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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

He really is that stupid.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

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

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

No one could have predicted…

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

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

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

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

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

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  December 19, 20134:15 pm| 201 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes

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Via Buzzfeed, a youthful Newt Gingrich being a pompous ass (a safe assumption) in an Elvis ‘do and sideburns:

nootvis

You’re welcome. Please feel free to discuss your most egregious hair offense or whatever else you’d like.

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Previous Post: « One more Obamacare update
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Reader Interactions

201Comments

  1. 1.

    Scout211

    December 19, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Open Thread PSA:

    I called my bank this morning to ask what they recommended for debit cards that were used during the period of time (November 27-December 15) that Target stores had a credit and debit card security breach. I had used mine twice during the period of time.

    My bank customer service person told me to close out my debit card and they would issue me a new one. Immediately. Right now . . . which I did.

    I guess this breach is massive and involves every Target store nationwide affecting up to 40 million customers.

    So just a heads up for all of you Target Christmas shoppers: Call your bank.

    Immediately.

    Right now.

  2. 2.

    Scotty

    December 19, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Newt was a hipster?

  3. 3.

    gogol's wife

    December 19, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Wow. I really didn’t need to see that.

  4. 4.

    Certified Mutant Enemy

    December 19, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    What has been seen cannot be unseen.

  5. 5.

    Certified Mutant Enemy

    December 19, 2013 at 4:19 pm

    @Scotty:

    More like a dickster.

  6. 6.

    Jebediah, RBG

    December 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    Nootvis! Nice!
    I used to think maybe poor ole Newt just hadn’t aged well, that maybe, possibly, he had been an OK looker in his youth.
    Nope. (Not that looks truly matter, but I think of Newt as a book that coincidentally can be judged by its unsightly cover.)

  7. 7.

    wasabi gasp

    December 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    That dude likes his chocolate hot.

  8. 8.

    jeffreyw

    December 19, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    We are going on an expedition tomorrow, we are after a whole fresh ham and also a skin on pork side to experiment with porchetta recipes. A reasonably nearby (one hour drive) meat processor has a good selection of such items.

  9. 9.

    raven

    December 19, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    Ask him about his avoidance of “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time” for him.

  10. 10.

    cleek

    December 19, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    so i guess he was the President of his school’s chapter of the Future Beet Farmers of America ?

  11. 11.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    Backpfeifengesicht!!

    Also, too, the Dwight Schrute prototype.

  12. 12.

    some guy

    December 19, 2013 at 4:23 pm

    the Darrell Issa porn-stache photos are also hilarious.

  13. 13.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 19, 2013 at 4:23 pm

    Its almost 5pm on the east coast, not too early to start drinking, so I present , Michelada with Rock Salt.

  14. 14.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 19, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    How did this man get 3 or is it more women to marry him?

  15. 15.

    raven

    December 19, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    Choosing to obtain deferments granted to college students and fathers, Gingrich did not enlist in the military, and was not drafted during the Vietnam War. He expressed some regret about that decision in 1985, saying, “Given everything I believe in, a large part of me thinks I should have gone over.”[17]

  16. 16.

    Eric U.

    December 19, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    @Jebediah, RBG: actually, you can tell it’s Newt, but he doesn’t really look all that bad if you gave him a haircut, shave, and got rid of the stupid glasses. Or maybe if you punched him in the neck

  17. 17.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    Michigan judge does the right thing.

    A US homeowner in Detroit who fatally shot a young black woman on his porch will stand trial for second-degree murder, a judge said. Theodore Wafer, 54, admitted shooting Renisha McBride in the face on 2 November, arguing self-defence. McBride, 19, was later found to be intoxicated at the time of her death.

    Prosecutors argued Mr Wafer should have remained inside his home and called the police when McBride came to the home following a car crash. Lawyers for Mr Wafer argued he feared for his life and should be protected under Michigan’s self-defence laws.

    Michigan is one of several US states with a so-called stand your ground law, which allows the use of deadly force if a person feels their life is in danger.

    But Judge David Turfe ordered Mr Wafer sent to trial, saying he had made a “bad choice”.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25452765

    Am guessing the defense will revolve around the contention she was threatening the well-being of Mr. Wafer’s shotgun with her face.

  18. 18.

    Certified Mutant Enemy

    December 19, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Did Dwight Schrute marry his high school math teacher?

  19. 19.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 19, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    @jeffreyw: How is your kittehs an goggies, you should try to get a photo of all of them together.

  20. 20.

    gogol's wife

    December 19, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    @raven:

    Which part of him is that?

  21. 21.

    Certified Mutant Enemy

    December 19, 2013 at 4:27 pm

    @raven:

    He would have been fragged.

  22. 22.

    MattR

    December 19, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    @Scout211: I’ve been checking my AmEx statement to make sure nothing new pops up on it. I am hoping I don’t have to cancel it and get a new card (and change all my automatic payments), especially since my purchase at Target was a $6 pair of headphones.

  23. 23.

    raven

    December 19, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    @Certified Mutant Enemy: A frag would have been more than he was worth.

  24. 24.

    Yatsuno

    December 19, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    @raven: That would be uncivil. Dare I say it, shrill.

  25. 25.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    Put this below but I’m in a FB discussion with a friend that is chummy with the Palins and the Heaths. I offered to explain to Sarah how the first amendment works and he replied:

    This is what she said, “Free speech is an endangered species. Those “intolerants” hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.” There is no mention of The First Amendment

    I can’t get him to answer where this right to “free speech” comes from, other than the 1st. The best he could muster:

    She understands the constitution. She was the chief executive of our state and a vice presidential candidate. She values “free speech” and in this case free speech applies…the way I read her opinion is that people should be able to speak freely about their values and beliefs without fear of losing their jobs in a wake of political correctness. You can twist her words to align with your beliefs about her if you;’d like but the fact remains she is not referring to the firt ammendment

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    December 19, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    @Trollhattan: I read something about this case yesterday. The shooter is claiming the shotgun went off by accident — through a locked screened door.

    Even if his version of events were true, wouldn’t it be negligent homicide? I’m not a lawyer, but how can they claim it’s self defense if the shooter has already said he didn’t mean to fire the gun?

  27. 27.

    khead

    December 19, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    The Mullet. With a ponytail.

    After that train wreck I went with the Heat Miser look for a while.

    Now I just shave off whatever little bit sprouts.

  28. 28.

    MomSense

    December 19, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    @Certified Mutant Enemy:
    HAHAHAHA!

  29. 29.

    Betty Cracker

    December 19, 2013 at 4:33 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Ask him if she feels that way about Martin Bashir.

    Also, if she’s going to drop her Gs (in writing!) to sound all folksy like, shouldn’t she be consistent about it?

  30. 30.

    scav

    December 19, 2013 at 4:33 pm

    @Scout211: This “bag your own security” program really puts control of just how much privacy you want firmly in the hands of the individual Target consumer. Helps hold down the bottom line running costs day to day (admittedly with minor hiccups). Add the jewels in the heavenly crown of demonstrating purity of free market credentials and practice and a kick-ass possible advertising campaign? Choose to be a Target! Somebody found a nice year-end bonus in his stocking. . .

    not surprised it happened, but rather peeved ($);6(;($);7(ugfugf6;h) at being repeatedly told these are the individuals and the system that will solve all problems if only unfettered from regulations, taxes or consequences.

  31. 31.

    Origuy

    December 19, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    Pussy Riot members and Greenpeace activists to be freed.

  32. 32.

    raven

    December 19, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    @Yatsuno: How’s it hangin?

  33. 33.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Ugh. Tell friend to get (“GIT!”) away before he loses what’s left of his brain to the Palin-Heath intelligence singularity.

  34. 34.

    cmorenc

    December 19, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Newt looks like he’s auditioning to be an Elvis impersonator.

  35. 35.

    jeffreyw

    December 19, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Everyone is fine, Katie is getting some time outside off the leash, though with Mrs J watching her closely. Getting all of them into one shot would be a challenge.

  36. 36.

    Petorado

    December 19, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    Pareene has Mike Allen at the top of his hack list. After reading his takedown, it’s hard to argue with his assertion (even though there are so many other deserving contenders for the throne.)

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 19, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    If the only thing I knew about President Obama was what I just heard in a year-end feature on All Things Considered, I would never (have) vote(d) for him. All the guy’s done in 2013 is spy on people, get all inyourface with Syria, spy some more, fight with Republicans in Congress, listen to Angela Merkel’s phone calls, piss off the Prime Minister of Brazil, and fuck up the health care website.

  38. 38.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    @Betty Cracker:
    I keep thinking, “Hello, police, there’s a crazy person at my front door.” As spoken while exiting my back door.

    Is that so hard?

  39. 39.

    Roger Moore

    December 19, 2013 at 4:42 pm

    For the people earlier who assumed Brian Boitano is gay; he just came out of the closet, so there are now three openly gay members of the US Olympic delegation.

  40. 40.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 4:45 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I sure did. He said that she felt awful about Bashir but didn’t say anything. I sent him the politico article with her comments on Bashir. He pivoted to me attacking her.

    @Trollhattan: My old roommate from back in the early 90’s. Was a Madison and Boulder hippie until he married into an Alaska family and started snowmachining with Tawd.

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 4:47 pm

    @Petorado: At a certain level, they’re all winners.

  42. 42.

    Eric U.

    December 19, 2013 at 4:47 pm

    @raven: I have seen statistics that the U.S. expended 250,000 rounds for every fatality. If Newt had been fragged, that number might be higher.

  43. 43.

    Renie

    December 19, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    I’m a lurker; rarely post but after seeing that picture, had to say WTF!!!!

  44. 44.

    c u n d gulag

    December 19, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    “The Portrait of the Young Conservative Doofus, at a Young Age.”

  45. 45.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    You’ll know he’s fully turned to the duh side when he refuses his oil check on accounta it makes him a moocher.

  46. 46.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 4:51 pm

    @Scout211:

    My bank is usually super on-top of these things (they issued me a new card before the DSW debacle hit the news), but I should probably double check with them anyway and make sure the new card is on its way.

    @Roger Moore:

    To answer people from the other thread, I think lamh37 and I were confusing Brian Boitano and Brian Orser, but apparently Orser is also gay (a little unusual for a Canadian figure skater, actually, since quite a few of them come up through hockey).

  47. 47.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 4:54 pm

    At long last the South PArk question, “What would Brian Boitano do?” is answered.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNJmfuEWR8w

  48. 48.

    gogol's wife

    December 19, 2013 at 4:54 pm

    @Origuy:

    Слава Богу!

  49. 49.

    KG

    December 19, 2013 at 4:55 pm

    @Scotty: nah, that was just the style then. If he looked like this now, he’d be a hipster… back then, that was just standard issue

  50. 50.

    PurpleGirl

    December 19, 2013 at 4:56 pm

    @jeffreyw: Lots of luck with your meat hunt. Awaiting pictures with recipes after Christmas day.

  51. 51.

    gogol's wife

    December 19, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    @KG:

    I don’t think those sideburns were standard issue. Not that they were hip, either.

  52. 52.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 4:58 pm

    @Trollhattan: Heh. Never!

    At least he finally admitted that she’s trolling and that she enjoys trolling.

    Chuck Heath is super pissed at me for pointing this out on FB. VICTORY?!?

  53. 53.

    hilts

    December 19, 2013 at 5:01 pm

    The 2 dumbest reactions to Phil Robertson’s comments

    Ultimately There Will Be No Option for Silence or the Sidelines. You Will Be Made To Care.
    http://www.redstate.com/2013/12/18/ultimately-there-will-be-no-option-for-silence-or-the-sidelines-you-will-be-made-to-care

    Punish Phil Robertson but Defraud Amazon: The Dubious Ethics of the Left
    http://www.mediaite.com/online/fire-phil-robertson-but-defraud-amazon-the-dubious-ethics-of-the-left

  54. 54.

    scav

    December 19, 2013 at 5:01 pm

    @KG: Did all “normal” non-ambiguous hair look that plastic? Those perfect waves smell more of those big plastic hairdryers cradling bouffants than what I’m vaguely remembering. But then, I did live in an environment with, like, you know, actual wind.

  55. 55.

    Hill Dweller

    December 19, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    @Petorado: How was Ron Fournier omitted from the list?

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    December 19, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    For those of you who follow the English football, or who like to hear about egregious examples of MOTU arrogance, I commend to your attention my countryman Tan Sri* Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.

    *Vincent Tan holds a high-ranking peerage in Malaysia, which is restricted to 75 living holders at a time. Tan Sri is the title that goes with it. It doesn’t make sense to use the title abroad, where people don’t know what it means; but Vincent Tan does because that’s the kind of self-important, bullying dick he is.

  57. 57.

    raven

    December 19, 2013 at 5:03 pm

    @Eric U.: Must depend on which fatalities they are talking about.

  58. 58.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 19, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    @Hill Dweller: There was one guy I’d never heard of, and Erickson is to my mind too marginal for a list like that. I think Fournier really should have been in the top 5

  59. 59.

    MikeJ

    December 19, 2013 at 5:07 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    I offered to explain to Sarah how the first amendment works

    Ask him if it was ok when a church dumped the duck people because they started selling wine.

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2013/12/19/duck-dynasty-november-wines-december-whines/

    Private entity, no government interference, decides they want a different spokesperson.

  60. 60.

    j

    December 19, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    How about a young Karl Rove circa 1972?

    He looked like a greasy weasel even when he was skinny.

    http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-22-2013/moment-of-zen—young-karl-rove

  61. 61.

    ruemara

    December 19, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: linguistically, I’m not surprised he or she is an admirer. It’s only a First Amendment issue, until you teach what the First Amendment says,then it’s free speech until you remind them that that’s not without consequences.

  62. 62.

    Hill Dweller

    December 19, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    If the only thing I knew about President Obama was what I just heard in a year-end feature on All Things Considered, I would never (have) vote(d) for him. All the guy’s done in 2013 is spy on people, get all inyourface with Syria, spy some more, fight with Republicans in Congress, listen to Angela Merkel’s phone calls, piss off the Prime Minister of Brazil, and fuck up the health care website.

    The entire Village is singing the same tune. Obama had worstest 5th year evah!

  63. 63.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    December 19, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    Don’t forget this.

    The man obviously has some sort of force field that sucks all of the humanity and pigment out of not only him but anyone spending a lot of time near him.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Eek!

  65. 65.

    danielx

    December 19, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    Would that there was an icepick to plunge into my mind’s eye after seeing that picture.

    Also, too – under the heading of Republican douche rockets (yes, Newt and his Newticles™ fall under this heading also) we have Representative Jack Kingston (R-doucherocket – but I repeat myself) who clearly did not get that memo about how if Republicans want to win national elections, they should stop being complete assholes. Next up will be ‘are there no prisons, no workhouses’?

    I get that he’s coming up on a primary against seven other Republicans, meaning that he’s in a competition for title of the biggest mean political asshole in Georgia, but did it ever occur to this fucking idiot about the optics, as pols say, of his pronouncement…a week before Christmas? Scrooge, thy name is Kingston.

  66. 66.

    PurpleGirl

    December 19, 2013 at 5:13 pm

    @gogol’s wife: The sideburns might have been standard issue in the South and among Elvis impersonators.

  67. 67.

    WereBear

    December 19, 2013 at 5:14 pm

    You can see why Newt passed up the Dorian Grey path.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 5:14 pm

    @danielx:

    Scrooge, thy name is Kingston.

    I think not. Scrooge was redeemable and was in fact redeemed. These guys are Jacob Marley.

  69. 69.

    Anoniminous

    December 19, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    In a unanimous decision the New Mexico Supreme Court Rules Gay Marriage Constitutional.

  70. 70.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 5:17 pm

    @danielx:

    Funny you should bring him up in this thread, because on reading Kingston’s super idea I immediately thought of candidate Newton’s suggestion that schools hire poor schoolkids to do their janitoring in order to teach ’em some worky ethics–you know, the kind that middle class kids come with automagically. Almost free labor & fire a union janitor: win-win!

  71. 71.

    scav

    December 19, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Even Marley was trying to posthumously trying to work things out, after getting hit with the sentence in rattling chains and boxes. This lot would be stealing links from slow-moving wraiths and complaining that poorer (and less wanly invisible) ghosts got boxes at all.

  72. 72.

    lamh36

    December 19, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    @Roger Moore: @Mnemosyne: I was just reading about Boitano. Read up on Brian Orser and it’s interesting that he thought being gay would be bad for his career…in figure skating…was/is being gay really frowned upon in figure skating? Go figure.

    @Scout211: ok, I swear I haven’t been to Target in months because there just isn’t one near my house. If finally did go to Target, but it was just this past Tuesday, so I missed the theft window. I woulda been so pissed if I something had happened.

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    @Anoniminous: Unanimous decisions are such a kick in the teeth to the losing side.

  74. 74.

    oldster

    December 19, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    Gingrich in that photo has the glassy, unreal look of the characters in the Thunderbirds cartoon. Kinda like this:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Tracy

    The horror!

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    December 19, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: That photo comparison has always freaked me out. He looks unchanged, but she appears to have been transformed into a wholly different creature in a way the mere passage of time cannot account for…

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 5:22 pm

    @lamh36: I would guess that the real money for skaters is in endorsements and being openly gay might keep an athlete from getting endorsement deals with so-called “family friendly” companies.

    @Betty Cracker: Can you say Stepford?

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    @danielx:

    Well, come on, we all know those six-year-olds wouldn’t be going hungry if they weren’t too lazy to work. I know I was trudging uphill in the snow both ways to get to my before-school job in the first grade. Weren’t you?
    /wingnut

  78. 78.

    R-Jud

    December 19, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Think of the things she’s had to see, and… and touch.

    You’d apply the platinum bleach to your scalp, too, just to feel the cleansing burn. You might even drink it.

  79. 79.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 19, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    @R-Jud: Thanks. I was about to make dinner. Instead, I think I’ll head straight into drinking.

  80. 80.

    Short Bus Bully

    December 19, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    Holy fucking fuck.

    What did we do to deserve that pic???

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I would guess that the real money for skaters is in endorsements and being openly gay might keep an athlete from getting endorsement deals with so-called “family friendly” companies.

    Back in the 1980s and 1990s when the Brians were first famous, sure. I remember it being a HUGE DEAL when Greg Louganis came out, and he was basically forced to do it because he was diagnosed with AIDS.

    These days, though, even “family friendly” companies don’t really care. As Fred Clark at Slacktivist said when JC Penney hired Ellen DeGeneres as their spokeswoman, most of the women who got the “alert” from Focus on the Family probably decided to read it after they’d watched that day’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Energy vampires. They do exist.

  83. 83.

    bemused

    December 19, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    That was shocking. It’s hard to believe it’s the same Callista, She used to resemble an actual human. How does anyone choose to hook up with Newt and choose to look like a frozen Cruella Deville? Very odd woman.

  84. 84.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 5:32 pm

    @MikeJ: *tents fingers* EXCELLENT

  85. 85.

    lamh36

    December 19, 2013 at 5:32 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: ah…that’s true. I sure haven’t seen hide nor hair of Rudy Galindo in any advertising.

    And honeslty, other than skating comps and his reality show, I don’t think I’ve seen much in terms of Johnny Weir endorsement deals, unless I missed them

  86. 86.

    JPL

    December 19, 2013 at 5:32 pm

    @bemused: Someone has to say it.. I blame Obama.

  87. 87.

    Jebediah, RBG

    December 19, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    @Eric U.:

    I’ll go with neck punch.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    December 19, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Me too. It’s now “Make Your Own Goddamn Dinner Night.” Mama’s headed straight to the bourbon.

  89. 89.

    Anoniminous

    December 19, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Unanimity was a minor surprise but there was no doubt the NMSC would rule in favor once they got a case properly briefed and presented. It’s just not that big a deal here for most people.

    Having a great deal of fun calling all my Gay friends every ten minutes and asking them when they are going to stop living in sin.

  90. 90.

    Origuy

    December 19, 2013 at 5:35 pm

    @lamh36: Figure skating judging has always been very subjective. During the Cold War, it was usually politicized. These days, it’s more personal. They tried to remove the subjectivity by separating the technical judging from the style judging, but style still counts. The judges tend to be former skaters and coaches who are very conservative and protective of the image of the sport as they want to see it.

  91. 91.

    Jebediah, RBG

    December 19, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    @Petorado:

    Pareene has Mike Allen at the top of his hack list. After reading his takedown, it’s hard to argue with his assertion (even though there are so many other deserving contenders for the throne.)

    An embarrassment of riches. Or should that be an embarrassment of embarrassments?

  92. 92.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    December 19, 2013 at 5:37 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: AIEEEE!

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 5:41 pm

    @lamh36:

    I had to look it up, but Rudy Galindo never won an Olympic medal. He competed several times, and he won a lot of lesser championships, but he never won the Olympics. That reduces your chances of getting a good endorsement by a lot.

  94. 94.

    R-Jud

    December 19, 2013 at 5:42 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Betty Cracker:
    What can I say? I’m a giver.

  95. 95.

    MomSense

    December 19, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    After: peroxide, plastic surgery, and a lobotomy!

  96. 96.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    Now that Illinois has passed their law, I’m going to sit down with my brother-in-law at his next visit with my Serious Face on and say, So when are you going to meet a nice boy and settle down? You’re not getting any younger, you know.

  97. 97.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 19, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    @Betty Cracker: It’s the eyes. They look like the eyes in bad Poser dolls.

  98. 98.

    MomSense

    December 19, 2013 at 5:45 pm

    @lamh36:

    Whatever happened to that crazy figure skater from France Phillippe Candeloro? He used to rip his shirt open, gulp water and spray it on his fans, and other waaaaay over the top antics.

  99. 99.

    GregB

    December 19, 2013 at 5:46 pm

    Let’s get into the wayback machine and check out how the good folks of Lousiana supported the first amendment rights of the Dixie Chicks in the run up to the Iraq War after lead singer Natalie Mains criticized President Bush.

    Click here and enjoy the past.

  100. 100.

    R-Jud

    December 19, 2013 at 5:47 pm

    @MomSense: Was he a consultant on Blades of Glory?

  101. 101.

    ffredpalakon

    December 19, 2013 at 5:47 pm

    Just to give you an idea of how ubiquitous derp is, the linked list is courtesy of Benny Johnson, a creep who managed to make the #3 position on Alex Pareene’s hack list. He was also taken down already by BuzzFeed parody site FeedBuzz, “EXCLUSIVE! @BennyJohnson’s 20 Most YOLO Moments”. I think Pareene actually goes a little easy on him, and doesn’t mention his most disgusting moments at his former employer, Glenn Beck’s The Blaze: “Swamp People, Hippies, Hijabs, and a Gay Couple: See How the Obama Admin Is Branding America Abroad (& the LGBT Adviser Who’s Behind It!)”, where he goes after an Obama admin person just because they’re gay and “New Black Panther Field Marshal: Whites ‘Should be Thankful We’re Not Hanging Crackers By Nooses…Yet, Yet, Yet’”, a nice little bit of race baiting. He also worked for the virulently anti-gay Family Research Council. My own takedown is “Benny Johnson: Gorgeous Animus”. What I find astonishing is how someone who trafficked in such toxic stuff managed to get onto a mainstream, supposedly open and tolerant site like BuzzFeed.

  102. 102.

    jl

    December 19, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    @danielx: But didn’t Lil’ Newtie himself want the poor kids to clean toilets for lunch in the late GOP primary? Seems to me Kingston is being pretty brave in going the compassionate conservative route (GOP scrooge-wise) before the primary.

    As for BE Pilgrim’s pics, yeeowww! Besides horror of being a Lil’ Newtie mate, probably some of it due to ‘work’ done to keep herself Lil’ Newtie worthy.

  103. 103.

    Citizen_X

    December 19, 2013 at 5:53 pm

    a youthful Newt Gingrich being a pompous ass (a safe assumption) in an Elvis ‘do and sideburns

    Fucking hipsters.

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Was a Madison and Boulder hippie until he married into an Alaska family and started snowmachining with Tawd.

    Fucking hippies.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    December 19, 2013 at 5:56 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    I can’t get him to answer where this right to “free speech” comes from, other than the 1st. The best he could muster:

    I think you should explore it with him, though.

    Say I work for Sarah Palin LLC. It’s a reality tv production company. If I give an interview where I say that white fundamentalist Christians are offensive to me, I just object to them generally, can Sarah Palin LLC fire me?

  105. 105.

    KG

    December 19, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    @scav: ok, fine, I don’t really know, I was probably born a good 6 years after this Newtastic photo

  106. 106.

    sparrow

    December 19, 2013 at 6:03 pm

    @Scout211: Thanks. For some reason I hadn’t read the articles yet and assumed it was about those Target cards they are always pushing. Then I figured “eh, I don’t go there much, but I’ll double check”… sure enough, I spent $70 there on 11/29. Damn! Calling to cancel now. :(

  107. 107.

    MomSense

    December 19, 2013 at 6:03 pm

    @R-Jud:

    He certainly was qualified to!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQkXjB70mRw

  108. 108.

    scav

    December 19, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    @KG: Hey, I think I’m sublimating, so am asking for info. Anybody with stronger neuronal nets, possibly nets into self-harming?

  109. 109.

    Yatsuno

    December 19, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Not. Getting. Out. Of. The. Boat. To hell with your mangoes.

  110. 110.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    Might want to jot down for future mention to the kids that you were there, in person, enjoying the planet’s hottest month of the Industrial Age.

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — November was a hot month for planet Earth.

    Government scientists reported Tuesday that last month set a heat record. They say it was the warmest November on record, across Earth, since record-keeping began in 1880.

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says average global temperature, for water and land surfaces combined, was 56.6 degrees (13.7 Celsius). That’s 1.4 degrees (0.78 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average.

    It was the 37th consecutive November with above-average temperatures. The last below-average November was in 1976.

    It was also the 345th straight month with above-average temperatures. That’s almost 29 years.

    Among the November hot spots: much of Eurasia, Central America and the Indian Ocean. In Russia, it was the warmest November on record. But parts of North America were cooler than average.

    After eyeballing the long-term forecast, California’s driest year on record looks assured. But there’s no connection here, so look elsewhere, you DFHs!

  111. 111.

    sacrablue

    December 19, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    @lamh36: I shopped at Target for the first time in three years during the first week of December. My credit union is not sending out new card yet. They are tracking the situation and told me to keep checking my account for charges that aren’t mine. They want to limit the number of cards they have to reissue.

  112. 112.

    maya

    December 19, 2013 at 6:19 pm

    So tell us truthfully, Newt, how many times were you pantsed and wedgied in high school?

  113. 113.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 6:20 pm

    @Kay: Eventually he admitted that a world where the “shared value of free speech” prohibiting companies from firing people would lead to absurd results. It was a tough slog.

  114. 114.

    oldster

    December 19, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    Okay, you have made me waste the last ten minutes googling “Callista Bisek.”

    But after that, I have to say: that photo from 1997 just isn’t her. It’s just some other woman. You can look at younger Callistas, and older Callistas, and that 1997 photo just is not on the trajectory. Different chin, different length-to-width proportions of face as a whole.

    Check this high school photo of CB:
    http://snakkle.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/calista-gingrich-yearbook-high-school-young-1984-red-carpet-2012-photo-split.jpg

    she looks like her 2012 self (modulo face-lift of course) but the 1997 photo does not fit in between.

    Just some other woman. Not that Newt is *not* a bloodsucking vampire, of course–that is entirely true.

  115. 115.

    Mnemosyne

    December 19, 2013 at 6:25 pm

    @sacrablue:

    That’s what my bank said as well. I think they also don’t want to cause problems for people right before the holidays when mail is going to already be very heavy and people don’t want to be without a credit or ATM card when they suddenly realize they have to go to a party at Aunt Milly’s that night and they forgot to buy her a hostess gift.

    My bank advised me to keep a close eye on my account and let them know ASAP if I see anything wonky. They said that they haven’t seen any unusual activity yet, so they’re going to wait and see and if their customers start getting hit, they’re going to reissue cards.

  116. 116.

    Trollhattan

    December 19, 2013 at 6:30 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    OTOH if you’re a college professor you’d best not say bad things about the NRA on your book of faces.

    http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2013/12/improper-use-of-opinion

  117. 117.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    @Trollhattan: Missouri and Kansas are fighting hard to see who can become the Florida of the Midwest. Ancient rivals.

  118. 118.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 19, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
    Callista was actually kind of cute in that early photo (that is, if you can overlook the Newtness sitting next to her). And if she had simply let Nature take its course, I imagine she’d be quite an attractive 47-year-old woman. It’s terrifying that, presumably, both she and Newt think the current version is any kind of improvement.

  119. 119.

    g

    December 19, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    That’s a face just asking to be slapped.

  120. 120.

    g

    December 19, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: It’s so nice to see conservatives coming to the defense of employees who suffer retaliation from their employer for expressing their views. Now, if the Duck Dynasty guys had only been trying to organize a union…..

  121. 121.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    December 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Why the fuck would you cook without drinking at least a little? Have you no humanity?

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    @Yatsuno:

    Don’t do it. Contraindication with your meds.

  123. 123.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 19, 2013 at 7:01 pm

    @raven:

    Cowardly vermin who talks the talk, but is unwilling to walk the walk.

    Maggots who are all for wars but refuse to put their own precious asses on the line deserve no quarter at all.

  124. 124.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 19, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    @g:

    Very much like Sean Hannity’s, which is screaming to be rearranged with a Louisville Slugger.

  125. 125.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    December 19, 2013 at 7:05 pm

    @sparrow:

    I have not shopped at target for six years. Ha ha.

  126. 126.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 19, 2013 at 7:07 pm

    @g: Is conservatives supporting labor one of the signs of the apocalypse wingnut event horizon?

  127. 127.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 19, 2013 at 7:07 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I don’t know if I can stand to go through all this again.

    About a month ago I lost my debit card. Went to the bank, cancelled it, got new card, notified all the automatic payment folks, changed lots of online ordering sites that had my old card number as default.

    Yesterday morning, I stupidly (although innocently) placed an online merchandise order for a few dollars more than my daily limit. Card was rejected, and once it triggered rejection, it was declined even for my inexpensive car servicing (fortunately, I’ve been a good reliable customer there for years, so they gave me the oil change and tire rotation as a free Christmas gift). But I spent a couple of hours at the bank going through all sorts of transactions until we got it cleared up.

    Then to hear this Target news today. Am.Not.Happy. Especially if I have to re-notify all the accounts where I have automatic payment set up.

    #firstworldproblems #specialsnowflake

  128. 128.

    j

    December 19, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: Now that is just creepy and disturbing. Only 4 years? It’s like some reverse High School thing.

  129. 129.

    WereBear

    December 19, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I sympathize though, because it is a bunch of crap to wade through, and the thought of doing it again makes one feel stabby.

    I’m won’t be smug about not shopping at Target, because it could easily have been a place I do like.

  130. 130.

    skwerlhugger

    December 19, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    Look, I detest the man as much as anyone, but… none of you were actually there, were you? Because everyone looked like that.

  131. 131.

    oldster

    December 19, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    Guys, guys–it really ain’t her.

    The woman in the 1997 just is not Callista. The captioning is incorrect.

    If you spend some time looking at old photos of Callista (I don’t recommend it, but *if* you do), then you will see very clearly that she never looked like Miss 1997, whoever that is. Not at any age, not in any year.

    Yes, the real Callista is a plastic surgery victim. Yes, the real Newt is a monster. But Miss 1997 in the photo is just someone else altogether.

  132. 132.

    West of the Rockies

    December 19, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    Anyone mention the egrisious hair of George A. Tsoukalos yet?

  133. 133.

    Comrade Mary

    December 19, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    Is it so wrong that if I lie to myself and say that it isn’t Newt, that he’s actually kinda sort a little bit maybe hawt?

    /scrubs self with steel brush and Ajax

  134. 134.

    West of the Rockies

    December 19, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    @Comrade Mary: Mary, say ten Our Fathers and a novena for your sins! Gingrich? Hot?

    I know what you mean though… on some dark, horrible level, I find Sarah Palin physically appealing. (That is, until she speaks.)

  135. 135.

    johnny aquitard

    December 19, 2013 at 11:07 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Backpfeifengesicht!!

    That’s the word! Perfect.

    Bonus points awarded for coming up in one one word what describes this fucker to a ‘T’.

    Look at his eyes. The glasses help obfuscate it but it’s there. It’s lurking behind the glasses.

    There’s the dead-shark eyes of an amoral soul with a bit of the cornered-crazy wariness of Michelle Bachman.

    The eyes of an ambush predator. He thinks it’s hidden behind the glasses, the way dudebros think their eyes are hidden behind their shades when they stare at the boobs or crotch of a girl at the beach. They think their eyes are hidden enough so they don’t keep the dead shark out of their eyes.

    But you can make out just enuogh to tell.

  136. 136.

    g

    December 19, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    @bemused: The odd thing is that she’s still a pretty youngish woman. She’s only 47. Yet she’s chosen to dress and coif herself as if she were in her 60s. Very very odd.

  137. 137.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 20, 2013 at 7:26 am

    TPM reports a “big blow to Obamacare”: apparently Republicans are opposed to it!! And it’s leading industry groups to give up on Medicaid expansion in the recalcitrant states.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obamacare-medicaid-expansion-lobbying-2015

    Well, we might as well repeal the whole thing now.

  138. 138.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 20, 2013 at 7:31 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yeah… I also just cancelled and replaced my debit card, because of my own stupidity (I’d misplaced it, turns out it was in my living room all along). Getting all the automatic payments and such reconfigured was a pain in the ass, albeit not a huge one.

  139. 139.

    someofparts

    December 20, 2013 at 9:09 am

    oh gag

  140. 140.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:22 pm

    Hopefully, the rains haven’t heard about your blooming peonies yet.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    ‘@debbie

    No kidding! My other peonies – the white singles – looked gorgeous for 2 days and then the rain wiped them out. Hoping these fare better! At least i have some great supports so they don’t get flattened by the rain.

  142. 142.

    Poe Larity

    May 26, 2022 at 6:26 pm

    A holiday weekend full of grass, brush and branch cutting. I’ll show that asthma diagnosing dr a thing or two, thinking I have more than an allergy.

  143. 143.

    pat

    May 26, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    Lovely photo.

    Another day of crummy 50s weather here today, spending way too much time catching up on new developments in that indescribably horrible massacre in Texas, and then reading Rubin about the upcoming anti-abortion ruling from the “supreme” court and I think I need another glass of merlot.

    Well I did have to laugh out loud at Tony Jay’s description of “where the men are lonely and the sheep carry mace.”

  144. 144.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    ‘@ Poe Larity: Hope you’re joking. More than an allergy is no fun coming back from.

  145. 145.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 26, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    I love peonies, and those are absolutely beautiful! My grandmother used to grow them, in a small backyard patch in Oak Park, all mixed in with the rhubarb. I love the flower and I love the fruit (or is rhubarb technically a vegetable? I never can remember), but both types of plants for some reason attracted hundreds — okay, at least dozens — of ants! We always had to be careful about rinsing them off before we brought them into the house, and even so there were always a few escapees.

  146. 146.

    Gary K

    May 26, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    After a massacre of schoolchildren, it seems so vain to continue with one’s own petty interests. My Senator Portman, maybe like your senator, is useless in solving the problem. Could we manage to vote in a better replacement this year?

    And yet my petty life continues. As it happens, my 50th college reunion is happening this weekend. I’ve not stayed in close contact with my classmates over the years and won’t be attending, but the pending reunion made me a bit curious and I ended up getting in touch with a couple of folks with whom I acted in a production of Hedda Gabler in 1972 (gulp). As we discovered, there are still photographs of that production available through the university’s library.

  147. 147.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 26, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    Showing something about their priorities, the first action taken by the russian occupation authorities in Melitopol — and I literally mean first thing, as in item 1 of their decree — is renaming the main avenue after Pavel Sudoplatov. He was the NKVD agent best known for assassinating Ukrainian nationalist leader Evhen Konovalets in Rotterdam in 1938. That would be like taking over DC and renaming Pennsylvania Avenue Lee Harvey Oswald Boulevard.

  148. 148.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    Boy, I miss embedding, but to get really pissed off, read this thread from a Navy vet relative of an injured student who is offered money to stand beside Abbott and say stricter gun laws aren’t needed. The representative was told what he could do with his proposal.

    https://twitter.com/MyCancerJourne3/status/1529933105359753218?s=20&t=kn4R3ksxEzMhuKNmcIue0Q

  149. 149.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    ‘@ Gin & Tonic May 26, 2022 at 6:38 PM

    I think I tripped over a Twitter thread detailing what you implied you couldn’t bring yourself to share a day or two ago. There really are no words for these monsters.

  150. 150.

    Poe Larity

    May 26, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    ‘@debbie. I cough from March thru May. Every year. non-drs all think I have seasonal lung cancer, dr thinks I have asthma.

    It’s fire season, it’s me or the fires. Still young enough to be a dumb unsurrender monkey.

  151. 151.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 6:49 pm

    And the rain has started…

  152. 152.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:50 pm

    ‘@Poe Larity: There’s a thing called allergy-induced asthma, FWIW. Just pace yourself.

  153. 153.

    trollhattan

    May 26, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    Michigan Republicans having serial rake-step?
    “May 26, 2022 at 5:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    “Five Republican candidates for Michigan governor were disqualified by a state canvassing board on Thursday for submitting nominating petitions that officials said had contained thousands of forged signatures,” the New York Times reports.

    “The decision sent the race, in a key battleground state, into chaos and dealt a serious blow to the party’s plans to challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic incumbent.”

    Whitmer is a keeper in my book and should she be reelected that’s a thumb in Trump’s eye, too.

  154. 154.

    Van Buren

    May 26, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    I think I commented last year that peony blossoms attract rain. We have a beautiful tree peony that gets wiped out every year.

  155. 155.

    trollhattan

    May 26, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    Weather? Feh. I declare it “a great summer” if we don’t need to use the AC before July 4th and “good” if not before the first day of summer.

    Tuesday was 100 and yesterday, 102. We know how this one plays out.

  156. 156.

    VeniceRiley

    May 26, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    1) My UK VISA is APPROVED!
    I am out of here end of June. Just in time, as that’s about 2 weeks after the mandatory water cutbacks start happening in California. No more ornamental ground watering is going to be allowed here.
    I’ll be with my wife in a place where it rains and rains and rains.

  157. 157.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 26, 2022 at 6:55 pm

    ‘@debbie – I have a lot of that kind of material.

  158. 158.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:56 pm

    ‘@ trollhattan: Doesn’t that just say everything about MAGAts, that they’d cheat so obviously? Those double voters in the Villages must be green with envy.

  159. 159.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    ‘@ WG: Oh, no! I’m so sorry if I encouraged that stupid rain.

    ETA: It’s been monsooning here for about two hours. Any peonies here are probably beaten into submission too.

  160. 160.

    Baud

    May 26, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    ‘@debbie

    Sorry won’t cut it. You need to fix this now.

  161. 161.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    By the bye, I received my “russian warship go fuck yourself” stamps today.

  162. 162.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    ‘@VeniceRiley

    So happy for you! Long time coming.

  163. 163.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    ‘@debbie

    Only a few of the peonies have totally opened yet, so fingers crossed.

  164. 164.

    Windpond

    May 26, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    Our home away from home feels more connected, and thoughtful to me. Any chance of incorporating some of that when we get our roots back?

  165. 165.

    pacem appellant

    May 26, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    ‘@WaterGirl If you keep making it cozy here, I may never want to leave! Thanks for keeping the lights on!

  166. 166.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    ‘@Windpond wrote:

    “Our home away from home feels more connected, and thoughtful to me. Any chance of incorporating some of that when we get our roots back?”

    Can you say more about what you mean by that?

  167. 167.

    Baud

    May 26, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    When the main site is back online, I wonder who will go back and who will stay in the colony.

  168. 168.

    Sure Lurkalot

    May 26, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Wish we could get some of that Midwest rain in Colorado. After the freak snowstorm last week, we are back to dry.

  169. 169.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    ‘@Baud

    There can be only one Balloon Juice at a time!

  170. 170.

    brendancalling

    May 26, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Tomorrow, I pay the required fee, and I will be a licensed English teacher. I had a great interview last week, and have two more pending this week and next. In just a few weeks, I go on tour for 5 days, and I need to start practicing. By August I’ll be settling in Nashville or Philadelphia.

    I need to transcribe interviews I did this past weekend with Deke Dickerson and Rosie Flores. Rosie was particularly awesome—a real highlight! Not a bad way to spend Memorial Day.

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    ‘@brendancalling

    Wow, that’s a big Joe Biden deal!

  172. 172.

    UncleEbeneezer

    May 26, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    Just got off the phone with the woman who is managing the VoteForward postcard efforts in our area and she said that she’s continually running out of them because so many people are eager to write them. This makes me VERY HAPPY!

    There’s been a notable drop-off in meeting attendance since 2020 Election (and really since 2018 Mid Terms to be honest) and that scares the hell out of me, given the stakes of this November. But this sort of confirms that in addition to Covid, another reason for the decrease in Organizing turnout is simply because a lot of people are now content to just write a shitload of postcards to Register and GOTV in crucial states.

    Also, I have a handful of new members interested in coming to our Indivisible meeting, Sunday, for the first time which is also a really good sign that people are ready to get to work.

    PS: here is a good hour-long presentation/video that Field Team 6 did for managing activist burnout. Haven’t watched it yet but someone I trust said it’s excellent and I think it would probably be a good addition to the next BJ Organizing post:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TXW1MljhkhDRAp1fE_30UVbyKk-tptsz/view

  173. 173.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 26, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    ‘@WG. Will there be sword battles like in Highlander?

  174. 174.

    Poe Larity

    May 26, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    ‘@debbie thx

    @Baud I’m going back just to complain about the fonts, formatting and page load times.

  175. 175.

    Baud

    May 26, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    ‘@UncleEbeneezer

  176. 176.

    JPL

    May 26, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    OMG The f..king Yankees and Tampa Bay are joining forces to fight for gun safety laws.
    https://twitter.com/Yankees
    I’m lost cuz I hate the f..king Yankees

  177. 177.

    Baud

    May 26, 2022 at 7:30 pm

    ‘@Poe Larity
    May 26, 2022 at 7:28 PM

    Some regulars haven’t made the transition to this site. I hope they return.

  178. 178.

    Spanky

    May 26, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    Fun fact: Googling “Jackal action” brings up a ton of hits for action figures.

  179. 179.

    JPL

    May 26, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    ‘@Baud, Imma hasn’t and I hope he’ll post soon. With dozens of Supreme Court cases left, we definitely need LAO too.

  180. 180.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:37 pm

    ‘@Omnes

    That’s not quite the picture I had in my head when I wrote that!

  181. 181.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    ‘@JPL

    Imm commented twice on Saturday.

    edit @Baud

    Camping isn’t for everyone. :-)

  182. 182.

    Suzanne

    May 26, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    I am going to Philly next week for three days for work. I won’t have time this time, but it would be nice to do a meetup. Maybe next time?

    Looking for geg6….. we have been tentatively planning a Pittsburgh meetup, during the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Fun! Would love to have a crowd of jackals.

  183. 183.

    JPL

    May 26, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    Water Girl.. thanks for update

  184. 184.

    Windpond

    May 26, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    ‘@WaterGirl I have been a longtime lurker, seldom commenting. Now with our vacation home, it has become obvious to me that we all have a stake in Balloon-Juice no matter the content, plants, or artwork on the wall as John was pointing out. I like the ‘stripped-down’ mobile home better. I really came to depend on the nightly posting by Alan on Ukraine and feel I don’t get that level of information anywhere else on the internet. Because of what happened, maybe we all woke up – I know I did!

  185. 185.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 26, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    ‘@JPL 7:33?pm

    I’m pretty sure Imm knows about the vacation cottage. He’s commented here one or twice, I think. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong!)

  186. 186.

    CaseyL

    May 26, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    Debbie – Unfortunately, that guy – according to the replies to his tweet – is a liar and a fake. He apparently pops up after every huge tragedy with similar stories.

    WG – I’m not sure about Windpond, but the comments here are only one column (?) wide rather than going all the way across the page. That might make things look “cozier.” And the lighter font, with less of a contrast to the white background, also makes the screen seem quieter.

  187. 187.

    debbie

    May 26, 2022 at 8:39 pm

    ‘@ CaseyL: So I see now. Most of those comments came after I first saw it. Thanks. ‍♀️

  188. 188.

    Anotherlurker

    May 26, 2022 at 8:44 pm

    I’ve been disconnected for quite a while, hamstring strain followed by a a busy work schedule, but I am very glad to see this cottage established while the big house is being brought back from a man made disaster.
    I will be fishing next week. It looks like the Salmon and Halibut seasons here in the Bay Area are off to a torrid start. I need to get in on the action and bag some fine eating fish.

  189. 189.

    Quiltingfool

    May 26, 2022 at 8:47 pm

    Gin & Tonic: Speaking of Russian warships, here is one of my quilt blocks…
    https://pin.it/4dolhlw

  190. 190.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 9:03 pm

    ‘@Windpond

    Thanks for saying more about that. So glad you are here. We are all better together. Glad you will be with us when we move back.

  191. 191.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 9:05 pm

    ‘@ CaseyL

    The comments do the same thing on the regular Balloon Juice.

    I moved the sidebar to the left here on a whim, but I think i like it better this way.

  192. 192.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 9:08 pm

    ‘@Anotherlurker

    well, if you’re fishing next week without internet, i hope to see you back the week after that. i love that you called BJ ‘the big house”.

    All these great ways to refer to it, and to all the names for our home away from home.

  193. 193.

    CaseyL

    May 26, 2022 at 9:17 pm

    ‘@WaterGirl – It’s been so long, I can’t remember what BJ looks like!

    I think moving the sidebar to the left may be the trick: it makes the page look more “book-like.”

  194. 194.

    kalakal

    May 26, 2022 at 9:22 pm

    As a distraction, England still leads the world in sillyness. *
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2022/may/26/whitbys-record-breaking-vampire-gathering-in-pictures?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

    * I love Whitby. It’s a lovely place and the assorted Goths/SteamPunks/Vampires are a lot of fun

  195. 195.

    Auntie Anne

    May 26, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    I agree with @CaseyL about loving the left sidebar – I’m a big reader, and the “book-like” observation is very apt – the site feels comfortable and cosy somehow, and I suspect the sidebar is why. I’ve been working lots so haven’t been vocal at all about our vacation home. Big thanks to you, @WaterGirl, and our esteemed host for all you did (and do)! I missed us.

  196. 196.

    Anotherlurker

    May 26, 2022 at 10:29 pm

    Water Girl, I’ll remain online . The trip I’ll be fishing is a party boat day trip out of either Berkeley or Emeryville.
    I’v scheduled a multi-day Tuna trip out of San Diego, for August. Gotta love fresh Bluefin!

  197. 197.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 11:15 pm

    ‘@ CaseyL

    It does look like the page of a book!

  198. 198.

    WaterGirl

    May 26, 2022 at 11:16 pm

    ‘@ Anotherlurker

    oh, good!

  199. 199.

    SectionH

    May 27, 2022 at 12:49 am

    WG: Your peonies are beautiful.

    @VeniceRiley – CONGRATS!!! I’m really happy for you.

  200. 200.

    J R in WV

    May 27, 2022 at 6:37 am

    Open thread?

    So on Google News, which we use as a gateway to other news sources, I see a story on Business Insider [ https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-google-staff-brags-iabout-trashing-female-coders-resumes-2022-5 ] about a Lead Programmer formerly for Google, then with Facebook/Meta
    who tells us that he broke the law regarding discrimination in hiring:

    “A former Google programmer bragged on Twitter this week about how he used to trash the résumés of female interviewees in front of them.

    In his now-deleted tweets, Patrick Shyu recounted how he used to treat the women he interviewed.

    “So when I used to conduct interviews for Google, I rejected all women on the spot and trashed their résumés in front of them,” Shyu wrote in a May 22 post seen by Insider.

    “I told them, ‘Go have some kids. Don’t worry, I’m smarter than you, I know,'” Shyu wrote.”

    In my opinion this guy has [ and had ] no business ever being in a position to review resumes, interview potential hires, opine on misogyny, or work in a managerial role in any role, anywhere, ever!!! Bigots need to be closely managed to protect their co-workers from their hate! I’m sure {NOT} he was a great genius at software development with a twisted mind like that…

    And if your development schedule calls for more than 40 hours of work a week, you are not competent to manage a software project.

  201. 201.

    Pete Mack

    May 27, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    I still have irises. Peonies will open RSN. But big score! My next door neighbor offered me a raised bed installed by her grandson when he lived there. It is now all weeds, but the bed is completely filled with potting soil(!) I am getting it tomorrow and sunday. Waiting for the Roundup I sprayed on lawn to kick in

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