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Paul Murray

@pmurray63.bsky.social
1.6K followers 488 following 3.2K posts

Insights, opinions and wisecracks on a variety of topics. Have/will never use a Musk or Zuck product (among others). Zero tolerance for trolls, conspiracy nuts and spammers.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Paul Murray
Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The major platforms—Facebook, YouTube, and X—are all refusing to show the trailer for the upcoming documentary that eviscerates the ridiculous pest Elon Musk. So I guess we have to do our part to make sure it is seen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_8...
youtube.com
Musk | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street
YouTube video by Musk
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Exasperating moments in web usability, example #32,479: I subscribe to the NYT, but not The Athletic. They send me an email telling me I can read an article for free. I click on it, and the article is blocked because I'm not a subscriber. YOU TOLD ME I could read it. Do better, NYT.
Email from the NYT's The Athletic -- which I don't subscribe to -- telling me that I can click and read an article for freeWhen I click the button, the article is blocked, telling me that I need to subscribe to read it.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
From an article about GA Rep. Mike Collins and his disastrous campaign to replace Sen. Jon Ossoff. Wow, that is an … interesting defense, all right (end of the first paragraph).
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Saw Coyote vs. Acme last night. Very funny. You can tell the creators have great affection and respect for the characters. The casting was perfect. Go see it! Oh, and WBD CEO David Zaslav should be embarrassed for dumping it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-43...
youtube.com
Coyote vs. ACME | Official Trailer
YouTube video by Coyote vs. Acme
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Reposted by Paul Murray
lyndsay @magpie.tips · 26/08/2026
"what a week, huh?" / "lemon it's Wednesday" meme
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
“Does anyone seriously believe that Beatles music will be an unthinkingly accepted part of daily life all over the world in the 2000s?” — British philosopher Bryan Magee, 1967
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The Air Force One catering truck scandal is deeper and darker than the media is portraying it — it’s a Russian nesting doll of corruption and national security threats: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-five-s...
doomsdayscenario.co
The Five Scandals Within the "Air Force One" Scandal
Donald Trump, a Catering Truck, and the Qatari "Air Force One" represent a Russian Nesting Doll of Scandal and Corruption
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Reposted by Paul Murray
Jake Berman @lostsubways.com · 03/08/2026
this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
If karma isn't real, then why did Erik Wemple get to write this story? 🤔 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/b...
nytimes.com
Adam O’Neal Resigns as Washington Post Opinion Editor
Adam O’Neal inherited a mandate from the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, to shift toward “personal liberties and free markets.”
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Reposted by Paul Murray
Daniel Benneworth-Gray @danielgray.com · 13/07/2026
Sam Neill on tackling depression and imposter syndrome when you’re between jobs.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
So predictable: To Fox News, the story is not how many people lost their jobs with the end of the Colbert Late Show, but how “bloated” the staff was.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Happy birthday to not one but two legendary composers: Johannes Brahms (1833) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840). Which is kind of an ironic pairing ... (cont'd)
Photos of Johannes Brahms (L) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (R)
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Let me save you the trouble: No matter when you ask, Mike Johnson will not have seen what Donald Trump said about Pope Leo.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Happy birthday to The Red Priest! Antonio Vivaldi, BOTD in 1648. (That's a wig; his natural hair color was red.) Composer of 500+ concertos, including the four collectively known as The Four Seasons -- possibly the most-recorded piece of classical music ever. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio...
en.wikipedia.org
Antonio Vivaldi - Wikipedia
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Reposted by Paul Murray
Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Homeland Security is monitoring anti-ICE Reddit posts, an intelligence bulletin leaked to me reveals: www.kenklippenstein.com/p/homeland-s...
kenklippenstein.com
Homeland Security Spies on Reddit Users
Leak show feds tracking anti-ICE Reddit users like "Budget-Chicken-2425"
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 04/02/2026
For many Americans, the anonymous ICE officer, masked and armed, represents Homeland Security’s most intimidating instrument, but the agency often targets people in a far more secretive way. Here’s how: wapo.st/4bzIcap
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Happy birthday to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791). Free plug: SiriusXM's Symphony Hall (Channel 78) is playing nothing but Mozart today until midnight.
Detail of Mozart portrait painted by his brother-in-law
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Found myself behind a vehicle today with both Trump and Star Trek related stickers. Which surprised me a bit; I imagine the overlap on that Venn diagram would be quite small. But who knows?
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Any bets how CBS News will report today's killing by ICE?
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Reposted by Paul Murray
Axios @axios.com · 30/11/2025
Empathy is the new Christian battleground
axios.com
A Christian battle grows over whether empathy is virtue or weakness as the U.S. diversifies
Some call empathy "toxic" as others says it's core to Jesus' teachings
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
WSJ: Sinclair (local TV owners who joined the Kimmel boycott, and who force their stations to run conservative editorials) wants to buy EW Scripps for its TV stations. Not good. Keep the current FCC limits on how big owners can get. (via Reliable Sources) www.wsj.com/business/dea...
wsj.com
Sinclair Takes Stake in E.W. Scripps to Push Takeover Deal
Sinclair believes scale is increasingly necessary in the broadcast TV industry and bought up the stake to pressure Scripps to strike a deal.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Does it annoy anyone else that Chromebooks don't have a delete key? (Ditto with Macs, but I don't use them very much.) I cannot tell you how many times I have to mouse or cursor forward so that I can backspace to get rid of text that I could do much faster on a Windows (and probably Linux?) PC.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Congratulations to Senate Dems for an unbroken string of feckless posturing.
media.tenor.com
a man in a purple vest and bow tie says " you get nothing "
Alt: Willy Wonka says " you get nothing "
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Senate Dems: Don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Do not cave on the government shutdown. Looking at you, @peters.senate.gov and @slotkin.senate.gov
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Think you can dodge the Trump tariffs by keeping your current vehicle running instead of buying a new one? Think again. www.thedrive.com/news/car-rep...
thedrive.com
Car Repairs Are About To Get Much More Expensive Thanks to Tariffs
"Wouldn't be a bad idea to stock up," Premium Guard Inc. CEO Anan Bishara told The Drive.
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Reposted by Paul Murray
David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
By my count: Of the 15 Departments of the US Government, 13 launched new BlueSky accounts tonight (all but Justice and HUD), and all 13 have posted explicitly partisan political posts blaming Democrats and/or Chuck Schumer for the government shutdown.
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Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
Ever wondered where all the Cheers title photos are from? I did. And I've gathered everything I can find into this post. That was fun. joelmorris.substack.com/p/where-nobo...
joelmorris.substack.com
Where nobody knows your name...
Tracing the anonymous faces at the start of Cheers.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
By way of @sepinwall.bsky.social (who incidentally has relocated, but read his explanation), Robert Redford's final onscreen appearance. Very brief, but worth it. RIP, Mr. Redford. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dj3...
youtube.com
High Stakes Chess feat. George R. R. Martin and Robert Redford! | Dark Winds | New Episodes Sundays
YouTube video by amc+
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
More on the potential big win for auto companies on both sides of the Atlantic if Europe and the US agree to accept each other's standards. My big question: How would this affect Chinese automakers? www.detroitnews.com/story/busine...
detroitnews.com
Here's what reciprocal recognition of U.S., EU vehicle regulations could mean
Automakers today must homologate vehicles to meet differing rules between the regions around lighting, technology, bumpers and other specifications.
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Reposted by Paul Murray
Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
The last 100 years of US politics
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Reposted by Paul Murray
ProPublica @propublica.org · 04/09/2025
NEW: Trump has targeted political foes — including Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — for claiming more than one primary residence on their loan papers. But ProPublica found that at least three of the president’s Cabinet members have done the same thing.
propublica.org
Trump Is Accusing Foes With Multiple Mortgages of Fraud. Records Show 3 of His Cabinet Members Have Them.
The White House has targeted opponents, including a Fed governor, for having more than one primary residence on their loan papers. ProPublica found that, in one case, a Trump cabinet secretary got two...
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Ken Plume @kenplume.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
This They Might Be Giants TONIGHT SHOW performance of "Birdhouse In Your Soul" from 1990 remains firmly lodged in my noggin thanks to the Tonight Show Band's full commitment and Doc Severinsen's incredible trumpeting... It took an already great song and made it transcendent.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Huge development for automakers on both sides of the Atlantic, if true. (The article is paywalled and I haven't even read it, but the headline and first sentence I can read are enough. Truett is a very knowledgeable reporter.) www.autonews.com/manufacturin...
autonews.com
Trade agreement bombshell? U.S., EU may accept each other’s vehicle safety and emissions standards
The implications of potential changes remain unclear, but one scenario could allow U.S. and EU vehicles to be sold on both sides of the Atlantic without meeting the same safety and emissions standards...
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). Some people here are posting their top 5 films of his. I need 11 (mostly unranked): 1. North by Northwest Vertigo Psycho The Lady Vanishes The 39 Steps Shadow of a Doubt Foreign Correspondent Strangers on a Train Notorious Rear Window To Catch a Thief
Alfred Hitchcock's sketch of himself in profile
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
A moment of kindness: I reached out to a friend for an opinion about some career-related education. Unsolicited, they offered to help me financially to pursue it. I was not and am not looking for that, but I'm genuinely touched. There are still good people among us; I just wanted to share that fact.
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Reposted by Paul Murray
Opal @opalescentopal.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
RIP Tom Lehrer, a brilliant lyricist and satirist from the 1960s, who was a formative influence on me (see below). Honestly, the man's rhyming ability was up there with Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, etc.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Jimmy Kimmel's blunt reaction to CBS pulling the plug on Colbert Hint: it involves an f-bomb. www.thedailybeast.com/jimmy-kimmel...
thedailybeast.com
Jimmy Kimmel Tears Into CBS for Canceling Colbert
Stephen Colbert’s rival had an instant, furious reaction to the bombshell news.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Lalo Schifrin wrote a *lot* of great music ... but yes, the "Mission: Impossible" theme was undoubtedly the most famous. RIP, sir. apnews.com/article/lalo...
apnews.com
Lalo Schifrin, composer of the 'Mission: Impossible' theme, dies at 93
The composer who wrote the endlessly catchy theme for “Mission: Impossible” and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, Lalo Schifrin has died.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
I just finished a few posts about my experience at the No Kings rally on Saturday -- my first-ever protest -- and this story resonated with me. We had short connections like this, too ...
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
After more than half a century, I attended my first-ever political protest on Saturday, at a local No Kings rally. It was great. I felt like I was doing something, and it was nice to be around other people who felt the same way. It was fun reading the signs, too.
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Jon Savage @jonsavage.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
RIP Brian Wilson - so much pleasure and wonder. This is my favourite Beach Boys track with vocals isolated to get its full splendour www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOQQ...
youtube.com
Heroes And Villains (A Cappella)
YouTube video by The Beach Boys - Topic
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
New, from me: A Brown student built an AI-powered harassment machine of university staff. When the university investigated (and cleared) him, he was presented as a free speech victim. He became a right-wing celebrity, which was his goal all along. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/how-to-bec...
donmoynihan.substack.com
How to become a right-wing star? Harass people
A Brown student used crummy AI to label university staff as worthless; now he has a Times profile and is testifying to Congress
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Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 22/05/2025
This is absolutely terrible news. With the shifting regulatory climate (i.e., antivax ratfuckery), Moderna has withdrawn their application for their eagerly anticipated COVID-flu combo vaccine. This vaccine offered better protection than getting each shot separately. h/t @merz.bsky.social
reuters.com
Moderna withdraws application for COVID-flu combination vaccine
Moderna said on Wednesday it has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and COVID combination vaccine candidate after discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
I chose to be amused by this category on Jeopardy Masters tonight. I imagine some people might disagree.
“Around the big water just south & west of Florida”
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 15/05/2025
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30.
bit.ly
Harvard thought it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta. It turned out to be extremely rare
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Now Trump's EPA wants to "fix" (get rid of) stop/start systems in vehicles. This feature prevents millions of tons of greenhouse gases ... and can already be turned off by simply pressing a button after starting the vehicle. Nothing but a giveaway to oil companies. www.axios.com/2025/05/12/e...
axios.com
EPA administrator targets stop-start vehicle tech: "Everyone hates it"
The Trump administration is targeting technology that turns a vehicle's engine off when it's stopped to save fuel.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Short version: They're referring to a *wholesale* price that's utterly meaningless to consumers. www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/w...
cnbc.com
Where Trump is likely getting his $1.98 gas price figure
U.S. drivers were paying $3.165 per gallon on average Monday, according to the motorist association AAA.
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Paul Murray @pmurray63.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
"The interior decoration of graphics generates a lot of ink that does not tell the viewer anything new. The purpose of decoration varies—to make the graphic appear more scientific and precise, to enliven the display, to give the designer an opportunity to exercise artistic skills...." 1/2
Bloomberg chart showing increases/decreases in federal departments under Trump's proposed budget. Adding an unnecessary dimension makes this a blobby, hard to read mess.Axios chart showing increases/decreases in federal departments under Trump's proposed budget. See how much easier it is to read this chart?
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