Posts tagged “SCOTUS”

• Egyptologist in Paris Discovers Secret Messages on the Luxor Obelisk: The 3,300-year-old monument has sat in the French capital’s center for almost 200 years, but no one else noticed these strange encryptions.
• I took the boys to see Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in the theater on the 20^th anniversary of its release. I saw it in Century City (several days before the official release) two decades ago (and then again a few days later!) and am happy to report that also viewing it hundreds of times on a TV did not detract at all from the thrill of seeing it on the big screen. We loved it. It’s wild that the re-release of a twenty-year old movie made north of $42M over the weekend. Related: I love reading about Star Wars movie mistakes.
• “The choice of wood was completely incomprehensible,” isn’t the best line in this story about a concentration camp violin, but it’s up there.
• In sport, turning 30 was once the point where pundits started sharpening retirement speeches. But Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, and Lewis Hamilton didn’t just stretch the narrative, they shattered it.
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams:
  • “DOGE” has tapped into some of the most sensitive and valuable data in the world. Now it’s starting to put it to work.
  • Related: “DOGE” says it has saved $160 billion. Those cuts have cost taxpayers $135 billion. – via @heidiyounggrasshopper
  • Public health, modern medicine, and disease mitigation will suffer under RFK Jr. because he sees sick people – not sickness – as the problem.
  • Vince Vaughn poses with POTUS in the Oval Office. Pathetic.
  • Senate Democrats who took heat for government shutdown vote now feel vindicated. Pathetic.
  • Oh Great, Millionaires Are Racing Sperm Now
  • The Supreme Court’s Late-Night Alien Enemy Act Intervention

• 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.

• Elephants trumpet, squeak, and flap their ears after their complex move across an Australian city.
• Bridge Grades score Congress members on their ability to collaborate, build coalitions, deliver consensus solutions, and bridge America. – via @froggyb.bsky.social
• Men Actually Crave Romantic Relationships More Than Women Do: According to more than fifty studies of mixed-gender relationships, men tend to experience greater mental and physical health benefits from being in a relationship, are less likely to initiate breakups, and struggle more with the emotional toll of a breakup.
• Kudos to Anker customer support. The ring stand on my wife’s iPhone case snapped and when I contacted them via the Amazon product support page, they sent me a new one right away.
• “I resent having to have so much anger in my heart all the time. Because it’s not my default. I’m a happy person by default.” – via @anildash.com
• A recent survey revealed that 83% of Americans say the President is required to follow Supreme Court rulings. (It’s the other 17% that bother me.)
• This is just pathetic: The “DOGE” website created to document how the ‘team’ is eviscerating the US federal government is wide open for anyone to edit.

• More good news for those looking to exit Meta’s social app ecosystem in favor of a more open alternative: An independent developer is building a photo-sharing app for Bluesky called Flashes. – via phillewis
• Misinformation isn’t random. It’s strategic. Misinformation is not a general condition; It is driven by populist radical right parties. When Do Parties Lie? Misinformation and Radical-Right Populism Across 26 Countries – via pettertornberg
• “The entire health insurance business model is built on scamming customers and denying the coverage they pay premiums for. Health insurance is not healthcare. It’s an unnecessary middleman that preys on the sick, and only exists because lobbyists pay off our politicians.” – via darrigomelanie
• “Is it like the old Playboy Magazine? You have essays there by the modern day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr.?” – Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, asking if people visit Pornhub to read articles during a hearing about minors having access to pornography. – via crooked media
• You can watch the three (newer) seasons of The Animaniacs on Disney+ / Hulu, so why are you wasting your time reading this when you could be doing that instead? Five stars. Highly recommend. (The original five seasons are available on Amazon Prime and AppleTV.)
• In the US, table saws are responsible for around 4,300 amputations per year. All other products are responsible for 3,600 amputations per year combined. – via Tom Whitwell
• I have no idea how, when, or why I subscribed to the Making It Work newsletter from Youngna Park, but I’m always happy when it lands in my inbox. This week’s issue, which includes some beautiful writing about the horrific L.A. wildfires, was exceptional.

• The US government wants to start protecting you (and your kids) from Roblox robux scams. – via Anil
• The Moon is part of the Diocese of Orlando, in accordance with the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which states that “any newly discovered territory was placed under the jurisdiction of the diocese from which the expedition which discovered that territory left.” – via Kent Hendricks
• I can’t be the only GenXer really struggling with the fact that it’s 2025. That number seems impossible to me. It sounds like a year from The Jetsons or Space Mountain. (Related: Wikipedia’s list of movies set in 2025 is somewhat disappointing.)
• I thoroughly enjoyed reading this essay on the evolution of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade screenplay. – via hiro.report, via Phil Gyford
• Bad news for people who hate good news:
  • In a 6-1 ruling in favor of sixteen youth who sued, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment.” – via kottke
  • The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear appeals from oil companies challenging a lawsuit in Hawaii that aims to hold them accountable for climate change. – via Crooked Media
  • The US jobs market roared to life in December – via Semafor
  • Trump can still vote after sentencing, but can’t own a gun and will have to turn over DNA sample – via The Associated Press
  • Biden Issues Sweeping Deportation Protections Before Trump Takes Office
• Good news for people who love bad news:
  • Global temperatures in 2024 eclipsed 2023’s average by more than a fifth of a degree Fahrenheit. That’s an unusually large jump; until the last couple of super-hot years, global temperature records were exceeded only by hundredths of a degree. – via The Morning Wire
  • Tens of millions of American Christians are embracing a charismatic movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to destroy the secular state. – via my dad

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing is doing a great job exposing the blatant, virulent racism and sexism (and, in Ted Cruz’ case, stupidity) of today’s GOP and I hope voters remember at the ballot box.

• There are many, many good reasons why First Citywide should be your change bank, and Old Glory should be your insurance company. (These are two of the best commercials ever.)
• Not many people are going to get this one, but… “Be Like Han” is damn great advice.
• The moodINQ Programmable Tattoo System is simply mind-blowing. Getting a “sub-dermal” implant seems a little extreme, but it might be worth it to occasionally rock my favorite tattoo.
• Twitter vs. The Pony Express
• A guy got mugged in Australia… right in front of a Ninja school.
• In Finland there are 5.2 million people and nearly two million saunas. That’s why the Sauna World Championship is a nationally televised event.
• Lane Kiffin is Supercoach!
• The Bullies of the 80s were quite cruel.
• Should we impose term limits on Supreme Court justices? Consider: “When the Framers wrote the Constitution, life expectancy was less than 40 years; today, life expectancy is 77 years.”