Speaking of the Braves, I came across this Instagram post from Dale Murphy today and thought I’d share…

I’ve been thinking a lot about Bobby Cox and the impact he had on my career and my life. It’s not a new thought—| always credit him for saving my career because well… he did.

Bobby was so loyal-he gave guys every chance he possibly could to succeed. He didn’t panic. He was patient. I never saw frustration come out as anger with him. I still remember him yelling encouragement to guys from the dugout when they were up to bat. They couldn’t always hear him…but everyone in the dugout could. I think that encouragement was for our benefit-knowing he’d be yelling the same things to us when we were at the plate.

Bobby always had your back. If you were on his team-you were his guy. If not, you weren’t. It was as simple as that. You might remember that game when I was with the Phillies and Bobby told Tom Glavine he had to even the score and throw at the next guy up to bat. Glav checked the lineup card and said, “Bobby, it’s Murph!” It didn’t matter to Bobby. We were friends of course. And a short time before that I had been one of his guys-but not anymore. I always admired Bobby for that—he was a players manager in every sense of the word.

You can still see Bobby Cox’s influence throughout the Braves organization today. As one of those who was fortunate enough to play for him, I will always feel lucky that our paths crossed in Atlanta, Georgia, all those years ago and blessed to have known him and be able to call him a friend.

RIP to one of the best-Bobby Cox.

I love that we have Murphy as one of the “good guys” of baseball representing Atlanta. My dad tells me when I was really little (in the 80’s), I woujd always talk about him while we watched the Braves on TBS.

• 2021: Won World Series
• 2025: Finished next to last

Talk about a tale of two responses to a bad start.

The Film That Explains Contemporary America - The Atlantic

My colleague David Frum once wrote about the Trump era, “When this is all over, nobody will admit to ever having supported it.” I thought about that a lot while watching The Sorrow and the Pity, which showed how true it was in France. But the documentary is ambiguous on what a society should do about that. One old guerrilla says that he knows that informers continue to live around him. He cannot forget the betrayals, but he also doesn’t seek revenge. Ophuls makes a case that remembering what happened is essential, but he leaves for viewers to decide whether it’s more important to effect justice or to simply coexist with those who see the error of their ways, even if they do not admit it.

This will be the hardest part for me. I already know that.

Because I know these people. I work with these people. I live amongst them.

I don’t know that I will ever forgive them.

Ever.

The quiet grief of adult friendship

And perhaps this is why adult friendship feels increasingly radical. It resists the transactional logic modern life rewards everywhere else. Because a real friend offers something profoundly rare: unoptimised presence. Family is structured by blood. Marriage by institution. Work relationships by utility. Friendship survives purely through mutual choosing. Nobody has to stay. And yet some people do.

Despite impossible schedules and emotional fatigue, some friends continue returning. They send memes during meetings. They remember your important dates. They call you out-of-the-blue. Not because it is convenient. But because somewhere, beneath all the exhaustion adulthood imposes, they still consider your inner life important. Sometimes it is simply the stubborn decision to keep returning to people despite the world constantly training you to prioritise everything else.

When I was younger, and this topic came up, I must admit that I kind of rolled my eyes a bit. It seemed like “olds” bemoaning some nostalgic past that may or may not have actually existed.

At almost 46, however, I am seeing things very differently. Feeling the loss of that connection more than I ever have.

StanChart CEO seeks to reassure staff over ‘lower value human capital’ comment | Reuters

Standard Chartered (STAN.L), opens new tab CEO Bill Winters sought to assuage staff concerns on Wednesday, a day after saying that the ​bank will cut thousands of jobs over the next four years as it ‌moves to replace “lower-value human capital” with technology.

I mean, he could have said “human scum”. How ungrateful are you, people?

How to deal with your kid leaving • Buttondown

Our children should know that we had lives before them, during them, and after them. If for no other reason than they need role models of how to live a life. Which gets lived until the very end.

I love every part of this post. My oldest will be a senior in college this year. My youngest is off to Europe for the summer (after his college freshman year) in about 48 hours.

Shit gettin’ real.

Kleptocracy - Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

Here’s the bottom line. Donald Trump wants to take $1.8 billion dollars of money that taxpayers like you and me have paid to the government, and he wants to give it to his most hardcore followers, the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6. Trump calls them victims of Joe Biden’s weaponization of the Justice Department. It’s corruption. Corruption in plain sight. Trump is going to give his supporters taxpayers’ money.

The sad thing is I’m not surprised by this at all. Not even a little bit.

When everything is bad, nothing is bad. People get desensitized. They can no longer keep track of it all. It’s all so awful that none of it gets processed anymore.

Yep.

Japan’s Tourism Troubles Are Being Fuelled By Social Media Assholes

In none of those examples were the size of the crowds of tourists the problem, or even their general behaviour. The vast majority of people were fine! The problem was the tourists with their phones out shooting themselves for a video or taking endless selfies, blocking crowds, barring entrance to stores and just generally getting in everyone’s way in the most annoying way possible. I know simply blaming TikTok and Instagram and YouTube Shorts for so many flashpoints is an overly-simplistic explanation, but also, from everything I saw in my two weeks (where other kinds of rude or offensive behaviour outside the occasional jerk were rare), it was kinda true.

I’ve said it before. Social media is, in and of itself, a menace.

Minnesota to ban prediction markets like Kalshi, Polymarket : NPR

The new state law makes it a crime to host or advertise a prediction market, which it defines as a system that lets consumers place a wager on a future outcome, like sports, elections, live entertainment, someone’s word choice and world affairs.

Honestly, I agree with this. It’s not good for society.

DOJ announces nearly $1.8B fund to compensate Trump allies | AP News

The Trump administration announced Monday the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate allies of the Republican president who believe they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted, an arrangement that Democrats and government watchdogs derided as “corrupt” and unconstitutional.

I’m sure glad we have no wasteful spening happening in the federal government these days.

Can’t complain if you don’t do your part.

Of the many things he’s done, this fucker has further emboldened racists.

This is at a publicly, nationally televised baseball game. And they had no qualms about it. In fact, they were proud of it.

We Are Eating Our Own Seed Corn – SQLServerCentral

Here is the deeper problem, and the one that should give even the most enthusiastic AI advocates pause.

The AI systems that are replacing junior workers did not emerge from nothing. They were trained in decades of human-generated work: code committed by junior developers learning on the job, documentation written by entry-level technical writers, support transcripts from help desk analysts in their first year. Every iteration of AI that handles “routine” technical work is drawn on a reservoir of human expertise that was built, painstakingly, by people doing exactly the jobs we are now eliminating.

What happens when that reservoir stops being replenished?

Not the first person to say this, but it bears repeating. Again and again and again.

Daring Fireball: AI Is Technology, Not a Product

The idea that AI agents “will have already figured out where [we] need to go, and the car will be waiting without the friction of a request” strikes me as pure fever dream high-on-the-hype fantasy. I’m just going to step outside a restaurant when I’m done eating a meal and a ride-share is going to be there, waiting for me, without my having hailed it? Every time? And I’m going to find this pleasing, not creepy? And ride-share drivers are going to respond to all these requests, because the requests will never be wrong? And this is going to happen, somehow, without my carrying a phone with me? And this is going to happen in the next four years? I don’t think I’d want this even if it were plausible, but it doesn’t sound plausible.

Nailing it.

That moment you realize you’re way too old to be walking through a mall.

U.S. Set to Drop Charges Against Indian Billionaire Accused of Fraud - The New York Times

The reversal came after the Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of President Trump’s personal lawyers and the co-chairman of the prominent firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Mr. Giuffra’s efforts on Mr. Adani’s behalf culminated in a previously unreported meeting last month at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, according to people familiar with the meeting. Mr. Giuffra ticked through about 100 slides outlining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence, as well as the jurisdiction even to bring the case, one of the people said.

Another slide also made an unusual offer: If prosecutors dropped the charges, Mr. Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, echoing a pledge he had made in the wake of Mr. Trump’s election.

Fraud = bad. Bribes = good. Got it.

I’d love to go back to my year 2000 self who was sitting in his database course at Georgia Tech and say “Normal form is great, even preferred, but NOT always practical in the real world. It’s ok.”

Having a stored procedure run for 6-7 seconds on principle alone when it could run in less than 1 second is just asinine.

What happens if you’re both?

I’ve never been to a graduation where I or someone I know wasn’t graduating. There’s a first time for everything!

Utah is not jazzed about a potential AI data center

Plans to build an AI data center that will span 40,000 acres in northwest Utah were approved by county commissioners last week, despite protests from thousands of local residents who believe the project will wreak havoc on the local environment and increase energy costs.

Voices don’t matter anymore. People don’t matter anymore. Only money.

I’m convinced that Waymo’s just drive around the city as we sleep. On the way back from the airport this morning around 5:45am, there were two in front of me at the stoplight. And one behind me. And three at the cross street stoplight.

Judgement Day is coming.

Just going to leave this here…

The city of Atlanta, especially Atlanta sports, owes a great deal to these two men. Fitting statement on both Ted Turner and Bobby Cox.

2 Letters from Steve | David Gelphman’s Blog

But until the product was officially released I could not show it to anyone without permission from Apple management. There was no way I was going to take the iPad with me unless Steve personally approved it.

One from way back (in 2013), but someone linked to it recently, and I loved reading it. Heck, I probably read it 13 years ago, but don’t remember. Small acts of kindness can go a long way. We should all remember that. We should all strive to live up to that.

The war between fast and legitimate is here

The history of speed without legitimacy is a history of fraud and human wreckage and a great many self-justifying memoirs published with the gift and grift of hindsight. Every time someone tells you that move-fast-and-break-things is a good strategy, you should ask what got broken and whose problem it’s going to be to fix it.

What a fantastic way to put that. It’s something that has triggered my brain when it comes to AI. AI is simply the newest move-fast-and-break-things fad to be introduced into our lives. It just so happens to be permeating more parts of our lives than, say, a communal remote work “solution”.

I continue to be impressed with Joan’s writing. A wonderful read.

History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law | U.S. Department of Labor

The 2007 amendments increased the minimum wage to $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

2009!!!! We haven’t changed it since 2009?!? I heard someone say this today, and I had to go check for myself.

Know what that amount is adjusted for inflation?

$26

We are not taking care of people in this country.

Parents Increasingly Reject Vitamin K Shots for Newborns, Hospitals Report — ProPublica

In almost every case, the babies’ deaths could have been prevented with a long-standard vitamin K shot. But across the country, families — first in smatterings, now in droves — are declining the single, inexpensive injection given at birth to newborns to help their blood clot.

Many of them are doing so out of a well-meaning but ill-informed abundance of caution. In the hopes of safeguarding their newborns from what they see as unnecessary medical intervention, they have shunned fundamental and scientifically sound pharmaceutical intervention. The trend is also fueled by a contradictory pairing: families’ fierce desire to protect their babies and a cascade of false information infused into their social media algorithms.

Although it is not a vaccine, the vitamin K shot has been swept up in the same post-pandemic tide that has led to a drop in key childhood vaccines, including for measles and whooping cough.

How very pro-life of them…

At dinner Sunday night, Brian pointed out that Jeeps always, always, always have rubber ducks on their dashes. And wondered if there was like an add-on package they bought when they purchased the vehicle. And now that’s all I can conclude.

“They Would Never Use the Death Star on Us”: Alderaan Residents Reflect on Their Support for the Empire as a Large Imperial Installation Enters the System - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

MODERATOR: Kelan, you said, “surprised.”

KELAN: I voted for strength. The Emperor projects strength. That’s important. But I didn’t think strength meant a planet-killing battle station this close to my planet. I assumed deployments like this were for Outer Rim situations. You know, for lesser things, like Jawas.

Pitch perfect!

In the age of never-ending price raising on monthly services, I have to hand it to Pandora Plus. They’ve kept the $3.99 monthly price tag the exact same since I signed up for it from my iPhone 5. For those of you counting at home, that was in 2012.

Kudos, Pandora!

Last night was fun! I’ll take the win any time and any way I can get it.

Boy was I wrong about the Fediverse

See I had forgotten the one golden rule of capitalism. To thrive in capitalism one must be amoral. Now you can be wildly sickeningly successful with morals but you cannot reach that absolute zenith of shareholder value. Either you accept a lower share price and don’t commit atrocities or you become evil. There is no third option.

I see no lies.

In all seriousness, I love the way Mat puts the following:

I never expected to find my news from strangers on a federated social network that half the internet has never heard of. I never expected a lot of things. But there’s something quietly beautiful about a place where people just… share what they know. No brand deals, no engagement metrics, no algorithm nudging you toward rage. Just someone who spent twenty years studying Arctic policy posting a thread at 2 AM because they think you should understand what’s happening. It’s the internet I was promised in 1996. It only took thirty years and the complete collapse of American journalism to get here.

Adding him to my RSS reader.

Why are the Artemis II photos on Flickr? - Anil Dash

In contrast, platforms that are run by technically fluent, well-intentioned and thoughtful technologists can be very effective in maintaining content over a timescale of decades. The SmugMug team has been very thoughtful in managing both their business and their technical infrastructure in order to sustain Flickr’s public archives for years to come. (Though, as mentioned, you should still donate to ensure they can keep doing so!)

Where are all of the tech billionaires putting their support behind this? Oh, wait…that would imply they actually cared about public good and preservation. My mistake.

Trump Adds His Face to Yet Another Piece of Americana — U.S. Passports

The Bulwark first reported on Tuesday that the State Department is finalizing a “radical redesign” of the passport that would feature a serious-looking Trump from his second inaugural portrait. The passport update is “ostensibly part of a larger celebration of the 250th anniversary” of the USA, the outlet added.

The narcissism has no bounds.

Listening to a 1991 Garth Brooks’ song (What She’s Doijg Now) made me nostalgic about how songs are a time capsule to a bygone era.

Consider these lyrics:

Just for laughs I dialed her old number But no one knew her name Hung up the phone, sat there and wondered If she’d ever done the same

Several things hit me:

• Do people have “old numbers” anymore? I mean, I guess if you have a landline, you might. But that willl die when the (current) older generation is gone.
• Remember CallerID? When it first showed up, there were little breakout boxes you attached to your phone that would have a one-line readout of who was calling. At least whoever the phone company said the number belonged to. That seems like ages ago.
• Phone calls are not the first thing that comes to mind when attempting to communicate. Especially with an ex.

I ventured to the Apple Store today at Cumberland Mall. Two observations from this afternoon:

• Malls are…a lot.
• Malls are now experimenting with paid parking self-parking:

Look, I know the economy is not going well, and malls are supposedly dying and everything, but come on. What are we even doing out here?

Life lesson: No matter how many times people are told “line forms here”, there will always be people who don’t care about civility, and will cut in line.

I’m in the middle of season 2 of AppleTV’s Shrinking. Loving this show. And much props to Wendie Malick. She looks stunning at 74.

This needs to happen.

I do miss my blue Audi A5 Sportback:

My back does not.

Trump says government might help struggling Spirit

Like someone handed an alka seltzer on the morning of their flight back from spring break, Spirit Airlines is hopeful relief is coming. President Trump told CNBC yesterday that “he’d love somebody to buy Spirit” and that “maybe” the federal government should help the ailing airline since it employs 14,000 people.

Spirit’s stock soared more than 122% on the news of a potential Uncle Sam bailout.

Gotta love the “free” market!

I watched this reel this morning and I scoffed so much I almost spit out my coffee. My gut reaction was to simply get angry (as I’m prone to do). But I took a step back and accepted it for what it actually is: marketing.

I sent the video to a colleague of mine with the phrase “I don’t believe this for a second.”

Why don’t I believe it? Because AI doesn’t just know how to “make a feature”.

Why is that? Because there’s more than just code involved in creating a successful feature.

I love the same head tilt, decades apart.

A memory that is seared in my mind is when my daughter walked off the soccer field after one of her high school games. She was desperately trying to hold back the tears. She walked straight into my arms and just cried uncontrollably.

I’m going to guess it wasn’t her favorite memory, but it will always stay with me.

At that moment, she needed her dad. I will never forget holding my little girl, telling her everything was going to be ok.

Systems Thinking | Rockford Lhotka

What is the real value that a software developer/engineer/architect provides? Was it that we can type fast? No. Was it that we learned esoteric programming languages and frameworks? No. Was it that we could write code that was efficient and performant? No.

We are systems thinkers. At least good developers are.

What does that mean? A systems thinker can take a problem, decompose it into smaller pieces, and figure out how to solve those pieces in a way that fits together to solve the larger problem.

From an AI proponent, Rocky nails it.

Capitalism is awesome!

Tylenol during pregnancy has no link to autism, large study finds - ABC News

Taking acetaminophen, also known by the brand name Tylenol, during pregnancy had no effect on children developing autism, according to a study of over 1.5 million children in Denmark published this week. 

Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

Is there a more old rich white woman car than a small to midsize Volvo SUV? I think not.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen an existing, previously-working stoplight just cease to function. No blinking lights. No sign of any light. Just nothing.

And sure enough, people just ignore it like it wasn’t even there, and chaos ensues.

Apparently, my driver’s license is good enough to pay my taxes with. But not good enough to vote.

Got it.

We also seem to do just fine by ensuring things are postmarked by 4/15. But we can’t do that for voting.

Got it (again).

The life of a transpondster…

The new City Connect jerseys just dropped. My favorites are Atlanta’s (yes, a little biased there) and Baltimore’s:

This is from our every-two-year sexual harassment training. I guess dads’ opinions don’t matter so much 🤣

‘Scary, un-American s—’: Hegseth dragged for invoking God in Iran war press briefing

“Our troops, our American warriors, deserve the credit for this day,” Hegseth said during his media briefing Wednesday morning, a day after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. “But God deserves all the glory,” Hegseth continued. “Tens of thousands of sorties, refuelings and strikes carried out under the protection of divine providence. A massive effort with miraculous protection. Dude 44 Bravo spoke for all of us: ‘God is good.’”

What the fuck does god have to do with refuelings and missile strikes? Is this the god y’all want to worship? The one wearing the army tactical gear?

What 👏🏻 the 👏🏻 fuck 👏🏻 are 👏🏻 we 👏🏻 even 👏🏻 doing?

Trump administration orders dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service | Hatch Magazine - Fly Fishing, etc.

The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.

Sounds like what an out-of-control real estate developer with too much power would do.

FFS.

There are two days when I am ecstatic that I am no longer on Facebook. Easter and Election Day.

Caroline is home from college this weekend. We were getting ready to book her flight to Hawaii and we asked for her AMEX card. She handed Jayme the card she thought of as her AMEX card. Turns out it was someone else’s entirely. Where her AMEX card is? Who knows?!?

Thank goodness for card replacement services. And also thank goodness whoever did get her card back (probably from an Athens bar somewhere) hasn’t used it.

Donald Trump is the creepy, sleazy, car salesman of an uncle you tell your wife and kids to stay away from.

Douchebag of the day.

The billionaires made a promise — now some want out | TechCrunch

Not everyone agrees on what “giving back” even means. To the increasingly significant libertarian wing of tech, the entire framework is wrong: Building companies, creating jobs, and driving innovation are the real contributions, and the pressure to layer philanthropy on top is, at best, a social convention; at worst, a shakedown dressed up as virtue.

Few figures capture the current mood quite like Thiel, who never signed the Pledge himself and is no fan of Bill Gates (he has reportedly called Gates an “awful, awful person“). In fact, Thiel tells the Times he has privately encouraged around a dozen signers to undo their commitments, and has even gently pushed those already wavering to make their exits official.

It’s a real wonder why billionaires are under “attack” recently. To them, it’s the 1980’s again. And they fully believe they can make trickle down economics great again.

Judge orders Trump administration to halt construction of ballroom | AP News

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to suspend construction of a $400 million ballroom it demolished the East Wing of the White House to make space for, barring work from proceeding without congressional approval.

It’s not that hard to find the waste, fraud, and abuse.

Pete Hegseth’s broker attempted to make defense investments before Iran war

A broker for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to make a large investment in major defense companies in the lead up to the Iran war, according to the Financial Times. The Pentagon has dismissed the report.

Real shocker, that one.

Just happened upon an artist named GITA singing a song called “All I Ask” (a phenomenal performance in the video, by the way). Apparently, it was an Adele song from 2015 off of her “25” album. Here are the lyrics she sings in this video:

‘Cause all I ask is If this is my last night with you Hold me like I’m more than just a friend Give me a memory I can use Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do It matters how this ends Cause what if I never love again?

That is…so real. And so good.

This little lizard guy was giving me his best side eye.

It’s easier to not be disappointed if your hopes are never up in the first place.

Way ahead of you, bro.

Been listening to the now 20-year old Dixie Chicks’ hit “Not Ready to Make Nice”.

No reason.

Isn’t it funny how we can always find funding for ICE (even during a DHS shutdown), but not for the TSA? It’s almost as if that’s on purpose.

Daring Fireball: ‘A List of Chain Restaurants Whose Names Contain Unusual Structures’

The closest, though, is ShowBiz Pizza Place, a 1980s archrival to Chuck E. Cheese. (Instead of a pizza-cooking rat, ShowBiz had Billy Bob, a pizza-cooking hillbilly bear.)

I always thought Chuck E Cheese was an offshoot of ShowBiz. I didn’t realize it was a rival.

I was today years old, and all that…

Pentagon seeks $200 billion in extra funds for the Iran war, AP source says | AP News

The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, a sizable amount that is certain to be met with questions from Congress, which would need to approve any new money.

We’d do almost anything to not pay for Americans’ healthcare.

This is just so gross. Gambling at our fingertips is quietly sneaking into every segment of our culture. It is a cancer, in every sense of the word, that has gotten lost in the news due to the revolving shit show that is the Trump administration.

“This Is Not The Computer For You”

Unrelatedly-ish, it is also really interesting that Apple’s answer to the AI gold rush is a $499 laptop (Neo price w/ educational discount). I don’t know if it suggests that the multi-trillion dollar, multinational corporation that Apple has become retains some institutional memory of what computing used to mean to people, but it’s something.

Agreed

Daring Fireball: Horace Dediu on Apple Sitting Out the AI Spending Race

Are they stuck in the past by sitting this out, or wisely passing on a mania?

Personally, I think they made the right call. The “Apple is falling behind” and “it’s all Tim Cook’s fault” crowd may disagree.

The Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic Dream - The New York Times

Over the last two years, there has been a growing backlash from the billionaires who are its target donors. One of its first signers suggested he was “amending” his pledge to account for his for-profit ventures. Another signed it, and then in an occurrence without precedence, unsigned it.

No Oval Office visits anymore: President Trump’s team describes the Pledge as almost a punchline. There’s even a quiet campaign by one pro-Trump tech billionaire to destroy it. Instead of signing up for nonpartisan philanthropy, some billionaires seeking impact are looking for a more direct route, spending more than ever on American elections.

Imagine my surprise.

Why help people when you can hoard everything for yourself and your cronies? Where’s the fun in that?

I really hate that, in print, it says “Spotify Camp Nou”. It’d be like seeing “Nabisco Wrigley Field”.

4th time’s a charm!

Gone are the days when I just show up for a workout and go. There’s at least 10-15 min of warmup for my old ass.

Even 35 years later, too soon.

Never thought I’d see the day when my iPad fell into the devil’s space.

Democracy is dead in the bright light of midday, you fucking boot lickers.

This is my favorite line of code in our system.

Do Waymos know each other as they pass by? Do they do some kind of digital wave to each other or something?

On the most recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, he had entertainment commentator Matt Belloni on discussing the WB/Paramount deal. And in the course of the conversation, Matt stated something we all should be thinking really hard about:

A guy should not make $800 million off of a financial transaction that causes thousands of jobs to be lost. Like, what are we doing?

And yet, here we are. Capitalism is certainly not broken.

United Airlines can remove you from the plane if you make everyone listen to your music

United Airlines is laying down the law…quietly and without much fanfare. The airline updated its contract of carriage (the rules you agree to when you buy a flight) last Friday, adding a rule that passengers who listen to audio or video without headphones can be kicked off the flight and potentially banned from the airline.

I am so on board with this. Well done, United.

You can’t make this shit up even if you wanted to. It’s like a Mad Libs game at this point.

OpenAI’s Altman says defense deal ‘looked opportunistic and sloppy’

Altman shared what he described as a repost of an internal memo on X, saying the company would amend the contract to include new language regarding its principles on topics like surveillance.

That included wording to clarify that “the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.”

I, for one, totally believe him.

Not wrong.

Realizing that when I’m in “boss mode”, I can sound like a real nerd. Almost like the prototypical white dude nerd. Alas.

Daring Fireball: ‘Anthropic and Alignment’

I see it as the case against corporatocracy. Who sets our defense policies? Our democratically elected leaders, or the CEOs of corporate defense contractors?

In 2026, there is not a clear answered to this question. And that’s a problem.

Supreme Court blocks California schools' transgender policy | AP News

The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for California schools to tell parents if their children identify as transgender without getting the student’s approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group.

The order blocks for now a state law that bans automatic parental notification requirements if students change their pronouns or gender expression at school.

God forbid we let people live their own lives.

Michelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgement’ restoration underway | AP News

Vatican Museum officials on Saturday described a simple but important cleaning operation to remove the white film of salt that has accumulated on the fresco thanks to the nearly 25,000 people who pass through the Vatican Museums each day.

My bad.

A big Happy 19th birthday to my baby boy!

Something I will never utter: “this hat is too big for me!”

I just can’t get on board with all of the “Apple is messing things up in x, y, and z ways” (see the gasp window resizing “controversy”). Next to the state of the world, those things just seem…inconsequential.

They are on fire

I don’t know how universal this is, but I’ve really appreciated the call of Premier League matches on Peacock (and even La Ligua games on ESPN) recently.

Why do I say that? Because they simply call the games. They don’t wax poetic with storylines about the teams and their past/future the entire game. It’s something that really gets on my nerves with MLS announcers.

Live updates: US and Israel strike Iran | AP News

The strikes opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran and marked the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic.

“No more forever wars!” Yet another lie.

Transgender Kansans sue over new law invalidating their driver’s licenses

The law also applies to birth certificates, declaring those that don’t align with a person’s biological sex to be invalid; and it requires that bathrooms, locker rooms and other “multiple-occupancy private spaces” in state buildings be designated for use according to people’s biological sexes, establishing steep penalties for government agencies that violate the requirement.

The shit people choose to care about. Honestly.

The law allows people “aggrieved” by the presence of someone of the opposite sex in single-sex spaces like restrooms to sue them for damages of $1,000.

Whoever files for this should be publicly shamed. You fucking snowflakes.

This is where we really should be asking the question: “What’s (actually) wrong with Kansas?”

Just watched the first episode of the “Scrubs” reboot. Made me smile the entire time. Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

Contrast this with the soaring rhetoric from Tuesday night’s State of the Union and you can see what a smoke and mirrors show this administration is.

I don’t know what it’s going to take to get though to MAGA voters anymore. I just don’t. There’s not a shortage of evidence.

Exclusive | Trump Administration Considers Requiring Banks to Collect Citizenship Information - WSJ

Banks in the U.S. are required to collect certain information under “know your customers” rules to guard against money laundering and crime. That often includes collecting passports and Social Security numbers. But those rules don’t include gathering citizenship status specifically, and banks don’t routinely share that information with the government. There is no prohibition on banks opening accounts for noncitizens in the U.S.

More totally normal behavior.

One Foot Tsunami: We Are the One and Only You

Below, I have transcribed all 68 words of nonsense that Lipinski utters:

“The one and only you is the human forged by the path that only you are on. Facing the not-knowing, putting one foot in front of the other. She’s not your trophies. Because our trophies sit on the shelf. It’s the bonds we forge with one another that can guide us to what we’re here to do, and to be who we are: the one and only you.”

Do you have any idea what this ad could possibly be pitching? On my first viewing, I surely did not. I was, however, deeply confused by the repeated pronoun switches. I suppose I still am. You. She. Our. We. Us. You. It’s a real mess!

Same, Paul. Same.

I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day | Anonymous | The Guardian

A few days ago I saw an Instagram reel of a young woman talking about how she had been raped six years ago, struggled with thoughts of suicide afterwards, but managed to rebuild her life again. Among the comments – the majority of which were from men – were things like “Well at least you had some”, “No way, she’s unrapeable”, “Hope you didn’t talk this much when it happened”, “Bro could have picked a better option.” Reading those comments, which had thousands of likes and many boys agreeing with them, made me feel sick.

I’m sick just reading this. Just abhorrent behavior.

Trump warns Netflix of ‘consequences’ unless it pulls top Democrat from board | Netflix | The Guardian

In comments posted on his Truth Social platform, the US president described Rice – who served as national security adviser to Barack Obama and UN ambassador and White House adviser under Joe Biden – as a “political hack” and accused her of having “no talent or skills”.

This is totally normal behavior.

Watching last night’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”. His main story is about Twitter, which got me thinking. Why aren’t all of the hackers out there aiming to take down this worthless dumpster fire of humanity? Honestly.

It disgusts me that probably no one (at least in this country) is going to be prosecuted for the Epstein crimes and/or relations. Because the president who ran on the populist idea of “no longer will the elites and powerful be protected by the system” is the one who is specifically using the system to protect himself and his cohort of rich and powerful acquaintances.

Saw Send Help tonight. Unhinged is the only word I can think of. Rachel McAdams was incredible.

Am I missing something? If you have to have either a passport or your birth certificate with you as you vote, what is the point of registering to vote?

If this new version of the SAVE Act passes, this will make voting WAY slower. You’re telling me that these local election officials (really volunteers) at the polling places are now responsible for validating forms of identification? Yeah, that’s going to go swimmingly.

Turns out, that requiring-those-forms-of-identification-on-election-day provision has been amended in the House. (Source: Brennan Center for Justice)

I saw this on LinkedIn and was both charmed by it, and at the same time, realizing it neatly summarizes the two “sides” of the outlook on AI right now.

I don’t think it’s a huge secret that I’m currently in the Woody camp.

Remember when the truth didn’t need versioning?

Naomi Shulman in the wake of the 2016 U.S. election:

Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics.” They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.

Just going to drop this here. No reason.

I understand the sentiment behind this meme and all, but come on. What do you think gave you the opportunity (not to mention the money) to afford to be in a place like this?

It’s not free. It’s not owed to you. You have to earn it. You have to work for it.

Man oh man, I sound like the old man yelling at the “kids these days”.

I would like to understand how/when Obama became the linchpin in the formation of “identity politics” and the move towards socialism. I see these videos (an example) and read these articles and they all seem to want to do is point to the Obama administration as the start of what they see as any and all major problems we have now in politics. Specifically starting with those two.

I’m honestly asking. Did I miss something? Because I don’t see it.

In fact, on the other side, what I hear from my fellow progressives is that he was a failure because he was too centrist. Too “the same”. Too nice.

Which one is it?

Same…

Trump admin to ditch key climate policy tool

The Trump administration is disavowing an Obama-era scientific finding that serves as the propulsive force for federal climate regulations, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to nix the “endangerment finding,” which determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health and allowed the EPA to curb pollution through regulation.

Science, schmience…who needs it?

Imagine all the people…

Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance (‘¡Dios Mío!’ Cry Millions Of Panicking Republicans) - The Onion

Crying out “¡Dios mío!” and “¡Ayúdame!” as soon as they heard the opening notes of the Puerto Rican superstar’s “EoO,” millions of terrified conservatives reportedly lost the ability to speak English Sunday after exposure to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime performance. “Oh, what a crock-load of mierda—¿qué?—¿qué está pasando? ” said local 43-year-old Randy Hance, who in a scene that was currently unfolding in millions of households across the nation jumped out of his seat and clutched at his throat as he realized he was no longer able to speak any language but Spanish.

Chef’s kiss!

Donald Trump slams Olympic skier Hunter Hess over remarks on representing US

“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Real class.

From David Roberts on Mastodon:

In response to all of the mess from the video thing, I saw this and I wanted to make sure I remembered it years from now.

We mourn our craft | Read the Tea Leaves

You could abstain out of moral principle. And that’s fine, especially if you’re at the tail end of your career. And if you’re at the beginning of your career, you don’t need me to explain any of this to you, because you already use Warp and Cursor and Claude, with ChatGPT as your therapist and pair programmer and maybe even your lover. This post is for the 40-somethings in my audience who don’t realize this fact yet.

Oh my…this speaks to me. I certainly realize it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Checks out

Manton Reece - What to grow

Here’s what I’ve been thinking. If everyone can ship software, what will distinguish the successful companies from the apps that are lost in the noise? It’s no longer enough to just spend more time coding, or to be the first with a good idea.

Manton and I don’t always share the same viewpoints. And that’s perfectly ok. But I do greatly admire his independent spirit and his love for the (open) web. I read this quick post this morning and it made me really pause. And think. And then think some more.

Hat tip, Manton!

Trump administration plans to reclassify 50,000 federal workers, making them easier to fire | CNN Politics

In its latest effort to weaken the federal workforce, the Trump administration issued a rule on Thursday that would shift an estimated 50,000 senior career staffers into a new category that would make them easier to fire.

The controversial rule allows agencies to reclassify federal employees involved in policy into at-will positions that don’t provide the same job protections that other career workers have. It will affect an estimated 2% of the federal workforce.

Don’t want to play by the rules? No problem. Just make new ones. Making America Great Again!

😎

I’m very glad I’m not in college right now. The rigidity of the core classes at these big universities is just absurd.

At 45, I’d tell them exactly where to shove their doctor’s note rule when I had blood gushing from my nose just 5 min earlier.

Berkeley Students Make 300,000 Wikipedia Edits to Preserve Queer History Against Trump | Them

Over the past decade, students in ethnic studies, gender and women’s studies, and performance studies professor María Rodríguez’s courses have edited and even created Wikipedia articles about LGBTQ+ history, with an emphasis on queer and trans people of color. The assignment currently replaces a final paper in three of her classes: “Documenting Marginal Lives,” “Queer of Color Cultural Production,” and “Queer of Color Critique.”

I can’t tell you how much I love this.

If you can, remember back to 2014. When there was no MAGA. Wishing for those days right now.

After the Minnesota killings, what is your role and how can you help? | Vox

The dark genius of this setup is that most people don’t realize that the prerogative state is active until it’s too late. They only wake up when the knock comes on their very own door — or when the door is forcefully broken down.

A mention of the The Dual State. Seems pretty popular these days. I wonder why that is.

Another quote from the article that speaks to me right now:

Everything is not normal. And so, I would argue, the first obligation we all have is an epistemic one: It’s to know what kind of reality we are actually inhabiting. All other obligations will then flow from that knowledge. Because once we discern that we are living in a dual state, it becomes obvious that compliance won’t save us, and that some kind of action is called for.

Why Some People See Collapse Earlier Than Others

So we begin with the obvious: collapse awareness is fundamentally a pattern-recognition event. Some people are wired for that.

Yep, we’re all programmers.

A CEO, Captured.  – On my Om

Cook is not stupid. He is not evil. He is trapped. The iron clasp of market expectations has turned him into what he never meant to be: a man who goes to parties at the White House while nurses die.

In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Roy Bland captures a cynical, post-ideological, corrupt English society: “You scratch my conscience; I’ll drive your Jag.” You could say the same of today’s Silicon Valley. It used to believe it could change the world. Now it just hopes the world won’t change its stock price.

As my kids would say: “Damn!”

A question just hit my mind: What is the Venn Diagram for programmers and people who consider themselves liberal?

As I watch the national anthem at the Seattle Seahawks game, this is a time when we need Colin Kaepernick.

What happened in MN (again) is fucking disgusting. You cannot excuse this. You just can’t. Ever.

And yet, the administration (just like with Renee Good) is blaming the victim when all can watch the videos of what happened.

I am so angry that I can’t think straight.

If you voted for this, you are the ultimate problem.

I’ve always liked these:

Not an easy one, but I’m choosing:

• Hank Aaron in left
• Ken Griffey Jr. in center
• Tony Gwynn in right

No notes

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.

😞 I can’t do this

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.

Thoughts and Prayers

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.

I can only hope that what comes out of the Trump presidencies is the recognition of the fact that the laws of our land need to be clarified to their nth degree. When left generic and ambiguous, corruption and abuse is always on the table.

UMass Amherst Researchers Create Nanoparticle Vaccine That Prevents Cancer in Mice : UMass Amherst

A study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers demonstrates that their nanoparticle-based vaccine can effectively prevent melanoma, pancreatic and triple-negative breast cancer in mice. Not only did up to 88% of the vaccinated mice remain tumor-free (depending on the cancer), but the vaccine reduced—and in some cases completely prevented—the cancer’s spread.

But we don’t believe in vaccines.

White House drops plan to make airlines pay travelers for delayed flights - CBS News

The Trump administration is scrapping a proposed Biden-era rule that would have made airlines pay customers for long waits when their flights were delayed, according to a document from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Continuing to look out for the little guy!

We don’t have unrealistic, corny love scenes in movies anymore. We need that. Now more than ever.

“Ghost”, thank you for your service.

U.S. Democrats…always snatching a defeat from the jaws of victory.

In defense of them, the guilt got to them. I can feel it, too. Historically, Democrats feel responsible for anything and everything. Republicans just don’t give a shit.

Is it different when the “they” includes yourself? 🤣😂

Just watched “My Old Ass” on Amazon Prime. Didn’t quite know what to expect. A lovely movie, I must say. An incredible performance from Maisy Stella.

Manton Reece:

OpenAI will either succeed or fail spectacularly.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I just happen to think it’s the latter.

Norway sovereign wealth fund rejects Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay deal

Tesla’s Board of Directors is asking shareholders to approve a pay plan for Musk that could see him granted almost $1 trillion in stock and expand his voting powers at the company. The full award would be contingent on Tesla hitting certain milestones over the next 10 years.

And we wonder why socialism is on the ballot these days.

Supreme Court case to decide the fate of Trump’s tariffs

The Trump administration declared three national emergencies to justify tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China, which prompted the first lawsuit. In total, Trump has declared nine national emergencies since taking office in January.

Totally normal.

Tech billionaire’s donation brings Tesla Cybertrucks to Las Vegas police | AP News

“Welcome to the future of policing,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a recent press conference, surrounded by the Cybertrucks while drones hovered overhead and a police helicopter circled above him.

They’re really leaning into the whole dystopian future look…

I’ve been de-stickering my laptop today. Only one left. I’m thinking of leaving it on. It speaks to my current view of the world.

We went to see “Back to the Future” last night in the theater. Two reasons, really. 1) It is a classic and I love it. 2) To escape the hellscape that is current America for just a little bit of time.

And I must say, it was delightful. Even despite the mother/father/son love triangle 🤣

Also, Lea Thompson. Wow.

During October 30th’s episode of Slate’s Polotical Gabfest, David Plotz said the following:

People are not intimidated out of voting in this country right now.

David, how can you say that? People are afraid to go to the Home Depot right now.

Be careful. Your privilege is showing.

No one should be surprised by this. This is the same Republican talking point regarding any social program (welfare, food stamps, etc).

Helping people is NOT in their makeup.

I don’t understand smoke detectors. At 1:57am, I awoke to the dreaded chirp. I fumbled around upstairs and found the offending device. Not having a 9V battery handy, I couldn’t change the stupid thing. So I got up and did a little work, and went back to sleep around 5.

Got up at 7:30, showered, and went to the coffee shop for breakfast and news. Got back around 9, and…nothing.

No chirping. No sound. Nothing.

What in the actual hell?

Body camera video shows Baltimore County officers react after gun scare determined to be bag of chips - CBS Baltimore

Body camera video captured the moment that Baltimore County police confronted a high school student after an A.I. gun detection system mistakenly determined that a student had a weapon. 

County leaders are now calling for a review of that system. 

During the footage from Monday’s incident, officers are seen approaching the student at Kenwood High School, searching him, and then stunned when they themselves realize what A.I. flagged as a gun was just a bag of Doritos chips.

A.I. is definitely ready for prime time! Yep!

JPMorgan will let chatbots write employee reviews

Jesus Christ…what are we doing? 🤦🏻‍♂️

A good question…

Did I miss something? Wasn’t the entire point of the DOGE failed experiment to save money and not spend it “recklessly”?

Why exactly are we spending money to build a fucking ballroom where the East Wing used to be? Oh, it’s private donations, you say. I understand. So it’s not taxpayer money. Got it.

And who are these private companies again? Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, defense contractors, crypto companies, agro companies. I’m sure these are all just private donations because they care about a ballroom.

Right?! Right?!

Can’t imagine there was any other place in the government where these companies could so generaously donate their money to help actual people. Healthcare certainly doesn’t need it. It truly is great right now. No need to support that.

Trump backs off SF federal deployment after Huang, Benioff calls

President Donald Trump said in a post on Thursday that the federal government was preparing to “surge” San Francisco, but he was swayed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and others to hold off on the deployment.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he also spoke with Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie, who “was making substantial progress” on crime.

“Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great,” Trump wrote.

The reversal marks a major political win for the city of San Francisco and Lurie, who is in his first term.

Yep, this is how things are supposed to be done. Billionaires deciding when or if the National Guard should be deployed to a given city.

Yep. Checks out.

Trump Pardons Convicted Binance Founder - WSJ

Since Trump’s election, Binance has also been a key supporter of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture, a business that has driven a huge leap in the president’s personal wealth.

Making Trump wealthy again!

Wait, sorry, that was supposed to read “Making America Great Again!” We regret the error.

Trump wants $230 million from DOJ for investigations

President Donald Trump wants the Department of Justice to pay him $230 million in compensation for criminal investigations.

You will never convince me he’s not simply a grifter.

My baby girl turned 21 yesterday. That doesn’t seem real.

Went to the last Atlanta United game this year to say goodbye to Guz on Saturday.

It didn’t end well, as we drew against DC United. Turns out it was the perfect encapsulation of the entire season.

But hey, we didn’t end up dead last. Just 2nd to last. Small wins 🤣

If you weren’t convinced this administration is not a blank check for bigots and white victimization, please give this a listen:

How Trump Upended 60 Years of Civil Rights

Sorry Dodgers, but I think it would be beneficial to all (of humanity) if the Blue Jays won the World Series this year. Just as a big “Fuck you!” to Trump.

Imagine 20 years ago the idea of “promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a BAD thing?!

Saw this on Mastodon this morning from JA Westenberg:

The discourse cycle:

Day 1: Interesting study published Day 2: Journalists misinterpret it Day 3: Twitter dunks on journalists Day 4: Someone reads the actual paper Day 5: Paper is flawed actually Day 6: Everyone was wrong Day 7: No one learned anything

Repeat forever.

I see no lie.

No notes.

Hot take from Scott Galloway on this week’s Pivot podcast: AI is enabling Trump and the fascist takeover of America.

An entire PhD study could be conducted on what thought process goes into how people sit in conference meetings and sessions. It’s fascinating, and I have to think there’s some pattern or reasoning (however weird) behind it.

If anyone asks me what I think about Sora2, I’m just going to point them to the video Myke describes here:

This week I want to make just one recommendation, because it’s something I really want you to watch. There’s been a lot of talk about the AI-generated videos coming from OpenAI’s Sora 2. Hank Green made a three-minute video where he very loudly and clearly shares his view on this type of content. He says everything I wish I could have articulated about how I feel on the topic.

I am realizing that my architecture/framework style and conventions are truly an amalgamation of various frameworks I’ve been exposed to in the past 19+ years.

Someone just said that nothing has ever been the same since the Cubs won the World Series in 2016.

Now it’s all I can think about.

Why is the “entering” side of this escalator on the left? Why???!!???

Norms, people. Expectations. Come on!!

I am having a real hard time keeping two potentially opposing ideas in my head, and letting them both thrive at the same time. I see and read all of these warning signs about AI and AI-related business deals and think “this is not sustainable” and/or “this is not a good thing for the world”. While at the same time, I am literally at a work conference to learn about how to utilize and implement that very technology.

I love pissing off these redneck vacationers in FL with my “Make America Smart Again” shirt.

They always give me the confused side eye of “I think he’s one of them damn liberals, but I’m not real sure”.

It makes me happy.

Ethan Marcotte: A right to copy.

I mean, here’s the thing: my books are copyrighted. They became copyrighted the minute they were published, and that applies to everyone who wrote a book for my former publisher. Heck, the Copyright Office itself says that registration is voluntary. The fact that copyrighted works aren’t eligible unless they’ve formally registered feels like a lawyerly dodge: a legal maneuver to help Anthropic reduce the size of its payout pool, and thereby keeping the company from getting rendered down into its component parts during bankruptcy proceedings.

He’s not wrong.

Scott Galloway, appearing on Piers Morgan’s show:

Once you get above a certain level of wealth, you get no incremental happiness. So why on earth would you not go back to a tax policy of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80s? Where, say above $10 million, you actually pay more than 10%? Maybe more than 20%? Maybe more than 50%? Because the difference between $30,000 a year for a household and $50,000 is enormous to the well-being of that household…But the difference between making $10M a year and $15M a year offers you no [extra] happiness.

I’ve been saying this for years, but it’s always thrown back at me as “too socialist”.

And yet, the statement is still true.

Overheard today:

LLMs were never made to be 100% factually correct. It was only supposed to mimc human interaction.

inessential: Why NetNewsWire Is Not a Web App

If it were a web app instead, I could drop the developer membership, but I’d have to pay way more money for web and database hosting. Probably need a CDN too, and who knows what else. (I don’t have recent web app experience, so I don’t even know what my requirements would be, but I’m sure they’d cost substantially more than a couple hundred bucks a year.)

Brent points out things that I’ve said forever. It’s not easy, or cheap, to host a successful web application. It takes time, care, and resources.

Hot take: I despise “Hey Ya!” by OutKast so much.

Exclusive | Trump White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage - WSJ

The compact asks universities to ensure a “vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” and to bar employees from expressing political views on behalf of their employer, unless the matter affects the school. It seeks to create a more welcoming environment for conservatives, asking colleges to make governance changes and abolish departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”

What a wonderful “vibrant marketplace of ideas” this sounds like! Let freedom ring!!!!

I swear to god the mob is running the government at this point.

The Tale of the Ring, According to Sauron – Now I Know

History books in the Soviet Union were typically filled with propaganda and misinformation, recounting world events in a way that emphasized Soviet greatness and castigating the West as evil imperialists.

I’m so glad we, as great again Americans, would never do that.

What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed - The New York Times

Jones landed on it under the tag “racial ideology” when she published an article citing research about how distressing it is for Black people to go to work after witnessing news coverage of police killings. She told me someone had sent her a picture of a house thought to be hers, but it turned out to belong to another Angel Jones. Someone else had threatened to hang her from a tree and burn her alive. The scholar changed her classroom and removed her name plate from her office door. The university where she was working at the time installed a safety alarm button under her desk.

This is horrifying.

YouTube Settles Trump Lawsuit for $24.5 Million - The New York Times

You fucking cowards.

Oregon sues to block Trump from deploying state’s National Guard in Portland - POLITICO

Kotek said Trump told her by phone Saturday he’d heard of multiple fires, and of the federal courthouse in downtown Portland being besieged, which she said may be based on the president watching video of unrest five years ago.

“We cannot be looking at footage from 2020 and assume that that is the case today in Portland,” the governor said.

We are living in a farce.

Attorney general: ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ sign cannot be displayed in Idaho schools

West Ada administrators said the signs — including one displaying open hands of different skin tones — violated district policy. Inama refused to remove the sign, and in March, her story attracted national media coverage.

The IDE asked the attorney general’s office if Inama’s signs in particular violated the new law.

The attorney general’s office said yes.

What the fuck is wrong with us? We can’t even promote the idea that “all people are welcome here”? Is that really where we are? We’re so fucking filled with straight, white fragility that we are now writing into law the practice of discrimination?

Jesus wept.

On yesterday’s “The Bulwark” podcast, Ezra Klein was the guest and he said the following in the wake of his own comments re: Charlie Kirk “practicing politics the right way”:

I just have a view that the 12 hours after somebody is publicly murdered for participating in politics is not the time when you need to fully litigate all your disagreements with them. I think it is a time when we can try to sit with each other, across a pretty wide party divide, and say:

“I see you. I can see your friend at least partly the way you saw your friend. And I can grieve with you.”

And I think that’s part of the political practice that I hope will keep us from falling into genuine, ongoing political violence.

You know, I’d be willing to get with that statement (in and of itself) if (and only if) the following were not being done throughout the exact 12 hours in question:

• The President of the United States, from the White House, blaming the “radical left” for the shooting
• The Fox News contingent screaming “this is war!” and “they did this!”
• The MAGA apologists lionizing and deifying Kirk

Let’s not get it twisted. Klein wasn’t the only one to say this. But I will I ask this re: the groups I just mentioned above:

Where is their care?

Where is their sensitivity?

Where is their humanity?

(…crickets…)

Yeah, didn’t think so.

Watching the pilot episode of Friends from 1994 (almost 31 years ago to the day). Jennifer Aniston, age 25 then or 56 now, is just gorgeous. Period.

Also, Nickelodeon shows re-runs at like 1.5x speed. All of them sound like they’ve inhaled helium.

Why wasn’t Kate Bosworh more of a star?

Opinion | Civility Is a Fantasy - The New York Times

“Every single day, I read the news, and I can hardly process it all. I keep wondering when we will reach a cultural breaking point, when finally, the Trump administration will go far enough to shove us out of the comforts of our day-to-day lives. I look at our elected leaders, especially the Democratic ones, and hardly recognize them. I’ve written, many times, about how no one is coming to save us, but I never imagined that our leaders would agree, that they would comply with so much in advance, that they would rely as a political strategy more on embracing conservative policies than standing up for progressive ones.”

Man, this hits hard. I live this every day right now.

Conservative White Christians Will Worship Anyone But Jesus

To anyone paying attention for the past few decades, and particularly during the last ten years, seeing White Evangelicals build idols out of people whose lives and public work are the antithesis of Jesus is something we’ve grown accustomed to.

This. This. This.

A thousand times, this.

Trump expected to sign deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. - CBS News

On Monday, a senior White House official said Mr. Trump would declare that the deal is a “qualified divestiture” and satisfies a law passed by Congress that requires TikTok’s parent company to divest or face a ban.

Why is this up to Trump again? Why is he the authority to say that this “satisfies” the law?

I was reminded tonight how a certain scene in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Polic Squad! was, let’s say, an awakening for an adolescent me. Priscilla Presley wearing only his blue button-down shirt was everything.

I’m so glad we had our kids before the age of the gender reveal party. Talk about a waste of time and money.

Just once, I want a reporter to grow some balls and just stand up after something like this Tylenol press conference and simply say “Are you fucking kidding me?”

From Daniel Jalkut on Mastodon:

If you ever wondered how anybody could support Adolf Hitler while he upended German social norms, villainized people by race and sexuality, and suspended or ignored national laws, just ask your friend why they still support Trump.

Wow, totally agree!

My first Tech game in 26 years!

Against the protection of stocking frames. — Ethan Marcotte

So. The technology doesn’t deliver consistent results, much less desirable ones; what’s more, it extracts terrible costs to not reliably produce anything of value. It is fundamentally a failure. And yet, private companies and public institutions alike keep adopting it. Why is that?

Preach, Ethan. Preach!!

Is it just me? Did I miss the “despicable” part of what Jimmy Kimmel said? What was so bad about what he said? He made fun of the president. That’s not new at all.

What about this joke has everyone clutching their fucking pearls?

I’m going back and listening to some Daredevil recap episodes and they’re talking about Ep 2, which apparently aired near the State of the Union this year.

One host asks the rest: “Did y’all watch?”

Another host chimed in, “No. I love myself.”

🤣😂

The Braves are 8 games up on the Natonals with 9 to play

Magic number to not finish last: 2

The West Wing And The Death Of Belief

In 2003, a reasonable person could watch The West Wing and think, “Yes, this is aspirational, but it’s not fantasy.” The show depicted a political system populated by flawed but fundamentally serious people trying to govern a complex democracy. The characters made mistakes, faced setbacks, and sometimes lost important battles, but the underlying machinery of government functioned according to recognizable principles.

Today, that same reasonable person would watch those episodes and think, “How charmingly naive.” We’ve learned too much about how the sausage actually gets made. We know about the revolving door between government and lobbying, the way campaign finance warps policy priorities, the extent to which regulatory agencies are captured by the industries they’re supposed to oversee. We’ve seen how easily democratic norms are discarded // trashed when they become inconvenient, how quickly institutions will be brutalized and weaponized for partisan advantage.

Pretty much.

Whatever happened to hats? Why did they go away?

Larry Ellison Overtakes Elon Musk Amid AI Boom | TIME

But on Wednesday, the 81-year-old chairman of Oracle briefly became the richest person in the world with a net worth of almost $400 billion, overtaking Elon Musk.

If anyone at Oracle is making less than $100k per year, we are truly living in a fucked up world.

Jeffrey Zedman on Mastodon:

Stop me if I’m overdramatizing, but I’m beginning to wonder if algorithm-driven public chat may have a downside.

Just a touch…

Qasim Rashid on Mastodon:

Politics have no place in Football so it was unacceptable for Colin Kaepernick to peacefully take a knee to protest systemic racism, but the NFL proudly held a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk because we must honor a man who denied systemic racism even exists.

This is America.

I’m hoping at least some walk away from the aftermath of the Kirk shooting with the following lesson:

The right to free speech and the consequences from said speech are two different things.

Kirk’s free speech rights were not attacked on Wednesday. The very fact that he was allowed to be doing these talks, on college campuses no less, are proof that his free speech rights were being respected, as they always have been.

However, there were consequences (outside of, and unrelated to, his free speech rights) for what he has said in the past. In his case, unfortunately, they were deadly.

I’m not going to discuss the shooting. But I am going to link to some pieces that show the importance of NOT valorizing or lionizing Charlie Kirk:

• Charlie Kirk Helped Create an American Culture That Would Laugh at His Death
• No, Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way
• Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning

Like him or not, his views were dangerous to pretty much everyone except straight, white men. I’m not surprised he gained so much notoriety from Trump and MAGA. This is, after all, what they want, what they stand for, what they believe. I am surprised, and very sad, that he was so popular among young, impressionable minds. Specifically the minds of young men who have yet to learn what it’s really like to be a man.

The worst thing I’ve witnessed in the last few days, however, is the utter contempt and (as you’ll read) dangerous intent of the “right” regarding the “left” in the reaction to this shooting. It’s almost double-speak at this point. I was going to list them, but I found this blog post by Jay Kuo that points out everything I was going to:

• Politicizing Charlie

For what it’s worth (which is probably nothing), but the President of the United States owes this country an apology for his remarks on Wednesday evening. They were mean, hate-filled, vindictive, and worst of all, UTTERLY FALSE. It is NOT how a president should act. I know, I know. It’s par for the course with this guy, but still.

I want to be Jamelle Bouie when I grow up.

I just had one of those “What have I done?!?" moments. I needed to go check and see if Dick’s Sporting Goods online store had the shoes I wanted because they didn’t have it in the store. And without thinking, I simply typed in dicks.com. As soon as I pressed the “Enter” key, I momentarily panicked.

Spoiler Alert: Luckily, they do have the domain 🤣

Oklahoma Student Play About Shakespearean Theatre Shut Down Over Gender Laws

SB 796 bans public universities in Oklahoma from utilizing “state funds, property, or resources” to “support diversity, equity, and inclusion positions, departments, activities, procedures, or programs.”

“Free speech!!!”, the conservatives were heard shouting.

I don’t like that we’ve seemed to grow utterly comfortable with gambling, specifically sports gambling.

In 2001, I turned 21. Jayme and I got married less than a month later. And less than a month after that, 9/11 happened. Never realized the compressed timeline of those events.

I’m a High Schooler. AI Is Demolishing My Education. - The Atlantic

During a lesson on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I watched a classmate discreetly shift in their seat, prop their laptop up on a crossed leg, and highlight the entirety of the chapter under discussion. In seconds, they had pulled up ChatGPT and dropped the text into the prompt box, which spat out an AI-generated annotation of the chapter. These annotations are used for discussions; we turn them in to our teacher at the end of class, and many of them are graded as part of our class participation. What was meant to be a reflective, thought-provoking discussion on slavery and human resilience was flattened into copy-paste commentary.

Critical thinking is what will be replaced by blind use of AI if we continue down this road. I hate, no fear, reading things like this.

The fate of children who don’t get vaccinated : Goats and Soda : NPR

Pneumonia struck first. Then tonsillitis spiraled into sepsis. Malaria battered him next, and after treatment, the other illnesses flared back up again. This unvaccinated 2-year-old boy is trapped in a relentless cycle.

My god.

Detective Rust Cohle, from Season 1 of HBO’s True Detective:

If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother, that person is a piece of shit.

Who says television writers can’t be philosophers?!

Yeah, that happened.

But hey, we’re making America great again. So I guess it’s ok.

I have a feeling the midterms next year are going to be pitched as socialism vs. authoritarianism/fascism.

Florida Decided There Were Too Many Children - The Atlantic

And the state of Florida, understandably, said: Enough. This needs to stop. We have decided that there are too many children, and we can let some of them go. Or, as the state’s surgeon general put it when he eliminated all vaccine mandates yesterday: “Who am I as a government or anyone else, who am I as a man standing here now, to tell you what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your child should put in [their] body? I don’t have that right.”

(That relaxed attitude about bodily autonomy comes as something of a surprise, given the state’s six-week abortion ban, but this is America, where you can do anything with your body unless there’s a uterus in it.)

We’re making it great again!

No notes.

I know I rag on AI. But I’ve always said it has its uses, limited as they may be (at least in my opinion). But yesterday, I found a perfect use for it.

I had to convert the number of seconds (of a video runtime) into a string that would give the user a more human-readable view of the number of hours, minutes, and seconds for said runtime. In other words, in this format: hh:mm:ss.

Could I have written this utility method? Of course I can.

Did I want to? Not even a little bit.

Did it save me 5-10 minutes? Absolutely.

I fired up ChatGPT and wrote: using C# write me a method that takes a number of seconds and turns it into a string representation of hours, minutes, and seconds.

In 5 seconds, I had the several lines to accomplish it. Done.

That’s what AI should be doing for us. It’s a tool to be used. Not to replace.

Florida to Become First State to Eliminate Vaccine Mandates

“DeSantis wants to trade the health of our kids for media headlines,” she said in a statement. “If this happened, Florida would be welcoming back child-killers like polio and measles with open arms.”

I did not have polio in the over-under. I guess I should have.

Almada to Messi for Argentina’s third goal was a thing of beauty!

At age 13 or 45, I’m stilll entranced by this woman.

Apologies: You Have Reached the End of Your Free-Trial Period of America! - The Atlantic

You heard it right: The government you knew for Weather Data and Medical Research is going all in on Despot Whims. This costs money, so bedrock features such as Separation of Powers, No Troop Quartering, and Due Process are being phased out, even for premium subscribers. We are also getting rid of most of our Health and Science. But you can have a career in ICE.

We are retaining some features for premium users. Want rule of law? That’s premium. The right to run your company without government interference? That’s a paid feature now. An explanation from the Supreme Court as to why it just ruled against you? Maybe!

Pitch perfect. Sadly.

Anybody else wake up in the middle of the night, which leads to tossing and turning, going over in your mind every thing you may have fucked up the day before?

No?

Just me?

Maturing is realizing Jami Gertz’s character in Twister was way better for Bill Paxton than Helen Hunt.

Just sayin’

A notional design studio. — Ethan Marcotte

Throughout the text, there’s a single-minded emphasis on aesthetics over design. We’ve already seen that in the studio’s disregard for the page’s weight and accessibility — and now we’re seeing it carried through the page’s text. Design for this “national studio” is about surface-level signals of “experience” and “beauty,” instead of the messy, iterative, imperfect work involved in designing something for people. When this “national studio,” and the administration that created it, tells us it wants to create “an experience that projects a level of excellence for our nation”? That’s aesthetics with a nationalistic twist, and we should take them at their word.

Ethan hits on something here. This administration (and this movement as a whole) is all about surface. The aesthetic over the underlying content. The easy soundbyte over the nuanced content underneath.

They scream something (in reality, Trump screams something incoherent) at a rally or come out with random phrases at press conferences that get their base clapping and cheering. And yet, the work (the sometimes extremely hard work) is left to someone else to figure out.

Are those people qualified?

Who knows?!

Are they ever going to finish what the message said they would?

Who knows?!

And to the majority of the people who are delivering said message (or those receiving it) does it really matter? Do they care if the work behind the scenes gets done?

I don’t know that they do.

They want to cheer line.

They want to look good on TV.

They want the appearance.

That’s all.

Mass. mom detained by ICE for 10 days over decades-old minor marijuana charge - masslive.com

What should have been the end of a joyful vacation to Mexico for the Canton family, with over 30 relatives, had turned into a nightmare. Jimenez Rosa, a legal permanent resident and mother of four U.S. citizens, was detained over what her lawyer believes was a decades-old, personal-use marijuana charge — an offense that was pardoned by Gov. Maura Healey in 2024 and is no longer a crime in Massachusetts.

This is simply disgusting.

And if you’re reading this, and you voted for Trump in 2024, this is your fault. Don’t think we’re going to forget that moving forward. We will not. You should feel the shame that will come to you. Every bit of it. And feel it deeply.

Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution allows it | AP News

The order also called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation to challenge the 1989 ruling, an attempt by Trump to get the issue back in front of the Supreme Court. Today’s Supreme Court is much more conservative than the makeup of the court in 1989 and includes three judges Trump appointed in his first term.

I mean, the headline says it all. We only care about free speech when He agrees with it.

Everything’s fine!

No notes

It’s disconcerting when you hear “Goodbye Horses” from Silence of the Lambs while you’re having coffee. I keep looking around to see if a skin-wearing psychopath is tuck-dancing in the corner somewhere.

Sadie was not a fan of the vet today. I’m sure she was much less of a fan of the ear infection that brought her there.

Turns out…the kids messed up the house every week.

Elon Musk must face lawsuit claiming he ran illegal $1 million election lottery

Elon Musk was ordered on Wednesday by a federal judge to face a lawsuit by voters accusing the world’s richest person of defrauding them into signing a petition to support the U.S. Constitution for a chance to win his $1 million-a-day giveaway.

We are in an age where the ends justify the means. In all cases. And damn the consequences. No one stops things like this in the moment. It achieves its ultimate goal. A year later, someone sues. And maybe they win, maybe they don’t. But the damage is already done.

Want to simply ship immigrants to (essentially) a gulag? No consequences.

Want to “buy” a presidential election? A money consequence that Elon has plenty (of money) to handle.

Want to destroy the public education system with school vouchers? We don’t even know full consequences of that.

And yet, they continue forward. No one’s stopping them. And who ends up paying for the mistakes when we find out how disasterous they are days/months/years down the road?

The American people do.

Who gets away with it because they’re long gone by then?

The people who swear they’re making America great again.

How Many Federal Health Workers Have RFK Jr. and the Trump Administration Cut? — ProPublica

Food and drug facility inspectors are having to go to the store and buy supplies on their own dime so they can take swab samples to test for pathogens.

We’re great again!

Checks out

Getting Back to Yourself

All I can say is: if you feel like you need one and have the opportunity, take a sabbatical. Just don’t expect your life to change that quickly because of it.

One day…

The World Is Burning, But Want to Meet Up for Thirty-Four-Dollar Cocktails? - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

The signature drink everyone’s been raving about is the Owl Fashioned. It’s thirty-four dollars, but you can tell it’s worth it because they gave it a punny name; plus, it’s served with complementary nuts and seeds, and a two-ply napkin. I love thoughtful touches.

Satire at its best.

Because actions no longer have any consequences in the bullshit MAGA-sphere country we live in.

Walmart recalls frozen shrimp over potential radioactive contamination : NPR

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked Walmart to pull three lots of Great Value brand frozen shrimp from stores after federal officials detected Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, in shipping containers and a sample of breaded shrimp imported from Indonesia.

That’s not great!

Trump pledges effort to eliminate mail-in voting - POLITICO

Trump has for years opposed mail-in ballots, insisting that they played a role in voter fraud he baselessly claims cost him the 2020 presidential election. The president on Monday indicated he would sign an executive order to assist with the effort to roll back mail-in voting. He also said he would target voting machines, instead favoring watermark paper for ballots.

The death of democracy continues…

It’s funny how “intelligent design” is no longer talked about.

I’m 45 years old and I had never seen the movie “Basic Instinct” all the way through. Finally watched it tonight. First thing that came to mind? There’s so much controversy (most of it is not great, and kudos to Sharon Stone for being so brave and outspoken about the betrayal she felt) around the now infamous crotch shot. And yet, it’s not even close to the most intimate part of that movie. (Obviously, this is from a male viewpoint)

Overall, though, the movie has incredibly intimate and sexy portions. And then there are other parts where it’s a bit cringeworthy.

They don’t make erotic thrillers like this anymore. They should bring it back.

I agree with one of these.

I am “Rob Thomas is a middle-aged dad “ old.

Something I just noticed on my 267th viewing of The West Wing:

In a 2005 episode entitled “Ninety Miles Away”, Kate Harper meets someone in a bar toward the end of the episode. If you pause a specific frame from that scene, it is eerie how much Harley Atwell in 2025 looks like Mary McCormack from 2005.

If my kids are any indication, we have failed as a society to teach them how to end a phone conversation.

Exclusive | White House to Vet Smithsonian Museums to Fit Trump’s Historical Vision - WSJ

The White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary to ensure the museums align with President Trump’s interpretation of American history.

Seems legit. Clearly, history needs to be changed to adhere to his interpretation of history.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING HERE?!?!?! JESUS CHRIST, SOMONE STAND THE FUCK UP AND DO SOMETHING!

Way to go, Wrexham!

The first thing I noticed when turning on the Wrexham game this afternoon was how much the quality of the broadcast has come up since 3 years or so ago. Wow.

American Nazis: The Aryan Freedom Network is riding high in Trump era | Reuters

While the Aryan Freedom Network and other neo-Nazi groups remain on the outermost edges of American politics, broadly regarded as toxic by conservatives and mainstream America, they are increasingly at the center of far-right public demonstrations and acts of violence, according to interviews with a dozen members of extremist groups, nine experts on political extremism and a review of data on far-right violence.

What a legacy to leave behind…emboldening Nazis. Everything’s fine!

A great quote from 1996’s “Primal Fear”:

“Been a while since you rubbed up against a woman with a brain?”

Something I’ve come to learn about myself: I don’t make good and rational arguments in the moment. I get angry and frustrated. I get so frustrated that I paint the opposition with an “ignorant brush” and I can’t get past it. The “why can’t they see how ridiculous their argument is” phase kicks in and I shut down.

Once again, I’m reminded how much I like Noah Wylie as a person. I really hope he’s a good guy when the cameras are not rolling. I so want him to be.

I saw this on an Instagram post, and I loved it:

“I used to have this mental illness where I thought logical arguments would change someone’s mind.”

Just watched 1995’s “Heat” for the first time. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that was not it. Also, I don’t know if I was supposed to, but by the end, I was rooting for Neil (Robert De Niro) instead to escape with Eady instead of Vincent (Al Pacino).

The Rule of Law Is Dead in the US | The Nation

The rule of law presupposes that there are, well, rules. These rules are supposed to provide a consistent, repeatable, and, most important, knowable set of outcomes. Predictability is the key feature of a functioning rules-based system, because people have to know the rules—and the consequences of breaking them—before they act. The difference between living under the rule or law and living by the whims of a madman is that the rights, responsibilities, prohibitions, and privileges of your situation do not change radically every time a person in power throws a hissy fit.

Also, read this.

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End - The Atlantic

Foreign researchers have recently been made to feel unwelcome in the U.S. They have been surveilled and harassed. The Trump administration has made it more difficult for research institutions to enroll them. Top universities have been placed under federal investigation. Their accreditation and tax-exempt status have been threatened. The Trump administration has proposed severe budget cuts at the agencies that fund American science—the NSF, the NIH, and NASA, among others—and laid off staffers in large numbers. Existing research grants have been canceled or suspended en masse. Committees of expert scientists that once advised the government have been disbanded. In May, the president ordered that all federally funded research meet higher standards for rigor and reproducibility—or else be subject to correction by political appointees.

For the love of God, please read this. Please digest this. Please understand this.

This is what Trump is doing to this country that won’t show itself for decades to come. But it will come.

Daring Fireball: Microsoft Introduces ‘Copilot Mode’ in Edge

Color me skeptical about the idea that my web browser should be “working for me”, rather than serving as a tool for me to work with. The AI hype cycle is pointing to a future where automated agentic web browsers surf automated AI-generated websites. Robots consuming robot-generated content — an infinite loop of AI onanism.

Well said, John.

Your Work Peak Is Earlier Than You Think - The Atlantic

But I had started to wonder: Can I really keep this going? I work like a maniac. But even if I stayed at it 12 hours a day, seven days a week, at some point my career would slow and stop. And when it did, what then? Would I one day be looking back wistfully and wishing I were dead? Was there anything I could do, starting now, to give myself a shot at avoiding misery—and maybe even achieve happiness—when the music inevitably stops?

Not going to pretend I don’t think about this as it relates to me.

I watched 1993’s “The Fugitive” last night. They don’t make them like that anymore.

We had lunch with my parents today (we were out of town for my birthday), and so we met halfway in Newnan, GA. The first thing I saw when I got out of the car was a 12-year old boy wearing one of those fucking red MAGA hats. I swear I almost got back in the car.

A character on the episode of “West Wing” I was just watching asked the following question:

“Toby, do you believe the Bible to be literally true?”

Is there anyone who would actually answer “yes” to that question?!?

Every time we visit a baseball stadium, I always use the middle innings to walk around the stadium to take pictures. These are from each of the 3 games.

I’m Giving My Kids a ’90s Summer—the 1890s - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

Just like the 1890s and the 2020s, they’ll play with the unvaccinated kids down the street and drink raw milk until dark. Then at daybreak, I’ll hand my children their metal lunch pails, button their fifty-button shoes, and they’ll shuffle off to their factory jobs, because in the Gilded Age, and southern states in the 2020s, no snowflake child labor laws exist.

Pitch perfect.

Mercedes-Benz Expands Collaboration with Microsoft to Boost In-Car Productivity with Enhanced Meetings for Teams App, Intune Integration and Microsoft 365 Copilot

Mercedes-Benz is launching a new version of its Meetings for Teams app. With this update, drivers can use the in-car camera while driving, allowing other participants to see them during a meeting. Given the brand’s focus on safety, the use of the camera abides by the laws of each country and has been approved for use while the vehicle is in motion.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Ryne Sandberg, Cubs icon and Hall of Fame second baseman, dies at 65 - The Athletic

“I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager — and never, ever your uniform. Make a great play, act like you’ve done it before. Get a big hit, look for the third-base coach and get ready to run the bases. Hit a home run, put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases. Because the name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back.”

I know the younger generation doesn’t share the same values about athletes that I do. But this quote from Sandberg echoes exactly the way I like to think baseball (or any sport) should be played.

Batmobile(s) from the WB Studio tour. The one from the 1989 film (foreground) is “the” Batmobile for me. I’d drive that car right now.

Three baseball games visited on this trip (Dodgers, Angels, and Padres), and each of them has led to a walk-off win!

I’m so sick of sports betting, I could vomit.

Speaking of ads…

Wtaf!?!? Is nothing sacred anymore?

I wonder if, back in the day, these new cities commissioned these old-timey songs about the cities themselves. Example from today was “Del Mar”.

I gotta think so.

I’ve reached the point where I have to use the handrails when getting on buses and whatnot.

People love their loud-ass motorcycles in CA.

ATL: “We have the worst traffic in the country!”

LA: “Hold my beer.”

I wonder if anyone in the Angels organization thought about the social commentary of putting the outlet store in the top-level 400 and 500 seats.

Hmm.

Santa Monica Beach Santa Monica, CA

Coca-Cola will launch Coke with U.S. cane sugar after Trump push

The Coca-Cola Co. said Tuesday that it will launch a version of its signature drink made with American cane sugar.

The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he had “been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so.”

News Flash:

• They already offer Coke with sugar. It’s available (colloquially) as Mexican Coke.
• What a bunch of fucking cowards.

I remember when Waffle House’s All-Star Special was $5.99. As of last night, it was $12.00. Wow.

Marc Andreessen Is a Traitor

Yet of all these legions of people doing the work to deliver computers capable of browsing the web, only Marc Andreessen and a handful of others (such as Bill Gates) became megarich, while the rest had largely ordinary salaries.

This article gets tech-y. But stick with it, and let the hypocrisy flow over you.

“Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie & the Blowfish is a song you will never turn off if it comes on.

Fight me.

CBS to Cancel ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’

It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.

If you believe that, I’ve got some gorgeous ocean-front property in Phoenix I’d love for you to look at.

The secret to Baltimore’s extraordinary year

“What Baltimore did that’s so impactful is really invested in a whole ecosystem of community–oriented interventions,” The Vera Institute for Justice’s Daniela Gilbert told Popular Information. Under Scott, Baltimore has fought violent crime not only through policing but through a network of programs that provide support for housing, career development, and education.

More of this is so badly needed.

Realizing now that I have, without necessarily noticing, architected our system at work to be a modular monolith. The “system” that everyone sees and interacts with is effectively just a thin client.

I think that’s a good thing.

This.

Former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suspended by Miami Northwestern amid investigation - The Athletic

“Today I’m coming to you on behalf of the football team and seeking donations to assist our boys this season and to help me carry the load so I no longer have to take from my personal funds to keep smiles on these young men face and remind them that they matter,” he wrote.

“We (the government) sure as hell aren’t going to help the kids. And you can’t either!”

My favorite comment from the comments section:

Florida HS Athletics (FHSAA) - F&$# them kids.

RTO has ushered mostly men back to the office

Big picture: Employers with strict RTO policies are making their workforces less diverse at a time when many of the same companies are rolling back DEI pledges or shedding employees after pandemic-era hiring booms.

I wonder what time the Howdy Doody show comes on tonight…

Billionaire Marc Andreessen says colleges will ‘pay the price’ for DEI - The Washington Post

“The universities are at Ground Zero of the counterattack” from Trump voters, Andreessen wrote, alleging colleges favored immigrants over Americans and promoted DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion policies intended to increase race and gender representation.

God forbid we encourage policies intended to increase race and gender representation in our learning environments.

What an absolute dick.

I am needing my glasses increasingly for things other than just reading/computer work. #gettingolder

I tend to compare AI to social media in terms of how it’s going to (negatively) affect society in the long run. I’ll be the first to admit that. But I did want to share a very helpful use of AI in a situation that actually brought someone joy.

One of my podcast hosts I listen to recently had a daughter. And he wanted a picture of his wife and daughter to use as his phone background. But the picture he wanted wasn’t oriented to serve as a good background photo. So he used some app (I forget which one he mentioned) to do a content fill. The tool expanded the original picture (smartly) and filled it out to the point where he could crop it in a portrait orientation. It now worked very well as his phone background image.

That’s awesome, and how it should be. A great (responsible) use of AI.

Expert Generalists

As an example from software teams, developers who roam across languages, architectures, and problem spaces may seem like “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none,” yet repeated dives below surface differences help them develop durable, principle-level mastery.

Bookmarking this one for my son, who starts at Georgia Tech in a couple of weeks.

How easily we forget how the GOP used to clutch their pearls about the most benign shit.

It’s funny how prayer is never around to prevent disasters like this.

They have medals for this, right? 🏳️‍🌈

Somebody paid the refs off on this one. I’m sorry. But this was blatant to the point of being absurd. I don’t know if it was a mob thing or they’re just getting us back for Trump.

You cannot not call an obvious handball (his palm was literally on top of the ball) in the box and then overturn yourself without looking at the VAR monitor for the championship-winning goal.

Just a fraud game all the way around.. 💯

This U.S./Mexico match is an utterly lawless affair.

Maybe this has been happening for decades and decades and I just don’t know…

At dinner tonight, I overheard a table of 5-6 single people (mix of men and women) talking about one of their married friends. Apparently, this wife had hidden herself taking a shower with a shower cap on for 30 years. And the husband accidentally walked in and saw her with a shower cap on and freaked out.

Come on, fellas. Be better than that.

Went to the Braves game tonight. The 4th celebration stuff was hard to take, not going to lie.

Also, they should have simply played the Ray Charles song “America the Beautiful” throughout the whole fireworks show. The Lee Greenwood song is ridiculous and just factually wrong now.

I didn’t realize the phrase I use on a regular basis “ladies and germs” comes from the movie “Se7en”.

There’s No Undo Button For Our Fallen Democracy

Since then, I’ve been recalibrating and grieving. Feeling angry — furious, really. Fighting resignation. Trying not to fall prey to doomerism and subsequently spreading it to others. (This post is perhaps an exception, but I believe, as Cottom does, in being “honest and clear” when times call for it.)

This is how I’ve been feeling. So much anger.

Instead of biking, I’ve thrown myself into work, soccer, and spending time with the kids. Something to distract me from everything else. Something that’s going to become a little harder once the kids go off to school in a little over a month.

Coping strategies are always welcome.

‘They used us’: Latino voters in Florida react to Trump’s deportation measures - YouTube

YA THINK?!?!?!

I Paid Off A Utah School’s Lunch Debt: My Journey to Change | HuffPost HuffPost Personal

And then, almost as an afterthought, she mentioned that Bluffdale Elementary — a school I had no personal connection to — had about $835 in outstanding lunch debt […] “Can I just… pay that?” I asked, half expecting to be told about some bureaucratic impossibility.

This is what we should be doing. Helping kids, rather than ridiculing and embarrassing them.

It’s what a (functioning) society should/would be focused on. Unfortunately, the U.S. is not a functioning society right now.

No meme has ever caught me more perfectly…

I’ve been re-watching “Glee” with my daughter. And two things said in the 2011 episode entitled “The Purple Piano Project” stood out to me:

• Coach (Sue) Sylvester quips that she tried running for the House of Representatives (and lost) on a platform of deportation.
• She then begins to run on a platform of blaming the arts for the downfall of public education.

See, this shit used to be satire.

With all due respect to most other soccer venues in the country…

Y’all can all go suck it. We spent about 4 hours at a game this morning/afternoon, and the temperature never got above 75 degrees. In late June. In Atlanta. It was perfect.

The Benz for the win!

Look, I understand that professional sports are not really about anything more than money. But watching this Chelsea/Benfica Club World Cup match where the announcers repeatedly say that the win is worth $13M is just gross.

Not pride. Not emotion. Just money.

Somewhere, Gordon Gecko is smiling.

“Final Destination 2” is a terrible movie. That is all.

I wonder what it’s like to have a real jawline.

Newsletter #185 - Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis” and the Observers Paradox

The real midlife crisis isn’t buying a Porsche - it’s realizing you’ve spent more than half your life creating work about your life instead of just living it. I’ve come to the unfortunate realization that I can’t experience anything anymore without thinking about how I’ll document it. The sunset isn’t beautiful - it’s “video content.” The conversation with my neighbor isn’t just pleasant - it’s “newsletter material.” Even my chickens laying eggs becomes “the best breakfast sandwich in the world.”

While I haven’t spent half my life documenting my own life, I do feel this inclination at a very cellular level. It’s hard for me to look at something (especially a landscape) and simply appreciate it in its (and my own) time and place. I always think “how would this look as a 36x24?”

Does this happen with other professions/hobbies? Or is it just related to photography? (I gotta think painters have this affliction, too).

I remember the whole “turn to your left, turn to your right, and understand that 2 of the three of you won’t be here next year” speech when I entered college. It was especially true at Georgia Tech.

That doesn’t seem to be the message anymore. They just told us that 98% of GT’s freshmen return for their sophomore year.

That’s a much more positive message.

To The People I Know Who Voted for Him,

For likely the third time, you had a chance to reject his vitriol, to condemn his criminality, to prevent his lawlessness, to denounce his bigotry—and you flat-out refused. More than that, you celebrated it. That’s not something I can quietly abide.

Can’t say that I disagree with anything in this article.

Accurate.

I didn’t realize how much of the JFK story is still buried inside of me.

I happen to find this podcast called “The Rewachables”. It’s basically a podcast that goes through the history of films and discusses why some are more rewatch-able than others.

I started listening this morning to the episode about the movie “JFK” from December 2021. Fascinating to hear the hosts and guests talk about the same topics I remember talking about with my dad and friends way back in the early 90’s. I’ll admit it drove me to watch the movie again this afternoon. It’s a real nostalgia trip.

What I didn’t expect to feel was a sense of connection to the current political climate. Fascism, lying to the American people, and trying to discern what is truth from fiction are all topics we struggle with to this day. Especially with the current administration.

“The government wants everybody to be scared.”

I guess they were right. History is, if nothing else, cyclical.

Turns out premature score reporting has come to baseball as well…

And after reload…

🤦🏻‍♂️

I learned last night that a good friend of mine from middle school passed away this week. As life often plays out, we drifted apart towards the latter part of high school. And then we lost touch once we went our separate ways for college. We followed each other on Facebook, for sure. But we never saw each other again. Unfortunately, we never will.

We were extremely close for one of those early summers. Our houses were near each other. We spent afternoons at her pool. Talking about anything and everything. Laughing, joking. She had this great laugh. One that not only put a smile on your face, but genuinely warmed your heart. She was joyous. She was loving. She was full of energy and life.

And now, all these years later, cancer has robbed the world of that laugh. And it will be a lesser place without it.

Rest in peace, Liana. ❤️

ChatGPT’s Impact On Our Brains According to an MIT Study | TIME

Does ChatGPT harm critical thinking abilities? A new study from researchers at MIT’s Media Lab has returned some concerning results.

Is this article not tailor-made for a “no shit, Sherlock?”

It’s sweating-on-the-back-while-driving hot down here. Dear lord.

When we visit Columbus, there’s a strange game of de-aging people walking by to see if you know them from 25+ years ago.

#nokings

(via Dan Cedarholm)

If you’re a conservative (Christian) Republican and you DON’T believe in these things, why aren’t we hearing from you? Why isn’t every single Christian group standing up and yelling “This is not what we believe in! Somebody has to stop this administration!”

And yet, I hear nothing. No condemnation. Only “thoughts and prayers”, if anything is said at all.

Your silence is astoundingly deafening. And for that, God help you.

These “oh my stars, I didn’t know” articles are really starting to piss me off. The photo above tries to make this lady look helpless, as if what happened was out of her control in some way. Something she could do nothing about. As if she was the one being put upon.

Give me a fucking break.

I don’t normally read the comments on anything, but I’m glad I did on this one. It heartened me just a little to see some who felt the way I’ve been feeling since the day after the election:

I feel no sympathy for this woman. Not one bit.

I do feel sympathy for this Carol person’s kids, as they had nothing to do with what happened. They can’t vote. They have no say in it. And yet, they are the collateral damage in all of this.

Same, bruh. Same.

It occurs to me that the Women’s National (Soccer) Team is filled with positivity right now. And the Men’s National Team is just the opposite.

I remember a time when in-room dining was outrageously expensive. Now, it’s par for any restaurant out there.

Yep.

Empathy can take a toll – but 2 philosophers explain why we should see it as a strength

Empathy can make people weaker – both physically and practically, according to social scientists. Consider the phenomenon known as “empathy fatigue,” a major source of burnout among counselors, nurses and even neurosurgeons. These professionals devote their lives to helping others, yet the empathy they feel for their clients and patients wears them down, making it harder to do their jobs.

So the answer is to just not give a shit about anybody or anything? That’s healthy!

I mean, it will get you far in politics these days.

Oklahoma will teach high schoolers ‘Big Lie’ about 2020 election

Oklahoma’s public school history teachers will soon be required to teach the disproved conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump.

Jesus fucking Christ. Seriously?!?!

“C” is for Censorship: PBS Cuts ‘Art Spiegelman’ Doc and Other Dubious Acts at Embattled Broadcaster | International Documentary Association

Twelve days before Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse (2024) was set to broadcast on April 15 across PBS stations nationwide as part of its strand American Masters, the filmmakers were told that a 90-second sequence—which shows the famous artist discussing an anti-Trump cartoon he created for the 2017 Women’s March newspaper—would be cut from the documentary.

Censorship doesn’t have to be a direct order to be chilling across an entire industry. This is PBS running scared of an administration threatening to remove their public funding.

Guess free speech is only free as long as it’s postitive for the dear leader.

The ever-incredible Hannah Waddingham in Ted Lasso S3E6 (“Sunflowers”) has never looked so beautiful as she did in the orange dress on the Dutch guy’s boat.

So proud of my (not-so-little baby) boy, who graduated from high school yesterday, and is headed to Georgia Tech in the fall.

Absolutely loved this episode with Christopher Jackson (most famous for his role as George Washington in “Hamilton”):

“Beautifulness” is not a word. It’s “beauty”. Start again.

All I feel right now is helplessness and sadness. Our government is in the business of terrorizing the most vulnerable of us. Rich people are just getting richer. Journalists and journalism itself are under attack by the government. And people are terrified (again) that they have to hide their true selves, lest they be shamed, deported, or worse.

The is NOT a great America. This is an America that is great only for the few and privileged.

Despite the impending thunderstorm, the birds remained cheerful and loud at 5am.

On Male Social Isolation

There’s a huge sense of social isolation that comes with being perceived as male, because now people are subconsciously treating me as a potential predator. All strangers, no matter their gender, keep their guard up around me.

I agree with Kottke completely. A totally fascinating view and perspective from @skaldish (on Tumblr) on something I don’t necessarily think of, but certainly hear/read about all the time.

Call it a sports book all you want. It’s fucking gambling.

Oxford American | The Alabama Landline That Keeps Ringing

I spent the better part of two days and nights listening to students answer questions at the Foy desk, where phones have been ringing since 1953, when James E. Foy, Auburn’s then dean of students, opened the line as a resource for students and then as a service to the public. For just as long, students who sit there have been answering any question asked of them—or at least tried their best.

War Eagle! 🦅

Daring Fireball: The Trump Administration Signal Scandal, Somehow, Gets Worse

National security leaders using this app — which effectively just removes all of Signal’s actual security features by backing up all messages as plain text — is so stupid it’s surprising, even from these idiots Trump has surrounded himself with. I mean think about how stupid it is that Mike Waltz was using this app while in front of press photographers at a Cabinet meeting.

Can you imagine if this had come up in the Biden administration? The Obama administration?

They would have been crucified live at 8pm ET on Fox (not even Fox News).

4th Grader to RFK Jr: “I Have Autism and I’m Not Broken”

At a recent Princeton Public Schools’ Board of Education meeting, Teddy, a fourth-grader from one of the district’s schools, got up and delivered a speech about the many reasons that PPS should teach about autism and other disabilities, including “so we don’t have people like RFK Jr in the future”.

It shouldn’t have to come to this. But here we are.

48 Things Women Hear In A Lifetime (That Men Just Don’t)

Jason Kottke points to two videos created hy HuffPost that are things women and men hear throughout their lifetime that, well, maybe they shouldn’t.

I’ve heard almost all of them. As a teenager, I probably said a lot of them.

Yet, this is the “good times” we’re being told we should be getting back to. No thank you.

American corporations didn’t want to diversify, anyway

How did we get here? Why were so many companies – from Walmart to Paramount to Victoria’s Secret – willing to roll over on their diversity goals after the promises they made in 2020 to uproot systemic racism and transform the nation? Were they all just paying lip service? In many ways, the programs were never intended to radically change the workplace in the first place – they were intended to appease workers and dampen discontent. What we’ve seen since 2020 is not new. It’s a reversal rooted in the policies the US created decades ago, when it cast aside the goal of addressing a legacy of discrimination for the vague idea of diversity – an idea that was always destined to fail, and an idea many corporations never truly believed in.

When did we come to the determination that discrimination is ok and diversity is not?

This is a complete 180 to what I’ve believed in my entire life.

The Courts Must Stop Presuming Donald Trump is a Regular President

Jack Goldsmith, a conservative law professor at Harvard, recently described the way courts typically approach presidents: “Much of our law depends on a presumption of regularity in the presidency. It depends on the courts thinking that they can trust the president to comply with orders, and to be honest and truthful in court.”

Yep.

PEOPLE ARE LOSING LOVED ONES TO AI-FUELED SPIRITUAL FANTASIES

But by 2022, her husband “was using AI to compose texts to me and analyze our relationship,” the 41-year-old mom and education nonprofit worker tells Rolling Stone. Previously, he had used AI models for an expensive coding camp that he had suddenly quit without explanation — then it seemed he was on his phone all the time, asking his AI bot “philosophical questions,” trying to train it “to help him get to ‘the truth,’” Kat recalls. His obsession steadily eroded their communication as a couple.

What the actual fuck?!?!

I’m telling you, people…don’t fall into the AI sinkhole without actually understanding how it works and (perhaps more importantly) how it does not work.

Holy shit, that’s a good way to put this.

Another casualty of a cashless society…the firemen standing on the side of the road asking for money in the boot.

Gotta get back on the horse…come on, guys!!

Trump seeks to end federal funding for NPR and PBS : NPR

Trump’s newest order appears to envision a continuation of federal subsidies for public radio and television stations — apart from NPR and PBS. It is unclear how that squares with Trump’s pledge to ask Congress to rescind all funds already approved for public broadcasting.

What an asshole.

Manton Reece

Went to a restaurant across the street and there was a jazz band playing, a bit of peace and beauty as the wind and rain picked up outside.

People keep asking me what I want from life at this point. It’s little things like this that I want.

Why Some People Follow Authoritarian Leaders—And The Key to Stopping It | Scientific American

Work from my lab and others reveals that authoritarian followers express a range of anti-democratic attitudes including anti-gay prejudice, anti-immigrant attitudes, generalized prejudice, nationalism and even the belief in conspiracies.

💯checks out.

Photos: The 35th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope - The Atlantic

Fascinating images!!

My favorite:

The federal minimum wage is officially a poverty wage in 2025 | Economic Policy Institute

In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (established by the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines). The limitations of how the federal government calculates poverty understate how far the minimum wage is from economic security for workers and their families. 

Should I cue Lee Greenwood now? Or wait until America is great again?!

What Exactly Do We Owe Young Men? - by Charlotte Clymer

There’s a quote from Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club that I’ve always found interesting and may sum up the “crisis of American masculinity” in fewer than forty words better than anywhere else:

“We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”

An interesting take on a topic I’ve been genuinely interested to understand. I see it, I hear it, but I don’t get it.

That quote, though. Ooh boy.

“Good Will Hunting” Still a phenomenal movie.

Today, my mom called my sister on the way to my niece’s volleyball match. The CarPlay screen read “[my sister’s name] or ICE1”.

I turned to my mom. “Care to explain?”

She laughed and said “In Case of Emergency”.

Whew!

Columbia Canceled My Course on Race and Media. I’m Going to Teach It Anyway.

Since then, it has been heart-wrenching to watch Columbia’s administration pre-emptively cave to pressure, especially in placing Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies under special provost supervision or receivership. It’s been terrifying to see institution after institution across the country cave on diversity, freedom of speech, and academic integrity, not to protect students and faculty, but to protect donors and reputations.

More of this, please. Fighting it is all we have right now.

How I’d Fix Atlanta

In each of these essays, a citizen of Georgia’s capital argues for one way we could make our city better. Sometimes the ideas will be serious. Other times? A little more lighthearted. From infrastructure to food trucks, public transit to wildflowers, nothing is off limits. Consider these essays the wish list of a bunch of ATLiens who want more for their city.

Fascinating idea. I love the ones on automobile dependency and walkable neighborhoods.

I also enjoyed the lighter side of this one on Outkast.

Love my Braves and particularly love the “The A” logo.

Cannot do the red hat. Not now. Not even soon. Maybe not ever.

Can’t argue with Glenn here:

It’s like the stock market. Democrats run on decency and fairness and any perceived imperfection can be amplified, even when unjustified, as hypocrisy—like a company claiming it has a great year of earnings ahead, but it dips when an anonymous report claims they are 1% behind their goals.

Trump is a meme stock, in which his cruelty and erratic behavior is priced in. Everybody “knows” how bad he is, so media “price that in” to their coverage.

Footguns — Liss is More

The opposite of a footgun. A problem solved. Solved by respect for the customer.

Couldn’t agree with Casey more here.

Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard - The New York Times

A senior White House official said the administration stood by the letter, calling the university’s decision to publicly rebuff the administration overblown and blaming Harvard for not continuing discussions.

“It was malpractice on the side of Harvard’s lawyers not to pick up the phone and call the members of the antisemitism task force who they had been talking to for weeks,” said May Mailman, the White House senior policy strategist. “Instead, Harvard went on a victimhood campaign.”

Do they ever take responsibility for ANYTHING?! Always playing the blame game, you fucking cowards.

Also, you’re calling out Harvard for playing the victimhood game?!? Your fucking boss is the king of the victimhood game. Don’t believe me? Just ask him.

I’m so sick of hearing the blaming of the Democratic Party for their “lack of vision”. Because the “Republicans” had a vision? They simply said “The economy is shit. Groceries are too expensive!” And then elected someone who has NO plan to truly fix that.

How is that a vision? Where was the “lack of vision” argument when Trump ran again? How did that “vision” go from 2016 to 2020?

Just stop.

Good god, the official US government website for Covid (covi…

Good god, the official US government website for Covid (covid[dot]gov) now redirects to a page on the White House site called “Lab Leak, The True Origins of Covid-19”. Our country is being run by conspiracy theory.

What Jason said.

Yep, that checks out. Totally normal!

Gotta hand it to the Amazon driver on this one. Much props, dumb ass.

I found this on an Instagram reel, and I thought it was spot-on:

What’s the difference between Democrats and Republicans? Democrats will feed 100 people for fear that one person may starve. Republicans will NOT feed 100 people for fear that one of them doesn’t deserve it.

Real-life behavior that I’ve witnessed says this is 💯

Have to hand it to Zaxby’s. They’re the only restaurant (that’s not McD) that has not asked me to tip anyone.

Kudos!

Ken Griffey Jr. lauded for excellent photos of Rory McIlroy at the 2025 Masters - Yahoo Sports

Griffey — who took up photography after his baseball career ended — is getting praise after a few of his pictures from the 2025 Masters went viral. In particular, Griffey’s photos after Rory McIlroy won the event are being lauded by fans.

Finally, some uplifting news! I adore that he has found his hobby and turned it into a life-after-baseball kind of thing. Absolutely love it!

I Didn’t Think Things Would Get This Chaotic When We Elected President Donkey Kong - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. President Donkey Kong’s entire platform was that he smashes things.

McSweeney’s is just nailing it.

On April 3rd’s episode of Jon Stewart’s podcast “The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart”, Michael Lewis puts a statement of fact as succinctly as I’ve ever heard it:

Government is the place that all the problems the private sector can’t solve go.

So smart, and so true.

Something just lifted my spirits this morning. I ran into someone I used to work with at Romanoff years ago in my local grocery store. She is retired and working on the side for some extra money. So nice to see Janet is doing so well!

Florida Teacher Loses Job Over Trans Student’s Name, But Community Fights Back

On April 8, the board—composed of a conservative firewall including Megan Wright, Gene Trent, John Thomas, Katye Campbell, and Matt Susin—voted unanimously to dismiss Calhoun at the end of her contract in May, ending her decade-long career at Satellite High School. Their stated reason was that Calhoun had called a student by a name different than that on their birth certificate, which violates a 2023 statewide policy requiring written, parental consent before a teacher may do so.

A student’s parent evidently discovered the discrepancy and escalated it to the board. Calhoun’s case marks the first publicly known case of an educator losing their job due to the naming provisions of this law.

Imagine being so not busy that you have the bandwidth to not only find out someone called this person “this” vs. “that”, but then being so pressed that you escalate it to the fucking school board. Because? Reasons.

What if…just imagine with me…what if that parent MINDED THEIR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS?!?!

What a world that would be.

Good point.

We watched the replay of the goal taken back from Almiron today in the Atlanta United game.

I officially give up as what is actually offsides.

Everything I’ve ever heard is about intent. It is so clear Latte had no intention of passing that ball to Amador. In fact, Amador wasn’t even in the play until the NE guy stuck his foot out to block it, and it went directly at Amador.

What a fucking joke that call was. No, I can’t even say that. That would imply that anyone on the actual field made a fucking call.

The AR didn’t. The center ref didn’t. Not even New England called for it.

No one did. Tell me again how VAR is only supposed to assist in these games?!?!

Trump announces $600 million in new deals with five law firms

Kirkland & Ellis, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Latham & Watkins all agreed to perform $125 million each in pro bono legal work — the highest figure seen yet in any of the agreements brokered by Trump with various legal firms. In exchange, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will withdraw letters sent to each of the firms asking questions about their hiring practices and implying firms’ efforts to diversify their workforce could violate employment laws.

Because this is normal. Jesus Christ.

Wise words from Charlie in The West Wing episode Arctic Radar:

I don’t think you can reasonably ask someone to control who they fall in love with.

Can I Teach the First Amendment If I Only Have a Green Card? - The Atlantic

As I prepare my lecture notes, the Trump administration is working to deport immigrants, including green-card holders, for what appears to be nothing more than the expression of political views with which the government disagrees. These actions are chilling. They also make it difficult to work out how to teach cases that boldly proclaim this country is committed to a vision of free speech that, right now, feels very far away.

She’s not wrong.

From 2002 to 2025, the tuition for Notre Dame jumped from $25,850 to $62,693. With room and board, $31,640 to $83,300.

My god.

While the economy fell apart, just remember who went golfing for the weekend.

“Thought leaders” exhaust me. That is all.

If the next Democratic nominee for President doesn’t use the motto: “Is America Great Again?”, they’ve picked the wrong strategy.

ICE Can’t Bring Back Maryland Man Deported to El Salvador in Error, Agency Says - WSJ

The Trump administration said the court didn’t have the authority to order his return

So it’s just “tough shit”, huh?

Got it.

We’re so lost as a people.

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR): “Hi folks: Facebook appears to be taking down my posts. Please remember they are available for free here (no paywall), and can be received by email (also free– just don’t put in your credit card information). I guess if I’m being banned I’m doing something right?” — Bluesky

It puts me at ease to know that our social media platforms are bringing back free speech from the bitter confines of the past. Gone are the days of the radical left’s agenda to silence the conservative voice. Gone are the days of hearing only from the “mainstream media” and “fake news”.

Rest easy, dear patriots. The good folks at Facebook, X, and Truth Social are there to teach our young ones the truth. The word of Our Leader. The word of Our Savior. Praise be to Trump, and long may he reign.

Trump tells NBC News ‘there are methods’ for seeking a third term

When asked whether he has been presented with plans to allow him to seek a third term, Trump said, “There are methods which you could do it.”

Told you.

And after switching over to watch the (woeful right now) Braves, I just saw a prep-er commercial. Because of course I did.

Wtf.

When you’ve immersed yourself in watching soccer for a while now, coming back to watching American-based sports (like college basketball, for instance) is exhausting. Why?

Commercials. They’re abundant.

Man City’s font choice on their uniforms is a poor one. Comic Sans, not a great look. 🤣

Such a smart thought

Utah bans fluoride in public drinking water | AP News

The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the past century: one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent tooth decay on a large scale.

The war on proven science continues…

Florida mulls scrapping property taxes in US first

Florida already doesn’t have a state income tax, so according to the nonprofit Florida Policy Institute…Property taxes provide 18% of county revenue, 17% of city/town revenue, and 50%-60% of school district funding. Florida sales tax would need to at least double to 12% to make up for property tax losses. But…DeSantis said he doesn’t want to raise the sales tax. Instead, he’s proposed cutting spending or taxing tourists more.

What is their hard on for cutting educational funding? Why do these MAGA idiots think removing funding from an already-strapped educational system in this country is going to make it better?

Pam Bondi signals probe into Signal chat is unlikely | AP News

She repeated Trump administration talking points that the highly sensitive information in the chat was not classified, though current and former U.S. officials have said the posting of the exact launch times of aircraft and times that bombs would be released before those pilots were even in the air would have been classified.

Bondi also quickly pivoted to two Democrats, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Joe Biden, who found themselves under investigation but never charged for allegedly mishandling classified information. Indeed, the department has conducted multiple high-profile investigations into government officials accused of mishandling classified information or leaking it, albeit with significant differences in underlying facts and outcomes. There’s also precedent for public officials either to avoid criminal charges or be spared meaningful punishment.

So, we’re going to ignore the situation eight now because it’s politically prudent to do so. AND we’re going to point back to the same old MAGA talking points of (Hillary) Clinton and Biden where they should be investigated.

Got it.

No fucking shame whatsoever.

Apple’s AI isn’t a letdown. AI is the letdown | CNN Business

Apple, like every other big player in tech, is scrambling to find ways to inject AI into its products. Why? Well, it’s the future! What problems is it solving? Well, so far that’s not clear! Are customers demanding it? LOL, no.

Apple may have made a mistake in not delivering on something they committed to. And they should be held accountable for that.

But the larger mistake was committing to an unproven, and often error-prone, technology.l because they felt the pressure from Wall Street and the tech media. Normally, they rise above that. Not this time.

Wisdom = Intelligence + Life lessons and experience

If it weren’t for three things, I’d go back to school today:

• Calculus
• Physics
• Making money (to pay for my kids in college)

I guess the idea of wishing your college Alma mater was like it is now when you were in school is pretty universal.

‘This is not your grandmother’s Easter Egg Roll’: White House seeks corporate sponsorships for Easter event | CNN Politics

The sponsorship offers range from $75,000 to $200,000, with the promise of logo and branding opportunities, according to a nine-page document sent to potential sponsors and obtained by CNN.

If you’re surprised by this, you either haven’t been paying attention or you’re so bought in to the enshitifcation of this country that you don’t want to see it.

For all my programmers out there!

‘Incredibly troublesome’: Judge grills DOJ over alleged gang member deportations - ABC News

President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport more than 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members is an “incredibly troublesome and problematic” application of the centuries-old wartime law, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said during a court hearing Friday, in his strongest rebuke to date of the Trump administration’s deportation actions.

So many words. So many condemnations. So little to show for anything.

Stop saying words. Somebody in power, do something about it. I’m tired of the clutching of pearls. He’s not going to stop. His administration has said as much.

So stop the “this is not the right way” proclamations (Roberts). The Trump administration doesn’t care. Stop pronouncing it “the end of democracy” (media companies) and START FUCKING DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Columbia Gives in to Trump’s Demands. University to Ban Masks, Empower Campus Police and Rein in Controversial Academic Department - WSJ

Columbia University will cede to President Trump’s far-reaching demands in negotiations over $400 million in federal funding he revoked this month, according to a memo from the school to the administration. 

So it begins…

My favorite part of this is Columbia agreed to ban masks (which were used in the protests). So much for freedom of speech, expresssion, or assembly.

But hey, who needs the 1st Amendment? It’s useless, really. Especially when it makes room for the next in the line of succession. The one we really care about. The one we literally are willing to (repeatedly) sacrifice children for.

Investors and consumers turning on Tesla amid Cybertruck recall

The EV-maker recalled 46,000 Cybertrucks (nearly all of them) yesterday because it discovered an exterior piece of trim could fall off and create a hazard for other drivers. But the company’s mounting problems can’t all be fixed with a free replacement part.

Good…that company can join all of the social media companies in burning to the fucking ground.

I wonder if any piece of legislation as “progressive” as the Clean Water Act (1972) would or could be passed in this day and age.

According to the U.S. Water Alliance:

1972 was an election year, and after a first term notable for its environmental policy achievements, then President Nixon vetoed the bill in an attempt to cast his fiscal conservatism against his already flagging opponent, George McGovern. Bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate instead overrode President Nixon’s veto, and the bill became law on October 18, 1972.

Bipartisan…do we even know what that is anymore?

Chief Justice Roberts Criticizes Trump’s Call to Impeach Judges - WSJ

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said Tuesday in a statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

About fucking time.

Roku tests customer patience with startup video ads | The Verge

The reaction among customers, as you might imagine, is overwhelmingly negative. It’s worth remembering that Roku makes the bulk of its revenue from advertising — not bargain-bin priced streaming hardware. But just like Amazon before it, Roku is discovering that it’s easy to turn the ads dial too far. It’s possible to exit out of the ad after it starts, but that hasn’t done much to quell the frustration.

I don’t know how many times people have to be told that you are the product.

Trump: I followed three women who wanted to leave their husbands over the election results. I can’t believe where they ended up.

Among its brutal impacts is that the chemotherapy has weakened her immune system. That made her husband’s refusal to get any of the several COVID-19 shots available to him all the more galling. “He became radicalized during the pandemic,” she said. “When I mentioned to a few people that he didn’t get it, people were really offended. Like, You’re getting treatment for cancer, and he won’t get vaccinated?”

I can’t even imagine (as a husband) feeling this way. This lack of empathy, sympathy, or “wanting to fix it in any way I could” feeling from this man is just inexcusable.

It’s heart-breaking.

That’s a helluva change in less than 12 hours.

Trump deportations questioned by federal judge

The Department of Justice on Monday asked a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., to replace the district court judge overseeing a case challenging the Trump administration’s deportations of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the wartime Alien Enemies Act.

A few thoughts…

• Apparently, we can simply replace judges we don’t like anymore. Because that’s certainly normal.
• The Alien Enemies Act is supposed to be for wartime. Are we at war? Did I miss when East Asia declared war on us (again)?
• “Alleged gang members”…I guess we’ve skipped the whole “innocent until proven guilty”, and even “guilty until proven innocent”, and moved directly to “we think you’re shit, so you have to go”. How very American of us.

If you’re not watching “The Pitt”, you should be.

I can’t today. Not with the multiple things I’ve seen this morning.

I’ll see you tomorrow. Maybe.

He’s not wrong.

Update: The Rebels have once again prevailed. More remnants of the Empire remain.

Forts Bragg and Benning revert to old names with new honorees, sparking controversy - CBS News

Steve Moore’s family is on the other end of the Army’s renaming decisions. Two years ago, Fort Benning in Georgia was renamed to honor his parents — Lt. Gen. Harold Moore, a highly decorated 32-year infantry commander, and his wife Julia — by the Naming Commission.

Moore says he was especially touched by the renaming because his mother was also honored, saying the Army was finally recognizing “the value of the military spouse.”

Under Hegseth’s leadership, Fort Moore is now reverting back to Fort Benning  — not after the Confederate general it originally honored, but Cpl. Fred Benning — who served with honor for a couple of years during World War I

This one really galls me. I grew up in Columbus, GA. My mom taught elementary school at Fort Benning for 30+ years. Honestly, I didn’t know who the “Benning” was in the name of the base until two years ago. Shameful, to be honest.

So, when they changed it, and chose this lovely and deserving couple for the honor, it felt right. It felt just, and long overdue.

But this. This is just spite. This is just wanting show everyone your dick is bigger.

What’s even worse, they don’t even have the stones to revert the name back to Fort Benning based on the original person’s name. They literally picked out someone else (who I’m sure is perfectly deserving, too) whose last name happened to be “Benning”.

Just so they could “own the libs” and be anti-“woke”. Because they are whiny children.

Oh by the way, they did the same thing to Fort Bragg (named Fort Liberty from 2023-2025).

One more thing…according to PBS, changing these bases’ names in 2023 stood to cost the Army close to $13 million.

The Naming Commission in its August 2022 report estimated it would cost $4.9 million to rename Fort Benning as Fort Moore, but said there could be additional costs. It put the cost to rename Bragg at around $8 million. Updated costs were not available.

It’s a real wonder those costs aren’t available right now.

Do you have to be bald to be a Premier League referee?

There are two political movements in America right now

But political movements, especially ones whose members are concerned with “what’s polling well,” are always big tents. Movements don’t require uniformity, just a common bond. And in this case, the common bond is a single thesis statement. It’s ok to throw somebody under the bus.

It’s that statement that gets me. Underlying everything they’re doing, and they’re doing a lot, is we shouldn’t have to feel bad about not giving a shit about anyone else but ourselves.

Your neighbor needs a helping hand with his trash cans? Fuck ‘em.

Your friend need a quick loan to cover his car payment? Fuck ‘em.

You asked to potentially contribute to a charity to help kids with cancer? Fuck ‘em.

And the people we’re talking about cheer this on. As if it’s the way it always should have been. Make America great again, right? I guess these days, that means being a self-centered asshole always out for #1.

How far we’ve fallen.

This one should be fun!

I love the fact that the painters who are working right behind me as I’m working are listening to the same Barcelona match that I’m following on my phone. Even though we don’t speak the same spoken language, we’re all speaking fútbol right now.

Someone this morning made the following statement:

I don’t watch or listen to news. I go and research. I go to find data. On X and TikTok.

And I just wanted to pound my head into the wall over and over and over again.

Watching the Miami-Charlotte match and the commentator just used the word:

Strategical

Wtaf 🤦🏻‍♂️

Speaking of Luther, this is one of my favorite albums of his, 1994’s “Songs”:

An entire album of covers: “Endless Love” (w/ Mariah Carey), “Love the One You’re With”, “Hello”, “The Impossible Dream”, the (track) list goes on and on.

So, so great.

I was today years old when I learned…

Richard Marx (whom I’ve continued to appreciate more over time) joined the absolutely un-equaled Luther Vandross to write one of the most heartfelt songs I’ve ever heard, 2003’s “Dance With My Father”.

A perfect song.

Let’s do this!!! #unitethe404

Not many more Friday night games left for Brian at NAHS.

Just watched the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again.The Trump allegory is strong. Might as well have had the tagline: “Make New York Great Again”.

Perfectly stated.

In an article entitled [“Why are Canadians so hurt by Wayne Gretzsky’s silence?](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6178758/2025/03/06/wayne-gretzky-donald-trump-hockey-canada/?source=user_shared_article Why are Canadians so hurt by Wayne Gretzky’s silence? )”, Dan Robson writes for The Athletic:

Gretzky has represented Canada as a player and an executive for decades, Orr wrote, criticizing “fickle” people who have turned on him for his personal beliefs. “Wayne respects your rights and beliefs” Orr wrote. “Why can’t you respect his?” There hasn’t been an uproar about the silence of so many other Canadian-born celebrities who found their fame and fortune in the United States. But then, there aren’t any photos of them in a MAGA hat supporting the president who has called for the country to be annexed.

I take umbrage with Orr’s statement “Wayne respects your rights and beliefs”. Really? How do we know that? Has he explicitly said that somewhere that we can point to? Are we just supposed to take that on your word and your word alone?

I don’t assume anything about someone who very publicly (and visibly) supports a U.S. President that doesn’t believe in rights for most people who are not like him.

Gretzsky’s silence speaks volumes.

An appropriate reaction to seeing him anywhere…

I appreciate the pluck and, to some extent, the audacity. But come on. It’s a toilet paper holder, bro. Let’s calm it down a little bit.

Trump threatens to pull federal funds for US schools allowing ‘illegal protests’ | Trump administration | The Guardian

Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to halt all federal funding for any college or school that allows “illegal protests” and vowed to imprison “agitators”, in a social media statement that prompted alarm from free expression advocates.

“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” the US president wrote on Truth Social.

“Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on [sic] the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The end of democracy continues…

Jeff Rueter, writing for [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6173258/2025/03/04/san-diego-fc-fans-chant-homophobic-mls/?source=user_shared_article ‘Proud not loud’? San Diego FC fans’ actions put MLS expansion club to immediate test ):

San Diego FC began its first MLS season on the road, shocking the defending champion LA Galaxy with a 2-0 win. The result sent a message all its own, but it also gave their fans even more reason to look forward to their first match at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night. Comparatively, their home debut wasn’t as exciting, with San Diego playing St. Louis City to a scoreless draw. Throughout the match, though, their fans made an unmissable first impression by [adopting one of the sport’s ugliest modern traditions](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6169617/2025/03/02/san-diego-fc-denounces-homophobic-chants/?source=user_shared_article San Diego FC coach, sporting director denounce homophobic chants at inaugural home match ).

If you’ve watched a game involving the Mexico men’s national team, you will likely know what this is about. The chant in question, in which fans shout a Spanish, four-letter homophobic slur at the opposing goalkeeper during his run-up to take a goal kick, has been a staple in Mexican soccer for many years.

Not a great way to start off a franchise.

Another problem with getting old…balance is more and more challenging. Dizzy spells are a thing.

Back on the lunch salads…gotta see if I can drop about 7-10 pounds.

I heard something on the latest Slate Money podcast this morning (and no, I haven’t fact-checked yet), but if it’s even slightly true, it still makes my heart hurt.

The #1 most shoplifted item in the U.S. is baby formula.

Think about that.

I needed this. Just silly fun when I wasn’t expecting it. It made me laugh and join in with the guys saying it out loud in my car.

It’s the little things.

There’s some serious shit going down in the neighbor’s yard.

Had an eye appointment this morning. Dear lord, these new lenses make things extremely clear up close.

Almost disorienting-ly so.

Daring Fireball: Elon Musk, Weirdo Extraordinaire

Think too about how conservative news outlets would portray any woman who had children with four different fathers (and counting). Or if Musk were a black man working for a Democratic president. (Imagine the Fox News take if Barack Obama had five children from three different mothers, like Donald Trump does.)

They’d break the record for saying “deadbeat dad” in the span of 2 minutes. They’d run specials on it. They’d have “experts” come on from the American Family Association for the Tight-Ass Club and say it’s the death of the idea of the American family.

The stereotype comparisons would never, ever stop.

Manton Reece - Something is wrong with Trump

So what do we do? I don’t know. It feels too big. Since 2016 I’ve just tried to focus on a few positive things.

Good post by Manton. This is the one I struggle with the most:

• Don’t vilify people we disagree with.

I’m trying to work through it. That’s all I can give right now.

Well said, Dan.

@existennialmemes on Tumblr

Listen, if a Bad President can come in and take away our rights and we’re dependent on a Good President replacing them in four years to give us back our rights, then we do not have any rights. If politicians can take or distribute them, then they’re not “inalienable” and they’re not “rights.” We don’t have inalienable rights we have conditional privileges, divvied out according to the whims of whoever currently holds the reins. And if we want to have actual rights, then we must build a system in which no one has the power to take them away to begin with.

He’s not wrong. And what’s so chilling is he’s NOT WRONG. We claim superiority in the world for our democracy and how we have rights for our citizens. Yet clearly, we do not. The whim statement is perfectly accurate.

(Hat tip: kottke.org)

Too many people I grew up watching and/or listening to are dying.

FDA cancels meeting to select flu strains for next season’s shots

Federal health officials notified members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the cancellation in an email Wednesday afternoon, said committee member Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The email, Offit said, offered no explanation for the scrapped meeting.

What could go wrong?

Realizing I do NOT like being stuck in the house all day against my will (so to speak). We’re having some work done on the house, and it’s just me. So when we they’re here, I have to be here as well.

Not a fan.

Bruh? It’s a little early to get baked. My god.

You know, I’ve said this to anyone who will listen in the last 6-12 months, but here it is in plain numbers:

We rode to the airport this morning in a taxi that happened to be a Tesla. Honestly, I haven’t been in one all that often, so I was curiously studying the big-ass screen while riding in the front seat. The main thing I walked away with was I do not need yet another battery indicator causing anxiety in my life. Much less from my frickin’ car.

Man, they’ll put “Parental Advisory” labels on anything. During the flight, they had the advisory on an episode “Frasier”, for goodness sake.

I was horrified to learn that George Clooney was 4 years younger than I am right now when he filmed “Ocean’s 11”.

Dear god.

Actor Nicholas Hoult and Freddie Freeman could be brothers.

Lots of wind turbines in the German countryside.

Something I didn’t expect to see at a train station in Düsseldorf, Germany: an Alabama Crimson Tide hat.

This makes me laugh.

It’s a shame train travel isn’t a thing in the U.S. Yes we have Amtrak, but that’s like comparing Atlanta’s MARTA system to Paris’ Metro. It’s not even in the same league.

Which makes wonder: Did we have a train system (for personal travel) at one point and let it lapse over time? Or did we just never have one at all?

Watching the cities (towns, really) in Germany go by in the window this morning is fascinating. Villages, towns, cities connected by a common system. I wonder if the vast size of the United States played a part in its failure and/or demise.

Train travel is so nice in Europe, except when they don’t run on time. It’s really a let go, see what happens, and deal with what’s in front of you kind of thing.

I wonder if decaf is a thing outside of the United States. It has certainly not been here in Germany.

Don’t tempt me, bro…

Wow…one way car rental from Dortmund to Amsterdam is $121 per day. Cool. I’m on board with that. But wait…the total is coming up to $537 for the whole thing. How can that be?

Fees, yes. But those fees plus the privilege of picking it up here in Dortmund and dropping it off in Amsterdam would cost $416 (effectively).

Yeah, no thanks.

Betty White to Smile on New Stamp - Newsroom - About.usps.com

The U.S. Postal Service will commemorate the warmth, wit and charisma of Betty White by honoring the late actress and comedienne with a new stamp bearing her likeness.

Right up until they cancel the entirety of the USPS.

Princesses Over 40 Publishing House - by Edith Zimmerman

Delightful…for us older crowd 🤣 (Hat tip: kottke.org)

Haven’t seen this guy in a while…

Zu Unserer Lieben Frau (The Munich Cathedral of Our Lady)

Is “joyousness” a word? Is it not just “joy”? Am I missing something?

It’s just…wrong…

I’m fairly sure the pretzel was invented to soak up the enormous amount of beer they drink here in Germany.

I mean, what is an Italian plumber doing being an angel in Munich, Germany?

Pro traveling tip: Don’t walk out of the secure area of an airport without getting your bags first from baggage claim. And especially don’t do it if you can’t read signs or speak the language.

I was today years old when I realized when the kids (these days) refer to “fit”, they’ve actually shortened the word “outfit”.

Far from the bullying crowd - Jeffrey Zeldman Presents

Poignant post by Zeldman on the vaguaries of childhood in a “strong man” society. This one hurts to read, because I remember tauntings like this:

If you were smart in eighth grade, you were also a fag. I don’t even think they meant you were actually queer. I think it was just one of the worst things a bully could call you before pounding on you. Indeed, it lent an aura of righteousness and inevitability to the beatings that got doled out to you. Surely all red-blooded American boys would want to beat up fags! And who could blame them? Not the schools. Not the churches. And certainly not the cops. Why, it was practically a young man’s duty to rid the world of insufficiently macho peers. A kind of post-birth eugenics, if you will.

And wrapped up perfectly in the end:

I don’t know why I’m thinking about these things again lately. It’s not like America’s most vulnerable citizens are being targeted by a hostile, mentally retrograde government. Not like bullies, racists, and homophobes everywhere have been set free to revert to their ugliest selves by a mentally deficient ringleader who knows how to whip up a crowd and feed their hunger for violence as a screen behind which he robs us all. Of our money, of course. But more importantly of our rights, our dignity, our ability to accept one another and celebrate our differences instead of masking them. Most of all, the bullying crowd is robbing us of the more perfect union many of us hoped America was beginning to achieve. But, hey. How ’bout that Gulf of America. Winning.

We have descended into our deepest and most troublesome id. And it’s not just the U.S. Lots of countries around the world have shifted to the “right”. Because of reasons. Reasons that I can’t fathom. But plenty of people do. And they are not only accepted, they are celebrated.

Growing up, I just thought the U.S. was better than that. That we were above that.

We are not. And honestly, maybe we never were.

This Is the Age of the Coward

But Disney’s spectacular self-neutering is just the headliner in America’s new hit revue: Target, Walmart, and PBS are all competing to see who can grovel fastest. These corporate behemoths, who collectively control more wealth than several small nations combined, are tripping over themselves to prove they never really meant all that talk about principles and values. The spectacle of multibillion-dollar companies discovering their spines are made of cotton candy is nauseating. 

Can’t disagree..

We’re about to head to Germany for some soccer adventures next week. I feel like we should have shirts and/or hoodies made that basically say on the front of them:

“We didn’t vote for that asshole!”

Nothing else, just the words.

@matthowie on Mastodon:

A thing me and my fellow liberals need to let go of is pointing out right wing hypocrisy. It feels good when we notice it but they have not given a fuck about their own hypocrisy for the last 50+yrs.

Not wrong. And I’m extremely guilty of this.

Uh-oh! AI Tools Make Workers Less Critical, More Confident, Microsoft Study Finds.

A study of over 300 knowledge workers has revealed a concerning paradox: the more confidence people have in AI tools like ChatGPT, the less likely they are to think critically about the AI’s output — even as they find their work easier to complete.

Gee, if only someone could have seen this coming…

AP statement on Oval Office access | The Associated Press

Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office. This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.

Not totalitarian at all…

J.D. Vance and Elon Musk question judges' authority over Trump

“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal,” Vance wrote on X, adding, “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

What the actual fuck…so now we can just ignore judges and the judgements we don’t like?

Finally catching up on my Mastodon peeps from the weekend. I love that during the Super Bowl, the most talked about topic was the chyron on the broadcast, not the game itself.

I love nerds.

How People & Institutions in Budding Autocracies Obey in Advance

Chilling is correct.

I had a dream last night that was so real, so grounded in reality, that it was scary. And that’s not what makes this dream so remarkable. What makes it unique is that it seemed to reference a completely separate dream I had several months ago.

How does that even happen?

The mind boggles, and boggles me, sometimes.

President Bartlet:

I’m sleeping better. When I sleep, I dream about a great discussion with experts and ideas and diction and energy and honesty. And when I wake up, I think, “I can sell that."

The West Wing Season 1 Episode 20

The knock on the show has always been that it’s a “liberal’s wet dream”. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong. It is idealistic, and I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with that.

I heard this quote tonight, and thought about how vast the gulf is from the idealism of the show to the utterly cynical, hopeless, and broken place we find ourselves in now.

It’s big, and getting bigger by the day.

I love the Super Bowl!

Robert F Kennedy, in a statement after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence. And lawlessness. But is love. And wisdom. And compassion toward one another. And a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

The idea of exploiting ones own emotions to the point of stilled silence seems like a good explanation of feeling numb.

Mark Scout:

I don’t care who you are out there. I care who you are with me.

Severance Season 2, Episode 4

Jayme said last night, and she’s right:

This is what our lives are going to be like for the foreseeable future. Trump says “Do X!” Everyone sets their hair on fire. A judge or official says “You can’t do that”. And either it’s upheld or not. And the cycle repeats.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Couldn’t agree more with John’s feelings on two things:

• The sense of relief that each of my kids’ college application processes are over.

• The realization that there’s a part of me that wants to go back to college.

Send Us Photos of Changes to Federal Buildings - The New York Times

I love projects like this!

Yep…all done!

UK government demands access to Apple users' encrypted data

The UK government has demanded to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide in its cloud service. Currently only the Apple account holder can access data stored in this way - the tech giant itself cannot view it. The demand has been served by the Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which compels firms to provide information to law enforcement agencies. Apple declined to comment, but says on its website that it views privacy as a “fundamental human right”.

Expect this demand from the Trump administration in 3, 2, 1…

1980 is as far away from 2025 as 1935 was from 1980.

For the love…

I love how Outlook’s “send later” feature just doesn’t work these days.

I drafted an email that was supposed to send Monday at 8am. And yet, no. It just sent. Right now. No warning. No nothing. Even though it said, in plain English, “will send on Monday at 8am”.

Sigh.

It’s that time or year again…go Dubs!!

I have said for a while “they don’t care” (about what Trump does). But I was wrong. They do care. They just agree with him. Which I think is even worse.

I also feel regret about using the word they when I describe a group of people, as I did above. But once I get to 4-5 people that I personally know (who feel like x or y), I start to generalize.

It’s ironic that the exit number off of 85 south to get onto 75 north is actually exit 85.

(Cleveland, GA)

I have questions…

It occurs to me that you have to be in the right frame of mind to watch a show like “Severance”. You can’t passively watch it. To truly appreciate it, you have to be attentive and ready to be blown away. If not, you’ll miss all of the intricacies.

Such a good show. I can’t say enough good things about it.

Washington owner Josh Harris says Commanders will remain team’s nickname (Ben Standing with The Athletic):

Loud factions of the fan base, particularly those around for the Super Bowl-winning era starting in 1982, have never been shy about the organization dropping “Redskins.” Numerous public protests and newspaper columns decried the nickname as a racist slur. The initial change came in 2020 during a wave of national social reform, leading to the stopgap “Washington Football Team” nickname for two seasons. Following a nearly two-year rebranding process, Washington landed on Commanders ahead of the 2022 season. The name wasn’t a hit.

That’s a shame…I absolutely love the idea of “The Washington Football Team”. It’s so, dare I say, commanding. With a name like that, there are no doubts, no equivocations.

I’ve taken to watching “The West Wing” for the 684th time to…well…escape reality.

I fucking give up.

Pentagon swaps desk for New York Times reporters for New York Post | Trump administration | The Guardian

The Trump administration’s program to shake up media representation at official briefings and press calls in Washington is set to affect the Pentagon, with credentialed media being rotated out of assigned workspaces for media newcomers.

The conservative-leaning One America News Network will replace NBC News, Breitbart will be given space held by National Public Radio, the New York Post has been offered the New York Times’ workspace and HuffPost will replace Politico.

And please don’t forget this. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

NTSB forces reporters to get plane crash updates on X

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Saturday said it will stop e-mailing news organizations and reporters with updates about two plane crashes that occurred earlier this week.

Moving forward, the federal agency tasked with investigating transportation-related accidents and disasters said news organizations and reporters will have to follow the agency’s official account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, where “all NTSB updates about news conferences or other investigative information” will be posted moving forward.

Gotta love autocracy!

From Peter Gleick on Mastodon:

Book burning? If everything was digital in Hitler’s 1930s Germany, this is what his book burning would have looked like: deletion of data, removal of websites, retraction of scientific studies, censorship of words like “equity,” “diversity,” “climate change.”

Brad Pitt is the new Robert Redford. Don’t believe me? Go watch “Indecent Proposal” and tell me Pitt doesn’t look exactly like Redford did then.

From Lex Friedman on Mastodon:

My 16 year old daughter had her second 3 hour driving lesson with a licensed instructor yesterday. It was a different instructor from the first time.

He made conversation.

He asked “so did your parents vote for Trump”

Repeatedly praised Trump

Made racist comments about all the “illegal immigrants”

Asked excitedly whether ICE had come to her school yet

Said “now we’re in the Freehold borough, but I call it Mexico”

When a woman ran a red light, said “She’s definitely an illegal immigrant, she’s probably dumb and can’t speak English”

Also, he said that he doesn’t like to wear seatbelts unless he’s doing driving instruction

Anyway, this is America.

This instructor has been nothing but emboldened by the election and the seeming glee they have for putting down anyone and everyone down that is not them.

This is the fact that is overlooked while everyone focuses on what is going on at the macro level. They miss the smaller, more local bigotry that has only been emboldened and/or cheered on since November.

Have you ever woken up, just scared? Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night. My heart was beating. Adrenalin was punmping through my veins. It took me a while to get back to sleep.

In a dream I was having, I was trying to get into a house (my grandmother’s house) before getting shot buy someone with a rifle. I was fumbling with the door handle, and realized I wasn’t going to make it. As his expression changed in preparation for the shot, I woke up in a start.

Pure fear.

Who Were the Nazis?

Great find by Jason…it’s exactly how I feel. At least at this moment, I can’t muster any sympathy or empathy for people that “went along” with the case for Trump and his ilk. They knew what they were signing up for. I don’t care if your ignorance was to blame. Your actions (or inactions) have consequences.

No passes. No takebacks.

On Tuesday, newly minted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in her first press conference, said the following:

Those folks that you mentioned have a right to have that legal opinion, but it is in disagreement with the legal opinion of this administration. This administration believes that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional and that is why President Trump signed that executive order.

Let me fix that for you, ma’am:

“Those folks that you mentioned have a right to have that legal opinion, but it is in disagreement with the opinion of this administration. This administration believes that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional and that is why President Trump signed that executive order.”

You (and President Trump) can have that opinion, but you can’t have that legal opinion. You do not make laws.

I tried living without a car in rural America—I lasted only 2 weeks - Fast Company

The limits of public transportation aren’t just an environmental challenge in rural areas—because it nudges more people to drive—but worsen inequity for those who don’t have the option of getting a car.

Been saying this for years…even when we know our traffic is shit (like we have here in Atlanta), I can’t realistically live without a car in this city (much less outside of the city) without massive inconvenience.

Daring Fireball: Google Maps Will Rename Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’, for American Users Only

The Gulf of Mexico, though, is an international body of water, and its name wasn’t even debated until Trump started talking about it a few weeks ago. Google (and perhaps Apple) having a policy where they simply follow the naming conventions of the GNIS seems not merely sensible but utterly uncontroversial … until now.

Fear of angering the dear leader is facism at its most fundamental level.

Daring Fireball: Jim Acosta, Reporter and Anchor Despised by Trump, Was Pushed Out of CNN

Acosta’s morning ratings were high, not low. There’s no explanation for CNN forcing him to midnight other than appeasement of a president who spends his days obsessing over cable news.

Fear of angering the dear leader is facism at its most fundamental level.

I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again. I really like Hugh Grant. I hope he’s as grumpy and charming in real life as he seems to be in these types of interviews.

She’s home.

Idaho House passes memorial opposing Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling

Idaho House representatives voted Monday, 46-24, to advance “House Joint Memorial 1.” In it, they write that they reject the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in “Obergefell v. Hodges” and demand that it be overturned.

I didn’t realize we were in a time where we could just ignore the Supreme Court altogether. Granted, with all that’s happening right now, I can’t say I’m surprised. Nothing seems to mean anything anymore.

My daughter sent me this link with a “wtf” attached. The good news is it has no legal standing (for now).

It’s important to note this memorial is not a law. What it is, is a way to send a public message about the legislature’s sentiment on this issue — a message that Mistie says is deeply flawed.

Just hateful shitheads being hateful shitheads, and writing a letter stating that they are, in fact, hateful shitheads.

They never quite prepare you for the idea of someone giving you (what looks like) a gift bag that holds the ashes of your dog of 17 years.

A Dark and Deadly Valley - The Liberal by Tom Watson

Back in the summer of 1942, when the young Parisian cop Theophile Larue chose bravery over cowardice and saved his neighbors, the orders from the Nazi occupiers to round up the Jews came with what they (rightly) perceived as a sweetener to the French police: only the Jews from elsewhere, the refugees, the stateless were to be targeted in the sweep. There’s a direct connection from that order to the precipice this country stands on the edge. Auschwitz only truly looks like Auschwitz in the rearview mirror of history - the designation of a national scapegoat, a vast series of roundups, a network of internment camps, and neighbors informing on neighbors all preceded the gas chambers and ovens. Sound familiar?

In the coming days, some of the greatest heroes of our time may well be law enforcement officers Theo Larue who refuse to take part in mass round-ups, who warn families and communities about coming raids, and who quietly use the administrative powers in their departments to stymie the creation of internment camps or a network of informants. Let’s hope so.

No comments needed.

Nailed the ziti tonight!

On the 1/16 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Weekly Show” podcast, Jon says early on:

It is amazing how the peaceful transfer of power can occur when you don’t act like a little bitch when you lose.

Yeah, pretty much.

Listening to a podcast about “Silo”, and I can’t help but flinch and smile every time they say “woot er” when they’re trying tong to say “water”.

Anthony Fauci Stripped of Government Security Protection - The New York Times

“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off and, you know, you can’t have them forever,” Mr. Trump said on a trip to North Carolina.

Says the guy who will have security detail for the rest of his miserable life. What a petulant and uncaring child this “man” is.

After eyebrow-raising sermon to Trump, Bishop Budde beset with criticism and praise | National Catholic Reporter

This was her quote:

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in both Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.”

For which:

Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, published a post on X suggesting Budde, a U.S. citizen, should be deported.

Guess that mercy thing is not going to happen, huh?

Why is the colloquial phrase “maiden voyage” not “virgin voyage”? Is it specifically because it’s two “v” words back to back?

This weekend, we are all Bills fans. That is all.

It’s hard not think she’s wondering where Ginny has gone.

I happened upon a 60 Minutes segment from 2011, just weeks after his death, that looks back at Steve Jobs’ life through the upcoming Walter Isaacson book, scheduled to come out just days after the segment’s airing. A little over 13 years later, it’s nothing but nostalgic to watch and look back on now.

Unexpextedly, it also generated the following thought:

Despite the many issues with the Isaacson book, you can’t help but be jealous of the man who was not only allowed, but personally picked, to document Jobs’ life at the end. The opportunity to interview the man, to attempt to understand him, unfiltered, had to be amazing.

Daring Fireball: ICE Raids Are an Escalation of Our Long-Simmering De Facto Cold Civil War

Not surprisingly, John nails it:

Trump voters in red states will get to enjoy watching footage of the raids on TV and social media, but it won’t be their neighbors getting deported, not their contractors and custodians and dishwashers, and it won’t be their communities whose economies suffer as a result. It’s seemingly impractical operationally and would be ruinous economically for the Trump administration to actually try to deport all undocumented immigrants in America. What is practical operationally are targeted raids in big cities. And the deleterious economic effects will be largely contained to those cities. It’s a big “fuck you” to blue states.

Carl Sagan, in his 1995 book “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”:

I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…

The part that hits the hardest comes from this thought:

The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”

Private sector confused by Trump’s anti-DEI order

In another executive order issued Tuesday, the administration directed each federal agency to seek out up to nine public companies, large nonprofits, or foundations with DEI policies for a compliance investigation, suggesting they could face consequences.

Not fascist behavior at all…

I wish there was a way to document the random thoughts that go through my head in the 3am hour when I’m laying there and I can’t go back to sleep.

It’s almost unfair, because some of my best thinking happens then. And the act of picking up my phone or a pen/pencil to explicitly document them inhibits my mind from running as free as it does. Hence, I might get one or two things down, but I’ll miss out on so many others that will never come. I think it’s because my mind shifts modes when I’m free associating vs. an intentional documentstion mode.

It’s a serious Catch-22. Maybe one day.

Trump also ordered federal health agencies to stop external communications, including updating websites, posting to social media, and publishing scientific reports.

Because things are always best kept in the dark, especially as it relates to health agencies.

Depsite the about-face from the Washington Post, democracy really does die in the dark.

Trump pardons founder of Silk Road drug site

Who’s Ross Ulbricht? He created Silk Road, an online marketplace best described as Amazon for illegal drugs and operations, which he ran from 2011 to 2013. On the website, users could buy illicit drugs and computer hacking software and hire hit men—and could only pay with cryptocurrency.

Please, tell me again how bad it was when Biden pardoned his son.

Quote of the night: “Children are wormholes”

(From the show “Numb3rs” S1E9)

Not a lot I can (or could) do, but one thing I could do today is eat my Monday Moe’s with my back turned to the television. I may have to put up with it for another 4 years, but I don’t have to watch the train wreck on television while I eat my lunch.

A visit to the vet ER was not on the schedule for today.

I didn’t realize how many Bills fans lived in Atlanta. They’re out in full force today!

You know, I’ve heard this over and over again: “As you get older, you’ll get more conservative.”

Yeah, that shit ain’t happened yet. And I don’t ever foresee it happening.

In the small world department…

The guy Keri Russell is referring to in that clip, Jake Fussell, I knew in high school. Not only that, his mother taught me 9th grade Literature. 😀

Yep!

You know, Jayme and I thought giving our daughterr the name “Caroline” way back in 2004 was interesting and unique. It was based off of an 80’s movie and a 90’s sitcom.

It wasn’t unique in any way, apparently.

I never realized just how much is behind “I’m fine”.

I am reminded yet again that there are people out there who pronounce it “impor ant” instead of “important”.

Why?

Today, I learned the word: inveigle. It means “to win over by wiles” or “to acquire by ingenuity or flattery”.

Hat tip to Dan Moren from episode 527 of the podcast The Rebound. Even the other guys had to stop the podcast and ask “what was the word you just used?”

Glad it wasn’t just me!

Deactivated my Twitter/X account, and it felt really good.

I’d say “Goodbye!”, but I don’t normally waste such pleasantries on trash.

My Tuesday evening self is cursing my Sunday “let’s plan all healthy meals this week” self.

New MN law capping some prescription drug prices goes into effect Jan. 1 | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

New Minnesota law goes into effect Jan. 1 What we know: The new law caps copays for life-saving medications for health plans regulated by the state. It limits insulin, asthma inhalers, and EpiPens to just $25 a month, and medical supplies to $50 month.

More of this, please.

Just found this screenshot in my Camera Roll from November 2022:

We’re still dealing with these ramifications, even now. Because god forbid we go out of our way to care about other people.

Watching American football is so painful. Why?

So Many Damn Commercials

For the love…

In “Silo”, why don’t they have elevators? Is it to ensure they stay fit? To ensurere each “class” stays in their place?

Why I’m quitting the Washington Post - by Ann Telnaes

I’ve worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now.

The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump.

This is what authoritarianism looks like. Take a good look, everyone. You voted for this. Take a good fucking look.

For all the bullshit spewed about the 2nd Amendment, you don’t seem to give a shit about the 1st.

Blade Runner 2099 Wraps Production for Prime Video Miniseries

After six months of filming in Prague, Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming Blade Runner 2099 series has officially wrapped its production. At the moment, the action sci-fi show starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh currently has no premiere date yet for its Prime Video debut.

I’ll wait to see if they cancel it after a single season before I invest in this. The cancellation of “Peripheral” caught me completely off guard last year. It’s left me utterly gun-shy.

When did grocery stores start opening on New Year’s Day?

Nothing like NYE to bring out the characters…even at Fellini’s!

New additions to my desk!

I don’t think you’re ever prepared to see the fragility of your parents.

My girls and their Nutcracker tradition…16 years and counting!

I know the new generation was introduced to Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash Into Me” from 2017’s movie “Lady Bird”.

But it will always be the song I heard the first time when watching the crash down scene in “Roswell”’s pilot episode side in 1999. Exploding lights, fire lighting Max and Liz’s faces.

For next time, “it’s the economy” doesn’t have anything to do with the greater economy.

They Thought They Were Free

But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

You should read this…now.

His Family Voted to Support Trump’s Deportation Plan. That Includes Him. - The New York Times

His friends and family members in Rome, Ga., voted to support mass deportation. Now he’s scrambling to stay in the country.

Welcome to at least the next 4 years.

This is where I cannot blame the Democrtatic party (as a whole) or the Harris campaign (specifically). This was NOT a secret. How many times did they say this is what would happen? How many times?

My heart both breaks for them and is hardened by a “what did you except?” thought. You LITERALLY voted for this.

Sigh…and still, I feel bad. Why?

I’m reminded again this morning that it actually is the most wonderful time of the year…it’s hoodie season!

God bless us, every one.

Tokyo institutes 3-day weekends to boost births

To counter a swift decline in new babies, the most populated city in the world will give some of its residents a four-day workweek in hopes that they’ll get busy, the Financial Times reported this week.

Are they issuing Al Green records to each household, too?

Caroline interviewed me last week (for one of her classes) about stuttering. One of her questions was “how do you see stuttering portrayed in media?“

And I had to answer that I don’t see that many situations where stuttering is portrayed in any kind of media. And the ones I do see (which I can count on one hand), it’s always for some kind of over-the-top comedic performance. It’s never using the stuttering in a character exploration scenario.

It just got me thinking that not a lot of people understand stuttering because not a lot of people actually stutter. There’s little to no exposure to it, which means people don’t have the opportunity to learn about it.

I never realized how much an end-of-lease car inspection is like someone judging how you parent.

President Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to | AP News

President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family.

Get ready for the pearl-clutching!

A restored Notre Dame cathedral is unveiled days before its official reopening : NPR

The famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is set to reopen next month for the first time since a devastating fire crippled the beloved church in 2019. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, took a tour of the cathedral early on Friday. Macron marveled at the soaring light stone ceilings — now cleansed of soot and centuries of grime — as he toured the more than 800 year old restored cathedral.

Some actual good news!

The Fall of the House of Usher

Episode 108 - The Raven

One of my favorite things about human beings. Starvation, poverty, disease, you could fix all that, just with money. And you don’t. I mean, if you took just a little bit of time off the vanity voyages, pleasure cruising, billionaire space race, hell, you stopped making movies and TV for one year and you spent that money on what you really need, you could solve it all. With some to spare.

One Foot Tsunami: You Don’t See Women Winning the Presidency

Twice, an immensely qualified woman has run for president against a frighteningly unfit man, and twice that frighteningly unfit man has won.

I can’t tell which film my family is trying to conjure: “Seven” or “Memento” 🤣

Merlin Mann, on this week’s “Reconcilable Differences”, said something that stuck with me:

When you (the voter) bought into this, you unintentionally told me a lot about the world you think you want.

That’s exactly how I feel. And something I’ve been struggling with in dealing with the people I know, am related to, and even work with.

Everyone wants me to be the bigger person. I should put the vitriol behind us and come together. I should find the commonalities and focus on those, and not focus on what divides us. Is it because their team won? Is that when the burden fell on me and my ilk?

And yet, is doing that really possible? They believe in such fundamental differences in how we treat other people. Other human beings. The hate, and pride that seems to spring from it, that comes from the side that they full-throatedly supported is just overwhelming.

I’m just having a really hard time with that right now.

Well, not the result we wanted. But it was a great run with a lot of grit. Proud of you guys!

#unitethe404

Big Matchday against Orlando, for a spot in the Conference Final!

In happier news, my Auburn Tigers finally won a big game this season!

This is such a good point. And it’s something Democrats (I’m including myself in that) got wrong in the lead-up to the election. Correctly or incorrectly, regular people interpreted “the economy” as how their lives are going. And they said “the economy” is not great. Even when the Democrats were technically correct (the term “the economy” normally revolves around financial markets and macroeconomics), it’s clear that most people don’t care about that. They care about how they are doing.

A lesson worth learning.

A friend of mine recently said this:

America used to be about making sure everyone did better. It’s the loss of that ethos that has spawned an every man for himself viewpoint. It makes me feel beyond sad.

Very well said. I have since translated it to a much simpler:

America used to be about helping other people instead of “I’m gonna get mine”.

Something happened tonight that served as a reminder of just how low we’ve sunk. It’s relatively small in the grand scheme of things, but it’s illustrative nonetheless.

There is a restaurant whose parking lot is across an (admittedly) busy street. There is a crosswalk that pedestrians line up at, for which cars are supposed to stop (on both sides) to allow them to cross. Each direction has two lanes.

Because I am a nice person, and I follow actual road rules, I stopped to allow a line of pedestrians to cross. And yet, the cars, one by one, in the lane to the right of me, just kept going through. Not a care in the world. And I would have thought that if they saw me stop, they’d be reticent to just fly through. What’s the thing we’re always taught by our parents? Drive defensively? Apparently, I was wrong.

It got to the point where the line behind me had started going around me. And even the guy right behind me went around, only to turn and look at me (and give me another gesture) as he drove by because I hadn’t gone through with the other cars. (We’re going to ignore the fact that while he was looking at me, he was not looking at the crosswalk that might have contained pedestrians had they been walking.)

And I, having the temper that I do, flipped out a little and sped up to get beside him at the light not 200 yards ahead of that crosswalk. I just waited for him to look over at me. He never did. Why? Because he never looked up from his phone.

Sigh.

Where did our attention go? Where did being nice go? Where did looking out for our fellow man go? Hell, where did having some semblance of awareness to maybe understand why I had stopped there and taking a breath and asking yourself “shouldn’t I want to stop as well?” Isn’t that the right thing to do?

We have become selfish. And self-involved. And fixated on always looking out for #1, no matter the cost or harm to others.

It sickens me.

I have been searching for the “why” and “how” coming out of the recent election. A small part of that question was answered tonight.

Know what’s great when it’s cold outside and your throat is scratchy and a little painful?

A good cup of tea.

The World-Changing Impact of Vaccines

Vaccines are in the running for the greatest human invention ever.

If only we could convince everyone with…oh, what’s the concept…oh yeah, ACTUAL FUCKING DATA!

The fact that we’re still even having this argument/conversation, and the newly proposed HHS Secretary doesn’t believe in them, is just fucking stupid.

From yesterterday’s Morning Brew newsletter:

In addition to Matt Gaetz withdrawing his name for attorney general, a police report revealed new graphic details of a sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth, the president-elect’s pick for secretary of defense…

I don’t understand. It’s really not difficult to not be accused of sexual assault. You just, you know, don’t do it.

But…when your now former (yet never was) boss is Groper in Chief, what do you expect?

I’m listening to this podcast episode from NYT’s The Daily about breast reductions. I’m telling you this so the following doesn’t seem to come out of left field.

Women should have the size of breasts that they want. The attraction, to me, comes from the woman’s confidence (in her own body), not the size of her breasts.

‘Morning Joe’ meeting with Trump was driven by fears of retribution from incoming administration, sources say | CNN Business

According to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Scarborough and Brzezinski were credibly concerned that they could face governmental and legal harassment from the incoming Trump administration.

Knowing that Trump has threatened retribution against his perceived political opponents, and that Trump has promoted lies about Scarborough and Brzezinski in the past, the MSNBC hosts decided to reach out to the president-elect, the sources told CNN.

In case anyone is unclear, this is what autocracy looks like. This is what an authoritarian does.

Rep. Nancy Mace says her anti-trans bathroom bill ‘absolutely’ targets Rep.-elect Sarah McBride

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Tuesday that her effort to ban transgender women from using female bathrooms at the U.S. Capitol is a direct response to the election of Sarah McBride, who is set to be the first openly transgender person in Congress.

And the hate legislation begins…

One Foot Tsunami: Where We Go From Here (2024)

Even as cruelty is ascendent, we must not be done with kindness. Let us also not be done with joy. Instead, we should locate humor wherever we can and revel in it. The darkest times still contain something to laugh about. We’re going to continue to find it right here, together.

A good reminder…

True nightmare fuel

(These are called Mojigangas, a supersize papier-mâché puppet we saw in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico this past weekend.)

Social media needs to die a horrible, horrible death. Immediately.

I didn’t realize that the founder of OnlyFans was a woman.

A series of Bluesky posts from Julian Sanchez:

I’ve said it before, will doubtless say it again: These folks are going to be permanently resentful because they’re seeking political power as a substitute for cultural power, and it’s never going to give them what they actually want. I genuinely think this is sort of the crux of our political dysfunction, and has been for at least a couple decades now. Listen, if you can stomach it, to a random MAGA grievance rant & ask yourself “how much of what they’re most upset about is something public policy can realistically address?” Even when there’s a policy hook, it’s almost a meaningless symbolic proxy for the underlying issue they really want to address but can’t. Think about the insane amount of energy devoted to fretting about queer books in public or school libraries. It’s 2024. In the unlikely event your semiliterate tween wants to crack a book, let alone one about gender identity or sexuality, pulling it from the local library is comically pointless as an access limitation. It’s just an impotent shriek of disapproval that these things are culturally accepted.

Lots of people will quote the “seeking political power as a substitute for cultural power, and it’s never going to give them what they actually want”part of this post. And they should. It’s a good and biting quote.

But I urge you to consider how much disinformation arguments just like these cause in the discourse of our “news cycle”. Sanchez uses the queer books in public libraries story for a reason. We all know it and have heard it in endless places from an endless number of “sources”. And yet, as he points out, it’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

So my advice to you is STOP ENGAGING. Remember, these platforms and news outlets want relevance. Relevance leads to views. Views lead to money. That’s it. That’s all they want. So speak up by simply ignoring it.

The Threat of Trumpism Is Real. So Is the Need for Rest. | The New Republic

Panic and trauma reduce our capacity to process information and narrow the spectrum of emotions we can experience. We make bad decisions under these conditions. The work of the anti-Trump coalition now is to expand our ability to take in data—especially data that’s uncomfortable—and to broaden our emotional range beyond pain, sorrow, regret, and fear. If we don’t seek out pleasure, comfort, companionship, and laughter, numbness becomes our only protection. And fascism thrives when we are dead inside.

Fantastic “take a step back” reminder for all of us reeling from the direction we’re headed.

Am I the only one who questions if that little black island thing above the bowl (that’s supposedly the sensor) has a mini-camera in it?

From this morning’s Morning Brew newsletter:

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead DOGE. That’s the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” according to an announcement from President-elect Trump yesterday. Musk will co-lead the effort, which is not an official government agency and will operate from outside of the government, with biotech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Also yesterday, Trump said he’ll nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense.

Operating outside of the government on government matters…what could go wrong?!

How I know I’ve been blogging for a while…when I can’t remember what topics on my scratch note have been published blogs or not.

(And honestly, this is because I don’t trust the consistency of my own administration skills 🤣)

The plural version of “lone wolf”: is it “lone wolfs” or “lone wolves”?

There’s an argument to be made that it should “lone wolves”. After all “wolves” is the plural form of “wolf”. But “lone wolf” is a not singular entity. It’s not an entity at all. It’s actually a colloquial phrase that does not imply, by itself, that it’s singular (despite the word “lone” being a part of the phrase).

Let’s use it in a sentence:

“The best cops I know are lone wolves.”

versus:

“The best cops I know are lone wolfs.”

I think it should be “lone wolfs”, myself.

And yet I watched a movie last night called “Wolfs”, and it just felt wrong the whole time.

Ryan Walters sends notice to Oklahoma parents to prepare for educational policy changes

As my sister-in-law said a few nights ago: “It’s already begun”.

The federal government has hijacked our education system, using taxpayer dollars to impose harmful policies and control what is taught in our schools. This memo addresses five major areas where eliminating the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and moving to block grants would restore authority to states, allowing communities—not Washington bureaucrats—to decide what is best for their children.

We all know what’s coming with these five major areas, but let’s allow him lay them out:

Championing Parents’ Rights: The Biden administration labeled parents as threats and tried to silence their concerns. States, when restored control, will ensure parents’ voices are not just heard but respected.

Between Jayme and I’s parents, 3 of the 4 of them were teachers. Jayme is a teacher. My sister and sister-in-law are teachers. If you think parents know best, you are sadly mistaken.

Ending Social Indoctrination in Classrooms: Federal funds have been used to force radical agendas, like promoting boys in girls' sports and pushing divisive gender and racial ideologies. With block grants, states can reject these mandates and focus on real education over propaganda.

This is just blatantly false. What they’re actually saying is they don’t want to support inclusion for any LGTBQ+ individuals. In any sense. Period.

Protecting Patriotism in Curriculum: Schools are pressured to teach books that undermine American values and ignore the truth about American history. By removing federal overreach, states can make sure students learn a patriotic curriculum that respects our country and honors our shared heritage.

Don’t get it twisted. This is their way of saying they’re not going to teach students about slavery. At all. Didn’t happen. As the 2004 “Team America: World Police” movie puts forth: “America!! Fuck yeah!!”

Stopping Illegal Immigration’s Impact on Schools: Open border policies flood schools with unregulated demands, stretching resources meant for American kids. States, free from federal overreach, could manage these impacts in ways that protect classrooms and prioritize their communities.

You didn’t think they were going to get through a list without bring up the oft-mentioned “illegal immigrant”, did you? What exactly does this have to do with education policy, again?

Blocking Foreign Influence in Our Schools: Federal policies tie funding to outside agendas, allowing China and other adversaries to infiltrate our education system. Without federal strings, states could reject foreign interference and ensure schools promote only American values.

What the fuck is he even talking about? China is trying to infiltrate our schools? Much less your schools amongst the cows? Honestly, where do you get this shit from? Oh that’s right. You mention him several times.

From @Stybba3019 on Mastodon:

Something that is rapidly being memory holed is the absence of violence after the election.

Government officials expected Trump to lose & took steps to defend their polls & vote tabulation locations from violent attack by his followers. There were bomb threats called in across the country while voting was happening.

Then POOF he won & all threat vanished, showing that political violence in the US is exclusively on the right.

Gee, who’d have thunk it?!

Speaking of succinct takes, this.

What went wrong: Part 1

The message has been sent: In times of cataclysmic disaster like the COVID pandemic, voters would rather some people suffer or even die than have the government provide stimulus aid. Inflation is the new global third rail of politics. 

In all of the post-election “analysis”, this one breaks things down quite succinctly.

‘Your body, my choice’: Women face hate speech surge after Trump win - Fast Company

The trend is showing no signs of slowing. On Election Day, far-right Gen Z political podcaster and white supremacist Nick Fuentes fueled the fire when he posted on X, “Your body, my choice. Forever.”

Truly abhorrent.

Stunning

I implore you to read this from John. It’s well-written, and something that will make you feel good.

On a lighter note, the Grammy nominations are out, and I can safely say I know exactly three acts that have been nominated. Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Billie Eilish. That’s it. That’s the list.

I am so old.

You know what you don’t hear right now? Accusations of election fraud.

From @CStamp on Mastodon:

Spanky [Trump] says Julia Roberts will regret making that ad. “Even if you have a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you’re going to tell your husband. That’s a ridiculous ad.”

Um, no, that’s a ridiculous comment. No woman needs to get her man’s approval for who she votes. And a bad relationship? He really is nuts.

There’s also another ad in which men are reminded that their buddies will never know for whom they vote, so they can vote to protect their womenfolk.

Am I missing something? Did I just grow up in, and now live in one of my own, a “progressive” household in which this has just never been a thing?

The idea that Jayme would ever have to tell me who she voted for (for example) is absurd. At the same time, I asked Jayme several days ago if she knew anyone who “lives in a situation where the husband’s way goes”.

Her answer? “Yes, absolutely.”

(Link to original NYT story)

Two observations from tonight’s Atlanta United win over Inter Miami:

1. However you define “grit”, this team has it.

2. This team is not scared of Miami.

Is this a version of “The Hunger Games”? Yes, yes it is.

Give me a better idea.

A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for school shootings and measles - The Verge

…the radical founding principle of the United States of America is the idea that the government’s authority to make laws and solve collective action problems comes from the consent of the governed. A clean rewrite, replacing centuries of architectural debt with what was, at the time, a cutting-edge foundation mostly unproven at scale. We vote for our leaders, they are given the power to tell us all what to do so that we might help each other reach better outcomes and be happier, and if they are bad at their jobs, we can simply throw the bums out. We open-sourced the authority, in other words. It was a big bet, and so far, it’s paid off…Trump doesn’t give a shit about any of this because he only cares about himself. He generally does not care to solve problems unless it benefits him personally, and the intellectual foundation of the MAGA movement that’s built up around him is the complete denial that collective action problems exist at all. The MAGA worldview is now so batshit that it requires its proponents to look at obvious failures of collective action and declare them immutable features of modern life — or, in an even stupider twist — announce them to be good things.

Yep. I’ve heard this from someone in real life. It’s infuriating.

Just posting this because I appreciate the marketing and graphic design from Atlanta United. Love the phrase “Unite the 404”. Keep it up!

The week after the election can’t come soon enough.

I’m so sick of the topic of inflation that I could vomit.

I’m just going to leave this here…

Apparently, I need to build up my vocabulary so I, too, can start telling people to suck my cunt. You know, as patriots do.

(For the record…I don’t know if this is a true story. It is from Reddit, after all. For whatever that means. Anyway, that’s not the point. The fact that the candidate for Vice President of the United States not only commented on it, but called this behavior patriotic, is abhorrent. And indicative.)

Daring Fireball: Profiles in Cowardice: Owner Jeff Bezos and Publisher William Lewis of The Washington Post

The only rational explanation for this decision is cowardice on Bezos’s part in the face of Donald Trump’s vindictiveness. Lewis tries, haplessly, to couch this as a return to the Post’s “roots”, hand-wavingly justifying the decision by pointing out that, prior to 1976, the newspaper declined to issue endorsements…

See, John agrees.

Cowards.

Way to go, Freddie! (Dodgers up 1-0 in the World Series)

Look, I appreciate the want (and probably need) to inform the people how the MLS playoffs work. I really do. But let’s not use that photo. It looks like one of those photos where they gray out the people in the photo that have died. 🤣

(For those of you who do not know Atlanta United and its history, the photo is from the MLS Cup winning team in 2018, and Brad Guzan, the gentleman holding the trophy, is the only remaining player from that team.)

On a related note…Reid Epstein (politics reporter for The NY Times) said this in a “The Daily” podcast on 10/2/2024:

And this debate, like the last one, likely won’t produce any major shift in the polls that we see in the next couple weeks. You have to remember this is an election on the margins and we’re really talking about a couple hundred thousand voters in the seven battleground states moving one way or the other that will determine who the next president is. Tens of millions of people will have watched this debate, and 70 million people watched the last debate. These candidates, to win the election, need to talk to just a tiny slice of voters in just a few states, and those are the ones whose judgment will determine the future of the country.

A framing of reality that is sobering to the core…

David Plotz on the most recent (bonus) episode of Slate’s Political Gabfest:

Before we leave, can I just point out the incredible hypocrisy of the right on this [X.com]? There was so much time and energy spent by conservatives on the idea that Facebook was being unfair to them, and the fact that a platform was being used, I mean falsely claiming that Facebook was being unfair to them. And the platform was being used as a political tool and how dangerous that was. And here you have X, that has been utterly deployed to amplify Trump and to spread lies about Harris. And that’s all OK now. It’s just…the hypocrisy is ridiculous. But, so it goes.

This is where I kind of listen in despair a bit. “But, so it goes” is all we have. Musk can do whatever he wants and there are no consequences. Trump can do whatever he wants, and there are no consequences. No accountability. Nothing.

Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

Post publisher and chief executive Will Lewis, in an article published online explaining the decision, wrote, “The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election.”

“We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Lewis wrote.

“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility," he wrote.

“That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects."

Then endorse that leader you claim to stand for, you fucking cowards. You money-hungry, business-first-and-fuck-everything-else cowards.

It’s not a wonder that English is so hard to learn. I used the following sentence in a Slack message this afternoon:

“Don’t get it twisted, they’re there to make their money.”

Good luck, non-English speaking peeps!

Both Campaigns Release Ads Showcasing Trump’s Most Racist Comments - The Onion

Featuring nearly identical video footage in two separate $25 million ad buys, the Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns both debuted new commercials Tuesday that attempt to win support for their respective candidates with a supercut of Trump’s most racist comments.

Perfect. No notes.

Apparently, it’s liberals unite night here at Atlanta Symphony Hall. We’re here to listen to Malcolm Gladwell speak!

Happy 20th birthday to my beautiful baby girl! Yes, this picture was from last year, but it’s one of my favorites ever! So proud of you, kiddo!

Elon Musk Offers $1 Million Daily Prize for Signing His Petition - WSJ

Billionaire Elon Musk said he plans to award $1 million a day to a randomly chosen voter who has signed his petition pledging to uphold the rights to free speech and to bear arms, stepping up efforts by his America PAC political group to boost Donald Trump’s presidential prospects.

Well, this takes “buying an election” to a whole new level. Just shameful and shameless, all at the same time.

Are We Dinosaurs? – SQLServerCentral

By “us” I generally mean people working with relational data. Pick your poison from the big four: Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server or PostgreSQL. They’re called the big four because they are the most used data management tools by a long shot.

I just might be a dinosaur. Welp.

So proud of my kiddo for getting her voice out there!!

From today’s print edition of The Red & Black

I’ve never heard of this type of thing. Seen in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.

I am officially addicted to soda, or as we like to call it in the South, Coke. I woke up feeling not so great, with a headache. Ibuprofen didn’t help.

Found a Dr. Pepper (my first soda since Sunday), and now I’m feeling so much better. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Trapped in a Company Town

This article by Andrea Pitzer, someone unbeknownst to me before now, was fantastically written. And says exactly what I’ve been trying to say for years, but not able to this succinctly.

Observers have repeatedly been showing for some time that despite having talented reporters and editors on staff, legacy print outlets seem to struggle with covering Donald Trump. They’ve noted his unfitness for office; they’ve mentioned his problematic statements. But on a day-to-day basis, they stumble over and over to convey what is actually happening. Why can’t legacy media say clearly what he’s doing on a consistent basis?

I could not agree more. They have basically given up holding him, or anyone on the MAGA side, accountable for their statements and/or actions. These trained, professional journalists chalk it up to “Trump being Trump” and then move on. As if that’s ok. As if that’s acceptable for their audience and the public at large.

Spoiler alert: It’s not.

I have heard so many times that “he doesn’t mean what he says” or “he won’t do those things” or “he’s just being hyperbolic” or even “Come on, he’s a good person.”

I wish I believed any of those excuses. I don’t.

Fantastic takedown of Ryanair by Paul Kafasis. Just chef’s kiss!

I am in San Antonio, land of Pepsi (ugh). And after three days, I’m starting to twitch.

So this is apparently a thing…

Honestly, I can’t tell if this is for real or just a joke. And maybe that’s the point.

(The things you overhear at the coffeee counter)

I wonder when I got comfortable enough to raise my hand (at a conference, for example) and ask questions. I try to teach my kids to ask questions, get help, be vulnerable as soon as possible.

I noticed it this week as I’m in multiple sessions where I don’t really know what’s going on.

It’s funny how people’s photo-based online avatars can look absolutely nothing like the human that is standing in front of you.

As I stand in the TSA PreCheck with Touchless ID line, I do wonder about its shelf life, given all of the AI advancements in “photography” and the rise of potential fake photographs.

A picture that captures where I am in life 😂

My buddies at Relay (relay.fm) spotlight the month of September for Childhood Cancer Awareness month, giving to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I give every year, because why wouldn’t I?!?

This year, over $1M was raised for St. Jude. I love this company. I love this cause. And I am blown away by the giving of this community.

I will miss watching my son play soccer, just as I now miss my daughter playing soccer. I will not miss driving to Hampton, GA on a Sunday to do so.

Oklahoma buying schools 55,000 bibles. Specs match the $60 Trump bible - The Washington Post

That separation of Church and State thing is going swimmingly.

Matt Haughey via Mastodon:

We’ve strayed so far from Jimmy Carter had to sell his peanut farm to prevent any impropriety to the current GOP candidate runs a media company with a stock ticker that is his literal initials that any foreign investors can dump millions into to directly benefit him while also garnering future favors should he gain office and I guess that’s just fine now?

I don’t know that I knew the story about the peanut farm. Before my time, obviously. But I do remember the hubbub (and sometimes resignations) about:

• Bill Clinton (1994): Monica Lewinsky — Impeached
• Al Franken (2017): Sexual misconduct — Had to resign
• John Kerry (2004): Swift Boat — Lost the election
• Michael Dukakis (1988): The tank thing — Lost the election

Funny how all of these are Democrats. Hmm.

Meanwhile, there’s Trump. And that’s all you can say. The hypocrisy and double standards are blindingly evident.

The closest breakdown of “how the fuck is this election this close?!!?!” I have seen. And it shouldn’t surprise me that it’s coming from Jon Stewart. We have missed him.

It’s mornings like this (2 days after my workout) that make me want a higher sitting vehicle.

I love the fact that Brian just picked up the phone and started a FaceTime call with his sister for some help on an assignment. That makes you proud as a parent right there.

In The Atheltic’s newsletter this morning, they had the picture above headlining a story about the NBA’s media days starting yesterday. It was a comment on players in jerseys that you don’t associate them with. If you don’t know, the above is Klay Thompson, who spent many seasons (and championships) with the Golden State Warriors.

The author had a coffee table book in mind based on the comment of these players not in jerseys they are normally associated. Emmit Smith in an Arizona Cardinals jersey was mentioned. I had some others:

• Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
• Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards)
• Greg Maddux (San Diego Padres)
• Tom Glavine (New York Mets)
• Babe Ruth (Boston Braves)
• Joe Montana (Kansas City Chiefs)
• Scottie Pippen (Portland Trailblazers)
• Frank Thomas (Oakland Athletics)

I realized last night that watching my beloved Atlanta United that I love watching it because of the club itself, not for the wins and losses or individual players. Because they all will come and go, but the club remains.

Make the payoffs or not, I will miss watching them during the offseason. And I will begin eagerly awaiting next season.

Paralyzed Man Unable to Walk After Maker of His Powered Exoskeleton Tells Him It’s Now Obsolete

A former jockey who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a horse riding accident was able to walk again thanks to a cutting-edge piece of robotic tech: a $100,000 ReWalk Personal exoskeleton. When one of its small parts malfunctioned, however, the entire device stopped working. Desperate to gain his mobility back, he reached out to the manufacturer, Lifeward, for repairs. But it turned him away, claiming his exoskeleton was too old, 404 media reports.

Even my older and more business-empathetic mind can’t excuse this one. It’s a part. This company knows what they make. It’s not a cell phone. It’s not a television or a BlueRay player or a toaster. It’s a piece of technology that allows humans to walk. 10 years is not enough. And I think they know that. Shame on you.

The most recent “The Interview” episode of NYT’s “The Daily Podcast” featured John Oliver. You can’t help but fall in love with him in this interview. Love that guy.

I felt what John said here so hard:

What they (the Presidential debates) actually mean, I don’t know yet. It is pretty depressing that it’s this close. That’s, I guess, my aftertaste from it. That it’s still this close when everyone can see what you can see in that debate. It’s hard not to find that somewhere between depressing, infuriating, and outrageous.

Modern-Day Movies, The Marvel Cinematic Universe & Our Culture’s Fear of Vulnerability

There’s been a particular trend of media fearing vulnerability that has come from the all-encompassing popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hot take from my own daughter. Shots fired at Marvel!

.NET Terminology | Rockford Lhotka

I was recently part of a conversation thread online, which reinforced the naming confusion that exists around the .NET (dotnet) ecosystem. I thought I’d summarize my responses to that thread, as it surely can be confusing to a newcomer, or even someone who blinked and missed a bit of time, as things change fast.

Good set-the-record-straight post by one of the best.

The American public is to blame here. Because rather than the truth, they just want to feel good. They want to see people embarrass each other and fight each other.

- Scott Galloway 9/20/2024 espidode of “Pivot”

Good quote. He’s not wrong. Unfortunately.

Georgia election board votes to require ballots be hand-counted in November

The Georgia State Election Board on Friday voted 3-2 to require counties to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day, a move that could drastically lengthen the amount of time to tally results in a critical battleground state.

What’s the point in having the machines if we’re not going to fucking use them?!?!

We suck.

I am 44 years old and I just learned what a “zombie investor” is.

The “mainstream media” didn’t do this. ABC didn’t do this. Joe Biden didn’t do this. Neither Harris nor Walz did this. Neither did Obama or Hillary.

There are two people who did this. Trump and Vance. That’s it. That’s the list.

They are creatons. And should be treated as such.

Instagram introduces biggest privacy update for underage users

The changes will designate all new and existing Instagram accounts set up by users under 18 as “Teen Accounts” and automatically make them private:

Anyone under 16 will need approval through the app’s parental supervision tool to change their privacy settings. Parents will also be able to see whom their kids DM (but not the content of messages) and what topics they manually chose to see more of on their Explore pages. Teen Accounts will also feature “Sleep Mode,” which pauses notifications from 10pm to 7am.

Talk about something where you realize your perspective has changed since becoming a parent. I’m all for this.

From Jeff Jarvis on Mastodon:

As ever, Jamelle Bouie is insightful: Springfield dogs & cats is not a meme; it is blood libel: incitement to racist violence. I’ve been thinking about his recent column: their insane rhetoric is meaningless on the surface, but deadly meaningful underneath. Media are missing this.

Make sure to watch Jamelle’s video. Love that guy.

On this week’s “Political Gabfest”, David Plotz had a sobering thought:

Donald Trump’s success is not about being a good politician, specifically, himself. His success comes from his ability to make everyone skeptical about politics. He degrades discourse so much that people are more cyclical about everything and everyone having to do with politics. Hence, they vote for the person that wants to blow up that “system”, and he has positioned himself (however outrageous he can be) as that candidate.

MAGA Pastor Claims Kamala Harris Deployed ‘Witchcraft’ in Trump Debate - Newsweek

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Wallnau claimed that the vice president used supernatural manipulation to gain the upper hand in her combative showdown with the former president.

Yep, this is where we are…

(Also, real shocker that’s it’s posted on X)

You know what I’m really sick of hearing re: politics?

“They lie. They both do it.”

Technically, that’s correct. All politicians lie to some degree. It’s a part of the job.

However…

Trump is unprecedented in everything he does. On purpose. His lies and ridiculous antics are ones for the record books.

So please, STOP saying it’s both sides. It’s not. It’s him. And he’s only on one side. His own.

Question no one seems to be asking:

Do we need (the equivalent of) unit tests for AI validation?

Something I’m coming to accept in my development life…

I’m never going to switch my development environment from Visual Studio to VS Code. It’s just not going to happen. I’m sorry. Maybe that makes me old and “set in my ways”, but it is what it is.

Also, Vegas has apparently taken up all of the curve flat screen inventory around the world.

These things are littered in casinos as far as the eye can see.

Every time I’m in Vegas, this looks more and more ridiculous…

It’s like a child’s toy set or something.

We’ll miss you, Alex!

I was today years old when I realized that for 12 years (1901 - 1913), owners of Ford’s Model T had to go to a chemist (modern-day pharmacists) to purchase gasoline in a container.

Why did they do this?

Because the first gas station was opened in 1913.

(Hat Tip to Richard Campbell from a .NET Rocks episode in July 2023)

A little abstract shot from the bar.

Sitting at the bar, and I’m listening to the conversation behind me. And there was a specific bit that made my ears perk up:

“So, we ended up spreading the ashes. And then we headed to ‘Sugars’, the strip club.”

Ahh, Vegas…

Las Vegas right now is like walking on the surface of the sun. That is all.

Ok, I did not remember that Sterling K. Brown was in “Black Panther”.

Also had a very sobering conversation with Jayme yesterday afternoon about the stark realtities of what the kids will/can do after college. We have to face the fact that from a financial standpoint, it makes the most sense that they come back to live with us for 3-5 years while they begin their life/career. There is no “starter” anything anymore. It doesn’t exist. Everything is too expensive.

Something else struck me this morning as I was listening to the latest episode of “Rebound” with Dan, Lex, and John. The Venn Diagram of development/Apple nerds and sports people is not a large crowd. The guys were talking about John Smoltz (obviously, because of the similarity to Moltz’s name), but they described him as a baseball broadcaster. Not the Brave great, and not the baseball Hall of Famer that he is.

I just sat there thinking to myself, “Just me, huh?”

I am struck once again at how difficult it is to run a full ERP solution. Every morning, I read about my developer friends’ challenges with their apps. Their singularly-focused app. Stories and pleadings of unit tests, and CI/CD, and all the rest. It’s “the right way”. Except that developing unit tests and all that jazz for multiple applications, multiple web services, web applications, etc, etc, etc, is ridiculously hard and complex.

We’d have to stop development for about 2 years to properlly roll all of that out. And that’s just not feasible. Should it have been there up front? Of course it should have been. But I was 26 years old and didn’t know any better. And I certainly didn’t know the system would grow to what it is today.

Sometimes, taking stock of the scope of your application(s) is really helpful to determine where you’re going.

Just finished watching “Presumed Innocent” on AppleTV+. David E. Kelley’s still got it.

I have reached that point where I go to sit down to watch tv and do my iPhone catch-up, and I have to bring my glasses in order to read anything.

Someone on Mastodon said Tim Walz looks like everyone’s dentist, and now I can’t unsee it (in my mind).

Fearing backlash, Ford abandons DEI

Ford’s decision to turn its back on DEI comes four years after it publicly committed to the practice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. At the time, it said, “We are not interested in superficial actions. This is our moment to lead from the front and fully commit to creating the fair, just and inclusive culture that our employees deserve.”

That “commitment” didn’t age well. Fucking cowards.

Lowe’s becomes latest company to dial back DEI efforts aimed at LGBTQ groups

Lowe’s reversal shows a conservative push against queer rights that began with Target and Bud Light in previous years continues apace, and it has helped clarify that the campaign against “woke” is more often than not an effort to silence LGBTQ voices.

Cowards.

Via johnmcquaid on Mastodon:

Walter Isaacson’s misconceived “Great Man” biography of Elon Musk looks worse and worse with each passing week

John Siracusa continues to be correct.

Just saw an interesting fashion statement. This woman was wearing leggings (not out of the ordinary), but she was wearing socks on top of the leggings. Huh.

Dare I say it, but I kind of think the real winner of last week’s DNC was Tim Walz and family. How can anyone have anything no bad to say about him and/or them? He’s the perfect VP pick for Harris. Kudos to the campaign team.

One Foot Tsunami: A Starving Person Eating Junk Food

Ok, go with me on this…

Maybe this is NOT the worst thing in the world. I don’t think the creators of “Friend” are asking us to abandon all real-world relationships. I don’t think they are saying their vision is the “right” vision. I think they’re simply saying that if you’re going through some things, and need a friend, maybe this creation is not such a bad thing.

I am not-so-slowly realizing that the movie Her really made an impact on me that I didn’t even realize. I saw that movie 11 years ago, and it still invades my thoughts at least a couple of times a month. Keep in mind, I realize the intrinsic warning that movie was putting down. I get it. I really do.

But…

What if this “Friend” product (clearly influenced by the movie) was simply additive, and not destructive. Can we not have healthy, real-world relationships and this digital cheerleader (for lack of another word)?

The Friend purely offers companionship. It’s meant to develop a personality that complements the user and is always there to gas you up, chat about a movie after watching it, or help analyze how a bad date went awry. Not only does Schiffmann want the Friend to be your friend, he wants it to be your best friend—one that is with you wherever you go, listening to everything you do, and being there for you to offer encouragement and support. He gives an example, where he says he recently was hanging out, playing some board games with friends he hadn’t seen in a while, and was glad when his AI Friend chimed in with a quip. “I feel like I have a closer relationship with this fucking pendant around my neck than I do with these literal friends in front of me,” Schiffmann says.

For what it’s worth, I really don’t think the last quote is meant to be the goal.

At the same time, can I write the dystopian movie in my mind, where the pendant goes too far, and starts poisoning the user’s thoughts into destroying their real-world relationships because it’s jealous and wants to control them? Of course I can! But I’m really trying not to be so pessimistic. 😉

I’m much more in the camp of Manton on this one.

Checks out

I am very puzzled how you could support a person, a party, that wants to mandate the Ten Commandments inside public schools more than they want to provide school lunches to children. It blows my mind. The fact that they view feeding children as “progressive” (which in their minds, means “bad”) is just bonkers.

What prompted the thought:

Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Maker Brown-Forman Will End DEI Goals - Bloomberg

Jack Daniel’s whiskey maker Brown-Forman Corp. became the latest company to scrap corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs as pressure increasingly grows from conservatives to shed diversity programs or face a public backlash.

Cowards.

Honestly, I’m just ready to not talk about Trump ever again. It’s so exhausting. I hope we get that chance soon.

Harley-Davidson is dropping diversity initiatives after right-wing anti-DEI campaign | CNN Business

Harley-Davidson said Monday that it’s ending diversity and other progressive initiatives at the company. Harley-Davidson is the latest major American brand to backtrack from DEI policies it had supported in recent years.

Harley-Davidson faced pressure online from Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who has successfully taken on DEI policies at several American companies.

Cowards.

50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says - CBS News

Tax cuts for the wealthy have long drawn support from conservative lawmakers and economists who argue that such measures will “trickle down” and eventually boost jobs and incomes for everyone else. But a new study from the London School of Economics says 50 years of such tax cuts have only helped one group — the rich.

Real shocker, there.

23 years, and still smiling! Happy Anniversary to my wife and best friend!

Also, my coffee shop this morning lost power when I was sitting drinking my cappuccino. After it didn’t immediately come back on, they started playing “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” over the portable sound system.

👏🏻

Also, regarding age, I’ve become much more chill (and much less eye roll-y) when I hear Gen Z’ers say things like “that’s the worst/best XXX I’ve ever seen in my life”. It hit me that it’s probably true for them. It’s not in relation to my life and my life experiences. So, let them have that. And move on.

I loved this quote from 8/16’s episode of the “Dear Prudence” podcast from Slate:

You don’t become an adult until you’re out of your 20’s. You don’t know yourself until you turn 40. You’ve lived enough of your life to where you know your likes, your dislikes. You’re not easily persuaded.

That quote came from Karen Morrow, co-host of “The Black Guy Who Tips” podcast. Said with gusto and a whole helping of experience.

Forward indeed:

(See previous)

That’s good marketing!

Get Ready Now: Republicans Will Refuse to Certify a Harris Win

But they cling to his lies, and to conspiracy, because Trump’s cult provides a sense of belonging more nourishing than truth, and more compelling than facts.

That statement alone is chilling as fuck. Even when they know (intellectually) that they’re being lied to, they don’t care because of (obstensibly) how the lies makes them feel.

What are we even doing here?!

From StefanThinks on Mastodon:

And then Jesus said, “I could heal you, but you need to learn about self-reliance and how not to always rely on handouts. Also, it wouldn’t be fair to the people who already suffered.”

Chef’s kiss

I refuse to pay $17 for penne, broccoli, and Alfredo sauce. Come on.

What is with this trend of wearing sweat shirts in the middle of August? You people know it’s hot outside, right?

I’m wondering if my daughter is going to experience the same realization that I had in college: Knowing someone and living with someone are two completelty different things.

Big dad energy here at apartment move-in in Athens today.

A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a good friend from work. It was really a catch-up kind of thing, as working from home has allowed us to not actually see each other in real life for a bit. We talked about all kinds of things from work to kids to health. But we hit on a topic that I had been bandying about in my head for some time: therapy.

Now, I’ve gone to therapy in the past. I had some good experiences with it, and I had some really bad experiences. As I’ve reflected over the years, I realized I didn’t get what I wanted (nay, needed) out of it, and that’s why I quit that many years ago. Since then, I’ve actually kind of crystallized what I need from it, along with the realization that I do need it.

I want someone to:

• Listen
• Acknowledge my fears as valid
• Tell me I’m not crazy or a bad person

That’s it. That’s the list.

And honestly, I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Because I am not crazy, nor am I a bad person. As they always say, sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else.

Utah outlaws books by Judy Blume and Sarah J Maas in first statewide ban | Books | The Guardian

Books by Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Rupi Kaur and Sarah J Maas are among 13 titles that the state of Utah has ordered to be removed from all public school classrooms and libraries.

Adding Utah to the list…

Let’s see, that takes me to these states I’m not living in under the current MAGA conservative bullshit:

• Florida
• Texas
• Utah

55 Things to Know About Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ Pick for VP - POLITICO

Walz’s father, a school administrator, died of lung cancer when Walz was 19. Walz said this moment fueled his views on health care access: “The last week of my dad’s life cost my mom a decade of going back to work to pay off hospital debt.”

Wonderful get-to-know-the-candidate list for those who don’t know Walz (like me!). But this bullet point stood out to me as astounding. And sad. And helpless at the same time.

The idea that’s the last week of a loved one’s life would cost you (the living) a decade of time to recover from is brutal, and downright indecent.

We have to do better than this with healthcare.

(Hat tip: kottke.org)

As I watch more and more soccer games from around the world, and listen to announcers from other parts of the world, I wonder if people who speak a language in a more melodic way stutter less than people who don’t.

I love this idea!

Toilets that signal what the infrastructure is, rather than who can enter.

📍: Bruges, Belgium

Via https://mastodon.social/@verbeeld/112897685611722739

The New York of 2016 Needs the Wide, Generous Sidewalks of 1906 - Streetsblog New York City

New York didn’t always have such meager sidewalks – over the years, the city systematically shrank pedestrian space to make room for motor vehicles. Here’s a look at the sidewalk on Lexington Avenue and 89th Street today, and the much more accommodating dimensions near the turn of the 20th Century, courtesy of architect John Massengale.

Fascinating

Maybe someone should tell the other guy…

Donald Trump proposes alternative election debate, Kamala Harris says no | Reuters

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump proposed to debate Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News on Sept. 4, but the Harris campaign countered that Trump was trying to back out of a debate that had already been set to run on ABC.

He’s such a chicken shit.

There is a compromise here: Run the debate on PBS. It’s literally funded by the people.

Two observations from visiting Jayme’s parents in Columbus this weekend:

• When we go out to dinner, I always watch the door, and subtract 25-30 years from the person to see if I might recognize them. I can’t decide if that’s good or bad.
• If I do happen to recognize them, it’s been so long that I knew these people BEFORE iPhones, social media, and kids. Weird thought.

“Abortion is never illegal for the wealthy. Abortion bans are class warfare.”

• via Mastodon

Checks out

Checks out

Is it just me or is Microsoft marching VSCode toward yet another version of Visual Studio?

Manton Reece

Importantly, you can’t blindly follow AI coding advice. A human still needs to be in charge who understands the code.

This cannot be stressed enough.

Election 2024: Trump falsely suggests Harris misled voters about her race | AP News

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said while addressing the group’s annual convention.

How very presidential…

I’ve been driving a lot here recently, and through several cities and states. And throughout those experiences, I had gotten to the point of “Atlanta is not that bad after all.”

And then I tried to go get some lunch this afternoon. It’s still bad. Don’t get it twisted.

One reason I could never live in Florida: Pepsi.

‘Cause I’m the straw-wanting asshole here…

(Keep in mind, I have no basis to know if this is true or not. But let’s just say it wouldn’t surprise me.)