bethlowder.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Wow. 20+ DOGE staffers just resigned en masse, saying they refuse to use their expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” “We swore to serve the American people... However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”

submitted 9 hours ago • 274 comments

It must be wild to be a private equity guy. One day you wake up and are like “today we’re taking out our worst enemy: yarn.”

submitted 1 day ago • 57 comments

Why are all the stores we are NOT boycotting going out of business?

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

I present to you the next deputy director of the FBI!

submitted 1 day ago • 1040 comments

This Thursday (2/27), we'll be forming regional activist groups who will plan for work emerging in their communities. If you have actions you'd like to share with others or are interested in leading a regional activist group, please join us! REGISTER: tinyurl.com/SWACFeb25

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

another Nazi salute at CPAC

submitted 3 days ago • 1180 comments

The National Institutes of Health had to stop considering new grant applications, delaying funding for research into diseases ranging from heart disease and cancer to Alzheimer's and allergies.

submitted 3 days ago • 174 comments

Does anyone know of a good explainer on the origins of the List of Forbidden DEI Words? I see universities are creating policies based on it now…

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

I need there to be more public places where it is socially acceptable not to make small talk.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️

submitted 5 days ago • 258 comments

I don't know what to tell higher education. You can't both be "committed to democracy and intellectual freedom" and bending to the whims of authoritarians to "preemptively avoid fall out." At that point, you're just selling a mission you have no intention or capability of delivering on.

submitted 5 days ago • 10 comments

I want to give a shoutout to everyone who is managing not to be a huge jerk right now. I acknowledge the effort that requires of all of us in the current milieu, and I appreciate it. 🫡

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

This is a concentration camp. They are describing a concentration camp.

submitted 6 days ago • 502 comments

NEW: Trump says the federal government should take control of Washington, D.C.

submitted 5 days ago • 26 comments

On February 13, 2025 The National Park Service "removed references to transgender people from the web pages of the National Stonewall Monument in Manhattan. Later, the word “queer” and the letter “Q” were also removed." This is LITERALLY ERASING HISTORY. Please share. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Order Kevin's book. Couldn't be more timely. At this moment of crisis, institutions need to tend to their people. He lays out how to do it.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

The Dear Colleague Letter is gonna work ... campuses will end programs, fire people, even dig into the curriculum over the next couple of weeks and beyond. They don't have to. But they will.

submitted 7 days ago • 3 comments

This is absolutely chilling. A glimpse of the totalitarian state to come.

submitted 8 days ago • 47 comments

I am not sure if this came from the federal government or ISU, but faculty who submit grants now have to certify that "this project is NOT related to racial equity, support for underserved communities, promotion of environmental justice, diversity, equity, inclusion or accessibility (DEIA)."

submitted 9 days ago • 23 comments

soon enough, the mere presence of black and latino students on campus will be illegal racial discrimination against white students www.insidehighered.com/news/diversi...

submitted 9 days ago • 300 comments

Your circle of control exists. It’s real. Not as a motivational concept or a bullshit management framework but as the basic building block of action. You control more than you think: - How you spend the next hour - Where you direct your energy+ www.joanwestenberg.com/your-world-i...

submitted 9 days ago • 16 comments

Dear federal scientists: If you have been affected by the probationary firings and would be willing to speak with Science, please reach out to me by email ([email protected]) or on Signal. We can guarantee annonymity.

submitted 11 days ago • 23 comments

So the US is now kidnapping whole families and trafficking them to random countries that the US has coerced into imprisoning them for some unspecified period of time

submitted 10 days ago • 164 comments

News is overwhelming. People offline don't understand what's happening. Their rights are being pulled out from under them. Print out these flyers and take it to the streets. Featuring a QR cosd that links to explainer and action items. www.disability-rights-watch.com/2025/02/12/t...

submitted 13 days ago • 42 comments

BREAKING On Monday, Popular Information broke the news that the NIH had frozen virtually all grant funding in violation of 2 federal court orders On Wednesday, NIH leadership distributed a memo, acknowledging that its funding freeze was illegal and directing staff to resume issuing grants.

submitted 13 days ago • 373 comments

Important development. popular.info/p/breaking-n...

submitted 13 days ago • 5 comments

"These cuts should be a rallying cry for higher education to come together... Conflicts should be set aside to focus attention on this ruthless takedown of academia. All disciplines will be affected by these cuts, not just science. This is a moment to unite." 💯 agree with @holdenthorp.bsky.social!

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment

27 religious groups are suing the federal government in response to the Trump administration's policy giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at "sensitive locations" like churches.

submitted 14 days ago • 35 comments

The pages that are set to be revived include information for patients about HIV testing and HIV prevention medication, guidance on contraceptives and data on adolescent and youth mental health.

submitted 14 days ago • 75 comments

BREAKING: In response to doctors' lawsuit, Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, orders CDC, NIH, and FDA to put back up websites and datasets cited by the doctors in their lawsuit as having been relied upon and pulled down without notice. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

submitted 14 days ago • 305 comments

National strategy call Feb 13 at 8:00 ET.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

We got a message from the university to remove any use of the "DEI", "diversity", "equity", or "inclusion" from all public-facing documents. They said that even "biodiversity" is being flagged by the federal government. We live in the dumbest timeline.

submitted 14 days ago • 934 comments

What I don’t understand is lining up to comply preemptively with authoritarian decrees “to avoid being targeted.” We are already on that hit list and our turn is coming, whether we are polite about it or not.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Somebody needs to channel Audre Lorde and explain to the institutional leaders of higher education that their silence will not protect us. We need to be 10 toes down and LOUD about celebrating and explaining the value of education, the importance of free inquiry, the life saving impact of research..

submitted 15 days ago • 17 comments

I get that people are scared, but it’s disappointing to observe the lack of willingness to fight back — or even resist at all — among academics. We aren’t even a month in. I expected more.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

The only hope for higher ed is the academic labor movement. Join this @higheredlabor.bsky.social call next week to plan our fight us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

submitted 17 days ago • 2 comments

I’ve been wondering why we aren’t hearing more pushback from university administrators. Could this be the reason why?

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Ultimately, if this were to stand, there would be two major effects: 1: a ton of people will lose their jobs, and 2: we will cede being the world leader in scientific research. There is no amount of foundation or philanthropic money can replace this.

submitted 17 days ago • 2 comments

The NIH announced it will slash billions of dollars of support to universities and research centers. This is one of the biggest attacks on science we have ever seen. It could dismantle the biomedical research system, shut down clinical trials, and halt development of treatments.

submitted 17 days ago • 107 comments

I’m about three more executive orders away from becoming one of those preachers on a street corner shouting that the end is nigh.

submitted 17 days ago • 2 comments

Research universities are often the largest employers in their region. They are often the primary health care providers to communities. This funding shift will not only reduce US research leadership, it will put working people out of work and reduce healthcare access.

submitted 18 days ago • 105 comments

On changes to #NIH indirect rates, there is a law in place that prohibits NIH from making such changes without the approval of Congress. See Division D, Title II Section 224 of The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law No: 118-47) grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

submitted 18 days ago • 82 comments

I'm not sure how to explain how financially devastating this will be for universities. This is, literally, catastrophic for universities and for science in the United States.

submitted 18 days ago • 13 comments