Gary L. Herstein
@philosophe1957.bsky.social
Philosopher (earned Ph.D., Whitehead scholar), author (sort of), opinionated lefty, cat servant.
Only respond to Chats from people I already know.
Only follow back folks with some OC.
https://independent.academia.edu/GaryHerstein
https://garyherstein.com
Only respond to Chats from people I already know.
Only follow back folks with some OC.
https://independent.academia.edu/GaryHerstein
https://garyherstein.com
Pinned
I don't listen to podcasts, audio books, whatever. My reasoned estimation is that these are cheats. A text pauses before your eyes, and gives you the space, time, and authority to think about what is presented, and then challenge it. Streaming media simply hits you and moves on.
November 21, 2025 at 11:36 PM
I don't listen to podcasts, audio books, whatever. My reasoned estimation is that these are cheats. A text pauses before your eyes, and gives you the space, time, and authority to think about what is presented, and then challenge it. Streaming media simply hits you and moves on.
Lovecraft would have you quiver in horror before the nightmare form of chaos embodied of Cthulhu rising from the sea.
But I tell you now, there is no terror so absolute, so merciless, so existential, and so beyond the possibility of negotiation as sitting down at the keyboard before a blank page.
But I tell you now, there is no terror so absolute, so merciless, so existential, and so beyond the possibility of negotiation as sitting down at the keyboard before a blank page.
November 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Lovecraft would have you quiver in horror before the nightmare form of chaos embodied of Cthulhu rising from the sea.
But I tell you now, there is no terror so absolute, so merciless, so existential, and so beyond the possibility of negotiation as sitting down at the keyboard before a blank page.
But I tell you now, there is no terror so absolute, so merciless, so existential, and so beyond the possibility of negotiation as sitting down at the keyboard before a blank page.
The Coast Guard has "updated" its updated policy after public outcry:
The Coast Guard planned to change how it described swastikas and nooses. Then came the outcry and an updated policy
The U.S. Coast Guard has released a new, firmer policy addressing the display of hate symbols like swastikas and nooses just hours after it was publicly revealed that it made plans to describe them as...
www.pbs.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The Coast Guard has "updated" its updated policy after public outcry:
(Unverified, but a good meme)
November 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
(Unverified, but a good meme)
Dear AG Pam B(l)ondi:
Make up your mind what lie you're going to tell, and then stick with it.
Make up your mind what lie you're going to tell, and then stick with it.
Justice Department insists Comey indictment was properly approved as it tries to keep case afloat
A day after the Justice Department acknowledged to a federal judge that the full grand jury had not reviewed the final indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney ...
www.yahoo.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Dear AG Pam B(l)ondi:
Make up your mind what lie you're going to tell, and then stick with it.
Make up your mind what lie you're going to tell, and then stick with it.
"Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre is now investigating the case of a website luring people seeking a foothold in the increasingly crowded space of vanity and self-publishing."
Lost in the plot: how would-be authors were fooled by AI staff and virtual offices in suspected global publishing scam
Book publishing websites in Australia, the UK and New Zealand appear to be using fake testimonials and AI staff pages to lure aspiring writers into handing over their money
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
"Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre is now investigating the case of a website luring people seeking a foothold in the increasingly crowded space of vanity and self-publishing."
"Return to the Land is far from the first attempt at a white nationalist separatist community in America, and it’s far from the first to shit the bed when it comes to recruitment."
That’s All, Volks! | Henry Luzzatto
The folk community cautionary tale of the hippie-Nazi commune Volksberg.
thebaffler.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:27 PM
"Return to the Land is far from the first attempt at a white nationalist separatist community in America, and it’s far from the first to shit the bed when it comes to recruitment."
"This paper investigates how surveillance capitalism enables a convergence of state authoritarianism and digital monopolies"
(Downloadable .PDF linked on page.)
(Downloadable .PDF linked on page.)
Surveillance Capitalism in Fragile Democracies: Defending Journalism from Dual Domination
This paper investigates how surveillance capitalism enables a convergence of state authoritarianism and digital monopolies, posing an existential threat to fragile democracies by examining its corrosive effects on the news media in Turkey and Hungary.
www.hks.harvard.edu
November 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM
"This paper investigates how surveillance capitalism enables a convergence of state authoritarianism and digital monopolies"
(Downloadable .PDF linked on page.)
(Downloadable .PDF linked on page.)
Just because
Two Steps From Hell - Impossible Live @ WACKEN
YouTube video by Two Steps From Hell
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Just because
This a$$ stain hypocrite f*ck wipe isn't ashamed of his interactions with Epstein. If he was, he'd have come clean years ago.
He's butt hurt about being *CAUGHT*, and too much the professional liar to admit as much.
He's butt hurt about being *CAUGHT*, and too much the professional liar to admit as much.
‘Deeply ashamed’ Larry Summers steps back from public life over Epstein links
Former treasury secretary steps away to ‘rebuild trust’ after severe backlash but will continue teaching Harvard classes
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:15 AM
This a$$ stain hypocrite f*ck wipe isn't ashamed of his interactions with Epstein. If he was, he'd have come clean years ago.
He's butt hurt about being *CAUGHT*, and too much the professional liar to admit as much.
He's butt hurt about being *CAUGHT*, and too much the professional liar to admit as much.
"Whatever electoral successes, and no matter how much it attempts to reorder institutions, the right will not enjoy cultural domination because you cannot so easily manufacture popularity."
Welcome to the great unwokening of Hollywood! Shame no one can be bothered to turn up | Jason Okundaye
Sydney Sweeney has become the poster child of a predicted rightwing cultural domination. So why is no one watching her films, asks Guardian assistant newsletter editor Jason Okundaye
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:09 PM
"Whatever electoral successes, and no matter how much it attempts to reorder institutions, the right will not enjoy cultural domination because you cannot so easily manufacture popularity."
"They have almost no predators outside of a few hawks or other raptors, and don’t compete with local birds for food, since they eat a diet of almost entirely imported ornamental plants. ... they are non-native, they are not considered an invasive species because they don’t push other species out."
These parrots came to Los Angeles as pets – then went wild. Now scientists are unlocking their mysteries
Once escapees from the pet trade, Los Angeles’s feral parrots have become a vibrant part of city life, and could even aid conservation in their native homelands
www.yahoo.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
"They have almost no predators outside of a few hawks or other raptors, and don’t compete with local birds for food, since they eat a diet of almost entirely imported ornamental plants. ... they are non-native, they are not considered an invasive species because they don’t push other species out."
"ignore billionaires when they threaten to take their marbles and go home. The big money always responds to threats of tax hikes, or even mere verbal criticism, by threatening to go all Ayn Rand and move to Galt’s Gulch. In reality, they won’t even move to Florida."
The Plutocrats Who Cried “Commie”
About that “fleeing New York” claim
paulkrugman.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:04 PM
"ignore billionaires when they threaten to take their marbles and go home. The big money always responds to threats of tax hikes, or even mere verbal criticism, by threatening to go all Ayn Rand and move to Galt’s Gulch. In reality, they won’t even move to Florida."
TL;DR: sudden warming of the polar stratosphere could cause a massive polar vortex of cold air to drive into North America. "If the stratosphere does warm suddenly, it would be the first such event in November since accurate satellite records began"
La Niña vs. polar vortex? Forecast warns of 'extraordinary' winter weather.
A sudden, dramatic shift in temperatures high in the atmosphere will dance with the La Niña weather pattern. There won't be a clear winner.
www.yahoo.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM
TL;DR: sudden warming of the polar stratosphere could cause a massive polar vortex of cold air to drive into North America. "If the stratosphere does warm suddenly, it would be the first such event in November since accurate satellite records began"
Because all of those "experts" are just too clever to vaccinate themselves or their children.
In Texas, Whooping Cough Cases Have Quadrupled
Health officials link outbreak to declining vaccination rates
www.newser.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Because all of those "experts" are just too clever to vaccinate themselves or their children.
Ross DoucheHat sincerely wonders, and the NYT sincerely publishes his wonderings, whether "we (women) are screwing things up for…men? Other women? With our existence, and perhaps the expectation that we deserve progressively equitable workplaces." VF workers chimed in on their chat board:
Women of Vanity Fair Consider: Wait, Did We Ruin the Workplace?
Today, The New York Times published a conversation between the conservative columnist Ross Douthat and two writers about just how bad ladies have screwed up corporate culture with their presence. We f...
www.vanityfair.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Ross DoucheHat sincerely wonders, and the NYT sincerely publishes his wonderings, whether "we (women) are screwing things up for…men? Other women? With our existence, and perhaps the expectation that we deserve progressively equitable workplaces." VF workers chimed in on their chat board:
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 7, 2025 at 10:11 PM
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
Apropos of nothing ...
A Brief History of American Socialism
“America will never be a socialist country,” declared Donald Trump in his 2019 State of the Union Address, given to a joint session of Congress. The president clearly believed that fear of such a r…
lithub.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Apropos of nothing ...
"Trump was largely absent from the campaign trail, but GOP candidates closely aligned themselves with the president, betting that his big win last year could provide a path to victory this time. They were wrong."
Democrats dominate as economic woes take a toll on Trump's GOP. Takeaways from Election Day 2025
Democrats are dominating the first major Election Day since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
apnews.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:37 PM
"Trump was largely absent from the campaign trail, but GOP candidates closely aligned themselves with the president, betting that his big win last year could provide a path to victory this time. They were wrong."
"One of the most pernicious misconceptions about climate change is the idea that climate models make projections for the next 100 years by simply extrapolating the globally averaged changes in weather patterns over the last 40 – 50 years into the future."
RealClimate: Raising Climate Literacy
RealClimate: Guest commentary by Figen Mekik Climate change has become “that” topic – like evolution of species, plate tectonics, or AI where the public has heard so much about it that many think . Su...
www.realclimate.org
November 3, 2025 at 8:45 PM
"One of the most pernicious misconceptions about climate change is the idea that climate models make projections for the next 100 years by simply extrapolating the globally averaged changes in weather patterns over the last 40 – 50 years into the future."
Actually, it is a little old by their standards ...
October 31, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Actually, it is a little old by their standards ...