I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.

I'm obsessed with this topic--the lions of a Certain Type of literary journalism, the ones seated on thrones and pedestals (Joseph Mitchell! Truman Capote! Tom Wolfe!) so clearly made up their dialog and probably more. (I have libelous suspicions about John McPhee, too.)

I thought, based on the social media-fication of the @rachelaviv.bsky.social Oliver Sacks piece, that Sacks had invented patients wholesale. But instead it’s what was once seemingly secretly acceptable among highbrow writers: making up quotes and details about people to make them more interesting.

A wet desert lily flowering with a grand view while storm clouds are moving in from the west this morning (Photo: Sicco Rood).

In 2023 I became obsessed with videos of dads in cargo shortswaiting in parking lots during Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. So when she came to town, I grabbed a camera and headed down to talk to them. I thought it'd be funny. It turned out to be something else entirely.

If you would like to be shocked and appalled this afternoon--and who wouldn't, really?--please to read this dismaying roundup of the worst healthcare frauds, abuses and moral bankruptcies. The Shkreli awards! lowninstitute.org/projects/shk...

Latest articles from the WJO: Differences in the diets of red and gray Eastern Screech-Owls (Megascops asio). #ornithology doi.org/10.1080/1559...

Barn owl #photography #birds

a solid 25% of generative ai responses are "how would tom waits answer this question"

Google Gemini Pro: please generate a map of the western united states showing cities of over 250K population

This is 404 Media's @jasonkoebler.bsky.social waving at himself through a Flock camera; one of 60 we learned was left exposed to the open internet. Not only could anyone with a link livestream it, but some admin portals were open with no login credentials required. www.404media.co/flock-expose...

To get ahead of the curve, here are some spots in California that we voters could rename after Trump: •the stretch of 99 between Fresno and Stockton •the fetid toxic dustbowl developing where the Salton Sea used to be •Castiac •the Coalinga-Avenal rest area on northbound I-5

CATO INSTITUTE: Despite DOGE slashing jobs, government spending in every month of 2025 “was greater than in every other year .. An observer who did not know when DOGE started could not identify it” on a chart. 🤡 www.cato.org/blog/doge-pr...

Sincerely one of the funniest things the WSJ has ever written or done. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...

Happening right now: BIG bipartisan Senate meeting on health care.

Advocates and policy experts tell me adult caregiving is getting more visible, but I was still surprised by yesterday's speech by Senator @andykimnj.bsky.social. His "maiden speech" was 100% about care. He was real and raw about caregiving for his dad with Alz. www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3oK...

If you've been thinking of subscribing to Scientific American, or gifting a sub, now's the time -- it's 50% off! sciam.com/getsciam/

Academic lectures have invaded L.A. bars and tickets are selling out in minutes

My next Bird of the Day as I think about a new tattoo is the Great Grey Owl. I’ve shared a number of shots of this bird and every time I think about the experience. I love the Sax-Zim bog and there is no better symbol for such a magical place. #itsabird 🪶

They should do MyChart Wrapped

Paid my respects over the holiday weekend

Then: How did {wildly silly and incompetent person} ever get appointed to {position of power}? Now, as I reach the age typical of people in {position of power}: Oh.

Terrific that the New York Times is covering family caregiving in such depth! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o...

When you poke your head outside and it's too cold so you just go back to bed. #birds #ctnaturefans #photography

In a U.S. First, New Mexico Opens Doors to Free Child Care for All

"She’s not trying to rebuild her reputation as a journalist—she’s building a different kind of brand entirely, one where being interesting matters more than being ethical, where attention is the only currency that still spends." The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...

Scientists at the CDC have been told to phase out all of their monkey research. www.science.org/content/arti...

This is seismic news. It's hard to overstate how big the implications are for both future prosecutions and wrongful convictions. This NJ decision could reshape how courts across the country treat shaken-baby expert testimony. news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/n...

ICYMI, as I did: Trump has now pardoned two nursing home fraudsters, both convicted for failing to pay payroll taxes. One of the lowest forms of thievery, in my opinion. www.mcknights.com/news/trump-p...

This study show that using poems to jailbreak LLMs is... super effective? What the heck.

Hot take (US version): 6. Grey-cheeked #thrush 6. Bicknell's (tie) 5. Robin 4. Swainson's 4. Wood (tie) 3. Hermit 2. Veerio ..... .... 1. *Varied* #Birdoftheday #Birds

can i have a writing job. i’m a horrible writer and can work to become a worse person

We have to outlaw wildfire and invasive plant metaphors until someone can figure out what the hell is going on

can bad prose be sexually transmitted

To paraphrase Warren Buffett, it’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming without a bathing suit

I cringe whenever well known magazine writers write books and suddenly must go before their public without their usual support network of experienced editors and copyeditors who normally save them from making fools of themselves. I have been that editor.

I can’t quote post the original feed but this is the most purely Oregon coast thing I have ever seen

i think if it's breathing is okay they'll at least try to tow it out at high tide. the fact that it was tangled might explain why it beached, so it probably won't re-beach itself now that it's been cut free. i hope. who knows

Days like today I like to spend time reviewing how and why many important national publications have rejected my story pitches about family caregiving (63 MILLION in the US). No space, said one. Not relevant enough, said another. "The readers aren't there for it." Or just: "What's new here?"

Today I've had interviews by phone, on Teams, via Zoom and on Google Meet. It's the EGOT of modern journalism!

I always thought the emails I write to myself are pretty weird. Until today. >>beards and long hair , are meant to catch and hold smells. ?

For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files: splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app

“This is a very important development,” says Dyann Wirth, a malaria researcher at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the work. “We’ve been looking for this for a long time.” 🧪 #IDsky www.science.org/content/arti...

However much the average boyfriend thinks about Ancient Rome, I think about Robert Caro and LBJ more.

Funding alert: @grist.org is offering grants of up to $5,000 for reporting on rural climate issues and environmental justice in the United States. Newsrooms and freelancers are welcome to apply. Please share! grist.org/updates/gris...

Massachusetts house passes a bill to require licensing for home care agencies. Yep, that's right. Currently, no license required to hang a home care shingle. True in more than half of US states. No background checks required. Not even training. www.mcknightshomecare.com/news/massach...

RIP Tatsuya Nakadai, one of the all-time great postwar actors. And, not for nothing, one of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful too.

Cute day of superb parrot babies 😍

hi, can you do me a favor? take a picture of your pet and then take a picture again while you sing to them thank you, this is for science here is my contribution