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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

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

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

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

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

You cannot shame the shameless.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

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

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Wednesday Evening Respite Open Thread: Rascality!

Wednesday Evening Respite Open Thread: Rascality!

by Anne Laurie|  December 30, 20204:43 pm| 267 Comments

This post is in: Nature & Respite, Open Threads

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I had an indescribably shitty day. This made me smile. https://t.co/jDRdWGX89S

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) December 30, 2020

Even on a normal-for-this-lousy-year day, the video still delights!

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Reader Interactions

267Comments

  1. 1.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 30, 2020 at 4:47 pm

    Respite? Cheryl retweeted this and I love it. Beware the old Sami woman in the woods!

    Traditional Sami storehouses — raised structures used by the nomadic Sami people to elevate their food above predators. They're found across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northwestern Russia. Like real-life Baba Yaga houses.

    [ph: Elin Kristina Jåma/ Wikipedia] pic.twitter.com/5kbImJrBNo

    — Irène DB (@UrbanFoxxxx) December 30, 2020

  2. 2.

    germy

    December 30, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    After downplaying COVID-19, Dr. Drew has COVID-19.

    “My early comments about equating coronavirus with influenza were wrong. They were incorrect. I was part of a chorus that was saying that. And we were wrong."https://t.co/NHr5I8aCiF

    — Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) December 30, 2020

  3. 3.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    “Man, you’re better looking when I look at you upside down.”

  4. 4.

    germy

    December 30, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    Do… Klingons have pets? Is this ever explored? I would imagine if they did, it'd mostly be attack creatures like falcons or whatever, but I'm still imagining one of them being like WHO IS AN HONORABLE WARRIOR? IT IS YOU. IT IS YOU.— Ada Powers (writer 4 hire) (@mspowahs) December 30, 2020

    that just reminded me of this: pic.twitter.com/l9VLBQR90R— Rational TThot, Malkavian Primogen of NYC (@ineffabelle) December 30, 2020

  5. 5.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    @germy:

    Didn’t Worf look after Spot for Data?

  6. 6.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    December 30, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    @germy: hard to believe a game show “doctor” underestimated a pandemic.

  7. 7.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    Thanks. Oregon Zoo looks like it rocks. I’ll put it on my NW bucket list.

    But should have had a trigger warning. Pogonophobia is real. Insensitive to O’Reilly and Colbert, and many others suffering from that debilitating condition

    Edit: and a danger to public health, given the high prevalence of Pogonoillaoblivia (irrational obliviousness to danger from bears in national parks). And I cobbled that together from Google translate, so the BJ Latin pedants can shut up in advance, thank you very much and have a good day, I say good day, sir.

    Edit2: Ursapicturaemania

    Edit2: Ursamortavotia

  8. 8.

    germy

    December 30, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    We got a gameshow “businessman” for president.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 5:00 pm

    @germy

    Yes. See also Toby.

    SATSQ

  10. 10.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    @germy: Maybe this guy could replace Trump.

    Andy Daly Is Reed Newport: ’80s Game Show Host

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwavEURD5Ww

  11. 11.

    MazeDancer

    December 30, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    “We Rate Dogs” – the monster success on Twitter, where every dog is at least a 10 – has put out his “Dogs of 2020” video.

    It is lovely. Will give a nice, very long smile.

    Play it on full screen, here it is on YouTube.

  12. 12.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    @MazeDancer: Thanks. Looks like all the dogs go to eleven too. Fricken amazing dogs.

    I take a break from parrots and look at the dogs over new year break.

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 30, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    @jl:

    Pogonophobia is fear of beards, not bears.

    But it’s a fine, cromulent word, and I shall keep it.

  14. 14.

    Ken

    December 30, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    @germy: Do… Klingons have pets?

    Probably not tribbles.

    My theory for the change in Klingon appearance between TOS and TNG is a species-wide allergic reaction to tribble dandruff.  The only evidence I have for this is Worf’s embarrassed “We do not discuss it with outsiders” in that DS9 time-travel episode.

  15. 15.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 5:15 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Oh, shit. Thanks. It is very good thing that I  supplied some very expert erudite Latinate alternatives, huh

    Edit: hell with it, bears look like they have beards, if you squint. My choice was actually correct. You are welcome. Physicians take a lot of poetic license with those names, and so can I. QED.

  16. 16.

    prostratedragon

    December 30, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    @Ken:  A good series must leave room for apocrypha.

  17. 17.

    Benw

    December 30, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Bam bam bam bam

    bam bam bam bam bam

    i wanna be sedated!

  18. 18.

    Mag

    December 30, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    Balloon man is so very blurry. I went back to 2003 and rejiggered him for 2021. Still pixilated, I’m no artist, but not so darn blurry. Here he is: https://imgur.com/oCKtPLv and at 50%: https://imgur.com/jgm1U1j

    I thought fixing blurry balloon man was on the todo list when the site was updated?

  19. 19.

    Brachiator

    December 30, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Pogonophobia is fear of beards, not bears.

    I don’t understand the fear. I enjoyed “Yogi the Beard” when I was a kid.

  20. 20.

    hotshoe

    December 30, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    @germy:

    I hope the Dr dies painfully, at home, without wasting any hospital space, and without infecting anyone else.

    Unfortunately, he says he is recovering. So I guess the best I can really hope for is long-hauler side effects.

     

    Goddamn each and every one of the bastards who deliberately have spread medical misinformation and made our lives worse.

  21. 21.

    MazeDancer

    December 30, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    @germy:

    Do… Klingons have pets?

    Yes.

    There is a snarling, monster kind of steel plated “dog” seated at the feet of the commander in one of the movies. Commander gets up and yells at lieutenant to “feed it”. “Dog” snarls viciously.

  22. 22.

    Emma from FL

    December 30, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    The one that I loved most in the video was the elephant throwing mud towards the camera. It was like “hey! I’m trying to take a bath here!” in a Brooklyn accent.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    Reap. Sow.

    New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Wednesday announced that he is canceling his outdoor inauguration ceremony next month, citing “ongoing public safety concerns” over armed protesters who have gathered outside his home in recent weeks following a mask order he issued last month.

    In a series of tweets Wednesday, Sununu said that armed protesters outside his home have become “more aggressive” as they targeted his family. Source

  24. 24.

    Kent

    December 30, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    @germy:

    After downplaying COVID-19, Dr. Drew has COVID-19.

    “My early comments about equating coronavirus with influenza were wrong. They were incorrect. I was part of a chorus that was saying that. And we were wrong.”https://t.co/NHr5I8aCiF

    — Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) December 30, 2020

    These fuckers have SO MUCH TO ANSWER FOR.

    “I was wrong” does not begin to cut it.  They need to devote the rest of their fucking lives to fighting Trumpism and right-wing insanity if they hope to even come close to balancing the scales for the damage the have don.

  25. 25.

    cckids

    December 30, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    @Ken:My theory for the change in Klingon appearance between TOS and TNG is a species-wide allergic reaction to tribble dandruff.

    Not to nerd out, but the change in Klingon appearance is addressed in Enterprise;  there was some sort of plague that affected them.

    I really didn’t like Enterprise much, so never paid complete attention when the spouse was watching it, but the doctor on Enterprise helped find a cure. Was the plague man-made maybe? Or genetic-engineering related? Also possible. All that I can dredge up from memory is that it happened.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    December 30, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    Dr. Drew actually has an MD (USC, 1984) and completed his residency.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    FYI.

    An unidentified group of U.S.-based philanthropists plans to send 150,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Iran in the coming weeks, Iranian media reported Monday, in a step that could bring the hardest-hit country in the Middle East closer to inoculating its citizens against the coronavirus.

    Details remained scarce in the report by semiofficial Tasnim news agency. It quoted the chief of the country’s Red Crescent Society as saying he expects the vaccine created by American drug maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to be imported by Jan. 19 “based on coordination with a group of benefactors in the U.S.”

    Iran has struggled to stem the worst virus outbreak in the Middle East, which has infected over 1.2 million people and killed nearly 55,000.

    Karim Hemmati, the Red Crescent director, said his organization plans to receive an additional 1 million vaccine doses, which on Sunday the semiofficial Khabaronline.ir news website reported would come from China. The vaccines will be offered to citizens free of charge, Hemmati said.
    [snip]
    Meanwhile, hard-line officials in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have rejected the use of foreign-made vaccines altogether. Last week, deputy chief of the Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi, said the Guard “does not recommend the injection of any foreign vaccine” candidates based on genetic material known as messenger RNA, which carries the instructions for cells to make proteins. Source

  28. 28.

    Cheryl Rofer

    December 30, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Here’s Modeste Mussogorsky’s “Hut on Chicken Legs, Baba Yaga” from “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    Also too (previously mentioned some time back), Mary Todd Lincoln’s tea service.

    ;)

  30. 30.

    CaseyL

    December 30, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    @MazeDancer: That was delightful and made me happy-cry.  FSM bless dogs, and WeRateDogs for compiling those lovely vignettes.

  31. 31.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    @Roger Moore: Well, it is from U$C.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    Dolt 45 delusion #711,944.

    Trump takes aim at Georgia official’s non-existent brother

    Trump has gone from making up conversations that occurred only in his mind to making up siblings for election officials who aren’t corrupt enough for him.

  33. 33.

    MazeDancer

    December 30, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    @CaseyL:

    I happy cried, too.

  34. 34.

    sab

    December 30, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    @NotMax: I especially like the creamer, since it looks like it has a beak.

  35. 35.

    Yutsano

    December 30, 2020 at 6:09 pm

    @MazeDancer: The targ is a magnificent and fierce beast. Worthy of a warrior.

    I am also quite pleased how many people in the thread are choosing to enlighten her over attack her.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    Anyone have Lizard People on your BINGO card?

    Investigators are exploring several conspiracy theories as potential motives behind the Christmas Day bombing outside an AT&T building in Nashville, Tennessee, including evidence that the bomber believed in lizard people and a so-called reptilian conspiracy, two senior law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
    [snip]
    Specifically, investigators are looking into the suspect’s previous trips to an undisclosed location in Tennessee where he would camp out in his recreational vehicle and, according to the suspect’s statements to others, hunt possible aliens, the officials said.

    In addition, investigators are aware of statements the suspect made about an internet conspiracy that powerful politicians and Hollywood figures are actually lizards or other reptiles who have extraterrestrial origins and are taking over society, the officials said. Source

  37. 37.

    Miss Bianca

    December 30, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    @NotMax: Oh, my, my mother had silver tea service pieces with little feet like that! She was an antiques buff.

  38. 38.

    Ruckus

    December 30, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    @Emma from FL:

    “Hey Yous, I’m traying toos take a fucking baths here!”

  39. 39.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    @NotMax:

    Similarly, NPR reported this morning that Israel had no intention of providing any vaccines for the Palestinians living in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.  ? ?

  40. 40.

    Baud

    December 30, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    @NotMax:

    Baud!/Lizard! 2032!

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    December 30, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Hey, my sister used to teach at University of Special Cash , or USC, as they call themselves.

  42. 42.

    Uncle Cosmo

    December 30, 2020 at 6:21 pm

    @Kent: Now wait a minute – according to this USA Today article, Pinsky retracted and apologized for “downplaying the coronavirus epidemic” back in April. There was a lot of partial and contradictory information circulating before then. If we can cut Tony Fauci a break for discouraging people from obtaining masks (in an understandable but badly-put effort to reserve the then-inadequate mask supply for frontline health-care workers), we might not want to shit all over someone who made a mistake and ‘fessed up to it rather early in the process.

  43. 43.

    Miss Bianca

    December 30, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    @MazeDancer: Oh, so fuckin’ cute. Much needed. Thank you!

  44. 44.

    NeenerNeener

    December 30, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    Hey, it looks like there’s a new litter of Shiba Inu puppies as of today. I found the puppy cam on You Tube while watching the Dogs of 2020 video.

    Appears to be only 3 puppies in this litter.

  45. 45.

    japa21

    December 30, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    More later but I am about to be admitted to a Covid unit, but not ICU.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    @Baud

    It would be to laugh if it wasn’t so pathetic (emphasis added).

    Adherents of the unfounded conspiracy theory believe that politicians and other prominent people, including the Clintons and the comedian Bob Hope, who died in 2003, are actually lizard-like creatures sent to Earth and are responsible for a number of historic tragedies. Justin Bieber and the Obamas have also been named in the conspiracy theory.

  47. 47.

    LurkerNoLonger

    December 30, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    This is part of the Hawley statement objecting to the Electoral college certification:

    “I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” 

    Does anyone know what this is referring to? Or is it just bullshit? I’m strongly leaning towards the latter.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    December 30, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger:

    He’s just repeating the allegations of the Trump people that the courts rejected.

  49. 49.

    Uncle Cosmo

    December 30, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    @Ruckus: I heard it was the University of Spoiled Children.

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    @japa21:

    Oh, I hope you get the best care and get better very soon.

  51. 51.

    LurkerNoLonger

    December 30, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    @Baud: Thank you. So it’s bullshit after all…

  52. 52.

    NeenerNeener

    December 30, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    @japa21: What zhena gogolia said. Get well soon.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    December 30, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger:

    As usual.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    December 30, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    @japa21: Speedy recovery.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger:

    Not as bullshit as this gem:

    Trump takes aim at Georgia official’s non-existent brother

    Trump has gone from making up conversations that occurred only in his mind to making up siblings for election officials who aren’t corrupt enough for him.

  56. 56.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    @japa21:

    Fingers crossed you’re out of there very soon!

  57. 57.

    Spanky

    December 30, 2020 at 6:39 pm

    @japa21: Well. Fuck.

    “Good luck” seems trite and dismissive and altogether inadequate.

    We’re at least at a phase where we know what works and what doesn’t. You’re now part of your care team. Do what you need to do.

  58. 58.

    Achrachno

    December 30, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    Red pandas are cute, but ground hornbills are not.

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    @Ruckus: In the hills of Westwood, U$C has many names: University of Spoiled Children, Figuroa Tech, Costco(South LA)…

  60. 60.

    CaseyL

    December 30, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    @japa21: Well, shit.  Hope the care is excellent and you make a fast, full recovery.

  61. 61.

    Achrachno

    December 30, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    @japa21: Best wishes, which is clearly inadequate but the best I can do from here.

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 30, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    @japa21:

    Speedy recovery, fellow jackal.

  63. 63.

    Yutsano

    December 30, 2020 at 6:46 pm

    @japa21: Oh no. I hope you recover quickly.

  64. 64.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    @Brachiator: I don’t understand the fear. I enjoyed “Yogi the Beard” when I was a kid.

    Hey Boo Boo!  It’s just your typical type beard oil basket!

  65. 65.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    Good evening BJ. Sitting here watching the old Wonder Woman episodes on HBOMax. Do ya’ll remember the one about the “Great Ape” Gargantua that the Nazi trained to attack Wonder Woman? Every fight was just dude holding Lynda Carter around the waist and Lynda Carter obviously trying to keep the top of her suit from being pulled down…smh LOL

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6be94f00a91c4cd1872d36bd03a4ad45b463a0c1574d2acc58e30581409bc1df.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc099a931bd20c889c11f7a52e8dbec098bf719309e5324a39fb02488b2f9ec5.jpg

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 6:49 pm

    @mrmoshpotato

    So, a Schick-a-nic basket?

  67. 67.

    dexwood

    December 30, 2020 at 6:49 pm

    @japa21:  Best wishes for you and your recovery. Maintain a daily infusion of Balloon Juice in large doses.

  68. 68.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 6:49 pm

    @NotMax: Future generations aren’t going to believe this kind of shit took place because of being asked to wear a mask in public during a national (also global) health crisis.

    This is insane.

  69. 69.

    gbbalto

    December 30, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    @japa21: Sorry to hear that – best wishes for a quick recovery!

  70. 70.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    @japa21: Hope they fix ya up and quick.

  71. 71.

    Dan B

    December 30, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    @japa21: Heal quickly!

  72. 72.

    Tony Jay

    December 30, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    @cckids:

    I could be wrong (often) but I think it was some kind of abortive attempt to exploit the banned genetic manipulation techniques that created Khan and his fellow supermen.

    Enterprise was a bit rubbish, though. Other than the two part Mirror Universe episode.

  73. 73.

    frosty

    December 30, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    @japa21: Whoa. Best wishes for a good recovery. As others have said, the docs and nurses have a much better idea of how to deal with  COVID than they had in March.

  74. 74.

    Bill Arnold

    December 30, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    I like to think of this story as a Baba Yaga origin story, before she built the hut inspired by her friends:
    The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat, by Brooke Bolander

    The Princess went back with the three beautiful sisters to their forest home, where she built a little crookety cabin in a sun-dappled clearing ringed ‘round with fern and foxglove and other plants that should not have gotten on together but made an exception in her presence.

  75. 75.

    Tony Jay

    December 30, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    @japa21:

    Soon get well, you will.

  76. 76.

    Wanderer

    December 30, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    @japa21:   I wish you a rapid recovery.

  77. 77.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    @Kent: They need to devote the rest of their fucking lives to fighting Trumpism and right-wing insanity if they hope to even come close to balancing the scales for the damage the have done.

    Can their part of this fight take place while they’re also doing housekeeping and emptying bedpans in hospitals?

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    @Tony Jay

    Enterprise was a bit rubbish, though.

    Like unto saying Johnstown experienced a bit of a puddle.

    :)

  79. 79.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    @japa21: I hope it’s a mild case, and you have a quick and full recovery.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2020 at 6:57 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: They have a good Slavic Department.

  81. 81.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    @lamh36:

    Very cute!

  82. 82.

    Geminid

    December 30, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    @debbie: if you are interested, there is good coverage of Palestinian Covid-19 vaccine questions if you google the topic. Israel in fact does intend to inoculate it’s own citizens including Arab Israelis and Israeli citizens living on the West Bank, and leave Palestinians living under it’s control in the West Bank and Gaza to obtain the vaccine on their own. Russia is promising to deliver 4 million doses of it’s “Sputnik” vaccine to Palestinians, starting next month; the UAE will pick up part of the tab.  Qatar provides a lot of financial support to Gaza, and will probably buy some vaccine for those folks.                    The liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz has an  editorial today strongly  emphasizing Israel’s legal and moral obligation to ensure Palestinians are vaccinated. It may be paywalled for some, though.

  83. 83.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    @NotMax: Anyone know how close Crackpot Jones is to being sued out of existence?

  84. 84.

    Roger Moore

    December 30, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I thought it was the University of Spoiled Children.

  85. 85.

    Tony Jay

    December 30, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    As a member of the Labour Party I’m at risk of suspension and expulsion for even reading that comment.

    Though given today’s colossal shitshow I don’t think I’ll have that conflict of interest much longer.

  86. 86.

    prostratedragon

    December 30, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:  Thanks! As antic as those unhatched chicks.

  87. 87.

    Poe Larity

    December 30, 2020 at 7:05 pm

    The FAA has shut down the North Texas ARTCC due to Covid cases. Which means you aren’t landing at DFW until they figure it out.

    https://twitter.com/cbs11doug/status/1344412313105920001/photo/1

  88. 88.

    JMG

    December 30, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    My last Christmas present arrived! It is intentionally late because my son and his fiancee did not come here for the holiday until last night. In early December he had an emergency appendectomy and although he is fine, 16 hours in a Brooklyn hospital caused him to reset his quarantine clock to zero. Anyway, he changed the delivery date of the present so he could be here. It’s a big package from Katz’s Delicatessin! Pastrami, corned beef, brisket, latkes, pickles, mustard, knishes!!! There’s a whole pastrami in there. Cooking instructions say boil it for three hours. I’m thinking of sending to my cardiologist. Not sure I want it around next month.

  89. 89.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    @NotMax: Gillette – The Best A Bear Can Get!

  90. 90.

    Tony Jay

    December 30, 2020 at 7:07 pm

    @NotMax:

    I strive for subtlety. Famous for it. 8-)

    Such a missed opportunity that show.

  91. 91.

    Roger Moore

    December 30, 2020 at 7:07 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Anyone know how close Crackpot Jones is to being sued out of existence?

    Not close enough.

  92. 92.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 7:08 pm

    @zhena gogolia: it’s all so cheesy.  But damn if I don’t love it.  Nostalgic feeling sure can be strong…LOL

  93. 93.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @JMG: It’s a big package from Katz’s Delicatessin!

    Wow!  You raised that kid right.

  94. 94.

    prostratedragon

    December 30, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @japa21:  Hope you get well soon. The medics do indeed seem to know much more about helping that happen than at first.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @Geminid:

    Good to know that there will be help for them. Fucking Bibi.

  96. 96.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    @JMG:

    Their ads have been all over my FB page, tormenting me. Lucky you!

  97. 97.

    West of the Rockies

    December 30, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    Has everyone notes the passing of Dawn Wells yet? She had a good run.

  98. 98.

    cckids

    December 30, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    @Tony Jay: That sounds right. I was vaguely remembering some type of gen engineering gone wrong.

    And yes, Enterprise has so much wrong with it, with such a great premise. Worst written Trek show, by far.

    Loved the Mirror episodes, though, you could tell the cast was finally having fun.

  99. 99.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @Roger Moore:  IIRC Jones seems to have gotten out of his previous jam by testifying that he is really a clown who doesn’t mean anything he says, it’s all for yuks and giggles.

    I wonder whether the judge made him put a disclaimer on everyone of his broadcasts, for every second. Actually, should be a disclaimer on all of his public communications, including interviews and any random clip that bubbles up on youtube.

    “Hi, I’d be glad to answer some questions, but first a disclaimer: I am a clown and don’t mean anything I say.”

  100. 100.

    Dahlia

    December 30, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    @japa21: I wish you a swift and complete recovery.

  101. 101.

    jackmac

    December 30, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    @germy: Klingons had targs for pets, according to a Star Trek WIki page. “The Klingons enjoyed hunting wild targ but also maintained agricultural herds for consumption and commonly kept targs as pets.”

     

    @germy:

  102. 102.

    JAFD

    December 30, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    @japa21: OK.  You’re in a battle, but you can win it.

    Relax.  Conserve your strength.  Trust your doctors and nurses.

    DON’T WORRY.  Your welfare – and survival – is now Somebody Else’s Problem – a whole bunch of somebodies.  Let them take care of it.

    Keep smiling.  Take it one day at a time.  Try to be as pleasant as possible to the doctors and nurses, they don’t have it easy either.

    Be confident that you’ll recover.  This, too, shall pass.

    That be accumulated advice from time after my heart attack.  Worth twice what you paid for it ;-)

    So sending some thoughts and healing energy and requests for favorable interventions by Higher Powers your way, too.

  103. 103.

    West of the Rockies

    December 30, 2020 at 7:27 pm

    @japa21: 

    Very best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @Mag: No one could find the original, and it would have cost $ to have him recreated from scratch.

    Two or three different people volunteered to have a go at it, but one set didn’t work out and the other two never got back to me.

  105. 105.

    Dahlia

    December 30, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    @JMG: You have my sincerest envy.  Drool.

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @debbie: Fuck Israel.  How far they have fallen.

  107. 107.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @japa21: Good luck. Get well. Stay strong. Keep hope.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @japa21: oh, japa.  very sorry to hear that.  may you recover in no time.

  109. 109.

    Dahlia

    December 30, 2020 at 7:32 pm

    @Tony Jay: Would you like to share any thoughts about today’s development in Brexit?  Chris Grey is quite thorough but he lacks your flair.

  110. 110.

    Spanky

    December 30, 2020 at 7:32 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    Has everyone notes the passing of Dawn Wells yet?

    Fucking covid, too.

  111. 111.

    John Revolta

    December 30, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    Yikes. From the article:

    (Dr. Drew) Pinksy said his positive test was a relief of sorts.

    “Because I had this terrible acute febrile illness and was testing negative, and if I did not have COVID, I had acute lymphocytic leukemia, which I did not want to have because that’s the only thing that would do what was happening to me”

    But, it’s just like the flu!

  112. 112.

    MazeDancer

    December 30, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    @japa21: Oh no. Sending many healing beams.

  113. 113.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    From now on only Jon Ossoff and Pete Buttigieg are allowed to go on Faux News for the Dems!

     

    https://twitter.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1344441339639783426?s=20

  114. 114.

    Mike in NC

    December 30, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    @West of the Rockies:  Jon Voight also turned 82 this week. Hoping he checks out real soon, no matter the cause.

  115. 115.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @Baud: ” Baud!/Lizard! 2032! ”

    Seems pretty damn fancy pants and elitist for the Baud! XXXX! Base. Keep it simple, western fence lizard. Every future tramp used to chase them across vacant lots and quick stop parking lots, for various reasons and with varying degrees of desperation.

  116. 116.

    japa21

    December 30, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.  I am positive.  Also have pneumonia which doesn’t help. Still waiting for my bed. May have to wait to tomorrow as I don’t have my charger with me.

  117. 117.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @lamh36: 1) is that the Young Doocey asking the question?

    2) what are the “allegations of wrong-doing” against Warnock? I’m a political junkie and that’s the first I’ve heard

  118. 118.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger: 

    I do, and it is.

    One of the arguments made in, among other dumb cases, the Texas suit was that the disputed (well, at least disputed in the minds of the crazies) states had not followed their own election laws, which somehow rendered the results invalid. In Pennsylvania, in particular (but also Wisconsin, and maybe other states), those issues were raised in state lawsuits, and the State Supreme Court ruled that the actions by state election officials were consistent with the law. So Hawley basically is saying that state Supreme Courts got the state law issues wrong. Since he does not appear to ever have been a lawyer in any of those states, I think it’s safe to say he knows next to nothing about their election laws and, in any event, when a state Supreme Court says something is the law of that state, it’s hard to explain why anyone should listen to someone who says otherwise.

  119. 119.

    Suzanne

    December 30, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @japa21: Hugs. Best wishes to you. I am sure you will kick its ass. We’re all wishing you the best.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 30, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    @japa21: wishing you a full and quick recovery

  121. 121.

    West of the Rockies

    December 30, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    @Mike in NC: 

    James Woods is no spring chicken either. Maybe he can F@#* off, too.

  122. 122.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    @japa21: Rest easy and get well. We’re pulling for you, and will be here when you’re able.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  123. 123.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    AND they welcomed Jonathan Pollard into their country. I’d forgotten that until now. ?

  124. 124.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    Just heard a news report that McConnell is just outright saying he ain’t going to do the $2K checks, just eff it all, fuggedaboudit, screw everyone and they can just suck it up. Seems to be very theatrically throwing down his own BS poison pill plan and stomping all over the $2K check and spitting on it.

    I am not as savvy and with it politically as other wise commenters here are. Or imaginative enough to spin plausible sounding political punditry BS out of my ass (yes, I am a crappy BJ commenter, why do you ask?).

    What is he doing? I don’t see how this is helpful at all for the GA runoff.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    @japa21: Someone mentioned yesterday that hospital gift shops often sell phone chargers.  Worth a try?

  126. 126.

    Geminid

    December 30, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    @debbie: The Israelis are beginning their fourth election campaign in 14 months. Election Day will be in late March. Some influential Likud politicians are thoroughly disgusted by Netanyahu and have defected to form a new party. And the long serving Mayor of Tel Aviv has also formed a new party. Candidates for Knesset run nationwide on party slates. If a slate wins 10% of the vote the top 12 candidates on their List win seats in the 120 member Knesset.

    Your regard for Netanyahu is shared by a lot of Israelis, especially politicians, since he has double crossed most of them one time or another. His 12 year run as Prime Minister may actually end this time.

    Israeli politics are hard to keep up with, but The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel are covering the election, and are not paywalled, unlike the better Haaretz.

  127. 127.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    It would seem churlish to complain that there weren’t enough otters in the video, so I won’t.  Otters seem to exist to be joyful, and I’ve never seen one that didn’t seem to be happy.  And seeing the video reminds me of a really delightful interlude with my then-girlfriend at the Seattle aquarium watching some otters cavort and, not much more than a year later, of seeing an otter carefully and contentedly eating a fish in a little park – and practically posing for photos for amused onlookers – in Florida during our honeymoon.

    Also, the porcupine was great.

  128. 128.

    daryljfontaine

    December 30, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    @lamh36: “In case you didn’t hear it the first… or the second… time, let me repeat myself clearly and distinctly on camera for the benefit of your generally low-information viewing audience.”

    D

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:47 pm

    @debbie: The Nazis tried to wipe out the Jews and now they are trying to do the same to the Palestinians.  How did they get here

    They have lost their way.

  130. 130.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    @jl:

    It’s not helpful for the GA runoff, which means he’s either concluded that the elections are lost (which would be swell) or that the impact of the $600 v. the $2,000 already is baked in (possibly with a side of thinking that Loeffler and Perdue are making it sound like they’d vote for the $2,000) and so that not doing doesn’t make any difference.

    There might also be a bet in there somewhere that a 50-50 Senate doesn’t get much done because the Dems won’t kill the filibuster.

  131. 131.

    Miss Bianca

    December 30, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    @japa21: Oh, no! Please keep us posted on your progress if/when you can!

  132. 132.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2020 at 7:49 pm

    @jl: He probably figures the Georgia results are baked in and nothing he does will affect it.  He knows that the House has left town and there’s no chance they would accept his poison pills, and there’s no time for a conference to paper over the differences.  (This Congress ends at noon on Sunday.)  Since he won’t let the House bill come up for a vote, the $2000 is dead this year.

    IMHO, this has been his plan since the House passed the HEROES act on May 15.  He was going to try to run out the clock and at the last minute stampede the Democrats to accept liability protection for businesses in exchange for little else.  As usual, he failed in getting what he wanted, so he’ll let the country burn for another few weeks (until the Democrats take over) as punishment.

    We need to win Georgia!!

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    @randy khan:

    Also, the porcupine was great.

    He looked like a King with his amazing cloak.

  134. 134.

    japa21

    December 30, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    @WaterGirl: my wife can bring it to the main desk tomorrow.

  135. 135.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    @japa21: Okay.  I sent you an email, too, because I didn’t know if you would see my comment.

  136. 136.

    laura

    December 30, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @japa21: Wishing you all the good things. Rest when you can, fight when you must. ?

  137. 137.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @Geminid:

    I was just listening to an interview with an Israeli reporter on the BBC’s The World who said Bibi is angling for retroactive immunity. I don’t remember his reasoning, but I do remember thinking it was very Trumpian. I’m also cheered to know parties are being formed to counter Bibi.

    Most of the people I know here are less strident than I about him, so it’s good to get your perspective. Many thanks.

  138. 138.

    John Revolta

    December 30, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    @japa21: Damn. Here’s hoping for a quick and easy one.

  139. 139.

    SFBayAreaGal

    December 30, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @Tony Jay: So true about Enterprise.

  140. 140.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I remember saying pretty much the same thing to my parents back in the 1970s. I think that’s the closest I ever came to getting kicked out of the house. Even closer than when I argued with my father about Vietnam and Richard Nixon.

  141. 141.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @randy khan: Red pandas in designer T-s, stork and sea lion duet. Oregon zoo rocks.

  142. 142.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    @randy khan:

    I think he’s doing it to make Biden have to ask Congress for the stimulus payments. McConnell really wants to beat Biden over the head with his own power.

  143. 143.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    @debbie:

    I was just listening to an interview with an Israeli reporter on the BBC’s The World who said Bibi is angling for retroactive immunity.

    Political immunity or COVID immunity?

  144. 144.

    JPL

    December 30, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    @japa21: I’m so sorry that you have to fight this dreadful virus.   Fight you will though.

  145. 145.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think they’ve been pushing some stuff about an arrest or something and an inciden w/his ex-wife that when you read the details really just sound like your run of the mill bad divorce scenario where one of the divorcee is not quite truthful and in a vengeful mood.

    Nothing that will matter to any voter in this election.  It’s about about voter turnout

  146. 146.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    I saw that today. Very sad.

  147. 147.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @randy khan: @Another Scott: @debbie:

    On my good days, I do hope and strive to be somewhat less depraved than McConnell, and I do have some difficulty understanding his way of thinking.

    But, if I were trying to win GA and create a good foundation for my first attempt at an epic Biden beat-down, now would be a perfect time for the standard McConnell boilerplate: posture around as if trying to get something done, pretend to try to compromise while keeping one fatal poison pill in the bill, lie to big time corporate media talking heads that it is very sad that the Democrats won’t compromise. More drone, the better.

  148. 148.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: it’s the smile at the end from Ossoff that got me.

     

    It was a “yeah you thought you was going to get me, but you got, GOT”

     

    lol

  149. 149.

    frosty

    December 30, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @WaterGirl: Really? After reading about all of the talented commenters on B-J no one could recreate Balloon Man? I has a sad. Seems to me (not knowing diddly about it) that it wouldn’t be so tough.

  150. 150.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @frosty: When BJ did the last redesign, I asked for a magic touch-screen balloon man who, when activated, would put me in the balloon, and sail me away somewhere over the rainbow to a pot of gold.

    Didn’t happen. And Cole still claim’s it’s a full service blog.

  151. 151.

    frosty

    December 30, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @jl:  Full service? Hah! Lies, lies I tells ya.

  152. 152.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    Jon Osoff ain’t got no chill and I LOVE it!!!

     

    @ossoff 38m

    US Senate candidate, GA

    FOX News walked up rolling live, and I appreciated the free air time! Also, Kelly Loeffler campaigned with a klansman.

    https://twitter.com/ossoff/status/1344443912795131908?s=20

  153. 153.

    JoyceH

    December 30, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    Reporter on CNN just said that Trump is returning to DC tomorrow, skipping his NY Eve bash. Uh-oh, is he planning to stir up more trouble?

  154. 154.

    Geminid

    December 30, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    @randy khan: The people at Springdale Water Gardens, over in the Shenandoah Valley, noticed they were losing Koi fish. The fish were quite expensive, so a camera was set up to catch the thief. It was an otter, trekking a half mile from its creek to visit the koi buffet.

  155. 155.

    TS (the original)

    December 30, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    @japa21:  get better very very quickly

  156. 156.

    JPL

    December 30, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    @JoyceH: Probably trying to goad Iran into a strike,cuz he can’t be replaced during a war.   Wish I was just kidding, but I’m not.

  157. 157.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    @JoyceH: Trump wants to drum up more GOP support in Congress for his heroic last stand, or miraculous out of nowhere victory, on January 6?

    THE COUNTENNENNENNINGGINGG!

    Edit: Trump has shown he can comprehend the possibility that he won’t hold on to power, but his delusions keep drawing him back in. And whatever happens, Trump surely wants a huge, top, terrific, the best, show. High production values, a winner. Highest rated ceremonial electoral college vote in Congress ever.

    Edit: goose his election fraud fund scam and ticket sales for his first post-administration re-election rally. He really wants those rallies, if he can stay ahead of the law and his creditors.

  158. 158.

    JoyceH

    December 30, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    @JPL: Can’t be replaced in a war? Sez who?

  159. 159.

    JoyceH

    December 30, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    I’m hoping he’s just too grumpy to go to his NYEve party but it would be too obvious if he was there and just sulked in his quarters and didn’t show up.

  160. 160.

    raven

    December 30, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    @JPL: Who says he can’t be replaced during a war?

  161. 161.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    @jl:

    put me in the balloon, and sail me away somewhere over the rainbow to a pot of gold.

    Plank IV of the Baud!20XX platform!

  162. 162.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    I’m just going to leave this here.

    https://www.facebook.com/bruce.boros/posts/1844242049049397

    edit: deleted your link because long lines line that break the margins on phones.

  163. 163.

    HRA

    December 30, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    @japa21: I am sending you the best for a good and full recovery.

  164. 164.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    @JoyceH:

    Don’t forget he doesn’t like how Melania redecorated those quarters.

  165. 165.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    @raven:

    Kraken!

  166. 166.

    trollhattan

    December 30, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    Uh…wow.

    “The Secret Service is making some staff changes in the presidential detail that will guard President-elect Joe Biden, amid concerns from Biden allies that some current members were politically aligned with President Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

    “As Biden readies his new administration, the Secret Service plans to bring back to the White House detail a handful of senior agents whom Biden knows well from their work more than four years ago guarding him and his family when he was vice president.”

  167. 167.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    @trollhattan: After Trump treated them badly for four years, there are still Secret Service people who are aligned with Trump? They were on other assignments away from the WH?

    Maybe they are all covid long haulers with lingering brain fog?

  168. 168.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 8:42 pm

    Damnit!!! 2020 YOU AIN’T SHIT!

     

    2 Detained in Louisiana After Possible Bomb on Plane https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/2-detained-in-louisiana-after-possible-bomb-on-plane/2516587/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_kxas_twt_shr

  169. 169.

    mali muso

    December 30, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    @trollhattan: yeah, just saw that too. Nightmare fuel. Is there anything that has come into contact with tRump and not been corrupted?

  170. 170.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I’m glad there are people thinking like this. Trump would like nothing better than to undermine Biden anyway he can.

  171. 171.

    Doc Sardonic

    December 30, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    @Winston: First off..Ivermectin is a de-wormer you give to your dog, cat, horse, pig, sheep, etc. Second… doxycycline and Zithromax are anti bacterials. Last time I checked COVID is a virus, not an intestinal parasite or clap. Fucking dumbass

  172. 172.

    Ken

    December 30, 2020 at 8:47 pm

    @jl: When BJ did the last redesign, I asked for a magic touch-screen balloon man who, when activated, would put me in the balloon, and sail me away somewhere over the rainbow to a pot of gold. Didn’t happen.

    Hey, I’ve been working on it, and should have it ready to roll-out in January. Really cool, my first Flash animation project.

  173. 173.

    JPL

    December 30, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    @JoyceH:  That’s just the way he thinks.

  174. 174.

    Lyrebird

    December 30, 2020 at 8:53 pm

    @japa21: Further good thoughts of QUICK and FULL recovery!

  175. 175.

    There go two miscreants

    December 30, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @Ken: Well done!

  176. 176.

    JPL

    December 30, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @trollhattan:  Everything trump touches becomes politicized.  I’m glad they are making changes, but it’s unfortunate they had to.

  177. 177.

    raven

    December 30, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    Who has had lumbar decompression?

  178. 178.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    @raven:

    Not me. Is that the result of your nerve test?

  179. 179.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: I don’t know. Glad to have a snark expert aboard since this is the main function of this blog. My doctor from Cuba tells me that in Cuba, they use this. Cuba has kinda the lowest incident of cases and deaths in this part of the world. Perhaps you can explain that.

  180. 180.

    J R in WV

    December 30, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @japa21:

    More later but I am about to be admitted to a Covid unit, but not ICU.

    OH, noes, Japa21. I hope they get your treatments,  and ready to be discharged soonest!.!. Best wishes from W Va!!!

  181. 181.

    burnspbesq

    December 30, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Mocking USC makes about as much sense these days as mocking NYU. It’s orders of magnitude better than it was when I was there (1979-82). They’ve put all that cash to good use. I especially like the stories about spoiled rich legacies who couldn’t get in because the admission standards got so much more stringent.

  182. 182.

    raven

    December 30, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    @zhena gogolia: It’s an L4 problem and surgery is an option. I told the doc I wasn’t doing anything while Bodhi is still hangin in there because I have to be able to carry him. She was down.

  183. 183.

    lamh36

    December 30, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @trollhattan: GOOD

  184. 184.

    randy khan

    December 30, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @Geminid: 

    And probably having a nice swim apres buffet.

  185. 185.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    Election respite-ish.

    Good morning to the dude who walked into the early voting venue yesterday and answered “are you here to vote?” with “I’m here to ruin Mitch McConnell’s fuckin’ day”

    — Céline went to France twice so she’s French (@selina3sticks) December 30, 2020

    :-) More, more please!!

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  186. 186.

    burnspbesq

    December 30, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Below the verdant-by-irrigation hills of Westwood lies the University of Common Little Adults.

    BEAT! THE BRUINS!

    https://youtu.be/vJyRisT-GB8

  187. 187.

    zhena gogolia

    December 30, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    @raven:

    I’m glad they were able to diagnose it.

  188. 188.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    December 30, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @japa21: I’m sorry to hear that—you’ll be in my thoughts.

  189. 189.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @Winston: Isn’t a virus a parasite?

  190. 190.

    Doc Sardonic

    December 30, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @Winston: mainly because Cuba, much like New Zealand and Hawaii are limiting entry as well testing and quarantining everyone as soon as you deplane. But if your Cuban doctor is using that protocol for COVID maybe I should have him take a look at my cat.

  191. 191.

    debbie

    December 30, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @Another Scott:

    ❤️❤️❤️

  192. 192.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    @MazeDancer: Damn that’s a good video.  Thanks!

    Now to watch previous years’ dog compilations…

  193. 193.

    raven

    December 30, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Yea, I’m glad to know what the deal is.

  194. 194.

    Uncle Cosmo

    December 30, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @japa21: Late to the wellwishers’ gathering but adding earnest hopes for rapid & full recovery.

  195. 195.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    Wow, 3880 new covid deaths today. Good thing Trump got us all that new vaccine.

  196. 196.

    Ruckus

    December 30, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Some of them, sure.

  197. 197.

    Bill Arnold

    December 30, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    @Winston:
    Why did you link those? Is there any science backing it? (Not watching a crackpot video; will read scientific papers though.)
    There’s a bit for vitamins D, C and Zinc, though not strong.
    Last I looked the evidence for the other ingredients in that brew was slim, though at least they’re harmless though I don’t know about the Robitussin or the claritin.
    Evidence for aspirin is weak
    e.g.
    Mortality and pre‐hospitalization use of low‐dose aspirin in COVID‐19 patients with coronary artery disease (18 December 2020)
    “Collectively, our study suggested that the pre‐hospitalization use of low‐dose aspirin was not associated with the clinical outcome of patients with CAD hospitalized with COVID‐19 infections.”,
    though the theory (clot reduction to reduce morbidities) is plausible.

  198. 198.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @burnspbesq: Trojans burst under pressure.

  199. 199.

    geg6

    December 30, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @japa21:

    Oh no!  Sending all the get well vibes your way!

  200. 200.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: The protocol is being used in Key West , because emulating Cuba. Do you have some documents of Cuba quarantine or are you just making that up?

  201. 201.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    Feeling the eldertude today. Trip to the laundromat and a fast in and out at the market to pick up some dairy items needed for planned New Year’s menu plumb tuckered me out. Hot, hot hot and sticky, sticky, sticky weather out there today. Zero breeze, lowering gray skies. Gonna be several hours before shall be able to muster the energy to fold and put away the laundry.

    Looked at the price of ricotta cheese and damn near bruised my masked chin on the floor as jaw dropped. Cottage cheese will have to suffice.

  202. 202.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @Winston: Cuba has the reputation of having the best medical infrastructure in the western hemisphere and since they are socialists all the medical is free to all their citizens.

  203. 203.

    burnspbesq

    December 30, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Remember the first event at the Galen Center? It was a basketball game against South Carolina. Trojans vs. ‘Cocks.

  204. 204.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @Winston: Not Doc, but extremely easy to verify what he said.  e.g. https://cubatravelservices.com/notice-for-travellers-covid-19/

    […]

    Latest Updates:
    December 23, 2020

    Airlines have now resumed their flights into Havana (José Martí) International Airport from dedicated airports including Miami International Airport and Tampa.

    Cuba requires all passengers to complete a PCR test upon arrival in Havana International Airport. The Cuba Sanitary Fee is $36.25 which includes a $6.25 processing fee. Tickets booked after December 1, 2020 should have this included in the ticket price. Please check this with your airline.
    From January 1, 2021, travelers are additionally required to present proof of a COVID test with negative results, taken in your departing country in the last 72 hours.

    For American Airlines passengers that have purchased their tickets to Cuba from Miami prior to December 1, 2020, can process their Cuba Health Screening Fee online prior to departure.
    Click here to go to the American Airlines Health Screening page

    All travelers are required to fill out a Health Declaration form before checking in for your flight to Cuba. It is recommended to bring a printed copy of this form once completed.
    Click here to obtain your Cuban Health Declaration Form

    Visitors may need to quarantine at the accommodation until they have received their PCR test results. Returning citizens and residents are as of date still required to quarantine for 7-14 days upon arrival.

    Travelers visiting Varadero are required to have COVID-19 insurance and must bring proof of their hotel reservation. All tourists are required to stay in the ‘safe tourist corridor’ zone.

    […]

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  205. 205.

    Tazj

    December 30, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @jl: I’m not a savvy myself but I’ll express my opinion about what might be McConnell’s spin on this. In his floor speech he complained about people getting the $2000 checks that didn’t need it and that this was a waste. I think he also said that this wasn’t really helping the most desperate and needy people. I think John Cronyn also said something like this.Democrats are wasting your money on people who don’t need it. They also want people to believe that everyone gets a $2000 check regardless of their income.

    When I heard part of his floor speech I thought the same thing as you, how does this help them in Georgia? I don’t know but maybe they’re hoping being in favor of something helps them now (the relief Bill plus $600)  but railing against another $1400 will help them drag the economy  against Biden later.

  206. 206.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    December 30, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    In the spirit of animals that make you smile, how about a thumb-sucking kitten?

  207. 207.

    Doc Sardonic

    December 30, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @Winston: https://cu.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

  208. 208.

    jl

    December 30, 2020 at 9:45 pm

    @Tazj:  Thanks, I didn’t hear the whole floor speech, just some soundbites in the news report. McConnell shit all over the $2K check much more than my impression from the report.

    I can see the angle: portray the Dems as still giving away money to the undeserving. But AFAIK, they didn’t propose any constructive alternative (which they never do) at all. And, there is a danger here, that is not usually present, that many GOPers will know damn well they or those they know need the money, so the BS will show through. And Trumpsters don’t care about arguments, they want what the Boss says. And, Loeffler and Perdue have backed Trump, right?

    Still seems puzzling, and rare misstep by a political Kabuki pro.

  209. 209.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:45 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I don’t know. I am not a doctor. My Doctor told me this protocol is used in Cuba. She is Cuban. The protocol is being tested in the Keys. I’m just posting this for general information. Perhaps you get exposed and can’t get a test or vaccination. Maybe this is something you could keep on hand, just in case.

  210. 210.

    Ruckus

    December 30, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    I believe you. I’ve only been there in this century, my sister’s memorial was held there, because she was a teacher. All the students that I met seemed pretty normal collage aged kids and as the Metro goes right by the campus on my way to the VA hospital, it looks like a totally different place than has been described to me from about your time. The closest I was way back then was that I went to college after the navy and went to an all day seminar at the med school as I was premed. Got to see a cadaver and everything.

  211. 211.

    DivF

    December 30, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @burnspbesq: 
    Would you two get a room?!

    Signed, Guy with three degrees from Cal.

  212. 212.

    John Revolta

    December 30, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    @Tazj: Perdue and Loeffler have said they’re in favor of the $2000 stimulus so I guess they figure they’re in the clear. Time will tell.

  213. 213.

    Spanky

    December 30, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    @Winston: Is this your Cuban doctor?

  214. 214.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 30, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @NotMax: Easy enough to make your own.

  215. 215.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    @japa21:

    Rooting for you!!!

  216. 216.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    @Another Scott: Sounds like the requirement to visit my Doc

  217. 217.

    John Revolta

    December 30, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    @jl: Looking back I’m kinda embarrassed that I spent so much time trying to figure out how Yertle was going to wiggle out of this. Doing nothing is his signature move, after all, and why not? It works for him every time.

  218. 218.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    @burnspbesq: I always enjoyed the Oregon State v. U$C…Trojans v. Beavers.

  219. 219.

    Frankensteinbeck

    December 30, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    @John Revolta:

    The strategy is that McConnell is a mean shit who loves watching Americans suffer.  He doesn’t want to pass anything, at all, and has the power of veto over all legislation.  The $600 was a miracle.  McConnell is a worse threat to America than Trump, but at least we’ll only have one of them to deal with in a few weeks, not both.

    EDIT – And one thing I’ve noticed lately is that his mask has been progressively slipping.  He used to be really great at pretending to be responsible.  More and more lately, he’s just been open about what a sadistic shit he is.  I suspect it’s part of his health deteriorating.  I loathe saying this, but I want him to die, because it’s the only way I can think of to stop him hurting people.

  220. 220.

    rikyrah

    December 30, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    I? felt ? this ?

    Sentiment about the vaccine

    They can shoot that shit into my eyeball for all I care, I just want to be able to go out into public again without worrying about dying a week later.— Dan ?? (@realDan203) December 31, 2020

  221. 221.

    Ken

    December 30, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    @Winston: Isn’t a virus a parasite?

    Yes, but not the kind that are affected by de-worming medications.

    Also, we should probably make an exception for the ones that worked their way into our genome a few million, or hundred million, years ago. Most of those are junk now, but a few are expressed.

  222. 222.

    DivF

    December 30, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    There was a Firesign Theater routine in the early 70s built around an LA Times headline: “Duck passing worries UCLA”.

  223. 223.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    @Spanky: Naw. you would be smack dabbed drooling on the floor if you saw her

  224. 224.

    Tazj

    December 30, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    @jl: I certainly hope it’s a misstep for him.

    Everyone if you get a chance watch Jon Ossoff’s interview on Fox News, it’s hilarious. “Kelly Loeffler is campaigning with a Klansman.”

  225. 225.

    John Revolta

    December 30, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Of course, I agree with all of this. Thing is, if he wants to keep his power, he’s got to have those two GA seats. I expected something a little more I dunno, crafty out of him, but, as I said, doing nothing seems to be his main tactic, and it rarely fails him.

  226. 226.

    bemused senior

    December 30, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @JMG: I have ordered whole pastrami three times from Katz’s deli for the obligatory family Hanukkah party. It is delicious cooked following the instructions. Bon appetit!

  227. 227.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I loathe saying this, but I want him to die, because it’s the only way I can think of to stop him hurting people. 

    No need to feel bad when wishing ill on that evil, fascist turtle.

  228. 228.

    Tazj

    December 30, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @John Revolta: You’re right, I forgot about that.

  229. 229.

    Winston

    December 30, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @Ken: Well ivermectin prevents parasites and viruses from reproducing according to the advocates. I don’t know. What I do know is my Doctor told me, it is used in Cuba and go check Cuba out on worldometers.info

  230. 230.

    Ken

    December 30, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    @Winston: The NIH currently recommends against ivermectin for COVID treatment, except as part of a clinical trial.  Such trials aren’t unusual; probably hundreds of existing medications have been tried against COVID. Derek Lowe’s “In the Pipeline” blog has had fairly good coverage of these repurposing trials.

    There have been relatively few successes, and most of those are not because of anti-viral activity, but because they reduce the immune response that causes the “cytokine storm” that kills (killed) so many in the first wave of the pandemic.

    Edit: That NIH page ivermectin inhibits the virus in vitro, which makes further trials reasonable. But also remember Randall Munroe’s take on what in vitro means, an assessment that I think Derek Lowe (a medicinal chemist, when he’s not being diverted by a pandemic) shares.

  231. 231.

    satby

    December 30, 2020 at 10:27 pm

    @Winston:  You’ve tried to flog ivermectin in a couple of threads now and Ken’s response is pretty much the same as the one I gave you a few days ago. Next you’ll be suggesting oleander.

  232. 232.

    Gravenstone

    December 30, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: 2) what are the “allegations of wrong-doing” against Warnock? I’m a political junkie and that’s the first I’ve heard

    More commonly called lies.

  233. 233.

    satby

    December 30, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    @NotMax: I’ve shared how to make ricotta cheese yourself multiple times. It’s cheaper, easy, and tastes so much better than storebought anyway. Here you go.

  234. 234.

    Punchy

    December 30, 2020 at 10:45 pm

    @Winston: also the best sandos.

  235. 235.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @satby: Let’s go ask WebMD about COVID!

    Spoiler – We all have cancer.

    “But I was just looking for remedies to soothe a scratchy throat!”

  236. 236.

    satby

    December 30, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    @japa21: Take care and get better soon. Keeping you in our thoughts.

  237. 237.

    Citizen Alan

    December 30, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    @debbie: Is there any meaningful difference between Likud and the Nazi party? I’ve said for years that the eyes of the world were on Bibi Netanyahu in a way they were never on Adolf Hitler, and that fact–and nothing else–is why the majority of Palestinians haven’t been herded into concentration camps and exterminated.

  238. 238.

    Suzanne

    December 30, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    2020 just continues to be a fucking piece of shit. I think I told y’all about my friend whose dad died, then her mom fell and broke her shoulder the following day, then got surgery the day after that, then my friend’s husband didn’t pass the Rona screening at the hospital when they went to get her mom…. turned out he had COVID and ended up needing to be hospitalized himself.

    Anyway, her husband’s mom died yesterday. My God. What the fuck.

  239. 239.

    NotMax

    December 30, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    @satby

    Appreciate that. However almost never have milk in the house. And that amount of milk would cost like twice what the tub of cottage cheese did.

    It’s for a noodle kugel, which I’ve used cottage cheese in previously with success, so not a big deal to substitute. Now if it were, say, lasagna that would be a horse of a different color. Tucked away your linked recipe for future use should that situation arise.

  240. 240.

    CarolDuhart2

    December 30, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @JPL:  Well, he thinks that.  But it only works while running for re-election, not after the election.  Daddy Bush tried to start something with Clinton, and it didn’t work too well.  After the election too, I recall.

  241. 241.

    Another Scott

    December 30, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    I guess we’re done respitizing in this thread??

    dick_nixon has a 3 minute summary of what he thinks the BoJo-EU Brexit agreement means:

    We’ll now try to sum up main points of the “Brexit” agreement. Keep in mind, please, that space is limited and the agreement is new.

    — Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) December 31, 2020

    He thinks this effectively hastens Irish reunification, and I think that’s probably right (but it will still be a slow process).

    He thinks that Scotland will leave the UK at the “earliest opportunity”. I think a later reply may be right that Scotland would like to leave but there are too many obstacles to joining the EU on its own.

    The (limited – it doesn’t include a lot of stuff) agreement certainly does not sound like anything good for the UK.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Looking forward to Tony Jay and Robert Sneddon and the rest of our UK friends’ comments.”)

  242. 242.

    Citizen Alan

    December 30, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    @West of the Rockies:  I’ll add her to the evergrowing list of people who I’d thought had died ten years ago. Isn’t she the last of the Gilligan’s Island cast?

  243. 243.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    December 30, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    @japa21:

    Thinking good thoughts and sending them your way.

    @Suzanne:

    Wow, talk about when it rains…

    Fuck 2020.

  244. 244.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 11:11 pm

    @Suzanne: I am having trouble processing all that, just reading about it.  I had to parse it like a word problem.

    Your friend’s:
    Dad died
    Mom broke her shoulder and had to have surgery
    Husband hospitalized for covid
    Mother-in-law died

    There are no words.  I am so sorry.  I hope her husband recovered from COVID. Does she have kids?

  245. 245.

    Nutmeg again

    December 30, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @raven: Best of luck whatever your path. I actually wanted surgery, and was told at my last workup that I’d have to be significantly more (more, hah!) debilitated, i.e., incontinent and wheelchair-ish before I was a surgery candidate. Of course there is not effing much that can be done in the meantime. Bitter? nah.
    If you figure out a genius solution, please post!

  246. 246.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    @Nutmeg again: That sounds terrible.  Were you able to get a second opinion?

  247. 247.

    Suzanne

    December 30, 2020 at 11:19 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yep, you got it right. Her husband is doing okay post-COVID. He’s still getting worn out easily. (And he is a healthy young dude who lives in Denver and spends lots of free time climbing mountains and hiking.) They don’t have kids. Both of her parents had had strokes in the past decade and needed a lot of care, so my friend and her husband have (had) her parents living with them, and they didn’t feel that they could care for her parents and kids, and have jobs. All of this happened in the last month. Good Lord.

  248. 248.

    JoyceH

    December 30, 2020 at 11:25 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Let’s go ask WebMD about COVID!

    Spoiler – We all have cancer.

    Did you ever see the cartoon of “Charlotte’s WebMD”? Spider spells out in her web, “It’s Probably Cancer”

  249. 249.

    WaterGirl

    December 30, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    @Suzanne: So awful.  And you have had so many friends with huge losses this year.  I know that has to be taking a toll on you, too.  What a year.

  250. 250.

    different-church-lady

    December 30, 2020 at 11:38 pm

    I…. I love you jackals.

    (DCL, +uh… uhhh…)

  251. 251.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 11:51 pm

    @JoyceH: No, I haven’t.  I just know the joke that if you “research” something on WebMD enough, it’ll tell you it’s probably cancer.

  252. 252.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    December 30, 2020 at 11:55 pm

    @raven:

    I’m dealing with L3 right now so I’m right there with you. They want to try shots to try to reduce inflammation and make some room in there for things to move. I’m fighting it with exercising but the RA makes some exercises difficult. People keep telling me that I look real good for my age so I know I have to look pretty bad…lol

    Good luck in dealing with it!

    @Nutmeg again:

    That’s odd, my doc has no problem with surgery if the pain management and exercises are not successful.

    Get a second opinion.

  253. 253.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 31, 2020 at 12:01 am

    @JoyceH: I think i need to find that

  254. 254.

    jonas

    December 31, 2020 at 12:12 am

    @jl: Trump may have given them Covid, but he also treated them to week after week at luxury golf resorts courtesy of the American taxpayer. Not a bad deal, I guess. Biden will probably spend weekends at some lame-ass place like Camp David.

  255. 255.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 31, 2020 at 12:14 am

    @Citizen Alan:

    One of the obits I saw earlier today said that Ginger is the last remaining cast member.

    (ETA: Tina Louise. Sorry, blanked on her name until the second after I hit Send.)

  256. 256.

    Bill Arnold

    December 31, 2020 at 12:15 am

    @Tazj:

    They also want people to believe that everyone gets a $2000 check regardless of their income.

    True that they’re pretending that there is no income test, and its even a bit more strict than they’re not admitting; the income test is from the last tax return, 2019, which means that people with a 2020 income that dropped substantially, to well below the threshold, during the pandemic recession, might not get a check. (Income tests that use annual income are a blunt tool.)

  257. 257.

    Bill Arnold

    December 31, 2020 at 12:27 am

    @Ken:

    Yes, but not the kind that are affected by de-worming medications.

    Well, ivermectin has been and continues to be studied as a COVID-19 treatment. e.g.
    Efficacy and Safety of Ivermectin for Treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19 Pandemic (October 2020, preprint).
    (I have no clue, though possibly interesting, but it could use some editing by a native(or at least better) English speaker.)

  258. 258.

    JoyceH

    December 31, 2020 at 12:35 am

    I saw the video of McConnell saying there was no way this 2K bill could pass. Of course, he’s lying, but did anyone else think he sounded different? His voice seemed to me to be a lot more muffled and mumbly than usual. Tooth problems? Brain problems?

  259. 259.

    Ruckus

    December 31, 2020 at 12:37 am

    @raven:

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    I herniated the disc between L4-L5 about 10 yrs ago, it was fun getting  as far back as I’ve come but like a lot of things, no good deed goes unpunished. That’s my story, if your’s is a worse problem I hope there is something that can be done because a back that doesn’t pull it’s load is less fun than most anything.

    I hope both of you feel better asap. Be warned that once weakened it’s easy to have it get worse – again, so follow docs instructions and do the work. And realize that some days being old is a stone bitch, only made OK by the fact that it’s better than the alternative.

  260. 260.

    Ruckus

    December 31, 2020 at 12:43 am

    @JoyceH:

    Well we know he has brain problems, he’s a republican.

    But it wasn’t long ago that pictures of him looked like death warmed over. Within the last 30-60 days. He had polio as a kid and the people I know who had polio have numerous problems as they age. One I talk to regular is my age, 7 yrs younger than turtle and she’s for the most part wheelchair bound.

  261. 261.

    Winston

    December 31, 2020 at 12:58 am

    @satby: You know what? Go fuck yourself.

  262. 262.

    Anotherlurker

    December 31, 2020 at 1:08 am

    @mrmoshpotato: I was experiencing severe itching, numbness, stabbing pain and uncontrollable itching in my left eye.  I also had lesions on my cheek, in my nose and in my mouth, again only left side.  I was also totally knackered.

    I check out WebMD and enter my symptoms.  The first thing that comes up is Tearduct Cancer.  Scared the shit out of me.

    Went to the Doctor ASAP and was diagnosed with Shingles.  It turned into a 1 year + ordeal.

    Doc ordered me to stay away from WebMD.

  263. 263.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    December 31, 2020 at 1:27 am

    @Ruckus:

    Yeah, getting old sucks but the alternative sucks a lot more! I’ve had C5 though C7 fused, plated and screwed so I’m in no hurry to go through that crap again. Luckily I’m not overweight so that helps a lot with the problems I am dealing with. I had another birthday a few days ago and my neighbor asked how old I am. When I told him he said “You get around pretty good for a guy your age” and when he saw that I was choking back laughter he tried to clarify it by saying that it seems a lot of people my age look a lot worse.

    I couldn’t stop laughing and nether could my wife when I told her. I told him thanks for the compliment. :)

  264. 264.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 31, 2020 at 1:27 am

    @Anotherlurker: I check out WebMD and enter my symptoms. The first thing that comes up is Tearduct Cancer. Scared the shit out of me.

    LOL!  Yikes!

  265. 265.

    evodevo

    December 31, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @Ken: Yes.  This.  No one teaches genetics anymore, so most people don’t realize that a large percent of their genome (up to 18%) consists of deactivated retrotransposons from millions/billions of years ago lol (See: LINES and SINES)

  266. 266.

    J R in WV

    December 31, 2020 at 10:12 am

    @JPL:

    Probably trying to goad Iran into a strike,cuz he can’t be replaced during a war.

    This is not accurate. There is no requirement of any kind to keep a president in office during a war. That’s why elections are held during wars, in case the people decide to replace the commander-in-chief during the war.

  267. 267.

    SteverinoCT

    December 31, 2020 at 12:35 pm

    @Bill Arnold: 

    I like to think of this story as a Baba Yaga origin story…

    Late to this, but Orson Scott Card has an interesting novel, Enchantment, which is a twist on Sleeping Beauty. Baba Yaga is in there, and her hut on chicken legs is inspired by a passenger jet airplane with its landing gear.

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