Here’s a big ass scary spider:
I was told it is harmless, but that’s not true because when I saw it, I turned around and ran smack into a tree.
Florida woman, still rocking a punk rock ethos in the 2020s, which is kind of sad. Betty Cracker has been a Balloon Juice writer since 2012.
by Betty Cracker| 112 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Here’s a big ass scary spider:
I was told it is harmless, but that’s not true because when I saw it, I turned around and ran smack into a tree.
by Betty Cracker| 115 Comments
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Domestic Politics, Open Threads
Here’s my dog Daisy wearing a Tim the Enchanter hat:
Is that weird?
I’m having a shitty day. I’ve been working since 7 AM, and I’m not finished with all the stuff I have to do yet. I hardly got any sleep at all last night, so I was already tired before I put in a 13-hour-and-counting day.
Oh, and someone left the door open (how long, I do not know), and now there are so damn many mosquitoes in the house I’m probably gonna need a blood transfusion.
I hope your evening is going better than mine. Please feel free to discuss whatever.
by Betty Cracker| 134 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Sports
A little good news in a depressing week: 13-year-old GIRL pitcher Mo’ne Davis is the first Little Leaguer to make the Sports Illustrated cover:
She has a 70 MPH fast ball, and get this — baseball isn’t even really her game! She loves basketball the most and wants to play for UConn someday. May all her dreams come true.
[H/T: Valued commenter lamh36]by Betty Cracker| 165 Comments
This post is in: Black Jimmy Carter, Crazification Factor, Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Election 2012, Fables Of The Reconstruction, Politics, Post-racial America, Republican Stupidity, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Assholes, Clap Louder!, Flash Mob of Hate, General Stupidity
I didn’t see the president’s remarks live yesterday, but I did read a transcript. Apparently, the remarks disappointed some liberals, including Booman, for one, and a bunch of people on Twitter.
But I think Ezra Klein has it right here:
If Obama’s speeches aren’t as dramatic as they used to be, this is why: the White House believes a presidential speech on a politically charged topic is as likely to make things worse as to make things better. It is as likely to infuriate conservatives as it is to inspire liberals. And in a country riven by political polarization, widening that divide can take hard problems and make them impossible problems.
As inspirational as he can be, President Obama has always been pragmatic, which is certainly a desirable quality in a leader, though it’s a characteristic that has to be balanced with vision. As Klein observes, before he became president, Obama was inspiring to people because they thought he really might be able to bridge political and racial divides.
I don’t know if Obama himself ever really believed that, but if so, he was quickly disabused of that notion when the GOP started acting like a sack full of paint-huffing honey badgers on January 20, 2009. Some of us got mad at him for continuing to reach out to the most floridly insane and traitorous Congress in the post-Civil War era on issues like the budget and healthcare.
But blaming the president for insufficient speechifying on the issues Ferguson raises ignores what he’s up against. My guess is he’ll thread this needle at some point with actions behind the scenes and words too, managing to inspire those of us who want to see real changes without riling up the significant portion of the country that is either batshit crazy or indifferent.
This post is in: Dog Blogging, Open Threads
After our road trip this weekend, the dogs were like, fuck this shit.
Please feel free to discuss whatever.
by Betty Cracker| 229 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Free Markets Solve Everything, Fuck The Middle-Class, Fuck The Poor, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Fucked-up-edness
Via the NYT, the latest developments in Ferguson, Missouri:
FERGUSON, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon lifted a curfew in this embattled city on Monday, hours after deploying the Missouri National Guard, as officials struggle to control unrest that has paralyzed the community since an unarmed black teenager was killed by a white police officer.
The role of the National Guard will be limited, Mr. Nixon said in a statement. Troops will protect the police command center here, which the authorities said came under a coordinated attack on Sunday night.
“With these additional resources in place,” Mr. Nixon said, “the Missouri State Highway Patrol and local law enforcement will continue to respond appropriately to incidents of lawlessness and violence, and protect the civil rights of all peaceful citizens to make their voices heard.”
Also, the cops did a super-fast tox screening and found that Michael Brown had pot in his system, which explains everything because reefer madness?
The NYT also had a piece over the weekend about leadership on the ground in Ferguson, or the lack thereof, and a possible generational split. I’m going to plagiarize and also paraphrase my own comments from the earlier thread because I’m curious about the general take on this:
Article summary: There’s no unified front, and the “community leaders” — older folks, clergy members, etc. — are trying to get people to protest non-violently. Some younger folks are saying screw that, we need to take on the cops directly.
Are the people who are tossing Molotov cocktails and looting opportunists? Or are they just fed up with non-violent tactics that they don’t see as effective and trying to shake things up another way? My guess is both.
Who will prevail? Damned if I know. I can understand the anger driving the younger people, but as a middle-aged, second-generation hippie, I’m pulling for the old guard’s non-violent tactics to prevail because 1) I don’t want to see anyone else die, including cops, and 2) it damn sure won’t be the people with power who will suffer the brunt of an escalation.
It never is the people with the real power who suffer, not unless this is a Bastille moment. And I don’t think it is.
PS: The president spoke. What did he say?
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads
Ladybug sexytime in our garden:
Chances are, at least one of ’em ain’t no lady. May they be fruitful and multiply. Please feel free to discuss whatever.
She’s a MAN, baybee! (Early Morning Open Thread)Post + Comments (68)