ldstephens weblog
ldstephens weblog
ldstephens
A weblog by ldstephens. This is my little corner of the web where I share whatever’s on my mind: stories, random thoughts, and the occasional rant.
Latest Posts
This week the Fed cut interest rates a quarter of a percent. The commentary is always about how this makes borrowing for consumers cheaper—lower mortgage rates, cheaper car loans, even a little relief on credit cards. Good news if you’re...
August 24, 2025 Made a few more changes to the site today. Moved the navigation from the footer to the top.
August 23, 2025 I’ve been tinkering with the site’s design and layout the last couple of days. The new color scheme is my take on Dracula (the theme, not the vampire), and navigation has moved to the footer. I like this version better...
August 21, 2025 Dem Bones: "Few measurements reflect the luster of a political party’s brand more clearly than the choice by voters to identify with it — whether they register on a clipboard in a supermarket parking lot, at the...
August 21, 2025 Pundits are not Journalists. Op-ed is not news. Polls are propaganda. Anyone can be a “media outlet” or a “Journalist” on the Internet. Just because you read it does not make it true. Especially scrutinize things that...
August 16, 2025 Analytics numbers can be deceiving. They only capture part of your audience, missing readers who follow your site in RSS without ever visiting directly. That means the traffic you see is just the drive-by visitors. Keep...
August 8, 2025 RFK Jr. Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled nearly $500 million of grants and contracts for developing mRNA vaccines, the Department of Health and Human...
August 3, 2025 I’m so sick of hyper-specialized, narrowly focused web presence. Give me weird. Give me personal. Talk about more than just “your focus.” I want to hear about music and art and what you’re reading and your hobbies and...
July 21, 2025 I was fiddling with my blogs today and made a few updates. On this site, I rebuilt the site using modified version of the 11ty base blog and added a background color. Now both my blogs have the same layout. Still not sure...
July 19, 2025 There's a tech podcast that I listen to (not naming names) with three hosts. One of them is a smug, know-it-all asshole who makes the show almost unbearable at times. So why do I keep listening? Well, because the other two...
July 11, 2025 Well, this is just fucking GREAT. Measles is making a comeback. The U.S. is having its biggest outbreak in 33 years, with more than a thousand cases and counting, mostly because too many people decided vaccines are...
July 7, 2025 I don’t know who reads this. I don’t know how they find it. I don’t know if they’ll ever come back. I don’t know a damned thing. And that’s by design. I value my privacy and by extension, I value others’. That’s exactly why...
June 30, 2025 Since I've started adding some running sections to my morning walks with Trix (our dog), I decided to start recording them in Strava yesterday. I've had a Strava account for years, from back in my bike racing days, so it...
June 28, 2025 John Gruber Having an ignorant conspiracy nut lead the Department of Health and Human Services is angering and worrisome, to say the least. But it’s also incredibly frustrating, because Donald Trump himself isn’t an...
June 4, 2025 I’ve used BBEdit on and off over the years. Remember TextWrangler? It’s never been my primary Markdown writing app, though I’ve always wanted it to be. I was accustomed to apps like iA Writer, Typora, MarkEdit, and...