I have fired the missiles that were in the stockpile and which you were probably saving for Ukraine Forgive me they were awesome so loud and such a big bang
Watching episode of ER from 2001. Dr. Chen & Dr. Carter are trying to diagnose an unconscious preschooler. Carter: “Could be measles.” Chen: “Measles? Have you ever seen measles?” Carter: “No, have you?” Chen: “Of course not, nobody’s seen measles.” So far backwards in such a short time.
historians are divided on whether trump was actually a real person, or the stories of a large series of petty tyrants over a period of perhaps 100 years whose stories got merged and blended together back when AI was unsophisticated and new
One of the paradoxes of American politics is that they spend more on elections than any where else--by an enormous margin!--but still consistently suffer from low-quality leaders.
BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2mo agothe total spending on US *congressional* races in 2024 (not including the presidential race) was $9.4 billion. the equivalent figure for the last UK general election was, conveniently enough, 94 *million* pounds ($126 million.) Campaign finance laws work!
This chart from Thomas Piketty illustrates what Jefferson Cowie calls “the Great Exception,” the period of the New Deal Order from the 1930s to the 1970s when inequality was low, and rates of unionization and federal marginal tax rates were high.
MAGA is violent patriarchy. It's a war of men against women. Americans see the racism & think that's all there is to it: but MAGAts didn't just reject women as POTUS candidates; they specifically chose a rapist instead. That's as clear a message as can be. Now violent patriarchy is turned on men.
had a conversation with a writer friend and we concluded that the worst thing that could happen as a result of AI text generation - the very worst - is if people lose the will to write; if we begin to believe that there is simply no need, no reason to try, and elect to stay mute
Not the first to make this observation, but Mamdani's political superpower basically seems to be that he is happy and enjoys life.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 4mo ago
The grid is fascinating, really. This incredibly complex physical/cyber/economic system that enables much of modern life runs continuously - with extremely competent, highly trained humans in the loop! - and is totally invisible to the rest of us except for the 0.0005% of the time when it fails.
I swam a kilometre this morning and I swear the worst thing about getting older is realising that exercise makes me feel amazing. Why can’t sitting on the sofa drinking wine and eating macaroons feel amazing.
This might sound like a hot take but friends: Read books as a hobby this year. It is one of the best things you can do for your brain to grow your thinking and perspectives. If you want to be anti-consumption get a library card. Bonus: in places like UK/AoNZ/CA library copies pay authors
A poem for my last day working at the writing center for the semester (by Joseph Fasano)
