Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

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

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

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

It’s the corruption, stupid.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

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

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Everybody saw this coming.

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

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Evening Open Thread

Friday Evening Open Thread

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Wow, a lot of things happened today, most of them good.

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The U.S. abstain (at least no veto!) so the UN Security Council passes resolution to boost Gaza aid.  At least it wasn’t another veto; very relieved about that.

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Biden pardons thousands on for simple marijuana offenses – federal and D.C. only because he doesn’t have the ability to pardon state offenses, but the President does encourage states to follow suit.

(Rolling Stone)

ON FRIDAY MORNING, President Joe Biden announced that he would be extending pardons to all Americans convicted of “simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law,” as well as commuting the sentences of 11 people serving “disproportionately long” drug sentences.

The move is the latest step in Biden positioning himself as perhaps the most cannabis-friendly president in history — a true about-face from his previous stance as a pro-prohibition lawmaker. (Last October he issued a similar order pardoning some lower-level cannabis offenders, and in August, recommended that the DEA reschedule the drug.) While the order is “fairly light on specifics,” says Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), it’s a big development nonetheless. “It’s terribly important to have the president acknowledging that nobody should be arrested or in jail for marijuana,” he tells Rolling Stone. “Biden is the first president to come out and publicly state that position, and do it so clearly.”

So what does this decision mean? “I think the main takeaway is [that] this issue of marijuana policy reform, [which] for decades was viewed as a fringe issue, has been elevated to a mainstream issue,” says Armentano. “Having the president of the United States making it clear that no Americans should be in jail for the responsible use of mairjuana is vindication for those of us that have been advocating for legalizing and regulating marijuana for the last five decades.”

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California seized land from a Black family 98 years ago. Officials just voted to return it. Bruce’s Beach was a thriving resort community for Black families when the state took the land under the guise of eminent domain in 1924. It will now return to the Bruce family.  h/t HumboldtBlue

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For our Ohio peeps:

Friday Evening Open Thread 1

Totally open thread.

Update: Maybe try not to complain too much tonight?  Tomorrow is Festivus, so you might want to save up those grievances!

Reader Interactions

91Comments

  1. 1.

    Matt McIrvin

    Still remembering how, in the 2020 primary campaign, one of the knocks on Biden was that he seemed to be the most anti-pot-legalization of the candidates.

  3. 3.

    Kayla Rudbek

    I have lost at yarn chicken, so I have to undo all of my bind off plus three rows after that, in order to finish off my mom’s shawl. And the yarn is four thin strands of cotton that do NOT hold together at all. I think I have another ball of it and I am seriously considering giving it away.

    So my Festivus is starting tonight, so there!

  5. 5.

    Jackie

    @Matt McIrvin: I imagine dealing with a son with addiction issues made Biden’s reluctance to open his mind regarding pot is understandable. After all, marijuana was/is called “the gateway drug” for a long, long time.

    Eta: I’m fully on board with legalizing pot nation-wide – including for federal workers. It should be accepted just like alcohol – used in moderation.

  6. 6.

    Fair Economist

    I’m feeling pretty good because I got my Pets of Balloon Juice calendar! The best part is we have too many calendars already, so I can leave it up on the month for my Xavier all year!

  8. 8.

    Splitting Image

    Yeah sure, but apart from appointing judges, passing the infrastructure bill, supporting Ukraine, walking the picket lines with strikers, expanding Obamacare, and now decriminalizing marajuana, what has Joe Biden ever done for us?

  14. 14.

    New Deal democrat

    FWIW, I agree with Steve Vladeck, *provided* SCOTUS either denies cert or quickly affirms a DC Circuit decision.

    Also … *pray* that SCOTUS does not accept an appeal of the Wisconsin decision. Because if they do, it means a reversal of any State Court anti-gerrymandering opinion on “originalism” grounds.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @brantl: I was guessing that she took a chance on something, hoping to get away with it, but the yarn gods chose to punish her instead.

    I, too, will be interested to know what it actually is.

  17. 17.

    Cathie from Canada

    Canada legalized 5 or 6 years ago and the usual suspects were all “oh the humanity! How awful it will be! Won’t anyone think of the children!” And now nobody really notices except the liquor stores.

  19. 19.

    Splitting Image

    @Jackie:

    Saved our democracy for at least four years, and hopefully for many, many more years!

    Yeah, sure, you say that now, but we both read the New York Times so you know as well as I do we’re all doomed.

  21. 21.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jackie: Also, he’s just been in politics for a long time–through the period when going hard against drugs was an essential part of the “tough on crime” that Democrats had to be to get elected.

  24. 24.

    Splitting Image

    @Cathie from Canada:

    Canada legalized 5 or 6 years ago and the usual suspects were all “oh the humanity! How awful it will be! Won’t anyone think of the children!” And now nobody really notices except the liquor stores.

    Yes, the controversy vanished nearly as quickly as migrant caravans after an American election. It won’t move as quickly in the U.S. as most of the action will be at the state level, but nearly half of the states ought to follow Biden’s lead pretty quickly. This is a situation where the “bully pulpit” was actually put to some good use.

  25. 25.

    Citizen Dave

    An hour and twenty into Maestro.  Movie and Bernstein character so scattered.  Boring movie, heading to a turd rating.  (Spousal unit watching )

  26. 26.

    Splitting Image

    @WaterGirl:

    I wrote to Amir in August, September, November, and now December.

    I am fearing the worst. :: tears::

    Damn. That doesn’t sound good. Thanks for reaching out to him.

  28. 28.

    Geminid

    Those interrsted in good sources of reporting on the Israel/Gaza war can find some listed on tonight’s Ukraine thread. Someone asked Adam Silverman if he’d write another post on the war, and he replied that he’s been real busy but would try. Then he listed 6 or so good reporters and news sites he reads and that would be informative for others. This was at comment #7.

  29. 29.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: Me, too😢😢😢

    He disappeared multiple times for stretches at a time from being hospitalized. He was very private about why he was hospitalized, and I very reluctantly am fearing the worst.😞

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: I only remember the one long stretch where he was gone for 5 or 6 weeks.  At that time I wasn’t sure whether Amir had used a real email address for Balloon Juice.

    But after he returned, he sent me a photo of the new kitty, so I know the address I have for him is good.  Which is better, but also worse.

  34. 34.

    Nelle

    I’m making instructions for my “in case of incapacitation or death” file to include notification instructions to the few sites where I am active.  I suggest that others do so also.

  35. 35.

    Jackie

    For some juvenile humor #TrumpSmells is circulating 😂

    The Meidas Touch Network was first to report this significant development on the olfactory experience of those in closest proximity to the leading conservative candidate in the 2024 presidential race.

    Their investigative team linked the crowdsourced investigation into the “orange man’s” tang to former GOP lawmaker and current CNN Senior Political Commentator Adam Kinzinger.

    “I’m genuinely surprised how people close to Trump haven’t talked about the odor,” reported the CNN commentator. “It’s truly something to behold.”

    Social media users were quick to scour the internet for visual evidence in support of Kinzinger’s sticky zinger.

    Film director Morgan J. Freeman, not to be confused with the actor with a similar name, said the smell is coming from Trump’s diaper.

    “Apparently #TrumpSmellsbecause he rarely changes his adult diapers! F–king gross!!!” he wrote, adding a photo of Trump appearing to have lumps in his pants.

    https://www.rawstory.com/trump-smells-trends/

    Much more stinkiness at the link! My fav is #DiaperDon😂

  37. 37.

    Jay

    I miss Amir,

    So say we all.

    If I go missing, or something bad happens, SWMBO knows to let you all know, even if it’s because she murdered me for leaving the toilet seat up.

  38. 38.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Jackie: pot is not as easy to regulate as alcohol: there is no established threshold for what constitutes impaired, and there is not a test to that shows the recency of use.

    So if a fork truck driver runs over a coworker and tests positive for marijuana, we have no idea if he was impaired because he may have gotten high in the parking lot before starting his shift or he may have smoked a few last month at the Fatboy Slim show.

  39. 39.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Cathie from Canada: The border guards ask. We were driving from Vermont into Quebec in September, and they asked if we were carrying cannabis (we were not.) So it’s legal, but don’t bring any in, I guess.

  40. 40.

    cain

    @Jackie: ​
     
    lol – the GOP main choice is a man who wears a diaper and then shits and doesn’t bother to change it? But Biden is old.

  43. 43.

    Suzanne

    @Steve in the ATL: Even in states where weed is legal, it can present issues in getting a job for the reason you just named. The construction industry is really concerned about having impaired workers, their insurance policies won’t cover it, and there’s not a test that indicates if use is recent or not.

  44. 44.

    Nukular Biskits

    I apologize for the lateness.

    I’m still acclimating back to Central time after being on Pacific time for three weeks.

    I submit that the powers-that-be here at BJ should consider hosting a “Festivus Open Thread”.

  45. 45.

    Jackie

    @Alison Rose: No doubt! I’m just waiting for TIFG to get a whiff of this news regarding his personal hygiene, or the lack of! He’s gonna shit his diapers!

  46. 46.

    cain

    It seems him wearing diapers has been reported on before – https://www.politicalflare.com/2019/11/former-employee-says-trump-wears-adult-diapers-due-to-incontinence-from-repeated-stimulant-abuse/

    haha

    I think though GOP voters are stubborn – my hope is that they keep this guy till he gets the nomination and then the trap springs and they can’t change people and it becomes a gigantic shit show. In which, GOP people are fed up and decide to say fuck it and not vote at all leading to a full sweep.

  47. 47.

    Nukular Biskits

    @NotMax:

    Whole lotta smoking going on, so I hear through the grapevine.

    Purely anecdotal but I’ve noticed the smell of weed a LOT more here in MS since “medical marijuana” was legalized, even while in traffic.

  48. 48.

    RaflW

    I’m personally ambivalent about marijuana legalization, but I also know that 1) anti-pot laws have disproportionately impacted p.o.c. people, and 2) having alcohol available most everywhere sort of obviates my ambivalence about legalizing THC products or leaf use.

    What id like to see is more options for publicity funded treatment for all sorts of addictive substances, and taxing pot/THC could be part of that.

  49. 49.

    FelonyGovt

    @Suzanne: Also because they live in Florida and didn’t want to deal with developing a property in CA. (I’m familiar with this story because this is in my town). I thought the criticism of the family was unfair and misplaced. If it’s theirs it’s theirs, and selling it was a perfectly reasonable choice.

  50. 50.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: Same for our city government. They’ve let everyone know that even though it’s legal in MO now if you have a CDL and test positive for pot you’ll lose your job.

  51. 51.

    Alison Rose

    @cain: The thing is, there should be no shame in wearing them. Lots of people eventually need to for various reasons. But if the reasons he has to wear them are “my personal four food groups are cheeseburgers, chicken wings, uppers, and the bronzer that leaks into my mouth when I sweat too much” and also if he’s being a cheap bastard and wearing each one for days or whatever……fuck all of that all to hell.

  55. 55.

    RevRick

    @Alison Rose: There’s a reason why we change an infant’s diapers, and it isn’t just aesthetics. Feces and a scratch can be a deadly combo.

    Maybe we should organize protests at his rallies and shout, “He smells like shit!”

  56. 56.

    Jay

    @Gin & Tonic:

    It’s an idiot test.

    Why would you bring pot to Canada?

    That’s a Coals to Newcastle thing.

    That’s like trying to smuggle a “black gun” with a high capacity magazine from Canada to the US.

  57. 57.

    RaflW

    @WaterGirl: Biden is also a very canny politician. Republicans hate legalization. They’re going to have a field day with this pardon, which will be free advertising for how reasonable Joe is compared to GOPuritans.

  58. 58.

    Lyrebird

    @RevRick: I don’t know – if he smelled putrid but wasn’t trying to revive old-style fascism, it would be a whole different story.  But I am not good at predicting what will be effective at rallies.

  61. 61.

    noncarborundum

    @brantl: “Yarn chicken”: continuing to knit/crochet as if you’ll be able to finish before your current skein of yarn gives out, when you have reason to suspect that you probably won’t.

  62. 62.

    opiejeanne

    @Jackie: I was on an Urban Legends blog  that was killed by Facebook’s rise. David Emery ran it. We had a poster named Amir that lived in Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, and when I read Amir’s comments here he sounds just like the one I knew there, and both are/were fluent in German. That earlier Amir disappeared a few months after a spell in the hospital. IIRC, he was hit by a car and was lying in the street when the driver put his car in reverse to finish him off; he was rescued by witnesses but he was pretty badly hurt.

    People on that blog tried repeatedly to reach him but never got a response. That would have been before 2008 I think.

  63. 63.

    Alison Rose

    @RevRick: Well, and also to shut them up :P Oh, maybe it’s just me for whom that was a key reason.

    I don’t have kids (praise be) and am the youngest in my family, so my only experience with babies was with my oldest brother’s kids. First one was born a few months before I turned 15. I already knew by then that I didn’t want kids, and it only took a few times changing a full diaper to start to question the sanity of anyone who did want them.

  64. 64.

    opiejeanne

    @noncarborundum: Women who sew call it bobbin chicken for the same reason. Swearing can sometimes be heard at the sewing group, coming from genteel old ladies. It is a bit louder if it runs out while doing a decorative stitch.

  66. 66.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Suzanne: Hell, I’m a software engineer and I’ve had a job where I had to do a pee test. Wasn’t even defense contracting or anything where it would have mattered–the company just claimed it was easier to screen everybody than to single out the people they had to. It’s one of the reasons I continue to avoid the stuff, though it’s legal here.

  67. 67.

    Matt McIrvin

    @RaflW: When the Republicans were thrashing around trying to figure out what to do after 2012, I thought pot legalization might be a way for them to do a surprise “left” end run around the Democrats, if they were smart. There were certainly a few libertarian types who would have been happy to do it. But they went unreconstructed fascist instead, oh well.

  68. 68.

    Matt McIrvin

    @RaflW: While I don’t think cannabis is harmless, I do think it’s less harmful than most of the drugs we restrict and that banning it has done more harm than good. Cops could just say “I smell pot” and magically generate probable cause in all sorts of situations, and legalization took that away from them.

  72. 72.

    Marcopolo

    @New Deal democrat: SCOTUS has no jurisdiction to hear an appeal of the WI state Supreme Court ruling on whether Wisconsin’s state legislative districts comply or don’t comply with the Wisconsin state constitution.  Pretty sure all the other 49 states would be in agreement on this.

  74. 74.

    Joey Maloney

    Now that Biden has pardoned all the pot users, which red state government will be the first to institute life sentences for it

    My ex’s brother was diagnosed with Oppositional-Defiant Disorder. I know it when I see it.

  76. 76.

    Marc

    @Matt McIrvin:  Hell, I’m a software engineer and I’ve had a job where I had to do a pee test.

    I used to be a contract software developer for a bunch of companies here in Silicon Valley and also used to consume weed on a daily basis.  Got a gig with HP, they wanted a test (HP was the only company I encountered that wanted one), stopped smoking and scheduled the test for three weeks later, passed the test, resumed smoking.

  77. 77.

    AlaskaReader

    @Steve in the ATL:In the interest of keeping discussions of marijuana use grounded in some reality, I’ve not seen credible evidence anywhere that pot indulgence in some number of weeks past would cause the kind of impairment you speculate.  Happy to look at what evidence you are citing.

  78. 78.

    HumboldtBlue

    @AlaskaReader: ​
     

    I think you misread that comment, SteveATL stated that we have no guidelines to determine any form of impairment due to cannabis use.

    And so far, no way to do so.

  79. 79.

    Debbie(Aussie)

    Re cannabis use- isn’t it way past time that research was done to assess sobriety and the affect it has on one’s ability to perform your work. Someone who uses it for medical reasons ie: pain relief is probably better at their work than when not taking it.

    edited for spelling

  81. 81.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    @Marcopolo: ​
     

    “Badges!? Badges!? We no need stink’n badges!”

    ~SCOTUS

  82. 82.

    Eyeroller

    @Jackie: ​My recollection of what little information Amir mentioned about himself is that he was forced into very early retirement on disability due to cardiomyopathy-induced heart failure. His last post was a day or two after his birthday (he did not give his age) and he was showing us his new kitten. So he wasn’t expecting a rapid downturn. But he’d also been hospitalized for dehydration during Ramadan. So this prolonged absence doesn’t bode well.

  84. 84.

    Gvg

    @Suzanne: That’s one reason that it needs to be rescheduled. It can’t be really effectively studied under current laws. Scientists and medical researchers can’t do tests, can’t even get hold of it. They sometimes get permits for government weed which as I understand it, is old school stuff not the newer special strains. So they don’t know and can’t find out how much is impaired, they can’t tell you anything about the new strains and driving and operating machinery. They don’t know how it interacts with prescription drugs, and a lot of people who want it for pain management have prescriptions. They also can’t develop tests that are more useful and indicate only recent use.

    At least I think this is a factor. Maybe they won’t solve every issue when it’s not illegal anymore, but I would bet we get better info than now.

    i don’t use it, but I also have a disbelief of most official info about it because it started with claiming nonsense about that particular drug. Political pressure contaminated the medical info on marijuana from the beginning and that needs to be fixed.

  85. 85.

    Gvg

    @AlaskaReader: it doesn’t have to be grounded in reality. If there is no evidence and no legal guidelines, an insurance company could refuse to cover a policy, or  someone hurt, knowing the employee (just a bad driver say) has no money to be sued for, could go after his employer as “negligent “ in hiring an impaired employee. That’s just off the top of my head. Not having real info is itself a problem that is open to abuse. Common sense does not have standing. Proven experimental research with repeatable results do.

    Personally I am sure marijuana does not have a long term impairment impact, but I can’t prove it. I want the proving done now. It’s past time.

  86. 86.

    Miss Bianca

    @Suzanne: I think there will always be exceptions for construction workers and heavy machinery operators. They’re going to get tested whether they want it or not.

    @Matt McIrvin: “easier”, yeah, right. Because it’s always easier to test MORE people than FEWER. It was because they got a break on their insurance rates if they tested everyone, I’m betting.

  87. 87.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @brantl: trying to use up as much of the yarn as possible without running out and having to undo my work. I was about 3/4 of the way through binding the shawl off when I realized that I didn’t have enough yarn left to complete it.  So I have to undo the binding off and three more rows before I can get this finished.

  89. 89.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @WaterGirl: yes, the yarn goddesses are punishing me for my mistakes and for not trusting my instincts instead of the scale.  So I have to undo almost four rows of work before I can get this thing finished off.

  91. 91.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Miss Bianca: I suspected the real reason was just that upper management was a bunch of old conservative dudes and they preferred not to work with anyone who smoked dope.

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