Craig M. Ranapia
@craigmranapia.bsky.social
"This heaven gives me migraine."
Old enough to know better at the ends of the earth (New Zealand). I am large and contain multitudes, all of them intensely irritating. (Same-sex) married. Catholic. Conservative-ish. Cis-male. Jane Austen cultist.
Old enough to know better at the ends of the earth (New Zealand). I am large and contain multitudes, all of them intensely irritating. (Same-sex) married. Catholic. Conservative-ish. Cis-male. Jane Austen cultist.
Reposted by Craig M. Ranapia
New episode up now. Transit by Rachel Cusk, and the Outline trilogy as a whole, discussed by Andy, Una and Nicky. @iammilliam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @birchos.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1c43...
Transit and the Outline Trilogy by Rachel Cusk
open.spotify.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:17 AM
New episode up now. Transit by Rachel Cusk, and the Outline trilogy as a whole, discussed by Andy, Una and Nicky. @iammilliam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @birchos.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1c43...
Any orchardist with trees producing so many "bad apples" as the New Zealand Police Force would clear-fell the affected ground, take a good hard look at your land management and farming practices, the try and start over. Right?
What makes the Police any different?
#nzpol
What makes the Police any different?
#nzpol
November 11, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Any orchardist with trees producing so many "bad apples" as the New Zealand Police Force would clear-fell the affected ground, take a good hard look at your land management and farming practices, the try and start over. Right?
What makes the Police any different?
#nzpol
What makes the Police any different?
#nzpol
Well, that was so utterly unsurprising I flopped onto the over-stuffed swooning chaise, bounced off and hit the coffee table.
a man is sitting on a couch with his hands on his face and the words pretends to be shocked above him
Alt: a man is sitting on a couch with his hands on his face and the words pretends to be shocked above him
media.tenor.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Well, that was so utterly unsurprising I flopped onto the over-stuffed swooning chaise, bounced off and hit the coffee table.
THIS.
I used to be a rock-ribbed Tory-voting back the blue chap.
Now I know you can hard boil an egg in the time it takes to play N.W.A.'s timeless folk tune 'Fuck Tha Police.'
The Five-O have nobody to blame for this trust flustercluck but themselves.
I used to be a rock-ribbed Tory-voting back the blue chap.
Now I know you can hard boil an egg in the time it takes to play N.W.A.'s timeless folk tune 'Fuck Tha Police.'
The Five-O have nobody to blame for this trust flustercluck but themselves.
Just seems a little short while ago that various government politicians, and people acting as their media surrogates, were outraged and scandalized by, and poured scorn on, comments from younger women politicians for suggesting many people don't trust cops.
Highest levels of the force - filth.
Highest levels of the force - filth.
Well, this story just got a lot fucking worse. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jevon-mcs...
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 AM
THIS.
I used to be a rock-ribbed Tory-voting back the blue chap.
Now I know you can hard boil an egg in the time it takes to play N.W.A.'s timeless folk tune 'Fuck Tha Police.'
The Five-O have nobody to blame for this trust flustercluck but themselves.
I used to be a rock-ribbed Tory-voting back the blue chap.
Now I know you can hard boil an egg in the time it takes to play N.W.A.'s timeless folk tune 'Fuck Tha Police.'
The Five-O have nobody to blame for this trust flustercluck but themselves.
Is THIS the nuclear option?
Sure.
But a stern finger wagging isn't going to cut it when our primary law enforcement agency is also a problematic gang of patched sex criminals, street thugs and stand-over artists.
Sure.
But a stern finger wagging isn't going to cut it when our primary law enforcement agency is also a problematic gang of patched sex criminals, street thugs and stand-over artists.
A story as old as time: a law enforcement agency answerable only to itself that harbours abusers who use their power to ensuure their own impunity
Might be time to shut the police down until we can be sure that the people in charge of it don't suck www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Might be time to shut the police down until we can be sure that the people in charge of it don't suck www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Police 'failed' woman who accused Jevon McSkimming of sexual offending, her lawyer says
The allegations arose from an affair between McSkimming and the woman who at the time was a junior non-sworn police employee.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 11, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Is THIS the nuclear option?
Sure.
But a stern finger wagging isn't going to cut it when our primary law enforcement agency is also a problematic gang of patched sex criminals, street thugs and stand-over artists.
Sure.
But a stern finger wagging isn't going to cut it when our primary law enforcement agency is also a problematic gang of patched sex criminals, street thugs and stand-over artists.
Forget "Defund the Police." Make "Fire everyone, make them all reapply for their jobs with industrial-grade background checks, and make the forensic accountants comfortable for the mother of all line audits" happen, you cowards. #nzpol
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jevon-mcs...
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jevon-mcs...
Police bosses ignored sex complaints against top cop, charged woman for 'revenge' emails instead
Suppressions fall away to reveal full story about the downfall of deputy police boss.
www.nzherald.co.nz
November 11, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Forget "Defund the Police." Make "Fire everyone, make them all reapply for their jobs with industrial-grade background checks, and make the forensic accountants comfortable for the mother of all line audits" happen, you cowards. #nzpol
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jevon-mcs...
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jevon-mcs...
It really is tiresome being condescended to by "centrists" who think they're the only ones who math good enough to divide by two and add one.
a man with the words you 're a terrible person it 's hilarious
Alt: a man with the words you 're a terrible person it 's hilarious
media.tenor.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:39 AM
It really is tiresome being condescended to by "centrists" who think they're the only ones who math good enough to divide by two and add one.
Please be a little more entitled, condescending and dismissive to the grassroots activists who busted their asses from coast to coat to deliver victory after victory LAST WEEK. I mean, it's obviously working out so well for Democrats on the Hill.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Please be a little more entitled, condescending and dismissive to the grassroots activists who busted their asses from coast to coat to deliver victory after victory LAST WEEK. I mean, it's obviously working out so well for Democrats on the Hill.
OK, I might have put it slightly differently but that doesn't mean the point is wrong. The existential threat to the Democratic Party isn't progressive "wokeism" or trans athletes who pee a lot, but machine careerists and for-profit parasites who think bare-knuckle street politics is beneath them.
"The biggest takeaway from all this is that Donald Trump learns another lesson in the virtues of brazening it out. He is willing to shoot the hostage, and the Democrats are not. This ultimately strengthens his negotiating hand."
Dems Reward the Hostage-Taker
Perhaps ending the shutdown was the responsible thing to do. But by caving, Democrats risk legitimizing Trump’s maximum-pain shutdown tactics.
www.thebulwark.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 AM
OK, I might have put it slightly differently but that doesn't mean the point is wrong. The existential threat to the Democratic Party isn't progressive "wokeism" or trans athletes who pee a lot, but machine careerists and for-profit parasites who think bare-knuckle street politics is beneath them.
Do I currently have 'Too Many Creeps' by the Bush Tetras on high rotate at this precise moment?
Why yes, I do. No particular reason. Thanks for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOz...
Why yes, I do. No particular reason. Thanks for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOz...
Bush Tetras "Too Many Creeps" (Remastered) [Official Video]
YouTube video by WHARF CAT RECORDS
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Do I currently have 'Too Many Creeps' by the Bush Tetras on high rotate at this precise moment?
Why yes, I do. No particular reason. Thanks for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOz...
Why yes, I do. No particular reason. Thanks for asking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOz...
My nine novels everyone should read before they die? For today...
1. Persuasion
2. True Grit
3. The Way We Live Now
4. The Moviegoer
5. Invisible Man
6. And Then There Were None
7. The House of Mirth
8. Berlin Alexanderplatz
9. Leave It to Psmith
#BookSky
1. Persuasion
2. True Grit
3. The Way We Live Now
4. The Moviegoer
5. Invisible Man
6. And Then There Were None
7. The House of Mirth
8. Berlin Alexanderplatz
9. Leave It to Psmith
#BookSky
My nine books (no order, but books I think about a lot):
1 - The English Patient
2 - Sula
3 - Use of Weapons
4 - Wolf Hall* (cheating as it's three books)
5 - Hamnet
6 - The Shipping News
7 - Ray Bradbury's Short stories* (also cheating as it's hundreds)
8 - The Truth
9 - Wuthering Heights
1 - The English Patient
2 - Sula
3 - Use of Weapons
4 - Wolf Hall* (cheating as it's three books)
5 - Hamnet
6 - The Shipping News
7 - Ray Bradbury's Short stories* (also cheating as it's hundreds)
8 - The Truth
9 - Wuthering Heights
I’m not as well read as you guys but my 9 books are:
1- Pride and Prejudice
2- Pachinko
3- The Lowland
4- Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
5-The Inheritance of Loss
6- Invisible Man
7- One Hundred Years of Solitude
8- Anna Karenina
9- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
1- Pride and Prejudice
2- Pachinko
3- The Lowland
4- Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
5-The Inheritance of Loss
6- Invisible Man
7- One Hundred Years of Solitude
8- Anna Karenina
9- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
November 10, 2025 at 10:49 PM
My nine novels everyone should read before they die? For today...
1. Persuasion
2. True Grit
3. The Way We Live Now
4. The Moviegoer
5. Invisible Man
6. And Then There Were None
7. The House of Mirth
8. Berlin Alexanderplatz
9. Leave It to Psmith
#BookSky
1. Persuasion
2. True Grit
3. The Way We Live Now
4. The Moviegoer
5. Invisible Man
6. And Then There Were None
7. The House of Mirth
8. Berlin Alexanderplatz
9. Leave It to Psmith
#BookSky
It's also a legitimate question to ask "If you can't keep your own caucus in line, how the hell can you run a country?" Democratic Party leadership on Capitol Hill don't have a convincing answer - and that's everybody's problem.
Democrats are demanding new leadership after Schumer failed to stop a GOP-backed funding deal that doesn't guarantee continued health care subsidies. Progressives like Ro Khanna blasted him for giving in and warned premiums could soar as a result.
Democrats Call for New Leadership After Schumer Caves on “Terrible” GOP Deal
“If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing … what will you fight for?” said Ro Khanna.
truthout.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:00 PM
It's also a legitimate question to ask "If you can't keep your own caucus in line, how the hell can you run a country?" Democratic Party leadership on Capitol Hill don't have a convincing answer - and that's everybody's problem.
Ugh... but also let's never forget that these same media outlets aren't quite so, shall we say, fastidious when they're hallucinating supermarket shoplifting charges against a former Green MP.
🧵Once again, RNZ (and the Otago Daily Times, which used RNZ's story) name Tim Jago in a report on his latest court appearance on charges of indecent assault and NZME, Stuff and TVNZ don't. And yet ... www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Former ACT Party president Tim Jago pleads not guilty to indecent assault
Tim Jago was charged last month relating to an allegation from 1995.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 10, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Ugh... but also let's never forget that these same media outlets aren't quite so, shall we say, fastidious when they're hallucinating supermarket shoplifting charges against a former Green MP.
Anyone else shuddering to think how close this feckless empty suit came to becoming Vice-President, and the tie-breaking vote in the Senate?
Kaine on why he thinks just getting a vote on healthcare is a win: "We're the minority party, but everybody will get to see who is standing for them when it comes to lowering their healthcare costs"
November 10, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Anyone else shuddering to think how close this feckless empty suit came to becoming Vice-President, and the tie-breaking vote in the Senate?
Condolences to Governor-elect Spanburger and every other Virginia Democrat who busted their humps to win big last week who just got an unsolicited golden shower from their junior Senator.
Tim Kaine on backlash he's getting: "I got the first good night's sleep last night that I've gotten since Oct 1, b/c I wasn't worried about being able to look Capitol Police in the eye when I walked in, or what a furloughed fed worker would say to me at church, or what somebody would say about SNAP"
November 10, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Condolences to Governor-elect Spanburger and every other Virginia Democrat who busted their humps to win big last week who just got an unsolicited golden shower from their junior Senator.
Taking Mitt Romney's "binders full of women" and make it more infinitely cringe is peak Mike Johnson. Vichy Democrats are capitulating to THIS IDIOT? Really?
Mike Johnson on the Republican healthcare plan: "We've got notebooks full of ideas."
November 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Taking Mitt Romney's "binders full of women" and make it more infinitely cringe is peak Mike Johnson. Vichy Democrats are capitulating to THIS IDIOT? Really?
THIS. My father was one of those World War II veterans who came home and never talked about it. Learned very early in life that this kind of nonsense would flip Dad's usually cooler than cool demeanour on the proverbial dime.
I’m sorry but this shit drives me bonkers, there was a price for that “big dick energy,” its in rows and rows of crosses and stars at Colleville-sur-Mer
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
THIS. My father was one of those World War II veterans who came home and never talked about it. Learned very early in life that this kind of nonsense would flip Dad's usually cooler than cool demeanour on the proverbial dime.
The narcissism of this fucking guy would be laughable if millions of people weren't going to suffer for it. The only upside of Trump 1.0 is at least we were spared four years of this feckless wanker's Vice-Presidency.
Tim Kaine on backlash he's getting: "I got the first good night's sleep last night that I've gotten since Oct 1, b/c I wasn't worried about being able to look Capitol Police in the eye when I walked in, or what a furloughed fed worker would say to me at church, or what somebody would say about SNAP"
November 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The narcissism of this fucking guy would be laughable if millions of people weren't going to suffer for it. The only upside of Trump 1.0 is at least we were spared four years of this feckless wanker's Vice-Presidency.
"Too pathetically craven for the New York Times op-ed page to swallow" is a sign from God to reconsider all your choices up to this point.
when you've lost Ezra Klein ...
Team Fold/Senate cave caucus - how embarrassing.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/o...
Team Fold/Senate cave caucus - how embarrassing.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/o...
Opinion | Democrats Were on a Roll. Why Stop Now?
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
"Too pathetically craven for the New York Times op-ed page to swallow" is a sign from God to reconsider all your choices up to this point.
Judging from the linked story, nobody at the Manchester Evening News lost their job over this. But I guess its not like they did anything seriously unethical like hurting Donald Trump's feelings.
Good to see the Manchester Evening News getting their asses sued they thought they could say anything they liked and thought a Black artist wouldn’t take action. Good for Bob Vylan.
Reach has apologised and will pay "substantial damages" to Bob Vylan frontman Pascal Robinson after the Manchester Evening News wrongly reported he had "performed Nazi salutes on stage" pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/new...
November 10, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Judging from the linked story, nobody at the Manchester Evening News lost their job over this. But I guess its not like they did anything seriously unethical like hurting Donald Trump's feelings.
THIS. And frankly, if I had busted my hump to deliver blowout wins from California to NYC and New Jersey last week, I'd be wondering why the hell I bothered. Chuck Schumer hasn't been in a competitive race since the Ford Administration. A lot of Democrats up next year can't say the same.
Every single person in Little Village fighting ICE/BP this week, each one of those people had more courage than the entire party leadership put together. Every single person in the street resisting in LA, Portland, Chicago, they're ALL showing more backbone than useless top tiers of Dem apparatus
I keep seeing regular Americans taking more risks every day to fight tyranny, want, and cynicism than I see from the opposition party, and I imagine many of those regular Americans are asking themselves what the value proposition of such an opposition party is, really
November 10, 2025 at 11:55 AM
THIS. And frankly, if I had busted my hump to deliver blowout wins from California to NYC and New Jersey last week, I'd be wondering why the hell I bothered. Chuck Schumer hasn't been in a competitive race since the Ford Administration. A lot of Democrats up next year can't say the same.
Not good enough. Schumer needs to take his entire leadership team with him. This is beyond political malpractice and into the weeds of political malfeasance.
Ro Khanna calls for Schumer‘ ouster
November 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Not good enough. Schumer needs to take his entire leadership team with him. This is beyond political malpractice and into the weeds of political malfeasance.
Democrats, you now have one more job - make the eight Vichy Democrats who dropped this turd in the punchbowl forever toxic in Democratic Party politics. Primary them out. Ghost every group, fundraiser or campaign they go anywhere near. Blacklist them hard and forever.
Bernie Sanders: "What this Senate is about to do is make a horrific situation even worse. So let's be clear what this vote is about. If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are gonna see at least a doubling in their premiums in the ACA."
November 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Democrats, you now have one more job - make the eight Vichy Democrats who dropped this turd in the punchbowl forever toxic in Democratic Party politics. Primary them out. Ghost every group, fundraiser or campaign they go anywhere near. Blacklist them hard and forever.
The eight Democrats who voted for this should be dead meat - primaried out if they're not retiring, and locked out of any positions of power or influence in Democratic Party circles if they are. End of line. Feckless cowardice beyond comprehension.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Senate advances funding bill to end longest US government shutdown in history
The amended package will still have to be passed by the House and sent to Trump for his signature, a process that could take days
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The eight Democrats who voted for this should be dead meat - primaried out if they're not retiring, and locked out of any positions of power or influence in Democratic Party circles if they are. End of line. Feckless cowardice beyond comprehension.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Craig M. Ranapia
no amount of state propaganda will ever convince me this man is my enemy
November 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM
no amount of state propaganda will ever convince me this man is my enemy