I stopped watching because the extreme viciousness and total degeneracy of that so – called creep of a prosecutor is intolerable. What an absolute disgrace.

We all knew what the verdict of the kangaroo court was going to be but the cynicism of the prosecutor who is publicly and openly acting like the murderer’s faithful lap poodle is nauseating.

Can anybody explain why such a dog-and-pony show is being organized around the verdict in the case against Darren Wilson? Why was the announcement left until the night if the verdict has been in for hours? Why are there countdowns to the announcement? Why are there such enormous efforts to ramp up the drama?

N. believes that this is a result of a contract between the criminal justice system and the TV networks to help them sell more advertisement. I’m trying to be less cynical but seriously, people, WTF? This has been turned into a kangaroo court long before the verdict.

All TV shows are being interrupted to show Michael Brown’s father asking people to remain calm.

That can only mean one thing: the grand jury has reached its decision in Darren Wilson’s case.

This is not likely to be good.

A quote from Kotkin on how World War I made it so much easier for totalitarian regimes to slaughter millions:

Whereas European rulers and generals knowingly sent millions to their deaths for God knows what,  Lenin could assert that he was willing to sacrifice millions for what now, thanks to the imperialist war, looked more than ever like a just cause: peace and social justice.

The trivial war made people more likely to support non – trivial causes. If they were to die, at least it would be for something worthwhile.

Where Kotkin’s book really delivers is the discussion of why the Russian Empire entered into a suicidal war against Germany in 1914. I have never read a clearer, better argued analysis of Nicholas II’s decision to bring his tottering empire into this ridiculous war that served no actual purpose in terms of foreign relations.

Kotkin argues that the reason why Nicholas declared war on Germany was purely internal. The tsar resented his authoritarian powers being curbed even to a tiny extent by the Duma (or the Russian version of a parliament that the tsar had been forced to accept back in 1905). The tsar was convinced that Russia didn’t need a constitutional monarchy and was made very sulky by the attempts to move the country in that direction.

The tsar’s hope was that a massive war against Germany would create a feeling of a mystical union between the people and the tsar, sweeping away the needless parliament. Yes, he was that stupid. This actually wasn’t among the most bizarre of his ideas.

Of course, the result of the war was quite the opposite of what the tsar had envisioned: the people got extremely angry at the tsar for sending them to die for no particular reason and ended up killing the tsar and his whole family.

My phone always suggests that I follow the word “children” with “of God” and “of Israel”. It also refuses to recognize the word “Jesus” and keeps substituting it with “Jessica.”

Here is a great quote Kotkin gives in his biography of Stalin:

As a rule, a regime perishes not because of the strength of its enemies but because of the uselessness of its defenders.

– Lev Tikhomirov, 1911

I hearby make a solemn pledge that I will remain in a horizontal position, staring at the fire, the sand and the books until 5:30 pm.

I have no idea how I became the person who needs to make herself sick to get some rest but that shit stops now, even if I have to turn on the Dr. Phil marathon to drown out the voices telling me I need to be preparing next year’s syllabi this very moment. Dr. Phil has one great quality: he’s loud.

I so identify with the linked blogger’s story. He spends years writing intelligent, well-argued posts but the only thing of his that goes viral is a tweet that pleases helicoptering parents:

I know the feeling and I can commiserate. It’s always the silliest little thing (like the infamous tree test) that will attract crowds while the really brilliant stuff will languish unnoticed. It would be so much more useful for people to read my posts on the collapse of the nation-state than to do the stupid tree test. But very few go for the smarter option.