Duncan Murrell

And what are they going to do having freed up an "extra workday" -- feed more notes into the AI slop machine. So, as usual, "productivity innovations" means embracing mediocrity, do nothing for the worker, and hire fewer journalists/workers. Thanks editor guy.

It existed for me. I don't otherwise have an explanation for what I was doing between 2002 and 2015. Maybe I was in the multiverse.

2026 Commandant's Professional Reading List - Marine Corps Association HERITAGE

I've thought the reading list of the Commandant of the Marine Corps has been pretty good over the decades: www.mca-marines.org/commandants-...

JD Vance and his motorcade very likely cost Alysa Liu the Gold Medal in the Short Program at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

JD’s entourage consists of more than a dozen aircraft (one for food), 100 vehicles, 200 staff and guests.

When you are one of the most hated people on the planet security is…

American star Alysa Liu couldn’t get to the Milano Skating Arena. She and her coach and choreographer were stuck on an official Olympic bus, blocked from the arena parking lot by the motorcade of Vice President JD Vance, who attended the team event.
100 Suburbans in the tiny streets in Milan.🤦‍♀️

Vance’s Lavish Motorcade Wreaks Havoc at Winter Olympics The vice president almost prevented an American from performing her scheduled skate.

Well, of course he likely ruined Alysa Liu’s chance at a gold medal with his idiotic motorcade of *dozens* of Suburbans blocking the way into the arena. She barely made it in time to skate the performance, let alone warm up and go through her pre-routine. www.thedailybeast.com/vances-clunk...

Follow-up: I should acknowledge that a lot of academic research in psychology, sociology, and criminal justice (to name a few) requires that researchers sometimes interview monstrous people. But Ariely's emails to Epstein over a decade and a half are the emails of a friend/buddy, not a researcher.

What was the human behavior of Epstein, at that point a convicted sex trafficker, that interested you, Ariely? Where did this research appear in your academic publishing? We've read your emails, they are not expressions of interest in academic research. Unless "the redhead" is some sort of code.

Statement from Veterans For Responsible Leadership
January 24, 2026:

Today, Veterans For Responsible Leadership mourns the killing of Alex Pretti, a Minnesota resident, U.S. citizen, and healthcare professional who served veterans through his work as a nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But I do know these agents are remarkably reckless about weapon discipline — how they secure their weapons — and in a struggle like that it feels more likely that one of those loosely controlled weapons went off, and their training is so poor their only response to uncertainty is murder.

Ok, I’ve watched that video 6 times now. It’s unclear where that first shot comes from, but even if the murdered man was in possession of a firearm, I don’t see how he could have employed it.

The list of the 17 that did sign his Board of Peace document is a real rogue's gallery of the most prestigious leaders of all time! Victor Orban (natch). Azerbaijan! Qatar! Pakistan (that's legit). Mongolia! Armenia! Lots of superpowers!

My hopeful guess is that the Greenland threat will turn out to be a TACO, as the administration realizes 1) how much damage Europe could do the U.S. with real trade sanctions, and 2) That the Europeans have real militaries that, together, would make it impossible to invade that Arctic ice ball.

I'm surprised that more foreign governments haven't revoked their Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) with the U.S. that allows, among other things, U.S. Navy ships to pull into their ports for resupply, other logistical support, as a base for training exercises, etc. Leave the U.S. Navy stranded.

I'm a follower for a variety of reasons, but I only engage the weightlifting content and commentary, which is always A+

No doubt. That guy hasn't seen a kettlebell in his life.

The album cover for Minutemen’s 1984 album “Double Nickels on the Dime.” A photograph from the back seat of a dark-haired young man in a plaid shirt driving a car with a white steering wheel on the highway to San Pedro. His smiling eyes are visible in the rearview mirror.

I’m 1984, this is a legit pick, but holy shit that was a good year. I’m having a hard time with this challenge. I’m going with this one, not trying to be a deep-cut asshole, but this one was important:

Government Shutdown Fallout: A Reminder That We Still Need Health Care for Gig Workers, Sole Proprietors As the government shutdown deepens economic pain, millions of gig workers and sole proprietors are being hit hardest by rising health costs.

And the 16.5 million self-employed workers who may not lose their healthcare automatically (unless they drop it) will see more than a doubling of their healthcare premiums per month. Both parties have little interest in that cohort of workers. It's shameful. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/10/22/g...

Mike Johnson’s girlfriend at camp last summe lives in Canada, you wouldn’t know her.

My healthcare premiums are going up 30%/month next year. And my plan wasn't subsidized -- this is just an increase for a regular BCBS subscriber in my state. Subsidized plan subscribers are going to get it worse, for the moment. Check yours, post it here, and thank Trump. #healthcare

The Marines have some roles in the physical security of the White House. I'd imagine that a giant ballroom full of people, with open windows everywhere, would be a security issue. Secret Service has main role in all this, but the Marines have some role.

We can’t be parsing Hegseth’s aryan tattoos while giving Platner’s (charitably) dumbshit one a pass. We need to be outraged at both, and intolerant of both. And he’s acting like a paranoid pol now. Come on, we’re better than this.

Hey y’all, @votevets.org , @altusmc.altgov.info , when are we going to talk about Platner? This Marine vet doesn’t think we should give him a pass because he’s a vet and we want more vets running for office. He f-ed up.

YouTube video by 4K Remasters “Are We the Baddies?” — That Mitchell and Webb Look

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h242...

We are less safe now,

Marco Rubio betrayed intelligence assets, actual people who were in U.S. custody and who will certainly now be murdered by Bukele’s goons back in El Salvador, so that Bukele could cover up his agreements with and ties to MS-13. Don’t believe them when they talk about their war on drug cartels.

Gutted the CDC again, leaving the federal government nearly powerless to respond to public health emergencies; invented the fiction that "antifa" is an organization, with a "founder" whose "girlfriend" they "arrested"; and House Repubs continue to move heaven and earth to protect Trump's pedo bros

This week Trump goons zip-tied children in the streets of Chicago, attacked a priest and journalists; Trump lackeys made it clear that they prefer cutting taxes for billionaires than preventing your healthcare premiums from skyrocketing or paying the military; and Trump crashed the stock market

Seriously, you can look away, bro

This is just absolutely wild. Trump is nowhere in Steve Coll's books. Lawrence Wright was writing about UBL in The New Yorker in the 1990s. ABC *interviewed* bin Laden in 1998. UBLwas very high profile in 1998 after U.S. embassy bombings In Kenya and Tanzania.