Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

So many bastards, so little time.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Second rate reporter says what?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

When we show up, we win.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread

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242Comments

  1. 1.

    Van Buren

    If you are offended by logos for strip clubs, there are probably better places to live than Vegas.

  2. 2.

    Repatriated

    All kinds of takes here.

    First, good advertising.

    Second, way to Streisand Effect it, lady. Free media for the strip club whose logo offended you!

    Third, for those sufficiently mean as to means-test charity, these tents are likely going to the most desperate, because who’d live in a tent with a strip-club logo if they had any other choice? (That was supposed to be a rhetorical question.)

    Finally, it’s great that they’re donating tents even if it’s just for advertising — at least they’re doing something!  Vegas gets (perhaps surprisingly to those unfamiliar with high deserts) dangerously cold in winter.

  4. 4.

    Quinerly

    Laid back Christmas here. Lots of sleeping and snuggling with Poco. He was diagnosed with Mast cell tumors Christmas Eve. Fast spreading. Three visible ones and probably one in his abdomen. He took over my life a little less than 6 years ago after Leo passed away on a Santa Fe trip. Vets we have seen since getting back from NC readjusted Poco’s age. He could be as old as 12 and not the 9 I had thought he was. A bit older than Stray Rescue thought when rescued from South St Louis streets. I probably won’t hang around on this thread this AM. Peace to all.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    Today I saw STAR WARS Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker after taking my new laptop back to the shop. (It needed a battery change. I get it back tomorrow.) I liked it. Unlike Return Of The Jedi, it doesn’t end with a garden party and frolicking furries.

    For me, the saga came to a conclusion that was not entirely expected and thus largely satisfying. My only real grouse is that the cinema didn’t play that magnificent main title music quite loud enough to suit me. I give it two thumbs up, and rate it above the average of the whole series.

    Now we need someone to watch the whole thing in one go, all nine episodes in narrative order, and report on that experience.

  11. 11.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Van Buren:

    If you are offended by logos for strip clubs, there are probably better places to live than Vegas.

    Yeah, my first thought as well. If she’s offended by such things,and living in Vegas – a city whose very raison d’etre is to feed human vices, very much including sins of the flesh – she needs to relocate, and that’s all there is to it.

  15. 15.

    Amir Khalid

    @debbie:

    Fortunately, there is no Jar Jar Binks, or anyone remotely as annoying as he, in The Rise of Skywalker. And at no point in this movie does Kylo Ren pray to a beat-up old helmet or call it “Grandfather”.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    @Amir Khalid:

    I lost motivation before the first one even ended. I thought the creatures in the bar scene looked more like Kroft puppets than what alien beings could look like. I don’t remember how many years later it was that I read Dune, but I remember thinking, now that’s how you create a fully realized world.

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    @debbie:

    Remember, A New Hope was made on a shoestring budget compared to the rest of the series, and predated the boom years of CGI. So it was understandable that the non-human characters (Chewie aside) didn’t look all that convincing. It was a minor flaw to which the fans (wisely, I reckon) closed one eye.

    STAR WARS isn’t proper science fiction, and shouldn’t be judged as if it were. Geoge Lucas tells us thai it came out of the not-even-middlebrow genre space opera — Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, that kind of thing — and to my mind it should be assessed in that context. When you consider its place in popular culture, STAR WARS is the zenith of space opera.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The mother finds a company providing tents for homeless people “Immoral and disgusting”. No doubt she drives a Cadillac SUV to her prosperity gospel church where she thanx god for all the blessings he has showered upon her righteous self.

  28. 28.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Well this is was suckey Christmas, I think my mother wants to kill herself.  She walked out in front of a speeding care Christmas Eve in front of me and my father as we were trying to get her to stop. Then at dinner last night was going on “We’ve been married 57 years which is a long time. I had a good meal and now I can die”….

    I suppose I can see it from her view point; she was obsessed over the grand kids and now they are adults moved away or working.  She certainly estranged me and apparently my sister for a bit. She was obsessing over Clay Aykin for a while but that seems to have died down.  So she has what?

    My father talks to people and enjoys arguing and doing fine for his age. My mothers talks at people and gets upset when contradicted. Also she is physical wreck from various injuries that really were fault (for example she destroyed her knees in her 60s by lifting to heavy a weight when exercising at the gym, this was after the firemen who were working out next to her were trying to get to back off, but she had to show off…) I suspect there is life lesson there.

  34. 34.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Barbara:  I am not sure, as I said she estranged me,  In her mind I am God’s punishment for her sleeping around with guys in her youth.  Maybe my sister can. Part of the problem is she is rather self destructive and has seriously injured herself (wrecked knees, hips and back) by refusing to follow safety instructions because “no one can tell her what she can’t do”

    And it doesn’t seem be depression. More like, she’s convinced herself it’s time to die because it’s proper.

  41. 41.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @satby: Dementia is quite possible. Her thinking has been quite off for a long while. There was point like fifteen years ago were mother started thinking like a teenager.

    She slipped a disc in the late 70s ) so my father thinks this is result of 40 years of painkillers

    She has many doctors.

  42. 42.

    germy

    The moral of a Christmas Carol is that it takes extreme supernatural intervention to get the rich to be generous so it’d probably just be easier to tax them

    — My Big Fat Atheist Christmas (@hobbsisme) December 25, 2019

  44. 44.

    SenyorDave

    I see that a story on the news is that Chuck Todd is facing criticism for confusing Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou.  Here is what I would love to hear him say.  I do apologize for my mistake.  As a journalist that should not have happened.  But what I should really be apologizing for, along with most of the MMS media, is not covering stories like our president separating families and putting children in cages.

  46. 46.

    satby

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: you, your sister, or your dad has to be added as personal representatives under HIPPA so that you know what the doctors tell your mom. My mom, who was the sole financial guarantor, fibbed for years about her diagnosis until my sister got herself added as my mom’s personal representative on her medical stuff.

    One the other hand, though the doctor may not be able to disclose information without that, everyone in the family is entitled to tell the doctor all their concerns about your mother’s behavior.

  52. 52.

    Betty

    @Quinerly: Sorry to hear about your buddy.You have had a lot of great adventures together. Hope he can be kept comfortable with the time he has left.

  55. 55.

    charluckles

    @Quinerly:

     

    Sorry, F- cancer and double F- MCT.  Without butting into your business too much, I hope that you will see a veterinary oncologist if you haven’t already.

     

    I spent many years battling that f-bombing disease.  It’s unfortunately relatively common in dogs, but it is also one of the canine cancers where we are starting to be able to tease out the molecular roots.  There are some amazing treatment paradigms available and new ones coming down the pipe.

  56. 56.

    satby

    I finally got a decent nights sleep. Was shocked to see the beginnings of daylight when I woke up. My son gave me some delicious kona coffee that I ground and am having right now, and it’s warm enough (52°) that I’m going to go have my next cup on the porch.

  61. 61.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Amir Khalid:

    I enjoyed Rise of Skywalker, but didn’t like it.  Rise of Skywalker is two good Star Wars movies crammed into the time of one, because Abrams is a whiny ass titty baby who can’t stand that the middle movie was given to someone else.  He sweeps Last Jedi as much as physically possible under the rug and goes on telling the dynastic saga he wanted to originally.  If you liked Rose, the anti-capitalist message, the irreverence towards Jedi tradition, that Rey didn’t have to be part of a lineage to be special, or the implication that revolution was about regular people, Abram tosses all of those in the trash.

    Those are, incidentally, the elements asshole misogynist fanboys threw screaming tantrums about.

    Because he’s cramming two movies into one, the first half of Rise of Skywalker is super rushed, and it’s a shame.  It really is a fun movie.  It did have a few elements that I found hard to swallow even in Star Wars, which isn’t meant to make sense, and you can’t go through the movie telling Rey to not be afraid of who she is, then deliver that final line.

  63. 63.

    Betty Cracker

    Joan Cusack, whose comedic talent is tragically underused in most movies in which she appears, runs a quirky gift shop in Chicago. I always wondered what happened to her. Now I know!

  65. 65.

    Amir Khalid

    Premier League bulletin: José Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur trail visitors Brighton & Hove Albion 0-1 at halftime in the first Boxing Day match. The last match on the programme is the top-of-the-table clash Leicester City-Liverpool. This is as close to a title six-pointer as the EPL will get this season. Should Liverpool win the match, they will be 13 points clear of Leicester with a game in hand, i.e. they will have all but disappeared over the horizon in the race to the Premier League title. If Leicester win, they cut the lead to just seven points. Which was Liverpool’s lead at this time last season, which ended with them losing the title by just one point.

  66. 66.

    Quinerly

    @charluckles: thanks for piping in. I went through treatment for very rare tear duct cancer with an Akita/Chow named Buddy awhile back, when he was 11. One of the top cancer vets at the time was in St. Louis, plus we went to the vet school in Columbia. Leo started a Santa Fe trip with me with an unknown at the time ticking time bomb of a malignant tumor on his spleen. Leo was 11 and I had to say goodbye to him after he collapsed in the middle of the night. Did manage to get him to the emergency Pet clinic. Poco is very sick, has had a wonderful, well traveled life. These are Mast cell tumors invading his body, fast growing, and probably in his liver. Keeping him comfortable and as happy as we can be for a few days are my hopes right now. He’s 12 and close to 70lbs. I have a strong understanding that we just don’t have these big dogs, even under the best conditions, as long as we hope. It’s tough, but the circle of life. Thank you for your kind words.

  67. 67.

    germy

    @Betty Cracker:  There have been more than a few actresses over the years who I wondered what happened to.  “Where’d they go?”  And then it turns out many of them had their careers sabotaged by Weinstein.

    Turns out there were many talented writers and directors who got the same treatment.

  69. 69.

    BC in Illinois

    This belongs in Adam’s thread about fitness goals, but I was computer-free for much of Christmas day. Since three of our four kids (and seven g’kids) are nearby, they see us all the time, so they gathered with other family. We will have most of the group together this weekend and then we hope to see everybody the first weekend in January.

    So Mrs BC and I spent all Christmas afternoon and evening with her sister. While they discussed the preparation of roast duck, I talked on the phone with my brother. Then we went to Forest Park for a stroll around the lake below Art Hill. (It was in the 70s in St Louis.)

    But then on the way home, I did a One-Percent Marathon.

    Marathon = 42 kilometers / 26.2 miles

    Tither’s Marathon = 4.2 km / 2.62 miles

    One-Percent Marathon = 420 meters / .262 miles

    (on the track)        = one lap and 20 meters (65 feet, 7 inches)

    So we went to the middle school track, paced off 23 yards or so from the finish line, and then ran that 23 yards and one full lap.

    3 minutes, 24.51 seconds.

    Times 100 = a 5 hour, 41 minute marathon.

    Now I just have to run it 99 more times.

  72. 72.

    Raven

    @charluckles: We went full blast treatment of Raven’s anal carcinoma 15 years back. He survived for 2 1/2 years but the post treatment was awful for the little dude. We say we wouldn’t do that to a pup again but we say a lot of shit,

  73. 73.

    Quinerly

    Thanks for everyone’s kind words. Trying to get motivated. Think it’s a good day to work a bit in the yard. Will be in the 60’s. I’m working on a sweet post about Poco’s large life of travels in the less than 6 years with me. He’s done some stuff, that’s for sure. Again, thanks for everything. You are a wonderful community of sweet jackals. ?

  77. 77.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Quinerly: My Hoss was diagnosed with bone cancer at a point when he was riddled with it. It was 2 weeks from diagnosis to the day we said our last goodbyes. It hurts even more when it happens so fast, because one just barely has time to say goodbye.

  79. 79.

    Quinerly

    @Raven: to be honest, I’m not sure I would put myself through very much. I have a friend who is fighting the same kind of brain cancer that Kennedy/McCain had. So much treatment, so much suffering. I guess we never truly know until we are in that situation, though. Thanks for this little comment, though, raven. I’m big on quality of life. Especially hard with animals b/c we cannot explain to them what is going on. Poco would not be a good patient. I know that for a fact. Peace, man. ????❤️

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    Spurs come from behind to lead Brighton 2-1 with a lovely Dele Alli goal from a Chrstian Eriksen assist.

  85. 85.

    zhena gogolia

    @Quinerly:

    With our kitty Sasha we had an ER doctor on a Sunday afternoon claim they could bring her back, and I said, “At 15 years old?” And she said, “Age is just a number.” So we put her through a week of anxiety and separation from us in a hospital, and she died a week later. I really regret not listening to my inner common sense on that one. Poco will be happiest with you.

  88. 88.

    Raven

    @Quinerly: careful with that last link I sent.   I’ve mentioned the group of guys from my outfit in Korea. Eight of us have found each other from a chance post on a UC Berkeley blog post about “The DMZ” war. The guy who initiated the contact had a massive stroke and I got a text Christmas morning that he died. Fucking shit is really fragile.

  90. 90.

    Amir Khalid

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Now that you mention it, I have to agree: The Rise of Skywalker does feel rushed in a lot of places, and seems to disregard everythng that happened in The Last Jedi. How did the Rebels get out of that jam they were in at the end of TLJ?

    I’m also wondering how that old guy from Bespin persuaded all those people to come to the Rebels’ aid in this one. That to me would be a whole movie by itself.

  92. 92.

    Frankensteinbeck

    On a random Star Wars note, I always liked the theory that Chewbacca viewed Han Solo as his pet.  Han was the goodest of Good Doggos.  Saved his life when they met.  Always ran around barking and dragging him into trouble.  Faithful to the end.  Chewbacca loved and would have given his life for that dog, without hesitation.

  93. 93.

    Immanentize

    I may have behaved badly at my neighbors last night.  No lampshade hat or anything, but my nextdoor neighbors invited me and the neighbors to the other side of me in for Christmas beverages and desserts.  I brought a good bottle of wine and a nice tray of my homemade Czech cookies….  We were sitting at the dining table and chatting when the guy neighbor (not the host) who is Irish, started in on how Brexit will be just fine and that everything will be just as it has always been etc. I raised an eyebrow when I said that the Tories will likely cut the cash to Northern Ireland (why should they pay huge subsidies now that Sinn Fein has a majority there and the trend is bad for Unionists?). He was not happy about this comment.
    Then, not five minutes later, same guy said something like “the pendulum has really swung too far, now it’s white men under the gun.” I might have blurted out, at least they are not literally under the gun like young unarmed black men shot down by police. We got out of that one and then he decided it was necessary to talk about how tech is a perfect working environment for women. Ugh. I got a little heated, standing up (figuratively), as I felt I was, for my late wife who worked more years in tech in different settings than this guy (I am certain I said that my wife “Julie would certainly differ if she were here. But she is dead, you know.”). It was not the drink talking, it was anger. And these people are quite comfortable two earner households with kids in private schools. I either need to get out more or less.

    Meanwhile, this long story is a setup to the fact that I had an esprit de l’escalier last night. From now on, when someone says that they believe things like “white men have it bad now,” I am going to ask, “Have you discussed this interesting theory with any of your black friends?”

    BLECH!

  95. 95.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Amir Khalid:

    How did the Rebels get out of that jam they were in at the end of TLJ?

    They didn’t, not really.  That they were reduced to a tiny handful of people who dug up crappy ships somewhere wasn’t important.  In Abrams’ story, only Rylo and Rey, the inheritors of great lineages, truly matter.

  100. 100.

    Immanentize

    @Raven:Or as my Dad used to say, “You’re a better can than I am, hunk of tin.”

    Thanks, but I feel quite guilty for my part in the drama.

  101. 101.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Immanentize: I may have had a similar moment at the home of Mr DAW’s bridge partner last night. Her brother is a retired chemistry professor from Loyola. He was going on about a number of things, including how people used to be surrounded by lead and they were just fine. (Again, he was a chemistry professor.) Also, students and professor don’t want to work any more. I kept my mouth shut about all that.

    Then the hostess was worrying aloud about her grandson, whose mother died this year, and who’s struggling in school. And this guy, her brother, started quizzing her about whether the kid was learning basic math, and cursive writing, and phonics. If she even said she didn’t know, he went on about how schools didn’t teach anything any more. That’s when I lost it.

    I slapped the table and cried, “You’re wrong!” I followed up with some stuff I’ve seen my DIL doing with primary school students that’s really demanding.

    I think I was less, uh, diverse than you were in the issues I chose to comment on, but I’m a little worried the hostess won’t play bridge with Mr DAW any more. We’ll see.

    I like your esprit d’escalier question.

  102. 102.

    Yarrow

    Is Balloon-Juice working better this morning or am I just hitting it at a good time? I see Recent Comments are still there.

  105. 105.

    Gin & Tonic

    @OzarkHillbilly: Funny, but I’m looking for an explanation of how they welded that without setting fire to the cardboard. And I’ll note we see only two of the six sides.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @Quinerly: Just got on the train, opened the laptop. and this is the first thing I read:  strip club, strip club, snow, really sad news for you and Poco, the best travel companion ever.

    Tears running down my face, luckily no one sitting next to me.  My Bailey went so fast with something very similar.  May you guys have some sweet time together, no matter how short.

  109. 109.

    Raven

    We decided to split the drive and I turned it over when we hit 77 South and the sun is brutal. I’ll take over just north of Charlotte and the sun will be at our back!

  116. 116.

    Kattails

    @Quinerly: I am so sorry for you and your beloved buddy. Reading the thread, it’s clear you have solid, if sad, handle on it. The last time I had to send an old and sick pet over the bridge, it was very peaceful. I’m very lucky that my vet will do house calls for this.

  117. 117.

    WaterGirl

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Wow, that’s a lot for you to process.  Any chance she might be on some medication that has suicidal thoughts as a side effect?

    Either way, I’ll second what satby said.  She needs to get to a doctor stat.  At this point the only thing you can really control is making sure you have no regrets.

    Peace.

  120. 120.

    Gin & Tonic

    @OzarkHillbilly: I actually got out of the boat. Here’s what the OP says:

    It’s fully welded but the final welds were ground for a tight fit with zero bevel so they’d have basically zero penetration. I also cut up an aluminum can to shield the cardboard as I welded. Using a TIG welder helped too. Only scorched the box in two tiny places which weren’t too noticeable.

  123. 123.

    rp

    I HATED The Rise of Skywalker. What an ungodly mess. Rushed, incoherent, loud, awkward, and filled with deus ex machinas. And the fan service and lack of respect for the previous movie are really obnoxious.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It hurts even more when it happens so fast, because one just barely has time to say goodbye.

    Yep.  I call that going from 0 to 60 in a heartbeat, with no time to process your emotions.  So hard.

  127. 127.

    Quiltingfool

    @OzarkHillbilly: I just read your angle grinder comment to my husband – he said not everybody needed an angle grinder, but he has 2.  One for him and one for me, I guess!

  129. 129.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    In our family we blame that on the fact that there is a very short space between the ears and the mouth.  Doesn’t give enough time to prevent responses to things we hear.

  130. 130.

    Yarrow

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:  Very sorry to hear about all this. I’ll echo what others have said about depression, adding that depression can present differently in seniors so often goes unrecognized. Aches and pains can be a sign of depression but are often brushed away in older people as “just part of being old.” A good assessment could help.

    Yes, you can talk to her doctor. As others have said, if you’re officially on the list to get her medical info there’s not much more he can do but listen but if he’s on her side he will listen and take it into account at her next appointment. I’d also add that a review of her medications, including OTC, could also be helpful. Could be some interactions there that are causing problems. There have been cases where generics have had problems and haven’t worked as well as the brand name and it has caused problems for patients. If anything has changed, including the generic manufacturer, that could also be contributing.

    The dementia question is also important. It’s very hard and frustrating for people when they realize something is wrong and know there’s not much they can do about it. Getting diagnosed early can be helpful as there is time for planning and also new medications can slow progression.

    Best to you. Navigating aging parents is tough at the best of times. Harder with family dynamics adding to the challenge.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: I say good for you for not letting all the lies and bullshit pass.  If, having done that, you want to use your witty line going forward, well, that’s good, too.

  133. 133.

    WaterGirl

    @Raven: I am on the train and it’s jostling my computer, so I read that as

    You deserve credit for not dropping him like a bad habit dead rabbit. I was already nodding in agreement when I noticed that I had read it wrong.

  134. 134.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl:  Hope you are feeling better. Question arose in the late night thread last night when joel hanes was suddenly able to post pictures in comments.

    Was that ability supposed to be eventually open to all commenters or was it always going to be restricted to front pagers? Cheryl Rofer said she thought it was supposed to be something all of us could do but I thought you’d said not.

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: No shit.  They’ve had a pass for about 12 years, and look where it’s gotten us.  I have come to the conclusion that civility in the face of hate and evil is highly overrated.

  138. 138.

    Another Scott

    I’m afraid to ask…

    An ad I’ve seen a couple of times this morning on BBC News.

    Pre-poop spray.  For very important poopers.

    Is there an advertising equivalent of Poe’s Law??

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  139. 139.

    Baud

    @Immanentize:

    Then, not five minutes later, same guy said something like “the pendulum has really swung too far, now it’s white men under the gun.”

    You also could have gone with, “I’m white. I’m doing fine. You must simply not be good enough.”

    (I made an assumption about your race, but I hope you can make it work.)

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: Interesting.

    Nope.  Regular peeps should not be able to post pictures in comments.  If you tell me what thread that’s in, I can see what he was able to do so we can block that code in the future.

    I’m surprised that was able to make it through, so I’ll be very interested in seeing the comment!

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud:

    You also could have gone with, “I’m white. I’m doing fine. You must simply not be good enough.”

    And here I thought it was not possible to love Baud more…

  143. 143.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl:  It was this comment. You can see Cheryl’s comment in that thread that eventually all commenters should be able to post pictures in comments

    Edit: Sorry, forgot to say thank you for clarifying. I’m relieved we won’t have comment threads filled with photos. It would take forever to load.

  144. 144.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Immanentize: @Dorothy A. Winsor: Good for you.

    I decided this holiday season that we have to speak up to people who are damaging the country. I included a couple of sentences in my holiday letter saying that “if you support Donald Trump, you are damaging the country and the world” and suggesting that they can make up for it by supporting the Democrat in next year’s election. Got some not-surprising compliments on that from some. There are a few suspects I haven’t heard from yet, but their letters are often late.

    No safe spaces for that garbage.

  145. 145.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ve not tried posting a picture in a comment with the new system. Here goes:

    Thursday Morning Open Thread

    ETA: Yay, it worked!

  146. 146.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: I really appreciate the info.  It takes a village. We need to block that for regular peeps to keep the site secure.

    It’s interesting, we already had blocked http image strings that aren’t part of tweets, so this was either a glitch OR we blocked http but not https.

    I’ve already let the developers know.

  147. 147.

    Patricia Kayden

    For all you Commonwealth guys and gals, Happy Boxing Day!! Enjoy your shopping and eating leftovers.

  150. 150.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: oh. I am a pale male indeed.  But I know how being white saved me from a life my black neighbors growing up could not access quite.  Just before Christmas I thought an easy sheep versus goats line to be drawn is, “Are you truly grateful for what you have?”. There have been moments over the last couple of years that I wanted to ignore that idea and go with, “Woe is me” or “Why me. lord?” Or more accurately “Jesus fucking  Christ on a cracker, WTF?!”

    But I look around and am just amazed at all I have been allowed in this life, setbacks be damned. E.g., Quinerly is hurting now for good fucking reason, but her life is a better one because of Poco.

    Like Raven’s cartoon suggests — these gifts go in more than one direction

  151. 151.

    JMG

    A happy discovery this morning. Leftover popovers warmed just 10 seconds in the microwave, an apple, cheddar cheese and coffee make a tremendous breakfast.

  152. 152.

    schrodingers_cat

    The news coming out of Uttar Pradesh is horrific. It is home to 40% of India’s Muslims. The world is sleeping and never again is happening again.

    BTW if you think that the naked dance that the Sangh is doing in India will leave us unaffected you are wrong,   Tulsi Gabbard has been funded by the American offshoot of the Sangh. Also, BJP’s  troll factory was actively aiding and abetting white nationalists in the UK election and they will do the same over here.

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Go, you!

    There may be other things in Tips for Front Pagers that you might be interested in.  Let me know if I need to send you the link.  Or maybe I sent it to you recently?  I believe I sent it to either you or Cheryl.

  155. 155.

    Percysowner

    The viewer, who wishes to remain anonymous, told 13 Action news that she was driving with her small children on Bonanza Road near the downtown area when her child saw the tents and asked about Deja Vu.

    Because she couldn’t take this as an opportunity to explain the Deja Vu is the feeling of having been somewhere before? And she couldn’t say that some business thought it was a cool name? Jeeze! I never understand why people who are SO afraid of giving certain kinds of information can’t just come up with a true explanation that doesn’t seem problematic.

  156. 156.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl:  You’re welcome. I was so surprised to see it last night that I asked him if he’d been promoted to front pager. LOL.

    @Cheryl Rofer: Oh, good. Glad you saw this. Now I don’t have to remember to mention it when I next saw you in comments. Glad we got that sorted.

    @Betty Cracker:  Cute photo. I will say my personal preference is that front pagers don’t get to post photos or video in comments either, just like the rest of us. It makes the threads take longer to load (especially bad with tweets), takes extra bandwidth and it just accentuates the status difference between frontpagers and commenters and for what reason? What does it add that front pagers are able to post those things in comments? How is that better for all of us? My inner soshulist is showing, I know.

  157. 157.

    satby

    @Immanentize: Good for you!!

    The only thing that will start turning the tide of idiocy is when white men like you argue back to those guys. Because as a female, what I say basically doesn’t matter. They expect me to disagree, but since it’s a woman speaking, who cares?

  160. 160.

    opiejeanne

    Tomorrow is our 50th wedding anniversary (yes, I was a child bride) and I need to get mr opiejeanne a gift.  I think I might buy him a nice gold wedding ring because the one I bought him 50 years ago is white gold and looks like heck now. It is a plain band bt I thought it was nice back then..

    The only hitch is that neither of us wear our rings these days because of working with tools and cooking (I decided maybe it wasn’t so sanitary wearing my rings while messing with raw chicken), so I don’t know if he’d like it enough to wear it.

    Hmmm.

  163. 163.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat:

    BTW if you think that the naked dance that the Sangh is doing in India will leave us unaffected you are wrong,   Tulsi Gabbard has been funded by the American offshoot of the Sangh. Also, BJP’s  troll factory was actively aiding and abetting white nationalists in the UK election and they will do the same over here.

    This is absolutely true. White nationalism is a global business now and is also a tool being used to further the goals of our enemies like Russia. Weird to think of an Indian political party having ties to white nationalism, but there you go.

  164. 164.

    TomatoQueen

    Blazing sunshine, Boxing Day footy all the livelong day, including TOON at lunchtime, and also a post-game segment called Inside the Mind of Frank Lampard, the existence of which should’ve seemed to somebody as an absurdity, and it’s a work day in this country. Merlin sends a soft paw pat to Poco, he of Many Voyages and Tail Thumps. I echo everybody in getting immediate doctor’s advice for ANY sign of possible suicidal thoughts, pronto, it could be a matter of medication adjustment, or a UTI, or something else, but verbalizing is one thing, verbalizing and acting out is another. My best thoughts and love to all today.

  167. 167.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: For what it’s worth, the photos don’t really take longer to load, because we default to medium sized images, so they aren’t big.

    Tweets don’t really make the site load more slowly, they just fill in a bit more slowly, but the page is already up and readable right away.

    Personally, I think it can brighten up a thread to have the occasional picture posted, and the same thing with a tweet in the comments, especially if it’s a topic that is already being discussed in the comments.

    I don’t see a single front pager who is doing anything to slow things down,  Well, except for the GIFYY thing I saw the other day – holy crap, there’s a lot going on with those that might well slow things down.  But that’s the only thing I’ve seen.

    Just my opinion.

  169. 169.

    Yarrow

    @TomatoQueen:  Oh, yes. Good point. UTIs are waaay underdiagnosed (especially in men) in early stages. Getting an older person checked for that if they are showing mental health changes is an important first step.

  172. 172.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow:

    …it just accentuates the status difference between frontpagers and commenters and for what reason? What does it add that front pagers are able to post those things in comments? How is that better for all of us? My inner soshulist is showing, I know.

    I have a lot of inner socialist in me as well.  But the way I see it, front pagers are doing all of us a huge honor by taking the time and energy to post on Balloon Juice.  Not one of them gets paid one penny.

    My feeling is that small perks that cost nothing – not time, not bandwidth – are totally in order as a thank you and acknowledgement for all their contributions.  We have SO MUCH TALENT in our front pagers; I think small perks are the least we can do.

    My two cents.

  173. 173.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat:  I meant that it may seem weird to outsiders who don’t know the history. On its face, an Indian political party supporting white supremacy seems odd.

    @WaterGirl: Appreciate your input. I obviously have a different opinion and find the stark class differentiation a downside.

    the GIFYY thing

    I must have missed that. Have you seen the threads where it’s YouTube after YouTube in the comments from front pagers. Not a fan.

  174. 174.

    Gin & Tonic

    @opiejeanne: Wow, congratulations. That mark is still a few years away, but still a milestone to look forward to.

    I, in contrast, never remove my band. When I went in for surgery the year before last they insisted it be removed. I said “different hand” but they insisted, and got it off somehow, but it was quite a struggle.

  176. 176.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Yarrow: They are drunk on their own ideological Kool-Aid. Indian Foreign ministry dissed Rep. Pramila Jaypal and was making kissy faces with Steve fucking Bannon.

    Yes it is odd and not well thought out but RWNJs are not exactly known for wisdom and deep intellect are they?

    The BJP troll that comes here to spam my posts on India is a regular commenter on Richard’s Spencer’s blog.

  178. 178.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: Note that, as I understand it, he was only able to post the image link as an actual image after going in and editing it after the first time he posted it.

    IOW, it may be a glitchlet in the editor code.

    Thanks for working on this.

    edit – just a test.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  179. 179.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl:  Is that a perk? How is it a perk? I’m with you on appreciating front pagers doing everything they do for free. Just not quite clear on how posting photos and videos in comments is a perk.

  180. 180.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @opiejeanne: I had to cut my first wedding ring off my finger after it got crushed at work. My 2nd wedding ring I tried to hang around my neck but the chain kept getting caught in the claw of my hammer. My 3rd wedding ring (2nd marriage) is an earring. I forget it’s there until I need an MRI, then it has to come out.

  181. 181.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat:  It’s so weird that they’re doing that. I mean, do they not realize they won’t be welcome in the white nationalist paradise? They’re at best useful idiots now.

  186. 186.

    J R in WV

    @Quinerly:

     

    So sorry to hear about Poco, and hoping you have a good time with him to say good-bye. Real pet lovers have been there and done that many times, but you never get used to it. Our vet has one exam room dedicated to family goodbye events, not quite the same as house calls, but still a good thing.

    We lost Happy dog last January in one day, and were a single dog household for several months, until the two black twins were delivered last fall. Alice got fat and sedentary quickly, needed her toenails trimmed often. No more!

    The puppies are hyperactive, and so must Alice be if she intends to be head dog of the pack. She still is a little large, but it’s quite firm muscle today, and the toenails don’t even click on the floors.

    Cuddle Poco, feed him his favorite treats, lots of waggs, in the time you have together. He knows you have his back and will look out for him! Best wishes for both of you!

  187. 187.

    Ruckus

    @low-tech cyclist:

    Some take their little bubble with them where ever they go.

    They don’t want to know about the world and it’s foibles, they want the perfect world of a nursery school, or bible study. Anything else upsets their little tummies.

  188. 188.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow:

    Have you seen the threads where it’s YouTube after YouTube in the comments from front pagers.

    No, I have not seen that.  Would happily take a link to an example if you happen to have one at the ready.

    Don’t get me started – I will fight to the death against any suggestion that people who can afford to pay for an “ad-free experience” should be able to have one and those who can’t afford it are out of luck.  To me, that is a caste system that would be unacceptable.

    To me that’s different from getting to post some fun stuff that’s not a risk because we know who every front pager is, and there is every reason to be confident that no front pager is going to use their WP login to put the site at risk, security-wise.

    So it’s really more that we need to protect against a malicious behavior by someone (obviously not speaking about any of the regular peeps here) than it is trying to exclude anybody.

    So to me, it’s a side benefit that it’s a perk to front pagers as a thank you.  Again, not speaking officially, just sharing what I know in case it’s useful.  And sharing me opinion because, hey, it’s balloon juice, that’s what we do.

  192. 192.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steeplejack (phone): My favorite is something along the lines of:

    “Having taken years to come to terms with my nature Marty, I am not inclined to forego it on your account.”

    Said in a parking lot right after… I forget what.

  193. 193.

    jeffreyw

    We have honey bees out and looking for nectar in mid winter because the temps hit nearly 70 yesterday and are going to maybe match that today.  I put out a saucer of sugar water.

  194. 194.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Yarrow:

    do they not realize they won’t be welcome in the white nationalist paradise?

    First they have to establish that genocide is a good thing, and that your race and family and religion are what define your quality.  Then they can move on to fighting over who should genocide who.  It’s very similar to the alliance between evangelicals and conservative Catholics.

  196. 196.

    Another Scott

    In other news, … BBC News:

    An “angry-looking” tortoise has been rescued after it started a fire in a house.

    The 45-year-old reptile was home alone when it knocked a heat lamp on to its bedding in a room at the house in Duton Hill, Great Dunmow, on Christmas Day.

    Firefighters were called at about 16:30 GMT after neighbours heard alarms, and found the house smoke-logged.

    Watch manager Gary Wain said the tortoise “will now hopefully continue to live a long and happy life”.

    “This shows how important it is to have smoke alarms on every level of your home.

    “Even if you’re not home, they will alert anyone close by to the first sign of fire,” Mr Wain said.

    “This tortoise has had a very lucky Christmas Day – he is 45 years young and will now hopefully continue to live a long and happy life, thanks to working smoke alarms.”

    The fire was extinguished and the house cleared of smoke within 25 minutes.

    A Facebook post said: “This 45 year old tortoise might look angry but it’s his lucky day. Our on-call crews left their families to go extinguish the fire and gave him a very merry Christmas.”

    Doesn’t he have a name???!!

    Who, What, When, Where, Why…

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  198. 198.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: They care about it, they want the ability to do it, they consider it something of value.

    I can’t say that every single front pager cares about that ability, but many do.

    I consider that a perk.

    Also. they had that ability on the old site, it was in the specs.  You don’t take away functionality  in an upgrade, without having a darn good reason.  Not if you want a successful upgrade anyway.

    Making a change to this is not under consideration.  That said, I’m happy to hear thoughts on this, or anything else.

  199. 199.

    laura

    @Quinerly: If ever a dog was so fortunate to have you as his hoomin – a woman who saved him from a hard, misery of a lonely life of desparation and fear and then revealed to him the whole of the world and the whole of her heart and shared his adventures with all of us. I’m so sorry that your boon companion’s days are short and wish you comfort and joy and more simple pleasures than sorrows.

    You made a poor dog a mighty good life.

  201. 201.

    Humdog

    @schrodingers_cat: I wasn’t paying the attention I should have back in 2002, but did they have massive protests against BJP the last time they unleashed violence against Muslims? It must be heartening to see so many standing up and saying not again, not here. It is scary to think a democracy can tell media not to report on the protests else they support national disunity.

  202. 202.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl:  I don’t have an example handy, sorry. Probably don’t later night thread but would have to go dig one up. I usually exit those threads. They’re super annoying when they happen.

    Again, I don’t see WHY it’s a perk. Maybe front pagers find it a perk.  If their perk causes problems for lowly commenters is that good? I don’t know. Maybe I’m the only one who has a problem with it. Has bothered me for a long time, well before the redesign. There’s a class distinction and I don’t understand why that posting ability a perk or benefit so I fail to understand why the class distinction is being highlighted so much. Like I said, inner soshulist.

  203. 203.

    joel hanes

    @WaterGirl:

    What I did when I “posted a picture”:

    0.  Put the URL of a pinterest picture at the end of a comment. Almost certainly in text mode.
    1. Submit comment. Notice the URL is missing
    2. Edit comment, put the URL back, expecting it to appear as a naked link. Not sure whether in text or visual mode at that point
    3. Submit edit.

    I’ll try to do it again with the same picture and see if it works.

    ETA: here’s the link to the comment I made
    https://balloon-juice.com/2019/12/25/merry-christmas-also-never-to-early-to-start-on-your-new-years-fitness-goals/#comment-7523913

  206. 206.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Humdog: No they didn’t. Modi won 3 terms as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and became the Prime Minister after Godhra. This is the first time that they have got this massive push back. Inciting hate has paid them rich dividends electorally. From the late 1980s.

  213. 213.

    joel hanes

    @danielx:

     

    I too received the latest LeCarre — but TBF, it was not because my granddaughter knows my taste, but because it was high priority on my Amazon wishlist.

  215. 215.

    zhena gogolia

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Cool!

    I got two Jane Austen books, Kamala Harris’s book (sob!), a biography of Mister Rogers, and a thriller narrated by Joe Biden. My husband is weird.

  219. 219.

    joel hanes

    @WaterGirl:

    I worked in in chip design “diagnostics” for many years (wrote programs that attempt to prove that the hardware design does not do what it’s supposed to do, or does things it’s not supposed to do).   Breaking stuff just seems to come naturally.

    I try not to spend much time in china shops.

  221. 221.

    Betty Cracker

    @Yarrow: If I thought it caused a problem for “lowly commenters,” I’d happily give up the “perk” of being able to post images, but as far as I know, it doesn’t cause problems. I rarely post images (the above was a test), but I do think it’s often helpful to be able to embed tweets in comments. One recent example: in the impeachment hearing threads, it’s possible to post tweets with video clips so people can watch salient exchanges without leaving the boat.

  222. 222.

    Renie

    Hope everyone had a great holiday.  Need some advice from dog owners here.  My husband and I will become empty nesters this year and plan to retire in 5 years.   I’m thinking of getting a dog, probably an older rescue dog and am wondering if, as we age, having a dog at this stage is not a great idea.  I grew up with dogs so I do know what’s involved.   What do you ‘boomers’ think about this?  Thanks.

  225. 225.

    Miss Bianca

    @Immanentize: I feel your pain. I think I may have estranged an old friend on the Book of Faces when I just couldn’t take all the white-liberal-angst on one of the political groups she runs and basically told them all to grow up and look at the Blue Wave in 2018 and stop whinging and start working if they were worried about 2020. I stopped *just* short of telling them – “you think *you’ve*got shit to worry about? Try talking to some African-American voters – if you know any.” : (

  226. 226.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @zhena gogolia:

    The goddamn editor is preventing me from replying to you.

    I am not psyched to see the new Little Women. The previews make it look like in order to “modernize” it a character will at some point say that something is “awesome.” Do not want.

  227. 227.

    patrick II

     

    To me, Deja Vu means I think I have seen homeless being treated badly during a Republican administration before.

  228. 228.

    Another Scott

    @Renie: A couple of things:

    1. Dogs can be spendy these days.  Routine vet visits, boarding, emergency vet visits, stressed out little monsters chewing up stuff, etc.
    2. Doggies need regular exercise.

    If you know what you’re getting into, and you have the means, then dogs are great.  Saves getting a home security system, also too.

    We’ve had 3 rescues in the last 20 years.  (We’re approaching 60.)  Ours have been on the order of 9-18 months when they’ve joined us, and have lived to 10-11.  They’ve been very good to us and we wouldn’t have it any other way.  But there are real trade-offs.

    Good luck with your decision.  HTH.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  230. 230.

    Barbara

    @Immanentize: Grrrrrr!  No idea what to say, but share your evident exasperation.  But good for you to push back at him.  Of course, his answer to your question if he is honest would be “what black friends?”

  231. 231.

    Miss Bianca

    @Steeplejack (phone): I’ve heard very favorable reviews of this one, so I may give it a try. Altho’ I am inclined to think that the 90s version, even if it does feature Susan Sarandon, was practically perfect so I’m not sure why “Little Women” has to be remade every generation or so.

     

    Kind of like “A Christmas Carol”, now I come to think of it.

  232. 232.

    laura

    @Renie: Please give serious consideration to getting a dog – especially a senior dog. They force you into “The Now” and even though there’s no way of knowing who may outlast who, the sheer joy and love they bring, and the love they reveal in YOU is worth all the burden and inconvenience.

    When my world crashed, the last thing I needed was a slightly used pound dog. Or so I thought. Chet has seen me and family through the loss of both parent, both in-laws and far too many friends. He’s sleeping on my foot. YMMV, but a dog may be just the ticket for you too.

  233. 233.

    zhena gogolia

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I’m kind of mystified by why it keeps getting remade. I don’t find the story very compelling. The Winona Ryder version was good (back when I still liked Susan Sarandon) and recent enough that I don’t see the need for this one. But I like Saorise Ronan, and James Norton clinched it for me.

    ETA: I could swear I spelled it Saoirse.

  236. 236.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat:  Thank you. Glad to know I’m not the only one.

    @WaterGirl: My comment below yours was in progress and I posted it before I saw yours. Then had to take care of an emergency. Anyway, I understand not taking away functionality but I didn’t like it before and still don’t. Appreciate your take on things.

    @Betty Cracker:  Embedding tweets in threads makes them challenging to use because the tweets load slowly and bounce the thread all over the place as they load. It’s hard to find one’s place. Nothing to be done about that as it’s a problem with Twitter. I think it’s useful as well for important things but posting tweets in comments for rather innocuous things is kind of annoying. I mean, like front pagers get to do. When they’re posted the way commenters post them I haven’t noticed loading delays. It does mean you have to click through to see a picture or video, though.

  237. 237.

    joel hanes

    @WaterGirl:

    she knows you have an amazon list

    My written Christmas list stuck to the refrigerator, per custom, on the day after Thanksgiving, basically says:

    see Amazon wishlist.  sort by priority

Comments are closed.