Victor Luftig
@vl1959.bsky.social
English professor, Democrat, Mets fan. Views expressed are my own and definitely not those of my employer or its discredited Board.
The calls here for "virtual hearings" would seem to have a lot of potential--I wonder if it can become standard practice in invaded cities.
The part where they threatened to break a judge’s car windows should be a bigger story … they feel comfortable treating judges this way, which means they are being told that they can do literally anything to nearly everyone
#BREAKING: A student intern at Rhode Island Superior Court was briefly taken into custody by ICE this afternoon before a judge intervened, 12 News has learned. Story by @jusolyn.bsky.social and @timwhiteri.bsky.social: ⤵️
November 21, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The calls here for "virtual hearings" would seem to have a lot of potential--I wonder if it can become standard practice in invaded cities.
Thrilled to find @acolton.bsky.social 's book in my mailbox today!
November 20, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Thrilled to find @acolton.bsky.social 's book in my mailbox today!
Having spent more time in hospitals (including UVA Hospital) these past few years than I'd have opted for, I take great delight in this--great for the kids, for their parents, for the nurses, for all the staff. Days can get long there. Well done. news.virginia.edu/content/holy...
Holy Windex, Batman! Superheroes descend on UVA Health Children’s
Grime-fighting superheroes cleaned windows and surprised patients.
news.virginia.edu
November 15, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Having spent more time in hospitals (including UVA Hospital) these past few years than I'd have opted for, I take great delight in this--great for the kids, for their parents, for the nurses, for all the staff. Days can get long there. Well done. news.virginia.edu/content/holy...
Full letter here www.cbs19news.com/news/spanber...
Spanberger tells BOV to pause process to pick new UVA president
Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger says the University of Virginia should wait to pick a new president until after her inauguration in January.
www.cbs19news.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Full letter here www.cbs19news.com/news/spanber...
Reposted by Victor Luftig
It's driving me batty that nobody except Heather Cox Richardson, the Washington Monthly, and myself is covering Trump's race to sell off (for likely demolition) "the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal," w/ murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, etc. I've furnish links below to help reporters get started.
November 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM
It's driving me batty that nobody except Heather Cox Richardson, the Washington Monthly, and myself is covering Trump's race to sell off (for likely demolition) "the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal," w/ murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, etc. I've furnish links below to help reporters get started.
Now possible to get through to Warner's office but not Kaine's. I hope the latter's is being inundated with disappointed calls, though I feel sorry for the staffers who are having to hear all the anger. I'd urge sympathy for them.
Kaine and Warner's numbers both busy--I trust with callers demanding that Kaine resign once Spanberger is in and that Warner insist on Schumer's resignation as minority leader.
November 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Now possible to get through to Warner's office but not Kaine's. I hope the latter's is being inundated with disappointed calls, though I feel sorry for the staffers who are having to hear all the anger. I'd urge sympathy for them.
Kaine and Warner's numbers both busy--I trust with callers demanding that Kaine resign once Spanberger is in and that Warner insist on Schumer's resignation as minority leader.
November 10, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Kaine and Warner's numbers both busy--I trust with callers demanding that Kaine resign once Spanberger is in and that Warner insist on Schumer's resignation as minority leader.
More rather than less vital to donate to food banks
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
More rather than less vital to donate to food banks
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
The NYT has been part of my whole life, since when my father and I would, when I was 9, divvy it up over breakfast while listening to the paper's radio station, WQXR, so I wish this warning weren't so apt. But it is, and very well issued. lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The NYT has been part of my whole life, since when my father and I would, when I was 9, divvy it up over breakfast while listening to the paper's radio station, WQXR, so I wish this warning weren't so apt. But it is, and very well issued. lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Enjoying this www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
Aftab Pureval wins reelection as Cincinnati mayor, defeating JD Vance’s relative
Aftab Pureval won reelection as mayor of Cincinnati on Tuesday, defeating Cory Bowman, a Republican who is Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother.
www.pbs.org
November 5, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Enjoying this www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
Reposted by Victor Luftig
How about if @nytimes.com, @npr.org, and @pbs.org (all of which gave full play to Gates's climate comments), etc only quoted Gates, Musk, etc only if they ever said anything about which they could claim some expertise? (Of course that principle would mean never citing the Executive Branch.)
It's possible we might not need billionaire opinions on absolutely everything all the time
billmckibben.substack.com/p/climate-ga...
billmckibben.substack.com/p/climate-ga...
Climate Gates
Maybe we don't need billionaire opinions on everything
billmckibben.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 1:26 AM
How about if @nytimes.com, @npr.org, and @pbs.org (all of which gave full play to Gates's climate comments), etc only quoted Gates, Musk, etc only if they ever said anything about which they could claim some expertise? (Of course that principle would mean never citing the Executive Branch.)
Wole Soyinka is smarter, more dignified, and funnier than our entire Executive Branch, which, had it any smarts or dignity, would hang its collective orange dome in shame. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel laureate and Trump critic, says US visa revoked
Soyinka, 91, who recently compared US president to Idi Amin, says ‘I have no visa – I am banned’
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Wole Soyinka is smarter, more dignified, and funnier than our entire Executive Branch, which, had it any smarts or dignity, would hang its collective orange dome in shame. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Wow! NYT reporters are allowed to write election stories that aren't Mamdani hatchet jobs? Who knew?
Andrew Cuomo earned nearly $5 million working as a private consultant in 2024, a sum so large it puts him in the top 0.5% of New York City earners, according to his annual tax returns.
Cuomo Earned Almost $5 Million From Consulting in 2024, Returns Show
Most of Andrew Cuomo’s income came from Innovation Strategies, a company created for his consulting work before he ran for mayor of New York City. He has not disclosed his clients.
nyti.ms
October 29, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Wow! NYT reporters are allowed to write election stories that aren't Mamdani hatchet jobs? Who knew?
"One [client] was...an offshore cryptocurrency exchange that hired [AC] as it came under scrutiny by the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors for operating illegally in the US. The company agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws in February."
Andrew Cuomo earned nearly $5 million working as a private consultant in 2024, a sum so large it puts him in the top 0.5% of New York City earners, according to his annual tax returns.
Cuomo Earned Almost $5 Million From Consulting in 2024, Returns Show
Most of Andrew Cuomo’s income came from Innovation Strategies, a company created for his consulting work before he ran for mayor of New York City. He has not disclosed his clients.
nyti.ms
October 29, 2025 at 11:38 PM
"One [client] was...an offshore cryptocurrency exchange that hired [AC] as it came under scrutiny by the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors for operating illegally in the US. The company agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws in February."
Very fine work by NPR and @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social
Three times in the past two weeks, editorials at the 'Washington Post' failed to disclose that they focused on matters in which owner Jeff Bezos had a material interest.
'Washington Post' editorials omit a key disclosure: Bezos' financial ties
Three times in the past two weeks, editorials at the 'Washington Post' failed to disclose that they focused on matters in which owner Jeff Bezos had a material interest.
n.pr
October 29, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Very fine work by NPR and @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social
"NPR, the Times, and other outlets should be flooded with criticism of not the stories they select to cover, which are generally fine, but the tone and tenor of them, which often...cast Trump as acting presidential...": makes more sense to me than platforming objectionable NYPost stories, etc.
Mainstream media is failing (intentionally) in what stories it chooses to cover: i.e., agenda setting. And they are refusing to offer coverage (or the volume needed) on stories that make Trump look like the authoritarian that he is. trib.al/J46pGR5
October 28, 2025 at 11:15 PM
"NPR, the Times, and other outlets should be flooded with criticism of not the stories they select to cover, which are generally fine, but the tone and tenor of them, which often...cast Trump as acting presidential...": makes more sense to me than platforming objectionable NYPost stories, etc.
RFK Jr's urging people to eat "good meat, ...fresh meat" is a little on the nose.
RFK jr urges Americans to start their car engines, wrap their mouths around their exhaust pipes, and take several deep lung refreshing inhales twice a day.
RFK Jr to urge Americans to eat more saturated fats, alarming health experts
October 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
RFK Jr's urging people to eat "good meat, ...fresh meat" is a little on the nose.
If you're interested in Ireland, the great Fintan O'Toole's account of its current political state--in the aftermath of its presidential election--is worth a read.
Fintan O'Toole: Catherine Connolly deserves her emphatic victory, but it’s a hollow crown
Fintan O'Toole: Catherine Connolly deserves her emphatic victory, but it’s a hollow crown
She has a tough task ahead: speak for the established State, represent a radical opposition to it and give hope to those who are increasingly disenchanted
www.irishtimes.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
If you're interested in Ireland, the great Fintan O'Toole's account of its current political state--in the aftermath of its presidential election--is worth a read.
I'd kind of hope that this goes without saying, but hating DT's tariffs and feeling gleeful about his being distressed by Ontario's ad 1) should not make us like Reaganite free trade and 2) should not prompt us to platform Reagan. Nothing should.
October 24, 2025 at 11:26 PM
I'd kind of hope that this goes without saying, but hating DT's tariffs and feeling gleeful about his being distressed by Ontario's ad 1) should not make us like Reaganite free trade and 2) should not prompt us to platform Reagan. Nothing should.
Reposted by Victor Luftig
I’ll say it straight: It is unbecoming, undignified, cowardly, and shameful for a institution as revered and respected as the University of Virginia to grant an audience in 2025 to those who are committed to destroying science, free thought, human rights, and the rule of law.
October 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I’ll say it straight: It is unbecoming, undignified, cowardly, and shameful for a institution as revered and respected as the University of Virginia to grant an audience in 2025 to those who are committed to destroying science, free thought, human rights, and the rule of law.
The Australian anti-fascist White Rose Society has more followers on here than The White House.
October 18, 2025 at 2:44 AM
The Australian anti-fascist White Rose Society has more followers on here than The White House.
If they teach marketing at yr school (it's taught in like 15 different parts of mine), I think it's worth considering that this is the field's equivalent of discovering a new molecule or star.Oh, and the NYT's calling this a "subtle" change makes me re-think applying the term to,like,The Golden Bowl
October 13, 2025 at 11:01 PM
If they teach marketing at yr school (it's taught in like 15 different parts of mine), I think it's worth considering that this is the field's equivalent of discovering a new molecule or star.Oh, and the NYT's calling this a "subtle" change makes me re-think applying the term to,like,The Golden Bowl
Could Google's AI be stupider? I wanted to see Meadows' error from last night: "Parker Meadows is not currently throwing errors due to a season-ending nerve issue in his right arm that was diagnosed in March 2025. However, he did make a costly throwing error in Game 5 of the ALDS in October 2025..."
October 12, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Could Google's AI be stupider? I wanted to see Meadows' error from last night: "Parker Meadows is not currently throwing errors due to a season-ending nerve issue in his right arm that was diagnosed in March 2025. However, he did make a costly throwing error in Game 5 of the ALDS in October 2025..."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Here's some leadership re the compact.
Here's some leadership re the compact.
Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart
orgchart.mit.edu
October 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Here's some leadership re the compact.
Here's some leadership re the compact.