epimom.bsky.social
@epimom.bsky.social
Infectious disease epidemiologist. Queer. She/her. Mom. Midwesterner. Views my own.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
Perfect natural experiment. If Biden and Congress had treated the Jan 6th insurrection like the treason it was and jailed the people behind it, Trump’s power would have shriveled on the vine.
"Mussolini once said that he didn’t create fascism – he extracted it from the Italians’ unconscious. And I think it’s the same thing with Bolsonarismo. Bolsonaro dies, but these radical ideas and ideology are here to stay." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
‘Foam that’s washed away’: support dissolves as Bolsonaro starts 27-year jail term
Brazil shows little sign of feared rightwing rebellion, with only a few die-hards protesting outside prison
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Perfect natural experiment. If Biden and Congress had treated the Jan 6th insurrection like the treason it was and jailed the people behind it, Trump’s power would have shriveled on the vine.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
I think this is part of the dynamic but part of it also is that Hegseth is Not Vance’s Guy and his likely successor is. so some of this is rats and a sinking ship, some of this is oops all viziers.
When a president tries to change a democracy into an authoritarian regime, it's an inherently precarious position.
Trump has been acting as if he had consolidated a hybrid regime, but the truth of the matter is that he hasn't. Now that Republicans smell weakness, they're openly opposing him.
Trump has been acting as if he had consolidated a hybrid regime, but the truth of the matter is that he hasn't. Now that Republicans smell weakness, they're openly opposing him.
Rep. Mike Turner on the double strike to comply with Hegseth's orders: "If that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that would be an illegal act…This is completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation."
November 30, 2025 at 9:00 PM
I think this is part of the dynamic but part of it also is that Hegseth is Not Vance’s Guy and his likely successor is. so some of this is rats and a sinking ship, some of this is oops all viziers.
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LSU is paying its previous football coach over $50 million NOT to coach there while likely guaranteeing Kiffin something approaching double that, all while having an academic hiring freeze and budget cuts across the board. What is the purpose of a university (rhetorical)?
SOURCES: Lane Kiffin is expected to accept LSU's offer to become the Tigers next head coach. Kiffin is set to meet with his Ole Miss team this morning at 9 AM CT. As we reported yesterday morning, LSU has been very confident it was going to land Kiffin. www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...
Lane Kiffin expected to take LSU job as Ole Miss sets team meeting: Source
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
LSU is paying its previous football coach over $50 million NOT to coach there while likely guaranteeing Kiffin something approaching double that, all while having an academic hiring freeze and budget cuts across the board. What is the purpose of a university (rhetorical)?
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Hegseth’s only qualification for the job of Secretary of Defense was his TV punditry in support of war crimes. Of course he would do that. That’s why Trump hired him.
GOP Rep. Don Bacon: "I don't think Secretary Hegseth would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, 'Kill everybody. Kill the survivors,' because that's a clear violation of the law of war."
November 30, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Hegseth’s only qualification for the job of Secretary of Defense was his TV punditry in support of war crimes. Of course he would do that. That’s why Trump hired him.
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Goldsmith says Vice-Admiral Bradley should have refused the order
November 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Goldsmith says Vice-Admiral Bradley should have refused the order
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
Bash: "Do you believe if there was a second strike to eliminate any survivors that it constitutes a war crime?"
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
November 30, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Bash: "Do you believe if there was a second strike to eliminate any survivors that it constitutes a war crime?"
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
Mark Kelly: "It seems to."
Bash: "If you received that order, would you have carried it out?"
Mark Kelly: "No…Going after survivors in the water is unlawful."
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
We could have UBI, so human artists could make art without fear of starvation, and people could investigate anything they wanted to, leading to better journalism.
But the wealthy few don't actually want good things, they would rather pay whatever it costs to eliminate human creativity.
But the wealthy few don't actually want good things, they would rather pay whatever it costs to eliminate human creativity.
Imagine if they just subsidized newspapers and magazines the way they’re subsidizing this slop
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
November 30, 2025 at 1:46 PM
We could have UBI, so human artists could make art without fear of starvation, and people could investigate anything they wanted to, leading to better journalism.
But the wealthy few don't actually want good things, they would rather pay whatever it costs to eliminate human creativity.
But the wealthy few don't actually want good things, they would rather pay whatever it costs to eliminate human creativity.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people's bodies. Her bosses halted her work.
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles wit...
www.propublica.org
November 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people's bodies. Her bosses halted her work.
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
There is a direct correlation between how fake your job is and how much value you see in AI
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
There is a direct correlation between how fake your job is and how much value you see in AI
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A touchstone, as I try to convince those I care for (including myself) that we are precious & loved separate from labor or even effort.
Re-reading Becky Chambers’ *A Psalm for the Wild-Built* for class & moved again by:
“You keep asking why your work is not enough, & I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world & marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live”
“You keep asking why your work is not enough, & I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world & marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live”
November 29, 2025 at 5:53 PM
A touchstone, as I try to convince those I care for (including myself) that we are precious & loved separate from labor or even effort.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
THIS THIS THIS. COVID-19 killed kids. The current group of people in charge of vaccine policy are wielding their medical credentials to undermine our ability to protect children from harm.
🔔 Reminder: Covid-19 was a leading case of death among US children and young people during the pandemic with 821 deaths in the year from August 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022 @jamanetworkopen.com jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
COVID-19 as the Underlying Cause of Death Among Individuals Aged 0 to 19 Years in the US
This cross-sectional study evaluates whether COVID-19 is among the top 10 causes of death in children and young people aged 0 to 19 years in the US.
jamanetwork.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:16 PM
THIS THIS THIS. COVID-19 killed kids. The current group of people in charge of vaccine policy are wielding their medical credentials to undermine our ability to protect children from harm.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
I certainly will not be speaking at or donating to any Trump Universities. bsky.app/profile/chri...
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:37 PM
I certainly will not be speaking at or donating to any Trump Universities. bsky.app/profile/chri...
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
Hegseth & his henchmen seem to regard this as a videogame where they get points for each target they hit. These aren't human beings to them.
(Not to mention we aren't even in an armed conflict. We're just killing people in international waters. Just so many layers of horrifying wrongness.)
(Not to mention we aren't even in an armed conflict. We're just killing people in international waters. Just so many layers of horrifying wrongness.)
November 29, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Hegseth & his henchmen seem to regard this as a videogame where they get points for each target they hit. These aren't human beings to them.
(Not to mention we aren't even in an armed conflict. We're just killing people in international waters. Just so many layers of horrifying wrongness.)
(Not to mention we aren't even in an armed conflict. We're just killing people in international waters. Just so many layers of horrifying wrongness.)
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
“It is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice. For they cannot live in a country where virtue and knowledge prevail.”
~Attributed to Samuel Adams.
Image: Samuel Adams portrait by John Singleton Copley. Public domain.
~Attributed to Samuel Adams.
Image: Samuel Adams portrait by John Singleton Copley. Public domain.
November 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
“It is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice. For they cannot live in a country where virtue and knowledge prevail.”
~Attributed to Samuel Adams.
Image: Samuel Adams portrait by John Singleton Copley. Public domain.
~Attributed to Samuel Adams.
Image: Samuel Adams portrait by John Singleton Copley. Public domain.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
There is no evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to deaths in children. There is evidence that COVID causes serious harm — including long COVID, MIS-C, cardiac complications & diabetes.
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
Big change: FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements under RFK Jr ally
Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more
Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall
with @rachelroubein.bsky.social
Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more
Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall
with @rachelroubein.bsky.social
FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements, claiming child covid shot deaths
Vinay Prasad, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, said his team concluded that coronavirus shots were linked to children’s deaths, necessitating a new approach.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:47 PM
There is no evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to deaths in children. There is evidence that COVID causes serious harm — including long COVID, MIS-C, cardiac complications & diabetes.
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
30% of the stock market… in suicide-chatbot-coaches and mass murder fantasy machines (that can also write legal briefs and shine up your resume).
Where are the serious proposals for regulatory frameworks to rein in -or just put guardrails around-any of this? Where are the policy makers?
Where are the serious proposals for regulatory frameworks to rein in -or just put guardrails around-any of this? Where are the policy makers?
November 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
30% of the stock market… in suicide-chatbot-coaches and mass murder fantasy machines (that can also write legal briefs and shine up your resume).
Where are the serious proposals for regulatory frameworks to rein in -or just put guardrails around-any of this? Where are the policy makers?
Where are the serious proposals for regulatory frameworks to rein in -or just put guardrails around-any of this? Where are the policy makers?
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
"Any Lucia Lopez Belloza thought about the embraces she would share with her little sisters, ages 2 and 5, and about everything she would tell her mother and father about her first semester at Babson College studying business."
November 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
"Any Lucia Lopez Belloza thought about the embraces she would share with her little sisters, ages 2 and 5, and about everything she would tell her mother and father about her first semester at Babson College studying business."
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend ... that's for relaying news of which you're really, really proud.
November 29, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend ... that's for relaying news of which you're really, really proud.
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A group of GenXers is called a “whatever”.
November 29, 2025 at 12:27 AM
A group of GenXers is called a “whatever”.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
You've heard of the Friday night news dump. Here's the Friday night of Thanksgiving wknd dump. For special circumstances, like when the faculty assembly votes 595-4 against paying to end a shakedown and you do it anyway. Link to agreement here: bulkmail.northwestern.edu/trk/click?re...
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
You've heard of the Friday night news dump. Here's the Friday night of Thanksgiving wknd dump. For special circumstances, like when the faculty assembly votes 595-4 against paying to end a shakedown and you do it anyway. Link to agreement here: bulkmail.northwestern.edu/trk/click?re...
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
calmly explaining why we shouldn't bomb random venezuelan boats to people who argued we should torture random iraqis and then won an election by saying they were against a war they advocated for
November 29, 2025 at 4:35 AM
calmly explaining why we shouldn't bomb random venezuelan boats to people who argued we should torture random iraqis and then won an election by saying they were against a war they advocated for
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
There was a long long time when many many powerful people refused to stand up to Joe McCarthy. And then McCarthy got weak, and people found their spines.
People finding their spines is always good news, not least because it's a sign of Trump's weakness.
People finding their spines is always good news, not least because it's a sign of Trump's weakness.
A top Republican in Indiana, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, just announced he will be voting to block Trump’s gerrymandering after Trump used the R-word to insult people yesterday.
November 28, 2025 at 9:56 PM
There was a long long time when many many powerful people refused to stand up to Joe McCarthy. And then McCarthy got weak, and people found their spines.
People finding their spines is always good news, not least because it's a sign of Trump's weakness.
People finding their spines is always good news, not least because it's a sign of Trump's weakness.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
My hot take is that in the era of easily-generated AI nonsense papers journals that want to ensure high quality will need to start hiring full-time professional editors and reviewers instead of relying on volunteer labor from overworked academics.
UPDATE: The publisher intends to retract the paper, but insists it went through two rounds of review from two independent peer reviewers: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the... by @jacksonwryan.com. No word on how they will make sure this sort of thing never happens again.
Riding the Autism Bicycle to Retraction Town
Does anyone *really* know their Factor Fexcectorn?
nobreakthroughs.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:23 PM
My hot take is that in the era of easily-generated AI nonsense papers journals that want to ensure high quality will need to start hiring full-time professional editors and reviewers instead of relying on volunteer labor from overworked academics.
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
Site in Kenya reveals 300,000 years of uninterrupted toolmaking. Archaeologists uncovered nearly 1,300 stone tools spanning 2.44 to 2.75 million years, showing that early hominins taught and replicated the same techniques across roughly 10,000 generations. buff.ly/zQvktxJ
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Advanced 2.5 Million-Year-Old Tools May Rewrite Human History
Early humans crafted the same tools for hundreds of thousands of years, offering an unprecedented glimpse of a continuous tradition that may push back the origins of technology.
buff.ly
November 26, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Site in Kenya reveals 300,000 years of uninterrupted toolmaking. Archaeologists uncovered nearly 1,300 stone tools spanning 2.44 to 2.75 million years, showing that early hominins taught and replicated the same techniques across roughly 10,000 generations. buff.ly/zQvktxJ
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Reposted by epimom.bsky.social
The Internet Archive just released tens of thousands of seed catalogs, spanning over two centuries!
They are both lovely and interesting. Check them out!
archive.org/details/usda...
🗃️ #c18th #c19th #c20th #illustration
They are both lovely and interesting. Check them out!
archive.org/details/usda...
🗃️ #c18th #c19th #c20th #illustration
November 26, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The Internet Archive just released tens of thousands of seed catalogs, spanning over two centuries!
They are both lovely and interesting. Check them out!
archive.org/details/usda...
🗃️ #c18th #c19th #c20th #illustration
They are both lovely and interesting. Check them out!
archive.org/details/usda...
🗃️ #c18th #c19th #c20th #illustration