An item for the “what we can do now” file — I think direct actions in public by ordinary citizens are good for morale and potentially effective as an opposition tool:
HE GETS BRIBES
WE GET SCREWEDYesterday on the 94
— LOLGOP (@thefarce.org) May 24, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Bonus points for the simple language.
Looking forward to the June 14th “No Kings” protests. (You can find one near you here.)
We talked about what could be called “guerilla politicking” a little the other day. I’m currently putting together a flyer on the impact of Trump regime cuts to the NIH and will include specific data about funding yanked from the research university whose personnel are treating me and thousands of others at a facility I visit every few weeks. Will post flyers in parking garage stairwells and elevators, restroom stalls and anywhere else I can find that seems reasonable.
Saw an article the other day related to this topic. Can’t remember where I read it or who wrote it, but the gist was that several factors combined to disconnect people from meat space social affiliations that used to influence how they perceive politics. Factors the writer cited include decreasing union membership, decline in church attendance, more time spent on devices, enforced isolation of the peak COVID era, etc.
The author suggested that county-level party organizations and other groups that are aligned politically with Democrats should do more not-overtly-political outreach, like hold potlucks and sponsor food banks, etc., to create/strengthen social bonds. Have block parties even. I’ve heard worse ideas.
***
It’s a hot day (mid-90s) here, and a while ago, a caravan of kayaks passed by. The river is super shallow right now because we had a drought after the flood, and adults and children were jumping out of their vessels to cool off in the water.
This morning, I saw an 11-foot alligator in about that same spot. I thought about yelling from the porch: “There’s huge gators in there, bro!” But they were far off and noisy and would have probably dismissed me as a nutty old swamp witch if they did hear me. So I said nothing.
Hmm. Maybe I should post a “There’s huge gators in there, bro!” flyer on the mile marker in the river and at the nearby boat launches. The dangers are not dissimilar.
Open thread!
New Angel Match for the PA Supreme Court Effort by The Civics Center
bbleh
Social events good. Also organizing around LOCAL or state-level political events, which occur more often and/or off-cycle and can be more accessible/immediate for people. Those organizations then persist into national cycles, and you’re not starting from scratch when a national election comes around. This is something Republicans do better than Dems.
No One of Consequence
Anyone else remember Freeway Pundit from the DKOS days? Loved a bunch of those.
My favorite was the images of
Saddam Hussein + Osama Bin Laden = The Easter Bunny
Loved that one.
-NOoC
Kelly
Monday thru Friday I went camping on the Deschutes with a couple rafting buddies. We’ve been camping together since 1981. We’re all 69. One of the guys 34 year old son came along. Nice weather 60’s and 70’s daytime 40’s at night. A rainstorm one night. NO WIND while rowing although stuff blew over at camp a few times. Rowing is still fun. Loading boats is getting harder. Camping in the sagebrush is getting harder. Probably next year will be the last raft camping trip.
https://bsky.app/profile/northsantiam.bsky.social/post/3lpwqazmun22n
Betty Cracker
@Kelly: Sounds like fun! It’s wonderful to have a long-time friend group like that.
I have an uncle who recently turned 80, and he’s a lifelong wilderness guy — hiking, canoe trips, fishing trips in the Alaska wild, etc. He’s slowed down some, but he’s still getting out there. Usually day trips now instead of lengthier excursions in the woods.
My dad, an avid fisherman and boater of similar vintage to my uncle, is too, as best he can. My takeaway is it’s important to keep at the things that bring joy.
SpaceUnit
Gators gotta eat too.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@No One of Consequence:
I remember him well and he went at it for a looooong time.
Basically laid down the template for doing it.
Kelly
@Betty Cracker: We’ll keep doing day trips. Rowing is good excersize.
Baud
Food is key to everything.
Marc
During the 70s and 80s a lot of my friends in the Boston area were into culture jamming using experimental art to subvert hyper-capitalism. Posters, newsletters, phone hacking, graffiti, video art, computer hacking (that’s where I came in) were all in the mix.
Which is why I seem to be playing with machine jamming at home, in this case two servers equipped with lots of memory, state of the art GPUs and open source “AI” tools. One is dedicated to text-based models (text to text, data to text, text to code), the other to image/video models (text to image, image to video, video to video). Nowhere near as fast as a paid online service, but fast enough and everything stays in the home network aside from external queries.
I wonder if there are forms of useful political jamming that could be implemented? In a sense, isn’t that precisely what DOGE is doing with a lot more resources?
WTFGhost
That’s actually a great idea; it’s one of the things they suggest to overtly lonely men to find women: stop *looking* and engage. Meet with people, and be friendly, and helpful. People learn to appreciate the real you.
Heh heh – it doesn’t work when you’re in constant pain, and constantly exhausted, but, now that I know I’m both of those things, I see why it didn’t work for *me*, and yet, understand why it might work for others.
Because the point isn’t “how do I meet women?” but “how do I meet and engage with *people*, some of whom would be women, and some of whom might be single. (And some of whom may have single friends, etc..)”
Here, it’s exactly the same thing. You don’t want to meet Democrats and Liberals and whatever the fuck we call ourselves; you want to meet people, engage with people, some of whom will be persuadable, and eager to help.
Another Scott
Good idea!
Humble suggestion for the folks doing this – 1) Send out notices and invites much earlier than the morning of the day of the event. :-/ 2) Don’t schedule them for 4:00 – 5:00 in the afternoon on a week day. :-/
Maybe it’s because I don’t check my e-mail often enough, and because I almost never give out my cell number, but it seems like many / most of the good political / civics groups (and candidates) that have things like this in NoVA give almost no e-mail notice that they are happening, and/or they’re scheduled for late afternoon on a week day. Sure, it’s weird here in NoVA where rush hour is about 5-6 hours in the morning and 5-6 hours in the afternoon/evening, but if you want more than retired folks to attend then you need to have things at a realistic time for people to come after work.
[/kvetching]
Glory to the folks doing the outreach in the trenches. You’re doing important work.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Nukular Biskits
Just finished cutting grass. Really humid here today, temp around 82 due to T-storms in the area cooling things off a little.
Betty Cracker
@Another Scott: Posting meat space ads via flyers or posters or something might be helpful to promote such events as well. I am reasonably plugged in to political groups in my area, but I get bombarded with so much crap via email that much of it goes to the spam folder, and I won’t necessarily see that kind of outreach in time.
Also, as mentioned in a previous thread where flyers came up, there’s something old school-subversive and appealing about them in the age of chatbots and AI slop. A person printed that out and put it up
@WTFGhost: Good point — same principles apply.
WaterGirl
I literally laughed out loud.
Ten Bears
Naaaahhhhh, let ’em find out for themselves …
WTFGhost
Alternately, you could post a sign with a gator, and “LIEBERALS say that I’m DANGEROUS!” and… no, wait, you’re trying not to take pleasure in the bad consequences to foolish people. Never mind!
Chetan Murthy
@No One of Consequence: i remember the freeway pundit would always point out that hanging signs on freeway overpasses was a protected First Amendment activity.
WaterGirl
@No One of Consequence:
Can someone explain that to me? I have read it 5 times and I still don’t get it.
Baud
@WTFGhost:
Liar!
Dan B
In Costa Rica there’s a bridge over the Tarcoles River near the ocean where people get out of their cars to look at the 14 foot crocodiles. There are usually a half dozen or more. Chilling.
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
That’s not advisable. Ever hear of Marie Laveau?
ETA: Bobby Bare: Marie Laveau
Craig
Here’s some politicking my friend sent me. Don’t know how this link might present. Standing with The Empire
sab
@Another Scott: Part of that these days is for security. There are lots of crazies out there.
My congressperson gives lots of advance notice, but she wants an RSVP and then sends a message with the place the morning before.
WaterGirl
@Nukular Biskits: Not saying there aren’t nutty old swamp witches, but the idea that someone would think that about Betty Cracker was too funny!
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
Joy is better than no joy, as long as that joy does not come at the expense of someone else. And OH YES, there are some that take joy at the expense/pain of others.
I’m not all that far from 80 and my doc at the VA once told me, not all that long ago, as he had me walk down the hallway – “Slow the FUCK down.” I started laughing and turned around so I’d be laughing at him and there was a nurse on each side of him walking down the hallway. They weren’t laughing. I may have told this story here before but it is one of my all time favorites involving swear words. But it also has reminded me that as we age we do not have the wherewithal as we age to act and be what we were/might have been 20-40 years ago. It’s called aging, some used to call it aging out, but the out part is unnecessary. And a tad disturbing as one gets into the upper reaches of this aging thing.
Nukular Biskits
@WaterGirl:
Maybe that’s what she wants us to think!!!!!!
Ruckus
@Baud:
You have to at least attempt to met them halfway…..
Nukular Biskits
@Ruckus:
Gators?
Trivia Man
I think overpass signs are underrated. Fantastic visibility, proven legal in courts (either some reasonable exceptions), accessible to the mobility challenged, and easy instant feedback from waves and honks. A guy called the Freeway Blogger has hundreds of photos over the last 20 years and helpful How To instructions.
Baud
@Ruckus:
They keep pulling the car away when I get close.
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: I aspire to a title like that. Nutty old condo witch just doesn’t have the same cachet =-)
Trivia Man
http://Www.Freewayblogger.com
Apparently retired but the site is still live with examples and instructions.
Another Scott
@Craig: [ snort! ]
Well done.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
The Lodger
@Dan B: With 14 foot crocodiles, who needs an army?
Timill
@Chetan Murthy: Not so sure about this
RandomMonster
I just learned there’s a weekly Baltimore Sign Waves event happening in my neighborhood and it’s about one block from my house. So I signed up to go wave signs on the street corner every week. Hoping to meet some like minded neighbors.
Ruckus
@Nukular Biskits:
Sure!
Ruckus
@Baud:
Can you blame them?
Another Scott
@Timill: I remember reading about that years ago. The guy did an amazing job.
Highway signs are so important and it takes a lot of work to really get them right for visitors to an area. I felt they were horrible her in NoVA when I got here mumble decades ago. There have been big improvements, but there are still stretches of the Beltway where arrows don’t like up with the lanes, or the arrows point to the wrong lanes, etc.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Jeffro
great bumper sticker slogan!
I may have to get that one printed up myself!
Baud
@Ruckus:
No.
Dan B
@The Lodger: Where we stayed in Manuel Antonio there was a lagoon in front with a crocodile. When it got big enough (10 feet) to eat dogs a ranger would get one of thecl residents to help him catch it.
BlueGuitarist
thanks BC and
@Trivia Man:
@RandomMonster:
just the push I need to go meet the folks doing the visibility events at an overpass not too far away.
I think freeway blogger is who NOoC meant by freeway pundit at Dkos
@No One of Consequence:
Ruckus
On the late night thread 4-6 posts back I said a modern US Army tank weighed 68,000 lbs.
I was wrong. It weighs 68 TONS, or about 136,000 lbs, just a tad more than a fully loaded semi truck……
Ruckus
@Baud:
Didn’t think so……
BlueGuitarist
In addition to the June 14 no kings protest events there are also
protest events Friday June 6, Unite for Veterans, Unite for America
Many local events plus one in Washington, DC at 2 pm,
National Mall, featuring Dropkick Murphys
BlueGuitarist
@Nukular Biskits:
between your reference to Bobby Bare and noticing
Dropkick Murphys at the DDay Unite for Veterans event:
Bobby Bare, Dropkick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life feels obligatory:
https://youtu.be/SO5Y1OuQIxo?si=VLrx1gthMee85w69
No One of Consequence
@Marc: The Church of Bob and culture jamming really fell off after 9/11. That shit could end one up on a terrorist watch list or worse.
That said, Fnord.
Some of my best thoughts would be lost on the the intended audience. For example: go to a friendly town hall in a Red State. Start really going to town on Freedom of Religion, really working the Protestant vs. Catholic angle, fold in the common ties to Judaism, extend out to note that Islam (to my understanding, could be wrong here) does not deny the 40 tribes origin. Mix in some healthy respect for Hinduism and the seemingly endless array of beliefs contained within that one system. Really start stretching it to try to rope in the agnostic and the atheist, if not with understanding, then with respect of their own Beliefs and Right to Make Up Their Own Minds.
Then, once everyone’s in a lather, come clean and admit that you are there to promote Donald J. Trump as your religion’s embodiment of the Divine Principles. That he stands as The Messianic Figure of your faith. That his deeds are unto legend and myth, and his presence unto the Most Holy.
And the Red Hats that are still with you at that point, nodding vigorously and righteously with the Hell Yeahs, should find their brains begin to melt when you start passing around the signup for the New Satanist’s Orange Church of Greed.
Remind them then, of the words of Jesus (reportedly), and the sheer multitudes of Rich who will surely enter the Gates of Heaven.
Me? I for one have been Touched by His Noodly Appendage, and to describe the FSM, is to limit it.
Ramen.
-NOoC
No One of Consequence
@WaterGirl: Scanning through the replies here, so maybe someone else already addressed. If so, apologies.
This particular missif was three images in black and white:
X + X = X
and the left was a picture of Saddam. The middle was Osama Bid Laden, and the last was the Easter Bunny.
At the time, the W. Admin was trying to connect Osama to Saddam in order to justify the Iraq invasion. Saddam was notoriously secularist repressing too much religious power in his country, and Osama was quite the opposite, essentially wanting a Jihad against The West (but I always thought it was basically Islam vs. the rest of the planet in Osama’s mind).
It was the Freeway Blogger’s way of conveying: their current rationale is bullshit.
Another famous one was: The War Is A Lie, and You Know It.
Hope this helps. I can try to find links, if you want.
-NOoC
No One of Consequence
@WaterGirl: Shame on me, with this being full service blog and all:
http://www.freewayblogger.com/index_files/o_plus_s_e_bunny.jpg
-NOoC
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: & @Nukular Biskits: Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I see my mean old cracker granny, who used to shoot rattlesnakes and hang them on her fence as a warning to other snakes. So maybe that’s my fate. I’m okay with it.
Comrade Colette
@BettyCracker: I wonder if it was this one, in The Atlantic?
Betty Cracker
@Comrade Colette: Wasn’t that one; IIRC, the writer had an explicitly Dem partisan POV, which The Atlantic regards as unseemly. But some of the points it made are similar.
mrmoshpotato
@SpaceUnit:
I wonder if they think human tastes like chicken.
Marc
@No One of Consequence: The Church of the SubGenius was just one parody in a virtual sea of culture jams, most of which were never visible outside of the NYC, SF, and Boston art scenes. I guess it’s difficult to create appropriately confusing parody in a timeline with 9/11 and Donald Trump as President twice. Some AI infused artistic weirdness will come out of this. The 70s also produced Survival Research Labs, maybe that is a more appropriate cultural metaphor for these times.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: Ha!
I have to agree, though, that it’s the whole package that makes it so awesome. Swamp witch > condo witch. :-)
WaterGirl
@Craig: That was great!
WaterGirl
@No One of Consequence: That helps tremendously!
Thank you!
edit: The visual makes it makes sense.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: All your mom and granny stories have been great, so maybe that’s something to aspire to. :-)
edit: dead thread, I see. It’s been a long time since I have had multiple comments on a dead thread.
Timill
@WaterGirl: It’s not dead, it’s resting…
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I ran into a good article in the Jerusalem Post today, a book review of Pamela Toler’s The Dragon From Chicago: the Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany.
The subject is Chicago Tribune reporter Sigrid Schultz, whom Herman Goering branded “that dragon from Chicago” for her tough reporting on the Nazis.
The article tells of a confrontation Schultz and Goering had at a gala reception celebrating the Reichmarshal’s second marriage. I thought you and the other Chigoaons here would appreciate what Goering told the feisty reporter:
It sounds like a good book. Sigrid Schultz was one of the rare women working in “serious” journalism at the time. The Tribune first hired her as an interpreter because she spoke several European languages fluently.
Schultz ended up reporting on their Central European beat from 1925 until December, 1941, when she and the other American journalists were expelled from Berlin. After the war, Schultz returned to Germany to report in the Nuremburg Trials.
https://m.jpost.com/israel-news-culture/article-855065
I might be able to fix this link if I can find the error. Anyway, looking up “Jerusalem Post Sigrid Schultz” ought to bring the book review up.
The link works now.
Bulgakov
If you do post the warning sign BC, please sign it “nutty old swamp witch”.
No One of Consequence
@Marc:
Admittedly, I don’t claim any comprehensive knowledge. Just that, from Zappa, to early analog phreaking, to the Church of Bob and various weird Zines, to Camus, Persig (sp?), Tim Robbins, the movie Brazil, etc…
Somewhere along the line, I got the feeling that they were all just putting us on. That none of this was serious, and that everything was questionable at best, absurd at worst.
Now, I don’t condone this line of thinking, or development. There is scant little I have to show for all my learned cynicism and skepticism. If it is happiness you seek, my advice is to remain ignorant.
Sheebus, that took a dark turn.
-NOoC
Kayla Rudbek
@Another Scott: I agree with this – I would be happy to do things on the weekends, but it’s difficult to get myself out during the week.
Miss Bianca
@Geminid: oh, I put this one on reserve at the library, sounds like it’s right up my alley!
(Got “So Very Small” on the top of MtToBeRead, right now, tho.)