A hidden life in the era of social media can still change history, as the story of Jesus shows; The Guardian, December 14, 2025

Justine Toh, The Guardian ; A hidden life in the era of social media can still change history, as the story of Jesus shows

[Kip Currier: Resonant brief piece by Justine Toh, sharing the insights of 19th century Victorian writer George Eliot (nee Mary Ann Evans). As Toh observes:

...the spotlight needn’t be on you for you to live an influential life. A life might be “hidden” – a heresy in the social media era, where everything exists to be shared – yet still well lived. You can shape the course of history, even if you leave little trace on it.

So relevant -- and a welcome antidote -- to this social media era that demands and amplifies "attention", "likes", "notice", and "influence".]

[Excerpt]

"Do you want to be influential?

So do 57% of gen Zs in the US who aspire to be influencers, presumably lured by money and fame. But say you also want to make the world a better place. In that case, maybe the spiritual instruction you need emerges in the famous final lines of George Eliot’s 1871 novel Middlemarch:

“… the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

Eliot offers a bracing reality check: the spotlight needn’t be on you for you to live an influential life. A life might be “hidden” – a heresy in the social media era, where everything exists to be shared – yet still well lived. You can shape the course of history, even if you leave little trace on it.

This strange idea takes on added significance for me at Christmas. The story of Jesus’s birth is nothing if not “unhistoric” – in the sense of being ignored – even if today we live in the wake of his influence...

Eliot gives us a place to start renewing our attention – by recognising that “the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts”.

If nothing else, the line doubles as a fitting description of Christianity’s lasting effect. That it was penned by a woman who shed her Christian faith, but largely retained its ethics, is even more ironic. Whatever you believe, Eliot’s is excellent advice: keep adding to the world’s growing good by small acts. Unhistoric on their own, perhaps, but that still prove generative, spawning possibilities long after."

The Ethics Of Animal Testing; NPR, December 11, 2025

NPR; The Ethics Of Animal Testing

"What would you sacrifice to push efforts forward on eliminating diseases? What about to make sure our products and medicines are safe, especially for our most vulnerable?

These questions lead us to ethical quagmire and, oftentimes, to the use of animals for research, testing, and experimentation. We’ve long heard the term “lab rat.” Its popularity in conversation belies an understanding that these creatures are popular subjects for experimentation. But they’re far from the only ones.

Around 40,000 dogs were used as test subjects in labs last year, according to a leading advocacy group. The most common breed used are beagles.

Journalist Melanie Kaplan adopted Hammie in 2013, a lab beagle who had been used for research for nearly four years. It led her down a years-long rabbit hole to find out more about her companion’s past. It took her to a sanctuary farm for former research animals in Wyoming, a naked mole rat lab at Boston University, and the homes of former researchers.

We discuss her book, “Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research.”"

Kinds of Intelligence | LJ Directors’ Summit 2025; Library Journal, December 2, 2025

 Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Kinds of Intelligence | LJ Directors’ Summit 2025

"LJ’s 2025 Directors’ Summit looked at artificial—and very real—intelligence from multiple angles

If there was any doubt about what issues are on the minds of today’s library leaders, Library Journal’s 2025 Directors’ Summit, held October 16 and 17 at Denver Public Library (DPL), had some ready answers: AI and people.

Nick Tanzi hit both notes handily in his keynote, “Getting Your Public Library AI-Ready.” Tanzi, assistant director of South Huntington Public Library (SHPL), NY, and technology consultant at The-Digital-Librarian.com (and a 2025 LJ Mover & Shaker), began with a reminder of other at-the-time “disruptive” technologies, starting with a 1994 clip of Today Show anchors first encountering “@” and “.com.”

During most of this digital change, he noted, libraries had the technologies before many patrons and could lead the way. Now everyone has access to some form of AI, but it’s poorly understood. And access without understanding is a staff problem as well as a patron problem.

So, what does it mean for a library to be AI-ready? Start with policy and training, said Tanzi, and then translate that to public services, rather than the other way around. Library policies need to be AI-proofed, beginning by looking at what’s already in place and where it might be stressed by AI: policies governing collection development, reconsideration of materials, tool use, access control, the library’s editorial process, and confidential data. Staff are already using some form of AI at work—do they have organizational guidance?

Tanzi advised fostering AI literacy across the library. At SHPL, he formed an AI user group; it has no prerequisite for participation and staff are paid for their time. Members explore new tools, discuss best practices, complete “homework,” and share feedback, which also allows Tanzi to stress-test policies. It’s not a replacement for formal training, but helps him discover which tools work best in various departments and speeds up learning.

We need to demystify AI tools for staff and patrons, Tanzi noted, and teach ethics around them. Your ultimate goal is to create informed citizens; libraries can build community around AI education, partnering with the local school district, colleges, and government."

US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights; The Guardian, December 15, 2025

Claire Wang, The Guardian ; US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights

"As the culture wars descended on America’s public libraries, librarians like Young have moved to the frontlines of a battle to protect free speech and LGTBQ+ rights. In at least half a dozen states, they have joined forces with civil rights groups to oppose book bans, often facing personal and professional repercussions. Some of their legal challenges and victories, organizers and experts say, can provide a roadmap for grassroots resistance against coordinated censorship campaigns."

'Bad for our country.' Trump doubles down on attack of late Rob Reiner; USA TODAY, December 15, 2025

Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; 'Bad for our country.' Trump doubles down on attack of late Rob Reiner

"President Donald Trump doubled down on his widely criticized attack of the late film director Rob Reiner, expressing no regret nor offering an apology for comments that even some Republican supporters have since denounced.

"I thought he was very bad for our country," Trump said on Dec. 15 when asked whether he stands by his social media post about Reiner from earlier in the day."

Government's AI consultation finds just 3% support copyright exception; The Bookseller, December 15, 2025

 MAIA SNOW, The Bookseller; Government's AI consultation finds just 3% support copyright exception

"The initial results of the consultation found that the majority of respondents (88%) backed licences being required in all cases where data was being used for AI training. Just 3% of respondents supported the government’s preferred options, which would allow data mining by AI companies and require rights holders to opt-out."

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Texas Library Case: List of Banned Books; Newsweek, December 8, 2025

Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant , Newsweek; Supreme Court Won’t Hear Texas Library Case: List of Banned Books

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a Texas county’s removal of 17 books from its public libraries, leaving in place a lower court ruling that allowed the purge. 

The books targeted by officials span topics including sexuality, gender identity, racism and even juvenile humor.

Residents who sued argued the removals violated their First Amendment right to receive information, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that claim. 

The Supreme Court’s decision means the ruling now applies across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi."

Born Deaf and Blind, She’s Caught in Trump’s Anti-Diversity Crusade; The New York Times, December 15, 2025

Sonia A. Rao

Visuals by Jamie Kelter Davis

, The New York Times ; Born Deaf and Blind, She’s Caught in Trump’s Anti-Diversity Crusade

[Kip Currier: Another heartbreaking example showcasing the seemingly endless cruelty and indifference of this administration to vulnerable human beings.

What reasonable, compassionate person would cut programs like the Wisconsin Deafblind Project?

What person of faith can justify believing that federal and state governments shouldn't step up to help the "least among us" and families who are in need?

Yet millions can be allocated for building a ballroom addition to the White House and green-lighting tax breaks for billionaires to buy more mansions, super-yachts, and islands?]

[Excerpt]

"Casey and Leah Garner wanted a big family. The Wisconsin couple had dreamed of having at least six children by the time they were in their 30s. But after years of struggling with infertility, they decided to adopt.

At the hospital three years ago, meeting the newborn who would become their daughter, Mr. Garner was the first to notice the tiny flaps of skin where her ears should be. Annie, the child they were adopting, was deaf.

Over the next few months, as they got to know their daughter, the Garners would discover more challenges, including poor vision, a developmental disability and weak muscles...

He discovered the Wisconsin Deafblind Project, a state program for the families of children with combined vision and hearing loss. It made a tremendous difference as they learned to parent Annie, the Garners said.

They met other families experiencing the same thing. A mentor taught them sign language. Annie got sensory toys and Braille books. And she even made a best friend with a similar condition.

Then in September, the Trump administration canceled the five-year, $918,000 grant for the program, which supports about 170 children in Wisconsin like Annie. It also ended a $10.5 million grant used to recruit and retain special education teachers in the state."

MAGA breaks with Trump on mocking Rob Reiner's killing; Axios, December 15, 2025

• Tal Axelrod, Axios ; MAGA breaks with Trump on mocking Rob Reiner's killing

"President Trump torpedoed MAGA influencers' calls for compassion after the killing of director Rob Reiner, mocking the longtime liberal activist as a victim of "Trump derangement syndrome."

Why it matters: Many MAGA influencers vowed after the assassination of Charlie Kirk that they would never celebrate or mock the untimely death of a political opponent. 

• Trump abandoned that moral high ground the morning after Reiner and his wife were found dead in their Los Angeles home — drawing rare criticism from his Republican allies.
• 
  

What they're saying: "Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME," Trump posted on Truth Social Monday.

• "He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before."

Driving the news: When news initially emerged of Reiner's death Sunday night, many MAGA voices expressed sympathy and drew direct comparisons to Kirk's assassination.

• "You won't see people on the right celebrating the horrific murder of Rob Reiner and his wife. Compare to the Left's reaction to Charlie Kirk's murder," MAGA podcaster Jack Posobiec posted Sunday night.
• 
  
• Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet tweeted a clip of Reiner responding "with grace and compassion" to Kirk's assassination: "This video makes it all the more painful to hear of he and his wife's tragic end. May God be close to the broken hearted in this terrible story."
• 
  

After Trump's incendiary post, several Republicans criticized the president for politicizing the apparent murder. Reiner's son Nick has been arrested in connection with the death of his parents.

• "Rob Reiner and his wife were tragically killed at the hands of their own son, who reportedly had drug addiction and other issues, and their remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak. This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a Trump ally-turned-critic, wrote Monday.
• 
  
• "A man and his wife were murdered last night. This is NOT the appropriate response. The Right uniformly condemned political and celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk's death. This is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life) and should be condemned by everyone with any decency," added Trump's former lawyer Jenna Ellis."

Chasing the Mirage of “Ethical” AI; The MIT Press Reader, December 2025

 De Kai, The MIT Press Reader; Chasing the Mirage of “Ethical” AI

"Artificial intelligence poses many threats to the world, but the most critical existential danger lies in the convergence of two AI-powered phenomena: hyperpolarization accompanied by hyperweaponization. Alarmingly, AI is accelerating hyperpolarization while simultaneously enabling hyperweaponization by democratizing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

For the first time in human history, lethal drones can be constructed with over-the-counter parts. This means anyone can make killer squadrons of AI-based weapons that fit in the palm of a hand. Worse yet, the AI in computational biology has made genetically engineered bioweapons a living room technology.

How do we handle such a polarized era when anyone, in their antagonism or despair, can run down to the homebuilder’s store and buy all they need to assemble a remote-operated or fully autonomous WMD?

It’s not the AI overlords destroying humanity that we need to worry about so much as a hyperpolarized, hyperweaponized humanity destroying humanity.

To survive this latest evolutionary challenge, we must address the problem of nurturing our artificial influencers. Nurturing them to be ethical and responsible enough not to be mindlessly driving societal polarization straight into Armageddon. Nurturing them so they can nurture us.

But is it possible to ensure such ethical AIs? How can we accomplish this?"

I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began; The Guardian, December 4, 2025

 Yasmin Khan, The Guardian ; I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began

"Vegetables, in my experience, rarely cause controversy. Yet last month I found myself in the middle of a legal storm over who gets to own the word sabzi – the Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Dari and Pashto word for cooked veg or fresh greens. It was a story as absurd as it was stressful, a chain of delis threatened me with legal action over the title of a book I had spent years creating. But what began as a personal legal headache soon morphed into something bigger, a story about how power and privilege still dominate conversations about cultural ownership in the UK.

When the email first landed in my inbox, I assumed it must be a wind-up. My editor at Bloomsbury had forwarded a solicitor’s letter addressed to me personally, care of my publishers. As I read it, my stomach dropped. A deli owner from Cornwall accused me of infringing her intellectual property over my cookbook Sabzi: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day. Why? Because in 2022, she had trademarked the word sabzi to use for her business and any future products, including a cookbook she hoped to write one day.

My jaw clenched as I pored over pages of legal documentation, written in the punitive and aggressive tone of a firm gearing up for a fight. I was accused of “misrepresentation” (copying the deli’s brand), damaging its business and affecting its future growth, and they demanded detailed commercial reports about my work, including sales revenue, stock numbers and distribution contracts – information so intrusive that it felt like an audit. Buried in the legal jargon was a line that shook me. They reserved the right to seek the “destruction” of all items relating to their infringement claim. Reading the threat of my book being pulped was nothing short of devastating. It was also utterly enraging.

Because sabzi isn’t some cute exotic brand name, it’s part of the daily lexicon of more than a billion people across cultures and borders. In south Asia, it simply means cooked vegetables."

Elon Musk teams with El Salvador to bring Grok chatbot to public schools; The Guardian, December 11, 2025

Dara Kerr, The Guardian; Elon Musk teams with El Salvador to bring Grok chatbot to public schools

"Elon Musk is partnering with the government of El Salvador to bring his artificial intelligence company’s chatbot, Grok, to more than 1 million students across the country, according to a Thursday announcement by xAI. Over the next two years, the plan is to “deploy” the chatbot to more than 5,000 public schools in an “AI-powered education program”."

Religion Holds Steady in America; Pew Research Center, December 8, 2025

GREGORY A. SMITH, Pew Research Center; Religion Holds Steady in America

"Pew Research Center polling finds that key measures of religiousness are holding steady in the United States, continuing a period of relative stability that began about five years ago.  

The shares of U.S. adults who identify with Christianity, with another religion, or with no religion have all remained fairly stable in the Center’s latest polling.

The percentages of Americans who say they pray every day, that religion is very important in their lives, and that they regularly attend religious services also have held fairly steady since 2020...

So, what is happening with religion among young adults today? Some media reports have suggested there may be a religious revival taking place among young adults, especially young men, in the U.S. But our recent polls, along with other high-quality surveys we have analyzed, show no clear evidence that this kind of nationwide religious resurgence is underway.

On average, young adults remain much less religious than older Americans. Today’s young adults also are less religious than young people were a decade ago. And there is no indication that young men are converting to Christianity in large numbers."

HHS changes transgender former official Rachel Levine’s name on portrait; The Hill, December 9, 2025

LEE ANN ANDERSON  , The Hill; HHS changes transgender former official Rachel Levine’s name on portrait

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) changed the name of former Adm. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who served as the agency’s assistant secretary under former President Biden, to her birth name, or “dead name,” on her official portrait. 

HHS confirmed on X Tuesday that the department changed the name during the government shutdown, saying that they wanted to depict “biological reality.”...

Rep. Rebecca Balint (D-Vt.) was among the critics who blasted the move online...

“Consummate professional, was always thinking about the American people, that was her charge and that’s what she did, so every time they do something like this, they reveal their own pettiness, smallness, vindictiveness, but also how incredibly insecure they are about their own identity.”

Levine, who was the first Senate-confirmed transgender official, told NPR that she wouldn’t “comment on this type of petty action.”

Publisher under fire after ‘fake’ citations found in AI ethics guide; The Times, December 14, 2025

 Rhys Blakely, The Times ; Publisher under fire after ‘fake’ citations found in AI ethics guide

"One of the world’s largest academic publishers is selling a book on the ethics of AI intelligence research that appears to be riddled with fake citations, including references to journals that do not exist.

Academic publishing has recently been subject to criticism for accepting fraudulent papers produced using AI, which have made it through a peer-review process designed to guarantee high standards.

The Times found that a book recently published by the German-British publishing giant Springer Nature includes dozens of citations that appear to have been invented — a sign, often, of AI-generated material."

Colorado Officials Reject Trump’s ‘Pardon’ of a Convicted Election Denier; The New York Times, December 13, 2025

Jack Healy , The New York Times; Colorado Officials Reject Trump’s ‘Pardon’ of a Convicted Election Denier

"President Trump’s pledge to pardon Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines, touched off a new battle on Friday over the fate of perhaps the last high-profile 2020 election denier still behind bars.

Democratic leaders in Colorado dismissed the pardon as an empty attempt to bully a Democratic state into freeing one of the president’s political allies. They argued that Mr. Trump had no legal power to overturn Ms. Peters’s conviction in state court...

Legal scholars and Colorado officials were incredulous. They said the notion that the president could intervene in state courts clashed with the plain language of the Constitution, as well as its fundamental principles of federalism and states’ rights."

(Podcast) The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter? (Featured); JDSupra, December 5, 2025

 Richard Buckley, Jr. and Scott Hervey, JDSupra ; (Podcast) The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter? (Featured)

"Creators, beware: just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s fair game. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley break down one of the most misunderstood areas of copyright law—fair use.

In this featured episode, they cover:

- What makes a use “transformative”?

- Why credit alone doesn’t protect you

- How recent court rulings (Warhol v. Goldsmith) are changing the game

- Tips to stay on the right side of the law"

The Disney-OpenAI tie-up has huge implications for intellectual property; Fast Company, December 11, 2025

 CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER, Fast Company ; The Disney-OpenAI tie-up has huge implications for intellectual property

"Walt Disney and OpenAI make for very odd bedfellows: The former is one of the most-recognized brands among children under the age of 18. The near-$200 billion company’s value has been derived from more than a century of aggressive safeguarding of its intellectual property and keeping the magic alive among innocent children.

OpenAI, which celebrated its first decade of existence this week, is best known for upending creativity, the economy, and society with its flagship product, ChatGPT. And in the last two months, it has said it wants to get to a place where its adult users can use its tech to create erotica.

So what the hell should we make of a just-announced deal between the two that will allow ChatGPT and Sora users to create images and videos of more than 200 characters, from Mickey and Minnie Mouse to the Mandalorian, starting from early 2026?"

Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official; ABC News, December 10, 2025

Mariam Khan, ABC News; Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official

The font was changed two years ago to assist readers with visual disabilities.

"The Calibri font is going the way of the typewriter at the State Department after Secretary of State Marco Rubio inked a memo mandating that the agency use only Times New Roman for official communications – and size 14 to boot, according to a department official.

The new directive, which was sent to all diplomats, is the latest action by the Trump administration to roll back diversity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The change is effective immediately, according to the directive.

Two years ago, Rubio’s predecessor, Antony Blinken, switched the State Department font to Calibri, on the recommendation of the State Department’s office of diversity and inclusion, in part to assist individuals with certain visual disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia."

With Dreadlocks and Yoga, Oslo’s Bishop Practices an Atypical Evangelism; The New York Times, December 12, 2025

 Lynsey Chutel, The New York Times ; With Dreadlocks and Yoga, Oslo’s Bishop Practices an Atypical Evangelism

"“When Putin and Trump, in their different ways, are using Christianity, my religion, in a very politicized, destructive way, it’s really important for me that we, as a church, lift up our voices for justice, for solidarity, for welcoming the stranger among us, for less differences between poor and rich.” Bishop Gylver told journalists in the days before her ordination.

Since formally assuming her new role, her public utterances have become a little more circumspect.

“As a bishop, I should not point to specific people or parties to say, ‘This, and not this; that and not that,’” she said during an interview in September. “I don’t even have to name them, but we have quite a few world leaders that are practicing and articulating Christian faith in a way that is very foreign to me...

As part of her emphasis on inclusion, she raised the Rainbow flag over the Oslo cathedral to celebrate Pride Week in June. It was a precursor to the church’s formal apology to Norway’s L.G.B.T.Q. community this October for decades of discrimination."

Trump administration says sign language services ‘intrude’ on Trump’s ability to control his image; AP, December 12, 2025

MEG KINNARD , AP; Trump administration says sign language services ‘intrude’ on Trump’s ability to control his image

"The Trump administration is arguing that requiring real-time American Sign Language interpretation of events like White House press briefings “would severely intrude on the President’s prerogative to control the image he presents to the public,” part of a lawsuit seeking to require the White House to provide the services.

Department of Justice attorneys haven’t elaborated on how doing so might hamper the portrayal President Donald Trump seeks to present to the public. But overturning policies encompassing diversity, equity and inclusion have become a hallmark of his second administration, starting with his very first week back in the White House.

The National Association for the Deaf sued the Trump administration in May, arguing that the cessation of American Sign Language interpretation — which the Biden administration had used regularly — represented “denying hundreds of thousands of deaf Americans meaningful access to the White House’s real-time communications on various issues of national and international import.” The group also sued during Trump’s first administration, seeking ASL interpretation for briefings related to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Some Native Americans draw shocked response over contract to design immigration detention centers; AP, December 13, 2025

HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, JOSHUA GOODMAN AND JOHN HANNA , AP; Some Native Americans draw shocked response over contract to design immigration detention centers

"The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, whose ancestors were uprooted by the U.S. from the Great Lakes region in the 1830s, are facing outrage from fellow Native Americans over plans to profit from another forced removal: President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. 

A newly established tribal business entity quietly signed a nearly $30 million federal contract in October to come up with an early design for immigrant detention centers across the U.S. Amid the backlash, the tribe says it’s trying to get out of it...

Tribal Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick promised “full transparency” about what he described as an “evolving situation.” In a video message to tribal members Friday, he said the tribe is talking with legal counsel about ways to end the contract. 

He alluded to the time when federal agents forcibly removed hundreds of Prairie Band Potawatomi families from their homes and ultimately corralled them on a reservation just north of Topeka.

“We know our Indian reservations were the government’s first attempts at detention centers,” Rupnick said in the video message. “We were placed here because we were prisoners of war. So we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and the trauma once done to our people.”"

Authors Ask to Update Meta AI Copyright Suit With Torrent Claim; Bloomberg Law, December 12, 2025

 

Kyle Jahner

, Bloomberg Law; Authors Ask to Update Meta AI Copyright Suit With Torrent Claim

"Authors in a putative class action copyright suit against Meta Platforms Inc. asked a federal judge for permission to amend their complaint to add a claim over Meta’s use of peer-to-peer file-sharing unveiled in discovery."