truly harrowing stuff giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Life as an elderly dog or indeed a middle aged cat at my parents' house seems to be pretty good.

From the well-sourced Helene Cooper: "A Defense Department official said that the Pentagon had worked in tandem with the Nigerian government to carry out the strikes, which the official said were approved by that government." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...

Federal judge blocks ICE from arresting immigrants who show up for court appointments in Northern California

Hanging out with Inigo can be very calming.

🎵 no crust of bread for those in need 🎶 no juices for us mooses🎵

We stand with the NWSLPA.

Exposures to this individual may have occurred at the following locations and times: Logan Airport Terminal B, 2:30 p.m.-4:45 p.m., Thursday 12/11 DoubleTree, Boston-Westborough,3:30 p.m., Thursday 12/11- 9 p.m., Friday 12/12 Logan Airport Terminal C, 6 p.m.-11:30 p.m., Friday 12/12

Slow birding hack! Go out when the path is unexpectedly totally frozen over so you are forced to walk slowly enough that the birds don't notice you're there and you spot every single one of them!

kavanaugh not beating the allegations that he’s a dumbass

I was once introduced as "This is Erin. She listens to a lot of world music."

The US State Department is now going to be deporting people and/or revoking visas over Benz, Taibbi, and Shellenberger’s “censorship industrial complex” hoax. Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians. www.state.gov/releases/off...

This means the VA won't cover abortions EVEN in the case of rape, incest, or serious threat to the health of the patient. The DOJ memo was authored by Josh Craddock, one of the chief legal advocates for fetal personhood, i.e. imposing a nationwide abortion ban through the courts.

my favorite thing about ashes discourse is all the other cool cricket stuff happening all over the world!

Child being pushed in a stroller past Dunkin Donuts: Grandma, did you know I really love donuts? Grandma: non-committal noise Child: They make me so strong!

Immigration arrests and deportations have shot up in New England, with the participation of federal, regional and local institutions.

BREAKING: Judge James Boasberg rules for those deported under the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 — certifying a class, finding the U.S. maintained constructive custody over them at CECOT, finding they were not given due process, and ordering return or that such process be given by Jan. 5, 2026.

Americans having to bootleg broadcast news about our government’s offshored concentration camp is a level of fascism that immediately precedes democratic societies dropping leaflets on us from weather balloons.

I highly recommend watching this segment, not just because the CBS News execs and the White House didn’t want you to, but because these men were tortured and they deserved to have their voices heard.

There, where we live, there is our country! דארטען, וואו מיר לעבען, דארט איז אונזער לאנד!

Trying for somewhat art deco adjacent for the Steady Thread blackwork stitchalong this year 🧶🧵🪡

Happy eighth night of Chanukah and happy solstice! It'll just get brighter from here!

Doctors Without Borders urges Israel to let critical aid into Gaza as children freeze to death. "At least 13 people, including two-week-old and one-month-old babies, have died from winter weather and a lack of adequate shelter and aid – blocked by Israel" www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...

These downy woodpeckers are abundant and *always* in this patch of reeds! I've never spotted their little pink tongues before, though. 🪶

Lots of good foraging happening yesterday.🪶

The Duality of Mockingbird🪶

please, my downy woodpecker is very broken 🪶

I'm trying to branch out in my noisy-women-fronted punk and rock groups to listen to while lifting and putting down heavy things. I'd love suggestions, especially groups who are still putting out new music!

What a gift.

I haven't lit my candles yet tonight, but here's a memory from the 7th night of Chanukah as it was celebrated in 2013 in Tai National Park, Cote d'Ivoire while I was doing fieldwork for my PhD.

Oh hey - the steamship authority that runs ferries from Cape Cod to the islands wasted $2-4 million and, it turns out, actually did the XKCD thing where it was built in 1996 and is still maintained by the now-70-year-old who built it! www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/19/m...

Me: Opens up new journal article about how AI extracts racial data from digital pathology slides and then is biased and racist Popup on the page of scientific journal that published this study: "Ask ScienceDirect AI: What is your research question? Research faster with ScienceDirect AI!"

I feel better - I ran into the most serious birder in my local spot this morning, and he told me he's only seen one common merganser female in the river so far.

The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality. And trans lives are grounded in reality. We see y'all. No matter what. www.popsci.com/science/tran...

Indian H-1B visa holders who traveled back to India this month to renew their American work permits are now stranded after their appointments were abruptly canceled and rescheduled for months later, according to immigration lawyers.

“When the administration began routinely denying bond hearing to members of our class, it upended 30 years of standard practice and signaled a dark new strategy designed to demoralize our clients and close off well-established avenues for legal relief.”

BREAKING: A federal court ruled the Trump administration is unlawfully depriving potentially thousands of people in ICE custody in New England of the opportunity to challenge their detention.

Uggggggh I wanted them to move to Boston so badly. So did the Connecticut Sun...

There's no secret. There's no magic. There's no meritocracy. There are so many people qualified for every job and they have to pick 1. Did I deserve this job? Who the fuck knows. Did other people who applied deserve it? Absolutely, that I do know. That I very much know. But here we are.

DEI isn't why you didn't get a job. THERE ARE NO JOBS. YOU DIDN'T GET A JOB BECAUSE THERE ARE NO JOBS. If all the older professors retired? You still wouldn't get a job! Not in the humanities! Because they'll replace at best half of those lines! There will still be no jobs! None!

"The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges."

Pretty sure one of our neighborhood hawks was eating *in* a squirrel nest this morning.

Today I received FOUR death notifications for people in ICE custody. That's 30 deaths since Trump took office. It's appalling & unacceptable.   ICE is required—by law—to ensure detainees are safe & their basic needs are met. It's clear this isn't the case. We NEED answers.

I wish a single journalist or leader would reach out to me I have the scientific expertise, lived experience of a trans person, and am literally a science communicator for my career I'm willing to explain this even though I know it will decrease my personal safety!! bsky.app/profile/jeym...

Unless something has gone terribly awry, I have taken my final final! If you ever hear me thinking about getting another degree, please tell me No! very firmly and remind me about the existence of final exams.

Y'all, I just got out of the NSF-BIO webinar where they explained changes to peer review. It's not good. 🧪 scienceforeveryone.science/changes-to-n...

The research team is very important, because as @lizszabo.bsky.social has written about, they are under intense scrutiny for some serious concerns about their prior studies. They are also in a mutual admiration society with RFK Jr., suggesting that this was a backroom deal.

Taken together, it appears that as RFK Jr. cuts funding and aid to vulnerable countries, he is more than willing to exploit infants in a situation where we already know the HepB birth dose is safe and effective. This is disgraceful, and it most certainly will not improve trust in public health.

every transgender child is a goddamned miracle

This is a nice conversation to get to listen in on.