This reminds me of one of my favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes: How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn't make it a leg.

Fantastic, comprehensive piece, and I have no idea how Steve remains so calm while refuting all this nonsense. The sanewashing of the shadow docket is infuriating!

RFK Jr: I terminated the COVID vaccines because it didn’t make any sense. COVID is gone. Note: From July 2024 to June 2025 in the US, COVID19 caused up to 450,000 hospitalizations and 53,000 deaths. COVID ain’t gone, shitbird.

Lovely story from @carlzimmer.com follows up on Bruce the beakless kea, who first invented a new way to preen and now has invented a new way of kicking ass. Gift link.

IF YOU’RE IN LINE TO GET CONTROL OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ, STAY IN LINE

Nothing has killed more soldiers in the history of humanity than disease. While worst is a more complicated question Hegseth is absolutely the dumbest secretary of defense the United States has ever had. bsky.app/profile/ones...

Spotted this excellent mural on a school building today while on a bike ride. Does this count as classical reception? #AncientBlueSky 🏺

Just plain excellent analysis. Steve is a great thinker and writer. I’d like to see him in SCOTUS …

Today I turn 89. I’ve seen this country at its best and its worst, and I know how much community matters. For my birthday, I’m asking you to stand with PFLAG and support the work that’s helped so many in the LGBTQ+ community, including me. give.pflag.org/page/95493/d...

Three women out. Not a single dude

Jay Bhattacharya: Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines "As a vaccine for broad public use, mRNA technology has failed to earn the public’s trust."

Breaking: HHS’s ban on gender-affirming care is struck down. Rarely have I read a ruling this sharply worded. “This case is one of a long list of examples of how a leader’s wanton disregard for the rule of law causes very real harm to very real people.” www.advocate.com/politics/nat...

Hi please make this your weekend read because I ruined every single one of my social media algorithms to do this reporting. I'm now suffering through constant side by side images of "reta face" www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

Supreme tantrum incoming …

There’s so much to say about the remarkable reporting from Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak—and I’ll say a lot of it in Monday’s newsletter. But the most striking thing about all of it is the role & behavior of Chief Justice Roberts. “Calling balls and strikes” this ain’t: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

We all have days like this

Also, hoping the lady who says Obama is guilty of treason, the guy who thinks Trump is Jesus, the lady sleeping with her security detail and who drinks on the job, and the guy who harvests raccoon penises will vote the president mentally unfit for office doesn't seem like the soundest strategy.

I could be wrong, but Trump’s war in Iraq has ended more times than every American war in history combined.

Bluesky servers be like

The problem is that we may have "certain inalienable rights" endowed by our Creator, as the Declaration says, but as it goes on to say in the *next sentence* "Governments are created to secure those rights" Because your "natural rights" are no help when, say, men with guns come to take your stuff.

BREAKING: I took to the House floor to force a vote on extending Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. We won the first important vote in this process, and now we're a step closer to getting this done. The House must move with urgency and pass this legislation without delay.

People really need to drop this fantasy fixation on the 25th amendment. It requires the assistance of Trump’s handpicked stooge cabinet and supermajorities in both houses. It’s not going to happen, and it’s not really designed for this. Impeachment is designed for this. And the bar is way lower.

Now, you might say, "What about all the knowledge we'd lose if we push all the abusive geniuses out of academia?!" But I'd counter and say, "Well, what about the knowledge we've already lost from the budding scholars whose careers they've derailed with their abuse?"

But sure he is stark mad

Absolutely fucking brilliant.

The victory of the opposition in Hungary yesterday, like the Polish election in 2023, is a victory for democracy, not just in Europe but around the world.

good riddance. Now get him TF out of #Congress too.

If you sexually assaulted someone, you should not be serving in Congress—[or as President]. Period.

I love that Orbán is going to be beaten by a guy named Peter Hungarian. Like if Trump went down to someone named John American.

May Victor Orbán simply be the first in a string of countries engaging in overdue housecleaning by kicking their authoritarian leaders to the curb.

Fuck'em.

We have entered the “you can’t kill me if I commit suicide” phase of American Decline

So far, Vance’s foreign policy record is yelling at Zelensky for not thanking Trump enough, campaigning for AfD in Germany and Orban in Hungary, getting rejected by the Pope on his invite to the US, and failing in the Iran negotiations.

Good luck, Hungary. We're rooting for you out here today.

I quite happily live in a neighborhood where most people do not share my religion, where multiple languages are represented, and where people have come from a lot of different countries. Bigoted assholes always assume everyone else actually shares their bigotries.

An optimist

Unfortunately this is true.

Here is Tutankhamun’s gilded wooden shrine, each side protected by one of four goddesses. Inside was an Egyptian alabaster chest with four alabaster canopic jars, each containing a miniature gold sarcophagus with the king’s internal organs. Grand Egyptian Museum 📷 by me #Archaeology

A great definition if 'scholarship'. '… meaningfully advancing … understanding…'

This is real It’s being done in our name Congressional Republicans are okay with this

Fascinating

Or the lack thereof.

Dr. Howard is absolutely correct. When I made my post about the Pfizer vaccine trial I had assumed they were doing a head-to-head with an another vaccine. I assumed incorrectly. The placebo-controlled trial of Pfizer’s COVID19 vaccine was unethical and forced upon them by Vinay Prasad.

Pete Hegseth Replaces Top General With Horse That Drinks Beer https://theonion.com/pete-hegseth-replaces-top-general-with-horse-that-drinks-beer/

This lovely fresco is from Herculaneum. Like our pet rabbits, he loves his fruit and we see him here investigating plump, succulent figs. 🕰️C1st AD 🏛️📷 National Archaeological Museum, Naples #FrescoFriday

Pfizer has ended its large Phase III Trial of an updated COVID19 vaccine. They were not able to enroll enough people to meet their goal. A major problem is the FDA’s wholly unreasonable demand that people with chronic conditions, who benefit most from the vaccine, not be allowed to participate.

Why would I use "AI," I actually know how to fucking write

Both of Marco Rubio’s parents were born in Cuba. Marco Rubio was born in Miami in 1971, before they became US citizens. He is a US citizen because he was born in the US under birthright citizenship. #Hypocrites