Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

How stupid are these people?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

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

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

We will not go back.

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

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by | 45 Comments

This post is in: 

First a plug for the theHumble ebook Bundle – thirteen books by authors like Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, Lauren Beukes, Kelly Link, Randall Munroe and (my favourite) Zach Weiner. Choose your own price and how much goes to the authors and to charity. Only available for two more days. Ad ends.

Second, if you haven’t read the comment thread in the Artists in the Mist thread, then you’re missing out on a treasure trove of interesting stuff. There are dozens of talented writers, musicians, cat whisperers and artists of all kinds. I particularly liked the beautiful image above by commenter Fuck ALL the chickens! (né Studly Pantload, t.e.u.u.), a delightfully odd poem by Aaron Baker and the lovely ceramics by Peter at Acookblog:

I’m also going to plug this song by Applejinx because he asked so nicely, because he has a sexy voice and because I’m hoping some brony will explain to me what the fuck it is about.

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    PsiFighter37

    Reading stuff for work…yippee. Stoked for tomorrow’s debate, though. Expecting Obama to bring top game for his final debate.

    Of course the Jets blew it, but the fact it was in OT, when Sanchez should’ve done what he never does – tuck the ball and take the sack – is really annoying. He should know better by now.

  3. 3.

    TaMara (BHF)

    I mentioned in an earlier thread I voted today (mail-in) but forgot to mention the surprise I got when I opened my ballot for the first time – 16 (SIXTEEN) candidates for President. I had trouble choosing. I mean, Jack Black from the rock ‘n roll party sounded so right for the job. But then of course there was Alicia Silverstone of the Clueless party, I mean I’m a woman so I should vote for a woman right?

    Sheesh.

    BTW, the photo and pottery are lovely. But I would expect nothing less from the talented crew here.

  4. 4.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Jesus FUCK but Billy Graham has come out and endorsed Romney in full page ads and now I have to bite my tongue twice because I will not discuss politics or religion on Facebook.

  5. 5.

    HobbesAI

    Applejinx’s song seems fairly self-explanatory, though Eris alone knows how Pinkamena keeps breaking the fourth wall.

  6. 6.

    piratedan

    filled out my ballot at home last night, put it in the envelope for the muchbetterhalf to mail out. Felt good to get it done. Boy, pay attention to those down ballot races and propositions, those ALEC fuckers are relentless with getting all kinds of evil shit on the ballot.

  7. 7.

    Mike Goetz

    I hate this election. Can’t eat, can’t sleep, drink too much. I’m so angry at what is being done to Obama. This Benghazi thing is such a load of shit, and the media is playing along like it actually has a point.

    The last three weeks have been like being in a torture chamber. Agonizing.

    Obama has to win. That’s it.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mike Goetz: Me, too, I’m in too deep, and the erratic polls are making me nuts. And I’m really trying to not be a poll-truther, but come on:

    Romney and President Obama are tied among likely voters at 47 percent apiece, although Obama holds the advantage among registered voters 49 percent to 44 percent nationally.

    Every headline on this poll is about the “tie”, seems to me a five point lead among registered voters warrants some serious discussion. I understand about likely voter screens, but have they been proved so clear, if not infallible, in 2008 or before?

  10. 10.

    StarStorm

    The Humble Indie Bundles have been wierding me out lately. I can understand the idea of a variable price with a portion going to charity, but most of them are billed as “independant” and many of the game choices are hardly from independent devs, as far as I can tell.

    Not that I won’t say it’s not NICE, but…

  12. 12.

    Three-nineteen

    Just in case anyone has a couple dimes left after political donations, Comedy Central is having its Night of Too Many Stars for autistic education. Go to cc.com and donate money to have Nick Offerman strip, or to have Conan O’Brien do his show with a burnt-orange spray tan.

  13. 13.

    Mike Goetz

    Although, there is this from Politico:

    “The Romney campaign sees this debate…as the last chance to move the needle in any significant way in the swing states that will decide the election. Aides head into it more confident about winning the race than they did before the first presidential debate, but believing Obama is slightly better positioned in the states that will dictate the outcome. The hope inside the campaign is that Romney will emerge in no worse position, advisers said…This could be a problem for Romney because another strong debate performance could be the difference-maker for him. Interestingly, in private conversations, the two campaigns agree on the state of the race as of this weekend: Obama has the edge right now because it appears he’s up, albeit narrowly, throughout the Midwest: Iowa, Wisconsin and, most importantly, Ohio. A Midwest swing-state sweep makes it almost impossible to chart a Romney win.”

    Sounds like not even the Romney campaign believes the bullshit. Every statement they come out with from now on has to be considered a bluff.

  15. 15.

    Gracie

    @Peter: Your work is beautiful! I love it. Good work like yours deserves front page status. I looked at your food blog and really enjoyed it. I’m an artist who loves food, too! Food blogs are my crack.

    I second the recommendation of theHumble book bundle. Kelly Link’s stories are incredible. Worth it for her alone, and the rest of the authors are no slouches.

    Anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo next month? Or have you done it in years past?

  16. 16.

    eemom

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Good sir, don’t worry yourself about national polls. They really, really don’t mean shit. They exist for no purpose other than to further the horse race.

    If you want to be nervous, be nervous about Florida. Be nervous about voter suppression. There’s plenty to worry about without buying into the bullshit emmessemm narrative.

  17. 17.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @TexasMango: @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I do not believe Graham has endorsed before, but I could be wrong on that. I mentioned that he’s bed-ridden (my first mistake) and the “worst kept secret in the carolinas” is apparently well kept from fundies, or they’re in denial. Probably a bit of both.

  19. 19.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    I mentioned that he’s bed-ridden…

    Which brings me to one of my all time favorite jokes:

    A local TV station sent a reporter to interview a woman who had just celebrated her 100th birthday.

    “One hundred years old, congratulations! Tell me, were you ever ill during your long life?”

    “Well,” answered the woman, “everyone falls ill at one time or another. I never suffered anything serious.”

    “So you were never bedridden?”

    The woman gets a distant look and then answers, “Oh, that. Yes, often. And, once or twice in the barn.”

  21. 21.

    eemom

    I have, also, this to say: while I would VERY MUCH have preferred Nate Silver’s numbers to still be where they were at the beginning of October, there is a silver lining: the fall is gonna be much, much harder on Romtron et al. than it would have been the other way, with the writing so huge on the wall that they’d have had no choice but to inwardly brace for defeat.

    And I want those monsters to suffer. I want them to suffer a lot.

  23. 23.

    MikeJ

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Jesus FUCK but Billy Graham has come out and endorsed Romney in full page ads

    No, Franklin has endorsed Romney and used the name of the man who America trusts who has senile dementia.

  24. 24.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Mike Goetz:

    The last three weeks have been like being in a torture chamber.

    Same for the Kerry campaign, same as 2008. I can’t remember what came out about Bush in the last 3 weeks in 2004 but all of us in the GOS echo chamber were all convinced it would sink him. It didn’t. The last 3 weeks of 2008 were miserable as well.

  26. 26.

    opie_jeanne

    @Peter: Wow! That piece is beautiful.

    I took a couple of years of ceramics… ok, three years, learned to throw and hand-build, but my stuff is childish by comparison with yours.

  28. 28.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: The whole Dan Rather/fake documents flap played out at the end of September.

    What happened right at the end was that Osama bin Laden popped up with a new (or “new”) video, which apparently gave Bush a nice little bump that kept him above water. But the polls were all over the place.

  29. 29.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):

    That’s his spawn speaking. Worst kept secret in the Carolinas.

    They frame the photos with Billy so you don’t see where Franklin’s right arm is shoved.

    And I think the scales fell from a lot of fundies’ eyes (at least, those who aren’t part of Franklin’s religious-industrial complex) when Ruth Graham “agreed” for her final place of rest to be the Charlotte theme park, when it was pretty much known that she was neither sound in body or mind at the time.

  30. 30.

    Fuck ALL the chickens! (né Studly Pantload, t.e.u.u.)

    As one of the folks clicking with the links in last night’s “artisans among us” thread, it’s that much more the honor to be highlighted by this blog’s most illustrious nonagenarian front pager. The shot is from Seattle’s Lakeview Cemetery, which I guess is fitting for the somewhat sp00ky look of the photo. But the fact is, well-run cemeteries are anything but spooky, and I love to shoot them for the beautiful statuary and groundskeeping and feeling of tranquility (if tinged with sadness).

    @opie_jeanne: That shot – well, the series, actually – is quite the beauty. I wish I could develop a “big picture” eye like that, but capturing the sweeping landscapes continues to elude me.

  31. 31.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Matt McIrvin: Which goes to show that the American public never forgives a president who loses lives to terrorist attacks. No, I mean, the opposite of that.

  36. 36.

    Applejinx

    Yay! Love you long time, Sarah, you glorious hussy! <3 <3 <3

    I just hope some bronies hear it before the election and go "OMG- that is so TRUE- I was going to vote for Romney to support the Job Creators but now I see the light! They are just destroying in the name of creating! I'm voting straight Dem!"

    Shoulda put that in through backwards masking…

  38. 38.

    mcmiag

    *(massive spittake)*

    WHAT THE FUCK IS A TOASTBEARD SONG BY APPLEJINX DOING ON BALLOON JUICE

    I TAKE A BREAK FROM PONIES TO SWING BY BALLOON JUICE FOR SOME FRESH ROMNEY BASHING AND THIS IS WHAT I SEE

    THE DIMENSIONAL BARRIERS BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT INTERNET COMMUNITIES I PARTICIPATE IN ARE COLLAPSING

    AT THIS RATE, KOSSACKS WILL BE POSTING 720p HOMELAND TORRENT LINKS ON ALLHIPHOP

    my head is spinning wtf i’m scared that this is a stroke symptom ;_;

    imagine going to a death metal concert, and seeing your grandmother waving at you from the front row. That’s what seeing that vid there felt like.

  40. 40.

    chopper

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    i’ve been ignoring a great deal of the polls due to noise, and focusing on who has better infrastructure and GOTV in swing states. which is obama.

    that being said, every day i’m reminded again and again about the sheer dumbery that is america that this is even close. and that shit is what really worries me about the future.

  41. 41.

    chopper

    @Peter:

    well, i’ll say that your food blog is now one of my new favorites. the bit about negotiating dessert with a child is spot on super-lolz. also, i’m going to try the lamb pho, having just made beef pho the other day.

    i like the ice cubes of demiglace. that’s one of my secrets, homemade chicken or beef stock cooked down and frozen in ice cube trays. one cube makes a cup of stock or deglazes the hell out of a skillet. makes a pan of sauteed greens absolutely heavenly.

  42. 42.

    Peter

    @chopper: Yep, a cube of stock is the coup de glace for a pan of greens. One of the most useful tricks there is. Let me know how you like the lamb pho. Duck is also fantastic, and if you have a turkey carcass left after Thanksgiving try it with that, too.

  44. 44.

    Applejinx

    @mcmiag:
    (matching spittake!)
    What the fuck is My Cutie Mark Is A Gun doing on Balloon Juice?
    Oh- being awesome as usual, I see! Carry on :D

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks