Iowa Viewer 昆雨琪

It’s interesting how the reframing of systemic detriments in educating as “a teacher feeling overwhelmed” is so common. This myth minimizes and belittles the clear and quantifiably damaging labor conditions that harm student outcomes. Rather than being taken in by the easy story, parents could support their child’s learning by 1) believing that educators are indeed knowledgeable specialists in their profession 2) developing critical thinking skills and observations on the topics of class size, teacher experience, and quantifiable face-time with & feedback from teachers per student. The numbers do not add up in today’s classrooms and this is a huge disservice to our upcoming generations (let alone leading to Sisyphean labor conditions for educators).

@FreddyLA7 Sorry that happened. The USA is a wild place (our love of free speech really has interesting consequences; read John Stuart Mill’s essay, “On Liberty” if you’re interested in this oddball aspect of American culture). Best wishes for the rest of your trip!

Hello again. We’re currently in Clemson, South Carolina. I’ve decided to come back here to document the final part of our road trip. The main reason I deactivated my account two weeks ago was that things became increasingly toxic. For some people, it’s unfortunately unfathomable that a good story can exist without some kind of hidden agenda behind it. There was even a Reddit group going through my entire account trying to find anything they could use to reveal my identity. I know this was only a small percentage of people, but after a while it became exhausting. During the last two weeks, I received so many kind messages on Instagram, and they really made me realize how many people genuinely enjoyed following the trip. Some people even told me that their grandparents regularly ask them, “What are the Germans up to today?” I think that’s really cool. I decided to continue because I realized that the overwhelming majority of people loved following along. A small group of very loud people shouldn’t be able to ruin something that brought so many others joy. I also want to clear something up, as people who follow me on Instagram already know. I’ve been to the United States before. This is not my first visit, and I’ve never claimed that it was. The last time I was here was in January 2022, when I visited New York and Philadelphia. A lot of people shared my Raising Cane’s post from November 2025 to make it look like I was secretly American. That post wasn’t from the United States, it was from my trip to Saudi Arabia. This is my first time back in the U.S. in more than four years, and apart from Boston, I’d never visited any of the places we’ve been to on this trip before. That’s probably why many people assumed it was our first time in America, because for all of these places, it actually was. And let me tell you, Ohio and Alabama are very different from New York City or Los Angeles. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for reading.

@jamiedupree Grassley was mentioned in the Eastman memo so it’s hardly surprising that investigators would want to know whether he conspired to overturn the election result. BTW his staff have always denied he was involved. bleedingheartland.com/2021/09/23/gra…

Sen. Chuck Grassley R-IA reveals that Jan. 6 investigators looked at texts of 44 members of Congress - trying to find out if any of them had conspired with Trump to keep in him power, despite losing the 2020 election.

Instructional video

Maybe he should join Wyden and Grassley in using the proper procedure for placing a hold on a measure.

This is an amazing quote from Lindsey Graham about when he realized how politics works. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

@ErrorTheorist Chalmers is great. I also enjoyed reading his extended mind thesis (with Clark).

Here’s a paper about the meta-problem of consciousness. The meta-problem is to explain why we think there is a “hard problem” of consciousness.

In a year where we've already embarked on a number of new reconciliation adventures, instructing the Intelligence Committee would be another one.

DOGE cuts didn’t help the budget but did bring back a flesh eating parasite and diarrhea.

House Democrats are “very split” on whether to make daylight savings permanent. A serious debate took up most of top Democrats’ weekly steering meeting Monday as members raised health and safety worries. Members of both parties have concerns about adding more sunlight to the evening hours by ending the twice yearly practice of resetting the clocks. The emerging schism among Democrats is the latest sign the legislation might be in trouble — if not in the House in the coming days than in the weeks ahead as the measure winds through the Senate. w/ @kelseybrugger politico.com/live-updates/2…

Some thoughts on Lindsey Graham (a thread)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is slamming the Senate leaders of both parties for not including ethics restrictions on a crypto regulation bill after annual financial disclosures revealed that President Trump earned more than $1 billion from the industry in 2025. notus.org/congress/warre…

This week on @TheRestHistory, THE ODYSSEY!!! Today, we trace the poem's account of his wanderings; ask what echoes of history there might be in them; & ask whether the story derives from the Bronze Age, the age of Homer or whether it's all just fiction linktr.ee/restishistory

@pythonintercept @ProfRobAnderson That’s so sad.

@ProfRobAnderson I recently purchased 3 dozen copies of books on the American Revolution at $1/bk from my local college. They had decided to clear the collection 3 weeks before our 250th birthday. Out of curiosity I checked the section to see if they had replaced them with new ones. They hadn't.

Imagine being a librarian and stamping “discard” on this book so you can make more room in the college library for nap rooms.

@ProfRobAnderson 😭 I would love to read that book

While drafting the Articles of Confederation, Continental Congressman John Dickinson proposes language inclusive of men and women, by replacing the words “man” and “men” with “person” or “his or her.” Fellow delegates reject the idea.

I’m excited to share my essay in The New York Times this morning! “About 2000 years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca warned of a crisis of attention.” With thanks to my editor, James Ryerson. nytimes.com/2026/07/12/opi…

Reading Today 📚

Statement from the Office of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).

One of my favorite Deng anecdotes.