Michael A. Gall

Comic. Scatter chart with Emperor Palpatine character age on Y axis and Ian McDiarmid age during filming on X axis. Plot with descending arrow beginning from Return of the Jedi (emperor age 90, McDiarmid age 40) → Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones, and The Phantom Menace (emperor age 50-70, McDiarmid age 50-60) → The Rise of Skywalker (cloned body, undefined age) with a gradient vertical line (McDiarmid age over 70) → Now (emperor age under 10, McDiarmid age over 80). [caption] To continue the trend, they should make a Star Wars movie where 81-year-old Ian McDiarmid plays the emperor as a toddler.

Emperor Palpatine

xkcd.com/3157/

You are in the house of Elrond. And it is ten o'clock in the morning, on October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know.

They're saying it. The only actual insight he's ever had is that it doesn't matter what people say because Constitutionally-enabled, SCOTUS-protected, completely unchecked executive fiat power is a helluva drug.

I feel this line in my bones. Literally.

I wish the Mets a very happy October, sitting at home in their PJs, crying in the fetal position on giant piles of Steve Cohen's wasted hedge fund money.

Can confirm. Once you let birdbrains into your circle, they set up shop and invite others. They're mostly harmless, though, so it's best to let them hang around like a pet, making disgruntled squawking sounds in the background every once in a while.

In fact, the endgame for most AI is basically a cat. It will know everything what we like and don't like, what we hope and expect to see and hear and experience. It'll just give zero fucks as it marginalizes many human experiences in society altogether.

The bots are constantly learning in a way I don't think most people can appreciate, honing their responses like a cat makes its meow cuter over time to better manipulate its human.

I get it. A hobbit's gotta have standards. Tolkien describes in tender detail the little portable box of salt that Sam carried around as a reminder of home, but also for practical reasons, like because he hypothetically saw himself maybe cooking a roast chicken while on their grand adventure.

Me to wife, 7:30PM: "I'm so glad Nola is back just in time for Wheeler's injury. Makes me feel a little better going into the playoff run."

Me to wife, 7:45PM: "OH COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

To the people saying “good, let the stupid people die” that’s not how it fucking works. Unvaccinated people get other people sick. Babies too young to be vaccinated, immune compromised people, people who can’t get vaccinated for a medical reason, etc. without herd immunity, people will fucking die.

This country is headed in the WRONG direction, and it's dragging the Post-WWII global order along with it.

wapo.st/4g4zVvf

Under Dr. Oz, Medicare is launching a pilot program that will use AI to determine whether patients would be covered for certain procedures.

Companies running the program will be paid a share of the savings from rejecting claims.

Who in their right mind voted for this? No one.

Confidence in institutions is already collapsing. The next frontier is that we'll increasingly not be able to believe traditionally trustworthy sources of information.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed by this account are my own and do not necessarily reflect the positions or opinions of any entity, organization, or jurisdiction cool enough to employ me.

Bluesky now platform of choice for science community It’s not just you. Survey says: “Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky”…

FUCK YEAH SCIENCE

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

You do need legal standing to file suit, though, and individual citizens often have an easier time establishing a nexus between these policies and harms they're experiencing because of them. Problem is, SCOTUS has been loosey-goosey with overturning lower court injunctions against the Trump regime.

There are plenty of lawsuits being filed and even injunctions being issued by lower courts, but the Roberts Court is the real root cause here. Claiming that they're "doing nothing" is wholly disingenuous. Anyone can file suit...you don't need a special "legal authority" to petition a judge. 1/2

This morning's SEPTA commute was nose-to-nose with several hundred of my closest sweaty friends again. And this is all BEFORE the service cuts next week.

We consistently get exactly the type of society Republican voters believe we deserve, and I'm sick of being both a punching bag and a cash cow.