Say what you will about contemporary SNL, there's a least 1 or 2 nuggets of gold amidst the crap every week... This is the best Tucker Carlson impression I've seen:

BTW that Air Force general, implicated with having some insider knowledge on the #ufo subject, is still missing... Left his home with his wallet, gun, and a wilderness survival guide two weeks ago, disappeared into the New Mexico hills and hasn't been seen since. 😶

MAGA: Americans should eat healthier Urbanists: OK, so maybe we should allow for cities in which people can easily access food, work and amenities within a short trip of where they live... Perhaps we could call it a "15 minute city"? MAGA: (autistic screeching)

Finally finished "The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047" Written in 2016 but set in the titular 2029 and onwards, the novel is a harrowing description of a slow-moving economic apocalypse that takes place when US sovereign debt is no longer considered good investment by the rest of the world. The events are viewed through the perspective of a (formerly) elite East-coast family, the titular Mandibles, as their family bonds are put to the test while the USA, and ultimately their lives, are reduced to third-world poverty. NGL this is a _tough_ read... The deprivations of creeping poverty, as things we take for granted get slowly stripped of these characters' life one by one, is difficult to read in slow-motion. People who were formerly solidly middle-class are forced to restrict bathing to save water, freeze because they can't afford heat, and sometimes even turn to prostitution or street crime to feed themselves or their family. There are some parts of the world-building that strain credulity a bit, for instance the fact that the (now worthless) dollars don't become rapidly replaced by the new de-facto world currency... This is explained away by harsh penalties from the federal government, but the novel also pre-supposes a pretty clear breakdown in civil order, and I don't think you can really have totalitarian government and street chaos in co-existence... Aside from the "tragedy porn", the novel also drags at points, with long "dinner party" chapters that don't really add anything to the narrative, especially at the end. And yes, Bitcoin is name checked all of once as having already "failed" before the events of the plot, so that doesn't really stack up historically. Overall: IDK, it's a tough read, but at the same time it's a pretty unique depiction of Americans having to suffer grinding 3rd-world poverty that is still either a reality, or a recent historical memory for at least 1/2 of humanity currently.

The Mandibles - Wikipedia

Ever have one of those interactions where it's like.... First impression: "Uh oh this is a crazy person" 2-3 exchanges later "Hmm actually maybe they're just eccentric." 2-3 exchanges later "nope, batshit crazy, and now I'm stuck in this conversation that's going in a weird direction..."

Fun with Geohashes: Both SF Bay Area and LA fit nicely into "9q" ... But not San Diego. All 3 major cities in Texas fit into "9v". Most of Ireland and Britain are "gc", excluding the Eastern end of London. Australia's pretty evenly split along its East-West meridian between "q" and "r"

Geohash Explorer

OK, so decentralized location sharing: I want to share my location with "Bob". My phone is now periodically publishing events encrypted to Bob's npub to relays.... Should these be "ephemeral" events, or replaceable, in the sense that the relay should only be expected to store the last event?

WORD5 #524 6/6* (Hard Mode) ⬛🟧🟧⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛🟪🟪 ⬛⬛⬛🟪🟪 ⬛🟪⬛🟪🟪 ⬛🟪⬛🟪🟪 🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪

WORD5