Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

The Supreme Court is corrupt. Democrats must win in November and force court reform.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Second rate reporter says what?

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Let there be snark.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republicans in disarray!

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Evening Open Thread: Yup

Reader Interactions

198Comments

  1. 1.

    Pogonip

    Not much. Pinched nerve is sore ( happens every time there’s a radical weather change). So I will just hang out with the Intertubes and go to bed early. I hope an interesting topic comes up. Have we discussed dog poop lately?

  2. 2.

    jl

    I’ll respond to this post when my iPhone app notifies me and explains it to me (edit: and most important, tells me what to do and interfaces with the synched beer app). But thnx for olde tymey clunky internet tricks, they are cute.

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    I’m actually pretty fascinated by the IoT concept. And since I have invested in this concept, all of you should also be just as fascinated and engaged, as well.

  4. 4.

    max

    For those of you not shoveling snow, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

    Not shoveling snow. (Actually still have fun week old cold complete with clogged ears – now I can’t hear out of both sides of my head. WOO!)

    max
    [‘Balanced approach.’]

  6. 6.

    different-church-lady

    For those of you not shoveling snow, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

    Shoveling snow. Since I haven’t done it yet.

  7. 7.

    jl

    Crusade outrage update from TPM:

    Crusades Nonsense Escalates to Next Level

    Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) says of President Obama, “Not only did he vilify Christianity, but he actually made a case to defend radical Islam.” “What he’s really saying is ‘Well look, these are freedom fighters, just like the patriots of the Revolutionary War. And they’re no different, their service is just as honorable,’”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/crusades-nonsense-escalates-to-next-level

    Some may speculate that Obama is trolling. But given the GOP crazy, how could one not appear to be trolling? Seriously, say you are a Democratic president, even a white man one, what could you say that would not end up looking like you were trolling the GOP?

    I am interested in the coming reaction (there will be one, right?) to Obama’s statement of the obvious today, that if Russia wanted to invade the whole Ukraine, there is nothing anyone could do to stop them.

    Some loon will yell that threatening thermonuclear war might stop them. Said loon will be relative low ranking, but I trust such loony will bubble up as we approach 2016.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @max:

    now I can’t hear out of both sides of my head.

    Still better than (at least morally superior to) being a Rethug and talking out of both sides of your mouth.

  12. 12.

    ranchandsyrup

    @Corner Stone: Heh. I wouldn’t mind that ending tonight. But the HOA prez knows he’s screwed. He tried to undo the fines and “tickets” he issued because he knows they’re BS. What he doesn’t know is that I have audio of him threatening to “make my life hell”.

  14. 14.

    mdblanche

    Since I just finished shoveling snow, I’ll be watching the wind blow it all back into the driveway again.

    Ah, Providence, where it rains two days out of three, except during the rainy season… when it snows… and Friendship is a one-way street…

  15. 15.

    geg6

    Quiet and relaxation, I hope. John is roasting a chicken, we have a bottle of wine and Antiques Roadshow is on in a couple of hours. I have a strange addiction to that show.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @ranchandsyrup:
    If you’d care to get riled up beforehand, gaze upon this(posted in an earlier thread, but too amazing to not share with a Water Professional).

    Enjoy your “beige is so not ecru” session.

  18. 18.

    Howard Beale IV

    I get to sit in on a meeting at a state college who is trying to prep a curriculum for training students on how to be mainframe programmers.

    I learned how to program COBOL before I learned how to drive a car.

    In 1975.

    God FSM am I old.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @ranchandsyrup:
    It was triply rich, given he self-confess to being a small-time Valley farmer extracting the living hell out of his aquifer to raise farging grapes. “Get yer gummint hands off mah gummint water!”

  23. 23.

    jl

    @trollhattan: You should have a trigger warning for the Hanson column.

    There certainly can be a good argument about CA’s need for more dams, how many, how much storage, and where.
    But Lord, that Hanson column is loaded with so much misinformation, BS and whining about his damn farm where he can’t all the cheap water he wants anymore, what a mess.

    As I said in previous thread, he says he grew up in Central Valley, and he is a smarty pants pundit. So how come he knows so little about the place?

    Did you catch the place he said that CA pop doubled due to immigration from Mexico and Central America?

  24. 24.

    Tree With Water

    “Heck, my life looks too much like this right now”. Yours and most everyone else, too.

    But not everyone’s. In the middle of your next snow shoveling marathon [NewYork, right?], pause to reflect that Donald Trump has never needed to shovel so much as a single snowball’s worth of the stuff in his life. In fact, I can see him and his brother insisting that their two oldest servants be given the job, and then betting on which one would be the first to drop. Is this a great country, or what?

  25. 25.

    Alison

    Okay, I know it’s not gardening season for most of you, but I have CA questions if anyone can offer suggestions.

    A friend of mine just bought his first house and it has a big backyard, so as a housewarming gift I wanted to give him some seed packets to start a vegetable garden (something he’s mentioned being interested in doing). What would be the right kind of things to plant either now or in the near future? He’s in the Santa Cruz mountains, if location matters.

    I was thinking carrots, radishes, maybe bell peppers…are those good late winter/early spring plantings? Tomatoes too, or is it too early for those? Other good ideas?

    Thanks!

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    Re-watching a bit of Heat with Pacino and De Niro.
    As much as I love the action scenes, the whole structure of the story around it is just fucking nutso. The LAPD Detective Pacino plays is just totes out of bounds. He doesn’t have a boss? No one has asked him one time where the hell the money is coming from for 24/7 surveil on a whole crew of bank robbers? He has two helicopters and six chase cars tailing De Niro? Just so he can have coffee with him?
    Good Lordt.

  27. 27.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @geg6: Me too. Our subdivision had some restrictive covenants in 1991 when we moved in but nowadays everyone ignores them and no one gives a shit. Do you remember that wonderful X-files episode about the homeowners association where a monster would rise up from the ground and eat people who had a light bulb out? The scene with Mulder and the “reflecting pool” was brilliant.

  28. 28.

    MomSense

    I’ve been shoveling snow endlessly. To get the dirt/ice/snow from the wheel wells of my car I had to hack at them with a polypropylene sword. I swear some of the blocks of ice I pulled out looked and felt like cinder blocks.

    There is a horrible ice damn on my roof that cannot be brought down without doing serious damage. I’ve had to warn the kids not to stand within about 4 feet of the roof because I am afraid that once it warms up (if it ever warms up) someone could be killed by the falling snow and ice.

    At work we hired someone to do snow removal and he told me that he has barely slept in two weeks. It got me thinking that there are a lot of sleep deprived snow plow drivers out there which doesn’t sound very safe to me.

  30. 30.

    the Conster

    With the exception of a storm I got stuck in Heavenly Valley in 1982, and after two weeks of snow in the Swiss Alps which I enjoyed after it was over, I’ve never seen so much snow and I’ve spent all but two years of my life in New England. This is teh SuXX0r.

  31. 31.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Alison: Depends what kind of soil they have. Carrots like sandy soil, so there is that. I would go for the easy stuff first, radishes will grow in just about anything so that is a good start, green beans, squash, cucumber, watermelon will also grow in just about anything so they are good starter seeds for someone beginning in the home gardening business.

  33. 33.

    trollhattan

    @Alison:
    In the Santa Cruz mountains the deer will eat everything but hey, everybody needs a hobby. :-)

    Certainly not too early for peas and such. Tomatoes can be sprouted inside for transplant when overnight temps get warmer in spring.

  34. 34.

    Alison

    @jl: Hmm, that’s interesting but it doesn’t mention anything about vegetables – only mentions some flowers and fruit trees. I’ll poke around the site, though.

  36. 36.

    Anne Laurie

    @Alison: Soooo not a California gardener, but tomatoes & peppers need long days & warm soil to germinate. Radishes & carrots are good, but probably the easiest & simplest are greens of all sorts — lettuce/kale/spinach/etc. Most seed companies have “salad mixes” or “mesclun blends”, sometimes in pretty packets, that promise quick results for cut & come again gardening.

    If your householding friends are new to this stuff, maybe check with the local garden stores & see what books / videos they recommend for beginners — a library list can be very useful, or links to your local gardening programs. If you have more time than they do, even a researched list of the quality garden stores / online sites that specialize in plants suited to your region can be an excellent gift, so they don’t have to find out through (expensive) personal trial & error!

  37. 37.

    burnspbesq

    @jl:

    But Lord, that Hanson column is loaded with so much misinformation, BS and whining

    Surely you weren’t surprised by that …

  38. 38.

    Tree With Water

    @Alison: Funny you ask. I’m finally about to landscape my entire yard, which takes up a lion’s share of my plot. I’ve relied on the Sunset Western Garden Book for guidance. People knowledgable about gardening in California- and that includes the landscaper I hired to coordinate my project- highly recommended it to me, for good reason. It’s a fantastic reference book (I’m located a few counties north in Sonoma). And Sunset has a fantastic website, to boot.

  39. 39.

    Alison

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Oh, squashes are a good idea, thanks!

    @trollhattan: The yard looks pretty well fenced, from the pics I’ve seen, so hopefully deer won;t be a problem. Thanks for the tomato info, they have a nice solarium room where he could probably start them indoors.

  40. 40.

    Violet

    @Alison: Try a growing calendar tool, like this one. You can enter the zip code and it’ll tell you what to plant when.

    If you want something more lasting, consider buying your friend a fruit tree.

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    @MomSense

    For future reference (or a warm snap), you might want to look into something from olden days – snow eagles. Perhaps you’ve seen similar filigreed metal objects sticking up just a bit from the roof edge of colonial-era homes and wondered what they’re for.

    A variety of shapes and styles still being manufactured.

  44. 44.

    The Main Gauche of Mild Reason

    @jl

    Some may speculate that Obama is trolling. But given the GOP crazy, how could one not appear to be trolling?

    I don’t think this is Obama trolling. I think this is Obama being “Professor Obama”, i.e. making a sort of correct tangential point that actually takes away from the message he’s trying to communicate. Most of the quotes that drive Conservatives crazy seem to be Obama operating in this mode. It’s really just a smart person trying to be fair and a little bit of a know-it-all, but it makes conservatives impute an ulterior motive.

    But it’s even problematic to describe the Crusades as an anti-Muslim war, since at least the first crusades were more reactionary to Seljuk conquests, and the later ones devolved to also anti-Orthodox christian wars (I think Christian Constantinople was sacked by crusaders during the 4th crusade?).

    At any rate, it took away from the point that ISIS are thugs and that he ultimately wants congressional authorization to use military force against them. He doesn’t have to be pathologically fair to muslims in an anti-ISIS speech.

  45. 45.

    Tenar Darell

    @MomSense: Love the Puppeh pics of Korra. Thanks!

    How long have you been out there? I think I was shoveling for around 3 1/2 hours today. In 3 sessions, the longest for 2.5 hours. The worst was the last session when I did the stairs and cut a path through the piles at the top of the driveway near them. I’d get a scoop of snow, go back up the 4 steps, walk all the way past the door to throw the snow in the backyard. And then repeat, a lot. Pushed the snow off my car with a broom, which happens to be on the side of the driveway where all the snow drifts form, yay. Plus cut a path around my car, so that maybe the wheels will be clear enough tomorrow morning when this has stopped. There is no place I can throw or pile snow anymore at the end of the driveway. /tiny violins

    I did get curious; I took a walk. I live on a main road which is pretty clear, and of course I’m thoroughly plowed in. I wandered a bit down the road to check out a side street, and it’s bad. Should have seen me using my broom as a walking stick. Of course only now that I’m back inside do I think of the Harry Potter.

  46. 46.

    Violet

    @Alison: That’s not the only online tool–just the first one I saw that you didn’t have to sign up for something.

    You can order a fruit tree from a local nursery and have it delivered or from a larger online retailer and also have it delivered. You can give your friend a gift certificate for one and let him decide which one. Shouldn’t be that expensive. Most of them wouldn’t be more than about $50, probably. Depends where you get it and what you get. If you worked with a nursery local to your friend he could go get it at the appropriate time.

    Fruit trees are great for backyard gardening and are the gift that keeps on giving. Plus, your friend doesn’t have to build a garden right away to plant the seeds to get them in before it’s too late for those vegetables, or whatever. Just plant the tree, mulch and water. Done.

    I love vegetable gardening so that’s a great idea, but you might want to see how much time your friend has to get the garden built. Alternatively, try herbs that can be grown in pots. Maybe an easier place to start if your friend is busy.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    Will catch up w your responses, but plan to catch “Better Call Saul” on AMC, episodes 1 and 2 running several times tonight.

    And local PBS has an hour-long special about Beatles’ producer George Martin (still alive!), who fascinates me, at 9. Might catch that.

    If all else fails, Sundance TV runs Monday night Law & Order marathons.

    Why yes, Mondays are frequently spent before the tube.

    No snow here. Just wet and a bit cold. Staying inside weather.

  51. 51.

    jl

    @Alison: Sorry, I did not check whether I was in some special section. The growing zones should be same for fruits, flowers and vegetables. Maybe there is a link to vegetable gardening you missed?

    Here is the plant-finder page. Click on ‘vegetables’ box and under ‘What is your Sunset Climate Zone?’ type in zone or nearly zip code.

    http://plantfinder.sunset.com/plant-home.jsp

  52. 52.

    PurpleGirl

    Waiting on a pregnant mom at Cassie’s Kitten Kastle. Vet couldn’t determine a due date but X-rays show at least two skulls. Kittens could pop at any time. Other than that not much is happening. The forever fight against paper continues.

  53. 53.

    Tree With Water

    @Alison: And your grand mammy before her, and don’t you forget it.. The good news is copies are a dime a dozen. I ended up owning two.

  54. 54.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Alison:

    I have found with home gardening that trying the simple stuff to begin with motivates the gardener to try the more difficult stuff later.

    Most seed companies have “salad mixes” or “mesclun blends”, sometimes in pretty packets, that promise quick results for cut & come again gardening.

    And the cut and come again route is the best. In my area I can harvest salads all the way through April until the plants bolt and set seed.

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    @Violet:
    Plus, it’s “bare root” season when a variety are available and they’re much easier to transport and plant than a tree in a big ol’ barrel of soil.

  57. 57.

    shelley

    @jl: Use ‘gray water’ Take a couple of buckets into the shower with you, you’d be amazed how fast they fill up. How I kept my bit of garden going in a couple of drought years when all outside watering was verboten.
    ********
    More ice than snow here today. But plenty of chances for the white stuff all thru this week. And then down to Antartic temps by Friday. Who needs the polar vortex?

  58. 58.

    Major Major Major Major

    I don’t recall if I mentioned this or not, but I think the docs figured out what’s wrong with my brain because this supplementary medicine is working really well.

    Like, this morning, I woke up and was like “OH GOD i said something so totally dorky to this guy i like last night, oh god, hey wait a minute, this isn’t apocalyptic soul-shaking terror, it’s…. what’s it called? embarrassment! that one! ok, i’m embarrassed. time to go to work!”

    So that’s just all really good.

  61. 61.

    JMG

    Snow shoveling (fortunately have a blower) most of the day. There’s a leak in the slider window in the family room which is the result of an ice dam I can’t reach as it’s in the part of the house in front of where I had to throw the snow off the deck off our second floor bedroom to prevent screen porch collapse. At least one more foot-plus storm forecast for Thursday and maybe an even bigger one on Sunday. This is turning into a slow motion, very cold Katrina here in Boston.

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    @Pogonip:
    In the Santa Cruz Mountains that would include a shaman, two Silicon Valley CEOs and a surfer dude with blonde dreadlocks.

  64. 64.

    jl

    @The Main Gauche of Mild Reason:

    ” the later [Crusades] devolved to also anti-Orthodox christian wars (I think Christian Constantinople was sacked by crusaders during the 4th crusade?).”

    I think that WAS the 4th Crusade. The Venetians told the Crusaders that they really needed to pay rent for all the time they hung around the place, and to go ‘collect some debts’ from Constantinople. After the crusaders sacked Constantinople they were defeated by outraged Eastern Orthodox forces.

    I don’t think Obama was being overly professorial. Even if the the initial crusades were partly push back on Muslim conquests and attacks, they were from the beginning more than a defensive action, or fair minded preservation of access to Holy Land. Lots of wholesale pillage, slaughter and rape right from the beginning. And evidence that domestic European politics played a role right from the beginning.,

    And what did the Jews do to get such special attention, right from the beginning?

  69. 69.

    Tracy Ratcliff

    @Alison: The yard looks pretty well fenced, from the pics I’ve seen, so hopefully deer won;t be a problem.

    Thank you, I needed a good laugh at work tonight. :)

    My sister doesn’t quite go as far as razor wire to keep out the rural Ohio deer here….

  70. 70.

    Bob In Portland

    Gee, I was hoping that there would be a discussion here at BJ about why the US is risking nuclear war over Ukraine, you know, what America’s interests are there, the history of America’s involvement there. That kind of thing. It’s been over a year, and usually John and his crew are a little faster with currents events.

    You know, I was under the impression that Balloon Juice was supposed to be a somewhat liberal blog, and back in the old days when I was young liberals generally didn’t like the US getting into wars. I guess that changed too. Maybe if I officially get some announcement that you folks aren’t liberal but have evolved to being neoliberal, I may give up trying to convince you otherwise.

  71. 71.

    FlyingToaster

    @different-church-lady: Our snowblower gave up the ghost about 3/4 of the way through.

    This snow compacts more, so be careful!

    Also the snow mountains behind the house are now 8 feet high, and along the fence are 5 feet high. The snow berm is now about 3’high by 2’deep by 15 feet across. We won’t touch that until 9, after the snowplows make their vengeance pass.

  75. 75.

    Pogonip

    @MomSense: Goodness gracious. Polypropylene sword like you use in MA class? That’s really bad. You must be in New England. I hope your roof isn’t damaged!

    I have a cheap wood bokken, probably from China, and a fancy one of Japanese white oak, made in Japan, that could be used for real, though I never had to. A mean dog used to hang around our post mailboxes so one day I took the Japanese bokken with me and when the dog started menacing, I moved into position and menaced right back. He must have took me as a bigger dog growling at him because he never bothered me again. I had tried all the usual recommendations for dealing with mean dogs with no luck, and finally one day I thought, ” This is ridiculous ! Why should I have to drive 500 feet to the mailbox because some asshole won’t control his dog?”. So up to the box I walked, cocked my bokken, and said something to the effect of “Come on, motherfucker, let’s rock and roll.”. (Pardon my Japanese.). The dog understood the tone and the raised bokken and that was that. I was glad I didn’t have to kill it. In a situation like that the owner’s at fault, not the dog. 2 months later the dog disappeared abruptly; I don’t know if it died or the landlord told them to get rid of it or move, but everyone on our street who received mail was very happy.

  76. 76.

    Tracy Ratcliff

    @Alison: The yard looks pretty well fenced, from the pics I’ve seen, so hopefully deer won;t be a problem.

    Thank you, I needed a good laugh at work tonight. :)

    My sister doesn’t quite go as far as razer wire to keep out the rural Ohio deer here….

  79. 79.

    muddy

    @jl: I’m going to copy my reply to this topic over to this thread:

    Oh lord, I could type way too much about VDH’s land issues and martyrdom. I spent a dinner party hearing it in excruciating detail. I thought it was a dinner party and not a lecture, but he just held forth. He was oblivious entirely. There were interesting people I would have liked to hear from, but no. It was all Victor whining. Why do they always *whine* like that? Boohoohoo

  80. 80.

    Tree With Water

    @JMG: After a weekend of rain this weekend- blessed be the rain- I’ve now got clear blue sky, with big patches of clouds holding water hovering to the west, just beyond the cusp redwood hills that serve as the view to be seen at my place. It’s been warm at night with the rain, but that won’t be the case tonight. When it gets cold in these hills, it get cold. Just not east coast or Sierra Nevada cold- or a lot of other places, too, I guess. I’m from the Bay Area- what do I know about cold? Never mind.

  81. 81.

    Alison

    @Tracy Ratcliff: Yeah, I’m not an idiot. The fence is tall and was recently built so it’s solid with no gaps or loose boards. I’m not saying THERE IS NO WAY A DEER WILL EVER SHOW ITS POINTY FACE, just that the fence combined with the busy street and their dog will keep the problem to a minimum.

  82. 82.

    The Main Gauche of Mild Reason

    @jl: Fair enough, I might still be biased by the fact that most of my knowledge of the Crusades comes from reading The Alexiad, and that definitely paints the beginning of the crusades as a retributory defensive war, ringed with tension of Catholic v Orthodox.

    I don’t think there are many good english-language muslim sources on the crusades?

  84. 84.

    satby

    I wanted to thank everyone for the kind thoughts for Maggie on the morning thread, I had to get to work. She seems to be resting comfortably, I have pain pills for her, and I am trying to coordinate my schedule with the vet’s because I can’t miss work just now (and it’s only part time).

    I ran hard into a curb yesterday and screwed up either the tie rod or the alignment of my car, but it’s drivable for a while.I’m an hourly worker and I need that cash.
    I told Watergirl in an email this morning I must have been very bad in a past life :(

  86. 86.

    MomSense

    @Tenar Darell:

    I had to shovel for about two hours this morning. Then I had to shovel in order to move my car at lunchtime–probably about 20 minutes. Then when I got home I had to shovel for about an hour because the plow came while I was gone and made the end of the driveway a little wall of compacted snow, ice, and sand.

    Btw part of the shoveling was because the plow had passed on the main road at the end of my street and I had to get out of my car and shovel it because I couldn’t drive through it. Ugh.

    We didn’t get as much snow as Southern Maine or Mass though. Massachusetts got “hammahed”.

  87. 87.

    Pogonip

    @Bob In Portland: There will be no nuclear war over Ukraine because there is too great a mutual interest in not having one.

    I think the message the Juicers are trying to convey to you is that they do not share your obsession with Ukraine. Try discussing weather, recipes, or dog poop and I believe you will get a warmer reception.

  90. 90.

    MomSense

    @Pogonip:

    Polypropylene sword like you use in MA class? That’s really bad. You must be in New England. I hope your roof isn’t damaged!

    The same!! I broke a broom handle and a heavy duty ice scraper trying to get the ice out of the wheel wells. I’m really afraid of what the roof will look like when the ice melts. We raked the roof but we just haven’t had enough sun or any reprieve from the frigid temps.

    My kids have wooden bokken, too. They have always loved swords and know a lot about the different types, the history, how they were used, etc.

  92. 92.

    Pogonip

    @MomSense: May I ask what state you live in, or at least the general area, so I can be sure never to move there? I’m too old to be hacking away at snow with a sword.

  95. 95.

    MomSense

    @satby:

    I told Watergirl in an email this morning I must have been very bad in a past life :(

    Or you are just tired and emotionally drained. I hope Maggie is comfortable and you can get some rest.

  98. 98.

    Pogonip

    @satby: I missed that. What kind of critter is Maggie and what ails her? My heart goes out to you both. Been there, done that, will probably be there again.

  99. 99.

    Pogonip

    @Major Major Major Major: Ha! Get back to me when YOU turn 55!

    I couldn’t use a sword now even if so inclined. The pinched nerve keeps me from assuming the proper stance. I hope no mean dogs are reading this.

  101. 101.

    The Dangerman

    What’s this shoveling snow stuff? Shorts and T-shirt weather in SoCal.

    /Socal Jerk

    Also, if you are thinking about trying to move here, the freeways suck, housing prices suck, and we have no NFL team.

    ETA: FWIW, I did 4 long winters and short summers in Seattle (there is no Fall or Spring). I feel for ya all shoveling)

  103. 103.

    satby

    @Tenar Darell: Thanks, I’m fine. I hit the curb at about 5 miles an hour, but it was high and really did a number on the alignment or whatever. Just a bad time for me right now, but that’s how these things go, you know?

    Maggie’s issue started with some bleeding from her paws I noticed about two weeks ago. I assumed it was from the cold and ice, but when it didn’t improve after a few days of antibacterial soaks and ointment, we went to the vet. He prescribed antibiotics because one paw was developing an infection, but he also said that it could be a sign of some systemic health problems. He wanted her to finish all the antibiotics first. They haven’t helped, and she started refusing food and water last night, though she’s done that for a day or two before and then started eating. I have pain pills for her feet anyway, and I keep her hydrated with a huge syringe of water every so often. She’s mostly sleeping, and if I can have the home vet come tomorrow I will. I’m not ready to throw in the towel, but Maggie seems to be.

  106. 106.

    JMG

    @Tree With Water: Usually, I put up with bad New England weather by noting that bad weather in places like where you live tends to be cataclysmic, like earthquakes, fires, mudslides, etc. But we’re moving into cataclysm mode pretty briskly here.

  108. 108.

    Pogonip

    @MomSense: We had a guy in our class who was really interested in the sword, so we spent what I thought was an inordinate amount of time on what I thought was an outdated weapon–until the dog situation came up. Sooner or later everything old is new again!

    If the teacher hasn’t already mentioned it, tell your kids not to use cheapies for contact: they can shatter and dangerous splinters can fly everywhere. Japanese white oak, more flexible than other oak species, is the safest.

  109. 109.

    jl

    @Pogonip: I don’t want to hurt BiP’s feelings, but if the US starts threatening dangerous stunts over Ukraine that might lead to blowing up the world, I will make noise, and go to demonstrations, and write letters like I did before the Iraq invasion. Given how well that worked, I will also try to enjoy myself, since who knows how long the good times will last.

    Obama signaled today that he agrees with Merkel, and he is not going to do anything militarily, even send non-military stuff, and that no one is willing or able to do much if Putin decides to invade the country. I will be interested in the reaction to that. Not sure which dramatic interpretation of outrage in panic I will have time to view, McCain or Graham? Which one would be more entertaining? BJers have any opinions?

  117. 117.

    satby

    @Pogonip: Maggie is another black lab, she was Biggie’s bonded companion dog, and after he died a few months ago she came into the house with the rest of the dogs. It’s just heartbreaking that the poor girl hasn’t even had a chance to enjoy being and inside dog, though she likes to sleep on the couch with the others even now. If I have to put her down it will be the third death in 4 months. They’ve all been older, but still… and the sickest one with epilepsy just keeps going and going. You just never know.

  120. 120.

    MomSense

    @Pogonip:

    Not far from me–but I’m closer to the ocean which is actually south and not east because of the way Maine is shaped. What we refer to as Southern Maine (or Epcot Center as I’ve heard old timers call it) is actually South and West.

  122. 122.

    Tenar Darell

    @satby: Your dogs are lucky in their human. I really hope Maggie perks up. I hope the car is drive able for a long time. Here’s a long distance pat on the back, better, “give yourself one” as an aunt of mine always says.

  124. 124.

    MomSense

    @Tenar Darell:

    Be safe! I heard on the news today that 14 people have died from shoveling related accidents. I’m going to have biceps and lats of steel by the time this winter is finished. Extreme snow shoveling is quite the workout.

  127. 127.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Pogonip: Olympic epee fencer got killed one time when a sword snapped. Went straight through his helmet and skull. Epee’s are dangerous, they’re actually just rapiers with an electric drum-spring sensor on the end. The wire to the handle runs through the blood groove.

  128. 128.

    Tree With Water

    @Major Major Major Major: Marin county, right? I grew up in a house a mile off the San Andreas fault that sat one half block in from the coastline in Daly City. I went through dozens of tremors in that Henry Dolger built house (redwood frame), and so help me can’t recall a single structural crack ever made by one. I do remember the cracks in my apartment building in the inner Sunset after the ’89 quake, though. Them, and a very similar sandstone apartment building that was red flagged and torn down, 3 short blocks away at 7th & Judah. I think where earthquakes and structural damage are concerned, it boils down to luck of the draw.

  131. 131.

    Tenar Darell

    @MomSense: I think I would be would be immobile right now if I hadn’t added lots more squats, lunges and some very basic weights to my workouts last fall.

  133. 133.

    Josie

    @geg6: This. I promised myself when I downsized and moved out of the fancy neighborhood with the HOA that I would never live in a place with those power mad people in charge again. Where I am living now, everyone minds their own business and doesn’t worry about anyone else’s yard decorations, the size of the grass, etc., and that is exactly the way that I like it.

  135. 135.

    gogol's wife

    @MomSense:

    Your doggie is so cute.

    In Connecticut, so sick of snow. Please say there aren’t two more storms coming within the next week.

  136. 136.

    Pogonip

    @chopper: I’ll read the dog poop posts and skip the Ukraine.

    My position on Ukraine is, I am aware of the trouble and sincerely sorry for them but the situation is so complex I don’t understand it all and even if I did I don’t have the brains and resources to fix it. I wish I did.

  137. 137.

    Tree With Water

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m a native San Franciscan, and have always considered the entire city as being one big fault line, as though its roots had grown to become an organic part of the San Andreas fault itself. When comes the inevitable day- for geologists have proclaimed: “It is written that it shall be so”- well, come that day blow, Gabriel, blow, for there will be a great gnashing of teeth. But that’s down the road, of course. You should sleep well tonight , or as sound as anyone can who falls asleep atop a death trap.

  138. 138.

    Pogonip

    @chopper: I wonder why BIP fixated on Cole’s blog? Rod Dreher, who is quite interested in that part of the world, would seem a more logical choice. ( Although Rod moderates comments, so he may have moderated one-note Bob the heck out of there.)

  141. 141.

    seefleur

    @MomSense: I thought we might be kinda geographic- neighbors… Are you closer to Eastport or Machias? Cheers from a fellow snow-impaired-and-roof-worrying Mainah (well, transplant anyway). Even with a snow blower, my shoulders are killing me!

  143. 143.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Major Major Major Major:

    We got to have Dr. Lucy from CalTech as a speaker at work and someone asked her for her home buying advice in earthquake country. It was basically, Don’t buy a house that has a fault line running down the center. Otherwise, you just have to accept that it’s California and you will always be within a mile of a fault.

    Also, glad to hear the brain chemistry is under control. It feels so much better to not have it on high alert all the goddamned time.

  144. 144.

    BruceFromOhio

    I haven’t been out of the house since Friday pm, and if I didn’t have to haul it into the office tomorrow, I still wouldn’t go anywhere. Cats, it’s February outside, people!

  145. 145.

    Josie

    @satby: You must have a heart of gold. I hope things turn around for you and that Maggie gets better. Will be thinking good thoughts for you both.

  149. 149.

    Tree With Water

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): It was discovered only after the fact that my grammar school was built directly atop the San Andreas fault. Or if anyone knew, they kept their mouth shut. The thing got built anyway, and people made money.

    A few years ago the USGS met in San Francisco and concluded the epicenter of the 1906 earthquake was located right offshore of Daly City, which borders San Francisco to the south. “Hell no, it wasn’t” screamed the city council, real estate agents, and property owners of Daly City. It was pretty darn funny.

  151. 151.

    FlyingToaster

    @JPL: You mean the foot due Friday morning is a “baby storm”????

    The snow mountain in the back yard is 8 feet tall, and the snowblower is dead. How the fuck am I going to get snow over that? [grumble grumble open liquor cabinet]

  157. 157.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: That’s only 4 blocks away, and the driveway to Williams School was only half cleared last week.

    Gahhhhhh!

    HerrDoktor is out clearing the plow cap. I’m minding WarriorGirl who went to bed in despair (involving violin practice) and is up late since there’s no school tomorrow because they’re still shoveling snow off of her school roof. We’ll be back to school Wednesday, but I suspect many of the public schools are going to have issues.

  158. 158.

    Bob In Portland

    You’re right. You people are not liberals. You are neoliberal. You print occasional stories about how bad things are in race relations, or something dumb that a Republican said. That’s not liberal, that’s Jay Leno.

    With a couple of exceptions, none of you seem the least concerned about the US encouraging the killing of people around the world. You seem not to be able to formulate what the current US foreign policy is.

    No, this was an exercise by me to see how strong US propaganda is. For people with your intellect, and I’m guessing that some of you are on the north side of the median IQ, you are all bulletproof.

    I’m presuming that you realize that the US and the its propaganda machine lied to you about Iraq back in 2002. I know that’s a big presumption because a few of you may have forgotten by now. A few less of you figured out that if we invaded Afghanistan to capture bin Laden then why have we remained long after he was dead? A few of you think that, yes, Khadafy was a bad man, so that’s why we bombed them, and that’s why we’ve been trying to overthrow Assad.

    So it’s simple to just transfer teh hate over to Russia.

    So, as Journey sang, don’t stop believing.

  159. 159.

    seefleur

    @MomSense: I’m closer to Bangor – and work on the coast (Lamoine). Belfast is where we go to get away – Marshall Wharf is a huge favorite for their beer. I heard that Boothbay got hammered again today with snow and winds. It didn’t quite make it up this way for the winds. Thank the goddesses for small favors… At least you are staying fit this winter what with all the shoveling again and again and again.

  161. 161.

    Bob In Portland

    Or, as they say:

    One of the most striking differences between the Russian and Western media is the fact that the topic of a possible war is constantly discussed in the former and almost never in the latter. In Russia, the main news shows discuss the risks of war, as do a lot of well-known personalities, and on talk-shows this is a recurrent topic. Even Putin recently had to declare that he did not believe that a war was likely. It is as if both Russia and the West were like two trains on the same tracks, going at full speed towards each other but with one big difference: the western “train” is steaming forward with its eyes closed, while the Russian train is going forward with its eyes wide open.

    The second big difference is the rage and determination which are expressed by Russians of all walks of life. The most often heard sentence now is “Русские не сдаются” (Russians don’t surrender). Russians find it amazing and absolutely crazy that the western “leaders” have apparently convinced themselves that the Russians will “blink” and let Obama scare them into not standing up for the Donbass. The mood is “if you really want a fight, then we will give you one”.

    One example if in the Russian social media and the blogosphere. Today, a reader posted a link to a Russian video (thanks!) which I want to post here and I will add a video I saw earlier.

    Please watch these videos and don’t be too quick to dismiss them as irrelevant. They are an expression of the mood of a big part of the Russian society which has mentally already entered what I would call a “war mode”. To ignore these “social warning” would be a huge mistake. I have been saying that over and over again, Russia is ready for war. It gives me no pleasure to say that (actually it scares me), but I think that this warning must be circulated as widely as possible: Russia will not “blink” and Russia will not surrender. Russia will not attack first – that is utter nonsense – but if she is attacked, she will strike back with everything she has.

    Balloon Juicers, this is about you. And really, since the Civil War when has there been a credible threat to the territorial US? So, when you laugh at the prospect of war with Russia, you are not talking about how Russians feel.

  165. 165.

    trollhattan

    @Pogonip:
    If only somebody would take HODOR!’s control and v keys things would again be peaceful around this joint. (Okay, shouldn’t go that far.)

  167. 167.

    Tree With Water

    @FlyingToaster: The clincher in the story that sold me on avoiding living in snow country: the reminiscing of a guy who once lived where he occasionally needed a blow torch to warm up a lock in order to turn a key.

    I like to think the indigenous peoples along my stretch of the northern California coastline knew their geography well enough to have intentionally avoided snow country- the land north towards the Oregon border, or east into the Sierras. Pre- european California natives around here had it made, as much as any peoples in the history of our species ever had it made. Their land’s pristine paradise can still be glimpsed hereabouts, too. But be they lucky or wise, those people could hardly have landed in a fairer spot on earth. Certainly where avoiding shoveling snow is concerned.

  169. 169.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Howard Beale IV:

    I learned how to program COBOL before I learned how to drive a car.

    For me it was FORTRAN, since my dad was an engineer. And it was more or less simultaneous with learning to drive. A few years before, you, too. Where the hell did the last 20 years go?

  170. 170.

    Amir Khalid

    @Litlebritdifrnt:
    Course I do. Arcadia, season 6. Mulder and Scully went undercover as newlyweds Rob and Laura Petrie (the names of the couple on the Dick van Dyke Show). They wore wedding rings. Mulder spent a lot of time hitting on Scully. The previous occupants of their house had a lawn ornament with a Made in Malaysia sticker on it.

  171. 171.

    Steeplejack

    @geg6, @ranchandsyrup:

    My ex-girlfriend had the great strategy of taking over the HOA. She did it when we lived in a condo back in the ’80s, and now she is the prez of the HOA in her subdivision outside Atlanta. Her key insight was that most people hate the tinpot dictator types that are drawn to HOA leadership and they will flock to vote for someone who is sane in comparison and willing to take the job. It’s not for everyone, but she is very organized and has a knack for keeping the bullshit to a minimum.

  172. 172.

    Anne Laurie

    @Amir Khalid: Total change of topic, have you seen the NYTimes is taking an interest in Jho Low?

    The Times’ twitter feed even included a link to the article in Malay, but of couse now I can’t find that one (not that you need it, just that it’s interesting they bothered to highlight it).

  175. 175.

    Bob In Portland

    And this.

    A basic rule of journalism is that there are almost always two sides to a story and that journalists should try to reflect that reality, a principle that is especially important when lives are at stake amid war fevers. Yet, American journalism has failed miserably in this regard during the Ukraine crisis.

    With very few exceptions, the mainstream U.S. media has simply regurgitated the propaganda from the U.S. State Department and other entities favoring western Ukrainians. There has been little effort to view the worsening crisis through the eyes of ethnic Russian Ukrainians living in the east or the Russians witnessing a political and humanitarian crisis on their border.

  176. 176.

    Bob In Portland

    @jl: I think it’s preordained that the US will send military goodies to the coup government, and quite honestly there is more concern in Europe than there is in the US. Ho hum.

    By the way, did you see at the end of the article that, after both saying that there were and weren’t 7000 Russians fighting in Ukraine that another 1500 came across over the weekend. I wonder if they’ve got their passports in order.

  180. 180.

    Amir Khalid

    @Anne Laurie:
    I read that about Jho Low, and immediately I was reminded of Jay Gatsby, or some shadowy Russian oligarch come up from nowhere. In Malaysia, Jho’s not even from the first generation of these guys. I do apologise to Americans for the part he had in bringing Dumb and Dumber To to the big screen.

  181. 181.

    Bob In Portland

    @Major Major Major Major: That’s because you don’t read closely and cannot easily imagine yourself in another’s place. That’s generally considered a sign of mental debilitation. Rich people can insulate themselves from others’ problems. The rest of us have to figure out how to blind ourselves from others’ problems. You seem to have the process worked out.

  182. 182.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @PIGL:

    well me too, except it was APL, Fortran, Algol68, LISP, SNOBOL and 360 Assembler.

    Ah, APL. It’s all Greek to me.

    I’m not sure about the Internet of Things in the near future, but I’ve automated my lighting, heating and deadbolt. Lighting and heating are set based on when I get up, go to sleep, leave the house and return. I also have voice control to account for situations out of the schedule.

  185. 185.

    Bob In Portland

    @Pogonip: Talk about it. Discuss it. Ask yourself why the US is even interested in Ukraine. Those are things we used to do in the sixties, talk about Vietnam. Granted, even with a decade-long war in Afghanistan, casualties are nowhere near what they were then, and with the draft we all had a more personal investment in our government’s adventurism. But it seems that most people here at Balloon Juice not only don’t think to talk about it, about the ethics of the US waging war in the world today, but are determined not to discuss it, which is strange because there at least was a discussion going into Iraq. Now? Nothing.

    Various topics are presented here, and the writers and commenters are generally “liberal”. But when it comes to America’s military interventions BJers can’t be bothered. And if I bother you about it, then you really resent it. I guess forever war and endless enemies is status quo in 2015. Why trouble ourselves over something we have no say in?

  186. 186.

    Steeplejack

    Sort of watching The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) in the background on TCM. A really good movie that manages to avoid or transcend the usual Hollywooden clichés. Excellent cast in a suite of connected stories about vets returning to civilian society after World War II. Great scene here where Dana Andrews, an Air Corps officer in the war who came home to a busted marriage and a dead-end job in retail, looks over some scrapped warplanes.

    TCM had a nice run of war movies today. They Were Expendable is particularly good—PT boats in the Philippines at the beginning of the war. Coming up at 11:00 p.m. EST is The Story of G.I. Joe, about the war correspondent Ernie Pyle. He was embedded back when embedded meant something. And at 1:00 a.m. there’s another good Dana Andrews movie, Laura. Not a war movie.

  187. 187.

    Bob In Portland

    @BruceFromOhio: Why discuss something you have no say in? And you know you have no say at all about whether or not your country goes to war, so why complain?

    Fair enough argument.

  189. 189.

    Pogonip

    @different-church-lady: I would, if I were intrigued by his ideas.

    What I really want is to see a debate between BIP and TNC.

    COATES: Race.

    BIP: Ukraine.

    COATES: Race!

    BIP: Ukraine!

    COATES: Race!!!!

    BIP: Ukraine!!!!

    It would be spellbinding TV such as hasn’t been seen since Edward R. Murrow.

  193. 193.

    different-church-lady

    @Pogonip:

    COATES: Race.

    BIP: Ukraine.

    COATES: Race!

    BIP: Ukraine!

    COATES: Race!!!! My god, you’re an idiot…

    BIP: Ukraine!!!!

    Fixed

  195. 195.

    gogol's wife

    @Steeplejack:

    My husband has caused me to appreciate They Were Expendable, a film I never would have watched voluntarily. Robert Montgomery is so good, and great scenes with John Wayne and Donna Reed.

    Off to bed now.

  198. 198.

    Steeplejack

    @gogol’s wife:

    Yeah, whatever it is that makes people hate John Wayne is dialed down in this one, and he and Donna Reed pair well (which you wouldn’t expect). And Montgomery is very good too.

    I think a lot of the movie’s power comes from it being sort of muted—necessarily so, because it deals with a part of the war when we were getting our asses kicked and the future was very much in doubt. So a lot of the usual rah-rah tropes don’t fit.

Comments are closed.