April 20
Oops, I did it again.
Hegseth texted Yemen strike information to his family in a second Signal group chat on his private phone. This time the group chat included his wife and brother, as well as Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, who were fired last week for leaking sensitive information. [more inside]
Matters of Fact
Verification Tools for Journalists (and other peeps too). hat tip to Kevin Kelly @ Recomendo.
Cherry pick the findings that only fit with the intention of the author
Setting the Record Straight About ADHD and Its Treatments "Since its publication last Sunday, The New York Times Magazine article “Have We Been Thinking About ADHD All Wrong?” has been called provocative and controversial. We would like to add a few adjectives: misrepresentative, biased, and dangerous." ADDitude Magazine rebuts the article, as does Dr Russell Barkley in a 4-part series on YouTube.
Refreshingly strident
I don't have boundless optimism over the political potential of writing a couple of reviews a year, but ultimately criticism is communicative. There are strong claims to be made that art does not have to communicate. It can express, present, or provoke. Art can be gestural, but I don't think criticism has that luxury. To consider the reader a real person means it's actually worthwhile to try and communicate. from Writer Andrea Long Chu Breaks Down What Makes a Piece of Criticism Work [Cultured]
Skit about what a mess Australian public holidays (Bank Holidays) are
Skit by comedian Jimmy Rees about what a mess Australian public holidays (Bank Holidays) are because they differ so much from state to state and even city to city and town to town. Here is also the link to the comedian's official Facebook account, which for some reason I couldn't link the skit from.
Is Trump Administration a Keyword-Driven Techno-Dystopia?
There is no doubt that the Trump Administration is conducting a war on DEI, but what is its targeting algorithm?
Based on a published DOJ letter to scientific journals, such as CHEST (via Boing Boing), a peer-reviewed medical journal for chest physicians, targeting algorithm appears to be DEI keywords (such as "transgender"). Never mind that "diversity of viewpoint" in a scientific journal is logical non-sequitur.
In the meanwhile, the COVID.gov info site has been replaced with a propaganda page blaming Democrafts for covering up origins of COVID: Chinese Lab Leak (via Ars Technica).
But wait, there's more... [more inside]
The complex chemistry of the bong
“What is the science behind the water pipe? Are those bubbles actually making your toke any healthier? It’s complicated.” [more inside]
a monstrous, supremacist survivalism
The rise of end times fascism Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor analyze the right wing as an apocalyptic movement. (SLGuardian) [more inside]
The America I Loved is Gone
Librarians are dangerous.
Librarians are dangerous. A public service announcement,
by Brad Montague
The wrong kind of rococo
The frustrations of the day, the sense that we have done all we could and it still didn’t work—and the need for those of us in the arts to find some source of value and meaning that is not only political, without giving up on the country—are entirely Yeatsian. So are the vivid expressions of righteous anger and the manifest commitment to conventions and traditions that a victorious opponent may tear apart. from Reading Yeats in the Age of Trump by Stephanie Burt [The Boston Review, 2016] [more inside]
April 19
‘Now there is a further difficulty with the light’
Am I bid 999,999,999,000 Hudson's Bay Rewards points?
Bankrupt Canadian department store the Bay is holding a fire sale and auctioning off its past, including pelts, paintings and the company's royal charter that was signed by King Charles II in 1670--one of the most significant document's in the country's history.
Easter time the best season to boost awareness of native animal
Easter time the best season to boost awareness of native animal.
The Pilbara (Australia) is one of the few regions in the country where bilbies are still found. This pastoralist has been working to protect them on her station.
A slight return to the old days of the mirthful international conflict
An Aussie-themed cafe has been ordered to destroy $8000 CAD of Vegemite by order of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. [more inside]
The ultimate symbol of irrationality and credulity
“The debunking of unicorns as an ontological category did not prevent their horns from remaining desirable adjuncts to enlightened cabinets,” Spary writes, “even if they declined in financial value and changed in significance. They now became a symbol, not of extreme rarity, but rather of the program of putting the world to rights for which the collection stood.” from The Undying Unicorn [jstor; paper]
A Day with the Saucier
This Week in LGBTQIA+ News: April 19 Edition
Welcome to the first of hopefully many regular posts of news for, of, and about the LGBTQIA+ community. A lot of it is transgender-centric right now, but that's because of things going on in politics. I do promise more when it happens.
But just to show how bad the US Government is (we'll get to the UK in a moment), let's just note that a judge had to issue a ruling that the Federal government couldn't take funding for school lunches from all of Maine because of two trans kids in sports in the state. [more inside]
The Next Terror Attack
Other actors than these three are also possible. I fear, though, that whether I am right or wrong about the specific source, there can be no doubt that we are far more vulnerable than we were three months ago. And any major attack, regardless of origin, would lead to the same kind of terror management. The people in the White House have no governing skills, but they do have entertainment skills. They will seek to transform themselves from the villains of the story to the heroes, and in the process bring down the republic. [more inside]
Happy Easter from Hunky Jesus and friends!
Attendees describe the day as liberatory, joyful and even sacred. As irreverent as Hunky Jesus is, Sister Merry Peter explained, the contest embodies a core principle of the sisters: “using the symbology of these traditions to open up a conversation with a society.”
Last year, state Sen. Scott Wiener stepped up to the mic and called out, “Let’s hear it for triggering the right-wing extremists!” He earned cheers from the crowd — and coverage from Fox News.
Marathon
Alberto Mielgo's Reveal Cinematic Short - "Calling this a 'Reveal Cinematic Short' does not do it justice. This is a short FILM." (previously) [more inside]
More to do with morality and religion, rather than pornography itself
Even though many people who grew up in religious, sexually conservative households have strong negative feelings about pornography, many of those same people continue to use pornography. And then they feel guilty and ashamed of their behavior, and angry at themselves and their desire to watch more. from Science Stopped Believing in Porn Addiction. You Should, Too [Psychology Today]
April 18
The masterful design of the two-liter plastic soda bottle
Bill Hammack, the engineerguy, (previously) explains the engineering behind your typical soda bottle, as well as juice and sports drink bottles.
Sermon against Christian nationalism
Texas politician James Talarico delivered a sermon against Christian nationalism that did not mince words.
When Marlon Williams started writing in Māori, his music shifted
When Marlon Williams started writing in Māori, his music shifted.
One of New Zealand's most celebrated voices has embraced te reo Māori for his new album, arriving during a tumultuous time for Māori rights.
Where Discoveries Began
The National Science Foundation has updated its priorities The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) was established in 1950 to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense. In response to the new administration they have updated their priorities. It's not good. [more inside]
No Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"So here was a book about Japanese fencing, written by two renowned teachers which in its history and tradition section was illustrating real-sword samurai fighting using an actor! Incredible, even if he was “Japan’s leading actor of international fame."
Kurosawa’s samurai: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. [more inside]
Kurosawa’s samurai: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. [more inside]
Which Year?
An Equine of an Alternate Hue
LiveScience: Researchers detail a method called Oz (referencing the green-tinted glasses worn by the people of Emerald City in the "Wizard of Oz" books) that uses lasers to precisely deliver tiny doses of light to select cone cells in the eyes of five participants, making them the first humans to see a color beyond our normal visual range. They named it "olo" 😁, a bluish green with "unprecedented saturation". The closest thing to olo that can be displayed via normal means is the color teal represented by the hexadecimal code #00FFCC, however that doesn't come near to matching the intensity of olo. [more inside]
Panelescent Lighting
First patented by GE in 1938, I became aware of electroluminescent
lighting in the small, flat pale green night-lights plugged into various sockets around the house. It was the early 1960s, when "Panelescent" lighting could also be found in some automobile dashboards. The Apollo Command and Lunar Modules used EL display panels manufactured by Sylvania. Its most recent appearance may have been those Timex Indiglio watches from the 1990s. [more inside]
The bard of almost making it in America
If it were up to the world, perhaps that would still be his legacy: an obscure figure whose works scholars cite on rare occasions, but not someone whom readers or critics care about. Most books, as an eminent librarian once said, have rarely been read. But the pantheon of artistic greatness isn’t up to the world only. from
How Princetonians Saved The Great Gatsby [more inside]
I have no idea how these people got their sofa wedged into their corner
What's the optimum shape for the largest sofa that can fit around a corner? The surprisingly complex answer comes courtesy of a post-doc researcher in Seoul. [more inside]
news from rainy fascist terf island
On Wednesday, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terms "man", "woman" and "sex", when used in the Equality Act 2010, refer to "biological sex". This ruling means that trans women are not legally considered women in the UK under the EA (and similarly trans men). [more inside]
April 17
A South Australian man faces life in prison for sacrilege
A South Australian man faces life in prison for sacrilege. Here's what the controversial charge means. The controversial law of sacrilege — which carries the same maximum penalty of life in jail as murder — still exists in South Australia, but some say it shouldn't.
It is really weird to be charging someone with sacrilege since Australia is mostly a quite secular society - in the 2021 Census, 38.9% of Australians said that they had no religion, and in the past ten years churches all over Australia have been sold off as housing due to low levels of church attendance.
No one in the history of the internet ever clicked on the SITEMAP!
25 years ago a plucky little Flash animation comedy appeared online for the first time. It rapidly gained a following, and its fortunes accelerated when a certain vampire-staying TV show threw them a shout-out. Well it's 2025 now, and they're still around. Not the vampire-slaying site ya goof, HOMESTAR RUNNER IS STILL AROUND, and they made a new cartoon to celebrate their twentyfifthaversary, Back To A Website (that one's Youtube), and, yes, also on their website. (And hang out on their main homepage for a few seconds for some character easter eggs!)
The Sideboard of Zefram Cochrane.
“Well, the inclusion of designer furniture on Starfleet ships and Federation planets makes sense—nice things are available to all in a post-scarcity society.” He points to French designer Pierre Paulin’s Ribbon Chair (1966), which has been featured not only in Star Trek: The Original Series but also in the sci-fi TV series Space: 1999 and the film Blade Runner: 2049. “Paulin chairs are always used to denote luxury..."
'Chairs in Space: When Design History Inspires Science Fiction"
'Chairs in Space: When Design History Inspires Science Fiction"
US Citizen held as “unauthorized alien” in Florida jail.
A 20-year-old U.S. citizen, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, is being held in Florida's Leon County Jail, charged with illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien” — despite the judge examining his U.S. birth certificate in court. [more inside]
Miles Davis' "On The Corner"
On the Corner was in part an effort by Miles Davis to reach a younger African-American audience who had largely left jazz for funk and rock music. It was one of Davis' worst-selling albums, and was scorned by jazz critics at the time of its release. Critical and popular reception has improved dramatically with the passage of time. Many outside the jazz community have since called it an innovative musical statement anticipating subsequent developments in styles including funk, jazz, post-punk, electronica, and hip hop.* [more inside]
Fully Automated Luxury Dystopia
ICERAID’s website describes it as a “GovFi” — government finance, a term coined by ICERAID founder Jason Meyers — protocol on Solana that “rewards citizens for capturing and uploading images of criminal illegal alien activity.” from This ICE-snitching app is actually promoting a meme coin [The Verge; ungated]
The unlilely friendship between Groucho Marx and... Alice Cooper
By us, for us
North of North is a reminder of the values that we Canadians want to live up to. (slTheTyee) [more inside]
5 Lego Walker robots vs 7 different obstacles
@hunterofmammoths: “The sheer amount of personality these machines have is staggering. I came in with zero expectations and 30 seconds in I was rooting for the two-legged simple walker like a parent at a kiddie soccer game. Unrivaled anthromorphism.” 5 Lego Walkers vs 7 different obstacles from the Brick Experiment (Youtube) Channel.
Music after Death
Revivification is an art installation where after his death Alvin "Lucier’s “brain matter”—hooked up to an electrode mesh connected to twenty large brass plates—to create electrical signals that triggered a mallet to strike the varying plates, creating a kind of post-mortem musical piece."
This piece was planed by Lucier before his death. [more inside]
"Interviewing is a craft one does not pick up overnight."
Writer Eric Berger, who recently scored a fantastic interview with the "stranded" astronauts from the ISS, talks about what he's learned in 25 years of interviewing people. It's in an article on Arstechnica, titled “What the hell are you doing?” How I learned to interview astronauts, scientists, and billionaires"
The future lies to the north
We are in the middle of a ‘great reshuffle’ of land. Over the past two centuries, nearly every society has reallocated land ownership and property rights. And because of the power that land confers to those who hold it, this reshuffling has set societies on distinct trajectories of development. It’s helped some countries become more egalitarian and productive, whereas for others it has embedded racial hierarchies, deep inequalities and economic stagnation. The global population bubble and climate change will amplify the reshuffling, and a picture of how that will happen is starting to emerge. from On unstable ground [Aeon; ungated]
April 16
Fairy-wren song reveals bird's personality
Adventurous or aggressive? Fairy-wren song reveals bird's personality. The complex songs of the tiny social bird could advertise whether it's a risk-taking explorer or a stay-at-home defender, and influence how it chooses a mate. (Side note: Australian wrens [Family Maluridae] are not related to European wrens [Family Troglodytidae] at all, it was just that when Europeans invaded Australia they went "this bird is small and lives in bushes/shrubs, so let's call it a wren".)
The Tissue of Dreams
"Commercial [clothing] patterns are designed to be a disposable tool of the garment creation process, which makes them difficult to preserve. [The Commercial Pattern Archive] project electronically captures and records commercial pattern data in order to preserve these scattered and vanishing records of European and American culture. The Commercial Pattern Archive is an official project of Save America's Treasures. CoPA-Online contains over 55,000 scanned images (garments & pattern schematics) from 61,000 commercially produced patterns, dating back to 1847." [more inside]
A combination of hooks and suckers that is unique
Laundry tumbling in the drum
"His victims, brave people who all chose to come forward despite knowing the cost, have received no justice but have had their motives questioned, been put through the court of public opinion, blamed for their actions. And then they became facts buried in links hidden in footnotes." [more inside]
The Colorful Cult of Le Creuset
“Like Hermès and Chanel, Le Creuset (luh cruh-SAY, according to the official video, meaning French for crucible) is a Gallic legacy brand that has flourished in the modern global marketplace by becoming collectible while also remaining functional. And collectors have turned what was once a niche brand into a near-cult, perpetually entranced by new lines, colors and shapes.”