Melissa
@melissaleigh123.bsky.social
Health policy, college football, and Taylor Swift. BBQ and sweet tea connoisseur. They’re all good dogs, especially the Dawgs. I was stress baking before it was cool.
Not to sound like an Old but Blue Book hand cramps are part of the game, man.
Does anyone else bristle at this framing? WSJ says blue books are “torturing” students with hand cramps, and “nobody likes them.”
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
They Were Every Student’s Worst Nightmare. Now Blue Books Are Back.
Cheating with ChatGPT has become a huge problem for colleges. The solution is painfully old-school.
www.wsj.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Not to sound like an Old but Blue Book hand cramps are part of the game, man.
Reposted by Melissa
Rick Steves is an American treasure. Just all-around, one of the absolute best of us.
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
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December 21, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Rick Steves is an American treasure. Just all-around, one of the absolute best of us.
This is America.
A quick story for anyone who could use some distraction:
Last spring, I met a high school junior who had fled Belarus two years earlier, because her parents were worried they'd be arrested, disappeared, or worse. Her family of four moved to New York with two backpacks worth of possessions.
Last spring, I met a high school junior who had fled Belarus two years earlier, because her parents were worried they'd be arrested, disappeared, or worse. Her family of four moved to New York with two backpacks worth of possessions.
December 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
This is America.
Cruel and evil. And all to save a fraction of a rounding error (anything <$500M is a literal asterisk in federal funding).
December 16, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Cruel and evil. And all to save a fraction of a rounding error (anything <$500M is a literal asterisk in federal funding).
Reposted by Melissa
Merry Christmas for the lady that actually runs this county
December 16, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Merry Christmas for the lady that actually runs this county
Damnit
December 16, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Damnit
Philip Rivers about to find out about the aging cliff that happens at 44 the hard way.
The Colts will start QB Philip Rivers on Sunday against the Seahawks, sources tell The Insiders.
Age 44, out of retirement, after a full week of practice, Rivers is a go.
Age 44, out of retirement, after a full week of practice, Rivers is a go.
December 13, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Philip Rivers about to find out about the aging cliff that happens at 44 the hard way.
I LOVE going to movies but the experience has become unbearable. People arrive late, talk, bring babies/little kids, and look at their phones. Even at Alamo! I used to go 2-3x/month, now I maybe go 3-4x a year. It is simply not enjoyable anymore.
getting people back into theatres requires two things: a greater diversity of well-produced and marketed films, along with exhibitors working to build community around the idea of moviegoing
I am not sure how to get people back into theaters or if it's possible, but I do know that if the strongest remaining argument is "you SHOULD," or something about the holiness of the collective big-screen experience, the battle is lost. That has no traction with people who don't already believe it.
December 11, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I LOVE going to movies but the experience has become unbearable. People arrive late, talk, bring babies/little kids, and look at their phones. Even at Alamo! I used to go 2-3x/month, now I maybe go 3-4x a year. It is simply not enjoyable anymore.
Anyway this is my personal approach: it costs me less than nothing to use someone’s preferred pronouns, just like it costs me less than nothing to call “Robert” “Bob.” I honestly do not understand why respecting someone else’s preferences is somehow an attack on my “freedom” or whatever.
We *constantly* respect eachothers preferences when they make no goddamn sense to us. We say "congratulations" when people get married when it's as stupid fucking idea for them to do so. It's not a lie because we're not being asked whether we think it's a good idea! We use preferred names!
December 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Anyway this is my personal approach: it costs me less than nothing to use someone’s preferred pronouns, just like it costs me less than nothing to call “Robert” “Bob.” I honestly do not understand why respecting someone else’s preferences is somehow an attack on my “freedom” or whatever.
I realize this is impossible to measure but genuinely curious as to what is the more common outcome: someone comes out to conservative family and is shunned? Or they are accepted (with acceptance perhaps being phased in somewhat)?
What's especially crazy about this is that it's an unbelievably cheap intervention. It costs approximately zero dollars and saves lives. There is essentially no material elements to compete over. There's nothing left but animus.
More research showing a thing the GC movement wishes to deny trans people, in this case respecting their name and pronouns, is a thing that improves mental health and could prevent a death by suicide, yet still they persist.
December 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I realize this is impossible to measure but genuinely curious as to what is the more common outcome: someone comes out to conservative family and is shunned? Or they are accepted (with acceptance perhaps being phased in somewhat)?
Reposted by Melissa
immigrants score the lowest on tests, but they also take all our jobs, while at the same time taking all the welfare and buying all the homes
Stephen Miller: "If you subtract immigration out of test scores, all of the sudden our test scores skyrocket"
December 9, 2025 at 10:59 PM
immigrants score the lowest on tests, but they also take all our jobs, while at the same time taking all the welfare and buying all the homes
Reposted by Melissa
Legit amazing stuff.
And a great, great example of how “I have a dark, somewhat twisted sense of humor that’s not for everybody” does not have to mean “I lash out at powerless people and congratulate myself for my edginess.”
And a great, great example of how “I have a dark, somewhat twisted sense of humor that’s not for everybody” does not have to mean “I lash out at powerless people and congratulate myself for my edginess.”
Will Arnett was on Conan and told a story about how Conan dealt with the death of his parents by accusing Jason Bateman of killing them. It’s so funny.
December 9, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Legit amazing stuff.
And a great, great example of how “I have a dark, somewhat twisted sense of humor that’s not for everybody” does not have to mean “I lash out at powerless people and congratulate myself for my edginess.”
And a great, great example of how “I have a dark, somewhat twisted sense of humor that’s not for everybody” does not have to mean “I lash out at powerless people and congratulate myself for my edginess.”
My boyfriend just asked if the $100 F&B credit at the hotel could be applied towards damage caused my me throwing furniture.
December 6, 2025 at 11:05 PM
My boyfriend just asked if the $100 F&B credit at the hotel could be applied towards damage caused my me throwing furniture.
Reposted by Melissa
It’s the hope that kills you.
December 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
It’s the hope that kills you.
Wait - we didn’t go to Cash Jones on 3rd down? I was under the impression that was some sort of rule.
December 6, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Wait - we didn’t go to Cash Jones on 3rd down? I was under the impression that was some sort of rule.
It’s the hope that kills you.
December 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
It’s the hope that kills you.
Again.
time to sit back, relax and watch my alma mater play football
December 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Again.
Great job guys!
For First Time in Decades, Child Deaths Will Rise This Year
www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
www.wsj.com/health/for-f...
For First Time in Decades, Child Deaths Will Rise This Year
Almost a quarter of a million more children around the world are projected to die in 2025 than in 2024.
www.wsj.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Great job guys!
Who is asking for this? Seriously: is MAGA asking for this? Especially at $3.00+/gallon of gas?
Sean Duffy on slashing fuel economy standards: "This rule will actually allow you to bring back the 1970s station wagon. Maybe a little wood paneling on the side. We can bring back choice to consumers."
December 4, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Who is asking for this? Seriously: is MAGA asking for this? Especially at $3.00+/gallon of gas?
They don’t have Arch Manning though, who for ~25% of any given game is an above average QB and is from a famous family.
Michigan is 9-3 with a loss to Ohio State and a loss in A Game They Didn't Have To Play. That means we have to pretend they should be in the playoff
November 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM
They don’t have Arch Manning though, who for ~25% of any given game is an above average QB and is from a famous family.
Reposted by Melissa
Michigan is 9-3 with a loss to Ohio State and a loss in A Game They Didn't Have To Play. That means we have to pretend they should be in the playoff
November 29, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Michigan is 9-3 with a loss to Ohio State and a loss in A Game They Didn't Have To Play. That means we have to pretend they should be in the playoff
Third and Grantham, baby!
Georgia defense just forgets how to play football on third downs this year. Like there's some mind-wiping tech affecting the whole secondary
November 28, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Third and Grantham, baby!
I’m gonna be honest: I enjoyed this.
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I’m gonna be honest: I enjoyed this.
Every year I am reminded that I would love to sit in on the corporate meetings where they decide which performer to hire for their Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade float.
November 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Every year I am reminded that I would love to sit in on the corporate meetings where they decide which performer to hire for their Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade float.
I knew they were going to go scorched earth once girls started earning Eagle Scout awards. Eagle is simply a test of executive functioning - which is good because boys tend to struggle with that! - but as soon as I saw the requirements I knew girls would eat the boys’ lunches.
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts n.pr/3M48mr2
U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'
Documents show the U.S. Military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formally known as the Boy Scouts
n.pr
November 25, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I knew they were going to go scorched earth once girls started earning Eagle Scout awards. Eagle is simply a test of executive functioning - which is good because boys tend to struggle with that! - but as soon as I saw the requirements I knew girls would eat the boys’ lunches.