"This is based on what I feel" may as well be America's epitaph. "President Trump on Monday repeated false claims about vaccine safety and called for changes to the childhood immunization schedule... “This is based on what I feel,” Trump said." www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Breaking news: Tylenol during pregnancy does NOT increase the risk of autism. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Must read: "The problem with constantly hearing about impending collapse as life goes on looking very much the same is that the urgency tends to dissipate." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

First they came for the immigrants And I did not speak out Because I was not an immigrant Then they came for the transgendered And I did not speak out Because I was not transgendered... ...And then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me

Where are all the 1A / 2A supporters now? www.cnn.com/2025/09/04/p...

Unfortunately Dave, that's precisely how authoritarianism "works."

Since Antifa doesn't exist in any structural or organizational way, it seems obvious that designating "it" as a terrorist organization is merely a way to claim that anyone opposing the Trump administration is affiliated and therefore fair game to prosecute under the Patriot Act.

People who claim to stand for "free speech" are often perfectly content when voices they don't like are silenced.

What is Trump trying to say about the people who do like him?

There's been a lot of talk about Civil War in recent years, but there weren't many who had unilateral violent oppression of liberals by a right-wing authoritarian regime on their bingo card. And yet, that's where we're headed now. And in retrospect, it's exactly why Trump was elected.

Lara Loomer's tweet clearly illustrates what I explain here about why people support dictators and authoritarianism—they see it as a way to quash their cultural and ideological opposites, whether real, imagined, or contrived. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psyc...

AI chatbots: garbage in, garbage out www.semrush.com/blog/ai-mode...

FALSE is now available at Amazon for the insanely low price of $5. That's cheaper than it would cost me to mail you a free copy. No better time than now to pick one up and write a review! www.amazon.com/dp/0197765270/

🧵 Authoritarianism, Democratization, and Coalition Politics. The consensus around here is, more or less, that the United States is currently a consolidating authoritarian regime controlled by a mix of reactionary populists and fascists.

If, by talking about "civil war" in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, you mean cutting off the more radical, extremist part of MAGA conservatism from the rest of the Republican party, then please bring it on.

I had a feeling this was coming. Given what we know about LLMs, it seems like a really bad idea. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/a...

Just gonna leave this—written by me in 2002—right here. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psyc...

It’s astounding that it’s now possible to predict your political affiliation with 100% accuracy by your acknowledgement or denial that the signature on this card depicting an adolescent girl’s torso obviously belongs to Donald Trump.

This is why poll data can be so limiting. I'd love to know how many respondents can define "capitalism" and "socialism." And also if Republicans think the US was socialist under President Biden and whether the gov't acquiring a stake in Intel is capitalism. news.gallup.com/poll/694835/...

We should never be surprised at how easy it is to get people to believe lies. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

Someone on X asked me why doctors have been so bad at "selling" people on vaccines. The answer lies below. TLDR: It's not MD's fault per se. It's mistrust, misinformation, and motivated reasoning on the part of *certain* patients. news.gallup.com/poll/648308/... www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Florida eliminates school vaccine mandates for kids. What's next, child car seats? This is the definition of "fuck around and find out." 🦠🤒🧫🤧 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

"If something bad happens, blame AI." --President Donald Trump

Talking AI Psychosis on @pbsnews.org www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

1/ AI-Associated Psychosis is being increasingly reported in the media and in online spaces like Reddit. I've seen cases in clinical practice and have received emails from concerned friends/family about loved ones falling down the rabbit hole. Here's some explanations/tips to help...

When charlatans like RFK Jr. say "stop trusting the experts," what they're really saying is, "discount knowledge and experience and buy into my own bullshit instead."

Machinery of Misbelief A psychiatrist tackles the psychology of false beliefs in the misinformation age My review of Joe Pierre’s ( @psychunseen.bsky.social ) book “False” (OUP, 2025) www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/machinery-...

AI-associated psychosis now implicated in a case of murder-suicide nypost.com/2025/08/29/b...

Check out the new Starter Pack for AI-Associated Psychosis go.bsky.app/PqGgGBg

Thanks @awaisaftab.bsky.social for your review of FALSE. www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/machine...

This is all true. We are in for some dark times, unless something dramatic changes, quickly. AND: those of us in the field of public health, are needed more now, than ever. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

This is a curious juxtaposition: In the same breath, Leavitt is saying that the prayer works, just as she concedes that people/kids were killed WHILE PRAYING in church.

"Literally no one thinks prayer is a substitute for action? OK, but then explain why there not only hasn't been any action, but a reversal of preventative measures like red flag laws by GOP leaders and the Trump administration. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

New, from me: America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism. This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...

New: In 7 months, Kennedy has broken the CDC, perhaps irreparably. For all he’s done with mass firings, gutting expertise, and attacking vaccines, Wednesday’s loss of its most senior and competent leaders—truly the CDC’s backbone—is the most consequential attack yet. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/c...

This story is evolving, but seems to illustrate the concept of "leakage" whereby mass shooters reveal their plans, giving an opportunity to intervene/prevent violence instead of only offering "thoughts and prayers" in the aftermath of mass shootings. thetab.com/2025/08/28/p...

Ridiculous, but oh so predictable... instead of mentioning the words "guns," "right-wing extremism," or "White supremist ideology," RKF Jr suggests without evidence that the latest mass shooting of children was caused by SSRIs.

Is AI the new Big Oil? www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Bringing up solutions to mass shootings like gun control, when no one wants to talk about them otherwise, isn't "politicization" anymore than "thoughts and prayers" is if you believe they actually help.

This is another irony--that folks who have been calling liberals "socialists" for years without really knowing what that word means are now embracing actual socialism. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Ironic that all the die hard 2A supporters armed to the teeth with AR-15s who are allegedly worried about tyranny and defending the Constitution think they've already overthrown the oppressive government and are having a field day working for ICE now.

Must read @carnegieendowment.org: "The ... speed & aggressiveness of Trump’s aggrandizement agenda is cause for serious concern. [S]ources of resistance to democratic erosion continue to exist, but U.S. democracy is being put to the test as never before..." carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

"First lady Melania Trump hopes to carve out a new role as the First Lady of Technology, combining her passion for children’s well-being with her tech-forward vision" 🤔 nypost.com/2025/08/25/o...

This is why protest, writing op-eds, and contacting representatives is so important. We need to make it extremely obvious across the world that WAY MORE PEOPLE are saying that we DON'T WANT A DICTATOR.

"What’s missing and desperately needed is these events being connected to one another and presented collectively and aggressively by the media, the Democratic Party, and other prominent institutions as one megastory: Trump’s attempt to become America’s dictator."

Ever wonder why autocracies are often kakistocracies, comprised of incompetent leaders? @rbreich.bsky.social explains: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

And people don’t realize how much power they have even if their time/ability is limited. Things I’ve found helpful: Indivisible, 50501, local Dem party, Five Calls app, IceBlock app, Visibility Brigade… If we can each pick one action that works for us- WOW!💙

Your last line is the most important. Too many people are sitting at home hoping someone else will step up. The more of us who stand up, the more powerful we will be. Unstoppable. Let's go!

Surprise, surprise, that "dictator only on day one" thing was bullshit. ICE raids. Military occupation. Loyalists installed in gov't. DOJ used for political retribution. Redistricting to fix elections. Pay-me capitalism. US Democracy is dead. The question is what YOU are going to do about it?

The risk of psychosis aside, the payoff of AI in business—including chatbots—has been a flop thus far. futurism.com/ai-agents-fa...