ML Vercellotti
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mlvercellotti.bsky.social
ML Vercellotti
@mlvercellotti.bsky.social
560 followers 330 following 43 posts
professor of linguistics and TESOL, research on L2 speech (she/her)
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Reposted by ML Vercellotti
mixedlinguist.bsky.social
Excellent thread on how bots decontextualize information, and why that’s especially a problem for students. Being 90% right 90% of the time is a mess if you can’t ever trace the 10%.
phdhurtbrain.bsky.social Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 1d
I phrased the search a different way and the bot happily gave the opposite claim also as true, once again connected to a different set of semi-credible sources. Among the other issues, then, is that we are dealing with de-contextualizing tools. Information lifted from its chain of reference.
November 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
The Boston Globe identified the companies in Massachusetts that employ the most SNAP recipients. A key stat: "In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are employed, half of them full-time."

Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Number of SNAP recipients Amazon 2,456 Walmart 2,318 Uber 1,799 DoorDash 1,462 Tempus Unlimited 1,425 Stop & Shop 989 Mass General Brigham 956 Dollar Tree 952 Albertsons Companies, Inc. 896 Bayada Home Health 887
November 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
The fact that TPUSA posted the entirely reasonable comments from the instructor here as coming from the “TRANS PROFESSOR” gives away the game.

They’re not defending students, they’re targeting faculty — as always
kissphoria.bsky.social gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 4h
idk not to mention how very nuanced and normal the actual response here was
Trans Professors comment Mel Curth (She/They) November 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive. While you are entitled to your own personal beliefs, there is an appropriate time or place to implement them in your reflections. I encourage all students to question or challenge the course material with other empirical findings or testable hypotheses, but using your own personal beliefs to argue against the findings of not only this article, but the findings of countless articles across psychology, biology, sociology, etc. is not best practice. You argue that abiding by normative gender roles is beneficial (it is perfectly fine to believe this. but to then say that evervone should act TPUSA OU Trans Professors comment the same, while also saying that people aren't pressured into gendered expectations is contradictory, especially since your arguments reflect a religious pressure to act in gender-stereotypical ways. You can say that strict gender norms don't create gender stereotypes, but that isn't true by definition of what a stereotype is. Please note that acknowledging gender stereotypes does not immediately denote a negative connotation, a nuance this article discusses. Additionally, to call an entire group of people "demonic" is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but this isn't a vague narrative of "society pushes lies," but instead the result of countless years developing psychological and scientific evidence for these claims and directly interacting with the communities involved. You may personally disagree with this, but that TPUSA OU 2 Trans Professors comment doesn't change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed. I implore you apply some more perspective and empathy in your work. If you personally disagree with the findings, then by all means share your criticisms, but make sure to do so in a way that is appropriate and using the methodology of empirical psychology, as aligned with the learning goals in this class. If you have any additional questions or concerns about this or would like some additional educational resources, I would be happy to discuss this further and provide you with them. 3 TPUSA OU Additional professor Megan Waldron (She/Her/Hers) November 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM Samantha, I am the other instructor for this course, and I have also taken the time to read your paper. I concur with Mel on the grade you received. This paper should not be considered as a completion of the assignment. Everyone has different ways in which they see the world, but in an academic course such as this you are being asked to support your ideas with empirical evidence and higher-level reasoning. I find it concerning that you state at the beginning of your paper that you do not think bullying ("teasing") is a bad thing. In addition, your paper directly and harshly criticizes your peers and their opinions, which are just as valuable as yours. Disagreeing with others is fine, but there is a respectful way to go about it. That goes for discussion posts as well as reaction papers. Please employ more thoughtfulness in your future assignments TPUSA OU
November 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Indiana Senate Republican Greg Walker “said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation ..”

@adamwren.bsky.social #redistrict
dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
November 29, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
jessicacalarco.com
Meanwhile, even if a reader takes the time to click on and read the article, they still have to scroll past two ads and a list of related stories to get to the "okay but" paragraph explaining that real scientists are highly skeptical of these new FDA claims.
But those public health experts have also pointed to the number of lives saved by the shots and to the fact that the virus caused more than a million deaths among Americans. About 2,100 children have died of Covid since the pandemic began, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The findings of the new F.D.A. review have not been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a critic of Mr. Kennedy’s vaccine policies, called the memo an example of science “by press release.” He said the memo was devoid of context such as the number or rate of deaths from the virus itself among vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Dr. Offit said children with vaccine-related myocarditis showed up at the hospital, with cases that resolved quickly.
November 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
jessicacalarco.com
Headlines like this are extremely dangerous. Because moms of young kids are the people who make the bulk of the vaccine decisions for famillies. And for a lot of them, "reading the news" looks like scrolling past headlines on social media in the spare moments of the chaos of caring for kids.
NYT headline saying "F.D.A. Attributes 10 Children’s Deaths to Covid Vaccines: The agency’s top vaccine regulator said that a review had found that the children were likely to have died “because of” the shots. But public health experts want to examine the data." With a photo of a light-skinned baby receiving a shot from a healthcare provider with darker skin.
November 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
hypervisible.blacksky.app
The purpose of a system of is what it does.
OpenAI's Sora Is Letting Teens Generate Videos of School Shootings
OpenAI's Sora 2 easily allows teenagers to generate videos of school shootings and other harmful content, despite repeated claims of safety.
futurism.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
westernu.ca
#WesternU celebrated the start of a major in Black Studies, one of the first in Canada. Professor Erika Lawson, who contributed to its creation, highlighted its offerings including education in Black history, culture & heritage, politics and sociology etc.
Meet the people launching one of Canada's first Black Studies majors | CBC News
Western University celebrated the launch of what one of the first Black Studies major programs in Canada this week, with students, staff and faculty attending a launch event to mark the milestone.
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
carnage4life.bsky.social
Not wanting to disappoint you so much that it lies is the last quality I want in a computer.
November 28, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.

If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
meganfigueroa.bsky.social
“Jails in Arizona have emerged as the largest behavioral health facilities, with an estimated 70% of individuals involved in the criminal justice system having a behavioral health disorder,” the report stated.
yanak.bsky.social Yana Kunichoff @yanak.bsky.social · 3d
Nearly 1400 people have been ordered into Pima County’s Restoration to Competency program to see if they can stand trial

That can mean more than a year in jail, waiting. My colleague @jwashing.bsky.social writes about when jail becomes a mental health facility

azluminaria.org/2025/11/24/w...
When jail becomes the mental health treatment plan - AZ Luminaria
Arizona’s competency restoration system pushes people with mental illness into jail. Stacey Brooks’ case shows the dangerous consequences.
azluminaria.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
hiphilangsci.bsky.social
Happy World Linguistics Day 🎉

Not Saussure how to celebrate? Episodes 12 and 13 of our podcast will give your plans some structure...

🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/02/01/p...

🎙️ hiphilangsci.net/2021/03/01/p...

#LinguisticBirthdays #LinguisticQuotes #Histlx #WorldLinguisticsDay
"Dans la langue, il n'y a que des différences sans termes positifs [=In a language, there are only differences and no positive terms.]" (Ferdinand de Saussure: Cours de linnguistique générale, p. 166)
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
perrybaconjr.bsky.social
"My mentor always tells me, 'Kim, dogs don’t bark at parked cars." They’re coming after critical race theory, 1619, intersectionality because these ideas mobilized people. They gave them the language to actually articulate what they were seeing with their own eyes," says Kimberlé Crenshaw.
November 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
mixedlinguist.bsky.social
BINGO. This is why I’m not in the business of teaching “AI literacy”.

“How do I assign students an AI-generated essay for assessment if they don’t have the basic knowledge to parse said essay? I can’t and I won’t.”

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
I Set A Trap To Catch Students Cheating With AI. The Result Was Deflating
"I am no stranger to students trying to cut corners by copying and pasting from Wikipedia, but the introduction of generative AI has enabled them to cheat in startling new ways."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
georgetownlingdept.bsky.social
Congratulations to our sociolinguistics PhD students, Abby Killam and Michael Guarino, whose research was featured in the Top Papers panel of the Language and Social Interaction division at this year’s National Communication Association convention in Denver, CO!
November 25, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
jasonleopold.bsky.social
The docs also reveal the number of hours the FBI devoted to the project, which required some agents to work nights and weekends. The FBI paid personnel $851,344 in overtime for working on the Epstein files between March 17 and March 22.
November 25, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
epereza22.blacksky.app
People’s mental health.
astoldbynai.blacksky.app nai THEE black barbie 🦋 @astoldbynai.blacksky.app · Jan 17
11. What did the pandemic ruin more than we realized?
January 17, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
rgoodlaw.bsky.social
Senator Kelly’s remarks in the video are “a 100% accurate representation of what the law says."

“No American citizen should have to deal with this type of preposterous investigation.”

- Professor Eugene Fidell, leading military justice expert in Wall Street Journal

www.wsj.com/politics/mar...
Pentagon Investigates Misconduct Allegations Against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly
The review comes after Kelly, a retired Navy captain, appeared in a video with other lawmakers telling military members not to obey unlawful orders.
www.wsj.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
selenalarson.bsky.social
No matter what you eat for the holidays, please never:

- comment on how much someone is eating
- comment on how little someone is eating
- comment on someone eating

This can be a major trigger for people with eating disorders. Plus it’s none of your business. Thanks!
November 25, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
erininthemorning.com
1. A landmark study was just published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT.

It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse.

Transgender care saves lives.
Study In The Journal Of Pediatrics Finds Trans Youth Care Lowers Suicidality, Few Detransition
The groundbreaking study found that suicidality dropped for transgender youth receiving hormone therapy by nearly 70%, with only 7 patients of 432 discontinuing treatment.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
ICE kidnapped a 17-year-old U.S. citizen named Christian Jimenez. Jimenez, a high school senior born in Newberg, Oregon, was driving on his school’s lunch break when ICE/CBP agents stopped his car, smashed his window, and abducted him on November 21, 2025.

www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
November 24, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
laurenunderwood.bsky.social
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.

The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
November 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
writing.support
ACADEMIC WORD OF THE DAY
Today's word (25/11/2025) is REJECTION: the act of being rejected; the refusal to accept something or someone. More at www.writing.support/academic-wor...
#AcWri #AcademicWriting #TESOL #AcademicSky #EduSky
November 25, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
nelsonlflores.bsky.social
Yes and at the same time the problems we are seeing with AI have their foundations in the move away from public libraries as the primary information retrieval system to a for-profit company that has monetized knowledge
davelevitan.bsky.social Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 4d
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by ML Vercellotti
davelevitan.bsky.social
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM