Ambition and words shine abundantly in The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form. https://improbable.com/2026/10/13/the-omnificent-english-dictionary-in-limerick-form/

What actual DOJ weaponization looks like. We are very far off the cliff.

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s residence searched as part of ongoing criminal investigation, DOJ says

A Department of Justice spokesperson said the search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

abcnews.com

Techniques of Successful Con Men: Find a reason to pardon people, no matter what they have done. A headline in The Existentialist Republic, on May 15, 2026, says: “Untangling the Trump Crime Family’s Multi-Billion Dollar Pardon Market.— It’s all out in the open […] [Original post on mstdn.science]

"So now, after more than a decade of pretending that he is not associated with Russia and that he would honor the U.S. national security position of support for Ukraine and our European allies, Trump is openly backing Russia’s president Vladimir Putin." [Heather Cox Richardson] […]

#WellWrittenHeadline: "Justice Department Hired Criminals as Veteran Employees Fled"

Servelan@servelan.newsie.social.ap.brid.gy · 6d ago

Justice Department Hired Criminals as Veteran Employees Fled | The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/post/216315/justice-department-hired-criminals-veteran-employees-fled

The people who have command of the US government further extend their warm welcome to visitors: ' Effective October 1, the Department of State will broaden its online presence review to cover applicants in the following additional nonimmigrant visa classifications: I (foreign media […]

The Festival of Looting & Destruction further loosens its hinges and speeds up its uninspected roller-coasters, promising free money to everyone who survives the ride and immediately gives birth. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-6-2026

October 6, 2026

Judging from his social media posts, Trump is panicking.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Yup, a thousandfold: "A Crazy Rant Isn’t a ‘Speech’ or an ‘Interview’... By lopping off his full replies and interweaving explanatory narrative, reporters often wind up sanitizing Trump’s babbling, as TIME did." […]

“Quantification of Scalp Hair — A Computer-Aided Methodology". Hair counters count hairs. Scalp-hair counters can and maybe should celebrate that this year, 2026, is the fortieth anniversary year of the publication of one of the most treasured studies of how to […] [Original post on mstdn.science]

Techniques of Successful Con Men: Realize that everyone can profit if you have a forgiving nature. A June 24, 2026 headline by CBS News says “A Trump-linked firm is lobbying for pardons. Its first client already paid $500,000” […] [Original post on mstdn.science]

People believe he has no #empathy This news headline makes clear the empathy he does have: 'Trump says ‘I feel badly’ for accused Cornell gang rapists because his nemesis is investigating them' [news report in The Independent] […]

Watch for King-Canute-of-the-Golden-Arches to insist this is not happening: 'With so many elements stacking on top of one another to increase ocean heights, it’s “highly probable” that California will soon witness its highest sea levels ever recorded, Dr. Merrifield said.' [NY Times report] […]

Now that you mention it, yup: 'Time magazine today released a “lightly edited” transcript of an interview their senior political correspondent Eric Cortellessa and editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs conducted with Trump... The interview reveals a man unable to answer questions coherently, obsessed with […]

ETIQUETTE QUESTION: Is there any reason to be polite to six people who have the power to screw you over, and persistently for years have been screwing you over? [Asking for 350,000,000 friends] NY TIMES report: "as the Supreme Court has reshaped American life and handed more power to President […]

In other words, most of my dog is a cat: "Most of today’s higher prices are Biden-era inflation" https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/10/01/trumps-economy-is-strong-so-why-are-voters-so-sour/

A New Appreciation of Bill Lipscomb, Chemist and Theatrical Performer https://improbable.com/2026/10/01/a-new-appreciation-of-bill-lipscomb-chemist-and-theatrical-performer/

"I am pleased to have been proved wrong. It is a delight to discover how many different enthusiasms exist in the world. I am not buying what Bad Girl Books is selling, but that is not the point: others are purring with satisfaction, and that’s good enough for me" [Tim Harford] […]

Élodie Chabrol parle des prix Ig Nobel sur Radio France. https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/la-science-cqfd/remise-des-ig-nobel-temperature-du-t-rex-atmosphere-de-venus-et-discriminations-dans-la-recherche-5650485

RE: https://newsie.social/@servelan/117360853562759186 The Golden Law of Technology: if anyone can be persuaded to purchase it, it must be marketed and sold. (NOTE: The law is valid for all values of "it".)

Servelan@servelan.newsie.social.ap.brid.gy · 2w ago

Six-Month Trial of Live Facial Recognition in London Railway Stations Nets Zero Suspects https://gizmodo.com/six-month-trial-of-live-facial-recognition-in-london-railway-stations-nets-zero-suspects-2000819264

RE: https://glammr.us/@overholt/117360071668182839 Computers will make our lives and work easier, and closer to carefree.

Politicians’ Fervent Boosts to Medical Education (Hooray for the Florida measles outbreak!) https://improbable.com/2026/09/30/politicians-fervent-boosts-to-medical-education/

Politicians’ Fervent Boosts to Medical Education

“Florida’s proposal to remove school vaccine mandates arrives at a moment when measles vaccination coverage in the state has fallen below the level needed to prevent sustained outbreaks. Using a mathematical model, we show that repealing the mandate could trigger the largest measles epidemic in the United States in nearly half a century, with projected pediatric deaths numbering in the hundreds within five years.” So says a new study, “**Projected effects of removing school-entry vaccination requirements on measles transmission in Florida** ,” _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_ , vol. 123, no. 40, 2026, article e2610455123. This indirectly builds on the work done by earlier politicians — work that is proving ever more educational to scientists, doctors, and dying people, if not to other politicians. The **2020 Ig Nobel Medicine Prize** was awarded to the leaders of nine nations, for using the Covid-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can. ### Share this: * Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon * Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky *

improbable.com

"Florida’s proposal to remove school vaccine mandates arrives at a moment when measles vaccination coverage in the state has fallen below the level needed to prevent sustained outbreaks. Using a mathematical model, we show that repealing the mandate could trigger the largest measles epidemic in […]

UCL East Lunch Houre Lecture Oct 21 with the art historian Nick Robbins about William Ramsay: The Man, The Gas, and the Bicycle. We'll try to frame the discovery of neon it both in terms of science, art/culture generally, and geopolitics as neon moved from curiosity to metaphor and to industrial […]

RE: https://newsie.social/@estherschindler/117355512608778482 Under carefully limited conditions, and for the specific limited aspects that were measured and reported. At a AAAS Annual Meeting a few years ago, the research heads of several car companies were asked about prospects for unlimited […]

If you want to understand everything, you can begin or end [or begin *and* end] your journey here, in this study https://improbable.com/2026/09/29/everything-explained-all-at-once-in-one-paper-sort-of/

Rejecting the ads for Musk’s documentary is bringing more attention to it than if they just let the ads run. Hilarious.

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@ela/117341602452393022 An uncelebrated aspect of the phrase "it takes a village".

Techniques of Successful Con Men: Make sure that none of your activities will lead to legal problems. A headline from CNN, on July 13, 2026, says: “Rubio vows to ‘dismantle’ International Criminal Court — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday vowed to […] [Original post on mstdn.science]

"As his job approval numbers continue to decline and as individuals and the courts try to stop his unlawful actions, Trump is pushing ever harder to cement his power." #Cement #Head #Leadership https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-26-2026

September 26, 2026

Trump’s war on the free press is continuing.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

I'm so old, I remember when software that spread into the wild and infiltrated other people's computers and did harmful things to them that the users didn't ask it to was called "malware" instead of "AI" and the people that spread it were prosecuted instead of given billions in venture capital […]