Fascinating observation on Trump’s ability to drive the “Spygate” story
Within the span of five days, Trump went from having just heard about FBI’s use of a confidential source to rendering the judgment that this was a purposeful — and political — attempt by the Obama Justice Department to install a “spy” within his ranks. And deciding that this was a) a scandal and b)…
I think they mean typeface conference, but “Font Conference” is still amusing.
I think they mean typeface conference, but it’s still amusing.
Trump admitted he attacks press to shield himself from negative coverage, 60 Minutes reporter says
Lesley Stahl, a correspondent on “60 Minutes,” made the disclosure on Monday during a live interview with Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour, drawing a stunned silence from the audience. After Trump began to unload on the news media, she said, she asked him whether he planned to stop attacking the press — a hallmark of…
I had to act like I knew something about golf. There I am on the right at about :15.
How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive
The ink used in a fountain pen, the ballpoint’s predecessor, is thinner to facilitate better flow through the nib—but put that thinner ink inside a ballpoint pen, and you’ll end up with a leaky mess. Ink is where László Bíró, working with his chemist brother György, made the crucial changes: They experimented with thicker, quick-drying…
Chess tournament.
Context matters. Trump called MS-13 gang members “animals,” but critics say he was talking about immigrants generally
There are many, many legitimate, evidence-supported critiques that people can make about Donald Trump. Taking a quote out of context is not a legitimate, evidence-supported critique. I was furious at what I thought Trump said, too, until I looked into the context (C-SPAN). In a sound-bite world, a wise politician would be more careful, but…
Twitter changes strategy in battle against internet ‘trolls’
Reducing the reach of abusive tweets is better than censorship on the one hand, and nothing on the other. Of course, this is another reminder that the social media titans can and do manipulate what we see. Reducing the impact of bullies benefits Twitter’s bottom line, which is the same reason for every change to…
“Waiting for Life” (Once on This Island)
We're enjoying the intensity and also the (surprisingly appropriate) humor.
Hamlet!
My outward-bound editor's graduation cap.
The reception line begins. Grad2018
That felt sooo good!
STEM Education Won’t Solve the World’s Problems
I love STEM. My SAT score for math was exactly the same as verbal. When I was in grad school, struggling with Sausserian semiotics and Beowulf in the original Old English, I taught myself C++, Turbo Pascal, and Java for fun. For some project I was coding I learned how to do 3D matrix transformations…
Journalists Verify Claims
Confirm what your sources tell you. Fact-checking makes the difference between ethical journalism (which sometimes upsets the powerful) and propaganda (which always aids oppressors).
CNN’s Chris Cillizza on Trump’s definition of “Fake News”
Here’s some excellent analysis of Trump’s latest attack on journalism (I blogged a bit about this in “More Evidence That, to Trump, ‘Fake News’ Means Critical News“). Trump either doesn’t understand or ignores the difference between a story he doesn’t like and one that is not true. He conflates the two for his own political…
America’s Real Digital Divide
If you think middle-class children are being harmed by too much screen time, just consider how much greater the damage is to minority and disadvantaged kids, who spend much more time in front of screens. | According to a 2011 study by researchers at Northwestern University, minority children watch 50 percent more TV than their…
More Evidence That, to Trump, “Fake News” Means Critical News
Nothing really new here, just calling attention to how President Trump uses parentheses to demonstrate that by “fake news,” he means “news that is critical of me.”