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
RIP to Béla Tarr, an artist who made beautiful (often haunting) films on his own terms and took no prisoners when talking about them. Truly one of the best to ever do it.
Full interview: www.filmcomment.com/blog/intervi...
Full interview: www.filmcomment.com/blog/intervi...
January 6, 2026 at 12:09 PM
RIP to Béla Tarr, an artist who made beautiful (often haunting) films on his own terms and took no prisoners when talking about them. Truly one of the best to ever do it.
Full interview: www.filmcomment.com/blog/intervi...
Full interview: www.filmcomment.com/blog/intervi...
The more I see of María Corina Machado's actual political views, the more they stink but if Venezuela - and Venezuela alone - makes the free, fair and credible choice to go to Hell in a handcart she's driving, so be it. Because that's how democracies are supposed to work.
January 6, 2026 at 5:28 AM
The more I see of María Corina Machado's actual political views, the more they stink but if Venezuela - and Venezuela alone - makes the free, fair and credible choice to go to Hell in a handcart she's driving, so be it. Because that's how democracies are supposed to work.
On sober reflection, I'd totally watch another AVATAR movie if it was just the angsty teen space Smurf and his angsty teen murder space whale BF just making horny eyes at each other for three and a half hours.
January 6, 2026 at 3:29 AM
On sober reflection, I'd totally watch another AVATAR movie if it was just the angsty teen space Smurf and his angsty teen murder space whale BF just making horny eyes at each other for three and a half hours.
Won't name and shame, but can't believe I've just wasted twenty minutes of my life listening to a podcast where two people sounded genuinely confused why HarperCollins decided David Walliams being a workplace sex pest and lawsuit magnet was not an acceptable business risk. #BookSky
a man is standing in front of a mirror talking to another man and says `` my god you cannot be that stupid '' .
Alt: a man is standing in front of a mirror talking to another man and says `` my god you cannot be that stupid '' .
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:44 AM
Won't name and shame, but can't believe I've just wasted twenty minutes of my life listening to a podcast where two people sounded genuinely confused why HarperCollins decided David Walliams being a workplace sex pest and lawsuit magnet was not an acceptable business risk. #BookSky
THIS. It's also darkly funny that the same people who decry campus "gender studies" and "race ideology" are same people who are constantly demanding all eyes be fixed on soothing the white man's easily bruised fee-fees.
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:33 AM
THIS. It's also darkly funny that the same people who decry campus "gender studies" and "race ideology" are same people who are constantly demanding all eyes be fixed on soothing the white man's easily bruised fee-fees.
What do you think the DEA has been doing in poor communities of colour for the last fifty years?
If the DEA had killed 80 innocent Americans in the course of apprehending one drug dealer, there would be riots. But we are so ghoulishly indifferent to the lives and humanity of people abroad that it's barely even part of the conversation.
A reminder that the US killed 80 people in Venezuela, and it would be nice if the US media cared enough to think that the life of a grandmother in Caracas whose building is destroyed by a US bomb matters as much as the life of a person in the US.
January 6, 2026 at 2:16 AM
What do you think the DEA has been doing in poor communities of colour for the last fifty years?
Another day, another reminder that the people who've never left a "Communist China sucks" virtue signal on the table sure love acting like Beijing at its most thuggishly malignant.
Leavitt: "We have a lot of leverage over the remaining Maduro government right now. I know Secretary Rubio is in constant correspondence with them. We're gonna make sure this country aligns with the interests of the United States of America."
January 6, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Another day, another reminder that the people who've never left a "Communist China sucks" virtue signal on the table sure love acting like Beijing at its most thuggishly malignant.
My favourite Ghibli film isn't one of Miyazaki's - THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA was Isao Takahata's last film, and it remains not only fantastically beautiful I can't get out of my head how it embodies the bitter-sweet rapture and melancholy of the oldest school folk tales.
January 6, 2026 at 1:42 AM
My favourite Ghibli film isn't one of Miyazaki's - THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA was Isao Takahata's last film, and it remains not only fantastically beautiful I can't get out of my head how it embodies the bitter-sweet rapture and melancholy of the oldest school folk tales.
I know an awful lot of Americans really don't want to hear this right now (or ever) but much of the rest of the planet would like to see the receipts and all your working for this rather... rose-tinted view of the American Century. A lot of places where the view is very different.
January 6, 2026 at 1:26 AM
I know an awful lot of Americans really don't want to hear this right now (or ever) but much of the rest of the planet would like to see the receipts and all your working for this rather... rose-tinted view of the American Century. A lot of places where the view is very different.
Behold, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper doing a rail of pure uncut Starmerismo -- a vicious addictive substance made of complete moral and political vacuity cooked with pompous hot air.
I asked the Foreign Secretary whether it would be legal if a foreign power accused the British Prime Minister of breaking its domestic laws, bombed the UK, killed dozens of British citizens and abducted the PM and his wife in the middle of the night.
She refused to answer.
She refused to answer.
January 6, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Behold, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper doing a rail of pure uncut Starmerismo -- a vicious addictive substance made of complete moral and political vacuity cooked with pompous hot air.
Not bad but I have one editorial query. If an act is unlawful and unconstitutional, how does it signify whether or not Congress made out a hall pass or even got a 'save the date' e-mail?
Six reasons why Trump’s attack on Venezuela was very wrong:
January 5, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Not bad but I have one editorial query. If an act is unlawful and unconstitutional, how does it signify whether or not Congress made out a hall pass or even got a 'save the date' e-mail?
Fuck off, Tapper you fascist finger puppet.
Unlike Trump, the Danish Prime Minister isn't prone to random anal outgassing. The tame bitches of the Beltway press should be taking her mentions of Nato's Article 5 security guarantee literally and seriously.
Unlike Trump, the Danish Prime Minister isn't prone to random anal outgassing. The tame bitches of the Beltway press should be taking her mentions of Nato's Article 5 security guarantee literally and seriously.
TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force?
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
January 5, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Fuck off, Tapper you fascist finger puppet.
Unlike Trump, the Danish Prime Minister isn't prone to random anal outgassing. The tame bitches of the Beltway press should be taking her mentions of Nato's Article 5 security guarantee literally and seriously.
Unlike Trump, the Danish Prime Minister isn't prone to random anal outgassing. The tame bitches of the Beltway press should be taking her mentions of Nato's Article 5 security guarantee literally and seriously.
Repeat after me: A crime with a permission slip from Congress is still a crime. And the rest of the world is under no obligation to give the proverbial rat's arse either way.
Jeffries: "This is a law enforcement operation that involved an elite unit of the military, it involved direct military strikes in Venezuela. And we're supposed to believe this was a law enforcement action? Make it make sense. It was military action without explicit approval by Congress."
January 5, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Repeat after me: A crime with a permission slip from Congress is still a crime. And the rest of the world is under no obligation to give the proverbial rat's arse either way.
Reposted by Craig M. Ranapia
love a good building sign
January 5, 2026 at 9:08 PM
love a good building sign
Selfishly - am sad to see this. But dispassionately, Mr. Nielsen Hayden has his name in the acknowledgements of a large enough chunk of my library to have more than earned the proverbial gold watch and a blowout rumpus of a retirement party at Tor's expense. :)
News of me: I’m retiring. I’m 67 years old and I’ve worked full-time at Tor Books for 37 of those years. Today, January 5, is my official last day. This has been in train for several months, and while it hasn’t been a secret for some time, I haven’t mentioned it on social media until now. (1/3)
January 5, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Selfishly - am sad to see this. But dispassionately, Mr. Nielsen Hayden has his name in the acknowledgements of a large enough chunk of my library to have more than earned the proverbial gold watch and a blowout rumpus of a retirement party at Tor's expense. :)
Fun fact: In its 75 year history, only one NATO member state has invoked the mutual defence provisions of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. That was the United States in September 2001.
2026 may be the year the United States finds itself on the wrong end of the second. Who bloody knows?
2026 may be the year the United States finds itself on the wrong end of the second. Who bloody knows?
Trump:"We need Greenland for national security. Not for minerals. We have so many sites for minerals and oil. We need Graanland for national security. If you take a look at Greenland you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place." 🧐What about @NATO and national security?
January 5, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Fun fact: In its 75 year history, only one NATO member state has invoked the mutual defence provisions of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. That was the United States in September 2001.
2026 may be the year the United States finds itself on the wrong end of the second. Who bloody knows?
2026 may be the year the United States finds itself on the wrong end of the second. Who bloody knows?
In the end, you don't have to take the threat seriously. But you know who *bleep*ing does - the government of Denmark. Danish Statsminister Mette Frederiksen has made it clear an Article 5 action is on the table. She doesn't have a Trumpian propensity to randomly vomit up word salad.
If the U.S. attacks a NATO country, then that country can invoke Article 5, requiring member states to come to its aid. Several of them are nuclear powers.
Is this scenario likely? No. But just the fact that the White House could place Americans at such risk is a major national security issue.
Is this scenario likely? No. But just the fact that the White House could place Americans at such risk is a major national security issue.
Trump: "We need Greenland from a national security situation. It's so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not gonna be able to do it ... the EU needs us to have it"
January 5, 2026 at 2:23 AM
In the end, you don't have to take the threat seriously. But you know who *bleep*ing does - the government of Denmark. Danish Statsminister Mette Frederiksen has made it clear an Article 5 action is on the table. She doesn't have a Trumpian propensity to randomly vomit up word salad.
Learning to be at ease with your own company will be the friendship that never quits, if you can get the hang of it. (And in my aquaintance, an awful lot of people never have and never will.)
January 5, 2026 at 12:29 AM
Learning to be at ease with your own company will be the friendship that never quits, if you can get the hang of it. (And in my aquaintance, an awful lot of people never have and never will.)
If I'm not replying to your replay, take it as a compliment that your counterpoint is sound and well-expressed to a degree where I've got nothing useful, illuminating and/or amusing to add to the train of thought.
a cat is peeking over a wooden table .
Alt: a cat is peeking over a wooden table .
media.tenor.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:09 AM
If I'm not replying to your replay, take it as a compliment that your counterpoint is sound and well-expressed to a degree where I've got nothing useful, illuminating and/or amusing to add to the train of thought.
THIS isn't just an American system failure. As I've said way too often, every civil society is a tacit conspiracy where all the players agree to play the game by more or less the same rules - and cheats are punished. It stops working when enough players say "LOL, fuck off" and shit on the board.
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
a lot of problems wouldn't exist if we had a congress with even an ounce of self interest
January 5, 2026 at 12:00 AM
THIS isn't just an American system failure. As I've said way too often, every civil society is a tacit conspiracy where all the players agree to play the game by more or less the same rules - and cheats are punished. It stops working when enough players say "LOL, fuck off" and shit on the board.
In general, I'll never understand why people whose political practice consists of treating their fellow citizens like drooling morons who can barely hold one maximally dumbed down idea in their pea-brains at a time are shocked they're not liked, trusted or terribly electorally successful.
The “Venezuela distracts from Epstein” line is ridiculous because 1) many awful things happen at once 2) Same Iran-Contra crowd pushing Venezuela invasion are or were involved with Epstein/Maxwell 3) Epstein associates (for ex, Dershowitz) want Iran invasion and see Venezuela as a test run for Iran
January 4, 2026 at 11:31 PM
In general, I'll never understand why people whose political practice consists of treating their fellow citizens like drooling morons who can barely hold one maximally dumbed down idea in their pea-brains at a time are shocked they're not liked, trusted or terribly electorally successful.
Could some Whovian acquaintance please confirm this is for real reals not AI slop fake real? Just don't know the difference any more. #DoctorWho
Wow. Thin Lizzy playing the Doctor Who theme music is not something I had come across before youtu.be/nbsoEcXAaiY
Thin Lizzy - Dr. Who Theme / '69 Rock (Live at the Waldbuhne '73)
YouTube video by ThinLizzyFanpage
youtu.be
January 4, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Could some Whovian acquaintance please confirm this is for real reals not AI slop fake real? Just don't know the difference any more. #DoctorWho
I don't remember who said the tragic flaw in the American character was a hunger for absolution without confession, contrition or penance but where was the lie?
January 4, 2026 at 11:00 PM
I don't remember who said the tragic flaw in the American character was a hunger for absolution without confession, contrition or penance but where was the lie?
Reposted by Craig M. Ranapia
Take it from a Filipino, even if you despise the current rulers of your country, you will live to regret the day the United States comes in to remove them
January 3, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Take it from a Filipino, even if you despise the current rulers of your country, you will live to regret the day the United States comes in to remove them
Hear me out... but what if both the quality and financial health of NZ media sharply improved by a return to running government propaganda as paid advertising rather than (fake) news? #nzpol
The top 'article' thumbnail on the Stuff Politics homepage
what 'brand' you wonder? oh, just the NZ National Party
We are now past the point where corporate media commentary and embedded advertising are justifiable. This is going to get MUCH worse over 2026 unless there are consequences
what 'brand' you wonder? oh, just the NZ National Party
We are now past the point where corporate media commentary and embedded advertising are justifiable. This is going to get MUCH worse over 2026 unless there are consequences
January 4, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Hear me out... but what if both the quality and financial health of NZ media sharply improved by a return to running government propaganda as paid advertising rather than (fake) news? #nzpol