Peter Hart-Brinson

Can we get the balanced budget back too?

Trump orders federal agencies to stop using Anthropic technology in dispute over AI safety President Donald Trump says he's ordering all federal agencies to phase out use of Anthropic technology after the company’s unusually public dispute with the Pentagon over artificial intelligence safe...

AI company to Hegseth: “You can use our tech for anything except mass surveillance of US citizens and autonomous killing machines.”

Hegseth to AI company: “No deal. And I declare your company a national security threat for making such unreasonable demands!”

apnews.com/article/anth...

Professor Hamlet Contemplates Retirement (opinion) Such heady occasion demands a soliloquy.

A bit of genius, I think. I'm proud to call Sean a friend and colleague and miss his presence in Hibbard every day. But oh, what a happy permanent sabbatical!
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...

After 25 years, Wikipedia has proved that news doesn’t need to look like news It's not a news site. But there's a lot to learn from how Wikipedia constructs shared knowledge about what’s happening in the world.

It’s not a news site. But there’s a lot to learn from how Wikipedia constructs shared knowledge about what’s happening in the world. www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/afte...

Texas Governor Declares Muslim Civil Rights Group a ‘Terrorist Organization’

This is awful. By contrast, here's Bush after 9/11: "America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens... Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/u...

Opinion | The Old Order Is Dead. Do Not Resuscitate.

Totally accurate diagnosis. Bonus points for the implicit Hegelian/Marxian dialectic, but maybe I'm just projecting. #ClosetHistoricalMaterialist The sooner we accept this, the sooner we find a better way forward. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/o...

Amazon announced plans to lay off 14,000 employees as it looks to invest more in AI.

Wall Street cheered the news, sending Amazon stock prices higher.

This will boost Amazon's CEO pay and bolster Jeff Bezos's net worth, which is now $250 billion.

The system is rigged.

Empirics which support the argument of Shah and Bender -- dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml...

I had to postpone an exam today because the AWS outage took down Canvas for my entire campus. My students thought it was great, obviously.

I guess I’m a little slow to pick this up, but there is no better symbol for how toxic Silicon Valley has become for humanity than “Open AI steals name of children’s educational library app in order to release copyright-violating deep-fake video generator” #Sora #OpenAI soraapp.com/welcome

Thanks for the shout-out @duncanexley.bsky.social! Short answer isn't surprising: decades of courageous LGBTQ+ activism centered on coming out, which changed hearts, minds, and media representation. Others have written that story better than I ever could though!

Opinion | Students Hate Them. Universities Need Them. The Only Real Solution to the A.I. Cheating Crisis.

Great take from Clay Shirky on AI and higher ed. My favorite line: "Contrary to much popular opinion, college is not in the information transfer business; we are in the identity formation business." Gift article www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

The first time Charlie Chaplin used his voice in a film, he wielded it to forcefully condemn the rising forces of fascism around the globe. Will we listen to his words today?

The talking points by Netanyahu and Trump are such eerie echoes of the run-up to 2003’s invasion of Iraq. Sad that we seem to have learned nothing, and surely more innocent civilians will pay with their lives

When a person compares his own actions to The Office, you know things are bad. But did we expect anything less from DOGE? Veterans, thank you for your service! You deserve better than this

Greetings from No Kings Denver! I pledge allegiance to the flag and the Constitution. Therefore, I pledge to say no to would-be tyrants who trample both just to enrich themselves. Liberty and justice for all!

Yes, this is wild. "Breaking news" journalism now includes personal fight between world's most powerful man and world's richest man. What a time to be alive!

So it's Trump vs Musk, is it also Truth Social vs X? I always expected the personal relationship to blow up at some point, but I never considered how their social networks with ego-centric algorithms would also get pulled in. I'll be eager to learn about the spill-over effects someday...

Remember: If unions didn’t matter, powerful corporations wouldn’t spend millions of dollars every year to stop workers from organizing. Keep up the fight.

I'm having more fun on social media today than I have had in a long time.

Solidarity by Leah Hunt-Hendrix, Astra Taylor: 9780593701249 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • From renowned organizers and activists Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, comes the first in-depth examination of Solidarity—not just as a rallying cry, but as...

Just finished reading Solidarity, by @astra.bsky.social and @lhh.bsky.social It’s marvelous! Read this if you are looking for direction and inspiration in these dark times. I will be returning to it again and again… www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/740355...

The unemployment rate for recent grads is worse now relative to the overall economy than any time on record. Three flavors of explanation:

Short-term: It's Trump.
Medium-term: It's the flagging college premium.
Long-term: Is Gen-AI substituting for new hires?

www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch...

Looking forward to reading this!

This hits just a little too close to home, but yes, the Onion nails it.

But to deliver those benefits, chatbot makers will have to acknowledge that their users’ mental health is now partially their responsibility. Social networks waited far too long to acknowledge that some meaningful percentage of their users have terrible outcomes from overusing them. It would be a true shame if the would-be inventors of superintelligence aren’t smart enough to do better this time around.

New research shows that heavy chatbot usage is correlated with loneliness and reduced socialization. I talked to the researchers about whether AI companies will learn the lesson that social networks didn't: www.platformer.news/openai-chatg...

Milwaukee-area woman deported to Laos though she's never been there, doesn't speak the language As Donald Trump pushes the mass deportation of immigrants, Yang believes she is one of the first Hmong Americans to be deported to Laos recently.

A student on my campus just shared this story: another heartbreaking example of how inhumane and cruel the United States has become. Students are afraid. We have to be better than this. www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...

"It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment. … Therefore, the award is terminated." #waronscience

Dear Mr. Bezos: These Columns Are All About Liberties and Markets! I have taken the liberty of crafting two pieces for the new Washington Post op-ed page that defend personal liberties and free markets. And here they are.

Dear Mr. Bezos:

By insisting that the pieces that run on that page support “personal liberties” and “free markets,” you have inspired me to submit this piece for publication.

newrepublic.com/article/1920...

Washington Post opinion editor departs as Bezos pushes to promote ‘personal liberties and free markets’ Opinion editor leaves as Amazon executive and newspaper owner says ‘viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others’

The blatant hypocrisy is breathtaking: I, Jeff Bezos, will refuse to print anything that isn't supportive of personal liberties or free markets, thereby undermining the personal liberties and the free marketplace of ideas that I am supposedly advocating www.theguardian.com/media/2025/f...

Today I’m a proud member of both @aftunion.bsky.social and @asanews.bsky.social