Dr Jessica Parr

Historian here Trumps tariff and trade wars are a lose lose art of the steal proposition which will result in American and other consumers simply paying more for the same goods. We are not in the 19th century when manufactures need protection nor will it spur domestic production, it will destroy it

Mellon Foundation The Mellon Foundation makes grants to actively unlock the power in the arts and humanities that helps connect us all.

“American Academy of Arts&Sciences reports 96.3% of humanities grads age 23-32 fully employed. Earnings in humanitiess comparable to social/life sciences, job satisfaction levels too. A serious mismatch bw actual employment for hum grads +general perception."
www.mellon.org/voices/human...

In federal lawsuit, students allege Lawrence school district’s AI surveillance tool violates their rights Nine current and former students have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Lawrence Public Schools, alleging the district’s use of a controversial AI surveillance tool violates student privacy...

“The lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges Gaggle violates students’ Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures and First Amendment rights protecting free expression and a free press.”

Every once in a while I remember that our country is being driven into the ground by one man's whims.

Sure some of it is right-wing ideology, but then you have stuff like this which is just his idiosyncratic preferences.

Why Black museums matter (July 31, 2025) If you thought there were no Black people on Nantucket Island back in the day, other than Frederick Douglass delivering his anti-slavery speeches, you’ll quickly be disabused

Why Black museums matter www.ack.net/opinion/oped...

Once thought of as forgotten, a cemetery for African-American World War II veterans is finally receiving recognition A long-forgotten African American cemetery in Jacksonville, where World War II veterans and descendants of slave families are buried, is finally receiving the honor and recognition it deserves.

Once thought of as forgotten, a Jacksonvile cemetery for African-American World War II veterans is finally receiving recognition www.news4jax.com/news/local/2...

Remember folks, violent crime has been falling sharply in the USA for a period of years, while at the same time the heavily-armed police are funded more extensively than most countries' armed forces (like literally, over 3x the whole UK defence budget).

And yet for the tyrants it is never enough.

Class and Identity in Hilton Head: The Gullah v. Wealthy Landowners

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/u...

I keep shouting about how the federal agents scooping people off the streets cannot be sued for their constitutional violations:

EXCLUSIVE: Someone Waived Ghislaine Maxwell's Sex Offender Status to Move Her to a Minimum Security Camp in Texas According to sources, you can't move someone with a Public Safety Factor (PSF) designation - which Maxwell had - without waiving it. That's what happened here.

“The reason for the move is listed as a “lesser security transfer” (code 308), which is completely inappropriate for inmates who are in the early stages of serving their sentences. ‘This is such obvious corruption. I have never seen this before.’”

open.substack.com/pub/muellers...

Most regular folks don't wake up worrying about institutions. They have more immediate concerns.

But once you live through a period when core institutions fail, you start paying attention, and historical memory is rebuilt for a time.

We're going through one of those moments now.

It's curious (ed. not) how this situation seems to play on auto-repeat 😑

The People Being Arrested By ICE That No One’s Talking About The Trump administration’s deportation machine is detaining immigrant women at record numbers — and they've become invisible targets.

Brutal treatment of women detained by ICE. www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-de...

🚨NEW OVERNIGHT: Big win for L.A. — a federal court just blocked Trump’s immigration raids across So. California.

The Ninth Circuit denied Trump’s attempt to restart warrantless sweeps that targeted people for speaking Spanish, having an accent, or just standing at a bus stop in Latino communities.

according to roberts, the 2024 presidential election represented an expression of some rousseauean general will, embodied in the person of donald trump. as such, any political unit which deviates from that will is illegitimate and must be disciplined.

Displacement of Gaza residents in 2025. Copyright Jaber Jehad Badwan. Image is not linked to the letter but is taken from a post about the famine in Gaza by one of the letter's authors https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres/health-humanitarian-crises-centre/news/465306/famine-and-genocide-gaza-personal-view

UK-based academics: sign & circulate this open letter pub'd by @bmj.com to Starmer & Lammy to act to stop genocide & famine in Gaza
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
The letter was initiated by UK medical experts but UK academics of all disciplines are asked to sign
forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/respon...

See also: 'At least the fascists got the trains running on time!' No they didn't, they just shot the people who pointed out they *weren't* running on time.

José Andrés' Salmorejo Soup This chilled salmorejo recipe is an authentic take on the classic Spanish soup. It's made with tomatoes, bread, garlic, olive oil, a splash of sherry vinegar and garnished with toppings such as boiled...

Eagerly awaiting the tomato explosion from my friend's NJ garden. It's the only time of year when I make pan con tomate and salmorejo, this cold soup cousin of gazpacho--two dishes that represent summer for me.

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved to Minimum-Security Women’s Prison in Texas

The whole world’s watching this ludicrous coverup unfold as Trump’s team moves convicted sex offender Maxwell to a minimum security camp after Trump’s lawyer found she answered all his questions correctly. Nobody’s falling for this fraud—release the files.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/u...

“epstein’s lawyer” should be the de facto headline description for this guy forever

Virginia Giuffre’s brother: I think we were shocked by it—especially the use of the term “stolen.” Because she’s not an object. She’s a person. Someone who was recruited at Mar-a-Lago—his property… it just kind of makes us wonder… how much he knew

Wall Street Journal headline and deck: "New York Shooting Puts Mamdani on the Spot Over Policing Views: The killing of four people in a Midtown office building rattled a city where mass attacks are rare and violent crime has declined."

It's really weird to demand accountability from a NYC mayoral candidate for a deadly NYC shooting rather than the current NYC mayor, an ex-cop who campaigned on a "tough on crime" platform and promptly got indicted for crimes

“The president cut your health care so he could build himself a golden ballroom” is a pretty easy message to sell

While Giuffre's family was giving this statement, Trump was in the White House briefing room with former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, arrested in 2010 for raping a 16-year-old

RFK Jr. warned about giving the government your data. Now he wants it. The Health and Human Services secretary's pivot on wearables is a case study in how conspiracy extremists rebrand themselves once in positions of power.

RFK Jr. used to warn about a government takeover of our data. He said wearables and their tech were part of a plot to surveil us, enabled tyranny, caused cancer, and turned users into “permanent consumers” to Big Tech.

Now, he'd like your data, please.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...

Once you start looking for the Republican pedophiles, they're kind of hard to miss?

Mark Carney has made his choice clear—reward terror with statehood. If he dares push for Canadian recognition of a Palestinian state in the aftermath of October 7, then Israel has every right—morally and strategically—to annex all of Gaza. You don’t negotiate with those who celebrated the massacre of civilians. You confront it with unshakable resolve.

This is a Canadian mayor articulating genocidal intent.

Me too