Suds Terkel

"The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it." -PJ O'Rourke

Both NL games went the way I didn't want them to, and my overinvestment in the Eagles' RB (one team), WR (two teams), D (two teams), and K (one team) murdered all three of my fantasy football teams, especially since I faced the QB in two leagues. Worst sports night EVER! 😁

Welp, I'm out. Hope they at least will be required to have a wired connection....

This checks out

aaron judge gets infected with the ick from Donald Trump

Party with fascists, get handed your asses

Thank you

Booker was the best of all possible boys. Within a few months of getting Smitty back in 2010, her behavior made it clear that she was not a lone wolf, that we should get her a pack mate to help keep her company. That company came home with us over Memorial Day weekend 2011 in the form of Booker. We had known we wanted a second Boston Terrier, and lucked into a red one from one of the breeders we applied to. He was the sweetest little puppy, his little elongated face constantly giving him a worried-looking expression during those first few months. He and Smitty loved to play; she was a bit of a bully so he would counter by nipping her in the rear legs, a habit he continued into adulthood. We crated them separately overnight those first few months, until one day when we found them napping together in his crate and switched from individual crates to a shared pen for sleeping. From that first day onward, Booker always wanted to be part of whatever we were up to. In fact, he was with us for several months before I was finally able to leave a room without my little shadow – but only when he was very deeply asleep. Booker quickly began to show some of his best talents, such as barking at anything that moved within a 200-foot radius and finding the nearest sunbeam as it came through our windows or skylight. He was also quite adept at finding and eating treats, jumping onto any lap of any height, climbing onto the built-in bench on our deck in order to jump over our backyard fence, giving kisses, snoring, and snorting. And he was great at chasing after squirrels, be they real or imaginary. He was also adept at snuggling, so much so that in his later years he gained the nickname of The Snügler, his Norwegian-accented persona. He was also known as Mister B, the porg, Bookersly, The Book, oink pig, capybara, and a few others I’ve forgotten.

Booker was surprisingly musical, and enjoyed doggy dance parties, tolerating being led around the dance floor on his hind legs for as long as ten seconds at a time before he’d try to chew my hands off of his front paws. Any number of jaunty tunes ran through his head, leading him to throw jazz hands whilst lying on his back on top of me. I also wrote several jingles for him, including a ditty simply known as “The Book” as well as the chart-topping hit “Mister B, You’re a Mystery to Me.” Booker was his own little man, and in his younger years he would instantly decide whether he liked or disliked someone. His perceived enemies would be barked at and occasionally even nipped at, which…was embarrassing. But by and large, he was pure love, and as his vision and hearing faded over the past year or so he stopped acting as an antagonist. The Book had a great 14-1/2 years and a terrible final 14-1/2 or so hours. Around 130am on Monday, 29 September I was awakened by the awful sounds of him thrashing around on the bedroom floor. I got up, turned the light on, and saw he was having a terrible seizure that lasted several minutes. When it stopped he was disoriented, running around the house for a good 15 minutes before I could calm him and get him back into bed. Unfortunately he had four more seizures over the next few hours so I finally called the nearest 24-hour vet and was told to bring him in. I wrapped him up in a pair of bath towels and drove him over to the clinic, during which time he had two more seizures. A vet tech who had been apprised of his condition immediately took Booker from me and he was admitted to the hospital. I was there about two hours, with a vet telling me there could be a wide variety of causes ranging from epilepsy to a brain tumor. She told me he could be put on anti-seizure medications but that they would only reduce the frequency and severity of his seizures, not end them. And they would also require monitoring his liver and pancreas. I went to se…

Kristen was out of town working on her documentary film but scheduled to fly back home that afternoon, so I texted her about the situation so that only one of us would have to spend the day physically exhausted on top of all of the emotions. Shortly after I got home, around 6am, the hospital called and said he’d had another seizure. I told them I’d come in around 4 when Kristen was back. With time to think, I was resigned to the idea of euthanizing my baby boy, and visiting with him again doubled my resolve. They brought him out in a blanket to see us, and for the first half-hour of our visit he couldn’t stop loudly crying, his sides bellowing in and out with each whimper. He finally calmed a bit, but he wasn’t interested in the treats I’d brought for him. A vet ran through our options, and we agreed that his quality of life would be poor on the medications. We smothered him with caresses and kisses and practically drowned him in our tears. I took a few final pictures and videos of our baby before the vet gave him a pair of injections that literally ended his suffering in a matter of seconds. And now Smitty is once again a lone wolf, albeit one of very advanced age. But while she so often has seemed lost in doggy dementia over the past year, she definitely knows she is a pack of one once more and compensates by staying by our side at all times. I never knew I could love an animal so much. Booker was the best of all possible boys.

Booker the red Boston Terrier, the best of all possible boys

This was one of the hardest things I've ever written -- literally took me nine days....

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

I'm waiting for Taibbi to weigh in, lol

Why do all of these people suck and blow even more than your average harmonica player!?!?!?

As @vermontgmg.bsky.social says here, "How can anyone in Congress — Democrats or Republicans — make a budget 'deal' with this administration if we now know the President is going to ignore implementing any part of the 'deal' he wants?" Read the whole thing: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

A Texas megachurch pastor and GOP leader has been arrested for crimes against children. Not Robert Morris, a different one. Not Josiah Anthony, a different one. Not Luke Cunningham, a different one. Not Tony Evans, a different one. Not Scott Crenshaw, a different one. Not Steve Lawson, a different o

Mike Johnson Said He and His Son Monitor Each Other’s Porn Usage, and Yeah, It’s Exactly as Weird as It Sounds “My accountability partner right now is Jack…he and I get a report of all the things that are on…our devices once a week.”

"Stop playing videogames and don't even think about watching porn on your devices," Johnson continued....

Affable? He has such strong "Get off my lawn and stop solving them crimes you meddling kids!" energy.

Ol' Smoltzy only respects guys who make it to arbitration.

Very small sample size, but maybe this kid sticks as a starter afterall?

JFC, do both of these guys have TBIs!?!?

LOL, 370 events per year. Are they counting the coin toss and halftime as separate events? Weddings and receptions count as two separate events!?!? 'cuz, uh, them are some funny numbers....

Nah. The team was recently valued at $8.9 billion when some shares changed hands among members of the ownership group. A stadium will only increase the asset's value. It may generate billions, but not for we the people. #NoMoreCorporateWelfare

Welp, guess they should move to Decatur....

Welp, since we don't have a TV provider and MLB.TV doesn't include it, I guess I won't be seeing much post-season baseball.

Susan Collins is no doubt very disappointed by this speech....

Sunday thought An extraordinary week for America

I can’t tell you exactly when the tipping point will occur, when elected GOP will rebel against him, or when his dementia becomes so apparent he’s forced to resign, or when so much of the nation rises up against his dictatorship that he’s impeached/convicted of high crimes, but we’re getting closer.

And That’s Why Republicans Cheat To Win Elections….

And MAGA thinks Trump didn't have the worst day of this crapshack "presidency" yesterday

4 Kimmel stuffs him in a locker
3 Prompter, caused by White House
2 Escalator, caused by Trump photographer
1 THIS:

As a result of the most interesting speech at the UN today, THIS 👇🏼

Same, though it was just part of a freshman survey course I took. Wish I could remember the title or author of the book we were assigned on this.

I agree with Matthew....

a cartoon character with a beard is holding a flamethrower in his hands ALT: a cartoon character with a beard is holding a flamethrower in his hands

I kinda wish our James Bond supervillians, er, "oligarchs" would just go off and build secret underground lairs and threaten us with earthquakes or nukes instead of dismantling our government....

Alternately, we may not rebound as well as China has.

They're merely exchanging long protein strings!