I've been thinking about the Harris/Walz campaign and how I think it was really important to have had these last 100 days, even–or especially–if we got this (awful) result.
I think it mattered like hell that we got to see a vibrant, energetic vision of look out for your neighbor, 1/— xanadian (@xanadian.bsky.social) November 15, 2024 at 10:06 AM
lift each other up, tonic masculinity, NOT GOING BACK, "smaller rally down the street", Kamala bodychecking that fucker in the debate, optimism, joy–
and how real, plausible, possible it felt. I think it mattered not just for campaign morale but as a glimpse of something very real 2/— xanadian (@xanadian.bsky.social) November 15, 2024 at 10:06 AM
Our 2024. Every single day of it has been won by our warriors, by all our people, by everyone who defends, works, strengthens, and helps.
Hard work and courage, humanity and integrity of the entire nation filled this year. Along with care, development and love, the desire to… pic.twitter.com/uL3Tq3Gb13
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 31, 2024
Hard work and courage, humanity and integrity of the entire nation filled this year. Along with care, development and love, the desire to change reality for the better, no matter what.
We Ukrainians know what it means not to wait for what tomorrow will bring, but to fight for every single day and every year of freedom. And 2024 was exactly that—a year hard-won and free. Another step towards justice, a fair peace, our victory, and a life without war.
I wish us all strength, unity, and inspiration in the coming year. Happy New Year of life and freedom—Happy Our Year!
NEVER FORGET: Thanks to President Joe Biden and MVP Kamala Harris people on Medicare with a part D prescription plan will only pay $2000 out of pocket for their medications as opposed to $8000 in 2024. The Biden administration gets 100% credit for this and lowering drug prices.
Happy new year! ????????— Peter Morley ?? ?? (@petermorley.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 11:00 AM
Outgoing North Carolina governor commutes 15 death row sentences https://t.co/6hvuo93AnF
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 1, 2025
From Hopium:
– Happy New Year All! In 2025 let’s take and celebrate the wins when they come
– Trump 2.0 has gotten off to a shockingly bad start
– Keep working hard all. Proud to be in this fight with all of you
More 👇https://t.co/S0hpUrJCYO— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) December 31, 2024
Glass Half Full Department:
… As I wrote to you yesterday this has been a remarkably bad run for Trump, and it is important we understand this and say so. He is losing, stumbling, f-cking up even before he gets into the White House. He is showing weakness, repeated weakness, and while the public may not see it yet official Washington and his Congressional allies have seen it. He is entering the New Year in a far more wobbly state that we ever could have imagined, and we need to learn how to see and accept him as weak and not allow his own strongman protection of himself become our own. So yes, part of our job in the coming months is to keep pulling back the curtain on the orange Wizard every day, and keep chipping away at his desperate attempt to make the ugliest political thing we’ve even seen look strong and successful…
In 2025 we need to take, celebrate and build on the wins when they come, and my friends, the last few weeks we’ve had far more wins than we ever could have expected at this point. It bodes well for next year, and perhaps it will be a happier year than we had any right to believe a few weeks ago. But as I like to say, we will only keep winning if we stay engaged, and keep doing the work.
Remember – Trump is not a strong man, he is a weak man. He remains a serial assaulter of women, fraudster, traitor, 34 times felon and the ugliest political thing we have ever seen. We cannot let his projection of himself onto the world become our own.
Or, to quote a different Hollywood blockbuster: If we must do without hope, there is always vengeance.
On The Road – UncleEbeneezer – Eastern Sierra Fall Foliage 2024- Gull Lake, June Lakes, CA (Part 6/8)
Baud
No matter what they do, disrespect them.
lowtechcyclist
Good morning, y’all! And what Baud said.
Like Anne’s OP, I’m less than sure about the ‘happy New Year’ part, but may it be not nearly as bad as our fears.
Jeffg166
I truly marvel at Zelenskyy. What a statesman. We need more of his kind in the world not the sorry group taking over.
NotMax
Start the new year off with some musical frippery, the Windows Waltz.
;)
lowtechcyclist
Theirs is the cult of vengeance and retribution, and the NO I say to that comes from the bottom of my heart. The only difference between such cults is who they want to wreak vengeance on. The only way to be different in a meaningful way is to leave behind the desire for vengeance.
Suzanne
I’m shocked about this like I’m shocked about the ocean being so wet.
On a lighter note: happy new year, jackals!
A reminder: when our enemies are making mistakes, let’s not interrupt. Pointing/laughing is also always an option.
rikyrah
Happy New Year, Everyone 😊🥳✨🎉🎊🥂
Phylllis
Happy New Year to all y’all. Currently watching the London New Year’s Day parade, which, as always, is a loony hoot.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Happy new year.
dmsilev
Happy New Year from
FloridaCalifornia Man:Professor Bigfoot
Happy New Year, everyone!
And since this is an open thread— is anyone else having problems getting into Spoutible? (or for that matter, is anyone else even ON Spoutible?)
espierce
Happy New Year, Jackals!
Starfish (she/her)
@dmsilev: SOMEONE had a good time on New Year’s Eve.
Raoul Paste
The post title made me smile
SteveinPHX
@dmsilev: Sounds like the beginning of an Elmore Leonard crime novel! Or that recent Don Winslow story that begins, “Nobody knows how that monkey got his hands on the pistol.”
Happy New Year to all!
dmsilev
@Starfish (she/her): Well, the monkey at least got a good home (Oakland Zoo).
Starfish (she/her)
I think what Adam Conover is saying about the Democratic Party not feeling participatory in a meaningful way is right.
glory b
@Starfish (she/her): He’s full of it.
Again, I refer to “Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Are Killing America’s Heartland” by Jonathan Metzl.
Starfish (she/her)
@dmsilev: Aww… That lady in the cozy sweater holding the monkey was totally worth clicking through for.
Prescott Cactus
Happy New Year from Santiago, Chile. Nothing shaking here except mid to upper 80’s temps.
Going to Mendoza, this weekend, which is the heart of Argentina’s wine country. Great Malbecs and Cab Sauv’s they say, but I have no idea. Annie Green Springs, Boones Farm and “Shake & Bake” turned me away from the grapes.
All of this so we can take a 12 hour bus ride back through the Andes, which will be vertigo inducing, but very scenic.
Starfish (she/her)
@glory b: Skip to 14:30 in his video. It is about how the political consulting class has tried to turn the party into a bunch of consumers, and the party doesn’t feel participatory.
MagdaInBlack
@Prescott Cactus: It sounds like you consumed all three of those together? With bad results?
Boones Farm alone did it for me, altho I think technically, there are no grapes involved in that “wine.”
Suzanne
@Starfish (she/her): That was interesting, thanks for sharing. Also very similar to the thesis of Bowling Alone.
Theres a really good thread on X right now from Lakshya Jain — I don’t know how to share a thread — that is worth reading. It’s about his frustrations with the Democratic Party getting bogged down in process over results. I think that’s a widely shared point of view. And it should be pointed out that he writes, directly, that he disagrees with the GOP and won’t vote for them.
eclare
@Starfish (she/her):
And they named it after Ross’s monkey in Friends. Too cute.
Prescott Cactus
@MagdaInBlack:
Not all together and only when we couldn’t get beer. Life during my misspent youth.
Kay
@Suzanne:
I’m not as confident he got off to a bad start. I think they were always going to protect VISAs for skilled workers because its good for business and rich people. Musk was the designated spokesperson for that so floated it to measure opposition. Trump pretends to oppose and side with the hardline MAGAs but then softens his position at the urging of wealthy people – the real MAGA base.
They did a similar thing when Bush was leading an immigration reform effort. They carved out skilled workers because tech companies demanded it, then sold that to the base.
bjacques
@lowtechcyclist: strewing marbles, caltrops, and whoopie cushions in their path, malicious obedience, in the manner of Good Soldier Schweik, all while going our merry way is also an option.
Kay
@Suzanne:
In 2007 Republicans called this “restructuring VISAs around skilled workers”. The deal that Kennedy was willing to make was to vote for that in return for legal status for less skilled Mexican labor already in the country. I don’t blame Kennedy – that’s not a bad deal – but this game they’re playing is the same one Bush played in 2007. Its immigration designed solely around the demands of big business.
Next we’ll hear from Big Ag and they’ll have to accommodate THEM. That happened in 2007 too. Its immigrants as cogs for US business, tools, not people. Its always been the GOP approach to immigration.
lowtechcyclist
@bjacques:
And banana peels. Can’t forget those!
Suzanne
@Kay: I was thinking more about some of his terrible Cabinet picks, like Gaetz, as examples of “not going well”. Your point is taken, though.
During this time in the political wilderness, though…. Imma make sure to spend at least some time pointing/laughing at MAGA. It’s a pressure release valve. They actually thought Trump cared about them! LMAO!
Starfish (she/her)
@Suzanne: In the new year, I look forward to House Republicans not knowing how to pick a speaker and needing the Democrats to rescue them.
Suzanne
@Kay: Right. Like, the only real alternative to high-skilled immigration is large-scale, systemic, multi-decade investment in American education.
So: cold day in Hell is the timeline.
RevRick
@lowtechcyclist: The worst outcome for us bearers of light and hope is to become the very things we fear and loathe.
Matt McIrvin
@lowtechcyclist: To be fair to the character–and that line does come directly from Tolkien–Aragorn was a decent guy who wasn’t particularly keen on pursuing vengeance; he was basically saying that because it was the only way to keep himself and his dudes going in the moment, which was a bad time.
Ruviana
@lowtechcyclist: And Legos, certainly!
raven
Goddam, 10 dead and 30 hurt in the French Quarter. The Dawgs play Notre Dame tonight so we probably had some Georgia folks hurt.
K-Mo
@Kay: There’s a lot of stuff for them to sort through that not everyone will be happy about, even if some of it is in the “they were always going to do this” column. A lot of it is objectively bad policy and a lot of it will have unanticipated consequences.
TBone
@NotMax: frippery? Count me in!
Kay
@Suzanne:
There’s a great Frontline doc on the 2007 immigration reform attempt – all the various interests and players. I think we would do well to review that. Republicans aren’t super creative. They run the same shit over and over. Remember Trump is termed out. Like Bush, he’ll meet the demands of the real GOP base – money – in his lame duck term. For this term we should just follow the money.
Princess
You could even argue that having their pie fight over immigration during Xmas week before Trump is president was a calculated strategy. The tech billionaires won, MAGA slunk off in silence and it happened out of the full glare of the media. Bet your normie cousin whose only social media is Facebook doesn’t even know it happened.
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne:
“Results over process” is how we get torturers, tyrants, killer cops and concentration camps. That people don’t see that is the whole problem with human society.
Betty Cracker
@raven: We were hoping YOU weren’t there in the overnight thread. Good to see your nym.
Starfish (she/her)
@raven: Here is the information released by the police department. It looks like the police shot and killed the dude because he was shooting at police once he stopped.
Kay
I think they send Musk and Ramaswamy out with the demands of the monied GOP base to gauge how far they can push MAGA towards the policy preferences of billionaires.
They can push MAGA really far, as we know. I already see them softening towards ending Social Security on TikTok. Republicans are probably paying posters. It feels coordinated.
Starfish (she/her)
@Matt McIrvin: There is some process that is important, and there is some process that is “tradition” when Republicans say it is. That type of process means “Democrats are chumps.”
I am thinking not allowing Obama to seat a Supreme Court justice in in the last year of his presidency because Mitch McConnell said so.
Kay
@Princess:
Its 2007 all over again. The vehemently anti immigrant base was smaller then but its the same play. Remember the huge Pro Latino immigrant protests? That bucked up Democrats in the 2007 negotiations. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see those again.
artem1s
@raven: PBS reports “officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.”
Local PD is calling it terrorism. Not so much the state AG. Gonna be a long 4 years of butthurt MAGAts wreaking havoc and trying to start riots.
Suzanne
@Matt McIrvin:
It’s also how we get things like “historic parking lots” and hospital bed shortages.
There’s a balance to find.
Princess
@Kay: I remember 2007 and I agree. Also, alas, about not seeing the protests. The Republicans have been very good (with help and our own weaknesses) at fracturing our coalitions. Enough Latinos seek white adjacency and they won’t be sticking their heads up. The discrediting the woman’s movement that created the first term protests was also a huge loss for our side.
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin’, y’all!
raven
@Betty Cracker: We were there for the UGA-Texas Sugar Bowl 6 years ago but stayed away from Bourbon Street, especially at night.
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
Good morning.
tobie
@raven: I saw that on my news feed this morning. How awful.
Kay
The 2007 immigration reform objective for Republicans on ag workers was to bring in more migrant workers – workers who return to their home countries after they complete the harvest cycle in the US. Some Democrats were willing to do that in return for guarantees on wages and labor standards for migrant workers. The country is nastier and worse than it was in 2007, IMO, so Musk and Trump will demand migrant workers but with no protections. MAGA will like that, treating the migrants like garbage. Win/win if you’re a rich douchebag.
jonas
@dmsilev: Reminded me of this little gem from the other day, also in the LAT. This woman’s carry-on bag sets off an alarm at a TSA checkpoint at LAX:
WTF? It’s probably while dealing with next-level shit like this that unticketed passengers slip by and board planes.
Prescott Cactus
@Princess:
I agree that most of these arguments are strategy. It splits up and tires the opposition. Bannon’s “flood the zone” bullshit. If you care about the environment you follow or are distracted by “drill, baby, drill”. Each category creates a seperate division to split our attention and energies. They aren’t smart, but maybe not as dumb as we wish.
Starfish (she/her)
@Suzanne: This opinion article is about how a family got in trouble with the city for replacing a “historic chicken coop” with a basketball net for their kids. It may even be on the pro-chicken-coop side of the argument.
Starfish (she/her)
@jonas: Was this an artist doing art? Is this like that emotional support peacock? I can’t believe this is real.
Quinerly
@raven: I’m listening to MSNBC. The description of 3 people flattened like “pillows” is horrific. Sounds like one was a young girl.
I can’t even understand how this vehicle got to where it got.
Torrey
I’m not sure that’s a good idea. It reminds people that there was a pet monkey in a TV show, and what (some) people will remember is that someone had a monkey, and wasn’t that entertaining? Most folks won’t fall for it, but there are always idiots who will, and we’ll end up with a lot of orphaned and trafficked monkeys. Rather like the run on Dalmations after each of the 101 Dalmations movie, usually by people who should not have even considered getting a Dalmation, of all dogs.
This has been your Hopeful Look Ahead to the New Year comment. You’re welcome.
Kay
One can see the Democrats work on migrant issues in states like Michigan. They bring in workers legally to pick apples and asparagus (fall and spring) BUT they have to pay them a decent wage, provide decent housing, and provide Head Start and other programs for their children.
Part of it is state law, red states offer only the federal “floor” to migrants while blue states add additional pro worker regs. So if Musk and Trump succeed in gutting the federal floor we could see migrants treated like garbage while working in red states and treated more like US workers in blue states.
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
Indeed. I’ve been thinking a lot about the fruits of the Spirit lately, and there’s definitely a connection there.
MazeDancer
May 2025 be hope-filled. May we be able to remember, always, that freedom will endure. Even if gets beat up and has to fight back.
Maybe, when we have paid enough of the karma America gathered in treatment of the Natives and Slaves, we can, at least, be granted, again, the opportunity to remove the broliarchy and Trumpsters.
Happy New Year to all.
tobie
@Princess: Musk and Ramaswamy may have won this round. They learned how easy it is to dictate to Trump and manipulate the MAGA base. But the fault lines between Bannon and Musk were also revealed and that’s not going away.
The feud between the two is evidently long standing. Bannon on Musk in 2023:
Betty Cracker
I’ve been informed that I simply have to make pasta pomodoro for dinner tonight because I promised it last week and then broke my word. (I was out of fresh basil.) Been using this Bon Appétit recipe for ages — so easy, so good!
Nukular Biskits
@Ruviana:
Speaking of which …
10 Animals Reactions to Stepping on a Lego
zhena gogolia
There is a lovely remembrance of Steeplejack by his brother at the end of yesterday’s memorial thread, in case anyone would like to see it. I went back to the thread just now, in the spirit of the way Steeplejack used to always check in on dead threads and reply to anyone who had started a conversation with him.
raven
@Quinerly: At 3am.
RevRick
@glory b:
@Starfish (she/her):
Several things can be true at once.
1). People/families did get hammered by inflation and were pissed;
2). Racism and misogyny are alive and sickening;
3). Participation in religious/civic organizations has gone into steep decline;
4). Change always makes a lot of people anxious and they react in dysfunctional ways.
Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump is overdetermined.
Nukular Biskits
@raven:
Had to go look that up. Damn.
Not sure if any of y’all remember but something very similar happened about 8 – 10 years ago. One of my coworkers and his wife were in the crowd and injured. The truck (?) hit him, threw him and he suffered as severe concussion. She was less fortunate: The truck landed on top of her, fracturing her pelvis and scraping her up. They were both out of commission for months.
eclare
@Torrey:
The monkey grows up and has behavior issues, and Ross sends him to the San Diego Zoo.
p.a.
I’ll wish every one Happy New Year! despite today’s news.🫤
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Time to turn that up to 11.
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
Oh. I thought AL said it came from a Hollywood blockbuster.
I’ve read the trilogy from beginning to end at least a couple dozen times, but it’s been awhile since the last time, and I couldn’t have told you that line was from there, and I still couldn’t tell you the context. Which it sounds like the line really needs to understand it.
Absent that context, my feelings about it are unchanged.
RevRick
@lowtechcyclist: Trump definitely stirs up those works of the flesh: idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy.
gene108
@Starfish (she/her):
I made it about 5 minutes into the 18 minute rant before tuning out. Society has moved away from requiring human interaction to do things from depositing a check at the bank to ordering a pizza.
With the rise of television 70 years ago people could find entertainment and engagement without needing to go to the weekly Elks Club meeting, which Adam thinks was super important.
I have no idea how Democrats should’ve reversed this 70 year trend away from human interaction in an election cycle in one campaign. Obama did it in 2008 with OfA, but then shut it down.
The Democrats weakness is their inability to get the majority of the white vote for the last 60 years. If appealed to white people as well as Republicans do, Democrats would be in a much stronger electoral position.
Quinerly
@raven: Sounds like he got thru several blocks of barricades and fencing. Ford F150. Texas plates. Good coverage on MSNBC.
NOLA DA speaking shortly.
Kay
This is the Frontline immigration reform documentary. I really got a very clear read on the differences between Republicans and Democrats on immigration from it. Teddy Kennedy represents the ‘values” part of the Democrats pro-immigrant stance during the negotiations (as do some Latino Democrats in the House at the time). Immigrants as people, not tools to be used strictly for the benefit of US born Americans.
I expect Republicans and media to be much more (publicly) mean spirited and ungenerous and racist towards immigrants this time ’round while also protecting monied interests (including Big Ag). What they’ll want is essentially migrant workers with no protections at all.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Regarding what Tolkien actually wrote, this is the full quote (obviously changed in the movie):
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
I’d disagree about sorcery, but only because unlike Paul, I don’t think it really exists. But all the others? In spades.
And if sorcery were a real thing and they could practice it, they would.
RevRick
@Kay: Then there’s the meat packing and home building industries that will line up for a pass. And how many restaurants depend on undocumented immigrants in the back ?
Elizabelle
Happy New Year’s Day, jackals. You know it’s serious when satirist Andy Borowitz drops (most of) the comedy and writes a compassionate New Year’s Day post.
Substack: The Borowitz Report:
How to Survive in ’25
I rather love that one of his readers calls Morning Joe “Fox for vegans.” Excellent.
TBone
@bjacques: points for style
RevRick
@gene108: The last two Democrats to win the white vote were LBJ and FDR.
Gin & Tonic
@Prescott Cactus: Mendoza is wonderful, enjoy. Note that the really good wine there is not exported.
And if you really want vertigo, drive the road from Villavicencio to Uspallata. I legit thought I was going to die on that road – they call it the Route of the 365 Curves.
TBone
@Ruviana: hahahaha!
Another Scott
“Not OK” in the first comic.
Ooh! Flashback! OK Used Cars signs at Chevy dealers.
Even as a tiny tot I wondered why anyone would want to buy a car that was just “OK”.
Advertising is a weird business.
Best wishes,
Scott.
RevRick
@lowtechcyclist: Oh, Trump is big, big, big on sorcery. What do you think his claim, “I alone can fix it,” means otherwise?
lowtechcyclist
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Thanks for quoting the original. It certainly has a very different vibe than the “Hollywood blockbuster” quote. I saw the movies when they first came out, but not since, so I have little recollection of them.
TBone
@Elizabelle: as seen pasted to the back of the front door at Bear Gap Den:
(First stanza of Senility Prayer)
Kay
@RevRick:
Absolutely. Trump insulated ag interests from the costs of his tariffs in 2017. He shipped them 52 billion in tax dollars to make them whole. Biden was better for agriculture in ACTUAL SALES of what they produce. Trump was better for farmers in taxpayer handouts. No Republican will ever harm Money. It just aint gonna happen. If they can’t run a good economy (they can’t) they’ll just hand monied interests billions in tax cuts and handouts.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Another Scott:
Origins:
https://www.greasemonkeyusa.com/blogs/motoropia/chevrolet-ok-used-cars
gene108
@Prescott Cactus:
Not everyone needs to be smart for a movement or organization to succeed. You can have lousy people in it, but you just need enough smart capable people to drag everyone else’s ass along with them.
I see this all the time in sports. One or two great players, and a few really good players, can drag all the rest of the mediocrities on the team to victory, as long as no one messes up too badly.
Same thing with Republican politics. For every 10 MTG’s and Boebert’s, there are well funded calculating people pushing things in their desired direction, like Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society.
Chief Oshkosh
@Matt McIrvin: Josh at TPM has an essay suggesting “results over process,” but in the sense that institutional activities should be abandoned if they can no longer justify their existence. I took at as meaning things like “blue slips” and similar folderol had some use in the distant past, but are now just used to prevent even simple legislative action when “honored” (and for some time now, only one side has been honoring them).
SFAW
@Suzanne:
Well, let me mansplain that ocean-is-wet thing to you, li’l lady …
But, to be serious: best wishes to you and your family for 2025.
pluky
@lowtechcyclist: Don’t think of “sorcery” as magic. Rather as the use of one’s knowledge and power for self-serving, if not down right malevolent, ends.
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
He’s presenting himself as a savior. I’d put presenting oneself as the Messiah in a different bucket from sorcery. Anyone can do it, just not usually with that level of effectiveness. The closest thing to sorcery involved was the image manufactured of him in The Apprentice.
SFAW
@TBone:
Never seen that. As one approaching senility, I give it two thumbs up.
Or I would, if I could remember what giving a “thumbs up” means.
Kay
@RevRick:
Trump’s insane handouts to ag interests got almost no coverage, and this helps me understand how he absolutely blew up the deficit in a way no one before him ever had and almost no one knows about it.
Now ag interests expect it. They expect protected US markets AND massive taxpayer subsidies to make them whole when the countries they export to retaliate with their own trade sanctions. It just has less and less of a connection to anything like a “market”. Democrats didn’t kill real, competitive US markets. Republicans did.
satby
@MazeDancer: And may all you say come to pass. HNY Maze.
gene108
@Kay:
This applies to so many more workers than just migrant labor.
Prescott Cactus
@Gin & Tonic:
This trip has close to 30 hairpin and switchbacks with a lot of elevation changes. We waited till we could get tickets in the upper deck, front row, above the driver. Great for photos and nausea…
I quit driving two years ago (at age 60) when we started traveling to big cities in foreign countries. The complexity of having different car makes and models, plus the new environments were a bit too much. Better to call it quits early, than…
TBone
@SFAW: your eyesight is still serving you, that’s
alwaysa plus!lowtechcyclist
@TBone:
I love it!
Another Scott
@Nukular Biskits: Some colleagues were at a scientific convention in Las Vegas a couple of decades ago. Some car lost control and ran over several of them while they were walking on a sidewalk. I don’t know remember if there were any fatalities among the fairly large group, but many had severe injuries (broken bones, etc.).
One never knows when one in a million+ things may happen.
:-(
Peace and comfort to the innocents.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TBone
It is time for the 2025 Breakfast of Champions – hot mushroom pizza.
Not having anyone piss in my Cheerios!
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Day One, and I’m already losing 2025 bingo!
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: muah!
Anyway
@Prescott Cactus: HNY! This brings back memories – Back in 2005 (?) I took a road trip from Mendoza up the mountains to the Chilean border. Didn’t go into Chile that trp. Stayed in Argentina the whole time. My friend and I had Malbec and bife de lomo (or another cut) EVERY dinner for two weeks – so good. For me Iguazu was the highlight of the trip – we drove around the area and encountered heavily armed Paraguayan border security forces … memories!
lowtechcyclist
@pluky:
That’s just the world being the world. No need to frame it as sorcery.
Starfish (she/her)
@gene108: I don’t find the lack of human interaction to be a positive innovation. No one has a strong relationship with the cable company’s phone tree.
The Democrats need to lie to white folks and tell them that their potato salad with raisins in it is perfectly fine, and yes it is a shame that eggs are so expensive. Democracy depends on it.
Nukular Biskits
@TBone:
What if they piss on your hot mushroom pizza?
Soprano2
Happy New Year everyone, such as it is. Took my first Jazzercize class of the year. Now it’s time to lay down and rest some. I was up until 2 a.m because I stayed to help clean up after our balloon drop. Having it was fun, cleaning up not so much. I scored a cool balloon; for those familiar with Babylon 5, it looks like a Shadow ship!
RevRick
@lowtechcyclist: John Michael Greer once said, “Magic doesn’t change reality. It changes how we see reality.” He added that the only way a witch could fly with a broomstick was if she took it on carry-on.
One of the earliest claims against Jesus was the dismissal that he was just a magician. But the Gospel is a kind of magic, opening up a new way of seeing our world.
TBone
@Nukular Biskits: then it is ALL theirs, the whole pie!
Kay
Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill know “China” didn’t pay them the 100 billion in tariff reparations. They’re huge multinational corporations who follow every blip of policy and markets closely and deal with tariffs constantly. Only the idiots in media and the MAGA base believed that. They know damn well it was a federal handout and they now expect that. Trump just hands them huge stacks of unearned money.
Another Scott
@gene108:
Hmm… My only passing familiarity with the Elks was a lodge in a small town in Ohio and it seemed to have more than a few old veteran guys who seemingly just went there to drink. (Self-medication? Probably?)
Maybe it’s different elsewhere.
(All respect to service organizations who are trying to do good work, but…)
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
RevRick
@Kay: Trump is a transactional guy, and I am sure if these bigtime associations find a way to wet his beak in exchange for ICE not bothering their workforce, well, that’s as inevitable as the sun rises in the East.
Prescott Cactus
@Anyway: HNY to you too.
Paraguay and Argentina are currently undergoing some diplomatic spats. An Argentine lawmaker got busted entering Paraguay with USD $200,000 and 600,000 Argentine pesos, (less than USD $600) . All a misunderstanding, I’m sure…
Soprano2
@Kay: It’s funny how they’ll say we need skilled, educated immigrants while telling their supporters not to go to college!
RevRick
@Another Scott: Many civic organizations went into decline when those with gray/blue hair were not being replaced by younger folks.
Elizabelle
Very sorry to hear of the New Orleans mass murder and mayhem. Refreshing the jackass only used the gun at the end, as the police were closing in?
Too much like the Magdeburg Christmas Market carnage by BMW, in Germany just before Christmas.
Denali5
@Suzanne:
Actually our new roof was installed by Ecuadorians who were legally here and were trained in that capability by a government program in place. So there are programs out there.
Elizabelle
Here’s link to Los Angeles’s KTLA station. Live Rose Bowl Parade coverage, which begins at 11 am Eastern, 8 am Pacific.
https://ktla.com
mrmoshpotato
@TBone: Mmmmmm. I could dig a sausage, egg, and cheese burrito personally.
Elizabelle
Thinking of the Rose Bowl and Parade: would bet security there just got a lot more serious. Although it likely already is.
oldgold
@Kay: They cashed their soybean checks while decrying socialism and federal handouts.
We have produced an army of the type of farmer Joseph Heller described in Catch-22.
A less self-aware group of people would be difficult to find.
SteveinPHX
@Betty Cracker: Bookmarked this link. Gonna try it soon.
Thank you! Go Gators!
RevRick
@Soprano2: In Germany they used to have an educational tracking system, where those who were good at studies were sent to the gymnasium, and then to college, while other students were sent to hoch schule where they could begin learning a trade or prepare for work in some service industry.
tobie
@gene108: Didn’t Iowa make child labor legal? Can’t begin to imagine the many forms of exploitation that will happen there.
Elizabelle
@Prescott Cactus: Have a wonderful trip! More reporting, please. Will enjoy it vicariously.
Gin & Tonic
@Prescott Cactus: We just looked at Paraguay from across the river when we went to Iguazu. Had no particular desire to visit. It’s a weird country, from what I understand.
Nukular Biskits
@RevRick:
And, as a preacher, I’m sure you’re aware that most of the work required to keep any civic or other volunteer organization functioning is done by, at most, 10%-15% of the members.
I’ve seen it from church (when I used to attend), the kids’ activities (Scouts, soccer, flag football), etc.
So, a civic organization is already at a disadvantage WRT the small number of truly interested people keeping it going. When that institutional knowledge leaves due to retirements, deaths, etc, it can cripple if not outright kill an organization.
Kay
@gene108:
Agree. Absolutely. Just the fact that California is a huge economy unto itself and blue will help all foreign born workers.
I’d love to see a red state/blue state division appear where foreign born workers of all sectors will go to blue states to work and reject red state work just on a wage basis. A race to the top. Republicans won’t know what to do with a real competitive market operating. Panic! Can they borrow ENOUGH to pay reparations for stupidity to red staters? Stay tuned! Maybe!
mrmoshpotato
@Elizabelle: Bundlé! Savé! Go Duckslé!
Nukular Biskits
@mrmoshpotato:
I’d rather eat one but you do you.
;>)
Spanky
I think they’ve outsourced sorcery to RFK Jr.
UncleEbeneezer
As I wrote o Bluesky:
I hate all the pieces scrambling for a new template for Dems. Harris/Walz just gave us one and it is a great one for going forward. In any other year, with a full campaign period, diff opponent etc., and I think we win even despite racism/misogyny.
And the fun/energy was real and to a great extent, it was working. The more voters saw of Harris the more they liked her. Ofc there were missteps and disinfo hits, but a full year+ of that energy and enthusiasm and more signal-boosting and I love our chances.
[Added for BJ] I also think this is what Dem rebranding looks like in practice. It is a generational project, not a light-switch you flip on and get a guaranteed win of the current election. Some Dems will be slow to get onboard, some tweaks will need to be made. But I think we should be thrilled that Kamala did so many of the things that we’ve been begging Dems to do, for years. When you lose a tight game, match etc., by only a point or two you don’t completely change your playing style, tactics etc. when training for next season. Harris/Walz was a great campaign that lost a tight contest. But we should still be excited because I believe their formula and approach will win in the future and is one that could redefine/rebrand the Dem Party.
Omnes Omnibus
@RevRick:
It’s funny how those systems so often put working class kids into the trades programs and well-off kids into the academic.
mrmoshpotato
@SteveinPHX: Oh, they went! The Gators gasparillaed all over Tulane.
Kay
@gene108:
I’m convinced that’s WHY we saw the full court media and GOP press to lie about Biden’s economy. Full employment gives all workers leverage. Republicans and media prefer an economy built on high unemployment and cheap credit. They prefer a managed economy that tilts the field to monied interests to an actual market economy. I don’t think they’d recognize an actual market at this point. They’ve skewed most of them.
Geminid
@gene108: One striking aspect of the Federalist Society is that its long-time President and CEO, Eugene B. Meyer, is scarcely known outside conservative circles.
The Society recently honored Meyer at its annual convention. Their press release:
The guy keeps such a low profile he doesn’t have a Wikipedia biography.
Fun Eugene Meyer Fact: Although Meyer has a B.A. in History from Yale University and a Masters Degree from the London of Economics, he never attended law school. Ed. But he is an International Chess Master.
Nukular Biskits
@UncleEbeneezer:
Agreed.
YY_Sima Qian
Happy New Year everyone!
Sadly, a mass casualty event in NOLA to ring in 2025. Sigh…
TBone
@mrmoshpotato: we are having breakfast for supper tonight – jumbo fresh scrambled eggs with diced leftover ham and special Vermont cheddar chunks from a wondrous birthday cheese my Aunt sent, plus home fries with onions.
Omnes Omnibus
@UncleEbeneezer: I largely agree with this. We really need to make sure we understand the loss, both why and by how much, before we start fucking about with things.
mrmoshpotato
@Nukular Biskits: Someone doesn’t know about the breakfast burrito mines.
Eunicecycle
@tobie: I was just reading an article about the increase in minimum wage in Ohio, and it was noted that this did NOT increase the minimum wage for 14 and 15 yo! They can still be paid $7.25 an hour! So more people to be exploited. I had noticed local stores advertising for 15 yo and figured they just couldn’t find workers. But they may just be looking for cheap workers. I have not researched it to see if the younger workers are allowed in dangerous occupations as in IA.
TBone
@Spanky: ha! His wand has wormholes.
Another Scott
An excellent post on LLMs, natural language, and ambiguity.
Trying to shoehorn “AI” into everything is a category error.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TBone
@Geminid: I saw that story somewhere recently on my travels too – good eye
Sunlight is the best disinfectant!
Prescott Cactus
@Elizabelle: Will try and do. I am hesitant to, as I feel funny in a boasting sort of way… but, this is all we do now, just go from place to place and stay in furnished apartments. Still…
@Gin & Tonic:
There seems to be a lot of corruption and machine politics… Like Chicago without the snow. They had their ass handed to them by the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. Although that was in the late 1800’s, they ain’t been exactly hitting home runs since then.
Nukular Biskits
@mrmoshpotato: Touche’!
Soprano2
@Omnes Omnibus: I agree too, because it seems that most of the suggestions for change follow people’s priors.
Neo-Librettist
There is a worldview that political parties exist to roll their constituencies. It is one of the reasons the billionaires boys club wandered off to MAGA-land.
SFAW
@TBone:
And my hearing is still pretty good, which means that when I see or hear Cheetolini, and I can’t shut him/it off, those two senses batter the shit out of my oh-so-delicate psyche.
TBone
@Neo-Librettist: roll or roil? J.k.
tobie
@Eunicecycle: Oof…the lower minimum wage for teen workers is awful. I wonder how common this is and should look it up.
Kay
@RevRick:
Oh I so hope the US doesn’t do that and one of my sons chose a trade over college and my first degree was a technical/trade degree. I love trades but tracking kids will be a disaster. Please, please don’t track 7th graders. I guarantee you the vocational track will be browner and poorer in the US.
One of the successes in the US is higher education. We can respect and value BOTH trades and college and allow kids both options. My youngest struggled with engineering v language (Spanish) and we said do both. Even the “liberal arts v stem” either/or is sort of bogus.
mrmoshpotato
@Prescott Cactus: We don’t have snow. Got some cold temps incoming, but no snow. :)
TBone
@SFAW: me too, but then I hear an offbeat accordion and see a big red ball on his nose under a rainbow wig with my mind’s eye.
Fuckin’ generic bozo
So basic
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: B-2 flew over the house about 15 minutes ago.
Prescott Cactus
@mrmoshpotato: I’ll get back to you in Monday… Brrrrr
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
Young folks weren’t joining the local Møøse Lodge when I was in my 20s, back in the 1970s. I’m amazed there’s anyone under 80 in any of those outfits.
There’s other local civic organizations, but they relate more to specific purposes rather than being a general social hangout. When our son took up acting back during his pre-teen years, we got involved with our local theatre group. But if your interests don’t match up with some specific group like that, one can be more at loose ends.
TBone
I’ll NEVER forget the day when my mom, in the memory
carefacility with advanced dementia, accidentally had Fux News on and saw her first chyron with the word “president” in front of his name. “NOW THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” she shouted out. It took twenty minutes to calm her.UncleEbeneezer
@Omnes Omnibus: I think part of “understanding” the loss is having a bigger-picture mindset that acknowledges that losses happen and the reasons for them are often many, with no single thing to put all the blame on nor One Weird Trick fix guaranteed to work for next time.
Starfish (she/her)
@Another Scott: Our Elks club has a pool, and people get summer memberships to use the pool. I think they have space where people can take their RVs to the various Elks Clubs.
They also have space where a political event is put on by the lefties. The event is the Raucous Caucus where politicians are cut off for not answering the questions. Some of the questions are whimsical. Some of them are serious. It was better when my hairstylist ran it and really cut off people for long-winded non-answering of questions.
Geminid
@TBone: That might have been me. I recently posted about Eugene Meyer here late one night, maybe last Saturday. I knew him long ago. I never would have thought he’d accomplish what he has, but he was extremely conservative and one hell of a chess player so I’m not that surprised.
Frank Meyer, Eugene’s father, was much better known back in the day. The older Meyer was one of William F. Buckley’s mentors and played a prominent role at Buckley’s National Review.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kay: Yep. And I know there’s probably some great people still in farming, but the ones I have to deal with are the original WATBs, going back decades. I think you are correct in predicting that they now expect to be bailed out for everything.
Hm. Maybe I should become a farmer. Apparently all I need to do is fill out some Trump-government forms…
Anyway
Given the price I am skipping eggs and sticking to mimosas for NY brunch
tobie
Not that we needed any further proof that Musk is a racist, fascist and frozen-in-adolescence freak, but he’s now changed his screen name on Xhitter to “Kekius Maximus” and his avatar to Pepe, the Frog. Just another day in rightwing America.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy53vz1qpx1o
Josie
Happy New Year to all of us. I just made a huge pot of black eyed peas with sausage, okra, tomatoes and corn, among other things. Will be sharing some with family and freezing some for cold days to come. Forecasters are saying we may be in for it the second week in January. Hope the vaunted Texas grid holds up better than it did in the past.
Kay
As I spend more and more time in Denmark I find European policy solutions less and less applicable to the US. Partly it’s scale – our systems have to be so much bigger but partly it’s a real recognition of the huge role racism plays in the US. Obama’s second education secretary, John King, the smart person he hired to replace the absolute moron Arne Duncan, said that the US Department of Education is a civil rights entity and that is 100% true. That has to be at the forefront of US education policy. For it not to be is to deny what’s real.
Starfish (she/her)
@UncleEbeneezer: I think they did a really good job given their short time line, but I do feel like the party’s relationship with voters is being treated as too transactional, and there were a lot of meaningless text messages and emails that were like “Give us more money, or Democracy is over.”
FelonyGovt
Happy New Year, jackals. I hope we can all find some joy and grace in what looks to be a challenging year. I may not post often but I really appreciate the front pagers and (most of) the commenters here.
lowtechcyclist
@Starfish (she/her):
And I’ll bet she had the scissors to do it with!
UncleEbeneezer
Haviv Rettig Gur is one of the most knowledgable and empathetic Israeli voices and I highly encourage people to follow him. He had a much different perspective on Jimmy Carter (Xitter link, sorry he’s not on Bluesky yet):
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Princess:
@Kay:
How can you know those won’t materialize?
Elizabelle
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Way cool!
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): They didn’t say that they knew that the protests would not happen. Thinking they won’t and knowing they won’t are different things.
Neo-Librettist
@lowtechcyclist:
Fraternal organization watering holes are private clubs, thus can be “selective” in who they drink with – they’re still selling post 1965 bigotry.
raven
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Here’s how it looked over the parade 8 years ago.
Baud
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Happy New Year, Bill.
Omnes Omnibus
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Long time no see! HNY!
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
You’re so funny how you always want guarantees. Of course I don’t “know” they won’t. IMO a lot of the base “resistance” energy that bucked up the D’s has just evaporated. But I tend to believe the D base is the real source of D “values” not electeds or leadership. “The Democrats” to me are D partisans (Party people like me) loosely attached D voters and D electeds and operatives. I think that’s one entity and ideas and values move among and between the parts. I think the source of Democratic values is Democratic voters, not electeds.
Ohio Mom
@zhena gogolia: Thank you for pointing out Steep’s brother’s comment. It gave my memories of Steep a whole nother dimension.
Ksmiami
@RevRick: nah. Ef that. Time to bury them. GOP delenda est.
tobie
@UncleEbeneezer: I like Gur, especially on occasions where he shows he’s a rabbi’s son who actually knows tons about Jewish law and learning. His description of Talmud as 2000-year-long conversation is spot-on.
I’ve become convinced that we need cartoon-style villians to channel our rage. The idea that there is more than one player in I/P with agency (means, methods, strategy, willingness to inflict and suffer pain) seems tough to handle.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I wouldn’t expect undocumented to publicly rally like they did in 2007. The country has gone backward since 2007. It’s meaner and dumber. It’s too dangerous for them. I would literally be afraid a MAGA rage man would kill them with an AR.
Juju
@Quinerly: Reading the details of the, at this point, possible act of terror, is heart wrenching. To read of victims being flattened like pillows is more than I want to know. The only possible good I can think of that can come of this is that, with the FBI involved in the investigation, perhaps Kash Patel will be less likely to become head of the FBI.
Roberto el oso
@Prescott Cactus: Since you mentioned the War of the Triple Alliance you may already know this bit of historical trivia. The Paraguayans took such a great number of casualties among the male population that for a period the Catholic church (with the tacit, if quiet, approval of the Vatican) sanctioned a form of polygamy, where males could form legal unions with more than one wife, in order that the population not dip too dangerously.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom: You’re welcome!
Starfish (she/her)
@Kay: It seems like smaller bodies of government are trying to rally support. For example, the DA’s office sent out something that “Hey, please do continue to report stuff, and we will try to make sure someone you know does not get deported by folks standing outside the court house.” The school district is trying to work through “What if kids don’t get picked up because their parents get deported.”
Geminid
@Prescott Cactus: I think Paraguay is the only land-locked nation in South America. That’s hurt their development.
Suzanne
@SFAW: And a great 2025 to you and yours, too!
Timill
@Geminid: Bolivia is also, though ISTR it had seaports Way Back When.
Scamp Dog
@Geminid: It turns out their neighbor, Bolivia, is also landlocked. They’re the only two in South America.
Kay
@Starfish (she/her):
Oh, I’m glad. We have a Mexican American population in my school district but they are second and third generation. Ohio rural counties with crops that are machine harvested (like mine) had fewer Mexican workers for decades now, really with the onset of reliable, affordable. mechanization. They simply didn’t need them. We have the descendants of those workers from 50 years ago but very few newer Latino immigrants.
Quinerly
@Juju:
Re pillows….just recounting what a witness was repeating on MSNBC.
Roberto el oso
@Timill: Bolivia lost its access to the ocean when Chile defeated both it and Peru in the late 19th century. Much of the northern part of Chile used to belong to Peru and Bolivia, and includes most of the very rich copper deposits.
UncleEbeneezer
@tobie: If you haven’t heard it yet, Gur’s interview on the “What Is Zionism?” episodes of the Unpacking Israeli History podcast is really fantastic. He has such a deep understanding of Zionism and the long, complicated history of the region. He has a ton of empathy for Palestinians and acknowledges that they are indigenous and have equal claim to the land. But he has no patience for people who downplay the atrocities of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran etc. or use antisemitic tropes, language, and double-standards under the guise of Anti-Zionism.
Bill Arnold
@Geminid:
Impressive. He’s mentioned in the Eugene Meyer wikpedia disambuation page, at least.
A serious journalist might find it worth investigating whether/how he actively maintains his low profile.
He’s a member of the Cosmos Club (a DC “private social club”, now (1988+) open to women (black men, 1960s).)
Incomplete Cosmos Club members list
TBone
@Geminid: well thank you for pointing out his villainy!
Bill Arnold
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
B-2 flew over the house about 15 minutes ago.
Had one of those a year or two ago, about 2000 (3000?) feet up. Loud; got me out of the house with binoculars to get a good look. It seemed almost as loud as a C-17 at the same altitude.
No idea where it was going, though. (South :-)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
I didn’t ask for any “guarantees”. I just don’t think things will necessarily play out the way you believe they will. I also think we should give people some time to get over the election and wait and see
Geminid
@Bill Arnold: I saw the disambiguation page that directed me to the article on the Federalist Society. But the article had very little on Meyer himself. The whole thing seems a little fishy to me, like he’s being protected somehow. Meyer does keep a low profile though and as far as I know does not give interviews.
The FedSoc news release said that Meyer is on the boards of the U.S. Chess Center, the Holman Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the advisory board of the Adam Smith Society.
raven
@Bill Arnold: It’s going over the parade and, later, it will fly over the stadium. like this
UncleEbeneezer
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Must’ve done a new route because usually all the flyovers go right over us (Altadena) and scare all our pets, but didn’t this time.
Citizen Alan
@lowtechcyclist: And I say forgiveness is not possible towards someone who not only is unrepentant about hurting you but who makes it clear they will continue to hurt you in every way they can going forward.
Another Scott
@Bill Arnold: Yeah, he seems to be a black hole.
I did find this. (Fricking PDF images…)
Meyer introduced a colloquium debate/discussion topic at the 2015 Federalist Society Lawyers Convention on “Resolved: The Constitution is Designed for a Moral and Religious People and it is Wholly Unsuited for the Government of Any Other” which strikes me as a rather horrifying debate topic for any American over the age of about 8, especially for a debate topic among supposedly top-flight lawyers.
Grr…
It shows what we’re up against.
Eyes on the prizes.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@raven: OMG, that is something. Good video. You are there feel to it.
Bill Arnold
@raven:
That’s a great flyby video; thanks!
Citizen Alan
@Torrey: anyone who would buy a pet monkey in the first place and ferry it around in a rolls royce ghost is probably not the sort of person who would care very much about how the monkey’s name might influence people to imitate them.
Citizen Alan
@lowtechcyclist: it still astonishes me that the evangelicals are so eager to support the guy who ticks all the boxes for being the literal antichrist, including surviving what could have been a fatal head wound.