DrDinD🟧🇺🇲🇺🇦 He/Him Profile picture
Come for science (Dr of physics) and political insights... leave from the dad jokes. Born at 317 ppm. #IStandWithUkraine
Feb 17 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
A Tesla employee who loved his work died in a fiery crash where the self driving feature was engaged. Tesla has not acknowledged his death.

His widow is devastated.

"Tesla’s first communication with the family after the crash was a termination notice she found in her husband’s email."

wapo.st/3uDB21LImage To Elon-stans in the comments:
Image
Image
Oct 1, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
On Jimmy Carter's 99th birthday 🎂, I remember that he was the first POTUS to focus on transitioning to a renewable energy future.

Carter famously mounted solar water heating panels on the White House roof in 1979, which Reagan took down 8 years later. But he did more. Image Faced with lingering aftermath of the Arab oil embargo, wanting energy independence, in 1977, Pres. Carter engineered the cabinet level Department of Energy out of smaller agencies, especially the Atomic Energy Commission & the Energy Research & Development Agency (ERDA) Image
Jun 19, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Just to add to the hypocritical & privileged RFK Jr, guests coming to his holiday party in 2021 were urged to be vaccinated, and he blamed that on his wife, actress Cheryl Hines. Image Source:

theguardian.com/us-news/2021/d…
Jun 18, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
32 children died in Samoa from measles after RFK Jr visited to oppose childhood vaccinations & his organization pushed a false story that MMR vaccines killed 2 children, refusing to take it down after it was revealed two nurses mixed muscle relaxant in.

wapo.st/444SJmT In 2021, RFK Jr & his organization rolled out a "documentary" "Medical Racism: The New Apartheid" to try to convince African Americans not to get vaccinated against COVID19. It was filled with the same false antivax claims bet.com/article/z4cjua…
Feb 3, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
#BlackHistoryMonth
On July 17, 1944, a munitions explosion at the USN Port Chicago near Martinez California killed 320 & injured 390.

"African-American casualties totaled 202 dead and 233 injured, which accounted for 15% of all African-American casualties during World War II." Image A month later, hundreds of servicemen rallied against unsafe working conditions, and 50 African American servicemen were later convicted of mutiny.

They were originally sentenced to 15 years of hard labor but under public pressure were released by 1946.
Feb 1, 2023 • 21 tweets • 9 min read
#BlackHistoryMonth
As a physicist, I want to mention some key contributors in my field, beginning with former colleague Jim Stith, past president of the American Association of Physics Teachers, who contributed greatly to elevating Physics Education to research prominence. Image Stith is also an APS fellow, a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, and a former professor at Ohio State University and at the US Military Academy at West Point.

math.buffalo.edu/mad/physics/st…
Jan 15, 2023 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
Universities have been bastions of independent thought, but as DeSantis shows, they are clearly on demagogues' radar.

Having just retired after a career at two major research universities, I offer thoughts on why, as in Nazi Germany, universities are vulnerable to demagogues. Faculty at major universities are to a first pass all excellent, with PhD or equivalent terminal degrees. Being a professor offers a salary leading to upper middle class with advancement, good benefits, respect, & usually good retirement packages.

But the jobs are not mobile.
Jan 14, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The GOP wants to try to pay our debts while holding government payments hostage. The US Chamber of Commerce Head says "pfft!"

wapo.st/3GFuhP1 US Chamber of Commerce Head:
“If the U.S. government skips its payments to America’s seniors or skips its payments to bondholders, both of those things call into question the full faith and credit of the United States government and our commitment to paying our bills."
Jan 13, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
A few facts & thoughts on the Biden documents.

First, Merrick Garland is NOT a member of the Federalist Society. He is a contributor meaning he has spoken at FS events & written some pieces they published.

fedsoc.org/contributors/m… Second, I have seen people complain at how fast this is taking off. That is because Biden's team did the right thing and notified the archives immediately, & the archives properly referred this to DOJ.
Nov 9, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Things I am grateful for a day after midterms
âś…no red wave
âś…We have a great chance to hold the Senate and a slim chance to keep the house
✅Sure FL went deep red, but MI is 🟦💙
âś…Anti-abortion measures all lost
âś…Great performance in Governor's races by Dems

Add yours! Things we need IMHO

âť“How do we solve the turnout problem
âť“How do we reboot the 50 state strategy?
âť“If the GOP narrowly wins the house, how do we fight back against their likely awful behavior on investigation, debt ceiling, etc
Sep 23, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
"Vertol has close ties to Larry Keefe, the DeSantis appointee charged with running his anti-immigration policies."

Also, Vertol does not fly planes, so they subcontracted to Ultimate Jet Charters of Ohio.

talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/surpris… via @TPM Fun facts:
*Keefe hired Matt Gaetz as an attorney before his congressional election.
*Gaetz represented Vertol in 2010 lawsuits.
*Vertol is a partner in Zeppelin Holdings LLC with Jay Odom, close associate of Gaetz.
*Zeppelin owns 8 seat Cessna jet that flew similar course>
Sep 23, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
To reporters digging in on DeSantis, just want to note a few things in his biography that deserve examination or don't add up.

First, he's a middle class guy who graduated Magna Cum Laude in History from Yale while playing baseball (Division 1). How'd he pay? There are no sports scholarships in the Ivy League. The Dexter Filkins' New Yorker profile says "he worked several jobs to help pay his tuition". The tuition at Yale in 2000 was $25000. Minimum wage was $6.15 in CT then . Working even full time all year would pay 1/2 that
Sep 22, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I want to make this very clear because I have been called a liar by DeSantis supporters.

Seeking asylum in the US IS LEGAL. This is what the Venezuelans were doing when DeSantis shipped them to Martha's Vineyard. This is what asylum means:
Sep 21, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
.@GovRonDeSantis ancestors migrated to the US from Italy at a time when the borders were truly open, at least to European immigrants.

Now he wants to deceive, bully, & use asylum seekers legally in the US as pawns in his power game His heartless treatment of the Venezuelan asylum seekers last week is ironic. Italian American immigrants were subject to vicious prejudice from the 1800s until the mid 20th century. Columbus Day was proclaimed by Pres Harrison in 1892 under pressure from the Italian government
Sep 15, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
This is huge - the essence is this: insurers are driving police reform. The small MO town features in the article has eliminated high speed chases over minor traffic infractions & petty crime because insurance rates were going through the roof. It is happening all over. The police in the MO town substituted GPS tracking darts for high speed chases, and then they just find the car and issue a citation or make an arrest later. Technology can eliminate the need for police action in most minor traffic cases.
Sep 15, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
A tale of two presidents: when confronted with a potentially crippling strike by air traffic controllers, Reagan fired the controllers & broke the union.

Confronted with a looming strike by railroad workers & owner lockdown, Biden negotiated & workers are better off Reagan used the strike to set path on union busting. Unions were already in decline, & Reagan gave them a shove over the cliff

npr.org/2021/08/05/102…
Sep 15, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
This article is stunning: rapid rises in insurance premiums forces police reform.

“One of the things I’ve had to come to terms with is, since we changed our pursuits, our accidents are way down. We are doing a better job of keeping the public and our officers safe.” Article: no paywall

wapo.st/3Lehu8b
Sep 12, 2022 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Eric Trump, yes. Nunes (in red) maybe. If people are thinking the guy near Trump in light blue is Hannity, nope. Hannity is the same height as Trump (6'). I also don't see McCarthy. I don't doubt the purpose of this meeting. I do doubt most of the identifications. Actually, the only identification I accept is Eric Trump. The redshirt guy (left) is not Nunes (right top) who is also about the same height as Trump. No McCarthy, Newt, M. Lee, Trusty (right both.). I don't doubt that they are up to something. Let's not get carried away yet ImageImageImage
Jun 30, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Good news/bad news about the SCOTUS EPA decision today.

Good news: market forces are killing coal.

"In reality, utilities have been closing coal plants over the past decade in the face of competition from cheaper forms of energy such as gas-fired generators, solar ...& wind" Bad news 1: since there are no regulations in place (stopped by courts before), this is extreme judicial activism.

"“Twenty years ago, there’s no way that court would ever have taken this case,” said Sambhav Sankar, a senior VP at the environmental law group Earthjustice"
Jun 30, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Just a reminder for those who want to blame the Dems for not pushing back on the outrageous court decision made by GOP appointed justices:

The GOP is 100% responsible for their bad faith actions. Also: the west coast governors have made it clear we are a welcoming spot for women in need.

AG Garland has made it clear that reproductive health drugs approved by the FDA cannot be made illegal in states.

The White House is working to make medical abortions more accessible
Apr 3, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
"Last year, 30 percent of home sales in majority Black neighborhoods across the nation were to investors, compared with 12 percent in other Zip codes, The Post’s analysis shows."

washingtonpost.com/business/2022/… Context of above tweet: corporate investors are buying up huge amounts of homes & turning them into rentals. Fewer sale homes available-> tougher for 1st time buyers to break in, & home ownership is the gateway to generational wealth. The problem is worse in black communities.