Shahnameh blacksmith
@desirepathtarjuman.bsky.social
Bike-mounted historian specializing in medieval & early modern Sino-Iranian contact and Persianate political & cultural history. YIMBY, NUMTOT, and caregiver for undemanding plants. Chicago mostly-southsider. He/him.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
not to absolve universities of agency, but the very fact that media institutions like @nytimes.com are unwilling or unable to describe a Trump-run “protection racket” in plain language is one reason said universities capitulate
we can’t win if we sell each other out
we can’t win if we sell each other out
How did the @nytimes.com editors let this sentence appear?
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Northwestern University Nears Deal to Resolve Its Conflict With the White House
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:20 AM
not to absolve universities of agency, but the very fact that media institutions like @nytimes.com are unwilling or unable to describe a Trump-run “protection racket” in plain language is one reason said universities capitulate
we can’t win if we sell each other out
we can’t win if we sell each other out
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Underrated part of the Internet's development into one of the vectors for distributing news and thought about the news is that US & Western Europe's totally unique indifference to the colonial aspects of the Palestinian issue are now constantly put up against the unanimity of the rest of the world.
Basically she misconstrued what Third Worldism is and what Mamdani's anti-Zionism in practice means and insisted that Mamdani's worldview is first and foremost centered on Israel being the vanguard of European colonialism. It is true he thinks Zionism is colonialism but she doesn't understand him.
November 29, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Underrated part of the Internet's development into one of the vectors for distributing news and thought about the news is that US & Western Europe's totally unique indifference to the colonial aspects of the Palestinian issue are now constantly put up against the unanimity of the rest of the world.
Shout-out to CTA for not shoving Christmas stuff in our faces until after Thanksgiving.
The CTA Holiday Train's trek thru the city begins today. You'll see the train on the Orange and Green Lines.
November 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Shout-out to CTA for not shoving Christmas stuff in our faces until after Thanksgiving.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
"[G]ender-affirming care saves lives."
"Suicidality scores among the [study's] patients who provided responses dropped by over 67 percent."
"[O]f the hundreds of patients who started hormone therapy, only seven discontinued their treatment."
#USA #Healthcare #Suicide
"Suicidality scores among the [study's] patients who provided responses dropped by over 67 percent."
"[O]f the hundreds of patients who started hormone therapy, only seven discontinued their treatment."
#USA #Healthcare #Suicide
New Study: Gender-Affirming Care Dramatically Lowers Suicide Risk for Trans Kids
Twenty-seven states in the US ban gender-affirming treatments for trans youth, including hormone therapy.
truthout.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:30 PM
"[G]ender-affirming care saves lives."
"Suicidality scores among the [study's] patients who provided responses dropped by over 67 percent."
"[O]f the hundreds of patients who started hormone therapy, only seven discontinued their treatment."
#USA #Healthcare #Suicide
"Suicidality scores among the [study's] patients who provided responses dropped by over 67 percent."
"[O]f the hundreds of patients who started hormone therapy, only seven discontinued their treatment."
#USA #Healthcare #Suicide
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild.
Snapping turtle (US)
Alligator (US)
Soft shelled turtle (US)
Weasel (Egypt)
Hippopotamus (Niger)
Snapping turtle (US)
Alligator (US)
Soft shelled turtle (US)
Weasel (Egypt)
Hippopotamus (Niger)
- Earthworm (UK)
- Red squirrel (UK)
- Grey squirrel (UK)
- Gray squirrel (US&A)
- Heron (NL)
- Widdle bambi deer thing (NL)
- Red squirrel (UK)
- Grey squirrel (UK)
- Gray squirrel (US&A)
- Heron (NL)
- Widdle bambi deer thing (NL)
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild
- beaver (in Scotland)
- platypus (in Queensland)
- skunk (in California)
- raccoon (in Massachusetts)
- boar (in Italy)
- beaver (in Scotland)
- platypus (in Queensland)
- skunk (in California)
- raccoon (in Massachusetts)
- boar (in Italy)
November 28, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild.
Snapping turtle (US)
Alligator (US)
Soft shelled turtle (US)
Weasel (Egypt)
Hippopotamus (Niger)
Snapping turtle (US)
Alligator (US)
Soft shelled turtle (US)
Weasel (Egypt)
Hippopotamus (Niger)
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
November 28, 2025 at 3:38 AM
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Two vast and trunkless legs (only one unpacked)
November 28, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Two vast and trunkless legs (only one unpacked)
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
I do exactly that, every single semester. Most of my students appreciate it, but the ones that don't, hoo boy.
Also doesn't help that I'm actively at odds with many of my colleagues, too.
Also doesn't help that I'm actively at odds with many of my colleagues, too.
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
To bear out this rosy projection, HSBC assumes that OpenAI will become "as ubiquitous [...] as Microsoft 365" (345mm users worldwide) while bringing in 10x the number of users (3bn).
November 27, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I do exactly that, every single semester. Most of my students appreciate it, but the ones that don't, hoo boy.
Also doesn't help that I'm actively at odds with many of my colleagues, too.
Also doesn't help that I'm actively at odds with many of my colleagues, too.
Well that's... metal.
ما بهِ قَتْلُ أعاديهِ ولكِنْ يَتّقي إخلافَ ما ترْجو الذّئابُ
He doesn't have it in him to kill his foes, but then, he doesn't want to let the [vultures] down.
Little tidbit I ran into reading Lara Harb's Arabic Poetics. (I replaced wolves w/ vultures b/c that's easier to get in English.)
ما بهِ قَتْلُ أعاديهِ ولكِنْ يَتّقي إخلافَ ما ترْجو الذّئابُ
He doesn't have it in him to kill his foes, but then, he doesn't want to let the [vultures] down.
Little tidbit I ran into reading Lara Harb's Arabic Poetics. (I replaced wolves w/ vultures b/c that's easier to get in English.)
November 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Well that's... metal.
ما بهِ قَتْلُ أعاديهِ ولكِنْ يَتّقي إخلافَ ما ترْجو الذّئابُ
He doesn't have it in him to kill his foes, but then, he doesn't want to let the [vultures] down.
Little tidbit I ran into reading Lara Harb's Arabic Poetics. (I replaced wolves w/ vultures b/c that's easier to get in English.)
ما بهِ قَتْلُ أعاديهِ ولكِنْ يَتّقي إخلافَ ما ترْجو الذّئابُ
He doesn't have it in him to kill his foes, but then, he doesn't want to let the [vultures] down.
Little tidbit I ran into reading Lara Harb's Arabic Poetics. (I replaced wolves w/ vultures b/c that's easier to get in English.)
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
It’s time to stop worshipping the liberal arts | Letters
Letters: While such institutions have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever, says Jianyang Geng
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
James Bond supervillains threaten to blow up the world with their big laser unless you pay them a trillion dollars.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
James Bond supervillains threaten to blow up the world with their big laser unless you pay them a trillion dollars.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
Real American supervillains embed themselves in the economy and threaten to cause a depression unless you subsidize their sex robots and the weird chatbots they use to avoid humans.
PSA: there was a real person named Lancelot Capability Brown, who designed landscape gardens, in case you're moping around the Wednesday before Thanksgiving not sure what to do with yourself.
November 26, 2025 at 7:24 PM
PSA: there was a real person named Lancelot Capability Brown, who designed landscape gardens, in case you're moping around the Wednesday before Thanksgiving not sure what to do with yourself.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
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.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Randomly remembered this gem from Reddit
May 5, 2023 at 2:25 PM
Randomly remembered this gem from Reddit
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
As a Lithuanian I do not understand these attitudes at all tbh. When we regained our independence, there were quite a few statues we promptly destroyed. When Syrians overthrew Assad, they knocked down his statues. Why is knocking statues down or altering them purportedly in itself bad?
'Responding to the decision, Devine, 80, said: “In principle I am opposed to changing historic artefacts to suit today’s tastes. To do so is presentism, imposing 20th-century values on those of the distant past.'
'20th-century'? Bit of an own goal Sir T.
'20th-century'? Bit of an own goal Sir T.
Historian attacks ‘ludicrous’ changes to statues with slavery links
Professor Sir Tom Devine, an emeritus professor at Edinburgh University, said he was opposed to changing artefacts to suit modern sensibilities
www.thetimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:51 AM
As a Lithuanian I do not understand these attitudes at all tbh. When we regained our independence, there were quite a few statues we promptly destroyed. When Syrians overthrew Assad, they knocked down his statues. Why is knocking statues down or altering them purportedly in itself bad?
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
We need it. Not only are the classes full, but also concert halls, libraries - we've gone to a bunch of classical concerts this year as an antidote to despair and guess what - they are full. They were not as full before, but they are now.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
We need it. Not only are the classes full, but also concert halls, libraries - we've gone to a bunch of classical concerts this year as an antidote to despair and guess what - they are full. They were not as full before, but they are now.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
"Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.
I actually like New York pizza better but if I didn't live where this stuff is freely available I'd take every opportunity to get some.
November 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I actually like New York pizza better but if I didn't live where this stuff is freely available I'd take every opportunity to get some.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
I think I come at this film from a very different direction.
November 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I think I come at this film from a very different direction.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
I emailed my alderman today to tell her what I think about REMOVING concrete protection already installed for bike lanes at the intersection of 18th St & Wabash.
This is her email - [email protected]
November 22, 2025 at 12:49 AM
I emailed my alderman today to tell her what I think about REMOVING concrete protection already installed for bike lanes at the intersection of 18th St & Wabash.
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
or—crazy idea—drivers could learn to turn more slowly and safely ??? like maybe people who can't make that turn shouldn't be driving? and maybe they could reduce vehicle congestion by actually enforcing consequences for ppl who put their hazards on and treat wabash like a parking lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM
or—crazy idea—drivers could learn to turn more slowly and safely ??? like maybe people who can't make that turn shouldn't be driving? and maybe they could reduce vehicle congestion by actually enforcing consequences for ppl who put their hazards on and treat wabash like a parking lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Reposted by Shahnameh blacksmith
Sure sounds like current board members are actively trying to sabotage the hard-fought #RevenuesAndReform of SB2111 through an amendatory veto.
We're not done yet: call @govpritzker.illinois.gov's office and tell him to sign SB2111 **as-is**!
gov.illinois.gov/contact-us/c...
We're not done yet: call @govpritzker.illinois.gov's office and tell him to sign SB2111 **as-is**!
gov.illinois.gov/contact-us/c...
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Sure sounds like current board members are actively trying to sabotage the hard-fought #RevenuesAndReform of SB2111 through an amendatory veto.
We're not done yet: call @govpritzker.illinois.gov's office and tell him to sign SB2111 **as-is**!
gov.illinois.gov/contact-us/c...
We're not done yet: call @govpritzker.illinois.gov's office and tell him to sign SB2111 **as-is**!
gov.illinois.gov/contact-us/c...