I just had to take a photo of this picnic table which as an incredible inclusive design that's useable for adults, young children, and folks using wheelchairs. We need to look at redesigning our public spaces and amenities so that they include everyone in little ways and big ways.

This tattoo, by InkedMongoose on IG, is perfect. No notes.

Pranksters vs. autocrats, for the win! Right now, you can download a free copy of this book from the Cornell University Press website: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501... Many thanks to @cornellupress.bsky.social

"We are witnessing the dismantling of a system that once made space for pure curiosity. But if we lose our commitment to basic research, we risk stalling the very engine of innovation that has propelled us forward for generations." www.chronicle.com/article/in-d...

Clip from “Chromophobia,” by Raul Servais (1966). On reclaiming creativity and hope from those who aim to drain it from you. Via @an.i.mat.tion (IG)

War(s) on terror by @raphaelerba.bsky.social

Lewelyn Dixon has been released! The University of Washington lab technician was held in ICE custody since Feb. 28.

“Welcome, members of the Class of 2025… from down the street, across the country, and around the world. Around the world, just as it should be.”

22 years ago I pivoted from working on antibiotic resistance to pandemic viruses. Since then, I've argued that if we care about saving US lives in expectation, advance capacity for producing bird flu vaccine offers by far the greatest expected return on investment. ... We were so goddamn close.

Today, we received notice that our team’s last remaining NSF grant was terminated. For the first time since 2009, when I received an NSF Fellowship for Graduate Research, I have no active NSF grants.

George Carlin ;)

Although fair use exceptions to copyright include satire, Conan O’Brien was denied fair use of both the melody and lyrics to the Sound of Music when his new travel show went to Salzburg. His response:

On the “tragedy of the commons” as an alibi for the privatization of our common wealth. 🙏🏼 @theforestjar.bsky.social

Harvard launches FREE, self-paced courses focused on democratic principles, understanding the constitution, and crafting your civic voice. “We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy” #AcademicSky #MomSky

America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.

“Happiness” (2017) by Steve Cutts.

I watched a ton of Phil Donahue when I was young. Above all, he always modeled curiosity. Non-judgmental, unbridled curiosity. He talked to Russian intellectuals during the Reagan era, trans people, people with all manner of beliefs. He always led with respect and a genuine desire to understand.

I taught a course, Rhetoric and Popular Culture, for over 20 years, mostly focused on exactly these themes. I’ve been out of the classroom a while, but this makes me want to jump back into the conversation—about the relationship between commerce and counter-cultures. A lot has changed. Much hasn’t.

Before Central Park, there was Seneca Village, a predominantly Black community in Manhattan. They were forcibly removed in the 1850s to make way for Central Park. This displacement is recognized as a dark chapter in New York's history, involving the erasure of a thriving community.

My Brother in Christ I wrote a whole ass online course for nineteen-year-olds that starts by making that point before moving on to some modest degree of nuance that is being taught at dozens of universities around the country so why exactly are lecturing me on this again?

“After months of headlines about the same half-dozen or so colleges, the Trump administration and its allies seem to be trying to broadcast a more expansive message: Any college can come under its eye, not just the household names.” #AcademicSky

Read. Every. Word. Of. This. www.commonwealthfund.org/publications...

🎯 @ilanaglazer.com When do people 💩 themselves? When dying, Or giving birth. We are witnessing the modern era in its death throes. The 20thC is gnashing its teeth as it fades to history. Fascism sputtering one last hurrah. It’s ugly, and painful. But CHANGE is afoot. Let’s choose to birth PEACE.

Mrs. Frazzled does a great job breaking down the rhetorical power of satire, here. 🙌🏻

Our freedom depends on it. ❤️

#MomSky❤️‍🩹

“What I worry about most is the long-term consequence of losing a generation of young scientists,” former NIH director Francis Collins. The partnership between the federal government and our universities is one of America’s greatest legacies. Protect it. @theatlantic.com #AcademicSky #MomSky

All 37 divisions at the NSF are being abolished, over 1,400 grants canceled, and a 55% budget cut proposed.

Tracking Trump’s Higher Ed agenda: Shrink the Dept. of Ed Eliminate DEI Overhaul accreditation Cut federal research $ Restructure student loans Tax elite universities Limit academic freedom Roll back civil rights Restrict int’l students #AcademicSky #MomSky www.chronicle.com/article/trac...

The political messages in Charlie Chaplin’s films are as relevant as ever (and kids love them). His speech at the end of his Hitler spoof the Great Dictator (1940), is deeply moving. It was the first time audiences heard the silent film star speak. #MomSky 🍿 #FilmSky 1/4

“What seemed a Spartacus-style bit of bravado, just one day ago, has already become an unmistakable movement. It is changing practically by the hour. More people should be aware of it, support it, and spread its example.”

😅😅😅

“Immigration attorneys told Inside Higher Ed that if implemented, the new policy would enshrine broad permission for ICE to begin deporting students practically at will.” #AcademicSky #MomSky

“Americans must insist on academic freedom, or risk losing what makes our nation great.” The partnership between government and higher ed is one of our great successes, attracting people from all over the world to innovate for the benefit of us all. Protect academic freedom #MomSky #AcademicSky

Because who else WOULD you cast?

Leaders of some of the nation’s most prestigious universities have assembled a private collective to counter Trump’s attacks on research funding and academic independence. A group of school leaders are behind the scenes strategizing. #MomSky #Voices4Victory www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

“We are all vulnerable to framing effects, which is why so much of our political discourse is frame warfare—the battle to control how we think about things.” Great tips on “going meta,” tuning in not just to the messages that surround us, but the frames that shape how we interpret them as well. 👇🏻

Art in an age w/out nuance. “Satire and other more sophisticated forms of storytelling were subsumed by an intense literal-mindedness, in keeping with a growing conviction that audiences were both dangerously malleable and much too stupid to grasp anything but the most ham-handed moral messaging.”

TRUTH! 🗣️@ladyizdihar.bsky.social

Cute little bookshop on Mercer Island.

“Never budge! That’s my rule. Never budge in the least! Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east! I’ll stay here, not budging! I can and I will If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!” Dr. Seuss, The Zax #MomSky 📚

49 years ago Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten, Paul Cook and Steve Jones play on as their manager Malcolm McLaren fights with an audience member, Nashville Rooms, London, April 23, 1976. Photos by Kate Simon #punk #punks #punkrock #sexpistols #history #punkrockhistory #otd

Happy Independent Bookstore Day to all who celebrate! (As if I needed an excuse…)

The canceled grands are shock and awe, but the real damage will come from the long-term (massive) reductions in funding to the entire US research ecosystem and the defunding of entire fields and initiatives for training, growing, and diversifying the research workforce.

Trump signs an executive order bypassing the Endangered Species Act to clearcut 280 million acres of national forests and public lands. Hands off our forests and public lands!! #MomSky #Voices4Victory

Universities banding together to resist the authoritarian regime! I hope that even the southern universities do this!!!