WSJ editorial board hits Trump: “Mr. Trump had imposed the higher tariff in the name of national security, but apparently the killer love seats aren’t as dangerous as advertised. Maybe you can now buy one without fear of assault from a foreign spy.” www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...

When I explain to people what is involved with writing a successful grant, they simply don’t believe me. I explained it once to a famous person from Pixar, and he looked me square in the eye and said: You mean all the cancer and Alzheimer’s grants work that way? You’ve gotta be &$%#ing kidding me!

Since institutions have an obligation to speak out when their mission is threatened, the goal of impartiality is pointless. 🔗 on.wsj.com/44RALHs

The sun will rise in #Baltimore #Maryland tomorrow at 7:26, 4 seconds later than the day before. It will set at 16:55, 49 seconds later than the day before.

"Radiation safety is too important to be wasted on studies that cannot deliver answers. Science should chase questions that can be realistically answered & offer solutions to reduce risks that can actually save lives," write Adam Stein & Peter James

In the middle of corn fields, no other species in sight, is a tiny unplowed patch called the Clay Hills Preserve. Ruth Haan has been watching it forever, E.O. Wilson doesn't think much of it, Craig likes it anyway. lastwordonnothing.com/2026/01/02/r...

Portrait of a girl in profile, c. 1500, by Piero di Cosimo. Today is his day.

"You dumb fucking potato" It's hard to keep up with the many excellent take downs of this Tony Dokoupil /MAGA pinky promise video. Here's another barn burner. This one by @glegum.bsky.social for @wonkettemedia.bsky.social:

There seems to be a lot of confusion between “lots of professors who lack merit are being hired” (false) and “lots of people with merit are unable to find jobs as professors” (true).

Interesting,need to look at the details but strange it says that condensing orbits is only making it safer,yes they have a low failure rate, but what about the debris spewing Starlink 35956 ? when you condense your obits (ie bringing them closer) doesn't risk go up in case of more Starlink debris ?

Ghastly OpEds by Jay Bhattacharya in 2025 -His justification for canceling funds for mRNA vaxx R&D -His argument that no pandemic preparedness is needed As Seth Berkey says: "Magical thinking has no place in public health." We must condemn these "misguided policies" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I love her

Hard to see why @nytimes.com coverage of "New York's New Mayor" is headlined by the opinion of one foreign gov't on one action. Israel's gov't is elected by and represents citizens of Israel and no one else. I'm sure New Yorkers are more focused on their city. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/n...

NPR radio and podcast ratings rose sharply in 2026, which helps us re-evaluate some partisan talking points of recent years.

Public media may be stronger in 2026

You could also poll boomer-era people on how often doctors have suggested they take a "Cognitive Exam." (Let alone, suggested it three times.) I'll start: Zero.

New Year’s Note From the Couch

While complaining that America is "besieged" by foreigners, DHS used an image by Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai

What does it mean when your doctors keep insisting you redo the cognitive exam

All the cherry trees, please! 🤩 https://www.chesapeakebaymagazine.com/tidal-basin-seawall-finished-early-hundreds-of-replacement-cherry-trees-to-be-planted/

Astronomers just measured the mass of a free-floating planet without a star for the first time

Thinking this is wrong is not radical. Thinking it isn’t is.

Happy new year! My all sky camera imaged the sky every 15 seconds and this picture shows what happened in the sky in 2025. It shows the length of the night and day with the hourglass shape, the monthly lunar cycle with the diagonal bands, the elevation of the Sun at local noon, and lots of clouds.

There really is something perfect about Bernie with that heavy accent doing this while looking like some random dude who just wandered over from the nearest underground chess club.

Okay but like while that's more than many people pay for boots, it's also pretty typical for quality leather boots? Just speaking from experience as someone who was boot shopping earlier this year?

My wife has an almost mystical ability to screw up iPhones, often in ways that will persist across multiple generations of hardware. I thought she was making up the fact that her phone didn’t work (to avoid my calls) and then yesterday I watched a relatively new iPhone 15 mysteriously reboot twice.

Trump says he "saved" the Kennedy Center which allies cited to rename it after him without Congress. But ratings for the annual honors were way down, ticket sales have fallen, musicians are pulling out and shows are being canceled. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

It's worth reading the whole interview in full. It basically verifies that the NYT has spent the past decade-plus doubling down on top-down narratives for coverage, getting more intense over time. Sulzberg personally picked & chose whom the news apparatus would target and whom it would kiss up to.

Bernie Sanders publicly swears in Zohran Mamdani as NYC mayor

Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty

Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over

Mamdani took over the @NYCMayor account on Twitter but old Eric Adams tweets are still active. That means Mamdani's name and face shows up for old tweets he didn't send. You're probably going to see a lot of screenshots like this where Mamdani appears to praise Netanyahu, but they aren't by Mamdani

Thank you, and happy New Year! 🎉 Because of this community's incredible generosity, we’re starting this next chapter a little stronger. Swipe to read some of our favorite comments from donors like you. ➡️ P.S. It’s not too late to add your support. Give here: n.pr/4pCcFIx

Chief Justice John Roberts says in year-end report that the judiciary remains a constraint on political power, as the Supreme Court faces criticism that it was deferential to Trump in 2025.

Happy Public Domain Day! At the start of each year, a new set of works is freed from copyright — ready to be shared, reused, and reimagined. See our highlights — Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, Langston Hughes, William Faulkner, and many more. #publicdomain

In a story posted on New Years Day, @wsj.com‬⁩ takes a look at President Trump’s advanced age and the array of health issues he faces. Trump, in an interview, brushes it all off.

My 2026 wishes for cosmology / astronomy: (1) identifying dark matter (2) understanding the nature of dark energy (3) knowing if primordial black holes exist (4) discovering wormholes that yeet fascists to the other end of the Universe Look, it’s January 1, gotta shoot my shot

"This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime." -New York City Mayor Mamdani What a refreshingly "old-school", simple, and inspiring way to describe public office. Something you might even want your kids to hear, and hold up to them as an example and aspiration.

As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiant Nap

JACK SMITH: “Trump was getting calls from people he trusts, people he relies on, and still refused to come to the aid of the people at the Capitol — that’s very important evidence for criminal intent in our case.”

"unless you wanna get paraumpa-pum-pumped"

Early-bird ball drop across the street (from neighbors’ porch) close to 7 pm tonight. I’m making brown sugar oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

For those who prefer video: m.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-b...

Jack Smith: I'm not going to be intimidated. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

In Aug I argued that 2025 had become overall "worse" (for world and US) than 1968 fallows.substack.com/p/which-side... (Yes, of course, impossible to compare, etc etc) But 2025 is *ending* w Trump, while still dangerously destructive, visibly weakening on all fronts. 1968 ended w Nixon winning.

This is a significant setback for his dictatorial program. He wanted us to become accustomed to armed soldiers in the cities. We pushed back. Organizations brought lawsuits. The Supreme Court said he couldn't do it. Keep pushing. Never give up.

Smart

High Altitude Cooking Instructions xkcd.com/3187/

As the year draws to a close, I’m signing off 2025 with a magical find! An ancient amber bear. Carved some 10,000 years ago, it washed up on a beach at Fanø, Denmark, from a submerged Mesolithic settlement in the North Sea. ✨ Happy New Year all! ✨ National Museum of Denmark 📷 by me #Archaeology