This is a hell of a piece of writing from an essay by German Philosopher Jurgen Habermas,

A Police Executive Research Forum report from 2014 showed that CBP officers were purposely placing themselves in front of moving vehicles, and then shooting at them. This isn’t something that can be reformed. Abolish ICE. www.npr.org/sections/the...

My wife is quite enamored with "Puck" our robot vacuum, and we both love otters, so this is perfect.

Morning Kittens (Cats pretending it wasn’t them)

Using a vehicle as a weapon is a *right wing* tactic, mostly used by ICE sympathizers *against* protesters. apps.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/...

Is there an icon for mental hazard, like we have for nuclear or biological hazard? Among other things, we could use it to label AI.

There's not really an excuse for this, but I can't help but think it's a response to half of drivers having their eyes glued to their phones while driving. Thanks a lot, idiots. www.thedrive.com/news/in-car-...

55% of the US population have access to *any* kind of public transportation, including even the lamest bus-only systems. Anyone who thinks the other 153M people will even be *able* to give up cars within a decade is delusional. It's social signaling, not sound planning. Until then, EVs have a place.

Really interesting approach to looking at the regulation preventing plug in solar - compare the barriers to level of regulation for gas and diesel generators cleanenergy.org/resource/plu...

ICE claims that Araujo drove into one of their SUVs with his van and then tried to run over an agent. There were no marks on the van and KHOU11's Jeremy Rogalski found surveillance footage showing ICE chasing Araujo and cutting him off. Renee Good all over again.

Still waiting to find out what Microsoft is going to do with Arkane. Best outcome would be if MS cuts them loose. Gutting them (even further) would be bad. So would having to decide whether to play an Arkane game from Microsoft after they've been such absolute shits to other studios.

Don't buy the remake to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. The game just came out and how does the team get rewarded? With layoffs. Why should we reward Ubisoft with our hard earned money?? Boycott this shit! insider-gaming.com/assassins-cr...

To me an "abundance mindset" has nothing to do with economics. It means that there will be other books, other games, other movies, other websites, other restaurants. I can afford to be picky, and never regret moving on if something's just not vibing. Not everything is for me, and that's OK.

It wasn't just Smaug, either. Greed was also Thorin's doom, and Gollum's, the trolls, the elves, the master of Lake-town, etc. The characters who weren't greedy (e.g. Bard) ended up faring the best. If this former techie can see the moral message, so could others, but most *wilfully* misunderstand.

Today's #pickleball report: big dog energy. 🐶 Started a bit slow, but three very solid games at the end. The last one actually ended up being close, but I was hitting 2x as many winners (with fewer chances) as my 4.0 partner so OK. I get better results when I don't rely so much on speed and reach.🤯

Apparently all you have to do to get Trump on your side - even if you're a Democrat - is abuse women. thehill.com/homenews/adm...

If you think it's bad that Justin Bieber will be in the World Cup half-time show, take some relief in the fact that Damp Old Runt originally wanted it to be Kid Rock.

Dinner's ready. Who's hungry?

I didn't even know Avowed 2 was in the works, but I'm still annoyed that it was canceled. Seems like MS management is deliberately pissing on gamers as much as they can.

My last few blood-pressure readings have been in the "elevated" range, after a few years of being in the "stage 1 hypertension" range (both *with* medication). The only thing that has been different lately is that I'm using a topical magnesium cream (much easier to tolerate than oral) pretty often.

An omnipotent and benevolent god wouldn't condemn people to eternal torment when instead he could just choose not to. Free will is a joke in the face of such coercion. Any such god is therefore not omnipotent and/or not benevolent.

I don't think Damp Old Runt is *capable* of exercising restraint or patience to achieve a desired outcome. Seems like a rather serious deficit for any kind of leadership job.

I've kind of given up on making a distinction between social democrats and democratic socialists. Yes, they're different, but they're far closer to each other than to the Marxists/Leninists on one side or the institutionalist conservatives ("centrist" my ass) on the other.

Today's #running report: moist. The rain wasn't going to let up today, but much of it is just a light rain. I know from experience that my body heat while running evaporates almost all of it away, despite the humidity. I'd rather run in that than in the middle of a hot day, so I got my 5km in. 🎉

Hey so, if you use Waymo driverless car services, you are aiding and abetting fascism. Waymo helps ICE agents locate people to terrorize and abduct. The company willingly shares all facial recognition, license plate and GPS data with ICE and other law enforcement agencies—no subpoena required.

Social democracy and democratic socialism are not the same, but they share the experience of taking fire from authoritarian assholes on both sides.

Every hour worked for a wage should confer a tiny share of ownership. It might not seem like much at first, but over a working life it would ensure comfortable retirement. Multiplied by millions of people, it would restore power to those who earned it, instead of the greed-driven do-nothing class.

The US loves to celebrate "winners" but does nothing to create excellence for its own sake. They'll gladly reward a cheat or a nepo baby while the truly best are neither discovered nor encouraged. The rich get richer, always. It's "meritocracy" without merit.

Burrowing owls with more Tuesday morning calisthenics: 🔊 #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/s...

A compilation of cats caught red-handed Original post

Today's #pickleball report: another good 3.75+ session. I just need to stop playing with 3.5 folks, not because my results are better against 3.75+ (though they are) but because I actually get to hit the ball more. It's a lot more fun than watching my partner get picked on.

Oh good, another software update for my phone. Let's see what Google/Samsung/Verizon fucked up this time.

This kind of literally hits home because we lived less than one block south of where this plant appears to be, in a house that looked practically identical to those in the story. Detroit has always had the potential to be a great city, and always squandered it. www.propublica.org/article/detr...

1,000 musicians gather in this stadium to practice all day for this moment: to honor David Bowie with his song! Am not gonna lie, the French are the most passionate artists I ever encountered... Long live rock n' roll! 😎🎸🎉 #davidbowie #bowie #musicians #artistsunite #rock #rebelebel #love #vibes #🫶

If you want to enjoy fireworks, make sure the light and sound and smoke are confined to your own property. You have no right to pollute public property, or anyone else's. We have rights too. And if you don't feel safe lighting fireworks inside your house, tough shit.

The officiating in this World Cup has been a disaster in practically every game. I'm convinced that the refs and higher officials are getting rich on bets through family and friends. As Mbappe said, sports betting ruins everything. At this point *any* outcome will be tainted.

Here's video evidence and proof of the vandals who messed up the Trumpy Reflectin' Pond. The obese orange idiot is in the car with all the stupid flags. He did it. Lets not forget his car weighs over 23,000 lbs..

Today's #pickleball report: ugh, people. Managing two sessions simultaneously, 30+ people across six courts. Then I hardly got to hit the ball, as opponents relentlessly targeted partners even when way ahead. I don't mind losing - better players and luck will always exist - but I'd like to *play*. 🤬

Thinking about who should finish Song of Ice and Fire after GRRM admits he can't/won't (or dies). Joe Abercrombie would absolutely rock it, but he's already too established. Mark Lawrence would find a way to draw it out even longer. James Islington? John Gwynne?

This is our extraordinary 🌎 Why are we destroying it? #ClimateCrisis #Metacrisis

I eat like a bird.

Me, before I've had my morning shot of caffeine.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" is a fine principle, but what if the claim is not that much more extraordinary than your negation of it? Holding others to a higher evidentiary standard than yourself is not empiricism. It's sea-lion behavior, and far too common online.

Very thought-provoking article: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... My favorite quote: "Americans aren’t addicted to liberty itself, but the sense of liberation" Reality does not support the "liberator" self-image of those who already have the most freedom, so they turn to paranoid fantasy.

Happy 4th of July to those who appreciate that America is a melting pot of many different flavors, not just angry, uneducated mayonnaise.

Today's #running report: hot and slow. About 80°F and 75% humidity already. This weather is training me to run slower. One of the most even HR distributions I've had, across zones 1-4 with only a tiny bit of 5. Also, this completes 12 years of running. Yay me.

Coolest bird sounds in the world Original post

Today's #running report: nope. Too hot already. Went for a 5km walk instead, and even managed to entice my wife along with promises of drinks and pastries at the town-center turnaround point. My watch says this workout was "inefficient" but I think it was very good multitasking.

Realistic Cat Lego #PCC #Cat #Caturday #Catsofbluesky

Today's #pickleball report: nearly perfect. Less than one unforced error per game - not just hitting errors but positioning and decision making too. Plenty of saves and winners, almost an ATP (hit the post). Definitely a 4.0 day.