Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Second rate reporter says what?

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

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

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Be a wild strawberry.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

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Early Morning Open Thread: New (Rescue) Puppy

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From commentor Chris S:

So, we’ve had Jack home for five days and he’s doing well, I think. I’m a little anxious – OK a lot anxious. In preparation for getting a dog, I’ve read a bazillion and three books and articles regarding training the perfect dog. He’s a good dog to start with. We haven’t had an accident yet and he makes it through the night in his crate without whining or barking and he walks exceptionally well 75% of the time. He does whine and bark when we leave the room, or go upstairs or leave the house and he’s a jumper/hugger/kisser. So he’s doing very well for such a tumultuous little life, but we (mostly me) are not. I don’t get it other than that I have unrealistic expectations after reading a bazillion and three articles regarding the perfect dog (I know lots of friends that have very imperfect dogs), which is causing me stress. Plus I want the cats to adapt and be happy. So after less than a week, I’m fighting feelings of regret. After being an animal lover all my life, having pets (at least through my childhood) and cats for the last few years, and reading inspriing stories of man’s best friend, I feel guilty for not being ecstatic at now having a puppy as an adult. So, Tara is helping me along and with a little bit adaption on my part maybe I’ll get over myself, let him be a dog and let myself love this cute sonofagun.

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Open Thread

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Parents are off to an anniversary dinner (their 42nd!), and I have Ginny and Guesly. No rest for the wicked.

*** Update ***

We have our own official Balloon Juice Fantasy Football league:

Hey all you Juicers! I like football. Who else likes football?

NFL week 1 is coming up fast, and I thought it’d be a kick to have a fantasy football league for regulars at Balloon Juice. With the blessings of our host I’ve created the B-J.F.L. A little competitive action to spice up football Open Threads throughout the season!

Totally free to join and play – all you need is a Yahoo ID. If you’ve never played Fantasy Football before, here’s a primer:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/sports/fantasysports/football/rules/frules-01.html

If that sounds good to you, or you already know what fantasy football is and want to get in the mix, sign up here:
http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/b_jfl

If the direct link doesn’t work for you go to Yahoo and find their Fantasy Sports page, and look for League # 616924

The password to join is “alsotoo.”

I think the limit is 20 teams, and the league draft will be Tuesday evening. You’ll be able to draft your players online, or let Yahoo do it for you.

A quick word about me, your Commissioner. I’ve been a regular lurker and sometime commenter for years, using the handle “mattt.” I’m no football expert and don’t plan on posting lots of commentary, but have run fantasy leagues before and thought some of you all might get a kick out of one here.

Because if there’s one thing we’re short of on this blog, it’s trash talk!

My team is Tunch’s Furballs.

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Open Thread: Thursday Night Menu

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Take it (us) away, TaMara:

Since it’s been such a crazy week I wanted something simple for the menu tonight. But, just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s not tasty. And we gotta get those last few weekends of grilling in before summer ends. If you’re up for adventure, you can try grilling the sweet potatoes on the grill, wrapped in foil or placed in a grilling basket. Also, for those who have requested it, I am working on a Tapas menu, just needs some testing before it goes up. Maybe in the next two weeks or so I’ll post it. Something to look forward to. If anyone else has other requests for menus, let me know, it’s always more fun if I have to go on a scavenger hunt to prep a menu. And a final update: my tomatoes are still not ripe. They sit there, abundant and green, mocking me.
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On the board tonight:
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1. Cheesy Burgers
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2. Kaiser Rolls
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3. Cajun Sweet Potato Fries
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4. Raw Vegetable Tray
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5. Plums

Recipes and shopping list can be found at the link.

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There are worse fates than ‘abundant and green’ tomatoes… After almost two months of not-officially-drought, we got 5 inches of rain over a 4-day period. So today I got to pick, and discard, a whole lot of split, mildewed, blighted tomatoes that were hard green balls last weekend. And some of the gro-bagged potatoes (my new experiment for this summer) seem to be dying back, which can’t be a good sign. Days like this, I’m very grateful that my grandparents had the sense to decamp from their ancestral farms in Connemara! — Anne Laurie

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Artists in Our Midst

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Been a long while since we have had one of these, so I figured tonight is as good a night as any. The point of these threads is that a lot of you are pretty talented people or married to talented people, but you never talk about it, so here is a thread for you to link to your artwork, music, photography, etc., and share it. I’ll start with reader Larime, who is a disabled artist who paints with his mouth. Here is one of his works that you might recognize:

His website is here, and with California screwing up his assisted care and the economic crisis, I bet he wouldn’t mind an influx of traffic and customers.

So go check out Larime’s work, and link your own or someone in your family’s below.

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