This is worth amplifying (also this podcast is rad), that Roman slavery was, y'know, slavery. In fact, all slavery is horrifying, but the broader 'Mediterranean' slavery tradition (which is also, by the by, the ancestor of Atlantic slavery) is one of the *more extreme* such traditions.

Claire E. Aubin@ceaubin.com · last wk.

Next time someone tries to tell you that Roman slavery was different or better than other forms of slavery, tell them to listen to last week’s episode of @thisguysucked.com and/or buy Emma’s book.

It’s a Klan Rally. These people only have to hear a name that their lizard brains process as sounding Arabic and hate immediately pours out.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2h ago

LOMBARDO: So I know the pastor spoke about Officer Abdelnabi-- TRUMP RALLY CROWD: *Boooooo* LOMBARDO: No. We're not booing him. He's the officer that passed away here recently

The problem is that as we're seeing with the Strait of Hormuz, "the USA forfeits its global ambitions" does not lead to a new age of peace and sunshine, but to global recession and instability. The Strait of Hormuz is not the only load-bearing instance of US power backstopping modern economies.

@tupolev22m.bsky.social · 5h ago

I think the traditional answer is actually "forfeit your global ambitions because you can't afford them and voters won't make the sacrifices necessary to restore them," unfortunately

Three of the most unpleasant looking mutants you've ever seen in your life: You wouldn't want a doctor in charge, would you?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 8h ago

JD Vance: "We don't want the next administration, whoever -- god forbid you're gonna have President El-Sayed in three years ... "

Beginning to feel like I need to budget a week on the blog for a military primer on 'how the US Navy is the load-bearing pillar of your ability to eat bananas and of folks in developing countries to eat at all.' Not saying that is an optimal situation, merely that it is the situation.

I mean, the answer is pretty obviously - and this hurts my quasi-libertarian soul, but the reality is the reality - taxes into space. I just don't know how your market wartime taxes to the upper income brackets during peacetime.

Daaaamn. “AI is the asbestos we're shovelling into the walls of our technological society. Our descendants will spend generations digging it out again, and the longer the bubble goes on without popping, the longer it will take to repair the damage." www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto...

Cory Doctorow: The people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying

It has become impossible to tell managers mesmerised by artificial intelligence that the tools are not, in fact, helpful. So employees just play along with the fiction to keep their jobs, writes our t...

thenerve.news

LOL. Abdul El-Sayed WON the Democratic Primary in Michigan despite being outspent 10-1! Amazing gaslighting here.

Politico@politico.com · 14h ago

Progressives didn’t get the big election night they wanted

Pretty sure when you win the election it's a big election night. Pretty sure when your party's leadership all endorses the loser, it means the leadership is out of touch with the electorate.

Politico@politico.com · 14h ago

Progressives didn’t get the big election night they wanted

also creating potential financial incentives for individual study doctors to maybe alter data seems pretty dangerous!

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 18h ago

These betting markets sites are so socially corrosive. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If you are a white man born between 1986 and 1992 there is a decent chance the internet made you a better person. Everybody else was probably made worse by it. I could explain this but i feel confident that I am right.

I have been exposed to a lot of perspectives that, as an introverted white guy, I never would have been otherwise and I think it’s been really good for me as a person

I also turned out better because I was terminally online at an early age I don’t think this is universally true but it was for me

aegisiondure 🫍@equalnotequals.com · 20h ago

this isn't very popular to say, but for me personally, it was good that i had unrestricted internet access when i was a minor. i was aware of what i was doing and enjoyed it. i don't look back on it and go "well that was a mistake", i look back on it and wish i could do it for the first time again

I always think of Dr. George Tiller when Kansans protect abortion rights. 17 years later and our state is somehow still a site of refuge, even in the wake of Dobbs

it's only possible bc their constituency populations are so strong but i genuinely think the UK does it right by not announcing any results until they've counted everything

Anchorage Man@sethpartnow.bsky.social · 19h ago

Regardless of how it turns out NO HE DIDN’T. It’s like saying I have more fingers on my left hand after counting 8 digits from left to right with a ring finger and a pinky still to report.

This is from 2016 but I hadn’t heard of it until now. WILD story. www.denverpost.com/2016/08/10/l...

Kansas home wound up with 600 million IP addresses and a world of trouble

The little Kansas house in the center of the country became the crossroads of the Internet, with unimaginable consequences.

denverpost.com

Grant would genuinely be proud

Zebulon Vitruvius Pike@vitruviuspike.bsky.social · yesterday

every single fucking still from that goddamn podcast looks like a tim robinson sketch

eggs@thewetmale.bsky.social · 24h ago

We have to go deeper

At this point, Thom Tillis has nothing left to lose but his principles, so he made sure to toss them overboard too.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterday

Tillis admits Trump is weaponizing the DOJ during his speech announcing he'll vote for Todd Blanche: "Maybe it's a little bit more intense in this administration than the last one ... I'm going to support Mr Blanche's nomination"

Abdul El Sayed's open-mindedness on the question of how to actually resolve the question of Palestine is one of the best indicators of his overall intelligence and sincerity. Policymakers in DC should adopt a rights-based approach which prioritizes ending the occupation and apartheid systems.

Ron Skolnik@ronskolnik.bsky.social · yesterday

El-Sayed: "I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination, for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike... If that’s 2 states, I’m for it. If it’s 1 state, I’m for that. If it’s this 'land for all' model, ... or whatever they decide." www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...

Oh my god I think I found the video.

CSketch@csketch.bsky.social · yesterday

Oh my god the dietician who is telling everyone in the White House to only eat steak and sauerkraut doesn't wipe his ass.

Okay! So hello. My name is Allison Gill. For the last 9 years, you’ve known me as Mueller, She Wrote. I used to have to be anonymous. But not anymore. So, hello world!

Allison Gill@muellershewrote.com · 2d ago

Changed my name from Mueller, She Wrote to my actual name, Allison Gill. Hoping I can get my blue check back. @joshpetri.bsky.team can you help?

at some point we're going to have to regulate media platforms

Scott McGrath@smcgrath.phd · 2d ago

🧪 Medical professionals are losing the attention war on YouTube. In a 3,958-video sample, independent creators produced the lowest quality content but captured the highest viewership using exaggeration. #MedSky

Serious question: What does the president think a "red city" is? Like, what city would that be, exactly?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d ago

Trump: "Look at the blue cities. What do they have in common? They're all dirty. They're filthy dirty. Their streets are dirty. Their streets smell. Their storefronts are broken. Their trees are all gross. Everything about the place is dirty. It's really all of them."

evergreen

Max Kennerly@maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d ago

The richest person in the world, an avowed white supremacist, today again posted "the next step is getting rid of 'source code' entirely and just making an efficient binary directly with AI" because he has no idea how anything works, not even the basics of industries he is in.

This is the best one I’ve gotten:

Ugh paying pennies to help neighbors who could use the help? What kind of devil nonsense is this

It isn't the most significant event, perhaps, but I find Fletcher's decision to calmly pass command of the battle to Spruance after Yorktown was crippled at Midway one of those tests of character a great many commanders fail, which he passed.

Reconstructionist@unavaleable.bsky.social · 2d ago

here's a hot take for US carrier commanders in WW2 Spruance > Fletcher > Halsey