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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Regarding J6 and Trump's intent...I think the word/phrase count in his speech that morning is telling:

Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yes, Trump's an idiot. But you're misinterpreting his "weave". Reference to LA and SF was a toss-away line reaffirming his hatred of liberal cities/states that don't kiss his ring. Nothing more. He wasn't calling for their destruction. What I think he's actually claiming and some comments:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

5/5 But all seem minor compared to the explosion of misinfo. pushed by biased media sources...esp. highly-personalized confirmation-bias bubbles created by social media algorithms. Still, edu. & literacy are not perfect indicators of critical thinking & gullibility 🔽. www.mpg.de/24132917/onl...

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

4/5 And In the article below education and measures of literacy do appear correlated globally: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... But IMO blaming Covid an overstatement. It affected literacy levels, but most strongly for younger children and early teens...many not old enough to vote in 2024.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

3/5 And let's knowledge where Trump pulled his most reliable supporters since 2020. I'd argue the 2 groups shown in the figure below. And his biggest gains prior to 2024 came from the newly minted "manosphere". www.npr.org/2024/11/12/n... I convinced Gemini of this...for what that's worth 🙄.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

2/5 However, before we simply claim billionaires bought the election for Trump by pushing him on uneducated, illiterate, gullible young people. Let's aknowledge that both sides use Dark Money. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

1/5 I agree that Trump has fooled a huge number of people and his win was aided by lots of billionaire mega-donor support 🔽..including a few with media empires ⏬.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Just because I may speak that way doesn't mean I want my President to speak that way. More mportant than off-color language is the implied admission that he only intends to serve only those that serve him. Wonder if any of the others verbally reneged on their promise in such a obscene manner?

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Of course, in many countries, free speech is also a criminal offense. The only reason we're able to separate lobbying from the free speech of citizens is because transparency was lacking. scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcont... So should we end free speech, or just live without the transparency?

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

You seem to be conflating two different things: freedom to engage in journalism and permission to enter a particular restricted place.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

There are widely accepted standards...they are just not endorsed, assessed, or enforced by the US government. For me that's a necessary safeguard...and one I think the framers of the Constitution thought was necessary.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

When the press knowingly publishes false statement or shows reckless disregard for the truth and someone's reputation is harmed, they can be hauled into court. And if found liable, may be forced to pay damages.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Credentials to access sensitive areas or fill limited seats is very different that having gov't weigh in directly on the legitimacy of any organization publishing news.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

2/2 So what does changing the Constitution to allow for oversight of a government agency do...except possibly make people question the validity of that oversight? I wondered if SPJ would like to see gov't enforce the ethical code they maintain...so I asked Gemini and ChatGPT to speculate:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Unlike the 1st Amendment which specifically addresses freedom of the press…

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

But there is still a Fox...and it's influence would continue even if on some obscure government database it is made abundantly clear why they are no longer permitted to call themselves a "news" organization. I think for practical purposes this has been adjudicated...at least in the public sphere:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

No. IMO, smart regulation is critical for capitalism to work. But regulating the label of "news" is granting new gov't authority...at a time when many people are skeptical of gov't👇. And in my estimation, it would provide little real payoff in terms of what people will read/watch and trust.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Given tech: What people see is tailored to whatever keeps them engaged...often reinforcing what they already want to hear. Most Americans get news from social media at least sometimes, often from sources with no pretense of journalistic integrity. I disagree on equivalence to professional cert.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

So your fix is to make whatever politician wins the election (perhaps one who lies through their teeth) to have control over what is labeled as fact?

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Thanks for sharing Dr. Ruth:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Not all are direct quotes. And even if just paraphrasing, some lack context or appear inflated👇. My point: enough were true that his positions seem more divisive than uniting. In life: a smart jerk. In death: a martyr. Assassination is not a legitimate path to less bigoted speech.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I agree there's a double standard and women experience more social pressure around appearance. But men are not immune either. www.reddit.com/r/VindictaRa...

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Outages can occur for any reasons...but let's run with yours: A large gay contingent within the Republican party sorta makes them look hypocritical 👇. But I guess a large Republican contingent within the Gay community mostly just makes them look tolerant. Good for the Gay community. 🫶🏳️‍🌈

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It's always ugly, but sometimes called "political triage". It happened to women when "Section 2 of the 14th Amendment threatened to reduce a state’s representation if it denied voting rights to "male" citizens...and made no provision to end women's suffrage. A century later: still no ERA.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Appears I was blocked by @incognitosystem.bsky.social as I was writing this retraction. So I thought I'd just post it here.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Guilty as charged. Your reference to Trump threw me off and led me to assume you were talking about the United States. For completeness, here’s what the comparison looks like once some larger effectively two-party countries are included.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I read it...even if comprehension was low. But my key take-aways were: (1) We seem to agree our two party system is flawed. (2) You think sitting-out the next election is your best option...a view I don't share. The current polarization has created a feckless legislature & a worse administration.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Vetted for me is fine...but please, not by government. Even someone nostalgic over the Walter Cronkite age, as we both seem to be, should understand why independence is critical to our freedom.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

2/2 My hope is that people will grow tired of being lied to by engagement farmers, bots, and deep fakes and resume a willingness to pay for credible, factual news delivered by a branded and accountable journalistic organization. And to increase their visibility on-line:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I wasn't focused on the topic of the thread, but if trans rights are the human rights issue in question, I'm interested in what forms of persecution? I agree, trans people do suffer undue persecution. But after decades of relatively fast progress on reducing it, the pace seems to have slowed👇. Why?

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

If you don't like either extreme (I don't either) then you may want to see either some movement toward center by one or both parties...or creation of a viable 3rd, 4th, or 5th party...ideally with some proposing policies that are closer to center...seeking a coalition and a workable compromise.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

"Drill baby drill" doesn't really work at $40/barrel.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

You both identify something real, but seem to be talking past each other. Modern AI differs enormously in practical capability...not because machines only recently became able to learn, but because computing cost fell while speed, model size, and available data grew rapidly.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Labor leverage has not disappeared. Just-in-time supply chains create powerful chokepoints, but disrupting them imposes diffuse costs on consumers and other workers...not merely lost profits on capital owners.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

On #2. Your ads should fact check better than this one👇. I'd change it to "Farmers want to feed America...not stay afloat on government subsidies trying make-up for reckless trade policy."

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Helmets have improved, but the impact energy has also continued to rise👇. I hope my grandkids stay out of football. I'm small and quit after 3 years as a running back and on kick return/coverage after a Conservation of Momentum demo in my High School Physics class explained a lot about my pain.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

OK, let's see your version of a clock. It should be original if you're intending to highlight your skills. I just want to know how below ever became Apple's choice for "System Settings". It looks more like the grate on a bathroom fan. And they were never very good. Maybe 2007-2014 is passable.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

It’s bad enough that ICE’s priorities have shifted from the claimed removal of dangerous criminals to broad civil immigration enforcement...incl. people with no criminal history.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

"Get it done" is easy to say...but much more difficult to do without a liberal majority. In 1869, Congress restored nine Supreme Court seats to correspond to nine circuits because Supreme Court justices still traveled to...and sometimes sat as judges on...the circuit courts.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I don't know much about either candidate, and I support transgender most trans rights...but and I'm not from MA. A 46% win margin seems high to have been substantially delivered on transgender issues. Does it really move the needle this much either way? Below from ChatGPT rings true for me:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The tragedy of this dynamic: While both sides believe they are fighting a defensive war to protect the republic, the scorched-earth tactics used to wage it steadily erode the shared trust, institutional norms, and social cohesion required for a republic to function at all. Related references:

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Maybe direct expenditure on actual wars is an unfair metric...

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Are you sure that’s him? I think yours has been AI-modified. The proportions look a little too flattering.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Many spines will need to be grown in Congress before we’re out of this mess. Cassidy deserves criticism for helping confirm RFK Jr. But when one of the people responsible starts showing early signs of growing a spine, I’m not sure discouraging the behavior we want more of is especially productive.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

That’s a wonderful theory. But humans weren’t simply programmed into conflict by flags and gods. Long before either existed, survival often depended on distinguishing friend from stranger, defending territory, competing for resources and forming coalitions against rivals.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I agree, more care is needed on this broadly. I recall media claiming Chauvin had his hand in his pocket...when it was a black glove. It an easy, honest mistake, but sometimes only takes a closer look to get it right. And getting it right is important. It's hard to restore credibility.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Look...There's no credible medical evidence that "American White Coal" has any "detoxifying" properties. And even if inhaled, Pure-Oxygyn at only 250 capsules per day would have no measurable impact on your grandma's survival. Even Claude agrees with me👇. So please...post a proof of life photo.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

How can anyone in the US believe cases like this are ethical, constitutional, or legal? Open borders are not good policy, so "Abolish ICE" is about as misguided as "Defund the Police". But independent of political leaning, this should be unacceptable to anyone who believes in due process.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

So sad to be blocked just as a decent civil debate begins.

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Sam Gerb @gerb-sam.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I agree. Progressive causes can take root quickly...and sometimes that's good. But adoption into law is not always the same as unquestioned support of the electorate. After two centuries, some still oppose interracial marriage. And while women got voting rights a century ago, ERA was't ratified.

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