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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 11h

Hello, Franklin W. Dixon and Victor Appleton.

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Man, imagine you're minding your own business, getting kind of drunk with your friends at a picturesque brewery in Maine, when suddenly John Roberts walks by and you get to start heckling him. Must have felt incredible. That's the dream. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...

The chief justice used to preside over a Supreme Court whose members were afforded more privacy and freedom than many other public officials. Once, years ago, Mr. Lipson and the chief justice found themselves up the peninsula from Port Clyde without a car, Mr. Lipson recalled in an interview. So he stuck out his thumb by the side of the road and a pickup truck pulled over. He and the nation’s top jurist hopped in the back and hitchhiked back to town.

Now, Mr. Lipson said, he is cautious about introducing his friend to strangers. This year, on an outing to nearby Monhegan Island, people recognized the chief justice as he walked by a brewery and started to chant: You should be ashamed.

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julie the cyborg @juliethecyborg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

the US Chemical Safety Board’s new safety video narrator is *Darth Maul*. youtu.be/HmiQFYGc6C4

youtu.be

Alarming Mistakes, Deadly Decisions: Fatal Fire at BP-Husky

YouTube video by USCSB

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"Similarly, seldom-driven gasoline vehicles—driven annually less than 4,383 miles for cars, 4,248 mi for SUVs, or 6,707 mi for trucks—were not worth replacing, from a carbon emissions standpoint." Whew, dodged that obligation for another few years.

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yellowstoneten @yellowstoneten.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

my personal fantasy is that Hegseth is put on a transport jet in handcuffs and we give him a choice between the flight plan to The Hague or the one to Tehran

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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 29/09/2026

awoke this morning with a Vision

that diagram showing the SUV blind spot in the front but it's lowly worm driving his little applemobile

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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

5 potatoes cubed is still 5 potatoes because potatoes are root vegetables

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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

To people who don’t believe that Kermit the Frog is real: What is the basis for your morality? Where does your moral standard come from?

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Siobhán @shibbi.me · 27/09/2026

I just got done assigning genders to each of my body parts, and boy are my arms

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I'm mad about this because it's a great name, but cryptocurrency is a scam.

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The Washington Sun @washingtonsun.com · 27/09/2026

“Let’s show people what this fight is all about about data centers. It’s a fight about the freedom of the future of America to develop.” On Saturday, PubKey, the cryptocurrency-themed bar in downtown D.C., hosted hundreds for a celebration of data centers.

washingtonsun.com

The AI Bros Are Partying

Hundreds gathered at a bitcoin-themed bar in D.C. to counterprogram the national backlash against data centers and AI.

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conputer dipshit @davidcrespo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I’m sorry, but if you bring gypsum - or any damn mineral below 3 on the Mohs scale at all - to a job interview, you’re disqualified. It’s not hard, people.

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Emily Nussbaum @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Every week, the Muppets have to put on a show to salvage a new institution: the Kennedy Center, the Supreme Court, the No-Mask Lesbian Bar, the Wonka Experience, Kozmo Dot Com (this has a time travel dimension, à la Quantum Leap), Cafe Loup in the West Village, democracy, the third season of GLOW

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

They also told us we could put pickles up ourselves.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

COVID vaccine time. The question: how should I pick which one to get? - I've already had Pfizer, both Moderna variants, and Novavax. - No strong external reactions to any of them. - The pharmacy has all four. What should I consider? My best theory so far is Moderna, as the hometown champion.

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Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 24/09/2026

People need "community." Bars need a business model: www.fingers.email/p/people-nee...

"That's the price you pay to be in community," Matellian, Last Ditch's third founder, gamely told Quinn, inventorying her various woes. It's a spectacular kicker to the piece. But with respect to Greenfield's indebted, involuntary publican, I don't think that's the lesson of her parable. Or, it's not the most salient lesson for our purposes, at least. To wit: American commerce is organized in such a way that bars must be businesses first and third places second. That order doesn't account for the social value that a good bar reproduces among its regulars and in its neighborhood. But neither will the bank. And no matter how wholesome and nourishing the community a failing business manages to build, somebody always has to pick up the tab.

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The Onion @theonion.com · 24/09/2026

Longtime Sleepytime Tea Addict Has To Use 6 Bags Just To Feel Drowsy theonion.com/longtime-sleepytime-te…

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Times have been tough in this Western Massachusetts town ever since they closed the old pottery studio. So when the lesbian bar promised to ease its mask mandate, they finally had something to cheer about again. But then the owner left for clown college.

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The Onion @theonion.com · 23/09/2026

Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt theonion.com/mr-autumn-man-walking-…

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Mattie Electric Air Line @mrbtx.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I mean if they could buy Euro-spec trucks this wouldn't be as big of a problem and they'd be less dangerous, Senator

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Three at once! Pedestrians have to walk between the stopped cars.

Crosswalk with three cars parked on top of it.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The road has been reconfigured again, so the dubious parking (picking up from the restaurant in this building) on top of the crosswalk has moved.

Photo of a street and crosswalk from above, with a black car stopped partly on top of the crosswalk.

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LarkinBloom @apricitymends.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I told the art teachers I liked MC Escher, they all looked at me with weird stairs.

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Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 19/09/2026

I assume that when whoever is making it IPOs they will reveal the full lineup implied by the existence of Tilly Norwood.

Grid of logic gate options as Venn diagrams of Tilly Norwood, Tilly Orwood, Tilly Andwood, Tilly Xorwood, Tilly Nandwood, and Tilly Xnandwood

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Starfire’s Deranged Neocon Foreign Policy Podcast @irhottakes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It’s very simple. A reality TV host became dictator because he turned down a role for Sharknado 4 and that’s why the king of outer space, who cheats at Diablo, got to kill Africa. Now the economy is controlled by a sex cult that has something to do with Harry Potter fanfic because of robots.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I know Paywall Discourse was a few cycles ago, but I just hit a maddening variation: 1. "Create a free account to read this article!" ..... okay, sure. 2. Now that I've created an account and handed over some identity, "This article is only for paid subscribers". Booooooo, heatmap.news.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

At what point does "I can't say that, it would be a TOS violation" acquire enough implicit meaning that it is, itself, a TOS violation?

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👻 🎃 🦇 Bela Lughosti's Dad 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @belalugosisdad.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Yeah, I mean "my wife's hot, gender isn't real, we don't give a shit if you think we're trans or not, go fuck yourselves" while whirling a claymore round your head in nipple stickers is about as good a response as anyone has ever given.

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LearnedLeague @learnedleague.com · 16/09/2026

15. What was the nickname of the redheaded Scottish brigand, born into Clan Gregor in 1671, whose outlaw days began after his lands were seized and burned by the Duke of Montrose? YOUNG MACDONALD, WHO'D HAD A FARM #LL110 #bestwronganswers

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I'm thinking that post-Trump, putting the house back in order will involve not just undoing particular things but preventing them, to be credible to other parties. Removing all executive control over tariffs, for example.

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Josh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

wow can't think of any contemporary political leaders who bombed a country and expected it to cause the country's population to reject the regime's politics, can you

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David Mimno @dmimno.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Cars are a surprisingly good model for public acceptance of AI. Some people love them and tinker with them. Others hate and reject them. Most find their own car useful. But everyone viscerally hates everyone else's car: traffic, parking, dangerous driving, pollution, etc.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Cranky, late night, not entirely sober opinions: not only should the Federal Arbitration Act be repealed, with arbitration buried in an unmarked crossroads; somehow we also should destroy the concept of settling out of court.

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tunes to make you run away @whippoorwont.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"people are anthropomorphizing LLMs because they are so astonishingly good at processing human thought and language" people will anthropomorphize a chair if you put the stitches in the right place.

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Clsn @clsn.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

How I long to play the forbidden video game.

Photo of the control panel -- with joystick and huge, chunky buttons you just know would be a delight to mash -- of the umbilical tunnel thingy that connects the airport to the airplane.

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Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 01/09/2026

I got laid off from my contributing editor gig at VinePair last week, which was a big chunk of my income. Now more than ever, every paid subscription to Fingers really counts! If you like my work and you've been thinking about upgrading, here's a Bluesky discount: www.fingers.email/upgrade?offe...

meme. photo of a dog balancing a beer on his head. the beer is labeled "fingers," the dog is labeled "friends of fingers," the onlookers are labeled "free readers" and "instagram followers"

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gamera obscura @ohrobin.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I met a dolphin the other day, and we got along so well. We just clicked.

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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

In things I didn't expect to read today: "...acquired by the R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, an unexpected collector of Cohn memorabilia..." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/b...

nytimes.com

Book Review: ‘American Scoundrel,’ by Kai Bird (Gift Article)

“American Scoundrel” traces the career of Roy Cohn, whose smash-mouth politics continue to shape our own.

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Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 30/08/2026

As expected, the Lake Ontario change is rolling out in the wake of GNIS updates. Bleah. Sure, “companies should simply refuse”, or “USGS employees should resign en masse”, or blah blah blah but the root cause is that the US was dumb enough to re-elect Trump and here’s another stupid consequence.

The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" in the United States.
Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see "Lake America," those in Canada will continue to see "Lake Ontario," and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names. These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Current state of things: there's crop art of Signal at the Minnesota State Fair www.cropart.com

A white hand with Signal-blue painted nails holds a cellphone with a near-dead battery, with the Signal icon the only app on screen. Crop art by Molly Gehrke

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David Dixon @dixondaver.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Parton ("9 to 5," 1980) provides a more trenchant critique of capital than does Marx ("Das Kapital," 1867) because as a researcher, Parton correctly frames the problem of capital as exacerbating but not supplanting other pre-existing human dynamics such as gender roles. In this essay, I will

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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 24/08/2026

It's pretty far down the list of outrages, but I hate the way my government has me rooting against my country on the global stage.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

And a few more I saw. I am starting to wonder if some of these come from clip art kind of sites rather than being generated directly by the restaurants.

Flyer for a sandwich called "Oobeef", whose image seems to be an AI-generated roast beef sandwich, with multiple identical drizzles of sauce and far too many... warts? on the bun.

Sidewalk sign for bao buns & Korean corn dog, with AI-looking food photos.

Sidewalk sign for "Exotic Viral Ice Cream" (ew). Looks AI-generated, especially zooming in to the text.

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ceej @ceej.online · 20/08/2026

they put up a dada center just outside of town and life has been unbearable ever since. thing looks like a fucking fish

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Also sus, not entirely obvious what's going on here.

Sidewalk sign for fried dough, somewhat suspicious looking as the berries are quite regular and there's a lot of drizzled glaze.

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Nathan J. Williams @nathanjw.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

AI slop food photos spotted in the wild.

Photo of a menu board of "Loaded Spuds" with various unnatural/hyperreal baked potatoes covered with toppings.

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