Janet D. Stemwedel
@docfreeride.bsky.social
12K followers 1.7K following 3.9K posts
Academic philosopher, lapsed chemist, occasional science writer, perpetual ethics booster. All views my own. (she/her)
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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
danhicks.bsky.social
reactionary centrists: students need to hear upsetting things

me: explains that Yosemite Valley was "discovered" by a state-sponsored death squad

RC: not like that
nateo.bsky.social
Not once have I seen an explanation for why teenagers must hear things that upset them in virtue of the unspecified speech-acts being upsetting, nor have I ever seen an explanation for why teenagers will be forbidden to express displeasure with upsetting things.
William Hague: Why I’ll banish ‘safe spaces’ at Oxford
The new chancellor tells Cheltenham Literature Festival that there will be no ‘cancel culture’ and students should expect to hear things that upset them
October 14 2025, The Times
The new chancellor of Oxford University has said there will be no safe spaces for students and warned would-be undergraduates that they will “hear things that will upset and offend them”.
docfreeride.bsky.social
Stop expecting big tech not to be evil.
How do you think they got big?
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
clairezagorski.bsky.social
“People who dislike Gen AI are just stuffy bores”

Bitch one of us actually knows how many fingers humans have and evidently it’s not ChatGPT
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
clairezagorski.bsky.social
A student on TikTok has been documenting her journey with a professor who “wrote” the anatomy textbook and it’s all a bunch of AI hallucinations.

She’s saying that, understandably, the students are doing super poorly!

Behold what we’re teaching the healthcare professionals of tomorrow:
A diagram of the bones and (some) deep muscles of the hand and forearm. AI says that we only have four digits. It’s also identified a tendon as the median nerve, another tendon as the ulnar nerve, among other issues. An AI generated diagram of the muscles of the neck. It hallucinated the “ennocleidomasid” muscle, and the “anterior scalpalin muscle”. An AI generated diagram of the muscles of the lateral thigh. It says that the gluteus Maximus (the big juicy butt muscle) is on the anterior side. It also points to the quadriceps muscle and says “attattment”. It also says that the same structure is the tibia AND the deep fascia of the leg. An AI generated diagram of the bones of the hand and forearm. This time AI says we have 6 digits. It also says that the radius is the ulnar artery. Among other many issues.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
If you want to see the TikToks of a student documenting the horrifying fact that her professor used AI to "write" the textbook she subsequently published and forces her students to use/buy; but also some truly unprofessional behavior from the prof on being caught:

www.tiktok.com/@liaaa.bia/v...
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
And to find work themselves. If you are a conservative, you want people to get married, have babies and get jobs. That marriage of conservative values with liberal ideas of protecting marginalized people is why George W. Bush and Ted Kennedy worked on reauthorization of IDEA.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
I think Eric also makes a very important point about the motivations of Republicans in supporting this kind of legislation.

It reminds me of how Republican support for increased SSI income limits is tied to religious people wanting more disabled couples to marry.
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Republicans correctly understood that education for people with disabilities promoted self-reliance and reduced the likelihood people with disabilities would be dependent on the government. It's why Ford, Nixon, Bush, Bob Dole and Chuck Grassley supported it.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Trump's mass firings strike a hammer blow against Americans with disabilities
The GOP once supported special education programs. Recent dismissals at the Education Department put an end to that support.
www.msnbc.com
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
Now, of course there were was and is widespread discrimination and ableism, and huge holes in the safety net. But people like my CEO did not see one party actively ripping away supports for the disabled or dismantling fundamental rights to education.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
This is the thing that has been most shocking for long-time advocates. The CEO of my agency has been doing this work for 40+ years and she consistently says how support for policies supporting the disabled has long been bipartisan.

(Caveat in the next post that I can't fit in this post!)
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
It may be hard to believe, but for the better part of 40 years, Republican presidents frequently signed legislation promoting special education. Nixon signed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. George H.W. Bush signed the Individuals with Disabilities Educastion Act
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Trump's mass firings strike a hammer blow against Americans with disabilities
The GOP once supported special education programs. Recent dismissals at the Education Department put an end to that support.
www.msnbc.com
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
faineg.bsky.social
If there’s one thing about the last decade that has truly done my head in, it’s seeing how many people - including many very well educated people with power - appear to be totally incapable of spotting an obvious bullshitter in the act of bullshitting.
airwindows.com
How do people not SEE the extent to which this guy is an utter bullshitter? Is this some kind of autistic soul-read thing I'm manifesting? I don't understand how people aren't getting constant red flags from this guy. Every picture just trumpets bullshitter, he is like a parody of a normie-fooler.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chanda.blacksky.app
So many of these orgs don't even have to be given orders because they are volunteering

And they're too cowardly to own that, so then they are claiming they are following orders that they did not even get
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
royalpratt.bsky.social
NEWS: ICE gave a Rogers Park man a $130 ticket for not having his papers on him. They rounded him up last week and eventually let him go, but not without a fine that some critics say is un-American. Trump admin enforcing little-used law
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...
ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair…I’m a resident’
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fined Rueben Antonio Cruz $130 for not having his papers with him.
www.chicagotribune.com
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
evilcleverdog.bsky.social
Using ChatGPT
edithcharles.bsky.social
What's something that isn't considered embarrassing but you think it should be?
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
heykellyjensen.bsky.social
Further reducing what library and information science actually is and further reducing the meaning and value of that specific line of training and education.

"Faculty were not consulted" ... of course.
triangleblogblog.bsky.social
Breaking: We’ve talked to multiple individuals who have confirmed that UNC-CH is merging SILS (library and information science) and SDSS (data science and society). Announcement will be tomorrow morning. Faculty were not consulted.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
jamellebouie.net
one response to this (correct) observation is to say “well, the cops will attack you no matter how you dress and behave.” that’s right. images of cops and ICE beating grandmas and kids in inflatable frog costumes is a win for the opposition.
sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com
one of the reasons they're so mad at "no kings" is that they thought they were going to get a different kind of protest. they *want* the black bloc to be out there fighting with the cops. those are the images they've been trying to generate from "go." instead--

newrepublic.com/article/2016...
MAGA Rage at “No Kings” Boils Over—and It Quickly Backfires on Trump
As Trump allies smear the coming protests, a good writer on MAGA skewers the absurdity of these attacks on large swaths of Americans—and explains why our best recourse will be to turn out in force.
newrepublic.com
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
kateclancy.bsky.social
I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
jayrosen.bsky.social
Interesting idea. A entire news market will get a public editor.

Indianapolis will be the first local media market to get its own Public Editor, who will monitor all the newsrooms in town. tinyurl.com/2s44zxe8
Poynter launches public editor project to serve news audiences in Indianapolis - Poynter
Partner newsrooms will publish the editor’s independent analysis of local news coverage across the market.
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
8/ But Trump doesn't want to end the shutdown. Because he thinks he's a king and he doesn't believe the law applies to him. He thinks he has extra powers in a shutdown. He doesn't.

But the longer Republicans boycott talks, the more the shutdown will hurt. So it's their move.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
7/ Democrats need to stand for something right now. And what need, to vote for this budget, is pretty simple and reasonable:

Don't cut people's health care just to pay for a billionaire tax cut.

Don't fund Trump's growing authoritarianism without checks on his corruption.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
6/ Sure the House isn't here so Rs don't have to explain why they want premiums to go up and why they want to fund Trump's corruption.

But also because they don't want to swear in member-elect Adelita Grijalva. Since she would be the deciding vote to RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
5/ But here's the even darker kicker.

The House Republicans aren't even in town. Speaker Johnson told them to stay away from DC. They haven't been here in nearly a month. Refusing to show up for work. An unprecedented, unplanned 4 week recess.

And why?
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
4/ Ok, so then the obvious next step is to negotiate a compromise. That's how we've always avoided shutdowns. And Republicans need to convene those talks, bc they're in charge.

But here's the kicker - Trump is telling them to BOYCOTT NEGOTIATING. And they are following orders.
Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
3/ The Senate keeps voting on 2 bills to reopen.

1. The GOP bill - it raises premiums on 22m Americans and lets Trump keep acting illegally.

2. The Dem bill - it stops the premium increases and checks Trump's illegality.

Each time, neither bill gets the necessary 60 votes.