Patrick Schoettmer

If it were like Brown maybe. It's still got like a $15 billion endowment, it still has top flight faculty, and it's still in New York City. It's reputation will take a bit of a ding, but they'll be fine.

In case you want to check it out: www.uscis.gov/citizenship-...

I'm looking for an example exercise for the class I am teaching this summer to frame our conversation about voter knowledge. I found a practice naturalization exam from 2008 and decided to check it out.

Got stuck on question 8. Is A the correct answer now or not? Asking for a current president.

From my undergraduate lecture notes on the Weimar Republic's collapse

Santo subito

Pope Francis Dies at 88: Latest News His groundbreaking pontificate worked to make the Catholic Church more inclusive. Cardinals will now decide whether to continue his approach or restore more doctrinaire leadership.

A sad day. May God have mercy on this poor sinner who tried to do good while he was here.

Elon Musk’s Epic Cybertruck Fail Elon Musk’s polygonal pickup is a polarizing sales flop that's missed the billionaire’s volume goal by a staggering 84%. And there’s no sign that things are improving.

The cybertruck is the biggest automotive bomb in decades in more ways than one...

"A terrified young student, snatched off the street by a masked police force taken thousands of miles across the country without anyone knowing. It is as flatly authoritarian as anything we have ever seen in this country," says @chrislhayes.bsky.social on Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk's detention.

U.S. to End Vaccine Funds for Poor Countries (Gift Article) A 281-page spreadsheet obtained by The Times lists the Trump administration’s plans for thousands of foreign aid programs.

Trump administration to cut vaccination funds. "The loss of U.S. support may mean 75 million children do not receive routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children dying as a result," reports @stephanienolen.bsky.social Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/h...

"The political reality is that objective events and facts, like what really happened on January 6, 2021, are contested and denied impeding accountability....January 6th becomes another event in which African Americans perceive that there are different rules for them."

Israel Halts Aid to Gaza and Proposes New Cease-Fire Framework Israel has called for Hamas to accept a temporary extension of the existing cease-fire deal, and to release more hostages.

This has a very, "I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it any further," vibe.

Because it can be hard to distinguish between Cassandra and Chicken Little.

There is a long tradition in the US of accusing presidents you don't like of wanting to be a king. There's no real tradition of the incumbent president agreeing with them.

Urban–rural cleavages are seen as a defining political divide. But does this polarization hold worldwide? My new working paper tests this question using an original dataset of granular, geocoded election returns from 106 countries (polling station-level in 70). (1/8)

Solid thread

I'm type 3 -- maintain my usual cheery disposition but gained 30 lbs from stress eating.

He just doesn't seem capable of taking a smaller win now so that he can keep taking smaller wins in the future. He wants the big win now and tomorrow is tomorrow's problem.

The problem the GOP is facing is that Trump isn't a long run kind of guy. Everything is about immediate payoffs with him -- which is why he was such a terrible businessman.

Taking the short term win gives you a short term boost, but leaves you worse off in the long run.

The problem comes when you recognize that you don't just play this game once. The win-win scenario is everyone gets unconditional aid, and everyone is better off in the long run that way (as long as you ignore moral hazards for a minute in this scenario).

So, either way, in a single moment imposing restrictions looks like a winner.

Imposing conditions on aid to disfavored states to advance policy goals could produce a short-term win for you. If you impose them and the other party doesn't, it's all gravy for you. If you impose them and the other party responds in kind, well, that's just the status quo.

Calif. Republicans weigh in on Trump allies’ calls for fire aid conditions The unusual debate puts California’s Republican lawmakers in a potentially perilous position stuck between suffering constituents and the president-elect’s desires. And it presents another test of con...

Thinking about it this morning as I did the dishes, this debate might be a good example to use in order to teach the Prisoners' Dilemma with repeated iterations. You can see Republican legislators walking through the logic in this article.

National championship bound!

Los Angeles Wildfires Will Make a Serious Housing Shortage Worse With so many people displaced and looking for rentals, the region’s housing options could grow even scarcer and more expensive.

Historically cities have used great fires (Chicago 1871, Seattle 1889) to rethink what they have been doing. Hopefully Los Angeles will do the same and rebuild as inclusively and affordably as possible. Move away from SFHs and towards MFHs.

But it's going to really suck trying to get by in LA.

Occasional reminder that there’s no, “it’s too late, its over” for anthropogenic climate change. Every molecule of CO2 that doesn’t go into the atmosphere makes a difference. Preventing 0.1 degree of warming makes a difference. Every bit of climate resilience we build together makes a difference.

The insanity of being a fire ecologist in the epicenter of a major fire event, bags packed and ready to evacuate, watching active fire from my window, while taking media requests and explaining to the public, for the 100,000th time how climate change is largely responsible for this