Peter McInnis
@defendeducation.bsky.social
History professor. Birthright citizen. Academic union activist. Past-President, Canadian Association of University Teachers @caut.bsky.social
"Intellectual pluralism" is the renamed viewpoint diversity in this ongoing shakedown of universities.
A Sneakier Attempt at Extortion
BY HANK REICHMAN “If at first you don’t succeed . . .” The Trump administration is at it again. With their much-ballyhooed “Compact for Excellence in Higher Education̶…
academeblog.org
First-degree burn from the crowd that looks like melted action figures drawn from memory
Some Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of PSE.
AI, Academic Labour and the Future of Post-Secondary Education
Podcast Episode · Rank & File Radio · June 17 · 21m
podcasts.apple.com
This is a self-delusional presidency actively subverting the Constitution on a daily basis.
At your next meal, take a second to think about the people working long hours in HOT 100° temps to put food on your table. They're not just statistics. They're real people who can't avoid the heat in an air conditioned house or office. #WeFeedYou
Exponential McCarthyism.
Guardian US@us.theguardian.com · 5d ago"A president without a moral compass and advisers whose true north is the extreme right, helming a government with unparalleled legal, technological and financial resources, can implement...political repression that Joe McCarthy...could not have dreamt of," writes @judith-levine.bsky.social.
"If your neighbor thinks some kooky things about communists, it might make them kind of an intolerable jerk, but they don’t have the power to do anything. But when the FBI or CIA or other institutions that have power think this way, then it starts to have real implications” — @sethcotlar.bsky.social
Seth Cotlar on historical roots of the new Red Scare
"If you look at the 1956 GOP platform, it reads like a center-left policy platform in a contemporary context."
publicnotice.co
“Genuine intellectual diversity requires time for reflection, institutional independence, historical depth, ethical questioning, & the freedom to pursue research unconstrained by immediate market demands. These conditions cannot flourish where knowledge itself has become increasingly commodified.”
Higher Ed Can’t Be Neutral in an Age of Brutality. It Must Choose Democracy.
Contemporary proponents of “institutional neutrality” fail to grasp that universities have never been outside politics.
truthout.org
Yale is on the verge of cutting a deal with Trump to change its admission procedures. Reminder for any school dealing with Trump's extortion: You can't appease a tyrant. Surrendering to authoritarianism only invites more of it.
Yale Loses the Capitulation Bowl - The American Prospect
The university’s president embarrasses herself in trying to give in to Trump blackmail.
prospect.org
This is a well-produced segment. I encourage you to watch so you can hear the noise for yourself. The professor of environmental health science that they interviewed called it an “unprecedented new noise source.”
Neighbors say noise from Michigan data center is 24/7 and upending their lives
One Michigan community has been experiencing the reality of a data center next door for a couple of years now, and they say the sound has changed their lives.
wxyz.com
Added grift to the original grift.
Simon Marks@simonmarksfsn.bsky.social · last wk.FT reporting that Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared, wants to lead this deal…which underscores yet again that the World Cup hydration breaks and half-time show were the thin end of a Trumpian wedge to dominate the business of the game. Grift everwhere you look. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...
This is what Trump’s arrogant creeps propose for the Smithsonian’s American history museum. “A label at every entrance that reads: ‘Warning: the exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don’t want you to love your country.’” open.substack.com/pub/america/...
For Love of Country
You cannot really love our country if you refuse to embrace its complex history. The Smithsonian gets it. Donald Trump never will.
open.substack.com
Well, well, a non-STEM specialty hits big ...
Ignacio Gallup-Diaz@igallupd.bsky.social · 2w ago“A Penn professor thought she’d sell 1000 copies of her ‘Odyssey’ translation. She sold a million this year alone, thanks to Christopher Nolan.” “West Philly's Emily Wilson, who penned a highly acclaimed translation of the epic poem in 2017, is having a big summer.”
OUT TODAY, the AAUP just released the first comprehensive account of how the Trump administration has taken the same playbook it's used on law firms & foreign governments & turned it on American universities. US higher ed has, in effect, become a target of a massive extortion racket. 🧵
New Report on Extorted Compliance Charges “Massive Extortion Racket” Against Higher Ed
A new AAUP report, "Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance," exposes how the Trump administration has extended its pay-to-play approach to gov...
aaup.org
The U.S. Secretary of Defense just stated that—so far—the war with Iran has cost $37.5 billion dollars. That's since February. That same amount is how much the United States spent on planetary science from FY2013 through FY2026 inclusive. Thirteen years of planetary science or five months of war.
Every time they make it harder for foreign students to study here, they're just jacking up the tuition costs for American students and robbing America of incredible new talent too.
Ben Allen@evodynamics.bsky.social · 3w agoCongrats we just made it impossible to come here for a PhD www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/16/m...
"The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~ Plato
SEC filings show Taco Bell—and other restaurants—knew cyclospora posed a risk to their businesses and the public.
Taco Bell Warned Investors About Cyclosporiasis Before The Outbreak—And These Other Chains Did Too
SEC filings show Taco Bell—and other restaurants—knew cyclospora posed a risk to their businesses and the public.
forbes.com