This made me laugh out loud:
And then you read the article, and the Democrats calling for her resignation are some state Senator somewhere and former Lieberman aide Dan Gerstein. This is not a news organization, it is the propaganda wing of the GOP.
In related news, Steve Benen notes that Breitbart’s clowns at Big Government dropped the ball again, and wonders why they don’t have a better fact checking system and states “they never learn.”
The answer, of course, is simple. They don’t care about facts. They care about narratives and spreading propaganda. It doesn’t matter if they have completely made things up, it will be conventional “wisdom” with wingnuts that Bertha Lewis was at the White House. And crazy as that sounds, they are remarkably successful at spreading bullshit and making people believe it- see the ACORN nonsense from this summer, which has now turned out to be absolutely nothing. The last I checked, the beltway stenographers were all upset that they didn’t investigate harder.
Breitbart and Big Government learned, all right. They learned that it doesn’t matter what you make up, if you can get enough people repeating it, you can convince our investigative journalists that it is true. It’s a huge joke and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn every political reporter in the country has been taken by a Nigerian email scam.
SIA
OK I’m at the end in the last thread talking to myself.
The Grand Panjandrum
A lot of good stuff to laugh at this weekend. I got this screen cap of Mike Allen’s Wikipedia entry.
It has now been edited and locked. I have a larger screen cap of it as well.
henqiguai
@SIA:
Hey ! Some of us just take a while to think of anything to say. But in the meantime, I always respond to naysayers of those talking to themselves that it is simply satisfying the desire for a bit of intelligent conversation. Let’um suck on that for a minute.
dmsilev
Sounds like an opportunity for some fun to me. “Dear sir, I am a wealthy Kenyan who needs help in moving a copy of a certain birth certificate out of my country…”
I bet there’s at least one reporter, probably at Politico, who’d fall for that.
-dms
Corner Stone
@dmsilev:
Brick Oven Bill
This is why Balloon Juice is a better news site that FOX News. At Balloon Juice, we first learned that:
“Janet is toast”.
This was like days ago.
Balloon Juice also beat Drudge by two days with the climate emails that were not ‘hacked’ but were ‘exposed’ by a ‘whistleblower’. Balloon Juice was also the first major media outlet to announced that Glenn Beck was the new FOX Alpha, after ‘live-blogging’ his appearance on O’Reilly, and announcing Beck I think the 5-2 winner.
Bill really likes money but should stop selling door-mats and hand-bags with his name on them. Is there a Balloon-Juice lexicon for ‘Peak-Cheese’?
O’Reilly has decided to partner with his Alpha, Glenn. This is because Bill covets money. Geraldo, on the other hand, refuses to appear with Glenn, as Glenn makes fun of Geraldo, and Geraldo has thin skin and no sense of humor.
Corner Stone
Come on Natti!
General Winfield Stuck
It made me laugh too. “Democrats” for Fox News includes a grand total of 2. One a state dem senator from NJ, likely the most corrupt state run by dems in the country, though IL would give them run for that title. And a former Joe Lieberman staffer. You cannot make this shit up.
Corner Stone
I’m pretty sure we’re not going to look back at this recession as the one that made us “great”.
Ann B. Nonymous
I’m still undecided on sexypants Bill: a brilliant Andy Kaufman type who deserves every punch in the face he gets, or a brain-damaged jackass who habitually posts under the influence.
It’s sad about the country’s political discourse that it’s difficult to tell the difference.
Either way, I think the best way for Bill to register his protest is to do what the Buddhist monks did in Vietnam. It’ll keep you warm on those upstate NY nights more than any Beck groupie ever will, Bill.
Well, one night, anyway.
And stream it, please.
Mako
I work.
My slacker rental neighbors were really loud last night. Parking on my sidewalk, drunken carousing at 4 am, but that’s all cool, what i can’t forgive is their musical taste.
This AM, shortly after dawn when the last unemployed slacker pencilneck finally passed out and turned the stereo off, I went live and loud with PA speakers playing repeat hours of Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life”. Hey, don’t worry about me, the speakers are in a window pointing out and I’m half deaf, so i probably won’t be saved, but those bumblenuts next door? They will probably find jesus.
And, i gave a bag of beer cans to a homeless fellow.
Just doing my part to make this a better world.
Happy New Veal.
SIA
@henqiguai: I like your slant on it much better than mine, which is I got to the party late and then everybody left. :)
Re the topic@The Grand Panjandrum: Good catch on the wiki page. They should have added “slavering lapdog of the intellectually challenged”.
Sentient Puddle
Even the liberal Joe Lieberman…!
But seriously, if he calls for Napolitano to step down in the next few days, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Sentient Puddle: That would never do. He will have hearings in his committee first. Then after a bunch of grandstanding …
Brick Oven Bill
Janet’s fatal flaw was making a substantative remark in only four syllables. While the single syllable slogans are the best to be used with the Democratic base (‘Hope’, ‘Change’), up to half in this Democratic base can follow thoughts of up to seven syllables (‘I want Obama money’, etc).
‘The System Worked’ (4-syllables) contains less than seven syllables, and Janet’s though-process can be known to many.
Obama has mastered this Democratic base and now can annunciate hundreds and sometimes thousands of syllables without even making a point. This is why they like him. This think of ‘Hope’ and ‘Change’ and don’t even try to understand the rest of his intellectual-sounding gobbley-gook readings from the teleprompter.
But the Democratic base can understand Janet’s ‘‘the system worked’. And thus Janet is toast.
Ann sounds cranky.
arguingwithsignposts
I’m repeating myself, but I could sic smudge on their asses. She’s pretty vicious. (video!)
demkat620
Because I love you all, remember this?
Good times.
Mako
Okay, who thinks my troll was better than bob’s?
joe from Lowell
I think they’re picking on the wrong lady. She’s serious and diligent and going about her job in a professional manner, and they’re whining little partisans nipping at her heels.
This is the same script that’s been failing for them for a year and a half. They’re going to run around like idiots for a week, crowing about how much they’re killing Napolitiano, Obama, and the Democrats, while Obama and Napolitano keep cool and go about their business, and a week later, everybody has forgotten what they were complaining about, and they’ll be flailing away at their latest stunt.
This is McCain suspending his campaign. This is the pimp-n-ho video. The Party of Lame Gimmicks.
joe from Lowell
I think they’re picking on the wrong lady. She’s serious and diligent and going about her job in a professional manner, and they’re whining little partisans nipping at her heels.
This is the same script that’s been failing for them for a year and a half. They’re going to run around like idiots for a week, crowing about how much they’re killing Napolitiano, Obama, and the Democrats, while Obama and Napolitano keep cool and go about their business, and a week later, everybody has forgotten what they were complaining about, and they’ll be flailing away at their latest stunt.
This is McCain suspending his campaign. This is the pimp-n-ho video. The Party of Lame Gimmicks.
arguingwithsignposts
@Mako:
That’s a low bar to set for yourself. BoB is like the baseline around here.
Demo Woman
@Sentient Puddle: Joe will be on the Sunday talk shows spouting his disdain for Janet, I’m sure.
burnspbesq
Wait … I thought someone was being paid to go to Bill’s house every day and make sure he was taking his meds. That’s how it would work under the French health care system.
Dangerstein needs to be framed for one or more Federal felonies, convicted, and sent to the Supermax in Colorado. He is a greater threat to our democracy than any terrist.
Yutsano
I can haz serious opposition party plz? Kthxbai!
gbear
Rachel Maddow made the same point very well on her last show, right down to scolding the press for stenography. It’s a great segment with a great rant in the last minute.
arguingwithsignposts
@burnspbesq:
OT, but didn’t you post a link to a Bob Mould concert recently? Any chance you could re-up that link?
kay
@Demo Woman:
Joe is the ranking chairman of the committee charged with homeland security, and a self-proclaimed terrorism expert.
He’s promising to “strengthen” homeland security. In a sane world, he’d be asked why he’s just now getting around to “strengthening” homeland security.
I think if you’re going to pontificate on what went wrong, and you were in a position of power like Joe was and is, you better be careful on pointing fingers.
That’s assuming any of the nodding bobbleheads will ask that easy and obvious next question, though, so maybe he’s safe.
Midnight Marauder
@Corner Stone:
You mean, it’s not “The Great Recession” like Mr. Haysbert has been informing me week after week?
arguingwithsignposts
@kay:
fixed that for ya.
Yutsano
@Mako: That was a troll? I thought you were just kvetching.
Sly
In fairness to Andrew Breitbart, ACORN is a target more suitable for scorn when compared to African Child Soldiers.
Mako
I had a dog once when I was a kid and then my parents moved to the suburbs and the dog ran away. Fortunately my parents found it a good home on a farm.
Left Coast Tom
@The Grand Panjandrum:
Does he remember how to do that?
arguingwithsignposts
@Mako:
Throw in some homophobia and sexism, and you’ve got a winner there. Maybe something about a dildo-bearing elf.
Linkmeister
Since one of this post’s categories is “media” I’m going to say that I will be very grateful when Tebow is no longer a QB in college football.
The only guy who’s more loved and whose boots are more sloppily licked by sportscasters is Favre, or at least Favre before the multiple retirements.
kay
@arguingwithsignposts:
I don’t know why he’s been silent for so long. Ordinarily, you can’t shut him up on his very most favorite subject.
The system needed “strengthening”? How long has it been weak?
Joshua Norton
If they couldn’t find any actual Dems, they just would have put a (D) after some Repug they didn’t like.
Another decade of schlock and awe brought to you by Faux Noise.
Yutsano
@kay:
This question shall never be asked of Holy Joe. It would be questioning his integrity as the head of the Homeland security committee, and that would label the asker as either a DFH or an unserious person.
Mako
@arguingwithsignposts:
No offense, but i think what you just said is racist, they like to be called “short people”. And whatever you do, no matter how much they might resemble an end table, don’t stub your butt out on them. That really pisses them off. Also, it’s best not to ask, “Are all Jews short?”
These multicultural new years parties are a learning experience.
arguingwithsignposts
@Mako:
Duly noted. we wouldn’t want to offend any dildo-bearing short people.
Because that might hurt.
ETA: would that be “racist”? or “shortist”? just curious.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Joshua Norton:
Right… and it’d probably one who just got busted for being a pedophile… kill two birds w/ one stone… dont’cha know?
Culture of Truth
That’s Jake Tapper’s sister network your’re talking about!
The Republic of Stupidity
#arguingwithsignposts:
Dildoist?
Corner Stone
@Midnight Marauder:
“And this was the time where we realized everything we made and everything we consumed was shit. This was the time where we decided to stop being total peckerwoods. This was the time where we realized we’ve been gouging the fuck out of our customers. And this is the time we realized we weren’t going to stop. Are you in Good Hands ™ ?
Yutsano
Consider the number of people who will only watch Fox News simply because they consider it “fair and balanced”. Now consider Fox’s ratings on a good night (around 8 million people IIRC) and you realize these people are having their need addressed to define reality as they want it to be. That shouldn’t keep us from mocking Fox mercilessly as they do very little for the national discourse, we just need to find a better way of getting these people to recognize they are not getting the whole story.
Corner Stone
@Linkmeister: I absolutely can not wait until Tebow is not drafted, and does not ever play a down in the NFL.
Mako
@The Republic of Stupidity:
Any one got pictures of Jake Trapper’s sister? I hear she has a network, and i know what that means. Big around the backside, hummina hummina.
Mako
@The Republic of Stupidity:
Any one got pictures of Jake Trapper’s sister? I hear she has a network, and i know what that means. Big around the backside, hummina hummina.
arguingwithsignposts
OT: could we have an open thread for a serious pet grooming question? I am trying to clip the smudge’s nails, and when I get her in my lap, I can’t seem to pull out the nails. How to do this? I have the clippers ready and everything, but … She needs to be trimmed.
Mako
Oh crap, hit the button twice.
But seriously, anyone got pictures?
The Republic of Stupidity
:Yutsano@
Indeed… indeed… it is our patriotic duty to mock Fox, at every opportunity. And perhaps one at a time, those poor lost souls will follow the sound of our laughter and come back to the light, or at least away from Fox…
Yutsano
@Corner Stone: I have zero doubt he’ll get drafted. In fact it wouldn’t shock me if he and his family have been talking to Scott Boras already and laying out the framework for a real sweetheart contract. Now how he’ll perform in the NFL is a completely different story. Personally I think he’ll be a total bust but he’ll still get massively rich regardless of what happens.
Corner Stone
@Mako:
“Chandler: Yeah, it’s like when you’re a kid, and your parents put your dog to sleep, and they tell you it went off to live on some farm.
Ross: That’s funny, that, no, because, uh, our parents actually did, uh, send our dog off to live on a farm.
Monica: Uh, Ross.
Ross: What? Wh- hello? The Millners’ farm in Connecticut? The Millners, they had this unbelievable farm, they had horses, and, and rabbits that he could chase and it was- it w- …..Oh my God, Chi Chi! ”
Sorry.
Yutsano
@arguingwithsignposts: What do you mean by pull out? Please tell me you’re not yanking on the poor kitteh’s claws while she howls out like a banshee?
Mako
@arguingwithsignposts:
What i have always found effective is a pillowcase. Stuff the lil pooch in there. Use a bit of twine or duct tape or whatever is necessary, and then regular garden shears or a belt sander.
gbear
Nah, they’ll just close the windows and turn up the TV. Then they’ll call the cops and write a letter to the editor.
Loneoak
Entirely OT, but I just love this local news segment so much right now. It’s the most perfect depiction of greater Detroit I have ever seen.
madmommy
@arguingwithsignposts:
Try gently squeezing her paws so that the claws come forward. What works best for me is to have the cat tucked under my left arm, and using the left hand squeeze the paw so that the claws come out and then trim them with the clippers in the right hand. If you’re a lefty, switch it up.
Fair warning-most cats do not care for this sort of thing. At all.
The Republic of Stupidity
:kay@
I can go w/ that… the part about being an ‘expert on terrorism’…
***pause for effect…***
‘Cause Joe sure scares the crap outta me!
***Ka-bang*** (rimshot…)
Thank yeeeeeeeeew… thank yeeeeeeeeew verrrrry much…
Mako
@Corner Stone:
Wow, Thanks for pointing out that my life was made into a bad Friends episode. I will be seriously reconsidering my will to live now. I’ll make sure this blog gets the credit for my firey death.
The Republic of Stupidity
@madmommy:
Tell me about it… ever try rolfing your cat’s tongue?
Yutsano
@The Republic of Stupidity: You’ll be here until Thursday, please try the veal?
Corner Stone
@Yutsano: 4th round or later. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see him go undrafted.
gbear
@arguingwithsignposts: I gave up doing it a long time ago but I remember that a little pressure on the paw pad and toe got the claw out. Don’t trim too much or you’ll have a hurting and pissed off kitty in your lap.
Roger Moore
@Ann B. Nonymous:
Just remember, give a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set him on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
Yutsano
@Corner Stone: He’s definitely not going in the first or second, way too much talent in the college ranks across the board for that to happen. Unless he gets a guaranteed pick by a team he goes low and holds a clipboard for a few years. Which might in fact be just what he needs if he actually wants a football career.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Corner Stone:
Ya know that reminds me of a post I did once about those bloody air freshner things that Johnson and Johnson (a family company) put out. I found it really quite hilarious. At first they brought out “plug ins” and there was an all out blitz ad campaign to sell them, so dupes (like me) went out and bought them and then realized that they worked for perhaps a week. Then J&J brought out a new product “that doesn’t quickly fade away!” (in other words stop working after a week), so basically “the shit we sold you before was crap, but here is new shit!” dupes (not me) went out and bought them, then J&J brought a new product out WITH A FAN! cause you know the previous two products that we introduced and sold you didn’t work worth a shit, but this one does! (I gave up after the first incarnation and went to Febreze Noticeables which actually do work). I am absolutely stunned at the sheer gullibility of consumers on this planet, and I suppose you could relate that to the electorate.
Corner Stone
@Yutsano: His fundamentals are too weak. His arm action is too slow. He’s not accurate enough and the first series he tries to roll out of the pocket and meets a 290 pound DE that can outrun him side to side he will cry momma.
Plus I don’t think his “competitive” mentality is suited to learn an NFL offense.
arguingwithsignposts
@Yutsano:
No, just trying to trim her nails, like you’d trim a person’s fingernails. But they are buried in her paws, so they are hard to get at. She’s starting to get ‘hung up’ on stuff, so I am wondering. I’ve never clipped a kitteh’s nail’s before, but I know she needs it.
The Republic of Stupidity
@gbear:
And that letter will include at least three references to:
Pansies, tree-huggers, Islamofascists, Mao, Stalin, Kenya, the 1st, 2nd, or 10th amendments, Dijon mustard, succession, black helicopters, Stephen Vincent, coddling terrorists, ‘uppity’, or the homosexual agenda…
Bonus points will be awarded for appropriate Old Testament
quotes…
Yutsano
@Corner Stone: Well he just hooked up with his
boyfriendroommate Cooper which is gonna be a great selling point. You’re correct in that Florida’s offensive system has been built entirely around him. It’s why I have a feeling they will not do as well with another QB next year.Mark S.
Well, that was a nice pass by Tebow.
Sly
@Yutsano:
There is no “whole story” for people obtuse enough to think that Fox is a reliable source of information. Because, for them, information is not a collection of facts from which one can discern an objective reality. Information is simply a narrative that reinforces their own unexamined biases and petty prejudices. I have these people in my own family. Piercing through the nonsense they’ve been spoon-fed only results in a withdrawal to more simple narratives in an attempt to further immunize themselves from actually learning anything.
Over the course of the holiday I managed to systematically dismantle the criticism against both the House and Senate HCR bills two family members had adopted as the gospel truth (which didn’t include the more obvious pieces of bullshit like death panels and coverage for illegal immigrants) and they simply retreated into the classic “Well, you just can’t trust the government to fix things.” And one of them received full knee replacement surgery through Medicare. He’d be in a wheelchair right now were it not for the government’s ability to fix things.
Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.
Ed in NJ
Richard Codey, NJ State Senate President, is the single most popular politician in New Jersey, and has been for years now. Obama personally appealed to him to run against Corzine, and would have easily defeated Christie His term as acting governor after McGreevy resigned single-handedly restored honor to the NJ Democratic Party. And he’s well-liked by Republicans.
I’m not sure what his angle is in calling for Napolitano’s head. Perhaps it’s a bid for attention since his job has been eliminated due to the introduction of a Lieutenant Governor in NJ, or perhaps it’s to ingratiate himself with the incoming Christie administration. But either way, it’s a disappointment that he seems to have taken Napolitano’s quotes out of context and exploited it as if he was a winger.
Hopefully nothing comes of this, but those of you here making ignorant comments about “some corrupt NJ politician” don’t know wtf you are talking about.
Yutsano
@arguingwithsignposts: Most cats trim their own nails. It’s why they constantly claw at things, they’re basically giving themselves a pedicure. If her scratching post isn’t cutting it you might consider upgrading or getting her something she can tear into just for her. If you absolutely have to then yeah make her very comfortable then get something like a PediPaws system. Most nail trimmers are too rough for smaller cats.
gbear
@The Republic of Stupidity: Yep, except I’d add ‘taxes’, as in, ‘what am I paying mine for?’.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Roger Moore:
Words of wisdom there, Rog… words of wisdom…
How’s about:
Not sure who said that… mebbe Freddy Kruger?
The Republic of Stupidity
@Sly:
WoooooHoooo!
Hear that, Maw?
I’m ***TIMELESS***!
Litlebritdifrnt
@arguingwithsignposts:
My advice. Don’t. Try this.
https://www.gettheemerycat.com/flare/next?tag=os|af
Or if you are in the Britty household just accept the fact that the very bottom post on your stair case now looks like a toothpick. Or get them a log to scratch on. In my opinion cats are much better at trimming their own nails than are their hoomin staff.
I got one of those Pedipaws thingys, and apparently it worked wonders on my husbands toenails (which defied all attempts with clippers being the parrots beaks they were), it was however utterly useless on my pets due to the fact that my pets (both dogs and cats) have a nasty habit of saying “fuck no” whenever I try to do something normal like trim their nails.
If all else fails (and you have the funds) get the vet to do it.
DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio
DEMOCRATS CALL FOR BOB’S RESIGNATION
You heard it here first.
Something Fabulous
@arguingwithsignposts: Basically what madmommy said, but I personally go for resting the cat in question on my lap, with their back up against me (does that make sense?). Then you can use your legs to trap the squirming lower half while you trim. Softly pressing from the pads side of the paw should make the nails come forward. When you are starting, only trim a little at a time; you don’t want to go too close to the quick when they are so little. Fortunately, you are starting her on it young, so she should hopefully get at least acclimatized to it, and not hate it as much as adult cats do.
Also, treats!
General Winfield Stuck
@Ed in NJ:
Well, I guess you are speaking to me. And I didn’t say he was ““some corrupt NJ politician” . I said he was a dem from likely the most corrupt dem run state being NJ. And I sure do stand by that statement.
gbear
awsp, get her one of these!! My cat has ripped the living shit out of the carpeted posts over the last five years, but she never touches the furniture. The thing is strong enough that I can sit on the lower platform while petting Halley as she lounges on the top.
note: I wouldn’t have bought it if the place wasn’t just a couple miles from my house. It’s a pretty steep shipping charge.
MikeJ
Unrelated to anything here, but related to teh teevee, I would memorize all of A Sale of Two Titties for Julie Christie. And François Truffaut r0xx0rs my world.
Litlebritdifrnt
@arguingwithsignposts:
I have a kitteh who was seriously abused and beaten almost to death by some brain dead teenagers on Halloween once. She was hit by their truck, and then when good and injured and blood filled her lungs they took turns in breaking all her legs for fun. Her front two legs were so badly damaged that the vet thought one might have to be amputated. As it was she recovered. However, as a result, she has never managed to regain the ability to retract her claws, (and her jaw which was hit by the truck has never been the same), so, when Alpha decides to kneed you, you tend to stay kneeded, cause her claws are in you until you gently remove them. I have never been bothered by it to be honest, it is just an Alpha quirk that we live with, I would not go overboard about the claws thingy, Alpha gets stuck in all sorts of things (blankets, pillows, afghans, dogs) and we always manage to get her unstuck somehow.
SIA
@Litlebritdifrnt: You are my hero.
Cat Lady
The answer is simple. And obvious. You know it, I know it, everyone here knows it. Do the journamalists know it but they’re just too lazy to care, or are they all just too dimwitted to see?
Our media sucks. Rick Sanchez asks some obvious questions that make that smarmy weasel Ensign squirm, and it’s like it’s a big fucking deal.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Uh huh.
Corner Stone
@Yutsano: That was a hell of a toss and catch.
Jules
I don’t clip cat nails…that sounds as nuts as giving a cat a bath, but I once had to zip my batshit “don’t give me no pills” cat in a small tent bag with only her head sticking out so I could get pills down her throat without getting ripped to shreds.
Yeah, I get liquid meds for her now, but you still have grab her face, open her mouth and use the dropper in 1 sec (and you hope some goes in) before she realizes what you are doing.
Litlebritdifrnt
@SIA:
She is 12 now, and as darling as ever. I would not miss a day without her presence. She is a very vocal cat, and will more often than not walk into the kitchen through the cat door and tell you such a tail of woe of her journey from the back yard to the kitchen that defies description. While with other cats I would tend to discount it as pure attention seeking noise, with Alpha and her history I tend to listen.
MikeJ
@kommrade reproductive vigor: While I like that song better (it was playing when I first did things that you remember your first time doing) the better Kermit video is Hurt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57ta7mkgrOU
No mice profited from the making of this video, which makes it that much better.
MelodyMaker
@Mako:
substitute a circular saw for the little bits?
South of I-10
@Jules: I have had the “give a kitteh a pill problem” before. Last time I needed meds for the cats, my vet called it out to the local compounding pharmacy and they added tuna flavor. Easy time ever giving meds to a cat.
Corner Stone
@Mako:
Just sayin’ your parents killed your dog, then lied to you about it.
Not trying to harsh your mellow or anything. We’ll still have Paris.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Jules: Ha Ha same Alpha thread! When she was recovering due to her broken jaw she was on a liquid high protein, high calorie diet which was administered with a syringe. I would put her on my lap, stroke her head and then say “Okay baby doll, it is time to eat now, I have to give you this” she would sit there and glare at me (as they do) but once the syringe full of goop was in her throat she would dutifully swallow. It was due to this routine that I discovered that the front legs were going to be okay, cause one morning while giving her breakfast her claws began to “kneed” the vet didn’t believe me at first, (at the next check up) he said “I think you may be projecting, I do not think she will ever get feeling back in those legs” he then got a pair of pincers and grabbed her toes, sure enough she drew away from the pincers. He said to me “mommy is sure a good nurse”.
Corner Stone
And I’ve been using FireFox all night and anyone who says it’s better than IE is FITH and I will Indian Wrestle for the last Snickers bar in the house.
Comrade Mary
Trimming a cat’s claws:
1) Have a treat nearby (but out of sight) before you start. I used TonicLax (aka Laxitone), which is a malty gooey treat in a tube that most cats adore. Plus, it works against hairballs.
2) Make a nest of your lap, sitting cross-legged, and cuddle the cat upside down. Skritch and cuddle her a bit.
3) Start with the front claws. Gently squeeze each toe, thumb on the top and index finger on the paw pad on the bottom. The claw will pop out. Clip the sharp tip well clear of the quick. Smudge is a white cat with white claws, so the quick should be easy to see. For your first trim, just do something to each claw. You can better judge how much needs to be clipped once you both get a little practice.
4) You may need to cajole and skritch a little as you go, but with practice, you will get pretty quick and the cat will not be squirmy.
5) Front claws tend to need more clipping than rear claws, but even if it looks as if nothing really needs to be trimmed from the back, snip off a tiny fragment if only to train your cat that all toes get attended to.
6) Let Smudge stand up, give her a cuddle, and give her a treat.
AhabTRuler
@Corner Stone: No more sugar for you.
Litlebritdifrnt
Oh and seeing as no one has mentioned this before, de-clawing it not an option, it is abuse pure and simple, never, ever, ever declaw a cat, you are crippling them for life. It is abuse.
MelodyMaker
gbear, I liked what you said about the Humane Society. 100% right.
mcd410x
@Corner Stone: Of course, he’ll be drafted. Probably in the first round. Most NFL GMs have little idea what they’re doing.
That doesn’t stop my wanting him to end up as far away from here as possible. Kamchatka, possibly.
ppcli
@Corner Stone:
Tebow will be drafted, I’m sure of that. And he’ll play too. After he gets his head handed to him whenever he sets foot on the field in his first season at QB, and riding the bench for the next few seasons, he’ll make a some team a perfectly serviceable backup tight end.
mcd410x
20 minutes til the Chosen One is gone! Like Christmas all over again!!
Corner Stone
@AhabTRuler: Oh, it’s on! You think you can take my last Snickers? Huh? Do ya?
Come on punk! Let’s see what you got!
Corner Stone
@ppcli: I disagree. He’ll never convert to anything and won’t see a snap in a regular season game.
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: Nah, no fan base to put butts in seats. Where’s he gonna go? Miami? Jacksonville?
Nobody else wants to see him play and he’ll never hack it Jacksonville in their system.
Now, Miami…he might actually fit a wildcat based system, at least until he gets his bell rung a couple times. But I doubt Parcells will take him.
MelodyMaker
@Comrade Mary:
you are one lucky cat mommy. I can’t get my girls into a burrito, let alone snip more than a few snips.
Corner Stone
I mean, just watching that little swing pass. I counted to almost 3 before Tebow let it go. He’s a dead man in the NFL.
ppcli
@Corner Stone: You make a compelling case. But if you’re right, I’m sorry I won’t ever get to see Ray Lewis or Lamar Woodley hit him so hard his eyepatches fly into the stands.
AhabTRuler
@Corner Stone: Fuck the Snickers, I just think you need to be put into a cool, dark shed or electrical closet until you calm down.
JGabriel
Speaking of people that aren’t credible, The Washington Independent has up a slide show of Ten Conservatives to Watch in the New Year.
Number 9? Erick Erickson. Palin’s at six.
How much more inflated can Erickson’s ego get before he floats away? Because you know making that list just doubled it.
.
mcd410x
17 minutes!! We’re getting close now!!
Corner Stone
@ppcli: Well, let’s not be too hasty here. I’d pay good money to see Urlacher, or Cushing, or any number of awesome DE’s pile drive godboy.
Maybe I should rethink this whole deal.
Who could he play for where he’d meet the most dangerous MF’ers in the league? Hmmm…
ppcli
@Corner Stone:
OK, I concede. That was an eternity. Do that in the pros and you’ll be hit so hard and fast you’ll emit the higgs boson.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@MikeJ: You were listening to Kermit the first time you had it off? I must be old because I can’t imagine not LMAO if that were playing. Under any circumstances.
@Comrade Mary: Unless the cats are like mine, in which case it is:
1. Discretely grab an old sheet.
2. Take it to the place you plan to sit while performing the operation.
3. When the other cat isn’t looking, grab one of the cats and stick it in the room.
4. Put the other cat outside (so it won’t hear what’s going on and hide).
5. Quickly wrap cat in sheet. The cat will oblige you by sticking out a paw to scratch your face off.
6. Make sure a bit of the sheet is over the cat’s face.
7. Clip claws quickly but carefully.
8. Release cat.
9. Bandage wounds.
10. Repeat with other cat.
Corner Stone
@AhabTRuler:
I’m pretty sure no one would disagree with you.
EXCEPT FOR MY ESPN ANALYST FATHER!
MikeJ
@kommrade reproductive vigor: Uhm, no, I was listening to Talking Heads. That song, not that performance. The performance under discussion may have been laughable, but it seemed pretty serious at the time.
mcd410x
@ppcli: line of the night.
God, if the Fins take Him I’ll carve my eyes out with a spoon. And I don’t even like Miami.
Corner Stone
@ppcli:
I do have to admit I get a burst of serious iatropic excitement every time I picture him emitting the higgs boson after a hit.
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: I can’t believe you capitilized “Him”.
Fencedude
@ppcli:
Oh god, I don’t give two shits about football, and only barely know who Tebow is, but that comment had me rolling.
Awesome.
Lesley
The headline provides some unintended chuckles. It gives the impression Napolitano would be cheered if the attack had been a success.
“Simply not a credible news organization” would be an accurate and awesome replacement for “fair and balanced”.
ajr22
Tebow will struggle in the NFL with his footwork. He will have to learn how to run an offense from under center. Running play action from under center is a totally different ball game compared to that option draw they run at Florida. I’d like to see him run right into mario williams!
kommrade reproductive vigor
@MikeJ: Understood, thanks for clearing that up.
I too remember what I was listening to at the time: The sound of cars outside. Mom sometimes came home early and never had the decency to call first.
It’s why I can identify the engine and door slam of every car on my block.
mcd410x
Rollerball followed by Blue Velvet on TCM at midnight.
How awesome is that?
P.S. 13 minutes, soooo close!
Darryl
Dear Honorable Mr. Broder:
My name is Kwame Equalblame, and I am deputy assistant minister of the Bipartisan Republic of Nigeria. I need your bank account number to transfer piles and piles of centrist gold bullion….
Corner Stone
@kommrade reproductive vigor: Smoking the Mary Jane? Or doing dirty things to Mary Jane?
Comrade Kevin
@Mako:
Is there any other kind?
JasonF
@JGabriel:
Oh, sure. When DHS warns that we need to keep an eye on the rightwing nuts, everyone freaks out. But when the Examiner does it, it’s all “Hooray for America!”
What do you mean that’s not what the meant by “Watch these conservatives in 2010?”
Will
Oh I am so glad you are covering this b.s. article, John. I saw that on Memeorandum, freaked out about who had flipped, and then saw State Senator Whoever and Gerstein as the culprits, and thought, “they cannot be fucking serious.”
mcd410x
8 minutes! I can almost taste the freedom …
Poofter's furry (MelodyMaker)
@Litlebritdifrnt:
toe removal is wrong. My Poofter can’t compete with the others. They hate her.
Comrade Darkness
@mcd410x: I always get the movies Blue Velvet and National Velvet confused. I know . . . not good.
Anon
What do you mean the ACORN scandal was nothing. Haven’t You seen this non stop coverage of the most recent relevant news regarding the ACORN scandal (namely, that no fraud was found)?
Well, if you’re Fox news, according to Google, you apparently haven’t seen it.
Guess they just got tired of it, after spending a year calling it the scandal of the decade, or whatever they called it.
Still, when it comes to Napolitano, good point on the whole “Democrats call for” when it’s a friggin state senator somewhere and Lierberman’s former aide. Still, her original reaction to the failed Christmans bombing wasn’t too swift.
Midnight Marauder
@Corner Stone:
Brilliant.
And wow, Florida is just crushing these fools tonight. I guess God still must love Tebow a little bit. Not National Championship love, but “dominate in the Sugar Bowl and bump up your draft stock a round or two” love.
In other news, I am downright giddy for the Alamo Bowl tomorrow night. Is Craig James still doing that broadcast? If he is, then a drinking game absolutely needs to be created. And I’m sure regardless of how you draw it up, everyone will end up wasted by halftime.
+5
Edit: I like how Cincinnati having such a high graduation rate is inversely shitting on every other major football school out there. “You can win in college football ‘doing it the right way.'” Awesome, Brian Billick. Let’s talk about all the schools who are doing it “the wrong way,” I guess?
Chuck Butcher
@Comrade Darkness:
Too much Black Velvet?
Midnight Marauder
Hey, I wonder if those tears are coming?
mcd410x
Three minutes … get the champagne ready!!!
Corner Stone
@Midnight Marauder: When you’re not marauding at midnight, are you secretly Don Diego de la Vega?
mcd410x
YAY! [pop] Cheers everyone: We’re free, we’re free!!
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: Man, you’ve really got an anti-godboy complex working.
mcd410x
It seems like just yesterday I was in the South endzone for the first jump pass and thought: this is kinda fun. I. Was. Wrong. WRONG. WRONG.
Freeeeeedom.
@Corner Stone: Yes.
Anne Laurie
@arguingwithsignposts:
Squeeze gently at the base of each toe, as though you were squeezing toothpaste. When you’re doing it right, you should be able to feel the ligament/ muscle attachment that makes those claws retractable is z-shaped, kinda like those fold-down attic stairs. You should be able to see where the quick (pinkish & opaque) runs into the nail — stay away from that bit. The only part you want to cut is the translucent bit at the very tip. If you’re in any doubt whatsoever, better to cut less and repeat the job later if necessary! Just a teensy nip off the pointy end is really all you need, especially for a kitten as young as Smudge. (My husband scorns the dedicated pet clippers I have stashed all over the house & uses his own nail clippers, to give you an idea.)
You probably only need to clip her front paws — don’t forget the ‘dewclaw’, or thumb, which doesn’t get worn down & will be longer & sharper than the other four. Since you’re both new at this, I’d suggest you trim just one paw, or even just one or two toes, at a time. Don’t try it when you’re tired or when she’s all cranked up; ideally, wrap your non-dominant arm around her & cuddle her in your lap for a bit, then take one paw & try squeezing a toe out, and nip the very end. Repeat if and as you can… and give her a special treat afterwards, even if she’s responding by hissing & struggling free to go hide under the bed.
Two other purchases for your next trip to the pet shop: A bottle or vial of styptic powder, unless you have one in the medicine cabinet already. (I like the gel formulation sold as Kwik-stop but any kind will do.) It’s like having a fire extinguisher around… you probably won’t ever need it, but you’ll be a lot more confident if you know it’s at hand. The nail quicks are very blood-rich and they bleed horribly, but as with human scalp wounds, they look a lot scarier than they are dangerous. In a pinch, if you nick a quick by mistake, you can push the bleeding nail into a bar of hand soap and hold it there for a few seconds, but by the time that happens you & Smudge will both be freaking out & screaming at each other, which is why I prefer to have the Kwik-stop at hand.
The other thing you should buy, if you don’t have one already, is one of the cheap disposable scratching pads that’s basically multiple layers of corrogated cardboard mounted sideways in a cardboard box. Trust me on this, these things work better for a wider range of cats than any of the range of expensive permanent models available. Put the box down on a flat surface where Smudge can “dig” on it, and if she doesn’t investigate on her own, you can take one paw, flex her claws, and pull them gently down the corrogations to give her the idea. Having a surface like this where she can “clean” her own nails will greatly extend the intervals between nail-clipping sessions!
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: I agree with you fwiw.
We’re free!! Freeeeeeeeee!!
tesslibrarian
Sometimes I could trim my cat’s claws when she was sleeping in my lap, stop when she’d wake up and notice, then do a few more while she dozed. We had trimmers with a guard, so I couldn’t accidentally cut too much. But it was a last resort, near the end of her life grooming assistance type of thing because she was getting stuck so often and we didn’t want her to further damage her back. During her younger, active life, we let her handle her own claws.
The best scratching post ever is a 2 x 4 covered with inside-out carpeting. Just use a staple gun to attach the carpet, then put it on the floor. The backing of the carpet does a much better job, and they don’t learn it’s okay to pull on carpeting. Also, for bigger cats, like my G, it gave her something she could stretch on when she pulled without worrying about her pulling over on her head (as though we could find anything tall enough for her). If you don’t have carpet, get some sisal and wrap it tightly. It also works great on claws.
Have you tried brushing her teeth yet? My cats were having NONE of that.
mcd410x
When was the last time a popular, R-rated movie was re-released in a PG-version like Saturday Night Fever so more people could see it? Can anyone think of one?
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: I have a better question – why the hell is Brendan Fraser a bit player in G.I. Joe?
Why is he there at all? They needed a name actor for that part?
Comrade Darkness
I just reread the headline. So, if the attack had been “successful,” the Republicans would call for Bush to come back and give Napolitano some kind of service medal and a nice speech?
@Chuck Butcher: No, just not good with names of things.
@Anne Laurie: I heard a radio ad for the cat emery board which is also supposed to dull claws. I haven’t tried it, and I found that link at random, just fyi.
Cat claws aren’t hard to trim, just requires a firm hand, or better yet 4.
Anne Laurie
@Litlebritdifrnt:
The groomers at the big-box pet shops will trim cat nails, but (at least in this state) you need to bring in the cat’s official Certificate of Rabies Vaccination the first time you bring her in. Here in expensive Massachusetts, we pay $9 to get each of our dog’s nails trimmed… well, actually we pay $12 each, and the groomers also trim all the excess fur off the bottom of their hobbitty little feet so they don’t slide on our wood floors like kids in socks. Theoretically, we could do this ourselves at home, but it takes the professionals 10 minutes to accomplish a job that takes me a very aerobic half-an-hour of screaming & struggling & threats (and that’s with the professional grooming table & noose harness, thank you)… per dog. And then the dogs get to cruise the treat aisles for a few minutes, so they’re always happy to visit the “toy store”… unlike for instance the vet’s office.
The problem with bringing a cat to the big-box store is that cats are usually more traumatized by the trip than they are by the home struggle. We’ve actually got a long-haired Maine-coon-type cat who should get an allover hair cut, because she won’t accept furminating, but we’ve been hesitating because we know it’s gonna be at least as hard on us as it will be on the Demon Kishkan. All three of our cats do a pretty good job keeping their own nails trimmed, mostly on the several carpet-and-rope-garnished ‘cat tree’ furniture stationed on each level, although I’ve been keeping an eye on 16-year-old Toby because the geriatrics can’t always “pull” hard enough to keep their toes in trim.
mcd410x
@Corner Stone: Concentrate and ask again
Yutsano
@ppcli: Jesus Boy producing the God particle. It’s either pure genius or such a massive anti-Christian condition Tebow’s head just might explode.
Mnemosyne
@Anne Laurie:
One of the nice things about living in a big city is that we have cat-specific groomers. Petsmart stopped trimming cat nails, so now we take the two older ones to the Best Little Cat House once a month when the cleaning people come to the apartment. They don’t love it, but they behave better with the groomer than they do with us.
I am trying to get Charlotte acclimated to having me trim her nails at home, though, especially since kitten nails grow so quickly. Cat nail scissors, treats, and a small enclosed space seem to help. Oh, and the fact that we have two scratching posts, two cardboard scratch boxes, and a cat tower for them to futz around with.
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: G.I. Joe is a great movie. Brendan Fraser is a great actor.
G.I. Joe needed Brendan Fraser to be a great movie.
Thanks man.
Anne Laurie
@Jules:
Been there, done that. In a pinch, a pair of the cheapest available pantyhose works well as a “cat sack”… stuff cat into the ‘panty’ and quickly cinch, using the legs as ties. The cat will promptly extend all 18 claws in at least four different directions, and those claws will get stuck in the nylon mesh & be immobilized, at least long enough for you to stuff a pill / squirt a syringe. Of course if you have to wear pantyhose to work the cat will never come near you again when you’re dressing… which can be kind of a Good Thing, frankly.
kommrade reproductive vigor
I ask this question every time I see his doofy phiz anywhere.
On an almost completely tangential note: What the flaming fuck happened to Luke Wilson? And what drug addict at AT&T thought Jabba the Wilson would make us want to buy anything?
Corner Stone
Fuck I hate Ohio State.
Sorry neighbor.
Corner Stone
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
He’s not there to actually “sell” us anything. He’s there to put a safe doofus face on all the dirty fucking spying AT&T has agreed to for Uncle Sam.
Now we’ll all forget about that spying shit and wonder about why Wilson is so damn pudgy.
Corner Stone
Everybody cheese out on me? I had my free night last night, tonight I’m home bound. C’mon saurkratians!
Martin
@Corner Stone:
No, actually he’s there to make sure Apple doesn’t drop AT&T like an ugly girl with syphilis by at least helping to sell iPhones. Right now, Apple is keeping AT&T alive.
AT&T doesn’t give a shit what you think about the spying, nor does any other carrier. What are you going to do about it? Switch to one of the other carriers that have been giving your data to the FBI? Go off the grid? Those are your choices.
AhabTRuler
Actually, given the utter crap that is the average American’s cellphone call, I actually think it’s quite amusing that the NSA spends millions of dollars to capture and analyze such vapid, pointless shit.
Corner Stone
@Martin: You really think he fits into the “hip & with it” Apple image?
And, no. I use cloned one-time phones for all my dirty shit.
Don’t you?
Corner Stone
@AhabTRuler: We’re not all talking about the differences between margarine and butter.
Ok, I am, but I don’t think we *all* are.
Corner Stone
Oh man, leftover porterhouse is sooo freakin good as a late night snack.
Anne Laurie
@Comrade Darkness:
Best I can tell from the video, this is the kind of corrogated-cardboard “disposable” surface I was talking about, tarted up with a 10-cent plastic base, a four-cent “toy”, and a 50-cent absolutely-useless “grooming tool” so they can double or triple the price. (Protip: that “tool” is called a slicker brush by the professionals, and it is only used to “finish” and smooth down the already-clean-and-brushed-out coats on longhaired show dogs. It will impart a satiny surface glow, but it can’t do the job of removing dead hair & fluff even on a short-haired cat or dog, unless you’re dragging it so hard against the poor animal’s skin as to be dangerous.)
Corner Stone
And JenJen – I blame you for the choke job the Natti’s D threw out like a discarded hairball.
Midnight Marauder
@Corner Stone:
There is a saying, a very old saying: when the pupil is ready, the master will appear.
+8
freelancer (itouch)
@Midnight Marauder:
Can you legally attack windmills where you’re at?
Midnight Marauder
@Corner Stone:
One of my neighbors actually just filmed one of those terrible AT&T map commercials with Luke Wilson. When I got done laughing about it, I grilled him on just how terrible the commercial is. Apparently, it was lamer than even he could have imagined. I don’t know if it’s going to air or not, but if it does, I will be sure to point it out to the BJ gang.
mcd410x
Ah, twitter and facebook filling up with “why didn’t (the Chosen One) win the Heisman?”
The tears of eligibility expiration are sweet. So sweet.
Midnight Marauder
@freelancer (itouch):
Stay thirsty, my friends.
Martin
@Corner Stone:
Apple didn’t hire him. AT&T is trying to polish their turd of a network as hard as they can. That they suck as much at advertising as they do at phone calls shouldn’t shock anyone.
But Apple is pissed, and a solid 75% of AT&T customer growth and retention is thanks to Apple. That’s the only think AT&T cares about right now.
Yutsano
@mcd410x: That question will hopefully be answered on Thursday. I was pulling for Gerhart but after watching Ingram accept the award I kinda like the kid. I also wasn’t aware he’s only a sophomore. He could end up being scary good in a couple of years.
Corner Stone
@mcd410x: Yes! Yesss!! Oh, let me taste your tears, Timmy! Mm, your tears are so yummy and sweet.
Oh, the tears of unfathomable sadness! Mm-yummy. Mm-yummy you guys!
Corner Stone
@Martin: Listen. Let’s just work within the framework that Luke Wilson is fat. Mmmmkay?
Corner Stone
@freelancer (itouch): No one tells Anthony Hopkins what to do.
Corner Stone
@Midnight Marauder:
Stop being a little bitch.
Mwangangi
@Corner Stone: I hate you for making me think of steak while everything is closed.
Yutsano
@Martin: Interesting point about that. Apparently one of AT & T’s selling points to Apple was that their 3G structure was capable of the fastest download speeds. What no one predicted was just how utilized that infrastructure would become. When the iPhone took off AT & T was overwhelmed but they really do have the fastest download speed. Verizon has a larger but slower infrastructure, they just see the popularity of Apple’s new gadget and want a slice of that.
Corner Stone
@Mwangangi: Line forms to your left.
mcd410x
@Yutsano: I thought Gerhart was the best, also.
Of course, it’s almost ridiculously difficult to see Pac 10 games on the east coast. The night of the 44-41 Oregon-Arizona OT thriller, we got Texas and Kansas.
I hate ESPN.
Zuzu's Petals
@Jules:
Ever try Pill Pockets?
My kitty comes and waits for his twice-daily “treat.”
Corner Stone
@Mwangangi: And I used my own dry rub with some cayenne and some brown sugar and a secret ingredient or two you’ll have to pry from my cold dead hands. Then grilled it at +/- 700 degrees F for 3.30 minutes per side.
It was good.
Yutsano
@mcd410x: When I heard how close the Heisman vote I was honestly floored. I figured Gerhart would take fifth for sure since, well, he didn’t play at an SEC school or USC. It definitely pleasantly surprised me. That kid really is something special, and even if the NFL turns out to not be his thing I’m sure an MLB team will snatch him right up. Or maybe he can do the Bo Jackson thing. That would be kinda cool to see again.
mcd410x
@Yutsano: Verizon is trying to take over the world. I refuse to play along.
Got the Sprint HTC Hero a month ago. If there’s a better phone out there, I’m not aware of it.
Mwangangi
@Corner Stone: I usually marinate steak, but if I don’t have access to a grill and have to use my broiler then I’ll pat it down with a little somethin’ somethin’.
Zuzu's Petals
@Corner Stone:
I was told the same story. But my older siblings – who have no reason to lie now that we are all well into late middle age – swear that Ringer really did go live with a family in the country.
Okay, so I never asked for proof, but still …
Midnight Marauder
@Corner Stone:
I’m sorry. I can’t hear you over all this Mario Kart 64 I’m playing right now.
Or maybe it’s all the LCD Soundsystem and Kasabian I’m jamming.
Corner Stone
@Zuzu’s Petals: The Millner’s had plenty of room on their farm. From what I hear.
Zuzu's Petals
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Crap. I thought you guys were serious.
Can’t believe how much time I spent thinking about how to describe four people the youngest of which (me) will turn 60 next spring. “Well into late middle age” is the most I can admit.
Corner Stone
@Midnight Marauder: God. That sucks.
Now get off my lawn!
Corner Stone
@Zuzu’s Petals: How much time?
You probably shouldn’t be wasting any. I mean, considering your condition and all.
Zuzu's Petals
@Corner Stone:
Oh thanks for that.
Corner Stone
@Zuzu’s Petals:
I’m here all week! Please remember to tip your waitress! And try the veal.
Midnight Marauder
@Corner Stone:
And may I inquire as to what flavor of Haterade you are enjoying this evening? The grape or the orange?
Yutsano
@Midnight Marauder: As always, it’s the bitterberry. Could be the schnozzberry just to shake things up however.
Martin
@Yutsano:
Well, the problem is that AT&T isn’t spending a penny on improving the network if you look at their financials. They’re riding it out until 4G hits.
By comparison, Verizon doesn’t like to invest in the phones. They won’t pay the same subsidies as other carriers.
What mattered most to Apple is the dual-utilization network – the ability to do both voice and data simultaneously. That was really much of the point of the iPhone – to ship the first general purpose computing device/phone that worked as such. The iPhone on Verizon would have been a very different experience.
The 4G stuff that will start rolling out mid-year will bring a new iPhone with it. Both Verizon and AT&T are using the same tech, so Apple will almost certainly find a way to land on both carriers. Their exclusive deal with AT&T should run out mid-year.
@Midnight Marauder: I love Kasabian.
Darryl
@Corner Stone: Nice ref to the best ep of that show evar.
OriGuy
What is McDonalds doing offering Avatar tie-ins with their Happy Meals? It’s rated PG-13. Do they think that parents are letting their preteens see it, or have they capitulated to the big part of the market for the Happy Meals that are adult collectors? Probably both, I don’t doubt.
tootiredoftheright
@OriGuy:
They have been doing happy meal tie ins with pg and pg-13 movies for years or rather decades now.
tootiredoftheright
@Anne Laurie:
Do your vets not trim the pets nails when you take them in for a visit?
OriGuy
@tootiredoftheright: I guess I never paid attention before. PG makes sense; I think of Happy Meals as being for small kids, though. I’m so out of touch…
burnspbesq
Tebow is the J.J. Redick of football.
bob h
Is Gerstein trying to divert attention from the fact that HS Committee chair Lieberman evidently hasn’t been doing his job overseeing the bureaucratic organization he was instrumental in setting up?
The Grand Panjandrum
NPR jumps the shark (again): Erick son of Erick was one of the “pundits” on Weekend Edition Saturday.
asiangrrlMN
@Something Fabulous: I do this. I also wait until they are in a deep sleep, and I make sure they get treats afterwards. They don’t like it, but they are mostly resigned to it. Mostly. If they squirm too much, then I let them go and try another day.
@The Grand Panjandrum: What the motherfucking what? Surely, you jest.
kay
@The Grand Panjandrum:
You don’t need any specific knowledge to comment on terrorism. Obviously.
I watched Campbell Brown for a couple of evenings on H1N1 when that was an issue. Her whole premise of outrage was that she had received several emails from friends who couldn’t get the vaccine for their children. She was baffled by this, because her friends have access to physicians and live in good neighborhoods, so the general gist was – if this is happening to my friends, what about the little people?
A CDC official came on, and told her the vaccine was distributed at the county level, through county health departments, so living in a good neighborhood wouldn’t necessarily guarantee access. Brown sort of screwed her face up, completely confused by this new information, and just doggedly pursued her original premise, which was her friends couldn’t get the vaccine, and that proves….something.
asiangrrlMN
You know, I gotta tell you guys. I don’t miss American politics at all. I may not come back when I return to the States….
The Grand Panjandrum
@kay: Perish the thought the establishment media celebrities should be one of us. Maybe she thinks this song was about her? My money is on this one.
The Grand Panjandrum
@asiangrrlMN: Serious as a heart attack.
I don’t think you will really stay away. It isn’t in your nature.
kay
@The Grand Panjandrum:
They distributed the vaccine using demographics. They sent the vaccine to where the kids who were likely to get vaccinated live, which is just crazy, and so unfair.
The whole point of “public health”, in other words.
That access to a vaccine doesn’t depend on median home price or having a personal pediatrician.
I love, love, love that she started with the assumption her friends would get the vaccine FIRST. System failure!
asiangrrlMN
@The Grand Panjandrum: You know, you saying things like that about Erick the son of Erick being on NPR does not really make me want to keep following American politics. You are right, though. I most likely will get caught up in it all again once I return back to the States.
@kay: This mentality is pretty much WTF is wrong with our society today. The ones who have don’t give a shit until they are the ones who are affected by whatever issue is at hand.
Cat Lady
@asiangrrlMN:
I was out of the country away from US media during Gatesgate this summer, and came back to that and the death panel nontroversy nonsense. I pretty much vowed to stop watching the crap that passes for news on TV, and so far I haven’t missed a thing. My strategy is to let John Cole and DougJ do the dirty work and report back, so we can point and laugh. Readers Digest tells me that laughter is the best medicine.
The Grand Panjandrum
@kay: Rationing! Can the death panels be far behind?
asiangrrlMN
@Cat Lady: I don’t watch the news–ever. I read WaMo, TNC, and BJ. However, the batshitcraziness is really out there, and I notice that I’m very content not to follow American politics day in and day out. However, I do think that after a few weeks, I would go stir crazy if I completely distanced myself from American politics.
jeffreyw
Urk. 10 degrees out. Damn. More coffee.
arguingwithsignposts
Thanks to all for the nail-trimming advice. I was able to get four nails (2 on each front paw) trimmed before she bolted this morning. Will try for the others later today. And in case you missed it, smudge video!
henqiguai
@asiangrrlMN (#209):
asiangrrlMN, I just ain’t buyin’ it. Since I’ve been here on BJ, reading your contributions, you just don’t seem like the non-politically involved type. Something about “slappin’ the snot out of the stupid” comes to mind when I read the bulk of your comments.
AhabTRuler
Hey, that’s asiangrrlMN weather, that is.
asiangrrlMN
@jeffreyw: I haz a sad. it’s -15 to -20 below in MN, and I am missing it! And, did you see in the previous thread that for once, I was not jealous of your fabulous cooking?
kay
@The Grand Panjandrum:
It’s interesting. The CDC think they averted misinformation catastrophe, but only by getting out there and rebutting boatloads of incorrect analysis and holding seminars for press, where they explained the calculus of an epidemic.
Is it really their job to bring the press up to speed?
My county health department had a three paragraph summation of how the virus spreads, and the multiplier effect if there’s “X” kids in close proximity who aren’t vaccinated. I don’t pretend to any science acumen, and I got it in 40 seconds.
AhabTRuler
For Breakfast. Kind of an odd cover, until one learns that key members of the group were enrolled at Kent State in ’70.
jeffreyw
@asiangrrlMN: You must leave a comment on the pic at once!
Mike Kay
I’m surprised Arianna and loony Jane Hamsher haven’t called for JNap’s resignation.
asiangrrlMN
@arguingwithsignposts: Awwwwwwww! She’s sooooo cuuuuuute! Hi, Smudgey!
@henqiguai: Yeah, you are right. However, not being at all plugged in has been AWFULLY nice. I mean, I know I will vote Democrat with an occasional Independent/Green thrown in, so why go through all the angst and sausage-making and congressional theatre?
@AhabTRuler: Too warm. Harumph.
AhabTRuler
Actually, yes it is. I mean, the press has its issues, but education and information dissemination is intrinsically part of the CDC’s job. Its organizational mission recognizes that you go into an epidemic with the populace you have (you know, morons), not the populace you’d wish to have.
Jamey
Littlebrit:
Nothing personal, but why the fuck does your house smell so bad?
AhabTRuler
@Jamey: Heh. She never met a kitty she couldn’t give a home to. And after Christmas, her house is loud and smelly.
gbear
@asiangrrlMN:
It is -14 in St. Paul and I will trade places with you this instant. My 115 year old house can’t get warm when it’s this cold outside.
kay
@AhabTRuler:
Well, sure, but shouldn’t professionals arrive with the basic epidemic outline?
It would seem they’re destined to always be behind the curve if they’re sitting there like stenographers awaiting information upload.
What if something happens or changes? Good God. We’ll never get them caught up.
I think it would take an hour, tops, of their own time, to get a little surface context, read a little, make a few phone calls. For no other reason than to be able to ask a good question at the seminar, really, or in an interview.
Not to mention that they are relying on the agency responsible for the program to explain the very basics of how any infectious disease response might work. How can they credibly weigh in on the quality of the response? They don’t have any baseline. It could suck, and everyone involved at the CDC could be covering their ass. Reporters wouldn’t know, until they were counting bodies.
asiangrrlMN
@gbear: Oooh, yeah, that would be bad. I like the cold, but I also like being able to go inside and warm up. Damn. Don’t get frostbite! It’s a nice 21 C in the hotel room. I got the fan blowing full speed.
AhabTRuler
@kay: No, I hear ya, but as Kermit so rightly pointed out, it’s “the same as it ever was.”
GregB
Breaking news:
Politico’s Mike Allen reports that Dick Cheney’s balls are soft and silky to the touch.
-G
gbear
@asiangrrlMN:
Same here, only it’s attached to a space heater.
kay
@AhabTRuler:
The Campbell Brown “series” on H1N1 made me think about adding value.
I think she has to add some value, to justify that big paycheck.
Her recounting alarming personal anecdotes on H1N1, and dismissing everything that the expert she invited says is different than my listening to any random person I encounter at the grocery store, how, again? Why do I need her?
jeffreyw
@asiangrrlMN: Pig’s feet? Pig’s feet?!! You’re killin me.
AhabTRuler
You don’t. Stop watching.
In general, we are so habituated to television that we grant it a credibility it really lacks. Even the best teevee discourages imagination and independence; the worst of it causes a mental state akin to brain damage.
asiangrrlMN
@jeffreyw: Yes. They are the yummiest part of the pig. I also tried rice cakes soaked in pig’s blood. Um, not so tasty.
AhabTRuler
@AhabTRuler: And don’t forget the commercials. Every time you are exposed to a commercial (whether you think you are paying attention or not) you lose a dozen Experience Points.
asiangrrlMN
COLE! I have seen two dogs in Taiwan who instantly reminded me of Lily. They are Shiba Inus. There is a pic of one here.
Comrade Darkness
@mcd410x: full physical keyboard on that? I’ve been looking for a new phone, but I’m on an ssh terminal too much for an on screen keyboard so I’ve been reluctant to change. In the pic I just found, the hero looks fat enough to be holding a keyboard on the back there …
bemused
Rightwingers “reporting” a fact is as rare as a Minnesota 80 degree day in January.
It would only be fair to speculate that Rush Limbaugh was faking his chest pains. No one should be immune from the public wondering if he/she is faking the symptoms of a real illness for publicity. After all, Rush was brilliant in exposing Michael J. Fox for exaggerating his Parkinson’s tremors for that reason.
SIA
I like this
http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/12/happy-new-yearnew-sphere-from-the-bag.html
Cat Lady
@GregB:
LOL, then eeewwwwwww….
gbear
OK, this is lightweight, but it’s the best laugh I’ve had so far this morning. Gotta love the pup’s face.
AhabTRuler
Did Cole say anything about mopping his bathroom floor last night? ‘Cause I’m getting worried.
mcd410x
@Comrade Darkness: The keyboard is on-screen. But it does both horizontal or vertical. Only becomes problematic when I’m at +3 or greater.
gwangung
@kay: This is modern mass media in a nut shell. The journalidiots won’t even slap down evolution deniers, so why expect them to do the modestly harder work of learning epidemiology.
Comrade Darkness
@mcd410x: Ah, thanks. That means it’s hooked into a dictionary then for auto-correction and too many keys are on separate screens. Mega annoying when doing emacs/unix shell stuff.
I looked at the CNET review and it looks pretty good on the GUI side, but I’m going to wait another 6 months, see what’s out then. I’m getting too old (lazy?) to live on the bleeding edge.
mcd410x
@Comrade Darkness: No, I wouldn’t use it for heavy keyboard input. But it runs flash, which is a nice perk. Has seven home screens for apps per customizable “scene.”
Only wish the camera was a little better. But I have a DSLR and a point-and-shoot so it’s of little worry.
Alan in SF
In that one of Fox News’ main functions is to keep Americans terrified, I wonder why more people haven’t identified them as a key component of Al Qaeda’s propaganda network.
Anne Laurie
@bemused:
Srsly? One of the differentials for severe chest pain is gallstones. And one of the commonest causes of gallstones, in men particularly, is the kind of yoyo dieting where they go on a severely restrictive very-low-fat diet for some time, and then binge on steaks & donuts while on vacation. So Limpballs got a blockage in his bile duct, and panicked, and now he doesn’t want the world to know that he’s a big fat wussy suffering from a disease that stereotypically attacks middle-aged women. As if the ‘pilonoidal cyst’ and the ‘addicted to painkillers for my bad back’ whinging hadn’t already established that Rush Limbaugh is a world-class WATB.