As the Putinists continue wrecking all U.S. institutions and turning the world (including longtime allies) against us, it's important to recall how much goodwill Trump and his ilk must eliminate, before that promise to Moscow can be fulfilled. Of course all empires are disliked, but elsewhere I describe how George Marshall, FDR, Truman, Ike etc. set things up so that humanity would have its best 80 years, ever. Better than all of prior human history combined. Resulting in the *least hated* empire. That is... until now.
Want evidence for that assertion? Amid our self-reproach, Let's remember times when America did take brave steps toward light. There are others, on this planet, who remember, as well. And you need the gift that I am about to give you.
This song by Michel Sardou is called "Les Ricains" which means, more or less, "The Yankees." Here are the lyrics, to read along.
If the Ricans weren't there
Si les Ricains n'étaient pas là
You would all be in Germania
Vous seriez tous en Germanie
To speak of I don't know what
A parler de je ne sais quoi
To greet I do not know who
A saluer je ne sais qui
Of course years have passed
Bien sûr les années ont passé
The rifles changed hands
Les fusils ont changé de mains
Is this a reason to forget
Est-ce une raison pour oublier
That one day we needed it?
Qu'un jour on en a eu besoin?
A guy from Georgia
Un gars venu de Georgie
Who cared a lot about you
Qui se foutait pas mal de toi
Came to die in Normandy
Est v'nu mourir en Normandie
One morning when you weren't there
Un matin où tu n'y étais pas
Of course years have passed
Bien sûr les années ont passé
We became friends
On est devenus des copains
To the friendly of the shot
A l'amicale du fusillé
They say they fell for nothing
On dit qu'ils sont tombés pour rien
If the Ricans weren't there
Si les Ricains n'étaient pas là
You would all be in Germania
Vous seriez tous en Germanie
To speak of I don't know what
A parler de je ne sais quoi
To greet I do not know who
A saluer je ne sais qui
Got you a little misty-eyed?
Even better is this version... a huge crowd of French people cheering and singing along. Capable of gratitude. They know that this American Pax, for all of its faults, prevented vastly worse. That things could have been a hell, a curse. That every other era of dismal human history was worse.
And if we do not blow it now, we have a chance to be recalled by our heirs - organic and cyber - the true humans - as the very best that cavemen could be. Crude, bestial primitives who tried nonetheless to lift our gaze and those around us. To something better.
Listen and read along. We need this now. Right now!
Try. I dare you not to tear up, in gratitude for this gratitude.
== But we have a tough job keeping that promise ==
Alas, the Kremlin boyz and confederates and murder sheiks have the upper hand for now and they and stick together.
Latest example: Trump has issued special exemptions letting Putin sell oil, evading world sanctions for his murderously criminal invasion of Ukraine. Fox News is a 5th column of the relabeled KGB's propaganda Comintern that has used blackmail to take over the entire Republican Party.
Amid the hooplah over the Strait of Hormuz -- ("YOU block it? No, *I* get to block it!") -- Trump has all along made offers to the Iranian Republican Guard and Religious Police etc. to make deals with him, in exchange for them kissing his ring.
It's already happened! In Venezuela, Argentina, El Salvador etc. - and possibly soon in Cuba (DT shouts "They're next!") - the aim is never, ever to establish democracy or to liberate citizens from their oppressors.
The pattern is perfectly that of mafiosi and that of an ex casino mogul. Taking over another gang's territory by decapitating it's top capo, then getting allegiance (and resulting vigorish) from the sub-capos of the gang that's left in place.
This is now so blatant that no other theory is remotely tenable. LOOK at this image of Maduro's VP Rodriguez, all spiffed and glammed-up and grin-hugging Trump's consigliere, eager to serve... and to send Trump personally a shipment of gold! And nothing for the Venezuelan people.
Oh, and Miami crime families will slip in atop the Castro power structure in Cuba.
This is a Mafia gang and the capo di tutti capi is named Vlad.
His other goal? Riling up enough enemies (who had been quiescent since Obama killed Osama) to deliver us into another 9/11, that he imagines might save him, this fall. Which explains why he fired over half of our counter-terrorism experts. Now why would anyone do that?
Put it all together folks.
== The real purpose of the coming Reichstag Fire / 911 strike ==
It won't work, for that reason. Because we all can see it.
Only there is an added, underlying danger that I see discussed nowhere.
Go back to 1933. The purpose of the Reichstag Fire was to excuse the Nazi arrest of dozens of opposition parliament members. And thus, the parliament could never hold a quorum vote for new elections or a new Chancellor.
The lesson?
YOU U.S. SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES: START UPPING YOUR SECURITY RIGHT NOW.
The Roberts Court has already said Trump could off you, as an 'official act,' to prevent impeachment/conviction. So talk it over. Upgrade practices. Have contingency plans. Grow eyes in the back of your heads. Do it now.
The rest of you?
When the calamity strikes, get out there and chant "Reichstag Fire!"
And one more word to show our intent:
"Appomattox!"
== Finally, my qualifications as a history expert! ==
Well, AI has some legit uses. One fan/reader searched the paleontology databases and found this historical record, a bit fuzzy, from the Paleolithic. It shows my legit ancestral claims are valid!
https://www.threads.com/@wsj/post/DXWmxmuFF0J
ReplyDeleteFlorida’s migration patterns are changing. Residents in their prime working years are heading to other states, while fewer people are arriving.
Republicans salivating over red state gains in the 2030 census might have another think coming.
Anyone that moves to the lower Mississippi Valley or Florida is betting their life on continued function of their air conditioning. I have several acquaintances that are making that move and I tell them to buy the most expensive power backup that they can afford. And then I explain wet bulb temperatures to them, if they will listen.
DeleteI'm actually concerned about my mother, who lives in Phoenix and has seen 3 digit temperatures in the winter. Thanks to climate change, that area of the Southwest is becoming unlivable without a/c; just ask anyone who lives on the streets. Water is an issue too, but the suburbs keep growing and no one seems to know or care where the water will come from.
Delete"no one seems to know or care where the water will come from."
DeleteAnd that's before the data centers slurp it all up.
Abandonment of an area starts when insurance become impossible to obtain. At that point, property become unsaleable and worthless. The smart money has departed long before this state of affairs comes to pass.
DeleteEnter low lying Florida...
Enter low lying Florida
DeleteThey could probably save it if they looked at the Netherlands and started with construction of massive dykes now. But they probably won't, which brings us to an interesting question: Does a state swallowed by the sea still get it's two senators and it's congressional seat?
They could probably save [South Florida] if they looked at the Netherlands and started with construction of massive dykes now
Deletehttps://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/26/miami-is-ground-zero-for-climate-risk-people-move-there-build-there-anyway.html
"Miami’s average elevation is six feet — the same amount of sea-level rise expected in Southeast Florida by the end of the century. The ocean has already risen by about six inches since 2000.
The city is simultaneously sinking. It sits on porous limestone rock, which some engineers have likened to Swiss cheese; in other words, water can easily seep from underground."
You can't just build a dyke if the water is coming up from underground.
"The city is simultaneously sinking. It sits on porous limestone rock, which some engineers have likened to Swiss cheese; in other words, water can easily seep from underground."
DeleteMaybe Mar-a-Lago will sink out of site. Maybe while DJT is in residence, along with a group of fawning sycophants. I imagine a scene not unlike the climax of The Ten Commandments, with Von Schitzenpantz as Dathon. "Those who won't live by the law...shall DIE by it!"
One of my sustaining fantasies has been the hungry water hazard at the thirteenth, but a sink hole at the right time and place would do.
DeleteRe- Data Centers
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the model that actually makes money for these
At the moment they are offerring their "output" - like "Claude" free
The idea appears to be that people will PAY for them - and I can see people being willing to pay something - but only a few dollars
If Data Centers are using the amount of power (and water) that people are talking about then the "Cost" would be of the same order as our current power bills
I don't see people paying that much
"I'm forever blowing bubbles..."
DeleteThe only model that makes any sense to me is to whoever provides the energy to run the things.
ie the on-site gas generators that get built first, and then get put on the assets ledger as a thing that can still be/should be used when the actual centre doesn't get built (see this one, for example)
In short, it's another predatory delay tactic. A desperate one, but then, they're all desperate.
Data Centres are like the Tower of Babel. A lot of arrogance and hubris, but not much learning or understanding. Tremendous effort and energy going into an unproven and even unconsidered goal at best. Planetary-scale flim-flammery at worst.
DeleteIn Australia, at least, there are moves afoot to require that new data centres must source their power from renewable energy sources. You can call out the amount of guano spattering my foresight goggles if you like, but I think that would result in a dramatic reduction in planning applications.
DeleteIn Australia, at least, there are moves afoot to require that new data centres must source their power from renewable energy sources. You can call out the amount of guano spattering my foresight goggles if you like, but I think that would result in a dramatic reduction in planning applications.
DeleteWhy would that even change the economics of building a data center. The DC was going to have to buy power anyway. Any new power these days would be solar anyway, especially in Australia, given what's going on with plummeting cost of solar, value of land in the Australian desert, and likely trajectory in gas prices.
This just links the two explicitly.
The free approach is for people who are helping them refine and bug test. Anyone who wants to use them in a more serious way pays. They are already heading that way.
Delete@c-plus actually, a lot of proposed data centres are located in Sydney suburbs, and are likely to soak up a substantial amount of available water. As for using solar and batteries... well, you'd think so, except it doesn't seem to have entered Musk's calculations, to take one example.
DeleteRe. Water - requiring data centres to be water-neutral (i.e. recycle water used for cooling, and not just draw it from aquifers/public water systems) makes a lot of sense.
DeleteRe. solar/batteries - The location of the data centre, and the location of the power production, if its going to be renewable energy, shouldn't be closely linked (i.e. you want (need really) to put the data centres somewhere near population centres. Having them provide their own renewable energy makes sense. Having them need to provide that energy generation on-site is silly.
And doesn't Musk own a large-ish* solar energy/solar panel/energy storage company. I think they do significant business in Australia.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/30/tesla-megapack-caught-fire-at-victorian-big-battery-site-in-australia.html
*(compared to non-chinese based companies anyway)
https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/save-act-fails-millions-of-voters-retain-right-to-vote-for-now/
ReplyDeleteMONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) applauds the U.S. Senate’s rejection of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a sweeping anti-voter legislation pushed by the Trump administration that would have erected significant barriers to ballot access for millions of eligible Americans.
“We are glad the SAVE Act died in the Senate. We are grateful to every senator who stood firm against it. To every American who called, wrote and organized to make their voice heard, thank you – your voice matters,” said Laura Williamson, senior policy advisor, SPLC. “While we know opponents of a multiracial, inclusive democracy will continue to push the SAVE Act and other attempts to block the right to vote, we know the American people reject these efforts and have the power to stop them.”
...
America isn't quite irredeemable.
Ok, I'm seeing that the SAVE Act didn't get voted down. Thune just refused to bring it to the floor. So it may not be dead yet, but it's in a coma for now.
Deletewatch the joy burst forth around the globe... and across all Americans of goodwill and sapience.
ReplyDeleteThat mostly depends on how horrible the next years become, and whether things becomes so unexcusable that even the staunchest Atlanticans turn away.
Besides, if my nightmares become true, it will be too late, and we are either gone or too busy to celebrate.
Plus, I have seen nothing that won't mean that smarter, more competent fascists gain power in 2030 or 2032.
Oh, and the Appomatox thing makes me pause, too. If the same casualty numbers would be applied to the current population of the US, we would be at something between six and ten million people dead.
DeleteThought I assume you meant something else, I am not sure that this is a thing anyone should look forward too.
Appomatox is where Lee surrendered, after trying to make a stand, and realising that it was over.
DeleteCoincidentally, Appomattox is in Virginia, where people have just voted to redistribute the electoral boundaries. If the gop want to play at gerrymanders, they've got it.
DeleteTony, I was totally aware of the fact.
DeleteBut question yourself: would you sacrifice that many human lifes in both sides?
Talking about the centre left recapturing the working class, you need a really good salesman to sell a citizen's dividend (aka UBI). The market doesn't guarantee that you will be able to live from earnings. Nor does it guarantee that price will reflect value (it only reflects what people with money are willing to pay - so spreading purchasing power more widely will make the relation between price and value better). The market is a good servant, but a psychopathic master.
DeleteI don't have a link to a specific story yet, but Stephanie Miller's radio show keeps mentioning that the MAGA-sphere is seriously speculating that the Butler PA attack was staged. They're not only coming to conclusions that I already thought back then, but going further than I did.
ReplyDeleteI just said his ear had never been shot and that he was sprayed with someone else's blood. I never actually thought the attack was staged, but that is looking more and more plausible now.
A problem with that is that the shooter had apparent motives for his action. It appears to have been a desire for fame. It looks like he fooled himself about his chances of not getting killed in the process. And it looked like Trump was a target of opportunity, that he would have targeted Biden in the same circumstances. There is no evidence of anyone influencing the shooter.
Delete"There is no evidence of anyone influencing the shooter."
DeleteAs Dr Brin points out, I think there's more evidence than you think, even if the shooter was a convenient dupe rather than a co-conspirator.
But even if the shooting wasn't actually staged, the fact that MAGA thinks it was and feels betrayed by that is a step in the right direction.
Re Trump’s ear, watch the video. At the sound of a gunshot he turns the ear away from cameras and SLAPS it hard..
ReplyDeleteI want the cop who shot the shooter questioned, hard. And yes, I would not bet any $ on his life.
Lloyd F. that rooftop would have been manned by secret service if not either incompetent or suborned
Der Oger it certainly doesn’t sound like you are rooting for us. Trump’s strong approval is down to 25% and even mild approval is about 1/3. In a parliamentary system he’d be gone by now. And yes, the 25th Amendment and impeachment are so difficult that Trump’s ill health is likely to save us long before.
Again, we are in this fix because the USA was history’s 1st continental democracy requiring up to 6 weeks for representative to reach the capital. It had to be done by the calendar and we are learning a flaw in that design. As the parliamentary system showed its flaws in 1933.
As for “Appomattox” it serves a mighty purpose. I see wide-eyed sudden realization in MAGA faces when that word is spoken because it
1. …makes them suddenly realize “Oh yeah, I am the Confederate, here…
2. …It shows absolute determination by blue America to carry this out. If they negotiate, as the confeds refused to do with Lincoln, then much may be negotiated. But if they insist on their treachery, we will solve it, whatever it takes/
Trump is an incredibly incompetent fascist - as in unbelievably bad
DeleteIf he can reach the power then a moderately competent fascist is a real risk
As well as the steps you recomend is there any way under your constitution to have something like a parliamentarian "Vote of Confidence" - where failing to pass means immediate elections??
I'll go with incompetent. The alternative is too complicated. I need evidence of a motive other than fame seeking to find a conspiracy plausible. I'm not ruling it out, but I need more information about the shooter before I can see it as likely.
DeleteDuncan,
DeleteNo. No immediate elections. An arrangement like that would give Congress too much power over the Executive. Our founders/framers already saw the legislative branch as the primary one, but wanted them balanced off against each other.
The fix you propose would take a significant amendment and we'd best not open that door right now.
----
We have had past Presidents who were moderately competent authoritarians. We survived. This doofus is forcing us to recalibrate the balances and the need for that has existed since the end of WWII... at least.
"And yes, the 25th Amendment and impeachment are so difficult that Trump’s ill health is likely to save us long before."
DeleteNeither the 25th nor impeachment were designed with a dictator backed by congress and the courts in mind.
The 25th Amendment was meant for removing a president who is in no condition to perform the job, but is still breathing. The assumption was that the cabinet would see the need to replace him, not that they'd want to keep him in place regardless. There is no way any president's hand-picked cabinet will remove him for political reasons.
Impeachment is meant to remove a president for dangerous overreach of his powers. Again, the designers never envisioned a complacent congress or court. The founders didn't really imagine modern political party loyalty at all. They thought the three branches of government would jealously guard their own powers against each other, not engage in a super-villain team-up.
What we need as a remedy for the current situation is something like recall elections. But the details would be tricky to avoid abuse of the type seen recently in California. I'd suggest that such a process not include electing a replacement--the chain of succession takes care of that--but I'm sure other specifics would need to be carefully worked out.
Der Oger it certainly doesn’t sound like you are rooting for us.
DeleteThat is because I do not give moral support here, but because I analyze the situation.
1) Disapproval of Trump and the GOP seems to help the Dems, but not because they are suddenly more popular, but because the other side is far more ugly.
2) There is a civil war between established, center-right Dems who support Netanjahu (not Israel!) and are quite corporate-friendly and "progressives" (who are rather normal social democrats), most visibly in the New York and Maine races.
If this is not resolved when they regain control of congress or the presidency, change will be bogged down.
3) I expect nothing changes if the pro-corporation faction (GOP and Dems) remains in control. BTW , I haven't seen any comprehensive action plan or strategy besides "GOP Bad. We good. Vote for us."
4) Precendence shows that it will take at least a decade, if not generations, to win a culture (not voters!) back from fascism.
5) That all said: of course, most of us will be relieved if sanity returns to the US. Don't mistake that for being happy or even forgiving you.
That is not how "national responsibility" works, and to be frank, not even Dem leadership calls the current leadership what it is: a fascist regime connected to several genocides.
And we are not at the end of the Trump/Vance presidency.
"established, center-right Dems who support Netanjahu (not Israel!) and are quite corporate-friendly"
DeleteIt's becoming more clear that the US has joined the Axis of Authoritarians (if not of Evil) with Putin's Russia, North Korea, China, and Netanyahu's Israel. The fact that Hungary recovered itself and joined the Allies is at least a good sign. There can be life after fascism, as you (Der Oger) well know.
There can be life after fascism, as you (Der Oger) well know.
DeleteYes, but I remain wary. I would apply time scales of decades and generations, not electoral cycles.
For example, while we fixed many of the issues the Weimar constitution had, the people were more or less the same. Especially police officers and judges.
It took the era of the student revolts & the extraparliamentary opposition, starting in West Berlin with the Shah's visit to steer the culture away from authoritarianism, and even that took twenty or so years.(And only applies to West Germany, but that is a whole other can of worms.)
Trump isn't just "the great seducer who deceived the masses". Many knew exactly what he stood for and were fine with it. He is a cultural consequence that needed four decades to grow.
It won't disappear overnight.
In Hungary 's case, it remains to be seen. Magyar is not in power yet, and he is a conservative, not a progressive.
Side Note: Orbanism did not start with attacks on the EU, LGBTQ+ or migrants, but with the Roma living there for a thousands years as a suppressed minority.
And I am by no means sure democracy can be defended here, either. The AfD will win two states this year, possibly governing them alone. Merz is currently the most unpopular chancellor ever, while some CDU folks try to weaken civil organizations in the left and pursue policies that exacerbate political frictions.
DeleteI previously mentioned how routine giving, gifting & charity becomes expectation, an entitlement to the recipient & an obligation to the giver.
ReplyDeleteAnd, now, with all his talk of 'goodwill' & 'gratitude', our fine host practically asserts that the gift recipient also incurs a debt of goodwill (and/or gratitude) to the giver, aka 'a moral obligation to reciprocate in kind', which is an inherently grotesque contradiction.
The contradiction springs from the terms (1) 'charity'', (2) 'gift' and 'gratis', all of which mean that which is 'free', given without thoughts of obligation, compensation or reciprocity.
The terms 'Gratitude' and 'Goodwill' are therefore revealed as polite euphemisms & pleasant fictions, as we are loathe to admit (even to ourselves) our rather base, non-charitable & non-liberal motives for both giving & taking.
We give 'free stuff' (what most call assistance or welfare) to other humans in order to deprive them of actual freedom, in order to appease, pacify & gaslight them, by fostering their dependency, while we demand their gratitude for that which has been 'freely given', so they cannot imagine life without our generosity, even though we only give them a fraction of what is theirs for taking.
They are without shame, as they are quick to accuse others of being contract breakers, deadbeats & INGRATES for refusing to display 'gratitude' for that which was supposably 'freely given'.
Best
______
As an excuse to "arrest of dozens of opposition parliament members", your warnings about the Reichstag Fire are too little & too late, as both France & Germany are already arresting their respective political opposition (the AfD in Germany & the National Rally in France) as a matter of course, not to mention the US Democrats calling for the arrest & overthrow of everything conservative.
You are such an AH, sir.
Delete"We give 'free stuff' (what most call assistance or welfare) to other humans in order to deprive them of actual freedom..."
DeleteMy diagnosis: anti-social personality disorder.
And apparently an Objectivist. Which has a large Venn overlap with the previously mentioned set. Or perhaps simply adopting the antisocial personality disorder as a philosophical worldview?
DeleteFree as in beer and free as in open are not merely homonyms. I give you a gift. Your moral choices after that reveal something about you, which I am free to respond to as well:
* If you choose to feel obligated to 'pay me back' despite a lack of formal obligation, that is evidence of one sort of moral code.
* If you choose to feel obligated instead to 'pay it forward', that is evidence of another sort.
* If you choose to feel no obligation, that too is evidence -- evidence by absence, which has less information value, but evidence nonetheless.
* If you choose to feel resentful, to offer spite when offered mercy and resentment when offered charity, that too speaks to a moral code.
And everyone else is free to observe your choices and react accordingly.
Or if one prefers an ethics-free game theory analysis, consider the tale of "Generous Tit-for-Tat" and "Pavlov", and how both are superior to strict "Tit-for-Tat". Or perhaps a more appropriate phrase in this case would be "Eye-for-Eye"?
Alfred Differ said...
ReplyDelete"We have had past Presidents who were moderately competent authoritarians. We survived. This doofus is forcing us to recalibrate the balances and the need for that has existed since the end of WWII... at least."
And it goes without saying that this doofus himself is not really the problem. Our government has gone through a three decades process of directed and intentional corruption by the leaders and big money masters of one of our two major political parties, the Republican Party.
A key point in this process was Newt Gingrich enacting his tactic of Republican Representatives and Senators collectively and categorically refusing to work with any of their Democratic peers and to oppose categorically anything Democrats attempted to do.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention this point, except me, but that is a refusal to do the business of government. It is a refusal to perform the job they swore they would do. In all of the time since they have held to Gingrich's policy. Since about 1995, right about 30 years now, the Republican Party has refused to do the business of government as laid out by everything from the Declaration of Independence and Constitution to all of the laws, legislation and precedents since. They are all traitors on that count alone.
Another key point was when Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove instituted the Big Lie tactic as the primary tactic for his strategy to attempt to secure uncontested power for the Republican Party. Of course there are many other key points. And there are all the machinations that took power from the other branches of government and gathered them to the executive, which has now reached a point that the current doofus in the Oval Office rules by dictate, the legistlative branch does whatever he tells them and half the judicial branch may as well be his own private law firm on retainer.
The Republican Party and their big money masters damaged our federal institutions so severely over that 30 year period that an ethically despicable grade A moron like Trump could take their voting base away from them and become president. Prior to the Tea Party era someone like Trump becoming president was not possible.
Perhaps in the future this will be viewed as a blessing in disguise. That the RP lost control and a grade A moron came along and took their party away from them. If the RP had not lost control and smart ethically despicable people, for example Mitch McConnell, were still in control we would perhaps be much worse off than we are.
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2026/Items/Apr22-4.html
ReplyDeleteRight on cue, noted bigot Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced a show bill called the Measures Against Marxism's Dangerous Adherents and Noxious Islamists Act. Get it? The MAMDANI Act? He's a clever one, that Chip Roy. The bill, which will obviously never become law, would "deport, denaturalize, deny U.S. citizenship, or entry to any alien who is a member of a socialist party, a communist party, the Chinese Communist Party, or Islamic fundamentalist party, or advocates for socialism, communism, Marxism, or Islamic fundamentalism."
See? Republicans can have a sense of humor.
Mangling "Blazing Saddles"...
Delete"You said 'communist party' twice."
"I like communist party."
It’s instructive to see how a real civilization handles an outlaw barbarian empire. You have guys with advanced degrees in philosophy, theology, economics, schooling lowlife gangsters on the world stage. Even after much of their leadership was wiped out in an unprovoked attack. Makes you realize how much BS we’ve been fed in the media about Iran, imo. Note that Americans don’t have leaders of this stature among the opposition either – they’re just a slightly different flavor of barbarian.
ReplyDeleteTHIS is a movie I want to see: Coyote vs. Acme. The article: https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/coyote-vs-acme-is-finally-getting-released-with-a-killer-trailer/
ReplyDeleteThe trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-43VeYGiPM&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Farstechnica.com%2F
The best art imitates Nature:
Deletehttps://bsky.app/profile/cristianvlad.bsky.social/post/3m4uhuvpv2c2g
(sorry if I posted this before)
Looking at that bird's motion, I'm relieved the lyrics aren't:
Delete"Coyote, velociraptor's after you..."
While we're on (possibly reposted) memes, this one is golden:
https://bsky.app/profile/cwebbonline.com/post/3mjln35avhk2x
Der Oger you truly have very little idea what you are talking about. But the memes you help to spread... about a chasm divide between wings of the Democratic Party... are both deeply harmful and hugely untrue. Though those spreading it could not possibly be more harmful and counterproductive.
ReplyDeleteThe evidence is there. Aipac, Searchlight, the New York and Maine races. Fetterman.
DeleteFor starters, there is more.
Sec. Navy is ousted effective immediately.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/apr/22/virginia-congressional-map-vote-redistricting-donald-trump-republicans-democrats-us-latest-news-updates
Since this guy was a real, true Trumpist, it is probably safe to say that Trump just ordered the Navy to do something *very* stupid.
His replacement is a Christian Nationalist, btw. Google Hung Cao and his comments while running for office.
Well, according to Wikipedia, his naval record is fair enough (although a captain as Sec. Navy, coupled with his less illustrious political career, sounds like he should break into Sir Joseph Porter's song).
Delete'Witchcraft overrunning Monterey', though... they're sea otters out there, lad, not mermaids.
Not sure. Also not that concerned. The guy ousted was the one proposing a Trump-class battleship.
DeleteThe rumours swirling around Mythos' ability to find vulnerabilities in systems sounded sufficiently plausible to take seriously.
ReplyDelete.. until they weren't
One of the best essayists in America reviews my theology+scifi play THE ESCAPE. Though first he goes through much of the whole western literary canon about Hell & Damnation, from The Inferno to Mormon views, to numerous sci fi attempts.. And did I mention The Mongoose really is one of the best essayists in America... and worth following.
ReplyDelete"I found your lovely play fit very nicely into the long arc of literature that runs from Gilgamesh and Odysseus to Niven & Pournelle's Inferno to Janet Morris and her Heroes in Hell series...."
https://jamesmack2.substack.com/p/satan-the-anarchist?r=bojza
Oh.... THE ESCAPE will be performed this August at the World Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim California.
Watched THE ESCAPE, wish I'd been in the original audience to enjoy some port. I once explored Dante's INFERNO in the context of (what else) computation.
Delete