Graham Platner's middle name is Cunningham, a weird coincidence given that Cal Cunningham was the last Democratic challenger to be leading an incumbent Republican Senator and then get accused of a sexting scandal that led to other revelations right before an election.

Donald Trump is a cartoon dictator.

Followup after 24 hours: The Commodores OUT. Young MC OUT. Morris Day & the Time OUT. Martina McBride OUT. C+C Music Factory & Milli Vanilli...maybe OUT, but now unclear if either act is actually that act. Flo Rida, Vanilla Ice, and the least talented member of Poison still in, so that's something.

C+C Music Factory = one surviving member Milli Vanilli = one surviving member The Commodores = one original member (not Lionel) Morris Day & The Time = not allowed to use name Bret Michaels = pointlessly Poisonless Young MC = not young Vanilla Ice = Robbie Van Winkle now as old as Rip Van Winkle

I can think of very few people I want in the Senate less than Ken Paxton. For the love of God, Texas Democrats and Independents,we need you to come together behind Talarico or we will all suffer immensely.

What if I told you there was a full-scale official puzzlehunt at Disneyland starting TODAY? Because Mickey's Park Rangers is now a thing. Go to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island and get this handsome puzzle book, then start your adventure. wdwnt.com/2026/05/new-...

This idiot sold Taylor Swift's masters out from under her, triggering the biggest rewrite of the industry's business model since the payola hearings, so, yeah, Middle Tennessee State, top notch speaker choice, no notes.

Everyone associated with this needs to go to jail.

Grogundhog Day

New York City pals: I am around tonight and this weekend and am up for being entertained by entertaining friends. DM if there is something you would like me to know about.

Everybody's posting hate on that ridiculous AI-generated designer profile site, and it's all merited, but I will say this one sentence in my profile is absolutely true.

Last night, my father, Larry Selinker, passed away unexpectedly at age 87. He was on the Mount Rushmore of applied linguistics, having altered the entire field with his landmark "Interlanguage" paper in 1972. His 1994 book with Sue Gass, "Second Language Acquisition," is still taught today. (1/X)

What a stupid reason to overrule the will of the people. I expect the Virginia legislature will vote for the 10-1 map in 2027, then again in 2028, then the voters will again approve it in 2028, and then the Supreme Court of Virginia will finally rule on the merits … and strike it down again.

The Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Kourt would like you to stop viewing him as a politician.

Kristi Noem didn't get fired for incompetence or corruption or intolerable cruelty. She got fired for putting her personal branding above an ego-driven president's. Kash Patel is gonna get trebucheted for the same reason. Grifters all. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

In case you would like a rundown of why every popular take on that red button-blue button test is dead wrong, or maybe just want to know why our voting rights are FUBAR, read this thing I wrote. mikeselinker.medium.com/gerrymanderi...

I wrote a long read about the gerrymandering war, the red button-blue button test, and the future of democracy. Share as desired. mikeselinker.medium.com/gerrymanderi...

Some time back, I said to the Super-Team Family creator, "We spend way too much time on Superman and Batman's moms both being named Martha and not enough time on Mr. Fantastic and Elongated Man's wives both being named Sue." Today, he made this delight. braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/2026/05/invi...

Ready to take the plunge? Chums is swimming with new puzzles, hunts, verse puzzles, crosswords, superhero mayhem, and more. Activate your free Shark Bites sub and get months of puzzles instantly. Or go full Shark of the Year and unlock the whole ocean.

This is actually kind of amazing. There have been good reasons to criticize the House Democrats, but this is really solid work from Speaker Jeffries and his caucus.

Good stuff, Virginia.

If you're in Virginia, I hope you vote yes on redistricting. Then I hope you find a friend and convince them to vote yes too.

Lou Zocchi, to me: "When I got the Zocchihedron I went to a dance. I showed it to a lady and said, 'Look at this, it's a 100-sided die.' She examined it from all corners and said, 'Y'know, if you were to cut off and throw away 94 of these sides, you'd have a shape somebody could use!'" #RIPLouZocchi

It is insane that this is legal. Between this and the $342 million he spent in the 2020 presidential election, Tom Steyer has spent nearly half a BILLION dollars trying to become the two most powerful executives in US government. Seems like a nice guy, though.

In addition to the obvious improvement for Hungary, it is delightful to see Trump, Meloni, Bibi, Putin and Xi’s guy lose, and JD Vance continue to be the popularity leech he will always be.

Peter Magyar is no liberal democrat. He’s got racist views and a violent history. But he is not a tyrant like Viktor Orban is. With luck, Orban will spend the rest of his limited time in prison. Godspeed, Hungary.

Based on tonight's results in Wisconsin and Georgia, I don't think we've yet seen 50% of the GOP House retirements for the year.

Basically every Tuesday this year, up to and including the midterms, I would like there to be an election that we win by a million billion miles.

I do like tacos.

The four people with the most dangerous job in the universe seem far safer than every other citizen of Earth today.

Pam Bondi is looking ahead to her stay at the John N. Mitchell Suite at the Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, Alabama.

Because it's April Fools, I decided to revisit the "Prankster's Paradise" Games magazine article I wrote in 2003 about being a professional prankster (and why I view April Fools Day as "amateur night"). If you'd like to read it, here it is.

This has always gone well for us in the past.

Weirdly, the New York Times thinks "Israel" begins with the letter J.

Don’t waffle! Do what Cap would do and go to your No Kings protest today!

Paul McCartney's upcoming album is called "The Boys of Dungeon Lane," and I'm pretty sure this is my shot to work with a Beatle. I'm thinking 1960s Liverpool outdoor geomorphs.

As the former creative director on Wizards' Harry Potter tabletop games, I feel it's useful to analyze the new HBO series trailer in depth. Here are my conclusions: Trans rights are human rights.

An excellent summary by No1 of what is happening in Iran under the only conditions possible: with a stiff drink in hand. no01.substack.com/p/march-19-2...

Fetterman’s 108-point swing among the people that elected him is a Benedict Arnold-level shift.

"Teleporting is no fun." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Fetterman is doing tremendous damage to the reputation of the Big Oaf community. Big Oafs did not ask for this kind of toxic representation. Now we must lumber back into the shadows, hiding under bridges wearing our most somber JNCO jean shorts, drowning in both our sorrows & voluminous denim

Today's @nytimes.com crossword by Adam Vincent has one of the best reveals I've ever seen in a puzzle. Worth taking a look if you can.

Folks know me from Seattle, but I lived 10 years in Evanston/Edgewater, so in a slightly different life I'd vote in the Illinois 9th. If I did, I'd vote for @katmabu.bsky.social Kat Abughazaleh. We need activists who aren't afraid to use all the tools to end Trump and Trumpism. katforillinois.com

Following up the Manastorm Magic auction, Jonathan Tweet has posted our design document for the Magic RPG as a VR experience. This auction also benefits Planned Parenthood. Contact @jonathantweet.bsky.social if you want to bid on it.

Folks know me from Seattle, but I lived 10 years in Evanston/Edgewater, so in a slightly different life I'd vote in the Illinois 9th. If I did, I'd vote for @katmabu.bsky.social Kat Abughazaleh. We need activists who aren't afraid to use all the tools to end Trump and Trumpism. katforillinois.com

"The best way to avoid falling damage is to avoid falling." —me, in the 1996 Manastorm RPG prototype More details on the auction of this impossible-to-find Magic: The Gathering @magic.wizards.com collectible: bsky.app/profile/jona...

30 years ago, I and my friends Tim Beach, Teeuwynn Woodruff, and Wolfgang Baur designed a Magic: The Gathering RPG called Manastorm. It was never released. But now, our boss Jonathan has put the manuscript up for auction to benefit Planned Parenthood. If you want it, contact Jonathan today.

A status #MillionDollarPuzzle update from our friends at Salesforce! Keep up the great work!

As of last Friday, I've been writing at @argn.bsky.social for 19 years! "Oh hey, there's a massive Super Bowl puzzle hunt" was a great way to celebrate the milestone, with over 350 articles under my byline.

Some more hints for the #milliondollarpuzzle!