And having just said that, here I am again, this time to post something not doom-y at all: Preliminary, narrow study, but so cool. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And with that, I'm giving myself a timeout. I mean it!

Apple Vision Pro Speeds Up Surgery by Almost 20%

Surgeons who wore an Apple Vision Pro as their primary display during a tear duct procedure finished operations 19% faster than surgeons using a traditional monitor, according to a peer-reviewed study...

macrumors.com

Boston Tom Levenson@tomlevenson.bsky.social · 2h ago

I'm getting sucked into Bluesky doom scrolling. Gonna see y'all in a bit.

I'm getting sucked into Bluesky doom scrolling. Gonna see y'all in a bit.

Your little oopsie "mistakes" had me worrying for a year of my life about my partner going to jail for up to a decade based on lies likely fed to you by the top of the federal government. Show everyone what you're covering up in these emails and texts. There's a reason you don't want them released.

Boutros acknowledges 'mistakes' in 'Broadview 6' case but says sanctions, special counsel aren't needed

Chicago's top federal prosecutor noted in a court filing that his office has already dropped charges in the case, implemented “robust root-cause changes” and started the process of reviewing over 1,00...

chicago.suntimes.com

One more for the #ETTD annals.

@dabxdee.bsky.social · 11h ago

UFC Parent Company Lost $30M on White House Fight ground.news/article/trum...

El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"

This is an untestable counterfactual, but I wonder if AIPAC had spent much less on Stevens’ MI primary campaign, would she have done better? To assess that one would first have to demonstrate that paid media reaches a saturation point, past which more spending adds nothing and perhaps subtracts.

Good

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 7h ago

A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…

Yippee!

Marc Elias@marcelias.bsky.social · 7h ago

Notice DOJ doesn't talk about its efforts to obtain state voter files anymore. They are 0-20 in those cases and today is the beginning of the quiet period -- states can no longer do systematic removals of names from the voter rolls. TLDR: We won!🥳

This is perfect.

Deidre Lynch@drbibliomane.bsky.social · yesterday

You can/should read Emily Wilson's latest take on the Odyssey, but I'm logging on to convey my hairdresser's reaction. She was AGHAST that Nolan, with his million $ budget, gave Matt Damon ONLY 6 hair extensions. As a result, his hair did not blow around properly, & that ruined the film for her.

Vital.

Jonathan Howard@joho.bsky.social · 9h ago

Laptop class doctors Scott Atlas and Podcast Jay are bashing Fauci, as usual. Since they want you to forget it, let's remember what they actually said in 2020.

Time for bed. See y'all on the flip side. To channel (paraphrase) the great @theshebeen.bsky.social... Play nice, peeps.

I find myself increasingly strongly disagreeing w. Emily Wilson's latest Nolan-Odyssey essay, & I'm trying to talk myself out of writing why. ISTM she misunderstands the idea of history as an engagement w., not representation of the past, & is uncomfortable w. the techniques of visual storytelling.

silly me, did not think of pre-emptive rape having authorities fingering every kid in the state as a possible solution to the scourge of like a dozen trans kids wanting to play soccer or swim, but that's because I am not a right wing christian nationallst freak www.advocate.com/politics/sta...

Washington ballot measure could force all girls to have genital inspections to play sports

Advocates for both cis and trans girls call foul on a new right-wing proposal that would force school-age female athletes to undergo invasive physical exams to "prove" their gender.

advocate.com

It is my hope that the next D president and AG rescind this so fast it makes Trump's checkbook spin. And if anyone (aka, the Corrupt 6 on the SC) just label it a matter of national security and ask how many divisions John Roberts has.

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · yesterday

“.. Trump has leveraged his control of the federal government to instead escape the scrutiny that every other modern president, not to mention every other regular taxpayer, has been subject to.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/b...

Note to Hegseth...Sgt. Minton's achievement turned not on testosterone levels or lethality but on his mind and his dedication to the problem. The tip of the spear matters. It's also powerless without that long bit behind it. The military of Hegseth's pathetic fantasy is a muscle bound loser.

Stars and Stripes@starsandstripes.bsky.social · yesterday

One soldier's concerns about soldiers’ survival in the drone-dominated combat of the future initially led him to start tinkering with electronics he bought online. Now, he's putting the finishing touches on a drone detector that soldiers can wear like protective gear. Learn more:

A) this is useful information. B) it gives me an opening to ask this question of the Bluesky hive mind. A while back we got handed a couple of small solar panels that accompany a small "power station" battery backup. Can those panels work in a balcony solar setting?

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · yesterday

Not sure if everyone appreciates the difference. Rooftop solar hardwires into your main panel via a dedicated breaker, so it requires a permit, an installer, an electrician, and a utility agreement. Balcony solar just plugs into a wall outlet, sharing an existing circuit with no permits or rewiring.

I look at Cornyn and Tillis and think of all that GOP blather about manliness and the martial virtues. Gutless doesn't even begin to describe the GOP congressional delegation. Pathetic. Weak. Wasted space. The list goes on. Remember that when it came down to the nub, the brave GOP ran away.

Brave Sir Robin Ran Away

YouTube video by Anthropocon

youtube.com

This.

John Timmer@jtimmer.bsky.social · yesterday

In this piece, Ellison says that he believes news should be based on facts and truth. But if that's the case, you wouldn't hire Bari Weiss.

This.

Lauren Theisen@laurentheisen.bsky.social · yesterday

on Sophie Cunningham and a trans controversy that doesn't involve any actual trans people: defector.com/the-right-ha...

Miller et al. are conspirators to murder.

Gwynne Hogan@gwynnefitz.bsky.social · 2d ago

A 39-year-old El Salvadoran man, who was being held at Delaney Hall, has died, the man's family says. He's the father of a 12-year-old US citizen daughter and has lived in the country for nearly 20 years. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/08/03/s...

The Brookline, MA comp planning committee is pulling a fast one on housing production: a survey asked if the town’s residents wanted housing starts above trend, and we said yes. But now the NIMBY faction is asserting that means de minimus above trend w/out any data to back that up. Potemkin process.

Per @silvermansecurity.bsky.social, a very important thread.

Caroline Baxter@convergingriskslab.bsky.social · 2d ago

What do you get when you mix climate change, logistics, and fossil fuels, and a war? A Bluesky thread on the convergence between summer drought in Europe, a dam in the Netherlands, Germany's reliance on a single river, and why the US still has to care about climate change. Settle in. (1/11)

I'm just going to keep screaming this until I'm hoarse, but until Trump the norm -- for 50 years -- was that sitting presidents had their taxes audited by the IRS and released to the public to show they were clean. But Trump refused repeatedly, and sued when his return was leaked, and now ... this

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d ago

FLAG: Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons, and the Trump Organization under the new 'deal' struck by Todd Blanche. The new order also reaffirms that Trump won't have to pay any taxes he might have owed the IRS.

Exclusive: We obtained a leaked playbook that Flock gives to cops to coach them on "how to speak to city council" to avoid getting their contracts canceled. Includes strategies like "own the narrative" by talking to mayor "before public comment periods" www.404media.co/own-the-narr...

‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech

"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of co...

404media.co

Trump has long had a "For Sale" sign on the White House. Now it's flashing in a giant neon glow. This is an insider trading scheme emanating from the Resolute desk. Everyone with a pension fund is getting robbed. This should be instant impeachment fodder, but of course the GOP finds it copacetic.

Biggie@biggienotsmalls.bsky.social · 2d ago

I was under the impression that presidents were not allowed to do stuff like that....

The effective federal corporate income tax rate: 1950: 50% 1990: 25% 2020: 13% Stop asking "but how we will pay for it?" Restore the corporate tax rate. That is how we will pay for it.

I made dinner for a man who abused me more times than I can count thinking I could fix things. It never stopped the abuse. It created the expectation that he could do whatever he wanted and then be fed. Max Miller is trash. If the GOP won’t say it, I will.

The anti-trans right overlaps pretty well with the pedophile-enabling (or being) right. Just sayin'

Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 2d ago

An initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play

I. Can’t. Even.

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d ago

PENTAGON: Anyone got any ideas? @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...