Mitchellaneous Vol. XCII: Nine things I saw on the Internet
The Bangor Daily News, Maine, June 6, 1934
I received this in my Facebook notifications. I didn’t realize adolescent memes and dad jokes count as “high-quality content.”
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I loved “Airplane” when it was first released. I laughed and laughed and probably saw it several times.
A few years ago, I discovered Julie had never seen “Airplane” and then sat down to watch it with her. We were both bored and gave up after about 20 minutes. But that was long enough for us to watch the “Saturday Night Fever” parody scene, and we both decided we’d like to watch “Saturday Night Fever” again.
And man — I think I have said this here before — but “Saturday Night Fever” blew me away that time. In my mind, I had previously conflated the movie with the cheesy disco comedies that came out in its wake. But “Saturday Night Fever” was brilliant and dark. One of my top 10 movies for sure.
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The 100 best walking cities of 2025. — I can vouch for Barcelona, London, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, New York and Glasgow.
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McDonald’s around the world: A discussion with author of McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches, Gary He. By Chris Arnade, who has written about McDonald’s as local community centers and force for good, particularly for the poor.
You could escape the heat or cold, charge your phone, get inexpensive food, use the bathroom, and connect to Wi-Fi, while generally being left alone, as long as you didn’t act too weird.…. if you want to understand America, spending time in McDonald’s is not a bad way to go.
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10 Hot Takes About Superman. “10. Superman is American. The truth is, Superman is as American as a hot dog inside a piece of apple pie served in a baseball glove.” By Charlie Jane Anders.
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I Still Miss My Luddite Web Browser — Charlie Jane Anders on being a science fiction writer and hardcore late adopter.
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Mitchellaneous Vol. XCI: Twelve things I saw on the Internet
I think I can still see the scar on the palm of my left hand.
George Kennedy on a lobby card for Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974)
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We’ve moved from a system where corruption hides in shadows to one where it operates in plain sight, confident that we’ve all accepted it as just how things work.
— Mike Masnick, We Have All Become Too Comfortable With Corruption www.techdirt.com/2025/06/2…
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Matt Stoller: Mandani is running a “system-defining” election, possibly reinventing the Democratic Party. www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-democ…
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I think I just don’t like Twitter-like services anymore — not Mastodon and not Bluesky
I was a Twitter addict in the late 2000s and 2010s, but I lost interest in Twitter even before its change of ownership. I think I’ve lost interest in reading or writing prose chopped up into 300- or 500-character chunks.
Too much of Bluesky is people being outraged about politics and posting unverified news rumors. Too much of Mastodon is people being outraged about politics, unverified news rumors, and posting about technology issues that I’m not involved in. I still check both daily, but my heart isn’t in it.
Nowadays, I like blogs, newsletters and news and magazine websites, like I did in the 2000s.
I like Tumblr and Reddit. They’re great sources for the memes, vintage photos and vintage ads that I’m addicted to, as well as odd, delightful personal essays. I post regularly to Tumblr. I rarely post to Reddit — it’s too much work running the gauntlet of moderators and rules.
Seriously, I am surprised how much I continue to like Tumblr.
I like the community and connections on Facebook, but I hate Facebook as a software platform. Too much noise! It’s like trying to carry on a quiet conversation in a noisy, rocking subway car, with a smelly guy next to you shouting randomly.
Here’s where to find me on those other platforms, if you’re interested. Not on that list: Facebook. I’m trying to discourage people from connecting with me on Facebook. Eventually, no one will be left connecting with me on Facebook, and I can pull the plug.
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The rise and fall of the mail chute
Born in 1848 in Albany, New York, James Goold Cutler would come to build his life in the state. He lived and worked in the growing state, and as an architect, he soon came to identify an obvious problem. For those occupying higher floors in taller buildings, the simple act of sending a piece of mail could quickly become a tedious exercise. One would have to make their way all the way to a street level post box, which grew increasingly tiresome as buildings grew ever taller.
Cutler saw that there was an obvious solution—install a vertical chute running through the building’s core, add mail slots on each floor, and let gravity do the work. It then became as simple as dropping a letter in, and down it would go to a collection box at the bottom, where postal workers could retrieve it during their regular rounds. Cutler filed a patent for this simple design in 1883. He was sure to include a critical security feature—a hand guard behind each floor’s mail chute. This was intended to stop those on lower levels reaching into the chute to steal the mail passing by from above. Installations in taller buildings were also to be fitted with an “elastic cushion” in the bottom to “prevent injury to the mail” from higher drop heights.
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More Than 90 Percent Of ICE Detainees Have Never Been Convicted Of Violent Crimes
Who are we ejecting from this country at the rate of dozens of people per day? Hardworking, law-abiding migrants who’ve done nothing more than seek jobs, pay taxes, and carve out a better life for their loved ones. The government knows what it’s doing. After all, it already has all the evidence it needs to show its mass deportation program has nothing to do with making this nation safer or more secure.
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The pretense of making America safer has been discarded. America won’t get any safer, just as surely as it won’t get any greater under this president. For years, it’s been known that migrants commit fewer crimes than natural-born citizens.
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It’s nothing more than a racist purge…. just looking at ICE’s numbers, it’s easy to see this isn’t about ejecting criminals. It’s about getting rid of non-white people.
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Mamdani and the Moguls of Madness: Will he be a good mayor? Nobody knows. But the hysteria is revealing.
I was enormously cheered by Mamdani’s victory, not because I think he’ll be a great mayor — honestly I have no idea — but because a Cuomo victory would have been deeply depressing. Why? Because it would have been an affirmation of elite impunity and lack of accountability. Cuomo is by all accounts a terrible person, and his bungled response to Covid killed people. For him to make a comeback simply because he’s part of the old boys’ club and had the big money behind him would have said that the rules only apply to the little people.
There’s a huge argument among Democrats about whether they need to run more centrist candidates. I am not ready to weigh in on that debate. But if you’re going to take that side, find better centrists. I mean, are Cuomo and Eric Adams the best you can do?
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Oh, and centrist Democrats often urge leftier types to rally behind their nominees in general elections. I agree. Anyone claiming that there’s no difference between the parties is a fool. But this deal has to be reciprocal. Zamdani will be the Democratic nominee, and anyone calling themselves a Democrat should support him.
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Mitchellaneous Vol. XC: Twelve things I saw on the Internet
Admiral Corporation, 1948. That’s about $6,634.17 today.
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U.S. Army veteran Sae Joon Park took two bullets in the spine defending America. Now he’s being deported. Meanwhile, ICE has arrested only 6% of known immigrant murderers. Also, ICE arrested a pregnant Tennessee woman who had a stillbirth while in detention. nextdraft.com/archives/…
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The first meeting of RFKJr.’s CDC vaccination panel was “packed with anti-vaccine talking points and arguments” and they’re questioning all childhood vaccines. Children will die unnecessarily if this committee has its way. arstechnica.com/health/20…
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Trailer for “London Calling,” starring Josh Duhamel, about a down on his luck hitman who has to babysit the teen-age son of his new crime boss. Looks good. youtu.be
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What is spotted dick? Tasting History With Max Miller youtu.be
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If you're normal, people will vote for you actually
Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day:
Social media does not turn a bad candidate into a viable one. It’s just amplification. And the same platforms that can amplify the ugliness and hatred and resentment of someone like Trump can amplify the joy and earnestness and seemingly genuine conviction of a candidate like Mamdani. It cannot, however, make voters forget that a candidate like Cuomo killed their grandparents during COVID or that current New York Mayor Eric Adams is a genuine maniac. There’s no magic trick. Mamdani ran a regular ass campaign where he spoke clearly about what he cared about and was normal about it and it worked. Revolutionary! And I understand why this would all be very threatening to Democrats, seeing as how most of them do not seem to care about anything.
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Congress, Now More Than Ever, Our Nation Needs Your Cowardice. theonion.com
Now is not the time for bravery or valor! This is the time for protecting your own hide and lining your pocket…. This is the time to let the wave of apathy and indifference roll over you as you think about getting a really nice renovation to your house in Kalorama.
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An MIT student developed a system that uses AI-generated polymer masks to restore damaged paintings in hours rather than months. arstechnica.com
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What’s a “public internet?” By Cory Doctorow pluralistic.net
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Mitchellaneous Vol. LXXXIX: Twelve things I saw on the Internet
“Pat Woodruff does homework with radio going full blast” - Nina Leen, 1944 in TIME
A fun low-budget movie.
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The Supreme Court just gave the Trump administration a green light to traffic humans to random countries around the world–including war zones where migrants face torture, slavery, or death. And they did so while offering literally zero explanation for why this is legal or constitutional.