Why aren’t living organisms made of solid rock, hot lava, or intergalactic gases? Why is life mostly liquid in a narrow temperature band? Biophysics gives us a partial answer, based on the fine tuning of temperature 👇🧵

One of the great illusions of fascism is that a strong man / savior will “cut through all the red tape” of civil society and finally get things done Actually fascism is extremely costly and inefficient Example: $80 billion & they still don’t all have body cams

“Is it the fourth?” - Thomas Jefferson, on his deathbed, shortly before July 4, 1826 The 50 year anniversary of the signing 🇺🇸

“Taxpayer spending on projects in [DC] has increased 92 percent over the past year, according to the budget documents. The windfall draws on revolving maintenance accounts and more than $100 million in fees collected almost entirely from national parks elsewhere” Gift link 🔗 🎁 👇

“Each dot represents ten people whose lives depend on U.S. foreign aid for H.I.V. prevention and treatment” That was last year Link to gift article from last year below 👇🎁

“Their sons were soon doing business with partners in a deal that their fathers were negotiating, continuing a pattern of self-enrichment in the second Trump administration that has few precedents in American history.” Gift article 🎁👇 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/28/w...

Here is the full text of the constitution of the state of Texas “no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of worship” tlc.texas.gov/docs/legref/...

“campaign finance records indicate that Mr. Cafaro has given more than $300,000 to political committees connected to Mr. Trump”

“One must divide one’s time between politics and equations” - Albert Einstein, ca 1940

Man accused of spousal abuse says the hitting is the best part.

Gift article 🎁👇 Full text of the Memo of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran This war appears to have been an unmitigated strategic disaster for the U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/u...

The war - which was not a war - has ended, unless we start it again The straight - which was never closed - has been reopened, but only because we allowed it The nuclear material - which was totally obliterated - was always about to become a weapon, until we ended Obama’s deal

Had to share. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Get you a man who looks at you the way a MAGA influencer looks at Don Jr describing the Trump Phone

Scott Pelley: What did you say in response to what the President has written? Arizona Republican elections official: This is unhinged. I’m looking at the [database] right now. These lies have to stop This is as disprovable as saying 2+2=5

“[R]emember that kindness is irresistible if it’s genuine … after all, what can even the most abusive person in the world do to you if you keep on being kind to him[?]” - Marcus Aurelius

“in a sense a man of forty, if he has even a modicum of awareness, has seen everything that has happened and will happen” - Marcus Aurelius

The oil industry is warning the U.S. administration of further price spikes within weeks as a result of his ill conceived war of choice and failure to negotiate In response the U.S. administration announces $700M of our tax dollars to be used for more coal plants A dumb solution to a dumb problem

“The call came from the White House: We have to get this done” 👇 www.propublica.org/article/dona...

As a Serious Objective Scholarly Person I want to disagree with this but I can't. Ten years into the Trump era & this is basically correct.

“On average, at least one of every six sentences [spoken in Cabinet meetings] either flattered Mr. Trump, gave him credit or criticized his political opponents” Gift article below 🎁👇

Pericles is like, “hey, I wrote that”. (Actually Thucydides, who imagined the funeral oration that Pericles gave).

“there will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” - The President, 11 weeks ago

We live in a banana republic www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Posting, again, for the record that political violence is wrong, dangerous, and not a good strategy for change. Period.

Imagine atoms moved around like tiny self-propelled, maneuverable aircraft directed by an air traffic control They might line up, take turns, accelerate & decelerate to avoid collisions Individual motions wouldn’t be describable by simple mathematical laws Yet that’s not what we see

I’ve seen this defense of miracles many times: “We can’t expect scientifically rigorous evidence, thus lack of such evidence doesn’t justify doubt” But if the evidence can’t justify doubt that something was a genuine miracle, it can’t justify doubt that it wasn’t, either

“The New York Times has verified damage to 22 schools and 17 health care facilities, a fraction of the devastation in the war so far The Iranian Red Crescent Society … said on April 2 that at least 763 schools and 316 health care facilities had been damaged or destroyed in the war”

Atheists: why don’t more of you use the label humanist? It seems to me most kindhearted, thoughtful people - of all religions - also embrace humanist values like peace, equality, democracy, human rights, science, the arts, etc

“Frustrated by his horrible choices, Trump did something horrible as he threatened something horrible” “Frustrated by Tehran's unwillingness to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump sent oil prices higher as he threatened more strikes on civilian infrastructure” -Bloomberg

“He is the martyr, the victim, Prometheus chained to the rock, the self-sacrificing hero who fights single-handed against impossible odds. If he were killing a mouse he would know how to make it seem like a dragon” — George Orwell, reviewing Mein Kampf

Yesterday, Israel / US strikes seriously injured Kamal Kharazi, an 81 year old Iranian diplomat who got his PhD at the University of Houston, and killed his wife Read that again. They killed his wife Now listen to Trump in 2016, promising to murder the families of our enemies

Pam Bondi has learned her lesson. by Susan Collins

Hard hitting wartime reporting over at Newsmax “I think I’m one of the few cable TV hosts who does not want to know what’s happening over there … We’ll get all the details after the fact. We’ve got to put our trust here in the President and the Secretary of War”

Incredible stuff

“their wanton cruelty injures rather than benefits their cause; that, with our forbearance, justly secures to us the attachment of all good men.” - George Washington

I’m no general but 1) Sun Tzu taught never to back the enemy into a fight-or-die situation; give them an avenue to retreat or surrender 2) The Spartans showed at Thermopylae why you don’t attack through a narrow pass I wonder if Donald Bonaparte is aware of these lessons

We are estimating more than 200,000 people at the flagship No Kings rally in the Twin Cities. #NoKings

“The federal government has refused to provide even basic information about the three shootings that took place during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis” 🎁🔗👇 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/u...

“The price of President Trump’s meme coin surged more than 50% in 24 hours after its official website and X account said the coin’s top 297 holders would be invited to an exclusive conference and gala luncheon with the president next month.” www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

😬 From Bloomberg

“their wanton cruelty injures rather than benefits their cause; that, with our forbearance, justly secures to us the attachment of all good men.” - George Washington

Serious question: if releasing Iranian oil from sanctions reduces prices without benefitting Iran, then why didn’t we always do it that way?

The war in Iran could trigger a global food shock • More than 1.1mn tonnes of fertiliser and fertiliser inputs is currently stuck in the Gulf • Shortages are starting during northern hemisphere’s planting season, raising the risk of lower harvests for staples like rice www.ft.com/content/1054...

The US is spending more than $1 trillion on the military for the first time in history. That apparently isn't enough. Now, the Pentagon wants $200 billion more for an illegal war in Iran. The answer is NO. We need to invest in the American people, not endless war.

What’s it going to take for people to realize we’ve got Biff Tanner in the White House?

A mentor on Wall St taught me a simple lesson: Avoid business with a liar You never know when they’re lying to you WSJ: “America’s Arab allies are now fuming that they don’t seem to have any influence with the Trump administration despite heavy investments of time and money”

The President of the United States said I insulted Jesus. You want to know what insults Jesus? Kicking the sick off their healthcare. Bombing schoolchildren in Iran. Deporting moms and babies. Covering up the Epstein files.

“In an environment where global supply is short by nearly 7 million barrels a day, the only way the market can rebalance is through a comparable reduction in consumption” www.wsj.com/world/middle...