Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
@tomscud.bsky.social
Editor and writer for an undisclosed publication. Auguste Piccard and Frank Wilhoit stan. Pope Sixtus VI papal name advocate. He/him.
Pinned
Adam the Golem was a calm, reflective soul
With his chiseled jaw
And his sculpted abs
And two eyes made out of coal.
Adam the Golem was a fairytale they say.
He was made of clay
But the rabbis say
That he came to life one day.
With his chiseled jaw
And his sculpted abs
And two eyes made out of coal.
Adam the Golem was a fairytale they say.
He was made of clay
But the rabbis say
That he came to life one day.
Pinned thread with various creative works I want to be able to find later. First, Adam the Golem, the story of the golem of Prague set to a possibly familiar tune: bsky.app/profile/toms...
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…
February 16, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Tonight’s dumb napkin cartoon…
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
gotta do investigations into DHS “waste, fraud and abuse” as pretext for killing the agency
The interior of Kristi Noem’s new billionaire-class luxury jet is complete with two bidets and a wet bar with a wine chiller. It will be purchased on our dime from the slush fund Congress approved in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
open.substack.com/pub/newsnotn...
open.substack.com/pub/newsnotn...
Let Them Fly First Class: Kristi Noem’s DHS Luxury Jet Scandal
Inside Noem's flying palace. Plus: Pentagon demands obedient, deadly AI. The race to deploy untested nuclear reactors. Lawmakers move to rein in presidential pardons. And remembering Robert Duvall.
open.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:53 AM
gotta do investigations into DHS “waste, fraud and abuse” as pretext for killing the agency
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
Every President's Day, we gather round and sing this old, traditional hymn www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRo...
George Washington
YouTube video by unvmebad86
www.youtube.com
February 17, 2026 at 12:15 AM
Every President's Day, we gather round and sing this old, traditional hymn www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRo...
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
Minnesota's top investigative agency says federal government has formally refused to hand over evidence and information in the killing of Alex Pretti
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
FBI formally refuses to share evidence in Alex Pretti killing, Minnesota investigators say
Minnesota's top investigative agency said Monday the federal government has formally refused to hand over evidence and information in the killing of Alex Pretti.
www.cbsnews.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:43 PM
Minnesota's top investigative agency says federal government has formally refused to hand over evidence and information in the killing of Alex Pretti
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
OK, who's the optimal first head on a pike? It's 1/20/29, and AG Robt Jackson wants to make clear that nobody who served in this admin is safe, and he wants to do it fast.
Trump is the big fish, but slowest to convict. Miller is an ogre, but Vance doesn't quake seeing him behind bars.
So who then?
Trump is the big fish, but slowest to convict. Miller is an ogre, but Vance doesn't quake seeing him behind bars.
So who then?
The main appeal of a President AOC to me is that she would not hesitate to have everyone prosecuted who needs to be. I am iffy on the others even Kelly.
February 16, 2026 at 10:35 PM
OK, who's the optimal first head on a pike? It's 1/20/29, and AG Robt Jackson wants to make clear that nobody who served in this admin is safe, and he wants to do it fast.
Trump is the big fish, but slowest to convict. Miller is an ogre, but Vance doesn't quake seeing him behind bars.
So who then?
Trump is the big fish, but slowest to convict. Miller is an ogre, but Vance doesn't quake seeing him behind bars.
So who then?
Rover was killed by a Pontiac
And it was done with such grace and artistry
That the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail.
And it was done with such grace and artistry
That the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail.
What’s the best song lyric in history?
February 16, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Rover was killed by a Pontiac
And it was done with such grace and artistry
That the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail.
And it was done with such grace and artistry
That the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
I’m so proud to have earned the endorsement of Sierra Club! I’m proud of the work we’ve done to protect our environment and put us on the path to a clean energy future here in Illinois, and I’m ready to bring that work to the U.S. Senate!
February 16, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I’m so proud to have earned the endorsement of Sierra Club! I’m proud of the work we’ve done to protect our environment and put us on the path to a clean energy future here in Illinois, and I’m ready to bring that work to the U.S. Senate!
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
From where I sit, this shift in the strategy used to address the critique seems unwise when what they had was adequate. It risks backlash that reinforces the very premise: by reflecting a caricature of the critique back at people, she could come across like she really doesn't know the district well.
February 16, 2026 at 2:22 PM
From where I sit, this shift in the strategy used to address the critique seems unwise when what they had was adequate. It risks backlash that reinforces the very premise: by reflecting a caricature of the critique back at people, she could come across like she really doesn't know the district well.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
The wonderful thing about Tyggers
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
February 4, 2026 at 2:14 AM
The wonderful thing about Tyggers
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
Is Tyggers are burning bright
Their tops are made out of rubber
In the forest of the night
What bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Immortal hand or eye
Did frame the most wonderful thing about Tyggers,
Their fearful symmetry!
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
I’m going diverge from this a little bit because there’s a small critique I want to make that has big policy implications - Americans weren’t traumatized by death, and I understand why we interpret it as death, they’re traumatized by a year+ interruption to their normal lives.
"Americans are to a greater and lesser extent all psychologically traumatized from watching more than a million Americans die from COVID, and explain that general sense of malaise through economic sentiment" has always struck me as a parsimonious explanation.
February 16, 2026 at 12:04 AM
I’m going diverge from this a little bit because there’s a small critique I want to make that has big policy implications - Americans weren’t traumatized by death, and I understand why we interpret it as death, they’re traumatized by a year+ interruption to their normal lives.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
"Americans are to a greater and lesser extent all psychologically traumatized from watching more than a million Americans die from COVID, and explain that general sense of malaise through economic sentiment" has always struck me as a parsimonious explanation.
February 15, 2026 at 11:48 PM
"Americans are to a greater and lesser extent all psychologically traumatized from watching more than a million Americans die from COVID, and explain that general sense of malaise through economic sentiment" has always struck me as a parsimonious explanation.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
I miss when you could post Brave Norman Rockwell Townsperson and the caption could be, like, “R.E.M was wrong to leave ‘Fretless’ off of Out of Time” instead of “The secret police should stop murdering people.”
February 15, 2026 at 8:56 PM
I miss when you could post Brave Norman Rockwell Townsperson and the caption could be, like, “R.E.M was wrong to leave ‘Fretless’ off of Out of Time” instead of “The secret police should stop murdering people.”
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
douglas adams was our most accurate futurist
We are at an airport restaurant. A robot just drove up to us with our food, said, "Hi! Here I am!" and then drove away with our food.
February 15, 2026 at 10:10 PM
douglas adams was our most accurate futurist
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
Over and over again, we have seen DHS's playbook: shoot, lie, criminalize. And every time, they are caught red-handed in their deception.
DHS was built as a weapon to be pointed at anyone the government considers the public enemy or a "domestic terrorist." We have to dismantle DHS.
DHS was built as a weapon to be pointed at anyone the government considers the public enemy or a "domestic terrorist." We have to dismantle DHS.
Agents Suspended After Their Story of Shooting an Immigrant Falls Apart
www.nytimes.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Over and over again, we have seen DHS's playbook: shoot, lie, criminalize. And every time, they are caught red-handed in their deception.
DHS was built as a weapon to be pointed at anyone the government considers the public enemy or a "domestic terrorist." We have to dismantle DHS.
DHS was built as a weapon to be pointed at anyone the government considers the public enemy or a "domestic terrorist." We have to dismantle DHS.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
if Derby had two sports teams in the same league and they played each other would it be called the Derby Derby?
February 15, 2026 at 9:39 PM
if Derby had two sports teams in the same league and they played each other would it be called the Derby Derby?
Guy who insists a millisecond should be 1/3600 of a second.
We divide hours into 3600000 segments (milliseconds) for granularity, where appropriate.
February 15, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Guy who insists a millisecond should be 1/3600 of a second.
So the other thing about Maine is that it has ranked-choice voting so a major third-party campaign would not be a wrecker.
February 15, 2026 at 9:18 PM
So the other thing about Maine is that it has ranked-choice voting so a major third-party campaign would not be a wrecker.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But the DOW is over 50,000."
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But the DOW is over 50,000."
February 15, 2026 at 7:45 PM
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But the DOW is over 50,000."
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But the DOW is over 50,000."
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
Kristi Noem must resign or be fired immediately.
I asked Secretary Noem a simple yes or no question: “Do you believe the Constitution guarantees everyone in our country the right to due process?” She couldn’t give me a straight answer.
February 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Kristi Noem must resign or be fired immediately.
Has the ioc ever not sucked? Holding the Olympics in Germany in 1936 followed by Tokyo in 1940 is sure a look.
Guys….the IOC sucks and the Olympics are less bc of it
The IOC has banned the courageous & principled Ukrainian Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych for his “helmet of memory” commemorating Ukraine’s war dead.
Meanwhile the IOC is selling a $42 "Heritage T-shirt" commemorating the 1936 Olympics, known as the Nazi Games. shop3.olympics.com/en/olympic-g...
Meanwhile the IOC is selling a $42 "Heritage T-shirt" commemorating the 1936 Olympics, known as the Nazi Games. shop3.olympics.com/en/olympic-g...
February 15, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Has the ioc ever not sucked? Holding the Olympics in Germany in 1936 followed by Tokyo in 1940 is sure a look.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
And they've got the massive pool of ICE/CBP money and claim the right to repurpose funds for their preferred programs, let them raid that treasure chest if they want to keep air travel going.
February 15, 2026 at 5:34 PM
And they've got the massive pool of ICE/CBP money and claim the right to repurpose funds for their preferred programs, let them raid that treasure chest if they want to keep air travel going.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
This is what ICE does every day. Hunt little kids who are here legally. They get sent to a place called the “baby jail” in Texas. Very little of it ends up on video like this. But it’s routine. And disgusting.
February 15, 2026 at 3:25 PM
This is what ICE does every day. Hunt little kids who are here legally. They get sent to a place called the “baby jail” in Texas. Very little of it ends up on video like this. But it’s routine. And disgusting.
Reposted by Prestidigitator John 🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦
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 5:30 PM
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.
Sure, why not?
The Astros have signed Cavan Biggio to a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league camp.
February 15, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Sure, why not?