The 140-character limit worked because the constraint encouraged sharper writing and made Twitter feel distinct from other platforms; that same brevity also explains why botones de sonidos can complement quick, expressive online interactions. https://botonesdesonidos.com/

Yes SuperFans, I know: it's Kaley Cuoco.

So I can't tempt you out of your comfort zone Ken? A man who heard all the lurid stories about Xinjiang and went to check if they were true or not. And a charming Chinese professor explaining how the Chinese system actually works, as opposed to how Americans are told it works. (Hint: it's about good governance, not authoritarianism).

Tell that to the people whose faces are in these photos. https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/the-faces-of-china-s-detention-camps-in-xinjiang https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/genocide-emergency-xinjiang-china-2025

Have you ever thought that this might be propaganda Ken, created by our masters so that we don't see any alternative to the gangster capitalism that they favour? The Council on Foreign Relations is an establishment mouthpiece. Here's an alternative view, by a man who went there and looked for himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiMRis1dPIU

A nation that forced over a million members of a Muslim ethnic minority into reeducation camps is no model I want to follow. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/china-xinjiang-uyghurs-muslims-repression-genocide-human-rights

He's using the word generically of course, meaning anyone. Possibly he's referring to himself, Ken Li, a Chinese businessman who is thriving within the system. I think his most pertinent observation was about who controls China vs who controls America. "In China… there is no way a group of billionaires could control the Politburo as billionaires control American policy making." In other words, America is run for and on behalf of billionaires, while China is run for and on behalf of its people. China has brought nearly 800 million people out of extreme poverty, as opposed the the West, which is becoming increasingly impoverished. Here's another, longer, explanation for how the Chinese system works: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/08/25/china-model-zhang-weiwei-interview/

Got around to watching the recommended "explanation" of the difference between a capitalist system and China's https://www.tiktok.com/@veraciousreport/video/7677535551192435990 It's a brief but pernicious paean to authoritarianism. "In America, you can change political parties but you can't change policies. In China, you can't change the party but you can change policies." My question: Who is "you"?

Audiences have more tolerance for the cynicism and grit of truth in cinema/tv when their daily lives were better. IIRC when House of Cards was released, the 2010s economy was trudging on ok after rebounding from 2008. Memories of the recession made darkness believable, but levity of daily life made cynicism feel like infotainment. It just not anymore. A show like Hostage is almost justifiable when you think about how HOC isn't the escapism audiences need and deserve right now, but we don't have to escape into a dumpster.

How the house of cards truly has fallen... sad to see Netflix enshittify its own shows. HOC was an amazing series. Now we get Hostage of Cards

Well yeah, I was curious about your perception in itself : ) thanks for responding.

That's a perceptive question. Mason's comment that the angel doesn't judge struck me as not necessarily correct about what Benjamin wrote, but more a device to segue into his own point that we should be judgmental about Communism's history.

The article’s point about shaming and policing language also made me think about how humor often lands better when the timing and delivery are right, especially with well-chosen botones de sonidos for reactions. https://botonesdesonidos.com/

Awesome.

If I were in fact a lesbian, this makes Dolly all the more lovable given how she treated me at her home.

reading you for awhile, that is

Great story! I've been reading you and I thought "Loren" was a woman, though I had decided you were a lesbian, including half way through this piece.

Unless he wasn't? Or was celibate and asexual for religious reasons?

The CDC study generating the 44% figure https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/documentation/NISVSReportonIPV_2022.pdf asked men (and women) if they ever, in their entire life, experienced any of a broad range of phenomena including "Psychological aggression includes expressive aggression (insulting, humiliating, or making fun of a partner in front of others) and coercive control and entrapment, which includes behaviors that are intended to monitor, control, or threaten an intimate partner." This seems to me a case study in how to generate an overblown statistic.

What a stupid article...

I forgot that YouTube "shorts" get taken down after 24hours. For anyone interested, here is a fuller version of the interview in which Frank Zappa makes that statement. It's an interesting interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUJ9aFS2GbA&t=94s

An enjoyable article. I definitely would have gone to see Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band if I was in DC in the 70s. It's made me want to listen to his albums.

A very handsome way to wind up the debate -- thanks.

Wow, that is some list. I suppose the fringe feels no obligation to unite behind one candidate in hopes of destroying Farage.

I really enjoyed the interview. Great job making Johns feel comfortable while asking interesting questions, both technical and "spiritual". Will hunt down the book. 🙂

On "Coffee with Scott Adams" today (11/11) Scott Adams says, in discussing how to persuade people, you should watch Cheryl Hines on podcasts, and in particular this episode, if you want to know how to be on a podcast.

That and GQ?

I think seeing The Sting as a young teen or pre-teen helped turn me gay. THAT was a hot couple!

Trump has won twice, but neither of these guys have the slightest idea of why that happened. Try harder, Splice Today.

Hard to imagine thinking that Marc Maron has any real insights into the future of American politics. He's a good comedian and decent interviewer, but his talent stops there. And in this clip, he's talking to a fellow insufferably smug progressive, Sam Seder, who hasn't had an original thought in decades. Posting such material is a total waste of time. Thanks for nothing.

Actually the second littlest one was not her son because he was younger than my dad, i unfortunately don’t remember which cousin he was but the tallest boy was my great aunt’s son.

They are not going to school, my grandfather filmed this. It was a leisurely trip to the end of the line by lake Roland. The little blondie in white was my dad and the dark haired second tallest boy in stripes was my uncle. The lady that was on camera before they boarded was my aunt Bea and the two other boys I think were her sons

Such a great song. So sad youngin's don't know our music in the 60's and 70's was SO much better than their music is.

"If you only know a cup this way, you don't know the cup." David Thomas threw off sparks every time he opened his mouth.

A loving/moving biography of Les Baxter: https://lesbaxter.com/pages/biography

This is great. please add a blusky link one of these days.