Some folks sure are worried about the upcoming No Kings protests:
Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 13, 2025 at 8:22 AM
This flunky too:
Bessent: "No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 13, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Mike Johnson and assorted other GOP congresscritters were peddling the same lie last week. They’re saying the millions of patriotic Americans who are expected to turn out for next Saturday’s No Kings rallies are paid agitators, antifa, Hamas, etc. Fuck that noise.
I was inspired and entertained by Portland protesters’ embrace of humorous costumes to render Noem/Trump’s lies about their city ridiculous.
Heros
— Mack Steele (@macksteele.bsky.social) October 13, 2025 at 10:56 AM
I even thought about acquiring an alligator costume myself for next weekend to pay local tribute to the idea. But the more I think about it, it’s probably better to show up as a white Southern voter who rejects this fascist bullshit. There’s more than one way to find power in the unexpected.
Open thread!
MLB League Championship Series – Oct 13
Sister Golden Bear
I mean if the government isn’t gonna pay them, all the furloughed employees gotta have a side-hustle for those sweet, sweet Soros bucks, amirite.
XeckyGilchrist
I keep wondering if ICE’s beloved pepper balls would bounce off those costumes.
geg6
Same, Betty, same.
My sign says “Release the Epstein files. Stop protecting pedophiles.”
Ishiyama
If anybody is familiar with the anime Gosick, the climactic scenes feature a mob dressed in rabbit masks.
trollhattan
Remember egg prices? Seems so 2024.
Moo, Donny, moo.
Betty Cracker
@geg6: That’s good sign content. Still deciding what to put on mine. 🤔
bbleh
They’re trying to compensate for their lack of smarts with sheer doggedness.
It’ll work on a lot of people too, and not just the True Believers. But these protests get an AWFUL LOT of people, and in my experience they skew VERY middle-America — lotta older folks in particular. ANY experience — in person or via social media or news reports — makes it clear pretty quickly that this ain’t the mob-scene the propagandists are trying to conjure.
tobie
It takes me forever to write signs…and my texts are always too long. But I finished two this weekend for my partner and me. One says: “I’m here to exercise my 1st Amendment rights before we lose them. No Kings.” The other says, “All I want is a gov’t that doesn’t lie, cheat & wage war against us.”
Like BC, I also dreamed of going as an inflatable animal to the rally but figured it would be better to kick in the money for the governor’s race in NJ.
Oct 18 can’t get here fast enough!
dexwood
One of my signs will say – WW2 vets were antifa, too.
WaterGirl
I love the sign in the Heroes tweet.
Frogs together strong, with the two frogs holding hands.
Some good thought went into that sign.
WaterGirl
Take pics to share, everyone!
MattF
And there’s a thread of blaming Soros for funding the protests. Gotta blame the Js.
tobie
@MattF: I looked up Soros’s age the other day. He’s 95. It’s amazing the energy Republicans attribute to him. If he’s that energetic, I want his super-power.
TheOtherHank
My son and I are planning to go to the one if SF at Ocean Beach. Last time they had everyone spell out “No Kings” on the beach and take a picture with a drone.
craigie
My favorite Portland frog-related tweet (or was it Bluesky? What are those texts called anyway?) was
Brilliant.
Suzanne
I want to go this weekend, but I’m not sure if I’m going to. I took the older Spawns to protests when they were elementary-school-age….. but that felt like a hundred years ago and I’m not sure I can keep them safe. Mr. Suzanne has a professional obligation on Saturday and so I have the kiddos.
I don’t know how I feel about this. I will take risks for myself but I feel like the risk level has increased, and I don’t have my emotions sorted out about this.
ETA: Mr. Suzanne and I attended the one earlier in the year and it was perfectly safe. But I feel like ICE is up to some shit.
bbleh
@craigie: OMG it was RIGHT THERE ALL ALONG!
High-larious.
Deputinize America
The more normally-attired, careerist white faces that are seen, the better.
Its a permission structure for normies, and they have to be provided the imagery for adequate buy-in. During the Breonna Taylor protests in 2020, I was absolutely determined to be the sort of middle aged white dude that Trumpists would normally assume was one of their own, and made sure that I followed the lead of younger black activists.
CCL
My firm grasp of the obvious: If they are barking about the protests, then the protests are working.
bbleh
@Suzanne: understandable, and I guess I would be careful if I were somewhere it’s likely there might be a significant presence of, say, apparently-working-class Latino people (whom the SC says it’s perfectly acceptable to arrest ipso facto).
But consider the numbers. The No Kings people expect literally THOUSANDS of protests, small and large, totaling MILLIONS of people, just as there were last time or bigger. ICE is having trouble just recruiting 10,000 people, and that’s with fat bonuses. They just don’t have the numbers. (See also relative comparisons with the SA in Nazi Germany.)
“There is safety in numbers.” I’d say, get out and be counted.
zhena gogolia
@tobie: Of course, Putin hates Soros too, since he tried to promote democracy in Russia/Eastern Europe.
twbrandt
Still waiting for my Soros check from the last No Kings. I guess they are really backed up in payables.
KrackenJack
I was in Portland this weekend for a social event. We drove by the protest on the way to dinner and then stopped by afterward. A lot of people in costumes frogs, chickens, salamanders(?), sharks, Cartman, a polar bear, Sam the Eagle, some guy riding an Alice in Wonderland caterpillar. It was drizzling. We encouraged everyone and chipped in for the water bottles and snacks. They are there 24 X 7. Made me proud to be an American.
Jay
bsky.app/profile/adamkeiper.com/post/3m324ncicas2l
eclare
@craigie:
That is good!
cain
Keep Portland Weird – we are definitely a bunch of weirdos here. The foreign press have started to cover us.
Amazon is out of these costumes and there is a entire organization giving this/selling this to protestors.
We need do this across the nation. We need to make sure that they can’t make any kind of video showing protestors doing anything other having fun.
But we need one more twist. We need everyone to bring their American flags. Let them shoot us with our flags, let the american flag be displayed in the midst of tear gas, let’s “gave proof through the night, that our flag is still there”
Start every protest with star spangled banner, when they start shooting, start singing the star spangled banner. Weaponize every patriotic song out there. Flood internet with the sights and sounds.
MisterForkbeard
@Suzanne: My 10 year old wants to go to one.
There’s a No Kings event nearby in a very dem friendly place in california. I’m taking her this Saturday – I’m also purposefully not signing up for attendance.
Betty Cracker
@Suzanne: Understandable. Even if there’s not a large ICE presence in your area, I think all this antifa, Hamas, domestic terrorists, paid agitators bullshit is meant to create a permission structure for rabid MAGAs to initiate violent confrontations. I’m not going to let those fuckers intimidate me, but I don’t think I’d take kids.
Suzanne
@bbleh:
So that would be, uhhhhhh, my neighborhood. Recent conditions have been far too icey for comfort.
Jay
@Suzanne:
ICE will not be attending the No Kings Events, nor will they be “acting”* at the Superb Owl.
*The will be there, but just as normal security, they will not be making any “enforcement” actions.
Professor Bigfoot
@Jay: That is very well done.
bbleh
@Jay: oh that’s great! (click through on bsky link if embedded link doesn’t work)
Betty Cracker
@MisterForkbeard: I never sign up for attendance. Feel kinda bad about that, but I do not trust the authorities.
Suzanne
@Betty Cracker: I went to one protest some years back — did not take my kids to that one — and it was tense AF for hours. I got there around 5:30 PM. Finally around 9 PM, someone threw a water bottle and the Phoenix PD used that as pretext to teargas, flash bangs, etc. on the whole crowd, which was multiple city blocks of people. I know to walk — not run — away to avoid panic and stampede. And the crowd mostly was well-behaved. It could have been worse, much worse. But I also don’t think I could have managed that safely with a young child.
Ten Bears
I worry about the protests too, just not for the same reason they do
My experience with protesting is recounted elsewhere and need not be recounted again. I still think it counter-productive ~ their invitation to trouble ~ but like naked bike-rides I can see where critical mass can be achieved. And I recall it wasn’t hippies that ended my generations’ war, it was middle-class parents pissed their kids were being sent to slaughter
The Anarchists are Agents Provocateurs …
cmorenc
If you hold back from going to a NK rally because you are afraid ICE/ NG/ RW infiltrators might make it unsafe to go, that is exactly the intimidation effect the Trump Administration is hoping for. When you are trying to oppose an active fascist attempt to take over the country, your intimidation amounts to collaboration by default. Simply coming on a progressive site like BJ and posting how much you dislike Trump and what his admin is doing, you are spouting off in an echo room, not resisting.
AM in NC
@bbleh: One of the things I LOVED about the last No Kings protest was all of the American Flags. It was a PRO-America rally, and the good guys were claiming the flag and the mantle of patriotism against the evil empire.
Hard to make hateful propaganda out of a big group of people all waving American Flags.
Billd
You know who is not funding it? Charlie Kirk.
Baud
@cmorenc:
How about telling other people how they’re doing it wrong? Does that help?
Redshift
The Rev. William Barber had a great essay about all the people who were called “anti-American” or “treasonous” or “communists” who are now considered great Americans. (Not sure if it’s readable without a sign-up, but it’s the best I can do.)
open.substack.com/pub/ourmoralmoment/p/good-company?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=…
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@cmorenc:
+1.
Plus, where many of these are being held, they’re pretty damned white.
And ICE ain’t making its quota arresting/gassing white folks.
Honus
EAIAC I’ve seen mostly grandmothers at no kings events, none of them being paid. OTOH, Chalie Kirk paid to bus thousands of protesters to the January 6 riot.
MattF
@Honus: As usual, every accusation is a confession.
Another Scott
@Suzanne: Stay safe and help spread the word. Don’t feel guilty that life gets in the way on a particular day.
Hang in there.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Baud
The frog symbol is especially cool because the fascists used a front as their symbol for a while and now the good guys have appropriated it.
Suzanne
@cmorenc: I’ve made it to double-digit numbers of protests against this fucker, supporting Black Lives Matter, gay marriage, against SB1070, against the Iraq War, and many more. I also have parenting responsibilities.
I will take risks with my own safety — and I have done so, multiple times — but I might skip this one. I don’t fuck around with my kids.
ETA: Guess I’ll turn in my Resistance card to my progressive betters.
Gretchen
Maybe we could have a post suggesting signs. I’m having trouble thinking of what to write on mine.
Jay
@Ten Bears:
You might not have noticed, but the Spartacists, (Red) and Anarchists (Black) attended any protests since just before January 6th.
Y’all are all on your own.
Baud
Fascists
Reek
Of
Garbage
Redshift
@Suzanne: I always say, do whatever you’re comfortable with, but there are often ways to participate for part of the event that may accommodate that. For No Kings, there’s been a lot of training in de-escalation and safety offered for organizers. Since it’s not a top-down organization, they can’t require it, but it’s heavily encouraged. In addition, for No Kings, there may be contact info for the organizers of a specific rally to ask about their preparations and the atmosphere of previous events.
Jay
@Gretchen:
If you have a colour printer, these are free.
bsky.app/profile/larrytenney.bsky.social/post/3m33dbjyit22c
lowtechcyclist
@Suzanne:
This. It’s one thing to take chances with our selves, but taking children into danger is something we have no business inflicting on them unless the alternative’s even worse. And we devoutly hope that that day will never come.
Ohio Mom
@Suzanne: Now that you say that, I’ve seen a few toddlers at marches, mostly riding on their dads’ shoulders, and sometimes teens, but I can’t recall any elementary and middle school-aged kids.
Maybe because they’d get bored and whiney, maybe because of their parents’ concerns about safety. Clearly, you are not the only parent not eager to bring kids along.
They Call Me Noni
Daughter and I will be out on Saturday. Her sign is a variety of things she has printed from the internet, says there’s just too much she wants to say and it won’t all fit on one poster so she’ll have to edit.
I think mine will say “ICE belongs in my gin & tonic, not on our city streets”.
We have a friend visiting from Germany who we are taking back to the airport at 4:30 so she was surprised to learn that she will also be attending our local protest.
Suzanne
@Redshift: I have taken de-escalation training in the past and I recommend it to anyone. (Part of how I knew to walk away from teargas and encourage others to do so, too.) A good friend of mine is a street medic at protests. She is awesome.
My skills involve epic sign-making, LOL. Years of calligraphy and this is really the only time I use it. LMAO.
eclare
@They Call Me Noni:
That’s a great saying! So true and straightforward.
Josie
@Suzanne:
You are absolutely correct that your first thoughts should be of your children. There are many ways to support the resistance. Anyone who criticizes one’s choices is not one I would want on my team.
Central Planning
Are we getting paid in Soros-bucks for the No Kings protests? I forgot.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Redshift:
The No Kings protest map is a good place to start when reviewing what one’s options might be.
See what other groups are actively going. For example, the League of Women Voters are active in a lot of cities vis a vis the No Kings protests. Their participation and promotion might be a potential gauge of how low key things might be at any given place.
Redshift
@Suzanne:
That sucks. I guess I’m spoiled; other than very early in my protesting career, protests are so common in the DC area that most are routine for police, who have a shared understanding with organizers recognizing that people trying to start violence are an element both want to contain. (We have the wild card now that Trumpists may be more likely here to send in Bureau of Prisons goons or something, but so far at least, they haven’t done that against whilte people.)
Ohio Mom
@cain: I started bringing flags to marches during Trump’s first term. I still have/use the medium sized one, I also had a handful of little flags that I gave away, I think I’ll try to find some to buy to give away this Saturday.
Suzanne
@Ohio Mom: I took Spawn the Younger when she was riding-on-shoulders-age to the Women’s March! I made her a sign and everything. Spawn the Youngest is now too big for that. So, if anything unsafe went down, I’d have to physically carry her by myself. I can’t do that for blocks. I can barely carry her a couple of aisles in the grocery store.
I am going to see if I can get her a play date with a friend and then I can go by myself. So. TBD.
eclare
@Ohio Mom:
I am not going because as I have noted before, the protest is on the street corner of a very heavily traveled street here. Memphis has the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the US, and a couple of weeks ago, I saw a pedestrian hit while in a crosswalk.
I hate it. If it were anywhere else, I would go.
Seanly
It pisses me off that they’re trying to make people protesting or exercising their rights as anti-American or American-hating or just as a bunch of agitators. Who did I see at the Boise No Kings last time – vets, elderly, disabled, kids, college students, HS students, everybody…
Redshift
@Suzanne:
Ooh! Lots of the local rallies have sign-making parties beforehand, if you want to contribute that way. I’m always embarassed at my scrawl, and I would love it if there was someone to take my cool idea and make it look good.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Gretchen:
Water Girl should have a massive collection of sign photos a slew of us have submitted from various protests earlier this year. Perhaps she could put them up. Give people ideas.
Gretchen
@eclare: That makes sense. I was hit by a car in a crosswalk years ago and was happy I wasn’t killed. I’m going to one in a large downtown park.
tobie
@Gretchen: I toyed with “Impeach Supreme InJustices” with pictures of the 6 conservatives on the court in the middle between “impeach” and the rest of the text. But my color printer broke and the pictures of the 6 in b&w didn’t work. Damn shame.
Suzanne
@Seanly: I am trying to get SuzMom to agree to using a mobility device, because she wants to get back out there, too. She had two hip surgeries two years ago and is much less mobile than she was. But tough old broads don’t take well to being unable to do things. ;)
eclare
@Gretchen:
Oh gosh, I’m glad you’re still here too!
I think the guy who was hit was mainly ok, but it seemed like it took forever for the driver to get out and check on him. When the light turned green, I was first in line in the turn lane and had to drive around him. The whole time my thought was “please don’t have a gun.”
frosty
@Suzanne: Damn right, turn in your Resistance card, you slacker!
I think I’m up to six, counting Vietnam and the Science March in DC. More to come!
Redshift
@Central Planning:
One of my favorite responses to the GOP fear-mongering was from a former state legislator on Facebook:
“Hey, I hear they’re paying people to be at the protest! You should go and check that out!”
bbleh
@Suzanne: well there it is. Specifically elevated risk, recent activity — probably not a good place for kids. Throw $25 at the local No Kings org or somebody else instead and participate that way.
MisterForkbeard
@Betty Cracker: In this case, being on a list for the Trump administration to say “who attended a no kings/hate America rally” seems like a bad idea.
japa21
As I mentioned a couple days ago, one sign I and Mrs Japa will have is ‘Time to De-ICE the USA”. Still working on a second. Considering “AntiFa and proud of it. Anybody who isn’t is saying Fascism is good”
Redshift
@Suzanne: One of my neighborhood elders isn’t so mobile any more, so for the June No Kings, she went to one of the smaller roadside rallies where she could get dropped off nearby and drive her scooter to the location.
Redshift
@japa21: Some people have pointed out that there are still plenty of normies who don’t know that antifa is just anti-fascist. My next sign (can’t go this time because I just had surgery) may be something like “Antifa means anti-fascist. Are you pro-fascist?”
Suzanne
@Redshift: You know, that might be a good solution. I went to the one in Downtown PGH last time, which involved a fair amount of walking, a pretty big crowd, lots of standing, multiple speakers, etc. But there’s one in a nearby suburb that might be easier for everyone involved. Maybe I can take them, bring some camp chairs.
japa21
@Redshift: Actually, I may put a hyphen in there. And that’s also why I capitalized the the F. Second sentence gives the secret away.
Redshift
@They Call Me Noni:
My genius idea (if I do say so myself) from the Hands Off rally was discovering that you can buy dry-erase posterboard, so I made the main part of my sign out of foam core (no stick needed) and glued a piece of dry-erase to the bottom of it.
That way I could continually update it throughout the rally to express all of my outrage. (Would have been even better if I didn’t have terrible handwriting, as mentioned previously..)
Suzanne
@Redshift: FYI pool noodles make great sticks.
Redshift
@japa21: Yeah, I do like your version too!
Kathleen
@Ten Bears: Agree. I’ve often thought if white middle/upper class young men were not subject to the draft there would have not been anti war protests. The documentary “Sir No Sir” about military resistance during Vietnam War really opened my eyes to many things I must have chosen to ignore during that time when I was a college student.
Redshift
@Suzanne: I have the advantage of being taller than most people, so I’m willing to trade height for easier portability.
They Call Me Noni
@eclare: you could drive by a few times and honk your support!
NotMax
@Redshift
Repeated from downstairs.
Plenty of free handwriting fonts available out there to download and install in order to print out the message in a large size on paper and tape or glue that to the posterboard.
What an age we live in.
They Call Me Noni
@Redshift: dang. I bought poster board today. I didn’t see anything like that but I’ll look on the internet because we’ve got plenty to protest.
Got yellow poster board as they were sold out of white. I take that as a sign that more people will be out this Saturday.
Suzanne
@NotMax: I would be happy to make anyone a PDF to your size specifications with a message of your choice. WaterGirl has my email address.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
My kid is going as the Grim Reaper for Halloween and he’s big enough now that we bought him the adult one size fits all costume. I thought I might borrow it and my sign would “Even the Grim Reaper thinks ICE is too cruel, heartless, and evil!”
They Call Me Noni
@eclare: Glad to hear your pup is doing well? What did the vet say was wrong with her?
Marc
@Kathleen: I have to disagree with that a bit. It was the draft lottery that made middle/upper class men subject to the draft. Before that point, the middle class and up had deferment options not readily available to most (like college and grad school). There were major anti-war protests prior to ’67 (I went to one in middle school) when it was enacted, and more between then and ’69 when it went into effect. The years ’69 through ’71 were all that were directly impacted by the lottery, the draft had all but stopped by ’72 (when I was eligible). Protests continued after the draft ended.
NotMax
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
“I know Grim when I see it.”
eclare
@They Call Me Noni:
Great idea! I’ve taken store bought cookies before, but there’s no way I can afford cookies for a crowd that will be as big as expected.
WTFGhost
@cain: “the pepperballs red glare; rubber bullets in the air…”.
@Betty Cracker: I definitely wouldn’t, if I had kids, not unless I knew they were smart enough to stay wide, and assume hostile action could become imminent, plus, wallet with attorney and bail bondsman phone numbers, burner phone… does the ACLU still have a “film cops to the cloud” app? And, I’d need to know that the kid had an awareness of when, and whether, to fight, and when to run like a bat out of hell, and knew his or her capabilities with respect to both.
I might be paranoid, but, in the back of my brain, I can imagine Trumpies making a false flag attack, in order to justify invoking the insurrection act, and, an “Antifa” attack on minors would be the perfect excuse.
NotMax
@eclare
Big sacks of treats for Halloween on sale now.
;)
eclare
@They Call Me Noni:
Dehydration! She stayed the day that I took her for IV fluids, and I took her in the next day for more. She was back to normal the next day.
The only thing I can think of is that I changed her big stainless steel mixing bowl water bowl for something smaller and more decorative. I guess she didn’t like that. Expensive lesson learned!
Trivia Man
@KrackenJack: I saw pics of the “Emergency World Naked Bike Ride” contingent in Portland. Despite the heavy rain they had a good turnout. At one point laying down in the middle of a bridge.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, I guess the idea of including one in a 500 piece Fun Size candy assortment didn’t pan out … Electrek.co:
Someone in the comments figures Melon could do similar things with his $1T pay package when nobody wants to buy his Optimus robots, either.
Example #32,185 illustrating that taxes are too low on these billionaire numbskulls.
Grr…
Best wishes,
Scott.
eclare
@NotMax:
I’ll check the grocery ads tomorrow (they come out on Wednesday). If I get any, I’ll be there first thing to hand them over.
Trivia Man
@MisterForkbeard: And hanging around the very edge of any crowds will help. They get the vibe and the memories without being in the thick of it.
NotMax
@eclare
Put the smaller bowl inside the larger one as an interim measure?
BritinChicago
I’m feeling a bit hurt. I’m planning to go to the No Kings protest but no one has offered me money for doing so. Where can I send a bill? Or do I just show up and collect it there?
Trivia Man
@cmorenc: Wherever one gathers in protest, that is a protest. I have seen pictures of small towns with one person holding a sign at a corner. I’ll wager no matter where you stand you will get many more thumbs up and honks than you will curses.
Omnes Omnibus
@cmorenc:
I am going to push back here. Everyone has to make their own decisions as to what they are able to do. Attempting to shame people because they might not attend one event is pretty shitty. Especially when you don’t know what else they may be doing.
Nukular Biskits
Good evenin’, y’all.
Late to the discussion but I want to add something I think is relevant, given the shrill claims by Trump and his flying monkeys about protests and dissent.
I got an email today: Nukular Biskits on Bluesky: Corp Email about Social Media Usage
I’d be interested in y’all’s thoughts.
NotMax
@BritinChicago
“No Ka-chings.”
//
Lyrebird
@TheOtherHank:
Wow! I saw a picture of that, here on the other coast!
The sign we made last time is by the door ready to go.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
Better to be safe than sorry. Old saying, always true.
This country is not the same country I was born into 76 years ago. Sure much has changed just from knowledge and technology, but this government, led by shitforbrains in theory but more like his henchmen now because he seems to have gone bye, bye/aged out/flown to the world of oldfartitus, no one’s home, what does 2+2 mean? And he’s still president. Hell, it seems he’s not even capable of being insane. That’s too far gone, as in around the mountain, and there’s no there there going around that mountain. I wouldn’t want to own a news stand, let alone run a country, and I’d bet I’m far saner than shitforbrains. But then again so are a lot of other humans. Is he actually even making any decisions, or is someone doing that for him?
We shouldn’t have to ask these questions but we really, really need to.
Lyrebird
@Nukular Biskits:
Sounds illegal, but IANAL.
I’d like to bring up everyone on charges who made or shared violence-promoting tweets about Barack Obama, Joey O’Biden, or Ka Ma La (ETA: or any of their spouses etc). When’s that gonna happen, hmmm?
But I’m sorry you are getting that, Nuke, and I hope some people who are in a good position to fight that do so.
Another Scott
@eclare: Our Ellie (45 pound Aussie / Collie / Rotweiller / other mix) doesn’t mind getting rained on during walks, but as soon as we get inside she immediately wants to run to the carpet and starts slithering around and rubbing her face all over it and yeowling and yipping and make all kinds of noises until she’s satisfied that her face is appropriately dry.
Even if we’ve dried her off with a towel before letting her run to the carpet.
It’s weird.
A vet said that some dogs absolutely hate having their whiskers get wet, so giant partially filled bowls are good for them (to reduce splashing or something), as opposed to smaller, deeper bowls. It seems to work with Ellie, at least most of the time.
Good luck!
Best wishes,
Scott.
eclare
@NotMax:
I just went back to the bigger bowl, she has no issues with that. I’ll live with the stainless steel mixing bowl on the floor.
WaterGirl
@cmorenc: Bravo!
I believe that what you wrote is true. I also think it’s not intended as criticism as much as it is pointing out that they are intentionally being intimidating – they don’t want millions of people showing up to this because then other people will not feel so alone and then more people will attend next time.
They want us cowed, scared, exhausted.
As for your kids, the job as a parent is to keep your kids safe, and I don’t think anyone here would be judging anyone else about that.
Rachel Bakes
Finished writing my 200 postcards for VA. Used my 200 stamps and had 2 left. Went through all the cards and found 1 without a stamp; ok199 used. Husband makes groups of 10 to see if I wrote them all (pretty sure I wrote 1 for each of the 200 names I was given) and comes up with 196. But I used 199 stamps. Math is not mathing at all.
After stamping and multiple flip throughs double checking they aren’t in any kind of order anymore. I give up. I did my part.
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
But I feel like ICE is up to some shit.
They’d need a pretty big ladder to get up to the level of pure shit.
WTFGhost
@Gretchen: “Trump hurts people,” is simple and direct; if I were making a sign, that’s probably what I’d do.
@Baud: NICE!
Rachel Bakes
@Suzanne: can you go for a drive with the kids that takes them past a couple protests? The ones I’ve been to all really appreciate people waving and honking horns in support.
frosty
@Rachel Bakes: Good on you! But you’re spending too much counting; just mail them and let USPS figure it out.
Thanks for reminding me I still have 15 of my 75 to do.
Craig
@Suzanne: tell me about it. My mum is in her 80s and only in the last 6 years have I convinced her that, yeah, you’re entitled to get a golf cart thing to the gate at the airport and have a chair take you down the jetway.
Betty Cracker
@They Call Me Noni: I like your sign!
Scout211
I saw a poster for sale on Amazon that I thought was clever and on point. The words could be used in a do-it-yourself poster.Poster idea here.
I will be looking forward to reading everyone’s experiences and viewing all your photos. Have fun and stay safe everyone.
ETA: This one, too.
I really like the clever ones.
Suzanne
@Rachel Bakes: Maybe! I have a few days to figure something out. One of the smaller protests might work.
SpaceUnit
Think outside the box.
Kings No!
Suzanne
@Craig: My mom is okay using her cane, but has been resistant to anything else. She can walk a couple of blocks at a time, slowly. I want to get her one of those Rollators!
Betty Cracker
@Nukular Biskits: FWIW, sounds like a email from a corp that is knuckling under to fascist bullshit to me. Shame on them. You keep doing you!
WTFGhost
Regarding signs, I liked the suggestion I saw earlier, in another thread:
NO FAUX
KING WAY!
It’s short, it’s clever, inspires double-takes, and there’s no way you can be said to be insulting Trump voters.
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
If applied fairly, this would impact your coworkers more than you, given where you live.
Another Scott
@Scout211:
A couple of well done ‘parking’ signs.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Nukular Biskits
@Lyrebird @Betty Cracker:
Like I said, on its face, it seems reasonable; i.e., don’t talk shit on corp social media accounts, etc.
Where I have a problem with it, though, is the very specific references to personal posting and “being professional” (which I definitely ain’t).
Part of this is corporate CYA. I gotta wonder how much of it is also laying the groundwork to get rid of employees who might irritate Republicans/MAGAs.
anitamargarita
@cmorenc: it’s one thing to risk your own safety/freedom, and quite another to risk your minor children
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
Not sure I follow, unless you mean it would more impact those who work at corp HQ than remote sites.
dm
@trollhattan:
Part of the reason beef prices are high is the tariff Trump put on Brazil because Brazil put Bolsonaro on trial for instruction.
Brazilian beef was about 4% of the US beef consumption.
As to those sweet Soros bucks, I saw one response saying, “So infiltrate among the liberal demonstrators, collect your paycheck, and blow the lid off the conspiracy.”
Suzanne
NO KINGS
NO FASCISTS
NO COUCHFUCKERS
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
I’d imagine most of your co-workers are MAGA. I’d imagine they violate the social media policy in greater numbers than you and any other company libs.
Lyrebird
@Scout211: I like the clever ones a lot, especially “Make ‘Disappear’ Intransitive Again” and that surprising one about liking her government like her coffee, not in her vag…
But for myself I opted for Bill of Rights (first 3) on one side and something about the rule of law on the other.
dm
@craigie: also: “Amphibians Against Fascism — Amphifa”
Lyrebird
Who knows? Depends where you are, who you are… If you look Guatemalan and don’t feel safe going out there, that’s a different risk level than my or Betty C’s situation where we want our pasty (in my case) white faces to show. Where @Nukular Biskits: lives, admitting, even as a white guy with a truck and everything, that you vote for Democrats is pushing the limits. Where I live and where I work, totally different.
Rachel Bakes
@frosty: Thanks! My mail date is tomorrow
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne: Don’t listen to this. I wouldn’t take children.
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
There are only a few folks on my contract where I work and they have the misfortune of having me as the site manager … LOL!
In all seriousness, I’ve put out a couple of emails reminding our folks that:
The other leads/managers for other companies have done similar so, to date, there hasn’t been any issues. I have had to speak up a couple of time, but the issue was dropped, fortunately, each time.
I have my beliefs and opinions and it does drive me nuts sometimes to hear the MAGA bullshit (although it’s usually at a pretty low volume). Being a “manager”, I have to set the tone.
I can’t wait until I retire.
WTFGhost
I just saw this, and felt it was an appropriate thread in which to share:
misscellania.blogspot.com/2025/10/timely-toys.html
(Link is to a take-off on the Statue of Liberty, re-imagined as a screaming chicken.)
Trivia Man
@Suzanne:
My dad was losing his mobility quickly but VERY resistant to any mobility aids. When we visited Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village (Enormous place!) I was successful in getting him in the loaner scooter at the gate. He enjoyed it greatly – someone was always with him as a captive audience he could tell stories to. Had he been afoot he would have spent a good chunk sitting on a bench while kids and grand kids saw the sights without him. Excellent day.
Rachel Bakes
@Nukular Biskits: Good role modeling! A friend of ours was a scientist at a wastewater treatment facility in CT. She was the only liberal and had to deal either out and out harassment for that on top of being a woman in an all male workplace. Eventually she left when they made the workplace so horrible for her. Probably the only one there with a doctorate in biology but easy to harass her instead of allowing her to do her job in peace.
Jay
@Nukular Biskits:
If you are going to do “politics” on social media, use an anonymous account, use a VPN and guard your posts/comments for anything that could get you “doxxed”.
We all live in East Germany now .
Deputinize America
@Lyrebird:
I’m a 60-something white guy, with an office in a blue city but a home in a red pustule of an exurb. I was explaining to some recent clients I was doing a will for about my abortive run for judicial office and how difficult it was to do so even in a nonpartisan race when I was the only registered Democrat running for anything in the county (I kept getting shut out of events by the party activists – the candidates all liked me, but the party people were raging dickbags, including someone I’ve known for 20 years).
The husband was fine with me, but the wife clearly didn’t like hearing it, and was visibly scornful. It’s a thing in super red places.
Suzanne
@zhena gogolia: It makes me really sad, actually. I remember my mom taking me to vote and go to party meetings and stuff when I was a kid, and I have tried really hard to raise my kids to be good and knowledgable citizens. I used to take them with me when I canvassed, to more “family-friendly” protests, to candidate rallies, to the polling place and our local LD meetings.
But shit has happened that makes me question if I’m going to keep doing that. I’ve shared about the man who threatened to shoot my husband and I when we canvassed his house. My cousin is a local pol in her community and someone set their dog on her when she was going door to door, and it bit her. And some of my protesting and voter-registering experiences have had some bad things happen. And, now they actually have to close their school on Election Day, because their school is a polling place and some of the polling places get threats. ICE has been observed multiple times in my neighborhood and I don’t trust things to remain peaceful. (This is western PA, everybody has a gun.)
They Call Me Noni
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: oh that’s awesome!
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne: Yeah, sounds iffy.
I don’t have kids, but there were a lot of kids at our last No Kings thing, but it’s a fairly small town, and really the atmosphere has gotten a lot uglier since June. We’ve had ICE abductions that people I know have witnessed.
Nukular Biskits
@Rachel Bakes:
Mine is a mostly male-dominated office (and field) and, yes, a lot of “conservatives” (note the quotes).
It used to be a lot worse until one day several years ago, I came into work one morning in a very grumpy mood, hadn’t had my coffee and had enough of the anti-Hillary bullshit from the cube next door.
Suffice it to say quite a few f-bombs were dropped along with a promise to have a discussion with the relevant managers about what could arguably be considered mischarging and creating a toxic work environment.
Admittedly, not my most professional moment (and I did publicly apologize for my language) but the point was made.
Suzanne
@Trivia Man: I just want to note….. y’all think I am stubborn and mean?! Where do you think I get it from?!
LOL. When my mom had her most recent hospitalization, she made a nurse cry. The doctor called me and asked me to hurry my ass down there and deal with the situation. I got there, and I was like, “MOM!!! Do you not remember the last thing I said to you before they took you back?!?! I SAID BE NICE!!!”
hotshoe
@TheOtherHank:
That’s a great suggestion.
I don’t really want the long drive to SF — and I think that the images of huge crowd at Ocean Beach will have impact which makes it worthwhile.
I expect more national news about this No Kings protest than about the previous one. I don’t want to wake up the next day and think “I could have been part of history.”
I want to be part of a crowd so large that they lose count of how many thousands. (And I hate crowds! but this is more important than my personal comfort)
eclare
@Trivia Man:
As my aunt got older (she’s in her 80’s) she finally relented to request a cart or wheelchair at the airport. She loves it! She says everyone taking her around has been so nice.
NotMax
Cadging an idea from the Portland naked bike ride for a dorsal sign, substituting “Kings” for “War Zone.”
;)
Unknown known
Less words and you get bigger letters, readable from further.
How about “ice in drinks, not gulags”
Scuffletuffle
@Suzanne: Get one that she can turn around and sit on if needed.
eclare
@NotMax:
Great idea!
NotMax
@Unknown known
NICE
NOT
ICE
Trivia Man
@eclare:
my biggest regret about our time in NJ is I was unable to convince mrs trivia to get the handicap parking pass. So many events we had to either skip or cut short because it was too arduous for her to get to and from the car. Especially in NYC. I understand why – admitting you aren’t fully functioning is a bitter pill to swallow. And I lovingly supported her decision. With my secret regret I never shared with her. Shh! Nobody tell her or it will hurt her feelings I kept it secret.
trollhattan
Hey California peeps. Daniel Swain has this summary of our current weather cycle, the first Real Rain of the season. Powerful enough storm to maybe flood burn scars in SoCal, so be aware and prepared.
bsky.app/profile/weatherwest.bsky.social/post/3m33wiyqxtx2h
Given our poor NOAA folks are presently Trumped, generous experts like Swain are more important than ever.
ETA, related message from Cal OES.
x.com/Cal_OES/status/1977871975034065265
Unknown known
Pic of Ww2 soldier: “antifa”
Cartoon of the manbaby: “profa”
eclare
@Trivia Man:
Oh…one of my other aunts has that pass and loves it. But she’s in her nineties, so easier to accept. I’m sorry you missed out on stuff.
I am taking my aunt to lunch tomorrow to a place where parking could be a bit tight. I just called her to ask that she grab her handicap parking pass out of her car.
VeniceRiley
The civil war isn’t over.
piratedan
we couldn’t get these fuckers to wear masks during a pandemic, but they’ll wear them to harass people of color.
eclare
@VeniceRiley:
Faulkner said it best: the past isn’t dead, it isn’t even past.
Suzanne
@Trivia Man: I have been trying to get SuzMom to agree to hearing aids for four years. I have offered to pay for them. She’s still just not there yet emotionally. So…. “Whaaaaa?” is a feature of daily life. LOL.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Didn’t see it talked about in this thread, but for those planning on attending No Kings protests, I’d definitely recommend either leaving your phone at home, getting a Faraday bag for it, or using a burner phone activated on a WiFi/network that’s not connected to the same one your actual phone is on.
The reason I bring this up is that police in the last decade have been using Stingray phone trackers to track protesters
From Wiki:
The police have also generally kept their use of this technology secret from both the public and the courts
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@zhena gogolia:
I had to help an older customer make photocopies of a marriage certificate that honestly looked fake to me (like the paper a school would buy for like student merit awards lol, so nothing that looked official). Honest to god, the guy was wearing an “Alligator Alcatraz” ball cap.
It took all of my willpower not to say something to him. Hundreds of detainees have gone missing at that facility. It’s a modern day internment camp
Almost Retired
I’m out of town this week, but Mrs. Almost Retired and I are attending the event in Gunnison, Colorado. It won’t be much like the one in Los Angeles, but I hear there will street tacos – so that will be good. I am not dressing up like any sort of inflatable animal because it’s the height of Fall hunting season in Colorado.
Castor Canadensis
@Jay:
The TOR browser is your friend
Castor Canadensis
@Unknown known: Put the hyphen in, all too many folks think Antifa is a gang from Antigua (:-))
J. Arthur Crank
@Almost Retired: I haven’t been to Gunnison since Hector was a pup. There could be worse places to spend the weekend.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
EFF has a toolkit for turning a cheap mobile hotspot into a stingray (and related tech) detector.
Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying (Cooper Quintin and Will Greenberg, March 4, 2025)
I have one of those, but have not yet tried to install rayhunter. (I use it as a hotspot a few times a week.)
It is an actively maintained and busy open source project.
tobie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): i went to an ACLU “Know your rights” event 2 weeks ago and they recommended keeping your phone in airplane mode when at demonstrations. Don’t know how much that ends up protecting your data.
Jackie
@cain:
I like that idea! And, what great optics for the media to capture for the national news!
TONYG
Sean Duffy has the look of “that meat-head jock from high school”, 35 years later. So many dumb assholes in this administration. It’s impressive in a way.
eclare
@Suzanne:
There is a lot of research that links hearing loss to a greater chance of dementia. Just Google hearing loss and dementia.
frosty
@Suzanne: Tell her hearing aids help prevent dementia, which comes from your brain losing audio processing. And once it’s lost it doesn’t come back, even if you get hearing aids later
My audiologist told me if I was thinking of getting them, the earlier the better. So I’ve got them. Also, check out Costco for them.
Trivia Man
@Suzanne:
That might be me. I am not insisting I don’t need a hearing test – I am just reluctant and it hasn’t been convenient to schedule yet. Mrs encourages me to get one every few months or so. Any day now! I promise!
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
Airplane mode and location tracking. travelpander.com/can-your-location-be-seen-in-airplane-mode-2/#google_vignette
frosty
@Trivia Man: If you were lying in a silent room like I am now listening to the ringing in your ears you’d be off to see the audiologist tomorrow. I’ve had this for decades. It’s particularly loud tonight.
And no, there’s no cure and hearing aids don’t help it.
p.a.
Who’s at the “for your age” age?
Your hearing’s good, for your age.
Your reactions are good, for your age.
Those slight ekg anomalies are normal for your age…
🙄
eclare
@frosty:
GMTA!
2liberal
@craigie:
From google via AI:
A Bluesky tweet is officially called a post, though some users have coined the term “skeet” for them. The CEO of Bluesky prefers the term “post” and has discouraged the use of “skeet,” but the “skeet” term was popularized by early adopters.
eclare
@frosty:
Ugh. A friend of mine when I lived in ATL had tinnitus, it sounded like a horrible disease.
frosty
@eclare: Posted at the exact same time!
frosty
@eclare: It’s not fun but most of the time I don’t notice it. There are a lot more horrible things out there.
Harrison Wesley
Hope everyone has a ball next week. Nothing will bust their stones faster than facing people who aren’t afraid of them.
Trivia Man
@frosty: another voice of reason – I am almost there. Costco may be the tipping point that helps me get there sooner rather than later. If (IF!) I don’t need them – my HAH! might be audible three states over.
rikyrah
I love the animals in Portland. The dance parties.🤗
The mocking of them👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Kayla Rudbek
@Nukular Biskits: you’re in Mississippi and it’s much more likely that your fellow employees have already run their mouths on social media about President Biden, etc so should be the first ones fired under this…
cain
@Ohio Mom:
They need to be as big as possible. YUGE!
You make these protests popular enough, that stupid orange fool will switch sides just to get love.
prostratedragon
@AM in NC: If I go (wheelchair), that’s what I’m taking.
dww4
@cain: If only.
prostratedragon
@Suzanne: My parents were quite active in 1960s civil rights, especially father. They were very careful about what we pre- and early teen kids could attend, more rallies than marches, some very large. Cicero, Gage Park, etc, were out!
HopefullyNotCassandra
@bbleh: the Supreme Court said it was fine and dandy to seize a person just because they were sitting, quietly waiting for a bus.
The Supreme Court simply wrote the 4th amendment out of the constitution and replaced it with “Kavanaugh detentions” that cannot be too inconvenient. (Cannot exceed 27 days and handcuffed to a bed?)
There are definitely America hating people running around. Six of them are sitting on our Supreme Court dreaming up ways to rewrite amendments 1 through 10 and declare the rest “illegitimate”. The rest are going on television trying to incite a mob against George Soros, a 95 year old holocaust survivor who funds good government, anti-corruption groups around the world.
George Soros, one of the people who pushed for the Magnitsky Act, is a self-made billionaire philanthropist. The GOP’s descent into corruption continues apace.
Since all GOP accusations are confessions, who is paying MAGA ?
Jay
@HopefullyNotCassandra:
Nobody “pays” MAGA. MAGA are the marks.
We are getting a list of who pay’s the Dolt 47 Admin. It’s lengthy and being done in public.
HopefullyNotCassandra
@Almost Retired: Just in case, wear bright orange ?
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@HopefullyNotCassandra:
I do that every work day.
frosty
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: LOL!!! Good to see you here.
BerkeleyMom
@Gretchen: My sign for Saturday says: Hate and Cruelty NEVER made America great.
1,000 flouncing lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
@Jay: I’m betting the NFL owners have expressed some strong opinions about that, and as rich old white people (mostly, if not all men), they expect to be heard and taken seriously.
Gloria DryGarden
@BerkeleyMom: I love your sign!
1,000 flouncing lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
@Nukular Biskits: This is one of the reasons I use a pseudonym unknown to my employer & co-workers. It’s also why I rarely refer to where I work.
We have a social media policy, of course, but I figure they have to identify me first, which is doable but not instantly possible.
Miss Bianca
@Almost Retired: You’re going to be in Gunnison? (*waving from across the Divide*)
Paul in KY
@dexwood: My dad sure was!
Paul in KY
@Deputinize America: I agree. For this protest you would want to look like a salaryman circa 1958 (suit, white shirt, skinny tie, fedora, clean shaven) or ‘housewife’ from that period.
Paul in KY
@cain: ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ is always good!
Paul in KY
@WTFGhost: ‘Trump is the Anti-Christ’ would be a good one for the Jeebus types.
Paul in KY
@Trivia Man: Hope she has one now.
Paul in KY
@eclare: My mom had bad hearing loss. She also developed dementia that really stopped her from getting benefit from hearing aids. IMO, you need to get them and use them when you can still understand how to use them.