Two days after nonprofit groups sued the federal government over a stop-work order targeting programs that provide guidance to people facing deportation, the U.S. Justice Department reversed course and ordered that funding to the programs be restored. https://t.co/MfMqjieqt2
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 3, 2025
Elon Musk creates confusion about IRS' Direct File — but the free tax program is still available https://t.co/Sc7p5O0Ysz
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 4, 2025
Remember — sharing is caring!
Elon Musk seized control of our payment system—that's how your grandpa gets his Social Security check or how your mom’s doctor gets paid by Medicare.
The unelected billionaire wants the power to turn that on or off, for anyone.
No more business as usual. We need to fight… pic.twitter.com/cF2WauPzdk
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 3, 2025
(Yes, Senator Warren has a BlueSky feed, but this video isn’t posted there. Posting videos on the butterfly site seems to have a learning curve… )
New York shields abortion pill prescribers after a doctor was indicted in Louisiana https://t.co/X3x09G2z8k
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 3, 2025
talked to an immigrant tailor who told me he found out one of his clients supported deportations so he made his shirt collar too small on purpose
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) February 3, 2025
Disaster aid — for decades a mostly bipartisan issue — is suddenly a political hot button after Hurricane Helene last year and this year’s Los Angeles wildfires. Experts explain how the money goes out, why it's needed and how it's spent. https://t.co/i1SKuBShd3
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 4, 2025
Per the Associated Press, “Who gets more disaster aid? Republican states. Experts explain that and more about FEMA”:
Federal disaster aid is nearly everywhere. About 94% of Americans live in a county that has gotten Federal Emergency Management Agency help for disasters since 2011.
But disaster aid — for decades a mostly bipartisan issue — is suddenly a political hot button after Hurricane Helene last year and this year’s California wildfires. President Donald Trump and a conservative think tank have floated the possibility of shifting disaster response to the states, including eliminating FEMA or curtailing federal handouts.
Experts worry about that…
Experts say every state gets millions in federal help — and a little more goes to Republican states and congressional districts.
New York University’s Rebuild By Design, a nonprofit that focuses on disaster prevention, created an atlas of the 795 non-medical and non-technological federal disasters since 2011, which they called climate disasters. It found that every state and all but a few hundred counties have been helped.
“It’s clear that climate is not a red or blue challenge,” said Amy Chester, the atlas creator and Rebuild by Design’s director. “Communities are suffering whether you are a red state or blue state.”
Since 2011, more than $68.2 billion in FEMA aid has been spent on disasters that don’t include the pandemic or oil spills. And that’s payments just to governments, not people. Tens of billions more came — mostly from Housing and Urban Development — to people needing individual help to rebuild…
The disaster-heavy states that former FEMA chief Fugate calls his “frequent fliers” also tend to be more Republican. About two-thirds of the top 15 states in total FEMA funds, FEMA spending per person and number of federally declared disasters are Republican. Those include Florida, Louisiana, Alaska, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
Twelve congressional districts have had at least a dozen federally declared disasters since 2011; three-quarters of them are represented by Republicans. Those are in Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia…
The first thing that has to happen in any disaster is the state has to ask the president to declare it a federal disaster, which lets the money flow, Fugate said.
In general, the federal government pays 75% of the cost with state and locals picking up 25%. But in the biggest disasters the state share can shrink to 10% or even close to nothing, especially if Congress steps in.
In disasters, government bills pile up quickly. States may have a hard time even making payroll because of that and that’s where FEMA can step in early, helping with initial payments sometimes within 30 days.
And FEMA simply has specialized expertise. In California, for example, the state’s wildfires mean tons of debris — much of it toxic — has to be cleared and quick, Fugate said. FEMA can ask the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers — experts who cleared World Trade Center debris — to take charge, making it faster and cheaper for taxpayers.
Experts also worry that states will struggle to stop waste, fraud and abuse that are currently harder with FEMA due to federal procurement laws…
Cynic that I am, I suspect a state-level FEMA would be a windfall for Ken Paxton’s developer cronies in Texas, Chuck Grassley’s #nepo-family in Iowa, and Jane Sanders’ leadership institute in Vermont.
Meanwhile, I take some comfort that Joe Biden is living his best retirement life:
One thing I told all the leftists who wanted to "teach Joe Biden a lesson" was that he was going to end up fine at the end of this. And he will. You didn't screw him over. You screwed the rest of us over. https://t.co/5K9yxxNP05
— You Should've Said Nicer Things About Joe Biden (@What46HasDone) February 3, 2025
Congratulations Joe pic.twitter.com/ZayFofFFTG
— BenNyc (@ben_nyc) February 4, 2025
Avalune
I find it interesting that the day after Elmo and his minions are said to have access to Ed Dept that I get an email warning me my FSA ID information has changed.
prostratedragon
Andante Moderato for strings, Florence Price; CSO strings
sentient ai from the future
@Avalune: i didnt get an email like that but that is one of the things i am definitely going to be talking to my federal electeds today about (their local offices are all within walking distance, yay) as well as a law firm somebody here recommended based solely on googling and my stated concerns about FERPA.
TBone
Impotent rage for breakfast? I think NOT. Thank you for giving some fighting back tonic right away, AL.
I haven’t yet had a chance to read this whole post but I wanted to express my gratitude for you passing around that little brown jug of remedy so’s I can.
HCR had me spitting and hissing this morning. Does not go well with coffee.
TBone
@Avalune: grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Ya know that low, warning growl that emanates from deep within, escalates, and sounds otherworldly? Yeah, that one.
It means shit is about to go down. Unless the offender fucks ALL THE WAY OFF.
Avalune
@sentient ai from the future: I’m one of the lucky number of folks that got the remainder of my student loan forgiven after making payments almost my whole adult life. I was taking screenshots of my loan status and information because it seems they want to reinstate forgiven loans. Now I get this message – changed my password for all the good that does and reviewed my status.
i also work in financial aid – and one of my primary roles is citizenship verification, so I’ve been dreading how they will leverage that. Even before Trump was re-elected it was common for eligible noncitizens to be wary, for people to not want to put their parents on etc.
We are about to enter contract negotiations and one of our two unions is leaning towards just extending our current contract but it’s looking like my people think “everything will come out in the wash” and we should renegotiate while federal funding may be frozen? Reduced? Sent to Treasury Dept who is in no way equipped to deal with federal student aid at this time? A bunch of revenue from grants related to DEI are cut off. The economy is gonna get crazy, we already have birth rate decline coming for our enrollment numbers…
It’s too early to get this wound up today.
TBone
Little brown
jugchild of solace mood musichttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YjRQxRREIqk
sentient ai from the future
@Avalune: changed your password, good, but also make sure that none of your other Important Logins have a password that is the same as any of your past or current Dept of Ed passwords.
also, do not delay, go immediately to a lawyer who knows this stuff. there are going to be a lot of folks like you out there so id imagine this is pretty clear class action territory, but your issue is different than just a straightforward data breach like mine would be.
Jackie
I needed this laugh.
TBone
Today I have no choice but to choose to be grateful that real life stuff gets me off of screen time by necessity. Otherwise I might
implodeexplode andsplatterbescumber an innocent bystander or a guilty as fuck red hatted moron.sentient ai from the future
@TBone: even if you cant get away from the screen, you can take a breather. i do so by making up new slurs and insults for the gormless buffoons who’ve siezed power, and then finding spanish language equivalents for them.
works for me, anyway. we all need a hobby.
Professor Bigfoot
Even the cartoonist understands it’s only white dudes who ask that kind of question.
Chief Oshkosh
@Avalune: Yep. And I’m getting messages that my email addresses and some passwords have likely been compromised.
And Senators McTurtle and FurrowedBrow are A-OK with all of this.
Ben Cisco
@Professor Bigfoot: Funny, that.
sentient ai from the future
@Ben Cisco: not funny like ha ha, funny like how milk smells
Leto
Wired – A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
Geminid
@TBone: I wonder if State Assembly Democrats have determined the special election date to fill Elise Stefanik’s upsate Congressional seat. Republicans are nervous about Mike Johnson’s slender House majority and want to see the election held the Spring.
Democrats are talking about a date in August. There are already some minor elections scheduled then, so this would save taxpayer dollars which is very important.
Glory b
@Professor Bigfoot: Yep. I get frustrated with some of the white folks on here that, while otherwise very intelligent, can’t figure that one out.
Including the ones with friends and relatives that they say are otherwise so smart, so sharp, so bright, but can’t seem to understand the reasons for voting for Democrats, not Republicans.
You guys, they know. And you know that they know, you just don’t want to accept that aspect of a friend or relative who is otherwise good to you.
snoey
@Leto: I used to do systems level tech support for a Wall Street support company. I had an ID that could do that kind of stuff, and a normal read only ID. If I used the powerful ID on the test system I would have to explain.
Baud
@Leto:
Wired has been doing some great reporting.
NotMax
@Leto
Nomintaed.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Glad to see you this morning. I thought you’d left.
dww44
There seem to be a number of elected Dems who are still on the bipartisan train. Just now Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota and the ranking member on the Agriculture committee was on Morning Joe talking about the tariffs. Here’s how she started out: “I’m not just some knee jerk Democrat. I got 4 bills passed in the previous Congress.” Maybe there’s a BJ constituent who could weigh in with her? These are not normal times and she needs to indicate she knows that and quit being a “Good German”.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Just saw that Hick introduced the Sec of Energy with the usual “we disagree but he’ll follow the facts” BS.
There are now over 80 people signed up to visit his and Bennett’s offices today here in Denver. It’s now so large a group we’re splitting up into two and go to each simultaneously.
Hadn’t decided which to go to, now I have.
satby
Exactly.
RevRick
@prostratedragon: Thank you for sharing this lovely piece. Our Allentown Symphony Orchestra has made it its mission to bring more works from women and minorities to its repertoire. So, we’ve heard a piece from Price, William Grant Still, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, among others, at every concert for the past few years.
Jackie
@Chief Oshkosh:
Just overheard on MSNBC rumors that being primaried aren’t their concerns and about faces… death threats to family members are.
I don’t doubt that, at all.
Baud
@Glory b:
People who call Republicans fascists can’t even stand up to people who say both sides are the same. It’s what it is.
@zhena gogolia:
Where would I go?
TBone
BJ Hive Mind question: does anyone have experience treating feline nasal congestion? I have been keeping nostrils as clear as I can and wiping off dried secretions with wet cotton balls. I put a thin layer of Vaseline on his poor, tiny, sore nose after. I have given a few drops of Ayr Saline Solution in the morning for two days now (but he gets so mad, he’s sure I’m trying to drown him), and I purchased a cool mist humidifier for our bedroom where he spends each night and some time during the day. The discharge was bright yellow at first (possible result of a brightly colored liquid liver supplement the vet recommended which I threw right in the trash because that’s when his rhinitis began) and is now mostly clear. It is not thick, but watery and causes much consternation for all concerned.
Any advice appreciated!
Leto
@snoey: yeah, the security minded portion of me is just screaming at this. I mean, I’m screaming at all this because I’m just playing through endless scenarios that result in our data walking off in the hands of some nobody, never to be seen again until it shows up in China/Russia/highest bidder. And I don’t know how long we won’t know about it; if previous reporting is correct, and they’re just plugging in external drives…
Whelp.
@Baud: very thankful that they have.
Professor Bigfoot
@Glory b: I’d have so much more respect for those intelligent white people if they would simply acknowledge this; that it’s a historical phenomenon that we can trace DIRECTLY back to the end of Reconstruction.
White people will shake hands over dead Black bodies in the name of “unity” or “national healing,” as they have done before.
Chief Oshkosh
@Jackie: Well then they should fucking retire.
And let’s not forget that Senator FurrowedBrow got all weak-kneed over some sidewalk chalk art. Shit, I’ve gotten worse threats over having a letter to editor published in the local paper.
Fuck. Her. She is a horror of a human being and should be, at best, put out to pasture, where she and Senator McTurtle can frolic in their fresh cow shit.
p.a.
@Jackie: Well well well… and with tRumpturds running the DoJ they are right to be concerned about death threats from donnie’s dementors.
Oh… my face! Did anyone get the license plate of that leopard?!?
TBone
@Baud: 🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q00vI5AfSl4
Ben Cisco
@sentient ai from the future: Correct.
AM in NC
I’m ready to go live on the front lawn of Senator Tillis’s House. And visit his church. And hang out around his wife’s friends’ houses. With posters and a bullhorn and running commentary about every single thing their votes are binging down on us and demanding WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS TILLIS, SINCE YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT?????
These assholes, vandals, cowards, MAGAS need to feel pain where they live. Because they give pain where we live.
Professor Bigfoot
@p.a.: They remind me of Germans in the 1920s— especially the wealthy industrialists who thought they could control Hitler, could control his movement.
History doesn’t repeat, but it sure as fuck rhymes.
Professor Bigfoot
@AM in NC: I love the idea- but prepare to get shot.
The paramilitary arm of the conservative movement will put paid to your protests one way or another.
TBone
Nazis running loose in Philly now apprehended. Some of ’em, anyhow.
https://6abc.com/post/temple-university-student-arrested-charged-allegedly-impersonating-ice-agent-north-philadelphia/15860924/
Dorothy A. Winsor
In a strange way, Jan 6 was less stressful for me. It was dangerous and violent, but it was also obvious and visible, and I never believed it would put Donald Trump in office. That seemed impossible to me. But the administration’s actions, especially Musk’s, feel dangerous and hidden and ongoing.
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: I have a genuine WWII flak jacket. It has inspired me to get the updated version for when I can put my body on the line if necessary. With helmet, goggles, and anti-gravity chinstrap. The flak jacket was a joke gift to a new boyfriend from an ex (we all remained friends).
Ksmiami
@Professor Bigfoot: we can shoot back. Bring guns. And drone cameras
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Chief Oshkosh:
Right. If the president and his sidekick get to decide what’s law and where our money gets spent, then we don’t need congress anyway.
Kay
Creating their own network for protection:
Unfortunately, there’s no way to protect the small businesses in the area. They’re all getting hurt – people are afraid to go out and spend.
Suzanne
Derek Guy, aka the Menswear Guy, is absolutely hilarious. His feed is really informative, about fashion and the industry surrounding it, but also imagecraft, walkable cities and affordable housing, with a huge dose of snark. Absolutely the kind of thing we need.
I don’t think the FFOTUS Administration is limiting their imagination to deporting violent criminals to El Salvador.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
Leto
@Professor Bigfoot: got an article for you: (NPR) Pastor pushed out after parishioners complain about focus on racial justice
rikyrah
@Suzanne:
Of course not. There are not millions of criminals among the undocumented
TBone
@sentient ai from the future: that is exactly how I started using the words bescumber and lobberscotcher. A bit more ladylike than my usual “fuck-ass whores!”
BALL GARGLING THUNDER TWATS!
I feel a bit better letting fly.
Glory b
@zhena gogolia: Baud would never leave me!
lowtechcyclist
@Leto:
Must be a very different Nicole Hollander from the one I’ve been a fan of since the 1980s.
TBone
@Leto: they didn’t deserve him, he’s too Jesus-y.
Suzanne
@rikyrah: The offer is to send violent criminals who are American citizens to El Salvador. Deporting American citizens, in addition to the undocumented.
TBone
@Ksmiami: come sit by me as we gather ammo and resources.
Me & Pat Travers
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5IN-NPfA5E
satby
From Mark Elias’ post to subscribers today:
JML
@dww44: Angie Craig’s district is very swingy, she’s been targeted heavily in every election, and has had some close ones (in part because of the GOP quietly funding Legal Marijuana Party candidates to split off votes). I get where she’s at, but she’s there on the big votes and more importantly will vote for the D leader in the House. Need candidates like her that can win in the suburbs/exurbs in order to get a majority.
sentient ai from the future
@Jackie: why do you think one eye rhodes was on capitol hill THE DAY AFTER being released?
NeenerNeener
@AM in NC: I suspect Republican politicians won’t care until it’s their personal data being used in identity theft.
Glory b
@Suzanne: One of my absolute favorites.
He responds to complaints about reporting on high end menswear by publishing pictures of plumbers & carpenters who dress well, as well as guys who purchased their clothes from the Goodwill.
He also gives tutorials about how larger guys can dress well.
TBone
I have a dental appointment soon with my new Korean emigre dentist who is Antifa and spoke of training with his daughter and his female assistant at the gun range when he saw me wearing my baby blue Chucks. I’ll get his advice again on the down low (his accent is thick when he doesn’t want everyone else to understand what he’s saying).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RYu5YbdRKL0
My Viet Nam vet dad turned to pacifism and trained me in it. But my DelCo vet buddies made sure that the fighter in me LIVED.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
They have for a while. I followed enough links to Wired from here last year that I subscribed at some point. But lately, they’ve really been hitting it out of the park.
TBone
@sentient ai from the future: 🎯
Kay
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/climate-change-to-wipe-away-1-5-trillion-in-u-s-home-values-study-says-60c6970b?st=ytbyvM&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Suzanne
@Glory b: I appreciate how inclusive he is of different body types.
He’s really helped a chunk of people understand the semiotics of clothes. Fashion and style are often thought of as unserious, associated with women and gay men. It’s an art form like any other, and I think his efforts have helped cultivate more esteem for the art and craft of it.
No Nym
@Leto: I’m very happy to see you and Avalune commenting here again.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Ohio Mom
I am not a financial maven but maybe we should all buy stock in credit reporting agencies. The rest of our lives we will be checking to see if our identities have been stolen. We’ll be checking our credit histories regularly.
Of course, then the question is, what recourse will we have? I am imaging the department in the credit card company that fixes things up when you call and say, I did not buy a 1,000 gallons of heating oil in Moscow last week — something like that happened to us once and it was so obvious wacky it was taken care of in short order. Anyway, how is Mastercard going to be able to keep up?
Baud
@Kay:
Glad to hear Republicans are doing something about skyrocketing housing prices.
Leto
@Kay: State Farm is looking to raise insurance premiums 22% after the LA fires. Climate change, insurance, lack of housing… fun times.
Kay
@Ohio Mom:
A lot of people think Trump and the billionaires are manipulating the market with the fake tariff announcements. Trump announces, stocks go down, Right wing insiders are then tipped when he’s going to capitulate and cancel tariffs, and stocks go up.
AM in NC
@NeenerNeener: Then please God let them use it. I HATE that these greed-soaked death merchants have brought me to the point where I am ok with accepting the suffering of others (even innocents) if it means the malefactors and their ignorant foot-soldiers get harmed badly enough that things can be changed.
They are turning me meaner, colder, harder so I can be prepared to fight against them as hard as I need to. I want to think all of us are as base decent, and they keep putting lie to that belief.
TBone
“I’ma go out with my piggy bank, get ‘I’m not finished’ tattooed on my hand! I’ma pipe up like a monster truck, if you interrupt, bitch, here I am!”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k-bpuCbU6MY
It’s a good thing I am homebound right now.
Kay
@Leto:
I think at some point it becomes uninsurable at a premium rate anyone (including any government) can afford. No one really understands the impact, either. They can try to predict or rate risk but did anyone predict massive losses in inland and mountain areas like North Carolina? I don’t think so.
Geminid
@Suzanne: Have you ever read John Sandford’s crime novels? I think Adam Silverman is a fan. Sandford has put out about 20 of them now, and they’re pretty good. Men’s wear is one of the interesting running sub-themes.
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin’, y’all. Woke up pissed. Sent these to each and every member of Mississippi’s Congressional delegation:
TBone
@AM in NC: that right there is why I can never forgive and will never forget.
I used to be a rather strict pacifist. Dad tried to tame me.
Professor Bigfoot
@Ksmiami: Don’t look at me, I’ve been stockpiling weapons and ammunition since January 2017.
I’m old, I’m slow, and my only mission is to take as many of the bastards to Hell with me as I possibly can.
schrodingers_cat
@Glory b: Its much easier to shoot the messenger and get defensive than it is to confront your relatives/friends.
I can publish a book with the nasty comments I have gotten here for pointing out how white women have voted as a group since the Civil Rights legislation has passed.
lowtechcyclist
@Suzanne:
As long as they start with the white ones, and keep going with them until they run out of them, I’d be fine with that.
Yeah, as if. We know what this is really about.
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: you are my BJ hubby
Professor Bigfoot
@Leto: Yup.
It’s the overwhelming power of whiteness, that will neither be opposed nor even acknowledged.
Professor Bigfoot
@sentient ai from the future: The paramilitary arm of the conservative movement is not as obvious as its political arm, but it exists to be flexed just exactly as the Sturmabteilung did.
schrodingers_cat
@Professor Bigfoot: It is very hard to acknowledge one’s privilege.
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: I keep asking them: “It’s obvious that you’re ready to kill for white supremacy— but are you also ready to die for it? Because I promise you in the words of the sainted Fannie Lou Hamer, some of y’all ‘won’t write your mamas again.’”
zhena gogolia
@Glory b: That’s what I thought!
sentient ai from the future
@AM in NC: sounds like someone could use a watch of jean-pierre melville’s “army of shadows” about the french resistance.
not a light film, but one i’ve used as a touchstone since i saw it. remember the recommendation was at digby’s during the tail end of the dubya era.
zhena gogolia
@Nukular Biskits: Great letter!
Professor Bigfoot
@Suzanne: He almost inspired me to change my post-retirement ‘fit of jeans and t-shirts.
ALMOST. ;)
Suzanne
@Geminid: I have not! I honestly never thought I’d be interested in menswear until encountering Derek Guy’s feed.
Suzanne
@Professor Bigfoot: He shows how to make jeans and T-shirts look good, though!
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: breaking protocol for you
💜
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uiQjJraovrI
WereBear
@Geminid: A favorite. Now his adopted daughter has her own series, too.
WereBear
@TBone: I do enjoy a certain grim satisfaction at being right, and will exercise it cuttingly if needed.
Leto
@No Nym: we had to take a break from it all. I’m also trying not to get too sucked in because 1) it’ll overwhelm me and 2) I have school work to do. And a shared #3 for both of us is our mental health just can’t take it. It’s kind of why I respond to everything with “Whelp” now.
WereBear
I don’t get surprised anymore.
Warblewarble
Good Germans eventually learn that it is someone else who decides whether they are good enough germans.
Nukular Biskits
Witness what happened in MS when millions in TANF block funds were “misdirected.
TBone
@TBone: yet, he gave me 3 suitcases full of 8 track tapes he brought home from the war. He knew what he was doing, giving me the gravel in my gut and the spit in my eye.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WOHPuY88Ry4
He made me a mutt of contradictions and he made me like it that way.
We left my bio dad when I was 3 and he took over when I was 6, made it official when I was 8. (This was in one of the suitcases.)
Professor Bigfoot
@Warblewarble: Pastor Neimöller tried to tell ‘em, but…
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: I don’t care any more, marry me! ❤️
lowtechcyclist
@Kay:
I’m surprised the estimate is so low. I wouldn’t be surprised if I live long enough to see that much loss of property values in Florida alone.
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot:
Awwwww shucks!
Professor Bigfoot
@lowtechcyclist: I see the reason in it, though— as a frontpager pointed out more than once, politicians may ignore reality, but actuaries never do; and the price and availability of homeowners insurance (a requirement of any mortgage company) is going to greatly affect the affordability of homes in future.
Fires, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.
Wyliecoat
@Ohio Mom: I believe freezing your credit could help. I’ve done it with all 3 agencies.
lowtechcyclist
@Professor Bigfoot:
Nobody stands a chance to inspire me in that direction. Jeans and flannel shirts in the winter, cutoffs and t-shirts in the summer. My wardrobe needs are simple, and I like it that way.
p.a.
The DoD also. They take global warming very seriously and continuously plan for it. Of course, they plan for every contingency; they probably even still have plans to invade… uuuhhhhh, I was going to say Canada, as a joke 🤢
RevRick
@Suzanne: Fashion and taste have historically been the main drivers of capitalism and the world economy. The first fortunes were made in textiles and the spice trade, plus sugar, coffee, chocolate, and tea.
Any analysis that dismisses these as petty female concerns, does not understand how important the arts, including the culinary ones , are to their lives.
Beauty is an important good, both in the aesthetic and moral sense.
TBone
@WereBear: it is a very cold satisfaction that emanates from the black part of my heart. Intermittently.
Nukular Biskits
@Glory b:
Corrected.
No Nym
@Leto: I understand completely. I have long appreciated what you both bring to the conversation when you are here.
dww44
@Nukular Biskits: thank you for speaking up to the only people in a position right now to slow the avalanche . It seems the pressure on Republican electeds is immense. Maybe we need some reporting on that… specific reporting.
TBone
@lowtechcyclist: I keep some pretty things in the closet to remind me where I came from and what I have grown out of (in every sense). Sometimes, I even wear them, except for the stilettos. I need both feet on the ground these days.
Quinerly
@sentient ai from the future:
Good Morning! Good luck with everything today. Hope you can keep us in your loop, and the firm can help you/point you in the right direction. Feel free to get my email from Betty Cracker if you want to. Take care.
Leto
@RevRick:
So conservatives. You’re just describing conservatives here :P
There’s also the maxim of “all art is political,” so that’s another reason to protest anything of an artistic nature.
RevRick
@Professor Bigfoot:
@TBone:
There’s a clergy available. Just saying.
lowtechcyclist
@Professor Bigfoot:
Oh yeah. My FIL lives in central FL, way away from the coasts, at >100 feet above sea level, but homeowner’s insurance on his modest house has become unaffordable for him.
And like everywhere else, the really expensive properties are coastal – and more vulnerable. It’s hard for me to see how peninsular Florida can continue to be affordable for anyone but people who are rich enough that they can pay cash to build and if necessary, rebuild their homes.
Kay
@lowtechcyclist:
I have read quite a few of these industry forecasts and my sense is they are having real trouble measuring. They’re all over the place, which, from an insurance companies perspective, is a nightmare. Their entire business is pricing risk. And then, insurance companies are also insured so a big error ripples.
Imagine what it does to mortgage lending. If your property is uninsurable am I going to lend you half a million dollars on it? I don’t think so. It would upend the entire US “ownership society”- our model where success = owning your house.
catclub
@sentient ai from the future: I just got possibly my last correct paperwork from OPM this week.
Maybe it will keep working, in spite of their efforts.
Federal employees and federal retirees are the new targets.
Professor Bigfoot
@Leto: This entirely.
Their idea of art is those undeniably Soviet-style posters of the Great Leaders nobly looking over the horizon into the Glorious Revolutionary Future!
They are very stupid people.
Glory b
@lowtechcyclist: Derek Guy talks about jeans, t shirts, boots, barn coats, etc.
I’m a woman who will not be wearing any of the things he talks about.
But his explainers on the history of menswear details (many of which had very practical origins, for hunting, fishing, agriculture) and the engineering of garments are fascinating.
His posts on public transportation, walkable neighborhoods and housing affordability are also interesting.
His snark, his pointed use of Republicans for how NOT to dress (Marr Gaetz is a regular target) and his withering responses to his critics make it all worthwhile.
RevRick
@Leto: I don’t think conservatives are against art, per se. It just has to be several centuries old. Hence Felon47’s affinity to Greco-Roman architecture. But his sense of beauty is definitely warped.
Quinerly
@Baud:
They are. I just subscribed to them this AM.
Glory b
@Nukular Biskits: Lol.
Nukular Biskits
@dww44:
From the treadmill ….
That’s the problem, at least here in MS: With few exceptions, no local media is reporting on this or trying to get state/local GOP electeds on record.
Leto
@TBone: @lowtechcyclist: I used to dress a lot more stylishly, but then had the motorcycle accident which reshaped everything physically. I still try to dress nice, but it’s definitely a lot more comfort oriented. Similar to lowtech, winter is jeans/chinos and either flannel, hooded sweatshirt, or a pullover. Summer I pretty much live in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops. You can take the boy off the beach/soccer pitch, but you can’t take the beach/soccer pitch out of the boy.
Geminid
@p.a.: During the Obama administration, the Navy decided to raise the height of the piers at Norfolk Naval Base by a meter. The Norfolk area is experiencing both sea level rise and land subsidence
Nukular Biskits
@lowtechcyclist:
Yeah, but Al Gore is fat …
Professor Bigfoot
@Glory b: I stuck a toe back into Xitter and The Menswear Guy is one of the few that I really miss from there.
Before I got banned the last time I had a running list of his xeets, both for the history, theory, and philosophy of clothing and for the absolutely brilliant way he skewers the morons with a truly rapier-like wit.
Also I love how he knows what he DOESN’T know and states it forthrightly— for example he says plainly he don’t know shit about womenswear, but linked to people who DO know all about it.
Leto
@Professor Bigfoot: definitely; those big, imposing monolith slabs of rock that tower over everyone, reminding them of their place in society. And this is state art, religious art, and translates into food as well. Food is an area of creativity that transcends cultures and borders. Having food from other cultures opens the possibility that there’s something/somewhere else that might have something… better. Or just different. And that might make you want to go there and see/experience it. And for an authoritarian regime, that’s a potential loss of control/loss of authority. So that’s why you have your formless, tasteless mass.
Professor Bigfoot
@Geminid: I can see this administration ordering DoD to cease any preparations for climate change, because they’ve declared it doesn’t exist.
Kayla Rudbek
@Professor Bigfoot: he’s on Bluesky now https://bsky.app/profile/dieworkwear.bsky.social
Jackie
Kennedy and Gabbard will be confirmed by the Select Committees today, per CNN.
Death threats are very persuadable.
Professor Bigfoot
@Leto: TOTALLY.
While I get the concept of “cultural appropriation,” as far as I’m concerned ALL human cuisines belong to ALL humans. All human musical forms belong to ALL humans.
A youth spent reading every speck of science fiction (and especially space opera) that I could get my grubby little hands on gave me a pan-humanistic view of my species.
In my mind I’m that grizzled old spacer sitting at the end of the bar telling anyone who’ll listen, “Hey, my homeworld is the most beautiful place in the known galaxy, man!”
Starfish (she/her)
@RevRick: I think that the obsession with ancient Greece is an affectation where they can be fake smart by knowing about this one thing. When you have people like this in real life that always turn the conversation towards that one thing they know about, it is annoying.
Leto
@RevRick: oh, agreed; learning that most of those Greco-Roman marble statues were painted and that the British scrubbed all of that off… So in my Greco-Roman Civilization class I’m taking, I just read the section on Sparta. I knew it was a militaristic society, but learning about how they basically rid themselves of all artistic expression, except dance, was interesting. They had this artistic tradition prior to Lycurgus, then just… stopped. For 200 years. And that was a major detriment to their society. Yes they were good warriors, but they were spiritually/morally dead. They rejected any outsiders in an attempt to keep themselves “pure.” People talk about how the US is Rome, but I’m finding a good number of parallels with the Spartans. And not good ones.
Quinerly
20,000 federal employees have taken the “buyout.” That’s 1% of the federal workforce. Trump’s target is 5%-10%. Offer open until Thursday.
Not sure we can trust these figures. They are coming from Trump.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/04/trump-buyout-federal-workers-20000
Leto
@Professor Bigfoot: it does, but a decent person also acknowledges where the inspiration came from. Like, “I made this dish XYZ! I took inspiration from “these people” who use it in their daily cuisine. I really liked that and wanted to try to incorporate it this way!” I remember reading, or watching, a piece about something similar in art; person made these famous masks, all these painted masks, but they were originally from an African tribe. The artist didn’t say poop about that, just raked in all the cash. It’s sort of like writing papers: just acknowledge the source, brah. Not saying like home cooks gotta do that, but if you’re one of these pro chefs… don’t be a douche! But I do understand where you’re coming from.
Leto
@Geminid: the Navy released a huge study back in the 2010’s that said Climate Change was the #1 national security issue of the nation. Just like the two reports saying that white supremacy/white power groups are an existential threat to our military, conservatives proclaimed their outrage over this until that report disappeared. The military isn’t fucking around with this as it affects all of the services differing postures on all sorts of issues. The Navy wants to be able to operate, and dock, in all these different places. Climate Change is gonna fuck all that up, whether conservatives acknowledge that or not. And they’ll still claim that they’re “pro-military.”
@Professor Bigfoot: pretty much; just one more thing that conservatives will kill us all over. They’ll kill us all even if it means only they can over the ashes.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Glory b:
He’s a white urbanist who launders Thiel-financed, libertarian housing policy cloaked in banal sounding “liberal” language on behalf of the real estate, developer’s lobby. It’s intended to create wealth thru the increased commodification of housing and has support from big-city elected who don’t want to upset the status quo of their main constituency: real estate and developers.
He’s just another neoliberal, Yglesias-esque hack.
Belafon
@Chief Oshkosh: Retiring right now might do the opposite of protecting. But they should be calling out those threatening them, rather than only whispering about it.
Kay
@Quinerly:
A lie, then. Imagine if we had an industry that looked for and found actual facts and then reported them to the public instead of just asking pathological liars for their made-up numbers.
Professor Bigfoot
@Starfish (she/her): I think it’s not so much they’re obsessive over Greek culture as they ground ancient Greece (especially Sparta) and the Roman Empire (“it’s a Roman salute!”) as their examples of Western Culture (or really, When White Men Ruled the World).
It is all of a piece— the original Fascists took their name from the “fasces,” a bundle of rods to make a strong weapon… a Roman weapon.
tam1MI
@TBone: BJ Hive Mind question: does anyone have experience treating feline nasal congestion?
I have a boy cat that is prone to nasal congestion. There is a product called HomeoPet Feline Nose Relief that I have had success with on that front. It acts like an expectorant, thinning out the mucus and making it easier to snot or sneeze out. I checked with my vet and he said the product is safe cats to consume.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Leto:
learning that most of those Greco-Roman marble statues were painted and that the British scrubbed all of that off
Are you aware of this guy:
https://www.relivehistoryin3d.com/projects/rome-in-3d/
I’m working on a hippodrome (for gaming) and just finished a triumphal arch and added mosaics and color to it per the latest research on color and painting in the Roman world.
Starfish (she/her)
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: I had never heard of Derek Guy before this thread. Is he someone you are familiar with?
It seems like he is Canadian.
A lot of urbanism is about “We can’t afford housing,” but “We can walk home from the bar drunk” is also a great benefit of urbanism that you are undervaluing.
Professor Bigfoot
@Leto: Indeed, with your exact stipulations.
Which is as it SHOULD be— “Yeah, I learned the recipe for jollof rice, and it looked a lot like some American ‘low-country’ dishes and now…”
Me, I wanna eat EVERYBODY’S food, and so far I’ve only found a few things I only wanted to eat once (like sea cucumbers<ew!>) but mostly it’s like, <nom nom nom>
Leto
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: that’s cool! I think about Notre Dame, how we only finally were able to recognize it after the fire because it was finally cleaned. It’s so damn vibrant! And in a way, it’s sort of a “duh” moment because people like color! They like having beautiful things to look at. And people from antiquity definitely loved art and beauty, so it makes sense that color would be everywhere and on everything it could be. I’m going to pass this to my Greco-Roman teacher. Thanks!
Professor Bigfoot
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: You remind me of the HBO series, “Rome.”
I loved it; that Rome felt so much more REAL than every Rome-based movie I’ve ever seen; right down to the rude graffiti on the walls, and of course the brightly painted statuary.
Doug R
@Baud:
They were all over that story about the mystery room at AT&T in San Francisco. That warrantless wiretap program.
They broke that story late 2005-early 2006. After Pelosi and the Democrats had their record breaking win in 2006, the program was cut or severely curtailed.
Then in 2013, Russian asset Edward Snowden “broke” the story, revealed sources and methods and fled to his Moscow dacha.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Starfish (she/her):
I only commented based on other comments referring some of his subject areas that I work against (he blocked me on twitter a good while ago).
Heh heh, I can go into more detail when I’m working on your faucets when I come up there!
sentient ai from the future
@Starfish (she/her): a lot of pastoralist-fantasy single-family-home dreams are also based on simple hostility to even the possibility of being around poor or lower-class people. even if they’re willing to acknowledge the benefit to themselves of urbanist stumbling-home-drunk-without-killing-someone-with-your-car, the idea of having to smell or be near a homeless person on your bus or train commute in to work is too much for them.
Miss Bianca
@lowtechcyclist: God, I hope so!
lowtechcyclist
@Quinerly:
Agreed, we can’t trust anything from Trump.
But realistically, well over 1% were planning on retiring this year anyway. If you assume a 40-year career and an even age distribution, you’d have 2.5% retiring each year. And we Boomers, the youngest of whom just turned 60, are probably overrepresented in the Federal workforce.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@sentient ai from the future:
Some of the biggest pushers of white urbanism live in SFH either in burbs/exurbs or very tony core neighborhoods; they wouldn’t ride a bus or rub elbows with “the help” if their lives depended on it. It’s “White Picket Fences For Me But Not For Thee”. Or they are wealthy developers who have skin in the game. Or too clueless to know that the only people who say that are either being paid to say that or have skin the game.
Much of what they push is all about displacement/gentrification because incoming white professionals want to live in an Exclusively White, Urban Living Theme Park. One “ride” is the “stumbling home drunk from the bar”.
scav
@Professor Bigfoot: I think it’s also a bit because the greeks and romans were big when America was founded, so it’s familiar that way. Especially in architecture, all the old federal buildings (and banks, don’t forget banks!) Columns and architraves and those triangle things over windows. Bonus points for all the plantation mansions! It’s not about what the Romans (very multicultural) and Greeks (painted statues) were actually like, it’s more a second hand clinging to preconceptions.
Ohio Mom
@Kay: oh, I don’t doubt that. Insider trading is a perk of being an elected official. Doesn’t matter which party, either.
Glory b
@Kayla Rudbek: Yay!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@lowtechcyclist:
https://ourpublicservice.org/fed-figures/a-profile-of-the-2023-federal-workforce/
Actually, no. If we use 60 as the cutoff. According to this, that means 14.7% are in that bracket. A quick google search indicates that 15% of the US work force writ large is composed of people 60 or older.
Geminid
@Professor Bigfoot: Yeah, I expect Hedgseth will do what he can to curtail any and all of the DoD’s climate change initiatives.
I don’t know he’ll do about those piers though. They’re not gonna lower the ones that have been raised already. Maybe Hedsth can still stop some. That’s the kind of stupid shit this administration would do; leave the Navy with piers of different heights at its biggest base.
Barak Obama’s Pentagon initiated a wide program in response to climate concerns. I saw some of tbe fruits on one of the trips I made to the Southwest five years ago. I’d been somewhat disappointed to see so few solar power installations in sunny New Mexico and Arizona. Then I drove past Davis-Monaghan Air Force Base on my way out of Tuscon. There were solar panels mounted on the roofs of all sorts of buildings large and small. I was glad to see our tax dollars put to such good use.
Ohio Mom
@Wyliecoat: Yes, we knew something was up when our credit was frozen after the credit card company saw the fraudulent charge for heating oil in Moscow (or maybe it was gasoline, maybe Ohio Dad’s memory is clearer).
But that’s not going to be enough when all our identities are stolen and passed around over and over.
Belafon
@Geminid: Why didn’t he propose they raise it by 3.28 feet instead?
One of the funniest things to realize is why meat has been sold in 2.2lb blocks.
lowtechcyclist
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
But only a fraction of those 60-or-older folks are planning to retire this year. And that’s definitely true for the government, which at least IME values the experience and expertise of its older workers. I retired just shy of my 70th birthday.
So without knowing what fraction of those age 60+ workers normally retire in a given year, that 14.7% figure isn’t helpful.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
This is basically the only published guidance on solar vis a vis federal gubmint installations:
https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/solar_pv_procurement.pdf
Takes a ton of time to get going which, having worked for Club Fed for all those years, doesn’t surprise me.
I’ve railed about how quasi-monopoly utility companies put a ton of constraints on residential and private-sector solar but the feds don’t have that problem. If they want to do it on their property, they can and if the shitty utility company doesn’t like it, tough toenails.
ArchTeryx
Sign reminds me heavily of a New Yorker cartoon. It shows a billboard with a wolf with the message “I WILL EAT YOU” on it. A pair of sheep are commenting at at least he’s straightforward and tells it like it is.
Well predates leopards and faces but communicated the idea brilliantly. And unfortunately quite prescient to the FFOTUS years. Messaging!
Ohio Mom
@Quinerly: I would think most federal employees would be too smart to take the offer. They generally tend to have advanced degrees and are skilled in reading fine print and analyzing data. Maybe these are people who were getting ready to retire anyway.
ETA: I see lowtechcyclist, a retired federal employee thinks the same. I feel validated.
BlueGuitarist
Ongoing resource documenting defense of law and democracy
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AJzBaBiFutvzV5B_6P_1TVCg8Jh3TDsq/view
lowtechcyclist
@ArchTeryx:
I remember that cartoon! Thanks for bringing it to mind.
ETA: Found it!
frosty
How does that work, specifically? Both of my sons are naturalized, both have done FAFSAs and gotten financial aid. I don’t recall anywhere on the form where it asks about citizenship. That’s in the database somewhere? Does it include how they claim citizenship?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@lowtechcyclist:
This piece goes into more depth on age brackets, retirement and attrition overall:
https://ourpublicservice.org/blog/recent-trends-in-quits-and-retirements-in-the-federal-workforce/
One thing that stands out irt your comment:
Today, just 7.5% of the full-time federal workforce is younger than 30 and 42% of federal workers are older than 50, compared with 20% and 33% in the broader labor market, respectively.
So, perhaps a better line is “Over 50” rather than “Over 60”.
I retired a couple of months after I turned 62. If we hadn’t have moved (and I managed a transfer) back to Denver (stayed back in Central Misery), I would have retired at 57.
In all my years in Club Fed, I never really saw any retirement trends. Yeah, we every so often had somebody who stayed until they were in their 70s but most bailed during their 60s decade. Or left way before (part of the ‘attrition’ reference in the link I suppose).
laura
@Starfish (she/her): Derek Guy will wreck you! Resistance is futile. Collar Gap will be the name of my new punk band. His ‘splainers, tutorials, historical context for menswear is captivating. He’s dapper and witty and erudite while also being a thoughtful good guy. He celebrates the male body and makes life better for anyone interested. And he will cut a motherfucker and walk away from the ashes. Dieworkwear hell’s yeah.
Leto
@frosty:
How the FAFSA could become a new tool for immigration enforcement
Kay
@frosty:
The FAFSA asks about citizenship.
BlueGuitarist
Republican Bill Cassidy voted with Republicans to advance rfkjr nomination out of committee 14-13.
lowtechcyclist
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
OK, so 42% of Federal workers are 50+, and few work into their 70s, but most retire sometime in their 60s. So that’s a 20-year span for that 42%, so 1/20 might be retiring in a given year. Or 2.1% of the Federal workforce.
Yeah, it’s probably more than 2.1%, but that’s as much as your numbers support.
Quinerly
@BlueGuitarist:
And just before DOCTOR Cassidy voted yes on RFK Jr, Trump was posting lies about vaccines and autism.
Matt McIrvin
@Professor Bigfoot: Despite being staffed with a lot of right-wing people, the military has never gone in for climate denialist bullshit because they know that if you ignore physical reality it kills you.
But now, the administration is clearly going to try to dictate reality to them.
UncleEbeneezer
If you missed it, the Grammy Awards was a really amazing show and especially important as it highlighted and centered the devastation of the Eaton Canyon and Palisades Fires.
It’s still so surreal seeing places like Two Dragons Martial Arts (which I had no idea was owned/run by a black woman!) or the Rhythms of the Village Productions featured on such a grand stage/show. These were both within walking distance of our street. Like when you see the now iconic picture of Two Dragons burning down, you can almost see the end of our street in the background. Seeing our little, sleepy city of Altadena get so much attention (though celebrities still struggle to pronounce it right) is just really surreal in a way that’s hard to explain. We all experience trauma at some point. But having your trauma tied to one of the biggest disasters and news stories of recent history gives it an even more bizarre feeling.
Anyways, the whole show was really fantastic with some killer performances by Raye, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Charlie XCX, Janelle Monae, Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars etc.
My only beef is that the show opened with an all-star group performing “I Love LA” but they didn’t even let Brad Paisley take a big guitar solo. Like how are you gonna put Paisley on stage with a guitar and not let him rip?
Ohio Mom
@Leto: Adding to all
that, I imagined most people in days of yore lived in rather drab surroundings — thatched huts, clothing was made from undyed cloth, and so on. Going to a temple or church that was colorful was a treat and a reminder of how important the forces behind the big building were.
When you look at photos of small European towns, the tallest building is the church. When you go to a small midwestern town, assuming it is the county seat, the tallest building is the courthouse. Now the tallest buildings are corporate headquarters or residences for the ultra-wealthy.
Chief Oshkosh
@Belafon: Yeah, check the letter that follows the names of their governors. True that Beshear is hamstrung by his state’s legislative shenanigans, but he can still have an effect.
Of course, all of this is just noodling.
Kay
@lowtechcyclist:
It’s just all lies. I read Mexico had already agreed to add 15k soldiers at the border- Trump then “got” 10k with his super smart dealmaking. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she tricked him and it’s a 5k net reduction from a prior agreement.
We’re just being force fed lies. It certainly makes one resourceful when trying to determine a fact or two amid this blizzard of bullshit!
Quinerly
@Ohio Mom:
We probably will never know what % took the buyout. Certainly can’t trust the government’s #s.
Professor Bigfoot
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our new Acting Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy:
https://x.com/DarrenJBeattie/status/1842239185203151053
schrodingers_cat
@Matt McIrvin: We are galloping towards a new Dark Age.
Baud
@BlueGuitarist:
So Whitehouse voted the right way?
TBone
@tam1MI: thank you! Will look into that.
Old School
@Baud:
Seems so.
TBone
@RevRick: 👋😍
Ohio Mom
@Quinerly: Yes, I agree. We can be confident the number is inflated.
sixthdoctor
@Old School: Statement on Bluesky:
schrodingers_cat
@frosty: Only GC holders and citizens are eligible for Federal financial aid. So your citizenship status is on all college forms as well.
BlueGuitarist
@Baud:
yes Whitehouse and all Ds no, all Rs vote for
Eta
Sixthdoctor posted whitehouse stateent above.
Tillis voted with all Rs, beating Tillis in 26 is within the margin of effort.
JML
@Quinerly: yeah, we know the Current Occupant always lies and inflates numbers. but I’d bet the vast majority of any real people they’re counting towards their “buyout” numbers are people that were already planning on leaving, either for retirement or other reasons.
But people in the federal service are scared. I know they’re worried that their social media accounts are getting scraped so they can sort out who to target for removal. They’re worried that they’ll be suddenly told not to come to work and not know if it’s real or fake. It’s far and away the biggest attack on the civil service in modern history, and it’s bloody dangerous.
TBone
@BlueGuitarist: my confidence in my longtime crush on Sheldon has been restored! Thank you Hottie Sheldon!
Prof. B.f. has a bit of healthy competition.
Thank you also too sixthdoctor! #189
tobie
I really hope countries around the globe consider whether it is safe to admit US residents within their borders. With RFK, Jr at the helm of Health and Human Services, we will quickly become a vector of transmission for previously eradicated diseases and new pathogens.
Tazj
@BlueGuitarist: But Cassidy had a long talk with RFK Jr., so it’s fine.
frosty
I can’t get through to any of Fetterman’s offices. The call drops immediately. Busy or voicemail full? I guess I’ll post my rants on his website instead.
Someone here opined yesterday that it’s crazy that phone calls are listened to but emails aren’t. What century are these people living in?
Quinerly
Won’t post link. Fox headline running right now:
“Trump preparing to dismantle ‘woke’ department of education as math, reading scores show stunning lows”
TBone
My Rethug state rep is taking credit for Dem monies again…Yaw is the name, googaw is the game.
On electric things too:
tobie
@Tazj: Just like Susan Collins had a long talk with Tulsi Gabbard about Gabbard’s full-throated support for Edward Snowden stealing classified documents and giving them to the Russians and she thought afterwards, “Tulsi has learned her lesson so let me give her the crown jewels of our intelligence agencies.”
TBone
@TBone: that’s from his email newsletter to his constituents and they are always so exhausting, the firehose of lies and propaganda and disinformation! I have half a mind to MEET that guy soon but am still stuck at home being a nurse so …
He’s safe. For now…
Geminid
@Belafon: Now I want to take the bus tour of Norfolk Naval Station. It lasts a little under an hour. I’ve seen the base at a distance from the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, but I want to see those ships from up close. There are also have boat tours that take people past the base.
You can’t go aboard any of the ships, but the battleship USS Wisconsin is moored nearby at the Nautica Museum and they have ship-tours.
Norfolk has a lot to see. It’s only three hours away and I like driving, so I really ought to get down there this Spring.
Quinerly
WH preparing an EO to eliminate the Dept of Education.
MSNBC reporting
TBone
@Quinerly:
BlueGuitarist
@Old School:
from your link:
“With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes,” Cassidy said.
that sounds a lot more like, Trump-Vance committed to help Cassidy’s next election campaign, not support the announced primary challenge, and bs about healthy food will be good enough cover, than that, as report claims,
rfk jr “managed to allay concerns raised by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., over his past anti-vaccine stances.“
BlueGuitarist
@Tazj:
meant to include you in reply just above
Ksmiami
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: we are 100 percent daytime solar in Taos. NM has made huge strides in alt energy. The issue is transmission lines. It’s a really big state and spread out so even if you had more panels outside population centers, building the lines to make it useful is a monumental challenge.
lowtechcyclist
@Professor Bigfoot:
Somebody needs to ask Beattie: if we need white men to run things, how come ~60% of college grads these days are women?
Men can go to college if they want to, and meet the basic requirements. It’s not like we’re up against some maximum number of seats in college classrooms, and favoritism towards women is somehow squeezing the men out.
Similarly, someone needs to ask him why is there this military pre-basic training setup, whose purpose seems to be to get white men up to the level where they’re ready for basic?
It sure seems more and more these days that the only reason white men ran our part of the world in the first place is that women and minorities were largely excluded in the past from the opportunity to do so.
TBone
@Quinerly: whaddabout the lady in charge of the WWE Wrestling scam show, I thought SHE was supposed to be the new head of
pedophilesDept. of Ed!https://apnews.com/article/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-secretary-wwe-613016d0c164b89765af761404cbb123
scav
@Ohio Mom: Dying cloth was available to people from all sorts of plants — not all colors, but a fair number. (Iron age example, or Viking example) I don’t know how generally the new techniques to identify dyestuffs have been applied — plus the scarcity of archeological cloth in general — so it might be more of an open question about the general use of color. The scale of buildings, that certainly would have mattered.
TBone
@scav: we learned how to make such dyes for linen and homespun at the PA Colonial Plantation at Ridley Creek State Park when I volunteered there back in the day. Blue was rare and coveted.
I learned so much about survival at that living history museum!
Ksmiami
@Leto: eh women had more rights and freedom in Sparta than under the GOP
FelonyGovt
@Leto: We are insured by State Farm and in an area of KA that’s not prone to either fire or flooding :::knocks wood:::
Our premiums are already sky high and we’re dreading another whopping increase.
gene108
As an NJ resident, Republicans have squawked about disaster relief, since Hurricane Sandy clobbered our state.
Trying to hurt Democratic* states by withholding disaster relief is a strategy Republicans have been behind for over a decade.
*NJ has a Republican governor, Chris Christie, when Hurricane Sandy hit.
Baud
Trump has recognized Black History Month.
Miss Bianca
@lowtechcyclist:
Oh, you don’t say!
TBone
@Baud: can I poke it in his eye with a molten spike?
Belafon
@schrodingers_cat: The problem is that it also asks about your parents’ status.
TBone
Must. Feed. The.
Beast! Cat!Ohio Mom
@frosty: My Senators and Rep all have email forms somewhere on their official websites.
BlueGuitarist
@TBone:
Sheldon has been great on exposing corruption of the judiciary,
but guessing you haven’t heard about his defense of his membership in all-white country club/beach club.
Thats out of bounds for crush for me.
in this racist society, white folks are inevitably racist but should constantly make efforts not to be hopelessly racist.
speaking of confronting racism,
let’s beat Rs everywhere we can, with votes,
Including Tillis in NC in ‘26.
Starfish (she/her)
@laura: Where are you seeing his stuff? When I searched, I came up with instagram and Twitter, but I am not on either platform anymore.
schrodingers_cat
@Belafon: That’s necessary for FAFSA because its needs based financial aid.
Geminid
It was a nice sunny day in Ankara for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit. Clash Report has some video of President Erdogan descending some steps and walking down a long blue carpet to the curb and greeting al-Sharaa as he exits a shiny sedan. They shake hands and smile for about ten seconds; a very cordial encounter Then they walk back up the carpet together and shake hands again at the top of the steps for the cameras.
There are all these soldiers standing at attention holding rifles with bayonets, or at parade rest holding various flags. The soldiers are in formal dress, which includes knee-length, sky-blue coats with white belts, white helmets and white boots. A colorful scene.
The two leaders are supposed to begin a joint press conference in half an hour. That should be interesting. I expect Ragip Soylu will write it up for Middle East Eye.
frosty
None of them, Republican or Democratic, will lift a finger for us slackers and lazy galoots. It’s always “working families”. What about the rest of us???!!??
scav
@TBone: That would have been fun to get your fingers into it! I’ve been following along more in the archaeological and technique paper trails and getting distracted with other techniquey things like tablet weaving, sprang and nalbinding. One of my sanity rabbit holes to dive into when overwhelmed.
Geminid
@Ksmiami: Have you read about the SunZia project? It’s a major wind generation project situated in Lincoln, Tarrant and (I think) Otero Counties. SunZia also involves a new transmission line that will tie into the larger grid near Phoenix. They already have contracts to supply power to some large distributors in Arizona and Southern California
The developers finished their financing last Spring and construction will have been proceeding for some months now. When it’s finished next year, the SunZia project is supposed to be the biggest wind project in North America.
The state of New Mexico is helping out by reconfiguring some road intersections so the long turbine blades can be trucked through. I think those are being fabricated in Pueblo, Colorado.
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: Well, aight, if I’m in the same league as Sheldon MF Whitehouse, I’ll take it. XD
JaySinWA
@Belafon:
I need a kilo of the good stuff, man.
Bill Arnold
@Ksmiami:
Please be very very careful. Paramilitaries are not security services, true, but killing members of the security services is generally a very very bad idea, because even one or a few incidents (,maybe excepting clear self-defense) reduces the probability of defections of security services (or units) by a lot. This has been studied; non-violence is generally (not always) a more successful anti-tyranny approach, at least in the last 30 years or so. Aggressive, ruthless non-violence, to be clear.
Worth a skim: Why Civil Resistance Works (Slides (22), Erica Chenoweth, April 8, 2010 )
Avalune
@frosty: You answer either 1. US citizen and then it goes to DHS for match. Or 2. Eligible non citizen and then it goes to DHS and then we have to collect citizenship documents and send them to SAVE (systematic alien verification for entitlements) for third party verification. Or 3. None of above which is either wrong and has to be corrected or is because you are one of the freely associated states. So the gov does matches and inquires with Department of Homeland Security and SAVE and schools collect paperwork.
Parents of students under 24 have to have a social or go through a credit check to be verified to sign off on their part.
FAFSA and schools now have direct access to federal tax information also.
Professor Bigfoot
@lowtechcyclist: I’m sure he was asked— in fact, probably on that wretched tweet-thread.
But it doesn’t matter. THIS is conservatism, and until enough smart white people of good will recognize just why their friends and relatives are conservatives, we will never see any kind of relief.
Quinerly
Leaving this here. Looks to be an excellent site to follow to keep up with what’s happening at Treasury. No paywall.
https://www.crisesnotes.com/day-five-of-the-trump-musk-treasury-payments-crisis-of-2025-not-read-only-access-anymore/?ref=notes-on-the-crises-newsletter
Professor Bigfoot
@Ksmiami: Conservatives don’t reference the real Sparta- a slave state, I might point out— any more than they honestly reference the American 1950s.
Geminid
@ArchTeryx: That cartoon of the sheep looking at the wolf billboard has really made it around. Iris Boker, an Isrz3eli commentator I follow some, included it in a thread about Trump that she posted last week.
Professor Bigfoot
@BlueGuitarist: ah, crap, I hadn’t heard that about Sheldon.
One more example of how white men are always the weakest link.
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot:
Fuckin’ A!
UncleEbeneezer
@Ksmiami: Oh YOU are the one who is in Taos! Sorry, I remembered someone mentioning living here but I’ve been so busy that I forgot to follow up. We should connect, if you are game. Let me know and I’ll shoot an email to WaterGirl to get your email (or vice versa).
TBone
@scav: that living history museum saved my life at a crucial time. I was an ugly duckling before I blossomed into raging beauty and my life could have taken an ugly DelCo turn when I was still too young for handling such things on my own. They helped grow me up straight and proud and resourceful and into a confident survivor no matter the situation. Ankle shackles kidnapping by the Red Coats and all!
TBone
@frosty: he’s such a that fucking guy again blowhard just like his brethren.
AND he’s old enough to know better! OLD!
Quinerly
On a lighter note…my black “is he dead yet?” T shirt. Not the greatest quality but only $9.95. It made me smile when I opened it.
Ruckus
@Leto:
I’d bet we all feel this way, which is one way that the responsible people for this disaster want us to feel – because it helps them fuck over everyone else, which is their goal. This is supposed to be a country where the people have the power, but people like the ones trying to make themselves absolute dictators and even far wealthier often push every thing and every direction till the pain is so high that the response overwhelms them. History of nations show this – it gets so bad that there is only one workable response and a hell of a lot of humans pay the extreme price to make that work. Two things are different in this one, first they are doing all this out in the open, so it’s obvious. Second, like every time this has happened in humanity prior it goes on far too long, till there is only one course left to take. But the history of humanity often repeats, as it is once again.
Gvg
@Jackie: that is how Jim Crow worked. It wasn’t even usually threats to you directly. It would be family. Often women or children, not even just your own wife or children but sisters, cousins, nephews nieces not in your household, that you couldn’t easily protect.
When you start resisting, you have to start bringing your whole clan into it, and that can be hard, especially at first when people aren’t sure it’s really going to get that bad.
I hope we get to hear some recordings of the threats. People need to know what the elected officials are having to deal with and how serious the environment is, why the demands to just do something, are even hard. Yes they do still have to stand up, but I guess they are going to want it to be for something important and likely to work/help not every little tiny symbolic thing.
Ruckus
@RevRick:
Conservatives like the world they think used to exist, where anyone that looked/thought like they do would be at the head of every positive line. But the world is not like what shitforbrains and his owner want to think the world looks like – which is how it used to look, when people with a lot of money controlled everything. Sure it takes money to do a lot of things but when they have destroyed the economy of this country it will likely revert to what it has had to do before – take back the country from pompous, arrogant, rich fuckers who think their money makes them great. It makes them wealthy, it doesn’t make them rational, or in any way good or reasonable.
TBone
@Quinerly: oh I want!!!
TBone
@BlueGuitarist: of course I know about that, BUT just like President Biden evolved from some questionable positions in that regard in the past, I expect Sheldon already has.
Matt
Great to know that at a time when we’re watching America get skullfucked by fascists, some bloggers are out there doing what really matters: punching left because they’re still pissed about 2016.
News flash: you won. You got the candidate you wanted in 2016, the candidate you wanted in 2020, and the candidate & campaign you wanted in 2024. You made sure that absolutely no icky leftist policy got passed. Heckuva job, centrists!
Bupalos
@Professor Bigfoot: cheerios are the same color as white people. They’ll tell you that’s because they’re naturally the hue of oat flour. And they know you’ll believe it.
Sister Golden Bear
@Suzanne: I also respect the hell of Derek for refraining from commenting on women’s fashion and clothing (which happens pretty regularly) saying that it’s outside his area of expertise.
TBone
@Bupalos: I am naturally peach tinged, so
Eat me.
Sister Golden Bear
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Derek Guy is a gay Asian man (if Vietnamese ancestry IRRC) who lives in a tiny apartment in SF, the latter of which has a lot to do with his views on housing. You may not like his views, but the fact that SF housing is exorbitantly expensive definitely informs his POV and he’s taking about how it would play out in a city like SF — not some single family home suburban area.
Professor Bigfoot
I have GOT to learn to leave that toggle button alone.
Bupalos
@TBone: Yes, not all white people. Personally, I’m the color of a very lightly toasted maple-glazed cashew with the faintest dash of paprika.
But that’s partly because I’m often partially covered in maple syrup.
suzanne
@Sister Golden Bear: Agreed. Derek Guy is also a great example of how a lot of us consume political ideas and opinion now. Not reading a dedicated publication or watching/listening to a specific show or channel….. it’s politics as lifestyle content, seamlessly integrated. It shapes a worldview, it commands attention.
Part of the reason I am supportive of Dems using social media well is because I think it can be done and is being done.
satby
@Professor Bigfoot: Absolutely. just remember why you went for pie in the first place.
TBone
NOM NOM NOM
I have tuna salad with many chunks of chopped onion to scare away all comers with my dragon breath today!
(I tried to tempt Noah with Stinky Tuna Water from the can so I had to eat the contents after.)
Quinerly
@TBone:
Amazon has several vendors. Lots of colors and fonts.
TBone
@Quinerly: thanks!
I don’t normally shop Bezos but may make an exception for this one item.
bluefoot
@Professor Bigfoot: re shaking hands over dead Black bodies: It’s not even history. This is what happened during COVID. It’s happening now.
Elizabelle
@p.a.:
You made me laugh. Thank you.
Elizabelle
@Nukular Biskits: Good letter. Applause!