Tom Morrell

We are being warned in real time about the purpose of these camps even as Trump is expanding them.
bsky.app/profile/davi...

I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.

Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs. The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

A photo of the man murdered by ICE today, just before the shooting. He’s standing and holding a phone in his right hand and holding his empty left hand to the sky and looking behind him at a woman running away while an ICE agent closes in on him from the front. On the ground behind the man is a woman that the victim will soon try to help, leading several ICE agents to attack him and pin him to the ground, before shooting him several times.

We’re supposed to believe this is a domestic terrorist attacking ICE with a gun

Policy Notice: Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2 The information set out in this notice takes precedence over existing policies and procedures in PAPPG 24-1. It applies for all financial assistance awarded on or after Jan. 22, 2026.

Section 3 of www.nsf.gov/policies/doc.... Not sure how it will actually be implemented though.

That is an ICE agent pepper spraying a restrained victim in the face at close quarters; it's an unquestionable and indefensibly abusive use of excessive force that should (but won't) be criminally prosecuted as assault

take a second to really wrap your head around this.

You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof. What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We're all finding out.

A few months ago, ICE hired me

I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable

And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"

My latest for Slate

Its not that the media is not covering what is happening, but it does feel like the military occupation of an American city should be treated as a national crisis.

Characteristically excellent from Robin. Some of these (like 2&5) are things FLOSS/open infra folks have been saying for a while; might be worthwhile considering reasons for slow progress.
Others (esp 4) are new to me & likely more controversial

The fact that nothing is being done about this — and that people keep blithely hanging out on that site as though its owner and a key part of its official architecture aren’t actively enabling disgusting criminal abuse at scale — is making me lose my mind

Zohran just went out and fixed the Williamsburg Bridge bike entrance. Just did it. No faffing, no nonsense. Bam. Fixed.

Understanding Mamdani's Vision His inauguration speech challenges the left to govern

New from @pamherd.bsky.social & I: Key takeaways from Mamdani's inauguration speech.
"Mamdani will force a conversation among the left about how it should govern." 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/understand...

NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts

This is the most anti-intellectual, anti-science administration the US has ever seen; if it were a novel, it would be satire. Or horror.

Tomorrow, Trump is closing NASA’s largest research library, "a facility that houses tens of thousands of books, documents...

1/2

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...

4/ We are more sick from EVERYTHING.

These charts are stunning. No freakin' wonder healthcare is strained, workplace and school absences are up, etc.

Holy hell, this is all AIRBORNE. #MaskUp FFS. @doctorsofbc.bsky.social - are you trying to kill us?!

#bcpoli #bced @bcndp.bsky.social

X-ray crystallography adventures children’s book sitting in front of goniometer of X-ray diffractometer

Did you remember to get your X-ray diffractometer a present this year? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Our‘s loves reading this new book with beautiful illustrations by undergrad Justine Wong.

Only $15 at meitneriumpress.com

#crystallography

We've spent a ton of time talking about teens getting injured on e-bikes (or illegal e-motos).

We've heard that crash rates are skyrocketing. Marin County Dept of Health even set up a dashboard to see how many e-bike/e-moto crashes are happening.

But how many kids are getting hurt *in cars*?
🧵

Something I often talk about is the need for media outlets to put conversations about e-bike safety and regulations in the context of the larger danger on our streets: cars.

The Boston Globe published two letters to the editors that do this well. I'll thread them below.

New on the blog! Kristin Briney talks to us about The Data Management Workbook 📖

Read the full interview ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/3p6mk445

#datamanagement #dataanalysis #statistics #researchdata

A notebook-style cover that says "X-ray Crystallography Adventures! Cat & Elephant's Sugar Crystal Mystery" with an illustration of cat and elephant

Looking for a science-based holiday gift for kids? Check out "X-ray Crystallography Adventures! Cat & Elephant's Sugar Crystal Mystery" Filled with 21 pages of colorful hand-drawn illustrations, this book is perfect for kids 4-12 or anyone who loves crystals. Available at meitneriumpress.com

Say it with me 3 times...

E-MOTOS ARE NOT BIKES
E-MOTOS ARE NOT BIKES
E-MOTOS ARE NOT BIKES

velo.outsideonline.com/ebike/ebike-...

A picture is worth a 1000 words. The birth dose of hepatitis B vaccines in the USA eliminated perinatally acquired hepatitis B infection from over 20,000 cases a year before the vaccine was introduced to <20 cases a year. The gaslighting by the current members ACIP is obscene, unethical and cruel.

Abject failure. wapo.st/49WM4BI

I'm sorry, I just have to pop off again on that NYT e-bike piece.

The fatality rate for e-bike injuries is 11%?? You're saying that one out of every 9 times someone hurts themselves on an e-bike, they die?

That is just so mind-blowingly incorrect, I don't know where to start.

This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥

COVID-19 as the Underlying Cause of Death Among Individuals Aged 0 to 19 Years in the US This cross-sectional study evaluates whether COVID-19 is among the top 10 causes of death in children and young people aged 0 to 19 years in the US.

🔔 Reminder: Covid-19 was a leading case of death among US children and young people during the pandemic with 821 deaths in the year from August 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022 @jamanetworkopen.com jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Rad Power Bikes says it may close down by January Rad Power Bikes, one of the most well-known electric bicycle companies in North America, appears to be headed for collapse...

Rad Power Bikes in trouble. Stock up on those bespoke 22” tires asap electrek.co/2025/11/10/r...

Wow this is bad.

🚨🔥🔋🚲👇⚠️

RadWagon 4, RadCity HS 4, RadRover High Step 5, RadCity Step Thru 3, RadRover Step Thru 1, RadRunner 2, RadRunner 1, RadRunner Plus, and RadExpand 5.

The battery model number (HL-RP-S1304 or RP-1304) is printed on a label on the back or rear of the battery.

Children’s book in front of plant. Book looks like a composition notebook with red title „X-ray crystallography adventures!“ subtitle: cat & elephant‘s sugar crystal mystery. Two cartoons of a cat in a lab coat and an elephant in baking gear are on bottom right.

Thrilled to announce publication of the crystallography children’s book illustrated by undergraduate Justine Wong!

You can buy it here for $15: meitneriumpress.com

50% of profits will support undergrad education at the Cal Poly Pomona Crystallography Co-op.

#chemsky #chemchat