John W Buaas
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johnwbuaas.bsky.social
John W Buaas
@johnwbuaas.bsky.social
Retired Prof. of English, living in Wichita KS. PhD in 20c. Am. Lit. Proud husband, father. Inordinately fond of Mexico City. Surname rhymes w/ Louis.

Books read in 2025: https://bsky.app/profile/johnwbuaas.bsky.social/post/3lerufociu22y
Reposted by John W Buaas
December 3, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Reposted by John W Buaas
It's great that reporting on the double tap has spotlighted the abject criminality of this Administration.

But don't forget: Venezuela is not waging war on America or Americans, and the men killed were not combatants.

The first strike was every bit as illegal as the second.
December 2, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Jackson Browne
Supertramp
Al DiMeola
The Clash
Tom Petty
Patti Smith
Tracy Chapman
Aretha Franklin
David Bowie
Beyoncé
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts.

Dave Swabrick
Motörhead
Oysterband
Ben Caplan
Bob Dylan
December 3, 2025 at 12:30 AM
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I don’t want to hear “cringe” describing sincerity, ever again.

I’m not really sure how these words come out of your mouth and you ever look yourself in the mirror again.

All of these people only find dignity in inflicting cruelty, and that should be more terrifying than it apparently is.
Kristi Noem: "Sir, you made it through hurricane season without a hurricane. You kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that."
December 2, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Oh joy, another helpful AI infographic via LinkedIn. Off I go to my job as a liberaian, maybe to run some critical evaligane workshops and of course use New! Boulean! Logic!
December 2, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Gee. I wonder if the recent behavior of Canada's neighbor to its immediate south might be the proximate cause of this.
In a dangerous and divided world, Canada and Europe are elevating our defence partnership.

That means more access to new equipment for our Armed Forces, more investment in Canada, and massive opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses.
December 3, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Just for muscle memory's sake, it would be fun if everyone thought of one way to make political hay over this. Got a GOP MoC? Call them out for being the party of crime publicly. Got a MAGAt family member? Call and ask why they're freeing cocaine traffickers.
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
New from @josephinelee.bsky.social: The Texas Observer spoke with James Talarico in late November about the policies he believes can unite working people, his faith, and why he thinks he can beat John Cornyn or Ken Paxton.
With Primary Field Still in Flux, James Talarico Pitches His Big Tent Revival
"I'm not interested in tearing down my fellow Democrats, because we are all on the same team ... but I think that I've got a compelling case to make."
www.texasobserver.org
December 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Obviously there are lots of layers to the illegal boat attacks, including the basic reality that we're led by bloodthirsty fascist scumbags.

But I've said it before & I'll say it again: our conversations about so much would shift if we could recognize our shared, foundational hemispheric histories.
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
December 1, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I see the social media person for the Consumer Products Safety Commission appears still to have a job, so I will have to amend somewhat my blanket condemnation of what the current administration has done to our government.
Remarkable things happening on Facebook.
December 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Ah this explains what happened to me last week. An 11 year old gave me a list of four episodes I had to watch to understand the latest season. We watched them and none of it made sense. BECAUSE THAT ISN’T HOW TV WORKS.
Just had an advert for the new season of Stranger Things that was basically telling people *not* to watch the show.

"If you've never seen the show, then with how many episodes there are, use Gemini's AI to tell you which episodes to watch!"

Just why? What's the point aside from being bone idle?
December 2, 2025 at 1:39 PM
If only that middle initial were a "B" instead . . .
Eliz G Asshitin
Bride
District of Columbia, Marriages, 1811-1950
December 2, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Oh my goodness! Read this. Literature for the win:
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
December 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by John W Buaas
December 2, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Mexico City in 1628, a small city surrounded by lakes. This map can be found in the exposition in the Torre Latinoamericano (hence the presence of this building on the map), which was built in the period 1948-56, and is really worth a visit for the panoramic view on the 44th floor and the exposition
December 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Take a moment to watch performance artist Guillaume Juncar. You won’t regret it.
December 2, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Welsh poet/Anglican priest RS Thomas, cosplaying an Advent calendar.
December 2, 2025 at 1:13 PM
December 2, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Socrates implies the existence of Shoecrates.
December 2, 2025 at 12:44 PM
A nice thread on To the Lighthouse (and the pleasures of rereading, and why men should read (more) novels by women writers).
It's high time for a side-quest thread.
When I began listing all the books I finished, in 1994, the first book I wrote down was To the Lighthouse.
I kept up this practice until linear time ended, "as you may recall", in 2020.
I am resurrecting the practice by rereading "To the Lighthouse", slowly:
December 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by John W Buaas
I can’t promise that this is the first time a Canadian publisher of a beloved children’s book series has publicly condemned the bloodthirsty US secretary of defense’s use of its imagery to smirkingly defend heinous war crimes. I mean who can say.
December 2, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Reposted by John W Buaas
Thanks so much for giving Senator Kelly a platform, haters! He's making gorgeous use of it and looking pretty fearless too.
Kelly: He runs around on stage talking about lethality and the warrior ethos.. That’s not the message that should be coming from the Secretary of Defense… He runs around on a stage like he’s a 12 year old playing army. It’s embarrassing.
December 1, 2025 at 10:27 PM