David Rigby
rigbydavid.bsky.social
David Rigby
@rigbydavid.bsky.social
Research faculty at ISR Landscapes Lab - Interests: population health, policing, immigration, computational social science, astronomy, soup dumplings.
Reposted by David Rigby
This is huge!! Congratulations & gratitude to everyone involved in this case and, of course, @aaup.org!
October 1, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by David Rigby
A weedy, but potentially important, question about federal pensions:

If you're a federal law enforcement officer, at what point

1. Can you retire w the biggest pension?
2. What percent of your pay is it?

And this is the KEY question:

3. How is that amount calculated?

Here's why (3) matters:
July 17, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
Beyond vital political stakes, it also looks like admin misread the narrative, too. They tried to pitch “MS-13 illegal” and assumed story would end there.

Instead it’s become a daily, episodic, human-interest and court drama about a wrongfully deported loving husband, union-member and caregiver.
I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.
April 18, 2025 at 1:51 AM
More immigration malevolence:

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons says we should treat detention and deportation "like a business."

He envisions putting vans on the street detaining people "like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Ice director says deportations should be run like ‘Amazon Prime for human beings’
Todd Lyons said he wanted US immigration agency to be ‘like a business’ in its deportation process
www.theguardian.com
April 9, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
You may be fearing your 401k is no longer enough for you to retire. But with all the cuts to NIH and Medicare you also won't live as long. So the policies are integrated.
April 7, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Reposted by David Rigby
Michigan's decision to roll back DEI has to be understood as part of a larger effort to force universities into ideological submission.

From @scottlgreer.bsky.social and I in the Detroit Free Press.
University of Michigan caved to Donald Trump on DEI programs | Opinion
Trump's attacks on DEI at University of Michigan is part of a larger deployment of misinformation and government threats to weaken universities.
www.freep.com
April 5, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Relevant to UM's DEI moves

"[if we] preemptively change our language...or demonstrate to both Trump’s agents and the public that we will fold under the slightest pressure, we will find ourselves, perhaps not so long from now, without any dignity left to protect."
www.chronicle.com/article/what...
Opinion | What Autocrats Want From Academics: Servility
In 1931, Italian scholars were made to take loyalty oaths. Will that happen to us?
www.chronicle.com
March 30, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world.


I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.
March 19, 2025 at 7:32 PM
This is despicable, chilling, indefensible behavior. Universities are being threatened with funding cuts and surveillance tools are being used to target student activists for retaliation-apparently including deportation-on college campuses. This cruelty must be challenged. zeteo.com/p/breaking-d...
BREAKING: DHS Detains Palestinian Student from Columbia Encampment, Advocates Say
Agents told him his student visa was revoked. But he had a green card. Agents then said that was revoked too.
zeteo.com
March 10, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by David Rigby
NEW: The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep funding frozen at the NIH - a move that some legal scholars say is illegal.

Federal Register notices are blocked, so no grant-review sessions can be scheduled.

All the gritty details here, and a short 🧵:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order
The Trump administration is exploiting a loophole to keep a funding freeze in place, leaving researchers in limbo.
www.nature.com
February 20, 2025 at 8:27 PM
"In the meantime, popular pressure... tells the actors involved what side the people are on. We are the ultimate source of legitimacy. Those in [power may not follow] “the law.” Remind them of their obligation to the people.

Verdict: Self coup, in-progress, success still unknown"
shorturl.at/3Mysh
Is It a Coup?
It is bad, it is illegal, and it is a self-coup.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 14, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by David Rigby
I took a shot at figuring out how much money each state stands to lose in a single year if the NIH fixes the indirect cost rate at 15%. 🧵
February 9, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This post is a good explainer about how the recently announced change to federal research funding will limit research innovation, devastate University budgets, and harm local economies.
February 10, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
I ballparked estimates of a 15% cap on NIH indirects based on awards granted in 2024 (which is different from funded in 2024). My numbers are less than NIH's, but still pretty devastating, including $250 million loss for North Carolina institutions. nih-funding-direct.vercel.app
February 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
Absolutely devastating. 😞
February 8, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by David Rigby
The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, a great org, asks individuals & orgs to sign their letter requesting Congress act to restore data that has been removed & ensure a similar purge does not reoccur.
#EconSky #PolicySky #sociology #PoliSky
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
February 4, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
"Here surely lies sociology's distinctively
public purpose: to represent humanity's interest in containing the unbridled tyranny of the market and
state." May others go forward in memory of Michael Burawoy. www.asanet.org/michael-bura...
Michael Burawoy | American Sociological Association
Michael BurawoyPresidential Address - Video, PDF
www.asanet.org
February 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Clear/frightening writing about Musk's payment system coup from @epopppp.bsky.social in @liberalcurrents.com

"Having a president—or, even more so, an unelected billionaire—hold direct, granular control of nearly seven trillion dollars is power beyond the Founders’ wildest dreams."

Worth a read!
Personal Discretion Over the Treasury's Payments System Means the End of Democracy
If the Court and federal workers fail to stop Elon Musk, we are heading for authoritarianism.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 4, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
Thanks to @lpeblog.bsky.social for the invitation to write about what policy scholars should do if "policy" is permanently broken. There are lots of good answers, but we can't afford to ignore the question.
In This Brave New World, Does Scholarship Still Matter?
If the recent past is no longer a useful guide to seeking change in the present, what good is policy-adjacent scholarship?
lpeproject.org
January 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by David Rigby
I am begging the national media to start taking this seriously.

Stop buying the claims that the framing of "temporary" or "pause."

They are altering the review processes of federally funded scientific research from merit-based peer review processes to political screening by ideologues.
NEW — OMB temporarily pauses all agency grants and loans programs.

Per copy of memo: "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve."
January 28, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Reposted by David Rigby
New database alert! "A national data set of historical US sundown towns for quantitative analysis", based on work by @rigbydavid.bsky.social and many Landscapes Labs collaborators is now available! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A national data set of historical US sundown towns for quantitative analysis - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - A national data set of historical US sundown towns for quantitative analysis
www.nature.com
January 23, 2025 at 8:23 PM