The Progressives Who Flunked the Hamas Test.

Helen Lewis at The Atlantic:

Fitting Israel into the intersectional framework has always been difficult, because its Jewish citizens are both historically oppressed—the survivors of an attempt to wipe them out entirely—and currently in a dominant position over the Palestinians, as demonstrated by the Netanyahu government’s decision to restrict power and water supplies to Gaza. The simplistic logic of pop intersectionality cannot reconcile this….

I donated to the United Jewish Appeal Israel Emergency Fund to support the people of Israel. The fund provides: “Emergency cash assistance for victims of terror. Critically needed trauma counseling. Care for children in shelters. Burial expenses. Funds to relocate people to safer areas.”

Tyler Cowen interviews the fascinating Ada Palmer, Hugo Award winning author of the “Terra Ignota” science fiction series, Renaissance historian at the University of Chicago, musical composer, consultant on anime and manga, and more.

She talks about:

  • Why living in the Renaissance was worse than living in the Middle Ages in Europe.
  • Why she doesn’t want to go back in time.
  • How censorship worked during the Inquisition, and why Enlightenment philosophy and pornography were closely related.
  • How sexism by historians gives us a warped vision of history, and why the recent involvement of women in studying history has led to breakthroughs.

and much more

This is a podcast I had to stop listening to frequently, just to think about what Palmer last said.

“I came to realize that my Woody was my impression of Tom yelling at his kids.”

On the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast: Soundalikes, or voice doubles, “are voice actors who perform as characters that were originally played by someone else.” The soundalike replaces a big superstar like Robin Williams or Julia Roberts for video games, rides, toys, TV shows, etc.

This podcast features an interview with Jim Hanks, a successful character actor and soundalike who specializes in playing Woody from “Toy Story” when brother Tom Hanks is unavailable.

  • Go online to make a payment.
  • Apple Pay needs me to reenter my credit card
  • Go into the house to get my wallet
  • See Julie, talk with her
  • Remember that we were expecting a check—ask Julie about it.
  • Look where Julie says the check is. No check.
  • Decide not to bother Julie with it right now
  • Make a note to talk with her later
  • Notice my dirty lunch dishes in the sink
  • Wash them
  • Notice clean dishes from yesterday are still on the drying rack
  • Put them away
  • Pet dog
  • Return to my office
  • See the notification from Apple Pay on my desktop—I need to update my credit card
  • Check my pocket.
  • Still don’t have my wallet

Sometimes I want a nice turkey sandwich but I do not want the side order of doggy drama so I eat something else instead.

I was already losing interest in Twitter when Musk took over. The constant arguing and anger were wearing me down. Musk said he saw Twitter as an arena for combatting ideas. The signal I got from that is that he wanted more arguing and anger. So I gradually started doing Twitter less and less until now I only check it a couple of times a week and I don’t post there. I do have a list of meme and comedy accounts on Twitter that I check regularly.

Hard-Core Sleepers Obsess Over Their Snoozing Stats

… for millions, chasing winks with the latest sleep-measuring technology has become a nighttime sport, complete with sleep scores and strategies on how to best sack the competition. … “I can see that on days when I tape my mouth during sleep, I have a 7% higher recovery score…. “

For more than 70 years, filmmakers have been reusing the sound of a particular scream. Many people even know it by name—the Wilhelm Scream.

“The scream is usually used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion.” It first appears in the 1951 Western “Distant Drums.” It appears in the 1954 “A Star Is Born,” “Star Wars,” “Toy Story” and on and on in many, many movies, TV shows and video games.

The actor who voiced the scream was likely Sheb Wooley, who also voiced the 1958 hit novelty song “The Purple People Eater.”

I listened to this podcast episode about the Wilhelm Scream Friday morning. That night, we watched the 1993 Sylverster Stallone movie “Cliffhanger” and I’m pretty sure I heard the Wilhelm Scream in it.