Thanks, I needed that

by

by liberal japonicus Thought we needed an (h)open thread about the midterms. I did like the Guardian graphics, which are here. Comments, observations, and praises to whatever deity manages karmic retribution.

Words I had to look up

by

by liberal japonicus This article about Mussolini’s hometown, via LGM, had this Whatever ambivalence the residents of Predappio feel about their town being synonymous with Mussolini, they seem prepared to thole it. If you’ve come across something interesting, make a comment.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2026 midterms!

by

by liberal japonicus The other open thread is burbling along, but it’s been a bit, so I’d put this one up. Some random thoughts. The reportage is that the Alaska Doppleganger was recruited by the Democrats. Bad Democrats, bad democrats! (Said in the tone one says to a dog that has chewed up a rug) … Read more

This tells me a lot

by

by liberal japonicus This interview of Michael Lewis, from the Rest is Politics duo, was truely jawdropping to me. From the transcript, starting here Where Russell Vought walks into my story is that when I was casting the role of like the human embodiment of the American science project, I cast a man named Francis … Read more

The Innocents Abroad

by

by liberal japonicus I’m not planning on travelling anytime soon, but when I went to grad school, I chose to study Thai rather than Vietnamese because I thought that travelling to Thailand would not be as awkward as travelling to Vietnam. This was a big mistake in a number of ways. One was because I … Read more

Juxtapositions

by

by liberal japonicus Perhaps some strange juxtapositions, but I just came across this substack piece, entitled Bad Aikido is Bad for Business right after I listened to this NYTimes interview with Min Jin Lee, author of Pachiko. There was a zoom meeting discussing this that I unfortunatley missed (though it seemed like an open event, … Read more