Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
@brianbanks.bsky.social
Scribbler (mainly nature, conservation, critters, science, climate); Geographer (Fellow, Royal Canadian Geographical Society); Soy nature boy. https://brian.eco/
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Defunding scientists for the nationality of who they co-author with or who they train.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Defunding scientists for the nationality of who they co-author with or who they train.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
Canada is calling.
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
Quest to find another Earth brings renowned researcher home to Toronto | CBC News
Canadian astronomical research is getting a big boost with the return of Sara Seager to Canada after around 20 years at MIT. Her research includes looking for life in the clouds of Venus and searching...
www.cbc.ca
November 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Canada is calling.
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
November 13, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
i'm old enough to remember when people thought donny's participation in this was going to be the thing to sink him
every birthday message to epstein is like "dear jeff, you're so rich and so handsome but probably the thing about you i love most is that you're a prolific child predator. never change <3"
jfc
November 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM
i'm old enough to remember when people thought donny's participation in this was going to be the thing to sink him
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Imagine, if you will, an email from Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein about Obama or Biden spending HOURS with a victim of sexual abuse at Epstein's house.
It would be nonstop coverage until the President was impeached and, hopefully, removed from office.
It would be nonstop coverage until the President was impeached and, hopefully, removed from office.
A direct email exchange from 2011 between Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, just released by House Oversight Committee Democrats.
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Imagine, if you will, an email from Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein about Obama or Biden spending HOURS with a victim of sexual abuse at Epstein's house.
It would be nonstop coverage until the President was impeached and, hopefully, removed from office.
It would be nonstop coverage until the President was impeached and, hopefully, removed from office.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible, and completely disconnected from the real values & priorities of Vancouverites. This move would be awful not only for Vancouver, but also for all the cities that Vancouver’s leadership has inspired over decades of North American sustainability leadership.
November 11, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Incredibly short-sighted and irresponsible, and completely disconnected from the real values & priorities of Vancouverites. This move would be awful not only for Vancouver, but also for all the cities that Vancouver’s leadership has inspired over decades of North American sustainability leadership.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
When was the last time anyone at the BBC had to resign for misrepresenting a leftwinger?
November 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
When was the last time anyone at the BBC had to resign for misrepresenting a leftwinger?
Wot happens when the snow falls before the leaves do.
November 10, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Wot happens when the snow falls before the leaves do.
Nothing like opening a Guinness at 6:30 am to celebrate finishing a big feature after writing the final 3,300 words in the last 25 hours (had a short nap on the couch around midnight).
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Nothing like opening a Guinness at 6:30 am to celebrate finishing a big feature after writing the final 3,300 words in the last 25 hours (had a short nap on the couch around midnight).
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
They shut down the government for nothing. Literally nothing.
November 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
They shut down the government for nothing. Literally nothing.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
How about we shut down the government for this very popular and specific goal and then, hear me out, we hold out for like a month and a half and then, ok this part is important, after a watershed election where we ran the table, ONLY THEN, fold and don't get the one thing we said we wanted.
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
How about we shut down the government for this very popular and specific goal and then, hear me out, we hold out for like a month and a half and then, ok this part is important, after a watershed election where we ran the table, ONLY THEN, fold and don't get the one thing we said we wanted.
Pathetic.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/09/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/09/p...
Who are the Democrats voting for the government shutdown deal? | CNN Politics
A group of Democrats and one Democratic-aligned independent have helped clinch an agreement to end the government shutdown, saying they had secured a vote on the Affordable Care Act subsidies at the c...
www.cnn.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Pathetic.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/09/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/09/p...
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
I wanna invite Pope Leo to my Intro to Science and Technology Studies class
November 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I wanna invite Pope Leo to my Intro to Science and Technology Studies class
Judge Permanently Blocks National Guard Deployments to Portland for ICE Protests www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Judge Permanently Blocks National Guard Deployments to Portland for ICE Protests
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Judge Permanently Blocks National Guard Deployments to Portland for ICE Protests www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
The fact that 30% of our stock market is wrapped up in “help-kids-kill-themselves” technology seems to be an important datapoint in the evolution of late stage capitalism.
ChatGPT advised a suicidal young woman on how to take her own life, telling her "If you choose death, I'm with you - till the end, without judging."
I wanted ChatGPT to help me. So why did it advise me how to kill myself?
ChatGPT wrote a woman a suicide note and another AI chatbot role-played sexual acts with children, BBC finds.
www.bbc.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:20 AM
The fact that 30% of our stock market is wrapped up in “help-kids-kill-themselves” technology seems to be an important datapoint in the evolution of late stage capitalism.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
A shocking moment in American history. This photo appeared on the cover of Life magazine. The wounded man on the ground recently died. Here is his obituary. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
John Cleary, Wounded in Kent State Shooting, Dies at 74
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:52 PM
A shocking moment in American history. This photo appeared on the cover of Life magazine. The wounded man on the ground recently died. Here is his obituary. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Night Train - Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith
YouTube video by Willie Ellebie
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 1:33 AM
"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
oh cool a lead-in modifier that presumes good faith — and gives the government the benefit of the doubt —exactly as prescribed in the famous book: how to do a good journalism
November 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM
oh cool a lead-in modifier that presumes good faith — and gives the government the benefit of the doubt —exactly as prescribed in the famous book: how to do a good journalism
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Top two in reputation. We are dependable, fair, resilient and credible.
November 6, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Top two in reputation. We are dependable, fair, resilient and credible.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Rachel was great. And now it's a radio show. Listen at the link. www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/...
‘Authoritarianism, resistance’ mark this pivotal American moment | CBC Radio
Political analyst Rachel Maddow and writer/activist Rebecca Solnit are sharp observers of Trump 2.0. They discuss the global impact (including his beef with Canada), and where they see effective domes...
www.cbc.ca
November 6, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Rachel was great. And now it's a radio show. Listen at the link. www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/...
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
An update on this story - grad students are now exempt from the cap in student visas. 🧪
Canada makes pitch for US researchers to relocate with $1.7bn in new funding. My story for @science.org 🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Canada’s new budget aims to lure U.S. researchers to relocate
Spending plan also calls for smaller research spending cut than feared
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:09 AM
An update on this story - grad students are now exempt from the cap in student visas. 🧪
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
“Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg" by Rei Takver for @desmog.com:
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg
Tax records reveal that the billionaire’s foundation has donated for years to Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center.
www.desmog.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:35 PM
“Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg" by Rei Takver for @desmog.com:
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...