Interesting article on the over-reaction to students protesting the carnage in Gaza.

Among other points Drezner makes is that the US disproportionate response to protests mirrors Israel's disproportionate response to October 7. IOW, even if some action was justified, the reaction that actually occurred was far beyond necessity or reason. Of course I approve, because I've made the same point myself. Also, there's this, from the equally excellent Adam Serwer.

More broadly, the politics of “American carnage” do not work as well in the absence of carnage. Far-right politics operate best when there is a public perception of disorder and chaos, an atmosphere in which the only solution such politicians ever offer can sound appealing to desperate voters.

Seems like a questionable strategy to me. Yes, it energizes the authoritarian base, but they were already energized. It has also done a lot of energize the progressive base, which is something we have struggled to do ourselves so that's actually a good thing (though obviously at a cost to the direct participants). The question is which way the Lukewarm Liberals' sympathies will run. Will they fall for the stupid idea that more violence is the key to the peace (i.e. stasis) they habitually crave? Or will this open their eyes to something that's wrong, that their children are clearly willing to oppose even if it costs them? My prediction is that they will do neither. As people who hate drama more than anything, they might just retreat even further into their shell of sloth and habit. That doesn't seem like a bad thing, and might even be a good thing if their habit is (as is most often the case) to fill in the "D" oval.

Well, if you're gonna be like that...

cmon child safety lid you know it's me

It's also very telling that most of them have tried to use false claims of antisemitism as a justification, as if (a) anyone with even a partial college education can't see right through that and (b) the mere possibility of an antisemitic word being spoken does not justify sending in hundreds of cops armed and armored as if for war. They are, in effect, mirroring the very disproportionate response that the students are protesting.

Bit telling that for years and years evangelical religious extremists have been allowed on university campuses with their bullhorns and horrific imagery where they harass students into physical altercations and when students complain to the university’s administration they just shrug their shoulders citing freedom of speech but when those same tuition-paying students start protesting against war and genocide they call SWAT

Let's not forget that those fuckers were heavy. Between the weight and the shape, carrying a 27" CRT was beyond most people's ability. Always had to use a cart.

Special bonus: plasma displays were fun too.

"Please allow notifications for this site"

Headline:

How to Turn a Dried Log into a Windproof Torch

Me:

Using a dried leg as a torch? That sounds gruesome. Has the zombie apocalypse already started?

...

Oh. Never mind.

A pizza appears under the pineapple.

*places an orange just outside a fairy ring to see what comes out* science is more of an art than a science

we still get immediately shoved out of our immersion in tv shows or films when The Girl find a dead body and immediately shrieks - we just don't find it realistic because we're pretty confident most people would gasp rather than shriek (i.e. sharp inhale rather than sharp exhale) and it also feels unnecessarily (and predictably) misogynistic too, as men encountering corpses almost never do the same on screen

also of course please do tell us if you've actually encountered a corpse unexpectedly, because tumblr is absolutely a place where some people have done this thing and we love a good anecdote

suddenly imagining "burst into song" as a potential response

I know it's not a live animal, but here's a little fellow who was watching us play pickleball the other day.

Entering period hermit mode!

Any animal pictures appreciated. I even like snakes, I specify because I know people that have phobias.

Yeah, I'm envious.

There are freshly independent possums scattered around my yard like fat little Easter eggs trotting through the grass and bricks at dusk.

you bottle Miette??

OK fine, but here's what I want to know. When it cums does it turn into the world's grossest pinwheel?

just learned about the granulated sea star . . .

dont talk to me

Counterpoint: being online helped many people make connections and develop empathy when their disengaged parents and their homophobic transphobic neurodiversity- and disability-oblivious racist sexist society didn't.

This is huge. I spent most of my career under one non-compete or another. Once I almost had a heart attack because I got a phone message from a lawyer at an ex-employer who was notoriously aggressive about prosecuting these and also practically owned the local court. Even though I felt I was perfectly in the clear and would have prevailed, it was still scary. (Fortunately it turned out to be some patent paperwork that they needed me to sign. What a relief.) Banning non-competes might hurt some of the giants by forcing them to prove actual misappropriation of trade secrets when it occurs instead of relying on non-competes (which is way easier for them), but the main effect will be a huge boost for innovation and the economy.

There is now a crane fly inside the house (last spotted in the kitchen). Since their other name is "skeeter eater" I leave those alone too.

Leggy Boi near the top corner of our living room. I leave them alone because they eat other bugs. Our spiders are all named Fred (Fred IX was recently spotted near my bathroom sink) so maybe I'll start calling the centipedes Barney.

Uranus is unknown?

I've encountered a few recipes that warn about the dessicants in the pre-shredded cheese you get at the supermarket, but that just means to shred some fresh. Buying the packaged stuff and washing it seems like more work for a worse result.

TIL that some people....wash their shredded cheese?