Byron Gilman-Hernandez
@gilmanhernandez.bsky.social
Adjunct Professor in English in St. Louis
"Bubba" is also generic porn slang for a man who performs violent homosexual acts. "Say hi to Bubba for me" is a euphemism for "I hope you get raped in prison." It makes me think there's not a real photo that Epstein's referencing, just a homophobic insult because he's pissed at Trump.
November 14, 2025 at 9:52 PM
"Bubba" is also generic porn slang for a man who performs violent homosexual acts. "Say hi to Bubba for me" is a euphemism for "I hope you get raped in prison." It makes me think there's not a real photo that Epstein's referencing, just a homophobic insult because he's pissed at Trump.
And also driving the entire world slightly more insane because no one will ever believe that he actually had a stroke at this moment and wasn't just assassinated by JD Vance or the Joint Chiefs or Marco Rubio or the First Lady or Russia or Venezuela or Israel or...
November 12, 2025 at 10:07 PM
And also driving the entire world slightly more insane because no one will ever believe that he actually had a stroke at this moment and wasn't just assassinated by JD Vance or the Joint Chiefs or Marco Rubio or the First Lady or Russia or Venezuela or Israel or...
After everything, deep down, people still don't see Trump as a real problem. He's a symptom or an aberration or a glitch, so the real fight has to be somewhere else and wherever it is, that's what governs how you handle Trump. And every time, it's the wrong move.
November 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
After everything, deep down, people still don't see Trump as a real problem. He's a symptom or an aberration or a glitch, so the real fight has to be somewhere else and wherever it is, that's what governs how you handle Trump. And every time, it's the wrong move.
The GOP in 2015 thought Trump was just a blip, so what mattered was who'd get Trump's voters once he flamed out. The Press thought they needed to be clear that future-President Hillary wasn't getting a coronation. McConnell thought he was finished after 1/6 so they didn't have to hang him.
November 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
The GOP in 2015 thought Trump was just a blip, so what mattered was who'd get Trump's voters once he flamed out. The Press thought they needed to be clear that future-President Hillary wasn't getting a coronation. McConnell thought he was finished after 1/6 so they didn't have to hang him.
It's kind of the same Trump problem every time: people assume he's cooked, so they prioritize managing the backlash (here by being relentlessly scrupulous and above suspicion of partisanship by slow-walking the case) only to get blindsided by the fact that Trump wasn't cooked.
November 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
It's kind of the same Trump problem every time: people assume he's cooked, so they prioritize managing the backlash (here by being relentlessly scrupulous and above suspicion of partisanship by slow-walking the case) only to get blindsided by the fact that Trump wasn't cooked.
Vader became Vader because he wasn't powerful enough to save his mother, from both death and slavery, and even with the power he has now, it's not enough. Every grain of sand on Tattooine is an eternal reminder and refutation of "Darth Vader." He is not going back there.
November 11, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Vader became Vader because he wasn't powerful enough to save his mother, from both death and slavery, and even with the power he has now, it's not enough. Every grain of sand on Tattooine is an eternal reminder and refutation of "Darth Vader." He is not going back there.
There's also a sort of Asimov logic here as well where one twin is sent to the halls of power with Bail Organa, the other is sent to the opposite (social) end of the universe with Owen Lars. The Force brings them back together to upend the galaxy.
November 10, 2025 at 9:04 PM
There's also a sort of Asimov logic here as well where one twin is sent to the halls of power with Bail Organa, the other is sent to the opposite (social) end of the universe with Owen Lars. The Force brings them back together to upend the galaxy.
The Tattooine connection was fine—Luke has literal family on the planet and Vader would never, ever go back there. Plus, it gives the whole thing a sort of ghost story energy, a Skywalker of Tattooine comes to haunt Anakin like he's facing his own echo.
November 10, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The Tattooine connection was fine—Luke has literal family on the planet and Vader would never, ever go back there. Plus, it gives the whole thing a sort of ghost story energy, a Skywalker of Tattooine comes to haunt Anakin like he's facing his own echo.
The only thing I know about The Reader is from Hugh Jackman's Oscar performance, and I think I'm better for it
"The Reader, I didn't see The Reader/ I went down to the theatre, but there was a line/Of people watching Iron Man a second time"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terh...
"The Reader, I didn't see The Reader/ I went down to the theatre, but there was a line/Of people watching Iron Man a second time"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terh...
Hugh Jackman's Opening Number: 81st Oscars (2009)
YouTube video by Oscars
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The only thing I know about The Reader is from Hugh Jackman's Oscar performance, and I think I'm better for it
"The Reader, I didn't see The Reader/ I went down to the theatre, but there was a line/Of people watching Iron Man a second time"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terh...
"The Reader, I didn't see The Reader/ I went down to the theatre, but there was a line/Of people watching Iron Man a second time"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terh...
I feel D&T's Wide Awakes stuff is the real "Blueskyism." We're all middle-aged dads here, whether literally or just spiritually, Civil War trivia is the currency of our culture.
November 5, 2025 at 6:25 PM
I feel D&T's Wide Awakes stuff is the real "Blueskyism." We're all middle-aged dads here, whether literally or just spiritually, Civil War trivia is the currency of our culture.
30 Rock celebrates a ruthless corporate executive and makes him endearingly lovable as he struggles with the fact that American workers are too dumb to actually build couches, or how his parent company's illegal dumping is making his dating life harder. This, weirdly, is not remarked upon.
November 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
30 Rock celebrates a ruthless corporate executive and makes him endearingly lovable as he struggles with the fact that American workers are too dumb to actually build couches, or how his parent company's illegal dumping is making his dating life harder. This, weirdly, is not remarked upon.
If your compliance expert walked in, took one look at your books, and immediately quit, yeah, that counts as a resignation a whoooooole lot.
Other resignations seem like issues with policy or personal direction, this reads like "I'm not going to jail for this."
Other resignations seem like issues with policy or personal direction, this reads like "I'm not going to jail for this."
November 3, 2025 at 3:27 AM
If your compliance expert walked in, took one look at your books, and immediately quit, yeah, that counts as a resignation a whoooooole lot.
Other resignations seem like issues with policy or personal direction, this reads like "I'm not going to jail for this."
Other resignations seem like issues with policy or personal direction, this reads like "I'm not going to jail for this."
Then Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found who found it too outrageous to have a Great Gatsby Party at Mar A Lago?"
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy America.”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy America.”
November 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Then Abraham said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found who found it too outrageous to have a Great Gatsby Party at Mar A Lago?"
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy America.”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy America.”
It's the kind of guy the well-financed campaign behind him is looking for: easy to gas up and get passionately "sincere," but not a lot of depth to his passion so when the tough decisions happen, he'll take the path of least resistance as his advisors present it to him. Deeply untrustworthy.
October 31, 2025 at 9:15 PM
It's the kind of guy the well-financed campaign behind him is looking for: easy to gas up and get passionately "sincere," but not a lot of depth to his passion so when the tough decisions happen, he'll take the path of least resistance as his advisors present it to him. Deeply untrustworthy.
He seems like a guy who's basically drifted from ideology to ideology like a lot of privileged white guys do. He didn't want to fight in the Indian Wars because he wanted to kill indigenous people, he just thought it'd be badass to fight in them because he never really has to think about things.
October 31, 2025 at 9:15 PM
He seems like a guy who's basically drifted from ideology to ideology like a lot of privileged white guys do. He didn't want to fight in the Indian Wars because he wanted to kill indigenous people, he just thought it'd be badass to fight in them because he never really has to think about things.
Those teens after they haul off the encyclopedias.
October 31, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Those teens after they haul off the encyclopedias.
Hoping Roko's Basilisk is real so it can tell you what it thinks about what you just wrote.
October 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Hoping Roko's Basilisk is real so it can tell you what it thinks about what you just wrote.
Or the theory that it's basically a big, fake distraction project to keep Trump occupied while his staff create their own fiefdoms. He'll tinker with it, pondering this design or this mockup, demand they make it gaudier, making no progress in an eternal loop until his heart gives out.
October 30, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Or the theory that it's basically a big, fake distraction project to keep Trump occupied while his staff create their own fiefdoms. He'll tinker with it, pondering this design or this mockup, demand they make it gaudier, making no progress in an eternal loop until his heart gives out.
Taking resources from Venezuela doesn't really make economic sense, oil prices are too low for even domestic drilling, but it does feed into Trump's long-term support for plundering. Sadism seems like the central motive, just a debate between which kind.
October 28, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Taking resources from Venezuela doesn't really make economic sense, oil prices are too low for even domestic drilling, but it does feed into Trump's long-term support for plundering. Sadism seems like the central motive, just a debate between which kind.
I'm anticipating something like the strikes on Iran—no follow through, no serious attempts to achieve our stated goals, just spectacular displays of violence followed by declaring victory forever.
October 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I'm anticipating something like the strikes on Iran—no follow through, no serious attempts to achieve our stated goals, just spectacular displays of violence followed by declaring victory forever.
Miss Piggy is aggressively right-wing in uncomfortable ways, but she's the sort of person who would have had a personal grudge against Donald Trump from the 80s, and she prioritizes personal grudges over all ideology. Let him rot!
Scooter is an alt right Elon fanboy, though.
Scooter is an alt right Elon fanboy, though.
October 27, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Miss Piggy is aggressively right-wing in uncomfortable ways, but she's the sort of person who would have had a personal grudge against Donald Trump from the 80s, and she prioritizes personal grudges over all ideology. Let him rot!
Scooter is an alt right Elon fanboy, though.
Scooter is an alt right Elon fanboy, though.
So the key limitation with AI right now is not a technical limitation, but a management one, and management is currently investing in AI to further entrench those limitations, creating feedback loops that make me pessimistic about the future of AI as an effective labor multiplier.
October 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
So the key limitation with AI right now is not a technical limitation, but a management one, and management is currently investing in AI to further entrench those limitations, creating feedback loops that make me pessimistic about the future of AI as an effective labor multiplier.