Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How stupid are these people?

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

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

I really should read my own blog.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

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

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

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

Petty moves from a petty man.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Republicans do not trust women.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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

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Tuesday Night Open Thread

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I have so much anxiety right now about a number of different things that I asked Adam today if I could become an honorary Jew, but my application is on hold because I may not carry enough generational guilt. There are a lot of things, but the primary one is that it is Homecoming weekend here and I am not prepared and people start showing up tomorrow night and I just wish I could be put in an ice chamber and be frozen until Sunday night when it is all over. I briefly considered just giving the first person who arrives the keys and then fleeing to a hotel for the weekend but I have no plan for the animals.

At any rate, that is that. Here is a picture of Thurston on my lap.

Tuesday Night Open Thread

So god damned ornery.

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  2. 2.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    I have so much anxiety right now about a number of different things

    Join the club, Cole lol

  3. 3.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Might be a dumb question, but what is Homecoming weekend and who is coming to stay with you? I think I know what it is.

    [asked and answered!]

  4. 4.

    TaMara

    I found out I was around a person last week who tested positive over the weekend. I’ll be testing tomorrow and Thursday. So I guess I’m anxious, too. Though just heard from my FL family and they have evacuated, so that’s a relief.

    If anyone sees Professor Bigfoot in a thread, please let him know I responded to his good news in that same thread. Thanks!

  5. 5.

    lowtechcyclist

    My 15 year old son and a girl friend (two words afaik) are going together to the HS homecoming dance, which is on Saturday.

    Time to fasten the seatbelts, his life is gonna start moving fast…

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    That is an intense look from Thurston.  Holy cow.

    edit: I think he has your eyes, John.  There is something in his expression that reminds me of you.

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    There is a Jewish tradition that anyone who asks about converting be rebuffed three times as a test of their sincerity and commitment.

    So Cole, you are one-third there!

    I don’t know why you’d want to convert, it wouldn’t solve the Homecoming weekend issue. There’s no prohibition on hosting.

  15. 15.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WaterGirl:

    Yeah, I kind of figured it had to do with college football, but I was unsure of the connection to Cole? I’ve never heard of alumni getting together for Homecoming tbh (let alone staying at their houses for it). I thought Homecoming only really mattered to the students

    I was never interested in sports like that when I was in HS and when I went to college I was an off-campus student who drove to classes

  17. 17.

    Spanky

    Every year his fraternity brothers crash at his place.

    He should make them clean the damn place for a change, but Cole’s German, so that’s right out.

  18. 18.

    lowtechcyclist

    IIRC Cole hosts members of his frat who come back for homecoming each year.

    ETA: Beaten to the punch by Spanky.

  19. 19.

    Ohio Mom

    @WaterGirl: Good idea. Cole can sneak out of the hotel, go to Mom and Dad’s, walk and feed the crew, and go back to the blissful solitude of his room until the crowd disperses.

  20. 20.

    Steeplejack

    @zhena gogolia:

    In years past Cole hosted fraternity brothers at his place during homecoming weekend. Put some up and provided catering and entertainment for a larger group. That’s my memory, anyway.

    ETA. @Ohio Mom: That, too.

  22. 22.

    Roger Moore

    @lowtechcyclist:

    My 15 year old son and a girl friend (two words afaik) are going together to the HS homecoming dance, which is on Saturday.

    Going to a dance together sounds like they may be considering making it one word instead of two.

  23. 23.

    xephyr

    Anxiety seems to increase with age. It’s almost enough to make me wish I was young and stupid again. Well, maybe nothing that extreme, but…

  27. 27.

    Lyrebird

    So many great options!

    You could call your therapist and say hey, am I in shape for a flooding exercise?

    Or you could get the hotel room!

    How far away are your friends with the B&B in their barn?

  28. 28.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    @Ohio Mom:

    There is a Jewish tradition that anyone who asks about converting be rebuffed three times as a test of their sincerity and commitment.

    Yeah, I love it. You gotta earn this shit! It’s also why we don’t proselytize (another thing I appreciate about my religion).

  32. 32.

    Starfish

    @zhena gogolia: John would typically have them for the entire weekend and have meals planned out for everyone and everything. He would do some A+ hosting.

    But after all the pandemic stuff, he should set the bar lower. Like if he lets five people into his house without telling them to GTFO, he is doing well. If he lets five people into his house and orders pizza for them without telling them to GTFO, he is doing fantastic.

  33. 33.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Gravenstone:

    I always thought Homecoming referred to the football team coming home for the last game of the season? Or something? You can tell how much I paid attention to this stuff lol. But that makes sense

  35. 35.

    steppy

    Forgive me for asking, because I’ve been here for a while, but is this Bethany College’s homecoming?

  36. 36.

    Starfish

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): John lives in a college town. Some people go to homecoming as a mini-reunion with their friends after they have left college, so they may all agree to meet there. Since John lives there, they typically meet at his place.

  41. 41.

    Josie

    John, I suggest not serving food or drinks. Accept as many people as you have beds for sleeping only and let them go elsewhere for sustenance. Less mess and less stress for you. I guess, if you get to feeling guilty, you could put out snack stuff like cheese and crackers and fruit, but no more than that.​
    ETA: Thurston looks to me like he is picking up on your anxiety. Poor baby.

  42. 42.

    Gvg

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Honey, homecoming is about fundraising. It’s when the college administration stages a big sentimental bash and makes a fuss over their former students who get honored by the college and students so they will feel sentimental and open their wallets. That’s why the opponent should be some sacrificial lamb and their is a parade, dances and various live entertainment. Fraternities and sororities are a big part of it. It’s aimed at the rich alumni but money is money. Scholarships get endowed. Students meet rich successful alumni and make connections. It’s a lot more than football, but you don’t have to pay attention to that aspect if you don’t want.

  43. 43.

    Anonymous At Work

    Just got out of hiding.  Fort Lauderdale area had a Tornado Warning for the better part of an hour.  If you don’t want to risk being in the shower when the power goes out (again!), there is not much to do in that room for half an hour.

  44. 44.

    Steeplejack

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I always thought Homecoming referred to the football coming home for the last game of the season?

    That’s true, to a certain extent, but it applies more to high school than to college, I think. Nobody in high school wants alumni showing up for anything.

    When I was in high school many decades ago Homecoming was linked to a late-season football game, often after one or two away games—hence “homecoming.” It was an occasion for a big rally, a dance and the election of a homecoming court with king and queen.

  45. 45.

    prostratedragon

    @Gvg:  And for most of those reasons usually in October, before the chilly rains set in, therefore not generally the last game.

  48. 48.

    CaseyL

    There were, IIRC, a few frat brothers John really enjoyed having stay at his place, but this sounds like the entire chapter intends to show up!

    I think if John tells them his house is dry, as in boozeless, and no one can bring their own liquor, there may be fewer takers.

    Otherwise, I vote for the suggestion that he sneaks out with the animals and stay at his folks’ place.

    PS:  Today I drive 4+ hours for a 1 hour walk – not even a hike! – around Semiahmoo Bay, in the tippity-top of Washington state, right up by the Canada border.  It was very pretty.  Coming home, though, driving south on I5, everything south of Arlington was smokier than hell.  It seem the wildfires along Hwy 2 have gotten away from the firefighters.

  49. 49.

    Kent

    HS teacher here.

    Homecoming is the big fall festival week culminating with a big home football game where they typically crown the homecoming queen as voted on by students.  Which is then followed by a big sometimes formal dance.  Kind of a more casual version of prom.

    In theory it is when alumni come to the game but most high schools don’t promote that.   But if you are a recent grad and want to see old friends that is the game you would pick.

    In college it is a different thing.  Not so much student centered as alumni centered and yes, linked to fundraising.

  50. 50.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Starfish:

    @Gvg:

    Roger roger

    @Steeplejack:

    That’s the version I’m most familiar with. Given that alumni play such a big part in Homcoming in college, and that Cole lives in a college town, it makes sense to me now that they’d be meeting up with him at his house. When I first read it, I was like, why is Cole hosting a Homecoming party for college students at his house lol

  53. 53.

    Ohio Mom

    I had a mini-family reunion here over Labor Day weekend and it helped me remember that I hate, hate, hate hosting. And it looks like Thanksgiving will be another family event at my house because MIL at age 90 is not going to be able to go out-of-town to anyone else’s house.

    The older I get, the more of a recluse I become. I look back at the first months of the Covid lockdown fondly. Forced to stay at home — Heaven!

  59. 59.

    kalakal

    Thank you to all who’ve explained homecoming to me. I’ve come across the term in books, films etc but never actually knew what it exactly meant. I didn’t live in the states until I was in my 50s and know not a lot about the education system. I assume College = University.  I think I know what Fraternities & Sororities are. The thing about sports is odd to me, in the UK most university students would be surprised to hear that the place actually had any official teams

  61. 61.

    zhena gogolia

    Looks like Tucker is all in on blaming the US for the pipeline sabotage, and gaming out strategies for Russia to retaliate.

    Will there ever be consequences for this guy?

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    @zhena gogolia: My U had football when I attended and now does not. Since I don’t go to homecomings I do not know what fills that void–basketball scrimmages in a parking lot? Undoubtedly, golfball is played by some.

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    @zhena gogolia: I’d prefer they seal him inside an aluminum foil container and put him in a supermarket freezer case. But that’s just me.

    BTW if that had happened with Donny at the helm, you know he’d be crowing about how we just fooled them Ruskies out of their skivvies.

  66. 66.

    zhena gogolia

    @trollhattan: Wow, how did they manage to get rid of football? I am so sick of sports, and we’re not the kind of place that should really be so focused on them.

  67. 67.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @zhena gogolia:

    Looks like Tucker is all in on blaming the US for the pipeline sabotage, and gaming out strategies for Russia to retaliate.

    Will there ever be consequences for this guy?

    Why would we deliberately sabotage the pipeline when it would only end up hurting our European allies? There’s a chance that in the near future the relations with Russia would be normalized enough for LNG to flow again through the pipelines to Europe; why put that in jeopardy? Gas wasn’t even flowing through them for the most part now. Russia has nothing to lose by sabotaging their own pipelines that aren’t being used now, as a weapon against the EU

    Fuck Carlson. Somebody should ask him why he hates America so much by repeating such baseless allegations

  68. 68.

    zhena gogolia

    despite what you hear the russians have shown precision and determination in destroying military targets. too bad the targets all happen to be russian draft centers— Seva (@SevaUT) September 27, 2022

  70. 70.

    J R in WV

    Cucker Tarlson is such a fool. Enemy of the people, enemy of the Democracy, enemy of the Nation. Hope he is proud of the reputation he has earned as a traitorous fool with money.

    Thurston is a really cute pupper, scritch his ears for me, John.

    I vote for a move to the B&B n the barn!! Take the critters with, and a laptop to surf. OR tell everyone the place is dry, completely dry. You won’t get so many loud party animals. And limit it to the number of spare beds you have. and maybe couches also too if you know them well.

    You will do what is best, you have great instincts.

  71. 71.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @zhena gogolia:

    That’s very brave of them, to literally fire bomb draft centers. I can’t even imagine what the punishment would be. Probably death, especially given the circumstances

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl:

    So you are going to have a bunch of massless MASKLESS people in your house all weekend?

    It’s fine. They’ll all explode away from the house at the speed of light.

    (yes, yes, I have long since reached Acceptance in the Stages of Nerdom)

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    @zhena gogolia: Made me look.

    AlJazeera:

    Anders Puck Nielsen, a researcher with the Center for Maritime Operations at the Royal Danish Defence College, said the timing of the leaks was “conspicuous” given the ceremony for the Baltic Pipe, a new system that will bring Norway’s gas to Poland.

    He said perhaps someone sought “to send a signal that something could happen to the Norwegian gas”.

    “But I think if we look at who would actually benefit from disturbances, more chaos on the gas market in Europe, I think there’s basically only one actor right now that actually benefits from more uncertainty, and that is Russia,” Puck Nielsen said.

    […]

    Bjorn Lund, director of Swedish National Seismic Network told Al Jazeera that the group detected two explosions on Monday in the vicinity of the Danish island of Bornholm, “very close” to the location where Swedish maritime authorities said leaks were occurring.

    Lund said it’s “very clear” that there wasn’t an earthquake. The network is looking at data to compare the recent explosions to the blasts that the Swedish navy sets off in the water during training exercises near the coast.

    “We have quite a lot of data on blasts in the water… [the navy] often let us know about the particulars of that. So, the data from yesterday’s blast are very similar. There’s no doubt that these are explosions occurring in the water,” Lund said.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Roger Moore:

    Going to a dance together sounds like they may be considering making it one word instead of two.

    @WaterGirl:

    @Roger Moore: In the olden days, yes.  These days it’s not unusual to go with friends.

    Of course, as I type that, I think this doesn’t appear to be a group of friends, so it could go either way.

    They’re getting together with the rest of their crowd at the dance.  We’re talking about 15 year olds, so parents are still doing the driving.

    Whether they’re gonna be more than just friends is anybody’s guess. (And I’m certainly not privy to my son’s thoughts about such things.)  In the volatile world of teenage relationships, I bet they don’t even know.  What I do know is that you couldn’t pay me enough to be fifteen again.

  84. 84.

    Zeecube

    @Anonymous At Work: Yeah,  bathroom is our safe place.   Gets rather cozy when there are 2 of each species squeezed in (well sometimes 2+2  as the feline species is literally trying to herd cats with a tornado looming).

  85. 85.

    Kent

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Every non-Russian producer of natural gas as well as all the natural gas substitutes including coal are going to realize astonishing windfall profits from the sabotage of NS1.  We are talking about tens of billions of dollars of windfall profits going to everyone who sells natural gas that isn’t Russian.

    So I don’t know why the culprit necessarily has to be a state actor.  There are enormous oil interests around the globe and Gulf states with shady corporate connections who are going to make a killing on this.  Right now Europe is ramping up natural gas imports from both North America and the middle east at light speed.

    I can imagine a lot of shady non-state actors who have an interest in seeing that pipeline destroyed.

  87. 87.

    Suzanne

    We lost our dearie Luna tonight. I am bereft. She was the best doggo I have ever known.

    It was expected and she had a good long lifespan. It’s still terrible.

  88. 88.

    ChasM

    Adam might be a tough grader, who can you appeal to? I’ve been named Honorary Jew three times by three diif people and generational guilt didn’t really come up in the interview (tho my surname doesn’t betray the Dutch colonialism of my ancestors).

    It was more about general mench-ery, good works & a respectful moral framework. Get a second opinion.

  90. 90.

    steppy

    @Suzanne: I am so sorry. Even if it’s the best thing to do, it is the most horrible decision to make. We made the decision with our bestest puppy Archie in late July and it still hurts.

    I’ll tell Archie to say hello to Luna in the land beyond the Rainbow Bridge.

  92. 92.

    Suzanne

    Years ago, Spawn the Elder changed my predictive text for a bunch of names and words. After I discovered it and had a good laugh, I changed all of them back, except for Luna’s….. which still wants to default to “Cinnamon roll who is to good and pure for this earth”. I kept it because it is perfect.

  97. 97.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Suzanne:

    Oh Suz, I’m sorrier than I can say. Hugs to you and the entire Suz/Spawn family. It’s a big loss. May all the good memories of Luna come crowding in and make you smile.

  98. 98.

    Urban Suburbanite

    Not sure if anyone saw this today, but students in Virginia organized a  walkout against Youngkin’s announced policies targeting trans kids. Thousands of students walked out of schools all over the state. These policies have yet to be enforced, and some schools are already balking outright at adopting them.

    An optimistic view might be that Youngkin will back down and fuck off to his next dumbass cultural attempt, and that this is just a demonstration of why these types fail. I also worry about how much of this hinges on whether or not a judge wants to be a vindictive weirdo.

  102. 102.

    eclare

    @Suzanne:   I am so sorry.  I remember how worried you were over Labor Day.  My deepest condolences.  And the cinnamon roll text…it’s dusty in here.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    Sounds like it will be a rainy weekend in Virginia and West Virginia. Maybe Mr. Cole can rent a Foosball game.

  110. 110.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Gvg: asides from the easy opponent to beat, that’s every home Notre Dame game. Which is probably why they never designated a specific game as “homecoming” for the entire university/alumni base that I recall.

  111. 111.

    Sis

    When you’re as cute as Thurston is, orneriness can be overlooked. :) And I’m kind of an authority on ornery canines; I actually have the most ornery guy in the world here taking his mid-morning nap. (His file at the vet’s has big orange “CAUTION” stickers on every page.)

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