webwidget
@webwidget.bsky.social
Fixing Things, Breaking Things, Wondering Why. A Walking, Talking Swiss Army Knife. Just Won’t Do Right, Bless His Heart
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CDC vaccine panel realizes again it has no idea what it’s doing, delays big vote arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
CDC vaccine panel realizes again it has no idea what it’s doing, delays big vote
Today’s meeting was chaotic and included garbage anti-vaccine presentations.
arstechnica.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:53 PM
CDC vaccine panel realizes again it has no idea what it’s doing, delays big vote arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
The Farmer’s Almanac, based in Maine, is closing after 208 years. But the *Old* Farmer’s Almanac, from New Hampshire, and my mother’s standby, is still going strong. I guess The Straight Dope, “Fighting Ignorance since 1973”, was my almanac/compendium of sorts.
www.almanac.com/history-old-...
www.almanac.com/history-old-...
History of The Old Farmer’s Almanac
The Old Farmer's Almanac is North America's most popular reference guide and oldest continuously published periodical. Its history is as rich and diverse as the Almanac itself.
www.almanac.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The Farmer’s Almanac, based in Maine, is closing after 208 years. But the *Old* Farmer’s Almanac, from New Hampshire, and my mother’s standby, is still going strong. I guess The Straight Dope, “Fighting Ignorance since 1973”, was my almanac/compendium of sorts.
www.almanac.com/history-old-...
www.almanac.com/history-old-...
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Morning folks! Have a great Friday 🌞
December 5, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Morning folks! Have a great Friday 🌞
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Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia said they were pulling out of the contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to continue to compete, despite tensions over its conduct in Gaza. n.pr/3Mk77nV
At least 4 countries pull out of 2026 Eurovision contest over Israel's participation
Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia said they were pulling out of the contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to continue to compete, despite tensions over its conduct in Gaza.
n.pr
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia said they were pulling out of the contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to continue to compete, despite tensions over its conduct in Gaza. n.pr/3Mk77nV
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President Donald Trump is eager to be recognized as a peacemaker.
His administration obliged by renaming the building that houses the U.S. Institute of Peace in downtown D.C. https://wapo.st/48zkAzK
His administration obliged by renaming the building that houses the U.S. Institute of Peace in downtown D.C. https://wapo.st/48zkAzK
December 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
President Donald Trump is eager to be recognized as a peacemaker.
His administration obliged by renaming the building that houses the U.S. Institute of Peace in downtown D.C. https://wapo.st/48zkAzK
His administration obliged by renaming the building that houses the U.S. Institute of Peace in downtown D.C. https://wapo.st/48zkAzK
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Star date 01/15/2026 .
December 5, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Star date 01/15/2026 .
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![Comic. Doing a task using a company or organization’s website: [flowchart] Go to website, try to log in → Did it work? → Yes → Try to do your task. → Did it work? Yes → Nice! Done! If logging in did not work → Spend hours troubleshooting account / login. If that works, go to Try to do your task. If no → Give up and call customer service. If spending hours troubleshooting doesn’t work, also give up and call customer service. After calling customer service: Hold message: “Did you know you could do all this more quickly and easily on our website? Just go to w-w-w dot…” → Throw phone and laptop into the sea.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiewqnkcrrc4tgla7j5skyz2djf3mrrvre3577c4xcgzurvq33bw4y@jpeg)
December 4, 2025 at 10:33 PM
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Medieval Europe’s Black Death Plague Origins from Climate
- series of volcanoes cooled southern Europe, forcing them to import grains from East
- ships carried rats which carried fleas which carried Y. Pestis bacterium which carried Black Death plague
youtu.be/9E7TFlIHZ4E?...
- series of volcanoes cooled southern Europe, forcing them to import grains from East
- ships carried rats which carried fleas which carried Y. Pestis bacterium which carried Black Death plague
youtu.be/9E7TFlIHZ4E?...
Medieval Europe’s Black Death Plague Origins from Volcanic Eruption Cooling Changing Trade Routes
YouTube video by Paul Beckwith
youtu.be
December 5, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Medieval Europe’s Black Death Plague Origins from Climate
- series of volcanoes cooled southern Europe, forcing them to import grains from East
- ships carried rats which carried fleas which carried Y. Pestis bacterium which carried Black Death plague
youtu.be/9E7TFlIHZ4E?...
- series of volcanoes cooled southern Europe, forcing them to import grains from East
- ships carried rats which carried fleas which carried Y. Pestis bacterium which carried Black Death plague
youtu.be/9E7TFlIHZ4E?...
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helps to think about the details like any regular crime you'd see on one of the 800 cop shows that run on TV constantly: these guys committed one set of murders, thought it over, and then decided to kill the witnesses as part of the coverup. mention of drugs is just jingling keys at this point
December 5, 2025 at 3:14 AM
helps to think about the details like any regular crime you'd see on one of the 800 cop shows that run on TV constantly: these guys committed one set of murders, thought it over, and then decided to kill the witnesses as part of the coverup. mention of drugs is just jingling keys at this point
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The December Comfort Watch series continues today with Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life, which posits one of the most interesting afterlife scenarios ever -- and once helped me get a big damn raise at my newspaper job.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/04/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/04/t...
The December Comfort Watches 2025, Day 4: Defending Your Life
There are many ways to die in this world, roughly as many ways as there are to live, but there is one thing I know for sure: I do not wish to die the way Daniel Miller (Albert Brooks) dies in Defen…
whatever.scalzi.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:24 AM
The December Comfort Watch series continues today with Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life, which posits one of the most interesting afterlife scenarios ever -- and once helped me get a big damn raise at my newspaper job.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/04/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/04/t...
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This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.
December 3, 2025 at 2:06 PM
This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.
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surprise surprise, Adrin Nazarian voted to allow tear gas to continue!!!
Prior to June 8, the LAPD had not used tear gas in crowd-control settings in almost 50 years, an LAPD spokesperson told L.A. TACO.
The full story: lataco.com/city-council...
By @shoton35mm.bsky.social
The full story: lataco.com/city-council...
By @shoton35mm.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 2:17 AM
surprise surprise, Adrin Nazarian voted to allow tear gas to continue!!!
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Pretty notable, in my view, that Kagan points out the Supreme Court's pro-gerrymandering decision in Texas is a step-by-step instruction manual for states to draw discriminatory maps while ducking judicial review, and the majority has...nothing to say in response www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
![Texas is not on “the eve of an election,” as was true in the
case the majority cites. Republican National Committee v.
Democratic National Committee, 589 U. S. 423, 424 (2020)
(per curiam); see ante, at 2. The election there was five days
after the injunction. Similarly, the election in Purcell was
“just weeks” away. 549 U. S., at 4. Here, Election Day is
eleven months from now. Even the primary election (which
Texas could change) is in March. The District Court care-
fully listed the various “election preparations” underway to
switch to the 2025 map. App. 144. On the other hand, the
court noted how the 2021 map—which the injunction rein-
stated—was, in a real sense, the status quo. See id., at 145.
Officials, candidates, and voters are all familiar with it from
the last two election cycles. Until late last summer, every-
one expected that map to govern 2026 too. And indeed, it
will be used in a special runoff election in the State’s largest
county on January 31, 2026. So, the District Court properly
concluded, “[a]n injunction in this case would not cause sig-
nificant disruption.” Id., at 144. Except to the extent all of
us live in election season all the time, the 2026 congres-
sional election is not well underway.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bpna2qi2e44fafbhhtqjak3x/bafkreifzzrhpyftoam4b4eqcpdcegf2hksn4ula6rwbtv6fqwviqfgikte@jpeg)
December 5, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Pretty notable, in my view, that Kagan points out the Supreme Court's pro-gerrymandering decision in Texas is a step-by-step instruction manual for states to draw discriminatory maps while ducking judicial review, and the majority has...nothing to say in response www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
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What a lede on this story: Man who complained about narrowing a road in order to protect pedestrians, so much that the city eventually reversed the change, then kills a woman on that very road with his car www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...
America’s plan to protect pedestrians failed. A young woman’s death reveals why.
U.S. officials adopted Europe's Vision Zero initiative, but many cities have seen an increase in pedestrian fatalities despite efforts to improve road safety.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:55 PM
What a lede on this story: Man who complained about narrowing a road in order to protect pedestrians, so much that the city eventually reversed the change, then kills a woman on that very road with his car www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...
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I love this bandage from c.1900 featuring illustrations on how to wrap wounds resulting from accidents involving a soldier, a sailor, a miner, and a woman whose clothes have caught fire. This amazing object is part of the Wellcome Collection in London.
#skystorians #medhist #science #sciart 🧪
#skystorians #medhist #science #sciart 🧪
December 4, 2025 at 6:28 PM
I love this bandage from c.1900 featuring illustrations on how to wrap wounds resulting from accidents involving a soldier, a sailor, a miner, and a woman whose clothes have caught fire. This amazing object is part of the Wellcome Collection in London.
#skystorians #medhist #science #sciart 🧪
#skystorians #medhist #science #sciart 🧪
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The postal service is not a business, measuring it by revenue is the wrong frame for understanding its worth.
🚨SCOOP: Amazon is preparing to sever ties with USPS and expand its shipping network as a true coast-to-coast rival.
It could cost USPS more than *$6 billion* a year in lost revenue, and lead Amazon to dominate yet another facet of the economy.
USPS posted a *$9 billion* loss in 2025.
It could cost USPS more than *$6 billion* a year in lost revenue, and lead Amazon to dominate yet another facet of the economy.
USPS posted a *$9 billion* loss in 2025.
Amazon explores cutting ties with USPS, building its own delivery network
Amazon looks into expanding its nationwide delivery network and giving up its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
The postal service is not a business, measuring it by revenue is the wrong frame for understanding its worth.
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Quite breathtaking story - military grade drones at Dublin airport which flew on the path Zelensky's plane took. The drones reached the flight path of his plane exactly the time it should have been there, but just missed it because Zelensky arrived ahead of schedule:
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Quite breathtaking story - military grade drones at Dublin airport which flew on the path Zelensky's plane took. The drones reached the flight path of his plane exactly the time it should have been there, but just missed it because Zelensky arrived ahead of schedule:
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"You can make yourself fall in and out of love with people pretty easily, I’ve found, if you have a strong sense of narrative arc and choose the right moments."
Thoughts on reading Sarah Anderson's "Take Me To Kirkland" from #BestAmericanShortStories2025
sloopie72.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/b...
Thoughts on reading Sarah Anderson's "Take Me To Kirkland" from #BestAmericanShortStories2025
sloopie72.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/b...
BASS 2025: Sarah Anderson, “Take Me To Kirkland” from Joyland #XIV
“Take me to Kirkland” initially grew out of two main fragments. …. It eventually became clear to me that the two fragments were connected, and I spent another year figuring out how to stitch togeth…
sloopie72.wordpress.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:05 PM
"You can make yourself fall in and out of love with people pretty easily, I’ve found, if you have a strong sense of narrative arc and choose the right moments."
Thoughts on reading Sarah Anderson's "Take Me To Kirkland" from #BestAmericanShortStories2025
sloopie72.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/b...
Thoughts on reading Sarah Anderson's "Take Me To Kirkland" from #BestAmericanShortStories2025
sloopie72.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/b...
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Someone sent this to me as proof that *i* am wrong about my own self.
Anyway, all of this fabricated. Just untrue and not even close to the direction of truth.
Anyway, all of this fabricated. Just untrue and not even close to the direction of truth.
December 4, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Someone sent this to me as proof that *i* am wrong about my own self.
Anyway, all of this fabricated. Just untrue and not even close to the direction of truth.
Anyway, all of this fabricated. Just untrue and not even close to the direction of truth.
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“A Boy Named Charlie Brown” premiered on December 4, 1969. The first Peanuts theatrical movie, it premiered at Radio City Music Hall, only the third animated feature to open there, after the Disney classics “Bambi” and “Snow White.”
December 4, 2025 at 2:36 PM
“A Boy Named Charlie Brown” premiered on December 4, 1969. The first Peanuts theatrical movie, it premiered at Radio City Music Hall, only the third animated feature to open there, after the Disney classics “Bambi” and “Snow White.”
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this is the best breakdown I've seen of Zohran's victory, the broader NYC election, and its implications for national politics
the most important takeaway, I think - a significant chunk of Trump voters, especially concentrated among hispanics, have actively changed their vote from 2024 back to D
the most important takeaway, I think - a significant chunk of Trump voters, especially concentrated among hispanics, have actively changed their vote from 2024 back to D
my complete, map-filled, analysis of the 2025 election in New York City
-How Zohran won the primary
-How Zohran won the general (different story!)
-How this election, beneath the surface, actually offers some of the best evidence of a developing blue wave www.expectinggoals.com/p/how-zohran...
-How Zohran won the primary
-How Zohran won the general (different story!)
-How this election, beneath the surface, actually offers some of the best evidence of a developing blue wave www.expectinggoals.com/p/how-zohran...
How Zohran Mamdani Won, and What the 2025 Election in New York Can Teach Us About the National Political Environment
More than you think, but not in the way you’re thinking.
www.expectinggoals.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:11 PM
this is the best breakdown I've seen of Zohran's victory, the broader NYC election, and its implications for national politics
the most important takeaway, I think - a significant chunk of Trump voters, especially concentrated among hispanics, have actively changed their vote from 2024 back to D
the most important takeaway, I think - a significant chunk of Trump voters, especially concentrated among hispanics, have actively changed their vote from 2024 back to D
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Beginning tomorrow and continuing through Christmas, I’ll be serializing Jack Kent’s 1968 story “Why Christmas Almost Wasn’t,” which was NEA’s limited-run holiday feature. Kent is best remembered for his King Aroo strip, and he brought the same charm and whimsy to this tale. I think you’ll enjoy it!
December 4, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Beginning tomorrow and continuing through Christmas, I’ll be serializing Jack Kent’s 1968 story “Why Christmas Almost Wasn’t,” which was NEA’s limited-run holiday feature. Kent is best remembered for his King Aroo strip, and he brought the same charm and whimsy to this tale. I think you’ll enjoy it!
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What if I told you that Kenya has a Data Protection Act linked to a constitutional right to privacy which prohibits the processing of data collected in the country outside the country? But the person who calls himself president has signed this MOU with zero public or parliamentary participation?
December 4, 2025 at 7:12 PM
What if I told you that Kenya has a Data Protection Act linked to a constitutional right to privacy which prohibits the processing of data collected in the country outside the country? But the person who calls himself president has signed this MOU with zero public or parliamentary participation?
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Come to think of it, Johnny, what's the Thagomizer called in Japanese?
December 4, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Come to think of it, Johnny, what's the Thagomizer called in Japanese?