By Marques Brownlee, my favorite tech reviewer.
“I want to try to be something to look up to for kids like the 15 year old me. The kids who want to be able to look at a high level of something and see someone that looks like them, making the right choices, and finding success.”
Success as in 11.2 million subscribers to his channel. And in thoughtful and profound consciousness raising.
Thanks to the Nation’s podcast, I discovered The Bureau, the best spy television series I’ve ever seen. If you liked The Americans, or you like spy novels, give it a go. The Nation’s television dude said it’s the one series professional spies say best depicts their work.
It’s French, with subtitles, and it focuses on France’s equivalent of the CIA and shifts regularly from their Paris base to North Africa and The Middle East.
It’s available on Sundance Now, which is a free app for now, well Season 1 (of 5) at least. I had to create a free 7-day trial account to move from Season 1 to 2. And I discovered there are promo codes to push that 7 days to 30, so don’t be surprised if I am speaking French by the end of June.
Last night, I binged watched the last three episodes of Season 2. And so I couldn’t get to sleep, you know, the “no screen time right before bed” rule and all.
I vow to do better, only one episode per day. Maybe.
In light of his courageous bible waving church appearance a few days ago, Jesus has decided to endorse Donald Trump in the 2020 election for President.
His spokesperson, H Spirit, was asked by reporters if the President’s tear-gassing of peaceful protestors before the appearance was a complicating consideration. “Somewhat, H Spirit said, “but in the end, the President’s profound spirituality coupled with his consistent modeling of New Testament principles proved decisive.”
Upon hearing the news, the President tweeted, “MAGA. Make America Godly Again!”
If this Dustin Wahl Twitter thread is any indication, maybe Jerry Falwell’s spell on Anti-Liberty University is more tenuous than meets the eye.
Wahl, a 2018 A-L-U graduate, uses his grandfather’s pic as his profile pic.
Related. ‘Does not reflect the God of the Bible’; LU professor resigns after Falwell’s mask tweets.
Dr. Christopher House:
“As an African American man and Christian pastor, I am horrified and appalled that the president of the largest Christian university in the world would knowing and intentionally use images that evoke a deep history of racial terror of people of color in the U.S., specifically individuals who look like me, for the purposes of making a political statement to the Governor of Virginia.
I was brought into LU to generate the kind of dialogue that challenges the ideas, narratives and ideologies that underlie the very images Falwell intentionally used to make a political statement to the Governor of Virginia. Falwell did so at the expense of Black people and Black pain. This is abhorrent, evil and sickening! This does not reflect the God of the Bible!”
A-L-U’s tax exempt status is a travesty.
Trump Takes Credit For Space Launch That Got Its Start A Decade Ago.
“The groundwork for sending NASA astronauts up on a commercial space vehicle. . . goes back more than a decade. It proceeded steadily under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
‘This is a program that demonstrates the success when you have continuity of purpose going from one administration to the next,’ said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a recent preflight briefing.
In 2006, under President George W. Bush, the space agency started a program to get commercial companies to begin delivering cargo to the International Space Station.
. . . Having companies take astronauts to the outpost was a natural extension of this cargo program. NASA announced its commercial crew program in 2010, under President Barack Obama.”
And so it goes.
“The speed and certainty with which universities announce their intention to reopen campuses appear to be in inverse proportion to the strength of their financial position.”
Source unknown.
David Brooks, arch-conservative, “If We Had a Real Leader—Imagining Covid under a normal president.”
Astute conclusion:
“One of the lessons of this crisis is that help isn’t coming from some centralized place at the top of society. If you want real leadership, look around you.”
Related. “Fact check: Breaking down Trump’s 654 false claims over 14 weeks during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Help me out here. Is he incapable of telling the truth or is there a method to his mendacity?
I lean to towards the latter. Tell enough lies in the hope that people tire of distinguishing between what’s true and what’s not. That’s why Daniel Dale’s work, as nonstop fact-checker, is vitally important. And November, 3, 2020.
“Being black in America should not be a death sentence,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Violent protests over Floyd death spread beyond Minneapolis.
The Death of George Floyd, in Context.
How White Women Use Themselves as Instruments of Terror.
The Bird Watcher, That Incident and His Feelings on the Woman’s Fate.
1A. Picture pedaling across the U.S. on a safe, seamless, and scenic pathway. 3,700 miles from swampy Washington in the east to glorious Washington in the west.
1B. The ‘sports car’ of e-bikes. Pricey, but light for an e-bike. But 19 mph, come on maaan, I don’t want to take all summer to traverse the Great American Rail-Trail.
2. COVID-19 Projections Using Machine Learning compliments of Youyang Gu, an independent data scientist.
3. Okay, I feel a little better about public school education.
Pressing Pause 