The Rebhorn translation is the one to choose. And easily found.

Boccaccio's Decameron, translated by Kredel

Boccaccio's Decameron, translated by Rebhorn

A source of so many wonderful stories. Perfect gateway to Chaucer. Two different translations on my shelves!

Yeesh. Picture of constrained supply. Homes selling for 14% over asking...

Johnson calls it "detestable" that some Democrats are boycotting Trump's State of the Union "We play for one team," House Speaker Mike Johnson told "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil ahead of the State of the Union. "We're all for America."

Things Mike Johnson hasn't called "detestable":
- DOJ covering up the Epstein files
- Stripping millions of Americans of their health insurance
- Trump’s masked ICE agents killing people on our streets

So, forgive us if we don't give a damn. See you on the Mall at 8.

Cherry plum at Sibley regional park

Wonderful cherry plum on the trail at Sibley regional park this morning
(if you allow an image from slightly beyond Berkeley).

The disappearing art gallery in your post office The U.S. Postal Service is home to thousands of historic works of art in post offices nationwide. Hundreds have been lost, sold or destroyed.

👀 What if I told you there was a hidden art gallery scattered across the country?

What if I told you some of its treasures had vanished?

What if I told you that I found them?

A project three years in the making (🎁 gift link):

News gathering is not a profit-making enterprise. It never has been, it never will be. Indeed, since it challenges power and corruption, it always faces blowback from rich people who can give money to the opera or Harvard or whatever instead.

Every American needs to watch this:

More than a week before his crucifixion by Roman law enforcement, Jesus of Nazareth infuriated other authorities as he overturned vendor tables at the temple farmers market and cursed at an innocent fig tree causing it to wither, according to newly unearthed videos. Watch here.

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

One of the best organizers I know in the Twin Cities has a great line, "We can't always take away the hurt, but we can take away the alone."

I'll vote for the Democratic contender who is smart enough to tell Axios to get bent

Screenshot of a data visualization titled “The Cost of American Exceptionalism,” subtitled “What would change if the U.S. matched the OECD average?” The page explains that each card shows how outcomes would change if the U.S. matched the average of 31 peer democracies. Below, a section labeled “Economy & Inequality” displays eight cards comparing U.S. figures to OECD averages. Highlights include: +$19K per household per year in redistributed income and +$96K in redistributed wealth if the top 1% matched OECD shares; a 71% lower CEO-to-worker pay ratio (from 354× to 101×); 50 million more workers with union coverage; 26 million more people with health insurance; $2.1 trillion saved annually in healthcare spending; $691 less per person per year in prescription drug costs; and intergenerational economic mobility being twice as high. Each card shows the U.S. value alongside the OECD average.

If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:

America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.

What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵

I'm not quite sure how this is true, given that he's not seeking new statutory authority for ... pretty much any of this.

At most, what they could do is shut down the government + refuse to confirm any more Trump nominees.

Insights from Ben Affleck on AI:

• AI can help write scenes but can't create full movies.

• Job loss fears are overblown because adoption of new tech is slow; it's hype for startup valuations.

• ChatGPT v5 is ~25% better but costs 4x.

• Users actually preferred v4's sycophancy for companionship.

One thing to add to @sarabethb.bsky.social's op-ed is that many of the new wave local newsrooms are determined to do a better job for the whole community than most of what happened in the past. We don't want to restore a wholly imagined golden age.

The gap between nonprofit and for-profit local news will widen "The harsh truth is that taken in isolation, there is likely no viable economic model for decent news provision in economically struggling cities or rural areas."

There's a philosophical gap between nonprofit and for-profit news organizations. It's not just the pursuit of dollars – nonprofits need to make a surplus, too. It's the root motivation for what we do and who we think we're serving. My Nieman Lab prediction for 2026: www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/the-...

Local news is in trouble in many places, yes, but you know it's not dead, @idothethinking.bsky.social. There are hundreds of newsrooms like @berkeleyside.org and @oaklandside.org around the country, and more are being started every year.

If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...

The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet.

Run on *that*

Kendrick, Joyce Carol Oates, Menswear Guy, and Isaac Chotiner are the Voltron of People You Don't Want Focusing on You

Today I learned that the total amount of philanthropic funding for journalism in the US since 2009 equals approximately 8.6% of OpenAI’s funding to date. Really useful #kleincamp session from @ninasachdev.bsky.social and Vince Stehle of @mediaimpactfunders.bsky.social.

One of my underlying working models for non-profit news is that nobody is in competition with each other. We should all be co-operative. We should be open sourcing code, sharing wins and losses, and doing as much as possible to lift each other up - out in the open so newcomers can benefit too.

ESPN names DraftKings official odds provider In a deal starting Dec. 1, ESPN has named DraftKings its Official Sportsbook and Odds Provider, it was announced Thursday.

I, for one, definitely think this revenue boost will be used to help ESPN aggressively and independently cover the waterfall of sports betting scandals plaguing our pro and college sports.

Belatedly watched 60 minutes Trump interview. OMFG. This isn't journalism.

Have You Taken Freedom for Granted? A Saturday Prompt

In 1941, thinking about acquiescence to Hitler, FDR quoted Ben Franklin: “Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” It’s a message for the billionaires & others capitulating to Trump.
www.americaamerica.news/p/have-you-t...

How the Berkeley economy works: we will not tolerate a gap of 400 meters between coffee shops.

after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.