Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Bark louder, little dog.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Overnight Open Thread: Threat Level Tangerine

Overnight Open Thread: Threat Level Tangerine

by | 89 Comments

This post is in: 

Have it at. I’m going to go rack out.

Also, if anyone is getting security warnings (from their browser) when reloading the site or a page on the site, please let us know in comments. I’ve gotten three in the last 12 hours from Google Chrome that the site is not private/secure and asking if I want to risk going to it. As a result I’m curious if we’re still getting intermittent attempts to take the site down again. Accordingly, I’ve changed the colored light bulb so we’re now at threat level tangerine.

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  6. 6.

    Adam L Silverman

    @redshirt: We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm, I’ve been rubbing away for well over an hour! It is contributing to my never ending, and constantly losing battle against dog hair.

  8. 8.

    Adam L Silverman

    @redshirt: I had the windows open for a bit – I love the sound of a good rainstorm and thunder, but the girls were starting to do their chihuahua impersonations so I closed everything up and turned on the air. That helped settle them down a lot.

    Nothing like having two different 50 plus pound lab mixes try to sit on your head at the same time!

  10. 10.

    Steeplejack

    I’m stepping out to watch the Venture Brothers rerun that just started on the Cartoon Network. This new season has been awesome—a rejuvenation of the franchise. And Brock Samson is back! I think I missed an episode or two because the DVR was not picking up the title correctly (Venture Brothers or Venture Bros.?) in the channel guide.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    I’m using Firefox version whatever (it updates itself automatically nowadays, so it tells me) and I haven’t seen a single security warning. Here’s some beddy-bye music.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: Sure. Once I went with that fusion Easter/Purim theme it seemed a bit excessive.

    I’ve got three recipes. The first uses my chocolate layer cake recipe – just do them as cupcakes. The second is for a white cup cake. And the third is for a pumpkin cup cake, which I think I actually got from Martha Stewart’s website about five years ago for Thanksgiving. My Turkish officer loved pumpkin, so I had three different pumpkin desserts that year: pumpkin pie, pumpkin cup cakes, and pumpkin cheesecake.

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Amir Khalid: This is what I just got five minutes ago from Chrome:

    Your connection is not private

    Attackers might be trying to steal your information from http://www.balloon-juice.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID

    This server could not prove that it is http://www.balloon-juice.com; its security certificate is from *.mail.google.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection.

    Proceed to http://www.balloon-juice.com (unsafe)

    I’ve sent it to Alain, so hopefully he can figure it out.

  19. 19.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Which crossword? On line? I’m always collecting links to good ones. I have about six or seven that I do every morning. Part of my “canary in the coal mine” mental acuity regimen: if/when my solution times get really long I’ll know the old bean is going.

  22. 22.

    Ben Cisco

    So I’m awake still… three day weekend on deck, nothing planned. In what I hope is the last stage of Coldmageddon. I see hot toddies in my future…

  23. 23.

    seaboogie

    @Steeplejack: On a more pedestrian level to your crosswords, I occasionally read the local paper and try to solve the Jumble all in my head without pen. Pre-food – maybe one word. Post-nutrition – Nailed It! Is why breakfast is important to kids in school.

  26. 26.

    Steeplejack

    @seaboogie:

    And for adults, too. I know I feel better when I have something more substantial than coffee within an hour or two of getting up.

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Firefox is reporting to me that “this web site” (aka Balloon Juice) does not supply identity information.

    So it’s cautionary as to its security, I guess.

  30. 30.

    Anya

    I’ve been listening to Candidate Confessional Podcast with Sam Stein and Jason Cherkis. They interview losing candidates or political operatives and it’s actually very interesting. Romney’s campaign manager, Stu Stevens and Howard Dean were among those they interviewed. I still can’t bring myself to listen to some of them.

    In 2013 when I went to Africa for 6-months to discover/reconnect my heritage, I developed this habit where I can not fall asleep without listening to a podcast or radio. I am usually looking for podcasts without music. Any recommendations?

  31. 31.

    piratedan

    @Steeplejack: have to agree, VB has been pretty impressive in its return this season. I still think Dr. Girlfriend is one of the most compelling characters in an animated show ever because she appears to personify all of the challenges that women face in the world of today and lets face it, the ongoing level of snark present throughout the series is too delicious for a kid that grew up on Jonny Quest

  34. 34.

    Steeplejack

    @piratedan:

    I love that she’s Dr. Mrs. The Monarch now and is a big wheel in the guild, while the Monarch is sort of doing the unemployed layabout husband thing. About the only thing I’m missing is that I wish they could work in Dr. Orpheus occasionally. Always liked him.

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    Augh. Sick, and insomnia. At least tomorrow is a work at home day, and then the weekend. Might let me hammer in a piton and hang on.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    @piratedan

    Nearly 3 years between seasons is a bit excessive.

    No such thing as too much Dr. Girlfriend.

    And Red Death (latest episode) is awesome sauce.

  38. 38.

    Mike J

    @Steeplejack: I run a script every night to go get a few that I do, and use my own program that’s sort of like across lite, but knows how to talk to my local server where the night’s puzzles are stored. I get Newsday, LA Times, USA Today, two uclick puzzles[1], and the of course the Times.

    [1] the fcx and the crnet puzzles.

  39. 39.

    Csbella

    @Anya: I use audio books to fall to sleep. The same book lasts months, I fall to sleep then need to rewind each night. Did all Marilynn Robinson this way.

  40. 40.

    Origuy

    Reposted from the last thread, in case Adam is still up:
    Was the daughter’s name Tephi, and the father perhaps Zedekiah, not Hezikiah? If so, then I think you are thinking of The Book of Tephi. Or perhaps a modern retelling of it. It sounded like the story of the Stone of Scone being originally the pillow of Jacob, when he dreamed of the ladder of angels.

  41. 41.

    WereBear

    @Anya: I agree with Csbella that audiobooks lack music and have a soothing quality to them. Mr WayofCats uses them many nights that way.

    Scribd has 1 audiobook each month for their monthly $9 subscription, and lots of books and comics and documents to choose from. Amazon has a service also, and that is where Mr WayofCats has started building an audiobook library.

    I love podcasts and audiobooks, but they require me to go for a walk or rest in bed or similarly not do other things while they are playing, unlike music. I get involved in them and cannot do much other mental work.

  42. 42.

    Csbella

    @WereBear:@Ana
    Also too, local library has good selection of audio books to download. Comes in handy sometimes at 3 am and my mind is trying to solve some problem.

  43. 43.

    Steeplejack

    @Mike J:

    Checking my bookmark list: I get the crosswords from USA Today, Newsday, New York Times (old one from Seattle Times site; I don’t have an NYT subscription), Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. Right-click, “open all in tabs” and I’m good to go. On Sundays I add the (separate) Washington Post Sunday crossword.

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    @Csbella: My library just served up the new Jack Reacher ebook for me. I’ve been on hold for a month! It is a very cool thing to have 24 hour access to the library :)

  45. 45.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @WereBear:
    I’m insomnia-ing as well.
    Slept from 9 to 1 and reading a book until dawn.
    Thanks to whichever Juicer recommend Jill Paton Walsh’s Imogen Quy mysteries. Really a pleasure.

  46. 46.

    PurpleGirl

    @Adam L Silverman: Maybe you’ll come back in the morning to read the thread so…

    My pet loving friends in Peekskill had a Doberman pincher and 3 retired racing grayhounds. Hugo (the Dobie) would just hang out on the couch with whoever he could. Two of the grayhounds (Red Nurse and Teddy) would flee to their kennels in the basement. But Sardi (the third grayhound) would shiver and shake and be in a panic. I’d sit on the floor and hold her, petting her trying to keep her calm. We figure that she must have been in transit between tracks or two places in a truck during a thunderstorm. She just couldn’t bear it. So we (I) tried our best to calm her down. We felt so sorry for her.

  47. 47.

    PurpleGirl

    @Adam L Silverman: I occasionally get a warning from Avast that the site’s certificate can’t be verified and that Avast is blocking the site. However, it doesn’t do that to Balloon Juice. I think it’s more about some of the ads or links from people because those sometimes won’t open for me.

  49. 49.

    Mike J

    Regarding the security warning in chrome, I’ve had it too, but it almost always means the site is completely down.

    When you got to the https version of the site, you’re telling your browser to establish a secure connection. If the site is down, the browser can’t establish any connection. Chrome will sometimes report this as a security problem instead of a site down problem. It’s a bad error message.

    Firefox doesn’t seem to give the same bogus error, but give them time. Every time chrome makes the browsing experience worse, firefox will slavishly copy them in the next few months.

  50. 50.

    mak

    I get that security warning from whatever the native browser on my tablet is, but it’s a Nook, so that’s par for the course. No warnings from Firefox on laptop at home or Chrome on desktop at office.

  51. 51.

    xenos

    No issues for the morning shift. Chrome over non-American tubes is working just fine.

    Btw, wtf is going on over there? The wing nut media seems to be in a fugue state with the wife vs wife, depreßion, pornographe, and now serial adultery accusations for Cruz.

  52. 52.

    mak

    @mak: And for what it’s worth, I’ve been getting the security warning (on the tablet only) for a while now – basically since the rebuild, or shortly after.

  53. 53.

    p.a.

    Safari/iPad/fios OK.
    Attempted to do taxes last night. Issues. Accountant filed for extension: “Just in case. You’re usually so easy.”
    “I never retired before. I’ll try not to do it again.”
    Friday forecast: on phone with 2 financial institutions. Fun.

  55. 55.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    SCHADENFREUDE

    According to the new issue of the National Enquirer, Republican political operatives are investigating rumors that Texas senator Ted Cruz has had extramarital affairs with at least five different women.

    The actual story—which is not online, but which Gawker has obtained a copy of—does not name any of the women with whom Cruz purportedly was involved. Descriptions are given for each, however, and at least one should sound very familiar to folks who have been following this election (Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson).

    #CruzSexScandal is topping the charts on Twitter.

    Wait until Trump gets ahold of this.

    I just love watching them rip each other apart.

  61. 61.

    SFAW

    This has probably already been noted elsewhere, but the Boston Globe tells me that Johan Cruyff has died.

  64. 64.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Baud:

    God must have told him to do it.

    Because he loved America so much and wanted him to follow in Newt’s footsteps.

  66. 66.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Amir Khalid: unintended consequence of Citizen’s United.

    Wingnuts on the Supreme Court thought they were so cleaver. Following Howard Dean’s lead, Obama used the internet to break the gop’s long time advantage in fund raising. Fuming, SCOTUS decided super pacs were necessary to equalize the net. But it only contributed to the gop fratricide and implosion.

  67. 67.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @PurpleGirl:

    A presidential campaign has not been as personal and dirty before.

    Maybe in recent times, but the John Quincy Adams/Andrew Jackson campaigns were worse. Mostly attacks on Jackson’s wife, who ended up dying between the election and inauguration.

  69. 69.

    SFAW

    @PurpleGirl:

    A presidential campaign has not been as personal and dirty before. This is a new low for their supposed values.

    Not in our memory, but some of the 19th Century (and 18th, too) were legendary in their dirtiness/viciousness. I think even Lee Atwater might not have “gone there.”

    ETA: Or, what BillInGlendaleSC said.

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Behold, the Trumpinator:

    During a torturous two-hour conference call on Thursday night, the delegates struggled to figure out how to help the frontrunner at the Republican National Convention in July, wondering how best to contact the campaign in Wisconsin for tips.

    Anxiety was mounting throughout the conference call about the lack of organization in the Land of Lincoln for Trump. As one person said “There is no Trump team in Illinois, it’s us”, a statement echoed by pro-Trump activist Doug Ibendahl when he pointed out on the call “we don’t have any leader, it’s just us.”

    The Guardian understands the delegates also tried to deal with the mysterious disappearance of former Trump state chair Kent Gray from the campaign’s operations. Before leaving the campaign, Gray had tried to keep rival campaigns from making the ballot in Illinois but failed because he had not filed the paperwork in a timely manner.

    Trumps campaign sure is on top of things.

  72. 72.

    Amir Khalid

    @SFAW:
    Hendrik Johannes Cruyff was a heavy smoker. Them cancer sticks got him.

    @PurpleGirl:
    As vain and unpleasant and self-serving as Ted Cruz can be, I don’t want to see hm go down this way. This is going to hurt his family too.

  73. 73.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    Obama used the internet to break the gop’s long time advantage in fund raising. Fuming, SCOTUS decided super pacs were necessary to equalize the net. But it only contributed to the gop fratricide and implosion.

    I’m less worried about super PACs than I used to be. Apparently, according to a report on NPR the vast sums they spend on advertising have minimal effect. And they spend on almost nothing else. Seems the main beneficiaries are consultants, media bookers and radio and TV stations. They’re pissing away billions with little result. For confirmation, note the success of Bernie with fervent followers and no super PAC.

  74. 74.

    Anne Laurie

    @PurpleGirl:

    A presidential campaign has not been as personal and dirty before.

    Well, it’s never been so easy to spread the nasty stories around, that’s for sure. But do you remember “John McCain’s black lovechild” (per Dubya’s ratfvcker Rove)? Or all the things Bill Clinton was accused of — even by “respectable” outlets like the Wall Street Journal, which published multiple paper volumes of “some people say” he was an Arkansan drug kingpin & murderer, a serial predator married to a lesbian? Or Bush I running a whispering campaign that Mike Dukakis was dangerously deranged, because his brother had been treated for mental illness? Or the stories about FDR’s mistresses, Harding’s love child, Lincoln’s bastard half-breed ancestry, “Miss Nancy” Buchanan’s embarrassing penchant for fetching young men, Jefferson’s affair with one of his own slaves, Adams’ pimping American virgins to the Russian tzar?…

    The only President I know of who didn’t have ugly rumors spread by his opponent was George Washington. And if George’d run for a second term, the Federalist rumors that he was a little too enamored of that pretty young hustler Hamilton would’ve been circulated a lot more publicly, I’m sure.

  75. 75.

    SFAW

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Just checking to see if you were paying attention. Although the “C” was intended to be “Car,” not “Cal.” (But you probably figured that.

    And the Bruins are on my coast, not your Commie coast.

  77. 77.

    SFAW

    @Anne Laurie:

    But do you remember “John McCain’s black lovechild” (per Dubya’s ratfvcker Rove)?

    It was when McCain embraced Bush (during the general), after that shit, that I realized that McCain was just as big a whore as any politician out there. Never thought well of him since.

    Clinton was accused of — even by “respectable” outlets like the Wall Street Journal, which published multiple paper volumes of “some people say” he was an Arkansan drug kingpin & murderer, a serial predator married to a lesbian?

    Oh, Scaife was just feeding the Journal the FSM’s-honest-truth. And that Hitlary is a murderess was also known (presciently, of course).

    Or Bush I running a whispering campaign that Mike Dukakis was dangerously deranged, because his brother had been treated for mental illness?

    I don’t remember that one. I thought there was some crap about Kitty, however.

    Thanks, Obama, for coarsening the discourse in the USofA!

  78. 78.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    “General Jackson’s mother was a common prostitute, brought to this country by the British soldiers! She afterward married a mulatto man, with whom she had several children, of which number General Jackson is one!”

    And earlier:

    Things got ugly fast. Jefferson’s camp accused President Adams of having a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” In return, Adams’ men called Vice President Jefferson “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.” As the slurs piled on, Adams was labeled a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward. Even Martha Washington succumbed to the propaganda, telling a clergyman that Jefferson was “one of the most detestable of mankind.”

    I will say, though, that Martha Washington may have simply been referring to the years-earlier break between Washington and Jefferson when Jefferson was on Washington’s cabinet. The two never spoke or corresponded again.

    Jefferson’s Karl Rove was a man named James Callender. He is best remembered today for exposing the Maria Reynolds affair and, after he had a falling out with Jefferson, publicizing the Sally Hemings affair, which seems to have been an open secret among the Founders. Chernow suggests that the Reynolds accusations appeared after Hamilton got too close to exposing the Hemings scandal in some of his published invective against Jefferson.

  80. 80.

    Matt McIrvin

    @xenos:

    Btw, wtf is going on over there? The wing nut media seems to be in a fugue state with the wife vs wife, depreßion, pornographe, and now serial adultery accusations for Cruz.

    Horrible people are being horrible.

  83. 83.

    where's my hammer

    Since BJ went to https, my browsers have always reported an insecure connection. It’s shown in that page info icon at the left of the address bar. Firefox, opera, chrome, IE, all of ’em.

  84. 84.

    Paul in KY

    @bjacques: Isn’t it the ‘Turing Test’? IMO, the ‘Goering Test’ is how much bling you can get on your uniform without it making you fall over.

  85. 85.

    SFAW

    @Paul in KY:

    Considering that the story had to do with “Tay”(?) tweeting various racist, homophobic, or anti-semitic things, I think bjacques had it exactly right.

  86. 86.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @SFAW: I thought it was a totally clever play on words, considering that.

    @Paul in KY: On the internet, nobody knows your uniform bling made you fall over.

  88. 88.

    J R in WV

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    I’m pretty sure you can’t call it an affair if you have to pay a hooker to have sex with you, for so much $$$$ /hour.

    Just not the same as drinking tea together and admiring the fog against the trees and hills together in the rainy afternoon, while being frisky with a sweety.

    How much? I’ll put it on the table – take it when you want.

    Not the same. Just not.

  89. 89.

    Miss Bianca

    @Luthe:

    Given the timing of that article, I’d be tempted to posit that that reporter was following our previous night’s thread…

Comments are closed.