Rachel K

an even better example would be like socialist alternative and ISO before they imploded, both self-iding Trotskyist parties

leftist: i hate you because you support the working families party but I'm a member of socialist alternative
also leftist: oh look RFK is against big pharma, let's be buddies

excellent thread on the BLS firing

just one example: inflation/CPI numbers are used annually to adjust the US poverty line, which is indirectly used in a lot of social programs

Trump, Claiming Weak Jobs Numbers Were ‘Rigged,’ Fires Labor Official

For months, people have been asking me whether I still trusted gov’t data. My answer was always the same: The stats agencies faced longstanding challenges, some of which Trump was making worse. But there was no sign of political meddling.
I can’t say that anymore.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/b...

seeing my dissertation in the wild in the worst possible way is, uh, Very Distracting

watching very closely how this will play out in terms of the the quality of the data and who trusts the data, two related but distinct questions, for normative reasons (authoritarianism: bad) and scholarly ones (my dissertation is about when and why governments produce high quality data)

truth social post from Trump: I was just informed that our Country's "Jobs Numbers" are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala's chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under "TRUMP" despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting "Kamala" elected - How did that work out? Jerome "Too Late" Powell should also be put "out to pasture." Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Trump fires the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics!!!!!

Feeling some such way that BLS is a case study in my dissertation on why governments produce high quality data

It’s one of the bigger phd programs around Michigan SPH; I think cohorts are between 10 and 15 usually? They’re often done in 4 years

I feel like “CDC Recommends Eating A Nice Crisp Apple Instead of Childhood Vaccines” would be even more on the nose

Pre covid she was infamous in some circles for her book saying the risks of drinking during pregnancy are overblown and “you do you”

The fact that so many public health people still see her as credible…

top cited North American Scholars, 1-10: Andrew Gelman, Gary King, Paul Peirson, Barry Weingast, James Fowler, Alexander Wendt, Donald P Green, Shanto Iyengar, James Robinson, James Fearon

A list of top-cited North American political scientists has 3 men names James and 0 women

source: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

whole article worth a read but this quote is WILD

A Las Vegas Festival Promised Ways to Cheat Death. Two Attendees Left Fighting for Their Lives. Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr....

www.propublica.org/article/pept...

"he became convinced the peptides weren’t the cause of the severe reactions after plugging everything he knows about the incident into an artificial intelligence app, which gave him a 57-page report that “basically says that it is impossible it was the peptides.”

(today in seeing my dissertation in the wild)

read the whole thread: integrity of (financial) data in the US seems to be holding so far but experts are worried

a thin white woman in head to toe lululemon screaming at these thugs makes me think ICE has jumped the shark

South Gaza: Tents, Food & Water **With Famine on the rise, we will significantly lower tent purchases and focus on food (rice and bread) and water over the next couple of weeks**

Feeling just absolutely helpless and devastated about starvation in Gaza. I'm donating to the Sameer Project and calling my representatives and talking to my offline friends. chuffed.org/project/1132...

Wait, that should be Brian Kemp in GA, Deal was when I was in high school
(Also, yes, I lived in 5 states in 5 years between 2018 and 2022. Geographical instability sucks)

Tony Evers is again doing the right thing for Wisconsin Evers’ decision not to seek a third term can serve as an example to Democrats across the country that now is the time to embrace change.

I was somewhat skeptical of Tony Evers when he won the 2018 WI primary, and I am to his left, but he's still probably one of my favorite governors of states I've lived in
(rank: Evers & Pritzker, Inslee, Whitmer, [all miles better than] Nathan Deal)
www.therecombobulationarea.news/p/tony-evers...

caveats: state/local government, not federal, in public health.
older-school departments using mostly SAS, better-resourced departments at in the process of transitioning/have transitioned to R.

(Also, GIS, PowerBI, Excel more common than eg. RShiny for dashboards/visualizations)

U.S. Quietly Drafts Plan to End Program That Saved Millions From AIDS

I hate it here
PEPFAR … would be replaced by “bilateral relationships” with low-income countries focused on the detection of outbreaks that could threaten the US and the creation of new markets for American drugs and technologies, according to the documents.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/h...

These political data visualizations are living rent-free in my head.

Especially:
1. the top 100 R donors now account for OVER HALF of contributions
2. US senators' age distribution looks a whole lot like a retirement home
3. support for Medicaid work reqs rises w/ Medicare eligibility

A computer, print outs of papers, plants, a green water bottle and glass of iced coffee in a sunny cafe

Writing and coffee with an amazing friend who’s about to start her faculty position and the vibes are excellent

a bit econ-y for my tastes but also relevant: www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1...

I want to write about the simultaneous erosion of government data quality and capacity in some areas and enormous expansion of the surveillance state in other areas but idk if I have anything smart to say about it

This is quite an internet politics/culture deep cut!
I feel like putting poli sci citations to many of these would be a decent American politics comps study mechanism

#a2council are we sure that the “no on prop A and B” folks don’t just hate the library its patrons?
Took a walk around Eberwhite recently and tons of yards had signs for the summer games and yes on A and B, while the no on A and B yards often also had “pause the plan” signs

every Discworld book I've read has been good, but my current ranking:
Monstrous Regiment > Going Postal > Men at Arms, Feet of Clay > The Truth > Guards, Equal Rites
I tried to audiobook only for Wyrd Sisters and couldn't get into it but need to give a non-audio version another try