Matthew J Kuiper

Greta Thunberg: “They kicked me every time the flag touched my face” – Greta Thunberg on her days in Israeli captivity Beating, kicking, and threats of being gassed in cages. Greta Thunberg and several others from the flotilla ar

Horrific testimony by Greta Thunberg

www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/25...

As one must!

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

To be clear:

LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.

The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.

This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.

Before Alaska Flooding, E.P.A. Canceled $20 Million Flood Protection Grant

“Five months before catastrophic floods swept through the Alaska Native village of Kipnuk on Sunday, tearing many houses off their foundations, the Trump administration canceled a $20 million grant intended to protect the community from such extreme flooding.” Of course they did. Gift article.

If they don’t see the obvious point that its use undermines the most important aspects of education, campus admins should at least be attuned to the blatant exploitative profiteering of these companies.

Had two cases of plagiarism by AI this week. And while the students are accountable for their actions (since my policy is crystal clear), the exploitative nature of the tech itself and its proselytizing overlords is very much part of the equation.

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Skill 97, Luck 22

About right

Speaker Johnson: "People’s faith in the government is at an all time low"

Republicans control all 3 branches of the government.

Military seizes power in Madagascar following anti-government protests The army in Madagascar seized power on Tuesday, days after the president fled the African island nation saying he feared for his life after several weeks of massive anti-government protests.

The army in Madagascar seized power on Tuesday, days after the president fled the African island nation saying he feared for his life after several weeks of massive anti-government protests. n.pr/4qfA9Vk

"I dedicate this prize to president Trump" - winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2025.

Whether it's young Democrats expressing their support for DEI or young Republicans saying "I love Hitler,' both sides have expressed controversial opinions.

And…this is coming 10 mos later than promised, & after basically the same deal was rejected even earlier. Still… however, & why-ever, & by whomever, I’m glad for the alleviation of suffering & hope it does hold. (with no offense meant to squirrels or anyone else - it was my coach who said it)

Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says.

Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says. n.pr/4q87Jwb

It’s amazing how all the reporting is just memory-holing this part

Hamas agreed to this same deal by Dec 2024. But “Baskin would soon learn that the Israelis had no intention of striking any agreement before a change of administration in Washington…”
Reminiscent of Reagan/Carter and a different hostage release…

What’s certain is that it wasn’t done because of a sudden moral awakening, or concern for justice or human life. As the piece also notes, it’s not just a bad man stumbling into a good thing, but bad *men* - Bibi, Hamas, ME dictators, Jared, etc - which makes its success that much more precarious.

As my high school baseball coach used to say, brutally but truthfully, “even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.”

Of course, as the piece rightly notes, only time will ultimately tell if the bad man happened to do a good thing.

A liturgy for the masses.

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.

The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...

Religion scholars: One week left to apply to be my colleague in the small but mighty Religion Department at my small liberal arts college. We are hiring a TT professor of Religion in the US. Right now we have four religion professors, and you could be number five! slc.peopleadmin.com/postings/2425

Following up b/c of a few odd responses. Of course scholars set parameters. Not everything is "Salafism" or "evangelicalism"; that's where an evidence-based, historically-informed, stipulative definition comes in. Insiders also set boundaries of course, but on a different basis & for diff purposes.

In a way, it's unfortunate that, to get clicks, every story about Great Lakes freighters *also has to* be a story about the EF. I'm as taken by by the story of the wreck as any other, but 50 yrs on, it's okay to just write about the Wilfred Sykes and the changing industry.

SS Wilfred Sykes coming into a Lake Michigan port as the sun sets behind her

A photo I took of the Sykes not long ago. Interesting fact: the Sykes was loaded at the same dock opposite the Edmund Fitzgerald on the day the latter went down in Lake Superior. But the Sykes took a different route.

In the Wake of the Edmund Fitzgerald

This is terrific. A great profile of Great Lakes shipping (and mandatory reminiscence on the Edmund Fitzgerald) featuring my all time favorite freighter, one I’ve seen dozens of times, the still hardworking “antique” steamship Wilfred Sykes. Gift article.

Thanks for this. Helpful.

Huge clusters of Concord grapes beneath the grape leaves on the vine.

A bucket full of fresh picked Concorde and Niagara grapes

It was a beautiful fall day for our annual tradition of going Concord (and Niagara) grape picking. Yum!

flipped classrooms & the unquestioned shift toward “student-led learning” were also part of the deprofessionalization->adjunctification->mechanization program whose ultimate goal was a fully administrative university

Red Maple leaves laying in the grass

It’s not heroic to have terrible opinions.

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