Reposted by Roger Arnold
Each group is, at best, myopic to the trade offs they don't like. Hard left types like to think public opinion is infinitely malleable, financial trade offs are fake. Centrists are too willing to morally compromise. The current crop of right wingers don't even have an intellectual current, so.
October 4, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Each group is, at best, myopic to the trade offs they don't like. Hard left types like to think public opinion is infinitely malleable, financial trade offs are fake. Centrists are too willing to morally compromise. The current crop of right wingers don't even have an intellectual current, so.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Dartmouth faculty here, praying that my employer doesn’t do this. It would be an intellectual disgrace, an indelible moral stain, and a betrayal of all across the political spectrum who actually try to build community here.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
It's one thing to succumb to the stick, but Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Penn, USC, MIT, UT, Arizona, Brown, and UVA absolutely must refuse to go chasing after promises of carrots.
It's one thing to succumb to the stick, but Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Penn, USC, MIT, UT, Arizona, Brown, and UVA absolutely must refuse to go chasing after promises of carrots.
Exclusive | White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage
An initial round of nine schools is being asked to sign a wide-ranging accord.
www.wsj.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Dartmouth faculty here, praying that my employer doesn’t do this. It would be an intellectual disgrace, an indelible moral stain, and a betrayal of all across the political spectrum who actually try to build community here.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
People asking critical questions about the suitability of integrating AI into everything written off as emotional, yet their critique comes from a deep understanding of how such tools work (or don't). The "logic" of AI hype, meanwhile, is itself deeply rooted in wishful thinking.
it has been very disappointing to me how many academics (who should know better) are falling for the nonsense. i created this resource to respond to admins at my institution calling me "emotional" for being skeptical of llms: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Questioning AI Resource List
Excellent summary of major problems with companies’ focus on AI written by expert in machine learning: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/ Another g...
docs.google.com
August 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
People asking critical questions about the suitability of integrating AI into everything written off as emotional, yet their critique comes from a deep understanding of how such tools work (or don't). The "logic" of AI hype, meanwhile, is itself deeply rooted in wishful thinking.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
This framing exists because the decision is instantly obvious as one of the legal atrocities of US history, like Dred Scot, the 1870s Civil Rights Cases, Korematsu. The Times doesn’t want to say “The Supreme Court stripped rights out of law” so instead it says “Here’s why they did it to themselves”
June 19, 2025 at 12:43 PM
This framing exists because the decision is instantly obvious as one of the legal atrocities of US history, like Dred Scot, the 1870s Civil Rights Cases, Korematsu. The Times doesn’t want to say “The Supreme Court stripped rights out of law” so instead it says “Here’s why they did it to themselves”
Reposted by Roger Arnold
MA put in a millionaires tax 2 years ago, and the GOP said we'd miss revenue targets & millionaires would flee. MA collected TWICE the projected revenues, and the number of millionaires went UP 40%
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
Not fleeing: New report shows more wealthy residents in Mass., 2 years into 'millionaire's tax'
Despite previous concerns, Massachusetts' "millionaire's tax" hasn't seemed to deter high-earners from continuing to live here, according to a new study from the Institute for Policy Studies.
www.wbur.org
June 19, 2025 at 10:31 PM
MA put in a millionaires tax 2 years ago, and the GOP said we'd miss revenue targets & millionaires would flee. MA collected TWICE the projected revenues, and the number of millionaires went UP 40%
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...
Reposted by Roger Arnold
We have allowed ourselves to believe that it's normal to have 4% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners. We have allowed prisons that violate multiple basic provisions of international humanitarian law. Our prisons are filled with people being literally tortured.
April 15, 2025 at 12:20 AM
We have allowed ourselves to believe that it's normal to have 4% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners. We have allowed prisons that violate multiple basic provisions of international humanitarian law. Our prisons are filled with people being literally tortured.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
I know you aren't going to want to hear this but the reason the system can deport Mahmoud Khalil and send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador is that for years we've been executing factually innocent people like Marcellus Williams and sending legally innocent people to places like Riker's Island.
April 15, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I know you aren't going to want to hear this but the reason the system can deport Mahmoud Khalil and send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador is that for years we've been executing factually innocent people like Marcellus Williams and sending legally innocent people to places like Riker's Island.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
"From a moral standpoint, I don't care about the law. I care about justice. I care about you, my community, and what happens to us."
My weekly curated list of must-read articles and some final thoughts for the week. "To keep as many of us alive and free as possible, we are going to have to recognize the nature of the fight we’re waging, and we are going to have to refuse characterizations that deem some of us disposable."
Must-Reads and Some Thoughts on Deportations and the Rule of Law
“This may be one of the worst moments in history to fetishize the law or the quality of being law-abiding.”
organizingmythoughts.org
April 15, 2025 at 2:32 AM
"From a moral standpoint, I don't care about the law. I care about justice. I care about you, my community, and what happens to us."
Reposted by Roger Arnold
The United States was built on stolen land by stolen people and if we are going to tell stories about how the US became the power house that it has been, start there and continue through to global resource colonialism
Liberal hagiography is actually a gateway to Trumpist revisionism. Stop it.
Liberal hagiography is actually a gateway to Trumpist revisionism. Stop it.
March 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
The United States was built on stolen land by stolen people and if we are going to tell stories about how the US became the power house that it has been, start there and continue through to global resource colonialism
Liberal hagiography is actually a gateway to Trumpist revisionism. Stop it.
Liberal hagiography is actually a gateway to Trumpist revisionism. Stop it.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Despite its falsity, RFK Jr's message resonates with many Americans. Because it gives them a sense of protection against the risks they face and a sense of permission to not feel bad for others who do experience harm.
At an event in W. Va. Friday, RFK Jr. "called on Americans to eat better and exercise" for "pandemic preparedness."
He said otherwise healthy people did not die from Covid-19, but @sherylnyt.bsky.social found that 30% who died were otherwise healthy.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...
He said otherwise healthy people did not die from Covid-19, but @sherylnyt.bsky.social found that 30% who died were otherwise healthy.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...
Update from Sheryl Gay Stolberg
www.nytimes.com
March 28, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Despite its falsity, RFK Jr's message resonates with many Americans. Because it gives them a sense of protection against the risks they face and a sense of permission to not feel bad for others who do experience harm.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
people have been asking "what will it take for dems to act like they have important political work to do _right now_ and not just in 18 months" and the answer seems to be "that will never happen" and so every week or so we get some new confirmation of that and people get angry all over again
this is the thing. will attendance or non-attendance actually *do* anything? probably not. but people are desperate to see the opposition party demonstrate that it actually understands the moment, what it calls for, and is ready to put in the work.
This is also why I wish Dems weren’t attending tonight. At minimum, they shouldn’t applaud a single line.
It makes no sense to correctly argue he’s destroying the country, the rule of law, and the global order and then give him claps for saying something like “manufacturing is great!”
It makes no sense to correctly argue he’s destroying the country, the rule of law, and the global order and then give him claps for saying something like “manufacturing is great!”
March 5, 2025 at 2:02 AM
people have been asking "what will it take for dems to act like they have important political work to do _right now_ and not just in 18 months" and the answer seems to be "that will never happen" and so every week or so we get some new confirmation of that and people get angry all over again
Reposted by Roger Arnold
A thread in response to Francis Collins’ resignation from the NIH today and on the broad political dynamics now enabling the destruction of the world’s leading scientific research institution. It didn’t have to be this way, and it’s essential to recognize that Trump is only symptom, not cause.
When we rebuild the NIH after Trump, let’s make it an engine for public goods and public care rather than for public funding of private industry profits and healthcare exclusion under US health capitalism. We need public systems to directly translate research into universally accessible services.
March 1, 2025 at 8:08 PM
A thread in response to Francis Collins’ resignation from the NIH today and on the broad political dynamics now enabling the destruction of the world’s leading scientific research institution. It didn’t have to be this way, and it’s essential to recognize that Trump is only symptom, not cause.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
The other sin here is thinking that these issues are separable in the first place. They aren't. These dots are not separate or even separable issues. Believing that you can parse anti-DEI from "RFK Jr. And Science" and "trans issues" as if they're not intimately linked is beyond foolish.
We can quibble about the placement of each item but the original sin here is the very existence of this graph. Why on earth would a news organization rank social issues like they're weapons in an RPG?
Of course the NYT sees the "DEI" stuff positively & is neutral on anti-trans discrimination
March 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
The other sin here is thinking that these issues are separable in the first place. They aren't. These dots are not separate or even separable issues. Believing that you can parse anti-DEI from "RFK Jr. And Science" and "trans issues" as if they're not intimately linked is beyond foolish.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Private prisons will soon be using incarcerated individuals to fill the labor shortages in the agriculture and construction markets, as well as service industries. Capitalism incentivizes over criminalization and mass incarceration.
“The shift from forced labor… laid the groundwork for the contemporary reliance on incarcerated people to fill labor shortages, not just in prisons but in industries like agriculture”
7 in 10 US farmworkers are foreign born; 40+% are undocumented
The Trump deportations will be BIG for prison labor
7 in 10 US farmworkers are foreign born; 40+% are undocumented
The Trump deportations will be BIG for prison labor
How Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Could Fuel a Prison Labor Boom
Lacking an available pool of migrant labor, the United Stated has historically turned to another vulnerable group—incarcerated people.
newrepublic.com
March 1, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Private prisons will soon be using incarcerated individuals to fill the labor shortages in the agriculture and construction markets, as well as service industries. Capitalism incentivizes over criminalization and mass incarceration.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
People rightfully praise public libraries for how vital they are and the resources there. But beside that the vibes are just off the charts good. I go in browsing around for 20 minutes and always feel better.
March 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
People rightfully praise public libraries for how vital they are and the resources there. But beside that the vibes are just off the charts good. I go in browsing around for 20 minutes and always feel better.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Can a headline alone be eligible for a Pulitzer?
January 17, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Can a headline alone be eligible for a Pulitzer?
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Mutual aid, sanctuary spaces, sharing pantries, freedom schools, reading collectives, childcare collectives, shared gardens. Just a few ideas of how we keep us safe. We don’t have to give up. But we need to commune. Peace in the struggle. Joy in the fight.
December 4, 2024 at 8:47 PM
Mutual aid, sanctuary spaces, sharing pantries, freedom schools, reading collectives, childcare collectives, shared gardens. Just a few ideas of how we keep us safe. We don’t have to give up. But we need to commune. Peace in the struggle. Joy in the fight.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
This piece made me furious. Nurses are asked to *bid* on shifts, offering to work lower and lower wages, and then the app can fail and not pay them at all. We don't have a nursing shortage, we have a shortage of good jobs sane humans are willing to work. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Uber for Nursing: How an AI-Powered Gig Model Is Threatening Health Care - Roosevelt Institute
Through original interviews with 29 “gig” nurses and nursing assistants, Katie J. Wells and Funda Ustek Spilda find that on-demand nursing companies encourage nurses to work for less pay, fail to prov...
rooseveltinstitute.org
December 17, 2024 at 8:40 PM
This piece made me furious. Nurses are asked to *bid* on shifts, offering to work lower and lower wages, and then the app can fail and not pay them at all. We don't have a nursing shortage, we have a shortage of good jobs sane humans are willing to work. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Reposted by Roger Arnold
it is worth saying that the “anti-woke” character here is a humanities professor at a small liberal arts college & i will again observe that the anti-woke obsession with language reflects the extent to which they are primarily engaged in a status competition with their peers and not politics per se
I am so sick of these faux ‘left’ types laundering MAGA talking points by pretending that sensitivity to language politics is elitism incarnate. Guess what? Giving a shit about how you treat people is the foundation of a consistent politics oriented towards justice, including anti-capitalism.
December 15, 2024 at 8:51 PM
it is worth saying that the “anti-woke” character here is a humanities professor at a small liberal arts college & i will again observe that the anti-woke obsession with language reflects the extent to which they are primarily engaged in a status competition with their peers and not politics per se
Reposted by Roger Arnold
as it turns out, generally speaking, the current social structures in America seem designed to allow violence against the marginalized and even celebrate it. daniel penny might became rich on the right wing circuit. I think that's a far bigger problem than the UHC murder.
December 11, 2024 at 3:46 PM
as it turns out, generally speaking, the current social structures in America seem designed to allow violence against the marginalized and even celebrate it. daniel penny might became rich on the right wing circuit. I think that's a far bigger problem than the UHC murder.
Reposted by Roger Arnold
"The working class is marked for violence, as corporate policies and algorithms decide if our bodies are worthy of maintenance–or if we should simply be left to die."
My latest is a reflection on how people have responded to the killing of a health insurance CEO. "Rather than centering Thompson’s humanity, as scolding voices have demanded, they centered their own, and the humanity and suffering of others who were harmed by the insurance industry."
Insurance Denials, Chronic Pain, and a Nation’s Rage
One might call this development “a morbid symptom” of a late-stage sickness.
organizingmythoughts.org
December 10, 2024 at 11:22 PM
"The working class is marked for violence, as corporate policies and algorithms decide if our bodies are worthy of maintenance–or if we should simply be left to die."
Reposted by Roger Arnold
there is literally nothing you could do at a mcdonalds that would cause a whale to call the cops
December 9, 2024 at 10:42 PM
there is literally nothing you could do at a mcdonalds that would cause a whale to call the cops
Reposted by Roger Arnold
If I were a for-profit health insurer announcing a shockingly ghoulish cost-cutting measure I would simply not do it on a day when the CEO of another for-profit health insurer was gunned down in broad daylight and people went “lol nice”
Blue Cross Blue Shield in Connecticut, New York and Missouri has declared it will no longer pay for anesthesia for the full length of some surgeries.
It the procedure goes over a certain time, anesthesia will not be covered for the duration.
www.asahq.org/about-asa/ne...
It the procedure goes over a certain time, anesthesia will not be covered for the duration.
www.asahq.org/about-asa/ne...
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Won’t Pay for the Complete Duration of Anesthesia for Patients’ Surgical Procedures
In an unprecedented move, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans representing Connecticut, New York and Missouri have unilaterally declared it will no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or pro...
www.asahq.org
December 4, 2024 at 8:18 PM
If I were a for-profit health insurer announcing a shockingly ghoulish cost-cutting measure I would simply not do it on a day when the CEO of another for-profit health insurer was gunned down in broad daylight and people went “lol nice”
Reposted by Roger Arnold
Wild
December 4, 2024 at 9:23 PM
Wild