Daniel Dvorkin
@danielmedic.bsky.social
Bioinformaticist / biostatistician, veteran USAF medic and Army infantryman, armchair paleontologist, occasional science fiction author, long-ago kickboxer, oldbat goth, vaccinated liberal patriot.
I just opened a feature request on GitHub that got assigned issue number 404. Hopefully someone will see it even so!
December 31, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I just opened a feature request on GitHub that got assigned issue number 404. Hopefully someone will see it even so!
The idea that the leaders of nations at war should be off-limits is a relic of the days when kings and noble knights expected to be treated respectfully by their counterparts on the other side while they all cheerfully trampled peasant soldiers into the mud. Let it and them die.
December 30, 2025 at 12:59 AM
The idea that the leaders of nations at war should be off-limits is a relic of the days when kings and noble knights expected to be treated respectfully by their counterparts on the other side while they all cheerfully trampled peasant soldiers into the mud. Let it and them die.
As both a medic and a writer, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the ethical bar for fiction writing is *far* lower than the bar for medicine. 🚀 ⚕️ 🖥️
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December 29, 2025 at 9:02 PM
As both a medic and a writer, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the ethical bar for fiction writing is *far* lower than the bar for medicine. 🚀 ⚕️ 🖥️
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"Well, *I* thought it was funny."
— my tombstone, probably
— my tombstone, probably
December 29, 2025 at 4:42 PM
"Well, *I* thought it was funny."
— my tombstone, probably
— my tombstone, probably
Speaking as someone whose entire adult life has been spent keeping people alive, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Lillian #Bonsignore knows a hell of a lot more about saving lives than Elon #Musk.
December 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Speaking as someone whose entire adult life has been spent keeping people alive, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Lillian #Bonsignore knows a hell of a lot more about saving lives than Elon #Musk.
Repeal TABOR repeal TABOR repeal TABOR repeal TABOR ...
Granted, the best time to do that was when the state was booming and it would have been easy to build up a rainy-day fund. But doing it now is better than slowly starving to death.
Granted, the best time to do that was when the state was booming and it would have been easy to build up a rainy-day fund. But doing it now is better than slowly starving to death.
Uncertainty clouds Colorado state budget picture, as economy wobbles
The federal government shutdown delayed the release of key business and labor data, leaving forecasters in the dark about the true state of the economy
coloradosun.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Repeal TABOR repeal TABOR repeal TABOR repeal TABOR ...
Granted, the best time to do that was when the state was booming and it would have been easy to build up a rainy-day fund. But doing it now is better than slowly starving to death.
Granted, the best time to do that was when the state was booming and it would have been easy to build up a rainy-day fund. But doing it now is better than slowly starving to death.
This is an excellent thread on both storytelling and politics.
WELCOME TO POST-OPTIMISM
Optimism is a luxury belief.
Maintenance is a responsibility belief.
My worldview doesn’t say:
“Things will get better.”
It says:
“Things will get worse unless someone pays attention.”
That’s not despair.
That’s custodianship.
Optimism is a luxury belief.
Maintenance is a responsibility belief.
My worldview doesn’t say:
“Things will get better.”
It says:
“Things will get worse unless someone pays attention.”
That’s not despair.
That’s custodianship.
December 22, 2025 at 3:29 PM
This is an excellent thread on both storytelling and politics.
Hello, Republicans. 🧵
December 22, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Hello, Republicans. 🧵
Something you may not know about me: I dislike reading long-form content on my phone, or really doing anything on my phone more than necessary. E.g. if you want to have an in-depth conversation with me, please send me a direct message rather than texting.
December 21, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Something you may not know about me: I dislike reading long-form content on my phone, or really doing anything on my phone more than necessary. E.g. if you want to have an in-depth conversation with me, please send me a direct message rather than texting.
Hey, it was better than spilling a bunch of jewel boxes all over the passenger seat floor and leaning down to fumble through them while going 80 mph down the interstate! Which I, uh, may have done a time or two.
December 19, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Hey, it was better than spilling a bunch of jewel boxes all over the passenger seat floor and leaning down to fumble through them while going 80 mph down the interstate! Which I, uh, may have done a time or two.
Fuck these fucking motherfuckers.
NSF is about to dismantle NCAR at Russell Vought's direction to protect the fossil fuel industry. It's hard to communicate just how much NCAR does, so let's take a look: I've never worked at NCAR, and I've worked with NCAR researchers once ever. What scientific discoveries has NCAR made possible? 👇
December 17, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Fuck these fucking motherfuckers.
Sword in one hand, latte in the other, combat boots on both feet. It's a thing.
December 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Sword in one hand, latte in the other, combat boots on both feet. It's a thing.
I don't know if there will ever be a reckoning for these alleged people. The antivaxers, the fraudsters, the enablers—all of them may never pay for their treason against humanity. But if they do, it needs to end at the gallows.
NEW: A Utah plastic surgeon was on trial for falsifying COVID-19 vaccine cards. Then Pam Bondi stepped in.
Bondi’s dismissal of the case signals the increasing clout of “medical freedom” activists and vaccine skeptics under the leadership of RFK Jr.
With @sltrib.com
Bondi’s dismissal of the case signals the increasing clout of “medical freedom” activists and vaccine skeptics under the leadership of RFK Jr.
With @sltrib.com
Pam Bondi Dismissed Charges Against a Surgeon Who Falsified Vaccine Cards. It Emboldened Others With Similar Cases.
A Utah surgeon’s victory in a vaccine fraud case has encouraged other “medical freedom” advocates to consider seeking leniency for similar charges. “This undermines every layer of the system that prot...
www.propublica.org
December 17, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I don't know if there will ever be a reckoning for these alleged people. The antivaxers, the fraudsters, the enablers—all of them may never pay for their treason against humanity. But if they do, it needs to end at the gallows.
Knowledge is justified true belief. That definition is about 2500 years old, and although philosophers have been trying to come up with a better definition ever since, no one has. All claimed counterexamples are sophistry. 🧵
December 17, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Knowledge is justified true belief. That definition is about 2500 years old, and although philosophers have been trying to come up with a better definition ever since, no one has. All claimed counterexamples are sophistry. 🧵
Between a governor enforcing state law, and a president issuing a “pardon” with no legal force, I know who the weakling is.
December 16, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Between a governor enforcing state law, and a president issuing a “pardon” with no legal force, I know who the weakling is.
I'm pleased to announce that Becca now has her own storefront. As well as the #calendar, there are now some lovely #dragonfly address labels, with more of her amazing #wildlife #photography to come. If there's anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll be happy to pass the request along!
www.zazzle.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I'm pleased to announce that Becca now has her own storefront. As well as the #calendar, there are now some lovely #dragonfly address labels, with more of her amazing #wildlife #photography to come. If there's anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll be happy to pass the request along!
Reposted by Daniel Dvorkin
'For a long time, archaeologists didn’t know where the tin came from. This was the “tin problem,” a phrase that suggests a logistical hiccup rather than a centuries-long mystery that already baffled the historians of the classical world like Herodotus and Pliny.'
www.palladiummag.com/2025/12/05/t...
www.palladiummag.com/2025/12/05/t...
The Bronze Age of Globalization
www.palladiummag.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:40 PM
'For a long time, archaeologists didn’t know where the tin came from. This was the “tin problem,” a phrase that suggests a logistical hiccup rather than a centuries-long mystery that already baffled the historians of the classical world like Herodotus and Pliny.'
www.palladiummag.com/2025/12/05/t...
www.palladiummag.com/2025/12/05/t...
"Being a male doesn't make you a MAN !!
MEN believe in God, its a prerequisite to being called a MAN.
You have a Effeminate heathen male not a man 💯🙏✝️"
Well, there it is, the stupidest thing I'll read on the internet all day. Hopefully.
MEN believe in God, its a prerequisite to being called a MAN.
You have a Effeminate heathen male not a man 💯🙏✝️"
Well, there it is, the stupidest thing I'll read on the internet all day. Hopefully.
December 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
"Being a male doesn't make you a MAN !!
MEN believe in God, its a prerequisite to being called a MAN.
You have a Effeminate heathen male not a man 💯🙏✝️"
Well, there it is, the stupidest thing I'll read on the internet all day. Hopefully.
MEN believe in God, its a prerequisite to being called a MAN.
You have a Effeminate heathen male not a man 💯🙏✝️"
Well, there it is, the stupidest thing I'll read on the internet all day. Hopefully.
Unashamed plug: Becca Lee, my beloved wife and an amazing wildlife photographer, finally has her work up for sale. If you're looking for a 2026 calendar, this would be an *excellent* choice. 🙂
www.zazzle.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Unashamed plug: Becca Lee, my beloved wife and an amazing wildlife photographer, finally has her work up for sale. If you're looking for a 2026 calendar, this would be an *excellent* choice. 🙂
Do you want the PLA in Venezuela? Because this is how you get the PLA in Venezuela.
December 10, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Do you want the PLA in Venezuela? Because this is how you get the PLA in Venezuela.
"So you're not willing to define dinosaurs, except as 'not birds because I say so'? Okay."
Really I should know better than to keep having this argument, but for some reason I can't resist.
🧪 🦖 🦕
Really I should know better than to keep having this argument, but for some reason I can't resist.
🧪 🦖 🦕
December 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
"So you're not willing to define dinosaurs, except as 'not birds because I say so'? Okay."
Really I should know better than to keep having this argument, but for some reason I can't resist.
🧪 🦖 🦕
Really I should know better than to keep having this argument, but for some reason I can't resist.
🧪 🦖 🦕
Someday, someone will write The History of the Decline and Fall of the American Empire, perhaps even in the then-former territory of the United States. In that work, the Roberts Court will be correctly identified as one of the chief causes of its destruction. 🧵
Undoubtedly
This week, The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether children born on American soil are American citizens.
thehumanityarchive.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Someday, someone will write The History of the Decline and Fall of the American Empire, perhaps even in the then-former territory of the United States. In that work, the Roberts Court will be correctly identified as one of the chief causes of its destruction. 🧵
There's a style of writing that's become popular.
🧵
🧵
December 7, 2025 at 12:53 AM
There's a style of writing that's become popular.
🧵
🧵
Science fiction fans are weird. I should know: I've been part of organized fandom since I was too small to see over the tables in the huckster room, as we called it in the days when we printed fanzines on mammoth vellum. 🚀 🧵
December 7, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Science fiction fans are weird. I should know: I've been part of organized fandom since I was too small to see over the tables in the huckster room, as we called it in the days when we printed fanzines on mammoth vellum. 🚀 🧵
I get a lot of mileage out of "This is not difficult to understand, unless you choose not to."
December 5, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I get a lot of mileage out of "This is not difficult to understand, unless you choose not to."