I agree she should be doing better, but it's not all her fault; her job is one where you hardly ever see a happy "customer". (I had such a job at a child support office.) For a society that runs on a service economy, we don't do much to prepare people for (or support them in) customer service work.
Cool!
Once the Republicans no longer needed Democratic cooperation, they spared no opportunities to demonize their opponents and game the system in their favor. 3/end
There was no lack of partisan rancor, but the existential threat of nuclear annihilation forced an "all hands on deck" mentality and submerging of differences that proved all too temporary after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 2/3
I think the Cold War had something to do with the bipartisanship of the last half of the 20th century, with the exodus of the Dixiecrats and the subsequent Republican "Southern Strategy" being possible secondary factors (for a little while the parties' ideologies "crossed paths"). 1/3
With alt-texted detail behind the money quote ("This isn’t a leadership crisis. It’s an ownership crisis."):
Different types of "yokai" from a 19th century Japanese book. They are in all shapes and sizes, and some resemble real-world creatures, from frogs to dogs to insects. Others look uniquely monstrous. Some are just walking while others carry weapons.
A yellow demon with a hammer prepares to strike a bright red, one-eyed demon resembling a beetle. A green demon with a spear stands in front of them, watching the scene unfold.
On the left, a headless demon holds up a mirror for a demon applying makeup to its face. On the right, a demon with three eyes stands on its hands and sticks out its tongue at a bear-like demon with a human-looking face, also sticking out its tongue. Several creatures appear to peer at the scene through small slits drawn onto the paper, possibly meant to appear like cracks in reality.
Tag yourself. 👹 "Yokai" are a class of supernatural beings that have long been a favorite subject for Japanese artists and storytellers. These are from “Kyōsai’s illustrated story of 100 demons," a recently digitized volume from the Library's Asian Division.
See more. ⬇️ www.loc.gov/resource/asi...
One of the best things at the Renaissance Festival were the two people dressed in goth fae outfits who were collecting dead-names and/or pronouns in a book for the fae to take away.
FAUN NPC: I’m taking a census. Are you BARD?
BARD: That’s me!
FAUN: Can I have your pronouns?
BARD: They/Them
FAUN: THEY’RE MINE NOW *vanishes*
GM: You all slowly realize that you cannot think of BARD as anything but BARD’S proper name.
BARD: BARD does not appreciate this!
ASSASSIN: Let’s kill him
we all know I have no life, so:
Let's Go Crazy
Life Can Be So Nice
P Control
Partyup
U Got the Look
Honorable mentions:
I Feel for You (cover by Chaka Khan ft. Melle Mel & Stevie Wonder)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (guitar solo, live at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
Just verified one married couple I thought of offhand; Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm were both nominated in 1977, the former for the short story "I See You" and the latter for the novel Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (which eventually won).
This is a dance off! If you see this, repost with a dance or get eliminated!
For me, one of the most horrifyingly fascinating developments of the last few decades is the discarding of competence as a conservative virtue. It's as though the USAian right went from "we're the best-equipped to deal with unpleasant realities" to "my prejudices are correct because Trump says so."
I was going to reply in good faith, but after seeing on this thread some of the most thoroughly grotesque objects ever alleged to be edible, I'm like:
...then in the next-to-last panel one of them says, "Well, I gotta get home now, the wife's cooking tripe for dinner," and the other responds indignantly, "Tripe!? Don't tell me you like tripe!", and in the final panel they're studiously ignoring one another. 2/end
I remember a little comic strip whose caption was along the lines of "the end of a wonderful friendship," depicting two ordinary guys talking and it's clear they're completely simpatico on matters of lifestyle, politics, aesthetics, etc.,... 1/2
Do they get paid for doing this, or is it just for the fun of it?
If calling in ADHD was a thing at my last salaried job, I'd have taken time off for the annual Village Voice "Pazz & Jop" critics poll and the announcement of the Oscar nominations. (The latter will be a paid holiday in the unlikely event they make me boss of the world.)
Most Americans know what it would take to fix our broken country
- Abolish Citizens United
- Outlaw foreign influence
- End the electoral college
- Tax the oligarchs
- Reestablish rule of law
- Strict separation of church & state
It’s whether we have the courage to change our self-destructive ways
Upon reflection, I think I'd go with Holes, a surprisingly complex and even edgy "family" film that IMHO doesn't loom as large in 21st century cinematic discourse as it should. (I think I feel the same way about Holes that champions of Paddington 2 feel about that one.)
It is definitely one of those films where seeing it on a big screen makes a huge difference; that might help preserve the magic, so to speak. (It might also help to watch or rewatch a Wes Anderson film or two first; Anderson is very candid bout his fantasy-tinged artifice.)
I kind of knew this, but it was permanently driven home for me when I read a letter criticizing Betty Friedan's "The Problem That Has No Name" (an essay later reprinted in The Feminine Mystique) for undermining "traditional" gender roles, and it was signed "Mrs. [husband's first and last name]".
Description - exchange on Bluesky:
@incapotomus.bsky.social
· 17h
Akhenaten his ass.
Ea-nāṣir
· 17h
Who?
@incapotomus.bsky.social
Don’t worry about it. For you it’s a few hundred years in the future
6:38 PM · Apr 19, 2026
Alt text added.
Alt-text time (for a "before and after" pair of dog pictures):
One more reason to miss LeGuin and Pratchett; I bet they would have both loved this idea.
I'm still hoping for "last Republican president of my life." (And not because I don't get to live several more decades either.)
Sorry, I can't go below five:
Jimi Hendrix
Sonny Sharrock
George Doering (studio musician, does a lot of soundtracks)
Vernon Reid
Tom Morello