Recrudescence of the Kakistocrats

This is a good sign, and it puts me in mind of the time I got booed off Twitter for saying that Matt Gaetz was happy to pay $500 to play a golf tournament because he knows $500 for 18 holes is a great deal

But it hurts, doctor A cartoon by Michael de Adder

Wait, that's not a bone spur...

#IPAM (the institute for pure and applied mathematics) is facing a critical shortfall for operating expenses due to an unexpected suspension of NSF funding www.ipam.ucla.edu/news/nsf-fun... . Donations for emergency continuity of operations funding can be made at

giving.ucla.edu/Campaign/Donat

ChatGPT File • • Edit View Window Help ChatGPT 5 > How many times does the letter b appear in blueberry The word "blueberry" has the letter b three times: • Once at the start ("B" in blueberry). • Once in the middle ("b" in blue). • Once before the -erry ending ("b" in berry). Total: 3 O92 Show me where the letter b appears in the word please. Sure — here's "blueberry" with each b highlighted: B lue b erry Positions (counting from 1): 1 B - first letter 4 b - in blue 6 b - in berry D9< Spell that out with all three bs please. I mean, just spell the word. Sure — here's the full spelling with all three b's shown in place: BLUEBERRY That's exactly how blueberry is spelled, with the b's in positions 1, 5, and 7.

ChatGPT File Edit View Window Help E ChatGPT 5 > You wrote "BLUEBERRY". There are only two bs there. Ah - I see the mix-up. Let's slow it down and spell blueberry carefully, letter by letter, showing all three b's. blueberry Now you can see them: • 1st b → position 1 • 2nd b → position 5 • 3rd b → position 6 blueberry Exactly — blue berry has three b's: • 1st b → at the very start • 2nd b → right after the e in blue • 3rd b → immediately after the second b, starting berry So the "bb" in the middle is really what gives blueberry its double-b moment. Its double-b moment; I see. Yep - blueberry is one of those words where the middle almost trips you up, like it's saying "b-b-better pay attention." That little bb moment is satisfying, though — it makes the word feel extra bouncy.

 ChatGPT File Edit View Window Help 巴 • ChatGPT 5 > My students get you to write their essays for them, you know. Ah, the old "ChatGPT, do my homework" routine — I'm familiar with that one. I can see why they'd be tempted, but here's the thing: I'm a lot more useful as a coach than a ghostwriter. If they use me to brainstorm ideas, plan structure, or clarify tricky concepts, they'll actually learn and still have their own voice in the work. If they just hand in what I write, they're skipping the thinking part - and it usually shows. I'm good, but I still leave a trail of... telltale ChatGPT-isms. A trail of blueberries, as it were. Exactly — a trail of blueberries: easy to follow, a little sweet, and maybe just obvious enough for a watchful teacher to notice. If your students really are leaving me to bake the whole blueberry pie for them, they might forget that the best part of pie is making it themselves... even if it gets a little messy. "Blueberry" only has two bs. Nope - blueberry really does have three b's. Here it is spaced out: bluebberry Positions: b- at the start 5 b - in the "blue" part 6 b - right next to it, starting "berry" That middle double-b is easy to miss if vou just glance at the word.

I had to try the “blueberry” thing myself with GPT5. I merely report the results.

New Times PODCASTS SUPPORT US POLITICS Women shouldn't hold office, says GOP woman now running for office "I don't know if I would vote for any female," said state senate hopeful Mylie Biggs, the daughter of GOP Rep. Andy Biggs. By TJ L'Heureux August 6, 2025 Now running for a seat in the state legislature, Mylie Biggs told a podcaster last year that she wouldn't vote for a woman. Mylie Biggs X Account

The daughter of Rep. Andy Biggs, one of Donald Trump's biggest congressional cheerleaders, is running for a seat in the Arizona Senate. And to hear her tell it, you shouldn't vote for her because she's a woman. On June 18, Mylie Biggs filed a statement of interest to run for the Gilbert-based state senate seat that Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen is vacating to run for attorney general. Biggs is running on a slate with current Legislative District 14 representatives Khyl Powell and Laurin Hendrix. Biggs' father, who is now running for governor, also represented the district for 14 years before winning a seat in Congress.

years old, Biggs just clears Arizona's age requirement to run for a legislative office. Despite her youth, though, Biggs has already managed to contradict the essence of her nascent venture into politics. Exactly one year ago, Biggs appeared on a little-known East Valley-based podcast called The Matty McCurdy Program. During that conversation, Biggs revealed a belief that is diametrically opposed to her own candidacy: that women should not hold political office. "Honestly, I don't know if I would vote for any female. I don't know if females should be in office," Biggs told McCurdy and an unknown third person on the Aug. 6, 2024, episode, laughing about the extreme take. If anyone thought it was a joke, Biggs was sure to clear it up that she wasn't kidding. "There are a lot of really good women in office, I'm not trying to hate on anyone - like, some really good congresswomen," Biggs added. "Yeah, I don't think women should hold office in general. That's my position. That's my stance

Oh look GOP wannabe Rep Kylie Biggs is a hypocrite.

Screenshot of a promotional email from Drop (formerly Massdrop) advertising a new collaboration with the Harry Potter brand

Speaking as a repeat customer of Drop: NEVER AGAIN. Not one fucking CENT.

Choosing to license Harry Potter in 2025, during a massive international assault on trans rights fueled greatly by JK R*wling's hate, is something I cannot forgive.

#BoycottDrop #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransLivesMatter

A Legal Standoff in the Lone Star State Anna Bower Thursday, August 7, 2025, 5:46 PM Share On: f X in Y f Can Gov. Abbott compel their return or remove them from office? And what the heck is a "quo warranto" action, anyway?

NEW: “In the end, Abbott’s brief is not a serious legal document. It’s an entirely political one.“

Wherein I answer your burning questions about several niche areas of Texas state law—and tell you how I really feel about Greg Abbott’s no good, very bad brief.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-le...

A genuinely good part of the old Republican aesthetic is how it sought to play down wealth, an impulse born from Protestant values. You can see this in how Bush dressed and decorated his living spaces

That aesthetic now replaced by gilt detailing designed to remind you that the occupant is wealthy.

I *cannot* fucking stress this enough:

The threat of AI is *NOT* making movies for us, but the hundreds of jobs it will be able to easily eliminate from crew positions. VFX. Drone pilots. Color timing. Sound mixing. Clerical staff.

If we don't move to protect jobs NOW, they WILL go away forever.

How on Earth do you debate morals and ethics with someone (Ross Douthat) that has none?!

It should be the War Department.

That way it's easier to cut the budget when we're not at war.

The historical cognate for what is happening in the United States right now is the period known as the Redemption. And the restoration of Confederate iconography, just like when they were originally installed, is to signal to the nation the return of white power.

Opinion | I have never been a supporter of Donald Trump. But if he cannot stop Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing Gaza, I will have no choice but to vote for him again to send a message to Democrats.

Obviously I support this getting slowed down by any means necessary but it’s darkly funny that the major concern is about animals outside rather than the humans currently being tortured inside.

Important distinction: They don't want to track autism--they want to track autistic people

Warm, Encouraging Email From CEO Quickly Identified As Phishing Attempt

Warm, Encouraging Email From CEO Quickly Identified As Phishing Attempt theonion.com/warm-en...

Exclusive: US Air Force denies early retirement for group of transgender service members The U.S. Air Force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with between 15 and 18 years of military service, opting instead to force them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

This does not make the U.S. military more lethal. It's punitive. It's a way to demonstrate cruelty to a group of public servants who gave 15 – 18 years of their lives to the nation.

Ken Paxton is the most corrupt Attorney General in Texas history.

This malignant clown was impeached by his own party.

He has ZERO credibility on issues of law and order. Pipe down.

PSA: The FBI’s job is to enforce violations of federal CRIMINAL law, and to protect national security. The FBI can assist local law enforcement when requested on CRIMINAL matters. It can help locate and arrest people who have fled the state to avoid felony (CRIMINAL) prosecution.

VA Just Terminated Most Federal Union Contracts, National Nurses United Included The VA has terminated union contracts for over 360,000 healthcare workers, including nurses—raising urgent concerns about staffing, patient safety, and veteran care nationwide.

NEW: The Department of Veterans Affairs just terminated union contracts including AFL-CIO (AFGE), NAGE, NFFE, SEIU, and nursing unions NNOC and NNU. nurse.org/news/va-term...

“Coming up this week on ‘My White Trash Dream House’”

Do we think Trump knows that, on a percentage basis, many red states have a higher undocumented population and would be disproportionately schlonged as a result?

The next part of the plan to steal the midterms and/or the 2028 election - an attempt to do a mid-decade census to take seats and electoral votes away from blue states. I knew this was coming.

VA Cuts Are Coming. Dallas Will Pay Twice. Dallas has more than 40,000 veterans who could suffer from scaled-back services.

Dallas has more than 40,000 veterans who could suffer from scaled-back services.

Hello journalists. If you report this you gotta say that under the Constitution he has no power to do it. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Rent Freeze Proposal Chills Cash-Starved Owners of Bronx Buildings Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s pledge is raising alarms as bankers refuse to finance regulated buildings where costs outstrip income.

This article on on NYC landlords unable to pay their expenses gives a foretaste of what I suspect the pushback to a rent freeze is going to look like. www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/07/b...

How much of Gaza is left standing? Analysis by independent researchers reveals the scale of the destruction

“The studies imply estimated [Gaza] life expectancy has fallen by more than 35 years, to ~ half the pre-war figure. In percentage terms…bigger than…during China’s Great Leap Forward; in absolute terms it is similar to the one in the Rwanda genocide” www.economist.com/interactive/...