Taulby Edmondson
@taulby.bsky.social
US South & Appalachia. Research: historical & cultural memory; race & white nationalism. Most recently writing on Gone with the Wind, plantation tourism, and campus racism. Horror enthusiast. Sports watcher. Dad.
Pinned
Taulby Edmondson
@taulby.bsky.social
· May 16
It's worth noting that a lot of the "historic homes" you see in southern locales are not antebellum at all. Many were built around the turn of the century in neoclassical antebellum style to demarcate wealthy white neighborhoods from segregated Black communities. I wrote about it here:
The irony of this college president blaming faculty for the ills of Higher Ed is that she's a shining example of one of the big real problems. According to her bio, she has a business exec background and is now brought in to implement "transitions" and "strategic plans at universities.
This president is an idiot. Quick timeline of the decline of Higher Ed: 1) post civil rights era: more women & minorities take positions in the academy. 2) Systematic funding cuts start with Reagan. 3) Bush 2 defunds more for tax cuts. 4) 2008: Recession & more cuts. 5) Covid cuts. 6) Trump attacks.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 8:39 PM
The irony of this college president blaming faculty for the ills of Higher Ed is that she's a shining example of one of the big real problems. According to her bio, she has a business exec background and is now brought in to implement "transitions" and "strategic plans at universities.
This president is an idiot. Quick timeline of the decline of Higher Ed: 1) post civil rights era: more women & minorities take positions in the academy. 2) Systematic funding cuts start with Reagan. 3) Bush 2 defunds more for tax cuts. 4) 2008: Recession & more cuts. 5) Covid cuts. 6) Trump attacks.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 7:12 PM
This president is an idiot. Quick timeline of the decline of Higher Ed: 1) post civil rights era: more women & minorities take positions in the academy. 2) Systematic funding cuts start with Reagan. 3) Bush 2 defunds more for tax cuts. 4) 2008: Recession & more cuts. 5) Covid cuts. 6) Trump attacks.
What an argument to make when US military machinery is precious cargo in one defensive war effort while it's simultaneously being used to obliterate an entire society in another.
I've given the NYT military innovation piece a read.
If China were to invade Taiwan, "our adversaries" would use the same "expensive, vulnerable weapons:" aircraft carriers, fighters, amphibious warfare ships, and armored vehicles.
If China were to invade Taiwan, "our adversaries" would use the same "expensive, vulnerable weapons:" aircraft carriers, fighters, amphibious warfare ships, and armored vehicles.
December 9, 2025 at 2:33 AM
What an argument to make when US military machinery is precious cargo in one defensive war effort while it's simultaneously being used to obliterate an entire society in another.
"Sailors and Floosies" was removed from the San Francisco World's Fair because it was too sexy and reflected poorly on the Navy.
December 9, 2025 at 1:06 AM
"Sailors and Floosies" was removed from the San Francisco World's Fair because it was too sexy and reflected poorly on the Navy.
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
Lawmakers say that the Trump administration might be skipping a rule requiring self-insured coal companies to cover the cost of their employees' future black lung care.
https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-12-02/democrats-suspect-trump-administration-isnt-enforcing-a-benefits-rule-for-coal-miners
https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-12-02/democrats-suspect-trump-administration-isnt-enforcing-a-benefits-rule-for-coal-miners
Democrats suspect Trump administration isn’t enforcing a benefits rule for coal miners
Last year, the federal government issued a new rule requiring self-insured coal mines to prove they can cover 100% of future black lung disease costs. Two Democrats say they’ve heard the Trump administration isn’t following the rule.
www.lpm.org
December 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Lawmakers say that the Trump administration might be skipping a rule requiring self-insured coal companies to cover the cost of their employees' future black lung care.
https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-12-02/democrats-suspect-trump-administration-isnt-enforcing-a-benefits-rule-for-coal-miners
https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-12-02/democrats-suspect-trump-administration-isnt-enforcing-a-benefits-rule-for-coal-miners
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
I find it hard to believe that Jasmine Crockett will put on a tricorn and hang effigies of Black people from trees while claiming she's only upset about international trade agreements.
It’s funny that these guys have the exact same take on Crockett as Trump does—and no matter how they redress it up, for the exact same reason
December 9, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I find it hard to believe that Jasmine Crockett will put on a tricorn and hang effigies of Black people from trees while claiming she's only upset about international trade agreements.
ChatGPT hallucinating that these points shouldn't be true is probably the closest it's ever been to sentience.
December 8, 2025 at 11:38 PM
ChatGPT hallucinating that these points shouldn't be true is probably the closest it's ever been to sentience.
The author says that people being mad at Nuzzi for selling out her journalistic responsibilities to help a dangerous quack are lynching her. Not exactly measured analysis.
Possibly the only thing more freakish than Nuzzi's prose is the contortions her defenders twist themselves into. "She's not just hot, but she definitely is hot, while also being a vulnerable smol child. Also, criticizing her is sexist."
December 8, 2025 at 9:29 PM
The author says that people being mad at Nuzzi for selling out her journalistic responsibilities to help a dangerous quack are lynching her. Not exactly measured analysis.
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
Glenn Beck made a George Washington that can tell a lie.
Oh good, Glenn Beck has created an AI George Washington. You will be shocked to learn that the AI George Washington created by Glenn Beck sounds exactly like what would happen if Glenn Beck built an AI George Washington to sound exactly like Glenn Beck.
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Glenn Beck made a George Washington that can tell a lie.
Just fyi, Zac Brown got his start playing a combination of country, bluegrass, and heavy metal music. ZBB regularly covers Metallica, Tool, and several other metal bands.
i love that a significant portion of the population of the world believes in demons and the devil and satan. they just think this stuff is real and it genuinely scares them
December 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Just fyi, Zac Brown got his start playing a combination of country, bluegrass, and heavy metal music. ZBB regularly covers Metallica, Tool, and several other metal bands.
I agree to a large degree. Congressional Dem leadership skipped the largest single-day protest in US history, against their primary opponent, to attend fundraisers in the Hamptons.
honestly i think you could probably describe the vast majority of American media, political, and corporate elites as decadent
nobody knows how bad things can get
nobody knows how bad things can get
you'd think that the fact that the president is currently trying to get the Feds to arrest Senators would be what the NYT editorial board would focus on but...
December 8, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I agree to a large degree. Congressional Dem leadership skipped the largest single-day protest in US history, against their primary opponent, to attend fundraisers in the Hamptons.
Glenn Beck made a George Washington that can tell a lie.
Oh good, Glenn Beck has created an AI George Washington. You will be shocked to learn that the AI George Washington created by Glenn Beck sounds exactly like what would happen if Glenn Beck built an AI George Washington to sound exactly like Glenn Beck.
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Glenn Beck made a George Washington that can tell a lie.
Art of the Deal
December 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Art of the Deal
They post Nazi stuff about every weekday now.
US SouthCom a few tweets way from using a Sonnenrad patch in their imagery.
December 8, 2025 at 6:31 PM
They post Nazi stuff about every weekday now.
Mass pollution from new data centers and layoffs for something that isn't close to working.
"Software company Atlassian found that *96 percent of companies didn’t achieve significant productivity gains*, and MIT researchers showed that *95 percent of companies get zero return from their pilot programs* with generative AI." 🤪
December 8, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Mass pollution from new data centers and layoffs for something that isn't close to working.
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
"Software company Atlassian found that *96 percent of companies didn’t achieve significant productivity gains*, and MIT researchers showed that *95 percent of companies get zero return from their pilot programs* with generative AI." 🤪
December 8, 2025 at 5:57 PM
"Software company Atlassian found that *96 percent of companies didn’t achieve significant productivity gains*, and MIT researchers showed that *95 percent of companies get zero return from their pilot programs* with generative AI." 🤪
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
Also, uh... kind of fascinating how the NYT editorial board decides to weigh in on *this*?
This is a wild framing.
The US can dominate everywhere in the world except 7000 miles away at an island 100 miles off another superpower’s coast.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The US can dominate everywhere in the world except 7000 miles away at an island 100 miles off another superpower’s coast.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | Overmatched: Why the U.S. Military Must Reinvent Itself
Investing in the old ways of war leaves America at risk.
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Also, uh... kind of fascinating how the NYT editorial board decides to weigh in on *this*?
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
“An entrenched oligopoly of five large defense contractors, down from 51 in the early 1990s, has an interest in selling the Pentagon ever-costlier evolutions of the same ships, planes and missiles.”
How much did a tech bro pay you to write this? It’s just totally irresponsible framing.
How much did a tech bro pay you to write this? It’s just totally irresponsible framing.
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
“An entrenched oligopoly of five large defense contractors, down from 51 in the early 1990s, has an interest in selling the Pentagon ever-costlier evolutions of the same ships, planes and missiles.”
How much did a tech bro pay you to write this? It’s just totally irresponsible framing.
How much did a tech bro pay you to write this? It’s just totally irresponsible framing.
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
“Spending heavily on traditional symbols of might risks shortchanging the true sources of American strength: relentless innovation, rapid adaptability and a willingness to discard old assumptions.”
What. Again, how much did venture capital pay you to write this?
What. Again, how much did venture capital pay you to write this?
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
“Spending heavily on traditional symbols of might risks shortchanging the true sources of American strength: relentless innovation, rapid adaptability and a willingness to discard old assumptions.”
What. Again, how much did venture capital pay you to write this?
What. Again, how much did venture capital pay you to write this?
I think this and the other option are it, just not sure if it's 50/50 or 60/40 or such. But, if we lose Birthright, I believe we will be past a point of no return. Big change will have to follow one way or another. Reconstruction II.
People keep asking “why would they even grant cert if they weren’t going to rule for Trump on this” and my answer remains because Roberts realized this is the appropriate time—or at least the least-worst time—to finally deal with The Big Case Trump Actually Loses To Protect the Court’s Legitimacy™️.
I continue to believe the Trump admin will lose on this. There has not been a single judge who agreed with them.
December 8, 2025 at 3:00 AM
I think this and the other option are it, just not sure if it's 50/50 or 60/40 or such. But, if we lose Birthright, I believe we will be past a point of no return. Big change will have to follow one way or another. Reconstruction II.
If I were a billionaire supervillain who wanted to make the populace less informed about my doings, I would stress using GAI.
"When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47 percent drop in neural connectivity... their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage. Eighty-three percent of heavy AI users couldn’t recall key points from what they’d “written"...
"It’s classic neoliberal jiu-jitsu: reframe the erosion of institutional norms as a character-building opportunity."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
December 8, 2025 at 2:23 AM
If I were a billionaire supervillain who wanted to make the populace less informed about my doings, I would stress using GAI.
Reposted by Taulby Edmondson
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Imo, appealing to the text of the amendment is ineffective. The constitution is too intentionally ambiguous for that (even though 14A isn't). Bouie suggested starting with the context of Dred, which is great, but all you have to do to beat their argument is just read the publicly available debates.
Folks, there is an abundance of evidence. We have the debates. They're right here on congress dot gov for Christ's sake.
Here's a quote from California Senator, John Conness in 1866:
www.congress.gov/congressiona...
Here's a quote from California Senator, John Conness in 1866:
www.congress.gov/congressiona...
December 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Imo, appealing to the text of the amendment is ineffective. The constitution is too intentionally ambiguous for that (even though 14A isn't). Bouie suggested starting with the context of Dred, which is great, but all you have to do to beat their argument is just read the publicly available debates.