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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 24/09/2026

How could we have measured the benefits of, say, investing in communications media over the past decades, which conceivably could have prevented Trump from being elected? We could never quantify the avoided damage because nobody could have imagined how much damage Trump would inflict on the world.

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Wtaf is this question my university just asked me about my project?

Does the project involve any work that could be interpreted as promoting DEIA, climate change research, or non-compliant to any Presidential Executive Orders?

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 24/09/2026

When does the mainstream commercial media start using the word "traitors" to describe the Republicans who are undermining the long-term interests of the United States for their corrupt short-term gain? The venality of the Republicans is disgusting. The timidity of the Democrats is disappointing.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 23/09/2026

The underlying paper finds that unfamiliar languages sound equally pleasant to within a couple of percentage points. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

However, once we have accounted for familiarity and preferences for specific voice types, the scores of all unfamiliar languages varied within just a few percentage points. The 228 world languages that we tested, with all their phonetic and prosodic diversity, thus sounded comparably attractive to the average listener in our sample as long as they were not familiar.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026

Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 21/09/2026

The usual framing is that gross production can go to labor or to capital. More money is going to people who own stuff, and less money is going to people who work using stuff that other people own.

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Steve Rattner @steverattner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The labor share of economic output hit its lowest point on record in Q2 2026.

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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The idea that "regenerative" grazing is a climate solution has really taken hold in some quarters. But the science is clear: It doesn't work. Methane and land-use emissions just overwhelm any soil carbon benefits. Here's a great piece by @nicholasdcarter.bsky.social drawdown.org/insights/eig...

drawdown.org

Eight reasons regenerative grazing can’t make beef climate-friendly

An influential regenerative grazing movement continues to grow. But here's why the science doesn't back up the purported climate benefits.

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Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The plan is paid for by taking child care supports away from low income parents (mothers), just as they're requiring these same families (women) to *work* to access Medicaid and SNAP. The real goal is to punish poor single mothers. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/u...

nytimes.com

White House Plan to Subsidize Stay-at-Home Parents Divides Conservatives

Some praise the idea championed by Vice President JD Vance to direct federal money to support traditional families, while others say it cuts against conservative principles.

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Pam Spaulding @pamspaulding.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

NEW: The Trump regime plans to "cripple the court by prohibiting it from conducting transactions in U.S. dollars, cutting it off from much of the global financial system" to protect war criminal Bibi. Marco Rubio’s view is "that the ICC poses a threat to American sovereignty." 🎁 t2m.co/ZmzD7to9

wsj.com

Exclusive | Trump Ramps Up Bid to Dismantle International Criminal Court

The U.S. administration is preparing sweeping sanctions that would cut the court off from much of the global financial system.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 20/09/2026

Do we have a list of names of journalists who participated in the WH press pool after Trump's latest assault on free speech?

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 20/09/2026

I think it is 100% fine to use AI to make a joke. It would be useful if an audit trail of the image generation process were included as metadata in the image information. Probably good practice to include in the Alt-text. In any case, it was a good joke and someone had to think of it. Was it you?

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 20/09/2026

We value a real Van Gogh more than an equivalent fake because we value the physical connection to the human creator. Art often involves some implicit identification with the emotions of the creator. This feeling of identification is impossible when we know something to be machine generated.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 19/09/2026

People acting like humans is the root cause of many of our problems.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 19/09/2026

Trading short term advantage for long term disadvantage.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 19/09/2026

The failure of the White House Press Corp to work together is an indictment of American journalism. If the President does not answer a question, every other reporter should follow up with the same question. Like the politicians, the press values personal advancement over the public good.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 19/09/2026

Are the AI-end-timers the same people who were predicting for years about a technological singularity (and human immortality), or is this a new cohort? New bottles for old (and possibly correct) ideas? www.salon.com/2026/09/16/a... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technol... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sin...

salon.com

Are we in the AI end times? - Salon.com

Anxiety over the dangers of artificial "intelligence" says more about human nature than about the machines

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 17/09/2026

More threats from Donald Trump to destroy our economy if the Federal Reserve Bank does not do his bidding. "This month, the president threatened to halt a broad swath of trade if interest rates were not cut, a possibility he resurfaced on Wednesday." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/b...

nytimes.com

Trump’s Latest Threats Loom Over Fed’s Interest Rate Decision

This month, the president threatened to halt a broad swath of trade if interest rates were not cut, a possibility he resurfaced on Wednesday.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 17/09/2026

I of course block the sender. Here is typical of my situation. 3 in 3 hours. I have donated to candidates but never in response to an SMS solicitation.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 16/09/2026

Looks like albums from the 90s got better! Like fine wine, they apparently aged well.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 16/09/2026

Spammy political SMS fundraising messages are making SMS texts unusable. On Android, there is no way to set it to accept texts from contacts only. How much of this money is getting to the candidates and how much is going to consultants or is outright fraud? nonprofitnewsfeed.com/news/politic...

nonprofitnewsfeed.com

Political Fundraising Texts Have Become a Self-Licking Spam Machine - Nonprofit News Feed

A late-night fundraising text is rarely from the candidate. It is from a digital agency operating behind the scenes, using urgency, data co-ops, and legal loopholes to extract donations. Nonprofits sh...

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 16/09/2026

nonprofitnewsfeed.com

Political Fundraising Texts Have Become a Self-Licking Spam Machine - Nonprofit News Feed

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 14/09/2026

The people who placed people in these cages should be put in prison. The same goes for the people who approved construction of these cages, authorized payments, etc. The detainees were accused of civil violations only. They were not accused of any crime. Only criminals treat people this way.

Images released in a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general’s office show small metal enclosures that were referred to as “calming areas.”Credit...U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/us/alligator-alcatraz-dhs-inspector-general.html

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 13/09/2026

Republicans will vote for a candidate because they agree with them on one issue. Democrats won't vote for a candidate because they disagree with them on one issue.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 12/09/2026

Kings in ancient Mesopotamia made statements to the effect that a central role of government is to protect the less powerful against abuse by the more powerful. We have lost that understanding of government. Urukagina (Uruinimgina), 2350 BCE. Ur-Nammu, 2100 BCE. Hammarubi, 1750 BCE.

In the prologue, Hammurabi claims to have been granted his rule by the gods "to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 11/09/2026

What could The New York Times possibly mean by this headline? Maybe it got cut off and they meant "moving on to become a fascist dictatorship"? Maybe instead of “moving on" they meant to write "sinking under"? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/u...

nytimes.com

25 Years After 9/11, Trump Personifies a Nation Moving On

The president has de-emphasized and shifted the war on terrorism at a time when fear of foreign attack has receded into the background of American life.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 09/09/2026

California looks much better in the daytime when the solar is active.

https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/live/fifteen_minutes

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 09/09/2026

Cool map of real time carbon intensity of electricity use. (Unknown why they chose Mercator projection as the default map.) Not sure of the value added by near-real time values, but it is fun and cool. app.electricitymaps.com/map/live/fif...

Map of carbon intensity of electricity use showing high carbon intensity in parts of the western US, Mongolia, etc, and low use in France, the nordic countries, etc.

https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/live/fifteen_minutes

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 06/09/2026

I've heard rumor of ASU hiring someone else known to have engaged in abusive behavior at their previous institution. It may be a pattern.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 05/09/2026

US is alone in voting to use a Mercator projection instead of an equal-area projection. (Trump loves that big Greenland.) Next thing is we are going to want to use inches, feet and miles, and degrees Farenheit. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

The Togo-sponsored resolution was backed by 164 nations - with the US as the only nation to vote against it.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 04/09/2026

Satire meets reality. www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheeseface

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The Intercept @theintercept.com · 31/08/2026

The Trump administration designated an Italian antifascist webhosting service as a terrorist organization. It could affect an anarchist radio show in Asheville, a blog documenting attacks “crisis pregnancy centers,” and the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair. theintercept.com/2026/08/28/t...

theintercept.com

Trump Goes After Anonymous Email Provider in Italy. The Real Target Is Free Speech in the U.S.

Trump designated a collective that provides anonymous email services as a foreign “terrorist” group. It could curtail free speech in the U.S.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 02/09/2026

I remember fondly when Valentina Bosetti and Massimo Tavoni were there.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 02/09/2026

Don't be a stranger on the main campus. @stevenjdavis.bsky.social has a group lunch on campus on Fridays at noon that you are always welcome to. Not to wangle an invitation, but we don't mind visiting @casbsstanford.bsky.social for lunch, either.

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ClimateFran @climatefran.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I'm excited to begin my sabbatical at @casbsstanford.bsky.social . We're only one day in and already had tons of exciting conversations with other fellows. Looking forward to a year of seminars, lunches and some productive research.

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 02/09/2026

Planet America American Sun, American Moon American Solar System Galaxy America Universe America ! (and American atom, hadron, lepton and quark!)

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.

Not only is this system astonishingly untested, USPS has simultaneously implemented an
impracticable zero percent failure rate.
13 When ballots are submitted to USPS in large-volume
batches, if any one ballot in the batch cannot be verified against the Portal, all ballots in that
batch will be rejected. For example, if a state election official brings a batch of 10,000 ballots to
USPS and USPS is unable to match just one of those ballots against the Portal – because, for
example, someone has recently changed their name after marriage or they’ve moved – then
USPS would refuse to mail the remaining 9,999 ballots as well. As the whistleblower notes,

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 01/09/2026

@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social Why is oversight of criminal activities of the Executive Branch and their hangers-on not in scope?

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 01/09/2026

How long does the carbon in the bitumen stay in the asphalt in the road surface? I am no expert but it seems to be quite a long time. It seems like the bitumen oxidizes into asphaltene, not gaseous CO2. Are they claiming carbon credits for that? www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

tandfonline.com

ASPHALT OXIDATION -- AH OVERVIEW INCLUDING A NEW MODELFOR OXIDATION PROPOSING THAT PHYSICOCHEMICAL FACTORS DOMINATE THE OXIDATION KINETICS

Oxidative aging of asphalt is the primary cause of asphalt hardening in pavements, thus contributing to various forms of pavement cracking. The major identifiable functional groups formed on oxid...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Big news this morning is a whistleblower files a complaint that USPS has been illegally preparing to implement Trump’s executive order against mail voting in defiance of court orders: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/u...

nytimes.com

Whistle-Blower Says USPS Is Secretly Proceeding on Trump’s Mail Voting Plan Before Midterms

A report detailed “grave concerns” that a new system being rushed into use by the U.S. Postal Service could imperil millions of mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections.

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