H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
@harrysimmons3578.bsky.social
An account of satire, in the vein of literary critic Henry Louis Mencken. Polemicist at Verdigris, please send essays [email protected]
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Send all hate mail to [email protected]
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Word to the Wise: Cheap Music, Numb Brains, and Stupidity
I have been asked to write about stupidity. I cannot think of why. Perhaps it is that glowing sagacity that rises, like steam, off my hateful words? Or, perhaps, there is some desire for a voice of…
vdgasjournal.com
Hi everyone.
At long last, here is my promised essay on stupidity, with the title slightly changed: 'Word to the Wise: Cheap Music, Numbs Brains, and Stupidity'.
I hope you enjoy!
vdgasjournal.com/2025/06/21/w...
At long last, here is my promised essay on stupidity, with the title slightly changed: 'Word to the Wise: Cheap Music, Numbs Brains, and Stupidity'.
I hope you enjoy!
vdgasjournal.com/2025/06/21/w...
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
An Indiana prison allows some residents to raise kittens thanks to a partnership with a cat shelter.
In My Prison Cell, a Cat Lives Out Its Life
Indiana State Prison allows select residents to care for a feline companion in their cells.
prisonjournalismproject.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
An Indiana prison allows some residents to raise kittens thanks to a partnership with a cat shelter.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
And now a spokesperson for Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social has weighed in
hellgatenyc.com/nypd-clears-...
hellgatenyc.com/nypd-clears-...
November 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM
And now a spokesperson for Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social has weighed in
hellgatenyc.com/nypd-clears-...
hellgatenyc.com/nypd-clears-...
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
NYPD Clears a Path for Federal Agents on Canal Street With Violent Arrests and Pepper Spray
An immigration crackdown was scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Canal Street, but was abandoned after demonstrators and vendors caught wind of it.
An immigration crackdown was scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Canal Street, but was abandoned after demonstrators and vendors caught wind of it.
NYPD Clears a Path for Federal Agents on Canal Street With Violent Arrests and Pepper Spray
An immigration crackdown was scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Canal Street, but was abandoned after demonstrators and vendors caught wind of it.
hellgatenyc.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:54 PM
NYPD Clears a Path for Federal Agents on Canal Street With Violent Arrests and Pepper Spray
An immigration crackdown was scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Canal Street, but was abandoned after demonstrators and vendors caught wind of it.
An immigration crackdown was scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Canal Street, but was abandoned after demonstrators and vendors caught wind of it.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
“The courts emphasized that immigration laws already exist and there’s no need (or justification) to stretch a wartime statute to handle gang-related deportations.”
reason.com/2025/05/02/a...
reason.com/2025/05/02/a...
Alien enemies no more
Plus: Depriving the children of toys, a curbside rat feast, China wants to talk, and more...
reason.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:34 PM
“The courts emphasized that immigration laws already exist and there’s no need (or justification) to stretch a wartime statute to handle gang-related deportations.”
reason.com/2025/05/02/a...
reason.com/2025/05/02/a...
If there was any race other than the human race, I would go join it.
November 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
If there was any race other than the human race, I would go join it.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Every educator, but especially every academic with a platform who carried water for the tech industry as it worked to undermine education overall should be ashamed and shamed without exception: www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-tech-f...
For tech's new generation, college is an expensive waste
Inside tech's anti-college movement: "If you have to go to college, it's probably because you're mediocre."
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Every educator, but especially every academic with a platform who carried water for the tech industry as it worked to undermine education overall should be ashamed and shamed without exception: www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-tech-f...
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
This is a critically important conversation. Both because of the specific topic at hand and also because the story of US meddling in the region shows that socialism didn't fail, it is relentlessly attacked and sabotaged
NEW: The Return of Operation Condor (we talk Ecuador, general strike, US-backed narco-military regime lead by Daniel Naboa, & the imperialist revenge against Pink Tide governments)
millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com/the-return-o...
millennialsarekillingcapitalism.libsyn.com/the-return-o...
November 29, 2025 at 12:17 PM
This is a critically important conversation. Both because of the specific topic at hand and also because the story of US meddling in the region shows that socialism didn't fail, it is relentlessly attacked and sabotaged
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
The guy shot two random people with a gun, I don't think you can say he wasn't assimilating into our culture
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The guy shot two random people with a gun, I don't think you can say he wasn't assimilating into our culture
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
That would be great, except most people think "Kegsbreath" and "Ron DeSatan" and "Drumpf" are the height of wit
November 29, 2025 at 3:11 AM
That would be great, except most people think "Kegsbreath" and "Ron DeSatan" and "Drumpf" are the height of wit
Do not call it 'AI art', nor should you call it 'AI generated art'. Art is not being generated by these formulaic algorithm plagiarism machines. AI generates pictures. That is it. There is no art, and even 'picture' is generous.
November 29, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Do not call it 'AI art', nor should you call it 'AI generated art'. Art is not being generated by these formulaic algorithm plagiarism machines. AI generates pictures. That is it. There is no art, and even 'picture' is generous.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 12:31 AM
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Wild to see Whelan say this, but to be clear the OLC's immunity powers are fake anyway. The "golden shield" idea was made up to justify rampant criminality in the GWBush years, then adopted by Holder to excuse Obama's inaction. It's not in the Constitution, statute, or precedent. It's not the law.
Does Pete Hegseth have a "golden shield" against prosecution in the form of a DOJ OLC opinion? Ed Whelan thinks not.
November 28, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Wild to see Whelan say this, but to be clear the OLC's immunity powers are fake anyway. The "golden shield" idea was made up to justify rampant criminality in the GWBush years, then adopted by Holder to excuse Obama's inaction. It's not in the Constitution, statute, or precedent. It's not the law.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
And they’re owned by Google now so any health information you put there is fast tracked to those guys
November 28, 2025 at 9:22 PM
And they’re owned by Google now so any health information you put there is fast tracked to those guys
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Says the guy who auto-penned nearly 1600 pardons for January 6
November 28, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Says the guy who auto-penned nearly 1600 pardons for January 6
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
nerds did a study on why kissing is good lmao
Animals have been kissing for over 17 million years, a new study suggests.
Kissing has long perplexed evolutionary biologists, given it has no obvious benefit to reproducing or finding food, while carrying the risk of disease transmission.
Kissing has long perplexed evolutionary biologists, given it has no obvious benefit to reproducing or finding food, while carrying the risk of disease transmission.
When was the first kiss? Over 17 million years ago, a study suggests.
Evolutionary biologists don’t know why we kiss — but new research suggests kissing evolved long before humans existed.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:04 PM
nerds did a study on why kissing is good lmao
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Static!, the followup bar from the owners of Fishtown cocktail lounge Next of Kin, has taken over the former Tria space in Washington Square West.
Center City has a new cutting-edge cocktail bar
www.inquirer.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Static!, the followup bar from the owners of Fishtown cocktail lounge Next of Kin, has taken over the former Tria space in Washington Square West.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
BREAKING:
Judge Boasberg orders the gov’t to provide declarations from every individual involved in the decision to allow planes to proceed on to El Salvador despite his order to turn them around last summer.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...
Judge Boasberg orders the gov’t to provide declarations from every individual involved in the decision to allow planes to proceed on to El Salvador despite his order to turn them around last summer.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...
Order – #196 in J.G.G. v. TRUMP (D.D.C., 1:25-cv-00766) – CourtListener.com
ORDER: The Court ORDERS that the Government shall submit declarations from all individuals involved in the decision not to halt the transfer of class members out of U.S. physical custody on March 15 a...
www.courtlistener.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:18 PM
BREAKING:
Judge Boasberg orders the gov’t to provide declarations from every individual involved in the decision to allow planes to proceed on to El Salvador despite his order to turn them around last summer.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...
Judge Boasberg orders the gov’t to provide declarations from every individual involved in the decision to allow planes to proceed on to El Salvador despite his order to turn them around last summer.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
A top Republican in Indiana, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, just announced he will be voting to block Trump’s gerrymandering after Trump used the R-word to insult people yesterday.
November 28, 2025 at 9:26 PM
A top Republican in Indiana, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, just announced he will be voting to block Trump’s gerrymandering after Trump used the R-word to insult people yesterday.
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
7. the kinda appealing, but substantively indefensible, idea that somehow AI is different to other technology, like calculators, in a pedagogical context — but we totally ban a great deal of technology in the classroom.
(Section 3.7 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
9/n
(Section 3.7 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
9/n
September 6, 2025 at 8:46 AM
7. the kinda appealing, but substantively indefensible, idea that somehow AI is different to other technology, like calculators, in a pedagogical context — but we totally ban a great deal of technology in the classroom.
(Section 3.7 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
9/n
(Section 3.7 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
9/n
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
I had to use this today
7. the kinda appealing, but substantively indefensible, idea that somehow AI is different to other technology, like calculators, in a pedagogical context — but we totally ban a great deal of technology in the classroom.
(Section 3.7 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
9/n
(Section 3.7 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
9/n
November 28, 2025 at 9:10 PM
I had to use this today
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
A confederacy of thieves and barbarians
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
A confederacy of thieves and barbarians
Reposted by H.L. Mencken’s Winking Ghost
In this video, the first I've uploaded in quite a while to my channel, 'Microsoft a Materialist Approach', I briefly talk about the way the 'AI' push has mutated the marketing and sales techniques of Microsoft (and beyond): www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa7F...
The Impact of AI Marketing on Information Technology
YouTube video by Microsoft - A Materialist Approach
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:04 PM
In this video, the first I've uploaded in quite a while to my channel, 'Microsoft a Materialist Approach', I briefly talk about the way the 'AI' push has mutated the marketing and sales techniques of Microsoft (and beyond): www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa7F...