Read Jim's whole thread! I also want to add some historical context. During the 1918 pandemic, there was so much confusion because many scientists still thought that a bacteria, not a virus caused the flu (because, as Jim notes, we couldn't even see viruses under a microscope yet).

1 - the exec branch can't decline to spend $ Congress appropriated 2- the fed govt can't use federal $ to extort states over policy/political disagreements 3-the fed govt can't use federal $ to impose conditions unrelated to the funding program 4-the fed govt can't use federal $ to coerce states

I can't imagine revealing to the whole world in 2025 that I got a PhD and still don't understand that there are economic forces more powerful than my own individual choices and merits that shaping whether I get a TT job.

A federal judge nominee admitted today that he said during a sermon that disabled people shouldn't get married. As I wrote for @motherjones.com, in fact, many can't out of risk of losing their benefits. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

LOSES?!?!?!!?! No. HHS canceled grants previously awarded to AAP — in what certainly looks like a retaliatory act.

See also www.eenews.net/articles/com...

The inefficiency and waste is a feature, not a bug

The entire debate over birthright citizenship is anti-constitutional because the purpose, intent, and text of the 14th Amendment were designed to foreclose any argument about who counts as an American citizen.

who decided to call it Secret Santa when Nondisclosure Claus was right there

I also think that if this is not immediately obvious to you, you should probably know: the TA undoubtedly knew what was happening the minute they got this essay, and their nightmare started that instant, not in the last two days. It’s horrifying. Feeding the discourse fire is prolonging it

All of this is to say two things. 1. “Now” is at least the last decade. It’s escalating exponentially, but this has never not been a fear as long as I’ve been in academia. People have a short memory, and frankly, don’t care about the real human impact as much as they think.

Helpful thread about the OU situation. As an Oklahoman, I'm so embarrassed by this situation.

OU's actions against a graduate instructor are appalling. This is why we need stronger grad unions.

Hello! @adamsopko.bsky.social and I have been working on a proposal to charter an AALS Section on State Constitutional Law. We believe that such a section is long overdue and that it is urgent to foster scholarly community and support in a growing discipline. Links to support this effort below: ⬇️

One is that teaching university students *well* requires much more work (and frankly, compassion) now than it did when I started nine years ago. 2/

The key word is "dictate." As 186 University of California law faculty wrote at the end of our own letter begging our Regents not to sign an agreement with a similar savings clause, the word "dictate" sets the bar WAY too low.

New Substack! Also, if anyone needs developmental editing, archival research support, or law review placement help over the holidays, please let me know! open.substack.com/pub/heathers...

IMO, while there's always a fair amount of politics interfering with lawmaking, we've had nothing the past few years. The bipartisan _children's cancer_ package went down last year. If you're in it to actually make improvements and you're not able to even move the most basic, bipartisan things...

"As long as policymakers continue to flood money into AI, small press publishers will only grow in importance. The quality of the books they produce, driven by that creative, alternative thinking & integrative design focus is only set to become more in demand." www.thebookseller.com/comment/dont...

As we all wait for Callais to come down, our piece showing that Shelby County increased the racial turnout gap in most of the covered parts of the country has cleared the replication check and is incoming at JOP. Gutting the VRA was bad, actually.

To fill the growing vacuum of history education in the U.S., racial justice organizers are offering truth-based curricula. Read my reporting: newsletter.mariannedhenin.com/educators-fi....

Another bsky.app/profile/prop...

Back again for the mid-November #polisky eJobs update (11/1-11/15): November 2024: 60 total positions (31 open to assistant TT) November 2025: 36 total positions (12 open to assistant TT)

UPDATE: I'm now offering both developmental editing and archival research support services! I've wanted to stay academic-adjacent even though I needed to leave my TT-job for personal reasons. And this feels like a great way to do that. So what does this mean?

Alice Wong was one of the most effective people challenging the Whiteness of disability communities and its many flaws, but who believed fiercely in us as a community, in disabled people as oracles. Alice brought so much to so many of us, it’s hard to measure the kind of gratitude I have for that.

Alice Wong. i could literally teach an entire semester of philosophy of technology & disability through a lens of just her. You should all go spend time with her work. Her essays, podcasts, TV appearances, books, all of it; it is all so good. Good night Alice. Rest in power, pending justice & peace

What a privilege it is to be a younger disabled person in a community shaped by Alice Wong. Rest in peace, Alice.

Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵

congress is a russian nesting doll of counter-majoritarian structures. seems to me that there's no need for a supermajority rule on top of that!

Do I have any friends or friends of friends currently working on book manuscripts who would benefit from a free or very low cost developmental editor? If so, please DM me!

This is what I meant yesterday when I said the blue wave wasn’t about the Democratic Party The Party didn’t do much. In some cases, it risked doing damage by approving or disapproving candidates regardless of what voters wanted The wave was created by voters DESPITE the Party And that’s democracy

Jeremy Peters byline so of course it's terrible Typically terrible so of course he includes an attack on elitist Mamdani's education by Yale Law's JD Vance

Meet my midlife crisis. Her name is Samantha. If anyone knows good [adult] clarinet teachers over zoom or in the DMV, lmk. I’m relearning much quicker than expected but would like some lessons. :)

We have a FANTASTIC lineup for our symposium on Nov 6-7 on The Power of State Constitutional Rights. Come in person to Northwestern Law School or watch online. You can see the agenda and register here! brennan.swoogo.com/stateconstit...

Brown rejected the compact! www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

"And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."

My only real contribution to the Taylor Swift "discourse" is that But Daddy I Love Him is still *the* anthem for autistic girls who grew up in evangelical settings.

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Why are your healthcare costs higher? Why is your electricity bill tripled? Why is everything you buy so much more expensive? Why are your neighbors gone? Why can’t your mom get a cancer treatment? Republicans.

“No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social: Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain. Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

A judge blocked Trump from sending Oregon's National Guard into Portland. That same judge then blocked Trump from deploying California's National Guard to Portland instead. This isn't a "left wing" judge — Trump appointed her. Says a lot about Trump's authoritarian power grab.

Hi Bluesky! Do I know any folks who do developmental editing? And would you be willing to chat with me?

you! are! a! lawyer! I fear that the legal community will act like Trump admin's lawyers are normal lawyers--like they'll get nice firm jobs and their law schools will invite them to talk to students, etc--but the lawyers facilitating Trump's lawlessness should be professionally and socially shamed

The collective action that thee nine universities need to take is to unequivocally reject the compact. Danielle Allen, who is a wonderful and thoughtful person, seems to be imagining possibilities for good faith negotiations here that plainly do not exist. The government does not share her goal.

No remote access in this afternoon's hearing in Illinois v Trump—Chicago-based legal journalists, we are counting on you

The new Supreme Court term starts today, meaning that -- in a novel twist -- the justices will hear oral arguments in some cases before they issue rulings that actually explain what they are doing.

KBJ deserves better colleagues.

This footnote to Illinois and Chicago's lawsuit against Trump is an important reminder: * There is no Department of War or Secretary of War, which are make-believe names for the actual agencies created by Congress. Doc storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...