Daniel Dvorkin @medigoth@qoto.org

Not reposting because I don't want to give it a boost. All I will say is ... HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK WE GOT HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Watching my fellow #veterans turn on their own to defend the bloated coward in the White House is really pathetic. It's not the worst aspect of this insane time, nor the most dangerous—although it may be pretty high on the list. But it's one of the most personally disgusting.

From a long-ago conversation: "... #fantasy stories that read like a retelling of someone's #DnD campaign inspired by Sword Of #Shannara fanfic."

It was funny at the time. Now we're living in the #dystopian sci-fi equivalent.

From a friend: "How many commercial #jets crashed into US #Army #helicopters while #Biden was #president? Zero."

I'm totally hearing this sung to the tune of This Corrosion.

"Most people seem to be unaware that there is such a thing as the #Gothic #language."

"I’m still reasonably fluent, but I have admit it's a very limited language. Mostly good for expressing gloom and ennui."

A friend's brilliant nickname for White House Press Secretary Karoline #Leavitt: "Klaus Barbie".

Puts a whole new spin on "I identify as an attack helicopter," doesn't it?

The very stable genius asks: "Why didn't the #helicopter go up or down, or turn?"

Helicopters must be … [gasp] … WOKE!

Whenever I see anyone mention #American #Primeval, I get some cognitive dissonance, because I'm a big fan of the #British series #Primeval, which is about something *completely* different. It's even weirder because there was a short-lived sequel series titled Primeval: New World (set in #Canada, not the #US, but still). Not that a crossover wouldn't be fun ...

I laughed, but this is a serious concern. Even if he drops dead tomorrow (entirely possible given his age and lousy health habits) the Party might decide he's too useful to let go.

I'm starting to get snarly about the "#distraction" thing with people I have no desire to alienate. So I'll just copy and paste my comments on a friend's post, and leave it at that:

"I do not believe the #culture #war is meant as a distraction. It is meant to accomplish its own whole set of goals, which exist alongside the #economic ones. The right wants to enrich itself by starving poor people *and* run out or kill off everyone who doesn't check all their #demographic boxes. These goals are not mutually exclusive, and neither is a distraction from the other.

"I'm a straight white male native-born middle-aged middle-class veteran: the economic axe will probably fall on my neck before the demographic one does. But I am very well aware that for a lot of other people, including some members of my family and close friends, it's the other way around. So there's really no way to make the d-word more palatable IMO."

Reminder: #HorribleThing is not a distraction from #OtherHorribleThing is not a distraction from #YetAnotherHorribleThing. All the horrible things are horrible, and none of them are planned solely as distractions. They're all things horrible people want.

Benjamin Kratzer, a good friend of long standing, died today.

We'd known each other for well over thirty years, after being stationed together at RAF Upwood. Like many GIs of our generation, we lost contact after the service took us our separate ways, then reconnected thanks to the internet.

Many and various are the online world's sins—but this ability to put people in touch with each other, and back in touch with each other, is an unalloyed good. Human connections are fragile things. Anything that builds and strengthens and maintains them is worth holding onto.

He was a smart, funny, thoughtful, compassionate human being who dedicated much of his life to helping others. Goodbye, my friend. You deserved much more of what you so freely gave.

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." We'll do our best.

Yes, absolutely postitively do not call #Teslas "#swasticars." It's mean and totally not funny and makes #Elongated #Muskrat sad.

Gondor calls for wings ... and Tyson will answer!

I'm *really* not doing well with my plan to stick to #writing and #dinosaurs, am I?

Pete #Hegseth received the Combat #Infantry Badge because he heard shots fired in the distance a couple of times. He spent his #deployment sitting in the command tent with a #bottle in one hand and writing himself Bronze Star citations with the other.

I have no proof of this, but also no doubt.

Upon Googling, I discovered that Ben #Garrett did not come up with the repulsive phrase "the #sin of #empathy": there has for several years existed a whole cottage industry of right-wing Christians dedicated to propagating the idea that empathy is a sin. I've been calling out #Christian #hypocrisy for as long as I can remember, but I think never in my life have I seen any doctrine quite so contrary to the #Gospels as this.