@jimshankland.bsky.social
"Ah, yes, in America you call it ze alt-right. In Germany, we call it "why Grandpapa lives in Argentina now."
December 16, 2025 at 4:58 PM
"Ah, yes, in America you call it ze alt-right. In Germany, we call it "why Grandpapa lives in Argentina now."
"Please take that down, it's beneath you" is unintentionally hilarious.
December 15, 2025 at 5:09 PM
"Please take that down, it's beneath you" is unintentionally hilarious.
$18 trillion of new investment has come into this country? From where? When?
I mean, on some level this reflects a paucity of imagination. If you're just making up numbers, why not say $18 quadrillion?
I mean, on some level this reflects a paucity of imagination. If you're just making up numbers, why not say $18 quadrillion?
December 13, 2025 at 6:23 AM
$18 trillion of new investment has come into this country? From where? When?
I mean, on some level this reflects a paucity of imagination. If you're just making up numbers, why not say $18 quadrillion?
I mean, on some level this reflects a paucity of imagination. If you're just making up numbers, why not say $18 quadrillion?
btw, if you're interested in the history of Jews in Germany, with a particular focus on intellectual history, I can't recommend highly enough Amos Elon's The Pity Of It All.
December 12, 2025 at 7:58 PM
btw, if you're interested in the history of Jews in Germany, with a particular focus on intellectual history, I can't recommend highly enough Amos Elon's The Pity Of It All.
(Credit where due: the above quote is from @timothysnyder.bsky.social 's Bloodlands.)
December 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM
(Credit where due: the above quote is from @timothysnyder.bsky.social 's Bloodlands.)
... conquering the continent, then Germany's could mean conquering the inferior people to its east. "The Volga will be our Mississippi", said Hitler.
December 12, 2025 at 7:08 PM
... conquering the continent, then Germany's could mean conquering the inferior people to its east. "The Volga will be our Mississippi", said Hitler.
It is, indeed, false. But if you change it to "the Nazis were encouraged in their racism by American treatment of Blacks and, especially, Native Americans", it's at least partly true. There's Hitler's fascination with the author Karl May, and the notion that if America's manifest destiny meant ...
December 12, 2025 at 7:06 PM
It is, indeed, false. But if you change it to "the Nazis were encouraged in their racism by American treatment of Blacks and, especially, Native Americans", it's at least partly true. There's Hitler's fascination with the author Karl May, and the notion that if America's manifest destiny meant ...
The case becomes clearer if you blur out the racism and focus on job performance. A world in which someone in retail customer service can grab at their crotch and say "suck it" to a customer and not be fired immediately is a world gone mad. The racism is just ... icing on the bun.
December 12, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The case becomes clearer if you blur out the racism and focus on job performance. A world in which someone in retail customer service can grab at their crotch and say "suck it" to a customer and not be fired immediately is a world gone mad. The racism is just ... icing on the bun.
Ample precedent suggests you are right. After 1945, the story became that absolutely no one ever supported the Vichy régime.
But though failure will be an orphan, I predict a booming business in excoriating Democrats for failing to clean up the wreckage fast enough.
But though failure will be an orphan, I predict a booming business in excoriating Democrats for failing to clean up the wreckage fast enough.
December 12, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Ample precedent suggests you are right. After 1945, the story became that absolutely no one ever supported the Vichy régime.
But though failure will be an orphan, I predict a booming business in excoriating Democrats for failing to clean up the wreckage fast enough.
But though failure will be an orphan, I predict a booming business in excoriating Democrats for failing to clean up the wreckage fast enough.
Ah, the always devastating "I know you are, but what am I?" riposte.
December 8, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Ah, the always devastating "I know you are, but what am I?" riposte.
What do you expect from the Radical Lunatic Marxists at The Economist?
December 7, 2025 at 9:32 PM
What do you expect from the Radical Lunatic Marxists at The Economist?
The part that will be really hard to fix is the long-term loss of influence and respect for the US. On the global stage, we were generally seen as the adults in the room. Now we're seen as the petulant, erratic toddler in the room.
December 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The part that will be really hard to fix is the long-term loss of influence and respect for the US. On the global stage, we were generally seen as the adults in the room. Now we're seen as the petulant, erratic toddler in the room.
Their recruiting videos were definitely more about DEI than 19th century philosophy, too!
youtu.be/nmGuy0jievs
youtu.be/nmGuy0jievs
IN THE NAVY---VILLAGE PEOPLE, Official Music Video (1979) HD
YouTube video by VictorWillisMusicChannel
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Their recruiting videos were definitely more about DEI than 19th century philosophy, too!
youtu.be/nmGuy0jievs
youtu.be/nmGuy0jievs
Millenarian political movements always fail, often quickly. The issue is the wreckage they leave behind.
Anyway, can't help thinking of MTG as Trotsky to Trump's Stalin here.
Anyway, can't help thinking of MTG as Trotsky to Trump's Stalin here.
December 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Millenarian political movements always fail, often quickly. The issue is the wreckage they leave behind.
Anyway, can't help thinking of MTG as Trotsky to Trump's Stalin here.
Anyway, can't help thinking of MTG as Trotsky to Trump's Stalin here.
Ideally, solar and wind farms would be evaluated based on their practical utility, rather than being reflexively opposed as a totem of tribal affiliation.
December 6, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Ideally, solar and wind farms would be evaluated based on their practical utility, rather than being reflexively opposed as a totem of tribal affiliation.
If only he knew someone in the government.
December 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
If only he knew someone in the government.
Also should go without saying that there is only one reality, even though no one has unmediated access to it.
The notion that people whose boat was bombed were trying to "stay in the fight" (what fight?) when they tried to right their boat defies plausibility.
The notion that people whose boat was bombed were trying to "stay in the fight" (what fight?) when they tried to right their boat defies plausibility.
December 5, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Also should go without saying that there is only one reality, even though no one has unmediated access to it.
The notion that people whose boat was bombed were trying to "stay in the fight" (what fight?) when they tried to right their boat defies plausibility.
The notion that people whose boat was bombed were trying to "stay in the fight" (what fight?) when they tried to right their boat defies plausibility.
"Close to You " in Parenthood (1989)
YouTube video by hachi whatfat
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 4:51 PM
It's a bidirectional stream. If you can tell the difference between good writing and bad, and find yourself having trouble writing well, it's a sign that you need to go back and clarify your thinking.
December 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
It's a bidirectional stream. If you can tell the difference between good writing and bad, and find yourself having trouble writing well, it's a sign that you need to go back and clarify your thinking.
Arlo Guthrie - Deportee (Live at Farm Aid 2000)
YouTube video by Farm Aid
youtu.be
December 3, 2025 at 7:27 AM
(*) Not counting the 27th, which was proposed at the same time as the Bill of Rights, and forgotten about for over 2 centuries.
November 29, 2025 at 7:18 AM
(*) Not counting the 27th, which was proposed at the same time as the Bill of Rights, and forgotten about for over 2 centuries.
It has not always been equally hard.
11 amendments were proposed and ratified in the 20th century (*); but the last was in 1971, and there have been none since. I don't expect to see any more in my lifetime. Either perfection has finally been achieved, or sclerosis of the polity is now advanced.
11 amendments were proposed and ratified in the 20th century (*); but the last was in 1971, and there have been none since. I don't expect to see any more in my lifetime. Either perfection has finally been achieved, or sclerosis of the polity is now advanced.
November 29, 2025 at 7:17 AM
It has not always been equally hard.
11 amendments were proposed and ratified in the 20th century (*); but the last was in 1971, and there have been none since. I don't expect to see any more in my lifetime. Either perfection has finally been achieved, or sclerosis of the polity is now advanced.
11 amendments were proposed and ratified in the 20th century (*); but the last was in 1971, and there have been none since. I don't expect to see any more in my lifetime. Either perfection has finally been achieved, or sclerosis of the polity is now advanced.
Am I hallucinating to think that airlines are coming up with ever finer grained product differentiation (not just first and business class any more, but economy plus, premium seats, extra legroom etc.) - and that these upcharged, extra comfort services are quite popular?
November 26, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Am I hallucinating to think that airlines are coming up with ever finer grained product differentiation (not just first and business class any more, but economy plus, premium seats, extra legroom etc.) - and that these upcharged, extra comfort services are quite popular?