• 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.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

When I was faster i was always behind.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The revolution will be supervised.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Everybody saw this coming.

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

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Monday Evening Open Thread: “America’s Prisons Are Broken”

Monday Evening Open Thread: “America’s Prisons Are Broken”

by Anne Laurie|  July 21, 20149:14 pm| 182 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, The War on Your Neighbor, aka the War on Drugs

FacebookTweetEmail


.
… with special appearances from adorable puppets, and clips from Sen. Al Franken, also venal Arizona pols and Florida Gov. Rick “Bat Boy” Scott!

A small ray of hope, from NYMag:

In a move to address the absurdly overcrowded American prison system, where about half of those locked up are in for drug crimes, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously today to apply its newly reduced sentencing recommendations retroactively. As a result, according to the Associated Press, as many as 46,000 inmates could be eligible for early release — with cuts averaging 25 months — beginning in November 2015…

“It makes little sense, of course, to reform harsh sentencing laws proactively but not retroactively,” added Drug Policy Alliance executive director Ethan Nadelmann in a statement of his own. “But that’s what politicians do when they’re scared of allowing people out of prison early. The Sentencing Commission really had no choice but to rectify the moral absurdity of keeping people locked up based on sentences that are no longer the law. What they did today was right and just.” (Congress has until November of this year to oppose the plan but is not expected to act.)…

***********
Apart from the general smorgasbord of terribleness that is today’s news, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « CNN Poll: Liberals, Democrats, Poor, Women Most Likely To Oppose Israeli War, White Men Most Supportive
Next Post: Late Night Open Movie Thread »

Reader Interactions

182Comments

  1. 1.

    jeffreyw

    July 21, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    Spaghetti

  2. 2.

    Baud

    July 21, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    Congress has until November of this year to oppose the plan but is not expected to act.

    It’s nice when the dysfunction works in our favor.

  3. 3.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 21, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Your endangering the rather nice living that overcrowded private prisons afford people like Jan Brewer’s family.

    Naughty, naughty.

  4. 4.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    That is excellent news. Booker and Rand Paul are also working on a prison reform bill. You never know. Paul might do something useful for once.

  5. 5.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:25 pm

    150 years ago tonight Jason J Figg was part of “Hardees Corps”. They marched south on McDonough Rd almost to Lakewood and then turned back north. They marched all night and then, in the late afternoon, joined in the Battle of Atlanta at what is now 1-20 and Moreland Ave. Jason was killed as 11,000 casualties were suffered by both sides.

  6. 6.

    Anonymouse

    July 21, 2014 at 9:30 pm

    The catch in all this is that the sentencing judge can, and in the big drug sentencing regions often does, just say “f___ you” and decline to reduce the sentence. And nothing to be done. Also, if there’s already a mandatory minimum, also some other anti-loopholes. Annoying as hell.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    July 21, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    @raven:

    Jesse Clay’s house was the place to be.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    @raven

    150 years later, the battles have abated but not ceased.

  9. 9.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:39 pm

    @NotMax: It was stupid then and it’s stupid now. But I’m having fun with this family tree stuff!

  10. 10.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    This doesn’t help Iggy, or us. My husband just doesn’t get it.

  11. 11.

    lamh36

    July 21, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Movie night here at my sister’s house with my nephew and my cousin. Unlike me my sister has surround sound and a big “media” room that she rarely uses to watch movies.

    So I figured, pick up a movie or two, make my own popcorn and snacks (and have my cousin cook up some dinner for later) and there you have it, dinner and a movie, my laptop and my sister’s dog polo on my lap

    First up was Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. I actually enjoyed it. It was pretty good.

    Now watching I Frankenstein. it was not as good, but didn’t hate it.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 9:43 pm

    @raven

    Any predictions on the runoffs? Other than the crazy winning, that is.

  13. 13.

    Suffern ACE

    July 21, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    I could lie and say I’m working on a thought provoking art project, but really I’m just too lazy to do my chores today.

  14. 14.

    Iowa Old Lady

    July 21, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    That Oliver spot is powerful. I haven’t watched Sesame Street in a good many years. I’m shocked they have to explain jail to kids because such a huge percentage of Americans are incarcerated.

  15. 15.

    Anoniminous

    July 21, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    @raven:

    A little music for the sub-thread.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    July 21, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    Awesome shots.

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack

    July 21, 2014 at 9:46 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    Nice set of pipes on that dog. Hubs was a little flat.

  18. 18.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 9:48 pm

    @lamh36:

    I am a huge fan of the Harrison Ford Jack Ryan movies and even liked the Ben Affleck Jack Ryan movie, but the Chris Pine Jack Ryan movie was a huge dud. I was really disappointed in the movie. I am not sure if casting the world’s most boring actor, Kevin Costner, was why it was so dull or if it was the screenplay. But, I really hated it.

    On the other hand, I watched The Way, Way Back the other day and man that was an incredible movie. Every cast member was pitch perfect especially Sam Rockwell.

  19. 19.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @NotMax: I think this moron Hice will win. These people in GA 10 are goddamn idiots and so is he. Kingston will probably prevail I suspect. In the hotly contested district 3 race in Athens, you know the district that the pukes gerrymandered into having both the most progressive neighborhood an a heavily African American area, two women who are friends of ours are running against each other. One is nice and the other has been a wild ass, name calling “activist” for years. We chose to stay out of the campaign and just vote but we can’t wait till it’s over. These dopes made it a 6 week runoff and it’s been awful.

  20. 20.

    scav

    July 21, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @raven: I think the 78th IL was resting up, wasn’t Peachtree Creek just over? I’m nowhere near your level of knowledge, but the regiment history has them arriving at the Siege on the 22nd. Oddly enough, some of them would be coming from McDonough county.

  21. 21.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @Baud: Thanks!

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, I wonder how much practice Iggy gets when I’m not around.

  22. 22.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:50 pm

    @Anoniminous: Sounds like Kishi Bashi!

  23. 23.

    Mike E

    July 21, 2014 at 9:50 pm

    I’m scanning slides (then pics and negatives) using an old HP PhotoSmart…I need Bill in Glendale to swoop in with some handy tips!

  24. 24.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    @raven:

    I think this moron Hice will win.

    Don’t insult morons.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    @askew

    Charles Grodin has lifetime dibs on the World’s Most Boring Actor title.

    IMHO.

  26. 26.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    @NotMax: Chris O’Donnell.

  27. 27.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    @scav: Yes, Peachtree Creek was the 20th. The family tree wrongly has Jason killed on the 22 nd at Peachtree Creek but my fabulous research reveals he had to make that miserable march all night and then get killed the nest afternoon. He was at the Dead Angle at Cheatem Hill and that is where many Illinois troops were killed.

  28. 28.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:55 pm

    dupe

  29. 29.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 21, 2014 at 9:55 pm

    Lord Voldemort is on line two to the Florida Governor’s office for copyright infringement.

  30. 30.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    @Karen in GA: Nice signs in front of Clyde Armory out your way.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    @raven

    Admit to not keeping close tabs, but from what I’ve read, Hice is Allen West without the charm.

    (And before I get lambasted, West and charm have never been in the same place together.)

  32. 32.

    Anoniminous

    July 21, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    @raven:

    Least I could do seeing as how it is possible one of my ancestors with the 6th Iowa Infantry regiment or the 1st Battery Light Artillery (Iowa) killed one of yours.

  33. 33.

    bago

    July 21, 2014 at 9:59 pm

    @jeffreyw: Are you sure?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEIOGlIy3BA

  34. 34.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 10:00 pm

    @Anoniminous: Wouldn’t be surprised. All my life I have identified with Illinois and now I find out I have Confederate blood too. Goes to show you never can tell.

  35. 35.

    Bob In Portland

    July 21, 2014 at 10:02 pm

    I’ve been traveling and off the grid since Saturday. Has the news, or Obama, or anyone in the mainstream media mentioned the Ukrainian fighter seen on radar accompanying the airliner until the time of the crash?

  36. 36.

    Mike E

    July 21, 2014 at 10:02 pm

    @NotMax:

    West and charm have never been in the same place together

    But with tire rims and anthrax? You betcha!

    eta see ^^^above^^^

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 21, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    @raven: On my father’s side, there were ancestors on both sides of the Late Unpleasantness. On my mom’s side, all Union (that I know of).

    I have always identified with the North, however. Even when I was a little kid, I knew the Confederacy was basically evil.

  38. 38.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    @NotMax:

    He’s definitely in the running for it along with William Hurt and Kevin Costner.

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    @
    Karen in GA

    Before Dustin H. snagged it, Grodin was high up in the running for the lead in The Graduate. Can’t begin to imagine the train wreck that would have been.

    Haven’t seen O’Donnell in much, but he seemed more wooden than outright totally boring.

  40. 40.

    ruemara

    July 21, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    I stumbled over this short I wrote last year. What do you y’all think? Interstellar Cafe

  41. 41.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    @raven: Haven’t seen them, but Clyde Armory’s not that close to me — might actually be closer to you.

  42. 42.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    @efgoldman:

    No, but it would be likely the first decent thing he’s done since being elected Senator.

  43. 43.

    raven

    July 21, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: It is really interesting.

  44. 44.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 21, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    @Bob In Portland: Ah, the talking points from the Kremlin have come in, haven’t they Gospodin Romanov?

  45. 45.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 21, 2014 at 10:08 pm

    @raven:

    Even before the GOP primary runoff they are already running “Michelle Nunn: Wrong for Georgia” ads with pix of MN photoshopped next to a scary-looking Preznit Obama. It’s going to be a full-time job just to keep on top of all the lies and counter them before they become received truth.

  46. 46.

    ruemara

    July 21, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    @lamh36: Oh, I want to see I, Frankenstein. I don’t care, I like blockbuster D movies.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est

    PDPTT.

    (Please don’t poke the trolls.)

    Oh, and Hodor!

  48. 48.

    ruemara

    July 21, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    @Bob In Portland: You work for Russia Today, right? Abby, Abby Martin?

  49. 49.

    lamh36

    July 21, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Movie night continues. Just finished I Frankensein, now watching Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

  50. 50.

    RSR

    July 21, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, via Atrios, the police chief will not stop arresting people for pot, even though City Council has voted to decriminalize it:

    264 Charged With Marijuana Possession Since City Council Voted to Decriminalize

    On June 19th, Philadelphia City Council voted to decriminalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, passing a bill introduced by Councilman Jim Kenney. But Mayor Michael Nutter opposes the bill, and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey has said that he will continue to make marijuana arrests, even if the bill is signed into law. In the month following the bill’s passing, 264 citizens were charged with the crime.

    http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/07/21/marijuana-legalization-philadelphia-decriminalized-city-council/

  51. 51.

    ruemara

    July 21, 2014 at 10:14 pm

    @lamh36: Tell me if that’s good too

  52. 52.

    Anoniminous

    July 21, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    @raven:

    Do you know if Jason J Figg was an Illinois man?

  53. 53.

    Suffern ACE

    July 21, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    @RSR: he probably gets paid per incarceration and he’s got a boat payment to make.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Still have months before the ‘Obama lusts over white woman who puts designer mustard on her croissants’ ad seeps out.

    (Really wish I were completely kidding about such things.)

  55. 55.

    Baud

    July 21, 2014 at 10:18 pm

    @RSR:

    Commissioner Ramsey is gonna get his ass sued off if he’s intentionally arresting people for a crime that doesn’t exist.

  56. 56.

    Tripod

    July 21, 2014 at 10:18 pm

    Warehousing the poor and mentally ill in prisons was a monumentally stupid idea.

    Fuck Ronald Reagan.

  57. 57.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 10:19 pm

    @NotMax: Some actors aren’t very good, but have some kind of on-screen charisma that makes people watch (Keanu Reeves, or maybe Aidan Gillen). Some actors are passable but just… bland. Like you can’t even think of a way to describe them without falling asleep. I always thought Chris O’Donnell was decent enough, but lacked whatever intangible thing it is that makes you want to watch certain people on screen.

  58. 58.

    bago

    July 21, 2014 at 10:20 pm

    @Bob In Portland: khttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur_V

    No reason. Just because.

    Also, if you ever want to spend your time in space dealing with physics instead of politics, like EVE, give this a look.
    http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Main_Page

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    @Karen in GA

    A pleasant revelation from watching Dark City was that William Hurt really can act and not just sleepwalk through roles.

  60. 60.

    srv

    July 21, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    Happy hour pizza is just not cracked up to what it used to be.

    Lawn, get off.

    @bago: Bring me the head of Carlos, the Spaniard Air Traffic Controller.

  61. 61.

    srv

    July 21, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    @Karen in GA: James Garner garnersplains.

  62. 62.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 10:28 pm

    @NotMax: I always liked him, actually. Loved Kiss of the Spider Woman when I was a teenager. I haven’t seen it since then, though — I wonder what I’d think of it now.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    @Karen in GA

    Oh, and a fondly remembered skit skewering Keanu from MAD TV.

  64. 64.

    Mike E

    July 21, 2014 at 10:29 pm

    @NotMax: Cool movie. Though Kiefer Sutherland, not so much…his Morocco Mole impersonation was a rather 1 note affair.

  65. 65.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    July 21, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    @raven: I was reading the skate shoes thread earlier not long after I watched this video. It’s a dude longboarding down a French boblsed track.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    @Mike E

    Yeah. Kiefer leaped with both feet beyond his limits into some weird zone where actors should not tread.

    Still a good flick, however, well worth the time. Spookiest little kid ever.

    (LOL at the Morocco Mole reference. Ever see Barfly? Mickey Rourke channels Snagglepuss for the whole thing.)

  67. 67.

    Gin & Tonic

    July 21, 2014 at 10:42 pm

    @Bob In Portland: You wouldn’t have a link to this, would you, Bobbo? Of course not.

    Anyway, nobody’s talking about it because it didn’t happen, for the same reason nobody talks about the Knicks winning the NBA championship this season.

  68. 68.

    Mike E

    July 21, 2014 at 10:42 pm

    @NotMax: Damn! Now I gotta watch Barfly again…

    @srv: A 40″ and a 27″…heh, all I got is a 27″ Trinitron and a 13″ Montgomery Ward in my Command Center. How cool was James Garner!

  69. 69.

    pseudonymous in nc

    July 21, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    Prison is the shitty, nasty welfare system that white middle-class America is prepared to pay for, sort of, as long as it keeps people locked up. This is why it looks the way it does. It is an institutional projection of the majority’s collective psyche.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    July 21, 2014 at 10:46 pm

    @Mike E

    “Dreenksssss. Dreenks for my friendzzzz.”

  71. 71.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    maybe. I wonder if it’s even that thought out, or if it’s just a bunch of neuroses turned into bars and walls and chains. it’s like the Inquisition or the witch hunts. the manifestation of a whole lot of crazy.

  72. 72.

    Violet

    July 21, 2014 at 10:57 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc: Given how poorly we maintain our infrastructure, I wonder how long the prisons will continue to hold people? Like the one in east Texas that had the roof collapse the other day.

  73. 73.

    Suffern ACE

    July 21, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    Hey. Look, our prison complex may be large, but don’t say no one benefits from it. For example, in the 80s, more enterprising inmates formed the maras within their walls, which we then deported back to the Latin American countries, which are now sending their children back to us. So we take petty criminals, upscale them to organized gang members, and get back innocent children in return. It’s quite an investment in human capital.

  74. 74.

    srv

    July 21, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    @Mike E: See, we’re not a lost generation, or Generation Jones… we’re the Garner Generation.

  75. 75.

    Redshift

    July 21, 2014 at 10:59 pm

    Now we know the new RT conspiracy theory. I guess the previous one, claiming that Ukraine was trying to shoot down Putin on his flight back from Brazil is “no longer operational.”

  76. 76.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:01 pm

    @Redshift:

    oh god, that wasn’t some jackass’s “theory” was it?

  77. 77.

    Suffern ACE

    July 21, 2014 at 11:02 pm

    @srv: are you sure it’s James and not Jennifer?

  78. 78.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    legalizing pot would go a long way to ending the prison complex, and it is happening, although slowly.

  79. 79.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 11:06 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    And apparently Chris O’Donnell is a douchebag. He threw a temper tantrum and screamed at my cousin because they didn’t have a luxury car for him to rent. He kept screaming “don’t you know who I am?”. My cousin had no idea who he was, which just made him madder.

  80. 80.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    @askew:

    “don’t you know who I am?” the moment it all begins to fall apart for any celebrity.

    this is hilarity.

  81. 81.

    PurpleGirl

    July 21, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    @Suffern ACE: From the “People laying in 7 days of garbage”, I went over to the article on the artist building tiny homes for homeless people. I love the idea and the pictures are really good.

    I am sometimes alarmed at the amount of packaging we deal with and wish most of it could be designed away, the same way it is designed to be used. I do try to recycle and reuse as much as I can; it is often hard.

  82. 82.

    Cain

    July 21, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    @askew:

    And apparently Chris O’Donnell is a douchebag. He threw a temper tantrum and screamed at my cousin because they didn’t have a luxury car for him to rent. He kept screaming “don’t you know who I am?”. My cousin had no idea who he was, which just made him madder.

    The blithe response would have been “Yeah, some kind of asshole. The door is right behind ya, fella!”

  83. 83.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    no night shift yet?

  84. 84.

    Liberty60

    July 21, 2014 at 11:22 pm

    I’m settling in with a glass of wine and savoring the triumph of common sense over Laffer Curve idiocy:
    [California’s] State’s job growth defies predictions after tax increases

    Summary- California voters approved several tax increases…and the state is thriving.

  85. 85.

    Mike J

    July 21, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    I heard there was a UFO over Ukraine when the plane got shot down. I think we all know what really happened. They were rescuing one of their own.

  86. 86.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    @Liberty60:

    standing by, while bill o’reilly admits he’s been wrong about everything.

    standing by.

  87. 87.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    @askew: Why would your cousin know who he is? I would think your cousin might try to watch something he’s in, but fall asleep three seconds after he appears on screen. Nowhere near long enough to make any kind of impression.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    July 21, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    @askew:

    “Don’t you know who I am?” is always an answer unto itself.

    Believe it or not, I have not actually run into that despite living in Los Angeles for 20+ years. Either I know who the person is, or I don’t know but they’re secure enough not to make a big deal out of it.

  89. 89.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    might as well ask, “do you know who I was?”

  90. 90.

    Suffern ACE

    July 21, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    @Karen in GA: he was such a cutie hottie in Circle of Friends. She could watch that.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    July 21, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    @Little Boots:

    I’m running at periscope depth, trying to install a new wireless mouse—well, it’s installed, but I’m fiddling with some of the esoteric functions—and pondering whether to bother to catch up on a whole weekend’s worth of threads. My brother’s big gay wedding was Saturday, and I have had four straight days of more socializing than I usually get in a month. I’m spent.

    Heard this oldie on my way out to Micro Center tonight: People, “I Love You.” I loved this song, and I was appalled that I hadn’t heard it in so long that I had forgotten it.

  92. 92.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    I’d guess he thinks he is hot shit now that he’s in that NCIS/CSI show that is crazy popular. But, really everyone has to be watching just to see Ice-T take his shirt off.

  93. 93.

    Mike E

    July 21, 2014 at 11:35 pm

    @Cain: “Are you Reese Witherspoon?”

  94. 94.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:38 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    very nice. although I am still not apparently loved around here. strangely. this is helpful.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    July 21, 2014 at 11:39 pm

    @Little Boots:

    Here are the six stages of stardom according to Steep:

    1. Who is this Little Boots I’m hearing about?

    2. Get me Little Boots!

    3. Get me somebody like Little Boots.

    4. Get me anybody but Little Boots.

    5. Whatever happened to that Little Boots guy?

    6. Who was Little Boots, Daddy?

  96. 96.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    you are, as always, cruel and wonderful.

  97. 97.

    Violet

    July 21, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    @askew: He’s always seemed like a douchebag to me. I wish the Kardashians or Snowbilly Snookie would get to the point of unknown where they’d have to scream, “Don’t you know who I am?” while the rental car clerk or hotel concierge or waiter just looks at them blankly.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    July 21, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    @askew:

    LOL. It’s LL Cool J. “Don’t you know who I am?”

  99. 99.

    Violet

    July 21, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    @Little Boots:

    I am still not apparently loved around here. strangely.

    1. How do you know that?
    2. Do you think you should be “loved around here”? If so, why?

  100. 100.

    Karen in GA

    July 21, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    @ruemara: Good read. Go Kiera!

  101. 101.

    Mike J

    July 21, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    You’re the type of guy that can’t control your girl
    You try to buy her love with diamonds and pearls
    I’m the type of guy that shows up on the scene
    And gets the seven digits, you know the routine

  102. 102.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    @Violet:

    yikes. psych major.

  103. 103.

    askew

    July 21, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    @askew:

    LOL. It’s LL Cool J. “Don’t you know who I am?”

    LOL. I was sure it was one of Ices but couldn’t remember which one.

  104. 104.

    Steeplejack

    July 21, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    @Mike J:

    And gets the seven digits, you know the routine.

    Which turn out to be the phone number of a dry cleaner in the Valley.

  105. 105.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:51 pm

    needs more omnes.

    okay, I’m obsessed. but still. I’m right.

  106. 106.

    Violet

    July 21, 2014 at 11:56 pm

    @Little Boots: Huh?

  107. 107.

    Suffern ACE

    July 21, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    @Steeplejack: actually in the future, we might have seven digits, and our manual efficiency will be astounding.

  108. 108.

    Little Boots

    July 21, 2014 at 11:59 pm

    @Violet:

    you seemed a little psych major. in answer, I do not expect to be loved. I still like everyone here.

  109. 109.

    Mnemosyne

    July 22, 2014 at 12:01 am

    @Steeplejack:

    You forgot, “Get me Little Boots, but younger.”

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:02 am

    @Violet:

    Well, “Do you think you should be ‘loved around here’? If so, why?” does sound a little “insensitive rookie therapist.” Just sayin’.

  111. 111.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:02 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    HEY!

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    July 22, 2014 at 12:05 am

    @Little Boots:

    It’s not me, man. It’s the system.

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:07 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Noted. 3B.

  114. 114.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:07 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    it seemed like you.

    I can totally do 16, jump street 2. totally.

  115. 115.

    Suffern ACE

    July 22, 2014 at 12:08 am

    @Mnemosyne: yeah. But I think he could do voiceovers. He could keep the career going that way, and be known for it. Like Gilbert Godfrey.

  116. 116.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:18 am

    waiting for music.

    steeplejack.

    don’t hate me.

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:20 am

    Come back, Violet! Boots and I were just joking. We don’t bark and we don’t bite on the night shift. We keep things loose, we keep things light.

    . . . Uh, come back, anyone.

  118. 118.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:21 am

    @Steeplejack:

    we do kind of bite sometimes.

  119. 119.

    Amir Khalid

    July 22, 2014 at 12:23 am

    @Bob In Portland:
    Since you asked about the mainstream media …

  120. 120.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:24 am

    @Little Boots:

    You might have missed this one that I posted the other night. From the National Geographic special Pale Tribes of the Upper Midwest.

  121. 121.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:25 am

    @Steeplejack:

    seriously, the best, always.

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:25 am

    @Little Boots:

    Shh! Nip it! Er, I mean be quiet.

  123. 123.

    NotMax

    July 22, 2014 at 12:27 am

    @Little Boots

    Howzabout one the the most ill-fitting covers ever?

    Just off the beam on so many levels.

  124. 124.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:28 am

    @Steeplejack:

    oh, nobody takes me seriously, until it’s too late.

  125. 125.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:32 am

    @NotMax:

    oh, good god.

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:33 am

    @NotMax:

    That is Leonard Pinth-Garnell bad, like chap rap meets Rudy Vallee. Brr!

    I must cleanse my palate with some trippy Nordic rock.

  127. 127.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:33 am

    I’m going to post this. there may be anger, but I am posting:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blrHHRWKygw

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:40 am

    @Little Boots:

    Perhaps you will accept this as an alternate answer.

  129. 129.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:42 am

    @Steeplejack:

    fine, you and your awesomeness.

  130. 130.

    NotMax

    July 22, 2014 at 12:44 am

    @Steeplejack

    Heh. Sort of like if Ethel Merman attempted Push, Push in the Bush.

  131. 131.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:44 am

    @Little Boots:

    Gotta go install the wireless mouse on the other computer. I may be some few minutes.

  132. 132.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:46 am

    @Steeplejack:

    fair enough.

  133. 133.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:49 am

    @NotMax:

    Stop, you’re killing me. Some things cannot be unheard, even if only in one’s mind.

  134. 134.

    Suffern ACE

    July 22, 2014 at 12:49 am

    @NotMax: now you have me thinking in German popular stylings.

  135. 135.

    Karen in GA

    July 22, 2014 at 12:49 am

    @NotMax: I dunno. That was kind of beautiful in its own twisted way.

  136. 136.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 12:50 am

    @Little Boots:

    If this doesn’t summon Omnes, nothing will: Edith Backlund, “Black Hole.”

  137. 137.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 12:53 am

    @Steeplejack:

    you are beyond the best.

  138. 138.

    Suffern ACE

    July 22, 2014 at 12:55 am

    @Steeplejack: good lord. When did that happen?

  139. 139.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:00 am

    cause maybe, and after all, steeplejack is my wonderwall.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hzrDeceEKc

  140. 140.

    Amir Khalid

    July 22, 2014 at 1:02 am

    @NotMax:
    I like this one, too.

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:08 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    The band has been around for a long time, but I think this song is new. I heard it on some obscure SiriusXM channel with a “Now is the time when we dance on Sprockets” announcer rhapsodizing over it.

    By the way, I got the wireless mouse installed on the other computer. That is, this is the other computer. Now I just need to figure out why one machine will do micro-scrolling with Alt + mouse wheel in Firefox and the other one won’t. I think I must descend into the depths of about:config to compare and contrast. But I digress.

  142. 142.

    Suffern ACE

    July 22, 2014 at 1:09 am

    Great. Looking for a video in response to steeplejack’s Nordic rainbow bear lasers, led me to someplace unexpected that I didn’t need to go.

    I think I’m through. There is nothing left to find on the internet. I have seen it all.

  143. 143.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:10 am

    nobody can resist steeplejack.

    love that.

  144. 144.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:15 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    If anything ever needed a trigger warning . . .

    I was getting creeped out just by the titles of the other videos linked on that page. “Sheath Cleaning 101” (with picture of horse). Do not want.

  145. 145.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:17 am

    can I post white snake. it’s vulgar, but damn, it’s fun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3MXiTeH_Pg

  146. 146.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:25 am

    oh, goobers, it’s so sad how this place falls asleep.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:25 am

    Okay, got my Alt + mouse wheel micro-scrolling. Good old mousewheel.with_alt.delta_multiplier_y.

  148. 148.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:26 am

    @Steeplejack:

    bout time.

    missed you.

  149. 149.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:27 am

    @Little Boots:

    Oh, Tawny Kitaen, waiting for Kevin Sorbo to sweep you up in his Herculean arms. But then along came Xena.

  150. 150.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:28 am

    @Steeplejack:

    oh, you are such a goober.

    but a little right.

  151. 151.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:29 am

    @Little Boots:

    Hey, it’s the West Coasters’ fault. It’s only 10:30 p.m. out there. WTF?!

  152. 152.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:31 am

    @Steeplejack:

    damn geography.

    but not really.

  153. 153.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:34 am

    @Steeplejack:

    sorry, so pissy lately. not fair.

  154. 154.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:36 am

    @Little Boots:

    Don’t know how much longer I can hang on tonight. Had a four-day weekend of major social hoopla surrounding my brother’s wedding. Just lapsed back into my usual monastic lifestyle today. Need some R&R. And maybe rehab after all the champagne.

    ETA: Naw, who am I kidding? In my perfect world I would drink champers every day.

  155. 155.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:37 am

    @Steeplejack:

    me neither. glad you were here though.

  156. 156.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:41 am

    seriously? no omnes?

  157. 157.

    NotMax

    July 22, 2014 at 1:42 am

    @Suffern ACE

    There is nothing left to find on the internet. I have seen it all.

    Then the time has come to click here.

  158. 158.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:43 am

    @Little Boots:

    Always happy to see you. Don’t let the haters get you down.

  159. 159.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:44 am

    @NotMax:

    I never find that not funny.

  160. 160.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:44 am

    @Steeplejack:

    never do,.

  161. 161.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:47 am

    @Little Boots:

    All right! Take us out with one of your favorite songs. I’m almost done with Craig Ferguson, and I can’t keep it together after that.

  162. 162.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:49 am

    @Steeplejack:

    okay, you know I have famously bad taste. so here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnqj31VPNoE#aid=P8EPUr6jivw

  163. 163.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:53 am

    @Little Boots:

    Okay, that’s pure Boots right there. I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

  164. 164.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:55 am

    @Steeplejack:

    you are so omnes.

  165. 165.

    NotMax

    July 22, 2014 at 1:55 am

    @Amir Khalid

    Dang. It’s as if he’s doing a ‘close but no cigar’ imitation of Taco Ockerse.

  166. 166.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:56 am

    and just for that:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914

  167. 167.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 1:58 am

    and by the way, why aren’t you asleep?

  168. 168.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 1:58 am

    @Little Boots:

    I’m going to have to take you out with “Der Kommissar.”

    . . . Okay, and maybe this.

  169. 169.

    Villago Delenda Est

    July 22, 2014 at 2:00 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    He said Ukraine was open to any investigation about its planes and that the Russians should provide evidence for such a statement.

    Russian spokesman: “Because we said so!”

  170. 170.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 2:01 am

    @Little Boots:

    Let me translate those Nordic lyrics for you.

  171. 171.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 2:05 am

    @Steeplejack:

    don’t kommissar. we get it.

  172. 172.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 2:08 am

    @Little Boots:

    My final offer. Srsly (as the yoots would say), I gotta go to bed. The housecat is grumbling and giving me the evil eye.

  173. 173.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 2:12 am

    @Little Boots:
    can we yell:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1sf2CzEq0w

  174. 174.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 2:12 am

    @Steeplejack:

    fine, I will miss you.

  175. 175.

    Steeplejack

    July 22, 2014 at 2:16 am

    @Little Boots:

    Dude, I just posted that! We’re done. I bid you good night, sir. I said good night!

  176. 176.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 2:18 am

    I think I miss steeplejack,.

  177. 177.

    Little Boots

    July 22, 2014 at 2:24 am

    see?

  178. 178.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    July 22, 2014 at 2:30 am

    Wait, Steeplejack’s gone?

  179. 179.

    burnspbesq

    July 22, 2014 at 2:39 am

    @Baud:

    Commissioner Ramsey is gonna get his ass sued off if he’s intentionally arresting people for a crime that doesn’t exist

    The crime still exists, under both Pennsylvania and Federal law. What is required here is for the DA to take the Commish aside and tell him in no uncertain terms that all charges will be immediately dropped. Then he can go back and explain to his rank and file officers why they are doing all that fucking paperwork for nothing.

  180. 180.

    A Humble Lurker

    July 22, 2014 at 3:49 am

    @NotMax:

    Just off the beam on so many levels.

    Off the beam?

  181. 181.

    raven

    July 22, 2014 at 5:21 am

    @Anoniminous: No, he was born in Alabama and entered the army in Nashville. His brother, Robert Morgan, was my grandfathers maternal grandfather. Robert was in the 1st Tennessee Cavalry and survived the war to become a Chicago firefighter,

  182. 182.

    J R in WV

    July 22, 2014 at 8:44 am

    @RSR:

    The way to deal with a police manager who won’t enforce the law correctly, is FIRE his lame butt!

    He’s costing the city lots of money, and once the new law kicks in he will be vulnerable to law suits for arresting people for something that isn’t illegal. Maybe that right there will fix the situation, the courts awarding big bucks to arrested people from his OWN POCKET!

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Winter Wren - North of Quebec City (part 2 of 3) - Cap Tourmente and on the way to Tadoussac 4
Image by Winter Wren (5/16/25)

Recent Comments

  • eclare on Saturday Morning Open Thread: A Ray of Hope (May 17, 2025 @ 8:30am)
  • Geminid on Open Thread: Oh, Really? (May 17, 2025 @ 8:29am)
  • JML on Saturday Morning Open Thread: A Ray of Hope (May 17, 2025 @ 8:28am)
  • H.E.Wolf on Saturday Morning Open Thread: A Ray of Hope (May 17, 2025 @ 8:28am)
  • Baud on Saturday Morning Open Thread: A Ray of Hope (May 17, 2025 @ 8:27am)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

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
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

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

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

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

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

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

PA Supreme Court At Risk

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!