Wendy UM
milldoemusing.bsky.social
Wendy UM
@milldoemusing.bsky.social
Historian of southern Africa and of the global First World War. Author of _The Gender of Piety: Faith, Family and Colonial Rule in Matabeleland Zimbabwe_.
Trainer of teachers. Baker of gluten-free pies, cakes, and more. Fan of St. Brigid.
Reposted by Wendy UM
🧵 We got a pretty nasty load of bad news yesterday on the future of Social Security. It's not hyperbole to say we've passed the point of no return on Trump/DOGE's efforts to kill the agency...
April 11, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
UnitedHealth spent years buying up medical practices in the Hudson Valley. 

They drove down care quality and jacked up prices, all while making record breaking profits. 

They thought we'd stay silent. They were wrong. 

Today, our community is STANDING UP and FIGHTING BACK.
April 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
Musk fired the entire team responsible for managing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which supports approximately 6.2 million people across the U.S.—from Maine to Texas—in paying their heating and cooling bills.
April 2, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
Columbia administrators may say or do this or that.

But it's students, staff, and faculty who are the *real* Columbia University.

And they are speaking clearly: we do not comply with these authoritarian demands. Follow their lead.

bit.ly/DemocracyAnd...
Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy.

"Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
March 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Almost everything I've ever published is in here. I feel really violated! What now???!!!
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
March 20, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Dear Senators, PLEASE DO WHAT YOU CAN TO ADVOCATE THAT THE USPS STAY IN PLACE AS A VITAL, AFFORDABLE GOVERNMENT SERVICE FOR ALL AMERICANS. Sincerely, ___
March 19, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
“There was a girl from India who had overstayed her student visa for three days before heading back home. She then came back to the US on a new, valid visa to finish her master’s degree and was handed over to Ice due to the three days she had overstayed on her previous visa.”
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
www.theguardian.com
March 19, 2025 at 11:34 AM
March 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
No one had died of measles in America for ten years, until yesterday.

That 2015 death in WA was preceded by a 12y period of no US deaths. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. says it’s “not unusual.” apnews.com/article/meas...

It is unusual. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...
February 26, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
If Trump and Elon were serious about cutting spending, the first place they'd look is defense contracts.

I'd be happy to join, there’s massive waste/tons of room for innovation.

They'd rather cut YOUR Medicaid than stand up to the big & powerful defense companies.
February 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office.

Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc.

Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.
February 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
I'm brand new to Bluesky, still learning how it all works. I'm a fiber artist, usually working with upcycled fabric scraps. I've been stitching my feelings lately, and this is my latest embroidery project - Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection. It's inspired by the 1930's Sunbonnet Sue designs.
February 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Wendy UM
I have three reviews to go for the Obs but today, after 180 of them, is my last column for OFM. So I thought I’d summarise my searing advice from the last 15 years: the wisdom, the provocations and the occasional stupidities. Enjoy. Or grind your teeth. Your call

www.theguardian.com/food/2025/fe...
This is my final OFM column. Here’s what I’ve learned about buffets, ‘clean eating’ and what not to serve food on | Jay Rayner
Much has changed in the food world but there are a few truths that still hold
www.theguardian.com
February 20, 2025 at 12:06 PM
More body blows to the commonweal. There is no "common" and no "weal" with these men.

"The list of scientific breakthroughs accomplished with N.S.F. funding is expansive,..."
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/u...
National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers on Trump’s Order
The cuts at the foundation, which supports cutting-edge research, came as the nation’s health and science agencies were reeling from other significant cuts.
www.nytimes.com
February 18, 2025 at 10:36 PM