Clem
@clemgrakata.bsky.social
He/Him. Trying to stay sane in a world gone mad.
Sarcasm is my first language.
Enjoyer of certain games, including space ninjas and critically acclaimed MMORPGs.
Bigots and fascists get blocked and ridiculed.
Sarcasm is my first language.
Enjoyer of certain games, including space ninjas and critically acclaimed MMORPGs.
Bigots and fascists get blocked and ridiculed.
I think trust in media was always based on those parasocial and identity factors going back at least to the dawn of the TV/radio age, if not much earlier.
That we once had truly good faith media institutions and actors I suspect was more coincidental than causal with stronger perceptions of trust.
That we once had truly good faith media institutions and actors I suspect was more coincidental than causal with stronger perceptions of trust.
December 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I think trust in media was always based on those parasocial and identity factors going back at least to the dawn of the TV/radio age, if not much earlier.
That we once had truly good faith media institutions and actors I suspect was more coincidental than causal with stronger perceptions of trust.
That we once had truly good faith media institutions and actors I suspect was more coincidental than causal with stronger perceptions of trust.
Especially in the slipshot and haphazard way they're doing it. It feels less like an actual business plan and more like managers are just shoehorning them in to appease stupid investors/executives who unironically believe the BS.
November 30, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Especially in the slipshot and haphazard way they're doing it. It feels less like an actual business plan and more like managers are just shoehorning them in to appease stupid investors/executives who unironically believe the BS.
Such was inevitable the moment any given research academic's value was quantified by the funding they brought with them to their institution.
Its not a stretch to think that slop is being allowed through to appease AI firms in a quest for more private grant money.
Its not a stretch to think that slop is being allowed through to appease AI firms in a quest for more private grant money.
November 28, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Such was inevitable the moment any given research academic's value was quantified by the funding they brought with them to their institution.
Its not a stretch to think that slop is being allowed through to appease AI firms in a quest for more private grant money.
Its not a stretch to think that slop is being allowed through to appease AI firms in a quest for more private grant money.
Try this version of pecan pie; Its from 1914 so it pre-dates corn syrup and is a custard base rather than slimy cloyingness that is morder pecan pie.
www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/peca...
www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/peca...
Texas Pecan Pie — Tasting History
Pre-corn syrup pecan pie that’s not as sickly sweet with lots of pecan flavor
www.tastinghistory.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Try this version of pecan pie; Its from 1914 so it pre-dates corn syrup and is a custard base rather than slimy cloyingness that is morder pecan pie.
www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/peca...
www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/peca...
Because its a holiday week and Dem leadership doesn't know what to say since all they're getting from their consultants (who do all their political thinking for them) is an out of office auto-reply.
November 25, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Because its a holiday week and Dem leadership doesn't know what to say since all they're getting from their consultants (who do all their political thinking for them) is an out of office auto-reply.
Me, someone old enough to remember the Dot Com crash and who worked for a major bank on one of the post-2008 crash autopsy projects, watching this unfold in real time:
a cartoon of a man sitting at a desk with the words " head-desk " written above him
ALT: a cartoon of a man sitting at a desk with the words " head-desk " written above him
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Me, someone old enough to remember the Dot Com crash and who worked for a major bank on one of the post-2008 crash autopsy projects, watching this unfold in real time:
Hard disagree on the first bit. He played the game masterfully and showed just how feeble, weak and easily played Trump is.
It was a political masterstroke which did meaningful damage to MAGA in-group cohesion.
I'm gonna tap the Elmore Leonard sign now:
It was a political masterstroke which did meaningful damage to MAGA in-group cohesion.
I'm gonna tap the Elmore Leonard sign now:
November 23, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Hard disagree on the first bit. He played the game masterfully and showed just how feeble, weak and easily played Trump is.
It was a political masterstroke which did meaningful damage to MAGA in-group cohesion.
I'm gonna tap the Elmore Leonard sign now:
It was a political masterstroke which did meaningful damage to MAGA in-group cohesion.
I'm gonna tap the Elmore Leonard sign now:
I'm not sure what they're going to try to do; run a delay tactic and hope SCOTUS lets them stall till the midterms or release the files around Christmas and hope that they can use the holiday to pull the ultimate take-out-the-trash maneuver.
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I'm not sure what they're going to try to do; run a delay tactic and hope SCOTUS lets them stall till the midterms or release the files around Christmas and hope that they can use the holiday to pull the ultimate take-out-the-trash maneuver.
Sad things is we would probably find out the same and more about every field that has real money attached to it if our media/culture bothered to hold prominent and powerful people accountable.
Even after the Epstien emails I fear we are still seeing merely the tip of a very deep fecal iceberg.
Even after the Epstien emails I fear we are still seeing merely the tip of a very deep fecal iceberg.
November 16, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Sad things is we would probably find out the same and more about every field that has real money attached to it if our media/culture bothered to hold prominent and powerful people accountable.
Even after the Epstien emails I fear we are still seeing merely the tip of a very deep fecal iceberg.
Even after the Epstien emails I fear we are still seeing merely the tip of a very deep fecal iceberg.
Exactly.
She's exploiting the MSM's culture of obliged credulousness to run the latest phase of her grift.
This is so plainly obvious to those of us who have worked with and understand creatures like her it's beyond painful to see otherwise smart people take her low-quality bait on this.
She's exploiting the MSM's culture of obliged credulousness to run the latest phase of her grift.
This is so plainly obvious to those of us who have worked with and understand creatures like her it's beyond painful to see otherwise smart people take her low-quality bait on this.
a man is laying his head on a desk with his hands on the desk .
ALT: a man is laying his head on a desk with his hands on the desk .
media.tenor.com
November 16, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Exactly.
She's exploiting the MSM's culture of obliged credulousness to run the latest phase of her grift.
This is so plainly obvious to those of us who have worked with and understand creatures like her it's beyond painful to see otherwise smart people take her low-quality bait on this.
She's exploiting the MSM's culture of obliged credulousness to run the latest phase of her grift.
This is so plainly obvious to those of us who have worked with and understand creatures like her it's beyond painful to see otherwise smart people take her low-quality bait on this.
We also gotta stop pretending people like her don't have agency by writing this off as "she's lost to the cult" or the like.
She's a grifter just like most notable MAGA public figures. She knows what she's saying is vile but is so driven by ego, ambition and/or grift that she just doesn't care.
She's a grifter just like most notable MAGA public figures. She knows what she's saying is vile but is so driven by ego, ambition and/or grift that she just doesn't care.
November 14, 2025 at 3:53 AM
We also gotta stop pretending people like her don't have agency by writing this off as "she's lost to the cult" or the like.
She's a grifter just like most notable MAGA public figures. She knows what she's saying is vile but is so driven by ego, ambition and/or grift that she just doesn't care.
She's a grifter just like most notable MAGA public figures. She knows what she's saying is vile but is so driven by ego, ambition and/or grift that she just doesn't care.
He doesn't. None of them do besides the truly dimwitted ones (Gowdy, Gosar, Boebert, etc).
The Republican party's primary ideology is nihilism.
The Republican party's primary ideology is nihilism.
a man in a hooded jacket says we believe in nothing lebowski
ALT: a man in a hooded jacket says we believe in nothing lebowski
media.tenor.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:44 PM
He doesn't. None of them do besides the truly dimwitted ones (Gowdy, Gosar, Boebert, etc).
The Republican party's primary ideology is nihilism.
The Republican party's primary ideology is nihilism.
We're less than a week away from an NYT thinkpiece "asking questions" about what the age of consent really means aren't we?
...I really picked the wrong year to stop drinking.
...I really picked the wrong year to stop drinking.
November 13, 2025 at 10:41 PM
We're less than a week away from an NYT thinkpiece "asking questions" about what the age of consent really means aren't we?
...I really picked the wrong year to stop drinking.
...I really picked the wrong year to stop drinking.
Can we establish a new rule that anyone making generalizations about "the left" that includes everyone from corporate Dems to full-on socialists is talking strawman bollocks and can be safely ignored and/or ridiculed as a low-talent hack?
November 13, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Can we establish a new rule that anyone making generalizations about "the left" that includes everyone from corporate Dems to full-on socialists is talking strawman bollocks and can be safely ignored and/or ridiculed as a low-talent hack?
One of the things I've come to understand over the last year is that, more than anything else, the 4th estate has been utterly ravaged by a culture of obliged credulousness.
The presumption, performance, and expectation of credulousness has given us the post-factual mainstream press.
The presumption, performance, and expectation of credulousness has given us the post-factual mainstream press.
November 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
One of the things I've come to understand over the last year is that, more than anything else, the 4th estate has been utterly ravaged by a culture of obliged credulousness.
The presumption, performance, and expectation of credulousness has given us the post-factual mainstream press.
The presumption, performance, and expectation of credulousness has given us the post-factual mainstream press.
Its fear of losing their careers because pissing the wrong powerful person off can be a career ender.
Its not even about avoiding lawsuits so much as its about making sure that you can tell your boss that someone else said the thing and therefore pissing off said powerful person isn't your fault.
Its not even about avoiding lawsuits so much as its about making sure that you can tell your boss that someone else said the thing and therefore pissing off said powerful person isn't your fault.
November 13, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Its fear of losing their careers because pissing the wrong powerful person off can be a career ender.
Its not even about avoiding lawsuits so much as its about making sure that you can tell your boss that someone else said the thing and therefore pissing off said powerful person isn't your fault.
Its not even about avoiding lawsuits so much as its about making sure that you can tell your boss that someone else said the thing and therefore pissing off said powerful person isn't your fault.
Indeed.
Schumer might be the most obvious problem by virtue of him being the most prominent Senate Dem, but he's only there because his caucus wants him there and they're largely OK with how things are playing out.
There's only one viable answer:
Primary.
Everyone.
Schumer might be the most obvious problem by virtue of him being the most prominent Senate Dem, but he's only there because his caucus wants him there and they're largely OK with how things are playing out.
There's only one viable answer:
Primary.
Everyone.
November 13, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Indeed.
Schumer might be the most obvious problem by virtue of him being the most prominent Senate Dem, but he's only there because his caucus wants him there and they're largely OK with how things are playing out.
There's only one viable answer:
Primary.
Everyone.
Schumer might be the most obvious problem by virtue of him being the most prominent Senate Dem, but he's only there because his caucus wants him there and they're largely OK with how things are playing out.
There's only one viable answer:
Primary.
Everyone.
I don't see any way to address the media side of this problem as long as major newsmedia platforms are owned by for-profit corporations. Sensational coverage of crime is a big part of what made TV news (and cable in particular) a profit center decades ago. They won't give that up voluntarily.
November 12, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I don't see any way to address the media side of this problem as long as major newsmedia platforms are owned by for-profit corporations. Sensational coverage of crime is a big part of what made TV news (and cable in particular) a profit center decades ago. They won't give that up voluntarily.
CNN is little more than state-run media with extra steps.
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM
CNN is little more than state-run media with extra steps.
I don't know what baffles me more: that these people think we're all credulous enough to buy that, or there are still a lot of people out there who are indeed credulous enough to believe it.
Either way, we live in the dumbest of times.
Either way, we live in the dumbest of times.
November 9, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I don't know what baffles me more: that these people think we're all credulous enough to buy that, or there are still a lot of people out there who are indeed credulous enough to believe it.
Either way, we live in the dumbest of times.
Either way, we live in the dumbest of times.
I'm with this line of thinking. You can add dementia as an accelerant since that tends to make narcs even worse.
I don't think MTG is a rat jumping ship so much as she's posturing herself as a rival to the likes of Vance (etc) as heir to MAGA when Orange Julius inevitably falls out on the toilet.
I don't think MTG is a rat jumping ship so much as she's posturing herself as a rival to the likes of Vance (etc) as heir to MAGA when Orange Julius inevitably falls out on the toilet.
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I'm with this line of thinking. You can add dementia as an accelerant since that tends to make narcs even worse.
I don't think MTG is a rat jumping ship so much as she's posturing herself as a rival to the likes of Vance (etc) as heir to MAGA when Orange Julius inevitably falls out on the toilet.
I don't think MTG is a rat jumping ship so much as she's posturing herself as a rival to the likes of Vance (etc) as heir to MAGA when Orange Julius inevitably falls out on the toilet.
This moment was always coming. MTG is a full-time grifter who does full commitment to the bit.
I'm all for it.
I'm all for it.
November 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This moment was always coming. MTG is a full-time grifter who does full commitment to the bit.
I'm all for it.
I'm all for it.
That's the overarching strategy. Use the "process as punishment" method to make saying anything that those charged with enforcement *might* not like simply too risky for firms and organizations.
Its fuzzy prior restraint with extra steps.
Its fuzzy prior restraint with extra steps.
November 7, 2025 at 1:14 AM
That's the overarching strategy. Use the "process as punishment" method to make saying anything that those charged with enforcement *might* not like simply too risky for firms and organizations.
Its fuzzy prior restraint with extra steps.
Its fuzzy prior restraint with extra steps.
I've never considered her crazy or particularly stupid; she's a nihilistic con-artist who shamelessly performs full commitment to the bit to get what she wants.
She's making her play because she (accurately) sees Johnson as weak. Simple cynical opportunism.
She's making her play because she (accurately) sees Johnson as weak. Simple cynical opportunism.
November 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I've never considered her crazy or particularly stupid; she's a nihilistic con-artist who shamelessly performs full commitment to the bit to get what she wants.
She's making her play because she (accurately) sees Johnson as weak. Simple cynical opportunism.
She's making her play because she (accurately) sees Johnson as weak. Simple cynical opportunism.