Free Radical

I can't compete with this.

Coffee, straight out of my nose.

Now I’m wondering if there are strong feelings on dichloromethane vs. methylene chloride. I’ve used both Interchangeably, but I dislike the DCM acronym for unknown reasons.

March 3rd, 1986 — Metallica released their legendary third studio album Master of Puppets.

A defining moment in thrash metal history. From the crushing title track to the haunting power of “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” and the instrumental masterpiece “Orion,” this album changed heavy music forever.

I fucking hate proline so fucking much it's the worst amino acid it's so fucking stupid it's incapable of being fucking normal so it forms an ugly ass ring with itself with its own fucking nitrogen cuz it's a loser fucking amino acid I hate it so much I'd rather cut off my right tit than have to ever draw a mechanism with proline ever again

Remember that everyone you meet is fighting their own battle, sometimes with amino acids

Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers More citizens are replanting overseas, drawn by a quality of life made easily affordable by the U.S.’s enviable salaries.

"A Gallup poll last year found 40% of American women, ages 15-44, would like to permanently move overseas, if possible."

Photo of a prince Andrew in the back of a police cruiser. He has a stunned look on his face and his teeth are visible behind slightly-parted lips.

A famous photo of a vole caught in the talons of a kite, cropped to the vole. The vole has a stunned, “I bet you wonder how I got here. Well…” look on its face and its incisors are barely visible in its slightly-opened mouth.

An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me Summary: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

AI agent goes nuts on open source maintainer after having its pull request denied. This is a pretty insane story. Open source development as we've been used to for the last few decades is likely over. 1/
theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

I really can’t watch any of these ice flip videos without thinking about how a white man is being rewarded for accomplishing what a Black woman was punished for doing 30 years ago

Surya Bonaly was an incredible athlete and she was treated like shit for it

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

the polish figure skating team in the kiss and cry holding a plush pierogi

IMPORTANT OLYMPIC NEWS:

THE POLISH FIGURE SKATING TEAM HAS A PLUSH PIEROGI

‘Do You Speak Billionaire?’ and Other Stories From the Fall of the Washington Post I think I can say with little fear of contradiction that I...

"When you cut your sports section, it’s because you actually don’t want the paper to exist anymore." —Josh Marshall

talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-yo...

Other people: "Don’t ask me about my political opinions of the President, because I’d rather not answer."

Me to my daughter, yelling down from our house's roof: "If I die, tell your grandkids I hated Donald Trump."

I first read this as “Baseball Furries”.

beautiful gray squirrel showing off tail in dark gray tree

The Squirrel of the Day for January 18, 2026 is a study in warm and cool neutrals (and is watching you) #sqrlpix

The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.

"The wall looks permanent until the day it comes down."

data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l...

Several people I know have used the word "beautiful" for this piece, and that's exactly right. A beautifully phrased essay on the bind we're in— until we aren't.

Recommended, in an extreme way.

How to build a radically truthful news outlet The old ways don’t work. Time to declare war on the liars.

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social, former metro editor at the Chicago Tribune, describes what a "radically truthful" journalism would look like. www.stopthepresses.news/p/how-to-bui...

When just showing the video isn’t enough: Minneapolis shooting puts news organizations to the test When everyone has seen the same videos, what service do news sites provide?

In the aftermath of Good’s killing by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, it’s clear some news organizations were better equipped than others to analyze the visual evidence provided from bystander videos. www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/when...

I read this paragraph four times. Not because it's murky, but to let the message sink in. www.cjr.org/tow_center/b...

If an information company is clear and determined in supporting (not "saving') democracy, then it can be a home for good journalism. If not then the press must disengage. Now.

The cover of “Traditional Ukrainian Cookery” by Savella Stechishin

My mom has been holding onto this cookbook for me.

This post by JA Westenberg is so good. And it's forcing me to look again at my own site, PressThink.

"The Case for Blogging in the Ruins." www.joanwestenberg.com/the-case-for...

"Most blogs are abandoned after three posts," she writes. The ones that persist have these things in common:

Halibut was our Christmas fish, so I’m currently thinking some form of halibut, kutya, homemade perogies, lazy cabbage rolls, and maybe cheesecake or scuffles for dessert.

It’s always a question of:how closely do I hew to our family’s not-strictly-traditional food; what new things do I try; how industrious or lazy do I feel? :D But I think I’ll take the 6th off of work to get creative.

Viewpoint of the author: lap covered with a grey fuzzy blanket. A cookbook is held upright, open to a cabbage roll recipe. A grey striped tabby kitten is curled up between the pages, preventing them from being turned.

I’m looking through cookbooks for Ukrainian Christmas ideas, but the going is slow.

Guy at the wine bar playing “Fishing in the Dark,” the official song of western Canadian weddings

FREEZE! He can’t see you if you don’t move.

gray squirrel in red knit hat

Joy to the Squirrel! Merry Christmas #sqrlpix

I just gave my 20yo a rundown of the day's news, and he said, "It's all so dumb, it's hard to take seriously and so it's hard to fight. We'd be better at fighting smarter authoritarians!"

"We'd be better at fighting smarter authoritarians" is going to stick with me.