Ben Sharkey
@bsharkey.bsky.social
110 followers 140 following 77 posts
astronomer, archivist at U. Maryland (Small Bodies Node). aspiring killjoy.
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Reposted by Ben Sharkey
shaunvids.bsky.social
actually our AI programs are like people so its racist to say you don't like them. anyway would you like to buy one
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
jamellebouie.net
the usual story. rich guy wants to punish universities for not clamping down on pro-palestinian protests and for doing too much to recruit minorities. at base these guys want the top tier of american universities to become, once more, safe-spaces for their dunderheaded failsons
The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
lizneeley.bsky.social
Some problems have simple solutions. This new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is one. The answer is simply saying no.

Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
austinwalker.bsky.social
I mostly agree with this, but more so: Any time spent on saying "they have incoherent politics" is probably better spent saying "what ideology, which policies, what social strategys have produced this violent nihilism, and what analogs do they have historically?"
maxkriegervg.bsky.social
since a lot of ppl are discussing the ICE camp shooter's apparent lack of ideology, i would like to posit that online irony blackpill is absolutely an ideology with coherent tenets - the reason it appears incoherent is because this an ideology primarily defined by faithlessness, negative space
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
austinwalker.bsky.social
"We're going to have to learn to live with [radical right wing demagoguery with all its associated violence]" is:

- An abdication of responsibility.

- An abandonment of hope.

- A position only available to those who feel safe enough with an ongoing catastrophe to begin the work of normalizing it
ezrakleinbot.bsky.social
"Much of what I would describe as Kirk's worst moments were now just standard fair MAGA Republicanism. And the leader of MAGA Republicanism is the President of the United States...we are going to have to live here with each other believing what we believe. Disagreeing in the ways we disagree."
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
katbamkapow.bsky.social
me: clean up your citations, it's easy to do! just a little mindless activity you can do to tidy up a document before you submit and make sure you've dotted your is and crossed your ts! :)

also me: nnnnnoooooOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ah! ah! ah!!!!!!!!!!
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
shengokai.blacksky.app
A blanket condemnation of "political violence" in our current cultural context is worthless given the ways that any disruption of the status-quo is treated as "violence."

In contrast, Pritzker locating the source of increase in violence in Pres. Trump's ongoing rhetoric attributes a cause.
heartlandsignal.bsky.social
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on the shooting of Charlie Kirk:

"Political violence, unfortunately, has ramped up in this country ... I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president's rhetoric often foments it."
bsharkey.bsky.social
“oh there’s like a bridge in there”

@asrivkin.bsky.social
bsharkey.bsky.social
we call this list "the reverse knoblauch"
bsharkey.bsky.social
science has been way more about listening to my peers than it was about solving a diff eq fast
bsharkey.bsky.social
my sympathies, and i hope you continue to get the space and time that you need to grieve
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
asherelbein.bsky.social
Well, let me put this in terms that a scientist might understand: when you throw your colleagues to the wolves, you are training them to expect to be fed
matthewjkuiper.bsky.social
In which a Yale prof calls for jettisoning humanities to make way for science-only universities.

“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
Unyoke the Sciences From the Humanities
Arts and sciences typically cohabitate. Should they?
thedispatch.com
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
unburntwitch.com
Pointing out how safe DC by showing the low crime rates isn’t going to convince conservatives because “people breaking the actual law” isn’t what they mean by “crime”. To them, “crime” includes merely seeing black people, unhoused people, and anyone else the bigots clutch pearls about as “crime”
bsharkey.bsky.social
hey @asrivkin.bsky.social looks like someone got inspired by the kuiper carborne observatory
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
chanda.blacksky.app
In light of the Columbia and Brown deals, I’m bumping these slides again about the Nazi takeover of German science, which includes discussion about how they took over academia, in a manner very similar to the Brown and Columbia deals
chanda.blacksky.app
In light of this deeply illegal activity at NSF and the ongoing attack on American science, I'm posting the slides from my 2017 talk at the American Physical Society about the Nazi take over of German physics/why German is no longer science's lingua franca 🧪

🧵 1/26
drive.google.com/file/d/1_MCm...
nazi germany & physics
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD
Department of  Physics,University of Washington, Seattle
APS April Meeting, January 2017
Dismantling the (Nazi) German Nuclear Reactor (Pile) at Haigerloch, 50 km SW of Stuttgart, in April 1945
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
illdottore.bsky.social
Time to unionize
audreytruschke.bsky.social
What the hell is Brown thinking agreeing to this??

“Student course evaluations that are collected on an anonymous basis at the end of each semester will be regularly reviewed to identify any reports of antisemitism, which will be promptly referred to OECR for appropriate action”
www.brown.edu
bsharkey.bsky.social
“i couldn’t find a citation for that arithmetic truth”
bsharkey.bsky.social
bruh this shit is comical, “actually r&a is fractionally increasing because we’re killing so many missions!”
bsharkey.bsky.social
let me know if you need a ringo
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
erinbartram.bsky.social
Sharing this again because too many in higher ed think the appropriate analgesic for this pain is AI.
Reposted by Ben Sharkey
electrolemon.bsky.social
here’s just a list of numbers
bsharkey.bsky.social
just saw that detail and i’m losing my shit!!!
bsharkey.bsky.social
that airport has like 10 flights a day i mean come the fuck on