Engdawg69
@jaybirdeo.bsky.social
Reposted by Engdawg69
Was in the coffee shop today when a guy’s boyfriend came in and gave him a quick affectionate little kiss and I felt both a joy at living in a time and place where that love is normal and public and a rage at those who would try to take it away from us.
January 9, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Was in the coffee shop today when a guy’s boyfriend came in and gave him a quick affectionate little kiss and I felt both a joy at living in a time and place where that love is normal and public and a rage at those who would try to take it away from us.
Reposted by Engdawg69
need more cosmopolitan chauvinism imo. to be able to go to a world city and do this without crossing a border is something you should be proud of, it means you're a great country. To want to tear it down means you are inbred provincial hog with no greater drives than envy and fear.
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
January 9, 2026 at 2:17 AM
need more cosmopolitan chauvinism imo. to be able to go to a world city and do this without crossing a border is something you should be proud of, it means you're a great country. To want to tear it down means you are inbred provincial hog with no greater drives than envy and fear.
Reposted by Engdawg69
The split-screen here is unbelievable - first from yesterday, the others from 2017. Musk’s Twitter has truly driven us mad. People absorb far more of their beliefs from their social environment than they realize, and we’ve created an environment where being a gutter bigot is the baseline expectation
January 2, 2026 at 7:21 PM
The split-screen here is unbelievable - first from yesterday, the others from 2017. Musk’s Twitter has truly driven us mad. People absorb far more of their beliefs from their social environment than they realize, and we’ve created an environment where being a gutter bigot is the baseline expectation
Reposted by Engdawg69
just grievances all the way down
January 6, 2026 at 6:07 AM
just grievances all the way down
Reposted by Engdawg69
more seriously, I do genuinely think it was a mistake to go from: 'the project of bureaucratic rationality has at times been poorly implemented in biased ways, we must fix this' to 'the project of bureaucratic rationality is inherently unjust, we must replace it with [worse thing]'
Very bleakly funny that circa-2012-2015 conservatives have been totally vindicated in their arguments against the postmodern turn in parts of academia, the embrace of ‘ways of knowing’, rejection of bureaucratic rationality, etc.…because they embraced all those things and it was indeed a disaster
January 6, 2026 at 10:50 PM
more seriously, I do genuinely think it was a mistake to go from: 'the project of bureaucratic rationality has at times been poorly implemented in biased ways, we must fix this' to 'the project of bureaucratic rationality is inherently unjust, we must replace it with [worse thing]'
Reposted by Engdawg69
In a lot of ways he was more of a tribunician dictator than a monarch, in the way we think of it, or that a lot of his successors would.
January 4, 2026 at 3:29 AM
In a lot of ways he was more of a tribunician dictator than a monarch, in the way we think of it, or that a lot of his successors would.
Reposted by Engdawg69
I have come to the view that a) there is nothing inherently wrong with pornography, b) a worrying amount of Actually Existing Pornography is essentially hate propaganda against women, c) a lot of b is made under deeply abusive conditions.
Yes, which is why it is both true that (1) allowing THIS congress and THIS administration to sign internet restrictions or porn bans is crazy, but (2) there is a major, major problem with online access to pornography and liberals/Democrats needs to start thinking of ways to reckon with it.
also the online far-right are, almost to a man, porn-brained at a level that's quite difficult for people to process. they genuinely believe pornography is an expression of reality, and porn tropes shape their thinking about women.
December 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I have come to the view that a) there is nothing inherently wrong with pornography, b) a worrying amount of Actually Existing Pornography is essentially hate propaganda against women, c) a lot of b is made under deeply abusive conditions.
Reposted by Engdawg69
also the online far-right are, almost to a man, porn-brained at a level that's quite difficult for people to process. they genuinely believe pornography is an expression of reality, and porn tropes shape their thinking about women.
December 15, 2025 at 12:20 PM
also the online far-right are, almost to a man, porn-brained at a level that's quite difficult for people to process. they genuinely believe pornography is an expression of reality, and porn tropes shape their thinking about women.
Reposted by Engdawg69
I think Mamdani has a massively uphill battle to be an effective mayor, but unlike most people we elect here, he seems to realize that.
I think people are underestimating how much Mamdani, even more so than your average elected leftist, see it as his top priority to not be seen as a failed mayor. He is not going to be another Brandon Johnson, I’d wager
January 1, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I think Mamdani has a massively uphill battle to be an effective mayor, but unlike most people we elect here, he seems to realize that.
Reposted by Engdawg69
I'm entirely serious about this: until you internalize the view that urban America is Real America, you won't see the urgency of structural reform of an American government whose fundamental structures so disadvantage its population centers—the great engines of its prosperity, progress, & culture.
Another good practice for the New Year would be for all the non-fascists in America who want to opine about politics to really begin believing that urban America is Real America & that its denizens are The Authentic People. Get some self-respect & drop the volkish nationalist view that they're not
And I think liberals should stop taking the bait and ceding ground on immigration.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.
January 1, 2026 at 3:03 PM
I'm entirely serious about this: until you internalize the view that urban America is Real America, you won't see the urgency of structural reform of an American government whose fundamental structures so disadvantage its population centers—the great engines of its prosperity, progress, & culture.
Reposted by Engdawg69
here's a hot for Bluesky take: a lot of tech-criticism is so bad and focused on a kind of stupid imagined STEM-humanities culture war that some companies have been able to build whole brands around being "evil tech bros 😈" making supervillain promises despite their shit being vaporware
December 23, 2025 at 8:17 AM
here's a hot for Bluesky take: a lot of tech-criticism is so bad and focused on a kind of stupid imagined STEM-humanities culture war that some companies have been able to build whole brands around being "evil tech bros 😈" making supervillain promises despite their shit being vaporware
Reposted by Engdawg69
In defense of my discipline, we do not, in fact, all agree to that.
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
January 1, 2026 at 6:29 PM
In defense of my discipline, we do not, in fact, all agree to that.
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
Reposted by Engdawg69
once again: the onion called it
December 31, 2025 at 8:07 PM
once again: the onion called it
Reposted by Engdawg69
I was like "@patrickwyman.bsky.social did a great interview with someone about this" and it was of course @bretdevereaux.bsky.social, lol: wondery.com/shows/tides-...
Tides of History: S5 E128: Why Was Carthage Such a Threat to Rome? Interview with Dr. Bret Devereaux, Part 2
Dr. Bret Devereaux returns to the show to discuss why, exactly, Carthage was such a threat to the Roman Republic. The answer lies in the fact that more than any other state in the ancient world, Carth...
wondery.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I was like "@patrickwyman.bsky.social did a great interview with someone about this" and it was of course @bretdevereaux.bsky.social, lol: wondery.com/shows/tides-...
Reposted by Engdawg69
Working on book revisions and I have made this point like, 11,000 times but once more I feel the need to suggest that Carthage does not get a fair shake for how impressive its military machine was.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
December 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Working on book revisions and I have made this point like, 11,000 times but once more I feel the need to suggest that Carthage does not get a fair shake for how impressive its military machine was.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
Reposted by Engdawg69
There is literally 0 electoral incentive not to drone strike any given person in the world. Hardly anyone in the US actually cares and those who do are so high on their supply of 'uniparty! both sides same!' that they won't notice
It was one thing when Biden got no credit for ending the drone war. It's fucking farcical that the same people literally don't give a shit that Trump is restarting the drone war.
December 31, 2025 at 4:40 AM
There is literally 0 electoral incentive not to drone strike any given person in the world. Hardly anyone in the US actually cares and those who do are so high on their supply of 'uniparty! both sides same!' that they won't notice
Reposted by Engdawg69
yeah so this one has actually breached into normie discourse world because the people I know who don't follow news at all and usually get current events from me are making unprompted Somali daycare jokes
Trump guys are about to Comet Pizza every third daycare center because they think they are all fronts for Somali money laundering. They're only doing this near cities with progressive mayors. This is straight up Government by LibsOfTikTok.
December 31, 2025 at 5:59 AM
yeah so this one has actually breached into normie discourse world because the people I know who don't follow news at all and usually get current events from me are making unprompted Somali daycare jokes
Reposted by Engdawg69
THIS. Did you know sickle cell is curable, now? FULLY curable.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
meanwhile.... medicine has taken INSANE leaps and bounds in the last 2 years.
we're out here curing HIV and leukemia and creating 100% efficacy vaccines against all sorts of cancers, and now this??
between this and renewable energy outstripping fossil fuels in efficiency, the future is bright
we're out here curing HIV and leukemia and creating 100% efficacy vaccines against all sorts of cancers, and now this??
between this and renewable energy outstripping fossil fuels in efficiency, the future is bright
Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research.
A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
December 31, 2025 at 3:44 AM
THIS. Did you know sickle cell is curable, now? FULLY curable.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
Reposted by Engdawg69
Seems bad that all of the most banal, gormless Republicans who used to just talk in cliches are frothing-at-the-mouth racists now.
Most of America has absolutely 0 idea about any of this
December 31, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Seems bad that all of the most banal, gormless Republicans who used to just talk in cliches are frothing-at-the-mouth racists now.
Reposted by Engdawg69
A lot of people are trying to justify their own desire to surrender to Trump early in the year
I am annoyed by the persistence of 'resist libs are tired of resisting Trump' line.
No Kings put record-breaking numbers of people into the streets, specials/off-years are at D+10 or more.
I don't think the resist libs are tired. I think some writers are tired of writing about resist libs.
No Kings put record-breaking numbers of people into the streets, specials/off-years are at D+10 or more.
I don't think the resist libs are tired. I think some writers are tired of writing about resist libs.
December 29, 2025 at 11:40 PM
A lot of people are trying to justify their own desire to surrender to Trump early in the year