The Monarch Diaries
@monarchdiaries.bsky.social
Map to the corners; all of them. Life in the science mines.
Pinned
my first test of a social science hypothesis:
If you leave a sizable bucket near a public path people will fill it with small bags of shit.
If you leave a sizable bucket near a public path people will fill it with small bags of shit.
“The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone.”
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 27, 2026 at 2:17 PM
“The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone.”
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Here is the child’s drawing.
January 27, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Here is the child’s drawing.
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Thinking Russia will easily overrun Ukraine's "they/them" army because a Russian soldier did shirtless pushups in a recruitment ad is basically the same as thinking ICE would easily dominate the "weak, woke libs" of Minnesota because MAGA posts about masculinity and hype videos with hard rock.
January 27, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Thinking Russia will easily overrun Ukraine's "they/them" army because a Russian soldier did shirtless pushups in a recruitment ad is basically the same as thinking ICE would easily dominate the "weak, woke libs" of Minnesota because MAGA posts about masculinity and hype videos with hard rock.
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"You know Bovino leaving won't st..." Yes I fucking know. I shipped 800 whistles across the country today. I'll ship another 500 tomorrow. I will not stop until they are stopped and also I will take the fucking W when one of their top fash fucks gets the boot.
January 27, 2026 at 3:37 AM
"You know Bovino leaving won't st..." Yes I fucking know. I shipped 800 whistles across the country today. I'll ship another 500 tomorrow. I will not stop until they are stopped and also I will take the fucking W when one of their top fash fucks gets the boot.
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greg bovino’s sleeping bag says “pop tarts”
January 27, 2026 at 4:06 AM
greg bovino’s sleeping bag says “pop tarts”
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Turns out that Bari Weiss's all hands at CBS today is to announce she's bringing on some anti-vax guys and Niall Ferguson. www.axios.com/2026/01/27/b...
January 27, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Turns out that Bari Weiss's all hands at CBS today is to announce she's bringing on some anti-vax guys and Niall Ferguson. www.axios.com/2026/01/27/b...
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She got interested in science while an undergrad at Antioch College through an internship with Alex Rich at MIT.
She was the first female grad student of Watson's at Harvard.
Many, many contributions since then.
She was the first female grad student of Watson's at Harvard.
Many, many contributions since then.
Biochemist/molecular biologist Joan Steitz was born #OTD in 1941.
She (& team) figured out how our cells read/use genetic instructions to make proteins. A key person who helped crack the code on RNA—the molecule that acts like a messenger between DNA & and the proteins our bodies need. #WomenInSTEM
She (& team) figured out how our cells read/use genetic instructions to make proteins. A key person who helped crack the code on RNA—the molecule that acts like a messenger between DNA & and the proteins our bodies need. #WomenInSTEM
January 27, 2026 at 12:37 PM
She got interested in science while an undergrad at Antioch College through an internship with Alex Rich at MIT.
She was the first female grad student of Watson's at Harvard.
Many, many contributions since then.
She was the first female grad student of Watson's at Harvard.
Many, many contributions since then.
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so apparently there's this new film about melena, pretty horrible medical condition, smh
January 27, 2026 at 4:54 AM
so apparently there's this new film about melena, pretty horrible medical condition, smh
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just caught greg bovino snoring in an empty sardine can with the lid half rolled up. not today, herr thumb
January 27, 2026 at 4:46 AM
just caught greg bovino snoring in an empty sardine can with the lid half rolled up. not today, herr thumb
greg bovino shaving coconut for a tiki party nobody shows up to
greg bovino rescued after getting lost hiking through a model train diorama
greg bovino getting his hair cut with a sweater pill remover
January 27, 2026 at 4:50 AM
greg bovino shaving coconut for a tiki party nobody shows up to
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A brief vignette between a man in a press flak jacket and a protester in the midst of deafening noise
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: what?
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: sorry, I can't hear you!
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: Oh shit! Hell yeah. Go Bears!
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: what?
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: sorry, I can't hear you!
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: Oh shit! Hell yeah. Go Bears!
January 27, 2026 at 2:45 AM
A brief vignette between a man in a press flak jacket and a protester in the midst of deafening noise
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: what?
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: sorry, I can't hear you!
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: Oh shit! Hell yeah. Go Bears!
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: what?
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: sorry, I can't hear you!
Protester: *unintelligible*
Press: Oh shit! Hell yeah. Go Bears!
loves them some meth
January 27, 2026 at 4:43 AM
loves them some meth
Miller furiously mashing MORE EVIL button, like the guy who does it with elevator call as if that makes it arrive faster.
It’s common and sort of understandable to see Miller as this evil genius. Important to remember he’s actually a complete fucking moron who, when he got a chance, immediately engineered a PR disaster that shitcanned Trump’s best-polling issue. Always the way with these types.
January 27, 2026 at 4:42 AM
Miller furiously mashing MORE EVIL button, like the guy who does it with elevator call as if that makes it arrive faster.
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And the walmarts remain unfirebombed
January 26, 2026 at 9:18 PM
And the walmarts remain unfirebombed
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i cannot emphasize enough how important it is that nobody assassinated him right now. every day we get closer to a gift so pure it can only be delivered by god
January 27, 2026 at 2:48 AM
i cannot emphasize enough how important it is that nobody assassinated him right now. every day we get closer to a gift so pure it can only be delivered by god
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This is not to say Homan means an effective change in policy—he doesn’t—but this means Noem is out.
January 27, 2026 at 2:48 AM
This is not to say Homan means an effective change in policy—he doesn’t—but this means Noem is out.
Slackwashing
NEW: Palantir workers had a lot of questions for leadership about the company's work with ICE this weekend, per staff chats reviewed by WIRED, and got some pretty defensive answers. @makenakelly.bsky.social has the scoop:
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:48 PM
Slackwashing
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Obviously I knew public schools were completely underfunded, but you still want to imagine that your tax dollars are out there doing good stuff for you. But no, we can't afford luxuries like "snacks" and "books" and "teacher salaries" when our poor cops are driving around tankless
January 26, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Obviously I knew public schools were completely underfunded, but you still want to imagine that your tax dollars are out there doing good stuff for you. But no, we can't afford luxuries like "snacks" and "books" and "teacher salaries" when our poor cops are driving around tankless
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I’m happy to share the main result of my PhD, which you can find on bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... If you are interested in learning about a new way to perform DNA-PAINT multiplexing, which we call Combi-PAINT, or if you are interested in the study of mRNA conformation, keep reading! 1/10
January 26, 2026 at 11:31 AM
I’m happy to share the main result of my PhD, which you can find on bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... If you are interested in learning about a new way to perform DNA-PAINT multiplexing, which we call Combi-PAINT, or if you are interested in the study of mRNA conformation, keep reading! 1/10
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Huge congrats to @manuelthery.bsky.social and all the Cytomorpho lab. The "Living Architectures" performance at @museeorsay.bsky.social was breathtakingly beautiful
January 25, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Huge congrats to @manuelthery.bsky.social and all the Cytomorpho lab. The "Living Architectures" performance at @museeorsay.bsky.social was breathtakingly beautiful
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Can’t help but notice a lot of social media reports of Tik Tok censoring anti-ICE content in its first weekend under Trump-directed US management, and no mainstream news coverage thus far.
January 26, 2026 at 3:57 AM
Can’t help but notice a lot of social media reports of Tik Tok censoring anti-ICE content in its first weekend under Trump-directed US management, and no mainstream news coverage thus far.
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Shocking absolutely no one, it turns out Larry Ellison is more trigger happy with the censor button than the Chinese Communist Party
January 26, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Shocking absolutely no one, it turns out Larry Ellison is more trigger happy with the censor button than the Chinese Communist Party
Reposted by The Monarch Diaries
Curious why ICE and CBP agents are so brutal? Here's a useful explainer I wrote last week, before Saturday's outrageous murder, about how uniquely unsuited ICE and CBP are for this moment—and why they were so corruptible into Trump's own fascist secret police: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-ho...
"ICE 101" — How Trump changed ICE and CBP into a fascist secret police
ICE and CBP are fatally flawed products of the post-9/11 War on Terror — now Trump has weaponized those very flaws to occupy America.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
January 25, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Curious why ICE and CBP agents are so brutal? Here's a useful explainer I wrote last week, before Saturday's outrageous murder, about how uniquely unsuited ICE and CBP are for this moment—and why they were so corruptible into Trump's own fascist secret police: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-101-ho...
Meth is such a great drug
Federal officers just came in and cleared the protest with tear gas. One officer asked press why we didn’t call 911 when the protesters were destroying the hotel and told us that we are bad Americans. Full video to come on @statuscoupnews.bsky.social
January 26, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Meth is such a great drug