More on the Wiles interview
by liberal japonicus I found this Graniaud piece by Sydney Blumenthal very interesting. As a senior advisor to Bill Clinton, he is familiar to the rhythms of how a presidential staff operates, but the paper is more a forensic examination of the Vanity Fair piece on Susan Wiles. Here are the final two paragraphs Wiles … Read more
Welcome to my world
by liberal japonicus This Cheryl Rofer post over at LGM suggests that this scene at Riga might be what we might hope for in a future where we have to sullenly co-exist with people who think that Trump shits gold turds I like to think that this piece illustrates some of what we might try … Read more
Weekend Music Thread music thread #09 In Russia, Christmas music sings you!
by liberal japonicus Being the weekend before Christmas, how about some tunes from the Soviet Army Choir? Here’s Jingle Bells, I love how they have Russlish lyrics. If you are playing Whamageddon, don’t click on this next one! Baba daba dop! Fun fact: At the beginning, the female weathercaster says something like “Oksana says don’t … Read more
The Wiles Interview
by liberal japonicus Part 1 and Part 2. Unfortunately, part 2 is behind a paywall, so if anyone has a gift link, send it on. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, … Read more
More on Alex Karp and Palantir
by liberal japonicus Earlier, I wrote about Alex Karp here. This NYT Daily talks with a reporter who has interviewed Karp multiple times over the past decade. In the thread about Truss going for the MAGA gravy train, we were talking about her Oxford degree qualification and hearing the reporter talk about Karp and his … Read more
Author, author?
by liberal japonicus It’s a small drop in the ocean of crap, but the deranged post about Rob Reiner’s death on Trump’s account on Truth Social has me wonder. This Axios piece will get you up to speed if you were blissfully unaware of this. I would observe that seeing pieces like this makes me … Read more
“We’re now poorer than Mississippi. It’s like Huckleberry Finn without the steamboats.”
by liberal japonicus The New Statesman podcast listens so we don’t have to!
Weekend music thread #08 How do you get to Carnagie Hall?
by liberal japonicus If you don’t know the old joke referenced in the title, the answer is ‘Practice. Lots of Practice’. And with that, here is the first youtube video. Yes, that’s elementary school kids. If you didn’t notice, they don’t have any sheet music, everything is being played from memory. Even more shocking to … Read more
Cory Doctorow and enshittification
by liberal japonicus I have, as I’m sure you all have, seen Doctorow’s writing about enshittification, but I guess he’s teeing up a book tour, so he’s doing the round of podcasts. He’s got his soundbites, which there is nothing wrong with, except for the fact that it gives me a sinking feeling in my … Read more