Leah Berman Williams
@leahwrenn.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.8K following 3.3K posts
Mathematician (discrete geometry), U Alaska Fairbanks prof, former FNSB assembly. In Alaska since 2009. She/her/hers. @[email protected] @leahwrenn on MeFi
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Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
yasharali.bsky.social
“The Biden FBI”

Who was President on January 6?
Donald J. Trump * © @reaDonaldTrump • 1m
THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
paulchamberlain.bsky.social
Callanish sunrise #StandingStoneSunday
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
nicholasbednar.bsky.social
"One source told me that some of the reversals came after the Trump administration realized that they had accidentally terminated critically important staffers working on current measles and Ebola outbreaks."
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
juliametraux.bsky.social
I'm not sure how poorer districts in any state will be able to stomach the costs from IEPs. I expect disability support staff (i.e. paraprofessionals) may be furloughed.
leahmcelrath.bsky.social
⚠️ USAToday reporter confirms the office in charge of special education funding has been “decimated”:
Zach Schermele
Follow
@ZachSchermele
NEW: The Education Dept. layoffs continued overnight, w/ the main office in charge of special ed funding being
"decimated," as one person described.
"They cut just about everyone that works with IDEA funding," said another.
"I'm not sure how these programs exist moving forward."
10:21 AM • 10/11/25 • 2.1K Views
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
luckytran.com
So now the Administration are saying that the mass firing of CDC scientists, including many responsible for preventing outbreaks, was an “error” and many will be brought back.

Whether by intention or incompetence, dismantling public health will kill people.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
riotgrlerin.bsky.social
celebrities as lord of the rings characters: thread
Doja cat in a dress the same shape as the eye of Sauron. The Eye of Sauron.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
charlesgaba.com
The HORIZONTAL axis is household income as a % of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

For 3 people, 100% FPL = $26,650/year.

The VERTICAL axis is the cost of the benchmark Silver ACA plan (~$20,280/yr) as a % of that household income.

So, at 100% FPL, it would cost 76% of our gross income. 2/
Family of 3 in Oakland County, MI
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
charlesgaba.com
A quick reminder of what the whole #ACA tax credit fuss looks like visually.

This example is for my own family here in Oakland County, Michigan (middle-aged couple w/1 college-age son). 1/
Family of 3 in Oakland County, MI
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
markhisted.org
So to summarize:

- There is a pattern where Vought makes the RIFs too wide, apparently to flood the zone with sh*t and see who will draw protests.
- They restore some people after outrage and work by us.
- But we are still left with many who remain fired at the end.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
markhisted.org
consulted for any reorganization of the government.

The govt is accountable directly to the people. No single king-like president can just remake the govt as they like. If they think there is a problem, fine: make the case to the people and to Congress and do reform.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
markhisted.org
Several people have asked variants of “mass layoffs happen in the private sector all the time, why shouldn’t this be ok for govt employees too?”

A central principle of civil service law is the president doesn’t get to remove civil servants because he disagrees with them. And Congress must be…
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
rahaeli.bsky.social
It's been really, really nice seeing the Catholic social justice tradition in the US feel like it's empowered to spread its wings again without risking censure after a long time of being suppressed by US Catholic leadership, and it's exactly what I was hoping for from Pope Bob.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
rahaeli.bsky.social
Denying entrance to a Eucharistic Procession is to Catholicism kinda like what desecrating the flag is to the American civic religion, except with even more weight of history and tradition behind it!
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
hntdove.bsky.social
Ea-Nāşir's perfidy seems eternal!
Comic

Panel one. Stick finger singing, "Raindrops on rose/ And whiskers on kittens."

Panel two. Same stick figure holding pot and singing, "Bright copper kettles leave/ ...Flakes on my mittens!?"

Panel three. Same figure still holding pot and singing, "Hey, these are stone with a copper veneer!"

Fourth panel. Same stick figure has put down pot and is singing, "I've been bamboozled by Ea-Nāşir!"
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
lukesteuber.com
Pineapples grow like they’re trying to prank you into thinking this is how pineapples grow
A pineapple farm that looks like Ripley should burn it in Alien
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
apoorvanyt.bsky.social
The Trump administration on Saturday scrambled to rescind layoffs of hundreds of CDC scientists who were mistakenly fired on Friday night in what appeared to be a substantial procedural lapse.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...
Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
medievaliste.bsky.social
What right-wing elites are trying to do to universities reveals their total disinterest in education as not just a public good but as a *practice*. To them, college isn’t for learning; it’s a credentialing service that offers ongoing opportunities to network with other wealthy elites.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
oregonthedm.bsky.social
How to get your fish oil supplements
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
richraho.bsky.social
Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
carlbergstrom.com
Fustiliarian Friday: Trump/Kennedy/GOP use the shutdown as an excuse to destroy the CDC’s elite field epidemiology team and one of the most important epidemiology journals in the world.

Gift link.
Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
toobigtofail.bsky.social
Not sure there's a better real world example of the economic concept of "eating the seed corn."
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
davidcorn.bsky.social
A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
sarahquaint.bsky.social
While providing tech support for my FIL:

FIL: What's that screen?

ME: The terminal. You should never use it.

FIL: Never?

ME: So you know how I'm allowed to watch you open the electrical panel and swap out breakers, but I'm not allowed to ever open up it myself?

FIL: Ah! I understand, thank you.
Reposted by Leah Berman Williams
tomsk59.bsky.social
October showers over the kelp beds of Sutherland, NW Scotland

Acrylic glaze on Arches paper
1000x660mm
#LandscapePainting #ArtYear
#Scotland #Sutherland #Landscape
A landscape of a tidal estuary in Scotland with a foreground of wet seaweed, distant water, a grey/gold horizon and a grey, rainy sky. Painted with earth colours, Paynes grey and Alizarin Crimson pigment