J. Sam Drolet
@jsamdrolet.bsky.social
Personal account. He/him/his.
Reposted by J. Sam Drolet
one of the weirdest things that people believe on a website where the collective mood changes every thirty-six hours is that events completely unknown to 60% of the population, where 90% have the facts wrong, will have persistent effects eighteen months later
November 11, 2025 at 5:55 AM
one of the weirdest things that people believe on a website where the collective mood changes every thirty-six hours is that events completely unknown to 60% of the population, where 90% have the facts wrong, will have persistent effects eighteen months later
TIL that the song was based largely on this Newsweek article. I'm not objecting; it's a good article, and a great song. Just kind of fascinating the way these things happen.
Here is the Newsweek magazine article that led to the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," marked up to show key passages that Lightfoot borrowed. Short thread at quoted post. Thanks to @bikeguy.bsky.social for reminding me about this. #EdmundFitzgerald50
November 11, 2025 at 8:17 AM
TIL that the song was based largely on this Newsweek article. I'm not objecting; it's a good article, and a great song. Just kind of fascinating the way these things happen.
People definitely did pay for health care in the 19th century US. It was extremely cheap and almost totally ineffective. When people had serious health problems they usually just died, regardless of how much health care they got. (Often a lot! It was extremely cheap!)
I just saw someone say that people back in the day (1800s) didn’t pay for healthcare and (1) y’all there was a lot of advertising for health products!
It was just that without any real regulation, nobody knew what worked.
It was just that without any real regulation, nobody knew what worked.
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 AM
People definitely did pay for health care in the 19th century US. It was extremely cheap and almost totally ineffective. When people had serious health problems they usually just died, regardless of how much health care they got. (Often a lot! It was extremely cheap!)
Attn: @monicacarmean.com
I'm waiting for the one that was prophesied, the man who would unite the kingdom, Stephen M. Begich-Sullivan. His campaign slogan: "I'm all the familiar names so don't think, just fill the box." The M is for Murkowski.
November 11, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Attn: @monicacarmean.com
I don't think this makes a huge difference to the overall race. Neither is very likely to win (despite that ASR poll), and probably only one will get through to the general and their supporters will split similarly in RCV. Most will go to Bishop.
www.adn.com/politics/202...
www.adn.com/politics/202...
Anchorage lawmaker is 14th candidate to enter Alaska governor’s race
State Sen. Matt Claman is the second Democrat to join the field.
www.adn.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I don't think this makes a huge difference to the overall race. Neither is very likely to win (despite that ASR poll), and probably only one will get through to the general and their supporters will split similarly in RCV. Most will go to Bishop.
www.adn.com/politics/202...
www.adn.com/politics/202...
Many people are saying!
As Trump proclaims the Alaskan Arctic open for business, it turns out business isn’t good. The infrastructure to drill in the Arctic is expensive and the private companies interested in the area don’t appear to have the capital.
Trump officials say Alaska is 'open for business.' So far, no one's buying.
The administration wants to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Oil companies don’t, leaving Alaska to spend millions propping up the idea.
grist.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Many people are saying!
This is very true and important to understand. There is some overlap, but those people are very much the exception rather than the rule.
I say this as someone who only just realised this, but I think those of us who spend large portions of our leisure time following/commenting/joking about politics underestimate the big ways that politicians are not more successful versions of ourselves but actually a very different type of person
November 6, 2025 at 9:54 AM
This is very true and important to understand. There is some overlap, but those people are very much the exception rather than the rule.
A waste of gunpowder and sky.
everybody’s got something they wanna burn and you can do that safely without scaring dogs or people with war related PTSD and with much less pollution
November 6, 2025 at 9:42 AM
A waste of gunpowder and sky.
This is one of the weirdest things about all the Mamdani Discourse: It's been almost entirely about Zohran himself, who doesn't have much of a record on anything, rather than his parents, who have *long* records on *many* relevant topics and are *very* famous within their respective fields.
your basic idea is that an Indian Muslim whose father was expelled from Uganda for being Indian and whose maternal grandparents lived through the violence of the Partition, on the wrong side of the border, is predisposed to believe that countries have a right to maintain an ethnoreligious majority
No, it's antisemitic - the reason he gave was that he doesn't recognize the right of any country who treats groups preferentially to exist, but he recognizes many such nations. Take Pakistan (who his mom is accused of being an apologist for): officially Muslims, Christians can only practice (cont)
November 6, 2025 at 8:35 AM
This is one of the weirdest things about all the Mamdani Discourse: It's been almost entirely about Zohran himself, who doesn't have much of a record on anything, rather than his parents, who have *long* records on *many* relevant topics and are *very* famous within their respective fields.
Oh, this one’s going to cause some Discourse.
FINAL ROUND:
Tom Begich (D) 50.6%
Nancy Dahlstrom (R) 49.4%
Wow! Close!
So, has Mary Peltola announced for US Senate against Dan Sullivan yet?
What's taking her so long?
Tom Begich (D) 50.6%
Nancy Dahlstrom (R) 49.4%
Wow! Close!
So, has Mary Peltola announced for US Senate against Dan Sullivan yet?
What's taking her so long?
November 6, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Oh, this one’s going to cause some Discourse.
The funny thing about Duffy is that he's one of the least qualified Trump cabinet secretaries but also one of the sanest and most competent just based on understanding things like "planes falling out of the sky on our watch is Bad, Actually."
BREAKING: The FAA will cut air traffic by 10% at 40 airports across the country starting Friday if shutdown continues. https://cnn.it/3Xfbhzs
November 5, 2025 at 10:51 PM
The funny thing about Duffy is that he's one of the least qualified Trump cabinet secretaries but also one of the sanest and most competent just based on understanding things like "planes falling out of the sky on our watch is Bad, Actually."
This is the most impressive and consistent Blue Wave election in quite a long time.
November 5, 2025 at 7:12 AM
This is the most impressive and consistent Blue Wave election in quite a long time.
Reposted by J. Sam Drolet
this is the most successful a CIA officer has been at toppling a government in years.
November 5, 2025 at 1:13 AM
this is the most successful a CIA officer has been at toppling a government in years.
Reposted by J. Sam Drolet
you really don't want your government to get in the habit of using hunger as a weapon against its own people. just sayin
November 4, 2025 at 5:03 AM
you really don't want your government to get in the habit of using hunger as a weapon against its own people. just sayin
So, uh, how'd things turn out for that Gatsby guy?
Per Danny Kemp via press pool
Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL
“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”
Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL
“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”
November 1, 2025 at 8:58 AM
So, uh, how'd things turn out for that Gatsby guy?
It's so funny that this whole thing happened at Ole Miss, of all places.
November 1, 2025 at 8:23 AM
It's so funny that this whole thing happened at Ole Miss, of all places.
Watched Sinners with the family on Halloween night. Good movie.
November 1, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Watched Sinners with the family on Halloween night. Good movie.
So as I was saying earlier, Mamdani is doing Popularism right.
The existence of this photograph (which is a real photo of a real person at a Mamdani campaign event) is enough to establish for me that voters writ large have absolutely no grasp of what policy is or how any given policy impacts their lives. It's all vibes.
October 30, 2025 at 8:12 AM
So as I was saying earlier, Mamdani is doing Popularism right.
This is interesting for a number of reasons, but I can't help but notice that the one on the right seems to misspell his name. Obviously there's no, like, *standard* way to spell "Zohran" in Yiddish, but זאהראן is surely more correct than זהאראן.
BREAKING: Both Satmar factions decide not to endorse a candidate for mayor and decry the vicious campaign against Mamdani that paints him as hostile to Jews.
In letters to their community members, the Satmar leadership calls the attacks against Mamdani false and dangerous.
In letters to their community members, the Satmar leadership calls the attacks against Mamdani false and dangerous.
October 30, 2025 at 5:46 AM
This is interesting for a number of reasons, but I can't help but notice that the one on the right seems to misspell his name. Obviously there's no, like, *standard* way to spell "Zohran" in Yiddish, but זאהראן is surely more correct than זהאראן.
OMG this is hilarious.
October 30, 2025 at 5:28 AM
OMG this is hilarious.
Literal Ship Money!
The White House says it’s going to use procurement dollars to illegally pay the troops for rather than do it the legal way of enacting a military pay bill.
You cannot w/ a straight face tell me using procurement dollars to pay the military adheres to the purpose statute and the Antideficiency Act.
You cannot w/ a straight face tell me using procurement dollars to pay the military adheres to the purpose statute and the Antideficiency Act.
October 29, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Literal Ship Money!
We're working on it!
Take, I dunno, Alaska. Conventionally & traditionally pretty red. But what if you made Anchorage a little nicer? What if you made some dense walkable areas with coffee shops & other amenities meant to draw knowledge-workers & their families? What if you attracted some high-profile employers?
October 29, 2025 at 9:27 PM
We're working on it!