Leslie 🦃. Brown
@leslielkb.bsky.social
PhD, Curator, Photohistorian, Educator, and Scholar. Believer in wonder & kindness. Lover of art, music, history, science, rocks, weather, & tiny things.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
wow. WOW.
Breaking: Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, express regret kansasreflector.com/2025/11/11/m...
Marion County agrees to pay out $3M for newspaper raid, express regret • Kansas Reflector
A handful of county-level officials who were involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor.
kansasreflector.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
wow. WOW.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
The most depressing/revolting thing is that this can't possibly accomplish any meaningful policy goal, it's simply making people's lives worse for no discernible purpose.
Your pasta could get a lot pricier under new tariffs targeting Italian imports — if you can find them at all. nbcnews.to/49a953y
November 11, 2025 at 9:58 PM
The most depressing/revolting thing is that this can't possibly accomplish any meaningful policy goal, it's simply making people's lives worse for no discernible purpose.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
NEWS via WSJ: Fannie Mae watchdogs were investigating whether Trump appointee Bill Pulte improperly accessed mortgage records of key Democrats, including NY AG Letitia James, before being fired or forced out.
November 11, 2025 at 9:26 PM
NEWS via WSJ: Fannie Mae watchdogs were investigating whether Trump appointee Bill Pulte improperly accessed mortgage records of key Democrats, including NY AG Letitia James, before being fired or forced out.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro: “I ordered the militarisation of the entire country starting at 4pm by land, sea, and air.”
November 11, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro: “I ordered the militarisation of the entire country starting at 4pm by land, sea, and air.”
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Trump: "If we die, we must die and we as men we die without complaining."
November 11, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Trump: "If we die, we must die and we as men we die without complaining."
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Supreme court trying to give him medicine wrapped in cheese and he keeps spitting it out
Incredible work from the president, collecting another $1 trillion from tariffs in less than 10 hours
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Supreme court trying to give him medicine wrapped in cheese and he keeps spitting it out
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Every element of this is comedic perfection.
Russia presented its human-like AI robot. It fell down as it walked onto the stage.
November 11, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Every element of this is comedic perfection.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
This is why I’m so mad at Schumer today - not because I thought he had great shut down leverage but because every previous appeasement was predicated on building up leverage for this moment
Oh yeah March was inexcusable after they basically threw Jeffries' caucus under the bus
November 11, 2025 at 2:46 AM
This is why I’m so mad at Schumer today - not because I thought he had great shut down leverage but because every previous appeasement was predicated on building up leverage for this moment
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
The Trump administration plans to propose new oil and gas drilling off the California coast for the first time in roughly four decades, since an enormous oil spill near Santa Barbara in 1969 shocked the nation and helped to galvanize the environmental movement. nyti.ms/47WvBuz
Trump Is Said to Have a Plan to Open California Waters to Drilling
The move would set up a clash with Gov. Gavin Newsom, a chief critic of the president and an opponent of oil exploration in the Pacific.
nyti.ms
November 11, 2025 at 6:10 PM
The Trump administration plans to propose new oil and gas drilling off the California coast for the first time in roughly four decades, since an enormous oil spill near Santa Barbara in 1969 shocked the nation and helped to galvanize the environmental movement. nyti.ms/47WvBuz
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
"The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN." www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
www.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM
"The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN." www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
UPDATE: The Senate votes 53-47 to shoot down the Baldwin amendment to extend ACA funds for 1 year. A party-line vote with every Republican rejecting it.
An important vote in this series: Tammy Baldwin’s proposal to extend ACA expiring funds for 1 year. It’s structured as a motion to table (i.e. scrap it from the amendment tree). But it’ll show the appetite (or lack thereof) in the Senate to address this issue.
November 11, 2025 at 12:38 AM
UPDATE: The Senate votes 53-47 to shoot down the Baldwin amendment to extend ACA funds for 1 year. A party-line vote with every Republican rejecting it.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Senate Republicans secured a provision in the government funding package that could award Republican senators hundreds of thousands of dollars for having their phone records collected — a routine, normal process — during the Jack Smith investigation. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Thune secures provision in government funding bill letting senators sue for phone records seizure
The new legislative language is an escalation of the GOP’s efforts to discredit former special counsel Jack Smith.
www.politico.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Senate Republicans secured a provision in the government funding package that could award Republican senators hundreds of thousands of dollars for having their phone records collected — a routine, normal process — during the Jack Smith investigation. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
I'm reminded of a service that offered to use "AI" to "streamline" books by letting you read them faster. They showed it off with the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities shortening it from "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" to "Things were both good and bad."
I'm not joking.
I'm not joking.
November 11, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I'm reminded of a service that offered to use "AI" to "streamline" books by letting you read them faster. They showed it off with the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities shortening it from "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" to "Things were both good and bad."
I'm not joking.
I'm not joking.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Think about buying a car, a fun, stress-free negotiating process that everybody loves. Now imagine that if you don’t buy a car you die and if you buy the wrong car you also die
Trump: "I want the money to go into an account for people where they buy their own health insurance. It's so good. The insurance will be better. It'll cost less. Everybody is gonna be happy. They're gonna feel like entrepreneurs. They're actually able to go out & negotiate their own insurance"
November 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Think about buying a car, a fun, stress-free negotiating process that everybody loves. Now imagine that if you don’t buy a car you die and if you buy the wrong car you also die
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Also it’s the MAGNIFICENT MILE.
Call in the troops to solve the commercial real estate crisis in our swanky downtown cores
You can’t make this shit up, folks
You can’t make this shit up, folks
November 11, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Also it’s the MAGNIFICENT MILE.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
A bit of a contrarian view. Democrats likely won't pay a price for this in the midterms. The American memory is quite short on political machinations. But Republicans are about to learn a central tenet of American politics: You cannot give people a benefit and then take it away.
November 11, 2025 at 2:36 PM
A bit of a contrarian view. Democrats likely won't pay a price for this in the midterms. The American memory is quite short on political machinations. But Republicans are about to learn a central tenet of American politics: You cannot give people a benefit and then take it away.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
"In an internal memo from September, CEO Sam Altman said that OpenAI’s “audacious long-term goal is to build 250 gigawatts of capacity by 2033.” If Altman achieves this goal, OpenAI will need almost exactly as much electricity as India’s 1.5 billion people"
Great @truthdig.com piece on chips ->
Great @truthdig.com piece on chips ->
The Ecological Cost of AI Is Much Higher Than You Think - Truthdig
As the demands of AI grow, each generation of microchips requires more energy, minerals and water to produce, driving a ruinous cycle.
www.truthdig.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:47 PM
"In an internal memo from September, CEO Sam Altman said that OpenAI’s “audacious long-term goal is to build 250 gigawatts of capacity by 2033.” If Altman achieves this goal, OpenAI will need almost exactly as much electricity as India’s 1.5 billion people"
Great @truthdig.com piece on chips ->
Great @truthdig.com piece on chips ->
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
I wonder if any of them realize that sculptor Anish Kapoor is an immigrant as well.
Astonishing: Bovino and his agents showed up at the Bean this morning to pose for pictures. While Border Patrol snapped photos, one agent shouted, “Everyone say, ‘Little Village!’” The neighborhood where they are least welcome and most acutely felt. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
Border Patrol Agents Pose At 'The Bean' For Apparent Photo Op
The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, "Everyone say, Little Village!"
blockclubchicago.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I wonder if any of them realize that sculptor Anish Kapoor is an immigrant as well.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
"an unusual mass deportation to a country with a poor human rights record that the United States had bombed earlier this year in an effort to set back its nuclear program"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
“For decades, Iranians fleeing persecution have found protection in the United States. But this fall, the Trump administration deported a planeload of people to Iran after making a deal with Tehran.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/w...
‘It Feels Like I’m in a Nightmare’: Inside the First Deportation Flight to Iran
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"an unusual mass deportation to a country with a poor human rights record that the United States had bombed earlier this year in an effort to set back its nuclear program"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
For anyone who was sleeping, major political news last night: a judge chose a new map for Utah that will deliver a seat to Democrats.
Major point in Dems’ favor that effectively neuters the GOP’s move in Missouri, much like California countered Texas.
Major point in Dems’ favor that effectively neuters the GOP’s move in Missouri, much like California countered Texas.
Just now: The plaintiffs who were arguing that Utah GOP's congressional map is illegal won in court.
The judge orders one of the two maps submitted by the plaintiffs ('map 1') be used.
The ruling, if it stands, guarantees that Democrats will pick up a congressional seat in Utah next year.
The judge orders one of the two maps submitted by the plaintiffs ('map 1') be used.
The ruling, if it stands, guarantees that Democrats will pick up a congressional seat in Utah next year.
November 11, 2025 at 2:02 PM
For anyone who was sleeping, major political news last night: a judge chose a new map for Utah that will deliver a seat to Democrats.
Major point in Dems’ favor that effectively neuters the GOP’s move in Missouri, much like California countered Texas.
Major point in Dems’ favor that effectively neuters the GOP’s move in Missouri, much like California countered Texas.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
Yes, to watching how this story gets told/rationalized. Numbers have been used against arts & humanities programs even when enrollments are NOT cratering. My take is students right now are very savvy (at least in my classes) about the need for a mix: arts & humanities + STEM. They really want this.
From today's Chronicle of Higher Ed briefing. I am *never* an advocate of cutting programs. But I am curious to see if there will be the same type of "students aren't majoring in this, so let's cut the program" discourse around computer science as there always is for the arts and humanities.
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Yes, to watching how this story gets told/rationalized. Numbers have been used against arts & humanities programs even when enrollments are NOT cratering. My take is students right now are very savvy (at least in my classes) about the need for a mix: arts & humanities + STEM. They really want this.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
A couple years ago I worked on 12 grants in my role as a task force director at the Library of Congress. This year, zero. We are going to lose a lot of our public memory. Which is at the crux of fascistic mobilization.
November 11, 2025 at 4:40 AM
A couple years ago I worked on 12 grants in my role as a task force director at the Library of Congress. This year, zero. We are going to lose a lot of our public memory. Which is at the crux of fascistic mobilization.
Reposted by Leslie 🦃. Brown
"JPMorgan on Monday said building AI infrastructure will cost more than $5tn"
Crazy idea: Why not, rather than spending $5 TRILLION dollars to pay for data centers to create fake brains, just pay actual human beings with real brains that same $5 trillion?
Crazy idea: Why not, rather than spending $5 TRILLION dollars to pay for data centers to create fake brains, just pay actual human beings with real brains that same $5 trillion?
"Investors have been selling off the debt of US tech heavyweights, showing how jitters over Silicon Valley’s boom in spending on artificial intelligence have spilled into the bond market."
Investor angst over Big Tech’s AI spending spills into bond market
Debt issued by groups building data centres has been hit in recent weeks
www.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:03 PM
"JPMorgan on Monday said building AI infrastructure will cost more than $5tn"
Crazy idea: Why not, rather than spending $5 TRILLION dollars to pay for data centers to create fake brains, just pay actual human beings with real brains that same $5 trillion?
Crazy idea: Why not, rather than spending $5 TRILLION dollars to pay for data centers to create fake brains, just pay actual human beings with real brains that same $5 trillion?