Haven’t heard much from the Hollow Earth theorists of late. Oh, well. Perhaps Trump will have a cabinet opening soon…

From a discussion in TPM. Paxton may not be weaker than Cornyn in the general election. But Josh sez that it does simplify the Talerico campaign. Running against Cornyn b/c he rubberstamps Trump is weak tea in Texas. But Paxton is a *bad* man.

Pope Leo XIV will present his AI Encyclical with Anthropic’s Co-founder. Anthropic’s ethical quarrel with Hegseth looks to reap benefits—to put it crassly.

I’m sure the polling question was artfully composed—but 24% of Cronyn supporters say they will vote for Talarico-per the Talarico campaign. Still, could be significant…

I’m hearing a story on podcast that Trump countermanded a Hegseth order to withdraw US troops from Poland & is sending *additional* trooos to Poland. Also, that Hegseth unilaterally withheld military aid from Ukraine & that Trump is not pleased w/Pete Hegseth.

I wish that both MSM and Trump-critical independent media as they discuss the “slush fund” to reward pardoned J-6ers & other Trump allies would emphasize that accepting a pardon means admitting guilt.

Whew! If some youtube channels are to be believed, Pope Leo is a one man Reformation and Counterreformation all rolled up in himself…

Wow. The President of Iran is defending Pope Leo XIV against Trumpian criticism.

I’m seeing discussion to the effect that Pete Hegseth is considering running for President come 2028. This is the stuff of nightmares.

So given that the Islamic Center’s security guard, Amin Abdullah, was murdered today, does MarkWayne think it was a success???

I’m more tolerant of religious stuff than many of my social media friends and I must say I rather like Pope Leo IV. I do note that he has one or more youtube channels that seem to be exercises in fandom—and that does incline me to caution.

I hope that the Democrats undertake the massive task of holding all the creatures of the Trump administration to account, including the Big Orange One too. I also hope that that they sniff out and destroy all the efforts to resurrect all the names and icons of the Confederacy—for good.

@tatermagoo.bsky.social Were you Cat Ballou in a previous life?

I’m not quite 60% through my Duolingo Welsh course and for “fun” I decided to listen to a Welsh news program—in Welsh. Well, I understood nary a word—though I did pick up the word for “council” in the chyron. Spoken Welsh is pleasant to hear.

I hope Andy Burnham works out for Labour in the UK.

I don’t know anything but it seems to me that the stock market is oddly optimistic, on the whole. Or maybe it’s mostly day traders cashing on Trump’s vagaries…

Yes. “Isolationist” is way too kind.

Hearing a lot of buzz about this fellow running to be Dem Governor of Iowa, Rob Sand. Hmm.

Michael Wolff is speculating that Rubio will be fired a couple of months before the midterms b/c T. can’t stand being upstaged and he also needs somebody to blame. Elsewhere I saw somebody was speculating Rubio wd resign as a way to get away from avoiding blame. Interesting thoughts.

Somebody asked Claude who wd run for the Presidency in 2028. Claude said it wd be Newsom vs Rubio and that Rubio wd win. I find it difficult to believe that anyone as tainted by Trump as Rubio is could win despite all the analyses of partisanship & stuff.

🔴 EU joins special tribunal to prosecute Russian leadership. On May 5, the Council of the European Union approved becoming a founding member of an international body mandated to hold senior political and military officials accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

@languagedoodad.bsky.social So. AI has determined that the Voynich manuscript is encrypted Hebrew and concerns sinister religio-pharmacological knowledge the author intended to bury rather than reveal. Seems odd, but YouTube channels are always scientific and rigorous so Idk…

Check out this video, "americans sing o canada at hockey game" Happened when the singer’s mic cut out as she started to sing it. Thing is, no Canadian team was playing.

Dems running for Congress and POTUS must run on Supreme Court reform. A law forcing justices into senior status after 18 years, applicable to the current bench would do the trick. That would force Roberts, Alito, and Thomas into senior status, opening three seats to be filled immediately. 1/

Trump cut in front of Queen Camilla as she was going down the line of the British delegation shaking hands. I don’t care that she was a royal, it was still unspeakably boorish. If unconscious, clear MH issues on Donnie’s part. Fronto-temporal dementia seems quite apt.

Todd Blanche’s earnest face as he mouths Trumpish absurdities bespeaks some kind of deep interior disconnection-a real sickness IMHO…

The apparent prior attempts on Trump’s life are quite murky, so I’m not ruling out that there’s could be fakery involved. But this this last one seems so inept. The guy was on the wrong floor & was so easily neutralized, I can’t figure how he could have been motivated to be in on a plot.

I dreamed last night I was a young philosopher aspiring to what? Not sure. A position? Publication? Something. Any way I was amused and slightly annoyed that some old hand was advising me not to tell entertaining anecdotes about the great philosopher’s wife—who seemed to be Simone Beauvoir.

The news reports I’ve been hearing thus far seem to be suggesting that the shooter was focused not so much on Trump himself, but Trump Administration officials. If this is not some kind of odd effort to reassure the public, the shooter wd seem to not believe that Trump has actual agency.

Why did Biden allow this to happen at the WHCD?

He honestly thinks we're stupid.

Has the bleed of talent from CNN slowed or stopped? Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I have that impression.

Blue Democratic states gerrymandering for partisan advantage would do much to weaken overrepresented conservative rural areas and that would be a Good Thing. It would not quite address the effectively gerrymandered clout of less populated Republican states in presidential states, but still…

And gawd! Hegseth loves him some violence!!

More than two years since California raised the fast food minimum wage to $20 an hour, a new study reports NO JOB LOSS and MINIMAL COST INCREASES. Our commitment to both California workers and businesses powers the Golden State as the strongest economy in America.

I asked AI to evaluate my writing project: AI: An ambitious work; however,… I’m pretty sure it was nothing personal…

The various YouTube channels, regardless of subject matter, often if not mostly, headline conspiracy (“they” are hiding this) or “shocking” or “scary” stuff. Maybe that’s the nature of the journalistic approach, but it seems very accentuated.

@philosophypills.bsky.social Is David Lewis considered important these days? I’ve not read him. Not sure I have the intellectual energy, but remarks in wikipedia were intriguing…

I’m much taken with philosopher Paul Weiss’s idea that a work of art is an “artificial individual.”

Trump is *such* a lying sack of doo-doo…

I’ve asked Claude the AI app a number of disparate questions about art, artists and art materials over the course of the past two weeks & it’s a little spooky how it “remembers” them & sometimes volunteers novel connections in its responses.Does Chatgpt do the same?

I check in on Ukraine’s Military Show channel to check on the war with Russia. It is always militantly upbeat but the map showing the Russian-occupied area of Ukraine doesn’t seem to visibly diminish—though the narrative continually makes out that Russia is nearly defeated.

Brcause I give I donate through Act Blue, I daily receive, Idk, a dozen or so fundraising texts. I’m only mildly annoyed & I’m getting an inadvertent education in better and worse pitches for money.

Trump plans to celebrate US 250th Independence Day with a UFC MMA event on the WH lawn. I had to look up UFC to be sure I understood it correctly. Something gross and obscene about the idea.

I probably shouldn’t bother asking, but what is a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz supposed to accomplish?

I wonder if it has ever occurred to DJT that his rattling of nuclear sabers, so to speak, might seriously alarm some deep in the intelligence community to the extent that they made a plan to deal with DJT…

I wondered the same thing. Maybe that’s why Trump sent Vance to Hungary.

Oh, sh*t. Invitation for the US to commit mass murder all in one go.

I know some people are enjoying this cool weather, but I’m finding it demoralizing. It’s Spring, drat it!

EPSTEIN FILES NOW 😡