briantedjones.bsky.social

Ah hell's bells, they even shot the dog.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tan suit smiling and giving a big thumbs up

Edgar Wright’s The Running Man

Totally defensible to argue The Isley Brothers are the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Check out the dual cover “Ohio/Machine Gun” off 1971’s Givin’ It Back.

imagine yelling at a thermometer "No it isn't!"

I try to make this point whenever I can, but not a single Beatle was 30 years old yet when the band broke up.

"The single determining criterion for involuntary commitment is danger. Is the defendant a danger to himself or to others. You think you got the horses for that? Well good luck and God bless, but I'll tell you this: The last place you want to see me is in court."

The Epstein story gets a something that is tearing at the heart of the electorate: elite impunity. The idea that wealthy and powerful people can do terrible things *at scale* and face no consequences for them. Whatever political party actually stops it could rule the country for a generation.

A) I feel like the Bond novels are better at this, but Bond himself always felt slightly past his physical prime; B) I think you’re onto a key insight about what’s traditionally made the character work in movies, but that’s been a little worn for a while now.

If they gave me Bond, and they should, I’d do it like True Detective. Young Bond story in the 60s linking up with Aging Bond story in the 80s linking up with Old Bond frame in the 00s.

Joyce Carol Oates @Joyce... 17h O So curious that such a wealthy man never posts anything that indicates that he enjoys or is even aware of what virtually everyone appreciates— scenes from nature, pet dog or cat, praise for a movie, music, a book (but doubt that he reads); pride in a friend's or relative's accomplishment; condolences for someone who has died; pleasure in sports, acclaim for a favorite team; references to history. In fact he seems totally uneducated, uncultured. The poorest persons on Twitter may have access to more beauty & meaning in life than the "most wealthy person in the world."

Elon Musk ' @elonmusk X.com Oates is a liar and delights in being mean. Not a good human.

lol she got his ass and he knows it

If I'm reading the news right, after 10 years of waiting we've finally learned that the Trump health care plan is to liquidate Obamacare subsidies to pay each citizen-shareholder a dividend of $2,000.

I’ll keep pushing this line of analysis because I’m increasingly convinced the clearest path out of this mess is for Dems to adopt a relentless anti-corruption, anti-inequality, anti-oligarchy, pro-democracy platform. The Dem leadership hasn’t realized it yet, but they’re now a reform party.

really lean into homoerotic tension in the scene where Smiley sings his heart out to the silent/immobile Karla in Delhi

finance guys on twitter are like "can't believe zohran hired lina khan. she wants to make it illegal to bundle memecoin futures into junk stocks and sell them to public worker pension plans. the public won't stand for it."

It’s often overlooked (for all the other amazing stuff going on) but Todd’s comic timing in this clip is top notch.

no AI bailout

Great thread, and I think you can say Clinton's style came out of white Southern Protestant churches (informal, funny but not too funny, interactive). Nixon's style was lawyerly in a more modern, less theatrical sense (eg his '78 speech to the Oxford Union).

incredible setup for a new take on Don Quixote

The GA Public Service Commission results last night + the recent reporting on the OK Corporation Commission's disastrous abdication of their regulatory mandate = a real opening for a Dem or Indy reformer next year when Commissioner Hiett's seat is up.

we got to find this guy

I haven't seen any reporting on this, but the proponents of the Oklahoma recreational marijuana amendment withdrew the petition yesterday. Today was the deadline to deliver signatures, and the withdrawal request said they didn't collect enough.

I still do variations on the ass nailer bit

The makeup and prosthetics in the new Springsteen movie are incredible, especially on the horrifying Chickenman. The beak! The fleshy feathers! You can’t even tell it’s Richard Kind.

Quick notes on Electric NE:

1. You only think you’ve heard Bruce howl like a lonesome coyote in the desert (Johnny 99)

2. You’ve never in your life heard a song like this Downbound Train

3. Something vaguely Michael Mann-y about this NE itself

4. This Atlantic C. is incredibly, fascinatingly bad

Electric Nebraska in 50 minutes

@dustinillingworth.bsky.social in the last pages of rereading The Long Walk and thought of you. Hope you’re well, man.

2) those bodies have overwhelmingly used their power to expand human rights, particularly voting rights. If you interpret the Constitutional text in light of these decisions, you’ll consistently end up in lib/progressive “liberationary” place.

Lib/progressive kids aren’t given anything nearly as concrete as originalism in law school, but I think constitutional history supports a theory I call “liberation jurisprudence” which simply notices 2 things: 1) the highest authority under the Constitution are Article V bodies and…

Our two futures: the Judicial Reform Act of 2029, the Executive Branch Reform Act of 2029, the Election Reform Act of 2029, etc., or, the Constitutional Restoration Act of 2030-or-40-something.