Philip Eil

A foundational aspect of the current American dystopia is the rampant and flagrant lying -- including the assertion that all of the terrible shit happening simultaneously right now is, in fact, a "Golden Age."

A pop-up ad that reads: WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE! Sign up for news and updates from the Trump White House! Your email address

I'm doing some research on Trump 2.0 executive orders which brought me to the White House website. And this was a pop-up ad I got when I was there.

"Welcome to the Golden Age," indeed.

The fact that they'd be this sloppy and careless communicating this extremely sensitive news does not bode well for the rest of this war (which Congress did not approve).

Slurs Filled a Chat Created by a Republican Party Official in Florida

passive voice final boss grand champion honorable mention award for turning slurs into a sentient thing that can do actions www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...

A guy taking off his headphones in disgust.

When I'm watching a documentary and they roll out the AI-created footage.

Awww. 😍

Come see my popular talk "How Maps Lie:"
At the Salter Library in Longmeadow MA on March 10 at 6PM
and at the Norwood Library in MA on March 12 at 7PM

Color photograph. A long haired tan and black tabby kitten with cerulean eyes is perched atop a tan colored platform on a cat tree. She looks absolutely peaceful and has her face stretched a bit towards the camera as if to get closer. The photo has a very soft focus.

“Come closer…closer… I have a story to tell you.
It begins with a brave and majestic floof, a mysterious red dot, and a battle for the ages…”

#cats #BlueskyCats #gato #CatsOfBluesky

Oh my goodness! This is too cute!

I, for one, am looking forward to a YouTuber who goes by "The AK Guy" restoring the integrity of the seat Rep. Tony Gonzales holds.

"Gonzales’ exit from the race clears the way for YouTuber and activist Brandon Herrera to represent the GOP in November. Herrera, who owns a gun business and calls himself 'the AK Guy,' thanked GOP leaders on Thursday for holding Gonzales 'accountable for actions that have tarnished the office.'”

“Finding an impression of [an] animal squatting in the mud and preserved with such fidelity is quite a scoop,” says Jakob Vinther, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol in England, who was not involved with a new study describing the find in Current Biology. “The animal literally cemented itself—and its nether regions—into eternal history like the movie stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”

You could spend a whole journalism career waiting for a quote like this. Sublime.

Full article: www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

This is a gold-medal lede. No notes. 1,000/10.

"Around 299 million years ago volcanic eruptions buried a patch of mud in what is today central Germany. Amid impressions of scales, tails and feet that fossilized in the patch was something else: Earth’s oldest known 'butthole' imprint."

Good 🧵:

A selfie with an adorable calico kitty — Jill — on my shoulder.

Things are very bleak out there. But, on the plus side, we have cats.

I know I -- a longtime Gmail user -- should not be shocked about Google being creepy with me. But still.

Note: Google Terms of Service and the Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy apply to Gemini Apps. Google will process your data as described in the Google Privacy Policy and the Gemini Apps Privacy Notice. Gemini can make mistakes, including about people, so double-check it. *** I have highlighted the last sentence about mistakes.

This part of the fine-print on the Google Gemini emails welcoming me to the service (which I didn't opt in to) is interesting, though.

Two emails from Google Gemini. One subject reads "You're now using Gemini on web." The other says "Hey, Philip, welcome to Gemini."

I got two emails indicating that I signed up for Google Gemini when I absolutely did not.

I was researching it, but I sure as hell never opted in.

Creepy.

I don't believe there are plans for a livestream. But I can ask! It's a good question.

But the first talk I did was on Zoom, and I'd be open to doing another one in that format!

It looks like I'll be giving a version of this presentation -- an overview of the Wyatt's history -- that'll be open to the public, on Thursday, April 9, at Providence's First Unitarian Church. 7 p.m.

I'll share the link to the official event page when it's up.

Justice Department publishes some missing Epstein files related to Trump The Justice Department has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld.

NEW @npr.org: The Justice Department has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld.

But 37 pages of records are still not public.

More:

A four-day stretch of of weather predictions for Providence, RI, getting steadily warmer by the day, starting with highs of 48 degrees on Saturday and ending with forecasted highs of 70 degrees on Tuesday, March 10.

The Vince McMahon meme, where he gets progressively more surprised and excited, ending with red laser eyes.

I just did the Vince McMahon reaction meme while looking at Providence's 7-day forecast.

Tomorrow at @symposiumbooks.bsky.social in downtown Providence!

Patients say measles 'worse than expected' as Utah hits 350+ infections, doctors say Health officials plead with residents to vaccinate against measles as Utah hits 358 infections.

120 hospitalized

I stayed at Taylor Swift's rumored wedding venue: Here's what it's like This coastal hotel is rumored to be Taylor Swift's wedding venue, so I checked it out. Here's what it looks like.

New addition to the ProJo/Taylor Swift mega-thread. From March 4.

A quote: "When I heard the persistent rumor that Taylor’s June wedding would be at  Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, it made perfect sense. This refined coastal hotel is just steps from Swift’s private estate."

Unprecedented levels of Markwaynery.

Hollywood is "woke" until you want to use its products for a hype-reel for your bullshit, ill-thought-out war.

Similar vibe to @owillis.bsky.social's post from the other day about the news media:

Not the main point at all but these are the same people who say Hollywood -- which produced about 85% of the films/TV shows referenced here -- is woke, un-American, etc.