1. The new Trump / Kratsios plan for US science appears explicitly designed to destroy US universities. Diverting money to tech donors is probably just a bonus. Gift link.

Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

nytimes.com

Hundreds of cargo ships are decommissioned every year & most end up in Bangladesh. Scrapping old cargo ships generates billions of $ for Bangladesh's economy. But shipbreaking is also rife with labor abuses & pollutes nearby communities. @edgeeffectsmag.bsky.social edgeeffects.net/the-colonial...

The Colonial Costs of Shipbreaking - Edge Effects

The shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh extends colonial logics that harm local farmlands, people, and ecologies.

edgeeffects.net

"Adaptation is largely a public good." @katemac.bsky.social and @70sbachchan.bsky.social singing my fav song phenomenalworld.org/analysis/glo...

Scorched Earth - Phenomenal World

Programming Note: In addition to this monthly newsletter, Kate and Tim are regularly publishing dispatches and putting out podcasts, which you can find at thepolycrisis.org. This summer’s heat waves h...

phenomenalworld.org

Reporting on OMB's sweeping politicization of federal grants tends to focus on science / health research. But as I note in this piece for @crisesnotes.bsky.social, the rule is a huge threat to *intergovernmental* grants and state/local fiscal stability. www.crisesnotes.com/russell-voug...

Russell Vought is Using the Plumbing of Fiscal Federalism to Create a New Patronage System

EDITORS NOTE: I (Nathan) have struggled whether to rush to comment on this proposed OMB rule. Being a recent Fiscal Year 2026 OMB memo, and knowing that the OMB will continue to create new forms of bu...

crisesnotes.com

Every other week, I see a viral post about "tipping" and visceral responses as to why it's not required and "it's not my job to pay you" regardless of the bill. And again I keep saying.. we're having the wrong conversation. You're punishing poor people to make an under educated point

Marx dreamed of a world where you wouldn't be pigeonholed by your job. As he put it, a man could hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, and critique ideas at dinner without ever being a hunter, fisherman, or critic.

china bad because of state surveillance america good because of corporate surveillance that also gets wielded by the state

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Scoop: Ring's CEO told staff Search Party is not going to be just for dogs, according to a leaked email I obtained. Said it is "first for finding dogs" before suggesting it would be expanded to be used for crime: www.404media.co/leaked-email...

Democracy is when voters choose their leaders. Autocracy is when leaders choose their voters.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6mo ago

Kristi Noem: "When it gets to Election Day, we've been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country."

Trump: "People that own their homes -- we're gonna keep them wealthy. We're gonna keep those prices up. We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home."

“Sacrifice zone” has become a powerful label for naming unequal burdens of toxic contamination, too often located in and near marginalized communities. The problem is that naming polluted places as “zones” implies toxic containment when PFAS, dioxins, etc easily move thru air, water, and soil.

Respatializing Toxic Harm: The Case Against Sacrifice Zones

Describing heavily polluted areas as “sacrifice zones” has become commonplace in recent decades, as diverse groups resist their unwitting exposure to destructive and toxic industrial, municipal, and ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

I learned so much from reading this paper! It complicates a commonplace claim about unique zones of vulnerability to hazards while still offering an alternative vision of justice and care. Recommended for people thinking about environmental harms, environmental justice, and disability.

Kimberley Thomas@kimanh.bsky.social · 7mo ago

“Sacrifice zone” has become a powerful label for naming unequal burdens of toxic contamination, too often located in and near marginalized communities. The problem is that naming polluted places as “zones” implies toxic containment when PFAS, dioxins, etc easily move thru air, water, and soil.

“Sacrifice zone” has become a powerful label for naming unequal burdens of toxic contamination, too often located in and near marginalized communities. The problem is that naming polluted places as “zones” implies toxic containment when PFAS, dioxins, etc easily move thru air, water, and soil.

Respatializing Toxic Harm: The Case Against Sacrifice Zones

Describing heavily polluted areas as “sacrifice zones” has become commonplace in recent decades, as diverse groups resist their unwitting exposure to destructive and toxic industrial, municipal, and ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

davekarpf.substack.com/p/every-gene... This by @davekarpf.bsky.social is very, _very_ good. Much traditional media is badly geared to understand movement politics, and often, it helps to actually know stuff!

Every generation gets to recreate the environmental movement to suit its own purposes

Some big-picture reactions to a recent NYT piece

davekarpf.substack.com

In the Fall 2017 issue of EAA, @kimanh.bsky.social published "The 'Mundane Violence' of International Water Conflicts," introducing readers to environmental and social issues that have only grown more acute in the years since this article first appeared.

The “Mundane Violence” of International Water Conflicts - Association for Asian Studies

Statistics about water resources abound. Some, like the combined length of rivers in the United States (3.5 million miles), make for interesting but forgettable trivia. Others, like the number of…

buff.ly

NEW: There’s a disaster unfolding in Alaska right now. And no major network is covering it. The remnants of Typhoon Halong battered western Alaska overnight. Homes, with people in them, have literally been swept into the Bering Strait. At least 20 are missing. No comment from any federal agency.

What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own. Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week. Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊

Press Gazette@pressgazette.co.uk · 10mo ago

Former Observer big-hitters inc @carolecadwalla.bsky.social launch new title The Nerve with redundancy payouts After Observer sale: "We decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves would own, that would be truly independent" pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...

Black journalist starter pack on bluesky! More Black folks who know what they're talking about! go.bsky.app/FVsDa69

He’s really going full fascism now, openly threatening American citizens while attacking both the press and basic democratic freedoms. Once again, Trump tried to glorify his deployment of the National Guard in

Let's get a hell yeah in the chat for this great write up of how we get more free as we adapt to climate change from @mills-novoa.bsky.social, @kimanh.bsky.social & @mmikulewicz.bsky.social

Nature Climate Change@natclimate.nature.com · 11mo ago

This link allows online read-only access rdcu.be/eGscS

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was voted on 15 years after the assassination and 22 senators voted "no."

Eric Blair@protecttruth.bsky.social · 11mo ago

National day of remembrance for Charlie Kirk motion passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Zero Democrats objected, which would have stopped it. Tommy Tuberville is presiding — and smirking. www.c-span.org/networks/?ch...

I would not — and I cannot stress this enough — trust anything coming from Pam Bondi, Kash Patel or anonymous "internal law enforcement sources." Fascists lie. We have evidence, both contemporary and historical. Unless there is indisputable proof behind a claim made in this case, question it.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 11mo ago

Ammunition engraved with transgender and antifascist ideology was found inside the rifle authorities believe was used in Kirk’s shooting, sources say.

Two tenure-track positions at Haverford College in the Peace, Justice, and Human Rights program, with links to the Kim Ethics Institute. An amazing place working with incredible colleagues! (Deadline Oct. 24) www.haverford.edu/provost/news...

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Peace, Justice, and Human Rights

Haverford college seeks two Tenure-Track Assistant Professors of Peace, Justice, and Human Rights.

haverford.edu

The people whipping up panics about "academic freedom" rarely speak up when academic freedom is actually imperiled. This is absolutely chilling.

Dan Hirschman@asociologist.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Texas A&M’s President just removed a dean and department head from their positions after they supported a professor whose lesson on gender was challenged by a student. www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...

In this short commentary in Nature Climate Change, @mills-novoa.bsky.social, @kimanh.bsky.social and I discuss the inherent issues with the project form in the context of adaptation. Projects, by their very nature, are not capable of delivering transformative adaptation. But there are alternatives!

Projects are not delivering the transformative change needed for climate change adaptation. This failure is due to the delivery of adaptation as projects. In this article, we explore real alternatives that can address the structural causes of vulnerability. DM for pdf! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New comment in Nature climate change published this week on the dangers of adaptation projects by Meg Mills-Novoa, Kim Anh Thomas and Michael Mikulewicz (three scholars whose work you should follow!) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

lemme tell you i study fascism for a living and this one got me staring at the screen gobsmacked for a good five minutes

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · last yr.

“We need to get better at treating this like a business,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said, explaining he wants to see a deportation process “like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings.”

We're organizing rallies around the country to save Social Security! HandsOffSocialSecurity.org

Hands off Social Security!

Social Security is facing the greatest threat of its nearly century-long existence. We have to fight back! Social Security Works is working to have as many rallies at Social Security offices as po...

handsoffsocialsecurity.org

we're defunding those silly volcano scientists and replacing them with an innovative program whereby kids in your area can pay down interest on their student lunch debts by collecting old batteries and other e-waste in wheelbarrows and then dumping them directly into live calderas

UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT: tomorrow, February 28th, is the Economic Blackout. I ain’t buying shit. Plan ahead, but if you must buy essentials, use cash and support local businesses only. No corporate chains!