Philip Machanick 🇿🇦
@philip-mach.bsky.social
Retired CS academic, human rights, anti-corruption and environmental activist. Pro-science, anti-profiteering.
I write novels (find me at lulu.com) and progressive op-eds as a hobby.
Fan of inexpensive fine wine and South African landscapes and culture.
I write novels (find me at lulu.com) and progressive op-eds as a hobby.
Fan of inexpensive fine wine and South African landscapes and culture.
Truman changed the name to reflect a change in focus from waging war to preventing war and to put all of the military in one department.
And it’s not true that the US lost every war since.
And it’s not true that the US lost every war since.
November 12, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Truman changed the name to reflect a change in focus from waging war to preventing war and to put all of the military in one department.
And it’s not true that the US lost every war since.
And it’s not true that the US lost every war since.
Good book. Well worth reading.
November 12, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Good book. Well worth reading.
Plenty to blame. Others of course abetted. Consider the brutal assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Congo independence leader. The country has never really recovered. Stoking up civil war after Portugal pulled out of Angola. Just 2 examples.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
How the U.S. Issued its First Ever Order to Assassinate a Foreign Leader
A snub from the White House, a controversial stay at Blair House, an encounter with Dave Chappelle’s mother and a CIA-arranged tryst — what happened when Congo’s beleaguered leader visited D.C. in 196...
www.politico.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Plenty to blame. Others of course abetted. Consider the brutal assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Congo independence leader. The country has never really recovered. Stoking up civil war after Portugal pulled out of Angola. Just 2 examples.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Remember when Musk’s grok had a Nazi feature added?
November 11, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Remember when Musk’s grok had a Nazi feature added?
Nice, quoting the actual RFK’s ripple of hope speech.
We eventually beat apartheid. He was right then.
We eventually beat apartheid. He was right then.
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Nice, quoting the actual RFK’s ripple of hope speech.
We eventually beat apartheid. He was right then.
We eventually beat apartheid. He was right then.
You don’t want to argue with that.
November 10, 2025 at 7:57 PM
You don’t want to argue with that.
Luckily the US has weak workplace rights.
November 10, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Luckily the US has weak workplace rights.
Thanks for the heads up: www.thefarside.com/new-stuff
New Work by Gary Larson | TheFarSide.com
Get an exclusive look at brand new cartoons and artwork from cartoonist Gary Larson, creator of the iconic comic strip The Far Side®.
www.thefarside.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Thanks for the heads up: www.thefarside.com/new-stuff
Sadly that didn’t work for Whitlam.
November 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Sadly that didn’t work for Whitlam.
Snatching disarray from array.
November 10, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Snatching disarray from array.
And who don’t scare.
Like you.
Like you.
November 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
And who don’t scare.
Like you.
Like you.
Is there a Nobel in inanity?
November 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Is there a Nobel in inanity?
Fantastic. Proof that watercolour ≠ washed out.
November 10, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Fantastic. Proof that watercolour ≠ washed out.
Aha. Too crazy for China.
November 10, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Aha. Too crazy for China.
Arlo Guthrie. Alice’s Restaurant. Classic.
November 9, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Arlo Guthrie. Alice’s Restaurant. Classic.
Is that a Chinese flag?
November 9, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Is that a Chinese flag?
When you have a friend whose bestie was a sex trafficker this kind of thing may seem natural.
It isn’t and that isn’t.
It isn’t and that isn’t.
November 9, 2025 at 7:37 PM
When you have a friend whose bestie was a sex trafficker this kind of thing may seem natural.
It isn’t and that isn’t.
It isn’t and that isn’t.
Very good. I don’t crank out pasta often because I seldom have a big enough party to justify it.
May the next 34 be as good.
May the next 34 be as good.
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Very good. I don’t crank out pasta often because I seldom have a big enough party to justify it.
May the next 34 be as good.
May the next 34 be as good.
Go ahead. Prove it is possible to embarrass Trump.
Not sure if it’s possible but someone must do the science.
I’ll check when I wake up; that’s around 1:30am here.
Not sure if it’s possible but someone must do the science.
I’ll check when I wake up; that’s around 1:30am here.
November 9, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Go ahead. Prove it is possible to embarrass Trump.
Not sure if it’s possible but someone must do the science.
I’ll check when I wake up; that’s around 1:30am here.
Not sure if it’s possible but someone must do the science.
I’ll check when I wake up; that’s around 1:30am here.
If they dress up as fakes, what do they expect?
November 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
If they dress up as fakes, what do they expect?
I hope you haven’t been watching it since.
November 9, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I hope you haven’t been watching it since.
Not the crab’s favourite however.
November 9, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Not the crab’s favourite however.
You forgot … projection.
They aren’t going to arrest themselves.
They aren’t going to arrest themselves.
November 9, 2025 at 11:42 AM
You forgot … projection.
They aren’t going to arrest themselves.
They aren’t going to arrest themselves.