Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
@grantforks.bsky.social
Scholar of conflict management. I spell things wrong.
Fiction: https://thedigitalpress.org/the-library-of-chester-fritz/
More Fiction: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV3D3LHV?binding=kindle_edition
Nonfiction: http://youtube.com/c/BrianUrlacher
Fiction: https://thedigitalpress.org/the-library-of-chester-fritz/
More Fiction: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV3D3LHV?binding=kindle_edition
Nonfiction: http://youtube.com/c/BrianUrlacher
Wasn’t there a rally for billionaires going on or something? Seems like I missed the reporting on the massive surge of people that I’m sure came into the streets to heckle.
February 8, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Wasn’t there a rally for billionaires going on or something? Seems like I missed the reporting on the massive surge of people that I’m sure came into the streets to heckle.
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
I think the impact is exaggerated. Like yes, his bargain boon, or pact with whatever entity sleeps beyond the understanding of the feeble minds of men in starless dark is *real*, but events aren’t monocausal, I think it’s likely that education polarization explains more.
February 6, 2026 at 8:26 PM
I think the impact is exaggerated. Like yes, his bargain boon, or pact with whatever entity sleeps beyond the understanding of the feeble minds of men in starless dark is *real*, but events aren’t monocausal, I think it’s likely that education polarization explains more.
New gift idea for your stressed but immortal friends!
I have a favorite mug that says "God put me on Earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind, I will never die." So yeah, no dying until I'm done doing what I need to do.
What if we just refuse to die? Just say no thanks, I'm going to be a Literary Writer and live forever. I didn't want to be happy. I wanted to write books.
February 6, 2026 at 4:47 PM
New gift idea for your stressed but immortal friends!
In grad school I took a random side quest where I signed a fellow student up for “the gyroscopic poetry list serve” (which I created in response to him being kind of a jerk tangentially related to gyroscopes). I then sent him a poem about gyroscopes every day for like 2 weeks.
Good times.
Good times.
February 6, 2026 at 6:35 AM
In grad school I took a random side quest where I signed a fellow student up for “the gyroscopic poetry list serve” (which I created in response to him being kind of a jerk tangentially related to gyroscopes). I then sent him a poem about gyroscopes every day for like 2 weeks.
Good times.
Good times.
It is always the ones you suspect.
February 2, 2026 at 2:03 AM
It is always the ones you suspect.
I'm officially "I think I prefer compression socks" years old today.
February 1, 2026 at 1:55 PM
I'm officially "I think I prefer compression socks" years old today.
In August I had two big career developments. 1. I went 100% into admin as an Associate Dean. 2. a publisher finally expressed interest in a scholarly book project. I "had" 38k written but only 20k that was usable. I need to write a ton by Sept!
Tonight I crossed the 70k mark. 50k in 5 months!
Tonight I crossed the 70k mark. 50k in 5 months!
February 1, 2026 at 2:59 AM
In August I had two big career developments. 1. I went 100% into admin as an Associate Dean. 2. a publisher finally expressed interest in a scholarly book project. I "had" 38k written but only 20k that was usable. I need to write a ton by Sept!
Tonight I crossed the 70k mark. 50k in 5 months!
Tonight I crossed the 70k mark. 50k in 5 months!
So one reason is no doubt project 2025 and the 4 years of planning for what to do to destroy the constrains on the executive.
But the graph will look very different if you start the clock in 2025 rather than 2017 or Nov. 1996 (my personal date for when the GOP abandoned its commitment to democracy)
But the graph will look very different if you start the clock in 2025 rather than 2017 or Nov. 1996 (my personal date for when the GOP abandoned its commitment to democracy)
New from me: It is not just that the US is experiencing democratic backsliding. Authoritarianism has emerged more quickly than in other benchmark countries.
This graph from John Burn-Murdoch sums it up. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/autocracy-...
This graph from John Burn-Murdoch sums it up. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/autocracy-...
January 31, 2026 at 6:30 PM
So one reason is no doubt project 2025 and the 4 years of planning for what to do to destroy the constrains on the executive.
But the graph will look very different if you start the clock in 2025 rather than 2017 or Nov. 1996 (my personal date for when the GOP abandoned its commitment to democracy)
But the graph will look very different if you start the clock in 2025 rather than 2017 or Nov. 1996 (my personal date for when the GOP abandoned its commitment to democracy)
Thinking about how "local college kids being rude to speaker at event with 200 people" became a national story for years.
Partly, the media just swallows rightwing propaganda whole.
But maybe it just really resonated with elite journalists/pundits who make money giving speeches at colleges.
Partly, the media just swallows rightwing propaganda whole.
But maybe it just really resonated with elite journalists/pundits who make money giving speeches at colleges.
January 31, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Thinking about how "local college kids being rude to speaker at event with 200 people" became a national story for years.
Partly, the media just swallows rightwing propaganda whole.
But maybe it just really resonated with elite journalists/pundits who make money giving speeches at colleges.
Partly, the media just swallows rightwing propaganda whole.
But maybe it just really resonated with elite journalists/pundits who make money giving speeches at colleges.
Andor WAS even better than you recall.
Also, it pays musical homage to battle of Algiers which is also super relevant for this moment.
Also, it pays musical homage to battle of Algiers which is also super relevant for this moment.
ANDOR was even better than you recall
it turns out that people really need to hear messages like “men and women are equal and should usually be kind to one another” and “the popular will can defeat fascism, but don’t be a wrecker”
January 31, 2026 at 4:48 AM
Andor WAS even better than you recall.
Also, it pays musical homage to battle of Algiers which is also super relevant for this moment.
Also, it pays musical homage to battle of Algiers which is also super relevant for this moment.
I’m in downtown Grand Forks on a Friday night. It is -17 real feel and the number of people dressed for clubbing who just casually stroll between bars without coats is kind of wild.
North Dakotans are built different…in that they apparently don’t have nerve endings!
North Dakotans are built different…in that they apparently don’t have nerve endings!
January 31, 2026 at 4:42 AM
I’m in downtown Grand Forks on a Friday night. It is -17 real feel and the number of people dressed for clubbing who just casually stroll between bars without coats is kind of wild.
North Dakotans are built different…in that they apparently don’t have nerve endings!
North Dakotans are built different…in that they apparently don’t have nerve endings!
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
The entire 'we can't win' nonsense is such bullshit. The people who led the anti-apartheid movement, Solidarity in Poland, the People Power Movement in the Philippines, and Diretas Já in Brazil all faced far longer odds and worse oppression than us and they never gave up. Fuck doomers.
January 31, 2026 at 2:08 AM
The entire 'we can't win' nonsense is such bullshit. The people who led the anti-apartheid movement, Solidarity in Poland, the People Power Movement in the Philippines, and Diretas Já in Brazil all faced far longer odds and worse oppression than us and they never gave up. Fuck doomers.
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
Psycholinguistics
English grammar
Intro to art history
Genocide in the modern era
Physics
Psycholinguistics
English grammar
Intro to art history
Genocide in the modern era
Physics
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
Calc II
Irish drama
Bertolt Brecht auf deutsch
Poetry writing
Race in America
Calc II
Irish drama
Bertolt Brecht auf deutsch
Poetry writing
Race in America
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university.
Political philosophy
Women’s studies
Sociology of education
Psychoanalysis
Water polo
Political philosophy
Women’s studies
Sociology of education
Psychoanalysis
Water polo
January 31, 2026 at 3:52 AM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college.
Psycholinguistics
English grammar
Intro to art history
Genocide in the modern era
Physics
Psycholinguistics
English grammar
Intro to art history
Genocide in the modern era
Physics
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
Nothing like shoveling snow to remind you that you are Middle-Aged(TM).
January 26, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Nothing like shoveling snow to remind you that you are Middle-Aged(TM).
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
I think about this post a lot
January 25, 2026 at 8:55 PM
I think about this post a lot
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
During the Arab Spring, I used to say to my online friends who were being subjected to state domestic terrorism in foreign countries, “Wishing you safety if possible and courage if not.”
I now wish the same for the people in Minnesota.
I now wish the same for the people in Minnesota.
January 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM
During the Arab Spring, I used to say to my online friends who were being subjected to state domestic terrorism in foreign countries, “Wishing you safety if possible and courage if not.”
I now wish the same for the people in Minnesota.
I now wish the same for the people in Minnesota.
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
youtu.be/9dih_bbwrNk?...
youtu.be/9dih_bbwrNk?...
Nemik's eulogy for Renee Nicole Good.
YouTube video by Ana Marie Cox
youtu.be
January 24, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
youtu.be/9dih_bbwrNk?...
youtu.be/9dih_bbwrNk?...
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
January 20, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Do we actually think that TWO arctic battalions being mobilized are both going to Minnesota?
I’m suspicious. Expecting one going to MSP and one sent to Greenland.
I’m suspicious. Expecting one going to MSP and one sent to Greenland.
January 19, 2026 at 2:04 AM
Do we actually think that TWO arctic battalions being mobilized are both going to Minnesota?
I’m suspicious. Expecting one going to MSP and one sent to Greenland.
I’m suspicious. Expecting one going to MSP and one sent to Greenland.
Me: I love barley, why don’t I make it more often.
*Makes barely*
Me: right. I don’t need to do this again.
*Makes barely*
Me: right. I don’t need to do this again.
January 17, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Me: I love barley, why don’t I make it more often.
*Makes barely*
Me: right. I don’t need to do this again.
*Makes barely*
Me: right. I don’t need to do this again.
I think it is time to make a change.
I'm going to become a mustache guy.
Not like a full Ron Swanson soup strainer mustache.
More of the patchy thin mess one gets with trichotillomania.
But cool.
I'm going to become a mustache guy.
Not like a full Ron Swanson soup strainer mustache.
More of the patchy thin mess one gets with trichotillomania.
But cool.
January 14, 2026 at 5:47 AM
I think it is time to make a change.
I'm going to become a mustache guy.
Not like a full Ron Swanson soup strainer mustache.
More of the patchy thin mess one gets with trichotillomania.
But cool.
I'm going to become a mustache guy.
Not like a full Ron Swanson soup strainer mustache.
More of the patchy thin mess one gets with trichotillomania.
But cool.
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
We don’t dance on the grave of NFTs enough. I had a year where I was repeatedly told by bozos I was going to be irrelevant and extinct for not embracing them, I should be allowed a victory lap.
January 13, 2026 at 7:49 AM
We don’t dance on the grave of NFTs enough. I had a year where I was repeatedly told by bozos I was going to be irrelevant and extinct for not embracing them, I should be allowed a victory lap.
Reposted by Brian Urlacher (aka Grant Forks)
did something happen
January 12, 2026 at 1:11 AM
did something happen
Holy fucking shit. This is grounds for impeachment and is the kind of thing that sends markets reeling and republican donors into a fit of rage. Fuck!
Holy fucking shit. Posted on the Fed’s official YouTube channel, no less.
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
youtu.be
January 12, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Holy fucking shit. This is grounds for impeachment and is the kind of thing that sends markets reeling and republican donors into a fit of rage. Fuck!