• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  December 12, 20137:09 pm| 106 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

Was on the road today, and on my way home, caught this really weird sunset as I was driving through scenic West Virginia:

sunset

I don’t know if you can make it out, but they sky was brilliant reddish-orange, and in the center was what appeared to be a tube of light reaching up to the skies. Really cool.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Long Read: Mission Implausible
Next Post: A Budget, If We Can Keep It… »

Reader Interactions

106Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    December 12, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    You and Anne Laurie really do hate each other, don’t you?

  2. 2.

    SP

    December 12, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    Sun dog?

  3. 3.

    Violet

    December 12, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    @Baud: Heh. Timing. She had to take down her post when Richard posted at the same time earlier. Now Cole has bigfooted her.

  4. 4.

    Cassidy

    December 12, 2013 at 7:18 pm

    And now the NSA has another picture of a sunset. They can pry my pictures out of my cold, dead hands. WOLVERINES!

  5. 5.

    MikeS

    December 12, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    @SP: No a light pillar caused by Ice crystals in the atmosphere. Not too rare but can be really cool looking like this one John saw.

  6. 6.

    jeffreyw

    December 12, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    John Scalzi saw the same thing the other day.

  7. 7.

    mclaren

    December 12, 2013 at 7:21 pm

    That’s not a tube of light, John.

    It’s a shaft.

    The perfect symbol for a new year in Shithole America: a vast shaft reaching into the sky…

  8. 8.

    Citizen_X

    December 12, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    @SP: Actually, a sun pillar.

    Nice photo, John. Seriously.

    Also: Uruguay has legalized pot. And what did the movement’s supporters use as a symbol? Green balloons.

  9. 9.

    eemom

    December 12, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    That’s the only good part of winter: the sunsets.

  10. 10.

    John Cole

    December 12, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    @jeffreyw: That’s so funny, because as I was driving through the hills, I thought it looked like Mordor, too.

  11. 11.

    jeffreyw

    December 12, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    Thread needz moar puppeh!

  12. 12.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 12, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    Did another blawg post about my adventures in the supermarket. This one has 100% more middle aged skateboarding and embarrassment.

    Also, a conversation I had today with a regulatory entity:

    Me: So with your new interpretation, how do we comply?

    Regulator: You do X.

    Me: Here is a notice of violation from your office for doing X.

    Regulator: Hmmm, that’s interesting. I still say you should do X.

    Me: Will you provide an opinion letter with your advice?

    Regulator: No, we can’t do that.

    Me: Am I on one of those hidden camera reality shows right now?

    Regulator: Why are you so hostile?

    Me: Have you ever read Catch-22?

    Regualtor: Is that about Emmit Smith?

    END SCENE

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 12, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Also, a conversation I had today with a regulatory entity:

    I’ve had those conversations before, but the Emmitt Smith kicker was cool. It at least makes for an amusing story rather then a pure head-desk moment.

  14. 14.

    beltane

    December 12, 2013 at 7:36 pm

    When I woke up this morning it was -8 F and the dog just had to go out right away. Usually she waits for me to have a cup of coffee but not today.

  15. 15.

    lamh36

    December 12, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    When planning a trip to Hawaii, which island does most people go to?

  16. 16.

    jeffreyw

    December 12, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Emmitt Smith was a kicker? I just don’t keep up with this stuff.

  17. 17.

    PhoenixRising

    December 12, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    Nice picture of an extraordinary sunset. Or, as we call it here in New Mexico, Thursday.

  18. 18.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 12, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: It’s a pretty good title for an Emmit Smith biography, I’ll give him that.
    I’m going to have to haul my bitter self up to their office and throw a fit. Good times, good times.

  19. 19.

    Time Travelin

    December 12, 2013 at 7:39 pm

    I don’t understand you people who voluntarily live where it can get cold enough to snow.

  20. 20.

    Violet

    December 12, 2013 at 7:40 pm

    That’s a cool photo, John.

    My Yahoo Mail seems to be back working somewhat. There are a bunch of missing emails from December 1 to December 10. I know what some of them were, and if I search for them they show up in the search list but the emails themselves won’t load. Weird. I couldn’t access my email for 2-3 days or so.

    The whole thing has been a PR disaster for Yahoo. They handled it really poorly. Communication from them was misleading and sparse. The message people got when trying to access their email was “scheduled maintenance” and it was so old it had a copyright date of 2008 on the bottom. They handled it really poorly. And a lot of people affected are paying customers–people who pay for their paid email service and small business customers. A terrible time to lose email access for them–during the Christmas season. If they’d handled it better it might not be such a big deal, but their response was a giant gaping hole where info should be. I wonder what affect it’s going to have on Yahoo as a company. They do not have their act together.

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 12, 2013 at 7:40 pm

    @jeffreyw: Yep, and here’s proof.

  22. 22.

    dexwood

    December 12, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    @PhoenixRising:
    Heh. Or any other day of the week.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Jake

    December 12, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    My nephew (12) was interviewing recently at a private school in NH.

    Nephew: I really like history.

    Admissions officer: that’s great. What’s your favorite time period?

    Nephew: probably mid-morning

  24. 24.

    max

    December 12, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    I don’t know if you can make it out, but they sky was brilliant reddish-orange, and in the center was what appeared to be a tube of light reaching up to the skies. Really cool.

    That’s what it’ll look like when somebody nukes Columbus.

    max
    [‘They’ll do it to improve the view.’]

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 12, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    @max:

    That’s what it’ll look like when somebody nukes Columbus.

    I worked in that building for a year.

  26. 26.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 12, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    Sunset view from the office last month.

  27. 27.

    Violet

    December 12, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    @lamh36: Most people I know seem to go to Maui. Depends what you want to do. The Volcanoes National Park is on the Big Island–if the lava is flowing, it’s amazing. Pearl Harbor memorial is on Oahu. Kauai is slightly less visited than the others and has the spectacular Waimea Canyon and the jaw-dropping Na Pali coast. Depending on how much time you have, you can fit in more than one island and just island-hop by plane.

  28. 28.

    RobertDSC-Power Mac G5 Dual

    December 12, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    First day of vacation. Got a haircut, re-arranged my Macs to attain a dual-monitor setup, and helped install a toilet. The toilet was an “impulse” purchase by my dad and he *had* to install it today. Being on vacation, I really really really didn’t want to help, but I helped anyway. Bleh.

  29. 29.

    jeffreyw

    December 12, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    Moar puppeh!

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 12, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    @lamh36: My parents recently came back from a bounce around the islands trip. Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, Kauai, and one or two others. They said the islands are very different.

  31. 31.

    JMG

    December 12, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    Dear Mr. Cole: You seem so much happier lately. This makes me, a distant Internet follower, very pleased.

  32. 32.

    beltane

    December 12, 2013 at 7:52 pm

    This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time http://wonkette.com/536444/help-us-feel-all-grifty-this-christmas-with-this-gorgeous-sarah-palin-gold-coin Is it a sign that the price of gold is about to plunge?

  33. 33.

    Violet

    December 12, 2013 at 7:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: They are quite different. Different feel, different topography, different style. It really depends what kind of vacation one wants.

  34. 34.

    kdaug

    December 12, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    That ain’t no sunset, Cole.

  35. 35.

    PhoenixRising

    December 12, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    @lamh36: We did a fambly trip (my family, sister’s family & mom for Grandma’s large-multiple-of-10 birthday) last fall: SJC to Maui to Kona (Hawai’i) back to San Jose was a cheap, cheap fare including the 3 flights.

    I would go back to Maui if we could afford it for the Mrs’ upcoming large-multiple-of-10 birthday, if we were leaving our teen in CA at nana’s place. If a family trip (for the 3 of us), Big Island for all the snorkel you can stand.

    As I will never again agree to shared housing with my adult siblings for more than 7 days, I can’t recommend HI if it’s a multigenerational group–it was too far for anyone to give up & drive home early.

  36. 36.

    Tara the Antisocial Social Worker

    December 12, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    So, it’s a picture of the tube that is the Internet, on the Internet.

    Mind. Blown.

  37. 37.

    Karen in GA

    December 12, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Ugh. I admire your ability to keep a sense of humor.

    I find that as I get older I have less and less patience for stupidity. A cousin posted a picture on Le Livre Visage with a caption like “Oh, you’re offended by ‘Merry Christmas’? Well, here it is again: Merry Christmas!” So I commented, “Wow — amazing how Merry Christmas can sound like “Fuck you.” How very Christian. :)” Yeah, a smiley. Plausible deniability.

    She said she was “hurt” because I “made it personal.” And she said I “took it out of context.” I said something conciliatory (essentially, “I found the hostility funny. I was joking about it. I”m sorry.”).

    But I couldn’t help it. I had to follow the apology with “Quick question — what was the context?”

    And she unfriended me.

    So yeah, I hurt the feelings of the delicate flower who shares things from the “White History Week” Facebook page.

    So here’s who I’ve pissed off so far — my White History Week cousin, my blackface-defending sister, and the nephew that thinks the Sandy Hook massacre was faked. At this rate, my “family” is going to be made of up of my husband and my pets. And maybe a fourth cousin twice removed somewhere, only until I get to know the bastard and cut him off because he’ll probably be just as stupid as the rest of them.

    Gonna go pet my dog.

  38. 38.

    LT

    December 12, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    Super cool. Thos tubular ray things are a regular feature here – but of sun rises – over the Tasman Sea. Regularly stunning.

  39. 39.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    @lamh36: NotMax has a great deal of expertise.

  40. 40.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 12, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    @Karen in GA: we love ya Karen. Ugh to people that open the door by saying something crappy then play the victim.

  41. 41.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    Bird houses at one of our bazzilion artist markets.

  42. 42.

    LT

    December 12, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    And speaking of cool things come across at random – check out what I found wandering a tide pool yesterday: a Black Prince cicada. Crazy: http://littleaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/black-prince-cicada.html

  43. 43.

    LT

    December 12, 2013 at 8:13 pm

    @raven: Well that’s just darn cool. Love the tools incorporated.

    Nice photo, too.

  44. 44.

    mdblanche

    December 12, 2013 at 8:14 pm

    Don’t know if anybody’s mentioned this today already but the FDA made a pretty important announcement yesterday.

  45. 45.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    @lamh36: We were on Maui for a week and could have spent three more exploring. My advice is quality time there and save the other islands for a different trip. Here is the cloud bank on the Mt Haleakalā. You have to leave around 3am to get there and get a place for the sunrise but you’ll be so trashed from the time diff it won’t matter. It ca be REALLY cold up there so take everything you can. There is a shelter but it’s crowded and you can’t see as well. And then there is the fishing!

  46. 46.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:22 pm

    @Karen in GA: I have severed all contact with my half-brother over that kind of shit. I will send xmas and birthday gifts but that’s it.

    eta You should catch the artists market at Big City Bread tomorrow night.

  47. 47.

    Mike in NC

    December 12, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    @lamh36: Chose Oahu when we went because my dad was stationed there for a while during WW2. Honolulu was fun.

  48. 48.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:26 pm

    @Mike in NC: I went there 20+ years ago (stopped there for an hour on the way to Nam too). There is certainly plenty to see and do but the urbanization wasn’t all that great. Big swell coming to the pipeline this weekend I hear.

  49. 49.

    scav

    December 12, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    @Karen in GA: So the Christian defended her snide hostility on the basis of it being a generalized hatred and ill-will instead of personal, because making things personal is the indefensible part. Quite the Christian and quite the season to pick too. She possibly gave you the greatest gift possible: her absence. It’s only marginally more shared DNA, not a life sentence.

  50. 50.

    Rosalita

    December 12, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    nephew that thinks the Sandy Hook massacre was faked.

    say what? a conspiracy? send his stupid ass on up here, maybe the candle memorials on all the street corners will change his mind.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    but they [sic] sky was brilliant reddish-orange

    Wait a goldurned minute, what are you trying to pull?

    The sunset is white.

    /FOX fantasies

  52. 52.

    PurpleGirl

    December 12, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    @jeffreyw: What a cutie and what beautiful, intelligent, and alert eyes.

  53. 53.

    Karen in GA

    December 12, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Thanks. I post confrontational stuff sometimes too, but I don’t cry when people argue with me.

    @raven: I’ll have to look that up. I have to get up early Saturday, though — heading to Augusta to visit a relative I don’t want to strangle.

    @scav: What you said.

  54. 54.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    @Rosalita: Yea, they need some punk ass motherfucker like that up there.

  55. 55.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    @Karen in GA: BCB We walk the dogs there every morning for coffee.

  56. 56.

    Gravenstone

    December 12, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    @Time Travelin: The price we pay for not having to live in places where our skin might melt in the summer.

  57. 57.

    Karen in GA

    December 12, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    @Rosalita: I suggested that, in fact. He was posting a conspiracy YouTube video that was making the rounds earlier this year, so I told him that since he wasn’t going to let some media outlet tell him what to think, he should go there, ask around, and find out for himself what really happened. I made a serious offer to pay for his plane ticket, lodging and expenses. All I wanted in return was for him to video everyone’s responses to him so we could have that on YouTube as well.

    Silence.

    ETA: I know that as heart-wrenching as it is, for most of us, Sandy Hook is just something sad that we saw on TV. (Not to minimize the horror of it — it’s just that most of us didn’t personally know anyone involved.) But still, defending people who just didn’t give a fuck about everyone who WAS directly affected? Doubling down when called on it? There’s just something missing in a person like that.

  58. 58.

    ruemara

    December 12, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    @Karen in GA: It doesn’t sound like you’re missing anything and your dogs probably are smarter conversants.

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    @lamh36

    Perhaps these links will prove useful as a very, very basic starting point.

                      #1 – #2

  60. 60.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    @NotMax: The mediocre rating for Maui deep sea fishing must be related to the distance one has to go. I guess on the Big Island you are right there.

  61. 61.

    lamh36

    December 12, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    @NotMax: thx for the links

  62. 62.

    koalaholik

    December 12, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    @jeffreyw: OMG! The cute almost made my head explode.

  63. 63.

    Snarlymon

    December 12, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    anyone notice the deer hanging out near the house? Just sayin’

  64. 64.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    @lamh36: If you do decide on Maui we were really happy with Kamaole Sands Resort Condo’s.

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 9:02 pm

    @raven

    May also be that there are just fewer deep-sea fishing charters, as opposed, say, to a gazillion whale watching and/or snorkeling boats (plus a submarine and a world-class aquarium/ocean center). Just a guess.

  66. 66.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    @NotMax:

    Which is the best island to fish from?

    It’s purely subjective. While all the Kona boats will tell you Kona is the place to fish, the Kauai guys will tell you their island is the best. The truth is, the total number of fish caught in Kona where the majority of the boats are is the highest because there are more boats operating there. And the reason the boats operate from there is because the seas are calmer. Many claim the North Shore of Molokai would be Hawaii’s great fishery if the predominant weather pattern was from the South. But as it is, coming from the Northeast, Kona has all the wind shadow from Mauna Kea making the waters nicer to work with every day.

    Lahaina boats have some of the best scenery, and that fishery has produced the only double grander in a single tournament. Large Marlin come into Lahaina all the time, but with only 10 percent of the boats that Kona has, of course there will be fewer total fish brought in. The same holds true for Oahu and Kauai. The bottom line is that Hawaii is the best place in the world to fish, because we have the opportunity to catch everything from a 10 pound Mahimahi to a thousand pound Pacific Blue Marlin every single day of the year, and do it within plain sight of land. No other fishery in the world can claim this, and history speaks for itself.

  67. 67.

    Mandalay

    December 12, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    @mclaren:

    The perfect symbol for a new year in Shithole America: a vast shaft reaching into the sky…

    I think you have it backwards. The shaft is coming down from the sky. We aren’t shafting. We are getting shafted. Big difference. At least that’s what I’ve been told.

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    December 12, 2013 at 9:16 pm

    @raven

    Even still today, can see locals net fishing for dinner most every day of the week.

    @lamh36

    Any other questions, give a holler. IMHO, Maui has the best mix of both variety and accessibility of activities and sights, but then again, I live here.

    One thing one does need to know is that beaches in the state are public. No matter how upper crust and frou-frou the resort, they must by law have some parking spaces reserved for non-guests and provide beach access.

  69. 69.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 9:21 pm

    @NotMax: And they use rod and reels too!

  70. 70.

    currants

    December 12, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    @Karen in GA: Ah, but THEN you get to spend time with your chosen family–the people you care about who share similar values, have a sense of humor, and who actually like you. It’s the BEST.

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    December 12, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Oh my goodness!

  72. 72.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    And some of us Haole’s tried it too!

  73. 73.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    December 12, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    Sigh….

    I really have to keep reminding myself that things aren’t as bad as they seem. I have to keep reminding myself that polls are trending away from the GOP, I really have to keep reminding myself that things aren’t as politically fucked as they seem.

    Because it seems like everything around me says the exact opposite, with seemingly everyone around me outside of family going either full wingnut or full Third Way, the only uniting thing amongst them being just how truly horrible disastery Obama and the entirety of the Dems are. Especially with Politifact deciding that Obama yet again got their “lie of the year’, leading to more “SEE, SEE, OBAMA IS TRULY THE SUPER MEGA HEALTH CARE DESTROYING PIECE OF SHIT WE ALL KNEW HE WAS!!” And I just feel fucking helpless because the more I try to correct this shit, the more people just end up hating me and whatever I supporting and I just end up setting everything back even worse.

    Maybe I’m just that fucking awful and distasteful as an advocate. Maybe I’m just fucking wrong and the country really does just want full GOP control. Christ, I know it’s anecdotal evidence, but it’s hard to feel like you’re getting anywhere when personal experience just says you’re driving everyone away from your beliefs instead.

  74. 74.

    burnspbesq

    December 12, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    @raven:

    Are you going to TRex’s housewarming party tonight?

  75. 75.

    raven

    December 12, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    @burnspbesq: Nah, I ain’t in that loop.

  76. 76.

    Karen in GA

    December 12, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    @ruemara: Iggy, my Mini Schnauzer, was in the all-dogs run at the dog park once — once. A huge friendly dog came bounding up to him wanting to play — this beast must have been 80 pounds. Iggy tried to play, but 5 seconds later he gave up and ducked under a bench. Iggy’s smart enough to know when he’s outmatched.

    @currants: Funny enough, I’m adopted. The relative I’m visiting Saturday is my biological father. I found the bio-relatives when I was 24, and we’re friends. But you know that whole “nature vs. nurture” argument? I’m the poster child for “nature.”

    My adopted family, as fucked up as it is, is still my family. But I’m glad I know the bio-relatives. And the hubby and pets.

  77. 77.

    Karen in GA

    December 12, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    @The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: Careful now — don’t lose perspective. It’s impossible to advocate your position with some people. I mean, you’re talking to people who think that everyone having health coverage is a bad thing. Reasoning with them is impossible.

    Did you ever feel discouraged in 2008 or 2012, convinced McCain or Romney might pull off an upset victory? I did, and I know others who did too. But they lost.

    Hang in there.

  78. 78.

    LT

    December 12, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    @The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: As someone living in Australia do I get to say that American health care still sucks balls? No? Okay.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    December 12, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @LT:

    Yeah, but it sucks American Balls, the greatest balls the world has ever known!

    Speaking of sucking balls, shouldn’t you be watching Australia pound the crap out of the Poms and retake the Ashes?

  80. 80.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik

    December 12, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    I’m keeping enough perspective to vow to vote and keep up on things. But it’s kind of hard to do anything past that when you get convinced that you’re doing your own cause harm just by trying.

  81. 81.

    bewley

    December 12, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    We need Matoko Chan in these trying times.

  82. 82.

    Suffern ACE

    December 12, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    @beltane: holy Moses. $400 over spot is quite a premium to buy gold. I’m sure the pension fund in Ohio will take 500.

  83. 83.

    Karen in GA

    December 12, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    @The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: I doubt you’re doing harm. Keep trying. 10 years ago people criticizing GWB were getting harassed and losing their jobs. Now Republicans pretend he doesn’t exist.

    Like water on rock.

  84. 84.

    dmbeaster

    December 12, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    @lamh36: Been on all and they differ a lot. Kauai and Maui are my favorites. Oahu is the least interesting for natural splendor. The Big Island is unique.

  85. 85.

    Pogonip

    December 12, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    @Karen in GA: We had the “Merry Christmas” debate where I work. I said I didn’t think snarling “Merry Christmas” at somebody who didn’t want to hear it was quite in keeping with the spirit of the season, and the Foxites looked thoughtful. Your Foxite must be meaner.

  86. 86.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 12, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    @Comrade Jake: It’s possible I am your nephew.

  87. 87.

    Watership

    December 12, 2013 at 10:35 pm

    tube of light reaching up to the skies

    It’s the Internet

  88. 88.

    LT

    December 12, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    @burnspbesq: “Speaking of sucking balls, shouldn’t you be watching Australia pound the crap out of the Poms and retake the Ashes?”

    I AM.

    Not a great start, but they’re settling down now. It’s been fun to watch Piers Morgan melt down on Twitter the last 2 tests, too.

  89. 89.

    jah46inaz

    December 12, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    Go to Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) and search for “sun pillar” for lots more…

  90. 90.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 12, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    @Karen in GA: I lived in Newtown for a few years. The daughter of a friend of mine from then drew the design for one of the sticker/bumperstickers used for fund raising. It was real and real people will live with it for the rest of their lives. (I know that you know that.)

  91. 91.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    December 12, 2013 at 11:32 pm

    @MikeS:

    Seems like the same thing. Both caused by sunlight and diamond dust.

  92. 92.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 12, 2013 at 11:33 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I am a late night person. It often works to my detriment. If I don’t go to bed and get to sleep by 10:30pm my time, I get a second wind and am likely to be up until 2-3am. Then I am tired as hell the next day.

  93. 93.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 12, 2013 at 11:45 pm

    Damn you Denver donkeys!

  94. 94.

    burnspbesq

    December 12, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    @LT:

    The run-rate was close to five per over, which is good even for Perth, but you would have liked to not give up three wickets.

    Slow play, though. Only 24 overs before lunch. Probably explained by the temperature, at least in part.

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    December 12, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    Little known fact: the sky is a series of tubes.

    You might could look it up.

  96. 96.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 13, 2013 at 12:02 am

    @trollhattan: The internet is the sky? So it’s all wireless? The cloud is real?

  97. 97.

    Karen in GA

    December 13, 2013 at 12:03 am

    @Pogonip: Yeah — if there’s a mean side to an issue, you’ll find my family on it.

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t have kids, I never wanted kids, I grew up hearing that kids ruin grownups’ lives and having them is a mistake — I know, that’s the fault of the adults in my family, not the kids, but you can’t help but internalize “kids = life wreckers” and wonder what all the fuss over them is about. (Not actively disliking them, or wanting to see them hurt — just indifferent to them.)

    But Newtown? Even I could feel how wrong it was on a primal level. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people who have to carry it with them.

  98. 98.

    trollhattan

    December 13, 2013 at 12:07 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s as real as this, donchano.

    http://happynicetimepeople.com/christmas-sarah-palin-gold-coin/

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 13, 2013 at 12:08 am

    @Karen in GA:

    But Newtown? Even I could feel how wrong it was on a primal level. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people who have to carry it with them.

    My mother and my younger brother – who attended one of the other Newtown elementary schools – could not tear themselves away from the coverage. OTOH, I couldn’t watch any of it. I was scared that I would see someone with whom I had gone to middle school who had lost a child. It is quite likely that I did. I still don’t want actually to know.

  100. 100.

    Karen in GA

    December 13, 2013 at 12:22 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I still don’t want actually to know.

    I can’t blame you. Horrifying.

  101. 101.

    Bruce Webb

    December 13, 2013 at 12:50 am

    @lamh36:

    When planning a trip to Hawaii most first timers go to Oahu. Sightseers go to the Big Island (Hawaii). Laid back and/or stoners go to Maui. And I guess honey mooners would chose depending on whether they wanted to have ‘authentic’ experiences or spend the one or two weeks having extravagent sex on a remote beach. In which latter case maybe they would snag reservations on Molokai.

    I lived twice in Hawaii, once from the age of 6 weeks to 3 years (don’t remember much, i.e. nothing) and again from 6 to 8. And even then knew that for such a small area as defined in acreage Hawaii is huge in effect. You could have a great time never getting more than ten or so miles from Waikiki Beach and that only to visit the Polynesian Village and Punchbowl (despite its name a moving military cemetary). Or you could decide that you wouldn’t be caught dead on Oahu (think Waikiki/Honolulu/Pearl Harbor) and fly direct to the Big Island (Hawaii itself) or one of the others.

    In a twisted sense Hawaii is like Manhatten. You could visit NYC three dozen times and never quite have the same experience. Though chances are the first time you would visit Times Square just like you would Waikiki. Because all the gaudy tourist trap/crap shit you would find in either place there is still some sense that those places really ARE NYC and Hawaii. And you would find yourself oddly shortchanged not seeing the profile of Diamond Head as seen from Waikiki Beach or the lights of Times Square even though you had seen both from sixty bazillion New Years or episodes of the Brady Bunch, Happy Days and Pele Knows Hawaii Five-0..

    I live in the SF Bay Area and generally advise first timers to do the tourist thing. Maybe without Fisherman’s Whorf but taking it the rest of it: Cable Cars, Chinatown, Cliff House, Golden Gate Park. But like Waikiki and Times Square and Key West just understand that you don’t have to spend a dime on cheap souvenirs to have fun. (Admittedly in retrospect cheesy fun, but not that you would forget it).

  102. 102.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    December 13, 2013 at 1:20 am

    @Mandalay:

    I think you have it backwards

    Really?

    The mocking would certainly get tiresome to the self-aware.

  103. 103.

    Mary Brown

    December 13, 2013 at 9:15 am

    It’s new day so I guess that wasn’t the Rapture.

  104. 104.

    Misha

    December 13, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    Maybe a program was communicating with her user?
    http://tron.wikia.com/wiki/I/O_Tower

    Lends credence to the whole our-universe-is-a-hologram idea.

  105. 105.

    LT

    December 13, 2013 at 4:49 pm

    @burnspbesq: Smithie came through for us. We’ll be at 450 by this afternoon!

  106. 106.

    LT

    December 13, 2013 at 4:55 pm

    @burnspbesq: Let me note that I’m in my third year of watching cricket – so I am still a relative newbie. But I am learning, and enjoying that learning – I understand the pace, I think, now, although I would have had no idea that 24 overs before lunch was slow. But oh wells – I’m enjoying it – and so learned something else.

    And I do think it was the temp. Announcers asid it went up to 43° C, for a while. That’s 109° F. 109° Fuuhck.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Deputinize America - Moorea 2024 2
Image by Deputinize America (7/14/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • Redshift on War for Ukraine Day 1,236: Release the Tariffs!!!! (Jul 15, 2025 @ 12:28am)
  • Sister Golden Bear on Monday Night Open Thread (Jul 15, 2025 @ 12:24am)
  • prostratedragon on Monday Night Open Thread (Jul 15, 2025 @ 12:22am)
  • Melancholy Jaques on Monday Night Open Thread (Jul 15, 2025 @ 12:16am)
  • Mai Naem mobile on War for Ukraine Day 1,236: Release the Tariffs!!!! (Jul 15, 2025 @ 12:11am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!