Who Wants To Bury A Billionaire?

We pay for the government. Every time they're evil or callous, that's your money going to fuck with people.

I don't want them to be careful or slow or cowardly, I want them to sell tickets to the trials.

YouTube video by CGP Grey 🇺🇸 DOES YOUR FLAG FAIL? Grey Grades State Flags!

CGP Grey used a slightly different set of criteria to judge the state flags. It's a fun watch. (He also has videos on hexagons ("the bestagons"), freeway and airport runway numbers, and how pirate ships worked, from both the captain's and quartermaster's perspective.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4w6...

The state flag of Virginia. Lady Liberty is standing over the dead body of a slain Roman man, presumably Julius Caesar. A crown lies discarded on the floor. Liberty is flexing with her spear, one breast exposed and giving no fucks. Beneath her is written "six semper tyrannis," which is Latin for "we'll love to stab tyrants around here; it's our favorite thing to do." (Virginia's actual record on this point is... inconsistent. But the sentiment is nice.)

A Definitive Ranking of U.S. State Flags 🧵

1. Virginia: A+

• Strong anti-fascist message
• Tits out for liberty
• Her outfit looks comfy
• Fuck bras; don't need 'em
• That lady just teabagged Caesar's corpse
• Girlboss

In my 30 years as a #StarTrek researcher, this will forever be one of my coolest finds: This screenshot from #StarTrekTNG's "Qpid" shows both 24th/25th century Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard ⬅️ and 20th/21st century thespian Sir Patrick Stewart ➡️ on screen at the same time. How, you ask? 🧵 1/6

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.

OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.

A billboard with two smiling lawyer-type white dudes on it. In big bold letters the sign reads: INJURED? GOOD

Today's vibe:

The Justice Society battles one of the classic Nazi super villains, but I can’t think of the guy’s name. Green Lantern, Alan Scott, is pulling the Nazi into the air with a construct of a bald eagle. He says, “It’s been a while since I tangled with a Nazi.“ Hawkman is in mid air looking like he’s about to swing his mace like a baseball bat into the bad guys‘s face. Hawkman says, “They’re nothing special, Alan. Their bones break like everyone else’s.“

A still from the Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror III" (Season 4 Episode 5, if you must know). A repairman is holding up a cursed, homicidal Krusty doll and pointing to the back, where there is a switch labeled GOOD and EVIL. The switch is set to EVIL, which was the problem, you see.

I keep waiting for this guy to show up, go "yep, there's your problem," and flip the switch on Reality back to Good.

We're on a planet this time! Our POV is up on a balcony overlooking a manicured garden. Walking through this garden is an away team of Riker, Geordi, and Troi. They are accompanied by a couple of human civilians in colorful suits. In blue text we see the episode title: "The Masterpiece Society."

Star Trek TNG, S5E13: Troi locks Picard in a turbolift so she can tell him about her one-night stand. Geordi uses his VISOR to yeet a star.

5/10 a half-baked morality tale about eugenics that inexplicably doesn't mention the Eugenics Wars

Gavin Newsom smiling

Gary Callahan aka The Smiler from Transmetropolitan, also smiling in a way eerily similar to Newsom

a lot of words have been written over the past couple of days about why people don’t trust Newsom but if you need the argument in visual form, here you go

"There should be no dealbreaker"?

Breaking with Joe Biden on supporting Israel's genocide was a dealbreaker for Kamala Harris, which is why Trump won.

Maybe try telling the Democratic party that they just can't be as perfectly feckless and corrupt as they'd like to be.

He isn't strong or a leader and he's only ever done one thing to fight Trump, who he is otherwise mostly morally and ideologically adjacent to.

What's more important is that Dems should probably be looking for a candidate that Progressives aren't reacting to with instinctual revulsion.

The trolley problem 99% Hitler bullshit isn't going to work anymore. And if you want to sell that tired "perfect is the enemy of the good" nonsense, you'd better make sure your candidate is "good" first - and Newsom is not good.

Foolproof billion dollar business idea:

• dupes of your favorite business software from 2009
• you pay money for it once
• you never hear from me again unless there's a software update
• don't give me your personal information, I don't wanna know

Profoundly disappointed to learn that @ultimateguard.bsky.social would betray trans gamers with this soulless cash grab.

I must have bought a dozen Boulders over the years but that ends now. Tabletop gaming should be a refuge for everyone.

We're in a nebula. The Enterprise D is looming over the wreckage of a Federation research vessel. The smaller starship is missing pieces. Most of its saucer has been destroyed and the warp nacelles are blackened and burnt. In blue text, we see the episode title: "Hero Worship."

Star Trek TNG, S5E11: Data spends time with his fan club and conducts a routine chemical analysis on a soda. Geordi tells a funny anecdote about being set on fire. Data, Troi, and Picard interrogate a child

7/10 second consecutive episode about a traumatized kid that gets crushed by a bulkhead

Incredible Community Note.

In Ten Forward. A man and woman are sitting at the bar, talking to a male bartender. Looks like a couple on a date. The woman has a crazy hair piece. An elaborate braided portion connects to the back of her head, and then that bit turns into a pony tail that's longer and more voluminous than a horse's tail. This hairdo is almost as large as the lady. Logistically, I'm wondering how she puts her head on a pillow to sleep at night. Anyway, in the background Worf is walking into the bar with his mom. In blue text we see the episode title: "New Ground."

Star Trek TNG, S5E10: Worf berates a traumatized two-year-old for behaving dishonorably. For the second consecutive episode, our intrepid heroes almost destroy a friendly planet. Worf goes to therapy.

6/10 unrelated, but that lady in Ten Forward has a wild hairdo

A weird guy in a tan jacket is poking around in Picard's ready room. This is "Professor" Berlinghoff Rasmussen, this week's Problem. He leans over a book in a glass display case, as if attempting to read the text. In blue text, we see the episode title: "A Matter of Time"

Star Trek TNG, S5E9: The crew causes global warming on purpose. Picard debates with a time traveler over whether plot spoilers violate the Prime Directive

7/10 the crew falls for a con artist again

The Fantastic Four movie is set in America. This is to explain why Sue Storm doesn't have access to maternity leave.

We need to do to Star Trek what Ben Collins did for The Onion.

Star Trek should belong to us, not some soulless, boot-licking corporation

The Enterprise D is zooping through space, but not very fast because the stars aren't terribly streak-y. In blue text, we see the episode title: "Unification I"

Star Trek TNG, S5E7: Picard is the last person to see Sarek alive. Then he commanders a Klingon warship and flees across the Neutral Zone to consort with a Romulan senator and a suspected spy

9/10 after years of grueling research, TNG discovered how to reference the events of prior episodes

The Enterprise D is hanging out in space, chillin'. In blue text we see the episode title: "The Game."

Star Trek TNG, S5E6: Everybody gets hooked on Space Balatro. Wesley crusher makes out with Ashley Judd. After too much time in gamer culture, the crew gets problematic

7/10 has the distinct whiff of a moral panic, like someone in the writers' room was mad at how much their kid was playing Nintendo

We're on the bridge. Everything is dark and the lights are red, never a good sign. Miles O'Brien (who can swim across the English Channel without getting wet) is picking himself off the floor with an expression of "Oh this is going to take hours to fix." In blue text we see the episode title: "Disaster." Mood.

Star Trek TNG, S5E5: Keiko has a baby. Troi seizes command of the ship. Riker decapitates Data. Picard confronts his most formidable adversary yet: the turbolift

9/10 "everything is on fire and we're all gonna die" remains a timely and relevant message

How are you doing tonight? Having a good time? Ready to party? Have fun? Well that was the last guys. Wrong fucking band. We're here to have a bad time. (Synthesizer playing)

2025 in a nutshell

The Enterprise is zooping through space in a big hurry, stars streaking by with loooooooong tails, which is how you know they're going maximum fast space speeeeeed. In blue text we see the episode title: "Silicon Avatar"

Star Trek TNG, S5E4: The crew chases an evil snowflake. Data befriends a bigot and drives her insane. A space monster devourers Riker's long term, long distance, low commitment, casual girlfriend

7/10 first contact success rate this season is 1:2, rookie numbers, gotta pump those numbers up

Will Black Americans Vote for a Socialist—Zohran Mamdani? By demeaning the mayoral candidate’s agenda, Andrew Cuomo offends the Black tradition of community care.

My latest for @thenation.com: Will Black Americans Vote for a Socialist—Zohran Mamdani? “To put it plainly, the myth that Black Americans can only support establishment Democrats has conditioned us to take our suffering—which is a result of capitalism—for granted.” www.thenation.com/article/poli...