bsky.app/profile/theb... Complementary reading. If you’re sure to lose, cancel/postpone/invalidate/imprison. Desperate measures, but if they work, they work.

This is an interesting development to watch. Once authoritarians get in power, elections are either fragile or meaningless. Orban and Russia at it.

Thinking about midterms in the US and wrongfully imprisoned political party leaders in Turkey.

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

And how many of them pronounced Iran as “I ran”?

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

a man in a suit and tie is talking to a woman and says i wanna hold out hope but hope is painful . ALT: a man in a suit and tie is talking to a woman and says i wanna hold out hope but hope is painful .

Person of Interest is such a great show. I won’t count the reasons why except noting that it is consistently good through the end.

If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It is even more relevant now in the age of AI and federal government scaring school kids at school bus stops.

Local elections matter. It’s not all about who the president is.

Fotoğraf görmeden inanmam 😸

She was an Istanbul street cat in a previous life #2. (No, she did not get any.)

Some movies and series do it really well. My problem with them is, in most cases, defeating authoritarianism requires a “hero”.

This is a great list. I taught a course on identity politics with a film component once; my list has some overlaps with this.

My favorite genre sci-fi has many movies/series that tackle authoritarianism in imagined worlds/futures, that’d be a separate list.

2025 brought many new things into my life and these babies were the best of them. Hoping for a 2026 where we can at least maintain our sanity.

May the new year be as sweet as these kittens for all of you!

It is a disgrace we have normalized the expectation and preparation for school shootings in this country.

Because I work in education, I had to participate in an in-person active shooter training. I’m a generally calm person but the training was difficult emotionally. Our children do these trainings regularly again and again. They carry emotional burden of shootings even when they are not targeted.

In our district former English Learners (those who gain proficiency in English and exit language support) outperform other students. Maybe low scores for immigrants are due to language barriers. 🤷‍♀️

Tabby cat looking at a plate that has simit and cheese

Bir önceki hayatında İstanbul sokak kedisiymiş.
#caturday

Mülksüzleştirme Ağları Sermaye-iktidar ilişkileri üzerine kolektif veri haritalama

mulksuzlestirme.org It’s all about the 💵💵

The Authoritarian Stack How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next

@arkadas.bsky.social shared this www.authoritarian-stack.info -does it remind Turkey watchers of anything? See the link in the first comment 👇

Mamdani and his campaign give me Imamoglu vibes, her şey çok güzel olacak!

I would have loved to see these two mayors of two mega cities get together and shake hands but you know…

Mamdani better be ready for a lot of scrutiny over his every move.

Thanks to Netflix Physical Asia, a whole new demographic now knows about oil wrestling.

I knew something was up when my colleague asked me about it. I took a glimpse at the show and felt like this is what the Olympics were like back in the day -minus too much nationalism.

Forgot to update: Tried it, it is great. 5 minutes in the air fryer and çıtır çıtır simit. It is not some Americanized bagel wannabe. It is the real deal. So good. I hope it is a permanent product, not seasonal. Definitely give it a try.

Where is the Pokémon?

Another episode of the US becoming more like Turkey, I.e. authoritarian.

One of the reasons I left academia. I was teaching “touchy” subjects and didn’t feel like the school had my back at all.

Yep, I had that well before Trump. Very disruptive but I was able to shut it down. Their evaluation comment said I was recruiting for terrorist organizations. I talked to various admins to have this removed from my records and they said “Don’t worry about it!” but then brought it up in my reviews.

Trader Joe’s, here I come!!! Hem de Ankara simidi!

(Although, I have to say, we need a Trader Osman or Trader Can label on this).

The opening of this piece made me realize Charlie Kirk’s death is the 15 Temmuz for MAGA, the pretext to silence and bulldoze the opposition.

What?

Trump is having Erdogan hold his ayran; will he start imprisoning journalists who don’t comply?

Physical and information highways… bsky.app/profile/netb...

I don’t know, when extreme restrictions like closing the main arteries and bridges happen, we immediately think a coup attempt is taking place.
I’d say this is also a variety of coup. Reverse coup? Last exit before the bridge coup?

Feel like I have to repost this.
The move on the Istanbul HQ of the main opposition party is both a sign of desperation by the Erdogan regime and of the entrenchment of one man-one party rule. Paradoxical isn’t it?

Americans, take note. When the NG shutters I95 or 495, don’t be surprised.