“The science is settled” is one of the most common phrases in modern public debate and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to […]
Why “The Science Is Settled” Is Almost Always Misleading
“The science is settled” is one of the most common phrases in modern public debate and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to signal confidence, to end arguments, and to draw a bright line between informed policy and denialism. Sometimes it is deployed in good faith. Often it is used as a rhetorical shortcut. Either way, it tends to distort what science actually is. Science is not a fixed set of answers. It is a disciplined method for reducing uncertainty. It produces knowledge that can be extraordinarily reliable, but that reliability comes from a process that is iterative,…
Why Healthcare in the U.S. Is Designed Around Billing, Not Healing
American healthcare does not feel like a single system because it is not one. It is a dense web of payers, contracts, benefit designs, coding rules, claims formats, network restrictions, and paperwork workflows that sit between patients and care. For most people, the most reliable part of the experience is not clinical excellence or continuity. It is the administrative grind, the intake forms, the surprise bills, the denials, the phone trees, the “we need prior authorization,” the “that code is not covered,” and the inevitable question that hangs over nearly every visit: what is this going to cost me, and…
Why Tech Companies Keep Selling “Safety” Instead of Solving Problems
“Safety” has become one of the most profitable words in modern technology. It appears in press releases, product demos, keynote speeches, and glossy trust centers. It shows up as badges, dashboards, “AI-powered protection,” and an endless stream of features promising to reduce harm such as fraud, abuse, misinformation, privacy violations, cyberattacks, and everything else that makes people feel uneasy online. And yet the basic pattern does not change. The harms persist. Public frustration deepens. The solution set remains heavily tilted toward selling safety rather than building it in. This is not because engineers are uniquely indifferent. It is because the…
When Did Protest Become a “Security Threat”?
For most of American history, public protest has been treated, at least in principle, as a civic pressure valve. Loud, inconvenient, sometimes disorderly, but fundamentally…
Alex Pretti, Civil Liberties, and the Dangerous Expansion of Federal Force
The most unsettling thing about the shooting of Alex Pretti is not the now-familiar argument over whether an agent felt “threatened.” It is the quiet…
Why Tech Companies Keep Selling “Safety” Instead of Solving Problems
“Safety” has become one of the most profitable words in modern technology. It appears in press releases, product demos, keynote speeches, and glossy trust centers.…
Why Grok’s Failures Can’t Be Defended by Free Speech Rhetoric
Recently, controversy has emerged around Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, after users demonstrated that it could be prompted to generate CSAM and…
Why “The Science Is Settled” Is Almost Always Misleading
“The science is settled” is one of the most common phrases in modern public debate and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to…
The Earth Is Sending Us a Bill We Can’t Pay
The United Nations just released a major report about the health of our planet, and the findings are pretty serious. According to the UN, the…
Broken Dreams at Publishers Clearing House
Publishers Clearing House began in the 1950s as a direct mail business focused on magazine subscriptions. Over the decades it became a household name, largely…
Is Google Killing Android Sideloading?
Sideloading is the process of installing apps on a smartphone from outside the official app store. On Android, this has long been a feature that…
Why Healthcare in the U.S. Is Designed Around Billing, Not Healing
American healthcare does not feel like a single system because it is not one. It is a dense web of payers, contracts, benefit designs, coding…
The Growing Crisis in Global HIV/AIDS Care
In late 2025, a troubling yet under-covered shift has begun reshaping the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Major funding cuts from Western governments—including long-standing contributors—are destabilizing…
Why Healthcare in the U.S. Is Designed Around Billing, Not Healing
American healthcare does not feel like a single system because it is not one. It is a dense web of payers, contracts, benefit designs, coding […]
Why Tech Companies Keep Selling “Safety” Instead of Solving Problems
“Safety” has become one of the most profitable words in modern technology. It appears in press releases, product demos, keynote speeches, and glossy trust centers. […]
When Did Protest Become a “Security Threat”?
For most of American history, public protest has been treated, at least in principle, as a civic pressure valve. Loud, inconvenient, sometimes disorderly, but fundamentally […]
Alex Pretti, Civil Liberties, and the Dangerous Expansion of Federal Force
The most unsettling thing about the shooting of Alex Pretti is not the now-familiar argument over whether an agent felt “threatened.” It is the quiet […]
Eighth Circuit Puts Free Speech on Hold in Minnesota
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued a brief, unsigned order temporarily blocking (staying) a federal judge’s restrictions on immigration agents’ […]
Congress Near Shutdown Again Over Health and Security
As the January 30, 2026, deadline for federal government funding draws near, the United States once again faces the risk of a partial government shutdown. […]
The Epstein Inquiry’s Clinton-Centered Distraction
House Republicans are moving to hold Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear in person before a House panel […]
Renee Good, Iryna Zarutska, and How Two Deaths Became Political Weapons
In the span of a few months, two killings in two different cities have been pulled into the same political machine, one that turns grief […]
Why Grok’s Failures Can’t Be Defended by Free Speech Rhetoric
Recently, controversy has emerged around Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by xAI, after users demonstrated that it could be prompted to generate CSAM and […]