@rjblaskiewicz@mstdn.social
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rjblaskiewicz

@rjblaskiewicz@mstdn.social

Associate Prof of Critical Thinking and First-Year Studies in S. Jersey. I study conspiracy theories, historical quackery, WWII, and paranormal beliefs. Turn-offs: fascism, fraud, and fakery.
Guitarist for the Monsters of Academia.
https://newsofthebob.blogspot.com #CriticalThinking #astronomy #scicomm #WWII #academia #history #skepticism #conspiracytheories #paranormal #guitar #U2 #mst3k #TimeTeam

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rjblaskiewicz, to random
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rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Today a student left an envelope on my desk with a thank you note and a $15 gift certificate for a restaurant. Alas, it would be unethical for me to accept it as I am a state employee who already gets compensated for doing my job. I took it to the legal office where our ethics compliance officer dwells.

Clarence Thomas accepted a vacation worth more than I make in 10 years.

Fuck that guy.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Dems need to be going ape shit right now. They aren't. Monster spending on ads about the coming threat. I get conservative propaganda constantly in YouTube ads. I assume my students and others do too. Never is it met by an opposing force. Get on that, motherfuckers.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Divert arms for Israel to Ukraine.

rjblaskiewicz, to HashtagGames
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Thomas the Tank Engine fought a personal battle with addiction and lost.


rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Some guy at the front of the train car has been talking business in his phone for at least a half hour. I still have no idea what he does, if anything. Is all business just blathering bullshit? Timelines. Budgets. Studies. Partners. Units. Quotes. He's like a person constructed entirely out of autofill suggestions. I wouldn't trust this dude to implement a poop.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Welp, I just donated to Joe again because, sweet Jesus. It's the only thing I can do in the face of anxiety.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Meet Edmund, who won the Golden Ticket at the animal shelter today.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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No. Skeptics beat him repeatedly, mercilessly, and roundly. Conman cons journalist, the same story as it ever was. The End of the Magic World’s 50-Year Grudge https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/business/uri-geller-magic-deep-fakes.html?unlocked_article_code=VU8dMLkm6_F-cYTmtiQZVCO8nZTx1nWL-q8e7S1g1B3FTtrGNcXOYiZdkcB1UVRba_KAAxqDqHHHnaH_9PkUkw9wo2f4sDWVeNIUggFqSPMzeQ9zpjBFQ4pGCim-U0FMws1KQbkAtYVfNfYanyV-OPS-bRfKbSPkJZqz2PP-ZksX_65kn7LOtrnxkEBKoq_N37ueVzyDH_qEmXT_XCGRUBCx8034dgZ5J-_0pQdwk2p7Q4nognaWrwtQ2YCm3c4VNiHRy6vCdoBHNaioiLw-qRQCKm9i7ZdBIfX0_YRNdsxJ_d4apJnsDGNrrzYcb3Q7MBsjgPCcuwi1EBx0z_wcq62b5qsznw&smid=nytcore-android-share

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Vote, you muthas.

rjblaskiewicz, to HashtagGames
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Routine Science


rjblaskiewicz, to HashtagGames
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Girls Just Wanna Share Gum


clayrivers, to blackfriday
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Absalom Jones — first Black priest in the Episcopal Church, ordained on February 13, 1802.

@BigAngBlack
@blackmastodon
@BlackMastodon

rjblaskiewicz,
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@clayrivers @BigAngBlack @blackmastodon @BlackMastodon

Among their observations was an exact accounting of their expenditures (and substantial financial losses) and an endorsement of their activities by the Mayor. Members of their congregation took over some of the vital functions of keeping the city alive, staffed the hospital, and buried the dead at great personal cost, including death. 5/5

rjblaskiewicz,
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@clayrivers @BigAngBlack @blackmastodon @BlackMastodon

Afterward, a white author accused the Blacks of abusing the desperation of the citizenry, charging high amounts to care for the sick, stealing jewelry off of bodies, that sort of thing. Jones and Allen delivered a totally devestating rebuttal in a pamplet. I am attaching it here (link to a 1.3MB .pdf: https://archive.org/download/2559020R.nlm.nih.gov/2559020R.pdf) 3/n

rjblaskiewicz,
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@clayrivers @BigAngBlack @blackmastodon @BlackMastodon

When the fever broke out in Philly, there was the belief that Black people were immune to it (initially at least). Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was on good terms with the Black Methodist leadership, Richard Allen and Absolom Jones. They had just a week before the outbreak celebrated the raising of the new church's roof together. When it was clear that yellow fever was spreading quickly... 1/n

rjblaskiewicz, (edited )
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@clayrivers @BigAngBlack @blackmastodon @BlackMastodon

...a rumor circulated that Black people were immune to the disease. (I remember a similar claim circulating at the beginning of Covid. Some things never change.) Rush appealed to members of the Black community to help as the fever eventually took out 1/10 of the population of Philly. Very few people were willing to care for the sick and the dead. Jones and Allen organized the Black response and threw in for the duration. 2/n

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Yesterday at the beginning of class I took 80 homeopathic sleeping pills and told students that if I died by the end of the day they would all get A's. I wasn't worried, because the strength of the homeopathic remedy (coffee cruda) was 100C. This means that there is 1 particle of remedy per spherical volume of water with a radius the size of the inner solar system. I had to regretfully inform them that I survived the night.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Oh please, Washington Post. I've never felt so invigorated and alive!

rjblaskiewicz, to HashtagGames
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A glue with no name.


rjblaskiewicz, to random
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You know, NYT, today ProPublica broke even more corruption by "Justice" Thomas. Just sayin'.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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Holy shit, every app developer in the world. What the fuck's wrong with y'all? You nosey bastards.

rjblaskiewicz, to random
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I got my election assignment yesterday. I'm now an election worker. Not a volunteer. You get money for it. Not a huge amount. My thinking is that I have students who think the last presidential election was stolen. Well, shit, I think, I might as well go in and be able to tell them from personal experience how elections are run.

As best I can tell, it's by checklist. Checklists read aloud.

StillIRise1963, to random
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The man is CONFIRMING for you that he has brain worms. What more do you need?

rjblaskiewicz,
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@StillIRise1963

Brain Worm Guy / Puppy Killer 2024

rjblaskiewicz, (edited ) to LGBT
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So the song "Lola." I love it. A masterpiece of ambiguity. I think it is, for its time, way ahead of the curve in terms of just...niceness. The narrator is a charming mess. Does it pass muster today, however? Can a band perform it and still be presumed to be allies? Especially interested in + perspectives here.

shoq, to random
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Every year that I get older, college students seem to get a year younger. Weird.

rjblaskiewicz,
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@shoq I often say that my students keep me young, but in the last few years they haven't been keeping up with their work.

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