I’m not buying jack-shit tomorrow, not even a Tootsie Roll. Here’s why: (USA Today)
Consumers are planning a one-day economic blackout on Feb. 28. Here’s what to know.
Consumers are preparing for a 24-hour economic blackout on Friday, one of several boycotts planned by groups of consumers or activists to protest what they call corporate greed, companies that have rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and President Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate federal DEI programs since taking office.
On Friday, those groups are encouraging consumers to not spend any money anywhere for one day. If they have spend, they are encouraged to buy from a local business.
I co-sign all the reasons given above and would add this: A right-wing kleptocracy is devouring the federal government like an invasive South Florida python swallowing a Key deer. I wish to register my displeasure with this state of affairs.
Will enough people shut their wallets to gain the oligarchs’ attention? Oh, probably not.
This is America, and we don’t do effective boycotts lately unless they involve a whiny, obscenely wealthy old man-baby getting triggered by an Instagram account he doesn’t follow and riddling a case of Bud Light with bullets from an AR-15.
But goddamn it, we’ve got to DO SOMETHING besides shouting DO SOMETHING at our elected officials.
I admire the moxie of the citizens in other countries who’ve used general strikes to topple autocratic governments and force reconsideration of austerity measures, etc. God knows we could use some of that spirit here since American oligarchs and their elected allies are ramming through a Project 2025 austerity agenda that nobody voted for and the enfeebled ceremonial president explicitly disavowed during the campaign.
However, I suspect Americans are too spoiled and complacent to engage in such an action, at least not yet.
Open thread.
PS: Literally ripped from the headlines:
It pissed me off when I read yesterday that the sleazy, 3/4-life-crisis oligarch who runs the Post decreed the opinions page will henceforth focus on “personal liberties and free markets.” But they’ve platformed fascism apologists like Thiessen for decades, so excavation equipment will be required to sink lower anyway. Fuck that rag — I got no more subscriptions to cancel.
On The Road – TKH – Jordan Trail Part 7
NotMax
Open thread?
Duo of amuse-bouches in the form of recent closed caption whoopsies.
Dialogue: No need to upset ourselves with that filth.
CC: No need to upset ourselves with that silk.
.
Dialogue: Then shall we unleash the dogs of war?
CC: Then shall we unleash the dogs wall?
;)
Baud
Agreed. But it’s a start, and maybe the next step will be bigger.
I wish we could learn how to build momentum again. It seems like our side is always looking for one and done solutions.
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: Is there a site that compiles them, or are these ones you’ve seen? I love CC whoopsies so much. My favorites are news channel screw-ups I saw that rendered “Jair Bolsonaro” as “Hairball Sonaro” and “Pat Cipollone” as “Patsy Baloney.”
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Strictly ones I’ve seen.
Baud
Pretty much this. It’s like the lie that Elon Musk is a free speech warrior.
Suzanne
@Baud: The larger issue I observe on our side is that we criticize one another for DOIN IT RONG, often more than we criticize the other side. Some small number of people will do something like put up signs in their front yard, and then get snarked at for being “performative”. Well, yeah. There’s a performative aspect to this. People are going to do what they can do. Unless what they’re doing is demonstrably harmful, who cares?
Jeffro
When you run out of subscriptions to cancel…keep telling the canceled why they suck, and find new ones to support, and tell everyone why you did what you did. ;)
OT but I see that crazy-ass VA Lt Gov Winsome-Sears all of a sudden has not one but TWO primary challengers for the MAGA nomination for Gov. Both of them just as nuts as Winsome-Sears, so they’re all going to outdo themselves trying to polish trumpov’s knob.
Somewhere, Abigail Spanberger is laughing and I’m right there with her in spirit.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Definitely. I understand that people might question whether something is affirmatively counterproductive. But there’s too much negativity on people just trying their best to do something positive.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Given that we recently just did a piece on Gene Hackman, just saw that he, his wife and his dog were found dead, probably carbon monoxide poisoning.
He was 95.
New Deal democrat
Kevin Drum, who thankfully is still alive and posting, detailed six actions RFK Jr has already taken that are about the worst case scenario we might have anticipated:
https://jabberwocking.com/rfk-jr-makes-his-public-debut-as-hhs-secretary-better-watch-out/
– putting a 90 day hold on the development of a new, oral COVID vaccine
– put a hold on the testing of a vaccine for the new bird flu
– was nonchalant about the measles outbreak in Texas, falsely claiming that such outbreaks are commonplace (meanwhile, the first U.S. death from measles was front page news in the WSJ and NY Post (iirc))
– canceled an ad campaign promoting flu vaccination
– indefinitely called off a meeting to begin work on next winter’s flu vaccine
– opened an investigation into the childhood vaccine schedule, breaking a promise he made to the Senate in order to get confirmed.
It is entirely possible that there will be no flu vaccine this year.
Most of the actions taken by the T—-p Administration domestically will inflict mainly economic harm, but the actions taken by RFK Jr are likely to be responsible for 1000s of deaths (including maybe some of ours).
Personally I am hoping that if so Canada will have enough residual good will left to open vaccination stations at the border.
WereBear
The people who do all the work are tired of being all the solutions.
We would like it done and stay done! Instead of being expected to prop it up again. There were responsible people aware of the danger who were in motion from the first and there are the tired puppets the corporate media props up.
Let’s just sort out the difference and hand out punishments accordingly. With the full knowledge they can’t pay any full price, they are thieves and murderers paying no price.
We would like people to wake the hell up and act like grownups. Because even iron wears out. It’s tiring, being part of holding up the world for the spoiled and indifferent.
We are working against a death cult. Look at how they seek their own and ours with equal fervor. We just can’t bring that kind of paranoid energy, either. Most of us have someone we care for and about, and the humane urge to enjoy a cheap hobby and take care of ourselves.
I don’t think anyone isn’t feeling SOMETHING. But they aren’t plugged into anything useful to DO.
This impulse is what got a relative to call and plead for understanding. They didn’t like hearing they were lied to, but it explained why no one could explain what the hell is going on.
That’s the real problem. They are the ones who must be triaged and enlisted. I pointed that person to VoteVets.org and he will be influential once there’s reliable information sources.
One of which is this blog, where I listen to a lot of voices and some of them make sense to me and I have a direction to go in.
Think about it. We all cultivated our own sources before this, and it’s STILL a mess, is it not?
Jackie
Pam Bondi breathlessly announces the Jeffery Epstein travel logs may be released today. But, I’m pretty confident NOT BEFORE all FFOTUS mentions are scrubbed – not redacted/blacked out, but removed – along with any of FFOTUS’s pals. (Is Prince Andrew friend or foe?)
Clinton’s name will be bolded.
YY_Sima Qian
Tentative steps toward general strike! Right on!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
It’s gonna get worse and on a global scale. I’m in the middle of a book “The Language of Climate Politics” by Genevieve Guenther, came out last spring (so before July thus this isn’t a comment on what happened then) and her assessment:
Say hello to Utter Climate Catastrophe served with an extra large heaping serving of Preventable Diseases!
Bruce K in ATH-GR
In Greece, there’s a strike called for tomorrow. Not an all-sectors general strike, but most public transportation is being shut down, as are all flights in and out of the country.
It’s probably not my place to participate in a US-based economic blackout, because Greece at least knew the right thing to do with its home-grown neo-Nazis: deplatform them, run them out of any places of power, and throw them in prison (granted, they had the ironclad reasoning that the Golden Dawn Party had assassinated an anti-fascist Greek rapper).
Thinking of AI and translation issues. “Never not punch Nazis” doesn’t translate into Greek properly, because an AI probably wouldn’t understand that a double negative in Greek doesn’t cancel itself out the way it does in English, but reinforces it. It would literally translate as “don’t punch Nazis, ever”. However, “never fail to punch Nazis” works.
AM in NC
@Baud: Yep. We need to play the long game like the EVIL do. Thinking about the Bircher/Koch network and the decades since the Powell Memo they have poured money, time, and Human Resources into creating information infrastructure; campaign infrastructure; activist infrastructure to do the evil work day in and day out year after year.
We need to be grinding it out for the long haul. And never ever give a single inch to these fatherfuckers.
I’m hoping that the new generation of Democrats understand this era we are in. Many seem to. There is ZERO good faith coming from the handmaids of plutocracy. And we must deal with them on those terms.
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: I’m a long ways from Canada, though. All of those things are horrifying. I don’t think most “normies” thought they were voting to have no flu vaccine next fall.
Phylllis
If you really want to ruin your day/weekend, read Douglas Preston’s The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story, wherein he details getting infected with Leishmaniasis, a flesh-eating bacteria. He and other members of the group were treated at a specialty clinic operated by the National Institutes for Health. A deadly strain of it is now endemic in the US.
Another Scott
Lots of folks in DC go out to lunch with colleagues once a week, often on Fridays. Here’s hoping that they decide to shift that lunch a day or more.
I’ll be respecting the boycott. I expect more are coming.
There’s also the Stand Up for Science Rallies on March 7.
People have to stand up, speak up, vote with their wallets. The monsters want us to be complacent. If we’re complacent, they win. “Something something good men (and women) to do nothing.”
Forward!!
Thanks, BC, AL, WG, DA, and all for all you do.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Suzanne
@Baud: The snarking in recent months about the Women’s March, pussy hats, etc. just made me crazy. Like, go or don’t go to things, that’s your right.
Ohio Mom
I am beginning to think the U.S. is too big to pull off something like a general strike. Too big geographically and culturally. Our size and our diversity are our strength and our weakness.
Ohio Family has a Kroger’s coupon for $10 off on $150 purchased and it expires tomorrow. Today is kinda busy but we will be squeezing a grocery run in. I’m not losing that $10 and I’m not shopping tomorrow.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Agree. And it works both ways too. Criticizing people for not participating is as much a waste of time and energy as criticizing participants.
I’m not going to buy anything tomorrow, but I’m not going to get in anyone’s face if they do.
Nukular Biskits
Okay, who is planning on yelling (figuratively, of course 😉) at the Republican Congressional delegation?
Who is planning on showing up at the local/nearest congressional member(s)’s office(s)?
Who is considering publicly protesting (even if it means you’re doing it solo)?
And, who is considering holding town hall meetings with cardboard cutouts of their cowardly GOP representative(s)/senator(s) who won’t show up in person?
Tim C
@Suzanne: Particularly since the Women’s march in 2017, did a lot to get inside Orange Man’s head.
Honestly though, all the bad stuff happening is going to get worse, we know this. However, the roots of it all are in the things Republicans have claimed for decades as a way to win votes. In populations of crazy people who have had their voices amplified just so a coalition of dangerous fools can rule the country. The problem is that none of these things they believe in are true. Vaccines aren’t dangerous, there isn’t massive “Waste Fraud and Abuse” in entitlements, Foreign Aid isn’t 26% of the national budget. Shit is going to break right and left.
Betty Cracker
@Jackie: Meanwhile, Romania released rapists/right-wing influencers Andrew & Tristan Tate from house arrest, and they’re flying on a private jet to FLORIDA, probably to meet with the drooling, demented rapist who is the ceremonial POTUS. This country fucking HATES women.
Nukular Biskits
@NotMax:
Don’t ask me why but every time I see “amuse-bouches”, I read “amuse-douches”.
Soprano2
@Betty Cracker: So he’s encouraging criminals to come here now, great.
Nukular Biskits
@Jackie:
Oh, I’m sure there will probably be a number of additions made as well.
Mustang Bobby
I plan to entertain a fellow playwright and his husband with lunch at a local non-chain restaurant, then go see his play at a local non-chain theatre.
Baud
Blue sky is particularly scoldy IMHO.
TBone
I forcefully explained to hubby the power that we consumers hold over the oligarchy. If we stick together on this, a BLACKOUT will send a very strong message. He is all in! We shall forage today in preparation for buying NOTHING tomorrow. Only necessity tomorrow is the vet hospital appointment. Hubby wants me to postdate a check for them hahaha!
Phylllis
@Mustang Bobby: So nice to see you pop up here.
TBone
@Betty Cracker: we will, eventually, smash the patriarchy. We outnumber them. It’s a slog.
No Nym
I am excited to report that my previously apolitical, veteran daughter and I are joining a Blue Missouri Zoom tonight to start organizing to protect vulnerable Missourians. She and her friends are totally on board for the spending strike (as am I) and any other actions down the line. I sent her Adam’s info on how to be safer at protests. It’s good to see the thirty-somethings putting down their phones and stepping up.
Baud
@No Nym:
Excellent. Good for both of you.
Jackie
@Betty Cracker: FFOTUS admires fellow rapists/female sex traffickers – and loves to celebrate them. I’m grateful we managed to dodge a bullet with Gaetz. Had his confirmation investigation been delayed… the cowardly/no cajones GQP senate would have confirmed him as AG.
Bondi’s no better in all actuality.
Elizabelle
I love our protesting DOG NOT DOGE Germany Shepherd photo. He or she is not buying anything tomorrow either. Not so much as a Milk Bone.
Gin & Tonic
@Betty Cracker: Why Romania agreed to that while still showing enough spine to arrest Georgescu’s bodyguard completely escapes me.
Gin & Tonic
@Mustang Bobby: Good to see you here; wish you’d come by more often.
Baud
@Mustang Bobby:
Miss you, dude.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
There’s got to be some backroom deal.
frosty
@Nukular Biskits: I’ll call or write today about axing my son’s health insurance to give billionaires more money.
I can’t do any of the others since we’re on the road.
AM in NC
@Nukular Biskits: I am. In addition to calling my two asshole Senators every day, I’m going to start going to Tillis’s Raleigh office to stand outside with a sign (and go in to talk if they’ll let me).
My sign will say:
No Nazis (with a photo of Elon throwing Nazi salute slashed-through)
No Kings (with a picture of the King Trump Time cover slashed-through)
USA or GOP?
Which side are YOU on?
When I can’t make it to the office, I plan on standing at busy intersections.
And I carry post-it-notes with hand-written massages with me to stick around grocery stores.
Baud
Good on Maine.
Baud
@AM in NC:
Good for you.
@frosty:
Hopefully against!
YY_Sima Qian
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
It seems members of the DC “Blob” are joining the resistance in their own way, & carrying out sabotage, even taking the boycott abroad (link below to article in the Times):
AM in NC
@Betty Cracker: That made me want to literally stab things when I saw that.
They hate us. They want us in servitude to them. They can’t compete with us on a level playing field and they know it. Father-fucking knob heads.
Baud
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: There’s a specific type of political “activist” who equates VOLUME as an appropriate and constructive response to getting shit done. They can be identified by their willingness to engage in circular firing squads. Thankfully, these keyboard Rambos can be avoided, since they offer no viable solutions other than scolding people who are doing they’re best. It’s invigorating to realize how easy it is to ignore them.
Baud
wenchacha
I’m heading to PA today. My sister broke her elbow bones after a slip on the ice. She’ll get surgery tomorrow, so she is buying something, and I will be paying for parking, and I hope not much more than that.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
I get that there are extreme cases. But I’m not just talking about them. It seems like a lot of ordinary users think that conveying information only works if the post has a lot of emo in it.
They may be right. It’s why we have click bait headlines.
Baud
@wenchacha:
Sorry to hear that. Hope all goes well. You get a pass on the boycott.
hells littlest angel
Don’t worry. In a few months a lot of those wallets will be empty.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@New Deal democrat:
Free Sirhan Sirhan….
Thor Heyerdahl
@Baud: Trumpflation
Baud
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
If Trump and RFK Jr. have a falling out. I can actually see a pardon happening.
hells littlest angel
@Betty Cracker:
My favorite will always be: “What god has joined let no man put us under.” From the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry or maybe Prince William.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Baud:
So stagflation prior to the main event.
Betty Cracker
@Gin & Tonic: & @Baud: I believe I read earlier (Guardian, maybe?) that Trump sent Grenell to secure their release. The rape bros are dual US/UK nationals, and the US needs all rapists on deck.
Harrison Wesley
Tomorrow I’m going to a play at the Asolo with FSU Conservatory students as actors; might go to the local library earlier. Public transit everywhere,of course. No other consumption.
wenchacha
@Baud: Thanks! The car is gassed up for the four hour drive, and I will do her shopping today when I arrive. I’ll try my best.
And I appreciate the dispensation.
Vote Baud!
RileysEnabler
Did my 2 “5 calls” and left messages about Medicaid funding for both execrable senators (Texas). They will of course send horrid form email replies.
Also cancelled a work lunch tomorrow. Not spending a penny. I hope someone notices.
The Tate news has me raging. What a huge FU to every woman in the country. I know it’s wrong to hope for terrible things for people, but in this case it’s utterly justified.
rebelsdad
I’m participating tomorrow and passed the message on to my loved ones. My gas tank is full and I’m bringing lunch tomorrow. The oligarchs won’t get a single penny from me!
I’ve been paralyzed recently between exhaustion and being overwhelmed, so all I’ve been able to do is doomscroll. The budget vote actually gave me some focus. Rethuglicans just voted to kill my disabled sister who is entirely reliant on Medicaid, food stamps, and SSI. I downloaded the 5 Calls app and yesterday I made my first call to my new rep, Gus Bilirakis. Made sure to nicely tell the staffer that I’m a registered independent with disabled family and I am more than disappointed by his vote to cut Medicaid. The staffer was polite and listened.
I hate being back in a red state but it is what it is. We often have less control over our lives than we’d like to admit. I’m tired of running though and I’ve decided to go down swinging. Like Emilio Zapata said, “I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.” I’ve been fighting for LGBTQ rights for almost 30 years now and I refuse to go back to the world I grew up in.
I overheard some coworkers discussing current events yesterday and discovered that I have a group of queer folks and allies on my team!
p.a.
A non-subscriber so I can’t comment on Thiessen’s “an end to the Ukraine war” b.s. by asking him to give a time frame and resigning if it’s not met. Of course, he would just blame Ukraine for missing the deadline.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Betty Cracker:
For any woman unfortunate enough to wind up in their clutches, I’d vote to acquit any mayhem wrought..
Baud
@rebelsdad:
Nice. They try to destroy our spirit by making us feel alone.
New Deal democrat
@Baud: I just finished my weekly update on jobless claims.
For economic forecasting purposes, the most important number is the YoY% change. Once you get above 10% that’s cautionary, and above 12.5% if it lasts for several months, that is a recession warning indicator.
For the last two weeks combined, initial claims are up 11.3% YoY. So it is noteworthy, and if it lasts a few more weeks, it becomes increasingly concerning.
There are several other long and short term forecasting signals that have become increasingly of concern since the election, and particularly since January 20.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: Good point.
It’s sometimes discouraging to see that unless facts are embroidered with an abundance of bells and whistles, people are more responsive to “vibes” than someone speaking plainly but honestly.
Apart from the racism, I don’t get why voters are enthralled by Trump’s vulgar showbiz charisma but, then again, I never understood the attraction of reality TV and the WWF.
Betty Cracker
@RileysEnabler: I hope both Tates roast to death slowly in a smoldering Cybertruck, surrounded by a mob of women taunting them about their tiny penises as they scream in agony. Yeah, I’m pissed off too. ;-)
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
I don’t get it either. Some of it may be boredom. Some of it might be a misguided desire to “shake things up.” No one except the oligarchs seem to be thinking things through.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Richard Grenell spoke to a Romanian official on the Tates’ befalf at the Munich Security Conference. I think it was their Foreign Minister.
Jackie
The only country FFOTUS wants to obliterate is Iran. Does this give him his excuse?:
TBone
@wenchacha: that exact slip and fall type accident happened to me on wet grass in flipflops at a Grateful Dead show. I was tripping my brains out, and when I stood up, my arm hung down to my ankles, dislocated elbow. The doctors tied me to the bed until I came down, and that was a long wait! Then one grabbed my wrist and stretched my arm till the joint popped back into place.
It was a long, strange, painful trip!
I hope everything goes better than that for y’all.
zhena gogolia
OT, I just found out Villago delenda est died. I’m so sorry.
Betty Cracker
@rebelsdad: Glad you’re finding good folks on your team! Also, someone answered the phone for Bilirakis?!?
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Damn, that sucks. RIP.
Raven
@wenchacha: Damn, I got so lucky when I fell in the middle of the night and landed on my butt, elbow and hit my head on a chair instead of the tile. I could have easily shattered my elbow. I’m sorry about your sis and hope it goes well.
narya
@zhena gogolia: Dang. This has been a brutal stretch for jackaldom.
wenchacha
@TBone: Oh ouch! At least if you were tripping balls, it was an illuminating experience.
I am six years younger than my sister, but already have osteoporosis, while she has osteopenia. I must work on strengthening my balance and also maybe get a bubble wrap suit.
Ohio Mom
@wenchacha: You’re excused. You are taking care of a family emergency, not shopping as recreation.
Good luck to your sister. I never tire of the old joke, There are two places you need a friend on the outside, jail and the hospital.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
@Betty Cracker:
Happened a couple of weeks ago. His passing was noted in the comments here. I think it was a fall.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: I don’t know if the oligarchs have accurately gamed out how it ends. When what’s left of the rich and famous are hiding in a bunker after the apocalypse and they’re breathing canned air and afraid of their guards because money has become worthless, it seems to me that maybe paying your taxes would have been a better option.
Jackie
@zhena gogolia:
OMG! That’s terrible! I will miss their presence here. Was Villago delenda est in poor health?
May Villago rest in peace.
TBone
@wenchacha: recommend the bubble wrap & calcium supps & special balance exercises! Highly, hahaha!
P.S. the cast was the old school plaster kind with dancing bears all over it. Everyone signed it and drew colorful stuff, it was amazing. Wish I’d saved it.
When I shattered the other arm, they screwed it back together with a titanium rod.
rebelsdad
@Betty Cracker: Yeah! I was so surprised, especially because it was 5:15pm and I called his DC office.
TBone
@The Thin Black Duke: 🎯
Nukular Biskits
@frosty @AM in NC:
Every single effort counts, regardless of how small.
rebelsdad
@zhena gogolia: They (he?) were one of my favorite commenters here. This is very sad to hear.
zhena gogolia
@Jackie: Apparently it was an accident.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Baud:
I’ll bring a bag lunch to the hospital; wife has a procedure to close a patent foramen ovale (PFO), which is an imperfectly closed prenatal hole between valves in the heart. Weirdly, she’ll be awake for the procedure, and that freaks me out.
It wouldn’t have been such a big deal to need closed were it not for the diving – it apparently creates a direct path to the brain for nitrogen bubbles if she ever got the bends.
wenchacha
@Raven: Thank you! I was glad she didn’t hit her head. And she always has her phone with her. She called 911, and the dispatcher called her next door neighbor, so she was not out in the snow by herself for long, thank the multiverse.
Baud
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
Wild. I’ll miss medical science.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2:
If this were happening under a Democratic President, the wingnuts would be going, “they’re flying criminals into the country to rape our women!!!1!”
Maybe we need to be doing a bit of that. Not sure how much good it would do, but if I were still on Facebook, I’d give it a shot.
Professor Bigfoot
@Mustang Bobby: You understand the assignment. (thumbs up emoji
ETA— good to see you, dawg.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
The question for them is, is it worth the risk? And maybe it is. People haven’t shown the perseverance to stop them yet.
The Thin Black Duke
@lowtechcyclist: Republicans and their voters don’t care when white men rape white women.
Raven
@wenchacha: Yea, my GP asked if I sought medical attention when I hit my head and I said “no”. It was two weeks after so I figured I must be ok!
Professor Bigfoot
@TBone: Yeah, but the verb “smash” implies a dynamic, even explosive event, and as you say, it’s a slog.
Let us grind the patriarchy into the dust we shall dust from our sandals.
wenchacha
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Oh, yikes. A PFO was one of the conditions I asked my dr about, back when I was getting migraines every two weeks. Closing that hole helps some people, but it was not my issue.
I hope all goes well with the surgery.
TBone
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Jiminy Cricket!
Raven
@Phylllis: indeed!
TBone
@Professor Bigfoot: and no driving our enemies before us to relish in their wailing? I’ll think about about it!
P.S. thank you for your participation!
Citizen Dave
I didn’t think to post this in the recent Gene Hackman Medium Cool thread, but please enjoy a nice song from Robyn Hitchcock about and called “Gene Hackman”. https://youtu.be/CZ1zDmyaSuE?si=5U3Ba5pdseKS36fM. It’s not Celluloid Heroes by any means, but still a fun listen.
TBone
@Citizen Dave: full service blog love
lowtechcyclist
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
I had no idea he was still alive. That was so long ago.
Raven
@lowtechcyclist: The first time I did acid was that day.
Emily B.
@The Thin Black Duke: What you said. Absolutely brilliant and absolutely true.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Baud:
Bloodletting and leeches are gonna make a comeback!
A smart barber should put out a caduceus on his pole out front.
Kirk
Something I for one keep in mind about these boycotts is that they don’t have to be universal, they just have to be enough.
If there is a 10% deficit in actual vs expected sales I know it will get attention. 5% probably. 2%? maybe.
And it helps as well that it’s aiming to be a general boycott. A few companies or a sector having an off day. An across the board deficit?
That is Mack the Turtle, burping a bit.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Hey, has anybody noticed an Elon Musk wing at their local hospital?
Where’s the Bezos Library?
Professor Bigfoot
@Baud: “…then money changed hands, and…”
Baud
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
I believe he calls it Kindle Books.
zhena gogolia
@Citizen Dave: Have we done an RIP Gene Hackman thread yet?
charon
I have learned never to click a Marc Thiessen link no matter how click baity the headline, there is never any there there.
satby
@New Deal democrat: I found out on my last trip that many of the Amish traveling to the SW are actually going over the border to Mexico for medical treatment. May be something for lots of folks to keep in mind.
AM in NC
@Betty Cracker: I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Barring that, come sit by me. And we will roast marshmallows over the flames as we mock them for being such horrible lovers, the rape is the only way they get to touch a woman.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: What?! RIP Damn it.
TBone
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: my Black lady neighbor has finally stopped getting Amazon van deliveries every single day. I have seen no vans except for Federal Express in weeks!
TBone
@AM in NC: I’d like to roast more than marshmallows. How about some weenies?
Raven
@Omnes Omnibus: Yea, it’s been a couple of weeks but he is sure missed.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@wenchacha:
She has the ultimate divers’ physiology – she breathes very little, has a slow pulse rate and blood pressure that ranges to low. Generally speaking, when we’re done with a dive, she has a half a bottle of air left after 55 minutes or so (by comparison, I’ll only have half of what she’s got when I surface). As a result, her physical condition tended to mask the problem.
At the same time, she was complaining of odd fatigues and had some “I feel faint” moments. She went to an interventional cardiologist who recommended a bubble test, and voila, the thing got discovered (although he’s a monster who doesn’t think that people should dive after 55, so he can suck my ass, LOL).
Happily, she’s a few years under 60, so she could get approved for the procedure.
rebelsdad
@rikyrah: Good morning ☀️😃
Ohio Mom
@rebelsdad: When my head is in the right place, I like to engage those staffers in conversation. “I’m calling because my sister is disabled and she needs the Medicaid your boss wants to cut. She lives in a group home. Do you know how much that costs, who pays for it?”
(Wait while they act as dumb as they are)
“Well, there are all the normal expenses of running a household, mortgage, utilities, upkeep, and then there’s the 24/7 staffing. Plus food.
“Again, who pays for all that? I’ll tell you, SSI pays for the rent. My sister gets (what is now, something like $900 month?).
You get the idea. I like to pepper them with questions. “She gets to keep $25 a week of that SSI benefit for personal expenses like clothes, buying our mom a birthday card…How much do you think you spend on those things a week? Do you think you could keep yourself in clothes at $25 a week? Remembers, one meal out and that $25 is gone.”
People have no idea. I can’t tell you the times I have to educate family members on exactly how meager the supports for Ohio Son are.
Those people answering the phone are usually young and unsophisticated. We owe it to them to educate them.
Educational researchers will tell you most people have to be introduced to a new idea multiple times before they fully comprehend and integrate the new information. You may be the first time they hear it, they may need ten repetitions. As Jewish tradition teaches us, you’re not responsible for completing the task but you are for starting it.
Of course, I’m not always in the right frame of mind. Lately, not at all!
AM in NC
@TBone: A-men.
Nukular Biskits
I know Cole doesn’t like emojis but 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
My employer just put out the following:
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: I know, it’s so sad.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Professor Bigfoot
@AM in NC: Oh, they don’t HATE you.
They just insist that you’re less fully human than them. That they can and must dominate and control you, that you always do their bidding.
The farmer doesn’t “hate” his mule, but let that mule “r’ar back on its hind legs and start talking about its rights” and see how the farmer acts.
They don’t actually hate women any more than they generally hate Black people. They just don’t really, down in their hearts, believe that we’re fully human.
greenergood
@Betty Cracker:
Re: the scummy Tate bros I was looking at the FlightRadar website this morning and saw that over _9,900_ people were following the flight of a private jet from Bucharest, and then heard on the radio news that the scummy Tates had sprung the Romanian coop. And were on their way to _Florida_. Does Merde-a-Lardo beckon? Even now, as they approach FL, there are still over 3,000 people tracking their flight – how these men are idols is just revolting …
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: A lot of people are addicted to rage. Pamphlets and Newsletters, then talk radio and FoxNews provided that service for conservatives. Lefty blogs opened up the pipeline for our side and then social media left all of them in the dust with far greater scale, accessibility and a constant deluge of shit to keep us all in perpetual state of anger. I think a lot of people are in denial about how addicted they are to rage.
rebelsdad
@Ohio Mom: This is so awesome and helpful! Thank you!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Nukular Biskits:
Do “gender identifying pronouns” include Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Master?
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
I can’t say that you’re wrong. I know I struggled with my negative feelings for many years. I’m sure the Internet just amplifies the negativity.
Elizabelle
@Ohio Mom:
Oh, I like that!
oldgold
Speaking of Gene Hackman:
An investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 64, were found at their home in Santa Fe on Wednesday, alongside their dog.
tobie
For those of us with Republican representatives in Congress, Marcy Wheeler has begun keeping tabs on DOGE’s lies about savings. Here’s a link to what she says will be an ongoing list. I will use it for my weekly letter to my rep and letters to the editor in my local rag.
https://www.emptywheel.net/portfolio-item/doge-debunking/
rebelsdad
@UncleEbeneezer: agreed. I noticed that was happening to me. I’ve deleted all my social media except TikTok (need my AOC and Aaron Parnas fix, and my feed is mostly just news and people making fun of shitty recipes). Even Bluesky had to go- I noticed how I always felt helpless and terrified after just five minutes there. It’s helped a lot. Plus I don’t have everyone sending me a video about the latest outrage via FB messenger anymore.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
OT, but I once tried to have Siri identify me as “El Conquistador”. That was all well and good, until the miracles of unbidden tech integration named me that in outbound emails.
I had to apologize to a judge, who (happily for me) took great delight in needling me over it.
japa21
Concerning the boycott, instead of not shopping at all, reward those companies that are telling the government to shove it. Go to Costco, have lunch at Culver’s.
Nukular Biskits
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
Dunno. We’re supposed to get further info later today.
Needless to say I’m pissed at this obeying in advance bullshit.
This, to me, is a free speech issue on the part of companies. I have to abide by whatever corp policy is but there is no reason why my employer has to bend the knee on this.
Harrison Wesley
@Nukular Biskits: Not to worry in 2025. March 3 is Monday.
rebelsdad
@japa21: and order something from Penzey’s
narya
@Ohio Mom: I’ve spent most of my working life at organizations that serve folks who are struggling in one way or another (or multiple ways), and it has been a damn education on exactly those details that just don’t reach the attention of folks who’ve never had such struggles. It is expensive to be poor and/or marginalized, and it’s a relentless grind, as many of us here know.
Nukular Biskits
@Harrison Wesley:
LOL
narya
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I needed that; thank you for sharing.
Professor Bigfoot
@wenchacha: I understand that during Ramadan, the elderly, the very young, those on a journey, and the sick and injured can eat and drink during the day because it’s more important.
Same thing applies— you gotta do what you gotta do, and the Universe conspires against us.
Betty Cracker
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Hilarious! I once got caught out in a client Zoom meeting for assigning an annoying contact a sad trombone ringtone.
Elizabelle
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Oh, that’s funny. I bet you made that judge’s day, too.
Good luck to Mrs. with her surgery tomorrow.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: And that is perfect too. Sad trombone ringtone! I want!
WereBear
@Phylllis: I do and I will! Got some book bucks burning a digital hole.
Thanks!
lowtechcyclist
@wenchacha:
Now I’ve got George Carlin and “special dispensation!” going through my head.
That’s most definitely NOT a complaint!
frosty
That phrase reminds me. Has anyone seen mrmoshpotato lately?
Elizabelle
@frosty: Think I saw Mosh within the last 3 days. It’s funny, because you can often tell who is commenting by the word choice and structure.
lowtechcyclist
@Jackie:
What should give him an excuse is that Iran is supplying Russia with arms (drones, IIRC) which Russia has been using against Ukraine. But given whose side FFOTUS is on in that war, I’m surprised he hasn’t already changed his tune on Iran and started praising their leaders.
frosty
@Elizabelle: Good to hear. That must have been one of the 200+ comment posts that I didn’t get to the bottom of.
Or a day when I had something better to do!
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: Amplifies, but more importantly feeds/stokes. Taking breaks (or completely ditching) social media is good for the soul, I’ve found. I still dip in more than I should but I’m much better than I used to be.
lowtechcyclist
@The Thin Black Duke:
No lie told, unfortunately.
LeftCoastYankee
@Betty Cracker:
I think I scared the neighbors dog with how hard I laughed at this!
Eunicecycle
@narya: I was just saying that to my husband the other day: That it’s expensive to be poor. Some people think the poor stay that way “to get free stuff.” I’m not saying that services aren’t ever abused, but it is not the majority. I volunteer for a food bank and for Meals on Wheels, both of which may be devastated if the DOGE cuts go through. People are going to suffer.
lowtechcyclist
@Professor Bigfoot:
This. I’ve been thinking about the RW belief, lately advocated for by JD Vance, that women should stay home and be mommies, and once the kids are grown, they should stay home to support other mommies.
They say they believe in fetal personhood, but they don’t believe in female personhood. Women aren’t entitled to agency.
And yeah, it goes without saying that they don’t recognize Black personhood either.
jonas
For my part, I will not be purchasing a Tesla tomorrow, because fuck that guy.
Or ever.
Shalimar
@NotMax: AI will salve us.
Betty Cracker
@lowtechcyclist: If it’s okay with you gents, I’ll retain the option to believe people who don’t see me as human hate my guts. If there is a distinction, it’s one without a difference.
kindness
I couldn’t justify my cheap subscription to the WaPo any longer. I canceled it yesterday. For the longest time I read the SF Chronicle and the local rightwing Bee papers. The Chronicle has been dwindling away for a decade. So I picked up a WaPo & NYT subscriptions. It was such a God send, particularly since the Bee franchise is on par with Newsmax (it got cancelled years ago). The WaPo though…it’s so sad what Bezos has done to it. With his latest declaration of rightwingnut idolitry I’m out. Not paying for that shit.
The Times is next I guess. I think I only pay $1 a month or something ridiculously cheap like that. We’ll see how long that lasts.
lowtechcyclist
@japa21:
There’s a small local carryout called Pinky’s near where I live, owned and operated by a Black man. The food is a blend of Southern/soul/Cajun, and is absolutely excellent.
My wife and I will otherwise observe the boycott, but we’re planning on ordering from Pinky’s tomorrow night.
Professor Bigfoot
@zhena gogolia: Damn, that hurts. Villago was a good’un. May his memory be a blessing.
Professor Bigfoot
@The Thin Black Duke: May they survive just long enough to realize their mistake.
TBone
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I have some.
Bescumberer!
Lobberscotcher!
catclub
yes, that $5M golden Visa is mostly taken by international criminals.
Professor Bigfoot
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: am I evil that I read
in Sammy Hagar?
hueyplong
@LeftCoastYankee: I thought about topping B Cracker’s Tates visual, but realized that I can’t.
Brava.
suzanne
@The Thin Black Duke:
There’s a cohort of white men who stir up fear of Black men raping white women because they believe that they should be the only ones who get to rape white women.
David Collier-Brown
@hells littlest angel:
It’s a giant hint to the various companies’ accountants: “Look at how much our week-over-week sales dropped Friday. What happens if they minimise buying our goods seven days a week?”
TBone
@wenchacha: you are a great and good sibling. Welcome to the Keystone State!
General Audience Noah update: he finished entire First Breakfast can and started on Second Breakfast all by himself! Instead of bandage change at vet tomorrow, we are now finally talking TUBE REMOVAL.
I couldn’t be more relieved in every way except politics.
Gonna hafta plan a celebration with real French champagne but not tomorrow! Tomorrow is BLACKOUT.
He is STILL eating right now 💜
John Cole
thanks a lot betty
https://youtu.be/qs7f3ssuEjA
TBone
@John Cole: BWAHAHAHA!
WTFGhost
I have Tootsie Fruit Rolls and I’m willing to share, if it helps.
VFX Lurker
LOUDER FOR THOSE IN THE BACK.
These idiots are such short-sighted idiots.
sab
May I go to Joann Fabrics which is going into Bankrupcy chapter 7, and buy pellon and quilting stuffing. Otherwise I may have to go to Hobby Lobby later,and none of us would want that.