Reposted by Cliff ThomasChris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026BREAKING: SCOTUS’s Republican appointees will allow Tennessee to kill Christa Pike tonight, vacating a stay of execution entered by the Sixth Circuit this morning. The three Democratic appointees dissent. 48740269
Reposted by Cliff ThomasArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Man in a Blue Mantle, by John Singer Sargent, 1891, 📸 via @cjzero.bsky.social 295041756
Reposted by Cliff ThomasSpencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Ha ha that’s gross and should make everyone uncomfortable, anyway, Rahm presided over a Chicago police black site, lied about what it was and then I sued the Chicago police for its records that proved it:theguardian.comHoman Square revealed: how Chicago police 'disappeared' 7,000 peopleExclusive: Lawsuit exposes scale of detention at off-the-books interrogation warehouse while attorneys describe find-your-client chase ‘from a Bond movie’ 9147841745
Reposted by Cliff Thomasjamelle @jamellebouie.net · 26/09/2026peter thiel is another one of those guys who we are supposed to think is brilliant but every time he opens his mouth my first thought is “this guy sounds like an idiot” 640106131978
Reposted by Cliff ThomasTressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Please try to reclaim your precious precious attention, at all costs. Do puzzles. Take walks without a phone. Dear god, try to read, almost anything that isn’t a manifesto will really do. You are going to need your brain. 52533662
Reposted by Cliff ThomasLeah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.” 1970192261
Reposted by Cliff Thomasjamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22/09/2026whenever i hear some variation on "but what if trump does X or Y or Z" i think of this ulysses s. grant remark to a subordinate during the wilderness campaign. 884015697
Reposted by Cliff ThomasAnne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 21/09/2026This century, test scores became the sole measure by which pols, pundits, & journalists judged the success of public schools. This helpful overview by @joshcowenmi.bsky.social gets at how this belittles their varied impact -- and is likely depressing trust in an institution that provides so much.joshcowen.substack.comWhat else do public schools do?Many school districts offer fee-for-service programs. Many engage in broad community-building work. Locally elected school boards oversee it all, and that sets this work apart. 13712
Cliff Thomas @cliffthomas.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I know you’re always down for an internet fight, but this is definitely one of those posts where your own writing is showing that you need to do a lot more reading, thinking, and writing on the subject. 1 is off, and your leap to the necessity of a soul for 2 is an unnecessary leap. HUGE gap. 130
Reposted by Cliff Thomasjamelle @jamellebouie.net · 19/09/2026i thought this was very funny 621844199
Reposted by Cliff ThomasFrances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026"hand me the last thing that was only yours to say and I will give it back to you smoother, warmer, correct, and empty, and you will post it, and it will do well, and no one will know, and after a while neither will you." - c/o @fossilisedflowers on Instagram 001
Reposted by Cliff ThomasAda Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Chinook salmon have recolonised 88% of their historic range on the Klamath River, with more than 13,000 fish passing the old Iron Gate Dam site in 2025, up from 7,700 the year before. Two years after the dams’ removal, it’s going better than anyone predicted. buff.ly/pToC9gB #ShareGoodNewsToonature.comRewilding the upper Klamath River Basin: rapid recolonization of Chinook salmon following the world’s largest dam removal - Scientific ReportsScientific Reports - Rewilding the upper Klamath River Basin: rapid recolonization of Chinook salmon following the world’s largest dam removal 192514846
Reposted by Cliff ThomasDorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 10/09/2026This is a real photo from 1913. It hasn’t been colorized. It was made using a technique called the Autochrome Lumière which captured true color using microscopic dyed starch grains as color filters, decades before color film existed. Pretty incredible, no? More below 👇 515838
Reposted by Cliff ThomasTrevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 09/09/2026This is seismic news for fisheries scientists. Northern cod is *the* iconic symbol of total fisheries collapse due to overfishing (and other factors) *and* the iconic symbol of a complete failure to recover for decades afterwards. This is like announcing the complete recovery of bison on land. 8476702173
Cliff Thomas @cliffthomas.bsky.social · 05/09/2026I'm biased, but basketball is right there. Just hoop. 010
Reposted by Cliff ThomasMarcy @deadheadgirly.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Hill I'll die on: Caitlin Clark isn't a generational talent. She's one of the first in what appears to be a long line of incredibly talented players coming out of the NCAA. These players are the results of years of putting resources into girls sports. They will only get better. #WNBA 2106181654
Reposted by Cliff ThomasSean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Ever wonder what "information" really means? Here's our new paper, led by @frosas.bsky.social, that lays out the multiple ways the term is used in natural science. rdcu.be/fCDGv 1325566
Cliff Thomas @cliffthomas.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Shoutout to @jamellebouie.net for not losing it during this interaction, because being told what woke means repeatedly by someone who had no idea what it was before Chris Rufo and his racist ilk decided to co-opt it as propaganda would have thrown me: 000
Reposted by Cliff ThomasDavid Roberts @volts.wtf · 23/08/2026I hope everyone caught this Lancet study confirming that Elon Musk & DOGE are responsible for genocidal levels of suffering & death.thelancet.comEvaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysisUSAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the a... 5435191809
Reposted by Cliff ThomasThe Fact of Other Minds Stan Account @csilverandgold.bsky.social · 23/08/2026I understand how and why it is predictable but it is very funny that roughly 0 scientific racists are attractive. 2625
Reposted by Cliff ThomasBenjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 20/08/2026So we know AI helped a negligible number of students. But how many did it harm? I've crunched the raw data provided by the lead researcher, and what I've found is that ~9,500 students using AI studied less than even the *least* studious, non-AI using student. This should shock the conscience. 20885460
Reposted by Cliff ThomasBenjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Both the Economist and others suggest this study demonstrates that AI can help students. So I contacted the lead researcher to figure out how many. Answer: Out of ~26,000 kids, a total of 20. And five months after starting to use AI, only four continued to spend 65 minutes on homework. Four. 16676269
Reposted by Cliff Thomas☀️ Starshine @starshine.bsky.social · 21/08/2026oh you think you have train autism? you are like baby watch this 1333747
Reposted by Cliff ThomasGeorge Pearkes @peark.es · 20/01/2024The only time I met Noah Smith in person (~2015) he introduced himself as “Noah, everyone follows me on Twitter” and then proceeded to drop multiple n-words singing along to rap during karaoke. Just a really terrible guy. 432068251
Reposted by Cliff Thomasmtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 20/08/2026i think one of the hidden keys to politics right now is "how can our side make sure that the 'trump is gonna kill a bunch of beautiful wild horses' story gets in front of the millions of otherwise apolitical consumers of social media horse-related content" 411760540
Reposted by Cliff ThomasDave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Axelrod is bad at political communication. No one who is good at political communication could produce such a backassward take. 1921824
Reposted by Cliff ThomasW.E.D.em Boyz @leftistwonk.bsky.social · 19/08/2026DSA member Angie Nixon was outspent 36:1 and did not receive an AOC or Bernie endorsement, and yet she won the Florida Senate primary by more than 12 points 15782124
Reposted by Cliff Thomaslowtax speedrun enjoyer @rickywlmsbong.bsky.social · 15/08/2026there's a reason "the bell curve" was very popular in dc and ny and people like andrew sullivan made their names on it: they believe black people are stupid. everything flows from that 171242206
Reposted by Cliff ThomasFaine Greenwood @faineg.com · 15/08/2026so many cases of horrible little weasels who decide to burn it all down due to getting rejected by Harvard 441138168
Reposted by Cliff ThomasG Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 13/08/2026I have reanalyzed polling microdata from two surveys in Wisconsin, generously shared with me by State Navigate, and put the results up Strength In Numbers for all to learn from. As far as I know this is the only public autopsy from Tuesday's miss www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-08-13...gelliottmorris.comI re-analyzed the raw data from Wisconsin's primary polls. Here's what actually went wrong.What raw data from Wisconsin's Democratic primary reveals about demographic weighting, late movement, and who answers polls 1529789
Reposted by Cliff ThomasKyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 10/08/2026NEW: We’ve spent a year tracking ICE’s massive expansion of detention for people with years-long ties to the U.S. It has strained courts, wrecked lives and been widely deemed illegal. Our report, based on interviews with judges, detainees and attorneys: www.politico.com/news/2026/08... 141353648
Reposted by Cliff ThomasMichael Kaplan @differance.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Don’t just do things; be seen doing them 161207185
Reposted by Cliff Thomaslaura olin @lauraolin.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Abdul El-Sayed on capitalism: “I’m capitalist who just knows about capitalism. I have a bad habit of reading, I’m so sorry.” 10869231511
Reposted by Cliff ThomasDon Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026New from me: More than a trillion dollars flow through the federal government in grants. We have more and more evidence that the Trump administration has been directing those grants on purely partisan grounds, denying them to blue states. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/governing-...donmoynihan.substack.comGoverning without AccountabilityTrump only wants to be President of some of America, not all of America 391801789
Reposted by Cliff ThomasJess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 02/08/2026I wonder if students today would be less likely to lean on AI for writing assignments if schools had made sure they could touch-type (at least 60wpm) before having them submit all their assignments online. 1/🧵 50822158
Reposted by Cliff ThomasBen Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 02/08/2026A good commissioner steps in now before every WNBA game becomes a rightwing performance space, like school board meetings were during peak CRT. You just have to throw the hammer down on this. Do not give them an inch. 11559351012
Reposted by Cliff ThomasMatt Barnum @mattbarnum.bsky.social · 30/07/2026New: There's been a notable and, in many cases, sustained rise in teachers leaving the classroom over the last four to five years, according to new data I collected. The uptick in any one year was modest but the cumulative loss of teachers has been substantial. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/07/30/t... 12312
Reposted by Cliff ThomasHannah Levintova @h-lev.bsky.social · 28/07/20261/ Last summer, @acleek.bsky.social and I started getting emails from staffers of a company called American Healthcare Systems. They told us that their hospitals were in financial chaos and that they were struggling to care for patients. So we started digging: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...motherjones.comA for-profit hospital slashed costs. Then a patient froze to death on its roof.A little-known company grew on promises to save distressed hospitals. Instead, it sunk them into financial chaos. 516593
Reposted by Cliff Thomaskate @katewitko.bsky.social · 28/07/2026do a deer my kids aren't here re i'm estranged from my son me the named in this lawsuit fa i'm driving on the run so my ex-wife wants me dead la i'm running from the feds ti a drink to clear my head that will bring us back to do! 241407367
Reposted by Cliff ThomasAdam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Trump doesn’t force people to do bad things. All he did was show people they could get away with being horrible if they really wanted to, and a lot of powerful people decided they didn’t need to pretend anymore. Especially those in influential positions who could push back but did not. 14898922535
Reposted by Cliff ThomasMind Titan 🎃 @porgus.bsky.social · 07/07/2026You're 9 minutes into your Chotiner interview. He's smiling. By God, it's going well. Great, even. Then he says "but". You wake up coughing through thick smoke partially buried by rubble. Your ears are ringing. The interview is already published. You have 390 missed calls from your boss. 343462
Reposted by Cliff ThomasChris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 30/06/2026The thing you need to understand is that there are 2 (TWO) different method for amending the constitution 1) The process laid out in the constititon itself (conventions, or 2/3's of both houses followed by 3/4 of states ratifying) OR 2) find five votes on the Supreme Court. 20779591863
Cliff Thomas @cliffthomas.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Man, @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social is incredibly close to completing the heel turn that a lot of people saw coming a few years ago. Accepting and actively supporting the premise that its ok to worry about "rapid demographic change"...c'mon bro. Time for a long look in the mirror. 1213
Reposted by Cliff ThomasButtons (Ashley) 🏴☠️#OFMDForLife🏴☠️ 🏳️🌈🤡 @sevensugars.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Since I did do my PhD in cyanobacteria growth and treatment optimization modeling AND work in the water treatment industry, I’m gonna share my theory as to what’s happening here and how to fix it. People are focusing on the painted bottom of the pool increasing residual heat, and while that 1/19 21093603491