Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

This fight is for everything.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

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

Republicans in disarray!

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Ah, the different things are different argument.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    flukebucket

    Weather is weird and wild here in North Georgia. Raining sideways and the wind is howling. Temperature supposed to be over 20 degrees lower tomorrow than today. Even old timers tell me that they have never seen anything like it.

  2. 2.

    guachi

    The rain is now hitting me up in Maryland. Although it doesn’t look like it’s going to be too cold in the next few days.

    But I did enjoy the 70 degree weather for a day! Left work early. Huzzah!

  5. 5.

    Gian

    Another mass shooting in arizona today. And an high school girl too young to drive who marched in a band at Obama’s second inauguration was shot in the back and killed in chicago.
    As im on a phone hard to post links. Those and someone killed a busdriver in Ala with a gun and kidnapped a little kid.

  7. 7.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Several inches of snow after a night of rain. Should be around 0 degrees F tomorrow. With 25 mph winds.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    Dear lord, the senate gun hearings really chased the rodents from the wainscoting.

    But things really got going with the testimony of Gayle Trotter from the Independent Women’s Forum:

    On the subject of assault weapons like the AR-15, she raved, “They have good handling, they’re light, they’re easy for women to hold, and most importantly, their appearance.”

    “An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon,” Trotter continued. “And the peace of mind that women has as she’s facing three, four, five violent attackers, intruders in her home, with her children screaming in the background, the peace of mind that she has knowing that she has a scary looking gun gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened, violent criminals.” She did not provide statistics to back up her hypothetical.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/craziest-moments-from-senate-panel-on-gun-control.html

    Three, four, five attackers. I could see that…on a Mumbai bus.

  11. 11.

    PurpleGirl

    @Gian: I’ve seen a posting about the girl in Chicago, and the bus driver being shot and a child kidnapped from the bus. Haven’t read about a shooting in Arizona yet. At some point these types of stories will all become local again.

  13. 13.

    General Stuck

    @Gian:

    Just read about the AL case. Anti gov Survivalist nut has a 6 year old autistic kid as a hostage in an underground bunker. Did I say in Alabama? Meanwhile, we have the gun nut reps shooting shit at a congress hearing. See no evil hear no evil. Another day in paradise.

  16. 16.

    scav

    snow after record breaking heat and thunderstorms yesterday. And I’m in one of the dull states this time.

  17. 17.

    PurpleGirl

    Weather in Woodside (NYC). Very foggy this morning, then it cleared and sun was bright. Approaching sunset now. Expecting heavy rain and wind tonight and into tomorrow morning. Good thing I can stay home.

  19. 19.

    eemom

    I just got off one of the stupidest conference calls of my life.

    omfGod was that stupid.

    I almost died from teh stoopid.

    Lawyers suck and I am one. : (

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    because I can, the local five-day forecast:

    Sunny and 61, 62, 63, 62, 63.

    The hell’s the deal with that drop from 63 to 62? Hrrmph!

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @trollhattan: “An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon,”

    One of my favorite moments of the Sopranos was when Carmela heard an intruder and grabbed what looked to my inexpert eyes like an AK-47 out a hidden closet, much to the consternation of her visiting priest, but I’m pretty sure that was meant to be a moment of dark humor.

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    In weather news, it’s a bit chilly here in metro Los Angeles — 69 degrees. G was very annoyed with yesterday’s weather because it was colder here than in Chicago, and he was hoping that our visitors next week would enjoy the novelty of nice weather. Oh well.

  30. 30.

    Poopyman

    The front just hit the Baltimore area. Traffic will be fabulous.

    I’m hangin’ at work until around 6-ish, then go home and play with the cats.

  31. 31.

    mainsailset

    Eastern WA state. closing in on 60 degrees which breaks all time record for the day. 3 feet of snow on the ground turning to mush but tomorrow predicting to head back down to only 10 degrees above normal!

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    @shortstop:

    It’s wacky here right now. The predicted highs through Sunday (the day they arrive) are 68, 77, 73, 72, and 66. Apparently there’s a tropical storm off-shore that’s bringing some very bizarre weather to us.

    Next Wednesday looks like it may be museum day since Weather Underground is predicting a 70 percent chance of rain.

  34. 34.

    eemom

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The former. And FOUR fucking lawyers billing time for it. Endless. The horror.

    Someone please make me a time machine so I can go back and knock some sense into my dumbass college senior self before it applied to fucking law school. kthxbai.

  35. 35.

    Rosalita

    waiting for that spot of weather to get to us… was fun to toss off the winter coat at lunchtime today (57!)

  36. 36.

    shortstop

    I have to look at the bright side. Yesterday morning I got up super early and washed all the windows in the house. They were driving me insane and we don’t get so many 60-degree days in Chicago in midwinter. They look awesome.

  37. 37.

    gelfling545

    In Buffalo 50’s yesterday & mid 60’s (all time high) today with rain, rain, rain & wind. By tomorrow 25 for the high with 50 mph winds & snow. Don’t like the weather ? Just wait a minute.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    @shortstop:

    FatAlGore Might could visit, to be sure.

    This month is turning out to be the third driest January in San Francisco history and, with no rain forecast in California’s foreseeable future, state water keepers are crossing their fingers for a few more pounding storms.

    The water content of the snow in the Sierra is 94 percent of normal, a somewhat disturbing turnaround considering the way higher than average snow levels a month ago when the state was immersed in wet, freezing bliss.

    “It’s not atypical to have a midwinter lull, which is what we’re experiencing,” Frank Gehrke, the chief snow surveyor with the California Department of Water Resources, said after taking measurements Tuesday at historic Phillips Station off Highway 50 near the Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort. “The difference will be how long that lull will last.”

    http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/January-3rd-driest-in-S-F-history-4234265.php#ixzz2JUvS9Cof

  39. 39.

    bemused

    We’ve been bouncing between deep freeze temps and climbing close to 40 in the last week or so. Going back down again…only about 5 deg now.

  40. 40.

    shortstop

    @trollhattan: You’re in SF? Lucky ducky! For some reason I thought you were a SoCal fellow.

    Insufficient snowpack across the west is really worrisome.

  41. 41.

    staci

    @trollhattan: I saw her. She said a couple times that guns are “the great equalizer” for women. I was wondering why she was there – the second amendment wasn’t under attack.

  44. 44.

    artem1s

    58 now in cleveland. predicting 3 inches by morning and more in the snowbelt. commutes gonna be fun tomorrow.

  45. 45.

    JPL

    North GA got slammed today. Interstate 75 was closed for hours due to overturned cars on the highway near Adairsville and I feel terrible for all those that had damage or were injured. Meanwhile I’m nursing a head ache from the darn sirens that kept going off all day. We had about fifteen minutes of heavy rain but that was it.

  46. 46.

    General Stuck

    @muddy:

    It’s 60* in Vermont, with fog coming up out of the snow.

    Flesh eating Zombies can’t be far behind.

    Snow Zombies are the worst.

  48. 48.

    Mike E

    Breezy here in Mayberry, stormy weather coming tonight. Contemplating whether I’m going to do the phone thing again, in the knowledge that my state really really wants to be North Mississippi, badly. Ugh.

  51. 51.

    Roger Moore

    I’m enjoying that same Southern California weather other people have commented on. Other than that, I’m about to go over and donate platelets for the first time; I usually give whole blood.

  52. 52.

    elmo

    @eemom:

    I thought it would get better if I went in-house.

    I haven’t gotten any smarter since I chose law school, apparently.

  53. 53.

    justawriter

    It’s only supposed to hit twenty below tonight, which is a ten degree improvement from the forecast just a couple of days ago.

  54. 54.

    Phylllis

    @JPL: Augusta news just now showing video from Adairsville. What a mess. It’s about an hour and a half away from us right now. Looks like wind and heavy rain will be our biggest concern.

  56. 56.

    kindness

    Preparing for a Niners win on Sunday. What should I eat? I’m not sure yet but I have already bought the alcohol. Priorities you know.

  57. 57.

    danielx

    Was 55 degrees this morning, stayed that way more or less until around 3, then started dropping. Supposed to drop to 19 tonight, 25 mph wind out of the northwest with snow expected. Shorter: shitty, with increasingly shitty outlook.

    Jeebus, I’ve turned into a stereotypical midwesterner – people always talk about the weather indeed…

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    @shortstop:
    Nah, I’m over the hill in the state capital, where at least I don’t have to be a lifelong renter. Lifestyle takes a hit, though.

    I’ll be bitching about the heat in (counts fingers) four months.

  59. 59.

    Ted & Hellen

    Being snowed in for three days with puppies and no power outage and a fireplace sounds like Heaven.

    Is it ok to capitalize “Heaven” here?

  60. 60.

    MattR

    Discovered my phone issues an alarm for extreme warnings from the national weather service. Thought we were having a fire drill until I realized the sound was coming from my pants.

  61. 61.

    John O

    Let that AL “survivalist type” kidnapper and (alleged) murderer “air his grievances.” I’m sure he’s got a lot of interesting quirks to showcase for the American public about his wing of the GOP.

    That’s all happening minutes from family I have down there. My niece with the 5 year old little girl is basically traumatized.

    Starting to snow heavier here in NW Chicagoland…after a day in the 60’s.

  63. 63.

    Poopyman

    @Roger Moore: Good for you! Don’t worry about it – they start you off slowly. The worst part in the beginning is the feeling of claustrophobia from having both arms immobilized, but you acclimate fairly quickly to that.

    Drink lots of water, and stay off the booze for 24 hours. That may be the worst part of the whoile deal!

  65. 65.

    Poopyman

    @John O:

    Let that AL “survivalist type” kidnapper and (alleged) murderer “air his grievances.”

    Yeah, then come the feats of strength. I think we can dispense with the aluminum pole, however.

  66. 66.

    JPL

    @Raven: High of 70..low of 30…

    @Phylllis: The Atlanta stations have been covering it all day. Fortunately, only one confirmed death but several have critical injuries. The power is out in the entire area.

  67. 67.

    imonlylurking

    13 degrees above zero. Supposed to drop below zero tonight, barely crawl into positive single digits tomorrow, then back below zero again. I’ve got such a freaking headache right now.

  68. 68.

    Maude

    @MattR:
    LOL
    We’re going to get rain and 50mph wind gusts. Tomorrow morning 30mph wind gusts. I’m going on the bus to the store. I’ll tied myself to a light post waiting for the bus.

  70. 70.

    Roger Moore

    @kindness:

    Preparing for a Niners win on Sunday. What should I eat?

    Crow?

    @Poopyman:

    I’ve actually donated by apheresis before, once for a double unit of red blood cells and once for stem cells. The machine here is a single arm machine, so it shouldn’t be as bad as the double arm one I used for the stem cell donation. I’m not worried except that I’ve been told conflicting stories about whether my veins are good enough to donate platelets. I figure if they could do the red blood cell apheresis, they should be able to manage platelets.

  71. 71.

    muddy

    @Poopyman: Last time I went they were very excited about my iron levels and wanted me to give double platelets. Then it turned out my veins were too small. Capillaries all the way down. When I donate in the usual way I typically have a drink afterwards. I seldom drink, and doing it that day gives me way more bang for my buck. Going to have just one, make it count.

  72. 72.

    eemom

    @elmo:

    At least you don’t have to bill hours. Hope that helps a little.

    Myself, I am just going on the assumption that I will be billing eternity in the afterlife.

  73. 73.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    San Diego, awesome as always.

    Being born here, I used to take this for granted, before the Facebook and places like this taught me that the rest of this nation is a hellhole for months on end. Of course, the flip side of that is that I never saw a snowflake until I was 31 years old. I thought it was a piece of down floating through the air.

  74. 74.

    kindness

    @shortstop:

    Insufficient snowpack across the west is really worrisome.

    Yea no doubt. Went up snowshoeing with the spouse & pups this weekend above Sonora where Route 108 gets closed for the winter. Fun. There was enough snow to wear the shoes but hardly enough. That’s our summer water too. Hoping for rain down here, snow up there.

  76. 76.

    DFH no.6

    The Phoenix Open (it’s now called something awful like “The Waste Management Phoenix Open”) is happening in my neighborhood (north Snobsdale).

    Been cool this week, but will be in the 70s for the tournament from tomorrow thru Sunday, so Tourism Board happy.

    Large crowds, as always (slightly messing up my local roadways, but not too bad).

    Not a golf fan, myself, but I did go last year to catch Slightly Stoopid perform. Love their stuff, especially live.

    Seen them in concert 4 times now. Except at the Open, these have been the most openly pot-smoking concert crowds I’ve been in since the mid-70s. Security doesn’t even bother since that would essentially mean rounding up half the people and shutting the concert down.

    Good times.

  78. 78.

    dance around in your bones

    I’m trying like hell to finish Wiley Cash’s book A Land More Kind Than Home on my kindle before tomorrow’s book chat thingamajoo whilst chasing grandkids, doing tons of laundry and dishes and taking care of their mommy (my kid) who has a grunky tummy.

    Who the hell knows what’s for dinner. Son-in-law and all around cool guy got a big promotion “woo-hoo!” yesterday.

    So life doesn’t totally suck. But sort of, a little bit.

  79. 79.

    shortstop

    @MattR: cracked me up.

    @Poopyman: also, Rog, insist that they let you finish watching the movie. In the years before I hit the “permanently deferred” list for having once lived in England, I missed beacoup de film endings because they’d kick me out as soon as they had my platelets.

  84. 84.

    KG

    sunny, 70 degrees and just across the road from the Pacific Ocean… No clouds, no wind, no rain, can even see DTLA nicely.

    Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all perfect, I mean, it was like 48 degrees this morning when I got in the car. Luckily the new ride has heated seats, so I was fine…

  85. 85.

    IowaOldLady

    Another day stuck in my house by a blizzard. I was planning to grocery shop. Guess we’ll have scrambled eggs and biscuits.

  88. 88.

    Poopyman

    @shortstop: Up here they have no problem letting me finish a movie, probably because I usually schedule at the end of the day. But lately they’ve had me on the machine 110-120 minutes, and it’s a rare occasion that the movie ends after I do.

    I think they try to get as much out of the old-timers as they can. That’s probably about a triple-unit donation. I’ve been doing it for some time now, about (checks wallet) 105 times.

  89. 89.

    KG

    @shortstop: I’m in that hellhole known as the South Bay, so it looks real nice on the horizon. Only time I go there is if I score Laker tickets or have to make a court appearance. Otherwise, I’m more than content to kick around Long Beach

  90. 90.

    DFH no.6

    @MattR:

    Discovered my phone issues an alarm for extreme warnings from the national weather service.

    Had the same damn thing with my work cell phone last year (HTC EVO on AT&T).

    Could not figure out how to kill it.

    Fortunately, Joe Arpaio County doesn’t get much in the way of severe weather, except for the occasional haboob in the summer. Though an inch of rain from a thunderstorm is sometimes considered “severe weather” around here, with an attendant need to warn us that it’s coming.

    New cell phone with Verizon not supposed to do that (I asked). I’ll see come July or so, I guess.

  91. 91.

    Raven

    @KG: Looked like a small break at El Porto but nice sunny day anyway. Goddamn Surfline only lets me see the web cams for about a minute!

    South Bay Surfers Rule!

  92. 92.

    dance around in your bones

    @muddy:

    The thing is, I live with them now since my husband died. We always used to joke that having grandkids was great ’cause you could give them back once you’d visited them.

    I love the little dudes, but 3 boys who are 6 and under is……sometimes rather tiring!

    Not that I’m complaining or anything. Well, not TOO strenuously.

  93. 93.

    Roger Moore

    @shortstop:
    I brought my tablet so I can read a book (or Balloon-Juice) while I’m donating. I’m actually in the chair waiting for my CBC right now.

  94. 94.

    quannlace

    Though my dog is already freaking out, we’re supposed to get the lesser part of this storm here in NJ. Just a but-load of rain and some high wind gusts. My neighbor just put their Christmas tree out on the curb. If it’s as light as mine was, I’m afraid it’s gonna be twirling down the street around 2 AM.
    ********
    Agenda for tonight? Finishing up some deadlines, then Top Chef at 10pm, even tho I swore it off two weeks ago when they axed Kristen instead of Josie.

  95. 95.

    MattR

    @DFH no.6: I have a HTC Rezound on Verizon. Was easy enough to turn the alarm off once I realized it was me. I was able to delete the alert too, but can’t figure out how to get rid of the icon. Time to reboot the phone and then search the google if necessary.

  97. 97.

    dance around in your bones

    @muddy: Yeah, the reality is always a bit more interesting than the fantasy/imaginings.

    But I do love the little dudes.

    Hell, I prolly drive THEM crazy, too!

  98. 98.

    Raven

    @dance around in your bones: We have friends around the corner and the grandmother (a year younger than me) lives upstairs. They have two kids and it seems to work well for everyone. The only thing that is weird is that they continue to send all kinds of day-to-day messages to each other on their Facebook pages!

  100. 100.

    JWL

    So far this winter in Sonoma County, Ca. (San Francisco North Bay region) has been beautiful, i.e., good rainfall well spread out. We’ve been having 2-4 days worth at a time, followed by a weeks worth of drying out.

  102. 102.

    piratedan

    @trollhattan: #10 yeah, but the rest of the time, it can be used as a tool, like negotiating a better rate from those illegals providing day care for her progeny and the like, see… win win!

    also, too….

    http://www.upworthy.com/gabby-giffords-says-more-in-her-struggle-with-13-sentences-than-most-people-do-i?c=ufb1

    it’s in bad taste, but Gabby Giffords with brain damage is STILL more coherent a public speaker than Our Little Jannie. Especially so, on gun control.

  103. 103.

    piratedan

    @Poopyman: it’s a great way to be racking up the good karma, was a platelet donor for 25 years until I got a false hepatitis that kicked me out of the system. I used to consider donation time as my Calgon moment, you sit in the chair, they give you grape juice and you get to watch a movie.

  105. 105.

    dance around in your bones

    @Raven: Ha!

    When I first got here my daughter and I would text msg and email each other from opposite ends of the house……now we just holler.

    Wait ’til the kids get text/email savvy! One of them (4 yrs old) is already a whiz at Skylanders and Minecraft – he’s always “teaching” me how to play the games (I think he just likes to boss me around) but we have fun together, him playing like a pro and me just flailing around.

  107. 107.

    Elizabelle

    Listening to wind gusts (intermittent) and look forward to finishing Wiley Cash’s book. Savoring it.

  108. 108.

    piratedan

    @Roger Moore: started in my early twenties, went about 6 to 8 times a year. Had to warn prospective employers that I wasn’t a junkie because of the scars I’d built up.

    Tucson has a big teaching hospital and a cancer center, hence there was always a big push to keep the regulars rolling thru.

  109. 109.

    muddy

    @dance around in your bones: 20 years ago, I used to rent a nintendo for the weekend (3 games) for my son as a treat. I was miserable at it. Once when we were choosing games, I asked if we could get one where I had a hope of winning ever. He said, “How about Sesame Street Hide-n-Speak?”

    First serious successful snark on mom. He was 10.

  111. 111.

    Roger Moore

    @piratedan:
    Yeah, I work at a cancer hospital, so I get hit up regularly. Fortunately, we have an employee donation program that gives nice stuff for donating. I can get up to 16 hours of vacation time for making ten donations in a calendar year.

  112. 112.

    dance around in your bones

    @muddy:

    Yeah, I am just a total fail parade on the games. The boys seem to soak it up through their pores while I am left saying plaintively “Why is my character suddenly so huge? Why am I under the water? How do I get out of outer space?” and various things like that.

    They just leave me in the dust and barely have pity on me :) I think they kinda like that.

  113. 113.

    Mnemosyne

    @imonlylurking:

    I’ve got such a freaking headache right now.

    I found out the hard way that there is such a thing as a weather migraine — I get one when there’s a sudden humidity change. That may be what happened to you.

    If you have Excedrin (Tylenol+aspirin+caffeine), take a regular dose. If you don’t, take Advil with a cup of coffee or another hit of caffeine — it will help.

  114. 114.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @eemom:

    I will be billing eternity in the afterlife.

    Engineer here, and I will be doing the same. Hopefully with enough of a budget that I can bill to it.

  115. 115.

    Rosie Outlook

    Record breaking warmth yesterday; snow tonight.

    I wish Al Gore would lose weight. I’m tired of crazy weather.

Comments are closed.