I was reading about the slapfight between twin drama queens Musk and Trump, and for some reason it dislodged a memory from childhood. I was never much of a dinosaur fanatic, but every kid is at least somewhat interested in them, and I vaguely recall a story about a triceratops and a T. rex, whose skeletons were found at the same excavation, entangled in such a way to suggest they died together, after an epic battle. The theory was, the triceratops gored the T. rex, but his horn got stuck so deep he couldn’t dislodge it, and the taller beast fell on the shorter one, pinning and dooming it. A very spicy end, and one that would be entirely fitting for Trump and Musk.
To abruptly switch the scenario to 1939, it would be like when the Wicked Witch of the West melts down in her castle, and her previously fearsome goons immediately proclaim “Hail to Dorothy! The wicked witch is dead!” That would be the rest of us, only who would we hail? The Tesla Takedown demonstrators, who dragged Elon back to his company boardrooms? The thousands of fast-food workers who helped fill Trump’s blood vessels with cholesterol? We’d have to make a list, a long one. We could work on it as we pour the champagne.
Not much to report today. I’m tired of you-know-who dominating every news update and many waking thoughts, so I’m shutting him out. The weekend awaits. Let’s enjoy it.
Brandon said on June 5, 2025 at 10:17 pm
Any thoughts on Karine-Jean Pierre’s forthcoming book?
54 chars
alex said on June 5, 2025 at 10:42 pm
A girl’s gotta make money.
26 chars
FDChief said on June 6, 2025 at 12:03 am
As we say in soccer when two hated rivals play each other: “rooting for injuries”.
One of the best responses was from my guy Jim Wright: “In a gesture of conciliation, Trump invited Musk to the White House cellars to taste the latest cask of amontillado.”
My comment was “The Marine Band was rehearsing “The Rains of Castamere” outside the East Portico this afternoon.”
375 chars
Mark P said on June 6, 2025 at 12:08 am
KJP and Jake Tapper … two media whores in a pod.
50 chars
Jeff Gill said on June 6, 2025 at 6:40 am
“For the love of God, Donald!”
30 chars
nancy said on June 6, 2025 at 9:12 am
Here’s my take on K-J P’s book: I wish people would stop saying she’s “leaving the Democratic Party,” or has left the party. We don’t have party membership in this country, unless maybe you’re a delegate or something. There are no dues. This isn’t the Soviet Union; there are no membership cards. You can split your ticket however you like. You’re alone in the voting booth. So just do it and shut up about the rest.
416 chars
alex said on June 6, 2025 at 10:07 am
From here on out they’ll be vying with each other to have the last word and wreak the worst vengeance, both single-mindedly devoting their energies to destroying each other. And thanks to the feud, congressional Republicans are suddenly running away from the Big Beautiful Bill now that right-wing media can no longer hide the truth about it. I’m feeling optimistic for the first time in a long time.
400 chars
Deborah said on June 6, 2025 at 11:26 am
The stock broker for Uncle J’s foundation called the Trump/Musk split right after the election he said he’d give it until June and he was dead on. Actually Musk scared me more than Trump, he’s more volatile if you can even imagine that. Actually now that I’ve typed that, I’ll have to think about it more, as to which one is more volatile.
Although Sarah Kendzior has this to say about Trump and scandal https://substack.com/@sarahkendzior/note/c-123391231
459 chars
susan said on June 6, 2025 at 4:09 pm
Re. *rump and Tusk… Don’t you think this is all kayfabe? Fake wrasslin’ while the country burns on the side? BIG distraction to take your eyes off what Proj 2025 is up to. *rump is certainly familiar with kayfabe from his time at the World Wrasslin’ Entertainment, or whatever it is called. And his donor/Sec. of Edumacation is married to WWE. I am quite suspicious of this, and of course, the loathsome media are gladly covering it with glee and clapping hands. Pay attention to the other shit going down!
508 chars
Suzanne said on June 6, 2025 at 4:26 pm
I’m with you Susan. The Trump/Musk mean girl fight is kayfabe for the reality TV crowd and distracts from the fact that he is taking bribes from whomever will give him one and destroying the federal government so there will be no one to investigate. The media is falling for it yet again.
290 chars
Sherri said on June 6, 2025 at 6:47 pm
I’m quite capable of paying attention to multiple things. Kayfabe implies that the feud between Trump and Musk is a put up job, but I think it’s quite real. Trump withdrew the appointment of Musk’s guy to head NASA, and Musk really needs control of NASA or SpaceX doesn’t work. He needs to keep those NASA dollars flowing his way, because he doesn’t have enough money to keep building Starship otherwise.
I’ve said it before, Musk’s wealth is built on smoke and mirrors. There’s not as much behind the curtain as there should be. Tesla trades at a P/E of over 165, which is insane. Their revenues are falling off a cliff, but no worries, Musk says, they’re not a car company anyway, they’re an AI company. They’re going to make boatloads of money on robotaxis and humanoid*robots, neither of which are remotely close to real. Starship is a huge money sink that has yet to demonstrate that it will ever work. Once any part of the house of cards falls, the whole thing will fall apart in a hurry.
*There’s no reason to believe that humanoid robots are either necessary or desirable for anything. Special purpose robots will continue to be much cheaper and more functional for any kind of useful time horizon. Think Roomba, not Rosie.
1262 chars
Sherri said on June 6, 2025 at 6:53 pm
One of the things I’m paying attention to is that Trump is planning on cutting a huge chunk of funding to the University of California and the California State University systems.
California is a donor state, one of the states that pays more in federal taxes than they receive in federal funding. If the GOP is going to cut the federal government and push more things into the states, and withhold federal funding on a whim, why shouldn’t California start seizing federal tax payments from California?
508 chars
susan said on June 6, 2025 at 7:03 pm
Hmmm, I see others are also skeptical of this Feud of the Tinydicks.
164 chars
alex said on June 6, 2025 at 8:08 pm
I’m skeptical of the charges being leveled at Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
67 chars
Mark P said on June 6, 2025 at 8:44 pm
I’m with you, Alex. I just heard the “Attorney General” make the charges and said, bullshit.
98 chars
Sherri said on June 6, 2025 at 10:01 pm
The chief of the criminal division for the Middle District of TN, where the indictment against Garcia was filed, resigned today after 15 years.
143 chars
David C said on June 7, 2025 at 6:31 am
The Jetsons were way more sensible about Rosie the robot than the humanoid robot people are about theirs. Rosie got around on wheels. The humanoid robots walk. How much money for sensors and computing power are they pissing away on walking? Then Elon talks about his robots raising kids. Only a lunatic, piss-poor father like him would ever think of that. Kids would end like the wire monkeys in Harry Harlow’s experiments.
423 chars
Mark P said on June 7, 2025 at 10:24 am
Humanoid robots are novelties to demonstrate how cool they and their developers are. One practical purpose for humanoid(ish) robots might be to provide personal services for the elderly who do not want to live in assisted living in a place without enough actual humans to do that, like Japan. That presupposes a society that actually cares for the elderly.
356 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 7, 2025 at 11:01 am
In case anyone doesn’t know, the stage production of Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, will air live tonight from Broadway. It’ll be on CNN and cnn.com, and also MAX. We are cord cutters, so I think we’ll be trying the streaming option and then casting it to our TV. (Starts at 7 pm Eastern)
This is unprecedented, and a bit of a high-wire act. We didn’t see the show on our most recent trip, because the tickets were $900. Even if you’ve seen the movie, it’ll be worth watching.
And then of course tomorrow night is the Tony’s, so all in all it’s a big weekend in Julie’s world.
602 chars
tajalli said on June 7, 2025 at 11:18 am
Regarding humanoid robots, these are ambulatory robots developed to be highly coordinated for movement over irregular terrain as well as incorporating fine motor skills. Youtube has an assortment of demos. These could easily be deployed in warfare. Period. All hail, Erasmus.
275 chars
Jeff Gill said on June 7, 2025 at 12:54 pm
I’m hoping we’re heading back into market picture season…
59 chars
Jakash said on June 7, 2025 at 11:08 pm
Well, we stepped into Julie’s world for the evening and watched Good Night and Good Luck. Very cool to be able to watch it live from home. I’ll just note that it was well done and, uh, brutally timely.
One would hope that the folks running CBS and Paramount might be inspired by it, but that seems like wishful thinking. Like hoping that Bezos will start trying to live up to Katharine Graham’s example.
410 chars
FDChief said on June 10, 2025 at 2:18 pm
The “tell” on the Fraudulency Administration’s military moves is the troop units.
If the real point was “riot control” the unit(s) deployed would be military police.
Assault units like Marine or Airborne infantry? You’re looking for a fight. The Brits use of their Paras in Ulster was largely responsible for things like Bloody Sunday. My brothers in the 82nd Airborne were 99% of the spark that kicked off the Fallujah uprising in Iraq by shooting into a crowd. Doesn’t matter if you’re under fire; don’t make things worse is the commonsense reaction. But high-speed infantry don’t think that way; they shouldn’t…and that’s why you don’t use them for crowd control.
But obviously these fucking MAGA ghouls WANT that casus belli. That’s the point. So…
792 chars