It's Me, Mike Olson

Comic strip Panel 1 Edgar Allan Poe: Honey? Who delivered this letter? It smells like French perfume? Panel 2: Poe reading the letter. Letter: Dear Mr. Poe - I love your work! Poe: Hm. Panel 3: Jules Verne writing the letter, lying on his stomach and kicking his feet. Letter: Can you put more balloons in your stories? I think we should be friends! Panel 4: Poe, now writing on his back. Letter: Also, I drew a picture of us! Write me back, love Jules Panel 5: A drawing of Poe and Verne in a balloon. The balloon is labeled, "BROS" Panel 6: Poe looking at the letter suspiciously.

People forget the Kate Beaton comic the "Poe looking suspiciously at a letter" meme comes from is also a devastating read on Jules Verne.

The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children

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A Twitter thread by David Rees from 2017/05/17, part one: "RE: #ComeyFiring, I think the GOP will now go along with anything Trump does. I mean literally anything. It’s TIME FOR SOME SHAME THEORY! I believed GOP was going along with DJT because they thought he could get them their precious policy outcomes: tax cuts, etc. -- and, that if DJT’s malfeasance ever decreased their chances of enacting those policies, they would jettison him. I now think this political calculus has been replaced by a deeper, darker, calculus: a psychological survival strategy. GOP will agree to anything - I mean anything - because they can no longer afford a moral reckoning with what who and what they’ve enabled. Once you've gone so far that checking in with yourself would shatter your belief in your own humanity/decency, there are no limits."

A Twitter thread by David Rees from 2017/05/17, part two: "At this point, there are probably GOPers who wish Trump would suspend the constitution outright. Really just GO FOR IT, so that we leave this liminal, sorta-not-quite-authoritarian space with its semi-sorta-functional institutions behind, and enter a new American era, where their collusion/treason(?) can't be judged by old norms. If you've ever had an affair, or drug issues, etc, you probably know the feeling. The bender/lost weekend/flirtation with hitting bottom. At some point, your shame at your behavior, at the norms you’ve violated, leads you to double down, go ALL IN, obliterate your old self. I used to be a bully in middle school, so I know this amazing, complex feeling of exhilaration and revulsion, the poison rush of living your worst self, resenting *the part of you that knows better.* Not enough to ignore it; you must destroy it."

A Twitter thread by David Rees from 2017/05/17, part three: "Congress had to enter DJT’s orbit in order to pass their sacred tax cuts/repeal the hated ACA. They thought they could contain him. But DJT poisons everyone he touches. The price for working with him is pretty hefty: your humanity and dignity (h/t @joshtpm). Healthy people (and banks!) learned to avoid DJT decades ago. He surrounds himself with damaged goods: Stone, Flynn, other freaks/losers. We are watching that community of damaged psyches expand to include an entire political party. GOP pols must avoid a moral reckoning at all costs. But not just a public reckoning -- a private one. Can’t admit to moral suicide. If #TrumpTrain stopped, GOP would have to answer for putting up with PussyGate, deranged tweets, lies, damaged institutions, all the Russia stuff, etc. etc. The list is overwhelming, unprecedented, debilitating. That reckoning absolutely cannot happen."

A Twitter thread by David Rees from 2017/05/17, part four: "Trump, an experienced abuser, knows this on some lizard-brain level. He has captured the GOP. His transgressions will increase. “Comey was irresponsible about HRC” is deliberately absurd; a power move by Trump to see if GOP will agree to any reality he proposes. Answer: YES. #winning Back to the bender analogy. We’re in the middle of a crazy bender. What would bottoming out look like, when GOP says: ENOUGH? My theory: As of yesterday’s preposterous justification for Comey firing, there is no bottom. The GOP will never call Trump out. In fact, GOP pols must now encourage further transgressions, to destroy the current context in which feeling shame re: DJT is appropriate. Maybe I’m wrong! But my prediction is GOP would agree with DJT if/when he says he’s canceling the 2018 midterms. THE END"

Your point reminds me of a very astute Twitter thread about shame, by David Rees (of Get Your War On fame), from early in Trump's first term. It's hard to find now, so I'm going to post the whole thing here.

Is that a thing in NeoPets?

You're telling me NO ONE is running the NeoPets RPG at OrcCon next weekend? C'mon. Disappointed. Fingers crossed for Games On Demand.

A poster hanging in a bookstore. The design is a modern reinterpretation of a tarot card, with a person pierced by ten swords doomscrolling their phone. The text reads “everything is fine”

the magic of the Muppets is that there are two fourth walls. they constantly break the one that reminds the audience they are performers. they NEVER break the one that reminds the audience they are puppets. this dynamic is the key to their entire comedy style

swarovski crystal shrek

if you buy this someone should take the rest of your money and give it away

The Venn diagram of people who say "You just can't recognize how great Trump's policies are because you're upset by the language in his tweets" and people who lose it if a D woman legislator says "fuck" is a completely overlapping circle.

A 2 panel sketch disgram of a 1 meter tall pod. in the second panel, an oval section pops off and a demonic little face with short tentacles flies out, crudely drawn.

My favorite artifact in the "you don't need AI to do art" discourse is, of course, screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's sketch of the facehugger to explain it to Giger.

Happy Birthday to Emo Philips. Some say he’s a “stand up guy” … I say he’s a Sicko.

@emophilips.bsky.social

"Stay away from my spawning pool."

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

The FBI was ready to document blood splatter and bullet holes in Renee Good’s car.

That’s the type of forensic investigation that could confirm murder.

They were ordered to stop. Kash Patel was one of the people who gave the order.

It was always a lie and a cover up:

Mike Pondsmith Michael Alyn Pondsmith (born April 14, 1954[citation needed]) is an American roleplaying, board and video game designer. He is the founder of R. Talsorian Games and the creator of the acclaimed Cyberp...

So it's Black History Month and that means I think it's a good time to get familiar with Mike Pondsmith, if you're not already.

When you see R. Talsorian Games, that's him. When you see Cyberpunk 2077, that's his world.

Mekton, Castle Falkenstein, also him.

cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Mike_Po...

One reason conservative media has been rhetorically stymied by community resistance in the Twin Cities is because they really convinced themselves they were entering hellholes no self respecting person would defend, not nice places to live.

LAPD Charges at Hundreds of High School Students in Peaceful Walkout Protest at MDC ~ L.A. TACO LAPD arrested at least two teenagers protesting ICE raids in Los Angeles yesterday. They were also seen corresponding with ICE agents on Alameda Street during the demonstrations.

I feel like Los Angeles is a place where people expect ICE to happen because the kidnappings have been happening to my home city for decades, so there’s less media attention to it now. and I want folks to see that in LA, Latine students are organizing major protests & the police are attacking them

Image of the Yeti in the skiing Windows game SkiFree eating the player

Breaking: Tragedy at the Winter Olympics

Listen to the final episode of our deep dive into the first attempts to climb Mount Everest!

“The Epstein class” is a keeper.

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

"source material"

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

“Within two hours of subscribing to NatSocToday for the purposes of this investigation, the Substack algorithm directed the Guardian’s account to 21 other profiles featuring similar content.”

substack continues to be a cesspool that should be abandoned just like x

Reagan! Jesus Christ,

This makes me uncomfortable.

DeLauro to pressing clergy: 'I will not vote to abolish ICE' The Connecticut U.S. representative found herself at odds with faith leaders.

“I would rather you vote for what is morally correct,” Davidson said.

“Don’t talk to me about my own morality,” DeLauro shot back.

“Don’t tell your constituents what they can and can’t talk to you about,” replied Rev. Nathan Empsall. “What you are voting for is not moral.”

Job offer!!
I’m helping a PBS series look for a social media manager/content creator for an upcoming promotional campaign. The start date is ASAP, and a project timeline that currently goes to July.

This is for a series on American Muslim history, so candidates with cultural familiarity preferred!

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.

I like how it pans over to the guy behind the first guy, who's like "Holy shit, what just happened?!"

That's regular Marty, without the sour cream.