Kieran Healy
@kjhealy.co
Social science and other distractions. Old posts get deleted pretty quick.
https://kieranhealy.org /
https://theordinalsociety.com
https://kieranhealy.org /
https://theordinalsociety.com
Christmas Eve PSA: this is the only good online version of this song.
The Parting Glass
YouTube video by Choral Scholars of University College Dublin
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Christmas Eve PSA: this is the only good online version of this song.
I HEAR THE A TRAIN COMING
IT’S ROLLIN’ ROUND THE BEND
BUT I AIN’T GONNA CATCH IT
I’LL GET THE NEXT ONE THEN
COS I’M STUCK IN
IT’S ROLLIN’ ROUND THE BEND
BUT I AIN’T GONNA CATCH IT
I’LL GET THE NEXT ONE THEN
COS I’M STUCK IN
December 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I HEAR THE A TRAIN COMING
IT’S ROLLIN’ ROUND THE BEND
BUT I AIN’T GONNA CATCH IT
I’LL GET THE NEXT ONE THEN
COS I’M STUCK IN
IT’S ROLLIN’ ROUND THE BEND
BUT I AIN’T GONNA CATCH IT
I’LL GET THE NEXT ONE THEN
COS I’M STUCK IN
One small reason it’s too bad we live in such degraded times is that there’s quite a lot of potential for good-natured and well-informed interdisciplinary paintball about the nonsense other departments get up to; but of course instead we all have to suffer gobshite fascism à la romanhelmetguy.
December 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
One small reason it’s too bad we live in such degraded times is that there’s quite a lot of potential for good-natured and well-informed interdisciplinary paintball about the nonsense other departments get up to; but of course instead we all have to suffer gobshite fascism à la romanhelmetguy.
Should you trust a historian to do surveys? No you should not.
December 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Should you trust a historian to do surveys? No you should not.
DOJ as President’s Personal Lawyer.
Literally any other attorney general before Bondi would have fought tooth and nail and then resigned over this alone. Letting White House staff take over making public statements in the name of DOJ is in and of itself completely insane.
Sounds legit
December 24, 2025 at 12:25 PM
DOJ as President’s Personal Lawyer.
Reposted by Kieran Healy
There is an unfortunate error in this newly published @globalchangebio.bsky.social paper.
The caption for this image reads "upper panel with dragon icon symbolising all tetrapod" but this is incorrect. That is either a wyvern (with two wings and two legs) or it is not a tetrapod (6 limbs).
The caption for this image reads "upper panel with dragon icon symbolising all tetrapod" but this is incorrect. That is either a wyvern (with two wings and two legs) or it is not a tetrapod (6 limbs).
December 24, 2025 at 2:51 AM
There is an unfortunate error in this newly published @globalchangebio.bsky.social paper.
The caption for this image reads "upper panel with dragon icon symbolising all tetrapod" but this is incorrect. That is either a wyvern (with two wings and two legs) or it is not a tetrapod (6 limbs).
The caption for this image reads "upper panel with dragon icon symbolising all tetrapod" but this is incorrect. That is either a wyvern (with two wings and two legs) or it is not a tetrapod (6 limbs).
Must be nice to be able to turn up to the Bluesky Christmas Party.
How I'm turning up to the Bluesky Christmas party
December 23, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Must be nice to be able to turn up to the Bluesky Christmas Party.
When this happens to you it is technically known as Collateral Kavanaugh Estoppel
![arrests in Illinois. The State and the Government disagree about whether the immigration officers have violated the Constitution in making certain immigration stops and arrests. The basic constitutional rules governing that dispute are longstanding and clear: The Fourth Amendment requires that immigration stops must be based on reasonable suspicion of illegal presence, stops must be brief, arrests must be based on probable cause, and officers must not employ excessive force.
Moreover, the officers must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity. Cf. When v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 813(1996) ("[T]he Constitution prohibits selective enforcement of the law based on considerations such as race"). This application does not require us to delve into the parties' underlying dispute and to determine Whether any particular immigration encounter or series of encounters in Illinois has violated those basic constitutional principles.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:myqic77tkmdhmaufgkvj43hr/bafkreienouib7d2au7t3pj7sz7wqx2mv4ohqxyueiou6fqt5glsdxpjvya@jpeg)
December 23, 2025 at 10:46 PM
When this happens to you it is technically known as Collateral Kavanaugh Estoppel
The trailer for “The Odyssey” doesn’t look that great, tbh. Dublin accents also very poor throughout.
December 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The trailer for “The Odyssey” doesn’t look that great, tbh. Dublin accents also very poor throughout.
Our forebears were not so different from us. Medieval shoes but, of course, only one medieval sock.
Medieval Shoes, a Sock, and a Coin Hoard Unearthed in Berlin www.medievalists.net/2025/12/medi...
Medieval Shoes, a Sock, and a Coin Hoard Unearthed in Berlin - Medievalists.net
Leather shoes and a sock are among the headline medieval finds from the Molkenmarkt excavation in Berlin, alongside a small hoard of coins.
www.medievalists.net
December 23, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Our forebears were not so different from us. Medieval shoes but, of course, only one medieval sock.
The Foucault/Borges bit on classification—you know the one; emperor, flies—is the “Good old rock, nothing beats that” of a certain kind of Theorymonger.
December 23, 2025 at 1:18 PM
The Foucault/Borges bit on classification—you know the one; emperor, flies—is the “Good old rock, nothing beats that” of a certain kind of Theorymonger.
I missed the detail where the drawing of the Trump Class “Battleship” has a picture of himself on it.
December 23, 2025 at 12:19 AM
I missed the detail where the drawing of the Trump Class “Battleship” has a picture of himself on it.
Think about Trump Steaks, Trump Casinos, Trump Mortgages, the Trump Foundation, and Trump University. Think about the gap between what was promised, what was delivered, and whether and to what extent it was necessary to get the judicial system involved.
Anyway, and now, Trump Battleships.
Anyway, and now, Trump Battleships.
December 22, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Think about Trump Steaks, Trump Casinos, Trump Mortgages, the Trump Foundation, and Trump University. Think about the gap between what was promised, what was delivered, and whether and to what extent it was necessary to get the judicial system involved.
Anyway, and now, Trump Battleships.
Anyway, and now, Trump Battleships.
I guess “rebranding or remaking an aspect of the government in his own image” is one way to describe it.
December 22, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I guess “rebranding or remaking an aspect of the government in his own image” is one way to describe it.
When it comes to the national security implications of windmills, the military has of course a long history of rational suspicion and justified aggression.
December 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
When it comes to the national security implications of windmills, the military has of course a long history of rational suspicion and justified aggression.
I hope at least some people in the Department of Defense are squirming and/or angry about being made partially responsible for this horseshit.
December 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I hope at least some people in the Department of Defense are squirming and/or angry about being made partially responsible for this horseshit.
Other things found to cause radar interference include the judiciary, Black people, impossible burgers, NPR, immigrants, people who are rude to me in restaurants, being banned from seeing my grandchildren, Black people again, free and fair elections, and people who refuse to follow me on Twitter.
Burgum: "Today we're sending notifications to the 5 large offshore wind projects that are under construction that their leases will be suspended due to national security concerns ... the Dept of War has come back conclusively that these large offshore wind programs create radar interference"
December 22, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Other things found to cause radar interference include the judiciary, Black people, impossible burgers, NPR, immigrants, people who are rude to me in restaurants, being banned from seeing my grandchildren, Black people again, free and fair elections, and people who refuse to follow me on Twitter.
The Writers get a lot of justifiable stick for their crude frauds and villains, but of all the characters on recent seasons of Very Serious People, Thomas Chatterton Williams comes closest to being a truly original comic creation. From pose to prose, every absurd detail is just so well-drawn. Kudos.
December 22, 2025 at 12:47 PM
The Writers get a lot of justifiable stick for their crude frauds and villains, but of all the characters on recent seasons of Very Serious People, Thomas Chatterton Williams comes closest to being a truly original comic creation. From pose to prose, every absurd detail is just so well-drawn. Kudos.
Shure there’s a grand auld stretch in the evenings
December 22, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Shure there’s a grand auld stretch in the evenings
Time for another Forbidden Course at the University of Austin. Or perhaps an open letter. Or maybe some adjunct at a branch campus needs to be pilloried for giving a bad grade. In any case, Free Speech must be defended.
December 22, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Time for another Forbidden Course at the University of Austin. Or perhaps an open letter. Or maybe some adjunct at a branch campus needs to be pilloried for giving a bad grade. In any case, Free Speech must be defended.
My favorite slightly weird “No, seriously, trust me” holiday cocktail is the Trinidad Sour:
- 1 oz. Angostura bitters [No, seriously, trust me]
- 1 oz. Orgeat
- ¾ oz. Lemon juice
- ½ oz. Rye whiskey
- Shake over ice & strain
Tastes like Christmas pudding. If your orgeat is v heavy, use a bit less.
- 1 oz. Angostura bitters [No, seriously, trust me]
- 1 oz. Orgeat
- ¾ oz. Lemon juice
- ½ oz. Rye whiskey
- Shake over ice & strain
Tastes like Christmas pudding. If your orgeat is v heavy, use a bit less.
December 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
My favorite slightly weird “No, seriously, trust me” holiday cocktail is the Trinidad Sour:
- 1 oz. Angostura bitters [No, seriously, trust me]
- 1 oz. Orgeat
- ¾ oz. Lemon juice
- ½ oz. Rye whiskey
- Shake over ice & strain
Tastes like Christmas pudding. If your orgeat is v heavy, use a bit less.
- 1 oz. Angostura bitters [No, seriously, trust me]
- 1 oz. Orgeat
- ¾ oz. Lemon juice
- ½ oz. Rye whiskey
- Shake over ice & strain
Tastes like Christmas pudding. If your orgeat is v heavy, use a bit less.
Reposted by Kieran Healy
Journal article: “the data are available on request”
The data:
The data:
December 20, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Journal article: “the data are available on request”
The data:
The data:
Another chapter in “How much shit will America eat?”
It’s a strange kind of vanity that is at once so gargantuan and relentless but also so cheap, lazy, and stupid.
It’s a strange kind of vanity that is at once so gargantuan and relentless but also so cheap, lazy, and stupid.
December 19, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Another chapter in “How much shit will America eat?”
It’s a strange kind of vanity that is at once so gargantuan and relentless but also so cheap, lazy, and stupid.
It’s a strange kind of vanity that is at once so gargantuan and relentless but also so cheap, lazy, and stupid.
Now imagining an academic novel set at SUNY Bloomingdale. Perhaps with a B-plot taking place during the fight against the closure of CUNY’s Fairway College.
December 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Now imagining an academic novel set at SUNY Bloomingdale. Perhaps with a B-plot taking place during the fight against the closure of CUNY’s Fairway College.