Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

If you’re looking for someone who’s young and athletic, go watch a fucking movie.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

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

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You are here: Home / Open Threads / They Said January and I Guess They Meant It

They Said January and I Guess They Meant It

by | 153 Comments

This post is in: ,

When Christopher Bouzy and the other Bot Sentinel folks said in late November or early December that the social media twitter-replacement they were bolding would be available in January, that seemed awfully ambitious to me.

But they said January and I guess they meant it.  They are launching next week, so this seems like a good time to share an update:

We are launching Spoutible next week, and here is a preview of what you can expect.

Bot Sentinel Rating
Every profile and spout will display the user’s Bot Sentinel rating.

Dark Mode
You can change the Spoutible user interface to a darker theme.

Verified Notable Accounts
On launch day, some accounts will be verified, aka blue checkmark, but will open the verification process to everyone shortly after.

Chronological Timeline
You will see spouts from people you follow as soon as they are spouted. You control what you see in your feed, not us.

Edit Button
Users can edit spouts for up to 7 minutes and are allowed one edit. These limits are employed to mitigate abuse.

Quoted Spouts
You can quote spouts from other users.

Private Messages
Users can send and receive private messages, and private messages are encrypted.

Pinned Spouts
You can pin your spouts to your profile, but you can also pin other users’ spouts to your profile.

Enhanced Blocking
Enhanced blocking allows users to control their Spoutible experience and protect themselves from unwanted interactions.

Delete Replies
You can delete abusive replies to your spouts. We have safeguards in place to prevent users from abusing the delete replies feature.

Anti-Abuse Features
We have developed additional anti-abuse features to protect our users from targeted harassment and abuse.

Bot Sentinel powers Spoutible, and Bot Sentinel is a community-funded project. Neither Venture Capitalists nor billionaires are funding Spoutible’s development; ordinary people are.

Launching a social media platform that prioritizes the protection of its users from abuse and disinformation is an important and exciting endeavor. By using advanced moderation tools, privacy and security features, fact-checking tools, and transparency and accountability features, we strive to create a safe and trustworthy environment for our users. Our mission is to build a better and more informed social media platform where people can connect, share ideas, and stay informed without fear of abuse or disinformation.

We are excited about the launch of Spoutibe, and next week we will change social media together!

If you want to help Bot Sentinel and Spoutible, please consider contributing $5 today.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve got.

Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

153Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    I wish them luck.

    Elon seems to have quieted down. I hope that doesn’t deter alternatives too much.  I don’t trust him in the long term even if he is behaving better now.

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: The former president is also fairly quiet.  Perhaps they are both locked up in the same place, with someone other than them controlling their ability to communicate?

  5. 5.

    Joy in FL

    I got the same notice from Spoutible. I agree about not trusting Elon.

    I like the idea of Spoutible, and I will be creating an account there. I have one on Mastadon, also, which I keep forgetting to use.

  6. 6.

    UncleEbeneezer

    BREAKING: ALL FOUR OATH KEEPERS HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY, ALSO GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY TO OBSTRUCT AND CONSPIRACY TO DESTROY GOVT PROPERTY

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    @WaterGirl: Rolling Stone says Trump is preparing to ditch the ironically named “Truth Social” and return to Twitter this summer:

    When Trump first founded Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), he agreed to a “social media exclusivity term” that required him to “first channel any and all social media communications” to his Truth Social account for six hours before posting the content to other platforms, according to SEC filings…

    The 18-month term of that requirement is up in June — right as the Republican primary is expected to begin heating up. After that, Trump’s exclusivity term would automatically renew for six month periods “unless notice is given.” In the event his exclusivity term expires, Trump would still be “required to post contemporaneously to Truth Social.”

    I hate to agree with Trump on anything, but if Twitter is your jam, it’s hard to find a substitute for it. If Musk fucks off, I’d go back.

  9. 9.

    Spanky

    Elmo is in court.

    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Elon Musk testified on Monday that he was sure he had backing from Saudi financiers in 2018 to take Tesla Inc ( TSLA ) private, as he defended against claims he defrauded investors by later tweeting about his electric car company

  11. 11.

    UncleEbeneezer

    More feckless Garland showing how timid his DOJ is…

    “NBC News: Former FBI Special Agent in Charge Charlie McGonigal has been arrested and charged in connection with Russian sanctions violations and money laundering violations.”

  13. 13.

    steve g

    The key thing to me will be whether and when people start embedding or linking spouts, the way they do  with tweets now. I almost never go directly to Twitter. I follow links to threads in Twitter, and often then poke around where I have landed to see what else is there, then close it. Ten minutes later I am back in following another link. Anne Laurie usually has some good ones.

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    @UncleEbeneezer: Great news! Regarding the upcoming trials, if Kelly Meggs’ wife Connie has any sense, she’ll plead out now instead of going to trial. Of course, if she had any sense, she wouldn’t have married an idiot and participated in a seditious conspiracy, so…

  19. 19.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @WaterGirl: Actually even better this time because they ALL got convicted of SC.  In the other trial, some defendants were acquitted of that crime (though convicted on others).

  20. 20.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Betty Cracker: Who knows.  I don’t think any of these people are burdened by an abundance “good sense”, lol.

    But I’m happy for every court victory because I hear that is the sort of thing other prosecutors, DA’s, AG’s etc., really do pay very close attention to for gauging their chances and deciding whether to bring indictments of their own.  So that a charging decision that they may be on the fence over, gets a little more justification for going forward.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @Old School: I am going to guess that the answer is effectively yes.

    They put out a survey to the folks who are already signed up, and they asked whether known extreme bad actors (not their exact words) should be banned right out of the gate or should be given a chance on the new site.

    I don’t recall the exact split, but I believe it was in the neighborhood of 2/3 answering “no way in hell should they be given another chance”, so that was the decision that was made.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara: Wait, what?  You can (sort of) air fry using a convection oven?

    I absolutely LOVE my countertop Breville convection oven.  And I would love to know how to sort of air fry in that.

  28. 28.

    Shalimar

    @WaterGirl: As an unfortunate Raw Story reader, I can tell you the former president asshole hasn’t been quiet.  Someone rage “truths” long streams of bullshit in his name every few days and RawStory reports on every single eruption.  Luckily, most other outlets ignore him now.

  30. 30.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl:

    I absolutely LOVE my countertop Breville convection oven.  And I would love to know how to sort of air fry in that.

     

    You already are doing it! An air fryer is just a convection oven.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    Since this is a Talk About Whatever You Want, I will share this information I just received from brendancalling.

    brendancalling has mentioned before that his -ex has direct connections to Ukraine.

    Thankfully, his -ex (Katya) and her sister are safe here in the US.  Katya posted about her cousin on IG. He’s fighting in the war—Katya and her sister are trying to raise money to buy him  thermal riflescope. I’ve attached her post.

    Not asking anyone to donate, but I will share it here in case anyone is moved to do so.
    If you click on the image and enlarge it, you will find the information about how to donate.

    They Said January and I Guess They Meant It

  33. 33.

    brendancalling

    @WaterGirl—

    My ex (a Ukrainian immigrant) is fundraising for her cousin, who’s fighting orcs back home. I sent you her post in case BJ is interested.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne: If that’s true, then why did Breville come out with a newer version of my Breville the is also an air fryer?

    Maybe the new one is just bigger so you can air fry a whole chicken?

  40. 40.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Suzanne: Didn’t get a chance to give a suggestion on your stair question last night. For stain I generally use either Cabot, Minwax or General depending on the shade I need. Don’t use a one shot all-in-one stain and finish product, they never give me the results I want, but I do(did) cabinets and furniture not floors. The non slip component would go into the finish not the stain. I ran across these folks researching a project that I may never be able to do now. Slipdoctors.com makes anti slip products for floors, so you could check into them.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    Eric Blair🔥- [email protected]
    @protecttruth_
    ·27m
    What will the NYT say or not now that this FBI agent has been indicted? Was McGonigle an NYT source? Was he the boss of people who were NYT sources for this story?
    Seems like Joe Kahn and AG Sulzberger should be telling us about this.

    They’ll tell us six months from now, consistent with their practice of ensuring they only report “news” when it’s no longer of any earthly use to the public. They AGE it, which for some reason makes it more expensive.

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    @Spanky:

    Elon Musk testified on Monday that he was sure he had backing from Saudi financiers in 2018 to take Tesla Inc ( TSLA ) private

    If he made any attempt to get this financing, he ought to be able to provide documentary evidence.  I’ll trust the documents- or lack thereof- far more than anything Musk says.

  45. 45.

    CaseyL

    I am quite content on Mastodon, and not all that interested in joining another SocMed, though I do get Spoutible’s emails. (I probably signed up for them when I was looking for anything other than Twitter).

    OTOH, as much as I like Mastodon, it hasn’t been able to replicate Twitter’s media reach. I need to search for topics to see if there are any posts about them, and sometimes there aren’t (I will still, very reluctantly, use Twitter search for that). IIRC, that is one thing Bouzy wants to accomplish: more news coverage.

    So I may give in and sign up, when that’s possible.  I mean, I signed up with Post, but hardly ever go there; worst case scenario, I’ll do the same with Spoutible.

  47. 47.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @TaMara: I tried to make air fried chicken karaage in my connection toaster oven. Your tips on raising the temp and increasing cooking time are spot on. I ended up throwing it in a pan to finish it off.

    I do make Buffalo chicken tenders and crispy shrimp laying on top of a shallow basket and they’ve come out great…hotter and longer…should have known!

  48. 48.

    Suzanne

    @Doc Sardonic: Thanks for the heads-up. Agree that the stain should be separate from the finish. I’m really just worried about how to make that finish not super-slick!

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @brendancalling: You can feel free to mention this in other threads, and add a link to my comment.  I added a link that goes directly to my comment, which you can copy.  I wasn’t sure if you knew how to do that or not. :-)

    Link

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @UncleEbeneezer: Again, to me, this doesn’t look like prosecutors who are looking for an excuse to back down.  But I apparently have a picture of Garland tacked up in my locker so what do I know.

  54. 54.

    WaterGirl

    @frosty: Guilty as charged.

    Yes, it is one of mine. :-)

    Even if we tag things open thread, and add “Open thread!” at the bottom of the post, many people seem to feel like they have to stick with whatever we use to start the post.  I notice that in my posts, at least.

    I figure I can’t make it any more clear than talk about whatever you want.

  56. 56.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Suzanne: While I haven’t used their product they apparently have tested them to ANSI specs, that’s what got my attention. I also think they have some things on YouTube maybe.

  60. 60.

    Old School

    @WaterGirl:

    You can (sort of) air fry using a convection oven?

    Here is what Better Homes & Garden says:

    Air fryers also use a fan to circulate hot air around food in the same way a convection oven does, only air fryers are typically smaller and the fan circulates air faster in an air fryer. These little fryers preheat fast and use a fryer basket or perforated tray to help circulate the air and decrease cooking time.

    …

    Using a Convection Oven as an Air Fryer
    Both air fryers and convection ovens cook recipes about 20 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit lower than a recipe for a conventional oven, so in terms of temperature, many air-fryer recipes work in a convection oven. “The conversion is very similar, as long as there is enough airflow for air-frying, such as a basket tray,” Sieber says. A perforated tray or even a large air-frying basket for a convection oven will help crisp foods in a convection oven to get the same air-fried results, especially with these air-fryer egg rolls and these air-fryer jalapeño poppers. Because many air-fryer recipes are intended for small batches, you can often double the recipe for a convection oven; just remember to space food out on the tray—especially for air-fried Brussels sprouts, air-fried buffalo cauliflower, and air-fried chicken tenders—to make sure the air can easily touch all sides of the food. Although cooking times for recipes should be close in both an air fryer and convection oven, keep in mind that air fryers cook a little faster than convection ovens, so some air-fryer recipes may take a bit longer in a convection oven.

  62. 62.

    Suzanne

    I made sweet potato “fries” yesterday in my little countertop convection oven. I love the thing. I use it more than the real oven.

    Between my crockpot, Instapot, and the little oven….. who needs a traditional range, HAH!

  63. 63.

    jnfr

    I’m currently pretty happy with Mastodon as my backup. Still on Twitter primarily, and plan to stay so far, but at least seeds of my communities are gathering in the elephant and I feel comfortable there.

  64. 64.

    pacem appellant

    I’ve moved to the Fediverse (Mastodon) permanently now. So long as Parker Molloy and my Linux geeks keep posting there, I’ve got all I need from non-corporate media.

  67. 67.

    Soprano2

    So the weather freak-out is already starting here. I have a hair appointment on Wednesday at 1:30, and because they’re forecasting snow late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning (accumulation anywhere between 3″ – 10″) my hair stylist just texted me wanting to change my appointment. I fully expect schools to start cancelling Wednesday school TONIGHT. It’s become insane to me how they cancel stuff now based on a FORECAST rather than on actual weather occurrences. We’re on a line here where how a front moves can make a huge difference in what kind of weather we get, and how much snow we get. Last year our public school cancelled one day based on a forecast – and it ended up there was no snow at all!  Of course, the reason they do that is that it’s cost-free for them now, because they don’t have to make up any of those days, so they cancel at the drop of a hat. The problem is, a lot of businesses that do classes and appointments cancel following the school cancellation schedule, which to me has become a stupid thing to do.

    Sorry, just had to vent, this really pisses me off. Why are people so terrified of a little snow now? Wait until Wednesday morning to text me; if it snows 8″, then yeah let’s reschedule, but what if it’s just 2″?  Aaarrrggghhh……. I’m sure glad I don’t have to go to the store any for the next couple of days, because people who live in the city act like they’re going to be trapped in their houses for a week whenever the news starts fearmongering about snow.

  73. 73.

    Yutsano

    Still in the land of the blue bird. I haven’t noticed too much that annoys me yet so I don’t have much incentive to change right now. I haven’t looked on Mastodon in a fair bit but I seem to have lost much motivation there honestly. We’ll see. Twitter might still break in the middle of the night.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne: I have 4 sweet potatoes on my counter right now.

    How do you make one potato’s worth of fries?

    I get that you peel the sweet potato and cut them up.  Do you add a bit of olive oil?  How long do you cook them, and at what temperature?

    For my first venture, specifics would be really helpful!

  78. 78.

    cain

    @TaMara: My Breville actually has a air fryer setting and comes with a basket type thing for exactly that. I don’t use it much, but it’s great when you want to make a large batch of fries.

  79. 79.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @WaterGirl:  you are reading my mind. I have never used the convection setting on my oven, but this is worth a try. The things you learn reading BJ.

  84. 84.

    CarolPW

    @Suzanne: Renovators Supply has stair carpet rods to hold a stair runner in place, and they allow the runner to be adjusted to move worn areas away from the lip of the step. My grandmother’s house had brass ones in the 50s, and they would adjust the stair runner every year. It was an oriental rug with stiff short nap so very slip resistant.

  85. 85.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl: So I make a spice blend of garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper, sometimes some cayenne, sometimes some cinnamon. Cut your sweet potatoes into fry-shaped pieces, spray with olive oil (I have a Misto sprayer, but you could also just drizzle and toss to get them lightly, evenly oiled). Then get the spice mix all over the “fries”. You can do this in a mixing bowl or in a big Ziploc bag. Then I do them in my little oven on 425 for about 13-15 minutes in the tray-basket thing. If you do smaller pieces, it will take less time.

  87. 87.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: Just a few weeks ago, the O’Bros were saying (and I assume they got this through some professional network) that trump was planning on making bank, like billions with a B, from the public offering of Truth Social. I thought that was nuts when I heard it, I’m a little surprised he gave up on it. Maybe he really is running for president again….

  89. 89.

    Suzanne

    @Soprano2: It’s really difficult for parents when cancellations happen last-minute. If there’s a day’s worth of notice, you can maybe line up a relative or friend to watch your kid and not miss your own workday. You can figure out an alternate lunch.

    The day that the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed, the district had to do a last-minute cancellation of in-person classes for the elementary schools because the buses couldn’t get around the city. And all of this communication happened right at the beginning of the day and it was utter chaos and my kid was crying and I missed a meeting and it was just a shitshow.

  91. 91.

    sab

    @Suzanne: I have a grid thing that I use to bake ” french fried” potatoes in the oven. Your sweet potatoes seem like they would be delicious. Thanks.

  95. 95.

    Immanentize

    Don’t know if it has been mentioned, but the child of Katherine Clark (D-Medford, MA!!!), House Whip, was arrested yesterday at a medium-sized protest around the Cambridge Police shooting of a self harming young man. They did some Basquiat on a monument in the Boston Commons. They were charged with graffiti, destroying public property, and assault and battery on a police officer with a deadly weapon*. Seem like a lot of charges for a bit of Krylon artistry? Well, they are  ccused of tagging: “NO COP CITY” and “ACAB.”

    Why do police insist on proving ACAB when they see someone saying “ACAB?”

    *I am sure the “deadly weapon” was “to wit, a shod foot.” MASS is weird that way

  97. 97.

    kindness

    The nice thing about today’s convictions is they are felony charges.  These ‘fine’ citizens now can’t own guns or have them in their house and they won’t be able to vote until they are released and complete whatever.  Yeay.  No guns for you you traitor!

  100. 100.

    Suzanne

    @sab: They’re all right. I haven’t had real French fries in years, I don’t like the greasiness of deep-fried food. With the Misto bottle, you can use just the tiniest bit of oil to get the spices to stick.

  101. 101.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hard to believe a platform with fewer than 2 million users that is propped up solely by an elderly, obese gadfly with tons of legal exposure is valued that high, especially in what’s looking like bear market for the tech sector. But it’s always been a highly notional sector, so who knows?

  102. 102.

    Ken

    @Soprano2: Why are people so terrified of a little snow now?

    For that, let’s turn to our Channel 8 Weather Team.

    BELINDA: Will Winter Storm Ymir cause widespread destruction, power outages, and a breakdown of all civilization in the tri-county area? For news on the panic now gripping the helpless populace, let’s turn to our roving reporter. Barry, what new horrors can you share with us?

    BARRY: I’m here at the tri-county Walmart, surrounded by desperate crowds fighting over the last loaf of raisin bread and half-gallon of 2% milk. Shelves are otherwise bare, all food having been clawed from the shelves. Anyone who hasn’t stocked up yet is surely doomed to a terrible death by starvation once Winter Storm Ymir shuts down the whole tri-county area. Back to you, Belinda.

    BELINDA. Thanks, Barry. It indeed looks grim. Stay tuned and we’ll have more information on Winter Storm Ymir, now forecast to dump as much as two inches of snow on the tri-county area over the next 48 hours. God help us all.

     

    Indeed, it is puzzling why people get so terrified.

  103. 103.

    Suzanne

    Just to complain for a minute…. it has been a hot minute since I have been able to get to Trader Joe’s, and I am running out of all my favorite food. And I just broke down and had two of those little packets of Mott’s fruit snacks, which I buy because my kids like them, but EHHHHHH. Not good.

  104. 104.

    sab

    @Immanentize: That seems mild. Akron Ohio is still prosecuting Wayland Walker’s protestors. (Cops fired 90+ rounds, 46 hit the unarmed 25 y/o uber eats driver.) Our next mayoral race is looking to be extremely nasty. Old guard Democrats back the police. Others say WTF? I like our Police Chief, but his cops are feral. Not his fault. What he inherited. But there we are, and we have to live in this city.

  110. 110.

    trollhattan

    Maybe possibly good news for the western US WRT our ongoing (and going and going) drought.

    (NEXSTAR) – The long reign of La Niña may soon be over. According to the latest outlook released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, there’s an 82% chance that by springtime – sometime between March and May – La Niña will have faded away.

    In the spring, La Niña is most likely to be replaced by conditions meteorologists refer to as “ENSO neutral,” which is when neither La Niña nor El Niño is present.

    Looking further down the forecast into late summer and early fall and there are signs of something we haven’t seen in years: the return of El Niño.

    By the August through October timeframe, there’s about a 50% chance El Niño will take hold. Of course, that means there’s also about a 50% chance it won’t.

    NOAA issues an “El Niño watch” when El Niño is possible within the next six months, explained Michelle L’Heureux, a meteorologist with the Climate Prediction Center, and so far, no watch has been issued. The team that monitors ENSO patterns is waiting a bit to see if the probabilities firm up, she said.

    Both La Niña and El Niño usually grow strongest in the winter. A strong El Niño winter, if it were to develop, would be the inverse of what we’ve seen the last three years and would likely mean a cold, wet winter for California and the Southern U.S. El Niño usually means a warm, dry winter for the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.

    In the near term, L’Heureux emphasized, La Niña is still with us. Its effect was apparent in the Climate Prediction Center’s forecast for February released on Thursday.

    For the southern half of the U.S., meteorologists predict a February that is warmer and drier than average – as is typical with La Niña winters. In northern states, it’s the opposite: A colder and wetter February is expected.

  112. 112.

    Old School

    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two students were killed Monday and a teacher was injured in what police said was a targeted shooting at a Des Moines school that is dedicated to helping at-risk youth, and three suspects were arrested afterward.

  113. 113.

    C Stars

    @Suzanne: Unfortunately I know well the shame of resorting to my children’s snacks. For me it is usually string cheese or some iteration of granola bar. I am just now finna consume a chocolate covered banana that has been in our freezer for the last two months. I do draw the line at Takis though.

  114. 114.

    sab

    OT I inherited a bunch of wonderful cookware from my mother, most of which was inherited from her mother. Hundred+ year old pots, pans, spoons, egg beaters, cast iron etc.

    Husband who knows nothing about cooking said scrap it. I knew I could make more selling it, and otherwise grandkids could use it. Irrereplasible stuff.

    Grandkids growed up. Want it and couldn’t affored it on the market.

  116. 116.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Nicolle Wallace just asked why the Supreme Court put their “mall cop” in charge of the leak investigation.

    That’s why I keep watching in spite of her annoying Green Lanternism about Garland.

  118. 118.

    Ohio Mom

    @MomSense: How’s your foot?

    We had somewhere about six inches of snow yesterday. It was pretty and since it was a Sunday, and almost everyone (not us) was glued to their screens watching the football game, it was hardly a bother.

  119. 119.

    skerry

    @Suzanne:

    Between my crockpot, Instapot, and the little oven….. who needs a traditional range, HAH!

    This and an induction cooktop is how I avoid using my gas stove.

  120. 120.

    sab

    OT I am 68 and mostly quite healthy, but my front paws hurt a lot lately. I cook a lot, and lately I cook a lot with cast iron.

    Too heavy? Too much work? Out of shape?

    Also otherwise my hands aren’t in the shape they should be. Me being old and much lazier than in my youth.

    Wrist support things help a lot.

  121. 121.

    sab

    @skerry: Not making the no- gas jump yet, but jackals make it easy (information? What info do you want? We have it all!

  124. 124.

    sab

    @Ohio Mom: We were together today, and all of my grandchildren and all of my stepchildren agree that I am slightly on the spectrum. Not a surprise to me. Surprising that the step kids agreed.

    Grandma still loves you even if she would rather not look you in the eye or hug you.

    ETA In my parents family this was normal. Husband agrees normal for me. Husband’s sisters are shocked, but we support our kids way better than they do so I do not care. what they think.

  125. 125.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    Foot is a little better today – really bruised but swelling is down.  Just went out and moved the cars so kid could finish shoveling.
    The storm is going to stop soon and it should be nice tomorrow.  Wednesday more snow!

  126. 126.

    trollhattan

    @sab: Had carpel tunnel procedure on both wrists, which recovered a lot of hand strength and reduced pain, including my shoulders.

    A nerve and muscle conduction test can reveal if the nerve is impinged.

    One possible thing, anyway. Good luck!

  127. 127.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: I am jealous about all your snow.

    Unfortunately the combination of all that snow and a hurt foot is not, shall we say, ideal!

    Glad the swelling is down.  Did you have to go to work today?  Were you able to elevate your foot at work?

  131. 131.

    Suzanne

    @trollhattan:

    A nerve and muscle conduction test can reveal if the nerve is impinged. 

    I had that done on my right hand. Fucken thing violated the Geneva Conventions. Evil.

  132. 132.

    patrick II

    @Anyway: ​
     
    I don’t normally have snow envy, but I gave up the shovel this year and bought a new electric snowblower a little while back. And since then, the Chicago area has had the warmest January in twenty-five years. No snow. So, yeah. A little snow envy.

  137. 137.

    Ohio Mom

    @sab: When Ohio Son was first diagnosed, we were living in Kettering, a southern Dayton suburb (where Erma Bombeck hailed from). I thought it was time for a new pediatrician and went to interview one who saw a lot of kids with disabilities; he wasn’t an official developmental ped but that was where his heart was.

    I started out of course explaining that my son had been newly diagnosed with autism and I was looking for a pediatrician with lots of autism experience.

    Partway through our conversation, he asked what Ohio Dad’s job was. “Computer engineer,” I answered, “Is that what you were expecting?”

    “Well that, or accountant.”

  140. 140.

    Ohio Mom

    @sab: I know, that is why I told you that story.

    That doctor must certainly be retired by now. He was was a great doctor, never in a rush. I learned a lot from him, and he did have a very dry sense of humor. It took a number years and tries before I found a doctor to match him here in Cincinnati.

  141. 141.

    sab

    @sab: My older sister is an art historian and thinks I am insane. My younger sister does computer support and thinks I am okay but need help.

    Family!

  142. 142.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Omnes Omnibus: Exactly.  I’m not an optimist by nature.  My mind almost always obsessively presumes the worst case scenario will happen.  But I’ve learned to make a practice of stopping and asking myself “But is there any REASON for you to assume the worst is coming?”  And then look at the evidence and evaluate.  In most cases I find that there is no “there” there to justify my anxiety.  There’s no point in worrying about something bad just because it’s possible.  I have loved ones who do this and I know that it only makes them absolutely miserable and serves no purpose.  In this case, when I look at the big picture, as I said earlier, all indications seem like we are heading towards indictment.  Not guaranteed, but that would be the smart bet based on a whole bunch of court filings, hirings, witnesses cooperating, expanding scope etc.  That’s also the opinion of numerous former DOJ prosecutors.  So I’m gonna wait and see and I’m not gonna preemptively start throwing Garland/DOJ under the bus, assuming there aren’t completely valid reasons for the slow process.  There will be plenty of time to be angry/upset if shit goes sideways.

    As for being a Garland fan, I have no problem being a cheerleader.  Again, the consensus of people with experience is generally that things are heading in the right direction and that Garland/DOJ are following the evidence where it leads.  That, along with numerous important lawsuits DOJ has brought for Voting Rights, Abortion, LGBTQ Rights, prosecuting hate crimes, winning settlements for Redlining etc. are enough for me to cheer.  I think he’s doing a damn good job when you look at the whole body of work and especially in contrast to Barr/Sessions.  It’s restored my faith in DOJ after a horrific four years.  I can be plenty disappointed if/when it disappoints us, but there’s no need to go there yet.

  143. 143.

    Cephalus Max

    Dropping in from RSS late, as always… Re: the OP from Watergirl:

    I’m excited about the potential of Spoutible. Dunno how many jackals are still reading Twitter, but my (apparently now default) “For you” feed view is now full of all kinds of weird/bad sh!t. My “Following” feed is obvs much better. But the bad stuff on Twitter overall seems to be on the rise.

    I’m on Mastodon, and among other folks, I’m following our own inimitable Betty Cracker. It’s good there in terms of no assholes/trolls/bots, but I’m not savvy enough to know whether that’s engineering or lack of audience. And that’s the Mastodon problem: still not enough adoption.

    I refuse to have anything to do with Post.social (which appears to be where a lot of journos are going) just because Andreesen is almost as bad an ogre as Musk.

    So I’m excited to see what happens with Spoutible. Bouzy is clearly trying to engineer it to keep out the bad shit. And he’s done good stuff in the past with Bot Sentinel.

    Just my 5c.

  144. 144.

    MisterDancer

    @UncleEbeneezer: I think some people put a lot of energy into Muller Time, and got burned on that front.

    I get it, but — look, I’m gonna pull the As a Black Man bit, again. I don’t see a lot of dogged pursuit of actual justice for these kinds of people. I got burned years before Muller on the “trust the government to do the right thing” front, and that was BEFORE I started really digging into the history of how my ancestors were mistreated in American history.

    When you start with a damned long history of maltreatment and abuse — when you recall the DoJ that once endorsed torture! — it’s not a shock that trying to bring wealthy and otherwise powerful people to heel is the work of years to get it right.

    Another way to look at it is thru the lens of THE WIRE. That’s a show that under-girds how a much smaller-scale effort to bring down Just One Drug Kingpin functionally took years, and when his replacement arose? That effort caused the eventual corruption and killed the  careers of multiple police detectives, and likely the Mayor.

    Watching THE WIRE lay out how much detail and paperwork it took just to tap and track a set of people slinging crack tells me something about the scale the DoJ is likely working at, and the risks of fucking up even the smallest thing in this investigation. It’s far from the only piece of evidence I have that the situation is this way — another is my small background in computer forensics and how tools like stingray operate to trace cell phone convos — but the sum total is that nothing indicates, at least to me, that they are slacking off on this job.

    But, too — it’s not the DoJ’s job, to fix our Democracy. That’s on us.

  146. 146.

    MisterDancer

    @Cephalus Max: So I’m excited to see what happens with Spoutible. Bouzy is clearly trying to engineer it to keep out the bad shit. And he’s done good stuff in the past with Bot Sentinel.

    100% agreed. I’m…frustrated with the negative nellies, especially as — and I’m just gonna be up-front here — Bouzy is Black Like Me.

    There are not many Black folx running any web platforms, much less social media. There are few, of any background, who have as much experience in tracking and understanding bot activity as Bouzy.

    The two, combined, do make me excited to support Bouzy in this endeavor. I think a platform that actually leverages years of bot-fighting has a ton of potential, makes me want to be an active part of that situation.

    And, yeah: I think having social media run by a Black Man has real meaning in this day and age. Bouzy might turn out to be a “bad ‘un,” but I sure as fuck wanna give him the space and grace to succeed.

  148. 148.

    Ohio Mom

    @MisterDancer: Don’t forget Fitzmas. That was my first big let down before the Mueller time disappointment.

    At this point, I’ll just be glad if Garland creates enough documentation for history to clearly judge Trump and the rest of them.

  150. 150.

    Freemark

    @Soprano2: ​
     

    I think it also has to do with child care. A huge problem for many parents if a school cancels, or even just delays. suddenly.

  151. 151.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @MisterDancer:

    “I don’t see a lot of dogged pursuit of actual justice for these kinds of people.”

    Agreed.  And I get all the skepticism people have for DOJ based on the fact that they historically have NOT gone after the rich, powerful, white people and domestic terrorists (with notable exception of Timothy McVeigh and you know who handled that…)  But that is why I’m actually almost in shock with how much activity we’ve seen.  They (DOJ) are seizing phones of Senators, investigating high level former DOJ people, compelling GJ testimony from the assistants and lawyers closest to Trump, fighting privilege claims, bringing in a Special Council who convicted a former President, and has experience prosecuting corrupt politicians and large criminal conspiracies.  They are also prosecuting (and CONVICTING) some of the worst terrorist organizations in the country.

    Like, this isn’t how it usually goes.  Not. At. All.  When I see that Mark Meadows, Pat Cipolone, Pat Philbin, John McEntee etc., were seen coming out of a Grand Jury I don’t think “what took so long?” I think “Holy shit, they’re really doing this!” because this level of activity targeting rich, powerful, white men and White Nationalist orgs is NOT what any of us would expect given the history of our DOJ/FBI.  I mean, they are literally investigating (Clark), arresting, indicting (McGonigal) their own former people!!  If  the concept of a Justice Dept that actually does some good is even possible, the willingness to go after their own, is a pretty major component of what that would look like, imo.  We’ll see where it all goes, but it has me feeling cautiously optimistic.

  152. 152.

    Geminid

    @MisterDancer: A lot of people have a crab bucket mentality. They have their favorites, but try to pull everyone else down. I think I see that a lot with regards to politicians, and more generally as well.

  153. 153.

    Josh

    @Baud: All the crap is still on Twitter with antivaxxers and racism. But Musk being halfway civil seems to have been enough to keep most people around. That’s a mistake.

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