Michael Clark
@smintheus.bsky.social
Ancient historian, temple attendant for three dainty-pawed gods who sometimes make their epiphanies. Looking for more honesty and less malice in politics, but getting this thing instead.
Reposted by Michael Clark
This is the sort of conduct that got people hung at Nuremberg.
Palantir's Alex Karp offers a full-throated embrace of war crimes, which he considers to be the way all modern military forces should operate. No one who follows Palantir and its dealings around the world would be surprised. gizmodo.com/palantir-ceo...
Palantir CEO Says Making War Crimes Constitutional Would Be Good for Business
Alex Karp vows to use his
gizmodo.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:36 AM
This is the sort of conduct that got people hung at Nuremberg.
Reposted by Michael Clark
"She can be heard screaming as agents attempt to handcuff her. 'I’m a U.S. citizen, please help me,' she shouted after agents forced her to the ground. 'This is unfair. Why are you doing this to me?'”
Gift link:
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...
Gift link:
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...
December 3, 2025 at 5:26 PM
"She can be heard screaming as agents attempt to handcuff her. 'I’m a U.S. citizen, please help me,' she shouted after agents forced her to the ground. 'This is unfair. Why are you doing this to me?'”
Gift link:
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...
Gift link:
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...
Trump's ballroom looks more and more like an industrial chicken house.
At this rate it will dwarf the WhiteHouse as much as this administration's actions dwarf the rule of law.
Whoever takes over needs to demolish it.
Whoever takes over needs to demolish it.
Nightmare-client’s renovation makes Page One:
@nytimes.com @lukebroadwater.bsky.social
@nytimes.com @lukebroadwater.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Trump's ballroom looks more and more like an industrial chicken house.
Reposted by Michael Clark
This is the essence of the story: three billionaires with no understanding of higher education are seeking to force Harvard to pay a bribe.
December 3, 2025 at 1:41 PM
This is the essence of the story: three billionaires with no understanding of higher education are seeking to force Harvard to pay a bribe.
This is like a Jonathan Winters* skit, but in a creepier voice.
*My father once recalled how, while they were serving in the Marines in the Pacific, Winters would launch into wild skits for the rest of them sending up the stupidities of military service and mocking stereotypically dumb officers.
*My father once recalled how, while they were serving in the Marines in the Pacific, Winters would launch into wild skits for the rest of them sending up the stupidities of military service and mocking stereotypically dumb officers.
Fox’s Greg Gutfeld on double tap boat strike: “It's just better for us to kill them in the ocean, make them shark feed, be done with it”
December 3, 2025 at 2:10 AM
This is like a Jonathan Winters* skit, but in a creepier voice.
*My father once recalled how, while they were serving in the Marines in the Pacific, Winters would launch into wild skits for the rest of them sending up the stupidities of military service and mocking stereotypically dumb officers.
*My father once recalled how, while they were serving in the Marines in the Pacific, Winters would launch into wild skits for the rest of them sending up the stupidities of military service and mocking stereotypically dumb officers.
This is badly one-sided. It waits 12 grafs before hinting the lurid assertions it leads with may not be tenable. It never acknowledges the core criticism of Zillow is that First Street's claims about climate risks often are wrong, sloppy & self-serving. And it gives a disingenuous CEO the last word.
Zillow deletes climate risk data from listings after complaints it harms sales
Site deletes feature after real estate agents and some homeowners say scores appear arbitrary and hurt sales
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:47 AM
This is badly one-sided. It waits 12 grafs before hinting the lurid assertions it leads with may not be tenable. It never acknowledges the core criticism of Zillow is that First Street's claims about climate risks often are wrong, sloppy & self-serving. And it gives a disingenuous CEO the last word.
Reposted by Michael Clark
LOL!
December 2, 2025 at 11:03 PM
LOL!
"A lacklustre performance ending in a 2 point loss leaves Democrats in disarray"
"Disappointing night for Dems as they can't close the deal on swingy TN07 even as they swept the GA elections tonight..."
I’m so ready to be pissed off at news coverage of a special election in a Trump+22 district. “Republican Wins U.S. House Seat In Blow To Upset-Minded Democrats” get it chambered NYT
December 2, 2025 at 11:54 PM
"A lacklustre performance ending in a 2 point loss leaves Democrats in disarray"
As ever, the question for Trump is what does he have to hide?
The irony is that it's an investigation of Trump concealing stolen top secret government documents.
The irony is that it's an investigation of Trump concealing stolen top secret government documents.
NEW: Trump just argued that Jack Smith's final report — chronicling the criminal case against him for hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago — should never be made public.
Trump urged Aileen Cannon in a new court filing to permanently extend her order blocking DOJ from releasing the report.
Trump urged Aileen Cannon in a new court filing to permanently extend her order blocking DOJ from releasing the report.
Trump: Jack Smith classified documents report should remain secret
Trump’s request is a break from the Justice Department’s handling of all special counsel reports in recent decades.
www.politico.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:40 PM
As ever, the question for Trump is what does he have to hide?
The irony is that it's an investigation of Trump concealing stolen top secret government documents.
The irony is that it's an investigation of Trump concealing stolen top secret government documents.
A poem for our times.
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest of Second Comings
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest of Second Comings
December 2, 2025 at 8:37 PM
A poem for our times.
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest of Second Comings
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest of Second Comings
With the ancient historian's proviso that demographic data is very shaky for premodern societies, nevertheless high childhood mortality was a constant pretty much everywhere until just a few years before I was born.
Anti-medical science GOP is working to get those child mortality numbers back up.
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
With the ancient historian's proviso that demographic data is very shaky for premodern societies, nevertheless high childhood mortality was a constant pretty much everywhere until just a few years before I was born.
Reposted by Michael Clark
Hannah Claire Brimelow, a Tim Poole employee and daughter of white nationalist VDARE founder Peter Brimelow, is part of the new “press” corps covering the Pentagon after the Trump admin forced out most journalists. Laura Loomer is also there.
December 2, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Hannah Claire Brimelow, a Tim Poole employee and daughter of white nationalist VDARE founder Peter Brimelow, is part of the new “press” corps covering the Pentagon after the Trump admin forced out most journalists. Laura Loomer is also there.
Reposted by Michael Clark
What a sleazy defense of honest critiques, a transparent attempt at a validation of the editorial dept.'s sins. A lot of us share a view that groveling before power, sanewashing, elitism, etc. is a challenge to our values, not our views.
For my part, I would say that questioning the framing of some Times stories—for example, the highlighting of Trump’s putative emotions or the foregrounding of what he says (even when, as is often the case, what he says is false)—is not an indication that I want my “views validated.”
December 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM
What a sleazy defense of honest critiques, a transparent attempt at a validation of the editorial dept.'s sins. A lot of us share a view that groveling before power, sanewashing, elitism, etc. is a challenge to our values, not our views.
I was caught in a snarled up hospital parking garage yesterday. The problem? The new pickups & some SUVs are too long so traffic couldn't pass them wherever they were parked w/out making a wide berth into the oncoming lane.
It's not just they're too heavy & too high; status now demands too long.
It's not just they're too heavy & too high; status now demands too long.
A bunch of Gen Zers are gonna buy trucks and SUVs that struggle to break 17 mpg highway and discover why nobody much complained when Obama jacked up the requirements.
lol it's just "big truck big".
*TRUMP TO ANNOUNCE PROPOSED ROLLBACK IN AUTO FUEL ECONOMY RULES
*TRUMP FUEL-ECONOMY ANNOUNCEMENT EXPECTED WED. AT WHITE HOUSE
*WHITE HOUSE MEETING TO INCLUDE EXECUTIVES FROM GM, FORD
*TRUMP TO ANNOUNCE PROPOSED ROLLBACK IN AUTO FUEL ECONOMY RULES
*TRUMP FUEL-ECONOMY ANNOUNCEMENT EXPECTED WED. AT WHITE HOUSE
*WHITE HOUSE MEETING TO INCLUDE EXECUTIVES FROM GM, FORD
December 2, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I was caught in a snarled up hospital parking garage yesterday. The problem? The new pickups & some SUVs are too long so traffic couldn't pass them wherever they were parked w/out making a wide berth into the oncoming lane.
It's not just they're too heavy & too high; status now demands too long.
It's not just they're too heavy & too high; status now demands too long.
If you're throwing an admiral under a vehicle for whatever purpose, shouldn't it be under a boat, a ship or at least a raft rather than a bus?
Confused by the morning headlines.
Confused by the morning headlines.
December 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
If you're throwing an admiral under a vehicle for whatever purpose, shouldn't it be under a boat, a ship or at least a raft rather than a bus?
Confused by the morning headlines.
Confused by the morning headlines.
Don't grade me, bro!
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
December 1, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Don't grade me, bro!
@eroston.bsky.social pointed me to this exceptionally insightful article he wrote w/ @krishnakarra.bsky.social
@leslieatlarge.bsky.social
and Sinduja Rangarajan
It very effectively demonstrates that no one should place much faith in the models, methods, & claims of companies like First Street.
@leslieatlarge.bsky.social
and Sinduja Rangarajan
It very effectively demonstrates that no one should place much faith in the models, methods, & claims of companies like First Street.
The Risky Business of Predicting Where Climate Disaster Will Hit
Climate tech companies can calculate the chances that a flood or wildfire will ravage your home. But what if their odds are all different?
www.bloomberg.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:04 AM
@eroston.bsky.social pointed me to this exceptionally insightful article he wrote w/ @krishnakarra.bsky.social
@leslieatlarge.bsky.social
and Sinduja Rangarajan
It very effectively demonstrates that no one should place much faith in the models, methods, & claims of companies like First Street.
@leslieatlarge.bsky.social
and Sinduja Rangarajan
It very effectively demonstrates that no one should place much faith in the models, methods, & claims of companies like First Street.
The article in question is this. First Street, the company behind these controversies, is so lacking in credibility it routinely conflates weather forecasting w/ climate change.
Its output is speculative slop: erroneous, contradictory, arbitrary, absurd. Mostly unproveable, otherwise proven false.
Its output is speculative slop: erroneous, contradictory, arbitrary, absurd. Mostly unproveable, otherwise proven false.
November 30, 2025 at 6:20 PM
The article in question is this. First Street, the company behind these controversies, is so lacking in credibility it routinely conflates weather forecasting w/ climate change.
Its output is speculative slop: erroneous, contradictory, arbitrary, absurd. Mostly unproveable, otherwise proven false.
Its output is speculative slop: erroneous, contradictory, arbitrary, absurd. Mostly unproveable, otherwise proven false.
Reposted by Michael Clark
Who did some Project 2025 applicants, some of whom became Trump admin officials, cite as political inspirations? @jasonaw.bsky.social found this included the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt, authoritarians, and white nationalist groups. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Leaked files show far-right influences among Project 2025 applicants
Applicants reportedly cited Nazi theorists and other extremists as inspiration for Trump administration roles
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Who did some Project 2025 applicants, some of whom became Trump admin officials, cite as political inspirations? @jasonaw.bsky.social found this included the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt, authoritarians, and white nationalist groups. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Monumentalizing the decline of democracy. Architectural historians have remarked that the transformation of utilitarian public spaces & structures into lavish, grandiose monuments often occurs while or immediately after they're rendered effectively superfluous by events.
thehill.com/blogs/in-the...
thehill.com/blogs/in-the...
November 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Monumentalizing the decline of democracy. Architectural historians have remarked that the transformation of utilitarian public spaces & structures into lavish, grandiose monuments often occurs while or immediately after they're rendered effectively superfluous by events.
thehill.com/blogs/in-the...
thehill.com/blogs/in-the...
I'm reminded of how my childhood sheepdog Sunshine acted once after a large, irascible rescue German Shepherd in the village was killed by a car. Sunshine ran into the road & stood over her body, warning off cars that tried to pass & pedestrians who tried to draw him away. He kept a 4 hour vigil!
November 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
I'm reminded of how my childhood sheepdog Sunshine acted once after a large, irascible rescue German Shepherd in the village was killed by a car. Sunshine ran into the road & stood over her body, warning off cars that tried to pass & pedestrians who tried to draw him away. He kept a 4 hour vigil!
You can know him by his works. I suspect we'll learn that the Leavitts were behind this kidnapping of the mother.
Karoline Leavitt's brother says his only concern is for his son. The mother of his child can rot in hell.
I bet he wears a big shiny cross around his neck too.
I bet he wears a big shiny cross around his neck too.
"A woman with a family connection to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts."
www.wcvb.com/article/karo...
www.wcvb.com/article/karo...
November 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
You can know him by his works. I suspect we'll learn that the Leavitts were behind this kidnapping of the mother.
This from the rancid, lying spokesperson for an administration that is so OK with Russians stealing Ukrainian children for themselves that it outsources its own "peace" plan to those same Russians.
“After Ferreira was detained, Dos Santos Rodrigues said Michael Leavitt Sr. and his father, Bob Leavitt, reached out to her.”
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
“‘They just kept saying, ‘Tell her to self-deport,’” she recalled. “Self-deport to where? Brazil is not her home.’” www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/26/m...
‘Brazil is not her home.’ Mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, brought to US as child, detained by ICE. - The Boston Globe
Bruna Ferreira, 33, was brought to the United States as a child in 1998. She is now in removal proceedings in Louisiana.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:48 PM
This from the rancid, lying spokesperson for an administration that is so OK with Russians stealing Ukrainian children for themselves that it outsources its own "peace" plan to those same Russians.
Reposted by Michael Clark
The 2020 Georgia election case is going to be dismissed in its entirety, with the prosecutor offering less-than-persuasive reasoning. A miscarriage of justice that weakens our democracy.
November 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The 2020 Georgia election case is going to be dismissed in its entirety, with the prosecutor offering less-than-persuasive reasoning. A miscarriage of justice that weakens our democracy.
Reposted by Michael Clark
Glad to see this getting more media attention.
Must read, especially for journalists: A recent federal court opinion about how DHS is "simply not credible". Extended excerpts here:
presswatchers.org/2025/11/dhss...
presswatchers.org/2025/11/dhss...
DHS's pack of liars | Press Watch
Journalists should not believe anything the Department of Homeland Security says
presswatchers.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Glad to see this getting more media attention.