Nick Fleisher
@nickfleisher.bsky.social
Linguist at UW-Milwaukee. Syntax & semantics, higher ed, Wisconsin politics &c.
Pinned
okay, time for a prompt post to distract us all from the horrors. quote this post with your areas of expertise, interest, hyperfixation and/or obsession and invite your audience to ask you questions about them.
Grammar/syntax/semantics
Wisconsin politics
Academic freedom and shared governance
Philadelphia and Philadelphia sports
Modular synthesizers
Open source software
Stockholm, Sweden
All things Donald Fagen
Wisconsin politics
Academic freedom and shared governance
Philadelphia and Philadelphia sports
Modular synthesizers
Open source software
Stockholm, Sweden
All things Donald Fagen
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:37 AM
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
Really feel like none of the administrators who agree to these deals should ever work in higher ed again
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Really feel like none of the administrators who agree to these deals should ever work in higher ed again
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
etsy truly has everything
November 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
etsy truly has everything
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
obviously plenty of other things should have already been disqualifying but people willing to defy Trump publicly and appeal to decency as their reason for doing so both seem pretty good
h/t @adamwren.bsky.social
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
November 28, 2025 at 9:35 PM
obviously plenty of other things should have already been disqualifying but people willing to defy Trump publicly and appeal to decency as their reason for doing so both seem pretty good
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
Ordering no quarter, as Hegseth effectively did, isn't a newfangled modern war crime. It was understood as a crime as far back as the Revolutionary War. Washington threatened to do reprisals over it. The bad guy in 'The Patriot' is (very loosely) based off a British officer who was notorious for it.
November 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Ordering no quarter, as Hegseth effectively did, isn't a newfangled modern war crime. It was understood as a crime as far back as the Revolutionary War. Washington threatened to do reprisals over it. The bad guy in 'The Patriot' is (very loosely) based off a British officer who was notorious for it.
A lot of people think the statue on top of City Hall is Ben Franklin? Who exactly is Al Michaels hanging out with?
November 28, 2025 at 10:18 PM
A lot of people think the statue on top of City Hall is Ben Franklin? Who exactly is Al Michaels hanging out with?
The Beatles were crazy. Imagine if John Lennon was your backup singer
November 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
The Beatles were crazy. Imagine if John Lennon was your backup singer
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
Local small independent bookstore in Milwaukee said exactly this in a recent social post, circling back on the point they might not make it to 2026 if they don't have a big holiday weekend, and it got shared by basically every record store and small business concern over the last week.
Remember - if you're financially in a position to do so, skip the #BlackFriday deals online from big companies and shop instead from small and local businesses.
The big guns don't need your money, but for small traders it can be what keeps them going into 2026, so support your community instead.
The big guns don't need your money, but for small traders it can be what keeps them going into 2026, so support your community instead.
November 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Local small independent bookstore in Milwaukee said exactly this in a recent social post, circling back on the point they might not make it to 2026 if they don't have a big holiday weekend, and it got shared by basically every record store and small business concern over the last week.
Not hard to see the administration's full-bore xenophobic repression response as a way to divert attention from the otherwise politically explosive fact that a troop died as a result of the president's illegal misuse of the National Guard
National Guard aren’t ICE or Border Patrol. They didn’t sign up looking to harass and repress people. They’re volunteers, part time, in case of emergency. They didn’t ask for this.
West Virginia National Guard shouldn’t have been deployed in Washington DC.
Victims of the shooter and the president.
West Virginia National Guard shouldn’t have been deployed in Washington DC.
Victims of the shooter and the president.
November 28, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Not hard to see the administration's full-bore xenophobic repression response as a way to divert attention from the otherwise politically explosive fact that a troop died as a result of the president's illegal misuse of the National Guard
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
Canadians! You can now vote for the Canadian Word of the Year!
(If we had the option to choose a Canadian WOTY in French as well, I'd suggest the gender-neutral pronoun "iel" which has been in the news a lot in Quebec this year, but probably not applicable since this is an English dictionary)
(If we had the option to choose a Canadian WOTY in French as well, I'd suggest the gender-neutral pronoun "iel" which has been in the news a lot in Quebec this year, but probably not applicable since this is an English dictionary)
2025 has been an eventful year for Canada's identity. To commemorate the year, The Society for Canadian English is choosing a 2025 word of the year (CWOTY), based on the Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles.
Have your say: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Have your say: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
November 27, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Canadians! You can now vote for the Canadian Word of the Year!
(If we had the option to choose a Canadian WOTY in French as well, I'd suggest the gender-neutral pronoun "iel" which has been in the news a lot in Quebec this year, but probably not applicable since this is an English dictionary)
(If we had the option to choose a Canadian WOTY in French as well, I'd suggest the gender-neutral pronoun "iel" which has been in the news a lot in Quebec this year, but probably not applicable since this is an English dictionary)
The de facto head of US domestic security is a Lamarckian gutter racist
"And their descendants"
The crisis isn’t refugees. It’s not that one person committed one tragic crime and killed one other person. The crisis isn’t that America’s 250-year old history of hosting immigrants turned out to be a mistake.
The crisis is that STEPHEN MILLER, a hateful little maggot, controls the government.
The crisis is that STEPHEN MILLER, a hateful little maggot, controls the government.
November 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The de facto head of US domestic security is a Lamarckian gutter racist
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:01 PM
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
ICYMI AAUP is starting a PAC news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...
Professors Launch PAC to Fight Back Against Trump’s Attacks
The American Association of University Professors, a union whose members are fighting policies from the Trump administration and GOP Congress, launched a PAC this week to spend in federal elections.
news.bgov.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:28 PM
ICYMI AAUP is starting a PAC news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...
Yesterday while pardoning the condemned turkeys Trump joked that he should call them Chuck and Nancy, and quickly added that he would never pardon them, and it was less than a non-story
November 27, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Yesterday while pardoning the condemned turkeys Trump joked that he should call them Chuck and Nancy, and quickly added that he would never pardon them, and it was less than a non-story
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
Black Cow
All I Want
Gimme Shelter
Tears of Rage
Mass Romantic
All I Want
Gimme Shelter
Tears of Rage
Mass Romantic
November 27, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Black Cow
All I Want
Gimme Shelter
Tears of Rage
Mass Romantic
All I Want
Gimme Shelter
Tears of Rage
Mass Romantic
The number of bugs in macOS Preview tabbed move is truly stunning. Sidebar, scaling, nothing works on the first try
November 26, 2025 at 6:50 PM
The number of bugs in macOS Preview tabbed move is truly stunning. Sidebar, scaling, nothing works on the first try
Canvas doesn't need AI, it needs a scripting interface
Let computer be good at being computer, not bad at being human
Let computer be good at being computer, not bad at being human
November 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Canvas doesn't need AI, it needs a scripting interface
Let computer be good at being computer, not bad at being human
Let computer be good at being computer, not bad at being human
Make phonotactics great again
November 26, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Make phonotactics great again
OpenAI's position seems to be that its own terms of service have legal force but the entirety of US copyright law does not
Incredible stuff here. "We offer you the Necronomicon, a font of Terrible and Forbidden Knowledge. Any harm that results from peering into the abyss is due solely to the unauthorised use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of the Necronomicon."
November 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
OpenAI's position seems to be that its own terms of service have legal force but the entirety of US copyright law does not
Inspired by Anthology 4, some Bluesky holiday engagement bait: George Martin said that not including Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields on Sgt. Pepper was his greatest regret. Would definitely like to have that one back, as Troy Aikman might say. Where on the album would you put them?
November 26, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Inspired by Anthology 4, some Bluesky holiday engagement bait: George Martin said that not including Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields on Sgt. Pepper was his greatest regret. Would definitely like to have that one back, as Troy Aikman might say. Where on the album would you put them?
I think we are pretty cleared owed a Rian Johnson-directed Walter Becker biopic
If you were a despotic president, what movie would you force Hollywood to make? I want to see Quentin's Star Trek movie or maybe Kill Bill Vol 3.
November 26, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I think we are pretty cleared owed a Rian Johnson-directed Walter Becker biopic
The idea that the limitations of language-based AI models—relative to their purely business-driven hype—should somehow provide a line of attack on generative linguistics is maybe the most bitterly ironic development of my professional lifetime
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 26, 2025 at 12:53 AM
The idea that the limitations of language-based AI models—relative to their purely business-driven hype—should somehow provide a line of attack on generative linguistics is maybe the most bitterly ironic development of my professional lifetime
Reposted by Nick Fleisher
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.