The Shell of the Old

(Passionately detached)

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:09:09 -0400

“But ironic detachment is great! Nothing means ANYTHING!” — Gene Belcher, “Bob’s Burgers.”

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Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:25:35 -0400

moniquill: regina-and-the-dragons: Pause for a moment. Does it seem weird to anyone else that the...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:20:43 -0400

regina-and-the-dragons:

Pause for a moment.

Does it seem weird to anyone else that the shrinking habitat of polar bears due to global warming gets more attention than the disruption and danger posed to Inuit communities by same?

Boosting the fuck out of this because TRUTH.

More generally, dubious claims of total extinction events following from climate change are in wide circulation. Because people of color dying today and tomorrow simply doesn’t matter to these fucks, we get another iteration of millenarianism, which plays into the hands of the denialists: claims that wealthy white Americans will suffer significantly from climate change simply aren’t scientifically defensible.

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:50:49 -0500

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Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:47:29 -0500

Situations where the phrase “come at me, bro” can be aptly employed are so...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:20:50 -0400

Situations where the phrase “come at me, bro” can be aptly employed are so heartrendingly rare.

“Irony is that special privilege of wealthy nations—Aristophanes, possibly the world’s first...

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:52:11 -0400

“Irony is that special privilege of wealthy nations—Aristophanes, possibly the world’s first satirist, wrote his plays as Athens was becoming the dominant power in the region; Cervantes wrote at the height of Spain’s naval wealth; and Alexander Pope was born the year that England defeated the Spanish Armada. First, one scrambles for wealth; then one luxuriates in mocking the effeteness that comes with it.” — Euny Hong.

Best paragraph of today, and I’ve been reading Mike Ford today.

"This is the real burden of debt we’re passing on to future generations: the burden of having to work..."

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:38:17 -0400

“This is the real burden of debt we’re passing on to future generations: the burden of having to work ever harder, while at the same time, consuming more energy, eroding the earth’s ecosystems, and ultimately accelerating catastrophic climate change at just the moment we desperately need some way to reverse it. Seen in this light, a debt cancellation might be the last chance we have to save the planet. The problem is that con- servatives don’t care, and liberals are still caught up in impos- sible dreams of returning to the Keynesian economic policies of the ‘50s and ‘60s, which based broad prosperity on continual economic expansion. We’re going to have to come up with an entirely different kind of economic policy. But if a post-jubilee society can’t promise the workers of the world an endless expansion of new consumer goods, what can it? I think the answer is obvious. It could offer security in basic needs — guarantees of food, housing, and health care that can ensure our children don’t have to face the fear, shame, and anxiety that defines most of our lives today. And above all, it can offer them less work. Remember that in the 1870s, the idea of an 8-hour day seemed just as unrealistic and utopian as, say, demanding a 4-hour day would seem today. Yet the labor movement managed to achieve it. So why not demand a 4-hour day? Or a guaranteed four months of paid vacation? It is very clear that Americans — those who do have jobs — are absurdly overworked. It’s also clear that a very large propor- tion of that work is completely unnecessary. And every hour saved from work is an hour that we can give to our friends, families, communities.”

- David Graeber (via azspot)

A new definition of irony.

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:26:08 -0400

A new definition of irony.

Holy fuck yes.

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 00:46:51 -0400

Holy fuck yes.

Orwell used to have a Hitler mustache. Who knew. Was it...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:47:00 -0400

Orwell used to have a Hitler mustache. Who knew. Was it fashionable, I wonder?

Ugh.

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:02:57 -0400

Ugh.

I refuse to believe that this was real.

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 02:26:05 -0400

I refuse to believe that this was real.

Three things

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:38:00 -0400

My sister is really much funnier than I am, which is embarrassing. We were talking about Avengers at two in the morning. My witticism was: “Vindication: almost as good as syndication.” Hers was: “Joss Whedon: if he can’t save cinema, you can be damn sure he’ll avenge it.”

Also, Margaret Atwood says, in the pretty good New Yorker science fiction issue: “I was at least thirteen before I figured out that ‘child molester’ was not the title of a special job for children which involved collecting moles—earning a fee per mole—much as people collected worms for bait.” Which is the most adorable image I’ve had in my head in a bit.

Dragons with “au” in the name: Griaule, Yevaud, Smaug, Maur. Are there more? Edit:...

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:35:00 -0400

Dragons with “au” in the name: Griaule, Yevaud, Smaug, Maur. Are there more?

Edit: Glaurung!

Laurie Penny: “Stressful day. Whenever I feel shy, scared or am travelling alone, I put on...

Thu, 31 May 2012 23:50:44 -0400

Laurie Penny: “Stressful day. Whenever I feel shy, scared or am travelling alone, I put on this hat. It is the Cap of Fortitude.” pic.twitter.com/4ZrY8PrR

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Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:34:11 -0400

Man I hate "This American Life."

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:13:04 -0400

Man I hate "This American Life."

Jack. Jack, love. Read this.

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:36:23 -0400

Jack. Jack, love. Read this.:

And Laurie Penny shares your adoration for him, btw.

More or less.

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:20:13 -0400

More or less.