the right wants to bait you into an argument that you don't need to have and that you will probably lose. it's important to recall what your principles are rather than just negatively polarize against whatever they're spewing
Kevin Elliott
@kjephd.bsky.social
Political theorist studying democracy, ethics, & institutions. Author of Democracy for Busy People (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo194847654.html); more at kevinjelliott.net. Generally poasting my way through this thing
Trump is going to try to redefine victory as any scenario in which traffic through Hormuz resumes—even if under Iranian control, even if with an unprecedented toll paid to the Iranian regime
Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 3h agoI can’t believe Iran saying they think they’ve got Oman on board with their plan to thwart US war aims is being treated as successful peace talks or an American accomplishment, even a little. That is crazy-making to me.
Journalism has become the art of stubbornly refusing to draw the obvious conclusion
The reason this nonsense is being reported today is that SpaceX has a bunch of stock being unlocked for sale tomorrow, and the price has been...cratering
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 3h ago$SPCX - SPACEX PLANS MOON FACTORIES POWERED BY HUMANOID ROBOTS
As someone professionally interested in how people vary in their depth of interest and engagement with things, I always thought it inevitable that those who've made chatbots integral to their lives would struggle to relate to normies who don't, and never will
The digital divide has deepened considerably in recent years, and taken on new dimensions
Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 7h agoMy answer is LOL ROFL (dickbrain) The terminally AI-pilled can't even *imagine* some people have *never* asked stochastic parrots to cheat at their job for them.
This was a nice review of a book, Emily Eakins's The Frenchmen; Or, My Life in Theory, that sounds like a partially overlapping sequel to Sarah Bakewell's excellent At the Existentialist Cafe. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The Men Who Made Theory French
French theory, as taught in American classrooms, has acquired a reputation of forbidding difficulty and hauteur. A new history seeks to surface its human side.
newyorker.com
“In other words: generative AI is catnip to the men who miss female sycophants.” @katemanne.bsky.social is provocative and insightful, as ever, with this feminist approach to AI.
A Culture Hooked on Generative AI is a Culture that Misses Female Sycophants
And we have missed a central reason why AI is a feminist issue
katemanne.substack.com
Kansas is the only red state where Democratic appointees are a majority on the state Supreme Court, and it will stay that way for years to come after voters rejected this GOP power grab in a landslide. Kansas voters have repeatedly rejected Republican attempts to ban abortion since the Dobbs ruling
Stephen Wolf@stephenwolf.bsky.social · 15h agoNEW: Voters have rejected Republicans' scheme to unseat the Kansas Supreme Court's Dem-appointed majority and overturn abortion rights. Amendment 1 would have let the GOP replace the system of a nominating commission, gubernatorial appointment, and retention elections with direct partisan elections
They know voters hate this shit. So they wait until Blanche has the votes for Collins to come out against him. So she can claim to be a moderate. So she gets reelected. So she can spend the next two years voting for more Todd Blanches.
Collins Watch@collinswatch.bsky.social · 19h agoSusan comes out against Todd Blanche now that he's got the votes. So tiresome. (We called it: tinyurl.com/3bepafkz) #MEpolitics
I’m afraid the Persian Gulf is rapidly going to come to resemble the Cuyahoga river before the EPA.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 19h agoAn oil spill from a sanctioned tanker off Oman is expanding dramatically, reaching shorelines and spreading far out to sea.
So, moments like this are why disgusting scandals like this one have traditionally involved the scandalee just resigning immediately. When they don't, every press availability becomes centrally about asking leaders where they stand on the disgusting scandal--in cases like this, of their co-partisan.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 22h agoRAJU: Sen. Moreno is calling for Max Miller to resign. Do you side w/Moreno? THUNE: It's a family matter &, um, I don't have any observations beyond that Q: If a member of Congress is facing domestic abuse allegations, should they continue to serve? T: It's a House matter. It's a family issue too
The workaround many state & local governments have been forced to deploy because they can't hire quickly, or even at all, has been to contract out with private-sector consultants & pay them way more than they would if they were in-house.
Todd Tucker@toddntucker.com · 6d ago5. Sara Meyers - formerly of the CHIPS office - walks through a problem that gets too little attention: how to hire staff quickly and competently into government roles, and retain high performers. The public won't trust a government that can't execute. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Hiring quickly is going to be one of the absolutely essential buidling blocks. The biggest barrier to firing any bad actor in govt (and elsewhere in my experience) is how hard it is and how long it takes to get a replacement. And there will be a lot of people we need to replace
Todd Tucker@toddntucker.com · 6d ago5. Sara Meyers - formerly of the CHIPS office - walks through a problem that gets too little attention: how to hire staff quickly and competently into government roles, and retain high performers. The public won't trust a government that can't execute. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
"Give us back the outside" seems like a nice Abundance-adjacent project—what's more abundant than the outdoors?—& partakes of boatloads of a healthy nostalgia for a time when we could go for walks in the near-wild without risking debilitating illness.
Kevin Elliott@kjephd.bsky.social · 22h agoIf tick eradication becomes a centrist-brained obsession, I'm here for it gift link: www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
If tick eradication becomes a centrist-brained obsession, I'm here for it gift link: www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
Kill the Ticks
America needs a bigger plan to control its tick problem.
theatlantic.com
It’s so funny and tragic that people don’t see higher Ed as an export sector and anyway the USA is scooping its brains out at the moment
"...we have no alternative but to take his word." In addition to not confirming him, you could promise to support his impeachment, removal, & disqualification from office if he breaks his word.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayCornyn: "As to the idea it could be revived in the future, I think it's highly unlikely that could happen without the cooperation of the DOJ. And I think Mr Blanche gave us the assurances that it was dead and would not be revived and in this case we have no alternative but to take his word" 🙃
I actually think that the confusion over this question—the mistaken idea that perverts and preachers have opposing projects—is responsible for a lot of the stagnated and remedial quality of sexual politics discourses.
Moira Donegan@moiradonegan.bsky.social · yesterdayThere’s no contradiction between this kind of pornographic misogyny and puritanical misogyny of the old Christian right. Both use sexuality to enact men’s domination over women. That one sect forces sex and the other prohibits it is largely a matter of taste.
Data are clear: Speed safety cameras are arguably the fastest, most effective, most affordable way to cut traffic fatalities
David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · yesterdayA story of cause and effect: Last November, Ontario banned cities from using speed safety cameras to issue tickets. Reckless speeding immediately surged in Toronto, Ottawa, Guelph, and cities throughout the province. A 🧵 about my latest in Bloomberg (gift link)
Philip Tetlock wrote a whole book, followed up by a big-name research project (Superforecasting), trying to figure out what made someone good at prediction (which is not IMO the same thing as judgment, expertise, or wisdom). Writing the same column—from the same viewpoint—every week isn't part of it
Expert Political Judgment - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Andrew Lawrence@ndrew.bsky.social · yesterdaythere is an entire industry of people who give their opinion or predict how things are going to go and their entire job is to be correct are they ever correct? rarely. are there repercussions for being wrong, the thing they are being paid not to be? haha no, no there are not
And this in *spite* of the current goverment which is devoted to supporting the fossil fuel status quo by rolling back measures from the Greens in the past govt.
Simon Evans@drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · last wk.Wind and solar have just overtaken fossil-fuel power in Germany www.carbonbrief.org/...
At this point, Thom Tillis has nothing left to lose but his principles, so he made sure to toss them overboard too.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayTillis admits Trump is weaponizing the DOJ during his speech announcing he'll vote for Todd Blanche: "Maybe it's a little bit more intense in this administration than the last one ... I'm going to support Mr Blanche's nomination"
Look, they're not gonna stop doing it until it stops working
Kevin Elliott@kjephd.bsky.social · yesterdayTrump's about used up his power to shift markets with his lies, so now Bessant's relatively fresh reputation is on tap for strip mining
Trump's about used up his power to shift markets with his lies, so now Bessant's relatively fresh reputation is on tap for strip mining
CNBC@cnbc.com · yesterdayBessent says there may be deal Tuesday or Wednesday to open Strait of Hormuz with ‘freedom of movement’