First Looks category archive

I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that, when (or is it if?) Republicans read the United States Constitution, the part about “promote the general welfare” somehow just does not register.

For example (via C&L):

A nationwide outbreak of explosive diarrhea is currently underway, and it’s tied to a parasite the CDC quietly dropped from federal surveillance back in July 2025. That timing lines up almost exactly with the Trump administration’s broader gutting of health and science agencies under the “government efficiency” banner, HuffPost reports.

A parasite called Cyclospora has sickened over 1,000 people across 29 states, with Michigan getting hit the worst of all. The CDC would probably have caught this sooner — if it hadn’t stopped watching for it.

Mageia v. 9 with the IceWM window manager. GKrellM is in the lower right; xclock, in the upper right. The wallpaper is from my collection.

I am starting to quite like IceWM.

Off to drink liberally.

They get fiendlier every day.

For some reason, I woke up thinking of this tune this morning.

Another “responsible gun owner.

Another portable phallus left lying about.

Another child.

Authorities say a toddler received a minor cut on his lip after a gun fell from a clothes pile and accidentally discharged at a residence in Baldwin County late Sunday.

At the Austin American-Statesman, James Kallison is distressed at efforts in Texas to replace public education with public indoctrination, observing that

Whether the issue is slavery, LGBTQ history, or the role of religion in public education, the state’s responsibility is to ensure students learn history as accurately and completely as possible — not as political leaders wish it had been.

I commend his article to your attention, as Texas is not alone in wanting to use public funds to promote public ignorance.

They get fiendlier every day.

At the Psychology Today website, Taylor Neff points out that “(s)ocial media is a prominent source of mental health misinformation*.

Follow the link for some pointers to protect yourself from the prevaricators.

And remember, “social” media isn’t.

Sometimes, justice can indeed be poetic.

Off to drink liberally.

A con artist’s best friend? From El Reg:

Aviva (a UK insurance company–ed.) and its wider brand portfolio received an estimated 18,400 plus fraudulent claims in 2025, backed by doctored evidence includeding AI-generated car accident scenes, fake official documents, and fabricated images exaggerating damage.

If approved, the sum of these claims would have amounted to £233 million ($310.3 million) across the year, or roughly £638,000 ($850,000) per day.

Fun fact from the Las Vegas Sun:

After one of the warmest, driest winters on record and a historically arid quarter-century, the (Colorado–ed.) river’s two biggest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at 29.5% and 23.5%, respectively, of their capacities.

How about some sauce for the gander?

Via Job’s Anger.

Via Job’s Anger.

According to my old Philly DL friend Noz, that’s something that the American Stasi seems to have forgotten (if they ever cared in the first place).

Off to drink liberally.

Things to do.