davidgagne.net

Dark energy is probably doing something weird, and we don’t know why.
The Scale of Time
New research suggests that being even slightly dehydrated can reduce muscle thickness after lifting weights—potentially limiting growth and recovery. – via Arnold’s Pump Club
Prosecutors who resigned rather than carry out what they saw as an unethical, improper and potentially illegal order were 100% vindicated by [the judge]’s extensive findings.
“Only one thing / I did wrong / Stayed in Mississippi / Way too long” – For some reason I had no idea that this was a “newer” (relatively speaking) Dylan song, or that it was released on 9/11. It feels much older than that. (It’s also weird that the Sheryl Crow cover was released in 1998!)
On the Best (Worst) Best Man Speech Ever (at My Super Mario-Themed Wedding) – via kottke, of course
How to optimize files and fix your storage problems on Macs, iPhones, and iPads
We Can Do Better:
- Several members of [the President]’s National Security Council have been fired a day after conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer visited the Oval Office and pressed [the President] to get rid of them.
- The state of Florida is prepared to convict [a woman] for killing her son, despite the fact that the only direct evidence of arson has been thoroughly discredited. This story is as infuriating as it is heartbreaking.
- JD Vance Would Throw His Own Kids Under A Bus If [POTUS] Were Driving It
- How the [Current] Administration Learned to Obscure the Truth in Court
- Texas GOP Congressman Ronny Jackson has been fundraising with what appears to be an unauthorized legal expense fund.
- [Administration] Declares a Trade War on Uninhabited Islands, US Military, and Economic Logic
- Georgia Woman Arrested After Having Miscarriage
- The [current] administration is planning to halt more than half a billion dollars in contracts and grants awarded to Brown University.

Good news: Bill to ban trans athletes from team sports failed to advance in the Senate – via @erininthemorning.com
Want to send a message to your representatives urging them to protect Social Security? AARP has a quick and simple form for that. Go!
High-intensity exercise can significantly improve long-term memory, learning ability, and decision-making.
Rolling Stone published a list of twenty “essential” Gene Hackman films but didn’t include The Birdcage?! Blasphemy. – via kottke
My top five, in no particular order: The Birdcage, Superman: The Movie, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Firm, and Unforgiven
The fastest and easiest way to cut methane emissions (as well as reduce water use and protect biodiversity) is simply to eat less beef. In the United States, half of all the beef is consumed by just 12% of the population, mostly men.
See also: Climate Kids!
Things That Suck:
- The Senate confirmed former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education as POTUS pushes to shut it down
- “In North Carolina, there has been a multi-year, hyper focused effort among political actors in the state to gain and keep control over the state supreme court.”
- FAA Officials Ordered Staff to “Find Funding” for Starlink – via @samhalpert.bsky.social

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)

Grow Your Own, Can Your Own -- WWII Vintage Sign

Between 7AM and 7PM Eastern you can watch Bao Li and Qing Bao – the two new Giant Pandas at Smithsonian’s National Zoo – live on the Panda Cam as they explore their indoor and outdoor habitats at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat.
I know everyone is already drowning in what seems like an unrelenting torrent of insane news lately, but I feel like it’s important to highlight that last week Tennessee Republican Congressman Tim Burchett said he believes aliens have underwater bases on Earth.
New research suggests that your coffee habit might help protect against type-2 diabetes. – via Arnold’s Pump Club
The Unassuming Town of Bristol, Rhode Island, Is One of America’s Best Hidden Gems for a Weekend Getaway – via my dad
I recently watched the 1991 Steven Spielberg film Hook for – I think – the first time. Great fun.
The new MCU-themed Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl hype video is pretty intense.
Anyone interested in iOS app development with SwiftUI should be reading Swift with Majid.
Workout.lol is a handy one-page web app that gives you an exercise routine based on what equipment you have available and which muscles you want to target. (Pairs well with musclewiki.com.) – via kottke, from way back in July of 2023
It’s a bummer that the Dead Bothans Society has been abandoned. It looks like most of the site was archived, thankfully, and many of their videos are still available on YouTube.

If I ever got name-checked on The Simpsons, I think I would spontaneously combust. – via @sepinwall
How Gen Z Came to See Books as a Waste of Time – via @theatlantic
For about a year and a half I was really into intermittent fasting. I used a great app called Simple that helped me track my daily water consumption and weight, and also handled reminding me when my fasting windows were, let me log what I was eating and when, etc. The app was so good, I even gladly paid for an annual subscription to unlock bonus features. And then — for reasons I cannot imagine — the developers rolled out a “new” version loaded to the gills with whiz-bang AI features that made the app completely useless and incomprehensibly frustrating. I tried for a few months to get used to the new system, but eventually abandoned it, canceled my subscription, and still haven’t found a decent replacement. I abhor the continued enshittification of everything.
Male bigfin reef squid may be the best fathers of all cephalopods. [Ed. note: But can they make Sunday morning chocolate chip pancakes?]
It’s really a shame that Russell Brand has gone crazy, because Forgetting Sarah Marshall is easily one of the all-time best comedies.
Strong Lloyd Dobler vibes in this essay, and I am here for it: “[P]eople do want to work, just not for the paltry wages they were making before the pandemic.”
“If you spell your name backwards and place an umlaut over one of the vowels, that’s your IKEA name.” [Ed. note: Mine is Engäg and I’m a kitchen drawer divider.] – via @drewtalbert
Regular exercisers drink more, a new study confirms, but are less likely to be problem drinkers. – via @outsidemagazine
Black Friday / Holiday Sales:
- The world’s comfiest t-shirts and coziest sweatpants are crazy expensive, but this weekend almost everything is on sale at Aviator Nation.
- Everything at ’47 Brand is 30% off this weekend. Get all the best sports gear gifts here.
- Need some everyday walking shoes? Everything is 50% off at Allbirds this weekend.
- I have an AirPods Pro case and a wallet from Saddleback Leather Co. and they’re both exquisite. Not everything is on sale, but they do have some pretty good deals this weekend on a few things. (Their motto is, “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.”)
- Use promo code BLACKFRIDAY to get 30% off (and free shipping) on everything at J. Peterman this weekend.
Fun Fact: Jon Gries, the actor who portrayed Lazlo Hollyfeld in Real Genius (TriStar Pictures, 1985), went on to play Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite (Searchlight Pictures, 2004) and the love interest of Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus (HBO, 2021).

Chocolate is America’s favorite Halloween candy, with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups once again the top choice in an overwhelming majority of states. But don’t sleep on Nerds Gummy Clusters, which boosted sales at Ferrara Candy Company from $40 million in 2018 to $800 million last year.
Wow. Texas leads the nation in wind energy generation with over 15,000 turbines producing between a bit more than 10% of the total electricity in the United States.
An Expert’s Guide to Protein for Athletes – via @sweatscience
New research found that if you want to feel younger later in life, don’t go easy on your training. – via Arnold’s Pump Club
I’ve always been a sucker for black holes, so these thought experiments that fray the fabric of space-time were fun. – via kottke, of course
Take thirty seconds out of your day to read this brilliant poem, If Adam Picked the Apple, by Danielle Coffyn. – also via kottke