Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

The willow is too close to the house.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Night Open Thread

Thursday Night Open Thread

by | 79 Comments

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I worked nine and a half hours today, so I don’t have much to offer to help get the conversation started.

Though I guess Cole did send me a guilt-text to say that it’s been several weeks and I still had not sent him even a single picture of Mr. Bear, as he had requested.  So I did take a minute to give everyone a bit of coconut oil, which all my guys love, so I could have even a shot at catching a photo since I couldn’t find either kitty anywhere in the house!

You may now inspect my countertops – and my floors – if you wish.
I just had to grab any photo when they were actually looking at me.

Totally open thread.

Reader Interactions

79Comments

  1. 1.

    HinTN

    I’m a na gonna judge nobody’s floors or countertops. Happy Birthday Uncle Sam, BJ peeps.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    It’s hard to get 10,000 steps when you are working all day.  I’m at 8,939, screw the treadmill, I am going to bed.

    Hope you all had a nice day

    edit: None of my guys care about the pops and the booms, but I could do without them.  They are not pleasant sounds at all!

  7. 7.

    karen marie

    Coconut oil?  Does your vet approve?

    Back in the early ’80s I told my vet I was giving my cat veg oil to help her with her hairball situation, and he said to absolutely NOT do that.  Veg oil (and I would assume coconut oil) is absorbed by the intestines, so while it helps pull the hair through, the hair is then glued to the intestine wall, leading potentially to a blockage.  The vet said to give the cat mineral oil, which is not absorbed by the intestine.

    Ever since I’ve kept a small bowl (a couple teaspoon size) next to their food bowl for them to partake of as they please.  Most cats will drink it, some won’t.

    You might think it would lead to a greasy butt – it does not.  Nor does it cause loose stool.  It does the trick for moving hair through the cat’s system.  I haven’t stepped on a wet (or dry) hairball in 40 years.

  8. 8.

    eclare

    So cute!  Booms have sort of stopped here, thank goodness.  I hate the noise, and the threat of fire is real.

  11. 11.

    dnfree

    @WaterGirl

    10,000 is a made-up target. We should each set our goal at a number that seems feasible to us, so that most days we can make it if we try. That gives more of a feeling of accomplishment and people are more likely to persist than if they feel they’re constantly falling short.
    You are younger than I am, so your goal is probably higher than mine!

  12. 12.

    Splitting Image

    The results are coming in for the elections over in Whatever-Is-Left-of-the-UK-after-Brexit.

    Such a terrible night for the party of Margaret Thatcher. One truly, truly hates to see it.

    By which I mean, “The smarmy little fucks have had this coming for a long time.”

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    @dnfree: 10k is my minimum.  12-15k is more common, but if I get 17 or 18k I feel pretty tired!

    it’s easier in the summer with the garden!

  17. 17.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Splitting Image: The funny part to me will be if, when they do this again in 2029 or whenever, Labour ends up only giving back say 20 seats and still have a majority of over 100.

    Especially if they only give it up to LibDem or [random Left-Of-Center Independent here].

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    ‘Scuse me while I marvel at how the plastic on the food processor container has not gone cloudy.

  19. 19.

    NaijaGal

    @Splitting Image: I’m overjoyed. Labour is projected to win 410 seats and they need only 326 for a majority. Fourteen years of conservative rule almost brought the UK to its knees. Interestingly, Jeremy Corbyn won his seat as an independent.

  20. 20.

    kalakal

    It’s hard to overstate how bad this is for the Tories . It’s as if in November every Senate and House seat was up for grabs and of GOP voters 25% went Dem and 25% went for the newly forme Steve Bannon party.

    @BlueDWarrior:

    The funny part to me will be if, when they do this again in 2029 or whenever, Labour ends up only giving back say 20 seats and still have a majority of over 100.

    Tony Blair managed that for 3 elections in a row, whatever else may be said about the guy he was a genius at winning elections

  22. 22.

    SomeRandomGuy

    Democratic Senators should now use the change in funding, mandated by the SCOTUS, to 0 out the dollars needed for law enforcement against former Presidents, as a reason to use reconciliation to zero out that change, by making Presidents accountable to the vast majority of the federal code, with isolated exceptions.

  23. 23.

    eversor

    @NotMax:

    Not all pastics are the same!  Some are actually kinda good.  For a side hobby I do custom keycaps, liquid cooling parts, and resin poured (think aquarium look) sculptures and I use ABS, PBT, and acrylic.  These are not the same!

    We just tend to use the shit ones.  But I could pitch a similar fit about the metal quality of most wires or kitchen knives.  Or shit my crusade against crappy solder (bane of my life for a good grip back in the day).

    It’s expensive and not healthy to do it all this way.  Just make the better fucking product and have done with it.  Quit pumping out crap.

    If you can’t tell plastics and metals will get me heated quickly.

  25. 25.

    kalakal

    Interesting thing in the UK elections that’s being lost in the noise is Scotland. The SNP ( Scottish National Party) is being obliterated and deservedly so. They’ve run the place as a one party state for about 20 years, and for the last 10 have run into a quagmire of corruption and incompetence to which their only answer was moar nationalism!

  26. 26.

    eclare

    @kalakal:

    Huh.  John Oliver had a good piece about the elections last Sunday, how the Tories have been awful.  Scurvy and rickets are coming back?  Shit.

  27. 27.

    Anoniminous

    That shit Rees-Mogg who earlier in the evening blamed the ‘cabal’ who ousted Boris Johnson for the Torie’s election wipeout lost his seat.​

  28. 28.

    BlueDWarrior

    @kalakal: Yeah I saw the BBC interview with I think the SNP Leader and he looked like he just saw the Ghost of Christmas Future. A complete humbling tonight and this morning for him that much is clear.

  30. 30.

    Anoniminous

    The upper echelon of the Tories pretty much gone:

    Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Commons
    Alex Chalk, the justice secretary
    Grant Shapps, the defence secretary
    Gillian Keegan, the education secretary
    Simon Hart, the chief whip
    Michelle Donelan, the science secretary
    Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary
    Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister

    Jeremy Hunt, the former Chancellor, hung on by 900 votes dammitall

  32. 32.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Reebo has returned from a day of adventure.  I let both of them out around 10AM, and while Zooty stayed in the yard, for the most part, Reebo bounded all about all over the place.  Only saw him twice during the day, once cavorting with Zooty, and once in the presence of the avatar of evil, the white cat who was the nemesis of Her Serene Highness.  Don’t know if Rebbo and WC had a confrontation or just a stand off.

    Anyway, both are safely back inside the house.

  35. 35.

    Anoniminous

    Holy fuckballs, Batman.

    “Ian Paisley is on track to lose the once-impregnable Democratic Unionist party DUP bastion of North Antrim,​

    ETA: my Sinn Fein friends will be dancing in the streets

  36. 36.

    Pennsylvanian

    Impeccable. Did not know you had such gorgeous overlords.
    I’d say you delivered.

  37. 37.

    Soprano2

    The fireworks booms were replaced with thunder booms. I’m glad, we need the rain. I knew it would rain because I watered the flowers today.

  39. 39.

    Anoniminous

    Tories wiped out in Wales.  That leaves them as the England.regional party.  They could change their name to the England National Party or ENP.

    :-)

  46. 46.

    brendancalling

    Robert Plant and Alison Krause were AMAZING. My feelings about her approach to bluegrass are decidedly mixed, but boy oh boy does she shine w/Plant. They bring out the best in each other. 10/10, no notes.

    I am not a fan of Bob Dylan, but my friends who are agreed he was simply awful tonight. He played piano, but he’s… he’s not a good piano player. A number of times, it sounded like Tom Waites if TW didn’t know how to play piano. It was bad. I didn’t like it. I didn’t expect to like it because I don’t care for Dylan, but I couldn’t even say “not for me, but yeah—he was great,” because he was the opposite of great. He was bad.

    Willie has called off the past couple shows due to health, but he played tonight. The man (as well as the set) showed his age. I didn’t expect a repeat of the performance I saw in 98, where he jammed for 3 hours and did another 1/2 hour+ encore, so I wasn’t disappointed by what was mostly a greatest hits show. But that’s what it was—OTOH, with hits like “Angel Flying to Close to the Ground,” “I never cared for you,” “stay all night,” “on the road again,” etc, who’s complaining? Not this guy! I’m so glad I went. I don’t think Willie’s long for this world. 

  48. 48.

    JaySinWA

    Well, it is ten o’clock local time and the booms are pretty much normal after a quiet afternoon.. Not any visible fireworks here which is abnormal. The atmosphere is fairly smokey.

  55. 55.

    Shalimar

    @kalakal: Hopefully SNP losing leads Scotland to finally investigate Trump’s golf course ownership.  I think they almost have to be a money-laundering operation for someone.

  57. 57.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @karen marie:

    I do the same thing for our Morty, the Scottish Fold. He has a heavy dual coat that I have to regularly Furminate. A bit of mineral oil every couple of days and no horking up hairballs and the shit keeps on moving.

    I call it “lubing the cat”…lol!

  58. 58.

    Shalimar

    Just listened to Nigel Farage say he’s coming for Labour’s votes, his win (first in nine tries) is just the beginning for his new party.  They have won 4 seats total so far.  The overwhelming narcissism is almost Trump-like.

  60. 60.

    Splitting Image

    So apparently the seats formerly held by David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Theresa May have all gone to the opposition: three to the Liberal Democrats and one to Labour.

    You hate to see it.

    That said, my new favourite electoral district in the entire world is the one Liz Truss just vacated tonight. The seat represents South West Norfolk, and it’s in East Anglia.

  61. 61.

    JaySinWA

    Now the local dogs have been triggered. Almost 11pm and up until now they have been quiet. Not clear what changed

    ETA just heard Police siren. Not EMT.

  62. 62.

    Shalimar

    Lib Dems won Theresa May’s old seat.

    Liz Truss lost to Labour.  She won in 2019 69%-18%.

    Labour projected to win 413 seats, but with only 1/3rd of the vote nationally.  So they still have a lot to prove.  They won a lot of seats because voting fractured so many different ways.

  64. 64.

    kalakal

    Sadly Count Binface failed to unseat Rishi Sunak who despite dropping 14 points remains an mp. PMs tend to have very safe seats

  65. 65.

    Shalimar

    Liz Truss says they lost because they didn’t lower taxes and reduce immigration as much as they promised they would.  So she wants to double down on austerity and xenophobia.

  66. 66.

    JWR

    @brendancalling: A dear friend of mine who’s anything but a ZeppHead simply loves him some Allison Kraus and Bobby Plant. As a true dyed in the wool ZeppHead, I don’t much care for the teaming, but what do I know? I’m a ZeppHead! ⚡️

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    Grr. Several big boomies enough to knock out the internet for like 45 minutes.

  70. 70.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Splitting Image: i believe they lost Margaret Thatchers too but it have been to the Lib Dems and not Labour. Last week I saw a funny tweet about how Sunak must be happy his parents couldn’t see his abysmal performance in the debate on Sky and today I saw a tweet how Sunak must not be thrilled about being able to afford Sky now to see their coverage of the Tories’ thrashing.

  71. 71.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I saw a Labour ad that I really think the Dems should rip off about not forgetting to vote on the 4th and then waking up with a nightmare on the 5th with Sunak. It’s got a man waking up to Sunak laying  across from him  and then a woman also waking up with Sunak laying across from her and she’s freaking out. It’s a funny memorable ad.

  72. 72.

    karen marie

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: Does he drink it on his own or do you “administer” it?

    The long ago cat who was the one involved in that long ago vet consult – for several years I poured it in her mouth with a quarter teaspoon and then one day I put the spoon down and she walked over and licked it.

    From then on I just put out the tiny bowl and she drank it as she liked, as did the next cat, and now my current cat. The male cat who moved in because he loved my second cat would not drink it on his own.

    One does have to be careful with spooning it in, because apparently aspirating it can have very bad consequences.

  74. 74.

    Liminal Owl

    Beautiful kitties, WaterGirl. Thanks for sharing them!

    Will try mineral oil for Toby, though he has relatively few hairballs—surprising, considering how floofy he is. I have to brush him daily, and then he tries to eat the brushed-off fur off the brush!  (Anybody know what that’s about? MDR of hair, too lazy to acquire it by normal means?)

  75. 75.

    SteveinPHX

    Thank you for kitty photos! Missed them last night. Was “sawing logs.”

  76. 76.

    SteveinPHX

    @karen marie: ​
     
    I had never heard of this. Just forwarded your note to the missus. We may be making a change in our kitty regimen.

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