Author: David Perry

  • Online Hate

    I wrote about Facebook, Twitter, Google, and ISPs for Pacific Standard. Hate proliferates and they claim they can do nothing. There’s a @facebook group that claims Jews ritually murder Christian babies. We’ve been reporting it for years. Nothing happens. NEW @PacificStand (1)https://t.co/OpMs0QQ68n — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) December 16, 2017 But they can do something….

  • Bad Historical Metaphors: Galileo

    I am tired of powerful men worrying about “due process” by comparing great historical iniquities such as lynching, witch hunts, the Inquisition, Internment, and the death penalty to the social scorn and professional consequences of men being outed as bigots and abusers. It happens constantly and I’m going to start blogging them. Here’s todays. One: …

  • Texting 911

    St. Paul finally has implemented the ability to text 911. The disability accessibility implications here are enormous, of course, but like most systems that improve accessibility, everyone will benefit. One example, people in a dangerous domestic situation who can’t make a phone call, but who need to call for help.

  • Dominionists and Jerusalem

    Two posts on medievalism, apocalypticism, and the Jerusalem decision. By Matt Gabriele: As Trump “spiritual adviser” Paula White said, “Evangelicals are ecstatic, for Israel is to us a sacred place and the Jewish people are our dearest friends.” John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, responded to Trump’s announcement by noting its precise…

  • On Police Reform

    Worth re-reading: How to talk about police reform (by Marianne Kaba): Ultimately, the only way that we will address oppressive policing is to abolish the police. Therefore all of the ‘reforms’ that focus on strengthening the police or “morphing” policing into something more invisible but still as deadly should be opposed. All reforms involving MORE,…

  • On Franken

    ICYMI, I wrote this about my soon to be former senator. https://t.co/CRvLe9T8kg — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) December 8, 2017 It’s time to shift to the politics. The next piece I am writing is about the need to start repeatedly calling for Donald Trump to resign, explicitly, on account of the credible allegations of serial…

  • Humanities and Work

    On the myth of the “English major Starbucks barista.” From 2016, but in my feed last night and I missed this the first time around. What are we to make of this new old joke about the English major? Why did barista replace fast food worker? The fact is that English majors are not particularly…

  • Accessibility and Ed Tech

    Lawsuits work. Failure to provide accessible technologies for learners with disabilities can have serious consequences for universities. Many institutions have been sued in recent years for noncompliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, ratcheting up pressure around accessibility issues. As a result, some universities are thinking about how they might work together to test the…

  • Lessons from South Carolina

    Finn Gardiner writes that “zero tolerance” policies disproportionately affect students of color, disabled students, and especially disabled students of color. Spurred by a violent altercation between a school resource officer and a Black student in 2015, South Carolina’s Department of Education introduced guidelines in the Safe Schools Taskforce Report in 2016 to reduce the likelihood…