Cranky Otter

1. that's not how this works

2. this is, like, six hours of pay

3. this is clearly Trump trying to message to the military that they are his personal army and reliant on his largesse

4. they're probably lying about this donation even existing

5. that's really not how any of this works!

It's really, truly embarrassing New York Democratic party leadership has waited this long (and in some cases, we are still waiting) to endorse Mamdani when the alternatives are either embarrassments or a Republican.

If a temporary resident of the White House can totally demolish the East Wing to build a gaudy ballroom, without any authority, approval, or regulation, he can tear down the rest of the White House to build a Walmart. That this destruction is allowed underscores how off the rails our country is now.

On Oct. 10, USDA told states not to send their EBT “benefit authorization files.” Those files don’t just load new funds, they keep transactions active. Without that monthly approval code, processors like Conduent can’t verify cards, and the network expires when October ends aka no purchasing at all

Sharing this info for those who haven't heard this yet, and also putting an offer out there to share food advice to anyone who wants it.

I've lived with food scarcity for most of my life, and I know how to cook and budget like a fiend. If anyone wants advice or tips, please reach out to me anytime.

enshitification as beat poetry

You can't logic your way out of being burnt out. Unless you're me. Who should be able to do it and it's a personal failing that I can't

Nothing is serious anymore, zach. They coordinate military strikes on signal, dump all registered voter data on telegram, sell stolen top secret documents at a golf club. There’s no reason to expect any less here. We are a state open to casual takeover, if the price is right.

Everyone that will use that building has nothing to hide from our adversaries.

Because if they actually ran background checks, they'd have to exclude that entire howling pack of swindlers, grifters, child abusers, rapists, domestic violence perpetrators, fraudsters, tax cheats, substance pushers, and organized crime pals.

Serious question: Why can’t news organization put “illegally” in headlines?!

“Pentagon Illegally Uses $130 Million Donation to Pay Troops” is an entirely obvious and true headline. There’s no scenario where is this legal. There’s no sense in this headline that this is wildly corrupt and wrong.

If you are a person who told everyone they were overreacting in 2016, and you have since realized you were wrong, I think you have a valuable role to play right now:

Talk to people who aren't convinced things are *that bad* about why you were wrong and what you wish you had done differently.

By the way, if you think I’m overstating things, the U.S. once had to tear down the entire embassy chancery in Moscow, and rebuild it (for a cool quarter-billion or so) because the place was bugged to hell.

I don't think that's why they're doing it, necessarily, but it is absolutely why they don't think it matters

I remember rocking out to SLTS when it was new. I still don’t know the words and think it would be a mistake to learn them.

It's not lost on me that the part of the White House we are destroying is the part that has to do with women's history in the White House.

Well past Very Bad Scenarios already, though they can & will get worse unless leaders take action now.

Vote Rohit! And Peter Hubbard & Alicia Johnson for Public Service Commission to protect us from the oncoming ai data center covering electricity rate hikes!!!

find your precinct: mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/

"They're not supposed to do that to ME" is not a position worthy of respect.

"They should never do that to ANYONE" is.

The idea that these are public resources over which he has been improvidently granted a limited and temporary stewardship role is totally alien to him. As far as he is concerned, they’re his personal chattels.

The pattern here is personalism. Trump views the federal treasury as a discretionary fund for dispensing patronage and largesse; he regards the White House as his private property; he regards DOJ as (literally) his personal lawyers, & the military & law enforcement as his personal security team.

If federal Democrats simply said that they won’t be cowed little sycophants and let Trump do whatever he wants because that’s the actual fucking job that they’ve been hired for—and Republicans won’t do theirs because they’re weak and useless, so many people would be energized behind them

Trump says he will not allow what happened in the 2020 election to ever happen again. I believe him. The 2020 election was a legitimate election. He will not allow legitimate elections to ever happen again. #NoKings

US ‘on a trajectory’ toward authoritarian rule, ex-officials warn A network of former intelligence and security officers says democratic decline is accelerating under Trump’s rule

Retired intelligence analysts confirm what the political scientists are telling us — and what the world outside is telling us — the goal of these people is the end of law, the end of democracy, and the end of a recognizable republic.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The carceral state is generally brutal and evil in the way it treats the human beings it cages, but it’s fine to point out when there are bursts of unusually concentrated or vigorous evil and use it to get people to care.

Just an incredible stat from @brooklynspoke.bsky.social:

In 1971, the Netherlands had a 20% higher vehicle death rate than the US

Today, their vehicle death rate is 60% lower than ours

Unnecessary early deaths are a policy choice

How come only female judges seem to be trying to curb the illegal excesses of this administration?

The last war was the stupidest war, only to be outdone immediately by the next war

The likelihood of dying by bomb or drone is lower now. But materially... not much else has changed. Hardly any jobs. Very few habitable buildings left. Disease rampant and treatment scarce. And a hard winter ahead.