Robert Arnold

Hold fast - the fight is long.

Like the man said: We're still far from the beginning of the end, but we may be seeing the end of the beginning.

One thing we have to work on is resisting the perception of scarcity being pressed on us night and day by a system that can't survive if we recognize what a shitty little game is being played by the clear-eyed pragmatic free-market entrepreneurs who tell us they have more because they work more, or they work smarter, or they're just better - and blah blah blah.

It's bullshit. Billionaires and their multinational conglomerates are parasites. And the benefits that so many people depend on - that the ruling class is bent on withholding - is really just a way of rewarding greedy assholes for things like wage theft, and "externalizing cost".

So the greedy assholes may think they're being clever by "applying discipline" in order to rake in greater profits - that they're getting away with something - but they're actually busy shooting themselves in the foot.

As you concentrate more and more power and money into fewer and fewer hands, you create a bigger and bigger group of angry frustrated people who, eventually, are going to see they have nothing left to lose.

And they will come for you.

embrace the suck

stay in the fight

MeidasTouch and Erika Jordan

As the upper crust partied at Mar-A-Lago for Halloween, government remains shuttered, and everybody who relies on some kind of help remains pretty well conditioned, more or less complacent, and thoroughly fucked.

Sarah On Farming

• Most of our sacred "small farmers" are millionaires pulling down six-figure incomes.
• Farm labor is often exploited and trafficked, and farmers know it
• The US has spent years shifting farm production to soybeans and corn - for livestock feed, and practically anything other than food for humans - and then Trump decided to kick the struts out from under it
• Farmers either get markets wired in for them, or they get bailed out.
• It's hard not to believe the whole fuckin' thing is rigged

Indications

It seems we're getting more - and more frequent - signals that the world not only has little respect for us, but doesn't really fear us all that much either. 

“Not a Signal Chat”: Mike Waltz Interrupted in Middle of U.N. Speech

Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations was embarrassed while speaking to the General Assembly.

That infamous Signal chat keeps coming back to haunt the Trump administration.

On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz was interrupted in the middle of a speech before a U.N. General Assembly vote on whether to condemn U.S. economic restrictions on Cuba.

“Mr. Waltz, this is the United Nations General Assembly,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said, cutting off Waltz. “It is not a Signal chat. Nor is it the House of Representatives,” he added, also calling Waltz’s remarks “uncivilized, crude and gross.”

Waltz was not happy.

“I am well aware of the location in which we are speaking,” the ambassador responded. “And this is also not a Communist illegitimate legislature in Havana.”

Waltz attacked the Cuban government as “illegitimate and brutal,” claiming that he was correcting “the fake news, the misinformation, and this false reality the regime seeks to create year after year with this vote.”

Ultimately, Waltz’s tough talk swayed few, if any, countries, as the U.N. General Assembly voted 165–7, with 12 abstentions, Wednesday to condemn the American economic embargo against Cuba, the thirty-third year in a row it has done so. The resolution is symbolic and carries no legal weight, but reflects global opinion.

The whole reason Waltz is the U.N. ambassador is because, while previously serving as national security adviser, he set up a Signal chat where secret military plans were discussed with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and other top government officials and then mistakenly added The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Waltz was removed from his position and instead nominated to the U.N. post, a job that requires diplomatic savvy, which he seems to be lacking.

A Thought

Seems odd to me that MAGA rubes don't care about checking on Trump's finances, but they'll scrutinize a SNAP mom's grocery cart like it's the Zapruder film.

And they call themselves the party of common sense?

Overheard

Scientists:

Discoveries are useless if the public isn't taught to understand them in a wider, interdisciplinary context.

Media:

Scientists admit their work is useless.

Tonight's Tonight

Curious cougar gets startled by a moving Halloween witch decoration

pic.twitter.com/TIW7jLZGcX

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) October 12, 2025

pick 'em

⬇︎

Defiance Til Death

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A post shared by Robert Arnold (@defiance13_)

A 2fer

Republicans have nothing but money, and since that's their only tool, everything and everybody has to have a price.

And of course, if the parties were reversed, the Wingnut Outrage-O-Matic would be cranked up to 12.

Ain't it funny how there's no mention of this anywhere on "the right". Their silence is a deafening confirmation of their intention to continue with the hypocrisy as they preach about "transparency", but remain as opaque as possible.

They pull their shit and then pretend they didn't do anything untoward, or they have the mandate of law.

(like they give one empty fuck about the law)

Ground News

Federal Courthouse, Victoria St, Laredo TX

Texas city removes anti-border wall mural after loss of funding threat from governor

HOUSTON (AP) — A South Texas city has removed a mural protesting the border wall along the southern border with Mexico following a threat by Gov. Greg Abbott to withhold up to $1.6 billion in road funding.

The mural, which was painted on a street in front of the federal courthouse in Laredo and said, “Defund the Wall,” was removed Tuesday evening, said Noraida Negron, a spokesperson for the city of Laredo.

Its removal came after Laredo’s City Council on Monday voted to do so.

Laredo is the latest U.S. city to remove political messages or artwork from roadways following a directive from the administration of President Donald Trump and action by Republicans.

In August, Florida officials removed a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down. In March, crews in Washington, D.C., removed a large yellow “Black Lives Matter” mural that had been painted on a street one block from the White House. The removal came after pressure from Republicans in Congress.

During an at times contentious meeting on Monday, Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño said he had requested a vote on the mural’s removal after receiving a letter earlier this month from the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, directing the city to eliminate the mural or risk losing up to $1.6 billion in funding for roads.

“We’re not going to devastate our community for what is considered one particular vantage point on our public roads, even if this speech may be popular or well received,” Treviño said.

On Oct. 8, Abbott directed TxDOT to ensure that all Texas cities and counties are in compliance with federal and state guidelines on roadway safety and that symbols, flags and other markings conveying social or political messages were prohibited.

“Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,” Abbott said in a statement.

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday.

Abbott’s directive came after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy in July sent letters to all U.S. governors saying that intersections and crosswalks needed to be kept free from distractions as part of a nationwide roadway initiative.

“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” Duffy said in a statement in July.

The mural in Laredo was painted in 2020 using private funds and came amid lawsuits and protests against the building of the border wall in the area. In 2021, federal officials terminated all remaining border contracts for the Laredo sector.

In Laredo, Elsa Hull a landowner who opposed the building of the border wall, told city council members on Monday that the state’s order to remove the mural was “bullies threatening our city.”

“This mural enabled the people to unite and stand against injustice and allowed us to keep our land, our homes, and our river from being taken away from us. This is part of our history. Don’t erase our voices completely,” Hull said.

The removal of the mural in Laredo comes as earlier this month officials in Houston removed a rainbow-colored crosswalk that had been in place for the last eight years to honor in part the LGBTQ+ community.

During a City Council meeting earlier this month, Houston Mayor John Whitmire was critical of Abbott’s directive but said the city would likely lose any legal challenge to the order.

“If we do not find ways as a city to take a stand, what’s next?” Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin said. “When something is erased like this that means so much to so many, there is a real toll on the community.”

Heather Cox Richardson

If you're at all inclined to help someone in need, then your politics should reflect that.