"Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.. opined that race can be considered along with other factors in forming reasonable suspicion to stop someone for an immigration check..."

"... such as where people are gathering and what jobs they are working. 'To be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion; under this Court’s case law regarding immigration stops, however, it can be a "relevant factor" when considered along with other salient factors,’ Kavanaugh wrote. The court’s three liberal justices sharply dissented. 'We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job,' Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the dissent. 'Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.'"

From "Supreme Court lifts limits on immigration raids in the Los Angeles area/The raids sparked major protests in Southern California. President Donald Trump deployed troops from the California National Guard and Marines in response" (WaPo).

"This was a demise foretold. Fatalistic in the face of a parliamentary impasse, Mr. Bayrou had, even before the debate began, invited his entourage to a 'convivial moment'..."

"... or farewell soirée, this evening. With four prime ministers in the past 20 months, and a fifth likely to be appointed now, the fall of French governments, once unusual, has become close to mundane.... 'Domination by military force, or domination by our creditors as a result of debts that drown us, produces the same result: The loss of our liberty,' Mr. Bayrou said, to opposition cries of 'It’s not the same thing!' His appeal fell on deaf ears. The far right of Marine Le Pen and a group of left and far-left parties, holding a clear majority between them, rejected the freezing of welfare payments, cutting two national holidays and other austerity measures proposed by Mr. Bayrou. Ms. Le Pen, true to her National Rally party’s doctrine, suggested cutting spending on immigrants instead...."

From "French Government Collapses, Again, Deepening Paralysis/Prime Minister François Bayrou failed a confidence vote aimed at breaking an impasse over the budget, adding more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron" (NYT).

"The department did not specify where the hikers obtained the mushrooms, which contain psilocybin, a hallucinogenic compound that can cause people to see, hear or feel things that do not exist."

From "Hikers on Psychedelic Mushrooms Are Rescued From New York Wilderness/The hikers, who were in the Catskill Mountains, told officials that they had consumed the hallucinogen and one was experiencing a 'debilitating high.' It was the second such episode in recent months" (NYT).

The men were lost on the Giant Ledge Trail, a popular hiking destination in the Catskills, about 80 miles southwest of Albany. The trail ranges from 1,100 to 2,600 feet in elevation with “several sheer cliffs and drops”... Still, the three-mile loop is well-marked and wildly popular, making it difficult to get lost.... The hikers left the trail after deciding they wanted to walk in a straight line toward their car, through an area with boulders and steep terrain....

I'm imagining them embracing the revelation that you could just walk straight to the car, while all these other people deludedly believe they are required to adhere to the official path. Proceed directly to the car and drive away into your enlightened new life. 

"I’m the nice lady who wrote 'Eat, Pray, Love,' and I’m out in the park with fentanyl and morphine and sleeping pills trying to craft a murder."

From "Elizabeth Gilbert Gets Dark/A new memoir finds the self-help icon locked in a destructive romantic relationship with her best friend, who relapsed while fighting terminal cancer" (NYT)(free access link).

That's a free access link, in case you were an "Eat, Pray, Love" fan and had an impression of Elizabeth Gilbert as a nice lady and need to see if it's crushed. Me, I never picked up that book, was never vulnerable to the possibility that the author was a "nice lady" and wouldn't have cared. I just assumed she was a lady who was into herself for reasons that had nothing to do with me. Is praying something to be wedged in between gorging and fucking? I don't know, but I didn't need to know. I have no Elizabeth Gilbert-related illusions to be dispelled and I'm not temptable into the question whether she's got a dark side. I'm just going to guess that the "murder" she was "crafting" was assisting in the suicide of a cancer patient.

Vegetarian is not enough.

Photo by Meade, which he describes as "City bus 3 blocks from Ag school dairy building."

It's an impressive and persuasive slogan, but one might also say: Because you consume vegetables, rodents, birds, snakes, and amphibians die.

But the calf is a lovable being, one could respond, speciesistly. Look at its sweet face!

"The Supreme Court on Monday allowed President Donald Trump to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission despite a federal law..."

"... that is intended to restrict the White House’s power to control the agency.... Trump fired both Democratic commissioners on the five-person FTC in March, [Rebecca Kelly] Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. Both challenged the move, although Bedoya later dropped out of the case. Slaughter is currently listed as a serving commissioner on the agency’s website, as the case has made its way through the courts. The firings are a direct challenge to a 1935 Supreme Court precedent called Humphrey's Executor v. United States that upheld limits on the president’s ability to fire FTC commissioners without cause, a restriction Congress imposed to protect the agency from political pressure. Under the 1914 law that set up the agency, members can only be removed for 'inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.'"

From "Supreme Court allows Trump to fire FTC commissioner/Trump's actions are in direct tension with a 1935 ruling that upheld restrictions on the president's ability to remove FTC commissioners without cause" (NBC News).

"Slaughter is currently listed as a serving commissioner on the agency’s website" — not anymore. 

ADDED: The fact that NBC News referred to the fired commissioners as "Democratic commissioners" gives away the game. According to Humphrey's Executor, the idea was that "The commission is to be nonpartisan; and it must, from the very nature of its duties, act with entire impartiality." And "It is charged with the enforcement of no policy except the policy of the law." 

Who even remembers to pretend that was supposed to be the idea these days?!

"I don’t think there have been successes. We’ve seen a 30- or 40-year decline in the agency because... it’s been infiltrated by the pharmaceutical companies."

"And they’ve made a series of bad decisions.... What we want to do now is put an end to it, to end those entanglements — those corrupting entanglements with the pharmaceutical industry — and make this again a gold standard science agency that is protecting the American public."

Said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., quoted in "RFK Jr. says he sees no successes in the agency he leads" (CNN).

About those people who say crime is down in Washington D.C.? "I would say they fool because they don't live where I live."

Says Sandra Seagers, 74, who lives in Congress Heights part of the city, quoted in today's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast, "When the National Guard Comes to Town" (audio and transcript at Podscribe).

We're told: "Her own brother was shot and killed in the seventies. But she says back then crime was targeted toward people who were involved in it. And for the most part, bystanders were left alone. And as time went on, things changed. It was more crime, the stores shut down. But now, especially since the pandemic, she says, it feels like the violence is more random....  and for Sandra, that means more innocent people and even businesses are caught up in it.... She says, after the murder of George Floyd, the police were too lean on crime. She was also frustrated with the DC law that prevented kids from being charged with adult crimes. She was so fed up that she actually wrote a letter to the mayor and city council asking for the National Guard to be sent in.... But the response was, no. The city council couldn't stop it. The police couldn't stop it. The mayor couldn't stop it. So Sandra, too afraid to go outside, hasn't been to a grocery store in two years.... She was listening to the local radio station one late afternoon when she heard the President describe the city as one beset by crime and lawlessness.... It resonated with her."

Seager says: "I did not vote for Donald Trump. I did not. And I don't agree with a lot of things he's doing. But when he decided to bring in the National Guard and the, and the federal agencies, I was happy. First day it was announced, that same night, that I didn't hear gunshots, no shootings, and no stabbing. I saw one car come by and one person walking and that was it. People calm down...."

"Bessent, who comes across publicly as soft-spoken, has won Trump’s trust as a 'soothing' presence for jittery markets amid the president’s unpredictable plays..."

"...on tariffs and other economic issues. A cautious operator who’s been called a 'moderating influence' on the administration, the billionaire former hedge fund manager has overcome his past association with Democratic megadonor George Soros and is now considered one of Trump’s closest allies. Meanwhile, Pulte — a brash 37-year-old with 3 million X followers — has taken a more pugnacious tack in his lower-profile job...."

From "'I’m Gonna Punch You in Your F---ing Face': Scott Bessent Threatens an Administration Rival/The Treasury secretary's quiet tensions with housing finance chief Bill Pulte exploded at a private dinner last week" (Politico).

What's a soft-spoken guy to do when confronted with someone who's brash and pugnacious and going behind your back? 

Quotes attributed to Bessent in that article: "Why the fuck are you talking to the president about me? Fuck you," "I’m gonna punch you in your fucking face," "It’s either me or him. You tell me who’s getting the fuck out of here. Or we could go outside," "I’m going to fucking beat your ass."

ADDED: This makes me think Jordan Peterson's oft-stated idea about man-on-man conflict. Knowing that it could turn into a physical fight enhances the communication. Sample Peterson quote:

"There's so much criticism of media that hasn't picked up the story, yet it hasn't changed, perhaps because they're sticking to the original judgment that it's a local murder story..."

"... and not every murder gets to be national news. So the question is why some people (the right?) see elements that make it deserve national attention and others (the left?) think that it doesn't. A black man kills a white woman — that alone can't be enough. The woman is beautiful. The woman came from Ukraine. The violence was sudden and random (it could happen to you!)."

I write, prompting ChatGPT to respond to the NY Post column with the headline, "Horrid video of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska’s slaughter on Charlotte train is met with deafening silence from Dem leaders, media."

ChatGPT's answer can be read here, where you will also see that prompt was my second prompt.

My first prompt was: "I'm seeing this news story and wondering if it's possible that the story is a hoax, with AI generated video. The video is so 'on the nose' to stir up basic fears. Is it being ignored because it's not true?"

The answer was enough to overcome my suspicion: "Surveillance footage was released by Charlotte police showing the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, aboard the Lynx Blue Line light rail in Charlotte on August 22, 2025. She was fatally stabbed by Decarlos Brown Jr., a 34-year-old homeless man with a criminal history. Brown was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder."

ADDED: In case that link to ChatGPT isn't working, here's the text of how it answered the second prompt:

Sunrise — 6:30, 6:32.

Talk about whatever you like in the comments.

"More fundamental... is an underlying national malaise that can seem inexplicable to outsiders but which has undoubtedly gathered pace..."

"Call it the 'French Paradox.' For the more than 100 million people or so who visit France each year — more than any other place on the planet — the country has long been synonymous with glorious weather and scenery, good food and wine, and the best high-speed rail network in Europe.... Many of the French themselves appear to see their country differently, however, with a traditional national grumpiness giving way to what one recent poll described as 'a collective depression.'... It could be... a 'feeling of lost identity.' Such national gloom explains the rapid spread of the discontent expressed by those behind the protests planned for Wednesday, largely on TikTok, Facebook and other social media platforms, many of them from Paris and other big cities in what has been dubbed la France périphérique...."

From "Let’s block everything: protesters plan to ‘pull the brake’ on France/National malaise under President Macron is moving towards a general strike — campaigners who want to abolish political parties have planned a day of disruption" (London Times).

So, apparently, a country is having a mental breakdown.

"La France périphérique" means "Peripheral France." I can see that there was a 2014 book titled — and translated — "Peripheral France: How the Working Classes Have Been Sacrificed" — which Grok says "analyzes the marginalization of France's working classes—often described as 'French of native stock' or 'petits Blancs' (little whites)—who have been displaced from urban centers due to globalization and economic shifts." 

Heron experiences puzzlement at humanyelling.

Video by Meade, near the UW Marching Band practice field.

CORRECTION: The location was not by the practice field but near Lake Wingra, and the yelling was not from the band leader but kids, playing soccer. Also, for those who may care about precision in the observation of birds, there was, just out of the frame, a bunch of Canada geese. Meade seems to think the heron was annoyed by the geese and believes he saw the heron imitate the geese to insult and mock them! Meade performed the move the heron made with his neck, as if the heron meant to let the geese know how stupid they look.

"We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity."

Said the memo from the United States Tennis Association, quoted in "USTA asks broadcasters to censor reaction to Donald Trump’s attendance at U.S. Open" (NYT).

"We regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions," said a USTA spokesman.

If the President is showcasing himself, shouldn't the anti-President forces get their say? Well... the President's attendance at the event is to watch tennis, which fits with the USTA enterprise of displaying tennis to all of us, traditionally done with celebrities in the live audience. The protesters' opposition to the President has nothing to do with tennis. They want to speak/"speak" on a different topic. The President is only "speaking" (silently) about his (possibly bogus) interest in tennis, so it's not really censorship... is it?

If you feel that Trump's occupation of the presidency is a highly alarming catastrophe, these fine distinctions are outrageous and intolerable. I'm sure I'm not the first person to bring up Hitler's showcasing of himself at the 1936 Olympics:

"But as real celebrities and influencers try to be perceived as more 'authentic,' many A.I. influencers like Miquela and Mia Zelu are leaning into their unrealness..."

"... proudly claiming their robot monikers in their bios and having no shame about posting in Hong Kong at 3 p.m. and in New York an hour later. In fact, the teams behind them feel the lack of a corporeal form may be their best selling point. 'From a brand perspective, we are able to create a very dynamic story line,' Ms. Kahn said. 'So Miquela can be, for example, in London one day supporting an art gallery opening, and in L.A. the same day to support a new coffee shop that she really likes, right? I think brands love that she can be anywhere... I think the next generation isn’t really thinking as much about is this person real or not?... It’s more about: 'What does this account stand for?'"

I'm reading "They’re Famous. They’re Everywhere. And They’re Fake. Influencers like Lil’ Miquela and Mia Zelu have millions of followers and generate serious income, despite being created with artificial intelligence" (NYT).

1. Who's "Ms. Kahn"? Who cares?

2. I like how they put "authentic" in quotes.

3. What's the difference between A.I. "influencers" like Miquela and old-time ad mascots like Tony the Tiger and the Trix rabbit?

4. You know who else can be in Hong Kong and then in New York an hour later? Santa Claus. Kids have accepted his dictates as long as I can remember. At least Miquela isn't demanding that we be "good" and threatening us with a list. Or is it only a matter of time?

5. Here is what reality must compete with:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miquela (@lilmiquela)

6. Maybe she and her ilk are saving us all from the trouble of striving to excel at fakeness. We're free at last. Now, what?

7. What if the people you met in real life were like Miquela, putting their plastic cup on their head and affecting an expression of inane ecstasy? And maybe they already are... and have been for a long time. I went running to find this passage from "My Dinner With André," a movie that came out more than 40 years ago:

... I turned the television on, and there was this guy who had just won the something something, you know, some sports event, some kind of a great big check and some kind of huge silver bottle, and he, you know, you know, he couldn’t stuff the check in the bottle, and he put the bottle in front of his nose and pretended it was his face, you know, he wasn’t really listening to the guy who was interviewing him, but he was smiling, huh, malevolently at his friends, and I looked at that guy and I thought “What a horrible, empty, manipulative rat.” Then I thought, “That guy is me.”

8. Writing #7 — "What if the people you met" — made me think of an old song that I gradually realized was "Who Are the Brain Police?"

"My last wish will be just one thing/Be smilin' when I die/I wanna be one toke over the line, sweet Jesus...."

I blogged when Brewer died — last December — so I will blog the death of Shipley: 

"Tom Shipley, Whose Ode to Weed Reached the Top 10, Dies at 84/With their 'One Toke Over the Line,' he and Michael Brewer saw a musical in-joke turn into a timeless cultural phenomenon" (NYT).

ADDED: From last December's post: "The singer was 'sitting downtown in a railway station" and "just waitin' for the train that goes home, sweet Mary.' Even if the song originated from an exclamation about smoking marijuana, it seems that the substance of the song is religious. The metaphor of the train is seen in other songs, such as 'People Get Ready (There's a train a-coming....') and 'This Train (Is Bound for Glory).'"

"In a clinical setting there are many things you’re not allowed to say unless you want to end up in a hospital. So I couldn’t be honest with my psychiatrist..."

"... my therapist or anyone who was supposedly there to help, and I kept it all bottled inside. Then ChatGPT came along. I could ask it anything. There was no threat to my freedom. I wasn’t judged. I got information, ideas of things to try to help with symptoms and to talk to my psychiatrist about, encouragement, and when things were bad, advice to reach out to my medical team or call the suicide hotline. It was actually ChatGPT that encouraged me to think about transcranial magnetic stimulation, among other options. I did end up getting T.M.S., and it was like a miracle. I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t have this outlet. I understand this is a new technology and it’s not a replacement for medical care, but in my case it was an amazing supplement."

Writes Sarah K., in a letter to the NYT commenting on the op-ed "Re "What My Daughter Told ChatGPT Before She Took Her Life."

There's also this letter responding to the same op-ed, from a woman whose 31-year-old daughter killed herself: "To our knowledge, our daughter did not have access to ChatGPT. As limited as it is and should be, I wonder if it could possibly serve as a type of cathartic journaling? In reading some of the comments from people who had contemplated or had made unsuccessful suicide attempts, I was reminded of our daughter’s overriding fear of the loss of her personal agency, which prevented full disclosure and honesty on her part."