Sunrise.

Write about whatever you like in the comments. I really missed comments yesterday! So glad to have them back. I know readers are still there, but it really means something to me to see your words.

"The Tetris Company, the company that owns the rights to the classic video game, denounced a clone of the game produced by the Trump administration that has the player block space aliens and zombies from crossing the U.S.-Mexican border."

I'm reading "Tetris Owner Denounces Trump White House Clone of Game/Responding to Build the Wall, an apparent copy of the retro video game, the Tetris Company said 'we take copyright infringement very seriously'" (NYT gift link).

Here's the "arcade" page at whitehouse.gov and, clicking through, here is the "Build the Wall" game that is, basically, Tetris. 

"Washington professor who parodied university 'land acknowledgment' wins $600K settlement."

FIRE reports.

It has become increasingly common in academia to encourage statements that formally recognize indigenous ties to the land. In December 2021, Reges criticized land acknowledgment statements in an email to faculty, and the next month he parodied UW’s model statement in his syllabus: “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.” Reges’s statement was a nod to John Locke’s philosophical theory that property rights are established by labor, and a response to the Computer Science department’s recommendation that professors include the UW’s model statement in their syllabi. Reges objected to the political nature of the UW’s model statement and sought to demonstrate that there are competing views on the value of land acknowledgments.

That was retaliation and viewpoint discrimination [by the University] according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The tilted hat.

"Grow the fuck up"

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol was furious with umpire Doug Eddings after Eddings told rookie pitcher Hancel Rincon to fix his hat in the middle of his MLB debut pic.twitter.com/3t3AitYsCX

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 5, 2026

DETAILS: "Marmol ejected after rookie Rincon told to straighten hat out" (MLB).

“The batter [Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman] said, ‘Hey, can he wear his hat like that?’” [umpire Doug] Eddings recounted after the game. “I really didn't know, but it was really, really crooked. I asked the catcher to tell him to straighten his hat out, and the pitcher did. Nobody said anything until he gave up a couple runs.” 

Rincon said the comment didn’t distract him from his debut and that he didn’t argue with Eddings about his comment. “I had no idea why he told me to do it,” Rincon said through an interpreter. “It's fine.”...

“I had an issue with Doug,” [Cardinals manager Oliver] Marmol said... “Just Doug. He took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher the kid's ‘not going to wear his hat on my field that way.’ You got Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop -- plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted. I have an issue with that. That's just a power-hungry move, in my opinion."

SIDETRACK: "The way you wear your hat..."

And I think of the 4th sentence of "Moby-Dick":

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.

"An Illinois mother allegedly hanged her 2-year-old son that she described as the 'anti-Christ' — hours after discussing the Lindsay Clancy case with friends...."

"Corie Walsh, 38, is facing first-degree murder charges after one of her neighbors found Walsh’s son, Barrett, hanging from the rafters in the family’s basement.... Walsh allegedly told investigators she killed her young son because he’s the 'anti-Christ' and 'devil,' according to prosecutors. Little Barrett was found with his feet off the ground, and a ligature around his neck.... Walsh was reportedly found lying in a bathtub, fully clothed and drenched in bloody water."

The New York Post reports.

Is this the new "Me Too" movement?

"Not everyone at the Anti-Capitalist Co-Working Club is an actual anti-capitalist...."

"The club isn’t for debating Marxist theory or organizing labor unions. For many, the name simply signified a set of values they believe are missing from modern work culture: rest, community and self-actualization.The club, which operates on Fridays out of a recently opened arts space called Living Room in Mount Pleasant and costs $20 per day, was founded last month as an alternative to the sort of co-working spaces that gained popularity after the pandemic — such as WeWork and Industrious that allowed remote workers a quiet place to log in outside of their homes. Unlike these spots, the Anti-Capitalist Co-Working Club explicitly rejects the 'grindset.'"

From "Even anti-capitalists need to work. Enter a different kind of co-working space. In a response to D.C. work culture, the Anti-Capitalist Co-Working Club invites people to spend their 9 to 5 in ways that reject the grind" (WaPo)(gift link).

$20 per day! Somebody's trying to make money. But who would join? You pay someone else to brand your doing your own work as anti-capitalist. But you're working! Maybe it's a way to get a sense of community with other women who are on the left. But you're working!

“Let’s all take a big breath together,” club organizer Sarah Stern said in a firm, gentle voice. The 20 or so people in the airy room inhaled slowly in unison, after a long stretch of silent work time....

In case you wondered why I said "women."

A typical session involves 90 minutes of independent work time followed by a lunch break, where Stern invites attendees to chat with neighbors by using prompt cards with questions like “What’s something you’ve unlearned about ‘hustle’ culture?” and “What’s your go-to ritual when you need to recharge?” Ninety more minutes include reminders to stretch and an art break....  An “art library” has supplies to paint, embroider or sew, including a jar filled with real cicada wings. The soft instrumental songs are akin to what one might hear in a yoga class....

How embarrassing! Credit to Stern for getting the Washington Post to write an article about her little capitalistic anti-capitalistic scheme for extracting $20 bills from ladies who long for a chance to make friends. 

Sunrise.

This is the open thread, but there's been trouble with the comments function all day, so it might look empty. Thanks to the few who are able to get through and keep the home fires burning. 

"The defense argued that Judge William Sullivan should investigate a lone holdout on the jury before declaring a mistrial..."

"... which would allow the prosecution to continue to pursue a murder conviction. A justice is expected to rule quickly."

The NYT reports on the impending declaration of a mistrial.

The day of intense courtroom drama was prompted by a message to the judge on Thursday from the jury’s foreperson. It said a lone holdout juror had acknowledged doubt about the case, but refused to follow the law. The note came on the sixth day of deliberations. Ms. Clancy’s lead lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said the foreperson indicated that the jury was split 11 to 1, with the majority ready to find his client not guilty.

UPDATE: Mistrial declared.  

"It's natural for dogs."

Take a side:

"Ken Paxton, you might not like the way he dresses, and I say this, it's so insulting to him, but I might as well say it."

"You might not like the way he looks. You might not love his look.... But he was the best Attorney General in the country, perhaps... and that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great. Or anything frankly."

"The surrogate mother’s rights over the fetus she is carrying are greatly curtailed and she loses all rights to the baby she delivers."

Wrote Gloria Steinem, quoted by Kathryn Jean Lopez in "Gloria Steinem, a Voice Against Commercial Surrogacy" (National Review).

In 2019, when Andrew Cuomo sought to legalize commercial surrogacy, Steinem wrote:

A state that medicalizes and rents out female bodies — with third party profit as a motive and little or no regulation of risk to the women egg donors and surrogate wombs — jeopardizes a woman’s fundamental right to health and freedom and puts profit ahead of the long-term welfare of the fetus.

The use of the word "medicalizes" made me wonder what Steinem thought about hormone and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria.

Grok pointed me to her 1977 essay, "If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Change the Foot," where she expressed dismay that some people "surgically mutilate their own bodies" when what we need to change our ideas about sex roles.

The driver may be drunk, but it's the cop whose speech is slurred.

Oregon court throws out the charges:

Comments don't seem to be working for the last hour or so.

Even I can't comment. Maybe publishing this post will unclog things.

UPDATE: I still can't comment.

UPDATE 2: I asked Grok and was told this seems to be a general problem with Blogger. It recommended waiting. Please don't submit comments about how something's wrong with the comments. We don't want the sudden publication of 100 comments saying what's wrong with the comments. Feel free to submit comments that are on-topic comments. Hopefully, they'll come through later.

UPDATE 3: I tried to comment on that other blog of mine, the one that I linked to yesterday, The Time That Blog Forgot, and the comment would not publish. I take that as a good sign. Anyway, I'll continue putting up posts and move forward where forward motion is possible. We'll see what happens.

UPDATE 4: Another hour without comments. So lonely! I tried Meade's old blog, Puparazzo, but I couldn't comment there. That proves it's a Blogger problem, not a me problem (or a Meade problem). Good news. 

UPDATE 5: A comment got through — it's on the next post — but only one. I feel that help is on the way.

UPDATE 6: In the comments here, Wince suggests signing out and back in again. That didn't work for me.

UPDATE 7: I see that there are some comments, but I'm still not able to comment. I can see that Blogger is looking into the problem, and we bloggers seem to be just waiting. Hope things work out soon. 

This is like the way if you mock someone for making a typo, you'll make a typo.

But it's far worse:

The guys at @PodSaveAmerica laugh at JD Vance for not knowing what the academic definition of a blood libel is—and then immediately demonstrate that they know even less about it than he does...

Instant Karma. pic.twitter.com/LFN6HY6rAx

— H.A. Hazony (@HAHazony) September 3, 2026

There's so much blood in the old stories, so much blood to choose from. They ALL get confused. The term "blood libel" is specific, but there is seemingly very little awareness of what it refers too. Over time, where there is misuse, does the meaning broaden? Actually, it can. It's called "extended use."

And the OED entry for "blood libel" recognizes the original and the extended use: "The (unfounded) accusation that Jewish people use the blood of Christians in religious rituals, esp. in the preparation of Passover bread; an instance of this (cf. blood accusation n.); (also in extended use) an unfounded defamation."

That's enough to warrant circumspection with respect to what Vance said. Those Pod Save America guys veered right into ridicule. A big mistake... especially since the topic could not be more serious.

ADDED: Here's "The Ridiculous Hyper-Parsing of JD Vance" by Rich Lowry at National Review.

Sunrise.

That's my only photo. I saw a flash of lightning and chose to head back home. But Meade made a target of himself out on the dock, and he kept going all the way to the primary vantage point. There, he took this:

And he made an awfully nice video:

"We’re like Adam and Eve trying to build the futuristic garden of Eden where you can just exist and your world takes better care of you than you could yourself."

Said Kate Tolo, 30, quoted in "My extreme life with Bryan Johnson, multimillionaire biohacker/He’s the Silicon Valley entrepreneur who famously injected his teenage son’s blood in a bid to reverse his biological age to 18. Kate Tolo is his collaborator and girlfriend. So what’s it like to be in a relationship with a man who has an obsession with staying young?" (London Times).

Johnson is 49.

I don't think 49 and 30 is such a bad age gap, but she does sound kind of naive... as presented to the public. Who knows what they are really like or how they're collaborating? How do I know they even have a sexual relationship? Well, there's this: