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Jackwraith

@jackwraith.bsky.social

200 followers 160 following 740 posts

Writer, post-communist social malcontent, gamer, shodan, Liverpool fan (#YNWA) Politics and occasional football on Substack as me Movie/TV criticism & occasional politics here: http://dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/ Comics here: https://www.dystopia.ink

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ALFA @blackeyeart.bsky.social · 2d

Greetings #webcomics readers! It's flashback week at the #supernatural #cyberpunk #comic Dystopia. Let's learn what @jackwraith.bsky.social has up their sleeve for Angie. More at dystopia.ink - we love #indiecomics

Dystopia: Chapter 2 – Midwife, Aborted, Page 22.
In a dim sparsely furnished classroom with cracked walls and a single window letting in pale light. A young Angie sits alone at a small wooden desk, surrounded by a few worn crayons. On the desk lies a simple drawing: a smiling figure with purple clothing, standing among green trees and red flowers under a blue sky. Angie is coloring carefully, but their thoughts reveal frustration — the colors never look as true or vibrant as they do in real life.

A teacher, wearing a pale dress, stands nearby as the classroom door opens. Two men in matching blue suits and dark glasses enter. Their appearance is formal and detached, suggesting authority or surveillance. One of the men gestures toward Angie and asks the teacher, “Is this the one?” The teacher leans closer to examine Angie’s drawing, studies it for a moment, and then quietly replies, “Yes.”

The atmosphere shifts as one of the suited men raises a small communication device to his mouth and says, “Yes, the potential is secured.” The other man steps forward toward Angie’s desk, extending his hand in a gesture that is polite but firm. He says, “Won’t you come with me, please?” Angie looks up at him silently, her expression uncertain.

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 2d

Not just Biden. It's embedded in the Democrats' approach. "We're heeding the norms!" You remember when Reagan left the hostages in Iran for a few more weeks? You remember when Nixon made a deal with Hanoi behind the scenes? That's what they think of your norms. They don't exist. Never really have.

Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 2d

I remember asserting to my grandfather at 8 years old that the economy was doing well because the stock market was. He frowned at me: "That's a casino for already wealthy people. It means nothing to you and me." Former exec at a tier 1 supplier talking there, so not exactly a revolutionary.

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C Stuart Hardwick @cstuarthardwick.com · 2d

Things are tough for a lot of people, but ignore the TikTok apocalyptism. A big part of the problem is that since Reagan, economist pay too much attention to market value and too little to the state or ordinary people. Still, this is NOT a depression, not yet.

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David Osland @davidosland.bsky.social · 2d

On the centenary of Thatcher's birth, there have been predictable calls for a memorial to her memory. But Britain's 2300 food banks serve that purpose already.

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 4d

Mindboggling. I feel like most of the responses generated would be obviously Hallmark greeting card-style lines? Like it would be obvious that you're conversing with someone who is feeding your expectations?

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Joe Patrice @joepatrice.bsky.social · 4d

Amazing

Tweet: @vexwerewolf
Right-wingers literally straight-up admitting "it's harder to discredit the left because the left is almost always telling the truth"
Scott Jennings @Lum 21h um, yes, that's really a problem
Show this thread
9 paints • 12 hrs
The problem with left-leaning media is they're intrinsically more strict with their propaganda to only using verifiable sources so it's really hard to poke holes in their ideology and arguments in comparison to a lot of low quality rightwing content.
That makes attacking their points with fact checkers not very effective unless the fact checkers use misinformation tactics as well.
In essence people on the right have to work harder and more creatively to push their agendas as statistics and studies frustratingly arent usually on our side.

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 4d

Must be a lot of them who think: "I make this look good!"

Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 5d

Jim Davis created the initial cartoon and then the syndicate farmed it out to a variety of artists and writers who just followed the formula. It was more marketing tool than personal expression like Schulz's work. But, yeah, if people grew up with it, ya like what ya like.

Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 5d

There can be no vote. Great Pumpkin is the winner by default because Garfield was a farmed out marketing tool, not a creative endeavor.

Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 6d

But I still go back to the principle. Also, like you, I'm recognizing time limits, so I think I'm done backing for the foreseeable future.

Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 6d

My guiding principle in all KS activity is "Know the designer." If it's something by a designer I know, I'll take a hard look. If not, I generally won't get involved unless I'm personally advised by someone else I trust. I've broken that a time or two and, thankfully, haven't regretted it.

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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 6d

Anyone who was paying attention during Gamergate recognizes these tactics.

“Oh *we’re* against doxxing, of course, but that person who got doxxed totally deserved it, and yeah, sure we’ve been calling for them to be fired and their lives ruined, but *we* didn’t personally do it.”

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7d

This pretty much captures the contradictions of the politics of Kirk and Turning Point: Of course we oppose doxxing and violence, but we will absolutely use inflammatory language, false claims, and enemies list that fuels threats and intimidation.

Several days after publishing the petition calling for Dr. Bray’s dismissal from Rutgers, the Turning Point USA chapter added an update saying that it did not support harassment or the doxxing of him or anyone else.

“I think that all death threats and doxxing are unjustified and not how political disputes should be resolved in civilized society,” Ava Kwan, a Turning Point USA chapter member, said in an email on Wednesday.
But she defended the broader point of the petition, saying, “I think Dr. Antifa, who believes in violence as a political tool, should be fired, of course. Taxpayer money should not fund the salaries of terrorists.”

For years, Turning Point USA has maintained a watch-list of hundreds of professors whom the group accuses of advancing leftist propaganda in the classroom. Dr. Bray is on the list.

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 6d

If you can't figure out a transition from scene five to scene six without using a bot, then maybe you've reached your limit as a writer and someone else should take over...? Or maybe you should walk outside for a second.

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 7d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Grant @gdubbstl.bsky.social · 7d

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George Wallace @mrgeorgewallace.bsky.social · 7d

We are changing our antifa secret handshake to slap-slap-fistbump-fistbump. Then you snap your fingers once, eat everyone's pets, and make everyone within 50' instantly become trans. Pass it along.

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 7d

Great stuff. Was talking about this on r/boardgames the other day amongst a bunch of people scratching their heads both at what it was and why so many people seemed enamored of it. I told them you can't at it with bog standard boardgamer glasses. It's its own thing and you'll love it if you like fun

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Sean T. Collins @seantcollins.com · 10d

CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't

CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.

ISILDUR: true

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 9d

Yeah, the length is something that really stands out. Most of the early ones are 75 mins, at best, which is barely a prestige TV episode in this day and age. It's funny to see the silent (and sometimes not so) nods to taboos like divorce and sexual identity in some of them.

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ALFA @blackeyeart.bsky.social · 10d

Angie strikes back in this week's webisode of the #supernatural #cyberpunk #webcomic Dystopia. Can the ophan be defeated? More #comics at dystopia.ink - we love #indiecomics !

Dystopia: Chapter 2 – Midwife, Aborted, Page 21. Angie a tribunal midwife wearing a light blue bodysuits and white battle mask, has reached the chamber housing the massive cylindrical “Ophan.” The midwife has eluded the "tender" and the "guard" who defend the structure. Angie has scaled the exterior of the ophan emerging atop its upper surface.

Angie emerges atop the ophan carrying the enormous arm torn from the armored guard that defends the powered structure. Grasping the guards arm tightly, Angie aims the high tech appendage and it's glowing amber energy blade at the conduit that connects the ophan to the network. They swing the weapon slicing through the massive mechanical conduit, sending sparks and molten fragments flying. The sound effect “SHRAKKK!” bursts across the panel, emphasizing the impact.

The midwife is knocked off balance as the ophan heaves, electrical energy crackles violently through the severed structure, lightning-like arcs spreading around the room. The ophan hums with growing power, accompanied by the booming sound “THRUMMM!” The ophan explodes in a burst of bright yellow, red, and orange energy - the blast throws Angie backwards as waves of energy spread outward.

Near the base of the ophan, the tender and guard are caught in the chaos, their bodies consumed by the fire and debris as the ophan erupts with destructive power, the machinery unravelling.

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 10d

There’s an essay to be written about how maga patriotism is just shitty fandom. Anyone who follows sports knows fans like this, it’s always the ref’s fault, the other team doesn’t exist, there’s some plot/player/coach holding the team back otherwise they’d always win easy bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10d

Trump: "The problem with Vietnam, we, you know, we stopped fighting to win. We would've won easy. We would've won Afghanistan easy. We would've won every war easy. But we got politically correct. 'Oh, let's take it easy.' We're not politically correct anymore, just so you understand."

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 10d

@rstrye.bsky.social Started watching all of those Universal films in October because obvsly. Watching in production order, 1/night, so have been through Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, & Werewolf of London (because busy tomorrow night.) (Plus, Zevon!)

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 10d

open.substack.com/pub/jackwrai...

Chance conversion and the lack of deeper meaning

Crystal Palace 2 - 1 Liverpool; Galatasaray 1 - 0 Liverpool; Chelsea 2 - 1 Liverpool

open.substack.com

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Canadian Resistance 🇨🇦 @cdnresistance.bsky.social · 11d

What’s a true shithole country? One that zip-ties children’s hands and puts them in cages. One that sends people to a mega prison in El Salvador without due process. One where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wear face masks to conceal their identities. And so on...

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Jackwraith @jackwraith.bsky.social · 11d

His throws have been amazing and shot stopping not far behind.