“Pope Francis’ Response to Ukraine Has Tapped Into One of Catholicism’s Deepest Conspiracy Theories“. Gotta say, as a deeply cultural Catholic, I only knew the very top level of this one.
“There is not a huge gap in the ideological differences between the far right and the truckers in convoys. But increasingly these geopolitical conspiracy theories have moved beyond extremist spaces and into the mainstream, as polished Instagram wellness influencers cheerfully share them far and wide.”
“It appears the far right has taken advantage of pandemic at-home fitness trends to expand its decade-plus radicalization of physical mixed martial arts (MMA) and combat sports spaces.”
Whatever you think of him, Coach K is a vanishing breed in college sports.
An excellent look back at the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Cause and Effect”, which was something not really tried on TV before, and almost didn’t get made because it was so weird at first. That episode ran 30 years ago, so yeah, we’re all old.
“How we got herd immunity wrong”.
“Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” That would be a felony, by the way.
“But a lot of it’s about west’s battered reputation. Iraq did immeasurable damage – worse than Vietnam. Took place at the peak of sympathy for post-9/11 US. World watched America squander that goodwill in a goose chase any 15-year-old Indian, African or European, knew was wild.”
“Instead, a lot of people who have returned to their offices for some or all of the week have found that they’re the only ones there, or others are staying isolated in their offices, and all communication still happens over email, Slack, or Zoom. As a result, they’re spending time commuting to and from the office and dealing with all the hassles of in-person work but without any of the promised payoff.”
Eleven things you may or may not have known about The Bachelor, twenty years after its debut.
We could maybe learn a thing or two from Finland about preparedness.
“And so it was entirely predictable that the Holston United Methodist Home for Children, which receives funding from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, would assume it was entitled to refuse service to a Jewish couple seeking to become foster parents. That’s the problem with legalizing discrimination — sometimes that bigotry comes around to bite you in the ass.”
“One of two flamingos that escaped from a Kansas zoo during a storm 17 years ago has been spotted on the coast of Texas, wildlife officials said.” The bird is officially known as No. 492, the number om its leg band, but a Texas Parks and Wildlife tweet identified him as Pink Floyd, and I’m sorry but that is absolutely his name.
Impeach Clarence Thomas. And finally put an actual code of ethics on SCOTUS.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was not impressed by Will Smith.
“A Tech Company Made It Harder to Use Its Products to Mine Crypto. Then Came the Ransomware Attack.”
Troy Kotsur, winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year, is also the creator of the sign language used by the Tusken raiders in The Book of Boba Fett.
“Failing to pursue Trump in such circumstances would send a signal of impunity for presidents who seek to destroy American democratic institutions, even as Trump’s supporters who ransacked the US Capitol begin to be convicted and face prison terms for apparently acting on their political hero’s wishes.”
“Madison, I can promise you that there is nobody in the “radical left” or “the media” who wants you to shut up about the cocaine orgies. Please keep talking about the cocaine orgies. We’ve got your back on this one, so go nuts. Everyone who is not currently either a Washington, D.C., Republican lawmaker or staffer wants to you to spill as much about the Republican Cocaine Orgies as you can spill.”
Clarence Thomas is just the latest example of how dependent our governance has been on the honor system/ gentlemen’s agreements. Those only work when everyone agrees to both the letter and the spirit of the rules. The behavior of the GOP makes it clear that we are afflicted with too many people who will break those rules, and many of their voters are just fine with that. With Thomas, the absolute best rationale for his lone dissenting vote was to spare his wife embarrassment (and she should be ashamed of what she texted). But even that would have been grounds for censure/ impeachment back when the norms held. I suspect his motives are more sinister than that, although no one’s dug up proof yet. Impeachment is exactly what he deserves, but impeachment has been demonstrated to be a farce. Could Congress pass a law about recusal? They have the power to make some changes (like set the # of seats). I don’t think Roberts could compel anyone to recuse, no matter how obvious the conflict of interest.
The no confidence vote in the parliamentary democracy system looks better and better with each unethical partisan hack flouting the rules in the knowledge that there is currently no bad consequences waiting. Yes, I know that wouldn’t apply to SCOTUS, but the other 2 branches have a head start in norm trashing.