Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Blowed Up (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker| June 17, 202511:53 am| 177 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Clown Shoes, General Stupidity

Mike Huckabee, who is apparently Trump’s ambassador to Israel (somehow I’d repressed that memory?), gargled Trump’s balls so hard in a text message that Dumbfuck Hitler felt moved to share it with the world via his janky social media platform. Auto Draft 138

I mean, gross and all that, but it’s not like we haven’t heard this North Korea-style fluffing from all of Trump’s minions, so normally I wouldn’t bother sharing it. But this jumped out at me: “Truman in 1945.”

What notable thing happened that year? Oh yeah, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And Huckabee is an End Times-believing evangelical fanatic surrounded by a wide variety of zealots in a regional tinderbox where bombs are flying everywhere.

To recap, a deranged Bible-humper with a fully engorged Rapture-boner is fawning over the demented authoritarian who has the nuclear codes and urging him to listen to Huckabee’s imaginary sky daddy. Like Han Solo, I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

Open thread.

Blowed Up (Open Thread)Post + Comments (177)

Qualified Good News Open Thread: A Court Win for NIH Grant Funding

by Rose Judson| June 17, 20253:05 am| 34 Comments

This post is in: DOGESHIT, Open Threads, Science & Technology, The Horrors

“Qualified” good news in that there will be appeals, of course, but still, this is hopeful. From Reuters, with bold text by me:

BOSTON, June 16 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Boston on Monday said the termination of National Institutes of Health grants for research on diversity-related topics by President Donald Trump‘s administration was “void and illegal,” and accused the government of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBT people.

U.S. District Judge William Young during a non-jury trial said the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Young said he was reinstating grants that had been awarded to organizations and Democratic-led states that sued over the terminations. And the judge indicated that as the case proceeds he could issue a more sweeping decision.

“This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” said Young, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan. “Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I’m going to do it.”

Referring to the termination of grants for research related to issues involving racial minorities, the judge said he had in four decades on the bench “never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable.”

“You are bearing down on people of color because of their color,” the judge said, referring to Trump’s administration. “The Constitution will not permit that.”

I’m glad they keep losing in court. If you’ve forgotten what’s at stake here — it’s impossible to keep up with the lawlessness and the lawsuits — ProPublica put together a long story last week talking to the scientists impacted by NIH grant cuts. Some of these research projects are done for even if the funding eventually gets restored, because they involve perishable samples or other time-limited factors, like, you know, active clinical trials involving cancer patients. But hopefully some can be saved.

Open thread.

(Also, hello, I am back from the Podcast Hole. Thanks to everyone who protested over the weekend.)

Qualified Good News Open Thread: A Court Win for NIH Grant FundingPost + Comments (34)

Monday Evening Open Sportsball Thread

by Anne Laurie| June 16, 202510:48 pm| 63 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Sports, Trumpery

FIFA Club World Cup ticket sales tank dramatically after the Dept. of Homeland Security bragged that agents would be “suited and booted" at the stadium in a now-deleted social media post

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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 6:31 PM

As ever, I know very little about the soccer world. But I have heard enough about FIFA’s general corruption to suspect that the Trump admistration’s ‘suited and booted’ proclamations may be something of a figleaf for the global org’s marketing failures. Still… per HuffPost:

… Sales for the FIFA Club World Cup, a series of precursor games ahead of next year’s North American World Cup, were already lackluster when, last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection bragged online about how its agents would be “suited and booted and ready to provide security for the first round of games.”

At about the same time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC Miami they’d also be at the games providing security, and told the outlet that all non-American citizens should carry proof of their legal status.

CBP spokesperson Alan Regalado told the Miami New Times in a statement that “lawful travelers have nothing to fear from these measures.”…

Tickets to the first match, featuring soccer legend Lionel Messi’s Miami CF vs. Egypt’s Al Ahly FC at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami hit, well, rock bottom.

According to prices tracked by The Athletic, tickets that sold for $349 and up after the matches were announced in December dropped to $69.15 ahead of the Saturday night game, with tens of thousands of tickets still unsold.

The sports outlet also found a deal marketed to local college students where five tickets could be had for $20, dropping the cost per ticket to just $4.

Sources familiar with CBP’s “suited and booted” post told The New York Times it was deleted after senior FIFA personnel told the federal law enforcement agency they weren’t exactly thrilled about it.

The post nevertheless struck a nerve, with costly reverberations around the country…

The Associated Press reported last week that “Fans don’t appear to be snatching up tickets to the Club World Cup”:

If slashed ticket prices, closed stadium sections and moved seats are any indication, fans aren’t exactly clamoring to attend the Club World Cup.

The tournament opens Saturday with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami facing Al Ahly at Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium. Thirty-two teams are taking part in the newly expanded tournament that will be played across 11 U.S. cities. The final is set for July 13 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

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On Ticketmaster, FIFA’s official ticketing partner for the Club World Cup, the least expensive tickets to the opener were $349 in December. As of Thursday, there were tickets available for just under $80.

Upper deck seats for certain games at Seattle’s Lumen Field and Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field were no longer available. Links to a smattering of resale tickets in those sections did not work.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Associated Press that some sections of Lumen Field in Seattle had been closed, but did not offer details. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on the record.

In Philadelphia, some ticketholders received messages that said they were moved…

Ticketmaster used dynamic pricing for ticket sales, which is based on demand and other factors. They referred all questions about sales to FIFA.

FIFA did not respond to questions about whether sections were closed due to slow ticket sales, or whether fans who originally bought tickets in those sections were moved or offered refunds…

NYTimes‘ The Athletic, “FIFA spent more than $50million on Club World Cup marketing to boost ticket sales”:

FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to promote this summer’s Club World Cup tournament in the United States, including increasing their original budget by millions in the past month as they sought to drive attendances for the tournament, according to multiple people briefed on their budget.

The Club World Cup, a project driven by the organisation’s president Gianni Infantino, had been beset by organisational challenges as FIFA sought to make a splash for the first edition of the revamped 32-team tournament…

FIFA’s marketing spend appears to have focused heavily on social media, ploughing money into promoting posts with a significant number of influencers on Instagram. This has included engaging a baseball reporter to explain soccer to Americans and asking an invention influencer to talk about the competition, as well as cooking influencers to connect with the casual sports fan. FIFA has also spent significantly on highway advertising boards in several cities.

If Club World Cup attendances are an issue, FIFA will bear much of the responsibility
There are going to be lots of emptry seats when the tournament begins but that is not the fault of U.S. soccer fans

As previously reported by The Athletic, FIFA has been taking unusual steps in their bid to sell out stadiums for the tournament this summer. This worked for the opening fixture, featuring Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, after tickets went tumbling down in price with tens of thousands of seats unsold a fortnight before the tournament launched…

The Athletic reported on Saturday how there had been disagreement within FIFA over the balance of MLS-dedicated and NFL venues that should be used during the competition. While members of FIFA’s U.S. offices favoured a broader use of smaller venues which could be sold out, FIFA’s European office, encouraged by Infantino, were eager to bring the tournament to as many large venues as possible for a competition FIFA has billed as “the best against the best”…

The challenge for FIFA increased in local markets amid confirmation that U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) officials may be present at Club World Cup games, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted on Facebook saying they would be “suited and booted” to provide security for the first round of games — only to then delete the post after senior personnel at FIFA contacted the organization to express concerns about the reaction it had provoked.

FIFA had struggled before the tournament to drive positive authentic publicity for the tournament in European and U.S. markets, with their own promotion sometimes leaning heavily on an Instagram roadshow by the organisation’s president Gianni Infantino. There has been little conventional mainstream media access to the FIFA president — whose most extensive engagement appears to have been with the influencer iShowSpeed — while clubs and players competing in the tournament have mostly engaged digitally with the promotion for the competition with in-house quotes distributed as press releases. Speed was not paid for his time with Infantino, according to the influencer’s spokesperson at Creative Artists Agency…

Monday Evening Open Sportsball ThreadPost + Comments (63)

War for Ukraine Day 1,208: Another Long Night of Russian Drones & Missiles

by Adam L Silverman| June 16, 20259:21 pm| 12 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

I’m absolutely fried, so I’m just going to run through the basics tonight.

World history is largely a long list of military solutions.

Politicians who say there is “no military solution” to an active conflict are in most cases trying to excuse their inaction.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 5:19 AM

War is politics with other means.

The FIS of Ukraine has reported that Russia is preparing a large-scale information campaign amid ongoing prisoner exchanges.

Putin personally initiated the campaign and is being coordinated by propagandists who will spread manipulative content. The peak of the campaign is expected around June 20.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 5:43 AM

Air raid alerts for Russian drone swarms and missiles went up over all of Ukraine sometime between 3:00 and 3:30 AM local time in Ukraine/8:00 and 8:30 PM EDT. The air raid alert maps indicate MiG 31Ks, those are the ones that carry the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, are up over western Russia and the western Black Sea.

Russian missiles are already in Ukraine’s skies. Air raid alert across the entire country.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 8:12 PM

❗️Right now, Kyiv is under massive russian drone attack!

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM

Kyiv right now ‼️ Ukraine is under russian drone attack.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 6:00 PM

The cost:

The girl danced her prom waltz clutching her fallen father’s uniform. 💔

My people don’t deserve to endure all these horrors.

Inaction is complicity.

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— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 4:46 PM

This is what three years in russian captivity does to a Ukrainian soldier.
Not a prison — a concentration camp by another name. A machine of humiliation, starvation, and cruelty. Russia didn’t invent this, it inherited it.
This is Gulag 2.0.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 6:24 AM

There is no daily address from President Zelenskyy today because he and First Lady Zelenska traveled to Vienna today.

He did a joint press conference with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen:

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First Lady Zelenska met with Austrian First Lady Doris Schmidauer about ways to support Ukraine:

President Zelenskyy also did a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker.

Georgia:

201st day of protest on Rustaveli Avenue. Protesters waving American flags, calling on the United States to accelerate the adoption of the MEGOBARI Act.

📷Keto Mikadze / Publika

#GeorgiaProtests

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 1:45 PM

Day 201 of uninterrupted #GeorgiaProtests

“Glory to Georgia! Glory to America!” protesters chant.

@secrubio.govpeeps.us

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 1:52 PM

We definitely need all the help we can get at this point.

The US:

Russia was kicked out of the G8 in March 2014 exactly BECAUSE it launched its war in Ukraine by invading and forcibly annexing Crimea.

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— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) June 16, 2025 at 11:56 AM

Oy vey.

The EU and its member states:

🇺🇦 #UkraineSupportTracker: For the 1st time since mid-2022, Europe has surpassed the US in total military aid to Ukraine. This shift comes as US support has stalled, while European countries—especially Nordics & UK—have increased their contributions 👉 ifw-kiel.de/publications…

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— Kiel Institute (IfW Kiel) (@kiel.institute) June 16, 2025 at 5:50 AM

Also, the EU and its member states:

EU member states have paid Russia more than €200 billion for fuel since the beginning of the full-scale war – FT 😑

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 8:06 AM

Back to Ukraine.

Putin taking advantage of switch of world attention to Israel-Iran war to step up attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, says Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. He calls for more energy sanctions on Russia.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 4:22 AM

Russia mixed their dead with ours🤯

During the latest exchange of fallen soldiers’ remains, Russia didn’t just hand over the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. They also included the remains of their own soldiers, all mixed together in one batch. Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, reported

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) June 16, 2025 at 9:39 AM

From UAWire:

Russia has reportedly returned to Ukraine the bodies of Russian soldiers mixed with Ukrainian ones, a move believed to be aimed at complicating identification processes, said Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, emphasizing the painstaking and emotionally challenging nature of repatriating fallen servicemen.

The return of deceased military personnel, according to Klymenko, is an arduous yet crucial task. He accused Russia of deliberately impeding the identification process by sending back the bodies in a severely mutilated state and mixing Ukrainian bodies with Russian ones. “During the recent repatriations, we received bodies of Russian soldiers mixed with those of Ukrainians. Unfortunately, this is a fact. It may have been done deliberately by the Russians to inflate the number of bodies sent back and overwhelm our experts, while exerting cynical informational pressure. Alternatively, it might reflect their habitual neglect towards their own people. Regardless, we will identify these bodies,” Klymenko stated.

Each repatriation triggers a meticulous procedure involving autopsies, detailed inspection by investigators, DNA testing, and scrutiny of every detail, Klymenko added. “The process is inherently complex and lengthy. Yet, Russia intentionally complicates the identification task. Bodies are returned in extremely disfigured conditions, with body parts in separate bags. There have been instances where remains of a single individual were returned at different stages of repatriation,” Klymenko wrote.

According to him, experts are operating at their maximum capacity. Every examination is thorough and often repeated. The facilities are well-equipped, and the processes are established, but time remains the biggest challenge. “We understand the pain and anticipation of the families. We’re striving to expedite the identification process. However, with each major repatriation, this task becomes more difficult, which might just be Russia’s objective. We cannot afford errors. This isn’t about statistics for us; it’s about people, each of whom deserves dignity and respect,” Klymenko stressed.

Soprano2 – No Kings – Springfield, MO

by WaterGirl| June 16, 20254:30 pm| 20 Comments

This post is in: No Kings June 14, 2025, Open Threads, Political Action

I didn’t make a sign, I got one from a nice young couple. It said “Protect Democracy” and had upside down flags taped to it. There were a lot of people there.

More of the crowd. It was a good day. When you live in a conservative area, it’s nice to see you aren’t alone. There was lots of honking and only one truck flying Trump flags showed up.

This is the funniest sign I saw.

This guy was everywhere, I got a great picture of him at the 417 sign.

This woman was next to me. She was an older lady – there were a lot of older white people there.

I tried to get a good picture of this guy’s donkey, but this was the best I could do.

Soprano2 – No Kings – Springfield, MOPost + Comments (20)

Monday Afternoon Open Thread: Not Popular

by Anne Laurie| June 16, 20251:49 pm| 87 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dems Fighting Back, Open Threads, Trumpery

As Republican senators consider President Donald Trump’s big bill that could slash federal spending and extend tax cuts, a new survey shows most U.S. adults don’t think the government is overspending on the programs the GOP has focused on cutting, like Medicaid and food stamps.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) June 16, 2025 at 11:18 AM

… Americans broadly support increasing or maintaining existing levels of funding for popular safety net programs, including Social Security and Medicare, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. They’re more divided on spending around the military and border security, and most think the government is spending too much on foreign aid.

The poll points to a disconnect between Republicans’ policy agenda and public sentiment around the domestic programs that are up for debate in the coming weeks…

Voters, when questioned, don’t actually approve of the GOP’s Big Ugly Bill. It would be to the Repubs’ advantage if their Very Serious Media cronies could keep all eyes focused on the usual summertime trivia, but Don TACO must have all the attention at all times, and we Democrats need to leverage this to highlight the truth.

Our June Strength In Numbers/@verasight.bsky.social poll:
– Trump approval 42/56. Underwater on 10/11 issues.
– Dems +8 in House
– 62% are worried about presidential conflicts of interest
– LA, deportations lead news recall
+ more on messaging & Abundance
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-appr…

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— G Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris.com) June 16, 2025 at 8:05 AM

===

In our new Strength In Numbers/@verasight.bsky.social poll, we asked people to tell us what they had read or seen on the news over the last month.
We fielded from June 6-12. Responses were overwhelmingly about Trump, deportations, LA, Musk, and tariffs. All bad issues for the White House.

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— G Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris.com) June 16, 2025 at 9:20 AM

Monday Afternoon Open Thread: Not PopularPost + Comments (87)

Score One for E. Jean Carroll

by WaterGirl| June 16, 202512:25 pm| 59 Comments

This post is in: Criminal Justice, Open Threads, Politics

E. Jean Carroll has a belated birthday gift for TACO Don. Happy Birthday, TACO Don!

Even better than besting TACO Don with the book (surprise!) is the fact that both the verdict and the award were upheld by a Federal Court on Friday. Maybe you guys talked about that here, but if you did, I missed it.

Gotta love the AP headline:

Appeals court won’t reconsider ruling that Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5M in sex abuse case

Open thread.

Score One for E. Jean CarrollPost + Comments (59)

Miss Bianca on Epstein, Epstein, Epstein (Nov 12, 2025 @ 5:57pm)

ruckus on Epstein, Epstein, Epstein (Nov 12, 2025 @ 5:55pm)

Citizen Alan on Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Whither Media? (Nov 12, 2025 @ 5:54pm)

Miss Bianca on Epstein, Epstein, Epstein (Nov 12, 2025 @ 5:53pm)

Matt McIrvin on Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Whither Media? (Nov 12, 2025 @ 5:53pm)

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

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

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

The lights are all blinking red.

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

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

This really is a full service blog.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

A fool as well as an oath-breaker.

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Blowed Up (Open Thread)

Qualified Good News Open Thread: A Court Win for NIH Grant Funding

Monday Evening Open Sportsball Thread

War for Ukraine Day 1,208: Another Long Night of Russian Drones & Missiles

Soprano2 – No Kings – Springfield, MO

Monday Afternoon Open Thread: Not Popular

Score One for E. Jean Carroll

Appeals court won’t reconsider ruling that Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5M in sex abuse case