The Chinese empire had twenty times more senior administrators than Rome, proportionally. A Roman with the right permit could requisition animals, carts, lodging, and hospitality from any communities through which their journey passed.

Today you're going to see a lot of tributes and assessments of Gloria Steinem (I thought this one very good: www.thecut.com/article/glor...). You'll also see some people raising her involvement with the CIA, and others ignore it. (That obit doesn't even mentioned it.) What was that about?

Gloria Steinem Loved Women

The feminist icon, who has died at the age of 92, epitomized the contradictions and hopes of the women’s liberation movement.

thecut.com

I genuinely think that it is in the NFL's best interests to build out their own minor league system and let college football wither away into obscurity Outsourcing your player development to college programs, whose incentives do not line up w/ NFL teams' development incentives at all, is very bad!

The reclassification of Pluto wasn't a mistake. In fact, we should demote more planets

People have no idea how bad it was. From my book The Mother of All Questions:

Some of my coworkers were discussing the Clancy murder trial earlier today and a few of them stated they thought the husband was responsible, which is weird because the defense didn't argue that in court Bizarre behavior

Okay, but what kind of crustacean is David Hasselhoff though

Andrew D Thaler@drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 2d ago

The Hoff Crab is neither a crab nor is it David Hasselhoff. It is a Yeti Crab, which is neither a Yeti nor a Crab but a sub-group of Squat Lobsters, which are not lobsters, they're Anomurans, like Mole Crabs, which are neither moles, nor crabs.

A comms person at my university came by to have me record some "from an expert" comments on how to avoid measles ... Me: Get vaccinated Them: What about hand washing, and ... Me: Let me stop you right there. Clean hands are great, but that's like trying to stop a train with a handkerchief

And it is official: after all the shouting last year during the shutdown stuff especially, not a single Democratic senator lost a primary this year or even faced an especially close challenge

Basically every single bit of discourse about this case ignores the facts on the ground.

I think this is what he really looks like. Every other photo or video of him had goofy angles

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · 3d ago

a. they're gonna be so mad when gas prices don't come down by end-october b. why does he look like that

Okay, this is a bit more than just watching and sending links myfox8.com/news/north-c...

Winston-Salem high school student who published Islamic Center shooters’ livestream charged with murder, conspiracy

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — A Winston-Salem teenager has been indicted for multiple counts of murder after allegedly participating in the livestream of a terrorist attack. Three people were killed…

myfox8.com

Andrew Dyer@andrewdyer.bsky.social · 3d ago

A North Carolina woman has been arrested in connection to May San Diego mosque shooting. N.C. officials say the 17-year-old watched live stream of shooting then distributed the video and manifesto

Took last week off work, flew to Orlando, and rode a bunch of roller coasters. 10/10 vacation

What share of architecture programs require students to pass an economics class to graduate? I ask because this story profiles the architect who just persuaded the ICC to ban windowless bedrooms in its model building code. It offers zero consideration of how this will affect building costs or rents

what the hell

Pita Enigma@pitaenigma.bsky.social · 4d ago

So Jacob Soboroff is actually extremely cool and everyone should Connect with him

weeder@weeder.bsky.social · 5d ago

If this is the real Jacob Soboroff say "weeder" after the next commercial break (I'm so sorry)

Imagine how cool football could be if someone invented the forward pass

Chris Vannini@chrisvannini.com · 5d ago

Virginia just finished off a *23-play* drive that included *18* runs with a touchdown. Drive lasted 12:15.

Scroll up for a surprise

post malone ergo propter malone@proptermalone.bsky.social · 6d ago

I’m a yes on sex workers, no on embezzlement, and no on bestiality, as I’ve said a hundred times

sorry but like "slave compound in disputed junta territory uses hyper-advanced satellite communications to scam retirees in nearby megacountry, which is also for some reason the chief state sponsor of the junta" is some pure cyberpunk madness

So just to confirm: - Dissatisfied royal claimant to the UK throne returning from abroad. - A new king rises in Norway. - Heir to the Jacobite pretender consolidating power on the continent. cool cool. cool cool cool cool. cool cool. Hope everyone's been keeping up with their longbow practice.

Thought-provoking thread

Jeremy Salkeld@enclavedmicrostate.bsky.social · last wk.

I find it interesting how in casual usage this site, 'imperial Japan' is often treated purely as contemporary to Nazi Germany+fascist Italy, when Japan as a colonial empire lasted more than both combined. Nazi Germany: 1933-45 Fascist Italy: 1922-43 Imperial Japan: 1868-45 (British Raj: 1858-1947)

The FDA just approved daraxonrasib, a breakthrough drug for advanced pancreatic cancer that doubles survival time. This is huge: pancreatic cancer was once thought untreatable. The researchers received a standing ovation when they presented the trial results, unheard of at scientific conferences.

I'll shill for the publishing industry (I always talk about what I'm reading - why not get paid for it?) but that's about it

Sky Marchini@sky.skymarchini.net · last wk.

just a periodic reminder of this: I do not take any $ for my content, i don't do promo content, etc. and I never will. my only investments are in US Treasuries and whatever the fuck my 401k's black-box target-date fund has bought this quarter. my content has always been for the people

Tomorrow's handout for my Immigration 101 lecture is really throwing the students in the deep end.

This is a dumb joke but I wonder how social media would have evolved if nobody could see how their own Poasts were doing

Foghorn Leghorn 🇺🇸♨️@foghorn453.bsky.social · last wk.

ok, but why should adults be able to see likes or reactions to posts

So yeah the grand come-apart this site had over Dr. Devereaux’s thread is a really good example of no one being immune to conspiracy theory

Sad to hear about the passing of Dolly Parton. She was a bright light in the world and the world is lesser without her in it. May she be at peace wherever she is.

Guessing no one reads it anymore, and certainly not anyone is this administration, but Keohane and Nye had a whole chapter in Power and Interdependence about why the US doesn't always win in disputes against Canada despite its superior military and economic resources.

there is now ~1 ~human ~verifiably in ~hell

winter@madoka.systems · 2w ago

www.theguardian.com/games/2026/m...

Thinking about this again, for no reason in particular