The A.C.E.R.B.I.C. Nerd

fuck scott alexander but also his line in his review of Inventing the Future about how the left approaches the "working class" or "the masses" as political pick-up artists looking for the one line that will win them over to communism has stayed with me for a reason
slatestarcodex.com/2019/03/18/b...

Don't do this, kids.

It might seem like a cheap and easy way to move the gang around town, but all it takes is one asshole running up with a padlock and suddenly everyone's trapped inside (or without their ride home).

And that would be a damn shame, wouldn't it?

He Was an FBI Informant—and Inspired a Generation of Violent Extremists Joshua Caleb Sutter infiltrated far-right extremist organizations as a confidential FBI informant, all while promoting hateful ideologies that influenced some of the internet's most violent groups.

There is a LOT to criticize in the feds' response to these groups and it's a much more interesting story than gets told in this article, but that would have, ya know, involved doing actual research...

www.wired.com/story/the-da...

"Do the intelligence and law enforcement agencies really need to delve into these bizarre subcultures? It’s hard to see how any of this is making us safer."

Alright I'll grant that "nihilist" is a horrible descriptor but holy shit dude... these are literal Nazi terrorist cults.

Notes on Assadism, Zionism, Fascism and Hope Some thoughts

My latest

www.hauntologies.net/p/notes-on-a...

‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians Revealed: The Israeli military undertook an ambitious project to store a giant trove of Palestinians’ phone calls on Microsoft’s servers in Europe

"... a cache of leaked Microsoft documents and interviews with 11 sources from the company and Israeli military intelligence reveals how Azure has been used by Unit 8200 to store this expansive archive of everyday Palestinian communications."

Less common and they usually knew better than to bring it up, but I def knew Christian hippies too. Not sure it was considered any worse than believing in dreaded "science".

I'm not talking "read a horroscope" or "occasionally took herbal remedies", I mean "begged my friend not to let her mom get chemo for breast cancer".

It was considered *problematic* to openly criticize this shit.

Ever feel like you're in one of those bad youtube horror stories where all of reality inexplicably changes around the protagonist?

Because I could swear that everyone around me was really, really into this shit for a decade or two then just mysteriously dropped it one day and entirely forgot.

This you?

More to the point, what is RFK if not the product of a million little well-intentioned Glonzos from far more respectable and progressive circles?

"Well maybe vaccines don't cause autism but people are really into this stuff and nobody else is catering to them... where's the harm?"

What is Trump if not the culmination of a million little right-wing Glonzos that Serious Republicans(tm) exploited for generations? Satanic Panic, POW-MIA, etc.

None of them thought "the crazies" would ever amount to anything or leave a lasting legacy. It was free publicity, until it wasn't...

What's the long-term plan here? Wait for people to wise up, realize we're lying our faces off and get even more angry cynical and distrustful? Or foster a real, lasting, politically influential belief in Glonzo?

This report has been such a fascinating litmus test of who actually reads the article and who automatically jumps to conclusions they want.

No, an increase in AI scrapers does not mean everybody who disagrees with you is a robot, FFS.

it’s funny that people still commonly refer to Nazi skinheads and the Klan when they talk about White Supremacists. A bonehead under 50 is a four-leaf clover and there are like a dozen Klan groups left.

nazi dorks in a fight with a bystander down on a street. hard to make out details but it's blood tribe in matching red uniforms.

Looks like Blood Tribe got stood up to in Concord, NH this afternoon. Still working on more details, but so far it seems they tried their flash march / rally like usual and people weren't having it and threw punches. People say they ran away scared with a large police presence in the area after.

A World of Misery, From 200 Miles Up

On one of the most unbelievable satellite images I've ever seen, showing hundreds of Palestinians surrounding aid trucks north of Rafah.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/w...

Now that the reactionary centrist brand is at its nadir in the US, expect to see more red-browns, campists, naz-bols, and "I am a leftist and even *I* think we need to get rid of 'DEI people' from prominent positions." Eastern Europe and Latin America has a head start on this type of propaganda.

Feel like this is the kind of thing we used to have "society" pages for...

I'm just blown away by the "modern technology" take here, as if this exact scenario hasn't been playing out constantly since about five minutes after humanity invented marriage, social stratification and large public gatherings full of booze/music.

Feel like maybe there's some glaring workers' rights issues presented by this situation that go a little beyond how the boss got caught in an extremely public space doing shit that raised aformentioned questions about workers' rights? JFC.

Oh wow that's so evil I can't even imagine. Would never happen under the Demo... uhhh...... oh wait.

www.npr.org/2023/09/21/1...

Ottawa's National Arts Centre cuts ties with controversial Chinese dance group | CBC News Emails reviewed by CBC News show the NAC was considering the move for months — during which time the centre heard from at least two MPs wondering about whether there would be a Shen Yun show in 2026.

The National Arts Centre cut ties with the Falun Gong-associated dance troupe Shen Yun following complaints they were surveilling audience members and demanded audience members in wheelchairs be ejected for making noises related to their disabilities

Uribe found guilty in historic ruling Colombian courts say the former president intimidated and bribed witnesses as part of investigations into his links to narcos and paramilitaries

After a more than 11-hour session Uribe's trial has finally wrapped up

Judge Heredia orders a recess until 2 p.m Friday, when the verdict will be made official. Prosecutors ask for 9 years of prison

ICE Was Built for This - New Politics ICE is not just a tool of reactionary immigration policies, but part of a more general instrument of political repression.

Appreciative to New Politics for publishing my piece, ICE Was Built for This, on authoritarianism, immigration raids, and the deeper logic behind it all.

newpol.org/issue_post/i...

Pretty clear to me that one function of the fantasy of pedophilic cabals that’s present in conspiracy theories is to provide an outlet for the rage and despair at indifference and impunity for actual sexual violence.

Photo of Tom Lehrer

My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living. RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer.

Canadaland Short Cuts episode #1167, "What Canada's Left Must Learn from Bernie and AOC" with host Jesse Brown and guest Cenk Uygur

One of the most obnoxious but effective aspects of the contemporary reactionary creep is how many of these people still insist on seeing themselves as temporarily embarrassed social democrats.

(Just don't ask how they got temporarily embarrassed...)

Remind me, how many days has it been since Tucker had a Hitler apologist on?