Statement Re: OU Discrimination Investigation Today, my client, Mel Curth, submitted her appeal of the University's Institutional Equity Office finding that she engaged in arbitrary and capricious grading of a student's assignment in violation of that student's religious liberty.

USPS quietly changed its postmark rules — mail is no longer dated when you drop it off. The “official” date is when it hits automated sorting — sometimes days later Which could have major implications for mail in voting — it’s a clever way to disenfranchise voters that’s going largely overlooked

Reading novels on the couch on Sunday afternoon now substitutes nicely for the Sunday morning mass of my first 20 or so years. Same big questions about the meaning of life. Just much, much better writing.

Thrilled that the Smithsonian has renamed the AMNH trail, thru some beautiful forest on Barro Colorado Island, after one the great tropical biologists—and friend and mentor—Dr. Lissy Coley.

Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller December 27,1940

The other two are dead.

Merry Christmas one and all, from the Vaders 🎄

And, admittedly yes, Die Hard—despite many Sept 11 flashbacks—is the perfect Not Xmas “Xmas movie”.

One of the small delights of the new house across from a park is the view from the porch as kids try out their gifts and adult siblings walk off “family time”.

Don't forget what real leadership looks like...

The reality for the other students is that they are no longer enrolled in a psychology class. It is a Psychology plus My Personal Christian Beliefs class. Every class at OU is now a My Personal Christian Beliefs class. Every time any student raises such beliefs, instructors have to accept them.

Help me Hive Mind! This Haydn sonata has a riff, first presented in the very first measure, that was borrowed by Beethoven (a Haydn fan and pupil) in one of B’s great piano works. Which, of course, I can’t place. And which, of course, is driving me crazy. Any help? youtu.be/jfsSFGDpFbw?...

SHOUT-OUT to multi-talented International Treasure: DICK VAN DYKE! Today we celebrate his 100th year+3 days birthday. From the day I first met him (story included below) he's been an inspiration & a source of joy to his countless fans around the globe, myself included. Thank you sir 🙏 For DVD: 🎂❤️

My baby brother was an addict. Our family tried and tried, but we could not help him, and we ended up estranged. He died a few weeks ago, and today is his birthday. Do what you can. Addiction is a terrible, narcissistic, debilitating disease. But accept that it is out of your control.

This made my week. I know it’s Tuesday.

NO DRAB GAB TUESDAY

Study of over twenty five million people over almost four years finds that COVID vaccines reduced COVID deaths by 74% and increased all-cause deaths by zero. I don’t know how much clearer it can get than that. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

60 minutes CECOT segment. Recorded through my browser. HD quality. Not phone. Spread it around. If you're press, it's yours. Go nuts. It's streaming on a Canadian website, but there is no telling for how long. www.filemail.com/d/wkcdttnacp...

!! Here’s a link to full video of the 60 Minutes segment that Bari Weiss killed last minute, via @jasonparis.bsky.social: is.gd/paU8Ko (It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)

Current issue of @theonion.com nails it again.

The Independent has identified Eric Lendrum as the DHS PR officer responsible for a relentless flood of social media posts on DHS pages using Nazis memes, slogans and images. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

It's your birthday, Duane.

Air frier latkes are a holiday miracle.

That definitely calmed things down …. Lawmakers Threaten Prosecution, Impeachment if DOJ Officials Blow Epstein Files Deadline talkingpointsmemo.com/news/impeach...

It’s called Nutrient Dilution, and it’s not just a problem for the human food supply. bsky.app/profile/mike...

That all ideas already exist waiting to be discovered parallels (at the very least) the concept of memes waiting to “infect” your brain. This is one of the more frufru* ideas that I am drawn toward. From Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic” *synonyms: out there, too clever by half, wackadoodle

One of the shortest, most moving passages from the Baroque. It always set me back on my heels and gives me pause. Happy Friday everyone. youtu.be/WZ6lQnSuLD0?...

“Remember that attention-hungry demagogues want you to be thinking about them all the time. So declining to do so is a positive affirmation of the truth that there’s more to life than that.” -Oliver Burkeman Happy Friday everybody.

Dear Netflix, Re yr latest “Knives Out”… Please Longer movies may make more money thru more eyeballs per hour. But we have lives too. But editors are our friends. Yr 2.5 h video, meebee… cut out 30-60m? (Just not any Daniel Craig bits)

It gets even more pathetic— x.com/RepBeatty/st...

The problem is not only fake citations Since "quality" in LLM is equivalent to abundance, so well cited, but *rebutted or retracted* papers will often be pushed by the algorithm. LLM NE Judgement

This disaster has to STOP!!

There are “rules” in photography that you learn and then can break for visual effect. That is different than not knowing the rules. The former is very much what is happening here. Choices were made and they show the power of photography.

Do you know students who are keen for a transformative summer in western Montana! Our @umflbs.bsky.social summer session field courses are OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT! Please help spread the word. flbs.umt.edu/apps/educati...

🚨 House GOP Bill: No #ACA tax credit extension after all; CBO projects 300K to lose coverage due to end of #SilverLoading in mostly red states: acasignups.net/25/12/16/hou...

One thing that made Ringo’s drumming special was his fills: how he used the drum kit to add grace notes in the gaps between the lyrics. Examples include A Day in the Life, and Let It Be. And, here, Hello Goodbye, in a first take of just piano, organ, and drums. youtu.be/iy-TGRiQ4QQ

Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” is a gorgeously filmed, profoundly written parable about politics and family. I can’t recommend it enough. m

This week “Pluribus” featured Panama’s Darien Gap and a fav of the Neotropical ecologist: the palm Astrocarium. What’s not to love? 1. Thousands of spines that easily detach into a body part, protecting 2. Hundreds of tasty, waxy fruit, that 3. Fall to the ground in a slimy, stinky, spiney mess.♥️🐜

👇💯👇

Undecided voter: “How can someone like you convince me that my vote matters” James Talarico: “They wouldn't be trying so hard to stop you from voting if your vote didn't matter — Texas is one of the hardest places to vote in the entire country. That is by design”

We spent a few days in New York last week, and as always enjoyed half a day hanging in the New York Public Library. I’ve been working on my drawing, under D’s mentorship. Here’s three views of the Reading Room.

Ernie Bushmiller created one of the first great comics. Each was built around what he called “the gag”, but there was a lot going on behind the scenes. There was a real humanity to his punchlines. And his design sense was flawless.

We are monitoring, thinking, and praying.

When your eyes meet from across the room, but alas, she has been dead for centuries. From The Frick Collection, New York.

Their closing message to Indiana: change your maps to artificially benefit the President's political party or 'roads will not be paved' as punishment. They are openly saying this. Who would want to live in a country that works like that?

Within a month or so there will be an official NPS announcement that any defacement of either portrait on the park pass will result in card invalidation.

It was an honor to work with this group... and the paper is excellent, but the implications for tropical ecosystems make me really sad. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Veteran detained by ICE: I identified myself as a US citizen and a veteran, but that didn't matter. Agents smashed my window, sprayed tear gas into my car, dragged me out. Even after I complied, I was held for 3 days without charges. No phone call, no lawyer, no medical care