This is Philosophy professor Martin Peterson's official response to Texas A&M University's order not to teach Plato. This is pure gold! #academia #AcademicFreedom #plato #philosophy #texas #philsky

If a terrified, unarmed woman getting shot in the face doesn’t bother you, but someone saying “fuck” does, then you are the fucking problem.

this is the universal academic experience™

Not sure who the original artist is, but this is a colleague’s summary of what it’s like at work at the moment.

The world’s ocean absorbed more heat in 2025 than in any other year on record

This evening's thought to ponder from Maggies Farm

increasingly clear that the academy’s mad rush into AI & concordantly away from the humanities corresponds to that same shift in the priorities of intelligence & defense funding—so accustomed to it now that they no longer know how to do anything different. the university as cargo cult

I wonder if anyone will revisit their charitable interpretations of Elon’s definitely-not-a-Nazi-salute

Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.

There’s a special kind of grief many of us are feeling tonight. Because it didn’t have to be like this.

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.” -- James Baldwin

Her wife watched her die and her mother identified her. Every death a world.

WE ALL SAW THE SHOOTER WALK AWAY. He’s not in the hospital. He’s perfectly fine.

Starting next week, the two classes I’m teaching this term are a course on ethical issues in existing and emerging tech (including AI) and another on analyzing the ethical debates that arise in the public sphere in response to current events… Not sure whether to laugh or cry. It will be interesting!

Careful polling shows that Americans overwhelmingly reject political violence - see e.g. brightlinewatch.org/tempered-exp..., brightlinewatch.org/accelerated-..., and www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1.... Unfortunately, it only takes one person with a gun to create a tragedy like what've seen today.

Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News

📌 A reminder that the Department of Philosophy currently has two tenure-track Assistant Professor posts open. Closing dates: 19 & 30 Jan 2026. Details below 👇

I took Tucker’s piece as an inspiration for my own post for the Civics of Technology and applying the Baldwin Test to investigate claims about educational technology:

Amount of blood US has expended defending Greenland: zero. Amount of blood Denmark has expended defending the US: 43 Danish soldiers gave their lives in Afghanistan, responding to a US appeal under article 5 of NATO. Ogles has no idea about any of this, because he's an incompetent buffoon.

1. The DOJ has not released 99% of the Epstein Files, in direct violation of the law They claim the delay is necessary to review the files But here is the thing: The DOJ previously claimed THE REVIEW WAS COMPLETE IN JULY

This is correct. Indeed, Putin's top objective in his manipulation of Trump is to collapse the NATO alliance as quickly as possible. The Greenland maneuver was conceived in the Kremlin as a rapid path to disassembly of NATO, and their plan is now in its final stages of implementation.

So campus speech. Much viewpoint diversity. Very marketplace of ideas. Whatever you call institutions that do this sort of thing, they cannot be called "universities." It is a category mistake.

Watching a show with dear husband, and he compares himself to an “emotionally stunted” character. Me: “Honey, you are NOT emotionally stunted. Now sit there and play with your Lego!” 😂

Look around. The case for more, not less, liberal arts education remains stronger than ever.

Release the unredacted Epstein files.

This unregulated intentional dehumanization of women and extreme misogyny has real world consequences for women and girls. It normalizes non consensual acts and violence against women and girls. There’s extensive research showing that dehumanization leads to actual crimes and atrocities.

Trump in a single gaggle on Air Force One just threatened: -- a second strike against Venezuela -- Cuba -- Mexico -- Colombia -- Iran -- Greenland (which in turn would be an attack on the EU and Denmark)

How is this continuing with zero consequences?

in how many "law enforcement operations" are damn near 100 people killed?

Every responsible US senior or retired military officer should be speaking up against this outrageous treatment of distinguished veteran Senator Kelly

Bullies never stop until you say, “No! It stops here, and it stops now,” and mean it, and hold the line. I speak from experience. The more power and cover (protection from consequences) a bully has, the more people are needed to help hold that line. But best believe they won’t stop themselves, ever.

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

It would be so cool if the United States Congress still existed.

Man, I believed the same thing all through GWOT. You were un-American if you didn't support whatever we were doing. Toby Keith said so. Then I saw what we were actually doing. Question EVERY foreign policy decision, no matter who makes it. It's our job.

The New York Times has just confirmed that 40 civilians died in President Trump's invasion. This is the aftermath in one area

I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for in a politician but not having every day be a nightmare of horrors would be pretty high up so someone should run on that

Uh-huh. What exactly do you think you just agreed to, ma’am? I don’t think you read the fine print.

Japan’s Ministry of Defence says North Korea has launched a ballistic missile into the East Sea.

So. Simce we're sending Delta to pick up undesirable heads of state, when are they going to Moscow?

Genuinely funny watching all the "this is about democracy" cable news commentators scramble to pivot after the Trump presser where his answer to every question was "oil."

Which can only be authorized by Congress

What in God’s name is this madness? I’m so angry I can’t even access my usual dark humor defense mechanisms. In our name, they’ve just violated the core principles of the just war tradition, shattering norms meant to protect us all. This is so, so bad, and will do serious, lasting harm.

we have not "apprehended" the president of venezuela. we have invaded a foreign country and kidnapped its leader. what the fuck are we doing here, i am going to lose my mind

We the People have a right to know if our government has unilaterally started a war! Quick just war primer: the one cast-iron justification for war is self-defense. But we weren’t attacked, so that doesn’t apply. The only other one is defense of others, but that requires approvals they haven’t got.

Who in God’s name could look at the world right now and think, “You know what we need? Another war.”

OMG 😭 Huntington's is an inherited disease that's like Alzheimers + Parkinson's all in one. NOW: "once the gene therapy has been delivered into the brain... [it] injects a piece of DNA to reprogram the neuron to become a factory for its own cure." LIFE SAVING! www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhEx...