On this day (1661): Isaac Newton is admitted as a student to Trinity College, Cambridge.
Monster. From my OED app: “/ˈmɒn(t)stə / ▸ noun 1 a large, ugly, and frightening imaginary creature: a monster with the head of a hyena and hindquarters of a wolf; a world of fable, inhabited by other-worldly monsters. ▪ an inhumanly cruel or wicked person: he was an unfeeling, treacherous monster. ▪ derogatory a rude or badly behaved person, especially a child: he’s only a year old, but already he is a little monster. 2 a thing of extraordinary or daunting size: this is a monster of a book, almost 500 pages [as modifier] a monster 36lb carp. 3 a congenitally malformed or mutant animal or plant. ▸ verb [with object] British English informal criticize or reprimand severely: my mum used to monster me for coming home so late. – ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French monstre, from Latin monstrum ‘portent or monster’, from monere ‘warn’.”
“Basketball Fans Disgusted as ESPN Airs AI Slop Version of NBA Champion Tony Parker During the Finals” [Futurism]. “As first reported by Awful Announcing, during the second half of the game ESPN cut to a routine commercial break. Before the true ad break begins, networks like to insert a little commercial bumper. In this particular bumper, a voice over announced that the broadcast was brought to viewers by Burger King and the upcoming Universal Pictures movie ‘Minions & Monsters.’ As ESPN displayed a little ad box for the Minion flick, the main image flashed to what looks like B-roll of Parker, slowly wagging his finger while he clutches a cigar. It’s a real blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but eagle-eyed basketball fans were quick to point out the bizarre decision to use generative AI on the landmark broadcast.” • “Minions & Monsters.” On point for the present moment, eh?
“In Memoriam, 2026, by Robert Gore” [Straight Line Logic]. “In 1821, John Quincy Adams said America had not gone ‘abroad in search of monsters to destroy,’ and while we wished those seeking liberty well, theirs was not our fight…. Since then, America has searched for monsters, found, and in some cases, destroyed them. However, as the poison of power has worked its evil on the minds and souls of those who possess it, the monsters have become more ethereal, apparitions conjured like creatures in the closet by children when they go to bed. The war on terrorism creates more terrorists, the monsters of choice since 9/11. The government still pays occasional lip service to ‘democratic values’ and ‘civil liberties,’ but allies itself with regimes which have no more fealty to those values and liberties than the ‘tyrants’ the government opposes. ‘Defending America’ and ‘Promoting Our Way of Life’ have become transparent pretexts for American power and domination unbounded. As Adams so presciently warned, the search for monsters has turned the government itself into a monster, the biggest threat to Americans’ ‘inextinguishable rights of human nature.’”
“The Athanor Affair: French Intelligence Veterans Ran a Masonic Murder Ring” [21st Century Wire]. “France is watching one of its own monsters crawl out of the shadows. In a sealed Paris courtroom, twenty-two men sit in the dock. They stand accused of turning a quiet Masonic lodge into a private murder-and-intimidation franchise. The indictment reads like a disturbing merger between active officers from the DGSE, France’s foreign-intelligence service (the French CIA), veterans of the DGSI, the domestic-intelligence agency often compared to the FBI, street cops, ex-spooks now posing as “security consultants,” lodge bigwigs, businessmen, and hired muscle. What started as men in white gloves calling each other “brother” allegedly became a shadow service that sold surveillance, beatings, and killings to anyone with a grudge and enough cash.” • [musical interlude],
Dad Joke of the Day: What do you call a dinosaur that takes care of its teeth? A Flossiraptor.
Unsettle. From my OED app: “/ʌnˈsɛtl / ▸ verb [with object] cause to feel anxious or uneasy; disturb: the crisis has unsettled financial markets; an unsettling conversation.”
“Anthropic Customers Creeped Out by Its Newest Models” [Futurism]. “Anthropic cofounder Chris Olah traveled to the Vatican this week to speak at an announcement of Pope Leo’s first encyclical, which happened to be about AI and its associated risks. In remarks, Olah ominously said his team of engineers kept discovering mysterious and even ‘unsettling things inside the company’s models. Add it all up, and the the company’s customers are perturbed. Developers attending recent Claude Code workshops in London last week told Bloomberg‘s Parmy Olson that they were becoming concerned over AI models and agents being given unprecedented levels of autonomy, raising hard-to-ignore questions over accountability in case things were to go south… [Developers] pointed out that the latest iterations of Claude Code were no longer displaying text describing their ongoing chain of thought [sic], further obfuscating their inner workings.” • Wow, that’s odd.
“NASA boss reveals unsettling reality behind newly released UFO files” [Daily Mail]. “The head of NASA says the UFO files expose years of unexplained encounters that government agencies failed to seriously investigate. Jared Isaacman told FOX News that the declassified videos, photos and documents reveal strange objects captured by military sensors around the world. ‘What’s being surfaced isn’t crashed ships or alien bodies, but real unexplained phenomena,’ the NASA administrator said…. ‘I think the President has really got government agencies now taking this seriously, to go look at the files and bring the data to light, and he’s putting it all out for everyone to analyze,’ Isaacman told Fox News. ‘This is citizen science right now. Take a look at our files, tell us what you think.’” • I’m all for citizen science, but I suppose I’m about to see the dark side….
“Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior” [New York Times]. “Amid the [liberal Democrat-generated] turmoil, Mr. Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy. In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women did just that, describing Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended. But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and ‘toxic’ relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching. Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.” • So is “several” more than “three”?1 Why not give the number for “several”? I can’t imagine….
1Hard to be definitive because of — being charitable, here — sloppy writing and poor copy-editing at the Times, but the answer is most likely “yes.” Websters: “Couple: commonly used to mean ‘two,’ but also used to mean ‘an indefinite small number.’ Few: used of a quantity that is ‘at least some but indeterminately small in number’ (but refers to a number that is less than many or most). Several: can mean ‘more than two but fewer than many’ or ‘more than one.’” So the most likely reading is that the women who thought Platner was a good boyfriend (and stayed friends (and took his calls)) outnumbered the women whose “lived experience’ with Planter was unhappy. What’s that smell? Book deals?
Fortune: “Insufficient facts always invite danger.” —Spock, “Space Seed”, stardate 3141.9
Boom. From my OED app: /buːm / Sense 1: ▸ noun a loud, deep, resonant sound: the deep boom of the bass drum. ▪ the characteristic resonant cry of the bittern: the boom of the bittern may be enjoyed in the country. ▸ verb [no object] make a loud, deep, resonant sound: thunder boomed in the sky. ▪ [with direct speech] say in a loud, deep, resonant voice: ‘Stop right there,’ boomed the Headmaster. ▪ (of a bittern) utter its characteristic resonant cry: a dozen bitterns boom mysteriously from the reeds. ▸ exclamation used to imitate a loud, deep, resonant sound: the boat was lifted up and then boom, down it went. ▪ used to convey that something is extremely sudden, surprising, or successful: if you get caught, boom, you’re a felon Bridget for the win! Boom!. – ORIGIN late Middle English (as a verb): ultimately imitative; perhaps from Dutch bommen ‘to hum, buzz’. Sense 2: ▸ noun a period of great prosperity or rapid economic growth: the London property boom. ▸ verb [no object] experience a period of great prosperity or rapid economic growth: business is booming. – ORIGIN late 19th century (originally US): probably from boom1. • I’m hearing Bitterns everywhere these days. Not this Bittern:
“Rocket goes boom; so do moon plans” [The Economist]. “Rocket launches are always spectacular, but this was something else. On May 28th Blue Origin, a rocket firm owned by Jeff Bezos, was testing one of its New Glenn rockets at Cape Canaveral, in Florida. As its engines ignited a series of flashes could be seen. Then the entire rocket detonated, leaving an angry mushroom cloud looming above the launch site.” • Whoops:
“‘Death Boom’ Trailer: Documentary From Eli Roth, Jessica Chandler and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Investigates End-of-Life Industry (EXCLUSIVE)” [Variety]. “ ‘Our funeral systems aren’t ready for the ‘Death Boom,” reads the film’s official logline. ‘As morgues overflow and wallets empty, a broken, billion-dollar industry is exposed. But better options exist. This shocking, eye-opening and surprisingly uplifting documentary dives deep into the business of death, revealing who’s keeping it alive and why. With unprecedented access and bold voices leading a new movement, ‘Death Boom’ reclaims the end of life with humanity, sustainability and just the right dose of dark humor.’” • And no Oxford commas.
“Boom Box: the story of undercover police who set up a fake music studio in London” [Guardian]. After a spate of violence, including five murders in the area, the Metropolitan police launched the operation in 2008, tasking officers to pose as music industry figures in a recording studio called Boombox to gather intelligence on gang crime, drugs and firearms offences. The studio offered aspiring musicians access to recording facilities and mentorship, creating what participants described as a rare opportunity in an area with few resources for young people…. Several of those convicted claim they felt under pressure from officers to acquire firearms and drugs, fearing they would lose access to the recording studio, opportunities in the music industry, and the mentorship they believed was being offered if they refused. Kyron, who did not wish to give his last name, is a lead contributor to the documentary. He said participants had described the operation as a form of grooming. ‘They knew about our financial issues, they knew about our family issues, the breakdown in our communities. They knew all of these things and they used that against us as a tool.’ Toby Paton, the documentary’s director, said the central question raised by the documentary is ultimately a social rather than legal one. ‘The young men in the series needed help,’ he said. ‘They needed the real Boombox. They needed support. That’s the tragedy of it.’” • Yes.