Deon T. Benton

Senate takes key vote toward ending government shutdown The deal that split Democrats doesn’t extend expiring ACA subsidies. If a bill passes the Senate, it needs the House to approve and President Donald Trump on board.

So all the suffering was for nothing. Way to go dems.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A Mamdani-style campaign sign: "Leopards for Democratic Senators' Faces."

They caved. With no concessions won. Quickly and quietly. On a Sunday. With a plan as to which less vulnerable senators would take the vote — less vulnerable meaning not up for reelection next year for many of them.

Depressing. How do they expect to keep their base engaged?

They're banking on folks forgetting by the time they're up for reelection. Cynical and cruel.

Been reading "What is Innateness?" by Paul Griffiths (2002) philpapers.org/rec/EGRWII in which he offers this very sound advice:

You misspelled Snickers and Haribo gummy bears

"Vanderbilt is failing in its moral responsibility to push back against rising authoritarianism and political coercion."

My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy.

www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...

Trump’s orders unnerved many in the industry and appear to have discouraged some large firms from taking on cases they would otherwise have backed, lawyers say. That has dried up a formerly reliable supply of help from large law offices for people and institutions challenging government policies. The American Bar Association, which joined or filed four lawsuits against the Trump administration, “has experienced difficulty finding previously willing law firms to represent it,” its attorneys wrote in court papers. In one case, the organization said, it was unable to join a lawsuit challenging the administration because it could not get attorneys in time.

We have reached the point where the *American Bar Association* cannot find attorneys willing to represent them in litigation against the Trump administration.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Maybe I ought to just try it out then! Hope all is well!

not sure this is slightly less bad though. But we'll just have to agree to disagree

eh. depends on what is meant by "supporting". Providing a lab sans conceptual contribution to a project should not warrant authorship (yet it happens)

all fair arguments. I'm worried about implications for overworked t&p committees

And what about being second author on a 3 author nature paper, where the 3rd is a senior author whose lab the work was conducted in but otherwise did next to nothing and the first two authors are junior faculty working towards TT who contributed more or less equally?

what about collaborations that don't come out until during the TT process? Or team science work?

Seems problematic, particularly for junior faculty.

All the more reason for universities to stand strong - the public recognizes this is a rotten deal

My message to Vanderbilt and all univs - "it is essential to reject the entire idea of trading away institutional, faculty and student freedoms for government benefits"

bsky.app/profile/lkfa...

My brilliant colleague at it again!

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain. Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social

Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Cover of the report - it's in a blue/purple color scheme and shows an abstract illustration of a molecule and the title of the report "Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science Consensus Study Report"

Out now - National Academies consensus report on Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science 🧪

It was a privilege to serve as one of the 15 committee members from a wide range of scientific disciplines who put this report together. Quick 🧵1/

www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/und...

Looks interesting. Can't wait to dig in.

The Democratic Party leadership is so woefully unprepared for the current moment that it appears they are deaf and blind to what is happening around them.

YouTube video by Evolutionary Psychology (The Podcast) Plants, Infants, and the Evolution of Social Learning with Annie Wertz

This week, @anniewertz.bsky.social talks about her ground-breaking work exploring what infants know, and come prepared to learn, about 🌱plants🌿! (Annie gets credit for all plant-based puns in this episode).

youtu.be/bMbDieccEtc

www.podbean.com/eas/pb-67k8k...

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

precisely. I couldn't be more disappointed in Hakeem

It scares me that we have citizens that all you have to do is give them a technical term like posse comitatus, and they’ll go along with anything, no questions asked. A country of dipshits.

YouTube video by Michael Levin's Academic Content "A neural network model for the evolution of reconstructive social learning" by Jacob Chisausky

despite being unrelated to my own work, i stumbled on this absolutely fantastic and fascinating talk looking at how different types of learning (e.g., social learning and individuals learning) might evolve*

*if i were a nativist, this is absolutely the route I'd go

youtu.be/phF3qiX8hkY?...

The cost of remembering: engram competition as a flexible mechanism of forgetting The retention and use of long-term memories is crucial for adaptive behavior. While stable memories help organisms anticipate outcomes, they may become maladaptive if not updated to reflect new condit...

The cost of remembering: engram competition as a flexible mechanism of forgetting.

Our new perspective piece in @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social, lead by Ryan Lab alumni, Livia Autore. Also with Michael Drew from @utaustin.bsky.social

Trends in Neurosciences www.cell.com/trends/neuro...

my yearly reminder that I just need to start using zotero

would be nice if Google Scholar's handy reference generator thing included DOIs

k have a nice day

anyone else’s mind always three or four sentences ahead such that you find yourself working on the current sentence but also writing fragments of those later ones so you don’t lose the thought? just me? ok.

excited to be chatting with a fellow CMU'er