I teach in my undergrad class on the history of the US jury system that the institution's roots are in colonial juries serving as a counterweight to abuses of imperial power. The American jury has problems for sure but still can serve that roll. Don't blow off jury service.

I can't help it.

(1/2) VDLM2 Message From: G-XLEH / BA0293 Message: HI. PAX IN 4E HAS SHREDDED HIS SHOE WHILE RECLINING SEAT. HE NOW ONLY HAS 1 SHOE. WE WILL GIVE HIM SLIPPERS BUT ANY IDEAS U HAVE ARE WELCOME. Track Aircraft: https://www.flightradar24.com/G-XLEH Area: Philadelphia, PA, USA #acars #vdlm2 #G

"I went to see a performance of John Cage's music, but they just sat there for four and a half minutes"

"Your haircut makes you look jolly, like you like to eat apples" --a student of mine. I love how weird (complimentary) freshmen can be.

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city. They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

looking up the types of residence cards you can get in France for a piece and HONKING at this part of the drop-down list, from the official government website (!!) www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers...

Small moment of joy: I just remembered that it's been *months* since I've been on Google Meet/Zoom

I have little hope that his successor will be any better, but it will still be nice to see this asshole go the way of Scott Walker www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram. Community action works. Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

It’s bigotry to hate those inflatable flappy arm guys from outside car dealerships

So clearly articulated, worth the long read! "Professors will be familiar with the experience of reading student essays that are neither very good nor very bad, but that uncanny combination of the intelligent and the stupid that is the mark of AI writing." www.theguardian.com/news/2025/oc...

Out from behind the paywall are three pieces about ICE, by Yanis Varoufuckice, Liv Veazey, and Jack Norton and Judah Schept. Read our editors’ introduction here: www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/pol...

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.” Diary of Anne Frank January 13, 1943

Nuts to that. I’m a millennial and I love my career & where I work, but I’d quit if I didn’t have a healthy balance

funniest aspect of current events is jay doing all this while having the guy who coined the term streisand effect on the board

Now reading: The River of Blue Fire, book two of Tad Williams’s Otherland series. I like the descriptions of pop media at the start of each chapter. They remind me of the Space-Usenet interludes in A Fire Upon the Deep 📚💙

I think for me the most compelling answer for "why fund basic research?" (and the one most relevant to the people doing the work) is that humans are curious and finding stuff out makes us happy and fulfilled. Science is a thing humans like. Life would be more dull and sad if we didn't do it. end/🧵

Shoutout to Hawthorne Coffee for still selling actual pounds of beans

Copy a folder in Google Drive: "Item copied to clipboard" Try to paste a folder in Google Drive: "Folders cannot be copied" :|

Poem, "Looking Glass" (c) constance lee menefee Vietnam, 1994

A dream of the fields study

I know it's extremely petty, but that message should say "shut down". "Shutdown" is a noun, not a verb.

'The temptation to resign ourselves to resignation is never stronger than at a time of overlapping crises' is such a great pull from this larger piece on the AI crisis, and also the larger fire we are fighting.

I hate being reminded that Gingrich still draws breath

Nobody cares about the victims in the Dallas ICE shooting apparently. The first I've heard about one of them was on CNN today. He's fighting for his life in the hospital --- he was brought to the US when he was 13. He's 33 now. No criminal record. I just don't know what to say anymore.

I accidentally made a loud noise and now my cat is perturbed because I fucked up her mellow

Finally fixed the height of a painting after procrastinating for almost a month. I mismeasured and it's been like an inch too high—just off enough to get under my skin, but not enough to motivate me to fix it.

A new complaint from ACLU and other human rights groups details how the warden at a Lousiana ICE facility created an unofficial “work program” of manual labor and sexual humiliation for trans men at the facility. This is very hard to read. rfkhumanrights.org/wp-content/u...

Do people actually want this? I like hearing real people talk about music they like (s/o to all the great WMSE DJs), but hearing my music interrupted so a robot can yell possibly incorrect trivia at me seems awful

If only it worked as well as it did back then

Somebody's playing guitar again. Trying to tell them I appreciate it

In a week he’ll be declassifying all records on the Bermuda Triangle

Oh boy

for all people mock it wikipedia is genuinely one of the wonders of the modern world

Resharing with ALT text because YEP.

Fuck Charlie Kirk

First the grand juries, now the trial juries. This Admin is not winning.

What might make you feel better is buying a print of Data riding his cat. brandonbird.myshopify.com/collections/...

It's 2005. Traveling Americans are pretending to be Canadian because our government is an international embarrassment It's 2025. Traveling Americans are pretending to be Canadian because our government is an international embarrassment

please ENJOY this clip of Mark Zuckerberg *just trying to answer a video call* with the new 'neural band' Meta is shilling and failing miserably during a live demo You get a prize if you can withstand all 1:42 of this youtu.be/D97ILdUbYww?...

Me teaching stats to freshmen: "Σ is the Greek letter sigma". A couple of students: *giggles* The kids are all right.

Do not put your name on a website to register for a rally in this political climate. What the fuck's wrong with y'all. Are there any people of color that work at this org who might knock some sense into your peach colored heads.

Block this snitch for your own safety, especially if you're trans @chipdgraham.bsky.social

Somebody's been asking Grok how to get a rocket high