Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

White supremacy is terrorism.

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

People are weird.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

The willow is too close to the house.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

In after Baud. Damn.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Second rate reporter says what?

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

You are here: Home / Archives for Open Threads

Thursday Morning Open Thread: President Biden’s Farewell Address

by | 192 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Biden says farewell: "After 50 years of public service, I give you my word: I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands … now it's your turn to stand guard. May you be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it too. God bless you all"

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 15, 2025 at 8:22 PM

new eisenhower military industrial complex farewell address just dropped

[image or embed]

— not an art thief (@famousartthief.bsky.social) January 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM

Here’s YouTube with the complete speech (to which I have not yet listened), and a promised transcription (which I have yet to read; we’ve got the weekend):

 
We Irish have always been in love with a bold, defiant farewell — sometimes a little too much in love, frankly — but I do get the impression that a lot of journalists, commentors and historians are going to watch Joe Biden’s farewell and discover a sense of shame, if not wonder. Especially given what we’ll be seeing over the next months and years!

show full post on front page

Thursday Morning Open Thread: President Biden’s Farewell AddressPost + Comments (192)

Late Night Open Thread: Why Elon Needed His DOGE

by | 207 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Noooooooo they're slowing production of the CyberStuck, a/k/a the Deplorean, the WankPanzer, the Incel Camino, and the Rhodesian Ridgeline.

[image or embed]

— Max Kennerly (@maxkennerly.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 8:29 PM

But once he has the Griftfather on his side…

Wow I didn't know that negative accountability was possible
www.npr.org/2025/01/15/n…

[image or embed]

— Eric Roesch, Rude Law Dog (@esghound.com) January 15, 2025 at 9:35 AM

NPR, “Safety advocates fear Tesla will face less accountability for car crashes under Trump”:

… Car companies including Tesla are required to report the details of crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems, like the one Hunter was using. Regulators and safety advocates insist the reporting requirement is crucial to understanding how well the technology is working — and is necessary to hold carmakers accountable for deaths and injuries when the technology fails.

But safety advocates fear that this requirement will be scrapped by the incoming Trump administration, along with other federal investigations into Tesla and its advanced driving systems.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help President-elect Donald Trump return to the White House. Now Musk may be poised to influence federal policy at the agencies that regulate his businesses, including Tesla.

The carmaker is at odds with regulators over the crash reporting requirement, which Tesla executives argue is unfair because it makes the company’s safety record look worse than it is.

That reporting requirement helped federal regulators build the case for a recall of Tesla’s Autopilot system, the predecessor to its Full Self-Driving mode…

He’s no longer a failed car salesguy; he’s a self-sacrificing political genius who was temporarily distracted from the corporation’s Prime Directive!

show full post on front page

Late Night Open Thread: Why Elon Needed His DOGEPost + Comments (207)

War for Ukraine Day 1,057: President Zelenskyy Visits Poland

by | 10 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , , ,

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)

Ukraine’s air defense did yeoman’s work last night/this morning.

Russia launched last night another massive winter attack targeting Ukraine’s energy sector, including gas infrastructure and energy facilities, with over 40 missiles (30 intercepted) and 70 drones, according to President Zelensky.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 15, 2025 at 4:12 AM

Ukrainian Air Force successfully intercepted 30 out of 47 russian missiles today.

[image or embed]

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) January 15, 2025 at 5:52 AM

Twenty-five Ukrainians prisoners were returned to home today:

Welcome home to 25 Ukrainians who returned from russian captivity today ❤️‍🩹

[image or embed]

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) January 15, 2025 at 8:12 AM

The Security Service of Ukraine shared exclusive footage of Ukrainians being released from Russian captivity.

This exchange follows a special format for severely ill and injured prisoners of war, who, under the Geneva Convention, are to be returned first.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) January 15, 2025 at 11:41 AM

From The Kyiv Independent:

Ukraine managed to bring back 25 Ukrainians from Russian captivity including Azovstal defenders, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Jan. 15.

“Returning our people home is something that Ukraine is constantly working on. And we will not stop until we bring all of our people back,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.

The returning Ukrainian POWs were captured during the defense of Mariupol and its Azovstal steel plant, as well as during the defense of other key areas of the front line in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, Zelensky added.

He said some of those brought back have serious injuries and illnesses.

President Zelenskyy travelled to Poland today to meet with President Duda, Prime Minister Tusk, students, Ukrainian expats living in Poland. It was a busy day. There’s lots of video, but I’m just going to go with the press events with President Duda and Prime Minister Tusk tonight. I’ll work the other videos in throughout the rest of the week.

Here is the joint press availability with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Tusk:

show full post on front page

War for Ukraine Day 1,057: President Zelenskyy Visits PolandPost + Comments (10)

You CAN Go Home Again

by | 85 Comments

This post is in: 

We’re currently experiencing the longest run of cold and gloomy weather that I can remember. It’s all relative, and I’m aware lots of y’all live in places where a stretch of highs in the 50s and 60s and lows above freezing would be welcome. But trust me — for us, this sucks.

Despite the chill, I jumped in a river last week. My aim was to swim with the manatees again, and I did, sort of. But mostly what I got was further confirmation (where none was needed!) that the influx of people to this state is ruining all that was good about it. Even in backwaters like my home county, which is far off the theme park and sandy beach tracks.

It was depressing, and I didn’t even get any pictures worth sharing. Well, except this:

Homemade idle speed no wake sign featuring Samuel L. Jackson with a gun

The sign is posted in a backyard that faces a canal. It’s reinforcing lots of official signs that tell boaters they must maintain idle speed, i.e., go slow enough to generate no wake so that slow-moving manatees can get out of the way of boat traffic.

When we visited, on a weekday, the canal was absurdly clogged with badly piloted rental boats. (Imagine what an absolute zoo it is on weekends!)

Most boaters we saw observed the idle speed restrictions, but some zoomed along as if they were the only creatures in the whole fucking world. That’s always been a problem, and over the years, the authorities have had to impose more restrictions to protect the river and its inhabitants from buffoonish and/or ignorant humans.

My dad ran a dive shop and marina on that river from the earliest days of the Carter administration until he sold the business and retired during the first Trump Error. During my adolescence, I was forced to work without pay (except for the roof over my head, as Dad frequently reminded me) in that shop. The surliest indentured servant imaginable, I had to talk to tourists all day and recite the river rules.

But apparently the situation became more dire over the past few years when I wasn’t paying attention. See, people are such goddamn inconsiderate lunatics that the authorities have had to not only impose more idle speed zones and ban boat traffic altogether in more areas, they’ve had to enlarge sanctuaries and further restrict where people can swim or kayak to give the poor manatees a chance.

The manatees have a favorite spring on that river. Coincidentally, it is also my favorite spring. My family used to picnic there back in the day, year round. Nobody owned it, as far as we knew. We’d just roll up in our shitty Ford Galaxy, unload a cooler, spread a blanket on the ground and hang out next to the turquoise waters of our own little Eden.

Today, if you want to visit that spring during the colder months, you have to pay $20 a head at a toll booth, park your car, get in a fucking tram with the other tourists and go gawk at the critters from a boardwalk. You can’t swim there anymore no matter how you arrive, by kayak or tram.

I don’t resent the authorities for paving paradise and putting up a parking lot. I blame the people who made taking drastic measures necessary — the assholes who ran over manatees with their speed boats, did depraved shit like carving “TRUMP” on a critter’s hide and threw empty beer cans and McDonald’s trash in the pristine water.

And yeah, lots of those assholes were locals, and the bad behavior has been happening for decades. I’m not blaming tourists or recent arrivals, just the assholes.

The population of Florida has tripled over the past 60 years, so the asshole population has grown too. In fact, I estimate the asshole portion has quintupled since the Republican Party of Florida deliberately turned the state into an asshole magnet to increase vote share.

I’m against the death penalty in all cases. But sometimes I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to allow Save the Manatee club members to post up along the riverbanks with sniper rifles and give them carte blanche to just shoot the fucking speeders and litterers and critter-harassers instead of robbing everyone of one of the most wondrous experiences in one of the most special places on the planet.

Anyhoo, Thomas Wolfe be damned, it turns out you can go home again. You just have to pay $20 and board a fucking tram to get there. I’m sad about it.

The end.

You CAN Go Home AgainPost + Comments (85)

Ceasefire in Gaza?

by | 81 Comments

This post is in: 

Who knows if it will really happen, but here’s the latest from the AP:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says ceasefire deal with Hamas has still not been reached and that the final details were still being sorted out. That comes after multiple mediators had said Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release dozens of hostages after more than 15 months of war.
What to know:

When would the deal take effect? Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that it hopes the details would be worked out Wednesday night. The plan still needs approval from Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet and then his full Cabinet, which are likely to approve any proposal he presents.

What happens to the hostages? Nearly 100 people are still captive inside Gaza, and Israel’s military believes at least a third are dead. The three-phased agreement would begin with the release of 33 women, children, older adults and wounded civilians in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel. Soldiers and other male captives would be released in the second phase.

What does the deal mean for the war? The agreement would bring relief to the hard-hit Gaza Strip, where Israel’s offensive has reduced large areas to rubble and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million, many at risk of famine.

Ceasefire in Gaza?Post + Comments (81)

News You Can Use Open Thread

by | 52 Comments

This post is in: ,

Ah, British society. So sophisticated:

News You Can Use Open Thread 1

Never fear, Daily Star: I wouldn’t touch one with yours.

Working on a post about Labour’s big policy announcement from Monday, but I get so overwhelmed by the idiocy of it I keep stopping. Basically, they are going all in on AI. Sometimes I think I should just retreat into the woods, you know?

Whilst that’s brewing, here’s an open thread.

 

News You Can Use Open ThreadPost + Comments (52)