Looks like we could use a new thread, but I don’t have any topics. Too busy today cleaning house, shoveling snow, and paying bills. But that makes tomorrow ready for good things like practicing piano!
While I was cleaning house, I moved the kitties’ boxes and the mat in front of the door so I could clean that area. But when I wanted to clean where the boxes were,
So I cleaned the rest of the house, and only this little bit was left to vacuum. I thought for a bit they were going to move, but nah.
When I started making my supper with ham, they decided to come in the kitchen and beg. That gave me the chance to finish vacuuming and put things back in order.
schrodingers_cat
Cow kittehs are cute
Patricia Kayden
mrmoshpotato
Bears Don’t Dig On Dancing
BruceFromOhio
A cute cat picture makes a great topic!
nicely done, ric and Zooey!
chris
So they stayed there while you vacuumed around them? Amazing, my two vanish somehow in 400 square feet as soon as the machine makes an appearance. I miss my old Charlie cat every time, he liked to be vacuumed.
I came across a little poster on voting and thought to share it. It begins: Vote as if your skin is not white…
geg6
Kittehs are kittehs. My Cleo loves her box more than almost anything. Except food, naturally.
Mallard Filmore
A new open thread! I have been exchanging email with my Trumpy brother[*], he wrote two things that have floored me.
The right wing puke funnel must be thinking Rudy will ride in on a white horse to save the day. (No, he wont, and Trump will not testify).
[*] Growing up my brother was the smart one. “A”s in school, in college, he has 2 sons that got “A”s in school, in college, even grad school. I don’t know when the cinder block fell on his head. //
Mnemosyne
Since I managed to throw my back out last week, I got an Aerobed air mattress to sleep on while we debate what kind of new mattress we should get that will not trash my back. The cats of course immediately decided it was THEIR new bed and I have to fight them for space on it (and it’s only a twin, so it’s a tight fit for the three of us).
I did accidentally discourage Keaton from sleeping with me last night by adding more air to it — the built-in motor sounds a hell of a lot like a vacuum cleaner and he was petrified trying to figure out where it was waiting to spring out at him. Poor kitty. ?
TupeloPhoney
At first from context I thought those were like the cutest slippers ever. If they were plush, I mean, not like slippers made from actual hollow taxidermied cats. Would not want. I wish your cats healthy and long lives.
khead
@Mallard Filmore:
Trump will testify? Full stop. Start taking bets with Trumpy brother and anyone you know over that right now.
Kelly
I’ve told this story it’s my best cat story. Kitten Martin was investigating the water while my wife took a bath. Feeling and stirring it with his front paws. Fell in head first. Levitated out of tub and spread an amazing amount of water across the house. He’s very clean and not at all taken aback. Still curious about water. We leave a bathroom faucet trickling a stream for him to play with when we’re in there. He still gets into the tub when it’s empty to steal the plug.
rekoob
A shift away from the snows in the Sangres to a question several have brought up about how the family of Lev Parnas would have been granted a visa from the then-Soviet Union to the United States in the early 70s. I believe it was all a part of an effort to allow Soviet citizens of Jewish ancestry (and I’ll gladly defer to others on this) to emigrate in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. This would have been the same situation with the Vindman twins, as we have seen. I remember banners on the local orthodox Synagogue exhorting everyone to assist in relocating these refugees to the US.
opiejeanne
@Kelly: He steals the plug? What does he do with it?
Another Scott
@Mallard Filmore: Sorry you’re going through that. My best friend from high school turned into a Trumper, and I think his older son is too.
:-/
It looks like ‘drawandstrike’ is not a trollbot, if that’s any consolation.
The best tactic I’ve heard to get people to really think about this stuff is Capt. Mnemo’s (IIRC) tactic of asking them to explain how that works. “Really? Tell me more!”
Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
mrmoshpotato
@schrodingers_cat: Moo-eow? ?
MisterForkbeard
@Mallard Filmore: This idea has been there since the beginning. Trump has been saying he was concerned about “corruption”. If the Democrats say anything bad about his Ukraine behavior, they’re “pro-corruption”.
It’s the same shuffle with the Iraq War and being “anti-troop”. But it doesnt appear to be working outside of the frothing base.
Kelly
@opiejeanne: Bats it around the kitchen floor. He can get it to do a wobbly roll. He has a lot of fun and it’s easy to find.
dmsilev
@Mallard Filmore: You know, if Trump did testify, it’d be the biggest tv event in years, and would probably be bigger than any single audience Obama ever got….
mrmoshpotato
@MisterForkbeard: (clears throat). Libtard! George W Bush is a wartime pressinent! Why you hate troops?!
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: “I’m tremendous bigly! My daddy Vladdy says so! Not a crook!” Tries to do Tricky Dick peace sign, but no one can see his baby hands.
TaMara (HFG)
@Mnemosyne: So sorry to hear that.
I have a natural latex bed and it’s like floating on air. I have a very bad hip and damaged disk from getting hit by a car years ago, and I sleep like a baby on this bed.
And it doesn’t get hot in the summer. (I hear the temperpedic style can get hot – when my best friend was pregnant she threatened to throw hers out because of that, poor thing)
dmsilev
@mrmoshpotato: Hey, Humphrey Bogart was only nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Captain Queeg. I’m sure Trump could actually win an Emmy for his self-portrayal.
Gin & Tonic
@rekoob: There were indeed people who got visas to emigrate from the USSR to Israel during the 70’s and 80’s (not the 60’s.) The term for them was “refuseniks.” Most were Jewish – some were not but pretended to be. Anyone who emigrated from the USSR to the US during that time did so via Israel.
Gin & Tonic
Anyway, today was Epiphany by the Orthodox calendar. A tradition in many Eastern European countries is for men to immerse themselves in water on this day, commemorating Jesus’ baptism. Most bodies of water in Eastern Europe are considerably colder in January than the River Jordan is, though, amking this a bit of an ordeal. My son, in the “when in Rome” mold, sent me a picture of himself in the river Dnipro today. It’s been unseasonably warm, so they didn’t have to cut a hole in the ice, but it was chilly nevertheless.
Ella in New Mexico
OMG, Cheryl we have your same exact floor tile all over our house.
And adorable kittehs who refuse to cooperate when we clean…
Must be a New Mexico thing. ;-)
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Lt. Cmdr. ?
rekoob
@Gin & Tonic: True enough. I looked into it (briefly) before commenting and saw that there was some effort beginning in the 60s, but it picked up in the 70s and 80s, which was when I saw it most prominently. It’s not clear whether Parnas’s family emigrated through Israel, but that would have been the most logical progression, as you noted.
I hope your son enjoyed the experience and had no ill effects from his plunge into the Dnipro.
mrmoshpotato
@Ella in New Mexico: Woah woah, slow down there maestro
Cheryl Rofer
@chris: How close I can vacuum is very variable. I just went on to other rooms while they were there. But they can tolerate it up to a few feet when they’re feeling brave.
Mnemosyne
@TaMara (HFG):
I’m a stomach sleeper, so I don’t know if a latex bed would work for me. I usually end up feeling like I’m going to suffocate. ?
We’re probably looking at some form of adjustable airbed, either Sleep Number or another brand I’m blanking on the name of that features 3 airbags per person instead of 1. If not, we’ll probably buy a mattress set from Marriott since their beds usually work well for me.
dmsilev
@mrmoshpotato: Well, yes, but as the commanding officer of the Caine, he should be properly addressed as ‘Captain’ regardless of his rank.
(I will not be out-pedanted…)
randy khan
@dmsilev:
Don’t tell him! It will ruin everything!
zhena gogolia
@dmsilev:
Maybe that was a reference to “LT. COL. Vindman.”
zhena gogolia
@randy khan:
He would make Captain Queeg look like the sanest, calmest, most reliable commander in history.
Princess
Do people really care who the NYT endorses? Their political reporting is so lousy and partial.
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: LOL Well played.
dmsilev
@randy khan: Look, all I’m saying is that Trump testifying live on TV would be a perfect way for him to own teh libs. Is that so wrong?
mrmoshpotato
@zhena gogolia: It wasn’t :)
zhena gogolia
THE MESS BOYS ATE THE STRAWBERRIES
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Being tremendous bigly at owning the libs by confessing to everything on live television? Not that it would change the minds or loyalty of the Russthuglican Trump trash senators that used to be called Republicans.
jk
Bravo to the NY Times! They broke with convention and endorsed Warren and Klobuchar and snubbed Biden. Hallelujah!
Warren Klobuchar 2020!
mrmoshpotato
@jk: Over under on when they start talking shit about Liz and Amy?
ETA – that over under is in hours.
piratedan
@dmsilev: absolutely not… and I’m positive that Moscow Mitch would allow Trump to testify without allowing any questions iin return because we all know that ANY question would likely result in additional criminal admissions.
mrmoshpotato
@piratedan: Dump: I tremendous at bigliness!
Turtleface Fascist Motherfucker: Not guilty. Court’s adjourned.
chris
@Princess:
Some of their political reporting maybe but their reach is very powerful.
zhena gogolia
@jk:
Oh, so they’re afraid of Biden too
ETA: They piss me off so much. They see he’s going to be the nominee, so they have to get started early on undermining him.
zhena gogolia
Very cute cats, Cheryl.
jk
@mrmoshpotato:
Many people will blast the NY Times for their unconventional decision, but I agree with them 100% that Warren and Klobuchar are clearly the 2 best candidates in this race.
Biden leads in the polls, but Warren and Klobuchar are both clearly head and shoulders above him in terms of intellect and gravitas.
The conventional wisdom is that newspaper endorsements don’t amount to a hill of beans, but maybe this endorsement will prove the naysayers wrong.
I like the sound of Warren Klobuchar 2020.
zhena gogolia
@jk:
Yeah, sounds very much like McGovern-Eagleton 1972.
jk
@zhena gogolia:
The NY Times has correctly concluded that Uncle Joe just ain’t up to the task and that Warren and Klobuchar are better.
Go Elizabeth and Go Amy.
zhena gogolia
@jk:
Why couldn’t they make up their mind and pick one candidate? It’s a ridiculous stunt. They want Trump to win. Again. And they’ll do everything they can to help him.
The Lodger
@jk: Good for the NYT but I don’t think their coverage of Warren will improve because of the endorsement. Remember they also endorsed Clinton in 2016.
zhena gogolia
@jk:
Cheryl Rofer
The Times is explicitly both-sidesing it.
My own feeling is that they realized that the women were making the best case and were generally the most presidential, but they couldn’t bear to endorse just one woman.
The reaction on my Twitter is about half annoyance-to-outrage at the continuing diminishment of women, and half LOL NYT.
zhena gogolia
Okay, off to bed.
Aleta
@TaMara (HFG): The natural latex mattresses sound good. .If you don’t mind saying, what kind or brand do you like?
jk
As a senator, Biden’s judgement on virtually every major issue was wrong, he has less charisma than a glass of warm milk, and he often comes across as a cranky obnoxious dope.
Kent
Looking at the current slate of candidates, my dream final would be to have Warren and Klobuchar going head to head over the next 5 months as the final 2 choices just like Obama and Clinton in 2008. Would be interesting and healthy and get one of them tuned up to meet Trump.
Unfortunately I don’t see that playing out. But it would be very interesting and I think good for the party.
Kent
@zhena gogolia: I actually kind of like what they did.
They are saying if you are a progressive pick Warren over Sanders, and…
If you are a more mainstream Dem then pick Klobuchar over Biden and Buttigieg.
And everyone else deserves to be ignored.
I agree with all of those conclusions.
jk
@zhena gogolia:
@Cheryl Rofer:
Obviously, I would have preferred it if the NY Times had endorsed Warren or Klobuchar, but I’m deeply appreciative to the Editorial Board for giving Biden the Rodney Dangerfield treatment that he richly deserves.
Kent
So I don’t do twitter. I sometimes follow twitter links that are posted here and on other blogs. But I don’t bother with actually being on twitter.
I’m just wondering, are heads exploding over in the Sanders corner of twitter with this NYT endorsement? Are they all sending snakes at the NYT? Did this give them all a new enemy to persecute with emojis?
Omnes Omnibus
@Kent: Fuck that. If they are going to endorse, then they should pick someone. SomeONE.
jk
@Kent:
I’m hoping against hope and keeping my fingers crossed that the next President of the United States will be someone other than Trump, Biden, or Sanders.
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
Sorry about the back, but consider that sleeping on your stomach may be part of the problem. Train yourself to sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs.
My brother had one of those sleep number beds. I house sat a number of times and liked it very much (at the highest number). If you can afford them, that’s probably your best bet.
Kent
@Omnes Omnibus: I think it is healthy to get the race down to two competent ideologically distinct candidates to make competing arguments over the next 5 months of primaries. I actually like both of them and while I’m more ideologically aligned with Warren, I’m willing to consider Klobuchar as possibly a stronger opponent for Trump.
MisterForkbeard
@Cheryl Rofer: Weirdly, I thought this was fine. The NYT is explicitly not putting its finger on the moderate/progressive divide and is saying both are valid approaches. and they can’t say which is better. Then it names the best person for each approach.
I’d prefer it if they actually just made a decision, but I’m okay with this. Glad that they recognized Warren and Klobuchar have both made good cases.
MisterForkbeard
@Kent: I’m pretty sure this is just more evidence that the Establishment has rigged the election against Bernie and that Warren is a sellout.
No cognitive dissonance required – this has been their storyline for weeks anyway.
hitchhiker
There’s a long Adam Entous New Yorker piece about Mr Lutsenko and how he and some allies in Ukraine became the source for all those crazy Biden stories. It’s about a month old, so the latest information from Parnas is missing, but I read there for the first time about the convoluted origins of “Biden is dirty”. The Ukrainians were working their own issues out, is the gist of it. And the Obama state dept was eager to help them identify and promote disinterested officials in their country … which annoyed them on various levels and for various reasons.
Not surprisingly, people like Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani were very eager to promote and expand on anything that put Joe Biden in a bad light … but the documents that were supposed to prove he’d done anything either don’t exist or are still hidden. The guys who were mad at state dept actors (Masha and others) tried to get revenge.
But from the trumpy point of view, dun dun dun dunnnnn… it’s all true! The people who claimed to have incriminating documents really do have them! Biden really is dirty, and it’s all going to come out any minute now. Here’s how Entous describes Rudy’s best effort at getting Joe Biden.
Jinchi
So your brother believes that Trump will testify in the Senate? Will he suddenly start questioning his news sources when that absolutely does not happen?
Cheryl Rofer
@MisterForkbeard: I have some thoughts on this, but every time I have expressed them previously, I have been jumped on furiously. I may publish them tomorrow, when things have settled down a little.
I don’t disagree with you, but the baggage the Times brings to it, and the historical minimization of women grate.
Mnemosyne
@jk:
They endorsed Hillary and then spent the next year screeching about Her Emails, so I don’t share your optimism.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Patricia Kayden:
That page got deleted because of a bad link. Replacement:
MisterForkbeard
@Cheryl Rofer: Fair enough.
mrmoshpotato
@jk: After the way they treated the most qualified presidential candidate of my life so far, I won’t give them the benefit of the doubt. Remember – it’s not Warren vs Klobuchar – it’s Warren or Klobuchar or ? vs the Soviet shitpile mobster conman that 63 million piles of trash love because it pisses off liberals.
ETA – so many newspapers endorsed the most qualified presidential candidate of my life so far.
Ruckus
@rekoob:
Back in the good old days of the late 60s-90s I knew a few Russians that had emigrated. Didn’t seem like it was any more difficult than for anyone else. One I worked with brought his wife and daughter with him. Still here.
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
Yes but then you have to listen to them as your ears start to bleed.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Brighton Beach in Brooklyn was awash with Russian emigres by the 70s.
oatler.
Yakov Smirnoff, anyone? Anyone?