This Week in the News

Now that it's cool and based to be a Nazi, you will never guess who's winning elections in Germany!

ETA: And Austria!

And if you think "being worried about Nazis" is an anti-Muslim sentiment that makes you a Zionist, I have some fun news about who the Nazis intend to go after this time around.

Meanwhile, it's been great good times to see all the Brazilian artists and writers and game developers and academics I follow being forced to leave Twitter. I'm not saying the problem isn't Nazis; but, if I were diagnosed with a terminal illness, I might seriously consider buying a gun and [redacted] Elon Musk.

Speaking of Twitter, I got to see some interesting posts on the site this week. I remember back in 2018 when Nazis had to be sneaky; like, they would post photos of gorgeous castles and forests to attract followers and then put out a "global capitalists are ruining our natural environment" as a cheeky little dog whistle. Now, in this Year of Our Lord 2024, I get to watch as American and Canadian elected officials talk about ZOGs (shadowy members of an Illuminati-style Zionist Occupied Government) on main. As you can imagine, this has been fantastic for my mental health.

Idk man. I just came out for news about Echoes of Wisdom, and I'm feeling really attacked right now.

This Week in the News: Cults Edition

The Demon Slayers: The new age of American exorcisms
https://harpers.org/archive/2024/08/the-demon-slayers-sam-kestenbaum-exorcisms/

Americans crave spectacle, in all matters, and exorcisms like this are today experiencing a season of growth. We Americans are drawn to those things that feel somehow both novel and ancient, old dreams and nightmares made new. Polling is fairly consistent, heathens be damned: roughly half of this country believes in the existence of demons and the ability of such spirits to possess humans. The gloomy pandemic years saw a new demand for enterprising religious figures with a remedy. And why not? Who would deny that this cursed land is in need of a deep cleanse with a power washer? This, our country of suburban satanic panics and active-shooter drills, of mob riots, hollowed-out downtowns, and tech paranoias. The vibes are foul. And lo, a cavalry of screen-ready revivalists has arrived to wage the End Times war against the satanic infantry.

This is a long read, and also a very upsetting read.

Speaking of demons, I was editing my review of Sam Beck's newest graphic novel about an Evangelical Christian cult in Ohio, and I was thinking that it would be good to link to some news articles about cults in Ohio. I thought there would be maybe one or two big ones, but I was wrong. There are dozens.

I mean obviously these people are vile. But still. I get it. I could probably use an exorcism myself.