iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

stooks @stooks.fm · 04/06/2026

The Ukraine bit toward the end of this roundup is heartening. Mostly.

explain at some length why Russia isn't vinning, no matter what Putin may say." Putin, in fact, may be genuinely deluded.
The Institute for the Study of War suggests, on the basis of leaked documents from the Russian Ministry of Defense, that his optimism likely stems from "a false perception of the Russian military's successes in Ukraine based on heavily exaggerated maps from the Russian high military command." It's Potemkin villages all over again.

stooks @stooks.fm · 02/06/2026

“Mr. Pelley pressed Mr. Bilton repeatedly on why CBS had fired Ms. Alfonsi and Ms. Vega. Mr. Bilton said those decisions predated his hiring. Mr. Pelley asked Mr. Bilton why he had accepted a position at a program ‘knowing that you will never be welcome here.’” 🎁🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/b...

"I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott. I've sat across from incredibly powerful people like you have, and none of it intimidates me. OK? So you are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people. I want that to be clear."

Mr. Bilton said that he wanted to help "60 Minutes" avoid the fate of old-media stalwarts that had failed to adapt, citing Time magazine.

"I care so deeply about this institution," Mr. Bilton said, to which Mr. Pelley interrupted: "Oh, please."

At one point, Charles Forelle, a top deputy to Ms. Weiss, urged Mr. Pelley not to act "rude" toward Mr. Bilton.

"I'm not being rude," Mr. Pelley responded. "You know what was rude? Black Thursday was rude."

Ms. Weiss's handling of "60 Minutes" has generated internal turmoil for months.

In December, she pulled a segment reported by Ms. Alfonsi, about the brutal treatment of migrants in a Salvadoran prison, saying that it needed more reporting. The segment was critical of the Trump administration, and Ms. Alfonsi said the decision was
"political." The piece ultimately aired with some additional comments from the Trump administration.

On Monday, Mr. Bilton moved to conclude the meeting after roughly 15 minutes. He encouraged the assembled staff members to partake in the food that had been laid out.

"I just want to thank everyone for graciously being so welcoming,"

Mr. Bilton said. "T look forward to talking to you in a one-on-one setting as these meetings are scheduled. And enjoy the bagels."

The "60 Minutes" staff applauded Mr. Pelley after Mr. Bilton departed.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 20/05/2026

Get well! I’m enjoying your book. Here’s where I am.

Post-Pokémania
Pokemon did not peter out. Instead, it grew and grew.
As of 2025, there are thirty-eight mainline Pokémon games, counting all the versions. The franchise has picked up millions of new fans over the decades-including, brilliantly, septuagenarian British actor Bill Nighy, who became a Pokémon fan while preparing for his role in Detective Pikachu, the first live-action film based on the critters. "I did a crash course in Pokémon lore and bought every book available, including the deeply impressive Pokédex," he told the Guardian when the film was released. "The ancient Mew was probably my top, top favorite because he's just majestic...He was elegant and powerful."
Perhaps understandably, given the disrespectful and, presumably, hurtful tone of that Time interview, and the moral panic that Pokémania unwittingly ignited, Satoshi Tajiri has shunned the limelight ever since.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 31/03/2026

Ok, that owner got off easy. But now we’ve got this lady who is going to get it for sure, I can tell.

A female restaurant owner in a fuchsia top is wearing glasses while Gordon Ramsay questions her about the state of her business.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 03/03/2026

Senator Moran (KS), led his weekly newsletter with this today. Normally his newsletters are all about “I met with such and such about aviation in Wichita.” Pretty big departure.

U.S. Military Operations in Iran

I am praying for the safety of our military men and women engaged in operations against Iran and who are stationed in the region. My prayers are also with the families of the six American heroes who were killed in action and the troops who were wounded as part of the military operations in the region.

For years, Iran has terrorized its own people, funded terror networks, supported proxy militias that undermine regional stability, threatened Israel's security, and demonstrated ambitions that put American interests at risk.

Our Constitution vests the decision to take our nation to war in Congress.

When American forces are engaged or may be further committed, the administration should provide full, timely briefings to Congress so that we can understand the objectives, risks and costs for continued or expanded military action.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 21/01/2026

Gift link www.wsj.com/business/aut...

The proposal he had in mind was a symbol on the dashboard that would tell drivers which side of the car the gas tank was on.

“Based on personal experience,” he wrote, “I feel that this little indicator would remove the guesswork of which side I want to park.” He continued: “For the minor investment involved on the company’s part, I think it would be a worthwhile convenience.”

Once he sent it, he had no clue if anything would ever come of his suggestion.

“I typed it up and turned it in,” Moylan said in a 2018 podcast, “and forgot completely about it.”

The executives of the Ford Motor Company didn’t.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 21/01/2026

Gift link www.wsj.com/economy/glob...

Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the circumstances now are different from last year. He points not just to the escalating Greenland tensions, but the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, the Justice Department's probe of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the administration's threat of new tariffs against countries in Europe despite its previous deals.

"I think there is a much better chance that we're going to look back and say this was the turning point," he said.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 06/12/2025

Sick of seeing people’s gross promotional stickers on their laptops? This looked dumb to me at first, but Dell printed a fake peel on this sticker, likely in hopes of getting people to peel these gross things off after purchase.

A dell sticker on the palm rest of a laptop lists features. A fake peel is printed on the right-hand corner of the sticker.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 25/11/2025

This seems spot on.

The problem is that according to current neuroscience, human thinking is largely independent of human language — and we have little reason to believe ever more sophisticated modeling of language will create a form of intelligence that meets or surpasses our own. Humans use language to communicate the results of our capacity to reason, form abstractions, and make generalizations, or what we might call our intelligence. We use language to think, but that does not make language the same as thought.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 17/11/2025

Epstein was a total psychopath, and anyone who entered his office should've figured it out. Psychos love having stuffed predators around. "Photos show a taxidermied tiger lounging on a lush rug." Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...

"Photos show a taxidermied tiger lounging on a lush rug."

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stooks @stooks.fm · 13/11/2025

It has changed slightly. OG shirt here. So comfy! And so many questions received over the years.

Dark gray tshirt with EMAILS printed in all caps from armpit to armpit. Purchased from The Verge.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 05/11/2025

Great value. $229 with all 24 games from Season One. Only complaint I recognize is it's difficult to play in low light. That said, you can play it in full sun, unlike pretty much every other device. The more ambient light, the better it looks. Monochrome. Fits in a shirt pocket. Gameboy adjacent.

Playdate console in hand, held between thumb and pinky. Clock displays just after midnight in sleep mode.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 19/10/2025

@jonathankarl.bsky.social why mislead on Hillary's campaign quote this morning? She clearly didn't say "half the country." She was describing two types of Trump supporters. I'd recommend putting the actual quote in your reporter's notes. The misrepresentation of this quote continues to endanger.

"You can take Trump supporters and put them in two big baskets. They are what I would call the deplorables — you know, the racists and the haters, and the people who are drawn because they think somehow he's going to restore an America that no longer exists".

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stooks @stooks.fm · 07/10/2025

Jetsons predicted Jony.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 12/09/2025

Bad. Please no. Ellisons are going to be a household name if they can acquire all these media assets and maybe also get TikTok. Echoes of Murdoch. Gift link. www.wsj.com/business/med...

By preparing a play for the company before Warner’s planned split, Paramount Skydance is attempting to pre-empt a potential bidding war for the studio and streaming unit that could include deep-pocketed technology companies such as Amazon.com and Apple.

If successful, such a deal would bring together two of Hollywood’s most storied studios and the parent companies of streaming services HBO Max and Paramount+. Warner is home to “Barbie,” DC Comics, Harry Potter and TV shows such as “The White Lotus,” as well as cable networks CNN, TBS and TNT.

The scale of the potential combination could bring antitrust and regulatory scrutiny.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 10/09/2025

@ezrakleinbot.bsky.social on shutting down the government. Gift link. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...

to actually win the argument. They would need to have an argument. They would need a clear set of demands that kept them on the right side of public opinion and dramatized what is happening to the country right now.

In my head, the argument is something like this:
Trump won the election. He is the legitimate president. But the government has to serve the people and be accountable to the people. ICE can conduct legitimate deportations, but there can't be masked agents roaming the streets refusing to identify themselves or their authority. The Trump family cannot be hoovering in money and investments from the countries that depend on us and that fear our power and our sanctions. There have to be inspectors general and JAGs and career prosecutors watching to make sure the government is being run on behalf of the people rather than on behalf of the Trump family.

Democrats would have to pick a small set of policies and stick to that. They would have to choose those policies wisely. They would have to hold the line

Corruption is why hedge funds get to buy up all the houses in your neighborhood, driving you out of the market, and then your corporate landlord ignores your calls during a gas leak. Corruption is why that ambulance costs $3,000 after you just had to get your choking toddler to the hospital."

"So Trump promised to attack a broken system,"
Ossoff continued. "I get it. Ripe target. But here's the thing. He's a crook. And a con man. And he wants to be a king. Yes, the system really is rigged, but Trump's not unrigging it. He's re-rigging it for himself."

But Democrats cannot pretend this is a normal Republican administration. They cannot ignore masked agents in the streets, armed troops in the cities, billions of dollars of money going into the Trump family's pockets, an administration that spins off several scandals in a week that would have consumed other presidencies for years. If Democrats cannot make an issue out of all that, then they are screwed and so are we.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 02/09/2025

What a fucking mess. Gift link. www.wsj.com/world/chines...

The cordiality of the Tianjin confab will sound alarm bells in Western capitals,
said Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute think tank in Australia. "President Trump's gentle treatment of Vladimir Putin has done nothing to pull Russia away from China," he said. "His rough treatment of Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is pushing India closer to Russia and warming up its relations with China."

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stooks @stooks.fm · 09/08/2025

Important. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

Adding to the challenge: No one would be sharing any recipes.

The blueprints for both Oreos and Reese's peanut butter cups are closely guarded secrets, and neither company was eager to provide details about its No. 1 product to a competitor. So Hershey and Mondelez had to figure out a way to get their offerings to taste like the others without knowing their rival's exact formulas.

As the projects got under way, lawyers were called in to draw up contracts and intellectual-property

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stooks @stooks.fm · 25/07/2025

I was relentless at every one of his tweets. Then he blocked me. I used a different account so I could screenshot his tweets to post to my main account and remind people that it was because my elected official blocked me. Just searched my photos, and turns out I screenshot the fateful moment.

Screenshot of a Twitter message that says Kris Kobach blocked you.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 14/07/2025

I don’t have near the collection of mics you have, but RE20 is an all-time champ for me. First spoke into one when I started in radio in 2001.

RE20 microphone with shock mount and pop filter.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 14/07/2025

@reckless.bsky.social the shirt that keeps on giving.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 10/07/2025

I didn’t realize they obscured the uber eats name. I see a charging station there.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 06/06/2025

Think Nintendo likes that Target pushes Playstation on Nintendo product pages? Partner retailer. Launch day. "Nintendo is sold out. How about some Playstation for cheaper and today?"

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stooks @stooks.fm · 06/06/2025

If it makes you feel better, there was no ZL button at all before the one in your hand. Here's the Smash Bros Gamecube controller that came out for Smash Bros on Wii U.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 30/05/2025

Have you tried running your DVD player through a low-powered UHF transmitter and watching on Game Gear? That should help.

Game Gear with TV tuner attached, and two football players with their helmets touching on the display.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 04/04/2025

Verizon assuring me my price is locked. Excludes "fees." Whatever that means. Thanks?

Verizon: Big news: Beginning 4.3.25, your base monthly rate stays locked and guaranteed for 3 years (excludes taxes, fees & perks). Seriously.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 25/03/2025

I still have mine from the original run! Wearing it today! I've received so many fun comments over the years.

Man looking into the camera while wearing a shirt that says EMAILS in ALL CAPS.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 20/02/2025

I was consulting chatgpt about what “the South” was. It eventually asked if I wanted a map. Here is what it shat out.

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stooks @stooks.fm · 20/02/2025

Yakuza 0 tonight!

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stooks @stooks.fm · 16/02/2025

You aware some of your links look butchered? And the hashtags somehow, too. They still work. Just ugly.

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