This is just to say I have bulldozed the East Wing that you were probably hoping to pass down to future generations Well, fuck you it was in the way so inconvenient and so old

Not the main point, I know, but I had no idea when “Night Before Christmas” was written. I would have put it about 50 years later than it actually was. As a result, I had no idea that Moore and Jefferson were contemporaries.

I get inordinate pleasure every time these groups waste a tiny bit of money by sending things to me.

"Anything we can actually do, we can afford." We can have a more equal, more prosperous, and more just nation as soon as we embrace this.

edition.cnn.com/2025/08/11/b... Profound missed the opportunity to have written "which is mathematically impossible, says local average middle schooler Sally Jenkins."

For Tolkien fans, a timely passage for No Kings Eve, from WH Auden’s review of Lord of the Rings.

The eloquence… the polite, calm, resolute boundaries… 10/10 no notes. I sincerely aspire to have the self possession to generate something like this in a similar situation. I am inspired.

vance to his kids: “it is okay to tell your friends you love hitler as long as you don’t get caught”

BREAKING from PP We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens* The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied: Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado www.propublica.org/article/immi... by @nicolefoy.bsky.social

I think it’s good to read serious, thoughtful people who have very different political views from my own. I used to think Douthat was such a person. I was wrong. At the NYT, we’re down to just David French as a candidate for this role. (Stephens is a troll, and Brooks is, well, whatever Brooks is.)

What would the ending of The Godfather be without her face?

Relieved to hear that at least one university is doing this. I hope others follow.

Sad to see the University of Washington Astronomy Department has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. astro.washington.edu/graduate-adm...

Full comic here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/steve #smbc

The main reason universities should say no to this deal is that it's a betrayal of what a university is all about. But in case any administrators aren't convinced by that, I hope they draw the right lesson from the second story: the Trump administration won't abide by any deal they make anyway.

When the history of this era is written, people like Robert’s will be among the chief villains. He’s morally far worse than Trump because he understands exactly what he’s doing and has the capacity to choose not to do it.

As is so often the case, the best part of this SMBC comic is the extra panel you get by clicking on the big red button on the web site. www.smbc-comics.com/comic/priors

OM*G*. This is the single best homeopathy zinger I've ever seen. Hall of fame stuff!

xkcd.com/3148/ He should come to UR. We'd let him do it -- as long as he wanted to keep paying the tuition.

Pleasantly surprised.

Comicking

Most people cannot name a single astronomer. If I could change that to one person it would be Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin. I've never read her thesis. I think I'll fix that.

Trump’s gonna cancel The Onion next.

Full comic here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/theodi... #smbc

Wordle 1,553 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 It had to happen eventually

Just in case anyone here happens to live in Richmond and be a fan of nerdy singer-songwriters: Jonathan Coulton is coming to the Tin Pan in November. www.eventbrite.com/e/jonathan-c...

Oh this is very cool #MathNerds

The free speech activist who built a list of professors he worked to get fired for their speech must be celebrated for his support of free speech, and anyone who quotes his speech accurately in context will be fired and/or face state punishment by the champions of free speech, do I have that right?

It should be way bigger news that Trump effectively killed any attempt by foreign countries to build new factories in the United States with this idiotic ICE move. Just incalculable long term damage. Trump just killed his "build America" push www.wsj.com/world/asia/c...

This makes me wish Jerry Seinfeld would do something worth paying attention to, so that I could boycott it.

I'd never noticed this before, but it's a bit odd that "omission" and "commission" have different numbers of Ms. They looked strange in an email I just sent. Perhaps I should have referred to having done those things that I ought not to have done and vice versa instead.

Good one.

This is #189 on the list of things wrong w/ this post, but: Chipocalypse? Or, even in the generous reading that that's supposed to be a "g"--Chigocalypse? I know y'all are dumb, but if you want to create a portmanteau word from the city you're invading & a movie title, "Chicagolypse" is right there.

Every once in a while I tell people from other countries about how the health insurance system works in the US and they are aghast. Yesterday a guy straight up didn’t believe me when I said people can die because of not being able to afford medicine. He was sure I meant in the distant past.

The movies don't really get into it, but it's worth remembering that Denethor went crazy because he spent too much time doomscrolling on the Palantír and it cooked his brain

Bonus panel here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/positi... #smbc #relatablehumor

Florida Decided There Were Too Many Children. “Florida is the first state to take the courageous step toward decluttering itself of excess children, but under the inexpert guidance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., other states may follow.” [theatlantic.com]

Could literally start playing a "who said it?" quote game that's: RFK or Dr. Spaceman?

Perfection.

Laugh crying.

This is a great article. I confess that I haven't been doing much to help lately, but I should be.

This “explicit” is a weird editorial choice. The constitution gives the president no power over this at all. It’s not ambiguous.

JD Vance asking to be invited into a city feels really on the nose after Sinners

Found on Mastodon... fediscience.org/@kaiarzheime...

xkcd.com/3134/ About the idea that observation causes the collapse of the wavefunction, Einstein is said to have asked for the precise definition of an "observation", wondering whether "a sidelong glance from a mouse" would do it.

Dearest Martha, The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover. Yours in glaze,

Like this.

Well deserved. For my money, @jamellebouie.net is writing the smartest political opinion journalism in the US today.