hello and welcome to the political genius exam. here is question one. which is a more compelling message: - the president is sending armies to occupy cities and kidnap and kill people and your town could be next - a meal at the cheesecake factory that previously cost $100 now costs $104.9

They'll refuse to seat him (maybe) and refuse to see that the entire administration believes exactly as he does but is clever enough to not say it quite so loudly.

I've been working on my Spanish for a year. Typically at least an hour a day. I'm currently a low level intermediate. So much of what that work looks like on a day to day basis is learning how to say things that as a native I would have learned by the age of five.

I am resolute on two facts. Dodgeball (2004) has hugely problematic elements practically built in to the premise. It is also hilarious in ways that few other films manage.

I usually hate this kind of argument, but in this case I'm going to do it anyway. My tax dollars paid for this cruelty.

Lots to choose from here. I'm going with Nixon (1995) just because basically no one but myself and maybe @timescarcass.bsky.social will have done so.

Perhaps embarrassingly, Geoguessr. I even follow it as an esport lol.

The complete refusal from the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate the allegations in the Epstein Files and made by Epstein survivors is also proof of what victims everywhere go through every day when authority figures refuse to do anything about what happened to them

Also worth noting that the right wing noise machine was screeching about Mamdani for *months* even before he won the primary. Nothing about Nazi tattoo guy. Until he wins the primary (if he wins the primary) in which he'll be the go to example of how all the real fascists are Democrats.

Putting the Nazi tattoo guy who hasn’t even won a primary front and center over the current mayor of New York feels like a goddamn op to discredit the others.

My general morality here is that if you think raping children is ok you should be guillotined, but hey, this is why I have no political power.

Just going to note again, because somehow we've all completely retconned this and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pound-for-pound Biden had one of the most draconian border security regimes of any U.S. president ever, second only to Trump, *many of whose policies he inherited and kept*

This is why it’s worth it

the last white men in America to have not read the Power Broker or any of Caro's LBJ books all work for AI companies.

Turning Point USA Announces Alternative Puerto Rico https://theonion.com/turning-point-usa-announces-alternative-puerto-rico/

really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement

that’s it, i’ve finally taken my best photo of all time 😅 (this chubster is an unapologetic beggar so don’t feel bad for him) 🧪🌍 #bird #birb

When you want my real movie nerd opinion of "best movie ever made" F For Fake is very near the top of the list. If you don't know anything about it, spare yourself as you'll ruin the experience. Watch and enjoy.

can confirm

I admire the sentiment of course but I can't imagine what German White Nationalist (who received money from Brenton Tarrant of the Christchurch massacre) appreciates about this photo.

I worked at a bookstore for a couple of years in 2007 or so, and I can't imagine what percentage of the yearly revenue came from those monthly romance releases. The fact that even *they* can't or won't make the math works means commercial book publishing truly is doomed.

Age verification? I first started learning to type on a manual typewriter. Years later we got an electric, which was much better.

The US already has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, and nearly a quarter of all the world's prisoners. This would create a parallel system of monstrosity, a nearly unique set of torture camps nearly unique among wealthy nations.

Those who have seen Clerks (1993) know that that is actually a fun number.

If this was anything like a serious project he'd be setting up self-contained and self-supporting bases in Antarctica, which is about a million times easier than the Moon or Mars. Can a team of people live in Antarctica for five years with no outside help? That's step one.

The issue is that a whole lot of people are fine with concentration camps and death squads so long as it's quietly buried away from the proverbial front page.

This has most definitely been my experience as well.

Honestly this is an easy second place to Fargo as "best USAian film set in a depth of snow." And it's a very close second.

I for one welcome Woke Elmo with open arms.

These people are all in the same group chat. I have no direct proof, but I'm absolutely certain of it.

I'm watching the All American Halftime Show when I should be at bed (I'll probably finish it tomorrow) and given the Bad Bunny performance I think we should start calling Kid Rock "El niño de la Roca."

I could name a lot of examples here, but the one that is often overlooked is The Intruder (1962). Directed by Roger Corman (that Roger Corman) and starring William Shatner (that William Shatner). Filmed in the midst of the Civil Rights era. Shockingly relevant even today.

Bad Bunny just did something trump could never do; named all the countries in the Americas. #BadBunny

Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous

They want to pretend that Kirk was a man of insightful thoughts working to understand the other side, but that would mean quoting things he actually said that would indicate that. Also, they're still running ad reads he did on his stupid podcast, which continues without him.

Bad Bunny did a good job, but failed to call Drake a pedophile.

I had a moment in the middle of that when I thought about Trump throwing paper towels in Puerto Rico after the hurricane and thought “now THIS is revenge.”

They are absolutely terrified of people who speak Spanish. This is not the least of the reasons I am learning Spanish.

One of my favorite things about that amazing Bad Bunny halftime show is that every drunk, maga uncle watching the super bowl is now irrationally angry and can't watch the game until the 200th tweet is fired off.

MAGA weirdos watching the half time show

What the fuck did I just watch? youtube.com/shorts/xdJVH...

It’s fucking heartbreaking watching the pleas from MN residents start echoing the pleas from Gaza residents

"Epstein class" has the stickiness to it to become an amazing slogan for democrats to use that will land solidly with people. It's perfect and whoever wrote it should be very proud.

This makes me think of that great article from 2020 "What if George Floyd Had Lived?" A whole lot of this is the system working perfectly the way it's supposed to. www.independent.com/2020/07/23/2...

I found so many great books in the mass market aisles of grocery and department stores back in the day. Perhaps my favorite, that I never would have run across without that distribution model, was Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.

There's a word for what you call it when the violence of the colonial project (The War in Iraq) is later directed inward to prop up failing political regimes against leftward pressure. I think it starts with an F. I'll think of it sooner or later.

democrats will never forgive the brief window where the party base made them pretend to care about women and sexual assault

Democratizing the arts looks like universal income, low-barrier grants for both emerging and working artists, well-funded municipal arts & recreation programs, vibrant third spaces, and a well-funded public school system with progressive curriculum. Not a free pass for corporate-owned slop engines.

Yes. I know it's Tarantino and fuck that guy these days, but it's a legitimate masterpiece and the first that came to mind.