Get ready. It's coming. That thing you thought you wanted.

This will be such a nightmare. pic.twitter.com/qrD03wxEdl

— Julian Mille☈ (@ATLAreaWx) July 14, 2026

Children going to school in the dark. Dangerous. It will become obvious. A child's name will be on the repeal legislation.

ADDED: It’s important to note that morning light does not begin at sunrise. It’s already getting light an hour before sunrise, and half an hour before sunrise you’re free of the sense that you’re going out into the night. Using the sunrise as the time that matters is alarmist.

"A woman caught on video emptying a public trash can on the street then stealing it during New York City’s Knicks championship parade was a director at JPMorgan Chase who was fired Tuesday over the incident...."

The NY Post reports.

Angie Báez, 40, was promoted to Executive Director of Community and Industry Engagement for Card and Connected Commerce at JPMorgan Chase more than a year ago, according to her LinkedIn profile. She previously served as Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at New York-based review website The Infatuation, which Chase acquired as part of its broader push into lifestyle and experiential content...

What's "experiential content" and why am I "experiencing" that as bullshit?

Here's the viral video:

@mel_aston Those trash cans didn’t stand a chance 😭😭 I don’t condone the bullying of this woman. I’m not going for it!! #knicks #knicksparade #knicksin5 #nyc #fyp ♬ original sound - Melrose Aston

"What's 'experiential content' and why am I 'experiencing' that as bullshit?" is the one question I took to Grok. If I understand it correctly, instead of marketing the product itself, consumers are invited to picture themselves living some kind of life that somehow relates to the product. The honest restaurant content will, supposedly, be woven together with references to Chase cards. Even though Grok told me "It's not 'bullshit' as a pure concept" — because it can work as a marketing technique — it's obviously a bullshit expression designed to elevate a practice that deserves ridicule.

But you would probably prefer to ridicule this lady who did something stupid and who, you may think, doesn't deserve her job, and you probably think it's her job, her erstwhile job, that sounds like bullshit.

"Trump administration officials have pressed the office responsible for printing the nation’s money to design a $250 bill featuring the president’s portrait..."

"... according to four current and former employees, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years.... The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution."

The Washington Post reports. Gift link.

I find this hard to believe. It's such a bad idea. I prefer to think it's just not true.

No living person has appeared on U.S. currency since 1866, when it was outlawed after the image of a mid-level Treasury bureaucrat showed up on a 5-cent note. Legislation that would allow Trump to appear on a $250 bill was introduced in Congress last year to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary but has languished. In a statement, a Treasury Department spokesperson said the printing office “is conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” in response to the proposed legislation. “Should this legislative mandate be signed into law, the BEP is moving proactively to produce a $250 commemorative note which will appropriately recognize the 250th Anniversary of our great nation,” the statement said.

So it is, essentially, not true. They went through the exercise of creating the note that might be issued if Congress passes a law permitting it, which is not going to happen. So meanwhile, you can see the thing and celebrate or get steamed up or whatever this latest provocation moves you to do.

Is that his mugshot?!

"The worst part about AI is that it is giving the experience of competence to people who are stupid."

"These people who now are firing off 30-page Claude AI slop documents and they think they're smart and brilliant. They're following up with you, asking you to read them, and you check them out. None of it makes sense! These are people who, before AI, they were incompetent people. They couldn't even make a document, they couldn't write a good 2-page document, they couldn't organize their thoughts. Because they couldn't do that, they actually couldn't produce any output. And now they can produce output. They produce extremely long outputs that are terrible. It's because they, for the first time in their lives, have the experience of competence. It's making the rest of us miserable."

Says Jake Abrams, on TikTok. I prefer to read his comment as text, but you might want to observe him and see if it affects your reaction to what he's saying. I saw this first as video and decided to blog it but took the trouble to make a transcript because I find the video distracting. He drops the microphone at the end.

Clearly, he thinks he is one of the smart people. He doesn't like the stupid people horning in on the space that belonged to him and his people — you know, the ones who were always producing documents that gave off the impression of competence. Have those documents been making much sense? Were they concise? 

Now that everyone can produce long documents that look good superficially, what's going to happen? If people continue to read documents, will they separate out the search for what was written by A.I. or will they judge everything skeptically? It's more likely that they will use A.I. to read the documents and to assess them critically. In the end, who's going to feel that they are "smart and brilliant"? Is Abrams afraid that those he wants to view as stupid, perhaps because they didn't go to a good college, are going to play the game of using A.I. better than those who thought they had it made because they did go to a good college?

We'll see who picks up the tools and uses them best. 

A thoroughly idiotic question at CNN's California gubernatorial debate: Who would you want to play you in a movie about you?

This is just so terribly bad. It's also an unfair softball because it's so easy for the 2 Hispanic males. They both say Antonio Banderas. Watch the nonsense:

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If you're going to have a movie question for a potential governor of California, it ought to be something substantive about the movie business, but "California Gubernatorial Candidates Bicker and Squabble, But Say Little About Hollywood/The demise of a flagship industry drew little attention in Tuesday’s CNN debate" (Hollywood Reporter).

"Rory wins again…I think. CBS missed the last 4 shots. I guess that’s what happens when you have one camera covering the course and the rest pointing at teenagers watching the broadcast in Ireland."

One fan posted, quoted in "CBS bashed for botching Rory McIlroy’s Masters-winning shots" (NY Post).

"These nails are sported by nurses in hospitals who, because of these stupid encumbrances glued to the ends of their fingers, cannot properly perform one of the key hygienic routines..."

"... that has been a simple, essential part of infection prevention in medical practice for decades: thorough hand-washing. First line of defense, proven useful for generations. Hospital management has gutlessly acquiesced to this ridiculousness because these days, everyone has 'rights.'Except, apparently, patients who wish to not contract an infection during their hospital stay…."

From the comments section at the NYT article about those very long, overdecorated fake nails —  "Manicures Fit for the Met Gala/Whether at hospitals or on red carpets, people with manicures by Yulenny Garcia, a nail technician in the Bronx, turn heads."

Another comment: "I like the creativity but as a physician… I despair when I see these talons on fashion and entertainment industry folks. Not healthy at all. Just pull up any study on synthetic nails in pubmed. Just imagine HRs in hospitals have given up on young RNs to abide by the no long-nail rules… these nails can cut through gloves and in one case recently caused a rectal tear in a patient. Just think, everyone does them, so how are you going to stop this? Not happy, this is being highlighted...."

"The bachelor banker admitted to Interview magazine that he had not yet made it onto the elite dating app Raya, confessing that he only uses Hinge."

"Nelson, a dirty vodka martini enthusiast, listed swanky Manhattan spots Jac’s on Bond, Bar Pisellino, and Mace as the top places that he would take any lady lucky enough to match with him.... Johnson, a Dallas native, laid out his thoughts on crypto investing and AI, but also confessed to buying 'a painting for $1,400 that is simply a bunch of lines.' He says he owns 'approximately six vests and seven Vineyard Vines quarter zips': an essential part of any finance bro’s wardrobe when kicking off their career on Wall Street. Barclays associate vice president Tommy Doherty, who said he owns up to ten vests, tells Interview readers that they should 'know your risk tolerance and have a well-diversified portfolio.'"

I'm reading "Baby-faced Goldman Sachs bankers could be fired over ‘unauthorized’ magazine photo shoots: sources" (NY Post).

"Unauthorized" is in quotes because, as the last line of the article says, "It is unclear whether Johnson and Doherty obtained approval to be interviewed by the magazine." I'll bet they were authorized and that Goldman Sachs likes getting inane publicity in this form. It's Interview magazine, and the guys are good looking — and they have vests!!! and quarter zips!!!

As for the type of painting that is "simply a bunch of lines." I looked:

Ha ha. Everything turns back on itself these days. In the early days of image searching, I think I'd have turned up something more like Cy Twombly.

Anyway, here's the original Interview article, formatted nicely, with all the "Finest Boys in Finance" answering the same small set of questions, including"What’s the most you’ve spent on something stupid?" 

"Can I ask a question I have been dying to ask? You all might think it is a weird question but I've always been curious. What is your favorite time of day?"

That's the utterly inane question Dana Perino asked Melania Trump on "The Five":

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard on television. I don't intentionally watch news on TV — sometimes it overflows onto me — so I'm not the best judge of how close to the bottom that is. 

For the record of things no one needs to know, Melania's favorite time of day is "very early morning." Why? Because it's quiet, you have your coffee, and you check your email.

ADDED: Of course, the film is getting terrible reviews — for example, "Melania review – First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda," by Nick Hilton in The Independent: 

In the world of Chappell Roan, Brigitte Bardot might as well be Milkshake Duck.

I'm reading "Chappell Roan walks back tribute to Brigitte Bardot over late star’s 'insane' beliefs" (NY Post).

It looked like this on Instagram:

Quick turnaround. 4 minutes. Made me think of Milkshake Duck:

But "Red Wine Supernova" came out in 2023. It begins "She was a playboy/Brigitte Bardot/She showed me things...." The reference to Bardot is not obscure, but in your face, line 1. Chappell Roan has been trading on that famous name for 2 years.

Bardot has openly expressed the ideas that got her accused of racism since 2 years before Chappell Roan was born. (Bardot published "Mon cri de colère" ("My Cry of Anger") in 1996.)

How is it that no one told Chappell Roan that Brigitte Bardot was something more than a sex object until Roan made herself part of the story of Bardot's death?!

"In his satirical 'Dictionary of Received Ideas'... Flaubert offered up a range of definitions embodying the stupid notions that silly people too readily accept."

"...  'Art': 'Leads to poorhouse. What use is it, since machines can do things better and quicker?' ... 'Bird': 'Wish you were one, saying with a sigh: "Oh, for a pair of wings!" This shows you have a poetic soul.'... By mocking these thoughts, we push ourselves past them. From this perspective, our sense that we’re getting stupider may simply reflect our determination to be smart."

Writes Joshua Rothman, in "Are We Getting Stupider? Stupidity is eternal—and more complex than we think" (The New Yorker).

"Dictionary of Received Ideas' — link goes to full text — is one of the few books that has its own tag on this blog: here. It's long been one of my favorite books, and you may have noticed my various proposals for entries in a new Dictionary of Received Ideas. If you get Flaubert's idea, maybe you can help me write this volume for my shelf of Unwritten Books. 

Actually I don't think Rothman conveys Flaubert's idea accurately. Here's a new New Yorker piece from 2013 (by Teju Cole), which explains the "Dictionnaire des Idées Reçues" like this:  "What galls Flaubert most is the inevitability, given an action, of a certain standard reaction. We could learn from his impatience: there are too many standard formulations in our language. They stand in place of thought, but we proclaim them each time—due to laziness, prejudice, or hypocrisy—as though they were fresh insight."

Anyway, what's Rothman's point about our possibly becoming stupider? He writes: 

"Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?"

Trump just made this reporter reevaluate her life 😂

Q: "Why do you blame the Biden Admin?"

Trump: "Because they let them in. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? And you're just asking questions because you're a stupid person!" 💀 pic.twitter.com/s97shKW0yd

— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) November 28, 2025

"Why do you blame the Biden Admin?"/"Because they let them in. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? And you're just asking questions because you're a stupid person!"

Presented for your contemplation, not to indicate my approval (or disapproval!).

***

I'm giving this my "civility bullshit" tag because the topic of "civility bullshit" is in play. That is, Trump doesn't fall for civility bullshit. You can't persuade him to be civil because he (correctly) observes that the other side will not be civil toward him and he will not unilaterally disarm. I think his incivility invariably — or almost invariably — comes only after someone has shown incivility toward him. 

If it wasn't viewpoint discrimination but actually some violation of the terms of the permit, I think they would have articulated the violation...

... so that we wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's viewpoint discrimination. But with the failure to to articulate the violation, I think we are entitled to presume it was viewpoint discrimination. No jumping required.

That's my response to "Park Service removes statue of Trump and Epstein from National Mall/The statue, the latest installation by an anonymous group of artists critical of the president, was supposed to be on display until 8 p.m. Sunday" (WaPo)(gift link):

The National Park Service removed a statue of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands from the National Mall early Wednesday morning, a day after it was placed there. 'The statue was removed because it was not compliant with the permit issued," Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace said in an email. She did not respond to follow-up questions about how or why the statue was not in compliance or if the department had provided the required 24-hour written notice before revoking the permit....

Carol Flaisher, a D.C.-based location manager, filed the permit application with the National Park Service on behalf of the artists who created the statue. She said that in over 40 years of working with the Park Service arranging installations and filming, she has never had a permit revoked.

The permit issued to Flaisher says: “Superintendent may revoke this permit at any time after providing 24 hours’ written notice to the Permittee setting forth the reasons for the revocation.”

Yeah, it's a stupid statue. But now the stupidity of the government has turned it into a monument to freedom.

ADDED: Reading more of the article, I see: "In a video of the statue’s removal provided to The Washington Post, a National Park Service official can be seen saying that the installation is 'out of compliance' because it is several feet larger than stated in the permit. The video was taken by a security team member who had been assigned to monitor the statue as required by the permit."

If that's the answer, why didn't Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace put that in her original email response to The Washington Post? Why did she not respond to the follow-up questions if there is such an easy answer? If she cared about the First Amendment or if this really was the true answer, why wasn't she eager to provide it?

I see that "Flaisher said there was a height discrepancy because the base of the statue was not included in the permit approval. But she said no objections were raised when the statue was placed on the Mall, and she was never informed there was an issue."

So is it to be all about the plinth?

"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. 

So we have ChatGPT and what's the top-trending use?

Astrology!

"Ms. LaFavers said in an interview that Liam, 8, became familiar with Amazon and other shopping sites during the pandemic..."

"... when she regularly ordered supplies. Since then, she has occasionally let him browse the site if he keeps the items in the cart."

From "Boy Accidentally Orders 70,000 Lollipops on Amazon. Panic Ensues. Holly LaFavers said she was eventually refunded $4,200 for her 8-year-old son’s order of Dum-Dums candy" (NYT).

I haven't seen a story like that in a long time. Seems like an early-internet cautionary tale.

Suffice it to say, the LaFavers got their problem straightened out, and "Spangler Candy Co., the company that has made Dum-Dums since 1924, invited Ms. LaFavers and Liam to visit its factory in Ohio." Everybody wins, especially Dum-Dums, because who cared about Dum-Dums? 

"Every time I see people that disagree with anything that's happening, any gigantic world events, it's one of these retarded shows... There's the word again...."

"We were just talking about that.... The word 'retarded' is back, and it's one of the great culture victories that I think is spurred on, probably, by podcast. But these things are always... you know, where everyone's screaming over each other.... There's never just rational conversations where you discuss things...."

Said Joe Rogan, at the beginning of his new podcast.

I'd been noticing — and not just on Joe Rogan's podcast — that some people seem to want to feel free to say "retarded" again.

You don't really need that word, though, do you? You can always say "stupid." That makes me wonder why "stupid" survived when "retarded" was banished. But the answer is that "stupid" is a very old word that lived in ordinary speech and was applied broadly, and "retarded" was an innovation in the clinical setting that was designed to refer specifically to persons with a disability. It was supposed to be polite. 

For the annals of Things I Asked Grok: Why is it that when something starts out good and turns bad it seems worse that something that was bad all along?

"C.E.O. Choked Man Who Danced Barefoot on Cruise Ship...."

A NYT headline speaks of the recent trend of throwing your life away for nothing.

The altercation began shortly after Mr. DeGiorgio’s wife had confronted the man about barefoot dancing, telling him, “Look, we are all grown-ups here — can you put your shoes on?” Mr. DeGiorgio’s wife told investigators that the man had made a crude remark to her, and the security video showed him giving her the middle finger, according to the F.B.I...

I looked it up. The "crude remark" was "Shut up, you fucking bitch." 

We're told DeGiorgio's pay package (at First American Financial) is $7.8 million.

What's so bad about taking your shoes off to dance? It can be a way to be quieter, more graceful, or to protect the dance floor — think sock hop. And I've heard the wistful longing: There will come a time when you can even take your clothes off when you dance.

"The woman who received 'instant karma' after berating a President Trump supporter on the subway — and then face-planting on the platform after trying to grab his 'Make America Great Again' hat — is..."

"... Alberta Testanero, a 55-year-old dual Italian-American citizen.... A freelance creative director and branding specialist who has worked with posh outfits like Tiffany & Co., Coach, Bergdorf Goodman and Kate Spade, Testanero prides herself on 'maintaining the highest standards,' according to her online profiles."

The NY Post reports.

There are cameras everywhere. You will be identified. 

Space tourism is idiotic... as is the use of the word "historic" to describe non-achievements by women.

But The Daily Mail tells us: "Lauren Sanchez, Katy Perry and CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King have left fans shocked after it was announced they are heading to space. It was revealed on Thursday that the Jeff Bezos's partner, 55, the pop star, 40, and the news anchor, 70, are part of the Blue Origin's historic all-women crew, which will blast off in the spring."

The fan "shock" is only over the sheer randomness. Katy Perry in space! I wasn't thinking about that.

As for "historic"... I'm reminded of the old Samuel Johnson quote: "Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." That is, calling this non-achievement "historic" is actually a sexist putdown.

To wallow in the idiocy, watch Lauren Sanchez do TikTok: