Jay Maynard

I think I might be learning something about this novelist thing. I just fixed a hole in my story, added some characterization, and made it feel like there was never a hole there - in 57 words.

The EV boom was purely an artifact of government subsidies. When consumers had no economic incentive, they bought internal combustion vehicles instead. Maybe EVs aren't as great as their advocates claim? legalinsurrection.com/2026/03/electr…

I used to view Donald Trump simply as a solid, effective president... someone who delivered results on the economy, borders, and foreign policy without all the usual political polish. But over time, I've come to see something much bigger: the entire American political system has been rotten and corrupt for decades. It's not just isolated scandals or bad actors; it's a deeply entrenched network of career politicians, unelected bureaucrats, lobbyists, intelligence agencies, and media gatekeepers who operate as a self-protecting "uniparty" or "swamp." They prioritize their own power, insider deals, endless wars, and special interests over the actual needs of everyday Americans. Elections often feel like theater, with the same outcomes no matter who wins—more debt, more control, more erosion of freedoms. What sets Trump apart is that he's the only major figure in modern politics who's truly taken on that machine head-on and actually shaken it. Previous leaders talked tough about reform but ultimately played along with the system, got rich from it, or were too tied into it to challenge it meaningfully. Donald Trump, as a DC outsider who didn't need their approval or their money, has exposed the corruption, fought back against weaponized institutions, and forced the hidden power structures into the open... even when it meant relentless attacks, impeachments, indictments, and lawfare aimed directly at him and his children. He's far from perfect, and the battle is far from over, but for the first time in my lifetime, someone has genuinely threatened the status quo and refused to back down. That's why the pushback against him has been so ferocious: he represents the real possibility of dismantling the corrupt system rather than just managing it. To me, supporting him now isn't just about one good presidency... it's about finally having a fighter who's willing to take on the whole rigged game for the sake of the country, and God help us if he fails.

@adgirlMM You woqueists really are clueless on how things work in the real world.

@JayMaynard You cultists are really clueless on how things work in the social sphere.

five words. 20 years. unfinished.

You know, there's an easy way for illegal aliens to avoid encountering ICE. They can go the hell home. And no, I don't mean "where they're living illegally in the US", either.

@SamaHoole Useful as well as decorative.

The Highland cow is not a decorative species. The fringe is extraordinary, the calves look like something a child would ask for at Christmas, and yes, the Instagram presence is formidable. But this animal also winters outside on Scottish upland: unhoused, unexcitable, completely unbothered, in conditions that would end most livestock operations by November. The double coat is not aesthetic. The dense inner layer and long rain-shedding outer layer maintain core temperature in horizontal Scottish rain at 400 metres. The Highland forages through snow, pushes through gorse, and grazes steep heathy tussocky terrain no sheep touches in the same way. Its foraging creates heterogeneity: the mosaic of grazed patches, lightly browsed areas, and disturbed scrub margins that supports more species than uniform vegetation ever manages. The Highland was managing this landscape before the habitat management plan existed and will be managing it after the current round of reports is filed. The fringe keeps the rain off its eyes. At 400 metres in Scotland, that is a practical engineering solution rather than a stylistic choice.

@adgirlMM @jack "forced right wing content"? You're unhappy that right wing voices aren't censored like they were before Elon Musk rescued Twitter/X as a platform for truly free speech. Free clue: if speech you hate is blocked, it's not free speech.

@jack You're getting a lot of hate, but honestly, what Twitter was, probably per chance and certainly not by design, was an incredible platform that remains unmatched. We miss it. This cesspool of manipulated algorithm, throttling, and forced right wing content and propaganda sucks.

@mcahogarth Once upon a time, alongside my dream of being published by tradpub and having my books appear in places like Barnes & Noble, I'd dreamed of qualifying for SFWA. Now? Absent a total realignment away from the likes of Scalzi and Kowal and the other SJWs, I'm not interested.

I have learned today that my short story "Bleach" made Tangent Online's annual 2025 Recommended List, which is great but only ancillary to the fact that it was attached to an amazing essay about the capture of SFWA by progressive politics (this being the reason I left as VP). It's a long essay worth reading, but this is the part that struck me as the most important takeaway: "Once again, it is time to remind SFWA that it is a writers organization and not a social activist society. It should never have involved itself in politics in the first place." Yes, that. I remain deeply saddened that the SFWA I aspired to joining, and that I attempted to serve for several years, was not what I hoped. tangentonline.com/news/tangent-o…

Plenty of stuff here to read, and it's all short stories and anthologies, so you can polish it off in an hour or less in between doing other things. And it's not the kind of repetitive woke crap you get from traditional publishers these days. Check it out.

Crystal Beauty by @JayMaynard is a new contribution debuting in this niche collection Browse: basedbooksale.substack.com/p/based-book-n…

@prestonjbyrne They speak of "a borderless Internet" while calling for electronic borders...

The AVPA is mad at 4chan because 4chan won’t sign up for their members’ services and dox all their users. Go ahead and use the business disruption measures. Create a million and a half fresh new free speech activists overnight. Make my day.

@Nobody1978_1 @TimMLatimer @Devon_Eriksen_ Are there Superchargers along the Kansas Turnpike? Although, when I'm making (approximately) that trip, I stop for the night in Wichita...

@TimMLatimer I'm road tripping from Minnesota to Austin the Cybertruck next week and the Bucees Superchargers are one of the things I'm looking forward to. That, and FINALLY getting a chance to listen to "Theft of Fire" in peace. @Devon_Eriksen_

Tesla Superchargers at Buc-ee’s are going to be the thing that finally gets America to electrify. Single biggest enabler of our family going full EV.

@AdamJSchwarz x.com/sow413/status/…

Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi's reaction as Trump says "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Habour?" Undoubtedly the worst American diplomatic gaffe in post-war US-Japan history.

Reporter: Why didn't you notify Japan that you were going to attack Iran? Trump next to the Japanese PM: "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Habour? You believe in surprise I think much more so than us."

@InsiderGeo x.com/sow413/status/…

People often don’t realize that you can’t talk to Asians the same way you talk to Europeans or Westerners. There’s a cultural expectation that historical context, respect, and subtlety are treated differently what might seem casual or humorous in the West is deeply offensive in Japan, In Japan, context, respect, and subtlety guide almost every interaction. Unlike in many Western countries, where directness is valued, Japanese communication often relies on reading between the lines.

RE: The Way of War of Our Enemies In every hot war the United States has become involved in since the Korean War, we have enjoyed absolute tactical and operational dominance over our enemies. We win every tactical engagement, overwhelmingly. Operationally we can and do dominate any theater of our choosing. No one—and I mean NO ONE—can stand toe to toe with the US military. This has been true for decades. We’ve talked before about the elements of national power—the “DIME” (Diplomacy, Informational, Military, Economic). Our military power is unsurpassed. We are masters of diplomacy. We have the world’s strongest economy. So how do we lose? The INFORMATIONAL component. Our military opponents, from Ho Chi Minh to Osama bin Ladin, knew that the only way to defeat the USA is to demoralize the American populace such that it demands withdrawal and throws the then current Commander-in-Chief out of office. The ONLY way to defeat America militarily is to convince the American people that a war is unwinnable. The slow dribble of IED deaths in OIF was not actually targeting soldiers and Marines—it was targeting YOU, the American people. And CNN eagerly complied with death counts running across the bottom of the screen. The Tet Offensive? It was a decisive US victory that could have ended the Vietnam War in our favor. But Walter Cronkite instead declared the war lost, protests erupted nationwide, and the war was lost. The Highway of Death in Kuwait? We could have taken out Saddam Hussein in 1991 and never needed to go back in 2003, but international media made the attack on retreating Iraqis look “too cruel,” so we halted just short of the finish line. The strategic imperative of every one of America’s military enemies is to break the will of the American people with skewed information, propaganda, and extreme emphasis on America’s minor losses amidst overwhelming military victory. But the Ho Chi Minhs and Osama bin Ladins can’t do that by themselves. They need willing partners in the American media and government. And for Operation Epic Fury, boy oh boy do the Iranian mullahs have an over abundance of American morale killers to draw from in order to defeat America through the informational instrument of national power. Tucker Carlson. Senator Mark Kelly and the rest of the Seditious Six. CNN. ABC. NBC. CBS. NYT, WaPo. Pakistani bot armies on social media. X “influencers” like Cerno, Candace, MartyrMade and Ian Carroll. Every idiot claiming we are fighting “Israel’s war." There is an entire Army of American politicians and media figures who are willingly fighting Iran’s informational war on its behalf (and in some cases, at its behest). America is DECISIVELY WINNING the war on Iran in every measurable respect. Yet there are so many influential Americans who are desperately determined to make you believe otherwise. In days of old in non-US countries, such people would have been strung up for treason. Thankfully it’s 2026 and we have a First Amendment, so no one fear being treated in such a medieval manner. But we can still ostracize and ridicule such people and sources for the irreparable harm they are wreaking upon the USA as they do the bidding (intentionally or unintentionally) of Theo-fascist mullahs who are determined to set off a nuclear bomb so that the Twelfth Imam will arise from a well in Qom and precipitate the global apocalypse. We all need to choose sides. Are you with America, or are you with theologic-inspired, deliberate Armageddon? And anyone who chooses the latter needs to be the target of mockery, derision and clearly-stated facts disproving their lies. And if YOU are an American Patriot, you can fight that informational war on America’s behalf, right now, right here on social media, right there in your own living room. Your voice matters, and your voice is actually a part of the war. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

Tom Clancy once wrote that the best cover for a spy was to look st00pid. "Him? He's too dumb to be a spy." This is that principle writ large.

If you want to experience this in its fullest glory, make friends with working-class people in Philadelphia. If one of them gives you crap, give it right back. They'll laugh, clap you on the back, and buy you a beer.

@amjad_boumatar @SamaHoole That looks like an entire platter of yum!

@SamaHoole We live in the middle east and this is what we eat 😀

What Americans think the Mediterranean Diet is: - Whole grains - Olive oil - Colourful vegetables - The occasional sad sardine - Moral virtue on a plate What Mediterranean people actually eat: - Lamb, constantly, at every celebration and several non-occasions - Pork in about fifteen formats - Salami, prosciutto, pancetta, 'nduja, and several more that haven't reached Sainsbury's - Fish multiple times a week - Eggs every morning without discussion - Cheese in quantities that would concern a British GP - Full-fat yoghurt, not the pastel-pot kind - Butter, cream, and animal fat as standard cooking mediums The French consume an extraordinary amount of cheese per person annually. They are not suffering. The Mediterranean Diet sold in books is the photogenic fifteen percent of what they actually eat. The olive oil is real. Everything else got quietly edited out.

Oh, @monsterhunter45 ...