TGIF! [DOT 17/10/25]

The internet has been out at my house since Tuesday and they are finally coming to fix it this morning. Nice 4 day turnaround time Verizon, thanks! /s


Ugly AF

Waving his flag all over the place: Trump adds ‘Arc de Trump’ to presidential renovations
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/16/donald-trump-washington-arch


Whelp, that’s enough internet for today:
Queer and trans immigrants allege forced labor and sexual assault in Ice facility: ‘I was treated worse than an animal’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/16/ice-immigration-queer-trans-louisiana


Sprots!

80-year-old grandmother becomes oldest woman to finish the Ironman World Championship
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/16/nx-s1-5575128/ironman-oldest-female-finisher-natalie-grabow


Stonks!

Stocks close lower, with Dow dropping 300 points, as fears about bad loans in banking industry grow
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/15/stock-market-today-live-updates.html


Funniest thing I’ve seen all day:

We wanted to know what it was like to own a Cybertruck. So @zoeschiffer.bsky.social went to the desert got this absolutely amazing quotes (and Michelle Groskopf took the pictures!) www.wired.com/story/owning…

Reyhan Harmanci (@harmancipants.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T11:24:14.690Z

Wait I lied, THIS is the funniest thing I’ve seen all day:

83 year old Senator Mitch McConnell just tripped and fell while being asked about ICE

Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T16:34:18.133Z

Have a great weekend!

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22 Comments

  1. …oh, c’mon

    Two suspects in Texas detention center attack charged as 'Antifa'

    Le Monde in English (@english.lemonde.fr) 2025-10-17T07:13:12.214552+00:00

    …just because

    Jeanine Pirro’s office tried three times to indict a woman on bogus felony charges of assaulting an ICE agent. A DC grand jury turned her down each time. So Pirro brought a misdemeanor charge instead. And now a trial jury has acquitted her of that. http://www.huffpost.com/entry/sidney...

    Mark Joseph Stern (@mjsdc.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T22:45:37.911Z

    …these

    Abbe Lowell statement says facts of Bolton case "were investigated and resolved years ago.” Bolton, like many public officials, “kept diaries — that is not a crime.” They were "unclassified records that were shared only with his immediate family, and known to the F.B.I. as far back as 2021.”

    Harry Litman (@harrylitman.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T22:34:11.065Z

    …are

    Wow. Sidney Reid, the DC woman just found not guilty of assaulting an FBI agent, issues a withering and gutsy statement on Trump through her attorneys."I feel sorry for the prosecutors really, who must be burdened by Trump's irrational and unfounded hatred for his fellow man."It's a must-read:

    Dave Jamieson (@jamieson.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T21:34:12.919Z

    …not

    CA governor Gavin Newsom vetoed both of the major AI bills on his desk that Silicon Valley meaningfully opposed—one making it illegal for bosses to use AI to fire workers with no oversight, one requiring chatbot sellers to ensure their products do not harm children before marketing to them.

    Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T22:45:57.926Z

    …serious

    Econ professors, man.

    They’re like Bad Take Generators.

    There are basically only two positions in the debate about AI.1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks.2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational.Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.

    Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T00:12:52.832Z

    …people

    FT Investigation: At least 30 individuals or companies that have collectively donated more than $116mn to Donald Trump’s causes have received benefits or advantages from White House moves. Read more here: on.ft.com/497fook

    Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) 2025-10-17T07:30:03.868768Z

    …doesn’t mean

    Hey everyone! Quick question: are these margins good? is Negative 220% good? If it helps the thing in question cost $50,000 and you need hundreds or thousands of them.Also the thing with negative 100% gross margins costs $1.9m, is that good?www.theinformation.com/articles/ora…

    Ed Zitron (@edzitron.com) 2025-10-17T03:01:36.710Z

    …they can’t

    Saudi Arabia is in discussions with the United States to establish a defense agreement, according to the Financial Times. 🤝🛡️

    FinTwitter (@fintwitter.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T08:30:55.067617+00:00

    …seriously

    No, this is how Nazis talk in their own spaces. I don’t know abut this dude, but I never talked about gassing people and raping women when I was hanging out with my pals.

    Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T01:31:48.870Z

    …seriously

    >gif of statue of liberty with blinking-in-confusion-meme-guy’s face superimposed like the mouth of the sun in a low-key horrifying kids’ tv show over quoted post below<

    “It was a mistake to put so many migrants in New York City.” – Cuomo

    Peter Sterne (@petersterne.com) 2025-10-17T00:39:21.606Z

    …fuck

    If you thought Zohran was too nice to shiv a motherfucker, I invite you to think again

    Evan Sutton (@evansutton.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T01:18:57.129Z

    …the fuck up

  2. Also, let’s not be rude to our elders. If I saw Mitch McConnell fall, I would respectfully help him back up.

    Yes, then I would Karate Kid-style “sweep the leg” and knock his necrotic ass down again harder, but still, let us not be impolite when we see a terrible old racist man fall down.

  3. …when do we take down the “it’s the economy stupid” sign

    “.. It’s to the point now where .. I could lose everything … Being a small business owner isn’t worth it when your country turns on you,” said Jared Hendricks, the CEO of Village Lighting, a small business selling Christmas products.@cnbc.com http://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/17/h...

    Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T11:12:43.347Z

    …& put up the “it’s the stupid economy” sign

    One thing about Trump’s first-term trade war with China: it fundamentally destroyed US soybean exports, as China found other sources — “namely Brazil, which is now the leading exporter.”“It is unrealistic to think there might be alternative buyers” to replace it.- @joebrusuelas.bsky.social

    Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T10:39:08.972Z

    …because I feel like we should be tapping that sign

    🤔

    The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T04:41:47.173Z

    …probably need to be a pretty stout sign

    LOL the 3x Levered ETFs weren’t enough. Now we have 5x. 🤡 (via B of A)

    Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T11:44:05.371Z

    …I mean…have you ever seen those stone floors in the shaolin temple?

    US debit card transactions not exactly showing a holiday ramp.(via Apollo)

    Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T11:33:02.553Z

    …maybe I’ll try to find a clip

    This is Trump's Grinch Tax a small, Christmas-focused business is paying.A 20X increase. http://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/17/h...

    emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T11:28:28.926Z

    …maybe I don’t need to

    China has reason to call Trump’s bluff on tariffs.“.. exports from the world's second-largest economy have grown 7.1% to 19.95 trillion yuan ($2.80 trillion) in the first nine months of this year, despite a significant drop in goods heading to the United States.”www.reuters.com/world/china/…

    Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-17T11:27:04.202Z

    …the point being

    When Walmart enacted the biggest pay raise in history, it destroyed $21.5 billion in market value. Today, it credits the moves with its gains.

    The Wall Street Journal (@wsj.com) 2025-10-17T11:01:12.280713Z

    …you beat feet on stone enough times

    Years after Putin ordered full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia's financial system is showing signs of vulnerability.

    Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) 2025-10-17T11:00:45Z

    …you wind up with bowls in your stone floor

    The auto industry is digesting a new and potentially damaging supply-chain disruption from an unlikely source: a small Dutch semiconductor manufacturer.

    The Wall Street Journal (@wsj.com) 2025-10-17T09:12:45.602773Z

    …& in some places they have a lot of feet

    📊 Chart of the week: Unemployment rate in China💼 As China’s population ages, unemployment rates among young people are reaching new heights.🔗 buff.ly/L4rTxjb #EconSky

    Bruegel (@bruegel.org) 2025-10-17T08:01:08.129Z

    …&…in some places…even the ladies are known to wear boots?

    • I’ve said it before: We cannot “beat” China in a trade war. Their citizens aren’t going to bleat endlessly about prices and then elect an orange imbecile who jacks up prices. They’re just going to keep doing what they do. Even if they were suffering economically (and I can’t see that they are), they’re just going to keep going.

      • Not only can you not “win” a trade war to begin with, doing it to a country with way more consumers and an almost equally sized economy is fucking madness. But it also fits perfectly in their worldview that non-whites are dumb and have no agency and thus couldn’t possibly survive without Big Strong Good America and … no? That’s not how any of this works?

  4. …oh…& did we do the one about the thing I scored an I-told-you-so point on even though when I called the p=1 thing I was trying to be flippantly overstating the thing?

    …it’ll still be funny later…so maybe I’ll come back to that when I have less other things I’m supposed to be doing or other places I’m vaguely expected to be at some point that I haven’t made it to yet…or…someone else can do that in the meantime?

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