Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

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

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

No one could have predicted…

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Alternative history is always a weak argument. Always.

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

This fight is for everything.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

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

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

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Afternoon Moment of Zen

Afternoon Moment of Zen

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Had the camera handy so filmed my morning ritual with Mr. Large and in Charge:

He’s a very good boy.

At any rate, in the least surprising news ever, the website is doing weird shit. Honestly, I’m just done having people worry about it on the back end. We’re just going to limp this listing, smoking hulk into drydock and hopefully nobody torpedoes us before we have the new one in the water and combat ready. In other words everything is fucked and we’re out of duct tape and shits to give so we’re just trying to hang on with as few casualties as possible until the new ship is ready. Basically, a metaphor for our current political situation.

Reader Interactions

60Comments

  2. 2.

    Leto

    We’re just going to limp this listing, smoking hulk into drydock and hopefully nobody torpedoes us before we have the new one in the water and combat ready.

    So we’re currently at end of Star Trek Wrath og Khan movie Enterprise status, and about to immediately head back out to find Spock?

    “My God Lilly, what have I done?” – Capt Cole, good ship BJ

  3. 3.

    plato

    Basically, a metaphor for our current political situation.

    So, we have to wait till 2020 then for bj ver. xxx? WASF.

  4. 4.

    TenguPhule

    We’re just going to limp this listing, smoking hulk into drydock and hopefully nobody torpedoes us before we have the new one in the water and combat ready. In other words everything is fucked and we’re out of duct tape and shits to give so we’re just trying to hang on with as few casualties as possible until the new ship is ready. Basically, a metaphor for our current political situation.

    But there are actual submarines still shooting at us in the metaphor for our current political situation.

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    January 2021, it’s morning in America, er, Balloonjuicelandia. Hopefully both are fixed by then.

    Reporting for duty with chewing gum, a mop…and pants, captain.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In other words everything is fucked and we’re out of duct tape and shits to give so we’re just trying to hang on with as few casualties as possible until the new ship is ready.

    How’d you get hold of my medical files?

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    @Leto:

    So we’re currently at end of Star Trek Wrath og Khan movie Enterprise status, and about to immediately head back out to find Spock?

    Can we skip to the part where we time travel back into the past to save the present?

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    @trollhattan:

    Reporting for duty with chewing gum, a mop…and pants, captain.

    Pants?! What is this, some kind of mutiny by the crew?

  9. 9.

    Betty

    Beautiful Steve. Ahh. I haven’t been having any problems here, but send condolences to those who have been.

  10. 10.

    JaySinWA

    I for one am not seeing problems with Chrome on my Chromebook yet. Knock on synthetic wood.

  11. 11.

    TenguPhule

    More than two dozen liberal groups voice frustration with Pelosi, urge impeachment proceedings against Trump

    A coalition of more than two dozen liberal groups on Tuesday urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump, writing in a letter that her reticence is “resulting in dangerous inaction that enables this racist and xenophobic president.”

    The strongly worded letter voicing frustration with Pelosi (D-Calif.) came a day after the Democratic-led House returned from a week-long recess and continued to grapple with how to respond to the report of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

    While a growing number of Democrats are calling for launching an impeachment inquiry based on findings related to potential obstruction of justice, Pelosi has continued to counsel caution, calling for deliberate steps to investigate Trump.

    The letter sent Tuesday calls for Pelosi to exercise “bold, moral leadership” and says that “instead of using your power, you are giving us political excuses for why you shouldn’t.”

    “Instead of leading, you and your colleagues have asked us to wait — wait for the Mueller report, wait for the unredacted Mueller report, wait for Mueller’s testimony about the Mueller report, wait for more investigations, wait for bipartisan consensus, wait for impeachment to poll better, or wait for the 2020 election,” it says.

    When you require people to make you do something, not all of them are going to ask nicely.

  13. 13.

    TenguPhule

    Trump says tariffs on Mexican imports to take effect next week, despite Mexican optimism for a deal

    Trump warned Tuesday he will impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican imports starting next week, saying Republican lawmakers would be “foolish” to try to stop him.

    Trump’s comments suggested imposition of the tariffs June 10 is nearly inevitable — despite pleas from GOP lawmakers to reconsider as they warn of ruinous economic consequences.

    Trump said talks with Mexico would continue even as he goes forward with the tariffs aimed at forcing Mexico to take action to stem the tide of Central American immigrants and asylum seekers to the United States.

    “It’s more likely the tariffs go on and we’ll probably be talking during the time the tariffs are on,” Trump said during an overseas news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

    As for GOP talk of voting on a disapproval resolution to block the tariffs, Trump said: “Oh I don’t think they will do that, I think if they did it’s foolish.”

    “There’s nothing more important than borders,” Trump added. “I’ve had tremendous Republican support.”

    Trump suggested Mexico could take action to stave off the tariffs, and Mexican officials expressed optimism they could reach a deal to head off the penalties.

    “Mexico shouldn’t allow millions of people to try and enter our country, and they could stop it very quickly and I think they will,” Trump said. “And if they won’t, we’re going to put tariffs on. And every month those tariffs go from 5 percent to 10 percent to 15 percent to 20 and then to 25 percent.”

    Mexican Officials have to say the diplomatic thing, but they have to know Trump is trying to treat them like his old contractors. He’s trying to rip them off and there is no possibility of a deal they can accept because Trump’s calculus is always a win/lose where he only wins when the other party loses.

    Trump’s war on healthy American diets will expand. Anything not found in fast food is a potential new front.

  14. 14.

    sukabi

    @trollhattan: pretty sure you’re over dressed. This is a ‘sans pants’ outfit…which could be why there’s a p0rn attack.

    Btw, android adblocker browser, no p0rn here.

  18. 18.

    ThresherK

    I have viewed a lot of pieces by YouTuber Contrapoints. I find it good, informational stuff which keeps tabs on something this older cis het white suburban male doesn’t experience personally.

    Sooo, there’s a Dave Rubin from “The Progressive Voice” slagging on Contrapoints, David Pakman, and Sam Seder as dishonest actors. My instinct is something I’ll keep to myself for now.

    I loathe the idea of going down the rabbit hole. Can anyone fill me in on Rubin and “The Progressive Voice”?

  20. 20.

    TenguPhule

    Fed is prepared to act to save U.S. economy from trade war, Powell says

    The Federal Reserve signaled Tuesday that it is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep the U.S. economy on solid footing, including taking action to alleviate the harm from Trump’s trade war.

    Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said the central bank is watching the situation closely and will take any “appropriate” action.

    “We are closely monitoring the implications of these developments for the U.S. economic outlook, and, as always, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion,” Powell said Tuesday at a conference in Chicago.

    Stocks surged after Powell’s comments Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 400 points. Calls have escalated in recent days for the central bank to cut interest rates to help boost the economy and counter the negative effects of Trump’s trade battles with China and Mexico.

    Its insane. Wall Street is drinking the Trump Kool aid and thinking that rate cuts are gonna fix this. The whole point of raising rates in the first place was that we needed to get into more solid economic footing. Rates are still too low as it is, the Fed used up all of its ammunition on the Great Bush Jr fuckup of 2007 and had to scrounge for inventive new ways to inject money into the economy. The stock markets are going to rise for awhile on the hype and hope of easy credit lines until all of a sudden the music stops and everyone realizes they already sold all the chairs to make an easy buck..

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    @trollhattan:

    “Pants Optional Day” at the office did not go well as a teambuilder and I’m still carrying the emotional scars.

    One should always have an emergency kilt available.

  22. 22.

    LuciaMia

    @Betty: Same here. All these comments about the site going bat-shit but its been exactly the same here the past few days. Yup, no unrequested porn, dang it.

    And Steve is still an unabashed beauty. (I guess the summer haircut has now been all forgiven.)

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    I just realized how Republicans are going to justify all of their actions at the Supreme Court.

    They will claim that their oaths require they “faithfully execute the law” and that’s exactly what they did.

    They’ve executed the law and replaced it with faith in IOKIYAR.

  26. 26.

    Hilfy

    No complaints here using Safari. I see an excellent video of Lord Steve accepting his morning adulation graciously, evidently before breakfast. One of my cats would chew my fingers off if he wasn’t served breakfast first. The other one is a proper cat; she says being petted is the best thing in the world.
    .

  28. 28.

    sukabi

    @TenguPhule: “Execute the Law” means something entirely different to the GOP, and they are executing it with extreme prejudice.

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    AFAIK the stress testing of a new site design has not commenced. Received an e-mail on May 22 acknowledging interest expressed in being a part of the testing and nothing since.

    Presume the design company is still trekking through the “you can’t get there from here” phase.

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said there must be a “vast reduction” in immigrants crossing the border before the US will back off threatened tariffs on Mexican goods.

    “The president was very clear, he wants to see a vast reductions in crossings through Mexico. He believes Mexico can do more to address this flow from Central America. That’s the number one metric that we’re looking for,” he told the Hill.

    The tariffs are never going to go away. Its an impossible metric that they’re demanding and they can move the goal posts at any time.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    New Orleans loved Leah Chase and showed it at a ‘pop up’ second-line parade for the late chef
    BY IAN MCNULTY | [email protected] JUN 3, 2019 – 7:45 PM

    Since Leah Chase died on Saturday at age 96, there has been an outpouring of admiration and affection for the beloved chef from public officials, celebrities and countless regular folks on social media.

    On Monday evening, New Orleans took its testimonial of gratitude to the streets with a second-line parade in her honor.

    The parade — part march, part rolling block party — was organized by members of the Big 6 Brass Band. It convened in front of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant on Orleans Avenue, which Chase and her family built into a landmark of Creole cuisine.

    Neighbors came outside to watch, children climbed a low brick wall to peer from its top, and men and women shimmied between parked cars, hopping from street to sidewalk and up onto the stoops of shotgun houses to dance.

  32. 32.

    JaySinWA

    @TenguPhule: Hey If the admin can create cheering crowds out of thin air, I am pretty sure they can make any claim about immigration that supports whatever they want to happen. Need tariffs down? Declare victory. No problem.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    Awe???

    I have a very important and adorable update: @God_Son80’s daughter has met a fawn and they are now best friends pic.twitter.com/udYBXiPFnw

    — Jordan Zirm (@clevezirm) June 3, 2019

  34. 34.

    Soprano2

    Our cat, who has been hiding in the bedroom upstairs since we took in our restaurant cook’s 12-year-old dog (he died of a sudden heart attack in April, he was only 43!), came downstairs on her own last night even though the dog was in the living room with us! We didn’t have any time or the proper area to introduce them properly; we had to pick the dog up at the pound because he got out of the fence where our cook was living and a neighbor caught him and turned him in. It wouldn’t have been my choice to adopt a 12-year-old lab mix, but he needed a home and we had a slot, so now we have a dog! His name is Nitro, which is what one of the huskies we used to have was named. I never would have thought I’d have another dog named Nitro in my life; goes to show you never know what can happen. Anyway, it’s an encouraging sign of progress that she was willing to come down and spend over 30 minutes on the couch with us. Once the dog woke up and saw her, though, it was back up the stairs. We’re letting her get used to the dog at her own pace, since there isn’t really anything else we can do at the moment. Nitro doesn’t seem to have ever been in a house with cats before; he wants to chase her, and he barks his loud, deep bark and jumps around every time he sees her on the stairs. We’re hoping that as he sees her more he’ll get used to her.

  36. 36.

    rikyrah

    Trump pushes up to 20 years in prison for pipeline protesters
    The criminalization of pipeline opposition is ramping up.
    E.A. CRUNDEN
    JUN 3, 2019, 3:14 PM

    The Trump administration is seeking to dramatically escalate federal penalties for pipeline protesters. Under newly proposed changes, pipeline protesters could face up to 20 years in prison for disrupting the construction of oil and gas infrastructure. The move echoes similarly harsh penalties for anti-pipeline activists being adopted in several states.

    Updates proposed to the Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released Monday would make interrupting pipeline construction or damaging existing pipelines a federal crime.

    According to the proposed PHMSA updates, first reported by Politico, “vandalism, tampering with, or impeding, disrupting or inhibiting the operation of” pipelines would be met with fines or potentially many years in jail. Under current law, damaging existing pipelines can lead to up to 20 years jail time, but those “under construction” are now a consideration as well along with “disruption” to pipelines.

    Other components of the PHMSA updates include changing the threshold for damages incurred by a pipeline accident before an operator is required to report a problem; the proposal would double the $100,000 threshold currently in place.

  41. 41.

    rikyrah

    @Raven:

    As someone who is Black and been to New Orleans many times because of my family trips to the South…we knew about Ms. Chase. How she used her restaurant during the Civil Rights Movement.

    FYI…did you know that she was the model for the Tianna character in Princess and the Frog?

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    @Hilfy:

    Our remaining cats are very miffed because it’s June Gloom season here in hell-LA, which means that the morning sunbeams they were accustomed to basking in have inexplicably vanished.

    We are getting stern lectures every morning about how we need to turn the sun back on, but with no results. They’re getting ready to ask to speak to our managers if we don’t straighten up.

  44. 44.

    Raven

    @rikyrah: Yup and I’m as chuck as it gets! Much like Pascals in Atlanta Dookie Chase’s was an institution. We made it there when we were in the Easy for the Sugar Bowl this year.,

  46. 46.

    MattF

    @Mnemosyne: We’ve sent a query on that subject to the Rat Executive Council, but no one seems to have information as to their current whereabouts.

  47. 47.

    raven

    Opened in 1941, Dooky Chase’s evolved from a neighborhood joint into a destination restaurant, a special place for important dinners, first dates and social gatherings in the black community during segregation. By the 1950s, with the civil rights movement gaining ground in New Orleans, the restaurant also became a meeting place for Freedom Riders and civic leaders, both black and white, in defiance of local Jim Crow laws. Groups packed into the second floor dining room for planning sessions, while restaurant staff shuttled food up the narrow staircase.

    “They’d go out in the streets, they would go to jail, they did what they had to do, but first they ate with us,” Leah Chase said in a 2016 interview.

  48. 48.

    zhena gogolia

    @Raven:

    I didn’t get around to reading her obituary until last night.

    The only time I was in New Orleans, we ate at Galatoire’s and I thought it was quite underwhelming. So I knew nothing about her — I was glad to learn.

  49. 49.

    Kattails

    Cole, Steve is one extremely handsome dude. Also I am on the latest version of Safari and have had zero problems, if that helps at all.
    Also I have a robin’s nest right inside, just above the entry door to my shed, just did the mirror thing and saw 4 eggs, so I’m psyched. Robin hangs around scolding me until I turn the manure pile for worms. The phoebes seem to be around as well & I found a very small nest in a shrub that might belong to the hummers. Did not want to poke too much.

  50. 50.

    Raven

    @zhena gogolia: My wife was a bit disappointed that we waited an hour and then it would have been 45 minutes for fried chicken not from the buffet line. It was still really good and the place is a treasure to be in.

  51. 51.

    The Moar You Know

    The tariffs are never going to go away.

    @TenguPhule: The tariffs will never be enacted. Bet the farm on that. They would destroy American manufacturing, and Trump knows he has to get votes from someone.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    I’ve been to a lot of the western states, but not much in the east or south (except Florida and Washington DC). One of these days …

  53. 53.

    TenguPhule

    @The Moar You Know:

    The tariffs will never be enacted. Bet the farm on that.

    I’m sure American farmers believed that about China once upon a time.

    and Trump knows he has to get votes from someone.

    Any assumption that relies upon Trump knowing something is a bad one.

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’ve been to a lot of the western states, but not much in the east or south (except Florida and Washington DC). One of these days

    I had no choice, and now that I’ve gotten older, I can appreciate my travels in the South.Been to every state south of the Mason-Dixon except for Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia. Part of the travels were to visit family, and the other part of travels were my father liked to travel and thought that we should see the country.

    I would like to see Arizona and New Mexico. Utah..eh,…been to the West coast, Nevada and Colorado. Took the train a couple of times out to Seattle, which is how we did the Northern States. Never been to Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. The Grand Tetons are on my bucket list.

    I live in the Midwest, so been there. Went to school out East – done New England and NorthEast and Mid-Atlantic.

    Never been to Alaska or Hawaii- both are on my bucket list.

    We really do live in a beautiful country -aesthetically, speaking.

  56. 56.

    J R in WV

    @trollhattan:

    Forgot to notify the Jackals — I mopped a really bad kitchen floor yesterday afternoon. Pinesol. I took off my tee shirt, but kept my shorts on for the duration.

    Now I want my good conduct medal!!!

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    @TenguPhule

    Loan sharks to file class action suit against Dolt 45 for stealing their act.

    ;)

    @J R in WV

    Believe that’s a yellow card violation of the B-J Code of Mopology.

  58. 58.

    J R in WV

    @zhena gogolia:

    The only time I was in New Orleans, we ate at Galatoire’s and I thought it was quite underwhelming. So I knew nothing about her — I was glad to learn.

    First time I took wife to NOLA we attempted to eat at Galatoire’s but were rebuffed as not sufficiently dressed up. haven’t been back. Antoine’s was happy to seat us, have been there several times over the years.

    Have not been to Dookie Chase’s yet… hope the family is able to maintain the current standards! Hope the community supports the place now that Ms. Chase is gone…

  59. 59.

    FlyingToaster

    FWIW, no problems at all on laptop or desktop, regardless of browser.

    I didn’t see any problems earlier with Chrome on iOS iPad, no ad blockers, but I default to viewing “desktop site”.

    After yesterday’s bleeding-from-the-eyeballs experience with iPhone/Safari, I’m not trying it again. HerrDoktor tried it on a much newer/larger iPhone, and said it seemed pretty malfunctional to him, too.

    The borking is probably not the FYWP end at all, but when you had to turn off some of the adware it broke shit on the feeds.

    I was having problems elsewhere on the ‘Net today, which seemed to have a “Feed everything through Facebook” thing going. Facebook is blocked (Disconnect, NoScript, Ghostery, two cookie blockers), and some places just couldn’t load without it. Weird.

  60. 60.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: The other Mountains in Wyoming are also amazing: Big Horns and Wind River Ranges. Tetons are amazing. My other favorites are Glacier National Park and North Cascades (for hiking – mostly wild w/ only one real road).

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