Marlene Walk

This week’s main story is about the budget and staffing cuts being made to public health agencies in the U.S. under RFK Jr.’s leadership, how those cuts will impact all of us, and some foolproof ideas for what scientists can do in the absence of totally superfluous stuff like, y’know, centrifuges.

The NIH budget is on a fast track to disaster An NIH insider explains what Republicans are likely to do next, and what we can do

open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...

The Trump-Supreme Court battle is not really the crisis.

The crisis is here now. Trump is enacting an insidious coordinated attack on our institutions of democratic accountability, designed to crater democracy before next fall.

1/ A long 🧵to explain the plan & how we stop it.

This admin's impact on nonprofits: shutting down service delivery, squeezing resources, & criminalizing mission. Harvard - and higher ed generally - exemplify this. Self-promoing this video, part of a series here at Wagner. #nonprofitsky #pasky

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNz1...

DOGE Is Making the IRS a Tip Jar for Public Services Sabotaging the agency’s work amounts to an inducement for the ultra-rich to treat taxes as a voluntary contribution.

The doge attack on the IRS is a gift to rich tax cheats. That should worry all of us.

Read this @donmoyn.bsky.social piece ⤵️

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

0. Vought, Vance, Rufo, and those attacking academia see scientists as bureaucrats—in the most pejorative sense of the term—who they can "put into trauma" and drive to quit.

They don't understand that science is not just a job. It's a vocation, literally, in the original sense of *a calling*.

Nearly a 1,000 student visas invoked by Sec. of State Rubio and counting.

Same! Grüße aus dem ICE nach Freiburg.

„Tariffs are costly not just because they raise prices but because they force you to make different decisions that will extract a different kind of cost from you over time.“
A must read!

Den Artikel kann ich empfehlen, ohne ihn nochmal gelesen zu haben 😜

Danke an
@bastianbrauns.bsky.social , der meinen Redeschwall in so kurzer Zeit so kompetent in eine lesbare Form brachte.

Danke auch, dass man endlich mal etwas ausführlicher reden konnte.

Trump announces his tariffs, which are (somehow?) related to the trade barriers other countries are imposing on the U.S.

But...
THE NUMBERS HE'S PRESENTING BEAR NO RELATION TO REALITY.

It would be absurd to call these reciprocal tariffs. They're grievances.

The reason DEI exists is so that competent, qualified people don't get passed over in favor of mediocre incompetent white men who had a well-connected buddy.

Or so that utter morons who share war plans on the group chat don't hire their brother and get away with it bc they're white dudes.

Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services (Gift Article) States have been told that they can no longer use grants that were funding infectious disease management and addiction services.

This is a disaster and will have major consequences for public health staffing and services in Indiana

I don't know what to say at this point they are dismantling pretty much all public health infrastructure

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/h...

Same discussion in private academic mama groups…. :(

"Not only is silence in the face of mounting authoritarianism morally objectionable, but, as the Columbia case suggests, it’s not working. Columbia’s leadership made repeated concessions to right-wing critics, only to be the first to come under attack.

Remaining silent will not protect us." 👇👇

Anyone framing the Democratic schism as "left vs right" should be discarded as either uninformed or disingenuous (which is what Politico's attempt to blame "the left" is).

The key divide is between those who want to fight back forcefully - and those who cannot imagine anything but accommodation.

I wrote a thing about competitive philanthropy (based on research with @marlenewalk.bsky.social and Cali Curley). You can also hear us talk about this project with @rhodridavies.bsky.social (link to that podcast in the next post) 1/2

american masculinity is so amazing. caring about clothes as a man apparently makes you "gay" but our position on geopolitics totally depends on whether you wear a suit

💥 BREAKING: At John Deere's annual shareholders meeting today, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected an anti-DEI proposal brought by the same group that targeted Costco and Apple. An anti-DEI proposal from the NCPPR received less than 1 percent of votes.

Deere shareholders: DEI is in. Bigots are out

MAGA, the German Far Right, and the Transnational Assault on Democracy A reflection on the German far right, Elon Musk’s interference in the German election, and why the MAGA-AfD alliance isn’t nearly as irresistible as they want us to believe

MAGA, the German Far Right, and the Transnational Assault on Democracy

A reflection on the German far right, Elon Musk’s interference in the German election, and why the MAGA-AfD alliance isn’t nearly as irresistible as they want us to believe.

New piece:

Plakat der GRÜNEN: WIR WOLLEN UNSER LAND VERTEIDIGUNGSFÄHIG MACHEN DAS HABEN WIR VOR: Europa stärken: Mehrheitsentscheidungen auf alle zentralen Politikfelder ausweiten und gemeinsam in unsere Sicherheit investieren. Einen verlässlichen Verteidigungsetat sichern, der dauerhaft über zwei Prozent der Wirtschaftsleistung liegt. Den freiwilligen Wehrdienst attraktiver gestalten und mit neuer Wehrerfassung auch Zivil- und Heimatschutz stärken. Die Bundeswehr modern und effizient über eine europäische Rüstungsindustrie ausstatten. Nachrichtendienste stärken, um hybride Angriffe - von Sabotage bis Desinformation - besser abzuwehren.

Deshalb wähle ich am 23. Februar Grün.
teilen.gruene.de/s/MqxDg4VV
#TeamHabeck 🌻

Trump’s siege of science: how the first 30 days unfolded and what’s next The breakneck pace and devastating impact of the administration’s policy changes has shocked researchers.

It matters that scientists speak out against what is being done to US science.

Staying silent is neither "objective" nor "staying out of politics".

Silence now *is* political - it supports the status quo, says "nothing to worry about".

We need to sound the alarm.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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Außer dem Wahl-o-maten gibt es den Kandidierendencheck von @abgeordnetenwatch.de
Da erfährt man was über die Bewerber im eigenen Wahlkreis
Macht eure ❌❌ wo ihr wollt, aber macht sie!
www.kandidierendencheck.de/bundestag?mt...

Dear Fellow College Presidents: We Need to Do More Than Wait This One Out Why civil society needs university leaders to speak up.

From Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University: slate.com/life/2025/02...

Wo ist das?

Nette Abwechslung im sonst eher bedrückenden Feed….

Banned words include "female" and "women," but not "male" or "men."

This is effectively a ban on sociology. Banned words include "inequality" (and "inequalities" just in case), "socioeconomic," "status," "gender," "race and ethnicity," "institutional," "systemic," "biases," "polarization," and even "sense of belonging." Is there any subfield left?!

Good morning #hoosiersky #medsky #publichealthsky! Now coming right to your ears every Friday. Relevant to all Hoosiers and anyone wanting an inside look at how the fight for patient-centered care, public health, and health equity happens in a state like ours.