Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Republicans in disarray!

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

It’s the corruption, stupid.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

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

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

No one could have predicted…

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Open Thread (and reminder: NYC Meet-up This Sunday (9/3) at 4 pm)

Open Thread (and reminder: NYC Meet-up This Sunday (9/3) at 4 pm)

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In case you missed it, NotMax is in NYC this weekend, and there is a meetup on Sunday.

REMINDER

NYC Meet-up

Sunday, September 3rd, 4 – 8 p.m.

The Baylander

Take the A or the 1 subway to 125th Street, then the M125 bus west to 12th Avenue/ St. Claire Place stop (or can walk west). The Baylander is on the Hudson River at 125th street. Open air venue.

I imagine NotMax has a list, but I’m curious – who all is planning to attend?

Also, I want the Friday afternoon news dump, early please!

Open thread.

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  • Alison Rose
  • Anonymous At Work
  • Caroline
  • columbusqueen
  • Elizabelle
  • Geminid
  • JAFD
  • LAO
  • Layer8Problem
  • Mr. Bemused Senior
  • nickdag
  • NotMax
  • Ohio Mom
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    39Comments

    2. 2.

      Alison Rose

      Also for the OT: Here is a short and fun video from Vox about why cats always land on their feet and how we discovered their ability:

      Étienne-Jules Marey was a French scientist and inventor who analyzed how things moved. He developed a way to photograph multiple stages of movement onto a single glass plate, a technique called chronophotography. Later, when Kodak introduced celluloid film, Marey swapped the glass plate for a roll of film that moved in between exposures. This technique formed the basis of cinematography, and it’s how he recorded the stages of a cat righting itself in midair. He published his findings in Nature and demonstrated how the cat splits its body in two and uses the inertia of its own body weight to spin around.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      PaulWartenberg

      Did the Florida krewe ever figure out a meet-up place and time? I am good for anything within driving distance of Polk County, on a Saturday or Sunday. Gainesville would be nice as a place.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      Scout211

      Here’s a fun news story on a Friday.  Mother Jones reports there is another FBI whistleblower that tells a different story. I wonder if the House crazy caucus will take this guy’s calls?

      A New Rudy Scandal: FBI Agent Says Giuliani Was Co-opted by Russian Intelligence

      But another major Giuliani development has drawn less attention: An FBI whistleblower filed a statement asserting that Giuliani “may have been compromised” by Russian intelligence while working as a lawyer and adviser to Trump during the 2020 campaign.

      That contention is among a host of explosive assertions from Johnathan Buma, an FBI agent who also says that an investigation involving Giuliani’s activities was stymied within the bureau.

      In July, Buma sent the Senate Judiciary Committee a 22-page statement full of eye-popping allegations, and the document leaked and was first reported last month by Insider (after a conservative blogger had posted it online). According to Buma’s account, Giuliani was used as an asset by a Ukrainian oligarch tied to Russian intelligence and other Russian operatives for a disinformation operation that aimed to discredit Joe Biden and boost Trump in the 2020 presidential race. Moreover, Buma says he was the target of retaliation within the bureau for digging into this.

      . . .

      In his statement, Buma says that the FBI assessed Fuks to be a “co-opted asset” of Russian intelligence services, meaning a person who Russian intelligence used to advance its goals. Buma’s complaint does not name a specific Russian intelligence agency, but a person who spoke to agents involved in this investigation says that the FBI believes Fuks worked for the FSB, the successor to KGB. All this raises the possibility that Giuliani, a former Republican presidential candidate who became a close adviser to Trump, received a large payment directly from a Russian asset.

      Buma alleges that Fuks has carried out various tasks for Russian spies, including laundering money for them. Fuks also reportedlypaid locals to spray-paint swastikas around Kharkiv in the weeks before Russia’s invasion. Buma says Fuks did so to bolster Vladmir Putin’s claim that the invasion aimed to achieve the “de-Nazification of Ukraine.”

      Reply
    14. 14.

      Anonymous At Work

      Odd Note about Trump and Fourteenth Amendment:

      Arizona GOP is proposing to run, on its own dime with hand-counts, private balloting, etc. the Presidential Primary.  I believe, mostly, this is just the Arizona GOP being insane, and in part about hedging bets on Trump’s trials.  In part, however, this is an effort to delay 14th Amendment, Section 3 lawsuits.

      If a Secretary of State lists an improper candidate on the state government’s primary ballot, that gives a voter standing to challenge the Secretary of State.  By holding the primary within the party only, the primary is not a “state-sanctioned election” but a “private internal informal preference straw poll”.

      Best link of the bunch: https://www.azfamily.com/2023/09/01/arizona-gop-split-over-proposed-changes-state-presidential-primary/

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Ohio Mom

      In hopes that an Ohio meet-up can be planned, are there any Juicers in the Columbus area who could do some location scouting?

      Otherwise we think I see an Ohio Family day trip in the future. We have a few favorite spots in Columbus but I don’t think they lend themselves to groups that want to linger.

      Reply
    16. 16.

      Scout211

      And also in Friday news, the previous thread has a discussion of the latest Proud Boy sentencing.

      WASHINGTON — Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boy who smashed a Capitol window with a stolen police riot shield, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Friday.
      Pezzola was the only one of the five defendants in the Proud Boys trial who was not convicted of the top charge of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors had sought 20 years for him.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Anonymous At Work

      @Scout211: Nothing in the article about how the NY FBI office’s head of counterterrorism was taking money from Russian sources as a double agent.  And the investigation into whether the FBI was leaking information to Giuliani in 2016 is only half of the story.  The other half is whether Giuliani was contacting the NY FBI Office to have them apply pressure on Comey.

      Reply
    20. 20.

      strange visitor (from another planet)

      i’m debating it. i really wanna go, but i’m super in the middle of money problems.

      watergirl, can you have notmax email me?

      Reply
    26. 26.

      Geminid

      @NotMax: They might be uncomfortable just hanging out. But I bet some jackals would spot them some lemonades and such, and maybe let them know. I’d send 20 bucks up if I could.

      Reply
    27. 27.

      NotMax

      No obligation to attend the entire time. Arrive early, leave early. Arrive later, leave later. Pop in for 5 minutes to say hi.

      As the kewl jackals say, it’s all good.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      JAFD

      I should be there, good Lawd willin’ and the Passaic don’t rise. Will toss extra sawbuck in to treat economically anxious jackals.
      Looking forward to seeing the gang again.
      Happy Labor Day to all yon jackals who must be elsewhere !

      “Thirty days hath September,
      Month of paler cooler suns,
      And if it didn’t, who’d remember
      The totals for the other ones ?

      Thirty days hath September
      Thirty shining golden beads.
      Thirty days hath September.
      Actually, that’s all it needs.”
      – Peg Bracken

      Reply
    30. 30.

      JAFD

      Last year, I brought a circular piece of green construction paper, attached to a stand.  It got packed up when I was moving out temporarily for apartment renovation.  Oneuvdezedaze it will turn up again.  Trust someone will bring substitute ‘territory marker’ this time.

      Reply
    31. 31.

      something fabulous

      So jelly! I miss a town where all directions are given first and only re:public transport! Have a great time all y’all (As we say in NYC).

      Reply
    32. 32.

      Geminid

      @NotMax: I figured you would be. I hope Y’all (as we say in Greene County) have a great time!

      I envy you: “New York, New York, it’s a wonderful town.”

      Reply
    36. 36.

      Ohio Mom

      @columbusqueen: I didn’t see the other thread — Planks looks like it checks all the boxes — I am going to ask Watergirl to send you my email because you are now my co-coordinator.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      NotMax

      @WaterGirl

      Just now returned from the day’s (and night’s) goings on.

      No access to that e-mail account from here (neglected to write down and bring along the password).

      Reply
    38. 38.

      nickdag

      I’m mostly a lurker but did join an NYC meetup several years ago. I’m sorry I can’t make it this time ’round. The venue looks much nicer than last time and alas, I no longer live in NYC.

      Have fun!

      Reply
    39. 39.

      JAFD

      Good morning, Jackals and camp followers !

      Finished breakfast (substantial, will hold me till dinnertime).   Going to start over to NYC fairly early – holiday weekend service on PATH and subway being unpredictable – and plan to kill time if needed, getting off at 110th, walking up thru Columbia and seeing who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb ;-)

      Stay healthy and happy, and have a safe and pleasant trip, wherever you’re going, everyone !

      Reply

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