Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Finding joy where we can, and muddling through where we can’t.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

“woke” is the new caravan.

The National Guard is not Batman.

“They all knew.”

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

People are weird.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

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Archives for 2024

Climate Solutions: Positive Stories On Solutions and Innovation

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I’m still not sure how I will disseminate the information I have compiled, but I’m going to just jump in. At the moment I’m fascinated with soil regeneration as a way to capture carbon and solve problems like raging wildfires, till farming/factory farming climate damage and that pesky “cows are the problem” myth (spoiler alert, it’s not the cows it’s the factory farming). There will definitely be Wooly Mammoth information and beaver rewilding to restore areas.

I’m going to embed some brief videos interspersed in this post so you can see where I’m headed.

Carbon Cowboys – Roots So Deep is the same team that produced Cabon Nation they bring all the feelz with this series of videos.

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Balloon Juice – It’s That Time Again (Daytime Peeps Version)

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Posting this again this morning for the daytime and weekend Balloon Juice peeps.

 Thanks to everyone who jumped in yesterday!

Balloon Juice went ad-free over 2 years ago, and I hope you guys still appreciate that as much as I do!

It’s been quite awhile since we’ve had one of these posts, but it’s time, because we have on-going expenses.   Web hosting is monthly, and it’s not cheap.  Other expenses are annual (dropbox, design software for the calendar and postcards, Balloon Juice email addresses, Zoom, etc.)

And we like to keep the safety net so Cole doesn’t have to worry about the “what-ifs” of surprise expenses in a no-ads world.

If you donate, I promise that not one penny of what you donate will be used to supply Henry with a never-ending supply of furry friends to snuggle with.  Pinky swear!

Balloon Juice Is Still Ad-Free

How can you help?  (But only if you can afford it!)

°If you have signed up for a monthly donation but you’re in a different financial position than you were when you signed up, please feel free to cancel your monthly donation, with our thanks for having supported the site.

°If you keep thinking you’ll set up a monthly donation, but haven’t gotten around to it, or if the timing is right for increasing your donation, this would be a great time to do it.

°  If you have a monthly donation set up through PayPal, please consider switching that to Patreon. Patreon takes taxes off the top before the funds go into John’s account, so there are no surprises at tax time.

°  Make a one-time donation to the Safety Net. It turns out that having the safety net has already been helpful, as John gets clobbered with the tax bill for the the donations that come through PayPal, etc. Before you ask me exactly how much the tax bill was, I do not know the actual amount and Cole hates to talk about money, so I am not going to press him on that.

° If you want to send a one-time check for expenses or for the safety net, send me an email message I will send you Cole’s address.  (P.O.box)

You can donate to the safety net with Patreon, Venmo, Zelle, and paper check.  And even PayPal if that’s your only option, but please mark it as personal / gift and not payment for services.

Big thanks to everyone who helps keep Balloon Juice going!

If you have any questions, let me know!

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

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Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Mother’s Milk of Politics

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Meanwhile…

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Late Night Open Thread: Republican Outreaching

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I Remembered What I Wanted to Talk About

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I found the best grocery store in the area- WinCo! Sprouts/Trader Joe’s/Whole Foods are just too upscale to be sustainable longterm, and that basically leaves you with Fry’s, Wally World, and local places asian/middle eastern markets to buy your staples. And as far as savings go, winco is the clear winner.

And it is employee owned. It’s big, but no flashy bullshit like the fancy stores. No one running around fucking with you asking if you need help. Kind of like an American Aldi’s. Very happy to have “discovered” it. Limes were 25 cents!!! Red bell peppers 75 cents!! And it was clean and there was a wide, wide variety of items. And the prices on their private label stuff were great, too.

I also liked their massive bulk section- all the grains and nuts and legumes and flours and seeds and dried goods, and they had the big bulk wall of coffee which sorta seemed to disappear in the mid 2000’s but I always loved- 7.98 a lb for a light roast tanzanian peaberry. I mean who doesn’t love going to an upscale coffee grinder and buy something ridiculously overpriced and then fool yourself into somehow thinking it tastes better. The reality is it really doesn’t unless you have a very serious provider, and for most Americans who manage to drink their coffee both too weak and overroasted, you could have grown the bean anywhere and they wouldn’t notice.

Chock full O’ Nuts- that’s a brand I recall fondly. That and eight o’clock coffee are very serviceable fucking coffees and premium at the price. I remember drinking that fondly for years.

***

We were supposed to go out tonight to see some music but I was not feeling it and knowing what I am all about, I asked Joelle if she would like a margarita knowing full well she would, so I squozed some limes and made a mix and freshened up the guac before picking her up. Got her home, got some food and booze in her, and she was this close to calling it but not there yet so I sealed the deal by asking “I think I’m in the mood for a cookie you want me to bake some cookies” and I knew then and there I was not going to have to put my shoes and socks back on and go out into the world. The cookies turned out terribly- I didn’t add enough sugar or butter.

Joelle says she thinks I have lost weight but I am only a lb or so lighter than the last time I weighed myself a week ago, so maybe she’s just grown used to being around a fat man all the time and lost perspective. I did mention that I felt like my head was a little smaller and she nodded in agreement while sizing up my melon and said that she thought so to. I guess she thought I might be getting a little too pleased with myself so she quickly added “It’s still gigantic. Your head. It’s still massive. But a little smaller than it was.”

***

This is the greatest website in the world. Bookmark it. Then, every time you try to find a recipe online and it is pages and pages of bullshit, just copy the url, go to that website, paste the url, and it strips out all the bullshit. I love it. I know there are extensions and scripts you can do, but this is easy enough for EVERYONE to use.

I’ve been watching a lot of cooking videos lately, and I have to say that of all of the people I watch regularly, Jacques Pepin and Matty Matheson are two of my favorites for how simple and accessible and easy to remember everything they do is. They are wildly different, but have a lot more in common than you would realize at first glance.

I like how casual and effortless and completely fearless they are- “ehh, a little bit of this, some of that.” Pepin is notorious for it- you just watch him open a fridge for one thing and he’s like “oh look here a half a leek we can throw this in.” And Pepin does everything with what looks like a 4.99 paring knife from evilcorp.

At any rate, it is 8 pm so I am getting ready for bed. Maybe a little tv. Busy day tomorrow.

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War for Ukraine Day 709: Schroedinger’s General

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The crest of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. A wine colored cross on a silver shield with the gold Uktainian Tryzub in the center on a circular blue medallion. A pair of silver maces and an upright sword are between the blue medallion and the wine colored cross.

Friday has come and gone in Ukraine and President Zelenskyy may or may not have replaced General Zaluzhnyi.

https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1753507971835817999

We wait and watch.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Balloon Juice – It’s That Time Again

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Balloon Juice went ad-free over 2 years ago, and I hope you guys still appreciate that as much as I do!

It’s been quite awhile since we’ve had one of these posts, but it’s time, because we have on-going expenses.   Web hosting is monthly, and it’s not cheap.  Other expenses are annual (dropbox, design software for the calendar and postcards, Balloon Juice email addresses, Zoom, etc.)

And we like to keep the safety net so Cole doesn’t have to worry about the “what-ifs” of surprise expenses in a no-ads world.

If you donate, I promise that not one penny of what you donate will be used to supply Henry with a never-ending supply of furry friends to snuggle with.  Pinky swear!

Balloon Juice Is Still Ad-Free

How can you help?  (But only if you can afford it!)

°If you have signed up for a monthly donation but you’re in a different financial position than you were when you signed up, please feel free to cancel your monthly donation, with our thanks for having supported the site.

°If you keep thinking you’ll set up a monthly donation, but haven’t gotten around to it, or if the timing is right for increasing your donation, this would be a great time to do it.

°  If you have a monthly donation set up through PayPal, please consider switching that to Patreon. Patreon takes taxes off the top before the funds go into John’s account, so there are no surprises at tax time.

°  Make a one-time donation to the Safety Net. It turns out that having the safety net has already been helpful, as John gets clobbered with the tax bill for the the donations that come through PayPal, etc. Before you ask me exactly how much the tax bill was, I do not know the actual amount and Cole hates to talk about money, so I am not going to press him on that.

° If you want to send a one-time check for expenses or for the safety net, send me an email message I will send you Cole’s address.  (P.O.box)

You can donate to the safety net with Patreon, Venmo, Zelle, and paper check.  And even PayPal if that’s your only option, but please mark it as personal / gift and not payment for services.

Big thanks to everyone who helps keep Balloon Juice going!

I’ll post this again in the morning for the early birds.

If you have any questions, let me know!

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice – It’s That Time AgainPost + Comments (103)