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bk4us.com
Brent
@bk4us.com
250 followers 130 following 440 posts
Cold War Liberal. Peace if possible, truth at all costs.
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Quote skeet a gif with a clue of where you're from...
January 24, 2026 at 1:53 AM
bk4us.com
🧵To celebrate MLK Day, I want to talk about one of my favorite books, "The Politics of Nonviolent Action" by Gene Sharp.

People like to praise nonviolence, but how does it actually work in practice? Why does it work? (1/16)
Book cover. The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part 1: Power and Struggle. By Gene Sharp.
January 19, 2026 at 9:53 PM
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I made sure Paramount knows that their relationship with Trump is the reason I canceled.
Screenshot of the cancellation screen from Paramount+, asking why I'm canceling. I chose the option marked other, then wrote in the text box: Paramount is an ally of the Trump administration, and I'm not giving my money to that.
January 18, 2026 at 5:34 PM
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And since the word "prescient" gets used a lot when talking about B5's politics:
Screenshot of a paragraph fro the article: "The literal text of the show suggests that the natural result of Capitalism’s decay is a re-emergence of Fascism, and Earth is already locked in what we can now recognize as a familiar pattern of increasing technocratic censorship paired with a loss of political efficacy on the part of normal people when the series begins. There’s an election going on in the first episode and the conservative party wins on the basis of what we are to assume is reactionary rhetoric. He’s not the guy our protagonists were supporting, but the whole thing is treated with a shrug. It eventually leads to a civil war. We’re immediately thrust into a cynical world wracked with bureaucratic inertia and callow appeasement. Our heroes emerge as heroic because they choose to reject apathy, normalization and compliance. Watching Earth inexorably slip further into violent authoritarianism is gripping stuff, brilliantly played as background noise for the first two and a half seasons and just as novel as it was in 1994 even when expressed in the silliest possible terms (Earth Gov is really out there literally quoting Nineteen Eighty-Four on its propaganda posters, huh?). But I’m not sure how cognizant the show is of its own political subtext, or, y’know, text in general."
January 15, 2026 at 10:59 PM
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Was reading this paragraph (first pic) by @annaleen.bsky.social when a thought occurred to me, so I did a quick web search (second pic):
buttondown.com/thehypothesi...
Screenshot of a paragraph by Annalee Newitz. Make no mistake: AI people, if they emerged in this current moment, would be oppressed. Companies trying to develop “artificial general intelligence” — or human-equivalent cognition — do not deign to call these potential creatures “people” or even “creatures.” Sometimes they’re called a “superintelligence,” reducing them to a very specific, economically valuable function. The idea is that we can make money on these future artificial people, if we imprison or abuse them correctly with software. Screenshot from the domain name omelas.ai. Someone has already registered the domain name, and they're trying to sell it for twenty-thousand dollars.
December 16, 2025 at 10:45 PM
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December 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM
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No book; I like to practice a very literal interpretation of Matthew 5:33-37.
A screenshot of the Book of Matthew, Chapter 5, Verses 33 through 37: Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
December 11, 2025 at 12:55 AM
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Finally reading www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/kash-patel...

I think this part should get more attention:
He’s lost our foreign allies. The biggest story of this week was about how Patel broke an important personal pledge to the head of MI5, the British domestic intelligence agency and, arguably, the FBI’s closest partner in the entire world. MI5’s head had asked Patel personally to preserve an FBI liaison officer in London who was vital to certain advanced surveillance tools the Brits relied on for monitoring Chinese activities in the UK. In the face-to-face meeting, Patel agreed and promised — but then reneged when the White House wanted to cut the position as part of its misguided efforts to trim the FBI budget, “leaving MI5 officials incredulous.” It is almost impossible to capture how critical the intelligence relationship between the US and the UK has been over the last eighty years, as well as the larger English-speaking intel partnership known as “Five Eyes,” which includes the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The idea that you would break a promise to a Five Eyes leader would normally be an anathema to any competent US intelligence leader — and the episode also clearly demonstrates both inside and outside the bureau that Patel doesn’t have the political juice to run the FBI, if he can’t fight and win at the White House for a key position requested by our closest ally.
November 25, 2025 at 6:00 PM
bk4us.com
stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness
Alexander Skarsgård as Murderbot with David Dastmalchian as Gurathin.
October 21, 2025 at 11:25 PM
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A Cold War liberal at #NoKings, celebrating the Four Freedoms and FDR, the Democratic President who led America in its first victory over fascism
A picture of myself at a local No Kings protest waving the Four Freedoms flag (four vertical red stripes on a white background)
October 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
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I had to use highlighters to parse this sentence.

First, nine lines in red for a single clause starting with "even though".

Then five lines in green for the subject of the sentence.

The blue shows the verb and object of the sentence—just two lines.
A screenshot of a poorly written sentence. Various lines are highlighted to show the structure of the sentence. The sentence and the highlighting are described in the post.
August 4, 2025 at 8:37 PM
bk4us.com
If you see this, quote with a robot that isn't from Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, or Transformers
Picture of Number Five, AKA Johnny Five, from the movie Short Circuit, released in 1986.
July 10, 2025 at 12:24 AM
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Submitted for your consideration...
(Hat tip to @washingtonpost.com's Early Brief)
Tweet by Donald Trump on November 10, 2013: Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly—not skilled!
June 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
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Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale. Tech company: At long last we have created the Torment Nexus from the classic sci-fi novel Don't Create the Torment Nexus
June 19, 2025 at 3:40 PM
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This is my final answer.
A picture of a tumblr post titled "Why I do toilet paper the wrong way". The post shows a comic in two frames. In the first frame a cat is playing with a roll of toilet paper hanging in the 'over' orientation and gradually unspooling the entire roll onto the floor. In the second frame, a cat is playing with a roll of toilet paper hanging in the 'under' orientation; in this case no unspooling occurs. Another tumblr user responds with "That's valid." Yet another responds "Okay I'll accept that, but you're on thing ice."
June 10, 2025 at 12:56 AM
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Screenshot from The Onion's "American Voices" about Trump's phone call with Zelensky that led to his first impeachment. It reads "Fine, but show me anywhere on that transcript where he says 'I hereby proclaim quid pro quo!'"
May 12, 2025 at 3:36 PM
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Recently went through my downloads folder and found this relevant meme:
April 12, 2025 at 10:28 PM
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I don't remember if this is where I learned that fact, but I have to recommend "Fascists" by Michael Mann. It's style is highly academic, but worth working through. It was written in 2004, but the conclusion feels like a prescient description of our present-day politics!
Cover of the book "Fascists" by Michael Mann
March 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM
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Google, if you really want to spend money on the ridiculous amounts of energy it takes to annoy an AI with my search queries, well... it's your money! But when I search for "fourier transform of my cat", maybe you can let your AI sit this one out and just give me the web comic I wanted instead.
Screenshot of Google AI results for "fourier transform of my cat": A "Fourier transform" is a complex mathematical tool used to break down a signal into its constituent frequencies, essentially revealing the different "tones" within a signal, while "your cat" is a living feline creature; meaning if you had to choose between the two, your cat is the more tangible and relatable option as it's a real animal, not an abstract mathematical concept.
February 21, 2025 at 10:27 PM
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I'm sure this isn't far off:
An image made in in the style of an executive order on the White House website. It reads, "Presidential Actions. Nothing is ever my fault and blaming me is illegal.
January 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
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Some historical context for DEI programs in the military:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_...
From the Wikipedia page "": 1950s desegregation. In 1948, President Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which declared a policy of equal treatment and opportunity, but did not mention desegregation. He ordered: "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale." Only the Air Force used the opportunity to integrate its units. The Army was especially resistant to the order, and only cooperated when a shortage of troops in the Korean War required that black soldiers serve alongside their white counterparts. Military units were officially desegregated after the Korean War in 1954. However, racial tensions continued to give rise to segregation and in fighting amongst various units, especially during the Vietnam War. The military inefficiencies caused by this internal conflict incentivized military leaders to seek to establish more harmonious racial relationships in the Army. One scholar argued that, in being forced to actively root out institutional racial tensions, "the military radically revised the moral contract governing relations between it and its members."
January 29, 2025 at 3:34 AM
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My theory: most reporters don't understand the issues they cover, so they rely on lazy tropes they see other reporters using. That creates an illusion of broad consensus that the public - including other reporters - repeat as their own understanding to look well-informed.

As Michael Crichton said:
Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them. In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.
January 5, 2025 at 11:23 PM
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Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge
Day 20
Cover from "Gun, With Occasional Music" by Jonathan Lethem
December 13, 2024 at 8:29 PM
bk4us.com
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge
Day 19
Cover from "The Shadow of the Torturer" by Gene Wolfe
December 12, 2024 at 3:39 AM
bk4us.com
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge
Day 18

(Probably a good book to re-read in 2025.)
Cover from volume one of "Politics of Nonviolent Action" by Gene Sharp
December 11, 2024 at 3:52 AM