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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

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Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Two Posts In One

Two Posts In One

by WaterGirl|  September 15, 20236:00 pm| 104 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments

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I was going to put up a post asking what the heck this is.  (scissors added for scale)

I found it in my garden.  No, not my vegetable garden – in the flower garden – growing on some vine.  It had a curvy(ish) younger sibling, but I tossed that one.  This looks really cool, and I would like to know what it is.

Now, of course, I have to add the news that Jack Smith is asking for some kind of specific gag order so Trump will stop pissing in the jury pool.

BREAKING: Jack Smith is seeking a gag order to restrict trumps pre-trial extrajudicial statements. 1/ pic.twitter.com/YT5kFMpMjH

— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) September 15, 2023

PDF of the filing.

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Previous Post: « Kristi and Corey
Next Post: Friday Night Open Thread: Mitt Romney Considers Himself A Man of Destiny »

Reader Interactions

104Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2023 at 6:05 pm

    This would be a good use of the term “gagging.”  For one, it is widely used and understood.

    ETA:  Gag the Bastard.  You know it’s tempting…

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    September 15, 2023 at 6:06 pm

    asking what the heck this is

    Never seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers?

  3. 3.

    Baud

    September 15, 2023 at 6:06 pm

    Looks like the Holy Gourd of Jerusalem.

    Shana Tova Umetuka

  4. 4.

    Alison Rose

    September 15, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    No idea what that bit of flora is. And if Jack Smith can actually get TIFG to shut the everloving fuck up, he will prove himself to truly be a wizard.

    This quick clip from Kamala being like “they attack me because they know I’m a fucking boss” is exxxxxcellent.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    September 15, 2023 at 6:08 pm

    @Baud: Not that bastard.  Lol.

  6. 6.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 15, 2023 at 6:09 pm

    Smith’s minions need to make plans for constructing Faraday cages at Bedminster and Merde-A-Loser to kill TFG’s access to the internet.

  7. 7.

    wu ming

    September 15, 2023 at 6:10 pm

    looks like an immature luffa sponge. they tend to fill out as they ripen.

  8. 8.

    Scout211

    September 15, 2023 at 6:12 pm

    It could be an Armenian cucumber.

  9. 9.

    Dangerman

    September 15, 2023 at 6:12 pm

    scissors added for scale

    I dunno. Could be really tiny scissors. Shouldn’t there be something of known size to scale properly? Dime, quarter, small pets?

    /engineer

    Also, I’m in for some form of Alien life form.

    ETA: Looks like Not Max got there first and better.

    ETA2: Just realized those could be really big scissors, in which case, RUN.

  10. 10.

    Jay

    September 15, 2023 at 6:13 pm

    New RuZZian Stormtroopers protective armour revealed,

    https://nitter.net/pic/orig/media%2FF6BbYVDacAADz8v.jpg

  11. 11.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    September 15, 2023 at 6:14 pm

    @Jay:

    They look like the Michelin Man lol

  12. 12.

    Suzanne

    September 15, 2023 at 6:15 pm

    It’s decorative gourd season!

  13. 13.

    Anyway

    September 15, 2023 at 6:16 pm

    Bitter melon?  (WAG)

    I’ve seen such things in a neighbor’s veg patch….

  14. 14.

    Urza

    September 15, 2023 at 6:16 pm

    I really want them to put him in jail for 10 days every time he breaks the gag, or anyone remotely associated with him since he’s known to farm out the social media sometimes.  Would be hilarious to watch them all fail repeatedly to not be assholes and have their orange messiah in prison because of it.

  15. 15.

    Another Scott

    September 15, 2023 at 6:17 pm

    @wu ming:

    Google Image Search seems to agree with you.

    https://knownyouseed.com/product/miriam/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  16. 16.

    Super Dave

    September 15, 2023 at 6:18 pm

    My Picture This app says it’s Chinese Okra.

    I would send a pic but don’t know how to do that.

  17. 17.

    MattF

    September 15, 2023 at 6:19 pm

    Looks like the Trump prosecution has decided to try to stop Trump’s game. I agree. One can only wonder how far the players in this drama will go. We shall see.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:20 pm

    @Scout211: I thought maybe it was one of the ribbed cucumbers ZUCCHINI I planted a year or two ago – completely across the yard – gone rogue?

  19. 19.

    dr. luba

    September 15, 2023 at 6:21 pm

    @Dangerman: I was under the impression that the banana is the current scientific standard for comparisons/scale…..

  20. 20.

    Jay

    September 15, 2023 at 6:22 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    ribbed for who’s benefit?

  21. 21.

    Scout211

    September 15, 2023 at 6:24 pm

    @Super DaveMy Picture This app says it’s Chinese Okra.

    I would send a pic but don’t know how to do that.

    picture in linked article:

    Chinese okra  goes by many names:

    This vegetable goes by many names: luffa, angled luffa, Chinese okra, and silk squash. Dark green with ridges that run every quarter inch or so through the length of the squash, Chinese okra does not have much in common with the little finger-length squash we know as okra in the States.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:25 pm

    @Another Scott: @wu ming:

    wow, it does look just like that.  as long as it won’t open up and some creepy thing crawls / jumps out. :-)

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:27 pm

    @Super Dave: hmm.  i googled chinese okra. the shape is wrong on chinese okra.

    that image scott linked to (wu ming’s suggestion) looks identical.

  24. 24.

    wombat probability cloud

    September 15, 2023 at 6:27 pm

    @wu ming: Looks lika luffa to me, too.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:28 pm

    @Jay: ha!

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    September 15, 2023 at 6:30 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    They look like the Michelin Man lol

    Fun piece of trivia: the Michelin Man’s proper name is Bibendum.  It comes from the French word for drinking; the idea was that Michelin tires would “drink” road hazards.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    September 15, 2023 at 6:31 pm

    @dr. luba:

    I was under the impression that the banana is the current scientific standard for comparisons/scale…..

    I thought it was a 52mm lens cap.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:32 pm

    shit’s getting real, as they say.

    900 potential jurors to get questionnaire.  COMPLETED UNDER OATH.

    JUST IN: Judge McAfee issuing an Order instructing the Clerk to subpoena 900 prospective jurors to complete the juror questionnaires under oath.

    The Order sets forth the process. pic.twitter.com/CUj89W3JlY

    — Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) September 15, 2023

  29. 29.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 6:33 pm

    pissing in the jury pool.

    Haha, nice.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:34 pm

    @WaterGirl: It seems really smart.  They aren’t just sending 900 questionnaires.  They are to send enough questionnaires to get 900 bodies to show up in person…

    where they have to fill out the questionnaires WHILE THEY ARE AT THE COURTHOUSE and turn them in before they leave.

  31. 31.

    dnfree

    September 15, 2023 at 6:34 pm

    @Suzanne: It IS decorative gourd season!  And I haven’t seen any at the farmers market.  I’m getting a little anxious.  I did buy three pumpkins to today to tide myself over.

  32. 32.

    Pavlovs Man

    September 15, 2023 at 6:34 pm

    Luff acutangula aka ridge gourds aka Chinese okra

  33. 33.

    SealDeal

    September 15, 2023 at 6:34 pm

    Definitely looks like chinese okra, quite tasty if it’s still young.  Cut up and toss into a stir fry. Once they get older they take on the characteristics of a loofah and they get tougher inside and stringy.  We planted ONE small puny plant a few years ago and once it got going took over my side garden and started vining up the side of the house.  After we ate what we wanted of the younger fruit, I thought ‘cool’ I’ll have loofahs to peel and give away, but these are a bit different than traditional loofahs and the skin was difficult to remove once they dried so I had a big pile of dried pods at the end.

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:34 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: thank you!

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:35 pm

    @dnfree: Oh my gosh, decorative gourds are everywhere here.  Have been for at least 2 weeks.  I wonder what determines when they roll them out.

  36. 36.

    lowtechcyclist

    September 15, 2023 at 6:37 pm

    @Suzanne: ​
     

    It’s decorative gourd season!

    Well, praise the gourd! ;-)

  37. 37.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 6:37 pm

    @SealDeal: I will not be attempting to eat the strange vegetable that was growing in my flower bed. :-)

    I wonder if my neighbor – who lives kitty corner from the bed that was growing in – has a vegetable garden.

    I used to know the fellow who lived there, but I do not know the new people.

  38. 38.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 6:38 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    wow, it does look just like that. as long as it won’t open up and some creepy thing crawls / jumps out. :-) 

    Audrey III?

  39. 39.

    Yarrow

    September 15, 2023 at 6:38 pm

    The Texas senators (jurors) are “deliberating” in the Texas AG Ken Paxton impeachment trial. “Experts” seem to think a verdict will come today because the senators want to go to happy hour and don’t want to spend the weekend dealing with this. I am quoting.

    I think they’ll convict him on at least one count to get him out of there because the Republicans would not have brought charges on one of their own if they didn’t expect to convict him. But I could be wrong.

  40. 40.

    Jay C

    September 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Actually, I think “Bibendum” is Latin, not French, and was first used by Michelin in an old ad, showing various tire-men worse-for-wear from drinking broken glass: except, of course, for the Michelin Man, raising his flute of shards and proclaiming “Nunc Est Bibendum” – roughly “drinks it all up”, or “it’s all drunk up”…

  41. 41.

    bbleh

    September 15, 2023 at 6:41 pm

    So she imposes a carefully crafted order, and he blows right past it because transgression is a central — even THE central — part of his image and something all his cultists absolutely love about him.

    And then what?  Increasing sanctions, possibly culminating in a limited jail sentence?  He’ll play the martyr to the hilt, his cultists will all but riot, and lots of Reasonable Centrist Media Personalities will start scratching their chins and asking — just asking, mind you — whether maybe That Woman Has Gone Too Far.

    I don’t see an easy way out.  For the court to back down would be a surrender of the rule of law to the mob.  And neither she nor Jack “Sure That’s His Real Name” Smith have backed down from difficult confrontations before. But the politics are going to be brutal, and at least half the Congress-critters who should be supporting the law will be hiding under their desks and not taking calls.

    Ain’t gonna be pretty.

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 6:41 pm

    @SealDeal:

    Definitely looks like chinese okra, quite tasty if it’s still young. Cut up and toss into a stir fry. Once they get older they take on the characteristics of a loofah and they get tougher inside and stringy. 

    And then you can soap it up and 🎶Splish splash I was taking a bath 🎶!

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 6:44 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I will not be attempting to eat the strange vegetable that was growing in my flower bed. :-) 

    What?  Is that living a bit too adventurously for ya? 😁😋

  44. 44.

    Suzanne

    September 15, 2023 at 6:44 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:
    IT’S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, MOTHERFUCKERS

  45. 45.

    smith

    September 15, 2023 at 6:45 pm

    So, as I understand it, the term of Jack Smith’s DC grand jury runs out today, and they have been busy for the past week or so. I was hoping we might have another cake celebration, but no such luck. I guess if Smith did obtain more indictments, he will keep them under wraps until they are needed.

  46. 46.

    wjca

    September 15, 2023 at 6:46 pm

    what the heck this is.

    We get cucumbers like that occasionally.  Just bog standard cucumbers.  Depends on what the weather has been like.

  47. 47.

    bbleh

    September 15, 2023 at 6:46 pm

    Re the putative plant thing, have you cut it open, just to make sure it’s not an alien spy device or a transmitter for the 5G chips we’ve had implanted from the so-called vaccine jabs?  Can’t be too careful…

  48. 48.

    sukabi

    September 15, 2023 at 6:46 pm

    could be a ridge gourd…

     

    https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://i.ndtvimg.com/i/2016-06/ridgegourdmain_625x350_81467272935.jpg&tbnid=IjOkvJYeg8KTUM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/5-delicious-ridge-gourd-turai-recipes-more-than-just-fritters-1426398&docid=5_aHqg-lldL6KM&w=625&h=350&source=sh/x/im/m5/0

  49. 49.

    Yarrow

    September 15, 2023 at 6:48 pm

    Oh, good Lord. NBC News asked students at whatever university the VP recently spoke at about the Biden administration. One young woman says, “The difference between the Obama administration and the Biden administration is Obama was cool.” Good to know they’re focusing on the important policy issues and accomplishments. 🙄

  50. 50.

    Baud

    September 15, 2023 at 6:52 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I wonder how many students they had to interview to get that response.

  51. 51.

    TaMara

    September 15, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    @WaterGirl:@WaterGirl: I think it is a loofa – my friend in LA grew them all the time (I still have one she grew and she sold her house 20 yrs ago).

  52. 52.

    wjca

    September 15, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    @Yarrow: The difference between the Obama administration and the Biden administration…

    Heaven forbid they should ask for a comparison to the Trump (mal)adiminstration.

  53. 53.

    smith

    September 15, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    @Yarrow: As long as they vote the right way, it’s OK. Even if Biden isn’t as cool as Obama, he’s waaaay cooler than TFG.

  54. 54.

    JAM

    September 15, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    @Suzanne: I love McSweeney’s.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    September 15, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    @smith:

    This.

  56. 56.

    Ruviana

    September 15, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    @Suzanne: I send that link to my brother every fall! I have to go looking for my cornucopia so I can fuck that shit up!

  57. 57.

    Yarrow

    September 15, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    @Baud:  There was a group of five of them and they asked all of them several questions according to the clip.

  58. 58.

    Alison Rose

    September 15, 2023 at 6:58 pm

    @Yarrow: Well, they may have gotten better answers from others, but this one fits in with the media’s BIDEN IS SO OLD AND OUT OF TOUCH narrative, so of course they’re gonna use it. But if we’re talking about college students, this person could’ve been 18, and I can forgive an 18 year old for not offering profound and substantive remarks to an on-the-spot question.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    September 15, 2023 at 7:01 pm

    @Yarrow:

    @Alison Rose:

    Not sure how well a young college student would even remember the Obama administration.  Not that he wasn’t cool.

  60. 60.

    bbleh

    September 15, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    @Yarrow: @Baud: @Alison Rose: part of it is just Silly Season, but I think the major part is, nobody other than us political junkies is really thinking much about an election in 2024 that probably will but might not be between Biden and Trump.  (Trump might die!  Not that I would EVER wish for such a thing.)  Ask about Biden, you’ll get a comment about Biden out of context, perhaps compared to whatever pops into their heads — Obama, Trump, their fuzzy vision of the Ideal Candidate, or maybe — as Biden himself has noted! — the Almighty.  And this is why I ignore the “approval/disapproval” polls.

  61. 61.

    Alison Rose

    September 15, 2023 at 7:04 pm

    @Baud: True! Also…if they think the ONLY difference is the relative coolness of the two men, that’s actually fine, because that would imply they think Biden has been just as good a president.

  62. 62.

    Yarrow

    September 15, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    @Baud:  One of the young men in the group said they grew up with Obama in the White House and saw Malia and Sasha there. And that they don’t see that in the Biden White House.

    I suspect there was a much longer discussion and stupid NBC News pulled those clips. To the students’ credit the reporter asked them if they were worried about Biden’s age and only a couple of them raised their hands.

  63. 63.

    smith

    September 15, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    @Alison Rose: Besides, is there anybody in politics as cool as Obama?

  64. 64.

    Mike in NC

    September 15, 2023 at 7:07 pm

    Fat Bastard needs to be locked up pending trial and his idiotic social media taken down. Threats and intimidation are all he knows.

  65. 65.

    wjca

    September 15, 2023 at 7:11 pm

    @bbleh: Trump might die!  Not that I would EVER wish for such a thing.

    Only consider the pain a guilty verdict would give him.  Such a wish might even be a mitzvah.

  66. 66.

    Jackie

    September 15, 2023 at 7:12 pm

    Somebody just learned Special Counsel Smith has requested a gag order…

    “Biden Prosecutor, Deranged Jack Smith, has asked the Court to limit 45th President, and leading Republican Nominee (by more than 50 points, & beating Dems!) DONALD J. TRUMP’S, PUBLIC STATEMENTS,” Trump wrote on Friday. “So, I’m campaigning for President against an incompetent person who has WEAPONIZED the DOJ & FBI to go after his Political Opponent, & I am not allowed to COMMENT? They Leak, Lie, & Sue, & they won’t allow me to SPEAK?”

    The then added, “How else would I explain that Jack Smith is DERANGED, or Crooked Joe is INCOMPETENT?”

  67. 67.

    Alison Rose

    September 15, 2023 at 7:13 pm

    @Jackie: Christ, what a fucking dumbass.

  68. 68.

    bbleh

    September 15, 2023 at 7:17 pm

    @Jackie: fortunately, the waitstaff have learned to keep an eye on the news and discreetly remove certain condiments when necessary.  The house staff are most appreciative.

  69. 69.

    oldster

    September 15, 2023 at 7:26 pm

    “nunc est bibendum” = now it’s time to drink, or now is the time to drink.  It’s like a carpe diem sort of theme.

    Some of the early Michelin Man costumes were extremely creepy:
    https://www.historydefined.net/original-michelin-man/

  70. 70.

    bbleh

    September 15, 2023 at 7:28 pm

    @oldster: the first Ronald McDonald was definitely someone I would cross the street to avoid.

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 15, 2023 at 7:34 pm

    @bbleh: Something I would advice with respect to all clowns.  They might be French, existential, and mostly harmless, but is that a chance you want to take?

  72. 72.

    wjca

    September 15, 2023 at 7:35 pm

    @bbleh: the first Ronald McDonald was definitely someone I would cross the street to avoid.

    Crossing the road to avoid McDonald’s (or Burger King or Taco Bell or Jack in the Box) is merely good nutritional practice.  Not to mention a blessing to your sense of smell.,

  73. 73.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 7:48 pm

    @Suzanne: Go big or go home?

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 7:49 pm

    @smith: Apparently it’s possible to extend the term of a grand jury, but I do not know whether that was done or not.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    @bbleh: it’s very handsome, I don’t want to cut it open.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 7:51 pm

    @TaMara: So will it last indefinitely if I just leave it be?  I really like the way it looks!

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    September 15, 2023 at 7:51 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    Love it!!

  78. 78.

    bbleh

    September 15, 2023 at 7:53 pm

    @WaterGirl: hmm, well, if you lack easy access to an x-ray, may I suggest a Faraday Cage?  You just know those aliens already have the access codes for the 5G chips …

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    September 15, 2023 at 7:54 pm

    @bbleh: Well, I confess that it is outside.

  80. 80.

    Queen of Lurkers

    September 15, 2023 at 7:57 pm

    It’s called a ridge gourd or Chinese okra, as some people above have said. It’s commonly used in India.

    https://www.tarladalal.com/glossary-ridge-gourd-turai-turiya-604i

    In Bengal, it’s called jhinge.

  81. 81.

    lowtechcyclist

    September 15, 2023 at 7:58 pm

    @Suzanne: ​
     

    @lowtechcyclist:
    IT’S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, MOTHERFUCKERS

    I’d never seen that before! Thanks for sharing.

  82. 82.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    September 15, 2023 at 8:00 pm

    @Anyway: Bitter melon was my guess, so I did a word search on comments to see if anyone else IDed it. Since you’re unsure, I’m going to second your guess.

  83. 83.

    delphinium

    September 15, 2023 at 8:08 pm

    @oldster: LOL’ed at “I’m clinging in the rain”!

  84. 84.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 8:12 pm

    OT – if it’s raining tomorrow night, are the cicadas gonna shut the fuck up?

  85. 85.

    E.

    September 15, 2023 at 8:14 pm

    Jackal pedants should enjoy a current cnn.com headline about Ashton Kushner resigning from the board of an “anti-sex abuse group.”

  86. 86.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 8:15 pm

    @oldster:

    @bbleh: Gritty

  87. 87.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 15, 2023 at 8:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    So will it last indefinitely if I just leave it be? I really like the way it looks! 

    It will multiple, like mogwai (Gremlins).

  88. 88.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    September 15, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    @E.: I didn’t know he was involved with Moms For Liberty…

    /

  89. 89.

    stinger

    September 15, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    @Yarrow:

    “The difference between the Obama administration and the Biden administration is Obama was cool.”

    The Obamas had two little girls, slightly older than today’s college students would have been at the time of that administration — in other words, just enough older for the interviewees to have talked about in school and looked up to. The Bidens don’t have young children living in the White House, so from that perspective, no cool factor. The opinion is understandable, if shallow.

    ETA: Or what Yarrow said at #62.

  90. 90.

    trollhattan

    September 15, 2023 at 8:45 pm

    It’s evil, don’t touch it!

    https://youtu.be/5qw1hcevmdU?feature=shared

  91. 91.

    buddhacat

    September 15, 2023 at 8:49 pm

    It’s a common gourd, a loofa; we make curry from it (as all Indian veggies eventually end up as curry anyway.) Gets mushy if cooked too long.

  92. 92.

    catclub

    September 15, 2023 at 9:06 pm

    @E.:  sexual harassment training at work.

  93. 93.

    rekoob

    September 15, 2023 at 9:09 pm

    @oldster: To hazard a guess, I believe the original ad in that article reads, as you say, “Now it’s time to drink”, and then the French copy then reads, “That is to say, Michelin drinks (or soaks up) all obstacles”. That fits in with the idea that the tires reduce the hazards (punctures and surface irregularities). Fond of Michelins, but also a big fan of Nokian Hakkapeliittas for the snow.

  94. 94.

    rekoob

    September 15, 2023 at 9:14 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: @Suzanne: McSweeney’s now offers a mug:

    “Decorative Gourd” Mug

    But given that it’s the same price as the temperature-sensitive “Dark Brandon” Mug from the Biden-Harris Campaign, I think the latter is the better purchase, at least in this political cycle. Gourd season will be upon us again soon enough.

  95. 95.

    wjca

    September 15, 2023 at 9:17 pm

    @catclub: sexual harassment training at work

    It isn’t supposed to be a “how to” course with labs.  Perhaps he missed that detail.

  96. 96.

    SomeRandomGuy

    September 15, 2023 at 9:47 pm

    @WaterGirl: Well, nothing was *going* to happen until you issued an open invite to every horror movie ever made. Want to sneak around and have unprotected sex with your new boyfriend (I’d add “for the first time” but that sounds vaguely insulting in context….)?

    Oh, yeah, and have a friend around who likes to pop out and scare people, just to make sure your doom is as swift as it is certain!

    Oh, fine, don’t listen to me on a Friday night, just, if you’re holding on to a shotgun (that you vaguely remember the salesman at S-Mart calling a “Boom Stick”), don’t come crying to me! (Also, it’s Klaatu, Barada, Nicto.  Make sure *one* of you says it right.)

  97. 97.

    Betsy

    September 15, 2023 at 9:48 pm

    @Scout211: that article says okra are squash.  Not!!

    Okra is in the mallow family, with cotton, marsh mallows (yes, really, they are just mallows that grow in the swamp), and hibiscus. And the roselles from which Jamaica tea is made.

    I know.  It’s a compulsion.

  98. 98.

    chrisanthemama

    September 15, 2023 at 11:06 pm

    Here’s a link to a picture of a luffa gourd that looks very much like your mystery plant:  luffa gourd – Search (bing.com)

  99. 99.

    RevRick

    September 15, 2023 at 11:30 pm

    @Roger Moore: I guess that would be where our verb imbibe comes from.

  100. 100.

    sempronia

    September 16, 2023 at 2:59 am

    It is a ribbon squash or loofah (we call it 絲瓜 in Chinese). You eat it when it’s young and tender like yours appears to be. When they’re much bigger and harder, you can dry them and use the fibrous skeletons as bath sponges. If you want to eat this one, you would use a vegetable peeler to take the skin off, especially the stiff, hard ridges. Slice it up and stir-fry with a little gravy. They have a delicate, vegetal taste. I like to add dried scallops, rehydrated and shredded between your fingers.

  101. 101.

    xjmuellerlurks

    September 16, 2023 at 8:32 am

    @Roger Moore:  high school Latin finally pays off – 50 years later.  it’s the only line I remember from the poet Horace.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Man

  102. 102.

    Rugosa

    September 16, 2023 at 10:05 am

    @WaterGirl:

     Hi WaterGirl, Gourds and squash are close relatives and cross-pollinate with abandon. A random cross popping up like that could well have a bitter or otherwise unpleasant flavor.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    September 16, 2023 at 10:43 am

    @SomeRandomGuy: Thanks for the laugh.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    September 16, 2023 at 10:45 am

    I appreciate all the knowledge and information hared in this thread!  I will continue to admire my loofa, but it will remain a thing of beauty, not to be eaten.

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