The Prospect: The Government Has Been Shut Down for Months
Today (Wednesday, Oct 1, 2026) at midnight-oh-one the U.S. government – once again – "shut down". This means that very few federal services are operating anywhere near capacity while our co-called representatives in the Congress figure out how to agree on passing a law to fund federal agencies.
So, government agencies are not able to do their jobs. How is this different from the last 6 months as Trump's administration enthusiastically follows Project 2025's plan to burn it all down and take us back to the golden era of robber barons, misogyny, patriarchy, and slavery? Federal agencies are already hamstrung by an Executive Branch that refuses to - or actively sabotages the ability to – execute the laws that Congress has passed, and/or previous court decisions have validated.
Nevertheless, the idea that Congress couldn't pass something is utter horseshit. The republicans have (and have used) all kinds of tricks to pass whatever they want; David Dayden at The Prospect makes this point well:
The reality is that Republicans have every opportunity to fund the government if they want. They can do what they have done repeatedly when stymied by Democrats in the Senate from achieving their goals; they can change the Senate rules. In this case, they can end the filibuster on legislative activities like the budget and pass it with the majority they have. Democrats are not needed to lend support to a process that is so distorted and broken that the executive is telling Congress he will not honor any deal they make. If Republicans want to hand over Congress to Trump, they can do it themselves.
But of course the Republicans playbook is to always do the most horrible shit they can, as long as they can find a way to blame on someone else. But Democrats don't have to play along:
Schuman has put this best: "There is no point for Senate Democrats (or Republicans, for that matter) to negotiate or vote for a spending bill, short term or otherwise, unless it resolves or leads to the resolution the issues of impoundments and restricting further withholding of funds, reinforces GAO authority to investigate and litigate impoundments, places political shackles on Vought (such as a new Inspector General at OMB), and requires regular, accurate reporting of agency spending."
White Privilege is saying "wow I'm learning a lot about race, but I'm kinda stressed so I'm going to watch English cop shows and not think about race". Non-whites don't get to not think about race in America #selfown #whiteness
Wait... Head like a Hole was technically part of the 80s#mindblown #alternative1989
Reminder of how to add image titles in #markdown: https://dev.to/stephencweiss/markdown-image-titles-and-alt-text-5fi1
Nearly 100% mask coverage at Costco today - except for those 4 idiots with the mask pulled down under their chin #howstuffworks
Expiring Federal social distancing guidelines
Trump seeks to further distance himself from increasingly unpopular and politically costly coronavirus lockdowns.
"Unpopular", "politically costly", but effective at flattening the curve. I think maybe people don't realize that in order to #flattenthecurve on #covid19 you have to maintain the suppression activities over the life of the curve. If you stop, the curve goes back up.
This are projections for Arizona from CovidActNow.org:
(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)
Right now the "expected hospitalizations" curve is nice and flat, but lift the restrictions on activities too soon, and the demand for beds exceeds supply in about 10 days. Calling for new restrictions after they've been lifted would be a hard sell to a population frustrated with the isolation and hurting from the economic effects we're already seeing. There's no easy answer, but I believe that solutions are going to involved more government aid to -- yes, small businesses -- but especially to disadvantaged populations who are getting hit the worst.
#lockdown #stayhomestaysafe
https://playvicious.social is where I go to be quiet, listen, and learn about #race #power #gender #philosophy #community #colonialism and more. Did I mention be quiet? That's important.
(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)
Got myself a couple of Wemo outlets as an early Christmas present; now looking for property to mortgage so I can replace every electrical item in the house #smarthomedumbowner
@chartier I can’t tell you how often I want to take a pick axe to my walls #homeowner
Shut up, I’m verklempt over typefaces I can’t even afford to buy #windowshopping
We talked about #gamergate, harassment of women in gaming and more. Eye opening and she wants to talk more #themoreyouknow
Dubstep videos featuring robots > Dubstep videos featuring objectified women #themoreyouknow #equality
Glad that I don't fall into several of these categories, and squirming that I do #sexism #themoreyouknow http://t.co/cWqlHUdT4k
Unintentional Sexism
Ways Men in Tech are Unintentionally Sexist. I'm in the process of re-educating myself on these issues. If it isn't your thing, it should be. If you've been on the receiving end of this and want to talk about it, feel free to get in touch. If you've been on the receiving end of this kind of this and I was the oaf dishing it out, even more so.
@joeldev our land backs up to a freight train track #woowoo
"You have queso on your face" "where?" "Well I can't really see you face #quesowatch
Full of chips and queso, now half gone on a bag of sour worms #grownup
Some days I want to take my computer out to the shed, run the mig welder over it and make metal art for the rest of my life #howdocomputers
@AScalzi98 "My...my poop smells weird today! How will I show my master?... Oh! I know #howitwentdown