And renewing my offer -- any college class in Texas that wants to discuss the book, I'll happily Zoom in for the chat.

I'd love to hear why my book White Flight -- which won prizes from the Southern Historical Association and the American Political Science Association -- was deemed not good enough for students at Texas A&M.

King Algamemnon@adamrothman.bsky.social · 19h ago

Only a matter of time before Texas forces @kevinmkruse.bsky.social to drink hemlock. www.aclutx.org/press-releas...

Whitehouse: "Today I think is a sad and embarrassing day for this committee as it looks like on a party-line vote we are going to advance out of this committee probably the most discreditable person ever to seek the office of attorney general. Let's start with the Epstein files ... "

Final call for conference registration! The deadline is tomorrow (Wednesday Aug 5) at noon. After that time, the conference page will be password protected. If you're registered, you'll get the password via email. Register on the conference page! www.civicsoftechnology.org/2026conference

Last call for the free, online @civicsoftech.bsky.social conference happening this week! Registration closes tomorrow, Wednesday, August 5, at 12pm ET. For more information on the sessions and to register, go to: www.civicsoftechnology.org/2026conference

“The American Association of University Professors is joined in the Texas A&M lawsuit by four faculty plaintiffs, each of whom says the policy prompted their course to be canceled or not offered.” www.chronicle.com/article/what...

‘What Are We Even Doing Here?': New Lawsuit Challenges Ban on Race and Gender Topics at Texas A&M

Plaintiffs included four faculty members whose courses were canceled or not offered.

chronicle.com

BOOM. The AAUP is suing Texas A&M University System over their censorship policy that prohibits faculty from discussing topics & viewpoints related to race, sexual orientation, & gender. www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/... 1

Antonio Ingram, Senior Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund “unelected Chancelors + Board of Regents are implementing a vision for higher education not mandated by Senate Bill 37…we are here to call out the harms professors + students are experiencing under the guise of SB 37 implementation.” 👏

SB37 Never Required Classroom Censorship

CONTACT: Troi Barnes, media@naacpldf.org

aaup-texas.org

So excited for the @civicsoftech.bsky.social conference this week! Especially excited to highlight “Voices from the Caregiver Resistance to Edtech.” Hope you can join us Thursday at 1pm EST!

Charles Logan@charleswlogan.bsky.social · 3w ago

This year’s @civicsoftech.bsky.social conference schedule is now live! Join me and @alliethrall.bsky.social for a panel featuring @lbyock.bsky.social, @kellyclancy.bsky.social, and Chad Hamilton. We’ll reflect on their experiences as caregivers challenging ed-tech. See the full schedule at:

Lockdown people are so funny. They pull out their hair at the fact that schools were closed for five minutes, and then you ask them if they actually want to educate poor and minority children and they’re like of course not

Today, Kelsey Stokes writes about EdTech as a form of Technofeudalism. Read more, and join our upcoming book conversation about it! www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/technof...

What the heck is Technofeudalism, and why does it matter in education? — Civics of Technology

Civics of Technology Announcements Conference This Week! Starting Wednesday, you will need a password to access our conference page, which will have Zoom links to the sessions. If you’re registere...

civicsoftechnology.org

Our conferences is THIS WEEK! *Get yourself registered* so that you get access to the conference page and Zoom links. Registration is free! www.civicsoftechnology.org/2026conference

Check out my latest “Don’t Call It The Civil War” for @nytopinion.nytimes.com I explain how the Civil War got its name, and why we should call it “The Slaveholders’ Rebellion.” tinyurl.com/4yk634pc

Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again. (Gift Article)

To face our own history, we must be honest about it.

tinyurl.com

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful

Google didn't just add AI to Google Earth—it briefly turned one of the world's most trusted sources of evidence into a generator of plausible fakes. shirin anlen & Sam Gregory from WITNESS on a foreseeable fiasco, and why tech firms must consult civil society experts before launch, not after.

Google Earth AI Fiasco Underscores Why Tech Firms Must Listen to Outside Experts

It's just one more parable in a long line of product releases by AI firms with potentially dangerous consequences, write shirin anlen and Sam Gregory.

techpolicy.press

Google: Be Evil

Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 5d ago

New from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...

While you were over here trying to figure out how you were going to cover the rent and food—this guy was over there using $5.1 million in taxpayer money YOU paid into the system to cover these statues in 23 karat gold. Yeah, he did that.

Every day, this Administration unlocks new levels of corruption never thought possible. At a time when families are struggling to stay afloat, they’re being denied jobs and opportunities by their president because of their political views.

A MUST READ: “The stories that universities in the United States told about themselves died (again) in Gaza—in some cases by suicide. By contrast, universities in Gaza may be physically destroyed, but they are still less hollow than many universities around us...” www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Archives, Prophecy, and Return: The Phoenix of Gaza

This review essay of The Phoenix of Gaza virtual reality project and exhibit puts Indigenous studies and Palestine studies, as well as scholars of these fields, into citational and historical conve...

tandfonline.com

New, from me: It is fine to disagree with aspects of the pandemic response. But what we saw at Fauci's hearing was something different: a show trial where cranks tried to threaten and shift blame to an public servant. Here is why this is bad for all of us.🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/watching-t...

Watching the show trials

Anthony Fauci and the politics of retribution

donmoynihan.substack.com

Meta is spending $600 billion+ to build out its AI model. That model is being aggressively integrated into platforms used by 3.9 billion people. This week, Meta announced its AI will be trained on content from Newsmax, the far-right website with a history of promoting pro-Trump conspiracy theories.

“On governance matters alone, Princeton warrants an AAUP investigation, if not sanction… When faculty don’t have the possibility of weighing in independently on administrative decisions, academic freedom is more likely to be compromised.” 1/2 academeblog.org/2026/07/14/a...

Academic Freedom and the Palestine Exception at Princeton

BY JOAN W. SCOTT Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber has carefully curated his public reputation as a defender of free speech and academic freedom against the wanton attacks by the…

academeblog.org

An interview with the man who set his data to self-destruct if his phone was searched by law enforcement: "I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy." www.404media.co/the-governme...

‘The Government Hopes To Set a Precedent’: An Interview With the Man Charged for Allegedly Wiping His GrapheneOS Phone

The U.S. government has charged Samuel Tunick with allegedly typing in a passcode to wipe his phone before officers could search it. “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to ...

404media.co

Question is: what is the most effective way to stop this? The answer: organize and unionize with your colleagues! Join @aaup.org: www.aaup.org/join And get organizing with us.

Join

Joining the AAUP says that you’re concerned about academic freedom, and about the way that basic freedom protects your teaching and research. Join today.

aaup.org

AAUP@aaup.org · last wk.

Trump is waging a “Khmer Rouge-esque war on American science & intellectual achievement writ large,” escalating the climate crisis while systematically gutting the research needed to predict, mitigate, & survive it. #academicsky

😬

High School Teacher Arrested for Clapping in Support of Anti-Data Center Activists

A local high school physics teacher was hauled out by four police officers for clapping six times during a city commission meeting.

futurism.com

America’s history is complex, inspiring, painful, and unfinished. The Smithsonian exists to educate and preserve that history honestly, not to conform to any administration's preferred narrative.

Don Beyer Questions Historian About Censorship at the Smithsonian Museums

YouTube video by Congressman Don Beyer

youtube.com

Counterpoint: the fact that measles cases are exploding is a sign that parents need to stand up locally and say no MAHA bullshit in our schools. MAHA recognizes itself as a political constituency and ppl advocating for basic common sense now have to do the same.

This is insane www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)

Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

nytimes.com

We've reached "the President wants you to call the federal government to have your disfavored neighbors forcibly removed from the country" stage of "small government conservatism," articulated in the "hip" youth culture idiom of "maxxing."