Katharine Stewart

@jonlovett.bsky.social on Trump's tariffs: "It is only possible because Republicans refuse to take back the power that they have... The problem is not that we put the worst human being in public life in the most powerful job in the world, it is that he is enabled by Republicans around him."

Oops! Also stirred in some pico de gallo with the beans and corn. 😅

Two small pottery bowls with a light brown interior glaze. Each bowl holds a serving of quinoa salad with bright colors of vegetables.

One small pottery bowl with a light brown interior glaze. Inside the bowl is a serving of quinoa salad with bright colors of vegetables.

The same bowl of quinoa salad, this time topped with cotija cheese and cilantro.

Monday Mini-Cooking Frenzy! Tri-color quinoa cooked with veg broth and spices, then added spinach and sweet pepper, black beans, corn & cilantro. #vegan as-is, top with cotija cheese if desired. Made 9 servings. #vegancooking #vegetariancooking
#mealprep

A close up of a salad with orange sections and chopped red apples sitting on a base of kale and purple cabbage. Sunflower and pumpkin seeds are scattered on top.

Cooking Frenzy, Fussy Salad edition! Cooking Frenzy™️, Fussy Salad version! Kale, red cabbage, oranges, apples (tossed with lemon & orange juice), pepitas, sunflower seeds. Dressing is tahini, EVOO, ACV, Dijon mustard, orange juice, honey, powdered ginger, & tarragon. #cookingfrenzy #vegancooking

Eight rectangular glass dishes lined up in two rows of four on a white counter. Each dish holds a portion of rice and beans.

Cooking Frenzy™️ time! Good Mother Stallard beans from @ranchogordo.bsky.social , cooked with mirepoix, garlic, thyme, and smoked paprika. Basmati rice with spring onion, peas, and lemon. These #beans, y’all. Amazing. #cooking #vegancooking #mealprep #cookingfrenzy

A close up of a plate with flowered borders. Sitting on the plate is a serving of rice and beans in a reddish-brown sauce, all topped with a sprinkling of cheese and cilantro.

I call my weekly meal prep a Cooking Frenzy. This week: Drunken beans. Bayo Chocolate beans from @ranchogordo.bsky.social, w/ onion, garlic, poblano & Fresno chile, cilantro, bay, tequila, beer, & tomato paste. Topped w/ cotija cheese, cilantro, & optional bacon crumbles. Delicious. 🤤 #cookingfrenzy

Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)

February 18, 2024 TO: Dr. Matthew Memoli, Acting Director, NIH CC: John Burklow, Chief of Staff, NIH Julie Berko, Director, OHR, NIH FROM: Nathaniel James Brought, Director, ES, NIH SUBJECT: Resignation Dear Dr. Memoli, On July 3, 2001, I stepped off a bus on Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot Perris Island. Scared out of my mind, I stood on a pair of freshly painted yellow footprints, raised my right hand, and recited the oath of enlistment: I, Nathaniel James Brought, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. For the last 23 years, 7 months, and 15 days, I like to believe I have faithfully carried out the duties of each office to which I've been appointed in my military and civilian service to this nation. That Service has taken me from the Marine Corps to 3 different federal departments, spanned 3 continents, included service in one war zone, and has included: • For the Marine Corps and the National Security Agency, I worked on intelligence operations at the highest classification levels using bleeding edge intelligence tools to ensure America's special operators put boots-to-asses on America's enemies overseas (including commendations crediting my work for the kill or capture of dozens of terrorists), ensuring America's policy makers were able to track the movement of dangerous dual

nuclear technology across international borders, and monitored the flow of terrorist financing across the international banking system. • Utilized information from all-source intelligence to ensure the continued security of America's homeland from international and domestic threats. • Worked with some of the finest lawyers in the world to ensure America's security operations were effective, while upholding the rights of all those who interacted with them. • Ensuring that America's rural communities had access to programs like rural development loans, farm aid, and that America's children wouldn't be hungry as they sat in their classrooms and tried to learn. • Most recently, and frankly most dear to my heart, working with each of you here at the National Institutes of Health to advance the future of science and medicine. Not for Americans. Not for any one group of people. But for ALL of humanity. I am unbelievably proud to be able to say that there are Americans who are alive, and terrorists who are not, because of the work I've done to serve this nation. I am proud to say that my service to this country has allowed me to ensure that my children have never faced the struggles of poverty that I grew up with. That service didn't begin because of some great altruistic impulse or drive. I didn't grow up saying "I want to do the great work that needs to be done to weave the fabric of America and ensure her people are not only safe, but healthy." Frankly, that service began because I was poor, and I was inspired. I grew up as a free lunch kid who lived in project housing. It was my fellow Americans who made sure I wasn't hungry in class and that I had enough food to excel academically the way I did. It was Americans who had more than we did that made sure I had good schools to attend where I could learn things that expanded my mind. As I approached the end of high school, I dreamed of going to college and figuring out how to make a living that would allow me to do more tha…

to go to college. I knew my grades weren't good enough to compete for scholarships with kids who were as smart as me but also had private tutors and didn't have to work after class to be able to drive their brand-new cars to our school each day. So, I gave up. I nearly failed my senior year of high school with an attendance failure, even though I only needed two classes to graduate. I didn't see the point. What was the point of learning calculus? So it would be that much harder when my dream of being a brain surgeon died not because I was incapable, but because I didn't have the means to make it come true? I resigned myself to being one of the working poor. I resigned myself to needing a spinal fusion before I was 50, like my father, because he literally broke his back trying to make his dreams come true. The example of my father didn't inspire me at that time. It reminded me of the futility of trying to escape the rung of the social ladder I had been born onto. No matter how smart or "gifted and talented" I may have been, I saw no path that led me to a place where I could realize my potential. So, instead I accepted that it would be wasted. Ultimately, the reason I find myself here today, rather than in the place I saw as my only end, is because of another young man who committed to serving his country. Shamefully, I do not remember his name, but there was a young corporal from the United States Marine Corps who had been assigned as a recruiter in Reading, Pennsylvania at that time. This man spoke to me about my plans for my future during lunch one day at school. I told him I planned to do what my father had done. Work hard jobs until my body broke down, maybe start a struggling business, and try to do what I could to stay above the poverty line and off welfare. I told him I hoped to be successful enough that my kids never had to watch me use food stamps at the grocery store. It had been hard to watch my mom go through that. How sad is that? I was a smart young 18-…

Over on LinkedIn, the head of the Executive Secretariat of the NIH -- a central part of NIH leadership 🧪🩺-- resigned with a lettter worth reading

www.linkedin.com/posts/nathan...

Last night Timothy Snyder talked with Rachel about the idea of a shadow government to serve as a model and reminder of what is possible from a government of qualified people instead of Fox guests and family members.

It came up twice, actually. Here's 1 of 2.

Very smart to have a Google alert for your name set up. This angers me on your behalf, and especially because it’s so hard (if not impossible) to get it taken down. Ugh.

With both RFK Jr and Gabbard confirmed, two people who rose to prominence spreading conspiracy theories about public health and national intelligence will now run the U.S. government agencies in charge of those areas. For someone studying these conspiracy theories for a decade... this is nauseating.

Trump administration takes away life-saving HIV prevention medications from vulnerable LGBTQ+ people worldwide According to a State Department memo, PrEP can only be dispensed to “pregnant and breastfeeding women” through PEPFAR.

The Trump administration has launched yet another calculated attack on LGBTQ+ lives—this time by withholding access to pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP under the longstanding President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Rubio claims that @USAID lifesaving assistance for health and humanitarian needs will continue. But his team just communicated that the entire agency will be imminently reduced from 14,000 to 294 people. Just 12 in Africa.

Kim Hammer wants to destroy direct democracy Kim Hammer hits direct democracy with a new wave of anti-ballot initiative bills which would make it nearly impossible to collect signatures

Sen. Kim Hammer is trying to destroy your right to propose ballot initiatives.

This morning, he filed a slate of bills that would functionally eliminate your ability to even hope to get something on the ballot.

onarwatch.org/kim-hammer-w...

Senators' contact info is publicly available, fyi.

Doctors sue Trump administration for scrubbing data from government sites Doctors For America filed a lawsuit against multiple federal agencies over the removal of public health information from government websites.

I just joined @drsforamerica.bsky.social, "an organization representing 27,000 physicians & medical students that filed a lawsuit against multiple federal agencies over the removal of public health information & health-related data from gov't websites." So glad to see efforts to fight back. #medsky

The second largest rural Maine health provider, which supports 60,000 patients in the area, is threatening to furlough hundreds of staff because of stalled payments.

I think we are all searching in vain for evidence that Donald Trump or Elon Musk are serving America rather than other interests.

Their anger at USAID sounds like ventriloquism from Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. It makes no sense whatsoever to anyone who actually loves this country and its values.

mind you, this "doge official" IS A FRESHMAN AT NORTHEASTERN

Thanks, Kim! 😊

The NIH Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office website has been taken down.

LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately subjected to violence, discrimination & stigma, affecting their health outcomes.

Ignoring these facts endangers us all.
#MedSky #LGBT #LGBTQ #NIH #research #science

#firstdayofclass for me yesterday — I’m teaching two sections of #grantwriting for grad students. I’m glad to be back in the classroom again after some time in #academicaffairs admin, and teaching #grantsmanship skills is such fun. I love seeing students figure out how to advocate for their ideas.

Interesting! Thanks for sharing. I’ll join that party later this weekend. 🎉

I asked my local library to purchase "Mind the Science" by @jonathanstea.bsky.social -- and they just got back to me to tell me they did! Spreading the word far and wide about #mentalhealth #misinformation.

Doing #facultydevelopment this morning, specifically to support #faculty who are preparing for #tenure or #promotion review. Today’s topic: writing strong candidate statements, which overlaps a lot with what I teach #gradstudents about the rhetorical tasks in #grantwriting. #academicSky #highered

After my mom’s #death, she visited me in a dream and whispered, “Do what’s right for you. Care less about what others think. I wasn’t good at that but you can be better.” I woke up feeling awash in my mother’s love. What lessons have you learned from those you are #grieving? #endoflife #lifelessons

Public awareness of 988 national suicide prevention hotline low, but growing: Poll Awareness of the 988 national suicide prevention hotline is growing since the number was updated, but it is still low, according to a new survey. The Annenberg Public Policy Center/SSRS poll, relea…

988 is the 911 for #mentalhealth. But not enough people know about it. Spread the word! thehill.com/policy/healt...

I like that a lot…what a great way to keep him close. 💞

I’ve been in a similar place in my #grief, too. Some days brushing our teeth is all we can do. When possible, some gentle stretches in the sun are helpful just for grounding ourselves. It doesn’t have to be intense - moving our bodies, with care for our tender hearts, is enough. 💔

Self care checklist Have I eaten regularly? Have I had some water? Have I slept enough? Have I connected with my friend? Have I been thinking kind thoughts about myself? Have I moved my body today?