"We tried to fight a war we thought would be very easy and instead gave one of the countries in the world most hostile to America the greatest hostage they could possibly imagine" is such a perfect MAGA-style foreign policy disaster, in that its idiocy is only rivaled by its absurdity

In our discussion, @gtconway.bsky.social envisions two steps: Accountability for Trump and top officials first, then reforms to prevent future fascism second. It all amounts to a pretty good accountability agenda for the post-Trump era.

Here's the key exchange:

newrepublic.com/article/2091...

Wow I hate that a lot

Not even second homes, pied-a-terres. That are lightly to zero-ly used. (Maybe that's a meaningless distinction, but I think of second homes as being used more than pied-a-terres.)

Wait hospital? Is that the point? He wants to be able walk right over to get treatment that he currently can't get at the White House?

My kid’s college FB group was insane. I joined because it was a good source of info about, like, where to park for drop-off. I stayed for the drama (mostly as a lurker but once in a while I did chime in with an “AYFKM” type comment). The micromanaging my GOODNESS.

That may be true but two things have changed since she last ran. 1) her age, 2) an increasingly anti-gerontocracy moment.

While I agree with this, I think it's one of those things that has a literal and figurative meaning. Same word, separate meanings. The COVID in "post-COVID" means "the period in which there were severe supply chain issues and other concrete, non-illness elements that were a shock to the economy."

Hungarians showing how to win big in an unfair election: organize AND protest AND vote AND demand profound change.

One accessibility thing I've tipped my hat to is when deaf friends use it to shape their English into something that's more useful to them, when English doesn't always do their bidding. I feel like there's got to be a world in which AI is a minor tool in the box (akin to spellcheck) and not... THIS.

It’s hard to overstate how much of this moment is driven by people who got a taste of accountability and were very, very mad about it.

Ooh, thanks. (I am recently on submission, no book deal yet but sure hoping.)

The information we have about the Iran War is incomplete and unreliable and it’s still clearly a debacle. The full story is likely much worse.

I haven’t but now I want to go check that out.

they are calling it the scotus cuck chair

Hi, Historian here. Just a heads up that the shape of the future is actually not inevitable or fixed. *You help make it happen. So try to make it the one you want*

Thank you for unlocking this memory! I was anti-HP for a very long time (circa publication through 2010 or so) and didn’t want to read it even though everyone told me I should. I think this was one of the reasons why. (I have always loved Ursula LeGuin.)

It drove me crazy the first ~50 times I encountered it, too!

Screenshot of a quiz, with a graphic of a car being washed. Text is: "5. After a long, brutal Pennsylvanian winter, you look at your car and realize how dirty it is. Which of the options below would you say? a. This car needs to be washed. b. This car needs washed. c. This car needs washing. Click to learn more about your answer… Of the three, options an and c are the ones that the majority of English speakers would say. But in many parts of the US, including parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana, speakers commonly use phrases like needs washed in b as well. And like the other examples mentioned above, we know that this way of speaking is as rule-based and systematic as any other, so it doesn’t need corrected at all!"

Fairly random cite: sites.psu.edu/bilingualism...!

It’s an Ohioism. I’m not a native but my husband picked it up and my daughter was raised here and also uses it. I don’t use it myself but don’t blink at it anymore. Language has regional variations.

Heavy on “walked more.” I think that one thing is so much of it. Not just the movement but all the incidentals in a walkable city.

"More violence, more force, more repression" is the answer. What was the question again?

Actually? Damn

Did Malcolm Gladwell invent this formula or just perfect it?

We don’t have universal healthcare for the same reason that white southerners poured cement into their community swimming pools rather than let their black neighbors swim in them. Racism is ruining ALL of our lives.

Very normal. Garnered national attention as the incredibly normal 19-year-old white bread Iowa son of two gay moms testifying in favor of gay marriage, then went into politics. But “normal” is, like, his thing.

People who are impaired to the point of not being able to drive often have issues (dementia etc.) that also impact their ability to identify problems and seek medical attention. It can easily go the other way - being worried that medical attention will confirm suspicions, and purposely avoiding it.

Yes. So much time, energy, emotion and worry expended between when I started to be concerned about my mom's driving and when she actually failed a test. Driving is one of the earlier things to go and I couldn't just step in and compel anything. It would have been SO much easier if it was mandated.

If they really do kill USPS, they're gonna take out a lot of old and/or disabled folks with it. So many people rely on mailed prescriptions. Some health plans also require folks to receive recurring prescriptions this way.

I'm sure that bodes well for my book which is currently on submission! (Oof)