Bapu Vaitla
@bapuvaitla.bsky.social
City Council member in Davis, CA, currently serving as Mayor; digital data/gender equity researcher at Data2X; lecturer at UC Davis
"“What Netanyahu is doing now in Gaza is outrageously brutal,” [former Prime Minister] Mr. Olmert said. “How can ministers at the highest level say all Gazans are Hamas and then herd them into camps? We are in a fight for the soul of Israel.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/w...
Netanyahu and an Israel Without Restraint
www.nytimes.com
September 17, 2025 at 9:58 PM
"“What Netanyahu is doing now in Gaza is outrageously brutal,” [former Prime Minister] Mr. Olmert said. “How can ministers at the highest level say all Gazans are Hamas and then herd them into camps? We are in a fight for the soul of Israel.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/w...
Reflections on political violence: bapuvaitla.com/on-political...
On political violence - bapu vaitla
Conservative political organizer Charlie Kirk was killed last week. The internet is afire with fury and blame, and there’s a real risk that tensions could spiral out of control into more bloodshed. Re...
bapuvaitla.com
September 17, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reflections on political violence: bapuvaitla.com/on-political...
Wednesday morning yoga! Come join.
September 6, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Wednesday morning yoga! Come join.
What is the point of all this? Who becomes safer?
Famine confirmed in Gaza City region, global hunger monitor says
More than half a million people in and around Gaza City are facing catastrophic conditions “characterized by starvation, destitution and death,” the IPC said.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 22, 2025 at 11:27 AM
What is the point of all this? Who becomes safer?
The Trauma of Childhood in Gaza www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/w...
The Trauma of Childhood in Gaza
www.nytimes.com
August 16, 2025 at 6:31 AM
The Trauma of Childhood in Gaza www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/w...
300k dead, of whom 200k are children. This is not only or primarily on Musk. This is on the thoughtlessness and cruelty of the Trump administration.
Opinion | Elon Musk’s Legacy Is Disease, Starvation and Death
www.nytimes.com
May 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
300k dead, of whom 200k are children. This is not only or primarily on Musk. This is on the thoughtlessness and cruelty of the Trump administration.
The new right's core philosophical belief is the same as it ever was: the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. What's different is their skill in shaping culture by exploiting the intersection of human cognitive biases, loopholes in democracy, and digital information networks.
May 11, 2025 at 9:33 PM
The new right's core philosophical belief is the same as it ever was: the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. What's different is their skill in shaping culture by exploiting the intersection of human cognitive biases, loopholes in democracy, and digital information networks.
Republicans in Congress, is letting children die what you signed up for?
As Famine Rages in Sudan, U.S. Aid Remains Scarce
The stark consequences of the rollback are evident in few places as clearly as in Sudan, where a brutal civil war has combined with a staggering humanitarian catastrophe.
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Republicans in Congress, is letting children die what you signed up for?
This is a personal message. The views expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of City Council or the City of Davis.
Above all, the job of an elected official is to protect the community. They don’t always succeed, as the tragic shooting on Picnic Day made clear.
1/10
Above all, the job of an elected official is to protect the community. They don’t always succeed, as the tragic shooting on Picnic Day made clear.
1/10
April 15, 2025 at 5:15 AM
This is a personal message. The views expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of City Council or the City of Davis.
Above all, the job of an elected official is to protect the community. They don’t always succeed, as the tragic shooting on Picnic Day made clear.
1/10
Above all, the job of an elected official is to protect the community. They don’t always succeed, as the tragic shooting on Picnic Day made clear.
1/10
Reposted by Bapu Vaitla
🚨 Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave.
Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.
Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.
TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121
Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.
Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.
TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121
March 12, 2025 at 2:19 PM
🚨 Everyone needs to call their Dem Senator right now. They are starting to cave.
Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.
Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.
TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121
Tell them:
1. Vote NO on Cloture
AND
2. Vote NO on the Republican spending bill.
Don’t let them pivot to reconciliation. GOP doesn’t need Dem votes on that and they know it.
TODAY is the showdown.
🤳🏽: (202) 224-3121
Gender-environment data can help shift power & advance #ClimateJustice. Join @aaptiinstitute & @Data2X for a deep dive into feminist data practices & climate resilience!
📅 March 17 |📍 Ford Foundation, NYC
🔗 RSVP by March 13: bit.ly/41x9JT7
📅 March 17 |📍 Ford Foundation, NYC
🔗 RSVP by March 13: bit.ly/41x9JT7
March 8, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Gender-environment data can help shift power & advance #ClimateJustice. Join @aaptiinstitute & @Data2X for a deep dive into feminist data practices & climate resilience!
📅 March 17 |📍 Ford Foundation, NYC
🔗 RSVP by March 13: bit.ly/41x9JT7
📅 March 17 |📍 Ford Foundation, NYC
🔗 RSVP by March 13: bit.ly/41x9JT7
Reposted by Bapu Vaitla
Please join us in Sacramento on Friday, March 7 from 12-4 PM to Stand Up For Science!
March 4, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Please join us in Sacramento on Friday, March 7 from 12-4 PM to Stand Up For Science!
“Sell all you have and give to the poor” is in the Bible (Matthew 19:21). “Cut Medicaid so the rich can become richer,” as far as I know, is not.
March 2, 2025 at 4:45 PM
“Sell all you have and give to the poor” is in the Bible (Matthew 19:21). “Cut Medicaid so the rich can become richer,” as far as I know, is not.
Go @tobykiers.bsky.social go! Amazing work.
How Fungi Move Among Us
Underground fungal networks are “living algorithms” that quietly help regulate Earth’s climate. Now scientists know what makes them so efficient.
www.nytimes.com
March 2, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Go @tobykiers.bsky.social go! Amazing work.
“People will die,” said Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center, “but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.”
U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World
Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails.
www.nytimes.com
February 28, 2025 at 4:36 AM
“People will die,” said Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center, “but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.”
“Competent white men,” Beattie wrote last October, “must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”
Opinion | Trump Is on the Wrong Side of History by Design (Gift Article)
The genius of the right-wing crusade against D.E.I. is that the term is amorphous enough that it can mean many different things to many different people.
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2025 at 5:16 AM
“Competent white men,” Beattie wrote last October, “must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”
Give credit where credit is due. UC Davis under Chancellor May's leadership has done a stellar job of building housing over the last seven years.
UCD: Davis apartment vacancy rate continues to improve
Average rent increases modestly
www.davisenterprise.com
February 7, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Give credit where credit is due. UC Davis under Chancellor May's leadership has done a stellar job of building housing over the last seven years.
Infuriating. Not only is this completely unjust, but I can't think of a more asinine foreign policy move to make as an incoming president.
Trump Says Palestinians Have ‘No Alternative’ but to Leave Gaza: Live Updates
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Infuriating. Not only is this completely unjust, but I can't think of a more asinine foreign policy move to make as an incoming president.
Absolutely love this. We're going to get there, step by step.
Proud Boys Lose Control of Their Name to a Black Church They Vandalized (Gift Article)
A judge awarded the trademarked name and symbols to a Washington church to help satisfy a $2.8 million judgment against the far-right group.
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Absolutely love this. We're going to get there, step by step.
Reposted by Bapu Vaitla
This is a very useful catch-up primer on how the Trump administration is running NIH/NSF/CDC so far. Empathy for @dereklowe.bsky.social writing and rewriting repeatedly - the situation seems to change every half hour.
www.science.org/content/blog...
www.science.org/content/blog...
What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
www.science.org
February 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
This is a very useful catch-up primer on how the Trump administration is running NIH/NSF/CDC so far. Empathy for @dereklowe.bsky.social writing and rewriting repeatedly - the situation seems to change every half hour.
www.science.org/content/blog...
www.science.org/content/blog...
Reposted by Bapu Vaitla
Health care for all.
Housing for all.
Education for all.
Transit for all.
Clean air, water, and energy for all.
Is that not coherent enough?
Housing for all.
Education for all.
Transit for all.
Clean air, water, and energy for all.
Is that not coherent enough?
‘We Have No Coherent Message’: Democrats Struggle to Oppose Trump
More than 50 interviews with Democratic leaders revealed a party struggling to decide what it believes in, what issues to prioritize and how to confront an aggressive right-wing administration.
www.nytimes.com
February 3, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Health care for all.
Housing for all.
Education for all.
Transit for all.
Clean air, water, and energy for all.
Is that not coherent enough?
Housing for all.
Education for all.
Transit for all.
Clean air, water, and energy for all.
Is that not coherent enough?
This is beyond inhumane. "One study estimated that if PEPFAR were to end, as many as 600,000 lives would be lost over the next decade in South Africa alone."
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/h...
Trump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries
PEPFAR’s computer systems also are being taken offline, a sign that the program may not return, as Republican critics had hoped.
www.nytimes.com
January 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
This is beyond inhumane. "One study estimated that if PEPFAR were to end, as many as 600,000 lives would be lost over the next decade in South Africa alone."
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/h...