This is the most horrible political ad ever. Disgusting. I’d never vote for this Brill fellow after such a stunt.

This has got to be a hoax, right? Is Telegraph a tabloid or something?

Sharing your research with the public can change minds

A recent study finds evidence that thoughtful, persuasive commentary by academics can shift the debate and affect policy.

I think this is true and absolutely crucial. When academics share their thoughts with people outside their field, it’s very useful both for them and their audience.

But fewer people are doing it because it gets scary. I find myself more and more often wanting to write something but then deciding to stay silent because I don’t want it to be resurrected for my “social scorecard” ten years from now. Every morning I hope through a list of ideas I want to write about and discard all of them out of fear. Then I post something about the weather or the news, and that’s it.

The preceding post I just published, I think I need to put it under a password or delete it because it’s one of the list of the untouchable subjects that is growing every day.

For many faculty members, the semester begins with the now-familiar call to students to “introduce yourself with your name and pronoun.”

Erm. Not on the planet that I inhabit. It’s rude to talk about people in the third person in their presence, so I have no use for “anybody’s pronoun” anyway. In terms of virtue signaling, this is quite useless because my students don’t recognize this kind of virtue, and thank God for that.

My classes are all discussion based, meaning that everybody talks all the time in small or large groups. Yet I never have an opportunity to say “she” or “he.” It’s always, “as Jessica pointed out” or “let’s hear what Jack has to say.” I’d feel very rude if I did it any other way.

A French court has ordered far-right leader Marine Le Pen to undergo psychiatric tests as part of an inquiry into her sharing images of Islamic State group atrocities.

It is always first tried on the truly unsavory characters. I mean, who wants to defend this despicable broad? She stinks.

But once the practice is normalized, it can be used against anybody.

I discovered that it’s a lot of fun to flip between Maddow and Tucker Carson. Both sound equally pouty and delusional. It’s funny to see two folks blabber on about these completely insane conspiracy theories like they are real.

They probably go home and laugh at the viewers who take them seriously.