pdxanthro

Anthropologist of naturecultures

[Multnomah County, OR @multco]

Spread the word: Pets are welcome at severe weather shelters in Multnomah County. More at: https://t.co/aA9xse1I6O

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Great news about Grenache Gris! (Sorry that the DNA nymphs didn't concur re: Nebbiolo Rose. Tant pis!)

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@akgonzal327 💔🥺

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm I miss being there!

[Nnedi Okorafor, PhD🕷️ @Nnedi]

📢🔥 The cat’s out of the bag now, 😅. My novel THE AFRICANFUTURIST just sold to HarperCollins/William Morrow for SEVEN-figures!

This novel has been coming for THIRTY years. I needed to be ready. 🥹✍🏾🇳🇬🇺🇸🤖

Here we go. [Inhale, exhale]

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Earth tones, or a burgundy hue?

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Agreed! Not least of which Pinot Meunier!s utterly alluring young leaves, covered with a distinctive silvery soft pelt.

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Very exciting! Can't wait for this chapter to unfold !

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm @Popelouchum So happy to have received the first shipments of @Popelouchum wines, including that Kickstarter-supporter #magnum of grenache gris/blanc (a smaller bottle of which graced the Thanksgiving Day table). Can't wait to come visit again before long! All best wishes~

[Randall Grahm @RandallGrahm]

Before I am deplatformed or the platform itself is, I’d like to spread the word amongst my vyd friends that I’m looking for a vineyard worker for @Popelouchum, who ideally also has an interest in grape breeding and progressive viticulture.

[Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney]

This is exactly what Putin wants. If we’d had Republicans like this in the 1980s, we would have lost the Cold War.

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Hélas! More than your share of biomedical encounters lately. Best wishes!

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

Staying on Elon's less-than-moderated #Twitter... For now? Here are steps to stay safe(er):

https://t.co/AZIcmpXNzJ

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm #existentialdread

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm En fin ! 🙏🏽

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Ugh. #languageofno ? ;) Good speed!

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm Félicitations! How many days has it been? Welcome back!

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@hawk_wakawaka Kudos to you, Elaine, & to Jancis, for enlivening the JR site with your bold smart transformative perspectives. A shame that the corporate overlords have interfered! Best wishes for an uplifting transition-- more of your beautiful artwork?

[pdxanthro @pdxanthro]

@RandallGrahm So sorry! Healing vibes coming your way