Sep
22
2025

Et Tu, Theoretical Physics?

I occasionally refer to Sabine Hossenfelder's science-popularizing videos. (Examples here. here. here. here. here. here. here. here. here. here. here. here. here. and here.) I've also read her books, reports here and here.

But things get a little (well, actually, a lot) more personal here:

A brief transcript at Science and Culture Today: For Criticizing Her Field, Sabine Hossenfelder Gets Canceled.

My former academic institution discontinued my affiliation with them after members of the community complained about my criticism, on their research, and on academic conduct in general, and I refused to agree to tone policing. Free speech in Germany has a big problem indeed.

Her ex-institution is the "Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy".

One of her detractors, Dan Kagan-Kans, had an essay at the WSJ a few days back where she's briefly mentioned: The Rise of ‘Conspiracy Physics’ (WSJ gifted link).

I like Sabine a lot (even as I disagree with her about free will). She'll probably be OK with her popularizing videos, but I don't know what's going to happen with her research interests.

I don't have the physics chops to judge whether she's on target about the field's corruption. My guess: she's taking flak, so I bet she is.

Also of note:

  • Who could imagine that bias might be involved? David Harsanyi warns us: Surveys on Political Violence Are Criminally Misleading.

    In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) posted an Anti-Defamation League chart that purports to prove that right-wingers perpetrate the majority of politically motivated murders in the United States.

    "Data isn't vibes," she wrote. "If you need vibes, check out the hate filled comments the rightwing will leave on this post and all my posts."

    The ADL graph has been very popular among left-wingers. The problem is that it's based on one of the most dishonest reports ever.

    Rep. Omar's tweet:

    David goes into detail on the bogosity. I'll simply note the obvious: murderers will have a lot of dysfunctional and chaotic mental processes; even if it doesn't rise to what shrinks might deem "mental illness", confidently pigeonholing those thoughts as "left-wing", "domestic Islamist", or "right-wing" is an exercise in hubris.

  • Oh, I bet they can go below that. George Will unloads on our non-functioning system of checks and balances: As Trump blasts boats, Congress hits rock bottom. (WaPo gifted link)

    The Supreme Court will soon consider Trump’s claim that a statute that does not mention tariffs gives him the power to impose tariffs as high as he chooses, on any country he chooses, for any reason he chooses, for as long as he chooses. About this claim, congressional Republicans are supine, because of fear or adoration. Congressional Democrats are dumbfounded by the president’s exercise of powers their party was complicit in Congress forfeiting.

    So, unsurprisingly, there is tepid congressional questioning of the president’s actions as judge, jury and executioner in the waters off Venezuela. His behavior is predictable.

    Given his capacious notion of presidential powers, in domestic and foreign affairs. And given Vance’s disdain for Americans “weeping over the lack of due process” for people swept from U.S. streets and workplaces into Alligator Alcatraz and similar confinements because they are suspected members of criminal gangs. And given the president’s penchant for declaring this and that (e.g., a trade deficit) to be an “emergency.” And given that he learned opportunistic verbal extravagance (e.g., an “invasion” at the southern border) from progressives who tried to disqualify him from the 2024 election because the afternoon riot of Jan. 6, 2021, supposedly qualified as an “insurrection” under the 14th Amendment. Given all this, expect more of this.

    See, I thought that headline was misleading: we got a lot of time before we find "rock bottom".

  • Off their meds, maybe? Jonathan Turley is unimpressed with a couple of Democrat ladies: The Three Rs: Clinton and Weingarten Return to Republicans, Rage, and Recrimination.

    Many people are calling out former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a posting supporting American Federation of Teachers (AFT) chief Randi Weingarten’s new book in which she paints her political opponents as “fascists.” The timing was flagged as, at best, tone deaf in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a shooter who wrote fascist references on his bullets and was clearly radicalized by such rage rhetoric. For me, the timing was most notable in how Weingarten and Clinton are again pushing their extreme rhetoric as a new report emerged showing the utter failure of our schools to actually educate our children. Weingarten and Clinton cannot be bothered by the long-standing declines in education. They are returning to the three Rs: Republicans, Rage, and Recrimination.

    Weingarten is “credited” with turning the teacher’s union into an extension of the Democratic Party, often appearing at political rallies with her signature high-volume screeds:

    Clinton pushed the use of education to paint opponents as fascists: “Congratulations to my friend [Weingarten] on ‘Why Fascists Fear Teachers.’ From banning books to controlling curriculum, authoritarians go after public education because it’s a cornerstone of democracy.”

    It should not be surprising that Hillary/Randi-approved "public education" is resulting in headlines like this: Student acceptance of violence in response to speech hits a record high

  • I'll take "Least Surprising Headlines" for 200, Ken. Dominic Pino is unshocked by recent news: Of Course the FCC Is Abusing Its Power over Broadcasting. (NR gifted link)

    ‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said on a podcast on Wednesday in an attempt to bully Jimmy Kimmel off the air for his false statements about Charlie Kirk’s murderer. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    There are no doubt other reasons for Kimmel’s suspension from ABC’s late-night show. As Noah Rothman has noted, the genre doesn’t really work anymore, and Kimmel’s show is a money-loser with more unamusing political commentary than genuine humor. But that doesn’t change the fact that Carr is a bully who at least attempted to use real government power to punish speech he did not like.

    Why does Carr have this power in the first place? It would be nice if his tough-guy impersonation for a right-wing podcast could be dismissed as merely talk, but the FCC is in fact able to exert pressure over broadcasters by threatening to revoke their licenses.

    Dominic does a great job looking at the FCC's history of bullying broadcasters who irk the current in-charge pols in D.C. Abolish.

  • But wait a minute… David R. Henderson says: I've Changed My Mind on Carr's Role in Kimmel's Suspension.

    My favorite line from John Maynard Keynes (but I’m not sure he even said it) is: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

    In this case, it’s not so much that the facts changed as that I became aware of facts.

    Sean Malone, a friend on Facebook, challenged my claim that Jimmy Kimmel was fired because of FCC chairman Brendan Carr’s threat.

    Sean's point is that the timing between Carr's thuggish "We can do this the easy way or the hard way" remarks and ABC's decision to of Kimmel's suspension is iffy. I haven't checked this myself, and Sean could have missed something, but…

    In one sense, it doesn't much matter. Carr has too much power, and his statements show that he wouldn't be shy about invoking it against companies that don't bend to his will.