accio

My university received a few years ago the promise of the largest single gift to a public university in U.S. history. It was equivalent to 12 hours of bombing Iran.

What's scary about this story is the surveillance it hints at. This trans woman had changed her name, legally, but chose not to change her gender marker. She was apparently flagged in the DMV system as trans and her license was invalidated under a law that supposedly only concerned gender markers.

A reminder that the administration spent the day before it launched a war in the Middle East feuding with tech companies over whether and how the AI models the Pentagon buys will be restrained from autonomously killing people.

I'm already sick of "It's all a distraction from Epstein" replies. This regime is killing innocent people because our leaders are all power-hungry tyrants and war profiteers. When you say it's "just a distraction" you minimize the gravity of what's happening and the lives lost.

there are a lot of people working in the government right now who want to intentionally trigger an apocalypse to create the conditions for the return of jesus christ and I know how crazy that sounds but its absolutely true

In a statement to The Crimson, Summers wrote that the decision to leave was “difficult” and that he remained “grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privileged to teach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago.” “Free of formal responsibility, as President Emeritus and a retired professor, I look forward in time to engaging in research, analysis, and commentary on a range of global economic issues,” he added.

When academia's stars mistreat people, they're "punished" with relief from teaching, mentoring, and service responsibilities. This frees them to spend more time on the more valued work of research. And dumps less valued responsibilities onto colleagues, making it harder for them to become stars.

i'm a big fan of magazines, investigative reporting, and longform, all of which requires staff and institutions, but the really really dire thing that indie media can't replace? the fucking wire services

When my adult trans kid was planning a move, several family members suggested cities closer to home with the argument that although X state is red, X city is blue. And kiddo was like, "Nope, I need the full power of the state behind me." And this is why.

These are “low enrollment” majors but the classes are regularly at capacity. They changed the funding structure a few years ago here, switching the allocation from course enrollments to majors then blamed these departments for a structural, top-down change. This is entirely a political choice.

Concerned about ICE's $45 billion plan to convert warehouses into immigration detention centers? This is what they'll look like inside. From ICE's plan for the Social Circle, GA facility. Each little dot: a person. www.socialcirclega.gov/home/showpub...

Unfortunately I *will* click on every single video of the actors who play Dunk and Egg and I *will* watch all of them many times

This sends a chill across all new vaccines. Companies will not put billions into developing and bringing a new vaccine to market, when the world’s largest market can’t buy them

ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.

BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps.

This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

For Liam.

There’s a rally going on in Boston rn and they’re chanting “we’re not cold, we’re not afraid, MN taught us to be brave!” and I might cry

I am trying not to post on these events in this state of mind but: I hope people understand what the observers are doing is brave and dangerous.

I would treat any statement from a US government source at this point as about as trustworthy as the Russian government or any other modern authoritarian regime.

I watched the video and pretty much everyone is representing it pretty much accurately and I don't think you need to watch it if your takeaway is that a bunch of ICE guys were on top of a dude who they were beating and then one of them decided to shoot him at point blank range for no obvious reason

Two days ago, 7 democrats voted to fund that execution

This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.

Don't really care if it's entirely accurate, I'm enjoying the mental image of Al Gore whipping Swiss dinner rolls at Howard Lutnik and telling him to shut the fuck up

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/e2ae0417-6146-4428-96db-0484a6b024d1 One chief executive present described the atmosphere as “tense”, while another said it was “noisy and spicy”. One of the hecklers was Al Gore, the former US vice-president, according to two executives present. The US commerce department said: “Only one person booed, and it was Al Gore.”

what do you MEAN Al Gore heckled Lutnick at Davos

I don’t think people quite understand that the occupation by ICE in the Twin Cities has more or less erased non-white people from public life. They cannot safely exist in any space accessible to the public and moving between private places leaves folks vulnerable to kidnapping by armed masked goons.

The Virgin Democratic Party Establishment Candidate: "ICE isn't coordinating with local police. This is no way to bring down prices!"

The Chad Episcopalian Bishop: "I have instructed my priests to prepare for martyrdom."

First, I want to extend my gratitude to all the people who have reached out from across the country and around the world to support our family. This kindness of strangers is the most fitting tribute because if you ever encountered my wife, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, you know that above all else, she was kind, In fact, kindness radiated out of her. Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn't wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine, Renee lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it Where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole. Like people have done across place and time, we moved to make a better life for ourselves. We chose Minnesota to make our home. Our whole extended road trip here, we held hands in the car while our son drew all over the windows to pass the time and the miles,

What we found when we got here was a vibrant and welcoming community, we made friends and spread joy: And while any place we were together was home, there was a strong shared sense here in Minneapolis that we were looking out for each other. Here, I had finally found peace and safe harbor. That has been taken from me forever. We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns. Renee leaves behind three extraordinary children; the youngest is just six years old and already lost his father. I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him. That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way. We thank you for the privacy you are granting our family as we grieve. We thank you for ensuring that Renee's legacy is one of kindness and love. We honor her memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love. E

Renee Macklin Good's wife, Becca Good, released a statement and it moved me to sobbing tears:

archive.is/ur35j

Donate to Support for Renee Good’s wife and son, organized by Mattie Weiss Please support the wife and son of Renee Good as they grapple with the devastating … Mattie Weiss needs your support for Support for Renee Good’s wife and son

This is a vetted fundraiser for the family of Renee Good, the woman who was killed by ICE in Minneapolis.

www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

what a year, huh lemon it’s the first wednesday of january

the person in the cubicle next to me is listening to the mortal kombat theme without headphones and honestly, i’ll allow it

Image is a popular astronaut meme. An astronaut is looking at the earth from space saying wait, I am worthy of love? An astronaut is behind him holding up flowers and saying always have been

A message for you all to carry through the year