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Dakoda Trithara

@trithara.bsky.social
152 followers 209 following 70 posts

Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of South Carolina Aiken. Views my own.

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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
ACLU @aclu.org · 18/09/2026
NEW: Professors shared details of the impact of Texas A&M's new censorship policy and urged a court to block it from being enforced. The policy means educators can't teach LGBTQ literature, the film Moonlight, Women's and Gender Studies courses, and more.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
If you are interested in learning about how the post-9/11 War on Terror produced legal and technical infrastructure designed to monitor communications and suppress terrorist content, ultimately shaping Meta’s moderation system and leading to instances of collateral censorship, then check this out!
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“The government has tried to tamp down on negative energy. In 2023, the Ministry of State Security portrayed efforts to “bad-mouth China’s economy” as a security and political issue.“
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
AAUP @aaup.org · 08/08/2026
Trump’s Compact 2.0 announced by Linda McMahon this week should be placed in the context of their failed 2025 “loyalty oath” compact that was defeated by students & faculty at every institution they offered it to. Organizing & collective pressure works. 1 🧵 www.aaup.org/issue/winter...
Trump's Compact 2.0
Universities should not be made answerable to the political program of a particular administration.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Mark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
"America’s capitalism adds up the profits created by privatizing public goods without subtracting the value destroyed. We've created the largest enshittifying machine in history with financial logic that leaves out half the equation." - @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/howthing...
open.substack.com
Enshittification Relies on Broken Economic Math
Pay no attention to the externalities behind the curtain.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
AAUP @aaup.org · 08/06/2026
Today, the AAUP released the Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2025–26. It is sobering. Full-time faculty salaries are down about 0.4% in real, inflation-adjusted terms. Average full-time faculty salaries remain 9.5% below fall 2019 & about 5.8% below fall 2008. 1/
aaup.org
Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession Now Available
This year's Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession finds that faculty salaries are still losing ground to inflation and expands data collection on part-time faculty pay.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
The State Department supposedly sent $1.5 billion tax dollars to the Board of Peace slush fund, which is now empty.
web.archive.org
Exclusive: State Department sends $1.25B from other programs to Board of Peace
The administration is drawing on funds used for international disasters and peacekeeping to fund Trump’s Gaza effort.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
“.. four months after its establishment, the board’s financial fund set up by the World Bank has received no money from donors, according to four people familiar with the matter. ‘Zero dollars have been deposited,’ one said.” @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/5ba3...
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
New poll by the NYT shows 70% of Republicans say Trump's decision to go to war with Iran was the right decision, while 93% of Democratic say it was the wrong decision. A majority, 64%, of respondents said it was the wrong decision.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Excellent piece by Paul Musgrave reflecting on the current state of political science. In addition to building rapport with students, defending academic freedom, and broadening what counts as contributions, we need to engage decision makers. musgrave.substack.com/p/political-...
musgrave.substack.com
Political Science In the Polycrisis
My keynote talk to an online APSA conference
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Crucially, this would not require a constitutional amendment. Article I grants Congress broad latitude to determine how congressional elections are conducted. Congress would have to repeal a 1967 law mandating single-member districts. If Congress mandated SMDs, then it can mandate MMDs.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Recent polling shows that 66% of Americans cannot comfortably afford paying $1,000 for an emergency expense. In particular, young women of color would struggle. The affordability crisis needs to be addressed.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
“If a president can simply fire the members of an independent science board whenever they are inconvenient, then the board is not meaningfully independent. It becomes something closer to a political instrument” that can be cleared and repopulated to bless the administration’s preferred agenda.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
PBS News @pbsnews.org · 07/04/2026
President Trump said the U.S. has a plan to decimate bridges in Iran and destroy every power plant. to.pbs.org/4sOWQQS
to.pbs.org
What international law says about Trump's threats to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants
For perspective on President Trump’s talk about bombing Iran’s bridges and power plants and whether that's legal under international law, Geoff Bennett spoke with retired Lieutenant Colonel Rachel Van...
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
“The question is not whether tariffs can ever be a means of regulating commerce. It is instead whether Congress, when conferring the power to “regulate . . . importation,” gave the President the power to impose tariffs at his sole discretion.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
AAUP @aaup.org · 20/02/2026
The University of Texas system has voted to limit 'controversial topics' in class. Where's the academic freedom? "A faculty member is not going to be able do talk about current events without risking being fired. What kind of education is this?" —Brian Evans, President of @texasaaup.bsky.social
tpr.org
UT System votes to limit 'controversial topics' in class, raising concerns about academic freedom
This is the latest move by the state to have more control over what is taught at public universities.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Check out my latest op-ed for the Center for International Relations! I discuss three foreign policy issues — tariffs, US boat bombing in the Caribbean, and the UNSC-approved Board of Peace — to watch in 2026. www.ia-forum.org/Content/View...
ia-forum.org
Eroding the Liberal Order: How 2025’s Turmoil Sets the Stage for a Crucial 2026 - International Affairs Forum
<em>By Dr. Dakoda Trithara</em> As we say goodbye to 2025, the global stage is set for 2026 to be another year where the United States moves away from t
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
So it just happens that World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin being used for a $2 billion transaction between Binance and a UAE state-owned fund coincides with Binance founder Changpeng Zhao’s pardon request, which was granted. Sure raises some questions about potential quid pro quo dealings.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing "Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions." Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
The long range Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian oil installations is paying off bigly.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
“Without a guiding ethos of teaching and learning, we may be shaping an amoral omniscient teacher able to influence millions with no pedagogical or ethical framework… we must question who is responsible for their education, at what levels, including ethical, social, technical, and institutional.”
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
“Additionally, I cannot verify that agency data is being used in accordance with legal agreements or in compliance with federal requirements.“
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Stock buybacks were considered market manipulation until 1982. Rather than invest in R&D, expansion, or higher wages, buying back shares reduces the number of shares available for public trading. This inflates the stock price and boosts dividends, increasing the value for existing shareholders.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Visa and MC should not use their dominance in the global payments processing sector to engage in financial censorship and dictate what digital storefronts can sell and what consumers can buy. This impacts the liberties of people around the globe. No one wants MC telling them what they can’t buy.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” has cast very different shadows depending on which party holds the White House. When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases. For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.
Infographic titled “One Court, Two Standards” compares how the Supreme Court used emergency powers to rule on lower-court injunctions against the Biden and Trump administrations. Two panels show:
	•	Biden Administration: Lower courts blocked policies in 21 cases. All 21 cases are represented by red squares, indicating that 0% of injunctions/TROs were lifted by SCOTUS.
	•	Trump Administration: Lower courts blocked policies in 86 cases. 66 green squares and 20 red squares show that 77% of injunctions/TROs were lifted by SCOTUS.

Key takeaway box below reads:
“Using its ‘shadow docket,’ the Supreme Court granted emergency relief to lift 77% of lower-court injunctions against the Trump administration. It lifted 0% of those against the Biden administration.”

Sources and notes below include: CourtListener data through July 7, 2025; analysis by Adam Bonica.
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 09/07/2025
Three-quarters of US universities surveyed in recent weeks anticipate a fall in international student numbers this year, with the majority expecting a drop of at least 10%. on.ft.com/4lHIaiz
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
1/ A remarkable essay by two eminent Israeli scholars "We wrote this essay to give [former IDF chief of staff's] words legal backing... We felt compelled to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s ... order."
justsecurity.org
Moving the Population in Gaza is a Manifest War Crime
We wrote this essay to fulfill our human, conscientious, and civic duty, as Israelis – and as Zionists – who have expertise in areas related to the IDF’s order.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
On this Independence Day, the United States government, led by a Republican president with a majority in both chambers of Congress, passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill touches on numerous parts of society, carrying heavy consequences for real people.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029: - $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion - $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million - $8 billion for hiring/retention - Billions more.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
The 5% commitment has two categories: 3.5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements, and up to 1.5% of GDP annually to protect critical infrastructure, defend networks, ensure civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen defence industrial base.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
In a more serious country, unilaterally withdrawing from the JCPOA would have immediately ended Trump's first presidency & destroyed the GOP's reputation on national security policy for a generation 🧐
Chart showing Iranian nuclear centrifuge from 2011 to 2025
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 07/06/2025
Jailed Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong hit with new charges
theguardian.com
Jailed Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong hit with new charges
Wong accused of conspiracy in move rights groups condemn as ‘outrageous’ attempt to keep influential dissident imprisoned Jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been hit with further national security charges, a move rights groups said showed the Hong Kong government was trying to keep dissidents behind bars for as long as possible. Wong, a well-known activist who has been in jail for more than four years either awaiting trial or serving sentences, is accused of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country. He appeared in court on Friday to hear the charge and did not apply for bail. Continue reading...
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Techdirt @techdirt.com · 23/05/2025
Homeland Security Defies Orders, Engages In More Human Trafficking Eight men were put on a plane from Texas, bound for South Sudan — a country the State Department warns Americans not to travel to because of "crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict." None of these men were from South Sudan. The…
techdirt.com
Homeland Security Defies Orders, Engages In More Human Trafficking
Eight men were put on a plane from Texas, bound for South Sudan — a country the State Department warns Americans not to travel to because of "crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict." None of these men were from South Sudan. The Trump administration shipped them there anyway, in direct violation of a federal court order. This week, lawyers filed an emergency motion&hellip;
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
WIRED @wired.com · 18/05/2025
Russell Vought, acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to introduce new rules designed to limit the ability of US data brokers to sell Americans’ most sensitive data, credit history, and Social Security numbers.
wrd.cm
CFPB Quietly Kills Rule to Shield Americans From Data Brokers
Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to more tightly regulate the sale of Americans’ sensitive personal data.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
PBS News @pbsnews.org · 19/05/2025
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Sunday that Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, may pass along some of the costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to its shoppers through higher prices.
buff.ly
Bessent acknowledges Trump's tariffs may mean shoppers will pay more at Walmart
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Sunday that Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer, may pass along some of the costs from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to its shoppers through higher…
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Eurogamer @eurogamer.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Apple updates App Store guidelines in wake of seismic judgement, paving way for Fortnite's return www.eurogamer.net/apple-update...
Fortnite's Apple skin.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Since FDR, US presidents are traditionally evaluated after their first 100 days. This year, I contributed an article to a series by scholars assessing President Trump's second first 100 days. If you're interested in US foreign policy, check it out!
clioandthecontemporary.com
The First 100 Days of Trump 2.0: A Foreign Policy Assessment
The first 100 days of President Trump’s second term marks a departure from established US foreign policy, focusing on dismantling international aid and agreements. His administration’s action…
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
The DOJ wants Google to divest from Chrome and to end exclusive distribution agreements with Apple and Samsung (Google paid billions to establish its search engine as the default on phones and lock out competitors). DOJ also wants to see a ban on similar agreements for AI products like Gemini.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Eileen Guo @eileenguo.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
UPDATE: It happened. In an 11:15 meeting, employees were told that the office has been eliminated and their positions will be terminated.
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Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Were wealthy donors key to Trump’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020? I'm thrilled to announce a new paper in which Sean Kates, Eric Manning, Tali Mendelberg and I analyzed data on 108 million (!) homeowner-voters. See “Plutopopulism: Wealth and Trump’s Financial Base.” Open access: cup.org/4cfm0Az 🧵 1/
Title page of an academic article titled “Plutopopulism: Wealth and Trump’s Financial Base.” 

Authors listed are Sean Kates (University of Pennsylvania), Eric Manning (Princeton University), Tali Mendelberg (Princeton University), and Omar Wasow (University of California, Berkeley). 

The abstract below the title states:

Comparative scholarship suggests authoritarian candidates often rely on backing from the wealthy. The wealthy are also said to play an important role in American campaign finance. Studies of Donald Trump, however, found that he drew significant support from white Americans with less education and privilege. We evaluate wealthy and non-wealthy Americans’ financial support for Trump, compared to other candidates, by constructing a comprehensive dataset of property values matched to contributions and voter files. We find Trump underperformed among wealthy Republican donors while mobilizing new non-wealthy donors. Trump also diversified the donorate, especially by education. That is, Trump built an unusual coalition of wealthy and non-wealthy donors. Our results support an alternative, “plutopopulist” model of Trump’s financial base. This study demonstrates the importance of studying both non-wealthy and wealthy Americans, the group who give the most but whose individual behavior has been studied the least.

Open access link to paper: http://cup.org/4cfm0Az
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Either the U.S. government *is* able to exert monetary and diplomatic pressure on El Salvador sufficient to produce Abrego Garcia’s release, or it isn’t. The latter would be either a bald-faced lie or a pretty stunning concession of our national impotence. The Vice President should pick one.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 14/04/2025
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said about President Trump's demands. nyti.ms/4jzSS9W
The gates of Harvard University. The text reads: "Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration's Demands." Photo by Sophie Park for The New York Times.
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
The FTC argues Meta’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp was part of a strategy to eliminate competition and maintain monopoly power over the social media market. The government contends that a "buy or bury" strategy drove Meta's acquisitions.
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
This feels like the defining image from this year’s Midwest Political Science Association annual meeting. The National Science Foundatipn paid for a booth in the exhibit hall. But the booth sits empty, because NSF has been DOGE’d, and there is no one left to send.
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PBS News @pbsnews.org · 03/04/2025
The Heard and McDonald Islands in the remote Antarctic, which together form another Australian territory — this one uninhabited — is on the Trump administration's list and subject to 10% tariffs. to.pbs.org/3FUqhxk
to.pbs.org
5 places Trump has targeted for tariffs even though they have few or no exports
The Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs have touched rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic, tiny tropical islands and a former British penal colony whose leader is befuddled that it was...
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Reposted by Dakoda Trithara
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 20/03/2025
The U.S. authorities denied entry to a French scientist and then deported him because his phone contained message exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed his “personal opinion” on the Trump administration’s science policies, said the French government. nyti.ms/4iAZR2l
A headline reads: “U.S. Turned Away French Scientist Over Views on Trump Policies, France Says.” More text reads: “The French authorities said the academic had been traveling to a conference near Houston when border officials blocked his entry because of conversations found on his phone.”
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
I signed. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Speaking Out for Democracy and US Higher Education
Speaking Out for Democracy and US Higher Education To add your name to this statement, go to https://bit.ly/DemocracyAndHigherEdSign We publicly affirm our commitment to the enterprise of higher educ...
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Maggie Harrison Dupré @mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
NEW: Months before Google was accused in a lawsuit of facilitating the suicide of a teen user of the Google-tied chatbot startup CharacterAI, researchers at Google DeepMind warned in a paper that chatbots could target minors and manipulate vulnerable users into suicide. futurism.com/google-suici...
Futurism

On Deaf Ears

Mar 18, 10:15 AM EDT by Maggie Harrison Dupré

Before Google Was Blamed for the Suicide of a Teen Chatbot User, Its Researchers Published a Paper Warning of Those Exact Dangers

"A user," the Google researchers cautioned, could be "persuaded to take their own life."

Image: a collage of kids staying up late on their phones, with several hiding under their covers.
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
I don’t think I’m going to be sleeping very well for *checks notes* the rest of this administration. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/n...
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Dakoda Trithara @trithara.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Add Harvard, Notre Dame, UPenn, and University of Vermont to the list of higher ed institutions tighten budgets.
highereddive.com
Colleges tighten budgets amid NIH funding uncertainty
From hiring freezes to spending cuts, research universities are trying to manage their finances amid a fluid and harrowing situation.
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