- Ten Ways to Get a Tee Time at Augusta National – via my son
- What Is Italian Brain Rot? The Surreal TikTok Obsession, Explained
- A cephalopod captured on video in March has been confirmed as a juvenile colossal squid, the first live colossal squid observed in its native habitat.
- I visited the Disney website to find the hours of the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival and was asked to complete a survey. Here was my answer to their question about Lightning Lane passes: “I have been an AP holder (at Disneyland for 5+ years and at Disney World for 10+ years) and still absolutely cannot understand how Lightning Lane works. It’s incredibly confusing compared to Fast Passes and it’s reprehensible and indefensible that AP holders must pay for Lightning Lane passes.”
- Italy enacted a law in March 2025 making it so only individuals who can prove at least one parent or grandparent was born there will can be considered citizens from birth.
- Wow. The U.S. government is phasing out the penny, whose use has spanned more than two centuries.
- The Sports Bra, a small chain of bars that only show women’s sports on their TVs, announced that it’s opening new locations in Boston, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, and St. Louis.
- Bobby Tables: A guide to preventing SQL injection
Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing:
- POTUS resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of twelve countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions.
- The [current] administration revoked EMTALA guidance for emergency rooms to provide abortions when pregnant patients’ lives are in danger.
- Even the pro-gun lawyer working at the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives opposed the current administration’s move to allow the sale of forced reset triggers.
- While ICE patrols court houses for law-abiding immigrants, friends of the President get a free pass.
- Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled after the head of the disaster agency said he had not been aware the United States has a hurricane season.
- Close your eyes and point in almost any direction, and you’ll find an area of knowledge loss.
- Andor was phenomenal. Full stop. It wasn’t simply a great Star Wars story. It was a brilliant story even if you had — quite inconceivably — never even heard of Star Wars. It also managed to stay full-throttle awesome from S1E1 through S2E12, and somehow it did this even though everyone watching knew exactly what happens next, which had to have been unimaginably difficult to execute. (And I am not ashamed to admit that I didn’t realize Andor was “and/or” until several episodes into the first season, even though anyone unlucky enough to be the recipient of a professional email from me can tell you that’s one of my favorite conjunctions.)
- Related? The CIA Secretly Ran a Star Wars Fan Site
- The New York Liberty Became the First $450M Women’s Team
- I (mostly) agree with the list Bruce Feldman compiled of the 25 best players of the millennium (so far). I have bigger issues with the list David Ubben put together of the best college football games since the turn of the century. I was somewhat surprised to see Florida ranked tenth in the list Stewart Mandel made of the best programs of the 2000s. It’s hard to believe how long it’s been since we had the best QB in history.
- Take It on the Run by REO Speedwagon holds up.
- Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz recently sent a home run out of PNC Park at 122.9 mph (against the Milwaukee Brewers), recording the hardest hit ball in the Statcast era.
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction:
- Dozens of staffers walked out when NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya promoted an unproven COVID origin story.
- [Current] administration orders Michigan coal plant to stay open
- The Belief System Behind the Palm Springs Bombing
- “[D]on’t worry about making your products safe for your customers. Even if you kill them, just pay a small fine and move on.” Apparently not prosecuting criminals is how to make America great again.
- It’s always a bummer to learn that a perfect domain name is already taken.
- Every high school theology, civics, social studies, and American history teacher should show the Bible lesson scene from The West Wing (The Midterms, S2E3) at least once each semester.
- Five Quick and Easy Habits Suggested by Sports Psychologists is a phenomenal resource. Read it.
- The DMARC Guide from Global Cyber Alliance is an invaluable tool for anyone who manages email servers.
- An endurance swimmer aims to become the first person to swim around Martha’s Vineyard, getting in the water during the start of white shark migration season, in a bid to change perception of the predators shaped by Jaws. See also: Jaws Turns 50
- I still can’t get over the serendipity of Harvard not realizing they had an original copy of the Magna Carta. It would be very convenient if someone could find a copy of Constitution somewhere soon. It seems like almost everyone currently in Washington, D.C. hasn’t read it lately.
- Long-distance relationships are always difficult, even for KGB spies.
A Hazy Shade of Winter:
- Moderna pulls application for COVID–flu combination shot. – via carlbergstrom.com
- Majority of US states now have laws banning or regulating cellphones in schools, with more to follow. [Maybe parents wouldn’t be so desperate for a way to contact kids during school if we weren’t always terrified of them getting shot.]
- An AI-generated summer reading list was published in major newspapers. [Tip of the iceberg. Canary in a coalmine. Whatever you want to call it. It’s going to get worse.] – via boghuma.bsky.social
- Diseases are still spreading, but the CDC is no longer warning the public about them.
- The House and Senate both voted to loosen regulations on air pollutants like dioxin and mercury, which are associated with higher cancer risk.
- This might be the dumbest thing he’s ever said, and he’s said some of the dumbest things anyone has ever heard in human history. (And that I don’t even need to tell you who he is because you already know supports this claim.)
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
— UCLA Coach John Wooden
- How Jeffrey Lurie, Jason Kelce, and the Eagles saved the tush push.
- Police in France have found the long-lost graveside bust of Jim Morrison.
- It was never meant to be proprietary. That’s just one of many good points Anil makes in MCP is the coming of Web 2.0 2.0.
- Pope Leo XIV heads the Catholic church from Vatican City, where a secret tennis court awaits.
- Holy smokes. That Preakness win by Journalism was incredible.
- The epic collapse of Florida governor Ron DeSantis is well deserved.
Stuck in the Middle With You:
- The current administration is trying to repeal a Biden rule that requires lead water pipes to be replaced. – via kellster.bsky.social
- U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1M and $5M worth of shares on April 2, just before the POTUS “Liberation Day” press conference that sent the stock market tumbling. – via darthbluesky.bsky.social
- I strongly agree with this statement, because it’s hard to stomach the idea that Everyone Is Cheating Their Way through College – via my friend
- Is anyone truly surprised that Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has no idea what habeas corpus means? See also: The Questionable Case of Kristi Noem’s $50 Million Luxury Jet
- Criminal investigation launched related to Hope Florida, the sham charity championed by DeSantis and his wife. – via progressflorida.org
- An extraordinarily rare original of the Magna Carta has been discovered, hiding in plain sight in the archives of the Harvard Law School.
- Texas Democrats are trying to ban Republican Senator Ted Cruz from attending college playoff games, saying he’s “a well-known curse” for teams in the state.
- A baby born with a rare and dangerous genetic disease is growing and thriving after getting an experimental gene editing treatment made just for him. – via The Associated Press
- How cool is this? Rick Steves was on The Simpsons
- “These kids are ticking time bombs” – The Threat of Youth Basketball
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry:
- The Environmental Protection Agency plans to weaken Biden-era rules that limit exposure to “forever chemicals” in drinking water.
- Kristi Noem has been working with the producer of Duck Dynasty to pitch a reality TV show titled The American, featuring immigrants competing in a string of challenges “for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship.” – via brendannyhan.bsky.social
- The U.S. Register of Copyrights was abruptly dismissed last weekend just 24 hours after her office released a report stating AI companies can’t freely use copyrighted movies and TV shows for training. – via The Dailies
- NYU denies diploma to student who criticized Israel in commencement speech
- In response to latest POTUS executive orders, RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual-violence organization, has barred its crisis hotline staff from sharing resources specific to LGBTQ people, immigrants, and other marginalized groups. – via maggieastor.bsky.social and sarahweinman.com
- The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the state can keep banning abortions around six weeks after conception by agreeing with the earliest interpretation offered of when a heartbeat starts.
- In September of 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them. (I love stories like this!) – via mikeachim.bsky.social
- The Wikipedia List of Unexplained Sounds – via my son
- I enjoyed this quick profile on Howard Katz, the man behind the NFL schedule.
- Someone on bluesky asked, “Do you remember the hardest you’ve ever laughed at anything?” That was an easy answer for me: I remember watching the SNL All-Drug Olympics sketch when it aired in October of 1988. I was fifteen and thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. I still think it’s hysterical.
- Related: I’ve seen Overboard (1987, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn) at least 1,000 times and Mother’s Day 2025 was the first time I noticed that one of the VHS tapes in Grant’s collection is clearly a porno titled Pink Clam.
- Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, became an instant hit among trading card collectors.
- Can confirm: It Only Tuesday
How Is Any of This Happening?
- POTUS is attempting to place Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the guy who defended him in his porn star hush money trial, as the interim acting librarian of Congress. I cannot fathom how anyone is acting like this is… normal. (How does the AP even allow that headline?!) POTUS and/or anyone in the Executive branch cannot simply hire or fire someone who is de jure employed by the Legislative branch. It’s the Library of Congress, not the Library of the President, ffs!
- I couldn’t have said it better myself: POTUS accepting a $400 million jet from the royal family of Qatar is banana republic shit.
- The ICE detainment of progressive Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is a cautionary tale for multiple reasons.
- A contestant (justifiably!) feels betrayed after spending $10,000 auditioning for a fake singing competition on the Nathan Fielder
HBOMAX series The Rehearsal. - “This is insane. Republicans have inserted language into the budget reconciliation bill that would ban states from regulating AI in any capacity for 10 years.” – via bcmerchant.bsky.social
- Employees who use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini at work face negative judgments about their competence and motivation from colleagues and managers, according to a new study. – via sethpartnow.bsky.social
- How to Win an Argument with a Toddler is much better than I expected. – via Links You’ll Love
- It took me twenty-four years, but I finally thought to “Select All” in my Apple Music (née iTunes) library and clear the “Sort As” values for Title, Album, Album Artist, Artist, and Composer.
- Kangaroo on the loose in Florida found safe. / Alligator attacks, kills woman canoeing with her husband on Lake Kissimmee. / Woman arrested after raccoon named Chewy found with meth pipe in driver’s seat during police stop. / Yellowstone National Park reports first 2025 bison goring.
- Pretty much every respiratory intervention or product on the market is not supported by science or research, except one: deep breathing.
- 4×3 is a pretty tricky daily puzzle.
- Bravo has greenlit The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, expanding the franchise to its 12th U.S. city. – via The Dailies
- Unbreaking is a new newsletter which plans to detail how the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us. – via Laura Olin
Death By A Thousand Cuts:
- The [current] administration is invoking the “state secrets privilege” in an apparent attempt to avoid answering a judge’s questions about its mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.
- “Rolling Stone reached out to all 53 GOP senators after the president said he didn’t know whether he needs to honor the nation’s founding document. None replied.” – via thetnholler.bsky.social
- Since returning to the White House in January, POTUS has declared eight national emergencies.
- The President of the United States frequently has no idea what he’s signing and has to have it explained to him.
- Newark, New Jersey Mayor arrested at ICE facility / Department of Homeland Security is threatening to arrest members of Congress over the kerfuffle.
- Abortion abolitionists want women who get an abortion to face criminal charges.
- Even in his darkest time, Van Gogh was able to capture, with eerie accuracy, one of nature’s most complex and confusing concepts a century before scientists had the technology to do so. – via my dad
- The Los Angeles Rams will hold a minicamp in Maui this June; players will also help build four Habitat for Humanity homes in Lahaina, a historic town destroyed by wildfires in 2023.
- Self-styled prophets are claiming they have “awakened” chatbots and accessed the secrets of the universe through ChatGPT.
- And now: The Nations of the World, brought to you by Yakko Warner!
- The Death of the Screenplay Industrial Complex – via The Dailies
- People with the lowest LDL levels are less likely to develop dementia. – via Arnold’s Pump Club
Good News for People Who Like Bad News:
- Trillion-dollar Pentagon budget proposal cuts competitors out of NASA budget and could add billions to SpaceX defense contracts.
- The new president of the University of Florida is slated to make up to $3M/year, more than any other public university president in the country and more than twice what he made at the University of Michigan, and all he has to do is be a boot-licking sycophant. I am terribly disappointed in my alma mater and fearful of what this portends.
- Senate Democrats chose not to use the leverage they had to deal with the latest POTUS crypto scam, effectively allowing politicians to speculate personally in perhaps the most fraud-riddled financial market in human history. Pathetic.
- ICE efforts in Washington, D.C. thwarted by solidarity.
- God help us all, but I <gasp> agree with Laura Loomer, regarding the POTUS nomination of Casey Means – who has no government experience and dropped out of her surgical residency program: “[W]e can’t have a pro-COVID vaccine nepo appointee who is currently embroiled in a medical malpractice case and who didn’t go to medical school in the US,” as the surgeon general.
- I cannot believe this has happened three times now: More Troops Injured as U.S. Planes Keep Plunging into Red Sea
- I’ve been using the free native Apple Reminders app for over a decade now and at this point I’d be lost without it.
- The Best Black Friday Heist: They Told People It Was a Scam. People Paid Anyway. – via @froggyb.bsky.social
- How to read the entire Dog Man universe in order
- “If you’re going to talk shit about Kamala Harris‘ Bluetooth avoidance, please be aware Taylor Swift also follows a similar threat profile. For paparazzi spying on new music files before release.” – via SwiftOnSecurity
- If you didn’t read this the previous time I posted it, here’s a second chance: AI is a great idea if you think nobody at your company is great at what they do. [See also.]
- Did you hear about the cannibal who was expelled from school? He was buttering up his teacher.
- Olympic Gold Medalist Dominates the 100m at Her Kid’s Sports Day Event – via kottke
- Last year, Pakistan installed an incredible 22 gigawatts of solar power – more than Canada has ever built, and more than the UK has added in the past five years combined.
- I’ve (finally) started watching Andor S2 and am riveted. It’s definitely not as kid-friendly as the usual Star Wars fare, but I think it’s fantastic.
Hand Covers Bruise:
- POTUS signs (technically non-binding and illegal) executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR.
- Despite their formal attire, penguins simply aren’t known for conducting commerce with the USA.
- Migrants held in Texas fearing deportation to notorious El Salvador prison work together to form human SOS.
- Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, thousands of high school students in Oklahoma will be required to learn about debunked claims that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud. The lesson will not be part of a course on conspiracy theories, but an official component of the new social studies curriculum created by Republican Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.
- A third of parents with children aged 0 to 13 reported wishing they had more time to read to their children, and the number of parents saying their children have too much schoolwork to read books has risen significantly. – via kottke
- The official White House account posted an AI-generated picture of the POTUS holding a red lightsaber on Sunday, May 4th – the unofficial Star Wars day – intentionally mocking the point of the entire franchise. – via my dad