Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

So many bastards, so little time.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Cole is on a roll !

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

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

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War / Just Sit This One Out, Bruh

Reader Interactions

326Comments

  4. 4.

    The Dangerman

    If they had any shame, Carlson and Trump would never be heard from again (for that matter, anyone supporting Putin and Russia). They are complicit and blood is on their hands, too.

    FWIW, Garry Kasparov has a good twitter thread up.

  5. 5.

    SmallAxe

    Woke up to my Slack at work and the chats of 3 Ukrainian fellow employees. One was from one of our top designers, who said she had Russian tanks mere kilometers from her house. So F’d up

  6. 6.

    Eggbert

    Don’t worry – I’m sure another front pager will be along anytime now to put up a post ridiculing the diplomatic efforts.

  8. 8.

    Cacti

    Cole, you probably have about the least credibility on foreign policy issues of any front page poster.

    You swallowed Bush’s military aggression whole, and you credulously regarded Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden as heroes, rather than fifth column Moscow stooges.

  10. 10.

    Miss Bianca

    @Eggbert:

    @Cacti:

    I don’t suppose it would *ever* occur to either one of you sooper jeniuses to wonder, “Gee…maybe *I’m* one of the ones who should be shuttin’ up?”

  11. 11.

    Steeplejack

    @The Dangerman:

    OK, after years of warnings were ignored and hearing “Garry, you were right!” all damn day today, I’ll repeat what I said in 2014: Stop telling me I was right and listen to what I’m saying now. My recommendations follow: 1/5

    — Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 24, 2022

  13. 13.

    Antonius

    We’re trying to track a couple of our Ukrainian consultants — one’s in the west of Ukraine, and okay for now, one’s just posted that she’s okay but we have no idea where she is, and the third’s sister just lit out from a Kyiv suburb for Slovakia. I note that war is disruptive for non-war profiteering businesses.

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    @Cacti:

    In case you hadn’t noticed, this is the first thing on Ukraine Cole has posted in more than 10 days.  The previous time he posted, it was asking a question rather than making a statement.  He’s actually doing a fine job of following his own advice about shutting up if you don’t know what you’re talking about.  Again, perhaps you should consider learning from his example.

  17. 17.

    MattF

    I’ve spent the past couple of days reading novels and figuring out how my (new!) HomePod Mini works. You get remarkable sound out of an ittybitty speaker. Considering buying a second one— stereo!

  19. 19.

    Leto

    @Steeplejack:

    Ban all elements of Putin’s global propaganda machine. Turn them off, shut them down, send them home. Stop helping the dictator spread lies & hate.

    At my last job/posting (Horsham ANG Base), they had the RT “news” network being broadcast as part of their internal video package. A number of channels you could access and watch throughout the day. When I found out, I basically asked my commander why were broadcasting Russian disinformation within our ranks/community? Got it removed pretty quickly, but was just surprised that it was even there to begin with. Like, who the fuck even approved that in the first place? Are all of you fucking stupid?

  20. 20.

    Alison Rose

    @Cacti: Saying he was never right about anything is inaccurate, but in any case, if you’re of the mindset that no one is allowed to change their stripes and must always do penance for past beliefs, then what the fuck are you even doing here? If in your mind, the only thing John should do is remove himself entirely from the internet and spend the rest of his days self-flagellating and allowing True Liberals™ to kick him in the gut with steel-toe boots on, then what’s the point of you even reading this blog? Unless your kink is political shaming, which…okay, but that sounds pretty boring.

  25. 25.

    Leto

    @MattF: we have a HomePod and really enjoy it. Full sound, can access all of our music, play local radio stations, and I routinely use it for timers for cooking.

  26. 26.

    FlyingToaster

    Sitting here, bracing for the snow/ice storm tomorrow, and hoping that Putin bursts an aneurysm.

    I am SO FUCKING GLAD I replaced the ’07 Sienna with a (now two-week-old) ’22 Sienna hybrid. I only have to fill up the minivan once a month. So whatever price spikes are coming, it will have far less immediate impact on my day-to-day stuff.

    Time to take a breather, folks. Do what you can, and then go rest up.

  28. 28.

    Cacti

    To be fair to Cole though, he certainly wasn’t the only front pager with his head up the ass of Greenwald/Snowden.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    Can I give some love to the mods, who are doing miracles with snagging the troll posts here? LGM is under full siege, and they’re clearly junior trolls trying to get promoted from the basement, because they’re universally bad at it.

  35. 35.

    opiejeanne

    They’re not all pies, though. Some are cakes, I see a cookie with a cat’s face, and a very glum Eeyore.

  39. 39.

    germy

    not sure what's going on in the ukraine but i hope they figure all that out. people are being mean to me online so that's taking up most of my attention rn

    — BTK Jemisin (@bobo_circus) February 24, 2022

  42. 42.

    germy

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’m not sure that’s a real tweet.

    I looked, but I don’t see the original.  It’s possible she deleted it, or it’s possible someone created a false screenshot just to be funny.

  43. 43.

    The Moar You Know

    Is it that time where we relitigate our grievances against all the front pagers and all comment posters?  Cool!

    You’ve all failed me repeatedly by pointing out (obviously) non-existent flaws in some of my posts.  The executions start at 9am Saturday.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I only pied two commenters, but so many people replied to them that this whole thread looks like a French bakery.

  49. 49.

    Urza

    Who would have thought a post about people keeping their mouths shut would have so many telling others to STFU when they should be looking in a mirror.

  50. 50.

    hells littlest angel

    If by “sit this one out” you mean fall into an open sewer and die, I agree 100%.

  55. 55.

    Miss Bianca

    @opiejeanne: Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering. Along with, ‘why would anyone self-own themselves as “Toxic”‘, but in this case…it appears to be not irony, but the rather unfortunate truth.

  56. 56.

    PJ

     

    @The Moar You Know: I’m don’t know which front-pagers or commenters Cole wants to refrain from posting, but he sure knows how to get jackals attacking each other.  It’s not nearly as vicious as The Great Bernie Wars of 2016, but I’m sure with some effort, we can get there.

  63. 63.

    Toxic

    @Miss Bianca:

     

    Darling, your hypocrisy is odoriferous even over the Internet. There’s a lot of regular posters right now who think they’re the only ones entitled to expressing an opinion.
    If only you and your ilk were more like Watergirl and mature enough to handle differences of opinion and open debate.
    But if your going to just lob playground insults then expect the same in return. Up the intellectual ante and you’ll see a response in kind. But the piling on of Cacti is uncalled for and cowardly.

  66. 66.

    germy

    @PJ:

    I don’t think Cole means any of the balloon-juice front pagers.  I think Cole is referring to people on twitter (far-left and far-right), people on Fox network, certain politicians, etc.

  68. 68.

    scav

    @SiubhanDuinne: There are a few devoted whole-heartedly to their worldview that repeatedly smiting themselves in the balls with a rake demonstrates their sexiness.  I rather enjoy croissants and pain d’epis though.  This reeks rather more of the month old wonderbread aisle.

  71. 71.

    opiejeanne

    @TaMara: I will go back and look, and now one has changed to a sea lion on a cupcake. Looks more like a walrus, so I guess that’s the worst kind of sea lion.

  72. 72.

    Cacti

    @Toxic: Truth telling about the cool kids club always gets you sneers from their sidekicks around here.

    It bothers me not a bit.  Just lets me know I was on the mark.

  76. 76.

    Chip Daniels

    The very best thing I did for my mental health is stop watching cable news, back around 2014 or so.

    I found that the constant adrenaline hits of pounding music and glaring visuals just elevated my blood pressure and anxiety, without offering me any more information than I could get from reading papers or blogs.

  83. 83.

    Pharniel

    The nastiest stuff I’ve been seeing is a lot of the Serbian bots out there saying the Yugoslavian civil war & ethnic cleansing were all NATO’s fault.

  86. 86.

    Miss Bianca

    @Chip Daniels: completely o/t (like what isn’t, on this thread), I enjoyed your “fantasy LA” drawings the other day. I just wasn’t around in real time to say so.

  87. 87.

    germy

    @Chip Daniels:

    I watch old TV westerns on MeTV.  Less stressful.

    I’m always fascinated by two things on old B&W TV westerns from 1959-1963:  First, the male actors have haircuts that were obviously done with electric trimmers, and second, actors often cast two shadows during “exterior” shots, as if there were two suns in the sky.

  90. 90.

    PJ

    @germy: Far-left and far-right Twitter posters, Fox News people, certain politicians – do those people read Balloon-Juice?  If so, kudos to Cole for attracting such a diverse readership.

  98. 98.

    zhena gogolia

    Meanwhile, in Ukraine:

    BREAKING: Ukrainian forces have recaptured an airfield in north-west suburbs of Kyiv, a presidential adviser says h/t @ReutersControl of Hostomel Airfield thought to be key for Russia’s ability to assault the capital. It could be used to land transport aircraft carrying troops— Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah) February 24, 2022

    ETA: Seems not to be true yet.

  101. 101.

    Miss Bianca

    @germy: I’ve been obsessively watching The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955 TV series version) as my escape hatch from the crazy. Hair is definitely a fun thing to watch out for! Maid Marion is a very modern gal not only in her daring little Lincoln Green tights ensemble she goes visiting the greenwood in, but her hairstyle is very a la mode in 50s style.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @Chip Daniels: 100% agree.

    The ‘BREAKING NEWS’ gong is no doubt designed to trigger viewers’ fear responses and yank their eyes back to the tube.  It’s part of why Fox viewers’ brains are so broken.

  107. 107.

    Princess Leia

    @Starfish: ​
      I saw that, too. Horrifying what happens to all the innocents. I can’t imagine how awful it must be to try to take care of one’s pet(s) in the middle of this. Peace to all who are struggling.

  110. 110.

    germy

    @zhena gogolia:

    Here’s what I wonder:  Lots of far right people in this country are nazis, but they also love Putin.  How do they feel about Putin using “de-nazification” as an excuse to invade?

  116. 116.

    Roger Moore

    @opiejeanne: ​
     

    Looks more like a walrus, so I guess that’s the worst kind of sea lion.

    Not at all. Walruses are a completely different clade. While they’re slightly more closely related to sea lions than they are to true seals, they aren’t that closely related to either one.

  117. 117.

    TaMara

    @The Thin Black Duke: Good point. Especially since all of these pastries have no actual arguments, just middle school taunts, which is about where their emotional and intellectual growth stopped.

    Just pie them folks and move on.

  121. 121.

    germy

    @Miss Bianca:

    That’s the thing about period dramas or adventure series.  They always look exactly like the decade they were filmed in, no matter what year in history they’re trying to portray.

    A 1970s western –  all the cowboys look like 1970s rock musicians.

    A 1980s sci-fi movie set a million years in the future – all the guys have puffed up 1980s hair, even if they’re crawling across a dystopian desert.  Their hair is blow-dryed and perfectly layered.

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    @germy: I went back to the clip and now I’m convinced he lives for likes her abuse.  There’s just no other explanation.

    LOLOL

  126. 126.

    Patricia Kayden

    Thanks President Biden!

    You'll hear contrary from Putin-friendly candidates and talkers, but … under President Biden's leadership, the United States remains the world's number one producer of both oil and natural gas – and a net exporter of both. US is firmly energy independent, and can help allies.— David Frum (@davidfrum) February 24, 2022

  128. 128.

    Miss Bianca

    @Cacti: You know, you really should stop the daytime drinking. Not only does it make you stupidly belligerent, it makes you incoherent.

  130. 130.

    germy

    @Jeffro:

    I read she’s going to have her own show on MSNBC after she leaves the administration.  Maybe he’ll be a frequent guest.  If not, maybe she can do a regular segment on his misadventures.

  132. 132.

    Jeffro

    Flynn just published an open letter defending Putin’s actions.

    Our whole country’s about to get a primer on counter-intelligence, and learn just how high up the rot goes, too.

  137. 137.

    Miss Bianca

    @germy: I know, every decade has its look, no matter what other era they are trying to portray! It’s maybe not easy to see at the time, but so easy to see years later.

    Makes me wonder what signs people are going to point to in Game of Thrones, for example, to say, “oh, you could totally tell that was done in the 20-teens!”

  138. 138.

    trollhattan

    @delk: Truly one of the finest covers recorded.

    “America’s greatest rock and roll band.”

    –Susan Tedeschi at a concert I attended that Los Lobos opened.

  141. 141.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @germy: I don’t think Cole means any of the balloon-juice front pagers. I think Cole is referring to people on twitter (far-left and far-right), people on Fox network, certain politicians, etc.

    I was running this huge group at one point in my life and learned pretty quickly that anything I posted as the Glorious Leader was read by the person reading it assuming my statement was addressed to them. Basically unless I was willing to name and shame the problem member in question, I dealt with that problem members one on one and beatings were done in private.

    Fun times those were, every post, which I had to do, thinking “well, who do I inadvertently piss off today?”

  145. 145.

    hueyplong

    @Kay: Please let the “ransacked by the Norwegian Coast Guard” item be factual. Would make my day.

    I can see the impound guy from The Big Lebowski telling the oligarch that they’re following up on leads and have assigned extra officers to the case before being overcome by laughter

    Oh, and Yuri, we’ll keep a sharp eye out for the missing Creedence tapes.

  149. 149.

    germy

    @Miss Bianca:

    Here’s how I know I’m old:

    I can say with almost perfect accuracy the decade and year of every photo and film clip I see.  Late 1920s, early 1930s, mid 1940s… all the way up to around the late 1990s.  And then after that, everything looks normal to me.

    A younger person could look at a photo and say “That’s definitely 2005!” or whatever, but I can’t see it anymore.

  150. 150.

    jnfr

    I noticed the DSA was out on Twitter imploring people not to support NATO or any economic sanctions on Russia. I found that really odd.

  153. 153.

    Miss Bianca

    @Patricia Kayden: I find myself wondering just how much energy assistance the US *can* provide to, say, Europe. I mean, oil? Natural gas? We can ship it in tankers, I suppose, and I suppose we have enough naval power to keep the Russians from fucking with them out on the open sea.

  154. 154.

    Quiltingfool

    I’d like to ask how an ordinary person, like me, with absolutely no political clout (except for voting and sending scathing emails to Republicans in my state – like I stated, NO CLOUT) could help the citizens of Ukraine?  All I can think about is how horrible this is for them.  I know this isn’t their first time at the rodeo, so to speak, and they are way tougher than I think Americans would be if in the same situation.  But.  Is it too soon to ask for ways individuals could give assistance?  Aid programs which are honest?
    I feel so helpless and so sad and angry that Ukrainians have to go though this nightmare.  I can’t do much, but I want to do something, if only to let them know I’m with them.

  159. 159.

    Gin & Tonic

    Some people have mentioned having colleagues in Ukraine. Please, please do not ask them where they are, and if at all possible, do not even initiate electronic communication on your own. You do not know their situation.

  163. 163.

    Kay

    @hueyplong:

    I read it and it seems like a longer running dispute/suspicions Norway has about this former cable cutter/ now luxury yacht and they wanted an excuse to board it. You can’t blame them.

  164. 164.

    prostratedragon

    @germy: ​ Can’t find at the moment, but someone on twitter replied with the post heading to a pronouncement from George W. Bush.

  168. 168.

    Miss Bianca

    @germy: Wow, I must be even older than you, because I can identify “looks” through the 90s, and then it all becomes a blur to me. Same with most music these days, although I’ve been a folkie since I was in my teens so I tend to come to most pop music at least 10-15 years behind the times anyway.

    Of course, there are some “modern” trends, like trilbys and waxed mustaches, that are hard to miss. But still.

  171. 171.

    Roger Moore

    @germy:

    Here’s what I wonder: Lots of far right people in this country are nazis, but they also love Putin. How do they feel about Putin using “de-nazification” as an excuse to invade?

    They think doublethink is double plus good.

  180. 180.

    Mallard Filmore

    @hueyplong: 

    Please let the “ransacked by the Norwegian Coast Guard” item be factual. Would make my day.

    From the pictures, “luxury yacht” is in no way a “pleasure yacht”. I would LOVE to know what interesting toys the Norwegian Coast Guard finds.

  181. 181.

    Origuy

    Ukrainian forces have retaken Hostomel, Kyiv’s international airport.

    Ukrainian army has re-taken over Hostomel airport next to Kyiv, Zelensky's adviser Arestovych says. Russian airborne unit which took control over Hostomel was blocked and eliminated, he added. As a Russian-born person, I only say: Слава Україні! Україна переможе! pic.twitter.com/KNdyheZts0— Sergej Sumlenny (@sumlenny) February 24, 2022

  183. 183.

    Central Planning

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: We have that problem with our kids when making a general pronouncement like “If you clog the toilet, fucking plunge it!” Everyone starts saying it wasn’t them. I’m not asking for denials or affirmations. Just don’t do it.

  185. 185.

    Ruckus

    @germy:

    I’m not sure he can think big.

    I’m pretty sure that he can’t. Don’t know if it’s willingly stupid or that he comes by it naturally….

  191. 191.

    Central Planning

    The next time there’s a site redesign, can I request this feature for the Pie Filter now?

    I like seeing the Pied-person’s comments as pie. However, I notice responses to those comments also show pie.

    I know there is a toggle button, but I would really prefer to see the snarky or rude responses without having to click the toggle button.

    TL;DR: Only pie the original commenter, not the responses. Thanks!

  192. 192.

    Captain C

    @jnfr: It kind of sounded like, “I know you don’t like getting hit, Mrs. Jones, but if you didn’t give your husband lip and made sure to cook his dinner properly, it wouldn’t happen.”

  193. 193.

    hueyplong

    @Origuy: “blocked and eliminated” doesn’t sound so good for the Russians involved if I understand the meaning of the last quoted word.

  194. 194.

    Ruckus

    @Ruckus:

    About 3 months ago I had 2 in the filter jail and never saw a picture of anything that might have been delivered by the Helms Bakery truck.

    As of a minute ago I now have 6, 2 added as of this post.

    Life must be getting a bit more serious, the opposition to it is coming around more often.

  197. 197.

    Gbbalto

    @zhena gogolia: You don’t need to sign on, but Twitter will stop you from changing timelines after an accimulation of cookies or cache. Then close out and clear those out ang you’re good again.

  201. 201.

    Ruckus

    @germy:

    Pity about that gift. Or is it grift?

    I was taught an actually valuable work skill set by mine. Of course it required actual skill and effort to use, which he doesn’t bother with, ever.

  205. 205.

    zhena gogolia

    Haha. Putin gave Macron “exhaustive explanations of the reasons and circumstances of his decision to carry out the special military operation.”

    Владимир Путин провел переговоры с президентом Франции Эмманюэлем Макроном.

    Кремль: «В ходе организованного по инициативе французской стороны телефонного разговора президента Российской Федерации Владимира Путина с президентом Французской Республики Эмманюэлем Макроном состоялся серьезный и откровенный обмен мнениями о ситуации вокруг Украины. Владимир Путин дал исчерпывающие разъяснения причин и обстоятельств принятия решения о проведении специальной военной операции».

  208. 208.

    Yarrow

    Not really surprising but also kind of shocking when you see it:

    Russian gas lobbyist & former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder calls for restraint in the use of sanctions against Russia, saying this could endanger a return to peace and dialogue. Really pic.twitter.com/ex1B1xV5lq— Noah Barkin (@noahbarkin) February 24, 2022

  211. 211.

    Hildebrand

    Topic adjacent (Ukraine, anyway) – we started watching Chernobyl (HBO) last night.  It is a powerful show – the way they ratchet up the tension (especially in the soundtrack) both makes perfect sense given the subject matter, and gives the show an ‘I can only watch an episode at a time’ feel.

  213. 213.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Josh Marshall

    Kyiv Gives Out Thousands Of Automatic Weapons To Citizens https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/russias-assault-on-ukraine-continues?entry=1406393… via @TPM

    this is pretty intense stuff. this isn’t conventional military formations. this is an invitation to bloody urban warfare where partisans and irregulars have advantages over conventional militaries. but bloody.

  216. 216.

    Miss Bianca

    @Origuy: Oh, yeah.

    I find myself wondering if this invasion is going to end more swiftly – and ignominiously for Russia – than I had allowed myself to imagine.

    Not that I’m living in hope, mind you.

  217. 217.

    apocalipstick

    @germy: And even if the series/film is set in 3450 CE, music will not have progressed beyond “Spirit in the Sky” (or similar mid-20th century selections).

  218. 218.

    Dan B

    @TaMara: My bakery is regional wholesale sized bakery.  If the trolls ate all these sweets they’d get fat, sleepy, and complacent.

  219. 219.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m no expert in warfare, let alone irregular, but how many troops would you need to take and hold a city of 3 million, living mostly in pretty dense 5-story apartment blocks, when any window could hold a citizen with an AK-47?

  221. 221.

    seaninclt

    Can you imagine the scene at the Internet Research Agency handing out the trolling assignments for the day?

    Supervisor: Pavel. You get Balloon Juice. Stir up the natives.

    Pavel: FUUUUUUCK. Again? All they do is talk about cats and fox news. Can’t you give me something good like TigerBeat? Or NAMBLA?

    /fin

  223. 223.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Origuy: Ohhh, I bet that was the Russian Coup de Main to take out the Ukranian government and it failed because the Ukranians knew it was coming because of Western Intelligence. That’s why Biden was rubbing it in Putin’s face Tuesday we knew Russia’s war plans already, to try to get Putin to chill out this wasn’t going to be the cakewalk Putin was assuming.

    Otherwise, sounds like Holland 1940 stupid, flying transports into a defended airport.

  224. 224.

    Miss Bianca

    @zhena gogolia: IKR? I’m supposed to be writing articles on one of the town’s planning commission meetings, ffs, and all I can do is obsessively read anything-Ukrainian-news-related and pick pointless – if briefly amusing – fights with Internet randos.

    And being housebound by blizzards for going on three days now isn’t helping.

    Oh, well…I have got a bitchin’ pot of beans going for tonight’s dinner. Maybe I’ll get crazy and make some cornbread too. So I will have ended this day with something both productive *and* delicious!

  227. 227.

    Mallard Filmore

    @hueyplong: 

    “blocked and eliminated” doesn’t sound so good for the Russians involved if I understand the meaning of the last quoted word.

    Hopefully that is a translation anomaly, and means captured, wounded, and only a few dead.

  229. 229.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Ohio Mom: 

    My god this is the stupidest thread ever. I’m going my to my decorating sites.

    Yeah, but there is still real news coming through the noise.

  234. 234.

    Brachiator

    @zhena gogolia:

    Part of my problem is that my job is reading Russian literature and I’m kind of nauseated by Russia at the moment.

    I always thought that Prince looked a lot like Pushkin.

    How do you say “Purple Rain” in Russian?

  235. 235.

    trollhattan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Heard an interview perhaps a month ago with a professional, single-mother living in Kyiv who had gone through training, call it citizen militia, civil defense or somesuch, that covered living in an urban wartime environment. Sounded very thorough, from keeping safe, keeping sheltered and fed, operating weapons, tactics and yes, dealing with corpses.

    She was so matter-of-fact and if representative of the greater population, perhaps Russia is really biting off more than they care to chew.

    God, I hate it has come to this.

  236. 236.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Gin & Tonic: 

    I’m no expert in warfare, let alone irregular, but how many troops would you need to take and hold a city of 3 million, living mostly in pretty dense 5-story apartment blocks, when any window could hold a citizen with an AK-47?

    How many artillery shell have you got? Would Putin go down the elimination of the Warsaw Ghetto route? Would NATO stand back and watch it happen?

  239. 239.

    Leto

    @Quiltingfool: I saw a few links to this reddit page which had assembled a large list of Ukrainian charities:
    Want to support Ukraine? Here’s a list of charities by subject

    I posted this as a comment in another thread but since so many people are asking how they can support Ukraine, I thought I would make this a separate post. The Kyiv Independent recently did a spotlight on many different charities across Ukraine. I’ll list the charities they mentioned by subject. All text/copy that you see below was written by the Kyiv Independent journalists.

    Mods: I am not affiliated with the Kyiv Independent or any of the charities mentioned below. I do not financially profit from any contributions made to the Kyiv Independent or any of these charities. I just saw that a lot of people are wanting to help Ukrainians so I just want to share a resource list on how to do so:

  240. 240.

    trollhattan

    @germy:

    Now, now, everybody knows that on each western town main street, the side of the street behind the camera is all glass buildings, hence the second light source. Cowpokes weren’t allowed to unload their six-shooters that direction.

    Sheesh, does nobody know this? :-P

  243. 243.

    debbie

    Speaking of pieholes, fucking J.D. Vance is saying that he doesn’t care about Ukraine. Guess he’s earned his TFG badge now. //

  247. 247.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Yarrow:

    Reminder that you can delete Twitter cookies and for awhile still read things. Then they do the pop up and you have to go delete cookies again.

    @zhena gogolia: Private mode in Firefox unbreaks Twitter.

  249. 249.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mallard Filmore: Artillery alone would not work.  People would survive and be able to fight.  You can only clear a city by going through it block by block.  Even then the residents know it better than the invaders.   It would be vicious and ugly.

  252. 252.

    Brachiator

    @trollhattan:

    Heard an interview perhaps a month ago with a professional, single-mother living in Kyiv who had gone through training, call it citizen militia, civil defense or somesuch, that covered living in an urban wartime environment.

    I hate to think about any of this, and have been avoiding some of the news.

    However, this woman makes me think about all the fools over here who play at being a citizen militia, but who think it is all political theater.

  253. 253.

    mrmoshpotato

    @sab: We need to rename the pie filter. Lots of pastry but hardly any pies these days.

    Pieing you just for that!

  254. 254.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Leto: One issue with donating is that the banking system in Ukraine is far more advanced than in the US. Most orgs or people soliciting donations will simply give you the equivalent of their bank routing number and an account number. In Ukraine, that’s a zero-friction transfer to such an account. From the US, you can’t do that – your bank will consider that an interbank wire and charge you ~$35 to do it (and most of their personnel won’t know how.) You’ll try to make a donation using a credit card, and they don’t do that.

  255. 255.

    Nancy

    Thought someone might like to know; after reading some, not all, of the fuminations above, I was inspired to sign up for Join the Fight.

  258. 258.

    topclimber

    @germy: Is there a large Ukrainian reserve force with military training that these folks belong to, or is it learn as you fight?

  260. 260.

    bjacques

    @germy: someone identified the bar as Soundgarden, just off the end of my street and next to the fire station. I’ll have to go pay my respects.

  264. 264.

    Avalune

    I’m glad there are apparently so many pies in this post for totally selfish reasons. Hehe The seal chow is still my favorite.

  266. 266.

    karen marie

    @SiubhanDuinne:   I wondered what the problem was – I’m seeing pie all over the place but I’ve only got three people shut into the back room of the bakery.

  269. 269.

    karen marie

    @Starfish: I’m astonished that people can carry cats like that outside and the cat isn’t gone in a flash.  I have a hard time holding onto my cat long enough to get her from our tiny patio back into the house.

  270. 270.

    Fair Economist

    @germy:

    Here’s how I know I’m old:

    I can say with almost perfect accuracy the decade and year of every photo and film clip I see. Late 1920s, early 1930s, mid 1940s… all the way up to around the late 1990s. And then after that, everything looks normal to me.

    A younger person could look at a photo and say “That’s definitely 2005!” or whatever, but I can’t see it anymore.

    Not definitive. I have similar symptoms, but it’s because I’m fashion clueless. I lose it after the 80’s even though I’m “only” middle-aged.

  274. 274.

    Roger Moore

    @karen marie:

    I’m astonished that people can carry cats like that outside and the cat isn’t gone in a flash.

    It depends on the cat.  I suspect that cat is picking up on its human’s fear and wants to stay close to them because of it.

  275. 275.

    Scout211

    Is this “war” thread now open?

    This is not right. TFG gets a away with yet another misuse of funds violating election laws. Or for him, maybe they are just election suggestions. Source.

    The Federal Election Commission is letting former President Donald Trump off the hook even after the body’s legal counsel said he violated federal campaign finance laws with a fundraiser for Iowa veterans in 2016, according to documents made public this week.

    At stake was whether Trump violated laws prohibiting “soft money” spending — using unregulated, non-campaign funds for political purposes — in connection with his 2016 presidential campaign. Specifically, Trump funneled roughly half of the $5.8 million he raised at the Des Moines veterans event on January 28, 2016 to his now-defunct Donald J. Trump Foundation. The Trump campaign then steered how the foundation, a separate entity, spent $2.8 million in charitable funds just ahead of the Iowa Republican caucuses.

    Last month, the FEC voted along partisan lines to close the case. The Campaign Legal Center, an ethics and government watchdog, slammed the commission in a statement to Insider.

    . . .

    Democratic Commissioners Shana Broussard and Ellen Weintraub are accusing their Republican colleagues of “eroding the public’s trust in the integrity of the federal campaign finance process” by blocking the enforcement of federal law.

    “This is one in a long series of matters that we’ve had where our nonpartisan professional staff have recommended moving forward in some way against a complaint involving the former president,” Weintraub told Insider in a interview on Thursday. “And every single time, the Republican commissioners come up with an excuse to not move forward.”

  277. 277.

    Fair Economist

    @zhena gogolia:

    Part of my problem is that my job is reading Russian literature and I’m kind of nauseated by Russia at the moment.

    That’s rough. Does it help to remind yourself that Putin and cronies are the problem? By all accounts, the Russian population isn’t in for this.

  280. 280.

    Kent

    @karen marie:@Starfish: I’m astonished that people can carry cats like that outside and the cat isn’t gone in a flash.  I have a hard time holding onto my cat long enough to get her from our tiny patio back into the house.

    Our cats come running when called.  Inside or outside the house.

  282. 282.

    Gin & Tonic

    @topclimber: The most recent news about 10,000 automatic rifles being given to citizens of Kyiv, those are just volunteer citizens. But Ukraine does have a significant national guard/reserve force as well (i.e. trained soldiers who aren’t full-time.)

  283. 283.

    Ann Marie

    @Fair Economist:  I’ve been looking at the pictures of large groups of Russians protesting the war in several major Russian cities.  It takes a lot of courage to protest Putin’s actions in Russia.  Meanwhile the U.S. January 6 “protesters” whine about how badly they are being treated.

  284. 284.

    Kent

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    @Omnes Omnibus:Sounds a bit like the Battle of Grozny

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grozny_(1999%E2%80%932000)

    How about the Battle of Kiev?  There was one of those in 1941 when the Nazi’s came, and another one in 1943 when the Soviets returned

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kiev_(1941)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kiev_(1943)

    It took the Soviets a 730,000 man army, 118,000 casualties, and a month of fighting to retake the city.  The place looked like the fall of Berlin afterwards. 

  287. 287.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    I can say with almost perfect accuracy the decade and year of every photo and film clip I see.

    I have been watching some YouTube clips of young people in their 20s watching “classic” movies.  I regularly hear stuff like “I never heard of Gene Hackman or Dustin Hoffman.”

    One person watched “Planet of the Apes” and wondered what else Charlton Heston had ever been in.

    Another person watching “American Graffiti” was confused about the scenes and the language, asking at one point, “what’s a ‘hop?'”

    Another was amazed at a scene in which a person used a pencil sharpener.

    Most movies made before 1975 could just as well come from the Stone Age.

    It is amazing to see how cultural discontinuity happens so quickly for people born after 1990.

  289. 289.

    MisterForkbeard

    @zhena gogolia: I guess the “exhaustive explanations” were “I felt like it” and “I want ukraine back in russia” and possibly something about wanting a binky.

  290. 290.

    Origuy

    @Gin & Tonic: Can you use Wise or Xe to send money to Ukraine? I had to send some money to Italy this month. My credit union wanted $50 for each wire transfer. Wise only charged me about $3.

  292. 292.

    different-church-lady

    I see a lot of motherfuckers who should not be opening their piehole on the Russian invasion of Ukraine talking up a storm, and there are a lot of people who should just sit this one out.

    You know that meme “Don’t make me tap the sign”? I want this printed on the sign.

  294. 294.

    Kent

    @Brachiator: I watched Annie Hall with my 16 year old daughter this past weekend.  It honestly hasn’t really aged all that well as a movie, notwithstanding all the subsequent creepiness and sex crimes from Woody Allen.  She couldn’t identify at all.  All the intellectual pretentiousness depicted really isn’t really much of a thing anymore I don’t think.  I mean in this day and age, who the fuck cares if you are an English lit post-doc from Columbia or whatever.  It’s all tech-bros and coders.

  298. 298.

    Avalune

    @sab: Yeah. Eeyore and the Seal Chow are the only noncupcake ones I think… though the seal chow is cupcaked flavor…hahahah

  300. 300.

    Kent

    @Baud: I guess so.  She just didn’t get all the pretentious dinner parties with people trying to sound smart.  Even though Woody Allen was making fun of some of that.

  301. 301.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    The other GOP candidates didn’t join him in saying he doesn’t give a shit about Ukranians last week, which is why his handlers told him to issue another statement.

  304. 304.

    Brachiator

    @Kent:

    All the intellectual pretentiousness depicted really isn’t really much of a thing anymore I don’t think.

    I used to think that comedies aged better than most dramas. Not sure anymore.

    But maybe “Annie Hall” was too much a movie of its time.

     

  306. 306.

    Miss Bianca

    @Brachiator:

    @Kent:

    And here I was thinking Annie Hall had actually aged *better* than some of his other movies!

    Then again, I haven’t tried watching it with any young adults, either.

  307. 307.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Brachiator: I used to think that comedies aged better than most dramas. Not sure anymore.

    Depends on the kind of comedy, IMHO.  The basic distinction, in my mind, is between what I call ‘dramedies’ where there are a lot of jokes and funny scenes, but the plot is still what really matters, and flat-out comedies, where the plot is purely secondary, just an environment for the jokes to be made in.

    Movies like Tootsie and Annie Hall are dramedies, and movies like Airplane!, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and pretty much all the Marx Brothers movies are in the latter category.

    IMHO, those in the latter group hold up just fine, but the dramedies are in the same ‘some do, some don’t’ situation as regular dramas.

  308. 308.

    Leto

    @danielx: at the bottom of the main post, before the comments start, you should see a pie icon with the word “filter” below it. Click/touch the pie icon. Up will pop a box with three options: Commentors, Filtered, Settings. In the Commentor box, type in the name of the person/entity you want to filter, then press “Click to Add” that’s to the right of the name. They will now be instantly filtered on this post, and every other post.

    If you ever want to review who you have filtered, click on the “Filtered” tab. You can un-filter them through that if you change your mind later.

  309. 309.

    There go two miscreants

    @germy: actors often cast two shadows during “exterior” shots, as if there were two suns in the sky.

    Sounds like the setup for a “Calvin’s dad explains” strip!

  310. 310.

    lowtechcyclist

    @PIGL: Adam Silverman was right.

    About what, precisely?

    The main recommendation he made was that we should have moved up a shitload of military assets into nearby nations, that the 8000 or so troops we’d moved into the region was good, but woefully insufficient.

    I still don’t see what difference that would have made unless we were planning to duke it out with Russia on the ground (let’s not, thanks), but I’m willing to be educated even now.

  311. 311.

    cain

    @Yarrow: hah – ‘return to peace’ – how funny. It’s not going to be peace in that region for awhile as Ukraine starts essentially doing non-symmetric warfare and the Russians will be paying for their war with German money.

    Ukraine will remember who their allies have been.

  312. 312.

    PIGL

    @lowtechcyclist:

    He said “ Russia must be reduced”, or words to that effect. I thought he was dangerously over-the-top at the time. Now I think he had solid point. Whether there’s any way to realize that without killing us all, I don’t know.

  313. 313.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Gentlemen, this is outrageous. I have never heard of such behavior in the war room before.

  314. 314.

    J R in WV

    @trollhattan: ​

    “America’s greatest rock and roll band.”–Susan Tedeschi at a concert I attended that Los Lobos opened.

    We saw Los Lobos several times here in WV… have also had the delight of the Teceschi Trucks Band performing here a couple of times. Susan Tedeschi is a wonderful gift to humanity and our musical heritage.I’m not sure she is correct about Los Lobos being America’s best R&R band.

    I think she is IN America’s best R& band… but how sweet she is to say that about one of her favorite bands.​

    ETA: ON further thought, Los Lobos may be the better of the two bands… That accordion pumping, that Latin beat… Los Lobos is a really, really great band !!! But they don’t have Susan Tedeschi, do they?​

  315. 315.

    The Pale Scot

    @Miss Bianca:

    That one with the South American revolutionary is probably OK.

    ” From now on everyone will change their underwear twice a day…….. and wear it on the outside, so we can check”

  317. 317.

    Brachiator

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Movies like Tootsie and Annie Hall are dramedies, and movies like Airplane!, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and pretty much all the Marx Brothers movies are in the latter category.

    OK. I haven’t seen Tootsie in a long time, but I think it might still work.

    Some Mel Brooks works, Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles still work. 1930s screwball comedies still seem to work (based on reactions of young people to these movies).

  319. 319.

    Xennial Dysentery Dodger (fka texasboyshaun)

    @Cacti: If John and the other FPers are (in your eyes) stupid and always wrong, then why keep coming to BJ? You’ve obviously been reading for a long time, so why are you investing your time on a blog.

    Maybe you should start a blog where you can be 100% correct on everything, all the time. In fact, I encourage you to do so?

    Until then, STFU.

  320. 320.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack: Biden was asked about SWIFT today and said (paraphrasing) ‘the sanctions today are more severe than that’ while also keeping the possibility available in the future.

    "kick them off SWIFT" is only meaningful as metonym for "Iran-style sanctions". It's like "closing the border" has to mean ports and airports too.

    — Dan Davies (@dsquareddigest) February 24, 2022

    SWIFT is just a communication system. You can transfer funds between banks by dozens of means. You could probably effect a transaction by Twitter DM if you had to.

    — Dan Davies (@dsquareddigest) February 24, 2022

    Biden knows what he’s doing. There is no One Weird Trick.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  321. 321.

    J R in WV

    @Miss Bianca:

    Well, I dunno who is better, but seeing both bands in one show — that’s best of all. And Susan Tedeschi rocks perhaps better than any other rock/blues guitarist.

    Can you tell I have a crush?

    Bonnie Raitt is great, but Susan, OMG so good. Won’t argue with anyone. Love them all past understanding!!

  323. 323.

    Central Planning

    @Leto:

    They will now be instantly filtered on this post, and every other post.

    Is that a bug or a feature? I want all their posts filtered.

  325. 325.

    Nancy

    @Almost Retired:

    I’ll be looking for that post.

    How almost retired are you? I’m at the point where I want to only do the things I want to do, not more staff committees and long zoom meetings. I may have found the opportunity to do that part time into infinity or was that infirmity.

    Hope you find a way to be retired pleasantly.

Comments are closed.