I don't know that I really care for Lupita Nyong'o's oeuvre; I don't recall the last time I saw her in something; I have no opinion on her casting as Helen of Troy; I'm not really bothered by that casting decision; I don't know why I should be; I don't care what Elon Musk thinks.

Longwell on Cassidy: 'It is worse for the country, and it is worse for the Republican Party, to have people who they point to and say, well that's a good one... There's a lot of people who would argue, well, we need good people in the Republican Party... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

We personally consider the Alternative for Germany and its Russia-friendliness to be a major security risk, especially for the Federal Republic of Germany.

Saw Hawaii plates at the coffee shop yesterday. Love that. Long drive 🤔

I've heard it prophesied many times that *this* corruption will finally be Trump's undoing, and it never happens, so forgive my cynicism. That doesn't mean we shouldn't message on it, of course.

The end of passport stamps has indeed been a devastating development. I had to check to see what my last physical passport stamp was, and it was from Russia (sadly) – my last trip there, flying out of the Saint Petersburg airport (hop to Helsinki, IIR) in November 2019.

Having a bit of nostalgia for Iceland today. Went there when I was a teenager – before they were in Schengen, before they introduced Schengen stamps.

An interesting conversation on Shield of the Republic, as usual, though the hosts take the position that we should / need to remain in the Middle East, which I disagree with; and there is a strange reflection on British friends saying that the political.. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Helpful, if concerning, discussion on the implications of AI for employment, social disruption, the tax base, inequality, and concentration of economic and political power. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Counties and subdivisions required to provide election materials in a language other than English (Spanish, Native American, Alaska Native, and Asian languages) under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, 2021. (USA Facts / Census Bureau)

There's been a lot of angsty back-and-forth re the NYT piece on alleged sexual abuse of 🇵🇸 prisoners between pro- and anti-🇮🇱 people, & I find it tiring. I don't know how much re: abuse of prisoners is true. I *do* know that I am dead tired of 🇮🇱, and 🇺🇸 should be done with it.

Is it allowed to roll up to random hot whiteboys on the street and offer to make his dreams come true? I was told this is discouraged.

Did Jesus believe in or preach the existence of "hell" in the common understanding, as e.g. a place of eternal conscious torment? Does the New Testament presuppose such a place? The short answer to all of the above is "no". podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/d...

It seems to me that the American experiment has been a very slow-motion failure. It has entered its last act – which isn't to say it couldn't still persist for many decades or longer in some kind of spectral form. I find myself dwelling more and more on the question whether, given...

The thing about the Old South, apropos of nothing, is that it revolved around animus toward a particular group, but it wasn't a democracy for anybody. The *very day* the Callais ruling came down, black voters were again sliced and diced among Southern white districts...

Interesting discussion with NYU's Nicholas Wolf re: language shift in Ireland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One point just briefly mentioned was the difference in intergenerational language transmission as between Irish and Welsh. podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/i...

Looking at yesterday's local election results in my former council area in England. The eternal Labour majority was broken; "no overall control". Biggest gains were independent and Reform, which in the context of that town basically means Muslim and non-Muslim.

Apparently the now-prevailing theory is that large-scale changes in Brittonic in the sixth century resulted, in significant measure, from first-language Latin speakers adopting Brittonic as their primary language.

Dozens of people murdered in Russia's attacks on Ukrainian civilians over the past couple of days. This should be plastered on front pages across the world. Particularly here in the West.

Interesting. I suspect those Democratic internals are a sight to behold.

I appreciate that the UK has been relatively generous in interpreting its obligations under the WA vis-a-vis the EUSS, though one thing it could do unilaterally is simply to grant free movement rights to all EU/EEA/CH citizens originally covered... freemovement.org.uk/continuous-r...

This is a challenging case, though my view is that the sentence given to Ms. Herda was excessive given the circumstances of the crime. She is theoretically eligible for parole now, and I hope she is soon released to continue her life in Poland. www.onet.pl/informacje/c...

Thanks to Marc and to everybody fighting for democracy in Florida.

Good case made on Galen Druke's podcast by Druke and Nathaniel Rakich for anti-gerrymandering and term limits constitutional amendments. Perhaps underratedly popular.

Evergreen

I support the First Amendment, but implying that I, an attractive Slovenian model and third wife of a diaper-wearing billionaire, am a gold-digger, is a hate crime. Google Translate to English, send.

New South, meet the Old South...

I guess I'm with Taylor Lorenz and Anna Paulina Luna on the caged pigs issue, because when they're right, they're right.

Helpful conversation between Marcel Dirsus and Franz-Stefan Gady re:, i.a., spring / summer in Russia's war in Ukraine; implications of US, China, and Russia as revisionist powers; and Europe's immediate need to replace US as security provider. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

Under no circumstances should US legal protections and benefits be extended to US citizens who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. A large swathe of land and ecosystem was contaminated and countless people sickened and killed due to the incompetence of the Soviet dictatorship, and its coverup and lies.

Project Hail Mary was a good movie; would recommend.

What I gather from this is that Ukraine's greatest risk points from US hostility now are air defense from long-range attack drones and cruise missiles, plus intelligence and parts. The war in Iran is also a gut punch on multiple levels. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

National security ballroom

AZCentral's The Gaggle podcast on concerns raised with the Arizona Supreme Court's program for non-lawyer ownership of law firms. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...

Why are there like 1.5 million urban planning gays here and on twitter

JUST IN: John Eastman, the conservative attorney who helped devise President Trump's last ditch strategy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has officially been disbarred, per the California Supreme Court:

If only the United States Senate had had an opportunity to consider whether a Fox News weekend cohost had the temperament and experience necessary to serve as the Secretary of Defense.

Lots of spectators on the bridge and the sidewalks today to observe the launch.

Two things are clear from emerging polling: a) Trump's war in Iran is quite unpopular with Americans; and b) the prospect of American troops on the ground in Iran is *very* unpopular with Americans.

I don't know what Leela Gray's chances are of unseating Anna Paulina Luna, but I'd like to stop for a moment in appreciation of all the women and men who are throwing their hats in the ring this cycle. Lot of women veterans and natsec etc. professionals this cycle, in particular. Let's do this 💪

Let's skip relocating the bases to Israel, and just close all the bases in the Middle East and withdraw from the region.

I don't want to jinx this, but Mary Peltola could win the Senate seat in Alaska.

Four weeks in, so time to say again: End Trump's war in Iran. US out of the Middle East.

My shorthand is that there are two religions in the United States that call themselves Christianity: Christianity, and Evangelicalism. Though I lump tradcaths, Orthodox converts, and so on in with the latter.

I'm sympathetic to some of the arguments against US Cuba policy in the most recent episode of Open Canada's Red Passport Podcast 👇, but I don't understand the excessive sympathy for this polity governed by a repressive Soviet- and Russia-aligned regime for nearly 70 years.

Helpful conversation with Jason Bordoff on Ezra Klein's podcast re: possible effects of the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz closure on world energy markets, including the potential of an incoming energy crisis. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Significant.

It remains low-key funny to me that Texas – through a combination of not-very-onerous permitting and abundant sun and wind – is the renewables capital of America.

If Vance et al. want to strengthen the AfD and other right-wing populists in Europe, the energy crisis they have manufactured via their war in Iran is one way to do it.