have we learned anything about the people who’ve been killed in the several US military operations against boats alleged to be operated by “narcoterrorists”?
there is no one more pathetic than one’s murderer.
regardless of whether they ultimately kiss up or stand up to Trump, none of the mergers involving these media companies — Disney, Nextar — should be permitted to go through. even if they do the right thing, they shouldn’t be paid off with more consolidation.
in these times, “the princess and the pea” becomes a dark parable. very sensitive, very powerful people are maybe not what you want.
“Don’t say the word pretext so loud. There has never been a pretext even once. We certainly don’t know what you mean. Just be quiet. Don’t say ‘We have to speak up now, because there will always be an excuse when the troops descend on the city or the strike hits the boat or the vans roll up and start shoving people inside.’ I’m sorry I said excuse. I’m sorry I said pretext. I should have said reason. I should have said nothing.” #AlexandraPetri https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/09/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-censorship/684267/?gift=jQN1t1D1nkO2TQodBiz5KJnoBWCrK2FN2bZjkw7xXCA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
nihilism is cowardice.
all this makes me wanna learn to be funny.
please laugh.
[new draft post] Too much murder https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/09/17/too-much-murder/index.html
The way Google prioritizes links to TV stories when I search for newsy things has my conspiratorial dander up. TV news is the medium most susceptible to capture and control. Google, instead of linking to the text-based web—the medium most open to diverse viewpoints—privileges what can be controlled.
i'm really a single issue voter at this point: electoral reform.
if we don't "break the two-party doom loop”, as #LeeDrutman put it, it's hard to see how we don't escalate to killing each other even more than we are, let alone get any kind of sane and sensible governance.
i just had a call from a very polite gentleman running for state house in a state not mine, seeking a donation. good luck to him, but it’s getting a bit ridiculous.
@nicholas all the links i’ve checked say exactly what’s claimed. i’ve not checked them all, maybe there’s some that are weak. maybe you can argue about context, but i don’t find the context very exonerating. i’m not sure which you looked at that you think weak. and i suspect that a lot if what sounds rancid to me may seen in-bounds and reasonable to you. but these are a far cry from those clips where he’s bending over backwards to find a meeting of minds with his sparring partner.
@nicholas to be very clear, he can be as rancid as he wanna be and no one should have murdered him. but, god rest his soul, he really did have an extraordinary Jekyll and Hyde public persona.
@realcaseyrollins i mean READ THE PIECE. every quote is a link. you may dislike the author, i certainly agree he’s a partisan, but the text is well documented.
@realcaseyrollins The Coates’ piece is a one-sided presentation! But that’s precisely my point. Kirk had two very distinct sides, a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and each community will see one and refuse to see the other.
@realcaseyrollins There is tons of him with outstretched hand speking thoughtfully and reasonably, with extraordinary good will, and tons with him really fucking spewing bile. If you call even the latter moderate, well, it’s not me telling on myself. I at least can perceive both.
one thing to say about Charlie Kirk is he had enormous emotional range. he could project — very effectively! — reasonableness, bonhomie, good will, even across deep social chasms. he could also spew bile, hatred, and bigotry in a way that left little doubt he meant it. 1/
this range renders him extraordinarily divisive. some communities will select to portray and remember him through (videoclips of) extraordinary openness and good will extended to putative adversaries. others will recall the crushing epithets and hatefulness. 2/
each will feel righteous speaking and acting in ways the other finds deplorable, unforgivable. 3/
there are few public figures whose murder could be so effective a fuse. /fin
i despair i may never stand on land that isn’t sliding.
as kind of a rule of thumb, try not to be governed by people who like palaces.
@Phil (They’re the three most dangerous in per capita murder terms, 2023 stats.)
@Phil “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.“ – Mark Twain
@Phil as we often end our conversations, i endorse this, but disagree about to which of us it attaches: “the reason you eat up the bs is because of your ignorance. Your ignorance is because you seek confirmation of your existing opinion and thus quite effectively close your mind to anything that challenges your world view.”