Rob von Thaden

March 5 Thursday roundup Links to the podcast! Also, if you're feeling overwhelmed, join our call tonight.

The Friday roundup is up a day early, with links to the podcast! I also wrote about that terrible feeling of dread I often feel due to the many evil events underway these days, and how it recalls the nightmarish stretch from 9/11 to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But there's an important difference.

MAGA Unreality vs the World The U.S. government is in the hands of people who are fully detached from reality. That is a major weakness for the regime – but also a source of further radicalization.

I wrote about Trump’s delusions as both a massive weakness for the regime and a major impediment to the Right’s authoritarian project – but also a dangerous source of further radicalization, as the Trumpists are hellbent on imposing their unreality on the rest of us.

MAGA Unreality vs the World:

Finally, an article about the real victims of this war: piles of money

Not to be THAT feminist, but I knew this was the case before opening the article. Men see fatherhood as an abstract milestone that's a proof of their virility, women see the associated costs.

Not to mention that women not being locked into domesticity is the core of the antifeminist backlash today.

h/t @mpgphd.bsky.social

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Excerpt from 'The Illustrated Cairo Genizah', page 33: "This is the end of the biblical book of Nehemiah, written in Hebrew and vocalised with the Babylonian vowel system. In contrast to the Palestinian and Tiberian systems – which mainly used dots to represent vowel sounds – the Babylonian system also used miniature Hebrew letters for vowels and accents. Like the Palestinian system, the Babylonian vowel signs fell out of favour with the rise of the Tiberian system. This fragment includes a colophon (in the middle of the lefthand page) from a scribe named Joseph ben Nimorad, stating that he copied the book in a town in Iran in the year 903/904 CE. This makes it one of the earliest known dated Hebrew manuscripts. While Joseph was a member of the Jewish diaspora community that lived in Iraq and Iran, eventually someone carried his manuscript to Egypt." Image and catalogue description here: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-TS-NS-00246-00026-00002/1

This is a fragment from the oldest Hebrew Bible manuscript with a given date of production. It's the end of the book of Nehemiah, pointed with Babylonian vowel signs. A Jewish scribe named Joseph ben Nimorad completed it in 903/4 CE at Gunbad-i-Mallgan (modern Dogonbadan, Iran).

US Senate vote fails to rein in Trump war powers on Iran The measure, passed largely along party lines, would halt US military action until approved by Congress.

It’s a day ending in “y” so John Fetterman is finding new ways to be goddamn disgrace. Time for me to call his office back. Again. www.bbc.com/news/article...

the US right is completely dedicated to the proposition that children are chattel.

When I was in elementary school back in the late 70s-80s, our sixth grade trip was (for YEARS) going into the city to see Cats.

I remember thinking to myself, as I watched, "I have no idea what's going on..."

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Bad company by Megan Greenwell

First book of the year, highly recommend! @greenwell.bsky.social #booksky

h/t @newsjennifer.bsky.social

Remember when Rep. Greg Gianforte, now the GOP governor of the state, body slammed a reporter into a table?

We probably need to shut down the Montana Republican Party entirely until we can figure out where all this violent rage is coming from.

h/t @maiakotro.bsky.social

You got this!!!

The child care block grant gets less than $9 billion a year for the entire country

h/t @soraaad.bsky.social

The United States is going to slaughter civilians en masse because a mediocre white dudebro thinks it makes him look tough.

h/t @tressiemcphd.bsky.social

Imaging a human saying to you, "i will only ever tell you what i think you want to hear, based on what i know about ppl like you, how you start our conversation, & what you say during it. Sometimes that will sound like truth, sometimes like errors or lies. Now: Let's talk about your medical history"

Trump’s War Underscores his Massive Betrayal Democrats now have their election message

"From all appearances, neither Donald Trump nor any adviser knows the purpose of his strikes against Iran.

(If one were being totally honest, the “purpose” likely is to soothe the narcissistic rage of a president headed for a massive defeat.)"

h/t @tressiemcphd.bsky.social

There's been a lot of debate within the Democratic establishment about what rhetoric to use via ICE.

Well, an incumbent doesn't lose by 48 percentage points very often—and her vote on collaborating with ICE was the defining issue here.

okay, Ill bite.
What do you think the point of reading for and writing a literature review is? The process of reading and writing is crucial for THINKING. Your ideas are shaped by all of this, offloading it to gAI, no matter how "good" you think gAI is at it defeats the purpose entirely.

“If [wealthy, powerful people] can get us to accept that the future’s already settled, AI is already here, the end is already here, then we will create that for them. My most daring idea is to refuse.” — @tressiemcphd.bsky.social

h/t @susanrinkunas.com

h/t @lee-in-iowa.bsky.social

This has always worked super well, just google “CIA Afghanistan 1979” to find out more!

h/t @berkeleyeve.bsky.social

What Walter Benjamin Knew A new biography of the Berlin-born philosopher emphasizes his combination of stubborn unworldliness and startling prescience.

"[Benjamin] held on to his briefcase not until it was too late but because it was too late. When the barbarians are past the gate, there is nothing to do but stand your ground."

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...