Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

No one could have predicted…

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

T R E 4 5 O N

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

Let there be snark.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

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

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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Reader Interactions

136Comments

  3. 3.

    srv

    Is there a term for these brownouts? Maybe Tunchouts?

    Anyone have John’s support number? Maybe we could call his mom.

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    Nope, site still loads “Strange Ranger” when coming to it cold.
    The bork, it is strong with this site hmmmm??

  9. 9.

    gbear

    I’m one of the few, but I’m still at work so I’m not one of the happy. I got here via Internet Explorer. Haha all you browser snobs.

  11. 11.

    Davis X. Machina

    Never had any problems, OS X 10.7, Firefox and a ’09 era Macbook.

    Is it a ‘mobile’ thing? I have been informed by my children that it is possible to look at the Internet using one’s cellphone, of all things.

    I refuse to believe such codswallop, but there you are.

  12. 12.

    Schlemizel

    For he today that sheds his bits with me shall be my brother
    And gentlemen in England now a-bed
    Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

    – Hank 5 by Billy S

  13. 13.

    Riley's Enabler

    It’s showing up fine on my desktop/Firefox (new posts! new comments!) but on the iphone it gives no steady love.

    72 and sunny in TX today. Say what you will about our politics, our winters they do not suck.

  14. 14.

    The Dangerman

    Still hosed in Chrome.

    Time for a theme song for this crisis:

    A bork is a bork,
    of course of course,
    and no one can post with this site borked,
    of course,
    that is of course,
    unless the bork,
    is fixed by the famous Mister Cole*

    *or Tunch, whoever runs the place

  15. 15.

    Comrade Mary

    @Maude: If it is partially fixed but it still knows your name, then you have balloon-juice cookies hanging around. Try clearing cache and just the site cookies (Tools | Options | Privacy | remove individual cookies).

    You will have to re-enter your credentials one more time, but it should be fine (I think) after that.

  18. 18.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Riley’s Enabler: We have three blooming Azaleas in our yard and a lovely coating of pine sperm on everything here in N Florida. These past two winters have been very odd, but I am sure it’s just sun spots or something…

  21. 21.

    Schlemizel

    @Arm The Homeless:

    I never had an allergy until I lived in FL. Then one day I walked out of my house & everything was a lovely shade of gold, the house the car, the street, even the air was golden with crap falling from the pine trees. Now I have some sort of hay fever every summer.

  22. 22.

    jl

    OK, open thread. I have a few items. First, pro-tip for politically active type here, DO NOT criticize Chris Christie’s weight unless you have an unlisted phone number.

    Second, heroic dogs are in the news today.

    Stella! Ornery dog leads to $1M Idaho lottery win
    By BRADY McCOMBS AP

    http://news.yahoo.com/stella-ornery-dog-leads-1m-idaho-lottery-win-201354312.html

    Homeless man sends his dog for help, dog saves the day
    By Claudine Zap
    The Lookout

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/homeless-man-sends-dog-help-152709057.html

    The hero dog’s name is ‘Buddy’. Dude, how can you beat that kind of Lassie action?

  23. 23.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    successful with IE in Detroit over VPN thru Germany.

    But I have nothing to say.

  24. 24.

    longtime lurk

    I can see the blog fine, so congratulations. I also want to congratulate this blog on its fine, intensive coverage of the Brennan confirmation hearing and all issues related to it. Major kudos!!

  26. 26.

    RossinDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    Here’s a site question: I want to change my commenting Name. I’ve tried posting under a different name and emai laddress, but I get Moderated. Probably because FYWP is sniffing my IP Address.
    How is a change of Name accomplished? I kinda need to go a little more anonymous.

  27. 27.

    Schlemizel

    @Schlemizel:

    BTW _ I know a lot of people are familiar with that one soliloquy from Hank 5 but the background for it make the whole scene more dramatic.

    The English are about to meet the French in battle & are outnumbers 3 or 4 to 1. One of the Dukes wishes out loud that they had but 10,000 of the idle men currently in England by their side. Hank calls him out & says “No, we are much better off with out those guys” and then explains how they will never be able to feel like real men because they did not show up to get their asses handed to them on St. Crispins Day.

    Its really quite moving & particularly so when you think of the times you may have stood up in a losing cause & wished you had more by your side. Say, from 1999 through 2008 at least every day and way to often in many years around those.

    He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
    Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
    And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
    He that shall live this day, and see old age,
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
    And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
    Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
    And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
    Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
    But he’ll remember with advantages
    What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
    Familiar in his mouth as household words

  28. 28.

    geg6

    @Davis X. Machina:

    I can’t get it to load in right in either my phone or my desktop at work. And I won’t even try it on my laptop at home since that thing crashes if you breathe on it too hard.

  33. 33.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @catclub:

    Post twice with new nym. Be patient.
    You automatically get moderated as both new and using the same email as ‘another’ poster

    Thanks. We’ll see if this works.

  34. 34.

    BGinCHI

    Just had lunch with one of the main bloggers at the Orange Satan. She used to be a student of mine.

    Very smart lady.

    What’s the B-J term for bragging about something? There must be one.

  36. 36.

    Bnad

    Using Chrome and was only seeing “Strange Ranger” since yesterday, then cleared my cache (back to the beginning of time) and it worked. But it looks like I need to keep re-clearing my cache in order to see new articles on the BJ front page.

  38. 38.

    EconWatcher

    @Schlemizel:

    Just saw that play last week at the Folger in DC. It was teh awesome. I’m working on memorizing the St. Crispin’s Day speech during my daily train rides.

    It’s amazing how Shakespeare can make you want to stand up and shout when he’s really on a roll, as he is with that speech.

  39. 39.

    Seanly

    No problems with the site using IE 8 (work has proprietary web apps that don’t play well with other browsers or IE 9).

    However, I am looking forward to an angry rant from a rum-soaked Mr. Cole. Something like “snargle, snargle, FO&D if site doesn’t work, snargle, snargle, I’m gonna go pet Lily”

  41. 41.

    scav

    still in the odd but present camp I think. So. Maybe fit for the band of half-siblings and second cousins of varying moods?

  43. 43.

    muddy

    I haven’t had the slightest trouble with the site (mac/chrome), and feel a little left out. I won’t be able to talk about the dreadful sitebork episode later. Just like the sleeping Englishmen on St. Crispin’s Day, o woe.

  44. 44.

    max

    I was having to close the browser (flushing all cookies) and restart to get things to reload, in Chrome, Firefox and IE. However, just now, a close and reload results in the front page now updating correctly.

    I’m thinking the problem was webcaches somewhere along the line not updating.

    max
    [‘Fixxored. Thanks.’]

  49. 49.

    jl

    @BGinCHI: Sorry, I think ‘____ whoring’ is the conventional formula for any thing you are bragging about or advertising at a family safe blog like BJ (which should clue us all in on that point).

    You will have to pioneer a new term, ‘blagging’ is fine with me.

  50. 50.

    Comrade Mary

    Aw, fuck. Broken on Chrome again. (Clicked the banner to go back to the home page and got Strange ranger again. Luckily, I think the Next / Previous links inside each post are working.

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle loves typing her info continuously

    When I called up Balloon Juice, I got the Stranger Ranger frontpage and had to scroll through “next post” at the top to get here.

    Woo hoo.

    Access to the blog and nothing to say except: BBS. Off to get car reinspected. New tires.

  53. 53.

    22over7

    Seems a bit fragile in chrome, borked to death on my IE whatever number it is, and forgot my name (snif). But we’ll give this a try.

  54. 54.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    I heard there would be site work, but I haven’t seen any changes. OTOH, I’ve been using IE, which is like being lobotomized and colorblind. I’ll check it on Chrome and Safari when I get home.

  55. 55.

    Mike in NC

    @Schlemizel: Most of our neighbors have the same experience. But after 5 years here I no longer get an annual sinus infection in the Spring.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle loves typing her info continuously

    And in moderation too.

    The gods may not find my comment worthy of inclusion.

    FWIW: watched Downton Abbey’s episode 5 last night (I think); the Dowager Countess et al at Ethel’s luncheon.

    Many, many hints of times be achanging for the landed gentry.

    Young non-landeds not wanting to go “in to service” anymore. They think they can be bankers or lawyers? The horror.

  57. 57.

    PeakVT

    Looks fine on this iPad mini (testing at best buy). This keyboard would drive me nuts, though.

  58. 58.

    PeakVT

    Looks fine on this iPad mini (testing at best buy). This keyboard would drive me nuts, though.

  60. 60.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    Clear Your Browser’s Cache

    Site works fine now in Chrome and FF after clearing the cache.

  63. 63.

    FlipYrWhig

    @jl: Why is the name for such things “whoring”? Shouldn’t it be “pimping”? You’re pushing something out into the world to get it some attention.

  65. 65.

    Comrade Mary

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: Yeah, this works once. Or maybe twice. Then it stops working. (Chrome, I’m lookin’ at YOU. Et my damn cookies, too.)

    Firefox seems OK for me after a cookie and cache clearance, but not other people.

    Does anyone else get the feeling that the server is rolling the dice on every load to determine our individual TOLERANCE FOR FRUSTRATION scores?

  67. 67.

    Regnad Kcin

    @Mike in NC: Very sorry to have misread that as “anal sinus infection”

    off to get my head checked

    ETA: no issues w site: MacbookAir 10.8.2 / Chrome or FF or Safari

  69. 69.

    BGinCHI

    @FlipYrWhig: Why “weird”?

    Here’s how it works:

    A –> B <– P
    /
    /
    Shy

    Each relationship is based on desire and money, expressed as a fraction: desire (or love, or hate)/money (value, debt, interest). This holds for all relationships in the play. Portia is a prize in a contest but even Jessica must bring a fortune (in a casket) to the marriage or it's no go.

    Discuss.

  71. 71.

    scav

    @BGinCHI: huzzah! That will keep my poor neurons frying for a nice solid bit. So absolutely out of my normal rut. Didn’t even know my epigenetics could be false, so will keep them firmly in line. thanks.

  72. 72.

    jl

    @FlipYrWhig: I am neither aware of, nor responsible for, all BJ internet traditions. I am merely relating my understanding of BJ nomenclature. And devising ways to disown responsibility for my comment, in the fine tradition of Henry the V.

    Shakespeare portrayed Henry the V as an Ahole after he got hisself crowned, amirite? As bad in some ways than his sad ol’ dad. Or not?

  79. 79.

    danimal

    @Seanly: It has been a while since we’ve gotten an epic, drunken rant from our bloghost.

    I think the puppehs have mellowed him, and he lives in fear of His Tunchness.

  80. 80.

    scav

    Although given I watched The Enemy Within last night as remedial pop culture, I’m now struggling to decide if it’s a Space-based concentrate of the underlying Henriad (whee! new jargon!) or maybe the Tardis is involved and Leo Penn is actually Shakespeare.

  82. 82.

    mai naem

    I was just about to bitch about you guys bitching and moaning about the site cuz mine was working just fine and then karma or whatevah you call it hit me.

  83. 83.

    Soonergrunt

    I can see the site just fine on IE 9, Firefox 18 and whatever Chrome is part of Android 4.2 running on my phone and my Nexus 7.
    Honestly haven’t had any problems the last few days.

  84. 84.

    Trollhattan

    Test. Cache. Johnny. Prophylactic FYWP.

    There it is–couldn’t comment to the previous post, went straight to moderation.

  85. 85.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    And I’m out of FYWP Mod Jail. So of course the whole site will now disappear completely.

  87. 87.

    JoyfulA

    I could see it before and can’t see it now on Firefox past about 2 p.m. est. I switched to Chrome, and it looks OK.

  88. 88.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    I’ve been reading this site on a Mac using chrome for the last few days and haven’t noticed any problems. FWIW.

  89. 89.

    mai naem

    I was listening to Stephanie Miller today. She had a funny email from some woman today who said every gun buyer should be forced to go to the only gun store in each state, have to walk past a gauntlet of gun control nuts, be forced to watch videos of mass shootings, then go through a mental exam, then walk out of the gun store past the said gauntlet of gun control nuts with dead body pics, then return in 72 hours after they are given time to think and make sure they really want that gun, walk past the same gun control folks and then they can buy the gun.

  90. 90.

    gogol's wife

    If I use Firefox, I keep getting “Strange Ranger” with 37 comments, and I have to wait and click on the title of Anne Laurie’s earlier post on the right side of the blog and then keep clicking to “Next Post.” On Safari, it took me to this post.

    I hate blizzards.

  94. 94.

    freelancer

    @Crusty Dem:

    Because there’s more than one person named Michelle Malkin living in the States. The odious, raw-nerve Malkin you’re thinking of lives in Colorado.

  95. 95.

    WereBear

    Clear the cache, folks! It worked for me on Chrome.

    If you are not tech savvy, it probably has not been done since you got the computer. Do it… you will be amazed.

  98. 98.

    Trollhattan

    @freelancer:
    Stop killing my buzz, dude/dudette!

    Can’t the countertops of Capitol Hill breathe free?

    “As if” Stalkin’ Malkin would ever set foot in, much less run a not-for-profit health clinic.

  99. 99.

    Villago Delenda Est

    OK, a couple of threads back Baud commented:

    I agree that a lot of people do seem to driven by the suspicion that someone out there is getting something that they don’t deserve, and that that is the cause of all of our problems.

    I agree with this as well. They’re right. There are a great many people out there who are getting something that they don’t deserve.

    Those people are called the 1%.

    This is going on, but those who are loudest about it (the teatards, etc) are failing to identify who the undeserving actually are. They’re not Black, or Hispanic. They’re mostly white, products of Ivy League legacy educations, and have trust funds.

  100. 100.

    scav

    @BGinCHI: aaahhh.

    seriously though, to totally discombobulate the thread, does thr Henriad include Riii (sic. ok not so serously). Because the two Hals is really a doubling of the Richard/Henry issue (and there’s the Hal/Hotspur doubling too). Shakespeare can really work a fugue on a theme.

  101. 101.

    BGinCHI

    @scav: Henriad is RII, 1 & 2 HIV, HV.

    RIII is the final play in what is usually called “the first tetralogy” (HVI parts 1, 2, 3, then RIII).

  102. 102.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Now my Name and EMail addy disappeared. Now I’m going to go cut myself, or just go get something pierced(nose, eyebrow?).

  103. 103.

    Trollhattan

    Can we really be this lucky? Mein Gott, the debates….

    But despite that presidential fade-out and close call back home, Bachmann is again being mentioned as a candidate for higher office — this time as a potential challenger to first-term Democratic Sen. Al Franken in 2014. Bachmann has not signaled publicly her interest in such a race, but her advisers do not deny that she might consider it down the road.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/08/is_a_franken-bachmann_showdown_on_the_horizon_116953.html

  104. 104.

    liberal

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    There are a great many people out there who are getting something that they don’t deserve.
    Those people are called the 1% landowners and other rent collectors.

    Fixt.

  105. 105.

    different-church-lady

    Didn’t fix the problem for me. Aint’ complaining, just reporting.

    Mac, Firefox 12.0

    ETA: well, maybe it did after all — that’s the first time my name and address has auto-filled all day.

  108. 108.

    Riley's Enabler

    @Arm The Homeless: PINE SPERM

    I just blew half a coke on my monitor. Thanks!

    (Azaleas are blooming madly here, poor things. Mosquitos will be the size of hippos this spring.)

  109. 109.

    Trollhattan

    @Baud:

    Hah!

    IIRC he was on SNL during the Victoria Jackson era, so that might give him a small window into the tacklebox of crazy that is Michele and company.

  110. 110.

    Comrade Mary

    OH, COME ON, CHROME!

    Now you’re working perfectly again with no tweaks.

    (Except that you et my credenza again.)

  111. 111.

    scav

    @BGinCHI: sorry doubled up my iiis making a pointless Wii joke (which now works even better), thats the Rich I meant. Still, typo lead to elucidation of the next set. I’ve indeed worked my way through all the H6s but damned if I have a clue what’s going on there. But I’ll now think of them as the other Henry/Richard blob rather than a prolonged Henry stutter and the Hunchback.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    @Trollhattan:

    It took me a long time for me to believe that VJ wasn’t trolling the wingnuts. I’ve now convinced myself she is a true believer. If she’s not, she is the best goddamn troll since Andy Kaufman.

  116. 116.

    Trollhattan

    @Baud:

    one of the strangest transformations–or coming out parties–I’ve ever witnessed. Maybe not as surprising as Mamet, but a surprise nevertheless.

    No Toonces, nooooo!

  117. 117.

    FlipYrWhig

    @BGinCHI: Fair enough, but what the hell is Launcelot “Jar-Jar” Gobbo doing there, and what purpose is the random cross-dressing slapped onto the whole set of legal issues? I can come up with explanations, but it’s still goofy.

  118. 118.

    Baud

    @Trollhattan:

    LOL. Thanks for the memories. I forget about Toonces. He was ahead of its time. Toonces would have been a star on the cat-friendly Internet.

  120. 120.

    BGinCHI

    @FlipYrWhig: For some great readings of the Gobbo stuff, see Janet Adelman’s recent book on the play.

    The cross dressing has a number of reasons, but the first is that no woman would be allowed to do that in the early modern context. But of course it also allows for the sexual confusion that is important to late in Act 5.

  121. 121.

    different-church-lady

    @susan: I’ll sign it as long as we can get a bit more specific about what laws we’re going to prosecute them on.

  122. 122.

    different-church-lady

    @Trollhattan:

    But despite that presidential fade-out and close call back home, Bachmann is again being mentioned as a candidate for higher office — this time as a potential challenger to first-term Democratic Sen. Al Franken in 2014.

    I’m not sure how the people of Minnesota are going to react to the sight of a woman throwing herself headlong into an industrial grade wood chipper.

  123. 123.

    scav

    @FlipYrWhig: But many of the plays seem to have that complete mix of high and low, slapstick and solemn. That whole doorkeeper knock knock joke. I think I’ve heard that explained as pleasing the mixed audience types (blame the groundlings) but I’ve seen it pulled in some early opera too, and I think earlier operas were complete olios of dance, song, recitation, vaguely linked. Just a not unusual thing to do at the time?

  128. 128.

    Ash Can

    What the fuck is ‘masculism’?

    Maybe masculism is to masculinity as Christianism is to Christianity.

  130. 130.

    jl

    @scav:

    ” But many of the plays seem to have that complete mix of high and low ”

    That Shakespeare stuff is (at least) ‘two layers deep’! You gotta remember that.

  131. 131.

    scav

    @jl: I can remember that while also remembering he’s also a pragmatic playwright that had to get bums on seats (and on feet in the other area). Not everything had to part of a deeply considered Gesamtkunstwerk.

    Eta: sometimes a clown is just a clown and a cheap joke is a cheap joke. Lots of things can be read from the palm of a hand.

  132. 132.

    muddy

    I took my son to a performance of Macbeth when he was 11. He was horrified and thought it would be awful. I said nothing with sword fights and fart jokes is awful. There were some real belly laughs that night, he was really into it after a few minutes adjusting to the language. Who’d have thought a tragedy was so damn funny?

    The worst is kids reading it out haltingly in turns in HS, I’m glad I knew better before I had that experience.

  133. 133.

    muddy

    And after gloating that I had no siteborking, altho a bit sad that I could not join in on the St. Crispin’s-ish group experience, it acted badly. Now I don’t know whether or not I should be pleased.

  134. 134.

    Rosie Outlook

    All together now: FVCK YOU WORD PRESS!

    I am using an IPhone and having no problems. I gave up trying to read Balloon Juice on a computer. Life’s too short.

  135. 135.

    FlipYrWhig

    @BGinCHI: true, but there’s no good reason to have wacky sexual confusion dominating the end of the play in the first place. And Antonio has nothing to do, and Shylock just wanders off into oblivion like Poochie returning to his home planet. Needs some editing, I say. Then maybe this Will Shake-scene will have a future in the theater.

Comments are closed.