Derek Templeton

I do lots of stuff.....

[Derek Templeton @derek_templeton]

@exjon Starflyer 59 😍

[Jason Martinez @JasonFox29]

Phillies debut the “Coldplay Kiss Cam”.

Wait for it…

[Armand Domalewski @ArmandDoma]

So to be clear, the current Trump administration plan is now to let China do advanced electronics manufacturing while we “reshore”…textiles and coffee production?

[Jesse Singal @jessesingal]

hopefully just the start of RFK Jr making good proposals for hilarious reasons

"We should promote whole grains, because the Illuminati has a stranglehold on processed carbs"

"Everyone should get 30 mins of exercise a day to stay a few steps ahead of your own shadow-daemon"

[Patrick Ruffini @PatrickRuffini]

The first time Federal spending hit the following milestones, excluding Covid

$1 trillion - 1985
$2 trillion - 2001
$3 trillion - 2007
$4 trillion - 2011
$5 trillion - 2020
$6 trillion - 2022
$7 trillion - 2024

(Covid: Federal spending hit $9T in Q2'20 and $8.6T in Q1'21.)

[Brad Wilcox @BradWilcoxIFS]

“If we truly want more babies in America, we are going to need more hands-on and committed fathers [in public life like @JDVance ]. The second most powerful man in America carrying a three-year-old around during his “work trip” is a good start.” https://t.co/whLsT8RKoC

[Magills @magills_]

“We here at The Revolution™️ would like to thank our generous sponsors AppleTV and the Doritos Corporation. “

[Perry E. Metzger @perrymetzger]

There is a tactic that I call the “hostage puppy.” A group spends much or most of its time and money in horrible, counterproductive ways, but they are also keeping an extremely cute and vulnerable puppy alive. If anyone tries to cut their funding or shut them down, they wheel out the puppy, show its soulful eyes to the cameras, and explain that if their budget is cut or they are shut down, the cute little puppy will die.

The puppy takes many forms and can be more or less literal.

Perhaps a corporate department is actually responsible for some extremely vital function, but does it very badly and does many other things badly besides.

Perhaps there’s a nonprofit that legitimately helps a small number of impoverished children but also spends vast sums causing harm elsewhere.

Maybe the puppy is some important service that people rely on, which, when a budget is cut, is shut down first, in order to inconvenience the greatest number of people to cause pressure for restoration of service.

And sometimes, there’s almost literally a puppy, or a homeless child with cancer, or a starving family.

The puppy can take many forms, but the common theme is that if you try to fix or shut down the failing organization, everyone will learn you’re a puppy killer. Surely you wouldn’t want to be a puppy killer?

(I’ve heard people call something similar “Washington Monument Syndrome”, after the fact that any attempt to cut the parks service budget will result in the Washington Monument being closed to tourists first, but I don’t think the term is sufficiently evocative.)

Sometimes, it’s really important to have a name for something so that you can point out when it’s present. And now that you’re aware of it, you will probably see hostage puppies all around you.

How do you save the hostage puppy? By reminding everyone that it is not the case that there is only one group of people on earth that can care for the puppy. Other means of caring for the puppy are probably available, ones that don’t involve also throwing a lot of resources into a hole in the ground or worse. In fact, you should take the puppy away from the people holding it hostage. They probably don’t actually have its best interests at heart if they’re using it that way.

[Frank J. Fleming @IMAO_]

Wow. That means at least 80% of Americans don’t have a backup gun.

[Church Curmudgeon @ChrchCurmudgeon]

If you ever doubt the enduring patience of God, consider that He has listened to ALL the podcasts.

[Jay Caruso @JayCaruso]

Perfectly stated by @GeorgeWill: "Today, many emotionally dilapidated obsessives experience either despair or euphoria about the inaugurations of presidents, who come and go. Both groups should rethink what they expect from politics, and why they do."

https://t.co/mSoh2EvHPY

[Owen Strachan @ostrachan]

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not made only for small and respectable sins. It's made for pre-conversion sins (all of them) and post-conversion sins (all of them).

If you resist this, feeling like it sounds a little squishy, consider a test case:

You.

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

The Supreme Court is now hearing arguments about whether TikTok is a national security threat. Arguments focus on data harvesting, but the bigger threat is that TikTok makes the next generation of Americans mentally ill. That's according to its own employees:

https://t.co/xOjtyB5j2F

[Captain Bruisin, cruise director @Ian_A_Boyd]

“Arizona State should have won because a rule I dislike which is highly subjective in interpretation was not called at a point in the game in which it would have bailed them out of a tight spot.”

[AJ Hoffman @AJIsTheReal]

All the pearl clutching over a no-call and this hit was WAY more wild.

[Stewart Mandel @slmandel]

Meanwhile, after three years of "Texas is going to get its brains beat in in the SEC," they're the last SEC team left in their first year in the league.

[Calvin and Hobbes Fan Account @Calvinn_Hobbes]

The magic of Christmas 🎅🏻👦����🐯🎁 #MerryChristmas  #CalvinandHobbes

[Peter Meijer @PeterMeijer]

I… find this completely unobjectionable?!?

[Derek Templeton @derek_templeton]

RT @PatrickRuffini: Social security private accounts was viewed as an example of second term hubris by George W. Bush but it would have had…

[Frank J. Fleming @IMAO_]

Well, now that's it too late for anyone to change a vote, I might as well admit it: I ate the pets. It was me.