my hot take is that I don't think it's this website specifically that's toxic. the Circumstances are toxic and nobody really knows what to do about it so they come online and scream. and if I may offer an alternative: actually going outside and screaming feels better.

What is up with European hotels’ obsession with 50% or less shower enclosures??

I just want people to remember that what this was was transparently obvious at the time and universally condemned. Hold on to that fact and don't let people change it under you.

It’s kinda bonkers that an airline can strand you on a different continent for multiple days and not respond to pleas for help via phone or text.

man the Access Hollywood tape really told us everything we needed to know didn’t it

The destruction doesn't make for a photo-op like tearing down the East Wing of the White House or bulldozing the Rose Garden, but it's every bit as bad. Generations of American children learned to spell and count, learned the Preamble to the Constitution, from watching shows produced by the CPB.

Ffs Amsterdam is really not compatible with snow.

How long before U.S. heath protocols and vaccine schedules start affecting travel? Only a matter of time before traveling with proof of measles vaccine will be required to enter countries that still understand science #scicomm 🧪 #vaccines

Unusual wall art for a steakhouse.

Stranded in Amsterdam since Saturday, still no contact from KLM. Their customer service number now just plays the busy tone instead of picking up for a recorded message saying that they’re not taking calls.

This is the funniest thing that's ever happened on Threads.

amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders

This post by JA Westenberg is so good. And it's forcing me to look again at my own site, PressThink. "The Case for Blogging in the Ruins." www.joanwestenberg.com/the-case-for... "Most blogs are abandoned after three posts," she writes. The ones that persist have these things in common:

it's darkly humorous to listen to Trump and his cronies reference the fact that Maduro was indicted in SDNY as evidence he's a dictator and overall bad guy

The court's reasoning: users have no expectation of privacy because "it is common knowledge that websites, internet-based applications, and internet service providers collect, and then sell, user data."

is there some way I can quickly unlearn all of history so as to feel better about recent events

my plan to get this country back on track consists of one bullet point: i propose we stop pretending stupid people arent stupid just because theyre loud and theres a lot of them

You ever think about how the Roman Senate kept meeting centuries into the reigns of emperors. Hanging out, shooting the shit, giving speeches, and play-acting that their positions of privilege remained positions of power.

Allow me to connect some dots for you: Too much of the world currently relies for its basic functions on resources which must be continuously extracted. You burn that oil one time and oops, now you need more. Geopolitical horrors are, in fact, one of the reasons we need to move to renewables ASAP.

Being an American feels like getting on a school bus and then your bus driver decides to do a drive by

I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war

Don't forget folks: allowing yourself a vision of the future you'd want for our country and planet - not the one you'd settle for, not the one you fear, but the future of your dreams - isn't naive, it's a vital cognitive skill. That's how we articulate what we most value. What's worth fighting for.

Almost 20 years ago, I warned we were heading toward a world where states invade each other at will, and that America had an obligation to restore the higher bar for going to war. Not gonna say I told ya so, but...well, okay, I will. There's a reason I chose these quotes to open the book.

Lots of "don't cry cuz it's over, smile cuz it happened" energy hitting me with this meme 🥲😭🫠

finally, we're living through precedented times

@thehardtimesnews.bsky.social didn't crosspost this to bsky thehardtimes.net/breaking/ice...

There are worse places to strand travelers without their luggage, but Amsterdam without a coat or closed toe shoes is not fun. @klmairlines.bsky.social promised to rebook us but their app now pretends they didn’t cancel our flight segment in mid-journey.

Counterpoint…

They were stupid then. They’re likely still stupid now.

Very obvious that Republican insiders viewed this as an insider trading opportunity

“in 1992 there were 88,000 households worth $20 million or more in 2022 dollars; by 2022, there were 644,000. Those who could pay almost anything for a vacation were becoming their own mass market.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

trump's going to name rubio president of venezuela isn't he

Expect to see a lot of this classic Onion headline, from 23 years ago, over the coming weeks.

Trump invaded a foreign country and kidnapped their leader, bombed their capitol, and is holding a press conference about it - not at the White House - but at his resort.

I’ve long maintained that it was a mistake for Congress to have abolished itself.

We’re Living Through the Great Detachment www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/o...

You’d think the Pentagon would learn to order from their own cafeteria by now.🙄

My friend commenting on the fact that I only have five pictures on Instagram: “A picture is worth a thousand words. You just write the words.” 🤣

JRO->AMS

Why do I have to read an Irish paper for a feature about this?

Trump Is the Jan. 6 President www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...

Redux

Same as it ever was

Happy 8th night of Chanukah. Also, happy solstice. May we all have more light than darkness from here on.

I have deeply mixed feelings about the Internet, but the fact that it enables sending your girlfriend a Crunchwrap Supreme from 9000 miles away in a lodge beside Kilimanjaro is pretty neat.

Hundreds of thousands will die because of Musk and Trump. Don’t look away.