Oops! You’re right, thanks

Getting really excited for NaNoWriMo in a couple days! My story idea has gone from “set in the steam tunnels under a college campus” to “a quantum experiment goes wrong, tossing the scientists into a parallel universe” (still set in caverns beneath a college campus, though). @nano2.bsky.social

If I were running the DNC, there would be Democratic Party sponsored food relief banks across the country right now that specifically welcomed anyone regardless of party affiliation.

Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net

Giving right wing pop culture shit take accounts spewing rage bait the time of day even to quote dunk them is playing into what they want. It literally makes them money through visibility. Block and move on. Don’t give them oxygen.

Remember to add alt text to your images!

@nano2point0.bsky.social so excited, I finally have a project for NaNoWriMo! Previous attempts at multiple short pieces just weren’t enough to carry me through. Im writing an interactive fiction novel/game set in the steam tunnels of my college campus. Working on plot, map, & characters this month.

Tomorrow at 5:30pm, we’re going to get together to fold “How to Report Ice” zines in Philly. DM me for the address. Would love to see some of you there!

the whole point of last October's #invertebrate #SciArt series of doodles was to showcase how just across the UK you can find absolutely wild organisms! With even more being showcased every day by the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Darwin Tree of Life team! www.darwintreeoflife.org/genomes/geno...

@petnoodle.bsky.social it was fun running into you at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens yesterday! Hope you had a great rest of the walk.

Digital drawing of two anemones with their tentacles touching, almost as if fighting with each other. Text says, “The anemone of my anemone is my frond.”

And for #invertefest, a pun I’m particularly proud of.
#SciArt

When you look at the list of institutions they want to defund: libraries, museums, the Smithsonian, public schools, PBS, NPR, archives, you can clearly see that the real threat to an authoritarian regime is an informed and educated public

Nature is for Everybody There’s been a lot of chaos in the last few weeks. US politics has swung drastically to the right. And the people now in power have been whittling down our freedoms at a pace that’s fra…

First new blog post in awhile- I managed to break through the overwhelm and write a bit. contentednaturalist.com/2025/03/09/n...

LOVE THESE!

Scatterplot titled “Empirical Evidence of Ideological Targeting in Federal Layoffs: Agencies seen as liberal are significantly more likely to face DOGE layoffs.” • The x-axis represents Perceived Ideological Leaning of federal agencies, ranging from -2 (Most Liberal) to +2 (Most Conservative), based on survey responses from over 1,500 federal executives. • The y-axis shows Agency Size (Number of Staff) on a logarithmic scale from 1,000 to 1,000,000. Each point represents a federal agency: • Red dots indicate agencies that experienced DOGE layoffs. • Gray dots indicate agencies with no layoffs. Key Observations: • Liberal-leaning agencies (left side of the plot) are disproportionately represented among red dots, indicating higher layoff rates. • Notable targeted agencies include: • HHS (Health & Human Services) • EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) • NIH (National Institutes of Health) • CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) • Dept. of Education • USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) • The National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE), despite its conservative leaning (+1 on the scale), is an exception among targeted agencies. • A notable outlier: the Department of Veterans Affairs (moderately conservative) also faced layoffs despite its size. Takeaway: The figure visually demonstrates that DOGE layoffs disproportionately targeted liberal-leaning agencies, supporting claims of ideological bias. The pattern reveals that layoffs were not driven by agency size or budget alone but were strongly associated with perceived ideology. Source: Richardson, Clinton, & Lewis (2018). Elite Perceptions of Agency Ideology and Workforce Skill. The Journal of Politics, 80(1).

The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️

Mass terminations of probationary employees: is there any recourse? According to media reports, several agencies have begun mass terminations of probationary employees. These agencies include the Department of Education, Small Business Administration, the CFPB, and…

Some agencies are starting to terminate probationary employees. Many law firms are considering legal action on a class or group basis. If you have been terminated, please see link below with contact information for legal representation. federalworkerrights.com/2025/02/13/m...

Here is the pre-RFK vaccination schedule for your kids. Please download it before he is confirmed and changes/deletes it.

Give it to your pediatrician and say this is the schedule you want your kids on.

Making this my pinned post.

Title 5 of the US Code states that enforcement of a presidential policy or regulation that conflicts with a union contract constitutes an unfair labor practice. Only legislation passed by Congress requires unions to return to the bargaining table to negotiate how policy changes are implemented.

Union email- “OPM recently released a memo instructing agencies to… ignore Collective Bargaining Agreements and force employees to return to the office 5 days a week… Please know that [CBAs] hold the force of law and cannot simply be swept aside.

Paper leaves of various trees in the shape of a sunburst on a cream-colored wall. Some of the leaves are slim, pointy-lobed oaks, some are wide, palmate maples and sycamores. Scalloped ovals of beech leaves and acorn silhouettes are there as well. At the center of the sunburst is a mask in shades of brown, made with soft bird feathers. The colors of the paper cutouts are pale yellow, golden yellow, orange, red, deep crimson, green, and a few light blue. To the left of the sunburst is also a small wire tree sculpture with a felt praying mantis ornament hanging below it.

9. I love making paper snowflakes. I also spent awhile years ago (when I worked for a botanic garden) cutting realistic leaves out of construction paper. I used them this fall to decorate over my fireplace. I liked it so much I haven’t replaced it with a more wintery display.

To instrumentalize what my sister is saying below: every time someone says DEI say “you mean civil rights?” Every time someone says they are against woke reply “oh so you’re a segregationist!” Words have meaning! Don’t allow that nonsense to stand.

Can the society encourage other key civil society entities to speak out? Hospitals? Patient groups? Resource users? Work together to show the concrete impacts of these dire and shortsighted actions.

The society is a more powerful voice than you alone. Are there impacts to your work, such as the NIH right now? The society should be hammering on the door of your Congressmembers and state governments.

Graphic with a raised fist holding a magnifying glass. OP-ED WRITING TIPS For Scientists

If you can write and submit a journal article, you can write and submit an OpEd!

Here is a thread of OpEd writing tips for scientists and health professionals. 👇

#ScienceNotSilence 🧪

8. Star Trek. Exploring and discovering with the goal of learning more but not disturbing pre-existing people’s, and trying to emphasize peace, is a real comfort & inspiration.

7. The quiet outside after snow. Years ago after a heavy snowfall, I was the first one out in my neighborhood. I cleared off my car in the quiet morning, listening to snowflakes pattering on the trees, and chickadees calling from the bare branches. I did my neighbor’s driveway too, it was so lovely

6. Cooking with friends. I love being in a kitchen full of laughter and gentle teasing while we each contribute different things (peeling the apples, making the pie dough, simmering some soup, etc) to a big communal meal

5. Urban fantasy. My favorite sub genre is ordinary world folks that get thrust into another reality, and other ways of blending real world settings/characters with fantasy elements. Charles de Lint & Seanan McGuire are two favorite authors

Trans+ History Week 05-11 May 2025 Paid opportunities for Trans+ creatives

🏳️‍⚧️ Paid opportunities for Trans+ creatives!

Writer? Illustrator? Audio producer? Trans+!? This is for you.

With @transhistoryweek.bsky.social we're investing in 20 Trans+ creatives to create official content for Trans+ History Week

Deadline 16th Feb 2025, 11:59PM GMT

🧵 The details 👇

4. Moss-covered tree trunks. I love going on a rainy hike and finding trees with miniature forests of thick moss on their bark. I hope someday to get a portable microscope and go looking for tardigrades

Grey and white cat curled up on my lap, I am wearing a skirt with owls and full moons on the fabric. Her fur is thick and fluffy, and her ears are perked up

3. My darling cat Luna. I adopted her during pandemic lockdown, so her early life had very few humans. She eas very uneasy about people besides me for a couple years, but now has realized my friends & partners are the source of great cuddles. Anytime I have someone over, she ends up on their lap.