Lethargic Maze
@gambariste.bsky.social
My posts fly up; my thoughts remain below.
Posts without thoughts never to blue sky go
Posts without thoughts never to blue sky go
Pinned
Lethargic Maze
@gambariste.bsky.social
· Oct 27
"As for us," he said, in addressing the senate, "we are so far from possessing anything of our own that even the house in which we live is yours."
— Marcus Aurelius
— Marcus Aurelius
Also Cuntlik
Has anyone else noticed that Lutnick is an anagram for Nutlick?
February 15, 2026 at 11:48 AM
Also Cuntlik
The Gramsci attributed “time of monsters” recalls not only Stranger Things’ Demogorgon but also Foundation’s Mule. When it is revealed that the apparent Mule was merely a pawn to the real Mule, Bayta (perhaps), you have to wonder to whom Trump is a pawn.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
‘The time of monsters’: everyone is quoting Gramsci – but what did he actually say?
Line handily sums up people’s bewilderment at state of world, but it isn’t quite what the Marxist thinker wrote
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 11:03 AM
The Gramsci attributed “time of monsters” recalls not only Stranger Things’ Demogorgon but also Foundation’s Mule. When it is revealed that the apparent Mule was merely a pawn to the real Mule, Bayta (perhaps), you have to wonder to whom Trump is a pawn.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
The San Francisco Super Bowl logo looks like it is saying LAX..
February 5, 2026 at 1:35 PM
The San Francisco Super Bowl logo looks like it is saying LAX..
A typical news org post on @bsky has text teasing the story at top, a graphic with a caption repeating the text and below, the first couple of lines of the body of the report linked to, which repeat the text a third time. Hardly compulsive reading by this stage.
February 3, 2026 at 7:00 PM
A typical news org post on @bsky has text teasing the story at top, a graphic with a caption repeating the text and below, the first couple of lines of the body of the report linked to, which repeat the text a third time. Hardly compulsive reading by this stage.
If Trump is a hegemonic predator, he’s a carnivorous dinosaur, Trumpus hegemonsaurus, who hasn’t yet realised his comet (anthropogenic climate change) has struck.
In the current @foreignaffairs.com there's a an important article by @stephenwalt.bsky.social which frames Trump's "foreign policy" as "predatory hegemony." It also notes that this "mafia boss"-like policy is doomed to fail and weaken the U.S. Truth. Must read. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
The Predatory Hegemon
Ever since Donald Trump first became U.S. president, in 2017, commentators have searched for an adequate label to describe his approach to U.S. foreign relations. Writing in these pages, the political...
www.foreignaffairs.com
February 3, 2026 at 5:14 PM
If Trump is a hegemonic predator, he’s a carnivorous dinosaur, Trumpus hegemonsaurus, who hasn’t yet realised his comet (anthropogenic climate change) has struck.
Watched @smerconish.bsky.social on @cnn.com Ever the moderate, he says long time tax paying migrants whose only crime was to enter and stay in US illegally should be allowed to stay, ‘but to never be able to vote’. Meaning taxation without representation, right?
February 1, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Watched @smerconish.bsky.social on @cnn.com Ever the moderate, he says long time tax paying migrants whose only crime was to enter and stay in US illegally should be allowed to stay, ‘but to never be able to vote’. Meaning taxation without representation, right?
If TACO means Trump Always Chickens Out, REpublicans Always Kow Tow - REAKT - is the default even when he does. See how long the dissent lasts. They condemned him for J6. Now they don’t. They’ll soon be quiet about Greenland as they’re quiet about ICE. He’s testing them to see how far he can go.
January 25, 2026 at 4:44 PM
If TACO means Trump Always Chickens Out, REpublicans Always Kow Tow - REAKT - is the default even when he does. See how long the dissent lasts. They condemned him for J6. Now they don’t. They’ll soon be quiet about Greenland as they’re quiet about ICE. He’s testing them to see how far he can go.
Reposted by Lethargic Maze
(From my 1st BBC Reith Lecture, watch the full lecture here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUJ-...)
Are we living through the fall of civilisation? | The Reith Lectures 2025
YouTube video by BBC Sounds
www.youtube.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:17 PM
(From my 1st BBC Reith Lecture, watch the full lecture here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUJ-...)
Trump said drug prices in US are high becos the world underpays big pharma yet he can get them to reduce by multiples of 100%. Everyone focuses on the bad maths but miss the point that this is socialised medicine. Govts buy wholesale and subsidise pts’ cost. But US supply chain is totally private.
January 21, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Trump said drug prices in US are high becos the world underpays big pharma yet he can get them to reduce by multiples of 100%. Everyone focuses on the bad maths but miss the point that this is socialised medicine. Govts buy wholesale and subsidise pts’ cost. But US supply chain is totally private.
Ok. All those streaming Trump’s Davis speech live can please go back to your studios. He’s done with his scripted speech and weaving now.
January 21, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Ok. All those streaming Trump’s Davis speech live can please go back to your studios. He’s done with his scripted speech and weaving now.
Meta’s end to end encryption is not real. How else is targeting of ads so spot on? But AI still sucks. Info above search engines results can give totally BS answers. Worth asking twice with slight differences in wording just to see if the answers are consistent. Ask the antipode of any place, eg.
January 17, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Meta’s end to end encryption is not real. How else is targeting of ads so spot on? But AI still sucks. Info above search engines results can give totally BS answers. Worth asking twice with slight differences in wording just to see if the answers are consistent. Ask the antipode of any place, eg.
May 27 Australia’s population is projected to reach 28m, on the anniversary of the 1967 constitutional referendum that finally included indigenous people in the census.
Set reminder: 2033 when the (ab)original people will have been Australian longer than they were not. Give or take 60k years.
Set reminder: 2033 when the (ab)original people will have been Australian longer than they were not. Give or take 60k years.
January 7, 2026 at 2:47 AM
May 27 Australia’s population is projected to reach 28m, on the anniversary of the 1967 constitutional referendum that finally included indigenous people in the census.
Set reminder: 2033 when the (ab)original people will have been Australian longer than they were not. Give or take 60k years.
Set reminder: 2033 when the (ab)original people will have been Australian longer than they were not. Give or take 60k years.
It’s hard to see Trump’s or his minders’ true reason for invading Venezuela other than unrealistic outcomes.
Drugs? Negligible.
Oil? Too costly.
Regime change? Seems not.
Democracy? No(bel) way, Jose.
But: ego stroked; Marco’s Cuban boil lanced.
MAGA = MAFIA: Making America First In the Americas
Drugs? Negligible.
Oil? Too costly.
Regime change? Seems not.
Democracy? No(bel) way, Jose.
But: ego stroked; Marco’s Cuban boil lanced.
MAGA = MAFIA: Making America First In the Americas
January 5, 2026 at 1:37 PM
It’s hard to see Trump’s or his minders’ true reason for invading Venezuela other than unrealistic outcomes.
Drugs? Negligible.
Oil? Too costly.
Regime change? Seems not.
Democracy? No(bel) way, Jose.
But: ego stroked; Marco’s Cuban boil lanced.
MAGA = MAFIA: Making America First In the Americas
Drugs? Negligible.
Oil? Too costly.
Regime change? Seems not.
Democracy? No(bel) way, Jose.
But: ego stroked; Marco’s Cuban boil lanced.
MAGA = MAFIA: Making America First In the Americas
If the oaths sworn by US military and new citizens are not enshrined in the constitution (I don’t know either way) I predict Trump will change them to remove the reference to the constitution. He might do it anyway. Might well ditch the bit about disobeying illegal orders while he’s at it.
January 5, 2026 at 4:38 AM
If the oaths sworn by US military and new citizens are not enshrined in the constitution (I don’t know either way) I predict Trump will change them to remove the reference to the constitution. He might do it anyway. Might well ditch the bit about disobeying illegal orders while he’s at it.
He’s drinking sour crude though. Iran’s is much sweeter, I hear.
January 5, 2026 at 4:03 AM
He’s drinking sour crude though. Iran’s is much sweeter, I hear.
I wonder if Trump’s Venezuela action is of a piece with his yearning for a Nobel, claiming to have stopped seven wars, renaming the Kennedy Centre and plans to build a triumphal arch — to cement his place in history. Other than as the worst president in history, which he’s earnt in spades.
January 3, 2026 at 1:21 PM
I wonder if Trump’s Venezuela action is of a piece with his yearning for a Nobel, claiming to have stopped seven wars, renaming the Kennedy Centre and plans to build a triumphal arch — to cement his place in history. Other than as the worst president in history, which he’s earnt in spades.
Reposted by Lethargic Maze
Amazing breakdown by @rvawonk.bsky.social of the disinformation tactics used:
Nick Shirley’s Somali Daycare Fraud Video Is Bullsh*t. Here’s Why It Worked Anyway.
A breakdown of the disinformation tactics used in the viral video.
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Amazing breakdown by @rvawonk.bsky.social of the disinformation tactics used:
The conceit is interesting. A virus finds a non-biological way to propagate but is still sound evolution. The problem is that it dooms humans to starve and relies on them ‘paying it forward’. The next host may be millions of light years away. Or it may die with humans before they find a new host.
Pluribus is a great show to watch while you’re doing something else.
This is the kind of TV I’d rather read the wikipedia entry for than watch but, the conceit of the show is interesting enough to want to know how it all plays out.
This is the kind of TV I’d rather read the wikipedia entry for than watch but, the conceit of the show is interesting enough to want to know how it all plays out.
December 31, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The conceit is interesting. A virus finds a non-biological way to propagate but is still sound evolution. The problem is that it dooms humans to starve and relies on them ‘paying it forward’. The next host may be millions of light years away. Or it may die with humans before they find a new host.
Technically, since leap years are just a quadrennial fix to the calendar, each new year between falls roughly a quarter of a day behind. So we should be ringing in the new year for 2026 at 6am. Just saying. Happy New Year all the same.
December 31, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Technically, since leap years are just a quadrennial fix to the calendar, each new year between falls roughly a quarter of a day behind. So we should be ringing in the new year for 2026 at 6am. Just saying. Happy New Year all the same.
Reposted by Lethargic Maze
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
Reposted by Lethargic Maze
For decades, Parkinson’s research has focused on genetics, on finding the rogue letters in our genome that cause this incurable disease. But researchers are looking at another unsuspecting cause: environmental factors.
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
For decades, Parkinson’s research has focused on genetics, on finding the rogue letters in our genome that cause this incurable disease. But researchers are looking at another unsuspecting cause: environmental factors.
There are no jury trials in Singapore. The death penalty is mandatory if judges find the accused guilty.
What the US is doing is akin to Duterte’s dirty ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines. He is now in The Hague facing ICC charges. Hegseth should consider his post-Trump travel plans carefully.
What the US is doing is akin to Duterte’s dirty ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines. He is now in The Hague facing ICC charges. Hegseth should consider his post-Trump travel plans carefully.
Just to note that Singapore has the death penalty for drug smuggling. Not saying it's right, just not unique.
Singapore, however, involves the full judicial process before sentencing. Proof beyond reasonable doubt, jury of peers. Not simply shooting up a small boat in the middle of the sea.
Singapore, however, involves the full judicial process before sentencing. Proof beyond reasonable doubt, jury of peers. Not simply shooting up a small boat in the middle of the sea.
December 5, 2025 at 7:26 AM
There are no jury trials in Singapore. The death penalty is mandatory if judges find the accused guilty.
What the US is doing is akin to Duterte’s dirty ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines. He is now in The Hague facing ICC charges. Hegseth should consider his post-Trump travel plans carefully.
What the US is doing is akin to Duterte’s dirty ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines. He is now in The Hague facing ICC charges. Hegseth should consider his post-Trump travel plans carefully.
If J “Demogorgon” Vance is Vecna, what does that make Trump? Well, one anagram deserves another and anagrammatically, Muprt brings Miss Piggy to mind. But Trump’s muppet is destined to live in a rent controlled trash can. In the upside down world of MAGA, stranger things may happen.
November 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
If J “Demogorgon” Vance is Vecna, what does that make Trump? Well, one anagram deserves another and anagrammatically, Muprt brings Miss Piggy to mind. But Trump’s muppet is destined to live in a rent controlled trash can. In the upside down world of MAGA, stranger things may happen.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No reporters ever: "I'm Miss Piggy." "No, I'm Miss Piggy." "I'm Miss Piggy and so's my wife."
No reporters ever: "I'm Miss Piggy." "No, I'm Miss Piggy." "I'm Miss Piggy and so's my wife."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/19/trump-quiet-piggy"I'm
November 20, 2025 at 10:40 AM
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No reporters ever: "I'm Miss Piggy." "No, I'm Miss Piggy." "I'm Miss Piggy and so's my wife."
No reporters ever: "I'm Miss Piggy." "No, I'm Miss Piggy." "I'm Miss Piggy and so's my wife."
Westminster-style parliamentary democracies have whole shadow administrations. Cabinet Secretaries aka ministers are -er- shadowed. By elected opposition spokespersons. Who have a whole term to prepare to take office, not just the 3 months following a presidential election. So there’s that.
Watching Karoline Leavitt spew her usual misinformation and divisive nonsense makes me wonder, why isn’t there a People’s press secretary?
Someone who stands at a podium, tells the truth, and gets covered too.
Democracy deserves balance, not propaganda.
Someone who stands at a podium, tells the truth, and gets covered too.
Democracy deserves balance, not propaganda.
November 13, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Westminster-style parliamentary democracies have whole shadow administrations. Cabinet Secretaries aka ministers are -er- shadowed. By elected opposition spokespersons. Who have a whole term to prepare to take office, not just the 3 months following a presidential election. So there’s that.