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captain bleach @blainecapatch.bsky.social · 12h

can you imagine half-assing a last-minute ceasefire that won't last a week and still not getting the Nobel Peace Prize

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Heartland Signal @heartlandsignal.bsky.social · 18h

BREAKING: Masked Border Patrol agents aggressively arrested WGN video producer Debbie Brockman in Lincoln Square Friday morning, supposedly for "obstructing justice." (Video via Josh Thomas on Facebook)

Follow @heartlandsignal for more.

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 15h

The people we elect don't seem to do the things we specifically elected them to do.

Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 18h

Puerto Rico has had numerous referenda. The last time there was one (I believe during Trump's first term), PR voted "yes" to becoming a state, but no one got the ball rolling on it Congressionally.

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 18h

Anyone who believes Puerto Rico isn't going to deliver at least 1 Republican Senator is an idiot.

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Sebastian Heath @sebhth.bsky.social · 18h

A "Global Approaches to Early Representations of the Human Figure" video.

Global Approaches to Early Representations of the Human Figure @gaerhf-bot.bsky.social · 18h

There are now 450 entries in GAERHF. So I made a video of scrolling through the "List" view. And paused to click on a few along the way. That was a bit random. This all neither here nor there yet. Much work to do! I had to compress it a bit to get under 100 mb. #GlobalAntiquity #GlobalDH gaerhf.org

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 18h

"offer"

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 20h

Breaking news: MIT’s president turned down the Trump administration’s offer of priority access for federal funding, publicly releasing a letter that emphasized the elite university’s values.

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of the nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

wapo.st

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 22h

The Speaker of the House is telling the Fox News audience that a peaceful demonstration by Americans on the National Mall will actually be a gathering of organizations the administration has designated as violent terrorists.

Seems bad?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "

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Michael P. Breen @mpbreen21.bsky.social · 20h

People need to be clear-eyed about the emerging MAGA narrative & what it reveals. The gaslighting about #Portland & #Chicago, the manufactured #Antifa hysteria & equating the #NoKings protests w/Hamas make it clear that Republicans know they are failing. They cannot govern b/c they don’t know how /1

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 19h

Pure projection.

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Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 20h

Huh. A Qatari Air Force facility in Idaho….such a grab bag bullshit day after day.

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 21h

In last night's debate, Winsome Earle-Sears says she witnessed political violence in Jamaica when she was 10 years old. However, according to her Wikipedia article, she moved to New York when she was 6.

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 22h

Hopefully now that one of these universities has taken a stand, the others will as well.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 22h

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit.
Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute
was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.

• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available
to any American with an internet
connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly
10%.
• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.

These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific
funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the
U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people.
We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
CC
Ms. May Mailman
Mr. Vincent Haley

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Ethan Gruber @ewg118.bsky.social · 22h

It would have been funnier if they gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Gavin Newscum

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