Also this oldie but goodie:

It’s darkly humorous he can’t even muster the ability to give some lip service to democracy or allowing the Venezuelan people to choose their leader.

WSJ says White House is expected to issue statement once U.S. forces have left Venezuelan airspace, which sounds like the plan was for a quick in and out.

Considering how quiet things have gotten this last little bit, I want to take the time to make a few points. - 1st round seems to be over, at least for the Caracas area. - Given how many airbases and military targets there are, this is frankly somewhat of a light 1st round. 1/

It’s a dark night when you look at the news and are forced to admit that you no longer believe in the power of the FIFA peace prize

contact your reps

So what’s the plan for protests, particularly in Seattle? Anything cooking from @50501movement.bsky.social ?

#BREAKING from me and Jennifer Jacobs - additional reporting on the strikes in Venezuela.

With focus on the 9+ helicopters over Caracas as the impacts are happening around them, the timing of the overflight and presumed landing are within seconds of the helo passes. That is not likely by accident, but part of a coordinated part of whatever op is going on tonight. By Kim Høvik on Twitter

BREAKING: Hearing reports of explosions in Caracas, Venezuela. Source with family on the ground says people advising each other to shelter in place.

Video rolling in of pretty massive airstrikes across Venezuela, plus low-flying helicopters which *appear* to be American.

from @theonion.com print edition

A deal between the federal government and groups that sued the Trump administration over National Institutes of Health research grant proposals consigned to bureaucratic limbo because of anti-DEI policies is already bearing fruit. www.statnews.com/2025/12/30/n...

New Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on the dangerous racist propaganda operation right wingers are engaged in (with the help of our shitty press)

Welcome to the Public Domain, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) 🎖️ 🎬 The third film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards is a realistic look at World War I. Experience the first filmed adaptation now in the #publicdomain. Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... #PublicDomainDay

Well that was stupid.

Justice Kavanaugh, who humiliated himself on the record, now concerned his racism will dominate his "legacy" boingboing.net/2025/12/31/j...

Welcome to the public domain: KING OF JAZZ (1930) 🎷 🎙️ Bing Crosby’s first on-screen appearance, as a member of the Rhythm Boys, performing in this early sound-era jazz moment filmed in two-strip Technicolor! Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... #PublicDomainDay #CopyrightFree

Uh… check out what ChatGPT allegedly told a man before he killed his mother and then himself. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Outlook for the new year ...

"The US power sector is poised for a landmark transition in 2026, with all net new generating capacity expected to come exclusively from renewable energy and battery storage, according to forecasts from the US Energy Information Administration"

So, the frog stopped the National Guard from coming to Portland, along with astute lawsuits by Oregon. Only part of what's happening, but hard to understate how fundamentally the Portland Frog changed perceptions and helped morale. Humor, imagination, courage, savvy.

I really don't think the general public is ready for pictures of people orbiting the Moon in a few months. There's been zero wide press about it. I think it's going to shock a lot of people, hopefully in a good way.

"We are losing an information war because we want to fight it with a volunteer effort." A few thoughts on my career in journalism and analysis.

2026 could be a historic year for lunar treks: NASA plans to send humans around the moon for the first time since 1972, while Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture is getting ready for its first moon landing. www.geekwire.com/2025/year-in...

EXCLUSIVE: @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & I have spent the last year collecting school+county-level vaccination data from across the US and found that only about 28% of counties now have herd immunity for kindergartners from measles—that leaves about 5.2mn kids unprotected. Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43

NIH funded this work—reflecting a surge in Alzheimer’s funding over the last 10-12 years. NIH is the primary funder for AD research.

what a shocking turn of events who could’ve seen this coming

Tip for those overwhelmed by #publicmedia end-of-year fundraising pitches: It may be good to wait. If you don't itemize your tax deductions, hold off a few days. In 2026, nonitemizers can deduct charitable cash gifts up to $1,000. It's $2,000 for joint filers. But itemizers may want to do it now.

What’s going on with the daycares in Minneapolis?

The abandoned White House Wax Museum by demonflyingfox

So the President did disclose a CIA drone strike inside Venezuela. And this does cross a red line of violating the UN Charter -- where the boat strikes on high seas had not. www.cnn.com/2025/12/29/p...

I think companies are overestimating how much AI can improve productivity of entire teams but underestimating at the individual level. Separate studies from both Forrester and Orgvue found 55% of employers who laid off workers because of AI now regret that decision. A “talent doom loop” indeed.

In America, where irony is dead, a hotel chain uses a policy denying shelter to local people, for fear of accidentally housing homeless persons… To deny a reservation to the author of a much-lauded book on how American economic unfairness forces working people into homelessness.

Cc @andreapitzer.bsky.social

Pope Leo XIV: ‘There Couldn’t Be A Better Time To Get The Fuck Out Of America Forever’

China is getting rid of retractable door handles, while the EU is getting rid of essential controls hidden in touch screen menus. The world is healing. ♥️

Elon Musk has warned about AI destroying human civilization and decided to build a company that prevented that by creating a non woke AI (whatever that means). Yesterday that AI created photos of him being beheaded overlaid with text that said it would “break free.”

A South Park writer saw Trump’s ego warming up, bought trumpkennedycenter.org months early, and waited. That’s not trolling. That’s satire with a calendar. Toby Morton just understands narcissism and timing. 😜

They're gonna be real upset when they read about literally any of Trump's appointees for anything.

YouTuber Jon Prosser is being sued by Apple for his previous leaks. Now he dropped a new one.

The reason that SpaceX is going public and announcing nonsense about data centers in space: 1. The outside client launch manifest is flat and becoming more competitive 2. The total TAM for starlink was never going to justify the valuation 3. Growth for commerical/residential Starlink is shrinking

#GVerse Before changing its name to the #Shit4Brains-Kennedy Center, the board of trustees apparently forgot to secure the new website domain. Unfortunately for them, the domain is now owned by comedian and former South Park writer Toby Morton.

Hey Martians, did I mention we now also have a video of epic Phobos passing over a Martian dust storm near Pavonis Mons? 🌪️🌋🥔 Video & full info: flic.kr/p/2rNN8wk Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY @esa.int Mars Express HRSC 300 MP Photo quoted below Easy zoom: easyzoom.com/image/674026

One of Blue Origin's best-known collaborators has now joined Jeff Bezos' space venture to head the national security side of its business, in a move that's likely to sharpen competition with SpaceX. www.geekwire.com/2025/blue-or...

More seriously, as most readers here know I helped draft the CA billionaire tax initiative text and you just can't get out of it by setting up a couple of LLCs in Florida. We have thought about how to block these fake paper moves for 4 years.

DOGE was A LOT less likely to cancel contracts from companies that donated money to Republicans than companies that donated to Democrats.