Friday links! Enrage god for candy edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 0 Comment
Old-timey children who are dead now

Old-timey children who are dead now

As any pamphlet will tell you, Halloween is an evil holiday. It’s probably the most evil holiday, with the possible exception of Secretary’s Day, and that’s why it’s so fun. For one day a year, American society permits you to gorge on sugar, trick people, and pretend to be someone you’re not. Then we return to our lives of circumspect eating and honesty. Today is Friday, and it’s almost time to pretend the monsters only come out on Halloween. Won’t you festoon yourself in gore with me?

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Friday links! Slow train to Washington edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 0 Comment
Old smokey

Get along, old smokey.

Combat! blog continues its mad peregrinations today with a quick trip to Washington DC, where I will visit my brother and see my friend Curt in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. I assume he plays the beautiful Carole King, and if I see anyone else in that role, I intend to boo loudly. For now, though, I ride the train. I’m like a hobo of old, eating canned beans (kale chips) and sleeping under the stars (roof of train.) Today is Friday, and the modern world is safer and more comfortable than the old one. Won’t you learn to play the harmonica (iPod) with me?

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Friday links! Unbridled paranoia edition

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Hillary Clinton closes her left eye for 15 seconds so the average voter knows she's winking.

Hillary Clinton closes her left eye for 15 seconds so voters know she’s winking.

Between the NSA and browser cookies, someone is recording basically everything you do. Sure, it’s only a computer, and it’s only using your information to serve more relevant page ads/incinerate terrorists. And it’s only recording you when you use your phone, or when you leave location services on and walk around, so really you have nothing to worry about. But that’s the surveillance you know, and you were never supposed to know about it anyway. Today is Friday, and there are more things in Palo Alto and Fort Meade than are dreamt of in your paranoia. Won’t you let speculation run wild with me?
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Friday links! Comedy versus reality edition

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What's the deal with reactionary populism?

What’s the deal with Mexicans?

In a parallel universe, “Donald Trump runs for president” is a pretty funny sketch. It could be the cold open on Friday Night Fun, perhaps with host Michael Richards as his exasperated opponent. Comedy Trump is supposed to talk politics, but he only speaks in vague, hyperbolic terms about what a great businessman he is, and everyone finds it hilariously absurd. It helps that we all understand critical thinking from our free liberal arts educations, courtesy of President Sanders. Today is Friday, and the line between our world and one invented to amuse better versions of ourselves is thin and permeable. Won’t you try to distinguish comedy from reality with me?

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Friday links! Conspiracy theories edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 0 Comment

Free

Between global warming and Fetty Wap, it sure seems like we have a lot of problems lately. But what if our problems were conspiracies? Wouldn’t it be easier to address things like income inequality or adult-sized Batman t-shirts if they were not, in fact, problematic consequences of flawed systems, but rather stuff people were secretly doing to us? Or stuff lizards were secretly doing to us? We can’t know until we pit MacGyver against Nancy Drew, but I’m pretty sure it’s easier to stop a conspiracy than to solve a problem. Today is Friday, and I’d rather be up against the Rothschilds than structural conflicts of liberal democracy. Won’t you theorize with me?

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