Joshua G. Schraiber
@jgschraiber.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist, computational biologist, statistician. I like to develop mathematical models of evolutionary process and see how they fit to data. I also like cities where building apartments is legal.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
no foreign foe has ever dreamed of being able to sack and pillaging this country the way Trump admin and its congressional and scotus enablers do every day.
A leading American research lab is slated to lose its critical supercomputing facility, according to a letter released by the National Science Foundation.https://cnn.it/3MoF7zU
February 14, 2026 at 3:43 AM
no foreign foe has ever dreamed of being able to sack and pillaging this country the way Trump admin and its congressional and scotus enablers do every day.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
there's fierce competition, but this is one of the most stomach-turning things I've read in some time
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show
The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief and an archit...
www.reuters.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:01 PM
there's fierce competition, but this is one of the most stomach-turning things I've read in some time
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement
The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...
www.latimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:57 AM
This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
DOGE allegedly used ChatGPT to identify 1,400 NEH grants it said were DEI. Grants were terminated April 2025, according to a court filing. E.g.
Film: 1873 Colfax massacre
Film: first female pilots flying for U.S. military in WWII
Film: “Untold Story of Jewish Women Slave Labor in the Holocaust"
Film: 1873 Colfax massacre
Film: first female pilots flying for U.S. military in WWII
Film: “Untold Story of Jewish Women Slave Labor in the Holocaust"
ChatGPT cuts in action
www.politico.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:49 PM
DOGE allegedly used ChatGPT to identify 1,400 NEH grants it said were DEI. Grants were terminated April 2025, according to a court filing. E.g.
Film: 1873 Colfax massacre
Film: first female pilots flying for U.S. military in WWII
Film: “Untold Story of Jewish Women Slave Labor in the Holocaust"
Film: 1873 Colfax massacre
Film: first female pilots flying for U.S. military in WWII
Film: “Untold Story of Jewish Women Slave Labor in the Holocaust"
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
Justin Fox was one of the stalwart wreckers in Nate Cavanaugh’s crew of vandals. All of them just terrible people
Plaintiffs say:
Defendant Fox [of DOGE] slated grants for termination because their description contained words such as “black,” “LGBTQ,” “Jew,” “Native,” and “immigrant.
That's from the Second Amended Complaint.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Defendant Fox [of DOGE] slated grants for termination because their description contained words such as “black,” “LGBTQ,” “Jew,” “Native,” and “immigrant.
That's from the Second Amended Complaint.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 14, 2026 at 5:03 AM
Justin Fox was one of the stalwart wreckers in Nate Cavanaugh’s crew of vandals. All of them just terrible people
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
pulling off a targeted strike shutdown on one specific government department seems like genuinely impressive minority party politicking
has anything like this happened before for comparison?
has anything like this happened before for comparison?
February 13, 2026 at 11:24 PM
pulling off a targeted strike shutdown on one specific government department seems like genuinely impressive minority party politicking
has anything like this happened before for comparison?
has anything like this happened before for comparison?
Wow that's a huge win.
NEW: The Trump administration has dropped its appeal of a federal court order blocking its $1.2-billion settlement demand to UCLA over alleged campus civil rights violations: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Trump administration drops its appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement
The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. But it ...
www.latimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 1:59 AM
Wow that's a huge win.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
JUST IN: Citing "onslaught of unlawful and irregular practices" and prolific media interviews by DOJ, lawyers for Don Lemon & Georgia Fort demand release of grand jury transcripts in church protest case. Presumption of regularity is gone, they say. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
LemonFortGJMot021326
www.documentcloud.org
February 13, 2026 at 11:25 PM
JUST IN: Citing "onslaught of unlawful and irregular practices" and prolific media interviews by DOJ, lawyers for Don Lemon & Georgia Fort demand release of grand jury transcripts in church protest case. Presumption of regularity is gone, they say. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/27...
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
... while moving away from the germ theory of disease, as per NIAID head Taubenberger
"[O]ne way for people to be prepared is to be healthier, eat better and exercise, so you’re less likely to get sick or have a poor outcome"
Get him on the record for specific diseases.
Ask him, publicly.
"[O]ne way for people to be prepared is to be healthier, eat better and exercise, so you’re less likely to get sick or have a poor outcome"
Get him on the record for specific diseases.
Ask him, publicly.
February 13, 2026 at 9:30 PM
... while moving away from the germ theory of disease, as per NIAID head Taubenberger
"[O]ne way for people to be prepared is to be healthier, eat better and exercise, so you’re less likely to get sick or have a poor outcome"
Get him on the record for specific diseases.
Ask him, publicly.
"[O]ne way for people to be prepared is to be healthier, eat better and exercise, so you’re less likely to get sick or have a poor outcome"
Get him on the record for specific diseases.
Ask him, publicly.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
New reporting shows how NIH will go from "vision"
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
to reality: weakening national capacity for pandemic preparedness and next-generation discoveries to confront infectious disease...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
to reality: weakening national capacity for pandemic preparedness and next-generation discoveries to confront infectious disease...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation
Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.
www.nature.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:30 PM
New reporting shows how NIH will go from "vision"
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
to reality: weakening national capacity for pandemic preparedness and next-generation discoveries to confront infectious disease...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
to reality: weakening national capacity for pandemic preparedness and next-generation discoveries to confront infectious disease...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
The premeditated murder of American leadership in basic research
NSF Update
Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.
Now by Directorate...
1/11
Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.
Now by Directorate...
1/11
February 13, 2026 at 10:21 PM
The premeditated murder of American leadership in basic research
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
“DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law” is excellent framing
DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law. They are tear-gassing schools, killing American citizens, and disappearing legal immigrants. Democrats shouldn’t fund an out of control ICE.
February 13, 2026 at 9:13 PM
“DHS is shutting down because it refuses to obey the law” is excellent framing
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
Dems derailing DHS funding indefinitely as a minority party is actually about the same level of unprecedented obstruction, if we’re keeping score.
Ten years ago today, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, kicking off one of the greatest crimes committed against democracy when Mitch McConnell invented a pretense to deny President Obama a nominee, and everyone in power and media just shrugged and acted like he could do that.
February 13, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Dems derailing DHS funding indefinitely as a minority party is actually about the same level of unprecedented obstruction, if we’re keeping score.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
I dunno, my takeaway is that making it the law that they all have to wear them and, if they aren't, they're committing a crime would be good, as someone who likes to have evidence of when feds commit crimes.
February 13, 2026 at 8:51 PM
I dunno, my takeaway is that making it the law that they all have to wear them and, if they aren't, they're committing a crime would be good, as someone who likes to have evidence of when feds commit crimes.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
I mean, if they hadn't worn body cams we wouldn't have this evidence that they tried to kill a woman in cold blood, so.
If only they had worn body cameras, this wouldn't have hap—
February 13, 2026 at 8:50 PM
I mean, if they hadn't worn body cams we wouldn't have this evidence that they tried to kill a woman in cold blood, so.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
It very much is not a politician's only job to convince voters; this is how we end up electing people who can't actually deliver anything and disillusion the voters they convinced.
We live in a representative democracy. people vote for those who represent them. if a politician fails to make the case that they can effectively represent a sect of voters, that is on the politician, not the voter.
it is a politician's only job to convince voters.
it is a politician's only job to convince voters.
If the left does that it would their stupidity boosting fascists again. Newsom will be nominated if he gets the most votes. Don’t do this “well I don’t like him” crap that’s going to keep putting repubs in, haven’t you learnt the lesson yet?
February 13, 2026 at 5:03 PM
It very much is not a politician's only job to convince voters; this is how we end up electing people who can't actually deliver anything and disillusion the voters they convinced.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that the Appointments Clause is supposed to be an indispensable protection for liberty with the fact that DHS is operationally under the control of a special government employee who is not legally allowed to work more than 130 days a year.
There is so much crazy shit, outrageous corruption, and naked, hamfisted ambition in this WSJ piece about Noem, Lewandowski, and DHS. Gift link. Read and take note of the of eye-popping number of sources who have knives out for Kristi and Corey.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem’s Missing Blanket and the Constant Chaos Inside DHS
Secretary faces fire for confrontational immigration crackdown and self-promotional style; White House to wind down Minnesota operations.
www.wsj.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:00 PM
I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that the Appointments Clause is supposed to be an indispensable protection for liberty with the fact that DHS is operationally under the control of a special government employee who is not legally allowed to work more than 130 days a year.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
Two thoughts:
- Do not commit arson. Period. And if you are going to commit arson, do not do it in broad daylight while on camera, making your felony conviction guaranteed.
- I had been wondering if someone was going to do this. Guess so, but in the most moronic way possible.
- Do not commit arson. Period. And if you are going to commit arson, do not do it in broad daylight while on camera, making your felony conviction guaranteed.
- I had been wondering if someone was going to do this. Guess so, but in the most moronic way possible.
KMBC: "A woman tried to set a fire at a South Kansas City warehouse that had been rumored as a possible ICE detention center. Earlier today, the company that owns the property confirmed it is no longer moving forward with a sale to the U.S. government."
February 13, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Two thoughts:
- Do not commit arson. Period. And if you are going to commit arson, do not do it in broad daylight while on camera, making your felony conviction guaranteed.
- I had been wondering if someone was going to do this. Guess so, but in the most moronic way possible.
- Do not commit arson. Period. And if you are going to commit arson, do not do it in broad daylight while on camera, making your felony conviction guaranteed.
- I had been wondering if someone was going to do this. Guess so, but in the most moronic way possible.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
Independents say 2:1 that Bad Bunny "better represents America" than Donald Trump www.yahoo.com/news/politic...
February 13, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Independents say 2:1 that Bad Bunny "better represents America" than Donald Trump www.yahoo.com/news/politic...
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
This is a violation of the Constitution’s appropriations clause.
“.. using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought ..”
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
February 13, 2026 at 2:58 PM
This is a violation of the Constitution’s appropriations clause.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
Due mostly to his mishandling of COVID the death toll from Trump's first presidency was measured hundreds of thousands
Between this and USAID, this time around he's going for seven figures.
Between this and USAID, this time around he's going for seven figures.
February 13, 2026 at 4:31 AM
Due mostly to his mishandling of COVID the death toll from Trump's first presidency was measured hundreds of thousands
Between this and USAID, this time around he's going for seven figures.
Between this and USAID, this time around he's going for seven figures.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
This is a 100% elite manufactured craze.
a stat i always cite is the number of anti-trans articles in the press went from 60 in a year, to 7,500
February 13, 2026 at 9:54 AM
This is a 100% elite manufactured craze.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
I think the thing that enrages me the most about Musk is that he presents himself as some sci-fi nerd hero doing everything possible to save humanity by going to new planets.
If your plan for saving humanity doesn’t include the people already on earth, you’re just a racist piece of shit.
If your plan for saving humanity doesn’t include the people already on earth, you’re just a racist piece of shit.
As a direct result of the obscene actions of Russell Vought and Elon Musk in destroying USAID, we can expect “at least 9.4 million additional deaths by 2030, if the current funding trend continues.
About 2.5 million of those deaths are projected to be children under the age of 5.”
About 2.5 million of those deaths are projected to be children under the age of 5.”
One year on from dismantling of USAID, study projects that global aid cuts could lead to 9.4 million deaths by 2030 | CNN
It’s been one year since the Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with aid cuts leading to the closure of HIV clinics in South Africa, the termination o...
www.cnn.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:33 PM
I think the thing that enrages me the most about Musk is that he presents himself as some sci-fi nerd hero doing everything possible to save humanity by going to new planets.
If your plan for saving humanity doesn’t include the people already on earth, you’re just a racist piece of shit.
If your plan for saving humanity doesn’t include the people already on earth, you’re just a racist piece of shit.
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
Holy moly: Seattle’s millionaire tax, passed last year, is expected to bring in $115 million in its 1st year, way more than the $50 million anticipated.
The funds will go to the city’s new social housing developer publicola.com/2026/02/11/t...
(Is NY Gov Hochul paying attention?)
The funds will go to the city’s new social housing developer publicola.com/2026/02/11/t...
(Is NY Gov Hochul paying attention?)
Seattle’s millionaire tax is a huge success. Here is how grassroots groups beat big money and are now raising tons of money for mixed income, rent stabilized housing. (We call it “social housing.”)
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP89WjsvH/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP89WjsvH/
Seattle’s millionaire tax is a wild success. #taxtherich @House Our Neighbors: Yes on 1A @Tech 4 Housing
TikTok video by Ron Davis
www.tiktok.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:01 AM
Holy moly: Seattle’s millionaire tax, passed last year, is expected to bring in $115 million in its 1st year, way more than the $50 million anticipated.
The funds will go to the city’s new social housing developer publicola.com/2026/02/11/t...
(Is NY Gov Hochul paying attention?)
The funds will go to the city’s new social housing developer publicola.com/2026/02/11/t...
(Is NY Gov Hochul paying attention?)
Reposted by Joshua G. Schraiber
No, the thing is, prices aren’t actually up very much. People aren’t actually upset about prices, the discontent over “prices” is just rationalized discontent over other stuff
US voters would be cheering fascism if Trump had delivered $3-per-pound ground beef.
That should fucking haunt us all.
That should fucking haunt us all.
February 13, 2026 at 3:16 PM
No, the thing is, prices aren’t actually up very much. People aren’t actually upset about prices, the discontent over “prices” is just rationalized discontent over other stuff