Joanne Barker

UC, CSU released troves of personal employee information to the feds. Now the backlash Cal State and UC have face campus protest and intense rebuke by faculty, students and staff for sharing employee personal information with the Trump administration as part of investigations into alle...

F T S

California vows to ‘instantly’ cut funding to universities that cave to Trump ‘compact’ Governor Gavin Newsom urges schools not to sign ‘radical agreement’ to cuts to departments, students and speech Any California universities that sign the Trump administration’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” will “instantly” lose their state funding, California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. The Trump administration on Wednesday offered nine prominent universities, including the University of Southern California, the chance to sign a “compact” that asks the universities to close academic departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas”, limit the proportion of international undergraduate students to 15% , accept the administration’s definition of gender and ban the consideration of race or sex in hiring and admissions, in exchange for “substantial and meaningful federal grants”. Continue reading...

California vows to ‘instantly’ cut funding to universities that cave to Trump ‘compact’

So apparently USC sold human bodies to the US military for them to give to the IDF for training.

True story.

t.co/lZ5jmQoZ1t

Cal State universities now target of antisemitism probe by Trump administration The Trump administration has launched a systemwide investigation into allegations of antisemitism at California State University and has started issuing subpoenas for employees' contact information.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

UC Berkeley turns over personal information of more than 150 students and staff to federal government UC Berkeley has provided the personal information of roughly 160 students, staff and faculty to the federal government in a directive from the UC Office of the President.

Doom.

"We Were Truly Terrified": Spanish Orcas Tear Rudders From Multiple Sailboats in Coordinated 23-Foot Attacks In recent weeks, the calm waters off the Spanish coast have been the site of unexpected turmoil as orcas have been engaging in a series of striking

I love them orcas.

Columbia punished our kids for protesting against the genocide in Gaza. We condemn the university’s cowardice We are the parents of students who faced disciplinary actions for pro-Palestine activism. The struggle for liberation will not end with suspensions and expulsions

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

In the heart of the Miccosukee, the Native American tribe that shut down Alligator Alcatraz The community found refuge from white persecution deep in the Everglades swamps centuries ago. Together with environmental groups, they succeeded in forcing the closure of the immigration detention ce...

english.elpais.com/usa/2025-08-...

Indigenomicon

Indigenomicon is set to release in November but you can now read the introduction online at Duke University Press: www.dukeupress.edu/indigenomicon

What they’re saying: California Jewish Leaders support the University of California system Today, California Jewish leaders expressed support for UCLA and the UC system, following reports that the federal government is seeking a $1.172 billion settlement from UCLA after freezing $584 millio...

Jewish elected and community leaders stood in solidarity with UCLA and the entire UC system, pushing back against the federal government’s unprecedented $1 billion demand and its freeze of $584 million in groundbreaking research funding on UC campuses. www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/w...

New work.
Comfort (2025).

artofjoannebarker.squarespace.com

I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump | Rashid Khalidi The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

South Gaza: Tents, Food & Water **With Famine on the rise, we will significantly lower tent purchases and focus on food (rice and bread) and water over the next couple of weeks**

Don't give your money to NGOs, politicians, or online pundits. Please donate instead directly to Gaza. Below is a link to the Sameer Project's South Gaza Campaign, which urgently needs support:

chuffed.org/project/1132...

Weird: NYT says "Mr. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case," but Vox says otherwise.

Boycott CBS.

Watch: Trouble in the Headwaters | The Narwhal Trouble in the Headwaters, a documentary by Daniel J. Pierce, links destructive flooding in Grand Forks, B.C., to extensive clear-cut logging in the watershed

Trouble in the Headwaters, a film by @danieljpierce.bsky.social, transports viewers to expansive clearcuts in the Kettle River watershed — and reveals their hidden impacts downstream. Our latest newsletter:

thenarwhal.ca/newsletter-t...

The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world | Moustafa Bayoumi The rules of the institutions that define our lives bend like reeds when it comes to Israel – so much that the whole global order is on the verge of collapse

"No one knows what will come to replace the international system that is currently collapsing around us, but any political system that prioritizes punishing those who protest against genocide rather than stopping the killing has clearly exhausted itself."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

US Senate budget bill slashes money to fill oil reserve The budget bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday slashes the amount of money available to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve even though President Donald Trump vowed on his first day in his second term to fill it "right to the top".

US Senate budget bill slashes money to fill oil reserve reut.rs/4ly5f7h

New work.
Wild Flowers (2025).

UN expert urges criminalizing fossil fuel disinformation, banning lobbying Rapporteur calls for defossilization of economies and urgent reparations to avert ‘catastrophic’ rights and climate harms

UN expert urges criminalizing fossil fuel disinformation, banning lobbying
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

New work.
Wild Flowers (2925).

The Supreme Court Has Dealt Another Devastating Blow to Women The court's ruling in Medina v. Planned Parenthood twists logic, common sense, and the law to further the right-wing assault on bodily autonomy.

Today's Planned Parenthood decision was a devasting blow to women, and it wasn't even about abortion. It was a devasting blow to civil rights, and it wasn't even about Civil Rights.
It's one of the worst decisions from this SCOTUS, worse than you probably think.
www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The alarming rise of US officers hiding behind masks: ‘A police state’ Mike German, an ex-FBI agent, said immigration agents hiding their identities ‘highlights the illegitimacy of actions’

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

YouTube video by John Downer Productions The Most Emotional Clip We've Ever Filmed - Penguins Mourning

youtube.com/watch?v=ntIB...

Mahmoud Khalil vows to continue to ‘speak up for Palestine’ after release Former Columbia University student was released from a detention centre after being held for more than three months.

Former Columbia University student was released from a detention centre after being held for more than three months.

Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after more than 100 days in Ice detention Columbia graduate and legal US resident was targeted by White House for speaking out against the Israeli war in Gaza Mahmoud Khalil – the Palestinian rights activist, Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident of the US who had been held by federal immigration authorities for more than three months – has been reunited with his wife and infant son. Khalil, the most high-profile student to be targeted by the Trump administration for speaking out against Israel’s war on Gaza, arrived in New Jersey on Saturday at about 1pm – two hours later than expected after his flight was first rerouted to Philadelphia. Continue reading...

Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after more than 100 days in Ice detention

Dismissed by DEI: Trump’s Purge Made Black Women With Stable Federal Jobs an “Easy Target” The president’s attack on diversity efforts has derailed the government careers of highly educated civil servants — even though the jobs some lost were not directly involved with any DEI programs.

“We have observed approximately 90% of the workers targeted for terminations due to a perceived association with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are women or nonbinary,” said an attorney representing federal staffers.

By @davidmcswane.bsky.social

Why they’ve been distracting us…

Tracing the Roots of the Christian Nationalist Movement That’s Influencing Modern Politics The Christian right has become an increasingly powerful force in American politics at every level, from school boards to the presidency. Its roots trace back decades.

The Christian right has become an increasingly powerful force in American politics at every level, from school boards to the presidency. Its roots trace back decades.

By @phoebepetrovic.bsky.social‬
(Published Oct. 2024)

Judge orders Trump admin. to restore hundreds of terminated NIH grants "I've never seen government racial discrimination like this," the judge said.

"I've sat on this bench now for 40 years. I've never seen government racial discrimination like this."

That's what a Reagan-appointed judge said about Trump cancelling hundreds of NIH grants.

We can't stop fighting Trump's assault on science, the NIH, and our values.