Brian Powell

JD Vance’s team had water level of Ohio river raised for family’s boating trip Exclusive: Incident raises questions of exploitation of public services, but Secret Service says it was requested for ‘safe navigation’

JD Vance had the Army Corps of Engineers release water from Caesar Creek Lake so he could go kayaking last weekend. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The “deal” that Brown made with the Trump admin is much more extreme than is being reported. It includes government oversight of course evaluations and no barrier to government interference in faculty hiring.

Read it for yourself here:

www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

This is an outrage. Other faculty senates need to speak up.

Union Pacific to Buy Norfolk Southern in $85 Billion Railroad Deal

Union Pacific to Buy Norfolk Southern in $85 Billion Railroad Deal www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/b...

* REUTERS POLL -- NEARLY 90% ECONOMISTS, 89 OF 100, SAY THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF OFFICIAL U.S. ECONOMIC DATA, INCLUDING 41 SAYING VERY CONCERNED

@reuters.com

Trump Told Park Workers to Report Displays That ‘Disparage’ Americans. Here’s What They Flagged.

Trump Told Park Workers to Report Displays That ‘Disparage’ Americans. Here’s What They Flagged. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/c...

I"m really happy to see this. It's also true that this points to a very large population of twentysomething dumbfucks in the United States. (Just keeping it real.)

The Abrego Garcia fiasco keeps getting worse. The way Trump and the WH are bringing the full weight of their propaganda and legal machines to destroying this one day laborer is an extraordinary abuse of power.

I try to take stock of that larger story here:

newrepublic.com/article/1977...

The UVA Faculty Senate has voted to approve a resolution of No Confidence in the Board of Visitors

A megabill mystery: New solar and wind tax comes as a surprise to Republican senators "I don't know where it came from," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told NBC News after he released the 940-page legislation.

NEW: Tucked inside the GOP mega-bill is an excise tax for solar and wind.

And Republicans say they have no idea who put this provision in, or why.

"I don't know where it came from," Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham, who released the bill, tells NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

A screenshot of a tweet that reads “GOP negotiators looking at expanding the enhanced FMAP rate to at least three more states in addition to Alaska and Hawaii in order to pass muster with parliamentarian. Enhanced FMAP would be based on state population density and include North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Big effort being made to woo Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.”

Republicans are about to decimate Medicaid across the country and their top two Senate leaders are trying to get their states exempted from the cuts at the 11th hour.

One of the central achievements of the Affordable Care Act was to *raise* the Medicaid eligibility threshold to 133% of the federal poverty level—because everyone understood that there are plenty of folks who couldn't otherwise afford health care even though they're just over that (arbitrary) line.

Wow. Some people are upset about gutting the national endowment for the humanities. But fear not. The Big Beautiful Bill appropriates $40 million for "for the procurement of statues" for the President's "Garden of Heroes" www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

Trump and Stephen Miller want a vast secret police apparatus and they are building it right out in the open.

He didn’t like the answers it was giving, so he’s starting over.

Hegseth is now threatening to send the Marines to LA to suppress protesters against ICE’s brutal assault on immigrant garment workers.

Just process that: Sending in the *military* to crack down on protesters.

We’re now at severe risk of martial law. That’s what they’ve wanted all along.

Trump Officials Weaken Rules Insulating Government Workers From Politics A reinterpretation of the Hatch Act announced by the administration lets officials wear campaign paraphernalia like MAGA hats, and removes an independent board’s role in policing violations.

Trump Officials Weaken Rules Insulating Government Workers From Politics www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...

Obama Calls for Universities to Stand Up to Trump Administration Threats As the Trump administration threatens universities, the former president suggested schools shouldn’t be intimidated. But he also offered a critique of campus culture, saying it had too often shut out ...

Obama Calls for Universities to Stand Up for Core Values www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/u...

For an organization supposedly staffed by technology wunderkinds, the DOGE website is crap.

Trump administration live updates: Tariffs ravage the stock market; TikTok deadline approaches Global markets are taking a beating from President Donald Trump's decision this week to announce sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.

China is “trying to replicate” USAID programs in Africa as the Trump administration dismantles the agency, the commander of the U.S. Africa Command told lawmakers.

‘A Different World’ Sequel Series Gets Rare Netflix Pilot Order The sequel series to "A Different World" is moving forward at Netflix, with the streamer ordering a pilot for the comedy project.

‘A Different World’ Sequel Series Gets Rare Netflix Pilot Order variety.com/2025/tv/news... via @variety

Trump’s Battles With Colleges Could Change American Culture for a Generation Many in higher education worry Trump’s efforts to bend academia to his will could end American leadership in research and science. Universities are not finding many allies to defend them.

Trump’s Battles With Colleges Could Change American Culture for a Generation www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

This is the gold standard measure of atmospheric carbon, the one you see in almost every chart that tracks emissions.

Walgreens to Be Acquired by Sycamore Partners in $10 Billion Deal Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance have lost about half their value in the past year, as the chain has faced pressure in its retail and pharmacy businesses.

Walgreens Sells Itself to Private Equity Firm in $10 Billion Deal www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/b...

War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and women and minorites are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts ma...

The US military has removed photos of the B-29 bomber “Enola Gay” — which dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan — apparently because it contains the word “gay,” which violates their new anti-DEI rules.

Government Budget and Staffing Cuts Could Close Facilities in California’s National Forests, Memo Says A government spreadsheet lists thousands of campsites and trails that could shutter for the summer because of federal government staff reductions and budget freezes.

Cuts Could Close Campsites and Trails in California, Forest Service Memo Says www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/c...

Old statement

New statement

WVU has removed references to sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, and gender expression from its non-discrimination statement.

Old statement: safety.wvu.edu/safety-on-ca...

New statement: campusengagement.wvu.edu/compliance

Penn State to close some commonwealth campuses, President Bendapudi announces Penn State will close some of its commonwealth campuses after enrollment declines, cuts and angst at the 19 branch campuses, university President Neeli...

Penn State is going to close branch campuses. Other than Erie and Altoona, all the ones in western half of the state are potentially on the chopping block although final decisions not made yet. www.post-gazette.com/news/educati...

Wheeling Intelligencer/Ogden Newspapers editorial on the lack of transparency in the WVU presidential search process www.theintelligencer.net/opinion/edit...

Bid Process is Open for the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s Roundhouse Project <p><i>The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s Roundhouse, a Commonwealth Capital Project, will house six historic Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives, ensuring they are preserved for generations to come a...

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania building a 6-stall roundhouse to store several class PRR locomotives. www.pa.gov/agencies/phm...