Nomdeb

@nomdeb@mstdn.social
2K Followers
1.7K Following
2.1K Posts
Insatiably curious. Lover of language. Fascinated by patterns. Gets lost down rabbit holes. A trifle geeky and rebellious. How does it work? Why? Loves animals, music, art. World Citizen (Lived in India, Iran, Lebanon, UK, now USA)
Current obsessions: 25k+ photo & ancestry mash up project (year 1900+ and NE Tribal India), and home makerspace & laser cutting design. AND Pachyderms. :)
Onwards and upwards towards the world we could be. Be a strong voice for the voiceless. She/her.
My 25k+ Family History Photo Projecthttps://mstdn.social/@nomdeb/tagged/NDBProject01
My Laser Cutting Projectshttps://mstdn.social/tags/NDBProjectLaser
Ancestor in China Book Projecthttps://mstdn.social/@nomdeb/tagged/NDBProject02
Deactivated Twitter & Substack & InstagramNomdeB (if it resurrects) is NOT me
Nomdeb1h ago
BrunoMcGee1h ago

Why can't the NYT say that "in the run-up to today's decision to cancel the #Moderna contract, HHS Secretary RFK Jr, made false claims about the safety of mRNA - based vaccines." Just say it, NYT: "false claims." Because that's what they are. A billion people on #Earth received the #mRNA covid vaccine, and few individuals had issues.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/health/moderna-trump-bird-flu-vaccine-contract.html

U.S. Cancels Contract With Moderna to Develop Bird Flu Vaccine

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly questioned the safety of mRNA technology, which is used in the company’s shot.

The New York Times
Nomdeb3h ago
Electronic Frontier Foundation8h ago
A Texas sheriff used 83,000+ license plate reader cameras to track a woman “suspected of having an abortion.” The reason listed in the record: “had an abortion, search for female.” https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/05/she-got-abortion-so-texas-cop-used-83000-cameras-track-her-down
She Got an Abortion. So A Texas Cop Used 83,000 Cameras to Track Her Down.

In a chilling sign of how far law enforcement surveillance has encroached on personal liberties, 404 Media recently revealed that a sheriff’s office in Texas searched data from more than 83,000 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras to track down a woman suspected of self-managing an...

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Nomdeb3h ago
DMV Weather  3h ago
Interesting post about how the traditional “tornado alley” is shifting further east, away from the plains states and into the Ohio Valley and into the deep South. From the post by Meteorologist Brad Maushart: Tornado Alley is shifting... It’s been a wild year for tornadoes and the numbers are painting a clear picture. The Ohio Valley and Deep South have seen a surge in both tornado frequency and intensity in 2025, rivaling the traditional Great Plains hotspots.
The traditional “Tornado Alley” isn’t gone, but it’s not alone anymore. We're seeing more tornadoes near and east of the Mississippi, in places like Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois and Mississippi. These areas generally have denser populations, more trees and in some areas - more hills. That’s a dangerous combo.
What used to be considered “unusual” is quickly becoming the new normal in the eastern half of the country.
Nomdeb3h ago
Erin Reed3h ago
Hey folks, I have a huge request for Pride: Trevor Project is recruiting for a landmark new study. If you are LGBTQ, in the United States, and between 13-24 or know someone who is, pass this along to them. Trevor’s research has led to meaningful defenses of queer and trans lives. Take the survey

trevorredcap.trvr.org/surveys/?s=ARP...
Nomdeb6h ago
Chad McCullough8h ago

When this is all over, please give us a list of every university/college that caved to Trump on anything. I want to make sure I know which schools NOT to send my son to when he graduates high school.

Universities quietly negotiating with White House aide to try to avoid Harvard’s fate, source says

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/31/politics/universities-negotiate-trump-administration-harvard

Universities quietly negotiating with White House aide to try to avoid Harvard’s fate, source says

College and university leaders have been privately negotiating with a deputy to top Trump aide Stephen Miller in hopes of avoiding the same aggressive targeting of Harvard University, a person familiar with the matter said, as the administration looks to escalate its attacks on the Ivy League institution and other schools.

CNN
Nomdeb7h ago
sandywb14Jan 26
My mom’s 91st bday today. She was born to an American soldier and a Japanese woman in Japan. Sold to a a half American Japanese woman and passed off as her husband’s child. Lived through WWII in Japan as an outcast and protected by her brave mom. Was sent away to the country for three years like many to a convent where children would be safer. Met my Dad at 17, married him twice (thanks American govt) and came to the United States in 1954. She’s very mentally aware, but can’t see, so she lives with us. I have to limit the numbers of news hours she can hear, but she’s mad and heart-broken at how corrupt and cruel our government is. Resisting is her way of life.
Nomdeb8h ago
Brian MacDonald10h ago

At the grocery store this morning, a woman and I caused a bit of a bottleneck while trying to get around the spill-detecting robot. I apologized for confusing it.

The woman told me that she used to tell her kids that the robot's job was checking for zombies, so if they saw it, they'd know that aisle was safe. I'm never going to think about those robots any other way now.

Nomdeb22h ago
Shoshana 🏳️‍⚧️23h ago

The internet was a mistake.

Our modems used to scream to warn us.

Nomdeb23h ago
Uncle Duke23h ago
Checkmate.
Nomdeb23h ago
Mignon Fogarty1d ago

Calling all researchers, especially linguists or English professors: ACES, The Society for Editing, has an RFP out for a research study on the value of editing. Deadline: June 9.

Learn more here: https://aceseditors.org/about/the-value-of-editing-research-request-for-proposal

×
kurtshMay 24

In the wake of Trump's attacks on their institution, Harvard made their online courses on the US government, the US constitution, civic engagement, and more... available for FREE.

✅ Government Courses | Harvard University
https://pll.harvard.edu/subject/government
#trump #civil #harvard #education

Show threadRoy -- the dull oneMay 24

@kurtsh

It's good that Harvard's making these courses free (to audit online). Can this reduce the terrible ignorance about American Government that makes too many Americans behave as helpless fools?

Here's one course:
---
American Government: Constitutional Foundations
Learn how early American politics informed the U.S. Constitution and why its promise of liberty and equality has yet to be fully realized.
---
Sounds worthwhile!

p.s. I''m not connected to Harvard or any of its courses.

Show threadkurtshMay 24

@oldclumsy_nowmad Nope. In my experience, most ignorance is intentional. This exercise is only akin to leading a horse to water. Only when the horse is thirsty will it take action.

The new bill's Medicaid, Medicare & SNAP food assistance cuts might make them thirsty.

Social security is next.

Show threadImpish4249May 25

@kurtsh @oldclumsy_nowmad

While MAGA will keep on swallowing what the Trump admin is feeding them, I'm sincerely hopeful that those who need to understand, and are willing to listen, will take advantage.

I'm thinking of the gap years when the GoP were gutting education* and young people weren't really taught much but the test. With great shame I will admit my own adult kids may be in those ranks.

Of course we've also got the abysmal literacy issues.

* for example https://theintercept.com/2022/08/25/student-loans-debt-reagan/

The Origin of Student Debt: Reagan Adviser Warned Free College Would Create a Dangerous “Educated Proletariat”

In 1970, Roger Freeman, who also worked for Nixon, revealed the right’s motivation for coming decades of attacks on higher education.

The Intercept
Show threadImpish4249May 25

@kurtsh @oldclumsy_nowmad

WRT literacy in the US, the average adult reads at or below expected ability of the sixth grade or sixth year of formal elementary education. The article below explains some nuances but the facts are stark. So, unless the Harvard course is presented at a middle school level it may well be lost on those citizens who need it the most.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/02/us-literacy-rate/

Do More Than Half of Americans Read Below 6th-Grade Level?

Snopes.com
Show threadRevPudDudley6d ago
@Impish4249 @kurtsh @oldclumsy_nowmad
Oh Jesus Christ
we sure didn't get an educated proletariat, anyway
One does meet a lot of people w 4 yr degree whom God obviously intended to be pushing a broom, though
Show threadcwicseolforMay 24
@kurtsh #alt4you Bob Englehart political cartoon of the Harvard University logo and seal with the three books bearing a modified inscription, "KISS MY ASS"
Show threadkurtshMay 25
@cwicseolfor Updated. Thanks.
Show threadcwicseolforMay 25
@kurtsh Gladly! It’s a solid cartoon, I almost looked right past it on first scroll for full double-take effect.
Show threadCynBlogger™️DissentsMay 24
@kurtsh
Thanks for posting!
Show threadtskMay 24

@kurtsh Clearly, Harvard is saying that stopping criminals like Trump is not something their alumni are responsible for.

Or maybe its saying what the Ivy League grads learned there is worthless.

(unintentionally)

Show threadsergio_101May 24

@kurtsh @LibertyForward1

I need to look at this.

Show threadSearingTruthMay 25

@kurtsh

"The greatest persuader is the ever encroaching power of truth."
SearingTruth

Show threadHansMay 25

@kurtsh
Rrrrummmms!:

"Wir werden uns damit befassen, wie die Verfassung nicht nur die Struktur der US-Regierung etabliert hat, sondern auch persönliche Freiheiten und Bürgerrechte garantiert. Diese Rechte wurden in wichtigen Fällen des Obersten Gerichtshofs angefochten und erweitert, was dazu beitragen wird, zu veranschaulichen, wie historisch benachteiligte Gruppen darum gekämpft haben, das Gleichheitsversprechen des 14. Verfassungszusatzes zu verwirklichen."

https://pll.harvard.edu/course/american-government-constitutional-foundations

American Government: Constitutional Foundations | Harvard University

Learn how early American politics informed the U.S. Constitution and why its promise of liberty and equality has yet to be fully realized.

Harvard University