Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

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

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

Be a wild strawberry.

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

People are weird.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

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

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Archives for 2020

Recipe Exchange: Sunday Pot Roast, Instant Pot and Slow-Cooker Versions

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Sunday Pot Roast

In my quest to update some of my older recipes for Instant Pot style cooking, here is one of my favorites. I love being able to set this up and an hour and a half later have a perfectly cooked pot roast – tender and flavorful – along with all the sides.

Sunday Pot Roast

  • 4 lbs Pot Roast (chuck roast)
  • ¼  cup good whiskey (or red wine)
  • ¼ cup beef broth or water (more if needed)
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
  • ½ tsp salt & pepper
  • 1 large onion, quartered
  • 6 medium potatoes, quartered
  • 1 lb bag baby carrots

slow-cooker or Instant Pot

show full post on front page

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Sunday Evening Open Thread: SPACE FARCE (Again)

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From the Washington Post, “The ‘Star Trek’ vision was hopeful. Trump’s is the mirror image”:

… I thought of [Star Trek episode] “Mirror, Mirror” after seeing the Trump administration’s new Space Force logo, which the president tweeted out Friday with a characteristically awkward nod to our “Great Military Leaders” of the “Sixth Branch of our Magnificent Military!” (caps and punctuation his). Within minutes, the logo was lampooned widely for appearing to rip off the logo for Starfleet Command from “Star Trek.” Indeed, with the two logos placed side by side, the resemblance is so remarkable that I had to wonder whether Melania Trump was part of the design committee…

This somewhat comical appropriation of “Star Trek” imagery carries a certain irony. The universe of “Star Trek” has always provided a hopeful, near-utopian vision for humanity, where we have finally learned to set aside things like racial prejudice and gender inequality, and we all work together toward a common purpose and quest. Money is a thing of the past because no one wants for any material need, and we have united much of the galaxy in a peaceful assembly of sovereign worlds.

Contrast that for a moment with the current administration’s values and practices: racial resentments and fear stoked for cynical political purposes, the wealthy made even more obscenely so through grift and political influence, coarse and bullying behavior masquerading as diplomacy, to name but a few. Even the notion of a “Space Force” seems patently absurd coming from an administration where science is mocked and disregarded…

They’re deliberately doing a half-arsed job because they know it’s nothing but ooh!shiny! distraction for an elderly kleptocrat — and they want the rest of us to know that they know it. Ma Bell’s bastard offspring: We don’t care. We don’t have to.

Last week’s Space Farce PR Disaster, ICYMI:

Cold truth:

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Open Thread on Satanic Wombs

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Or something like that.

Someone mentioned this video in a downstairs thread. Here’s an explanation from someone who studies such things.

https://twitter.com/profagagne/status/1221196492393852930
https://twitter.com/profagagne/status/1221196505090088962
https://twitter.com/profagagne/status/1221196518683815936

A number of things about this are concerning. Paula White-Cain is an advisor to the President of the United States. The emphasis on evil spirits is bizarre and seems to me to indicate some disorder of psychology. The level of hate for the entire world – the seas, the animal world, human reproduction, is over the top.

The mitigating factor looks like she’s not getting much response from her audience. But they are there. We can hope that the lecture was assigned to a class on abnormal psychology.

But let’s hear from Ms. White-Cain herself:

Open Thread!

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Cafe Press Balloon Juice Calendar Hiccup (Temporarily)

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It seems that Cafe Press, in its infinite wisdom, had cancelled all the Pets of Balloon Juice 2020 calendar orders and has issued refunds.

We have no idea why that would have happened.  We will be contacting Customer (dis) Service first thing in the morning and will provide an update as soon as we know anything.

Please keep an eye on the Blue Box just below the Balloon guy for Calendar updates.  If you’re on a mobile device, the calendar information is item #3 in the Hamburger.

2020 Calendars – Order Now!

Thanks to mistermix for being the canary in the coal mine, and alerting us to his un-asked-for refund.

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Sir Sneers a Lot

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I guess everyone was too busy writing about the election, the impeachment of our candy colored clown, and our impending deaths from coronavirus to write about this fucking asshole:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday accused an NPR reporter of lying about whether a conversation he initiated with her had been deemed off the record, a charge that NPR denied.

Pompeo’s statement, however, did not address NPR’s explosive account of the conversation — that he shouted at reporter Mary Louise Kelly, used expletives, indicated that she had questioned him about Ukraine under false pretenses in a just-completed interview, and asked her, “Do you think Americans care about Ukraine?”

The exchange came as Pompeo, President Trump’s longest-serving and closest senior adviser on national security, has been criticized for his conduct related to both Ukraine and Iran and his disregard for congressional and media questions about it.

In a statement, Pompeo called the NPR episode “another example of how unhinged the media has become in its quest to hurt President Trump and this Administration.”

Trump is bad, but this guy is a little bit smarter and more informed version, with thinner skin and an even more punchable face. I hope NPR finally learns that there’s no bargaining with terrorists and gets out of their toxic, abusive relationship with the view from nowhere, but it’s probably more likely that they’ll start cranking out beat sweeteners featuring Pompeo’s dog and kids.

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Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Memories of DC Summers

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ET - Corner lot in DC

From commentor ET:

I am in DC so land is not so plentiful for gardens. I ended up on a corner lot and I HATE cutting grass, so I had some room for pretty things.

ET - Hydrangeas

I can’t claim credit for design and planting, but I have managed to keep it going for about 10 years so there’s that.

ET - Planned to Be Glorious

My favorite is the temporary phlox carpet – I have taken to describing it as phloxy. I have had people slow down and compliment me on it which makes me happy because a bit of pretty is needed in DC.

***********
Gorgeous!

What’s going on in your garden (planning), this week?

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