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Jay D. Aronson

@jaydaronson.bsky.social
3.3K followers 1.1K following 629 posts

History, STS, human rights documentation, deaths in custody, criminal legal system, etc. New Book: deathincustodybook.com Podcast: officialignorance.com

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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Count Draugula @artd.bsky.social · 11h
the abolitionist's dilemma
venn diagram
left
some people need their ass beat
right
punishment does not transform people
middle
me
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 5h
Whenever anyone asks me what my next academic project will be, your Venn diagram is exactly what I tell them (in every so slightly different words 😂)!!!
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
sakura christmas @prof-christmas.bsky.social · 16h
The UT-Austin Core Curriculum Task Force is requiring that Gen Ed courses draw 50% of their readings from this list of 50. Unfortunately, it seems to think that the “Great Questions of Human Life” can only be explored through the canon of Western civ (token exception: Confucius).
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"The cohorts who came of age during the crime boom of the 1980s and 1990s are aging out of the criminal justice system. The generations behind them entered adulthood with far lower rates of crime and arrest."
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"The U.S. prison population is declining at an accelerating rate, and prison admission rates are predicted to fall an additional 50% within the next two decades, according to new research from University at Albany professor Shawn Bushway." "the decline is driven mainly by generational change."
phys.org
New research shows steep and continuing decline in prison population in the US
The U.S. prison population is declining at an accelerating rate, and prison admission rates are predicted to fall an additional 50% within the next two decades, according to new research from Universi...
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Eugenics was Anglo-American before it was German. No need to look elsewhere for its roots…
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Nursing Clio @nursingclio.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This week for NC our author explores the rise of “Keeper” an illustrates how this app’s AI algorithms perpetuate eugenic love. nursingclio.org/2026/10/01/t...
nursingclio.org
The “Keeper” of Modern US Eugenics: How AI Matchmaking Perpetuates Eugenic Love
In 2022, tech entrepreneurs Jake Kozloski and Cody Zervas launched a new dating website. Unlike Bumble or Hinge, this site is powered by artificial intelligence and promises its users “love at fir…
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Check out this article by my amazing graduate student Abby Cramer! She identifies the links between today’s techbro eugenics and that of 20th c. eugenist Paul Popenoe, an early supporter of eugenic sterilization who became a marriage counselor to ensure “high quality” produced lots of offspring.
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The fiscal year is over. The dying Social, Behavioral, and Economic division of NSF ended up awarding 90 total grants this year, as opposed to ~700-800 in recent past years. Source: grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses...
The graph shows the cumulative number of awards made by month across this fiscal year, as compared to the last 6 fiscal years. The line for this year is total flat until June, but then finally gets up to 91 by October. In prior years the increase starts building earlier and ends on average in the 700-800 range (with variability, last year was only between 400-500).
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Sliwa getting a flu shot: This could be very embarrassing. I’m supposed to be a tough guy, right? Mamdani: I can hold your hand. Sliwa: What happens if I faint? Mamdani: I got you. Doctor: You’re in great hands, literally. New Yorkers can find free flu shots and locations at nyc.gov/healthmap
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Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:
Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads: 

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
andscape.com/features/tus...
andscape.com
New Tuskegee soccer programs provide opportunity for athletes to compete while fulfilling HBCU dreams - Andscape
Tuskegee's soccer programs are a month into their inaugural season, hoping to build momentum for HBCU soccer with the help of a docuseries.
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
they probably made the right prudent call in charging as they did. I wrote about it at the time. would they charge same today? 🤷‍♂️
nytimes.com
Opinion | With I.C.C. Arrest Warrants, Let Justice Take Its Course (Gift Article)
The request for International Criminal Court arrest warrants promotes the idea that the basic rules of international humanitarian law apply to all.
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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I think this is sorta wrong. genocide is notoriously difficult to prosecute in intl tribunals. whether the prosecutors believe it’s genocide and whether they believe they can get convictions are different things.
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
He just copied the prompt, a sample reflection, some language from the syllabus, and then he and his friend laughed as they read the output. This was after he used Chat to complete another assignment for a different class—it was about 15 minutes into the talk.
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Went to an event at CMU (franchise opportunities available!) on autonomous weapons & sat next to a kid who very nonchalantly used Chat to construct an event reflection for a class in my direct line of sight. The assignment said No GenAI! I’m not a cop so I said nothing but boy was I depressed.
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This story is straight out of the pages of the Jewish Onion, but it is indeed true and very relatable. I often have Fruit Gems, or at least wrappers in my suit pockets/tallis bag, and their very particular crinkle sound is deeply comforting! jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/sunkist-frui...
jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com
Sunkist Fruit Gems return after panic over loss of synagogue staple
The company told JTA its candy would retain kosher certification, individual wrapping and fruit flavors.
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 01/10/2026
According to United Nations data, about 82 percent of the structures in Gaza are damaged, with two -thirds of them destroyed. With international journalists still widely unable to enter Gaza freely, satellite imagery remains one of the only ways to assess the true scale of destruction.
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 01/10/2026
The centre of Bani Suheila, a town to the east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, also looks drastically different from how it appears in the latest Google imagery. Updated imagery from Planet shows that even more of the buildings have been reduced to rubble, with an IDF outpost now visible on top.
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 01/10/2026
The images now visible on Google Maps and Earth were published in June 2026 but show a scene captured by the imagery provider Airbus in February. These images show a vast difference between the previous images published on Google which were from June 2024.
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 01/10/2026
Viral reports this week suggested new Google satellite imagery showed unseen destruction in Gaza. But the imagery actually depicts the scene in February 2026. Bellingcat has obtained satellite images from September that show how the destruction has continued. www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...
bellingcat.com
Viral Google Maps Images Shared Widely This Week Show Gaza Ruins. We Obtained More Recent Satellite Imagery - bellingcat
Earlier this week, several viral social media posts and news articles stated that Google had updated satellite imagery over Gaza. But the images weren't entirely new.
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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 16/09/2026
Reading proofs from book & remembering what I wrote in 2015: "I am very concerned about the future of AI. Not because of the risk of rogue machines taking over. But because of the homogeneous, one-dimensional group of men who are currently involved in advancing the technology.”
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Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
“removing classes such as Women and the Holocaust, Native American Women’s History and Black Political Thought. None of the Women and Gender Studies courses submitted were approved.” 2/2
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Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If this isn’t blatant viewpoint discrimination, then I don’t know what is. “The Office of the Provost rejected 57 of 77 applications from the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis to retain core curriculum status for the 2027-28 academic year . . . 1/2 thedailytexan.com/2026/09/24/u...
thedailytexan.com
University rejects over 30 courses of a COLA department’s requested core curriculum courses,
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story and headline incorrectly stated the number and percentage of courses of Social and Cultural Analysis that were rejected by the Office of the Provost due...
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 24/09/2026
over the past few weeks several AI evaluation/cybersecurity experts have explained how what's happening is a result of human incompetence rather than "AI going rogue". I'm begging the media to show a shred of journalistic integrity and stop parroting what altman or amodei say
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Hegseth sounds exactly like the evil CEO character in the Slaughterbots videos.
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Anthropic settlement is an absolute clusterfuck that feels like it's being managed by AI not lawyers. If this is the future, opt me out!
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Of course I agree with Kevin as we limp along at CUNY hobbled by decades of under-funding. It hasn't been costless. I am not feeling sanguine given the Dems even in blue states have decided public higher ed = vocational training. But will I stop pushing the Dems on it? No.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
AAUP, AFT, and HELU have a plan draft! College For All, in expansion now for 2026 and 2028 www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...
aaup.org
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
1.23% of the Class of 2030 @ Carnegie Mellon is Black. As recently as 2023 it was ~4.5%. Similar trend for Hisp/Latino: from 12% in 2023 to 5.31% in 2026. White enrollment down to 16.78 from mid-20s & Asian up to 47.56 from mid-30s. International: 15.55%. 2+ races: 5%. the-tartan.org/2026/09/28/b...
the-tartan.org
Black, Latino enrollment at 11-year low
This year, Carnegie Mellon welcomed 1,865 first-year undergraduate students to its Pittsburgh campus. Only 23 self-identified as Black. According to this year’s 15-day census…
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Dr Katie Twomey @k2mey.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
Want to make it v clear that I was one of many, and credit @bparsia.bsky.social for pushing for this in his union capacity
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Dr Katie Twomey @k2mey.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
This is quite cool. My university is the first organisation in the world to force Microsoft to allow us to turn off copilot summaries in Word 365, after a backlash against it from staff (including, very vocally, me). That cannot have been easy for our heroic IT people so hats very much off to them!
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I sure as hell hope Rove has correctly read the tea leaves, but my god this country better not trust Lucy (the GOP) when she invites Charlie Brown (us) to kick the football (vote Republican, we promise we aren’t a racist, eugenic, Christian nationalist, authoritarian party) again!!
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Reposted by Jay D. Aronson
Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
My sense is that a lot of this, from a lot of Republicans, is positioning in case they see an electoral wipeout. They want to claim that they're the reasonable ones, that the Trump II era has been an aberration and not (an admittedly accelerated) part of a logical progression.
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Companies should be thrilled that universities are generally providing an educated workforce that is flexible and can tackle big problems. And historically, that’s been the case! That was the deal! But now companies want to tell universities how to educate people AND they don’t want to chip in any $
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In 2008, California admitted 140,000 people to prison. In 2011, it admitted 97,000. In 2019, before Covid, it admitted 34,000. That's a SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT reduction in admissions. Yet we almost never talk about California's remarkable Realignment reforms.
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The Xylom @thexylom.com · 28/09/2026
A group led by formerly incarcerated women spent years advocating for those trapped inside prison walls during Texas’ hot summers. This week, a federal judge ruled that the state must air-condition all Texas prisons by the end of 2029. This story was first published by @19thnews.org.
thexylom.com
The ‘Lionesses’ Who Sued To Get Air Conditioning in Every Texas Prison — And Won
A group led by formerly incarcerated women spent years advocating for those trapped inside prison walls during Texas’ hot summers.
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19thnews @19thnews.org · 25/09/2026
Since 2022, the Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance has worked to empower communities to challenge harmful practices in the criminal legal system. This week they got a major win, after a judge ruled that Texas must air-condition all prisons by the end of 2029.
19thnews.org
The ‘lionesses’ who sued to get air conditioning in every Texas prison — and won
A group led by formerly incarcerated women spent years advocating for those trapped inside prison walls during Texas’ hot summers.
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Candice Norwood @candicenorwood.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I've written a few stories for @19thnews.org recently about currently or formerly incarcerated women who described the harms they faced in U.S. jails and prisons, and have fought for new laws, policies and resources to improve conditions for others. I want to share their stories with you 🧵
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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
lol ‘we need guardrails to stop me’
m.youtube.com
Weekend Update: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on A.I.’s Threat to Humanity - SNL
YouTube video by Saturday Night Live
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The idea that people want AI oversight to happen "all of a sudden" ignores years of research, warnings, and policy efforts. The delay hasn’t been a lack of awareness; it’s been because of years of industry lobbying against regulation, political resistance, and inaction.
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I know exactly why so few people in power are saying this, but why are so few people in power saying this???
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Such an amazing story! In the new world we create from the ashes of the current one, we will double down on funding scientific and humanistic work that helps us understand who we are and how we came to be. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/s...
nytimes.com
In an $80 Motel Room, a Discovery to Shed Light on the Origins of Life
A scrappy science project led to a significant discovery: two new species of a rare organism that could elucidate a fundamental transition in the history of life on our planet.
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Send this to every university President in the country.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Trump is raging at news orgs for refusing to cover his reception of Xi after he banned three from the White House. The real lesson here: When institutions join together to resist his abuses of power it actually works, sending him into a helpless fury. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2158...
newrepublic.com
Trump’s Angry Tirade Over Failing Press Ban Reveals His Achilles’ Heel
Trump is furious that news organizations are fighting back against his vile efforts to punish their colleagues—because collective resistance to his authoritarianism actually works.
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I don't regret canceling my Post subscription over Jeff Bezos' embrace of fascism, but the handful of real journalists who didn't jump ship have been doing some excellent work in spite of it all. It's a shame I can't read it. I'm hoping they all regroup at the Washington Sun
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Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

FLOCK OFF
CEO of Flock Garrett Langley doesn't like his photo being shared publicly
NOTICE NEWS
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