Incompetence of the powerful
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“Exceptionalism”
For a long, long time “American exceptionalism” has been a jingoistic slogan generally used to tout some way in which the US is touted as better in some way than anywhere else. But “exceptional” doesn’t really mean “better.” It means different. Adam Bonica did some interesting math to illustrate the current state of American exceptionalism. Continue reading
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It’s all distraction
The orange baby knows the Epstein files have its name all over the place. All it cares about is itself. All it’s worried about is the Epstein files. It’s willing to do anything to change the story, because changing the story is how it has managed to survive for decades. It won’t work forever, but Continue reading
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Oh great, another year of this
The orange baby seems to enjoy starting off its calendar years by presenting new evidence of how subhuman and despicable it is. It attempted a coup a few years back, on January 6. The US turned out to be a little bit too resilient for it, so the 2026 subhuman atrocity was aimed elsewhere. Like Continue reading
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Remember Sarah Beckstrom
Sarah Beckstrom was a National Guard member from Summersville, West Virginia. She died from bullet wounds while deployed to Washington, D.C. “She swore an oath to defend the Constitution. Donald Trump violated it to put her there. She should never have been deployed at all. A federal judge ruled last week that Trump’s activation of the National Continue reading
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Thatcher and Reagan
You can trace a lot of the mess the world is in today back to two supervillains decades ago: Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Calling them both supervillains may be slightly overstating things. In Reagan’s case, it’s quite possible that he just continued his acting career, as a politician, by repeating lines scripted for him. Continue reading
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Think about this
The orange baby’s administration is zeroing out the ability of the US government to compete with the rest of the world — including actual enemies — in cybersecurity. To the extent this is explained at all, it’s attributed to commercial vendors wanting no oversight, and “MAGA loyalists don’t care because they aren’t interested in leadership Continue reading
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Best quote from a republic ever
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the house and a leader in the republic party, just drooled this out:“Don’t get lost in the facts.” The great aspiration of the US has always been that people would be rational, honest actors. That’s clearly gone, at least among the republics. Continue reading
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A bill of goods
“We’ve been sold a bill of goods in this country that we’re divided. We’re divided by gender, we’re divided by race, we’re divided by who we love, we’re divided by where we worship or whether we worship at all. And now they’re trying to tell us that we’re divided by Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Let Continue reading
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Promises, promises
The latest from the Orange Baby is this announcement from Friday, September 26: Starting October 1st, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a Company IS BUILDING their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America. “IS BUILDING” will be defined as, “breaking ground” and/or “under construction.” There will, Continue reading
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They lie for a living
Years ago I had to go through a metal detector to enter a courthouse. I was reporting for jury duty (I was never empaneled, which was a bit disappointing). I emptied my pockets and the guards confiscated one of those little nail clippers I had in my pocket. I asked why and they claimed that Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.