iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The propaganda machine has blinded many, possibly most, Americans to the problems they live with every day.

Leaving the USA - Brian Krassenstein

"The weirdest thing about leaving America is realizing how much of America is just a sales pitch.

You spend your whole life hearing "greatest country on Earth," then you go overseas and see clean trains, safer streets, affordable medicine, cities where people can walk without playing Frogger with an SUV, and workers who take vacations without acting like they committed treason.

And then you come home.

You come home to potholes, medical debt, school shooting drills, $17 airport sandwiches, people living in tents under highways, politicians wearing flag pins (or worse, gun pins) while doing absolutely nothing for the people standing in food bank lines, and billionaires being treated like they're the fragile ones.

And somehow we're all supposed to stand there, hand over heart, and pretend this is normal.

I don't hate America. I hate what America has been taught to tolerate.

I hate that we call basic things "radical." Healthcare? Radical. Paid leave? Radical. Clean air? Redical. Kids not getting shot in math class? Somehow political.

Meanwhile, the loudest "patriots" are usually the same people telling struggling Americans to shut up, stop complaining, and be grateful.

Grateful for what? A flag doesn't pay rent. A bald eagle doesn't cover insulin. Fireworks don't fix bridges. And chanting "USA" doesn't make a broken system less broken.

America has incredible people. That's the tragedy. The people are better than the system they've been forced to defend.

So no, I'm not going to call America the greatest country on Earth just because it has the best marketing department.

Real patriotism isn't pretending the country is perfect.

Real patriotism is being angry that it isn't."

Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Nothing like a good box. Daphne and Velma concur. 🙂 Here are Daphne and Velma (the one with the white chest blaze and white mittens) taking turns in a box. Daphne has one eye closed because she was having trouble with allergies at the time. The label on the box flap is spot on. 🙂

Velma sitting in a box. The box flap has a label that reads, "Awesome is here". Velma is a grey tabby with a white chest blaze and white mittens.

A picture of Daphne sitting in a box. The label on the box flap reads, "Awesome is here". Velma is sitting nearby. Daphne has one eye closed, because she was having trouble with allergies at the time.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I am not going to vote for the corporate/centrist/useless Dems in the primaries. I'll vote for them in the general because they are better than the Rs. However, I'm not going to forget that 50 years of Ds voting for policies that help billionaires has give us this:

An image showing a red ratchet that turns to the right and a blue lever that prevents movement to the left. The text reads:

The Ratchet Effect
How you are being duped by by the fake two-party system.
Democrats block movement back to the left
Republicans turn everything to the right

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I can't disagree more. The status quo Dems have given us the ratchet effect by blocking any progressive idea for generations now. It's way past time to embrace progressivism, by whatever name it calls itself, even if that's socialism.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Here's a reconstruction of the average 30-year-old Judean man from when the Romans occupied Judea. Do you suppose Christians would pray to this guy? Source: www.bbc.com/news/magazin...

A picture of what Jesus probably looked like. Hint: He wasn't white. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35120965

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

This is exactly what the right does. They always lie, and this is one way they do it.

From Kalen Dion:

Pay attention to the shifts in language. Notice that civil rights is now being called DEI and framed as racist against white people. Notice that the women's rights movement is now being boiled down to feminism and framed as oppressive to men. Notice that they have now started calling freedom of religion "religious liberty" so that they can frame Christian nationalism as the victim.

It's the dictators dance. The narcissist shuffle. Always shifting the language. Always playing with the narrative. Always avoiding accountability. Always blaming someone else. Always framing themselves as the victim. Usually of a minority group they are actively working to harm. People that want nothing more than to be left alone.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

We're dealing with human dragons. It's time to slay them.

You do not earn a billion dollars. You steal it. Nobody works a billion times harder than a nurse, a teacher, or a farmer. That money comes from underpaying the people who actually did the work. Stop worshipping hoarders who are just really good at wage theft.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The "centrist"/corporate/worse-than-useless Dems are a big part of the problem. Are they as bad as the Rs? No. But they're still part of the problem.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It really is. The "centrist"/corporate/worse-than-useless Dems are a big part of the problem. Are they as bad as the Rs? No. But they're still part of the problem.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

This is what centrism gave us. Had Democrats been progressive all along, we wouldn't be in this mess.

A picture of a red gear with a blue ratchet keeping it from turn left. The text reads:

The Ratchet Effect
How you are being duped by by the fake two-party system.
Democrats block movement back to the left
Republicans turn everything to the right

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

It's third monkey time. Sitting back and hoping for the best won't work and never has.

A picture of a monkey (really a chimp) in a suit and holding a gun. The caption says, "When it's time to fight, you fight like you're the third monkey on the ramp to Noah's Ark ... and brother, it's startin' to rain."

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I don't know if it will help or hurt in this election, but I know it's the right thing to do for the country. We have to stop the Dems part of the Ratchet Effect if we're ever going to have a country that cares for its ordinary people instead of only its wealthy sociopaths.

An image of a red ratchet with a blue spring-loaded stop clip that prevents the ratchet from going left. The text reads:

The Ratchet Effect
How you are being duped by by the fake two-party system.

Democrats block movement back to the left
Republicans turn everything to the right

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

A study in how corporate Ds do nothing for the country.

An image of a ratchet with a spring-loaded stop arm on one side. The text reads:

The Ratchet Effect
How you are being duped by by the fake two-party system.

Democrats block movement back to the left.
Republicans turn everything to the right.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I've been in this state for a while.

A cat who looks very annoyed. The text reads: "The word of the day is FUCKSTRATED (adj.) The advanced stage of frustration where you don't have the energy to explain anymore.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Velma is mostly fearless and ignores fireworks. Daphne is not at all happy about fireworks. That's why I'll stay home tomorrow night, to help Daphne through the madness. Here's the Dynamic Duo (Daphne on the window sill and Velma on the floor). Nothing like good sunbeams. 🙂

My feline roomies, Daphne (on a window sill) and Velma (on the floor). Both are sitting in sunbeams. Both are grey tabbies, though they are not related.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

I used to send this image to my boss on days like that. Since I never went anywhere, I had more vacation time than I could use, so I'd just take the day off. Once, when I had had surgery and was on opioid painkillers, I was ordered to not work. Programming and opioids don't mix well.

A picture of a cat tangled up (in a harmless way) in a set of window blinds. The text reads, "I can't brain today. I have the dumb."

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Some bartender somewhere cooked up a commentary. 🙂

A post by The Woke Ginger, showing a mixed drink and the recipe for it. The drink is green with blue bits floating in it. Here's the text:

I love the internet... sometimes.

Within hours of news about the White House Reflecting Pool turning into what looked like an algae experiment, the internet did what the internet does best: it made a cocktail.

Introducing: The Reflecting Pool Martini.

2 oz tequila blanco
1 oz vanilla liqueur
1 oz lime juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1 bar spoon matcha powder

Blue peeling layer:
1 oz simple syrup
Pinch of blue spirulina

Blend the matcha until it's smooth, shake everything with ice, froth the blue spirulina into the simple syrup, pour the blue layer into the bottom of the glass, add ice, then strain the green cocktail on top.

The internet wastes absolutely no time. One minute it's a taxpayer-funded maintenance fiasco... the next it's happy hour.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

And all the R bullshit never gets unwound because generations of corporate Ds haven't let it be unwound.

An image showing a ratchet with a wedge keeping it from turning left. The text reads:

The Ratchet Effect

How you are being duped by by the fake two-party system.

REPUBLICANS TURN EVERYTHING TO THE RIGHT

DEMOCRATS BLOCK MOVEMENT BACK TO THE LEFT

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I borrowed this image from bsky.app/profile/jack... because it is bang on target. PLEASE don't be one of the people who lets less than perfection keep you from voting.

A Venn diagram showing the positions of both the Democrats and the Republicans:

Democrats:
ACA
Abortion Rights
Voting Rights
Public Schools
Affirmative Action
LGBTQ Rights
Labor Unions
Progressive taxation
Kagan/Sotomayor/KJB
Gun Control
Police Reform
Childcare Subsidies
Family Leave
Prison Reform
Church/State Separation
Immigration Reform

Republicans:
Axe ACA
Abortion Bans
Voter Suppression
School Vouchers
Anti "wokerness"
Anti LGBTQ
Union busting
Tax relief for wealthiest
Thomas/Alito/Gorsuch/Barrett/Roberts/
Kavanaugh
No limits on Guns
ICE
No Childcare Support
No Family Leave
More Private Prisons
10 Commandments in Schools
Stephen Miller Camps

The one thing the two circles have in common is:
Support for Israel

At the bottom is a cartoon man with a beard saying:
Both parties are the same - they both love genocide so I can't vote for either

Obviously, that man is dead wrong. Please don't follow his lead.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Glorifying violence, legalizing gambling, and not even noticing corruption are all signs that our society is very, very ill. Dipshit's UFC bullshit is only the latest sign in a long litany of decline. Fuck #Trump.

An image of Dipshit's UFC arena with the White Trash House in the background. The text reads: Nothing says "Dying Civilization" like gladiator fights at the capitol for the emperor's amusement.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Literally off the charts bad. Gonna be some summer.

Temperature (°C)
Daily Sea Surface Temperature, Niño 3.4 (5°S-5°N, 120-170°W)
Dataset: NOAA OISST V2.1 |
Image Credit: ClimateReanalyzer.org, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine

An image showing this year's El Nino compared to previous El Nino years. This one is far hotter than any previous year.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

It's gonna be some summer, alright.

Daily Sea Surface Temperature, Niño 3.4 (5°S-5°N, 120-170°W)
Dataset: NOAA OISST V2.1 |
Image Credit: ClimateReanalyzer.org, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine

It shows 20 years of temperature data for that point on Earth. This year's line is way above the others and is getting worse.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

We've extended the zero-sum game of "someone has to lose" to every aspect of life, much to our detriment as human beings and as a nation. We MUST turn back to being better people and a better nation.

Somewhere along the way. we started calling compassion "RADICAL" while excusing cruelty as normal. But there is nothing extreme about wanting people fed, safe, loved, and treated with dignity. That is the bare minimum of our humanity.

The frightening part is not empathy - it's how comfortable so many have become watching others suffer without feeling anything at all. Kindness should not be rare. It should be the foundation of who we are.

@share LOVE to all

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This. I am beyond tired of Ds saying, "We'll stop them!" and then never providing even one concrete detail about how they'll do that. It's gaslighting from the left.

An image of a ratchet. At the top, the text reads: "The Ratchet Effect: How you are being duped by the fake two-party system."

The left side reads, "Democrats block movement back to the left," and shows a blue lever that blocks the ratchet from moving left.

The right side reads, "Republicans turn everything to the right."

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I'm so fucking tired of Jeffries. "This is not America." Bullshit. This IS America. Now we need to build a new nation out of the cesspit this one has become. And it got that way with people like Jeffries never pushing back on the Rs destroying the nation. I've seen it for my entire life.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

A therapist friend pointed out that we mostly mourn for what can never be. Seems about right. Oh, and here are Daphne (in front) and Velma (in back), also not sweating the small stuff (or the large stuff). 🙂

My feline roomies, Daphne and Velma, chilling on the couch. Both are grey tabbies.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

If the Ds were doing it, I'd call them on it. I DO call them on being responsible for the ratchet effect for 50+ years. That said, they're still better than the Rs, and I'll continue to vote for them for as long as that's true.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

For the sake of completeness, here's Velma in her favorite napping spot: an old blanket that I keep on the bed and bend into a U shape for her. 🙂

One of my cats, Velma, in her favorite napping spot. She's looking at me to make sure I'm not up to shenanigans.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Daphne snores, too, so I know that sound. I've had other kitties who snored, too. 🙂 Here's Daphne in one of her napping spots.

Daphne, in her cat bed on the office window sill, looking at me as if to ask why I'm interrupting her nap.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Daphne (in front) and Velma (in back) say heyo. Also, does @stephenking.bsky.social know about this acolyte of Molly, the Thing of Evil? 😉

Daphne (in front) and Velma (in back) on the couch. Both are gray tabby kitties.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Living in the disadministration of #Trump will do that to you.

A photo of a very frazzled cartoon cat with words that read:

Exhausterwhelmulated

Exhausterwhelmulated Adj.
1. The feeling of being exausted, overwhelmed, and overstimulated all at once.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

It's hard to imagine this level of hubris, not to mention what would happen to US relations with every Catholic-majority nation on Earth if the US created an American Papacy. #Trump #hubris #idiocy

Vatican officials briefed on the meeting tell The Free Press that the Pentagon warned Cardinal Christophe Pierre in January that the United States has the military power to do "whatever it wants" and that Pope Leo, the first American-born pontiff, "better take its side."

The site writes that "as tensions escalated," one U.S. official "went so far as to invoke the Avignon Papacy, the period in the 1300s when the French Crown leveraged its military power to dominate the papal authority."

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

An accurate analogy for the #AI #hype. My father was a cabinet maker, and I've helped to build multiple houses - with nailguns. The idiocy of trying to use nothing but a nailgun feels exactly on target.

I just can't wait for the hype to die down to the point where people start to talk about the problems they're solving instead of the tools they're solving them with.

I'm just rolling my eyes back into my head every day now. EVERY DAY. It's like we discovered a new power tool, say a pneumatic nail gun. Oh my god, it makes framing so much easier! You can frame up houses in NO time, so much faster than the old days, it's great.

And then suddenly while you're cutting some lumber your boss slaps your circular saw out of your hand and says "What the fuck are you doing with that saw? Use the nail gun! We spent a lot of money on the nail gun!" When you go to get lunch everyone's talking about nail guns. The news talks about nail guns. Every trade show is nothing but nail guns. Nobody talks about anything any more but nail guns. Building houses is a dream of the distant past: It's all about nail guns now.

That's what it feels like anyway. I'm so exhausted.

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

So long as you don't A) Reduce the safety of new housing or make it so that new houses fall apart in a hurry and B) Don't give money to developers. Give money to the people who buy the houses. It'll end up with the developers anyway.

An image of Will Rogers with a quotation: "The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn't know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow's hands." - Will Rogers

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

It'd be a website where we could book reservations (with a years-long waiting list), but I appreciate the humor all the same. 🙂

An image with words that say, "10 yrs from now, a man in NYC sees an ad: 'Piss on Trump's grave for $10!' He calls the number but is told he has to go to Los Angeles. 'LA? Why? You moved his grave?' 'No. That's where the back of the line is!'" (Edited for punctuation.)

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Jay Bryant @jaybryant.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

I haven't one with motion, but Daphne was enjoying a box today. 🙂

One of my cats, Daphne, sitting in a box in my living room.

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