Daniel Braaten

it turns our here in the Texas A&M system our board has a lot of power

I could not be more cynical about Texas politics but the extent to which this primary race and others in the GOP traffics in outright bigotry is shocking

Snapshots of Censorship: Taking an Ethical Stand "My class was cancelled because it did not fit neatly into how the Board of Regents preferred classes to address (or skirt around) topics of gender and race."

"When academic freedom is attacked, when we are no longer allowed to speak about issues relating to race and gender in our classes, all of our students suffer, especially those from marginalized communities."

Ken Paxton is a monster

Inside Texas A&M’s Scramble to Censor Its Curriculum Documents reveal widespread uncertainty, even among administrators, over what professors could teach.

The Texas A&M system reviewed 5,400 courses for ideological compliance. Only 6 were officially canceled. But faculty say hundreds more were quietly altered out of fear. https://chroni.cl/4u3Dto5

Texas A&M helped me thrive as a transgender person. Now, it's complicated. A mostly good college experience is hard to square with the school that exists now. 

"When people would ask me what it was like to be trans and go to A&M, I'd tell them, actually, I had a pretty good time. But that mostly good experience I left with is now hard to square with the Texas A&M that currently exists."

New interview!

Fossil Fuels and the Far Right’s Nostalgic Vision by Kjell Vowles.

@kvowles.bsky.social

environmentalpoliticsjournal.net/interviews/f...

man, half out of frame, holding an old beaten up guitar

album of the day - Willie Nelson's The Great Divide

the war is unpopular but it's also illegal but it also doesn't serve any purpose but it also undermines diplomacy but it also is set to produce the opposite outcome as intended but it also already has hundreds dead and threatens more but it also will not make anything better for anyone but it also

Union members in Pasadena, Dallas, Austin, and Beaumont are getting out the vote for pro-worker candidates!

If you haven’t voted yet, make a plan to vote on Election Day on Tuesday! Then see all of our pro-worker endorsements at texasaflcio.org/endorsements

Texas is on the front lines of the fight against government suppression of academic inquiry. We must continue to hold the line against those who wish to control the range of topics that can be taught in the classroom.

Keep fighting. Our democracy depends on it.
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@texasaft.org

Democrats should promise that every refugee, asylum seeker, and green card holder illegally deported, arrested, sent to CECOT, or sent to a third country can come back to the U.S. with a fast track to citizenship.

Honestly, there’s no real difference between something styled a “declaration of war” and something styled an AUMF. The meaningful difference is going to Congress or not.

Iran's use of its threshold status (just short of a nuclear weapon) as a virtual deterrent has comprehensively failed.

States without a reliable nuclear ally will be more apt to see the development of a nuclear capability as a binary delusion: go for nukes or don't.

In 2015, Obama achieved deals with Iran and Cuba that achieved US goals for nonproliferation and limited economic opening, respectively. Though the deals left two unpalatable regimes in place, they shored up the rules-based order and enhanced US credibility to abide by the rules of that order.

2/3

Texas Tech regents take no public action on teaching race, gender Some professors are waiting for a final decision on acceptable instruction under a review policy created by the system’s new chancellor.

Texas Tech regents unexpectedly take no public action on what can be taught on race, gender www.texastribune.org/2026/02/26/t...

UT didn’t sign Trump’s “loyalty oath” compact, but it’s acting like it did.

I have built a career and a life around meming stupid lies for the far right. How could I have known that people would actually believe them?

by Chris Rufo

man in cowboy hat next to pink background

album of the day - Peculiar, Missouri from Willi Carlisle

It is completely reasonable to email your dean and/or Provost to ask what is being done at your university to stop this from happening to your students

Texas pastor plans 90-mile march to protest children held at Dilley ICE site "I cannot stand still."

"I cannot stand still."

The president of Texas Tech was hired by the Texas Tech Board of Regents. Every regent was appointed by Greg Abbott.

Texas public universities will continue to deteriorate until administrations are made accountable to all their stakeholders, not just to one person with an ideological agenda.

When it comes to autorotation higher education governance, states like Texas and Florida are using direct censorship and curricular control whereas Indiana and Iowa prefer a veneer of neoliberal rationality and create enrollment market metrics to suppress academic freedom.

a camel standing behind table and chairs but in front of a building with a lattice gate

album of the day - Wilco's Wilco(the album)

Public Comment Submissions - UNC System UNC Board of Governors Public Comment FORM Comments will be accepted from February 17 to 5 p.m. on February 26. Submit a comment online.

Show your solidarity with @ncaaup.bsky.social and fill out the public comment form below and demand that the UNC Board of Governors abandon their plans to revise Chapter VI of the System Code.

This is a key step you can take to support faculty and protect academic freedom in North Carolina ✊

this is a perfect distillation of the Texas GOP (and the GOP in general). They have long ago abandoned any pretense to governing. Its just grievance and bigotry all the way down

Students can handle 'controversial' topics. Why can't UT Regents? | Opinion The University of Texas' vague new “balance” rules could leave professors guessing — and students less prepared for civic life, Alison Kafer writes.

Prof. Alison Kafer: “By presenting classroom discussions of ‘controversial issues’ as a threat to be prevented, the [Board of Regents] policy is notably disconnected from the reality of what happens in college classrooms across the UT system.” 👏👏👏

www.statesman.com/opinion/colu...

HUGE NEWS: Texas union membership is the highest it's been in 25 YEARS!

Our labor movement is steadily growing — all despite Greg Abbott’s anti-worker attacks, broken labor laws, and corporate union busting. Keep building worker power!

Texas A&M’s Women’s and Gender Studies Closure Signals a Wider Crackdown on Academic Freedom Texas A&M’s Women’s and Gender Studies Closure Signals a Wider Crackdown on Academic Freedom

The closure of TX A&M’s program reflects a broader national trend: mounting restrictions on how gender, race + sexuality can be studied + discussed in public higher ed…The elimination of a long-standing academic program…signals how quickly these shifts can take hold.

msmagazine.com/2026/02/24/t...

UT's restructuring makes Texas less inclusive and more divided | Opinion A recent announcement to effectively end Mexican American Studies and related fields of study at UT came without meaningful discussion with those most affected, Alicia Perez-Hodge writes.

“Consolidating or diluting departments centered on communities of color…sends a message about whose histories are valued. More than 11 million Texans identify as Latino...To marginalize the academic study of these communities amounts to institutional racism.” ✊

www.statesman.com/opinion/colu...