Ellen Van
@ellenvan.bsky.social
She/her
Teacher, reader, vegetable eater
Teacher, reader, vegetable eater
Reposted by Ellen Van
Cameras don't save lives. They just provide footage for the news once we're all dead.
December 15, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Cameras don't save lives. They just provide footage for the news once we're all dead.
I normally avoid celebrity quotes for a number of reasons, but this quote summarizes how I feel about AI as well as the world at large.
"I'm not in denial, I'm in open rebellion" damn that quote goes hard
“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
December 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
I normally avoid celebrity quotes for a number of reasons, but this quote summarizes how I feel about AI as well as the world at large.
Reposted by Ellen Van
1/ One thing that I think is getting understandably overlooked in the coverage of immigration overenforcement is just how wasteful and inefficient ICE is being even when they aren't kidnapping and caging people who should be with their families.
Here's a quick example from my casefiles today:
Here's a quick example from my casefiles today:
December 10, 2025 at 2:49 AM
1/ One thing that I think is getting understandably overlooked in the coverage of immigration overenforcement is just how wasteful and inefficient ICE is being even when they aren't kidnapping and caging people who should be with their families.
Here's a quick example from my casefiles today:
Here's a quick example from my casefiles today:
Reposted by Ellen Van
"I'm not in denial, I'm in open rebellion" damn that quote goes hard
“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 AM
"I'm not in denial, I'm in open rebellion" damn that quote goes hard
Reposted by Ellen Van
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
Reposted by Ellen Van
Almost 3/4 of people without health insurance have at least one full time worker in their home. The biggest reason these people don’t have health insurance is the cost. And that cost is going up dramatically for millions of hard working Americans who depend on the ACA.
November 10, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Almost 3/4 of people without health insurance have at least one full time worker in their home. The biggest reason these people don’t have health insurance is the cost. And that cost is going up dramatically for millions of hard working Americans who depend on the ACA.
Reposted by Ellen Van
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
so currently defectors are:
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Reposted by Ellen Van
My friends who work in government have gone into debt to protect people's healthcare, they are being fucking betrayed by wealthy Senators who never stopped getting paid.
November 10, 2025 at 1:48 AM
My friends who work in government have gone into debt to protect people's healthcare, they are being fucking betrayed by wealthy Senators who never stopped getting paid.
Reposted by Ellen Van
I’m not bailing out the only people in the world who can actually afford to lose $13 billion. Go fuck yourselves.
“OpenAI is getting ready to run hat in hand to the taxpayer for subsidies.” After losing more than $13 billion this year, OpenAI officials are angling for a bailout. From @ryanlcooper.com:
trib.al/CUazMCQ
trib.al/CUazMCQ
OpenAI Is Maneuvering for a Government Bailout - The American Prospect
For artificial intelligence to ever pencil out, some truly enormous revenue streams will be required. And if you need trillions of dollars for data centers forever, there’s only one entity to turn to: Uncle Sam.
trib.al
November 9, 2025 at 1:07 AM
I’m not bailing out the only people in the world who can actually afford to lose $13 billion. Go fuck yourselves.
Reposted by Ellen Van
This is interesting
Tending to your nervous system this holiday weekend?!? Watch my interview with @jonathanmetzl.bsky.social
Healing in Chaos: Can We Regulate Our Nervous Systems Enough to Find Common Ground?!
youtu.be/MKsYuKIQkoM
Healing in Chaos: Can We Regulate Our Nervous Systems Enough to Find Common Ground?!
youtu.be/MKsYuKIQkoM
Healing in Chaos: Can We Regulate Our Nervous Systems Enough to Find Common Ground?!
YouTube video by Danielle Moodie
youtu.be
May 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
This is interesting
Reposted by Ellen Van
I've been thinking a lot about the devaluation of care work lately. For example, the "care economy" accounts for the majority of jobs growth for workers in the lowest quintile (and that share has increased since the 1990s) journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
May 24, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I've been thinking a lot about the devaluation of care work lately. For example, the "care economy" accounts for the majority of jobs growth for workers in the lowest quintile (and that share has increased since the 1990s) journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Ellen Van
It doesn’t matter how much time you spend at the gym. Or how old you are. SARSCoV2 really doesn’t care.
May 25, 2025 at 4:45 PM
It doesn’t matter how much time you spend at the gym. Or how old you are. SARSCoV2 really doesn’t care.
Reposted by Ellen Van
Waiting for this to be national news news4sanantonio.com/news/local/m...
Multiple Austin-area mosques vandalized in overnight spree, community calls for action
AUSTIN, Texas — The Muslim community in Austin is reeling after three mosques were vandalized in a single night, prompting calls for increased police interventi
news4sanantonio.com
May 25, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Waiting for this to be national news news4sanantonio.com/news/local/m...
Reposted by Ellen Van
If we stop calling these “grants” and start calling them “contracts,” it’s clearer to people why this is such an abuse of power. This wasn’t a bunch of gifts. This was a bunch of binding contracts between researchers and the US govt for specific agreed upon projects.
Research into quantum mechanics, volcanic eruptions and all sorts of other studies already underway canceled for no reason - a waste of resources, loss of innovation and undercutting expertise across multiple fields.
NEW: The National Science Foundation last week terminated 196 grants to Harvard amid the university's feud with Trump.
“Pure retribution,” one NSF employee told me of the administration axing $46 million in unfinished research. www.huffpost.com/entry/nation...
“Pure retribution,” one NSF employee told me of the administration axing $46 million in unfinished research. www.huffpost.com/entry/nation...
May 20, 2025 at 11:37 PM
If we stop calling these “grants” and start calling them “contracts,” it’s clearer to people why this is such an abuse of power. This wasn’t a bunch of gifts. This was a bunch of binding contracts between researchers and the US govt for specific agreed upon projects.
Reposted by Ellen Van
This is not a “health push.”
Some better ideas:
Increasing SNAP benefits to cover cost of a healthy meal
Adding bonus SNAP benefits to incentivize healthy options
Pushing for fair wages that would render SNAP unnecessary
🥗 🛟 🩺
Some better ideas:
Increasing SNAP benefits to cover cost of a healthy meal
Adding bonus SNAP benefits to incentivize healthy options
Pushing for fair wages that would render SNAP unnecessary
🥗 🛟 🩺
RFK Jr. Seeks to Ban Soda Buying With Food Stamps in Health Push
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined West Virginia’s governor, Patrick Morrisey, on Friday in declaring the latest front in their war on unhealthy foods.
www.bloomberg.com
March 31, 2025 at 12:49 PM
This is not a “health push.”
Some better ideas:
Increasing SNAP benefits to cover cost of a healthy meal
Adding bonus SNAP benefits to incentivize healthy options
Pushing for fair wages that would render SNAP unnecessary
🥗 🛟 🩺
Some better ideas:
Increasing SNAP benefits to cover cost of a healthy meal
Adding bonus SNAP benefits to incentivize healthy options
Pushing for fair wages that would render SNAP unnecessary
🥗 🛟 🩺
Reposted by Ellen Van
how do we bring our work on these topics in linguistics and philosophy to bear in a way that makes them accessible and useful?
There is no way to fight back that doesn’t challenge ideas like ‘terrorist,’ ‘gang member,’ and ‘criminal.’
March 22, 2025 at 1:50 AM
how do we bring our work on these topics in linguistics and philosophy to bear in a way that makes them accessible and useful?
Reposted by Ellen Van
we believe we are special and we simply are not
March 21, 2025 at 9:29 PM
we believe we are special and we simply are not
Reposted by Ellen Van
When you’ve lost the moral high ground to Nicolas Maduro
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/...
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/...
March 21, 2025 at 3:34 AM
When you’ve lost the moral high ground to Nicolas Maduro
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/...
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/...
Reposted by Ellen Van
The shame of citizenship in a country which detains asylum seekers, labels them "gang members" for their Air Jordan & Real Madrid tattoos, & deports them straight to hell with no judicial or administrative review under something literally called the "Alien Enemies Act" has been hitting hard today
March 21, 2025 at 4:09 AM
The shame of citizenship in a country which detains asylum seekers, labels them "gang members" for their Air Jordan & Real Madrid tattoos, & deports them straight to hell with no judicial or administrative review under something literally called the "Alien Enemies Act" has been hitting hard today
Reposted by Ellen Van
Reposted by Ellen Van
I, personally, would love to have some of my tax dollars go towards things like clean needles that can have an ROI of orders of magnitude rather than towards an overpriced and unhelpful system that burns public dollars to punish people for possessing dirty needles instead of giving them clean ones.
March 17, 2025 at 11:33 AM
I, personally, would love to have some of my tax dollars go towards things like clean needles that can have an ROI of orders of magnitude rather than towards an overpriced and unhelpful system that burns public dollars to punish people for possessing dirty needles instead of giving them clean ones.
I think this is helpful framing, especially re: public health.
The reason science is so virulently targeted by these folks is that good science changes with the data. The kind of introspection and self-intereogation intrinsic to the scientific method is directly opposed to their worldview and unthinkable. They cannot imagine doing it and assume it's a gotcha.
A few people brought this up - Tufekci accuses me of being dishonest because I published a paper stating that we did not find a lab leak plausible (March 17) while also stating that I found a lab leak “friggin’ likely”.
Now, I made that statement on Feb 1, where I still thought this could be LL.
Now, I made that statement on Feb 1, where I still thought this could be LL.
March 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I think this is helpful framing, especially re: public health.
Reposted by Ellen Van
Remember that the people who are cheering the haphazard mass firing of federal employees — because they hate federal employees and think they are the “deep state” — are simultaneously happy to accept ICE’s unreviewable, often clearly wrong determination of which aliens are most dangerous. MURIKA
March 16, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Remember that the people who are cheering the haphazard mass firing of federal employees — because they hate federal employees and think they are the “deep state” — are simultaneously happy to accept ICE’s unreviewable, often clearly wrong determination of which aliens are most dangerous. MURIKA
Reposted by Ellen Van
'We can never go back. I know that now. We can go forward.' — bell hooks
March 16, 2025 at 8:54 PM
'We can never go back. I know that now. We can go forward.' — bell hooks