John Paul Helveston
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jhelvy.bsky.social
John Paul Helveston
@jhelvy.bsky.social
Systems Eng Prof @ GWU πŸ¦› | Director, Data Analytics MS Program | EVs πŸ”‹πŸš— | Low Carbon Tech | Choice Modeling | Survey Research | China | US-China Policy | #rstats | #reproducibility | #opensource | Father | opinions own
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Hi everyone! πŸ‘‹

I didn't really give a great intro when joining, so here's a short introductory thread to folks who want to connect here. Quick summary:

- #Rstats dev
- Choice modeling
- Global EV industry
- Consumer preference modeling
- China
- Industrial Policy

Details in a 🧡... (1/6)
There I fixed it
February 2, 2026 at 4:06 PM
I teach my students to always start the y-axis at 0 when making a bar chart for a reason

x.com/WhiteHouse/s...
February 2, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Incredible self own for the US. The damage being done to the US scientific enterprise is generational. We will look back on this as a tipping point where the US chose all on its own to stop leading the world in science.

www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
www.science.org
January 28, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Now channel your inner Mitch McConnell and stick to it
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...
January 25, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Defund ICE or shut the government down. This is the moderate position.
January 24, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Jim Jones got over 900 people to kill themselves with him. Cults are like that.
January 21, 2026 at 1:52 AM
People are holding on to hope with "but the Generals wouldn't obey that order right?" and 1) that says a LOT about where we are right now and 2) you better believe they 100% would follow that order, and if not there are hundreds in line who would I mean look at who they put in charge of DoD ffs
January 21, 2026 at 1:40 AM
For the record, as an American, I think threatening tariffs on our closest European allies and fellow NATO members because they are standing up to US threats to forcibly annex Greenland is bad.
January 19, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Most Americans have no idea how immensely pissed Canadians are at the US. I'm not Canadian, but have family there, and the damage from the US's betrayal will last a generation or more. There's no returning to the prior relationship regardless who takes power in the US.
"Trade is not fundamentally about competition. It's not us versus Canada. It's us and Canada." It's really about cooperation. And if the United States won't cooperate reliably with Canada, we shouldn't be surprised when Canada looks for new friends to cooperate with. And Americans miss out.
January 19, 2026 at 1:31 AM
It begins. Canadians will soon experience the vast superiority of Chinese EVs, and the US will lose its largest vehicle export market. The transition will happen much faster than people think.
Breaking with the U.S., Canada will slash its 100% tariffs on Chinese electric cars, opening the doors to imports that cost less than $25,000 (or $35,000 Canadian).

insideevs.com/news/784657/...
Canada Just Opened The Door To Cheap Chinese EVs
Breaking with the U.S., Canada will slash 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars, opening the doors to imports that cost less than $25,000.
insideevs.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Updated my LLM / AI policy for my intro to #Rstats programming course this semester:
p4a.seas.gwu.edu/2026-Spring/...

Largely inspired by @andrew.heiss.phd post: lnkd.in/e_Sr2D-5
January 15, 2026 at 3:14 PM
It's a DS workshop by @andrew.heiss.phd, what more do you need to know? You should check it out #rstats #positron
TOMORROW! (Tuesday)
@andrew.heiss.phd is gonna be on the DS Lab showing us how he makes his life easier: #Positron extensions he loves, OS tools he uses, and #duckdb + Connections pane πŸ‘€

Bonus, we'll def share the "moving the activity bar" thing live, too πŸ‘πŸ»

Register: pos.it/dslab
#rstats #databs
January 13, 2026 at 12:38 AM
🀌
This is the most elite change in #Positron, it's so calming.

#rstats #python #databs
January 12, 2026 at 10:37 PM
It's all too obvious why any regime as unpopular as the current one would work so hard to silence public data infrastructure

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
America’s Statistical System Is Breaking Down
Canceled surveys, missing datasets and staffing cuts are leaving the US with growing blind spots β€” and weakening trust in official numbers.
www.bloomberg.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Two more shot. Shut it down until the lawlessness ends.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...
Federal Agents Shoot 2 During Traffic Stop in Portland, Ore.
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Make him do it then.
January 8, 2026 at 3:31 PM
I swear to God if the shoe were in the other foot there is NO WAY the Rs would have let this obscene level of lawlessness go on. The Ds need to grow a pair and start pulling from the old Mitch McConnell playbook.
Here’s some things that can be done by a party out of power

- file impeachment articles every day in the House

- withhold unanimous consent in the senate and filibuster every nominee

- be everywhere with comms saying this is lawless and impeachable
January 8, 2026 at 4:52 AM
L5-S1 is rough...I've suffered from that one for a decade now. Managed to avoid the fusion (so far) despite some pretty debilitating symptoms. Only walking today (mostly pain free) because of this:

www.backfitpro.com
Back Pain Rehabilitation, Injury Prevention & Exercise - BackFitPro
Dr. McGill’s lower back pain exercises, research, products & videos will set you on the correct path for rehabilitation, spine health & pain relief.
www.backfitpro.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:34 PM
If they're murdering people in broad daylight with cameras rolling, imagine what they're doing to the thousands being held in the camps.
January 7, 2026 at 9:26 PM
They're literally murdering us
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com Β· Jan 7
Video taken by a witness shows the moment an ICE officer fatally shot a woman in a vehicle in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Follow live updates: https://cnn.it/4qbzgwg
January 7, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Ignoring the armada just off of the coast for a moment, let's again remember how little time has passed and how quickly troops can be positioned if desired. Clearly there was no plan for what happens next, but if it is ever decided that more boots on the ground are needed, they'll be there in hours.
January 5, 2026 at 12:22 PM
It's only been 24 hours. Let's wait and see about that occupying force.
January 4, 2026 at 3:20 PM
For those too young to remember the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, this is actually nothing like that. The Iraq invasion (though built on lies) was approved by Congress. This is much more like Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, or Germany into Poland, etc.
January 4, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Please please please EV designers, bring back buttons and just make normal cars that are electric nobody wants to turn on their wipers with a touch screen! πŸ™
January 4, 2026 at 2:48 AM
Every person who voted for this criminal because they wanted to get the US out of foreign wars will now cheer and justify this with all kinds of BS. Call them out every time.
January 3, 2026 at 10:55 PM