Janet Watson
@janetskwatson.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1K following 2.2K posts
History professor at UConn, mother, knitter, long COVID and cardiac arrest survivor. Author, Fighting Different Wars. Be kind, stand strong, and aim for democracy. Cats. Personal account.
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Reposted by Janet Watson
alandettlaff.com
Yesterday I was told that the class I’m scheduled to teach this month, Confronting Oppression & Injustice, is no longer part of our curriculum. This is a required class yet there was no discussion, no faculty vote, just an email saying the class no longer exists. This is what it’s like in Texas now.
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Vought said he wanted to traumatize federal employees, and he meant it
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Jenna Norton is, of course, correct (and that’s my sister standing behind her)
safa-science.bsky.social
"As a federal worker, I am here to tell you that every awful thing that would happen in a shutdown—shuttering programs that Americans rely on, damaging our economy, firing federal workers—all of this is already happening."

youtu.be/jw93RKKreqY?...
Jenna Norton, PhD - (NIH, Bethesda Declaration organizer, mom) *speaking in her personal capacity
YouTube video by Civil Servants Coalition
youtu.be
Reposted by Janet Watson
lollardfish.bsky.social
The end of federal enforcement of special ed laws. Some states - including MN - will likely be ok. But a lot of disabled kids in a lot of states are going to lose the education that federal law and decades of jurisprudence say they are owed.
Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says
The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
www.usatoday.com
janetskwatson.bsky.social
This is national (and potentially global) suicide. Or murder.
There is no reason to destroy CDC like this, and literally millions of reasons to keep and support it.

Death of Public Health
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
The Death of Public Health
Another Friday night massacre, but this time it's not just an essential federal public health agency that will die
open.substack.com
Reposted by Janet Watson
luckytran.com
They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.
Reposted by Janet Watson
sarasilverstein.bsky.social
Trump govt further gutted the CDC last night, while continuing the govt shutdown instead of protecting healthcare for Americans. Areas affected last night include policy, comms, intelligence, infrastructure, global health & more. This is an attack on national security
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Janet Watson
jamellebouie.net
a russ vought special
sarapartridge.bsky.social
There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.
Reposted by Janet Watson
heidikitrosser.bsky.social
From Harvard & UConn researchers on the June 14th No Kings Day protests. (report came out in August)

THIS is why MAGA is so spooked by the upcoming (Oct 18th) peaceful protests.

New data shows No Kings was one of the largest days of protest in US history wagingnonviolence.org/2025/08/new-...
New data shows No Kings was one of the largest days of protest in US history
The historic number of No Kings protesters and their expansive geographic spread are signs of a growing and durable pro-democracy movement.
wagingnonviolence.org
Reposted by Janet Watson
kairyssdal.bsky.social
AI videos being sent to him by Miller, Noem et al, right?
atrupar.com
Trump: "Portland, I mean -- every time I look at that place it's burning down. There are fires all over the place. When a store -- there are very few of them left -- but when a store owner rebuilds a store they build it out of plywood. They don't put up storefronts anymore. They just put wood up."
janetskwatson.bsky.social
My sister in the news again, with photo.

I’m glad to see more US media coverage. The longest piece on her, by far, ran in Germany.
It’s ridiculous that their journalists are paying more attention than ours are.

So proud of these federal workers!

www.npr.org/2025/10/10/n...
Shut down but not silenced: Federal workers find their voice
After months of layoffs and funding cuts by the Trump administration, the government shutdown has given some federal employees hope that their voices are finally being heard.
www.npr.org
Reposted by Janet Watson
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
“We want to put them in trauma.”
Russ Vought v @russvought
WHITE HOLSE
The RIFs have begun.
12:27 PM • 10/10/25 • 2M Views
Reposted by Janet Watson
willmckinley.bsky.social
"CBS is no longer independent, but under the tutelage of a conservative billionaire who is putting more than his thumb on the scale."

Kudos to Dan Rather, a 44-year veteran of CBS News, for speaking truth to power.

deadline.com/2025/10/dan-... #CBS #Paramount
Dan Rather Says Bari Weiss Hire And Skydance-Paramount Merger Mark “A Dark Day In The Halls Of CBS News”
Rather said that Weiss' hire will add to fears journalists have of losing their jobs.
deadline.com
Reposted by Janet Watson
atomicanalyst.bsky.social
Today in 1976, Gen. Paul Tibbets (USAF, ret.) re-enacted the bombing of Hiroshima he led on August 6, 1945, at an air show sponsored by the private Confederate Air Force in Harlingen, Texas. As Tibbets flew a B-29 overhead, conventional explosives were detonated on the ground to simulate the bomb.
Screenshot from an archival color film showing a B-29 bomber in flight at the airshow in Harlingen, Texas. Screenshot from an archival color film showing the simulated explosion of an atomic bomb at the airshow. Screenshot from an archival color film showing a mushroom cloud rising from the ground following the simulated explosion of an atomic bomb at the airshow. A black and white, undated (circa October 11, 1976) Associated Press wirephoto of the simulated atomic explosion at the air show:

"Mushroom Cloud

A mushroom-shaped cloud rises above Rebel Field at Harlingen, Tex., home of the Confederate Air Force, during a re-enactment of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in World War II. The re-enactment of the first A-bomb use in war came over the weekend during an air show."
Reposted by Janet Watson
reuters.com
'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize
Reposted by Janet Watson
gothamgirlblue.com
Somehow manages to be wildly antisemitic, antivaxx and viscerally fundamentally wrong in a single sentence
justinbaragona.bsky.social
Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."
janetskwatson.bsky.social
Both the senators from Connecticut have been trying to meet this moment
atrupar.com
Trump posts that Sen. Blumenthal “should be allowed to speak no longer”
Sanctimonious Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal, perhaps the biggest “joke” in the United States Senate, is at it again! “Dick” lied until the midpoint of his political career, convincing everyone, in particular the Fake News Media, that he was a great “War Hero” who lived on the precipice of death in the jungles of Vietnam. He would talk about his life in the military in almost every speech, in particular the death defying dangers he faced in his many years “fight for freedom” while in Vietnam. He stated that “the battles were violent and long, but there was no going back” - And then it happened, Blumenthal was found out to be a FRAUD. The soldiers in his so-called “platoon” came forward and said that they had no idea who this guy was. He was revealed, broke down and admitted, tears flowing from his eyes, that he LIED, a Whopper, one that lasted 20 year. This guy shouldn’t even be in the U.S. Senate. It should be investigated, and Justice should be sought. Right now there is a Congressman sitting in prison for lying about his past during a campaign. Well, those lies were nothing compared to those of Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal, perhaps the greatest phony in the history of the United States Senate. He should be allowed to speak no longer!
Reposted by Janet Watson
andycraig.bsky.social
Never before in American history has one state's military force been deployed in another state over its objection.

I say never because the Civil War involved states whose governments legally ceased to exist, their offices vacated by constructive resignation, with no legitimate governors to object.
Reposted by Janet Watson
andycraig.bsky.social
Immergut deposed Monica Lewinsky for Ken Starr, was a US attorney under Bush, and was appointed to the bench by Trump during his first term. This is not some left-wing judge.
annabower.bsky.social
Immergut: I'm handling this on expedited basis, but defendants haven't provided new info.

SHE RULES FROM THE BENCH: I grant the plaintiffs motion for a second TRO based on reasons stated in previous order...
Reposted by Janet Watson
espiers.bsky.social
One big asymmetry that Dems enable: Republicans attack Dem VOTERS as evil, enemies of the state and now, per Trump, a problem for the military to get rid of. We have one politician who called some of them deplorables and one who said they were weird and people behave as if these are the same
victorerikray.bsky.social
The media trots out the "deplorable" comment from a decade ago to castigate the left. Once a week now Trump implies that the military should destroy democrats, and it is just how things are.
atrupar.com
Trump to the Navy: "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."
janetskwatson.bsky.social
We call it by its true name: the Manfred runner
Reposted by Janet Watson
donmoyn.bsky.social
*A Republican lawmaker objected to reference to Charlie Kirk holding “often racist and controversial views” in local Alaska news
*The corporate owner took down the story and edited it
*The journalists resigned

This feels like more and more of our media now.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...
Journalists at 3 Newspapers Quit Over Edits to a Charlie Kirk Story
www.nytimes.com
janetskwatson.bsky.social
These agents are real snowflakes
oregonian.com
Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows

The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.