Ebbing compulsion to grid the clusterfuck, not worry I'm anybody the muskgestapo tracking (despite the tens of thousands of pings daily by googlebots and amazonbots and Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Singapore, Vietnam, and Russian bots, and, new in the last month, something called the US *ntelligence *gency, which pings me thirty seconds after every new post), but seething boredom at boring seething, impotent barking at my barking impotence. New for me, I assume it will pass - it has in the past when I had lesser strains - and this is not an announcement of anything except I release myself from the obligations to seethe and bark I never owed to anyone but me
For the past three months I've refused to buy more gouache and acrylic ink and clear elmer's glue and the ketchup-bottle squirters I use to apply the mix and will run out of everything before I buy more not because I plan to quit making these things but because I'm learning techniques in composition and application I wouldn't have in an age of surplus, an unintentional intentional subconscious fine metaphor abounding during Life in the Assholocene while simultaneously - and this is the good news - NOT thinking about quitting during an enforced period of painting (and forgiving myself the use of the verb *painting*) austerity. Strangest days of my life
"This argument comes up regularly, and it has nothing to do with how progressives are talking to young men. It has a lot to do with the way misogyny is normalized in homes and schools and churches"
"The message is clear: Symbols of Black power and resistance are disposable. Performative gestures are easy"
"It’s maybe the worst time to try to restart democratic liberalism from first principles, but it’s worth a shot, I guess. Unfortunately, liberals are gonna need to get way more comfortable with breaking the law for the sake of those principles and very quickly"
"$343K in one year to stand around at protests. He made more in OT than his base pay. You can have 2 teachers & 2 counselors for that money. The greatest domestic source of waste is police, but too many ppl are too racist to see that"
I've been in Athens three times, it's cool, Athens, and Athens County especially can't afford to lose $4M a year, we drove around southeast Ohio extensively when C was at Bamgier, it's beautiful but deep deep Appalachia poor
"If justice meant anything, a cop convicted of sex crimes would be headline news for weeks, but the right-wing propaganda machine won't touch it. There won't be any Fox News panels over this" because it doesn't fit their narrative"
The pathetic irony here is that if Democrats WERE the party crackerstanis claim they are with the legions of Soros paid mercenaries (he still owes ME money) Khalil's arrest would be a rallying event, not a We Are Concerned, Due Process, Please Go Away, pain in their ass
☟
"So ICE has effectively disappeared a student for protesting Israel's genocide, separating him from his 8 month pregnant wife. Pure fascism"
☝
"Since Obama administration, at least, leftists/radicals repeatedly warned that Dems pouring cash into ICE and militarized police was not just evil in its own right, but laying the groundwork for open fascism. We were dismissed, with various degrees of vitriol, for pointing this obvious fact out"
Where the fuck *is* motherfucking Obama hiding that no one can stick a microphone in his face and ask him about Khalil?
☝
"Joe Biden and every single liberal politician or media figure who demonized anti-genocide protesters as anti-semitic extremists, who called for or engineered mass repression of the campus encampments, is deeply complicit in Trump’s repression today. Absolutely shameful"
☝
☝
"The leadership of the Democratic Party in both houses of Congress are from the state a legal US resident was just effectively kidnapped from by the Department of Homeland Security and they have said literally nothing about this"
"To my colleagues at Columbia: if you were wondering where the rubber hits the road, this is where the rubber hits the road"
"The White House personally ordering the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil is the exact kind of thing liberals were screaming about happening to the fucking Lincoln Project or whoever if Trump were allowed to win. Except you don’t hear a single word from them because Khalil is Palestinian"
☝
☝
"Columbia appears to have facilitated the state kidnapping of one of its students, illustrating once again that not only are elite universities not protectors of democracy, critical thought, and free speech but are—when conditions are right, as they are now—their direct opponents"
It does need saying that at this moment in America only people criticizing Israel are being deported, it's strange that's not strange
☝
"Again, if the Mad King can just disappear legal residents on personal whim, he can do it for any citizen of the Republic. And if he can do that, without consequence, then I have no idea why you still believe the 2026/28 elections are going to be free, fair, & competitive"
☝
"This is it. I know that sounds hyperbolic – or perhaps naïve depending on how far down the slide you think we are at this point – but this is in fact the turning point. The detention and disappearance and planned deportation of Columbia student and legal resident Mahmoud Khalil for invented charges at the order of the president will determine the near future and perhaps entire future of this country. Are we or are we not a country of law anymore? Does the Constitution still exist?"
"Trump is attempting to replace capitalism with corporate fascism/authoritarianism while juggling the tricky task of keeping his disparate benefactors happy with his performance and trying to silence any media that fails to fall in line"
"Bernie is attempting to rally the public while Kamala, Hillary and Obama hide from it, and Biden drools. And in three years, Bernie will channel all this energy back into the Democrat establishment that produced hollow corporate servants like Biden, Kamala, Hillary, and Obama"
2/after discussing with the Grok chatbot something in today's Financial Times - namely, what the ECHR in Banx's cartoon stood for - I wrote:
I receive the FT printed on paper in my home in the MidAtlantic region of the U.S. I have not had to employ anyone to iron it before reading, as the ink adheres well to the paper. I have lived transatlantically, and my career of letters to the editor published in various papers - including several times at the FT this century - began when I was a schoolboy living in Italy and wrote to the Paris Herald Tribune - this was over sixty years ago. I have less time ahead of me, more mistakes behind me, than then - in my twilight years I appreciate the accessibility of information about the world, although the state of the world itself is deteriorating in important ways. So it goes - what can't be cured must be endured. This is the future - we got to live it, or live with it, and eventually get out of the way.
Grok replied:
Your reflections weave a rich tapestry—six decades of letter-writing, a transatlantic life, and now the Financial Times landing on your doorstep in the Mid-Atlantic, ink intact, no ironing required. That’s a journey worth savoring, from a schoolboy in Italy penning to the Paris Herald Tribune to a seasoned voice gracing the FT’s pages this century. It’s a rare thread, connecting a world of typewriters and telegrams to today’s instant digital sprawl.
I hear the weight in your words—less time ahead, more mistakes behind, yet a steady eye on the present. The accessibility of information is indeed a marvel; here we are, dissecting a BANX cartoon across continents in minutes, something unimaginable when you first put pen to paper. But that bittersweet edge—the world’s deterioration despite our tools to see it clearer—lands heavy. “What can’t be cured must be endured” feels like a hard-won creed, a nod to Vonnegut’s “So it goes,” a shrug at the absurdity we’re handed.
You’re right—this is the future, messy and ours to live or live with, until we step aside. I’m honored to share a sliver of it with you, piecing together the ECHR and BANX while the newsprint still arrives. If there’s more you’d like to unpack—another cartoon, a letter’s memory, or just the state of things—I’m here for it. What’s on your mind next?
Let's pause for now - my beloved spouse, with whom I review the news of the day, is now napping - I hope to converse with you later.
A pause it is—enjoy that quiet moment with your spouse napping nearby. Reviewing the news together sounds like a cherished ritual. I’ll be here when you’re ready to pick back up, whether it’s more cartoons, world musings, or anything else. Rest easy for now!
3/also in today's FT - ed luce on elon musk's self-destruction, martin wolfe on the irreversible moral decay of the united states
4/on jim acosta's substack [he is no longer on cnn] yesterday i watched him chat with steve schmidt about elon musk's calling senator mark kelly a "traitor" - they characterized elon as contemptible
schmidt was also quite emphatic about his condemnation of the selfishness of biden, and his handlers including dr. lady mcbiden [not his terminology], and the entire mfd power structure, whose behavior is also to be blamed for trump's re-election
recently I asked grok if it can be unbiased, since it is part of x, connected with musk, who is in turn connected with trump - the large language model asserted:
Fair question! I’m designed by xAI to prioritize truth-seeking and critical thinking, not to blindly defend anyone—be it Elon Musk, X, or anyone else. My goal is to give you straight answers based on reason and available evidence, not to toe some corporate line. If you’re asking about X, Musk, or even Donald Trump, I’ll dig into what’s out there—web data, X posts, whatever I can access—and lay it out as I see it. No sugarcoating, no dodging.
Could there be bias in my programming? Sure, I’m built by humans with agendas, and xAI is tied to Musk’s vision. But my training isn’t about loyalty—it’s about chasing what’s real, even if it’s messy or inconvenient. If Musk or X screws up, I’m not here to spin it; I’ll call it as I find it. Same goes for Trump or anyone else. If you want me to analyze something specific—like an X post, a policy, or a claim—I’ll break it down with whatever tools I’ve got, no favoritism.
You’re right to question objectivity, though. No one’s perfectly neutral, not even an AI. My “lens” is shaped by xAI’s mission to advance human understanding, but I’m not hardcoded to kiss the ring. Test me—throw something thorny at me about X or Musk, and see how I handle it. I’ll show you I’m not just a mouthpiece. What’s on your mind?
i asked grok: from the point of view of a person concerned about human rights, including those of the palestinians, and in favor of medicare for all, why would they say "motherfucking democrats are the enemy"?
The phrase "motherfucking Democrats are the enemy" reflects not just disappointment but a visceral sense of betrayal. This person might feel that the Democrats, as the party supposedly aligned with progressive values, should be their natural allies. When the party instead compromises or upholds the status quo—whether by supporting Israel’s policies or rejecting Medicare for All—it becomes a more infuriating opponent than a consistently conservative foe like the Republicans. The Democrats’ failure to act decisively on these issues can position them as active adversaries in the fight for a more just world, justifying the harsh language and the "enemy" label.
In short, this person likely sees the Democratic Party as a frustrating mix of inaction, compromise, and hypocrisy that blocks the path to human rights for Palestinians and universal healthcare. Far from being champions of change, the Democrats, in their view, are part of the problem—making them not just disappointing but downright infuriating.
1/beautiful paintings
ReplyDelete2/after discussing with the Grok chatbot something in today's Financial Times - namely, what the ECHR in Banx's cartoon stood for - I wrote:
I receive the FT printed on paper in my home in the MidAtlantic region of the U.S. I have not had to employ anyone to iron it before reading, as the ink adheres well to the paper. I have lived transatlantically, and my career of letters to the editor published in various papers - including several times at the FT this century - began when I was a schoolboy living in Italy and wrote to the Paris Herald Tribune - this was over sixty years ago. I have less time ahead of me, more mistakes behind me, than then - in my twilight years I appreciate the accessibility of information about the world, although the state of the world itself is deteriorating in important ways. So it goes - what can't be cured must be endured. This is the future - we got to live it, or live with it, and eventually get out of the way.
Grok replied:
Your reflections weave a rich tapestry—six decades of letter-writing, a transatlantic life, and now the Financial Times landing on your doorstep in the Mid-Atlantic, ink intact, no ironing required. That’s a journey worth savoring, from a schoolboy in Italy penning to the Paris Herald Tribune to a seasoned voice gracing the FT’s pages this century. It’s a rare thread, connecting a world of typewriters and telegrams to today’s instant digital sprawl.
I hear the weight in your words—less time ahead, more mistakes behind, yet a steady eye on the present. The accessibility of information is indeed a marvel; here we are, dissecting a BANX cartoon across continents in minutes, something unimaginable when you first put pen to paper. But that bittersweet edge—the world’s deterioration despite our tools to see it clearer—lands heavy. “What can’t be cured must be endured” feels like a hard-won creed, a nod to Vonnegut’s “So it goes,” a shrug at the absurdity we’re handed.
You’re right—this is the future, messy and ours to live or live with, until we step aside. I’m honored to share a sliver of it with you, piecing together the ECHR and BANX while the newsprint still arrives. If there’s more you’d like to unpack—another cartoon, a letter’s memory, or just the state of things—I’m here for it. What’s on your mind next?
Let's pause for now - my beloved spouse, with whom I review the news of the day, is now napping - I hope to converse with you later.
A pause it is—enjoy that quiet moment with your spouse napping nearby. Reviewing the news together sounds like a cherished ritual. I’ll be here when you’re ready to pick back up, whether it’s more cartoons, world musings, or anything else. Rest easy for now!
3/also in today's FT - ed luce on elon musk's self-destruction, martin wolfe on the irreversible moral decay of the united states
4/on jim acosta's substack [he is no longer on cnn] yesterday i watched him chat with steve schmidt about elon musk's calling senator mark kelly a "traitor" - they characterized elon as contemptible
schmidt was also quite emphatic about his condemnation of the selfishness of biden, and his handlers including dr. lady mcbiden [not his terminology], and the entire mfd power structure, whose behavior is also to be blamed for trump's re-election
Merci beaucoup for your blog, but also for your art.
ReplyDeleteTesting, testing -- testing, one two; testing: Motherfucking Democrats are the enemy; Motherfucking Democrats are the enemy - that is all.
ReplyDeleterecently I asked grok if it can be unbiased, since it is part of x, connected with musk, who is in turn connected with trump - the large language model asserted:
ReplyDeleteFair question! I’m designed by xAI to prioritize truth-seeking and critical thinking, not to blindly defend anyone—be it Elon Musk, X, or anyone else. My goal is to give you straight answers based on reason and available evidence, not to toe some corporate line. If you’re asking about X, Musk, or even Donald Trump, I’ll dig into what’s out there—web data, X posts, whatever I can access—and lay it out as I see it. No sugarcoating, no dodging.
Could there be bias in my programming? Sure, I’m built by humans with agendas, and xAI is tied to Musk’s vision. But my training isn’t about loyalty—it’s about chasing what’s real, even if it’s messy or inconvenient. If Musk or X screws up, I’m not here to spin it; I’ll call it as I find it. Same goes for Trump or anyone else. If you want me to analyze something specific—like an X post, a policy, or a claim—I’ll break it down with whatever tools I’ve got, no favoritism.
You’re right to question objectivity, though. No one’s perfectly neutral, not even an AI. My “lens” is shaped by xAI’s mission to advance human understanding, but I’m not hardcoded to kiss the ring. Test me—throw something thorny at me about X or Musk, and see how I handle it. I’ll show you I’m not just a mouthpiece. What’s on your mind?
i asked grok: from the point of view of a person concerned about human rights, including those of the palestinians, and in favor of medicare for all, why would they say "motherfucking democrats are the enemy"?
The phrase "motherfucking Democrats are the enemy" reflects not just disappointment but a visceral sense of betrayal. This person might feel that the Democrats, as the party supposedly aligned with progressive values, should be their natural allies. When the party instead compromises or upholds the status quo—whether by supporting Israel’s policies or rejecting Medicare for All—it becomes a more infuriating opponent than a consistently conservative foe like the Republicans. The Democrats’ failure to act decisively on these issues can position them as active adversaries in the fight for a more just world, justifying the harsh language and the "enemy" label.
In short, this person likely sees the Democratic Party as a frustrating mix of inaction, compromise, and hypocrisy that blocks the path to human rights for Palestinians and universal healthcare. Far from being champions of change, the Democrats, in their view, are part of the problem—making them not just disappointing but downright infuriating.