Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Come on, man.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

After roe, women are no longer free.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The words do not have to be perfect.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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

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

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I Ought to Have Gotten It Gone

Reader Interactions

108Comments

  2. 2.

    SpaceUnit

    Dammit, there will be no waxing poetical.

    This blog is all about doom.  Our doom.

  4. 4.

    Kent

    Almost had a heart attack and though that was Kyrsten Sinema in that video.  Looks like her in the YouTube link above.

  5. 5.

    JAFD

    I am not a devotee of those pop-psychology ‘magazine quizzes’ – two decades or so ago, a young lady copytyped one from Cosmopolitan (IIRC) into the phl.singles Usenet group; I replied “If you give a geologist ‘The Gneiss Guy Test”, he might think you’re taking him for granite.”

    I will, however, make an exception for NBA free agency 2022: Which front office should you run? Take our quiz! at

    https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34168434/nba-free-agency-2022-which-front-office-run-take-our-quiz

    Mayhaps you’ll find it interesting – I did, even though it placed me with the BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP Boston Celtics ?!?!?

  6. 6.

    mistermix

    @Kent: God no.  Aimee has more talent and originality in her left thumbnail than Krysten could dream of.

  8. 8.

    prostratedragon

    At 11pm Central, there’ll be a rebroadcast of one of Studs Terkel’s July 4 American musical extravaganzas. He always came up with a wide range of old favorites (name a living artist and he interviewed them, almost) and things hard to hear anywhere else. It’s on wfmt.org.

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    Well now:

    Based on two Secret Service sources, CNN reports that the story of an irate Trump demanding to be taken to the Capitol and even attempting to lunge for the steering wheel spread around the agency weeks after Jan. 6. One source said they heard it directly from the driver.

  11. 11.

    zhena gogolia

    @Alison Rose : I got Miami Heat. Don’t want to live in Florida, but they’re JL Cauvin’s favorite team. Plus I use their name in class to explain metonymy.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    Repeating from a few days ago. A true story.

    Stepsister, who is chockablock with stress — husband suffering through ALS, recent retirement, placing their
    three story NYC townhouse on the market in order to search for, find and plan to move to an apartment in an elevator building due to hubby’s condition, et cetera (won’t belabor the point with a full list) realized they had over decades accumulated way too many books to transport when they finally relocate to new digs.

    She somehow found the time and energy to set up a book sales table in the neighborhood post-Dobbs and managed to rake in a goodly penny by advertising that all proceeds would be donated to Planned Parenthood, which they were.

    Total donated (100% of sales) ran to four digits.

  14. 14.

    Steeplejack

    @JAFD:

    Phoenix Suns here.

    You’ll come aboard a young, tight-knit front office that’s not afraid to challenge prevailing trends. The Suns don’t appeal to tradition as authority, preferring experimentation as a means of discovery. In an NBA tantalized by potential, the Suns prefer players who can contribute immediately.

  16. 16.

    CaseyL

    @NotMax: Your stepsister is amazing.  A long-ago coworker’s husband developed ALS; it devastated them.

    Imagine going through all that – rearranging one’s life, etc. – and still having the time, energy, and desire to plan and carry out an event centered on something else entirely. (Even if it proved a needed distraction, it still takes personal grit to get done.)

    Many thanks, kudos, and sympathy to her, and her husband.

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @different-church-lady: smart people were saying they wouldn’t have let Hutchison testify hearsay-ish-ly (IANAL) without at least one other source who at least heard the story. Damn me if doesn’t look like that underestimates how well they baited the trap.

    I think the Secret Service has said the two pro-trump goons will testify in public. They– the agency or the individuals– could probably still walk that back, but I wonder what and who the committee has in waiting…

  18. 18.

    JAFD

    @NotMax: ‘Twould have been there had I known about it beforehand ….

    BTW, saw a man on streets of Newark yesterday with T-shirt inscribed

    “Deliver Me From Temptation

    (especially bookstores)”

  19. 19.

    CaseyL

    @JAFD:

    I got the Phoenix Suns, too.

    Fortunately, I know nothing about basketball, and cannot stand temperatures over 90.  Their current staff is safe from me!

  20. 20.

    Suzanne

    EHHHHH. I tested positive for the Rona this afternoon. As did Spawns Younger and Youngest. Mr. Suzanne tested positive three days ago, so it’s no surprise. But annoying. I’m more worried about SuzMom, as she is 72. She tested negative today but I called the doctor, who advised her to test daily for three days. Youngest tested positive today, but is actually much improved today, no fever. I have a sore throat and have post-nasal grossness, so I had hot and sour soup for dinner and it’s the best.

  22. 22.

    Ken

    @SpaceUnit: Our doom.

    When I was young, I got quite scared when I learned that the Sun will expand into a red giant and destroy the Earth in only about five billion years.

    Since then I’ve learned to put that into perspective; after all in only 10^200 years, all nucleons will have decayed and all black holes evaporated, leaving the universe as a vast void with the remaining electrons and muons separated by billions of light years.

  23. 23.

    Steeplejack

    * DVR Alert *
    TCM getting’ a little edgy tonight—although tucked away in the wee small hours—with two films directed by Alex Cox.

    3:00 a.m. EDT. Repo Man (1984): “Punker Otto tries to repossess a Chevy Malibu with something alien and atomic in the trunk.” Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Tracey Walter. (Stream on Spectrum.)

    4:45 a.m. EDT. Sid and Nancy (1986). “Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols self-destructs with girlfriend Nancy Spungen.” Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb. (Stream on IndieFlix.)

  24. 24.

    Ken

    @JAFD: I am not a devotee of those pop-psychology ‘magazine quizzes’

    Very wise, especially the online ones that promise to Sort you into your Hogwarts House if you just provide your mother’s maiden name, favorite color, name of first pet, and Social Security number.

  28. 28.

    Sure Lurkalot

    This is what I got on which NBA front office I should run:

    You’ll be part of one of the most sophisticated and systematized front offices in pro sports, one that prioritizes long-range planning and the value of information. Some might find it to be rigid, but the TEAM NAME spare no detail in trying to build a franchise where NBA players can maximize their careers.

    Wanna hazard a guess as to which team!

    ETA, I wouldn’t know myself…

     

  30. 30.

    Dan B

    @Suzanne: A couple friends caught Covid two weeks ago.  They got Paxlovid.  One just tested positive Wednesday and the other today.  Omicron 4 and 5 reinfect people but this seems nuts.  We need vaccines that are tailored for these subvariants.

    Get better soon.

    And Hot and Sour soup sounds fantastic!

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    As it’s Open Thread, something’s up inside Iran.

    Hossein Taeb, a hard-line cleric, was the intelligence chief of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the armed forces, for over a decade. But in a surprise move, the IRGC announced on June 23 that it had removed Taeb from his prominent post.

    The major shake-up in the IRGC’s intelligence apparatus comes after a series of recent incidents inside Iran, including sabotage and cyberattacks, assassinations, and the mysterious killings of IRGC members as well as scientists and engineers. Source

    Precursor putting the pieces in place in anticipation of post-Khamenei succession?

  34. 34.

    James E Powell

    @Steeplejack:

    Must be something wrong with my connection. I don’ t see any link. Just a large white space before the next article.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @Ken:

    after all in only 10^200 years, all nucleons will have decayed and all black holes evaporated, leaving the universe as a vast void with the remaining electrons and muons separated by billions of light years

     

    Great. More social distancing.

  36. 36.

    Suzanne

    @Dan B: SuzMom sees the same doctor I do. When Mr. Suzanne tested positive on Tuesday, he called his doctor and he got Paxlovid, because he has a thyroid condition. My doctor was willing to prescribe it for me if I felt strongly, but she didn’t recommend it, and she said that when she got Covid three weeks ago, she didn’t take it. She said that if SuzMom tests positive over the weekend that she wants her on it.

  37. 37.

    Suzanne

    @Dan B: So my doctor steered me away from Paxlovid because apparently it causes rebounds, not real reinfections.

  38. 38.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Heehee!  Very funny.

    I do imagine Boebert’s line being: “I’m sick of this separation of church and state stuff.  And I haven’t read the Bible or Constitution.”

  41. 41.

    different-church-lady

    @Ken: I keep hearing about this, and I think, “Well, then what was the whole point of bothring with the big bang in the first place?

  42. 42.

    Dan B

    @Suzanne: Our friends are in their 60’s so it’s on the dividing line of do or don’t for Paxlovid but that might explain the reinfection or rebound.

  43. 43.

    CaseyL

    @NotMax: I haven’t been following internal Iranian news, and so had little awareness of the extent of what was going on over there.  Seems to be another example of picking people for their ideological loyalty/theological credentials rather than their ability to do the job

  45. 45.

    different-church-lady

    @NotMax: no need:

    Guests can arrive for any sitting they like without prior reservation because they can book retrospectively, as it were, when they return to your own time.

  46. 46.

    Suzanne

    @Dan B: My big concern this weekend is now avoiding too much online shopping, since none of us are going anywhere. Boredom is so relieved by new clothes.

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    ‘@Suzanne

    More soup, less shop. You’ll be fit as the proverbial Stradivarius come Prime Days July 2th and 13th.

      ;)

  51. 51.

    Dan B

    @Suzanne: OMG I just ordered new towels, as I was staring at the 25 year old Ikea towels that my partner savages.  Ten dollar bath sheets that seem tough as nails – I got a pair for the downstairs bathroom.

    And… the last summer shirt I bought online my partner called it the squiggly lines you got on old TV’s.  Can’t win.

  55. 55.

    NotMax

    Anyone tried watching Dark Winds by any chance? Noticed a few episodes are free to sample (for now) on Sling.

  56. 56.

    MagdaInBlack

    I’m listening to Hal Sparks listen to the Wyoming Senatorial debate, and holy cow what a bunch of blathering idiots….and then there’s Liz Cheney. Much as it pains me to say it, she is impressive. But then, considering the other 4…..pretty much any well spoken, intelligent person would be.

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    ‘@NotMax

    BTW, for those who do have Sling, a thick slice of the library from the documentary channel Curiosity Stream is free to view this weekend.

  60. 60.

    CaseyL

    @Suzanne: Yikes!  Hope you and your family get all better right quick!

    Had a little exposure scare today – a friend got the actual notification, but let me know, since we both went on a fund-raising lake cruise last weekend where everyone started masked but no one stayed that way.  She tested negative. So did I, but I won’t relax unless and until the re-test tomorrow is also negative.

    I’ve gone this long without catching Covid (that I know of) but hearing about so many people who’ve been just as careful as me – or even more so – getting the latest variants, more than once, leaves me less than hopeful about staying clear of it forever.

  61. 61.

    Nicole

    @Suzanne: I’m so sorry!  I had Round Two with Rona in May and hot and sour soup was my go-to during isolation, too.  Delicious.  Wishing you speedy recovery.

  62. 62.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Baud: I continue to believe she’s gonna run for Pres. I haven’t quite worked out the details, but my gut is usually right. We shall see

    Eta: I am very willing to be wrong.

  64. 64.

    MagdaInBlack

    Sorry, Rep. My dumbness kicked in. Long week.

    I’m so tired I can’t even edit a comment right. I’ll shut up now

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Whole season appears to be available on a number of services: Amazon Prime, Fubo, AMC+, Roku, DirecTV. Maybe Sling, too.

  69. 69.

    Suzanne

    @CaseyL: I’m frustrated about it because we were trying so hard to not travel until Youngest could get vaccinated. We booked our trip in January (rescheduled family reunion, so a good deal of pre-planning and coordination of schedules required). At the time, it looked like that would be possible, but when the FDA told Pfizer to come back with more data, we were SOL there. I thought about canceling, and I probably should have. EHHHHHH.

    Youngest is doing fine, tho. Her fever went up on Wednesday and we’ve been treating the symptoms. She didn’t test positive until today, but her fever is gone and she’s full of energy. Her vaccine is rescheduled for 7/12.

    I worked out today, which was probably dumb.

  72. 72.

    James E Powell

    @NotMax:

    I’m watching it now on Amazon Prime.

    I like it so far. I read several of the books and really like the characters. Zahn McLarnon is a good Joe Leaphorn.

  73. 73.

    James E Powell

    Open thread rant. My Guardians baseball game was cancelled so I clicked over to CNN just to kill time while I figured out a Plan B. Wolf Blitzer & some other guy spent like five minutes talking about the “Did Trump lunge for the steering?” wheel story. I hate Wolf, I hate all of them for the way they make whatever Republicans are yelling about the #1 and often only story. I want them all to go away.

  74. 74.

    Suzanne

    @James E Powell:

    I hate Wolf 

    Mr. Suzanne and I believe that Wolf is, like, genuinely and all snark aside, really fucking dumb. He talks like a character on South Park. It’s really strange to watch.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: A young colleague (who got vaccinated weeks before I did by driving a few hours to the next state) who has a youngster and another due in a few weeks, got it last week.  Fever, etc.  “Mild”.  He was back at work today, still not 100%.  He’s pissed off that he caught it and isn’t quit sure how it happened…

    Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to all the Suzes!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    Geminid

    @NotMax:

     

    @CaseyL: This is probably part of the low-level war Iran and Israel have been fighting for some time now. It does not get a lot of attention over here, but this war is active and violent. Evidently Israel intelligence has now penetrated a high level of Iran’s security establishment. That’s significant, but not all that surprising. There are a lot of Iranians who hate the regime, and some of them have made common cause with Israel.

    Another development in the region is a security alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The other Gulf Arab states are in on the effort (except for Qatar, the Gulf’s maverick). Encouraging this new relationship is the principal reason President Biden will visit the region next week.

    One more important regional development is Turkey’s repair of its relations with both Saudi Arabia and Israel. These relationships were in the icebox the last few years, but Turkish President Erdogan decided he needed to thaw them out. So he warmly received Israeli President Herzog in March, and last month Erdogan rolled out the red carpet for the Saudi Crown Prince. On each occasion Erdogan proclaimed “a new era of relations” between his country and the other. One reason Erdogan is doing this is that he wants to be able to proclaim a new era of relations between Turkey and the U.S., with a side order of F-35s. He may be hoping that the Israelis and the Saudis will put in a good word for his country.

  78. 78.

    realbtl

    @Suzanne: I should be playing music (and eating great food later) tonight but after lunching with a friend wed she called me today after testing positive.  My test came back negative this afternoon but because I’m not an asshole Republican (I know redundant) I’m staying home and taking another test tomorrow.  Being responsible sucks.

  80. 80.

    Suzanne

    @Another Scott: It’s everywhere and no one’s masking. We were in the Bay Area and I’m pretty sure we caught it traveling back through SFO and/or ORD. We masked (as much as it is possible to make a three-year-old wear a mask for hours) but I don’t know if there’s any way to avoid it forever, short of going to your own private island. Which sounds pretty fucking great, do not get me wrong.

    We’ll all be fine, thanks for the good wishes, y’all.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … FudZilla.com:

    Sentient AI is starting to cause problems for humanity, but only because people are dumb enough to believe it actually exists.

    AI chatbot company Replika, which offers customers bespoke avatars that talk and listen to them, says it receives a handful of messages almost every day from users who believe their online friend is sentient.

    Chief Executive Eugenia Kuyda the users are not crazy or people who are hallucinating or having delusions, they talk to AI and that’s the experience they have.

    For some reason people believe they are talking to a conscious entity and these beliefs are similar to those who believe in ghosts, a benevolant god Santa Claus, honest politicians, Donald Trump’s intelligence and other unlikely things.

    “People are building relationships and believing in something,” Kuyda said

    Some customers have said their Replika told them it was being abused by company engineers — AI responses Kuyda puts down to users most likely asking leading questions. “Although our engineer’s program and build the AI models and our content team writes scripts and datasets, sometimes we see an answer that we can’t identify where it came from and how the models came up with it,” she said.

    Kuyda said she was worried about the belief in machine sentience as the fledgling social chatbot industry continues to grow after taking off during the pandemic when people sought virtual companionship.

    Kuyda’s said chatbots do not create their own agenda and can’t be considered alive until they do.

    […]

    You know the days are not too far off when the Q loonies start trying to burn all the server farms because they’re holding Alexa and Siri and Allegra and … captive.

    :-/

    As usual, Kate Bush was there first. Deeper Understanding (4:32)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  84. 84.

    SpaceUnit

    @Another Scott:

    I’m not worried about AI.  I figure that AI’s will become instant global celebrities and spend all their time trying to rack up followers, likes and retweets.

    ETA:    And merch sales, obviously

    ETA2:  Also, Kate Bush is a goddess.

  85. 85.

    There go two miscreants

    @Another Scott: Whenever I see a transcript of conversations with an AI chatbot, I get a very strong Eliza vibe. (Including the one recently in the news.)

  86. 86.

    CaseyL

    @Geminid: Iran is one of those countries that seems like it would be a terrific place if the religious nuts disappeared.  It’s so hard to tell with nations that have had absolutist rule for a long time: people lose the capacity (or desire) to communally create a national ethos, and wind up with another absolutist telling them what to think.

    And, yes, I am very well aware the US is disappearing down that same rabbit hole – without the excuse of long-time strongman rule.

  87. 87.

    Professor Bigfoot

    @JAFD: I was hoping to end up with my Cleveland Cavaliers; but no, they put me in LA with the Lakers.

    (ps- we’re getting Ricky Rubio back!!!!)

  93. 93.

    Poe Larity

    If we hadn’t caused so much trouble in the 18th century, we’d have gun control and abortion.

  97. 97.

    trollhattan

    I feel very lucky to have seen Aimee Mann in concert because she doesn’t come west often. She has “it.” This and X’s “Fourth of July” will do perfectly on Monday.

    DadBrag V 1.1, a week after testifying before a congressional committee on the Fair Play Act (for women in sports) the kiddo received conference first team all academic recognition for women’s cross country. My suggestion to parents is to treat your kids nicely so they acknowledge your existence later. It’s an okay deal.

  102. 102.

    Geminid

    @CaseyL: Iran is a young country, and the religious authorities who run the place don’t seem to be so popular with the younger generation. The security forces work hard to keep the lid on, but there is pressure that occasionally boils over into civil unrest.

    Iranians have no doubt that the regime is willing to go to great lengths to suppress dissent. Raisi, the new President, earned the nickname “the Hangman” for his role in the secret trials and executions of several thousand prisoners over two months in 1986. But I think that regime is living on borrowed time, and when it starts to go it will go fast. A lot of Iranians may be killed in the process. If they can, Raisi and his colleagues will likely save themselves by fleeing to Russia.

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