Freedom of speech in #America is just a big lie. Since Jan 25, the #Trump administration has:
- Arrested #activist and permanent #US resident Mahmoud Khalil - a Columbia University graduate known for his pro-Palestinian protests - and threatened to #deport him
- Threatened to remove federal #funding from universities that allowed what Trump called "illegal protests"
- Censored key words on #federal websites and paused related research
Update. "US Funding Cuts Imperil Open Infrastructure Globally"
https://katinamagazine.org/content/article/open-knowledge/2025/US-funding-cuts-imperil-open-infrastructure-globally
"The impacts of funding cuts to research in the US extend far beyond their immediate targets. We see a chain reaction that could indelibly alter the education and research landscape, including the future of open and sustainable research…So what is there to do?… Here are our three specific calls to action…"
Every hour, the #UnitedStates becomes less free & more Nazified
Workers remove #DC #BlackLivesMatter Plaza #mural to avoid funding cuts
Construction workers began removing Washington, DC's #BLM Plaza mural on Monday, after Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to redesign the plaza in response to #Trump & #Republicans threats to cut the city's transportation #funding unless it was renamed.
#law #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #FreedomOfExpression #art #USpol #whitewashing #oppression
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/workers-remove-dc-black-lives-matter-plaza-mural-avoid-funding-cuts-2025-03-11/
But #investors have been unsettled by #Trump’s willingness to impose #tariffs that go even beyond his sweeping campaign promises, w/hundreds of billions in new import duties already levied & trillions more poised to take effect on April 2. The federal govt could shut down this weekend, too, if #Congress doesn’t extend federal #funding.
Support system for Ontarians with developmental disabilities on 'verge of collapse': coalition
Ontario's system to support people with developmental disabilities is "on the verge of collapse" because of low funding, according to several agencies that have formed a coalition to call on the p...
#disability #support #funding #government #Ontario #News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/support-system-for-ontarians-with-developmental-disabilities-on-verge-of-collapse-coalition-1.7435338?cmp=rss
Support system for Ontarians with developmental disabilities on 'verge of collapse': coalition
Ontario's system to support people with developmental disabilities is "on the verge of collapse" because of low funding, according to several agencies that have formed a coalition to call on the p...
#disability #support #funding #government #Ontario #News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/support-system-for-ontarians-with-developmental-disabilities-on-verge-of-collapse-coalition-1.7435338?cmp=rss
Support system for Ontarians with developmental disabilities on 'verge of collapse': coalition
Ontario's system to support people with developmental disabilities is "on the verge of collapse" because of low funding, according to several agencies that have formed a coalition to call on the p...
#disability #support #funding #government #Ontario #News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/support-system-for-ontarians-with-developmental-disabilities-on-verge-of-collapse-coalition-1.7435338?cmp=rss
more bad policy
but given who's making it
stupid's table stakes
measurement tools smashed,
I can stop fearing climate.
weather's threat enough.
Ignore Climate? Bad.
Undo Climate regs? Much worse.
But not track weather???
#haiku #senryu #poem #ShortPoem #SmallPoem #SmallPoems #climate #weather #NOAA #NWS #FEMA #funding #firing #staff #doge #USPolitics #collapse #StarveTheBeast #inefficiency #incompetence #oligarchy
Additional notes follow in reply to this message.
Update. "‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts"
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00704-0
"Thousands of researchers and supporters of science protested in cities across the US and Europe today against actions taken by the administration of US President Donald #Trump to cut the US scientific workforce and slash spending on research worldwide…Marie Walde, a biophysicist at the Roscoff Biological Station in France, posted about a rally she attended…saying: “In solidarity with our colleagues in the US, researchers and citizens all over France are protesting today for science and knowledge as a public good.” … Since taking office in January, Trump and his team have laid off, and in some cases then tried to rehire, thousands from US science agencies, whose jobs touched on nuclear safety, bird flu surveillance, extreme-weather forecasting and more."
Update. "NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants"
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00703-1
"In an unprecedented move, the US #NIH has begun mass terminations of research grants that fund active scientific projects because they no longer meet “agency priorities.” NIH staff members have been instructed to identify and potentially cancel grants for projects studying transgender populations, #gender identity, diversity, equity and inclusion (#DEI) in the scientific workforce, [or] #environmentaljustice…Grants that allot funding to universities in #China and those related to #climate change are also under scrutiny. 'It’s extremely alarming that grants that have been vetted by the scientific community and deemed important and impactful to understand the world are now being cancelled because of political ideology,' says Lisa Fazio, a cognitive psychologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who studies misinformation. 'For all this talk about free speech, this is direct censorship of scientific research.'"
Got the message below in email today from the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa, where I've previously enjoyed some fun MOOC courses, including a great one about writing poetry. But they obviously do a lot of good work beyond that, and so this is just very sad to see. But we should not avert our eyes to the specific effects of the ongoing savaging of the US government and its effects not only on domestic education but international relations. No good can come of this.
«Dear Friends,
We write today with a difficult update. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the International Writing Program (IWP) learned that its grants with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, were being terminated. This notification explained that the IWP’s awards “no longer effectuate agency priorities,” nor align “with agency priorities and national interest.” The immediate result was the cancellation of Between the Lines (the IWP’s summer youth program), and the dissolution of Lines and Spaces Exchanges, Distance Learning courses, and Emerging Voices programs. The overall Fall Residency cohort will be reduced by around half due to the loss of federally funded participants; the IWP’s other long-time funding partners, including a combination of donors, grants, foreign ministries of culture, and NGOs, will continue to support writers.»
For fuller information:
‘People Are Going Silent’: Fearing #Retribution, #Trump Critics Muzzle Themselves
The #silence grows louder every day
Fired #FederalWorkers worried about losing their homes ask not to be quoted by name. #University presidents fearing that millions in federal #funding could disappear are holding their fire. Chief execs alarmed by #tariffs that could hurt their businesses are on mute.
#law #FreeSpeech #democracy #USpol #autocracy #authoritarianism #dissent
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/politics/trump-democracy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=8DC43EDF-B11C-44E1-8C72-A910E200F459
Today I got a letter from my daughter’s school with the results from a lead/PFAS test funded by the EPA—an agency the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to cut funding for.
This sponsorship protects our children from drinking water with lead in it while they are at school.
The EPA provides public safety services by ensuring that the environment where our children live is not putting them in danger. #uspol #epa #protect #SaveTheChildren #funding #Philanthropy #hoosiermast #indiana
While #Trump suggests the federal govt is doing too much on #education, he also demands that it do more. The #ExecutiveOrder is expected to amplify Trump’s call for #schools to excise *illegal discrimination* in the *guise* of #diversity, #equity & #inclusion programs or risk losing federal #funding, which accounts for about 10% of #K12 public #school dollars & a significant share of higher education funding.
…#Republicans have already signaled that cities with policies like #Boston’s may lose federal #funding if they don’t change their approach.
“I don’t get to decide who comes into our country, & where they go after that,” Wu responded. “Our job is to keep people fed, & healthy, & safe when they arrive in our city. And we do that in order to make sure that everyone across our community is safe.”
#immigration #law #SanctuaryCities #Congress #HouseRepublicans #FarRight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtBLuuylv7c
Progressive funders usually only give 1, 3, or 5 year grants.
Right wing funders often fund for 20 years or 30 years or more.
The results are speaking for themselves.
https://nonprofitaf.com/2025/03/thanks-foundations-but-6-or-even-10-payout-is-not-enough/#more-9124
Update. "US science is under threat ― now scientists are fighting back"
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00661-8
"The courts temporarily halted some of the Trump administration’s orders, but a coherent message has broken through: federal support for science is in danger. Gradually, scientists began to stir, Varga says: “They’re realizing now that doing any one thing is better than doing nothing.” That activism is taking many forms...."
Are you preparing your application for our 6th 
Then, Join the TALER Integration Community Hub (TALER ICH)! 
