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Friday Open Thread

Our last open thread is about to hit 200 comments and close. Here is a new one all topics welcome.
I'll add some content here when I'm done with work for the day. In the meantime, it's your turn.

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    PSA please help (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri May 01, 2026 at 05:20:49 PM EST
    It's easy.

    I have posted here about both my new gay friends locally planning a drag show and the white nationalist group harassing them.

    Short version.  There's two businesses identified with the Drag Show. They are both gay owned and are next door to each other.  
    The feckless white nationalist can't get anyone interested (it seems) in stopping the horror of a drag show so they are bombing the stores with bad reviews on GOOGLE

    please go to GOOGLE
    search (separately) for

    3 Magi Hardy AR

    Market on Main Hardy AR

    click on the reviews tab

    Give them 5 stars
    You can say something but that's not necessary

    Thank you for your attention to this matter

    Sure (none / 0) (#2)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat May 02, 2026 at 05:50:43 PM EST
    Will be glad to when I get on Chrome. On Internet Explorer at least on the first one the search comes back with no ratings. This is an antique store?

    So in Florida they are using vouchers to set up LGBTQ schools. the evangelicals are having a meltdown. Personally I don't think this segregation is a good idea for LGBT community nor do I think it's good for Christians either. But like the gerrymandering disaster, we don't or didn't make the rules and don't whine when we use your own rules against you.

    Parent

    Downloading chrome (none / 0) (#3)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat May 02, 2026 at 06:37:48 PM EST
    is pretty easy

    Parent
    I find having a GOOGLE account (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat May 02, 2026 at 06:45:42 PM EST
    very useful.  I dont really care if the track me.
    Good luck staying awake.
    It allows you to log into just about anything on the web using your GOOGLE account.

    Not sure if an account is needed

    Parent

    I have (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon May 04, 2026 at 02:08:18 PM EST
    Chrome. I just don't use it for TL. For some reason I have problems with Chrome and TL. So when I am here I used IE.

    Parent
    Yes (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat May 02, 2026 at 06:41:36 PM EST
    both antique stores

    Parent
    So crazy (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat May 02, 2026 at 07:00:45 PM EST
    The new deal is the previous deal.
    Trump is going to agree with this

    Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential diplomacy, the senior Iranian official said Tehran believed its latest proposal to shelve nuclear talks for a later stage was a significant shift aimed at facilitating an agreement.

    Under the proposal, the war would end with a guarantee that Israel and the United States would not attack again. Iran would open the strait, and the United States would lift its blockade.

    Future talks would then be held on curbs to Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran demanding Washington recognize its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, even if it agrees to suspend its nuclear program.

    "Under this framework, negotiations over the more complicated nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more conducive atmosphere," the official said.

    Link



    Now it (none / 0) (#13)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon May 04, 2026 at 02:12:12 PM EST
    seems we are resuming bombing after Iran shot one of our tankers? Sorry to say with this administration we don't know what really happened. I did read that Iranian ships had gotten past the US by pretending to be Iraqi ships.

    Iran has found something stronger than a bomb...the Strait of Hormuz. They have learned they can shut down the energy sector and do an economic strike which honestly you could say is worse than a bomb.

    Trump has screwed us and a ton of other countries with his idiocy. Elect a clown and this is what happens. Hello gas at 6 bucks in the next few weeks.  

    Parent

    Giuliani swirling down the drain. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by desertswine on Sun May 03, 2026 at 07:56:09 PM EST


    And it's all the fault (none / 0) (#11)
    by Chuck0 on Mon May 04, 2026 at 01:54:08 PM EST
    of "Radical Left Lunatics." Dementia Donnie said so.

    Parent
    I hope (none / 0) (#14)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon May 04, 2026 at 02:13:40 PM EST
    his estate has to pay out all the claims should he pass away to all the people he harmed.

    I thought Trump had put him in the garbage dumpster since he no longer has anything to do with him. I guess he's only useful to drag up when he can blame someone else.

    Parent

    May the 4th be with us (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 04, 2026 at 08:20:58 AM EST
    Playbook: "Six months from today, America will wake up to a new political reality. Nov. 4 -- the morning after the midterms -- is the moment Democrats expect the next phase of retaliation against Trump 2.0 ... and the moment optimistic Republicans, at least, believe the president and his allies in Congress will be newly empowered to finish the job."

    "Right now, the mood among rank-and-file Republicans is desperate...

    Four Dead in Ohio (5.00 / 4) (#21)
    by Peter G on Tue May 05, 2026 at 10:29:28 AM EST
    Meant to post yesterday, in keeping with TL tradition, a memorial to the Kent State killings, May 4, 1970. A turning point in my life, for sure. Can't seem to get the hyperlink button working, but here's CSNY's recording of Neil Young's "Ohio": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCS-g3HwXdc

    Here, let me help you with that. (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue May 05, 2026 at 10:51:34 AM EST
    Crosby, Still, Nash & Young - "Ohio."

    Hard to believe it's been 46 years. And honestly, we as a nation learned nothing from that experience. In an interview with Christian nationalist podcasters, former CBP official Greg Bovino pointedly characterized as "cannon fodder" the thousands of Minneapolis / St. Paul residents who recently protested the presence of ICE and CBP in their communities.

    What's wrong with these people?

    Parent

    Hard to believe it's been 46 years (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by Peter G on Tue May 05, 2026 at 12:46:35 PM EST
    because it hasn't. It's been 56! ;)

    Parent
    Jeffrey Miller was 265 feet (none / 0) (#32)
    by jondee on Tue May 05, 2026 at 05:27:11 PM EST
    away from the nearest 'threatened' Guardsman when he was killed. The other three killed were over a football field length away. Needless to say, none of them were armed.

    The way the usual suspects portrayed it in the media was that the National Guard felt 'beseiged' and 'panicked in the moment' etc


    Parent

    Typo. My bad. (none / 0) (#36)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue May 05, 2026 at 09:14:57 PM EST
    Didn't even notice. Thanks for catching it.

    Parent
    I thought (none / 0) (#24)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 05, 2026 at 10:56:53 AM EST
    the same thing when the murders happened in Minneapolis. I wonder sometimes if we are even capable of learning. I heard someone opine that Americans just move on and never do any self reflection leading to horrible events repeating themselves. Nowhere is that more evident than our current situation with Iran.

    Parent
    Jackson State (none / 0) (#35)
    by Zorba on Tue May 05, 2026 at 08:45:38 PM EST
    And 11 days later, two were killed and 12 injured by city and state cops at Jackson State in Mississippi.


    Parent
    Should be interesting (none / 0) (#4)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat May 02, 2026 at 06:40:19 PM EST

    The white nationalists are going to be there

    As will every gay person within 50 miles at least.

    I sympathize (none / 0) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun May 03, 2026 at 07:47:26 PM EST
    but good luck legislating

    Government, in general, is so unprepared for this.

    Minnesota passes the nation's first ban on `nudification' apps

    The apps are one of the major ways nonconsensual AI deepfakes can be made without any technical expertise -- including by kids.


    Honestly (none / 0) (#15)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon May 04, 2026 at 02:15:38 PM EST
    government seems unable to deal with a lot of AI issues. Next president should hire some ETHICAL Silicon Valley gurus to find out what should be done.

    Parent
    Wise (none / 0) (#16)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 04, 2026 at 03:50:44 PM EST
    White House Already Preparing for a Democratic Congress
    May 4, 2026 at 3:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 101 Comments

    "The White House Counsel's Office is giving private briefings to the administration's political appointees on how to best prepare for congressional oversight as staff begin to brace for the likelihood of significant Democratic victories in the November midterm elections," the Washington Post reports.

    "The roughly 30-minute briefings have included a PowerPoint presentation about how congressional oversight works and best practices for handling it... Staff from the counsel's office have encouraged political appointees to be careful about what they put in writing and provided guidance for how to respond to congressional inquiries in a timely manner."

    If only (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 04, 2026 at 06:23:41 PM EST
    Democratic Representative Johnny Olszewski of Maryland is expected to propose a law on Monday that would establish 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices and would mean the removal of Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito if passed.

    Even (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 05, 2026 at 09:17:02 AM EST
    if passed I bet those 3 would refuse to obey the law. They already said that nobody could make them do ethics.

    My personal thought is increase the court to 13 since there are 13 federal judicial districts assigning one supreme court judge to each district.

    Parent

    Just as a matter of vocabulary (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by Peter G on Tue May 05, 2026 at 10:45:29 AM EST
    There are 13 federal judicial circuits, which have jurisdiction over appeals taken from various federal trial courts and agency tribunals. The federal trial courts cover geographical areas within the various states and territories, and are called "United States District Courts." There are 94 federal judicial districts. For much of its existence the Supreme Court had one member for (and generally from) each Circuit, but the last couple of times the number of Circuits was increased -- most recently, to 13 -- there was no corresponding increase in the number of Justices, which has stood at nine since 1869.

    Parent
    They are going to be under (none / 0) (#25)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 11:01:01 AM EST
    a lot of pressure to "do something"

    Jonathan Bernstein: "The first and probably best option is to `pack' it. In other words: Add more Justices. The Constitution doesn't specify how large the Supreme Court should be, so it's been set by legislation, and it took a long time for Congress to settle on nine. All it would take to add another one or two or ten Justices would be Congress passing something and the president signing it. Then nominate and confirm the new Justices, and the GOP majority on the Court is gone."

    "The advantage of this is how easy it is. Yes, it would require a nuke of sorts in the Senate - as it is now, the bill could be defeated by a filibuster unless Democrats could find 60 votes, and there's not going to be any Republican help on it. However, that's true of most of the Democrats' democracy agenda, from restoring the Voting Rights Act to statutory DC statehood. My guess is that as long as there are, say, at least 53 Democrats in the Senate they'll have the simple majority needed to carve out a new exception to the filibuster."

    "The downside of court-packing is that it creates an obvious arms race: Republicans would retaliate as soon as they had the chance by doing the exact same thing."



    Parent
    Lord of the Flies (none / 0) (#18)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon May 04, 2026 at 08:53:18 PM EST
    From BBC Netflix.

    Really interesting.  Not the way I would have gone but they get some great performances out of very young actors.   In the jungle.  Piggy almost certainly has an EMMY in his future.

    Its sort of stylized.  Very effective.  Very close to the source as I remember it.

    4 hours.  Great binge.

    i will (none / 0) (#20)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 05, 2026 at 09:17:40 AM EST
    have to watch this. Read the book in high school I think it was. Seems relevant to what is going on these days.

    Parent
    It's election day (none / 0) (#27)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 03:29:29 PM EST
    again.  Politico

    INDIANAPOLIS -- In May of 2016, on the eve of using Indiana's primary to knock out his presidential rivals and claim control of the GOP nomination, then-candidate Donald Trump called the state "Importantville."

    A decade later, Trump enters the Hoosier State's primaries not on the ballot himself but looming over the crucial first stop along his monthlong retribution tour. Last December, nearly a dozen GOP state senators withstood intense political pressure and death threats to block a redraw of Indiana's congressional maps, delivering the president his most embarrassing political setback since he returned to the White House. Now, eight of those lawmakers are Trump targets, fighting for their political lives as his allies have spent nearly $10 million combined against them.

    Even if Trump's candidates prevail, spending that much on a retribution campaign in a safe-red state -- money that could have been spent playing defense or offense in battlegrounds -- may mean something of a pyrrhic victory for MAGA in a crucial midterm year.



    Indiana (none / 0) (#31)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 04:23:41 PM EST
    This is the 6 pm lead (none / 0) (#34)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 06:02:01 PM EST
    on CNN

    Parent
    Pretty cool (none / 0) (#28)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 03:36:54 PM EST
    The May 9 parade on Moscow's Red Square is a highlight of the Russian calendar, commemorating victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

    But this year the Defence Ministry said there would be no tanks, missile systems or cadets, citing a "terrorist threat" from Ukraine.

    The Kremlin is quaking in its boots over worries Ukraine will attack rehearsals for the showpiece - or the main event itself.

    Also cool (none / 0) (#29)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 03:57:31 PM EST
    Extremely cool (none / 0) (#30)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 04:12:02 PM EST
    Denying the ceasefire is over (none / 0) (#33)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue May 05, 2026 at 05:49:54 PM EST
    with bombs flying is like saying gas is not expensive.

    These guys are high on their own supply.