Lava monster
@lavamonster.bsky.social
Science (sometimes fiction) nerd • Outdoor adventure obsessive • One of those transgenders you're hearing about in the news • she/they
My suspicion: rape is so horrifically common that the stability of modern capitalism and patriarchy depends on pretending that (a) that's not true or (b) that if it is true then the rapists are all poor brown people. It's literally existential for them.
November 23, 2025 at 11:03 PM
My suspicion: rape is so horrifically common that the stability of modern capitalism and patriarchy depends on pretending that (a) that's not true or (b) that if it is true then the rapists are all poor brown people. It's literally existential for them.
Palin’s prominence did not come until several months after Obama’s, sure, but I struggle to believe that her style of reactionary politics could have crystallized and become popular with the Republican base that quickly. Obama’s candidacy activated these people, but it certainly didn’t create them.
November 23, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Palin’s prominence did not come until several months after Obama’s, sure, but I struggle to believe that her style of reactionary politics could have crystallized and become popular with the Republican base that quickly. Obama’s candidacy activated these people, but it certainly didn’t create them.
I think there's also a part of Trump that involuntarily respects confidence, which Mamdani of course has in spades. People like Tim Cook are obviously nice to Trump, but I don't get the sense that Trump actually respects the sort of servile behavior the way he respects someone who fights him.
November 21, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I think there's also a part of Trump that involuntarily respects confidence, which Mamdani of course has in spades. People like Tim Cook are obviously nice to Trump, but I don't get the sense that Trump actually respects the sort of servile behavior the way he respects someone who fights him.
Bill Kristol also seems to actually believe the stuff he said in the Bush years about the superiority of democracy, and he is definitely no lefty, just not a moral coward like most of his peers.
November 21, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Bill Kristol also seems to actually believe the stuff he said in the Bush years about the superiority of democracy, and he is definitely no lefty, just not a moral coward like most of his peers.
American Evangelical megachurches can only dream of this sort of thing.
November 21, 2025 at 11:09 PM
American Evangelical megachurches can only dream of this sort of thing.
I finally bought and read that book this year!
November 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
I finally bought and read that book this year!
That’s why he got elected instead of a boring, uncharismatic fascist like Stephen Miller.
November 21, 2025 at 10:11 PM
That’s why he got elected instead of a boring, uncharismatic fascist like Stephen Miller.
Mamdani, MBS, Putin, only commonality is Trump absolutely cannot resist joining and even being subservient to what he perceives as the winning side (so long as it’s a man, I don’t think his sexism would let him act like this around a woman).
The Clinton thing would fit that dynamic.
The Clinton thing would fit that dynamic.
November 21, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Mamdani, MBS, Putin, only commonality is Trump absolutely cannot resist joining and even being subservient to what he perceives as the winning side (so long as it’s a man, I don’t think his sexism would let him act like this around a woman).
The Clinton thing would fit that dynamic.
The Clinton thing would fit that dynamic.
Sarah Palin came before Obama. The rot had already set in by 2008.
November 21, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Sarah Palin came before Obama. The rot had already set in by 2008.
Also the bit about her hating all M/F fantasy romance is just demonstrably untrue, one of her most recent videos was wholeheartedly recommending one and saying “even as a lesbian I thought it was hot.”
As usual, people are shadowboxing a transphobic caricature that exists only in their minds.
As usual, people are shadowboxing a transphobic caricature that exists only in their minds.
November 21, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Also the bit about her hating all M/F fantasy romance is just demonstrably untrue, one of her most recent videos was wholeheartedly recommending one and saying “even as a lesbian I thought it was hot.”
As usual, people are shadowboxing a transphobic caricature that exists only in their minds.
As usual, people are shadowboxing a transphobic caricature that exists only in their minds.
Also Kate Applegate is actually cool, unlike certain other YA/children’s sifi/fantasy authors.
November 21, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Also Kate Applegate is actually cool, unlike certain other YA/children’s sifi/fantasy authors.
This is how the Galactic Empire collapses in Asimov’s Foundation.
Shit breaks and no one knows how to fix it, except for a select few who decide they’re better off hoarding resources than working for the common good.
Shit breaks and no one knows how to fix it, except for a select few who decide they’re better off hoarding resources than working for the common good.
November 21, 2025 at 6:08 PM
This is how the Galactic Empire collapses in Asimov’s Foundation.
Shit breaks and no one knows how to fix it, except for a select few who decide they’re better off hoarding resources than working for the common good.
Shit breaks and no one knows how to fix it, except for a select few who decide they’re better off hoarding resources than working for the common good.
I definitely did the same double-take.
November 21, 2025 at 5:24 AM
I definitely did the same double-take.
They failed miserably at the not making it obvious part.
November 20, 2025 at 5:24 PM
They failed miserably at the not making it obvious part.
This is blood money, to be completely clear.
November 18, 2025 at 9:45 PM
This is blood money, to be completely clear.
And the easiest way to neutralize that leverage? Release everything.
November 18, 2025 at 9:42 PM
And the easiest way to neutralize that leverage? Release everything.
It’s all right, I get it. It’s a general flaw in the asylum process, in that it’s fundamentally reactive and doesn’t kick into gear until it’s definitely too late for lots of people. It becomes “you have to let me stay here because my neighbors are already dead and I’d be next.”
November 18, 2025 at 9:37 PM
It’s all right, I get it. It’s a general flaw in the asylum process, in that it’s fundamentally reactive and doesn’t kick into gear until it’s definitely too late for lots of people. It becomes “you have to let me stay here because my neighbors are already dead and I’d be next.”
Right now there’s basically zero chance of an asylum claim on the basis of being trans in the US being accepted anywhere. That won’t change either unless the US government starts openly murdering trans people for being trans, and of course we’re not there at this point.
November 18, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Right now there’s basically zero chance of an asylum claim on the basis of being trans in the US being accepted anywhere. That won’t change either unless the US government starts openly murdering trans people for being trans, and of course we’re not there at this point.
They’d probably have to forge the date to be close to date of birth.
November 18, 2025 at 8:11 PM
They’d probably have to forge the date to be close to date of birth.
Also in my grad student union the econ department had the lowest rates of union membership outside of the business school, at least while I was there. A political reason for that seems almost certain.
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Also in my grad student union the econ department had the lowest rates of union membership outside of the business school, at least while I was there. A political reason for that seems almost certain.
Yeah I was really just thinking about the A-plot. You can fit several TV episodes’ worth of ideas into one novel, of course.
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Yeah I was really just thinking about the A-plot. You can fit several TV episodes’ worth of ideas into one novel, of course.
So much of this is people preferring the mediocrity they know over taking a risk on a new person. A lot of people in power are so novelty-averse they’ll keep backing an aging horse until they start losing serious money.
November 18, 2025 at 5:59 PM
So much of this is people preferring the mediocrity they know over taking a risk on a new person. A lot of people in power are so novelty-averse they’ll keep backing an aging horse until they start losing serious money.
This book to me feels like a novel version of TNG’s “The Inner Light” set in the Children of Time universe. I mean this as a compliment.
November 18, 2025 at 5:55 PM
This book to me feels like a novel version of TNG’s “The Inner Light” set in the Children of Time universe. I mean this as a compliment.
*he not we, I don’t live anywhere near NYC, purely observing here
November 18, 2025 at 5:52 PM
*he not we, I don’t live anywhere near NYC, purely observing here
In a weird way Jeffries’s endorsement might have trapped Mamdani more than it helped, because now Zohran probably feels like he needs to at least appear grateful. Without the endorsement we would have won anyway and now Jeffries gets to divide his opposition.
November 18, 2025 at 5:44 PM
In a weird way Jeffries’s endorsement might have trapped Mamdani more than it helped, because now Zohran probably feels like he needs to at least appear grateful. Without the endorsement we would have won anyway and now Jeffries gets to divide his opposition.