Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

I can’t take this shit today. I just can’t.

Let there be snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

We can agree to disagree, but i’m right.

No one could have predicted…

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

The math demands it!

This fight is for everything.

It’s been a really long fucking year.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Celebrate the Holidays

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Frost Flowers!

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Frost Flowers!

From beloved commentor & ace photographer Ozark Hillbilly:

Friday morning, November 26th, our temps hit 15 degrees. Trusty camera in hand, your faithful, intrepid, and 3 limbed servant ventured forth in search of the elusive frost flowers.

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Frost Flowers! 1

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Frost Flowers! 2

He had hoped to find them blooming in abundance. Sadly, they were even more timorous than usual, hiding deep in the shadows of cedars and rock bluffs, staying well out of the blustery north wind that had been stalking the hills and hollers the night before.

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Frost Flowers! 3

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday / Sunday, Dec. 4-5

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Day 1: Trixie and Scout Open Thread

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Way too many photos, but enjoy them because I’m sure I’m going to be too busy for a few weeks to post many.

Day 1: Trixie and Scout

Scout and Trixie have hit it off pretty well. Trixie walked into the house and decided, yup this is where I belong, and began exploring her new home without hesitation. Day one has been a good day with excellent potty skills and good interactions with the other critters.

Day 1: Trixie and Scout 7

She’s a brindle harlequin, meaning her spots are varying degrees of dark brown, grey and brindle. They are amazing markings. And those feet…they are huge in comparison to the rest of her.

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Saturday Evening Open Thread: There’s Just Not Enough Time To Call Out *Every* GOP Jagoff

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Senator Cornpone Leghorn has surely earned himself some spotlight, though…

Senator Kennedy recently disgraced himself while attacking Saule Omarova, President Biden’s choice for next head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — but at least there’s an argument, however weak, about Omarova’s ideas…

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Adam Schiff, Midnight In Washington, and Balloon Juice

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Adam Schiff will be joining our Midnight In Washington book club for at least part of one meeting!

Interest in a Weekly Book Club to Read & Discuss Adam Schiff's Book Midnight In Washington?

I wrote this comment on the calendar thread last night:

In other good news, spoke with Adam Schiff’s chief of staff today, and I need to let him know when our Midnight in Washington book club will be meeting and Adam Schiff will drop in on one of our meetings for 15-30 minutes or so.

Possibly unannounced, and possibly announced beforehand.

He is more likely to drop in if we have a zoom than a post – easier for him to participate.

i am to get back to him when we have a plan.

I seem to be getting all the credit for this, but it all started with a tweet by one of our BJ peeps about the Jan 6 hearings. Here’s the story of how it happened.

BJ peep Betty replied to Laura Rozen re: the Jan 6 hearings.

Betty was excited because Adam Schiff “liked” that tweet, and immediately jumped on BJ to tell us about it.  I saw Betty’s BJ comment in real time and immediately replied that she should tweet back, telling him about our Midnight in Washington book club (starting in January) and inviting him to join us for a Q&A.

And she did!  Go Betty!

Long story short, I am to get back to the chief of staff when we have a firm plan with dates & times for the book club.

So you can expect another book club post soon.  If you haven’t signed up for the book club but you would like to join us, chime in below and let us know!

If you would like to participate but money for the book is an issue at the moment, several people have offered to buy the book for others.  Two people have the book in their hands already – the receivers are thrilled to have their books and the givers are really happy to be helping someone else get the book.  Win-win!

Send me an email if you want to join the club but this isn’t a good time for your to purchase the book. Let me know whether you want a paper book or a Kindle, etc.

Totally open thread.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: NRA Parents of the Year Apprehended

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: NRA Parents of the Year Apprehended

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

Now the media circus really gets into gear. Per the AP:

… James and Jennifer Crumbley were captured in a commercial building in Detroit that housed artwork, Detroit Police Chief James E. White told a news conference. White said the couple “were aided in getting into the building,” and that a person who helped them may also face charges.

A Detroit business owner spotted a car tied to the Crumbleys in his parking lot late Friday, Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said in a statement. A woman seen near the vehicle ran away when the business owner called 911, McCabe said. The couple was later located and arrested by Detroit police…

Authorities had been looking for the couple since Friday afternoon. Late Friday, U.S. Marshals announced a reward of up to $10,000 each for information leading to their arrests.

The Crumbley’s attorney, Shannon Smith, said the pair had left town earlier in the week “for their own safety.” Smith told The Associated Press they would be returning to Oxford to be arraigned.

However, White said the Crumbleys “appeared to be hiding” in the building where they were found. He added that the parents appeared to be “distressed” when they were captured…

In a video message to the community Thursday, the head of Oxford Community Schools said the high school looks like a “war zone” and won’t be ready for weeks. Superintendent Tim Throne repeatedly complimented students and staff for how they responded to the violence.

He also acknowledged the meeting of Crumbley, the parents and school officials. Throne offered no details but summed it up by saying, “No discipline was warranted.”

McDonald was asked about the decision to keep Crumbley in school.

“Of course, he shouldn’t have gone back to that classroom. … I believe that is a universal position. I’m not going to chastise or attack, but yeah,” she said.

Asked if school officials may potentially be charged, McDonald said: “The investigation’s ongoing.”

If the Crumbleys hadn’t been white, and ‘privileged’, neither they nor their son would’ve left that school conference unescorted by armed security, I’m guessing.

IMO, the Crumbleys were ‘trying to escape to Canada’ the same way OJ Simpson was ‘trying to escape to Mexico’ — except that OJ probably had a passport, and a whole lot more cash on hand. In other words, they had a vague cinematic Butch-Cassidy-and-the-Sundance-Kid fantasy about disappearing into the sunset and never being seen again. Not very reality-based, but they don’t seem to have been a couple much into reality-based planning.

… Charging parents is unusual in a school shooting. A Washington Post review of 145 school shootings committed by children in the two decades after the Columbine High massacre in 1999 found that the weapon’s source had been publicly identified in 105 cases. In total, the guns those children used were taken from their own homes or those of relatives or friends 80 percent of the time.

However, in just four instances did the adult owners of the weapons face any criminal punishment for not having locked them up — and none of those prosecutions stemmed from negligent-storage laws…

A Post analysis found that such measures could have a profound impact, since more than half of the country’s school shootings since 1999 could have been prevented if the children who killed their classmates did not have access to firearms. And an academic study found that the number of gun-related accidental deaths and suicides among children and teenagers would drop by as much as a third.

One reason for the dramatic drop is that in gun-owning households with children, about 2 in 10 gun owners store at least one firearm in the least safe manner — loaded and unlocked. That would represent 5 million minors living in a house with an unsecured gun…

Saturday Morning Open Thread: NRA Parents of the Year Apprehended 1

(Lalo Alcaraz via GoComics.com)

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