Katherine Silkaitis
@ksilk.bsky.social
Working in science strategy in Luxembourg. Can also talk about journalism, public policy, music, and cats.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
This is extraordinary.
Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools
November 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
This is extraordinary.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
so currently defectors are:
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
i think this is key. taking the deal would amount to taking the blame. it would turn a clear political victory into an unambiguous defeat.
If the Dems blink after all of this, for a deal that all but ensures no ACA subsidies in 2026 anyway, then what was the purpose of letting the shutdown go for 40 days in the first place?
November 10, 2025 at 12:56 AM
i think this is key. taking the deal would amount to taking the blame. it would turn a clear political victory into an unambiguous defeat.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
I love to call my Senators' offices three times per week and try to cajole them into doing the most elementary political messaging and strategy. This is what it means to be an engaged citizen: leaving a strenuously polite voicemail for a 74yo on a more regular cadence than I talk to my parents.
March 13, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I love to call my Senators' offices three times per week and try to cajole them into doing the most elementary political messaging and strategy. This is what it means to be an engaged citizen: leaving a strenuously polite voicemail for a 74yo on a more regular cadence than I talk to my parents.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
It's really, really good.
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:50 PM
It's really, really good.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference
November 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!
November 9, 2025 at 12:10 AM
So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network
Nature - A high-resolution digital map nearly doubles the known length of the ancient road network.
go.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
Ok this is my favorite so far
November 8, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Ok this is my favorite so far
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
If you donate to your local food bank remember your employer might match your donations and double them. Every month I send $50 and they get $100
November 8, 2025 at 3:16 PM
If you donate to your local food bank remember your employer might match your donations and double them. Every month I send $50 and they get $100
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
A note: when CSI was über popular, universities in the UK ran to create an infinite number of criminal science degrees (from 2 to 285...). When taste moved to the next fad, unis were stuck with thousands of hires. This, in a place with strong tenure and high compensation (US), is a huge liability.
November 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
A note: when CSI was über popular, universities in the UK ran to create an infinite number of criminal science degrees (from 2 to 285...). When taste moved to the next fad, unis were stuck with thousands of hires. This, in a place with strong tenure and high compensation (US), is a huge liability.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
This might be read as dooming, but it actually gives me hope. We, as a society, *can* just all decide to call this all a load of horseshit and get rid of it. It's not impossible. There was a time before all of this, and there will be a time after it.
One thing that strikes me is just how fake all of our problems related to government are
The filibuster isn't in the Constitution, and every single Framer would be apoplectic that it exists.
The government shutdown was invented in 1980
The 9-justices limit was invented to stop the New Deal
The filibuster isn't in the Constitution, and every single Framer would be apoplectic that it exists.
The government shutdown was invented in 1980
The 9-justices limit was invented to stop the New Deal
November 8, 2025 at 3:34 AM
This might be read as dooming, but it actually gives me hope. We, as a society, *can* just all decide to call this all a load of horseshit and get rid of it. It's not impossible. There was a time before all of this, and there will be a time after it.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
I love that the Boston cop slide never got fixed and now people just willingly go down it in tribute. It’s basically a national landmark at this point
November 8, 2025 at 6:15 AM
I love that the Boston cop slide never got fixed and now people just willingly go down it in tribute. It’s basically a national landmark at this point
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
My quote of the day
James Watson
James Watson
November 8, 2025 at 12:14 PM
My quote of the day
James Watson
James Watson
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
well now I’m curious about Paramount’s preferred level of antisemitism
Paramount Has Blacklist for Stars Deemed “Overtly Antisemitic” — World of Reel
It sure looks like the likes of Javier Bardem, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Mark Ruffalo won’t be making movies for Paramount in the foreseeable future.
www.worldofreel.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
well now I’m curious about Paramount’s preferred level of antisemitism
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
⚠️ Breaking: Hochul administration approves 3x rejected, Trump-backed NESE pipeline, the first of its kind in New York in at least a decade.
Story: nysfocus.com/2025/11/07/n...
Story: nysfocus.com/2025/11/07/n...
New York Approves Trump-Backed Gas Pipeline
The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline had been rejected by environmental regulators three times but was revived this spring after talks between Hochul…
nysfocus.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:07 PM
⚠️ Breaking: Hochul administration approves 3x rejected, Trump-backed NESE pipeline, the first of its kind in New York in at least a decade.
Story: nysfocus.com/2025/11/07/n...
Story: nysfocus.com/2025/11/07/n...
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
We know from scientific research that up to 75% of intersex people with varations of sex chromosomes never become aware of this during their life.
You, a boring cis woman, might find yourself in the man section of a DHS holding facility and being charged with fraud just by traveling to the US.
You, a boring cis woman, might find yourself in the man section of a DHS holding facility and being charged with fraud just by traveling to the US.
1. A new proposed rule at the Department of Homeland Security would institute biological sex DNA testing of immigrants and visa applicants if DHS has reason to believe it would be relevant to their immigration status.
Read the latest from writer S. Baum.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Read the latest from writer S. Baum.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
DHS Wants to Make Some Immigrants and Visitors Take a DNA Sex Test
The public comment period for the proposal has begun.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:39 PM
We know from scientific research that up to 75% of intersex people with varations of sex chromosomes never become aware of this during their life.
You, a boring cis woman, might find yourself in the man section of a DHS holding facility and being charged with fraud just by traveling to the US.
You, a boring cis woman, might find yourself in the man section of a DHS holding facility and being charged with fraud just by traveling to the US.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
Gave a talk at my parents’ retirement community to describe how science is done, and what is at stake. There was a ton of interest, and anyone can do this. Get the word out about how science affects everyone. I’m happy to share slides with anyone who asks- just get in touch! youtu.be/BY_SFgi-Cig
Kara Marshall PHD-History of Science in America - Trilogy at Tehaleh 04/27/25
YouTube video by Steve Lawson
youtu.be
May 3, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Gave a talk at my parents’ retirement community to describe how science is done, and what is at stake. There was a ton of interest, and anyone can do this. Get the word out about how science affects everyone. I’m happy to share slides with anyone who asks- just get in touch! youtu.be/BY_SFgi-Cig
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
"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 Katherine Silkaitis
It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life
November 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
Trump just continually shooting our country in the face. This unwarranted (and likely illegal) destruction of Goddard is madness. It jeopardizes the next several decades of space exploration.
Reposting to correct an error: trump admin is quietly gutting 13 buildings and about 100 laboratories at Goddard campus that has been instrumental to Hubble and James Webb telescope missions. Staff say they’ve be locked and told to move equipment. Anything left behind will be thrown away.
NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear
(CNN) — Alarm is growing among federal workers at NASA’s iconic Goddard Space Flight Center’s main campus in Greenbelt, Maryland — the nerve center for groundbreaking missions like the Hubble
www.wkow.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Trump just continually shooting our country in the face. This unwarranted (and likely illegal) destruction of Goddard is madness. It jeopardizes the next several decades of space exploration.
Reposted by Katherine Silkaitis
This is absolutely appalling.
"The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit."
Absolutely pathetic.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit."
Absolutely pathetic.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forests
Decision is bitter blow to Brazil ahead of fund’s launch at Cop30 – and an embarrassment to Prince William
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
This is absolutely appalling.
"The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit."
Absolutely pathetic.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit."
Absolutely pathetic.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...