Curmie
@manjushri924.bsky.social
Retired theatre professor; still doing some academic writing. Left-leaning civil libertarian. Curmudgeon.
Curmudgeon Central on FB.
https://manjushri924.blogspot.com
Curmudgeon Central on FB.
https://manjushri924.blogspot.com
Reposted by Curmie
Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma’s Public Colleges, Governor Says
Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, directed the state’s two-dozen regional universities and community colleges to phase out the practice. Existing faculty members will be grandfathered in.
www.chronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
"Curmie doubts that there has ever been a film about which what critics or voters on one of those websites say means less than this one. No critic is going to dissuade a faithful MAGA from going; no outpouring of positive sentiment is going to convince a leftie of the film’s qualities."
On the Reactions to "Melania"
One, but hardly the only, response Curmie, once a not infrequent guest columnist on Jack Marshall’s Ethics Alarms page, hasn’t posted as muc...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:16 PM
"Curmie doubts that there has ever been a film about which what critics or voters on one of those websites say means less than this one. No critic is going to dissuade a faithful MAGA from going; no outpouring of positive sentiment is going to convince a leftie of the film’s qualities."
"The problem, as it so often is, is that the people who make hiring decisions—principals, etc.—are, as a class, even lazier than they are stupid, and that’s saying rather a lot."
This Time for Sure!
To quote the great 20th-century philosopher Bullwinkle J. Moose, “This time for sure!” Curmie really is going to write about something that...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:22 PM
"The problem, as it so often is, is that the people who make hiring decisions—principals, etc.—are, as a class, even lazier than they are stupid, and that’s saying rather a lot."
There's a link on Ted Cruz's website offering advice on how to prepare for "a major winter weather event." You mean other than flying to Cancun or Laguna Beach, Ted?
February 3, 2026 at 7:03 PM
There's a link on Ted Cruz's website offering advice on how to prepare for "a major winter weather event." You mean other than flying to Cancun or Laguna Beach, Ted?
Reposted by Curmie
Texas A&M ends its women's & gender studies program while hundreds of syllabi remain flagged and censored under top-down review policies.
“I have never seen anything like this.”
— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President
@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social
“I have never seen anything like this.”
— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President
@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social
Texas A&M Ends Women’s Studies and Overhauls Classes Over Race and Gender
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:55 PM
"...the obviously false narratives spewed by Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino, et al., are deliberate.... But they’re not just lies and slander; they’re so outrageous that even members of the right-wing base are fleeing that sinking ship."
The Worst of the Three Infamous Murders Committed in Minneapolis by “Law Enforcement” Just Happened
Curmie had hoped to change the subject a little: from the abominations of the Trump administration, or at least from those committed by IC...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:27 PM
"...the obviously false narratives spewed by Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino, et al., are deliberate.... But they’re not just lies and slander; they’re so outrageous that even members of the right-wing base are fleeing that sinking ship."
Still The Boss.
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
www.youtube.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Still The Boss.
Tell your senators to rein in ICE NOW act.indivisible.org/sign/ice-out...
Tell your senators to rein in ICE NOW
On Wednesday, January 7, Renee Good was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then, on January 24, Border Patrol killed Alex Pretti. These deaths were a direct...
act.indivisible.org
January 27, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Tell your senators to rein in ICE NOW act.indivisible.org/sign/ice-out...
"Cell Block Tango" from "Chicago" runs through Curmie's head when listening to the excuses for ICE's murder of Alex Pretti: "He ran into my knife ten times!"
January 26, 2026 at 4:52 PM
"Cell Block Tango" from "Chicago" runs through Curmie's head when listening to the excuses for ICE's murder of Alex Pretti: "He ran into my knife ten times!"
"Captain Bonespurs and the Gravy Seals would make a pretty good band name, but it’s no way to run a free country. Time to melt the ICE."
Continuum Thinking, Disjunction, and ICE
Curmie doesn ’ t go this far, but... Curmie was extremely fortunate throughout his career to have encountered a number of extraordinary univ...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:10 PM
"Captain Bonespurs and the Gravy Seals would make a pretty good band name, but it’s no way to run a free country. Time to melt the ICE."
"No one who works for CTRMA should be allowed within ten paces of any device that wasn’t manufactured by Fisher-Price."
Toll Road Follies
Curmie got two bills (of sorts) for toll road fees today. One appeared on his phone; it was an obvious scam. Curmie’s cell has a New H...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:00 PM
"No one who works for CTRMA should be allowed within ten paces of any device that wasn’t manufactured by Fisher-Price."
"Texas A&M has quickly turned into the Augean stables, and is desperately in need of a Herakles."
(Don't ask me why Bluesky chose to decapitate this professor in the photo.)
(Don't ask me why Bluesky chose to decapitate this professor in the photo.)
The Censorial Asshats at Texas A&M Are at It Again
Dr. Leonard Bright Yes, there are probably more important stories to write about, but Curmie was a college professor for a very long time, a...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 18, 2026 at 9:44 PM
"Texas A&M has quickly turned into the Augean stables, and is desperately in need of a Herakles."
(Don't ask me why Bluesky chose to decapitate this professor in the photo.)
(Don't ask me why Bluesky chose to decapitate this professor in the photo.)
"Neither the folks at Texas A&M nor in the White House inner circle are playing 3-D chess. They’d be lucky to handle the complexities of Go Fish."
There's No 3-D Chess Here
Nope. It had probably been months since Curmie had heard the term “3-D Chess” to describe someone so strategically brilliant as to leave the...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:10 PM
"Neither the folks at Texas A&M nor in the White House inner circle are playing 3-D chess. They’d be lucky to handle the complexities of Go Fish."
"...they’ve got the entire administration—Trump, Vance, Noem, Bondi…—ready to lie to protect their little Sturm Abteilung cosplayers. Not really SA, though, of course: no one would ever use the term “elite” to describe these bozos."
Curmie Doesn't Like ICE Unless It's Cooling His Drink
Thirty-ish years ago, when Curmie was in grad school, he had a paper accepted for a conference in Greece. It turned out that one of the pro...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:42 PM
"...they’ve got the entire administration—Trump, Vance, Noem, Bondi…—ready to lie to protect their little Sturm Abteilung cosplayers. Not really SA, though, of course: no one would ever use the term “elite” to describe these bozos."
"They can cover up all they want at this point, but we all know what happened, and we’re not going to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears."
George Orwell Had 47 Figured Out
George Orwell, 1903-1950 With all due respect to Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, et al. , the keenest observer of the 47 regime has ...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:21 PM
"They can cover up all they want at this point, but we all know what happened, and we’re not going to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears."
"No reasonable interpretation of the word “advocate” would suggest that Peterson should be forced to alter his course in any way."
One More Reason Curmie Is Glad He's Retired: So He Doesn't Have to Deal with Crap Like This
Regular readers of this blog will know that Curmie is a retired professor who taught for two decades at a state university in Texas. He tau...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:20 PM
"No reasonable interpretation of the word “advocate” would suggest that Peterson should be forced to alter his course in any way."
"When Curmie was a lad, San Francisco was pretty much synonymous with drug culture. It would appear that the hallucinogens are still plentiful there."
San Francisco's Bizarre Reparations Bill
Rare image of Daniel Lurie actually looking to the right. Curmie can’t remember the exact circumstances, but a few years ago a friend prese...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:14 PM
"When Curmie was a lad, San Francisco was pretty much synonymous with drug culture. It would appear that the hallucinogens are still plentiful there."
Sign if you're of a mind to do so...
NO U.S. Occupation In Venezuela
Trump keeps telling us that he’s going to stop endless wars and lower costs. Now, he’s spending taxpayer dollars to invade Venezuela, capture its President, Nicolás Maduro, and declare that the US wil...
sign.moveon.org
January 6, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Sign if you're of a mind to do so...
"Predictably, the National Review proclaimed this 'a very good idea.' It is not. It is not in the same universe as a good idea."
Perhaps the Stupidest F*cking Idea in the History of Stupid F*cking Ideas
Thirty-something years ago, Curmie gave a paper at a conference called The Core and the Canon: A National Debate, held at the University of ...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:21 PM
"Predictably, the National Review proclaimed this 'a very good idea.' It is not. It is not in the same universe as a good idea."
"Of course, ACTF is not without its own partisanship, and their decision was in part a predictable exercise in virtue signaling. But was it necessary? Yes. Yes, it was."
Thoughts on the KC/ACTF Divorce
Curmie has never been a particular fan of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. They’re too political, in two senses of ...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:05 AM
"Of course, ACTF is not without its own partisanship, and their decision was in part a predictable exercise in virtue signaling. But was it necessary? Yes. Yes, it was."
"...no rational person believes that the Kennedy Center ought to be re-named in honor of an anti-intellectual, narcissistic, vulgarian like Donald Trump."
Dear Leader's Latest Vanity Endeavor
How telling is it that they’re either too stupid or too lazy to use the right damned font? It’s still the Gulf of Mexico. It’s still the De...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
December 20, 2025 at 8:24 PM
"...no rational person believes that the Kennedy Center ought to be re-named in honor of an anti-intellectual, narcissistic, vulgarian like Donald Trump."
"What is certain is that not merely is the person who wrote that missive unfit for the Presidency, he’s batshit crazy."
Donald Trump Is Unfit to Be POTUS. But We Already Knew That.
Early in the 2016 primary season, one of Curmie’s Facebook friends asked for a two-word description of Donald Trump. Curmie went with “xeno...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"What is certain is that not merely is the person who wrote that missive unfit for the Presidency, he’s batshit crazy."
This library needs your support today!
Please sign the petition and help @everylibrary.bsky.social fight for libraries in the United States. www.fightforthefirst.org/petitions/th... @everylibrary.bsky.social
Please sign the petition and help @everylibrary.bsky.social fight for libraries in the United States. www.fightforthefirst.org/petitions/th... @everylibrary.bsky.social
Stop book bans in Victoria, Texas: They don’t speak for us
Removing and banning books of any topic is censorship; plain and simple. We cannot allow books to be removed because it creates a slippery slope. This is a PUBLIC library paid for by taxpayers, and th...
www.fightforthefirst.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:34 PM
This library needs your support today!
Please sign the petition and help @everylibrary.bsky.social fight for libraries in the United States. www.fightforthefirst.org/petitions/th... @everylibrary.bsky.social
Please sign the petition and help @everylibrary.bsky.social fight for libraries in the United States. www.fightforthefirst.org/petitions/th... @everylibrary.bsky.social
"Alas, [Rubio's] tenure has been a disaster. Most of that is probably attributable to being a good soldier, advocating for policies we can only hope he knew were stupid, but this one takes not only the cake, but two pies, a dozen donuts and a loaf of artisanal focaccia."
The Latest DEI Threat to American Sovereignty: the Calibri Font
Curmie had started a piece about how the NCAA can’t do literally anything right, as evidenced by this year’s colossally stupid FBS football ...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:09 PM
"Alas, [Rubio's] tenure has been a disaster. Most of that is probably attributable to being a good soldier, advocating for policies we can only hope he knew were stupid, but this one takes not only the cake, but two pies, a dozen donuts and a loaf of artisanal focaccia."
"Suggesting that even privileged white Christians need do good work and fulfill assignments if they want good grades, of course, does not sit well in Trumpistan."
The University of Oklahoma Fails by Excusing Failure
Grades on college essays have been a source of controversy since professors started giving grades on college essays. The latest case to be...
manjushri924.blogspot.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:27 PM
"Suggesting that even privileged white Christians need do good work and fulfill assignments if they want good grades, of course, does not sit well in Trumpistan."