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riffle.bsky.social
riffle
@riffle.bsky.social
6.7K followers 2.1K following 6.4K posts
Skeltering, without helter, in place. That place is US America.

"America: Premodern Leadership for Postmodern Times."
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riffle.bsky.social
riffle @riffle.bsky.social · Feb 5
So much bad news recently I've been burying my head in the sand.

Today I wish I'd used flammable sand.
Reposted by riffle
jaywillis.net
Imagine being, like, a sales manager from Wheeling, and you got shipped off to DC by your dipshit governor to fulfill Trump’s troops-in-the-streets fantasy, and then you spent two months wandering the Mall picking up trash, and then two days before Thanksgiving you got shot outside a Metro station
joshuajfriedman.com Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 16h
NEW: DC's Metropolitan Police Dept says it has one suspect in custody after a shooting at 17th and I, near the White House.

AP reports that two members of the National Guard were shot, which DHS sec Kristi Noem confirms in a tweet.

Jeff Mason of Reuters reports that the White House is on lockdown.
November 27, 2025 at 4:36 AM
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hilzoy.bsky.social
This story has not finished yet, but it’s already great.
jessicashortall.bsky.social Jessica Shortall 🧂🥴 @jessicashortall.bsky.social · 9h
Maybe I’ll tell y’all about Thanksgiving in Uzbekistan, where I was in the peace corps 2000-2001.
I lived in a town; nearest American lived in a qishloq - a true village. A few of us somehow figured out to meet there. (How? No internet, no phones. No recollection of how we planned anything.) 1/
November 27, 2025 at 4:39 AM
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ianboudreau.com
Cool that the VA is sending out political endorsements now - both these stories are about "Biden-era" issues at the VA that Trump has magically solved
November 27, 2025 at 4:40 AM
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joshtpm.bsky.social
With DC shooter now identified as an Afghan national not the antifa secret agent White House hoped for a good time to remember the Trump admin has gutted domestic anti-terrorism capacity and reassigned many to finding grandmothers to arrest at immigration hearings.
November 27, 2025 at 4:06 AM
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grudgie.bsky.social
He’s passed like.. no bills
November 27, 2025 at 3:35 AM
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jacobtlevy.bsky.social
It's not just that the United States has stopped trying to promote liberal democratic ideas internationally. It's that the United States is actively trying to promote the contrary. It's trying to turn more countries into Hungary.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
U.S. to Press Europe and Other Allies on ‘Mass Migration,’ Document Says
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:06 AM
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abbyhiggs.bsky.social
Responding to everyone’s Thanksgiving meal photos as “AI slop”
November 27, 2025 at 3:00 AM
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dandrezner.bsky.social
This is like demanding that someone jump out of a plane before they’re given a parachute. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
US demands peace deal before security guarantees for Ukraine
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies that President Donald Trump will negotiate long-term assurances for Ukraine’s safety.
www.politico.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:05 AM
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costasamaras.com
PJM is the regional grid serving 67 million customers in 13 states
Map of the PJM regional grid territory which is most of the U.S. mid-atlantic and also parts of the midwest https://www.pjm.com/-/media/DotCom/about-pjm/newsroom/fact-sheets/pjm-at-a-glance.pdf
November 27, 2025 at 2:04 AM
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theserfstv.bsky.social
I love that the only remotely creative part of AI prompts is too hard so they want a "make thing I want" button
thedrawplay.com DrawPlayDave @thedrawplay.com · 14h
I cannot stop laughing. This is so indicative of what's wrong with these AI people and how they view art
He ran into a wall where the "make art" button wasn't satisfying because it wasn't actually making good enough art, and instead of trying new things he just requests a stronger button
November 26, 2025 at 11:13 PM
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kevintmorris.bsky.social
I'm sorry, what?
Ms. Johnson revealed that her husband “eats almost everything except cranberry sauce, mayonnaise and bananas,” which could have been viewed as subtly undermining of Ms. Miller, who revealed on the debut episode of her podcast that Mr. Miller eats only mayonnaise. Literally.
November 27, 2025 at 12:47 AM
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darthbluesky.bsky.social
ok it is time for me to hibernate for the season
i am thankful for all of u keeping me company here on the blue sky during this year
be well
November 27, 2025 at 12:07 AM
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emptywheel.bsky.social
Called it: Trump is going to *give* China Taiwan (no, Taiwan is not his to give) in an attempt to reverse the damage of his stupid trade war.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 13h
“.. Japanese officials said the message was worrying: the president didn’t want friction over Taiwan to endanger a detente reached last month with Xi, which includes a promise to buy more agricultural products from American farmers ..”

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
November 27, 2025 at 12:00 AM
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nskorpen.bsky.social
Hiccup showing off his sutures #photography
#caturday
High contrast black and white photo of a cat sitting on a countertop looking at the camera , in front of a doorway in deep shadow. A stitched up wound is visible on the cat’s shoulder
November 26, 2025 at 11:54 PM
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nancylevinestearns.bsky.social
Trump’s Project 2025 administration cancels World AIDS Day.
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 14h
The State Department has warned employees not to use government funds to mark Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day and to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels.” nyti.ms/3KhPDrA
Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day
The State Department warned employees not to use government funds for the occasion and to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels.”
nyti.ms
November 26, 2025 at 11:50 PM
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jeradwalker.bsky.social
i’m so happy for him
November 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
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atrupar.com
I was right
Olivia Nuzzi on Trump: Vibrant, alive Olivia Nuzzi on Biden: Hideously unnatural Pardon me for suspecting she's not on the level (July 2024)
November 26, 2025 at 11:44 PM
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weratedogs.com
This is Mandy. She has been told she has certain noodle-like qualities. Takes it as a compliment though, because everyone loves noodles. 13/10 (IG: spacecitysighthounds)
a white borzoi puppy with black ears and tan eyebrows sits on gray flooring. she looks up with wide puppy eyes, her front spindly legs planted firmly on the floor in front of her. a close up of Mandy the borzoi puppy. we've caught her with her tongue sticking out in the early moments of a blep. her white whiskers are pronounced from this angle. Mandy sits in profile as she poses in front of tall green flower stalks. she has a black spot on her left hip that looks like a heart.
November 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM
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bcdreyer.social
I'm extremely proud of the fact that the hardcover of Dreyer's English remains in print nearly seven years after it went on sale, and if you'd like signed copies (they make great holiday gifts!) and to support a local bookstore, head to the Signed Copies tab here:
Benjamin Dreyer
Benjamin Dreyer, author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer’s English, is the retired copy chief and managing editor of Random House.
www.benjamindreyer.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:24 PM
riffle.bsky.social
Some real jewels in here. I've never seen an olde timey apple vending machine, e.g. Lots of other odd and striking machines, too.
A bygone apple vending machine. (Apple as in the fruit, not the company.) Above are stacks of apples in four columns (pink, yellow, red and yellow again) behind bars. An apple sits behind the slotted vending door at the bottom. A key is inserted into the purchasing mechanism. "Apples" is printed on the decorative top.
November 26, 2025 at 11:52 PM
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neil-ramsay.com
He has had 2.8 MILLION downloads of his AMAZING photos on Unsplash. 2.8 million.

And 2 people (TWO) have tipped him for his work. Two.

Now, I get it. Unsplash advertises that the photos are free and just credit the photographer. That's its model. But the option to tip is there. And I've 3/9
November 26, 2025 at 10:34 PM
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neil-ramsay.com
crap. We haven't been able to download anything from iStock or Adobe Stock in AGES because it's so riddled with AI nonsense, we have to spend extra time just trying to find the 3 photos out of 50 that aren't AI garbage. And sure, a lot of companies are okay with that. But we're not. 5/9
November 26, 2025 at 10:34 PM
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david.noll.org
Two notes on this filing:

1. DOJ is embracing Katsas's "there was no violation of Boasberg's order" theory for the inevitable SCOTUS appeals.

2. No mention of Stephen Miller.
david.noll.org David Noll @david.noll.org · 15h
DOJ offers up Noem as the proper target of Judge Boasberg's contempt proceedings and acknowledges that Todd Blanche and Emil Bove devised the laughably false assertion that the court lacked jurisdiction to enter orders respecting planes outside the U.S.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
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solarina.ca
They had submitted extensive paperwork and paid fees. The foreign spouses had been fingerprinted, passed medical exams, no criminal records. They entered the country legally were authorized to work.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:47 PM
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bencollins.bsky.social
This is true. It is the best email I got this year.
I work as an elder and hospice caregiver, which I am oddly passionate about. I can love on them shamelessly and no one complains about my codependence. It's a win-win situation. Many of my caregiving colleagues complain about the repetitive questions and, sometimes reactions, of the elderly, especially when those patients happen to read the newspaper, especially with the current downward spiral of our country — as if these people haven't lived through enough horror... I love my dementia peeps, but sometimes wonder if there's a Guinness Book World Record for how many times an hour a dementia patient can repeat the same question — it's got to be in the hundreds. At least with small children, they ask different questions. Dementia patients will get stuck on one short question and ask it until you can interrupt their train(carousel) of thought and successfully redirect their attention. That carousel is pretty manic sometimes. A couple days ago, I picked up my mail from the post office and drove over to the nursing home to take (let's call her "Miss Daisy") Miss Daisy out for a drive. Before we took off on our road trip, to the end of The Road and back, in our landlocked little town (Juneau, Alaska), I set my copy of The Onion down in front of her. Over our two-hour excursion, tiny Miss Daisy read that front page at least a dozen times and each time she would snicker, giggle, and guffaw, then put it down on the dash board and, a minute later, discover it anew. I think it was the best afternoon of my life. We don't often hear them laugh and when they do, it's the sweetest thing you've ever heard. ... Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the really important work all of you do. You make the world a better place.
November 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM