New job: Assistant Professor of History for Twentieth-Century Europe and the World, Tenure-Track Hollins University jobs.h-net.org/jobs/70193
Karl Jacoby
@karl-jacoby.bsky.social
Professor of History at Columbia University; author of CRIMES AGAINST NATURE, SHADOWS AT DAWN: A BORDERLANDS MASSACRE AND THE VIOLENCE OF HISTORY; and THE STRANGE CAREER OF WILLIAM ELLIS. Working on a new project on the US-Mexico War (1846-1848).
They could always sign up to give comment at a public meeting.
The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 17h agoNew York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Don't look now, but the world has now installed 3TW of solar. Took 10 years to get from 100GW to 1TW. Less than 3 years to get to 2TW. Less than 2 years to get to 3TW. Analysts expect *9TW* by 2036.
The World Crossed a Major Solar Milestone. No One Noticed
The next phase of the boom may reveal a shift in who is gaining access to the technology.
bloomberg.com
Again, the financial incentives are all on the side of AI. Why would a profit-seeking AI corporation donate millions to a teachers' union? To convert teachers into AI adopters. There is no similar deep-pocket corporation giving money NOT to use AI.
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 6h ago“Teaching educators about AI is a ‘moral imperative’, said Randi Weingarten, the AFT president.” “And without outside funding, it was a choice between taking big tech’s money or doing nothing, she said.”
I don't have to imagine it--I lived it just a few years ago. AI has made my life *worse*--from warping our politics to sucking up our energy and causing global warming to making teaching much harder than it was before because of the temptation not to think or write for oneself.
🚨TIL the 1877 Super El Niño killed more than 3% of the world’s population. Our modern world should be resilient enough to prevent that — but then came Trump’s perfect storm of dismantling government, abandonment of international institutions, and war related bottlenecks.🚨
Keith Fitzgerald@keithfitzgerald.bsky.social · last wk.This is potentially very important. If history repeats, it could be catastrophic. youtube.com/watch?v=69o-...
Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending). Per-household cost now exceeds $600. iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Everything is big in Texas. Including the racism, bigotry & law breaking across Texas’ public universities. And the resistance. The lawsuits are here. First one hit Tech. This one hits A&M. UT just matter of time. @texasaaup.bsky.social @aaup.org
Gautam Hans@gshans.bsky.social · yesterdayAnother banger from @aclu.org @aaup.org www.aclutx.org/press-releas...
RFK jr overrode the NIH recommendation for NIAID Director to appoint his own preferred candidate (who applied, but NIH declined to interview), per @politico.com. Institute directors have final say on funding decisions and are critical to the integrity of NIH. 🧵 www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
A lab-leak proponent is in line for Fauci’s old job
Steven Quay is in final vetting to run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
politico.com
Karl Jacoby@karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 22h agoThe University of Texas's endowment is bigger than most Ivy League schools (only exceeded by Harvard and Yale). It was one of the US's great universities--until Republicans started to limit what could be taught and studied there. www.investopedia.com/articles/mar...
New author newsletter about Palestinian students, with book recommendations, and a report on shenanigans at PEN America open.substack.com/pub/nancykri...
Summer Trips, Books, and Controversies
An Early August Report
open.substack.com
The University of Texas's endowment is bigger than most Ivy League schools (only exceeded by Harvard and Yale). It was one of the US's great universities--until Republicans started to limit what could be taught and studied there. www.investopedia.com/articles/mar...
Top 3 Largest University Endowments
The 3 largest university endowments in the world belong to Harvard, the University of Texas, and Yale, with each of them holding over $41 billion in assets.
investopedia.com
@cliffdubya.bsky.social · 2d agoThis is so true. Texans you have to turn Texas back to blue. You have to want better.
Nobody wants to talk about those things… because they don’t exist? The current average price for a dozen eggs is $2.14. For a gallon of milk it’s $4.32. fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU00... fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU00...
Average Price: Milk, Fresh, Whole, Fortified (Cost per Gallon/3.8 Liters) in U.S. City Average
Average Price: Milk, Fresh, Whole, Fortified (Cost per Gallon/3.8 Liters) in U.S. City Average
fred.stlouisfed.org
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 22h agoTom Emmer on Republicans trailing Dems by 8 points in the generic ballot: "Right now there are great things happening in our economy. Nobody wants to talk about 78 cent eggs, nobody wants to talk about milk that's under $2. No no. They want to focus on gas prices."
The drug war also acts as sort of a “price support” for drug traffickers. It turns minimally processed agricultural and chemical commodities that cost pennies to produce into priceless substances through a counterproductive risk premium. It ensures there will be an endless supply of traffickers.
Matt Eminem@legalleadtheway.bsky.social · last wk.Sure, we’re doing extrajudicial killings that should shame all those involved for generations, but at least it also totally fails to achieve the stated objectives.
unfortunate update: bsky.app/profile/texa...
Texas Observer@texasobserver.org · yesterdayNew from Andrew Joseph Pegoda: In an attempt to overcomply with Texas law, the University of Houston will eliminate over 100 women's studies, gender and sexuality courses from the core curriculum. It won't be enough to appease extremist Republicans.
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
![AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, LEONARD BRIGHT, VANITA REDDY, LANDON SADLER, and AARON GEORGE,
Plaintiffs,
V.
ROBERT L. ALBRITTON, JAY GRAHAM, DAVID
C. BAGGETT, JOHN W. BELLINGER, JAMES R.
BROOKS, MICHAEL A. HERNANDEZ III,
WILLIAM MAHOMES JR., KELLEY SULLIVAN GEORGIADES, and SAM TORN, in their official capacities as members of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents,
Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO.
COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
COMPLAINT
Plaintiffs American Association of University Professors ("AAUP"), on behalf of
its members in the Texas A&M University System ("Texas A&M"), and individually named member professors Leonard Bright, Vanita Reddy, Landon Sadler, and Aaron George (collectively, "Plaintiffs") challenge Texas A&M System Policy ("System Policy") 08.01's prohibition on teaching "gender and race ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation, and gender identity" in academic coursework (the "Censorship Policy" or the "Policy").
On its face, the Censorship Policy imposes a complete prohibition, in all core-
curriculum courses, on courses "advocat[ing]" particular disfavored views of race or gender, or
any topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity, but the Policy does not impose any corresponding ban on opposing views on these issues.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jcats4toei4ybf5ibk3njty3/bafkreidml3fbnbiivajg7rverpx3nckfhv3zdron6klbxc7kaffoyslpty)
Unless we ban the use of fossil fuels for energy generation and surface transport, no company will ever leave this stuff in the ground. Why would they when they're making money hand over fist?
Oil Giant Saudi Aramco Reports 33% Profit Surge, Despite Iran War Disruptions (Gift Article)
Higher oil prices propelled a quarterly earnings jump for Saudi Arabia’s energy giant, which used pipelines to work around disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
nytimes.com
in re Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" (which, in the original Martian Chronicles, occurs on today's date), I didn't realize the very first published version of the story, in Collier's magazine, was set in April 1985. (the current edition of Martian Chronicles now sets it in 2057).
Read it here if you haven't yet. Today is the very best day of all days to read it for the first time. short-stories.co/@raybradbury...
There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury
The voice-clock sang, breakfast was ejected, but no doors slammed. The garage chimed and lifted its door to reveal the waiting car. The house sat alone in a city of rubble and…
short-stories.co
Adam Rawnsley@arawnsley.bsky.social · yesterdayToday, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.
Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.
TT job in Pre-Modern History of the Islamicate Middle East or Central Asia (600-1700 CE) University of Chicago apply.interfolio.com/190288
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.
No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...
Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation
PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...
theonion.com
For the love of Hanuman, THIS. It's not just that a circular firing squad is unhelpful at this moment; it's also that academics of all people ought to be open-minded about ways of knowing other than their own and ought to be respectful of expertise.
Corey Rayburn Yung@coreyryung.bsky.social · yesterdayAs a meta-point in the academia discourse of today, it's a strange time for professors to dismiss the value of entire disciplines. That plays perfectly for those who want to wreck higher education (and who happen to have a lot of governmental power right now).
Johanna Fernández Dies at 55: Leading Historian of the Young Lords & Latinx Freedom Movement www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWkb...
Johanna Fernández Dies at 55: Leading Scholar on the Young Lords & Latinx Freedom Movement
YouTube video by Democracy Now!
youtube.com
#BOTD #efemerides #anniversary #Sonora Marilyn Monroe in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico. (June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962)
The power of the ☀️helps keep tribal elders safe in Wisconsin
Menominee Nation elders are getting solar and battery systems » Yale Climate Connections
The installations help keep electricity flowing at this Wisconsin reservation even when a major storm knocks out grid power.
yaleclimateconnections.org
#BOTD #efemerides #anniversary #CDMX (June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) Marilyn Monroe was Hollywood's all-American girl. But her initial success depended on hiding her roots. www.businessinsider.com/marilyn-monr...
Marilyn Monroe was Hollywood's all-American girl. But her initial success depended on hiding her Mexican roots.
In the years before her death, Monroe traveled more frequently to Mexico and met with directors like José Bolaños and Luis Buňuel.
businessinsider.com
In addition to costing close to $50 billion, Trump's border wall is also siphoning off much of the scarce water in the US-Mexico border region. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Crews building Trump border wall in drought-hit New Mexico ordered to stop drilling wells
Residents and farmers say contractors have tapped border aquifers that threaten water supply for those nearby
theguardian.com