John dEFR0G's next band is Deranged Bum

This is a really important corrective to a lot of reporting today. Trump did not—and cannot—federalize MPD. The police force remains under the ultimate control of the mayor.

imagining "Big Balls Beatdown" in a middle-school social studies textbook

To hear Trump, Hegseth, Duffy etc al tell it, this is what NYC is like everywhere all the time.

(Also DC, Oakland, Baltimore, etc)

Imagine being so wedded to a certain style of horse-race political analysis that you "nothingburger" away the very likely possibility that the current President of the United States *raped children* and is using the vast and powerful apparatus of the government he controls to cover it up.

Bunnies comically act out the lyrics to “snakes” by the pixies. “Snakes are coming to your town” is shown simply as snakes coming to visit the bunnies

The full chorus is: “Snakes Are coming to your town In tunnels underground Some travelling overground A plague for our mistakes They'll be right next to you Snakes up against me too There'll be nothing to do When the rattle shakes”

It’s meant to be scary, but “Snakes” by the Pixies is actually the cutest song ever

THIS is some of the most helpful insight & advice I've seen so far.

Keep going & don't ever give up ✊🏻

Just going to reiterate that in 2016 Trump inherited the lowest murder rate of any president in 50 years. He set reality aside, gave his “American Carnage” inaugural address, and was then the first president in 30 years to leave office with a higher murder rate than when he started.

AI video is almost there: no amount of post-hoc squinting can tell fake from real.

Losing our last bastion of verification is no joke. Trusted news can help with high-profile events, but what about everyday life? Recipe for chaos.

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/o...

Part of it too was probably just not being ready to read non-contemporary lit I couldn't relate to at 16. Later I started reading classics for fun. Some were great, some were still boring (yeah I'm looking at YOU, Moby Dick), but reading for fun made all the difference. 2/2

With rare exceptions the "classics" we were assigned in high school bored me. I eventually realised it was because studying a book wasn't the same as reading it, and I didn't like that the "quality" of classic literature was deemed immutable. Like, you can't say Moby Dick isn't a great novel. 1/2

This piece nails it. Crime is declining across the country, but Trump is exploiting random anecdotes as a pretense for authoritarian power grabs. We all have to be clear that this entire stunt is a dangerous sham built on a foundation of lies.

every single time

Breakthrough the noise:

This step in DC is a pilot project for militarizing other American streets.

President Trump just said so.⬇️

Even when DC violent crime is down 26 percent.

Reminder of August leaked memo (via @gregsargent.bsky.social): newrepublic.com/article/1987...

A teenage 4channer was beat up by two 15 year olds in DC, which was spotted and quickly stopped by nearby police. He told his friends, the richest man in the world and the Vice President of the United States, that he was pummeled by a dozen adult Romanians. A week later, Trump federalized DC police.

The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities

darkly funny that the architects of the assault on american higher education are themselves products of america's elite universities. maybe we shouldn't take their word for it on their motivations. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...

HK’s same-sex partners bill: Public reactions, LegCo debates, what's next Many lawmakers claim the same-sex partnership bill erodes the institution of traditional marriage. LGBTQ activists, meanwhile, criticise the bill for not offering enough protection - but see it as a s...

Forgot to comment on this milestone in the LGBT+ legal landscape in HK.
The TL;DR is: progress however small is progress, but the government continues to do the absolute bare minimum to expand the right of LGBT+ people, against its will.
hongkongfp.com/2025/08/03/e...

I saw Deranged BUM open for Fugazi in Carbondale in 1993, etc.

Apartheid Israel murders 100s of journalists to hide their genocide. Source: watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/

Framed - One Frame Challenge Guess the movie from a single frame. Every guess reveals more of the frame. Come back each day to see if you can guess the movie!

Framed - One Frame Challenge #252
🎥 🟥 🟥 🟩 ⬛ ⬛ ⬛

framed.wtf/one-frame

Framed - The daily movie guessing game Guess the movie from 6 frames. Come back each day to see if you can guess the daily movie, or visit the archive to answer the days that you missed!

Framed #1249
🎥 🟥 🟩 ⬛ ⬛ ⬛ ⬛

framed.wtf

Albert Ho, has changed his plea from not-guilty to guilty in court today in the case where he and 2 other standing committee members of the HK Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China are charged with "inciting subversion to state power".

‘I don’t expect to live a normal life’: how a Leeds teenager woke up with a Chinese bounty on her head After speaking out about the suppression of Hong Kong’s protests, Chloe Cheung was targeted by Beijing, followed on the street and abused online. Yet she remains defiant

"The bounty will follow me forever. It’s a form of psychological warfare – telling the world that dissent has no safe haven," says Cheung.

But if China’s aim was to dissuade her from taking a public stance on HK or criticising it, it hasn't worked. Cheung says she has no intention of staying quiet.

Summer nights in HK subdivided flats can feel like 44°C: survey Summer nights in HK’s subdivided flats can feel as hot as 44°C during the sweltering month of July, a survey by local concern groups has found.

Summer nights in HK’s subdivided flats can feel as hot as 44°C during the sweltering month of July, a survey by local concern groups has found. In full: buff.ly/GvZ87ja

HUGE wife. Absolutely MASSIVE Scottish wife.

We saw this last night and both agreed that (1) it's the most unintentionally hilarious anti-drug PSA ever, and (2) if anything it'll make space oil even more popular with the kids.

(We're also 100% convinced that no one who does space oil looks anything like that.)

6% of DC voted for Trump. It’s repeatedly rejected him.

His hatred for DC is white-hot.

What he does Monday comes exclusively his from hatred for nonwhites and other citizens who reject him.

It has nothing to do with violent crime rates in DC—which are plummeting dramatically.

Israel kills Al Jazeera journalists in targeted Gaza City airstrike - Committee to Protect Journalists New York, August 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled to learn of the killing today of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and M...

An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza.

Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF.

#NotATarget

Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...

I've been thinking about this speech in parallel with some pundits suggesting Trump's spell is breaking and his cult may turn on him. I'm not convinced of that (yet), but that speech shows clearly that if Trump falls and Vance becomes POTUS, he'll be just as dangerous. Possibly more so.

Realtors Are Using AI Images of Homes They're Selling. Comparing Them to the Real Thing Will Make You Mad as Hell Realtors are starting to use AI-generated images of houses that don't exist to sell expensive properties, inciting anger.

The primary use case is fraud.

There’s no “inching” needed.
When someone tells you who they are-

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...