Spendable Encouragement
The time is upon us when I rashly appeal to the better nature of my patrons, with a reminder that this establishment is made possible by the kindness of strangers. If you’d like to ensure this place exists a while longer and remains ad-free, there are three buttons below the fold with which to monetise any love. Debit and credit cards are accepted. If what happens here is of value, this is a chance to show it.
If one-click haste is called for, there’s a QR code in the sidebar, at which you point your phone camera, and my PayPal.Me page can be found here. There are also SubscribeStar and Ko-Fi accounts, via which love may be monetised, whether as one-off donations or monthly subscriptions. Should you be gripped by an urge to express encouragement via currency, by all means succumb.
Additionally, any Amazon UK shopping done via this link, or via the button in the sidebar, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you.
Sordid business, I grant you, but it’s what keeps this place here.
For newcomers wishing to know more about what’s been going on here for nineteen chuffing years, in over 3,500 posts and hundreds of thousands of comments, the Reheated series is a pretty good place to start – in particular, the end-of-year-summaries, which convey the fullest flavour of what it is we do. A sort of blog concentrate. If you like what you find there… well, there’s lots more of that.
Do take a moment to poke through the discussion threads too. The posts are intended as starting points, not full stops, and the comments are where much of the good stuff is waiting to be found. And do please join in.
As always, thanks for the support, the comments, and the company.
Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.
Famous for their licks.
(Guitar licks, of course. What did you think I meant?)
That they didn’t…never mind. Hey, you started it.
It’s her cats I feel sorry for.
Some day they’ll eat her.
Like I said, it’s her cats I feel sorry for.
And so we get an implied concern that a dystopian novel from half a century ago will have unhappy effects on the real world, today – and simultaneously, a pretence that the dystopian tendencies of the real world, today, couldn’t possibly explain the book’s fairly sudden popularity.
It’s for your own good.
There’s something risibly funny about commies complaining about relatives “going far right”.
So we can expect Guardian writers to shift from Queer Liberation Marxism to Stalinist Marxism–except for the ones who started there.
(The middle aged/retirement age liberals and leftists I’ve known have generally moved farther left–sometimes to loony land. My leftist sister has gone farther left, so much so that she’s unpleasant to be around.)
[…] this fine young GDP generator […]
What, again?
Who shoots themselves with BBs?
Fundamental identity.
In encapsulated form.
The “fundamental identity” of the EU is inimical to basic human liberties.
Don’t forget, tomorrow is Compost Your Girlfriend Day.
[ Checks calendar. ]
Administrative Professionals Day???
[ Looks again. ]
Oh, Earth Day.
The linker writes:
And in my experience a very large fraction of Smart People lack common sense.
That, plus they’re highly driven by status anxiety.
Astounding.
And yet, not.
Another racket exposed.
The surprise this time being not that the racket existed but that it’s actually being exposed after investigation.
What is – or, more accurately, will be – astounding is the number who refuse to believe it possible.
From the comments following this, “Leftist arguments hinge on the premise that no-one can remember what happened more than a month ago.”
Not entirely unrelated:
Which leads to the coinage “professional racist.”
Keep your friends close, but your cat closer.
I’m not sure the Disney princess look was the best way to go.
All things considered.
From the same thread, this:
I’ve run into this one more than a few times.
Sort of, “Why do you have evidence to support your statements? Your interest in the subjects I keep saying are important should only be glib and superficial. It’s weird that you actually think about the things that I keep saying are important.”
Which, as a mindset, an argumentative reflex, is a little odd.
Eleven-count indictment.
Possibly because pathological liars usually fail to keep track of their lies that long.
Possibly because they think the truth is whatever they say it is right now, and right now has no connection with the past or future.
Possibly because they’re able to do this garbage and get away with it, so they rub our noses in the fact that they can say whatever they want and we can’t do anything about it.
I should add that the rhetorical pattern above crops up seemingly regardless of the subject matter. Whether it’s sexual dysmorphia and cross-dressing, or Net Zero and energy policy, or the practicalities of massive, indiscriminate immigration.
One person got visibly annoyed when I politely offered to share relevant facts. They made it quite clear that they would prefer not to know. They practically insisted. Presumably, so that they could go on being factually wrong while retaining their social status as bearers of Approved Opinion.
My impression of the dynamic – in pretty much all of the examples I can recall – is sort of, “But these opinions, the ones I picked off the shelf, are the ones that confer social status. I like social status. It’s what I’m about. Why would you undermine my social status with facts? Why are you being so mean to me, you bad person?”
Something along those lines.
STOP NOTICING!
I went to my Amazon account and yes, I can still buy it. Is this an Amazon UK thing?
Do we need a dog? We can always use a dog. this is Rascal Flatts who was quite nervous in my studio but for his debut session, managed a few good shots.
It’s currently still available here, too, in various formats. The attempt to have it withdrawn clearly didn’t stick.
She speaks the truth, this woman.
They’re mighty damn good at remembering their grievances tho. Those go back centuries. The problem is we don’t make them pay for their mistakes. If someone had to pay for the stupid open classrooms concept, for the covid idiocy, for the Russia collusion hoax or the lies about Hunter’s laptop from “51 senior intelligence officials” or any of the other BS they pull, they would remember. But we just let those things drop. It’s never prudent at whatever juncture. Gotta remain above the fray. Never engage in frays.
I have gotten that sort of response from those two or three people who were honest enough, after being confronted with undeniable proof, that Trump never told people to drink bleach. No thoughtful reflection on why they, and virtually everyone they know, came to believe such a ridiculous thing. They will not allow themselves to go there.
Good news, everyone! It is another visibility week!
Speaking of which, is anyone else seriously weary of this “feeling seen, valued, and represented horseshit? Also, why are the henchlesbians never seen?
Speaking of being seen, a challenge has been given. I’ll go: Barnum Bailey; More Haldol; Midway Attraction.
Your turn.
The thing about morality bans is how successful they have been over the years wherever they have been tried.
We need a better word for the opposite of inspiring.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
*clears bar tab*
Amazon says its unavailability (for only about one day) was a glitch.
Bless you, sir. May your smoothies have a satisfying thickness.
[ Pauses. ]
[ Does innocent face. ]
And again, thanks to all who’ve chipped in so far, or subscribed, or done shopping via the Amazon link – including all those much too shy to say hello. I sometimes forget how many of you are lurking in the bushes, being very, very quiet.
It’s much appreciated and is what keeps this place here.
And while I’m issuing public service announcements…
That is all. You may now go about your business.
When visiting Bedlam there was no expectation the delusions of the mad need be embraced.
Ladies night at the ball game.
How long before wealth is defined by the number of spurious identities?
Bedlam Marathon.