Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

In my day, never was longer.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

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

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

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Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Meta

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Clickhole vs. Buzzfeed. As Dorothy Parker once quipped, how will you be able to tell?
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And what else is on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  3. 3.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Noisemax strikes again:

    Krauthammer: Media Will Ignore Benghazi Email

    Because it means NOTHING, dumbfuck!

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    It’s May Day on my side of the International Date Line — the anniversary of the Haymarket riots, a.k.a. international Labour Day. And as every year, I note how the country where this seminal event took place celebrates its Labor Day in September instead.

  5. 5.

    scav

    @Amir Khalid: What’s the old saw about good advice being so very freely given bacause it was so very rarely used? See also ‘Merca exporting democracy.

  6. 6.

    khead

    We lost our kitty, SweetPea, today. For folks that may remember, I used to post pics of her here from a flickr account. She’s also the white kitty lounging on the fuchsia blanket in the window (in Jan) on the pet calendar. Tumor of the larynx. Which really sucked. It took away her meow and purr and then slowly choked her. In-home euthanasia is a great thing.

    Anne: Will email a better tribute and pics to you later if that’s ok.

  8. 8.

    Violet

    Final paragraph from the link:

    Now, we love The Onion. But based on what we’ve seen out the gate, a long-term, standalone website dedicated solely to lampooning BuzzFeed and Upworthy does not seem like a sustainable idea worth pursuing.

    Seems quite sustainable. “Worth pursuing” is something worthwhile asking about all sorts of ventures. Fox News. Sean Hannity’s radio show. Politico. The answer is clearly “no” to all of those yet here they are.

  10. 10.

    max

    @Villago Delenda Est: Krauthammer: Media Will Ignore Benghazi Email

    Because it means NOTHING, dumbfuck!

    Was he not the one on FoxNews a week or so ago saying the R’s should forget Benghazi?

    max
    [‘A man of principle.’]

  15. 15.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Violet: Let’s see, what else falls into that category? The Marquis de Mitten’s presidential campaign, the continued presence of Sarah Palin in the media, the careers of Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks, Thomas Friendman, Maureen Dowd, Jonah Goldberg, (I could go on indefinitely…).

  16. 16.

    Mike in NC

    @Villago Delenda Est: The other day Kraut was demanding that Kerry resign because he said something critical of Holy Israel. Kraut would prefer Sheldon Adelson as Secretary of State,

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mike in NC: Yeah, Kerry committed a diplomatic faux pas by blurting out a truth about the racist state of Israel. Something that got Jimmy Carter in trouble with the fanatical US Zionists as well. Using the “A” word to describe it.

  18. 18.

    Violet

    Looks like CBS doesn’t want Stephen Colbert to be too liberal. Already setting the tone:

    CBS’ decision to tap Stephen Colbert as David Letterman’s “Late Show” replacement sparked outrage on the right, as Colbert is best known for making fun of conservatives on his Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report.”

    But CBS is not too worried about driving viewers away.

    “You know what? Ironically, Stephen Colbert is much more moderate than people think he is,” CBS chief executive Les Moonves said Wednesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference, as recorded by the Hollywood Reporter. “He’s a great social commentator, and that’s sort of what we want. That’s sort of what David Letterman has been.”

  20. 20.

    Anne Laurie

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah, that was deliberate:

    Labor Day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, who organized the first parade in New York City. After the Haymarket Massacre, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Thus, in 1887, it was established as an official holiday in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored.

    That was the first Gilded Age. It’s been so denatured now, best we get is glibertarians whining that there’s no officially-celebrated ‘CEO Day’…

  21. 21.

    WereBear

    And here’s something weird:

    Hi there, is there any way you would consider selling this domain name to me? I would be willing to pay you $2,000 cash for it, and you could even keep the website up & running if you’d like.

    Not biting, but I imagine there’s money in plundering a domain I’ve spend six years building up? Selling those weird fruits that let you drop weight like bowling balls?

    I’m baffled.

  22. 22.

    Schlemizel

    @khead:
    Aw man that sucks, so sorry for you. What a shame. I hope you only remember the good times and not the pain.

    If you are up to it, what is in home? Did the vet come to your place? That sounds better than the office.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    @khead: I’m so sorry. SweetPea will live forever because she is now immortalized in the Balloon Juice calendar. She’ll also live forever in your heart.

  26. 26.

    JPL

    @WereBear: I’d be weary but it’s worth sending an email to one of the front pagers. btw, don’t bother with John because he doesn’t have the time or inclination to read through all his mail.

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @WereBear: This is not unusual, for people to want to buy domain names that strike their fancy. Some are sold for very hefty sums of cash.

    I can’t imagine why you’d want to sell your baby, though, which is essentially what they’re asking you to do.

  28. 28.

    Mike in NC

    @Amir Khalid:

    I note how the country where this seminal event took place celebrates its Labor Day in September instead.

    One day a year to celebrate workers; the other 364 days are reserved to honor our tax-dodging Galtian overlords. Seems about the correct ratio.

  30. 30.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Anne Laurie: If we could celebrate CEO day by drawing and quartering a CEO every year on the same day, I could get behind that.

  32. 32.

    piratedan

    @khead: I can certainly empathize after losing my beloved Jake last Saturday {{{{{khead}}}}} Hope that you’re maintaining and that between the sighs and tears that they’ll be some smiling remembrances…

  33. 33.

    Trollhattan

    @Mike in NC:

    That’s 364point two-five, good sir. Now, back to work–quarterlies are about to come out and shareholders are restless.

    –Da Boss

  36. 36.

    MomSense

    @khead:

    Oh, I’m sorry to hear your sad news. Sending you some hugs.

    I’m huddled up next to the fireplace with a blanket, two cats and a dog. I’m pretty sure the coon cat is so close to the fire he might combust.

  38. 38.

    Mary G

    @khead: I’m sorry you had to let SweetPea go.

    It’s a little after 3:30 pm here and it’s 96 degrees, 10% humidity and Santa Ana windy. I decided to clean out a drawer, took out half the stuff and then put all of it back in, because I am too crabby to make decisions.

    HBM and I have been quoting Raymond Chandler to each other:

    There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    Watching the ABC News evening broadcast.

    They just gave 2+ minutes to that hack Jonathan Karl over New Details in the Benghazi Emails. Including footage of Karl haranguing WH press sec Jay Carney.

    This after maybe 30 seconds on Republicans filibustering the minimum wage increase — no “both sides do it” and footage of Mitch McConnell that I hope makes it to campaign ads, and maybe 20 seconds on the botched Oklahoma execution, including the White House has deemed it inhumane.

    I wish they’d fire Karl so he can move to his natural home at Fox News.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    @khead:

    Very sorry you’ve lost SweetPea. Am sure the kit had a great life with you. She is a calendar girl.

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @khead:

    I am so sorry. What a sweet name, SweetPea, for a sweet kitty. Please do write whatever you want and send (with pictures!) to Anne Laurie, who is always wonderful about sharing eulogies. In the meantime, {{{{hugs}}}} to you and everyone who will miss her.

  48. 48.

    WereBear

    @Villago Delenda Est: You are exceedingly correct, I do not want to sell. I’ve built the brand myself, I don’t know what good it would do someone else… unless they plunder it with some cat related rip-off for six months and run away to the Bahamas.

    That is what I think such a scheme would be all about.

  49. 49.

    JPL

    So today I had to replace a concrete driveway and although they cut the u-verse line, they were able to splice it back which will hopefully hold until it’s replaced. The noise was awful and I should have taken Mr. Finch and left. He was besides himself so I took him to the back bedroom and let him on the bed. We’ll see whether or not he wants to climb into his crate tonight.

  51. 51.

    khead

    If you are up to it, what is in home? Did the vet come to your place? That sounds better than the office.

    Our regular vet came here to the house. It’s the first time we’ve ever done this and you are right – it is SOOO much better than the office. The last end-of-life experience we had in a vet’s office was… unpleasant. Our vet would’ve also referred us to a different, independent mobile vet if we didn’t fit into our regular vet’s schedule. So, the vet and a tech came to our house this afternoon – in a pouring rain no less – sedated her on the floor in front of the fireplace and then let us hold her during the final injection.

    Thank you everyone. I figured if there’s a bunch of folks out there that would understand a man wailing about a kitty, it’s the people here at BJ.

  52. 52.

    Roger Moore

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Yeah, Kerry committed a diplomatic faux pas by blurting out a truth about the racist state of Israel.

    He didn’t even point out that Israel is an Apartheid state; he said that they might become one without a two-state solution. Apparently even using the word to describe a hypothetical future situation is beyond the pale.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Since this is an open thread, I was wondering if anyone knows what’s happened to R-Jud. Maybe she’s been posting and I just haven’t caught her comments, but it hope she and her beautiful little Bean are doing okay.

    For that matter, haven’t seen either Dance Around in Your Bones or Sarah Proud and Tall for a while, either. In fact, I know there are others who used to be regular commenters but who have just kind of drifted off, but can’t come up with their names/nyms right now. No problems if they’ve all gone into lurk mode for a while, or even found someplace they’d prefer to hang out. But I hope they see this comment and know they are missed.

  58. 58.

    JPL

    @SiubhanDuinne: Sarah’s site hasn’t been updated since February but I think she mentioned she was busy. Dance Around in Your Bones checks in once and awhile but I think you are correct about R-jud. She hasn’t updated This Week In Bean since March although she has been here since then.

  60. 60.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @WereBear: Yeah, if your domain has some healthy traffic, that makes it more attractive for a lot of things.

    Let me chat with my geek friends about this over dinner. I’d never give up control of the domain, but there might be a way to share the domain name…for a price, and with a lot of conditions, if you’re open to that. The offer sounds a bit fishy as they say they’d let you keep your site there if you sold it…but for how long? And under what circumstances?

  61. 61.

    WereBear

    @khead: It is definitely the better experience.

    There are more and more home vets for checkups, too! Here an article I wrote about it:

    Vets who make house calls

    I used to have a holistic vet come to the house when I had my cat rescue. Bing, bing, bing — have 4 or 5 checkups etc at a crack. Great way to do it!

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No matter what anybody says, if they own the domain, they own the domain, and any promises made wouldn’t be worth anything. t wouldn’t touch the offer with a ten-foot pole.

  64. 64.

    WereBear

    @Villago Delenda Est: Here’s the whole text, to be clear:

    Hi there, is there any way you would consider selling this domain name to me? I would be willing to pay you $2,000 cash for it, and you could even keep the website up & running if you’d like.

    Just to be clear, I just want the domain name to build my own site on, but you could still have your current website on a slightly different domain name. I’d even be willing to pay the registration fee on the new domain name you select! So you would have the SAME website on a slightly different domain name, but you’d have the cash in your pocket. I have the funds in hand and could pay right away!

    Please think this over and email me or give me a call once you have.

    Thanks so much for your time!

  65. 65.

    Villago Delenda Est

    A thought just occurred to me…it might be that WereBear’s “suitor” if you will, is a broker for some other entity and would immediately resell the domain for much more than 2k to some large corporate outfit that is in the pet supply business.

  66. 66.

    jacy

    @Linnaeus:

    Save for the fact that I may have an aneurysm watching my beloved Avs. The dog will be glad to see the end of hockey season — all the screaming makes him nervous…..

  69. 69.

    EriktheRed

    From the article:

    Now, we love The Onion. But based on what we’ve seen out the gate, a long-term, standalone website dedicated solely to lampooning BuzzFeed and Upworthy does not seem like a sustainable idea worth pursuing.

    Sustainable or not, I can’t wait to check it out. Should be worth some laughs in the short term, at least.

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: Now that I see the full text, I see that although he says you could still keep your website, what he means is that you could keep your content at some other domain name – it would no longer be at wayofcats.com.

    So I doubt that it’s something nefarious. But they may as well be asking you to sell your first born. Glad you are not planning to proceed!

    I just checked, and wayofcats.net is open – If I were you, I would buy that domain right now so that someone else (possibly nefarious, possibly not) wouldn’t have such a close name to yours.

    For the domain I use for my consulting business I bought .com, .net and .me just so I wouldn’t have to worry about anything like that.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: Advice from long ago. While one would expect an even division between the options, the test creator often subconsciously tries to “hide” the answer in the middle. Also, a was the least common answer from a similar subconscious reason.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: Again, relying purely on memory, it was maybe 3% more likely than other answers. Not a huge advantage, but better than nothing.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @WereBear: Damn! I should have bought thewayofcats.com, thrown up a porn site, and tried to get you to buy it from me for 20k. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

  80. 80.

    Keith G

    @Omnes Omnibus: A school friend from long, long ago (we were close then) Was accused last year of breaking a federal law or two. He spent a time in pre-trial detention at a federal detention center. While a guest of the BOP, communication was fairly easy. They have an inmate email system.

    Sometime ago, I got a message that he was being moved the next day to a center closer to the trial court – a private run place that holds all sorts of folks from all sort of jurisdictions including ICE. I never got any updated contact info.

    The trial date has just passed. I suspect that the lack of info is telling.

    Is there a way for laymen to track down district court dockets and trial info/results? Or a way to track down someone in the BOP?

  81. 81.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Keith G:

    Is there a way for laymen to track down district court dockets and trial info/results? Or a way to track down someone in the BOP?

    You could try PACER. You would have to register as a user, but it is free access to public info.

    Or try this if he has already been convicted.

  82. 82.

    Keith G

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks. And there could have been a postponement. So I’ll try everything until I hear from the poor (quite actually now, despite any outcome) guy

  85. 85.

    Jay in Oregon

    @WereBear:

    I seem to recall reading about offers like these and they’re up to no good.

    They want to exploit your existing domain and traffic for hosting spam/malware. They say they’ll let you keep your site on a subdomain—something like “blog.yourdomain.com”—because the legitimate content serves as some kind of cover on search engines, at least until yourdomain.com gets blackholed as a spam portal. Watergirl is right: once they own your site/domain, any promises they made are worthless.

    There’s another scam where they offer to buy your domain/site, but they ask that you submit your site to a “domain appraisal service” to make sure that it’s worth what they’re offering. So you pay money to this “service”, who then says your domain is only worth $1,000 or $500 and the deal is off.

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