Eric Aspengren
@ericaspen.bsky.social
Political strategist and data analyst. Organizer at heart.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
on the topic of car violence, I can't help wondering if the aggy mood of the country isn't exacerbated by a) half of cars being TOO BIG and b) headlights being TOO BRIGHT so everyone on the road constantly feels threatened or hassled
Insane but true fact: making US roads as safe as Canadian, Australian, or European roads would save more lives than eliminating murder from the US.
December 23, 2025 at 6:18 PM
on the topic of car violence, I can't help wondering if the aggy mood of the country isn't exacerbated by a) half of cars being TOO BIG and b) headlights being TOO BRIGHT so everyone on the road constantly feels threatened or hassled
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
On DOGE’s watch, federal spending did not go down at all. It went up. But is still led to cuts that closed offices, canceled programs and deprived people of food, medicine and other aid.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little?
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
On DOGE’s watch, federal spending did not go down at all. It went up. But is still led to cuts that closed offices, canceled programs and deprived people of food, medicine and other aid.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
I suggest he call one of them The Yamato.
December 22, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I suggest he call one of them The Yamato.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
I read through these (more in the comments) and hoped maybe this was some cheeky lefty publication that went looking for the most extremist nuts they could find to make the right look bad.
Nope. It’s City Journal, published by the far right Manhattan Institute.
Horrifying.
Nope. It’s City Journal, published by the far right Manhattan Institute.
Horrifying.
December 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I read through these (more in the comments) and hoped maybe this was some cheeky lefty publication that went looking for the most extremist nuts they could find to make the right look bad.
Nope. It’s City Journal, published by the far right Manhattan Institute.
Horrifying.
Nope. It’s City Journal, published by the far right Manhattan Institute.
Horrifying.
David Brooks? Whoda think?
December 18, 2025 at 6:28 PM
David Brooks? Whoda think?
Clyde Stubblefield's right foot...
December 18, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Clyde Stubblefield's right foot...
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
Before the 1990s, plane crashes caused by microbursts used to kill planeloads of people fairly regularly.
Dr. Ted Fujita and NCAR scientists figured out how to detect microbursts and warn pilots about them.
Since then? Zero airliner crashes from microbursts.
Dr. Ted Fujita and NCAR scientists figured out how to detect microbursts and warn pilots about them.
Since then? Zero airliner crashes from microbursts.
Exclusive: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
bit.ly
December 17, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Before the 1990s, plane crashes caused by microbursts used to kill planeloads of people fairly regularly.
Dr. Ted Fujita and NCAR scientists figured out how to detect microbursts and warn pilots about them.
Since then? Zero airliner crashes from microbursts.
Dr. Ted Fujita and NCAR scientists figured out how to detect microbursts and warn pilots about them.
Since then? Zero airliner crashes from microbursts.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
Donald Trump interrupted national tv today to promise a million people (with guns!) two billion dollars he doesn’t have on a timeline he cannot meet to buy Christmas gifts he has personally fought to make less affordable
he doesn’t and the most likely outcome of this is that it doesn’t happen
How does the president have independent authority to mail out Christmas bonuses?
December 18, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Donald Trump interrupted national tv today to promise a million people (with guns!) two billion dollars he doesn’t have on a timeline he cannot meet to buy Christmas gifts he has personally fought to make less affordable
Bro country is going to kill us all.
December 17, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Bro country is going to kill us all.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
The little orange bars on the right are what Trump is calling “the greatest economy in history.”
December 16, 2025 at 11:03 PM
The little orange bars on the right are what Trump is calling “the greatest economy in history.”
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
Still no community note on this at X, where it’s been viewed many millions of times. Someone’s point about the need for AI regulations seems to have been made.
This image, presumably doctored, purporting to be from today, is going around X this evening; hundreds of thousands of views, no community note yet
December 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Still no community note on this at X, where it’s been viewed many millions of times. Someone’s point about the need for AI regulations seems to have been made.
Nerve conduction tests are a joy.
December 11, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Nerve conduction tests are a joy.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
Y'think?
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that Fed staffers believe federal data could be overstating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month—which suggests the jobs market might be shrinking www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that Fed staffers believe federal data could be overstating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month—which suggests the jobs market might be shrinking www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
Fed Chair Jerome Powell Says U.S. May Be Drastically Overstating Jobs Numbers
Powell said that Fed staffers believe federal data could be overstating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month—which suggests the jobs market might be shrinking.
www.wsj.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Y'think?
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that Fed staffers believe federal data could be overstating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month—which suggests the jobs market might be shrinking www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that Fed staffers believe federal data could be overstating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month—which suggests the jobs market might be shrinking www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
This is what I've always hated about the term identity politics. The implication is whiteness (especially combined with maleness and heterosexuality) is not an identity, but literally everything else is.
December 11, 2025 at 11:05 AM
This is what I've always hated about the term identity politics. The implication is whiteness (especially combined with maleness and heterosexuality) is not an identity, but literally everything else is.
Jingle bell time is a swell time.
December 10, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Jingle bell time is a swell time.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Are they moving the USS Maine to the Caribbean?
December 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Are they moving the USS Maine to the Caribbean?
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
In this Ohio diner, Pete still means Rose, not Hegseth. But they do know this: Firing missiles at Venezuelan boaters is the best way to teach them the grit and hustle that you need to get ahead in life.
December 10, 2025 at 4:53 PM
In this Ohio diner, Pete still means Rose, not Hegseth. But they do know this: Firing missiles at Venezuelan boaters is the best way to teach them the grit and hustle that you need to get ahead in life.
I don't think we can separate the recent UNL department cuts from the broader movement exemplified by the Trump administration. And I think all of this absolutely points out to me just how little the Regents believe they should be acting as elected officials instead of cold administrators.
December 8, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I don't think we can separate the recent UNL department cuts from the broader movement exemplified by the Trump administration. And I think all of this absolutely points out to me just how little the Regents believe they should be acting as elected officials instead of cold administrators.
I'll never forgive the people who yelled, in 2016, that the Supreme Court doesn't matter.
December 8, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I'll never forgive the people who yelled, in 2016, that the Supreme Court doesn't matter.
I want to see every email from every staffer who was part of determining the scoring of departments for University of Nebraska cuts.
December 8, 2025 at 12:50 AM
I want to see every email from every staffer who was part of determining the scoring of departments for University of Nebraska cuts.
Reposted by Eric Aspengren
if you don't know what to say in grad seminar, just say whatever you're talking about is 'dialectical'. then if anyone argues with you they're just proving your point
December 7, 2025 at 10:31 PM
if you don't know what to say in grad seminar, just say whatever you're talking about is 'dialectical'. then if anyone argues with you they're just proving your point
"Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European...
December 5, 2025 at 6:39 PM
"Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European...