A hopepunk tragic optimist

Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. No Star Wars or trek,
Lotr, marvel Disney or Pixar.

Further evidence that widespread covid vaccination is better for everybody.

The surprising countries pulling off stunningly fast clean energy transitions | CNN Fossil fuel production is still increasing and the United States is in climate denial mode. But, globally, the use of renewable energy is on the rise — and several countries are shifting to solar fast...

Spoiler Alert: Canada is not one of them. At all. Quite the contrary #cdnpoli #MarkCarney www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/c...

During ratification of the 14th Amendment, senators discussed whether the Citizenship Clause would apply to the children of immigrants and resoundingly concluded that it did. The text and history all point in one direction and the counter-arguments are patently fraudulent. I am going to lose my mind

After this weekend's racist attacks on the EU, I've written a column about the moral obligation to stop posting on X.

Oh no, wait, I wrote it *two years ago* when it was blatantly obvious what was going on and how it would get much much worse.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Attention Bajoran Workers: Listen to our Deep Space Dive episode. (Gul Dukat is truly one of the best TV villains ever)

Like you, I am exhausted. "The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." - Garry Kasparov #sensemaking

Star Trek TNG proves viewers crave a spaceship that looks like a mid-budget hotel. Fictional starships are usually metallic and futuristic but the public wants warm lighting, beige wall panels, and soft carpets like a Ramada Inn

September 17, 2024.

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
...
Moloch whose mind is pure machinery! Moloch whose blood is running money! Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb!

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
...
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
...
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Most discussions about “misinformation” treat the problem as if people simply don’t have good enough critical-thinking skills. It sounds intuitive, but it’s not entirely accurate. The problem isn’t just individual ignorance, it’s the structure of the information environment people are placed into.

Red Texas is a leader in renewable energy deployment.

The state's solar surge proves that the energy transition defies politics.

This is why I’m cautiously optimistic — in the long run.

Sounds like we are going back to a 19th-century "sphere of influence" world order. Everyone is beginning to mark their territory. The EU is the wild card. Both Russia & the US covet pieces of the EU. China, meanwhile, needs a rich, but not necessarily strong Europe, as a buyer for its goods.

Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?

From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent

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

This guy in #philly needs a home. #cats #philly #adopt www.reddit.com/r/philly/s/5...

The greatest Star Trek movie, other than Voyage Home.

Opinion | The Supreme Court Is Failing at Its Most Important Job

The Supreme Court Is Failing at Its Most Important Job - NYT Editorial Board

On Monday, “the court hears a challenge to Mr. Trump’s power to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission — an action that flew in the face of a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/06/o...

obviously, this too is a real concern that likely impacts ppl with scam products or fake versions of products hitting marketplaces like Amazon or Temu or whatever...

I guess if everything's fake then nothing can ever be made good again, which seems to be exactly what Trump was bought and paid for

Agree with this, completely. THE most important change that should come in 2028 is expanding SCOTUS.

I'm still pushing for 27.

YouTube video by Disney UK We Built This City (on Rock and Roll) - From Disney's The Muppets | HD

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU4m...

“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda.

It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”

- Garry Kasparov

"AI chatbots can sway voters better than political advertisements
A conversation with a chatbot can shift people's political views—but the most persuasive models also spread the most misinformation." www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/04/1...

Han shot Greedo first -- the original version will be in theatres again in February 2027.
www.starwars.com/news/star-wa...