“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

#JNeurosci: Findings from van Geen et al. support an integrated view of decision-making where mnemonic and value-based systems interact even in basic learning contexts, and highlight age-related disruptions in the transfer of info across brain regions. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1459-25.2026

My comment on the disastrous OMB rule

A moving—and, I will say, profound—reflection by JVL on our current situation: “That is what makes this moment different. We have moved decidedly backwards…What worries me most about the regression is that our lurch toward illiberalism is the result of success.” www.thebulwark.com/p/america-at...

America at 250: We Had a Good Run

It’s not a celebration. It’s a vigil.

thebulwark.com

I hadn't seen this highlighted before, and it's horrifying -- this implies that for anyone who gets a federal grant, any American can report you, have the government sue you, and get a reward for evidence that you're not following the draconian new grant terms. Truly Stasi-level intrusiveness.

Gen Wojcik@genandgenes.bsky.social · last mo.

They want you to join their witch hunts, feed the flames that burn us all in the end. "Do you think a particular federal research grant is a waste of tax dollars? Anyone angry enough to file a lawsuit over such a matter may soon be able to have the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on their side."

Imagine that the only labs that remain open and receive (ample) funding are those: - With only American citizens in their labs; - With no international collaborators; - Who have never participated in a protest or donated to a Democratic campaign; - Whose research aligns with Trump’s priorities.

I conclude that for the next president, the first, most straightforward, and arguably most important task is to destroy X. prospect.org?p=139475

We have to end his power in November. It is life or death.

What's happening to CBS News is what the tech oligarchs call "parallel" strategy. Buy an existing institution, gut it, and convert it into a right-wing zombie version of itself. They are doing this to media, government, education, biotech, defense tech, etc. Some call it the "Network State."

Look, I know I sound crazy, but WHY WOULD RUSSELL VOUGHT, mastermind behind Project 2025, WRITE THAT OMB CAN CANCEL ANY GRANT FOR ANY REASON IF THEY WEREN'T GOING TO DO EXACTLY THAT?! Mark my words: Agencies will send out blanket grant cancellation emails that will make 2025 look like child's play.

What's really astonishing is not the far right authoritarian party doing this, but the near-total lack of <loud public collective action> by university chancellors & presidents to oppose this existential crisis. Almost impossible to overstate how total a failure of leadership this is.

Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · 2mo ago

It’s truly astonishing to see how comprehensively the US government is tearing down every part of the system that has made it up until now a world-leading power in science, research, and technological development. The entire world will suffer from this wanton destruction.

"The plan is to kill off publicly funded academic science in this country." Correct. And that means killing off the whole US science and innovation industry. Because it's all built on a foundation of basic research—which. can. only. be. funded. by. public. dollars.

Derek Lowe@dereklowe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

An unapologetically angry post about what’s being done to US science:

California Bill Would Create A $23 Billion Fund For University Research

California Bill Would Create A $23 Billion Fund For University Research

A California bill would give voters the chance to vote on whether the state should create a $23 billion bond that would be used to award grants to university researchers.

forbes.com

600k a year, over 4 or 5 years, that’s getting up into the mass murder big leagues. Trying to unseat the big H.

Tom Hearden@followtheh.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A Harvard study just published estimates Elon Musk's destruction of USAID has already caused 600,000 deaths 2/3 of them children. That is his legacy in this world.

"Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks." www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The Rise of the Vichy Scientists

Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks.

thenation.com

The young man was just peacefully protesting at the DC Hilton Saturday night. Just like that group of patriots on Jan 6th. I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. 🥱

I do think this a genuinely worrying aspect of this incident we know the kind of guy who commits political violence and up until now he has not looked like this, and there are a lot more guys like the latter than the former it’s a very bad sign for a society when someone like this picks up a gun

Elizabeth Spiers@espiers.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This guy does not have the profile of a mass shooter and he knows what he’s forgoing. I worry that we’ll see more of this because Congress and SCOTUS refuse to constrain Trump and people who would not otherwise be radicalized are feeling a kind of moral injury by extension

The United States now has the most government restrictions on academic freedom of any high-income country. www.chemistryworld.com/news/academi... Raw data from @vdeminstitute.bsky.social —> academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...

Heartbreaking. Such a waste of good people’s lives and expertise, who could be doing good for the world, but instead are suffering themselves. All so Trump and his buddies can pocket more money and build more bombs to lob around the world. Good job, MAGA.

Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray”@ryanjreilly.com · 4mo ago

A year after DOGE, former federal employees are still looking for work

I mean...she's correct on both counts, but it's still striking to see!

Mike Sington@mikesington.bsky.social · 5mo ago

“Apparently I’m an idiot.” Woman at Pennsylvania gas station who voted for Trump rips into him, calls him “a worthless pile of sh*t”.

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research has filed a lawsuit with the @knightcolumbia.org and @protectdemocracy.org challenging a US State Department policy to revoke or deny visas of non-citizen researchers because of their work studying the societal impacts of technology. (1/4)

Independent tech researchers accuse the Trump administration of trying to silence them with threats of visa revocations and deportation. It's leading some to change the focus of their work, self-censor, and even leave the country.

Trump is using immigration policy to suppress speech, lawsuit claims

A new lawsuit accuses the administration of violating the First Amendment by threatening the visas of researchers for work on disinformation and content moderation of social media.

npr.org

This is absolutely insane: DHS claims the right to subpoena your emails and to send investigators to your house. In this case, because a retiree sent the mildest possible criticism to a prosecutor. No judges involved. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon

Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.

washingtonpost.com

Excited to share a new preprint on psychological characteristics among voters that predict support for Donald Trump: specifically, low empathy, low agreeableness, and complaints about unfairness. (1/4) osf.io/preprints/ps...

He keeps referring to Greenland as Iceland. His dementia is on full display. Just look at him slumped over the podium . Time for people to get up and leave the clown show.

"There comes a point where we have to start questioning whether or not he’s actually aware of what’s happening around him & the harm he’s doing. It’s similar to historical figures like Nero or Caligula. Their madness took over & they started doing wildly destructive things. Trump is in that place."

Simon Rosenberg on Trump’s no good, very bad year

"It’s grotesque. He’s become a grotesque figure."

publicnotice.co

I've noticed that ICE agents keep yelling "18 USC § 111" at people filming them. I'd like to see the memo they all got on that talking point, and I'd like to know who sent it. Filming ICE or alerting your neighbors to their presence doesn't violate § 111.

But what if Maduro’s involvement in the drug trade was an “official act”?

In a new review paper that I led (with Jean Decety), we explain how research in psychology and neuroscience supports the need for more regulation of social media algorithms to protect against threats to democracy. The EU Digital Services Act is a good model for this type of regulation. (1/5)

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

This is a grim read. I don't know how we construct even a semi-functional party system when the rising generation of Republican leaders are going to be even more Nazi than the current batch. www.city-journal.org/article/manh...

Everyone Wants to Know What Gen Z Republicans Think. We Asked Them.

Twenty GOP Zoomers on Trump, Hitler, dating, racism, politics, the economy, and more

city-journal.org