Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

T R E 4 5 O N

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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The Play’s the Online Thing

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Hello, welcome to day 4956 in the hellscape called 2020. I jest, sort of. One of the biggest issues for those of us in the arts, is how to ply our craft under this absolutely ridiculous set of conditions. One of the ways that writing twitter has come up with is Zoom scene studies. What’s a scene study, you ask? Well, some enterprising, brave soul decides to either organize an online Zoom performance of their work or, in the case of one group I have been working with, some outgoing person takes on the task of collecting writers, actors and directors to perform scenes from scripted works for the community. Our little group is called The Thing For AWD because our founder is trying to raise the profile of women directors. Since I know the founder, I accepted the opportunity to direct an episode. Whew. I felt as much stress as my last project. But my hair was flames in my photo.

The Play's the Thing

It’s a very interesting thing to see actors develop their craft in front of you and to  see how different directors bring different techniques to scenes. Artists adapt, unlike me to the lack of block editor when it seems my attempts at inserting html breaks aren’t working, like right now. It’s been fascinating to see how distance learning and performance has embraced tools like Zoom, Twitch, Hangouts or Skype. If you have an interest, there’s probably an activity going on online. Here are a few  cool home options:

I gotta admit, I’m impressed. When I see folks talk about how doomed & fucked we are, I always wonder if they’re deliberately obtuse or just enjoying a good despair wallow. Humans adapt. That’s why we’re a pernicious scourge on every other creature on the planet. We adapt like fucking weeds. We’re life and we find a way. I hope you’re finding a way to connect, enjoy some kulcha and make a little joy in your corner of the world. Know anything interesting, drop it below in thread. I will be narrating the scene setting for the next The Thing for AWD tomorrow afternoon at 4pm PST, so if you feel like watching a scene study for a movie script, sign up to attend. It’s not like we’re out of seats. Open respite thread.

Obligatory artistic cat  pic

Odo yodeling
Odo cat, singing a high note for his on-screen performance

 

 

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FloridDuh! Woman: Electoral Edition

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This is a little too on the nose for even Florida if you ask me.

Loomer is originally from the Miami area, but who has lived in Arizona and New York as well, has, apparently recently moved back Florida just to run for Congress. The Democratic incumbent is Lois Frankel, who has been representing this district,  since 2017 and prior to that represented Florida as the representative from District 22, which after redistricting is now represented by Congressman Ted Deutch.  Frankel has also been the mayor of West Palm Beach, and was the minority leader in the Florida state House of Representatives.

From what I know of Loomer – deliberatively and almost shamelessly provocative, racist and bigoted, especially against Muslims, friendly with either those in the alt-right and extreme right circles playing footsie with white supremacists and neo-NAZIs or actually with white supremacists, neo-NAZIs, the men’s rights nutbars and Milo, as well as being a fantacist and a conspiracist – I think the real reason for Loomer’s run is both to suck up money through donations and to force social media platforms to let her back on. I fully expect that she is going to use her candidacy to try to force twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to let her back on and monetize those platforms because if they don’t they’re aiding her political opponent in the election. All while monetizing her election as an income stream because she doesn’t actually have any actual employment.

Open thread!

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Article In Foreign Policy And Chernobyl Questions

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I’ve got an article in Foreign Policy. It’s more than the headline – Anne I. Harrington and I look at the kinds of masculinity that have been associated with control over nuclear weapons and how Trump fits into that.

Also – I think this week’s was the third (?) in the Chernobyl HBO series. As I’ve said before, I’m not watching because I have no desire to see a dramatization of acute radiation syndrome. But I was on a rapid reaction team at Los Alamos to try to figure out if we could help as the news of the accident unfolded. So feel free to ask questions here, and I’ll try to answer them.

 

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Getchya Fresh News Here!

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The New York Times reported today on a story you saw in Balloon Juice more than a month ago, based on accounts in Finnish media. A wealthy Russian businessman was buying up properties along an important Finnish sealane. The Finnish authorities raided those properties, which had some of the look of preparing for military action. Finnish government and business websites were then hit with a DDoS attack.

Anyhow, welcome to the party, New York Times!

And open thread!

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The Bullying Swagger

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May I modestly point out my second article in Pakistan Politico? The print edition was published last week, and the online edition went live today.

America First seems to mean breaking earlier agreements and imposing unilateral demands. There are no explicit statements of what happens if those demands are not met, and, in the case of North Korea, the demands have been fading as North Korea ignores them. So bluster and swagger are a big part of America First.

Let’s see how swagger and America First work out for the Khashoggi affair. I wrote the piece before that happened. Click over and read the whole thing.

 

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Occult Open Thread

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Good evening…

I put the remember-me checkbox back on the desktop site*, so now you have to humor me. ?

*(If you would like to use the remember-me checkbox on your mobile device, you’ll have to scroll all the way down and request the desktop site.)

This caught my eye while browsing the local news: Why Do San Francisco Psychics Need Permits From the Police?

Fortunetelling isn’t just mentioned in the San Francisco police code. It gets its own section — starting with a rundown of all 70 things SFPD counts as fortunetelling.

This includes: clairvoyance, cartomancy, phrenology, tea leaves, tarot cards, coffee grounds, crystal gazing, astrology, palmistry, telepathy, and placing or removing curses.

“Fortunetelling,” the police code reads, “shall also include pretending to perform these actions.”

[…]

The application process for a San Francisco fortunetelling permit involves a background check, fingerprinting and even a public hearing. The fees are just under $350 — more than a permit for a masseuse, but less than one for a tow operator or walking-tour guide.

But why?

Unlike other Bay Area cities that require fortuneteller permits but don’t explain why, like Benicia and Lafayette, San Francisco says these permits are to help fight fraud. The police code says the regulations should “protect the public by preventing people who have been charged with deceptive practices from having easy access to persons who may be vulnerable to fraud or confidence games.”

Fair? Although…

Of course, when it comes to fortunetelling, the very notion of fraud is a subjective one.

Well, as long as it helps.

The S.F. District Attorney’s Office has received zero complaints in the last couple of years. The SFPD wasn’t able to say how many reports it has received about this kind of fraud recently, because fortunetelling fraud is not a unique category of crime it tracks.

Next, a shameless plug! Speaking of urbanite occultists, my new short story is now available for free online if you’d like to read it.

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