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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude

@anineffablegrump.bsky.social
694 followers 1.3K following 5.9K posts

Iowa. Root beer floats. #YNWA. If martin buber and EM Cioran had a baby and it married Italo Calvino's estranged kid, and they had a kid who liked punk rock. Middling. Former licensed attorney, video store owner and floor layer.

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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 23h
Out of context, its a very funny headline
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
after all that, a case premised on "its the lack of individual accountability, tacit permission given to students by admin, that created this snowball" that two $100 individual punitive damages were dismissed. Missed opportunity for the smallest self-awareness. Anyway, good on him.
kcci.com
Teacher who sued Iowa school district for students’ ‘racist’ acts, language wins $425,000
A school teacher who alleged the Ottumwa public schools encouraged students’ racist behavior by failing to impose sufficient discipline has won a $425,000 judgment against the district.
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Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
“There were many Menckens: some confounding, some repellent, some still bracing as we confront the iniquities of a nation that remains, as he wrote during the last Roaring Twenties, ‘the greatest show on earth.’” @andrewholter.bsky.social on “social outrage” in this age of American sadism:
bostonreview.net
Mencken Agonistes
Misrepresented by the right and misunderstood by the left, the Sage of Baltimore delivered scathing—and still bracing—indictments of American injustice.
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Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The American Library Association's Banned Books Week celebrates reading and calls attention to banned and challenged books in the United States. In conversations about accessibility and free speech, we're reflecting on @adapalmer.bsky.social's essay against self-censorship:
reactormag.com
Tools for Thinking About Censorship - Reactor
One price of free speech is eternal humility, recognizing that none of us is immune to becoming a tool of censorship if we fail to recognize its manipulative tactics.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
From My new microblog, "i trap people in crowded elevators and talk penised lesbians" Aka the original plot to m night shyamalan's Devil (2010)
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 06/10/2026
"Twenty years after a regime at the heart of Europe had attempted to annihilate the Jewish people, it seemed obscene to pray for that people’s assimilation." John Connelly: Are we forgetting what ‘Nostra aetate’ teaches about the Church and Judaism? www.commonwealmagazine.org/connelly-Nos...
commonwealmagazine.org
The Wrong Prayer
The Church’s leaders cannot assume that Catholics are familiar with 'Nostra aetate,' or that they are all aware of the Church’s long history of anti-Judaism.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Fun headline Reminds me of a town paper that reported on a referendum failing as "community rejects community center" We contain multitudes
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Something funny for midwesterners that MAHA folks thought *they* would be the ones to fight the Ag lobby What, is it hard? Who knew, crunchy granola Rs, if only anyone tried that before, rfk jr was going to do it? Ok
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The civic pass the buck flowchart to avoid dealing with people and geographies as they are, as it lays When all governing is diet "kettling"
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Dont recall the details but des moines and cedar rapids and the quad cities were all having policy talk on unhoused populations and how neighboring policies would influence which city "ends up" with folks. Des Moines trying to offload people east, out of sight, out of mind, out of sight, in chicago!
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Scrolled this far just to see if this joke was made by someone.
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Jason Meisner @jmetr22b.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
NEW: Lawyers for Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol agent call for criminal charges, saying it's "not a political issue." “It’s the Department of Justice. It’s not the Department of Republicans. It’s not the Department of Democrats." www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/05/m...
chicagotribune.com
Lawyers for Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol agent call for criminal charges
Attorneys for Marimar Martinez, shot by a Border Patrol agent during Operation Midway Blitz last October, called on authorities to file criminal charges against the agent involved Monday.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Texas hold 'em > choosing texas
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Oklahoma Voice @oklahomavoice.com · 05/10/2026
An unprecedented increase in cooperation between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration officers through collaborations known as 287(g) agreements helped drive numbers up. buff.ly/rol155l
buff.ly
Federal funds for local police enforcement accelerated Trump immigration crackdown • Oklahoma Voice
This summer, arrests of immigrants in the United States soared to the highest levels since President Donald Trump returned to office.
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Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 05/10/2026
Tennessee has become the latest Republican-controlled US state to eliminate or reduce reliance on the American Bar Association for law school accreditation, amid a broader standoff with the Trump administration over the ABA's role in legal education.
reut.rs
Tennessee joins other states in limiting ABA's law school oversight
Tennessee has become the latest Republican-controlled US state to eliminate or reduce reliance on the American Bar Association for law school accreditation, amid a broader standoff ​with the Trump administration over the ABA's role in legal education.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Its all a sick PR ploy to genoviawash their ruling parties corruption Hathaway is the dubai chocolate of genovia
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Aslan is the Manson Family patriarch of narnia
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Aslan is the villain. I watched a high school version play of lion witch from the venues crows nest like 7-8 times and by the end came to Aslan is the antichrist. Every opportunity the lion has to intervene, take the lead, he's "absent" Constantly pushes child soldiers to fight in his place
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The degree to which folks exist who have hair color social reaction in the year of our preferred lord 2026, always knocks me down a peg Humbling in a way to know supermarket guy todd's lowest of bars to cross is "that person has eXtEnsIons?!" Undercut acceptance today, socialism tomorrow my motto
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Im picky with heavier rock music. Like, the deftones e.g. have never done anything for me. Dopesmoker does nothing. No nu metal. Metalcore's out. Smallest amount of snapcase, cave in, i can do Which is to say, the new Quicksand album is great and idk if im having a midlife bro crisis Sunday Broday
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Not to rain on their parade because we are doing a city "library v public safety" funding dance rn, and they do show up to advocate. But there's that midwest voter that both supports banned books and is against dei lol Sweet humanity!
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Its an interesting area because im quite endeared to my local older ladies who, relative to them in a conservative area, doing their banned book nonprofit is like the most radical thing But everytime im in a store or there's a banned book display, its that sense of this is marketing as answer
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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
For those whose families lived through the Jewish traumas of Mitteleuropa, it isn't that esoteric why Zionism was once seen this way, even as it has now become Kahanism. The lesson here is not unique to Zionism, but the opposite - how easily liberation movements become the thing they once hated.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The Atlantic really laid a marker down as the premier rag for that op-ed genre with Andrew Sullivan's tenure when he hit his "yes, i was for the iraq war but let me remind you how right i was to be wrong, then" era Proud Atlantic legacies of cowardice Balsa wood busts on pedestals
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Iowa preemptively doing it for the sole dem in state executive office was a real gutpunch with Reynolds prior having reorganized toward gubernatorial central control the whole state government, judicial selection board, university regents.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
He's obviously never caught a fish "that big" either
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Mr. Dan Zak @mrdanzak.com · 04/10/2026
A Haitian man legally immigrated to Ohio, then was given an ankle monitor bc Trump withdrew his status. He threw himself in front of truck. The trucker, who voted for Trump, is haunted. “Pierre was doing what he was supposed to do. We did not do right by him.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
A Reckoning in Springfield
A truck driver out on his route confronts what the country has become.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
He says "zhoosh up" in the opening paragraph and as one of the humans on Earth who loves that phrase and is pleased anytime another human uses it, zhoosh, zhoosh it up, salud!
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Shhhh. You had me at "available free" The palmetto tree graphic is a nice touch
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Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 03/10/2026
‘I was fighting for my life’: Indian pilot hailed as hero recalls FlyDubai cockpit attack
chicagotribune.com
‘I was fighting for my life’: Indian pilot hailed as hero recalls FlyDubai cockpit attack
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Seriously, if anyones bored or having trouble falling asleep, look at dan's photo and tell me how many cell phones you count.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
That shot from behind trump facing his crowd reminded me of a where's waldo image, so i started to ask how many cell phones are in that shot. For shiggles. Then, i was all well, really, how many. And i keep getting confused over doublecounting and starting over and i've given up. Its alot.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
As much as im prepared to hate any adaptation i think the teasers so far have looked promising. Apple's scifi track record is surprisingly strong so far so, optimistic its being cared for. The real Q is to do a re-read or not beforehand. I lean to watch it with some cobwebs, re-read after.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The date: October 20th, 2026 Donald Trump announces the first ever "great american BOGO" as the founders intended
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Where the day takes me
sevendaysvt.com
Who Shot Mr. Cheeseface? The Vermont Demise of a Famous Mutt | Seven Days
The cover of the January 1973 issue of National Lampoon, the groundbreaking humor magazine's Death issue, depicts a handsome black-and-white dog against a blue background....
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Yeah, Rob Sand's campaign is really going for it
The dog cheeseface, with a gun pointed to his head, with the caption, if you dont chip in we'll kill this dog
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Would also accept, "rich is the bridge you never burn" This is an older musician doing a track with a more relevant/credible star to regain some visibility... but no star was available, so they did a track with each instead Real horizontal mobility move, dunno if they understood the assignment
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Im so used to reading about how inside baseball ag regs are sold by, you know, ag thinktank or group xyz, to the general public. Something with nooks and crannies. But this is the actual baseline question answered as 'free for all' by arg. Its delusional. Its revolutions are based on less.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Insane move. Within the u.s., as a microtopic, my usual posture is foreign ag ownership hysteria is typically a protectionist decoy hyped by u.s corporate ag interests so they can convince people theyve passed corp regs but really left corp ag alone For once, this is pure. Argentinas crazy
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Boondoggle mill The first estimate for jobs i read had new jobs at 2500, then yesterday i read a local news interview w a state aide that was already down to 1500 but had pivoted to talking the temporary construction jobs. No mention ever of how many manufacturing jobs were lost 2024-2026
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
some descriptive statistics here on the civility industrial complex on college campuses that I haven’t seen analyzed before www.uncivilcollective.org/resources
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
SAURON SOLVED THE RAT PROBLEM Somewhere, a dino w a red beret was also patrolling
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Brian Hioe @brianhioe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The other week I ate a bag of chicken-flavored squid chips from Japan. What does that say about the times we live in? I wrote about that for @flaminghydra.com, in which I argue that it is time to consider the postmodern potato chip at the end of history
flaminghydra.com
Consider the Postmodern Potato Chip at the End of History
The other week, my partner brought back a bag of crunchy squid snacks from Japan, a gift from a colleague who had recently traveled to Tokyo. It was good enough that we looked it up after we were done...
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
...the tucked away Disney Epcot area of Coca-cola sponsored "world sodas" where at least half of them are not real. Epcot makes them inhouse, they dont exist irl in those labeled countries. I cant decide if the Tiki-fication is fun camp, kitsch, or just horrible. Andy Warhol in the snack factory.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Im a bit obsessed with the cottage industry of "exotic" snack subscription boxes, aka how many kitkats can you take Im a fan of international snackery, but i also love someone who has assembled a box of really bad, subpar chips and put 2000% margin on them lol It makes me think of...
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Tommy Beer @tommybeernba.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
MSG has operated as an extraordinarily profitable private enterprise while continuing to collect a property-tax exemption granted by the city in 1982. The exemption had originally been justified as a means of keeping the Knicks and Rangers from leaving NYC.
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
One of many accounts i do not miss
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Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Why Did Texas Middle School Boys Choose to Study Joseph Stalin? #CivilWarMemory 🗃️ kevinmlevin.substack.com/p/why-did-te...
kevinmlevin.substack.com
Why Did Texas Middle School Boys Choose to Study Joseph Stalin?
A Texas History Day story about curiosity, risk, and the freedom to ask
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Spooky Ineffable Benthic Pulchritude @anineffablegrump.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I like a good alt text joke that is still also factual
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think about this interview with the distinguished philosopher Conan O'Brien a lot. I actually think this is a healthy way to live your life! www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/a...
Is this how you want to go out, with a show that gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone?

Maybe that’s O.K. I think you have more of a problem with that than I do. [Laughs.] At this point in my career, I could go out with a grand, 21-gun salute, and climb into a rocket and the entire Supreme Court walks out and they jointly press a button, I’m shot up into the air and there’s an explosion and it’s orange and it spells, “Good night and God love.” In this culture? Two years later, it’s going to be, who’s Conan? This is going to sound grim, but eventually, all our graves go unattended.

You’re right, that does sound grim.

Sorry. Calvin Coolidge was a pretty popular president. I’ve been to his grave in Vermont. It has the presidential seal on it. Nobody was there. And by the way, I’m the only late-night host that has been to Calvin Coolidge’s grave. I think that’s what separates me from the other hosts.

I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.
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