synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Always humbling to read one’s old writing 😂 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I’ll have to check that out! Years ago I contributed to a fun book that paired artists & scientists in answering assorted questions - mine was on just this topic (500 words or less…) I only regret we didn’t get to collaborate with our artists - scientists answered; artists visualized the answer 100
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Isn’t the majority of our water “space-water” in its origins? I know some is “autocthonous” (endogenous?) - from processes like cellular respiration and organic combustion - but I seem to recall it’s thought most was ice accreted during planetary formation or deposited via comet impacts and such. 100
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Lethal injection had the highest failure rate, and it has been significantly worse than the historical average (7%). In 2022, 35% of U.S. execution attempts were visibly problematic (7 of 20) due to prolonged struggles to find viable veins, chemical blockages, or failure to follow protocol. 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Austin Sarat (Amherst College) analyzed 8,776 executions in the United States between 1890 and 2010 - a total of 276 procedures went wrong (3.5%). Problems vary by method though - see attached (deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/b...) 131
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Wonder how old some of those green groves were 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 07/10/2026This seems perfectly poetically Tolkienian to me. Even Tolkien wasn’t a definitive authority on his work - he changed his mind, and his words, so pervasively that all those serious debates over “canon” are almost silly. Though he was at least a singular authority, insofar as authority ever went. 120
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Schmitt: “Did you or did you not bray mournfully?” Smith: “That’s a jackass, jackass” 060
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I cordially request your own top 20, ranked, please. 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 25/09/2026“wank” is criminally underutilized this side of the pond 010
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Some deserve more haunting than others, but the shameless are never haunted. The haunting will be disproportionately borne by those of us who recognize that America is not Trump, but Us, and that in a democracy the buck doesn’t stop at the President, but at We, the People. 110
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Whatever future good may come of all this, we will indeed all be haunted by the Trump catastrophe, because it won’t end with his exit: we will still have to uncover what has gone on in our name in the shadows, and we will still have to deal with the consequences set in motion by all this. 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 23/09/2026So, like, “We, the People”? Our society is collectively responsible for Trump 2.0, not merely those who personally voted for him, or enabled him. This is a hard truth most of us have not fully accepted (incl me!) - once he’s gone, our flag will still be stained orange, and all of us with it. 210
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I reckon it’s closer than you might think - that’s about four new “great” shows per year. What or who determines “great” is key though - if it’s only American shows or shows you have encountered, then maybe not. But the last 25 years have been a golden age of TV (and ALSO a tsunami of shit) 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 17/09/2026You’ve seen this? Credit: xkcd.com/657/large/ 020
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Seems like a bait and CATCH to me ;-) 020
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Your talented sister is presenting at Cascade Moot today! Can’t wait :) 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 27/08/2026This could be the front window of my local - “Brused Books” 110
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialKai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Unspeakably disgraceful. Doris Miller was a mess attendant -- the only jobs open to Black sailors -- who won the Navy Cross at Pearl Harbor. With this, and reports USN leaders are considering changing the design of aircraft carriers *because Trump said so* -- the Navy is dishonoring itself. 1292582802
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialsocialirreitant.bsky.social @socialirreitant.bsky.social · 19/08/2026@hcrichardson.bsky.social Message from Dorchester 5762161
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialSam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Normally I just appreciatively read @jamellebouie.net 's columns-sharable video content just isn't my bag. But this is a very, very, very trenchant piece of commentary that captures a lot of how I increasingly understand the disjunction between the commentary environment and on-the-ground politics.youtube.comThe pundits have completely lost the plotYouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie 7729221017
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Took a breather after the trauma of the first few episodes, and never went back to it… Worth it? 110
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 28/05/2026This graph makes clear the longer play - they’re betting that spending on elections will determine who wins, so they’re targeting their policies to shore up the support of the monied population, not the voting population. Hardly a revelatory observation, but still jarring to see it in the numbers. 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Used to have a small tree in my garden (growing up in South Africa) 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Kumquats?! Don’t see those every day. 111
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 23/04/2026Why not just claim a 1200% savings since they’re both cutting prices and undoing the raise 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Would love to hear your stoic take on this @radiofreetom.bsky.social 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Fascinating analysis with a lot of explanatory value and some good history. (I think worth your time @hcrichardson.bsky.social)open.substack.comThe Anatomy of a Policy BlunderHow MAGA America Surrendered Control Over the Petrodollar 110
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 26/03/2026For sure. As much as he wrote for his own pleasure, he must have wished that others would find the value in what he wrote. Though he could never have imagined just how much value we’d find. We owe Christopher as much as JRRT. 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Too true. Though in his defense, most of his writings were never intended for publication, whereas LOTR was something of a commitment he agreed to deliver, and he took his commitments seriously (if perhaps not punctually). I do think that’s part of why LOTR eventually came together. 120
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 22/03/2026“Oft evil will shall evil mar.” Inevitably, evil sows the seeds of its own destruction. 010
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 19/03/2026Just me, or does this seem like an obvious first step in facilitating Russia stepping up to save Trump’s ass and hard launch their bromance by brokering an Iranian peace deal. 001
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 16/02/2026I’ve heard similar things from outpatient providers (like GPs and pediatricians). We gave immense power to insurers for their buy-in on ACA. That covered a lot more people but made life for providers a lot more burdensome. 15yrs later we’re not working to improve it - just fighting to save it. 050
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialBen Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 01/02/2026Protest music really is back.youtube.comcorook - Scooby (Lyric Video)YouTube video by hicorook 43709154
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 01/02/2026They really do believe they can run this country on vibes. 030
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 15/01/2026Analogous to Doug Wilson’s Christ Church “theonomy” in northern Idaho (and beyond) 010
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 11/01/2026Just covers? I’d love to know what font he used for his Xmas letters. I’m currently in one now, and the font is giving “Drunken Snail Trail” vibes. 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 10/01/2026My two favourite curmudgeons! One budding; one in full bloom ;) 000
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 09/01/2026I get the long trend. They’ve transferred $50T from the bottom half to the very tops since Regean. But what I’m trying to understand is what specifically happened - economically - in the Biden admin to explain that plummet. Or for that matter why it’s flat after the Great Recession through Trump 1. 100
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 09/01/2026Could someone explain to me why it drops during Biden’s admin even though job growth was so high and inflation ended basically back in normal range? Does income include investment portfolios? If I recall, the stock market also had the two best years of the century so far during that admin. 300
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialHeather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 20/11/2025Before the midterms of 1866, President Andrew Johnson called his congressional opponents traitors and said they should be hanged. Voters were so profoundly moved by his words... that they gave his opponents a supermajority in Congress, and the nation got the Fourteenth Amendment. 5973249910518
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialMax B 💙 🔶 🇺🇦 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 @maxbrockbank.com · 19/11/2025This has got a good beat to it. 621561844
synstistute.bsky.social @synstistute.bsky.social · 18/11/2025Believe you me, well over half the country is beyond furious, and much of the remainder are currently sobering up from their Kool-Aid binge. This house of cards has never wobbled more than it is now. 020
Reposted by @synstistute.bsky.socialChris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 11/11/2025This seems like the most straightforward and also basically accurate message. 26552731081
