Friday links! Propaganda states edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 2 Comments
A $2.5 million Bugatti with a penis painted on it. Kombat! Kids: Can you find the komposition mistake in this photo?

A $2.5 million Bugatti with a penis painted on it. Can you spot the composition error in this photo?

According to a website called The LAD Bible, someone parked his Bugatti Veyron on the streets of Seattle, where someone else—presumably a rival Veyron owner—spray-painted a penis on the hood. The LAD Bible says that’s bad. Its 200-word article does not say who owns the car, the date this may have happened, whether the police are involved or how LAD Bible came to know about it, but it does describe the act of vandalizing a sports car as “unthinkable.” Today is Friday, and you don’t need a government to run your propaganda state. Won’t you relentlessly enforce the values of the ruling class with me?

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Friday links! The kids are all right of center edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 0 Comment
Right-wing Israeli teenagers in shirts that say "revenge"

Right-wing Israeli teenagers in shirts that say “revenge”

Oh, youth: that magical time in a person’s life when one or the other political party shapes the adult you will become. Of course I’m talking about proto-fascist security states that demand ideological engagement in every aspect of life, which is where youth happens now. From child soldiers in Africa to biology students in Kansas, kids are learning which point of view is right and which one is a threat to their very existence. Today is Friday, but I believe the children are the future. Won’t you indoctrinate them in the conflicts of the past with me?

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Friday links! Expose yourself edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 2 Comments
Mitt Romney eats a pork chop on a stick, using a napkin to protect his soft hands.

Mitt Romney eats a pork chop on a stick, using a napkin to protect his soft hands.

Like many private, vaguely creepy people, I live in fear that someone else will find me out. That worry is natural, but it’s also misplaced: we’re far more likely to expose ourselves than to be exposed by others. It all checks out from a phenomenological standpoint. Who we are is defined by what we do. If the world is going to find out who you are, is it really likely to happen because of what someone else does? Today is Friday, and you are bound to expose yourself sooner or later. Won’t you open the trench coat with me?

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Friday links! Nineties nostalgia edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links, Uncategorized 2 Comments

I didn’t realize how 90s the 90s were until they were gone and I was old. Remember when soda was extreme, thumb rings were hip, and carbs were called “carbos?” Neither do I, really, although I do remember the moment I understood that the word “extreme” had lost all meaning. Fortunately, the good people poison merchants at Coca-Cola have brought back Surge for sale on Amazon, at the reasonable price of $14 per 12-pack. Now you can have a Surge Movement, too, just like the t-shirt on that aging ponce suggests. Today is Friday, and everything old is new again. Won’t you recover from the Reagan era with me?

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Friday links! Owen who? edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links 1 Comment

Owen Who

Tomorrow, my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes will play their annual rivalry game against unaccredited Iowa State University, whose record currently stands at 0-2. The Hawks did not look great in their first two outings, but they are 2-0 nonetheless. That discrepancy prompted the University of Iowa Campus Police Department to tweet a funny knock-knock joke at the ISU police, the punchline of which plays out in the image above.Screen Shot 2014-09-12 at 9.21.39 AM I don’t think anyone will disagree that the police of Iowa City are total dicks, but I’m with them on this one.* Today is Friday, and winners are winners regardless of how they got there. Won’t you elide the details with me?

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