The Wall Street Journal freaks out about the supposed terrible effects of marijuana use while ignoring the far worse effects of alcohol. Gift link. (Read the comments) www.wsj.com/opinion/cali...

Where did those thoughts come from? Some thoughts about the effects of media and social media. open.substack.com/pub/unshaved...

Counselor Candy Marcum discusses providing affirming mental health care and her belief that LGBTQ people need support in accepting themselves. plutopia.io/living-your-...

Kash Patel seeks to subpoena Lindsey Graham’s aorta.

Texas GOP leaders failed to notice that ICE is shooting innocent people in the streets. www.texastribune.org/2026/07/10/t...

Team Plutopia looks at the changing political landscape in Texas as foundation for a broader discussion of democracy, public policy, and the state’s future. plutopia.io/texas-at-a-c...

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: "Backrooms" is a horror film that manifests a wicked maze of surreal rooms that open on rooms that open on other rooms. A building that needs a psych evaluation. youtu.be/0HjdiohVOik?...

Team Plutopia looks at the changing political landscape in Texas as foundation for a broader discussion of democracy, public policy, and the state’s future. plutopia.io/texas-at-a-c...

Justin Lahart at the @wsj.com wonders about the "vanishing labor force." Perhaps the labor force shrunk because workers were deported?

No more cease fire with Iran. No more partnership with Europe. No more protection for wildlife in marine national monuments. No more immigrants, no more water, no more social safety nets, no more religious tolerance, no more middle class... Welcome to 21st century America.

A wide-ranging look at the changing political landscape in Texas, using Jon Lebkowsky’s experience as a delegate to the Texas Democratic Convention as a springboard for a broader discussion of democracy, public policy, and the state’s future. plutopia.io/texas-at-a-c...

Trump doesn't want "communists" to control corporate America. Leave that to MAGA. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Let's all go to Mars and hang out with the rat-spiders...

They just don't build 'em like they used to... www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07...

Trump thinks that if you put gold plating on everything, you have a "golden age."

Quickest way to become a billionaire: become President of the United States, milk it for all it's worth. Play the stock market like a classic violin, drive investments and reap benefits. Sell worthless memecoins to clueless followers. Order milllions in payments to shell companies.

“Texas has one of the world’s most robust economies, but if sound, scientifically-based water management strategies are not implemented, it could face serious social, economic and environmental consequences.” @dylanbaddour.bsky.social insideclimatenews.org/news/2506202...

Hugh Forrest reflects on four decades helping shape South by Southwest and the challenges of scaling creative communities without losing authenticity. plutopia.io/hugh-forrest...

In Austin, the likely effect of this El Nino will be more precipitation, hopefully offsetting effects of the long drought.

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: After re-watching "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (before seeing "Disclosure Day"), it occurred to us that those aliens might be stocking an interplanetary zoo. youtu.be/dSpQ3G08k48?...

Juneteenth parade in Austin!

Making connections in Boston! The World Orphan Drug Congress was a great success for SPM. Seven different people expressed interest in becoming Board Members and a few organizations interested in the CHAMP coalition.

How is CHAMP different from other measures? CHAMP is not another patient satisfaction survey. Read our comparative analysis of patient experience scores. The bottom line, CHAMP is more than what you feel or want. CHAMP is about behaviors. Read more: participatorymedicine.org/epatients/20...

Security researcher and educator Steve Bellovin discusses the increasingly centralized and balkanized internet, practical and social problems with age verification, the limited role of consumer VPNs, and the history and evolution of cryptography. plutopia.io/steven-bello...

*There ought to be entire libraries of works by women who have to write fiction on the ironing-board to feed the kids *And then sell in the millions en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._D._E...

This is a cowardly and crappy act by UT officials. @dhiott.bsky.social is FANTASTIC, and KUT was lucky to have her. “They offered her the opportunity to resign, which she refused. "’I said, you know, well, you'll have to fire me,’ Hiott said she responded.” www.kut.org/education/20...

Seen some reviews of Disclosure Day that are mad at or dismissive of Spielberg for being optimistic about humanity. I mean, I find it thrilling that a man of his age, who helped create one of the definitive Holocaust documentaries, still believes in the inherent goodness of people.

I probably can't make this, but you should!

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: In "Disclosure Day," a government contractor fights to prevent full disclosure of the truth about aliens visiting earth, while a hacker and a meteorologist rush to revelation. youtu.be/icDuEHSxE-w

The Internet is disappearing behind a series of increasingly aggressive paywalls.

I had some thoughts about "Backrooms": open.substack.com/pub/unshaved...

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: Is "The Mandalorian and Grogu" science fiction, space western, or film noir? However classified, it's a great way to blast through the post-Star-Wars worlds created for the original Mandalorian stories. Pulp cinema. youtu.be/uwild1rw7Aw?...

Discussion of how AI transforms participatory medicine by giving patients new tools to understand medical research, manage personal health data, challenge institutional failures, and act with greater agency. #participatorymedicine #patientsuseAI plutopia.io/patient-powe...

We Are Cyborgs! My latest blog post: "What felt like a provocative cyberpunk idea in the early 1990s has become ordinary life." unshaved.substack.com/p/we-are-cyb...

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die" is a wild romp through a surreal version of the techn-mediated present with a mission-driven man from the future. youtu.be/Nm4WbapDzDQ?...

It could make sense to put Trump’s image on a $3 bill as long as it has no value.

This is essential: the Wayback Machine makes every news outlet it archives more resilient against pressure to remove stories that threaten the powerful. Tell the New York Times, The Atlantic, and USA Today to stop blocking it! savethearchive.com/newsleaders?...

A livestream of a volcano in the Philippines captured a meteor crashing to Earth today. What are the odds? Mayon Volcano, Location: Albay, Luzon, Philippines

From 2024:

Speculating about who's running the show in the USA right now, if Donald Trump is really checked out, as he sometimes seems to be. unshaved.substack.com/p/whos-in-ch...

Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: Cheesy but prescient "Creation of the Humanoids," with its comicbook production design Andy Warhol's favorite sci-fi film, features a human/AGI love story in a future where AGI robots fill in for humans lost in a nuclear war. youtu.be/pAaJsPTDvp0?...

Some notes now that I’ve seen the transcript of the hearing, thanks to @lizdye.bsky.social . First: the government dismissed the felony count in an effort to convince the judge not to make them produce full transcripts, knowing they showed serious misconduct.

In which I finally understand, decades later, what "2001: A Space Odyssey" was about: unshaved.substack.com/p/kubrick-vi...

Fantastic piece by @doctorow.pluralistic.net today, about the fallacy of "voting with your wallet": <https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/21/purity-culture/> What's most powerful in this piece is the clarity about how to do real politics-as-community, the nature of solidarity.

“I have never heard of the department ever being willing to grant blanket immunity,” said Jennifer Ricketts, a former branch director in the department’s civil division. “That seems blatantly corrupt. It’s a shocking gift to the president.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/u...

Texas is outgrowing its freshwater supply. Creating freshwater and keeping the economy growing will leave consumers with sticker shock. "There is no free lunch," the chair of the Texas Senate's water committee warned. #txlege @houstonchronicle.com www.houstonchronicle.com/business/col...

What's more surprising than the level and audacity of Trump's corruption is the lack of any response from Congress. I'm thinking he could write an executive order increasing his salary to $1 trillion a year, and no Republican would bat an eye.

Cindy Cohn discusses her new book, “Privacy’s Defender,” and reflects on her decades of work with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, from the landmark Bernstein encryption case to fights against NSA mass surveillance and national security letters. plutopia.io/cindy-cohn-p...