Kevin Rothrock

finally a Mile High Club with the motel vibes that have always been missing

За три года силовики завели 76 дел против жертвователей ФБК — исследование «Медиазоны» «Медиазона» выяснила, что силовики завели 76 дел за пожертвования Фонду борьбы с коррупцией, сделанные после запрета орг...

Mediazona counts 76 criminal cases against Russians who donated to Navalny’s ACF since it was banned as “extremist” in 2021. The number is rising faster, but it’s still lower than you might expect, given the general climate. Enough to scare activists without most people noticing.

This Oregon pinball museum has been named the best arcade in America Two Oregon arcades make Newsweek’s top 10 list, with one taking the top spot.

Got the idea from the @oregonian.com btw: www.oregonlive.com/living/2025/...

Took my son today to Next Level Pinball Shop & Museum, in Hillsboro outside Portland, and I've never seen a bigger, more energetic video game arcade in my life. I was like stepping back into my childhood. If you folks are ever in the area, I recommend it.

🤨

Why not the working class?

Folks, is it true that Germans think my first name is for stupid people? If so, should I expect pleasantly low expectations in social interactions or merciless bigotry?

Most of the targets seem to be related to infrastructure connected to Western arms supplies to Ukraine, though there's admittedly been some coloring outside these lines.

How bad of a judge must you be for appellate judges to rule that a defendant was right to drop an F-bomb on your ass?

US and European officials say they’re seeing a decline in suspected Russian state-backed sabotage acts this year, "evidence that Putin’s security services may be reining in a hybrid warfare campaign," either to appease Trump or to recover from field setbacks. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

Indian officials told the NYT today that they will keep purchasing cheap oil from Russia despite a threat of penalties from President Trump. The geopolitics vs China and the national security imperatives of fuel diversity outweigh the Orange Tariff Man. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/w...

More room at brunch for me.

Opinion | Netanyahu Is Choosing to Starve Gaza

"Starvation takes time; authorities cannot starve a population by accident," writes Alex de Waal. "If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel decided tonight that every Palestinian child in Gaza should have breakfast tomorrow, it could undoubtedly be done." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/o...

set the bar on the floor, and people will still trip over it

Yikes. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

"mr. president, a second tweet"

Would definitely give me a write-in option for the 2028 election.

Under normal circumstances, any hint of a nuclear war threat from either American or Russian leaders would be the kind of news that keeps you up at night, but when it's TACO and Dimon, nobody even cancels tomorrow's brunch reservation.

and now you know

somewhere many leagues below the sea, a gene hackman type and a denzel washington type are mutinying against each other for the fate of the world

‘House is gone. Cars are gone’: Paul Whelan’s life one year after his release from a Russian prison | CNN Politics For Paul Whelan, returning to life in the United States after more than half a decade of Russian imprisonment has been “interesting” – and not without its challenges.

"House is gone. Cars are gone. Employment’s gone. No health insurance." I assumed Paul Whelan would write a book about his wrongful imprisonment. If he eventually does, it sounds like the epilogue about life back home will rival the Russia chapters in bleakness. www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/p...

What We Miss When We Talk About the Racial Wealth Gap Six decades of civil-rights efforts haven’t budged it, and the usual prescriptions—including reparations—offer no lasting solutions. Have we been focussing on the wrong things?

Interesting article by Idrees Kahloon on America's racial wealth gap, examining a range of explanations for the persistent inequality. "Consider [...] the possibility that many of the racial achievement gaps we observe today reflect not only race but class." www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

David Trotter · Putt for Dough: On the Golf Space Golf lends itself to spectacle. There’s a special thrill to the shape of the perfectly hit shot, a kind of lingering,...

Enjoyable article by David Trotter on the history of golf, with shots at Trump's cheating and tacky tastes, plus today's "era of rampant techno-narcissism" (clubs, etc.), but also a lot of affection (if I'm reading Trotter correctly) for a game that I certainly love. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Opinion | Brennan and Clapper: Let’s Set the Record Straight on Russia and 2016

John O. Brennan and James Clapper clap back at their Trump admin counterparts, reminding readers how careful Obama was to depoliticize Russian election interference in 2016. They also condemn the Trump admin for whitewashing that inference and call Russia "a mortal enemy of the United States."

Find it out, write it down, get it out there. Leonid Bershidsky remembers pioneering journalist Derk Sauer — Meduza Derk Sauer, who died in Amsterdam on Thursday at the age of 72, was a figure of rare consequence in the history of post-Soviet journalism. A former reporter and editor in the Netherlands, he departed ...

Leonid Bershidsky, Vedomosti’s first editor-in-chief, pens an obituary for pioneering Dutch journalist (and pillar of the Russian independent press) Derk Sauer. (This is my translation of Bershidsky’s text.) meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Mike Yastrzemski Reportedly Traded to Royals from Giants at 2025 MLB Deadline Mike Yastrzemski is on the move at the MLB trade deadline.

Damn, Yaz to the Royals. Sad to see one of the team’s most likeable players gone. bleacherreport.com/articles/252...

Yes, the essay intends to claim that the West will fuel its proxy war against Russia to the last Ukrainian, etc., but the headline as displayed at RIA was deliberately vague and provocative, and Strelnikov’s own argument basically settles on advocating for killing anyone who sides with the West.

Graham said, “[The Ukrainians] will fight to the last person,” so the headline is not a quote at all but a paraphrasing that becomes self-fulfilling with Strelnikov’s own closing lines, ie “мы не будем больше никого ни к чему призывать и уговаривать”