Author | Lightnews

Rebecca Fordon

@thefordon.bsky.social

5.2K followers 5.1K following 960 posts

law librarian, legal writing prof, legal tech skeptic/addict in Columbus OH. Writing & researching about the ways tech enables access to information. I enjoy bikes, books, and birds. she/her. join a union.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Nov 9

Feels weird to reintroduce myself, but I’m finally fully gone from the other place, and fully here. So hi again everyone!

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · Jul 3

Introduction post! I'm a law librarian (any other #lawlibrarians on here?) and #legalwriting professor. I love thinking and writing about #legaltech and information systems. I also like bikes, birds, and flowers.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 2d

What a beautiful piece, definitely planning to assign this to students.

What matters in your courses, even in many cases within your major, isn't the topic. You'll probably forget most of what you learn, especially if you don't end up using it repeatedly in future. What you will always have, though, is the mind that taking the courses made. By that I mean, the mind that was shaped by working through Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina while trying to understand Maxwell's equations for the first time. I don't remember the sequence of events we discussed (repeatedly!!) in my French Revolution course, but I remember the importance of understanding that history is made through discourses. There is the way my writing skills were improved. There is the way that my courses helped make me into the human that I am today -- even the lazily taught ones.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 3d

Ugh. The Harvard-conveyor-belt line is so funny, because the reason they're so mad about this is they have a thing for salt-of-the-earth candidates and think they're the only way to win.

Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Sharon @sharonmc.bsky.social · 4d

This needs to be blasted far and wide, particularly to all the GOP voters who support public education.

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 8d

Trump’s Department of Education actively collaborates w/ Moms for Liberty. Asked “what % of children she imagines should be in public schools going forward,” Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice told ProPublica: “‘I hope zero. I hope to get to zero.’” 1/ www.propublica.org/article/educ...

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 3d

I read Remains of the Day for a literature and the law class; the professor had us thinking about professionalism and self vs. client. I think about that book all the time, and the movie would be valuable too (though its not quite as rich).

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Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 9d

This is madness. Today we had to send a message to our 1L students telling them it’s not a great idea to use the first drafts of their first legal writing assignments because the new OCI timeline is so early they are wondering if they should.
#LegalWriting

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 9d

Entering my middle aged pain in the ass era. Just submitted a few 311 issues (a blocked pedestrian crossing sign, not good!) and headed to a school board meeting tonight.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 10d

Oh no, I didn't realized that was something AI was suggesting, and that people might be making that assumption about it. I've been using those pipe dealies in my bios (twitter, then bsky, then LinkedIn) for years.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 11d

A reminder: dietary supplements are super unregulated, which is how protein powders can apparently get away with having pretty large levels of lead(?!).

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 11d

i was surprised to learn that bc most protein powders are considered dietary supplements, they basically fall into a regulatory grey area

there's no federal limit on the amount of lead they can contain and neither manufacturers nor the FDA have to prove these products are safe before they're sold

Protein powders and shakes, like all dietary supplements, fall into something of a regulatory gray area.

There is no federal limit specifying the amount of lead allowed in protein powders. And while the FDA requires that manufacturers keep their products free of harmful contaminants, it largely leaves it up to companies to decide what counts as harmful and test their own products for compliance.

Before 1994, manufacturers had to prove herbal products were safe before selling them. That changed after Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. The law sharply limited the FDA’s authority, leaving supplements far less regulated than drugs.

Today, supplements are “presumed safe unless found otherwise,” says Cohen at Harvard Medical School, and most products face scrutiny only after reaching the market—meaning unsafe or contaminated supplements can reach consumers before problems are caught.

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Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 11d

Very bad: OSU unilaterally cancelled the registration of grad students attending the joint conference of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists. And OSU won't fund recruiting at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Ohio State changes policy on group conferences after Trump administration threats

A federal investigation into potentially discriminatory practices at Ohio State prompted the university to change its policies regarding conferences.

www.dispatch.com

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 14d

I saw a lot of discussion about funding right after inauguration in my FB groups on 504/IEP/special ed. But the moderators changed the rules to prohibit “political” content and there’s zero discussion about this latest news there now. I need to find the political spaces.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 14d

(Totally unrelatedly, I’m looking for videos we can watch together about how AI is made and how it’s bad for artists.)

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 14d

Sora is a cesspool, meanwhile this is what my child chose to do with this power.

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Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 15d

And that’s why we held tonight’s webinar: To educate members on their rights & responsibilities, and to provide resources people need to stay safe online. Thank you to our speakers. You can find more information from the discussion here. @ShareMyLesson.bsky.social sharemylesson.com/webinars/fre...

Speaking Out, Staying Safe: Free Speech and Online Safety for Public Employees and Educators

In today’s digital age, the line between personal expression and professional consequences can feel increasingly blurred, especially for educators and public employees. With disciplinary actions and h...

sharemylesson.com

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 15d

Saving this thread to savor and enjoy with my coffee in the morning.

Kathryn Tewson @kathryntewson.bsky.social · 17d

The bros are at it again! and make no mistake, they are LITERALLY calling it "Vibe Lawyering"

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 15d

He graduated in 2022?!! Like he sounds horrible but also how is this child qualified to run OSC? I guess we are beyond that but just wow.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 17d

Idly wondering if ProQuest is working on AI summaries/analysis for Legislative Insight. I feel like I'm living in the Stone Ages, relying on Ctrl-F to page through 1000+ page documents.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

I think it’s sort of a useful analogy to help understand key numbers, which are supposed to be describing how the law is forming. But I may be too attached to this very librarianish example.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

I like this example. Does it work like AO3 where they let users tag with whatever they like, then exert some control after the fact? (I’m thinking of AO3 “tag wranglers” “, who canonize certain of the tags for easier filtering, and link the user-created tags to the canonized tag)

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

Is there a good example of moderated tags other than AO3? It’s the best example I know, but there are too many giggles when I talk about it! (Also I feel like some of the best moderation is around ship pairs, and there would *really* be too many giggles there).

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

(I was just sitting here thinking how it’s wild that so many of my professional *and* personal identities are under attack, then was like, oh right that intersection is intentional”)

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

Fascinating how so many of the professions being targeted right now (libraries, teachers, social services, even the particularly targeted pockets of higher ed like DEI and humanities) are highly feminized. Nah, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 23d

What’s this app? Looks really useful.

Reposted by Rebecca Fordon

Total Lowlife Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 24d

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.

harpers.org/archive/1941...

Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

harpers.org

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Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 24d

Ok I really want to listen now.

Rebecca Fordon @thefordon.bsky.social · 24d

Ooh how is it? I’ve listened to the bbc radio play and loved it but it’s been a while.

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