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stephen-morrison.bsky.social
Dad to a daughter. Instructor of rhetoric and writing. Runner of middle distances. Researcher on hegemonic masculinity and fascism. Writer of advice for my new college kid.
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BREAKING: Miller reportedly engineered the raids that sparked the protests that have engulfed the city in recent days—likely because he wanted a pretext to send in federal troops. https://trib.al/oM1280f

Some thoughts on the urban/rural divide, and how Trump is producing an urban-backdropped spectacle to be consumed by his rural-dwelling base... Written as someone who grew up rural (pop 600) , moved to DC & Philly, and now live in Philly suburb, and frequently go back to my *still rural* hometown.

The far right mega-influencers marching in lockstep.Using the LA protests to drive one message, repeated nearly verbatim: "time to ban all third world immigration, legal or illegal." This is what a disciplined, ethnonationalist propaganda campaign looks like.

Trust in vaccines is being undermined.💉But what should you say to someone who has doubts? I spoke with vaccine hesitancy researchers for @nature.com to find out how best to speak to someone with questions /concerns about vaccines. Anyone can use their helpful advice www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trump already can't handle the amount of protests against him, and that number is about to increase with No Kings Day this Saturday.

BREAKING: California sues the Trump administration over DOJ's claim that allowing trans girls to participate in girls sports is unconstitutional. Harmeet Dhillon, head of DOJ's Civil Rights Division, made the claim in a June 2 letter to schools. Complaint: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This is the spirit of Los Angeles. This is California. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. #FreeDavidEndRaids

A full Tejano band in a big truck rolled into the Olvera St, the lead singer has a Fuck ICE shirt on, and this protest is now a dance party

Such a good piece! I think I have new opening reading for my intro to rhetoric course.

Incredible research on MAHA illuminating who RFK Jr. hires here: A man who spent years promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the kind of rabid antisemitism you only see in places (literally) one step from Stormfront.

This is so important. This is exactly the thing. And, of course, it's a vulnerability that can be exploited. And it's a vulnerability that is being exploited.

I just completed a task I've been putting off for almost a year. It was an absolute freaking nightmare and took so very much longer than expected. A horrible experience overall. Keep on putting things off, folks. Don't buy the lie.

Stunning how badly Trump and the Rs have lost the debate on what their reconciliation bill will do. From new CBS/YouGov polling:

> @bloomberg.com ⛽️

The Declaration of Independence specifies 27 grievances with King George III, and I count at least 15 of them that Donald Trump has also committed in whole or in part. Particularly notable right now: "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures."

SEIU California President David Huerta has apparently been charged with a federal crime--conspiracy to impede an officer. This is a felony that carries a sentence of six years in federal prison.

we’ve got a bunch of parents voluntarily guarding the elementary school gates if you want to know how LA feels this morning

www.npr.org/2025/06/02/n...

An important distinction here is that powerful dominant groups have way more latitude to use extreme tactics than marginalized subordinate groups. A central part of the logic of nonviolent resistance is that it’s an asymmetric battle and so requires tactics like using media to highlight injustice.

Read this but also even just the paragraph that starts “On the 30th anniversary of the massacre, Thompson went back to My Lai and met some of the people whose lives he had saved…” www.latimes.com/opinion/op-e...

The bottom line on the Trump-Musk feud www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Without undermining the basic findings---which is a little more subtle than the headline---I would point out that there is some unhelpful conflation of tool and user here There is nothing stopping people from critically evaluating Chat-GPT output!

My statement on what's unfolding in Los Angeles.

1 in 12 Americans live in California. 1 in 35 Americans live in LA County. LA is America

You know when things were pretty quiet and peaceful in L.A.? Before ICE started arresting residents who were bothering no one and going to their jobs. And before DHS and National Guard troops showed up and made the situation worse. Of course Trump and Stephen Miller want the situation to get worse.

If it’s 6 June, it must be 193 years to the day since Jeremy Bentham died, stipulating in his will that his body should be preserved at University College London so he could be wheeled in to attend every council meeting. Well... except most of the stories about his remains aren’t true 🧵

Trump planning to make it harder to go to college (unless you're rich) by cutting both Pell Grants and work study programs, all to give massive tax cuts to billionaires. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Yes. I have heard this from both liberal and conservative people with sources inside the agency. It’s not just the pushback, it’s also that many officers want to believe they’re targeting the “bad guys” and this admin is telling them “screw you, grab families.” Genuinely, morale is way down.

"Tanner, a chemist at the Univ. of Mississippi working to develop a novel approach for treating glioblastoma, was notified in April that the grant was terminated. “I would like to cure brain cancer,” Dr. Tanner said. “I think that's not particularly controversial.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

A study finds, US based academic research institutes account for 50% of new medical drugs in the last 4 years. 🧪 www.statnews.com/2025/06/06/u... #science #savescience #stat

Hot take. The government isn’t subsidizing university budgets. Universities are lending subsidized expertise to research and development that contributes to the public good. It’s called partnership.

A reminder that Lankford was one of the key negotiators of the bipartisan immigration measure that looked like it would go a long way toward solving the border issues. Trump pressed Republicans to blow up that bill because he wanted to run on the issue of immigration. And now here we are.