"The word 'cause' is an altar to an unknown god; an empty pedestal still marking the place of a hoped-for statue."—William James

How otherwise intelligent people confuse legal standards (due process) for social/political ones (deciding who should be on a ballot) is honestly quite astounding. We're not depriving Platner of life, liberty or property. No one is entitled to due process before being removed from a ballot.

Also relevant: Pandora herself was an artificial being, not born of a human, but rather created by Hephaestus, god of the forge.

Some real 'Jesus isn't a zombie, he's a litch' action going on in this thread.

"And what is that LLM standing on?" "Sonny, it's just Claudes all the way down."

Ludwig Wittgenstein said “Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” He wasn't talking about Large Language Models, but damn, he could have been.

The problem with standing on the shoulders of giants is that we're liable to mistake the new horizon for the edge of the world.

"Worthless" and "priceless" as simultaneously synonyms and antonyms.

A basic principle of constitutional law is "The constitution says whatever the Supreme Court says it says." So yeah, those six racists do get to determine what is and is not constitutional. That's just how the law works, in practice, until they change their minds or another SCOTUS says otherwise.

Are accusations truth-functional? When I accuse someone of something is that the same as asserting the claim that they are guilty of what I accuse them of? Or is there a difference--semantic, syntactical, intentional, psychological, logical, etc.--between an accusation and an assertion?

Slightly diminish a book The Grapes of Resentment

The conservative justices on the Supreme Court arguing that you can separate race and partisanship got me thinking about these maps. starkeycomics.com/2021/06/11/h...

999 days.

1,000 days and counting.

Honestly, among execution methods the two least (physically) painful probably are firing squad and the guillotine.

Fun fact: in 1777 General George Washington required all soliders serving in the continental army to be innonculated against small pox, a decision that was likely integral in winning the war. This country was literally born from compulsory immunization. historyofvaccines.org/blog/washing...

I would add: "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" is the standard for criminal conviction, not public opinion. Juries have the power to incarcerate, so they should have a very high standard of proof. Members of the public have far less power, and should ergo have a much lower standard of proof.

Thank you for installing my sacrasm detector on your BlueSky feed. I think you'll find it's SOOOO EFFECTIVE!

“Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” Geneva Convention Additional Protocol I and Department of Defense Law of War Manual, § 5.2.2

Deplualize a movi4: Of Mouse and Man

Just a reminder on this Easter Sunday: 1) Attacking civilian infrastructure is a war crime. 2) The head of state threatening to commit a war crime is itself a war crime.

Murc’s Law is “the widespread assumption that only Democrats have any agency or causal influence over American politics”. In other words, Democrats are responsible for Republicans being the way they are and doing the things they do, either because Democrats provoked them or failed to control them.

"If Iran really wanted to fuck with Trump they should put out a statement saying they'll open the Strait back up if he admits he lost the 2020 election."--Thomas Smith

The *majority* of philosophy papers now cite at least some empirical data. Papers that do purely a priori philosophy are in a minority

huh, it says here that some times things go really bad in a country and then the citizens get mad at the rulers. that's interesting. www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collectio... #art #politics #murder

I hate when you embark on a heroic adventure in the hopes of emerging transformed only to discover that the strength you were seeking was within you all along

The President of the United States rejoiced in the death of a Vietnam Veteran. Again. For the second time.

Ruth's Chris Markwayne Mullin

"No lie is too obvious for the people to believe if it accommodates their secret wish to believe it."--Christa Wolf

Don't beware the Ides of March. Make the Ides of March beware you!

"The only true Christian died on the cross."--Friedrich Nietzsche

Oh, how I long for the days when I was nostalgic...

Try singing the famous 80's song about Jenny's phone number in a middle school and watch what happens.

"A photograph is not only an image (as a painting is an image), an interpretation of the real; it is also a trace, something directly stenciled off the real, like a footprint or a death mask."--Susan Sontag

The First Rule of Fight Club is never get involved in a land war in Asia.

It was a typo.

When people say they're 'nauseous' they usually mean 'nauseated' 'Nauseous' means 'causing nausea in others.'

Oh man, I wouldn't want to be a catsup bottle in the White House right about now...

Amazingly, this 'Well, actually...' is only the second most cringe inducing thing in this story. The first? He ask Epstein for a grant to teach a course on "The Mythology of Rape."

Just in case you need a reminder: Trump is lying to you, constantly. Crime has dropped dramatically. No thanks to him, but in large part thanks to (among other things) Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan Act. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Some days I think this quote is precisely five words too long.

“The life that is devoted to knowledge passes silently away, and is very little diversified by events. To talk in public, to think in solitude... is the business of a scholar. He wanders about the world without pomp or terror, and is neither known nor valued but by men like himself."--Samuel Johnson

Is love a choice, in any meaningful sense of the word? 1️⃣ No, love is not a choice in any sense of the word 2️⃣ Yes, love is straight-forwardly a choice 3️⃣ No, but we do have some limited control over love 4️⃣ Yes, but not in a straight-forward sense 📊 Show results

Is love a choice, in any meaningful sense of the word? 1️⃣ No, love is not a choice in any sense of the word 2️⃣ Yes, love is straight-forwardly a choice 3️⃣ No, but we do have some limited control over love 4️⃣ Yes, but not in a straight-forward sense 📊 Show results

All my flibbertis gibbeted.

Once in Grad school was at the APA and Walter Sinnot-Armstrong asked me a question. I was passing him in the hall and he said "Where is the book expo?" I told him it was right down the way and on the left.