Bloo

A great follow-up question would have been whether she "loves" the large number of AI-generated videos of her promoting weight loss medication being shared on social media.

Why? Most of the great thinkers of the Black radical tradition were vocal proponents for Palestinian liberation. Why? Because all imperialism is connected. The colonization of Palestine by Israeli settlers is no different from the colonization of Africa by Europeans. I strongly encourage you to read his essay entitled Zionist Logic (among his other writing). Even more simply, it is a fact that the police that actively and disproportionately affect Black Americans are trained by IDF soldiers that actively oppress and slaughter Palestinians (source). This idea that anti-Black racism exists in a vacuum—wholly disconnected from all other oppression—is deeply naïve.

That’s fair. Given how recently Netanyahu condemned Mamdani at the UN (alongside Hasan Piker of all people), I read the original post with that context in mind. But, I can see the confusion. Regrettably, claims of anti-Semitism are now used (by Zionists) as a tool to silence voices calling for Palestinian liberation and/or criticisms of Israel. We even have Congress voting on acts where the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism (which includes criticism of Israel) is being used to define hate speech (example). This only complicates any of these conversations by injecting a dose of politicization that shouldn’t exist.

Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, and transphobia are all on the rise. I don’t think it’s radical to think that Mamdani’s specific focus on anti-Semitism (in lieu of other forms of bigotry) is politically informed by accusations of him being anti-Semitic serving as the basic line of attack against him by his Democratic rivals and the leader of Israel (a Jewish ethnostate) is actively accusing Mamdani of anti-Semitism and being a supporter of Hamas (link). Anti-Semitism should be combatted, but I don’t think it’s conspiratorial to recognize the context that informs this action. Mamdani is wanting to silence the baseless allegations of his Zionist critics. Especially when we are seeing active efforts to genocide trans people in the USA and that gets next to no political attention from political leaders.

Because their regulation asks are to shut down access to open source models (i.e., their competition). These AI companies are relying on hype-farming and market manipulation. It is silly to think this an exception where they’re acting in good faith.

We love our double-agent comrade.

Woman's World was at least somewhat memorable. It was a monocultural experience.

Hmm, the problem is that the hater comments she's citing in Cleveland are like OTH 1.0. The OTH crowd has advanced to bigger allegations and she's still talking about how people say she can't dance.

Hmm, I'll give that POV a shot next time I listen to it.

It might not be. I need to sit with this one. This is really the only TLOAS song where I was stumped and know I need to sit on it. It's cozy and that's all I know for now. Curious to see how the lyrics grow on me (if they do at all).

My initial thoughts (for those who care): Patient Zero: This just might be the most boring song on the whole album. I think only Eldest Daughter tops it in terms of how drab and dull it is. The subject matter is also very generic and uninteresting, 3/10. Cleveland!: This is the most confounding and random song title. I knew Travis is from Cleveland and figured it would be about him taking her to his hometown. But that idea is very underdeveloped. It's just a throwaway line, "He's already taken me to Cleveland," okay?? The production of this song was definitely a good pick up from Patient Zero, but then it just is barraged by very sophomoric lyrics. Taylor is a great lyricist. She is capable of writing great songs. But, it seems that this really trite (and inaccurate) imitation of Sabrina Carpenter is the goal with TLOAS and it does not work with Taylor's artistic instincts. This song was lyrically dreadful and embarrassing, 2/10. Pink Clouding: This song is actually quite good! The bridge is horrible though. All the bridges in this album are her just maintaining the same melody but singing at a faster speed—imbuing a sense of monotony in the songs. That's an issue here. However, the song is very interesting and seems to be a sibling to Getaway Car which made for a fun lil moment. I enjoyed this one, 6/10. Babylon: This one is confusing for me. It's a very cozy song. It seems very sentimental. Its meaning did not land with me at all in my first initial listen. It sounds like she might be thinking about life before she became famous and wishing she enjoyed it more? But then there are lines that seem to exist in the framework of a romantic relationship. So, I have no clue what the song is about. But, it sounds very cozy and is more melodically interesting than either of the first two songs, 5/10. EDIT: Updated the scores.

I’m sure they have a better understanding of socialism than the average American understands capitalism.

Reminder that tagging that account notifies absolutely nobody.

What I don’t enjoy is waking up to a threat of more TLOAS music. Taylor, read the room. Would have bought a vinyl of Debut TV, though.

Disappointed in pumpkin for not going with American Intelligence (AI). It was right there, babe.

I think a lot of liberals want Trump to be clearly beaten and face the consequences of his actions rather than him dying and escaping them. I personally just want him no longer in the White House. But I have family that would probably feel that way if he went in his sleep.

ATRL was still arguing Taylor wasn't an MPG in the 1989 era. Ariana's "MPG" title was always questioned by ATRL until T,UN. So... I reckon Olivia still has a few more album cycles before ATRL is convinced.

As someone who just got done topping a guy, I’d say a good bottom does not just lay there. There is nothing less appealing than a bottom that acts like a rag doll.

Some of us can practice critical thinking and still enjoy entertainment and pop culture. It’s a powerful gift. Multitasking isn’t for everyone, I fear.

It’s both. Celebrities are the faces that the oligarchy use to pacify and distract us. Ed being butchered alive for following the orders of this oligarch (who absolutely should get public scrutiny) will make it more difficult for other celebrities to do the same down the road. It is absolutely essential that both face blowback, even if it should be more distributed than squarely on Ed. Kraft deserves scrutiny, but I’m happy to see public backlash at all when that was missing when celebrities have spoken up for Palestine in the past (e.g., Melissa Barrera).

It’s always weird to remember how she’s an actual adult. It felt like just a few years ago she was a literal child on Stranger Things. Anyway, congratulations to her and her partner.

I agree. I hope that one lesson (among countless, for that matter) that really crystallizes in the zeitgeist because of this stupid war is that we need new energy infrastructure. It is clear that America depends on the Middle East for energy. I'm sure most of us all knew that. But I don't think the average American did. I'm sure most people felt that we produced enough natural gas that we would be good in any case, but that's clearly not true. So, hopefully we see more people wanting full energy independence and the best way for that is a renewable energy buildout. I also think we need to be more ambitious than the Green New Deal. We are at a point where even switching to renewable energy now would not help in the grand scheme of things with climate change. We need to massively reduce car dependency in our country (and Canada). But, that would require we rethink urban (and suburban) development such that not everyone needs a car to live and do basic day-to-day things. So, plans for building new housing would need to consider this so that we aren't continuing to build out massive suburban developments that are economically unsustainable and incite a culture of car dependency which is bad for the climate. While I would support more radical ideas like massive disruption to beef production because of its environmental toll (which is worse than data centers, btw), I know this is not viable in an election—but I don't know how we make progress in this way. We really ignore the climatological cost of our animal agricultural systems. But, renewable energy and improving population density would be a massive step in the right direction.

And I was just listening to HMHAS 4 times in a row for some reason earlier today. Proud of FINNEAS for expressing basic sense and decency.

I had some guy ask me if they could bring their concealed carry gun with them when I offered to drive us somewhere to go for a walk. Never saw him again after that.