Nelson Flores

@nelsonlflores

Professor in the academy working with communities within and beyond it in the fight for a more equitable world Check out and subscribe to my blog:

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Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· May 7

Am I wrong though?

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Mar 31

It would appear 2 of the ostensibly liberal judges on the court have concluded that professionally licensed people are free to inflict harm on clients if their religious beliefs contradict research consensus and tells them it is okay to do. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/u...

“The law, Justice Kagan wrote, chooses sides based on the speaker’s opinion and permits only speech on one side of an ideologically charged issue. As an example, Justice Kagan said the law prevents a therapist from saying she can help a minor change his same-sex orientation, but permits her to say that such a goal is impossible and so she will help him accept his gay identity.

“Because the state has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward,” she wrote.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Mar 24

This exchange shows dominant conceptualizations of how language works. Calling Molotov not really English reflects linguistic purism tied to the family tree model linguistics helped build alongside race science. Maybe we need better metaphors that capture how messy and connected language actually is

Screenshot of a Facebook post from “The Language Nerds” stating that no English word ends with the letter “v” and challenging readers to prove it wrong. In the comments, one person suggests “Molotov,” another responds that it is not an English word, and a third argues that it is, comparing it to words borrowed from Norman French.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Feb 13

I really could not have predicted just how crazy things would get

A facebook post from 10 years ago that reads “Justice Scalia's death is going to make an already crazy presidental campaign even crazier.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jan 22

Facebook reminded me that this is the anniversary of Citizens United and while my post was prophetic in many ways I don’t think even I could have imagined the mess we would be in 16 years later

A facebook post from January 21, 2010 that reads “the Supreme Court today moves us yet one step closer to a completely fascist state :-(“

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jan 20

Apparently according to the NYTimes in the last century the US was not an imperial power. Good to know.

“With Threats to Greenland, Trump Sets America on the Road to Conquest
After a century of defending other countries against foreign aggression, the U.S is now positioned as an imperial power trying to seize another nation’s land.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jan 20

Cubans convinced themselves they were different and are now discovering that supporting Trump will not protect them from being treated just like every other migrant www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...

“Nowhere has the shock of treating Cubans like other migrants been felt more than in Florida, which was shaped in modern times by exiles of the 1959 Cuban Revolution.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jan 14

If we follow the logic of this Ford spokesperson comment then again I ask what is their procedure for dealing with Trump cursing at one of their employees? How is calling somebody a pedophile protector worse than cursing somebody out?

A spokesperson for Ford did not provide details about the disciplinary action Sabula might face, but told TMZ that the company doesn't “condone anyone saying anything inappropriate like that within our facilities" and When that happens, we have a process to deal with it."

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jan 8

The NYT really will talk circles around calling anybody from the Trump administration the boldface liars they are. Video evidence does not lie. Noem clearly does.

A NYT headline that says “Video and Witness Accounts at Odds with Noem Statement on ICE Killing

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Nov 13

Essentially the court is saying that schools can do nothing to ensure that students respect one another. Also apparently pronouns can be biological now apnews.com/article/ohio...

“Our society continues to debate whether biological pronouns are appropriate or offensive — just as it continues to debate many other issues surrounding transgender rights,” Circuit Judge Eric Murphy wrote for the majority. “The school district may not skew this debate by forcing one side to change the way it conveys its message or by compelling it to express a different view.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Nov 5

So who is going to get fired for this massive mistake?

An Axios headline that falsely claimed “Trump-backed Jack Ciattarelli wins New Jersey govenor’s race”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Oct 30

Please note that it is Mamdani’s opponents who are running horribly racist ads that are putting all Muslim New Yorkers at risk but somehow it is Mamdani who is polarizing New York with his message of improving the quality of life of all New Yorkers.

A Politico headline with an image of Zohran Mamdani and a headline that reads Zohran Mamdani’s meteoric candidacy is deeply polarizing New York

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Oct 30

This rationale provided by George Mason University demanding the removal of a video posted in solidarity with Palestinians is wild in so many ways but most notably in the claim that connecting the struggle of indigenous people around the world is anti-Semitic. apple.news/Ayg8CfrxOR2a...

The students removed the video, but requested an explanation of how it violated university policy. An analysis provided by GMU in response cited a reference to Israel as a “genocidal Zionist state”, which the university claimed implied “all Jews and Israelis” are “genocidal Zionists”.

The university also claimed the “belly of the beast” phrase – a reference to the students being based in the US – was an antisemitic nod to Israel’s and Jews’ “control” over other countries. It further claimed that the use of the phrase “Turtle Island” was an attempt “to tie the struggle of indigenous peoples on these continents with those in the Middle East”, therefore presenting Israel as a colonizer, and that the call for a “full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea” was a call for the “eradication of Jews in Israel”.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Oct 19

Immigrants are welcome in this democracy but #NoKings

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Oct 8

People looking back at this time of history in the future will no doubt applaud the bravery of GOP senators who consistently expressed mild anxiety about Trump’s fascist takeover of our government

A headline that reads”GOP senators increasingly anxious about Trump’s aggressive use of National Guard”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Oct 2

This point right here is so important. Efforts to ban so-called “gender ideology” in universities will require professors to lie to students in ways that make them less prepared to engage in research, which is literally our job.

Students often ask: What do we do when the data we analyze records only binary sex (male/female)? How do we interpret patterns in such simplified data?

I have a choice. I can lie and teach that sex is a simple binary, or I can explain the biological reality of intersex people before discussing the limitations of binary data and quantitative methods. I always choose the latter. Students leave class with a biology lesson alongside stronger statistical understanding — better prepared to collect and understand data, exactly what the class aims to achieve.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Sep 27

The Texas Tech president is like “faculty all have a First Amendment right to agree with everything the Trump administration says about the world.” apple.news/AcMimaRZYQGS...

“While recognizing the First Amendment rights of employees in their personal capacity, faculty must comply with these laws in the instruction of students, within the course and scope of their employment,” Mitchell wrote in a memo that landed in faculty’s email inboxes on Friday

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Sep 25

Progressives: Providing trigger warnings for sensitive topics may provide students with the opportunity to emotionally prepare to discuss them. MAGA: Snowflakes! Also MAGA: Give us trigger warnings letting us know which classes might challenge our political views so that we can avoid taking them.

“Landers said she reached out to the student who confronted McCoul, who told her to contact Welsh. She sent the president an email that night, sharing that the content McCoul was teaching was not what Landers had signed up for. Landers said Welsh called her the next morning and agreed with her, saying that students should “know what they’re signing up for in a class that they’re paying for.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Sep 24

This is one of those moments that @theonion.com could probably not even imagine

A headline for a Huffington Post article titled “Vance Acknowledges Immigrants—Not ICE Agents—were killed that includes a quote from VP Vance that says “Look, just because we don’t support illegal aliens, we don’t want them to be executed by violent assassins engaged in political violence.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Sep 19

I have long been a critic of BICS and CALP but is probably the worst depiction of it I have seen. The biggest problem is the assumption that art is less cognitively demanding than science. But even if you buy that “calling someone on the phone” could be to talk to them about a science experiment.

A graphic entitled Cummins’ Quadrants that has an x axis from more context to more abstract and a y-axis from cognitively undemanding to cognitively demanding.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Aug 18

I can think of some more precise and accurate term than “populist” to describe this message apple.news/ArX0kzgTATx6...

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Aug 16

The Washington Post is really offering insightful commentary about our current political moment 🙃

A Washington Post headline that reads “It’s rude to ask if somebody is taking Ozempic. Here’s why. You’re curious, sure. But it’s still not acceptable to ask if someone is taking a GLP-1 inhibitor

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Aug 16

These mofos said the same thing about Roe v. Wade and yet here we are. The gaslighting continues.

A headline for an opinion piece in USA Today by Dace Potas that reads “Supreme Court isn’t poised to end gay marriage, despite the media’s fearmondering

“The general public has a poor understanding of how the Supreme Court, and the judicial branch in general, actually works. The court is not a partisan machine that takes cases based on the whims of the Republican Party, but rather a process-oriented institution that is very restrained.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Aug 10

This is the stage I am at in my thinking on AI in education. How do we change our teaching to ensure that students are engaged in critical thinking about the topics we are exploring knowing they can upload course materials into AI and have it write an essay for them? restofworld.org/2025/colombi...

This is forcing teachers to rethink evaluation methods. Traditional assessment approaches based on written assignments must now be reconsidered to accurately gauge whether students genuinely understand concepts, develop skills, and engage in creative thinking, Luisa González-Reiche, an expert in pedagogy and philosophy, told Rest of World.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Aug 9

The irony of this district using singular they in response to a teacher being fired for inadvertently not complying with a transphobic educational policy is not lost on me apple.news/A8pVg4kSpTqC...

"While the state has chosen to allow this individual to retain their certification under probation, I believe it is appropriate that the full term of that probation be completed before any consideration of employment," he said in an emailed statement to Florida Today.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Aug 6

These institutions continue to gaslight us into believing that they continue to be committed to creating an inclusive community for all of their students even after signing agreements that literally mandate that they do the opposite. apple.news/AkwF--MOPQi2...

In an emailed statement to The Advocate, Brown Vice President for News and Strategic Campus Communications Brian Clark said the agreement “does not address Brown’s ability to continue to implement gender-inclusive measures on campus.” Clark noted that Brown will continue offering gender-inclusive housing and restrooms and allow students to specify pronouns and chosen names in university systems. “Brown remains fully committed to serving the needs of all students and community members in a manner consistent with our long-established policy of nondiscrimination,” he added.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jul 31

They are literally trying to make it illegal to consider any lived experience in evaluation an applicant. You literally might no longer be able to ask applicants about their life.

Other examples of “potentially unlawful proxies” include requirements that job applicants “demonstrate ‘cultural competence,’ ‘lived experience,’ or ‘cross-cultural skills’” or narratives about how the applicant has overcome obstacles, Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote.

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jul 29

The faculty senate passing a resolution supporting their president can only be understood as engaging in an issue of political contention if we accept the Trump administration premise that any speech opposing it should be banned on campus. Either you support fascism or you don’t. It is that simple.

”While FIRE would prefer governing bodies such as faculty senates remain neutral on issues of political contention,” she said, “the federal government’s actions represent the latest in a pattern of shakedowns against colleges and universities that will certainly chill faculty speech.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jul 28

It is crazy how the NYT and the liberal elite of the Democratic Party are simply shrugging their shoulders and pretending like the government extorting money from institutions of higher education simply to show it has power over them is business as usual.

“They didn’t admit wrongdoing — it’s a classic settlement,” said Donna E. Shalala, who was the health secretary under President Bill Clinton and led four schools, including the University of Miami and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “You don’t admit wrongdoing, and you preserve your right to continue as an institution.”
Mr. Trump, Dr. Shalala said, had a long record of “transactional” bargaining with powerful institutions.

“The details are less important than getting the deal and getting the win,” she said. “So if you know that when you go into a negotiation that it’s less ideological than it is getting a win, then you can get a win on both sides.”

Nelson Flores@nelsonlflores· Jul 27