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After months of bluster, spin, and head fakes, President Trump finally committed to punishing global tariffs during a high-profile "Liberation Day" event at the White House yesterday. The policy invokes emergency authority to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, a 25% fee on imported cars, and dubious "reciprocal tariffs" on everywhere from China and the EU to key strategic suppliers to remote uninhabited penguin reserves (not Russia, though 🤔). Trump’s tariff obsession dates back decades and cites William McKinley’s Gilded Age protectionist policies as an inspiration. Economists warn these measures will disrupt global trade, spike inflation, and destabilize the dollar’s reserve currency status. Markets fell sharply this morning, as DOGE-driven cuts are projected to cause over 275,000 layoffs. Meanwhile, nationwide "Hands Off!" protests against executive overreach are planned for this Saturday, April 5th.
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Apr 3 at 9:10 AM
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Over on Ars Technica, long time space industry writer Eric Berger landed a 10 minute slot to interview astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams about what went wrong on the Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Space.

Those 10 minutes ended up being a half hour as the astronauts went into detail about how bad things actually became .
posted by Brandon Blatcher to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 10:34 AM
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Over 1,200 "Hands Off!" protests are taking place today across all 50 states, including a large gathering expected on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Organized by a coalition of more than 150 groups -- civil rights organizations, labor unions, LGBTQ+ advocates, veterans -- the demonstrations oppose recent power grabs by President Trump and the destructive DOGE cuts of adviser Elon Musk: mass federal employee layoffs, agency shutdowns, the closure of Social Security offices, and other broad executive overreaches. To participate or find a local protest, visit the official "Hands Off!" event map at Mobilize.us. More: Know Your Rights - Tips for attending a protest - Virtual actions if you can't make it (or live outside the US) - Livestream
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Apr 5 at 9:08 AM
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Even as an advertiser (especially as an advertiser), I am convinced that outlawing advertising is the best thing we can do for our world now. More than gun control. More than tackling climate change. More than lowering the price of eggs. Removing these advanced manipulation tools would force everyone—politicians included—to snap back into reality. By outlawing advertising, the machinery of mass delusion would lose its most addictive and toxic fuel. from What If We Made Advertising Illegal? [Kōdō Simone]
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Apr 5 at 12:31 PM
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Trump Is Asking the Supreme Court To Let Him Have Black Sites (Slate)
In a court filing, the government acknowledged that it had deported at least one migrant to El Salvador due to an “administrative error”—but argued that the individual had no right to contest his imprisonment because he is in the custody of a “foreign sovereign.” This argument confirms what’s been clear for weeks: The government intends to treat the prison as a black site where migrants have no constitutional rights whatsoever and may be subject to any treatment whatsoever—including indefinite detention, forced labor, torture, or death.
posted by rambling wanderlust to MetaFilter on Apr 3 at 6:02 AM
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ellecordova - Punctuation marks hanging out.
posted by signal to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 7:27 AM
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Horror. Darkness hasn't quite fallen yet, but when it does, The Mekons would be your perfect band for your "end of the world" party.
posted by maupuia to MetaFilter on Apr 5 at 3:36 PM
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Wigglewood is a series of humorous D&D-styled short Youtube animations styled like cutscenes from an old DOS adventure game. A couple of inept adventures are on the trail of Wormdahl the depressed wizard. The longest is just 2 ½ minutes. Currently the episodes are: The Wizard's Gummy, Magician's Brick, The Dark Summoning, The Magic Lamp, The Cursed Throne, Elven Riddles and Shifting Sorcery.
posted by JHarris to MetaFilter on Apr 3 at 11:15 AM
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Susan Crawford wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election by a decisive margin, defeating Elon Musk-backed candidate Brad Schimel.
posted by Pallas Athena to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 5:15 AM
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Mexican Humanism: For the good of all, first the poor - "On January 12, tens of thousands of Mexican citizens packed into the Zócalo to hear President Claudia Sheinbaum deliver her report on the first 100 days of government. Her announcements reflected an agenda both ambitious in scale and comprehensive in scope: sixteen new laws and twelve constitutional reforms ranging from the recognition of Indigenous peoples and the real increase in the minimum wage, to the recovery of Mexico's national ownership of natural resources and a crackdown on tax evasion. 'Let it be heard loud and clear,' Sheinbaum said. 'We will not return to the neoliberal model ... We will continue with Mexican Humanism and with the maxim of 'For the good of all, first the poor.''" (via)
posted by kliuless to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 11:42 PM
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Walk down the block of a wealthy neighborhood at night, and you might be surprised by how much you can see. One uncovered window might reveal the glow of a flatscreen TV across from a curved couch; through another, you might glimpse a marble kitchen island and a chandelier. Of course, some of the curtains are closed—but many are flung open, the home’s interiors exposed, like you’re peering into a showroom. Uncovered windows have quietly become a fixture of high-end homes across America. The New York Times recently referred to the “obligatory uncurtained windows” of Brooklyn Heights, a rich enclave in New York City, and The Root pointed out that this seemed common among wealthy young white people living in gentrified urban areas. On TikTok, onlookers have been baffled by the trend—and, sometimes, tempted to pry. Although this phenomenon is most visible in cities, the link between wealth and exposed windows extends across the United States. [...] The line isn’t smooth as you slide up and down the income scale, but the overall trend is clear: The choice to draw or not draw the curtains is in part driven by class.

The Atlantic: Why Rich People Don’t Cover Their Windows [ungated]
posted by Rhaomi to MetaFilter on Apr 5 at 9:35 PM
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He's Best Known for The Fault in Our Stars. That His Latest Book Is About the World's Deadliest Disease Actually Makes Perfect Sense. [ungated] - "'People should understand that tuberculosis is not just a disease of the past,' [Henry] Reider told me. 'It is still affecting millions of people today, but it is preventable, treatable, and also curable.'"
posted by kliuless to MetaFilter on Apr 1 at 11:42 PM
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In the wake of our recent conjectures about a world without advertising, Slate's Ethan Ris says There's a Nuclear Option to Fight Trump's War Against Colleges. You Aren't Going to Like It.

I like it.

(archive link)
posted by Rash to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 9:45 AM
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The art of the deal protest sign. You want to make a protest sign but you’ve hit a brick wall for ideas. That’s okay! Inspiration is as easy as a google image search. But if you want to get into it a little bit more, Iranian-born Canadian artist Guity Novin can help you out. So can Reuters. If you need more, take a look at An Emergency Guide to Writing Protest Signs. Maybe invent your own font. Here’s a handy pdf that talks about design elements. For some final thoughts, Vice has some advice.
posted by ashbury to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 8:21 AM
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The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is starting to put together a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) computer systems entirely off one of its oldest programming languages in a matter of months, potentially putting the integrity of the system—and the benefits on which tens of millions of Americans rely—at risk. DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code. (Wired, archive)
posted by mittens to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 5:06 AM
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Exceptional: Rat earns world record for sniffing out landmines in Cambodia. Landmine-hunting rat Ronin has set a new world record by sniffing out more than 100 mines. Ronin, a giant African pouched rat, has tracked down 109 landmines and 15 other potentially deadly war remnants since his deployment to northern Preah Vihear province in August 2021, according to Belgian charity APOPO. Five-year-old Ronin has been named the most successful Mine Detection Rat (MDR) in the organisation's history.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 2:38 AM
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But the most jarring aesthetic in this burgeoning MAGA stagecraft is the unbridled embrace of face-altering procedures: plastic surgery, veneers, and injectables like Botox and fillers. (As one Daily Mail headline declared, “Plastic surgery was [the] star of [the] show” at the Republican National Convention in 2024.) The overall look has since been disparagingly referred to as Mar-a-Lago face.” Although plastic surgery and injectables are enjoyed far beyond conservative circles, what distinguishes Mar-a-Lago face from what you and I might contemplate getting done on an especially self-flagellating day is the aggressive, overt nature with which MAGA-ites seem to pursue it.
posted by Lemkin to MetaFilter on Apr 4 at 1:51 PM
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The right-wing war on empathy. No more love thy neighbour as thyself. Evangelical Christians, right-wing academics, and tech-bro extremists agree that the great evil and sin of society today is caring about other people.
posted by fimbulvetr to MetaFilter on Apr 8 at 8:31 AM
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Jaime Hernandez: A Master Cartoonist Ages Alongside His Heroine. A colorful tribute to Love and Rockets, a long-runnng ground-breaking comic that began in 1982. ungated
posted by storybored to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 9:24 PM
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Bruce Springsteen is set to release over 80 new songs this summer with his newly announced “Tracks II: The Lost Albums” collection. Planned for release on June 27, the seven full-length albums will include songs by The Boss that have never been heard. The songs span Springsteen’s decades-long career and were written between 1983 and 2018. First single is: Rain in the River
posted by chavenet to MetaFilter on Apr 3 at 11:55 AM
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[more posts]

For these thinkers, restoring this masculine culture means feminism and multicultural democracy need to be rooted out. Sorry, I am going to need some derisive finger-quotes around the word "thinkers" there. [view]
posted by wenestvedt to MetaFilter on Apr 8 at 8:48 AM
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After being abused at the previous job, when I started at the company I currently work at 9 years ago I made a point about leaving at the end of the workday and being unavailable. You need me at 6pm? No you don't. Oh you literally dying? Call 911. It's not me. Since then I've been promoted into roles with more and more responsibility, and I'm... [more]
posted by phunniemee to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 11:14 AM
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I can't help but think that this whole article confuses a sexual orientation with societal gender roles. Those are two separate things. This isn't about "heterosexuality", it's about patriarchy, and I think that confusing the two terms is a big mistake. Also, a straight woman can no more "change" to... [more]
posted by EmpressCallipygos to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 3:35 AM
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. If the afterlife has a sense of humor, he is now standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at him. [view]
posted by fings to MetaFilter on Apr 1 at 9:23 PM
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Also, I don't recall where I saw it, but someone has mentioned that if you watch Elon carefully when he talks about his daughter Vivian, his attitude isn't that of a man who is angry that one of their kids turned out to be trans. It's more like... When you learn all of them are conceived via in vitro fertilization, which means he can pretty... [more]
posted by mephron to MetaFilter on Apr 8 at 8:50 AM
39 users marked this as a favorite

Oh, no! Now I have NaNoWriMo NoMo FOMO! [view]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 10:23 AM
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Don't forget COBRA. Lose coverage? You'd lose all protection from your pre-existing conditions that you get by having continuous coverage. So if you got fired the law graciously offered to let you pay your own premium for the group plan until you found a new one. But not the company subsidized rate. The *FULL* group plan rate. If you had a chronic... [more]
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock to MetaFilter on Apr 1 at 4:00 PM
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I can't believe Real Genius didn't make the cut to be mentioned in the write-up. Other works mentioned are certainly better films by reasonable objective standards and maybe my recollection of Real Genius is colored by the inspiration it provided to the coterie of 80s science nerds of whom I was definitely a member, but it will always be,... [more]
posted by Nerd of the North to MetaFilter on Apr 1 at 10:19 PM
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Finally, the shackles are loosened, and we can write in ANY MONTH WE WANT! Even OCTOBER! [view]
posted by mittens to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 10:28 AM
36 users marked this as a favorite

all i know is cannabis will get you through times of no philosophy better than philosophy will get get you through times of no cannabis remember the fabulous furry freak brothers? [view]
posted by pyramid termite to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 2:02 PM
36 users marked this as a favorite

I've posted this before but it'd really nice if people could drop the "not really Christians" crap. As a Jew who's immediate family and ancestors have been on the receiving end of Christian love for thousands of years it gets a bit tired. These are Christians. This is Christianity. Always has been. [view]
posted by star gentle uterus to MetaFilter on Apr 8 at 10:31 AM
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Once again, no hate like Christian Nationalist love. [view]
posted by mephron to MetaFilter on Apr 8 at 8:46 AM
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There’s sort of a meta-level cultural distinction here, between people who assume everyone else’s lifestyle choices are outward-facing status displays and people who assume everyone else’s lifestyle choices are inward-facing personal preferences. [view]
posted by Birds, snakes, and aeroplanes to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 5:06 AM
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I would simply like to say that while many shows become dramatically better over the course of their run, few great shows that I can think of start out actually bad. Star Trek: The Next Generation is pretty dire for the first couple seasons. [view]
posted by Faint of Butt to MetaFilter on Apr 4 at 11:54 AM
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"During a White House state dinner in 2023, Yoon stood as the honored guest and sung Don McLean’s “American Pie” to a delighted audience." 🚘🌅🌄 l🤠🥃🍾 🗣️📆⚰️ [view]
posted by clavdivs to MetaFilter on Apr 3 at 8:57 PM
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It'd really nice if people could drop the "not really Christians" crap. As a Christian, co-signing. Sometimes I look at Christofascists and I'm like 'eh I'm not sure I want to be a Christian anymore' but for thousands of years, practically since before they finished writing the fucking Bible, this is what the Church has been... [more]
posted by ngaiotonga to MetaFilter on Apr 8 at 10:59 AM
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So the NaNoWriMo organization did what any nonprofit would do: they decided that they would not take responsibility for enforcement of a no-AI policy No, this is silly. All they had to do was nothing. All they had to do was not mention AI at all. Or say, hey, we'd prefer if people actually wrote their own work but we don't have the... [more]
posted by joannemerriam to MetaFilter on Apr 2 at 10:53 AM
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I find this whole topic baffling - I mean, I just want big uncovered windows to let in natural light during the daytime, and can't be bothered to remember to close shades at night and re-open them in the morning (I don't make my bed, either) [view]
posted by 168 to MetaFilter on Apr 6 at 3:11 AM
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Look upon the Joneses and despair [view]
posted by snuffleupagus to MetaFilter on Apr 5 at 9:39 PM
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Thanks, Obama. [view]
posted by phunniemee to MetaFilter on Apr 1 at 3:32 PM
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[more comments]