Get what? There's absolutely no fishy business going on here!

This is shamefully insulting to fish. Fish, at least, know how to mobilize numbers and could probably pull off a school reform program.

Centrists have all convinced themselves that "the left" sat out the election, and that by sneering at non-voters, they are taking on "the left." They also seem to think that votes from "the left" aren't worth trying to get. They don't seem to understand why this is really stupid.

Basically, if you actually TEACH pretty much anything, you invite reflection and thought.

And American conservatives really, really, REALLY hate that.

So, destroying education entirely is their only option and what they're doing.

And then, there's the Bible. The Bible, which they forced us to learn in high school and which was directly responsible for no less than five students who read it growing up to be Communists because they read Widow's Mite and the line about the rich dude, the camel, and the needle.

Further, several authors in the Western Canon were gay. Like, really gay. Like, poster-child for gay men of their era GAY. So actually teaching them requires unpacking what they were packing (yes, I had to, no, I'm not apologizing).

And conservatives REALLY ain't liking that.

Probably because they themselves were taught a half-assed, politically correct version of those works and never bothered to carefully read or interrogate them during their own schooling (at best). By the standards of his time, Shakespeare's works were borderline pornographic at times, for example.

I'll go one further, as the product of a public school system they controlled: this desire of theirs was never about Universities or high schools teaching anything, but what ideas they wanted them to NOT teach. They just assumed "Western Canon" authors wouldn't teach those ideas either.

When you consider the mysterious deaths of BLM activists over the years, not to mention a century of surveilling Black movement leaders, this is quite something

www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

The Arisotcrats

Hampshire College’s demise is yet another blow to creative, outside-the-box options in higher education Hampshire College’s studen-driven, unorthodox approach to education has roots in the early 1900s and a belief that students should be active, engaged learners.

Hampshire College is closing in December after decades of offering unconventional, student-driven education. Its collapse reflects a broader shift in higher education toward vocational training and away from experimental learning.

Again, you might want to primarily identify by class and not by race/sexuality/gender/gender-identity, but *they're not going to let you*. That's the *point*.

Children ‘low-hanging fruit’ in fight to end trans care, official at pro-Trump thinktank says America First Policy Institute, which boasts close ties to president, discussed transgender policy ‘reform’ at DC event

NEW from me at @theguardian.com + @documented.net

An official at Trump-aligned AFPI said the quiet part out loud: They want to end medical transition for everyone, adults included. Children are the “low-hanging fruit” in their quest to do so. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Meta threw a party for a right-wing influencer who wants to “save the West” The celebration offers a cocktail-fueled look at the tech behemoth's rightward pivot.

"The decorations included an archway that read 'Seeking Truth to Save The West,' underneath the words 'Presented by Meta' and the company’s logo." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

And anybody who thinks that any academic field lacks “viewpoint diversity” has clearly never attended any academic conference where scholars are constantly disagreeing with one another on a range of different debates in our respective fields

This is the single funniest thing I have ever seen Bluesky staff do.

How Silicon Valley Humiliated the Democrats When will they learn? The party remains far too solicitous of an industry that’s rewarded their fealty with four years of Trump and untold damage to democracy.

"Democrats need to break from this path and acknowledge that billionaires—especially those in the increasingly antidemocratic tech sector—are never going to side with them over the GOP." From @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/2087...

And as for Harvard, if you want viewpoint diversity, ban legacy admissions and ban hiring anyone who went to ANY Ivy League school. I'm reasonably sure that you'd get way more diversity of viewpoints if your student body and your faculty hiring practices weren't more incestuous than the Ptolomies

...and I mean you REALLY want viewpoint diversity, why ain't you forcing your Econ and Business departments to hire a bunch of out-and-out capital-M Marxists? Name your endowed chairs after Engels for that matter.

Because near as I can tell, half the time "viewpoints" of liberal democrats and conservatives among academics seem to be identical, in that those viewpoints are always "fuck labor unions," and "how dare Black academics ask me to call racism by the name racism." So if you want viewpoint diversity...

My response to this question is always, "Viewpoint diversity? Okay great, hire more Palestinians, I'm sure they've got a really different viewpoint than your profs with bi-national research foundation grants. For that matter, hire an out-and-out anarchist instead of a liberal democrat."

Also I'm gonna go there: why exactly does this make "colleges" to blame and not "nepotism as a concept and calcified, non-responsive administrative gridlock" to blame? Like this'd like me be saying that "agriculture" is to blame for specific problems caused by factory beef projects!

💯 the report has some great recommendations of things that elite colleges can reform to improve their institutions, but the accurate conclusion isn't "colleges deserve the blame". They're actively and misleadingly being attacked!

Highlighted in red: "Political interference is inappropriately shaping or interfering in the conduct, management, communication, or use of science for political advantage or such that it undermines impartiality, nonpartisanship, or professional judgement"

"HHS works to promote a culture of scientific integrity by creating an empowering environment for innovation and protecting scientists and the process of science from inappropriate interference. Scientific findings and products must not be suppressed, delayed, or altered for political purposes and must not be subjected to political interference or inappropriate influence. The responsible and ethical conduct of research and other scientific activities requires an environment that is safe and free from harassment and discrimination" Highlighted in red are "suppressed, delayed, or altered for political purposes", "subjected to political interference", and "inappropriate influence."

"HHS works to promote a culture of scientific integrity by creating an empowering environment for innovation and protecting scientists and the process of science from inappropriate interference. Scientific findings and products must not be subjected to interference or inappropriate influence and must not be inappropriately suppressed, delayed, or altered. The responsible and ethical conduct of research and other scientific activities requires an environment that is safe and free from harassment and discrimination." Highlighted in green are "subjected to interference or inappropriate influence" and "inappropriately suppressed, delayed, or altered."

Text, with "political" highlighted in red to indicate removal: I. Protecting Scientific Processes Scientific integrity fosters "honest scientific investigation, open discussion, refined understanding, and a firm commitment to evidence" (OSTP 2010). It also enables consideration and documentation of differing scientific opinions. Practices that support scientific integrity may include peer review and open science. Science, and public trust in science, thrives in an environment that prevents political interference and inappropriate influence from impacting scientific data and analyses and their use in decision making. It is the policy of HHS to: 1. Prohibit political interference or other inappropriate influence in the design, proposal, conduct, review, management, evaluation, communication about, and use of scientific activities and scientific information. Prohibit inappropriate restrictions on resources and capacity that limit and reduce the availability of science and scientific products (e.g., manuscripts for scientific journals, presentations for workshops, conferences, and symposia) outside of normal budgetary or priority-setting processes or without scientific, legal, or security justification. 3. Require that leadership and management ensure that covered individuals engaged in scientific activities can conduct their work objectively, free from political interference or other inappropriate influence, and free from retaliation.

HHS just published an update to its Scientific Integrity Policy. Notably, it has removed the concept of political interference, and no longer calls it out as something specifically to be prevented.
www.hhs.gov/sites/defaul... (deletions in red, insertions in green)

A reminder that Jared Golden is retiring after this term. This isnt about strategic votes for a midterm constituency, this is just an authentic expression of the fact that he is an asshole.

A Real Delivery DoorDash’s head of public affairs said on Tuesday that “no one is claiming it was a real delivery.” You wouldn't know it from the media coverage.

DoorDash's head of public affairs said "no one is claiming it was a real delivery." I found a few people who were claiming that: Reuters, ABC, CBS, the AP, Fox, Newsmax, The Hill, the New York Post, and CSPAN, for starters. www.readtpa.com/p/a-real-del...

This is the same party that pushed abstinence-only sex education (with the understanding that marriage included child marriage, which they routinely defend and which is still legal in large swathes of the country).

This is not a bug or an inconsistency, it's a feature.

It's actually just fun to write it out and declutter thoughts with, too! Exhibit A:

That works? I should take notes! my only hits right now come from glitter pens

Congratulations on an R&R this early in the morning anyway? Rage-inducing it is, nevertheless.