Nicole Guenther Discenza
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ndiscenza1.bsky.social
Nicole Guenther Discenza
@ndiscenza1.bsky.social

Medievalist who loves reading, especially science fiction & fantasy. I don't speak for my employer or anyone else.
she/hers

Philosophy 31%
History 28%
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Remember alt text, folks!
And if you're like me and sometimes forget, go to your Settings, find Accessibility, and have Bluesky remind you!
Next week el taller @ kjcc is hosting @lollardfish.bsky.social, who will lead a workshop on public writing and give a talk on how public writing does/can factor into academic life, hiring, and promotion. RSVP required. Please share widely!

tinyurl.com/perryworkshop and tinyurl.com/perryeltaller

Congratulations! It's such a wonderful book, I'm so glad it was nominated!

Congratulations to her!

A very good and very disturbing piece, with so many things I didn't know that I won't begin to list them. Set aside a few minutes to read it.
More than those details, however, the argument is persuasive.

oh no

I am a monster. I use commas in file names. I use really long file names to help when I search for the file because even though I think I have sensible filing systems, sometimes it's just not enough.
I want labels for file like Gmail has for emails.

I would 100% do that.
I've read before that it was a common issue in the Muppet appearances on talk shows that the microphone operator kept positioning the mic close to the Muppet, and therefore not always capturing the human providing the voice.

Detail after detail is absolutely chilling.
No one should be treated this way, even convicts.
Yet the majority of detainees have NO criminal record
One organizer was grabbed and put in solitary for 21 hours—she's a citizen, and they kidnapped her for organizing.

The thread includes reworked lyrics for the Muppet Show theme song, so don't miss what follows
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

I didn't know that leprosy/Hansen's disease "is one of the least contagious diseases there is. 95% of humans are naturally immune and it's not easily contracted by the other 5%. Today, leprosy is easily cured with antibiotics"

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

"Let's look at the text!"

TIL that dildos have expiration dates—and what a way to learn!
At Whipple where expired dicks are being thrown at ICE vehicles and those believed to be agitators. The area has been a place of protest since thousands of federal agents arrived in the city.

Near Minneapolis February 7, 2026

sounds TERRIFYING
Hahaha OK that's pretty good.
Lotta folk saying FAMU should fight back & resist or whatever but FAMU & other HBCUs above all else need to Remain Open.

That is their job right now. To remain open.

Harvard should fight. Yale should fight. Ivy League schools with war chests rivaling small countries should fight.

They fell first.
I've read before that it was a common issue in the Muppet appearances on talk shows that the microphone operator kept positioning the mic close to the Muppet, and therefore not always capturing the human providing the voice.
A Florida A&M University law student says the school told her to remove the word 'Black' from a Black History Month event flyer. The school says it is in full compliance with state law
‘Black’ banned from flyers for FAMU College of Law Black History Month event, student says
A student at FAMU College of Law says the school told her to remove the word 'black' from a Black History Month event flyer. The school says it is in full compliance with state law.
www.clickorlando.com
FAMU can't use the word Black on anything posted around campus related to Black History Month, to stay in compliance with Florida state laws against DEI. Black students can't use the word Black at their Historically Black College during Black History Month.
A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:
Concentration camps:

“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
Exclusive: Detention Center Captives Are Throwing Lotion Bottles Wrapped With Notes to Organizers Outside Otay Mesa Facility ~ L.A. TACO
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh," an Otay Mesa captive communicated through handwritten note. "We are all in one big room with no doors...
lataco.com
"Her family sent her away when she was only 12 years old ... They feared her presence in the home would tarnish the family's reputation and her siblings would never be married. Alamelu, who is now 75, never saw her family again." #GlobalHealth www.npr.org/2026/02/07/g...
They're cured of leprosy. Why do they still live in leprosy colonies?
Leprosy is one of the least contagious diseases around — and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. The colonies are relics of a not-too-distant past when those diagnosed with leprosy were exiled.
www.npr.org

GIFT LINK
You should read this. It is the type of detail that experts in authoritarian regimes see as telling.
In this case, state agents are offered impunity from higher ups, and the legal system is rendered inoperative as a mode of accountability.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...
Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.
www.nytimes.com

I grew up Muppet. Even more than Star Trek or Doctor Who, that show was formative for me.
Same for my husband.
We turned it on this week, and I was seven years old again.

So true.
Note: GIFT LINK
"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)
Opinion | This Is Just Who Trump Is
www.nytimes.com

I watched The Muppet Show this week, and the closest I have to a complaint is: it is going to be hard to equal having Sabrina Carpenter on the show!

Keep it coming!
a woman in a white feathered dress is standing next to a pink piggy doll
ALT: a woman in a white feathered dress is standing next to a pink piggy doll
media.tenor.com

I'm in Florida and learned things from this interview that I didn't know.

Yes: this is happening at all state universities in Florida.
Departments are told courses cannot be offered as General Education courses, but often not why. We often get guesses: maybe it's this word in the title. Maybe it's this learning outcome. Maybe it's this textbook (see lower in the thread):
@grundrza.bsky.social goes into detail about censors avoiding putting directives in writing, making accountability harder to accomplish.

and at a dissertation defense, not just a conference paper

I'm laughing real tears