Writer, environmentalist, preservationist, bureaucrat, runner, climber, baker, reader, fan. BOFQ. #metafilter resident since 2013, Buffista since 1998.
On the ferry to the Seattle protest, the staff had to enforce the passenger limit! Never seen that happen before.
"They're taking our jobs"
No they're not. And you know they're not. Know how I know you know that? Because you send ICE to pick them up in the Home Depot parking lot, not at an employment agency. You send ICE to the places where immigrants are specifically looking for jobs that no one else will do, to kidnap them.
"They don't pay taxes"
Yes they do. And you know that they do. Know how I know you know that? Because ICE uses data from the IRS to locate immigrants to go kidnap them.
"They're criminals"
No they're not. And you know they're not. Know how I know that you know that? Because ICE stands outside courtrooms, where they are legally obligated to go to secure their legal status, then kidnaps them as they exit the courtroom.
"They're stealing our benefits"
No they're not. And you know that they're not. Know how I know that you know that? Because ICE is not targeting Medicare or Medicaid offices as locations where they can kidnap people.
"They're here illegally."
No they're not. And you know they're not. Know how I know you know that? Because you're paying a foreign government to hold kidnapped people hostage so that they don't get due process, which would prove they're not.
Video: In Which Donald Trump Nods Off During His Pathetic Military Birthday Parade https://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/54687_Video-_In_Which_Donald_Trump_Nods_Off_During_His_Pathetic_Military_Birthday_Parade
💕 I love seeing posts from people who went out to protest for the first time today 💕
WELCOME!
I am super proud of you
that first time can feel so scary! but I have been in the streets for many years now and it's a beautiful thing
you're doing great and we'll be together again soon
KABC TV - Sen. Alex Padilla of California forcibly removed from a press conference with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem at a federal building in Los Angeles. https://abc7.com/live-updates/tensions-flare-downtown-la-anti-ice-protesters-clash-agents-live-updates/16692645/entry/16733650/
@stux@mstdn.social
I think people should protest, but you may want to be careful what is on your phone. As you may recall, I work for Meta. We're currently spying on people.
We are helping the government to identify people who were in the protest. We are currently helping identify people who want to protest. We are currently helping government agents know where and when protest may happen.
If you have any Facebook apps - Facebook Messenger, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads, Instagram -- Uninstall the app.
NYT - White House health report includes fake citations. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/well/maha-report-citations.html
Proposal: A “yes but only if there’s an agenda” option for meeting invitations.
I want the calendar equivalent of “come back with a warrant”.
Wealth for businesses doesn’t come from customers anymore; it comes from investors. That’s what extreme wealth inequality does. And risk-tolerant investors are all vibes. So basically a business owner’s ability to get rich depends entirely on just how much bullshit they can get a few billionaires to believe.
Today is the anniversary of the MOVE bombing. The only thing that’s changed is police are far more militarized, far more funded, and far less accountable, while their supporters fly a desecrated flag to explicitly endorse their violent attacks.
@ai6yr Fluoride? MRNA vaccines? A COVID/Flu combo shot? These "we want consumers to have the right to choose" motherfuckers sure are banning a lot of shit I would like to have access to.
Remember:
The goal of AI is not to improve.
The goal of AI is to replace costs.
Today I learned there is a vaccine for the cancer that killed my mom in development. In a stage 1 trial, it cured the cancer for people with Stage III and IV cancer. That made me tear up for what might have been.
Then I learned that legislators in some states are trying to ban RNA vaccines (which this possible cure is) and I really cried.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08507-5
The vast majority of acts of violence against women do not happen in toilets, nor are they carried out by these hypothetical predatory ‘men dressed as women’ that transphobes keep banging on about.
The overwhelming majority of assaults on women are carried out by men dressed as men.
Saying he has lost journalistic independence, the executive producer of 60 Minutes is resigning. (Full disclosure: I appeared recently on the CBS program along with VOA colleague Patsy Widakuswara). https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/business/media/cbs-60-minutes-trump-bill-owens.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c&pvid=3F85C69C-483F-4CB9-9D77-B4DF96EF09DF
For those that have not figured it out yet, China did not just decide to build everything America uses. American corporations decided it was most profitable to build everything in China and American consumers decided the only thing that mattered in purchase decisions was price. America brought that trade imbalance upon itself because that was what It wanted.
Ok. I'm a teacher. So let me break this down for you into very very simple ideas and numbers.
Let's say you run a sandwich shop. You sell $10 sandwiches. It's a very good sandwich shop. You sell a lot of sandwiches. In fact, I buy a sandwich from you every single day. In a week, I have spent $70 buying sandwiches from you.
Now let's say I am selling my car. You, the owner of the sandwich shop, need a car. I decide to sell you my car for the very very reasonable price of $700.
So here's the situation at the end of a week. You have sold me $70 worth of goods. I have received $70 worth of sandwiches. In return, I have sold you $700 worth of goods, and you have received $700 worth of car.
Any reasonable, rational person would look at that situation and say "that's a fair exchange". Both parties paid an amount of money equal to the value of the goods they now own.
But Trump is not a rational person. What he has decided this means is that you have somehow cheated me out of $630, because $700-$70=$630. Does this make sense? Fuck no. If anything, I got the better part of that deal. I now have $630, plus a belly full of sandwiches.
But it gets even worse. Then, because Trump's a-brain is filled with maggots, he further declares that since $630 divided by $700 is .9, that MUST mean you, the owner of the sandwich shop, have been imposing 90% "sandwich shop tariffs" on me the whole time. Does THIS make a lick of sense either? Also fuck no.
But wait, you're going to love this. Trump's "solution" to this is to decree that going forward, all sandwiches you sell me will be marked up a "reciprocal' 90%, making the total cost for a sandwich $19 instead of $10. He says this will be good for sandwich sales. Does THIS make any goddamn sense either? Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick no it fucking does not.
This entire idea is complete horseshit for what I hope you can now see are a whole raft of very very obvious reasons. Among them:
1. There never was a "sandwich shop tariff" to reciprocate
2. There is no rational reason for you to buy a car from me ever again
3. This will not make sandwiches cheaper
4. That's not how numbers work
5. That's not how any of this works
Now replace the car seller with America, and the sandwich shop with an island inhabited only by penguins. I wish I was joking.