iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

And that’s my intro to my reconception that a post announcing policies you wish to spontaneously happen is a charming attempt to manifest them — a manifesto.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 9h

Actually, “manifesto” is a borrowing from Italian. I think there should be a more fun word for diminutive suffixes, like the “-y” added to teddy or puppy, or the “-o” in “friendo”. I have a to-do list names “taskos”, to make them seem more friendly.

110

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 10h

This is the topic of the book Gouged by Lindsay Owens. NPR’s Life Kit did a piece on it.

030

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I learned the story from an animated PBS short, so there was no question. Although I’m pretty sure I’ve heard songs that don’t mention that he’s black. One of the songs made a strong impression on my father as a boy: his name was Henry, and he says the song made him comprehend his own mortality.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“logic” deserves better than the idiom “by that logic”. Let’s spend the next few centuries saying “by that reasoning” instead, to spread the malignity around

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

consulting the LLMS with the prompt “what’s the most effective treatment for an acute case of Robert F Kennedy Jr”

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Canadian Shakespeare company one? Did it used to be on Netflix?

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A novel I read which referred to WWI (or 2? possibly the British used the nickname in both wars) had references to dogfighting and avoiding the “Hun in the sun” tactic. It’s a minefield of possible confusions. A honey trap, as it were.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I would actually respect him more if the plan was to convert the nation’s capital into the Hunger Games arena.

011

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

effective altruism was for me the biggest “here’s this movement, here’s what they say it’s about” and I figured I got it because I know what English words mean and then - nope, I don’t speak the same language after all

040

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

“Some people may be expecting more from the American justice system than it will be able to deliver.” evergreen skeet

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The “but is it four-d chess?” aspect of this is how many academic disciplines are being attacked simultaneously. Economics, English, Law, Political Science…the simultaneous headshaking alone could decimate whole departments

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

His other core competency (in the movies) is grit; he gets beat up quite a lot and doggedly carries on.

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

and he’s halfway down the slope at that point.

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

and may sound very reasonable except for a few quips here and there and before anyone’s had time to consciously react, the slippery slope yawns below. Dahl sounds like that, in his own mind. First, opposition to the invasion of Lebanon; then “what kind of people are Israelis“, then “y’know, Jews..”

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

(reads the cliff notes on Dahl’s antisemitism) Thankfully, no. I am reminded of the moral hazards of modern political movements. Students protesting treatment of Palestinians are (imo) generally not coming from a place of antisemitism, but you have to know that the antisemites WILL try to join

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

In skimming through Prince Caspian, Peter calls Trumpkin the dwarf a brick at least twice. :)

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

They see a boy being beaten , and the beater is turned into a tree while the boy laughs; go to a boys school, and the boys run away and are maybe turned to pigs while their teacher (“a girl”) jumps down and joins them. Which is fine for Bacchus and fine for a Dahl story, but seems weird here.

200

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Prince Caspian has three broad themes: one is an adventure; one is an allegory about Lucy’s faith and testimony; and one is Aslan romping around the country with Lucy, Susan, Bacchus and his Maenads. They come to a girl’s school, freak out everyone but one girl who romps with the Maenads;

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

What do you think of the Space Trilogy? I'd say that it's more didactic, if anything, but I enjoyed them. Maybe you found them worse?

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Horse and his Boy has such a good premise, and it's so racist, and it clangs so painfully. He's at least trying to say something about other religions in the Last Battle; in HaHB it's just putting racist tropes in his invented world because apparently he couldn't invent a world without them.

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I haven't read the Earthsea series and you have inspired me. How Susan is treated was an issue highlighted to me in a GEnie forum before Gaiman wrote about it. I doubt he and I received the idea from the same source, but the meme was out there memin'. He is my vast the art vs the author struggle.

210

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

All right, I’m just going to say that I think we should get together weekly for a drink and we can enthusiastically agree with each other.

210

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Rick James has forever made that the two word phrase with the longest obligatory interword pause for me. :)

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I can’t full-throatedly defend them, but there’s a lot there that earned their prominence. But unlike most other series, the first one is the best and most coherent.

110

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

First, the sheer Susan growing up coming across like womanhood is damnation is reprehensible. Second, I read the first three to one of the boys relatively recently, and I didn’t realize that the kookiness takes hold right in Prince Caspian. Roald Dahl takes over for the second half.

210

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

When I was in high school, there were a couple of British students on an exchange program, and one said the other was “a brick,” which was not as clear but meant essentially the same thing. :)

210

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

political commentary aside, I wanna go to a conference to hear from papers that have seen some things. That can’t tell you everything they’ve seen, but also can’t stop talking about it, y’know?

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

At least we can depend on the deans of the Senate from both parties to loudly denounce such inappropriate behavior. I expect as a result they will be exiting the public sphere to spend more time with their families shortly.

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I think yes - if it’s fun enough to describe to friends back home, there’s a decent chance I’d want to just run it instead

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Yes to many comments about how it’s been started occasionally and sputtered. Which is exactly the case for other dramas set “in a school” for the most part. Harry Potter was a notable exception for nodding to school conventions, albeit in a satirical way. But adventure isn’t in school or work.

000

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

“Somebody Somewhere” is a great series, highly recommended, and part of the reason I’m posting this is there’s no way I’ll remember the title in a few years.

030

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I honestly love the structure of this post. The spectrum of meaning is all the way from “some have tasted the fires twice, and I not at all” to “some have TASTED the FIRES twice, and I not at all!” You deserve more, but you are also a rockstar who consumes rainbows every day.

110

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Just saw a pre-release viewing of “One Night Only”, and it was much better than its premise. Ridiculously studded with star cameos, lots of little clever jokes, and absolutely delightful parody commercials. I will never see another plaque psoriasis ad without giggling. Would buy the soundtrack.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Excuse me Richmond area peeps, I’m looking for a primary care doc and am interested if anyone has one they’re happy with who’s accepting new patients. Being able to get an appointment sometime this century is a big plus.

101

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I know it’s hot. Can I recommend going inside an air-conditioned building, rather than surfing your phone in your parked car, burning your expensive gasoline to make hot explosions to run your air conditioning? I can. I am recommending that.

1190

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I understand if people don’t agree with him tactically, or if they believe there are issues that must not be compromised on for the sake of some votes, but he’s absolutely advocating that the most important thing is wresting control of Congress from Republicans because Trumpism is THE threat. 2/2

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I think there’s some language ambiguity here. Matt Yglesias is using “fold” here to mean “are there (progressive) positions are you willing to de-emphasize because beating Trumpism is more important?” He is against demanding candidates hew to unpopular positions (“fight”) if it means losing. 1/2

100

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

It’s rich people gambling. So it’s isn’t whether a sector will go down; it’s a game of “do I know when the daredevils are going to pull out of this particular game of chicken?” If not, I’m happy with the index, betting there’s more winning bets than losing, without knowing the details.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I was re-struck by this pie chart Krugman generated from FRED for his “The New Inequality” :

A pie chart titled “Who owns stocks? (percent)” showing 24.2 percent of stocks are owned by people in the richest 0.1 percent, 26 percent of stocks are owned by the next 0.9%, 37.2 percent of stocks are owned by the next 9%, and only 12.6 percent of stocks are owned by people in the bottom 90% of incomes.

101

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I believe the admonition is a rhetorical one: a dead person can’t defend their reputation or argue against you, so it’s not a meaningful debate to accuse or insult them. But if you’re not making an argument, or if the point had been made when they were able to respond, then fair game, I say.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I agree with all of this. Regarding the “speaking ill of the dead” thing, I’m reminded of a “Question Authority” button a friend of mine wore in high school that I thought was exactly right. Authority doesn’t get to refuse scrutiny…but it shouldn’t be rejected out of hand. So, why not? 1/2

110

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

“There are many belief systems out there. You’re free to worship according to whatever butchering of the Nicene Creed you happen to be wrong about.”

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I am not -always- that math guy, but the possibility that something might have a nonzero, finite value really can help resolve a lot of issues.

130

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

for example, orchestrating Trump connecting himself with Versailles - the shared aesthetic alone is delicious - and with a treaty, of which at can nearly legitimately be advised, “tell them it’s the best Treaty of Versailles ever, and the snootiest of academics will glumly concede you’re right.” 3/3

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Further suppose that this person has a “nothing matters anymore” or perhaps, just a “nothing matters” mindset. To me this is the most unassailable supposition in this experiment. What would such a person do? I propose that they would amuse themselves with such petite ironies as we all enjoy - 2/3

110

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I think we should seriously consider the following plausible scenario. Many of us have been, at one point or another, the smartest person in the room. Many of those have found, for any of a multitude of reasons, ways to maintain that position in some form. Imagine such a person in the Oval Office./

110

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

I believe that he is absolutely capable of, in the same press conference, claiming credit for saving money cutting this program, claiming “no one could have predicted” the resurgence, and vilifying the reporter for daring to ask about it.

010

Bob Wieman @bobwieman.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

and give them post-grade analysis, so they don’t try to crudely wing it just from average grades.

010