It’s got to cause some serious whiplash…
It’s got to cause some serious whiplash…
I’ve reached the point in my life when I see those compilations on IG Reels where daughters want to hug their dads or sons talk about their fathers and the Twilight song “A Thousand Years” is playing, I will just ugly cry. Almost every time.
This is what I’ve been saying…they are getting too comfortable with this shit. We (as a people) made progress for so long. And it has been erased in a single year. By a single administration. Guess you have to have that progress for multiple generations for it to stick.
To even think about the news, let alone read it, feels like a herculean task—and that’s from someone with a good job, supportive family, and has all the privilege in the world as a straight white cis man. I can’t begin to imagine what it must feel like for people worried they could be kidnapped or harassed at any moment because of the way they look.
Neither can I.
Claudette Colvin, Who Refused to Give Her Bus Seat to a White Woman, Dies at 86 - The New York Times
To add to the indignity, Black riders were not allowed to occupy the same row as white riders, which meant that they had to move back even if there were empty seats next to those passengers.
That’s exactly what happened when a white woman boarded Ms. Colvin’s bus. The driver ordered Ms. Colvin and the three other Black people in her row to move. Two of them did. Ms. Colvin and another woman remained seated.
As a student, Ms. Colvin had been active in her school’s N.A.A.C.P. Youth Council, which had been considering ways to protest the city’s segregation laws. She had also been close with a classmate, Jeremiah Reeves, who had recently been caught having sex with a white woman and arrested. The woman claimed that he had raped her. (He would be convicted, sentenced to death and executed in 1958.)
Remember Claudette Colvin.
AddyOsmani.com - 21 Lessons From 14 Years at Google
14. If you win every debate, you’re probably accumulating silent resistance.
I’ve learned to be suspicious of my own certainty. When I “win” too easily, something is usually wrong. People stop fighting you not because you’ve convinced them, but because they’ve given up trying - and they’ll express that disagreement in execution, not meetings.
Real alignment takes longer. You have to actually understand other perspectives, incorporate feedback, and sometimes change your mind publicly.
The short-term feeling of being right is worth much less than the long-term reality of building things with willing collaborators.
I absolutely love this lesson. It applies in so many instances. And it’s overlooked so many times by leaders. I know I’ve been guilty of it.
Re: The Americans, absolute peak Keri Russell.
Returning to some comfort listening.
Finally getting around to watching The Americans. What a great pilot! And the send-up to Miami Vice was spot on. Props to the creators!
MAGA’s Foundational Lie - The Atlantic
We have been watching indecency triumph in the public sphere on and off for more than 10 years now, since the moment Trump insulted John McCain’s war record. For reasons that are quite possibly too unbearable to contemplate, a large group of American voters was not repulsed by such slander—they were actually aroused by it—and our politics have not been the same. Much has been said, including by me, about Trump’s narcissism, his autocratic inclinations, his disconnection from reality, but not nearly enough has been said about his fundamental indecency, the characteristic that undergirds everything he says and does.
So, so good. It encapsulates everything I wish I had the authorial temperament to write.
And later:
We are in a long Lord of the Flies moment, led by a man who, to borrow from Psalm 10, possesses a mouth “full of cursing and deceit and fraud.” For many people—government scientists seeking cures for diseases; FBI agents investigating corruption and terrorism; military leaders trying to preserve respect for the rules of warfare; and, in particular, police officers who were brutalized by Trump’s army of deluded followers—these days can seem infernal.
Chef’s kiss.
Daring Fireball: ‘Fuck You, Make Me’ Without Saying the Words
It would do no ultimate good for Apple or Google to burn themselves to the ground in protest. These men aren’t beholden to shareholders, per se. They’re doing their duty to institutions they’ve devoted their lives to. Companies that are worth preserving and protecting. Perhaps not in your estimation, but certainly from theirs.
A calming voice in the storm. The “fuck you” part of me utterly disagrees with this. But the pragmatic, level-headed part of me agrees with it 100%. Kudos, Gruber.
Seems appropriate.
There are no words for this.
This administration is about nothing but cruelty and bullying. And now it’s led to this.
For all of those that voted for this, cheered it, may karma come and humble you.
P.S. If you’re wondering how Fox News will spin this, here you go.
Health Dept. Freezes $10 Billion in Funding to 5 Democratic States - The New York Times
The Trump administration on Tuesday froze $10 billion in funding for child care subsidies, social services and cash support for low-income families in five states controlled by Democrats, claiming without evidence widespread fraud throughout those states after a major welfare fraud scheme in one of them.
I don’t know the facts of this case. And I would venture to guess that neither does Trump. But picking on only Democratic states for this is just disgusting and, sadly, not surprising.
Trump is a piece of shit, and fuck you if you disagree.
How the hell are you supposed to have a career in tech in 2026? - Anil Dash
Many leaders at these companies have run full speed towards moral and social cowardice, abandoning their employees and customers to embrace rank hatred and discrimination in ways that they pretended to be fighting against just a few years ago. Meanwhile, unchecked consolidation has left markets wildly uncompetitive, leaving consumers suffering from the effects of categories without any competition or investment — which we know now as “enshittification”. And the full-scale shift into corruption and crony capitalism means that winners in business are decided by whoever is shameless enough to offer the biggest bribes and debase themselves with the most humiliating display of groveling. It’s a depressing shift for people who, earlier in their careers, often actually were part of inventing the future.
Anil hits the proverbial nail on the head.
I watched the two-part docuseries on Charlie Sheen last night, entitled “aka Charlie Sheen”. In episode 2, Sheen’s former cast mate from Two and a Half Men Jon Cryer said the following:
I think that a lot of people in the audience enjoy Charlie Sheen vicariously. That he he’s living the life that they want. And a lot of of them enjoyed the fact that he could have the highest paying job on the earth. And say this (flipping the bird) to his boss, say this (another bird gesture) to his boss’s boss, and give everybody everybody the finger. To live his life, do every bit of drugs that he wanted. And they were mad that anybody was holding him to a limit. That anybody was stopping him really pissed them off.
And later:
“Yeah, he’s a breath of fresh air”. No, he’s a guy who got everything he wanted from this business he just lost it and he’s having a tantrum.
Sound familiar?
I ran across this archive site this morning. Someone should make an audio podcast feed of all publicly available baseball games. Maybe even a podcast feed per team? A feed for given World Series(es)? A feed for greatest games of all time? A feed for a given broadcaster?
What I wouldn’t give for a feed of Vin Scully games throughout his career.
The possibilities are endless.
Van Lathan, Jr.:
The president is a piece of shit. Fuck you if you disagree.
I don’t disagree.
Context Several weeks ago on the podcast Higher Learning, Van and co-host Rachel Lindsay were discussing the aftermath of the horrific deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle. The quote above came, specifically, in reaction to the social media posting from President Trump where he said the following:
…Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donalo J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before…
Just abhorrent. Not befitting a human being. Much less a president.
Trump is a piece of shit. And yes, fuck you if you disagree.
Watching “The American President” again. I still find it hard to accept that Michael Douglas is the president when Martin Sheen (the one and only true president) is sitting next to him.
Also, the moral outrage over family values because the president has a girlfriend is laughable at best. And disgusting at worst.
Were we really this prudish back in 1995? And are we really this morally bankrupt now?
Hot take: ChatGPT is simply a really fast aggregator of information.
Not today, Satan. Not at a (larger) family game night.
They need to rename this game.
Cancel Culture’s Boomerang Effect - The Atlantic
The reason so many of yesterday’s free-speech champions transitioned so easily into today’s pro-Trump censors is that their definition of free speech never included the right of others to talk back. They were not defending a universal right to freedom of speech; they were defending a right to monologue. They could say what they want, and you could shut up and like it. The cynicism of the effort can be known by its fruits: an administration that issues executive orders “protecting” free speech while engaging in the most sweeping campaign of state censorship since the Red Scare.
This. For the love of God, this.
I looked in your cup to see if you had enough. You looked in mine to check if I had more than you.
We are not the same.
That gets me right there in the Democratic feels.
Just realizing we own a lot of hoodies and sweaters to live in…Georgia.
Car shopping has opened my eyes to the fact that, with a few exceptions, the vast majority of vehicles on the road right now are either black, white, gray, or silver. Coming in a distant fifth is some sort of red, but normally tending more toward a maroon.
When did that happen? Did I miss that memo?
A problem in both sports and the world at large. The rich can literally buy anything they want.
There’s nothing worse than people you know have waited in a line, and then fumble to find their wallet/credit card/phone to pay for something when they finally reach the front.
Mother fucker, what have you been doing in line the entire damn time?!?!
@futurebird@sauropods.win (via Mastodon):
In the US churches are excited about trans people existing and other deeply counterproductive nonsense. What if we could redirect them to being mad about gambling again? That seems like a much more productive project if they can’t be convinced to help the poor… which the Bible says they ought to be.
Gambling is a sin. Do your conservative politicians care about how it’s destroying people’s lives at all?
Seconded.
Chef Saves Man’s Life After He Stopped Showing Up for His Daily Dinners
Being a “regular” has its distinct advantages!
I believe that social media should be banned…for (cue Gary Oldman here) everyone!
My Instagram Reels feed is infested with Jon Hamm memes. And you know what? I’m not hating it.
Michelle Monaghan has never looked better than in 2011’s Source Code.
What’s it like to have a dog that is scared of others? I’ll never know.
Maturing is realizing how, when, and where you hold tension and anxiety in your body, and telling yourself “just let go”.
I wonder if Andre Agassi called David Beckham in the early 2000’s and asked him to bring back his hairstyle.
I never realized how much Ana de Armas looks like Tiffani Thiessen.
It’s Official: The Original Theatrical Cut of ‘Star Wars’ Is Coming Back to Theaters
A day Star Wars fans never thought would happen is finally happening. Lucasfilm and Disney are rereleasing the original version of Star Wars in theaters for its 50th anniversary. It’ll happen on February 17, 2027, and io9 has confirmed with Lucasfilm that it is, in fact, the original theatrical cut of the movie.
Oh this is happening.
Small businesses shrank, surprising jobs report says
The US private sector shed 32,000 jobs in November after adding an upward-revised 47,000 jobs the month before, according to a report released yesterday by the payroll firm ADP.
How can anyone be surprised by this?
Tesla’s Cybertruck is turning 2. It’s been a big flop. - MarketWatch
The EV company sold fewer than 39,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, according to Cox Automotive data — far below the company’s eventual goal of 250,000 per year. As of October, Tesla had delivered just 17,317 units in 2025, a 42% drop compared to the same period in 2024.
This makes me so happy.
Of course, that’s a small price to pay for the laughably transparent illusion that we’re taking any meaningful steps toward protecting our kids from being slaughtered in their classrooms. In a crumbling empire where common sense has been eroded by ideology, and the political will to solve a problem can’t hope to compete with the ghoulish impulse to profit from it, creating a new business sector might just be the only kind of healing that the richest country on Earth can afford.
In my best Kevin Hart voice: “Damn!”
Think about this…what if instead of AI, all of that money had been invested in solving the actual problems of the world?
Imagine…
Do I even need to answer this?
Only in Florida can I be referred to as “young man”.
In dad’s hospital room, there is a machine that makes a sound every 30 seconds that sounds exactly like the “All the” notes in the Blink-182’s “All the Small Things”. Mom looked over at me when I finished with “small things”.
Mom and I were talking this morning and we realized last night’s dinner was the first time that my parents, my sister, and I had had dinner together as just the four of us in decades.
Nvidia blows bubble fears and expectations away
The world can stop worrying about an AI bubble, at least for now: AI chip-making linchpin Nvidia dropped a stellar earnings report yesterday that has at least temporarily eased concerns that the economy is on the verge of collapsing like a New York Mets team in September.
I’m sorry, but how exactly does this ease any fears?
Only when I drive by myself…Yesterday, I drove door to door to my parents’ house in 5 hours. No stops.
Intuit signs $100M+ deal with OpenAI to bring its apps to ChatGPT | TechCrunch
Intuit said its tools, such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, will be accessible through ChatGPT, allowing users to ask questions and complete tasks such as estimating tax refunds, reviewing credit options, or managing business finances.
What could possibly go wrong?
Daring Fireball: When You Give a Bully Your Lunch Money
And I’ll tell you something, I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake, and it’s so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should look at that.
Can you imagine Obama or (god forbid) Biden saying something like this to a reporter? Any reporter? If that reporter happened to be from Fox News, they’d call for burning the President at the stake.
The fact that this is normalized in our society now is disheartening and embarrassing.