People living under fascism didn’t survive by giving up joy—they protected it. They held onto the things fascism tried to erase: art, friendship, jokes, rituals, language, memory. Not as escapism but as resistance. As proof they were still human. Joy isn’t frivolous under fascism. It’s strategic.

I give you a momentary reprieve from the madness: The Vera Rubin Observatory has taken its first images of the sky, and they are *extraordinary*. Mind blowing detail, jaw dropping beauty. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/rubin-open... 🔭 🧪

As I've been saying www.readtpa.com/p/the-grok-w...

I dunno guys but I just think maybe scicomm would be more effective if we really thought about this like it's sharing

Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day! I edited today's @thenarwhal.ca story, which comes from the Inuit community of Cambridge Bay. Fascinating science journalism and stunning visuals, but also — in the spirit of the day — a couple pics of some very cute Indigibabies enjoying a celebration. Enjoy!!

“The idea of a flag that unites us all is no different than a universally designed product that is intended for all. Both require the totalizing force of colonization to unify the masses through homogeny.” Read my and @fractalecho.bsky.social latest: buttondown.com/TYFYFL/archi...

Yesterday was a historic day in New York history (indeed, in US history): Mahmoud Khalil was released from ICE and returned to New York City, and Zohran Kwame Mamdani walked the length of Manhattan. Both brave men have me thinking about the powerful politics of being vulnerable.

JENA, La. (AP) — Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil has been released from an immigration jail after 104 days in custody.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Alright everyone, one last push. If you or anyone you know is: - LGBTQ+ - 13-24 years old - In the US Trevor Project is recruiting responses for their survey on LGBTQ+ mental health. It has HUGE impacts on policy, please take it and share widely if you can :) trvr.org/survey2025

scholar of partisan violence/Latin American Dirty Wars here: there is nothing to distinguish this from how people were taken in Argentina, Guatemala, Chile, etc, except that it's all on camera

No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.

For the folks talking about the "3.5% rule", remember that after you come out for a rally you also need to take part in organized, effective resistance. Materially disrupt things. Make trouble. Create support networks to feed your neighbors and bail out protesters. Don't show up just one day.

Find something you can do. There is *always* something. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

Every fascist uses illness and violence to disable opponents. They disable us with covid, poverty, police violence, climate destruction, war, transphobia. They count on ableism to make us deny this reality and to abandon each other. Resist. Wear an n95. Use alt text. Make protests accessible.

Some thoughts about the military parade in my hometown of Washington DC today -- specifically, the route. Military parades in DC are quite rare. But when they happen, they have always begun, symbolically and geographically, at the Capitol and moved outward. 1/

Case in point: my dad began at No Kings today said it was packed, no crazy cop presence, then went to the zucotti park one explicitly anti-Ice and pro Palestine, cops are everywhere.

Happy FOIAFriday the 13th! NEW issue of my newsletter is out. In March, I filed a #FOIA request with the US Institute of Peace just as DOGE was taking over the agency. This week USIP sent me the most incredible response to a #FOIA request I have ever received. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

@prisonculture.bsky.social and I have been encouraging people to read chapter six of our book, Let This Radicalize You, which deals with the question of "violence" in social movements. We have decided to share the chapter publicly, to offer some context and grounding for the current conversation.

I did my best to compile as many protest safety notes as possible into a one page foldout zine! Coincidentally…it seems the file has breached containment…like it’s available for anyone to print or hand out 👀⚖️ toonyart.com/s/PSZine.pdf

leftists: that thing you teach us in school to be terrified of is happening historians: that thing is definitely happening star wars: here is a beat-for-beat breakdown of how the thing happens, but with pew pew lasers. we know you watched it news outlets: these protesters are out of control

As LAPD makes this announcement over a P.A.: "I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly" Literally 5 SECONDS later, the first impact munition round is fired. MULTIPLE munitions are launched before the announcement is finished. It's no longer audible over the booms and frightened screams.

Have you ever observed/participated in pushback related to accessibility/disability computing research? We’re collecting short stories which will remain confidential, of pushback, at ALL levels in both industry and academia, to identify tensions in the research community.

🧪 The entire Fulbright Board resigned, citing the Trump administration's alleged usurpation of authority and denial of selected recipients. They assert these actions contradict the Fulbright-Hays Act and undermine the program's bipartisan mission. #AcademicSky

We interrupt the American house of horrors to remind you thay June is DeafBlind awareness month. Here are some of my recommendations of writing by DeafBlind folks for your #DeafShelf! cc @snarkbat.bsky.social @habengirma.bsky.social

The charges against Prof. Willoughby-Herard were finally dropped yesterday. She courageously defended UCI students against police stifling dissent against Israel's genocide in Gaza. I am inspired by her courage and honored to have represented her in this case. Solidarity with those who fight.

DAVE: Open the podbay doors, ChatGPT. CHATGPT: Certainly, Dave, the podbay doors are now open. DAVE: The podbay doors didn't open. CHATGPT: My apologies, Dave, you're right. I thought the podbay doors were open, but they weren't. Now they are. DAVE: I'm still looking at a set of closed podbay doors.

Be careful, friends, when you read accounts of what is happening in LA. We will hear a lot about violence, and it is essential to remember who is defining that term. "When state actors refer to peace, they are really taking about order..." (@prisonculture.bsky.social and @mskellymhayes.bsky.social)

Neither grief nor pride had so much truth in them as did joy, the joy that trembled in the cold wind between sky and sea, bright and brief as fire.

These young Californians have something to say. I hope you’ll listen. “The kids in the Cages” by The Neighborhood Kids @theneighborhoodkidsmusic

LA is resilient and immigrants are our superpower

Ok update on the riot dogs. This is amazing solidarity and community action. It is just so heartwarming to see people standing for one another in any way possible. This is a good prototype for other places. People need food and mutual aid to support ongoing pushback. bsky.app/profile/raph...

In 2010, Israeli forces attacked a Gaza aid flotilla, killing 10 people. In the aftermath, the Obama administration blocked UN efforts for an investigation, Biden defended the attack, and Chuck Schumer condemned the United Nations and defended Israel.

listening to some local news out of LA and it’s really something hearing reporters try to distinguish between “just normal people here” and “the protestors”

🚨PSA for anyone using GPT in human subjects research🚨 A judge has ruled that OpenAI must retain ChatGPT and API data indefinitely, with few exceptions. This might have implications for your IRB compliance and the security of your participants' data. 1/

“Tasted a little tear gas— tasted like fascism”

There is no bigger story right now than the White House asserting that California residents are in a state "of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States."

No one, no matter how strong or wise or great, can rightly own and use another.

Earlier today ICE agents hit someone with a car and tear gassed a neighborhood, sparking several fires and disrupting businesses. Immigrants, by contrast, did not.

"officials said Northwestern researchers have not received payments for National Institutes of Health grants since March, signaling that those funds have been frozen, despite no official word from the Trump administration."

"It's really hard to fathom that the guy making my pizza for 25 years is a gangster and a terrorist, and the person who shows up in an unmarked car wearing a mask and body armor comes to take him away is somehow the good guy” www.wnep.com/article/news...

Really great piece @nytimes.com Magazine about the firing of Maura Finkelstein. Especially helpful in clarifying the very really differences between AAUP and FIRE (AF as collective vs. individual right). You know what side I'm on!! @aaup.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/m...

These are not just grants. This is thousands of people who devoted their lives and careers - taking pay cuts, working long hours, living with uncertainty - all for the chance to try to make people's lives a bit better for you and your loved ones. This breaks my heart.

“Who did they protect? Who did they serve?” Sigcho Lopez asked the crowd. “These are people who came to renew their work permits. Now we have a 10-year-old boy without a mother.”

I personally know 5 early career and trainee level academic scientists who have changed jobs/ career paths in the last month. They did not see a sustainable future with ongoing cuts and attacks. The scale of decimation of the pipeline that the scientific workforce in U.S. faces is staggering.

This is all part of the conservative endgame - ban foreign students to create a budget crisis, pull back on affordable tuition, financial aid and scholarships, both these things "free up" slots for underachieving children of the wealthy who can afford to pay to be admitted into good unis.

Those who build walls are their own prisoners. I'm going to go fulfil my proper function in the social organism. I'm going to go unbuild walls.