Eric Berlin

What Ketamine Does to the Human Brain Excessive use of the drug can make anyone feel like they rule the world.

Fascinating piece on Elon Musk and ketamine www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

The Maestro (Remastered 2009) YouTube video by Beastie Boys - Topic

Zero songs in the History of Music go as hard as "The Maestro." I won't be taking questions at this time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWFG...

Is there a start-up out there trying to revolutionize background hold music for customer service help lines? Critical user needs to address:

* Moving beyond the old paradigm of endless 15 second song loops
* Crackly, fuzzy audio
* Transforming deeply crappy song choices

The White Stripes - Conquista (Official Music Video) YouTube video by The White Stripes

Timeline cleanse -- this is tremendous
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1DC...

The Putinization of America Trump’s deference to the Russian dictator has become full-blown imitation.

"Trump admiring Putin is far less dangerous than Trump becoming him."
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Grad School Is in Trouble The latest signal that the future of the university is under threat

"the future of the university itself is in trouble"
www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

EPA moves to ditch finding that greenhouse gases cause harm The recommendation by Lee Zeldin, the agency's administrator, could upend existing and future regulations on climate change.

So Trump 2.0 is going just about as bad as we could have imagined, part 8,443 www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Putin’s Three Years of Humiliation The Russian president can’t win his war against Ukraine unless he persuades its allies to betray it.

"The only way Putin wins now—the only way he finally succeeds in destroying Ukraine’s sovereignty—is by persuading Ukraine’s allies to be sick of the war."
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Musk says all federal employees need to explain their work — or be let go His post on X said employees will receive an email “shortly” requesting to “understand what they got done last week.”

Elon Musk has been let loose on the federal government as though all of its employees report to him.
www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

I thought it was perfect -- I could have listened to even more, and I loved how the narrative played out

For anyone wondering why Dana Carvey wasn't seen at #SNL50 -- he told David Spade on (the great) Fly on the Wall podcast that he had the flu and couldn't make it.

Tasty Toaster Tarts - SNL YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

Going down an #SNL rabbit hole, this commercial parody from 2019 is outstanding stuff

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF9Z...

The ‘White Lotus’ Season 3 Premiere Recap: Monkey Business HBO’s hit semi-anthology series comes back with a bang—a bunch of bangs, actually

Great recap of #thewhitelotus season premiere from @theringer.com.web.brid.gy

theringer.com/2025/02/16/t...

Walz considering Minnesota Senate run Democratic Sen. Tina Smith announced earlier Thursday she would not seek reelection.

Would be really nice to see Tim Walz in the Senate
www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Dear AutoZone: I'm not interested in getting in "the zone."

Best regards,
Eric

Brunson. #knicks. Hell yes.

So if you're down 34, do you figure you do the come back with four TDs + 2-point conversions and a FG versus do it more conservatively with five TDs w/ extra points or...

#superbowl

So the much heralded live broadcast of the #superbowl on @tubitv.bsky.social consistently froze/hung at halftime, so I moved to watch via laptop and it's pausing/buffering like crazy.

Not great.

Outstanding

Obviously this story and this guy running the FBI is absolutely serious *but* it just occurred to me if he ever looks in the mirror and says "Kash rules everything around me..."

The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified Four IT professionals lay out just how destructive Elon Musk’s incursion into the U.S. government could be.

Happy friday everybody
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

I deeply believe so much goes back to what started decades ago with conservative think tanks, then radio (Rush especially), then FOX, then conservative blogs, and then to today's fully functional MAGA media ecosystem Death Star

I can't read these people's minds of course but I'd be surprised if they "want" it, but they are to a large degree condoning this behavior for their own selfish reasons... which, in a sense, maybe it doesn't matter what they're actually thinking

Trump says US will ‘take over the Gaza Strip’ He provided no details on how this was possible.

If this were fiction, at some point there'd be a major turning point where there's a "okay the king's gone mad, what are we going to do about it?" scene. But this is not fiction...
www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Jon on Trump’s Trade War, The War on DEI & Myth of “Meritocracy” | The Daily Show YouTube video by The Daily Show

Amongst many other things, I've missed Jon Stewart's Chuck Schumer impression so much (spoiler alert: it's back)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLOu...

This is a very specific thought for #knicks fans: I enjoyed that a "super chat" commenter on Knicks Film School podcast refers to himself as Jew Anon.

Maybe it's our guy @benstiller.redhour.com ??

The ‘Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly’ of the United States Government Elon Musk’s bureaucratic coup is under way.

"The end game for Musk seems to be just as it was with Twitter: seize a polarized, inefficient institution; fuse his identity with it; and then use it to punish his enemies and reward his friends."
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

There are things that make me happier than a Mike Breen "BANG" on behalf of the #Knicks.

(But not *that* many things.)

For anyone who doesn't know: Josh Hart is an unbelievable rebounder. #Knicks

At some point, the rest of the world will fully embrace the fact that the U.S. is run by a complete asshole and move on.