Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

How stupid are these people?

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

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

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

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

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

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Late Night Open Thread: Retreat of the Gun Groups?

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I, for one, am just as happy that the professional gun humpers have decided Trump is a sunk cost — it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they retreated from politics entirely (fat chance). In my wildest dreams, maybe they’ve actually been spooked, not only by the implosion of the NRA, but by the increasing willingness of survivors and municipalities to hold gun sellers and ‘innocent’ parents / families / law enforcement agencies liable for mass shooting events…

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War for Ukraine Day 968: The Cost & the Reason

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A painting by Ukrainian artis NEIVANMADE. The background is white. In the center, which is black with blood red bordering, is an hourglass. Inside the hourglass is a Ukrainian Azovstal POW painted in blood red. He is shirtless. His arms are upward along the outer edges of the upper half of the hourglass forming a saltire cross. He is chained with steel gray chains shackled to his wrists. Above his head, in grey, is written "Ruzzian Captivity." below his torso in the lower half of the hourglass, written in gray, is "Kills." To the left of the hourglass "He Saved Others" is painted in gray. To the right of the hourglass "But He Can't Save Himself" is painted in gray.

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Two quick housekeeping notes. First, Rosie, as well as Ruby, seem to be doing fine and settling back into their routines. Right now they’re both racked out on the bed with me as I sit here typing up the update.

Second, I’m still recovering from the fun and games of the past two weeks. I’m just going to run through the basics again tonight so I can rack out.

The Cost & the Reason:

95 more Ukrainian POWs have been returned!

We now have visual confirmation of North Korean troops preparing to deploy to Ukraine:

From Politico Europe:

South Korea’s president warned Friday that North Korea’s involvement in the war in Ukraine poses a “grave security threat” to the world.

President Yoon Suk Yeol held a security meeting Friday with key intelligence, military and national security officials to discuss Pyongyang’s participation in Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s offensive against Ukraine.

According to the presidential office, the participants “shared the view that the current situation, in which the close military ties between Russia and North Korea have expanded beyond the movement of military supplies to the actual deployment of troops, poses a grave security threat” to South Korea and the international community.

South Korea’s spy agency said Friday it believes North Korea has already begun deploying four brigades totaling 12,000 troops, including special forces, to the war in Ukraine.

Separately, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate also shared the agency’s assessment that there are now nearly 11,000 North Korean infantry troops training in Russia to fight in Ukraine. “They will be ready on Nov. 1,” Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone.

The North Korean troops will use Russian equipment and ammunition, Budanov said. The first cadre of 2,600 troops will go to Kursk inside Russia where Ukraine began a surprise incursion in the late summer, but it is unclear where the remaining North Korean troops will be posted, he added.

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

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Hell or High Water

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Flooded riverbank

Well, fuck. Hurricanes Helene and Milton got us after all, even though we thought we’d dodged a couple of bullets with minimal damage. We’re now in a major flood and will have to go live someplace else for a while. Fuckity fuck FUCK!

The river has been rising slowly but steadily due to heavy rainfall at the headwaters during the storms. Now half our yard is underwater, and there are a few inches downstairs. The river is predicted to crest in a couple of weeks or so at a foot or possibly two higher than it is at present.

We’ll be fine, and we don’t need a damn thing except a suitable short-term perch. I’m evaluating options on that. We live in a stilt house, so the living area will stay high and dry. The downstairs is an enclosed game room with storage, etc., and we’ve had time to get the important stuff out.

It’s just a gigantic pain in the ass, is all. Another unpleasant disruption in a year that already sucked great big green gator balls.

Also, I credit the peace and surrounding natural beauty of this place for keeping me interested in life during a hard time. So I don’t want to fucking leave.

But the dogs need a non-liquid yard in which to do their business, Bill needs a hassle-free way to get to work at OMFG o’clock in the morning, etc. It would be impractical to stay, so I’m trying to look at it as an unscheduled adventure.

Anyhoo, just wanted to let y’all know what’s going on. To end on a grace note, I can report one positive effect: I’m too goddamn preoccupied by this shitshow to fret about the election!

Volunteer work is a wrap, and we voted, so we’ve done what we could. As with the river, what will be will be.

Open thread!

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When You’re Damned If You Do and You’re Damned If You Don’t (Open Thread)

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When you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, then you have the luxury of doing the right thing.

Finally a judge who understands that.

Fingers crossed that we actually see this information today.

In the meantime, though, let’s celebrate the rule of law and a judge who thinks no one is above the law!

Totally open thread!

 

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TGIFriday Morning Open Thread: Working Towards the Finish Line

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White bryony — invasive, persistent & poisonous — seems an apt symbol for this cursed autumn season.

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Late Night Schadenfreude Open Thread: Running Short on His ‘Mother’s Milk’

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Last night, at Cardinal Dolan’s big ‘charity’ dinner:

I don’t think it’s been emphasized enough how much the GOP’s underfunding hurts TFG at a very viceral level. He’s always, by upbringing and inclination, measured his worth in dollars. The reality that he doesn’t have enough dollars to buy another term, that ‘his’ party and ‘his’ people aren’t joyfully contributing to him, and that everyone is laughing at him concerning his (financial) deficiencies is eating into his very being.

Per the NYTimes, another joint effort from Maggie Haberman, Teddy Schleifer, Jonathan Swan & Shane Goldmacher —“A Frustrated Trump Lashes Out Behind Closed Doors Over Money” [gift link]:

Donald J. Trump took his seat at the dining table in his triplex penthouse apartment atop Trump Tower on the last Sunday in September, alongside some of the most sought-after and wealthiest figures in the Republican Party.

There was Paul Singer, the billionaire hedge fund manager who finances Republican campaigns and pro-Israel causes, and Warren Stephens, the billionaire investment banker. Joining them were Betsy DeVos, the billionaire former education secretary under Mr. Trump, and her husband, Dick, as well as the billionaire Joe Ricketts and his son Todd.

Some politicians might have taken the moment to be charming and ingratiating with the donors.

Not Mr. Trump. Over steak and baked potatoes, the former president tore through a bitter list of grievances.

He made it clear that people, including donors, needed to do more, appreciate him more and help him more…

The rant, described by seven people with knowledge of the meal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, underscored a reality three weeks before Election Day: Mr. Trump’s often cantankerous mood in the final stretch. And one of the reasons for his frustration is money. He’s trailing his Democratic rival in the race for cash and has had to hustle to keep raising it.

Not only does Ms. Harris have far more money to buy ads and pay for staff after raising $1 billion in less than three months as a candidate — a sum greater than the total Mr. Trump raised all year — but she has also been freed from having to plead directly to donors anymore. She raised more than twice as much as Mr. Trump in July, August and September…

Mr. Trump did not make a direct financial request at the Trump Tower dinner, which included members of the American Opportunity Alliance, a network of G.O.P. financiers. Some of the dinner attendees left shaking their heads at the former president’s behavior, but there’s no indication that the interaction will have any effect on their giving…

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