That part where the constellation of cybershits all over the country suddenly went Maximum Overdrive and plowed into all the nation’s public libraries and burned all the books was pretty impactful.

It got too weird to watch after the starlink satellites started shooting laser beams to blind anyone who voted blue. I had to learn from my kids, who kept watching, about the parts showing the compulsory Neuralink implants and subsequent shock-induced enslavement.

Grab them by the shaft?

I mean, it does appear to be their deepest wet dream to be roughly stroked by their rich demigods. Guess one of them saw and seized the opportunity to quickly communicate that.

Fuck yeah Judge Sparkle!

But they can pass it via reconciliation via simple majority, but it just can’t be too crazy. At least, that’s my read of the linked explainer.

Thanks for bringing this up. It inspired me to find out what reconciliation means: https://democrats-budget.house.gov/resources/fact-sheet/budget-reconciliation-explainer

It seems like reconciliation would be a good thing? Obviously not the best thing, but still a relatively stable compromise. Happy to be educated, tho…

Immune by Philipp Dettmer of Kurzgesat. Highly recommended reading…and watching.

Measle Weasel is a pretty catchy nickname. But I like weasels and I don’t think they deserve to be associated with a paramecium like him.

Ah, measles. Nature’s Ultimate Antivaxxer.

OMG, that’s an awesome idea! Someone should try that!

That’s the exact thesis proposed in The Dictator’s Handbook by Bueno de Mesquita and Smith for making a government good for its constituents. Coalition size is THE most important feature.

I’m just shocked that the My Pillow guy isn’t somehow in on the deal. Maybe his pillows could be the airbags in the Teslas?

I hope Yanni is in a palace full of pups. And Rhys Fulber a temple full of snakes (I’m assuming he likes snakes).

Muskwarts?

I’m all for whatever maximizes the pain for DOGE. What would that be? A 40-day shutdown showdown that results in a better spending bill?

People who subscribe to this approach toward immunity acquisition REALLY need to read Chapter 41 (Hygiene Hypothesis) in Immune by Philipp Dettmer. Also, here’s a fun and terrifying excerpt specifically about measles:

It’s because people love feeling like they’re privvy to a secret. The second it’s validated and becomes public knowledge, it’s no longer “privileged” knowledge and no longer makes them feel special for “knowing” a “secret truth”

As a bonus for contracting measles, you’ll get all your previous vaccines and earned immunities deleted by the measles virus attacking your immune cells dedicated to remembering how to effectively fight past pathogens.

So you can think of measles as THE antivaccine. No wonder the antivaxxers love it so much!

Shutdowns really suck if you’re employed by the federal government. Nothing makes you feel more powerless than either being told you’re not allowed to do your job because your employer can’t figure out its shit or you’re told you have to work, but you aren’t guaranteed your next scheduled paycheck until the shutdown ends, and in 2018-19, it was really unclear when it would end. And if you’re furloughed and get back-pay for not working, you’re viewed poorly by the public for getting paid not to work, even though it wasn’t your fault. I could definitely see Democrats being blamed for all the bad things resulting from a shutdown, even though it’s provisions in the GOP bill that are ultimately causing it to happen. Holding federal employees’ paychecks and government services to the public hostage is absolutely the shittiest way to conduct political business.

This reminds me I need to go back and finish Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World because he masterfully eviscerates pseudoscience in it.

I also loved how Philipp Dettmer tactfully addressed the Hygiene Hypothesis in Immune, which I believe everyone in the general population should read. It was profoundly eye-opening to learn about the principle mechanisms by which the immune system so delicately does its thing on the daily. It’s almost beyond my comprehension to appreciate how such an intricate and balanced dance performed by incomprehensible numbers of players can occur with only Brownian motion as the motivating driver (and, you know, many millions of years of fine-tuning through a relentless microbiological arms race for resources).

Gut by Enders and her explanation of the colon’s microbial constituents is another wonderful introduction for the lay person that really could supplant silly-ass homeopathy with something that is actually happening and no less amazing than the otherwise absurd concept of “molecular memory” or an alternative bond angle in water molecules.

I know someone who did this in the moments immediately following waking up in the morning.

…it was difficult to look them in the eye after that.

Also, they’re okay now, but yeah, it was a scary day for them.