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Aw, crumb. The garlic and onion bits, the seeds, the cinnamon, the blueberries. Now I have to drive to Panera in the morning.

It's the cultural woobification of nerds; same thing with Ken Bone.

Life at Vet U: I never thought about it before but one of the hardest parts of being a vet must be keeping a straight face when owners do things like bring bottled water and lump crabmeat when a pet requires an overnight stay after routine surgery. But then Dr. Melanie goes into the restroom to sob because her cat as asthma, so maybe all the excesses seem normal to them. (Not saying asthma isn't a serious disease, but I would expect a vet to just take a deep breath and deal.) The bovine c-sections were surprising, just because I don't know how owners are able to transport animals to the vet in time for the surgery since cows that can't calve are usually an emergency situation. Maybe the clinic keeps a herd themselves? It still seems odd that there were several cows that needed c-sections as the same time. Animal ER: The rancher who got so emotional about accidentally running over his dog made me cry, too. Poor little pup, RIP. I didn't know that parrot owners can inadvertently give their birds sexual stimulation, yikes. I have to say after seeing them on Dr. K and other shows, parrots seem like pretty high maintenance pets. And you have to make arrangements for them in your will because they'll likely outlive you! The amount of dental work, root canals and crowns that the Animal ER vets do is kind of surprising to me. I have crowns myself but I don't know if I expect my adhesives to hold up if I was trying to drag a man down with my teeth! Hell, I had a crown pop off last month all by itself. As an aside, it's funny that most of the vets (except Pol) are careful to say "radiograph" instead of "x-ray", but I'm still going to call them x-rays. Even my doctors do. ;)

I just saw a commercial for the show where Tia said the last couple of months have been the hardest of her life. I checked her Facebook page and apparently she was injured and broke her leg? Seems like it was back in January so maybe it was discussed here and I've forgotten.

I agree, I do, but in this polarized climate I'm pathetically grateful for any Republican who rubs a couple of brain cells together and puts their own political aspirations/careers on the line to stand up and repudiate Trump.

This article in the Washington Post gives a history of political partisanship and concludes that, yeah, basically it's the Republicans. Mostly what I don't understand amid all the enmity is why the right hates Obama so much when the man hasn't been allowed to do anything as President. The ACA was pushed through, but then, I also don't get the enmity towards that by Trump or his supporters. I'm sure some of them, like me, now have health insurance when we previously could not any because of pre-existing conditions. I don't believe in voter fraud by individuals but absolutely believe in institutional errors, incompetence and mismanagement. Whenever there's a recount in close elections, the counts are always different. How is that possible, if procedures are being followed? The hanging chad will haunt us forever. I voted by mail again this year and genuinely don't even know if my ballot will be thrown away. "Yet votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show. Election officials reject almost 2 percent of ballots cast by mail, double the rate for in-person voting."

Here's something (else in my life) I don't understand. Trump is adamant that he was against the use of military force in Iraq. It's one of his proven lies, but my question is, what the hell is his point? I guess it speaks to what he considers Clinton's poor judgment on international affairs? Still, I honestly don't know why he continues to harangue on it when most Republicans and, if I had to guess, the vast majority of his supporters, were in favor of it at the time (and probably still are). Trump's the one who wants to "carpet bomb" the entire region. You'd think he'd be giving Hillary props. Votes in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 96% of Republican Representatives 98% of Republican Senators 39% of Democratic Representatives 58% of Democratic Senators

I mean ... I guess I'm to believe that, after interviewing several hundred celebrities over the years, this particular conversation was so unusual that Billy has never forgotten it? I can therefore only conclude it's because Trump being a pig was memorable and OUTRAGEOUS and so far beyond the pale of how regular, non-Trumpian men talk. My heart hurts to say this, but after HRC wins (knock on wood), the only future I can envision is another decade of accusations, obstructionism, hearings, special prosecutors, and impeachment talk. Her enemies will never give up, whether she's in office or out.

I thought a couple of the pre-taped segments were good, like the review of monuments and Seth's visit to the Secretary of Defense, but the week overall felt like it could have been back in the studio. They weren't bad shows, but I guess I expected more excitement and pizazz from being remote for the first time. The sight gag of the TRUMP foxhole made me cough-laugh.

Which makes the Republicans' constant refrain that they're "THE PARTY OF LINCOLN" all the more ironic.

I of course have zero notion who did, but if that person(s) deliberately withheld the tape until now? Smooth. Because now is when it will hurt that sodding git Trump the most. That's not a conspiracy, it's shrewd politicking. Which Republicans are usually much better at than Democrats, frankly. As usual, Trump has tried to deflect by questioning the timing and calling it a liberal plot. I'm actually a little surprised that he just doesn't continue lying about it: "I'm rich, I'm very very smart, I'm the big-liest. I attract beautiful women every day, believe me. Why would I be interested in those women? Look at them. I'm not going to say anything, but you look and see what you think."

I don't know how the show managed to get that Simpsons segment approved and shot, but it was awesome. The voice was definitely Jimmy's but it was also cartoon-ed up a bit. I assume he did that himself instead of it being autotuned or something? I think his years of radio experience came into play -- he does have a soothing voice when you're just listening.

It sure seems like it's trying to be. I already had to force myself to stick with Sense8 and am not convinced I need another one. I also kind of have a grudge against dream sequences, so yeah. But ... it has to get better, right? Or at least develop a plot?

Gawd. I haven't watched this episode yet but it sounds like it would seriously annoy me. Guess I'll continue reading the forums and online recaps to see what -- IF ANYTHING -- happens the rest of the season, but I don't have the patience to sit through it any more.

There's nothing codified about it, no. ;) Have we heard the term before this season? I don't remember if so. Peck and Nunez have also referenced the artists' portfolios as being part of their report cards/body of work but that was only in the first couple of episodes.

As repugnant and stomach-churning as his comments on the bus were, his personal treatment of women as fuck objects is not even one of my primary concerns about him as President. His belief that he can run roughshod over the Constitution and bomb other countries into submission at whim is much scarier to me. This thin-skinned egotist with zero impulse control could order the release of nuclear weapons! And no, he doesn't want to do any of the work of being President but would let true religious zealots make those decisions for him. On his own, he doesn't care about gays or abortion and isn't in the least religious, nor does he have strong moral convictions. It's interesting to speculate about what has changed over the last few years. Trump has run and talked about running for President before and was laughed out of the room. As trifling as it is, I think his slogan to make American great again resonated with a lot of people: those who feel that the (white males in the) U.S. should rightly rule -- and stomp -- the rest of the world.

I hope your boss sticks up for you, @AgentRXS. That's galling.

Now that you mention it, I'm glad my family members are all in political agreement! Ingrained and/or imagined childhood slights are already enough to get us through holiday dinners. With the addition of a political forum here, my blood pressure is also grateful for the ignore option. :)

At least my worldview is once again aligned. I used to think Giuliani was a hypocritical, vindictive, lying, buffoon and then he acted, for the most part, decently and wisely after 9/11 and I was mollified. But now I can go back to loathing him. Everyone's jumped on this "surrogates" nonsense. Maybe the pundits are finally tired of walking things back, pivoting, and leaning in. The word makes it sound like these people are on the candidates' payroll in some way. It's possible Trump's spokeswomen are, but when the news refers to President Obama as a Hillary surrogate, that's it for me. I see James Carville on a lot of TV panels but not Mary Matalin. Last I heard, she had changed her party registration to Libertarian but was still describing herself as "provisional Trump" and "never Hillary." Has she opted out of the political limelight now?

You may hear my weary sigh from outer space, but I'm in Florida where we're being treated to another Rubio Senate run, after he promised he would not seek reelection. He's currently slightly ahead in the polls: "Rubio’s 47-45 percent lead is buoyed by his higher name ID, solid GOP backing and the support of Hispanics voters, according to the polling memo from Global Strategy Group." In the primary, I ended up voting for the alleged spousal abuser/financial cheat over this guy: "The Democrats meanwhile went out of their way to recruit one of the worst possible candidates available in any state, Congressman Patrick Murphy a two-term congressman with a very wealthy and generous Republican father. The Democrats had persuaded Murphy to switch his R to a D in 2012 and he unsurprisingly went on to compile one of the most conservative records in the House Democratic caucus. He was even one of the chief Benghazi witch hunters enthusiastically helping Republicans smear Hillary Clinton." Nice.

Trevor's dismantling of those religious right Trump supporters was a thing of beauty. Talking out of both sides of your mouths again, guys? Thank you, videotape archives and whatever monster search algorithms are able to find this stuff.

Is it time to discuss voting peeves yet? Waiting in lines, clueless volunteers, ineffective/broken machines (that cost Gore the Presidency, ahem), recounts that come up with different totals every time ... how much of a damned margin of error is there? Redistricting, voter ID laws, and reducing voting stations in minority areas are of course super fucked up. I vote by mail and have zero confidence that it will be tallied correctly. Maybe all ballots from registered Democrats are thrown away in my 81.2% Republican area. Who knows? I don't believe there's any outright voter fraud going on, but there sure is rampant mismanagement.

I think it's okay to discuss the non-political news grind here as well. There is still a smidgen of that left these days.

I hate to be all, "the broadcast networks ruin everything" but this show has squandered so much potential. I'm not going to stick with this soap opera/political fantasy hybrid any more but would still watch a 10-ep streaming series with the same premise, only treated seriously.

And honestly? After 2-3 episodes most viewers can readily tell which artists are going far and which are fodder. The team setup this season encourages Peck and Nunez not to let their best artists fall away because of one poor showing.