I find myself surprised by how much I am agreeing with Bill Kristol right now.
Like:
https://bsky.app/profile/billkristolbulwark.bsky.social/post/3lysj2ofu7c2w
Beats Seth Moulton any day, despite having served in Reagan's education Department.
This chilling is of course exactly what they want, but also I'm not willing to risk my income to make a joke to 20 people on an obscure weblog*, so fuck them for getting what they want.
*if I were under the delusion that anything I said mattered in shaping the debate I'd be more thoughtful about what risks to take but let's be honest here
2: Do you think that this eclectic magazine is actually being captured? I don't post under this handle anywhere else.
I did post something agreeing with my local Governor's Council Rep that putting the State flag at half mast was inappropriate and that Klein was wrong to describe him as "doing politics in the right way". The bigger thing I worry about is if people are afraid to protest at all.
The Dems should join the Charlie Kirk canonization club and put forward a bill in tribute to him releasing the entire Epstein files.
The Dems should join the Charlie Kirk canonization club and put forward a bill in tribute to him releasing the entire Epstein files.
I think there actually is some gun control bill named after him? Not sure.
I've had a couple of questions on my mind that I was thinking about as potential guest posts, but they're basically on topic here.
1. What do you do when protests, the traditional first-amendment-protected sign-waving kind, seem pointless? I've still gone to a few on principle, but it seems even more futile than it used to. Got any mantras to psych yourself up for it? Alternatively, got any suggestions for similar but more effective things to do? I acknowledge that might be hard to suggest because it'll be more local and topical, but it could still be useful to get suggestions of where to look. I signed up for something intended to help people at risk of ICE raids, but it was 2 weeks ago and nothing has come of it so far. And I've joined in this effort before and will do so again next month, but it seems pathetic these days.
2. What do you do when people around you are obsessing over politics too much? This is almost the opposite of the previous question and I realize it might be hard to answer both. Personally, I'm doing fine. When I want to be self-deprecating, I say I'm good at ignoring problems and sticking my head in the sand. More earnestly, the Serenity Prayer is good practical advice, even for atheists who don't have a drinking problem. I wish some people in my life could be as even-keeled as I am. Cassandane will chime in with random bits of bad news about the latest outrage during all meals and some TV shows. I can't have a 20-minute conversation with my dad without spending 10 on politics. I can handle all this fine, but just being a sounding board for it isn't helping their sleep or blood pressure. I've advised them to disconnect from Facebook and stuff a bit but they've ignored me. Any other suggestions?
2. I'm actually trying prayer. Specifically, the Jesus prayer for 10 minutes. For a secular person, I'd suggest some kind of meditation.
1. I know people who are protesting ICE weekly outside their facility. There are enough people there that it does slow them down. Also showing up to support an Episcopalian asylum seeker from Guatemala (a polio survivor, I might note) when she has to go to her hearings. Showing people they are not forgotten has value.
I don't think Jesus reads the comment threads either.
Are you calling me an idiot? You're saying I'm some kind of 2-bit deity that just reads the front page posts?
6.2 is me and my mom. We'll have part of a good conversation, and then all of a sudden I'm getting word vomit of all the terrible things that DeSantis is doing or whatever.
What I do is:
- stop listening very closely
- picture myself in some sort of asteroid situation where I have to duck and feint to avoid the rocks that are coming
- eventually remember that I can change the topic.
Some guy in my DMs says he spent $100 to advertise my name on a national conservative influencer account. It will be interesting to see how that goes.
When the fuck are they going to move on?
I'm banning myself from FB and BlueSky for at least a week. The lies and fake Kirk worship are making me physically ill.
I'm gonna go throw the ball for my dog. Just as productive, frankly.
I'm banning myself from FB and BlueSky for at least a week. The lies and fake Kirk worship are making me physically ill.
I'm gonna go throw the ball for my dog. Just as productive, frankly.
There was some funny video going around where someone says roughly: "No more news. I am now experiencing the world through literature, different kinds of bread, different sorts of textures."
This is random (I hope), but someone appears to be using my email address to contact various New York State elected officials (and actually I got a couple of "unsubscribe request successful" messages from a scholarly mailing list I have been stuck on since 1999, although surely not with my current address? That must be coincidence). Normally I wouldn't care, but this week I'd kinda like to know what messages are being sent using my address.
Everyone with an older gmail address gets misdirected mail and unwanted sign-ups constantly, right?
4: Most people missed the subtext of Klein's column. It was "Please don't shoot me."
I do. Someone with my name keeps signing me up to Uber in the U.K.