NDP leadership hopefuls make final pitches YouTube video by CBC News

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4rQ...

Is that the little one you were holding in the earlier photo? Cute! I'm glad he'll be keeping you company.

That's a magnificent lawn and building!
And the stuffed animals look like they're trying to be polite to the guests.

I was expecting to see Astérix looking for the boar!

MARPAT - Wikipedia

Also -- I remember seeing people in CADPAT on the street when it came out (I live in Canada near a military base). I thought the observation by a Marine was revealing: "We want to be instantly recognized as a force to be reckoned with. We want them to see us coming a mile away in our new uniforms."

Photo that made the rounds on the internet -- a soldier wearing a Universal Camouflage Pattern uniform including the helmet cover, lying face-down on an old-fashioned floral fabric couch. The UCP pattern appears to blend into the couch fairly well. Source: https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/300084-test-sample-camouflage/

Thanks for the rec! I cover a bit about camouflage in my ecology course (relates to different appearances of ecosystems so it's an interesting way to compare them in terms of colour, complexity etc.). Looks like that podcast examines some problems with UCP, so it's a big help.

Pruitt spent thousands on ‘tactical pants’ and ‘tactical polos’, new documents reveal The new total spent marks a $1.1 million increase over the amount disclosed last month.

That pants line reminds me -- does anyone else remember Scott Pruitt and the tactical pants?

@charlieangus104.bsky.social and The Grievous Angels!

There's a famous Agatha Christie novel where someone who does this is treated the same way as if they'd shot or stabbed somebody.

Just wanted to add that there are companies in most cities or online that can do custom rubber stamps in all kinds of font sizes and styles. Craft or scrapbooking places have ink pads in a dazzling array of colors.

I just wanted to add that local and online companies can make custom rubber stamps in a wide variety of font sizes and styles

RFK Jr.’s Family Doesn’t Want Him to Run. Even They May Not Know His Darkest Secrets. A shocking photograph. Blowback from a Trump meeting. Alleged sexual assault. The Kennedys have voiced support for Joe Biden, but certain aspects of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s character are only just now...

to think of him trying to fake his way through that. In my mind I'm using "piccolo" as shorthand for Bobby's antics.
His own family warns that he's prone to exaggerating to make himself look good. He's an entertaining storyteller, but can be sloppy or downright manipulative about the truth.

RFK Jr probably recognized both he and Trump like to give the impression they know more than they actually do. In Cheryl Hines' book, her brother commented "If [RFK Jr] walked into a room and saw a piccolo ... I wouldn't be surprised if he just strolled over and started playing it". It made me laugh

RFK Jr repudiates his entire previous career.
From his previous book about Trump's first term:
"I watched 33 years of my work reduced to ruins as the president mounted his assault on science and environmental protection."

Climate in Crisis The science is overwhelming; the facts are in. The planet is heating up at an alarming rate and the results are everywhere to be seen. Yet, as time runs out, climate progress is blocked by the men who...

Quote from RFK Jr's book about the first Trump administration:
"I watched 33 years of my work reduced to ruins as the president mounted his assault on science and environmental protection."

What got me about this was -- the Chinese author didn't spend a lot of time researching and describing Rome's architecture (the biggest city in Europe then?) or the massive army, both of which they had at home. But seemed more impressed by the exotic entertainment.

From the AskHistorians community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community

Several years ago I was doing research for a possible novel about Roman entertainers, and heard about a description by Chinese visitors.
"...a tradition of amazing conjuring. They can produce fire from their mouths, bind and then free themselves, and juggle twelve balls with extraordinary skill"

President Reagan, Mastermind - SNL YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

This reminds me of the old SNL sketch where Reagan's a genius.

President Reagan, Mastermind - SNL YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

Anyone else remember that SNL sketch where Reagan is secretly a genius?

This reminds me of the old SNL sketch with Phil Hartman as Reagan

This alert person spotted that reference from Nov 2024 (possibly earlier), so Trump's basically like the SNL Reagan "Mastermind" sketch and knew everything about the Middle East way back then?

Senator Al Franken draws map of USA YouTube video by MPR News

Thanks for spotting this!
I used to teach cartography -- from what I've seen, people with that kind of skill tend to use it in different situations. If RFK Jr's the only person reporting that from Trump, it makes me wonder. (There's video of Al Franken going back to the 1980s.)

Senator Al Franken draws map of USA YouTube video by MPR News

Just wanted to add that people who do freehand cartography as well as RFK Jr implies about Trump, tend to use that skill (one reason why they get good at it). For example, there are videos of Al Franken going back to the 1980s. All I've seen for Trump is that vague hurricane map extrapolation.

It's pretty disappointing -- Bobby Jr. can be an entertaining storyteller, and probably he uses that to great effect in the courtroom. But I've found easily-spotted errors in his books, and even his relatives have cautioned about this.

Walz: We will never leave the side of our Somali Minnesotans. Here's our pledge to you, our Somali Minnesotans, your great grandchildren will still be here when that orange clown is in the dustbin of history.

Lol! Perfect!

Urine trouble now!

Heisuke Hironaka, Groundbreaking Mathematician, Is Dead at 94

NYT: Heisuke Hironaka, Groundbreaking Mathematician, Is Dead at 94

By Kenneth Chang

A recipient of his profession’s prestigious Fields Medal, he devised an algorithm that helps solve mathematical “singularities.” It now permeates the field.

Gift link! @kchang.bsky.social

I've been reading several of RFK Jr's books. I'm disappointed to report that although he can be a colourful and entertaining writer, I've been finding discrepancies that should have been pretty easy to correct. I now have concerns about citing any of his work, unless I've fact-checked it.

This was necessarily a high-stakes confrontation. In anticipation, Rory warned her production team they had a potential liability: Her brother, though a prominent and successful environmental lawyer known for suing polluters, could be fast and loose with the facts. “He can say some crazy shit,” she told them, according to a person involved in the film. Kennedy’s interviews had to be thoroughly fact-checked “even though he might come across as an expert,” she said. “That’s who he is.” Sure enough, the film had already been edited when producers discovered that Kennedy’s interviews were littered with inflated and inaccurate claims, rendering portions of the film unusable. “It was like, Holy shit,” says another source familiar with events. “We have to get the audio and cut certain things out. We can’t really say this. You can be sued!” Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/robert-kennedy-jr-shocking-history

Sad to say that RFK Jr's own family has warned about him being untruthful. It goes beyond just being sloppy and mixing things up. His sister Rory interviewed him for a film, and even though he knew he was on the record, he apparently couldn't stop himself.