Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

He really is that stupid.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Republicans don’t trust women.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

T R E 4 5 O N

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

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

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

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

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

No Justins, No Peace

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Einstein Zoom and Other Things

Einstein Zoom and Other Things

by | 63 Comments

This post is in: 

Last night was a fun presentation, and I hope everyone who attended enjoyed. Thanks to Watergirl for putting it all together.

And while we are thanking people, can I just note how INSANE it is that every day for two years Adam has presented a lengthy, quality post on the war in Iraq? That’s just bonkers, and thanks for that. Is that the longest running daily series in Balloon Juice history? Maybe Anne Laurie’s covid coverage.

Bonkers when you think about it.

Reader Interactions

63Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    Ukraine, but yeah.

    The Einstein Zoom was fantastic.  And now Benyamin is going to be doing Oppenheimer’s social media too.

  2. 2.

    TBone

    I am not an Einstein when it comes to zooming, so I tried to phone in but after I was disconnected three times while fumbling to enter the necessary codes, I got too frustrated and decided to call it a night.  I’ve been having a weird insomnia thing where I sleep for only 2 hours at a time, wake up, and try again.  Some nights all I get is the 2 hours.  Dang, sorry I missed it.

    ETA both Adam and AL are deeply appreciated.

  3. 3.

    MomSense

    I’m so sorry I missed the zoom, but I’m in packing mode.
    Adam’s Ukraine dispatches are amazing as were Ann Laurie’s COVID posts.  In both cases I think we jackals were far better informed than most.  I don’t comment on Adam’s posts because I get too emotional to write.

  6. 6.

    oldster

    Yeah, Adam’s coverage of Ukraine is one of the main reasons I drop in on BJ at least once a day.

    I look forward to Victory in Ukraine Day, when Adam will be able to take some time off.

  7. 7.

    Ohio Mom

    I have mentioned a couple of times that Adam should plan to carefully print out his posts (with comment threads) on archival paper* and donate them to a university or other historical institution. But he just downplays his work and says no one would be interested.

    * I say, print out on archival paper because we all know sites can disappear in a poof.

  8. 8.

    SteveinPHX

    I have “The Einstein Effect” on my desk at work. Enjoying it. Sorry I could not make Zoom last nite.

  9. 9.

    zhena gogolia

    @Big Picture Pathologist: Anne Laurie does the COVID posts. Watergirl does fundraising and a million other things. I am deeply grateful to Adam, Anne Laurie, Watergirl, Betty Cracker, and John Cole, plus I’m leaving some other people out but it’s like the Oscars. David Anderson! mistermix! and so on.

  10. 10.

    Argiope

    @Ohio Mom: ​
    Seconded. Adam’s and AL’s daily rundown of events for us have important historical context that show things unfolding in real time. How can we help these efforts move forward? Both of them deserve blogging Pulitzers.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    @Argiope:   They do deserve blogging Pulitzers.  MSM too cowardly to make what’s happening clear, without obfuscating and dissembling.

  13. 13.

    Hildebrand

    I tell folks about Balloon Juice all the time – it’s deep bench, the many and varied topics covered, the snark, the pets, the humanity and compassion shared, the brilliant regulars.  It’s a great community – and I always walk away feeling as if I have gained something, because I have.

  15. 15.

    Ohio Mom

    @Elizabelle: The lens Adam uses probably results in information too specialized for mainstream media consumers. There is a lot of military strategy and specifics of military equipment along with the very cleared-eyed political analysis.

    I agree that the MSM falls way short on the clear-eyed political analysis. Which is really a main responsibility of theirs. Normie news consumers need context.

  16. 16.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Doug: ​Iraq?

    Bare ;^D with me hear:

    In my salad days[1] I bought a copy of Grof Conklin’s SF anthology 17xInfinity, which included Herbert Gold’s “The Day They Got Boston” (1961), one of the most black- & bleakly humorous stories of the Cold War[2]. In one of the classic modes of comedy, TDTGB jumps back & forth among a number of nearly-unrelated plot threads, using the abrupt transitions to generate yuks.

    In one such thread[3] the citizens of the tiny fictional town of Rifle City, Colorado, beseech their Congresscritters to retaliate for the vaporization of Beantown by nuking the entire continent of Europe. (“They weren’t too sure about geography and just wanted to make sure the Rooskies got theirs.”[4])

    A number of paragraphs and numerous redirections below this note appeared, a propos of nothing within hailing distance, this terse note:

    The citizens of Avignon, France, donated a geography textbook to the Rifle City, Colorado, public library.

    And now you understand. Dig up a copy of the story if you can, it’s probably just as funny now as then…

    [1] When I was a green vegetable drizzled in oil and vinegar.
    \[2] When I reddit I ROTFLMAO two generations before anyone even thought of that frackin’ acronym.
    [3] I paraphrase – the book is somewhere in my boxed-up liebury but damn if I’m gonna go digging through the detritus right now only to find it has either crumbled to dust or been transmuted to vole turds.
    [4] Sound like any contemporary political movement we know?    ​

  18. 18.

    Ohio Mom

    I am pretty sure that Cole is not fishing for compliments but we all know that everything he lists is the direct result of his initial work. He put this all in motion.

  20. 20.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    During the deepest depths of the pandemic, Anne Laurie’s covid posts were the first thing I read, every day. I do think I was much more knowledgeable, much sooner, because of those posts. We had antiseptic cleaners and an adequate supply of paper goods by the end of February/beginning of March 2020. We were masking (thanks to Korean daughter-in-law’s mom) by the end of March. And I was always able to track what was happening. So my thanks to AL is way, way overdue. The amount of research and work she has (and continues to) put  into each post is remarkable, and easy to take for granted. Thank you Anne Laurie!

    I don’t always read Adam’s Ukraine posts, because frankly, sometimes by that time of night I just can’t face it. But I send them to my husband, who is obsessed, and keeps track of every detail. He doesn’t read blogs, but he’ll read “articles” I send him. He especially likes Adam’s. Again, the amount of work and research that goes into every post, every day, is amazing. Thanks you Adam!

  25. 25.

    eclare

    @middlelee:

    I think it was way over two years, because covid started in spring 2020.  I can’t remember when AL started to cut back, but it wasn’t that long ago.  And she still does a weekly update.  Many, many thanks are due.

  28. 28.

    S Cerevisiae

    I echo all the above thanks for all the front pagers & commenters, grateful for John Cole putting and keeping this place together. I have been reading here for 20 years now and it’s become my main social media and information source particularly for Ukraine 🇺🇦 and COVID.

    I don’t comment a lot because someone here usually says what I was thinking but phrased it better.

  31. 31.

    Albatrossity

    Missed the zooming, but echo all of the praise for JC, Adam, AL, and especially Watergirl for keeping this place a sanctuary of sanity in these insane times. Much appreciation to all!

  32. 32.

    StringOnAStick

    @S Cerevisiae: So, so true. AND all the targeted money we raised last election season and are raising now!   I used to donate based on which email beg made me feel the most angry or guilty, and now I direct nearly all my political giving through this website and to groups I found here, because I care about effectiveness and efficiency.

  33. 33.

    eclare

    @StringOnAStick:

    Same here!  Many thanks to WaterGirl and all of the angel matches.  $700k for GA was impressive and so worth it to turn that state blue and get two outstanding senators.

  34. 34.

    Jackie

    OT: Apparently one juror has recused herself from TIFG’s trial, after several family members and friends contacted her, questioning if she WAS one of the jurors.

    A second juror has been asked to appear in court this morning, after subsequent background research raises questions about his ability to be unbiased.

    So seven jurors has dropped to six, with the possibility of dropping down to five.

    UPDATE: The second juror in question has been dismissed.

    https://www.rawstory.com/trump-trial-juror-dismissed/

  35. 35.

    frosty

    @KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): Anne Laurie’s COVID posts were the first thing I read every day too, in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. I pretty much read the posts and comments start to finish before I got out of bed.

    My usual reaction was to want to pull the covers over my head and stay there.

  37. 37.

    StringOnAStick

    @frosty: Anne’s Covid posts are (1) why I retired early, which led (2) to us moving to a retirement location and life that we still pinch ourselves and ask if it’s real because it’s everything we hoped for and more.

  38. 38.

    Kenneth J Fair

    I read Adam’s Ukraine summary pretty much every day. It’s more informative than pretty much any other source I’ve found. I absolutely second the notion that these posts need to be preserved.

  40. 40.

    Scout211

    @Jackie: And the gag order violation hearing is Tuesday, April 23.  How many violations will he rack up by next Tuesday?  Should we have a contest?

  41. 41.

    Baud

    @Jackie:

    Thanks.  I wonder if the guy tearing down political posters was a lib.  That’s usually a right wing thing, but maybe it’s bipartisan in NYC.

  43. 43.

    Scout211

    @Baud: I don’t know what that means. Jurors can’t refuse themselves. The judge has to let them off.

    The first one that was dismissed this morning was a woman who was frightened because aspects of her identity (I think it was “the oncology nurse”) were released to the public.  The judge then admonished the media to stop adding personal information like the jurors’ jobs in their media reports.

  44. 44.

    Old School

    Is that the longest running daily series in Balloon Juice history?

    Does “On The Road” count?  That began in 2017.

  45. 45.

    Miss Bianca

    Adam and Anne Laurie both deserve All the Kudos for their posts. And so does every other FPer here, imho, and so does Blogfather John Cole for bringing us all together. All hail!

  47. 47.

    jackmac

    Adam Silverman’s nightly reports are must-reads. He’s a treasure.  (And his intelligent regular commentators are also excellent).

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    You really have excellent people, Cole.

    I don’t know if AL thought she’d be on the COVID beat as long as she has been. I do know for sure that she helped save lives because of those posts.

     

    And, Adam’s coverage has been absolutely top knotch also.

     

    Also, David Anderson has also been an informative gem.

  49. 49.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    I add my appreciation for John, WaterGirl and all the BJ folks. I am grateful to be accepted as a Jackal.

  52. 52.

    jame

    I am deeply grateful to both Anne Laurie and Adam Silverman for their coverage of COVID and Ukraine respectively. Adam’s post is the one I read every night, though sometimes I have to force myself to finish it. Many, many thanks to the both of you!

  53. 53.

    Sherparick

    @Albatrossity: I piggyback to say thank you to Adam, Ann Laurie, Watergirl, and J.C. for all their work in keeping this blog afloat & far more informed than the average New York Times reader running a Hedge Fund.  Sorry I missed the Zoom, but work intervened.  On my other favorite blog, LG&M, Paul Campos notes the biggest problem with Democracy, with a story perhaps to good to be true, but since it’s Florida????

    Home / General / No tacos in Heaven?
    No tacos in Heaven?

    BY PAUL CAMPOS
    /
    ON APRIL 18, 2024
    /
    AT 9:30 AM
    /
    IN GENERAL
    286 VIEWS


    I doubt it’s possible to come up with a much stronger restaurant review than “I went there twice in the week before I was going to be Raptured.”

    A woman came to our restaurant the other day with a friend, she was nice but kept trying to proselytize to me. She tipped $300 on a $40 bill and wrote on the receipt “in case you don’t rise on the 8th.” [April 8th was the day of the total eclipse] I’ve heard the same thing from some of my family members, these people genuinely think they’re going to rise into heaven on April 8th. . . .

    I’m a server at a taco restaurant in Florida. Last weekend, we had a woman come in that tipped me $300 on a $40 bill. I made a post about this here.

    As I was getting into work, I saw her at a table with a guy (presumably her bf or husband) and she was being served by one of my coworkers. He knew she was the $300 tipper but didn’t give her any special treatment. According to my coworker, she kept asking if he was Christian, to which he said no, and then she started talking about how awful it’ll be after the Rapture (which she thinks is on April 8th, this Monday) for sinners left on Earth. My coworker said that he thinks he’ll do fine (he was kinda vying for the tip so he didn’t want to contradict her belief). According to him, he took their orders as normal, served them, and the woman tipped him $777 and said that he’ll need it after.

    My coworker then immediately ran to get me (because of my previous experience with her) and the manager, not wanting to take money from this delusional woman. Our manager then asked the woman if she intended to make that tip and she said “of course, it’s with the Lord’s numbers” and then left. Our manager refused to refund the payment both because she left and because she verbally confirmed that was her intended tip.

    Friday is our payday so both my coworker and me will be getting our tips from her today, and if she comes back April 9th, she probably won’t be able to get the money back, but I honestly feel bad for her.

    See if you can guess where this story is going. (Key terms: Florida, Rapture, tacos)

    So, last weekend at the restaurant I work at, a woman tipped me $300, convinced that the rapture was imminent on April 8th. Here’s where it gets even more bizarre. A few days later, she returns and tips my coworker a whopping $777.

    Fast forward to today, and she’s back again, adamant that her tips were somehow fraudulent and that we tampered with them. Her claims of fraud are literally impossible, we bring the card reader to the table, and it’s the guest who decides the tip amount by either pressing a preset option or entering a custom one before hitting pay. That’s exactly what she did. So, it’s physically impossible for us to manipulate the tip amounts.

    Both my coworker and I have already received our tips with our paychecks, and we obviously have to pay income tax on them. Returning the money to her at this point is literally impossible since we don’t actually have all the money.

    Now if I walked into a restaurant, strung out from the road, and gave the servers more than a thousand dollars in tips because I believed space aliens were about to transport me to the planet Zod, where they don’t have money (or tacos apparently) I would be considered an obvious lunatic. But in this case the person in question is considered to be “part of the evangelical base” that could well re-elect Donald Trump president less than seven months from now.

    It really makes you think . . . about tacos at least.

  56. 56.

    TBone

    @JAFD: 👍

    The reverberations came almost instantly. Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who sends a daily e-mail to 125,000 Christian activists, says his computer mailbox was jammed with hundreds of complaints, many lamenting, “I worked my heart out for this guy.” The Arlington Group, a coalition of conservative religious organizations, quickly fired off to Bush political guru Karl Rove a private letter signed by such figures as Bauer, Don Wildmon of the American Family Association, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, conservative standard bearer Paul Weyrich and evangelist Jerry Falwell. They laid down a none-too-subtle threat that the Administration’s “defeatist attitude” on gay marriage might make it “impossible for us to unite our movement on an issue such as Social Security privatization where there are already deep misgivings.”

    What did Squeaker Johnson and company extract as payment for Ukraine aid?

  57. 57.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)):

    During the deepest depths of the pandemic, Anne Laurie’s covid posts were the first thing I read, every day. I do think I was much more knowledgeable, much sooner, because of those posts.

    This.  AL is the gold standard….with apologies to BC because she provides the best quotes to steal.

  58. 58.

    way2blue

    A special thank you to Adam.  As we all become weary & burdened by Russia’s decimation of Ukraine and the ‘West’s’ sluggish grasp of the stakes.  Adam continues night after night to remind us. Thanks, Adam!  We wish you didn’t need to post every night.  So here’s hoping for the crushing defeat Russia so fully requires.

  60. 60.

    wu ming

    adam’s ukraine diaries and anne laurie’s covid diaries are why i’m now a regular lurker on this website. far and away the best place on the internet to get this information.

  61. 61.

    The Pale Scot

    Yea, I’n been telling myself he needs a break for some time now, he’s watching videos that he doesn’t pass on to us because of the context.

  62. 62.

    db11

    Many thanks to Adam for his nightly Ukraine updates.

    Also to Anne Laurie for her daily COVID updates over the entire course of the pandemic.

    Both invaluable troves (and archives) of the realtime unfolding of two major global crises.

    And thanks due as well to Water Girl, for her daily efforts to inform, connect and motivate the community here.

    Many others here whose contributions are appreciated.

    For me, Betty Crocker sits atop that list: her wit, intelligence and turn-of-phrase would make her a star at any major media outlet (not to mention a vast improvement over the unimpressive collection of dullards and political shills that currently populate the bulk of current editorial/journalistic corps).

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    BC is hilarious.

    And, WG…you make me cry sometimes, when I think about how you’ve been organizing here.

    The strategy of it.

    The purposefulness in choices.

    And, the power of the little man’s dollar.

    When I saw those totals in  2022 that we put through to stop the ‘ red wave’, I was in awe.

    I continue to be so in 2024.

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