To put a finer point on it, the fuel costs for a Chicago-origin 777-300ER United flight (350 seat config) is $608/passenger at full capacity. Not great!

Anyway, Texas public education is fucked, y'all...

Up next on The Cut (probably): "I Mean, Why Shouldn’t Coke Add Cocaine Again?" "After All, Asbestos is Fireproof. Do You Even Know Anyone Who Got Mesothelioma?" "Seatbelts May Save Our Families From Grief, But They Absolutely Ruin Your Shoulder Line." "Lead Paint Looks Better. Like, Seriously."

Jay Hartzell saw the writing on the wall as the UT president and wisely moved to SMU. Now, he can recruit top talent to SMU, further ensuring the enshittification of the Texas public university system.

And for those that don’t know or don’t actually talk to women: This goes into their SPINE Order the damn flowers NOW

My highly-educated sister, whose husband has been a periodontist for 35 years, just told me she doesn’t “believe” in fluoride. Not just fluoridated water but fluoride treatment at all. Heaven help us.

Such a lovely piece and a balm to the soul.

State-level brain drains will throttle business and knowledge creation, limit access to learning for students, and make states less competitive as the US cedes its global leadership. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Adorable thread. Flirting and gauging interest and then politely asking someone out is a very important life skill! If they like you it will make them feel great

This may be the funniest thing I’ve read this year @deanblundell.bsky.social

When rich influential right-wing Christian nationalist anti-intellectuals take over Texas public higher ed.

“In any space except the far-right MAGA-sphere, TPUSA is known as a political outfit tied at the hip to Donald Trump and lacking in serious claims to nonpartisanship or truth-telling.” 🔥

These pictures from Black Lake, MI. Just wow.

Good for the planet, bad for the economy

Waymo service paused after unoccupied robotaxi is washed away in floodwater in San Antonio. Big opportunity for attorneys on both sides to begin specializing in robotaxi litigation.

Someday, with luck and hard work, she will have a name too.

🧵

I loved everything about this conversation. One nugget: Trump’s real problem is with God, not Pope Leo. Trump isn’t fighting with the Pope; instead, he is fighting a proxy battle with God because he thinks he is or should be God. The Pope shouldn’t believe in God; he should believe in Trump. 🎯

Seems like the Strait of Hormuz is only open when the stock market is.

The Strait of Hormuz is open, but first you must answer my riddles three:

i think folks might be unfamiliar with "the pharisees", so let's make it clear: he's saying the jews run the press, and that they are conspiring to undermine the military. it's not just antisemitism, it's indistinguishable from nazism.

I really thought Waymo would get the Cozy Coupe first.

Say what you want about J. Edgar Hoover, but he never would have been caught drinking at anyplace called The Poodle Room.

Jeebus, the NWS is busy tonight. #wxsky

That the president of the United States is personally looting the treasury to the tune of literally billions of dollars and that he is not being immediately removed from office and tried for high crimes against this country is a devastating indictment of every part of our political system!

The fact that Mamdani just seems like a cheerful normal guy who's policies are things like "we're going to tax second homes to fund pothole repairs" or whatever and yet this generates panicked responses like "This is basically Stalin's great purge turned up to eleven" is... telling. It tells things.

That woman fighting for her life not to laugh

Exactly one year ago today:

Art

Best served with a Jell-O mold

seems bad

Spirit Airlines to Pivot to AI and Crypto

John Blutarsky’s time in college

Big pharma gave us the vaccine that allowed people to get their lives back. Big pharma gave us ozempic which is helping people live longer healthier lies. Big pharma gave us PrEp, which has severely curtailed HIV risk. Like yes its money hungry and shitty sometimes. But also drugs are dope

I was today years old when I learned James Taylor provided backing vocals on Steve Winwood’s “Back in the High Life Again.” And sure enough, once I heard it, JT’s voice was unmistakable.

Just another day in Texas, where Greg Abbott is all about local control as long as he is the one controlling it

I did not have LIV Golf as a potential casualty of a war with Iran but hell, I'll take it

And they hear confessions in multiple languages (!), not just English, which is of course The Official Language of Jesus Christ.

This should be headline news in every major outlet in Texas and the country. Great reporting once again by the Texas Observer. @kxan.com @wfaach8.bsky.social @dallasnews.com @expressnews.com @houstonchronicle.com @nbcnews.com @washingtonpost.com @nytimes.com

great travel summer (light crowds, plenty of hotel and restaurant availability) for the top .01% who will be able to afford it

conservative free speech is when they speak and you listen or suffer the consequences

Days after the president blasted the Pope as “weak on Crime,” his own DOJ moved to dismiss criminal cases against individuals convicted of conspiring to use force to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Some of the conduct for which Rhodes was convicted: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/oath...

oh wow. a teacher's aide is arrested at her home because an AI security bot accused her of stealing at a Target self check out. She's okay but the stress and money her family had to deal with is ridiculous. These systems just are going to imprison poor people who can't navigate this.

A+ headline. defector.com/president-ex...

Former TIME editor Richard Stengel: “He is repeating every foreign and domestic policy mistake the US has made over the last 5 decades, but he’s doing it with a gracelessness, cluelessness, and corruption that has no precedent.”

Swalwell “‘denied this, denied that. We’re satisfied,’” a senior campaign leader said. “The dude deserves a fucking Academy Award for liar of the year.”

Today we settle all family business

Convincing women to go on the record by name when they’ve seen that it results in no change — and a lot of people won’t believe them — can take years. One of the named sources in a 2024 story of mine declined to participate in 2017. Eventually, her life and job enabled it. And he’s still in office.