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Oct

Tuesday Night Open Thread

by John Cole

Tunch is being ornery, so you will have to just make do with this out of focus picture of Lily, who kept trying to jump up and lick the camera while I was taking her picture:

Have at it.

Open Thread | 9:05 pm |

79 Responses to “Tuesday Night Open Thread”

1
October 6th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
General Winfield Stuck

Tunch is being ornery

IOW’s perfectly normal. But without proof of life, some will wonder. Lily is still sweet as Tupelo Honey.
2
October 6th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Bill

Lens lover Lily.
3
October 6th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
MikeJ

From the “artwork” previously cited:

“Immigrant”, “Why does he have his hand up like that? There are many good people in America, they are not all Christian. I wanted him to have a look of shock when he realizes where the source of America’s greatness comes from as he sees Christ holding the Constitution. We live in a country were we are free to worship as we please.”

That’s from the artist’s notes, not the parody.
4
October 6th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Ash Can

@MikeJ: That picture’s more full of shit than a Christmas goose.
5
October 6th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
WereBear

Gosh, Lilly has a wonderful face. No wonder ya fell, John!
6
October 6th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
arguingwithsignposts

Gad, I love the open threads! Go tunch!
7
October 6th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
General Winfield Stuck

And more new Libby picks. Cute factor HIGH.
8
October 6th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
freelancer

Holy crap!

5-5 Bot 11th

http://atdhe.net/5546/watch-tigers-vs-twins
9
October 6th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Aunt Moe

Going to look at Labs for adoption later this week. You have inspired me John! (and made me envious cuz Lily is so darn appealing.)
10
October 6th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
kid bitzer

so since this is an open thread, a completely random thing that bugs me.

“1 tip of a flat belly!”

what the hell is that “of” doing in there? “tip of”? if you’re offering dieting tips, wouldn’t you say “1 tip for a flat belly”?

this just looks illiterate. or like “all your bases” english. or is that the point, i.e. to make it meme-ish?
11
October 6th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
AhabTRuler

Peace in the land of kittehs!
12
October 6th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Annie

Maybe this picture explains why Tunch is being ornery. He wants Lily to sit down, be quiet, and give him some peace. Does Lily try and lick Tunch everytime he moves? Or are there still futon space issues? Or John lap time space issues?
13
October 6th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
freelancer

@kid bitzer:

I’ll explain only if you can tell my what is meant by the description of Reagan as a “Patriot of Freedom” in the picture described by MikeJ and Ash Can.
14
October 6th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Mark S.

@MikeJ:

I said it in a previous thread, but I can’t get enough of the dancing John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. What’s that Russian dance called?
15
October 6th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
madmommy

@freelancer:

It’s a nail-biter. Then whoever wins has to hop a plane for Gotham to face the hated Yanquis. It would be sweet indeed to see either the Tigers or Twins win that series.
16
October 6th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
General Winfield Stuck

@AhabTRuler:

Henri is one cooool kitteh! so is Momo.
17
October 6th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
AnneS

@General Winfield Stuck: Oh, the Libbiness is such a wonderful puppy! Teh loveley face!! Smooch!
18
October 6th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
AnneS

and if i cood spel id be wunnerful

Love pixtures of Lilly, too. !!
19
October 6th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
HRA

Tunch says to Lily: “Look it’s your turn to deal with the @#$%^& camera.”
20
October 6th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
AhabTRuler

@General Winfield Stuck: They are really getting along well, too. Integrating them was a chore, but patience paid off.
21
October 6th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
AnneS

@AhabTRuler: Thanks for sharing the lovely ones. The furries here say bldrrrrmrow!
22
October 6th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
schrodinger's cat

Lily: I can has futon
Tunch: I had a futon, Lily beez taking mah futon
23
October 6th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
matoko_chan

Jesus’ General and Salon are helping out with the New Conservapedia Bible…..I think Balloon Juice should pitch in too….maybe cull this thread for the best ones and group them up for Sully?
24
October 6th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
freelancer

Mother of God,

and I thought the Twins’ relief pitcher had nuthin’ left. Amazing.
25
October 6th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Fulcanelli

Gawd, I just wanna skweeze that little puppy’s face, she’s so fuggin cute!

Yet more evidence we need to keelhaul the bankers:

My wife went to cash a check (made out to her personally) at the local Bank of America branch given to her by a lawyer associate of hers. The lawyer friend does her personal and business banking at this branch of BoA. (We do NOT use Bank of America as our bank.)

Bank of America wanted six dollars to cash the check because she didn’t have an account with BoA and…

Her fingerprints.

They wanted six bucks and her fingerprints to cash a check drawn on an account at that very branch because she didn’t have an account with BoA.

She walked out with the check.

Random mortgage industry factoid I recently learned: In 2004 in the state of Rhode Island there were 5500 licenced mortgage brokers.

The state implemented a stringent licensing program 2 years ago designed to keep unsavory types out of the mortgage banking business.

The number of licenced brokers today?

273.
26
October 6th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Just Some Fuckhead

You need to keep Lily on a short leash and put her in her place and then fumigate.
27
October 6th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
matoko_chan

Oh and lily’s smile makes me believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny all over again.
<3 Lily
28
October 6th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
madmommy

I can’t believe the Tigers had the bases loaded and couldn’t push a run across!
29
October 6th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
ellaesther

@Just Some Fuckhead: Damn you! I was going to say that! Or something much like it! If I had only been FOUR MINUTES faster…!

This is my life. Four minutes too late and a dollar short.
30
October 6th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Cat Lady

@General Winfield Stuck:

Libby makes me feel teh cute funny inside. I hAz a hApPy.

I’m glad I’m neither a Twins nor a Tigers fan, and just a baseball fan. This game is just pure baseball WIN.
31
October 6th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Fulcanelli

Zût Alors! It looks like my burnt offering to the FSM the other day paid off!

I haz edit and request delete button!

/IE8/XP Media center SP3.
32
October 6th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
freelancer

Go Twins! Kill the Yankees!
33
October 6th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Comrade Mary

That’s a terribly sweet picture of Lily (shut UP, all you dirty-minded pervs!), but you know, saying “Tunch is ornery” is like saying “Water is wet”.

Please, please, please John, is it possible to get even a single picture of an ornery Tunch? Unless he’ll eat the camera or something, of course.
34
October 6th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
AhabTRuler

@Fulcanelli: BoA has charged a fee for cashing its own checks for years, and the fingerprint (? usually a thumbprint) has been SOP since the early nineties.
35
October 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
geg6

Ilove Lily. Thank you, John. She makes my day. Between Lily and my growing suspicion that we are actually going to get HCR with a public option (though no idea what it will look like), I might actually not slit my wrists and sleep a little better tonight. Lovely Lily, giver of comfort.
36
October 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
tpc

I heard on NPR today that some folks are upset about the president postponing his meeting with the Dalai Lama. How long until McCain declares that “we are all Tibetans”?
37
October 6th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
TheFountainHead

Damn. Well, I was pullin’ for the Tigers on the premise that Minnesota is still tainted by the Republican National Convention and that Detroit could use any boost it could get. Oh well, the New York Liberal Elite Yankees are gonna rip them “Real Americans” a new one tomorrow. Also.
38
October 6th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
schrodinger's cat

@Comrade Mary:
I second the idea, we want Tunch.

Top three reasons I frequent BJ

3. Smart, funny and insightful blog posts
2. Lily
1. Tunch
39
October 6th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Fulcanelli

@AhabTRuler: Perhaps where you are, but not around here. They would refuse to cash it if you didn’t have an account and there was never any fingerprint nonsense.
40
October 6th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Morbo

Damn choke artist Tigers, crimony. They didn’t deserve to move on the way they closed out the season, and hitting .262 with runners in scoring position. All that’s happened is they’ve been spared the indignity of losing to the Yankees. Note that still does not mean I want the Yankees to win.
41
October 6th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
ellaesther

Ok, open thread, right? Is this the place to register the sinking feeling I have that President Obama, in whom I had so much faith, put the final nail in the coffin of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process last week? Like, with his own two little hands?

What’s that? Take my misery and go darken some other corner? Fair enough….
42
October 6th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Martin

New York Liberal Elite Yankees

Um, the Mets are the liberal elite ones. The Yankees would waterboard your daughter in exchange for a line drive single and Yankees fans would boo them for not killing her in order to get the stand up double.

In the U/U version of the Rapture, everyone goes to heaven that doesn’t have Yankee memorabilia.
43
October 6th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Ash

@ellaesther: Ehrm, to what are you referring?
44
October 6th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Penfold

@Fulcanelli:

@AhabTRuler:

I can’t speak to how much this differs by region and whatnot, but BofA has been doing that here for at least a couple of years. It’s so widespread (and obnoxious) throughout the industry. I think the first time I remember seeing at going WTF? was circa 1998-99 at a First Chicago/Bank One (Now Chase).

I didn’t know BofA charged fees for cashing checks from their own banks, too. Classy.
45
October 6th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Scott Rock

This is getting familiar.

Red Wings – Philly
Michigan State – UNC
and now the Tigers cave. Not the World Series, sure, but still.

Good thing crushing disappointment is something we Michiganders are used to!
46
October 6th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
ellaesther

@Ash: The whole forcing Abbas to table the Goldstone report thing. Which most of the world probably didn’t notice much, but which served to essentially behead Abbas as a potential negotiator because now his credibility is completely in the toilet. Israelis always complain that there’s no partner for peace, and in doing this with the Obama Administration, they have seen to it that, indeed, they have no partner. Which is kind of what I suspect they wanted, though I doubt that the Administration fully understood what they were doing.

Seriously, don’t mind me. I’m just beside myself and felt the need to say it out loud. (Type it quietly).
47
October 6th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Phoenix Woman

Twelve bleeeeeeping innings.

That, folks, is baseball.
48
October 6th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Phoenix Woman

Oh, and the Metrodome would like to say a few words:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn.....ortCat=mlb
49
October 6th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
AhabTRuler

@Penfold: I first encountered both behaviors back in 95-96 (possibly earlier). BoA and a number of other banks, here in the DC Metro area.
50
October 6th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Phoenix Woman

@Scott Rock: ’s’OK, we’ll probably get creamed by the Yankees. Though then again, we weren’t supposed to catch up from three games back with four to go.
51
October 6th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Annie

@HRA

Your post really made me laugh. Maybe Tunch is being wise, and figuring that he can get John off his back by refusing to be followed by the camera. I think Tunch said or thought exactly what you said he said!

What we want is a picture of Tunch running from John and looking to Lily for help!
52
October 6th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Brachiator

Before this thread gets too long, I wanted to make sure that I recommended the great interview with Ryan Lizza, Washington Correspondent for The New Yorker magazine on the KPCC public radio program Air Talk with Larry Mantle (available on the KPCC web page and as a podcast on iTunes and elsewhere).

http://www.scpr.org/programs/a.....l-economy/

In the October 12 issue of “The New Yorker,” writer Ryan Lizza looks at the inner workings of President Obama’s economic team. He talked with Lawrence Summers, Timothy Geithner, Peter Orszag and others about economic policy. What’s working? What isn’t? And what trials and conflicts are helping to redefine the Administration’s struggle to fix the American economy.

One of the things that make the interview great is that a caller’s question was so good that it lead Lizza to respond to it by referring to additional material that he had not been able to include in his New Yorker piece.

The New Yorker article can be found here:

http://www.newyorker.com/repor.....fact_lizza

INSIDE THE CRISIS, by Ryan Lizza. Larry Summers and the White House economic team

.
53
October 6th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
schrodinger's cat

@Annie:
Tunch is too dignified too run, he glares and gets John to do what he wants.
54
October 6th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
mai naem

@Fulcanelli: I used to maintain a BofA account solely because I had a guy I used to do some freelance work for who banked at BofA precisely because they gave me such a hard time for cashing a check and the guy was somebody who used to kite checks so I had to cash the check right then. Anway, initially BofA let you maintain an account for about $200 with no charges. Then they increased it to $500 so I maintained that too but then they upped it to something like $5K or something and I thought FU. Ain’t paying $7/mo for doing nothing to my account. Also too, they were very unclear about when they would change the rules so I would lose a few months’ fees before I figured out what was happening. Thank god for credit unions.
55
October 6th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Brachiator

@ellaesther:

The whole forcing Abbas to table the Goldstone report thing. Which most of the world probably didn’t notice much, but which served to essentially behead Abbas as a potential negotiator because now his credibility is completely in the toilet.

Interesting stuff. Are there articles/links that provide a background on this?

How does Abbas tabling the report neutralize him?
56
October 6th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Corner Stone

@schrodinger’s cat:

Tunch is too dignified too run, he glares and gets John to do what he wants.

Ha! You should be in marketing, or PR, or a Republican Senator or something!
57
October 6th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Scott Rock

Anthony Weiner and the Wicked Witch of the East tangle at NYU. Notably, Weiner scores a gold fucking star for this:

You know, i feel like i’m—i’m debating a pyromaniac in a straw man factory
58
October 6th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
ellaesther

@Brachiator: Funny you should ask! Here’s a story from HaAretz which both gives the basic story, and helps to explain why I think he’s now doomed, because it shows the kind of rage that’s been unleashed. Apparently he’s now trying to find a way around his blunder, but I’m not sure there’s a way around it.

I mention this a lot around these parts, but who knows who’s heard what, so for the record: I’m an American-Israeli Jew and a Zionist who has lived, studied, and/or written about the conflict since about 1982, and I’ve been advocating for a two-state solution since 1986-ish (first intifada).

All the Palestinians have, in 61 years of struggle, is the fact that occasionally, very occasionally, the world will acknowledge their pain and suffering. That’s pretty much it. To have their purported leader cave to American and Israeli demands regarding a report that documents the most recent round of that pain and suffering is just too much. I think the man is done for.

Leaving us with Hamas, who no one plans to negotiate with anyway.
59
October 6th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
asiangrrlMN

The Twins, bitchez! What do you think of them now????? (I am being as jubilant as I can before the inevitable Yankee sweep).

WOOOT!
60
October 6th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Midnight Marauder

Alan Grayson is still tearing it up. I know you’re going to be surprised, but it seems like Republicans aren’t following through with their hissy fit after he called them out on their bullshit.

Alan Grayson Unlikely to Face GOP Reprimand

Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida, a self-proclaimed “Democrat with guts,” appears unlikely to be subject to a resolution of disapproval for suggesting that part of the Republican health care plan is for Americans to “die quickly if you get sick.”

The Associated Press is reporting that a spokesman for Republican Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, who drafted a resolution of disapproval against Grayson and threatened to introduce it on the House floor, is suggesting that Price does not plan to do so.

WATB. The lot of them.
61
October 6th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
CynDee

Thank you, John. This is Sweet Face’s sweetest face yet. Licking the camera; her little muzzle is sooo cute.

Please pet Teh Big Kitteh specially tonight for all us Tunch lovers, but don’t make him mad by telling him of our affection.

I ain’t reading another thing tonight—just going to bed with visions of Lily and Tunch in my head for safe and sane sleep.
62
October 6th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
SiubhanDuinne

@asiangrrlMN:

Okay. Seriously. This Atlanta Braves fan who remembers every moment of the 1991 World Series is happy for you, happy for Minnesota, happy for the Twins. Congratulations.

No, really.

Great game.

(Will my BlackBerry asplode when I hit the Submit button?)
63
October 7th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Comrade Mary

You know how I’m getting my Tunch fix? This.

With Safe Search off, his Tunchiness has three hits on the first page, two more on the second—God, I’m pathetic. Maybe I should just get my own cat again …
64
October 7th, 2009 at 12:05 am
Corner Stone

@Cat Lady: THAT was a fucking baseball game.
Damn that was all kinds of win.
65
October 7th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Robertdsc-iphone

It may not have been posted outright, but the below link is to John’s YouTube page which has videos of Tunch, sweet Lily, and Ginny & Guesley:

YouTube
66
October 7th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Francis

PUPPY! I HAVE A NEW PUPPY

ahem. since i don’t post regularly, let me recap. I lost my big black akita bitch a few months back to a heart attack while we (wife and I) were on vacation. (no guilt there, of course not. cell phone rings on the day we’re due to fly back to LA. OMG, the person says, your bitch went to sleep last night and didn’t wake up!! gah. she was only 6 yrs old.)

so, the big dog (no, not bill clinton, my half akita half malinois) gets all depressed. tail drooping, whining, sulking, etc. At the same time I finally agree to quit my horrible job.

So, the love-o-my-life (aka wife) gets on petfinder and finds the cutest little white husky bitch, blue-and-brown eyes and all!! (can you believe that someone would abandon a beautiful little husky puppy? some people SUCK.) She’s 13 weeks old (approx), home with us, the big dog is thrilled and my last day is Friday

[if anyone needs a CEQA/water lawyer in So.Cal., I’m your guy. if not, I’m planning on a little emotional rehab with the poochies after a rough 3+ years.]

pictures will be posted as soon as I figure out flickr, or send them to our bloghost.
67
October 7th, 2009 at 1:13 am
SiubhanDuinne

@Francis: she sounds absolutely adorable and gorgeous. That was a good thing you did. Cannot wait to see those pictures!
68
October 7th, 2009 at 1:15 am
The Other Steve

Was at the Twins game tonight.

Great game. I think the Twins fielded their entire pitching roster. :-)

Now if we can only beat the Yankees.
69
October 7th, 2009 at 1:15 am
asiangrrlMN

@SiubhanDuinne: Heh. Bitter much?

Lovely Lily. I hope to see Tunchie soon.

The Other Steve, that game was insane.

Francis, congrats! Can’t wait to see picks.
70
October 7th, 2009 at 1:18 am
General Winfield Stuck

@Francis:

pictures will be posted as soon as I figure out flickr, or send them to our bloghost.

Use flickr, and hurry please. Our bloghost is an absent minded professor after all.
71
October 7th, 2009 at 1:25 am
SiubhanDuinne

@asiangrrlMN: They say the bitterness fades with time. I’m giving it another 18 years.
72
October 7th, 2009 at 1:28 am
arguingwithsignposts

@asiangrrlMN:

Congrats to teh Twinz, bitchez! Hope the sweep happens the other way.

Anyone else see the “We are all Mayans now” commercial on Hulu recently and think of BJ?
73
October 7th, 2009 at 1:30 am
burnspbesq

@ellaesther:

I’m not following. I don’t know how Obama can be said to have put the final nail in the coffin of something whose burial was completed when Netanyahu became PM. The only peace Bibi wants is the peace that comes after the Palestinians are exterminated.
74
October 7th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Brachiator

@ellaesther:

Funny you should ask! Here’s a story from HaAretz which both gives the basic story, and helps to explain why I think he’s now doomed, because it shows the kind of rage that’s been unleashed. Apparently he’s now trying to find a way around his blunder, but I’m not sure there’s a way around it.

Thanks very much for the links. It certainly appears that attempts to even set up future talks have been derailed for now.
75
October 7th, 2009 at 2:11 am
RedKitten

@Francis: Yay! Congrats, Francis! Can’t wait to see the photos!
76
October 7th, 2009 at 2:17 am
meander

Nice piece about how pets can help troubled children in Tuesday’s NYT Science section.

When Chad, a yellow Labrador retriever, moved in with Claire Vaccaro’s family in Manhattan last spring, he already had an important role. As an autism service dog, he was joining the family to help protect Ms. Vaccaro’s 11-year-old son, Milo — especially in public, where he often had tantrums or tried to run away.
...
“Within, I would say, a week, I noticed enormous changes,” Ms. Vaccaro said of Milo, whose autism impairs his ability to communicate and form social bonds. “More and more changes have happened over the months as their bond has grown. He’s much calmer. He can concentrate for much longer periods of time. It’s almost like a cloud has lifted.”
77
October 7th, 2009 at 8:38 am
schrodinger's cat

@Corner Stone:
Whatever do you mean?
78
October 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am
asiangrrlMN

@SiubhanDuinne: Oh, I hear you. I wouldn’t be one to forgive any time soon, either.

@arguingwithsignposts: Thanks, arguing! Nice to see you’re optimistic about the Twins’ chances. I sure as hell ain’t. No way they can win in the House that Ruth Built*. They will be scrappy and plucky and put up a hell of a fight, but how can the beat the mercenaries?

*Ruth = NY taxpayers.
79
October 7th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
SadOldVet

Keep the animal pictures coming! Lose the Steelers pimping!