Thanksgiving, reason #1..... Ten years between the first and last picture. Something to be grateful about: I smile a hell of a lot more.

Wow. Just wow.

Am I the only one who is at least SOMEWHAT pissed that Zohran Mamdani--who I support unequivocally and admire greatly--paid a house-call to Maximum Leader? I agree that, as 3-dimensional political chess, Mamdani played Trump like a Stradivarius and set the heads of the MAGA elite and masses 1/

The equivocation going on in the mainstream press, glossy pages or not, is absolutely dumbfounding. You cannot hang yourself while hogtied, and you cannot hogtie yourself while hanged. For God's sake, call a murder a murder. The USA is now an abomination. This is also true. Admit it, Newsweek.

Never mind primarying the Senate Dems who are prepared to cave. They need to go. Now. Said it before, saying it again: General Strike, open-ended boycotts, "soft-secession" of blue states and cities, massive protests centered in DC. The Federal Government is worse than useless.

It's a movement!!!!!

Hey Joe, where you going with that sub in your hand?

what else is there to say really

Is everyone feeling sufficiently aware of transgender people now it’s November? Keep an eye out: they could be anywhere.

Wombats > Koalas on the cuteness scale, IMHO. Wombats and Owls. My spirit creatures.....

I mean, I can't think of any better explanation.....

Meloni looks like she wants off the planet during Trump's speech 😆

Italian PM Georgia Meloni not only listening to Maximum Leader belching forth word salad, but.....she is downwind. First time I ever felt a modicum of sympathy toward her.

I like how the news will be like “while the President claiming Portland was ruled by a giant skeleton named Mr Nibbles is not strictly true, it does speak to the anxiety of many Americans”

Plenary Parapraxis of the Day:

This is one of the funniest paragraphs a tran has ever written, and it's 130 years old

I thought this was a joke when I first saw it. It isn't The US Treasury plans to release it in 2026. Remember: when this regime falls--and it will--those complicit will be held to account.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. For some people, like myself (not everybody), the "born this way" meme works — I have known since I was five years old. But POLITICALLY it is not the relevant point. However, one views my transness, or whether they approve or disapprove 1/n

Double absurdity here: 1) The Supreme Court, having self-designated the right to determine whether a law is unconstitutional, is being asked by Maximum Leader to decide whether the Constitution is unconstitutional. 2) That's probably how they will decide it. apnews.com/article/trum...

Nailed it. substack.com/@lancefrosen...

The NYT changed the by-line for this otherwise interesting essay. I assume it was to make it more eye-catching. Actually no. It's "no shit Sherlock" journalism once again raising its head for the Grey Lady. At this point, I only peruse it because of Jamelle Bouie. When he goes, I go.

Important, given Tariffs "kicking in." newrepublic.com/article/2008...

Just when you think things cannot get any more surreal.....

With all due respect, this essay is silly. OF COURSE most US citizens do not want a Civil War. The problem is that this may have already started, whether said citizens like it or not. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Can we please, PLEASE, admit the following: 1) He wanted to be a dictator FROM day 1, not ON day 1. 2) He is a dictator, now. 3) The Constitution is not worth the parchment it is written on. 4) Blue States need to be the focus of resistance. 5) We are somewhere between cold and hot Civil War. NOW.

this from my piece on charlie kirk is probably the most important takeaway if you want to know why bad faith, right-wing voices in media are treated as just another set of peers

If today's conservatives are rattled by the idea of "empathy" (strange, because it seems the "sentiment of humanity" lauded by the very Tory-conservative Hume), how about citing "agape", aka charity, one of the 3 Christian theological virtues, instead? Actually, far more demanding than "empathy"...

God I love the Ren Faire. Also, sat next to a clearly right wing guy. We had a small political conversation that went well, and moved on to both cheer for Prince Miguel. There is a lot of fear out there but it’s good to be reminded sometimes that everyday people are not brainpoisoned from Twitter.

The Onion as usual "gets it" in a way that the NYT, WaPo, and WSJ do not.

[the shooter is unidentified] the left must be purged with the sword [the shooter is, again, a compulsive masturbator who loved Hitler] I believe it was pascal who said that the heart has reasons that reason may not know

I had the good fortune to know Joe McNeil for many years as a neighbor. A wonderful human being and a genuine American hero. Requiescat in pace. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u...

This.

With this, the NYT has moved from the "No Shit Sherlock" School ot Journalism to "Fucking Grotesque Understatement" School. Terminal Bothsidesism.

Wow. Just...wow. It would do well for Blue State governors, state senators, and assembly members, and any Democrats in DC that haven't surgically removed their spines, to take note that this really is Civil War, and not by other means. Whatever might be the proper response, this is what it is.

The “Department of War” Is the Most Honest Thing Trump Has Ever Done newrepublic.com/article/2000... via @newrepublic.com An interesting and mostly accurate take. One quibble: changing "defense" to "war" is ominous: the war in question will also be on Blue states and cities. And so it goes.

Every person who says "of course there are some uses for LLMs" should be forced to immediately list what those uses are, taking into account that: a) they cannot be accurate and there is no way to make them accurate b) they have been repeatedly shown to make users dumber and worse at their jobs

Good Lord.....

I just saw someone refer to rfk jr as microwaved mel gibson & i can’t unsee it.

I think of all the crackpots and nitwits in the Trumpist kakistocracy, RFKjr is the worst and most dangerous. He doesn't understand the relationship between health and disease, he doesn't affirm the germ theory of disease, common coin in medicine since Pasteur.I am scared stiff of the next pandemic.

I.Y.K.Y.K.

"A mural of the Statue of Liberty in shame" by JDL Street Ar in Lille , Roubaix France 🇫🇷

Just a reminder that, since the Cracker Barrel culture war skirmish has apparently ended, this is the actual fare that was being argued about. Frankly, I would rather chug an entire bottle of Sriracha than dig into that fried okra. It's beige for God's sake. At least Taco Bell is colorful.

The Prosciutto Resistance. Ecrasez l'infame!

Here we go again, through the Looking Glass. Whee!

My latest piece on Substack, a tribute to my late colleague Dick Bernstein and why I am a Political Theologian and Philosopher who is suspicious of Political Theology and Philosophy. open.substack.com/pub/lauranel...

This guy is vile.

Once again, the NYT demonstrates its mastery of the 'No-Shit-Sherlock' style of journalism. I mean.....well DUH. Always the Grey Lady doyenne of "Keep Calm and Carry On" bougie complacency. At least they still have Jamelle Bouie. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/u...

This this this this! I have been saying this whenever I put on my Analytic Philosopher of Mind hat or my Merleau-Pontyan body-intentionality hat. We are scared of AI for all the wrong reasons. The chucklehead CEOs in the corner office throwing gobs of money at AI are the problem. And Sam Altman.