Victor Luftig
@vl1959.bsky.social
he/him. English professor, Democrat (but I can't bear the DCCC), Mets fan. Views expressed are my own and not those of my employer or David Stearns, Steve Cohen, or the late M. Donald Grant. "'We’ll see if it is,' said Rivera."
I think @uvalibrary.bsky.social's having a tent to greet people headed for today's football opener is angelic. Librarians should be honored at a halftime ceremony retiring an LCCN, to be displayed hereafter on the stadium ramparts, to honor deserving heroes and remind game-goers it's a university.
"we in some ways inhabit a technological present inherited from the it-narrative, a genre whose watchful object narrators look ahead to the media imagination that gave us virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri." lithub.com/long-before-...
Long Before Toy Story, It-Narratives Imagined the Inner Lives of Objects
It’s nighttime in the playroom and the toys have gathered for a conference. For modern audiences, this scene likely evokes the imaginative world of Toy Story, the long-running film franchise about …
lithub.com
bask, verb: To expose oneself to, or disport oneself in, an ambient flood of genial warmth, as in the sunshine…
Talking about junior colleagues this contemptuously should be grounds for sanction as creating a hostile working environment. I hope someone at Yale feels safe enough to report him. There's a terrible national shortage of radiologists, and it's hard to imagine this guy's 'mentoring' is helping.
Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 2d agoOpinion | 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
It matters that he died in prison after being tried for genocide, and that he was captured, under international pressure, by Serbians. A first tiny step towards justice would be for Netanyahu to die similarly, with Israeli forces having a similar role.
NPR@npr.org · 2d agoIs there someone at HR I can contact when someone sends me an email using the phrase "thought leader"? Definitely makes for an unsafe workplace.
Did an independent in college, read everything by one of my favorites. Much was meh, which I found shocking. My prof, a fine novelist, said, "A writer is entitled to be remembered for their best work." Because it's hard to make things.We can distinguish great from meh and bad, but still relish lots.
Chris Towers is In The Dog Days of Summer@cptowers.bsky.social · 2d agoI mean, if we’re doing this, then we might as well be honest that there are only three Star Wars movies.
A few of the many exquisite hand-drawn "infographics" produced by students of scholar + civil-rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, who died #onthisday 1963. More from the series, presented in “The Exhibit of American Negroes” at the 1900 Paris Expo, here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/w... #OTD
"These figures on the right are being exposed as the losers, con-artists,and social parasites that they are.It’s clear that they care nothing about women’s sports.No, their goal goes way beyond sports.It’s about eradicating trans people—not just from public life,but life altogether.This is obvious."
Dave Zirin@edgeofsports.bsky.social · 5d agoMy latest piece for @thenation.com about Enes Kanter and these Right Wing Hordes, stalking The WNBA www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Good article--tho it mentions only quickly the burden that the absence of a health pro places on teachers and staff, who are are left assisting malnourished and abused kids while trying to teach and administer. I hope the new rule is implemented quickly.
Virginia Mercury@virginiamercury.com · 5d agoVirginia is weighing calls to require school nurses as gaps in student health care persist across the commonwealth. Advocates say every student should have access to a qualified medical professional at school. virginiamercury.com/2026/08/24/v...
The problem with hanging a poetry broadside by the door is that it attracts critics. (Pulled down the shade to discourage resumption. Poor bird.)
Whatever challenges South Africa is facing, it seems a model for making racist billionaires feel unwelcome and thus has much to teach the rest of the world, including and especially the US.
Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · last wk.If immigrants are Aryan enough and openly embrace the Leader, no problem. Besides, Elon approves.
Lovely tribute. I co-taught a Springsteen seminar some yrs ago; we assigned and relied a lot on Marsh's excellent bio. But he was not on my radar as Lester Bangs was, and I've realized lately he should have been. He and his wife turned an awful loss into kristenanncarrfund.org (the video's great).
Bruce Springsteen@brucespringsteen.net · last wk.Jon Landau remembers Dave Marsh.
I defer entirely to @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social about what are the best ways to support them, but I do want to point out that they have very cool merch at alastore.ala.org
Homepage | ALA Store
alastore.ala.org
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · last wk.Happening now: After what he says was a widely watched episode of his podcast on the issue, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick vows to go after “filthy” books and the “leftist” American Library Association. “We’re not banning books,” he says. “Taking them out of our schools is not banning books.”
On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting the denial of the right to vote on the basis of sex. The Library holds the records and library collection of the National Woman’s Party, which was instrumental in getting the legislation passed. 🧵
What "controversy"? Senator Ossoff made passing reference to her while calling out DT's irresponsibility, and a bunch of GOP hypocrites are trying to divert attention: not "controversy"--deflection, distraction, deception.
Thoughtful and eloquently phrased. I usually worry that higher ed. admins. attend excessively to undergrad voices (as a market to game). But the failure to bring in new faculty in recent decades surely means that the average undergrad's say about AI is better informed than the avg. faculty member's.
Shaily Patel@vox-magica.bsky.social · 2w agothis from upenn's student paper is worth reading as the term starts: "AI cannot coexist with education — it can only degrade it. As technology advances and workers are replaced by machines, schools are some of the only places we have left to explore and wrestle with human thought."
"the contrast between the deep public upset at Ireland having to play Israel and the general unconcern at Ireland choosing to play Afghanistan is a gift to Netanyahu....[The] wider reality: systematic repression of women is much more acceptable than forms of subjugation based on race or ethnicity."
The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · 2w agoFintan O'Toole: Cricket Ireland showed indifference to gender apartheid by hosting Afghanistan
"Eponymous" is not a word commonly used in baseball, but if anyone's career stats were going to include it, that'd be the late Tommy John. A great player (on bad teams) when I was a kid, I saw him pitch wonderfully a couple of times 20 years later. He posted a lovely goodbye last week.
theemancipator.org/2026/08/15/i... "The media will bury its culpability while we bury Jason."
The Media Lynched Jason Arday
The death Friday of Jason Arday, a 41-year-old Black scholar who resigned from the University of Cambridge after waves of attacks over the last few weeks, hits close to home. His death left me so deva...
theemancipator.org
i just found out that my mentor, friend & inspiration Dave Marsh has left the planet. I will write more later but this piece I wrote about the anthology of his work his friends curated a few years back captures many of my thoughts: jukeboxgraduate.com/why-dave-mar...
Why Dave Marsh Matters
you must choose, brothers, you must choose
jukeboxgraduate.com
Too many sad stories. This--sudden death of a 54-year-old guy with 3 kids who should have gotten to wear the number at many many ceremonies--is a sad story. Saw him play in the minors, for the Mets, for the Mariners: he was fun to watch, very strong. www.nytimes.com/athletic/751...
Butch Huskey, Mets slugger who proudly wore Jackie Robinson’s number, dead at 54
The former MLB outfielder played for five teams throughout his career, including the Twins, Red Sox, Mariners and Rockies.
nytimes.com
Infantino's coercing small countries to support him resembles GOP presidents' shaking down such countries to join their evil wars enough so that I am wondering if FIFA isn't planning to conquer some cricket, hurling, and curling pitches.
Saw a Perseid. Wonderful: great idea, great execution. Now my neck hurts.
"The Maumelle Animal Shelter wrote on Facebook: 'Before putting on your helmet, shoes, gloves, or any outdoor gear, always give it a quick check first...'” OK, thanks for the suggestion, but isn't the real takeaway from this that there is surely a way to get a cottonmouth into Kegsbreath's MAGA hat?
NBC News@nbcnews.com · 3w agoAn Arkansas high school football player discovered a venomous snake in the helmet he was wearing during practice for almost an hour.
I think what happens here is wonderful, delightful, and greatly to her (and their) credit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfaV...
Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Boys | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
YouTube video by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
youtube.com
Registration ends Wednesday. I'd be grateful if you forward this to potentially interested teachers. Registrants so far from 14 states and abroad--should be a great discussion. T
Victor Luftig@vl1959.bsky.social · 3w agoTeaching Literature after Nolan’s Odyssey: A Conversation-- The University of Virginia Department of Classics and The Center for the Liberal Arts (cla.virginia.edu) For Middle and High School Teachers Via Zoom, August 14, 3-4:30 PM (EST) How can ELA and other teachers engage students who have 1/4
When I photographed this grackle a few weeks back, I didn't notice what it was looking at.
If just one of the Democratic fundraising texts would promise me that for a certain donation they'd be willing to muzzle Carville, Axelrod, and the rest of Clinton's zombies, I'd start selling things in order to be able to meet the requirement.
Karl Jacoby@karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 3w agoNews flash: most professors are too busy and stressed to hang out in the faculty lounge, spouting "zany exotica." (And lots of colleges or universities don't even have a faculty lounge.)
