“Trump did not invent the fact that it’s expensive to be an American parent—and often expensive in absurd ways—but he sure is not helping the situation. Truly: Why is the government punishing me for purchasing a stroller?”
“It can be easy to criticize parents who participate — or even just let their children participate — in the increasing professionalization and optimization of youth pitching. But the incentive would exist even if any one individual chose not to engage. In some ways, the most dangerous part about programs designed to help youth pitchers throw harder is that they work.”
“President Trump’s attack on numbers includes public polls, an essential feature of the democratic free press.”
“Scientists are exploring whether encouraging the growth of phytoplankton could draw down more atmospheric carbon — without unintended side effects in oceanic ecosystems.”
“Telling overwhelmed parents that God requires them to spank children who don’t instantly obey, while subtracting nonviolent alternatives, results in a toxic equation where parents are likely to escalate their disciplinary measures in order to achieve compliance. It’s a situation ripe for abuse and, in fact, grooms children for it in many ways.”
“James Dobson was a nasty dude. He liked to beat children and dogs with a belt and to rain misery and punishment on the vulnerable; we know all of this about him because he said as much in public, repeatedly, over a long and rancid public life. He enlisted a whole bunch of Ideology—patriarchy, social conservatism, utterly fake upside-down Christianity—in service of those basic motivations, not only to justify his own appetite for and personal acts of sadism and domination, but to cast punishment and predation as far out into the world as he could manage. He studied psychology and the Bible so that he could borrow their authority and instrumentalize them to do widespread cruelty more effectively. He was oriented to evil, at vast scale, by continual lifelong choice. It was his calling, and he made it his job.”
“New research found that countries where men do more housework and child care have higher fertility rates.”
“On Friday, a proposed class action was filed in Washington federal court against Amazon over a “bait and switch” in which the company allegedly misleads consumers into believing they’ve purchased content when they’re only getting a license to watch, which can be revoked at any time.”
“If Alina Habba’s appointment is illegal, so is much more of Trump’s DOJ takeover.”
“Nathan Fielder Might Actually Make Flying Safer With ‘The Rehearsal'”.
“Denmark’s foreign minister had the top U.S. diplomat in the country summoned for talks after the main national public broadcaster reported Wednesday that at least three people with connections to President Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.”
“The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.”
“I don’t mean to say OKC doesn’t deserve iconic architecture. Far from! I simply think that buildings should reflect the character of a place, like how Santa Fe is all adobe and how Dallas looks designed by a sentient Ford-F150.”
“But Pulte’s attacks on Cook—along with his similar barrages against New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)—invite scrutiny of his own past dealings.”
“Slavery was very, very bad. It was also a major aspect of American history, which our national museums must continue to explain, if we are to understand our real past.”
You’d think a program designed to reduce the number of children who drown would be a good thing, but then you are not Donald Trump.
“The Trump administration is throwing various hobbies enjoyed by Americans into chaos and is harming small businesses domestically and abroad with its ever-changing tariff structure that is turning the United States into a hermit kingdom. It has made buying and selling things on eBay particularly annoying, and is making it harder and more expensive to, for example, buy vintage film cameras, retro video games, or vintage clothes from Japan, where many of the top eBay sellers are based.”
“Katrina destroyed New Orleans’ early childhood education. 20 years later, it’s a model for success.”
RIP, Dave McNeely, longtime Texas political reporter and columnist. I’d have preferred to refer to his obit in the Statesman, where he worked for most of his career, but it’s paywalled.
RIP, Randy Moffitt, former MLB pitcher mostly for the Giants, brother of tennis legend Billie Jean King, who shared a loving remembrance of him.
RIP, Lee Roy Jordan, five-time All Pro linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys who was on their first Super Bowl winner.