Vera Tobin
Cognition, language, literature, occasional possums, potatoes. Being difficult. Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot.
- Reposted by Vera TobinYou're absolutely right – this actually *isn't* a place of honor. * I thought esteemed deeds were commemorated here, but that was wrong. * The message wasn't about treasure, it was about danger. That's on me. * I won't sugarcoat it – the danger is still present, and now it's in your body.
- Reposted by Vera TobinWTF? I'm a 50 year old man and as far back as I can remember, including when I was in high school it was *obviously* wrong and fucked up for older men to be targeting high school girls. People claiming it's somehow normal are trying to cover for predators. This isn't some new way of thinking.
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin
- Reposted by Vera TobinThe Trump admin’s whole case regarding Haitians in Ohio is racism, xenophobia, and lies. There’s literally nothing else to it. Legal status, proper papers. No criminal record. Employers, neighbors, local leaders say they’re a benefit to the community. It’s showy, bigoted cruelty, nothing more.
- Reposted by Vera TobinColumbia Heights (Liam's school district) cancelled school today because of a credible bomb threat at Liam's elementary and multiple ICE vehicles parking in the high school staff parking lot at 6:15am.
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera TobinIt's clear the increased ICE/CBP funding under Trump is being used primarily as a tool of repression, not as a means of law enforcement, and that's all the more reason why Democrats should use this opportunity—while the public hates ICE and the GOP is on the defensive—to eviscerate both agencies.
- ICE used facial recognition software on a MN resident who was trailing agents in her car. Three days later she received an email from DHS saying her Global Entry and TSA travel privileges had been revoked. No explanation was provided. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/t...
- Reposted by Vera TobinI don't know why they need to make short AI films about the American Revolution when the perfect one was created 18 years ago www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRo...
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- rewards reading, at every level
- me, emotionally writing an essay on the use of force by federal agents: ok but what if i packaged this in the most insane way possible www.theverge.com/policy/86857...
- Reposted by Vera TobinYou ever read a book about watchmaking? It changes you.
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobinapproaching the problem of "roving death squads" from an incrementalist point of view is just a slow form of suicide
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera TobinBeing a journalist is sick: I just contacted a pre-eminent jaguar conservationist in Argentine with a question that has been weighing on me for ages and he wrote back right away with an informed answer.
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera TobinOne thing that irks me: people keep calling the folks on the streets in Minneapolis protestors. They are not generally there to protest, they are there to observe and document. This is the product of organizing and mutual aid. It is telling that these acts of citizenship are seen as protest!
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobinimo of all the formal political institutions in US life, the judiciary has given the best account of itself by a pretty large margin (with the obvious exception of SCOTUS) and a younger me was way more dismissive of the courts than history would prove deserved
- A magistrate judge found no probable cause to support arrest warrants for 5 people involved in the St. Paul church protest. DOJ appealed to the 8th Cir. That appeal led to this remarkable letter from the Chief Judge of the Minnesota district court… storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera TobinThesis: ICE is un-American and the Minneapolis protestors are real Americans. Antithesis: Ackshually ICE is operating in a long American tradition of racist terror. Synthesis: Minneapolis is now the epicenter of a clash between two distinct but historically grounded American political traditions.
- 103 additional golden retrievers on the other side of the tree
- Reposted by Vera TobinI just thought everyone should see this
- Reposted by Vera TobinWhenever I read @polgreen.bsky.social I am grateful for the care in her reporting and how she uses details (Marlboros in a truck cab) to make sure we see people as people, not just actors in a narrative. And also her ungoverned affection for Midwest weirdos. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- sentence of the day, heard coming out of my own mouth edition: "They've got Ommegang at the Spartie Mart"
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- needed a small concrete physical task to settle my brain, so i made use of my favorite trick of doing chain stitch backward to cover up a t-shirt stain with this little guy
- Reposted by Vera TobinWe have an update on Charlie’s newfound love of printing.
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- jfc
- In case you've seen the story about “grok now only generates images for paid users”, it's untrue. Apparently everyone just reported it because… it was what grok told them 🤦🏼 www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
- ooh, this is very relevant to my interests
- First paper of 2026 with Rhys Sandow, @jwgrieve.bsky.social, and Rose Stamp! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Reposted by Vera TobinI keep coming back to this
- Reposted by Vera Tobin“These findings provide clear evidence that data collected on MTurk simply cannot be trusted.”
- Reposted by Vera Tobin
- Reposted by Vera Tobini know we're all busy but i just overheard a plumber say "parlez-vous français ? non ? you motherfuckers don't even speak french, do you" to a pair of french bulldogs
- Reposted by Vera Tobin“'The guy, I’m telling him like, "Please step off the school grounds," and this dude comes up and bumps into me and then tells me that I pushed him, and he knocked me down,' an official at Roosevelt High School said. 'They don’t care. They’re just animals. I’ve never seen people behave like this.'"
- “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism” (making payroll)
- the sign was gone when i looked at this bulletin board today, so i hope and believe they did find their dumb cat!
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- this too!
- current events + a kid taking AP US History have teamed up to make me freshly keen to find out all the things about reconstruction i failed to learn (and there are SO many; i was a terrible history student) the first time around
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- I love physical bulletin boards and I hope these people find their dumb cat
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera Tobin[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Vera TobinSuperb piece on why “AI” is bad user design from @sifu.tweety.fish - and why AI proponents and skeptics so frequently seem to be talking completely past each other. buttondown.com/apperceptive...
- Reposted by Vera TobinAs told by the late dancer and choreographer Agnes DeMille.
- Reposted by Vera TobinI'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students. I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
- Presented without comment: "In Blingdenstone, Drizzt was reunited with the svirfneblen Belwar Dissengulp"
- It is once again the happiest day of the year! (The one after grades are in so I can spend all day preparing spiced pecans and, more importantly, making ribald remarks about smelling my hot nuts, how my nuts are so heavy I must lug them around in a big blue bucket, my fragrant nut sacks, etc.)
- Reposted by Vera TobinNo one’s rich like Gaston That’s the pitch for “Gaston” No one’s complex and tragic yet kitsch like Gaston He’s a circle that begs to be squared It’s a tentpole, a four-quadrant hit Yes his backstory’s moving and layered And it’s starring a CGI de-aged Brad Pitt
