Sunrise.

"Jason Arday obituary: youngest ever black Cambridge professor/Sociology of education academic who made history before his career unravelled after accusations of plagiarism dies aged 41."

An obituary in the London Times.

Arday, who claimed to have been diagnosed with global developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder, was apparently unable to talk until the age of 11, and unable to read or write until he was 18. Despite this remarkable setback, by his early thirties he had begun writing and publishing academic papers, and he won his first academic post soon after....

We talked about Arday a few days ago, here. He was accused of plagiarism and various lies that made him a laughingstock. Now, apparently, he has killed himself. Though he is responsible for his deceit, I feel the greatest blame lies with the University that advanced him beyond anything that made sense. 

"As expected, Mr. Farage easily defeated dozens of fringe and novelty candidates, including Count Binface, who wears a trash-can-themed costume."

"None of Britain’s other major parties participated in the race, the results of which were announced early Friday. They called it a political stunt engineered by the Reform leader to distract from the investigation. Mr. Farage received 22,239 votes, or 63 percent. Count Binface, a character played by Jon Harvey, 46, a writer and comedian, received 9,455 votes, or 27 percent. Mr. Binface’s previous best result was 1 percent in a London mayoral election."

From "Farage Wins Special U.K. Election That He Initiated, as Expected/Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform U.K., won the Clacton by-election with 63 percent. Count Binface, his costumed main rival, came second with 27 percent, a personal best" (NYT gift link).

"This is no different from what the Heritage Foundation wants for women in the US. Except maybe instead of burqas..."

"... they want us in milk maid dresses, heavy hideous makeup, plastic surgery and naked. And it's actually worse when I think about their plans for society as a whole with illiteracy, poisoned food, toxic 'health' care, etc. Separation of religion and state must happen to even attempt a free society. This is why this concept exists."

A highly rated contribution to the comments section for "Afghan Women Erased From Public Life in Five Years of Taliban Rule/Decrees restricting the rights of women and girls to study, work, travel and act independently now threaten to damage Afghanistan permanently, experts say" (NYT gift link).

Rubio and his Pop-Tarts.

RFK Jr. and Marco Rubio are getting into the act

Fake news…….
I prefer cherry flavor https://t.co/bVMZJV9dPl

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 13, 2026

But there are also lots of things out there like this:

When Marco goes for the pop tarts 😂 pic.twitter.com/kbbr6XUNZf

— Politi_Rican 🇵🇷 𝕏 🇺🇸 (@TheRicanMemes) August 13, 2026

And this:

Marco Rubio in the first ever Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts ad 🤣💀 pic.twitter.com/4X5STDt7my

— DFF (@DumbFxckFinder) August 13, 2026

"The shooter did not miss his intended target and did not chamber another round, leaving the spent cartridge in the rifle."

Wrote the lawyers for Tyler Robinson, quoted in "Charlie Kirk Suspect Fights Death Penalty, Says No Others Were in Danger/Prosecutors say they can seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson because he also endangered people near Charlie Kirk, who was shot in the throat last year. Mr. Robinson’s lawyers note that the gunman struck only his target" (NYT gift link).

The Amish method of dating makes sense to me.

Ex-Amish social media creator Lovina Hershberger Zook, who has amassed some six million followers sharing Amish recipes and stories, explains the traditions of dating in the community she grew up in, one of the most conservative among the Amish.

The 23-year-old tells @faithsalie… pic.twitter.com/tRylTEwCZm

— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) August 14, 2026

They get in bed together from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. and talk or sleep. If it goes well they do it again 2 weeks later. This seems more likely to find what you need in a life partner than sitting across a table in a bar or restaurant. More likely to lead to a rewarding and deep or amusing conversation. 

That made me think of this "Modern Love" discussion in the NYT: "Am I Too Anxious for Love? Jenny Singer worried the deep, loving relationship she wanted wasn’t something her brain would let her have" (gift link).

The hotness.

Magazine array at my hairdresser's.

I was struck by People's limited vocabulary. Is "hot" all they can come up with anymore? Does does word connote sexiness anymore? Or just popularity. Also, that Wisconsin bride is so glum. Aren't brides suppose to glow with happiness? I don't think a bride's magazine would ever do a cover story on forced marriage or even grim golddigging. Too bad she didn't find that "hottest billionaire." And, in case you are curious, I did not arrange the magazines to emblazon "Charles Manson Was My Grandfather" across her chest.

"By the time your grandmother starts using the wilting rose emoji, it’s done, you’ve got to move on."

I'm reading "😭 or 😂: Do Your Emojis Make You Look Old? When it comes to emoji usage, we’re all just following teen girls" (NYT gift link).

Interesting, but I am old. I'm permanently freed from worrying over looking old. I am not the "your" in this "by the time your grandmother starts using it" test. I am the grandmother. I mean, I'm not a grandmother. I have no grandchildren. But I'm 75. I'm so far within the age group that there's nothing even to quibble about. It is therefore impossible for me to work on my emojis as a way to look young. My use of any emoji make not only makes me look old. It makes the emoji look old. Apparently, I have the power to make emojis look old.

Just as I'm drafting this post, I'm getting an emoji from Meade, answering a text I sent at 4:30 a.m.:

Being up at 4:30 a.m. makes me look old, as does the inability to watch a baseball game that begins at 9:10 p.m. But if you don't look, you can have a "live" experience in the morning if you're careful where you click, but...

Not being able to see the teeny tiny emojis is also making me look old. But this is my new freedom. Not to care about emojis. They're not for me. They are for teenaged girls.

"The right-wing De la Espriella, who was inaugurated last week, pledged during his campaign to bring the 'wrath of God' against drug traffickers and other armed groups to 'end them like cockroaches, like rats.'"

From "Colombia’s new president asks Trump to bring militarized antidrug campaign to the country/The South American nation is the world’s largest producer of cocaine" (WaPo).

"If you can merge gaming with aviation, why not?"

🚨 2,000+ Gamers Hired for AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL@SecDuffy: “They multitask. They have to think on their feet. They work with their hands and their eyes, and they’re making great controllers… We had 14,000 applicants, 8,000 qualified. We were getting the best and the brightest.” pic.twitter.com/C0U6eRj0IC

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) August 14, 2026

Sunrise.

"She was trying to find the humor in her own story, that of an American parent, but one who had been wrongly held in a prison in Italy for years..."

"... for the 2007 murder of her roommate when both women were studying abroad there. But the sold-out audience, 150-strong, at first only occasionally tittered at her gags about life in prison, tabloid infamy and the idiosyncrasies of child-rearing.Then, she told a joke about her daughter’s favorite game. It’s called 'Momma goes to Italy,' Knox said. In the game, her daughter grabs the bars of a jungle gym at their local playground and screams, 'Let me out! Let me out!' Knox mimed a wild-eyed convict desperately grabbing the bars of a prison cell. The audience’s snickers turned into the night’s first belly laugh."

From "Amanda Knox Takes the Stage, Reclaiming Her Story Through Comedy/In a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Knox is trying to turn her tabloid infamy into stand-up humor, despite an intense backlash" (NYT gift link).

"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a report Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of “Gender Medicine'..."

"... a commissioned report examining insurance coding practices, perverse financial incentives, and the provision of sex-rejecting procedures for minors. Drawing on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Guidance, Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations, peer-reviewed scientific literature, hospital records, whistleblower testimony, nationwide insurance claims analyses, and interviews with patients and parents, the report presents HHS’ findings and recommendations about the industry pushing and profiting off so-called “gender medicine.” A shortform documentary illustrating the report’s findings and highlighting the stories of victims of predatory gender medical practices was also released in conjunction with the report...."

From the HHS press release.

Vance is taking the lead in the announcement:

For years now, some hospitals and healthcare providers have been subjecting children to horrific, experimental treatments in service of radical gender ideologies. Today, thanks to the Wolves in White Coats report released by @HHSGov, we know why: profit. It turns out that… pic.twitter.com/B7K7iumpYC

— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 13, 2026

Here's the video (the "shortform documentary"):

"That’s what it is to be a Jew, in some ways. Being really comfortable with tension, and being comfortable with paradoxes..."

"... and understanding that we’re a people, we’re a nation, we’re an ethnicity, we are a religion, too. We don’t fit naturally. And that’s why we’re such a pain. It’ll give a lot of grist for people to argue at over kitchen tables, as we have been doing for over 3,000 years."

Said California State Senator Henry Stern, a Democrat, quoted in "Are Jews an Ethnic Group? California Considers the Question. A bill would allow Jews to identify themselves as an ethnic group on state forms. Supporters argue it’s a step toward acknowledging the complex nature of Jewish identity" (NYT gift link).

Stern is the son of the actor Daniel Stern:

I have to use the tag "Judaism" for this post. I don't mean to be coming down on the side of those who say Jews are a religious group. I'm against tag proliferation and  "Judaism" and "anti-Semitism" are longstanding tags. And I don't have separate tags for each ethnic group. I just use "ethnicity." There's also "race consciousness" and "racial politics."

"A Wisconsin city spent millions on a grocery store. It didn’t go well/Madison spent millions to build a supermarket across the street from another one."

An opinion piece in The Washington Post.

After eight years of development and more than $8 million spent by the city of Madison, Wisconsin, Maurer’s Urban Market will open in the Bay Creek neighborhood later this month. Local officials have pitched the store as a measure to prevent a “food desert” in that part of town. The truth: Maurer’s is right across the street from another grocery store. And within a mile of three others. How this glut came to be is a good illustration of why the government is not cut out for the grocery business....