Brent Simmons
@thrashy.bsky.social
I design laboratories by day and do nerd stuff by night.
Architecture, science, motorsports, computer games, SF/F lit, TTRPGs. Somewhere between SocDem and DemSoc.
PFP shamelessly yoinked from Order Of The Stick, by @rich-burlew.giantitp.com.
Architecture, science, motorsports, computer games, SF/F lit, TTRPGs. Somewhere between SocDem and DemSoc.
PFP shamelessly yoinked from Order Of The Stick, by @rich-burlew.giantitp.com.
Pinned
Brent Simmons
@thrashy.bsky.social
· Jun 28
I’ve made it clear to my loved ones that I want *my* ashes compressed into a gemstone and forged into the pommel of a sword passed down to the firstborn of every subsequent generation.
Good god, I already can barely stand to hear more than ten seconds of Alex Jones at a time, as filtered through Knowledge Fight. If I listened to that shit straight and uncut I'm pretty sure I'd black out and then come to in a strange alleyway covered in other peoples' blood
January 27, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Good god, I already can barely stand to hear more than ten seconds of Alex Jones at a time, as filtered through Knowledge Fight. If I listened to that shit straight and uncut I'm pretty sure I'd black out and then come to in a strange alleyway covered in other peoples' blood
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus took up this question and said, "well, first off, definitely not the plumbers. As for sparkies, well..."
*jesus as a carpenter speaking to his apprentices*
"key is to get the job and make your money on the change orders"
"key is to get the job and make your money on the change orders"
January 27, 2026 at 2:34 AM
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus took up this question and said, "well, first off, definitely not the plumbers. As for sparkies, well..."
Sure is fun from the posting-ineffectually-into-a-featureless-void end of the follower count spectrum to watch a bunch of people who intentionally broadcast their thoughts to tens of thousands multiple times a day that Actually This Is Bad And You Don't Want It
January 20, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Sure is fun from the posting-ineffectually-into-a-featureless-void end of the follower count spectrum to watch a bunch of people who intentionally broadcast their thoughts to tens of thousands multiple times a day that Actually This Is Bad And You Don't Want It
Reposted by Brent Simmons
for reasons not totally clear to me, in the 60s, the annual chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee (the 2026 edition is going on right now!) was covered by Dutch press photographer who all went insanely hard on it
January 19, 2026 at 1:04 PM
for reasons not totally clear to me, in the 60s, the annual chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee (the 2026 edition is going on right now!) was covered by Dutch press photographer who all went insanely hard on it
Going to war with Norway for Greenland over being snubbed by a Swedish prize committee is insane. It’d be like invading Afghanistan and Iraq over an attack by Saudi-financed terrorists, a thing that has never happened
![NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:
Dear Ambassador:
President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbpefio3f5csc44msmbgioxz/bafkreie7itpptx3xbxhpsnlaqmwk752h7pcrion5ija2apksljtax2adx4@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Going to war with Norway for Greenland over being snubbed by a Swedish prize committee is insane. It’d be like invading Afghanistan and Iraq over an attack by Saudi-financed terrorists, a thing that has never happened
For a certain kind of comfortably middle-class white guy, to an extent “politics” has always been irrelevant. You stay in your bubble of other people with enough wealth to never struggle that much and your world keeps chugging along no matter who is running things in Washington.
This is probably the most accurate description.
Someone in their mid-50s today told me that this is the first time he had thought about or been affected by politics. And that guy is actively guarding buildings and his coworkers from ICE.
Someone in their mid-50s today told me that this is the first time he had thought about or been affected by politics. And that guy is actively guarding buildings and his coworkers from ICE.
Minneapolis and Saint Paul have basically mobilized into a war economy of mutual aid and non-violent defense. I’ve never seen anything like it, even during Covid. People who barely vote are guarding their schools from ICE and doing the shopping for neighbors in hiding.
January 19, 2026 at 3:46 AM
For a certain kind of comfortably middle-class white guy, to an extent “politics” has always been irrelevant. You stay in your bubble of other people with enough wealth to never struggle that much and your world keeps chugging along no matter who is running things in Washington.
Shit's turbofucked when you're at the point of educating children about today's Tactical Recognition Flash in order to distinguish between their safe ride home from school and the governmental child kidnapping squad
WAIT WHAT THE FUCK
Thanks. We have folks in our community giving vulnerable students rides to school, and a teacher shared that they were putting small stuffed animals on their dashboards to help kids identify safe cars. ICE picked up on it and started doing the same. Horrifying.
January 18, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Shit's turbofucked when you're at the point of educating children about today's Tactical Recognition Flash in order to distinguish between their safe ride home from school and the governmental child kidnapping squad
If it wasn’t the last viable job-hunting platform in my industry I’d be off LinkedIn in a heartbeat, but every once in a while the lunatics serve up some entertaining slop. Who wants to go on the “NASDAQ For Ideas” to invest in Seasteading-But-Even-More-Insane?
January 18, 2026 at 3:45 AM
If it wasn’t the last viable job-hunting platform in my industry I’d be off LinkedIn in a heartbeat, but every once in a while the lunatics serve up some entertaining slop. Who wants to go on the “NASDAQ For Ideas” to invest in Seasteading-But-Even-More-Insane?
Probably not coincidental that CEOs (a group in which Dark Triad traits are notoriously over-represented) are pushing this shit in the face of evidence that it makes their businesses worse and less productive.
Kicking hornets' nest for no reason sounds like a very Dark Triad thing to do. Coincidentally, guess what corresponds with using AI?
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/15/a...
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/10/15/a...
January 17, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Probably not coincidental that CEOs (a group in which Dark Triad traits are notoriously over-represented) are pushing this shit in the face of evidence that it makes their businesses worse and less productive.
On the one hand, they *absolutely* wanted to. On the other, it's *mighty weird* that right when the files were supposed to be released, they decided to kick off two international conflicts and escalate a domestic one.
(Please don't construe this as DON'T GET DISTRACTED-posting, though!)
(Please don't construe this as DON'T GET DISTRACTED-posting, though!)
Cripes a’mighty people, Steven Miller is not staging a militarized ethnic cleansing and sending the border cops to murder people in the street to distract from the Epstein files. He’s doing it because he and Trump (and Vance and Homan and Noem etc) really really want to.
January 15, 2026 at 7:38 AM
On the one hand, they *absolutely* wanted to. On the other, it's *mighty weird* that right when the files were supposed to be released, they decided to kick off two international conflicts and escalate a domestic one.
(Please don't construe this as DON'T GET DISTRACTED-posting, though!)
(Please don't construe this as DON'T GET DISTRACTED-posting, though!)
Reposted by Brent Simmons
the problem with an untrained secret police squad that shoots people in their cars isn’t that they’re untrained
January 15, 2026 at 1:19 AM
the problem with an untrained secret police squad that shoots people in their cars isn’t that they’re untrained
This is a great distillation of the current crisis, but the last paragraph is most cutting. White supremacists' main beef was that belonging to the in-group no longer conveyed special privilege -- now under Trump, actual dunces can mobilize the state to destroy lives with a mere accusation.
I wrote about a fake child care scandal, the connection to the murder of Renee Good, and the right-wing vengeance ecosystem.
The Moral Panic Machine in Minnesota
From a child care scandal to a state-sponsored murder
stringinamaze.net
January 12, 2026 at 2:42 PM
This is a great distillation of the current crisis, but the last paragraph is most cutting. White supremacists' main beef was that belonging to the in-group no longer conveyed special privilege -- now under Trump, actual dunces can mobilize the state to destroy lives with a mere accusation.
That R-11 radiant barrier paint sure looks like it's working great, doesn't it? LEED points well earned!
(Footnote 2 in this article from Building Science Corporation, if you're lost... buildingscience.com/documents/in...)
(Footnote 2 in this article from Building Science Corporation, if you're lost... buildingscience.com/documents/in...)
January 5, 2026 at 2:47 PM
That R-11 radiant barrier paint sure looks like it's working great, doesn't it? LEED points well earned!
(Footnote 2 in this article from Building Science Corporation, if you're lost... buildingscience.com/documents/in...)
(Footnote 2 in this article from Building Science Corporation, if you're lost... buildingscience.com/documents/in...)
While it's been beaten to death that the US does not currently acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ICC, I will wholeheartedly throw my support behind the first Dem to campaign on boxing up everybody involved and shipping them off to the Hague in 2029.
January 5, 2026 at 1:28 AM
While it's been beaten to death that the US does not currently acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ICC, I will wholeheartedly throw my support behind the first Dem to campaign on boxing up everybody involved and shipping them off to the Hague in 2029.
So as I understand it, Trump had the military swoop in and kidnap the Venezuelan President and then immediately exfil. I can find no reporting on ongoing US presence on Venezuelan soil... but Trump is talking like he nabbed *one guy* and that means he now owns the whole country?
January 4, 2026 at 3:18 AM
So as I understand it, Trump had the military swoop in and kidnap the Venezuelan President and then immediately exfil. I can find no reporting on ongoing US presence on Venezuelan soil... but Trump is talking like he nabbed *one guy* and that means he now owns the whole country?
People have been using the phrase “there is no bottom” as a condemnation when we should have been using it as a warning.
There is no low they will not stoop to in pursuit of power and wealth. *There is no bottom.* Make your decisions accordingly.
There is no low they will not stoop to in pursuit of power and wealth. *There is no bottom.* Make your decisions accordingly.
January 3, 2026 at 7:08 PM
People have been using the phrase “there is no bottom” as a condemnation when we should have been using it as a warning.
There is no low they will not stoop to in pursuit of power and wealth. *There is no bottom.* Make your decisions accordingly.
There is no low they will not stoop to in pursuit of power and wealth. *There is no bottom.* Make your decisions accordingly.
I can pick many a nit with Dune: Awakening, but Funcom's art direction is not one of them. You can do some amazing stuff with the base building system, and the Atreides faction tileset is straight-up Wrightian at times. Also, check out those waffle slabs!
January 2, 2026 at 4:35 AM
I can pick many a nit with Dune: Awakening, but Funcom's art direction is not one of them. You can do some amazing stuff with the base building system, and the Atreides faction tileset is straight-up Wrightian at times. Also, check out those waffle slabs!
Reposted by Brent Simmons
BREAKING: Explosions felt across New York City as full socialism begins
January 1, 2026 at 5:10 AM
BREAKING: Explosions felt across New York City as full socialism begins
Even in 2012-2014 when I was still in the dating pool, there seemed to be very few conservative-leaning people out there who didn't also hold repellent moral views. (At the time, OKCupid was great for filtering them out since you could scan their survey responses to see how hateful they were.)
Everyone has a list of so-called "red flags" when they're dating. And for some, especially younger Americans, different political views is a relationship deal breaker.
Majority of Gen Z swipe left on dating people with opposite political views
Everyone has a list of so-called "red flags" when they're dating. And for some, especially younger Americans, different political views is a relationship deal breaker.
n.pr
December 31, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Even in 2012-2014 when I was still in the dating pool, there seemed to be very few conservative-leaning people out there who didn't also hold repellent moral views. (At the time, OKCupid was great for filtering them out since you could scan their survey responses to see how hateful they were.)
Reposted by Brent Simmons
Star BYU Player Suspended After Testing Positive For Coffee https://theonion.com/star-byu-player-suspended-after-testing-positive-for-coffee/
December 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Star BYU Player Suspended After Testing Positive For Coffee https://theonion.com/star-byu-player-suspended-after-testing-positive-for-coffee/
Apologies to the spirit of my great-great grandmother-in-law, who appeared in a dream to give my wife the recipe for the latkes I am currently slathering in pepperoni like some sort of Lunchables pizza
December 22, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Apologies to the spirit of my great-great grandmother-in-law, who appeared in a dream to give my wife the recipe for the latkes I am currently slathering in pepperoni like some sort of Lunchables pizza
This DuPont livery is what I saw spinning out of the smoke cloud at me when the Big One happened around lap 130 of a full-length Talledega 500 on Papyrus’ “NASCAR Racing,” circa 1998. Jeff Gordon was dead to me after that.
Jeff Gordon - DuPont Automotive Finishes (Chevrolet)
1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 (North Carolina Speedway) #NASCAR
1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 (North Carolina Speedway) #NASCAR
December 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
This DuPont livery is what I saw spinning out of the smoke cloud at me when the Big One happened around lap 130 of a full-length Talledega 500 on Papyrus’ “NASCAR Racing,” circa 1998. Jeff Gordon was dead to me after that.
The #1 movie from when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 will go.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
December 21, 2025 at 5:47 AM
The #1 movie from when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 will go.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
Feel like this is a bit on the nose given the Architecture Discourse 'round here the last few days. Wouldn't be mad, though.
The TNG-era Federation must be a bizarre entity to the Aliens-of-the day they drop in on. There you are, the Space Caricatures about to put the righteous smack down on your hated foes the Astral Pastiche, when a heavily-armed cruise ship appears in space over your planet and hails your leaders.
December 19, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The TNG-era Federation must be a bizarre entity to the Aliens-of-the day they drop in on. There you are, the Space Caricatures about to put the righteous smack down on your hated foes the Astral Pastiche, when a heavily-armed cruise ship appears in space over your planet and hails your leaders.