Use of the word "evil" in official congressional e-newsletters, over time, by party

Just to focus a little, nuclear weapons still pose the greatest existential threat to human existence. There are 3,700 warheads dispersed throughout the USA in the custody of a military that swears allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

I feel vindicated in never having tried to sing along with Its The End Of The World As We Know It. I just smiled, bobbed my head and awkwardly clapped on the one and three.

“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ages 17-21 I did a lot of hitchhiking. Across the USA, up and down both coasts and all around Europe. Then one day I never did it again. I was in Ft. Collins and hitched down to Durango and after that every ride I got was with people I knew. I can’t picture the last guy. Had no idea he was my last.

If your opinions of contemporary politics are indistinguishable from the disinformation campaigns being pushed by foreign agents and chaos bots maybe it’s time to log off.

This “summit” in Alaska was a giant gift to Putin, made him look important and put him back on the big stage. God, Trump is such a bozo.

I know there are folks who prefer one social media platform to another but they all seem the same to me. BlueSky has just as many angry insane people as threads as far as I can tell.

It’s important to filter the white noise of the Trump administration, the stuff that will be easy to undo, from their attempts to do real damage to underlying structures.

Neither of us know enough to comment intelligently. Moving on.

Question for chemists and physicists: can TSA machines that scan our luggage not discern between water and any other liquid substance that might present a threat? I understand that some bad chemical compounds might APPEAR to the eye as water, but wouldn’t those have detectably different density?

Headed to Raleigh today, who’s in NC and wants to try for a meetup tomorrow?

I have a Welsh genealogy question. My great-grandmother Elizabeth Morgan was born in Tredegar in Nov 1861. The Morgans of Tredegar are well known yet none of the sites connect her to family. She’s a dead end. She married Aaron Roderick, from Llantrisant, in Stark, OH. 1879. Help me find her fam?

Last minute alert! I’m interviewing Dan Carlin, host of Hardcore History, at the Atlanta Symphony Hall in Atlanta on Friday and the Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh NC on Saturday. If you’re in the Piedmont Atlantic mega-region don’t miss this Yalta Conference of history podcasters!

I love to learn new untrue things. What a great use of my time.

If I had a bunch of adrenal glands of children, there are probably more interesting things I could do than power the Democratic Party. It’s not even top 10.

That’s the problem with most conspiracy: life is super boring and people are not that smart.

The pigeon didn’t mind, he had no choice, you know?

When Democrats regain control of Congress one initiative they should pursue is compulsory national service. Between the ages of 18-30 every American should serve two years. Military counts, but we need new programs for the State Deparment, Health, IRS, Interior, etc.

This Herblock cartoon was published 71 years ago, and it’s just as pertinent now.

Tons of folks out there on a minute-by-minute watch of what’s going wrong, a minuscule fraction of people with detailed and positive plans of any kind.

The first thing a large portion of New Yorkers think when someone says “Make NYC affordable!” is “Make it so you can live in an 8 room co-op on the Upper West Side on a teacher’s salary again!”

Amazing to consider that less than 15% of American men are 6’ or taller and the percentage over 6’5” is vanishingly small.

My favorite Elvis song is Suspicious Minds and my favorite Doors song is Touch Me if that gives you any indication.

Isolationist candidates always end up War Daddies.

One interesting thing you learn when you move to the suburbs, the ratio of people with a sense of humor plummets. Cities attract people with senses of humor and if you live for a long time in cities you start to think it’s a common trait. It isn’t. Obviously there are exceptions. Save your breath.

You don’t win an argument by pointing out the flaws in your opponent’s argument. It seems that way but it isn’t. You win an argument by spelling out the better argument.

In my dream I was in a prison camp and escaped, at first just a few of us under the wire but then more and more until the whole camp dashed for freedom, which became a marathon, and Twisted Sister was playing the Mid-point Stage and now I’ve had We’re Not Gonna Take It stuck in my head all morning.

Omg @johnroderick.bsky.social & @hotdogsladies.bsky.social were actually referencing a real show with their “the ‘90s are gonna make the ‘60s look like the ‘50s" bit all along! 😂

I have a big dental surgery coming up but I’m sick of “big dentistry!” All they do is lie and cheat! That’s why I’m going with an outsider candidate, to bring that man-on-the-street wisdom to my surgery. He’s been a minister, a real estate agent and had a public access cable show! That’ll show em!

Howard Dean “yelped” at a campaign event and we collectively decided it made him unfit for office We drummed Al Franken out of the Senate for making the “honk honk” gesture at a Fox reporter’s boobs. Last week there was a serious kerfuffle that Pete Buttigieg was tainted by his job at McKinsey.

Just one more dying quail a week and you’re in Yankee Stadium.

I resist many of the mileposts of middle-age; I’m not a “birder,” don’t have a train set and don’t post political stuff on Facebook. I do, however, shop with coupons and I’m happy to report that my local grocery has accepted my FEEDBACK and are simplifying their digital coupon program.

Cat Fud

Roderick on the Line, Ep. 581: "The Velocities of Youth" The Problem: Merlin doesn't know how to make a bird horny. www.merlinmann.com/roderick/ep-...

It’s common to try “reforming government” by electing outsiders. Conservatives think government should be run like a business and liberals want to put activists in office. But politics is a profession, not for amateurs. Our problems of the last 20 years are mostly down to putting clowns in office.

It is important to make distinctions. The truth often exists in distinctions. Telling lies begins by blurring distinctions.

Fathers of teens! Chauffeur your kids and their friends to the mall, or wherever they want to go and say, “I’m just the driver.” Let them swear, let them say things to each other you know are wrong, and don’t correct them or snicker. They’ll learn to trust you and you will learn everything.

Portland, OR. has 600k people and 15 bridges and is known as Bridge City or Bridgetown. I’ve never heard anyone actually say Bridgetown, but it’s on signs. In 1950 Pittsburgh, PA. had 600k people and was known as The City of Bridges. It has 446 bridges. That’s 431 more, innit?

The Czechs make good cars And good beers And good crystal chandeliers

Me, to my eye-rolling 8th grader: “I was in 8th grade in 1982. I know that probably sounds like the moon to someone your age.” She, looking out the window: “I mean, ten-ish years before people were literally walking on the moon.”

I’ve learned to have great empathy for the elevated few who have perfect knowledge of the present, the future, the lives of others and how they should be. Imagine how frustrating it is for them to live in this flawed world pouring their wisdom out in comments and posts to a deaf and ungrateful mass.

Have you ever taken out your own stitches? I feel like this might be one of those Gen X things.

Pete Hegseth is a twat, in the British sense. Even Rumsfeld, the prior record-holder for worst SecDef, is ROLLING in his grave. If Trump had the same policies as Jimmy Carter his administration would STILL be illegitimate based on Hegseth alone. I would rather have Kid Rock do it.

This Roderick on the Line is really good, and I’d love it if you listened to it. We talk about holes and ravines and a giant haunted mirror that Roderick bought. overcast.fm/+AABmEP1f9_k

Each week I do a podcast, Dear John Letters, answering listener mail. Normally it’s only for Patreon subscribers but tonight I’m taking letters from all comers and I’ll make the show available to everyone tomorrow, FREE! Anonymous question? DM me! Over 100 eps already up Patreon.com/johnroderick

Cory Booker is playing the ground game and I am here for it.

Thinking you took the red pill IS the blue pill.

I’m interviewing Dan Carlin at the Moore Theater on April 11th and you should go.