Drivial Bookend

Trump was ok with Mamdani calling him a fascist while next to him in the Oval Office not because trump is a good sport ever but because he believes everyone else is as empty and cynical as he is, and that Mamdani just says those things for the base and couldn’t possibly mean it even tho Zohran does

/13 Why? For proximity to power. For prestige. For attention.

Some tongues were made to praise God. Some tongues were made to sing. Some were made for poetry, some for prose, some to agitate and some to soothe.

But some tongues were made for the boot.

This past month, four different Protestant groups/denominations, most evangelical, have been at the center of in-depth news reports detailing how those denominations’ systems of oversight have failed victims of alleged abuse. In chronological order…

Oof.

If I had married young and then my spouse died when she was 25, I would hold personalized pencils announcing her love to me as priceless mementos.

Oddly enough, the Reign of Terror wasn’t as uplifting as it sounds

YouTube video by murkyiskynet Dramatic Judge - Judge Dredd

Reminds of the scene from the Stallone "Judge Dredd" where he is sentenced to prison and the Chief Judge takes his Long Walk.

Ok BlueSky: what are your favorite history books in terms of sheer page-turning, narrative propulsion? Thinking along the line of Killers of the Flower Moon, etc. Nonfiction chronicles that read like novels or movies.

Thomas Asbridge, "The Greatest Knight."

Absolutely wonderful look at William the Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke - a man who was always in the room where it happened. Served, and occasionally fought against Henry II, Henry the Young King, Richard I, John, and Henry III.

two men in suits and ties with a fbi badge on their jacket Alt: you should be so lucky to meet Agents Winchester and Winchester

SINCE THIS HAS COME UP AGAIN...

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND YOURSELF THE TARGET OF A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION.

"Struggle mightily with alcohol abuse, substance abuse, mental health struggles, family loss. They come from broken homes. The cards they were dealt were never the cards you were dealt, Mrs. Peters."

"They didn't have a team of assistants helping them. They're not getting rides in private jets all over the country. No, the people who sit in that chair suffer, generally speaking, immeasurable trauma in life...

YouTube video by Denver7 'You're a charlatan': Judge sentences defiant Tina Peters to 9 years | Full video

If you haven't watched her sentencing from last year, you really should. Here's something the judge said that really struck me.
The judge compared her situation to:

"...some of the folks who occupied that chair before Mrs. Peters... Those folks didn't have four lawyers representing them...

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.

Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

igure 3.3. Growth in Incomes at the Very Top, 1917–2006 (in 2006 Dollars) Source: Emmanuel Saez’s computations from IRS income tax statistics, http://elsa.berkeley .edu/~saez

it's fascinating that you can see when exactly the Reagan revolution happened

All bad things lead back to Reagan chart

Cranberry brie tarts on a baking dish. There are approximately 10 tarts on the plate, and the cranberries are sprinkled with thyme Recipe available here: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cranberry-brie-pastry-tarts/

THANKSGIVING RECIPES THREAD 🧵🍁🦃

I’m Head Chef at this year’s Bower family Thanksgiving.

The soup season thread was a hit, so now I’m turning to Bluesky for your best Turkey Day recipes.

What’s the one dish you can’t live without?

Drop recipes and tips in the replies ⬇️

(Photo: my fave appetizer)

I let that one go because one of my principles for genre fiction is “you get the premise for free.” Everything else has to make sense, everything else has to be consistent WITH the premise, there have to be rules and stakes — but I’ll just take the premise on faith even if it’s objectively goofy.

It’s soup weather! Do you want an easy tasty soup recipe? Of course you do. Here’s one.

1 lb Italian sausage
1 can pumpkin puree
1 tbsp curry powder
1 or 2 cans coconut milk
Chicken stock, amount depends on the coconut milk
1 head cauliflower or a bag of florets
Maybe chickpeas? Up to you

A refreshingly dry take from an X account Matthew Buckley @physicsmatt which reads as follows: "If you're mad and find yourself yelling that you want someone launched into the Sun, take a moment, calm yourself, and remember that it takes a lot less Delta v to launch them out of the Solar System instead. You can be mad, but that's no excuse to be inefficient with propellant."

Evergreen:

tomahawk_kitty's comment on "Can I air fry this?" Explore this conversation and more from the airfryer community

I got an air fryer (technically the now-discontinued air fryer lid for my Instant Pot) a few years ago and I swear I use it every day. And then I saw this on reddit yesterday and if I ever get a tattoo, this would be a contender.

So proud of my friend and fellow Welsh Pembroke Corgi owner @andrewfeinberg.com for asking this question:

“What was the president doing with Virginia Giuffre for hours at Epstein's house?"

I mean Megyn Kelly seems like exactly the right spokesperson for the ACTUALLY IT’S EPHEBOPHILIA movement.

Shitty people, shitty values, shitty culture.

“WSJ reporter Valerie Bauerlein unspools a shooting that might have gone unnoticed, if not for a grieving sister’s quest to find the truth.”

Yep, I will add this to the backlog.
“On September 9, 2023, in rural South Carolina, a man was killed in a shootout on Camp Swamp Road. Police said that it was a clear case of self defense, but secret recordings tell a different story. In a new true crime podcast series from The Journal…

YouTube video by ONE Media CHRISTY Trailer (2025) Sydney Sweeney

Link to the trailer

Link for the lazy

a woman is wearing a headset while sitting at a desk . ALT: a woman is wearing a headset while sitting at a desk .

Shittification and shareholder return

A rehash of an old thread

Why is everything crap. Well, here we learn why Adam Smith was an early Marxist, in that though he had great faith in markets

He had zero faith in merchants

And the reason why, is why no one answers your helpline

1/n

Some thoughts on the CR/minibus.

1 The Dems negotiating with Rs were not freelancing. They coordinated with Sen Schumer. A few were ready to give in on day one, others worked to maximize appropriations wins.

Those voting for the 'deal' are the ones furthest away from electoral consequences.

Joyce Carol Oates quoting a tweet that says “wherever he [Elon Musk] goes, he wants to leave”: "wherever he goes, he wants to leave"-- that's because when he gets there, he has brought his own self along; & whatever club he's invited to join has been devalued by the invitation.

Boy watching Homer beat up the krusty burglar: Stop! He’s already dead!

For reference. I might print this out and hang it in my house: