Kev Abazajian
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abazajian.net
Kev Abazajian
@abazajian.net
Father, husband, particle astrophysicist, Professor of Physics & Astronomy. In public service as Chair of the City of Irvine Sustainability Commission & through the Democratic Party.

Views are my own. repost ≠ endorsement

https://physics.uci.edu/~kevork
Pinned
Let’s be clear: federal attacks on science and higher education aim to silence and remove communities with open discourse and critical thought—aiming to replace them with structures of political compliance, like those in the authoritarian regimes of China and Russia. ⚛️ 🧪 #highered #research
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border.

New data suggests separations now happen all over the country, often after little more than a traffic stop.
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record.
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. New data suggests separations are happening all over the count...
www.propublica.org
November 29, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
It’s crazy to think about the crimes we’re going to learn about after this regime ends.

We’re already hearing about Watergate level crimes every week. Imagine what will come out after it’s over.

We’re going to need a full accounting of all that’s been done in violation of the constitution.
November 22, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.
November 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
It is in fact Bad that America is a now a personalist regime where a mad king and his corrupt courtiers decide what reality is based on their conspiracy-addled whims.

No matter what the worm in RFKjr's head tells him about vaccines, kids are going to die because of this.
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
"Freedom of the press...as long as they promote our right wing Soviet-style propaganda"
JD Vance texted Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, demanding that he hire a right-wing journalist to run the Washington Post’s political team.
Vance Urged Bezos to Make the Washington Post Even More MAGA
The vice president had a text exchange with the billionaire Amazon founder.
trib.al
November 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Congratulations to Dr. Helena García Escudero in successfully defending her PhD dissertation today at UCI Department of Physics & Astronomy, titled “ΛCDM and Beyond: Neutrinos and the Puzzle of Cosmological Tensions.”

#ucirvine #academia #physics #cosmology
November 21, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
Marjorie Taylor Greene's big takedown of Trump today is powerful because it broadcasts that he's losing control over the GOP. His sudden call for release of files wasn't about transparency. It was about sustaining the illusion that he controls the party.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2033...
Marjorie Taylor Greene Just Wrecked the Cult of Trump
The Georgia congresswoman’s extraordinary takedown of Trump Tuesday morning sent a signal that no Republican can now ignore.
newrepublic.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.

He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has discovered massive galaxies at 37 Glyr away, when the Universe was ~1% of its age. Galaxy formation appears at odds with the efficiencies of making such galaxies at beyond 100% (solid purple line)

there are outs ➡️ arxiv.org/abs/2511.13708

🔭 ⚛️ #academicsky
November 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
First paper submission today for #UCIrvine graduate fellow Jay Krishnan! There is much interest in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope potentially showing early galaxy formation as incompatible with standard cosmology and structure formation

#astronomy #astrophysics #cosmology 🔭 ⚛️ #academicsky
November 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
It is interesting to me how the media seems far less interested in Trump's Murder Memo than you'd expect. Only a few reporters seem to be even trying to get a hold of it, and very few commentators are talking about it. Contrast that with Bush's torture memo, which was a national obsession. Weird.
Trump's illegal murders in the Caribbean just got worse. An internal DOJ memo on the bombings says the victims are waging war on the US, but per NYT, it extensively cites the WH's *own claims* to this effect as evidence!

It gets even darker than that. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
Trump Boat Bombings Take Dark, Unnerving Turn with Leaked Memo Stunner
A new Trump administration memo argues that those carrying out the boat attacks can’t be prosecuted. Why? Because the administration says so!
newrepublic.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
The presidency, governorships, and mayors' offices are not entry-level positions.
November 16, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
This is a very dangerous moment for the country and the world. A cornered rat will do anything to escape.
November 14, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
#Timelapse of lots of red #aurora looking west from northern Vulcan County. Normally, this view would be dominated by the distant light dome from the City of Calgary’s #lightpollution. #astronomy
November 12, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
Some amazing aurora tonight, visible from Boulder! Some highlights from tonight here. (The views from Minnesota are -spectacular- based on what I’m seeing from friends there!)

Go look up!! (And north.)
🧪🔭⚛️☀️
November 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Proud of Charis Kubrin—my better half—getting this well-deserved international recognition! 🧪 #criminology #academia #academicsky #ucirvine socialecology.uci.edu/news/profess...
Professor wins criminology’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize | School of Social Ecology
Charis Kubrin honored with prestigious Stockholm Prize for groundbreaking immigration research
socialecology.uci.edu
November 12, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
Russia has warned it is studying options for a possible nuclear test.

Moscow is working on Vladimir Putin's order to prepare alternatives in the event of a resumption of US nuclear tests, a sign that deepens bilateral tensions.
November 8, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
🟦STATEMENT:🟦 After being brought back together by our mediator, UPTE and UC reached a Tentative Agreement early this morning after another marathon mediation session. We have rescinded our strike notice, pending membership ratification. 1/2. #UC #UnionStrong
November 8, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
What could Elon Musk’s $1 trillion compensation package fund if it were returned to the people?
www.instagram.com/p/DQxKWX-E4L...
November 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
Priorities. [Cartoon by Michael de Adder]
November 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
I think a thing we'll learn tonight is that people fucking hate what is going on and they will straight ticket vote against anyone involved in starving people while pillaging the country and kidnapping their neighbors. I don't think it matters at all who that person is.
November 5, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Kev Abazajian
The factional grifters will hate this, but the Mamdani-Spanberger-Sherrill axis actually suggests the outlines of a broad, emerging Dem coalition organized around both anti-Trump *and* affordability politics, not a party bitterly divided against itself.
These big wins will embolden Dems to take on Trump's lawbreaking and show there's a price for GOP enabling of him. Folks hate to hear this, but normal patterns are asserting themselves: Liberalism isn't dead, Rs are likely to lose in 2026, and Trump is really unpopular, not a magical exception.
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM