Dave Klassen
@drklassen.bsky.social
Mars clouds scientist, physics and astronomy prof; Episcopal lay minister; genealogy, RPG, LotR, comics; he or they pronouns
Reposted by Dave Klassen
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Dave Klassen
Reposted by Dave Klassen
Happy 13th birthday to the most essential artwork of the current era, @kcg.bsky.social ‘s “This is fine,” to all those who celebrate.
January 9, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Happy 13th birthday to the most essential artwork of the current era, @kcg.bsky.social ‘s “This is fine,” to all those who celebrate.
Reposted by Dave Klassen
Reposted by Dave Klassen
I made it a meme.
January 5, 2026 at 6:40 PM
I made it a meme.
This was the beginning of the end
www.scotusblog.com/2026/01/25-y...
www.scotusblog.com/2026/01/25-y...
25 years later: reflections on Bush v. Gore and the Supreme Court
Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. In the presidential election of 1876, the ...
www.scotusblog.com
January 3, 2026 at 6:00 PM
This was the beginning of the end
www.scotusblog.com/2026/01/25-y...
www.scotusblog.com/2026/01/25-y...
Some 20+ years ago my I was at Niagara Falls with my wife and in the gift shop I'm almost run down by a blond woman doing a shuffle run calling out to her husband. That voice was so distinct... it was Victoria Jackson.
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
December 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Some 20+ years ago my I was at Niagara Falls with my wife and in the gift shop I'm almost run down by a blond woman doing a shuffle run calling out to her husband. That voice was so distinct... it was Victoria Jackson.
Reposted by Dave Klassen
if conservative sociopaths can override faculty governance and professional expertise, you aren't running a university you are running a propaganda factory
Texas A&M University will not reinstate a lecturer who was fired after a video of her teaching about gender identity in a children’s literature class went viral, despite a faculty appeals panel unanimously concluding that her dismissal was not justified.
Texas A&M won’t reinstate fired lecturer despite findings
A vice chancellor upheld the firing of Melissa McCoul, seen in a viral video being confronted by a student on her gender identity teachings, saying the termination was done with “good cause.”
www.texastribune.org
December 26, 2025 at 4:37 PM
if conservative sociopaths can override faculty governance and professional expertise, you aren't running a university you are running a propaganda factory
Reposted by Dave Klassen
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
December 24, 2025 at 7:56 PM
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
Reposted by Dave Klassen
NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...
10 Companies Have Already Made $1 Million as ICE Bounty Hunters. We Found Them.
And they stand to make millions more in cash bonuses for surveilling and tracking immigrants in service of ICE’s deportation machine.
theintercept.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
NEW: A variety of military and intelligence contractors have already signed on to help ICE's immigrant bounty hunter program. A review of procurement data shows 10 companies stand to make up to *ONE BILLION* dollars from the program by 2027. theintercept.com/2025/12/23/i...
So we all know trump knocked down the East Wing, put up partisan plaques, had his name added to two buildings. What I'd like to know is: what companies are doing this work for him? What construction company said "sure" to knocking it down? What company made those plaques?
December 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
So we all know trump knocked down the East Wing, put up partisan plaques, had his name added to two buildings. What I'd like to know is: what companies are doing this work for him? What construction company said "sure" to knocking it down? What company made those plaques?
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Well, it'll be fun with lots of errors, but ultimately successful.
Well, it'll be fun with lots of errors, but ultimately successful.
November 26, 2025 at 3:47 PM
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Well, it'll be fun with lots of errors, but ultimately successful.
Well, it'll be fun with lots of errors, but ultimately successful.
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/nerd-f...
I'm in the camp that says the only things in the quote marks are the text being quoted. My punctuation isn't part of the quote!
I'm in the camp that says the only things in the quote marks are the text being quoted. My punctuation isn't part of the quote!
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Nerd-fight
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Nerd-fight
www.smbc-comics.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/nerd-f...
I'm in the camp that says the only things in the quote marks are the text being quoted. My punctuation isn't part of the quote!
I'm in the camp that says the only things in the quote marks are the text being quoted. My punctuation isn't part of the quote!
OK, found the (academically) scariest pumpkin carving ever!
October 31, 2025 at 6:55 PM
OK, found the (academically) scariest pumpkin carving ever!
Reposted by Dave Klassen
A "random" smattering: aerobics, doobie, ego trip, flower power, group home, heliosphere, ibuprofen, lunar module, midi, omega-3, Peter Principle, RV, spaghetti western, tachyon, word processing, wet bar, yada yada, zonked-out
If you wanna look up words that were first used in your birth year, too 🙂
www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/
www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/
Time Traveler by Merriam-Webster
When was a word first used in print? You may be surprised! Choose a year, and we'll show you the words that come from that date.
www.merriam-webster.com
September 1, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A "random" smattering: aerobics, doobie, ego trip, flower power, group home, heliosphere, ibuprofen, lunar module, midi, omega-3, Peter Principle, RV, spaghetti western, tachyon, word processing, wet bar, yada yada, zonked-out
Name a non LOTR character who could resist the one ring.
August 18, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Name a non LOTR character who could resist the one ring.
“This has been the playbook all along — to issue things that I suspect the administration knows will be overturned by a court, but it doesn’t matter, because issuing it in the first place has the intended chilling effect,” added Gellman-Beer
www.chronicle.com/article/coll...
www.chronicle.com/article/coll...
Colleges Rushed to Comply With Trump’s Anti-DEI Guidance. A Judge Just Struck It Down. Now What?
The government’s missives sought to “substantially alter the legal obligations of schools and educators” without following the proper procedures, Thursday’s ruling said.
www.chronicle.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
“This has been the playbook all along — to issue things that I suspect the administration knows will be overturned by a court, but it doesn’t matter, because issuing it in the first place has the intended chilling effect,” added Gellman-Beer
www.chronicle.com/article/coll...
www.chronicle.com/article/coll...
So the Chronicle of Higher Ed is musing about why unis are "powerless" in their fight with trump and fall back on "they are decentralized" and "they just aren't used to fights".
No. It's because we have an administration that is actively *breaking* *the* *law* to try to make unis accept fascism.
No. It's because we have an administration that is actively *breaking* *the* *law* to try to make unis accept fascism.
July 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
So the Chronicle of Higher Ed is musing about why unis are "powerless" in their fight with trump and fall back on "they are decentralized" and "they just aren't used to fights".
No. It's because we have an administration that is actively *breaking* *the* *law* to try to make unis accept fascism.
No. It's because we have an administration that is actively *breaking* *the* *law* to try to make unis accept fascism.
We shouldn't make sure gun-carrying, citizen-killing cops aren't going to continue harming POC, but let's make sure we put consent decrees on colleges where nobody actually got hurt because the admin doesn't like protests.
UGH!
UGH!
The Justice Department is dropping police reform agreements with Louisville and Minneapolis, which came after the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd
Justice Department to drop police reform agreements with Louisville, Minneapolis
The Justice Department said Wednesday it is moving to drop police reform agreements reached with the cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis.
abcnews.go.com
May 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
We shouldn't make sure gun-carrying, citizen-killing cops aren't going to continue harming POC, but let's make sure we put consent decrees on colleges where nobody actually got hurt because the admin doesn't like protests.
UGH!
UGH!
For all my next gen friends:
thisisindexed.com/2025/05/agai...
thisisindexed.com/2025/05/agai...
Again? Whatever. - Indexed
Tweet it Pin it Email
thisisindexed.com
May 16, 2025 at 12:08 PM
For all my next gen friends:
thisisindexed.com/2025/05/agai...
thisisindexed.com/2025/05/agai...
Just slashing science. They say this will allow more focus on science and less on administrative costs, but that's a lie. Because we'll now have to spend time and effort calculating percentages of larger costs into our proposals as direct costs.
www.chronicle.com/article/trum...
www.chronicle.com/article/trum...
Trump Halts Grants, Caps Indirect Costs at the National Science Foundation
No reason was given for the freeze, which is said to last “until further notice.”
www.chronicle.com
May 5, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Just slashing science. They say this will allow more focus on science and less on administrative costs, but that's a lie. Because we'll now have to spend time and effort calculating percentages of larger costs into our proposals as direct costs.
www.chronicle.com/article/trum...
www.chronicle.com/article/trum...