[A monthly link list of recommended articles, videos, podcasts, photos, toots … you name it]
[Videos]
Josh Johnson – (Some of) Trump’s Wildest Executive Orders Explained
ALOK: Biology! | Full Comedy Special –
The Zionists Kill Doctors in Gaza and Silence Them Here (w/ Rupa Marya) | The Chris Hedges Report
[Music]
FKA twigs – Girl Feels Good – Not my favorite song from the new album Eusexua, but love the video.
Lambrini Girls – Cuntology 101
[Podcasts]
This month most podcasts felt boring.
But it’s probably just me.
However i did start a new podcast project of sorts:
Screaming Into The Void 001 – Fuckface Von Clownstick Edition
[Toot Threads and the occasional bsky (what are they called?)]
I appreciate all the people recommending the Shock Doctrine. I've been thinking about what makes Trump's use of these tactics a little different.
In recent decades, shock tactics were used mainly to rapidly impose neoliberal economic policies. But what Trump is doing goes way beyond that.
a 🧵
— Naomi Klein (@naomiaklein.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 10:37 PM
[Pandemic Roundup]
Covid: January 30, 2025
Covid: January 23, 2025
Covid News: January 16, 2025
Pandemic Roundup: January 9, 2025
Pandemic Roundup: January 2, 2025
The good, old pandemic roundup seems to be in the process of getting renamed.
[The Must Read[s] This Month]
Sozialbanditentum: «Es muss nicht immer Forelle in Champagnersauce sein» [woz] – “Mit seiner Bande überfiel der Anarchist Jacques Fasel in den Siebzigern Poststellen und Geldtransporter in der Romandie, mit der Beute finanzierten sie autonome Projekte. Ein Film stellt nun sein Handeln jenem junger Aktivistinnen gegenüber. Ein Gespräch über die Revolution als Prozess, den Wald als Rückzugsort – und Technologie als Waffe.” An interview with “social bandit” Jacques Fasel, who in the 70s and 80s robed post offices to distribute the loot to autonomous centres and causes.
Week One, Executive Orders and a ‘Merit Based’ Society | Disabled Ginger [substack] – “‘Merit Based’ is a fancy way of saying that your worth will be judged based on capitalist contribution. There will be no protections for marginalized or disabled individuals, that’s why they’re eliminating DEIA programs. There will be no incentive to hire those who don’t look like Trump, and we all know that many employers DO discriminate based on race, sexual orientation or disability.” Fuck meritocracy, which has always been a racist, ableist, sexist, classist concept.
Depression Voucher What comes after defeat? | Grace Byron [substack] – “The turn to reactionary politics (anti-minority, anti-socialism, pro-elitism, pro-eugenics) manifests in a variety of ways. It holds that individuals are more responsible for their actions than major political institutions. The State failed to address Covid and everyone has turned on each other rather than on the State. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t demand better from one another, merely that many of us have a common enemy.” One of the best articles i have read, reflecting on the fascist turn in the so-called US.
‘The Exceptions Have Become the Rule.’ Naomi Klein on Trump, Gaza and the End of the ‘Liberal Order’ [dawn] – “This has to do with an escalation of attacks on the Palestine solidarity movement globally, using these anti-terror laws to intimidate funders, to intimidate universities, to intimidate all of civil society. The way I’ve been thinking about it for a long time is that all of Gaza is a crime scene. It’s too large a crime to cover up. So all you can do is target the witnesses, which is what the war on journalists, the killing of so many courageous Palestinian journalists in Gaza, has been about. It’s been about getting rid of the witnesses.” A wide ranging interview with Naomi Klein, who keeps having the finger on the pulse.
//cw explicit descriptions of sexual abuse
The Dark Secrets Behind the Neil Gaiman Abuse Accusations [vulture] – “How the best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman hid the darkest parts of himself for decades.” Finally this horrible case gets some more traction. The reaction of so-called left has been more than muted, since Gaiman is “one their own”. Thanks to this article the Gaiman abuse accusations finally have started to find more traction. Which is pathetic. This article needs a //cw though. Very explicit.
Five years of the COVID-19 pandemic: An interview with Dr. Arijit Chakravarty [wsws] – “What we have done is take something that should never have established itself in human communities in the first place and have built a public health consensus around the concept of repeated mass infection. So, yes, this is what failure looks like. And that sort of normalization of infectious disease is something that we are facing the consequences of now, societally, because those attitudes have crept into other aspects of our society as well. This idea that vaccines are bad, and infections are good. Conflating the idea of coexistence with nature with coexistence with pathogens is a dangerous mess—it will take years to undo this. Honestly, we haven’t had attitudes like this about infections since before biblical times.” The only five year COVID-19 interview you have to read.
[Articles English]
The “pandemic of abandonment”: Navigating friendships five years into COVID-19 [sick times] – “It is very common for people with Long COVID and those taking COVID-19 precautions to experience grief over lost intimacy with friends. In a Sick Times survey of 2,586 people, 81% reported having lost friends over differences in COVID-19 precautions.” I have never felt so abandoned. #LongCOVID
Philip Guston’s Anti-Fascist Mural Restored And Unveiled In Mexico [artlyst] – “After nearly a century, Philip Guston’s monumental mural, The Struggle Against Terrorism, has been meticulously restored and will be unveiled to the public on January 31, 2025, at the Regional Museum of Michoacán. Philip Guston created the mural in collaboration with artist Reuben Kadish; the artwork is a striking visual condemnation of fascism, intolerance, and violence, painted in vivid colours across a 40-foot-high wall.” A very timely piece. Can’t wait to see it in color.
This is Why We’ve Been Yelling About This | Adrian Daub [substack] – “Donald Trump’s latest raft of executive orders have had, if nothing else, an immensely clarifying effect. The US is still reeling from the absolute mess that was the OMB “pause” on federal funding. No one knows what it really means (my co-host Moira Donegan and I will be speaking with Slate’s Mark-Joseph Stern for an emergency episode of In Bed With the Right in a few hours in order to have at least some of it explained to us). But two things seem clear to me: (1) Trump is looking to remake his role and to test out just how “imperial” he can make this presidency. And (2) he is using the supposed threat of, among others, “DEI” and “woke gender ideology” to do it. And, oh yeah, dehumanizing trans people in the process.” First they came for the etc.
Why I Won’t Be in D.C. for Trump’s Second Inauguration | Natasha Lennard [intercept] – “There is little point in going to Washington today to oppose Trump’s return — Trumpism never left. There are more urgent tasks now.” Point. And
It’s Safer in the Front : Taking the Offensive against Tyranny [crimethinc] – “Faced with intensifying repression and state violence, there is an understandable inclination to seek safety by avoiding confrontation. But this is not always the most effective strategy.” Counterpoint. I prefer the latter approach. The first one sounds a bit too know-it-all to me. And cynical.
Swiss Police Arrest, Deport Palestinian American Journalist Ali Abunimah [truthout] – “Abunimah’s arrest appears to be part of a growing backlash from Western governments against expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Electronic Intifada team stands in solidarity with Ali Abunimah. Speaking out against injustice in Palestine is not a crime. Journalism is not a crime.” Fuck Switzerland.
How the roots of the ‘PayPal mafia’ extend to apartheid South Africa [the guardian] – “Elon Musk grew up with the privileges of a stratified racial order and Peter Thiel lived in a city that venerated Hitler” I think i’m gonna have to puke.
Another way out: In fighting fascism, we must choose wisely [prism] – “Our enemies and the oppressive elements we know all too well may not be as strong as we imagine. Teen hackers have made breaching federal authorities into child’s play. We saw this tyrannical president hide in a bunker when we rose against state violence in response to the killing of George Floyd. Even now, we’ve seen that a lone gunman with something to prove has sent shockwaves throughout the ruling elite. These aren’t distant memories; these things all tell us a lot about what’s possible in today’s world.” Another post-election pep talk, but by William C. Anderson, hence worth it.
Covid Impact [covidsafescouts] – “Covid is a virus that has a devastating impact on personal lives and communities. Read about how Covid denial is fuelling discrimination against disabled and high-risk people—a growing population in part to rampant, unmitigated Covid spread. Learn more about how Covid impacts kids, animals, the workforce and how to help reduce the burden. Help fight dis/misinformation by identifying Covid myths. Take action to help stop the spread of Covid by advocating for cleaner indoor air and destigmatizing mask/respirator use.” Many resources and links for covid-safe folks.
Elon Musk Gives Nazi Salute During His Trump Inauguration Speech [unicorn riot] – “I saw in that salute not merely a culminating ‘hail to victory’ for christofascism but crucially the challenge to us — all of us who are on the side of life — to abandon any delusions we may still harbor that these sadistic victors will ‘play by the rules’ of state, capital, or national borders. We, too, need new playbooks of resistance and solidarity.” ~ Cindy Barukh Milstein was quoted in this article.
December 2024 Global Climate Report [ncei] – “The December global surface temperature was 1.26°C (2.27°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.2°C (54.0°F), making it the second-warmest December on record. This was 0.13°C (0.23°F) below last year’s record warm month. December 2024 marked the 49th consecutive December (since 1975) with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average.” And now drill baby president is in power.
Billionaires Should Not Exist — Here’s Why [teen vogue] – “We have arrived at an obscene inequality crisis, in which wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few, at the cost of crippling hardship, precarity, and compromised well-being for the many. When a single billionaire can accumulate more money in 10 seconds than their employees make in one year, while workers struggle to meet the basic cost of rent and medicine, then yes, every billionaire really is a policy failure.” Billionaires should not even be a possibility.
Nazi Salute Test [b3ta] – A helpful graphic to determine if it was a nazi salute (it was).
‘We think of the body as a map’: a new approach to deciphering long Covid [the guardian] – ““You might ask: where is the pain located? Is it in the gut, in the heart, in the arms? What does it feel like? Is it red, is it orange, is it lots of scribbles, is it soft? And what about going to a clinician and being told: ‘It’s all in your head’? Where would you draw the emotion of that experience on your body?” Body mapping invites lots of different ideas and allows you to share them with other participants, she says.” Made a small body map, because i did not have a big enough piece of paper.
Laughing at the Expense of Tyranny – “The dreaded moment is upon us – an era of political extremism even more intense than the last one. The prospect of living in a country with a president who proudly proclaims that he’ll be a dictator on day one, who fills his cabinet with cronies and stacks our courts with theocrats is nothing short of terrifying. Most of us want gun control, birth control and healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt us, but we’ve been outmaneuvered by SuperPACs and let down by the politicians they fund. Today, the future does look grim, but we can’t allow ourselves to be paralyzed by fear or hopelessness.” This brand new newspaper launched by Coco Fusco attempts to fight the dictator with satire and humor. With many great contributions in issue one.
Reports from the Festivals of Resistance / Day of the Forest Defender [crimethinc] – “The situation is grim. Despite acknowledging that Trump represents fascism, Democrats have nonetheless welcomed the arrival of despotism, dutifully voting for new legislation targeting immigrants and doing their best to keep protesters out of the streets. Tech CEOs have followed suit, pouring millions of dollars into his inauguration and crowding into St. John’s Church to worship at the feet of their new master. Elon Musk made the Nazi salute twice from the podium during the inauguration, leaving only just enough plausible deniability to confuse the most naïve. Musk has posted fascist dog whistles on Twitter before, even before he purchased it in order to reintroduce Nazis to the platform, ban anarchists, and promote the fascist agenda.” Festivals of resistance were a success.
Decolonizing Medicine | Rupa Marya [substack] – “People in power in medicine today will tell you that we do not want to mix politics in medicine. But medicine is politics practiced on the human body. To pretend it is any other way is to ignore the actual realities that are causing harm on marginalized people in a system that was not built to serve us. Those in power prefer to distract us with superficial adjustments rather than structural ones. We can no longer play that game.” Rupa yet again receives my bravery award.
The people should own the town square [mastodon blog] – “Simply, we are going to transfer ownership of key Mastodon ecosystem and platform components (including name and copyrights, among other assets) to a new non-profit organization, affirming the intent that Mastodon should not be owned or controlled by a single individual.” Good move?! But might it lead to ads?
Caroline Darian, daughter of Gisèle Pelicot, speaks: ‘How can you rebuild when your father is the worst sexual predator in decades?’ [the guardian] – “Last month, her father was sentenced to 20 years for drugging her mother then inviting dozens of strangers to rape her. Now their daughter tells of the ‘crushing double burden’ of being the child of both victim and perpetrator – and the mental torture of not knowing what he did to her” Okay, another bravery award goes to Caroline and Giselle.
Update and Joint Statement From Peppy and Krystal [igd] – “Update from support crew of Peppy and Krystal, two Pittsburgh activists facing repression following a protest of a far-Right anti-LGBTQ+ influencer.” An under reported story.
How sex censorship killed the internet we love | Violet Blue [endgadget] – “We are on the other side now. Like everyone I know, my anxiety climbs as I open any new browser window, check any app or news site. As corporations have scuttled the weird and the wonderful, the taboo voices and forbidden artwork, we wonder only … what hate will we see today? What attacks await, now that the common rooms and public squares are the playgrounds of racist and anti-sex algorithms, of incels and Nazis, of advertisers and corporations ruling platforms with the iron fist of dated conservative values.” I miss sex-positivity so much.
How a Mole Infiltrated the Highest Ranks of American Militias [propublica] – “Williams believes extremists will try to murder him after this story is published. And if they fail, he thinks he’ll “live to see the United States cease to exist.” He identifies with the violent abolitionist John Brown, who tried to start a slave revolt two years before the American Civil War and was executed. Williams thinks he himself may not be seen as such a radical soon, he told me. “I wonder if I’m maybe a little too early.”” Speaking of brave, wow, this gay man risked a lot for this report.
Why I’m quitting the Washington Post [substack] – “The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump. There have been multiple articles recently about these men with lucrative government contracts and an interest in eliminating regulations making their way to Mar-a-lago. The group in the cartoon included Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook & Meta founder and CEO, Sam Altman/AI CEO, Patrick Soon-Shiong/LA Times publisher, the Walt Disney Company/ABC News, and Jeff Bezos/Washington Post owner.” You mean Bezos is an asshole?! Who is surprised!?
I Was Promised a More Aesthetically Pleasing Cyberpunk Dystopia [acab ghost.io] – “The industrialists and billionaires and tech gurus and all their bootlickers are pathetic; They are out of ideas. The reason so many are inspired by AI isn’t only marketing and sunk-cost fallacy, it isn’t only the promise of laying off those pesky humans or a lack of information or knowledge. It’s because AI produces new images, more images, it creates more and more and more and they are overawed because they have forgotten how to create anything at all.” It’s a side point in the article, but generally speaking fascists and dictators do set a bigger emphasis on aesthetics. Whereas MAGA remains ugly through and through.
ANTIFA MEANS FREE PALESTINE – A statement by anarchists / anti-fascists in Berlin [kontrapolis] – “We reject Germany’s alleged „reason of state“ („Staatsräson“), and we refuse to recognize not only „Israel“ as a legitimate state but also the German state and all states. As anarchists, anti-fascists, and anti-authoritarians, we believe that all states and all borders must be abolished. We oppose any kind of hierarchical, authoritarian power structures and ideologies or concepts such as states or political parties that put certain people or entities in power and determine the lives of others. Hence, our fight aims at the disintegration of the fascist, zionist, racist, ethnocratic regimes of „Israel“ and of all other states worldwide. We call for an immediate end to the apartheid in and occupation of Palestine. Palestinians should be able to return to their homeland. We advocate for the liberation of Palestine and maintain that all its people should live and thrive there in peace, from the river to the sea. We fight for freedom for all.” Finally a useful statement from Germany in regards to Gaza/Israel.
SICK FROM GENOCIDE | Rupa Marya [substack] – “Healthcare workers, we must cultivate our courage. We must learn from the doctors in Gaza. Speak up and stop the violent attacks on our colleagues, profession and the children. The repression of healthcare workers in the West facilitates the genocide in Gaza—it is a part of the genocide. When our voices are silenced, the killing that targets our colleagues can continue uncontested. The health institutions and universities that silence us must be held accountable for genocide abatement.” Rupa 🖤❤️
2024: Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire : The Year in Review [crimethinc] – “It’s time to take stock of the year have just lived through and get oriented for the year ahead. Here, we review the events of 2024 and our own contributions to the fight for a better world.” The new year is still young while the old one still weighs heavy.
Wading Into 2025: How to Begin |Kelly Hayes [substack] – “Matters of ideological importance are often cherry-picked and skewed. There are no widely read sacred texts that actually inform this culture of critique, because most of its participants do not read books. They make cudgels of text-bytes that reinforce their positions–thoughts extracted like precious gems from larger bodies of work that would often contradict, or complicate their unyielding positions. The performance of disapproval is about sanctimony and condemnation.” Wading alongside Kelly Hayes.
[Articles German/French]
Dark Gothic MAGA: Elon Musk, la néoréaction et l’esthétique du cyberfascisme [lundi.am] – “Nous le voyons, ce sieg heil survient dans l’espace public comme une Gestalt double : une sorte d’indécidable illusion, à l’image du fameux canard-lapin que commente Ludwig Wittgenstein dans ses Investigations Philosophiques. Pourtant, nous devons trancher. Les médias du centre et de la droite ne voient qu’un innocent coucou de la main, voire le résultat incontrôlé d’une salade de gestes autistique (Musk étant, à le croire, atteint du syndrome d’Asperger). En revanche, les principaux spécialistes, ces infatigables praticiens du levé de bras que sont les bros de l’alt-right, les néonazis et autres suprémacistes blancs n’ont pu s’empêcher de reconnaître à la tribune une impeccable exécution de leur mouvement-signature. Qu’on me permette alors, en toute prudence zététique, de me fier au savoir des experts.” Was it a duck? (it was)
Wurden Murali und Mugunthan von Schweizer Neonazis ermordet? [das magazin] – “Zwischen 1988 und 1993 gab es in der Schweiz dreizehn Todesopfer rechtsextremer Gewalt. Gemessen an der Bevölkerungszahl, sind das mehr als überall sonst in Europa und auch deutlich mehr als in Deutschland. Welche Strassennamen in der Schweiz erinnern an sie? Welcher Bundesrat gedenkt ihrer? Welche Geschichtslehrerin spricht über sie?” Racist attacks on immigrants in Switzerland during the 80s and 90s are a huge blind spot.
Wo es wehtut [republik] – “Hassten die rechten Jungs aus meiner Jugend noch isoliert in den Aargauer Dörfern vor sich hin, vernetzen sich ihre Nachfolger heute global, angestachelt von einigen der mächtigsten Männer überhaupt. Dabei ist nichts von dem, was sie von sich geben, wirklich neu – das war alles schon da, jetzt frisch verpackt und vermarktet.” Sure, this is quite a vulnerable reflection, but the swipes against “radicalism” of “the left” were kinda unnecessary.
Medien und Propaganda: Die weisse Krähe [woz] – “«Köppel behauptet nicht nur, dass der Westen Russland zum Angriff gedrängt habe, sondern dass der Krieg auch ohne Putin befohlen worden wäre. Er macht alles, damit Putin bloss nicht als Aggressor erscheint.» Als Journalist bezahle Köppel dafür einen hohen Preis, sagt Schmid. «Er übersieht komplett, dass die russische Gesellschaft gelähmt ist. Dass es keine Politik mehr gibt und kein Mediensystem. Es gibt keine Meinungsbildung. Russland ist heute ein Polizeistaat.»” Another one i wouldn’t mind if he gets *coughs*.
Männer töten Frauen – und die Schweiz nimmt es hin [daslamm] – “Offizielle Zahlen zu Femiziden in der Schweiz gibt es nicht. Nur jene freiwilliger Kollektive, die aber keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit haben. Trotzdem sind ihre Zahle alarmierend: Stop Femizid erfasste für das Jahr 2023 vier versuchte und 18 vollendete Tötungen von Frauen durch Männer. Das Netzwerk Contre les Femicides spricht gar von 24 Femiziden. Zur Relation: Im selben Jahr gab es schweizweit insgesamt 53 Tötungsdelikte. Mehr als jede dritte Tötung in der Schweiz ist also ein Femizid.” One in every three murders in Switzerland is a femicide.
[Older articles, still great]
Sarah Schulman: Conflict is not Abuse – “Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, journalist, and AIDS historian. Her most recent books are the novel THE COSMOPOLITANS, selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best American novels of 2016, and CONFLICT IS NOT ABUSE, winner of the Publishing Triangle Nonfiction Award.”
How Transphobia Built a Coalition of Eco-Radicals, White Nationalists and Right-Wing Think Tanks [igd] – “While these rallies were small, drawing only a few dozen and opposed by much larger crowds, they also brought out far-Right anti-trans activists and members of fascist groups like the Proud Boys. This far-Right/TERF crossover highlights a growing alliance that’s been building over the past few years, as anti-trans radical feminists have built relationships and begun to work openly with everyone from far-Right media personalities like Tucker Carlson, right-wing think-tanks like the Heritage Foundation, and even open white nationalists.” When and how did TERFs start to combine their efforts with right wing culture warriors? Contains a link to a podcast on the same topic.
Indigenous Action Posters [indigenous action media] – “Here are 51 high resolution PDF posters (some duplicates as color and B&W versions) for you to print and destroy! We will be uploading another set of some of our older posters here too. You can always do a search for posters or PDFs on our site as well.” Wonderful
R.I.P.
David Lynch (even if Blue Velvet traumatized me AMA)
“Nicolas Nova
[If you care to receive more regular updates, please follow my diigo (feed: rss) for all of my saved links or mastodon for an edited choice of them]
Header Photo: There was one beautiful morning early on in the year