Trump & Musk have discussed placing “spies” in gov’t offices to root out anti-MAGA sentiment so gov’t employees can’t inform Americans about the ongoing coup. (And some fed. employees are using Reddit to get news on what’s happening in their depts.)
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More on Musk’s alarming unconstitutional seizure of the Treasury Department payments system:...
More on Musk’s alarming unconstitutional seizure of the Treasury Department payments system: they’ve had admin access since Jan 31 and have already made changes to the system’s *live code*. (Good luck getting your tax refund if you voted for Harris?)
VERY VERY BAD: Under the direction of Elon Musk, a 25-year-old engineer...
VERY VERY BAD: Under the direction of Elon Musk, a 25-year-old engineer has seized admin privileges to the code for “Treasury Department systems responsible for nearly all payments made by the US government”, incl. Social Security, tax payments, etc.
“Musk’s political project with DOGE is actually quite straightforward: The world’s richest...
“Musk’s political project with DOGE is actually quite straightforward: The world’s richest man appears to be indiscriminately dismantling the government with an eye toward consolidating power and punishing his political enemies.”
It Only Tuesday. “Not only do Americans have most of Tuesday morning...
It Only Tuesday. “Not only do Americans have most of Tuesday morning to contend with, but all of Tuesday afternoon and then Tuesday night.”
Donald Trump’s Executive Orders Aim to Create Jim Crow for Trans People....
Donald Trump’s Executive Orders Aim to Create Jim Crow for Trans People. “The orders also, variously, deny people the ability to exercise control over their own bodies, medical care, and future, while also infringing on rights of free expression.”
Heather Cox Richardson is perhaps too dispassionate in her piece about Trump’s/Musk’s...
Heather Cox Richardson is perhaps too dispassionate in her piece about Trump’s/Musk’s ongoing attempts destroy the US government but these are the facts and her sources list is well-worth making your way through.
Scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder on the 2025 coup: “The people who...
Scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder on the 2025 coup: “The people who now dominate the executive branch of the government…are acting, quite deliberately, to destroy the nation.”
A complete archive of all CDC datasets uploaded before January 28th, 2025....
A simple guide to using Signal for government workers (written by a...
A simple guide to using Signal for government workers (written by a US federal employee). If you need to communicate securely with others (coworkers, journalists, etc.) during this coup attempt, this is the way to do it.
New Tron movie coming, music by Nine Inch Nails. “Tron: Ares follows...
New Tron movie coming, music by Nine Inch Nails. “Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.”
The Japanese Salaryman Eraser Goes Bald Through Use
Designed by Kazuya Ishikawa, the clever Salaryman Eraser features a Japanese businessman who goes bald as you use the eraser. The same company also makes an eraser that turns into Mt Fuji through repeated use.
Tags: design · Kazuya Ishikawa
New Square Feature Allows Customers To Tip With Bible Quote. “We have...
New Square Feature Allows Customers To Tip With Bible Quote. “We have also heard our customers and are working to provide Christian cross and praying-hands emojis as well.”
The Bawdy Graffiti of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This was was written on...
The Bawdy Graffiti of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This was was written on the wall of a bar/brothel: “Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men’s behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!”
The New Comfort Movie Canon: The 10 Best Feel-Good Films of the...
The New Comfort Movie Canon: The 10 Best Feel-Good Films of the Last 10 Years. Includes Flow (which I watched the other day and is brilliant), The French Dispatch, Little Women, and Logan Lucky.
Asteroids vs Space Invaders! Scans of Early 80s Gaming Magazines.
The Video Game History Foundation has launched a digital library of documents, magazines, and transcripts related to video games that’s free for everyone to access. Some of you might be interested in the collection of materials related to the development and promotion of gam...
A web version of Pitfall. I used to play this a lot...
A web version of Pitfall. I used to play this a lot on my cousins’ Intellivision and yep, it’s still as difficult & annoying as I remember it!
Author Mary Childs shares some of her “stress-designed” drafts: On Trying (and...
Author Mary Childs shares some of her “stress-designed” drafts: On Trying (and Really Failing) to Design My Own Book Cover. “It’s a miracle any cover is ever good.”
Brian Eno Believes in Singing
Brian Eno believes that singing is the key to a good life.
Singing aloud leaves you with a sense of levity and contentedness. And then there are what I would call “civilizational benefits.” When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the great feelings — to stop being me for a little while and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue.
(via subtraction)
[This is a vintage post originally from Nov 2008.]
Tags: Brian Eno · music · timeless posts
20 years ago, Seoul tore down an elevated highway and built a...
20 years ago, Seoul tore down an elevated highway and built a park in its place. “The restored waterway has been a triumph.” It attracts millions of visitors, improves air quality, manages floods, cools the city, and hosts plants & wildlife.
Andrea Pitzer lost her mother to Amway. “In many ways, Amway adherents...
Andrea Pitzer lost her mother to Amway. “In many ways, Amway adherents embraced a fusion of conspiratorial thinking and populism that would remain a central thread of America’s political story.”
Joy Machine is a new art gallery in Chicago from the team...
Joy Machine is a new art gallery in Chicago from the team behind Colossal. “We believe that joy expands our ability to move and be moved and is an essential antidote to despair.”
If I’m being real honest, which I try to be, I can’t...
If I’m being real honest, which I try to be, I can’t say I’m terribly excited about the discovery of a fungus which turns cave spiders into zombies, you know, just on the level of wildlife things I’m into or, as is the case here, not into.
The Best Table Tennis Points Of 2024
I did not think I was going to watch this whole video when I started but I totally did. Some absolutely incredible shots & rallies in here. (thx, dunstan)
Tags: best of · best of 2024 · sports · table tennis · video
From an interview with Na Kim, her answer here could not be...
From an interview with Na Kim, her answer here could not be more personally resonant with me. “OWEN: Would you say you’re a disciplined person? KIM: I didn’t think I was, but I must be.”
Netflix is making a Little House on the Prairie reboot. “The series...
Netflix is making a Little House on the Prairie reboot. “The series will offer a kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.” A manifest destiny series for 2025 seems about right…
The Magic of Code: How Digital Language Created and Connects Our World...
The Public Domain Image Archive
The Public Domain Review (a true gem of the web) has launched The Public Domain Image Archive, “a curated collection of more than 10,000 out-of-copyright historical images, free for all to explore and reuse”.
While The Public Domain Review primarily takes the form of an “...
“A Dyson tree is a hypothetical genetically engineered plant (perhaps resembling a...
“A Dyson tree is a hypothetical genetically engineered plant (perhaps resembling a tree) capable of growing inside a comet. Plants may be able to produce a breathable atmosphere within the hollow spaces of the comet.”
What If Letterboxd Ratings Decided the Best Picture Oscar?
In deciding the Oscar Best Picture winners from 1927-2023, let’s say you relied on the contemporary ratings of films on Letterboxd instead of the Academy vote totals of the time. Sometimes, you’d get the same answers but rarely. You’d get lots more foreign films from direc...