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Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

We’re not going back!

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Everybody saw this coming.

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

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93Comments

  1. 1.

    RedKitten

    Ah yuck…there’s nothing worse than being sick when it’s hot out. SamKitten (now with realistic upper-tooth action!) has an ear infection, and this heat was DEFINITELY not helping his fever, poor little mite.

  2. 2.

    You Don't Say

    I feel like crap too but think it’s because of the heat. Every time I eat the food curdles in my stomach. :(

  4. 4.

    Svensker

    Too many parties?

    The heat is just unbearable. AC went in the car so driving it is like being in hell.

    Just got a call from the water company and absolutely NO watering outside, at all. None. The only things that have survived the groundhogs are the tomatoes, so guess I’ll be collecting shower water to keep them alive. Feels like the Kalahari.

    Stay cool everyone, and feel better. And an extra special cooling breeze for Samkitten. Love the baby teef.

  6. 6.

    jl

    Cole done in from July 4 excess mass quantities of food and drink consumption?

    I am.

    When I can move again, will try to think of some way to help out. Which will be awhile (leftover BBQ MUST be eaten… must… be… eaten…)

    Edit: I will gladly volunteer to pick the tomatoes. Though Cole would not want that because I would eat them as fast as I picked. Been in Total Eating Mode last day and a half.

  7. 7.

    David in NY

    @Svensker:

    only things that have survived the groundhogs are the tomatoes

    Mine don’t like peppers, eggplants, or onions, either, and they haven’t been able to breach the chickenwire fence surrounding some leafy stuff and the beans. But the carrots and the cucumbers (before I rigged up a separate fence around them) really took a hit, and forget about many of the flowers.

  8. 8.

    BombIranForChrist

    It has been freakishly cold in the Pacific Northwest, but we are finally getting a bit of a Warming. I think it may actually hit the upper 80’s here.

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @RedKitten:

    The SamKitten is some kind of adorable, RK — but then, you knew that already, didn’t you? Love the teeth. He has quite an impressive collection of chompers by now. I just went back through your photostream and looked at him from the day he was born through all the milestones of the past 10-1/2 months. What a beautiful, happy, loved child.

    Here in Atlanta we had a few days over the long holiday weekend of highs in the mid 80s, which felt downright temperate, but the temps are beginning to climb back up into the high 90s and should be properly hellish by the end of the week. Nothing like what folks have had in NYC and environs, not to mention Ontario and Québec.

  12. 12.

    Keith G

    @John Cole: If you have true food poisoning, you would know it. Some lil bug probably stopped to say, “Hello.”

    It happens.

    Watching Tim Geitner on News Hour. My god, what a loser. I never noticed before that he sports a gigante teased comb up that attempts to hide a forehead that must travel to mid crown. Think Sam Donalson with a super wave.

    Why do men some men do this?

    He needs to just go all Patrick Stewart.

  13. 13.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    It’s only 91 degree here today, so not complaining. Dry though, and my tomatoes are dong nicely though still small green fruits. Procrastinated taking my used oil in to dump for reprocessing and the plastic jug broke on back patio. Big mess, and stinky. The Reds are up two games on St. Louie. And are playing the Metropolitans right now.

    Now excuse me, I need to go apologize for Obama, somebody has to on the blogs. The evil Kenyan and his army of sociopathic torture loving Obots/We never sleep.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    It’s 71 degrees right now in Los Angeles. In July. Which is when we would normally be well into the low 90s.

    But climate change is a hoax because Algore is fat!

    ETA: Looked it up — the average high for my Valley city in July is 89 degrees. We’re almost 20 degrees below normal temperature.

    Not that I’m complaining.

  15. 15.

    demimondian

    @BombIranForChrist: I wouldn’t say “freakishly” cold. I’ve actually seen other summer months that could have passed for Autumn (for instance, August of 1995). Still, it hasn’t been “summery” by any stretch of the imagination.

    The weather picked a great time to warm up, though — we’re off to Mt. St. Helens to see the lava caves, and then around the gorge to Hanford and the petrified forest later this week. W00t!

  16. 16.

    MikeJ

    @demimondian: Neato trip! I went the other way this past weekend. Cascades highway (SR 20). Had a snowball fight on Saturday afternoon atop one of the passes.

  17. 17.

    Keith G

    @RedKitten: Looking at the swing and splish-splash pics, it sure seems that Young Sam is a lil guy who attacks life with confidence and a sense of adventure.

    So very cool.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Mary

    Hope you feel better soon, John. GI problems are the worst.

    Toronto has been very, very steamy, and yesterday’s power outage didn’t help. Meanwhile, my back garden is full of drama queens who droop and pine if they aren’t watered twice a day. Triage: I’ve let the lettuce die so I can save the tomatoes and the berries.

    I’ve been going out for midnight rides to take advantage of the bike-generated breeze, but I’m not sure if I’ll make it out tonight as I was so wiped today that I’m behind in my work.

    Someone wanna come over and wave palm fronds at me? I’d be very appreciative.

  19. 19.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    New shows this week that I am going to be watching:

    All times eastern
    Warehouse 13: Tonight at 9pm
    Eureka: Friday 9pm
    Haven: Friday 19pm
    Phineas and Ferb: Friday 9pm

  20. 20.

    lamh32

    @John Cole:

    Dehydration?? Ya gotta keep hydrated in the summer, especially now since summer is hotter than ever. What type of heat do ya’ll have? Dry, or humidfied. I ask because the humidity in New Orleans is blanketed by humidity, due to the humidity, the effects of the heat can be slow. You could spend all day in that heat, and not realize until you get home or find an air-conditioned area how drained you really or.

    To my mind, dry heat, is maybe worse. When I went to India in late April early May, was dry heat, we were practically dripping sweat by mid-day. The ONLY thing that kept us from heat stroke was drinking loads of water (lukewarm or cold), shade and sunscreen.

  24. 24.

    slag

    @lamh32:

    Dehydration?? Ya gotta keep hydrated in the summer, especially now since summer is hotter than ever.

    Good question.

    Drink lots of water, Cole!

  25. 25.

    QuaintIrene

    so guess I’ll be collecting shower water to keep them alive.

    Been there, done dat, thru more than a couple of drought-stricken summers. Gray water’s a great asset . Take a bucket in the shower with you. It’s amazing how fast it fills up.
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Furnace-like heat here in New Jersey. Can’t believe that for the past three days we’ve been hotter than swampy D.C.!

  26. 26.

    jl

    @John Cole: that shot my theory down. Maybe it’s the heat. As other commenters say, plenty of water, and keep cool. See if that helps.

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck:

    Hey, Cole. Wanna see me bring Mclaren up and out of his troll hole? I am talented that way.

    Talented? Talented? TALENTED?? Don’t sell yourself short, General, you’re a fuckin’ genius.

  28. 28.

    geg6

    @John Cole:

    You must have missed my weekend posts. There’s some awful intestinal/stomach virus going around and I had it and posted about it. And of course, BJ being the place it is, got lots of replies of concern and entreties to rule out e coli (which I had a few years ago) and appendicitis. Saw my doc and it was the virus. I was fine by Sunday but my John had it. Just awful. My sympathies, Cole.

    As for us, John and I are having our 4th meal this evening: juicy burgers, salad of fresh greens and cherry tomatoes, a sour cream pasta salad, fresh corn, a cheese and pepperoni tray, and a nice cold oaky Chardonnay.

    Feel better soon, John!

  30. 30.

    South of I-10

    @RedKitten: Look at those chompers! He will be eating steak in no time. Little South is getting her 6 yr molars, she is calling them her shark teeth.

    @lamh32: Oh, the humidity!

  31. 31.

    joe from Lowell

    I spent the 4th in one of the three best places in the world to celebrate Independence Day: Cape Cod. The other two being Boston and Washington, D.C.

    I took the family out for a seafood dinner. We’re sitting there eating our collection of batter-fried mollusks. A large black family is sitting at the next table, doing the same. Nearby, a guy in his 80s – which puts him in the WW2 cohort – was munching away with his wife, wearing the requisite “If you love your freedom, thank a veteran” tee-shirt. Summer employees with accents denominating various former Soviet republics are clearing tables and bringing out orders.

    When in walks this #$$hole with a swastika tattoo on his arm. Not a cheap prison tatt, either. This was quality work, the centerpiece of a complicated design.

    On the 4th of July. Something like that will spoil your whole meal.

    I wouldn’t have served him, but I don’t own the Kream and Kone.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh32:

    @lamh32:
    Ah, the heat in New Orleans is blanketed by humidity…
    Duh…need to check for typos better…

    Actually, lamh32, I liked your original version (“the humidity is blanketed by humidity.”) Because that’s pretty much true pretty much any time during the summer pretty much anywhere in the South.

  34. 34.

    Phyllis

    @lamh32: I was in NOLA in 2005 (abt 3 wks before Katrina); humidity blanketed by humidity has it about right, if you ask me.

    And I live in SC.

  35. 35.

    Nellcote

    @AhabTRuler:

    When Alton Brown says “Serious Vanilla Ice Cream, he don’t fuck around.

    The peach jam is just weird.

    Here’s the way we make killer vanilla ice cream:

    3 vanilla beans
    3 c. heavy cream
    3 c. whole milk

    Scape beans, add beans + seeds to milk + cream in sauce pan. Bring to simmer and steep.

    Meanwhile whisk 12 yolks + 3/4 c. sugar until thick and fluffy. Add heated cream mix and return to pan.

    Cook custard until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, strain and add 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Chill overnight. Stir well before freezing to redistribute the seeds. Freeze.

  36. 36.

    elmo

    The holiday weekend was the first in several weeks that wasn’t 90+ with brutal humidity. I looked at the forecast, and I had big plans.

    Until the mule colicked at 9 pm Friday night. Vet was out from 10 pm till about 3 in the morning, and we spent Saturday in a blank starey fog.

    Sigh. Now it’s the work week, and it’s supposed to be in the high 90s tomorrow and near 100 on Thursday. With Southern humidity, natch.

  37. 37.

    lamh32

    @John Cole

    Also, if you did suspect food poisoning, if it bacterial, then antibiotics may work, if it’s viral, not so much. Either way, I think fluids should always recommended when people are fighting GI problems first before going for antibiotics. Sorta “flushing out the system” so to speak, could alleviate symptoms.

    Besides taking too many antibiotics for ailments that can possibly be solved by non-antibiotic means is what creates those “super-bugs” ya’ll always hear ’bout.

    BTW, I’m a Microbiologist, specifically, I’m a Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory Scientist who specialized in Micro, so I kinda know the subject of bacteriology, virology, parasitology intimately…so to speak (I also have training in all other parts of the clinical lab, but I like to work specifically in Micro)

  38. 38.

    Bella Q

    Oddly, I just looked at our weather and it was only 91 here in Cinti, though it sure as hell feels a lot hotter.

  41. 41.

    Annie

    DC is hot and humid. 110 degrees in the shade. Spent the morning trying to figure out how little of a sundress I could wear to work today and not get fired or sent home.

    Spent the day looking for an ear specialist. I seem to have a chronic ear infection and already have gone through 2 doses of antibiotics, and yet it comes back. I am beginning to fear that I am overdoing antibiotics. Any non-antibiotic suggestions?

  45. 45.

    RedKitten

    Yep, we’re going to get pretty toasty weather this week as well — in the low 80’s, with humidity at over 65%. (I converted to Fahrenheit for you American types.)

  46. 46.

    David in NY

    @Annie:

    I’m betting on “little sundress” (a number of which I ogled observed as I ate dinner at a younger person’s place tonight, wishing I were younger myself).

  47. 47.

    TomG

    Are there still some World of Warcraft players here at B-J ? I’m sure you are all thrilled at the new plan for forum posting once Cataclysm drops….you’ll have to USE YOUR REAL NAME !
    (no, it’s not retroactive, according to Blizz. They plan to use a new forum).
    I stopped playing for 5 months, I can stop again real easily. I barely ever posted on their forums and I still have a problem with this idea.

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne

    @joe from Lowell:

    If it’s any consolation, the guy will have a moment like my brother did, laying on an operating table waiting to have a heart surgeon crack him open and suddenly realizing that his doctor’s last name is Greenberg and my brother has an old swastika tattoo on his chest. You know, right where the scalpel is going to go in.

    It all turned out okay, because the doctor was a professional, but my brother almost didn’t want to come out from under the anesthesia after that, he was so embarrassed. Of course, my brother is an obnoxious jackhole who gets “funny” tats when he’s drunk and not a stone-cold white supremacist, so he was at least capable of being embarrassed.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    @Annie:

    Okay, I don’t know if this will apply between species, but our cat Natasha used to get recurrent ear infections and at one point they decided that it was actually a yeast infection, not a bacterial infection. Maybe that would be a different cause for the doctor to look into?

  52. 52.

    Kim

    Wow. every news site seems to need to tell us about Lindsay Lohan right now. so sad.

  53. 53.

    David in NY

    @joe from Lowell:

    Thank you, joe. I’ve got a three-week vacation, end August, beginning September, and no place to go but a country house where I will be compelled to paint, do repairs, garden, etc. But a little run to the Cape might be just the treat I’ve been looking for. I actually think I haven’t been there for over 20 years. (Other option is Maine, my lovely wife’s place of origin, maybe far down East.)

  55. 55.

    scottinnj

    I for one am going to sleep soundly knowing that Lindsay Lohan is going to jail. The FBI should not rest until justice has been served to all those responsible for the crime that was Herbie: Fully Loaded.

  56. 56.

    CynDee

    @Keith G:

    John: With so much heat, you may not only have become dehydrated, but also low on potassium. When you are low on potassium you basically feel like you are going to just collapse. If you have that feeling, try the potassium-rich foods. Eat fruit and drink orange juice. Or, try them even if you don’t feel that way.

    Note: Some medications conflict with high-potassium foods, so read your meds warnings first.

  60. 60.

    OriGuy

    I’m flying up to Vancouver tomorrow, then driving to Whistler. It’s finally getting hot there. They still had a lot of snow on the ground at the top of the gondola, so one of the orienteering events there had to be moved to lower altitude. The village will be in the 80s, though. (OK, around 15C. Gotta start thinking in metric.)

  61. 61.

    Sheila

    I’m reading Silas Marner (don’t ask) and came across this amusing sentence: “There were women in Raveloe, at the present time, who had worn one of the Wise Woman’s little bags round their necks, and, in consequence, had never had an idiot child, as Ann Coulter had.”

  63. 63.

    Platonicspoof

    @Annie:

    I seem to be in moderation.

    You were collateral damage in the WordPress war on drugs:

    Spent the day looking for an ear spe-seeAlice-t.

    My health insurance company now requires pre-approval, so if I had such a persistant infection, I’d be sure to explain the resistance when I called them for a referral.

  64. 64.

    PurpleGirl

    My complex has its own power plant. A few months ago we finished a project of some system upgrades and converting one diesel turbine to natural gas. In the course of the work we found that one of two transformers was damaged and needed to be replaced. While they ordered a new transformer (which takes about 5 months to build), someone thought that we could continue operating 7 buildings — close to 900 apartments and elevators and laundry rooms, etc. — with a damaged transformer. Luckily the directors were told that “No, you have to get a temporary transformer and the damaged one must be taken off line. You can’t run it.” For 4 or 5 days we had to restrict power usage and one elevator in each building was shut off for 12 hours each day and the laundry rooms closed, while we waited for the temporary transformer to be delivered and installed. That happened in May. I wouldn’t want to imagine the situation if we were still using the damaged transformer and it blew the whole complex. (I really wonder about the people who thought you can run a damaged transformer and during the summer to boot!)

  65. 65.

    4jkb4ia

    This is it. KFUO, one of the last ongoing commercial classical stations, will go off the air in an hour. Beethoven’s 9th is playing. I am crying even though I never listened to it.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw #51

    Dear gods, the TONGUE on that puppeh! I’m thinkin if Marni kisses you, you stayz kissed.

  68. 68.

    MattR

    @Toast: That was truly hilarious and the comments are great as well.

    My dog once got stuck between the sofa and the wall. She forgot how to walk backwards and didn’t have enough space to turn around, so she just sat down with her nose to the wall and waited patiently for someone to rescue her. I’d suggest they could be related.

    Your dog still outperforms my cat in pretty much every area. I’ve resigned myself to having a throw-pillow that eats…

  70. 70.

    Annie

    @Platonicspoof:

    LOL. I once was criticized at BJ for my poor spelling skills. So if I follow your advice with “ear spe-seeAlice-t,” I can’t imagine what the comments would be!

  72. 72.

    Annie

    @David in NY:

    Just had excitment next door — we live in a townhouse complex. My neighbors had a fire in their dryer. Four fire trucks and a host of “hunky” firemen. I was pissed that I had changed from my “skimpy sundress” into my work t-shirt and shorts. Of course, my husband was standing next to me, so changing was out of the question!

  73. 73.

    4jkb4ia

    (It will delight the heart of Mr. Cole that the Lutheran Church wanted to sell the station to an explicitly Christian group, so we can’t have nice things)

  74. 74.

    Sentient Puddle

    @TomG: I always avoided the forums, so total affect on me is zero. That and my name is so generic that if I said my name here (or anywhere), anyone who wanted to figure out who exactly I was would have a bitch of a time trying to figure it out, having to sort through several hundred people who shared my name.

    I also have a friend who wants to start a class action lawsuit over this. I laugh at his idiocy.

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    @Annie:

    Of course, my husband was standing next to me, so changing was out of the question!

    He’ll understand. And honestly, he secretly wants you to.

  77. 77.

    Annie

    @Corner Stone:

    Damn. I knew I should have checked with BJ when the guys first arrived…BJers alway know what to wear in any situation.

    And, while the women of the courtyard were sitting in one spot, eyeing the firemen, the men of the courtyard were standing in another spot, protecting their women. Clearly, BJers could have helped the women overcome the cultural divide.

  78. 78.

    Corner Stone

    @Annie:

    Damn. I knew I should have checked with BJ when the guys first arrived

    Actually, I meant he really just wants you to be carried away by a hunky fireman so you’ll be that guy’s problem.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    Night shift checking in. Status: wilted. It hit 101° here in NoVa today, and it’s supposed to hit 100° again tomorrow. Oy. My anemic air conditioner is trying its hardest to get its cool on, but it’s not enough.

    I decided to take a mental health day tomorrow. Will lie low, have a siesta, if necessary, and watch the Spain-Germany game. It killed me to have to leave Uruguay-Netherlands early in the second half today.

    I am predicting that the Netherlands will beat whichever team comes out of tomorrow’s game. That is all.

  85. 85.

    srv

    Did y’all see the story about these soshulist girls giving away FREE lemonade?

    This country is sinking fast.

  86. 86.

    Steeplejack

    @lamh32:

    Just from the line you quoted, I knew you were referring to my all-time favorite. “Run, bitch! Run for your life! Get some help!”

  87. 87.

    tkogrumpy

    I stumbled on a very tasty hydrator this after noon, when I added one part grapefruit juice to three parts Sam Adams summer ale.

  88. 88.

    handy

    I don’t know how you East Coasters deal. I spent a summer in Atlanta (which I realize probably is worse than most places out there) and it was one of the worst experiences in my life. People kept saying, “Oh you get used to it.” After 3 months of that mid-90s with a Heat Index in the 100s crap, I was most definitely not used to it. Not on my life.

  89. 89.

    Neldob

    @Annie– I’ve had good luck getting rid of ear infections by holding a very warm, damp washcloth on my ear for 15-20 minutes 2 or 3 times a day. Maybe it gets the circulation circulating more so the thrombocytes can dance better.

  90. 90.

    Yutsano

    @srv: Umm…okay…sure. Children being generous equals the death of good white Christian conservative society. Gag me.

  91. 91.

    asiangrrlMN

    @srv: What a jackass that guy is. Now I haz a sad for the poor girls who received his crazy rant in exchange for being good-hearted. Fucker.

    I am a fucking wuss when it comes to heat. It was ‘nearly 90’ here today, and I was limp and drenched. Fuck. It’s a good thing I live in an area that is more cold than hot.

    @Yutsano: Hi, hon. How you be?

    P.S. Cole, sorry you’re feeling shitty.

  92. 92.

    Ash Can

    @4jkb4ia: It always saddens me to see a classical music station go off the air. We’re down to one here in Chicago, and it’s the class of the genre. It’s decently financed for now, but if it were ever to go off the air, I’d feel lost at sea.

    @asiangrrlMN: Terry Savage is a she. I don’t read her columns, so I don’t know if she was going for snark here or not. At any rate, it’s good to see that the kids cheerfully ignored the crazy old aunt in the back seat.

Comments are closed.