How I got to Mint Mobile seems strange, at least to me. My wife and I signed up for T-Mobile's cheap plan, unlimited everything for two people aged 55+. Moved to Fort Collins, where every network's coverage was great. Fort Collins had started requiring all wired networks -- phone, power, cable -- to be buried in 1948. The only tall poles left were the power authority's high-voltage lines, all of the cell companies used them, which is why coverage was great. Then the feds decided putting cell antennas on HVAC poles was dangerous and required that they be removed. Fort Collins now has some of the worst cellular coverage of any city. By happenstance, T-Mobile's was the best in the parts of the city where I spent most of my time. At some point after my wife went into memory care I was fixing up service. Mint Mobile was the least expensive of the discount companies reselling T-Mobile service. At the end of the initial period, they sent me e-mail and text saying, "We recommend you change to this cheaper plan." As I recall, all of my phone service since I was an undergraduate back in the 1970s cost more than the $15/month I'm paying now.
Who says corporate America doesn’t have at least some sense of humor left?
Ryan Reynolds makes humorous, self-deprecating Mint Mobile commercials. In 2020 and 2024, he was the world's second-highest-paid actor. Now that he's an entrepreneur, he's also a billionaire.
Who says corporate America doesn't have at least some sense of humor left? I got this card from Mint Mobile. It included a fragment of holiday wrapping paper :^)
The Roman magistrate song
Tune: The Major General's Song (Gilbert&Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance)
Chorus: |: His name is Marcus Tullius Cicero :|
Cicero: My name is/Indeed I'm Marcus Tullius Cicero
1. I am the very model of a proper Roman magistrate although of origin a poor provincial legal advocate
I came to Rome with country drawl, behaved and clothed/dressed still/quite prissily
Then came to fame defending the oppressed poor folks of Sicily.
I beat that Asianic fop, illustrious Hortensius
The greatest advocate till then, an omen so portentious
That gave my standing quite a boost. I moved to better neighbourhood [neighbourhood! maidenhood? hazelwood? Oh, of course!]
I can/could afford now finally some furniture of citrus wood
I ran the course of honors through and "suo anno" at each stage
An akin meteoric rise you'll seek in vain on his'try's page See, does/did not turn my origin as studied legal advocate me into a fine model for a proper Roman magistrate?
2.
I love the lengthy period with con- and subjunctives galore
I best each verbal labyrinth as Theseus did the minotaur
I know my ornaments and tropes from zeugma to apostrophy
I practice hypotyposis that leads to eucatastrophe
I shun the tmesis like the plague, don't mix en- with hypallage
Against non-cretic clausulae I have an aching allergy
Occasions for anacoluth or sentence aposiopese...
[mayonaise? Calliopese? Alcibiades?... Eureka/I've got it/Ah, but of course!]
And don't insinuate insinuations are just lies - oh, please.
I can explain the difference twixt alleg'ry and metaphor
and can provide for evr'y term the context that it matters for
This stanza has too many lines, I humbly do apologise
[eulogize?...extemporize? Nobel prize?... Something more epic!]
But with this topic dear to me the words swell like Apollo's rise
No one can yet convict me of abuse of inconcinnity
My subtle sense of tone does truly verge on pure divinity So I from modest origins, a mere provincial advocate, became the very model of a brilliant Roman magistrate
3.
I dabble in philosophy, in dreams I talk to Socrates
Of rivals I am as devoid as medicine's Hippocrates
A challenger compared to me sounds Numid or Iberian
I'd win a dispute easily no matter what criterion.
I can force words to do my will, of Latin mine is mastery
Comparable my aptitude to expert sculptor's plastery
I keep my gestures dignified, at least when on the senate floor
[senate floor...janitor?...penny whore?...Ah! Of course!]
Avoid the roll-of-eyes and row-of-arms, I'm not a semaphor.
A homo novus though I am, by birth a mere equestrian
I soared through toil and eloquence past nobles more pedestrian So out of plainest origins a paltry legal advocate arose as very model of a palmy Roman magistrate
4.
I have a slave named Tiro who brought forth the art stenography
And who, if fates permit, one day will publish my biography
He notes down ev'ry word that in the public or at home I've said
And of course in the most august assembly here in Rome, senate!
Although with voters common I will be at times gregarious
I find the populares faction utterly nefarious
So without doubt I throw my lot in with the noble optimates [optimates! obstinates? pots and plates?... I've got it!]
For what they're always aiming at "best for the state" approximates
I love the toga candida and the elections annual
My brother Quintus was so kind to write the winner's manual With this assistance I was spared a certain loser's tragic fate Became with vote unanimous of Rome the highest magistrate
5.
I can declaim in Greek like born in Athens or in Miletos
I showed that rascal Catiline who really is in Rome the boss
Some say his motivation was just violated vanity
But then to start a coup attempt was madness and insanity
He clearly was a bolshevik, although I don't know what that means,
and right against the mos maiorum but that's normal for such fiends
I then got hailed as savior of our sacred fatherland
[fatherland...rather bent?...leather scent?...EUREKA]
but squinting sods did disagree and planned my triumphs there to end.
Thus afterwards you exiled me through that tribune so odious
Who had exchanged his honest name for that of vulgar Clodius With fire denied (and water too) exiled to places desolate I fell down from the lofty peak of supreme Roman magistrate
6.
It's said the perfect orator a good man is well versed in speech
And for him who has mastered this no thing to aim for 's out of reach
I climbed through efforts tireless the heights of Attic oratory
I penned some self-promoting but unsuccessful epic poetry
The way I use the language shall one day be made canonical
Which given no bum talks like this should be seen as ironical
Categorise my style as neither Asian nor atticist
[pacifist, can't resist? Oh, me stupid!]
I walk the golden middle course, am not baroque but classicist
I made the Latin language shine and stay for all eternity
To form with Persian, Greek, Sanskrit forever a fraternity And thus despite my origin as country bumpkin advocate my eloquence made me the model of a Roman magistrate
7.
Indeed it was an/the orator who first united as a group
the cultureless humanity fed up with bitter acorn soup
He taught them all there was to know and how to found a/the city state
He was the natural candidate to serve as its first magistrate
We know that our first Roman king - Quirinus Romulus - could wield
The word as well as any sword. The eloquence served as his shield
Then Numa his more peaceful heir could do away with sagum red
[garum fed?...Boba Fett?... Ouch! It' s so obvious]
Inspired by Camena's source/spring he governed in the toga clad
And this tradition it holds true while seven centuries have passed
If to my precepts/teachings you will hold, for many more it's going to last To Rome despite my origins as rural legal advocate The gods called me as model both as orator and magistrate
8.
The orator before all things must never ever be a bore
And even on the dullest topic find his mark and hit full score
But this be done/he does with dignity, avoiding all cheap stage effects
And with quick wit the heckling claque's intrusions craftily deflects
An orator worth of the name of ev'rything has ample gist
And, if he hasn't, he can still make use of an exempla/example list
But I digress - I often do - but this is not the lecture hall
Please don't take it as flattery me saying that I love you all
What is this world, if not a stage, for each of us a part to play?
[part to play...hard to pay...start to say?...I got it.]
And I was given billings prime to take the lead and save the day
For not by chance for Roma's sake in time mine was the consulate
The vilest plot I could unveil and just before it was too late. The gods send forth as champion me, an unknown rusty advocate In time of need to take the role of lucid Roman magistrate
9.
The Parthians do not fear me yet for my strategic genius
No blade I bathed in human blood for I am rather squeamish, yes
Of British cooking I stay clear, a parcel one calls them of rogues
The Gauls I hate for drinking beer (exception made for Allobroges)
No sword is worn within Rome's walls, the sanctified pomerium
Removed from fasces is the axe, no soldier holds imperium
And though I lack the clever stratagems of Quintus Fabius [fabulous, platypus? Ah, that's it!]
And cannot tell apart, ye gods, a spatha from a gladius
I am no blood-stained warrior. The tongue is mighty, not the sword
I have steered through the roughest seas the ship of state to safest port Therefore, despite of origin a humble legal advocate I am the very model of a glorious Roman magistrate
10.
Republican I am at heart, I hate all things tyrannical
Despite nice news of victories both Gallic and Britannical
I would not take - if offered one - a seat in a triumvirate
Political shenanigans of "great men" get me quite irate
My idol is Demosthenes the great Athenian orator
I do philippics just like him and give Rome's fetid foes what for
I hate that guy Marc Anthony and call him many nasty name
[lasting shame?...ghastly maim? Misplaced my head again...Duh!]
A scoundrel very wanton he, too fond of wine, whore, slut and dame
Not worthy of his noble birth, a moral stain on Roma's face
Defiler of all honest things, in short a total gross disgrace! Compare that to my humble self, this Arpinate and advocate Possessing moral stamina, apt for a Roman magistrate
Before this ends all National Parks will likely be privatized (to private = to plunder); to be logged and mined into moonscapes.
The national parks are so small, and generally don't have the resources the private sector is looking for. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management [1] holdings are potentially more attractive. OTOH, as privately held lands, they fall under state jurisdiction for royalties and restoration requirements. Why is so much of Wyoming's coal mined on federal lands? Because even deep-red Wyoming levies much higher royalties and taxes than the feds do, and has much more stringent reclamation requirements.
[1] I spent too many years in western states, and on a western state government legislative staff in particular. In my head, the BLM acronym is always associated with "What have those d*ckheads done now?"
"We are pushing all of our chips in on artificial intelligence as a fighting force. The Department is tapping into America's commercial genius, and we're embedding generative AI into our daily battle rhythm." Secretary of War Pete Hegseth remarked, "AI tools present boundless opportunities to increase efficiency, and we are thrilled to witness AI's future positive impact across the War Department."
...
GenAI.mil is another building block in America's AI revolution. The War Department is unleashing a new era of operational dominance, where every warfighter wields frontier AI as a force multiplier. The release of GenAI.mil is an indispensable strategic imperative for our fighting force, further establishing the United States as the global leader in AI.
All things 2025 are 2005 again. This is Rumsfeld's Revolution in Military Affairs v2.0. Find "Networked" and replace with "AI." Find "Iraq," and replace with "Venezuela." They will bring the Shock And Awe again, and then falter on the lack of HUMINT and any plan for what comes after that might bring stability and hope to a population that no one in the administration gives a single damn about.
Complete Charlie Foxtrot in the making once again, but the techbros are ready at the trough.
Warner Bros. has released a trailer and poster for the Supergirl movie coming out next June. Perhaps I'll take granddaughter #1 to the theater to explain it to me.
Teddy the Treehugger? No thanks. Before this ends all National Parks will likely be privatized (to private = to plunder); to be logged and mined into moonscapes.
If your opinion-poll numbers are tanking, start a war you can win.
In the abstract and in principle, Venezuela should be an easy win. With these morons in charge, a whole lot of people (US troops as well as Venezuelans) are going to get killed. But victory is about as likely as the Russians in Afghanistan.
"A short, victorious war" is a fantasy of incompetents everywhere. I can think of only one case where it actually happened**. (And that time the war wasn't a domestic political operation.) Mostly it proves to be neither short nor victorious.
** Gulf I, taking Kuwait back from Saddam. But generals competent enough to pull something like that off? Not likely to be put in charge by Trump or Hegseth. More likely to get sacked for insufficient toadying.
Regarding today's seizure of a loaded oil tanker, reportedly in transit from Venezuela to Cuba... As I understand how these things are done, ownership of the oil transferred FOB some oil terminal in Venezuela. The owner is almost certainly not the company that owns the tanker. Trump has said regarding the oil, "Well, we keep it, I guess." Part of me wishes that there's some back room paper shuffling going on and tomorrow China issues a statement asking, "Did we just hear you say that you're keeping a million barrels of our oil?"
A bigger part of me fears irrationality, and a back channel message being sent that says, "Nice AI bubble you've blown there. Be a shame if anything happened to TSMC's ability to deliver chips to American companies."
Open thread, so: I'm sick at heart about what seems to be happening with regard to Trump and Ukraine. None of it is even that unexpected, but I guess I was still hoping beyond hope that, to quote Grace Paley, there would be Enormous Changes at the Last Minute. I suppose it could still happen, but you'd be a fool to put any money at all on it.
I do realise that many or most of you have concerns that are a great deal closer to home, and with that in mind I am posting a gift link to a podcast and its transcript from the Atlantic, with David Frum interviewing Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan Center at NYU. The main part is about the threats to the coming elections (2026 and 2028), and what can be done to thwart them:
The most recurring dream is of me looking for a toilet but only finding ones that for one reason or other can’t be used (clogged, full of water, built in a way one cannot sit upon them, extremly dirty etc.).
I've had similar dreams, intermingled with the military stuff. Such as trying to find restrooms and functional toilets in a barrack.
I get regularly woken up by the inner censor who will not allow any sex to happen (at least not involving me).
The most recurring dream is of me looking for a toilet but only finding ones that for one reason or other can't be used (clogged, full of water, built in a way one cannot sit upon them, extremly dirty etc.). The problem is usually very detailed and in high resolution. What I do not understand is that the locations are usually completely unknown to me but have a degree of detail that to me would seem to require great familiarity with the source the dream screenwriter used to create the images.
The (written) exam dream is also quite familiar but it is usually so that I know the stuff but once I have finished most of it, all the paper gets confused and I can't find the correct pages to finish and to hand in, resulting in a panic.
Someone is also constantly meddling with the public transport system. I get stranded at an unknown (and often confusedly constructed*) station (often rural or semi-rural) and can't find my way to the correct one since for some reason the whole net and the timetables have changed. Occasionally on the underground lines but more often on a railroad above ground. Well, at least some effort is usually put into scenic landscapes and the weather tends to be pleasant.
Sometimes I wake up from the weird ones because, in the dream, I get to the point of “I’d like to speak with the screenwriter, please.”
This happens to me, too. You become aware of how ridiculous the circumstances are and your conscious mind steps in to cut the nonsense. Or so it seems.
It happens to me when I'm lucid dreaming and start doing whatever I want. It's like I'm trying to hang on, but it doesn't last too long once the veil has been lifted.
This discussion has me realize that my panic based dreams have come in distinct phases/periods. The first was when I was a kid and I dreamed I would swim in air, but would be hopelessly slower than other people. It was just like pushing off from the bottom of a pool and doing a dog stroke in air. I'd love to go back and see if I could do that with lucid dreaming, i
The second era, corresponding to hs and uni, was the relatively common one of being in some place with no clothes and everyone else was dressed. Of course, I now realize that no one else noticed and I couldn't tell anyone. Would have been nice to have figured that out then
The last stage, though it hasn't happened recently, I would have sleep paralysis, which would happen when I was totally knackered. I had the impression that someone was in the room and I couldn't move and I couldn't say anything. It wasn't someone like an ax murderer, it was just someone I knew, but it would really be stressful to have them in the room and I couldn't acknowledge them, so I would force myself awake, and in waking up, I felt like I pulled every muscle in my body. Not fun. I had a theory that I was dropping into REM sleep to quickly (I could feel my eyes doing REM even though I just laid my head on the pillow)
I still get very tired, but I feel like my slight ability to lucid dream is actually related to that, because I'm lying in bed and I don't try to move, but I can see everything in the room. On the other hand, it might be because I don't really care if someone comes in the room and I can't talk to them, because I've reached an age where I don't give a shit...
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Open Thread”
How I got to Mint Mobile seems strange, at least to me. My wife and I signed up for T-Mobile's cheap plan, unlimited everything for two people aged 55+. Moved to Fort Collins, where every network's coverage was great. Fort Collins had started requiring all wired networks -- phone, power, cable -- to be buried in 1948. The only tall poles left were the power authority's high-voltage lines, all of the cell companies used them, which is why coverage was great. Then the feds decided putting cell antennas on HVAC poles was dangerous and required that they be removed. Fort Collins now has some of the worst cellular coverage of any city. By happenstance, T-Mobile's was the best in the parts of the city where I spent most of my time. At some point after my wife went into memory care I was fixing up service. Mint Mobile was the least expensive of the discount companies reselling T-Mobile service. At the end of the initial period, they sent me e-mail and text saying, "We recommend you change to this cheaper plan." As I recall, all of my phone service since I was an undergraduate back in the 1970s cost more than the $15/month I'm paying now.
"
Who says corporate America doesn’t have at least some sense of humor left?
Ryan Reynolds makes humorous, self-deprecating Mint Mobile commercials. In 2020 and 2024, he was the world's second-highest-paid actor. Now that he's an entrepreneur, he's also a billionaire.
"
To fit the vibe...
"
Who says corporate America doesn't have at least some sense of humor left? I got this card from Mint Mobile. It included a fragment of holiday wrapping paper :^)
"
The Roman magistrate song
Tune: The Major General's Song (Gilbert&Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance)
Chorus: |: His name is Marcus Tullius Cicero :|
Cicero: My name is/Indeed I'm Marcus Tullius Cicero
1.
I am the very model of a proper Roman magistrate
although of origin a poor provincial legal advocate
I came to Rome with country drawl, behaved and clothed/dressed still/quite prissily
Then came to fame defending the oppressed poor folks of Sicily.
I beat that Asianic fop, illustrious Hortensius
The greatest advocate till then, an omen so portentious
That gave my standing quite a boost. I moved to better neighbourhood
[neighbourhood! maidenhood? hazelwood? Oh, of course!]
I can/could afford now finally some furniture of citrus wood
I ran the course of honors through and "suo anno" at each stage
An akin meteoric rise you'll seek in vain on his'try's page
See, does/did not turn my origin as studied legal advocate
me into a fine model for a proper Roman magistrate?
2.
I love the lengthy period with con- and subjunctives galore
I best each verbal labyrinth as Theseus did the minotaur
I know my ornaments and tropes from zeugma to apostrophy
I practice hypotyposis that leads to eucatastrophe
I shun the tmesis like the plague, don't mix en- with hypallage
Against non-cretic clausulae I have an aching allergy
Occasions for anacoluth or sentence aposiopese...
[mayonaise? Calliopese? Alcibiades?... Eureka/I've got it/Ah, but of course!]
And don't insinuate insinuations are just lies - oh, please.
I can explain the difference twixt alleg'ry and metaphor
and can provide for evr'y term the context that it matters for
This stanza has too many lines, I humbly do apologise
[eulogize?...extemporize? Nobel prize?... Something more epic!]
But with this topic dear to me the words swell like Apollo's rise
No one can yet convict me of abuse of inconcinnity
My subtle sense of tone does truly verge on pure divinity
So I from modest origins, a mere provincial advocate,
became the very model of a brilliant Roman magistrate
3.
I dabble in philosophy, in dreams I talk to Socrates
Of rivals I am as devoid as medicine's Hippocrates
A challenger compared to me sounds Numid or Iberian
I'd win a dispute easily no matter what criterion.
I can force words to do my will, of Latin mine is mastery
Comparable my aptitude to expert sculptor's plastery
I keep my gestures dignified, at least when on the senate floor
[senate floor...janitor?...penny whore?...Ah! Of course!]
Avoid the roll-of-eyes and row-of-arms, I'm not a semaphor.
A homo novus though I am, by birth a mere equestrian
I soared through toil and eloquence past nobles more pedestrian
So out of plainest origins a paltry legal advocate
arose as very model of a palmy Roman magistrate
4.
I have a slave named Tiro who brought forth the art stenography
And who, if fates permit, one day will publish my biography
He notes down ev'ry word that in the public or at home I've said
And of course in the most august assembly here in Rome, senate!
Although with voters common I will be at times gregarious
I find the populares faction utterly nefarious
So without doubt I throw my lot in with the noble optimates
[optimates! obstinates? pots and plates?... I've got it!]
For what they're always aiming at "best for the state" approximates
I love the toga candida and the elections annual
My brother Quintus was so kind to write the winner's manual
With this assistance I was spared a certain loser's tragic fate
Became with vote unanimous of Rome the highest magistrate
5.
I can declaim in Greek like born in Athens or in Miletos
I showed that rascal Catiline who really is in Rome the boss
Some say his motivation was just violated vanity
But then to start a coup attempt was madness and insanity
He clearly was a bolshevik, although I don't know what that means,
and right against the mos maiorum but that's normal for such fiends
I then got hailed as savior of our sacred fatherland
[fatherland...rather bent?...leather scent?...EUREKA]
but squinting sods did disagree and planned my triumphs there to end.
Thus afterwards you exiled me through that tribune so odious
Who had exchanged his honest name for that of vulgar Clodius
With fire denied (and water too) exiled to places desolate
I fell down from the lofty peak of supreme Roman magistrate
6.
It's said the perfect orator a good man is well versed in speech
And for him who has mastered this no thing to aim for 's out of reach
I climbed through efforts tireless the heights of Attic oratory
I penned some self-promoting but unsuccessful epic poetry
The way I use the language shall one day be made canonical
Which given no bum talks like this should be seen as ironical
Categorise my style as neither Asian nor atticist
[pacifist, can't resist? Oh, me stupid!]
I walk the golden middle course, am not baroque but classicist
I made the Latin language shine and stay for all eternity
To form with Persian, Greek, Sanskrit forever a fraternity
And thus despite my origin as country bumpkin advocate
my eloquence made me the model of a Roman magistrate
7.
Indeed it was an/the orator who first united as a group
the cultureless humanity fed up with bitter acorn soup
He taught them all there was to know and how to found a/the city state
He was the natural candidate to serve as its first magistrate
We know that our first Roman king - Quirinus Romulus - could wield
The word as well as any sword. The eloquence served as his shield
Then Numa his more peaceful heir could do away with sagum red
[garum fed?...Boba Fett?... Ouch! It' s so obvious]
Inspired by Camena's source/spring he governed in the toga clad
And this tradition it holds true while seven centuries have passed
If to my precepts/teachings you will hold, for many more it's going to last
To Rome despite my origins as rural legal advocate
The gods called me as model both as orator and magistrate
8.
The orator before all things must never ever be a bore
And even on the dullest topic find his mark and hit full score
But this be done/he does with dignity, avoiding all cheap stage effects
And with quick wit the heckling claque's intrusions craftily deflects
An orator worth of the name of ev'rything has ample gist
And, if he hasn't, he can still make use of an exempla/example list
But I digress - I often do - but this is not the lecture hall
Please don't take it as flattery me saying that I love you all
What is this world, if not a stage, for each of us a part to play?
[part to play...hard to pay...start to say?...I got it.]
And I was given billings prime to take the lead and save the day
For not by chance for Roma's sake in time mine was the consulate
The vilest plot I could unveil and just before it was too late.
The gods send forth as champion me, an unknown rusty advocate
In time of need to take the role of lucid Roman magistrate
9.
The Parthians do not fear me yet for my strategic genius
No blade I bathed in human blood for I am rather squeamish, yes
Of British cooking I stay clear, a parcel one calls them of rogues
The Gauls I hate for drinking beer (exception made for Allobroges)
No sword is worn within Rome's walls, the sanctified pomerium
Removed from fasces is the axe, no soldier holds imperium
And though I lack the clever stratagems of Quintus Fabius
[fabulous, platypus? Ah, that's it!]
And cannot tell apart, ye gods, a spatha from a gladius
I am no blood-stained warrior. The tongue is mighty, not the sword
I have steered through the roughest seas the ship of state to safest port
Therefore, despite of origin a humble legal advocate
I am the very model of a glorious Roman magistrate
10.
Republican I am at heart, I hate all things tyrannical
Despite nice news of victories both Gallic and Britannical
I would not take - if offered one - a seat in a triumvirate
Political shenanigans of "great men" get me quite irate
My idol is Demosthenes the great Athenian orator
I do philippics just like him and give Rome's fetid foes what for
I hate that guy Marc Anthony and call him many nasty name
[lasting shame?...ghastly maim? Misplaced my head again...Duh!]
A scoundrel very wanton he, too fond of wine, whore, slut and dame
Not worthy of his noble birth, a moral stain on Roma's face
Defiler of all honest things, in short a total gross disgrace!
Compare that to my humble self, this Arpinate and advocate
Possessing moral stamina, apt for a Roman magistrate
On “How are you sleeping?”
Before this ends all National Parks will likely be privatized (to private = to plunder); to be logged and mined into moonscapes.
The national parks are so small, and generally don't have the resources the private sector is looking for. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management [1] holdings are potentially more attractive. OTOH, as privately held lands, they fall under state jurisdiction for royalties and restoration requirements. Why is so much of Wyoming's coal mined on federal lands? Because even deep-red Wyoming levies much higher royalties and taxes than the feds do, and has much more stringent reclamation requirements.
[1] I spent too many years in western states, and on a western state government legislative staff in particular. In my head, the BLM acronym is always associated with "What have those d*ckheads done now?"
On “Cory Doctorow and enshittification”
Here's a big one.
https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4354916/the-war-department-unleashes-ai-on-new-genaimil-platform/
...
All things 2025 are 2005 again. This is Rumsfeld's Revolution in Military Affairs v2.0. Find "Networked" and replace with "AI." Find "Iraq," and replace with "Venezuela." They will bring the Shock And Awe again, and then falter on the lack of HUMINT and any plan for what comes after that might bring stability and hope to a population that no one in the administration gives a single damn about.
Complete Charlie Foxtrot in the making once again, but the techbros are ready at the trough.
On “Open Thread”
Warner Bros. has released a trailer and poster for the Supergirl movie coming out next June. Perhaps I'll take granddaughter #1 to the theater to explain it to me.
On “How are you sleeping?”
Teddy the Treehugger? No thanks. Before this ends all National Parks will likely be privatized (to private = to plunder); to be logged and mined into moonscapes.
On “Cory Doctorow and enshittification”
once upon a time everybody needed a telephone because it was the fastest and most reliable way to communicate with anyone in the world.
today, a telephone is a device that primarily gives advertisers and scammers a direct line to your attention.
On “How are you sleeping?”
Spanish-American War!
who doesn't want to be Teddy R?
On “Open Thread”
Set in stone...
On “How are you sleeping?”
Grenada. They even made a propaganda film about it.
"
If your opinion-poll numbers are tanking, start a war you can win.
In the abstract and in principle, Venezuela should be an easy win. With these morons in charge, a whole lot of people (US troops as well as Venezuelans) are going to get killed. But victory is about as likely as the Russians in Afghanistan.
"A short, victorious war" is a fantasy of incompetents everywhere. I can think of only one case where it actually happened**. (And that time the war wasn't a domestic political operation.) Mostly it proves to be neither short nor victorious.
** Gulf I, taking Kuwait back from Saddam. But generals competent enough to pull something like that off? Not likely to be put in charge by Trump or Hegseth. More likely to get sacked for insufficient toadying.
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...having oil not under US control...
Regarding today's seizure of a loaded oil tanker, reportedly in transit from Venezuela to Cuba... As I understand how these things are done, ownership of the oil transferred FOB some oil terminal in Venezuela. The owner is almost certainly not the company that owns the tanker. Trump has said regarding the oil, "Well, we keep it, I guess." Part of me wishes that there's some back room paper shuffling going on and tomorrow China issues a statement asking, "Did we just hear you say that you're keeping a million barrels of our oil?"
A bigger part of me fears irrationality, and a back channel message being sent that says, "Nice AI bubble you've blown there. Be a shame if anything happened to TSMC's ability to deliver chips to American companies."
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Just murdering people didn't provide enough ROI?
On “Open Thread”
Open thread, so: I'm sick at heart about what seems to be happening with regard to Trump and Ukraine. None of it is even that unexpected, but I guess I was still hoping beyond hope that, to quote Grace Paley, there would be Enormous Changes at the Last Minute. I suppose it could still happen, but you'd be a fool to put any money at all on it.
I do realise that many or most of you have concerns that are a great deal closer to home, and with that in mind I am posting a gift link to a podcast and its transcript from the Atlantic, with David Frum interviewing Michael Waldman, the president of the Brennan Center at NYU. The main part is about the threats to the coming elections (2026 and 2028), and what can be done to thwart them:
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2025/12/david-frum-show-michael-waldman-2026-elections/685219/?gift=cx0iluuWx4Cg7JjlT8ugCUa60y1nrf54jxaP3FioTT8&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
On “How are you sleeping?”
If your opinion-poll numbers are tanking, start a war you can win.
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the Ledeen doctrine
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speaking of nightmares...
i haven't been keeping up with my Republican mythology, so can someone explain: why are 'we' trying to start a war with Venezuela?
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The most recurring dream is of me looking for a toilet but only finding ones that for one reason or other can’t be used (clogged, full of water, built in a way one cannot sit upon them, extremly dirty etc.).
I've had similar dreams, intermingled with the military stuff. Such as trying to find restrooms and functional toilets in a barrack.
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I get regularly woken up by the inner censor who will not allow any sex to happen (at least not involving me).
The most recurring dream is of me looking for a toilet but only finding ones that for one reason or other can't be used (clogged, full of water, built in a way one cannot sit upon them, extremly dirty etc.). The problem is usually very detailed and in high resolution. What I do not understand is that the locations are usually completely unknown to me but have a degree of detail that to me would seem to require great familiarity with the source the dream screenwriter used to create the images.
The (written) exam dream is also quite familiar but it is usually so that I know the stuff but once I have finished most of it, all the paper gets confused and I can't find the correct pages to finish and to hand in, resulting in a panic.
Someone is also constantly meddling with the public transport system. I get stranded at an unknown (and often confusedly constructed*) station (often rural or semi-rural) and can't find my way to the correct one since for some reason the whole net and the timetables have changed. Occasionally on the underground lines but more often on a railroad above ground. Well, at least some effort is usually put into scenic landscapes and the weather tends to be pleasant.
*which has some basis in reality around here
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Sometimes I wake up from the weird ones because, in the dream, I get to the point of “I’d like to speak with the screenwriter, please.”
This happens to me, too. You become aware of how ridiculous the circumstances are and your conscious mind steps in to cut the nonsense. Or so it seems.
It happens to me when I'm lucid dreaming and start doing whatever I want. It's like I'm trying to hang on, but it doesn't last too long once the veil has been lifted.
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This discussion has me realize that my panic based dreams have come in distinct phases/periods. The first was when I was a kid and I dreamed I would swim in air, but would be hopelessly slower than other people. It was just like pushing off from the bottom of a pool and doing a dog stroke in air. I'd love to go back and see if I could do that with lucid dreaming, i
The second era, corresponding to hs and uni, was the relatively common one of being in some place with no clothes and everyone else was dressed. Of course, I now realize that no one else noticed and I couldn't tell anyone. Would have been nice to have figured that out then
The last stage, though it hasn't happened recently, I would have sleep paralysis, which would happen when I was totally knackered. I had the impression that someone was in the room and I couldn't move and I couldn't say anything. It wasn't someone like an ax murderer, it was just someone I knew, but it would really be stressful to have them in the room and I couldn't acknowledge them, so I would force myself awake, and in waking up, I felt like I pulled every muscle in my body. Not fun. I had a theory that I was dropping into REM sleep to quickly (I could feel my eyes doing REM even though I just laid my head on the pillow)
I still get very tired, but I feel like my slight ability to lucid dream is actually related to that, because I'm lying in bed and I don't try to move, but I can see everything in the room. On the other hand, it might be because I don't really care if someone comes in the room and I can't talk to them, because I've reached an age where I don't give a shit...
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