"But on FM 1960, deep in the heart of purple suburbia, we didn’t see or hear a hint of hatred for this great country. We saw patriots waving American flags. We saw our elders out in the heat. And their message was clear: Now is the time to speak up for the Constitution of the United States."

Happy Saturday, #RushFamily! On this day of protest around the world, today's #Rush Song of the Day is relevant to me. Enjoy! youtu.be/eV-5iNu6Sd8?...

No Kings protest in The Woodlands, Texas (north suburban Houston). This is the first such protest to occur in the community. I overheard a number of folks telling others that they had never attended such an event before but had gotten to the point of feeling they needed to do something.

When you use an Oxford comma, you're doing your part to make the world beautiful, meaningful, and understandable.

Take note of all these people turning out for protests in small towns in red states. Remember them the next time you’re inclined to write an area off because “they voted for this.”

📢📢 UTAustin students: “Allowing a political entity to control education…is reprehensible enough to warrant a complete rejection of the compact…government overreach could lead to the complete partisan control of education bordering on indoctrination.” ⬇️

For Tolkien fans, a timely passage for No Kings Eve, from WH Auden’s review of Lord of the Rings.

Since the launch of the 2nd #NoKings mobilization, the Trump regime has escalated their authoritarian agenda. We won’t back down. On Oct. 18, we’re telling this wannabe dictator: America belongs to us. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings. app.sosha.ai/s/GLV3dTgM

Was a disappointed not to get better seats at the Rush tour presale this morning. Then my son (who has only seen them once, in 2012) read me online comments from young fans who never got to see them before and are so happy to have a chance now and it helped restore my equilibrium.

New requirements for faculty to use Simple Syllabus makes it easier for randos to search syllabi for "hot button" terms and target faculty members.

Incredible. Jack Posobiec references the earliest version of antifa -- the anti-fascists in the Weimar Republic who were opposed to the Nazi Party -- as the bad guys.

"The Trump administration’s latest move to reshape higher education--its Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education--is a dangerous overreach...This is coercion – an attempt to remake higher education through executive fiat and financial threat." www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

"For instance, CNBC found that one Microsoft data center in Illinois received more than $38 million in data center sales tax exemptions but created just 20 permanent jobs." www.cnbc.com/2025/06/20/t...

Did not expect this announcement this morning! Hallelujah for Fort Worth dates!

From @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: Two days after Kirk’s murder, the Texas House speaker and lieutenant governor announced a select committee on Civil Discourse & Freedom of Speech in Higher Education, an Orwellian title for a body to ostensibly oversee two recently enacted laws policing speech.

89 years ago, on the 4th of October 1936, antifascist counter protesters stopped a British Union of Fascists march through London’s East End. The Metropolitan Police tried to clear the way for the fascists resulting in violent clashes known as the Battle of Cable Street. #otd #history 🗃️

Strong statement today from UC's Academic Senate:

Turn off your phone’s “advertising ID” to make it harder for location data brokers to track you. (2/4)

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY. CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

www.statesman.com/news/educati... "If you're in a state where there's been firing of faculty for what they said without any due process, for example, which we just saw happen, this policy only throws gasoline on the fire”—David DeMatthews, a UT professor of education policy and leadership

And now the UT System is auditing all courses for “gender ideology.” We haven’t been told what that even means.

“If the gov't can punish professors and universities for viewpoints it dislikes, then no field of research, no classroom discussion, & no scholar’s speech is safe. That is precisely what the First Amendment forbids.” Cato joins ACLU, other groups in amicus supporting AAUP's Columbia suit. @cato.org

Pete Hegseth addressing the military is just "letting the gym coach teach history" writ large.

Not the most important thing, I suppose, but Hegseth's last sentence is interesting: "Their place in history is settled." This epitomizes the yearning of all authoritarians: To control not just the present and the future, but the past. Nothing can be re-examined or re-thought. No questions allowed.

Steve Silberman is not here to shout it — so it’s up to all of us. Vaccines don’t cause autism. Neither does Tylenol. (I mean seriously WTF?!?!) The “epidemic” of autism is the result of increased testing, broader definitions, and raised awareness. LOUDER.

Steve Silberman is so pissed about this Tylenol bullshit that he's screaming from the afterlife he didn't even believe in. Increased rates of autism are due to testing, a broadened definition, and greater awareness. It's not vaccines. It's not Tylenol. It's like his work never happened.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... “…analyses of matched full sibling pairs found no evidence of increased risk of #autism (hazard ratio, 0.98), ADHD (hazard ratio, 0.98), or intellectual disability (hazard ratio, 1.01) associated with #acetaminophen use.”

Op Ed by President of the AAUP chapter at UT Austin. Let teachers teach, let students learn. #AcademicFreedom #DefendHigherEd

"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

“His ambivalence on the issue and his dismissal of the student’s concerns by immediately taking the side of the professor is unacceptable” (Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick). Because the uninformed opinion of a 20-year-old is more important than the professor, chair, dean, and university president.

Higher educational attainment and greater vocabulary skills predict support for free speech (whether that represents "higher cognitive ability" is less clear): www.psypost.org/higher-cogni...

If a Democratic governor talks about punching people in the mouth, he is obviously filled with insatiable bloodlust. If a Republican president talks about punching people in the mouth, you’re the violent one for thinking he was being serious.

Thank goodness for the Internet Archive.

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty... The free speech crusade will continue until complete conformity and submission are achieved.

A researcher's view on using AI to become a better writer hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

New precise measurement of how online you are: I am “I know about the Fuentes-Kirk feud, I know what groypers are, and I recognize the Pepe meme” online but not “recognize the video game references” online.

🤷🏿‍♂️

So many people think that way You gotta watch what you say Oh, to them and them and others too Who don't seem to see things the way you do We can only grow the way the wind blows.

So much to think about here and be sad about. The one I keep focusing on is being made to worry about my students. All of this is based on mutual trust; weaponizing students against teachers is a crime, and breaks the spine of our education system.

Texas A&M University System orders audit of all courses after gender identity lesson goes viral Details: bit.ly/42jauQZ

Right after the Texas governor called for the professor to be fired, the president of TAMU has fired the professor and claimed it wasn’t about academic freedom. president.tamu.edu/messages/an-...

Timeline cleanse:

The last time A&M admins decided to fool around with academic freedom issues to cater to their far-right board, the Faculty Senate was one of the strongest voices for transparency and accountability. Which is obviously why the Texas GOP decided to outlaw them. thebatt.com/news/am-facu...

The student's "sting" has already ousted a department chair and a dean (not sure about the faculty member) and folks are calling for the TAMU president's ouster as well. This is not a class *for* children, but a upper-division class about contemporary YA literature.

SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool

About a quarter of the Texas professors surveyed by the American Association of University Professors said they have applied for higher education jobs in other states in the last two years. More than 25% said they soon intend to start searching for out-of-state positions.

“…I am infuriated that the Air Force plans to grant military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt. She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it.” My latest in @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...

FDA is authorizing anybody with a risk factor from this list to receive the vaccines, as well as anybody 65+.

TL;DR: a fund based in SF has taken a large stake in NY Times, insisting they could make more money if they used AI more. They're not encouraging NYT to use AI to produce the articles! They want them to introduce more dynamic pricing models and translation. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...