Posts tagged “California”

• This essay had me literally laughing out loud. “Cookie Monster has operated in plain sight for over fifty years, and no one has asked the obvious question: What is he?” – via @philplait
• It took just seven minutes to deploy the massive and intricate set for the Bad Bunny halftime show at Super Bowl LX and you can watch an amazing time-lapse video of the process. – via hiro.report
• Good news: Federal Judge Cynthia Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, ordered the restoration of public Philadelphia slavery exhibits and compared the administration’s effort to remove the panels to something out of the dystopian George Orwell novel 1984.
• Some wise words from Anil: It often takes more than one time before your idea actually resonates or sticks with the people you’re trying to reach.
• Crews search for 9 skiers missing after California avalanche near Lake Tahoe

Winter Olympics

• The newest Olympic sport goes by the name skimo, which is short for ski mountaineering.
• The president of the biggest soccer club in the Ukraine has announced a $200k+ donation to skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after he was banned from the Winter Olympics.
• Does US speed skater Jordan Stolz really eat pizza every day before training?
• Mac Forehand, the freestyle skiing Big Air silver medalist, reveals the process behind stomping a world’s first trick on the penultimate jump of the competition, which helped push the sport to new heights. (Click the image to view his jump!) – via Sports! with Rodger Sherman
• Higher-than-anticipated demand led to a condom supply shortage after organizers provided only four for each Olympian, compared to the thirty given to everyone competing at the Paris games.
• Meet the cameraman who skates backward to capture Olympic triumph and defeat.

None of This Is Normal:

• Reading this chilling account of how the current administration is abusing a repurposed Navy logistics program to rapidly expand its ability to hide people is enough to make anyone sick to the stomach, but ignorance is not an option these days. The bottom line is that the Department of Homeland Security is buying warehouses across the country to build out concentration camps for caging and deporting immigrants, and this program is allowing them to be operational in a matter of weeks.
• Speaking of terrible immigration policies, I give you a very rare 20+ thread post that is well worth reading.
• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a rare and lethal toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs.
• “I don’t think we should allow the secret police to round people up and sort them by race.”
• In case you’re still on the fence about whether to use their service or read publications there, you can read about how Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters. – via Kottke
• The current administration is using $15,000,000 from USAID funds to pay for security for budget director Russ Vought for the year.

• You probably never considered how awesome it would be to hear Rick Astley perform an acoustic cover of the Chappell Roan hit Pink Pony Club, did you? – via @jacksongagne.com
• The team at The Athletic put together a sweet Bluesky college football starter pack.
• Mustaaaaaaaaaard! – via kottke
• As a kid I only ever barely paid attention to Star Trek — we were a Star Wars family — but the way Chekov (Walter Koenig) repeats, “Botany Bay,” as he realizes his predicament is just phenomenal.
• Humor is vital to effective protest, and the Democrats suck at it. – via @kurtandersen.bsky.social
• I may have linked this already, but it’s worth a repost: “Wherever you get your podcasts,” is a radical statement.
• “If no laws have been broken, there should be nothing to hide.” – via @beyer.house.gov
• I’m terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought:
  • The detention of Mahmoud Khalil means we are a hop, skip & jump away from political persecutions. It’s a steep, slippery slope from here to “speak out against [the administration] and go to jail.” – via @joycewhitevance.bsky.social
  • I don’t even want to include the subject matter here, but these people are pure evil.
  • McLaurine Pinover, the chief spokesperson at OPM and the current administration’s official tasked with defending “DOGE” personnel cuts, posted fashion influencer videos from her office.
  • Listening to Chris Hayes interview Robert Garcia (D–CA) on his Why Is This Happening? podcast is not likely to make you feel any better about the future of our country, but it is pretty interesting.
  • California, New York, and Maryland all confirmed their first cases of measles this week.
  • EPA head says he’ll roll back dozens of environmental regulations, including rules on climate change

• I will jump on the Last Week Tonight bandwagon and spread the word about how to change your settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta. (And, yes, that’s the correct link.)
• The surprisingly hopeful What Felt Impossible Became Possible is an excellent essay about the downfall of the Ku Klux Klan and how it relates to our current American crisis. The key takeaway — as many others have noted — is that fascism always fails. “It is destructive and it is awful and not everyone lives to see the other side, but it always, always fails.”
• A “super pod” of thousands of dolphins was spotted off the California coast.
• Disney’s Star Wars Succession Problem: Who Will Replace Kathleen Kennedy? – via The Dailies
• What happens when you pull a wildly valuable Jayden Daniels rookie card? For “Dr. Moist Muffins”, it literally changed his life.
• Scientists have found that eating more fiber could help reduce microplastic absorption and minimize its harmful effects on your body.
• Neither vaccines nor the virus prompted an increase in the number of cardiac arrests in athletes, contrary to misinformation that continues to circulate repeatedly.
• Annoying News:
  • Starlink gets FAA contract, raising new conflict of interest concerns. – via @joshtpm.bsky.social
  • The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., declined to sign an arrest warrant sent to them by local police for Republican congressman Cory Mills who happens to be an ally of the President.
  • Trump Administration Litigation Tracker
  • An analysis by ProPublica showed that dozens more pregnant and postpartum women have died in Texas hospitals since the state banned abortion. And while the national maternal mortality rate dropped, it rose in Texas by 33%. – via @joncooper-us.bsky.social
  • Here’s a handy list of sixteen Democrats who simply aren’t doing enough. If your rep is on that list, get on the phone.

• The SNL 50th-Anniversary special drew almost 15M viewers, becoming NBC’s most-watched primetime entertainment telecast in five years. (For comparison, Super Bowl LIX had over 127M viewers.)
• Republicans have reintroduced the SAVE Act, a bill that could disenfranchise millions of American voters. Feeling helpless? Email Your Senators to Vote NO. Call Your Senators to Vote NO. It’s not nothing, and it really does make a difference.
• “This is a blunt-force budget cut with no clear strategy—gutting programs without considering their impact or even how services could be improved for the American people, often spinning public health into fear and chaos.”
• Related: The USDA is scrambling to rehire fired workers who were involved in the government’s response to the ongoing bird flu outbreak that has devastated egg and poultry farms over the past three years.
• Senate Democrats have the power to block federal contracts to Tesla and SpaceX. It’s the path to pushing [him] out of politics.
• Scratch Huntington Beach, CA off your list of travel destinations. Former Minnesota Vikings player Chris Kluwe was arrested at a city council meeting there after protesting the installation of a disgusting “MAGA” plaque at a local library.
• I graduated a long, long time ago and I still bleed orange and blue, but there’s something more than a little disgusting about the University of Florida begging me for cash when they have a $6B endowment and are annually paying millions of dollars to multiple football coaches they fired years ago. – via me
• Is ‘Zone 2’ the Magic Effort Level for Exercise?
• A new study on more than 17,000 people discovered that too little sex is linked to cardiovascular disease and a higher risk of all-cause mortality.
• Major League Baseball will employ what it calls the automated ball-strike system, or ABS, in a big-league spring training game for the first time this week.
• Dirpy is a handy site that lets you rip YouTube videos to mp3. (e.g. Doechii rapping about anxiety over the Gotye song Somebody That I Used To Know, Taylor Swift performing You Belong with Me and Untouchable on SNL)

• What beats rock?
• Pope Francis denounced the current administration’s plan to carry out mass deportations of migrants in a letter to U.S. bishops Tuesday, while appearing to take a direct jab at Vice President JD Vance.
• For decades, casinos scoffed as mathematicians and physicists devised elaborate systems to take down the house. Then an unassuming Croatian’s winning strategy forever changed the game.
• Why is Hawaii the rainbow capital of the world?
• Is gold hidden under a California peak? This treasure map says so.
• These JETech iPhone screen protectors are a great investment.
• Forensics Experts Challenged the FBI. So the FBI Tried to Censor Their Conference. This story includes a timely reminder that — with the exception of DNA matches — most of the highly-regarded techniques used to put people away (fingerprint examinations, ballistics and toolmarks comparisons, blood pattern analysis) “were developed by law enforcement agencies for law enforcement, and not by scientists first subjecting them to standard, rigorous testing processes designed to ensure they stand on a solid scientific foundation.”
• How did a life-saving pediatric drug – discovered and developed using money from American taxpayers, and spurred by the grassroots fundraising of desperate parents – end up costing $2,000,000 per dose?
• In the span of just weeks, the U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history – not through a sophisticated cyberattack or an act of foreign espionage, but through official orders by a billionaire with a poorly-defined government role.
• Harrison Ford said the recent California wildfires burned several Shrinking sets.

• Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) barged into the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and challenged him about the “DOGE” team gaining access to a sensitive payment system at the Department of the Treasury.
• Workers at NASA were told to ‘Drop Everything’ to scrub any mentions of indigenous people and women from its websites.
• Federal Judge Blocks Executive Order Intended to End Birthright Citizenship
• “It’s sad that Wile E. Coyote will always be remembered for his failures and not his amazingly realistic tunnel paintings.” – via @sean_with_an_ean_damnit
• This is the sort of thing that makes my blood boil. Federal law mandates wholesome lunches, but much of it gets trashed because there isn’t time to eat it. – via Jodi Ettenberg
• The “DOGE” Government Data Heist Is the Entire Ballgame is a chilling plea written by a federal employee.
• The US Treasury Claimed “DOGE” Technologist Didn’t Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did: Sources tell WIRED that the ability of Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn’t exist.
• All of this, of course, depends on a functioning justice system. (Things Are Going to Keep Getting Worse Until They Get Better, Part 339.)
• CDC Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People
• Conservative “Christian nationalist” Russell Vought, former vice president of Heritage Action for America and one of the architects behind Project 2025, believes there is nothing left to conserve. He desires revolution — and to burn down the system. And the Senate just confirmed him to be the head of OMB. (I would link you directly to the official White House website for OMB, but… it’s been deleted.)
• This tutorial on installing a newsletter replacement for Jetpack looks promising.
• “Just gonna slide this information in here. The Eagles refused to go to the White House after their Super Bowl victory in 2018. Do with that what you will.” – via @brandi-rene.swifties.social
• Oh, and Taylor Swift is expected to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday night. Obviously, she won’t be sitting in the same suite as POTUS.

• Tarnschriften (“hidden writings”) were pocket-sized anti-fascist essays, news updates, and how-tos – hidden inside the covers of mundane, everyday materials – which were circulated in Germany after Hitler’s rise to power.
• California has become a vivid example of a global phenomenon known as “hydroclimate whiplash,” which involves sudden and dramatic swings between extreme wet and dry conditions. – via Jodi Ettenberg
• Health and climate information is already disappearing from federal websites.
• The estate of Superman creator Joseph Schuster is suing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics, claiming they lack the rights to release the upcoming summer movie in a handful of key territories.
• “We’ve seen this happen with brittle governments all over the world for the past century – it’s not a novel situation – and Republicans have decided that now is the moment to strike our teetering democracy. (More)
• Four Easy Ways to Make Sure No One Can Read Your Text Messages, just in case you are (justifiably) a little paranoid that you might get in trouble someday for talking about those two chuckleheads
• Related: This Military Packing Technique Can Save Space in Your Bug-Out Bag (You do have a bug-out bag, right?)
• 13 Xcode Shortcuts to Boost Your Productivity
• Saquon Barkley is a superhero for the Eagles. His origin story is straight out of a comic book, too.

• This LA Times interactive map of the Southern California wildfires has been very handy. – via @dansinker.com
• “Just a reminder that the French revolution started with a climate crisis-induced famine, an empire that had overexpanded into too many foreign wars, and parasitic nobility that funneled all the wealth upward while regular citizens suffered.” – via @chris.writes.books
• If you want to “follow” me somewhere (other than here, of course), you should use my verified account on bluesky. I adored Twitter when it launched, and for many years after. But I haven’t looked at that social network in months and deleted my account a while ago. I’ve been enjoying Threads, but it looks like it’s time to abandon that platform, too. I’m very, very glad I have my own personal website. (I hardly ever look at Instagram, and doubt I’ll keep my account there for much longer. If I didn’t feel obligated to remain on LinkedIn, I’d quit that site, too.)
• In China, there are registries of haunted apartments. If you’re willing to live somewhere with a sinister history, you can get a discount of 30%. – via @tomwhitwell
• I am starting to get concerned about the bird flu, H5N1. Paying attention to updates from Your Local Epidemiologist is a good way to be prepared.
• A wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover, climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell his family or friends. Then, in 2023, a ProPublica reporter received an envelope with no return address. Inside was a flash drive containing tens of thousands of secret files. – via @propublica
• “In species where males invest in weaponry (antlers, horns, tusks, etc.), female brains are bigger.” – via Kent Hendricks

• “Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said California will offer electric vehicle subsidies even if Donald Trump kills the $7,500 federal tax credit.” – via @crookedmedia
• Recent research found that men who improve their fitness are 35% less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. – via Arnold’s Pump Club
• I recently purchased an Anker MagSafe Case with (what I thought) one of those cool little kickstand grips. I sort of liked the kickstand, but I found I couldn’t align the charging area easily (or at all) on anything but a MagSafe base. I also tested for a week, alternating days with my Spigen case, and discovered the Anker one was definitely both (a) getting unreasonably hot and (b) significantly draining my battery. The heat issue was bad enough, but the battery drain is not something I’d ever accept. My 13-mo old iPhone 15 Pro still regularly sticks over 80% charge after a day’s use. With the Anker case it would be down to 50% before 6pm. Obviously, your mileage may vary and IANAAT, but I’m going back to my Spigen case.
• Merging black holes may create bubbles that could swallow the universe. [Ed. note: The word ‘may’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.]
• Most Black Friday deals are pretty worthless, but here’s a good one. All Predictions Wrong — home of TMQ — is offering a 20% discount on all paid subscriptions.
• Anyone who is a fan of the doomed voyage of Ernest Shackleton and his crew aboard the Endurance [Ed. note: Dad!] has got to be thrilled right now. In addition to the epic book that was released a few years ago, and the Kenneth Branagh mini-series from a few years before that, there’s a new National Geographic special on Disney+ and now even a LEGO set!
• Nice to see the Florida Gators climbed all the way up to No. 33 after beating Ole Miss, one week after the win against LSU. The Gators are the highest-ranked 6-5 team, with all five losses coming to top-25 teams. – via @theathletichq
• The ugly math behind Florida’s low SAT scores: “Among all states, Florida students ranked fourth from last on the standardized exam used to gauge readiness for college. Among states where at least 50,000 students took the test, Florida ranked last.” – via @aspar1605
• Just want to confirm your household is safe for my kid: Is your family up to date on vaccines? Will there be raw milk served? Is there a gun in the house? – brilliant advice via @designmom
• Fun fact: The Portuguese garbage scow captain from Overboard (1987, Goldie Hawn) went on to become the Beverly Hills hotel manager in Pretty Woman (1990, Julia Roberts).