Mark Shore

@markshore

interests are politics, how states collapse, the media, and science, especially climate change, astronomy and geosciences "A Republic, if you can keep it." Ben Franklin photo: red sunset over the Pacific from the coast of Hawai'i

1274 Siguiendo2430 Seguidores7552 Publicaciones

YouTube Bluesky

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Mark Shore@markshore· 25d

look at this old photo (still on the NPS website) hard to imagine any of these rangers are still alive, probably devoured by bears or murdered by drug-smuggling migrants or ANTIFA thugs

Four NPS park rangers in flat-brimmed hats, gray short-sleeved button down shirts, dark green pants, brown belts, and gold badges, standing a bit awkwardly with their arms straight down their sides, smiling at the camera. Not a gun in sight.

source https://www.nps.gov/subjects/oceans/careers.htm

Mark Shore@markshore· 26d

also Republican politician shocked that Republicans are acting like Republicans

black and white screenshot from Casablanca (1942) where Captain Renault (Claude Rains) is telling Rick (Humphrey Bogart, in a white linen jacket) that "I am shocked - shocked - to find that gambling is going on here." A waiter visible in the background is walking toward them with Renault's winnings in his hand.

In his defense, he was just ordered by a German officer to shut down the cafe on any excuse.

Mark Shore@markshore· 29d

Bluesky didn't save the full resolution image, so here's a detail centered on the driver's side - you can also see that the front driver's side is damaged, probably by being rammed

detail of the previous photo showing the four bullet holes (there is also a phone holder near the steering wheel that could be mistaken for other bullet holes) as well as damage to the side of the vehicle from the front of the driver's door to the bumper, likely a result of being rammed at low speed by a larger vehicle

Mark Shore@markshore· 29d

I know exactly what ICE's BS cover story is going to be from this single photo alone

color photo of a white Kia sedan in an intersection with a crosswalk, marked off by yellow police tape. There are four bullet holes through the windshield on the driver's side.

Photo by Gregory Rec of the Portland Press Herald

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 10

not that it would normally stop this gang, but the use of the Great Seal of the United States is legally restricted the answer is probably that they are corrupt wreckers with terrible taste and zero attention to detail

Color image of the Great Seal of the United States with an angry looking eagle, wings spread, holding an olive branch in its right foot and a sheaf of arrows in its left, with a red, white, and blue shield over its body, a cluster of stars above its head, and E PLURIBUS UNUM held in its beak. Familiarity, history, and heraldry may have dulled the sense of how silly this is. From Wikipedia.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 9

closely related to this empty BS he came up with on the fly (multiple reports, but this one is from the Kyiv Independent)

"We are gonna give a license to you to make Patriots... This way you can't complain that we are not giving you enough," Trump said during a press conference at the NATO Summit in Turkey.

"Make them yourself," he added.

While Trump later expressed confidence that Ukraine could produce the missiles quickly, he also said he had not coordinated with the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, ahead of the announcement.

source: https://kyivindependent.com/make-them-yourself-trump-gives-zelensky-green-light-to-produce-patriot-missiles/

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 8

so I guess local opposition also means no paved roads or internal combustion engine vehicles in the area, and that agricultural runoff is tightly controlled

Locals worry that electromagnetism and even glare can pose a health risk. They wonder if toxic materials could leach into the soil and contaminate groundwater, if not while the solar site is operational, then some decades in the future, when it reaches the end of its life. That certainly has been the case with orphaned oil wells, which also were built with promises of safety. (The first sentence is highlighted.)

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 6

"Please... my campaign. He is very sick."

A photo of a raccoon standing on its hind legs beside a fire extinguisher and an open outside door, hodling a gray, black and white tabby cat in its arms. The original photo behind the "please... my [x], they are very sick" meme. Originating in 2009 it was not AI, but it was photoshopped.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 6

never ever (see also "FIFA")

photo of Diego Maradona, both feet in the air, punching the ball with his left hand to score Argentina's opening goal against England in their 1986 quarterfinal game. Peter Shilton, the English goalkeeper, is trying to punch the ball clear with his own right hand. According to generally accepted soccer rules, it is understood that only GKs can touch the ball with their hands or arms, but FIFA made an exception here because it was funny.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 6

photo for risk illustration

color photo of a very large oak tree (the Friendship Oak in Mississippi) with very large thick horizontal limbs low above the ground. One of them is marked with a black X

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 5

make sure to go through Boston even if it's out of your way, bound to put a smile on your face

Heath Ledger's Joker, makeup and all, sitting in a Gotham PD holding cell, smirking. His insanely complex plan is working out.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 2

are the faint circular disks visible around the brighter stars an artifact of the telescope's optics or are they due to scattering from the galactic cirrus (like a streetlight on a misty or foggy night) you noted in your newsletter?

detail of the Vera C. Rubin "Ocean of Stars" image with one bright orange star to the left and one bright blue star to the right, each of them surrounded by a bright circular disk and a larger fainter disk the same color as the star

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 1

many people don't know there's a private chapel in the vice-president's residence, installed on JFK's orders while he was secretly plotting to make Catholicism the official state religion (the real reason he was assassinated, btw)

the somewhat ornate interior of a Renaissance chapel in rural Italy centered on the altar under a high dome

https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2021/06/private-chapels-family-chapel-in-italy.html?m=1

Mark Shore@markshore· Jul 1

"You brought two too many."

Charles Bronson in Once Upon a Time in the West, about to win a gunfight with three men sent to kill him, discussing the number of horses they brought.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 30

not the main thing, but this is good writing

In fact, as climate models predicted, every drought for the last 30 years in Corpus Christi has exceeded the parameters contemplated in local plans, thanks to fatal delusions deep in the heart of Texas’ methodology: Texas doesn’t plan for droughts to get worse.

“The droughts keep getting worse,” said Michael, who is vice president of Hanson Professional Services in Corpus Christi.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 30

no, no, just look at how many people showed up to Donald's special fair

color photo from a drone or high building of an estimated crowd of ~70,000 people at Montreal's Jazz Festival with alternative band Angine de Poitrine opening the festival. The crowd fills a public square over several blocks and is lit up in red, blue, and green. It is twilight with a fading orange and deep indigo sky and Mount Royal is visible in the background behind tall buildings.

photo credit Victor Diaz Lamich
https://ca.billboard.com/music/concerts/angine-de-poitrine-montreal-jazz-festival-records

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 30

ask the LAPD

left, frame from a video showing a giant fireball above and behind a truck; right, aerial view of the destroyed truck and bomb containment box

on June 30, 2021, the LAPD thought it would be a good idea to blow up tons of seized fireworks in a low-income South L.A. neighborhood… it wasn't

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 26

a sharp tungsten carbide tip would be a nice touch and a countermove to road sociopaths like these

web photo of a white heavy-duty Ford pickup truck with dual rear wheels and 6" conical chrome spike covers on the front wheel lug nuts

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 26

aggh, not who I was expecting

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 25

"Forget it Mal. It's Centertown."

Climactic scene of Chinatown (1974) by acclaimed director and child rapist Roman Polanksi, where private detective Jake (Jack Nicholson) is being gently led away from the scene of Evelyn Mulwray-Cross's (Faye Dunaway) death. His associate is saying "Forget it Jake. It's Chinatown." In hindsight, Polanksi's insistence that incestuous child rapist Noah Cross (John Huston) gets away with everything is understandable.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 19

that author's last three works at CHE - pretty sure an editor could have just said no to any of them

The Review | Essay
Most Academic Research Should Stop
By William Deresiewicz May 28, 2026
That’s what it will take to restore the classroom to its democratic purpose.

The Review | Opinion
The Politics of the Academy Have Been Defeated
By William Deresiewicz November 21, 2024
Americans are fed up, and not just people who voted for Trump.
Annenberg Hall at Harvard features in a new documentary about higher education.

The Chronicle Review
The Miseducation of America
By William Deresiewicz June 19, 2014
The film Ivory Tower reflects the sound bites, horror stories, and misinformation marring debate over higher education.

Mark Shore@markshore· Jun 18

even though the person filming tried to pan as the scooter raced by, it was in only four closeup frames, and the first and last ones were just the front and rear wheel just wild