TED
@epicureandealmaker.bsky.social
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” – H.L. Mencken
My blog in desuetude: https://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
My blog in desuetude: https://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com
Pinned
“The guy that runs the Reddit where people post about patting their cat on the butt like bongos has put his foot down”
Even if they escape conviction and imprisonment, ICE agents are going to be hounded and despised for the rest of their miserable, pathetic lives. People who still support their activities will suffer the same fate. A line has been crossed.
Reposted by TED
Unbelievable crescendo on this list of names, after an already strong opener, with a final chord on the level of "A Day in the Life"
it's so funny to try to legitimize a moronic argument by claiming that it is supported by a growing movement of diverse thinkers and then you list the people who belong to that movement and every single one is stupid and/or racist
February 19, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Unbelievable crescendo on this list of names, after an already strong opener, with a final chord on the level of "A Day in the Life"
Reposted by TED
"Only life knows Life". My @bigthink.com piece on Hans Jonas the most important philosopher you've never heard of.
Jonas saw why life is different and why reductionist models of it will fail.
A physics of life must go further.
bigthink.com/13-8/nature-...
Jonas saw why life is different and why reductionist models of it will fail.
A physics of life must go further.
bigthink.com/13-8/nature-...
Why organisms are more than machines
Sixty years ago, a little-known philosopher challenged how science understands life. His perspective is finding new relevance in the age of AI.
bigthink.com
February 19, 2026 at 2:51 PM
"Only life knows Life". My @bigthink.com piece on Hans Jonas the most important philosopher you've never heard of.
Jonas saw why life is different and why reductionist models of it will fail.
A physics of life must go further.
bigthink.com/13-8/nature-...
Jonas saw why life is different and why reductionist models of it will fail.
A physics of life must go further.
bigthink.com/13-8/nature-...
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Looks like it’s time to reup this one
February 19, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Looks like it’s time to reup this one
Reposted by TED
I know there have been so many of these in the last week but this one had me howling.
“Pam Bondi gets caught stealing a fruit snack.”
“Pam Bondi gets caught stealing a fruit snack.”
February 19, 2026 at 2:39 PM
I know there have been so many of these in the last week but this one had me howling.
“Pam Bondi gets caught stealing a fruit snack.”
“Pam Bondi gets caught stealing a fruit snack.”
These are the days of miracles and wonders
Live updates: British police arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over Epstein links reut.rs/4cDj1Eh
Live updates: British police arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over Epstein links
Thames Valley police said they had arrested a man in his sixties in connection with an investigation into misconduct in a public office.
reut.rs
February 19, 2026 at 11:45 AM
These are the days of miracles and wonders
There is only one effective strategy for countering an opponent who repeatedly defects in the Prisoners’ Game: tit for tat. Crush the bastards.
Gotta do maximum gerrymanders in every blue state. No choice.
February 19, 2026 at 12:02 AM
There is only one effective strategy for countering an opponent who repeatedly defects in the Prisoners’ Game: tit for tat. Crush the bastards.
If Malcolm Gladwell could read, this review would crush him. Fortunately for him, neither he nor his airport bookstore readers can read. open.substack.com/pub/secretar...
Strategic Bombing and the Pop History Problem
Reviewing Malcom Gladwell’s “The Bomber Mafia”
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 11:49 PM
If Malcolm Gladwell could read, this review would crush him. Fortunately for him, neither he nor his airport bookstore readers can read. open.substack.com/pub/secretar...
Male actors never age out of rom-com roles in Hollywood.
February 18, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Male actors never age out of rom-com roles in Hollywood.
Proof positive that this man is a freak. God knows what kind of tattoos or drug scars he has to hide on his legs.
How did I miss that this freak wore his jeans IN THE PLUNGE POOL!!
February 18, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Proof positive that this man is a freak. God knows what kind of tattoos or drug scars he has to hide on his legs.
Thank you, Senator, for understanding and faithfully fulfilling your job as an employee of the American people.
There’s only 1 person in Congress who doesn’t trade stocks, doesn’t take corporate PAC money, and has a public schedule. That’s me. And it should be the standard.
February 17, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Thank you, Senator, for understanding and faithfully fulfilling your job as an employee of the American people.
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They’re not strong, they’re not funny, they’re not cool. They’re just a bunch of losers.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/maga-white...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/maga-white...
MAGA White Supremacists Are a Bunch of Pathetic Losers
The proper response to these whiners is mockery and contempt.
paulwaldman.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:54 PM
They’re not strong, they’re not funny, they’re not cool. They’re just a bunch of losers.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/maga-white...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/maga-white...
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This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see.
His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert.
Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.
His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert.
Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.
February 17, 2026 at 7:27 AM
This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see.
His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert.
Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.
His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert.
Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.
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I’m old school. I use “ersatz.”
when would you say using "Temu" to mean 'cheap, knock-off, imitative" began? I feel like I've noticed it a ton in the last six months in particular, e.g. 'so-and-so is a Temu Donald Trump'.
February 16, 2026 at 8:00 PM
I’m old school. I use “ersatz.”
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The main reason I think we've never had contact with extraterrestrials is if we had, Trump would be absolutely unable to resist letting it slip out at some point.
February 16, 2026 at 7:47 PM
The main reason I think we've never had contact with extraterrestrials is if we had, Trump would be absolutely unable to resist letting it slip out at some point.
Reposted by TED
I dunno. I think he got the spirit of the exercise spot on. He should get a bonus, not a fine. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
KPMG partner fined over using AI to pass AI test
Accounting firm has caught several staff members in recent months using the technology for internal exams
giftarticle.ft.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
I dunno. I think he got the spirit of the exercise spot on. He should get a bonus, not a fine. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
RIP Robert Duvall. variety.com/2026/film/ne...
Robert Duvall, Star of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Great Santini,’ Dies at 95
Robert Duvall, who won an Oscar for "Tender Mercies" and was nominated for “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now,” and “The Great Santini,” has died.
variety.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:28 PM
RIP Robert Duvall. variety.com/2026/film/ne...
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Writing is thinking.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It’s easy to think writing is mainly the transcription of ideas you already have—that is, until you try to write something worthwhile, and you find what you thought were saying transform into something far more interesting in the process. This skips that last step, and that is *not* an improvement.
“We plan to hire an AI rewrite specialist to ingest the reporting by Hannah and others and use AI to convert it into stories.”
The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it will use AI to ‘write’ its articles.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10...
The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it will use AI to ‘write’ its articles.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10...
February 16, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Writing is thinking.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
I doubt for many reasons that AOC could be elected in 2028, but I also think her entry into the Presidential race would be a very good thing. It would crystallize many of the issues at stake, and her articulated and principled rhetoric would light a desperately needed fire under the Democratic Party
February 16, 2026 at 3:30 PM
I doubt for many reasons that AOC could be elected in 2028, but I also think her entry into the Presidential race would be a very good thing. It would crystallize many of the issues at stake, and her articulated and principled rhetoric would light a desperately needed fire under the Democratic Party
In the more distant past, this situation has happened often, and has frequently been the norm. The solutions to it have always been: 1) war, 2) famine and/or plague, and/or 3) revolution. Take your pick.
February 16, 2026 at 1:26 PM
In the more distant past, this situation has happened often, and has frequently been the norm. The solutions to it have always been: 1) war, 2) famine and/or plague, and/or 3) revolution. Take your pick.
Excellent guest post at @danwphilosophy.bsky.social’s stack. Excellent because 1) Dan turns over the keys to @davidpinsof.bsky.social, who disagrees with him in good faith and 2) the post is a compelling takedown of intellectual pretensions to improving humanity. open.substack.com/pub/conspicu...
What Kind Of Apes Are We?
This is a guest post by David Pinsof, who writes the excellent ‘Everything is Bullshit’ Substack.
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Excellent guest post at @danwphilosophy.bsky.social’s stack. Excellent because 1) Dan turns over the keys to @davidpinsof.bsky.social, who disagrees with him in good faith and 2) the post is a compelling takedown of intellectual pretensions to improving humanity. open.substack.com/pub/conspicu...
You’re correct about choosing where to allocate resources. However, many of those warehouses are not suitably built or located for other uses. An industrial warehouse by design is usually a large box in the middle of nowhere with good access for trucks on highways. Good for little else.
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
February 15, 2026 at 6:04 PM
You’re correct about choosing where to allocate resources. However, many of those warehouses are not suitably built or located for other uses. An industrial warehouse by design is usually a large box in the middle of nowhere with good access for trucks on highways. Good for little else.
PSA: Everybody has priors (yes, even you). A sensible person practicing epistemic hygiene tries to update and revise their priors based on new evidence. This does not prevent one from having (revised) priors. Ever.
The fact that you don’t like my priors does not make them biases.
The fact that you don’t like my priors does not make them biases.
February 15, 2026 at 4:08 PM
PSA: Everybody has priors (yes, even you). A sensible person practicing epistemic hygiene tries to update and revise their priors based on new evidence. This does not prevent one from having (revised) priors. Ever.
The fact that you don’t like my priors does not make them biases.
The fact that you don’t like my priors does not make them biases.