I note that charlie kirk is too much of a coward to debate the spirit of Colonel Sanders
Mike Franklin, Anti-Contrarian Contrarian
@mike-franklin.bsky.social
Logically improbable. Your favorite bot's favorite follow. Screaming at the top of my lungs from the world's smallest soapbox at http://unvarnished.net.
I think we'd see a lot more urgency about regulating AI in Silicon Valley if the AI agents suddenly developed a sense of restorative justice, and instead of them threatening humanity with total extinction, they just wanted to redistribute wealth and reverse power hierarchies.
For the past two years I've been tracking every bill proposed in state legislatures across the country to figure out what Republican plans for the future are. The answer, based on these 1,182 bills, is that they want to repeal the 20th Century heartlandsignal.com/2026/09/09/b...
Proof from the states: the right wing attempt to repeal the 20th century – Heartland Signal
Republicans are in Dallas this week making the case that the other side is the extreme one. We read the legislation they introduced in all 50 states and built a searchable record of what we found: 1,1...
heartlandsignal.com
Hatred toward Muslims is a growing problem. Pew says shortly after 9/11, Republicans and those leaning toward the GOP were slightly more likely than Democrats and Dem leaners to say Islam encourages violence (32% vs. 23%). Now the gap is huge: 76% vs. 29%. Bigotry is the Republican brand.
Two Decades Later, the Enduring Legacy of 9/11
Twenty years ago, Americans came together – bonded by sadness and patriotism – after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But a review of public opinion in the two decades since finds that unity was fleeting. It also shows how support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq was strong initially but fell over time.
pewresearch.org
Thirteen colonies, Thirteen Stripes, Thirteen Justices. Does it actually make sense? Not really. But it kinda feels like it fits, and thats how swing voter brains work.
As predicted, Google has now updated Google Maps to show “Lake America” even faster than it changed “Gulf of America.” #FallingInLine blog.google/products-and...
How the GNIS Lake Ontario/Lake America name change in the U.S. will appear in Maps
The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" in the United States. Since we update Google Maps …
blog.google
Social Media Lab@socialmedialab.ca · 2w agoSo here's what will happen next. Sometimes, within the next ~2 weeks, after the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) officially updates, people in the U.S. using Google Maps will see “Lake America,” & people in Canada will see “Lake Ontario.” Everyone else will see both names. #GeographyByEgo
I see a lot of people on here dismissing concerns about El-Sayed's relationship with Hassan Piker. A few things I've noticed that I feel obligated to point out and I'll start off by saying I do plan to vote for El-Sayed so please take this as advice from an ally. 1/
One thing refreshing about Ossoff is that he attacks his opponents directly and with specifics–no vague platitudes. A ton of professional Republicans are fundamentally horrible people, and Democrats need to tell voters that those Republicans are, in fact, horrible people.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w agoOssoff on Mike Collins: "Will he release in full his office's communications with these white supremacists? He needs to answer that question today"
All ICE funding should be transferred to MRNA research and development . www.wsj.com/health/pharm...
Novel Cancer Vaccine Prevents Melanoma From Returning in First for mRNA
Result in high-risk patients validates decades of research into mRNA-based therapeutic cancer vaccines.
wsj.com
Golf is a game of honor. Rules are written down, of course, but without self-enforcement -- they mean little. The same is true of our public life. I've written an article about Trump and golf -- and Putin and hockey, etc. See what you think. www.thenextmove.org/p/trump-golf...
Trump, Golf, and Honor
Did Trump really have a round of 70? Did Kim Jong-il have a 34?
thenextmove.org
AIPAC the actual organization = a powerful lobbying group with lots of money that often gets what it wants but less so recently, worthy of criticism "AIPAC-linked donors" = (((AIPAC-linked donors)))
Fired “60 Minutes” correspondent Cecilia Vega revealed stunning new details about how CBS News management tried to meddle in her reporting, according to an audio recording we obtained. Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/cecilia-ve...
Vega Breaks Her Silence
The fired “60 Minutes” correspondent revealed stunning new details about how CBS News management tried to meddle in her reporting, according to an audio recording obtained by Status.
status.news
Guys I can’t keep doing this independently. I need a job. If you know of a place—advocacy, OSINT org, think tank, left media, etc—where I could take this work in-house, pls let me know. I admire the folks making independent work for them, but I am collapsing under the weight and the lack of impact.
Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com · 2mo agoA few minutes ago, two ICE flights operated by Journey Aviation landed in Eswatini, likely another third-country removal of immigrants to a maximum security prison there. Nineteen people have already been sent there on previous ICE flights in the last nine months. Only two have been released.
I asked a (brilliant female) colleague about the apparent gender gap in AI uptake in our field and she suggested that it was driven by women being more likely to be judged as incompetent if they use AI. This resume study suggests, sadly, that she may be correct codeforgoodnow.com/wp-content/u...
I never deleted something so fast "David Brooks's reflections on America 250"
If you want to read a book about the legacy of the founders as a palate cleanser from 250th spectacle, may I recommend:
John Garrison Marks@johngmarks.com · 3mo agoIn April I published a book about Americans' centuries-long effort to come to terms with slavery's place in George Washington's legacy. I'm also taking on more writing and speaking gigs about history, museums, and how Americans are engage with the past. I could use your help spreading the word!
And @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com's latest newsletter includes an essay on why she loves not getting fooball, which reminded of me writing about how Sensible Soccer taught me everything I know about football. Here it is. This title is an eyeroll, but there's fun stuff here about games and sports.
Sensible Soccer, Foot-to-ball And Me
[This was originally published in a slightly different form over at the Escapist under the title "Sensible Soccer: How …
rockpapershotgun.com
Footage shows the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike on a key logistics bridge in occupied Vasylivka yesterday. Russian military commentators admit the bridge is important for supplying forces on the Stepnohirsk sector and warn that its loss could complicate logistics and troop rotations in the area.
A 22-year-old just got a $30 million investment valuing his new futures exchange at $300 million. He graduated Stanford, wrote for Thiel's Stanford Review, interned at Andreessen Horowitz. His mom? Pro-crypto Sen. Gillibrand, D-NY. Bipartisan capture in full bloom. fortune.com/2026/06/18/t...
Son of pro-crypto New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand raises $30 million to launch a derivatives exchange | Fortune
Lux Capital led the investment, which values the Stanford graduate’s exchange at $300 million.
fortune.com
It's almost painful how simple and obvious the motivations of our current slate of villains are. Everything about Hegseth can be traced back to one simple fact: he is mediocre and cannot accept that reality. So he blames everyone else for his own failures. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...
Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth’s War on Diversity
nytimes.com
got everybody clean and tidy with trimmed fingernails and haircuts and across town on time ready to see the pediatrician on june 17 instead of july 17 which is when our apt was and then lost my valet ticket as well and couldn't describe the car beyond "grey, full of garbage"
Three year old waking up at 5:40 the morning after the Knicks win a championship, when mom is about to start a 24 hour shift, is extremely not ideal. But if Captain can score 45 points in the close out, I can handle this hangover. Probably. #NYKnicks
It’s so funny because a year ago everyone was like “Great the thunder are going to win every series” and then two weeks ago everyone was like “Great the spurs are going to win every series” and now the Knicks won with the power of friendship.
Man, everybody is better than Jalen Brunson until it's time to be better than Jalen Brunson!
Due to Dolan's desire to host Trump, thousands of diehard Knicks fans are denied the chance to gather outside the Garden, watch the game on a big screen, and share a once-in-a-lifetime moment with the community that helped keep this franchise alive when nobody else cared.
If it happens tomorrow night, I will take back everything mean I’ve ever said about the Knicks.
