(1) Reductive non-materialism on the mind-body problem (2) Illocutionary force is representational (3) The 'Frege point' is BS (3) There is knowledge – practical knowledge – expressible through imperatives (4) Computationalism anthropomorphizes the brain

1. Pogues 2. Ramones 3. Lou Reed 4. Iggy Pop 5. John Cale 6. Velvet Underground 7. PiL 8. The Fall 9. Pere Ubu 10. Prince Far I

Amazing documentation of how obsessed the world is with Israel.

Pre-ordered this book co-edited by Jake, one of my personal heroes of this crisis, who had the courage to confront the group think that got us into it!

Philosopher @_NatHansen_ has created a website that uses AI to take people through a Socratic dialogue about a philosophical thought experiment I just gave it a try. In my opinion, it really does help users think through these questions ux-phi.com/experiments

Post a real photo you took. No context!

Die AfD zog 2017 in den Bundestag ein. CDU, SPD und Grüne hatten 9 Jahre, den Wählern zuzuhören, die Bedrohung zu erkennen, sich zusammenzureißen und konkrete Lösungen zu liefern. Sie haben es in 9 Jahren nicht hingekriegt. So werden sie es auch nicht vor der nächsten Bundestagswahl 2029 schaffen. Die demokratischen Parteien Deutschlands müssen sich und ihre Ansätze rapide und radikal verändern. Ihr satter Stillstand und ihr arrogantes, blindes Festklammern am alten, gescheiterten Weg der deutschen Politik — eine „passt schon“-Politik der Mittelmäßigkeit, Ideenlosigkeit und Unbeweglichkeit — gefährden unsere Demokratie. Wer den Rechtsruck verhindern will, muss endlich Veränderung für die Menschen in diesem Land bewirken.

Imagine [hopefully] reading a piece that calls for Gaza to become the pride and joy of the Palestinian people and a hub of compelling Palestinian national identity by rejuvenating the territory, embracing peace, and rejecting a terror organization that admitted to refusing Gaza development offers worth billions, including an airport and seaport, only to proclaim that the op-ed is "pro-genocide." And how was this brilliant conclusion reached? Because the article I published in The New York Times didn't do the ubiquitous "everything has to be Israel's fault" that seems to be the only line of thinking within the supposed "pro-Palestine" camp. Speak to Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t Hamas or making content for the “pro-Palestine” community abroad, and you hear the same thing again and again. They describe, plainly and without theatrics, how Hamas halted Gaza’s development and crippled the broader Palestinian national project since its founding in 1987. They do not need to mention Israel in every sentence to sound authentic to outsiders, including other Palestinians or non-Palestinians alike. They simply recount their lived reality. For Gazans, Hamas is the central problem. There were no Israeli soldiers inside Gaza before October 7. The blockade that everyone loves to speak about was imposed after Hamas’s cross‑border abduction of an Israeli soldier in June 2006 and tightened after the group’s violent takeover of the territory on June 14, 2007. From that point forward, Hamas massively built tunnels, fired rockets, smuggled weapons, waged repeated rounds of conflict, and declared its intent to “destroy” Israel, while turning Gaza into a fortress of armed “resistance” that got Gaza destroyed, tens of thousands killed, millions displaced, and wasted billions of dollars. Hamas imposed punishing taxes on Gazans to fund its terror; stole diesel from Gaza’s only power plant and caused chronic power outages; suppressed women’s freedoms; blocked travel for anyone it disliked; and routinely killed, tortured, jailed, beat, and humiliated countless Gazans. Research the political and cultural divides between Gaza and the West Bank, and you quickly see how many Gazans resent West Bankers for cheering Hamas and October 7. These dynamics are complex, real, and central to understanding Palestinian politics, yet they are brushed aside or overlooked to satisfy low‑information audiences who consume the toxic narratives produced by the "pro-Palestine" industrial complex. Some people are simply uninformed. Some are unsophisticated. And then there are those who know exactly what they are doing and deliberately twist, manipulate, and distort reality to manufacture ignorance and maintain obedience and Orwellian-grade compliance among the crowds.

This is an absolutely brilliant interview of Bouke de Vries, the postdoctoral supervisor of @nathancofnas, who hired him at Ghent to work on the future of liberalism. de Vries doesn't expect his own position at Ghent to be jeopardised, but I want to assure him that defenders of academic freedom around the world will step up if needed. archive.is/3dHDC (I used Google translate below)

I am grateful to Rector Petra De Sutter for allowing me to stay at Ghent University. I look forward to continuing to work on the project, “The Future of Liberalism,” for 60% of my working time for the remainder of my one-year postdoc. I wish to personally thank Ambassador @BillWhiteUSA. It was beyond my imagination that such a person would take an interest in the fate of a postdoc. The Ambassador responded with great support which helped to bring about a just outcome. Thank you, @USAmbToBelgium and @StateDept for defending American values. I am proud of my country.

Ok I’ve read this letter and it’s supporting documents closely. It’s exactly the sort of thing that activists on the Right and Left always, always write when they want an someone fired for speech but don’t want to drop the mantle of academic freedom. Nothing original about it.

Rita Moreno’s unforgettable performance of “Fever” on The Muppet Show originally aired in 1976, with Animal wildly backing her on drums. The performance became one of the most memorable moments of her appearance—and it ultimately earned Moreno a Primetime Emmy Award in 1977. 🎶❤️

De UGent slaat een modderfiguur. Vier vragen: 1. “Zeggen dat wij de academische vrijheid beknotten, klopt niet.” (De Sutter). Waarom dan bepalen waar Cofnas wel en geen onderzoek naar mag doen de komende maanden? Dat is _precies_ het inperken van academische vrijheid. 2. “De ordemaatregel van drie maanden kan volgens het interne tuchtreglement van de universiteit opgelegd worden wanneer bepaalde feiten of het gedrag van het personeelslid onrust veroorzaakt”. Dus als mensen onrustig worden kunnen onderzoekers geschorst worden? Ik raad collega’s af om filosofisch of empirisch onderzoek te doen naar holebi-rechten, onverdoofd slachten, abortus, stamcelonderzoek en spellingshervorming, om maar een paar onderwerpen te noemen waarover geregeld ‘onrust’ ontstaat bij deze of gene bevolkingsgroep. 3. ‘De ordemaatregel is niet het gevolg van de zaak-Arday.’ Waarom werd er dan naar de zaak-Arday verwezen in de brief die de academische overheid naar Cofnas stuurde? 4. ‘De ordemaatregel is niet het gevolg van de zaak-Arday.’ Waarom dan deze timing, met een ordemaatregel direct na de zaak-Arday?