"Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection began accepting applications from importers and brokers who are owed an estimated $166 billion in import tax refunds. While companies are receiving those refunds, it appears that many don’t intend to share those funds with consumers, who paid for much of the tariffs through higher prices. "
"We’re the ones who paid it. We’re the ones that need to get it back, and so any system that doesn’t get it to the little guy doesn’t get it to the right place,” Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha said on a press call Wednesday.
Colin Jost is now saying that he told the writers at SNL, Hey, what if we do a joke where Pete Hegseth (whom Jost regularly does impressions of) recites what he thinks is a Bible verse, only it turns to be that unhinged Samuel L. Jackson rant from "Pulp Fiction"?
And the writers were like, Nah, bro, that's too ridiculous.
So … even though SeaMonkeys Day is nice and I’m a helpless puddle when presented w/an image of any dark-furred dogperson – what jumps out at me is that there’s a national demonstration in Selma today so that ALL Americans can keep their voting rights and not only is there no coverage of it but there are also very few comments about it (even though some of the speakers are previously-declared favorites of people here including MA’s own Congressman Jim McGovern).
"Today I traveled to Selma with my colleagues in Congress to take a stand against the radical right-wing plot to suppress Black political representation and dismantle our democracy by gutting the Voting Rights Act. We’ve made too much progress in this country to go backwards. We won’t be silenced."
The White woman in this clip -- the Hear Me Out On This lady -- has something to say that I hope everyone here has a minute (literally) to pay attention to
She has something to say about Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu and how she elucidates a particular theory about shared self-interest (it’s Professor Derrick Bell’s theory – his name isn’t mentioned here; I just happen to be familiar with his work as well)
I know Dr. Shola’s teachings - but this White lady (who doesn’t give her name) had not heard of her before even though she was sitting on this panel with her
Again – on this nationally historic day I hope everyone can find just a few moments out of this nice day to listen to what she has to say
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” - George Bernard Shaw, "The Devil's Disciple" (1897)
*
On another subject, I share Robyn's cinematic enthusiasm for Murnau's "Sunrise".
It is one of the greatest silent films, perhaps second only to King Vidor's "The Crowd".
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” - George Bernard Shaw, "The Devil's Disciple" (1897)
I was about 8 and my "real" mother bought some because I begged and she only needed to entertain me 3 weekends a month.
As you can imagine, I probably wasn't really feeding them well and the water was just stagnant in that little "tank".
One day I INSISTED I needed to move the tank from her house to my grandma's. We're on the way to grandma's, with the tank in my lap, when my mom stops real hard...
Tank hits the dashboard and explodes stinky water and dead shrimps all over me. Needless to say, I was over them after that
Today is the birthday of guitarist and producer Robert Fripp, who is 80 years old today. Here's some 1972 vintage King Crimson with "Larks' Tongues In Aspic":
It’s actually pretty fucking amazing that the Cybertruck traction is so awful. It was supposed to have fully independent torque on all four wheels.
(I own a Tesla 3 dual motor, and it actually does have amazing traction. It’s like a cat on snow, better than any other car I’ve owned. I think the engineers who built the Tesla 3 peaced out a while ago.)
I sort of remember that Amazing Sea Monkeys show as a grunge era disaster, but then anything Howie Mandel did in the 90s was a grunge era disaster. And it was produced by the clay stop motion producers, the Chiodo brothers, of Killer Klowns from Outer Space fame
No spoilers, but now that the Boys is wrapping up I feel Frenchie was my favorite character.
Surprise !!!
"Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection began accepting applications from importers and brokers who are owed an estimated $166 billion in import tax refunds. While companies are receiving those refunds, it appears that many don’t intend to share those funds with consumers, who paid for much of the tariffs through higher prices. "
"We’re the ones who paid it. We’re the ones that need to get it back, and so any system that doesn’t get it to the little guy doesn’t get it to the right place,” Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha said on a press call Wednesday.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/16/800039324/business-and-economy/state-officials-demand-transparency-as-businesses-get-billions-in-trump-tariff-refunds/
The problem with sea monkeys is they’re impossible to see.
Colin Jost is now saying that he told the writers at SNL, Hey, what if we do a joke where Pete Hegseth (whom Jost regularly does impressions of) recites what he thinks is a Bible verse, only it turns to be that unhinged Samuel L. Jackson rant from "Pulp Fiction"?
And the writers were like, Nah, bro, that's too ridiculous.
Of course you know what happened soon afterward.
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/colin-jost-snl-pete-hegseth-pulp-fiction-bible-verse-1236750638/
So … even though SeaMonkeys Day is nice and I’m a helpless puddle when presented w/an image of any dark-furred dogperson – what jumps out at me is that there’s a national demonstration in Selma today so that ALL Americans can keep their voting rights and not only is there no coverage of it but there are also very few comments about it (even though some of the speakers are previously-declared favorites of people here including MA’s own Congressman Jim McGovern).
"Today I traveled to Selma with my colleagues in Congress to take a stand against the radical right-wing plot to suppress Black political representation and dismantle our democracy by gutting the Voting Rights Act. We’ve made too much progress in this country to go backwards. We won’t be silenced."
https://bsky.app/profile/repmcgovern.bsky.social/post/3mly7awchvc2d
The White woman in this clip -- the Hear Me Out On This lady -- has something to say that I hope everyone here has a minute (literally) to pay attention to
She has something to say about Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu and how she elucidates a particular theory about shared self-interest (it’s Professor Derrick Bell’s theory – his name isn’t mentioned here; I just happen to be familiar with his work as well)
I know Dr. Shola’s teachings - but this White lady (who doesn’t give her name) had not heard of her before even though she was sitting on this panel with her
Again – on this nationally historic day I hope everyone can find just a few moments out of this nice day to listen to what she has to say
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OVjqZ42_TE
thank you, M
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” - George Bernard Shaw, "The Devil's Disciple" (1897)
*
On another subject, I share Robyn's cinematic enthusiasm for Murnau's "Sunrise".
It is one of the greatest silent films, perhaps second only to King Vidor's "The Crowd".
“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” - George Bernard Shaw, "The Devil's Disciple" (1897)
Feels unnervingly apt
https://www.wonkette.com/p/happy-national-sea-monkeys-day-hope/comment/260214858
The whole problem with Sea-Monkeys was that the Magic Rocks actually worked and were pretty neat.
Magic Rocks rocked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ9M50pN6pU
I only ever had triops. Not sea monkeys. They were pretty neat.
I actually have a Sea Monkey story too!
I was about 8 and my "real" mother bought some because I begged and she only needed to entertain me 3 weekends a month.
As you can imagine, I probably wasn't really feeding them well and the water was just stagnant in that little "tank".
One day I INSISTED I needed to move the tank from her house to my grandma's. We're on the way to grandma's, with the tank in my lap, when my mom stops real hard...
Tank hits the dashboard and explodes stinky water and dead shrimps all over me. Needless to say, I was over them after that
Today is the birthday of guitarist and producer Robert Fripp, who is 80 years old today. Here's some 1972 vintage King Crimson with "Larks' Tongues In Aspic":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhudDa3JAyc
From his solo album Exposure, here's Fripp with Peter Gabriel and a beautiful version of "Here Comes The Flood":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAYxWPJkGoU
And here's Robert at Daryl's House performing "Red" with the house band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkb783rNjO0
A titan.
I heard "In the Court of the Crimson King" on the local FM rock station as a teen and was transfixed.
Haven't looked back.
"Disengage," with Peter Hammill on vox, 1979: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE9F5HvIkRQ
Can you imagine being the chud who owns this and seeing this going viral?
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jmhscbbqqnynpki3zvnvginp/post/3mltlhhfpxk2q
That's hysterical.
I saw one of the ugliest Wankpanzers the other day, it had an iridescent wrap, when the sun hit it, it looked half teal and half pink. UGH.
It looks like something out of a low-budget sci-fi movie.
It’s actually pretty fucking amazing that the Cybertruck traction is so awful. It was supposed to have fully independent torque on all four wheels.
(I own a Tesla 3 dual motor, and it actually does have amazing traction. It’s like a cat on snow, better than any other car I’ve owned. I think the engineers who built the Tesla 3 peaced out a while ago.)
still wouldn't trade it for my real deal Subaru- the last model with proper limited slips.
Linus is also a Subaru fan!
https://substack.com/@januaryclaire/note/c-163731448?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2vhkn4
A lot of people don't understand how traction on sand works.
The Wankpanzer is too heavy to drive on sand.
lol
One of the comments:
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑦𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒'𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐶𝑦𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠.
It's not. Wheelbase is too long, ground clearance is too low.
I sort of remember that Amazing Sea Monkeys show as a grunge era disaster, but then anything Howie Mandel did in the 90s was a grunge era disaster. And it was produced by the clay stop motion producers, the Chiodo brothers, of Killer Klowns from Outer Space fame
The brain squirrel has moved on: https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mlvho3sep22s
pictures of a dazed-looking Trump with President Xi in China today
(Evan Vucci/AFP via Getty)
If anyone wants to see the movie, "Sunrise : A Song of Two Humans" there is a free to view version on YouTube. Murnau was a true film genius.
I just love this one: https://bsky.app/profile/peaceandpurpose.bsky.social/post/3mlrklv4np22q
It’s a mood😉 #vote #pinks #bluecrew #proudblue
Eat your hearts out--I have Sea Monkeys in the wild here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQdOZb_NwfY
Gross.