Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

How has Obama failed you today?

Gastritis Broke My Calculator

This is a big f—–g deal.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!

Lighten up, Francis.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

We Survived Breitbartpocalypse!

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

It’s a tarp!

A snarling mass of vitriolic vicious jackals

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Women: They Get Shit Done

I thought we were promised Infrastructure Week

Technically true, but collectively nonsense.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity.

Almost as fun as hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Wetsuit optional.

Yes we did.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

This blog is Obama’s Katrina.

We can agree to disagree, but I’m right.

Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

Holiday Prep Open Thread

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Weird how I’m caught off guard by Christmas every year. It’s an event that appears on the calendar, yet somehow it blindsides me. Right now our fake tree is mocking me from across the room, its component parts rudely protruding from the storage box while awaiting assembly.

Our annual Drunken Aunties Cookie Night will be Drunken Aunties Cookie Day this year (in fact, tomorrow) because there was no Saturday in December when everyone was free. We old aunties increasingly must accommodate the schedules of teens and young adults. It was easier when we could just order the little shits around. (Honestly, I’m grateful that THEY still put up with US.)

It will be a brunch event this year, and I have a feeling the schedule change will result in fewer drunken aunties and higher cookie production. That’s probably a good thing. Here are the featured goodies:

  • Spritz cookies
  • Cranberry pistachio biscotti
  • Coconut macaroons
  • Sugar cookie cutouts
  • Buckeyes
  • Espresso cookies
  • Amaretto cookies

We have dozens of cookie cutters for the sugar cookie dough. Every year someone brings a few new ones, and we’ve been doing this since the turn of the century, so they accumulate. We’ve got Christmas-themed cutters, of course, but also dinosaurs, dragonflies, squirrels, Millennium Falcons, etc.

My favorite thing these days is making spritz cookies with the cookie press, which I call the “cookie gun” because it resembles and operates exactly like a caulk gun. So easy, so good!

Anyhoo, time to get off my ass and assemble that tree! Open thread!

Holiday Prep Open ThreadPost + Comments (30)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Plan Your Calendar

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But also:

Dad jokes unleashed: Is that a dressed-up Festivus Pole on the narrator’s right hand?…

And finally, for the Our Failed Media Experiment list:


… from the Upright Citizen Bridgade comedy troupe, apparently.

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Plan Your CalendarPost + Comments (125)

Do The Right Thing

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I said this earlier on the twitter thing, and I want to say it here:

And I believe that. I liken the US right now to a town razed by a hurricane. If you look around at the incalculable damage, it is easy to get paralyzed into inaction because everything is so fucked. You can’t sit around and worry about what is going to happen, or if things are going to get better, or if things will be back to the way they were. You just can’t. So you just pick a spot and start cleaning up and rebuilding. You do it because that is just what you do and all you can do.

Normally, in America, this is when we rely on our institutions. Unfortunately, all of our institutions are shaky, incompetent, and suspect, but they are still all we have. So when a lawless President crimes his way through the constitution, you just do what you can. You lay out the evidence, you impeach, and you hope for the best. You don’t concern yourself with what might happen or stuff like that. You just do the right thing.

I’m very proud of the way the Democrats on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees handled themselves the past few weeks. I haven’t been embarrassed by any of them, and I am happy to call myself a Democrat. The only thing we can do is to keep moving forward. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep donating and working to get better candidates in office, and just hope for the best

Do The Right ThingPost + Comments (107)

Readership Capture: Dicks Everywhere

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Posted by Shelby Lynn Gash on Thursday, December 5, 2019

Sorry neighbors..I felt the need to make a giant dick on the roof ‘tis the season*
** UPDATE** Past 48 hours have been crazy, I just want to say the news is making it seem like all the neighbors are angry . I never got a personal complaint , I have had tons of neighbors reach out to me saying they LOVE IT! The neighbors that were interviewed on the news came over to my house and chuckled with me and they got me a very kind card
Also to the people saying I did this for attention- it was a joke with my own personal family I didn’t think I would make Germany headlines! I live in a pretty wooded neighborhood I rarely see kids honestly. It never crossed my mind.
I’m definitely getting more thumbs up than downs.
I have had multiple radio interviews it’s been fun. Thanks to all the companies reaching out to me and having a good sense a humor. At the end of the day I have brought laughter and that’s what I want to hear
Thanks y’all it’s been a hoot

I don’t know what’s funnier, the actual roof penis or all the bleeps in the video.

There will be no recipe thread this evening. Or probably ever again as I am permanently banned. LOL

Open thread

(Also: we have started a duck youtube channel. stay tuned for update. I said DUCKS you perverts).

Readership Capture: Dicks EverywherePost + Comments (33)

Election 2020 Open Thread: The Best Knows the Best

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(Oh, like *you* could’ve resisted… )

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Maybe Nancy was right.

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When I first heard about Nancy Pelosi coming to terms with Trump on the NAFTA trade deal earlier this week, I thought WTF? Why give the sloshing orange colostomy bag a “win,” especially while the bastard is being impeached? This makes me kinda rethink that:

I haven’t read up on the terms closely, but if Brown is in favor, it sounds like Pelosi was right when she said this deal is worth doing because Democrats ate Trump’s lunch during the negotiations. Nancy was right! I was wrong!

Also, looks like Pelosi and team weren’t the only ones who snatched the KFC bucket and Big Mac out of Trump’s tiny mitts:

We’ll have to wait to see the details, but it looks like Team Xi hosed Team Trump. Greatest negotiator in the world, fellow citizens — he’s already tooting his own horn about it and will continue to forever, no matter how badly he gets pantsed nor how widely acknowledged and documented the pantsing.

Just yesterday, Trump publicly claimed that his vapid boneheaded fraud of a daughter “created 14 million jobs,” even though only 6 million total jobs have been created during his administration, and ZERO were created by anyone named Trump, unless foreign sweatshop worker jobs, international shakedown henchman positions and undocumented housekeeping gigs, etc., count.

Also, I’ve gotta think the constant lying voids any credit Trump might otherwise receive outside MAGAland, but who knows? Anyhoo…open thread!

Maybe Nancy was right.Post + Comments (141)

General Stuck: Comments in No Particular Order

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Mary G. found a lot of good General Stuck comments, and I have been looking as well.  There are way more than we can possibly use for the calendar, so if anyone is interested, you can find a bunch of them here, posted in the comments.

Also, since comments are no longer being indexed for searching (at least for the time being, longer story for another time), I thought I would share some of the links with the highest match to “stuck” from my search last week while comments were still indexed.

And John mocks me for leaving tabs open!

chrlie2 004 before our walk

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2009/12/11/open-thread-550/#comment-1477880

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2009/10/30/because-i-can-3/#comment-1422607

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2009/12/12/view-from-your-la-z-boy/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/01/15/institutional-interests/#comment-4139152

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/01/08/manning-case-judge-reduces-pfc-mannings-potential-maximum-sentence/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/07/16/paranoia-strikes/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/07/12/stuck-update/#comment-4531378

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/02/05/generation-squeeze/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/08/23/open-thread-1121/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/08/02/open-thread-759/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2009/12/13/the-view-from-your-couch/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/05/05/open-thread-thursday-garden-chat-edition/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/07/16/a-heady-mix-of-incompetence-and-self-hatred/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2009/12/31/happy-new-year-or-the-hairless-monkey-and-his-little-rat-dog-get-it/

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/07/19/oh-rosie-oh-girl/

 

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Pet Calendar Pics: Deadline Midnight tonight (Friday)

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Just a reminder for anyone who hasn’t already sent in their pet photos for the calendar:

Please send your photos by midnight on Friday.  You can find all the details in the upper right hand corner under the button that’s called PET PHOTOS BY 12/13.  On phones and on tablets, you will find the same information with the same title under the three bars at the upper right (aka the hamburger).

Fine print: If it’s past midnight and you’re still getting your pictures together, I’m pretty sure that Beth will do everything to fit yours photos in.  But if you send your photos after 6am on Saturday, there’s no guarantee that your pictures will make it into the calendar. After that, you can send your pictures and ask Beth if there’s a chance, but if the design is completely done, the answer might be ‘no’.

We would still love to have you guys share favorite comments from efgoldman, Schlemazel, greennotGreen, General Stuck and Scotian, so if you have any stories or comments to share, please share them on this thread or send email to WaterGirl at balloon-juice.com by end of day Saturday.

 

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Not a Shadow

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Sharon Van Etten has a song where she’s describing someone as a shadow:

You ain’t nothing, you never won.

You ain’t nothing, you never done nothing, no.

Whatever the political consequences of today’s vote in the Judiciary Committee, and no matter how much fucking noise the Republicans make, don’t forget that Democrats were elected to do something and they did it. You don’t get points for being a shadow.

Not a ShadowPost + Comments (62)

Impeach All the Mofos

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Trump’s personal lawyer, who is under investigation, arrived at the White House while the Judiciary Committee was passing articles of impeachment:

This is some brazen shit. Not unexpected since there’s a crime boss in the White House, but damn. Speaking of brazen, McConnell went on the Sean Hannity Show last night and admitted on TV that he’ll be coordinating impeachment defense with the White House and that the outcome is a foregone conclusion:

When the trial opens in the Senate, I hope the House managers make the case not only to impeach and remove Trump from office but also to impeach (in the sense of discredit) the credibility of the Republican Party. Armando on Twitter says the Democrats should demand that the chief justice be put in charge of all procedural questions, in response to McConnell’s vow to rig the outcome. Seems worth a shot to me.

Whatever happens, the case moving forward has to focus on Congressional Republicans as much as Trump. We all know Congressional Republicans will insulate Trump from the consequences of his actions, which 95% of them refuse to even mildly rebuke. The political value of this entire process is tying Trump around their necks, and I hope the House managers’ case is focused on that just as much as it’s about Trump’s rampant criminality.

Open thread!

Impeach All the MofosPost + Comments (187)

63 Hours until the end of open enrollment

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Open Enrollment for the ACA individual market will be ending in 63 hours for most of the country.

After midnight on the 15th, getting covered becomes a whole lot more difficult and haphazard in most of the country.

When you are looking at plans, be aware of the premium and coverage pay-offs.   If you know that you have hyper expensive conditions, you’re optimizing on a good for you network at an insurer that does not hassle you and then from there minimizing total cost which is out of pocket maximum plus your net of subsidy premiums.  Everyone else should be calculating on the relative zones of superiority of each metal band while minimizing costs.

We’ve talked about superiority zones as the differences in out of pocket costs for a given level of claims.  This gap can be filled in by premiums so the actual zone of superiority of one plan over another at any given claim level is the cost sharing of that claim level and the premium.  This will vary by county plan offerings and it will vary by age as premiums, net of subsidy, will vary significantly by age.

We looked at a hypothetical example in September:

Out of pocket costs for Bronze, Silver and Gold plans at various claim levels

What is happening here?

Bronze, silver and gold plans are identical in their benefits for people who anticipate having between $0 and $1,000 in claims for the future year. The insurer pays nothing, and all of the claims expense is coming out of pocket. Between $1,001 and $2,500 in allowed amount of claims, bronze and and silver are the same.  Bronze hits the common out of pocket maximum after “only” $7,900 in total allowed claims costs.  Gold hits the shared out of pocket maximum after $35,500 in total expenses.  If a person has “only” $30,500 in total allowed claims, their out of pocket expense for gold is $6,900 while it is $7,900.

If we disregard premiums, there are ranges where some gold plans are better than bronze plans,and there are ranges where gold and silver and bronze are equal to each other. The equality conditions tend to be in the first few hundred dollars of claims and then at really big claims.

We need to consider premiums though. On Healthcare.gov, the pricing sequence from cheapest to most expensive for a given insurer/network/plan type combination is either Bronze-Silver-Gold or Bronze-Gold-Silver. Either way, the gap between higher actuarial value plans (Silver and Gold) in out of pocket expenses and premiums for any given claim level shrinks as individuals are less heavily subsidized, if at all.

People who are very well subsidized should buy high actuarial value products. People who are seeing the same net of subsidy premium for two plans that have very different actuarial values should seriously consider buying the higher actuarial value plan as long as all other relevant criteria (network, good enough customer service etc) are met. People who either are unsubsidized or very lightly subsidized need to look at their estimated future claims and see how much the cost sharing differential is plus the differential in premiums between high and low actuarial value products.

These are tough decisions to make. Buying insurance is tough as it involves assumptions against the unknowable future on multiple axis, but laying out reasonable projections of differential cost sharing for common scenarios and considering premiums is a good first step.

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Friday Morning Open Thread: No Sooner Than Time

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Friday Morning Open Thread: No Sooner Than TimePost + Comments (270)

On The Road – realbtl – East side Glacier NP.

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Happy Friday, everybody (and for those – ahem, Amir – past the date line and already into tomorrow, Happy Saturday)

Today we have a submission from realbtl, a commenter blessed to live surrounded by the natural beauty of (as I recall) Montana and environs.  I do hope to get out that way some year and see some of these amazing rural landscapes with my own two eyes! I expect I’ll make another mad dash to Colorado come mushroom season 2020, but won’t have the time to wander further West or North.  Alas…

 

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to submit!

 

I live about 40 min. from the west entrance to Glacier NP.  During the summer the main part of the park is a zoo so I sometimes head over to the less busy east side.  Here are some shots of a trip I took last June.

On The Road - realbtl - East side Glacier NP. 4

The Blackfeet Nation owns a lot of the east side approaches.  We took a swing away from the Front Range for most of these.  I highly recommend this area to anyone who wants to escape some of the tourists.

On The Road - realbtl - East side Glacier NP. 3
On The Road - realbtl - East side Glacier NP. 2
On The Road - realbtl - East side Glacier NP. 1
On The Road - realbtl - East side Glacier NP.

That’s all for now.  I’ll post up some off season inside the park pix later.  Thanks to Alain for this feature.  I mostly lurk but always check the Road.

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Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: America Is Not Britain, Fortunately

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We let you in, Mr. Sullivan — however profitable you might find it, badmouthing immigration is a bad look.

show full post on front page

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BREAKING: Impeachment Vote Postponed Till Morning

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BROKEN: The entire Republican Party…

For once, I have to whole-heartedly agree with a Never Trumper.

BREAKING: Impeachment Vote Postponed Till MorningPost + Comments (59)