Arjun Basu

Coward. Spirits having flown.

Oh gosh, farewell to Susan Saint James. ❤️

Et ça commence…

Lululemon was founded by five men.

The bad things you say about me are making me so mad I'm going to write a letter! A LETTER!!!

Fabulous. Let's make sure all the other fascists across the globe feel like this.

I kinda think that after the "grab em by the pussy" remark he doesn't lose support. His core applauds this kind of stuff. It's manly. Or something. It's gross but doesn't move the needle. When you're in a cult, the leader can do no wrong.

Beyond disgusted by even more rape allegations against the President of the United States. "In total, more than 25 different women...have independently accused Donald Trump of rape, sexual assault, or other sexual misconduct." Report w/ new details: democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

When everything is Bleh (or Meh): We're in a Blehge. Which rhymes with beige. I'm on to something. Now Entering: The Era Of Bleh www.noemamag.com/now-entering...

The vile attacks on Amy Acton need to be seen in the context of a party that *needs* people to believe women fabricating sexual assaults is common as rainwater. Because it’s pretty much the only way to evade the conclusion that the president is a rapist.

The House Judiciary Committee Democrats have released a report containing testimony from 11 women regarding allegations of sexual assault, including a new rape allegation, against President Trump in relation to Jeffrey Epstein that the lawmakers say has been deliberately covered up by the DOJ.

Just speaking for myself but I was completely fine not knowing what Matt Yglesias thought about basically anything

With this administration all roads must inevitably, inexorably, lead to, um, pedos.

The lessons from Brazil and Serbia? Don't concede one inch of ground to the far right. Don't appease. Don't triangulate. Don't grovel. Don't say they have "legitimate concerns". Mobilise your base, and fight them with all the democratic means at your disposal.

My pal Danielle Koenig shared that her father Walter Koenig passed away last night at age 90. A performer whose kindness and warmth shone through the screen. He will be well remembered.

Huh.

Love this story

I hate this story. Absolutely hate it. (And I hate the image here as well; I hate everything about it.) But it's worth noting the story is veering awfully close into Planet of the Apes origin story territory. So Planet of the Dogs?

From Brasilia to Belgrade

So that’s good. Right?

Bolsonaro-friendly mayors appear to be sabotaging public transport on Election Day. Buses aren’t running in Lula-friendly areas, flights and ferries mysteriously canceled. Traffic lights have gone out and people’s power cut in Salvador, indigenous people’s travel restricted

Finally saw “The Odyssey.” Who knew it would be so violent?

This is now the official Presidential portrait for Donald J. Trump. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

of course the worst people in the world see dogs as nothing more than part of their death cult fantasies just absolute pieces of shit

I'm pretty sure simply walking into a Walmart will give you "elevated levels of lead."

The right-wing Desi mindset is a thing to behold and a reminder that a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

US carbon emissions exploded last year, rivaling the rest of the world combined. What a disgrace. www.unep.org/en/publicati...

The decline of journalism and tech cheerleadingfuckery are of course one and the same.

Wind sled > the "flying" car

I wrote a book loosely based on Gilgamesh, leaning into the environmental aspect of it (I guess it was cli-fi and centred around oligarchy, surveillance, rising seas, displacement, and plastic) but no one wanted it and I've moved on to other things. I still think it's a good book. Alas.

This felt inevitable

The latest author spam email (latest meaning in the past 10 minutes) is called "Four Lives in Motion" and I appreciate how succinct and poetic a description it is of my last novel. So there's that. What I'm saying is this: the AI is trying.

I've had coffees at the Peet's across the street from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with friends in the Obama and Biden administrations who refused to let me pay the $5 for their coffee, lest it seemed like I was trying to bribe them. 🤷

the idea that empathy is dangerous has been permeating right-wing spaces for a while, but it's not an actual element of their ideology as much as it's a defense mechanism against confronting the reality of their cruelty

this fascinating look at book monoculture reminds me of a publisher who said online that there's basically 4 types of books, sales-wise: 1) fails to find its audience; 2) finds its audience; 3) finds an audience beyond its audience; 4) becomes the book that people who read one book a year will read

This is so good from @doctorow.pluralistic.net and so so true.

colour me shocked.

Ads are hilarious. I mean, look at this thing. There's not much to look at. It's for a memory foam thingamabob. WHAT WILL THIS MATTRESS REMEMBER? HMMM? (this is from YouTube, where most of what I consume are movie trailers, hockey stuff, and geeky science stuff)

Being rich absolutely cooks your brain. Being raised rich from birth even moreso.

Nathan Fielder interview ruined my career :(

The Wired story is a good look at the problems tech journalism (well, not just tech journalism) has long had (cough "cheerleader") and is proof that anyone who says the best journalism is impartial is always wrong because journalists are human (well, there's a joke there, too, especially now).

There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness.

Mapquest has found their lane and they're leaning into it hard.

The Senate's bipartisan permit reform bill would upend the National Environmental Policy Act and also weaken the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. My legal analysis: scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scho...

Every "Pangram finds AI writing" case is about black authors, from places like the Caribbean and Africa. Almost every single one. It makes you think. Or it should.