Offbeat Humor

I’d ask them if engagement farming is big on their world too. https://t.co/vvYKHGFOZ0 pic.twitter.com/Mx76SM5iZK

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) June 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

Essentially true of employees, and this is why automation is preferable: There is no principle agent problem there. https://t.co/VZPikYnpNz

— Samo Burja (@SamoBurja) June 14, 2026

 

Traffic Jam, 1956 by Earl Mayan

Traffic Jam, 1956 by Earl Mayan (America, 1916-2009)

Click to enlarge.

History

The "Mole Man of Hackney" was the nickname given to William Lyttle, an eccentric Irish civil engineer who spent roughly 40 years illegally digging a massive network of tunnels beneath his 20-room Victorian property in De Beauvoir Town, Hackney, London.

The Digging Obsession… pic.twitter.com/uoCqe09S98

— Knowledge of London (@Knowledgepoint) June 14, 2026

 

An Insight

pic.twitter.com/PfKKtOnosE

— Niccolò Machiavelli | The Prince ⚔️ (@NiccoloDaily) June 14, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Really interesting! Indeed a similarity there, adding photo I made in Nuremberg (the house of the artist Albrecht Dürer). pic.twitter.com/Cl8IyOIUb3

— Susan (@susanworld) June 14, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

En turquia, estaban haciendo la obra de romeo y julieta
cayo el gato del actor al escenario y el bicho no entendia porque el tipo estaba en el piso
Lo trataba de despertar kjjj pic.twitter.com/2CLyQJpFUx

— ElBuni (@therealbuni) June 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

So fascinating that Africans reached Australia and Japan before they got to most of Europe. https://t.co/h5QY1ylzns

— Matt Ridley (@mattwridley) June 14, 2026

 

Dos en Luz Dorada (Two in Golden Light), 2023 by Tomás Sánchez

Dos en Luz Dorada (Two in Golden Light), 2023 by Tomás Sánchez (Cuba, 1948 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

In 1750 BC, a man named Nanni bought copper from a Babylonian dealer named Ea-Nasir.

The copper was garbage. So Nanni carved his rage into a clay tablet and had it delivered.

It survived 3,770 years. It is the oldest written complaint on Earth, and it tells you exactly how… pic.twitter.com/w8HbicIGcl

— Ancient History Hub (@AncientHistorry) June 13, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Legends of the skies. pic.twitter.com/V7IM3UamiN

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 14, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Scotland fans in lifts in America for the World Cup😂 pic.twitter.com/5U9gSDfaf4

— Ross McCulloch (@Rossmac212) June 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

Maybe we don't have a public school funding problem ...

Maybe we have too many administrative staff?

Clearly adding more admin staff hasn't improved the numbers, so maybe go back to the 1960s ratio. pic.twitter.com/v3iZdP7Dzc

— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) June 14, 2026

 

Heroes and Ghosts #3, 2020 by Francis DiFronzo

Heroes and Ghosts #3, 2020 by Francis DiFronzo (America, 1969 - ) 

Click to enlarge.

Kling's Three Languages of Politics

From Claude does TLP by Arnold Kling.  The subheading is It performs amazingly well

Claude, describing Kling's three languages of politics.

Progressives communicate along the oppressor–oppressed axis. The fundamental question: who is being victimized, and by whom? Conservatives communicate along the civilization–barbarism axis: what threatens the institutions and norms that make civilized life possible? Libertarians communicate along the liberty–coercion axis: where is the state expanding its power over individuals?

Two disclaimers, both easy to miss, both important. The model is not a theory of ideology — it does not explain why anyone becomes progressive, conservative, or libertarian, and each of those traditions is deeper than its slogan. And it is not a map of moral reasoning. The axes are not how people arrive at their conclusions. They are the language people reach for when talking about conclusions already reached.

That gap — between reasoning and language — is where the interesting psychology lives.

Here is the observation that unlocks it: everyone opposes the bad thing. No one is for oppression. No one is for barbarism. No one is for coercion. These are not competing values; they are universally shared negative values. What differs is which threat each tribe organizes its identity around — and which one it accuses the other tribes of enabling. Conservatives accuse the others of being soft on barbarism. Progressives accuse the others of defending oppression. Libertarians accuse both of expanding coercion. The three languages are less three sets of values than three axes of demonization.

The model describes a pattern. It does not explain it. For that, you have to go back a long way before the Voting Rights Act.

Politics precedes language. Frans de Waal’s chimpanzees build alliances, trade favors, betray partners, and reconcile — without a word. Alpha status in a chimp colony is won by coalition management, not raw strength; a strong chimp with poor alliances loses to a weaker chimp with better ones. Political instincts are products of evolution, not culture.

And our minds bear the marks. Leda Cosmides and John Tooby showed that people fail an abstract logic puzzle that they solve instantly when the identical puzzle is framed as catching a cheater. The mind is not a general-purpose reasoner. It runs specialized modules — cheater detection, us-versus-them, loyalty tracking — built for life in coalitions.

Jonathan Haidt supplies the next piece: intuition first, reasoning second. His metaphor is a rider on an elephant. The elephant — our automatic moral intuition — moves first. The rider — conscious reasoning — mostly writes the elephant’s press releases. We experience ourselves as reasoning toward moral conclusions; mostly we are rationalizing conclusions already reached.

Kurt Gray and Daniel Wegner add the template those intuitions run on. Every moral story casts two roles: a suffering victim and an intentional villain.

Each political language is a standing casting decision. Progressives cast the marginalized as victim and the powerful as villain. Conservatives cast civilization as victim and disorder as villain. Libertarians cast the individual as victim and the state as villain. Look at how progressives and conservatives frame Gaza: near mirror images, the same events with the victim and villain roles swapped.

Dan Williams completes the picture with an economic insight. You cannot believe just anything — beliefs need justifications you find genuine. But the belief usually comes first, from tribe, intuition, or emotion; the justification is hired afterward. And when millions of people need the same justifications, that demand creates a market. Political media does not sell information. It sells justification. This is why counterargument bounces off: you are not engaging a reasoned conclusion, you are engaging the rationalization of a tribal commitment. Refute one rationalization and you merely trigger a search for a better one.

The darkest product in that market is what David McRaney calls the illusion of asymmetric insight: the conviction that you understand your opponents better than they understand themselves. The progressive knows that colorblindness is really cover for preserving hierarchy. The conservative knows that climate policy is really cover for controlling people. The libertarian knows that everyone else’s compassion is really a lust for power. Asymmetric insight ends dialogue before it starts, because it declares the other side’s stated reasons not worth engaging.

Put it together and the conclusion is uncomfortable. The three languages are not reasoning. They are signaling. Speaking your tribe’s axis is good for three things: reassuring others of your loyalty, raising your status among those who agree, and whipping up hostility against the other tribes. What it is not good for is persuading anyone outside the tribe. Most political commentary does not open minds on the other side. It closes minds on its own side.

History

I often think about this pic.twitter.com/kL2gmFycEF

— Dividend Growth Investor (@DividendGrowth) June 13, 2026

 

An Insight

Lmao it’s funny how it was actually the leftists who pushed their whole “diversity” alliance to get the Muslims in charge in Hamtramck.

Then these guys take over the entire council and one of the first things they do is ban the LGBT flag from city property (haram).

Anyone… https://t.co/CVt8pamZxe pic.twitter.com/R46XF2sDMs

— Rothmus 🏴 (@Rothmus) June 12, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

There is a tree in the Amazon, the Sumaúma (Ceiba pentandra), that can reach about 70 metres tall, rising above the forest canopy. It has massive buttress roots that spread like wings to stabilise it in shallow soil,

sometimes large enough to stand between.

📸 amyris /Amyris… pic.twitter.com/7pSLjPON2C

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) June 14, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

-Squatters took over his mom's house
-Didn't know how to get them out and discovered how difficult the legal process can be for homeowners
-Found a legal workaround where he could move into the house himself and essentially become the squatter's new roommate
-Realized this was a… pic.twitter.com/qedI3yqMJ3

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) June 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

Worth reading this revealing account of what the university is facing: https://t.co/FT3uIEKt0A

— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) June 12, 2026

 

Two Girls with an Oleander, 1890 by Gustav Klimt

Two Girls with an Oleander, 1890 by Gustav Klimt (Austria, 1862-1918)

Click to enlarge.

History

Notice the famous Templar symbol of two Templars riding one horse.

According to some interpretations the symbol is meant to reflect the humble origins of the Order. Legend has it that Templar Knights were initially so poor that they could only afford one horse for every two men. https://t.co/pz7cwwp9S8 pic.twitter.com/al1mj3p9Jr

— Aristocratic Fury (@LandsknechtPike) June 14, 2026

 

An Insight

“Free speech is outdated” usually means “I trust today’s censors more than yesterday’s.”

But the old problem remains: If you give someone the power to decide which ideas are too dangerous to hear, don’t be shocked when that power gets used against you. pic.twitter.com/w3GSCLrjzR

— Greg Lukianoff (@glukianoff) June 12, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Le carnet de croquis de Turner pic.twitter.com/Yi63rP9Ga0

— Alexandre Blaineau (@AlBlaineau) June 13, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Is she actually lecturing us about rich people from the back of a limousine 🤣 https://t.co/RiZ12pYLxc

— Jessica (@JessicaTetreau) June 12, 2026

 

Data Talks

This is embarassing for @NYMag -- these "gifted" children were about 30X more likely to acheive eminence than their peers. By any standard that is not a "mirage", but the embodiment of whatever metric identified them as gifted.

It's one thing if their writers don't understand… https://t.co/4GV0CLBpP1

— Jay Van Bavel, PhD (@jayvanbavel) June 12, 2026

 

In the Kitchen by Harold Harvey

In the Kitchen by Harold Harvey (England, 1874-1941)

Click to enlarge.

History

🇬🇧 When you say the word tarmac... You have just said a Scotsman's name.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Tar, laid over macadam. The macadam is the man.

John Loudon McAdam was born in Ayr in 1756. The Britain he grew up in moved at the speed of mud.

He was not an engineer and never trained as one. He was… pic.twitter.com/pa1Ki0GBht

— Proudofus.uk (@ProudofusUK) June 13, 2026

 

An Insight

“Elon Musk is a trillionaire.”

As a securities law attorney, please allow me to explain how anyone who says this is basically lying to you:

1. The Securities and Exchange Commission has a myriad of laws that prevent founders and other large stockholders of publicly traded…

— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) June 13, 2026

 

 

I see wonderful things

A welder took a $28 an hour job in 2015 at a company he had never heard of.

On Friday, Juan Hernandez became a millionaire.

He spent ten years building the structures that lifted rockets onto the launch pad. SpaceX paid him partly in stock, the way it paid its cooks,… pic.twitter.com/BgdYV5rqzR

— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) June 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

😎 pic.twitter.com/hBUN2PFhFz

— Judianna (@Judianna) June 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

The poorest economies in the world are not achieving economic growth.

The consequence is that progress against the very worst poverty is coming to a halt.

This is one of the worst problems in the world today, but hardly gets any attention. pic.twitter.com/yXVgf3otHu

— Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) June 12, 2026

 

Schubert at the Piano I (circa 1896) by Gustav Klimt

Schubert at the Piano I (circa 1896) by Gustav Klimt (Austria, 1862-1918)

Click to enlarge.

History

After the last republic of Florence fell to the Medici in 1530, Michelangelo went into hiding for 3 months.

Nobody knew where he had dissapeared to until a 6.5 feet / 2 meter wide hiding hole was discovered unde the Medici mausoleum in 1975.

The walls were full of sketches… pic.twitter.com/HsndNKnkTv

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 13, 2026

 

An Insight

The most envious, Marxist, redistributive person in the world isn't the guy busting his hump to frame a house, or the guy grinding out DoorDash...it's the smug guy worth 7 or 8 figures staring at a trillionaire he considers socially beneath him. https://t.co/4NA4w0XCbS

— Antonio García Martínez (agm.eth) (@antoniogm) June 12, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

In 1963, New York City committed what one critic called an act of vandalism against its own soul. It tore down the most beautiful building it had ever built, and it has regretted it every day since.

The building was Pennsylvania Station, and for half a century it was one of the… pic.twitter.com/7x0odJHyu6

— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) June 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

A Tour of Paris – US Edition pic.twitter.com/bfddLMecbK

— Vintage Maps (@vintagemapstore) June 13, 2026

 

Data Talks

We can enjoy blaming computers for some of this. But we mustn't forget the democratization of college necessarily lowers abilities of the average student.

If only, say, the top 5% of kids go to college, the average student is bright. If all kids go, the average student is merely… https://t.co/vvZc0fHNeo

— William M Briggs - Statistician to the Stars! (@FamedCelebrity) June 12, 2026

 

A Gap in the Hedgerow, 2004 by David Hockney

A Gap in the Hedgerow, 2004 by David Hockney (England, 1937-2026)

Click to enlarge.

Bad news and worse news.

The doctor called his patient and said "I’ve got bad news and I’ve got worse news." The patient says "Give me the bad news first." So the doctor said "I’m sorry, but you have terminal cancer and only have 24 hours to live". The patient said "What the heck could be worse than that?" The doctor said "Unfortunately I wasn’t able to reach you yesterday."

History

12 June 1788: “...I dread the depravity of human nature. I wish to guard against it by proper checks.... I will never depend on so slender a protection as the possibility of being represented by virtuous men.” #PatrickHenry, speech in Virginia Ratifying Convention.#HumanNature pic.twitter.com/06nXPhyM8l

— Daniel Dreisbach (@d3bach) June 12, 2026

 

An Insight

“Religions are true for ordinary people, false for intellectuals, and useful for those in power.”

— Seneca pic.twitter.com/yMhGbYyaIt

— 𐙚⋆ (@voidwithverses) June 10, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

🔥🚨LATEST: The nation of Georgia is going viral after James Fenwick went to Tbilisi to work alongside Georgian dance ensemble mixing ancient tradition with modern times. pic.twitter.com/3Wbe6aYxPh

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) June 11, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

The smartest human persuaders to ever live, Cicero and Demosthenes, were both killed by their enemies after they lost a war they talked their side into fighting. https://t.co/uU1nkoQ2Sp

— Roman Helmet Guy (@romanhelmetguy) June 12, 2026

 

Data Talks

The title of the article ought to have been "How the College Board Corrupted a Perfectly Good Test of Academic Aptitude." For the sad thing is that the SAT was still an excellent test through the 1980s. There had been drift over time--ETS's internal studies found that from 1963… https://t.co/RasYOs15if

— Charles Murray (@charlesmurray) June 12, 2026

 

Death and Life, 1908-1915 by Gustav Klimt

Death and Life, 1908-1915 by Gustav Klimt (Austria, 1862-1918)

Click to enlarge.

History

London once had a series of grand gateways marking entry into the City.

Most of them disappeared by the end of the 18th century, including Aldgate, Aldersgate, Bishopsgate, Cripplegate, Ludgate, Moorgate and Newgate.

Temple Bar is the surviving exception. Completed in 1672 and… pic.twitter.com/KzPaOxxjBS

— Architecture Hub (@archpng) June 11, 2026

 

An Insight

We’re at the stage now where beheadings are regrettable, but tweets are unforgivable.

— Dr Philip Kiszely (@KiszelyPhilip) June 11, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Crows (especially American crows) are highly intelligent and have remarkable abilities to recognize individual human faces, remember negative experiences with specific people for years (up to 17 in some studies), and socially transmit that information to their offspring and other… pic.twitter.com/epBBjtyXUj

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Kids today have no idea how good The Onion was, like when Autistic Reporter Michael Falk delivered this news package, “Train Thankfully Unharmed In Crash That Killed One Man” https://t.co/QDIiJHghuV pic.twitter.com/GAq6JXQ0eu

— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) June 11, 2026

 

Data Talks

US whites commit fewer homicides than Europeans.

Suggesting the problem isn't guns. It's the culture of particular... communities. https://t.co/FXErDsorYm

— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) June 11, 2026

 

May, Central Park by Joseph Keiffer

May, Central Park by Joseph Keiffer (America, 1952 - ) 

Click to enlarge.

https://t.co/MybDstcxvS pic.twitter.com/dNtWOjcmn2

— Eight Eyed Eel (@8EyedEel) June 10, 2026

 

An Insight

this won't work. the animosities come from the faith, tradition, language, stories.

getting beyond wars of religion is today viewed in the west as this easy thing that just kind of happened but was actually the (very bloody) work of centuries of european history https://t.co/qvAAaLbcV7 pic.twitter.com/q3kcyfYsHK

— blighter (@blightersort) June 10, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

The largest whale cemetery on Earth was discovered at the bottom of the Indian Ocean

Scientists have found an enormous underwater “whale graveyard” stretching nearly 1,200 kilometers at a depth of 7,000 meters in the Diamantina Fracture Zone.

Some of the whale skeletons are… pic.twitter.com/wp3dK8jTxN

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 12, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

“You can’t shout fire in a crowded theater” may be America’s favorite bad free speech argument, and @WillAtFIRE agrees.

In my book The War on Words, Nadine Strossen and I explain why it’s misquoted, obsolete, and historically embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/FZyoMrfcwn

— Greg Lukianoff (@glukianoff) June 10, 2026

 

Data Talks

Sepsis kills more people in American hospitals than heart attacks. 350,000 deaths a year, and the reason is brutally simple: the early warning signs are almost invisible.

A slightly elevated heart rate. A small temperature shift. A lab value drifting in the wrong direction. Each… https://t.co/YoBanGw90H

— Aakash Gupta (@aakashgupta) June 11, 2026

 

Knox Road, 2013 by Ann Goldberg

Knox Road, 2013 by Ann Goldberg (Canadia, 1970 - ) 

Click to enlarge.  

History

Raphael's 1504 painting 'The Dream of a Knight" was inspired by Scipio's dream. In this vision, a young knight must choose b/t two female symbols: Life of Virtue [book/sword] or Life of the Senses [myrtle] yet the perfect knight should live in harmony with Mind, Courage & Desire. pic.twitter.com/2CtDe4enXl

— Michel Lara (@VeraCausa9) June 10, 2026

 

An Insight

“Anyone can err, but only the fool persists in his fault.”

— M. Tullius Cicero pic.twitter.com/wfMhPKh6og

— Learn Latin (@latinedisce) June 10, 2026

 

I see beautiful things

Brasstown Bald, highest peak of Georgia⛰️

Looks a bit like the rainforest here. pic.twitter.com/uZjeW00p4j

— Freddy🇩🇪 (@FreddyLA7) June 8, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Decapitations have always been a part of British culture. John Betjeman famously wrote this lovely verse about them -

In the shires where the elms stand tall and true,
And buttercups gild the meadows bright,
The British soul, with its cheerful brew,
Faces the world in the West… pic.twitter.com/MegxpY1wyf

— Gareth Roberts (@OldRoberts953) June 10, 2026

 

Data Talks

Scandinavians in the US are wealthier than Scandinavians in Scandinavia (data from 2013). pic.twitter.com/mnYFVh15CU

— paleoneoliberal (@armsq17) June 10, 2026

 

In a Blue Chair, 2024 by Marcin Jaszczak

In a Blue Chair, 2024 by Marcin Jaszczak (Poland, 1975 - ) 

Click to enlarge.

History

Tolkien once revealed that the Shire wasn’t pure fantasy.

In a letter from 1955 he described it as:

“more or less a Warwickshire village of about the period of the Diamond Jubilee.”

The most beloved world in fantasy was built from ordinary English countryside memories. pic.twitter.com/GEevFWfIQU

— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) June 10, 2026

 

An Insight

Thomas Sowell: "There is a four-stage pattern that the anointed class use to establish an artificial crisis:

1: Declare a crisis!
2: Come up with a solution!
3: Unintended consequences follow.
4: Blame the unintended consequences on something else.

Examples range from… pic.twitter.com/rrBWeoaMmy

— Sowell Economics (@sowelleconomics) June 9, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life, because it is there that a civilization stores its memory and teaches the next generation how to think.”

— Henry Ward Beecher pic.twitter.com/7qqtvVxQWO

— Athenaeum Book Club (@athenaeumbc) June 11, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Absolute banger pic.twitter.com/fTmIfwsdDE

— Classical Studies Memes (@CSMFHT) June 9, 2026

 

Data Talks

New NAEP results are out and it’s clear the bottom has fallen out for our lowest performing math students:

The bottom 10% of students performed worse than any cohort of students on the history of the test going all the way back to the 1970s pic.twitter.com/QzSPh1O4RR

— Marc Porter Magee 🎓 (@marcportermagee) June 10, 2026

 

Through a Cottage window, Shipley, Sussex, ca.1930-1940 by Charles Ginner

Through a Cottage window, Shipley, Sussex, ca.1930-1940 by Charles Ginner (Britain, 1878-1952) 

Click to enlarge.

History

"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards & its fighting done by fools."

—Thucydides,
Ancient Greek historian pic.twitter.com/rdWzRX6x5c

— The Conservative Alternative (@OldeWorldOrder) June 10, 2026

 

An Insight

The late, great @ScottAdamsSays once told us (paraphrasing):

If the odds of getting caught cheating are very low, and the consequences of getting caught are minimal, then the odds of cheating happening *somewhere* approach 100%.

Food for thought. https://t.co/Hzs2tAgaqo

— Tom Sauer (@thomasbsauer) June 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

I fell asleep on a train outside Kyoto. I mean really fell asleep, I was exhausted from walking all day.

Woke up at the end of the line. Like, the actual end. The train was empty and stopped.

I panicked, grabbed my stuff, but then realized my phone wasn't in my pocket. It had…

— 6ɪx✦ (@ok6ixx) June 10, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

The US has been hit by a lot of hurricanes since 1850, but the last few were caused by your SUV and cow farts pic.twitter.com/rGeO6WpNam

— Tony Heller 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 (@TonyClimate) June 9, 2026

 

Data Talks

Many people still think of Florida as the nation's #1 orange producer (it no longer is) & don't realize how completely devastated the harvest there has been by citrus greening disease, an insect-borne bacterial infection

Annual yields are only ~5% what they were 30 years ago pic.twitter.com/ZS6jX29vhl

— Adam Taggart (@adamtaggart) June 9, 2026

 

The Circle Theatre, 1936 by Edward Hopper

The Circle Theatre, 1936 by Edward Hopper (America, 1862-1967) 

Click to enlarge.

History

Tuesday 9 June 1663

Up and after ordering some things towards my wife’s going into the country, to the office, where I spent the morning upon my measuring rules very pleasantly till noon, and then comes Creed and he and I talked about mathematiques, and he tells me of a way… pic.twitter.com/lSwFh57OmJ

— Diary of Samuel Pepys (@DiaryOfPepys) June 9, 2026

 

An Insight

I think about this Seinfeld interview all the time. pic.twitter.com/o1HZV5EbnK

— Ben Springwater (@benspringwater) June 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

The Erawan Museum in Samut Prakan, Thailand. pic.twitter.com/jPIAx69YF4

— HerodotusWave (@HerodotusWave) June 10, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

I have never once in my life encountered someone expressing this sentiment. Either I live in quite a bubble, or Ezra Klein does. pic.twitter.com/Wojwr3mMaa

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) June 9, 2026

 

Data Talks

As someone who covered the region for a dozen years for the WSJ, and reported in astonishment how even under conservative Pres Ronald Reagan USAID was funding socialist projects in Latin America, I can assure you that this is 💯 accurate. https://t.co/eEngnkPJim

— David Asman (@DavidAsmanfox) June 8, 2026

 

Siesta, 1962 by John Koch

Siesta, 1962 by John Koch (America, 1909-1978)

Click to enlarge.

History

I feel a little like Forrest Gump... but I was also on the flight in Bosnia when Hillary Clinton claimed we "landed under sniper fire."
We didn't.
She didn't.
The reporting I did on this for CBS Evening News led the broadcast two nights in a row. https://t.co/kTz7mKGhfJ pic.twitter.com/y6v8X9aq16

— Sharyl Attkisson 🕵️‍♂️💼🥋 (@SharylAttkisson) June 9, 2026

 

An Insight

Kids don't get confident from being told they're great. They get confident from doing hard things and finding out they can.

— Deepak Patel (@x_deepakpatel) June 7, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Somewhat amusing to think that the Greco-Romans had flamethrowers, both mounted and hand-held, mobile field artillery, and hand grenades. pic.twitter.com/Ym4Wr6g9jG

— LiorLefineder (@lefineder) July 14, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

.@JerrySeinfeld explains why @adamcarolla's "Rich Man, Poor Man" is one of the greatest comedy bits of all time 👇 pic.twitter.com/2HqFKHWApp

— The Adam Carolla Show (@AdamCarollaShow) June 9, 2026

 

Data Talks

When you can order banks to lend, local governments to build, and developers to borrow, GDP rises. The hard part is generating returns that justify the debt.

The funny part is ghost towns are even counted twice as „GDP growth“, when they are built, and when they are demolished. https://t.co/yXQhaD0bxo

— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) June 9, 2026

 

Meadows near Greifswald, 1822 by Caspar David Friedrich

Meadows near Greifswald, 1822 by Caspar David Friedrich (Germany, 1774-1840)

Click to enlarge.

Total Eclipse of the Heart

I see news today of Bonnie Tyler's passing.  She sang one of the anthems of the early 80's, Total Eclipse of the Heart.  

Double click to enlarge.

A few years ago I came across a version repurposed by someone as an anthem for Marine recruiting.

@belligerent.one FOREVER CAN START TONIGHT. SemperFi #brandsofvalor #semperfi #marines ♬ Total Eclipse of the Heart (Radio Version) - Bonnie Tyler

And now, with her passing, I discover someone produced a mock version of the original music video, wonderful in its own way.

Double click to enlarge.

RIP Bonnie Tyler.

Total Eclipse of the Heart has the refrain,  "Turn around bright eyes", not to be confused with the earlier song Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel used in the 1978 animation of Watership Down five years before Total Eclipse of the Heart.  Both big hits in different fashions.  

Double click to enlarge.

History

yes. plato shows (you might say) the platonic socrates (a very specific sort of simple man) as superior to the homeric odysseus, who despite his merits did not quite attain to the highest heights of the life lived loving wisdom https://t.co/7ltJJIYJD0

— Michael Millerman (@millerman) June 9, 2026

 

An Insight

It is ABSOLUTELY amazing that they tried to end Hegseth’s nomination over an overtly and socially acceptable Christian tattoo by calling it Nazi symbolism but actively pretend that an actual Nazi tattoo is nbd.

*Amazing but not surprising. pic.twitter.com/C4cz8jY6nc

— Tandy (@dantypo) June 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

I never met Gordon Wood, but I have a story about him.

In one of my grad school seminars, we read Wood’s Creation of the American Republic. The sheer erudition and evidentiary depth of the book bowled me over.

Back then, before kids and before life accelerated to warp speed, I…

— Bob Elder (@southernphd) June 8, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Tengo 58 años.
He vivido el fin de Franco. dos Reyes, cuatro Papas, la caida del Muro de Berlín, los mayores atentados en Europa y en USA, tres crisis económicas brutales y una pandemia trágica, la Dana, pero lo q nunca he visto ha sido a la izquierda creando riqueza y bienestar.

— 🇪🇸Quarter's💚🇦🇶🇧🇷🇰🇮🇱🇺🇸🇹🇯🇵🇰🇷🇧🇭 (@quarter14544) June 7, 2026

 

Data Talks

We're good at it, too.

If the activists would just get out of the way, things would get even better. pic.twitter.com/YgTykNVnzS

— ACSH (@ACSHorg) June 9, 2026

 

Yellow House Rockport by Katharine Krieg

Yellow House Rockport by Katharine Krieg (America, 1970 - )

Click to enlarge.

History

🏛 Spolia Alert!

New Roman Inscription Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

Work to rebuild a collapsed drystone farm wall has uncovered a Roman inscription thought to have originally formed part of Hadrian’s Wall.

📰 A Whole Lot of History https://t.co/5ZcjLzHMKH pic.twitter.com/ZaPHFdXj26

— Dr Tom Horne (@HorneSupremacy) June 9, 2026

 

An Insight

Louise Perry made a sharp observation: many feminists tried to replace the husband with the state.

In her interview with John Anderson, she pointed out that while the state can provide money and daycare, what most women actually want is to raise their children with the support… pic.twitter.com/ta2aEzBUzS

— Camus (@newstart_2024) June 7, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Rat coin purse was designed by Paul Frey for Lacloche Frères in the early 1900s. pic.twitter.com/tPXM1CVOHa

— HerodotusWave (@HerodotusWave) June 9, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

https://t.co/w3IcpIpvpj pic.twitter.com/kZDL8Zp5sg

— Aleph (@woke8yearold) June 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

Where are more people dying than being born?

For most of human history, more people were born each year than died. Populations grew very slowly for most of this history, then rapidly in recent centuries, as child mortality plummeted and people lived longer.

But this is… pic.twitter.com/pFDDvXOb7H

— Our World in Data (@OurWorldInData) June 9, 2026

 

Daisy Moon by Phil Greenwood

Daisy Moon by Phil Greenwood (Wales, 1943 - ) 

Click to enlarge.

History

In 1920, six-year-old Nancy Bentley was bitten by a venomous snake near Port Arthur, Tasmania. With her condition worsening and medical help far away, her father rushed her to HMAS Sydney, a Royal Australian Navy warship anchored nearby.

A problem quickly emerged: naval… pic.twitter.com/RcswRwDwKA

— Wolf of X (@WolfofX) June 9, 2026

 

Ulysses and Argus, 1871 Briton Rivière

Ulysses and Argus, 1871 Briton Rivière (England, 1840-1920).

Click to enlarge.

The Death of Argos, Book 17 The Odyssey by Homer

translated from the Greek by Stephen Mitchell.  

Meanwhile Odysseus arrived along with the swineherd.

They stopped in front of the palace, and all around them

echoed the sound of the lyre; it was Phemius striking

the chords of the prelude as he began his song.

Odysseus took hold of the swineherd’s hand, and he said,

“This house right here must be Odysseus’ palace.

How splendid it is, and how easy to pick it out

at a glance from a hundred others. One building leads

into the next, and the courtyard is very well built,

with its corniced wall, and the double doors are so solid

that no enemy could break through. A crowd must be feasting

inside now. I can smell the roast meat, and I hear

the lyre, which the gods have made the crown of a banquet.”

Then, in response to his words, Eumaeus, you said,

“It is easy for someone as clever as you to notice

that kind of thing. But now we need to consider

what we should do. Either you enter the palace

first and approach the suitors, and I will stay here,

or you stay here if you wish, and I will go first.

But don’t be too long; someone may see you waiting

and throw a stone or a spear at you. Please be careful.”

Odysseus said to him, “All right. I understand.

You go in first, and I will remain behind.

I am accustomed to being beaten and having

things thrown at me. My heart has endured. Before now

I have suffered great hardships, both on the sea and in war,

and if I must suffer another hardship so be it.

But a man can’t hide the belly’s accursèd craving,

which causes so many evils and makes us sail ships

across the vast sea to bring war upon distant people.”

As they spoke, a dog who was lying there lifted his head

and pricked up his ears. It was Argos, Odysseus’ dog;

he had trained him and brought him up as a puppy, but never

hunted with him before he sailed off to Troy.

In earlier times the young men had taken him out

with them to hunt for wild goats and deer and hares,

but he had grown old in his master’s absence, and now

he lay abandoned on one of the heaps of mule

and cattle dung that piled up outside the front gates

until the farmhands could come by and cart it off

to manure the fields. And so the dog Argos lay there,

covered with ticks. As soon as he was aware

of Odysseus, he wagged his tail and flattened his ears,

but he lacked the strength to get up and go to his master.

Odysseus wiped a tear away, turning aside

to keep the swineherd from seeing it, and he said,

“Eumaeus, it is surprising that such a dog,

of such quality, should be lying here on a dunghill.

He is a beauty, but I can’t tell if his looks

were matched by his speed or if he was one of those pampered

table dogs, which are kept around just for show.”

Then, in response to his words, Eumaeus, you said,

“This is the dog of a man who died far away.

If he were now what he used to be when Odysseus

left and sailed off to Troy, you would be astonished

at his power and speed. No animal could escape him

in the deep forest once he began to track it.

What an amazing nose he had! But misfortune

has fallen upon him now that his master is dead

in some far-distant land, and the women are all too thoughtless

to take any care of him. Servants are always like that:

when their masters aren’t right there to give them their orders,

they slack off, get lazy, and no longer do an honest

day’s work, for Zeus almighty takes half the good

out of a man on the day he becomes a slave.”

With these words he entered the palace and went to the hall

where the suitors were assembled at one of their banquets.

And just then death came and darkened the eyes of Argos,

who had seen Odysseus again after twenty years.

(Translated, from the Greek, by Stephen Mitchell.)

An Insight

"There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag – and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is…

— Shane Parrish (@shaneparrish) June 8, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith surprises a street musician who is playing "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" in Moscow. pic.twitter.com/iQC9wY2a93

— 🌸🎵 Beautiful Melody 🎶💖 (@Ducnghia16) June 9, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

My counter proposal for people on the fifty, twenty, ten and five pound notes.

Cecil Rhodes, Bomber Harris, Francis Drake and Margaret Thatcher.

Why?

To annoy those who think our banknotes should go all 'Watership Down' in order not to be 'divisive' and 'problematic'. 🙄

— thebritisher (@thebritishertwi) June 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

Fun fact.

Modern humans first appeared about 250,000 years ago, but record keeping didn't began until about 6,000 years ago.

That means, about 97% of human history is lost forever.

[✏️ @waitbutwhy] pic.twitter.com/xsQlBnevgj

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 9, 2026

 

Farm Garden with Crucifix, 1911-1912 by Gustav Klimt

Farm Garden with Crucifix, 1911-1912 by Gustav Klimt (Austria, 1862-1918)

Click to enlarge.

History

The year is 1976

You head into the local community bank to deposit your $473 paycheck

You’ll pay your $281 mortgage with a check and withdraw $10 to buy a full tank of gas

You’ll earn 5% annual interest on the $50 you put into your savings account

Life is good pic.twitter.com/fvc5aoBzkG

— Dirt Cheap Banks (@dirtcheapbanks) June 8, 2026

 

An Insight

Humans have deep-rooted desires for status.

These are best accommodated in diversified small human communities, where everyone can be the expert at their thing.

Social media makes us unhappy, because our community becomes the world, and to a first approximation, we are all…

— Paul Novosad (@paulnovosad) June 4, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Corvids are widely considered some of the smartest animals on Earth, with cognitive abilities that rival those of great apes and young human children. Their problem-solving skills, use of tools, make them standout subjects in animal intelligence research.pic.twitter.com/Os9Ddru2OZ

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 9, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

This is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. pic.twitter.com/fPRMP8XIUR

— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) June 8, 2026

 

Data Talks

🚨 Wanna puke?

Over 40,000 university professors are here on H-1B visas. That's over 40,000 American academics who are out of a job.

Roughly 72–73% of those are from India.

A Fox News investigation revealed that 90% of H1-B visas from India have been obtained using… pic.twitter.com/7E3DxM8zEf

— NizNellie3 (@NizNellie3) June 8, 2026

 

Landscape with the Gathering of the Ashes of Phocion by his Widow, 1648 by Nicolas Poussin

Landscape with the Gathering of the Ashes of Phocion by his Widow, 1648 by Nicolas Poussin (France, 1594-1665)

Click to enlarge.

These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed.

From Speech on the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration by Calvin Coolidge.  

When we come to examine the action of the Continental Congress in adopting the Declaration of Independence in the light of what was set out in that great document and in the light of succeeding events, we can not escape the conclusion that it had a much broader and deeper significance than a mere secession of territory and the establishment of a new nation. Events of that nature have been taking place since the dawn of history. One empire after another has arisen, only to crumble away as its constituent parts separated from each other and set up independent governments of their own. Such actions long ago became commonplace. They have occurred too often to hold the attention of the world and command the admiration and reverence of humanity. There is something beyond the establishment of a new nation, great as that event would be, in the Declaration of Independence which has ever since caused it to be regarded as one of the great charters that not only was to liberate America but was everywhere to ennoble humanity.

It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence. Three very definite propositions were set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind and therefore of government. These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed.

If no one is to be accounted as born into a superior station, if there is to be no ruling class, and if all possess rights which can neither be bartered away nor taken from them by any earthly power, it follows as a matter of course that the practical authority of the Government has to rest on the consent of the governed. While these principles were not altogether new in political action, and were very far from new in political speculation, they had never been assembled before and declared in such a combination. But remarkable as this may be, it is not the chief distinction of the Declaration of Independence. The importance of political speculation is not to be underestimated, as I shall presently disclose. Until the idea is developed and the plan made there can be no action.

It was the fact that our Declaration of Independence containing these immortal truths was the political action of a duly authorized and constituted representative public body in its sovereign capacity, supported by the force of general opinion and by the armies of Washington already in the field, which makes it the most important civil document in the world. It was not only the principles declared, but the fact that therewith a new nation was born which was to be founded upon those principles and which from that time forth in its development has actually maintained those principles, that makes this pronouncement an incomparable event in the history of government. It was an assertion that a people had arisen determined to make every necessary sacrifice for the support of these truths and by their practical application bring the War of Independence to a successful conclusion and adopt the Constitution of the United States with all that it has meant to civilization.

Can one legitimately claim Simon Bolivar to be an Age of Enlightenment Classical Liberal?

There are hundreds of thing which wash across my awareness, I mull awhile, have questions, and move on to something more immediate and pragmatic.

The history of South America is an area of epistemic weakness for me. I lived in Venezuela as a young child and probably have a greater awareness of Simon Bolivar and the wars of South American independence than most.  

But much of my knowledge is an unstructured amalgamation of knowledge from archaeology, natural sciences, military and nautical history, economic development, etc.  

One of the things I have mulled and parked over the years is the degree to which Simon Bolivar might be considered a Classical Liberal out of the mold of the Age of Enlightenment.  I have always been fascinated by the differing fates of the different Classical Liberal revolutions (America - astonishing stability and prosperity, Haiti - tyranny and genocide, Portugal - forestalled by the Lisbon earthquake, and France - tyranny and mass military death.)  

I have always had the sense that Bolivar and the wars of liberation in South America belong in that catalogue as well but just haven't had the knowledge base to assess it.  

What does Gemini think?

JCB:  Can one legitimately claim Simon Bolivar to be an Age of Enlightenment Classical Liberal?

Gemini:  

Confidence Assessment: High Confidence 

 

Yes, it is historically legitimate to categorize Simón Bolívar as a figure within the tradition of the Age of Enlightenment and Classical Liberalism, though with significant nuances necessitated by the geopolitical realities of 19th-century South America.

The Enlightenment and Liberal Foundation 

 

Bolívar’s political philosophy was deeply rooted in the intellectual climate of the Enlightenment, which he encountered extensively during his formative years in Europe, particularly in Spain, France, and Italy.

Philosophical Roots: His rhetoric and writings—such as the Jamaica Letter (1815) and his address to the Congress of Angostura (1819)—demonstrate a clear adherence to Enlightenment values, including the sovereignty of the people, the necessity of a tripartite division of powers, and the sanctity of personal liberty.

Classical Liberal Influence: Bolívar was heavily influenced by thinkers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Locke. He consistently argued against absolute monarchy and the colonial system, advocating instead for constitutional republicanism, freedom of the press, and the abolition of slavery.

The Practical Divergence (The "Authoritarian Liberal" Paradox) 

 

While his foundational ideology was Classical Liberal, Bolívar’s practical governance is often described as "authoritarian liberalism" or "republican paternalism," which causes some scholars to debate the purity of his liberal label.

Governance Realities: Bolívar famously argued that the "crude" political maturity of the newly independent South American populations made the pure, decentralized liberalism of the United States—which he admired in principle—inapplicable to the region in practice.

Centralized Authority: He advocated for a strong, centralized executive (exemplified by his proposed "Life President" and the Constitution of Bolivia of 1826) as a necessary safeguard against the anarchy and civil strife that threatened to destroy the nascent republics.

The Conflict: This creates the paradox: he utilized liberal goals (representative government, end of colonial rule) but employed illiberal methods (centralized power, sometimes dictatorial control) to ensure the stability necessary for those goals to eventually take root.

Conclusion 

 

Legitimately claiming Bolívar as a Classical Liberal is accurate in terms of his stated vision and philosophical origins, as he explicitly rejected monarchy and championed individual rights and constitutional order. However, his political methodology often departed from strict Classical Liberalism in favor of an interventionist, strong-state approach that he believed was the only alternative to systemic collapse.

In short, he is best understood as a pragmatic Enlightenment liberal who believed the liberal project required an illiberal, strong-state "bridge" to succeed in the context of early 19th-century Venezuela and Colombia.

Sources:

Bolívar, S. (1819). Address to the Congress of Angostura.

Lynch, J. (2006). Simón Bolívar: A Life.

Bushnell, D. (1970). The Liberator, Simón Bolívar: Man and Image.

In the context of the other Age of Enlightenment revolutions mentioned, this was one which sounds as if it died aborning.  The motivation and aspiration was Classical Liberalism in the Age of Enlightenment mold but its implementation fell back into to traditional coercion and tyranny.  

The Gemini assessment does not contradict anything I know and is a useful summary subject to revision based on (possible) future deeper knowledge.