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thesyntaxmachine.bsky.social
The Syntax Machine
@thesyntaxmachine.bsky.social
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
Bolero's New Sweater - Gator Days
Bolero's New Sweater - Gator Days Transcript Panel 1 Bolero has received a new sweater for Christmas! It seems to be a few sizes too big. He can't even fit his arms through the sleeves. His mom isn't too worried. Tammy: Looks like your new sweater is too big. Panel 2 Bolero lifts an arm and watches the rest of the sleeve be pulled down by gravity. Tammy: You'll just have to grow into it. Panel 3 Bolero begins to lift the back of the neckline of the sweater upward. Tammy: You can take it off. Panel 4 Bolero has the sweater covering the back of his head and he's lifting the arms so the sleeves flop around in the air. He feels like a medieval peasant working tirelessly in the fields. Perhaps one plotting treason against the king. Bolero: I love this. Tammy: Really? Bolero: Can I wear it to school?
December 26, 2025 at 7:06 PM
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theophite.bsky.social
honestly I think that we should pass a law denying the protection of any federal law to anyone who received a pardon from Trump. nothing done to them by any other person should be criminal.
robertscotthorton.bsky.social Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d
GOP operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, convicted election fraudsters, were paid $960,000 in the second quarter to secure a pardon for a former nursing-home operator who defrauded the government of $38 million. Trump pardoned the man, Joseph Schwartz, last month.
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:01 AM
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theophite.bsky.social
if you are above the law's judgment you are beneath the law's protection
December 26, 2025 at 2:07 AM
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theophite.bsky.social
he is selling immunity to consequences. anyone who bought it should be denied fire and water and suffer whatever consequences the most insane person available considers appropriate
December 26, 2025 at 2:04 AM
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johnrogers.bsky.social
You are getting a live preview of this as streamers “reinvent” weekly drops of series that return in less than a year with seasons of 15+ episodes. Just straight up looking in the camera and marveling at this “hole in the market” that’s actually the shallow grave they shoveled TV into for 8 years.
December 26, 2025 at 1:42 AM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
The Purple Door - A Gator Days Christmas Special Part Two
Pages 11-12/12
Page 11 Things seem to be getting fuzzier. Gustopher hugs me. I can hear his thoughts "I'm not a lone. I got Dad. I got Mewbert and Nougat." The fog seems to be going away and the world is becoming clearer again. "I got Grandma and Grandpa. I got all my friends." We're in Gustopher's bedroom. "Sometimes I feel hurt. But I know I'll feel happy again." Page 12 "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Gustopher shouts all of sudden. It is? Was that all a dream? I have no idea. I just want to go back to sleep. Gustopher rushes to wake up his dad. "DAD! WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS! Oh!" Something catches his eye on an end table. It was a photo that fell out of the recipe book the night before. Gustopher picks it up and says "You're not here but... Merry Christmas, Mom." Back the yelling, "DAD! GET UP!" The photo is back on the table. It's a picture of Gustopher's parents. There's a heart with "CHRISTINE + AUGUST" written inside. Gustopher's dad is holding the hand of a woman who is holding up a key in her other hand. They stand in front of a purple door.
December 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
The Purple Door - A Gator Days Christmas Special Part Two
Pages 7-10/12
Page 7 We're standing in front of a purple door. The address seems to be 1402. This isn't a place I recognize but Gustopher seems to be more familiar with it. I notice him staring at the door solemnly. His face isn't showing much emotion but I can sense a sadness underneath it. After a brief period of silence he says, "I think this is where my mom lives." Page 8 Gustopher's sadness seems to melt away for a moment and he excitedly says to me, "Maybe Mom is waiting for me!" He lifts his hands into the air and continues, "I'll open the door and say "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" The world feels brighter and warmer for a moment. "We'll spend Christmas together and I'll tell her all about my friends and-" Gustopher's voice suddenly softens, "Maybe she won't leave." Page 9 Gustopher stares at the purple down. It seems so big and imposing in this moment. "I think about her a lot around Christmas," he continues, "I'll wonder what she's doing." "On TV, families get reunited on Christmas. But that doesn't happen to me." Gustopher sits down on the ground next to me. I can tell that there's a lot going through his head right now. Page 10 Gustopher tells me exactly how he's feeling "If she wanted to spend Christmas with me then she wouldn't have left. It bothers me more and more every year." "It hurts." I need to say something so I say it. "It's okay to feel hurt. During a time of year that's filled with so much laughter and joy, the pain in our life can hurt even more. It's okay to feel upset. I'll be there for you to help you through it." It might have just came out as a Mew but I think he understood me. I curl up in Gustopher's arms to let him know he's not alone. He found me when I was all by my myself. This is the least I can do.
December 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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goldstein.bsky.social
I think this is accurate but I have a "yes and". I think the real sin of COVID for people was that they were forced to deal with their own children. I think people would have been a lot more tolerant of all the other stuff if only they were able to escape/foist onto others the hellions they created.
garethwatkins.bsky.social Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 2d
I don't think that we on the left appreciate just how psychologically destabilising COVID was for the right - for a year they were forced to act (in some places) as if their core assumption about the world -that there are better kinds of person- wasn't true, and they don't want that to happen again.
michaelhobbes.bsky.social Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 2d
This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.
December 24, 2025 at 8:22 AM
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carlbergstrom.com
I feel like running these phone-it-in pieces about what AI can't do is as harmful as running credulous pro-AI hype. This one is exceptionally bad. It's hawking a new book ofc, but the attempt to bring in AI to an architectural mystery is so ridiculously irrelevant it's embarrassing for all involved.
Opinion | I Asked ChatGPT to Solve an 800-Year-Old Italian Mystery. What Happened Surprised Me.
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
The Purple Door - A Gator Days Christmas Special Part One
Pages 1-4/12
Part Two coming December 24th
Page 1 My name is Mewbert. I am cat. I live in a house with another cat named Nougat and two giants. The bigger giant, August, is in the food room and preparing to to make something special. This is one of my favorite times because he'll give me food if I stare at him long enough. He's wrapped himself in cloth that says "LET US SLEIGH". He claims it's a joke that works on multiple levels. I don't care, I just want food. "I haven't made this in a long time," he says, "Could you get me the recipe book from my desk?" "Got it!" says the smaller giant. His name is Gustopher. I follow Gustopher to fetch this book. It's possible that more food might be involved and I don't wish to miss that. The giants have filled our home with strange things. Like a tree covered in colorful lights. Silly giants. Don't they know that trees belong outside? Gustopher has found the book but something has fallen out of it. His face is blank as he stares at it but I can tell he's feeling sad. Page 2 The treats have been made and the giants have prepared for sleep. I've heard murmuring of tomorrow being an important day. Gustopher has a smile on his face but I can tell that there's something upsetting him. I've decided that I should watch over him tonight. I am a good cat. Gustopher closes his eyes but something begins to feel off. The window glows a faint purple color. I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do that. Then again, the giants have also been putting bright and colorful objects everywhere so I don't know what's normal anymore. I've tried to help them by knocking things off the table but they keep putting them back. They're weird. Gustopher has noticed the window's glow. He leans forward and watches it carefully. I watch from bedroom entrance. He surely can't get into too much trouble, right? Page 3 Gustopher looks through his window. I watch him look through it. The giants are such interesting creatures. They're easily entertained by windows and glowing rectangles. I could watch them for hours. Something is suddenly off. Is Gustopher starting to rise up into the air. I don't think he's supposed to do that. This doesn't seem normal. Have the giants always been able to float off randomly? I'll have to tell Nougat about this later. Okay, now this really isn't good. He's starting to float out the window. The invisible force field isn't working. I have to do something! Maybe if I grab onto him, I can weight him down. I leap into action! I can't let him float away! He's really good at petting! Oh no. I seem to have gone through the window too. This is not good. This is not right. I don't know what to do. I hold tight to Gustopher's leg. Page 4 Are we alive? I think we're still alive. I'm afraid to open my eyes. I'm holding tight to Gustopher so I don't fall. Okay, deep breath in and deep breath out. This is fine. I'm fine. Whatever is happening is fine. I open my eyes and I see the night sky. Beautiful stars surrounding me. That's nice. Until I realize that they're surrounding me. Oh, we're high up in the night sky. This is not fine. I hold tight to Gustopher. I don't think this is normal.
December 22, 2025 at 4:42 PM
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timcarvell.bsky.social
The irony is, there actually IS one person I can think of who talks eloquently, and often, about how his faith informs him as a person and a citizen, and who does it in a way that even atheists listen to and respect. But CBS canceled his late-night show and it’s going off the air in May.
December 20, 2025 at 6:29 PM
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tmbhmltn.bsky.social
Oh cool a new entry in the continuing series of I’d Rather Try to Make Cause With People That Hate Me Instead of My Mom and Her Lame Friends
December 21, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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bill-of-lefts.bsky.social
the two people alive most likely to be the actual biblical Antichrist are the president and Mr Beast
bigjoel.bsky.social Big Joel @bigjoel.bsky.social · 4d
In Mr Beast’s new video, a woman is alone for two weeks on a platform in the sky. and each day, a balloon is released at an inopportune moment for her. And if she fails to shoot the balloon with an arrow, they take a small portion of the platform that is her home
December 22, 2025 at 4:14 AM
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ernesto.bsky.social
if you have political goals, not just a desire to sit in a chair and feel important, you absolutely do not want to "overperform" in this sense. every point above winning could have been spent and you just left it on the table
reedonly.bsky.social Simpler Times Rememberer @reedonly.bsky.social · 6d
when we said “defer electoral strategy to the actual politicians running for actual offices” we meant “after calculating wins above replacement somehow”
December 20, 2025 at 11:04 PM
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kenwhite.bsky.social
/2 And people in authority who openly defy the rule of law and encourage contempt of it, who openly use it to help their friends and hinder their enemies, are not morally entitled to its protection, in any way.
December 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
The End of the World - Gator Days
The End of the World - Gator Days Transcript Panel 1 August and Gustopher are walking home from the grocery store when they see a street evangelist spreading the good news about the end of the world with a megaphone. He is lifting the holy text "THE FINE BOOK" in the air. Whether or not this book is actually fine is hotly debated. Street Evangelist: REPENT SINNERS! THE WORLD'S END IS NEAR! Gustopher: It is? Panel 2 August has lived through multiple declarations of the end of the world and is fairly confident that the world is not ending. Or if the world is ending, it's happening slowly and painfully. August: No, the world isn't ending. Gustopher: But what if it is? I have to live life to the fullest. Panel 3 Gustopher is filled with determination. If the world ends, he's going to be absolutely sure that he has no regrets. Gustopher: When we get home, I'm going to pet cats and play video games. Panel 4 August: You do that every night. Gustopher: I live each day like it's my last. August and Gustopher went home, pet the cats, and played video games.
December 19, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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chrisgeidner.bsky.social
Yes, there are many others to blame — even more directly — but The Atlantic and The New York Times platformed and mainstreamed those voices in America, and now trans children and their families are paying the price.
December 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM
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chrisgeidner.bsky.social
The extreme attack on transgender youth we are witnessing from a governmental stage was enabled by The Atlantic and The New York Times.
December 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
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mugrimm.bsky.social
Living through the OWS period when everyone was like "okay if a McDonalds charged just a little more per order we could pay $15/hr" and similar claims about food, and then the moment that started actually happening (Ag and CDL jobs with HUGE increases) people said "Fuck this, fuck you, fuck off"
sodrock.bsky.social Secretary of Defense Rock @sodrock.bsky.social · 9d
It is what it is but I’m not sure how easy it’s going to do things when the majority of the electorate is just like “make it 2019 again”
December 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
Cranky - Gator Days
Cranky - Gator Days Panel 1 Ember has woken up on the wrong side of the bed and she is CRANKY! Thankfully, she's polite enough to inform the world that she is cranky so that everyone has the opportunity to escape her wrath. Ember: I'M CRANKY! DON'T TALK TO ME! Panel 2 Ember has decided to lock herself away in her room. She is letting everyone know that she is not to be disturbed. She might be angry with the world but she has standards. Ember: I WANT TO BE ALONE! EVERYONE GO AWAY. Panel 3 Ember closes her bedroom door. There is a sign designating it as "EMBER'S LAIR". The writing on the sign was decided by Ember who wanted all potential intruders to have an a feel of dread they approach her domain. Panel 4 Ember peeks her head out out of her bedroom door with a new declaration. Ember: BEING ALONE IS BORING! SOMEONE LET ME YELL AT THEM! Again, Ember might be super grumpy but she has standards.
December 17, 2025 at 5:29 PM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
Text Anxiety - Gator Days
Text Anxiety - Gator Days Panel 1 Polly is taking a walk. This is one of her favorite streets with a street sign that says "SIGN". It's a great place to go if you're wishing for a higher power to send you a sign. Unfortunately, Polly has a head full of anxious thoughts. She has been waiting for Gwen to text her back but it has taken longer than usual. Polly (thinking): Gwen still hasn't texted back. Is she angry? Panel 2 Polly's thoughts starts to spiral. She's starting to think she might not be a very good friend. Polly (thinking): Maybe I'm bothering her. Am I bad friend? Should I leave her alone? Panel 3 Polly checks her phone and makes a startling discovery that instantly eliminates all anxiety. Polly (thinking): Oh. I forgot to press send on my last text. Panel 4 Now we see Gwen doing some grocery shopping. She's near the produce where we can see a lot of colorful and ideally edible plants for sale. There are "Perfect" CHIVES for sale as well as orange sticks, round brown things, big and green things, and red stuff labelled "RED!!!!!!!!!!". There's also shelf standard store favorites like "Box of Food", "Can of Drink", "FOMO", and "Sold out". It's the usual grocery store stuff. Gwen is also currently feeling relieved. Gwen (thinking): Polly texted! I thought she was mad at me.
December 15, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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golikehellmachine.com
to the extent that "republican" or "conservative" still mean anything, everything miller believes is in opposition. the reason that this seems so strange to read is because the median elected republican is neither conservative nor believes in republican values (or, really, anything at all)
December 12, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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fieldexplores.bsky.social
It Stays With You - Gator Days
It Stays With You - Gator Days Transcript Panel 1 Liam is reading a fantasy novel he found called Dragon Days. As he reads, he can vividly imagine the events of the book playing out. There is an elder wizard with a mustache that appears to be fighting a fearsome dragon. In the distance, the wizard's apprentice who looks a little like Liam watches. The book does not have favorable reviews but Liam has found a lot to enjoy about it. He feels a deep connection with the wizard's apprentice. He's also interested in this dragon. Panel 2 Liam's mother tells him that the time for reading has ended. Fern: Liam, it's time for sleep. Liam: Okay. Panel 3 Liam has put away Dragon Days. He is in bed and wondering what will happen next in the story. He begins to consider the different possibilities and where they might lead. Panel 4 Liam closes his eyes. His mind drifts back the book. As he falls asleep watches the events play out in his head. He sees the wizard's apprentice wield a magical staff and stare down the dragon. He might not be reading the book but he is still in its world. This is one of the many things that Liam loves about books.
December 12, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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boxelderdust.bsky.social
Literally every single bad decision this country has made over the past half-century can be attributed to “a lot of voters are panicky racist morons” but left, center, and right all have a vested interest in denying that and keep tying themselves in more ornate knots to avoid confronting it
December 12, 2025 at 8:37 AM
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boxelderdust.bsky.social
Why did the White Working Class turn on liberalism in the late century? Can’t be bigotry, just Money In Politics

Why did the Iraq War happen? Shadowy conspiracy by Them for profits

Why did Trump get elected twice? Well you just have to understand the economic anxiety of the left behind working man
December 12, 2025 at 8:37 AM