Potempkin Village Idiot
@ixak.bsky.social
Baltimore climate dad anthropologist fighting existential terror w/ existential counter-terrorism. The soft underbelly of the cutting edge. Working on resilience, local governance, urban gardening, tool repair, fermentation.
https://medium.com/@ixak
https://medium.com/@ixak
Pinned
Conversation w/ my son:
Him: What was your favorite movie when you were a kid?
Me: Short Circuit
What's it about?
A robot who comes to life.
What was your favorite movie when you became a grownup?
Blade Runner
What's it about?
A guy who hunts and kills robots who have come to life.
Him: What was your favorite movie when you were a kid?
Me: Short Circuit
What's it about?
A robot who comes to life.
What was your favorite movie when you became a grownup?
Blade Runner
What's it about?
A guy who hunts and kills robots who have come to life.
Funicular homicide
February 10, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Funicular homicide
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
You know, when you think about it, Kid Rock is actually just another way of saying Epstein Island
February 9, 2026 at 2:47 AM
You know, when you think about it, Kid Rock is actually just another way of saying Epstein Island
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
"should the government kidnap 5 year olds and deport them? We asked seventeen ethics professors and they all just screamed"
February 8, 2026 at 5:42 PM
"should the government kidnap 5 year olds and deport them? We asked seventeen ethics professors and they all just screamed"
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
If you were writing pieces a year ago about the "cultural dominance" of MAGA and now this year you are writing that this was actually a mirage, then perhaps your judgement can't be trusted.
February 8, 2026 at 4:36 PM
If you were writing pieces a year ago about the "cultural dominance" of MAGA and now this year you are writing that this was actually a mirage, then perhaps your judgement can't be trusted.
Ok, new winter Olympic sport: half-pipe snowboard skeet shoot.
February 8, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Ok, new winter Olympic sport: half-pipe snowboard skeet shoot.
If I had a nickel for every time my 9-year-old son has attempted to write a comic adaptation of the Takashi Miike movie "As the Gods Will" I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
February 8, 2026 at 3:32 PM
If I had a nickel for every time my 9-year-old son has attempted to write a comic adaptation of the Takashi Miike movie "As the Gods Will" I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Handyman Hal's Moving Castle.
February 8, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Handyman Hal's Moving Castle.
I think the weather has had a dampening effect on public mobilization around the Epstein files. People are angry, but ground down, hampered by ICE and snow. Exhausted and withdrawn. Needing rejuvenation.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
February 8, 2026 at 11:51 AM
I think the weather has had a dampening effect on public mobilization around the Epstein files. People are angry, but ground down, hampered by ICE and snow. Exhausted and withdrawn. Needing rejuvenation.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
Tuesday the temperature will be above 40⁰ in DC.
I think Tuesday is when things start to move.
My son, last night: "Why don't we have nunchucks?
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
February 8, 2026 at 11:06 AM
My son, last night: "Why don't we have nunchucks?
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
Me, who accidentally left my nunchucks at an elementary school playground when filming a scene for a 48-hour film competition 10 years ago: "We don't keep weapons in the house."
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
One of the most sickening realizations I've ever had came when it hit me that six hundred years from now historians will be writing things like "while technically illegal, intercourse with minors was broadly accepted as normal among the American ruling class, and even a marker of status"
February 8, 2026 at 7:30 AM
One of the most sickening realizations I've ever had came when it hit me that six hundred years from now historians will be writing things like "while technically illegal, intercourse with minors was broadly accepted as normal among the American ruling class, and even a marker of status"
Recently I've been casually referring to the current Spider-Man actor as "Tom Finland" instead of Tom Holland just to see who flinches when I say it.
February 8, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Recently I've been casually referring to the current Spider-Man actor as "Tom Finland" instead of Tom Holland just to see who flinches when I say it.
My 4-year-old just referred to a paramedic as a "care-amedic", in case you needed a little dose of morning cuteness.
February 7, 2026 at 12:54 PM
My 4-year-old just referred to a paramedic as a "care-amedic", in case you needed a little dose of morning cuteness.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
Alan Cumming on bathroom bills:
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
July 22, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Alan Cumming on bathroom bills:
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
"Why on earth would a rapist go through the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that treats rapists better than trans people."
My son keeps his money in a wooden box labeled "boring toys"
February 6, 2026 at 8:31 PM
My son keeps his money in a wooden box labeled "boring toys"
He would have turned 31 today.
February 5, 2026 at 2:59 PM
He would have turned 31 today.
Russia's been putting starlink receivers on drones for navigation and packing them with explosives so they can fly them into civilian targets. They've been doing this for multiple years, with no interference by the starlink company. Shameful that it's taken this long.
According to reports from the front, the situation is close to critical. Over the two years of active Starlink deployment, almost all operational command and control—communication between units, fire coordination, and UAV data transmission—has been tied to the American satellite infrastructure.
February 5, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Russia's been putting starlink receivers on drones for navigation and packing them with explosives so they can fly them into civilian targets. They've been doing this for multiple years, with no interference by the starlink company. Shameful that it's taken this long.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
This idea of "parental rights" being this all-encompassing, all-dominant thing is doing incalculable damage to the children they are supposedly trying to parent.
Iowa legislators have just passed a bill out of committee that would end childhood vaccine requirements for school entry.
A state legislator said vaccine exemptions aren’t enough—the whole system must go—because to have to claim a medical or religious exemption is against parental rights.
A state legislator said vaccine exemptions aren’t enough—the whole system must go—because to have to claim a medical or religious exemption is against parental rights.
February 4, 2026 at 9:59 PM
This idea of "parental rights" being this all-encompassing, all-dominant thing is doing incalculable damage to the children they are supposedly trying to parent.
9 years ago today I got my first dog. She was a Blue Heeler rescue named Gina (we renamed her Xena).
She was older and sicker than we knew, and was only with us for two and a half years, but we made sure they were great years.
She was the best dog.
She was older and sicker than we knew, and was only with us for two and a half years, but we made sure they were great years.
She was the best dog.
February 4, 2026 at 9:22 PM
9 years ago today I got my first dog. She was a Blue Heeler rescue named Gina (we renamed her Xena).
She was older and sicker than we knew, and was only with us for two and a half years, but we made sure they were great years.
She was the best dog.
She was older and sicker than we knew, and was only with us for two and a half years, but we made sure they were great years.
She was the best dog.
My first subscription issue of The Onion. I should invest in a pipe and slippers.
February 3, 2026 at 9:03 PM
My first subscription issue of The Onion. I should invest in a pipe and slippers.
Once I was walking down the street with a friend and I felt sick and puked almost a quart of blood into a planter, and we suddenly had to face down my impending death for the 10 seconds it took me to remember I had been drinking from a gallon of cheap Burgundy wine all afternoon.
February 3, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Once I was walking down the street with a friend and I felt sick and puked almost a quart of blood into a planter, and we suddenly had to face down my impending death for the 10 seconds it took me to remember I had been drinking from a gallon of cheap Burgundy wine all afternoon.
Reposted by Potempkin Village Idiot
I want everyone who has spent years in therapy wondering what is wrong with them, wondering why they had so many bad relationships, why they felt so much dread, to know that it was in part because you were living in a world run by evil, evil people and you could tell that somewhere deep down
February 1, 2026 at 4:08 PM
I want everyone who has spent years in therapy wondering what is wrong with them, wondering why they had so many bad relationships, why they felt so much dread, to know that it was in part because you were living in a world run by evil, evil people and you could tell that somewhere deep down
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Space Law
2. Architectural Ceramics
3. Statistics for Anthropologists
4. Banned Books
5. Biblical Hebrew
1. Space Law
2. Architectural Ceramics
3. Statistics for Anthropologists
4. Banned Books
5. Biblical Hebrew
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Artificial Intelligence[*]
2. Pharmacognosy
3. Microbiology
4. Software Engineering
5. Human physiology
[*] State of the art in 1990, deep in the AI Winter
1. Artificial Intelligence[*]
2. Pharmacognosy
3. Microbiology
4. Software Engineering
5. Human physiology
[*] State of the art in 1990, deep in the AI Winter
February 1, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1. Space Law
2. Architectural Ceramics
3. Statistics for Anthropologists
4. Banned Books
5. Biblical Hebrew
1. Space Law
2. Architectural Ceramics
3. Statistics for Anthropologists
4. Banned Books
5. Biblical Hebrew
Just spent the past hour and a half removing ice from the sidewalk around the community garden, and it would have taken twice as long if I didn't have this magical tool. Amazing stuff.
Shingle Stripper 46-Inch Handle Steel Roof Shovel - Estwing
Estwing Shingle Stripper is designed to make removing shingles in both commercial and residential applications much easier.
www.estwing.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Just spent the past hour and a half removing ice from the sidewalk around the community garden, and it would have taken twice as long if I didn't have this magical tool. Amazing stuff.
First workout at the gym in God knows how long & when I was making myself a sandwich afterwards I was so tired I wanted to just stop and lie down. But I was so hungry I just had to keep pushing through the sandwich-making process.
It was like an extra workout at the end of my workout.
It was like an extra workout at the end of my workout.
January 31, 2026 at 5:50 PM
First workout at the gym in God knows how long & when I was making myself a sandwich afterwards I was so tired I wanted to just stop and lie down. But I was so hungry I just had to keep pushing through the sandwich-making process.
It was like an extra workout at the end of my workout.
It was like an extra workout at the end of my workout.