Republicans called these "death panels" when they were trying to scare people away from the ACA.

As always, every accusation is a confession.

Indeed, and by platforming Podcast Jay and Emily Oster, she is not doing what she thinks she’s doing. She’s not fostering “civil debate.” She’s participating in the administration’s efforts to dismantle federal science and medical programs.

We are now in the first wave of AI’s enshitification cycle. Claude’s flat fee billing for enterprises is switching to usage based amid widespread reports of the model being dumbed down.

Everyone knew the subsidies wouldn’t last but this is ending faster than expected. At least wait until the IPO. 😬

Two posts. The first from Chris Curtis @curtosis.bsky.social is a quote from someone else on mastodon: "“The reason why the Artemis mission has everyone so fascinated is because it is a showcase for the efforts of people who are very, very good at their jobs, at a time when the news cycle is dominated by people who are not merely terrible at their jobs, but awful human beings as well.” The second is from Fun #@funkelly.bsky.social and reads, the Artemis crew took photography classes so they could take the best photos possible up there 😭 [with a sob emoji]. There is a link to an article and a picture showing a white woman (Koch) and a Black man (Glover) aiming fancy-looking cameras at something while a white fellow in a NASA polo shirt looks on.

Back to back in my timeline. It wasn't just the one job they did well

Black women are still working twice as hard for less, new economic report finds Despite leading in education and workforce participation, Black women continue to lag in pay, wealth, and retirement security.

A new study shows that Black women outpace every other group of women in workforce participation. Yet they are still paid less & retire in poverty at twice the rate of white women. This is a system. It is long past time this country started carrying them the way they have carried us.

I grew up on a farm where we regularly had to fix our own tractors. I also briefly worked for John Deere and watched as they tried to justify why people shouldn't be allowed to do that. Get absolutely fucked Deere, right to repair forever and ever

www.thedrive.com/news/john-de...

I dont think professors should date their undergrads.

This is not an age gap thing.

It is an ethical professional power dynamic thing.

I must complete the required security training.

To do so, I must use the learning platform.

The learning platform requires signing up for the new credential system.

There is a training to sign up for the new credential system.

Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power They’re saying the quiet part out loud now.

"Palantir CEO Alex Karp says his AI technology will lessen the power of “highly educated, often female voters, who vote mostly Democrat” while increasing the power of working-class men."

Just saying it right out loud now.

newrepublic.com/post/207693/...

A woman in a mask Headline: Why Do Some People Still Wear Masks In 2026 And On A Completely Unrelated Note Why Is Everyone In The Office Sick Right Now Apart From The Guy In The Mask? Story from Jerk Wingley and Terramin Defishunsee Photo from Adobe

Why Do Some People Still Wear Masks In 2026 And On A Completely Unrelated Note Why Is Everyone In The Office Sick Right Now Apart From The Guy In The Mask?

I wrote a letter to the editor about the implausible/impossible effect sizes and suggested that they should request a time-stamped version of the raw data. They did this and even allowed me and @ianhussey.mmmdata.io to have a look at it. Stay tuned.
pubpeer.com/publications...

despite extraordinarily stiff competition from the Roberts Court, Citizens United keeps its place as one of the most damaging Supreme Court decisions of all time

There is something darkly comical about vibe coding forcing a bunch of engineers who likely derided engineering management now managing a corral of AI agents that basically act like a mix between Amelia Bedelia and the guy from Memento

$11.3 billion could cover any of the following for a full year:
-1.4 million people on Medicaid
-19 million kids getting free school lunches
-1.4 million people getting affordable housing
-1.1 million hungry seniors fed
-0.8 million children given free child care

Using Quarto to Write a Book I’ve spent the last couple of months revising my Data Visualization book for a second edition that, ideally, will appear some time in the next twelve months. As with the first edition, I’ve posted a c...

Using Quarto to write (and typeset) a book.

A photo of Doc Brown from Back to the Future holding jumper cables labelled "Deranged Activist" with a grant of NIH funding curves below it.

My weekly update on NIH funding

This includes awards made through 2/27/26

Warning: This thread contains data compiled by a known deranged_activist™. Do not read while operating heavy machinery.

1/9

Similarly, I now have slides clarifying why the standard regression coefficient interpretation "for a 1 unit change in X, we expect a b unit change in Y" is both technically incorrect *and* the most understandable way to describe the concept.

I teach stats and find that students are *much* more receptive to "straightforward" than "easy". It seems like "easy" implies "you should already know this" while "straightforward" is more like "you can figure it out if you go through the steps". These subtle differences are so important sometimes.

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

the-unflappablewolf Who would you trust more? total stranger in a star trek shirt? 94.5% total stranger in a star wars shirt? 5.5% 99.421 Stimmen • Verbleibende Zeit: 2 Tage 23 Stunden thebaconsandwichofregret No exaggeration, the vote split on this poll is hysterical.

No but this is entirely correct

Letz go even bigger and better,,, ALL Female US Olympians and Paralympian medalists are invited out to celebrate in Viva Las Vegas for the SHE GOT GAME Weekend ,,,

Hit a guy up and LETZ GOOO

https://x.com/Mike_Pence/status/2024875315068014594?s=20 Mike Pence Y @ Mike_Pence Today's 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court is a Victory for the American People and a Win for the Separation of Powers enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. In Learning Resources, Inc. V. Trump, our Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the Constitution grants Congress - not the President - the power to tax. American families and American businesses pay American tariffs - not foreign countries. With this decision, American families and businesses can breathe a sigh of relief. I'm proud of the work our organization @AmericanFreedom has done on this case through our robust amicus brief program to advance economic freedom and defend the Constitution. With this historic decision, America can now return to the pursuit of Free Trade with Free Nations under the Constitution of the United States! 10:54 AM • Feb 20, 2026 • 2.8M Views

Never in a million years did I expect to agree with Mike Pence

#Pinks

When you say “only the vulnerable” are at risk… you’re saying that vulnerable people are expendable.

When you say “only those with pre existing conditions will die”… you’re saying our lives don’t matter.

You can become one of the “vulnerable” at any time.

Many of us were healthy…until we weren’t.

table 2 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960

table 3 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960

table 4 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960

I split AI into 3 non-mutually exclusive types (see Table 1 above): displacement (harmful), enhancement (beneficial), and/or replacement (neutral) of human cognitive labour. More later possibly, but see Tables 2 to 4 (attached or here: arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960) for the worked through examples. 2/n

Google and Bing auto complete results about how to disable gemini and copilot

solid poasting energy in this slide about how many people don't want AI forced on them

BREAKING: Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been convicted of insurrection for declaring martial law in December 2024, and has been sentenced to life in prison.

Lots of people lost their jobs over this. Students lost badly needed resources. And the people who got f’d over were disproportionately already marginalized, underpaid & trying harder than they should’ve had to just to do their jobs in environments that were uncaring at best if not outright hostile

Few life experiences feel as universal, across generations, as the pains and frustrations of trying to find clothes that fit. In our newest project we dive into the data about women's sizing chaos.

pudding.cool/2026/02/wome...

A graphic from erdavis.com with the title, "Names most at risk of going extinct in the United States"

By the always excellent Erin Davis, a chart of the first names that have seen the greatest (estimated) drop in living Americans with that name. Much more here, including an interactive to look the trends for any first name: erdavis.com/2026/02/16/i...