Not feeling at my most graceful this week: slid on some mud on Monday and have been hobbling about on a pulled thigh muscle ever since. At least the cat’s not his usual sleek self, either:
He got into the bag and failed to get all the way out.
Still, at least I’m not these bumblers at the DOJ, who sent privileged attorney-client guidance TO A FEDERAL JUDGE BY MISTAKE:
So, uh, it certainly looks like DOJ intended to file a letter to Judge Liman in MTA v. Duffy, but….it accidentally filed a letter containing its legal advice to the Department of Transportation instead
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us…
— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) April 24, 2025 at 2:55 AM
(This is in respect to the case that NYC has brought against the Secretary of Transportation for trying to mess with congestion pricing.) If you can’t read the highlighted text, it says: “it is unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept the argument that the CBDTP was not a statutorily authorized ‘value pricing’ pilot under the Value Prising Pilot Program.” I’m not a lawyer, but it seems bad to send that to the judge!
Hopefully that makes you feel better about anything you may have goofed on this week. Open thread.
Righteous Rant!
Baud
Why are so front pagers slipping?
Rose Judson
@Baud: It’s a Russian op. Or something
(In my specific case, I was running in worn-out shoes on a wet day. Dumb move.)
twbrandt
@Baud: I think they’re doing great!
Oh, you mean falling.
Josie
Love the cat photo. He seems to be trying to ignore the fact that he looks silly.
Rose Judson
@Josie: Dignity, always dignity.
stinger
I feel better about my mistakes every day of the week when I recall that I am not a member of this evil incompetent lawbreaking ignorant bumbling administration, nor one of the true believers or American Boaty McBoatface Brexiteers who voted for it.
trollhattan
Mayor Pete doing things that need doing. And no, I never heard of Andrew Shultz either.
Is Mayor Pete “too smart for America”? Options differ.
https://digbysblog.net/2025/04/24/buttigieg/
prostratedragon
That cat has urgent questions to ask of that bag.
@Baud: I noticed. Careful out there, everyone.
catclub
We had a kitten that got her head stuck in one of those cubic tissue boxes.
Very amusing.
Amazingly she backed her way into the perfect space between a wall and a bookcase that the box would not go, but she could, to pull out of it.
prostratedragon
@Rose Judson: Isn’t that Jean Hagen with him? Makes it even better.
Old School
@Baud: My guess is voodoo dolls, but I haven’t fully worked out who it is that has them.
Baud
@Old School:
Probably TBone.
Gin & Tonic
As a former NYC-er, with two children now living in NYC, I can say that “congestion pricing” has been an immediate, obvious and wildly popular success. One of those government initiatives that did exactly what it was intended to do, better than expected.
Josie
@Baud: You made me laugh out loud. The corgi has questions.
Gin & Tonic
OT, and apologies for the Twitter link, but here’s commentary on Ukraine’s implementation of the Patriot missile system:
Short video at the link, worth watching.
WTFGhost
@Baud: Someone told them that physicists are smart, and they like to work in a frictionless vacuum. So they went to Hoover, walked into the enormous meeting room shaped like a cannister vac, removed all friction, and…
…well, “and, this frictionless stuff wasn’t the smart part of physicists,” they decided.
They tried the same thing, a year or so back, in space, and somehow mucked up a rocket ship’s boosters, so a couple astronauts had to hang out until this past February, so, *I* think it’s time they stop.
WTFGhost
@Gin & Tonic: Seriously, did Trump fire everyone who was telling him that Ukraine was some of the best military spending possible, we give Russia a bloody nose, and learn a metric boatload, plus a long phuqueton, about modern warfare?
@Old School: As if I would know anything about voodoo dolls! Nice try, my friend!
UncleEbeneezer
Well I finally pulled the trigger on replacing one of the guitars (and some effects pedals) that I lost in the fire. Not the same guitar I had but one that is similar. It’s a Guild Starfire in California-burst finish! The effects pedals are a Rotary/Leslie effect and a Tremolo/Reverb pedal. It should be delivered next week and I’m very excited. Then I just need to find or more likely start my own band.
In other moving-on news, my wife bought an old Volvo station-wagon for us to have a second car. She LOVES Volvos and has been craving one since her old one died circa 2012. She’s super-thrilled to own one again. And it seems like it’s in good condition and the couple who sold it to us were very cool.
WaterGirl
@UncleEbeneezer: I am sad that Amir is not here to talk guitars with you.
Betty Cracker
I wiped out a few weeks ago while helping Bill move a refrigerator, bashing my head, shoulder and knee on a concrete floor. My head and knee are okay, but my shoulder still hurts. Man, we are a bunch of klutzes around here!
indycat32
Rose, I’ve been meaning to ask. You said Monty came with the house, so was he a gift with purchase? or did he decide he liked you better than the previous occupants?
thruppence
A few weeks ago I tried to step over one of the dogs who helpfully jumped up at that moment to trip me. Fell, caught myself on my left arm and messed that shoulder up good. I’ve finally got most of my range of motion back, but that shoulder is WEAK. Gonna have to up my improvised rehab exercises considerably
I suppose we’re all getting texts that Trump is planning to sign an order against ActBlue. I think it’s spam, the link doesn’t go to ActBlue’s site. Does anybody know anything about this?
Sister Golden Bear
@UncleEbeneezer: Pretty! Years ago I once had a Guild Starfire 12 string with the tobacco sunset finish.
TONYG
The incompetence of this administration is its only positive attribute.
Professor Bigfoot
@Gin & Tonic: Coach Dumbass wasn’t expecting that answer, was he?
“Depend upon it sir, when a man knows there are people trying to kill him and his family, it concentrates the mind wonderfully.” -with apologies to Samuel Johnson
Leto
@UncleEbeneezer: oh man, she’s a beaut; hope you two have a long career together! Also awesome news for the wife as well.
CarolPW
@UncleEbeneezer: In a fire-related personal question that you are free to not answer – do you guys do Christmas with a tree, and did you lose your ornaments, and would you want some really nice ones for replacements (including a sphinx with tits). If so, I would love to send some to you.
danielx
You guys have to stop this falling shit, lest you end up having to have rotator cuff surgery – which I do not recommend. Doc said it would be a year before it was completely healed and so it turned out.
Professor Bigfoot
@UncleEbeneezer: That’s mighty pretty right there– good on you; may you spend many years making music with that beauty.
lowtechcyclist
@UncleEbeneezer:
I was wondering last night how things were coming along for you in your post-fire life. Sounds like things are coming together, bit by bit. 🙂
Dorothy A. Winsor
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/24/2318529/-Team-Trump-is-making-a-list-of-Jews-what-could-go-wrong?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
Not that Cole was going to invite me (at least if he still has a few shreds of sanity left) but I hereby 😁 decline in advance any requests to be a front-pager!
WTFGhost
@Leto: So, UncleEbeneezer has a new partner, and there’s good news for the wife, to boot? Do tell…
@CarolPW: Okay, okay, I give up on “sphinx with tits,” Leto, CarolPW, you can stop with the dishing.
WV Blondie
Just got an email update from the FTFNYT that the DOT has removed (fired?) its lawyers that accidentally included that memo about the flawed strategy to fight the NYC congestion pricing plan. I’d include a link but I’m a former subscriber, not current – they send me brief alerts trying to entice me to resubscribe.
Sister Golden Bear
In other slipping news, I learned that Lisbon’s hilly terrain and cobblestone streets are responsible for a lot of hip replacements among the elderly. 😱
But seriously, moving there is definitely looking doable—and would make a lot of financial sense if I can’t find work in my field (even if safety wasn’t a concern). Haven’t made a final decision yet , but it looks probable.
The emotional changes I’m going through are interesting. Last week I was really distraught about leaving the Bay Area, especially my house which I’d finally remodeled and refurnished to get it the way I wanted. I’ve thought about renting it out to leave the door open to returning some day, because if I sell I won’t be able to afford to live here again. But there’s logistical challenges, plus major tax issues if I sell the house while I’m a tax resident of Portugal. Now I’m starting to feel like: ya know it’s just stuff. Bit of an odd feeling.
Josie
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Reminds me of RFK, Jr’s plan to set up a registry of people on the spectrum. Gives me cold chills.
Rose Judson
@indycat32: He was sort of a gift with purchase! My former landlords had got a puppy, and Monty and his late colleague Lola did not get on with the dog. So I adopted the cats when I signed the lease.
prostratedragon
@Dorothy A. Winsor: We hit this ladt thread, yoo. Glad to see word of it spreading.
The current college president came from the deanship of UF Law, where some issues apparently arose:
The official college biography of the president makes no mention of Florida, only of her Harvard credentials from, you know, before she was in the professional world. Last year she received large majority votes of No Confidence from the AAUP chapter and from the faculty at large.
lowtechcyclist
@WV Blondie:
“We apologise for the fault with the
subtitlesmemo delivery. Those responsible have been sacked.”Emily B.
@WV Blondie: Gift link to the FTFNYT story on the replacement of the three AUSAs.
UncleEbeneezer
@lowtechcyclist: Thanks. All in all, we are doing pretty well. I’m working a lot and meeting lots of people through tennis. Figuring out what I wanna do musically so I can start trying to assemble some good/interested musicians in the Fall when I’ll have more bandwidth. PTSD and grieving are still rough (and unpredictable) but aside from that we are both very happy.
UncleEbeneezer
@Professor Bigfoot: Thank you. The finish/color was a big factor and when I heard it in videos and saw pretty solid reviews it was a done deal. Unlike the drum kit where I went back and forth over several possibilities, this was a quick/easy decision.
narya
@lowtechcyclist: Next thing you know, those responsible for the sacking will be sacked.
Jackie
In other unsurprising news:
FFOTUS is great for fraudsters and white collar criminals. Bob Menendez and his arm candy wife are surely already plotting their life after pardons.
GRRRRR
catclub
Not real insiders like Hegseth and the guy who set up the signalgate chat.
WTFGhost
@Josie: one thing about RFK-JR is the need to think like a criminal.
A registry of folks on the spectrum might rapidly reduce new cases of spectrum-related disorders, because people would be afraid to be added to the registry (or for their kids to be so added).
A registry of Jews is a bit weird, but I suspect the goal is to find creative uses of claims of antisemitism. I hope no one of Jewish descent believes that it will only be used for reasonable purposes; eventually, it will be a way to punish Jews who aren’t supporting the claims of antisemitism.
catclub
@narya:
However, responsibility only goes so far up the chain.
Trump Hired Bondi.
WTFGhost
@UncleEbeneezer: Glad to hear you’re doing well – I don’t know the details, but “grieving and PTSD” Is enough rough passage that I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, so here’s hoping for ever-improving situations for you. I’m glad (given the challenges) that you have thoughts, and hopes, and plans, for the future – those are all *great* to help weathering the storm… and sometimes, they’re the hardest thing to do, when the storm is raging.
gene108
Republicans really hate any attempt at conservation, pollution reduction, and mass transit. The DOT beef with the MTA fits into this pattern.
Last year the Republican House voted to make it harder for the Department of Energy to require appliances to be energy efficient. Republicans freaked out over the move to replace incandescent light bulbs with LED’s.
It’s just another part of Republican weirdness.
RedDirtGirl
@trollhattan: Not the point, but he looks good with that beard!
Belafon
@gene108: “You can’t tell me what to do. You can’t tell me I can’t buy that.”
Professor Bigfoot
@WTFGhost: My understanding (and I’ve been castigated for mentioning this on this very blog) is that Jews, knowledgable of their history over the last millennium, know that they are always on the menu; no matter what group a regime announces it will oppress, Jews know they’ll be added to the list sooner or later.
Betty
@Gin & Tonic: Trump and company will never acknowledge the benefits the US gained from assisting Ukraine.
Professor Bigfoot
@gene108: “Everything is a conspiracy theory if you don’t understand how things work.”
EVERYTHING is a nefarious scheme to separate hard working Americans from their hard-earned dollars, to conservatives. Except, of course their own pastors and their conservative “influencers” who manage to make serious bank off of them but, well, that’s gonna happen with a lot of people who don’t understand how anything works.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: I’ve notified OSHA and have a team of otherwise useless first years researching the West Midlands equivalent.
@WaterGirl: and, sadly, there is no one else here interested in guitars…but yes we all miss Amir. He was great.
@CarolPW: and Balloon Juice After Dark (Camp Edition) arrives early tonight!
JML
@Jackie: really sticking up for law enforcement there.
guess it’s too important to cops to be able to beat down anyone they want…
Steve in the ATL
@gene108: do you really want to render Easy-Bake Ovens useless?
HopefullyNotcassandra
I do not believe this president has created a very good work environment for anybody, anywhere at anytime
ColoradoGuy
A registry of autistic folks and Jews. Hoo boy. The target state is not Hungary, but something way darker.
And T**** clearly wants the USA to look like North Korea, with a hereditary dynasty, nonstop propaganda from all channels, a closed “Juche” economy, a gulag of slave-labor camps, enormous military parades, and Washington DC becoming Pyongyang.
Jay
@Betty
Photo in link,
https://nitter.poast.org/Gerashchenko_en/status/1915490454914892132#m
The billboard says:
Ever heard of Riga, Tallinn, or Vilnius?
If we abandon Kyiv, you will
And this is an ad by the Telegraph newspaper.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@thruppence:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/24/politics/actblue-trump-memo-doj-probe/index.html
absolute b.s. from the party of foreign donations
trollhattan
@ColoradoGuy:
If Trump demands a 4th of July Arirang in his honor, I’m going to be pretty darn suspicious believe you me.
trollhattan
@Jay:
That would whistle right over American heads, which is partly why its so awesome.
JML
Hmm. this is a fairly significant strategic change: https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/04/24/repub/national-dems-to-deliver-more-than-1m-a-month-to-state-parties/
You’d be surprised at what you can do with an extra $5-10K in the budget every month. especially for poorly funded state parties.
trollhattan
TaterTown headed back to ‘Bammie? Y’all are welcome to him.
Harrison Wesley
@trollhattan: Why doesn’t he run in Florida? That’s where he actually lives.
Baud
@JML:
It’s an increase in funding, but how many new they already had a state fund?
Baud
Rapist thought process
Captain C
@trollhattan: I would be happily surprised, but perhaps things will be such that Alabama will then put Doug Jones back in the Senate. Hey, a guy can dream.
Bupalos
@Jay: It should say “if we abandon Kharkiv”
Jackie
@Harrison Wesley:
FFOTUS has already endorsed mega MAGAt Donalds.
I know you’re snarking.
Baud
These people are awesome.
Ken B
@trollhattan: So if Tuberville carries through on that notion, then Florida will have to limp along with two useless Senators instead of the three they have now?
Jay
@Baud:
Tendar did the math in January. An average Ukrainian garden snail, moving at top speed, day and night, could make it from the current front lines to the Polish Border in 48 days.
The ruZZian military, at it’s current rate of progress, could make from the current front lines, to the Polish Border, in 268 years.
Elect a clown, get a circus.
trollhattan
@Baud:
Goddamn that’s just {chef’s kiss}.
The only positive thing Rudy ever accomplished was giving these folks a spotlight.
dm
@JML: I heard an interview with Ken Martin during the DNC chair selection. The fact that he beat Ben Wikler didn’t bother me too much after that interview — he seemed cut from the same cloth.
He talked about building up the state parties. I especially like the fact that they’re giving parties in red states more, and sponsoring training boot camps.
cain
They are announcing 20k people layoffs tomorrow. Should be fun.
Doc Sardonic
@Steve in the ATL: Counsel is assuming facts not in evidence. I have been playing guitar off and on for 50+ years.
Jay
@Ken B:
Tuberville is a ‘Bama Senator,
His nym recognition is in ‘Bama from his time there as a footsball coach.
The snark is that he has a home just across the “Bama border in Floriduh! where he seems to spend most of his time.
Baud
@dm:
Yeah. I like hearing about organizing.
Jay
@cain:
Whom is the “they”? Boeing?
Spanky
@trollhattan: Fake news. Tommie Tater has no mind that he can make up.
trollhattan
Welp, Miller just called the entire SCOTUS a bunch of commies. I’m sure Alito will just be “bygones” on that one.
https://digbysblog.net/2025/04/24/miller-has-lost-his-mind/
trollhattan
@Spanky:
Heh, well, there’s still his Scrooge McDuck swimming pool to fill with cash. I doubt Tommy has Venmo.
CHETAN MURTHY
I’m 100% there with you. I also was distraught back in November. Like, tears-in-my-eyes-talking-to-my-doctor distraught. More calm now, getting close to pulling the trigger on the visa process, flying to Europe to check out places to live. Still not there, but closer, a lot closer.
trollhattan
I remember the good old days of N days ago when this dude was totally outta here.
They make it sound so dirty.
Spanky
@trollhattan: I suspect he has offshore accounts that someone set up for him that he has no idea how to access.
Geminid
@Spanky: I just saw a report that Tuberville says not so fast, that he and and his wife are still praying over the decision whether to run for governor. There are probably 99 other U.S. Senators praying about it too.
Jackie
@Baud: LOLOL!
Omnes Omnibus
@Doc Sardonic: Dude, you took something Steve in the WTF wrote seriously? Prenez un grip.
Captain C
@trollhattan: Alito: “We’re not commies! We’re Grand Inquisitors!”
ETA: I’m not sure Miller had a mind to begin with. Just an ugly lump above his neck where he keeps his hateful thoughts.
Steve in the ATL
@Doc Sardonic: I was being sarcastic. Have you missed the posts about my ’57 Strat? So what is your preferred axe?
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: weird–your nym is showing up as “Omnes Omnibus” rather than “Anti-Christ”. Maybe I need to update.
Josie
@trollhattan: There is a reason why that man works mostly behind the scenes for the administration. He is extraordinarily repulsive.
Geminid
@Sister Golden Bear: One thing nice about Portugal is they are very far along with renewable energy. They started building up their hydro-electricity in the 1970s, after the Oil Crisis. Then in this century they’ve built a lot wind farms and more recently invested photovoltaic capacity and battery storage.
Now Portugal is trying to rebuild its population. A lot of Portuguese left over the 20th century because the place was so poor.
Citizen Alan
@gene108: Remember when conservative radio hosts (and, IIRC, Michele Bachman) urged people to protest the new efficient lightbulb regulations by intentionally leaving all their lights on at all times, thereby driving their own electricity bills higher just to own the liberals.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Many are my names.
Anne Laurie
@Baud: April is the cruelest month.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Rose Judson: I love Singing in the Rain! The vaudeville routine they do after that intro is amazing.
sab
@Omnes Omnibus: Especially in Latin.
sab
@Geminid: @Sister Golden Bear:
My sister is about to be forcibly retired from a Swiss pharmaceutical that ten years ago wanted to clone her. Sent her to Switzerland to train the locals on how to deal with Asian employee scientists.
US people got to be too expensive, so they were seriously looking at Portugal, especially since the Ukraine invasion made them bail on using Russians. It didn’t work out in Portugal but that was just them (the Swiss company, not Portugal.)
So Portugal is a place other companies around the world are looking at.
So Portugal is a place where tech people
Steve in the ATL
@sab: used to hunt deer and turkey at a friend’s lodge in SW Alabama. At night the only light was from the nearby Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) plant, where they stored a bunch of chemicals in a former salt mine. Not sure what chemicals they stored there, but after eating my game I always noticed my clinical depression abating!
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: That might just have been the memory of your kills, you monster.
brantl
I don’t see why anybody expects A-list quality out of all of his hires when he’s a B-list president?
UncleEbeneezer
@WTFGhost: Short version: we lost our home and everything we owned in the Eaton Canyon Fire. Fortunately, we had renters insurance, had been wanting to move for awhile and a great job opportunity opened up for me so we moved to Taos, NM. We love it here and already knew some good friends (including a guy who knows ALL the musicians) so we are creating a great new life. But the PTSD from the fire is real and gets triggered by the winds that we have regularly have here and grieving takes time. But honestly we consider ourselves lucky because the homeowners who are still back in Altadena are going through so much worse with lead and asbestos everywhere, permitting hell for rebuilding and living in what looks like an apocalyptic wasteland that was once our beloved city. We were fortunate in many ways.
brantl
@Professor Bigfoot: Please, pull that righteous stick out of your ass.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: meat is murder!
frosty
@Doc Sardonic: As have I. I wish I could say I was playing guitar well, but I’m still waiting for that stroke of lightning.
Lately I’ve picked up the harmonica so that I can accompany myself badly, too!
Upside: Less to carry around when traveling.
Steve in the ATL
@frosty: a couple of years ago I was helping a friend (well, a labor and employment lawyer) load up his drums after a gig and I remarked to his wife, “next time, marry the harmonica player!”
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Strangeways, here we come.
Kayla Rudbek
The freaking AI could do a better job of lawyering than these Federalist Society bozos, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/ai-secretly-helped-write-california-bar-exam-sparking-uproar/
Professor Bigfoot
@brantl: Excuse me, but… WTF?
Professor Bigfoot
@Steve in the ATL: OOOhhh– I have a ’68 Les Paul Gold Top Deluxe that I bought in a Seattle pawn shop sometime in 1981.
Beat up as heck, you can tell it was a working musician’s axe; but I’ve always believed that gave it a “soul,” if you will.
Steve in the ATL
@Professor Bigfoot: totally agree–a guitar should be played and should show some wear. Otherwise, you’re just some asshole collector. Mine cries out to be played!
Doc Sardonic
@Omnes Omnibus: I also was being mildly sarcastic, but since the comment was not dripping with it I’ll not offer the customary towel. Have a washcloth
Doc Sardonic
@Steve in the ATL: More than likely…..I am not around as much as I used to be. My current favorite which is currently awaiting some minor hot rod treatment is a Schecter Reaper 6.
StringOnAStick
Headed to Portland Monday to trade in a couple of instruments that aren’t for me so I can buy my first guitar; I’ve decided that though I’m a skilled ukulele player, the instrument is just too limited in range. I’m my husband’s rhythm accompanist for gypsy jazz guitar, and I really need a stronger voice. No time like now to move forward!
Marc
@CHETAN MURTHY: I have one word for you: “Finland”. Don’t laugh, winter weather along the southern coast is not as bad as one might think, summer is great, they have a good size tech scene, the people are nice, they all speak English, are more than willing to get along with anyone who can deal with their coffee and odd food (lots of decent Indian food, though). We’d be heading there by now, if my wife wasn’t worried about being quite that close to the Russian Front.
Manyakitty
@Marc: Finland is a strong possibility. Probably time to start making a serious plan.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Doc Sardonic:
I’ve been messing with guitars for just a bit more than that, I just don’t talk too much about them because most people don’t care…lol! Congrats to UncleEb on his joining the Guild. ;) Beautiful guitar, enjoy making music with it!
I am also a self-taught luthier and worked in a instrument repair shop for a summer many years ago. I do it all, body repairs, paint/refinish, repair neck/new frets, electronics and hardware. I’ve repaired and maintained my wife’s violins, acoustic & electric guitars (mine & family/friends) and a couple of mandolins for friends. All informally, not as a business. Just something fun I love to do when I have the time.
I’m glad that life is getting better for you and your wife, Uncle Eb!
Miss Bianca
@Steve in the ATL: I’m interested in guitars!