P. W.
@drpweb.bsky.social
Former academic (RELS-early Xianity & Judaism). Now executive search.
Reposted by P. W.
Republican state senator makes overtly antisemitic remarks. Yet no thundering condemnation from JD Bowman and Donald Drumpf. Why?
Because antisemitism is cudgel used only against students or faculty who complain about Israeli policies, not conservatives who hate Jews.
vtdigger.org/2025/10/14/v...
Because antisemitism is cudgel used only against students or faculty who complain about Israeli policies, not conservatives who hate Jews.
vtdigger.org/2025/10/14/v...
Vermont governor calls for Orleans County senator’s resignation over leaked ‘racist, bigoted and antisemitic’ group chat - VTDigger
Political leaders on both sides of the aisle have moved to denounce Sen. Sam Douglass’ remarks and call for his resignation.
vtdigger.org
October 15, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Republican state senator makes overtly antisemitic remarks. Yet no thundering condemnation from JD Bowman and Donald Drumpf. Why?
Because antisemitism is cudgel used only against students or faculty who complain about Israeli policies, not conservatives who hate Jews.
vtdigger.org/2025/10/14/v...
Because antisemitism is cudgel used only against students or faculty who complain about Israeli policies, not conservatives who hate Jews.
vtdigger.org/2025/10/14/v...
Reposted by P. W.
This is why the inflatable costumes works so well -- it works the same way calling them "weird" or "creepy" did. It disrupts their narrative, and makes them seem pathetic rather than cool-and-cruel.
You need to see this:
“The show of force is the point. They want these images to be out…The Department of Homeland Security is walking around Chicago with a film crew.” @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social
“The show of force is the point. They want these images to be out…The Department of Homeland Security is walking around Chicago with a film crew.” @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 12:26 PM
This is why the inflatable costumes works so well -- it works the same way calling them "weird" or "creepy" did. It disrupts their narrative, and makes them seem pathetic rather than cool-and-cruel.
Reposted by P. W.
It's fascinating and revealing how many centrists think refusing to compromise on human rights to gain the support of bigots represents a "political purity test," yet also think that a bigot saying "I won't join you unless you accommodate my bigotry" does NOT represent a "political purity test."
October 1, 2025 at 10:47 AM
It's fascinating and revealing how many centrists think refusing to compromise on human rights to gain the support of bigots represents a "political purity test," yet also think that a bigot saying "I won't join you unless you accommodate my bigotry" does NOT represent a "political purity test."
Reposted by P. W.
I have written and deleted a lot of posts but I keep thinking about how the brutal assassination of Minnesota State senator Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their beloved dog Gilbert in June did not prompt this same level of calls for empathy, sympathy, and flags at half-mast.
September 13, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I have written and deleted a lot of posts but I keep thinking about how the brutal assassination of Minnesota State senator Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their beloved dog Gilbert in June did not prompt this same level of calls for empathy, sympathy, and flags at half-mast.
It all feels very Iraq war to me, just on the domestic front instead. The lies, arrogance, stupidity . . .
August 26, 2025 at 9:46 PM
It all feels very Iraq war to me, just on the domestic front instead. The lies, arrogance, stupidity . . .
Reposted by P. W.
This is one of those examples where, if the flood hadn’t happened and a camp director was telling you about this story it would be a perfect example of red tape, bureaucracy, the hassle of regulation etc. And yet.
apnews.com/article/texa...
apnews.com/article/texa...
FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show
Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing ...
apnews.com
July 13, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This is one of those examples where, if the flood hadn’t happened and a camp director was telling you about this story it would be a perfect example of red tape, bureaucracy, the hassle of regulation etc. And yet.
apnews.com/article/texa...
apnews.com/article/texa...
Reposted by P. W.
The president of the United States is threatening to strip the citizenship away from an American who says things he does not like.
And our media will invariably present this not as a major crisis, an impeachable offense that must lead to his immediate removal, but as “a spat” between Don & Rosie
And our media will invariably present this not as a major crisis, an impeachable offense that must lead to his immediate removal, but as “a spat” between Don & Rosie
July 12, 2025 at 2:36 PM
The president of the United States is threatening to strip the citizenship away from an American who says things he does not like.
And our media will invariably present this not as a major crisis, an impeachable offense that must lead to his immediate removal, but as “a spat” between Don & Rosie
And our media will invariably present this not as a major crisis, an impeachable offense that must lead to his immediate removal, but as “a spat” between Don & Rosie
Reposted by P. W.
A Democratic president can’t forgive your student loans but a Republican president can kidnap you and send you to a foreign gulag forever, because uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh originalism
June 24, 2025 at 12:14 AM
A Democratic president can’t forgive your student loans but a Republican president can kidnap you and send you to a foreign gulag forever, because uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh originalism
Reposted by P. W.
In response to violence in DC and Boulder, American Jewish leaders are doubling down on conflating Zionism with Jewish identity—even as they insist that it's wrong to target Jews for Israel's actions. This response won't protect Jews, writes publisher Daniel May:
jewishcurrents.org/the-tangled-...
jewishcurrents.org/the-tangled-...
The Tangled Knot of Anti-Zionist Violence
Doubling down on the conflation of Zionism and Judaism won’t stop violent attacks.
jewishcurrents.org
June 11, 2025 at 6:58 PM
In response to violence in DC and Boulder, American Jewish leaders are doubling down on conflating Zionism with Jewish identity—even as they insist that it's wrong to target Jews for Israel's actions. This response won't protect Jews, writes publisher Daniel May:
jewishcurrents.org/the-tangled-...
jewishcurrents.org/the-tangled-...
Reposted by P. W.
very cool that for ten years people at the heights of political commentary insisted to the point of rage that the paramount threat to free speech was “censorious” college students
after announcing that foreign students are being banned from Havard, Noem warns "this should be a warning to every other university to get your act together."
May 22, 2025 at 9:44 PM
very cool that for ten years people at the heights of political commentary insisted to the point of rage that the paramount threat to free speech was “censorious” college students
Reposted by P. W.
Just a reminder that the white nationalist Great Replacement Theory that's being pushed by Trump, Musk and their toadies has been responsible for multiple mass shootings in the last decade.
This is the threat to Americans' safety, not innocent immigrants who've committed no crimes here.
This is the threat to Americans' safety, not innocent immigrants who've committed no crimes here.
“Indeed, Patrick believed he was acting in the direction of the president at the time, seeing it as his duty to stop the invasion because that’s what he believed the president was telling him.”
www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/04/21/t...
Prosecutor cites anti-immigrant rhetoric as El Paso shooter is sentenced to 23 life terms
”This community will always remember those whose lives you stole … Their light will never fade,” the judge told the shackled shooter. “While you, your name and your hate, will be forgotten.”
www.texastribune.org
April 23, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Just a reminder that the white nationalist Great Replacement Theory that's being pushed by Trump, Musk and their toadies has been responsible for multiple mass shootings in the last decade.
This is the threat to Americans' safety, not innocent immigrants who've committed no crimes here.
This is the threat to Americans' safety, not innocent immigrants who've committed no crimes here.
Really nice issue of JECS!
New isue of Journal of Early Christian Studies Vol. 33, No, 1, (2025) muse.jhu.edu/issue/54468 @hopkinspress.bsky.social @projectmuse.bsky.social @drewjakeprof.bsky.social @iannelsonmills.bsky.social @libbiesp.bsky.social
March 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Really nice issue of JECS!
Reposted by P. W.
I’ve noticed a lot of discussion here about the religious nature of artificial intelligence discourse, especially how AI and ChatGPT is a thinking, conscious, god-like thing in Silicon Valley and beyond.
An incomplete list of resources on the topic of religion and AI to help make sense of this. /🧵
An incomplete list of resources on the topic of religion and AI to help make sense of this. /🧵
March 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I’ve noticed a lot of discussion here about the religious nature of artificial intelligence discourse, especially how AI and ChatGPT is a thinking, conscious, god-like thing in Silicon Valley and beyond.
An incomplete list of resources on the topic of religion and AI to help make sense of this. /🧵
An incomplete list of resources on the topic of religion and AI to help make sense of this. /🧵
Reposted by P. W.
The ability to call WSJ and get a public relations glow-up indicates significant elite connections + influence.
Would be great to see that amount of power used to vigorously defend academic freedom, institutional self-governance, and individual rights rather than self-protective prestige-minding.
Would be great to see that amount of power used to vigorously defend academic freedom, institutional self-governance, and individual rights rather than self-protective prestige-minding.
‘No Way to Please Everyone’ Says Only University Where Students Are Regularly Kidnapped
‘No Way’ to Please Everyone: Columbia’s President Confronts Trump’s Ultimatum
With Trump intent on making an example of Columbia, Armstrong is at the center of a fight over the future of higher education.
www.wsj.com
March 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM
The ability to call WSJ and get a public relations glow-up indicates significant elite connections + influence.
Would be great to see that amount of power used to vigorously defend academic freedom, institutional self-governance, and individual rights rather than self-protective prestige-minding.
Would be great to see that amount of power used to vigorously defend academic freedom, institutional self-governance, and individual rights rather than self-protective prestige-minding.
We spent 2+ years under Biden, convinced a recession was imminent. Companies reduced and froze hiring etc. in anticipation, but it never came. I’m starting to wonder if we’ll soon have 2+ years of recession under Trump which everyone pretends isn’t really happening.
March 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
We spent 2+ years under Biden, convinced a recession was imminent. Companies reduced and froze hiring etc. in anticipation, but it never came. I’m starting to wonder if we’ll soon have 2+ years of recession under Trump which everyone pretends isn’t really happening.
Reposted by P. W.
Let's not mince words:
Mahmoud Khalil was abducted and disappeared, without consideration of rule of law, by an authoritarian regime intent on crushing dissent and criticism.
Free Mahmoud Khalil.
Mahmoud Khalil was abducted and disappeared, without consideration of rule of law, by an authoritarian regime intent on crushing dissent and criticism.
Free Mahmoud Khalil.
UPDATE—Mahmoud's attorney says they do NOT know where he is.
They were first told he was sent to an ICE facility in Elizabeth, NJ. But when his 8-month-pregnant wife tried to visit him, she was told he's not there.
They've received reports he may be sent as far away as Louisiana.
They were first told he was sent to an ICE facility in Elizabeth, NJ. But when his 8-month-pregnant wife tried to visit him, she was told he's not there.
They've received reports he may be sent as far away as Louisiana.
March 10, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Let's not mince words:
Mahmoud Khalil was abducted and disappeared, without consideration of rule of law, by an authoritarian regime intent on crushing dissent and criticism.
Free Mahmoud Khalil.
Mahmoud Khalil was abducted and disappeared, without consideration of rule of law, by an authoritarian regime intent on crushing dissent and criticism.
Free Mahmoud Khalil.
Thinking about how musk would be useful to think with when teaching about the “fall” of Rome, “barbarians,” etc. He’s a foreigner, but not really recognized as such . . .
March 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Thinking about how musk would be useful to think with when teaching about the “fall” of Rome, “barbarians,” etc. He’s a foreigner, but not really recognized as such . . .
It’s a little bit like a soccer coach pulling the goalie and having the team shoot for their own goal, totally convinced that the most goals wins, so scoring on yourself must be brilliant.
March 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
It’s a little bit like a soccer coach pulling the goalie and having the team shoot for their own goal, totally convinced that the most goals wins, so scoring on yourself must be brilliant.
Kind of thinking everyone should be required to do a manifesto version of their dissertation to accompany it.
March 1, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Kind of thinking everyone should be required to do a manifesto version of their dissertation to accompany it.
Reposted by P. W.
Judith Butler: To Imagine a World After This, Democracy Needs the Humanities
“The beginning of democracy requires a transport into a necessary fiction.”
lithub.com/judith-butle...
“The beginning of democracy requires a transport into a necessary fiction.”
lithub.com/judith-butle...
Judith Butler: To Imagine a World After This, Democracy Needs the Humanities
Many young people tell me that they fear there is no future. When they ask about the future, they are also asking: what is still imaginable or for what may we still hope? To say there is no future,…
lithub.com
February 21, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Judith Butler: To Imagine a World After This, Democracy Needs the Humanities
“The beginning of democracy requires a transport into a necessary fiction.”
lithub.com/judith-butle...
“The beginning of democracy requires a transport into a necessary fiction.”
lithub.com/judith-butle...
If they’re going to bungle everything in the federal government, I hope they also accidentally delete student debt records-or at least leave them exposed for the hackers to get to.
Is that too much to ask as everything else burns around us?
Is that too much to ask as everything else burns around us?
February 27, 2025 at 1:51 PM
If they’re going to bungle everything in the federal government, I hope they also accidentally delete student debt records-or at least leave them exposed for the hackers to get to.
Is that too much to ask as everything else burns around us?
Is that too much to ask as everything else burns around us?
So . . . None of us had to pay student loans ever again, right?
February 6, 2025 at 3:39 AM
So . . . None of us had to pay student loans ever again, right?