Mike Upchurch

The easiest possible question to answer.

Easy way to determine whether someone is a bloodthirsty hack or not is to ask them how Ahmadinejad was a military target

Ahmadinejad was a leading critic of the Supreme Leader and had on numerous occasions implied that he would take a less confrontational approach to Israel if he were ever returned to a position of influence and they killed him nonetheless. Says a lot about the goals of the Israeli state.

Hardcore History lesson: Once upon a time in the 1980s, there was an astonishing band from Texas named Fearless Iranians from Hell. You can file them under things that probably couldn't exist today. Check out this eye-opening interview: www.anus.com/metal/about/...

Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads: The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same... - Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist

Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.

This is exceptionally thoughtful and well said.

this is just who they are

they do bad things everywhere all the time because they are evil and stupid and constantly indulging their very worst impulses

there’s no twelve dimensional plan here

Every month the United States provides even more reason to boycott its products and companies — the strikes on Iran being just the latest.

In light of that, it’s a great time to ditch the products and services of US tech companies. I made a comprehensive guide to help you.

Well wtf

WARNING: Illinois Is About to Elect a MAGA-Aligned Senator But it's not too late -- here's what we need to do to prevent a catastrophic failure and instead elect someone whose record aligns with our values

IL is on the verge of electing a Senator far more aligned with Trump, MAGA power brokers & ICE infrastructure expansion than the values of a deep-blue state.

Here’s what Raja Krishnamoorthi hopes you don’t know about him & how we elect someone better.

Raja sucks so bad.

Would like to vote for Maxwell but of the people with a chance of winning, prefer Robin Kelly. But seriously, anyone but Raja, who somehow makes Durbin look less shitty by comparison.

Jesus wept

RIP Dan Simmons, a titan in multiple genres. Hyperion blew my mind as a sci fi-hungry teen.

I just learned today that, as with so many great things in science fiction, horror, and the like, we have Harlan Ellison to thank, as he spotted Dan's talent early on.

That book blew my mind as a sci fi-hungry teen. Need to revisit it.

YouTube video by scrambledheadz Iron Knowledge-Show Stopper

First thing that popped in my head.

youtu.be/SY4fqIp8gdg?...

Love this! Thanks.

Sterling Holloway's voice is one of my favorite childhood memories. Something about it just felt like being rocked to sleep

ICE bad and also, around half of people killed by police have a disability. Their final moments are usually spent in frantic terror trying to "comply" with commands before cops shoot. Not opening a door or answering a question fast enough in this country can be a death sentence.

big update on yesterday’s fundraising.

“An injury to one is an injury to all”

you, Bluesky, made this possible 🏳️‍⚧️🌹✊

Incredible. I'll always succumb to the cheap dummy gag.

TYT went fash a few years ago, which was readily apparent front their takes on the unhoused.

Homelessness and trans rights are places you cannot give an inch because fascism is lurking right the fuck there

the political evolution of ta-nehisi coates and the way the media grew more and more terrified of what he had to say pretty much directly follows this track

FYI

Okay. Now read exactly what I said it was responsible for.

It changed the national politics in the form of voter share and ideological alignment and there are a ton of data that prove it. That's all I've argued and it's demonstrably true.

You can keep saying that but I wasn't going to sit quietly while you mischaracterized what I'm saying.

I gave you the studies. You can read them or not. But you've made up your mind on the inference you made, not what I said. Goodbye.

They do. More than one of them controlled for other variables and intentionally designed the study to isolate the effect of FN specifically.

And acknowledging that FN did that doesn't exonerate white people in any way. Of course the demand was there. But what FN did effectively was get more white people to act on that racist demand in the form of voting and political activity.

All I have said is that FN changed the national politics. I provided multiple studies that showed, with other variables controlled, that FN did that in the form of voter share and ideological alignment.

You're arguing against something I never said or implied.

Read what I typed. Fox News did, as shown by the data, change this country's politics as evidenced by measurable changes in voting and ideological alignment. That's simply fact backed by a lot of study.

I never implied, and would never imply, FN created the racism that underpins our politics.

No, I'm not. I'm doing both but the topic at hand happened to be current media.

I have no problem facing the history and present of white supremacy. Both of these things can be and are true.