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Co-founder: Calx Institute. @calxinstitute.social.bsky Physicist, writer, learning to play jazz on cello. Co-steward of https://getdweb.net/principles/ ... values for the Web we deserve.
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Angel Island is like a west-coast Ellis Island but its job was to imprison, not welcome, immigrants; to enforce the Asian Exclusion Act, and to create a place of cold comfort for immigrants. It's a chilling place to visit, even on a hot day.
Pertinent advice from a century ago, inscribed by a detained would be-immigrant into the walls of the Detention Center at Angel Island, near San Francisco. I visited it, again, this weekend. (more in ALT text and one follow-on note)
My cello looks great. Even when I play it.
Yup. Our old stove quit (its control board fried and the maker no longer supported it and repairing the board would have cost . . .) Got an induction stove. Shocked, still, at how fast it heats, and how clean our kitchen now is. Fast: you can sear a steak in a pan on it within a minute or so.
Thanks. (but you haven't heard me play 'cello)
San Francisco Bay this morning.
Motivation isn't cutting it for me. Instead, the muscle memory of doing things. Move forward. Bird by bird. (as @annelamott.bsky.social wrote)
Note: the data for India, China and Japan use low plug numbers for SSRI use since availability is limited and data are unreliable.
Well, lots of data available on these so, shouldn't take long to establish the absence of linkage. (Note: I only took 20 minutes to scrape data and visualize, caveat lector) public.flourish.studio/visualisatio...
A brushback pitch "'is a pitch thrown close enough to the batter to intimidate him.' That’s a fair description of the lawsuit the Trump administration aimed at all 15 of the federal district court judges in Maryland in their personal, not just official, capacities." New from me at Cato.
Ceasefires do not only matter because they pause the killing. They can also signal acceptance that a war will not have a military resolution
This is the single biggest problem with our food system. It is absurdly inefficient. Less than half of what we grow ends up on our plates. Great work by Paul West and other Project Drawdown colleagues. www.newscientist.com/article/2493...
And a few more years of Rancho Diablo. My general line: the sun's going to shine and the moon/sun/earth gravity dance will continue for the next 2 billion or so years. So, focus on capturing solar, wind and tidal energy and it becomes effectively free. Nations that do that will win.
I wrote more about Trump's Intel "deal." I think it's a taking and here's why. www.techdirt.com/2025/08/26/w...
5. Copious competition from onshore wind and at-scale solar with robust supply chains. 6. Calif. is likely to achieve >80% reliance on solar + wind + battery faster than floating turbines could be put in place. Happy to hear corrections.
Oakland, SF, etc. are deepwater but bridges make turbine / tower transport difficult or infeasible 3. Harder transport from fabricators - mostly on Atlantic coast - unless we think Chinese turbines will be okay. 4. Marine life. The west coast near shore is a migration path for whales. /1 more
Even under a wind-friendly administration offshore wind for California is much harder than on the east coast. Reasons: 1. Abbreviated shelf: you can reach >1000 feet depth really close to shore (except by LA) 2. Few deepwater ports that can support turbines / towers (really only LA). / 2 more
Take this clip and a camera onto the streets of Paris you'd have a feature-length documentary of caustic sneers and icy stares.
O, I'd love to know more about that!
🔥
I debated writing this. It can feel tempting, upon encountering yet another instance of this administration’s racism, to let it be. How many ways can you say the same thing over and over again? And yet we have to write it down, if for nothing else, so those who come after us know we were against it.
Listen to some of the best independent and community radio stations in the US: ldial (Plus- Spam) Tune in: roughlydaily.com/2025/08/22/n...
Not just fiction. Last year, I started reading "An Immense World" by @edyong209.bsky.social and about 40 pages in I paused. Went back to page one. Resumed reading, this time considering each narrative, vignette, the way that an art afficionado spends significant time mulling each piece.
In which we discover the truth of the axiom of the flap of a butterfly's wings causing a hurricane. Maura = butterfly.
Ye Goode and Anciente Art of making the bredde from yeasts in yr foreste. A bread thread
Post: www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/18/t...
Am I correct in assuming this is an inelastic calculation that applies if, and only if, consumers bought the same imported things at the same rate at the new increased prices?
So, I'm doing some analysis comparing ethically and non-ethically sourced products and having to type in 40% (+/-) import duties on goods coming in from China was wild. Unsure what's next: low demand from {uncertainty + unemployment} + increased prices due to duties = stagflation?
I posted a thread / update to my note responding to those who pointed out my historical inaccuracies, to whom I offer thanks.
against the horrors of slave trading. It's still an astounding painting - to me - and those today who rail against the Smithsonian (etc.) for pointing out the horrors of history need this image, and more. It was atrocity upon atrocity, from one side of the ocean to the other. / end
For instance, there appear iron chains on the surface of the roiling sea. The painting arrived in the US, where it remains, in 1872. It did not predate abolition in Britain or emancipation and the Civil War in the US. But it did land in both countries, delivering a gut-punch message 3/4
and even allowed British ships to intercept slave ships sailing under other flags. It's also been criticized for lots of reasons but its subject, and composition - putting the dying slaves at the front of the image - were radical. It fails on literal credibility. 2/4
Correction: I posted a note about Turner's painting The Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhon coming on) as pointing to some horrors of the slavery industry. It may have helped cement anti-slavery emotions but Britain had abolished slavery decades earlier 1 /4
Is this the same Mr. Trump convicted for 34 charges of falsifying business records?
Conversely, surely, those who lead in this, those who took pledges to ally with a president, over the constitution, should be stripped of their citizenship.
I wish I could edit the post but ah! In London, the push was on for universal abolition, which would enable British ships to interdict slave ships on the open seas.
Donald T or a real 6'3", 215-pound man
Among other things, two million slaves died BEFORE even getting to the New World. www.statista.com/statistics/1...
Here's a piece that helped bring those horrors to the front in pre-abolition London: Turner's 1840 painting "the Slave Ship" or "Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhon coming on" Painting is now in Boston's MFA. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sla...
The unity among EU leaders in today’s virtual Summit was palpable. Everyone is committed to a lasting peace that protects both Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.
Do you have burning questions about drone technology - such as "can I shoot a drone if it's bothering me"? I answer at least some of those questions in my new FAQ on drones, which I'll be uploading periodically: little-flying-robots.ghost.io/i-answer-som...
Last week, Boston received a letter from AG Bondi threatening to prosecute officials and withhold funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations. The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.
When there was positive economic data under Biden, the New York Times told us to worry, with headlines like: “Why a Strong U.S. Economy Is Making Stock Investors Jittery” and “Inflation Has Been Easing Fast, but Wild Cards Lie Ahead” But when there is worrisome data under Trump, NYT reassures us:
On one side are Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and other such states. On the other: Ukraine, Poland, Britain, Canada, Taiwan, etc. Where is the United States in this? Neutral, at best? A mind-boggling juncture in history.
Dickens wrote often on hunger: "Hunger was shred into atomics in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil." From A Tale of Two Cities www.goodreads.com/quotes/92523...
I’m sure there are black holes out in space that watch the entropic moral collapse of Marco Rubio’s principles with complete envy
It's monday morning, which means I have done the thing I do, again www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...
Late last night I mapped crime rates for cities in OH, SC and WV to show how often they exceeded the rate in DC — where those states’ governors are sending National Guard troops to “combat crime.” www.pbump.net/o/more-peopl...
1. You may have noticed something. I used to talk about the president’s dementia pretty regularly, but haven’t in months. That’s because I’ve lost faith. I used to believe the Washington press corps would see the plainly obvious. I no longer believe that. The hypocrisy is too baked in.
There’s no longer any pretense this has anything to do with crime (there are cities or parts of cities in SC and Ohio that have higher crime rates than DC — send the troops there!). This is about establishing a precedent for Trump seizing control of the nation’s capital when he wants to.
So both Putin and Trump went to an AF Base in Alaska. Each had a set of demands. Trump accepted all of Putin's demands and then said he would convince Ukraine and Europe to accept them. And both then went home. Do I have this right?
CHIEF: I’ll need your badge and your service weapon. ME: [puts a badge and a Quiznos Turkey Ranch Swiss on the desk] CHIEF: Both of ‘em. ME: [hesitates then bends over and unstraps a McRib from my ankle]
the trump administration is selling its war on higher education as a strike against the elites who have disadvantaged ordinary americans. in actuality, the administration is destroying advanced education for *everyone* in pursuit of its effort to deskill the american public
It was a Nothing Hamberder! #TrumpPutin #AlaskaSummit
Today, a hero came by our home. It was his home 35 or more years ago. We had a great visit. Who is this? Rusty Schweikart, Apollo 9 astronaut, first pilot of the Lunar Landing Module - and then post-NASA, an advisor to the California Governor.
I find myself thinking about historian Robert Paxton’s 2004 definition of fascism far too often than I’d like these days. Note that these sentences were written back when Donald Trump was a NYC playboy libertine who donated to Democrats.
A friend, not on Bsky, imports batteries. He reported seeing large-scale conversion of some Li-ion factories to Na- . Is that what Peak is seeing / anticipating?
Heron on neighbor's float. Sausalito, Calif.
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
Yup The next years that are prime numbers are 2027 and 2029. Then wait a decade: 2039. . . . . . . 2053, 2063
In outlining his reason for a national program of social insurance, FDR stated: "It is our plain duty to provide for that security upon which welfare depends." We lay out why that goal is as essential today: #ProtectSocialSecurity 1/3 🧵 rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/what-do...
I'm wondering if I inherited my father's inherent clumsiness. Two weeks ago, in the flattest part of California (the Sacramento delta), I found a rock to twist my knee on.
Read my latest:
#lawsky Are any SCOTUS practitioners following me? I have a question, would love to chat real quick. And, actually, I have a second question: are there any good SCOTUS printers out there to replace Cockle so I don't have to use CounselPress?
SFO. . . Yes, it's well laid out, clean, good (sometimes*really* good) food. But best of all, it's quiet. Announcements are few, localized, intelligible and quiet.
For those saying, "We're approaching martial law," no. We are not APPROACHING martial law. Martial law is when laws are enforced by the military. National Guard is a military, and they are now law enforcement in D.C. D.C. is officially under martial law. Full stop. It is a military police state.
How will Trump’s attacks affect higher education? Let’s look to history Germany's universities were the world's premier research institutions Hitler destroyed them How long did they take to recover? They haven’t
O, this is delicious. "Making 'Harvard astronomer' the scientific equivalent of 'Florida man' . . . " and more! Do not risk reading while drinking coffee, lest you snort hot beverage all over your keyboard while laughing out loud!
On the origins of Hollywood (and perhaps of scenario planning?)
If crime is "out of control" in DC, then the mayor should declare emergency and impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew, including all the areas with nifty bars and restaurants favored by the regime's leaders.
Sign up today! have two new book recommendations in my next newsletter—books that may change your perspective! #kidlit
But it'll be okay because we won't be hearing those nasty inflation + stagnation numbers but some always happy official Soviet-style numbers from pliant officials. /s
And buy Trump's bribecoin. And a $1M+ membership in Bribe-a-Lago.
@paulcooper34.bsky.social has a fascinating podcast on this: the fall of civilizations, which aims to imagine what it felt like to be there when a civilization came to an end.
@annehidalgo.bsky.social
And this: "the collaboration aims to provide up to 10,000 patients with personalised cancer treatments in the UK by 2030." That is what the US should be doing, at larger scale, with more resources and more competitive approaches. Not cancelling mRNA vax research. I do have a personal interest.
www.england.nhs.uk/cancer/nhs-c... from which: speed up access to mRNA personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. It will also accelerate the development of cancer vaccines as a form of cancer treatment. 3/ . . .
And doing this for millions of people means the compute to distinguish between self and tumor, and design - and, big leap - produce vaccines should be low enough. Lower than the cost of conventional therapies or the premature loss to society from illness and death. 2/ . .
Tiny 🧵 on vaccines. Meanwhile, in England (which is in a world of hurt), they're leaning hard into personalized and generalized anti-cancer vaccines. Reasoning: they'll have nearly everyone's DNA so sequencing costs will be low. 1/ .
This is so depressing: the US ceasing development of the next important generation of tools to fight cancers (and other diseases).
A fundamental challenge to our understanding of what memory is: "What Can a Cell Remember?" @theuniverse.bsky.social @quantamagazine.bsky.social (Plus- John Peter Zenger acquitted) Musing on memory: roughlydaily.com/2025/08/05/m...
Africa’s Climate Case Gets Global Backing in Landmark ICJ Ruling | africa.com The International Court of Justice has delivered a groundbreaking advisory opinion declaring that states have binding legal duties to combat climate change. Prompted by Vanuatu and supported by 131 nations—including…
This Charlie Hebdo cover, holy shit.
The mathematician John Venn was born on this day in 1834. To commemorate the occasion, here’s a poem in the form of a Venn diagram.
I love this! In part because of its historic accuracy and in larger part because I had an aunt, recently departed, who was a nun. Before joining the order she once, *slightly inebriated lost a potato peeler in the peelings and peeler became part of her family name thereafter. * not really slightly.
The scale of Trump's pay-for-access scheme outlined by the @nytimes.com is mindblowing. Crypto contributions resulting in business deals with the Trump family crypto businesses, oil companies buying influence and later reaping benefits from friendly policies, and a $1 million pardon.
Hello San Francisco! (It's there, somewhere)
tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/waterlevels....
Many people are saying that coca cola could be as good as the popular combination of saltwater and lemon juice in keeping cyber trucks gleaming
We @calxinstitute.bsky.social have done some modelling on the true costs and long-term impacts of microplastics; happy to add as we can.
The U.S. has led the world in science since the mid-20th century for two reasons: funding & welcoming students and researchers from around the world. The Trump administration is destroying both advantages (1/2)
Perseveration!
@hilaryprice.bsky.social
To understand life, we must stop treating organisms like machines and minds like code: "Why Science Hasn’t Solved Consciousness (Yet)" @adamfrank4.bsky.social @noemamag.com @marco-giancotti.bsky.social (Plus- Herbert Marcuse) Embracing embodiment: roughlydaily.com/2025/07/19/i...
This is the list. I hate that it falls to me to make this as clear as I can. Every sex act with these children was rape. Rape. It’s a moral and leadership and political problem, yes. But before all of these, it was a rape.
Yup.
Actor Mandy Patinkin’s plea for Jews to consider how what Netanyahu’s Israeli government is doing to Gaza is not just harming Palestinians and killing kids — but also endangering Jews across the globe.
Indeed. Guinness zero is that firm's fastest-ever growing product. The best NA I've ever tasted was Leffe Blonde 0.0, fully a worthy version of its alc brother - sadly not available in the USA, but had overseas in March '25.