Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Bark louder, little dog.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

No Justins, No Peace

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

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Reader Interactions

20Comments

  1. 1.

    ericblair

    They just need to hire Kevin Bacon to stand in the street and yell ALL IS WELL. That will fix it.

    At least building Potemkin villages puts some Potemkin village builders to work, so there’s that.

  6. 6.

    Tone in DC

    Can the 1% not even sully their precious eyes on what their damn austerity hath wrought?
    They should have the meeting in Dubai or Riyadh. It’d be more… honest.

  7. 7.

    Jerzy Russian

    Semi-serious question here: who paid for those photographs (which surely are expensive, considering the size), and do they expect the conference attendees to be fooled?

  8. 8.

    NickT

    You want Potemkin villages, look at the state of the modern American university:

    http://junctrebellion.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/how-the-american-university-was-killed-in-five-easy-steps/

    In the last few years, conversations have been growing like gathering storm clouds about the ways in which our universities are failing. There is talk about the poor educational outcomes apparent in our graduates, the out-of-control tuitions and crippling student loan debt. Attention is finally being paid to the enormous salaries for presidents and sports coaches, and the migrant worker status of the low-wage majority faculty. There are now movements to control tuition, to forgive student debt, to create more powerful “assessment” tools, to offer “free” university materials online, to combat adjunct faculty exploitation. But each of these movements focuses on a narrow aspect of a much wider problem, and no amount of “fix” for these aspects individually will address the real reason that universities in America are dying.

  9. 9.

    Todd

    Mix, can we have a front pager give a warning on the Kirkland flea stuff posted by Southern Beale? A lot of us are Costco customers, and I could see any one of us fall into a trap on a product like that.

    Most of the time, I’m happy with Kirkland products, but could see how something (espectially a flea and tick treatment) could slip through the cracks.

    On this subject, does anyone have experience with Costco puppy food? Safe?

  10. 10.

    Comrade Jake

    @NickT: As an academic, it is fairly difficult for me to conclude that American universities are dying. Now, granted, I am at fairly privileged institution, but I have plenty of colleagues at places around the country, and that’s not the impression one would garner from speaking to them either.

  11. 11.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Todd: Second this, and please add information about the ASPCA’s poison hotline. It’s not free, but it’s a good thing to be aware of for when a furbaby gets into something when the vet is closed.

  13. 13.

    Citizen_X

    @Comrade Jake:

    As an academic, it is fairly difficult for me to conclude that American universities are dying.

    As a failed academic, one who went the whole adjunct-lecturer circuit for years and is now doing better in the private sector, you need to pay fucking attention.

    Talk to grad students & post docs. I guarantee you they are not going to feel so sanguine.

  14. 14.

    Uncle Cosmo

    (Just FTR, mix either missed or passed on an excellent musical heading for this thread: Fare thee well, Enniskillen, fare thee well for awhile…)

    @Citizen_X: Amen, brother, preach it. I have 3 friends & contemporaries (IOW auld pharts who got grandfathered in as the Boom ebbed) who are doing quite well in academe–& a whole slew of others who drag themselves from one campus to another every week of the year teaching courses for chump change trying to put together some sort of life, or who pack up their lives every few years when the temporary assignment runs out & move on to the next adjunct position where (like overcredentialed Kelly girls) they hope to get noticed & offered something approaching a real position.

  15. 15.

    Xenos

    @Comrade Jake: The system is not failing you or your colleagues. It is not failing university presidents and sports coaches. It is failing the students, however, and you ought to feel some sort of fiduciary obligation to them.

    I hope you are not a professor of deontology.

  17. 17.

    Comrade Jake

    @Citizen_X:

    Talk to grad students & post docs. I guarantee you they are not going to feel so sanguine.

    I talk to these people all the time, and my opinion is very much informed by those conversations.

    I’m sorry you had a bad experience with the adjunct path. Honestly I wouldn’t suggest becoming an adjunct to anyone.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Jake

    @Xenos:

    The system is not failing you or your colleagues. It is not failing university presidents and sports coaches. It is failing the students, however, and you ought to feel some sort of fiduciary obligation to them.

    I certainly do feel an obligation to the students. But they’re not being failed by my institution or many like them.

    I’m not suggesting all is well with the current system, far from it. I’m very much in favor of actions that limit the rising cost of college, and I’d be happy to see more discussion of that topic here.

  19. 19.

    danah gaz

    @Todd: I have not found a single Kirkland product that I’d feed my pets.

    Right now, they are eating Merrick “Before Grain” cat food, although I think dog food is available as well. It’s not that expensive, and saves me heartache over the skin irritation and extra vet visits they’d otherwise need if I were feeding them rice or corn.

    ETA: Yes, they make dog food. Here’s a review. http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/before-grain-dog-food-dry/

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