The Odyssey (2026, Dir. Christopher Nolan)
Alex G. Howard
@selfindulgentclaptrap.com
Providence-born, bred and based guy. Writer of HowToEatACity.com and SelfIndugentClaptrap.com 🥑mk2
Former J6 federal prosecutors are begging senators -- mostly GOPers, but a handful of Dems are in there, too -- to stop confirming election deniers to lifetime federal courts seats. “Please stop poisoning our courts." www.huffpost.com/entry/live-u...
Former J6 Prosecutors Beg Senators To Stop Confirming Election Deniers To Court Seats
huffpost.com
I'm working on my slides for tomorrow's AI-and-misinformation talk in Narragansett, and I'm going to open with what I'm calling "The Parable of the Ferry Cat."
![A snopes headline from June 4, 2026 that reads "Fact Check
Story about cat named Marty with designated seat on daily ferry commute should give you pause
Readers asked us to investigate. We'd like to apologize for being killjoys."
The slide features the pull quote from the Snopes article: "“After investigating, we regret to inform readers that the image is fake. It was generated using artificial intelligence tools…[W]e found posts claiming that Marty had been riding ferries in Maui, Hawaii; Galveston, Texas; Savannah, Georgia; Mobile, Alabama; Mackinac Island, Michigan; Boston; and Apache Junction, Arizona. (That last one was particularly egregious: There is no river in Apache Junction.)
The strategy at play here is pretty common: People post a variety of AI slop in an attempt to make money from advertising revenue or from the social media platforms. The more posts, the better, and introducing slight differences between them allows the poster to target specific demographics of people.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qihxhxlsmo7gak74npeoy3ct/bafkreif3cbim6hscz2n2cwif2yzs66ibcaogresb2glowj5f76y3wmtl4a)
I'm calling it: "Start smoking" is going to be mainstream MAHA / Republican health advice by 2028. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Via @oliverdarcy.bsky.social: www.status.news/p/david-elli... CNN reporters were not amused by David Ellison's op-ed in the NYT.
![The piece was "insulting," one CNNer told Status, adding, “We all have eyes and ears and see what’s happening at CBS. You can’t just write an op-ed and erase that.” Another CNNer said it was obvious to them Ellison "says whatever is best for him to get the merger through."
"The thing David Ellison seems to be missing is the wild mismanagement and disrespect that Bari [Weiss] has displayed at '60' and CBS," a third CNNer told Status. "These people just simply do not know what they are doing. We see it. And we don’t want it here."
Indeed, several CNNers said that Ellison's stewardship of CBS News had caused them to lose confidence in his ability to run a news organization and sour on his repeated assurances about respecting the independence of newsrooms. In The Times essay, Ellison wrote, "I understand that promises from an executive in the middle of a merger invite skepticism. So judge us by the year we just had."
But the last year at CBS News has been an unmitigated disaster. Most notably, Ellison allowed his handpicked news chief to take a sledgehammer to "60 Minutes," firing multiple correspondents and senior executives from television news' most prestigious broadcast—in most of the cases, without ever stating a cause for the dismissals. Beyond that, Weiss' tenure has been defined by her expunging those she is not ideologically aligned with, presiding over the worst ratings of the century for flagship programs like the "CBS Evening News" and "CBS Mornings," establishing a cozier relationship with an overtly corrupt White House, and sending employee morale cratering to astonishing lows.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreicybrw5xm7wnrleduxjtlfwlrcvjzs7qwwjijswwlluzh5x67iadi)
Good luck to WNC for getting a rep they deserve rather than the string of trash they've been stuck with for the past 15 years
VoteHub@votehub.com · 9h agoNEWS — Embattled Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards has withdrawn from the NC-11 race. He says he will serve out his current term.
People in deep red states hate the GOP's initiatives
Stephen Wolf@stephenwolf.bsky.social · 17h agoThe AP hasn't called either contest yet, but Missouri's Amendment 4 is losing 82-18 statewide and failing in every county with 10% of votes reporting so far. Kansas' Amendment 1 is losing 71-29 and getting crushed in numerous Trump counties with 26% of votes in. These look over
gotta say it’s pretty weird how the official Trump insta page has become devoted to this weird trolling of musicians who hate his guts
But this is sort of an Angels in the Outfield situation on a US Senate Primary for me.
Eric Michael Garcia@ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 16h agoAgain, kick back. Have some dinner. Crack open a drink. Go for a run. This will be a long night. But don't text your ex.
🧵 The Founders simply could not imagine men so uninterested in maintaining & exercising their own political power that they would allow other men - even those of their own party or faction - to steal their constitutional power in broad daylight & play out The Madness of King George.
Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · yesterdayFederalist 51: “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” That made for a system of checks and balances that mostly worked. Until some politicians with ambition to overthrow the Constitution met up with politicians whose highest ambition is attention on social media and a pat on the head.
He's gone for Pratchett. Thats enough. Ive defended Stancil but this time he's gone too far. (And no, no one thinks the boots theory is a fully worked out economic system: its a elegant metaphor for part of the problem)
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · yesterdayYeah, for days people have been citing “boots theory” at me and I want to shout DO YOU REALIZE THIS IS A RANDOM IDEA TOSSED OUT BY A FANTASY WRITER AND MAY NOT ACCURATELY DESCRIBE REALITY
This week’s premium episode is a freewheeling discussion touching on whether Trump can steal the midterms, why elite liberal lawyers are representing the demons at Kalshi, and whether SCOTUSblog is headed to ruin.
Gambling Away the Future: Kalshi, SCOTUSBlog, and Trump’s Bet on the Midterms | 5-4
Peter, Rhiannon, and Michael take a break from case law to discuss the possibility of stolen midterms, the evil lawyers defending Kalshi and
patreon.com
You could grow a spine and do your damn jobs.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayCornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"
Did you know that The Map Center is the only map store in the country that is directly above a brewery? Tomorrow at 6:30 at Discipline Brewing, Robert Isenberg talks about his new book about bike-packing Canada for Lonely Planet. So if you like beer, bikes, travel or beer, you should join us.
This is the thing! The capitalist class thinks light social democracy is a communist threat that must be put down at any cost. Meanwhile their own reactionary monster is destroying the world market.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · last yr.darkly funny that it was the ascendant right wing (not the degrowth left) that is launching the trade policies that threaten to Take Banana
I wrote about @ecorinews.bsky.social for the Phoenix in 2013, in their early days, when compost-collection was part of their revenue model. I'm so glad they're still around and kicking ass.
PSA: please be sure to follow and support @ecorinews.bsky.social, which covers the environment in our precious state with actual thought, care, rigor, and professionalism. 🌎 We're so lucky to have them.
Philip Eil@phileil.bsky.social · yesterdayFor my friends at @ecorinews.bsky.social, I wrote an op-ed about Newport Buzz's decision to publish climate propaganda from the Heartland Institute.
He serves in the branch that the Constitution specifically charges with the duty of removing the President for criming.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayCornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"
Every time I read something like this I wonder if my son (killed by a careless driver in 2010) is one of the lives that could have been saved
David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · yesterdayNew research shows that the US has been a global laggard curbing crash deaths. If the US had merely matched improvements in 14 peer nations, 500,000+ lives would have been saved from 2000-24. doi.org/10.1080/1538...
this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?
David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3d agoIs everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.
What are the public’s perceptions of #SCOTUS? 43% of Americans view the Supreme Court as conservative, while 44% view it as “middle of the road.” Only 9% describe it as liberal. What is your perception? 💬
My cordon sanitaire, it is very sick
Hugh Brechin@hughrbrechin.bsky.social · yesterdayI did assume that this was a case of a local organisation having totally lost the plot, but Kemi Badenoch is now forcefully and explicitly defending the selection of a former neo-Nazi with a significant criminal history as a candidate. Crackers and terrifying.
Just so everyone knows, this is a tried-and-true mainstream media tactic. For progressives/leftist candidates, every election is a “crucial test” and any loss would serve as proof to the media that the latest left-side moment is at its end. Any win, though, just means it’s time to find a new test.
Politico@politico.com · 2d agoMichigan will provide another crucial test of whether progressives can not only keep up their winning streak in safe-blue seats but also break through in battlegrounds crucial for control of Congress. The stakes for the Democratic Party are huge.
Only Lindell would try to bribe voters with a shitty pillow.
This was inevitable post-Dobbs. The anti-abortion movement was never going to be satisfied with abortion being legal in any state
Josh Gerstein@joshgerstein.bsky.social · 2d agoNEW: Amid AG confirmation battle, Todd Blanche assured anti-abortion activists that he's working to make Dobbs 'permanent in every single state.' Admin will act 'soon' to limit mail-order abortion drugs. w/ @alicemiranda.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/08...