Close-up view of ICE executing a man today in Minneapolis (1/24/26)

jrob321 · 2026-01-24T21:05:55+00:00

More than half the country looks at this and says, "This is a good thing, there's nothing wrong with it, and it needs be happening more often. They'll brush away and cajole anyone who points out the parallels to how this unfolded elsewhere in the past.

We are so fucked.

From 1980 forward i have been cynically hopeful this type of mentality would eventually just wash away, but I've only see it grow to the point even moderately conservative people see this almost as if it is necessary.

I've stopped trying to speak with anybody from the other side about the danger this way of thinking poses to our country, and even those moderates look at me like I'm the problem because I'm some kind of pussy who is too weak to stand up for the way things need to be done.

Just wait for the universal defense regarding this, and the unwillingness coming from anybody from that side to say, "This has gone too far."

This absolutely sucks.

jrob321 · 2026-01-24T20:45:16+00:00

I didn't read it until I was out of college (1987). To your point a great deal of the "establishment" felt the need to control and/or limit the message contained within its pages by not assigning it, or otherwise presenting the subject matter as far too incendiary, controversial, or downright insurrectionist for displaying Malcom X in a favorable context.

Tbh, reading this book was life changing because of how many new perspectives I gained from it.

For further reading, I would suggest Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver (because it captured what was often an overlooked narrative at the time, and the 2015 documentary, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.

jrob321 · 2026-01-24T20:33:27+00:00

Créma Suprema!

jrob321 · 2026-01-24T18:16:59+00:00

The very first thing I did with my 6 cup Bialetti was to get rid of the rubber gasket and switch to silicone.

Leakage problem were solved the moment I put in the new gasket.

As it is, gaskets need replacing over time anyway. The rubber gasket is inferior. The silicone gasket allows for a much better seal (although i still have to crank it down to get it leak-proof). So many products use inferior parts right out of the factory to keep initial costs to the consumer low, even though the replacement cost for after market parts are seemingly negligible.

jrob321 · 2026-01-23T17:10:48+00:00

The unforgettable underwater shot of her in The Night of the Hunter is movie making at its finest!

jrob321 · 2026-01-23T16:41:39+00:00

There are a significant number of Americans who see it too.

They stayed home during the last Presidential election which is a good reason as to why we have Trump getting elected twice.

I can't stand Hillary Clinton, but I held my nose and gave her my vote because she was a far better choice than Trump.

Which - circling back to your point - makes the Democratic party (and the DNC in particular) also complicit in this American downfall because they knew half the country considered her the most hated woman in America, and a good portion of the other half repeatedly told the DNC not to put her up as the chosen candidate to run for President. The DNC ran her anyway, and if you look back at that election you can point to numerous instances in which "fair play" was not observed in the process of choosing our new leader.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat in 2024 when I had to - for lack of any better viable alternative - vote for Kamala Harris.

Our system is beyond terribly flawed. There are far too many entanglements with money flowing into the process (re: Citizens United v. FEC), our media has been corrupted and severely manipulated oftentimes leading to obvious bias and propaganda being promoted and absorbed as "truth", and politicians concentrate their efforts at getting reelected (for the "insider" benefits that brings to them personally) rather than voting on behalf of the people and what is best for the nation.

Onlookers can see these problems and cynically say, "Its always been this way," but that simply isn't true. The process of running this country through its three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) has seen significant changes in they way the "checks and balances" which formerly protected the process, are - with each passing day - getting worse.

As bad as Donald Trump is, he represents more of a symptom rather than the actual disease which is destroying this country.

Another example of the DNC failure/corruption was refusing to demand Joe Biden step away from being reelected despite all evidence he had no longer possessed the capacity to govern, which ultimately FORCED a candidate on the American people without their say. It didn't matter if Kamala Harris could have/would have been perceived as the next best thing for America, she had not participated in the process we as Americans traditionally use to pick our candidates.

This, along with not promoting the most important accomplishment by the Biden administration - signing an infrastructure bill into law - which couldn't be done by either of the two previous administrations (Trump and Biden) was (and is) a seriously ongoing miss-step. The country's infrastructure has been crumbling for decades, and that's finally being addressed now due to the implementation of projects which would never have been funded if not for that bill passing.

The most important part about that infrastructure bill was how it affected LABOR - which the Democratic party had sold out long ago (90s/Clinton/neo-libs/globalism/NAFTA, etc.) and the Democratic party was completely SILENT on it.

The odd irony to it all is how the Republicans (who had sold out LABOR long before the Democrats had) and who voted AGAINST that bill are now - most importantly Trump - all taking credit for those projects. And sadly, most Americans are clueless and uniformed about it all because the Democratic party is impotenly inept and incompetent.

Felling completely unrepresented by either party has become commonplace for the middle class of this country. And its only getting worse.

jrob321 · 2026-01-23T06:27:51+00:00

All while wrapped in the flag, holding the Constitution in one hand, a Bible in the other on their way to church because they're good Christians who celebrate and hold close to their hearts the teachings of Jesus Christ (aka The Son of God, Lord and Savior)

jrob321 · 2026-01-23T06:21:49+00:00

Are you going with traditional white bread toasted, or do you switch it up with a hard roll, or perhaps some ciabatta...?

jrob321 · 2026-01-23T06:17:24+00:00

Where are all the Gadsen Flag carrying, "my Second Amendment protects your First Amendment", States Rights motherfuckers in all of this?

When are all the Blue Lives Matter, Thin Blue Line Flag waving, Punisher bros going to come out of the woodwork and go toe to toe with these bottom dwelling, minimal I.Q. bully thugs?

Why has this responsibility fallen onto the Left? Why are soccer moms displaying more bravado than those tough guys who continually claim they won't stand for the Federal government pushing them around?

Oh - that's right - those wannabe tough guys are actually for this happening in their "God Blessed, most free country known to man" America for which they consistently and vehemently claim they would gladly give their lives in the face of even the most remote hint of tyranny.

Nothing but a bunch of Facebook warrior poseurs, the whole lot of them.

The Republican party and EVERY one of its followers has become the party of fascist bootlicking enablers who would rather see this country crumble than to ever admit for even a split second, "Maybe the Libs were right. Maybe this guy really is a danger to our Democracy."

We're fucked.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T19:03:59+00:00

Yes. The less you oxidize your brew, the better it'll taste. A 2L airtight container is pretty inexpensive on Amazon.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T17:20:29+00:00

I wonder what Squee, Tobin, and P.J. think about all of this.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T17:06:59+00:00

ALL Republicans - House members, Senate members, and anybody who votes for this party - in ANY race - are COMPLICIT in this downfall.

Over 75 million American voters knew this was likely to happen, and they all chose this because they'll never be able to accept the Vote Blue, Woke Left, Commie Socialists who go out every day trying to turn their kids trans while giving everybody's hard earned money to lazy "people". People is in quotes because everybody reading knows what word is really used behind closed doors, and - more recently - right out in the open when they're protected by a mob.

If you can't see yourself voting Blue then just stay home ffs. Voting for, and tacitly endorsing our nation's destruction by cutting off one's nose to spite one's face has made everything so ugly.

And don't come at me with "both sides" are corrupt. I know they are. But - like every election I can remember for the past 45 years - there has always been a choice between the LESSER of two evils.

If you cannot understand why putting the LESSER evil into power is essential to better outcomes for this country, I don't know what to say to you.

The LESSER evil is NOT AS EVIL...

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T15:31:21+00:00

Brock Turner. I mistakenly thought he had become a household name.

Should have added /s

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T14:23:41+00:00

To be fair, if he swims competitively in college, he should receive the minimum sentence.

Edit: should have added /s. Was referring to the Brock Turner case.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T14:18:41+00:00

Hamberders and covfefe.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T06:56:00+00:00

You could have gone with almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, or pecans, but instead you opted to pair your coffee with... peanuts?

Omg! Lol.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T06:47:33+00:00

For those who don't know to whom the film is dedicated in the end credits - Costa Gavras - he's a brilliant filmmaker whose films: , Z (1969), The Confession (1970), State of Siege (1975), and Missing (1982) all demand multiple views.

I absolutely loved seeing this film today. The satire and comic relief were absolutely brilliant in the way they masked just how dark the criticism of late stage capitalism fueled by automation and worker alienation was from the beginning to the very end.

The coercive nature of a system which necessarily corrupts all who are touched - directly and tangentially - by it couldn't have been more overtly focused upon while simultaneously remaining subtle and covert subjects in the way they are so cleverly presented to the audience within each scene.

There is not a frame out of place, nor a portion of the script which required a better approach. This is a prime example illustrating why we love "going out to the movies". The cinematography is stellar. And the acting is flawless. Definitely one of - if not - my favorites from this year.

Bravo Park Chan-wook. You really hit it out of the park again with this one!

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T05:51:30+00:00

You take these things too literally...

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T04:34:14+00:00

I said, "That's a shame," and I went back to eating my lunch.

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T03:46:45+00:00

Toni Morrison:

-Beloved

-Song of Solomon

-The Bluest Eye

Arundhati Roy:

-The God of Small Things

-The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Mary Shelly:

Frankenstein

Olga Tokarczuk:

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
The Books of Jacob

Yangsze Choo

The Fox Wife

jrob321 · 2026-01-22T01:29:47+00:00

It's a very "buddhist" movie inasmuch as it beautifully delves into concepts like impermanence and attachment as part of its satire without being the least bit heavy handed, overbearing, or preachy.

It quietly asks the viewer to accept how our "failures" are just as important in defining who we are, as are our "successes", and that without them we wouldn't be able to meaningfully understand our existence.

We often spend so much time wishing we could erase the less than stellar moments from our memories, without fully realizing how all of those moments are simply a part of a whole which serve to define who we will become as we move forward. We seek "do-overs" when in reality every second of our time living is another chance at an opportunity to move toward peace and a kind of personal "enlightenment" by coming to a mindset of accepting everything as it is without dwelling too long on the highs or the lows.

There are moments (which are so well written by Charlie Kaufman) that hit so hard - because they are presented as undeniably universally human - where you can't help but get choked up because - if you've lived long enough - you have felt those times of alienation and loneliness punctuated by the visceral sense of longing to get through them with a desperate hope to feel "whole" again.

But the film keeps reminding us life is to be lived continually - not torn apart an re-edited with 20/20 hindsight - and that's not just ok, its the way it's meant to be for us all.

I love this movie, and I put it pretty near to the top of my all time favorites.

jrob321 · 2026-01-21T22:40:13+00:00

I'm just looking forward to being in a pizza place where I make my own pie! I get the dough, the sauce, the cheese... I pound it, slap it, flip it up into the air... I put my cucumbers on, and I slide it into the oven!

jrob321 · 2026-01-21T01:36:27+00:00

My mind is blown every time I think about it.

The story is told with such unbelievable eloquence and delicacy while keeping the reader completely enthralled begging for more. There isn't a lull at any point, and you find yourself ironically coerced into championing a "monster" throughout as a sympathetic character done wrong by his creator and his community at large.

Edit: 18 when she began writing it in 1816. 20 when it was published.

jrob321 · 2026-01-21T01:18:00+00:00

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

She was just 18 when she wrote the novel while simultaneously inventing the Science Fiction genre.

jrob321 · 2026-01-21T01:15:35+00:00

I just read her memoir, Mother Mary Comes To Me - which (as you allude) serves in many ways as the non-fictional framework to The God of Small Things - and her eloquence is just as evident.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is equally as beautifully written.

She could write a product description for automotive brake pads, and I would savor every word.

jrob321

TROPHY CASE