The Public Sociologist

"The fact that I needed a lawyer, it took me a long time to wrap my head around. Because what other federal benefits do people receive that you need to hire a lawyer for? I thought, ‘This doesn't make any sense.’" ~ Debra Guckenheimer, SSDI recipient from California

Alice Wong, beloved disability justice activist and prolific writer has died.

Ableism

NEW: I’m calling on Trump to cancel private jet flights instead of commercial airlines.

Private jet flights often take a single billionaire passenger, but still put real strain on our air traffic control system.

We are in a pot with the heat slowly being turned up.

Oct. 29: Targeted Faculty Report Little Support A new FIRE survey. A billionaire’s big donation. Grade inflation at Harvard. And more.

"Among scholars who were targeted for something they said:

One in five lost their jobs.

Forty percent feel shunned.

A third have lost friends."

Pathetic. If this is the best we can do, I'd almost say we deserve it. I mean come on. SOLIDARITY, people.

www.chronicle.com/newsletter/d...

The Hunger Games Begin 40 million Americans are about to lose food stamps

Remember when Paul Krugman’s columns were soooo wonky.

“It sounds crazy to say that Republicans are making children go hungry to protect pedophiles, but it’s actually a reasonable interpretation of the situation.” - Paul Krugman

I really appreciate that you are taking this all into consideration. Families are being torn apart. Family means something completely different to many of us. I have an article coming out next year about DV and custody related to moms who want to flee but are trapped.

Thank you!

I am so sorry. That's awful.

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived. ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...

Records obtained by ProPublica indicate that food banks across the country were expecting more than 27 million pounds of chicken, 2 million gallons of milk, 10 million pounds of dried fruit and 60 million eggs that never arrived.

‘I’m not a secret Nazi’: Maine Democratic Senate candidate addresses tattoo Graham Platner says he didn’t know historical associations of skull-and-crossbones tattoo he got on his chest in 2007

It is possible to get tattoos removed or tattooed into something else. To have a Nazi tattoo is a choice as is to keep it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Greg Prieto Obituary (2025) - San Diego, CA View Greg Prieto's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

Greg Prieto, a very important sociologist and special human has died
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If you care about someone who is LGBTQ, disabled, neurodivergent, chronically ill, Latinx,and/or Black in the US, now is the time to reach out and see what they need. Help make an escape plan. Be the ray of light in a dark time.

Party of free speech and small government

It is telling what people in the US will.stand up and fight for and what they won't.

Anyone have connections to publishers, art galleries or book stores in Germany? Trying to help someone 🏃from 🤡🟠🇺🇸.

A Black man and a homeless man were found hanging from trees in Mississippi yesterday, for those who haven’t seen yet because it’s barely made it out of local news.

I thought Friday would still be safe. Is that wrong?

Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites BBC identifies members of Infidels MC gang hired as armed security at US and Israel-backed aid sites.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

“Kirk & I were on different sides of most political arguments. We were on the same side of the continued possibility of American politics.”

So it’s personal? B/c if you were a Black woman or transgender, Kirk would not imagine you having any role in the future of American politics.

Dystopian

Want to spite RFK Jr? Get an updated Covid vaccine if you can.

"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."

I stand with Dr. Melissa McCoul.

Every academic should. As should every individual.

Why are we talking about parent rights about vaccines but allowing them to say parents have no rights re gender affirming healthcare?

his father was unavailable for comment

New insight into Texas family detention reveals adults fighting kids for clean water A new court filing in an ongoing legal dispute with the federal government reveals the psychological and physical trauma endured by children and families held at Texas family detention centers.

Any updates on conditions in 🧊 detention centers? They've been horribly inhumane. But not widely reported on.

apnews.com/article/migr...

It already seems impossible to get a kid under 12 vaccinated, even with higher risk health conditions. Most retailers refuse to do it. Public health is silent. Our pediatrician had their shipment from Phizer cancelled. They don't know if they can get from elsewhere.