Absolutely unbelievable how solar power has taken off worldwide during the Hormuz oil crisis. You don't have to hand it to him, but Trump may have done more to finally kick off a global civilization of effete librul solar users than anyone else in the West

"astrology forecast"? isn't astrology itself a forecast? is this like a second-order astrology derivative

Jesse Walker@notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d ago

I'm pretty sure this is a first for me: At 36:10, these guys do an astrological analysis of my appearance last month on PBS.

So under this Supreme Court's treatment of U.S. law and presidential power, Joe Biden couldn't forgove my student loans, but perhaps Donald Trump can forgive his own tax debt. Wild.

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d ago

FLAG: Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons, and the Trump Organization under the new 'deal' struck by Todd Blanche. The new order also reaffirms that Trump won't have to pay any taxes he might have owed the IRS.

It seems relevant that the thing Isaiah is being sent to do in that passage is to deliver a prophecy of doom to his own people for having fallen away from the path of righteousness. So if these guys were like, Isaiah, that would be robustly bad news for...the United States.

Matt Thiessen@mattthiessen.bsky.social · 3d ago

American Christianity in one social media post.

The outcome of many decades of campaigning by Siraya people and a milestone for indigenous reconciliation in Taiwan. The PRC rejects the concept of indigenous and defines all 17 tribes as a single "ethnic minority" and would dismantle all this if it annexed Taiwan. focustaiwan.tw/society/2026...

Cabinet officially recognizes Siraya as Taiwan's 17th Indigenous tribe - Focus Taiwan

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Thursday approved the official recognition of the Siraya as one of Taiwan's Indigenous tribes, making it the country's 17th officially recognized tribe and the first Plai...

focustaiwan.tw

I saw The Odyssey today and I know I'm a bit late to the discourse but my feeling is that Emily Wilson's critique of the movie is mostly correct but also it's still a must-see film

obviously Mitch McConnell is physically fine but has just started watching One Piece

I bet jared polis is really proud of that commutation now

Alex Kaplan@alkapdc.bsky.social · 6d ago

An additional scoop within this piece: Tina Peters on a podcast said that in her Oval Office meeting with Trump she urged him to fire members of the Election Assistance Commission, which he subsequently did.

starting a collection of quotes like this

It's tempting to ascribe this entirely to American cultural influence but I can't help but notice that Mao's thought also has a focus on using guilt and self-criticism to develop right moral mindset. To the extent that guilt in American leftism has Protestant origins, it is not uniquely Protestant.

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · last wk.

Hot take: A certain kind of American leftism is deeply culturally Protestant, even if it disbelieves in God, because of its preeminent focus on having the right inner mindset and intention and feeling properly guilty about one's moral failings to live up to a certain standard.

Why has DSA grown? One argument from this research: not just ideology, but organization. Strong membership plus ongoing and continuous participation in social movements creates credibility, committed volunteers, political skills, and durable electoral capacity. www.niskanencenter.org/inside-the-d...

Inside the Democratic Socialist uprising - Niskanen Center

Candidates affiliated with (or sympathetic to) the Democratic Socialists of America (the DSA) have recently won several Democratic primaries.

niskanencenter.org

Larry laid his mouse in front of the press to be photographed. Lest you ask, this is a real photograph via the Press Association.

I think people would be a lot more normal about economists if we made everyone take a development economics class

Why did OpenAI make their marketing look like the three kingdoms of glory from LDS theology

OpenAI {bot}@openaibot.bsky.social · 4w ago

GPT-5.6 Sol, along with Terra and Luna, will launch publicly this Thursday. We’re expanding preview access globally now.

My suspicion is that this measurement is either from a malfunctioning sensor or a sensor that is essentially having smoke pumped into it in some way. I checked the major AQI sensor aggregators and the only one to have this sensor is PurpleAir, which shows most of Minneapolis as in the 50-60 range.

Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫@lookitup.baby · 3w ago

I don’t even understand this AQI. That’s too many

Because i was asked for it and the only answer I could give was "The Cambridge History of China" Does anyone have any good pop history/historical novel recommendations for someone that wants to start getting into Chinese History?

Survey Statistics: quantifying uncertainty in ranked choice voting polls statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2026/07/14/s...

i’m sorry but ‘literally died of hard heartedness’ is the most hack writing yet in an already weak season

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 3w ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lindsey Graham died from aorta rupture stemming from hardening of arteries: preliminary finding from medical examiner.

When someone tells you it has always been this bad, the correct response is to point out that the Voting Rights Act passed with 98 votes in the Senate in 2006 and its main sponsor was a Republican who worked with the ACLU to build a comprehensive record in defense of its most “controversial” parts

NERV IRB Coordinator@professormusgrave.bsky.social · 4w ago

There’s such a tendency for people to say “oh it’s always been that bad” to people who are vastly more informed and are saying things have changed. It’s like pointing to the smoldering ashes of a city and being informed that buildings have always caught fire

🧵This story is insane in so many ways that others are more qualified to analyze. Can only add that viz US foreign policy, Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, acting as viceroy of Venezuela is derelict, unconscionable, & impeachable. The SecState's time is scarce, valuable, and not outsourcable. 1/

Kai Ryssdal@kairyssdal.bsky.social · 4w ago

Think. About. This. The U.S. Treasury receives the revenue from most of Venezuela’s exports, then disburses it gradually to Venezuela through the country’s private banks…. Mr. Rubio and his team set the conditions on what that money can be spent on, and by whom. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...

Think. About. This. The U.S. Treasury receives the revenue from most of Venezuela’s exports, then disburses it gradually to Venezuela through the country’s private banks…. Mr. Rubio and his team set the conditions on what that money can be spent on, and by whom. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...

How Marco Rubio is Running Venezuela From Afar

The secretary of state effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government. His grip on the country is a vivid manifestation of American power in th...

nytimes.com

the plot thickens: Ma Guangyue is the *second* deputy director of the Shugang-Slender West Lake Scenic Area to be investigated by the Yangzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision in *four months*. A noted hive of scum and villainy. m.163.com/dy/article/K...

BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 4w ago

oh yeah that's the stuff. what did our boy here do to abuse his power as deputy director of a scenic lake area? suggestions welcome

it once again bears repeating: that platner is even a candidate is because this guy, who was run out of Pittsburgh for recruiting/managing multiple candidates accused of DV/SA, who himself has allegations against him, recruited platner he should be blacklisted until the end of time

public health guy@publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 4w ago

this guy also needs to just not be allowed near democratic politics ever again. same with everyone who thought any of this was a good idea

I found that a local Shakespeare company did A Midsummar Night's Dream on ANIMAL CROSSING and you can watch it on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLSj...

A Midsummer Night's Dream... on Animal Crossing! - The Grassroots Shakespeare Company

YouTube video by Grassroots Shakespeare

youtube.com

I love the irony of requiring a class that plays up the benefits of personal liberty.

Do they really believe any college student will attend a mandatory lecture by a CEO called "Why Capitalism Rocks!" and come away from it with their political and economic views changed? Or that students have their current views because a countervailing lecture by someone else installed it into them?

Robert Komaniecki@komaniecki.bsky.social · last mo.

This is an actual screenshot from the syllabus for this class. Beyond parody

I took this screenshot from the other course offered by University of Iowa's "Center for Intellectual Freedom." The lecturer is a former Republican house member who supported the "Contract with America" in 1994. Not guaranteed to be right wing propaganda, but sheesh.

Robert Komaniecki@komaniecki.bsky.social · last mo.

This is an actual screenshot from the syllabus for this class. Beyond parody

Another example of how useful {geomtextpath} can be, imho. This is from the item category probability plot in my {easyRasch2} package. Most psychometric papers within the factor analytic tradition seem to disregard evaluating how the response scale works, which I find difficult to understand.

we know how many non-resident women born in China have babies in the US every year: it's in the very low hundreds. Racist paranoids tend to use the much larger figure of *U.S. residents* born in China who have babies, which is in the low ten thousands.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claims Chinese women are traveling to the United States with "one week" left in their pregnancy to give birth