ICE guy at the new training course Democrats make him take paying attention and trying really hard to learn.

Yeah, that's the idolatry, right? We have this lie that an immoderate moral position is necessarily impractical or unkind when in fact, sometimes it is in fact a moral necessity to say "no compromise with evil"!

How anyone could watch what’s going on in the U.S. right now and come away advocating for a weak moderate political response is just completely beyond me.

“Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.”

I personally preferred it when history had ended.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - It's the *world*, Harry-boy. And you're *made* of it. Every day you're out there you make more of yourself from it. I'm afraid you can't be *unmade* now.

Okay, help a politically uninformed fella out: What individuals and organizations are doing the best, most effective work toward abolishing ICE? I want to put my time and money and effort toward the cause.

The other day a friend of mine said of someone else, “They’re a lot younger than they look,” and I thought that was simultaneously one of the most subtle and ruthless burns I’d ever heard

If this new Elden Ring movie works out for A24, they should do The Book of the New Sun next

The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.

Think of it this way: we need people who are dedicated primary voters in 2026, 2032, 2036 that will, insistently and implacably, tell every Democrat running for office “I want ICE and DHS folks in jail for their crimes, I want truth commissions. Yes, even today.”

The video shows ICE agents removing the woman's body from the car & carrying her down the road, no ambulance. An onlooker tried to approach to help, identified himself as a doctor & ICE pointed guns at him.

losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?

I’m not a superstitious man, but I did happen to notice that my coffee grinder weighs 666g when it’s empty

Co-sign

More gamers should be like this guy.

Been a long time since I’ve used cannabis at all, but the other night I accidentally took a full 50mg gummy, and F R I E N D S

The hilarious (and more than a little infuriating) thing about this is how all that rage that initially propelled Trump’s base just kind of…vanished? Ran out of steam. They went from “fight fight fight for the future of our country” to “Eh, this is kind of played out, bro”

The best finale I’ve ever seen was the ending to Justified. Can’t recall another show with a more satisfying wrap-up.

Set aside the Jesus stuff for a minute. Have gentleness, kindness, and mercy ever truly triumphed over mockery and brute force? That’s what I’m wrestling with at the moment.

The Bible: faith without works is dead Bros: No problem! we will simply have Christianity without either faith or works

My folks got me a Dremel this Christmas and I have no idea what I should use it for. Any ideas?

I don't understand how most of the world in the Marvel universe hasn't converted to Norse paganism, evidently the one true religion.

As #AI continues to grow I’m starting to crave imperfections

Happy New Year! We are just one week away from the start of my online read-along of Fannie Bialek's book, 'Love in Time: An Ethical Inquiry'. joshuapaulsmith.substack.com/p/lets-read-...

I thought about this last weekend. I’m starting to see this expressed more and more, among both my secular friends/family as well as evangelicals, that “it doesn’t really matter when we celebrate Christmas, as long as we’re together.”

God, please let the US suffer consequences for this.

name a republican president who hasnt both crashed the economy and started a war for oil

This goddamn buffoon can’t even run our own country, let alone someone else’s. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

lol I have PhD from an R1 research university and never even took the SAT

When @alybensmi.bsky.social and I first got married, our bed was a true neutral, except the room was so small it covered the entire length of the wall. Our bedroom was basically a very large closet.

Some days I really wish Bluesky had a laugh react button

New Year’s resolutions are off to a great start

Remember, its not too late to get behind on your Bible reading plan!

Friend told me she likes my writing and I said “Like what?” and she showed me this text and photo I had sent her.

Just realized Seal’s Kiss from a Rose is a waltz

A journeyman in the Order of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence, commonly known as the Torturer’s Guild 😂

Some bullet-points for something I'm exploring: - Jesus never said anything new. - Everything in the Tanakh is sufficient to see all of who God is. - The NT is not "new." It is a repeating of existing biblical themes. 1/

This cracks me up every time it shows up in my YT feed

Looking for a couple books of poetry to read in 2026. Already planning to scoop up Christian Wiman’s new collection when it drops in July. Anyone recommendations?

Just finished reading “Harbard’s Song,” a short chapter of the Poetic Edda in which Thor arrives at a river and trades insults back and forth with an old ferryman named Harbard—who turns out to be Odin in disguise. Odin’s last line of the exchange is great:

I focus on the Alt National Park Service because they're the most actively harmful and fraudulent, but I'll always encourage healthy skepticism of any anonymous account online. IMO, most altgovs seem like they're trying (trying!) to help, but I understand the skepticism. I'm skeptical too.

Mighty funny for some folks to be hyper concerned AI’s environmental impact and yet be perfectly content to go on eating meat

[screaming at the top of my lungs, once again] the fundamental technology of humanity is care

Translators work hard to make sure that the translated words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, etc, not only convey the author's meaning, but also the author's *style.* Translators are alchemists. They are artists, and poets, and researchers, and editors. They are magicians and wizards.

My new favorite genre of AI slop is “He [verbed]. She [verbed]. Then she changed the world.”

I will never get over the fact that these two books were written by the same dude

you are not a "secret third thing" you are a deer, in spring. antlers soft. bloody, standing at the edge of a clearing that has thawed before the rest of the forest. you contain very little. no ideas. no thoughts. no intentions. you are a body. you will carry the flame another year. or, you will try

Thought and Memory fly every day over the vast-stretching world; I fear for Thought that he will not come back, yet I tremble more for Memory. Grimnir’s Sayings, v.20

Awoke to a freezing-cold house this morning, and I’m pretty sure it’s because the AC kicked on in the middle of the night 🙄