joplant.bsky.social

Legendary founder of NPR programming Bill Siemering is enjoying Zoom visiting with students so much that he's asked me to put a second call out. No honorarium necessary. Any takers?

Trump administration drops its appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. But it ...

NEW: The Trump administration has dropped its appeal of a federal court order blocking its $1.2-billion settlement demand to UCLA over alleged campus civil rights violations: www.latimes.com/california/s...

I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.

I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”

1/

Today I am teaching Prigg v. Pennsylvania, which may be worse and more influential than Dred Scott. It radicalized countless normies into becoming abolitionists and provided constitutional cover for the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. I want to call out a thing about it that doesn’t get much attention.

Jeff Bezos’s wealth has increased an average of $70 million every day of 2026, meaning that he could have offset The Post’s losses with what he’s made since Monday.

One by one, Europeans mentioned in the Epstein files who still hold political office are beginning to resign or are being forced out of office.

Meanwhile, ruled by an administration almost entirely made up of Epstein associates, the US carries on as if nothing really happened.

Scientists successfully achieve 'permanent disappearance of pancreatic cancer' in new study for cure The team searching for a pancreatic cancer cure included the ‘renowned Dr Mariano Barbacid,' a legend in the cancer research field

The world feels like its on fire, but things like this is why im thankful to be born in this day and age with science advancing like it has been. These are heroes

www.unilad.com/news/health/...

Private prisons are cashing in on Trump's ICE crackdown. They're just getting started - Salon.com Over 90 percent of detained immigrants languish in prisons that aren't actually run by the government

We banned private prisons in California. Time to ban them nationally. Prisons are a public function & shouldn’t be subject to profit motive or the whims of Wall Street. These facilities house a huge number of detained immigrants in horrible conditions. They must be abolished.

“To the administration and the perpetrators responsible, you have awakened the most overworked, abused, under-appreciated, and organized workforce…”

-San Diego vigil for Alex Pretti organized by VA nurses

Lindsey Graham, folks!

Does this mean Texas gets invaded now? Or is that only after intrepid reporter Nick Shirley gets a scoop?

www.fox4news.com/news/48-texa...

“LET US OUT!”

women & children scream for help inside a detention camp in TEXAS, where private prisons like core civic make billions of taxpayer dollars holding them while abusing, neglecting them, refusing them health care, feeding them dirty food & water, etc.

In our name🇺🇸

Set* her apart, that is

What a loss. I did not know her, but her book inspired me and many others. I’ve taught her JAH article many times. The way that she combined a demographic approach with art history and cultural analysis really her apart as a scholar.

Photos of Alex Pretti with Sara’s caption: On August 16th at approximately 10:00 pm I received a call from the ICU at the VA saying my Dad had sepsis and needed to be intubated to stay alive so Josh and I headed in. We were greeted by the kindest, most calming and warm soul who helped us understand what was happening and showed deep care for us and my Dad. He continued to show utmost patience and kindness over the next few days as my Dad remained in the ICU and we were there continually. It was Alex Pretti, the man shot today by ICE. If you see this video and don't think it's murder, I don't understand your thinking and ask you to question your heart. He was out there trying to help and protect and from the little we knew of him, it doesn't surprise me he was not afraid to be on the front lines of this horrible scene in our Minneapolis. Weeping for his family and all those at the VA who no longer get to work with him or receive his care.

My friend Sara posted this about the superb care her father received from with Alex Pretti

Absolutely heartbreaking

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."

Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."

Opinion | Where’s the Outrage? Universities Need to Speak Up. The lack of response to the killing of Renee Nicole Good is shameful.

"We seem to be entering an age of state control armed only with the delusional hope that if universities hide and say nothing about all of the obvious ways in which the nation is slouching toward the demise of democracy, they will avoid political retribution." www.chronicle.com/article/wher...

I cannot tell you how absolutely infuriatingly this stuff comes across to Europeans.

When we say America is no longer a reliable ally, it goes considerably deeper than Donald Trump himself. This kind of complacent, condescending shit is a *huge* part of it.

Mubashir and his family came to the United States as refugees from Ethiopia when he was a child, and they all became naturalized citizens in 2019.

Despite being a U.S. citizen, Mubashir was targeted by ICE, assaulted, and detained. Listen to his story:

This is the definition of what Kavanaugh thinks a good stop is. He was detained, based on his accent, and then released after they checked his papers (which presumably Kavanaugh does not carry with him).
He was detained in front of his five year old child, who told him "I don't want to lose you."

incredible book and i will also recommend elaine parson's work as well. uncpress.org/978146965213...

President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, with Perkins among those witnessing the signing (third from right) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Signing_Of_The_Social_Security_Act.jpg

1/ I recently wrote about Frances Perkins—FDR’s Labor Secretary and first woman cabinet member. She is best known as the architect of the New Deal but she had a lesser-known achievement:

She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵

How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.

This seems to strongly suggest that the incoming president of UVA doctored his CV to the edge of outright dishonesty, and that the most recent changes came months before Jim Ryan was forced, as if they were made in anticipation in Ryan’s removal. augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...

CFP: USIH-IU Community Scholars Program | Society for US Intellectual History In partnership with the Institute for American Thought at Indiana University, the Society for U.S. Intellectual History is pleased to announce the continuation of a new opportunity to support continge...

🗃️ Psst, friends at #AHA26 #MLA26 and beyond, please share word of the @susih.bsky.social Community Scholars Program, which unlocks library resources for 3 years (onsite + remote) for #contingent faculty & historians at work beyond the traditional academy, due 2/1 s-usih.org/2025/12/cfp-...

Ronald Reagan’s budget director.

Despite all the John Roberts claims that the courts are in good shape and accusations of partisanship are unfair, the reality is that the public intuition that the courts have become more politicized under Trump are correct.

Missouri Secretary of State admits to misleading ballot language for gerrymander referendum Read more here.

🚨BREAKING: An attorney representing Missouri’s top election official admitted in court Friday that her client had authored ballot language that could “prejudice” voters about a referendum to block the GOP’s new gerrymandered congressional map. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

PBS News notes this Sunday will be “PBS News Weekend’s” last due to federal budget cuts

"We are very well aware of the fact that X for Grok is now offering a spicy mode showing explicit sexual content.

This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting.

I can confirm we are very seriously looking into this matter."

— Spokesperson @thomasregnier.ec.europa.eu