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Dr. Melody E Valdini

@mevaldini.bsky.social
2.1K followers 376 following 19 posts

Professor of Political Science at Portland State University and Co-Editor of the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. Nerd, morbid optimist, rabid bike enthusiast, and great lover of sandwiches.

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Reposted by Dr. Melody E Valdini
maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
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Dr. Liz Norell @liznorell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Join @cjdenial.bsky.social @josheyler.bsky.social @thetattooedprof.bsky.social and me for a free webinar on Resisting the Use of AI in Education on October 13, 1:00-2:00 pm ET. Register now! olemiss.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Announcing a live webinar on Resisting the Use of AI in Education: Taking a Stand for Our Students and Our Colleagues. Event takes place on October 13, 2026, at 1:00 pm ET. Speakers are Cate Denial (University of Minnesota Rochester), Joshua Eyler (University of Mississippi), Kevin Gannon (Queens University Charlotte), and Liz Norell (University of Mississippi).
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pnwpolicyangel aka Angelita 👼 @pnwpolicyangel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I was on a panel with immigrant women yesterday and one of them explained how it felt to first be elected and be celebrated for your identity, and then for the institutions to turn on you when you actually bring your perspective and ask for change. She described it as going from “pet to threat.” 😮‍💨
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Jason Song Quinn (Comms Open) @hulkhoquinn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Think about Miss Piggy. She lost a best friend and now an ex-lover in matter of 24 hours.
Miss Piggy and Dolly Parton in fancy dresses posing together photo of Tim Curry surrounded by muppets, smiling for a photo. A quote from curry is added “it didn’t go very well. It didn’t survive the shoot. She felt I wasn’t being faithful to her” it’s him discussing his ill fated affair with miss piggy
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Fischer 🛠️🚇 @fischer.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
pham’s law: for every problem in oregon there is a khanh pham bill that would have fixed it
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Liam Hogan @liamhogan.id.au · 02/07/2026
Ad Rock: you can disagree with the current All: POPE MCA: but if you push his buttons then you’re a All: DOPE Mike D: ordain yourself a bishop and you’re All: SCHISMATIC Ad Rock: excommunication is All: AUTOMATIC
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Jamey Evenstar @jameyevenstar.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Is it just me or does Dundon seem to have near disdain for this city? He acts like keeping the Blazers here is a sacrifice. Like Portland isn’t called Sportland for a reason. This is a mind game. He wants us to grovel. #ripcitynotripoff www.wweek.com/news/city/20...
wweek.com
Dundon Offers Brief Remarks and Elected Officials Urge Moda Center Renovation at Business Summit
As Dundon spoke on Wednesday afternoon, the Portland City Council across the Willamette River held a work session on the Moda Center’s future.
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
This was rough to read because it’s clear the CSU system is one of the places that could make a huge difference in a ton of lives but is struggling and they’re hoping that AI will be the miracle they need, when the real problem is they’re chronically underfunded.
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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
UC Berkeley Law creates new AI policy that bans AI for "conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, translating, or editing any work submitted for credit" or exams because "thinking remains the sine qua non of good lawyering (and of a quality legal education)." That's what I'm talking about.
Rule:
The use of AI is prohibited for aid in conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising,
translating, or editing any work submitted for credit. AI use is prohibited for any use for
any purpose in any exam situation. Students may not upload course
materials—including assignments, readings, slides, class recordings, or other class
content—into generative AI systems. AI can be used for research on papers ONLY for the
limited purpose of identifying sources, such as cases, statutes, or secondary sources.
Students are responsible for the accuracy of their research and all other aspects of their
submitted work. Citations to sources that do not exist will raise a presumption of
prohibited AI use
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Palma Polyak @palmapolyak.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
After 12 years, the EU flag is back on Hungary’s Parliament building — the new Speaker’s very first decision. A happy Schuman Day indeed.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 04/05/2026
A big study that was cited as evidence that text generators are good for students has been retracted: www.linkedin.com/posts/ben-wi... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Retraction Note: The effect of ChatGPT on students’ learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking: insights from a meta-analysis
Jin Wang & Wenxiang Fan 
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 13, Article number: 528 (2026) Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 06 May 2025

Retraction Note to: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04787-y, published online 06 May 2025

The Editor has decided to retract this paper owing to concerns regarding discrepancies in the meta-analysis. These issues ultimately undermine the confidence the Editor can place in the validity of the analysis and resulting conclusions. The authors have not responded to correspondence regarding this retraction.
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Kids should be learning that AI output isn’t trustworthy, where it really comes from, and how it’s disrupting our ability to tell what’s real. They shouldn’t be learning that AI will make them more efficient or do their work for them because it can’t. That would be propaganda, not education
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
To understand what the Supreme Court is doing, you have to recognize that this is how authoritarians in Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela consolidated power. Scholars call it autocratic legalism. The Court isn’t complicit. It’s an active participant. Roberts is following a script.
The conservative majority has learned to use anti-discrimination language as the vehicle for preserving discrimination. Justice Kavanaugh’s suggestion that remedies for racism must have an “end point” inverts the logic of the Reconstruction Amendments. They were written to empower Congress to act against racial domination, not to set an expiration date on equality. This will be the Roberts Court’s legacy: using the Constitution not to expand freedom, but to protect established hierarchies. The Court has simply found a new minority to protect—not racial or religious minorities, but a political party whose power endures through structural advantage, even when it commands fewer votes.Where the Court has shown the greatest deference is to power itself, culminating in the decision granting Donald Trump sweeping legal immunity for “official acts”—a ruling that defies global democratic norms, where dozens of presidents and prime ministers have been prosecuted and convicted of crimes in recent years. The Court is thus working on two fronts: shielding the leader of the anti-democratic movement from accountability while simultaneously dismantling the electoral rules that allow the majority to vote his party out.
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 05/04/2026
Jeff Bezos has $222 billion. If he paid my wealth tax this year, we could fund insulin in America for everyone who needs it plus free school lunch for every kid in Texas—and have plenty of money left over. And Bezos would still have $215 billion dollars to spare.
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
If we made the green energy transition this war would be unthinkable and these authoritarians wouldn’t be in power — not in the US, not in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia, not in Russia. Hydrocarbons are killing our freedom and just plain killing us.
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Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
What cities should do: - Double down on active transportation infrastructure and transit, not roads and highways. - Fund e-bike rebate programs. - Switch municipal fleets, where possible, to cargo bikes. (Parks department vehicles, for example.) - Expand commuter tax credits to encourage cycling.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
I can’t believe you lefty Luddites hate tech so much that you embrace mRNA vaccines, heat pumps, electric bikes, hybrid work, renewable power (and awesome advancements in storage), space telescopes, and hot/cold running water but reject the planet destroying plagiarism enrich the worst people bots!
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Hildur Knútsdóttir @hildur.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland. And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 09/02/2026
Letters from children detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
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Novelty Cistern @noveltycistern.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
It does really hit you that American artists of color continue to make these aesthetically incredible, thematically rich works of art and the white supremacists that rule this country are just complete dullards
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Amelia Shevenell @ashevenell.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Trust me, the woman of academia are not at all surprised by the number of academic men orbiting Epstein.
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 30/01/2026
❤️
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.
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Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Wise words from WEB DuBois to gird us today: "It would be shame and cowardice to surrender this glorious land and its opportunities for civilization and humanity to the thugs and lynchers, the mobs and profiteers, the monopolists & gamblers who today choke its soul and steal its resources."
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just Dave @justdave.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
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Ryan Nanni @celebrityhottub.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
one of the things i hate most about this persistent line of argument is the implication that any of these actions would be fine if groceries were cheaper
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mitch (he/him) @drmitchpdx.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
the real doom loop is service cuts to our transit system. if you cut frequency on an already infrequent system, it’s going to hurt ridership, which will lead to more cuts and fare hikes, which further hurt ridership. all of that of course adds future liabilities to the rest of the transport system
trimet.org
Proposed 2026 Transit Service Changes
Weigh in on proposed service efficiencies and cuts for Aug. 23, 2026, as TriMet reduces spending.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 06/01/2026
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
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No More Freeways @nomorefreewayspdx.com · 07/12/2025
Action Alert! Join No More Freeways in demanding that the Oregon Transportation Commission vote to redirect Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion funding to serve ODOT's myriad other needs. Testimony due by Tuesday - RT and help us spread the word! www.nomorefreewayspdx.com/option3
Action Alert! Tell the Oregon Transportation Commission to redirect Rose Quarter Freeway Expansion funding to cover ODOT's statewide needs!

Submit written testimony ASAP - by Tuesday Dec 9, 12pm
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/11/2025
it is almost as if accommodating and conceding to far right ideas legitimizes them and signals to voters that the far right is a legitimate choice for governance
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Portland City Councilor Jamie Dunphy @councilordunphy.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Three of my neighbors in district 1 were killed in three separate car collisions last night. We need action now to reduce pedestrian and cyclist deaths. YOU need to do more to improve your own driving. Do better. Keep your neighbors alive.
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Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 30/10/2025
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.
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G. Willow Wilson @gwillow.me · 23/10/2025
On Threads, the usual suspects are telling ppl about to lose SNAP benefits to just start a garden. As a gardener, I had to laugh. You need at LEAST an acre of land to feed a family of 4. Start-up costs are enormous. But yes, subsistence farming on the balcony of your rental apartment is the answer
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Eva Anduiza @evaanduiza.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
We have a new paper out with @gricoc.bsky.social in @jwpp.bsky.social (this time I swear I am going to post the right link): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Sexism and the Gender Gap in Support for the Radical Right
Using survey data from Spain we show that the gender gap in the probability of voting for the radical-right party Vox is mainly due to men having higher levels of modern sexism than women. We find ...
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Ceri Fowler @cerifowler.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Delighted to say I'm chairing a section at ECPG 2026 with @jess-smith.bsky.social @rosieshorrocks.bsky.social @gefjonoff.bsky.social and @liranharsgor.bsky.social on Elections, Parties, and Voters! Please send your abstracts in - full info here: ecpr.eu/Events/Event... @ecprgender.bsky.social
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Dr. Jennifer Krauel @freetailed.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
I feel seen
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 12/07/2025
The white students who are struggling to make ends meet are not struggling because Black and immigrant students got into our university. They are struggling because of a shitty social safety net & high tuition because people like Andreesen don't pay sufficient taxes/the state doesn't pay its share.
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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
If there is one lesson to draw from the history of fascism in the interwar period in Europe, it is this: Democracy falls if and when mainstream conservatives and centrist/center-right elites decide to make common cause with extremists because they consider the “radical Left” the more acute threat.
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POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 02/07/2025
Ukraine warns that yesterday’s US military aid halt — the second since Trump took office in January — is positive news for Russia as troops rapidly advance.
ow.ly
Trump administration military aid halt will only encourage Russia, Ukraine warns
Ukraine warns that slowing weapons deliveries “would only encourage the aggressor to continue war and terror.”
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Charles Johnson @charles.littlegreenfootballs.com · 01/07/2025
I know the media is going to unthinkingly start using “Alligator Alcatraz,” but it’s disgusting and sadistic and I intend to call it what it is, a fucking concentration camp, and fuck those people who are doing this and giving it a cutesy name.
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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
KBJ, in dissent, calls today's ruling "profoundly dangerous" and an "existential threat to the rule of law." She expresses her "deep disillusionment" with the court and suggests that the conservative supermajority continues to crown Trump a king above law. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
The majority cannot deny that our Constitution was designed to split the powers of a monarch between the governing branches to protect the People. Nor is it debatable that
the role of the Judiciary in our constitutional scheme is to
ensure fidelity to law. But these core values are strangely
absent from today’s decision. Focusing on inapt comparisons to impotent English tribunals, the majority ignores the
Judiciary’s foundational duty to uphold the Constitution
and laws of the United States. The majority’s ruling thus
not only diverges from first principles, it is also profoundly
dangerous, since it gives the Executive the go-ahead to
sometimes wield the kind of unchecked, arbitrary power the
Founders crafted our Constitution to eradicate. The very
institution our founding charter charges with the duty to
ensure universal adherence to the law now requires judges
to shrug and turn their backs to intermittent lawlessness.
With deep disillusionment, I dissent.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 26/06/2025
The world is drowning in plastic. Experts say we need to stop making so much. But the plastics industry is peddling a "solution" that works like magic. Don't be fooled. (Published June 2024)
propublica.org
The Delusion of “Advanced” Plastic Recycling
The plastics industry has heralded a type of chemical recycling it claims could replace new shopping bags and candy wrappers with old ones — but not much is being recycled at all, and this method…
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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
i am simply asking the press to cover the government sending masked thugs to rip people from their crying children and shipping them to a foreign concentration camp with the same ferocity they cover a trans kid playing jv tennis in sheboygan
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Street Sharks Explained 🇨🇺🇵🇸 @gaykwon.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Clear justification for e-bike crackdowns in NY.
Chart showing pedestrian injuries from e-bikes and cars/trucks according to NYPD data. 9,610 injuries were caused by cars/trucks while only 37 were caused by e-bikes.
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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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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Two things are true at the same time: The regime is encountering a lot more resistance than they know how to handle, they are vulnerable. Yet they are also dangerous, controlling the coercive powers of the state, fueled by a paranoid, conspiratorial siege mentality that pushes them to escalate.
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Joshua Holland @joshuaholland.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
It’s not just that they normalize political violence. They also accuse the left of engaging in mostly imaginary violence, which gives unhinged right-wingers justification to “retaliate.”
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