John Allen Paulos
ja-paulos.bsky.social
John Allen Paulos
@ja-paulos.bsky.social
Math prof, NYT bestselling author. Innumeracy, Math'n Reads Newspaper, others: https://johnallenpaulos.com/booksandreviews.html, columnist, ponderer
The double attack on the boat is troubling. More so should be the single attacks on all the other boats. There doesn't seem to be a good rationale to call them anything but murders.
December 6, 2025 at 11:54 PM
If the killing of the two survivors of the bombing of their boat is a war crime, and it is, then why isn't the killing (murdering) of those fishermen and other innocents on the various blown-up boats also a war crime?
December 5, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Hannah Arendt expressed in first order logic: Give me A and then give me Not A and I'll prove anything you want.
x.com/PhillfromPhi...
December 4, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Trump pardons a narcotics kingpin, but he blows up fishing boats in the Caribbean.
WHOA. Trump says he will pardon Juan Orlando Hernandez, who once said that he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.” He had people killed as part of his narco-trafficking ring, which he at times operated directly out of his presidential office.
November 29, 2025 at 1:40 AM
The 40 billion dollars cost of the USAID program (including food) is is about half of 1% of the US budget.
November 22, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Trump, poster child for innumeracy. He has done vastly more to underline innumeracy's harmful effects on public policy (tariffs, the economy, healthcare, energy, climate, corruption, etc) than untold copies of my books on the subject. pbs.twimg.com/profile_bann...
pbs.twimg.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:44 PM
What's with Baum is
vintage Woody Allen - funny, neurotic, addictive, occasionally even thought-provoking. It's a fine whine. Loved it. a.co/d/7O5Q9iI
What's with Baum?: Allen, Woody: 9798895652381: Amazon.com: Books
What's with Baum? [Allen, Woody] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. What's with Baum?
a.co
October 26, 2025 at 8:29 AM
The ignoramus can't take any criticism even from abroad. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/u...
Trump Says He’s Cutting Off Trade Negotiations With Canada
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Reposted by John Allen Paulos
The problem isn’t only that he’s auto satirical, it’s that MAGA voters lap this (literal) nonsense up like candy. 🍭

To protect the American people from this long con we need Innumeracy by @ja-paulos.bsky.social incorporated into the standard curriculum.

johnallenpaulos.com/innumeracy.h...
John Allen Paulos
johnallenpaulos.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:16 PM
A suggestion for today's NO KINGS protest, Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas (1964). Not just in Portland and Chicago, but all around the USA. share.google/WPMO4srFBXAP...
October 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM
A musical suggestion for tomorrow's No Kings protest, Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas (1964): youtu.be/CdvITn5cAVc?...
Martha & The Vandellas "Dancing in the Streets"
YouTube video by Petr Wab
youtu.be
October 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by John Allen Paulos
This week, MAGA figures claimed Kristi Noem "stared down" violent antifa protesters in Portland. Turns out they were talking mostly about a guy in a chicken suit.

This episode opens a window into how MAGA propaganda works and MSM failure to handle it. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2016...
MAGA Implodes over Kristi Noem’s “Stare Down” with Man in Chicken Suit
A good New York Times piece on Portland nevertheless demonstrates how the conventions of objective reporting fail to accurately capture the bad faith driving pro-Trump propaganda.
newrepublic.com
October 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by John Allen Paulos
Trump: "Portland is burning to the ground." The truth: There is a fire-free nonviolent protest on one city block in Portland whose area is 145 square miles.
October 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
It shouldn't take much imagination to realize that the military on the streets of blue cities could easily be directed by Trump, after inventing another bogus emergency, to intimidate people and discourage them from going to the polls next year. It might be the only way the GOP can hold on to power.
October 7, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Trump: "Portland is burning to the ground." The truth: There is a fire-free nonviolent protest on one city block in Portland whose area is 145 square miles.
October 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Trump is alternately a real arsonist and a pretend firefighter.
October 6, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Memorialized on a plaque outside Bascom Hall at the UW–Madison:
“Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”
October 3, 2025 at 5:50 PM