David J. Hensley
@david-j-hensley.bsky.social
Associate Professor of History at Georgia Highlands College, opinions my own. Specialized in Modern European History (Belgium, language, and nationalism). Check out my book, Defending French in Flanders, 1873-1974 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).
To be fair, the 1860 Republican Party platform was like 75% about stopping the spread of slavery into the Western territories. Also one of the planks is about making sure naturalized immigrants were treated equally to the native-born. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/re...
Republican Party Platform of 1860 | The American Presidency Project
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
November 9, 2025 at 7:06 AM
To be fair, the 1860 Republican Party platform was like 75% about stopping the spread of slavery into the Western territories. Also one of the planks is about making sure naturalized immigrants were treated equally to the native-born. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/re...
Smithers: "Sir, phrenology was dismissed as quackery 160 years ago."
Burns: "Of course you'd say that, you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter."
Burns: "Of course you'd say that, you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter."
November 6, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Smithers: "Sir, phrenology was dismissed as quackery 160 years ago."
Burns: "Of course you'd say that, you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter."
Burns: "Of course you'd say that, you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter."
I hate the "customer service" mentality metastasizing throughout Higher Ed. I saw this really terrible Op-Ed last year that goes all in on "customer service."
archive.is/PADyX
archive.is/PADyX
archive.is
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I hate the "customer service" mentality metastasizing throughout Higher Ed. I saw this really terrible Op-Ed last year that goes all in on "customer service."
archive.is/PADyX
archive.is/PADyX
Counterpoint:
November 4, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Counterpoint:
Unless it produces a fake citation or a "as an AI model" type "tell," it's essentially impossible to prove that it's AI (at least, so that administration would take my side), so I just grade to the rubric as strictly as possible. It's been a very disheartening few years for me.
November 3, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Unless it produces a fake citation or a "as an AI model" type "tell," it's essentially impossible to prove that it's AI (at least, so that administration would take my side), so I just grade to the rubric as strictly as possible. It's been a very disheartening few years for me.
I wish this was the case with my students, who are overwhelmingly taking History courses for general education requirements in a nursing or business program. The use of AI is omnipresent despite my repeated attempts to explain that it short-circuits learning.
November 3, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I wish this was the case with my students, who are overwhelmingly taking History courses for general education requirements in a nursing or business program. The use of AI is omnipresent despite my repeated attempts to explain that it short-circuits learning.
See also Cuomo's anti-Mamdani (and also anti-Sliwa) ads made with AI, which are frankly libelous. I can't believe he is allowed to use these things in a campaign for public office.
November 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM
See also Cuomo's anti-Mamdani (and also anti-Sliwa) ads made with AI, which are frankly libelous. I can't believe he is allowed to use these things in a campaign for public office.
In grad school, we History PhD students had a "historical villains"-themed Halloween party. One friend, who studied Early Modern England, wore a little fence (like from a model train setup) around his neck. He said was going as "Enclosure."
October 31, 2025 at 10:08 PM
In grad school, we History PhD students had a "historical villains"-themed Halloween party. One friend, who studied Early Modern England, wore a little fence (like from a model train setup) around his neck. He said was going as "Enclosure."
Her being Robert Kardashian's kid is what made her sex tape notable at first; this led to her becoming a media figure in her own right which is how she met Kanye.
October 31, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Her being Robert Kardashian's kid is what made her sex tape notable at first; this led to her becoming a media figure in her own right which is how she met Kanye.
As someone who voted for Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 primaries, I feel secure in saying this is a certified bad take. One needs to avoid even "the appearance of impropriety," and Platner leaving a Totenkopf tattoo on his person even after he learned its significance is instantly disqualifying.
October 24, 2025 at 8:34 PM
As someone who voted for Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 primaries, I feel secure in saying this is a certified bad take. One needs to avoid even "the appearance of impropriety," and Platner leaving a Totenkopf tattoo on his person even after he learned its significance is instantly disqualifying.
But he is also be ineligible to be *elected as vice-president*. I suppose one could argue that he could be appointed VP under the 25th Amendment.
October 24, 2025 at 4:09 AM
But he is also be ineligible to be *elected as vice-president*. I suppose one could argue that he could be appointed VP under the 25th Amendment.
Yeah, the problem with that is that the 12th Amendment states that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." The 22nd Amendment thus makes serving 2 terms as president disqualifying for election to VP.
October 24, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Yeah, the problem with that is that the 12th Amendment states that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." The 22nd Amendment thus makes serving 2 terms as president disqualifying for election to VP.
This is about the demolition of the East Wing of the White House and not Platner, but it's still a bad take.
October 24, 2025 at 3:17 AM
This is about the demolition of the East Wing of the White House and not Platner, but it's still a bad take.
"Cephalagia" is literally just headache in Greek, lol. But it makes the list seem more serious I suppose. Just ask this scientician!
October 23, 2025 at 7:44 PM
"Cephalagia" is literally just headache in Greek, lol. But it makes the list seem more serious I suppose. Just ask this scientician!
The idea that you can take someone's public utterances/writings and "reconstruct" them from those, complete with the same personality, ideology, tastes, etc., completely discounts the existence of an inner life. To be fair, perhaps many AI bros don't have much of an inner life.
October 16, 2025 at 8:49 PM
The idea that you can take someone's public utterances/writings and "reconstruct" them from those, complete with the same personality, ideology, tastes, etc., completely discounts the existence of an inner life. To be fair, perhaps many AI bros don't have much of an inner life.
Speaking of Sora abuse (ie, all uses of Sora)
bsky.app/profile/davi...
bsky.app/profile/davi...
I am in a Facebook group where people ridicule AI slop. Someone shared a Sora video in which Hitler was giving a TED Talk about how he was forced into World War II by the Poles & the Brits. I reported it & FB said it was not "hateful." Also, Sora apparently has no qualms producing vids with Hitler.
October 14, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Speaking of Sora abuse (ie, all uses of Sora)
bsky.app/profile/davi...
bsky.app/profile/davi...
Thanks, that's what I suspected. I read an anecdote about a lecturer who put googly eyes and a mustache on a pencil and used it as a puppet in front of his students, and then abruptly broke it in half. He said they looked at him like he had just committed murder.
October 12, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Thanks, that's what I suspected. I read an anecdote about a lecturer who put googly eyes and a mustache on a pencil and used it as a puppet in front of his students, and then abruptly broke it in half. He said they looked at him like he had just committed murder.
Do you mean that we are naturally apt to "feel" like things that "look like" written language are the products of thought? Or that we are not?
October 12, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Do you mean that we are naturally apt to "feel" like things that "look like" written language are the products of thought? Or that we are not?
Part of me wonders if human brains are not naturally primed to deal with something that looks like the output of a thought process but which is not.
October 12, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Part of me wonders if human brains are not naturally primed to deal with something that looks like the output of a thought process but which is not.
And of course the image appears to be AI slop...
October 12, 2025 at 5:43 AM
And of course the image appears to be AI slop...
Stay strong king 👑
October 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Stay strong king 👑