Paul Smith

Well. My life is taking some dark, strange turns.

A Beautiful Rain of Frogs Writing on culture, technology, and art by Eric Sipple

And don't forget that you can subscribe, FOR FREE, to stay up to date on my writings on culture and technology. Plus, coming soon, my new podcast on the glorious form of the Television Episode, DESERIALIZED with @unpluggedcrazy.bsky.social is coming soon! ericsipple.com#/portal/signup

"...every frame looks like it’s been forged in dragon fire. Boorman didn’t make a polite medieval epic. He made myth, stripped naked and screaming."

And, once again, why I have it as a contract point that all art/translation/etc done for my work is done by a human, and why I write all my work myself (aside from the fact I can do it faster and better than if I used "AI" and then had to massage its extremely median text).

Trump reveals he doesn’t know the difference between the Civil War and Reconstruction

Where was Minneapolis in Trump's State of the Union? President Donald Trump, like all bullies, is also a coward, so it isn’t surprising that during a State of the Union address where he boasted and raged for hours, one word was notably missing : ...

This omission from Trump’s narrative is … telling.

www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...

This is your reminder that there are currently multiple concentration camps in the United States, people are dying in them, and DHS and their private prison company buddies want to build more.

#AbolishICE #DismantleDHS #NeverAgain

www.propublica.org/article/life...

So many years ago, I went to see a Fairbanks Jr festival at a NYC cinema. His silents were astonishing. Amazing action sequences almost always done practically. “The Gaucho,” for example had a whole sequence in a house sliding down a mountain.

would love if you read this, I put a lot into it, thanks!

@unpluggedcrazy.bsky.social

Colbert’s Ratings Just Crushed Trump’s Ego SMITE!

SMITE!

#booksky

What the raging unholy fuck?!?

Epstein survivor Haley Robson: I’m so tired of having this administration just completely dismiss us. They’re supposed to be the party of, you know, family values and protecting children. And I just feel like if that’s the party you are, it seems like Thomas Massie is the only one showing up for it.

Gonna rewatch Westworld again for no reason

a great article you should read instead of the Washington post one:

theracket.news/p/the-most-a...

Just a reminder that it’s okay to let people have things that make them feel happy without loudly announcing that it makes you feel otherwise. Idk this just seems important lately.

A bus stop near Tesla's flagship store in London. Imagine a Super Bowl ad that showed only this.

Hannah Neeleman's Ballerina Farm Halts Sale of Raw Milk Due to Bacteria Concerns: Report Hannah and Daniel Neeleman have paused Ballerina Farm's sale of raw milk following health violations discovered during routine testing. Screenings from summer 2025 showed high levels of coliform, the ...

This is bonkers. MAHA 'farmers' with ecoli tainted raw milk admit they really don't know how to make the stuff after all.

"Producing raw milk takes careful planning from a facility and infrastructure standpoint. Unfortunately, we learned this after the fact."

people.com/ballerina-fa...

this demented megalomaniac just can’t leave well enough alone. he won’t be satisfied until he’s clownfucked DC to the point where it’s unrecognizable — all in service of a weak and fragile ego that will never be satisfied. oh, and if no one wants what Donny has in store for our nation’s capital? that’s just icing on the cake. bullies are never big on consent. so now there are going to be two smoking craters in DC where tasteful, elegant landmarks used to stand — and god only knows what shittacularly fugly eyesores will go up in their place. it’s maddening that some fucked-up Oompa Loompa gets to inflict his hideous lack of aesthetics on the rest of us — but until Republicans wake up and find the courage to put an end to this, we’re all just going to have to suffer in the shittiest possible timeline.

DEMENTED DONNY (SAD TINY HANDS) CLAIMS HE WON'T BULLDOZE THE KENNEDY CENTER BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT'S A BULLSHIT LIE. GOD KNOWS WHAT KIND FUGLY EPSTEIN DANCE HALL HE'S GOING TO BUILD IN ITS PLACE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO TODAY'S EXTREMELY ANGRY POST ABOUT IT. LINK IS HERE: bit.ly/4adzWuu

This cannot be something a civilian law enforcement agent is allowed to wear in the US — and an agency that has a culture that tolerates this cannot be saved.

Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE 404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.

A manual for ICE's immigrant-targeting computer system, Palantir ELITE, was leaked today.

Let's look at it, then step back to evaluate how far we've come along a dangerous road and where that road might take us. 🧵

Not to pop anyone's balloons, but I feel it important to note that the presence in an FBI file of a witness claim against a famous person is not the same thing as a proven fact. It's not nothing, but it's far from a slam dunk.

I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I approve this message.

They've been victims of terrorist attacks so of course, they're not gonna play about this.