Friday night recommendation: what hallucinatory, vivid, time-shifting effects in these essays. Amazing writing.

important to note that, while Benedict was the one who un-excommunicated them (because he sucked), the much-more-liberal Francis ALSO made concessions with SSPX. he tried to give them a few things they wanted in the hopes that they would then offer compromises from their end, but these guys never do

Whether or not you can make sense of the notion that any state has a 'right to exist', this is a very strong piece by @justinling.ca.

Ehud Barak issued this warning in 2011 and folks scoffed when nothing substantive changed. That's because we've become used to a reality in which 'stuff' happens fast - and have a hard time appreciating that historical change still moves slowly. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

⬇️⬇️ A big agreement between the federal & provincial gov’ts that is contingent on yet to be made decisions by private companies to allocate money to a new pipeline, invest in massive carbon capture, and new oil sands production. Will all of this happen & when? Check the electoral calendar.

The surgical precision in this field dressing of Stephen Miller has to instill terror in any high-profile person. Just knowing this could happen to you.

A wonderful tribute to an exceptional doctor (and @naomiaklein.bsky.social's dad). His memory surely will be a blessing.

What a magnificently-written column by @jamellebouie.net. Such powerful wielding of diverging histories and political philosophies in face of the present.

Between Chuck throwing his brother in the dungeon, Bob from Chicago excommunicating schismatics, and drunk Pete’s Christian fundamentalist military getting bogged down in an ill-advised adventure in the Middle East, medieval fans are eating good.

I still don’t want to be Catholic but I appreciate the example of at least one major institution reversing course on 50 years or more of right wing coddling.

@clairewillett.bsky.social At what moment is the automatic excommunication in effect? When the Pope announces it, or is it metaphysically taking effect right now?

"My pronouns are she/her."

These are such huge challenges to tackle amid all the other funding urgencies--but they're essential to do at a national scale. www.hilltimes.com/2026/06/04/c...

"People are betting on wildfires." Really feels like banning these betting markets is a minimum necessary condition for civilisation.

This review is written with such thumping force and cutting outrage but also--a rare thing--stands up to close parsing of its moral-political perspective. A nerdy way of saying that it's very strong and very good.

this wouldn’t work legally because a President has no authority to remove a Supreme Court justice. however the President could instead simply drone strike them. it sounds like i’m being snarky but as a result of the immunity decision this is the actual law.

Iran's exercise of 'ceasefire management' (a classic new coinage) continuing apace.

Geopolitics by Deloitte 💀

Isaac Chotiner: can you list some examples of systemic oppression green creatures face? Kermit the Frog: I’m sorry? Isaac Chotiner: well you do mention the difficulty quite a lot

As good as everyone's saying--and I'm wondering if Coates wrote his conclusion with even the slightest hope that a 2028 Harris candidacy might be actually shaped around the historical lineage of thought represented by Fannie Lou Hamer.

every two words is an entire Dickens novel

Someone has been projecting images all over D.C. “It’s swampier than ever.” The Kennedy Center one is pretty hilarious. 😂😂😂

Lo, there is something new under the sun.

The new voluntourism, huh

Trump's Iran deal is so mind-bogglingly bad that one has to wonder if the 'grifter in chief' worked out a secret deal with the Ayatollah to get a cut of the profits, both from the $300 billion fund and from tolls on shipping through an international waterway owned by no country.

Just shockingly terrible policy--and a wake-up call re larger trends at play in federal decision-making and governance.

Everything is terrible but this is transcendent. From surprise labour optics to insta-statues and psychological warfare, plus lewd hand gestures in many keys, it's all here. A minor genius herself is @oliviagiovetti.bsky.social.

But I was told it was inevitable.

What you're missing is that analogies between ordinary morality and warfare break down *immediately*, *everywhere.* One reasonable response to that: be a pacifist. An unreasonable response to that: start *selectively* throwing around such analogies in a setting in which they don't work.

The claim that "Israel wants to kill its way out of every problem" is the sort of thing that tends to draw a DOJ investigation and the blocking of federal funds when made by campus actors.

Omg what an example of elite capture at work, in ways only @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social could have foreseen.

"The unpredictable nature of Trump turning on you is what makes it so sad." 💀 Nobody has *ever* done empathetic listening as darkly as @ichotiner.bsky.social omg.

Well, the rush of seeing a kid graduate when it wasn't a foregone conclusion that would happen is a level of emotion I hadn't expected. 🥹

What a craven embarrassment. Unforgivable.

St. Augustine on the Witch of Endor is a pretty cool lost sermon topic to discover.

It is looking increasingly like Iran is behind the spate of shootings in Toronto, possibly through the direction of Al Saadi, recently arrested and extradited to the US. Certainly, this is consistent with Iran’s modus operandi in Europe. apple.news/A9mySE6ToSyS...

This really has the makings of Big Incident Approaching.

As Elizabeth May comments: "before you overturn a decision that this is unsafe, explore...what other integrated pest management controls might work instead of allowing something that at least one minister and one department have determined is too dangerous to be used.”

that lil baby is gonna turn into a giant mutant duck that fights crime, mark my words

I work at a Catholic school and the pope said not to AI so now I get emails with info graphs like this. This is not a complaint. I genuinely love it.

Also this. No ensouling happened last night, however.

Media ploy. Once again. It took 2 cherry pickers and a few hours to get the #trump name added to the #KennedyCenter Now the tax payers are forced to pay for retribution scaffolding and a dozen people working overtime. Trump is a wasted waster.

This is like watching a sukkah being built one matchstick at a time.

When the Trump Opera finally gets written, this scaffolding backdrop will look fantastic on stage.

Aha! This is the cheering.

What's the opposite of a Friday afternoon news dump? A Friday afternoon news party?

Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.

Canadian digital policy wonks: is there any record of what officials said in the technical briefing for Bill C-34 (Safe Social Media Act) vs what the bill says about the timing of the under-16 social media ban? Officials said the ban takes effect immediately with Royal Assent???