Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

He really is that stupid.

I was promised a recession.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

We’re not going back!

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Hot air and ill-informed banter

This fight is for everything.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

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Reader Interactions

210Comments

  4. 4.

    Yatsuno

    Nyet. He has been MIA for almost two months. I hope he’s all right, though he’s a tough old codger.

  6. 6.

    geg6

    Stuck has been known to go offline when he’s had enough for awhile. But I sure hope he checks in and everything is okay with him. I may have had my run-ins with him but I secretly like him. Don’t tell him, okay?

  7. 7.

    gogol's wife

    We’ve discussed it several times in the comments, but no one has had any luck.

  8. 8.

    geg6

    @gogol’s wife:

    Maybe a whole thread dedicated to him and an email from Cole will prompt him to stick his head out of his cave. Ot at least post a link to a pet pic.

  11. 11.

    Redshift

    OT: Sigh. There was a call I just missed and then a voice mail from a certain relative of Ms. Redshift’s (who I won’t identify because he’s apparently already pissed off that Ms. Redshift griped about him elsewhere online.) It was from his cell, and he hardly ever calls from his cell unless he’s nearby and planning to stop by, so I thought I’d better go ahead and listen to the voice mail, even though I’ve been avoiding reading his previous whiny and self-righteous email that came in last night.

    But no, it wasn’t an “I might stop by” call, it was a whiny and self-righteous voice mail about how his feelings were hurt, as we’d know if we’d read his whiny and self-righteous email. So he’s probably going continue to be an ass until he gets an apology for Ms. Redshift bitching him out for something he actually did wrong, though he’ll never admit it.

    Looks like Mother’s Day is going to be extra-fun this year…

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I miss Stuck, and I also miss seeing photos of that adorable Charlie. I do hope they’re both okay and just getting away from it (us) all for a while.

  13. 13.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    It would be nice if we could find out he’s okay and he stays gone. That’s a win-win.

  14. 14.

    JPL

    Sadly, I lost the link to his blog but did leave a message there several weeks back. He’s quite a photographer and at that time, his flickr page hadn’t been updated. Does anyone still have the link?

  15. 15.

    Emerald

    He has a blog, but the last entry is on March 5th. Glad you emailed him.

    I certainly hope he and his precious pup are OK.

    I miss him a lot. He always has incisive comments.

  18. 18.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Emerald: OMFG, his last entry was about ACORN. I hope those soulless bastards didn’t take him out.

  19. 19.

    Bruce S

    Real loss – I loved being slimed by that prick. His consistently crap responses to anything less than worship of the Oval Office made me feel smarter than I actually am. Thankfully JHooper’s hysterics and insane ad hominem is filling the void.

  20. 20.

    JPL

    In the past, when Stuck took a self imposed time out, he let us know. From his comments, you could tell that he had some health issues, so maybe he’s getting treatment and will be back to bitch at us soon.

  23. 23.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Bruce S: You gotta admit this place sucks without the discipline imposed by an authoritarian like Stuck.

  25. 25.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Maude:

    I think General Stuck died.

    Stuck would never miss the opportunity to blog about something like that. We’d never hear the end of it.

  26. 26.

    Steeplejack

    @Cole:

    Thanks for acting on this. I know that Stuck has taken leave before, but (I thought) he always announced it. Mid-60s, lives alone, (apparently) low income: it set off my spidey sense. I would love to hear that he’s okay, even if he wants nothing to do with us (which I doubt is the case).

  28. 28.

    Anne Laurie

    I actually emailed him in mid-April, asking him to check in here because people were worried about him. He may well have seen my name and hit delete without reading further.

    He could’ve switched nyms, but have any ‘new’ commentors had his distinctive style?

  29. 29.

    the Conster

    I think of Stuck and his plastic unicorn a lot – some of his comments were laugh out loud funny. I have a bad feeling about this.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    @Maude: Me too. As I said earlier, he always announced when he had to take a break. It’s sad because even though we are a community, when the comments stop, there is no way of telling what happened.

  38. 38.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    He probably just lost his internet but nowadays that’s damn near the same thing as being dead. Facebook or it didn’t happen, the kids say.

  42. 42.

    geg6

    @Yatsuno:

    I haven’t taken any lately! Been too wrapped up in my own dental drama. But has she gotten big! And settled in like she owns the place, which has had Otis in a snit the last few days since I’ve been home on sick leave. They really went at it the other day over fucking toast crumbs. I really yelled at Otis, who started it and who is much bigger, who then pouted the rest of the day and Koda steered clear of him for a couple of days after. I’ll take some pics and send them to Anne Laurie before I go back to work. Maybe Stuck will have put some up of Charlie by then.

  43. 43.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I don’t want to alarm anyone but pb, passerby and ninerdave have been missing for a long time too. Is it possible someone is stalking and killing the commenters of Balloon Juice?

  45. 45.

    Bruce S

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Or arguably it’s the key to having a real life. The Internet is useful but it also sucks at your brain cells – when I die I know I won’t be thinking I wish I’d spent more time in pissing contests @ Ballon Juice

  46. 46.

    JPL

    @TaMara (BHF): Flickr has his name as Sam in NM.
    maybe a relative will check his email, if he is unable to do so….

    Another thought, if he is reading this and not responding, then we can …………

  48. 48.

    Valdivia

    @Maude:

    boy I hope not, my heart totally did a sad somersault reading that. And would hope there would be a way to confirm one way or the other. I think I am going to cry.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    @JPL: That reminds me. I had some damn good cheesecake recently from either Sam’s or Costco.
    It was good, either way.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Stuck’s photo byline is SAM in NM. Don’t know whether his first name is Sam/Samuel, or maybe his initials are S.A.M.

    Speaking of Sams, it’s been a while since I’ve seen RedKitten, although I think the last time I saw a post from her it was the middle of the night, and I’m not reading through every thread the way I used to, so maybe she’s posting frequently and I’m just missing seeing her comments. Anyhow, RK, if you see this I hope you and the Young Kittens are all thriving. Pictures would be a bonus.

  55. 55.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Corner Stone:

    That reminds me. I had some damn good cheesecake recently from either Sam’s or Costco.

    Sam’s had it on sale. It was to die for!

  58. 58.

    Anne Laurie

    @TaMara (BHF):

    Actually if you guys are serious, you can check Legacy.com, most funeral homes and newspapers use it.

    I checked Legacy’s ‘SS record listing’ for the name under which Gen Stuck sold me a couple Charlie prints. The only possibility has a birthdate in 1951, which seems a little too young?

  61. 61.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Anne Laurie:

    The only possibility has a birthdate in 1951, which seems a little too young?

    That sounds about right to me. He just acted codgerly as an affectation.

  62. 62.

    Yatsuno

    @SiubhanDuinne: Fortunately I can say RedKitteh is fine and both Sam an Nick are doing awesome. Nick still has all that hair on his head too!

    (She’s on FB and is a friend of John’s if you are as well.)

    @geg6: Sounds like normal pack determination behaviour to me. Usually it’s not too serious. Hell my mom’s border collies still get into it and they’ve been a pair for years.

  64. 64.

    Anne Laurie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Don’t know whether his first name is Sam/Samuel, or maybe his initials are S.A.M.

    Whew! If those are his initials — and I do believe they are — he’s not the guy in Legacy’s SocSec listings.

    Way to troll us all, General!

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yatsuno: I doubt John would want me as a Facebook friend. But maybe i’ll look his page up and ask if he’ll be my friend(so humiliating, especially because he won’t know my actual name). Would be nice to reconnect with RedKitten though.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    @Anne Laurie:

    Birth date in 1951 would be a couple of years younger than I would have thought, but in the ball park.

    From my memory and a little Googling: Stuck lives in southwest New Mexico, “about 30 miles from the Gila River” and about 10 miles from “the mountains.” I remember looking on Google Maps when we were discussing some wildfire, and I vaguely pictured him living around the Gila-Silver City area, just south of the Gila National Forest. That’s all I’ve got.

    ETA: It’s a little disconcerting how much information is out there. If only Google would open up the big data vault! They probably know exactly what happened.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Anne Laurie:

    Way to troll us all, General!

    Now I’m having happy(ish) mental images of Stuck lurking and laughing. I think he’ll show up oh so casually one of these times when we’ve all stopped worrying and grieving about him, and just make one of his devastating remarks as though he last commented only an hour or two earlier.

  70. 70.

    TaMara (BHF)

    This fall, I went searching for two friends I’d lost track of, one a childhood friend and another an old beau. Both of them had died years before – I mean really, what are the odds?

    Their deaths preceded online obits, so I used a neat service provided by some city libraries, they’ll research old obituaries for you of deaths in that city (you need full name and dob/dod is helpful) and send you copies for a small fee.

    /randomly thinking aloud

  71. 71.

    Corner Stone

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Well, if you chose to not do those repairs, and just hung out tomorrow, then eventually you’d probably stop posting here and Cole would one day give you a two or three sentence epitaph as he asks if anyone has heard from you somewhere else.
    Entirely fitting, I’d suggest.

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    A 1951 birthdate would work. I remember from some conversation, ages ago, I figured out that he was about 6-8 years younger than I am. If it’s 1951, it would be 9 years but that’s not too far off. And I was trying to remember when we were pinning down his location, and it was during those wildfires, you’re right. Didn’t he put up some photos of the fires? Maybe there’s an identifiable landmark or something for those who have the Google-Fu skills and inclination.

    I am also acutely aware that if General Stuck wants to drop out for a while, that is absolutely his right and his business. I would be very unhappy to think that any of us would cross a real or implied privacy boundary.

  79. 79.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Stuck would be rolling over in his grave if he knew you were wishing me a happy birthday on the first thread in which John Cole has ever acknowledged his existence in a positive way.

    Too soon?

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I would be very unhappy to think that any of us would cross a real or implied privacy boundary.

    Yes, because if there is anything that Balloon Juice is about it’s respecting people’s personal boundaries.

    Sorry, had to laugh. But I agree with you.

  82. 82.

    eemom

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Speaking of curmudgeons….I guess it’s a good thing I’ve finally figured out you’re a big old softie at heart, or I’d hate myself for laughing at your evil jokes. Happy Birthday.

  85. 85.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @eemom:

    .I guess it’s a good thing I’ve finally figured out you’re a big old softie at heart

    Don’t ruin it for everyone else.

  87. 87.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Anya: Srsly? I have an Obama sticker on the left side of the bumper and a confederate flag on the right side. How can you not like that?

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    Yeah, heh, I thought something similar the second I hit “Submit” and wondered who would be the first to snark me :-)

  89. 89.

    Anya

    I like General Stuck. I hope he’s doing well and having a good laugh at all this fuss.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    @Maude:

    I realize that, but over time we all reveal or let slip personal details that, in the aggregate, potentially create quite a profile that could be used to track us down.

  91. 91.

    eemom

    Back to Stuck: I was creeped out to see it stated so bluntly, but what Maude said is exactly what I’ve been afraid of. For all the reasons that have already been mentioned, most notably that he NEVER disappeared without talking about it first, and NEVER stayed gone for this long.

  93. 93.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Steeplejack:

    I realize that, but over time we all reveal or let slip personal details that, in the aggregate, potentially create quite a profile that could be used to track us down.

    I can see you saying that.

    Really.

    I’m watching you right now.

  99. 99.

    MikeJ

    BTW, if anyone is looking, he said he shared a birthday with Hillary Clinton. Hers is October 26, 1947, but the year could be different.

  100. 100.

    Ted & Hellen

    @JPL:

    even though we are a community, when the comments stop, there is no way of telling what happened.

    No. Actually, my child, Stuck’s long absence and the total inability of anyone in this “community” to find out what happened to him or if he is ok, is a stark reminder that any online “community” is anything but. Few of us know who the others are IRL and the “connections” one feels are in the head and imagination only.

    Stuck may well be a 25 year old totally hot AA babe.

    But either way Stuck as presented here on BJ is/was a pompous ass.

  101. 101.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @eemom:

    On the positive side, Corner Stone’s still an asshole.

    I think you’d be surprised at how awesome she is.

  102. 102.

    SIA

    Anytime I’ve visited his blog Stuck always comments right back, except the last time when some of us left comments. That’s not like him. I emailed his Flikr acct and no reply. I’m worried about him and Charlie.

  105. 105.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Just Some Fuckhead: happy birthday!

    I used to bracket “(General) Stuck, Chuck (Butcher), and (Just Some) Fuck(head)” together in my mind.

    We know where Fuck is. We’re concerned about where Stuck may be.

    Now, where in the world is Chuck??

  110. 110.

    Santa Fe

    Hey all. Regular lurker, infrequent poster, remember Stuck as a fellow New Mexican. I’m clear at the other end of the state, in Santa Fe (duh), but if there’s anything you’d like to ask of a New Mexican in the research line, just let me know. Best to the General. Sunshine and rainbows from Santa Fe.

  111. 111.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Actually, I saw a comment from Chuck Butcher on one of the threads just yesterday. It has been a while, though.

    I believe he moved from the West Coast to Michigan a few months back as part of a seemingly difficult family situation. (I’m proceeding in Matlock mode.)

  112. 112.

    Jonathon

    When I saw “Gen Stuck”, I thought you meant Jesus’ General. They both went offline at the same time and have a very similar writing style. But after reading the comments, they don’t live in the same place; Stuck is seemingly in NM and Jesus’ General is in Portland, if I recall correctly. That said, being in two places at the same time is entirely possible on the intertubes

    edit: forgot to add, the last post by Jesus’ General mentions some sort of terrible pain and that the doctors are investigating.

  116. 116.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Baud:

    I always guess the sex wrong. I bet Cole is a girl too.

    Ha. You don’t know how close you are to the truth. Someday I will tell the story.

  117. 117.

    Ted & Hellen

    @Baud:

    You should disappear for a while so we can test it out.

    I already have. I post from the other side.

  118. 118.

    Anya

    @Steeplejack:
    Taurus Strength Keywords:

    – Dependable
    – Persistent
    – Loyal
    – Patient
    – Generous

    Taurus Weakness Keywords:

    – Stubborn
    – Laziness
    – Possessive
    – Materialistic
    – Self-indulgent

  121. 121.

    nancydarling

    I also haven’t seen anything from Amanda in the South Bay in a long time. She was commenting less after her orchidectomy, but still popped in once in a while. I don’t know where she would be in her transition surgeries now.

  127. 127.

    TriassicSands

    @Steeplejack:

    You’re right, i’m pretty sure. I remember Stuck saying he lived in (or near) Silver City, NM. That caught my attention because I once lived in that area.

    I checked Silver City obits and didn’t see anyone that seemed to fit Stuck.

  129. 129.

    Anne Laurie

    @Anya:

    But can one be possessive and dependable at the same time? Possessive people are generally assholes.

    Dependably, even. Think about it.

  130. 130.

    mclaren

    Who cares?

    Now if eemom and burnspbesq can follow suit, we’ll be getting somewhere.

    On the other hand, there is a salutary utility to sociopaths like eemom and burns hanging around and constantly reminding us of just how badly self-described “liberals” can go off the rails. When you hear one of these characters arguing with a straight face in favor of the extrajudicial murder of U.S. citizens without trial or charges, or trying earnestly to explain why it’s not only sensible but legal for Obama to avoid prosecuting the Wall Street crime lords for criminal fraud, you get a short sharp shocking reminder of just how rotten to the core liberalism can get when it deep-throats the big money corporations and the endless war machine.

  131. 131.

    Santa Fe

    @SIA: “Near Silver City” could be any of a dozen or so communities, or neighboring county lands, so if that’s the best we’ve got for geography I’m not hopeful. Do any regular posters here who engage with him have memories or links? Does the Flickr site that’s been mentioned have better location information?

    What an odd, ephemeral community we have here. But in the end, aren’t they all?

  134. 134.

    Steeplejack

    @TriassicSands:

    Thanks for the info.

    If I were going into full “P.I. on the case” mode, I would canvass coffee shops, vets and animal shelters in that area with a picture of Charlie.

    ETA: Rockford! Jim Rockford, that’s about my speed.

  135. 135.

    Santa Fe

    @Anya: Yeah, I’d say one can be possessive and dependable; or at least dependably possessive. Dependable folks are often the ones keeping close track of things, which can make them possessive as well.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Stuck would be rolling over in his grave

    I think it would be more accurate to say, “rolling around in the overflowing bathroom of his tiny and very smelly apartment”.
    As he was a dissociative shut in it’s much more likely he’s been slowly wasting in his abode until the landlord came around for the rent check.

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    @Jonathon:

    They both went offline at the same time and have a very similar writing style.

    Are you out of your fucking mind, or just ineptly stupid?

  138. 138.

    Yatsuno

    @Svensker: I saw her a couple nights ago briefly, so she seems to be okay. She did get a new job though so she might just be busy as all get out.

  139. 139.

    dance around in your bones

    I went to his blog a couple months ago when people started asking about him. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to leave a comment on his blog, only a link to email one of his posts onward.Maybe I’m just stupid.

    Anyway. I miss his unique voice, even if I sometimes just scrolled past his posts. It’s so weird when a commenter just disappears. Hope John’s email will prompt some reply from Stuck.

    Just don’t resurrect B.O.B. fer gawd’s sake.

  140. 140.

    aimai

    @TaMara (BHF):
    I had the same experience. Horrible. People I had lost touch with but always longed to see again and suddenly I thought “I wonder if the internet can help me?” and when I tracked them down I found they had died years ago, like ten years after I knew them. It was too cruel.

  141. 141.

    Corner Stone

    @mclaren: Had to be said. Except I would argue slightly in that burns has always claimed to be a Rockefeller Republican.
    eemom has at different times claimed to be human, but that has yet to be proven or disproven to any extent.

  142. 142.

    SiubhanDuinne

    As long as we’re doing the “hey, whatever happened to … ?” game, whatever happened to the commenter who used to change his nym all the time but it usually had something to do with beef. Angus, King of Beef, and similar.

  143. 143.

    Corner Stone

    @TriassicSands:

    I checked Silver City obits and didn’t see anyone that seemed to fit Stuck.

    Not really a lot to be said about shut ins on the run for the last 20+ years for…well, let’s let the dead rest, shall we?

  144. 144.

    eemom

    @mclaren:

    One of the cool things about this blog, as I alluded to above wrt Fuckhead, is that if you hang around long enough and pay enough attention you can generally read between the lines of the online assholery and figure out who’s a decent person underneath it all and who, on the other hand, really is just a sick, bitter fuck at heart. That’d be you.

  145. 145.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @SiubhanDuinne: ppg or ppgaz or thymezone as he was known for the longest time here was arrested for soliciting an undercover vice cop for sex. Regrettably, this resulted in his third such conviction and he got mandatory jail time. He is without internet access at this time.

  146. 146.

    Corner Stone

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    I think you’d be surprised at how awesome she is.

    That’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said about me!
    Now, what did I do with those D batteries I just bought?

  152. 152.

    dance around in your bones

    Ok, just visited his site again – I guess NoScript was blocking the comments thingamajoo (which briefly flashed as Disqus which I refuse to use).

    So one of you brianiacs is going to have to solve this mystery. I think it was Fuckhead, in the bar, with a soda shooter.

    Imagine, having a whole Cole post just about you.

  155. 155.

    Calming Influence

    @Santa Fe:
    O.K. Santa Fe, here are the facts:

    -General Stuck’s initials are S.A.M.(from his flickr profile)
    -He owns a little rodent dog named Charlie, and seems to produce a pheromone that causes hummingbirds to hover in front of his camera for hours on end.
    -His email for ordering photo prints is [email protected], so he may go as S. Arnold S-something. What’s the “40” mean? What’s the “zz” mean?
    -He sells photo prints at Gila Wing Photography, so maybe he lives in Gila, NM? http://heavenhum.blogspot.com/

    Now get out there and find General Stuck!

    I’m emailing Cole my real identity and next of kin contacts as soon as I’m done with this comment. I suggest you all do the same.

  156. 156.

    Elie

    I hope Stuck shows up. I remember when I first used to comment here — he was kind to me and we shared some interests on hummingbirds — which he photographed amazingly.

    I have missed him…

  157. 157.

    ruviana

    Dead thread but I see Chuck Butcher other places–Maybe at Pierce’s place? and I swore I saw a comment from Thymezone in the last week or so.

  158. 158.

    shortstop

    @Baud: You’re being just some fuckheaded with.

    Have to agree there’s way in hell Stuck would be taking some time off without a 1,000-word, malapropism-filled sermon on why he’s going and how much everyone is going to miss his efforts to keep this place smelling halfway decent.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ruviana: Yeah, I thought I had seen Chuck B. at Charlie Pierce’s shop a few times, but it’s been a while. But then the stuff that keeps me too busy to read every comment in every BJ thread is the same stuff that keeps me too busy to read every comment in every CPP thread, so maybe he’s been commenting like mad and I’ve just missed him.

  163. 163.

    dance around in your bones

    @dance around in your bones:

    So one of you brianiacs is going to have to solve this mystery. I think it was Fuckhead, in the bar, with a soda shooter.

    Obviously that supposed to brainiacs. But I kinda like the idea of a bunch of Life of Brianiacs.

    Brian: I’m not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!

    Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.

    Brian: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!

    Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!

    Brian: Now, fuck off!

    [silence]

    Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

  164. 164.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I hope that Stuck is doing well and just taking a break from things online. We all run on a timer and while we all know that one day that fucker is going to ‘ding’ for us, I hate to see it ding for some people.

    @Anya:

    So that means he’s…

    – Dependably stubborn
    – Persistently lazy
    – Loyally possessive
    – Patiently materialistic
    – Generously self-indulgent

    Sounds about right. Happy birthday you great big Fuckhead!

  166. 166.

    Santa Fe

    @Calming Influence: Thank you! I’ll make some feeble attempts at sleuthing some local sources, and see if anything turns up. Hopefully he’ll be posting here in a week or two, with stories of a river adventure or some such.

  170. 170.

    stinger

    @aimai: That sounds awful. My experience has always been that they died within the past year or 18 months. So I “just” missed them. That’s pretty awful, too.

  175. 175.

    Shortstop

    Wow, when he gets out of the hospital or wherever, he’s going to be delighted to find his name, location and personal info splashed all over.

  176. 176.

    Steeplejack

    @eemom:

    [. . .] not quite sure what to do with that info.

    Uh, call that number?

    Hell, I’ll do it. As a former newspaperman, I have no qualms about that. I’ll shoot you an e-mail tomorrow. I have been needing to get my fake-name e-mail account reactivated for a while—Valdivia, ¡lo siento!—and this could get me off my ass.

  178. 178.

    MattR

    @Steeplejack: @Redshirt: @eemom: I am all for somebody making contact to make sure he is OK, but let’s not inundate him. If he hasn’t made contact for this long there may be a reason and it seems kinda rude if a dozen strangers (more or less) start pestering him with calls.

  179. 179.

    MattR

    @MattR: FWIW, this may not be a bad way to indirectly make contact. Looking at the credits for the various photos I think a couple are Stuck’s. Maybe somone at the Ornithological Society has heard from him or has a real world relationship and can reach out.

  180. 180.

    Redshirt

    Internet Detectivery is scary stuff sometimes. Not saying this time, or, but maybe?

    I worry about the young and the old, putting too much out there.

  181. 181.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Shortstop:

    Wow, when he gets out of the hospital or wherever, he’s going to be delighted to find his name, location and personal info splashed all over.

    lol

  182. 182.

    eemom

    @Corner Stone:
    @Shortstop:

    Oh, fuck you two assholes. Honestly.

    Of course it’s not appropriate in general to “out” someone’s name, and especially not ever for the spiteful reasons that it’s occasionally been done here before.

    But this is clearly a case of a lot us here who — unlike the ice-hearted callousness both of you have displayed toward him in your comments right here on this thread — actually CARE about this man.

    Again: fuck you and your bullshit concern over his privacy.

  184. 184.

    Steeplejack

    @MattR:

    Given Stuck’s almost daily posting history and the unlikelihood (in my opinion) of his leaving Balloon Juice without some notice, I don’t think it would be amiss for one person to call him (if that is him). Cole and (I think) Anne Laurie have already sent him an e-mail at his (presumably) preferred address and heard nothing back. It would be the work of a moment to reply, “I’m okay; leave me alone.” My concern is that he has suffered some life upheaval that cut off his Internet access (hospitalization, financial catastrophe, etc.). Hell, it could be as simple as his computer dying and him not being able to afford a replacement.

    If something like that happened, it would be nice to know it and possibly do a whip-round at Balloon Juice to help out. If the answer is “Fuck all you idiots,” that would be nice to know too. And if nothing can be determined, it would be nice to know at least that it’s in the Rumsfeldian zone of known unknowns.

  185. 185.

    Shortstop

    @eemom: Quit screeching at us and get on the damn phone. Spend less time making a big public show of your deep caring — helping to completely destroy the privacy of someone while you’re doing it — and use the info to quietly and competently find the guy.

  186. 186.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I called the number. Charlie answered, said no one by the name of “Stuck” lived there. I think Charlie may not be aware of Stuck’s online life. Or Charlie is covering something up.

    I’d say this mystery has gotten a little deeper. We need to split up gang. Corner Stone, cbear and eemom, you three go explore in the creepy desert. Me and shortstop will look around here.

  189. 189.

    MattR

    @Steeplejack: As I said, I think it is fine for one person to make contact. I would just hate to see a whole bunch of different people each take it into their own hands to try and get in touch with him.

    (EDIT: Not that I think you are doing that. And looks like you and eemom are going to coordinate, presumably with Anne Laurie and John Cole as well)

  193. 193.

    TaMara (BHF)

    I hope when the General returns to the fold he is amused and hopefully touched by our concern and excellent detective work.

    Balloon-Juice – you can run, but you cannot hide from us. Witsec fears us.

  195. 195.

    Corner Stone

    What I really enjoyed, above most of the rest, was the all caps “CARE” posted earlier.

  197. 197.

    Calming Influence

    As I said earlier, I’m emailing my true identity and next of kin info. to Cole and Anne Laurie. I just don’t want to take the chance of you jr. internet detective maniacs creeping out my loved ones when I do shuffle off this mortal coil.

  202. 202.

    Steeplejack

    Holy shnikeys, the site formatting went totally crazy for me. I turned off my Stylish mods, but it didn’t get any better.

    I’ll check back in the morning.

  205. 205.

    Corner Stone

    @cbear:

    The only thing scarier that finding the body would be looking over my shoulder and seeing eemom standing there.

    And the only thing scarier than *that* is that she would be grinning.

  206. 206.

    Corner Stone

    @Keith G: We’re playing by Obama’s rules now. No options are off the table!
    Let’s all strike a Grand Bargain to ceaselessly hunt him down and share any and all leads with other strange strangers on the internets.

  209. 209.

    Steeplejack

    * General Stuck Update *

    Today I called the phone number in New Mexico that might be General Stuck’s that I got from eemom. I received a message saying that the number is “no longer in service.”

    There were some other “possibly associated” numbers given at the Web site where eemom did her research. I called those three numbers, but all are “unallocated” or just “not a valid number.”

    So that’s where things stand. I don’t know if there’s anything else that can be done. Anyway, it feels right to have made this small effort. The Balloon Juice community is unique, in my experience on the Internet, and it always felt wrong to me to just let Stuck’s disappearance go unremarked. It never felt like a simple “I’m tired of this blog” thing, and it still doesn’t. I hope he’s okay, wherever he is.

    Let me wrap this up with one of his last quips: “Dining with clowns is easy, managing the circus is hard.”

  210. 210.

    Steeplejack

    Going through my Balloon Juice notes and links file, I found this other Stuckian gem.

    General Stuck on getting older: “Cheer up, the good news is, while the body falls apart, the mind is set free, unless you get dementia, then it is really set free. So many things you thought were important or stuff you missed out on, all that shit fades away to, I exist, therefore I yam.”

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