Reposted by Jens Stevens
This is as easy a test of your belief in the American system as is conceivable: Should this be an acceptable argument from a president?
December 23, 2025 at 11:59 AM
This is as easy a test of your belief in the American system as is conceivable: Should this be an acceptable argument from a president?
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Susan Cooper, who wrote the solstice poem "The Shortest Day," collaborated with illustrator Carson Ellis on a new picture book.
From the NPR archives.
From the NPR archives.
Happy winter solstice! At last, we've made it to 'The Shortest Day'
Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Susan Cooper, who wrote the solstice poem "The Shortest Day," collaborated with illustrator Carson Ellis on a new picture book.
n.pr
December 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Susan Cooper, who wrote the solstice poem "The Shortest Day," collaborated with illustrator Carson Ellis on a new picture book.
From the NPR archives.
From the NPR archives.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
support independent media. idk what else to say right now.
December 22, 2025 at 3:24 AM
support independent media. idk what else to say right now.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica
YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official
m.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Yes, it’s illegal. Like changing it to Department of War, like ten thousand other things. Part of the Trump strategy is to break the law and convey “the rule of law is weak and feminine and laughable and should be overridden by Our Guy.” Trump is fundamentally anti-law.
/1
/1
NEWS: They're adding Trump's name to the Kennedy Center building right now. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Kennedy Center adds Trump’s name to building
The signage change follows a vote by the board of trustees to rename the performing arts complex the Trump Kennedy Center.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Yes, it’s illegal. Like changing it to Department of War, like ten thousand other things. Part of the Trump strategy is to break the law and convey “the rule of law is weak and feminine and laughable and should be overridden by Our Guy.” Trump is fundamentally anti-law.
/1
/1
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Not to be all “best sports city in the world!” but Boston rarely proves otherwise
December 20, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Not to be all “best sports city in the world!” but Boston rarely proves otherwise
Reposted by Jens Stevens
1. First, let's talk about the elephant in the room that he doesn't mention explicitly but haunts the whole piece: climate change is real, we've overshot the goal and the only way to turn the corner is to leave fossil fuel in the ground. To ignore that is to talk about rocketry and ignore gravity.
December 20, 2025 at 2:59 PM
1. First, let's talk about the elephant in the room that he doesn't mention explicitly but haunts the whole piece: climate change is real, we've overshot the goal and the only way to turn the corner is to leave fossil fuel in the ground. To ignore that is to talk about rocketry and ignore gravity.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Trump Still Polling Well With Working-Class American Pedophiles
theonion.com/trump-still-...
theonion.com/trump-still-...
December 19, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Trump Still Polling Well With Working-Class American Pedophiles
theonion.com/trump-still-...
theonion.com/trump-still-...
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Doctors and children's hospitals say nothing in the evidence has changed to justify the Trump administration's efforts to ban gender-affirming care for teens and tweens. n.pr/4pMl0tF
Trump's push to end transgender care for young people opposed by pediatricians
Doctors and children's hospitals say nothing in the evidence has changed to justify the Trump administration's efforts to ban gender-affirming care for teens and tweens.
n.pr
December 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Doctors and children's hospitals say nothing in the evidence has changed to justify the Trump administration's efforts to ban gender-affirming care for teens and tweens. n.pr/4pMl0tF
Reposted by Jens Stevens
I know the proliferation of references to non-existent papers, powered by genAI, is getting less surprising and shocking but it doesn't make it any less potentially corrosive to the scholarly knowledge environment.
December 19, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I know the proliferation of references to non-existent papers, powered by genAI, is getting less surprising and shocking but it doesn't make it any less potentially corrosive to the scholarly knowledge environment.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Reposted by Jens Stevens
If we don’t rein this in, in one generation young people will lose the ability to think critically and synthetically. For my part, my next class all assignments will be done in-class on paper and will not allow electronic note taking. I’m sure my course evals will be entertaining.
December 15, 2025 at 3:27 PM
If we don’t rein this in, in one generation young people will lose the ability to think critically and synthetically. For my part, my next class all assignments will be done in-class on paper and will not allow electronic note taking. I’m sure my course evals will be entertaining.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
December 15, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Elon's little serfs are quite literally begging journalists to come back because every publicly available source of data shows people have fled the platform and young people won't use it.
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
They are literally begging regular people to come back. Don't do it! It is a website by and for actual Nazis!
Reposted by Jens Stevens
NEW: Chemical industry lobbyists have long pushed the government to adopt a less stringent approach to gauging the cancer risk from chemicals, one that would help ease regulations on companies that make or use them.
They finally got their wish.
They finally got their wish.
Trump EPA Nearly Doubles Threshold for Safe Formaldehyde Exposure
Chemical industry lobbyists have long pushed the government to adopt a less stringent approach to gauging the cancer risk from chemicals, one that would help ease regulations on companies that make or use them.
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM
NEW: Chemical industry lobbyists have long pushed the government to adopt a less stringent approach to gauging the cancer risk from chemicals, one that would help ease regulations on companies that make or use them.
They finally got their wish.
They finally got their wish.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Remember when we did not have a government where the President personally intervened in regulatory decisions to demand political favors?
TL;DR: Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reportedly discussed the company's $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. with President Trump, raising questions about federal regulatory approval amid competition from Paramount.
Netflix co-CEO reportedly discussed Warner Bros. deal with Trump | TechCrunch
Will Netflix’s $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. get approval from federal regulators? While Paramount was assumed to be the frontrunner to
techcrunch.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Remember when we did not have a government where the President personally intervened in regulatory decisions to demand political favors?
Reposted by Jens Stevens
a billionaire who sees undermining political sovereignty as an alternative to paying a relatively minor fine is a problem that will have to be dealt with eventually
Elon Musk is against the European Union being the European Union —he posted this after X (fka Twitter) was fined for violations of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
December 6, 2025 at 8:53 PM
a billionaire who sees undermining political sovereignty as an alternative to paying a relatively minor fine is a problem that will have to be dealt with eventually
Reposted by Jens Stevens
See also the upper rungs of the legal profession and the tech world. People literally get offended if you suggest that there's a difference between what's good for their career and what's morally permissible, and that sometimes the two are mutually exclusive.
December 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
See also the upper rungs of the legal profession and the tech world. People literally get offended if you suggest that there's a difference between what's good for their career and what's morally permissible, and that sometimes the two are mutually exclusive.
Reposted by Jens Stevens
I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
December 4, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Building light rail along I-5 instead of 99 was a 100 year mistake
“Star Lake Station is located between I-5, its own parking garage, and the McSorley Creek Wetlands. There are no new or active multifamily or mixed active projects in its station area.”
Homebuilding activity is anemic near the three Sound Transit light rail stations opening this month in South King County. The Urbanist reviews the 3,000-plus homes in the development pipeline, and explores the obstacles standing in the way.
Story: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/f...
Story: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/f...
December 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Building light rail along I-5 instead of 99 was a 100 year mistake
Reposted by Jens Stevens
a win over the lakers deserves a jersey
December 6, 2025 at 2:26 AM
a win over the lakers deserves a jersey
Reposted by Jens Stevens
The most important line in a solid piece by @iandunt.bsky.social
"And yet for all its flaws, Bluesky offers something which is becoming vanishingly rare in the modern world: a vision of life without the algorithm. What I see is what I have chosen to see. We own our own destiny on Bluesky."
"And yet for all its flaws, Bluesky offers something which is becoming vanishingly rare in the modern world: a vision of life without the algorithm. What I see is what I have chosen to see. We own our own destiny on Bluesky."
Thank God for Bluesky
A little love letter to the people who would not compromise with Nazis.
iandunt.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:23 PM
The most important line in a solid piece by @iandunt.bsky.social
"And yet for all its flaws, Bluesky offers something which is becoming vanishingly rare in the modern world: a vision of life without the algorithm. What I see is what I have chosen to see. We own our own destiny on Bluesky."
"And yet for all its flaws, Bluesky offers something which is becoming vanishingly rare in the modern world: a vision of life without the algorithm. What I see is what I have chosen to see. We own our own destiny on Bluesky."
Reposted by Jens Stevens
Counterpoint:
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration. n.pr/48E1oko
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments in birthright citizenship challenge
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration.
n.pr
December 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Counterpoint:
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).