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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

no doubt it's multiply-determined: increasing individual agency for women; better family-planning; material scarcity. but the intellectual and moral center of this argument is how socially hard it is to be a parent - which, beyond a couple of anecdotes, is *not in the least bit demonstrated*

But after five years of research, I have come to believe that there is something else at play, too: a form of social contagion. In a world that appears to treat parents with hostility, where the advantages of raising children are obscured, remaining childless is easier if the same decision is made by everyone around you. As a phenomenon, it can become self-perpetuating.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

hooooooey that's some good divining, right there

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

it's a sign of great organizational success and a clear, cogent communications plan when you're issuing statements that sound exactly like something trump would say

Bill Belichick says there's a 'plan in place' to do 'everything the right way' at North Carolina

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

first one started it, the second one sealed it

the character-creation-by-means-of-ludicrous-ethical-choices-and-also-alchemy sequence from Ultima VI: False Prophet

a scene in Ultima VII: The Black Gate where you can shout "murder" and "orphan" at an actual orphan, whom you can then recruit to your party, if memory serves

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

i don't think so! it's always hanging out the right side of his mouth, which does make it look like he's died. except this one - i think they got the eyes focused enough that he looks very much alive, with his tongue hanging out because he's gotten into a bad batch and just has to ride this one out

Lobo Louie's gotten in over his head on this latest batch but that's okay, he's cool, he's got this

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

making the mascot the trainer seemed a good way to save money but now here we are

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

this is right. relatedly: i once got disinvited from some kind of nat-sec oriented convening because some "quantum" firm had put out a graphic about the future of quantum warfare and i did this to it, which i maintain makes just as much sense:

a graphic illustrating the integrated nature of "quantum warfare" except i've changed every use of the word "quantum" (there at least 20) to "squantum" because it makes just as much sense and sounds better

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

a strong entry in this venerable debate

Onion headline: Point/Counterpoint
Youth is Wasted on the Young vs. Medication is Wasted on the Old

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

when you didn’t know the bourbon was overproof

still photo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman looking like they’re about to get tossed out of a dive bar

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

HE'S RIGHT! link in last RT (or whatever we're calling re-posts here)

receipt for supplies for the good work of the yellowhammer fund

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

kalen deboer you need to get it together, they are going to load you in a trebuchet and heave you into the gulf, my guy

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

all the best shows frame with dutch angles

The Batman villains sit at a table, the whole shot inexplicably tilted as god intended

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

ever since this weak bullshit came up i've been trying to figure out who i sound like when i talk about it, and this morning i realized: i sound like joe jamail from the deposition video. same cadence of "you dumb sonofabitch"

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

this, in particular, captures the infuriating nature of optimism at this moment, generally. we're not holding out hope in the morals or ethics of anyone in power or close to it, we're just waiting for one of these dumb sonsofbitches to fall assbackwards into a basic understanding of cause and effect

Who will be the first to connect the dots just far enough towards the horizon to figure out that college football is powered by consumer spending? That this is an entertainment product, and once that entertainment value's gone, so is your customer base? Nobody wants that! That'd be bad business for everybody.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

i mean look at this gq motherfucker

elliott gould looking awesome as hell, obviously hungover, unshaven, tie well-below half mast, cigarette dangling from his lip, peak male excellence

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

a ton of this resonates, but the one that rings like a tuning fork hit with a hammer is Mavis Beacon. i owe the livelihood that feeds my family to this specific game

the driving game from Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, where the text would scroll across the screen at increasing speed and you'd have to type the letters as they appeared and every mistake incurred a bug splat on the windscreen until you couldn't see out at all and the game would end

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Yesterday I walked a long way to see this, and lingered in awed meditation. When I turned, I met a busload of people in Coastal Carolina gear. At the edge of the world we exchanged GO CHANTS (always greet a Coastal fan in their native language),and with us in spirit was @shutdownfullcast.bsky.social

Mountains, sea, dark clouds, and every shade of green roil together on the Irish coast

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

one last pass, this one in the name of your New Mexico Lobos: a monthly $16.80 for the year of the Great Pueblo Revolt, in which a bunch of colonizers found the fuck out lobo fans it's time to HOOOWWWWWL #charitibundybowl @newap-georgia.bsky.social @edsbs.bsky.social @hollyanderson.bsky.social

A beneficent and lushly-bearded Spencer Hall gazes serenely at us, under text from New American Pathways thanking me for a donation I was happy to give.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

having attended my ancestral duty to Texas yesterday, today's gift is to Protect Trans Kids University for $45.42 (+processing), the score of the 2016 BYU-Toledo game at the moment Mack Brown left the booth to catch a flight go sharks #charitibundibowl @hollyanderson.bsky.social @edsbs.bsky.social

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

$65.51 + processing fee, and make it quarterly because it's nice to be reminded occasionally that Texas is 65-51 against Oklahoma across the lifetime of that rivalry, which, as everyone knows, is the only meaningful rivalry Texas has, i will now take no questions, hook em #charitibundibowl

Presidential portrait-ass photo of Spencer Hall (hirsute level: medium, by his standards) thanking me for donating to the New American Pathways Charity Bowl 2026, which shows a generosity of spirit on his part but is not necessary, the chance to donate and be reminded that Texas is 65-51 lifetime against Oklahoma is reward unto itself, I'd argue.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Feels right that I’m in ATL (on a layover, but still) to receive this news, for though his physical being was elsewhere when this notification landed, i know that here also to read it was @edsbs.bsky.social

An iPhone notification announces that Season 5 of For All Mankind is now on Apple TV

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

quora continues to serve up the best stuff on the internet

“Quora Digest: Cleopatra was African American.”

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

During a campaign: "The only poll that matters is on Election Day", in response to the news that most polling has you down 14% and sinking. After a campaign, you're back to "we may not have won, but we accomplished a lot." Again: what, exactly, would ye say that was?

"The scoreboard doesn't always tell the story."

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

From a politico, this is "we're getting our mojo back". This works best before an absolutely embarrassing defeat. You see it more often in political journalism, as the Trump Administration turns yet another corner, or finds its footing, or whatever, even as every last member steps on a rake at once.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

There are a few ways to say this in Politics. "We're here to make hard decisions, not make everyone happy"; "there will always be naysayers/detractors"; "we don't pay attention to the critics/media - we're laser-focused on solving the problems that matter" (said through gritted teeth).

"I think that's just negativity," or The Haters Argument.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

"We may not have won, but we accomplished a lot with this campaign." DID YOU, THOUGH?

"I see a lot of positives despite the results."

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

You'd say this as "we need to focus on delivery" in the Original Politics. The function is the same: "we at the top have made the right decisions, the problem is with execution." Unless you're asking for more resources to solve the problem, you're saying that someone's getting fired behind this.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

direct translation, but for campaign managers, chiefs of staff, and cabinet secretaries. GET WRECKED, NOEM.

"we have complete faith in our coach/starter/general manager/whomever". they will be fired or will resign within the month.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

1:1 translation. pretty sure hegseth has already said this about iran.

"our goals haven't changed, but our time frame has"

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

The Politics for this is "people are going to start to feel the difference in their lives/wallets/health soon". The thing is: some things do take time to take effect or get right (housing policy; a Brian Flores defense) but if you're the New Guy, you've gotta change the vibes, at least, RIGHT NOW

"we need more time to install the system"

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

the old juvenile chauvinism game? all the posturing and getting laughed at? Hardest game in the world, that.

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

this was my Post of the Beast, and justifiably so

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Frank A. Spring @frankaspring.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

this headline suggests that we are led to believe but do not definitively know that Mark Stoops is Bob Stoops’s brother, and I think this is the level of skepticism we need in reporting today

Mark Stoops Reportedly Hired by Texas for Sarkisian’s Staff, Brother of Oklahoma Legend Bob Stoops

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