NoBlogs is already back -- not that we should be any less horrified and concerned by its temporary shutdown -- but just noting that zinelibrary.org is autonomous of NoBlogs, and open source from a git repo, so anyone can back it up and restore if it goes down.

1312 Press@1312press.bsky.social · 3w ago

We did not have time to back up our NoBlogs account before it was taken down. All of our online zine hosting has disappeared. If you have tips for autonomous website hosting, please post in the comments. PS it is alarming to see how little coverage this is getting.

The US is targeting the anarchist collective that hosts the popular Noblogs wordpress platform as terrorists. This is truly batshit (as are their various obvious lies about Rose City Antifa etc). This is a HUGE attack on basic free speech. www.state.gov/releases/off...

Designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist - United States Department of State

Today, the Department of State, in partnership with the Department of the Treasury, is announcing the designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Autistici/Inventati...

state.gov

this is how they get you. First the swarm threatens your perceived belonging to the community, then you have to keep posting to prove yourself. It's negging, really

MY TAKE: unionization is a good idea actually

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 3w ago

Opinion | Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is a Bad Idea Unionization disrupts the bespoke mentor-mentee relationships that are central to the advancement of science. By Evan D. Morris: https://bit.ly/3Sus7fa #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

the neat thing about one on one relationships with power differentials is that they are rarely a site for abuse and don't need any external monitoring

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 3w ago

Opinion | Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is a Bad Idea Unionization disrupts the bespoke mentor-mentee relationships that are central to the advancement of science. By Evan D. Morris: https://bit.ly/3Sus7fa #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Under the advice of friends, I've been avoiding posting or replying to things for the time-being, but I think the recent thing has (perversely?) created a habit of using the site more, so I will probably be bleeting more regularly.

Weeks ago, Amnesty International caved to JK Rowling's threats and removed it report on anti-trans groups. But they didn't stop there. Now, it appears that the organization is issuing DMCA takedown notices to activists who saved the report. Subscribe to support our journalism. SB Investigates.

Amnesty UK Reportedly Using Copyright Law To Erase Its Own Report On Anti-Trans Groups And Target Activists

After JK Rowling threatened to sue the human rights organization, it capitulated—and then reportedly issued takedown requests.

erininthemorning.com

Some advice for when you’re experiencing a social media pile-on (from experience). 1) Silence or narrow your notifications. Seeing your application flooded with notifications can be just as overwhelming as actual responses. You’re also likely to miss replies you truly want to see.

It's not 'defending' anyone to have a coherent understanding of academic freedom. A lot of peoples' conception of academic freedom is that it doesn't apply if you decide the person's a horrible human being. Which is just another way of saying you don't believe in academic freedom.

5) I also discuss the Rümeysa Öztürk & Mahmoud Khalil cases in a forthcoming paper in the Markets & Society journal titled "Immigrants’ Rights and the Unfulfilled Promise of American Democracy."

Including, I should emphasize, *universities* whose academic staff do have a right to extramural political speech that was upheld by courts.

BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 3w ago

A very positive sign that, nearly a year after Kirk's death, many if not most of the people punished for speaking truthfully about him have won legal cases against their former employees and compensation. Again, panicked compliance with Trumpism has only *cost* institutions.

fija.org/news-events...

Populations, in a genetic sense, are not "races" in the racialist sense, no matter how much the new scientific racists try to elide the two. That's the most important thing to remember when they start in on the topic.

Basically Cofnas is entirely aware that his white supremacy is trivially-discredited pseudoscience and his response is to attempt to render the whole enterprise unfalsifiable by starting from his preferred racial hierarchy and positing an additional racialized component that doesn't show up on tests

Tom Scocca@tomscocca.bsky.social · 4w ago

Illuminating to see Cofnas give up on using IQ scores to measure "general intelligence," conceding that the human species has a complex and dynamic blend of mental aptitudes, but then to grimly try hammering that into some alternative, not-yet-measurable scale of supremacy

I happen to know Byas, and I think he is a very intellectually honest person that reliably approaches discussions in good faith and has reasonably self-consistent, liberal views. I disagree with a few of those positions, but I think some of you should be approaching him with a lot more courtesy.

I worry that social media teaches us basically the opposite of this: saying something that sounds right and puts you on the right side tends to beat careful reflection and engagement with opposing views

One thing philosophy has taught me is that questions that are very important and very emotive can also be very difficult to get right, with a range of reasonable answers. Another is that somethings that sound terrible on first hearing turn out to be amongst those reasonable answers on reflection

Teaching Clarence Darrow's "Crime and Criminals" in one class tomorrow and Hobbes's Leviathan in the other. The two very extreme opposite poles on a lot of questions, but united in their radical anti-realism about pre-institutional violations of right.

"they didn't put in the email 'this is retaliation for extramural speech that falls under a reasonable conception of academic freedom'" isn't particularly probative. of course they didn't put that in the email, yknow?

one thing i will say is that i am not in general in the habit of taking things university adminstrators are willing to write down (presumably in consultation with legal) as an unmediated representation of the truth

every post is an open letter with one signatory

Have you considered taking your own advice?

Jason Lee Byas@jasonleebyas.bsky.social · 3y ago

Even still: each and every one of us must log off.

Is polarization rational? Many ask this question, but they only address belief polarization, never affective polarization. Paul Wheatley and I ask: is it rational to be affectively polarized? Our answer: no. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The Rationality of Affective Polarization | Philosophy | Cambridge Core

The Rationality of Affective Polarization

cambridge.org

My strongly held belief is that anyone named Jason Lee Byas should be strung up on a wall and pelted by cans of soup untio they stop stealing oxygen from humanity.

The paradox of tolerance actually is egregious, and it's a legitimately sad situation that it was popularised by that comic over and against the obviously superior related ideas of reasonable pluralism and overlapping consensus in Rawls.

In the middle of nowhere Colorado we drove past a highway billboard that said "Unborn Children for Trump Pence." And someone really ought to let those kids know neither is on the ballot.

This excellent, just-filed amicus brief from @thefireorg.bsky.social defends the plaintiffs' central claims in AAUP v. Rubio--that noncitizens are protected by the First Amendment, and that deportation for political speech is flagrantly unconstitutional. knightcolumbia.org/documents/9j...

I don't think it is up to the university to make decisions on individual research value. Pre-tenure, academics go through various promotion milestones where they are evaluated by their supervisor (for postdocs) or their peers through standard academic channels. These are effective.

There's no evidence that Cofnas is not carrying out the work he is funded for. Additionally, the university should be extremely careful not to allow the appearance that they are retaliating for publicizing fraud.

Academic freedom is both a core principle and, ultimately, leads to better science -- it must be defended. /x