iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It wasn’t flippant and I may be more hopeful than analytical…

Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

If these guys have to govern (they can’t break the constitution on a state level) let’s see them deal with the fact that 25% of doctors and who knows how many nurses and care workers in their state are immigrants -if they were to leave the older residents are f$(&ked.

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Merike Blofield @merikeblofield.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I’m not ready to bury social democracy yet. Yes, a sizeable share of Europeans are ethno-nationalist -they probably always were- & there’s a lot to be pessimistic and depressed about, but lets keep in mind: in the places where we have *more* diverse communities, the AFD has *less* support.

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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 · 11/02/2026

Done; your work is a public service to people around the world!

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

I guess just having nothing for Finland is the best way to irritate Finns

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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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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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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 · 25/05/2025

Matthias and I can’t say for sure but it very much looks like Berlin.

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