Joseph Howley
@illdottore.bsky.social
“imagine a classics professor” – The New Yorker
Reposted by Joseph Howley
~A month or so ago the nu faculty assembly voted like 598 to 7 for no deal.
"A Northwestern spokesman did not return multiple requests for comment."
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www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
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www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Northwestern University Nears Deal to Resolve Its Conflict With the White House
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:19 PM
~A month or so ago the nu faculty assembly voted like 598 to 7 for no deal.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
I believe if we rereleased this in theaters, we could get the revolution going.
I watched the 1977 documentary "Harlan County, USA" last night and it has hands-down the evillest fucker I've ever seen in a film, a "site foreman" the mining company uses as a strike breaker.
November 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I believe if we rereleased this in theaters, we could get the revolution going.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
A hard thing about living away from New York City is missing these exciting exhibitions. Can someone please stop by City Hall and buy me a t-shirt or print of the Jabba-rat(-ghostbusters?) art, which I have to assume they are selling. Why would you make something like that and not sell merch of it
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
A hard thing about living away from New York City is missing these exciting exhibitions. Can someone please stop by City Hall and buy me a t-shirt or print of the Jabba-rat(-ghostbusters?) art, which I have to assume they are selling. Why would you make something like that and not sell merch of it
Reposted by Joseph Howley
you just can't have a meaningful conversation about the potential benefits of "AI" while this stuff is happening. it's like trying to talk about how useful an airplane might be during a hijacking
What the leaked AI executive order tells us about the Big Tech power grab
What the leaked AI executive order tells us about the Big Tech power grab
Should states write their own AI laws, or should David Sacks?
buff.ly
November 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
you just can't have a meaningful conversation about the potential benefits of "AI" while this stuff is happening. it's like trying to talk about how useful an airplane might be during a hijacking
Reposted by Joseph Howley
"Harvard’s leadership, for example, many of them accomplished players in Washington and on Wall Street, assume that they can just use the skills that once made them successful to bargain their way out of authoritarianism, like one would strike a deal for legislation or business"
This.
This.
My diagnosis of why elite institutions fail at resistance.
November 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
"Harvard’s leadership, for example, many of them accomplished players in Washington and on Wall Street, assume that they can just use the skills that once made them successful to bargain their way out of authoritarianism, like one would strike a deal for legislation or business"
This.
This.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
A hard thing about living away from New York City is missing these exciting exhibitions. Can someone please stop by City Hall and buy me a t-shirt or print of the Jabba-rat(-ghostbusters?) art, which I have to assume they are selling. Why would you make something like that and not sell merch of it
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
A hard thing about living away from New York City is missing these exciting exhibitions. Can someone please stop by City Hall and buy me a t-shirt or print of the Jabba-rat(-ghostbusters?) art, which I have to assume they are selling. Why would you make something like that and not sell merch of it
Reposted by Joseph Howley
Fancy a #grasshoppers on a ring? The #Romans did.
Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, grasshoppers seem to have been pretty fashionable amongst the subjects carved on #intaglios.
Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, grasshoppers seem to have been pretty fashionable amongst the subjects carved on #intaglios.
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Fancy a #grasshoppers on a ring? The #Romans did.
Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, grasshoppers seem to have been pretty fashionable amongst the subjects carved on #intaglios.
Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, grasshoppers seem to have been pretty fashionable amongst the subjects carved on #intaglios.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
This should be a major scandal. The Blaze falsely reported that a former U.S. Capitol Police officer was the Jan. 6th pipe bomber. But it wasn’t just another miss by conservative media promoting conspiracies.
Someone in US intel - at ODNI - was promoting it:
www.cbsnews.com/news/jan-6-p...
Someone in US intel - at ODNI - was promoting it:
www.cbsnews.com/news/jan-6-p...
November 25, 2025 at 10:25 PM
This should be a major scandal. The Blaze falsely reported that a former U.S. Capitol Police officer was the Jan. 6th pipe bomber. But it wasn’t just another miss by conservative media promoting conspiracies.
Someone in US intel - at ODNI - was promoting it:
www.cbsnews.com/news/jan-6-p...
Someone in US intel - at ODNI - was promoting it:
www.cbsnews.com/news/jan-6-p...
Reposted by Joseph Howley
⭐️ From the AAUP Chapter at Texas A&M: “Reinstate Dr. Melissa McCoul immediately + Affirm the University’s commitment to its governing rules, ensuring that no faculty member is ever again dismissed without the due process mandated by University policy.” ⭐️
AAUP @ Texas A&M: Reinstate Prof. Melissa McCoul
CONTACT: Leonard Bright, PhD, President of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Chapter at Texas A&M University-College Station, [email protected]
aaup-texas.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:31 AM
⭐️ From the AAUP Chapter at Texas A&M: “Reinstate Dr. Melissa McCoul immediately + Affirm the University’s commitment to its governing rules, ensuring that no faculty member is ever again dismissed without the due process mandated by University policy.” ⭐️
Reposted by Joseph Howley
The average medieval peasant could not buy a gas station delta 9 gummy and watch “Scooter Fail Compilation 5” on YouTube, which makes it difficult to compare GDP across time
November 26, 2025 at 5:03 AM
The average medieval peasant could not buy a gas station delta 9 gummy and watch “Scooter Fail Compilation 5” on YouTube, which makes it difficult to compare GDP across time
Vast legs bro. Those things trunkless too??
November 26, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Vast legs bro. Those things trunkless too??
Reposted by Joseph Howley
Vahid Abedini has now been released.
November 25, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Vahid Abedini has now been released.
A wonderful essay by McNeil Taylor on Hellenism, Zionism, and the legacies of c19 Western European colonialism. www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/71/ta...
November 25, 2025 at 1:08 PM
A wonderful essay by McNeil Taylor on Hellenism, Zionism, and the legacies of c19 Western European colonialism. www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/71/ta...
Reposted by Joseph Howley
Israel, which has obliterated most of Palestine’s archeological and heritage sites, including ancient churches, mosques, and temples, has suddenly discovered an urge to protect one from Palestinian ‘neglect’. It just so happens to be in the West Bank.
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
Israel begins seizing 1,800 dunams of West Bank land to develop archaeological site
Civil Administration says development legal, taking place amid 'neglect' of site by Palestinians; Peace Now: 'Government's lust for dispossession and annexation is insatiable'
www.timesofisrael.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Israel, which has obliterated most of Palestine’s archeological and heritage sites, including ancient churches, mosques, and temples, has suddenly discovered an urge to protect one from Palestinian ‘neglect’. It just so happens to be in the West Bank.
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
Reposted by Joseph Howley
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
harold's auto center, horizontal view, sinclair gas station, route 19, spring hill, florida, 1979
November 25, 2025 at 11:36 AM
harold's auto center, horizontal view, sinclair gas station, route 19, spring hill, florida, 1979
Reposted by Joseph Howley
Bracing analysis of the rise of the far-right in Germany: "there are widespread right-wing extremist networks within the security services, the police, and the armed forces. Europe-wide networks of fascists are operating unhindered. Something is brewing. If we don't react now, it will be too late."
»Wir haben vor der AfD gewarnt, als sie am Horizont auftauchte. Keine Reaktion. Im Gegenteil – ihre Vertreter:innen saßen in jeder Talkshow, bevor die AfD auch nur ein einziges Landtagsmandat hatte. Mit dem Erfolg, dass sie nun eine einflussreiche Partei ist.« www.blaetter.de/ausgabe/2024...
Rechtsextremismus: Wir haben Euch gewarnt
Ein brennendes Haus in Solingen. Eine vierköpfige Familie stirbt in den Flammen. Brandstiftung. Die Schlagzeilen sind nicht von 1993, sondern von jetzt. Schon wieder.
www.blaetter.de
November 25, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Bracing analysis of the rise of the far-right in Germany: "there are widespread right-wing extremist networks within the security services, the police, and the armed forces. Europe-wide networks of fascists are operating unhindered. Something is brewing. If we don't react now, it will be too late."
Reposted by Joseph Howley
“Don’t cite the Adversarial Poetry vs AI paper — it’s chatbot-made marketing ‘science’ – Pivot to AI”
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
> They wrote a good headline, and then they faked the scientific process bit.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
> They wrote a good headline, and then they faked the scientific process bit.
November 25, 2025 at 9:41 AM
“Don’t cite the Adversarial Poetry vs AI paper — it’s chatbot-made marketing ‘science’ – Pivot to AI”
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
> They wrote a good headline, and then they faked the scientific process bit.
https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/24/dont-cite-the-adversarial-poetry-vs-ai-paper-its-chatbot-made-marketing-science/
> They wrote a good headline, and then they faked the scientific process bit.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
![R. H. Bing (October 20, 1914 – April 28, 1986)[1] was an American mathematician who worked mainly in the areas of geometric topology and continuum theory.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreid62wy3dekb2kzbisjfdlimlb35j4rlgew5iof7vi32byfszmg26a@jpeg)
![Bing's father was named Rupert Henry, but Bing's mother thought that "Rupert Henry" was too British for Texas. Thus she compromised by abbreviating it to R. H.[5] Consequently, R. H. does not stand for a first or middle name.
When Bing was applying for a visa, he was requested not to use initials. He explained that his name was really "R-only H-only Bing", and ended up receiving a visa made out to "Ronly Honly Bing".](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreigmfj53q4uy33spga2bxdkllqm3ag5sffovg5g7ddmu3vqzkb6k24@jpeg)
More exciting news
I'm excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC.
November 25, 2025 at 9:08 AM
More exciting news
Exciting news
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces transition committees
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people.
www.cbsnews.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Exciting news
Right before this, Daffy Duck uses, as an incidental proper name for an invisible kangaroo, an anti-Jewish slur that OED says is first attested about a decade later. Initial searching reveals no authoritative discussions of this. The slur is previously attested for Germans in 1941. It’s weird.
First attested in the 1840s, “pixilated” means crazed, deranged, afflicted by mischievous spirits (eg pixies). Which is why I just overheard Porky Pig tell Daffy Duck “You’re pixilated!” in a cartoon from 1948 that my kids were watching.
November 25, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Right before this, Daffy Duck uses, as an incidental proper name for an invisible kangaroo, an anti-Jewish slur that OED says is first attested about a decade later. Initial searching reveals no authoritative discussions of this. The slur is previously attested for Germans in 1941. It’s weird.
Reposted by Joseph Howley
First attested in the 1840s, “pixilated” means crazed, deranged, afflicted by mischievous spirits (eg pixies). Which is why I just overheard Porky Pig tell Daffy Duck “You’re pixilated!” in a cartoon from 1948 that my kids were watching.
November 24, 2025 at 9:59 PM
First attested in the 1840s, “pixilated” means crazed, deranged, afflicted by mischievous spirits (eg pixies). Which is why I just overheard Porky Pig tell Daffy Duck “You’re pixilated!” in a cartoon from 1948 that my kids were watching.