Tessera
Folgen

Hannah BW

@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social

public law, science, technology hannahbw.com

1508 Posts8107 Follower960 Folgt
Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · 2w ago

I am reading Ruth Reichl‘s Gourmet memoir and there’s a gem in here about Bill Ackman, who buys a dinner with Reichl at a charity auction and then gets pissed that she doesn’t ask him any questions and tells her, “I’m a lot more interesting than you are.“ !!!

"I appreciate the offer," I said, "but you'd hate it." That was surely true. They were beautiful, these people who'd bought me, tanned, toned, and wrapped in expensive clothing. Their teeth gleamed, their jewels winked, and their hair glistened in colors unknown in nature. The food was good, the talk polite. They asked endless questions about Gourmet, and I did my best to entertain them with amusing anecdotes about the magazine. I thought we were swimming along quite nicely until the man on my left threw down his fork and tossed me an angry glare. "You haven't asked me a single question," he snapped, "and I'm a lot more interesting than you are." I looked at him, stung. "I'm sorry to be a disappointment. But you're the one who bought dinner with me." "It's your loss," he replied, turning away. Going home, I replayed the moment over and over, the way you can't help touching a sore tooth. It made me wince every time. I thought about what Stevie would have done with that din-ner, how he would have delighted in asking questions, getting their stories, adding them to his address book. I scrolled through my messages, looking for the man's name, and googled him. Then I just sat there, staring at the screen: I was an idiot. Ashamed and embarrassed, I crept into bed, hoping Michael was asleep. But he sensed my distress and came instantly awake. "What's wrong?" I groaned. "I was seated next to one of the most interesting figures on Wall Street and all I did was talk about myself. Brand Ruth might be good for Gourmet, but she's turned me into an obnoxious tathead who believes her own press. I should have asked Bill Ackman a million questions." "Who's Bill Ackman?" "You know, that hedge-fund guy who's always feuding with
Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · 2w ago

even Josh Hawley is getting it re: Flock: “Congress never authorized the network your industry has built. Your company’s internal policies are, in practice, the only safeguards for hundreds of millions of Americans.” information capitalism drives law enforcement surveillance.

hawley.senate.gov

Anjali Dayal@anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 3w ago

the tradeoff for comparatively low salaries & high workloads in academia is flexibility to work how & when you want, & freedom to pursue inquires that matter to you. Take away flexibility & freedom & you’ve got people making less than those in private industry while still working quite hard

Nick Kapur@nickkapur.bsky.social · 3w ago

Making university faculty sit in their offices from 8 am to 5 pm every day, 5 days a week, is insane and serves no conceivable academic purpose. The fact that admins and even *staff* are exempt from this absurd requirement shows the real goal is to make tenured faculty quit.

Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · 3w ago

well, this is a first: I get an email that initially appears to be a journalist requesting a comment on a news story. but then I look a little closer, and it is a list of specific legal questions? and they say they don‘t want to attribute anything to me? huh. so I scroll down, 1/ 🧵

Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · 3w ago

damn it’s almost as if casting AI advancement as a national security and geopolitical imperative is going to undermine accountability, transparency, and everyday regulatory oversight 🤔

Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3w ago

NYT: “.. The move could prevent residents from raising concerns about — or even learning about — data centers before permits are approved and construction starts.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/c...

Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · 4w ago

squandered 10 precious minutes of writing time responding to a promoted post from dystopian surveillance profiteer Garrett Langley (Flock Safety CEO) on my fave platform, LinkedIn. when will I learn???

Hannah Bloch-Wehba • • You Professor of Law at Texas A&M University School of Law 12m • This promoted post by the CEO of dystopian surveillance tech company Flock Safety just popped up in my feed. I read it with interest, but l'm ultimately more interested in what Flock *doesn't* say than what it *does* say. Here's how l'd read between the lines: Note that Flock cannot and does not actually claim that the product reduces crime. Flock cannot and does not claim that it increases clearance rates (the ratio of crimes "solved" to total crimes). They conducted a "census" of their customers, not a study of their technology's efficacy (and forget an independent peer-reviewed study). Langley also says "we" will figure out the right balance between privacy and security. I'd prefer if by "we" he didn't mean "a $8.5 billion company that is plainly self-interested in one side of that equation." If you want to read more of my thoughts about Flock, I'm linking my forthcoming book chapter in the comments. Garrett Langley in • 2nd Founder & CEO of Flock 1w • + Follow We recently published our annual Flock customer census, a survey of over 700 agencies and as far as we believe - the largest of its kind. Aside from supporting over 1M cases last year and supporting officers in closing 20% of cases where we're live - the sheer number of missing... more
Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · last mo.

okay I’ll go first. I use Zotero and Dropbox to manage sources and a physical notebook and many colored pens to digest/interpret archival sources. I’m realizing I need a more centralized place to keep notes on secondary literature. I could use Zotero for this too but I don’t love its interface

Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · last mo.

Maybe I’m reading too many 1000p hearing transcripts but I can feel my internal knowledge management system breaking down. What are we using these days? Notebooks? Obsidian? Index cards?

Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · last mo.

Maybe I’m reading too many 1000p hearing transcripts but I can feel my internal knowledge management system breaking down. What are we using these days? Notebooks? Obsidian? Index cards?

Hannah BW@hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social · last mo.

I've just taken a very quick look on my phone but at first glance the drop in “perceived decline“ in free expression is disturbingly, if predictably, polarized on party lines: Rs show only slight decline compared to 10 years ago while Ds dropped by more than 30 percentage points

John Sands@iohn.bsky.social · last mo.

A new survey from @knightfoundation.org and @ssrsresearch.bsky.social reveals a disquieting decline in how free Americans feel to use the freedoms protected by the #FirstAmendment without government interference or punishment. 🧵