Tootfinder

As salty as I am about it, there's also another way to think about this. For anyone who still has connections to folks on the right (which is perhaps unlikely for anyone on this server, I digress), the cult that has consumed them thrives on isolation and grievance.
The words "you were right" have the potential to cut through the programming and open up an opportunity for reconnection. The modern conspiratorial cult of the Right has been built partially around people who were told they were wrong or were crazy. In the vast majority of cases, they were wrong and even when they were right they completely misunderstood why, but we'll skip that for now. Liberals making fun of them (even the times when they definitely earned it) has pushed them further and further into their ideological hole.
The thing about those words, "you were right," in this context is that the way they offer reconnection also requires them to take one little step of betraying their ideology to accept them. So they must choose between maintaining allegiance to a pedophile or finally getting to feel superior after years of living in an illusion of persecution.
Under the ideology of the Right, admitting one is wrong is a weakness. It is admitting defeat. They have to "own the libs" by saying things, things that they know aren't true, in order to feel dominant. But these things are often so absurd that they end up being made fun of, feeling even more weak and pathetic, reinforcing their fear and alienation.
Offering what they're looking for can offer a way out, but only if they're willing to start to recognize the thing they've supported for what it is.
And they were right about some things. They were right that Bill Gates was a terrible person. I've had plenty of liberals defend him based on his philanthropy washing, but he's awful and always has been. The Epstein links make that blatant. They intuitively recognized him and didn't trust him, even if they were wildly off base about *how and why* he shouldn't be trusted... Even if their correct mistrust was leveraged into one of the most destructive conspiracy theories ever (vaccine denial and COVID vaccine avoidance).
They were right about Bill Clinton. He was always shady as fuck. Sure, the people who attacked him at the time turned out to be even more shady but that's not the point right now. He was connected to Epstein and that was always creepy as fuck.
And the Epstein thing was an open secret that liberals ignored for a long time. It was seen as some weird thing that right wing nutjobs believed about the Clintons. But it was true. Not all of it, and there has always been an antisemitic element to the right wing interpretation or Epstein stuff, but his whole pedophile conspiracy was always kind of real.
The whole "Illuminati"/deep state thing is a vast oversimplification, an attempt to make comprehensible an incredibly complex set of interlocking and emergent behaviors. But Epstein did very much want to remake the world, to create a new world order, and he absolutely played a part in it.
The Right wing nutjobs talked about global authoritarianism, Blackhawks flying over American cities, masked men with guns disarming and executing legal gun owners in the streets. That's all happening right now.
The "FEMA concentration camps" are not actually that far off. ICE and FEMA are sister agencies, both under DHS. I'd be more than happy to call that one "close enough" in order to hear some MAGA admit that ICE is, in fact, building concentration camps.
There was always a huge millennialist element to these things. They tended to be connected to "the antichrist." It was absurd, especially for me as someone who no longer identifies as a Christian. But I'll even acquiess that to a degree. The "the number of the Beast" is 666. That's just the sum of the Hebrew spelling of "Nero." Revelations focuses a lot on Nero coming back to life after his death. His death that involved a head wound, thus the line from Revelation 13:3:
> And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
The parallels between Trump and Nero are easy to draw, and Trump's ear wound feels pretty on-the-nose for this. I don't believe in "prophecy" in this way. I think that there are patterns, and useful patterns can become encoded in beleif systems. But I will, again, happily call this one "close enough" for anyone on that side willing to also acknowledge it. I'm happy to meet on that common ground, because anyone who accepts it must recognize that their duty is to fight against it.
A lot of these correct nuggets are embedded in a framework of religious extremism and antisemitism. The vast majority of the beliefs holding these together are wildly wrong and incredibly toxic. But by giving some room to feel validated, listened to, understood, can give some room to admit things that were wrong.
Cult de-programming starts with an opening. People have to talk through their own thoughts, hear their own inconsistencies. Guiding questions can help them untangle these things for themselves. And it all starts by having enough room to feel safe, to not feel cornered, to not feel stupid. Admitting mistakes means being vulnerable, and the MAGA cult is built on fear. It's built on exploiting vulnerability and locking it away.
De-programming takes a long time. It's not easy. It takes patience. But every person who comes out does so with a powerful perspective, a deep understanding, that can be turned back against it. The best people at getting people out of cults are former members. Some of the most dedicated antifa are former fascists who understood their mistakes and dedicate their lives to fixing them.

"For others, the exploration of old computer magazines brings the possibility of running old software. Many computer magazines, and not only the programming kind, used to bundle reams of source code listings across their pages, and many an enthusiast would painstakingly type those code bits by hand, in order to have a new utility, to learn a new programming language, or to enjoy a new game."

Retro Gaming Museum
Reviewing old computers magazines of yore is a pastime most often associated to retrocomputing enthusiasts. It is part of that feeling of bliss that comes with the realization that there used to be a different world, when software was simpler, when corporations did not have that much power, and when programming languages were more approachable; in short, a more innocent time.

Follow up reporting on that breaking and entering by CBP in #Utah that led to warrantless kidnapping of the owner as well as the employee they were following.
Thank you, @… for the detailed reporting. Our local paper has removed the paywall on all reporting for 2026, so don…

Filing: Workday is cutting ~400 employees, or ~2% of its workforce, primarily in customer-facing roles, saying the move will help it invest in priority areas (Brody Ford/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-…

…everyone there was white. •Everyone•. This particular park would usually be more white than not, but…this was weird.
There’s officially a city prohibition on ICE setting foot in city parks, but who knows what that’s worth? Those bastards will do anything if they think they can get away with it. And they’ll grab people right off the streets if they’re falling behind quota for the day. Who’d risk that?
ICE had apparently succeeded turning the park into all-white world they dreamed of. It was…creepy.
4/

float through the night with the frow show, new music & sound adventures from now 'til 3am ET on @…, filling in for rich hazelton. https://wfmu.org/playlists/JJ/260103

Anger at the regime continues to spread,
even beyond the borders of the United States.
Millions of workers worldwide are following the fortunes of their brothers and sisters in the US
with intense sympathy for their struggle.
In Germany in particular, Trump’s actions vividly bring to mind Hitler, the Second World War and the Holocaust.
More and more people are becoming aware that a third world war can only be stopped if we succeed not only in overthrowing the…

Voices of solidarity from Germany in the fight against Trump’s drive to dictatorship - Bytes Europe
On Friday, January 23, around 100,000 people in Minneapolis turned out to protest against the Trump administration’s mobilization of ICE against the city’s

Raiders coach Pete Carroll addresses media after Raiders defeat Chiefs — WATCH LIVE https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/raiders/raiders-coach-pete-carroll-addresses-media-after-raiders-defeat-chiefs-watch-live…

My old state just realized I left 2.5 years ago. (Yes, I did the change of address, closed things out, and registered to vote in my new home state.)
I'm quite fond of the issue between the fifth option and the signature it requires, plus the fact that (aside from the zip code and other USPS requirements) this could have looked identical a hundred years ago. No website, email, or phone number. Also note the old convention of two spaces following each period.

preparing to dip my toe tentatively into this whole 2026 business, filling in for rich hazelton tonight on @… from midnight to 3am ET for your late night ambiance needs, streaming at wfmu.org or at 91.1/91.9 in the #nj &