Wes’ News Filter

19/09/2025

‘Blueskyism’, Political Violence, and Open Social Networks Under Authoritarianism. (CONNECTED PLACES, 19 Sep 2025)
https://connectedplaces.online/blueskyism-political-violence-and-open-social-networks-under-authoritarianism/

After Kirk's murder, calls for censorship and the crackdown on political places started to include Bluesky. Open social networks must now fight political suppression as well as platform monopolies.

19/09/2025

Oxford Becomes First UK University to Offer ChatGPT EDU to All Staff and Students (OXFORD UNIVERSITY, 19 Sep 2025)
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09-19-oxford-becomes-first-uk-university-offer-chatgpt-edu-all-staff-and-students

OpenAI’s flagship GPT-5 model will be provided across the University and Oxford Colleges through ChatGPT Edu, a version of ChatGPT built for universities that includes enterprise-level security and controls.

19/09/2025

Reading the Voices of Marginalized Peoples w/ Patty Krawec

https://pca.st/episode/1ecb207e-87c0-43ee-8c14-9d87b55bffd5

“In a society where historical narratives reinforce colonial dominance, especially in textbooks and popular media, how can the stories of marginalized peoples be elevated to allow for better understanding of culture, history, and what it means to be in relationship with one another?”

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18/09/2025

This podcast is an excellent discussion of the recent court settlement by Anthropic to pay some compensation to authors for AI scraped content. This is a very important legal issue of our time:

Listen to your favorite podcasts online, in your browser. Discover the world's most powerful podcast player.

11/09/2025

US Diplomats Say They’re Reluctant to Share ‘Inconvenient Truths’ With the Trump Administration (NBCNEWS, 10 September 2025)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-diplomats-say-are-reluctant-share-inconvenient-truths-trump-adminis-rcna229991

"What we’re seeing in the diplomatic corps right now is fear," John Dinkelman, president of the American Foreign Service Association, told NBC News.

10/09/2025

A killing at sea marks America’s descent into lawless power
The peremptory strike on a speedboat is a warning to all who serve. Remember your oath.

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/09/killing-sea-americas-descent-lawless-power/407949/

07/09/2025

This is a link to a recent Colorado Springs Gazette article about the Air Firce Academy’s decision to cancel a planned speech by Paisley Rekdal, who officials learned previously shared a post on social media regarded as disparaging about President Trump.

“In a public post on social media, [University of Utah professor Paisley] Rekdal said she was told by a faculty member that high-ranking military supervisors at the academy Googled her, found something out about her, her book or her poems and ordered the lecture to be canceled.
An earlier post on Rekdal's Facebook feed references the president and executive orders: "If you care about free speech at all, Trump’s newest EO targeting student protests and—effectively—all international and/or undocumented students is not just unconstitutional but one more move towards authoritarianism."’

This is a paywall free link. I will also include the original link which requires a login:
https://archive.ph/J2h0c

https://gazette.com/military/air-force-academy-cancels-lecture-after-discovering-speaker-disparaged-trump/article_212641a6-5f65-45df-889f-a79eef99ac44.html

06/09/2025

Unfortunately, this historical analysis by Heather Cox Richardson is precisely on point. One of the important elements of “Healing Our Culture” is reestablishing a reasonable and constructive shared perception of government regulation and its potentially helpful role in our lives.

More:
https://substack.com//note/c-152988531?r=4unjx&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

05/09/2025

[PODCAST] Challenging the Narrative: Ismail Khalidi on Storytelling and the Palestinian Perspective by

https://pca.st/episode/ca518efc-ddd6-4754-a016-844ebabc47ff

Description: In this episode of The Teacher’s Forum, David reconnects with his former student, award-winning playwright and screenwriter Ismail Khalidi, to explore identity, art, and Palestine. From growing up Palestinian in America (05:45) to the influence of family and education (11:53) and his journey to playwriting (17:42), Ismail or Sim as he is known, shares how storytelling becomes both art and resistance. The conversation touches on navigating the white gaze (35:30), the responsibility of educators in discussing Palestine (41:22), and the myths and realities too often erased in mainstream narratives (48:01), before looking to the future of Palestine and the role of art (56:21).

04/09/2025

Gemini Is Replacing Google Assistant on Google Home Devices from October 1 — Here’s What We Know (Tom’s Guide, 3 September 2025)
https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/google-gemini/geminis-replacing-google-assistant-on-google-home-devices-from-october-1-heres-what-we-know

RIP Google Assistant

04/09/2025

China debuts advanced hypersonic, nuclear and unmanned weapons at huge military parade

https://flipboard.com/video/aljazeera/f3fa2a2ad2

03/09/2025

The Push to Revise American History at the Smithsonian by

https://pca.st/episode/2e3b5913-658e-4cc3-bfbb-fd57a65857e7

In the last few weeks, the Trump administration has turned its sights on the Smithsonian, the latest target in a campaign to remake cultural institutions in its image.

Officials are trying to change exhibits at the center of the country’s culture wars and reshape American history at one of the largest museum complexes in the world.