The United States has threatened to drop their biggest bomb on Iran.
B-52s are being loaded with DVDs of the Melania documentary.
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The Icarian
@theicarian@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-061791 Followers
2154 Following
50 Posts
Joined June 20, 2025
The Icarian:
Thanks to Wired for reporting what has been known by privacy advocates both in and out of Congress for weeks. Democrat Jim Himes is quietly whipping votes to help Donald Trump and Kash Patel spy on Americans using ChatGPT. Absolutely shameful.
Replying to
@isaiah@mastodon.social I'm very sorry to tell you the outlook is poor for computer science grads no matter how great they are. One young person we know was a high-end programming hotshot. He's been unemployed for two years. Our daughter's friends who graduated 5 years ago with compsci degrees from a prestigious school are all unemployed.
One person we know has 2 Phds in compsci has been unemployed for 4 years, though that may be partly due to his age.
Sorry.
A French journalist Marine Vlahovic was found dead in her home in Marseille while working on a documentary covering Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Not saying Mossad was involved, but she committed suicide by shooting herself in the back of her head.
A map of the Thirteen Colonies in 1770, showing number of slaves in each colony and percentage of colony's total population held as slaves. Numbers = numbers of slaves (1770), colors = percentage of population enslaved. Source: Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves (2003). Creative Commons
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/the-50-books-i-read-after-watching
I’m a history geek. In November 2025, after viewing Ken Burns & Co.’s six-episode, 12-hour documentary, The American Revolution, I realized I didn’t know as much as I would like about the violent conflict and events that gave birth to the United States.
I kind of chain-smoked books about the Revolutionary War for a few months. As soon as one was done, I used that one to light another.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theicarian/p/the-50-books-i-read-after-watching
Today, 19 July, would have been Karen’s 68th birthday.
This is the entire series of her writing from inside the American healthcare system, and especially from her experiences in nursing homes and hospitals — places no one wants to be, but many of us will eventually inhabit
Happy birthday, Karen. Rest in power and peace.
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/14-tales-from-a-place-no-one-wants
It Appears That the US Military Accidentally Killed Everybody on Board a Civilian Medevac Flight in New Mexico
"When those lights go out, man, you know you are in big trouble."
https://futurism.com/science-energy/us-military-gps-jamming-signal-medical-flight
Who is S. Brian Willson? A Working Class Hero Is Something To Be
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/who-is-s-brian-willson-a-working
Humans were given a planet overflowing with trees, fruit, water, medicine, and sunshine and then invented debt, capitalism, and war.
And we wonder why space aliens keep a low profile.
Condensed from my seven months reading 50 books about the birth of America, here are my favorite 15.
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/15-cool-books-about-the-revolutionary?r=1cnb9h
No. 1 and 2 of the 10 things I learned from reading 50 books about he founding of the USA:
One and Two: There are two co-joined and consistent truths. Number one and two are the twin original sins of not abolishing slavery and the genocide of America’s indigenous peoples. These two factors are at the core social and political sicknesses that are now destroying the nation. These two are essentially inseparable.
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/the-50-books-i-read-after-watching
Israel as it was-is finished.
It will be remembered as the most hated nation of this generation.
Not because of religion- but because of what it chose to do.
You cannot starve an entire people and expect the world to stay silent. You cannot commit genocide in full view of humanity and escape the judgment of history.
Israel has become the embodiment of its own greatest fear. It has become the Germany of 1940.
Not because it is Jewish, but because it abandoned its humanity.
Not sure why police department in the US would be surprised by this. They ARE actively working with ICE and significant segment of the population don't trust the cops in the first place, for good reason.
Police across the US worry officers are being misidentified as ICE, records show
Exclusive: Emails and internal memos reveal concerns immigration enforcement is interfering with police work
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/24/ice-police-danger-us
AIR TRAVEL IN AMERICA
Wait in line for 3 hours to be patted down and maybe be kidnapped by ICE.
If you aren't kidnapped, maybe your plane will crash into a fire truck on the tarmac responding to a call about a fire on a different plane.
The Fascist has successfully turned US airspace into the Strait of Hormuz.
A Civilian Plane Crashed in New Mexico. Was the Military’s Tech to Blame?
Drone warfare is making the skies more dangerous, even for airplanes far from the battlefield.
https://www.wired.com/story/a-civilian-plane-crashed-in-new-mexico-was-the-militarys-tech-to-blame/
The List Of The 50 Books I Read After Watching "The American Revolution" Documentary
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/the-list-of-the-50-books-i-read-after?
While Robert Mueller was risking his life in combat, Trump was following in his father's footstep in New York perfecting the art of keeping Black families out of his father's apartment buildings.
Checkmate. Putin wins.
The best part is this is a sanctioned tanker loaded with oil that WAS sanctioned until The Fascist lifted the sanctions. It didn't even take 24 hours for Putie to load up a tanker that will break our Cuba blockade.
Russian oil tanker heading to Cuba amid US economic blockade
Vessel with 730,000 barrels of crude set to reach Cuba on 23 March, according to maritime data, after Donald Trump said he expects to have ‘honour of taking’ country
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/19/cuba-us-economic-blockade-trump-russian-oil-tanker
The story of Harry Partch is coincidentally a Pride Month story.
Partch was gay and realized it from an early age. As far as I can tell he never hid his sexuality.
But his sexuality is probably the least interesting thing about him.
Today is his 125th birthday and this story is a little celebration of his remarkable life as an original personality and genuine outsider.
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/harry-partch-the-outsider-who-refused
"I like it when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It's so fuckin' heroic." ~ George Carlin
Feared "Conservatives" Often Die Hard
https://open.substack.com/pub/theicarian/p/feared-conservatives-often-die-hard
A song as or more relevant today than in 1979.
Where Are The Strong? Who Are The Trusted? (What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/where-are-the-strong-who-are-the?r=1cnb9h
What a surprise! Uber lies and screws their workers.
https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/04/uber-proposition22-lawsuit/
Rideshare drivers sue Uber over being kicked off app in new challenge to California law
Some Americans are worried about what used to be the constitution.
The FBI is buying the location data of Americans. Not with warrants. Not with probable cause. With money.
But that should be no surprise.
If you’re on Facebook, you give away your life and rights every day. For free. To Anything For A Buck Zuck. Who sells it for a buck. To a man named Kash.
Hope that explains it.
Ooooookay MAGA nutjob.
If you could teleport, why to a Waffle House and not, say, Hawaii?
Maybe that’s why he found his hallucination no fun. Just another MAGA Regime operative. He sure didn’t teleport any aid to anyone.
Top US Fema official claims to have teleported to a Waffle House before
‘Teleporting is no fun,’ Gregg Phillips, picked to lead Fema’s office of response and recovery, has said on a podcast
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/20/fema-gregg-phillips-waffle-house
In November 2025, after viewing Ken Burns & Co.’s six-episode, 12-hour documentary, The American Revolution, I realized I didn’t know as much as I would like about the violent conflict and the events that gave birth to the United States.
I decided to take the list of historians interviewed in the documentary and find as many of their books as a I could at my local libraries. The intent was to use those books as a starting point for an autodidactic bibliomainiac adventure
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/the-list-of-the-50-books-i-read-after?r=1cnb9h
Ten Things I Learned From 50 Books About The American Revolutionary War — #8
Eight: If it were not for aid from France, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Spain, The United States would not exist. No question about it.
Siège de Yorktown, a c. 1836 painting by Auguste Couder[c] Rochambeau (center, gesturing), Washington (center R), Marquis de La Fayette (behind Washington, R), Marquis de Saint Simon (behind Washington, L), Duke of Lauzun (L, mounted) and Comte de Ménonville (R of Washington).
No. 4 on the list of 10 things I learned from reading 50 books abnout founding of the USA:
Four: The concept of giving women the vote was only thought about from the perspective of that would be a bad thing to do.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theicarian/p/the-50-books-i-read-after-watching
While a diplomat in France during the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin obtained the recipe for making tofu. He sent the recipe and some beans to a friend back in the not-yet united states. The beans grew great, Franklin’s friend reported, but the tofu didn’t work out.
Franklin had confused garbanzo beans and soy beans.
If not for a mix up about what kind of bean to use to make tofu, Franklin could have changed American eating habits nearly 250 years ago.
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/the-50-books-i-read-after-watching
ISRAELIS SAY GOD GAVE THEM THE LAND.
IF TRUE - LET THEM FOR MONEY AND WEAPONS
ASK GOD INSTEAD OF THE USA.
NO MORE MONEY OR WEAPONS
Sorry, The Original Magna Carta Was A Flop
That Annoying History Again
Much ado was made about the Magna Carta during the recent visit of the current King of England, who had to politely remind the de facto king of America about the rule of law and its hard fought, hard won history.
And the King of England actually used complete sentences and never hard to resort to accordion hands to do so.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theicarian/p/sorry-the-original-magna-carta-was
Replying to
@KarenStrickholm@mastodon.online
Emotional Support Chickens, Theft! Cluck Yeah, A NURSING HOME TALE
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/emotional-support-chickens-theft
#Knitting @Knitting #NursingHome #HealthCare
Former NASA astronauts launch new group to promote U.S. constitutional values
More than 100 NASA astronauts have signed on to a nonpartisan effort to promote “the principles that have propelled our nation for 250 years”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ex-nasa-astronauts-form-new-group-to-promote-u-s-constitutional-values/
Death Valley, California, 19 April 2026
The Dog
Childhood Trauma And Our Nation’s Government Sponsored Cruelty
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/the-dog
Non-substack version:
https://theicarian.com/culture/the-dog-childhood-trauma-and-our-nations-cruelty/
No one should be surprised that a prominent Black person would help to re-segregate our nation.
Back in the 1870s Martin Robison Delany, the highest ranking officer in the Union Army during the civil war and an outspoken abolitionist, did just that in South Carolina.
Delany campaigned for former Confederate general Wade Hampton III for governor who restored white supremacy in South Carolina after a violent election campaign during which 150 Black people were killed.
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/martin-robison-delany-an-extraordinary
‘It’s not a story that’s over’: inside the battle against hatred in America
In The Secret War Against Hate, Pulitzer-prize finalist Steven J Ross looks back at those who infiltrated and prevented hate groups in the US
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/apr/28/secret-war-against-hate-book-nazi-groups-us
You really should be triggered by this warning:
Our Correspondents’ Photos From The Week Of 19-24 April
From East To West
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/our-correspondents-photos-from-the
Natalie Joy Harp, San Diego Native
The Human Printer’s Roots By The Sea
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/natalie-joy-harp-san-diego-native?r=1cnb9h
Iranian Jazz • Our Ceilings Fell Apart | 1 Hour Instrumental Jazz Melodies
‘Someone knows something’ but it sure ain’t Crash Patel’s FBI or the cops in Arizona.
There’s all kind of surveillance of Americans going on but they can’t find a guy who abducted, and most certainly murdered, a grandma.
So you have a high profile victim having beg for clues that law enforcement should have already tracked down.
In an age of law enforcement impenitence, this is shining example.
‘Someone knows something’: Guthrie family pleads for new information
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/savannah-guthrie-missing-mother-plea
It Doesn’t Matter If The Latest “Assassination” Attempt Was A Setup
The Dubious Triumph Of Perception As Reality
https://theicarian.substack.com/p/it-doesnt-matter-if-the-latest-assassination
Non-Substack version:
https://theicarian.com/blog/the-dubious-triumph-of-perception-as-reality/
