Mariel Vazquez

Local news in San Francisco (NBC) and the local newspaper also reported it yesterday

Stand Up for Science Rally Sees Mix of Science, Politics and Anxiety (Gift Article) Thousands of protesters gathered in Washington for Stand Up for Science, a rally in response to President Trump’s federal-funding and job cuts.

Two articles in the NYT
e.g. Science, Politics and Anxiety Mix at Rally Under Lincoln Memorial www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/s...

Today is International Women's Day. If you are an American citizen, and especially if you are a scientist, let's take it as a call to action.

Yesterday I attended the Stand for Science rally and it was so inspiring. I dropping a few of pictures for you.

Have you been asked, as a federal worker, to do something you don't want to do? But they won't put it in writing?

DON'T DO IT.

If they're going to punish you? MAKE THEM PUT IT IN WRITING. ALL OF IT.

Document, document, document.

Act confused. Be confused! Go slow. Require clarity. Lots. Document

Not functioning normally... Teaching and exhausted from all the external chaos

What did you manage to achieve? Honest question...

If you're an NSF PI like me, you might be wondering: Will my grant be suspended or terminated next week?

A few key things to know: First off, remember that NSF is **congressionally mandated** to evaluate broader impacts. And laws like CHIPS and Science supersede EOs.

But also... 🧵 thread

(including social security numbers and bank accounts used to pay federal taxes of millions of US citizens); they gained access by threatening government employees with violence...

The number of illegal actions in this takeover is enough to keep the courts busy for quite some time.

People without any security clearance, who are not government employees, have accessed classified documents of the US government treasury, saved sensitive and classified information on unauthorized external devices, endangering the personal data ...

Of course Fox and right wing media are not reporting on this. It's important that voters know about it and think for themselves if they are ok with this. They need to put pressure on republican senators and congressmen to stop it.

The richest man in the world, who came here as an immigrant from South Africa, has access to your social security numbers and to all your financial information. He also has the power to stop payments such as social security.

This weekend Elon Musk took over the computers that control the Treasury of the United States states.

Those of you who live in Republican areas, have Republican friends or family, please be brave and convey this information to them:

Via
With Tampons and Code, Silicon Valley Workers Quietly Protest Tech’s Rightward Shift
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/t...

Meta also removed ways for workers to ask Mr. Zuckerberg about his actions. Ahead of a company Q&A session scheduled for Thursday, the company said it would “skip questions that we expect might be unproductive if they leak,”

The employees also received notes from the human resources department, which offered coaching on workplace issues and warned that further violations could result in termination.

The age of Big Brother is here

"...some employees who criticized the company or questioned Mr. Zuckerberg’s changes in a way that broke Meta’s “Community Engagement Expectations” policy had their posts removed, two people said.

substack.com/@jaygermany/...

Brilliant

On DEI from

open.substack.com/pub/meidasto...

Trump Pauses Disbursements to Program Supplying H.I.V. Treatment Worldwide Pepfar, which is estimated to have delivered lifesaving treatment to as many as 25 million people in 54 countries, faces a funding delay of as long as 180 days.

Trump Pauses Disbursements to Program Supplying H.I.V. Treatment Worldwide

@apoorvanyt.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/u...

More from inside NIH:

Per a source with knowledge, for all internal research (of which there is like $10 billion worth or so), ALL purchasing shut down as of yesterday.

That means gloves, reagents, anything involved with lab work, which means a lot of that work will stop.

Fox coming at the camera in a field of tall grass

We're Making Fox Great Again

The only Fox News you should be listening to.

"If they pounced to the north-east, they killed on 73% of their attacks; if they jumped in the opposite direction,,,, 60%. In all other directions, only 18% of their pounces were successful".

Nat Geo

... Many of those materials were geared toward schools to set and maintain diversity standards. The Department also said it had put its employees tasked with diversity and equity initiatives on paid administrative leave."

From NYT

Following the broader move to eliminate D.E.I. from the federal government, the Education Department said in a statement that it had removed or archived “hundreds of guidance documents, reports, and training materials that include mentions of D.E.I.” from its public resources. ...

🚨 The indefinite pause on NIH study sections & CDC public communication updates is devastating for science, public health, and our future. These decisions will have long-term consequences for research, disease prevention, and lives if they are prolonged.
A 🧵

Egg prices are soaring again. Here’s why and what to expect Bird flu has killed millions of hens in recent weeks, shrinking the supply of eggs and hiking up prices at grocery stores.

The price of eggs in the US is spiking, mostly due to #H5N1 bird flu. Solving the problem requires urgent, important communications from the CDC & FDA* and rapid development of research by the NIH**

* Currently paused by Executive Order
** Grant reviews now all canceled
www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...

In 2017, I wrote about how the center of gravity for math and science research moved from Germany to the United States under the Nazis and how public funding of science research allowed the US to remain the center of many fields after the war. That is under threat now.
undark.org/2017/02/01/m...

Why should the public care about the freeze on the NIH? Aside from the need for scientific pursuits to make our society better…
-For every dollar we invest in NIH research, there is a $2.5 return.
-Research dollars help fund universities that employ non-academics. (1/)

vs

"Increasing Diversity Needed to Reduce
Significant Talent Gap"

See image 3/3

Trump Admin Orders Federal D.E.I. Efforts to Shut Down by Wednesday Night (Gift Article) Staff members overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts were to be placed on paid administrative leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

...which have drawn the ire of conservatives who say diversity initiatives amount to reverse discrimination & racial preferences. Mr. Trump’s order required the elimination of programs with goals of “diversity,” “equity” and “equitable decision-making,” among other terms." 2/3
tinyurl.com/39zxymsd