Posts tagged “happiness”

• “Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure.”
• In Praise of The Pitt, the Most Normal Show on Television
• Bluesky has overtaken its flailing rival Twitter in hosting posts related to new academic research. – via eicathomefinn.bsky.social
• How do you get over losing The Masters?
• Rick Steves is now on Bluesky!
• For your enjoyment: Here is Secretary of Education Linda McMahon talking about implementing AI in schools, but pronouncing it “A1” as in “A1 Steak Sauce” – via joshkovensky.bsky.social
• This Is Not Normal:
  • Daughter captures the moment masked ICE agents smash the window of her mother’s car in order to take her into custody. – via mims.bsky.social
  • America Is Backsliding Toward Its Most Polluted Era
  • WITAF? Members of the cabinet, as well as Congresspeople and Senators, are being instructed to wear a golden POTUS bust lapel pin as a tribute to their inglorious, convicted felon leader. – via kwcollins.bsky.social
  • Just weeks away from graduation, at least 50 international students at Arizona State University have inexplicably had their visas revoked and have been blocked from completing their degrees.
  • The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service resigned after the Treasury Department and Homeland Security reached an agreement to share tax data from some immigrants living in the country without legal status.
  • The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that deportation should operate just like Amazon “But With Human Beings” – via thebasement.nz
  • Days after being confirmed in February, FBI Director Kash Patel was apparently removed from his post as the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – via girlsreallyrule.bsky.social

• A paralysed man can stand on his own after receiving an injection of neural stem cells to treat his spinal cord injury.
• From the Department of NSS: Media Use Is Linked to Lower Psychological Well-Being “The more time spent on screens, the greater the negative effects—especially among young people. The study suggests excessive media consumption disrupts essential psychological needs, such as real-world social interaction, physical activity, and sleep quality.” – via Arnold’s Pump Club, which is a surprisingly informative daily newsletter
• Lionel Messi trading card controversy: Who is signing his autographs? (See also: Why do companies buy memorabilia like the Ohtani ball and Skenes card? It goes back to Babe Ruth.)
• Tesla Is Dying, and Polestar Wants to Kill It
• The nightmare scenario for Hollywood has arrived: Viewers are choosing free creator content over premium subscriptions. Nielsen data for February 2025 show YouTube now dominates nearly 12% of total TV viewing time—more than Disney and about equal to Netflix and Amazon combined. And this doesn’t even count viewership on phones and tablets, where creators dominate even more. – via The Dailies
• Good news: Kentucky governor vetoes GOP abortion bill, says it undermines doctors and endangers pregnant women.
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1980 and I still think of it as one of the newer rides.
• Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?
  • I don’t understand why the AP bent over backwards to avoid mentioning the political party affiliation of an ex-North Dakota lawmaker sentenced to ten years in prison for going to Europe with intent to pay for sex with a minor.
  • Lest We Forget the Horrors: An Unending Catalog of [the Current Administration’s] Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes
  • “DOGE” claims it’s not an agency that has to comply with FOIA requests, so The Intercept is suing them.
  • POTUS nominates Republican once accused of mishandling taxpayer funds as HHS watchdog
  • For Fascists, Hypocrisy Is a Virtue

• “When I see a guy alone at a café without a device open, I assume that he’s either got the iPhone antenna problem or that he’s a serial killer… I’m almost never alone with my thoughts anymore.” (from Blogging from the Shower, by Dave Pell)
• I really love these vintage social media advertisements. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce would be proud. (See also: The Periodic Table of Mad Men)
• The last six pictures from July’s massive oil spill in China are terrifying and heartbreaking.
• It’s pretty tough to argue that Apple doesn’t do everything better and smarter than everyone else, especially when you look at how amazing they made a simple battery charger. (I want one.)
• Research proves that happiness is probably not as expensive as you thought.
• “A 95-page court ruling on a college volleyball budget sounds like a Monty Python sketch — because Title IX itself has become a Monty Python sketch… Title IX strictures that were needed a generation ago simply aren’t needed any longer. But because no government program is ever shut down, they slog on, causing asinine intrusions.”
• It’s just not a real party until one of the guests decides to start smashing watermelon fruit bowls on the heads of the dancers.
• I absolutely must get a speech bubble whiteboard lamp for my office.

Bonus: Five Feeds I Recommend

1. Snarkmarket (subscribe)
2. shooshee (subscribe)
3. A Conversation on Cool (subscribe)
4. the impossible cool (subscribe)
5. All Day, Everyday (subscribe)