19 Comments

As with our empire's decline, there's a lot to unpack here.

1) Sorry to hear about your "friends."

2) I saw a Financial Times op-ed the other day which had an interesting sounding title. I opened the piece, saw Francis Fukuyama's name in the byline, and closed the piece.

3) I'd been looking for a delicate way to encourage the man-o-sphere to commit mass suicide, but I lack your finesse. Stay subtle.

4) I legit lol'ed when I read the line about your book covering the "first" U.S. Civil War.

5) This time around I jumped the queue and skipped right to acceptance -- before the election. Back in early October I read this bat-shit crazy article about Michigan voters in The New Yorker and knew we were fucked. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/30/uncommitted-voters-gaza-election-michigan-harris-trump

6) For the empire's remaining time, my stock line will be: But we got a sick tax cut, Bro!

7) If it's not clear yet, nihilism is my self care.

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I appreciate the perspective. Nihilism seems to work better than the weapons-grade angel dust making the columnist rounds. I wish the Times would show some discretion. Kids could be watching.

I'm impressed with how many people cut straight to acceptance. I seem to insist on putting myself through the full roller coaster incline and drop. Old habits. Or thin education, based on my schoolyard friends. Big cats are overrated.

As for the Civil War bit: I have a dream, where my insane cartoon narratives lose relevance. I will float into obscurity with glee.

If you dig manosphere harakiri cheerleading, boy do I have twenty years of forthcoming writing for you.

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I think I moved straight to acceptance this time, if only so I can pivot to being emotional support for my friends. I don't like being the stereotypical strong black woman, but it's the only survival option right now.

Anyway, the NGAGE is a goatse and you can't unsee it now. You're welcome.

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My mind’s eye turns on me again.

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Protein may equal gains, but carbs feed the brain. Keep eating those bagels, my friend. 🥯

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The food pyramid is just different spreads, right?

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For now, I've settled into the "I can't control what other people do, I can only control what I do" camp. It requires intense commitment to disconnecting from the feeds, where "what other people do" remains the primary source of "entertainment." Fortunate to have been raised by sanity, made close friends with sanity, married into sanity, and gave birth to two promising students of sanity. My immediate vicinity offers bagel-like comfort. For now. 🥯💜🥂

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That’s a quality platoon of sanity. Sharp way to save on lox. As for the feeds, it’s impressive how much more effective these once-fun image galleries are than every intentional weapon.

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You make sense. Where am I at? Let’s just hope Sredi Vashtar does this one thing for us so that we can enjoy our bagels in peace.

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Somehow, this is my first time reading that story. And agreed.

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,

“The tug-of-war between the sane and the away team continues.”

So many good lines in this one!

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Thank you! I’m relieved it even came out making sense.

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Perhaps put a few baileys in the bagel rotation.

A long -time "friend" of mine once (after a few drinks before dinner) went on a long rant about how the Jews run Hollywood and, by extension, the whole fucking world. My super power is that I can hear my friends make anti-me remarks (I'm a non-religious Jew, but I guess I'm "normal" enough looking to pass) without even having to leave the table.

One last comment ie "gains are back in town": don't forget about Trump's new crypto company and Musk's new United States of America Corp. I wish I could circle that last sentence as satire.

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The endurance of the Hollywood/secret council line is a particularly rancid flavor. They have to be trying, in a sense, to stick to a conspiracy line that tired. The antisemite mind is strange, and fits in a thimble.

Trump crypto is the most direct money-to-campfire pipeline I can imagine.

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Ok, this was stellar. I went from sobbing, to revenge fantasies, to acceptance in about thirty seconds, skipped denial completely. I can't decide whether being a professional historian who specialized in the sexism, racism, nativism of the late 19th and early 20th century makes it better or worse. But thanks for giving me the absurd ads to marvel at.

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I’m glad that Nokia could be there for you during one of history’s worst habits. I can see how that specialty would leave denial in the dust.

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-Like Amran said, sorry about your friends. That's shitty and awful.

-I skipped denial, had a brief but intense stop at anger, then skipped bargaining and landed somewhere between depression and acceptance. I'm trying to focus on hope with thoughts like:

--We've been down this road before. Yes, they're better organized/prepared this time, but they're going to piss off a lot of people who made excuses about why they didn't want the sane option.

--We're scared, but we've still got the support of those who care

--It wasn't a complete shut-out. Yes, my state handed him the fucking office, but we also held onto one of his most vocal critics.

--When he dies, his cult is going to fracture. We saw evidence of it in the last few years before he got the spotlight again.

On a lighter note, here is my attempt at transcribing the weirdest sales pitch I've heard in years on the radio:

"Do you struggle immensely with paying attention?

Do you routinely try and fail to pay attention to what people are saying?

Do people ask you how you can sleep at night?

Well, come down to MattressFirm and we'll help you find the mattress that'll help you get a good night's sleep!"

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I know there's a lot of shit to take in but I'm stuck on the secret soju revelation that you've been delusional about your race all these years. You deserve to keep on those bagels, man.

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I definitely will, at least for the short term. They're astonishingly effective fire extinguishers for my brain.

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