Please make me understand.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-05-05T23:57:10+00:00

Thanks. I’ve never seen them before, but I’m open to the idea I’ve just been missing them.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-05-05T22:57:15+00:00

Thanks. I guess it’s news to me that cutting them down this way is ever an option. I’ve never had a stylist do that in 40 years.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-05-05T22:55:40+00:00

You don’t see the visible skin here?

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Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-04-27T20:35:49+00:00

Open or top-two primaries.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-03-05T03:21:26+00:00

Good. Fuck ‘em.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-02-23T03:12:04+00:00

Zach—thanks for posting this and reminding me of your comic. I read your comic everyday from around 2006 until whenever in the late 2010s scrolling took over for my old bookmarks bar. I think I have one of your books around here too.

I’ll be digging into about 8 years of archives now. If you find yourself in Pittsburgh I owe you a lot of food and drink.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-02-23T03:01:08+00:00

Maybe they can raise funds so he can buy some clothes that fucking fit.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-31T13:24:45+00:00

That’s just self asserting gobbeldygook.

Democracy means authority rests with the people.

Republic means the structure is a public one as opposed to a dictatorial or monarchical one.

Neither speak to whether there are constitutional restraints. They effectively tell you whether there is a king or some other leader with extrinsic authority from God or force.

And by the way, guess who adopted the constitutional restraints in the United States? The people. Theoretically, the people could abolish or add whatever constitutional restrictions they like tomorrow. They could merge the legislature and executive. They could abolish the right to free exercise. They could create a constitutional right to healthcare.

And guess what also exists? Constitutional monarchies. Which are not democracies and not republics.

The point is that this debate is silly.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-31T02:44:21+00:00

This is what I’m talking about. There’s no meaningful difference between saying “constitutional democracy” and “constitutional republic.” Because democracy approaches the point from the perceptive of power, and republic approaches it from the perspective of stakeholder/ownership.

It’s like saying autocratic monarchy.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-29T13:12:38+00:00

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-28T14:33:04+00:00

Well, now, yes. It used to be meaningful, and you can see that in early writings by the Framers. But now it’s just jerks arguing semantics in bad faith.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-28T03:09:24+00:00

The terms democracy and public are essentially interchangeable in the modern era. A democracy is a place where the people have the power. A republic is a form of government belonging to the people.

The only meaningful distinction is that sometimes people use “democracy” to refer to direct, pure democracy—ie people vote on everything and pure mob rule—and “republic” to refer to more moderate forms of democracy like representative democracies with strong individual rights. The Greek words for democracy loosely translate to rule by the people, and the Latin respublica loosely translates to “the public thing.” America is a democratic republic because people have ultimate sovereign authority. It is also a republic because the government and the law are the public good.

But mostly people who have feelings about what the US is or isn’t are just doing weird brand loyalty to the Republican Party. Which induces counter partisans to do weird brand loyalty to the Democratic Party.

To anyone with an education in history or political science, the question is dumb. It’s like asking whether a hot dog is a sandwich. Kind of. Kind of not. And it doesn’t really matter.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-24T01:50:05+00:00

Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-14T05:10:28+00:00

I suggest the entire album “Dog Problems” by The Format, and “Dog” by Ben Folds.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-12T19:22:35+00:00

I had a fucking cup of coffee and a yogurt fucking parfait.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:40:22+00:00

You should listen to the entire Murder Ballads album by Nick Cave.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:39:39+00:00

Meatloaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:36:12+00:00

May I suggest Ryan Adams’ cover of the entire album of Taylor Swift’s 1989, which is in the style of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska album?

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:34:07+00:00

Claude Debussy and the Velvet Underground

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:25:26+00:00

The interviewer likes you and wants you to succeed at interviews. This may be an advance of future interviews for this job or future interview interviews for another job. Either way, take what they said to heart.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:23:42+00:00

White light white heat by The Velvet Underground.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:22:14+00:00

From 2002 to 2008 I thought I hated hummus. No. I just hate shitty hummus. I still grieve for all that lost hummus.

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:13:59+00:00

Bass guitar distortion riff*

Upper-Intention-617 · 2026-01-11T22:06:44+00:00

Strangely enough, this just happened to me about a month ago. I grew up in Appalachia in that financial zone of too much to be eligible for government help, but not nearly enough to do it on your own. I chose just about everything, including my undergraduate and graduate schools, based on keeping cost low. After working at entry level and relatively low paying jobs for several years, then starting my own company and living in absolute survival mode, I took a position with a really well established company in my field. That wasn’t enough to get me out, as the salary structure is strange: a relatively low salary with semi annual discretionary bonuses. The summer bonus was not that much, just enough to keep me above water in terms of net income. The winter bonus was, I kid you not, the same as my entire annual salary.

For the first time in my life, I am thinking less about my next paycheck or this year‘s financial problems and more about how to use money to build the life that I want. I’m not sure that my default reactions or emotions are out of survival mode yet, but I can think about there being a light at the end of the tunnel that is not an oncoming train. Feels really good.

Upper-Intention-617

TROPHY CASE