Tweet as art

I loathe Twitter, and most tweets are a waste of bits, but sometimes ....

The last word on Jeong: bore

A splendid analysis of the NYT, Jeong, and why she is a bore.

Impeaching the entire state Supreme Court

In West Virginia the members of the supreme court seem to have misbehaved. So the legislature is impeaching all of them.

Oversight is a lot more useful than what legislatures usually do! 

TR phone home!

Which president broke up Standard Oil? TR. And it only took 2 years including the final appeal to the USSC. Standard Oil had less market share than Google does on searches, or Facebook or Twitter. TR phone home!

Some poems, unapologetically

Two by Anders Carlson-Wee.

Dynamite

Another one

and one from me

Advice To a Poet Seeking Publication In The Nation

Do it first, apologize, unasked but sought
Tug
The forelock, bend
The knee, bend
And never, ever
Rhyme.

Something amiss with historians

According to David Bernstein.

Corbyn revolt?

I don't know what to make of this report. I would like to believe it, because I predicted Labour could not survive Corbyn, but it's all very “the cheque is the mail.” 

Corruption in broad daylight.

The NY Daily News is a tabloid which supports Democrats. Andrew Cuomo is a Democrat. Et voilà.

GAD, a quick list

Over the years I have read hundreds of classic mysteries (GAD: the Golden Age of Detection). I want to mention a few that were once well known and are less so now, but which I really liked.

Malice Aforethought Francis Iles
Dr Bickleigh plans to murder his wife. An inverted mystery.

Death of My Aunt C H B Kitchin
Malcom Warren's wealthy aunt is poisoned. Was it her aphrodisiac? An elegent, light, droll, and clever book. He wrote two good sequels, Death of His Uncle, and Crime at Christmas.

At the Villa Rose A E W Mason. An early mystery, 1909, from the author of The Four Feathers. Charming, not too difficult, and Hanaud prefigures Poirot in some striking ways. Two good sequels, The House of the Arrow and Prisoner in the Opal.

A Pin To See The Peep-show F Tennyson Jesse
Based on a big scandal of the 20s, the Thompson Bywaters case, this isn't really a mystery so much as a how-to-ruin-your-life book.

Trump, Putin, and American Intelligence Agencies.

It depends on what the meaning of “isn’t” isn’t.

The proof of the pudding ...

... is in the eating.

Persuasion Machines

Facebook documents were leaked .... The internal report crafted by Facebook executives showed the social network boasting to advertisers that by monitoring posts, interactions, and photos in real time, the network is able to track when teens feel “insecure,” “worthless,” “stressed,” “useless” and a “failure.” Why would the social network do this? The report also bragged about Facebook’s ability to micro-target ads down to “moments when young people need a confidence boost.”

Mechanized, weaponized persuasion.

Ka-boom!

A devastating book review of a trendy “history” of early Christianity by Catherine Nixey. If you make it to the end, I heartily recommend Duffy's book, which he mentions.

It's an interesting looking blog.

The Great Stupiding Continues

Here.

More good news

This time at Marquette University.

If you click through or search and find the dissent, consider the implication of allowing religious organizations to redefine words as they choose.

Knickerbocker Holiday

For my American friends on the 4th

An old favourite

From New Order