Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 11/10/2026Self control note to me: don't correct the factual error in the joke! The actual history of the real person upon which the fictional character the joke is about is not relevant. A "correction" will contribute nothing to the conversation! Do not correct the joke, Gar! Do no correct the joke! 000
Reposted by Gar W. LipowBarry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Dear Some Of My Fellow Lefties... Read more cartoons! ---> #PoliCartoon Help us make more! ----> patreon.com/barry 24911
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Yes it is bad news,but it is closer than the earlier reporting said. Bolsanaro leads 47.03 to Lulu's 45.15 - hair less than 2%. Lulu can still win in the second round 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 02/10/2026If you are left of liberal, consider this: Information on local elections is harder to get than national. If you follow local politics (and you should) people will be glad to hear your (informed) opinions. I mean most people have no idea who to vote for in the judges' races. If you know, share! 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I created a personal pdf voter guide for Washington State and Thurston County elections. I wish some of the left of liberal groups like DSA would do this. I know DSA only endorses campaigns they work on. But they could suggest choices in other races drive.google.com/file/d/1mR3z... 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 24/09/2026possibly the single most terrifying sentence in the history of civilian aviation. 100
Reposted by Gar W. LipowBarry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The Art of Persuasion Read more cartoons! —> #Policartoon Support the cartoons! —>patreon.com/barry 12897261
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I really like the civil rights as phalanx metaphor. My gototo was always "Stop arguing over who to throw off the sled. Fight the damn wolves." But, yours is better. @birdsaredinosaurs.bsky.social @sabreuse.bsky.social 000
Reposted by Gar W. LipowYour Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 15/09/2026tl;dr the LLM is a dangerous tool, not a living entity 2904
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 12/09/2026poem my father wrote upon Neruda's death a few weeks after the coup in Chile 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 08/09/2026You can return malfunctioning toasters. Why not politicians? Flaws in existing znetwork.org/znetarticle/... "Failure to Represent" Flaws in participatory democracy znetwork.org/znetarticle/... "Control Failure:" The proposal "The Returnable Vote" znetwork.org/znetarticle/... 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 08/09/20262 conflicting test results lead my cost-conscious Dr. to the conclusion that I'm fine. So just lost 1/2 day gathering & sending documentation from the ADA and NKF that the 2 test results combined classify me as high risk. That normal on test 1 and high on test 2 translates into "treat or refer." 001
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 06/09/2026"The Returnable Vote", third in my series of the same name, znetwork.org/znetarticle/... is now available. Think of it as an undo button for voters, that works even between elections. You can return malfunctioning toasters without multiyear waits. Why not politicians?znetwork.orgThe Returnable VoteThis is Part III of a three-part series. Around two thirds of the population of the world’s democracies surveyed don’t believe their democracy functions 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Trump does nothing that bipartisan action did not create conditions for. He turns the sliders up from five to eleven. But the sliders were already on the control panel. 010
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The NY Times is 'concerned' about the Mamdani administration sending out press releases! They are being sent to influencers rather than the NY Times! Icky unaccountable influencers!, Not the completely accountable transparent NY Times! And, horror of horrors, some of them are videos! 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 03/09/2026znetwork.org/znetarticle/... Limitations of participatory democracy in replacing states. Information constraints, low participation, failure of directly democratic assemblies to control councils making large scale decisions.znetwork.orgControl FailureThis is part II of a three-part series. . In conventional representative democracy, lack of accountability between elections leads to broken promises; 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 30/08/2026With constitutional reform finally part of the conversation, it is important to understand what is failing even in nations without the US's particular structural flaws: znetwork.org/znetarticle/...znetwork.orgFailure to RepresentThis is Part I of a three-part series. Why does representative democracy seem so broken that it is tempting to translate “Vox populi, vox dei,” (“Voice of 010
Reposted by Gar W. Lipowgamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026And generally, American liberals desperately need to stop treating dislike of Trump as evidence of political virtue. Trump is the easiest person on earth to hate! Which structures of power are you willing to challenge when they’re administered by someone less grotesque? 1347
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 26/08/2026A site whose newsletter I had subscribed to had no unsubscribe button, but did have a link to adjust settings. When clicked that link, it turned out that "adjust settings" was only available in paid version. So I reported the newsletter as spam. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Flash horror; Protagonist: "How can demons and vampires exist?" Mentor: "In an infinite multiverse, ours happens to contain these things. The universe where capitalism is the dominant system and Donald Trump is the US President is worse." Protagonist: "The horror! The horror!" 010
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Dolly Parton was one example I always used when arguing that it is possible to be a sweetheart without being a pushover. 000
Reposted by Gar W. Lipowgamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Still thinking about the Luddites I came across this. How fascinating it is to watch what might be the germ of a neo-Luddite movement around surveillance technology. And a guy writing a nudge-wink, fuck-the-man, banger of a country song makes me feel American in a way that for once isn’t pejorative. 16891270
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 22/08/2026With the destruction of US food safety infrastructure, inadequate as it was, I'm planning to pretty much live on textured vegetable protein (TVP) cooked at high heat. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Hip went out, so: Primary care appointment->referral to ortho->appointment with ortho->referral to imaging->appointment with imaging->2nd appointment with ortho->referral to PT->appointment with PT->begin PT 4 months later. Thank god we don't suffer the delays socialized medicine would cause. 1/2 100
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 19/08/2026I considered titling a work about repurposing some tools and processes from corporate governance to improve democracy "Dismantling the Master's House With the Master's Tools." But I think that joke would amuse too narrow a segment of the audience I want to reach. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Anyone who only wants to stop aid to Israel but supports continued weapons sales to it is either trying to con us (the most likely case), or is the world's easiest mark. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 17/08/2026A phrase for what the whole anti-DEI and anti-Woke thing is after besides white and male supremacy - "Manufacturing Ignorance." #ManufacturingIgnorance 010
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Big Pharma yearly global gross revenue ~1.8 trillion: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-ana... Big Snake Oil yearly global gross revenue ~6.8 trillion: globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/s... Both evil. But Big Pharma produces tons more life-saving & useful products than Big Snake Oil. 000
Reposted by Gar W. LipowStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 15/08/2026There’s an underlying assumption a lot of people are making that if a black guy successfully misleads you, it means you have set your racism levels too low. 292429408
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I opposed every military action by the US in my lifetime, and always wanted to cut the military budged by at least 75%, to fund real defense only. But I'm no pacifist. It scares the frack out of me that I know better how to run a military than our Secretary of Defense & President combined. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 10/08/2026democraticconstitutionblog.substack.com/p/the-senate...democraticconstitutionblog.substack.comThe Senate Is Begging to Be AbolishedThe hubbub surrounding McConnell, Platner, and Graham stems from the undemocratic Senate, argues Steven Raney. 100
Reposted by Gar W. LipowAugust J. Pollak @augustjpollak.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Say whatever you want about the Senate Majority PAC but they picked up the phone here and said "Abdul, do not worry about the white people, we are ON IT" 03611
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Trust no domestic political analyst driven by eternal terror of repeating McGovern 1972. Trust no foreign policy analyst who sees every opposition to war as Munich 1938. 110
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Underestimated: broken campaign promises contribute to the fascism worldwide. Treating politics as weather, something to endure rather than influence is very old in human culture - for good reason. "Put not your trust in princes." Broken promise encourage reversion to that historical norm. 1/2 100
Reposted by Gar W. LipowNome @nome.bsky.social · 02/08/2026My experience is of every American COVID-19 mitigation effort being obviously insufficient, and ended far too soon. To see people now argue that they somehow were too much, going too far? Not anti-vax or MAGA people, but folks just out here on Bluesky? It staggers me. 371320286
Reposted by Gar W. LipowAna Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 30/07/2026This is going to make it very difficult to know which sports we should ban them from. 10774171638
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 30/07/2026I look forward to the Haley Stevens supporters explaining that the Emerson poll showing Abdul El-Sayed 15 points ahead is not an independent poll or does not count for some other reason. (Even if the exact number is not right, that big a polling lead strongly implies he is well ahead.) 100
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Two positions that make complete sense to subject to broad public election: judge and brain surgeon. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 29/07/2026In my uneasy nap after my eye injection, the scary dream thing left me a verse: How many lice to a cart of gold? How many rapes to a director's board? How many children wizened and old to fatten the looters of Sudan's hoard? 100
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 27/07/2026All the complaints about how Mamdani's stores differ from normal grocers just sounds like mini-Aldis.. They are leaving out frills that add labor and eat up floor space. I don't think anyone really needs 900 varieties of toothpaste, 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 23/07/202690+ degree with light rain - never happened in Western Washington that I can remember during the past 30 years; so climate change. Because it is light rain, will not only cause immediate misery but will trap heat and take longer to cool down. Heavy rain cools. Light rain makes heat worse. 020
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 19/07/2026f you are anti-Farage in Claxton, cast your ballot for Count Binface. Picking the Monster Raving Loony Party instead will only split the vote. That this snark is actually good advice is an extremely strong argument against first-past-the-post electoral systems. 022
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 15/07/2026I don't think the war against Iran will end while Trump is in office. He can't admit he lost, and Iran won't surrender enough to make him look "dominant." There may be lulls and pauses, but no end while he is there. To change that, short of his leaving office, we would need an antiwar *movement*. 010
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 15/07/2026My endorsement for Congressional District 10 in the August 4th primary: Alex Scheel, long term DSA member and anti-war organizer. www.alexscheelforcongress.comalexscheelforcongress.comAlex Scheel for Congress | Washington's 10th DistrictSupport progressive change and vote for anti-war Veteran Alex Scheel for Congress. Join a people-powered campaign focused on Medicare for All, Housing for all and Workers rights. Unseat the incumbant,... 010
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Quoting Atrios/Ducan Black. "'Civility' means do not speak ill of the people we think matter, you scum pig person." 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 14/07/2026The US Senate is the world's best eldercare facility. And given that Senators in close to a vegetative state have continued to serve, Senator must be the world's easiest job.. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Maybe Trump could move in with Mitch. I understand he prefers warm climates. 000
Gar W. Lipow @garlipow.bsky.social · 10/07/2026A good article on Platner on why so many Maine women supported him . archive.is/0X3niarchive.is 251