Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

The willow is too close to the house.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“But what about the lurkers?”

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

This fight is for everything.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Totally Squishable Friday Evening Open Thread

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  5. 5.

    Kristine

    After watching the NOVA episodes on the planets and the universe repeatedly, followed by astrophysics podcasts and You Tubes, I finally bought myself a telescope. It definitely a beginner’s ‘scope, but it does have smartphone connectivity for taking photos.

    No possible competition with Bill from Glendale (though he is an inspiration). Just want to have some fun.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    So what does ON NOW mean in Amazon Prime?  I haven’t seen that until this week.  Is it like old time TV was – when you turn on the TV you get whatever show is in progress?  How quaint!

    I finished 19-2 (so good!) and I am looking for a new show.  Nash Bridges is ON NOW and so is NYPD Blue.  I would watch NYPD Blue from the beginning, but I’ll bet if it’s on ON NOW, I bet its’ not available as a regular show.

  8. 8.

    David Collier-Brown

    Yeah: the amount of deranged comments coming out of a certain country’s government is distracting me from writing. (About nerd subjects, you understand: my work has neither plot nor characters (:-))

  9. 9.

    Steve LaBonne

    So Leland “Quisling” Dudek backed down from his ridiculous threat to shut down the Social Security Administration in response to the court order blocked the Muskrats’ access to our personal data. He even admitted that someone in the White House told him to knock it off. What a maroon.

  10. 10.

    Ohio Mom

    Earlier today, this Auden quote popped out of my memory:

    “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.”

    Summarizes my day and probably my week.

  14. 14.

    bbleh

    Re GoFundMe for cat hip surgery, received this evening:

    [Me], thank you so much for your kindness and generosity with the $25 donation. Rosie’s surgery is scheduled for the 31st, she’ll be up and walking normally soon thanks to you.

    One more cat walking.  Evil MAGA trolls shall not conquer!

  17. 17.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WaterGirl:

    I think you’re looking at the live channels that just play TV shows continuously in broadcast order, 24/7.

  20. 20.

    RevRick

    Watching the lecture on supermassive galactic black holes on the Black Holes series on Wondrium. Earlier, I watched a lecture on Amiens Cathedral in The Cathedral series.

    What holds them together? Awe.

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    Bad AI, bad!

    A privacy complaint has been filed against OpenAI by a Norwegian man who claims that ChatGPT described him as a convicted murderer who killed two of his own children and attempted to kill a third.

    Arve Hjalmar Holmen says that he wanted to find out what ChatGPT would say about him, but was presented with the false claim that he had been convicted for both murder and attempted murder, and was serving 21 years in a Norwegian prison. Alarmingly, the ChatGPT output mixes fictitious details with facts, including his hometown and the number and gender of his children.

    Austrian advocacy group Noyb filed a complaint with the Norwegian Datatilsynet on behalf of Holmen, accusing OpenAI of violating the data privacy requirements of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It’s asking for the company to be fined and ordered to remove the defamatory output and improve its model to avoid similar errors. Source

  25. 25.

    Jackie

    @Steve LaBonne:

    He [Dudeck] even admitted that someone in the White House told him to knock it off.

    You mean told him to shut up and not say what’s going to happen aloud. Telling him to knock it off doesn’t mean he’s lying. It just means zip your lips.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    I am off to watch Enemy of the State while I walk on the treadmill.  Last night I couldn’t sleep, and I found the Rockford Files.  Apparently the music and the voice of James Garner was finally enough to lull me into sleep.  Going from 19-2 to Rockford Files to Enemy of the State, Prime may think I’m losing my mind.  Which, come to think of it, I might be.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    @Jackie: I just did something that I rarely do: impulse-shopped. Retail therapy in the form of a hoodie with Hello Kitty on it. Yes, for me.

  33. 33.

    Jay

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Granite what? Countertop, existing countertop, tile, slab?

    Diamond blades, ideally a water saw. You then need to polish the cut, wet diamond hones and elbow grease will work.

  37. 37.

    zhena gogolia

    We’re ending two weeks of “vacation,” and I swear I’m so glad to go back to work where I have to focus on interesting stuff, and I don’t have to sit through social events  where all anyone can talk about is fuckhead. He’s so fucking boring.

    If talking about it helped the situation in any way, fine, but it doesn’t.

  38. 38.

    oldster

    I have a little money saved up in my 401k from back when I was working. I did what they told me to — put it into diversified index funds, did not try to get clever, didn’t pick stocks, didn’t buy or sell.

    Over the years, it grew from a little money to a little more money. And sometimes I would peek at it to see how it was growing.

    Not these days. I am sure it is down 10% or 20% or god knows what. And I just don’t want to know.

    I’m honestly rooting for a stock market crash, since that may be the only way to persuade the Masters of the Universe to turn on Trump and Musk. But I don’t really want to see my cushion get wiped out in the process.

    So…I just won’t look. Good solution!

  39. 39.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Jay:

    Granite countertop.

    In a nutshell, when we “spec’d” this house, we got the outside kitchen package but Ms. Biskits wanted to save a few bucks and not get the grill (we’d buy it later).

    When the contractor built the house, the granite countertop installers did not cut out for the eventual grill (which, of course, made sense to me) unlike what the same builders did for the previous house.

    I can’t find anyone to take on a “small” job to cut out the for the grillhead so I’m gonna do it myself.

    I’ve already got the grill ready, bought two 7″ diamond blades for my Milwaukee saw, gonna rig up a watering system using some 1/8″ tubing and a bucket (yeah, I’ve watched probably a hundred Youtube videos on this).

    But, still would like to chat with someone who’s actually cut granite slabs for countertops.

  41. 41.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl: If you run across any middle-aged women who are wearing a Hello Kitty hoodie, walking the dog while carrying a pumpkin spice oat milk latte, and flipping off every FFOTUS sign in sight…. say hello.

    Ooooh, I hope some man will come along and call me cringey or basic or fake or cliched or something!

  46. 46.

    Dan B

    @oldster: A commenter on another blog who reads business news said that business leaders are starting to panic at what the Trumpers are doing after initially being hopeful.

  47. 47.

    Marc

    @oldster: I’ve been paranoid about Wall St. ripoffs my entire life, so so I’ve always had more money in saving accounts than 401Ks and investment accounts (and it’s all in index funds which suck right now).  I’m nowhere near as rich as I might have been if I had made the “right” investments, but I believe I’m better off than I would have been if I had made the “wrong” investments.

  48. 48.

    Martin

    @oldster: Half of them will make money during the crash. You can’t make rich people poor in a market crash. Some, sure, but not most. Mostly you’ll wipe out retirement funds from people whose retirement saving are in relatively static investments.

  49. 49.

    Badluckgremlin

    Spent a bit of today at the local Tesla protest. I was pleasantly surprised by how many drivers honked/gestured in support and how few were assholes. The few who flipped us off universally had the look of miserable rage-a-holics. Probably a lesson in there somewhere!

  50. 50.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Dan B:

    A commenter on another blog who reads business news said that business leaders are starting to panic at what the Trumpers are doing after initially being hopeful.

    These people are such idiots for trusting them

  51. 51.

    Jay

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Buy a diamond hole saw drill bit, (the tube type), (for a drill). Comes with a guide/holder/water reservoir with a sticky bit that you can use to make corner holes. Use the biggest radius you can.

    Get some peel and stick thick plastic for the base of the saw, that way it doesn’t scratch the surface of the countertop.

    Set up a good solid true guide for the saw cuts.

    If it’s a drop in grill, the hard part will be making the plunge cut, but you only need to be really close, because the outer lip will cover any minor errors.

    If it’s a slide in grill, you will need to round and polish the outer edges, but you will only need one plunge cut, not 4. One coarse diamond stone, one fine and elbow grease and water will do the job. Start with a 45 degree edge, then round it off.

    Let the saw blade and all the other tools do the all the work, don’t force it.

    Have a steady supply of clean water.

    Cover everything around in sheet plastic to minimize clean up, the granite slurry spray goes every where.

    Make sure your saw is GFI protected.

    You can rent a GFI/Sealed protected 4″ diamond saw from some rental shops, which is safer.

    Keep the water flowing to the point that you have a slurry, (toothpaste ish) that allows the blade to cut almost twice as fast as the blade drags the slurry down into the cut. It also polishes. I just use cheap tile sponges, (for cleaning grout) to “flood the zone rather than an elaborate water feed.

  52. 52.

    oldster

    @Marc:

    That’s pretty much my feeling. I have never been a gambler. Risky investments are for people who can afford to lose what they have. I just want to keep what little I have. I guess some of the funds that have stocks in them have exposed me to risk. But I still did it in the most boring way possible!

    Anyhow — my hope is that stocks will crater — mine among them — Wall Street will sober up and turn on Trump and Musk, and stocks will recover again in ten years.

    I plan to be dead in about five, anyhow. That’s the good news.

  54. 54.

    coin operated

    I went over my IRA and 401K today to make sure none of my money was attached to Tesla. Anytime the CEO calls a company-wide meeting and asks the employees not to sell their stock, it’s time to divest from what will be a Thelma & Louise-style end to the company. Turns out I’m good in that department.

    Time for a Drew Estate cigar and a double of Makers over a tennis-ball sized chunk of ice. What a year this week has been.

  55. 55.

    RaflW

    AOC says that 34,000 people came to the Denver rally that she and Bernie just held. Add in the Greely event earlier which drew 11,000 per her earlier skeet. Pretty fired up Coloradans.

    Meanwhile at least a few D.C. Dems are leaking that they’re feeling beat up by their constituents yelling. maybe they can hear the message that 45,000 people just sent out today.

  57. 57.

    Jay

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Keep in mind, that some countertop “slabs” are 1/4’/1/2″ granite slabs over 3/4/1″ inch plywood, with a 3/4″/1″ granite edge strip epoxied on. That males the cut harder as diamond blades don’t do wood well.

  59. 59.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Ohio Mom: Charles Schulz stole that one for a Peanuts strip. For some reason Lucy is going around demanding that everyone tell her the purpose of existence, and Linus tells her it’s to help others, so she yells “What are the others here for?”

  61. 61.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: Agreed. Between this and my morning deluge of newsletters it’s been long month week. I think I’m about three rants behind on calling my R Representative. I haven’t bothered Fetterman or the other guy all month. There’s only so much I can do!!

  62. 62.

    frosty

    @Kristine: ​I got a spotting scope for birds but I haven’t thought about taking it out at night and pointing it skywards. 20x to 80x mag, but it’s going to lose a lot of light at 80.

  66. 66.

    M31

    @Nukular Biskits: I’ve done straight cuts with a circular saw and a diamond blade — used painters tape on the cut line which helps prevent chips, and had a steady but small stream of water on it. As Jay said, use a well-clamped guide and don’t force it.

    Didn’t need to do a plunge cut, fortunately.

  68. 68.

    lamh47

    Hey BJ.

    Been a minute but I wanted to give ya’ll an update.  Still a terminated fed employee.  I know ya’ll may have heard of some fed employee being reinstated.  So far, for me, got a call from my fed mgr saying they were reinstating term employees and ask if I was interested.  I told her sure, but I would be waiting to receive some sort of official email notice.  I mean might as well say yes and possibly getting backpay.  But guess what, that call was on Monday, it’s now well past COB Friday and I haven’t received any emails or notices.

    I emailed both my agency HR and my union rep about reinstatement and not having received any official emails or notification.

    HR said “At this time, we do not have additional information regarding your reinstatement. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to gather more details.”  

    Union rep said “We were told to put everyone on admin leave until this Friday.  We’re awaiting additional guidance from the MSPB and/or HHS on what to do after Friday.”  

    Asked my mgr if she had any updates, she said “I was hoping to hear you heard something. I have not heard anything further. Will let you know the moment I do. Hang in there!”

    “Hang in there…” lol..sure ma’am…NAH, I’m done worrying about it at this point. I have no time to try to wait until they get their shit together.  Since I did not receive an email or certified mail notification about reinstatement…I’m considering it nonexistent.  I consider my fed employment over and done.

    On the job front, I’ve had 2 interviews this week for positions I applied for right after my termination (which reached 1 month today).   I think both interviews went well, one postion in SF, the other postion in Palo Alto.  Both in the Micro lab, but both with different duties and responsiblilities.  Either position would be a great get for me.  I’m hoping to hear from one or the other if not next week soon. but realistically I’m still looking at at least 2-3wks before hearing anything…and then having to go through onboarding/orientation.  Lease is good until end of April so I am hoping to hear from either lab in enought time to let my apartment know I can finally renew my lease.

    But I can’t wait even for that…I have to go ahead and makes plans JIC I don’t hear from either place in time enough.  So I’m giving myself next week as a break from job hunting (I mean I’ll still apply for positions that look fiting, just not putting too much in actively applying) and use it to plan a move out from my apartment.

    Anyhoo, still taking it one day at a time…and hoping to hear some good news sooner than later

    ETA: Oh and I’ve renewed my Cali license for another 2 years…so my plan is to stay in Cali, even if I have to apply for jobs in Cali back home in NOLA.

  72. 72.

    Nukular Biskits

    @M31 @Jay:

    Given I’m not installing a sink, I’m not sure I’ll need to use a hole saw at the corners, although that might make a cleaner cut.

    Basically, I need to cut something like this:

    ——————————————————————————-

    | ———————————-|
    |                                           |
    |                                           |
    |                                           |
    ——————————————————————————-

  73. 73.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh47: Dammit, I was so hopeful when I read about the reinstatements.  Really appreciate the update.

    You are handling this with far more grace than I could muster under these circumstances.

    If they call you next week, are you for sure going to pass?  I mean, really, how can you trust that there wouldn’t be another roller coaster ride in a month or two or five?

    Bastards playing with people’s lives.  Disgusting.

    I hope you land somewhere awesome.

    What a year for you, though.  The big move, the car being stolen, new job, Administration fucking everything up, all the uncertainty.

    Virtual hugs

    edit:  For me it’s a real struggle to be holding different futures in my head at the same time.  Like when my kitty soulmate was dying.  I had to be preparing for that, and it wasn’t clear how much more time he had.  But I also had to be making plans to go to CO for my niece’s wedding, and it was a special themed wedding so I had to be buying all this stuff and getting train tickets etc at the same time I was prepared to stay home with my beloved kitty.  I thought my brain would explode.

  82. 82.

    prostratedragon

    @lamh47:  This is such a criminal waste of everything good. That and condolences are all I’ve got about it at the moment.

  83. 83.

    Jay

    @Nukular Biskits:

    So, it’s a slide in.

    Drilling the two corners and using a jigsaw diamond blade, ensure that your 7″ blade does not have to overcut or you wind up with a broken edge at the corners.

    It all depends on how big the “apron” is on your slide in.

    If it’s 2″, you are good.

    If you are just sliding in a regular grill hood with no apron, you need to be really precise.

  85. 85.

    Suzanne

    @lamh47: I have my fingers crossed that this will all work out for you in short order! In uncertain situations in which I want something, I will sometimes repeat to myself “I want this, or something better”. Hoping for that for you right now.

  86. 86.

    lamh47

    @WaterGirl: If I receive an email, I will take the reinstatement because as I understand it, they have just been putting people on administrative leave each week until all the appeals and judgements are resolved I guess.  But again unless I receive an email with official notification I do not consider any reinstatement talk valid at all.

    Also too, I have already applied for UEI and state assistance programs and I have actually gotten approved for a few things already (not unemployment tho…not banking on that anyway).  I now have enough in savings to get me through April and even May if I choose to, but realistically I’d be better off budget-wise to leave the apartment lease and just continue to apply for work from NOLA if it comes to that.

    I truly do have some hope that the interview went really well.  Both labs were very impressed by my experience and not having to do a full new tech training type thing.  Also for each one something about my resume made me a very valuable candidate.  Again it’s the waiting game that the hardest.

    I can’t really complain since it’s technically just been a month and I’ve so far already have maybe 2 possible chances for new employment.  I mean sure I can complain, but I’m truly trying not to, because so many people don’t even have the experience or options I do.

    So yeah…one day at a time.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh47: We care about you and we”re in your corner, if that helps.

    Personally, I am hoping this ends up being the jobs version of you putting in an offer on what feels like your dream house, you don’t get the house, and somehow you find something that was even better than what you thought was your dream house.

    Fingers crossed.

  88. 88.

    Trivia Man

    @Suzanne: There is a trivia question I’ve used a couple times… name the top 10 entertainment properties by total $ earned. Most people come up with things like MCU, Star Wars, Harry Potter… but Hello Kitty is a real sleeper.

  92. 92.

    Salty Sam

    @Nukular Biskits:   All good suggestions so far.  I’d add:  rig some sort of support for the cut-out to be supported before all the cuts are complete.  Granite is heavy and brittle, and unsupported, could crack as the load bears on the diminishing cut line.  I’ve seen an almost finished cut-out snap the whole countertop in half when the unsupported weight of the cut-out bears on the cut lines.

    Hope that makes sense.

  93. 93.

    Jay

    @Salty Sam:

    Excellent suggestion. Fine grained granite is hard to shatter, large quartzite with lot’s of flakes and colours, easy,

    A rough box, fine tuned with Airshims, Rhino bags, etc will do the job. They are basically “fart cushions” with a bulb inflator and release valve, Standard shims will work as well, but might move from the cutting vibrations.

  94. 94.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Lots of us are *not* “exhausted”.

    We dust ourselves off and understand this is an ultramarathon and don’t have the stereotypical-but-all-too-real sense of white entitlement of feeling tired.

  95. 95.

    Marc

    @frosty: 80mm refractors work fine for looking at the moon, closer planets, star clusters, comets, etc. Get a wide angle eyepiece for the nicest views. I have one in my living room with a light alt-azimuth tripod, and take it outside all of the time.  I also have an old Russian-made 150mm Maksutov (reflector with optical correction lens) telescope which is good for deeps sky views and astrophotography.  The telescope and equatorial mount together weigh over 100 lbs, it hasn’t left the basement in years.

  96. 96.

    Salty Sam

    @Nukular Biskits: Given I’m not installing a sink, I’m not sure I’ll need to use a hole saw at the corners,

    You need a hole saw.  It’s not about the clean cut, but a rounded corner puts less stress on the slab as the cut progresses.  A square cut corner gives “stress risers”, which is where a crack will form and propagate to the other side of the slab.

  98. 98.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Suzanne: when I work w the little kids, it’s fun to be able to recognize theirs and tell them I have a hello kitty bag. Just fun, and sweet. Of course you want a hello kitty item.
    i hope some darling cute adorable items can wash away the pain and other feelings as we watch the dismantling of our nation, and our somewhat useful international status/ reputation, such as it was.

Comments are closed.