Matthew Thomann

The perfect skeet doesn’t exist… oh, wait…

I almost forgot to post this, and it's the perfect day for it.

This DCQS, join us for lunch and Queer/Trans Activism at UMD: Archives of the Past for the Future. 🌈🎓 . Discover the history of queer and trans activism at UMD and explore what is (and is not) held in the archive and how activists & archivists are working to preserve documentation of these movements

We're so excited! DC Queer Studies 🌈🎓 is next week! Come celebrate with us and engage with some exciting queer studies scholarship! RSVP now at go.umd.edu/DCQS2025

Yoooooo that’s my friend! Wish I’d been around to celebrate this much deserved recognition.

My Fulbright allowed me to study how state sponsored homophobia and myopic global health policies align to worsen the health of queer Kenyans. Never thought I’d find myself defending the “soft power” of the US State Dpt given its perpetuation of US exceptionalism and homonationalism and yet…

My Fulbright allowed me to study how state sponsored homophobia and myopic global health policies align to worsen the health of queer Kenyans. Never thought I’d find myself defending the “soft power” of the US State Dpt given its perpetuation of US exceptionalism and homonationalism and yet…

New round of federal health cuts threaten kids’ vaccines and research Another round of federal health grant cancelations threatens kids' vaccines and other medical research.

Vaccines, transgender health studies at risk as $300 million in federal cuts expected in Maryland

Elon Musk slams Marine Le Pen guilty verdict as arch-conservatives unite in fury Key adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump signals he will make the French far-right standard-bearer a new cause célèbre.

Fresh from endorsing the German far right, Musk is now defending the French far right.

When people show you they are, believe them the first time.

From our friend the Informed Alarmist… @informedalarmist.bsky.social .

“Unequivocally, no blame in this falls on Signal,” says White. “Signal is a communication tool designed for confidential conversations. If someone's brought into a conversation who’s not meant to be part of it, that's not a technology problem. That's an operator issue.”

“At one point, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif, asked Kerger if Sesame Street character Elmo was a communist? "No" she replied.

Garcia: "Are you sure Ms. Kerger? Because he is red."

"Well, he is a puppet, but no," Kerger replied.”

Being snatched off the street for your opinions. I'll say it again. We are deciding, right now, whether the aspirations we hold for this country are finished. Whether we're going to let these hoodlums and grifters throw what's left of the American idea into the garbage for their own profit and gain.

Ahem

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. This order continues the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary. Sec. 2. Reducing the Scope of the Federal Bureaucracy. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law: (i) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (ii) the United States Agency for Global Media; (iii) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution; (iv) the Institute of Museum and Library Services; (v) the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; (vi) the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and (vii) the Minority Business Development Agency. (b) Within 7 days of the date of this order, the head of each governmental entity listed in subsection (a) of this section shall submit a report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget confirming full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent. (c) In reviewing budget requests submitted by the governmental entities listed in subsection (a) of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or the head of any executive department or agency charged with reviewing grant requests by such entities shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law and except insofar as necessary to effectuate an expected termination, reject funding requests for such governmental entities to the extent they are inconsistent with this order.

Waiting until after Democrats caved on the CR, Trump issues a late night order to eliminate 7 agencies “to the maximum extent” allowed by law, including the organization running the Voice of America, the agency that helps fund museums and libraries in all 50 states, and so on. Order in alt text:

If you’re in the neighborhood…

COWARDS.

Columbia University notice of sanctions including expulsions

Columbia continues to destroy itself in the malign and stupid effort to hang on to Zionist and federal money (which it doesn't really need).

Today's slaughter includes the expulsion of the president of the grad worker union. A day before bargaining is due to begin.

I'm delighted to have co-authored this critical paper alongside other African global health experts (@seyeabimbola.bsky.social and Dr Ebere Okereke) on how Africa's health systems can adapt and build resilience following the abrupt USAID cuts.

one of the maddening things about being in discourse studies or rhetoric is that whenever we tell people that bad actors love to appropriate the language of their enemies values in order to subvert them and confuse onlookers, people simply don’t see it until it’s too late!!

Mahmoud Khalil case goes to court, spotlighting green card holders' rights A New York federal judge is set to hear pivotal questions in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of large Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University who now faces deportation after his arrest by...

A New York federal judge is set to hear pivotal questions in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of large Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University who now faces deportation after his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

FFS

This woulda been me in 2024-2016. Straight outta grad school on an already barely livable salary (by NYC standards) as a T32 postdoc at Columbia. Wonder if the admin is rethinking their strategy now that they’ve been smacked down despite their capitulation

Ahem

Indeed, a White House official told The Free Press that the basis for targeting Khalil is being used as a blueprint for investigations against other students. Khalil is a "threat to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States," said the official, noting that this calculation was the driving force behind the arrest. "The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law," said the official.

NEW: White House says the arrest and deportation of student activist & legal US resident, Mahmoud Khalil, is a blueprint for more.

The final line here is chilling. The White House specifically says Khalil was not breaking the law.

No evidence, no due process, no crime. He was just disappeared.

And here we are. If you lick the boot you'll get it even worse. All those university administrators that made a big show of calling the cops to "fight antisemitism" are 100% responsible for this. If you keep your name out of the paper Trump won't know you exist. But you didn't.

This woulda been me in 2024-2016. Straight outta grad school on an already barely livable salary (by NYC standards) as a T32 postdoc at Columbia. Wonder if the admin is rethinking their strategy now that they’ve been smacked down despite their capitulation

NPS takes down web pages dedicated to transgender activists This is part of an ongoing move by the federal government to remove and alter National Park Service webpages related to LGBTQ history.

This is part of an ongoing move by the federal government to remove and alter National Park Service webpages related to LGBTQ history.