Nathaniel Swigger

In 2020 I had first-year students do an election prediction assignment. A bunch of them, using nothing but publicly available polling, accurately predicted the winner of every state.

The 2020 result was only surprising to a pathological narcissist and everyone in that narcissist’s cult.

And, no, I don’t care if you really believe or you’re just performing belief to maintain good standing in the cult. That distinction doesn’t matter.

These people are high on their own farts. SV is full of people who are totally confident that someone else will magically invent the thing they just promised will totally be available in 6 months. Or a year. Or maybe two years. But trust them, it’s definitely coming and will basically be Star Trek. But just keep that sweet, sweet VC money coming, please.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/opinion/ai-labor-work-force-silicon-valley.html?ref=wheresyoured.at

Miller is a nepo-baby, if you’re wondering how he got into Congress.

Anyway, just a reminder for all women: Republicans will not protect any women anywhere from anything. If a woman is abused that’s her own fault. Miller abused a high-level White House aide and a senator’s daughter. There is zero outrage or pushback from GOP leaders. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/max-miller-defamation-suit-ex-wife-emily-moreno-ohio-republican-rcna345233

Youth sports in this country is so fucked up. This story is especially egregious because it’s so easy to create a monopoly in hockey (how many ice rinks are there in town?) and use it to fuck over kids and parents. But it’s not unique. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2026/05/07/lord-of-the-rinks-black-bear-youth-hockey/89503875007/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

There are only 3 types of people who will ever watch Sean Duffy’s road trip show:

1) the Duffy family
2) political reporters who feel obligated to report on it
3) teachers who’ve given up and are desperate for content to fill the last day of school before summer

FWIW, I’m cheering for Cornyn in th runoff because there’s no way Paxton will accept losing. I look forward to him screaming about fraud, demanding endlesss recounts etc.

I haven’t been following the TX senate race, so…

Attacking someone for being vegan is like a mildly amusing King of the Hill joke from twenty years ago. Are you taking that seriously? Is “vegan” code for gay? Trans? WTF are we doing here?!

Entertainment is subjective and I don’t want to ruin stuff for good people who just enjoy a thing…

But, yeah, I just assume you’re a fascist if you’re a Punisher fan.

To reiterate: “What would happen if a president responded to an international and/or financial crisis by focusing on building a monument to himself?” is not a question political scientists are well-equipped to answer.

Because it’s so fucking crazy no one ever thought we would need an answer to that question!!!

If you can’t boycott the likes of Harry Potter and Chick Fil A, just go ahead and admit you’ll never boycott anything. Ever. In fact, just admit you’ll never actually *do* anything about any of your political beliefs. Ever.

Because, come on, boycotting those things is easier and costs less than posting on Mastadon.

The things about being an AI “skeptic” is that…well…shouldn’t everyone be a skeptic? The entire AI pitch is “here’s a magic black box that will solve all your problems and don’t worry if it loses money and wastes resources today because any second now it will make you immortal.”

Yeah, that sounds like something you *should* be skeptical about.

https://www.wheresyoured.at/why-are-we-still-doing-this/

Everyone who voted for Ken Paxton is mentally ill.

The modal Paxton voter is angry, absolutely infuriated, that Democrats keep trying to cancel them just because they say gay people are going to hell and trans people are demons.

So, no, I don’t think there’s much hope for open, productive engagement.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRap_pCKIE&pp=iggCQAE%3D

I don’t understand why the Iranians are fighting back. Didn’t Secretary Pete tell them “F-A-F-O!”

Maybe they don’t know what the letters mean?

Weird.

I had a talk with my class earlier this semester about embarrassment and how it is both natural and very immature to get mad at the people who notice your embarrassment.

So, no, I don’t expect any MAGA types to get less angry anytime soon.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-makes-easy-transition-talking-172935656.html

Khamenei’s death could b the moment the administration says “okay, mission accomplished” and moves on to the next thing.

Or not.

Or Iran decides to escalate and retaliate.

Who can say?

https://musgrave.substack.com/p/an-unpopular-doomed-bloody-war?r=10tj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

It took 9/11 and a subsequent yearlong propaganda campaign to get a (slim) majority of Americans to support invading a country that was led by a guy who, at that point, had been America’s bogeyman for over a decade.

Support for the war lasted about a month.

War with Iran is good for Netanyahu. It is not good for Israel.

It’s not good for the US either, despite Lindsay Graham’s masturbatory fantasies.

The Mamdani thing makes perfect sense when you remember that Trump is a starfucker. He’s always been a starfucker. He’ll always be a starfucker.

As long as Mamdani is portrayed as charismatic and popular, Trump will eagerly, desperately give him anything he wants.

It’s hard to boycott Paramount or HBO Warner Beos. Because I was already not subscribing to them.

If anyone’s wondering, though, it’s very easy to live a happy fulfilled life while not paying for these things. So if you want to boycott, trust me, it costs you almost literally nothing.

Ah, yes, the moment when you realize you’ve signed up for something without reading the terms of service…

https://www.sbnation.com/olympics/1104687/brady-tkachuk-white-house-video-nhl

Periodic reminder: The Godfather series is about a toxic jerk who alienates/murders everyone around him and ends up dying alone and unloved.

It’s a tragedy.

Just in case there’s a guy in your life who didn’t quite get that message.

What?! A bunch of rich, young, white guys don’t think politics is a big deal and don’t understand why anyone is upset about it?!

I’m shocked. This is my shocked face.

https://defector.com/the-u-s-hockey-men-spoil-the-fantasy

Newsom absolutely reeks of Clintonesque popularism. I don’t trust that guy to hold to any principles, and when it comes to electability even if he could win over some white dudebros I think he’ll alienate women and minorities.

https://newrepublic.com/article/206907/gavin-newsom-struggle-everyman-cred

Andy Weir’s writing is what it is. It’s fine if you don’t like his style. But I do appreciate that he takes chances. It’s not the same book over and over again.

“With every other technology boom people were happy and excited, but for some mystifying reason that’s not true of AI.”

Sweetiebear, are you still confused about why New Coke failed?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/technology/ai-boom-backlash.html

This. The assumption that everyone has a great idea for an app and they’re only being held back by a lack of coding expertise is kind of weird when you think about it.

https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/you-cant-make-me-vibecode

I think it’s important that the president of the United States be able to answer questions in a way that demonstrates he is in touch with reality.

Sorry to be so partisan.