Chris Stroupe

I believe HL Mencken (?) had something to say about that

Headline from Harvard Crimson: "Harvard President Garber Tells Faculty He Is Not Considering a $500 Million Deal With Trump."

Text of story: Harvard prez Garber says report of a deal "was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials." NYT ran with it as a story.

Important details from this story:

1) Yet another news-break by student journalists (this time @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social) www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

2) Harvard saying "see you in court," not "let's make a deal."

3) Per Garber, WH/MAGA leaked news of a "deal." NYT then ran with it.

Opinion | What to Do When the President Acts Like a Five-Year-Old?

I just fired my RA after they told me that a key result in our project had a p-value of .06

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/o...

BREAKING: Ghislaine Maxwell Moved to Club Fed — Just Like I Warned You The cover-up has begun. Ghislaine gets comfort — the victims get silence. And just like I warned you, the plan is unfolding in real time.

"Don’t let anyone tell you Maxwell was a bystander or just Epstein’s pawn. She was an active predator, a planner, a participant. A woman who used her privilege, her access, and her power to destroy young girls’ lives. And now they’re giving her comfort?"

open.substack.com/pub/levremem...

Bagdad Bob

BREAKING: White House announces selection of new Commissioner of Labor Statistics

Trump was impeached, twice.

Considering posting this every day until the Smithsonian corrects its exhibit. Feel free to join me.

Our friends at The Haven have put out a request for supplies.

Please take a minute to see what they need and consider supporting The Haven and our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

mailchi.mp/thehaven/sto...

This @today.yougov.com poll is why I'm going to become the Joker.

The US murder rate in 2024 was likely down nearly 30 percent relative to 2020 and down nearly 50 percent relative to 1990.

It’s hip to be square

BREAKING: Department of Defense Makes Eleventh Hour Decision to Maintain Critical Hurricane Satellites After critical feedback, Navy officials step in to keep data flowing from three U.S. Defense-operated weather satellites scheduled to go dark this week

According to a Navy spokesperson I spoke with, the 11th hour decision to keep data flowing from the three weather satellites was due to critical feedback it received. A testament that our voices and concerns do very much matter. My full afternoon update ⬇️

A Quiet Policy Shift That Could Devastate American Science Why NIH’s sudden move to multi-year grant funding should alarm every principal investigator and university

A little known - but hugely consequential - part of the government’s changes to science funding:

open.substack.com/pub/sciencea...

What a graph

The Twilight Zoning Board You’re traveling through another neighborhood, a neighborhood built from a maze of zoning-board restrictions. A journey into a redlined land whose ...

"A used-car dealer is forced to reveal the truth after selling a car to an old man, who claims the vehicle is haunted. There isn’t a ghost in the car, but instead a college student living in it after residents sued the local university to block more student housing."

Early 20th Century European history

Large-scale processing of within-bone nutrients by Neanderthals, 125,000 years ago Neanderthals intensively processed a minimum of 172 large mammals for grease and marrow fat, 125,000 years ago.

So they found a 125,000 yr old Neanderthal fat rendering plant & I have thoughts.

Knowing that they loved saturated fat SO MUCH that they industrialized to get as much of it as humanly possible?

Makes me feel seen, heard, supported, etc www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

TACO

The most pro climate President ever

a medium-small golden retriever puppy sitting on green grass behind a wire fence, looking at the camera with mouth slightly open

The girl next door

Charlottesville cooling centers announced CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- Due to extreme high temperatures being forecast for the weekend, the City of Charlottesville will be designating a host of locations as cooling centers.

Charlottesville cooling centers announced

A USDA spokesperson just told me that out of the 1,400 USFS staffers with firefighting qualifications who took voluntary resignations and retirements this year, they were able to get only 65 back into active duty.

This will help you find a public radio or television station that stands to lose 50 percent or more of its revenue:

Republicans may think they're owning the libs by defunding the CPB. But it's one more example of just how alienated they are from mainstream culture. NPR has a radio audience of 20+ million unique listeners per week and 50m digital. PBS, 40m unique viewers/month and 50m digital audience/month. 1/2

Trump on Powell: “I was surprised he was appointed” (Trump appointed him)

The FBI's Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Had Nearly 3 Minutes Cut Out Metadata from the “raw” Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the “missing minute.”

NEW: Metadata from the “raw” Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the “missing minute.”

Just saw a video go by that I would have been very interested in if it had been an article instead of a 33 minute video. Write an article!!

BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.

“The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.“

whoop-de-deux

Pesto freezes well...