Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

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

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

Republicans in disarray!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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Open Thread

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Some brief excitement today. As Christion and I were driving home from the crappy Kroger in Wellsburg, we drove around a blind curve on Rt. 67 and found this hot mess:

rockslide2

That used to be here:

rockslide

It apparently happened about 45 seconds before we got there, because the fracking convoy drivers were just getting out of their trucks. Not sure how much you can tell, but on one side of the road is the wall of rock that crumbled, and on the other side of the road is a several hundred foot drop down to the old Sanford farm. If you got hit by that slide and were not immediately killed, it would probably throw you over the cliff where you would most definitely have the hurt put on you.

We got home and shared our harrowing tale with the animals:

petmob

Fair warning to all visitors- keep moving, or you will be serving as a couch before you know what hit you.

Reader Interactions

101Comments

  4. 4.

    RaflW

    Christion looks like a really nice young man. The menagerie has judged him as fit for serious nappage, so that counts for a lot, too.

  6. 6.

    DCrefugee

    Gawd, Cole. With all your mishaps over the years, maybe you should organize a motorcade every time you go out: At least one up-armored HMMV on point, with a couple of decoy Subarus identical to yours, plus a front-loader and an ambulance bringing up the rear…

  7. 7.

    Violet

    Wow! Glad you missed that disaster. Maybe the missing mustard is under the rubble pile?

    Christion is so cute. Look at that pile of pets!

  10. 10.

    Violet

    I cannot believe that Ginger birthed those giant puppies. Poor girl! How’s she doing anyway? Is there an update on her diabetes?

  17. 17.

    Violet

    So what did you do, John? Turn around and go another way? Clean up the rockslide somehow? Did someone else clean it up and then you could pass?

  18. 18.

    ms_canadada

    I’d gladly be a couch for your menagerie.

    Love my Scooter (beagle hound/howler),
    & diabetic Rufus (terri-poo).

    Glad you’re ok.

  21. 21.

    PurpleGirl

    I’m glad the rock slide missed you and crew. Even without fracking upsetting the balance of rock formations, they can crash down.

    The NYS Thruway has lots of these rock walls, especially where they blasted through the rock instead of sending the roadway up and over. At some point the Thruway Authority began to put up heavy-duty chicken wire type fencing to hold back rock slides. Looks weird, but did make the road safer.

  22. 22.

    sharl

    Yikes, I’ve seen plenty of rock slide warning signs driving in those hills (though usually much further south of you), but it doesn’t quite prepare one for seeing the immediate aftermath of the real thing.

    And that’s maybe the best pupdate photo yet. Nice way to end a post!

  27. 27.

    jl

    thanks for pet and rock slide pix.

    Glad you folks are OK. I know it was a serious brush, because even Rosie looks moved towards tender hearted deep thoughts in that pic.

    Edit: Wait, that’s Lily, right? Well, I am sure Rosie was moved too, to bad you did not get a pic of her.

  29. 29.

    The Dangerman

    @Violet:

    Maybe the missing mustard…

    I thought the mustard was found a while back; I vaguely recall a spontaneous song and dance number about it, but maybe I was thinking about BuffyTVS.

  34. 34.

    WaterGirl

    So grateful that you guys are okay. That’s not just something to say, I am seriously grateful. Tears in my eyes say a prayer of thanks for your guardian angel kind of grateful!

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    Vog so thick today that could barely make out the West Maui mountains from across the isthmus.

    Gave in and (reluctantly) used the heavy-duty 24-hour sinus pills.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @NotMax:

    I’ve been using my Nasonex to try and ward it off, but sudden humidity changes from semi-arid to rainy (or vice versa) can trigger a migraine. And I had to go to work today because my cubicle was being moved and I had to be there to make sure everything got put in the right place. Feh.

  37. 37.

    FlyingToaster

    Freeze-cold-wet-warm-dry cycles did that rock wall in. Though big-ass trucks ain’t helping.

    In other news, Boston is expecting more snow on Friday and Saturday. The attempts to patch potholes have already failed (patches failed to set), so expect to see a lot more destroyed vehicles over the next few weeks.

    Fimbulwinter, folks. If New England doesn’t get any summer, we’ll probably start thinking of migrating before any Aesir show up.

  40. 40.

    seaboogie

    @SiubhanDuinne: Quite a pointy snout on a pup, I agree. Glad that geg6 is adopting her so that she stays in the BJ family and we will have pics of her as she grows.

  41. 41.

    CaseyL

    Holy hell, that was close. Very happy to hear you’re all right! And there’s nothing like being covered in critters for comfort after a close shave.

    If you were on the way home at the time, how did you get the rest of the way home?

    And where did Lovey’s long muzzle come from? I don’t remember seeing that in previous pictures. Maybe her daddy was a dachshund.

  42. 42.

    Suzanne

    HOLY CATZ. Glad you’re okay, Cole. What a mess.

    The pets (and the young man) are adorable.

  43. 43.

    notorious JRT

    Yikes! Glad your timing was right today! Christion is a pup magnet. That is a cute pic.

  46. 46.

    Violet

    @east is east: I think part of her paw is behind her snout, making it look really long. You can kind of see it if you enlarge the picture. John Cole’s renowned photography lighting skills make it harder to see.

  48. 48.

    PurpleGirl

    @BillinGlendaleCA: It seems to have helped on the NYS Thruway, that and all the warning signs about rock slides. For years my father drove over the GWB to get to the Thruway., and I saw those rock walls up and down the roadway.

  52. 52.

    the Conster

    Holy rock slide Batman. That’s too close for comfort. Reminds me of the day when The Old Man of The Mountain became the Old Man of the Valley.

  54. 54.

    PurpleGirl

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): When the weather changes I start having a buzzing of sorts in my left ear and hearing seems like the sound is coming through cotton. Hope your headache goes away soon.

  56. 56.

    Yatsuno

    Since open thread…

    I got an e-mail at work yesterday. It said I had a notice of personnel action, which was confusing as I had just had one for my annual bonus. Open it up, turns out I got my next promotion about 6 months before I was expecting it. And also one step above that. I thought for a second it was a mistake but nope!

  58. 58.

    Tree With Water

    Given your track record with things of this sort, Cole, I’m as surprised as you seem to be that your car wasn’t swept off the road in the slide, too. Maybe it was, like the Twilight Zone episode about the astronauts that weren’t supposed to return to earth. Maybe there were actually five of you in the car this afternoon, who one-by-one have disappeared from everyone’s memory. Yeah, that would explain it. And by tomorrow afternoon, no one will have a memory that any blog called Balloon Juice ever existed, either.

  59. 59.

    Mary G

    I saw two dogs online – senior poodle mixes – who were a bonded pair the shelter had named Gilligan and the Skipper. Thought they might be meant for me, but when I called they had six applications pending so I didn’t bother.

  60. 60.

    Tommy

    @ruemara: Yes. More than a few things messed up in my state. We get floods and all types of things. What was in that pic doesn’t happen by me. My highways are not hit by rock sides.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @PurpleGirl:

    I can finally hear some rain outside, so I’m less annoyed (plus laying around in the dark has helped). We need rain so badly in So Cal that I’m willing to make the sacrifice of a migraine just to have it.

  62. 62.

    Yatsuno

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): That’s the normal process for disclosing that info. It’s just that I was expecting it in September since that’s my hire date. But if they moved my anniversary date to when I started in my current position that means they might have moved when my annual will be as well. Which means my boss is pushing it being late.

  65. 65.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Tommy: Had some rain when I walked my girls. Looks like some drops are showing up on my outside camera.

  68. 68.

    Mary G

    That picture is my favorite ever, except for Tunch inspecting the pile of fluff you furminated off him that time. Glad you didn’t end up under the rock slide. Cracking causes earthquakes, so it probably won’t be your last.

  75. 75.

    Tree With Water

    Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen is badass (in the best sense of the word). He is quoted at Deadspin.com as saying: ”

    “Hardy’s jersey is being sold at the Cowboys online pro shop now. You could get one for your sister or daughter, and then explain to her that “Hardy beat up women, but we’re cheering him now because he’s really good on game day, and game day is all that really matters to me.” Your daughter will understand.

    But the reality is, if Hardy knocks on your front door to take your daughter out for a night on the town, the man you cheer now, you would shoot his ass through the glass”.

  77. 77.

    David Koch

    @NotMax:

    Obama Just Officially Decided White House Emails Aren’t Subject to the Freedom of Information Act

    incorrect. this pertains to an internal archive/IT center called “Office of Administration.”

    in 2009 an appeals court ruled in a suit brought by the Bush administration that the White House’s Office of Administration was subject to the Presidential Records Act, and not FOIA: “was required to archive the e-mails, but not release them under the FOIA. Instead, White House e-mails must be released under the Presidential Records Act — but not until at least five years after the end of the administration.”

    Even though the court has ruled they don’t have to release info, the Obama WH still does voluntarily: “Records released by the Office of Administration voluntarily include White House visitor logs and the recipe for beer brewed at the White House.”

    Monday, they simply removed a regulation saying they’re required to release information from this office, in keeping with the court decision.

    Let me repeat, even though they don’t have to release info, they still do.

    In any event, every non classified WH document gets released after after they leave office under the Presidential Records Act. The WH has always been exempt from FOIA.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/16/white-house-foia-regulations-deleted/24844253/

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    @David Koch

    If memory serves, Cheney exploited a loophole to ensure the records of his office would not be released for something like 20 years after leaving.

    And regardless of the nothing to see here comments above, enshrining the practice as standard policy is antithetical to the espoused dedication to transparency.

  79. 79.

    Mike J

    @NotMax:

    And regardless of the nothing to see here comments above, enshrining the practice as standard policy is antithetical to the espoused dedication to transparency.

    Then get a court to overrule the court that previously said that there is already a different law that covers those records.

  80. 80.

    NotMax

    @Mike J

    Beside the point. As other have stated, selective releases have taken place, so the ruling is hardly fully determinative.

  81. 81.

    Tommy

    @Steeplejack (phone): I followed the Dead for a year. Not a normally hip music person. My favorite song now is Katty Perry Fireworks. I just pushed myself away from my desk and danced like nobody was looking listening to it. Which is how I think you dance at a Dead show.

    Music is a strange thing.

  82. 82.

    David Koch

    @NotMax: it was a court case brought by the Bush administration and won. what do you want Dictator Obama to do – arrest the judge and shred the ruling? He’s already using his authorized discretion to release the requested information voluntarily. I swear, Obummer could find the cure for cancer and people would bitch and moan about something.

  84. 84.

    Botsplainer

    @David Koch:

    I swear, Obummer could find the cure for cancer and people would bitch and moan about something.

    “He’s playing God. If the Almighty wants you to be cancer-free, It won’t give you cancer, or, if It sends you cancer as a lesson, It will remit it in It’s good time, and having the resources to help that is part of God’s blessing upon you.”

    The real problem is Calvinism, both in the original and on the Randian version – that there is some cosmic Justice neing perpetrated if wealth is happy and poverty miserable. This country is awash in it.

    In the Calvinist universe, God is a fucking cruel asshole that needs Thorazine and a straightjacket.

  85. 85.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    @NotMax: Yeah, ’cause what we really need is to have every White House email sent to “Reply All,” where “All” means every email address in the country.

  86. 86.

    Zinsky

    The photograph suggests that the rock slide is composed of pieces of shale that broke loose. You said that the trucks were fracking-related. Hard to know, based on the limited information, but the rock slide may well have been caused by fracking.

  88. 88.

    David Koch

    What makes people think Obama would get involved in minor court cases and obscure regulations, given the size and amount work on his desk?

  91. 91.

    delk

    My poor dog. We went to Madison to celebrate our third legal marriage (and/or the third anniversary of Rod Blagojevich getting sent to prison) and the vet we board at said that there was a bad outbreak of kennel cough going on in the the city.

    They called the next day while we were in Madison to tell us that they will not be socializing the dogs and will not charge us for that part of the service.

    Flash forward to Tuesday and the poor guy sounds like a cross between Arnold Ziffel and Linda Blair. The vet thankfully did not charge us for the examination or the two weeks of meds.

    Meanwhile we have taken to calling him K Cup, Honky Cat, and Pam Grier, lol!

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    Glad no one was hurt, but WTF is a “hot mess”? I keep seeing that phrase, generally applied to persons, but as best I can tell, it imparts the same amount of information as “reeble deeble.”

  95. 95.

    SFAW

    @David Koch:

    What makes people think Obama would get involved in minor court cases and obscure regulations, given the size and amount work on his desk?

    Because, weak tyrant that he is, he is involved in the everyday things that will fuck things up for the poor, downtrodden, “real” people who are trying to save this country from his fascist bocialist Mooslim evilitude.

    Or, as (I think it was) Shakespeare said: “argle bargle!”

  96. 96.

    delk

    @raven: Yeah they do, and he has all his shots. Maybe from a dog that came in for an examination?

    They knew it was around and were taking precautions. We have been day boarding quite a bit lately, I’m recovering from a fractured spine and didn’t want to risk walking him during the day when there was ice or snow out, and we have had no problems.

    Maybe he got it from one of the dogs in our loft building? There is only one ‘legal’ door to take all dogs out. Yesterday I noticed signs were up next to the free dog poop bags warning about the outbreak and to not let your dogs sniff each other.

    He is a good boy though.He gets out of our bed and walks into the living room to hack when we are sleeping. Not that we still don’t wake up, but at least he isn’t coughing in our faces.

  98. 98.

    HeartlandLiberal

    This is clearly Obama’s fault for not spending the 3 trillion dollars American Society of Engineers estimate is needed to repair and replace our crumbling infrastructure.

    I feel certain the GOP budget prepared by Dear Leader Ryan will address these issues immediately, and all these problems will be fixed.

    AMIRIGHT??

  99. 99.

    SFAW

    @HeartlandLiberal:

    I feel certain the GOP budget prepared by Dear Leader Ryan will address these issues immediately, and all these problems will be fixed.

    You are amazingly perceptive: Ryan’s new budget proposes slashing of food stamps and Medicaid (or Medicare), and for those shiftless bums to get ANYTHING, some number of them will need to be used as paving material. Not as tasty as Soylent green, but longer lasting.

    “Fee fi fo fum
    I smell the blood of some welfare scum.
    They may be alive, but they soon be dead;
    I’ll grind they bones for my roadbed”

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