ZP Alabasium
@zpalabasium.bsky.social
Too much time (re)posting on our sad politics. I would rather focus on Africa, history, religion, music, SF, NBA. 5x5 is my favorite stat line. Pacers my team; Thunder my side-piece. Hoosier in Mountaineer country.
I have friends everywhere.
I have friends everywhere.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Surrender
December 19, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Surrender
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Yglesias referring to Senator Van Hollen as a "safe seat clout-chaser" is so despicable. VH took a stand to prevent Abrego García - an innocent man - from being disappeared into CECOT for life.
matt & co’s theory of how public opinion on immigration would respond to new information was simply empirically wrong.
at this point the only reasonable conclusion is they refuse to update their priors w/ new data because the data is inconvenient for them
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
at this point the only reasonable conclusion is they refuse to update their priors w/ new data because the data is inconvenient for them
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
December 19, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Yglesias referring to Senator Van Hollen as a "safe seat clout-chaser" is so despicable. VH took a stand to prevent Abrego García - an innocent man - from being disappeared into CECOT for life.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Do I dislike myself for occasionally looking at modern statistics with a bit of a side eye?
No. I should look at them that way more often.
No. I should look at them that way more often.
We’re in the juiced ball era of basketball.
December 19, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Do I dislike myself for occasionally looking at modern statistics with a bit of a side eye?
No. I should look at them that way more often.
No. I should look at them that way more often.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Lord, please give me the strength not to say shit out loud just because it sounds really funny in my head.
December 19, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Lord, please give me the strength not to say shit out loud just because it sounds really funny in my head.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Speaker Mike Johnson says his entire worldview comes from the Bible.
But he’s about to kick 2 million Texans off their healthcare right before Christmas.
If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.
But he’s about to kick 2 million Texans off their healthcare right before Christmas.
If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.
December 19, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Speaker Mike Johnson says his entire worldview comes from the Bible.
But he’s about to kick 2 million Texans off their healthcare right before Christmas.
If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.
But he’s about to kick 2 million Texans off their healthcare right before Christmas.
If you aren’t loving your neighbor, then keep Jesus’ name out of your mouth.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
All of us sometimes think stupid things, but we don't say them out loud (let alone publish them in the NY Times).
“The mind-set shift needed here is to acknowledge that while climate change is real and harmful, the utility of fossil fuels is not something the oil and gas industry tricked the public into,” Matthew Yglesias writes.
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Do. Why Don’t Democrats?
Liberals should reconcile with America’s oil and gas industry.
nyti.ms
December 19, 2025 at 5:14 AM
All of us sometimes think stupid things, but we don't say them out loud (let alone publish them in the NY Times).
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Blatant lies told last election:
1) Protestors in favor of Palestinian civil rights are violent antisemites
2) Trans people are corrupting youth
The lies were meant to put Democrats on the defensive.
1) Protestors in favor of Palestinian civil rights are violent antisemites
2) Trans people are corrupting youth
The lies were meant to put Democrats on the defensive.
December 19, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Blatant lies told last election:
1) Protestors in favor of Palestinian civil rights are violent antisemites
2) Trans people are corrupting youth
The lies were meant to put Democrats on the defensive.
1) Protestors in favor of Palestinian civil rights are violent antisemites
2) Trans people are corrupting youth
The lies were meant to put Democrats on the defensive.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
who's next you're willing to throw under the bus
December 19, 2025 at 2:35 AM
who's next you're willing to throw under the bus
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
I wanted the Suns to draft Dillon Brooks in the 2nd round way back in 2017 because I thought he'd look a lot like the dude he's been in Phoenix this year. Pretty cool seeing what he's brought this season
December 19, 2025 at 4:22 AM
I wanted the Suns to draft Dillon Brooks in the 2nd round way back in 2017 because I thought he'd look a lot like the dude he's been in Phoenix this year. Pretty cool seeing what he's brought this season
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Tonight in The December Comfort Watches: Starship Troopers. Did you know that, in a wild coincidence, there is also a novel of the same name? I talk about both in the piece! Would you like to know more?
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/18/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/18/t...
The December Comfort Watches 2025, Day Eighteen: Starship Troopers
If you should ever want to wind up an old-school Robert Heinlein fan — which, by the way, you shouldn’t do, they’re all clocking seventy-plus years now, and you should respect you…
whatever.scalzi.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Tonight in The December Comfort Watches: Starship Troopers. Did you know that, in a wild coincidence, there is also a novel of the same name? I talk about both in the piece! Would you like to know more?
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/18/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/18/t...
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
We are living in the answer to the question: If Congress never exercises or defends Article I powers, do they even exist?
Like renaming the Defense Department the "War Department," the name of the Kennedy Center has not been legally changed, because Congress has not changed it-->
Kennedy Center renamed the 'Trump-Kennedy Center,' White House says www.usatoday.com/story/news/p... via @usatoday.com
Kennedy Center renamed the 'Trump-Kennedy Center,' White House says www.usatoday.com/story/news/p... via @usatoday.com
Kennedy Center renamed the 'Trump-Kennedy Center,' White House says
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington is now called the the "Trump-Kennedy Center," according to the White House.
www.usatoday.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:35 AM
We are living in the answer to the question: If Congress never exercises or defends Article I powers, do they even exist?
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Democrats feared that a handful of their members would vote for anti-trans legislation. So Sarah McBride spoke with some of the Republicans who ultimately voted ‘no." via @oriana.bsky.social
www.notus.org/congress/mcb...
www.notus.org/congress/mcb...
Sarah McBride Lobbied Some Republicans to Vote Against an Anti-Trans Bill
When House Democrats suspected a few members in their caucus would support a bill criminalizing gender-affirming care for trans youth, McBride reached out to some Republicans who went on to oppose the...
www.notus.org
December 19, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Democrats feared that a handful of their members would vote for anti-trans legislation. So Sarah McBride spoke with some of the Republicans who ultimately voted ‘no." via @oriana.bsky.social
www.notus.org/congress/mcb...
www.notus.org/congress/mcb...
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
I keep coming back to this thread on the Nero Decree over and over again.
Twitter. CBS. Columbia. The Fed. The Kennedy Center.
They're not transforming them, they're burning them and salting the earth behind them so they can't be rebuilt.
And the biggest target of all is the internet.
Twitter. CBS. Columbia. The Fed. The Kennedy Center.
They're not transforming them, they're burning them and salting the earth behind them so they can't be rebuilt.
And the biggest target of all is the internet.
We saw the prototype of the Nero Doctrine with Twitter. The goal wasn't to make it profitable or "free." The goal was to break the one place where news broke faster than the state could spin it.
They bought the town square not to speak in it, but to burn it down so we’d have nowhere else to gather.
They bought the town square not to speak in it, but to burn it down so we’d have nowhere else to gather.
December 18, 2025 at 11:11 PM
I keep coming back to this thread on the Nero Decree over and over again.
Twitter. CBS. Columbia. The Fed. The Kennedy Center.
They're not transforming them, they're burning them and salting the earth behind them so they can't be rebuilt.
And the biggest target of all is the internet.
Twitter. CBS. Columbia. The Fed. The Kennedy Center.
They're not transforming them, they're burning them and salting the earth behind them so they can't be rebuilt.
And the biggest target of all is the internet.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
What an astonishingly dishonest piece of propaganda for the fossil fuel industry, including its citing of Obama's extremely outdated energy policies and its misrepresentation of Norwegian public opinion.
“The mind-set shift needed here is to acknowledge that while climate change is real and harmful, the utility of fossil fuels is not something the oil and gas industry tricked the public into,” Matthew Yglesias writes.
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Do. Why Don’t Democrats?
Liberals should reconcile with America’s oil and gas industry.
nyti.ms
December 18, 2025 at 11:14 PM
What an astonishingly dishonest piece of propaganda for the fossil fuel industry, including its citing of Obama's extremely outdated energy policies and its misrepresentation of Norwegian public opinion.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Pew: "Two-thirds of U.S. adults say the country should prioritize developing renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, over expanding the production of oil, coal and natural gas, according to a survey conducted in June 2023."
What the data says about Americans’ views of climate change
Two-thirds of Americans say the United States should prioritize developing renewable energy sources over expanding the production of fossil fuels.
www.pewresearch.org
December 18, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Pew: "Two-thirds of U.S. adults say the country should prioritize developing renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, over expanding the production of oil, coal and natural gas, according to a survey conducted in June 2023."
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
All that said, the Democrats could sell renewables better (and so could the mainstream media, starting with not publishing garbage like this). Not least by preaching the gospel of how cheap it can be. It'll be free in the middle of the day in parts of Australia. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Australian households to get free electricity three hours a day
Saying there is enough solar power for everyone in the daytime, the federal government will direct retailers to provide three hours of free power every day to consumers.
www.abc.net.au
December 18, 2025 at 11:23 PM
All that said, the Democrats could sell renewables better (and so could the mainstream media, starting with not publishing garbage like this). Not least by preaching the gospel of how cheap it can be. It'll be free in the middle of the day in parts of Australia. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
I mean when did Barack Obama last make an energy policy? He'll have been out of office for a decade come January. One thing I've been enjoying at the NYT lately: readers are almost always better people and smarter ones than the columnists. True here too in the reader comments.
December 18, 2025 at 11:21 PM
I mean when did Barack Obama last make an energy policy? He'll have been out of office for a decade come January. One thing I've been enjoying at the NYT lately: readers are almost always better people and smarter ones than the columnists. True here too in the reader comments.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Authors, remember that you CAN insist on human translation for your foreign-language editions and have it written into your contracts. You can no longer just assume you're going to get a human to work on the book whose every word you wrote with intent.
December 18, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Authors, remember that you CAN insist on human translation for your foreign-language editions and have it written into your contracts. You can no longer just assume you're going to get a human to work on the book whose every word you wrote with intent.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Just imagine becoming the most powerful person on earth and using that power not to solve homelessness or hunger, not to right historical wrongs, not to make life even a little bit easier, but to force your own name onto a dead man's memorial.
Demonic.
https://youtu.be/trM95fkboM0
Demonic.
https://youtu.be/trM95fkboM0
Demonic.
It’s the word evangelicals use for everything they fear. It's no coincidence then that they’ve gone strangely quiet about the absolute damnable, demonic crue...
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Just imagine becoming the most powerful person on earth and using that power not to solve homelessness or hunger, not to right historical wrongs, not to make life even a little bit easier, but to force your own name onto a dead man's memorial.
Demonic.
https://youtu.be/trM95fkboM0
Demonic.
https://youtu.be/trM95fkboM0
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Remember how I said I have it written into my foreign-language contracts that my work has to be translated by an actual human? This shit is why.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
French publishing house Harlequin decided to use AI translation instead of human translations.
All their freelance translators (some of whom had been working with Harlequin for +30y!!!) were told they would no longer receive work from Harlequin
All their freelance translators (some of whom had been working with Harlequin for +30y!!!) were told they would no longer receive work from Harlequin
December 18, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Remember how I said I have it written into my foreign-language contracts that my work has to be translated by an actual human? This shit is why.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
Those book translations are gonna suck. They'll save money putting out books that are going to be painful to read. That's not a great long-term strategy.
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
A big reason this is bad is it could let the Future Forward Super PAC escape any accountability for the 2024 loss. It had hundreds of millions of dollars in donor money, and the DNC report was reportedly going to fault them. Now this will remain undisclosed:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
December 18, 2025 at 4:11 PM
A big reason this is bad is it could let the Future Forward Super PAC escape any accountability for the 2024 loss. It had hundreds of millions of dollars in donor money, and the DNC report was reportedly going to fault them. Now this will remain undisclosed:
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
newrepublic.com/article/2045...
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
Trump is heavily focused on getting a military that's personally loyal to him, from the generals to the rank-and-file. He needs it for when he asks them to fire on protesting American citizens, or staging his next coup
It's a shell game. Trump is taking money from soldiers' housing subsidies to "give" them $1,776 "warrior dividend" checks.
Trump rebrands Congressionally-approved troop housing subsidy as ‘warrior dividend’ bonus
More than $2.9 billion in reconciliation funds was allocated to beef up troop housing allowances. Now it’s being used for $1,776 checks.
www.defenseone.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Trump is heavily focused on getting a military that's personally loyal to him, from the generals to the rank-and-file. He needs it for when he asks them to fire on protesting American citizens, or staging his next coup
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
The NBA has yet to rule on whether Terry Rozier is trade-eligible this year, and it reportedly won't do so until/unless the Heat try to trade him.
At @fansidednba.bsky.social, I wrote about how that order of operations is totally backward and unfair to the Heat:
fansided.com/nba/how-the-...
At @fansidednba.bsky.social, I wrote about how that order of operations is totally backward and unfair to the Heat:
fansided.com/nba/how-the-...
The NBA might thwart the Heat from trading for Giannis
The league has yet decide whether the Heat can trade Terry Rozier, which might complicate their efforts to build a trade package for the Greek Freak.
fansided.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The NBA has yet to rule on whether Terry Rozier is trade-eligible this year, and it reportedly won't do so until/unless the Heat try to trade him.
At @fansidednba.bsky.social, I wrote about how that order of operations is totally backward and unfair to the Heat:
fansided.com/nba/how-the-...
At @fansidednba.bsky.social, I wrote about how that order of operations is totally backward and unfair to the Heat:
fansided.com/nba/how-the-...
Reposted by ZP Alabasium
The problem isn't that we can't talk to each other
The marketplace has heard the ideas
Large supermajorities reject them
Yet our anti-democratic political institutions allow the 20-25% that like those ideas to capture & control all the institutions
The problem is the anti-democratic institutions
The marketplace has heard the ideas
Large supermajorities reject them
Yet our anti-democratic political institutions allow the 20-25% that like those ideas to capture & control all the institutions
The problem is the anti-democratic institutions
CNN has a show with a similar line. That the problem with this country is we just aren’t talking to each other.
It’s the kind of diagnosis that a toddler would land on.
It’s the kind of diagnosis that a toddler would land on.
December 18, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The problem isn't that we can't talk to each other
The marketplace has heard the ideas
Large supermajorities reject them
Yet our anti-democratic political institutions allow the 20-25% that like those ideas to capture & control all the institutions
The problem is the anti-democratic institutions
The marketplace has heard the ideas
Large supermajorities reject them
Yet our anti-democratic political institutions allow the 20-25% that like those ideas to capture & control all the institutions
The problem is the anti-democratic institutions