Hey folks I'm at UVA next Monday - in conversation about writing with Alia Habib (an incredible literary agent). Look for "Public Writing, Public Scholarship with Alia Habib and David Perry."
I'm very excited!
ihgc.as.virginia.edu/other-events...
Cover of the March 12 issue of Nature
Pardon the flex, but I just learned that my comment article with @markhisted.org made the COVER of Nature!!
Cover of report "Mission Aborted: how NASA illegally implemented the president's budget request without congressional approval. Minority staff report, prepared by members of the committee on science, space, and technology, us house of representatives, April 2026
This report came out today by minority staff of the House science committee on how three NASA missions were aborted due to NASA illegally following the FY26 president's budget request instead of congressionally approved budget. Very important reading. 🔭🧪 democrats-science.house.gov/staff-report...
Charlottesville: we are rallying TOMORROW at 4:00pm at CHS to ask the School Board to revote on SROs. Last year they agreed to put police back in schools, returning to a policy that peer-reviewed research overwhelmingly suggests does more harm than good to our children and community.
Tweet explaining that refusing the pope means you are no longer Catholic
A whole lot of recent US converts are about to learn a hard lesson: play Catholic games, win Catholic prizes.
actual nytimes headline FEMA Official Says He Teleported to Waffle House. Experts Are Dubious.
you, a naive fool: i do believe there are some things the nytimes won’t both sides
the nytimes:
I hope you all have as much fun reading about the public torture of Vannevar Bush’s legacy at CPAC as I did being interviewed by @aniloza.bsky.social on the subject.
I want to thank our community for showing up tonight to the Charlottesville City School Board meeting. This incredible coalition brought broad domain expertise and lived experience to ask the Board to rethink a rushed decision to put armed police officers back in city schools. I’m blown away, truly.
Restoring legislative supremacy is not just a nerdy legal thing. Saving US science and innovation depends on it.
The core change killing NIH, NSF, and cancer research and cures this year is the president taking control of these agencies. @nataliebaviles.bsky.social and I wrote abt this: 1/
And of course, please attend Tuesday’s School Board meeting if you can!
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 6 PM in the Division Annex Exceptional Education Conference Room, Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Road, Charlottesville, VA.
Police in Charlottesville Schools? Rethink. Revote. Sign-making party! 4:30-6:30PM Sunday, 3/29 At Legal Aid Justice Center 1000 Preston Ave. Suite A
Charlottesville: join our community coalition tomorrow as we make signs for Tuesday’s school board meeting. We are asking the board to reconsider their decision to bring armed police back to Charlottesville City Schools, and we need you to help make our voices heard!
Expect chaos, but the level will vary based on their dispositions. These two grew up together so they get along, but when we introduce them to a new dog the male is predictably great while the female has dominance issues. It helps to match the other dog’s disposition to avoid problems!
Saturday morning with the couch kaiju
Only 23% of government workers believe they “can report a suspected violation of a law, rule, or regulation without experiencing retaliation.”
That's way down form the share the prior year (72%) who said they could report suspected illegal activity without fear
www.thebulwark.com/p/two-more-g...
I cannot stress enough that the Trump Admin is only surprised by how this war has gone because they fired the intelligence folks who knew *exactly* how Iran planned to respond.
RETHINK REVOTE. POLICE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE SCHOOLS The Charlottesville School Board voted to return armed police to our schools without considering alternatives, presenting data - or asking us. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. ★ Sign our petition! Email the Board! Speak to the Board! Commonwealth Justice Coalition LEGAL AID JUSTICE CENTER INDIVISIBLE CHARLOTTESVILLE THE PEOPLE'S COALITION NOT ME I BELIEVE INC. CHARLOTTESVILLE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE CENTER
cville! the legal aid justice center & a bunch of local orgs have launched a campaign asking the school board to revote on SROs. click here to sign the petition, c.org/SPNzfPVyGZ and here www.justice4all.org/rethinkrevote/ to instantly email every member of the board!
Hometown hero does good! Proud to have Afroman represent Antelope Valley gumption (even if he’s off in Ohio these days)
Bhattacharya is abt to testify in front of the House approps committee
~Halfway into the fiscal year the agency is behind on spending (again)
There isn't one culprit — more involvement from OMB, staffing issues, and adjusting to new priorities are all at play
www.statnews.com/2026/03/17/n...
The Trump Administration, in its haste to consolidate power in the President and his appointees, has run roughshod over laws enshrined in Administrative Procedures Act and Federal Advisory Committee Act. Penalizing violations helps ensure the scientific integrity of federal health agencies. (2/2)
This is a huge victory for federal science agencies, not because it addresses the presence of non-experts, but because it addresses *procedural* violations in agency governance. Advisory panels are authorized by Congressional law to be constituted and inform policy in specific ways. (1/2)
Clay earrings in the likeness of a screaming Bobby Hill. On sale now at the Beautiful Idea in Charlottesville
“Are you wearing the—“
“The Bobby Hill earrings? Yeah, I am.”
Working from home due to a bomb threat at UVA has me thinking:
CHS graduation table, showing rates of graduation by race. most demographics have remained relatively steady, but the Hispanic students tanked in 2025, from 80% to 66%.
hey cville, if you're wondering whether our kids have been affected by ICE and the national terror campaign: the Hispanic graduation rate at CHS went from 80% to 66% in a single year
More on science presidential power grabs - seen at #NSF with #NCAR today.
1/4 🧪
www.linkedin.com/posts/markhi...
We discuss how this move from democratic pluralism to presidentialism has manifested at NIH in our piece in Nature. Scientists and policy scholars must recognize the underlying democratic theory of how we govern science, because it is now under threat. (2/2)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The rollback of scientific advisory committees is not isolated to FDA. As @markhisted.org and I write, it is a general feature of the move away from pluralistic democratic governance toward presidential consolidation in science governance (1/2)
www.statnews.com/2026/03/09/f...
The most impt change at #NIH and to US science this year is bigger than grant cancellations— it’s how the agency is governed.
For 75 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control. That’s changed this year. New piece from me and @nataliebaviles.bsky.social in @nature.com
🧪
In a new piece in Nature, @markhisted.org and I cut through the chaos at NIH and argue that what is really at issue is a shift in how we govern science—away from power sharing with scientists, Congress, and civil servants and toward presidential consolidation.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Graph of award probability of R35 and R01 from NIH factbook as a function of review rank percentile. As is apparent, 2025 is a significant departure, with lower award probabilities at all scores <40 and significant departures from norm, where even being in the top 10% is no longer a nearly certain indicator of success. Data source: https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/report/302
The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted.
What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards.
Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.
Natalie Aviles speaking
Pluralistic governance at NIH • NIH is the largest single funder of biomedical research in the worlds • Two kinds of pluralism in NIH governance • Madisonian pluralism: checks and bala, between Legislative and Executive Brar • Dahlian pluralism: role for members of scientin community in decision-making
“Scientists are members of civil society [who can speak up], but they sometimes don’t see themselves in that way”
“NIH has long been ahead of other agencies in increasing inclusiveness … in part due to lobbying from patient groups”
- @nataliebaviles.bsky.social 🧪
