“For some time I’ve been saying that the storied choice between socialism and barbarism was made exquisitely clear a good many years ago in the United States, and both major parties chose barbarism.” Worth reading and being careful which journalists you talk with. And what story they want to tell.

If you’re media covering bike-lanes, watch this news story. If you’re a downtown business association discussing bike-lanes, watch this news story. If you’re anyone hearing the LIE that bike-lanes are bad for business, watch this story. And please SHARE THIS STORY so others can watch it too.

Although I’m being snarky, there is a serious point here. Which voices does The NY Times and other mainstream media choose to elevate? This is part of the feedback loop from the general public to the elites and media and politics. Conservatives use the feedback loop effectively.

I’m enjoying these conversations of @jamellebouie.net, Michelle Cottle, and David French. Interesting point in here about how Trump team is ruling for online not mainstream. 1/2 Trump Was Never a Kingmaker. Are Republicans Finally Seeing It? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...

Oh my goodness, I'm glad my dog is cleverer than this!

Waiting to see the @nytimes.com diner interviews with the Trump to Mamdani voters in NYC. Y’all have regular people in diners in NYC? Or is that just rural thing?

I understand there is an insider’s explanation of this. And honestly, I don’t care. Even if there is some good procedural reasoning, the outcome is immoral.

My understanding is that the Trump DoJ argued the poor children aren’t real people anyway.

President appeals to the Supreme Court to allow him to starve children. He argues that they should go to work in the coal mines for their gruel. Court will clearly take this concern seriously since Trump will be harmed by children being fed and there will be no harm to the children who starve.

Hey @katestarbird.bsky.social, this would be a nice example of rumors running ahead of truth on a news story. And the rumors will probably never be corrected either. Wrong guy.

Pop-up AI defacing your article critical of AI captures a lot of what it feels like to work in this space. @lmesseri.bsky.social

Another reason we should have better and more complete information about Trump's cognitive health (and other older politicians). Sleep cycle disruptions are common as we age, but confusion of day and night is a feature of Alzheimer's disease. I've often been concerned about Trump posting at 2am.

This morning’s picture of Cookie with fall colors. From our walk in the forest.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points

ps. 2nd grader yesterday: “Mommy! [Teacher] says not everything on the computer is telling the truth.” —> Footstomping the urgency of building media literacy skills *as-early-as-possible* to identify mis-/dis-information online 🧪🛟 [aka w/o a baseline of some semblance of skepticism, we’re cooked]

Two opinion pieces in @nytimes.com today. One on Pelosi and her ability to recognize the moment and set aside her own ego. She’s always been able to get things done and really hasn’t needed to make everything about her. The other on Cuomo and good riddance. His ego was part of the problem.

A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women 🧵

"Jurors showed no appetite for the Justice Department's case against sandwich guy." I think the Justice department found the loss hard to swallow -- maybe because the sandwich was still in the wrapper! The defendant doesn't want to be seen as a hero -- because it was a sub. Enjoy.

The more democratic elements of the American constitutional and economic order are actually throwing up road blocks to Trumpism. Protests and boycotts and low level courts and juries and cetera. Elite actors on the other hand are all too frequently caving. Fascinating study in who actually cares!

And now the leaves from the tree are falling to the ground. Cookie says they are still a beautiful background for a picture.

Anyone traveling to academic conferences this month? Psychonomics? Society for Neuroscience? I mean, I know people were already rethinking coming to the US or going to certain locations in the US. But let's just shut everything down rather than negotiate. And yes, it is the republicans refusing.

This 🧵! The federal government is engaging in unjustified violence. The agents are disrupting the right to free speech and the free exercise of religion. They are disrupting the rights of news reporters. The judge also notes that the statements from the government agents are not credible. Lying.

"I find the defendants' (the DOJ) evidence simply not credible."

It’s grad school application season, and I wanted to give some public advice. Caveats: -*-*-*-* 
> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees 
> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases

Go after scams, scammers, and the media and tech companies that make it all possible. The amount of harm done, especially to more vulnerable individuals (and by the way, as you age the odds of you becoming one of those who are vulnerable goes up). Going after scams would also help address disinfo.

This is appalling. There has to be a way to hold massive companies accountable for *knowingly* facilitating & profiting from criminal behavior. And yes, I understand the value of Section 230, but here we have a trillion $ company that profits by letting its users get scammed. Has to be a better way.

It’s already understood but here’s analysis of Elon Musk’s X & its algorithmic bias news.sky.com/story/the-x-... “Over half of the political content shown to new X users came from accounts categorised as extreme. Of the content from extreme authors, 72% of posts came from right-leaning accounts.”

Who’s going “who, who, who” in the city forest behind our house? I managed to get my Merlin call recognition app to identify the owl as a great horned owl this morning. We’ve seen the bird some days, especially when the ravens are mobbing it. When the name says ‘great’ it is a really big bird.

It gets easier to spout bullshit when you’ve shut down the government so that actual economic statistics are not being analyzed and released. The shut down works well for bullshitters.

It gets easier to spout bullshit when you’ve shut down the government so that actual economic statistics are not being analyzed and released. The shut down works well for bullshitters.

The only possible harm that could come from that sandwich would be if you ate it. The officer did not eat the sandwich. If the officer didn't dine, don't waste the time.

A reminder that Zohran won IN SPITE OF his party and not because of it. This matters because while Democrats like Schumer and Jeffries might SAY "Vote Blue No Matter Who" and "Party Unity," they LITERALLY found it easier to go to bat for a guy with a Nazi tat than Mamdani. They will not accept this.

BURIEN PROGRESSIVE SLATE IS AHEAD!!!!!!

“To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us." That’s right.

Oh, so now the @nytimes.com is referring to Mamdani as a democrat without the socialist kicker?

Hmmm. Anyone think we’ll now get the punditry class to engage in weeks long debate about the need for the right to moderate and move more to the center to improve its electoral chances? …Anyone??

Legacy Papers Have Been Weird and Hostile Toward Zohran Mamdani. The New York City mayoral candidate promises radical change that editorial boards don’t want, even if voters do. Read @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social. www.cjr.org/analysis/leg...

New paper 🧪 We propose a field experiment to study the effects of friction interventions for curbing the spread of misinformation. ABM simulations suggest that when combined with learning, friction could significantly increase average post quality doi.org/10.1038/s442...

I know there's an election today. But I'm just here for the sandwich discourse. No baloney.

The way a sandwich should be

"It was totally the smell of onions that made me cry, and not the fleeting realization that I'm a terrible person and should quit my job and be ashamed of myself."

Three more to go. Come on people! We can do this!

At Tactical Hero, our custom-built hoagies explode upon contact with bullet proof vests at close range. Your adversary will smell the onions and mustard. Extra meat and cheese now 50% off with promocode MISDEAMEANOR

HAVE YOU VOTED YET? 🇺🇸

Hey @katestarbird.bsky.social, is this election disinformation

"Early-onset cognitive dissonance" Lovely writing of the pretzel logic that may be used. I bet that motivated reasoning may win out, since that is the go to on the conservative side. Or we might simply see amnesia -- an inability to remember what they've written before or what precedents exist.

This thread. Pure comedy. I hope the jury dumps a sandwich on the head of the prosecutors.

Washington has all mail in voting. Side note about voting. This makes it easier to research things and vote. No lines. No waiting. You can even drop them off at the county office if you want an ‘I Voted’ sticker.

Small concussions add up. The data from football players has made that clear. New concerns about soldiers raise similar concerns. This from The NY Times measures the pressure at a shooting range (which may magnify effects from blast echoes). www.nytimes.com/interactive/...