Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Afterburner (1985). Rock and roll.

To the Editor:

Re “Algorithms With Agendas and the Sway of Facebook,” by Farhad Manjoo (State of the Art column, front page, May 12):

For as long as there have been writers, editors and publishers, we have let other people decide what news we read and what news we don’t. On the Internet, we can choose a news source we believe to be objective, find a source that will tell us only what we want to hear or leave it to chance.

Somehow, however, people are appalled that Facebook, a social networking site, might be manipulating an algorithm that is supposed to tell people what news is important—as though an algorithm is some sort of totem of objectivity or that measuring how many people are clicking on one story or another is an indication of newsworthiness in the first place.

That is shocking.

MARTIN FISHKIN

Brookline, Mass.

Note from KBJ: Many people are going to be shocked when they get to heaven (or hell) and find that there is no Facebook. Then again, maybe hell just is Facebook, and nothing more.

I just posted grades for the spring 2016 semester, which went fast. Thus ends my 27th year as a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington (and my 28th year as a professor). I'm off now for almost 15 weeks, during which time I will read, ride, write, ramble (with my three dogs), roam (with dear Katherine), rock (on my acoustic guitar), and in general enjoy life. You may be interested in how my students view politics. I gave everyone credit on the final examination for predicting the outcome of the presidential race. Here are the results:

• Hillary Clinton: 21
• Donald Trump: 18
• Bernie Sanders: 14
• None of the above: 1

I specifically asked for a prediction, not a preference.

Here.

This was my meal at the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn this past summer. Click to enlarge.

Scott Adams "gets" Donald Trump. I continue to maintain that Trump is five steps ahead of everyone else, including highly educated people such as George Will (Princeton Ph.D.) and Charles Krauthammer (Harvard M.D.).

Here.

Here.

Here is Ann Coulter's latest column. Donald Trump is going to destroy Hillary Clinton. I can't wait for the show to start.

Keith's Law says that authoritativeness is inversely proportional to partisanship. Bill Nye (the "Science Guy") is single-handedly undermining the authoritativeness of scientists. Two questions: (1) Are scientists smart enough to realize it; and (2) do they care? Most scientists are progressives first and scientists second.