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Dave Mazella

@davemazella.bsky.social

3.1K followers 4K following 6.3K posts

ok, got it, fine. eighteenth-century scholar baking away in Heatstroke, TX. none of the opinions expressed here, good or bad, should be ascribed to my employer, whoever that may be. let's see how this goes.

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · Mar 3

I'm going to use bluesky as a sketchpad, to get thoughts down on the current state of the game in higher ed. I'm going to list some things that put us here, and try provisionally to offer ways out (not solutions).

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Brian Eno News @dark-shark.bsky.social · 5h

David Bowie: "Heroes" - the title-track of his 1977 album; written by David Bowie and Brian Eno; guitar by Robert Fripp; EMS VCS 3 synthesiser and guitar treatments by Eno www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLp2...

Heroes (2017 Remaster)

YouTube video by David Bowie - Topic

www.youtube.com

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 12h

The Portland Frog army has now infiltrated Tulsa, OK and they’ve made an unlikely alliance with the T-Rex infantry and Sharks on Hoverboards mercenary forces.

This is truly terrifying.

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C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 23h

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread:

I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong.

So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 11h

close reading & literary histories both rely on an understanding of genre

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Michael W. Twitty @koshersoul.bsky.social · 2d

Hi everyone! #RecipesfromtheAmericanSouth is here. Please support by spreading the word! www.phaidon.com/en-us/produc...

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 14h

that too

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The Real News Network @therealnews.com · 14h

"This is a self-described fascist... who said that Jews chose to die in the Holocaust… Who’s going to listen to this person with this doctored video of me at this conference? Well, turns out Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse appears to have listened.”
therealnews.com/will-texas-s...

Will Texas State University fire a tenured professor based on a Nazi apologist's doctored video?

“This is a self-described fascist, horribly antisemitic person who said that Jews chose to die in the Holocaust and Hitler went to heaven… Who's going to listen to this person with this doctored video...

therealnews.com

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 14h

this is bad

Julie Greene @greeneland.bsky.social · 15h

I just learned, Thomas Alter, tenured professor, has been terminated effective immediately. Shame on Texas State! We mst build support for Tom. spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-tex...

Texas State upholds the firing of associate history professor Thomas Alter

Alter’s termination occurred on Sept. 10, stemming from his remarks at the Revolutionary Socialism Conference on Sept. 7.

spectrumlocalnews.com

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 15h

"Loyalists"

Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 15h

someone on here once said that Dems like Booker and Jefferies occasionally want to borrow the styles of black activism, but not their substantive commitments; fwiw you could describe senior Dem discomfort with other parts of their base the same way: embrace the style, ignore the commitments & values

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 22h

The protests in a week are likely to be some of the largest in history. This time, instead of ignoring them, maybe Democrats could try something new: pointing out that a president who is facing some of the largest protests in history is definitionally deeply unpopular, and has no hint of a mandate

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 15h

either would work fine

Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 15h

the most crucial, most distinctive method of literary criticism is synthesis, not close reading

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August J. Pollak @augustjpollak.bsky.social · 16h

Barack Obama had this and used it to defund ACORN

To pass your agenda a Dem will need 60 votes in the Senate & a majority in the house. In every battleground state voters need to show up to give a Dem President the power to deliver without negotiating. If we fail to do that, we cant complain when what's delivered is watered down

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 15h

There is no such thing as an advance in literary criticism because its objects of study are too varied to be easily aggregated & its attempts go in too many different directions

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 16h

The mother called Mike Miles' performance a “horrible job" and said he was "ruining our school district.” bit.ly/4ohwLao

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 1d

When they tell you they plan on throwing out the constitution, believe them.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 1d

Police officers who publicly declare that they’ll quit if a mayoral candidate they dislike wins the election are (1) usually bluffing—sure buddy, toss away that paycheck and pension—and (2) exactly the sort of cops cities would be better off without, ones who don’t see themselves as public servants.

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Ryan Quinn @ryanequinn.bsky.social · 19h

Hey, I'm an @insidehighered.com reporter writing today about how the ongoing shutdown may be affecting, or about to affect, university research. If you have a story to share, please DM me or email [email protected] today. Thank you.

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 17h

Now we’re talking

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 14d

Monopoly and totalitarianism go hand in hand.

The only way to stop the growing censorship of Trump's critics is to fight the consolidation of media outlets into the hands of a few families that do not care about the best interests of the country.

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Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 18h

How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s:

"I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”

Federal agents invaded even the offices of The Crisis and the National Association for the advancement of colored people and asked searching questions: " just what, after all, were our objects and activities?” I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, “We are seeking to have the constitution of the United states thoroughly and completely enforced.” It took some ingenuity, even for Southerners, to make treason out of that.

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Jess Horror-ssette @decafjedi.com · 17h

I've just been introduced to my university's new "Faculty Misconduct Sanction Ladder Matrix," and let me tell you, things are going GREAT in higher education right now.

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Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 20h

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!

The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/

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Dave Mazella @davemazella.bsky.social · 18h

biden prioritized his pandemic bill (which he got no credit for) w Manchin, & never reached a 2d goal in his presidency

Andrew Rudalevige @rudalev.bsky.social · 20h

Indeed so. The only major effort was to repair the Electoral Count Act. Important - but reforms to the National Emergencies Act, the Civil Service Reform Act (to bar Schedule F), the Insurrection Act, etc., should not have been out of reach.

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 21h

Congressional Dems and the Biden admin should have put more effort into passing post-Trump reforms. We need more aggressive reform than what was on offer then, but it could really have helped

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 19h

The 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution were expressly crafted to grant Black people equal rights as citizens in a democratic society

The Supreme Court is preparing to use those very Amendments to deny those rights instead

ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/louis...

Louisiana v Callais: The Republicans Justices Are Getting Ready to Finish Off the Voting Rights Act

In Louisiana v Callais, John Roberts will have the chance to finish his decades-long war on. voting rights.

ballsandstrikes.org

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 1d

University leaders: [terminate programs, close campuses, cave in to political pressure from demagogues]

Faculty, students, staff: you’re killing the university

Management consultants: looks like you got a real comms challenge here

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