Karen Wickre

How Congress can restore the independence of US science Members must go beyond reinstating US government research spending and re-establish decentralized governance at the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.

The most impt change at #NIH and to US science this year is bigger than grant cancellations— it’s how the agency is governed.

For 75 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control. That’s changed this year. New piece from me and @nataliebaviles.bsky.social in @nature.com
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The Week Ahead March 8, 2026

The government just told a federal court:
“Courts cannot tell the President what to say.”

That’s the theory behind Trump’s latest clash with the judiciary—and it could end up before the Supreme Court. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

DHS detains US citizen from Evanston at O'Hare, releases her in Wisconsin after nearly 2 days The woman's family said federal agents told them that she was not in custody despite her phone location previously showing her at the Broadview facility.

“At some point, the family said, they lost Naqvi's location that was being shared from her phone. Relatives said federal agents continued to tell them that Naqvi was not in custody, despite her location previously showing her at the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.”

Florida censors ‘racism’ references out of college textbook | Column A gutting of a collegiate sociology textbook that discusses racism and gender inequality.

"When the erasure enthusiasts were done, they had deleted more than 400 pages from a textbook that originally had 667, a slew of examples about how women have experienced gender discrimination and almost all references to racism."

www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2...

Homeland Security @DHSgov Democrats must end this DHS shutdown NOW.

it is not normal for official government social media channels to behave like arms of the Republican Party

Heroes. Quite the effort and dedication on this one. Unfortunately, not an easily repeatable process for most researchers looking for access, but can hopefully inform lawmakers.

it feels like my country is an assembly line for producing crimes against humanity which no one will ever punish, or even bother to pretend caring about, and it's making me crazy

The bro podcasters like ROGAN have a huge part in all of this misery, never forget that no matter what they say now. Most of these grifters have no soul or identity, they go where the money is. And right-wingers are the easiest target.

Trump's decision to bomb Iran is now the greatest windfall to the Russian war effort on record. If it continues, it might save the Russian war economy.

Kind of weird when you can watch the global market collectively go "oh shit he is that crazy".

I know. #oilpainting #art #sketchbook

the president has no idea what he has set in motion. none.

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

In 2020 a pandemic killed 1.2 million Americans and MAGAs tore their hair out over minor inconveniences intended to keep the toll <5 million.

Now Trump is spending $900M/day to fight a war no one wants that'll kill the economy and not only is it silence from the pandemic whiners but they're STOKED.

It's becoming increasingly obvious why no US president prior to Trump II ever gave Netanyahu the big war with Iran he's been demanding since 2002.

Hal Holbrook as "Deepthroat" in All the President's Men (1976)

"The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand."

Probably a good time for Democrats to point out Trump has never once pumped his own gas in his whole life. He has almost no idea how much gas costs or how it impacts normal people's budgets.

There's something deeply obscene and broken about the fact that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are bombing elementary schools in an illegal war of aggression, and there's still a sense among the opposition that it has to be explained in terms of gas prices in order to get American voters to care.

I think this war could destroy his presidency--I've never felt this about any other issue. He and his gang of nihilist greedhead idiots have finally gotten themselves into something they can't get out of. But the cost will, on every level, be staggering.

Markwayne Mullin’s views on the value of life stop at the birth canal.

“In Oklahoma, we’re not going to be killing babies.”

Oklahoma ranks near the bottom in maternal care, infant mortality, healthcare, and education. For Markwayne, once the baby is born, they’re on their own.

Chris Murphy: "I think it's likely the United States that carried out this attack on this school. I think it's unforgivable under any circumstances, but the fact this was one of our first targeting decisions speaks to the incompetence of our leadership at the Dept of Defense."

I'm no fancy political consultant, but, hey, if you're in Dem comms, you should notice that Fox News panicked over Trump wearing a cheap Trump merch baseball cap to receive the bodies of soldiers he got killed for no reason he can articulate, and you should absolutely lean into that.

I would argue they knew exactly what they were doing, which was deliberately sabotaging needed public works programs by offering snake oil they never had any intention of delivering.

That would have been one hell of a grift. There is something distasteful about TP making money of off their assassinated founder.

Glad this got vetoed.

#DemVoice1 #ProudBlue #Pinks

Really enjoying seeing all of the ways people are building on top of the financial disclosures project. projects.propublica.org/trump-team-f...

So according to the WSJ a US Senator conspired with another country to manipulate the US into starting a war, am I getting this right

Pete Hegseth's murderous buffoonery, coming amid a lifetime in which he's betrayed everyone close to him and failed up from one disaster to the next, is a perfect example of how the appeal of Trumpism is that it creates a permission structure for people to openly be their worst selves

People with the least political knowledge tend to be the most overconfident in their grasp of facts People often misjudge their understanding of verifiable political facts. A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied provides evidence that individuals with the least actu...

"This tendency to be overconfident appears most common among individuals who actually know the least about politics and those who lean conservative."

www.psypost.org/people-with-...

Don't shun people just because they have different beliefs about blotting out the sun to usher in a new age of eternal darkness. We have to find an answer in the middle.

When it comes to Iran, “all the old patriotic and moral justifications for our forever wars no longer applied,” Jay Caspian Kang writes. “We just do it because we want to ‘win,’ even if we can’t really tell you what we’re winning.” newyorkermag.visitlink.me/9-h3oS

WATCH LIVE: Homegoing service celebrates civil rights leader Jesse Jackson in Chicago Chicago native Jennifer Hudson is among the singers performing at a memorial for the civil rights leader who died last month. Former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will attend.

Chicago native Jennifer Hudson is among the singers performing at a memorial for the civil rights leader who died last month. Former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will attend.