Trump’s college compact is an Orwellian intrusion into American higher education, in which “academic freedom” means gutting departments unfriendly to conservatives. So far, no university has said yes, but they need to stay united against it. www.theargumentmag.com/p/trumps-col...

After the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk, I watched as one right wing influencer after another said it was time to wage war on all left-wing institutions. Then, Trump echoed them in his oval office address. It's frightening he would even hint at it. www.theargumentmag.com/p/charlie-ki...

Ok we've made fun of deficit hawks forever but @jhweissmann.bsky.social has a convincing case that if you care about social welfare programs you actually do need to start worrying about the debt! www.theargumentmag.com/p/how-i-lear...

My argument for being a liberal deficit hawk. Between slashing taxes and crushing immigration, Trump policies are a disaster for our fiscal future. Libs need a longterm plan to fight back that doesn’t compromise our goal to protect and improve the welfare state. open.substack.com/pub/theargum...

One dead after bomb explodes outside reproductive center in Downtown Palm Springs thepalmspringspost.com/one-dead-aft...

This is completely false. Even the largest university endowment cannot sustain large-scale scientific research. In my 25 years at my school, the most monumental research fund drive raised $325M in *total*. Federal research here costs $200M per *every year*. This is an extinction-level event.

The fun part of this video is where he explains that Oxford and Webster both define a body slam as the wrestling move.

Nature reports that the National Science Foundation has stopped awarding new grants and allotting funds to existing ones. All of them. @colincarlson.bsky.social says that unless the freeze is lifted, it “is going to destroy people's labs.” 2/10 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Guess where they got their weird trade deficit math from?

Stockpiling in Free Trade Zones in every US state surging amidst tariff fears. www.ft.com/content/bafa...

Looking forward to hearing Bill Cassidy’s take on this www.wsj.com/politics/top...

You know, I still would not rate the chances of a Canada invasion highly (like, less than 5% chance). But watching this Greenland presser, I’d understand it if Ottawa was doing a little war gaming right now.

Florida debates lifting some child labor laws to fill jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants. Bill would allow 14-yr-olds to work overnight shifts, end guaranteed meal breaks for 16/17-yr-olds. (Legislature *already* passed law allowing home-schooled 16/17-yr-olds to work any hour of the day)

Student loan news: The Dept. of Education is apparently planning to turn back on the applications for income-driven repayment plans tomorrow, according to two sources familiar with the administration's plans. SAVE and REPAYE will no longer be options. IBR and PAYE will be.

She’s targeting Jan Schakowsky, who is a popular progressive, but also an 80-year-old incumbent who represents a college town. (Evanston, home of Northwestern). Absolutely can imagine this being a serious challenge given the frustrations with the party.

lmao I can’t believe they printed this

BYD says it has a battery system that can charge in 5 minutes, slightly more time than it takes to fill a tank of gas. The big US automakers are just hopelessly behind, and it feels like their foreign sales could easily be wiped out in a few years as a result. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Scientists have just cured pancreatic cancer in some patients with personalized mRNA vaccines. Pancreatic cancer. And this Trump administration wants to throw it all away. They’re throwing away a cure for cancer.

Department of education announces it’s cutting its workforce by 50% (including buyouts/retirements)

This fuckin’ doof made his name trying and failing to stand up to German austerity. And now…

New Yorkers when deciding on a mayor and picking the worst possible candidate

The Trump admin has made several recent announcements suggesting it is aiming to strip employees at major universities of eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or at least give it the option. Friday, Trump signed an EO barring nonprofits from PSLF if they engage in "illegal" activity...

We need cheap rent so 23 year olds can make rent waiting tables 4 days a week and party 6 nights a week.

On Friday, Trump announced that he planned to cut off PSLF for workers at nonprofits that engaged in ‘illegal’ or ‘improper’ activity via executive order. Based on item D on this list, it looks like he plans to wield that cudgel against DEI. Could have massive ripple effects.

Tesla’s crashing, Twitter’s out, Trump’s telling him to slow down DOGE. Not a great few days for Elon.

Student loan news: 25 Senate dems have written a letter to the Education Department asking when they’re planning to bring back IDR applications and what’s going on with recertification. The unfortunate takeaway for borrowers: Nobody outside the department seems to have any idea what’s going on.

There is a large audience on Bluesky (and I guess a smaller one here?) that thinks doubting Trump will invade Canada is as silly as doubting Putin would invade Ukraine in ‘22. Remember that in ‘22 Russia had already invaded Crimea and was massing troops at the border.

This is the first expansion ever where total hours worked for professional/business services workers has been declining:

I’ll tell you what everybody: If Donald Trump invades Canada, I’ll come here and personally apologize to all the people frothing at me right now. Feel better?

Why, despite everything, I’m still mostly on here instead of bluesky: Here, I get harassed by mouth breathing Elon fanboys who are at least fun to dunk on. On Bluesky, I’m getting lectured by overeducated and verbose Canadians who think Trump’s actually going to invade.

you have a mental problem

I don’t think there’s any definition where I qualify as an elite, sir.

Layoff announcements soar to the highest since 2020 according or Challenger, Gray & Christmas - only 1/3 in federal government. Collateral damage in the private sector.

China’s government has plans to add steel, aluminum, and cement producers to the set of entities covered by emissions cap and trade schemes by the end of 2025 www.bloomberg.com/news/article... 🔌💡

The Conclave was real?

Reads tweet. *Drifts into a thousand yard stare*

Serious Kevin Owens vibe

The only road into Olympic National Park's iconic Hoh Rainforest is closed: "In the past, repairs only took a matter of weeks, according to Jefferson County Public Works Director Monte Reinders. But this closure is entering its third month, with no signs of reopening anytime soon"

*Blansas intensifies*

Now confirmed: The Trump Administration will cut *7,000* staff from the Social Security Administration. That's enormous. See my thread below for what it means. 🚨 TL;DR: The Trump Admin's staff purge at Social Security will be equivalent to a government shutdown EVERY SINGLE DAY. 🚨

Seems bad

Guys, look very closely at this beach scene from the Trump Gaza video. What do you see?

A lot of student borrowers are freaking out because Dept. of Ed has closed its portal for income-driven repayment plans following a court decision last week. In doing so, it's shutting off access to repayment plans that weren't at issue in suit. finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-a...

This is a good piece, but it’s also a cautionary tale for journalists about putting unscientific surveys into the world that could easily be miscited. There’s no such thing as ‘just for our niche audience’ anymore. www.propublica.org/article/fede...

Donald Trump’s own WH special envoy is now fact checking Elon

Has Jay Bhattacharya said anything about the 15% cap on indirect costs in NIH funding? Not seeing anything after a bit of searching. And do we actually have any sense yet of who made that decision?

The technical geniuses at DOGE strike again

How WOULD an air traffic controller respond to this email? ‘Kept a plan from crashing.’ ‘Kept another plane from crashing.’ ‘Kept ano…’

Rachmaninoff piano concerto 2 — really hitting the spot after this week

I am starting to wonder what these mass government firings are going to mean for military recruitment. Vets often have trouble transitioning into the civilian labor force, but it helps that they have a huge leg up in the civil service. Does smashing it disincentivize enlisting?