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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

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

“woke” is the new caravan.

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

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

In after Baud. Damn.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

T R E 4 5 O N

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

This fight is for everything.

We’re not going back!

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Early Morning 2017 Open Thread: Hoping This Year Is Better

Early Morning 2017 Open Thread: Hoping This Year Is Better

by Anne Laurie|  January 1, 20173:25 am| 169 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I may have stood outside my house naked last night, screaming into the sky: “End simulation! END SIMULATION!”

— John Rogers (@jonrog1) November 11, 2016

After much not-so-gentle prodding on my part, the Spousal Unit (aka, my personal Tech Expert) decided this would be a good time to decruft my laptop and update some programs. The latest version of Pale Moon is giving him fits (although, Goddess take the wheel, I’m managing okay so far) and he’s muttering about switching platforms to… something.

So if I’m not around tomorrow evening, blame it on the Trickster God’s minions in the computer industry…
.

I can’t believe Dec 31st, 2015 was only 10 years ago

— Freddie Campion (@FreddieCampion) December 31, 2016

My final editorial cartoon for 2016. Please share. #DeathStar #laloalcaraz pic.twitter.com/zmM7zofrqs

— Mexican Judge (@laloalcaraz) December 28, 2016

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Previous Post: « Open Thread: FAREWELL 2016!
Next Post: Pretty Birds (Open Thread) »

Reader Interactions

169Comments

  1. 1.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 1, 2017 at 3:33 am

    Do people really post in the middle of the night?

  2. 2.

    SFBayAreaGal

    January 1, 2017 at 3:39 am

    Well Steve you and I are posting. It’s only 12:30am here on the west coast.

    Happy New Year

  3. 3.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 1, 2017 at 3:39 am

    @Steve in the ATL: Yes.

  4. 4.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 1, 2017 at 3:41 am

    @SFBayAreaGal: The night(and the New Year) is young here on the west coast.

  5. 5.

    opiejeanne

    January 1, 2017 at 3:41 am

    @Steve in the ATL: What is this ATL which you are in? It has been troubling me.

  6. 6.

    JordanRules

    January 1, 2017 at 3:42 am

    Happy New Year BJ!

    Wee hours thread from AL, comforting as always.
    Thanks from this insomniac!

  7. 7.

    opiejeanne

    January 1, 2017 at 3:43 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: The neighbors must have found some more fireworks in the garage. I thought we were done with the noise. The cat is not too happy about it.

  8. 8.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 1, 2017 at 3:47 am

    Traffic light trace though “The Slot”(US101 though Downtown LA).

  9. 9.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 1, 2017 at 3:48 am

    @opiejeanne: My Nikki(the Cocker) was rather displeased with the fireworks here.

  10. 10.

    DonkeyKong

    January 1, 2017 at 3:48 am

    2016 is done and buried in the frozen ground. The 20th of January will be the true change. Not of a year but of an era. May the room we enter spin but the floor never drop. Happy New Era juicers!

  11. 11.

    opiejeanne

    January 1, 2017 at 3:58 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Gorgeous. There is a place on Treasure Island, between Oakland and SF, where you used to be able to look down on the bridge. At night it was gorgeous. I always wanted to get a photograph of that.

  12. 12.

    TheMightyTrowel

    January 1, 2017 at 3:58 am

    2017 well underway here on the planet’s underside. Mr. Trowel has been doing more diy than usual over the break. He just finished hanging a new door out to the verandah – 4th door in 6 days. I’m very impressed.

    For my part I’ve spent today reading becky chambers’ new novel – the second in the wayfarer series and highly recommended!

  13. 13.

    Calouste

    January 1, 2017 at 4:12 am

    Well, I guess 2017 is going to be better… than 2018. It’s all going to go downhill for a number of years.

  14. 14.

    magurakurin

    January 1, 2017 at 4:33 am

    @Steve in the ATL: it’s 6:30pm on the first here. we just finished our sukiyaki New Year dinner.

  15. 15.

    fuckwit

    January 1, 2017 at 4:35 am

    @Calouste: Unfortunately, true.

    I’d predict that each year is going to suck more than the last for a couple decades at least.

  16. 16.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 1, 2017 at 4:36 am

    @opiejeanne: Atlanta! ATL is the airport code here.

    4:30 am here. I probably shouldn’t have done that last eight ball….

  17. 17.

    Gator90

    January 1, 2017 at 4:45 am

    My wife and I did not intend to be parents who allow their children to sleep in their bed, but as soon as they could walk they started joining us in the middle of the night and we didn’t have the heart to make them stop. Now they’re getting bigger and they are still doing it, and there’s not enough room for me, so here I am, wide awake on the East Coast, sharing inane details of my life while I wait for the football to start.

    As others have observed, the eagerness of many to be rid of 2016 is somewhat mystifying. We will soon be thinking of 2016 as a golden age.

    EDIT: Their ages are still in single digits; I just wanted to make that clear.

  18. 18.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 1, 2017 at 4:46 am

    @magurakurin: konbanwa!

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 1, 2017 at 4:47 am

    @Steve in the ATL: just confirming the answer is still yes.

  20. 20.

    magurakurin

    January 1, 2017 at 4:55 am

    ohayogozaimasu!

  21. 21.

    opiejeanne

    January 1, 2017 at 5:11 am

    @Steve in the ATL:
    Thanks. I thought it might be but didn’t pick up on it being the airport code.

  22. 22.

    opiejeanne

    January 1, 2017 at 5:13 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m still awake, but not for long.

  23. 23.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 1, 2017 at 5:14 am

    @opiejeanne: I’m just now in the Lyft home. I broke my rule (always leave the party when you’re having fun) so I’m kind of bummed.

  24. 24.

    mai naem mobile

    January 1, 2017 at 5:20 am

    Happy fucking New Year! Wishing all a happy, healthy, wealthy, witty and wise 2017 because we’re going to néedo all!

  25. 25.

    EBT

    January 1, 2017 at 5:24 am

    @Steve in the ATL: You should go to wonkette where the disallowed noncomments flow all night.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 5:32 am

    Gads, a lot of fireworks set off tonight. Still going on, at 12:30 a.m. The sound of detritus and (presumably) ash raining down onto the roof not reassuring. Glad it’s still raining.

    Whether you’re winding down for the night or winding up for the day, Good Night and Good Morning.

  27. 27.

    Pogonip

    January 1, 2017 at 5:35 am

    Let’s hope he was 2016’s last casualty: Wlliam Christopher died Saturday, age 84.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 5:44 am

    The question was “Do people really post in the middle of the night?” Your species status remains questionable.

  29. 29.

    EBT

    January 1, 2017 at 5:44 am

    My little place in the heart? of Sacramento had perhaps 10 minutes of fireworks and I heard a fire truck race past on the express way some time after, but it’s been quiet here. All college students and disabled people so a lot of chance for shenanigans.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 5:47 am

    @NotMax

    For the sake of clarity, referred to fireworks set off in the neighborhood; none by me. Comfy inside, sipping champagne and puffing an expensive (gift) and quite pleasant stogie.

  31. 31.

    Applejinx

    January 1, 2017 at 5:54 am

    @Calouste:

    Well, I guess 2017 is going to be better… than 2018. It’s all going to go downhill for a number of years.

    Bollocks to that. I survived 2016. It even killed the payment processor for my company, and I’m still running my Patreon and still porting my lifework to Windows (soon also Linux) VST completely for free. I’m making more and more videos about things like how to hack $80 Chinese action-cams and install bass pickups and I WILL dedicate my life to giving people the creative tools they need to have a vivid, persuasive voice.

    We will negotiate these coming years somehow, and much like Tony Stark (yeah I watched the Avengers movie recently) we will look back on these times as a terrible privilege.

    THIS is our revolution. We didn’t ask for it, in fact we asked for ‘prudent inclusive incrementalism please’, but the OTHER revolutionaries were greedy and jumped too soon, and went for ‘just rule everything, as it is! What could go wrong?’. They’ll find out.

    OUR future. Not theirs.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 6:05 am

    TCM may be trying to tell us something about ’17 – it’s Hitchcock all the way down all day and night for the 1st.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 6:16 am

    @NotMax: That’s almost enough to make me miss TV, but not quite. I have 6 Hitchcocks on DVD. I haven’t seen The Birds in forever. I thought it absolutely terrifying when I was a kid. The ending was especially creepy (as I remember it) where Tippi Hedron walks out and the whole town is covered in birds and they just sit there and watch her.

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 6:47 am

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Here’s the line-up:
    Rope
    Strangers on a Train
    Torn Curtain
    Family Plot
    Psycho
    Marnie
    The Birds
    Vertigo
    Rear Window
    Shadow of a Doubt
    The Man Who Knew Too Much
    (1956 version)
    The Trouble With Harry

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 7:01 am

    @NotMax: What? No Cary Grant? Good lineup. I don’t know Strangers on a Train, Family Plot, or believe it or not, Marnie (it tickles my memory but reading the film bio I got nothing). I love The Trouble with Harry, too funny.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 7:15 am

    No regular morning thread? Not an auspicious start to the new year.

    Happy New Year.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 7:18 am

    @OzarkHillbilly

    An unmade Hitchcock film was to be a modern version of Hamlet with Cary Grant playing the lead.

  38. 38.

    satby

    January 1, 2017 at 7:21 am

    Happy New Year, morning crew and overnight stalwarts. Still dark here even though it’s after 7:15 am. And no holiday for me, I have to work today. I’m already tired.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 7:32 am

    @Baud: Too much fun last night

    @NotMax: That would have been good.

    @satby: I needed a trencher for a day. Tried to rent it for Friday, booked. But I could pick it up Friday afternoon and have it for the wkend… The extended wkend: Dec 31, Jan 1st, Jan 2nd, the shop would be closed all 3 days. Your boss is a big ole meanie.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 7:33 am

    @satby

    Memorable four-panel newspaper comic strip still kick myself for not cutting out and preserving:

    Panel 1: Strip regular (a talking dog) sitting asleep, back against a tree
    Panel 2: Stretches and yawns, waking up
    Panel 3: Looks around
    Panel 4: (addressing the reader) “Man, this is a dull town. I just woke up and I’m bored already.”

    So long ago that can’t even recall the name of the strip.

  41. 41.

    Raven

    January 1, 2017 at 7:36 am

    It ain’t bad here, 40 and drizzle.

  42. 42.

    Raven

    January 1, 2017 at 7:38 am

    The college girl at the bakery register asked if I was hung over? “The last time I was hungover was before you were born”!

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 7:39 am

    @Raven

    Projection?

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 7:49 am

    Just for Kay:

    “The first thing we need to do is face reality, If Eric Trump is so upset, write a check. We’ve got to stop acting like everything that happens to this guy when they complain about how difficult it is, if they want to give to charity, give to charity. They can write the money themselves, they don’t need to raise it from us.”

    “Secondly, and this is the most important, we have a president-elect who has been treated completely differently from anybody else,” he continued. “The press has unfortunately gotten into this thing where they’re afraid of propaganda outlets like Fox News coming in and calling them biased. There is no bias here. We have got to grow a backbone. We have got to demand press conferences. We have got to stop covering his tweets like they’re news.”

    “This man has some very serious questions to answer, We’re getting to the point we should start to wonder, is the problem he can’t answer? That he doesn’t have the intelligence to answer? That he’s afraid to answer? We have to bear down on him and let the American public know that this is not normal. When the Foxes of the world object to acting like a normal reporter as being biased we should just point them out and say, they’re lying, just ignore them.”

    -Kurt Eichenwald

  45. 45.

    BretH

    January 1, 2017 at 7:52 am

    @Applejinx Extremely cool, what you’re doing. Carpe diem in action.

  46. 46.

    Raven

    January 1, 2017 at 7:55 am

    @NotMax: I suspect she says it to this small group of old men regulars who are here every day. I also suspect these kids wouldn’t even say hello if it wasn’t part of their job.

  47. 47.

    satby

    January 1, 2017 at 7:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Nice, but one voice isn’t a chorus. Waiting for the rest of them to grow a spine.

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 8:00 am

    @satby: Could be a long wait.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    January 1, 2017 at 8:02 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  50. 50.

    rikyrah

    January 1, 2017 at 8:03 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    He speaks the truth

  51. 51.

    JPL

    January 1, 2017 at 8:03 am

    @rikyrah: Good Morning!

  52. 52.

    satby

    January 1, 2017 at 8:03 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: expecting that it will be.

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    January 1, 2017 at 8:04 am

    @Raven:
    LOL ???

  54. 54.

    bemused

    January 1, 2017 at 8:04 am

    I love the cartoon by Mexican Judge at top.

  55. 55.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 1, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Happy New Year, all you good folk of BJ! Catching up on Murdoch Mysteries before I start the running around. We’ll survive the Trumpocalypse together.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:06 am

    @rikyrah: Morning.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:07 am

    @satby: Need to find out who the good reporters are and promote them.

  58. 58.

    EBT

    January 1, 2017 at 8:13 am

    @Patricia Kayden: I love that the autistic catholic 1890s police detective is more tolerant to change than the average american today.

  59. 59.

    Alain the site fixer

    January 1, 2017 at 8:14 am

    Happy New Year and good morning to all! Hope y’all had a fun and safe time and hopefullly we will find our new year brim-full of possibility and good fortune! Time to make some rice and prep for the first goat curry of the new year…

  60. 60.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 8:15 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Happy New Year, all you good folk of BJ!

    What about the rest of us?

  61. 61.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 8:19 am

    @Baud:

    Well that should be easy since there are only two.

  62. 62.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    January 1, 2017 at 8:19 am

    I think I like this Carrie/Leia cartoon better.

    With bonus fundraising for the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:21 am

    @MomSense: Gotta start somewhere.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:21 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Heh.

  65. 65.

    satby

    January 1, 2017 at 8:21 am

    On a positive note, my missing rugs were traced and delivered, so yay! Making slow process in getting the house in order.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:23 am

    @satby: 2017 is looking better already.

  67. 67.

    satby

    January 1, 2017 at 8:26 am

    @NotMax: Citizen Dog, maybe? I used to enjoy that comic when I caught it.

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 8:32 am

    @MomSense: There are good reporters at alt weekly’s like Seattle’s The Stranger, or the High Country News.

  69. 69.

    gene108

    January 1, 2017 at 8:33 am

    Happy New Year!!!

  70. 70.

    Zinsky

    January 1, 2017 at 8:35 am

    Liberals, and free-thinking people of all political persuasions, need to give Donald Trump the respect he deserves – which is absolutely none. He ran the dirtiest, most dishonest campaign in American history. Telling endless lies, exhorting his followers to commit violence, convincing the brain-dead among them that Hillary Clinton deserved to go to prison for something that no one has ever gone to prison for and isn’t even a crime (using a private e-mail server) and for which they were unable to produce even one e-mail that showed criminality or lack of concern for national security. Then, to top it all off, the Russian government allows hackers to infiltrate Trump’s political opponent’s e-mail and God knows what other American sites and rather than condemning the Russian actions, Trump praises and encourages it!

    No, this vile man deserves zero respect and really should be on trial for seditious behavior. We need to revive the lost art of throwing rotten vegetables and rotten eggs at rotten politicians and Donald Trump and his cabinet should be the prime targets. Pelt this moronic man with every rotten thing you can get your hands on, every chance he foolishly appears in public. We need to shame, disgrace and disrespect this monster, until he is chased from office in four years as the most corrupt, ineffective and disrespectful president in history!

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 8:38 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    You’re right. There are probably more like a dozen! ?

  72. 72.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:39 am

    @MomSense: Vanity Fair and Teen Vogue seem to making a name for themselves.

  73. 73.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 8:39 am

    @Zinsky:

    He hasn’t made a single good faith attempt to be gracious or welcoming to the majority of voters who picked his opponent. He hasn’t earned any respect, good will or benefit of the doubt from any of us.

  74. 74.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 8:41 am

    @Baud

    They are doing some actual reporting. It stands out.

  75. 75.

    Applejinx

    January 1, 2017 at 8:45 am

    DO SOMETHING GOOD. Doing shitty things to shitty Trump will not make you feel better. Out-good him, don’t join him.

    I realize this is a low bar to set, but seriously. Do good.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:45 am

    @MomSense: Right. Who was talking about them even two months ago?

    Trump may have the effect of clearing out some of our deadwood and allowing new people to shine. It’s wide open now.

  77. 77.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Good morning.

    May 2017 be happier than we think it’s going to be. Karma can be a bitch, and a fast-acting one, sometimes.

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 8:46 am

    @Applejinx: Excellent advice.

  79. 79.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    January 1, 2017 at 8:46 am

    feeling a bit of a sore throat this morning, I’m hoping it’s just from not sleeping well last night.

    sad thing about hoping this year is better? we already know (trump) damn well (ryan budget) that 2017 (scotus justice far right of SCALIA FOR GOD’S SAKE) is gonna suck rhino. the best we can plan for is a sustained, focused and long-term resistance.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:46 am

    @Elizabelle: Happy New Year, EB.

  81. 81.

    TS

    January 1, 2017 at 8:50 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    “The first thing we need to do is face reality, If Eric Trump is so upset, write a check. We’ve got to stop acting like everything that happens to this guy when they complain about how difficult it is, if they want to give to charity, give to charity. They can write the money themselves, they don’t need to raise it from us.”

    Nice if someone in the media would point to Barack Obama’s tax returns – showing how you can give to charity without making a song & dance about it. Example 1 – Nobel Prize. Examples 2 to n – every tax return released.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:50 am

    @PaulWartenberg2016: Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, focus often depends on other people doing horrible things.

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 8:51 am

    @Applejinx: I bring my wife coffee in bed every morning. That’s more good in one morning than Trump does all month.

  84. 84.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 8:53 am

    @Baud: It will be, if you stay around, you hear?

    In a hotel, visiting family. The fire alarm went off four to five times last night! Got to be where, once it blew, all us guests ignored it.

    Wondering if that is a metaphor for 2017. Trump’s strategy?

  85. 85.

    p.a.

    January 1, 2017 at 8:54 am

    Happy New Year Juicers! Well… hoping at least.

  86. 86.

    zhena gogolia

    January 1, 2017 at 8:55 am

    С Новым Годом, дорогие друзья!

    Надеюсь, что добро победит!

  87. 87.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:56 am

    @Elizabelle: M^4 is working on a roboBaud. It’ll be OK.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 8:56 am

    @Baud: Don’t worry, the GOP has that covered.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 8:57 am

    @zhena gogolia: You are ready for our brave new world.

  90. 90.

    Schlemazel

    January 1, 2017 at 8:58 am

    @satby:
    gocomics.com carries citizen dog

    Crappy New Year everyone!
    since the opposite of what I want is what happens I figure that is the right greeting from me to you all

  91. 91.

    Immanentize

    January 1, 2017 at 9:01 am

    Compiments of the New Year, morning folks. I’m In Texas outside oh Houston for the week at the in laws. It’s nice to be away from the sleet, etc. for a few days. We are going to catch some movies, play some board games, eat a lot of food and see some of the peculiar sites this city offers — including the odd Buffalo Bayou Cistern downtown Houston.

  92. 92.

    Immanentize

    January 1, 2017 at 9:06 am

    @Schlemazel: That reminds me of some of my older Jewish friends who would never say a baby is cute for fear of it turning out the opposite. “Not the prettiest baby I’ve ever seen” or “I’m sure he’ll grow into those ears.” It sounded harsh but everyone knew it was all part of their love and worry.

  93. 93.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 9:08 am

    @Baud:

    The church next door didn’t have its morning service today. Weird.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 9:09 am

    @Immanentize: What do they say if the baby really is ugly?

  95. 95.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 9:09 am

    @debbie: Rapture?

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 9:11 am

    @Baud: Accept no robo substitutes.

    Enough fakery out there. We demand the genuine Baud. Non-negotiable.

  97. 97.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 9:12 am

    @rikyrah:

    Happy New Year!

  98. 98.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 9:13 am

    @Baud:

    A car just parked in the lot. I guess they called off the early service. Very strange.

  99. 99.

    Denali

    January 1, 2017 at 9:17 am

    @Immanentize,

    Buffalo Bayou Citern reminds me sadly of the beautiful Cistern in Istanbul. We visited Istanbul in 2008 and loved it, never dreaming that it would be overtaken by the nightmares in the Middle East. It is a fascinating, lovely city, with great food, shopping, and so much history. What is happening now in Turkey is heartbreaking.

  100. 100.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 9:18 am

    The NYE gunfire lasted 22 minutes and for the first time started before midnight. I have to figure out how to turn that into a good omen.

  101. 101.

    satby

    January 1, 2017 at 9:21 am

    @Baud: we couldn’t get that lucky

  102. 102.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 9:22 am

    @Elizabelle: In fact, roboBaud beta testing has already begun. Can you tell the difference?

  103. 103.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 9:22 am

    I think we should put together a naughty and nice list of businesses for this year. The Republican establishment only cares about money and tax breaks. We keep appealing to them about the human misery their policies cause and these appeals are ignored because they don’t care at all about people. They do care about money so I think we should send messages they understand. Maybe one of the tech capable people here can help us compile lists of goods and services that aren’t run by assholes. Then maybe we can also start going after media outlets and hold them accountable for their advertisers.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 9:26 am

    @MomSense: Great idea.

  105. 105.

    JPL

    January 1, 2017 at 9:28 am

    @debbie: On NYE you can use fireworks until two in the morning on New Year’s Day. The neighbors behind me took advantage of the extended time. ugh

  106. 106.

    RedDirtGirl

    January 1, 2017 at 9:30 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Thanks! Just bookmarked those links! Here’s to having fun together in 2017! Humor is a great tool for helping to maintain one’s sanity.
    And here’s to using our voices for good. My
    new(-ish) fellow gave me an American Button Machine for Christmas. My 14 yo niece made buttons for what our family is calling The Nasty Woman March. She copied a tattoo she found on the Internet of a uterus. One of the Fallopian tubes is displaying its middle finger.

  107. 107.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 1, 2017 at 9:31 am

    @satby: Beat me to it.

  108. 108.

    RedDirtGirl

    January 1, 2017 at 9:31 am

    @Zinsky:
    AMEN!!!!!!

  109. 109.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 9:32 am

    @JPL:

    Fireworks would be worse because the pops are so random. I’ve noticed the more the cops ask people not to fire off their weapons, the more people fire them off. I wish they’d try saying nothing one year, just to see what happens.

    @MomSense:

    This is a great idea.

  110. 110.

    Jeffro

    January 1, 2017 at 9:33 am

    Good morning and happy 2017 everyone!

    I haven’t made any New Years’ resolutions in a few years…and it shows…so I think this year I’ll go with a few of the traditional ones: eat better, eat less, drink less, work out more, spend less (especially books!), and get outside more regardless of the weather.

    Also trying to decide if I should take a class in Spanish or writing, as both skills are rusty and need a lot of work!

  111. 111.

    eclare

    January 1, 2017 at 9:37 am

    @RedDirtGirl: Sounds like an awesome design!

  112. 112.

    Aleta

    January 1, 2017 at 9:38 am

    Lock him up.

  113. 113.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 9:42 am

    @Jeffro:

    I’m taking Spanish lessons for free on duolingo. Perhaps you could do both?

  114. 114.

    Hill Dweller

    January 1, 2017 at 9:43 am

    The Twitter machine is telling me Trump promises a “revelation” this week about the Russian hacking. His entire Presidency is going to be a series of publicity stunts.

  115. 115.

    Schlemazel

    January 1, 2017 at 9:44 am

    @Baud:
    We’re soaking in it?

  116. 116.

    p.a.

    January 1, 2017 at 9:49 am

    stolen quotes:

    Helaine Olen (Slate): things can always get worse. Also no matter how bad things are, my mood will improve dramatically if I go out and hear live music.

    The Wall Street Ranter: it is extremely hard to underestimate the intelligence of US voters.

    Kid Dynamite (Kid Dynamite’s World): the movie Idiocracy was a prophecy, not a comedy.

    Cathleen Ritt (Rockettes, 2004-2007): I learned that a lot of people really want to work in factories. (commenter addition: and coal mines!)

    Nelson Braff (Hunt & Fish Club NYC): it’s easier to make Donald Trump president than the NY Jets relevant. (commenter addition: pro sports, at least, tends towards meritocracy)

    Justin Frankel (RiverPark Funds): no other investment yields higher returns the time you invest being with your friends and family.

  117. 117.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 9:49 am

    @Hill Dweller:

    He apparently is also planning to put his own people in the intelligence community.

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    January 1, 2017 at 9:50 am

    @MomSense:

    I’m taking Spanish lessons for free on duolingo. Perhaps you could do both?

    Yes, definitely! Between Duolingo and conversing with my daughter (who’s in her 3rd year of HS Spanish), I can probably bring my language skills up to speed. I’ll look into writing classes later today – there’s still time to sign up for the spring semester.

  119. 119.

    Jeffro

    January 1, 2017 at 9:53 am

    @Hill Dweller: His ‘revelation’ is going to be something stupid like “Roger Stone assured me that…” or “The DNC hacked itself to try and smear me, obviously…” – something utterly without evidence and/or slamming Democrats.

    Meanwhile, every US intelligence and law-enforcement agency has been, and will continue to be, telling him it’s Russia.

    I swear I’m picking up a couple booklets of McDonald’s coupons and mailing them to Trump Tower today.

  120. 120.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 9:58 am

    @MomSense:

    I don’t think he has the power to do that. I can’t imagine he’d get support from his own party on that.

  121. 121.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 9:59 am

    @Jeffro:
    @MomSense:

    My “resolution”: using News in Slow Spanish. Has a transcript and audio. Could be useful. Can choose European or Latin American Spanish.

    Available in other languages, too. French could be good.

  122. 122.

    MomSense

    January 1, 2017 at 10:03 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Oh cool.

  123. 123.

    japa21

    January 1, 2017 at 10:18 am

    @Hill Dweller: It will be one of three things:

    1. Putin assured me that Russia had nothing to do with it and that the US administration was behind it. And we all know Putin is totally honest.

    2. I can’t disclose my sources, but I know for a fact, based upon those sources, that the Russians had nothing to do with it.

    3. During my meeting with the intelligence community, they told me A, B and C. (Note: A, B and C are all considered classified information.)

  124. 124.

    RobertDSC-iPad Mini

    January 1, 2017 at 10:27 am

    A minor good thing: one of my iPad slot machine games clicked over into a jackpot, netting me 1.2 billion game credits.

    That’s a new record for me.

  125. 125.

    mai naem mobile

    January 1, 2017 at 10:29 am

    @Elizabelle: I’ve personally never seen karma on something big be quick. The fast karma is usually stupid little shit. But, Lumpy has been an asshole doing assholy things for decades so I am hoping this presidency thing that he thinks is going to be great for him, will actually end up being a long brewing karmic event that ends up being the biggest POTUS scandal evah!

  126. 126.

    WaterGirl

    January 1, 2017 at 10:31 am

    Happy New Year. It’s hard for me to write that because I’m mostly experiencing fear and dread at the thought of what lies ahead with Donald Trump. I don’t have much faith in our institutions to save us, but I do have immense faith that Barack Obama is not going to stand idly by while they burn everything down.

    I am happy to ring in the new year with all of you at Balloon Juice, and I have it on good authority that we must all hang together or we will surely all hang separately. (I’m looking at you, Baud.)

    I have the respiratory crud that’s going around, and I have to say it’s not much fun. Still, I am going to start a gratitude journal because I most definitely do not want to turn into one of those fearful angry people who put that piece of shit in the whitehouse. I don’t want us to do to ourselves what the country did after 9/11- we did far more damage to our country than Bin Laden ever did – he may be dead but he surely had the last laugh. I am determined not to let the orange-haired piece of shit turn me into a bitter, angry person. I am going to need you guys to help me stay on track.

  127. 127.

    Aleta

    January 1, 2017 at 10:35 am

    @japa21: 4. Obama wasn’t nice to me and Puutie. Traitor. I will save you America.

  128. 128.

    Corner Stone

    January 1, 2017 at 10:39 am

    @Hill Dweller:

    The Twitter machine is telling me Trump promises a “revelation” this week about the Russian hacking. His entire Presidency is going to be a series of publicity stunts.

    Where is the new property located he is getting ready to open? Git yer cameras rollin’, boys!

  129. 129.

    Corner Stone

    January 1, 2017 at 10:41 am

    I also just saw a blurb of Trump saying he knew some things others didn’t know (re: hacking). He is still, full on denying what the entire IC is saying, and if he would take briefings he would probably also learn that multiple allies IC’s are also in concurrence. They are all in full “out loud voice” about how concerned they are that Russia doesn’t do to them what they did to the US.

  130. 130.

    laura

    January 1, 2017 at 10:43 am

    @rikyrah: wishing you good things in the New Year.

  131. 131.

    Corner Stone

    January 1, 2017 at 10:45 am

    I think I need a nap. 2017 has really taken it outta me.

  132. 132.

    Emma

    January 1, 2017 at 10:46 am

    @Elizabelle: There are a lot of good beginner readers for many languages in Amazon. I got a couple of the Portuguese ones, but I think the best collection is in French. Many of them are free from time to time. If you are at the intermediate level they are amazingly helpful.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    January 1, 2017 at 10:46 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning, rikyrah. Is this your first good morning since the election?

  134. 134.

    Elizabelle

    January 1, 2017 at 10:48 am

    @WaterGirl: A gratitude journal is a great idea. There are always helpers, and a silver lining.

    @mai naem mobile: Trump might yet take the Republican party apparatus down. Guess we just have to be more patient than we would have expected.

    If the media’s beds burn, too, it’s their own damn fault.

  135. 135.

    amygdala

    January 1, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Happy New Year, everyone. However much I fear 2017 will somehow be worse, I live in hope it will be better. A lot better.

    Just about done packing for a late flight tonight. Going back to Haiti for a couple of weeks of volunteer work. Since my connecting flight is through Fort Lauderdale, it occurs to me that next time, assuming #ThinOrangeSkin doesn’t ban global health work, I should tack on a side trip to Cape Canaveral or the Keys. Weigh in, Floridians, about other places I should see in your fair state.

    Again, thank you for the constant reminder that there’s a network of good folks out there who care about critters other than their own and people other than themselves. That’s so important these days.

  136. 136.

    HeleninEire

    January 1, 2017 at 10:54 am

    @Corner Stone: Someone needs to ask him if he knows more than Obama. Cuz he’ll answer “yes.”

  137. 137.

    Nicole

    January 1, 2017 at 10:56 am

    Happy New Year. My 6-year-old went for a sleepover at the downstairs neighbor’s, so husband and I watched Train to Busan, a Korean zombie apocalypse flick, then went to bed. I awoke to discover our dog had thrown up on the couch. It seemed a fitting way to welcome the next four years.

    (None of this should be seen as criticism of Train to Busan, which was excellent and I highly recommend to fellow horror fans.)

  138. 138.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 11:00 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Happy New Year, WaterGirl. I saw something on FB a few days ago that I’m going to try for 2017. Once a week, write a note about the best thing that happened to you that week. Fold it up and put it in a jar. At the end of the year, read through the notes and see whether the year turned out to be better than you thought it might.

  139. 139.

    JPL

    January 1, 2017 at 11:00 am

    @Corner Stone: He’ll let us know additional details on Tuesday or Wednesday. My guess is his son did it, in the gold room.

  140. 140.

    laura

    January 1, 2017 at 11:01 am

    Oh joy, I’m driving down I-5 for 2 hours to walk a picket line for 6 hours and drive back to Sacramento in 2 hours.
    The employers at Saputo Dairy have decided that their employees no longer have health care coverage because reasons, but mostly to become more competitive and profits.

  141. 141.

    raven

    January 1, 2017 at 11:02 am

    Sound familiar?

    Johnson’s closest aides urged him to unmask Nixon’s actions. But on a Nov. 4 conference call, they concluded that they could not go public because, among other factors, they lacked the “absolute proof,” as Defense Secretary Clark Clifford put it, of Nixon’s direct involvement.

    Nixon was elected president the next day.

    since ya’ll are all so freaky about the NYT I won’t put the link in.

  142. 142.

    Central Planning

    January 1, 2017 at 11:05 am

    Happy January 1, everybody. Here’s to hoping 2017 kicks the ass of the WWC that voted for trump.

  143. 143.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 1, 2017 at 11:05 am

    Good New Year’s morning from New Mexico! Still recovering from the flu, but I ain’t dead yet. So one positive sign for 2017…and the BJ community is another. Heartfelt thanks to this pack of snarling jackals for being your wonderful selves.

  144. 144.

    germy

    January 1, 2017 at 11:05 am

    @raven: Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought Johnson didn’t want to go public because it would have revealed some bullshit he was involved in? I’m unclear on the details, and too hungover to research right now.

  145. 145.

    bemused

    January 1, 2017 at 11:11 am

    @Baud:

    I didn’t even know there was a Teen Vogue magazine which isn’t surprising as I am 65, lol. I checked it out and was impressed with the great articles such as the interview with Michelle Obama and education for girls/young women. I’m happy to see there are now magazines for young females that weigh into serious issues. All I remember of teen magazines from the 60’s and 70’s were the teen idol/pop star type focusing on makeup, etc., although I never subscribed to then or bothered to read them, not interesting to me even when I was a teen. Yay for progress.

  146. 146.

    Librarian

    January 1, 2017 at 11:16 am

    @NotMax: Family Plot is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, and his last. Very underrated.

  147. 147.

    Aleta

    January 1, 2017 at 11:18 am

    I heard this this morning. It’s beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_B-kzjYgY
    Noam Pikelny – Waveland

  148. 148.

    Woodrowfan

    January 1, 2017 at 11:18 am

    @debbie: we just had one at 10 instead of one at 830 and another at 1100. Pretty good turnout

  149. 149.

    Woodrowfan

    January 1, 2017 at 11:19 am

    @bemused: win a date with Bobby Sherman or David cassidy!

  150. 150.

    bemused

    January 1, 2017 at 11:28 am

    @Woodrowfan:

    Yes! Rolling my eyes and groaning.

  151. 151.

    Schlemazel

    January 1, 2017 at 11:31 am

    For those who have mentioned having to sit with pets freaked out last night, I present you with
    HORROR MOVIE FOR PETS
    http://www.gocomics.com/offthemark/2017/01/01

    Its a single panel cartoon so totally safe for pets

  152. 152.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 11:36 am

    @raven:

    I didn’t realize anyone honestly doubted Nixon had subverted the election. What I didn’t know until this article was that he’d talked about wiretapping during his 1962 gubernatorial election. One a pig, always a pig. Makes me wonder about any earlier dishonesties of Reagan (we already know about Trump).

  153. 153.

    eclare

    January 1, 2017 at 11:37 am

    @Schlemazel: Hahaha, I can relate. Have never heard fireworks so loud in my neighborhood, definitely not firecrackers.

  154. 154.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 11:41 am

    @Woodrowfan:

    Yeah, there was a 10:00 here. I know the earliest service (recently moved from 8:00 to 9:00) was the only traditional service and mostly attended by the older members. Hopefully, it will be back on schedule next week.

  155. 155.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 11:43 am

    @WaterGirl:

    I have it on good authority that we must all hang together or we will surely all hang separately. (I’m looking at you, Baud.)

    I am already hung.

  156. 156.

    debbie

    January 1, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @Baud:

    If you’re thinking seriously about leaving, know that this place won’t be the same without you.

  157. 157.

    Baud

    January 1, 2017 at 11:54 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Also Happy New Year, WG.

    @debbie:

    Happy New Year, debbie. I’m not not thinking about my future. I don’t want to be a drama queen about it, however. We’ll see how it goes. But thank you.

  158. 158.

    Another Scott

    January 1, 2017 at 11:57 am

    ObAiringofGrievances? One of our neighbors decided that having a very loud party with loud R&R music until 0215 was the way to welcome the new year.

    And UBlock Origin is seemingly broken on Chrome on my ChromeBook.

    (Grumble, grumble.)

    /FirstWorldProblems

    HNY, everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  159. 159.

    JPL

    January 1, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    @Another Scott: According to GA law, fireworks are allowed until two in the morning. Happy New Year indeed.

  160. 160.

    J R in WV

    January 1, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    Stayed up last night, never heard a peep from outside! Went to bed right after 11 pm EST and read etc til early 2 am, with a tiny glass of good bourbon. Slept well, got up at 11 and made good coffee for myself and the wife, as usual.

    Dog had investigated a nearly full trash bag, only retrieved an empty coffee bag. Now commenting with a purry big cat on my tummy. Didn’t go to the neighborhood NYE party, cold and rainy last night, just surfed the innertubes.

    Life is OK, today. Happy New Year, good morning, all!

  161. 161.

    opiejeanne

    January 1, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: There’s also Farenthold at WaPo. He and Eichenwald deserve a Pulitzer for their work during the election.

  162. 162.

    Miss Bianca

    January 1, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    Happy New Year, my dears.

    So our New Year’s Day hunt turned into a New Year’s Eve hunt. Snow hock-deep in some places, the air chilly, but sun shining brightly and *no wind*, a most excellent thing. I had a chance to take a new horse into the field – Kodi, a darling little Arab gelding, who behaved beautifully on his first hunt – wading thru’ the snow and following the hounds like a pro. He had been a cow pony, so I guess he figured chasing hounds, chasing cows – all one to him! We didn’t scent anything, so it turned into a slow, cross-country trail ride with hounds, itself an excellent thing, far as i’m concerned.

    We all retired to the greenhouse back at the ranch for hunt breakfast, rather than try to put out chairs in the snow at the hunt site. I had a chance to cuddle both ex-Office Kitties, as well as toss first Pancho, then Lefty, off the table as we were eating. Also had a chance to break out the new elder mead I had brewed, which went down very well.

    Finally, as we were saying final good-byes, and wishing each other Happy New Year, I had a chance to mention my dread of the coming year, and the start of the Orange Shitgibbon’s regime, to my friend Kris. She opined that perhaps we shouldn’t be dreading it – that perhaps, the country needed to have all the latent racism, sexism, and bigotry that had been festering below the surface of society to rise up so unmistakably that no one could miss it – the better to lance it, lastingly. I am not as sanguine about it all as she seems to be, but I am damned if I’ll allow myself to brood and despair any longer.

    So today on New Year’s Day I am doing all the things I want to do more of the in the coming year – reading, writing, playing music, stretching, walking the dogs, and baking. Among other things, like tidying my space. Here’s to a ferociously productive New Year, y’all!

  163. 163.

    No One You Know

    January 1, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    New Year’s Day!
    Everything is in bloom.
    I feel about average.

    –haiku by….Basho, I think.

  164. 164.

    NotMax

    January 1, 2017 at 1:36 pm

    @Librarian

    If memory serves, also has a score by John Williams.

  165. 165.

    WaterGirl

    January 1, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    @debbie: That’s an intriguing idea. Thanks

  166. 166.

    WaterGirl

    January 1, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    @Baud: My first thought was to reply with something about “well hung” but decided that would be too bawdy for a sunday morning. (pun intended)

  167. 167.

    Vheidi

    January 1, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    @Jeffro: the library is your friend

  168. 168.

    No One You Know

    January 1, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    I’m devoting the day to making ingredients I usually buy: shaved carrots in spicy garlic vinegar, Italian wedding soup from scratch, cardamom-and-rose vanilla sugar, preserved lemons. And one thing from the Moroccan cookbook I gave myself for Christmas.

    ETA: Wonkette’s French Onion soup, also, too.
    Hereby resolving to have one meal during the week that’s as good as anything I could buy from a franchise. Still supporting indie restaurants and bookstores, though :-)

  169. 169.

    Dog Dawg Damn

    January 1, 2017 at 3:52 pm

    I’ve been reading an excellent book, “Worse than War”, about genocide, eliminationism, and their causes.

    One thing that is clear is that the foundation for genocide exists in the U.S. at this point in time. All the pieces are there. That’s not anywhere near a guarantee it will happen (it usually doesn’t!), but it’s a disturbing thought.

    That said, the ultimate analysis is that genocide usually begins because of authority sanctioning or proposing it. So, we are one Donald Trump meltdown away from an domestic eliminationist campaign. If this sounds alarmist, please visit twitter and see for yourself the widespread genocidal aspirations of Trump supporters. See rhetoric of Mike Flynn, Allen West, DJT Jr. . . . it’s not even subtle.

    This is what wakes me up at night.

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