If you're a Bayesian, "credible interval" rather than "confidence interval." If you're Catholic, "Eucharist" rather than "Communion."

LLMs default toward the centroid of a writing style: fluent, plausible, and smoothed toward the average by exposure to vast amounts of human prose. That means you must move the model away from that average.

Why gasoline prices rise quickly and fall slowly: it's complicated & does not necessarily represent deliberate gouging. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ1J...

Latest paper to cite something I worked on back in 2009... www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/14... [I'm a coauthor on reference 122, which appeared in PNAS]

Wisdom! Let us be attentive. "To be clear, take the $1K that Trump wants to give newborn kids—I mean, why not? But never put another dime in an account like this." www.commondreams.org/opinion/shou...

Your schoolbooks probably didn't tell you the truth about Christopher Columbus! I knew SOME of these facts before reading this post, like he was very much not a nice guy, & that nobody took flat-earthers seriously in the 1400s, but some of this is new to me. www.electoral-vote.com/evp2026/Item...

The GI Bill after WWII lifted millions into the middle class. But Black veterans were mostly excluded. www.npr.org/2022/10/18/1... That bill still has not passed.

Under the radar news: when T-mobile acquired Sprint, Feds pretended to believe a new cell network from Dish would be viable competition. Dish just declared bankruptcy. The removal of Sprint as a competitor to the big 3 ain't gonna be reversed. We need much stronger antitrust laws.

One lesson from decades of content extraction (older NLP tools and now LLMs): for many real-world tasks, the biggest gains come not from chasing the newest model but from improving the surrounding engineering.

The "Biohack" Delusion versus Biology and Evolution Vaccines, standard medical tests, statins, and exercise are the REAL biohacks, not supplements.

Justice Thomas' weirdly narrow reading of the 14th Amendment is accompanied by an even more weirdly broad reading of the 2nd Amendment. And a truly twisted reading of the 1st Amendment (narrow on the rights of individuals, broad on the rights of corporations and billionaires).

At Adult Sunday School this morning as we worked through Luke 14 and the Parable of the Great Banquet, somebody mentioned how Augustine and Luther had abused this story to justify the state persecuting those they considered heretics

They were NOT "just fixing cars," they were deliberately disabling devices that reduce the pollution that kills people. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...

Yet another way in which RFK Jr is wrong. I have read primary scientific literature on this subject, and this CBS report is basically accurate. In my main area of specific expertise, Infectious Disease, I know RFK Jr is badly wrong, but it's not the only way he's wrong. abcnews.com/amp/Health/r...

Interesting that Justice Thomas takes such a narrow interpretation of the 14th Amendment but such a broad interpretation of the 2nd.

Hegseth doesn't want you to see this. Which is exactly why it's so important that as many people as possible learn about this history. www.pbs.org/video/corps-...

hese two graphs undermine much of RFK Jr.'s public-health narrative.

Trump Administration cancels grants for evidence-based pregnancy prevention programs, to be replaced by programs "aligned" with their priorities, probably meaning abstinence-focused approaches THAT DON'T WORK, meaning MORE ABORTIONS. Policy-based evidence making! thehill.com/policy/healt...

Various news media outlets say crowds were disappointingly small at the kickoff of Trump's State Fair & he is "livid" at the possibility that crowds on the 4th will also be small.

Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics head, claiming falsely that their numbers (which showed his tariffs were failing to create jobs as he had promised) were "rigged." On Planet Reality, disruption of economic data from Trump's decision to fire BLS head COST $Billions. www.nber.org/papers/w35135

Commentators are pointing out the GOP Representative who just returned to work after being hospitalized for depression will not lose any of his salary, which is reasonable. What is less reasonable is, he repeatedly voted against paid medical leave for other people.

More than 100 former Federal Prosecutors in Chicago have signed a strongly worded letter saying Boutros has deeply harmed DOJ and the public in Chicago. Multiple Judges have issued strongly worded rulings against him. He should resign in shame. History will Judge him & others who pervert justice.

Replacing lead pipes in Chicago is much more expensive than doing that in NYC. More expensive than NYC is a epic failure. www.wbez.org/environment/...

SCOTUS self-recusal process is broken: there is no accountability. A better model: random panels of senior federal judges, triggered by confidential referrals from Federal Judges. Think NIH grant review or FDA panels, not partisan oversight. Judge making request must affirm "I have no conflicts."

Yesterday I said to my mom Roberts & 3 liberals would vote against Trump on Birthright Citizenship, 3 most extreme right wing would vote for Trump, but I was unsure about Kavanaugh & Barrett Actual results Barrett signed onto Roberts' ruling. Kavanaugh concurs on narrower grounds Trump loses

Never expected to get interesting political news from a GOLF website, but golfers online are having lots of fun with pix of Trump carrying an iPhone, NOT A TRUMP PHONE on a golf course. His branded phones work but are basically 2015 phones for 2026 prices.

Yet another uniquely USA health injustice: many gunshot victims are pushed out of hospitals too soon because they don't have insurance. www.tampabay.com/news/health/...

A question to which anti-trans folks have no coherent reply. sendaylinleach.medium.com/the-one-ques...

Centuries ago, when his country was divided over how to treat refugees, Rembrandt painted a plea for tolerance. Some unknown person was offended and painted over a turban, thus removing a great artist's plea for what we now call DEI. Some issues don't go away! www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Reddit users got a major search engine's AI to believe a totally bogus story. This has bigger implications than one AI tool: it's the latest sign that we need better ways to judge CREDIBILITY of information online. www.msn.com/en-us/news/t...

The bungling that messed up the Reflecting Pool is typical of this Administration: they see policies and consultation with experts as obstacles rather than how to avoid blunders. The impatience shows up everywhere. And leads to disasters. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/u...

I'm seeing people claim the COVID vaccines may be beneficial for older people but are not appropriate for younger people. While is is true that these vaccines are much more important for older people, that does not mean young people shouldn't get these vaccines.

MAHA says "eat a healthier diet" But this Administration shreds the food safety net, starts a trade war that pumps up costs, then starts a shooting war that pumps costs up even more. It's really Make America Sick Again. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Many apps are designed to make price comparison difficult. Imagine what buying airline tickets would be like if they blocked price comparisons? youtube.com/shorts/IUW4x...

A unique on the ground view of the American Revolution from a young soldier: “There was no trusting the inhabitants, for many of them were friendly to the British, and we did not know who were or who were not and consequently were distrustful of them all.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Watch the video included in this article; it includes the moment when he opened that envelope! www.nist.gov/news-events/...

EVERYBODY in the USA must see this interview with a MAGA Congresswoman who needed an abortion to save her life, thus learning the harsh reality of Florida abortion law. If you don't have time to view it all, watch first three minutes then skip ahead to the 47-minute point. youtu.be/oBNPja1IqD4?...

The paper Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya tried to block is out, in a different Journal.

The companies running the SAT and ACT tests should simultaneously announce that starting in 2036 there will be questions on their tests about how and why George Washington made recruits to his army get inoculated against smallpox. That would get High Schools to teach this important history.

New data from England show that IF every adolescent in the world got HPV vaccines, we could basically end cervical cancer deaths in the future.

🧵 1/5 Imagine a Hamilton-style musical, but instead of founding fathers, it's about arrogant 18th-century French scientists fighting a geopolitical war over the shape of the Earth: Newton vs the Cassinis. England vs France. Newton says Earth is flattened at the poles. The title? LA CONDAMINE.

The current best value for the Newtonian constant of gravitation, G, has a Relative standard uncertainty of 2.2 x 10-5, that is it is only known to about one part in 46 thousand.