"The Kurdish project to build a new kind of democracy amid the Syrian civil war is ending. A journalist who has followed the revolution for years asks: What did it all mean?" www.truthdig.com/articles/hom...

Homage to Rojava

The Kurdish project to build a new kind of democracy amid the Syrian civil war is ending. A journalist who has followed the revolution for years asks: What did it all mean?

truthdig.com

I posted a bit about why I don’t use generative AI: the reasons are many but in fairness to its defenders, they are mostly things which, *in isolation*, I wouldn’t (and in other cases clearly don’t) take as good reasons to not use something (1/5) majesticequality.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/w...

Also struck by how Graham’s expectation going in was that “they” both “run things” and also “know how things really work.” Failing to find such a “they” doesn’t mean there’s nobody with actual knowledge and understanding and expertise, just that nobody is listening to them…

noam@noamchompers.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A lot of people are rather more impressed than I am by Lindsey graham saying ‘all my colleagues are dumbasses and so am I’

Proud to know that my dues helped fund this lawsuit.

Texas Conference of the AAUP@texasaaup.bsky.social · 2mo ago

⭐️⭐️ PRESS RELEASE: Today, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) + its Texas affiliate, Texas AAUP-AFT, sued Texas Tech University System Chancellor Brandon Creighton and members of the Board of Regents over two system memoranda issued in the past eight months. 1/2

This week @lukeroelofs.bsky.social blogs about their forthcoming book, *Empathic Reason* over at The Junkyard. The book argues for a view they call "empathic rationalism" and makes the case for a tight connection between empathy and altruism and also for the epistemic indispensability of empathy.

@the-junkyard.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This week at The Junkyard: A post by Luke Roelofs junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/5/...

I wrote a bit at @the-junkyard.bsky.social on empathic reason and why, as Percy Shelley once said, "The great instrument of moral good is the imagination"

@the-junkyard.bsky.social · 4mo ago

This week at The Junkyard: A post by Luke Roelofs junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2026/5/...

Happy May Day!

Earl Grey Memes Club@earlgreymemes.club · 5mo ago

reposting with alt text

So I wrote a book, 'Empathic Reason'. Whereas my previous work is largely in philosophy of mind, this is me shifting towards ethics. Specifically, it’s an attempt to use philosophy of mind to address one of the most basic problems in ethics: why care at all? (1/4) global.oup.com/academic/pro...

“If you were in charge of Star Trek what would you do?” Reform movements within the Borg Collective. Every character is an impossible-to-visualise persistent thoughtform propagating through billions of bodies at once.

Electric Kool-Aid Bechdel Test@i-rohl.bsky.social · 5mo ago

"If you were in charge of Star Trek what would you do?" Tilly & Almond Basket miniseries. At least one show not set on a Starfleet ship or facility, in which none of the main characters is or has ever been affiliated with Starfleet. Give Tawny Newsome a pile of money to do whatever she wants.

accounts of democratic legitimacy really do not apply well to hegemonic powers

Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH@gavinyamey.bsky.social · 6mo ago

"Countries heavily reliant on US aid see a 10.5% increase in maternal mortality following a switch from a Democratic to a Republican administration—about 44.7 additional deaths per 100 000 live births." gh.bmj.com/content/11/3...

Popular Mechanics on my work about the possibility of a divine universe if consciousness and agency are fundamental 🌞 Thank you for the inspiration @drdreicito.bsky.social @philipgoff.bsky.social And the feedback @lukeroelofs.bsky.social www.popularmechanics.com/science/a656...?

God Is the Universe Itself—Meaning Every Pebble and Atom Is Divine, Controversial Theory Claims

New research suggests the universe is conscious, and that it possesses a sense of purpose.

popularmechanics.com

“To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."

There are nearly 2,000 events on the No Kings Day map in all 50 states (and 10 countries). March 28 will be the largest protest in American history. Find your local event or plan a protest in your area: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...

Just submitted online testimony to the board of regents opposing this. Gonna paste the text of it below:

AAUP chapter @UT Austin@utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🤠 Texans: Plesse contact the Board of Regents! Please consider testifying at this week’s meeting! Let’s make ourselves heard!

Come be my colleague! UT-Arlington is hiring for academics who work on sustanability and the environment. Submit CV, cover letter, research statement, teaching statement, and 3 references by February 15th! uta.peopleadmin.com/postings/33223

I think one thing people outside Minnesota don't understand is that after Good and Pretti were killed by feds while observing, the most normal people you could imagine have made peace with the fact that they could be next, and they are still out there because they say it's the right thing to do.

Jon Collins@jcollins.bsky.social · 7mo ago

“If I am killed doing this, throw my body at the White House, martyr the shit out of me & raise hell. Do not be sad. Do not think I would do anything differently. I would do it over & over again — this is too important to sit down & shut up and not do anything.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Happy St Brigid’s Day! St Brigid helped spread Christianity in Ireland, becoming the abbess of a powerful convent. When a nun came to her, pregnant and scared, St Brigid laid hands on her belly, prayed, and induced a miraculous abortion.

Been noting down my thoughts on Pluribus, and the more general question of how to be an ethical hivemind, and this post is part 1/3. majesticequality.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/t...

Thoughts on Pluribus (1/3): Hivemind Ethics

So I recently finished watching Pluribus, the popular new show about global hiveminds and the people who love them. And I have lots of thoughts, both because the idea of a hivemind is something I’m…

majesticequality.wordpress.com

Not one more cent for DHS and ICE. We have the power to end this.

Witnesses say a man was shot by a federal agent in south Minneapolis this morning. The Minnesota Star Tribune is on the scene: www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

Live: Man shot by federal agent in south Minneapolis this morning, witnesses say

More than a hundred protesters and observers have gathered near E. 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue.

startribune.com

Thanks for all who contributed to this billboard. Who can help extend the time it is up in Tarrant County? ICE OUT For GOOD!

A general strike against fascist terror makes this one of the most politically important days in the lives of everyone reading this.

🤠 Hey, Texas faculty! As you prep for the spring semester check out our blog for tips + advice. 👇 1) Don’t self-censor, know your rights! 2) Report censorship of your teaching, research, or expression. 3) Organize your department. We are stronger together! aaup-texas.org/blog/f/2025-...

2025: A Year of Resistance, Solidarity and Resolve

CONTACT:  Brian L. Evans, PhD, President, Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), affiliated with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), aaup.texas@gmai...

aaup-texas.org

Anti-war march in NYC, organized overnight. Happening right now, 8th Ave. People care.

Posting some free-flowing thoughts prompted by the death of my Sebastian earlier this month. First, thinking about his mind and the sense in which he might have loved me: majesticequality.wordpress.com/2025/12/26/t...

Thoughts Occasioned by the Passing of my Cat, Sebastian (1/3)

Sebastian, my wonderful cat, passed away in my arms earlier this month at the age of 12. I’m not very good at expressing my feelings, but I’m heartbroken. He was an incredibly sweet and funny and h…

majesticequality.wordpress.com

Incredible what you find when you start looking for data on the "white men can't get jobs anymore" phenomenon www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/12/17/w...

What Does the Census Data Say About “The Lost Generation”

Savage appears wrong, but the reality is potentially bleaker.

peoplespolicyproject.org

The people who profited most from the cancel culture/free speech panic were less interested in actual freedom of speech than establishing their own control over public discourse. You don't even have to take my word for it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

apart from the sheer inconceivable horror of the El Fasher massacre and its attendant horrors itself, the thing I'm feeling depressed about is that it probably won't matter. these were people already on the utmost margins of the global system, who the world has already decided it doesn't care about

BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 9mo ago

60,000 is the *low end* estimate.

Social scientists spent the last 50 years arguing that racism is still prevalent in US even if it's covert (racism w/ a veneer), unconscious (racism w/out intent), or systemic (racism w/out racists). Along comes MAGA, which embraces gutter racism while claiming that teaching about racism is racist.

Justin Baragona@justinbaragona.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."

Here's what this is actually about, dumbass