Stuart Chambers, PhD
@progstu.bsky.social
Prof (University of Ottawa/Sociology); critical thinking; intellectual pluralism; reality-based community; Halloween obsessed; lover of progressive rock.
Nice to hear the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer during a Super Bowl ad for a Brad Pitt movie: "Here's the Netflix Super Bowl commercial featuring ELP's 1977 performance of Peter Gunn." youtu.be/Xw8x8NWGnDM?...
THE ADVENTURES OF CLIFF BOOTH | Official Teaser Trailer (2026) 4K
YouTube video by JoBlo Movie Network
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Nice to hear the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer during a Super Bowl ad for a Brad Pitt movie: "Here's the Netflix Super Bowl commercial featuring ELP's 1977 performance of Peter Gunn." youtu.be/Xw8x8NWGnDM?...
We're all Green Day: www.billboard.com/music/rock/g...
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Encourages ICE Agents to ‘Quit That S—ty Job’ at Super Bowl Pre-Show
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong delivered a pointed political message during the band’s pre‑Super Bowl concert in San Francisco.
www.billboard.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:48 AM
We're all Green Day: www.billboard.com/music/rock/g...
The real magic in education happens live. A group of people learn more together in conversation than sitting alone. You may read by yourself, but ideas come alive in a dialogue, in an open, adversarial forum of robust civility.
February 8, 2026 at 8:45 PM
The real magic in education happens live. A group of people learn more together in conversation than sitting alone. You may read by yourself, but ideas come alive in a dialogue, in an open, adversarial forum of robust civility.
You need the building blocks of critical thinking to understand complex knowledge. If you cheat the process of learning, AI can't help you become more nuanced. In fact, you become less wise every time you let AI do your reading, writing, and thinking for you. universityaffairs.ca/opinion/reth...
Rethinking the role of higher education in an AI-integrated world - University Affairs
What does a university become in a world where intelligence is abundant?
universityaffairs.ca
February 8, 2026 at 7:59 PM
You need the building blocks of critical thinking to understand complex knowledge. If you cheat the process of learning, AI can't help you become more nuanced. In fact, you become less wise every time you let AI do your reading, writing, and thinking for you. universityaffairs.ca/opinion/reth...
AI enthusiasts keep marketing their product as a magic pill that will make universities redundant. Their strategy: get students to read less, write less, and think less. In other words, students will be better off by cheating the process of learning. AI is the grift that keeps on grifting.
February 8, 2026 at 12:37 AM
AI enthusiasts keep marketing their product as a magic pill that will make universities redundant. Their strategy: get students to read less, write less, and think less. In other words, students will be better off by cheating the process of learning. AI is the grift that keeps on grifting.
Cartoonists are free-speech heroes.
February 8, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Cartoonists are free-speech heroes.
If I was forced to watch either Melania or Gigli on a plane, I would take the latter, with plenty of barf bags on hand.
This weekend sees the release of a controversially funded film about the first lady, directed by a disgraced film-maker
Are people really going to see Amazon’s $75m Melania documentary?
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:16 PM
If I was forced to watch either Melania or Gigli on a plane, I would take the latter, with plenty of barf bags on hand.
Good article by Dan Gardner on fascism in post-WWII Germany and in today's America. No matter what your political affiliation, the goal is to unite to stop Trump. Pop stars offering fashionable slogans or promoting niche political agendas won't cut it: dgardner.substack.com/p/weimar-ger...
Weimar Germany and the Fatal Flaw
Today's left is making a familiar mistake in the fight against fascism
dgardner.substack.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Good article by Dan Gardner on fascism in post-WWII Germany and in today's America. No matter what your political affiliation, the goal is to unite to stop Trump. Pop stars offering fashionable slogans or promoting niche political agendas won't cut it: dgardner.substack.com/p/weimar-ger...
What is the purpose of a liberal education? If you are like Roy Lee (Cluely) and believe it's transactional, save yourself four years, use AI incessantly, and cheat the process of life. If you think university is about life-long learning, spend four years enjoying the process.
February 5, 2026 at 7:58 PM
What is the purpose of a liberal education? If you are like Roy Lee (Cluely) and believe it's transactional, save yourself four years, use AI incessantly, and cheat the process of life. If you think university is about life-long learning, spend four years enjoying the process.
It's what you publish when you've given up on life.
The morning after mass layoffs, The Washington Post publishes this as their lead editorial. The owner and publisher clearly have no idea why they are losing subscribers. Meanwhile they have destroyed a storied brand.
Support independent media. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
Support independent media. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
February 5, 2026 at 3:31 PM
It's what you publish when you've given up on life.
But isn't there bad people on both sides?
February 5, 2026 at 12:39 PM
But isn't there bad people on both sides?
The sequel is in limbo.
February 5, 2026 at 2:43 AM
The sequel is in limbo.
He's a waste of skin.
“Everything we know about skin has been learned from so-called scientific studies funded by large corporations who have a financial stake in keeping our musculature covered in an unnecessary layer of man-made flesh,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr. Questions Efficacy Of Skin
WASHINGTON—In a firm dismissal of decades of scientific research and real-world data on the organ’s benefits and safety, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly questioned t...
theonion.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:29 AM
He's a waste of skin.
My favourite professors in grad studies were those whose biggest piece of technology was a piece of chalk.
February 5, 2026 at 12:01 AM
My favourite professors in grad studies were those whose biggest piece of technology was a piece of chalk.
1000%.
teaching a course with time and space for discussion makes most classroom technology unnecessary
February 4, 2026 at 7:03 PM
1000%.
Priceless.
February 4, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Priceless.
Administrators go where the winds blow. If academic freedom tarnishes a university's public image, administrators release reports discussing a balance between academic freedom and "respect," "dignity," and "diversity." However, the balancing act must always align with whatever is trending.
Administration survives by not being irrevocably committed to anything except its own preservation, and all initiatives from it — or undertaken with its blessing — that purport to touch on academic freedom, free speech, free enquiry, civility, or indeed censorship, have to be viewed in this light
Administrators hinting about dire policy - but never having the courage to put it in writing - sounds pretty familiar.
February 4, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Administrators go where the winds blow. If academic freedom tarnishes a university's public image, administrators release reports discussing a balance between academic freedom and "respect," "dignity," and "diversity." However, the balancing act must always align with whatever is trending.
I would add that since students lack 3-4 degrees and about 100 or so courses of teaching experience, why would they have any say in the subject matter of a professor's course? Why would any university empower students to decide the degree of"sensitivity" or "empathy" required for topics?
February 4, 2026 at 3:15 PM
I would add that since students lack 3-4 degrees and about 100 or so courses of teaching experience, why would they have any say in the subject matter of a professor's course? Why would any university empower students to decide the degree of"sensitivity" or "empathy" required for topics?
One of the problems I have with university policy on academic freedom is any attempt to balance it with multicultural concerns. The McGill report discusses "students' calls for sensitive approaches," understood as "empathy." This reeks of ideological imposition.
www.mcgill.ca/president/si...
www.mcgill.ca/president/si...
www.mcgill.ca
February 4, 2026 at 3:08 PM
One of the problems I have with university policy on academic freedom is any attempt to balance it with multicultural concerns. The McGill report discusses "students' calls for sensitive approaches," understood as "empathy." This reeks of ideological imposition.
www.mcgill.ca/president/si...
www.mcgill.ca/president/si...
The biggest turd on planet earth.
KAITLAN COLLINS: What would say to Epstein survivo---
TRUMP: You are so bad. You are the worst report. No wonder CNN has no ratings. She's a young woman. I don't think I've ever seen you smile. They should be ashamed of you.
TRUMP: You are so bad. You are the worst report. No wonder CNN has no ratings. She's a young woman. I don't think I've ever seen you smile. They should be ashamed of you.
February 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM
The biggest turd on planet earth.
Jenny McCarthy just had a panic attack.
BERNIE SANDERS: Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism
SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism
BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism
SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism
February 4, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Jenny McCarthy just had a panic attack.
America's fascist assault on the media: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW0U...
Jimmy Kimmel Interviews Don Lemon for the First Time Post-Arrest
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
www.youtube.com
February 3, 2026 at 10:39 PM
America's fascist assault on the media: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW0U...
Well, at least these fascist thugs let you tape their crimes.
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
February 3, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Well, at least these fascist thugs let you tape their crimes.
Profs vs. students on AI cheating. It's funny--and a pretty accurate depiction about high school and university life. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKao...
The Simpsons: School vs Cheat GPT.
YouTube video by GXT Plays
www.youtube.com
February 3, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Profs vs. students on AI cheating. It's funny--and a pretty accurate depiction about high school and university life. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKao...
What the AI craze has taught universities is that a substantial portion of the student population views education in transactional terms: they just want the diploma to get a job. The actual learning is not a priority. That’s why they cheat the process, which was never important to them.
February 3, 2026 at 4:09 PM
What the AI craze has taught universities is that a substantial portion of the student population views education in transactional terms: they just want the diploma to get a job. The actual learning is not a priority. That’s why they cheat the process, which was never important to them.