8yo asked me this evening what the greatest poem ever written is. I volunteered Williams's This Is Just To Say (also the only poem I can recite by heart). DAD. THAT'S DUMB. IT'S JUST ABOUT EATING PLUMS. no, you see there are layers of meaning... NO THERE AREN'T. IT'S JUST PLUMS ALL THE WAY DOWN.

I took my kids to lunch at a nice-ish gastropub a couple of months ago. Spent the meal nervously policing their behaviour. As we were leaving, an older lady dining with her friends beckoned me over. Oh no, I thought, here we go. "Just want to say your children are very well behaved," she said.

HR @ Weyland-Yutani@professormusgrave.bsky.social · last mo.

I’m sorry but the only person who should be denied access to the grocery store is this person.

In college I wrote a column for the school paper called How Not to Make a Movie where I intentionally sought out the worst films I could and then maxed out my poison pen towards them. Would say the contenders for the top spot would be The Core, Twisted, and like three separate Uwe Boll films.

Defector@defector.com · last mo.

What's the worst movie you've ever watched in a theater? defector.com/whats-the-wo...

I really want to know what the series of events that led to the taking of this picture was. "Sorry Prime Minister, did we ever check what was in that box you just carried from Ankara?" "No." "Ok let's just drop it on the airport carpet here and do a quick unboxing vid for the socials... Oh. Oh my."

Savchenko Volodymyr@savchenkoua.bsky.social · last mo.

🇧🇪🇹🇷🔫 Belgian PM Bart De Wever unknowingly brought home a loaded, personalized revolver gifted by Turkish President Erdogan at the NATO summit, - 7sur7 The gift wasn't opened until the delegation landed in Belgium. Weapon was immediately handed over to airport police, and its fate is still undecided.

In Foreign Policy, my colleague John Kennedy and I took stock of the war, with enormous thanks to @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social for commissioning and editing. foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/07/u...

Putin May Escalate, but Ukraine Is Winning

In the ongoing battle of narratives, Kyiv’s supporters have every reason to hold the course.

foreignpolicy.com

Still for my money the greatest piece of political rhetoric of all time: --- Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Sorry to report that Disclosure Day is a dud. Whole film premised on the idea that dropping some video footage of UAPs would make the entire world stop dead like the soldiers & guerrillas in Children of Men, ignoring the fact that that *happened* and the public reaction was 'oh wow... anyway.'

I made something (with Claude's help). How about a nice game of chess? Just... normal chess. Totally normal. totallynormalchess.netlify.app

Haldeman's Forever War

☀️ Starshine@starshine.bsky.social · 3mo ago

What’s your white whale tv/film adaptation that needs to happen

Was trying to figure out what this reminded me of and then it hit me:

USA TODAY@usatoday.com · 3mo ago

The centerpiece of a makeshift Ultimate Fighting Championship arena on the South Lawn of the White House is taking form as construction crews install a soaring 90-foot tall, open-air structure that stands out dramatically from most views of the building. 📸: Jonathan Ernst and Nathan Howard/Reuters

(A) I'm pleased to have been able to contribute to this BBC World Service interview about the robotization of the Ukrainian battlefield and what it means. (B) I managed to work in the term "pointy rock" in a contextually appropriate fashion, which I'm proud of. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Xp...

Will robots on the frontline mark the end of human soldiers? - BBC World Service

YouTube video by BBC World Service

youtube.com

Android Auto on my phone recently updated to include Gemini. The voice switched to a man, it got worse at finding things and it started to give long winded answers instead of doing what I'd asked. Google, if that was the service I wanted, I'd hire a first year grad student to ride shotgun instead.

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, DC, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Spielberg, Cameron, Wachowskis, or Ghibli.

a man talking on a walkie talkie with the words " a great day comrades we sail into history " below him

Alt: a man talking on a walkie talkie with the words " a great day comrades we sail into history " below him

media.tenor.com

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, DC, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Spielberg, Cameron, Wachowskis, or Ghibli.

Ok, can someone explain a transatlantic cultural difference to me: crinkle a candy wrapper slightly too loudly in the Amtrak quiet car and you'll get glared at and shushed. Whereas the quiet car signs on British trains might as well be in Sanskrit for all the heed people pay to them. What gives?

File the impressive Ukrainian achievement of "enemy position captured solely by UGVs" in the crowded category of "significant milestones that can nevertheless easily be over-interpreted" - a few thoughts on why from me here: theconversation.com/robots-just-...

Robots just captured a Russian position in Ukraine – but don’t worry about real-life Terminators just yet

Robots have a growing role on the battlefield – but for the immediate future, they are more likely to support the fight than lead it.

theconversation.com

Sad to learn that my alma mater is going to be closing its doors permanently this year. I had a mixed experience at Hampshire - I think I was the odd student there who probably would have been better served by a slightly more conventional place - but for a lot of people it was transformational.

Jody Rosen@jodyrosen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Devastating: Hampshire College is permanently closing following the Fall 2026 Semester. A beautiful institution & community that has done so much for so many. My child is a current Hampshire senior. Hampshire's approach to education is so unique, humane, & exciting—I've seen it first hand. Tragic

Genuinely weird to look up at the moon this morning and realize that for the first time in my life there are people out there.

Nice chat with The Globalist's Georgina Godwin this morning around the difference between types of "drone warfare" in Ukraine and the Gulf and the ways the two are and aren't interlinked. open.spotify.com/episode/48bC...

How drone technology has reshaped the wars in Ukraine and Iran

open.spotify.com

Probably DC to Maine, which I soloed a couple of times. But in terms of how long it *felt*, DC to Western MA, given that it was in a friend's 1996 Camry which vibrated madly between 50-65 mph. "It's fine, if there was something really wrong it'd tell me." Two months later the front wheel fell off.

WRMS Traffic & Weather Reporter on the 2’s@carnegro.blacksky.app · 5mo ago

What’s the longest car ride that you’ve been a part of? In college, I did Central Mass to Huntsville, Alabama. Also New Haven, CT to Naples, FL with a stop in Asheville in between. I’ve only been driving for 9 years but longest I’ve done as a driver is Central Florida to Nashville.

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @terrystiastny.bsky.social and @jparakilas.bsky.social on events in Mexico and the day's other stuff, plus @jmacrodgers.bsky.social on his terrific new book "The Return Of Russia", which you should all read. monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Violence erupts in Mexico after killing of cartel boss. Plus: is Hungary a thorn in Europe’s side? - Monocle

Violence sweeps across Mexico after cartel leader El Mencho is killed in military custody. Then: we ask why Hungary is...

monocle.com

Finally saw Avatar 3. My favorite part was the subplot about how "touching steel destroys your soul" being resolved in favor of "yes but have you considered how much it rules to strap an RPG to an arrow and yeet it into a helicopter gunship."

Slightly diminish a game Partial Annihilation

Vincent Knotley@vincentknotley.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Slightly diminish a game Warhammer 39,999

Really pleased, thanks to the good offices of @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social, to have this piece that Pavlo Shkurenko and I wrote about Russia's military procurement and what it says about their ambitions in Europe out in the world: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/07/r...

Russia’s Military Procurement Is a Warning for Europe

Putin’s order books reveal plans for conflict well beyond Ukraine

foreignpolicy.com

Day 1 of holiday break with the kids: Danny Go? Sure, we can listen to that. Day 3: You know, some of these songs are legit catchy. Day 5: we can't listen to anything else? You sure? Day 7: when I come to power he's Danny Going to the Hague.

I saw the first Transformers in a crowded Chinatown theatre in DC on a hot summer day in 2007. When Optimus Prime rolled into the warehouse, unfolded and introduced himself in Peter Cullen's voice, the entire cinema got on its feet and cheered.

Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences? Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.

Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @tessaszy.bsky.social and @jparakilas.bsky.social on the day's big stories - and the strange disappearance of the hotel bathroom door - plus @joanamoser.bsky.social meets Heidi Ewing, co-director of "Folktales". monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Nato foreign ministers demand a say in a future peace agreement for Ukraine - Monocle

Nato foreign ministers meet in Brussels following a US-Russia summit in Moscow. Then: we look ahead to Australia’s teen social-media...

monocle.com

More new research on Ukraine and defense technology from my colleagues - this one on defense industrial collaboration. Tooling up together: How Europe and Ukraine can improve defence industrial collaboration | RAND share.google/XM9yMYGq5jYQ...

Tooling up together

This report briefly examines the factors limiting the developing of defence-industrial collaboration between Ukraine and its allies, and how collaboration can be improved.

share.google

1999 Toyota Camry A Zipcard 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 2019 Volvo V90 2021 Skoda Enyaq iV

My humble contribution to the annual Turkey Discourse is that I think part of the issue is that turkey does not keep particularly well. So even if you enjoy it on Thanksgiving you're likely to find it pretty hard to stomach as your fourth consecutive leftover meal.