(via Reddit)
richest man in human history thinks this is what cool looks like, we are so unbelievably fucked.
nice belt buckle, dude, they having a rodeo next door or did you get that out of a box of wheaties. nice hat, really covers up the hair plugs. dope shirt, did someone at hot topic find a box from 2012.— not an art thief (@famousartthief.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 10:07 PM
i could bully elon musk into suicide in five minutes. it’s not a superpower i’m proud of, but i could do it. these are the main thread rags.
— not an art thief (@famousartthief.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 10:11 PM
You can't spell felon without elon. www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi…
— Elizabeth Sacha Baroness Cohen (@alixabeth.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
To quote R.A. Lafferty, ‘tongue so firmly in cheek as to protrude from the vulgar bodily orifice… ‘
When President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet secretaries for the first meeting of his new term on Wednesday, a tableful of big personalities largely sat and watched as the main character of the early Trump administration took center stage once more.
The group, which included nominees who haven’t yet been confirmed, was also joined by Elon Musk, whose early actions to reshape the federal bureaucracy have stoked rancor and unease among government employees, as well as early murmurs of concern among some Republicans in Congress.
The agency leaders are all working to implement Trump’s agenda at a spitfire pace — but it’s Trump’s billionaire adviser who is in front of the cameras and getting significant credit from Trump, and heat from elsewhere, for some of the defining actions of Trump’s first month back in the White House.
“He’s sacrificing a lot,” Trump said as he introduced Musk. “He’s getting a lot of praise, I’ll tell you, but he’s also getting hit.”
Trump’s first Cabinet meeting outlined the hierarchy in his administration, with many of his Senate-confirmed department heads spending an hour as audience members after the president gave the floor to Musk at the top of the meeting…
Invited to ask questions of Musk, one reporter wondered why Trump had felt the need early Wednesday to declare that his Cabinet stood behind his cost-cutting ally. Had Musk heard anything about members of the Cabinet who weren’t pleased with his directives?
“ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Media will see that at the Cabinet Meeting this morning!!!”
“Is anybody unhappy?” Trump asked the room, which broke out in applause. “I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled.”
Musk praised the group assembled as “literally the best.”…
The White House denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration’s new policy regarding media coverage reut.rs/3CXAw31
— Reuters (@reuters.com) February 26, 2025 at 2:44 PM
(In my defense: I’m still hoping that AI ‘Trump Gaza’ monstrosity turns out to be a hoax and not a bid for investors.)
Game Theory Open Thread
Belafon
If you can guess who the target audience is for a board game that teaches your teen how to interact with the cops, and it probably means you’re either in the target demographic or paying attention: https://www.justusjunkie.store/products/preorder-trials-triumph-boardgame
Eolirin
I certainly hope it’s his phone and not something else.
:p
Anne Laurie
@Eolirin: You and me both, comrade!
Shalimar
@Eolirin: Maybe Elon detached his penis (as only he can after the botched surgery) and gave it to Trump to play with.
Shalimar
Could it be more obvious that Trump ran to avoid prosecutions and Musk contributed to play at being president?
Urza
It would be nice if society held its supposed leaders to the standard we demand in an office or school.
karen gail
@Urza: We can call people who run for public office leaders but they aren’t; they are power hungry people who indulge their egos and strive to rule not lead.
VFX Lurker
Space Idiot also sought to avoid consequences for his actions.
“If [Trump] loses, I’m f–ked.” — Space Idiot, October 7th, 2024.
Eolirin
@Shalimar: Lord, Musk has devolved into this level of parody hasn’t he?
https://youtu.be/NQBPgJQhQHc?si=-q5atTFf-lrgQEZh
karen gail
Historically, the “king makers” were the power behind the throne or ruler; but Musk’s ego is so great that he has to stand in front of the “ruler.” Stupid thing to do, rather than hide behind Trump he puts himself in place of power so that when the “peasants” revolt they will be coming for him first. He has made himself the target for all the hate and anger that is going to be the result of this administrations actions.
smike
@Eolirin:
“Yes.” sayeth the Lord. Ramen.
ED
West of the Rockies
I doubt that being president actually makes Trump happy. Maybe he is relieved, but I bet he is also frequently bored, resentful, and homesick. Yeah, he gets to cause pain and damage. That may bring him a perverse satisfaction, but not joy.
What a dreary life. Every day is grasping for power, adulation, subservience, fear (from others)… and it’s just never enough.
Every day brings him closer to decrepitude (is that a word?) and death. And he knows it.
prostratedragon
The Mar-a-Gaza thing appears to have been posted on his fake twitter account, which is not to say hat someone along the line couldn’t be trolling him or us. Just sayin’.
I’m only now noticing how bizarrely convoluted the question of who really is the DOGE administrator has become. Anna Bower has been doing herculean work in coverage:
But the process by which a situation becomes Pirandellian is one of erosion.
Then yesterday afternoon, with a puff of white smoke, Amy Goodman, currently on vacation in Mexico, was revealed as the
DOGE administratoracting DOGE administrator:Bower’s entire set of bsky posts on this starting 2 days ago is scarcely to be believed.
YY_Sima Qian
If a writer turned the current reality into a movie script & had tried to pitch it to the studios in 2015, it would probably have been tossed out of the rooms for being too outlandish.
ColoradoGuy
This is the 16mm student-film version of Moonraker, without the special effects, and a very stoned scriptwriter.
NotMax
Billionaire Baghdad Bob.
NotMax
@YY_Sima Qian
Musknado?
//
JoyceH
The first time we saw any indication that Musk was NOT the person responsible for DOGE was in a court filing. I think the whole thing is trying to shelter him from legal accountability for all the laws he’s breaking. So now this poor chick who’s vacationing in Mexico is on the hook? I’d advise her to resign immediately and get a good lawyer.
Ruckus
@karen gail:
I wonder how many people that have bought his vehicles are looking for what to do with them now, other than running him over with them…..
I’ve never claimed to be a saint…….
YY_Sima Qian
@prostratedragon: Beggars belief, but 5+ weeks in & I have already exhausted my ability to be shocked by the Trump crew.
Ruckus
@YY_Sima Qian:
They also would have asked who can we get to play these 2 assholes? Because who would want to put their name on this bad a movie?
Ruckus
@YY_Sima Qian:
The only shocking thing is that US citizens voted for one of these assholes – AGAIN, and the other one seems to be holding the strings to operate said puppet.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@ColoradoGuy: If this were Hollywood, then right now Elmo’s latest trophy girlfriend would be bedding James Bond and giving him all the intel necessary to ensure Elmo’s spectacularly ironic demise.
Balconesfault
@karen gail: @karen gail:
And this kind of too cool for school attitude has gone a long way to help younger voters be unable to distinguish between a Harris and a Trump.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Involving Musk electrocuting himself by sticking a fork in a toaster with his last words “I didn’t know electricity could hurt!”
Balconesfault
@West of the Rockies: Trump gets great joy from the adulation of leading the MAGA tribe, and from being in the ultimate grifting position.
Hell .. the USSC even gave him license to grift when they ruled Presidential intent was irrelevant.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Personally, I think the media bans are an attempt to hide how Trump is deteriorating.
prostratedragon
@YY_Sima Qian:
From a movie adaptation of Pirandello’s Enrico IV [Henry IV]:
“Oblivion”
Baud
RIP
Likely carbon monoxide.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: Hackman was a damned fine actor. I hope he was at peace near the end.
sentient ai from the future
So Roberts has stayed a lower courts ruling to put money congress allocated to the place where it was promised.
I’m taking this as an indication of which way the wind is blowing.
YY_Sima Qian
@Baud: Sad to see in my timeline. Always liked Gene Hackman, particularly in the Firm.
YY_Sima Qian
@prostratedragon: Thanks for sharing, I will have to check it out!
Geminid
“Soft power” in the Trump administration. Fom Ankara-based Clash Report:
Romanian officials were holding Andrew and Tristan Tate under house arrest on sex trafficking and organized crime charges.
Trump:
Baud
@Geminid:
Future government officials.
Nukular Biskits
Good mornin, y’all.
Sad news about Hackman and his wife, and just a few days after Watergirl had that post up about him and his career.
Baud
NotMax
@prostratedragon
Gryphon, Lament.
TBone
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has written a piece for The Contrarians. This information was new to me:
Gah.
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/recapturing-the-supreme-court-for
TBone
@TBone: I still have a huge crush on Sheldon:
Much more info at link.
TBone
@Nukular Biskits: AND his wife and dog too!?!?
All found in the home. What the…gas leak? “No foul play suspected!”
TBone
@Geminid: Jesus Fucking Christ.
JoyceH
@Baud: authorities aren’t saying anything but I’m seeing a lot of speculation on social media about carbon monoxide. My smoke detector is also a carbon monoxide detector, but to be honest I’ve never understood how a house could have an issue with carbon monoxide. Can someone give me a short and simple explanation? Like – could it be an issue in an all electric house?
Jeffg166
@YY_Sima Qian:
I think Mel Brooks would get it made.
Baud
Via reddit, kitties!
TBone
@JoyceH: “vacationing in Mexico …”
Sure, Jan.
Baud
@JoyceH:
I think there would either need to be gas appliances or a fireplace for CO poisoning. The other possibility is auto exhaust, but that seems unlikely here.
TBone
@Baud: thanks for that blood pressure lowering device.
Baud
Via blue sky, it’s because the regular media is failing.
There’s a market need.
TBone
@Baud:
Katie Drummond, SHERO of the day!
Balls, balls cried the queen. If I had two, I’d be king!
(Apologies – every time I see the moniker “Big Balls” I hear that in my head )
The Thin Black Duke
@Jeffg166: Or David Croneberg.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: When it’s so easy to read shit for free, it’s vitally important to support magazines like Wired that’s doing the journalism that the legacy media won’t do anymore. My Beloved renewed her subscription.
NotMax
@YY_Sima Qian
Ed Wood: “What is this steaming pile of dreck?”
//
TBone
@NotMax: hahaha!
prostratedragon
@Baud: Oh no. My, my. Well, RIP, and thanks for the memories.
TBone
Noah is having some inexplicable difficulties weaning from tube feeding. I wish he could talk. He does, best as he can, using his eyes to stare at what he wants, his paws to reassure me, and his new grumpy growls to express dissatisfaction like an old man. He waits for me to follow him to a location and stares and points with his whole body. Bathroom sink faucet drink! Bird watching! Snuggle time! But I am, nevertheless, clueless as to why he suddenly stopped even tasting normal cat food again.
Try, try again is all I can do. Practice till we get this solved.
Professor Bigfoot
@Baud: Damn, that just sucks.
Nukular Biskits
@The Thin Black Duke:
Emphasis mine there.
Agreed. Problem is, being humans, a lot of us (me included) tend to gravitate towards the easy stuff, fluff and stories/reporting/posts that reinforce our beliefs/biases. Writing that doesn’t force us to think or reconsider our said beliefs/biases.
The problem for me is time. There are only so many hours in a day and I have to work (well, I’m supposed to) and sleep some of them.
But, then, I am the guy whose nightly routine includes icanhazcheeseburger and memebase …
NotMax
@TBone
Maybe slightly warm up some chicken broth and pour a little of that over the food?
rikyrah
@Baud:
RIP🙏🏾🙏🏾😪😪
Never saw a bad performance from him . even in a bad movie, if he was in it, he was the best thing in it.
prostratedragon
@NotMax: Nice blend of pretty old and new.
kalakal
@Geminid: They’re not sending their best!
Just disgusting
TBone
@NotMax: tried. Stinky tuna water with small bits was working each day but now, nah. I even tried his favorite BACON which his sister ended up gobbling down (tiny bits) right in front of him, a breach of etiquette previously unheard of!
I just have to keep trying – you never know what might work. I have stocked up every flavor and solid or liquid or smushy texture of treat known.
Darkrose
@Geminid: “Some of them are rapists. We have so much in common!”
Spanky
Yep, I subscribed to Wired a couple of weeks ago, and my WA Po subscription is running out, not to be renewed. More reasons:
Baud
Via reddit, bear!
Soprano2
@JoyceH: I think they took an existing government entity and renamed it to try to make it all legal. That’s why they’re saying this previously unknown person who’s on vacation is in charge. I agree that if I were her and could quit I would.
TBone
@Baud: 💜 I want one instead of a big dog. I am not askeered of black bears. But I know it’s not possible – my neighbors would shit themselves.
Soprano2
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I believe that, plus he can’t stand hearing bad things about himself. If he does have some kind of dementia I shudder to think what he’s like in private now.
Soprano2
@sentient ai from the future: To pay for services already rendered. It’s FFOTUS’s way of operating for sure.
NotMax
@TBone
Gotta move next door to Simon Smith.
;)
geg6
@Geminid:
I think this is why Bondi announced that they are releasing the Epstein flight logs. Distraction.
YY_Sima Qian
@Spanky: Such stark contrast to WaPo’s disposition going into the 1st Trump term. Then again, who still reads the editorial pages?
Before the election, it was still difficult to weigh whether my family’s future lie in the US or the PRC, or perhaps neither (as both have long displayed obviously troubling trends). 5+ weeks in to Trump 47, it’s already shaping up to be no contest. The U.S. is heading toward same authoritarianism, worse corruption, but w/o the basic competence, developmental mindedness or attachment to reality.
It’s going to be a loooong struggle through this darkness.
TBone
@TBone: unexpected surprise VICTORY! I adore the taste of success in the morning! Noah has eaten more Fancy Feast canned just now than at any time since he got sick.
YAY, GO NOAH! There is again a light at the end of this tunnel!
TBone
@NotMax: reminds me of this
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hotel_New_Hampshire
Thank you lovie
NotMax
@TBone
“Sorrow floats.”
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Yeah, if the story says “no immediate indication of foul play” but the couple and their dog are all dead, that sure sounds like carbon monoxide poisoning.
prostratedragon
Early indications are that today will be a day when some might need this Budd-Eno collaboration on loop, especially track 1. Headphones recommended.
@TBone: Food! Good kitty.
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: What flavor broke the dam?
Matt McIrvin
@JoyceH: It generally only happens when there’s something that runs on gas. Ideally, burning natural gas just gives you water vapor and carbon dioxide, but if the burner is badly adjusted, it can produce carbon monoxide. If you have a gas furnace, it’s really important to have the detectors and keep them going.
Gas lighting and furnaces *before* the era of natural gas ran on “coal gas”, which actually contained a lot of carbon monoxide to begin with, so even a minor leak could easily kill you. But that’s long gone.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Shalimar: Bingo on both points.
TBone
@prostratedragon: 🤘
Baud
Apparently, Argentinians have some standards, unlike some other people who shall remain unnamed.
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: exactly what NotMax suggested – chicken! Chunks with gravy.
ETA plus he actually refused to let me fill the tummy tube!
There is treasure everywhere.
TBone
@Baud: good news, let’s keep this train chugging along today somehow!
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: “There is treasure everywhere.”
Yes, there certainly is =-)
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: good morning dark star.
A beloved melody
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=60ijH2EWI5g
Geminid
@geg6: I wonder how big a story the Tates will be. I guess we’ll find out soon because they’ve probably landed now. It’s a private jet and I think they flew to Miami.
Coverage will depend in large part on Andrew Tate. He could pack his luggage and his brother in a limo, head to a swanky hotel and start the party. Or, if Tate wants make make a splash he can find some reporter with a TV camera, and thank Donald Trump and Richard Grenell for saving him from persuction by corrupt Romanian officials.
TBone
@Geminid: I’ll send the pizza. That’s how he got caught – he posted himself with a pizza and it had local phone# on the box.
Red says
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: Oh I do love CSN. Saw them at the “Mushroom” Champaign oh those many years ago.
https://structurae.net/en/structures/state-farm-center
stinger
I’ll bet they come running even quicker when mama sinks into a tub full of warm sudsy water with a good book!
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: update:
Noah walked back to his chicken breakfast plate to fill his own belly! He’s still EATING it!!!
Am jelly about seeing them, I only managed to see Neil Young once, with The Shocking Pinks at the Spectrum. With George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers.
NotMax
@TBone
Ah, the Spectrum. Saw Emerson Lake & Palmer there, opening act was a then unknown band – Yes.
Helluva show.
BretH
@TBone: that’s great news! What an amazing cat.
Raven
@NotMax: I saw ELP open for Johnny Winter at Wabash College!
Geminid
@TBone: Andrew Tate will never be confused with Professor Moriarty.
TBone
@NotMax: keep passing the open windows!
💚💜💙
TBone
@Geminid: hahahaha!
CCL
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yes.
ETtheLibrarian
When it is a cabinet meeting in the White House and the main character on state is NOT the president you know that he doesn’t matter.
apocalipstick
@TBone:
Sure. Carbon monoxide doesn’t respect an Oscar.
Ruckus
@Eolirin:
He doesn’t have a magnifying glass so that’s very likely……
Chris T.
@Matt McIrvin:
Dead thread, but commenting to say: that’s correct and is also why “natural gas” is called “natural”, instead of just saying “methane” (MEE-thane if you’re British).