Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 5h

I'll give it my best shot, but public school teaching is not notorious for its remarkable personal financial flexibility nor its open scheduling for travelling to musical events.

1 2

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 5h

There's a limited Lincolnite way of using illegitimacy (we obey case law, but not precedent) which is the less disruptive version of declaring the Court illegitimate than the George Wallace stand-in-the-schoolhouse-door version, but I've no idea how to draw lines between 'em clearly.

2

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 6h

"we cannot allow a child soldier gap" -Star Wars canon (?)

1 1 8

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 6h

Showed Notorious for my History of Popular Culture class last year and was shocked by just how INTO IT the kids were. Probably the best response of all the full films I showed that year.

3

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 9h

There's got to be some way that we can prevent the worst possible people from owning the idea of resistance to the College Board model for advanced high school ed, there's got to be.

1 2

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 9h

We elected a literal constitutional law professor to two terms in office not even a decade ago and now we have this, a level of understanding of our 1st Amendment doctrine that would not even pass the extremely low standards of the AP Government exam.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

4

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 9h

People whose entire professional existence depends strongly on predictable rule of law, whose loan repayment and retirement plans and kids 529s depend on a stable economic order...these people are, for now, valuable allies of all against a lawless absolute monarch.

13

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 9h

I've watched them on YouTube, though attending would be a bit of a trek from Richmond, VA, alas. I'll keep an eye out for the upcoming one!

1 2

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 9h

Dessa has long been one of my favorite artists, though I've never had a chance to see her live. Nice to hear she's also a good person to work with, not just someone who produces good music.

2 1

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 10h

out of curiosity do you have equally strong opinions (for better or worse) about Dessa or POS or Doomtree more generally?

1

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 10h

Great thread on why historical comparisons must be careful and contextual, without that they often become misleading point-scoring.

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 17h

A good example of why direct inflation adjustment of this sort is more deceptive than clarifying when applied over very long stretches of time where consumption patterns are very different.

Basic foods (bread/grain) probably devours a third of Cratchet's income, but not the modern worker's.

Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley.bsky.social · 19h

👇

2

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 13h

This is very true, but it's also the case that in high-income, high-education countries with much stronger social support systems for parents like the Nordics, Netherlands, France etc there are still fairly low birth rates. So though better social supports might help some, it isn't the ballgame.

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 15h

Not sure whether to trash or highlight this piece. On one hand, it's a thoughtful and interesting use of history to reframe for discussion contemporary political confrontations. On the other hand, Burr was guilty as sin of very real crimes and Jefferson was no incipient authoritarian, so I dunno.

Donald Trump Is Making a Mistake That Blew Up in Thomas Jefferson’s Face

The indictment of Comey echoes a case that diminished the powers of the presidency.

www.politico.com

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 21h

Yes, this is quite right, it is indeed done to mollify parents who want their kids to have whatever small improvement school administration (rather than drawing on family time/resources) gives them, and to get a stronger shot at various programs/monies which use CB data to get their applicant pools.

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

Putting someone who will speak unvarnished reality to argue at the Court feels exactly as positive and cathartic - and exactly as much of a fantasy - as Mr Smith Goes to Washington did about the Senate of the 1930s.

4

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

Lincoln's address to the Wisconsin State Ag society (teachingamericanhistory.org/document/add...) and Marx's attitude towards the Union in the Civil War are a great little microcosm for how mashed-together and weird 19thc political economy approaches were compared to our post Cold War moment.

Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society

In this speech, Lincoln defended free labor from attacks made by those in favor of slavery

teachingamericanhistory.org

7

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

I love a good thorough explanation of the idea of alienated labor, or of excess value capture by capital owners. They remain among the very few elements of classical Marx which can resonate emotionally or socially/economically with contemporary young audiences. Also, Marx would've been a Poster.

1 3

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

The worst part is that it benefits the kids in the absolute college-admissions sense. Students who will have taken PSAT and SAT 3-6 times do improve their scores, and colleges do care about that stuff. So it’s very hard to oppose this particular conscription of our public resources for private gain.

1 3

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, the College Board has so suborned modern high schools that we willingly knuckle under & sacrifice a whole school day every year so that some combination of 9/10/11th graders can repeatedly take PSATs for 'practice,' and to better integrate them into the College Board's data collection system.

3 3 8

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

anyhow, here's a really great music video and song that hit home in some important ways back in the 2000s during the Arab Spring and the economic collapse, and I've somehow stumbled back across again in the last few weeks:

Black Mountain - Tyrants | Live in Sydney | Moshcam

YouTube video by Moshcam

www.youtube.com

1

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

We're starting our unit on Hobbes next week in my political philosophy class, and I really don't want my unit on the political and social background of 17th century English political and social upheavals to feel quite so aggravatingly relevant.

1 13

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

Doing two years in a row teaching new classes where I had to generate the whole curriculum - from strategic goals and yearlong timelines to individual assignments, chunked-up reading and long term activities - is one the most exhausting professional decisions I ever made.

4

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

College Board's AP Program rly needs to stop pretending it has even a spark of interest in anything other than advancing its brand name and revenue at this point. Maybe once, long ago, it had a purpose of providing opportunities for intellectual curiosity and special engagement but...look at this.

A message announcing 'AP Business and Personal Finance'

A Message Announcing 'AP Career Kickstart' with endorsements from 'industry credentials' and 'hiring managers.'

1 1

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 1d

I really want a sociologist to write an article about Francine and the broader phenomenon of internet-beloved-animal-drama because I have no idea what to make of it myself other than "seems much more wholesome than most of what we use the internet for?"

1

Sam Ulmschneider @samulmschneider.bsky.social · 2d

@kangaroopete.bsky.social the responses to this are precisely the sort of thing that will make your day

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 2d

What foods do you love that you fully acknowledge make you a pervert for loving them?