Robert Dale Parker

Lost 19th century film by Méliès discovered at the Library | Timeless Library conservators recently made a startling discovery in a batch of decaying film reels -- a long-lost 1897 film by early cinema icon George Méliès. The French magician-turned-filmmaker's

Found, by the Library of Congress, a long-lost 1897 Méliès film, 45 seconds long, the first film to portray a robot. If you like Méliès''s whacko early films (and why wouldn't you?), you'll want to see this:

blogs.loc.gov/loc/2026/02/...

#Film #Movies #Comedy #SciFi

A Nationwide Book Ban Bill Has Been Introduced in the House of Representatives Hours after the State of the Union address, House republicans introduced legislation banning LGBTQ+ books from public schools nationwide.

US Republicans have proposed a nationwide book ban.

Wouldn't this crazy bill be unconstitutional? And wouldn't it also sweep up—just for starters—the Bible and Shakespeare in its pitiful claws?

bookriot.com/hr7661-book-...

#Books #Reading #Libraries #Censorship

Years ago our admin did a red and black report. It took salaries & how much $ each instructor made in tuition $ for classes we taught-you were in the red or black. They released numbers once & shut it down bc humanities were producing huge $ for uni & engineers, business and scientists were losing $

What’s the Point of School When AI Can Do Your Homework? The creator of the AI agent “Einstein” wants to free humans from the burden of academic labor. Critics say that misses the point of education entirely.

sometimes the founder of a company says something that simply stops you in your tracks and haunts you. There's one those in here from the creator of Einstein, an edtech AI that will go to school for you

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, appears to have deleted his tweet after these Democrats responded

👀The federal judges in West Virginia, where ICE has been pulling over and detaining people on the freeway, are literally screaming about ICE's tactics.

"It is an assault on the constitutional order," Judge Goodwin says. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

UT Head of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Speaks Out • The Austin Chronicle On Monday, the Chronicle spoke with Lisa Moore, who has served since 2023 as the chair of UT-Austin’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department – a department that is now being collapsed with ...

Terrific comments by Lisa Moore in the face of a vicious attack on WGS and other departments at UT–Austin. Solidarity with all colleagues there. You're not invisible; we're in this with you.

University of Texas regents OK limits on controversial subjects Opponents warned the policy’s vagueness could push professors to self-censor and leave students less prepared for the workplace.

The devolution of Texas higher ed institutions continues.

College is precisely where students SHOULD be learning about controversial subjects, not denied the opportunity to critically engage with them.

@texastribune.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@texasaft.org

Up to you. If you do it, they should pay you. They probably chose potential reviewers based on the courses they teach, not on their scholarship. They want your feedback, but they also hope that if the book is published then you will assign it, so it's for publicity as well as for evaluation.

AAUP: Academic freedom on the line | Where ‘viewpoint diversity’ betrays the common good History professor Priya Satia critiques Paul Brest's recent Daily op-ed. "To endorse the language of 'viewpoint diversity,'" Satia writes, "is falling for a feint in an existential war on academic fre...

'Those who attack academic freedom often misunderstand who academic freedom protects: mistaking it for coddling of entitled professors when in fact it serves the common good.'

Excellent critique of the right-wing push for "viewpoint diversity" in academia.

stanforddaily.com/2026/02/17/v...

Kristi Noem Gives the Entire DHS Asbestos Poisoning The demolition of historic buildings at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters has released asbestos into the air.

Now Kristi Noem (ICE Barbie) is tearing St. Elizabeths down—and in the process exposing DHS employees to asbestos poisoning. (I wrote about Bishop’s poem in my book The Unbeliever: The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop.)

newrepublic.com/post/206698/...

2/2

Some of you will know Elizabeth Bishop’s great poem “Visits to St. Elizabeths” www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53008/... about visiting Ezra Pound where was hospitalized after he faked insanity to dodge conviction for treason. Now Kristi Noem (aka ICE Barbie) is tearing St.E down—

1/2

#Poetry #ICE

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

UH faculty already asked to sign memo—now face self-review rules Professors at the University of Houston are being asked to review their curriculum.

"The people who seek to muzzle faculty from entering into uncomfortable topics in the classroom are doing a disservice to our students. Discussing difficult topics is how we teach students to think critically, to form & support their own arguments, and to engage in thoughtful and respectful debate."

Wow.

Censorship Is Bigger in Texas Texas officials apparently think Texas students are stupid snowflakes who must be protected from hearing controversial ideas.

"In recent months, Texas universities have inflicted some of the worst repression of academic freedom we’ve ever witnessed at American colleges, with gag orders, speaker bans and arbitrary firings of dissenting faculty."

Opinion | Closing the African American Studies program is a gut wrenching loss to faculty and students In the middle of January the UI Office of Strategic Communications put out a news release that the University of Iowa would conduct a review of low enrollment undergraduate majors to assess their dema...

Disgraceful: the Univ of Iowa decided to close its African Amer Studies program (in Black History Month, no less), supposedly (but of course not really) bec they don't hv enough majors. That's like shooting yrself in the foot bec yr foot hurts.
#Education #BlackHistory dailyiowan.com/2026/02/12/o...

Looks like there wasn’t a language barrier for kids in Uganda when it comes to Bad Bunny.

Love this!

Ambrose Bierce, "Oil of Dog"?

“The husband & wife before this court are charged w/civil violations of our country's immigration laws. Civil. Not criminal. That distinction is not a technicality or a formality. It’s the line the law draws betwn regulation & punishment. Yet these working parents appear in unmistakable prison garb.

PEN America, 36 Organizational Partners, Call on Texas A&M to Rescind Censorship Policies On February 10, 2026, PEN America, joined by a broad group of 36 organizational partners, wrote to the Board of Regents of Texas A&M University to request that they rescind two policies, passed in fal...

On February 10, PEN America, joined by a broad group of 36 organizational partners, wrote to the Board of Regents of Texas A&M University to request that they rescind two policies…that have resulted in the censorship of academic courses across the institution. 👇

pen.org/pen-america-...

Yes, and not just sociology.

What's the Matter with Florida? An Interview with Zachary Levenson A discussion about Florida's censorship of sociology and teaching under authoritarianism

So not a single sociology textbook could get through Florida's censors.

These are the same people who accused others of cancel culture.

groupthreat.com/p/what-s-the...

#Education #Censorship #Universities #Sociology

Murder at the Olympics: Crime Fiction set at the Olympics I hope you're enjoying the Winter Olympics. I am. However, it should come as no surprise that the Olympics have been filled with...

Murder at the Olympics: Crime Fiction set at the Olympics! mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2026/02/murd...

So what was the second most racist thing he has seen out of this White House? the third? the fourth?

And if you need whistles for your knitting circle or your book club or your PTA or your D&D night or your mosque or whatever at all, 100+ are yours, just ask: linktr.ee/3Dwhistles

The amount of money the US government spent on troops in DC in 2025 ($223m) would have been enough to give the city's ~5,100 homeless residents each $43,000. Instead, federal troops destroyed their meager encampments.

Some sweetness here! (MN Book Awards finalist list, middle grade)

Join Champaign Urbana Resistance Effort's candlelight vigil 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28 by shining a light in honor of Alex Pretti, Renee Good and their community in Minneapolis. Join CURE at Hessel Park (corner of Kirby & Hessel) or step outside your home and shine your light.
-- LM