Surprising not surprising that Nikkei leads with “radical Muslim leftist” instead of “doctor advocating healthcare reform,” which is what Al-Sayed is most famous for. His policies are already a given among Japan’s “radical Shinto rightist” PM.

日経電子版@nikkei.com · 9h ago

イスラム系急進左派が民主党の候補に　中間選挙の激戦区ミシガン州で www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQO... イスラエルへの軍事支援停止や国民皆保険といった異色の政策を訴え、穏健派の候補を破りました。 11月の上院選で当選すればイスラム系初の上院議員となります。 #ニュース

Recently every time I have to submit a 出張報告書 I just write 大成功でした. Let’s see if it works.

Adding “trifling away” to my summer break to do list.

eileen chengyin chow@chowleen.bsky.social · 4d ago

"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week." -Willa Cather (from The Professor's House, 1925)

The only response to this is free college for humanities.

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d ago

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v

【9/4発売】 寡頭制と闘え！ バーニー・サンダース著 中村 みずき訳 三牧 聖子解説 chiheisha.co.jp/2026/08/03/9... 民主社会主義者として絶大な支持を集め、反トランプ運動を率いるバーニー・サンダース。大金持ちの支配をくつがえし、もっと良い世界をつくるために。

Great thread about academic editing.

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d ago

So, I really hope I get to tell this story in longer form in the near future, but it it’s burning a hole inside me. Most of it comes from an interview with Bob Hirst this weekend. Bob has been Exec Editor of the Mark Twain Project for 47 years, before which he was part of its staff for ~15. 1/16

This is such an obvious point and is proven correct by the healthcare systems of most other countries. It shows just how corrupt the Democratic Party is that they haven’t been running on this talking point for decades.

Razzball@razzball.bsky.social · 4d ago

He is so good at this

401K, Air Guitar, Yuppie, Euro, Alcohol Use Disorder: What a great year to have been born.

Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com · 5d ago

Find the 5 words from your birth year that perfectly describe YOUR vibe ⬇️ www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/

I have only two dreams in my career. 1) find a well-worn copy of my book at Moe’s Books in Berkeley and 2) be mocked in the Onion.

EMILY WILSON@emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 6d ago

No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...

Having another five kids to work on the farm, which I just doubled in size after getting a sweet deal from all the bank foreclosures caused by the dust bowl. Collecting rent from evicteds living in dugouts down by the river.

Paul Nadeau@pauljnadeau.bsky.social · 6d ago

Insurance salesman or electrical engineer

The 250 million dollar budget was worth it just to produce this review.

Josephine "beckbook.com" Riesman@josie.zone · last wk.

Omg. Omg omg omg. Emily Wilson (as in, the famed translator of Homer) just published her take on Nolan's Odyssey in @lrb.co.uk... and it is SWEET, JUICY HATERADE: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

“I am the battered, coffee-stained backbone of writerly panic—the gasping pause where a thought should have ended but simply could not.”

McSweeney's@mcsweeneys.net · last wk.

"Writers have been using me long before AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actually cold, and worn year-round by screenwriters. I am not new here. I am not novel. I’m the cigarette you keep saying you’ll quit."

"Writers have been using me long before AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actually cold, and worn year-round by screenwriters. I am not new here. I am not novel. I’m the cigarette you keep saying you’ll quit."

The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations

“Writers have been using me long before the advent of AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actua...

buff.ly

Will the above average salary required for permanent residency be calculated in yen, because at the current rate of currency devaluation it will be almost meaningless by next April.

Hikosaemon@hikosaemon.bsky.social · last wk.

Not just money - Japan is going to make it tougher to become a permanent resident of Japan from April Japan gov't to impose tougher requirements for permanent residency mainichi.jp/english/arti...

2027 JSAA-ASAJ Joint International Conference Friday 2 July to Sunday 4 July 2027 Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe, Hachioji, Tokyo www.jsaa.org.au/conferences-... Conference theme: Cross-Currents in Japan, Australia and the Asia-Pacific

The Japanese government is set to increase visa fees as much thirty times the current rate. Immigration has a feedback form. Please let them know what you think about this increase. www.moj.go.jp/isa/support/...

At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.

Librarians are hosting viral 'Avoiding AI' workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech | TechCrunch

At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.

techcrunch.com

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

“If you really want an "AI strategy" for your country, it should be this: wait for the bubble to burst, then buy hardware and talent at fire-sale prices in the wave of ensuing bankruptcies, and use them to extract more performance from free, open source models.”

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w ago

Here's a sentence that stopped me in my tracks last week: "The statement that 'the cemeteries are full of indispensable people' is just as true of nations, and in particular the US": crookedtimber.org/2026/07/16/5... 1/

This is kind of an incredible website: Why your stuff stopped lasting, who profited, and what's still built right.

Worse on Purpose

The brands you trusted quietly gutted quality to protect margins. Investigative essays on corporate enshittification. Free newsletter.

worseonpurpose.com

✨🎀 NEW CFP: The Queer and Feminist Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures symposium (supported by the University of Tokyo, Media, Gender, and Sexualities Study Group) is coming back for its third edition!!!✨🎀 📩 Send us your abstract by August 15 at popculturesjapan@gmail.com✨ Share widely!

Call for Papers: Queer and Feminist Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures Symposium 2026

A platform for critical discussions about gender and Japanese animation, fashion, video games, literature and digital cultures

events.humanitix.com

Historian Joan W. Scott on Princeton: "Three assistant professors, all in the humanities, who not only supported the students, but signed the letters referred to above (3), were denied tenure in the spring of 2026."

CUNY Alliance to Defend Higher Education (CADHE)@cadhe.bsky.social · 3w ago

academeblog.org/2026/07/14/a...

Amazing essay on love, hate, and what makes us who we are.

Assigned Media@assignedmedia.org · 3w ago

Magdalene Visaggio was once in seminary, training to become a Catholic priest. Now she's a snarky online trans girl like the rest of us. In a challenging new essay for Assigned, she writes about the toll being hated for who she is has taken on her psyche. assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

Rutgers admins last week: Hiring freeze and fiscal doom-and-gloom Rutgers admins this week: Jamaica for the in-crowd, on the tax payer dime, baby! www.nj.com/education/20...

New Rutgers scandal: School paid $150K for staff to attend Jamaica retreat — owned by a dean

Easton's Nook, operated by Dean Jacqueline Mattis, has been paid thousands by Rutgers for faculty workshops since she became dean in 2020.

nj.com

It’s 37 degrees at 11am even with a gentle northern breeze. We are so fucked this summer.

Thinking of this speech for some reason. youtu.be/yfsOi06ik1U?...

Lindsey Graham Count Me Out

YouTube video by Rodney P

youtu.be

OMG. And McConnell’s situation is still unclear. edition.cnn.com/2026/07/12/p...

Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after sudden illness | CNN Politics

US Sen. Lindsey Graham, the longtime Republican from South Carolina and ally of President Donald Trump, has died “from a brief and sudden illness,” a spokesperson for his office told CNN.

edition.cnn.com

Attention Japan scholars: Nagoya University's Gender Research Library just posted the CFA for its 2027 Visiting Researcher program. I'm the current scholar in residence (for a wee bit longer) so feel free to DM me with questions. www.grl.kyodo-sankaku.provost.nagoya-u.ac.jp/news/3777.html

GRL Visiting Program 2027: Call for Applications - 名古屋大学ジェンダーリサーチライブラリ

The Gender Research Library (GRL) at Nagoya University is inviting

grl.kyodo-sankaku.provost.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Am I the only one who finds it troubling that the governor has to bribe the police to follow the law?

Times Union@timesunion.com · 4w ago

The funds will be used to upgrade technology for law enforcement agencies, but a new law meant to curb cooperation with ICE must be followed to apply for grants.

Important PSA. It’s so incredible that the Mayor’s office is putting out this information.

Alex Segura@alexsegura.com · 4w ago

NEWS: Our KNOW YOUR RIGHTS comic is available in 11 languages with more to come! Download it here - www.weteachnyc.org/resources/co... @mayor.nyc.gov @hsglobalhistory.bsky.social @davidhahn.bsky.social @nycimmigrants.bsky.social @tayloresposito.bsky.social @elllewrightart.bsky.social