iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Merike Blofield

Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 12/08/2026

How much income would it take from the richest 10% of people in the world to match that of the poorest 10%? Our colleague Pablo Arriagada calculated the answer using data from the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform.

Pie chart of income shares where a 1.9% slice of post-tax income from the richest 10% equals the entire annual income of the poorest 10%. Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2025). License: CC BY.

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Colleagues! We are recruiting a scholar of Latin American politics, doing excellent & policy relevan research. If this soudns like you & you are interested in pursuing a career in Europe, this 3+3 post-doc might be the perfect opportunity. www.giga-hamburg.de/en/career/po...?

giga-hamburg.de

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (m/f/d) in Latin American Politics

The GIGA seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (m/f/d) in Latin American Politics Applications are invited for a full-time position, with an initial contract of three years and the possibili...

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Reposted by Merike Blofield

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Please share. 💔

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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

My god, I did not expect from the headline (which was bad enough on its face) just *how* bad this situation actually was. You have to read the article to realize it.

nytimes.com

Couple Says ICE Agents Gassed Them as They Drove With 6 Children

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Dear Hamburg based friends and colleagues, Come join us for an incisive roundtable event Thursday at noon, where our regional experts discuss the global political and strategic Implications of US Intervention in Venezuela. Details below @giga-hamburg.de www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/co...

giga-hamburg.de

Global Implications of US Intervention in Venezuela

The consequences of the US administration’s military intervention in Venezuela to capture former president Nicolás Maduro, and Trump’s pledge to “run” the country indefinitely via interim president De...

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I guess having nothing is the best way to irritate Finns? 🤣

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Reposted by Merike Blofield

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Some Head Start early childhood programs are being told by the federal government to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications or face denial. The words include "accessible," "belong," "Black," "disability," "female," "minority," "trauma," "tribal" and "women."

npr.org

Head Start centers told to avoid 'disability,' 'women' and more in funding requests

New court documents reveal a list of nearly 200 words or phrases the Trump administration told Head Start programs it does not want to see in their funding requests.

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Adrian Monck @amonck.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent

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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Well done! A Massachusetts church displayed an “ICE was here” sign in its Nativity scene.

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Karen Sue Waters @karensuew.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Nailed. It. This is the kind of man you want leading your country.

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Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · 30/11/2025

If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime. If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder. It’s that simple.

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Sara Hobolt @sarahobolt.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

🚨 LSE Assistant Professor in Political Science 🚨 We’re hiring a tenure-track assistant professor - any area of empirical political science - to join our wonderful Government Dept @lsegovernment.bsky.social Any questions, please reach out to me 📣 Please share! 📣 jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Paterson NJ is ~65% Hispanic, ~20% Black, ~10% white. I’m sure that’s not at all a coincidence. Democracy literally dies in bomb threats.

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

So many own goals. Once again: higher ed is one of our most successful exports. We export more higher ed to China than soybeans. And yet Trump and the mini-Trumps are deliberately destroying the quality of our product

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

When idiot Ron Schneider was born in 1963, the infant mortality rate was 29/1,000. It is now close to 5/1,000. So, no, children were NOT healthier when he was a kid. And he was, clearly, dropped on his head.

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Magna Inacio @magna-inacio.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Prêmio @alacipcp.bsky.social Melhor tese de doutorado em Ciência Politica. Vamos divulgar???

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I am excited for this challenge @GIGA, where our goal is to produce policy-relevant social scientific research for the benefit of society. This mission is esp. important now & I look forward to working w//colleagues in & outside GIGA @redpolitologas.bsky.social www.giga-hamburg.de/en/press/mer...

giga-hamburg.de

Merike Blofield Assumes Directorship of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies

Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield took up her position as Director of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies on 1 September 2025. Her appointment will strengthen the social scientific study of Latin Am...

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Roberto Baldwin @strngwys.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Important to remember that everyone involved in renaming the DoD to the Department of War is afraid to take the subway.

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Dana Houle @danahoule.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

When I worked in the Michigan Senate Repubs would let us know they had a family member w a particular medical problem, bc they would vote w their caucus on nearly everything but the rare times they voted w Dems it was on amendments about a particular medical problem www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...

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Hildur Knútsdóttir @hildur.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

And every year they crown the "Tax King" and the "Tax Queen", i.e. the man and woman that paid the most taxes in Iceland that year.

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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 06/08/2025

Two months after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, in June 2022, Idaho’s trigger ban outlawing most abortions—one of the strictest nationwide—took effect. According to a new peer-reviewed paper study, Idaho lost more than a third of its OBs—94 of 268 total—afterwards.

motherjones.com

Idaho lost one in three obstetricians after its abortion ban

New research confirms: Crackdowns on reproductive rights have harmful ripple effects across local health care.

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Reposted by Merike Blofield

Politikwissenschaft Universität Hamburg @politikuhh.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Die Politikwissenschaft an der Universität Hamburg droht eine Professur für Internationale Beziehungen zu verlieren. Bitte teilt und unterschreibt den Protestbrief auf uhh-ib-erhalten.de

Protest gegen die Streichung einer IB-Professur an der Universität Hamburg

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Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

STAGGERING: This new study of 133 countries is the first to estimate the impact of all USAID’s work. In 2 decades, it has saved *92M* lives. Current cuts, if not reversed, are forecast to cost up to *14M* lives thru 2030. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

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Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible. www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

politico.com

RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort

Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

The New York Times has really lost its way…

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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Please read and share this statement from Sophie and Colin Hortman, children of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. (via WCCO reporter Caroline Cummings on X)

"We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can't believe they are gone. Their love for us was boundless. We miss them so much.
"We want everyone to know that we are both safe and with loved ones. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received, and we appreciate your respect for our family's privacy as we grieve.
"Our family would like to thank law enforcement for their swift action that saved others and for the coordination across communities that led to the arrest of the man who murdered our parents. We especially would like to thank the officers who were first on the scene to our parents' home and their heroic attempts to rescue our mom and dad.
"Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us, their friends, their colleagues and co-workers, and every single person who knew and loved them.
"If you would like to honor the memory of Mark and Melissa, please consider the following:
• Plant a tree.
• Visit a local park and make use of their amenities, especially a bike trail.
• Pet a dog. A golden retriever is ideal, but any will do.
• Tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it.
• Bake something — bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa, and share it with someone.
• Try a new hobby and enjoy learning something.
• Stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace.
"Hope and resilience are the enemy of fear. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together. Hold your loved ones a little closer. Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect. The best way to honor our parents' memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else."

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Ed Burmila @edburmila.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

When a cabinet member announces "We are using the military to liberate an American city from its elected leaders," where do you go from there. What is left to say. The idea of that being anything short of a near-universal "Wait, what the fuck is going on" moment proves how far we've backslid.

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Nikki McCann Ramírez @nikkimcr.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Padilla: If this is how DHS responds to a senator with a question you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

This story exemplifies the reason people are outraged at ICE. This guy did nothing wrong. He broke not a single law. He was a guard at a base that housed US troops. He came here legally through humanitarian parole. He had an asylum application pending. Yet the Trump admin had ICE grab him anyway.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

How bad will it be? Catastrophic. Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come. But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget. Speak up now before it is too late. (inflation adjusted $-s below)

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

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Reposted by Merike Blofield

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Our letter condemning the genocide in #Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire. A great crime is being committed, and we cannot stand by. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

theguardian.com

Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan among 380 writers and groups to call Gaza war ‘genocide’

Letter also signed by Hanif Kureishi and Russell T Davies urges ceasefire and unrestricted distribution of aid

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Timely, relevant and well-analyzed policy brief by @johannapieper.bsky.social -check it out!

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Jake Christie @jakechristie.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

a Chris Murphy-retweeting pope. The ResistLibs really do have the Mandate of Heaven

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

The new Pope didn't tweet once in 2024. In 2025, he's posted 5 times, in which he: - Criticized JD Vance's views on Catholicism and Jesus - Posted an article opposing Trump's immigration policies - Retweeted twice about the Pope's health - Retweeted a criticism of Trump & Bukele's laughter at KAG.

Robert Prevost reposted
Rocco Palmo
@roccopalmo
·
Apr 14
As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident (https://bit.ly/3ROMjnP), once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” https://bit.ly/4j700KN

Robert Prevost reposted
Synod.va
@Synod_va
·
Feb 25
We continue praying together the Holy Rosary for the health of #PopeFrancis this evening at 9 PM in St. Peter’s Square, The prayer today will be presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Louis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. #pope #PopeFrancis

Robert Prevost reposted
Synod.va
@Synod_va
·
Feb 15
#PrayForThePope #GoodNews: The Holy See Press Office has announced that Pope Francis' health is improving. Let us pray together for his full recovery
@franciscus
Be strong, We are looking forward to seeing you again soon at St. Peter's Square.
#WeLoveOurPope

Robert Prevost
@drprevost
·
Feb 13
Pope Francis’ letter, JD Vance’s ‘ordo amoris’ and what the Gospel asks of all of us on immigration
From americamagazine.org
Robert Prevost
@drprevost
·
Feb 3
JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others https://ncronline.org/node/292716 via
@NCRonline

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Francesca Fiorentini @franifio.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

The El Faro reporting is how we know that among those kidnapped by the U.S. and sent to CECOT are some actual gang members who were set to be indicted in the U.S. and possibly testify to Bukele's deals with them. I did a deep dive about this here: youtu.be/AB8ZREZNLOQ?...

youtu.be

Deported Gang Member Had Dirt on Bukele

YouTube video by The Bitchuation Room (with Francesca Fiorentini)

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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Please highlight this story. ICE stormed into the wrong house, trashed the place, and made women/girls stand outside in the rain in their underwear. ICE also stole phones, laptops, and cash savings from the family, who moved to OKC two weeks ago. kfor.com/news/local/w...

kfor.com

'We're citizens!': Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren't suspects

A woman says her family’s fresh start in Oklahoma turned into a nightmare after federal immigration agents raided their home, taking their phones, laptops, and life savings – even though they were …

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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

🚨NEW: Four weeks ago, Trump terminated funding for legal services to support unaccompanied children. Now, children as young as 4 years old are having to represent themselves in court when facing deportation. How does America come back from this?

Gothamist

In shelters across New York, migrant children sit in front of computer and TV screens, appearing virtually in real court proceedings. They swivel in chairs, walk in circles and play with their hair — while immigration judges address them on the screens in front of them.
"The reason we're here is because the government of the United States wants you to leave the United States," Judge Ubaid ul-Haq, presiding from a courtroom on Varick Street, told a group of about a dozen children on a recent morning on Webex.
"It's my job to figure out if you have to leave," ul-Haq continued. "It's also my job to figure out if you should stay."
The parties included a 7-year-old boy, wearing a shirt emblazoned with a pizza cartoon, who spun a
toy windmill while the judge spoke. There was an
8-year-old girl and her 4-year-old sister, in a tie-dye shirt, who squeezed a pink plushy toy and stuffed it into her sleeve. None of the children were accompanied by parents or attorneys, only shelter workers who helped them log on to the hearing.

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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 22/04/2025

Enforced disappearances have come to the United States. Hear from people who have fought them in Latin America. A week from Wednesday. Happening online. Join the discussion 4/30 at 2pm Eastern. Or bookmark it and watch later. Announcement: bit.ly/apr-30-disap... Register: bit.ly/apr-30-lessons

EVENT FLYER

WOLA / NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE

WEBINAR
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2025 2:00 - 3:30PM EDT

REGISTER ON ZOOM

THE WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE PRESENT:
LESSONS FROM LATIN AMERICA AS THE UNITED STATES RECKONS WITH ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE

Speakers:

MERCEDES DORETTI
Executive Director
Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team

JUAN E. MÉNDEZ
Professor of Human Rights Law in Residence Washington College of Law, American University

MARCELA TURATI
Investigative Journalist

MORE INFORMATION & RSVP: www.wola.org/events

Moderated by:
KATE DOYLE
National Security Archive

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Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Before the election, I warned that there is no safe haven under authoritarianism. If they can ship Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a foreign prison—accused of no crime, with no trial—they can do it to anyone. Americans of conscience must stand against this now.

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