Steph | dr.bookish.biologist

From Senator Chris McDaniel: “Lately, some folks have taken to calling ICE “the Gestapo.” It sounds fierce. It feels righteous. But it isn’t true, and it isn’t harmless. The Gestapo was a secret police force. No warrants. No courts. No lawyers. And no appeals. People vanished in the night, not because they broke the law, but because the law no longer meant anything. The knock on the door was the sentence. ICE isn’t that. Not even close. ICE is a public agency enforcing laws passed by elected officials. Its agents file reports. They seek warrants. They lose cases. Judges stop them. Lawyers challenge them. Some detainees go home. That’s not tyranny. That’s bureaucracy, for better and worse. You can hate immigration policy. You can argue enforcement is too harsh, too sloppy, or too broad. You can work to have the law changed if you wish. That’s a republic doing what it’s supposed to do. But when you call ordinary law enforcement “the Gestapo,” you cheapen real evil. You turn history into a slogan and suffering into a metaphor. And once every badge is tyranny, no tyranny is left to recognize. In Mississippi, I was raised to believe words should earn their weight. This one hasn't yet. It throws around the language of dictatorship while living under a system where courts still rule, lawyers still argue, and the government still loses. That difference matters. Because the day enforcement becomes secret, unchecked, and answerable to no one, we won’t need to borrow names from history. We’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with. And we’ll wish we’d kept our words honest.”

“ICE isn’t the Gestapo. The Gestapo was…” (proceeds to describe qualities that apply to what ICE is currently doing)

It’s every parent’s nightmare, isn’t it? you check your child’s bulletproof backpack and find a picture book about gay penguins

we need to talk about the pathological culture of hate that millions of americans raise their children in

If you like sci-fi, The Locked Tomb series is excellent and is narrated by Moira Quirk and she’s amazing! Only downside is that we’re waiting on a fourth book and there hasn’t been even a hint of when that might come 😭

“Come, come, said Gandalf. We are all friends here. Or should be; for the laughter of Mordor will be our only reward, if we quarrel.”

- The Two Towers

So well deserved!!! The Broken Earth is one of my absolute favorite series

This was my lightest audiobook month in a really long time, with only one short novella (Artificial Condition by Martha Wells). I love the accessibility of audiobooks but I’m also enjoying eyeball reading more lately! When my brain lets me, at least.

A stack of hardcover books on a wood tabletop with bookshelves blurred in the background. “March” is in a script white font above the stack. Books pictured, from bottom to top: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker, Oathbound by Tracy Deonn, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, and He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

A screenshot of my March ratings collage from StoryGraph. The Keeper of Night: 3 stars Oathbound: 5 stars She Who Became the Sun: 4 stars Sunrise on the Reaping: 5 stars Artificial Condition: 4 stars He Who Drowns the World: 4 stars

A screenshot of my March reading stats from StoryGraph including number of books read (6), pages read (2,263), hours listened (8.5), and average rating (4.17).

A screenshot of my March reading calendar from StoryGraph depicting number of pages read/hours listened per day.

I kind of forgot about this app for a min but hi here’s what I read in March!

"A screenshot of an NBC News article headline. The headline reads: 'Texas bill would make identifying as transgender a felony punishable by jail.' Below the headline, a subtext states: 'The bill, while unlikely to pass, highlights the increasing extremism of legislation targeting trans people, especially in Texas, in recent years.' The NBC News logo is visible at the top, along with a navigation bar that includes a 'WATCH' button and a user profile icon."

I need y'all to sit with this headline and understand what is being done to our community. They're trying to criminalize our very existence.

This is a campaign of eradication.

www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/rcna...

Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, International Women’s Day 2025

Y’all are leaving me in the dust but I’m excited to play a bunch this weekend!!!

#StandUpForScience
Science not silence!

A white hand holding a hardcover copy of Oathbound by Tracy Deonn in the foreground and bookshelves in the background

My #Oathbound preorder finally showed up after lots of shenanigans with my tracking info lol. Let’s do this!!! 😅

Democratic Leaders Stand Real Still In Hopes No One Notices Them WASHINGTON—With the elected officials trying their hardest not to move a muscle, reports confirmed Monday that top Democratic leaders in Congress were standing real still in hopes that the American pe...

Democratic Leaders Stand Real Still In Hopes No One Notices Them

Postdocs and PhD students hit hard by Trump’s crackdown on science As US federal grants remain frozen and budget cuts loom, anxiety and fear grip early-career researchers.

Another article detailing anxiety among young researchers. Future careers are at stake with the US funding cuts, and talented young researchers are already being driven to pursue opportunities abroad.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A paperback copy of Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby on a tan blanket

Finished my reread of Bloodmarked last night and just started this! I read my first SA Cosby last year and it made my top 10 so I’m really excited for this one 😌

Imagine being rich enough to do anything you want and choosing to take food and medicine from starving children to give yourself even more money.

I’m just now learning that cybertrucks have one stupidly huge windshield wiper??? 😭

Maybe I wasn’t clear about this. I wanted more egg and no plane crash, not many plane crash and no egg.

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

I am no longer accepting the argument "there are bigger problems than this!" unless you are personally working to stop the ultimate Heat Death of the Universe.

Big day to be an infectious disease. Huge.

it's so important to make time for yourself, rest, treat yourself gently and with kind words. you, not me, I have to run myself ragged until I collapse in a pile of exhausted self-hatred but you should definitely self care.

The ASL version of “Not Like Us” is magnificent.

Kendrick Lamar and dancers forming US flag at Super bowl

Powerful 🔥

thank you to Kendrick and the Eagles for making terrible people angry tonight

Please use alt text.

Let's include everyone in our posts.

Please and thank you

I know I'm repeating this a lot, but I find it to be important.

A hardcover copy of Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

I’m still here, trying to stop doomscrolling long enough to read a little. 😵‍💫 Last night I finally finished One Last Word by Suzanne Park. Now onto Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor!

Measles outbreak expands in West Texas around county with low vaccination rate

If RFK Jr is confirmed as HHS secretary, expect these headlines to become even more frequent and tragic.

Crockett: “I’m tired of the white tears. If you’re competent you’re not concerned. When you compare me to Greene/Boebert there’s no comparison… The only ppl crying are mediocre white boys beaten out by people that had to work much harder.”

Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DFp8K0M...