“Jane says we have to consider the very real possibility that some parties may attempt unilateral punitive action if they conclude that Ultras were responsible.”

“In other words, we could be looking at war between the Glitter Band and the Ultras.”

“I’m hoping no one will be quite that stupid,” Sparver said. “Then again, this is baseline humans we’re dealing with.”

Aurora Rising Alastair Reynolds https://bookshop.org/p/books/aurora-rising-alastair-reynolds/1c76a81c9461d910?ean=9780316462570&next=t&digital=t

Accidental commentary on current events.

So. Got an email from the Democratic party chair of a neighboring county (I volunteered to canvas there, so I’m on their list, which is a good thing, because I don’t seem to be on my own county’s list, or they don’t like me, or they’re just not sending emails).

Some very interesting tidbits in there about calling your congresspeople.

«Every single day, the Senior Staff and the Senator get a report of the most-called-about topics for that day at each of their offices, and exactly how many people said what about each of those topics. Republican callers generally outnumber Democratic callers 4-1, and when it’s a particular issue that single-issue-voters pay attention to (like gun control, or Planned Parenthood funding, etc…), it’s often closer to 11-1, and that’s recently pushed congressmen on the fence to vote with the Republicans.»

4! To 1! Republicans absolutely not afraid to pick up the phone and tell their congresspeople what’s on their mind. Maybe because they are actually on board with this democracy thing (crazy, I know).

More good stuff:

«Give them your zip code. They won’t always ask for it, but make sure you give it to them, so they can mark it down. Extra points if you live in a zip code that traditionally votes for them, since they’ll want to make sure they get/keep your vote.

Pick 1-2 specific things per day to focus on. Don’t rattle off everything you’re concerned about — they’re figuring out what 1-2 topics to mark down for you on their lists. It’s important that they just keep getting calls.

Be clear on what you want and write it down before you dial the phone — “I’m disappointed that the Senator…” or “I want to thank the Senator for their vote on… or “I want the Senator to know that voting in _____ way is the wrong decision for our state because…” Don’t leave any ambiguity.

They may get to know your voice/get sick of you — it doesn’t matter. The people answering the phones generally turn over every 6 weeks anyway, so even if they’re really sick of you, they’ll be gone in 6 weeks.

And, finally, guess what web site they recommended?

https://5calls.org/!

Ha!

https://www.wonkette.com/p/this-press-release-from-the-cfpb

«On the evening of February 6, three minions of professional Twitter poster and Jeffrey Epstein confidant Elon Musk appeared in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) internal staff directory.»

Oh, my God.

[settles in to read the rest of it]

«It can be tempting to say that just as the Red Scare petered out, so too will the current hunt for “disloyal” elements. But for all the parallels, there’s an important difference: Loyalty then meant loyalty to the United States; today Trump demands loyalty to himself and his agenda.»

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/06/government-workers-purge-1950s-communism-00202336

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/teen-on-musks-doge-team-graduated-from-the-com/

Oy vey. What kind of people is Musk hiring? Clown squad. And malicious. I wouldn’t trust this guy (and, by extension, the rest of Musk’s team) with ANY sensitive data.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/musks-doggie-hackerboys-update

Good article; Wonkette rocks.

Please join me in a sidebar in which I do math with zeros.

100 is a 1 followed by two zeros. It’s also 10 × 10, so we can write 10² or 1E2 in computerese because computers can’t do exponents.

Likewise, 1000 is a 1 followed by three zeros or 10 × 10 × 10 or 10³ or 1E3.

When you divide, you subtract exponents, so 1000 ÷ 100 is done by subtracting the 2 in 10² from the 3 in 10³, so the answer is 10¹ or just 10.

Duh. Sounds stupid so far, right? Let’s take it to the next level.

One meeeelion is 1,000,000; 1 followed by six zeros, 10⁶, 1E6.

One billion is 10⁹; nine zeros.

One trillion is 10¹²; twelve zeros.

Those numbers (6, 9, 12) are worth memorizing.

Paul Ryan’s big tax cut bill, which he enacted for his good friend Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies back in 2016, is expiring this year (2025, for any time travellers from the future who are still unsure as to what year it is). Elon Musk and his billionaire bros would prefer that not happen. Continuing that tax cut will cost an eye-watering amount of money that must be accounted for in the budgetary process. AOC says that’s  $4 trillion. Elon says he wants to cut $2 trillion. 12 zeroes.

Elon says he saved $110 million. That’s 8 zeroes (100 × 1 million;  10² × 10⁶ = 10⁸ because we add exponents when multiplying).

$4 trillion. 4 × 10¹². Divided by 10⁸… 12 minus 8… is 10⁴. That’s a 1 followed by 4 zeroes. That’s $10,000. (Don’t forget to multiply by 4.)

If you had a gift card with a balance of $40,001 and you swiped it at a vending machine that charged you $1 for a Coke, now you have $40,000 on that card. How much did that hurt? How much are you complaining?

That’s what $110 mil is in the face of $4 *trillion*. It’s couch-cushion change. It’s four quarters and a dime.

We’re starving babies around the world (including this country) for chump change because Elon wants to save those tax cuts for himself and his billionaire friends. And it’s not even going to help.

Don’t just follow the money. Follow the *zeros*.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/consumers/americans-jittery-over-inflation-university-of-michigan-survey-suggests-1476cf39?st=Rqsamf&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink (gift)

«Americans dialing their members of Congress for basic services are going straight to voice mail. Interns and young aides can’t answer the phones quickly enough. And a system that usually handles a few dozen calls per minute is straining to keep up with more than 1,500.»

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/us/politics/congressional-phone-lines-trump-musk.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vU4.-Py9.LPFCq0jq_O2l&smid=url-share (gift)

Speak your heart; don’t follow the script. Use the script as inspiration, in case you’re terrified (and that’s ok, too, I think it means something that you call in spite of fear). Be polite and concise; they have a lot of calls to go through. I strongly suspect they’re just ticking check boxes in order to give their bosses a reading on the temperature, so nuance is lost. But that’s ok. (Happy to be corrected by any actual aides/interns.)

https://5calls.org

https://wapo.st/3EotKDy

Ahhhhh, to err is human, to forgive divine. Of course!

Always the exception. Always the victory we think we have is not, in fact, a victory. Always the rrrrrest… of the story.

«“Caitlin Perigal, as matriarch of this habitat, you are hereby charged with a category-five infringement of the democratic process. It is alleged that you tampered with the polling apparatus, to the intended benefit of your house.”»

– Aurora Rising (Alastair Reynolds)

https://bookshop.org/ebooks/quotes/523eb4f2-69ff-4b36-8a76-9d39ff36a177

Ah, now we get to the “fiction” part of this science fiction: the strong enforcement of the norms of democracy.