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Reposted by John Aerni-Flessner

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 16h

Again, it is worth keeping in mind when comparing the rate of discoveries that public funding for medicine and the sciences is orders of magnitude larger than for the humanities. We work slow in part because we work on a shoestring.

A pie-chart of federal research funding, using 2023 figures. The funding slices for the NIH (83%) and NSF (17%) are so large that the slices for the NEH and NEA round to 0%.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 16h

Right? Look if I didn’t need to teach and had a substantial budget to smooth travel and maybe even have a team of grad students and junior colleagues then I would be producing faster! Otoh, while my book took years to write, it actually produced a lot of new knowledge for about $15k in funding.

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 16h

Again, it is worth keeping in mind when comparing the rate of discoveries that public funding for medicine and the sciences is orders of magnitude larger than for the humanities. We work slow in part because we work on a shoestring.

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Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 17h

This is at least the fifth time ICE Air has landed in Ghana since third-country removals began there Sept. 5.

We know one of those held additional third-country nationals.

There could be more, because, as I reported last month, ICE flights on military jets are getting harder to detect.

An ADSBx map showing and Omni Air International 767 (N207AX) operating for ICE landing in Ghana this morning.

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Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 20h

Most of rural Alaska is Alaska Native. Bonus donating to support Alaska Native people on Indigenous Peoples Day.

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 20h

Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 17h

For those who did not hear, a strong #typhoon remnant hit western #Alaska over the weekend, wrecking many #Yupik communities in the #Kuskokwim Delta.

Search and rescue still ongoing in Kipnuk and Kwigillingok: www.alaskasnewssource.com/2025/10/07/f...

LIVE BLOG: Dozens of people rescued, some still unaccounted for, DPS says

Former Typhoon Halong made landfall overnight into Sunday. Its strongest impacts were felt in the Kuskokwim delta area.

www.alaskasnewssource.com

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ᒪᑰᓯ Mark Springer @markspringer.bsky.social · 1d

Best up to date reporting tonight.

Vivian Faith Prescott @alaskapoet.bsky.social · 1d

“Troopers have received secondhand reports of people who are unaccounted for in Kipnuk and are continuing to work with local officials to verify and confirm how many people are missing,” DPS wrote.”

LIVE BLOG: Dozens of people rescued, some still unaccounted for, DPS says

Former Typhoon Halong made landfall overnight into Sunday. Its strongest impacts were felt in the Kuskokwim delta area.

www.alaskasnewssource.com

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 1d

*As long as your failure is just not winning games (ie see our ex-coach for how *not* to fail, while costing yourself ~$90 million)!

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CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 1d

updates for kipnuk

several houses are gone and more continue to float away from the village

hope help arrives soon

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Toni Reitter @tonichelle.bsky.social · 1d

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ᒪᑰᓯ Mark Springer @markspringer.bsky.social · 1d

My City Manager reports YKHC is mobilizing teams to get to Kipnuk and Kwigillingok with water and medical resources. Charter flights are being prepped to head to the coast.

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 4d

Helping us celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of our African Studies Center here at MSU.

Even without federal funding anymore, we carry on.

John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 4d

A little more night music for you right back. Thomas Mapfumo played on campus tonight and it was amazing. He is 80+ at this point, but directs the band with aplomb and still sings well. It was amazing!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyUM...

Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited - Vanhu Vatema (1993)

YouTube video by WorldSrv

www.youtube.com

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 4d

AI doesn't need to write that. Consultancy speak in the Dean's office predates the 2022 release of ChatGPT, unfortunately, as we all know only too well!

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Laprofmme @laprofmme.bsky.social · 4d

Have you ever seen such a perfect example of vacuous consultant-speak?

Roberts and Dean wrote. "The new school will grow and amplify the impact of research and scholarship, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and expand opportunities to respond to the challenges of our time."

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Robert Mahon @bedform.org · 5d

4 out of the 9 Nobel laureates in Chemistry, Physics, and Medicine are University of California faculty (2 UCSB, 2 Cal) and one other received all their degrees from the UC system (UCLA and UCSD).

So those highly funded woke liberal universities are clearly failing, eh?

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 5d

"AI cannot mishear. And mishearing is often how we learn."

Great, great stuff here.

Please click the link and read

Cate Denial @cjdenial.bsky.social · 6d

This is a wonderful meditation on what AI cannot do.

Alex Shevrin Venet @asv.bsky.social · 6d

wowwww this is incredibly beautiful. tagging some friends who will love this: @ladyofsardines.bsky.social @heymrsbond.com @marcusluther.bsky.social

therumpus.net/2025/10/02/h...

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 6d

Seeing it reported over on Facebook that the #Lesotho Exemption Permits (#LEP) are being extended for another 18 months--to May 2027. No link yet that I have found.

Good news for #Basotho who have regularised their status in #SouthAfrica.

#Borders
#SADC
#Neighbours

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 7d

Fight on, friends
www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/10/06/r...

‘Reject the Compact’ petition urges USC not to sign Trump’s contract

Faculty show support for USC to reject the federal government’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.

www.uscannenbergmedia.com

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Nosferatu Joseph 🧛🏻‍♀️ @tashjoeza.bsky.social · 7d

One of the most beautiful genres you'll ever hear.

The Continent @thecontinent.org · 7d

Deep and dapper: An Isicathamiya group performs at a competition in Durban, South Africa. Isicathamiya – isiZulu for ‘to walk on tiptoes’ – is an acapella soulful, choral style developed by Zulu migrant workers.

Photo: Rajesh Jantilal

A group of sharply dressed men in matching royal blue suits stride in unison down a corridor, their movements precise and graceful. They wear pink polka-dot ties, red lapel flowers, and white gloves, exuding both confidence and elegance as they prepare to perform.

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 7d

Deep and dapper: An Isicathamiya group performs at a competition in Durban, South Africa. Isicathamiya – isiZulu for ‘to walk on tiptoes’ – is an acapella soulful, choral style developed by Zulu migrant workers.

Photo: Rajesh Jantilal

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John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 7d

Thus arrives the #rains in #Michigan that mark the start of real #autumn.

Look forward to this every year!

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

2/2 refuse to discuss joining the compact offered by the federal government. Contents … include matters of best practices in higher education with which we are always engaged. But the very existence of this compact is a threat to the values of academic freedom to which we are all committed.“

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

1/2 „The College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has always put basic principles of academic freedom at the center of its work. This value was underscored in the A&S Statement on Academic Freedom of April 2025. Therefore, we ask that the interim
president, the rector, and board of visitors

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Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 7d

At an emergency all-school meeting of UVa’s College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the following statement (drafted by the school‘s Committee on Academic Freedom) was approved with 97% in favor:

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Bryan Alexander @edufuturist.bsky.social · 7d

Here's the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) statement on Trump's proposed "Compact" for higher ed:

www.acls.org/news/acls-st...

ACLS Statement Regarding White House “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”

ACLS stands firmly against this latest White House effort to divide faculties by giving special privileges to students in “hard science programs” and its demand that institutions abolish “units that p...

www.acls.org

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