Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Republicans in disarray!

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

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War for Ukraine Day 1,074: More Drone Swarms Over Ukraine

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Air raid alerts are up for northeastern, north central, and most of eastern Ukraine because of drone swarms at 8:00 PM EST/3:00 AM local time in Ukraine. If the pattern of the past week or so holds, the drones will be followed by ballistic missiles, glide bombs, and/or air bombs.

Here’s the updated butcher’s bill from Poltava:

The death toll from a russian missile strike on an apartment building in Poltava has risen to 14, with two children among the victims. Genocide is russian culture.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) February 2, 2025 at 9:45 AM

Search and rescue operations completed at the site of the destroyed five-story building in Poltava after the russian missile attack

14 people were killed, including two children aged 9 and 12.

20 people were injured, among them 4 children,

22 people were rescued from the rubble.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 2, 2025 at 10:18 AM

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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It’s Always February 2nd, and There’s Nothing I Can Do About It

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Had to venture onto Facebook today, and apparently I’d posted this cartoon from the New Yorker five years ago today:

It's Always February 2nd, and There's Nothing I Can Do About It

Five years ahead of its time, if you ask me.

Like many of you, I am pretty floored by the speed and severity of this week’s events, and by how relatively muted the reaction outside of a few online communities seems to be. I’ve started writing a handful of posts and abandoned them all – a roundup of coverage of the fifth anniversary of Official Brexit Day, which was Friday, seemed less important than letting people talk about Elon Musk gaining control of many of the US’s IT systems or about what to do to soften the blow of the tariffs that are about to impact everyone’s daily lives.

(I also spent quite a lot of time applying for UK-based roles this weekend just to see if I can get more GBP-based income sooner rather than later, and caught up on season two of Severance.)

I will say this, however: Brexit has been a disaster. It’s made Britain poorer and weaker. The original referendum vote was 52%-48%, but today, 55% of Britons now believe Brexit was the wrong choice, and that it has had a major negative impact on many aspects of UK life:

It's Always February 2nd, and There's Nothing I Can Do About It 1

The result of the non-binding Brexit referendum, and the very binding decision to go ahead with it, dictate everything that’s happening in UK politics. It is always Brexit Day over here, and will be until some government comes along that has the courage to truly re-set the terms of our relationship with the EU. It does not look like the current government has that courage. They are picking loose threads here and there, doing little bits of realignment, but rejoining is a non-starter. Honestly, it probably would be for the EU, too – why trust a Labour government’s promises today when a Reform one might sweep in sometime in 2029?

So for now, the country is going to be trapped in this vicious cycle it chose for itself, endlessly bumping up against the same Brexit issues and having the same Brexit arguments. It is quite possibly the most damaging decision a democratic society has made for itself in the post-war period.

Or at least, it was until this past November.

Five years from now, the US is likely to find itself trapped in a similar version of Groundhog Day – dealing with the isolationism, social unrest, and throttled prosperity that a plurality of citizens once endorsed.

Anyway, ready or not, here comes another working week. Keep your loved ones safe and your congressional reps on speed dial.

 

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Need To Check in with the Hive Mind’s Expertise

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Just a quick post to try to tap your expertise. I was given an award at work, which gets me my choice of stuff from the awards central site. The only thing on their I might even remotely be interested in is one of the bicycles. This is they one that requires the most points, though it is still under my overall total points to “spend.” I don’t know anything about modern bikes. The last bike I had was a very heavy 10 or 12 speed when I was in high school. Anyone know if this Kent Shogun T1000 is decent? The other option at the top of the points range is this Kent Hawkeye mountain bike.

Any info on these would be greatly appreciated. These would pretty much be the only things I would use. I don’t need more luggage, I don’t camp so don’t need any of that stuff, don’t need any more HD TVs, don’t play video games so I don’t need an XBox, the gift cards are all for places I don’t shop or eat at, etc.

Thanks!

I’ll check back later.

Open thread!

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Do All The Things

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Here are a few unconnected thoughts about activism during the coup.

First, Betty’s post earlier this morning is spot on.  It’s a good time to call Republicans if one represents you.  In addition to what Frosty said, if you have a relative in the nursing home, ask them if they’re safe from unelected dictator Elon Musk, or if they’re going to freeze when the heat is cut off for nonpayment.

Second, I think there’s a widespread belief that Trump will shoot protesters.  I’m guessing that will come at some point, but my affairs are settled, so I’m still looking for opportunities to engage in and document protests.  I was looking for opportunities to protest in the Denver area and came up short.  There were some protests last weekend that I missed.  Indivisible, MoveOn and Working Families Party are having a zoom tonight about possible action.  I can’t make it, but if any of you are joining, you can email me at: [email protected] and I’ll publish your report on the front page.  Also, please share any resources you might have in the comments or via email to me.  (Update:  If you’re concerned about sending something securely, you can get a free Proton Mail account and mail me at [email protected] )

Third, it’s still worthwhile to call your Democratic Senators and Reps if you have them.  I feel like they started getting more engaged in the last couple of days.  This post by one of the leaders of Indivisible has the memo that Republicans sent to their members when they were fighting Universal Health Care.  It lists all the ways that Senators can delay or gum up the works.  You could reference that memo when calling your Senator and asking them to slow everything down.

Finally, I thought Oliver Willis was right about this, which is more inspiration for your calls to national, state and local Democrats who might not think that speaking out matters.  It’s also good advice about protests.

Do All The Things

Update:  It looks like one action is 50 States 50 Protests on Feb 5.  The Colorado one will be at the State Capital between 12PM-8PM.

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Action Item: Contact Federal Reps About the Illegal Musk Takeover (Open Thread)

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Yesterday in Mistermix’s post on the Musk junta, Kay made the following observation:

Just a reminder that Republicans in Congress could end this in a day. If a majority or even substantial.minority of US Senators and House members came out and said a South African billionaire cannot run the United States that would stop this madness. Every single one if them is complicit. Every single one of them is doing this to federal employees and the US public. Their cowardice and lack of patriotism is allowing this to continue.

100% true. Commenter Frosty plans to adapt that message for a call to a worthless Republican House backbencher. That in turn inspired commenter tobie to leave the following message via a Freedom Caucus lunkhead’s constituent communication form:

I did not vote for Elon Musk for President. DOGE is not a Congressionally authorized agency of the federal government. Mr. Musk has not been confirmed by the Senate to run any agency of the federal government. Neither he nor his employees have had background checks. Yet they have been given full access to my personal data and the data of hundreds of millions of Americans, American businesses, and contractors in the US and abroad and have downloaded this data onto private servers. This is a breathtaking breach of Americans’ privacy and a serious threat to national security. Who can ensure that this information will not end up in the hands of foreign governments and/or hostile non-state actors? You have a duty to the Constitution. Mr. Musk’s access to and now possession of information on every US citizen, resident and business is a violation of US law. Congress must stop this takeover of the US government by an unvetted private interest.

Today Mr. Musk and Mike Flynn bragged on X about cutting Congressionally authorized payments to Lutheran Family Services. Imagine if a Democratic donor, outside the government, were given the authority to cut funding to Foundations of Life Pregnancy Centers? You would be up in arms. The issue is not ideology. It is the forking over of the US government to an unelected, unvetted, and unauthorized individual to do as he pleases with this massive power. Some might call this a takeover of the government, yet the duly elected representatives of the people are silent on this issue. I am stunned.

Well done, all!

Whether we’re represented by Republicans or Democrats, all of us can reach out and let our reps know exactly what we think of this illegal government takeover by the unelected sieg heil guy.

Open thread.

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Squishable! (Open Thread)

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Pete the dog doesn’t understand the concept of personal space. When he wants to sit, he just plops down wherever:

2 small dogs occupying a single dog bed. The larger of the two is sitting on the smaller one.

Badger isn’t the only victim. Bill and I frequently find ourselves squished under a fat gray ass.

For example, if you lie down on a sofa, sometimes Pete will sit right on your head. I’ve told him I’m not furniture many times, but he doesn’t care.

***

Has the mainstream press figured out that Musk has seized control of the U.S. Treasury yet?

Are the crusading journalists who decried the NSA phone metadata harvesting program in 2013 expressing alarm about an unelected South Africa-born fascist expropriating ALL of our personal and financial data from government servers now?

Gosh, I hope so.

Open thread!

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War for Ukraine Day 1,073: Russia Pounds Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv

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(Image by NEIVANMADE)

This is Sofia Yavorska, who had a deep love for books, she was killed by a russian missile in Poltava today.

On February 1st, Sofia, along with her parents, were killed in their home in Poltava when it was struck by a russian Kh-22 missile. The library that Sofia loved shared the news.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 6:58 PM

That’s it. That’s the fucking update. Everything else tonight is just details.

Almost all of eastern and central Ukraine is back under air raid alert at 8:00 PM EST/3:00 AM local time in Ukraine. Right now it’s drone swarms, but as we’ve seen the last several nights, Russia follows them with ballistic missiles.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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