Gary Hollibaugh

So many echoes from this article for US politics....

Think of an economy as like baking a cake. H1-B visas exist so that if you're out of a specific ingredient, you can Instacart it and keep baking. Add a $100k delivery charge and you'll choose to:
1. Quit baking; or
2. Use an inferior recipe; or
3. Import cake instead of making it

J.S. Citizenshit and Immigratior Services September 20, 2025 Memorandum TO: Associate Directors, Deputy Associate Directors, Program Office Chiefs FROM: JOSEPH B Digitaly signed by JOSEPH B EDLOW Joseph B. Edlow EDLOW Date: 2025.09.20 Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services **00 SUBJECT: Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, H-IB On September 19, 2025, the President issued a Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, to address systemic abuse of H-1B nonimmigrant visas. Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000. This guidance applies to H-IB employment-based petitions filed after 12:01 AM ET on September 21, 2025.| This proclamation only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed. The proclamation does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior to the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas. All officers of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall ensure that their decisions are consistent with this guidance. The proclamation does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to or rom the United States. cc: David V. Roy, Chief Counsel (A) FOUO, For Official Use Only

NEW: Hours before a new entry ban is supposed to go into effect, the federal government officially acknowledges for the first time that the restrictions do NOT apply to people who currently have H-1B visas.

Link: www.uscis.gov/sites/defaul...

This H1B thing is a DISASTER for the USA. Phone your representative and senator NOW and demand action to protect America.

This is an attack on the American economy and American technological and scientific advancement. Not to mention a truly awful thing to do to half a million people.

Don’t call me out like this when I’m not even at APSA this year!

From Princeton Professor of Politics and International Affairs, @jshapiro.bsky.social.

Maybe, but I guarantee a bootlegging course would be way more interesting and fun.

Acceptable answers are much shorter than you think (I am so very sorry)

Come to SPIA at the University of Pittsburgh for your MPA and you too can become like Jessica Chastain

Not sure whose fault it is primarily that most people don't seem to know that the president is basically a manager whose job is to carry out the will of Congress, and not The Country's Boss

The authoritarian checklist It is time to admit that America is no longer a functioning democracy

New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...

@purekimminess.bsky.social mentioned this during the faculty assembly meeting today, so now it’s in the official minutes which means you HAVE to do it.

Our constitutional republic does not have any provision which allows a president to enact a criminal statute by executive order that would put people in prison. bsky.app/profile/atru...

More Than a Feeling Whatever you think about the widening divide between Democrats and Republicans, ideological differences do not explain why politicians from the same parties, who share the same goals and policy prefer...

press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

I know this won’t reach folks who don’t already know it but just in case:

If you are a parent and your kid is going to college, there’s no time when you reaching out to their professors, choosing their classes, or doing their assignments is helping them.

Go get a hobby.

a university is not for generating profit, it provides cultural enrichment via weird little gremlin people who love visigoths or haikus, and very occasionally a scientist who figures out faster than light travel

In 1949, Superman told schoolchildren “our country is made up of Americans of MANY different races, religions and national origins. So…

“…if YOU hear anybody talk against anyone else because of his religion, race or national origin — don’t wait: tell him THAT KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN.”

The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.

The annoying spam texts destroying the Democratic brand:

$678M raised through those spam tactics

$282M to one consulting firm: Mothership Strategies.

$11M to actual campaigns (1.6%)

The party isn’t just treating donors like marks—it’s being fleeced itself yet continues to back Mothership.

Brown's capitulation to the state is as great a threat to academic freedom in America as Columbia's cowardice. Anonymous student course evaluations have been potentially weaponized to punish speech that might anger students in the classroom. A serious chilling effect. www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

We can’t have them on syllabi? News to me.

Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle Fight With Trump

Can someone smarter than the New York Times explain to me what exactly the $200M fine that Columbia is paying is *for*?

Because in my naiveté and with $400M in grant funding canceled, this is indistinguishable from a protection racket.

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

Columbia’s leadership has managed to make the wrong decision at every single point here

look, it’s just a fired prosecutor and an inexplicable tape gap. since when has that ever indicated anything

Disagree. This is the United States of America and we categorically reject the idea of the Divine Right of Kings.

YouTube video by Captain Mr. Oracle CNN Headline News | 1/9/92 | President George Bush Vomits On Prime Minister During Japan Visit | HW

Wasn’t thinking of that Bush… youtu.be/tHIOodNVea0?...

You have an opportunity to do one of the funniest things ever.

I am once again pitching my romantic comedy:

- two academics start dating
- discover they are each other's terrible reviewer
- hijinks ensue

Working title: Love is Double-Blind