After the drone attack, Poland has invoked Article 4 of NATO. Note: a) Article 4 calls for consultation, NOT mutual defense, b) Not the first time Russia has "accidentally" bombed Poland, nor the 1st time Poland used Article 4 c) Yes, it's a Putin troll; no, it is not an inevitable escalation

Every day, my mother carefully boiled milk, bc otherwise we'd be exposed to tuberculosis, massive GI issues, and other pathogen-borne disease. When we came to the US, you could just drink milk cold! straight from the bottle! with no gross coat to skim! Welcome to communist-era Poland, y'all.

A must read, especially for anyone who thinks that making little concessions and keeping your head down will work:

Nicolae Ceaușescu was known as the Genius of the Carpathians, the Man of Humanity, the Hero of Heroes and Romania's First Architect. He was endlessly praised by his inner circle, the media, and state-organized public demonstrations. And then came December 25, 1989.

Stalin purged his brilliant general Mikhail Tukachevsky, known for his commitment to professionalism. He was executed, along with several other generals, in 1937. Stalin also purged over 35K officers. The result was the Winter War disaster, and a near-total lack of preparation for Barbarossa.

To punish critics and to intimidate dissidents, the communist parties in the Soviet bloc would conduct raids on their apartments, searching for more pretexts to put them on show trials.

You can end an assault immediately by saying you consent. Just remember how you asked for it.

Red carpet for Putin:

At just over 2 troops per 1000 inhabitants, the deployment to DC is larger per capita than the US deployment in Afghanistan except during the Obama surge 2009-13.

just lost $100,000 on a polymarket bet that trump would negotiate a peace deal today with putin. i was sure of it. i can't believe i lost all this money. he wrote the art of the deal.

Putin plays Trump like a violin, over and over again.

All that, and then the attentiveness/ admiring looks. Astonishing.

Putin scored a major PR victory: claiming agreement where none exists, once again trotting out the "root causes of the conflict canard," and getting his "businessmen" to do their intelligence jobs. Trump profusely thanking him was just the cherry on top of this noxious sundae.

Someone teach the fine folks of Anchorage to chant “Путин-хуйло!” stat

Just to clarify, the HHS and NIH will abandon research into mRNA Covid vaccines because people don't trust them, but will continue research into mRNA cancer vaccines because they could save lives and eliminate fatal disease.

No, he’s not giving Putin Alaska, but he is giving Putin a huge gift: the legitimacy of touching down on US soil at the invitation of a US president. A reward for the full-scale invasion of a sovereign, democratic country that the United States and its European allies support.

Trofim Lysenko insisted on Lamarck being right, rejected Mendelian genetics, and as Director of the Institute of Genetics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, was responsible not only for the political prosecution of his critics, but for idiotic policies that led to the deaths of thousands.

Communist regimes insisted on a "propaganda of success," with the media daily and breathlessly reporting ever-higher quotas being met by the heroic workers and massive economic growth. Stalin sent the (few) authors of unfavorable economic reports to the gulag. This of course is very different.

Here’s hoping university administrators are as clear eyed about protecting academic freedom and faculty governance as the signatories of this excellent letter.

Autocratic regimes are infamous for censoring the news, making sure that the Dear Leader is always portrayed in a favorable light, and ensuring a never ending “propaganda of success” This, of course, is exactly like that.

The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” has cast very different shadows depending on which party holds the White House. When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases. For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.

The Polish communist government declared martial law in 1981, in response to mass societal discontent and protest. It sent out tanks into the streets to intimidate the population. This, of course, is very different.

Day 3 of fielding media fact-checkers asking whether Zohran Mamdani is a communist. No. He's not a communist. He's not calling for a centrally planned economy. He's not calling for a single ruling party. He respects pluralism. Some of his ideas are silly, but it's not b/c he's a communist, ffs.

Both communist and fascist regimes would strip people of their citizenship for "anti-regime behavior." People were forced to emigrate, and given one-way travel documents that left them stateless. This, of course, is entirely different.

To instill terror in the Polish population during WWII, the Nazis would arbitrarily round up people on the streets, and then detain them, torture them, send them to the camps ,or just summarily execute them. This, of course, is entirely different. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81a...

This hyphenated hyphenated American very much agrees

Stefan Zweig wrote in The World of Yesterday that he knew everything was over in 1930s Germany when squads of young uniformed thugs began to jump out of trucks to beat up protesters. Someone organized, trained, provided uniforms, and provided trucks. Someone let them legally terrorize society.

Political keyfabe gets covered with breathless fascination. Our constitutional crisis, not so much.

This, a thousand times.

🇵🇱⚖️🗳️ The rule of law repair process in Poland just got incredibly more difficult. I expect President Nawrocki to be even less cooperative than Duda, as Nawrocki will work hard for a PiS parliamentary election victory. Tough times ahead. 1/

Nawrocki with 50.9. Five more years. wiadomosci.onet.pl/wybory/wybor...

Exit poll has Trzaskowski at 50.3. If anyone needs me, I’m at home, sacrificing chickens.

Communist regimes determined what could be taught and researched at universities, insisted on programs in Lysenkoism and Scientific Marxism-Leninism, abolished other departments, and controlled who could attend and teach. This, of course, is entirely different.

Wherein I opine that the upcoming presidential elections in Poland will either enable or stymie democratic reform after the PiS years. For a largely ceremonial office, this one matters. goodauthority.org/news/trzasko...

🚨 “Good Description” with @annagbusse.bsky.social 🚨 What sets 'good' description apart from 'mere' description? We develop a framework for evaluating descriptive research, whether we are doing it as scholars or assessing it as readers. Two main contributions... 🔗📄 tinyurl.com/gooddesc

Dumbing down does not ensure equity, and all it does is undermine public education: rich parents just pull their kids out or get them private classes. Sequoia United High School District, just up the road from Palo Alto, has been doing the same thing, with no closure of achievement gaps.

That thing when you post using your real name, institutional affiliation, and profile photo, but anonymous accounts with cartoon profile pics call you a "coward" for blocking them

Stanford speaks out in support of Harvard: "America’s universities are a source of great national strength, creating knowledge and driving innovation and economic growth. This strength has been built on government investment but not government control." news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

"Other important reasons of the state" used to be the apocryphal crime for which people would be abducted from their homes, tortured, and sent to the Gulag under communism. Obviously this is very different.

"I'm going to step on this rake" "Genius!" "Multidmensional chess" "America is so great"

Nope, not me

Orbán regularly targeted independent newspapers, advocacy groups, critics, and NGOs with tax investigations and prosecutions until most shut down. This, of course, is entirely different.

Conservative writer for @nationalreview.bsky.social has zero affection for Rumeysa Öztürk but slams her arrest and detention. Let’s uplift conservatives when they oppose outrageous Trump actions.

The communist regimes used to exile their dissidents, both outside of the country and internally into the gulag and the labor camps. These autocrats gave their opponents one-way exit visas, forcing them out of the countries where they worked and lived. Obviously, this is very different.

This is the fundamental problem with Silicon Valley as well: the modal belief is that anything to do with politics or the state is either an engineering problem or a conspiracy. And then these guys are let loose on our democracy.

More excellent work from @adambonica.bsky.social, who brings hard data, sober analysis, and very hopeful findings to the table.

More of this, please. Four excellent political scientists respond to the government's attacks on Columbia and on higher education.

I wish university leaders would a) read this, and b) reconsider their silence. This administration is coming for higher education. Failing to point out the illegality, the violation of basic legal rights, and attacks on research and what they mean isn't going to save us.

In fiscal year 2024, the report found, NIH awarded more than $36.9 billion to researchers, supporting more than 408,000 jobs and generating over $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

The thing that Senate Democrats don't seem to understand is if *they*, the elected leaders and proud institutionalists, so easily *give up*, then the message they are communicating to is that this is either (a) all fine, actually or (b) utterly hopeless. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-k...