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ACLU @aclu.org · 7h

BREAKING: A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump from deploying federalized National Guard troops into Chicago.

This ruling reinforces what we already knew: It is illegal for the president to use manufactured emergencies to send soldiers into our cities.

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 6h

Our plane to Spain is in the air!

🙌🙌

Thank you so much to the countless people supporting us in every way and in particular all of the Rutgers students and faculty who have supported us every step of the way.

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Matthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 7h

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nate abbott @n-abbott.bsky.social · 6h

can't do a wealth tax for billionaires but we can do this for schools. hmmm

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

HSEAS already relies on its endowment for 40% of its operating revenue

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/09/m...

The school also receives about 40 percent of its annual operating revenue from the endowment, which will be impacted by the new endowment tax that goes into effect next year. The new tax, which raises the tax rate on endowment income from 1.4 percent to 8 percent for universities with assets of $2 million or more per student, was signed by President Trump in July.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 6h

Yeah, it's grim. I have lots of friends in higher ed (many at Harvard) and it's scary. In my line of work there's just uncertainty, but in higher ed the impacts are already being felt. The endowment tax is going to reap hell on budgets.

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Lucius Fox In The Box @carnegro.bsky.social · 7h

Looking at the reasons cited, I’m curious to see the ripple effects to higher education across the country. These are all things the Ivys, public Ivys, and a bunch of other research oriented universities could feel. The damage being done here is going to take so long to reverse.

Parkes' email cited an increase in the federal tax on Harvard's endowment income, an anticipated reduction in federal agencies' reimbursement rates for indirect research costs, and "changes to the allocation of research funding" as financial
pressures.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

HSEAS already relies on its endowment for 40% of its operating revenue

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/09/m...

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

Unfortunately that's not how endowments work...

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

To preempt inevitable comments: HSEAS cannot just use their endowment to close funding gaps like that. Endowment funds are specifically earmarked by donors and are not "free cash." Endowments also need to be sustainable for decades, which is they can't be used to plug holes in the short-term.

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

Part of the issue here is that Republicans hiked the endowment tax, so funding that *would* have come from the endowment is also reduced.

It's also worth noting Harvard schools have their own endowments. The HSEAS share is $1.2 billion and about a third of their funding is federal.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

To preempt inevitable comments: HSEAS cannot just use their endowment to close funding gaps like that. Endowment funds are specifically earmarked by donors and are not "free cash." Endowments also need to be sustainable for decades, which is they can't be used to plug holes in the short-term.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

I feel really grateful

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

Fucking hell. This sucks.

Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Lays Off 25% of HUCTW Staff | News | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard will lay off roughly 25 percent of staff represented by its clerical and technical workers’ union at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and reorganize several offices in response t...

www.thecrimson.com

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

Yup!

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Wanda Maximoff 🎃👻 @westviewwandam.bsky.social · 8h

My Clancy loved leaf piles 🥰

White and red greyhound sitting in a leaf pile

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 8h

That is a great pile!

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 8h

Here's Gus enjoying two of his favorite things: Hostas and leaves

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 9h

My dog intensely sniffing this pile of leaves made me giggle

A yellow lab with his head buried in leaves

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 9h

My dog intensely sniffing this pile of leaves made me giggle

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 9h

This was $570 including shipping

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 9h

Not gonna share details for security reasons, but it thankfully turned out fine.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 9h

I love my manager for many reasons, but today I love her because when I asked if I could leave a few minutes early to check out a nearby report of ICE she just said, "Go." No questions asked. It's nice to work for someone who understands priorities.

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Laur-eeeeee😱 (spooky scream) @laurie-merrell.bsky.social · 9h

Today was rough! Having federal agents prowling in your neighborhood is awful. Grateful for everyone who did rapid response and tried to keep all our neighbors safe. I love Rogers Park so much. The huge community activation in response to the threat was hope-giving.

(Photo from a while ago)

A photo of a sidewalk chalk message that says "courage is contagious resist" next to the colorful painted sea wall bench in Loyola Park Chicago.

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Peter Cheung @bostonaruban.bsky.social · 12h

More Bike Lanes and less Highways, please!

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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 11h

Also? If you can’t work, temporarily or permanently? It’s not your fault and you don’t deserve to starve.

Kayla B @queenofthesouth.bsky.social · 17h

Needing multiple streams of income to stay afloat is a societal failure not a personal one. You should be able to afford a comfortable lifestyle with one job. You are not lazy.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 11h

The sheer number of lies spouted today about autistic people is so fucking depressing. It's just a firehose of bullshit and it's only going to give the worst grifters more ammunition to prey on vulnerable people.

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 11h

Remember this classic?

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · Mar 19

Remember when Jon Keller wrote about the "unused" Bluebikes in Boston? Someone on reddit pulled the data, and it is actually one of the top ten most used stations in the city.

Pundits can never let data get in the way of an anti-cyclist screed.

Original post: www.reddit.com/r/bikeboston...

Boylston Street in the Back Bay has become a prime case study in what rankles critics. On a late-morning stroll down Boylston on a sunny winter day, we saw all parking spots taken and heavy car and pedestrian traffic. But the bike lane was empty, save for a few food-delivery scooters waiting to pick up orders at Chick-fil-A. Customers filled the Apple store, but there was no sign any of them had arrived by bike; at the nearby Bluebikes rental stand, bicycles sat unused in 14 of the 18 portals.

STATION
TOTAL TRIPS IN 2024
MIT at Mass Ave / Amherst St
175,419
Central Square at Mass Ave / Essex St
139,661
Harvard Square at Mass Ave/ Dunster
124,593
MIT Vassar St
98,098
MIT Pacific St at Purrington St
97,489
Ames St at Main St
96,784
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St
94,480
Christian Science Plaza - Massachusetts Ave at Westland Ave
85,837
Mass Ave/Lafayette Square
83,841
Boylston St at Fairfield St
80,958