“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
―
Ducklings, another weekend is upon us and it has been a bonkers one. Short intro this week we have a lot to catch up on and discuss!
Honestly, SNL nailed it. And by “it” I mean my fears, the reality of the moment, and the correct chaotic energy.
I heartily love the phrase “yoga babble” and find it a very apt description.
I’ve gone on a roller coaster in the run up to this film, first being excited by the idea of it, put off by the groundswell of toxicity that sprang up in the worst corners of the internet around it, and troubled by … Based largely on this review, I think I’ve circled back around to being fairly excited to see it. It seems very current to the times and for that reason, I’m interested. Jeff and I went to see Hustlers last week (bit of a weird segue, but walk with me) and afterwards I opined that it was the first film I’d seen since The Big Short that I felt was about our current era in a very deliberate way. It was certainly the first movie I’ve seen that expressed anger and a revenge fantasy for the past 10 financial years. Pop culture has been largely been centered in the realm of science fiction and fantasy (Marvel and Game of Thrones, anybody?) and avoidant of The Now. I know Joker is a comic book piece, but the themes it’s clearly tackling are all 2019.
Like catnip for Small Dog Nation.
I too am THIS many years old.
In fact, I’m getting too old for the new platforms of Kids These Days…how grim.
Of COURSE they are. Just get out of the way, peeps, and let the teen girls do their thing. They are 100% our best hope for the future.
DUH.
How is James Franco still allowed out in society?
Baby steps, I guess? I actually perversely hope that what this accomplishes is enough social cognitive dissonance to drive real social change for women.
You guessed it, I’m still not over this business story.
Content warning: this reporting from the New York Times is incredibly hard to read, and some people may not be able or wish to, but it’s important. The scourge of online abuse and sexual exploitation of children has exploded in recent years and our ability to track it, hold abusers to justice, and protect victims is fundamentally not scaling with the technical ability of the individuals and communities creating and spreading it. Here’s hoping that sunlight provokes change.
The political news will be summarised at the end of this post (to avoid my brain exploding) but this piece is worthwhile both because from what I’m seeing early on this week, most of the defense attempts of the administration’s behavior are trying to invoke an outright conspiracy theory. This needs to be understood, alongside the remembrance that the current president rose to political prominence and viability off the back of conspiracy theories. It’s simultaneously vital info, but will not dissuade those support him BECAUSE of conspiratorial views and not IN SPITE of them.
Meanwhile, some local reporting out of Wisconsin that has relevance not just to the state and a major local industry but also to America, the land of opportunity and where hard work definitely always pays off… “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out,” Perdue said. “I don’t think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability.”
Ah, another British American cross over event. Our special relationship is not just about hairstyles, it’s about mutually punishing political foes. Cool.
Brexit is also going great, by the way.
We are a pro-bath family.
“Kirstjen, you didn’t hear me the first time, honey,” Mr. Trump said, according to two people familiar with the conversation. “Shoot ’em down. Sweetheart, just shoot ’em out of the sky, O.K.?” What. The. Fuck. I’m not talking about the alligator filled moat. I can’t.
Maybe dudes should sit this one out, just generally.
What a beautiful essay from Zadie Smith.
AH. Nothing is new. We’ve circled back to his original desired endgame, back before he thought he would win.
The UK and the US are both reporting dramatic drops in native wildlife in recent decades. In case you wanted some cheery news this week…
LOLOLOLOL. This guy is SO bad at crimes. Her subtweet was perfect.
Who had “Ruin Whisky” on their 2019 bingo card?
At this point I will read anything by Amanda Mull, her beat of shopping, consumption, women’s perspectives, health and wellness is very much my jam. Her latest on how Forever 21 (but really a lot of other people in capitalism) underestimated the young folk, and women in particular, to simply not need them.
Who asked for this? Why? How did they do the math to identify this demographic?!
Oh, fuck off. Woke culture didn’t harm you, it’s making you rich. Shut up.
This week’s best Twitter profile.
Okay, this is moving unbelievably fast. *cracks knuckles*
Monday through Wednesday: let’s sum up the mess of conspiracy theorist trash, honest debates about nepotism we need to have–right alongside the discussion of bad faith defenses of corruption when it’s Your Guy we’re talking about, and wide ranging complacency/complicity that got us to this point. (This interview with the former Ukrainian prosecutor general is stunning, but it cuts through the noise quite a bit.)
Thursday: THERE it is, just saying the quiet parts out loud and betting that if he does it in broad daylight, he’ll get away with it. He may, depressingly, be right. Meanwhile, at the OTHER coverup…
Friday: a summary. Bleeding hell. A lot of aides have apparently been privately “horrified” at the President’s cavalier calls for a long time and decided to do fuck all about it. Profiles in courage.
Small Dog Syndrome 
BATHS! We have a 21-inch deep bathtub which is hell to clean but covers every scrap of one’s body. Bliss!
Those whisky pods….WHAT?????????