Why do Europeans call “the wave” (something I grew up doing in baseball stadiums) the “Mexican wave”?
Why do Europeans call “the wave” (something I grew up doing in baseball stadiums) the “Mexican wave”?
Anthropic Lost $81 Billion in H1, Files for IPO - Thurrott.com
But its S-1 filing is predictably filled with red flags, including a $80.7 billion loss in the first half of 2026 and 94 pages of risk warnings, one of which is that it’s almost certainly uninsurable.
That seems fine. Right?
Editor’s note: Paul can be hyperbolic a lot of the time. Like, a LOT of the time. But this headline is beautiful.
One Foot Tsunami: Leaving ESPN
And yet, If you watch any sports at all, it’s become impossible to avoid the constant pushes for gambling. There are relentless advertisements featuring celebrities who really, really don’t need the industry’s dirty money, along with frequent in-game betting content. I just want to watch a baseball game, not hear about how the network’s sponsored parlay bet is going. I don’t know if this is good for business overall, but it’s driving me away.
💯
Before every MLS game, there’s literally an advertisement for DraftKings (or FanDuel…honestly, wtf is the difference?). It’s just gross. And it plays to our worst addictive tendencies as humans.
A large “empathy gap” has opened up between Republicans and white evangelicals vs. other Americans.
Two-thirds of Americans (68%) say empathy is a foundational moral value that helps build a healthy society, compared with 27% who say it can become dangerous when it leads people away from building a society guided by God’s truth. The vast majority of Democrats (84%) and independents (70%) agree that empathy helps build a healthy society, compared with 54% of Republicans.
Republicans who hold a favorable view of Trump are split in their views on empathy. About half side with the statement that empathy is a foundational moral value (49%), and nearly as many believe empathy can be dangerous (48%). By contrast, nearly three-quarters of Republicans who view Trump unfavorably (72%) view empathy as a foundational moral value.
White evangelical Protestants are the only religious group in which a majority does not agree that empathy is a foundational moral value (42%). Instead, a majority (54%) say empathy can be dangerous. Views that empathy is dangerous are positively correlated with holding Christian nationalist views.
One of the more troubling aspects of the MAGA movement is that they have convinced (mostly) white men that empathy is a weakness. When it should be one of our wonderful strengths.
To the 54% of evangelical Protestants mentioned, how do you square the lack of empathy with the very teachings of Christ you claim to “live by”?
Note: I have “live by” in quotes there because I absolutely, unequivocally believe the majority of them don’t live by Christ’s teachings at all. Instead, they parade around as racist, bigoted hypocrites, hiding behind that abomination of a president shouting “America First” at the top of their lungs.
It’s Hard To Be A Rich Radical | Defector
Black conservatives are having quite the moment right now in the culture, and it would be a lot easier for him and others like him if they just came out and admitted it. Stop pretending you recently read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and admit you are really rich and don’t like paying taxes, everyone else be damned. It would honestly get you a lot less hassle from actual black leftists than this whole routine, the necessity of lying about your beliefs or the various forms of sabotaging real black liberation or building of wealth. At least Kanye is making it obvious.
Damn. Facts.
NBA joins with prediction markets to boost integrity
That Onion-esque headline is real. The NBA announced yesterday that it is partnering with Polymarket and Kalshi as part of a push to protect “the integrity of the game.” The move comes as the league grapples with recent sports betting scandals and prediction markets face legal challenges from state regulators.
I’m glad they addressed the headline right up front.
The Small-Town Cop Who Helped ICE Deport His Ingram, Texas, Neighbors — ProPublica
It’s hard to even pick a quote from this article. You just have to read it. If you don’t believe the immigration crackdown brought on by the Trump administration is destructive after reading this, then you have no heart. No soul. No humanity.
I wonder how Philadelphians audibly tell the difference between wonder and wander. It’s gotta be difficult.
The AI world has standardized on Markdown.
I don’t hate it. The plain text, human-readable formatting of Markdown makes it an excellent standard. I think it should be used for all documentation.
I think I’m starting to believe that traffic is so bad in the mornings because nobody really wants to get to work.
Choose the Second One – SQLServerCentral
Now, come up with a second idea. Something new and different. This might be harder in the data space with SQL than in application programming (C#, Java, etc.), but the idea is expressed in A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout. It’s how he has often taught his software design course at Stanford. His approach is to force students to think more deeply about their design, and he often finds that they build a better system the second time.
I love this idea. How practical it is in the real-world? Don’t know yet.
Protestors Criticized For Looting Businesses Without Forming Private Equity Firm First - The Onion
“Look, we all have the right to protest, but that doesn’t mean you can just rush in and destroy any business without gathering a group of clandestine investors to purchase it at a severely reduced price and slowly bleed it to death,” said Facebook commenter Amy Mulrain.
Perfection.
I take a lot of pictures with my phone. A lot. It’s literally why I opted for the iPhone 18 Pro instead of the new and nerdy iPhone Duo. And it’s shots like this that make that worthwhile:
Jayme and I went to see Dan + Shay last week, one of Jayme’s favorite groups. They really do know how to put on a show. They started one of their songs like this (visually) and I framed it as best I could, lifting the phone above my head. This was one of the shots I got.
These are the life instances that make me smile.
There are some people whose vehicle absolutely matches their personality / demeanor.
An impromptu mega EV road trip
In total, I charged the car 19 times during the trip using paid, level 3 chargers from Rivian, Tesla and Electrify America. Each stop, I spent about 20 minutes charging and it came to $516.45 total for the entire trip. That may seem expensive, but if you compare it to a gas-powered minivan on a 2,600 mile trip getting 20mpg, with fuel being around $5.50/gallon currently, that same road trip would cost $715. If the van got 25mpg, the fuel costs would still exceed the EV costs at $572).
This is interesting in only because Matthew is the first person to say it still costs money to use their EV. Every EV zealot I’ve read likes to trumpet the “I don’t have to pay for gas” thing. It still costs quite a bit to drive the car on a road trip. (Admittedly, the economics are decidedly different when you limit your driving to around your own neighborhood/city).
Even then, it’s more money than I would have thought. $516.45 is not that much less than the $572 in the grand scheme of things. I’m using the 25mpg number here because I wouldn’t want a vehicle that would get less than that on the highway.
Also, I’d like to come back to this one:
Each stop, I spent about 20 minutes charging
You know how long it takes to get gas? 5 minutes. That 15-minute difference may not seem like a long time, but multiply that by the 19 stops, and that adds up. I did the math. It’s almost 5 hours worth of extra time on the trip.
No thanks.
This clip:
Okay, so we deported 3 million people. Now what?
- Did you get your job back?
- Did your rent go down?
- Did housing suddenly become affordable?
- Did new and used car prices drop?
- Did your healthcare bills get cheaper?
- Did your fucking taxes go down?
- Did crime suddenly just disappear?
- Are people no longer shooting up schools?
- Are children no longer being abused?
- Are people no longer killing their own family members?
No? Interesting.
So let me get this straight. You’ve spent years convincing Americans that immigrants are the reason their lives are miserable. Meanwhile, corporations are making record profits. Cost of living is through the fucking roof. People are drowning in debt and somehow the immigrants working 2 jobs, paying rent, and trying to feed their families are the biggest threat to America.
Give me a fucking break.
And before somebody twist my words, yes, a country has the right to secure its borders and enforce its immigration laws, but don’t confuse enforcing the law with scapegoating an entire fucking population because if you deport millions of people and you’re still broke, still struggling, still can’t afford a house, and still can’t pay your medical bills, maybe immigrants were never the solution to your problems. Maybe they were just the easiest people to blame.
And maybe it’s time to start holding the people actually running this country accountable.
No notes.
Speaking of Senator Ossoff, during a July 15, 2026 exchange with (then) nominee for Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, Ossoff drew this gem out of Clayton:
It was the first time that in my recollection that I’ve thought about it recently.
Umm, huh? English is hard, yo.
Note: The fact that this jackass is yet another example of the cowards who won’t admit Trump lost the 2020 election is just staggering. A cult, indeed.
The first part of this clip is of David Brooks on a recent episode of PBS’s The News Hour. He’s commenting on the Georgia Senate Debtate held recently between Senator Jon Ossoff and Republican challenger Mike Collins. Here’s the quote that stymies me:
Jon Ossoff? My advice to him, if you start calling your political opponents Nazis, maybe it’s time to shut up. That’s just not what we do here in this country.
I beg to differ, sir. These days, that’s exactly the type of thing we do here in this country. Just ask your Dear Leader. He’s made his entire political career doing exactly this. Suddenly though, because a Democrat does it, now it’s beyond the pale? No sir.
It’s the very definition of “don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’”. I applaud Ossoff for this. Call a racist a fucking racist. Call a Nazi a fucking Nazi. More of this, please.
Also, please check out Jamelle Bouie’s wonderful takedown of the whole civility argument.
At the coffee shop this morning, Stella Lefty’s “Boston” started playing over the speakers. The repeated chorus:
But I like it when you’re nice, like it when you’re nice to me.
Can we aim for something higher? Isn’t being nice to someone table stakes at this point? Lord.
I don’t know how to stop it, but people having a phone conversation (in public!) on speaker instead of through the headset has long past being fucking annoying.
Just watched Frequency for the first time in years. Several things I noticed:
I don’t even think they believe in their own bullshit meritocracy argument anymore (if they ever did).
What a fucking joke.
Hard not to notice that Democrats who are doing the best are the ones who are leaving this whole civility-and-norms, we-go-high, we-need-a-strong-Republican-Party bullshit behind and are simply giving Republicans exactly what they all ought to get at all times, which is undisguised contempt.
💯
FIFA Peace Prize could be scrapped a year on from Donald Trump win
FIFA’s controversial Peace Prize could be scrapped at the end of the year — only 12 months after U.S. President Donald Trump received the inaugural award.
At a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich on Thursday, it was decided that the governing body’s football social responsibility committee will now be tasked with assessing the merits of what was supposed to be an annual prize.
Wait…it’s a bullshit “award”? I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
Speaking of the Man City fallout, Miguel (from the Libero podcast), says the following in this clip:
It just didn’t feel a proper match, which is the biggest problem. And a real problem the Premier League have right now.
So, here’s my question: What if City had lost 0-3 to Liverpool? Would that have classified it as a “proper match”? Is just because City won?
What makes the whole City financial fiasco funny is that most of what you hear, most of the pearl clutching, are from fans of the other “big” clubs (Arsenal, Man United, Chelsea, even Tottenham) in the Premier League.
Why do you think that is?
It’s probably because City came in (allegedly, for now, against the rules) and spent money that those clubs have been spending for years. And they didn’t want another player in that arms race.
The only real difference is that City won. And they did not. This isn’t about what’s fair and what’s not. The Premeir League has never really been fair. And everyone knows it.
Even now, you don’t really hear from the smaller clubs and their fans because, let’s be honest, those fans simply wish they had same the opportunity to spend money for success.
Last night’s dinner accoutrement.
Lyrics on the song I’m currently overhearing at Dunkin this morning:
“Run from the sun like Dracula”
We have run out of ideas.
Dr. Becky Kennedy, in a clip from the podcast Aspire with Emma Grede:
The space between wanting and having has been completely collapsed. And the space between wanting and having is where frustration lives.
I don’t like the constant generation comparisons that go on in so many places. So I won’t immediately go to the “back in my day” trope.
But…I do see this in real life. Hell, I have even experienced the frustration of even having to experience frustration.
Abdul El-Sayed on Jessie Watters’ turd of a Fox News show:
Billionaires don’t make their money off their labor…Billionaires make their money off their money.
So perfectly said by El-Sayed. Labor vs. capital is the real fight in this day and age.
Any talk of affordability, “socialism”, taxes, “haves” vs. “have not”s, all boils down to this point.
Please understand that I love my kids dearly. And I would do anything for them. I even miss the time when they were little (to a point).
But…I do NOT want to spend a lot of time (if any) with other people’s kids. And increasingly, every public space that is around me is inundated with them.
This morning, while at Starbucks, a 5-ish year old boy and girl decided to play a dueling screaming game. You know, while the parents just sat there and chuckled like everything was A Ok.
I fucking left.
There is some entitled shithead in Starbucks this morning arguing with the barista that he should receive his free birthday drink. Oh by the way, his birthday was 9/18.
FFS.
But there is one angle here that we can talk about that most other places won’t: whether hosting the livestream would violate the platforms’ own rules — and whether they’ll simply ignore (or rewrite) those rules to do it anyway.
Spoiler alert: They will simply ignore their own rules.
What keeps you up at night, Lee?
Pentagon says execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed | Pete Hegseth | The Guardian
Pete Hegseth has said the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, will be a public event when the sentence is carried out later this year. A defense department official later confirmed the execution will be livestreamed.
The Hunger Games was not supposed to be a playbook, you fucking ghouls.
Exclusive | Joe Rogan Re-Ups Lucrative Spotify Deal - WSJ
“The partnership with Spotify has been an amazing fit, and they’re incredible to work with,” Rogan said. “I’m extremely happy and excited to continue with them for years to come.”
Yet another reason not to like Spotify.
Spotify opens new front in war on fair use – Six Colors
After all this, I decided to delete my Spotify account and sever The Incomparable’s relationship with that company.
Way to go, Jason!
I don’t like Spotify. In fact, I’ve never liked Spotify. But I am also of a different generation than my kids. So, here we are.
John Roberts Retreated to His Island. Supreme Court Critics Found Him. - The New York Times
“Maine is not here as your happy place, your wind-down from all of your hard work destroying my civil liberties and democracy,” wrote Becca Shaw Glaser in her column for the local newspaper, shortly after the Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to abortion in 2022. “No. May you never feel welcome here again.”
I concur.
“I think there’s a lot of daylight,” Altman told Decoded co-author and POLITICO senior tech reporter Brendan Bordelon. Asked specifically where he diverges from Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei, Altman said, “we believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.”
Well, thanks for making that decision for me, Sam.
It’s getting harder and harder for me not to call this man a piece of shit.
Seniors on Medicare to receive $90 payments for premium costs, Trump says | AP News
The White House said the $90 payments for seniors will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, established by Congress in 2008 as flexible funding to improve program operations and payments to health care providers.
Medicare Part B enrollees can expect to receive a one-time payment in October, either through direct deposit or by check, the White House said. Total monthly costs for the program — which covers costs like doctor’s visits, ambulance services and lab tests — start around $200 and vary with income.
Wait, I thought everyone was supposed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. It’s their own damn fault that they don’t have enough to spend on healthcare. They’re just a leach on society. Might as well just let them die.
Right, Republicans? Right!?!
What If We Just Stopped? | dansinker.com
I’m not sure what keeps me there, what keeps any of us there, beyond inertia. We’re in the Looney Tunes stage of the end of social, where we’ve glided well past the edge of the cliff and it’s slowing dawning on us that the only way left is down. Fast.
What if we just stopped?
What if we stopped plugging our selves into the machines, stopped performing (wittingly and unwittingly) for the algorithm, stopped letting bots bait us, stopped all of it and figured out new ways—our ways—to do things again.
I love the sentiment here. I agree with so much. I just don’t believe people will (or can) stop themselves. Because I don’t know if people know how to just be anymore (without their phone as an “I’m bored” fix).
I watched the two Tom Cruise Jack Reacher movies today.
Hot take: I enjoyed them quite a bit.
Gosh, I hope nobody tells his mommy.
UPDATE: This article attempts to detail the incident, but is pretty light on actual details. I did enjoy this quote from NFLPA executive director JC Tretter:
“This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” Tretter wrote. “Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”
Sure they are, JC. Sure they are. I’m throwing a big, brown BULLSHIT flag on that one.
Why yes…yes, I was absolutely wondering that.
The American Religion of Self-Storage Facilities | The New Yorker
By the time I got home, I had concluded, based on a multitude of examples, that the two great pillars of American culture are church and self-storage.
Strictly anecdotal on my part, this 100% checks out.
Umm…ok?
The death of web development education – Rescuing a field from disappearing
Many independent educators who used to earn a living from web development training and developer relations have reported that GenAI has ruined their business.
In retrospect, I should have seen this coming. And it worries me. Because what will the AI “gods” train themselves on when the next wave of technology has nothing written about them?
If you had told me that Mauricio Dubon was going to be hitting cleanup in the playoffs, I’d have thought you were insane.
