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Today in detecting deception is a straw man. It's where you pretend someone said something they didn't because it's easier for you to argue against the straw man than with what they actually said. It's a tactic in a bad faith argument.

If there's no evidence of a crime, it's good that prosecution drops charges. BUT, being arrested and charged in itself brings real cost in time, attorney fees, etc. The THREAT of this is used to stifle dissent. If you think dropped charges are the system working, your privilege is showing.

It's Sunday, so perhaps time for a longer read. Feeling a vague unease (or virulent repugnance) at the idea of Christian nationalism but not a solid understanding? This might help. It breaks down the theology, the goals, and the many inroads in politics. dorothyburtontx.substack.com/p/america-af...

In fairness, it does say it's not used by default. "By default" could mean a lot of things, though...

I have a lot of questions, but I'll start with three. 1. Does this mean providing your data to train AI models? 2. What's considered a "qualifying" researcher? 3. What is a "select" institution?

This week's UnSpun episode actually goes through the history of FB on fact checking...shame I didn't wait a couple of days.

I definitely have feelings about this, but I'm not sure they are coherent enough to share - something about his phone being taken at all. Anyway, here's a gift link. What do you think? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/u...

A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone’s Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge.Federal prosecutors charged a man returning to the United States with obstruction because he gave them a passcode that erased his smartphone during a customs search.www.nytimes.com

A small preview, since the temp protected status for Haitians ended yesterday. Strategically spreading rumors, like when the presidential and vice-presidential Republican candidates said that immigrants were eating pets in 2024 (false), is just 1 of 5 sabotage tactics I go through in the episode.

What does the government feel so broken right now? What do techniques outlined in a 1944 OSS sabotage manual have to do with it? Find out in this week's episode of UnSpun, here or where you pod. bit.ly/UnSpunPod

Yes, the Post does require an email to see a story even with a GIFT LINK. If you are comfortable with that, you really should see the video in this piece. Provided the gunman stands immobile on top of a table, this should work great. wapo.st/4bboTU0

Working on tomorrow's UnSpun podcast and pulled a clip from this: youtu.be/OauLuWXD_RI?... It surprised me at the time, and is still an example of some good investigative work today.

Russian Thinkfluencers | Full Frontal with Samantha Bee | TBSYouTube video by Samantha Beeyoutu.be

Depressing: So many students now assume they have to create their work with AI because they think it will do better than they can. With kindness, I say: 1. You are selling tomorrow's steak for a mccheese today. 2. Risk now is success down the road, as you will learn to get even better results.

I relate to this so much today!

In the name of all that is good and blessed, it's White House Correspondents' Association NOT Correspondence Association (at which maybe there would be food and writing letters to the White House?). Maybe staff at the White House staying late with a pizza while they answer letters?

Monday challenge: Express your disdain better. Instead of "Your neck looks funny" try "Your [action] caused [result]" Here's why: It's easy to ignore personal attacks as being uninformed grievances of cranks. It's harder to ignore facts.

If you enjoy knowing what's going on, this should concern you.

I don't know the answer to this, but maybe one of you do...is there a similar mechanism for podcasts? The news commentary category (which is the entirety of news for some people) is very conservative. I've always wondered about that.

Sometimes, I wonder... What are we even doing here?

And we wonder why classics departments are being shut down. bit.ly/4pAsRva <--Gift Link

This book isn't brand new, but it's a pretty engaging look at being the lawyer for the New York Times (and used copies are like $2). www.amazon.com/Truth-Our-Ti...