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— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 5, 2019

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane.... it me.

— Superman (@Superman) August 5, 2019

Jason Kottke, writing at his site, has put up a new version of the same article.

Like many of you, I read the news of a single person killing at least 20 people in El Paso, Texas yesterday and another person killing at least 9 people In Dayton, Ohio early this morning. While these are outrageous and horrifying events, they aren’t surprising or shocking in any way in a country where more than 33,000 people die from gun violence each year.

America is a stuck in a Groundhog Day loop of gun violence. We’ll keep waking up, stuck in the same reality of oppression, carnage, and ruined lives until we can figure out how to effect meaningful change. I’ve collected some articles here about America’s dysfunctional relationship with guns, most of which I’ve shared before. Change is possible — there are good reasons to control the ownership of guns and control has a high likelihood of success — but how will our country find the political will to make it happen?

There will be no political will while Republicans are in office and on the courts. None.

I need all of Ocean’s 11 to get their own space helmet poster pic.twitter.com/EattJf5pnL

— Kqcn (@academyframe) August 4, 2019

Easy pick for me: Speed Racer (2008, 40% Rotten Tomatoes). Unapologetically corny, occasionally strangely affecting, and beautiful in an unreal, hallucinatory way. Also the first ten minutes are a master class in 21st century digital cinematic editing.https://t.co/bJO7UJ3uZM pic.twitter.com/QjxS5V9KHk

— John Scalzi (@scalzi) August 3, 2019

I’m a tad bit older than John Scalzi, but his pick is mine too. I love Speed Racer. In fact, I need to watch it again soon.

Nicholas Bate with a list of seven things with remarkable healing powers –

1. A good night’s sleep.

2. Fresh, local and perfectly steamed green vegetables.

3. A trusted friend.

4. Sun-rise plus freshly-brewed coffee.

5. A good book.

6. A long bath.

7. A proper week-end.

Rob Bricken, writing his Nerd Processor column in the OneZero publication on Medium, thinks the new Star Wars-themed Galaxy’s Edge amusement park is too real. The thing is… he hasn’t even been to the park. He hasn’t set foot inside, rode the rides, tasted the food, and interacted with the “cast members” who work inside. None of it.

This guy wrote 1,400 words about an amusement park he hasn’t visited yet but is worried it’s too authentic. He’s got almost 2,000 claps. This motherfucker wrote a review about a place he’s never fucking been to. Can I get a job writing 1,400-word pieces about, I don’t know, movies I’ve never seen? Music I’ve never listened to? Video games I’ve never played.

There is absolutely zero value to this article for the reader. Please don’t read it.

John LaRue, writing for Viva El Birdos, outlines what happened or more accurately what did not happen at the trade deadline.

Not trading Bader or O’Neill for pitching probably was a mistake.

It is far too easy to bite back boredom with a smartphone. Of course, is that the way you want to live your life? Constantly immersed in your social feed, email, text messaging, etc.?

Life should be lived. One way to do that is by being in the moment.

Put the phone away. Keep it in your pocket. Be aware of your surroundings. Forget about the “fear of missing out” and just be in the moment. Let each moment wash over you.

You can’t control everything and, of course, you have to pay attention to the important things. Still, allow yourself to find some inner peace in the quiet or in the boredom.

Keep your direction, but stay focused on the moment. Cherish these moments. Pay for experiences if you are so inclined. Concerts are a good example of a unique moment in time. Put your phone down and let the performance occur in front of you.

What a way to live your life.

This is fun.

The Stroop Effect is a well-known psychological phenomenon that challenges how we name physical colours when they are used to spell the name of a different colour. Take our test and see how quickly your brain responds to the task.

I’m at a crossroads. I need to change some hard entrenched habits. While I’m aware of what I need to do, sometimes I still need to remind myself.

There are two questions I have to answer:

1. What am I not doing now that one day I’ll wish I had started earlier?

2. What am I doing now that one day I’ll wish I had done less of?

Until I get the answers situated in my head, I’ll just be hanging out at the crossroads. I need a path and way to make decisions easier on myself. Answering these questions will ultimately help me have a better, stronger, healthier, and longer future.

Leah Muncy, writing in The Outline, has an in-depth story on state lotteries. She calls it a scam that predominately targets poor people. She’s absolutely right.

Despite the one-in-292-million odds of winning the multi-state Powerball jackpot (you have a greater chance of dying from a falling coconut, which is one in 250 million), Americans spent $71.8 billion on lottery tickets in 2017. The bulk of this revenue was generated by the largest consumers of lottery tickets, who also happen to be the poorest Americans.

I know this, but it is still fun to buy a ticket when it’s some astronomical number and then dream a bit. I never have any anticipation of winning aside from, “Wouldn’t it be nice if…”

If there is an alternate universe for every possibility, then there is a universe where alternate universes don’t exist. And we exist so we have to live in that universe. Therefore there are no alternate universes.

However, we are definitely in the darkest timeline.

JOIN THE FIGHT 😤#Illini x #JointheFight 🔶🔷 pic.twitter.com/hK2jHAAn8B

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) July 30, 2019

What a great design.

I’ve never been very good with math or equations, but this post from Nicholas Bate certainly makes a lot of sense to me.

1. innovation=creativity + action

2. work in+lag=results out

3. EQ (emotional intelligence)=2 x IQ, in terms of importance. 

4. Wellness=M(meditation) xE(exercise) xD(diet) x S(sleep)

5. communication is joined up; bullets are not joined up; PowerPoint (alone) is not communication

6. important plus investing (working ON things) > important plus urgent (working IN things)

7. love beats all

Like A Version is a segment on Australian radio station triple j. Every week a musician or band comes into the studio to play one of their own songs and cover a song they love.

This version of the Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines song by Childish Gambino is freaking incredible. Stripped down to just a keyboardist, background vocalists and Donald Glover’s falsetto, I’d love him to release this on Spotify.

Philippe Reines, writing in Politico, presents several suggestions on how to beat Trump in a debate. He should know, he played him during Hillary Clinton’s debate prep.

Never admit you’re wrong. It is safe to say in a debate against Trump that he or the moderator will press a weakness in your past you’ve likely addressed countless times before. You could spend your allotted time repeating yourself, or you can say, “Are you kidding? You’re asking about some lobbyist I met with a decade ago while this guy has installed a revolving door in the White House? No. Let’s talk about how people are paying him $200,000 to get into his club and then getting their money’s worth out of him. If there’s still time, you can come back to me.”

Yes. The Democratic candidate cannot back down or be contrite to Trump. You can’t hurt Trump by attempting to shame him or point out a weakness so the candidate must never agree with any weakness a moderator or Trump himself calls out upon the candidate. The candidate must always remember Trump is a bully.

[O]ur nominee should know that Trump will lie throughout their debate, but can’t count on the moderator to call them all out and can’t expect the audience to know on their own. So our nominee needs to be able to say, “You’re lying.” Easier said than done. Especially if Trump lies every time he opens his mouth.

One possible tactic is to simply, and calmly, count out loud. First time he lies, the nominee should say, “That was the first of many lies to come because that’s what he does best.” After that, when Trump lies again, the nominee should interject with a simple “Lie number two,” or, “That was a few, so we’re up to six.” The moderator might scold the candidate for interrupting, but he or she should respond, “If you were calling out his lies, I wouldn’t have to. But someone has to. He gets away with it all day every day. But not here, not now."

That’s decent advice. My simple addition would be when Trump inevitably says, “I’m not lying, you’re lying,” the Democratic candidate should say, “There you go again,” echoing Reagan.

Ultimately, Trump will come across as a bully with lots of bluster. All you have to do is punch him in the nose repeatedly.

Jordan Hoffman, writing for Thrillist, has put together a ranking of all of the Rush catalog. While I’m certainly not a Rush aficionado, I’m not sure Hoffman’s top ten is even remotely right. Still, I admire his gumption on taking on this challenge. Makes me want to try my hand at doing the same thing for all 200 plus KISS songs.

Nicholas Bate with some start-of-the-week advice.

Still there until you get the hang of them.

It’s you or them.

Decide.

Sometimes, attitude is all.