Kirk (the okay one)
@wallofbooks.bsky.social
Just trying to get through the day, man.
Tearing down the east wing without a clear plan for what comes next is such a great metaphor for everything this administration does..
Breaking news: President Trump replaced the architect he handpicked to design his $300 million White House ballroom.
It is unclear whether he was fired or resigned.
It is unclear whether he was fired or resigned.
Trump hires new White House ballroom architect
Although the two had clashed over the size of the project, the decisive factor was the small firm’s limited capacity to handle such an enormous project.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Tearing down the east wing without a clear plan for what comes next is such a great metaphor for everything this administration does..
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
So far, in less than one year, Donald Trump has issued over TEN TIMES as many pardons as he did in his entire four-year first term. That’s a lot of criminals released onto our streets.
December 4, 2025 at 12:32 AM
So far, in less than one year, Donald Trump has issued over TEN TIMES as many pardons as he did in his entire four-year first term. That’s a lot of criminals released onto our streets.
I think so. The only plausible thing the Republicans can do to swing voters back is just send them big checks.
Decent chance the 2026 plan will be something like "send everyone $5000 checks" which dems will be baited into opposing
December 3, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I think so. The only plausible thing the Republicans can do to swing voters back is just send them big checks.
Long thread incoming.
I want to talk for a sec about just how bad--from a biblical studies POV--the assignment from the OU psych student was.
You can see it here:
drive.google.com/file/d/1qxnV...
I want to talk for a sec about just how bad--from a biblical studies POV--the assignment from the OU psych student was.
You can see it here:
drive.google.com/file/d/1qxnV...
Lesson 3.3 - Reaction Paper - Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health.pdf
drive.google.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Long thread incoming.
I want to talk for a sec about just how bad--from a biblical studies POV--the assignment from the OU psych student was.
You can see it here:
drive.google.com/file/d/1qxnV...
I want to talk for a sec about just how bad--from a biblical studies POV--the assignment from the OU psych student was.
You can see it here:
drive.google.com/file/d/1qxnV...
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Their conclusions:
~Autistic people are fairer, and more consistent w/what they consider fair
~Autistic ppl may demonstrate "inequality aversion", a dislike of screwing ppl over. Authors also invert this and say maybe autistic ppl like it when everyone's maximally satisfied w/outcomes
~Autistic people are fairer, and more consistent w/what they consider fair
~Autistic ppl may demonstrate "inequality aversion", a dislike of screwing ppl over. Authors also invert this and say maybe autistic ppl like it when everyone's maximally satisfied w/outcomes
December 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Their conclusions:
~Autistic people are fairer, and more consistent w/what they consider fair
~Autistic ppl may demonstrate "inequality aversion", a dislike of screwing ppl over. Authors also invert this and say maybe autistic ppl like it when everyone's maximally satisfied w/outcomes
~Autistic people are fairer, and more consistent w/what they consider fair
~Autistic ppl may demonstrate "inequality aversion", a dislike of screwing ppl over. Authors also invert this and say maybe autistic ppl like it when everyone's maximally satisfied w/outcomes
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Thanks to @annmemmott.bsky.social for sharing-- this paper demonstrates that people with #autism are more likely to care about people who aren't family or close friends, and that this is likely related to their understanding of what is fair/honorable.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Thanks to @annmemmott.bsky.social for sharing-- this paper demonstrates that people with #autism are more likely to care about people who aren't family or close friends, and that this is likely related to their understanding of what is fair/honorable.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Note: He is expressly saying "the murders we are doing are with the President's express approval" and the President is nodding along as he says it; this is not going to be a complicated war crimes trial if the Hague ever gets its hands on either of them
Hegseth: "We've only just begun striking narco boats and putting narcoterrorists at the bottom of the ocean"
December 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Note: He is expressly saying "the murders we are doing are with the President's express approval" and the President is nodding along as he says it; this is not going to be a complicated war crimes trial if the Hague ever gets its hands on either of them
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
“AI is clearly sticking around so you have to get used to it” wrong. I don’t have to get used to shit. I am a practiced hater and I can keep this going for decades if I am required to
December 1, 2025 at 11:29 PM
“AI is clearly sticking around so you have to get used to it” wrong. I don’t have to get used to shit. I am a practiced hater and I can keep this going for decades if I am required to
I’m going with Ethan Hawke. That gets me the Before trilogy (my all time favorites), great mini-series like The Good Lord Bird and The Lowdown, some action (Training Day), some horror (The Purge, Sinister, Black Telephone), sentimental fave Dead Poet’s Society. I think I’d be good with that.
This is a Bill Simmons game, but you’re stranded on a desert island. You can only have one actor’s filmography. You get it all, including cameos. But just the one performer.
I’m taking Cate Blanchett: Talented Mr. Ripley, LOTR, Life Aquatic, Black Bag, Tár, Ponyo, Hot Fuzz, Eyes Wide Shut, Thor
I’m taking Cate Blanchett: Talented Mr. Ripley, LOTR, Life Aquatic, Black Bag, Tár, Ponyo, Hot Fuzz, Eyes Wide Shut, Thor
December 1, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I’m going with Ethan Hawke. That gets me the Before trilogy (my all time favorites), great mini-series like The Good Lord Bird and The Lowdown, some action (Training Day), some horror (The Purge, Sinister, Black Telephone), sentimental fave Dead Poet’s Society. I think I’d be good with that.
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Either you understand that there is an organized campaign to push trans people out of public life with the explicit end goal of "morally mandating us out of existence" that is backed by some of the wealthiest individuals to have ever lived, or you're simply not equipped to grasp what's happening.
December 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Either you understand that there is an organized campaign to push trans people out of public life with the explicit end goal of "morally mandating us out of existence" that is backed by some of the wealthiest individuals to have ever lived, or you're simply not equipped to grasp what's happening.
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Look, y'all know I hate AI as much as the next passionate hater of AI, but ChatGPT has nothing on the University of Oklahoma deciding that based on the first amendment students can literally say anything in their papers as existential threat to the university.
Oklahoma University has placed a grad student instructor on admin leave for failing a psychology paper on gender for citing *the Bible* as a source of empirical evidence.
In response, OU has placed on instructor on admin leave citing, get this, the FIRST AMENDMENT.
Universities are cooked.
In response, OU has placed on instructor on admin leave citing, get this, the FIRST AMENDMENT.
Universities are cooked.
December 1, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Look, y'all know I hate AI as much as the next passionate hater of AI, but ChatGPT has nothing on the University of Oklahoma deciding that based on the first amendment students can literally say anything in their papers as existential threat to the university.
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
This is gonna seem like a nitpick, but I think it's significant: It's not a professor, it's a graduate TA.
Thinking back on my time as a TA thirty years ago, universities use TAs as cannon fodder, asking them to hold certain rigorous lines but reliably failing to support them.
Thinking back on my time as a TA thirty years ago, universities use TAs as cannon fodder, asking them to hold certain rigorous lines but reliably failing to support them.
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
December 1, 2025 at 1:18 AM
This is gonna seem like a nitpick, but I think it's significant: It's not a professor, it's a graduate TA.
Thinking back on my time as a TA thirty years ago, universities use TAs as cannon fodder, asking them to hold certain rigorous lines but reliably failing to support them.
Thinking back on my time as a TA thirty years ago, universities use TAs as cannon fodder, asking them to hold certain rigorous lines but reliably failing to support them.
1) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
2) All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue, by Over the Rhine. Absolutely incredible song.
youtu.be/reAw6rushxg?...
2) All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue, by Over the Rhine. Absolutely incredible song.
youtu.be/reAw6rushxg?...
December 1, 2025 at 2:44 AM
1) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
2) All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue, by Over the Rhine. Absolutely incredible song.
youtu.be/reAw6rushxg?...
2) All I Ever Get For Christmas is Blue, by Over the Rhine. Absolutely incredible song.
youtu.be/reAw6rushxg?...
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Sooo here's a little public records request I just made to the University of Oklahoma.
November 30, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Sooo here's a little public records request I just made to the University of Oklahoma.
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Nine years ago Mike Fitzgerald wrote up an extraordinarily fascinating breakdown of the differences between the Tom Stoppard shooting script and the original Jeffrey Boam draft of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
July 2, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Nine years ago Mike Fitzgerald wrote up an extraordinarily fascinating breakdown of the differences between the Tom Stoppard shooting script and the original Jeffrey Boam draft of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
It's well worth your time: www.creativescreenwriting.com/indiana-jone...
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
If one Afghan nationalist shooter means all Afghan nationalists are evil, wait until I tell you about white male shooters.
November 27, 2025 at 11:04 AM
If one Afghan nationalist shooter means all Afghan nationalists are evil, wait until I tell you about white male shooters.
I had a student essay like this. First paragraph said “since God‘s ways are higher than man’s ways, I have ignored the assigned reading and based my paper on biblical wisdom.“ I gave that paper is zero for not following instructions, but nobody called the governor.
I was an undergrad philosophy major and the intro Ethics class was _dire_ because for every person engaging the material there was one of these people prefacing every statement with "well as a Christian, I believe" and like, that's not what we're doing here!
Turning Point at OU posted this girl's essay in full and man is it rough
November 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I had a student essay like this. First paragraph said “since God‘s ways are higher than man’s ways, I have ignored the assigned reading and based my paper on biblical wisdom.“ I gave that paper is zero for not following instructions, but nobody called the governor.
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Co-signing all of this. The change since I started teaching 16 years ago is stark.
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Co-signing all of this. The change since I started teaching 16 years ago is stark.
Okay, @profanity.accountant , gimme the numbers
November 29, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Okay, @profanity.accountant , gimme the numbers
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
Effectively there is no *one* person performing the duties of President of the United States right now. We are in an interregnum with an occupied throne.
The fundamental thing to understand about this administration is the president is a grumpy retiree. He has no interest in working anymore. Which leads to him being pissed that he is getting asked a question, pissed he has to show up and work, the scheming viziers running the show, etc..
“You’re a stupid person” — Trump lashes out at a reporter who presses him on the fact that the suspected DC shooter was actually thoroughly vetted before he was let in the US from Afghanistan
November 28, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Effectively there is no *one* person performing the duties of President of the United States right now. We are in an interregnum with an occupied throne.
Bought a Mac about eight years ago that was always cranky. Something went wrong somewhere on the assembly line, and it never quite behaves the way it is supposed to. Turned it on for the first time in a few years today to erase it and recycle it. Encountering little reminders of my past frustrations
November 27, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Bought a Mac about eight years ago that was always cranky. Something went wrong somewhere on the assembly line, and it never quite behaves the way it is supposed to. Turned it on for the first time in a few years today to erase it and recycle it. Encountering little reminders of my past frustrations
Reposted by Kirk (the okay one)
i'm way better than all of the dogs in the dog show. i can ride a bike, i can cook meals, and i'm very familiar with computers. i can do all kinds of things that they will never be able to do
November 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
i'm way better than all of the dogs in the dog show. i can ride a bike, i can cook meals, and i'm very familiar with computers. i can do all kinds of things that they will never be able to do
You’ve just died.
The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.
The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.
November 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
You’ve just died.
The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.
The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.