Ben Brown-Steiner

#NIH is hanging by a thread. The #CDC has been decimated. #RFK Jr. and Russell #Vought are psychopaths--I don't say this frivolously--they are cold, calculating, inflicting violence on millions through public policy. It is where we are right now. These men are not normal. 1/

archive.ph/vQz1d

AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Cannot possibly interpret this other than a malicious signal of intent -- disturbing, upsetting, unfortunately unsurprising:

Sections suddenly missing from Congressional Constitution website (Wayback Machine comparison):

web.archive.org/web/diff/202...

Right then...

A quick review of the DOE's new 'critical review' of climate science. Whether it's worth a formal community response - I'm still not sure, but here's my first thoughts

/thread/

To be led by a thief
is to offer up
your most precious treasures
to be stolen.
To be led by a liar
is to ask
to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant
is to sell yourself
and those you love
into slavery.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents
(2/2)

Pair that with this Octavia E. Butler quote:

“Choose your leaders
with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward
is to be controlled
by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool
is to be led
by the opportunists
who control the fool.
(1/2)

"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?" "Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

The details here are particularly harrowing, especially the stories of other people who were not so lucky. I don't understand why anyone would take the risk of visiting the U.S. under these circumstances.

The Federal Budget Process 101 | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) The complicated annual budget cycle can be difficult for outsiders to follow. The below summary helps to explain the process.

Always good to review how the federal government does (or does not) get budgets passed (Note: It is messy/dysfunctional and has been getting messier and more dysfunctional over time):

www.aaas.org/news/federal...

"Authoritarian regimes treat scientific evidence not as a tool calibrated by research, collaboration, and the free exchange of ideas, but as an obstacle to overcome."

"That independence is why authoritarian regimes invariably target science and scientists. Authoritarianism acts as a relentless rip tide, pulling science beneath the surface of political control." (3/4)

"Science can serve as an independent voice to help society assess complex challenges, guiding governments away from threats and toward informed actions that keep people safe and prosperous. It offers a vital way to evaluate policies and hold decisonmakers accountable for the results." (2/4)

Science Caught in a Rip Tide: How Authoritarianism Sweeps Away Evidence-Based Policy Independence is why authoritarian regimes invariably target science and scientists. Authoritarianism acts as a relentless rip tide, pulling science beneath the surface of political control.

Just in case the reason for the current federal defunding of science in the USA isn't obvious:

(From blog.ucs.org/melissa-finu... ):

"Healthy democracies rely on scientific evidence to inform environmental policies, support public health, and promote technological advancement." (1/4)

"...Science can serve as an independent voice to help society assess complex challenges, guiding governments away from threats and toward informed actions that keep people safe and prosperous. It offers a vital way to evaluate policies and hold decisonmakers accountable for the results..." (2/4)

YouTube video by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Zeldin Announces New Online Resources on Contrails and Geoengineering

Why does this feel so angry? I honestly don't know what's going on.

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

Subcommittee Markup of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

🧪 BREAKING (good news): Senate subcommittee says NO! to Trump's proposed slashes to NASA & NSF funding.

Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24.

See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it.

🧵 1/3

It's an outrageous move on their part. Shame shame shame.

Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program:

As someone who has greatly benefited from the NSF MRI program, I'm sad to see that the 2025 submission window was canceled. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...