Gave them a spectacular show

You know what? I'll admit it. The credible threat by a madman to wipe out a nation of 90 million people for basically no reason (presumably using nuclear weapons) successfully distracted me. I am now distracted.

Big brown dog laying on couch with German short haired pointer puppy laying on top of her. Big dog tolerating...,

I just called my Congress person and basically went on a "Do something" rant.

I'm right there with you.

Religious 'Nones' are now the largest single group in the U.S. 28% of Americans are now religiously unaffiliated. A new study from Pew Research looks at how atheists, agnostics and those whose religion is "nothing in particular" view God, religion and morality.

Meanwhile, in reality

Only one of these guys gets treated by the media like he’s a psychotic jihadist. Which one may surprise you!

Has anyone studied the psychic toll of years spent waking up to the unhinged rantings of a vicious madman who could kill us all — and then going about one’s day per usual?

I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.

It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

Aging out of coolness is a balm to the spirit.

Hey.

We all expect to see you tomorrow.

(Especially @jcsalterego.bsky.social - he's counting on you laughing so he can finally get verified.)

It's going to be ok. We're all taking it one day at a time. You're not alone.

Things may be hard,
but they can be good again.

*Hand squeeze*

Patients say measles 'worse than expected' as Utah hits 350+ infections, doctors say Health officials plead with residents to vaccinate against measles as Utah hits 358 infections.

I will never get over how the result of going through a global pandemic that killed over 7 million people, including 1.2 million Americans—and where we swiftly created an effective vaccine for it—was massive growth in anti-vax sentiment, the rise of RFK Jr., and the return of fucking measles.

Niece... gah

Girl reading Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

My neice in 2017 :)

BREAKING — 51 Iranian children are dead after a strike hits Minab girls elementary school in Iran.

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

I work with graduate students and confer degrees. No one is graduated until we award your degree. These people annoy me so much.

I love this so much

ChatGPT promised to help her find her soulmate. Then it betrayed her ChatGPT sent screenwriter Micky Small down a fantastical rabbit hole. Now, she's finding her way out.

Just a reminder that ChatGPT cannot betray anyone because it doesn’t have feelings or motives or thoughts

“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...

Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/

And never forget. These are asylum seekers. This is what the USA is doing to the most vulnerable people on the planet who we promised to protect.

The march in Chicago has continued on past Trump Tower and is turning back south into downtown.

The snow is coming down hard now.

As it does, the column chants, "say it once and say it twice, we do not fuck with ICE"

This is unconscionable. Evil.

But it happened in May 2023, when Biden was president.

So no, we don’t “reform immigration detention,” we destroy ICE, CBP, and DHS. We can’t reform this soul sickness.

Hey, this Bovino thing is a pathetic attempt to make all these horrors the fault of one guy, and it would be a serious, serious crisis if people fell for it. ICE needs to be abolished, bc this - terror, murder - are what it exists for. Nothing else. This is just an attempt to mollify us. Stay angry

Comics retailing legend Greg Ketter standing up to ICE in Minneapolis. Yes, that's tear gas. He's 70 years old.

A main goal is to break our trust with our neighbors and organizers. Scary shit.

I just told my kid to stay home tonight. I can't take this anymore.

This is a test for Democrats right now.

If you really want to grab the mantle of leadership and emerge as a frontrunner, you have to speak out forcefully and against ICE...

Right now.

No centrist mealy-mouthed bullshit.