#21st Century Wire

[wherepond]

Tony Blinken's shocking final interview

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate are joined by Patrick Henningsen of 21st Century Wire to discuss Tony Blinken's outrageous interview with the New York Times, his last as Secretary of State.

[manitat]

The 100 greatest TV series of the 21st Century

BBC Culture polled 206 TV experts from 43 countries in order to find the greatest TV of the 21st Century – here’s the top 100

01 The Wire (2002-2008) 02 Mad Men (2007-2015) 03 Breaking Bad (2008-2013) 04 Fleabag (2016-2019) 05 Game Of Thrones (2011-2019) 06 I May Destroy You (2020) 07 The Leftovers (2014-2017) 08 The Americans (2013-2018) 09 The Office (UK) (2001-2003) 10 Succession (2018-) 11 BoJack Horseman (2014-2020) 12 Six Feet Under (2001-2005) 13 Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) 14 Atlanta (2016-) 15 Chernobyl (2019) 16 The Crown (2016-) 17 30 Rock (2006-2013) 18 Deadwood (2004-2006) 19 Lost (2004-2010) 20 The Thick Of It (2005-2012) 21 Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-) 22 Black Mirror (2011-) 23 Better Call Saul (2015-2022) 24 Veep (2012-2019) 25 Sherlock (2010-2017) 26 Watchmen (2019) 27 Line Of Duty (2012-2021) 28 Friday Night Lights (2006-2011) 29 Parks And Recreation (2009-2015) 30 Girls (2012-2017) 31 True Detective (2014-2019) 32 Arrested Development (2003-2019) 33 The Good Wife (2009-2016) 34 The Bridge (2011-2018) 35 Fargo (2014-) 36 Downton Abbey (2010-2015) 37 Band Of Brothers (2001) 38 The Handmaid's Tale (2017-) 39 The Office (US) (2005-2013) 40 Borgen (2010-2022) 41 Schitt's Creek (2015-2020) 42 Peep Show (2003-2015) 43 Money Heist (2017-2021) 44 Community (2009-2015) 45 The Good Fight (2017-) 46 Homeland (2011-2020) 47 Grey's Anatomy (2005-) 48 Inside No 9 (2014-) 49 The Bureau (2015-) 50 Halt And Catch Fire (2014-2017) 51 Small Axe (2020) 52 This Is England 86, 88, 90 (2010-2015) 53 Call My Agent! (2015-2020) 54 Happy Valley (2014-) 55 The Shield (2002-2008) 56 The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019) 57 The Young Pope (2016) 58 Dark (2017-2020) 59 The Underground Railroad (2021) 60 House Of Cards (2013-2018) 61 Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008) 62 The Good Place (2016-2020) 63 Pose (2018-2021) 64 Detectorists (2014-2017) 65 Orange Is The New Black (2013-2019) 66 Mare Of Easttown (2021) 67 RuPaul's Drag Race (2009-) 68 Stranger Things (2016-) 69 24 (2001-2010) 70 Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) 71 Enlightened (2011-2013) 72 Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) 73 Planet Earth (2006) 74 Utopia (2013-2014) 75 Babylon Berlin (2017-) 76 Rick And Morty (2013-) 77 American Crime Story (2016-) 78 The Killing (Denmark) (2007-2012) 79 Mindhunter (2017-2019) 80 House (2004-2012) 81 OJ: Made In America (2016) 82 Big Little Lies (2017-2019) 83 Insecure (2016-2021) 84 Normal People (2020) 85 Narcos (2015-2017) 86 How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014) 87 The Comeback (2005-2014) 88 The OA (2016-2019) 89 Dexter (2006-2013) 90 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2005-) 91 Westworld (2016-) 92 Show Me A Hero (2015) 93 Treme (2010-2013) 94 Louie (2010-2015) 95 Luther (2010-2019) 96 Catastrophe (2015-2019) 97 Hannibal (2013-2015) 98 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019) 99 Steven Universe (2013-2020) 100 The Queen's Gambit (2020)

[shredsandpatches]

I always go on about how I don't think it's necessary for productions of Mefistofele to go all out to make the Prologue in Heaven scene (or the epilogue) visually spectacular because the music does all the work for you, and I stand by that, but I also have to say: I think I also think this because if I were directing it I would blow most of my effects budget on getting a hydraulic platform to do the flying effect at the end of the first act (think Wicked only with two people). And it would be 1000% worth it.

[soon-palestine]

"I’m personally a Holocaust survivor as an infant, I barely survived.

My grandparents were killed in Aushwitz and most of my extended family were killed.

I became a Zionist; this dream of the Jewish people resurrected in their historical homeland and the barbed wire of Aushwitz being replaced by the boundaries of a Jewish state with a powerful army…and then I found out that it wasn’t exactly like that, that in order to make this Jewish dream a reality we had to visit a nightmare on the local population.

There’s no way you could have ever created a Jewish state without oppressing and expelling the local population. Jewish Israeli historians have shown without a doubt that the expulsion of Palestinians was persistent, pervasive, cruel, murderous and with deliberate intent - that’s what’s called the 'Nakba' in Arabic; the 'disaster' or the 'catastrophe'.

There’s a law that you cannot deny the Holocaust, but in Israel you’re not allowed to mention the Nakba, even though it’s at the very basis of the foundation of Israel.

I visited the Occupied Territories (West Bank) during the first intifada. I cried every day for two weeks at what I saw; the brutality of the occupation, the petty harassment, the murderousness of it, the cutting down of Palestinian olive groves, the denial of water rights, the humiliations...and this went on, and now it’s much worse than it was then. It’s the longest ethnic cleansing operation in the 20th and 21st century.

I could land in Tel Aviv tomorrow and demand citizenship but my Palestinian friend in Vancouver, who was born in Jerusalem, can’t even visit! So then you have these miserable people packed into this, horrible…people call it an 'outdoor prison', which is what it is. You don’t have to support Hamas policies to stand up for Palestinian rights, that’s a complete falsity.

You think the worse thing you can say about Hamas, multiply it by a thousand times, and it still will not meet the Israeli repression and killing and dispossession of Palestinians.

And 'anybody who criticises Israel is an anti-Semite' is simply an egregious attempt to intimidate good non-Jews who are willing to stand up for what is true."

[dduane]

…Okay, this is wild.

In the Lloyd household, Christmas was no small affair, kicking off before Thanksgiving and eventually becoming a year-round experience. In the early days, the groundskeeper of the Green Acres estate in Benedict Canyon was responsible for the tree’s construction starting in October, and would buy several pine trees, wiring the branches together under Harold’s supervision to make one enormous tree that would be the canvas for the family’s ever-growing collection of ornaments. Lloyd and his wife, actress Mildred Davis, and their family would then spend the next two months hanging thousands of ornaments right up until Christmas Eve.

[electrificata]

Mutual 1: hurtling towards the gigantic limestone aurochs again btw

Mutual 2: none of you have ever had sex, unlike me, im having sex right now

Mutual 4: eating a full lemon, yes with the rind #NoScurvy

Mutual 5: you cant possibly imagine how difficult it is to be the 21st century incarnation of maximillien robespierre

Mutual 6: *6-armed purple leopardtaur with her tits and dick and balls out* If you even care.

Mutual 7: gifset of two gangly guys from a 70s sitcom making eyes at each other

Mutual 8: none of you have ever had sex, unlike me, im having sex right now

Mutual 9: i need roddy mcdowell to murder me or i'll die

Mutual 10: you cant possibly imagine how difficult it is to be the 21st century incarnation of maximillien robespierre

Mutual 11: *pics from a 90s fashion show with 9 filters over them*

Mutual 12: poll: favorite outfit worn by a character you cant remember during one particular episode of a show you did watch

Mutual 13: #honestly her toxic pussy makes me such a misogynist (tag on image of 40smth actor man)

Mutual 14: the phoenixgirls are setting fire to the dmv!! Its enrichment for them dont worry :)

Mutual 15: server room wire gore images

Mutual 16: 10 ur old meme

Mutual 17: vaguing me

Mutual 18: Let me learn you a thing! Yes i am 35 years old

Mutual 19: people need to stop trying to erase crowley's influence on 20th century magical practice, like we KNOW he's a lying piece of shit but if you wanted to avoid this stuff you should have stayed out of western occultism and kept watching steven-

Mutual 20: if you guys were less panphobic we could still listen to hamilton without getting clowned on

[somehow-a-human]

I am officially praying to the Universe and Amazon executives to give us Good Omens Season 3 episodes weekly (or at the very least daily).

As much as I am a human of the 21st century and hard wired to want immediate gratification, can you imagine what it would be like to get weekly drops for season 3?

Can you imagine what an insane 6 weeks it would be here on Tumblr while season 3 aired? And if not 6 weeks, even if they managed to do it as daily drops, can you imagine that week? It would be like a goddamn festival, a celebration, and it would be insane. Things would be trending off the charts while people watched the episodes over and over again breaking them apart while they wait for the rest. We would all be discussing everything and theorizing and gushing over every little piece!

Look, I'm not going to be disappointed by any means if I can melt into my couch for 6 hours and consume the entire finale of this story, but if it gets stretched out man, wouldn't that be an experience for us all?

[alwaysbewoke]

I’m personally a Holocaust survivor as an infant, I barely survived. My grandparents were killed in Aushwitz and most of my extended family were killed. I became a Zionist; this dream of the Jewish people resurrected in their historical homeland and the barbed wire of Aushwitz being replaced by the boundaries of a Jewish state with a powerful army…and then I found out that it wasn’t exactly like that, that in order to make this Jewish dream a reality we had to visit a nightmare on the local population. There’s no way you could have ever created a Jewish state without oppressing and expelling the local population. Jewish Israeli historians have shown without a doubt that the expulsion of Palestinians was persistent, pervasive, cruel, murderous and with deliberate intent - that’s what’s called the 'Nakba' in Arabic; the 'disaster' or the 'catastrophe'. There’s a law that you cannot deny the Holocaust, but in Israel you’re not allowed to mention the Nakba, even though it’s at the very basis of the foundation of Israel. I visited the Occupied Territories (West Bank) during the first intifada. I cried every day for two weeks at what I saw; the brutality of the occupation, the petty harassment, the murderousness of it, the cutting down of Palestinian olive groves, the denial of water rights, the humiliations...and this went on, and now it’s much worse than it was then. It’s the longest ethnic cleansing operation in the 20th and 21st century. I could land in Tel Aviv tomorrow and demand citizenship but my Palestinian friend in Vancouver, who was born in Jerusalem, can’t even visit! So then you have these miserable people packed into this, horrible…people call it an 'outdoor prison', which is what it is. You don’t have to support Hamas policies to stand up for Palestinian rights, that’s a complete falsity. You think the worse thing you can say about Hamas, multiply it by a thousand times, and it still will not meet the Israeli repression and killing and dispossession of Palestinians. And 'anybody who criticises Israel is an anti-Semite' is simply an egregious attempt to intimidate good non-Jews who are willing to stand up for what is true.

[wherepond]

The Grayzone

Technofeudal ecstasy

Max Blumenthal is joined by Patrick Henningsen of 21st Century Wire to discuss Elon Musk's megalomaniacal meltdown and the CIA-centric podcast fraudsters who handled the alleged cybertruck bomber's manifesto.

[drama--universe]

Hospital Love

Requested by @creepypastacrazier93: Hey hey! I was wondering...how about a Jiang Cheng x 21st century reader oneshot? I won't elaborate, I'll leave it to your imagination :-) good luck and thx!

Pairing: Jiang Cheng x reader

Word Count: 1.6k words

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but groan as he exits the restaurant, removing his tie after yet another unsuccessful date. It was the fourth one this month already, another woman his mother had chosen for him. They were all too preppy for his liking, none interesting in any way for even a second of the date. All of them were just daughters of other wealthy businessmen, spoiled and rotten. He had a headache from this date, the girl her voice had been shrill and annoying, especially because she wouldn't shut her mouth for a single second. He got to his car and got in, slamming the door shut before groaning as he leans his head back against his car seat. With another loud sigh, he starts the car and gets ready to leave.

He takes the long route, wanting some peace and quiet before getting home. He didn't want to see his mother for now, knowing she'd yell at him for ruining another date. He drove as slow as he could, enjoying the view around him. The night might be cold and dark, but Jiang Cheng loved the night sight of nature. Most creatures were asleep, only the rare spotted nocturnal animal awake and flying or running around in absolute silence. Jiang Cheng couldn't help but look to the side as he watched the forest. He was, however, pulled out of his admiring by a loud car horn, eyes snapping to the front just in time so he could swerve out of the way for the other car that had swerved into the wrong lane. He felt the wheels of his car hit the side berm before hitting the guard rail, the car coming to a straight stop and sending Jiang Cheng flying forward. The seat belt stopped his movement and he felt his collarbone and maybe even a few ribs break, the airbags deploying and sending his head backwards. After a few minutes, he heard voiced beside him but his head was ringing and he could barely see due to his fuzzy vision. It felt like hours before he heard voices, not able to make out what they were saying. He felt people grabbing his body and dragging him out of the car, flashing lights and sirens surrounding him as people surrounded him. Asking questions to him, but he's unable to answer as he feels his vision blurring.

When he wakes up again, the first thing he sees is you. You're adjusting the wires on his chest that are connected to monitors, seemingly very focused on your task. He goes to speak, but stops when he feels a pressure in his throat and he moves his hands up to feel what was going on. You see him move and your eyes widen before you grab his hands.

"Just a second, you're attached to a breath monitor." You speak calmly before moving your hands up and grabbing the tube that went down his throat, carefully but quickly removing it so he could breath on his own. Once the tube was gone, Jiang Cheng took a deep breath in to fill his lungs. Once he is breathing again, he looks at you again but you speak before him.

"You're in the hospital, you had a car accident a few days ago. You took a big hit to your head and to your back and left leg, so you can't move too much." You explain shortly and he almost wants to scoff, but when he feels the ache in his body he realizes that he should swallow his pride and listen for once. He sighs heavily and looks up at the ceiling. He doesn't know how to feel for once in his life, whether to be annoyed that he was stuck in a hospital for a considerable time or glad that he had a decent reason to not come home for awhile. That meant while he'd be bored out of his mind, but no forced dates either.

And thus he stayed in the hospital, using the free time for healing both mentally and physically. He had days where he only had physical rehabilitation and others where he had mental evaluations to check if his brain didn't have some later damage.

All the while, you remained his nurse, always waking him up in the morning to change his bandages and check his vitals. Then you'd bring him some food, sneaking in some regular food sometimes for him to enjoy instead of the regular hospital food. The only times he didn't see you was when you were checking other patients or when he was at rehabilitation with another nurse or doctor. But some days, you'd stay with him for hours, just talking about basic things and as much as he disliked to admit it, he liked talking to you.

In fact, he couldn't live without it. He couldn't live without you.

The days he dreaded being in the hospital were quick to chance to dread of ever leaving the hospital and you. Even when he hated the food and the constant checks on his mental and physical health, he just didn't want to leave.

Unfortunately, however, he was being discharged today and he had no way of fighting back.

He sat in the hospital gardens, going over the paperwork for his discharge as slow as he could. He'd read and reread the papers, signing the papers where he was supposed to with his good hand while a small frown was on his face.

"Don't wanna leave, huh?" You walk closer to him, leaning down to see the papers. Jiang Cheng looks up to you before sighing as he put the pen down.

"It's certainly a mental workout to leave this hospital." He grumbles as he leans back in his seat and taking a deep breath of the fresh air. You sit down beside him and grin. "Yeah... It definitely is a chore." You chuckle. "So... What you going to do now then, huh? Go back to speed dating?" You tease and Jiang Cheng groans instantly, annoyed at just the thought of it. He gives you a playful glare before scoffing.

"Sure... I'll tell my mom to give you a chance then?" He decides to tease you, but there is a slight genuine tone to it that he hopes you don't pick up on. You do, however, and grin softly as you lean on the table with your elbow. "Mhm... Might as well give me your number." You tease back and you can see a soft tint of red on his face appearing, which makes you smirk softly as you stand up again.

"Get that paperwork finished, okay? No use for you to stay somewhere you don't need to be." You smile before walking off to continue to your rounds.

After he's discharged, it takes a few more weeks for him to get back to his usual life. Luckily his mother left his alone mostly, no blind dates until he looked "presentable". His mother's words, not his own.

But then, after two more months, he was sat in a restaurant again for yet another double date. He tapped his fingers on the table in annoyance as he waited for his date to arrive.

"Look, I don't feel like pretending, so I'm just going to say hi and leave-" You speak before pausing as you notice Jiang Chen sitting at the table that was meant for your double date. You pause as you look at him. "Wait... You're my date?" You stare at him with wide eyes as he looks up, seemingly just as shocked as you were. You blink before just sitting down opposite of him, putting your bag down.

"Don't mind if I stay then?" You grin as you look at him. He looks a bit confused, still dazed until he finally snaps out of it. "You're my date?" He asked, repeating your previous question again. You chuckle and nod. "Apparently, yes." You smile sweetly. He sighs softly, leaning back in his seat.

"Is this allowed..? Not that I don't you want be here! But since I was a patient of yours..?" He asks and you lean back, shrugging. "Well... It's not illegal or anything, but it can be frowned upon. It really just depends on the situation" You shrug before looking up as the waiter arrived.

The night passed by quickly as you ate and drank, the conversation never dying down at all. The topic changed every now and then, but neither of you got bored of the conversation.

Normally, Jiang Cheng would leave after half an hour to an hour of the date, but this time he stayed in the restaurant for longer. Even after two hours, he remained in place with pleasure. By the end of the evening, he just felt disappointed that it had to end. So he offers to ride you home, desperate for those extra minutes.

And now, you sat in his passenger seat of his car as he drove (very carefully, of course). The radio was on, filling the silent atmosphere with some soft music as he tried to make the drive as long s possible without making it too obvious. But eventually, he arrived at your house and parked the car with a soft sigh.

"Tonight was fun." You smile at him, unbuckling your seatbelt. He looks at you, nodding softly but not saying anything. You open the door before looking at him. Then you just impulsively lean closer and kiss his cheek softly. "Let's do this again sometimes..." You mumble softly, your face heating up a bit before you get out of the car and walk to your house. Jiang Cheng, meanwhile, is blushing furiously and almost wants to hit his head on the steering wheel to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

That day, Jiang Cheng couldn't wipe the smile of his face as he drove home.

[trivialbob]

This afternoon my dad and I went out to lunch.

I drove, he paid. Fair tradeoff, right? Full disclosure: It was his car too. His back hurts some. A car is easier to get into than my truck.

Afterwards we were at his apartment. A wall in the lobby has photos of veterans who live there. He recently gave his picture to hang there.

I don't remember seeing this picture before. In others of him in his 20s he wore "browline" eyeglasses -- the ones that are plastic on top and wire on the bottom. I saw some people wear those in the 00s and 10s. I thought they looked outdated in the 21st century. (If you like 'em, that's cool.)

Here my dad is wearing clear plastic frames which are sort of popular now. I like these glasses, both in this picture and when I see them on other people nowadays.

[wcdonaldo]

nothing turns you off to wireless shit like working corporate IT btw. i encourage everybody who can to use wired keyboards and mice and just velcro their asses together. cable management is a 21st century necessity

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The internet is not a (link)dump truck

Monday (October 2), I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab. On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.

The second decade of the 21st century is truly a bounteous time. My backyard has produced a bumper crop of an invasive species of mosquito that is genuinely innovative: rather than confining itself to biting in the dusk and dawn golden hours, these stinging clouds of flying vampires bite at every hour that God sends:

https://themagnet.substack.com/p/the-magnet-081-war-with-mosquitoes

Here in the twilight of capitalism's planet-devouring, half-century orgy of wanton destruction, there's more news every day than I can possibly write a full blog post about every day, and as with many weeks, I have arrived at Saturday with a substantial backlog of links that didn't fit into the week's "Hey look at this" linkdumps.

Thus, the eighth installment in my ongoing, semiregular series of Saturday linkdumps:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

This week, the miscellany begins with the first hesitant signs of an emerging, post-neoliberal order. The FTC, under direction of the force-of-nature that is Lina Khan, has brought its long-awaited case antitrust case against Amazon. I am very excited about this. Disoriented, even.

When was the last time you greeted every day with a warm feeling because high officials in the US government were working for the betterment of every person in the land? It's enough to make one giddy. Plus, the New York Times let me call Amazon "the apex predator of our platform era"! Now that it's in the "paper of record," it's official:

https://pluralistic.net/ApexPredator

Now, lefties have been predicting capitalism's imminent demise since The Communist Manifesto, but any fule kno that the capitalist word for "crisis" also translates as "opportunity." Like the bedbugs that mutated to thrive in clouds of post-war DDT, capitalism has adapted to each crisis, emerging in a new, more virulent form:

https://boingboing.net/2023/09/30/bedbugs-take-paris.html

But "anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop" (Stein's Law). Perhaps our mistake was in waiting for capitalism to give way to socialism, rather than serving as a transitional phase between feudalism and…feudalism.

What's the difference between feudalism and capitalism? According to Yanis Varoufakis, it comes down to whether we value rents (income you get from owning things) over profits (income you get from doing things):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

By that metric, the FTC's case against Amazon is really a case against feudalism. Through predatory pricing and acquisitions, Amazon has turned itself into a chokepoint that every merchant, writer and publisher has to pass through in order to reach their customers. Amazon charges a fortune to traverse that chokepoint (estimates range from 45% to 51% of gross revenues) and then forces sellers to raise their prices everywhere else when they hike their Amazon prices so they can afford Amazon's tolls. It's "an economy-wide hidden tax":

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-ftc-sues-to-break-up-amazon-over

Now, feudalism isn't a straightforward proposition. Like, are you sure you mean feudalism? Maybe you mean "manorialism" (they're easy to mix up):

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

Plus, much of what we know about the "Dark Ages" comes from grifter doofuses like Voltaire, a man who was capable of dismissing the 800 year Holy Roman Empire with a single quip ("neither holy, roman, nor an empire"). But the reality is a lot more complicated, gnarly and interesting.

That's where medievalist Eleanor Janeaga comes in, and her "Against Voltaire, or, the shortest possible introduction to the Holy Roman Empire" is a banger:

https://going-medieval.com/2023/09/29/against-voltaire-or-the-shortest-possible-introduction-to-the-holy-roman-empire/

Now, while it's true that Enlightenment thinkers gave medieval times a bum rap, it's likewise true that a key element of Enlightenment justice is transparency: justice being done, and being seen to be done. One way to distinguish "modern" justice from "medieval" trials is to ask whether the public is allowed to watch the trial, see the evidence, and understand the conclusion.

Here again, there is evidence that capitalism was a transitional phase between feudalism and feudalism. The Amazon trial has already been poisoned by farcical redactions, in which every key figure is blacked out of the public record:

https://prospect.org/power/2023-09-27-redacted-case-against-amazon/

This is part of a trend. The other gigantic antitrust case underway right now, against Google, has turned into a star chamber as well, with Judge Amit P Mehta largely deferring to Google's frequent demands to close the court and seal the exhibits:

https://usvgoogle.org/trial-update-9-22

Google's rationale for this is darkly hilarious: if the public is allowed to know what's happening in its trial, this will be converted into "clickbait," which is to say, "The public is interested in this case, and if they are informed of the evidence against us, that information will be spread widely because it is so interesting":

https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/secrecy-is-systemic

Thankfully, this secrecy is struggling to survive the public outrage it prompted. While the court's Zoom feed has been shuttered and while Judge Mehta is still all-too-willing to clear the courtroom during key testimony, at least the DoJ's exhibits aren't being sealed at the same clip as before:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/27/23892215/google-search-antitrust-trial-documents-public-again-judge-mehta-rules

In 2023, the world comes at you fast. There's an epic struggle over the future of corporate dominance playing out all around us. I mean, there are French antitrust enforcers kicking down doors of giant tech companies and ransacking their offices for evidence of nefarious anticompetitive plots:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/28/23894863/nvidia-offices-raided-french-competition-authority

As ever, the question is "socialism or barbarism." But don't say that too loud: in America, socialism is a slur, one that dates back to the Reconstruction era, when pro-slavery factions called Black voting "socialism in South Carolina."

Ever since, white nationalists used "socialism" make Americans believe that "socialism" was an "extremist" view, so they'd stand by while everyone from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump smeared their opponents as "Marxists":

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4066499-trump-paints-2024-campaign-as-righteous-crusade/

As Heather Cox Richardson puts it for The Atlantic, "There is a long-standing fight over whether support for the modern-day right is about taxes or race. The key is that it is about taxes and race at the same time":

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/american-socialism-racist-origins/675453/

The cruelty isn't the point, in other words. Cruelty is the tactic. The point is power. Remember, no war but class war. All of this is in service to paying workers less so that bosses and investors can have more.

Take "essential workers," everyone from teachers to zookeepers, nurses to librarians, EMTs to daycare workers. All of these "caring" professions are paid sub-living wages, and all of these workers are told that "they matter too much to earn a living wage":

https://www.okdoomer.io/praise-doesnt-pay/

The "you matter too much to pay" mind-zap is called "vocational awe," a crucial term introduced by Ettarh Fobazi in her 2018 paper:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Vocational awe is how creative workers – like the writers who just won their strike and the actors who are still fighting – are conned into working at starvation wages. As the old joke goes, "What, and give up show-business?"

https://ask.metafilter.com/117904/Whats-the-joke-thas-hase-the-punchline-what-and-give-up-show-business

In this moment of Big Tech-driven, AI-based wage suppression, mass surveillance, corruption and inequality, perhaps we should take a moment to remind ourselves that cyberpunk was a warning, not a suggestion. Or, more to the point, the warning was about high-tech corporate takeover of our lives, and the suggestion was that we could seize the means of computation (a synonym for William Gibson's "the street finds its own use for things"):

http://www.seizethemeansofcomputation.org/

We are living in a lopsided cyberpunk future, long on high-tech corporate takeover, short of computation seizing. This point is made sharply in JWZ's "Dispatch From The Cyberpunk City," which is beautifully packaged as a Hypercard stack that you run on an in-browser Mac Plus emulator from the Internet Archive:

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2023/09/neuroblast-dispatch-from-the-cyberpunk-city/

Cast your gaze ahead, to the near future: Public space has all but disappeared. Corporate landlords use AI-powered robots to harass the homeless. The robots, built slick and white with an R2-D2 friendliness now most resemble giant butt plugs covered in graffiti and grime.

Science fiction doesn't have to be a warning. It can also be a wellspring of hope. That's what I tried to do with The Lost Cause, my forthcoming Green New Deal novel, which Bill McKibben called "The first great YIMBY novel":

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

Writing a hopeful novel of ecological, social and economic redemption, driven by solidarity, repair, and library socialism, was a powerful tonic against despair in this smoke-smothered, flooded, mosquito-bitten time. And while the book isn't out yet, there are early indications I succeeded, like Kim Stanley Robinson's reaction, "Along with the rush of adrenaline I felt a solid surge of hope. May it go like this."

And now, we have a concurring judgment from The Library Journal, who yesterday published their review, which concludes: "a thought-provoking story, with a message of hope in a near-future that looks increasingly bleak":

https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/the-lost-cause-2196385

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/30/mesclada/#melange

[stevebattle]

Deputy Sam – Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Hillsborough County, FL (1985) by 21st Century Robotics, Monroe, GA. "With radio control, wired servos and power drive [using] Large DC motors. Deputy Sam Robot has two infrared blinking lights for eyes with mounted cameras next to the red LEDs. One arm is motorized and the head turns 180 degrees. Head can be removed for mobile operation and transporting."

[astriiformes]

how do you make chainmail as a hobby in the 21st century, sincerely a bored wannabe medievalist who’s been lurking on your blog since the beginning of your pentiment phase

It depends somewhat on what you want to make!

I've found various articles from The Art of Making Things useful for starting out, particularly the ones on the different types of metal and different weave patterns you can use, as well as their basic "getting started" article. I decided to go with European 4-in-1 style mail for my first project, since it's a good beginner weave and Dungeon Meshi is largely European fantasy-inspired, which also helped me determine the general size my rings ought to be since different sizes and thicknesses are better for different weaves.

I ultimately ordered 16 gauge galvanized steel rings with an inner diameter of 5/16" from The Ring Lord for my Laios armor, because it felt like a good material for my budget and the aesthetic I'm going for, and I did enough research to determine that was about the right size/aspect ratio for my project. But you can also order wire and cut your own rings if you're not as pressed for time.

Since I'm basically making the bottom part of a mail shirt (for now -- I'd eventually like to turn it into a whole shirt, which will take more patterning and planning) it's a fairly simple, modular project. You basically just add more rings or chains of rings to your base until it's the size you want. The 4-1 in the name of the weave I'm using comes from the fact that the basic way you link chains is to join together four closed rings with an open ring in the middle, then close the open ring to fasten them all. On the recommendation of the guy from the SCA who gave me a quick lesson the other day, I've been using two pairs of slip-joint pliers to manipulate the ends of the rings in order to open or close them, which has been working great!

It gets a little more complicated if you're making something with any curvature, like a mail hood, since you have to do reductions to get the shape right (making chainmail, it turns out, is weirdly like knitting), but it's really not too difficult or even too expensive a hobby to start -- just time-consuming, but I've been enjoying it so far.

[youlikefanficdontyousquidward]

Monster mash

Synopsis: Vampire!Reader is captured and to be killed during the hunt. Jack and Ted to the rescue!

Jack Russell X Vampire!Reader (they/them), Platonic Ted friendship too

Sorry Avatar fans but the little werewolf guy got me (I have like 3 different vampire/werewolf blogs so this really isnt a surprise)

Sequel

The Bloodstone manor was a frankensteined mass of ancient wood, marble, concrete and metal. The old home was gutted and wired into the 21st century. There was a sprawling once overgrown garden reworked into a modernist labyrinth. With all the new amendments it was a marvel it'd retained even half of it's beauty. Though perhaps dangling from chains at the center of the maze did rob some of its charms for you.

Your arms ached after the hours hanging in that position as you tried another feeble attempt as tugging your hands free. Your toes could just barely scrape against the stone bellow and kept you from getting better leverage. Still you tried to pull yourself up the chain again even if you quickly slipped and snapped back down hard.

You yelped before you dropped your chin to your chest with a deep frustrated sigh. You'd been un-gagged once they'd hung you here, you could shout out? Though who amongst the guests would do anything but laugh at your predicament. Hell best they'd offer would be a swift end.

Your lament was interrupted by the sounds of someones approach. He moved slow and carefully into the circular garden you hung in. All hunters seemed to have striking appearances but you couldn't help appreciate his. Beautiful suit, salt and pepper hair swept neatly to the side and intricate paint framing a handsome face.

It was daft to be admiring your soon to be executioner but simple pleasures were all that remained now. So you would enjoy the curve of his lips, the slope of his nose and those dark eyes at now fixated on you.

You stared back at his now frozen form. It was a little amusing seeing him frozen mid stride like a cartoon character. Though levity turned sour quickly as you kept focus on him. The man seemed to grimace at you, a lip curling slightly before his face smoothed out again. You frowned, confused at him before he began walking towards you.

A shiver of panic ran through you. The chill of the night suddenly present and sending goosebumps across your skin. The fizzing ran to your fingers as you tugged more frantically on your restraints.

"Woah woah hey! hey!" Jack whispered as he came closer to the now frantic vampire. Verussa Bloodstone had made the horrible announcement that she'd had one caught as an extra surprise for everyone. Jack Russell had met a few in his years. Some blood crazed and beyond help but a few definitely worth protecting.

"I am unarmed, please be still!" He whispered over the rattling of the chains. He cringed, first at the sound then at the reddening skin around their hold. The vampires body was filthy, clothing tattered and hair greasy. How long had they been captured for? There was no blood on them, had they not fought back?

The vampire's body stopped thrashing a moment and they snapped a wide expression to him. He felt a lump in his throat. Even hanging there they were a vision, with beautiful sad eyes staring back at him. The momentum from their struggled kept their body turning. They kept shifting their head to try keep him in sight. Jack moved into view, circling to keep himself visible to them as he looked up at the chain's mechanism.

You watched the man with uncertain eyes. His quizzical expression as he took in the chain, the stone above it was affixed to, it's anchoring. Your heart rate settled as you observed him, his calaveras paint made the little changes to his expression more visible in the low light. He didn't look like was going to strike a blow any time soon.

"My names Jack...Um...can I just..." He stammered as he stepped closer. You remained frozen, raising an eyebrow to him. "I'm going to see if I can get you down..." He continued, mumbling his words.

Jack stepped in closer again, meeting your eyes again with his hands raised. Waiting for permission to touch you?

"Please." You said, not liking how horse it came out in front of this hunter. Then his face split into a crooked smile that sent butterflies straight to your stomach.

Meanwhile Jack tried to stop the shake from his hands as he wrapped his arms around their legs and lifted. He was momentarily surprised by the cool sensation before he realized he'd made contact with your bare legs.

"Mierda, sorry..." Jack said as he tried to adjust his hold. His lift took the weight from your arms and you couldn't help a groan that escaped your lips. The ache in your arms relieved a moment you relaxed in his hold despite your sudden nerves.

"Y/n." You said, still keeping your eyes on him.

His hands felt hot against your skin and sent a buzz through you. This close you could catch the scent of him easier. It was intoxicating, one part deep forest in the rain with a touch of musk and something warm. It awakened an entirely different hunger.

Jack tried desperately to avoid your gaze locked on him, instead focusing on the chain. He felt bad enough for gripping your thigh even if your sigh proved he'd helped ease the pain. Still it was no time to be ogling you especially in such a compromised position.

"With the slack, do you think you could free your hands?" Jack asked. You shifted in his grip, leaning into him as you tried to tug the knotted chain. You could feel the heat radiating from him but tried to remain focused on the task at hand.

Your scent all but consumed Jack now. His face so close to the base of your throat and chest. It took enormous will power for him not to nestle in closer and take it in. He felt embarrassed enough with how fast his heart was pounding, he didn't want to add to that.

"Someone's coming." You whispered. You paused your attempt to quiet the rattling and listened out. Past Jack's heartbeat you heard another, slower and approaching.

Jack cursed, lowering your legs slowly and gently before shifting away. A panic bubbled in you again. He was going to leave you here? Of course he was, he was a hunter wasn't he? Then he turned back, soft hazel eyes locking onto yours.

"I'm here for my friend, Ted, I'll draw them off, find him then we'll come back for you okay?" He promised with a sincerity in his smile that had you convinced in a second. You nodded, smiling tightly back at him.

Jack ran off into the maze, shoes slapping loudly against stone. The approaching hunter veered off course and you listened to them fade away. Then you were alone again, pain singing loudly up your arms.

You started swinging your legs. At first in some attempt for escape but it gradually grew into a way to waste a little time. Ticking like a pendulum in the growing chill of the night. You hoped Jack would be back before your arms died entirely.

You were brought out of your daze by a fresh scent lilting through the breeze. The familiar notes of nature but different, fresher somehow? You stilled your waving legs, letting your rocking slow until you were hanging rigid.

The smell lingered, strong and close but you couldn't hear the pattering of Jack. Though as you strained you did hear another heart approach. Then another behind you beating strong and steady. You were going to try turn when another hunter entered the circle.

He wasn't Jack. He was taller, broader and his smirk was cruel. He stalked forward like a predator, eyes raking up and down his prey. You squirmed under his gaze and let out a low hiss.

"Well, pretty sure you were meant to be a prize for the winner~" He purred as he approached. He put a hand on your hip before harshly pushing you. The chain spun you in circles as he laughed.

"Oh this is just too good!" He jeered. You thrashed violently, trying harder to pull free.

In glimpses you saw his laughing face, then something looming behind him, then a mass of roots and nature and blazing red eyes. Then he was screaming in a burst of bright flame, flesh searing and turning to ash in the claws of the hunts real target. A creature unlike any you'd encountered before but that held that same earthy scent Jack had.

"...Ted?" You breathed out. You had to suppress a squeak when the creatures massive head snapped up to you. The pieces seemed to fall in place in that second as Ted's face shifted, his eyes softening to you.

"Ted!" You smiled gently as his great clawed hand reached to you, stilling your spinning with the ease of just one finger. "Your friend Jack was here."

Ted's eyes widened and a low grumbling came from deep in his chest. He sounded surprised but appreciative, though whatever words were in the rumble escaped your ears. You didn't even have to ask as his other hand gripped the chain. It melted away and you dropped to your feet, what was left clattering from your wrists to the stone floor.

Your balance was gone and you tipped forward on unsteady legs. Ted's hand was raised still and you caught yourself on his thumb. He looked to you with sympathetic eyes as you tried to stretch out the strain in your shoulders.

"Thank you Ted," You said, patting his hand as you tried your legs again. More stable this time you took a few steps and feeling seemed to return to you. "We should stay low, avoid the hunters until we can find your friend?" You asked.

Ted nodded deeply shifting back the way he'd come, pausing briefly and looking over his shoulder to you. You jogged after him, glad for him accepting to your tagging along.

You shifted quietly through the maze, listening carefully before taking corners. It was harder for Ted, the bloodstone was affixed to his shoulder and seemed to be causing some amount of pain. Every few steps he growled against the sting.

Another hunter passed ahead and Ted grabbed your body in one hand. He dove back into the shrubbery with you now dangling in his hand. It was odd to be held by him, feeling more like hanging from a tree limb than a hand. Vines and moss seemed to grown against his skin, little glimpses of flowering plants amongst blades of grass up against his shoulders. He was a lovely creature and the idea of the others hunting him made you suddenly furious.

Ted made an odd grumble turning slightly. You wanted to ask but where sure now you'd only be met with more grumbling growls. He let out a louder roar pushing a clawed hand through the shrubbery.

You primed yourself to pounce out for a fight but the rumbling in Ted's chest sounded more like a pleasant chuckle.

"Hey! hey! What's up?" Jack cooed. Through the ivy Jack met eyes with his old friend, a delighted smile spreading across his face. He reassured him through the small space before Jack spied Ted's other hand.

"Oh you found them! Good good, this makes things a whole lot easier!" He grinned up at you with a slight wave. You returned it, wobbling unsteadily in Ted's grip, before holding back onto his hand.

"Oh...um Ted? Maybe you could let them down again?" Jack smiled nervously. Ted rumbled a response but gently placed you back on your feet. "Well yes but they are okay now, right?"

Jack's eyes met your confused expression.

"You understand him?" You asked.

"Yes of course." Jack answered matter of factlly before moving on to share his plan. You shrugged to yourself before you heard another approach.

Jack and Ted both reacted too. Ted immediately had you by the shoulders and was pulling you off to hide again, whilst Jack scrambled away. You ran along side Ted keeping pace with his strides. He wailed again as the bloodstone burned against his skin.

Pity for him swelled again. Ted was being so kind to you, he didn't deserve to be trapped in here in so much pain. Jack at least understood that too but why was still a mystery. Hunters of the past may have had a different code but these days it was kill first ask questions never. Why was he different?

You hid again against the smooth stone peaking into the gloom for anyone sneaking up on you both. Ted slumped against the ivy with a groan. Still he kept an eye down the other side with his back to you. You were glad he seemed to trust you, it'd been a while since you'd had a real ally.

Ted's claw hooked your arm, tugging you towards the shrubbery. You turned spying the bearded hunter approaching it. You stiffened ready to pounce if he drew too close but he was distracted. Another hunter yelled to him and he spun.

Ted reached a hand out gripping the hunters head and setting it ablaze. You leapt out to the other hissing and bearing fangs but stilled. Her weapons were lowered and her hands raised so you snapped your mouth shut. Ted roared furiously at her but she remained still, then she addressed him.

"Your friend is waiting for you both." She explained.

Ted grumbled pleasantly his body relaxing as Elsa lead you both back through the labyrinth. You jogged on the rear keeping a head spinning back for the other hunters. You could hear them all around, approaching the thundering footsteps of your new friend as he ran.

An explosion rang out ahead of you, Elsa diving to the side as some rumble from the wall bust out towards her. You slowed to a stop as Ted ran ahead to the gash in the external wall. Elsa flung a grapple out pulling the stone from his back as he ran out.

He bellowed pleasantly and you couldn't help but laugh. Elsa and Jack beamed as you jogged towards the hole. The stone shone on the floor, angry red light that made your eyes water. You practically snarled as you passed it and sprinted across the grass.

You paused when you heard a strange sound, followed by a grunt. Where was Jack? In the gloom you could make out the hunters circled around him, prone on the ground. What was he doing?

"Ted! Ted stop!" You called quietly as you tried to catch up to him. He stilled vines whipping out from his body as he turned. Ted chirped and tilted his head to you.

"Jack! Something happened he's still back there." You exclaimed. Ted made a groaning sound before he scooped you up again. You'd stopped being surprised by this now and instead gripped onto the moss of his back when he placed you there. He could be surprisingly nimble for such a large creature, moving swiftly back through the labyrinth and up to the manor.

"Wait stop here." You called slipping down off his back to land on the ground. "I'll sneak in here, we have to figure out how to go about this without getting caught again."

Ted grumbled some approval looking around before pointing off to the glass domed roof. You nodded and he jogged off towards it as you kept low around the side of the building. There were windows and doors but the likely hood of an alarm being triggered was high.

It took some time by you found your way to an open door. An elderly man walked through and past into the halls of the home. You wedged a foot in the gap letting him walk on before slipping through.

For an awful few moments you worried an alarm would blare. That they somehow had more security that would descend on you again. Had you fought harder, risked killing those who hunted you first maybe you'd never have ended up here. Then again if you had perhaps you'd still be alone.

All signs showed you were too late. A commotion in one of the rooms drew your focus and you slipped in with armored figures before the doors shut. Jack was gone and Elsa remained in a cage at the center looking terrified. The other figures spun around the room but missed your sudden appearance. It was only when a werewolf dropped from the ceiling you realized you were the least of their concerns right now.

You rushed the cage as attention fell upon the figure tearing into the security. You could barely take your eyes off the attack. Wild fur, pointed ears, snarling and claws. All was a blur of motion and snapping.

"Elsa!" You called to her. She was already moving to climb out of the cage but you bent the bars ahead of her. She frowned a little but smiled to you with a curt nod. She clambered out as your eyes focused again on the werewolf, preparing to fight back if it came to that. Something in it's scent caught you then, a warm musk and his face still painted.

"Christ is that Jack?" You asked watching again as the werewolf leapt to another foe. Elsa didn't respond just rushing to the wall to grab a sword before the hunter in white reappeared. It had to be right?

You sensed the hunter diving to the side as they took a swing. You tucked and rolled bashing into the wall. You looked up stunned feeling the nights events hitting you harder now than before.

The bloodstone matriarch was in front of you the vibrant stone flashing and you hit the wall again. You let out a shriek and collapsed to the ground, black spotting in your vision as you spied Jack hurling himself at her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack awoke as he did most nights after a full moon, though maybe feeling a little worse than normal. His body ached from the change, his mind reeling and confused as he tried to piece together the events that lead him here.

A soft song drifted on the morning breeze as he groaned pulling himself out towards Ted. He struggled to his feet, cloak wrapped around his naked body against the morning chill. Ted offered him tea and he took it moving to sit with his friend as he recollected himself.

His hands shook. Elsa? He'd been trapped in there with her. He asked Ted but his conscious was clear. She was fine and well back at the manor. Ted and him joked as he began to feel more himself. The night coming back to him in reverse he was startled by another thought.

"Wait our new friend, y/n, the vampire?" He asked Ted in a sudden panic. Ted shifted his leg chirping an explanation. He'd smashed into the estate, scooped up this one and took them with him as he ran off to find Jack. They now laid curled up in the shade Ted provided at his feet. Sleeping soundly in the dewy grass it seemed.

Jack admired their peaceful expression before Ted mumbled something. Jack felt the heat rise to his cheeks and he huffed.

"No! I was just worried they were still caught is all." He grumbled, crossing the cloak in tighter as he buried himself in the tea. Still considering Ted seemed to have taken a liking to their new friend, perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to convince them to come along?