chbarts

A quarter of voters in the Texas Democratic primary have never voted in a primary (D or R) before. #txlege

A third of voters being non-Dem regulars is fucking enormous.

Getting a full course of shingles vaccines early (there are two) is probably the best thing I got out of my cancer.

Could a vaccine prevent dementia? Shingles shot data only getting stronger. Latest data hints that benefits seen so far could be underestimates.

Could a vaccine prevent dementia? Shingles shot data only getting stronger. arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

Getting a full course of shingles vaccines early (there are two) is probably the best thing I got out of my cancer.

Could a vaccine prevent dementia? Shingles shot data only getting stronger. Latest data hints that benefits seen so far could be underestimates.

Fascinating - I just listened to Freakonomics podcast #664 discussing repurposing drugs for other uses, then saw this news article about how shingles vaccines can reduce dementia risk in some elderly people by OVER 50%. Mechanism uncertain, but incredible research! 🧪

arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

For my part I will not forget how much of the ostensible left credulously retweeted Peters in the wake of the Ohio train disaster a few years ago because he was saying vaguely anti-establishment and anti-Biden stuff.

Buffalo Police have opened a homicide investigation after Border Patrol agents abandoned a blind refugee miles from his home.

If confirmed, Border Patrol will have accounted for 33% of Buffalo's homicides this year.

Yes I know she retweets literal Nazis approvingly now, but she herself is still treated as part of the left:

(this is not the first time she's doing this, it's a regular theme; this is just from a bunch clearly written in agreeing response to Oliveira's latest)

Washington journalists were undisguised (and unapologetic) that they hated Biden because most of the time he just boringly unobtrusively did his job.

Many people are asking why Dems don’t adopt the tactic of the dumbest man in Congress, which didn’t work and made everyone mad at him, and which now isn’t possible after Thune changed the rules because Dems were doing so much procedural disruption

AOC didn't campaign on "you're doing it wrong" and then saying every dem in congress should do something that wasn't real.

I’m less down on Kat in general than others I’ve seen, but the thing about this pitch is that she’s fundamentally not running for Congress to be a congressperson; she’s running for Congress as a perch for activism. She talks about exploiting parliamentary procedure but she doesn’t seem to grasp it.

64. I wonder if the reason all those Star Trek series that feel like failed experiments are so disappointing is that Star Trek is the story of an experiment (a functional society where we like and take care of each-other) succeeding and spreading.

I think the thing with modern Star Trek (as with a lot of Heinlein's work) is that it descends from a tradition of Leftism that isn't recognized today; a leftism that was perfectly comfortable with military-adjacent or -mimicking organizations that intervened in non-liberal societies and situations.

"we're going down to this planet of weirdoes to straighten 'em out" is a fairly common plot in Star Trek but you couldn't get away with just having that be on TV today, you'd have to Comment on the Morality of Colonialism...

58. "Biblically Accurate Angel" can just as accurately be a many-eyed wheel as it can be the burly dude who jumps Jacob and wrestles him all night, and I will die on this hill*

*Nobody's gonna ask me to die on this hill.

56. I think Speed Racer (the movie) is the most entertaining Speed Racer media and also the most entertaining Wachowski project. (Although I have admittedly not seen Cloud Atlas, which always comes up.)

31. You may see Maypo or Chiffon Margarine cited as the archetypical commercial that outlived its product, but put some respect on Chicken Tonight. Did you know it wasn't even a chicken product? It was like Hamburger Helper or some shit. No one even knew what it was -- but we all said it.

Webcomics cured me of this. So many have good characters, story, and themes with really ropy art.

23. I used to think David Lynch didn't like answers, and that made me dislike his work.

But now I see: David Lynch hates *giving* you answers. He has an answer. He wants you to find an answer. He's perfectly happy if you got a different one. But you absolutely *must* find it yourself.

I get that.

19. If you like song lyrics, you like poetry.

Or some Welsh words. Crossword puzzle constructors do it until they cwm.

10. Someone should compile a list of pop culture references that mostly survived because they're crossword puzzle answers when the creator writes themself into a corner -- like Asta. Way more people know that dog than have ever watched The Thin Man series.

6. Adding all these other properties to Magic: the Gathering is just doing Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue or Super Smash Brothers, but in cards.

(Laudatory)

I always felt like they broke the spell (*snicker*) on "world immersion" when they stopped making the card borders look like magic itself.

4. Picard and Sisko: Good opinions, might not get me home

Kirk and Janeway: Will get me home, terrible opinions

3. Dana Scully:
- Sensible
- Kind
- Intelligent
- Scientifically grounded
- Religious
- Gives people who *aren't* those things a chance, situation-depending
- Faces situations that challenge her ideals boldly and practically

We can all learn something from her. (When the writers don't phone it in.)