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  RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/117049561381886953 "Claiming authority over limit set by Congress": basically, rule of law matters so little to Republicans that Trump can do whatever and dare the rest of us to stop him if we can.

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  Today's blog post: A seasonal song for this moment in American politics. 99 days to the primary, 99 days remain. Mark 1 down, canvass your town, 98 days to the primary! My cats also have opinions on this subject. They are correct. https://www.someweekendreading.blog/99-days-to-primary/

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  RE: https://swiss.social/@paulfoerster/116986317219807954 Voting Republican is evil. Not voting is being complicit with evil. Voting 3rd party is being complicit with evil AND bad at math.

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  @MostlyHarmless@thecanadian.social Yep, it's really that crazy. Blog entry from 10 days ago puts it in historical context, looking a oligarchs in the 19th and 20th centuries manipulating markets and cornering them: https://www.someweekendreading.blog/cornering-markets/

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  @maco Dunno who made this one, but it's my favorite.

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  RE: https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/116449728786884001 I see the innumeracy of the rulers has not gotten any better in the last couple of years. https://www.someweekendreading.blog/math-illiterate-rulers/

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  @christianp @lmidgey Next step: Goldberg polyhedra! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldberg_polyhedron

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  @christianp The OEIS says, "if two such numbers exist, the smaller is chosen." It looks like they aren't following that rule, and hence the sequence is occasionally double-valued.

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  @ColinTheMathmo "... and, in some parts of the world, it might also be February 1st."

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  @AmenZwa You need to meet the screenwriter John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social who is also a fountain pen nerd. I think he's more active on BlueSky, though.

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  RE: https://universeodon.com/@Edmonds_Scanner/116206557203756295 A few economists disagree. The loudest of them tend to get eaten by curious ghost cats.

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  @cstross@wandering.shop @mcnees@mastodon.social He was also living in New England during the depression. There were scores of factory buildings and the like that were completely shut down, doors locked, and guarded. He might have wondered: if there's nothing much to steal inside those buildings, then why are they guarded? Maybe the guards aren't keeping buglars out, but keeping *something* inside!

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  @cstross@wandering.shop @lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org @MissConstrue@mefi.social @ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org @androcat@toot.cat You're right, his time with HUAC and the McCarthy goons was indeed an early sign. OTOH, he was "just fitting in" with the McCarthy goons. "Just fitting in" so he could be a member of the elite was, I think, paramount for Nixon. He *could* have been great, had he kept better company and been under the influence of better people....

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  @cstross@wandering.shop I wrote a bit about the analemma, and why the day of earliest sunset is not the same as the shortest day. It looks like Edinburgh should have had its earliest sunset Dec 15 or 16. So unless you're an early riser, it's getting better now. Slowly, of course, but better. https://www.someweekendreading.blog/analemma-2025/

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  @cstross@wandering.shop Well... they sort of *can*, but only *once*.