art Graffiti has been a part of military life for at least 5,000 years Seamus Bellamy

art Lovely short film about Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis Andrea James

crafts Secret society curios: classic Masonic and Odd Fellows folk art Andrea James

Gadgets MagiMask is the next stage in the evolution of augmented reality Boing Boing's Shop

smithsonian The origin story of that all-American toy, Slip 'N Slide Andrea James

art How a Black woman turned quilting into a surprisingly radical art form Thom Dunn

Internet Parler, the "free speech" alternative to Twitter, breaks out the ban-hammer Rob Beschizza

inspiration Advice/inspiration: The "best part of getting laid off" Rusty Blazenhoff

politics Trump uses racist 'Kung Flu' slur against Asians again, was 'coronavirus' too many syllables? Xeni Jardin

high weirdness Petition to replace every Confederate statue in West Virginia with Mothman Gareth Branwyn

politics Bolton book says House impeachment inquiry should have probed Trump beyond Ukraine Xeni Jardin

tabloids Meghan runs off with Princess Diana’s jewels, Prince Andrew caught fleeing, and Ron Jeremy’s wood, in this week’s dubious tabloids Peter Sheridan

california Call for Oakland muralists to paint boarded-up windows downtown Rusty Blazenhoff

Gadgets Get a factory-refurbished iPad Pro for under $350 Boing Boing's Shop

News COVID-19 grows in Los Angeles's poorer communities Jason Weisberger

useful stuff Useful wall-mount thread checker Mark Frauenfelder

vote California Republicans sue to stop mail-in voter ballots Thom Dunn

kickstarter Crowdfunding "In Search of Tomorrow," the ultimate 80s sci-fi film documentary Gareth Branwyn

Innovation Listen: Inspiring commencement speech from Astro Teller, X's captain of moonshots David Pescovitz