Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
@tomh4.bsky.social
Trying to stay focused on higher ed, but someone always seems to be wrong on the internet.
“This” being the replacement of a brutal and corrupt dictator by his equally brutal and corrupt but slightly more Trump-friendly deputy.
Sen. Katie Britt: "It is really rich that you hear Democrats now saying, 'What's next?' You actually wanted this to happen back when you were in charge but you didn't have the moxie to get it done."
January 4, 2026 at 5:39 PM
“This” being the replacement of a brutal and corrupt dictator by his equally brutal and corrupt but slightly more Trump-friendly deputy.
Did you ever have a family member who really wanted to get you an expensive birthday present, and when you hinted you didn’t want it, they got mad and insisted you SHOW A LITTLE GEATITUDE? This is the life of an oil company CEO right now.
The amount of “this is clearly about oil” posting across all platforms as story after story comes out where the oil industry is saying that the oil isn’t worth extracting is making me feel a little insane
January 4, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Did you ever have a family member who really wanted to get you an expensive birthday present, and when you hinted you didn’t want it, they got mad and insisted you SHOW A LITTLE GEATITUDE? This is the life of an oil company CEO right now.
Day three in Zohran Mamdani’s New York. Issuance of Executive Order 1047: Click farming to be re-organized along collective lines for the benefit of all New Yorkers.
day two in Zohran Mamdani’s New York. I watched a gaggle of financial analysts get ziptied and marched into an unmarked van. A man ordered a latte with whole milk in front of me in line and the barista immediately shot him in the head.
January 2, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Day three in Zohran Mamdani’s New York. Issuance of Executive Order 1047: Click farming to be re-organized along collective lines for the benefit of all New Yorkers.
Turns out there's a @bsky.app feature that allows you to turn off comments from anyone you don't follow. I discovered it when one person I follow harshly attacked someone else I follow. I couldn't reply to object or ask for clarification. So I replied to another thread, and they got quite annoyed.
December 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Turns out there's a @bsky.app feature that allows you to turn off comments from anyone you don't follow. I discovered it when one person I follow harshly attacked someone else I follow. I couldn't reply to object or ask for clarification. So I replied to another thread, and they got quite annoyed.
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
If your student is returning to college on probation, you should talk to them *now* about how next term will be different. In this post, I share links to great advice from @collparcentral.bsky.social & others and offer information for families of students with disabilities: https://bit.ly/LDAdSS14
December 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM
If your student is returning to college on probation, you should talk to them *now* about how next term will be different. In this post, I share links to great advice from @collparcentral.bsky.social & others and offer information for families of students with disabilities: https://bit.ly/LDAdSS14
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
This !@#$% year in review: the wrecking ball that was February 2025 brought the abrupt end to many Institute of Education Sciences contracts for data collection, evaluation and research. www.brookings.edu/articles/cut... 🧵
Cutting research funding would make education less effective and efficient | Brookings
Presidents of education research associations explain the impacts of recent funding cuts to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
www.brookings.edu
December 29, 2025 at 9:12 PM
This !@#$% year in review: the wrecking ball that was February 2025 brought the abrupt end to many Institute of Education Sciences contracts for data collection, evaluation and research. www.brookings.edu/articles/cut... 🧵
Remarkable findings on New Jersey's Community College Opportunity Program, which covers tuition and fees for community college students w/a family income of up to $67k. #CCOG students are 32% more likely to graduate in 3 years than non-CCOG students. www.hesaa.org/Pages/HESAAN...
HESAA News
www.hesaa.org
December 29, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Remarkable findings on New Jersey's Community College Opportunity Program, which covers tuition and fees for community college students w/a family income of up to $67k. #CCOG students are 32% more likely to graduate in 3 years than non-CCOG students. www.hesaa.org/Pages/HESAAN...
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
As someone who has closely covered New College of Florida since early 2023, there are at least a dozen problems with this article (I stopped counting at 12). The most significant issue is how the reporter condenses runaway spending to a paragraph.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/u...
New College of Florida Was Progressive. Then Gov. DeSantis Overhauled It.
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
As someone who has closely covered New College of Florida since early 2023, there are at least a dozen problems with this article (I stopped counting at 12). The most significant issue is how the reporter condenses runaway spending to a paragraph.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/u...
Folks in comments are arguing that Chuck Redd was freed from his legal obligation when the Kennedy Center changed its name. Unlikely. If name changes really had that effect, companies could get out of inconvenient contracts by executing one.
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building. n.pr/49tB0uS
Kennedy Center vows to sue musician who canceled performance over Trump name change
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building.
n.pr
December 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Folks in comments are arguing that Chuck Redd was freed from his legal obligation when the Kennedy Center changed its name. Unlikely. If name changes really had that effect, companies could get out of inconvenient contracts by executing one.
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
December 25, 2025 at 7:03 PM
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.
"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.
"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.
Yakima, Washington
Taking care of my daughter’s cat over the holidays. How do cat owners get any work done?
December 22, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Taking care of my daughter’s cat over the holidays. How do cat owners get any work done?
The commenters to this post are frothing with fury at Hakeem Jeffries for his weakness and passivity. And I get it. Jeffries is not exactly Abe Lincoln. But the reality is that Republicans currently hold every lever of federal power, and we should direct our fury at the perpetrators of this outrage.
Rep. Jeffries signaled it is illegal for Trump to rename the Kennedy Center without “legislative action.”
“The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action."
Read more:
https://go.govbrief.today/kennedy-center-trump-signage
“The Kennedy Center Board has no authority to actually rename the Kennedy Center in the absence of legislative action."
Read more:
https://go.govbrief.today/kennedy-center-trump-signage
December 21, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The commenters to this post are frothing with fury at Hakeem Jeffries for his weakness and passivity. And I get it. Jeffries is not exactly Abe Lincoln. But the reality is that Republicans currently hold every lever of federal power, and we should direct our fury at the perpetrators of this outrage.
This is a fascinating story, and it's interesting to see how the Justices lined up for and against an integrated holiday party. Former Klan member Hugo Black supported one, and well-known liberals Robert Jackson & Felix Frankfurter opposed it. So there was no holiday party at all until 1959.
A bit of SCOTUS history I didn’t know. The Court held its first Christmas party in 1946 (a segregated event). When the following year, law clerks proposed inviting the Court’s Black employees, the Court stopped having Christmas parties for 12 years.
ballsandstrikes.substack.com/p/the-alarmi...
ballsandstrikes.substack.com/p/the-alarmi...
The Alarmingly Racist History of the Supreme Court’s Canceled 1947 Christmas Party
The Court held its first-ever office Christmas party in 1946. The following year, the clerks suggested inviting Black employees. It did not go over well.
ballsandstrikes.substack.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:23 PM
This is a fascinating story, and it's interesting to see how the Justices lined up for and against an integrated holiday party. Former Klan member Hugo Black supported one, and well-known liberals Robert Jackson & Felix Frankfurter opposed it. So there was no holiday party at all until 1959.
Note that March-April 2026 is the most common deadline to register for reelection to Congress. Lot of variation, however. Arkansas, Illinois and Texas have already closed. Mississippi and North Carolina will close by the end of December. www.ncsl.org/elections-an...
December 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Note that March-April 2026 is the most common deadline to register for reelection to Congress. Lot of variation, however. Arkansas, Illinois and Texas have already closed. Mississippi and North Carolina will close by the end of December. www.ncsl.org/elections-an...
Is it, though? My heart says yes! But none of the other nonsense-peddlers in the Trump administration seems to have Bongino's problem. His crisis seems very weird and personal.
It’s much easier to share nonsense conspiracy theories about the federal government on a podcast than to work for the real federal government.
December 18, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Is it, though? My heart says yes! But none of the other nonsense-peddlers in the Trump administration seems to have Bongino's problem. His crisis seems very weird and personal.
This is obviously dumb. But the clip also shows the premium for messaging on Fox News: the ability to spread obviously false or distorted claims and be validated on-air by your interviewers.
FOX: The ACA has never been more popular. Republicans are losing on this messaging. How do you talk to Americans who say the Republicans don't have a plan?
REP. BUDDY CARTER: You explain it by explaining it's not working. When the govt has to subsidize a program, that means it's not working
REP. BUDDY CARTER: You explain it by explaining it's not working. When the govt has to subsidize a program, that means it's not working
December 16, 2025 at 1:59 PM
This is obviously dumb. But the clip also shows the premium for messaging on Fox News: the ability to spread obviously false or distorted claims and be validated on-air by your interviewers.
If Ahmed al Ahmed lived in America, JD Vance and Stephen Miller would say he's less American than the descendants of Confederate generals.
Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who tackled one of the Bondi killers, became an Australian citizen 3 years ago.
His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship."
He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
His deed was "his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship."
He took 5 bullets, and fears he'll lose his left arm.
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
December 15, 2025 at 6:20 PM
If Ahmed al Ahmed lived in America, JD Vance and Stephen Miller would say he's less American than the descendants of Confederate generals.
Did you know you have to carry your “immigration documents” with you at all times, even though US citizens do not even have such a thing? Now federal policy, apparently.
Bovino, the man overseeing mass deportations, publicly declared that we must all have our papers on us, at all times, or we could be stopped, harassed, kidnapped, and detained, as they did with the man in this case, who is a US citizen.
December 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Did you know you have to carry your “immigration documents” with you at all times, even though US citizens do not even have such a thing? Now federal policy, apparently.
This is a pretty big deal for New Jersey.
Kim to back effort to oust Jim Beach; Beach would be 81 and asking for a four-year term once 2027 comes around newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/...
Kim will lead effort to oust Jim Beach; fires warning shot at some Democratic legislators - New Jersey Globe
In a bold declaration that he’s prepared to take on feckless state lawmakers who follow the orders of party bosses, U.S. Senator Andy Kim will support a
newjerseyglobe.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:21 PM
This is a pretty big deal for New Jersey.
So glad someone finally asked this, and a little shocked that 4 in 10 New Jerseyans have never heard of the Jersey Devil.
194. Monmouth University poll of New Jersey, 2012: "Have you heard of the legend of the Jersey Devil, or not? (If Yes, ask:) Do you believe the Jersey Devil actually exists or not?"
December 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
So glad someone finally asked this, and a little shocked that 4 in 10 New Jerseyans have never heard of the Jersey Devil.
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
The Department of Education is planning to start and finish workforce Pell regulation negotiations this week. Just like a student who waits until the last minute to write a term paper, the likelihood of mistakes making their way into important documents rises.
ED Wants to Begin and End Workforce Pell This Week
Higher ed policy experts question whether one week of negotiations will be enough to figure out how to expand the Pell Grant to workforce training programs.
www.insidehighered.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:27 AM
The Department of Education is planning to start and finish workforce Pell regulation negotiations this week. Just like a student who waits until the last minute to write a term paper, the likelihood of mistakes making their way into important documents rises.
Watch this space: The Pell Grant program is on track to run $8-9 billion deficits every year and deplete its reserves by FY2027. OBBBA added a $10.5 billion payment to bail out Pell, but made the structural deficit worse by creating Workforce Pell program. www.crfb.org/blogs/pell-g...
Pell Grant Program Still Faces Large Shortfall, Despite One-Time Fix | Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
2025-12-05-The Pell Grant program faces a large funding gap, despite the one-time infusion of funding enacted as part of the
www.crfb.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Watch this space: The Pell Grant program is on track to run $8-9 billion deficits every year and deplete its reserves by FY2027. OBBBA added a $10.5 billion payment to bail out Pell, but made the structural deficit worse by creating Workforce Pell program. www.crfb.org/blogs/pell-g...
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
There is a better way of addressing an unjust prosecution based on thin charges. It’s called a jury trial.
Jeffries claims the charges against Cueller were "very thin" and says Trump's pardon was "exactly the right outcome"
December 3, 2025 at 5:42 PM
There is a better way of addressing an unjust prosecution based on thin charges. It’s called a jury trial.
Reposted by Tom ‘Beardo’ Hilliard
Bill to strip New Jersey comptroller’s powers advances after chaotic, unanimous committee vote
Opponents of the bill were frequently silenced, while supporters were allowed to speak as long as they wanted.
Opponents of the bill were frequently silenced, while supporters were allowed to speak as long as they wanted.
Bill to strip New Jersey comptroller’s powers advances after chaotic, unanimous committee vote
Opponents of the bill were frequently silenced, while supporters were allowed to speak as long as they wanted.
jerseyvindicator.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Bill to strip New Jersey comptroller’s powers advances after chaotic, unanimous committee vote
Opponents of the bill were frequently silenced, while supporters were allowed to speak as long as they wanted.
Opponents of the bill were frequently silenced, while supporters were allowed to speak as long as they wanted.