Social media platforms have incentives to increase our feeling of social influence through the metrics they give us.
A flattering number of 'views' is likely inflated (e.g., bots) and may not be reflective of audience retention. 🧵
optimallyirrational.com/p/the-reality-…

Mao Zedong: 'I like to deal with rightists. They say what they really think—not like the leftists, who say one thing and mean another.' a.co/d/feCypBo

College admission essay content has a stronger correlation with household income (R2 = 16%) than SAT scores.
This explains how removing standardized tests can increase inequality.
Based on 240,000 admission essays to the University of California. science.org/doi/full/10.11…

Inviting an outside speaker for commencement is arguably choosing to honor them and give them a captive audience.
Valedictorian earned it under established rules. Doesn't matter what she posted. It's a free speech issue. And barring her due to threats of violence makes it worse.

This is the same kind of sepia-tinged nostalgia for a false past that defines reactionary politics. It has ALWAYS been normal for people in their 20s to rent or have roommates. These people want to RETVRN to an era that never existed and get bitterly angry when we can’t.

STRANGE BUT TRUE: For the average person, cost of living, as a share of income, is lower than any point in American history. This is the most affordable time to be alive in the United States, ever!

The First Amendment protects charged political rhetoric like chants of “Death to America,” even if most find it abhorrent. The alternative is for the government to police the bounds of political speech, and that won’t work out well for anyone. midmichigannow.com/news/local/mic…

Progress in dental care is underappreciated.

Current generations can reasonably expect to enter old age with a full set of pearly whites.

That's a recent development.

In 1960-62, about half of Americans aged 70 had lost all of their teeth.

Historically, globalization => prosperity => CO2 emissions.

But globalization can take a lot of credit for the rapidly declining emissions intensity of development.

Me for Cato's wonderful Defending Globalization series.
cato.org/publications/c…

I'm breaking my Twitter fast for a very good cause-Nancy French's beautiful, wonderful, funny, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful and redemptive memoir is out today. Yes, I'm biased, but it truly is great. You will love reading this book: amazon.com/Ghosted-Americ…

Great piece from James Innes-Smith in today’s Express. Tune in tonight at 10pm or watch on All4. Martin James Seager Janis James MBE Phil Mitchell:Specialist Working With Abused Males Mates In Mind ManKind Initiative #DannyDyerHTBAM

The decision by USC to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech over “campus security and safety” appears to be an utterly transparent attempt at censorship.

As the first big commencement season controversy, USC is setting a poor example.

I'm not sure I would send my kid to a university that is so dangerous and has such poor security they have to cancel an annual event like this! It really raises questions about whether the student body is safe in general

She definitionally *does* deserve to, what with being the valedictorian!

Senior NPR editor Uri Berliner has been suspended from the public radio network he's served for 25 years after sharing concerns about bias in The Free Press: thefp.pub/4aJXNk4

Transparent bs. If they don’t want to platform her speech, they should’ve just said so and taken the justly dished-out criticism. Instead they’re claiming security concerns. If a valedictorian can’t address her classmates without endangering their lives, just close the school.

This is why I think America's urban future is 'gentle density' -- duplexes, townhomes, and low-rises in the 'burbs, coffee shops and grocery stores sprinkled through suburban neighborhoods, and commuter rail stations that suburbanites can bike to.

what is happening in San Francisco?? Revenue declines of 35%+ for most major business areas?

Ah yes, canceling internal critics is a sure way to win back public trust!

Rikki Schlott & explain how the expert class is shooting itself in the feet repeatedly & then wondering why nobody trusts them.

People aren’t stupid, & when they see that dissenters get punished or even…

For Boston Globe Opinion, Lisa Selin Davis writes:
The US needs a bipartisan, open-minded gender medicine commission
A thoughtful, comprehensive review just released in Britain points to a way out of the political impasse over youth gender treatments.