Gerard Harbison
@gerardharbison.bsky.social
Emeritus Professor of Chemistry. Irish and American; raised in Dublin, though born in England. Happily married (hope my wife feels the same!) Travels, watching birds. Grows plants. Snarks. Lives in Melbourne Beach, on the Atlantic Coast of the stupid state
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
In order to show their commitment to the ceasefire, Israel gunned down a child then ran him over with a tank today in Gaza
December 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
In order to show their commitment to the ceasefire, Israel gunned down a child then ran him over with a tank today in Gaza
One other observation about those afflicted with Dunning Kruger syndrome: it's pointless to argue with them. Not only are they incapable of marshaling facts or constructing a coherent argument; they are also too stupid to detect that they've lost the argument.
December 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
One other observation about those afflicted with Dunning Kruger syndrome: it's pointless to argue with them. Not only are they incapable of marshaling facts or constructing a coherent argument; they are also too stupid to detect that they've lost the argument.
The war against woke is now a war for stupidity.
Anyone know how to set a font in bsky? I'd like to default to Calibri.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
Anyone know how to set a font in bsky? I'd like to default to Calibri.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
www.nytimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:57 AM
The war against woke is now a war for stupidity.
Anyone know how to set a font in bsky? I'd like to default to Calibri.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
Anyone know how to set a font in bsky? I'd like to default to Calibri.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
The USPS driver just called me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘doll’.
Either (1) she thinks I’m a hunk, worthy of some serious flirting, or (2) she thinks I’m a sad old man in need of an ego-boost.
Guess which one I’d bet on.
Either (1) she thinks I’m a hunk, worthy of some serious flirting, or (2) she thinks I’m a sad old man in need of an ego-boost.
Guess which one I’d bet on.
December 8, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The USPS driver just called me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘doll’.
Either (1) she thinks I’m a hunk, worthy of some serious flirting, or (2) she thinks I’m a sad old man in need of an ego-boost.
Guess which one I’d bet on.
Either (1) she thinks I’m a hunk, worthy of some serious flirting, or (2) she thinks I’m a sad old man in need of an ego-boost.
Guess which one I’d bet on.
McCook is the hell-spot of Nebraska. Frigid in the winter, baking hot in the summer, stinks of cowshit, and populated by Nazis. I can see why ICE wanted a prison there. If the inmates get even a glimpse of the town, they'll want to leave the US.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/w...
This Prison Rehabilitated Inmates. Until ICE Paid to Fill It With Immigrants.
www.nytimes.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:49 PM
McCook is the hell-spot of Nebraska. Frigid in the winter, baking hot in the summer, stinks of cowshit, and populated by Nazis. I can see why ICE wanted a prison there. If the inmates get even a glimpse of the town, they'll want to leave the US.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/w...
I'm reluctant to brag, but I should mention I've been awarded the inaugural Sunrise Diner Prize for Theoretical Physics, honoring my seminal discovery of Quantum Mechanics.
I'd like to thank the wait staff at the Diner, for recognizing my good table manners and perhaps over-generous tips.
I'd like to thank the wait staff at the Diner, for recognizing my good table manners and perhaps over-generous tips.
December 6, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I'm reluctant to brag, but I should mention I've been awarded the inaugural Sunrise Diner Prize for Theoretical Physics, honoring my seminal discovery of Quantum Mechanics.
I'd like to thank the wait staff at the Diner, for recognizing my good table manners and perhaps over-generous tips.
I'd like to thank the wait staff at the Diner, for recognizing my good table manners and perhaps over-generous tips.
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
Ah, but Finn McRedmond is the @irishtimes.com's greatest mistake. There's no ethical problem with suppressing unfavorable stories about your subject, if you're having an affair with him? Really?
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
Finn McRedmond: Falling in love with Robert F Kennedy Jr wasn’t Olivia Nuzzi’s biggest mistake
American journalist had a dream job with New York magazine. Then she fell for one of her subjects. That’s when her problems started
www.irishtimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Ah, but Finn McRedmond is the @irishtimes.com's greatest mistake. There's no ethical problem with suppressing unfavorable stories about your subject, if you're having an affair with him? Really?
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
A hundred fanatical listers immediately start checking commercial airlines to Manaus and charter flights to small airstrips on the Peru border.
Tinamous are usually notoriously wary. This one arrarently isn’t.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
Tinamous are usually notoriously wary. This one arrarently isn’t.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
Is This Bird the Next Dodo?
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:35 PM
A hundred fanatical listers immediately start checking commercial airlines to Manaus and charter flights to small airstrips on the Peru border.
Tinamous are usually notoriously wary. This one arrarently isn’t.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
Tinamous are usually notoriously wary. This one arrarently isn’t.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
WTF is ‘nar’?
I used it, in desperation, in a NYT puzzle this morning. It must therefore be in their wordlist. But I can find no plausible definition or use for ‘nar’ in English.
I used it, in desperation, in a NYT puzzle this morning. It must therefore be in their wordlist. But I can find no plausible definition or use for ‘nar’ in English.
December 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM
WTF is ‘nar’?
I used it, in desperation, in a NYT puzzle this morning. It must therefore be in their wordlist. But I can find no plausible definition or use for ‘nar’ in English.
I used it, in desperation, in a NYT puzzle this morning. It must therefore be in their wordlist. But I can find no plausible definition or use for ‘nar’ in English.
Juvenile green heron, at Indian River Preserve State Park this morning.
December 1, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Juvenile green heron, at Indian River Preserve State Park this morning.
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
Why do I have the irresistible urge to call that TV Show "Strangler Figs"? Could it be the twisty vine things?
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Why do I have the irresistible urge to call that TV Show "Strangler Figs"? Could it be the twisty vine things?
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
The DC shooting story is really getting to me because we literally trained this man as a child soldier for a death squad in a forever war and Stephen Miller et al want to blame it on other cultures? It's our culture, American culture, that killed that woman.
November 28, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The DC shooting story is really getting to me because we literally trained this man as a child soldier for a death squad in a forever war and Stephen Miller et al want to blame it on other cultures? It's our culture, American culture, that killed that woman.
He was a CIA-trained member of an Afghan death squad. He came to America and did what we trained him to do.
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7, amusingly enough.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7, amusingly enough.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...
D.C. Shooting Suspect ‘Could Not Tolerate’ the Violence of His C.I.A.-Backed Unit in Afghanistan, a Childhood Friend Said
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:13 PM
He was a CIA-trained member of an Afghan death squad. He came to America and did what we trained him to do.
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7, amusingly enough.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...
For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Galatians 6:7, amusingly enough.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...
I have to say, even after 50 years here I've never really gotten into Thanksgiving. It was "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God".
Well, I'm an atheist. Try again.
Well, I'm an atheist. Try again.
November 27, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I have to say, even after 50 years here I've never really gotten into Thanksgiving. It was "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God".
Well, I'm an atheist. Try again.
Well, I'm an atheist. Try again.
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
National Guard members should never have been deployed in Washington, DC.
November 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
National Guard members should never have been deployed in Washington, DC.
Reposted by Gerard Harbison
Max Planck Institute finds Gaza war-related death toll is substantially higher than the Palestinian health ministry’s own figures
tinyurl.com/ky47a4sv
tinyurl.com/ky47a4sv
November 26, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Max Planck Institute finds Gaza war-related death toll is substantially higher than the Palestinian health ministry’s own figures
tinyurl.com/ky47a4sv
tinyurl.com/ky47a4sv
