338 Comments

Now wouldn't this make a good Open Thread?

Expand full comment

Fuck Steve Bannon

Expand full comment

Some people are agitating for it.

Expand full comment

Fuck Ajit Pai.

Expand full comment

And his oversized coffee cups.

Expand full comment

Now let local communities compete against corporations! That would bring the price way, way down. Possibly even to free.

Expand full comment

Fuck those big companies. None of them would wire any of the little hilltowns around here, including ours (pop. 750), because the houses are too far apart and they don't get a huge bang for their buck like they do in suburbs and cities. We're out in the sticks.

So, with a little help from the People's Republic of Massachusetts, we built our own damned broadband network. We needed 65% of the town to sign up to pay for everything and we are currently at about 80%. 1 gigabyte for $70 a month, no installation charge, no equipment charges, amazing service and tech support, and the bond holder is happy and all the bills are paid.

We built our own and it's easily paying for itself so FUCK those greedy big corporations.

Expand full comment

Yup, there is no reason to treat broadband any differently than electricity anymore.

Expand full comment

Okay, now fix the Postal Service.

Expand full comment

Gawd, get rid of DeJoy. My mail is slower than ever.

Expand full comment

But, Joe Biden is old.

Fuck Ted Cruz.

Expand full comment

But, Joe Biden is old is the new But, Her Emails

Expand full comment

Tell our rural dwelling friends that the Democrats are trying to get fast, quality PR0N to their phones and computers. It might be a winning message...

Expand full comment

It is and it isn't. They want the broadband but it so super hard, IME, to get over the hurdle of voting for someone with D next to their name.

Expand full comment

Maybe these guys are just too macho and straight (not gay!) to ever even imply that they want that D.

Expand full comment

And not that pixelated crap ... the GOOD stuff. You know, with sheep and step mothers and everything!

Expand full comment

Didn't you mean step daughters?

Expand full comment

Why not both?

Expand full comment

“‘There will be lots of talk about “net neutrality” and virtually none about the core issue before the agency: namely, whether the FCC should claim for itself the freewheeling power to micromanage nearly every aspect of how the internet functions — from the services that consumers can access to the prices that can be charged,’ Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner on the FCC, said in a statement.”

Yeah, dingus, that’s how public utilities work. I get that you, being a Republican, think that public *anything* is ipso facto bad, but—and I cannot stress this enough—you’re fucking wrong about that.

Expand full comment

"whether the FCC should claim for itself the freewheeling power to micromanage nearly every aspect of how the internet functions —" Right, asshole, because the only thing that can be freewheeling is the ability to chisel the consumer out of every penny they've got.

The internet is already vastly different than it was. Corporations pay people to virtually erase anything negative about them off the internet. A new commercial is released and your reaction is This is Horrible and you go to the internet and you can't find any comments rather than positive ones online. I guess that's where Xitter comes in, but I'm not on Xitter.

Expand full comment

I'm kind of surprised that Stefanik hasn't been touted as a Speaker candidate. In her favor:

1) She's female, that would help Republicans among women, argue many very delusional but influential GOP bigwigs

2) She's already a part of GOP leadership, so presumably she has some members who owe her favors

3) She's absolutely willing to change her beliefs for whatever is convenient at any time, so MAGAs know she'll do their bidding, and moderates know she can pretend to be normal for a few minutes, and not bring on the radioactivity of Jim Jordan

The only thing working against her is that she was critical of Trump back before it was obvious he was going to be their nominee. But Trump was able to back JD Vance when he figured the guy would win his nomination, so who knows?

Expand full comment

My guess is, she's just smart enough not to want the job.

Expand full comment

It's a lateral move because like Qevin she believes in nothing and is not to be trusted.

Expand full comment

In that respect, she's a standard issue Republican.

Expand full comment

Right, 'cuz women are so dumb and clubby they'll just vote for any woman no matter what she says and does. Otherwise it's misogyny, duh.

Expand full comment

She's probably slightly too smart to want that shitty job...

Expand full comment

Cunning, not especially smart.

Expand full comment

But does Congress need to make this law or will the regs just get changed back if (heaven forbid) the Repukes get back in the White House?

Expand full comment

Yes, Congress should probably make this a law. I hate the pingponging that goes on whenever the Whitehouse changes parties.

Expand full comment

Say, who wrote this?

Expand full comment

Seems like a Dok joint to me.

Expand full comment

ISWYDT

Expand full comment

OT. Was sadly present to hear and help my injured neighbor deal with the emergency transportation company's so-called AI interface over the phone. Not all AIs are created equal. This one was dumber than a bag of hammers. As a former coder, I wanted to find out the address of the programmer to beat the shit out of them for such sloppiness.

Oh, and in general, the hospital care/insurance system in this country sucks. If I get ill, someone come out here and find the nearest ice floe and send me off. It'll be less painful than this "Kafka goes to the DMV" shit.

Expand full comment

Welcome to "Automating Inequality*" where a lack of actual concern for humans allows results in shitty automated systems that keep people stuck between a rock and a hard place.

*by Virginia Eubanks

Expand full comment

If you have public transport or a car, and you live in a big city with a Hellish DMV, and you have to take a day off to go anyway, I suggest going to a smaller town you've wanted to visit. Make a day of it, and spend 15-30 minutes at the DMV. You can DMV at any location in your state.

Expand full comment

I was simply picking on the DMV because I like the L.A. Times headline quote about how Egyptian bureaucracy works. Was decades ago, but a damn good headline.

Expand full comment

Those of us in small towns HATE it when you do that to us.

Expand full comment

Word. I visit the small-town DMV near me and the one I visited in town before was crazy. Like People of Walmart who have lost hope, a place for them to visit.

Expand full comment

Last time I went to the DMV (it's called something different in AZ, BMV or something) I saw this guy with no nose. He must have recently lost it. He did not have a bandage over the hole in his face. It was gross. I was grossed out. BMV is worse than a Walmart.

Expand full comment

In Arizona it's called the ADOT MVD, or the Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division.

Greetings from Baja Arizona.

Expand full comment

How does he smell?

Terrible!

Expand full comment

Have to upvote a classic🎩

Expand full comment

So the clown show clusterfuck is back on. Anyone know what time the vote is?

Expand full comment

Who's running? Gym? Qev? The Joker?

Expand full comment

Gym & Qev are both jokers, but Gym has tossed his gym shorts back in the ring.

Expand full comment

Without even washing them? Ewwwww!

Expand full comment

CNN story time-stamped 3p says "as early as Thursday" but that's as specific as it gets.

Expand full comment

Well, that's today, so boy howdy!

Expand full comment

Wild guess, around 6pm...

Expand full comment

Can anyone name ONE thing that used to be agreed on universally, one value that we all held, that was part of what bound us together as a nation, that Donnie Dimwit and the malignant motherfuckers he brought with him did NOT turn into a hyper partisan issue and a loyalty (to the Boss, not the USA) test? He and his camorra of batshit villains would no sooner spot a common good but they would hasten to lay exclusive claim to it and suck all the goodness out of it

Expand full comment

A Royal Flush beats 3 Aces and 2 Kings?

Because I am fairly certain that was denied in the Trump casini and they *still* managed to lose money.

Expand full comment

Well he did save us from that War on Christmas. Remember when we weren't allowed to say "Christmas" anymore, but then he came along and won a war or something and now apparently we can say it all the time?

Expand full comment

Heaven knows that every retail establishment in the country is saying it from August through December.

Expand full comment

You know everything is fucked when the Pumpkin Spice starts in June.

Expand full comment

Bonus upfist for "camorra of batshit villains".

Expand full comment

To be fair, the GOP abandoned most of those way before TFG and Co showed up

Expand full comment

The ghost of Ronald Reagan on Line 1...

Expand full comment

Lunch? Or is the poached salmon too woke also too?

Expand full comment

The only thing NOT woke at lunch is a Whopper.

Expand full comment