Aw geez. Dense fog advisory this morning and IT STINKS!! I looked up what can make fog smell bad and apparently it's a thing this year. Pollutants in the air get caught by the fog molecules. It's being reported all over. I think it is a commentary on the current leadership. 😂

Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker, gets gardening time, sports, therapy dogs, and spa products in prison. Migrant children in custody are sleeping on concrete floors without enough food or clean water. Our priorities are so fucked.

Because every now and again these petitions do make a difference, we've seen it a few times this year -- sign.moveon.org/petitions/do...

A day spent in the company of brilliant people actually wrestling with ideas and mathematical models -- ❤️❤️ am I lucky, or what? 😁 My lab folk said it was eye opening to see all the arguments on how to do things actually in development. --we may have terrified a few of them and inspired others..

Talked to my dad and he actually saw the halftime show from the super bowl, unlike most years. He said it was a real dud. I said Dad he was singing in Spanish, you should have understood it? He said, the singer? He was great! It was the rest of the show that had low production value... Sigh.

Note to self: poaching fish is easy and tasty and quick. Highly recommend. 😁

“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English” my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist

When AI slop gets to the FDA, people's lives are destroyed. "Researchers ... found that 60 FDA-authorized medical devices using AI were linked to 182 product recalls,.. about twice the recall rate of all devices authorized under similar FDA rules" www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Yes, weep for what we have lost. But don’t just weep. Turn these losses into a new beginning — based on what’s good in America and what has gone wrong. Some thoughts for your Sunday... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-cry-the-beloved-country

I guess this :: waves hands at the whole situation :: is where we gotta dig deep for optimism, balance, and compassion. ❤️‍🩹

Oh friends, it’s like this right now. This week alone, I have had SIX of the most brilliant people I know separately botch meetings/emails/other work stuff. For almost all of them, it’s the first major mistake I’ve ever seen them make? I hope we can give ourselves grace in things large & small.

Marvelous. Well done,NM!

Finneas is better at political messaging than 99% of the Democratic consultants in DC.

I am ready for the monochrome of winter to end now... ❄️

And another whopping vested interest enters the political arena-- supporting Republicans once again against the mental and financial health of Americans (though they also support Dems who are pro-gambling). The stats about gambling addiction are shocking. popular.info/p/draftkings...

There is a large grassroots effort here to help our immigrant neighbors. Here’s how folks can help:

If you want to know what hope looks like, look to Black history. It’s resilience in the face of cruel injustice, communities organizing against oppression, and people using the law as a tool for change. This Black History Month, we honor that legacy and recommit to the work ahead.

It is WiLD, talking with those weighing jobs outside the US now: besides the usual factors of research support and career advancement, against the costs and stress of moving, we also now include factors of "Will I be shot at a protest if I stay in the US? How much is it worth to me to get out?" 😭

You show 'em, New Mexico!

As below--post the fictional character you want to be! (Like anyone knows these characters...) 😆

Five classes you took in college -- Comedy History of China up to 1800s Real Analysis Abnormal Psychology Fundamentals of Computer Science (I think that was the name--yay for Turing machines...)

Got a lab website up again, finally. It's skeletal--I lost my last website because it was on my previous institution's site and they deleted it the minute I wasn't employed, sigh. Now, github it is. For someone who's been playing with html since the mid-90's you think I'd be better at this. 😆

Took me a second, but dang... 😆

I keep hearing the same argument from MAGA: "What about all the citizens murdered by illegals". Then get a warrant and go arrest them! Don't patrol the streets terrorizing everyone, arresting children at schools and US citizens because you don't know who to arrest. See the difference?

Geez. I work out at 6 am with the trainer and go shovel the walk at 10 am (because someone used the words "bomb" and "cyclone" together!), and my legs are sore in an hour rather than the 24 it usually takes after a workout. 😯 I'll do anything to avoid some of the things on my work checklist... 🤣

If you haven't seen the good news, this is a good roundup -- compassionate action is resistance, right? Tremendous stuff, good for hope and examples! chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extr...

Two hours or so to clear the snow off the driveway (yes, we will get a snowblower as soon as they plow the roads this week!). And we may have to do it again tomorrow since it will snow all night... But I got to make a real snow angel!! Bwahahaha! (Yes, I *am* 8 years old inside...) 😆

Right up there with the iconic pictures of murders from the Vietnam war... 🤬 Remember and do not forget.

The Senate may choose to vote together on the DHS and LHHS bills. Thus, a filibuster on DHS may mean no funding for NIH. What my colleagues are saying: “Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.” - anonymous NIHer

I am amused that we are getting 9 to 13 in of snow today, and my phone's weather app is delusionally predicting 2.49 in of snow. 😂 I think we are easily at 4-6 in or more already. A silent shroud of snow ...

If folks don't know what to do with their rage today, and they have cash, I suggest going to standwithminnesota.com and finding someone who needs help

My best friend in Atlanta prepared for Snowpocalypse26 by laying in 2 bottles of rose'. 😂 Gotta have priorities!

I was quoted in @thetransmitter.bsky.social today saying that the NIH budget bill is bad because it doesn't go far enough to stop this administration from remaking NIH. I want to add some context not covered in the piece. First, much credit to all the traditional advocacy... 🧪 1/

This is great to hear about. Minneapolis is showing us how it's done! "ICE has made the classic Nazi mistake. They've invaded a winter people in the winter." skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...

This. We can complain that US voters are uneducated etc. We can bemoan the breakdown in societal trust in expertise. But why did that accelerate to this point? It wasn't by chance. Seriously -- it all comes down to this. See also rooseveltinstitute.org/publications... For more details.

Now is definitely the time that tries people's souls.

Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."

Ohio Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation to make Election Day a state holiday. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/01/22/o...

When we are struggling to find the next generation of well-trained researchers to keep the innovations and medical treatment discoveries and improvements going-- refer back to this. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Important read: "Bull Connor ordered ... to blast the children with high-pressure fire hoses, club them, and use police dogs to attack them... The images were shown.. around the world, triggering widespread outrage." The fight for human rights continues: open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Get community safety whistles!! gofund.me/ace3233fa

ARE YOU A NON-MINNESOTAN WHO WANTS IDEAS OF STUFF TO DO TO HELP MINNESOTA RESIST FASCIST TYRANNY? Have I got a blog post for you! With additional advice for how to get ready in case tyranny shows up at YOUR doorstep next! naomikritzer.com/2026/01/21/h...

Here’s the deal with the FY26 NIH funding bill: One line in the 1000+ pg bill = significantly less science. The increase to ~40% of grants moving to MYF is estimated to result in a 35% decrease in the NUMBER of NIH grants funded annually—moving the paylines from 10% to around 4%. THIS IS BAD.

Well I spoke too soon! The Guinea-Bissau study is still going forward, though currently without approval from a US or European ethical board. Still withholding vaccines from newborns. Keep the pressure up, all the ethical people -- we don't need to do another Tuskegee experiment!! 🤬

hee hee hee hee....

People here are outside patrolling their neighborhoods in this, trying to keep their neighbors safe from lawless armed masked goons. Armed with whistles and vests, they are essentially fighting a war against their own government and its ethnic cleansing campaign.

This is also a good action-- glad to hear it, OSU!! I mean CBP isn't ICE per se but close enough. The sentiment is enough. www.dispatch.com/story/news/e...

Ok this is great news! I was appalled about this trial when I heard about it (it was a canonical counterexample for all the Belmont principles) -- but it's finally cancelled! (Or going to be modified to address the concerns. Woot!) www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Ok Gwar is pretty damn funny to watch, and their cover of Pink Pony Club is a riot. 😂 (Check YouTube, I expect you can't miss it...)

Block Party for @icegov.bsky.social pass it on