Ig Nobel Prize 1950!

One episode left to go in Amadeus and some marzipan-flavored rooibos seemed appropriate.

Italian-speaking friends - for a possible cat name, is "of the kitties" "di gli gattini"? "degli gattini"? Something else?

A thread of books I've read in 2026. I'm aiming for at least 52, PLUS the 9(?) Osten Ard books by Tad Williams. Also will try to read more stuff that is NOT SFF.

Among the complaints set forth by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence are “He (King George III) has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without consent of our legislatures; for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for murder which they should commit on inhabitants”

it’s funny, sure. but this is softening up fox viewers to tolerate more murders of moms because they have the wrong politics.

This slogan adopted by Kristi Noem, "One of Ours, All of Yours," is taken from the Nazis, who retaliated for the killing of an SS officer by murdering all the inhabitants of the Czech village of Lidice, apparently none of whom had anything to do with it, and razing the village to the ground.

"Such a loss." #DoctorWho www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/do...

I'm still staying at the Renaissance.

Shit. I'll be at the next one.

Erich von Däniken has died, aged 90. He was the author of bestselling but bonkers books about how aliens had constructed the pyramids and other mega structures around the globe. 🗃️🏺

"...been done before. The appetite of our technical people is insatiable. They'd go on for 10 more years if we let them."

Paramount then-president, Michael D. Eisner, in 1979: "Star Wars started off with a science fiction audience and then attracted a general audience. That's what Star Trek will have to do — if the sci‐fi fans reject it, so will the mass moviegoers. So we're doing technical things that have never...”

So, hey: Is there a return or exchange policy, here? Like, can we get that Federation-era Star Trek kind of interesting times, instead of the Bell Riots/Eugenics Wars/WWIII all-smashed-together-at-the-face kind? Would… would really like it if we could skip ahead a bit, you know? Yeah.

we’re in the vet’s office waiting room and they just called for Agamemnon. we all looked at the Great Dane but it turns out Agamemnon is an orange kitten in a backpack that makes him look like an astronaut cheese puff

BLEEDING COOL INTERVIEW: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau discussed the 32nd-century Star Trek spinoff, Sandro Rosta's Caleb Mir, and more. / #StarTrek #StarfleetAcademy

The home for all Jewish people worldwide.* *Some restrictions may apply. www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-ameri...

The number 2026 is, mathematically, more interesting than it appears

Happy birthday to the great Sherrill Milnes (1/10/1935),a singer who had it all. Here he lives up to a gigantic mise-en-scene as Scarpia in a filmed Tosca. #SherrillMilnes youtu.be/FHOJCdfBFQg?

i liked when being kept awake by greenland meant when i was 14 staying up all night reading Eiríks saga rauða and Grænlendinga þáttr rather than now when it means checking if the yanks have invaded yet

The girls' sound machines are at full volume tonight as well. Literally circling our house. Enough already.

My God. This is a hell statement.

"One Torah that survived the Holocaust was in a glass case and was undamaged in the fire."

I can't describe how bad Minneapolis feels right now. My neighbors are pulling kids out of school. The public schools are offering remote learning until 2/12. We are having conversations in our alleys about how to protect ourselves. It feels like a military occupation with a blockade.

So to return to this: Mussolini had 200,000 blackshirts for the March on Rome in a country of ~35m. Hitler had 400,000 brownshirts in 1932 in Germany for a population of ~60m. So around 0.6% of the population. 0.6% of 340m Americans is just over 2 million. They do not have enough goons.

Background checks don’t happen until after people start work? For the Department of Homeland Security?

O truth of the earth! O truth of things! I am determined to press the whole way toward you,

He gets to go into hiding. Renee Good’s six-year-old son is wondering where his mother is…

A Black man was killed by ICE (off duty) in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. And like Renée Good, he was an American citizen. But most people have not heard about Keith Porter. I need y’all to realize this. Black people experience this lack of visibility all the time when it comes to being victims.

THIS WEEKEND: More than 1,000 marches and vigils are taking place nationwide to honor Renee Nicole Good, demand accountability for ICE’s killing of Renee, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s terror. Please join us: mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...

After killing Renee Good, ICE fascists in Minneapolis have now arrested and detained 4 members of Oglala Sioux Tribe. ICE HAS ARRESTED AND DETAINED INDIGENOUS AMERICANS. These ICE fascists are not here to keep us safe, but to advance white supremacy. Defund and abolish ICE permanently.

What did I say.

Hi folks, I'm seeing a lot of "Eyes on Minneapolis" & "We support Minnesota" sentiment. Here's a tangible way you can help: Trump just suspended federal funding for SNAP benefits to Minnesota. Second Harvest Heartland is an MN-based hunger-relief org. Please donate what you can. www.2harvest.org

Mamdani is here describing a vision of working-class consumerism that resonates with the 19th century theorists of the “living wage” and shorter hours movements, whom I wrote about in my first book. “Eight Hours for What Will,” very much included the arts, education, and pleasure.

THIS MUST BE A MOVIE.

SHAVUA TOV! youtu.be/4x5_40n6I80?...

(3/3) Here we are. Ready to pick up whatever tools are at our disposal to call for justice, to stand against dehumanization, to insist that every human being is made in the image of God." Read the whole thing at velveteenrabbi.com

"...This part of our story challenges us to be like Moses: to notice injustice, to bear witness, to pay attention. And it asks us to respond, hineini – here I am. (2/)

New at #VelveteenRabbi: a d'var #Torah for #Shemot velveteenrabbi.com/2026/01/09/h...

Our job is to keep showing up and taking care of each other. And knowing when to pause to refill so we can go back to doing it more. Everything else is commentary.

New at Velveteen Rabbi: a new #Torah #poem arising out of this week's parsha. velveteenrabbi.com/2026/01/09/o...

SHABBAT SHALOM!

Read the whole thread, please! Our communities are well-served when we hold all these pieces.

If I'm reading the reviews correctly, Starfleet Academy would appear to have as its premise, "What if the Hogwarts campus was on The Magic School Bus?"

The tone of the Starfleet Academy reviews being released now is pretty positive. www.avclub.com/star-trek-st...

“Overall, "Starfleet Academy" is entertaining and well-paced while bringing together the compelling threads of what makes this universe so appealing to watch.” www.thewrap.com/creative-con...

The final "Habe doch Geduld mit mir" is unbelievable 🥺🥹😭

Let's talk about the fascinating myco-doppelgänger we call the lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum). It's not a lobster🦞, but has the color of cooked lobster & a seafood-like taste. But it's not a MUSHROOM🍄 either! So what is it? A parasitic MOLD that's has taken over the BODY of a mushroom.