A bridge too far. “It appears that you have chosen to protect a politically connected billionaire donor family at the expense of promoting American commerce,” --U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (CA) Well of course he has. I'm shocked that you're shocked. #kleptocracy #craptocracy #politics […]

lol, "if only someone had warned us about this sort of thing?!" #ai #genai #aibubble #technology #business #llms

"What old man do you know that doesn't want to tell you what he's learned out of life?" --Dan Rather, "Rather" Documentary #documentaries #journalism

500 Character Book Report. The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed (1996) #sciencefiction #cyberpunk #books #bookreview Imaginative and creative in ways I didn't anticipate, but still gritty and sad. Ms. Reed writes a post-apocalyptic story about Russia and the world that made me even more fearful […]

“Ollie, you know my feelings about arming morons: you arm one, you've got to arm them all, otherwise it wouldn't be good sport.” --Judge Flatt, "Nobody's Fool" I'm beginning to think we're going to be too stupid to dig ourselves out of this in three more […] [Original post on mastodon.sdf.org]

How you know you've gotten old. I notice when doing DIY repairs around the house my focus has shifted from "can I really fix it or am I only going to make it worse?" to "how bad am I going to hurt myself if I try?" #diy #oldpeopleofmastodon

Hi-tech. Still my absolute favorite tech quote after all these years: "I couldn't find the power switch so I turned it off with a rock." When tech goes high, we go primal. #technology #nevermindifixedit #oldpeopleofmastodon

It would be a hard thing to wear the uniform with any pride these days. 😔 "US Military Helping Trump to Build Massive Network of ‘Concentration Camps,’ Navy Contract Reveals" Source: https://www.commondreams.org/news/military-contract-concentration-camps #military #craptocracy

in 2017 a popular twitter game was to type a partial phrase then see what your phone auto-completes it with. this proved so popular that it is now the only business model in the US.

How about now? Are they ready now? Am I alone in thinking that Trump's post depicting the Obamas as monkeys was a trial balloon to see if the country is ready to accept his full-on, unapologetic, in-your-face racism? Never a day without shame and embarrassment thanks to the orange clown […]

"If the phone don't ring, you'll know it's me." --George Jones Some friends of ours had a baby and told us they were a bit overwhelmed (understandable). They said they'd call us when they were ready to get together to catch up. We didn't want to be pushy, so we quietly waited for their call […]

Well of course he did. "Trump calls Olympic skier from Oregon ‘a real Loser’ in Sunday social media post" Well that didn't take long. I don't know what the under was on that happening but I'm guessing it was measured in minutes. Source […]

I’m worried about my kid, who said there was too much cheese on her gnocchi. It just feels like something that can escalate. Like, first, there’s too much cheese and then, before you can blink, she’s part of some stick up crew or injecting hard drugs.

Quietly rooting for the stubborns. Seeing artwork for a children's book about a horse that refuses to be broken to the saddle, I realized I was rooting for the horse. That makes me think I should keep my opinions to myself on some subjects around here […]

God I love this song. Thank you Curtis Mayfield. Eva Cassidy's cover is just what I needed to hear tonight. "Have pity on those whose Chances grow thinner For there's no hiding place Against the kingdom's throne People Get Ready - Eva Cassidy https://youtu.be/bzLd2MDAHK8 #coversong #music

Play that "funky" music white boy. 🙄 Disco down and check out the show. (No changes to the lyrics necessary) #frenemyasongorpoem #hashtaggames

Ricky, just lose that number. #frenemyasongorpoem #hashtaggames

What was behind door #3 I just finished watching a three-part documentary about daytime talk-shows in the 1990s here in the U.S. (Sally Jessy Raphael, Maury Povitch, Jerry Springer, etc.) Based on what these programs showed us we were becoming, it should have been easy to realize that Donald […]

I see those champions of free speech are really working hard for us again. "Censorship is the tool of those who have the need to hide actualities from themselves and from others." --Charles Bukowski "NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast" "‘No One Should […]

The Queen of England and Prince (the entertainer) have both visited our town. No, really. They did. I swear it. I can't think of anything more ridiculous than that. #ridiculoustownslogans #hashtaggames

F=ma When we arrived at the gym this morning, there were already EMTs present. One of the older members had a nasty fall, hurt his elbow and cut his head. As they loaded him onto the stretcher and wheeled him out, his fellow exercise class participants clapped and cheered to make him feel […]

Bad measures. I was today years old when I learned that if we had divided the year into 13 months rather than 12, each month would contain exactly 28 days and begin on a Monday and end on a Sunday. I'd like to speak to the manager of the middle-ages please (Pope Gregory XIII). Somebody wasn't […]

My kind of legal representation. We needed wills and powers of attorney drawn up. Mrs Miasma did some research and found a local attorney who specializes in wills, etc. When she called them to set up an appointment, the lawyer, who works from home said "How did you find me?" That's probably […]

Uno reverse card. I'm not going to watch the Superbowl. But it's not for any reason other than I don't care much for football anymore. Since I don't want to feel like I'm accidentally aligned with MAGA and their complaints against the game's entertainment acts, I'm going to make sure I watch […]

What a surprise. "Brazilian influencer who defended US immigration crackdown arrested by ICE" Is self-harm a thing in some South American cultures? It sure seems like it's a thing sometimes... Source […] [Original post on mastodon.sdf.org]

Not _one_ thin dime. "Johnson says no quick House vote to end partial shutdown, blames Democrats for their ICE demands" GOOD! I hope they take all the money away from DHC in the revised bill. While they're at it - I hope they take away ALL the funds they want to use to revamp the Kennedy […]

Florida man gonna do Florida things. "Man arrested after engaging 'in sexual performance with vacuum cleaner' at resort: cops" "Witnesses provided statements and a cell phone recording of a partially clothed male engaged in inappropriate conduct." But what about the vacuum cleaner, did he […]

Sequential skepticism. I really, really hate the time-travel sub-genre in science fiction. I realize it can be a useful way for the author to tell their story but how can I believe in humanity traveling back and forth in time, repairing timelines and saving the world whilst following a guy in […]

Once again, I'm reminded that my longstanding "don't go to private billionaire underage sex islands" policy has been pretty well vindicated.

Fumble. I'm guessing the NFL's image preservation department is in full overdrive this morning. “I am happy to have you as a new but obviosly [sic] shared interest friend,” wrote Epstein in an email to New York Giants Chairman and co-owner Steve Tisch. Well that's extra icky. Epstein files […]

Typing for the Afflicted --Franz Kafka #trivialbooksorplays #hashtaggames

Les Modérément Gênés --Victor Hugo (The Moderately Inconvenienced) #trivialbooksorplays #hashtaggames

Crime and a Stern Talking To --Fyodor Dostoevsky #trivialbooksorplays #hashtaggames

The Lackluster -- Stephen King #trivialbooksorplays #hashtaggames

The Grapes of Irritation #trivialbooksorplays #hashtaggames

One Hundred Years of Polite Company #trivialbooksorplays #hashtaggames

Civilization's apex. I went into town for happy hour at a very nice restaurant this evening with a friend. I had a rum drink with bona fide fruit slices and a plate of meatball sliders. How can the future get more amazing than that? #itsthelittlethings #oldpeopleofmastodon #goodfood

This man's writing just destroys me every time I hear him read it. Supremely gifted in the art of expression. "You will surrender every right you cherish as long as it happens to someone else first." A Bridge Too Far ... On Alex Pretti - Robert Arnold https://youtu.be/IOFZnCbuWk8 #writing […]

A bowl of peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets is a healthy, nutritious lunch for an adult, right? Asking for a friend.

An athiest's prayer. Please God, let the Turning Point USA Superbowl Halftime "Alternative" show feature new MAGA Nikki Minaj so I can call my 85 year-old Fox-watching father right after and ask him what the hell he just saw. Do me this one solid God, and I'll believe in you for the rest of […]

So by that logic. Shouldn't the Canadian PM indict Trump _in absentia_ and then send special forces into Washington DC to "capture" (more accurately kidnap) him and bring him to Alberta to stand trial for committing sedition against a NATO ally. It's not like there isn't a precedent for […]

Byte marks. Maybe if they could just try a _little_ harder to be something other than completely incompetent dip-shits? At what point do we need to decide if we're going full satire or just bumbling slapstick as our central operating theme? "US cyber defense chief accidentally uploaded secret […]

I didn't think the leopards would eat my face. They voted for this. 🤬 When Border Patrol arrested a beloved mechanic in Froid, Montana, neighbors were forced to reckon with national immigration policy "As of this week — following a sequence of events that is forcing a deeply red town to […]

Chicken out. The place in town that made the absolute best friend chicken closed this month. They didn't close because they lacked customers. It was always busy whenever we went. They say they closed because they couldn't find and keep a staff. Normally, I'd assume that would be because they […]

A Badge is not a shield. Forgive me for sounding like a radical here but if we want to see change after the Minneapolis shootings, demand Bovino and Noem be indicted. They provided the (lack of) training and conduct guidelines that facilitated (or perhaps even mandated) the agents actions. If […]

[Naughty but appropriate profanity.] Best sign being held up by an ICE protester: "See You at Nuremberg Fuckers" Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/persons-anti-ice-protest-sign-171032594.html #ice #iceprotest

They're censoring the word 'Ice' on TikTok, in case you were wondering how the Free Speech is going on those Corporate social networks... #ice #icemustbedestroyed #tiktok #uspol #freespeech #socialmedia #techbros #uspolitics

"You're gonna test this, right?" AI slop comes to genetic coding. I feel like this might be the right time to retreat to a cave in the woods and wait for the end to come for us all. Source […]