Boston Tom Levenson

Update: the US pub date for A Pox on Fools has moved to June 9.

Yup. Very much a non-zero-consequence use.

Yup. New date; I need to correct the post.

The one-l lama, He's a priest. The two-l llama, He's a beast. And I will bet A silk pajama...

That Meta would never be witty enough to go for a three-l llama.

PS: I finally figured out that I could edit the "subscribe" page to make it clear that there is no reason to pay for a subscription to Inverse Square beyond signaling appreciation for the work.

Everything there will be free for the forseeable future.

Respite: At Play in the Fields of the LLMs In which Llama seems, well, just a little too suggestible...

New post up at Inverse Square, this one intended to be about anything but the disasters that besiege us.

TL:DR—this week my job got me access to a bunch of LLMs. I have now played with them a little and was very amused by what one of them made of $TSLA. Read on for a zero-consequence diversion.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

IKR

yes.

Hello, Mr. T.

When you crash through the crazification barrier...

Israel's current government is extremely effective at destruction. Including of any tatters of Israel's claim to be a "light to the nations."

What used to be a long term fear—that a revanchist and expansionist Israeli gov't would spark antisemitism around the world—is now our present reality.

IOW: we're at war with an ever growing cost in US lives and treasure, and a hugely greater cost in misery to ordinary Iranians, for no strategic US interest at all.

One more thing--a deep cut. I will never forgive this, not the writer, nor the editors that allowed this to see print:

An open suitcase on a bed. Mo, the gray tiger cat sits staring at the camera on the left side of the case. Champ, the dignified tux cat, stands on the right side, eying Mo with some suspicion.

More respite.

Travellin' cats:

A jar filled with dried green leaves and stems in the bulk herbs section of an SF market. The label reads "Horny Goat Weed/Epimedium grandiflorum/Hierba de Cabra en Celo"

Hasn't everyone needed this at one point in their lives?

🧪⚛️ From the Nature article by @dangaristo.bsky.social et al., we know that NSF only got its OMB authorization last week. Still, this is very worrying. If awards fall far behind last year despite a budget down ”only” 4%, it will be a basic defiance of congressional appropriations.

Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests.

The first concern with measles is, of course, the devastating health impact.

But this article does a great job of explaining the economic costs.

This is so deeply corrupt

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/u...

I know. But some others here might not.

Another one, which I first encountered on a poster in my 7th grade French class (1971) was “nous sommes tous indesirables”

We are all undesirables.

Which can be read as we are all expendable.

Calling your reps and senators can feel really nerve racking at first. We actually did an episode about this on How to Save a planet which I cannot fucking find but an easy solution is to do it with a friend.

The more you do it the less stressful it gets.

When I grow up I want to be Dolly Parton.

Not the singer–that will never happen; I can‘t carry a tune in a bucket.

Not the style icon; I’m where fashion goes to die.

The good person. That’s what I aspire to…getting better as a human being, caring about and for other humans, more each passing year

A children's hospital is renamed for Dolly Parton and hopes to transform pediatric care in Tennessee Dolly Parton’s name might inspire full-throated sing-a-longs to her working woman’s anthem “9 to 5,” or evoke memories of thrilling days spent at her Dollywood theme park.

“Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital did not share how much Parton donated as part of the naming announcement. But Matt Schaefer, its president and CEO, said her support would ensure ‘every child who walks through our doors receives the treatment they deserve.’”

GOD BLESS DOLLY PARTON

There’s always a post…

The president didn't bother to make the case for war in a marathon State of the Union address and then he fucked off to his sweaty gilded country club so he could literally phone in an unconstitutional war.

Every single Democrat needs to be screaming about this at full volume.

Accurate headlines re recent news would read:

Draft Dodger Launches War Of Choice To Obscure Epstein Revelations

The dek might add:

American President Sends Other People's Kids Into Harms Way To Distract From His Political Woes

Oh, Sooner…best wishes your way. I hope everything goes well with the surgery (obv.) and you get on the other side of this swiftly.

My pleasure!

"Omissional Infanticide" Who pays for the "right" to reject vaccines?

New essay up at Inverse Square, this one on the 19th c. concept of "omissional infanticide"--which, tragically is "enjoying" a revival in the here and now.