Another reminder that, amidst the myriad challenges facing academia, researchers also have to re-imagine the political economy of publishing. The biggest academic publishers (Wiley, Springer, Elsevier, etc) are also among the most restrictive and rapacious.

Shannon Mattern@shannonmattern.bsky.social · 4h ago

"In 2022, Wiley removed over 1,300 ebooks from academic library collections; [they said] perpetual access is not an option for subscribed content. In 2025, Clarivate,... announced they would stop offering libraries perpetual access licenses for ebooks and primary-source digital collections."

21 years ago today, Canada became the 4th country in the world, and 1st outside of Europe, to legalize same-sex marriage. The sky didn’t fall. Hell didn’t break loose. Only Canada’s capacity for love and acceptance increased. Now over 30+ countries have followed Canada’s lead.

Everyone who hears liars like Trump, MAGA and the GOP lying about “who’s at fault” for #ClimateChange-fueled wildfires this summer, and every summer to come, should read and share this thread. #ClimateCrisis #Wildfires

Bentley ****TALK CLIMATE****@bigclimate.bsky.social · 12mo ago

🧵 Dear Republican lawmakers, Canada has the largest intact boreal forest on the planet. An increasingly hotter world due to #ClimateChange makes longer dry seasons, far larger wildfires & yes, more smoke. No amount of "raking" fixes it. The scientists warned of exactly this for a very long time /1

U.S. Treasury unveils its Loony coin design

U.S. Treasury unveils its Loony coin design

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The US Treasury Department has unveiled its own unique one dollar coin, officially nicknamed the “Loony.”

thebeaverton.com

Where would we be without @thebeaverton.com?

The Beaverton@thebeaverton.com · 3w ago

Meet the Canadian civil servant responsible for sending our wildfire smoke to the U.S.

A refreshing reminder that strong unions don't just improve wages and working conditions, they build a stronger economy for everyone. It's time for the government to put workers at the centre of its economic agenda.   Great op-ed in the @theglobeandmail.com: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Opinion: Canada needs stronger unions, not more labour bashing from governments

Anti-union discourse and policies have increased when workers need strong unions most

theglobeandmail.com

AI;DR: When readers stop trusting writers In February this year, a safety researcher named Mrinank Sharma resigned from Anthropic with a long, public letter.... https://leonfurze.com/2026/07/05/aidr-when-readers-stop-trusting-writers/

AI;DR: When readers stop trusting writers

In February this year, a safety researcher named Mrinank Sharma resigned from Anthropic with a long, public letter. Resignation letters from AI labs are a genre of their own now, and this one was widely shared and picked over. One reply stood out, from a developer named David Minnigerode posted on Threads: "Sorry that is. definitely tl;dr. But also kinda ai;dr Some of those sentences…yeesh."

leonfurze.com

We're thrilled to present the shortlist for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:

I’m old enough to remember that Obama didn’t have to give Iran $330bn in unfrozen assets, lifted sanctions, and a wealth fund in order to get them to agree to nuclear inspectors.

At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/

🧵What happens when libraries can't preserve the knowledge they collect? 📚⚠️ @Brewster.Kahle.org warns that the systems connecting libraries, readers, and cultural memory are becoming dangerously fragile. Read Preserving the Library System in VANISHING CULTURE ⤵️ archive.org/details/vani...

MIT boasts a $27b endowment

eileen chengyin chow@chowleen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“I write with dismay, grief and sorrow for the permanent closure of MIT Libraries Barker, Dewey and Rotch, and termination of library staff in those libraries. For MIT to be closing three of its four major libraries..." fnl.mit.edu/may-june-202...

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified…… History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - George Orwell -

Frank Figliuzzi@frankfigliuzzi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

While we slept the DOJ deleted all press releases about charges against January 6 defendants: www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

I don’t think that some Albertans realize how much this separatism tantrum is going to make their province reviled by the rest of Canada. Canadians not from Quebec, who knew our country’s history, could understand Quebec nationalism, but we sure as hell do not understand Alberta’s grievance fantasy

How to honor Anerica’s 250th: “Spread the word about THE LIBRARIANS, an inspiring documentary about heroic librarians fighting book bans and censorship across our country in recent years. It’s on PBS.” @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social

Opinion: How to honor America’s 250th if you feel torn

As we approach America’s big birthday on July 4, I’m not in a party mood.

ctmirror.org

Librarians literally saved my life

“The hackers claim to have stolen students’ names, their personal email addresses, and messages sent between teachers and students — the same type of data Instructure admitted was stolen.”

Hackers steal students' data during breach at education tech giant Instructure | TechCrunch

The data breach at education tech giant Instructure includes students' private data, according to a sample of the allegedly stolen data seen by TechCrunch.

techcrunch.com

“Sunlight has to travel 93 million miles to reach the Earth, but none of those miles go through the Strait of Hormuz,” says @billmckibben.bsky.social. “That makes it a very appealing alternative, especially now that it’s cheaper than burning coal and gas and oil.”

🔥 In the face of harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of the extremism fueling the the censorship efforts. Stream FREE NOW: thelibrariansfilm.com/streaming/

Streaming on PBS - The Librarians Film | Official Site

Librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment Rights.

thelibrariansfilm.com

🇨🇦 Canada’s Council of Prairie & Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) has joined a global movement to protect digital rights for libraries, archives & museums supporting access, preservation & heritage online.📚 Learn more ⤵️ internetarchivecanada.org/2026/04/07/c... @internetarchiveca.bsky.social

Even as they claim the right to train their models on work belonging to other people, the AI companies have rejected a similar premise when it comes to their own products, Alex Reisner reports:

The Hypocrisy at the Heart of the AI Industry

Tech companies believe in intellectual property, but not yours.

bit.ly

You could say that Rock n Roll was born 111 years ago today in Arkansas, but probably not where you'd think. Before there was a Chuck Berry or Little Richard, there was those who wanted to be like her. Rosetta Nubin better known as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of Rock was born on this day

I was with @heathermcpherson.bsky.social in meetings with the German government in Berlin. I was with her when she pushed Canada to take action on Ukraine and Gaza. Our political sandbox has been kicked over. The NDP needs a leader who can present a vision to Canadians in a time of global threat.

The world does not need more undergraduate history essays but does need more people who can write good ones.

Celeste Labedz@celestelabedz.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I keep having to tell students that the true "product" on a homework, essay, or test is not the completed assignment, it's the brain that has gone through the thinking required to complete the assignment.

“Reading Rainbow” host Mychal Threets (@mychal3ts.bsky.social) celebrates the library as a place where everyone is welcome

this is like the thesis statement of our times

Cezary Jan Strusiewicz@ostrichson.bsky.social · 5mo ago

All the wrong people have imposter syndrome.

Like seriously, rewatch the Ring ad. It's worth outlawing and then breaking up Amazon. This is surveillance state technology the worst authoritarian dictatorships of the past always dreamed of.

In case you missed the moment. Art is powerful

Ida B Wells' Winchester Rifle@dytsras.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Benito said "God Bless America," and then proceeded to name every country in South and North America. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥