iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 21/09/2026

What happened in the 1,000 years between Ptolemy & Copernicus? 🧪🔭 People never stopped looking up. Join us Oct. 17 for a new Learn@ASP workshop exploring astronomy’s Islamic Golden Age — and a richer story of how humanity came to know the cosmos. 🌍 ⁠Register 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬: bit.ly/Islamic-Gold...

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 19/09/2026

Bring the Universe to your community. The @aas.org Shapley Visiting Lectures Program brings astronomers to schools, libraries, planetariums, observatories & community groups across North America. $400 Honorarium provided.🧪 Apply to host in 2027 by Oct. 2: bit.ly/ShapleyLectures #Astronomy #SciComm

Bring the Universe to your community.

The AAS Shapley Visiting Lectures Program brings astronomers to schools, libraries, planetariums, observatories & community groups across North America.

Apply to host in 2027 by Oct. 2:
bit.ly/ShapleyLectures

#Astronomy #SciComm

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 31/08/2026

From across one small world, we gathered beneath the same sky. They came for community, learning & connection. They left with inspiration, hope, ideas, love & gratitude. Thank you #StreamAlive, @astrosociety.org’s Official Audience Engagement Partner, for helping #Astronomy250 bring us together.🔭🧪

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 28/08/2026

Day 2 of #Astronomy250 begins! Yesterday reminded us that no single culture owns the cosmos, nor the stories we tell beneath it. Today we ask: Who gets to discover the Universe — and how have new ways of seeing transformed what humanity knows? The conversation continues. The Universe awaits. 🧪🔭👨🏾‍🔬

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 19/08/2026

One week until #Astronomy@250! Nancy Grace Roman helped build an astronomical future she would never live to see. On Thurs, Aug. 27, join us for a FREE celebration of her life, legacy, vision — and what one generation can make possible for the next. 🔭🧪👩‍🔬 🌌 5pm PT / 8pm ET 🔗 bit.ly/nancygraceroman

One week until #Astronomy@250!

Nancy Grace Roman helped build an astronomical future she would never live to see.

On Thursday, Aug. 27, join us for a FREE celebration of her life, legacy, vision — and what one generation can make possible for the next. 🔭🧪👩‍🔬

🌌 5pm PT / 8pm ET
🔗 Registration: bit.ly/nancygraceroman

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 11/08/2026

Before a telescope carried her name, Dr. Nancy Grace Roman imagined a future in which humanity could see the Universe from space. 🧪🔭👩‍🔬 On Aug. 27, join the @astrosociety.org for a FREE, public celebration of the life & legacy of #NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy. Register: 🔗 bit.ly/nancygraceroman

Before a telescope carried her name, Nancy Grace Roman imagined a future in which humanity could see the Universe from space.

On Aug. 27, join us for a FREE celebration of the life & legacy of NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy.

Register free: bit.ly/nancygraceroman

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 07/08/2026

For thousands of years, we’ve looked up and asked the same questions: Where did we come from? Where are we going? Tonight at 10p ET/PT Cosmic Vistas debuts on #BBCEarth. I’m honored to have served as science consultant and on-camera expert for Cosmic Vistas, premiering this week on BBC Earth.🔭🧪

We are made of star stuff, and our species has always been compelled to explore. I was privileged to help tell that story as science consultant and on-camera expert for Cosmic Vistas. I hope you’ll join us on the journey. Premieres tonight at 10p ET/PT on BBC Earth.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 26/06/2026

When policymakers argue that the nation cannot afford to invest in science and education, it is worth remembering that 𝙗𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 23/06/2026

The sky has always invited questions. What if astronomy education began there? Teaching Astronomy Through Inquiry starts 6/24. Explore how students can investigate celestial patterns, collect evidence, & discover the universe through inquiry not memorization. learn.astrosociety.org/products/tea...

The sky has always invited questions.

What if astronomy education began there?

Teaching Astronomy Through Inquiry starts June 24. Explore how students can investigate celestial patterns, collect evidence, and discover the universe through inquiry—not memorization.

Registration still open:
https://learn.astrosociety.org/products/teaching-astronomy-through-inquiry-student-centered-investigations-with-modern-sky-tools

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 22/06/2026

Some patterns take a generation to discover. Every 18.6 years, the Moon reaches the limits of its journey across our horizon. Long before telescopes and written records, people noticed. The cycle belongs to the Moon. Recognizing it belongs to us. 🔭🧪 🔗 skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-bl...

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 11/05/2026

There is no more knowledgeable, passionate, & LOUD fan base in hockey than Montreal. It’s been 33 years since the #Habs last drank from Lord Stanley’s mug. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a marathon. There is still a lot of hockey to be played, but I can’t imagine the pandemonium if the Canadiens win!

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 24/04/2026

250 years of looking up. 250 years of asking questions that changed who we are. As part of #America250 festivities, @astrosociety.org’s annual meeting will explore how #astronomy has shaped not just what we know but how we see ourselves in the #universe. 🧪🔭 📅 Save the date. 🔗 bit.ly/Astro250-Dates

As part of the America 250, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific annual meeting will take a step back — and look forward.

For 250 years, astronomy in the United States has not only expanded our understanding of the universe, but has helped shape education, culture, and our collective sense of place in the cosmos.

This year’s meeting will bring together astronomers, educators, historians, and science communicators to reflect on that legacy through four thematic strands — and to ask what the next chapter of astronomy should become.

We invite contributions across research, education, and public engagement.

Save the date and join us in this moment of reflection and possibility.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 22/02/2026

Why am I now in tears???!! This has to be the sweetest, kindest, and a gesture that transcends sports that I’ve ever seen. In a world right now that is filled with so much evil, darkness, and injustice, this one act shows there will always be light, hope, and love. Well done Team USA. ♥️♥️♥️

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 22/02/2026

Sometimes the hockey gods want a good laugh…

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 31/01/2026

In a season that teaches us to brace, I choose to open. To love in public. To find light in small, ordinary miracles. To remain tender in a world addicted to cruelty. Love is not weakness. It is the only force I know that still bends the future toward hope.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 24/12/2025

Those with loved ones this time of year - hold them close. Those who are missing someone — that’s okay too. All of us, in our own way, know this: the light is growing longer, and the dark is slowly letting go. 📸credit: @ollycostello.bsky.social

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 11/11/2025

11:11 on 11/11. Every year in school we read In Flanders Fields — a poem that still stops me cold. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row… We are the Dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. — John McCrae (1915) Lest we forget. 🇨🇦 #RemembranceDay

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 09/10/2025

Miss game 4 of the #BlueJays tonight? No need to check the box score. Here’s Big Papi and Vladdy to break it down for you. This will be my ringtone for the next week. Just sayin’. #LetsGoBlueJays #ALCS #YankeesLose #MLB #ALDS #HalfBillionDollarMan

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 08/10/2025

🧵 1/3 Is the endgame finally in sight? When Thomas Massie & Marjorie Taylor Greene are leading the charge to release the Epstein files — and Speaker Mike Johnson keeps Congress out of session to stall it — you know the cracks in Trump’s movement aren’t cracks anymore. They’re fault lines.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 05/10/2025

Goodnight, #Yankees. Vladdy just baptized that baseball! The SkyDome’s a launch pad, the #Jays are flying, and October baseball feels right again. Can we invoke the mercy rule on their behalf?! ⚾️🚀💙 💥🫡 #BlueJays #LetsGoBlueJays

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 05/10/2025

Goodnight Yankees!! The motor is running and the balls are a-flying out of the #SkyDome! Let’s go @torontobluejays.bsky.social!!

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 30/09/2025

The cognitive dissonance is alarming. The @washingtonpost.com has an "exclusive" piece entitled "Trump’s #USAID pause stranded #lifesaving #drugs. 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴." In another piece #FOTUS is giving $20BILLION to #Argentina to bail out a rightwing nut. There's 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 money for the middle class.

So, let's get this straight.

We don't have money to continue to provide middle class Americans subsidies so that they can afford health care coverage for their families via the ACA. So we'll shut down government instead.

We don't have money to support USAID and PEPFAR, yet just today, the Washington Post has a headline that reads "Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴."

We don't have money for basic science, which is literally the engine that drives the American economy, so we laid off *thousands* of scientists and doctors, and have gutted federal support for #NASA, #NSF, and #NIH.

We don't have any weapons to send Ukraine because they're fighting a war against an enemy who attacked their country. Maybe because they're not our enemy?

But Argentina needs a $20 BILLION bailout to save their economy -- yet again -- and FOTUS can't say "yes" fast enough. Why?! "Trump is a fan of Argentine President Javier Milei, a libertarian whose attacks on government spending and red tape have made him a folk hero to the American right."

Why is it that whenever the banks, Wall Street, and authoritarian regimes need a bailout, we have an endless treasury but we have no money nor compassion and can't help the people who 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 need help?

I don't know much but that just sounds very un-Christian-like to me.

Elections have consequences is the old saying. This is what ~78 millions Americans support.

When we need a bail out, I hope Russia and/or China will listen to him when he goes hat in hand. Maybe he'll just continue to lie on bank loan applications and get money that way as that works for him.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 28/09/2025

Bond holders will soon demand significant austerity measures, deep cuts to public spending, so that we can continue making debt payments. This has already started with steep federal spending cuts to Medicare & impacted Social Security in the "Big Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress earlier this year.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 27/09/2025

@neildegrassetyson.com warned that when science’s flame is extinguished, nations regress. Trump’s FY2026 budget — now at the center of the gridlock as this fiscal year ends — slashes NASA, NSF, & NIH. He has already warned: without a budget, massive federal layoffs loom.🧪🔭 🔗 bit.ly/CosmicCrossr...

Neil deGrasse Tyson warned that when science’s flame is extinguished, nations regress. Trump’s FY2026 budget — now at the center of the gridlock as this fiscal year ends — slashes NASA, NSF, and NIH. The President has already warned: without a budget, massive federal layoffs loom.
🔗 https://bit.ly/CosmicCrossroad

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 21/09/2025

They say if history doesn’t repeat, it rhymes. It sure feels that way this past week. There is a rising & dangerous blurring of white Christian nationalism with alt‑right white supremacy. Jesus taught love, humility, empathy, & forgiveness. That’s not what we’re seeing. What Bible are they reading?

They say if history doesn’t repeat, it rhymes. It certainly feels that way this past week. There is a rising and dangerous alignment of white Christian nationalism blurred with alt‑right white supremacy.

Jesus taught love, humility, empathy, & forgiveness. That’s not what we’re hearing. What Bible are they reading?

P.S. This image reminds us: propaganda often uses symbols, myth, and selective storytelling to sanctify individuals — not because they were innocent, but because their deaths serve a purpose.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 19/09/2025

I cancelled my #Disney, #ESPN, #Hulu subscriptions. I know corporations kneel only to the altar of the almighty dollar — but I still believe in people, principles, and the power of saying no.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 11/09/2025

#Mars May Have Left Us a Message. Are we listening? 🧪🔭 From #Viking to #ALH84001 to #Perseverance’s new potential #biosignatures in Jezero Crater — we’re on the edge of a #cosmic revolution. It's clear we've reached a tipping point. The Not So Quiet Revolution in Astronomy: 👉 bit.ly/MarsRevolution

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 10/09/2025

🌌 BREAKING: Mars may have left us a message. #NASA’s Perseverance rover has discovered potential #biosignatures — clues that life may not be unique to Earth. 🔭🧪 “This is the closest we’ve come to recognizing that life on Earth is not unique.” 🔗 MORE: tinyurl.com/OurIslandUni... #Mars #Astrobiology

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 02/09/2025

This isn’t Clippy. It isn’t Grammarly. It’s a #revolution. @anthropic.com CEO says #AI may erase 50% of entry-level jobs within 5 yrs. #Students will inherit that world whether we prepare them or not. 🧪 My urgent call for #education to face reality (on #substack): open.substack.com/pub/ourislan...

A dramatic magazine-style collage over a starry background. Headlines read: “AI Beats Our Best High School Math-letes!”, “NIH Overwhelmed by AI-Generated Proposals”, “AI Tools Key to Making New Discoveries!”, and “AI Use Detected in Preparing Manuscripts for Peer-reviewed Journals!”. Bottom text: “Shanil Virani | @shanilv”.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 26/08/2025

🌙 She mapped the heavens so others could reach them. “Do your best. But like it! Like what you do; then you will do your best.” Born #OTD in 1918, Katherine Johnson turned numbers into pathways, calculating the orbit that carried John Glenn into space & humanity toward the Moon. #WomenInScience

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 09/08/2025

Jim Lovell died at 97. In him we saw the best of the Apollo age: courage in the face of disaster, quiet command in the deep night between Earth & Moon. Five #Apollo #astronauts remain — 4 who walked on the #Moon. Their legacy is not just history. It’s an unfinished story, calling us to dare again.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 09/08/2025

🔭 This one-of-a-kind 5-part online workshop designed exclusively for Unistellar smart #telescope owners. You’ll learn the #science behind your images & how to contribute to real research! 📅 Starts Sept 6, runs every other week 🧠 Led by #astronomers from #ASP & #SETI / #Unistellar 🔗 tiny.cc/14zq001

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 16/06/2025

“𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙮, 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜!” ALL Americans need to listen to this woman. She may be young but she knows exactly what is at stake, why it is important that we use our voice to make sure we are heard, and why it shouldn’t matter how identify politically right now. 🎯 🎥 Credit: Unknown

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 04/06/2025

“We aspired to intelligence. We didn’t belittle it.” We reached for the stars🔭, cured diseases🧪, cultivated great art AND a great economy. Today? We silence #science & fast-track nuclear reactors to power #AI. This isn’t progress. It’s a descent into darkness. First step? Recognize the problem.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 31/05/2025

A once-mighty #NASA astrophysics fleet—revolutionizing our view of the cosmos—is now being dismantled before our eyes. ❌ TESS, Chandra, Fermi, IXPE, UVEX… ❌ 20+ missions canceled, gutted, or abandoned. ❌ A generation of discovery, erased. This isn’t belt-tightening. It’s self-inflicted blindness.🔭

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 31/05/2025

𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆. It’s the engine of American innovation. This President wants to kill it. ❌ NIH: ⬇️$18B ❌ NASA: ⬇️$6.8B ❌ NSF: ⬇️$5B This isn’t fiscal discipline. It’s surrender—to disease, to ignorance, to rivals like China. We don’t build prosperity by firing scientists & killing missions.🧪

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 31/05/2025

𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀. There is so much rubbish, foundational flaws, unsupported claims, & ideological motives behind the “Restoring Gold Standard Science” Executive Order. As Carl Sagan said so eloquently 30 years ago, Science is our candle in dark. 🔭🧪

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 20/05/2025

This isn’t just about #labs or #lectures. It’s about whether we raise a generation equipped to think critically — or one trained to obey and consume. 📞 Call your reps. 📧 Write them. 🗳️ Vote. #FundTheFuture #ScienceMatters #NSF #Policy

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 20/05/2025

The cuts aren’t random. #NSF #education grants were deliberately gutted. These support future #teachers, K–12 outreach, public engagement, and access to #STEM for underserved communities. Silencing #science starts here. #ScienceEducation #STEM

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 20/05/2025

𝟱𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗦𝗙 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Not defense. Not tech. 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. This is sabotage, not savings. 📣 Contact #GOP reps. Ask them: 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩? One that fears knowledge? #DefendScience #NSF #STEM #ActNow 🔭🧪

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 11/05/2025

30+ years in the fan club. 40+ shows. One band. One love. Tomorrow I take my son to his 1st @pearljam.com concert in Raleigh. I’ve chased this #band & their #music across decades & cities — but this is the moment that means the most. From fan to father — full circle. #PearlJam #TenClub #Priceless

30+ years. 40+ shows. One band. One love.

Tomorrow, I take my son to his first @pearljam.com concert in Raleigh, NC.

I’ve chased this band and their music across decades and cities, but this is the moment that means the most.

From fan to father — full circle.

#PearlJam #TenClub #Priceless

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 23/04/2025

Happy Earth Day On this small blue world, adrift in the vastness of space, every life, every story, every hope unfolds. As we marvel at the cosmos, let’s not forget the miracle beneath our feet. Cherish the Earth — it’s the only home we’ve ever known and there is no #PlanetB. 🔭🧪

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 18/04/2025

Rallies/protests & cute hats are so 2017. It didn’t work then, it certainly won’t now. It’s also become abundantly clear that our elected representatives — from both sides — will also not be offering a solution to this existential crisis. We need an #AmericanSpring if we truly want to affect change.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 17/04/2025

The more I revisit Obama’s speeches from nearly two decades ago (how has it been that long?!), the more I understand not just the power of his message but the backlash, anger, hate it has provoked and continues to reverberate from the right. His vision of America was inclusive, hopeful, …

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 16/04/2025

Remember when? It seems like it was a dream that never happened. When we could have conversations about serious issues, debate ideas, but never loose our morality, our sense of right and wrong. Our humanity. We have lost so much. I don’t think we can even begin to process how far we’ve fallen.

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 11/04/2025

We’re accelerating our descent to a banana republic. We’re also ceding leadership/talent in science to other countries. It’ll be them that’ll benefit from the innovations, new discoveries & entrepreneurship that emerges. We’ve replaced our shining beacon of light atop the hill w/ the Eye of Sauron.🧪

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 09/04/2025

So many of the groups that Trump won in 2024 are learning first-hand the meaning of #FAFO. Indeed, Harris “only” lost the white woman demo by ~5 points compared to a larger margin in 2016. The @apnews.com also found that ~8 in 10 Trump voters in this election were white. apnews.com/article/elec...

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 09/04/2025

So many of the groups that Trump won in 2024 are learning firsthand the meaning of #FAFO. Indeed Harris “only” lost the white woman demo by ~5 points compared to a larger margin in 2016. The @apnews.com also found that ~8 in 10 Trump voters in this election were white. apnews.com/article/elec...

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 06/03/2025

This one, from 2017, remains one of my favorites. I would maybe add @neildegrassetyson.com’s quote that “Science is true whether you believe it or not.”

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Shanil Virani @shanilv.ca · 06/03/2025

#StandUpforScience and make your voice heard loud and clear on Friday! Protests are planned in DC, state capitols, and other cities around the country. Find one near you at: standupforscience2025.org And remember #Science is true whether you believe it or not.

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