    @GregMulka: Geologic time just fascinates me. From the POV of geologic time, life on Earth (or anywhere else, I guess) is a flash in the pan. A brief eruption of organic crud along the fringes of the planetary crust, gone before you can blink (if you’re a rock).

    Cosmological time fascinates me, too, but geologic time, while vast, is something I can more easily get my head around. I mean, in cosmological terms, even entire planets are here and gone in a flash, pretty much!

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    @CaseyL:
    Once saw a show about Chihuly’s work. If you looked carefully during the show you saw a fair amount of discarded attempts. Seems like it’s easy to not get glass to do what you want, especially if you are trying to get something perfect.

  20. 20.

    Sab

    I love how everyone on BJ is making their own regional holiday foods, and how different they all are. We are a big country. In Ohio everyone I know is making something with saurkraut for New Years Day. Bad luck not to. I had never heard of beans or black-eyed peas as new years food. I really miss tamales. Can’t get those here.

  21. 21.

    JPL

    @Ruckus: The Atlanta botanical gardens had a Chihuly exhibit and it was incredible. If you even have the opportunity make sure that you see his works.

  23. 23.

    Rand Careaga

    Although no feline remains have ever been retrieved from tall trees, I have heard that each autumn, when the leaves fall, the skeletons of two or three firemen are discovered wedged among the bare branches across this great land of ours.

  25. 25.

    The Dangerman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I guess holidays only sharpen the reality that the president has no ,,, (blank)

    If they play Match Game in hell.

    From the previous rhread:

    Here’s to a New Year that ends with Pelosi sitting in the President’s chair.

    Words you’ll NEVER here Pelosi say:

    “,,,pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon…

  26. 26.

    Ken

    @Sab: Now I’m imagining a trio of tamales, sauerkraut, and black-eyed peas.

    Now I’m imagining being forbidden to associate with people until the effects were out of my system.

  27. 27.

    Miss Bianca

    @NotMax: Not while I’m around, you can’t, Buster.

    And pursuant to a thread in another post, is it true that Bob Hope was a boxer even before he was a dancer?

  32. 32.

    Ruckus

    @JPL:
    I’ve seen a number of them in various places. Columbus OH used to have an artists walk on I believe Thursday nights near downtown. There was an art gallery that had a number of his works in it. The Bellagio in Las Vegas has/had a rather nice collection in the lobby and enclosed garden area. The range of things he was/is able to get his helpers to do is amazing. And most of them seem to like being a student/employee of his. But he’s reaching the end of his career and his disabilities seem to be catching up to him.

  33. 33.

    Barbara

    @Adam L Silverman: Maybe he can fill us in on Scott Walker’s job search after TWENTY-SIX fucking years as a public servant without a college degree — who loathes government.

  34. 34.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @Miss Bianca:

    Yes.

    According to wiki:
    Bob Hope Boxing Record:

    British-born American actor and comedian Bob Hope had a brief boxing career (in 1919) under the name Packy East (named after the popular boxer Packey McFarland). His best result was making it to the finals of the Ohio novice championship in 1919. Hope participated in a few staged bouts later in life.

    From his wiki article:

    After a brief career as a boxer in the late 1910s, he began his career in show business in the early 1920s, initially as a comedian and dancer on the vaudeville circuit, before acting on Broadway.

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    When I was a wee lad my neighbor 2 doors down was a clown. Not scary at all. Of course I knew him as my neighbor who earned a living as a clown and had one leg. I think he lost the other one in WWII but he never would talk about it. All of the neighbor kids would ask, sooner or later.

  38. 38.

    eclare

    @Sab: Typical here in Memphis is greens and black eyed peas. But my aunt and I went out to lunch and had that other food is Memphis known for: pulled pork barbecue, with slaw, and with baked beans.

  39. 39.

    JPL

    @Ruckus: I went at night and I regret not returning during the daylight hours just to see the difference with the reflection of the sun.

  40. 40.

    Ruckus

    @Barbara:
    Scott isn’t a public servant.
    He’s a destroyer of the public side of rational life, IOW a republican.
    That’s one more thing he’s lied about.

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @JPL:
    To me the workmanship, the difficulty of getting the end results and the ability to see the end results wanted before starting is what boggles the mind. I make things for a living and have for decades, with a foray into another field for a time and those parts of the process can always be a struggle. I’ve built things I’ve designed and things that others have designed but all of what I’ve built is functional. So built to an ideal. My sister was an artist and it’s always amazed me that a vision that results in something that has no functionality other than pleasure still takes the same process but with the added part of even having the vision like that in the first place.

  44. 44.

    Barbara

    @Ruckus: I saw a Chihuly exhibition in Richmond, and though I admire the craftsmanship I don’t really love the work aesthetically.

  45. 45.

    Gozer

    Meanwhile in Philadelphia:

    A skit depicting Donald Trump teaming up with Vladimir Putin to steal the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam — only to be stopped by Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty proved that once again, the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia never fails to get political.
    …
    The Lobster Club, part of the Goodtimers Comic Club, put on the skit which was loaded with references to various controversies connected to President Donald J. Trump. It had Trump carrying a large prop made to look like a VHS tape with the letter “P” on it (a reference to the alleged pee tape mentioned in the Steele dossier) and concluded with Trump being arrested by the FBI.

    Video

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    Looking at Simpson’s art I wondered if he had been a student of Chihuly at one point. Doesn’t look like it. There is a difference of course, just the same medium. I like both.

  47. 47.

    jl

    Is 9 degrees F and feels like 9 degrees F? Doesn’t that disprove man caused climate change? Better explain that, I don’t want this blog causing trouble on the first day of the new year. if some GOPer waves this blog post around in the Senate and it makes the news, I don’t want a front poster in trouble.

    But, glad you have nice New Year’s Day weather, and local cat from tree rescues going smoothly.

  48. 48.

    TS (the original)

    @Barbara:And this is what Scott Walker had to say

    “More important than getting away from it all is getting into it,” he said of spending time with his mother after the election loss. “I really don’t have much of an interest at this point in going to Washington.”

    Sending out a message to trump that he is available

  50. 50.

    J R in WV

    I’m making sauerkraut with andouille sausage, so a little pork. Onions, celery, carrot and a little garlic, sauted together. A little bacon fat, some broth and wine, caroway and coriander ground together, salt and black pepper.

    On the oven now, waiting for it to cook and the wine to chill…

    We saw a nice Chihuly glass work at a museum in Columbus, IN some years ago. Wife saw the work in Vegas when at a convention of her union, which chose Las Vegas because the hotel was organized. His work is interesting, there is some variety, tho the big things seem similar, to me anyway…

    We have a neighbor who does stained glass, no heat involved but for soldering the lead seams, I think. I’ll ask him next time I see him. He learned from his mom.

    His big love is collecting Native American artifacts from creek banks and plowed fields.

  52. 52.

    Patricia Kayden

    Spent my first day of 2019 at my favorite Chinese restaurant eating delicious vegan chicken. Hope that Pelosi and Schumer give Trump hell tomorrow at their meeting to discuss “border security”. At the very least, I hope that they raise questions about the mistreatment of migrants at our southern border.

    #no wall

  53. 53.

    Kayla Rudbek

    So the good thing is that I finished my 5K run in under 41 minutes (not bad for my first organized run in almost 30 years) but the wake up call was that I was pacing a woman who was at least 70 (per the awards afterward). Oh well, it gives me a goal for February.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    An idle question: What do you sing, after you get to “One bottle of beer on the wall, one bottle of beer …”?

  61. 61.

    satby

    I am pleasantly full of a lasagna dinner that I made from this morning’s ricotta. Now debating if I should have pecan pie as dessert.
    Obviously, a diet wasn’t a new year’s resolution this year.

  62. 62.

    Steeplejack

    @JPL:

    Opposite for me. I saw the Chihuly exhibition (one of them—mine was before 2005) at the Atlanta Botanical Garden during the day and wanted to come back on one of the open evenings but never did.

  63. 63.

    dmsilev

    @Amir Khalid: Legend has it that finishing the entire song will crack open the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse and signal the onset of the End Days.

    Thankfully, nobody has ever come close to finishing.

  64. 64.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kayla Rudbek: Congratulations! I want to get back into trail running as a conditioner for my horseback riding, but I need to figure out what kind of shoe is going to work best for me – had to give it up several years ago when I started getting plantar fasciitis. : (

  65. 65.

    Miss Bianca

    @Amir Khalid: I think you just stop singing.

    @dmsilev: Ahem! While I was working the slime line on a processing barge up in Alaska one year, I got so wildly bored that I actually timed myself singing down to “one bottle of beer on the wall…”. I can’t remember how long it took, but it was well over an hour.

  67. 67.

    Mai Naem mobile

    It was fucking cold in Phoenix today. The high was 50. I know 50 isn’t cold by Mass or Minn standards but its damn cold for here. It snowed(lightly) in North Scottsdale and some mountains in some outlying areas.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    @Barbara:

    I’m not crazy about some of Chihuly’s pieces, but in Atlanta the pieces were integrated into the garden’s various bioscapes, and the effect was striking.

  69. 69.

    Ruckus

    @Barbara:
    I think that’s known as republican grifting. A bunch of them are out of work as of the last election. Tickles me so.

  70. 70.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Miss Bianca: I have had trouble with plantar fasciitis as well. My current running shoes are a nice wide pair of Skechers to accommodate my wide feet and I also use orthotics.

  74. 74.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kayla Rudbek: Ooh, I’ll have to look up Skechers. We just got a nice store in Salida – just an hour’s drive away thru’ the canyon – that specializes in running shoes and equipment. I was thinking I might stop in there and consult with the sales staff.

    ‘Course, I’m not going to be doing any jogging except in my snow boots around here for a while – we’re even colder here than up at TaMara’s!

  76. 76.

    Mike in NC

    Florida friends took us to see the Chihuly exhibit in Saint Petersburg a few years ago. Happily, they bought our tickets because a lot of it did nothing for me.

  78. 78.

    HinTN

    @CaseyL: The Hayden Planetarium has a real grabber of an exhibit on time. You enjoy Maya Angelou narrating a short movie about the big bang, then you exit and walk down a long ramp with time since marked out as distance traveled down the spiral. At the end there’s a human hair in a glass case. That’s the duration of human habitation in earth. BAM

    Also too, Happy New Year, y’all

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne

    Spent the afternoon looking for low-FODMAPs Instant Pot recipes and saving them to my Plan To Eat account. Found some tasty-looking ones, so now I need to bring my IP home from work and get it set up.

  82. 82.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    Ohio doctor fired by hospital after saying she would give Jews ‘the wrong meds’

    This is absolutely disgusting:

    Cleveland.com reported on Sunday that the Cleveland Clinic confirmed that Lara Kollab is no longer working with the organization after having only worked as a supervised resident with the clinic from July to September last year.

    “She is no longer working at Cleveland Clinic. In no way do these beliefs reflect those of our organization. We fully embrace diversity, inclusion and a culture of safety and respect across our entire health system,” the organization also said in a statement on Sunday.

    According to Times of Israel, Kollab had a history of making anti-Semitic comments on social media for years, dating back to 2011.

    Kollab had reportedly called for violence against Jews in several tweets, in which she also referred to Jews as “dogs” and compared Israel to the Nazi regime.

    Kollab could also be seen saying she would “purposely give all the yahood the wrong meds,” using the Arabic word for Jews, in a screenshot of a tweet made in 2012 shared by the publication.

    This story is of particular importance to me since I’m studying to be a nurse. Empathy is a core tenet we are taught, along with the importance of cultural sensitivity. She shouldn’t be a doctor if she can’t treat potential Jewish patients with the same standard of care she would give to anybody else.

  83. 83.

    Schlemazel

    It was colder than that today out here on the tundra. Bright sunshine but colder than a well diggers ankle.
    our daughter drove in from Colorado and the boys schedules allowed us to have a whole family dinner. It has been 4 years since the last one. It was a very good day despite my not feeling 100%.

  91. 91.

    Citizen Scientist

    @Kayla Rudbek: Congrats! I’m getting back into running after a sinus infection sidelined me for most of December. Got a 10-miler to run in March with a friend who is a sometimes runner.

    Spent most of today reading, cooking up some sausage and homemade kraut, and flipping between the Mummers parade, college football, the Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy and a marathon of the Joy of Painting on our local PBS station (Bob Ross’ show can be quite soothing in these times). Tomorrow, a day off work, but cleaning out the accumulation of junk from our house and helping my FIL go through my MIL’s old things for donation to those in need.

    Best wishes to all in 2019!

  95. 95.

    dmsilev

    @JPL: Furrowed brows and expresssions of deep concern are one thing (well, okay, two things), but let me know once he starts voting against Trump nominees or similar.

  96. 96.

    James E Powell

    @Sab:

    In Ohio everyone I know is making something with saurkraut for New Years Day.

    By order of my Bohemian grandmother it was pork roast, sauerkraut w/caraway seeds, dumplings. I’ve had dreams about those meals.

  97. 97.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @dmsilev:
    Romney and Suzie Q et al better be careful. If they furrow those brows any further they might give themselves aneurysms.

  100. 100.

    Ohio Mom

    @Miss Bianca: What has helped keep my plantar fasciitis at bay is stretching excerises. I do a couple almost every day, and ramp it up if I know there is a lot of walking coming up — like a weekend sightseeing trip.

    I can’t say that my effort is 100% sucessful but considering how little time I put into it, I’m happy to have my feet only hurt a little bit the next day.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    Georgia is off to a sluggish start against Texas in the Sugar Bowl, to put it mildly. Down 17-0 at the start of the second quarter. Raven must be perturbed.

  103. 103.

    lahke

    @Kayla Rudbek: Highly recommend getting some neutral-cushioned “zero-drop” shoes. I tried a pair after reading”Born to Run” by Christopher MacDougall ( which book is a major hoot, by the way), and they’re great for preventing foot injuries. I’m no one’s idea of an athlete, but I’m trying to get into better shape and kept straining and hurting things till I got these shoes. They make you take shorter strides and land mid-foot rather than on your heel. May take a bit for you to get used to– I live in Birkenstocks and Earth shoes and it was like coming home. Made my old jogging shoes feel like high heels by comparison.

  104. 104.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @JPL: We had a Chihuly show in Nashville several years ago. It’s awesome stuff. Our show showed a lot of his development.

  105. 105.

    Barbara

    @James E Powell: My mother always ate sauerkraut and pork on New Year’s Eve. My father had a lifelong boycott of sauerkraut after eating it nonstop during childhood winters when his family was very poor.

  106. 106.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I guess if you are an established political ‘star’ you can get such tripe published. From Josh Marshall’s twitter, I see Politico has published some other tripe about Warren not being electable because of her supposed HRC level unlikability. Already with this junk?
    Before the candidates even have a chance to present themselves or their ideas to the public for 2020?

    And what was, or is, or will be, likable about Trump, in 2016 or 2020, or anytime into eternity? I guess anything is OK in order to pump out horse race nonsense, and at all costs avoid issues, for places like Politico.

  108. 108.

    Miss Bianca

    @lahke: I loved that book! (actually listened to it as an audio book on my commute thru’ the mountains a number of years ago) and It actually got me into running seriously for the first time since high school! I’ll have to Google “zero drop shoes” to see if I can find some.

  110. 110.

    Barbara

    @Ohio Mom: I am guessing, unfortunately, that she is a Palestinian sympathizer and possibly has Palestinian heritage. Unfortunately because it puts Palestinians in a negative light.

  111. 111.

    Yutsano

    Anything that gets cute firejocks out of the house is a double plus good in my book. And the look of nonplussed “concern” on Lily’s face just makes it.

  112. 112.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    @Barbara:
    It goes without saying it’s unfortunate how the Isreali state is treating the Palestinians. That said, possible American Jewish patients she would “give the wrong meds” to have nothing to do with any of that. Hatred warps the mind.

  113. 113.

    Kelly

    @Miss Bianca: I recommend Nordic Skiing to get in to shape and have a good day out on the snow. When my wife had plantar fasciitis a couple years ago xc skiing worked really well both for a good day out and the motion stretched the right things the right way.

  114. 114.

    Ohio Mom

    @Barbara: Yes, she is a Muslim, for what that is worth.
    But I took a double-take when I saw she had gone to Touro for her DO.

    That is where an early flame of mine who later frummed out (Yiddish for went totally Orthodox) ended up working.

    The school is open to all but they do stress that they are rooted in Jewish tradition and values.

  116. 116.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Ohio Mom: Some folks have issues; I suspect she’s got lifetime subscriptions. Really weird choice for medicine. I’m guessing she’s going to have a tough job hunt ahead of her.

  118. 118.

    Adam L Silverman

    @TS (the original): Walker is so deeply in debt he sold his house a few months back. When he moves out of the governor’s mansion this week, he and his family will be moving in with his parents as they will be homeless.

  121. 121.

    Ohio Mom

    @Adam L Silverman: Heh. I can’t help but enjoy that little tidbit about the Walker family couch surfing, even knowing that Scott will land a comfortable job soon enough. I hope he has a worry or two about health insurance in the mean time.

  126. 126.

    lurker dean

    @Gozer: nice, i totally missed this!! while philly is heavily democrat, the mummers aren’t known for being so diverse or enlightened. i saw one dance number with police officers, and apparently a blue lives matter flag was found on the frank rizzo statue near the parade. the trump skit must have really irked some of the mummers, lol.

  127. 127.

    Middlelee

    @Miss Bianca:
    Have you seen Brad Kearns video on plantar fasciitis? I don’t know how to link to it and am too exhausted to try to learn right now. He says his 15-year problem was cured by a particular kind of stretching which he illustrates in the video.

  129. 129.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman: Ah, so *he* was the Wisconsin cum Floriduh! Man in Betty C’s post from earlier today! Drunk, passed out with the dog, and returned to Mama’s nest!//

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