May 2025
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The imbecile RFK Jr. ramping up his war on vaccines, one of the great public health triumphs of the 20th-century
He's interfering with vaccine development (which may interfere with updated Covid shots in the fall, unbelievably); and instead of a massive vaccination campaign for measles, the imbecile is directing a study for miracle treatments, including vitamins. Of all the awful and unqualified Cabinet appointees, I still suspect RFK Jr. is the most dangerous. Just horrible.
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Harvard “fights” Trump in court, but does his bidding on campus
Revealing report from the Harvard Crimson. Of course, these changes are relatively benign compared to the outrageous demands the Trumpistas were making.
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A strong piece by the Columbia philosophy student unlawfully detained by the Trumpistas in Vermont
Here; an excerpt: The American government accuses me of undermining U.S. foreign policy, a patently absurd pretext for deportation for political speech that the Trump administration dislikes. The government is scraping the bottom of the barrel in its attempts to smear me. My only “crime” is refusing to accept the slaughter of Palestinians, opposing war…
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Group of Yale faculty call for hiring freeze on administrative staff…
…and a faculty-led audit of administrative bloat. Other universities should probably do the same, although some of the administrative bloat is surely brought on by legal requirements, but much of it is not. (Thanks to Michael Clune for the pointer.)
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Federal district court in DC permanently enjoins Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie
Here. I assume this will survive on appeal, if they even bother to appeal. This makes the capitulation of Paul Weiss, Kirkland, Skadden Arps et al. even more embarassing.
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Hübner from Cornell to UCLA
Karolina Hübner (early modern philosophy, Jewish philosophy, history of metaphysics, philosophical theology), Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University, has accepted a tenured offer from the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she will start this fall.
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Brake from Rice to Wisconsin/Madison
Elizabeth Brake (ethics, applied ethics, political philosophy, feminist philosophy), Professor of Philosophy at Rice University, has accepted a senior offer from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she she will start next academic year.
I only just learned of Barry’s passing, and I’m enormously saddened at the news. I wrote my PhD on his…