Ward’s Manufacturing Wins Discover Rhode Island 2026 Preferred Business Award
Ward’s Manufacturing has just been honored with the Discover Rhode Island 2026 Preferred Business Award, a recognition that celebrates the strength of American-made metal fabrication and the leadership of a woman-owned manufacturing shop proudly serving customers across industries. From precision laser cutting to custom CNC bending and part design, Ward’s blends cutting-edge capability with small-business grit—earning praise not just from clients, but also from the Rhode Island business community.
Click here for the LinkedIn post!
Ward Manufacturing: https://www.wardsmanufacturing.com/
The Depraved New White House Website Isn’t Just a Lie: It’s an Invitation
Every authoritarian project depends on the same foundation: control over the story of the past. Not just selective memory or political spin, but the systematic replacement of shared reality with a manufactured one. When that happens, facts become tribal markers, violence becomes debatable, and democracy becomes optional.
The Trump administration’s newly launched White House website on January 6 is a textbook example of this strategy. Presented as an “official history,” it does not merely minimize the attack on the Capitol—it inverts it. Those who breached the building are reframed as victims. Law enforcement officers are recast as aggressors. The certification of a lawful election is portrayed as the true act of subversion.
This kind of revisionism is not aimed at persuading skeptics. Its purpose is normalization. By declaring the insurrection “peaceful” and its aftermath “persecution,” the site quietly lowers the threshold for what counts as acceptable political behavior in the future. If what happened that day was not violence, then violence no longer has a clear meaning.
Governments that pursue this path are not arguing about history; they are preparing the public for what comes next. They are teaching supporters which actions will be forgiven, which institutions will be abandoned, and which truths no longer apply.
What is being rolled out here is not an interpretation of January 6, but a signal about the kind of country its authors intend to build.
Engineering Diplomacy Playbook
Turning a Handbook into a Living Reasoning System
Engineering Diplomacy transforms static handbooks into dynamic reasoning systems using AI tools like NotebookLM. Shafiqul Islam experimented by uploading chapters from the Open-Source Water Diplomacy Handbook, prompting the AI to create a "Crosswalk Index" linking challenges, tools, and real-world cases across scales like community and transnational levels. The AI excelled at structuring connections and staying grounded in sources, avoiding hallucinations, but fell short by mistaking chapter titles for actual challenges and drifting toward generic "best practices" without assessing conditions for success.
AI mirrors human thinking flaws, such as prioritizing categories over precise problem diagnosis, which is vital in complex fields like water governance where uncertainty and politics intersect. True engineering diplomacy demands "principled pragmatism"—evaluating tools like Joint Fact-Finding for contextual fit, scientific credibility, empathy, and political viability before application. Cases from AquaPedia serve as a "falsification engine," testing handbook principles against real outcomes to evolve the playbook iteratively.
For more info, see the full article here: https://engineeringdiplomacy.substack.com/p/engineering-diplomacy-playbook-deb
How You Can Help the Girls of ASYV Thrive
Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) in Rwanda offers a year-end matching challenge up to $150,000 through December 31, 2025, doubling contributions to education, leadership training, and gender equity programs for vulnerable girls facing poverty or post-genocide challenges.
Two years into a holistic gender equity approach, ASYV shares its curriculum across Rwanda amid funding uncertainties, with results including stronger futures for students and generations ahead.
Support the village here!
When Witness Becomes Action: Building a Children’s Hospital in Gaza
Dear Sherman,
Yesterday, I was moved to my core as we gathered in shared witness: listening, reflecting, and holding what it means to respond to immense human need with compassion and responsibility.
We heard from Dr. David Hasan, a Palestinian-American neurosurgeon, Duke University professor, and the founder of the Gaza Children Village (GCV). Drawing on his frontline medical missions in Gaza, Dr. Hasan spoke about the collapse of critical systems and his decision to envision something more: a community-led model of care that protects children not only in moments of crisis, but also over the long term.
He also spoke of the urgent effort underway to convert an existing facility into what will become Gaza’s only tertiary children’s hospital, a lifeline for newborns, children with injuries, and families who have nowhere to turn.
Watch and share the recording of the talk: https://www.afcfp.org/past-events-data/for-gazas-children-repairing-lives-on-the-ground-with-dr-hasan
GCV has become a refuge for orphaned and highly vulnerable children across the Gaza Strip. Today, they serve more than 8,500 children, providing safe, structured daily environments where children can learn, heal, and grow, supported by education, nutrition, medical care, and psychosocial support.
As we close 2025, we invite you to join the work of repair in Gaza by supporting GCV directly. You can learn more about their mission and support their work here: https://www.thegazachildrenvillage.org/
Thank you for being a part of the collective movement of healing, humanity, and hope. Together, we can help build a future worthy of Gaza’s precious children.
Now is the time to act. Let's grow our movement.
Oxford Debate: Hillel Neuer Calls Out Iranian Opponent for Complicity with Crimes
Last month, the Oxford Union hosted a debate on a proposition that many found startling: "Israel is a greater threat to regional stability than the Islamic Republic of Iran." UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer took the opposition, presenting a detailed examination of regional dynamics, human rights records, and geopolitical realities.
In his prepared remarks, Neuer walked through the facts: Israel's network of peace treaties with Arab states versus Iran's destabilization efforts through proxies; Israel's protections for women and minorities versus Iran's systematic repression. He also directly challenged one of the debate's main proponents on his alleged complicity in regime crimes.
Read the full debate remarks at UN Watch:
Oxford Debate: Hillel Neuer Calls Out Iranian Opponent for Complicity with Crimes
Oleander Alumna Appears on Lebanese National TV and Rotarians in Hiroshima
The Oleander Initiative celebrates the remarkable impact of one Lebanese educator and her students who have extended the lessons of peace far beyond their Hiroshima experience.
During February 2025, Aline, a Lebanese high school teacher, and seven of her students participated in the Oleander Resilience, Rebuilding and Peace Program in Hiroshima. Upon their return to Lebanon, they didn't stop sharing what they learned—they amplified it. Through an origami peace club and school-wide presentations, they inspired hundreds of students and teachers at their school to embrace Hiroshima's peace culture.
Last month, Aline took this mission to a national stage, appearing on four Lebanese television programs—Al Jadeed, Morning Catchy Talk, Murr Television, and OTV Lebanon—bringing the stories and lessons of Hiroshima's resilience and peace to thousands of viewers across the country.
The Oleander Initiative also celebrated the success of its October 2025 Rotary Peace Study Tour, which brought eleven Rotarians from Canada, the United States, and Russia to Hiroshima. Participants studied the culture of peace that emerged from the city's post-war reconstruction, learning valuable lessons about resilience, pacifism, and optimism to incorporate into their service work.
For the full article, visit: Oleander Alumna Appears on Lebanese National TV and Rotarians in Hiroshima – Oleander Initiative
Updates from Kampala — Mengo Hospital, MoTIV, and Uganda’s Creative Future
A recent update from Kampala highlights developments in health care, education, and the creative economy, offering a look into several initiatives shaping progress in Uganda.
One visit included Mengo Hospital, a historic medical institution located near Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala. The hospital is nearing completion of its new Child Care Center, a project supported by Mengo Hospital Partners (MHP)—a group with long-standing ties to the Washington, DC community. The renovation addresses a clear need for expanded pediatric care, and the center recently hosted a soft dedication led by MHP board chair William Chin. Supporters hope the collaboration between MHP and Mengo Hospital will continue strengthening child-focused medical services for years ahead.
Another stop in Kampala was MoTIV (Maker of Things, Ideas, and Ventures), a growing production hub committed to supporting Uganda’s creative sector and stimulating inclusive economic development. Conversations there—and later at Cavendish University and Victoria University—centered on the relationship between the arts, public policy, and economic diversification. The discussions underscored a key theme: economies seeking resilience and inclusivity must diversify not only industries but also the approaches used to support them. Within that vision, the arts are seen as an essential contributor, capable of broadening civic imagination and enriching social life.
Interviews with Ugandan media also explored these ideas further. Conversations were held with:
Privah Eliberz Nuwamanya (NTV)
Patrick Kamara (93.3 KFM)
Edgar R. Batte (Daily Monitor)
For those interested, the NTV interview is available here, and the Daily Monitor article can be accessed here.
These engagements reflect ongoing efforts in Kampala to strengthen partnerships, promote creativity, and broaden opportunities in health, education, and cultural development.
Learn more about MHP’s work here.
A Dispatch from Gaza by Dr. Ezzideen
A widely shared reflection by Dr. Ezzideen has been circulating on social media, capturing the stark intersection of survival, duty, and dignity in Gaza. His account offers an unfiltered look into the daily moral burdens carried by civilians and medical workers amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
By Dr Ezzideen.
@ezzingaza
“
For days I had been preparing for this one day, not with strength, for I have little left, but with what remains of faith. Faith not in salvation, nor in men, but in duty, the stubborn, almost irrational duty to go on living when everything around you calls for death.
I had resolved to reopen the clinic. It was not a grand act, no, God forbid, but perhaps one small act of defiance against despair. For is it not true that even a spark trembles more brightly when surrounded by darkness?
At seven in the morning, I stepped into the street. The air smelled of dust and fatigue, and I felt both pride and shame, pride that I still walked, shame that I still could. We opened the doors, and people came, limping, pale, wordless. They carried their pain as if it were a second skin. And we worked, my hands trembling, my thoughts somewhere between heaven and madness. We had little medicine, yet we prescribed hope as though it were a drug that might trick death itself.
Until two in the afternoon, the world was reduced to one sound, the sound of suffering met with trembling compassion. A mother’s cry, a child’s shiver, a man’s silence. How strange that such a day, filled with pain, could feel almost holy.
When the last patient left, I wanted to rest. But rest, here, is indecent, a sin against those who cannot. So I walked to the market, following a rumor, the kind of rumor that, in our city, has replaced faith. I searched for medicines I could not find. I returned home empty-handed, empty-stomached, my body exhausted but my mind restless, burning, alive.
And then came a call.
“There’s a supermarket selling frozen chicken,” said the neighbor, his voice trembling like that of a man announcing salvation.
Without thought I ran. How absurd, how profoundly human, to run for a piece of meat while people lie dying. Yet I ran, as though my life depended on it. For perhaps it did.
I stood in line for over an hour, surrounded by faces that looked like mirrors of my own soul, faces of those who have lost everything yet still believe in the redemption of a small thing: food, warmth, survival. When my turn came, I bought two chickens. Only two. Yet in my heart it felt like I had won a war.
At 7:06 p.m., I returned home. My hands trembled. My back ached. I placed the two frozen bodies on the table and sat in silence.
And then the question, cruel, childlike, inevitable, rose within me:
Which was the greater victory today?
That I reopened the clinic and touched the wounds of the living?
Or that I brought home two dead birds for my family to eat?
Tell me, who among us can still tell the difference between the sacred and the absurd, between mercy and survival, between the healing of bodies and the feeding of mouths?
Here in Gaza, the smallest act is transfigured into a moral weight unbearable to the soul. To save a patient or to find food, both demand the same courage, the same humiliation, the same grace.
And so I sat there, my eyes fixed on those two chickens, and I felt, I swear I felt, that they were staring back at me, cold and mute, yet filled with the same mystery that governs all existence.
Perhaps this is how man survives: by assigning holiness to the trivial, by finding God even in the marketplace, even in hunger, even in absurdity.
Tonight, I am both doctor and beggar, both savior and fool. And if God still walks among us, He must walk disguised, perhaps as a man clutching two frozen chickens, refusing, in his own small way, to surrender.”
The full post can be accessed at the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/laura.londen.3/posts/by-dr-ezzideen-ezzingazafor-days-i-had-been-preparing-for-this-one-day-not-with-/25614730664798589/
Tel Aviv Marks 30 Years Since the Assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
A major public gathering took place in Tel Aviv yesterday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. More than 150,000 people assembled in Rabin Square for what has become the largest peace-focused rally in three decades, underscoring the scale of public engagement around democracy, coexistence, and the fate of remaining hostages.
The event brought together a wide spectrum of political and civil society figures. Speakers included Head of the Opposition Yair Lapid, Democrats Party Chairman Yair Golan, former hostage and Kibbutz Nir Oz member Gadi Mozes, former Minister Tzipi Livni, and Dr. Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya, Vice President of the New Israel Fund board. Across their remarks, speakers emphasized a shared message: the need to return to a path grounded in peace, equality, and partnership with Palestinian neighbors, and to reject hatred, racism, messianism, and political violence.
The rally also served as a defining moment for Israel’s liberal democratic camp, which has spent more than three years mobilizing publicly for democratic protections and for the safe return of kidnapped civilians. Organizers and attendees described the gathering as a powerful expression of collective resolve and a renewed vision of responsible, courageous leadership.
Recordings of the full memorial program are available in Hebrew, English, and Spanish, alongside a playlist of individual speeches and musical performances.
The event was supported by volunteers and partner organizations, including the UnXeptable movement, DID, and United for Israel, whose teams coordinated live translation and on-the-ground logistics.
Watch the event in full or view key speeches here:
A National Push for Psychedelic Research Gains Momentum Across the U.S.
A coordinated national movement is emerging around the future of psychedelic-assisted therapies, with states across the country advancing legislation, opening new funding streams, and forming working groups dedicated to studying the clinical potential of substances such as ibogaine. Researchers, lawmakers, and advocacy organizations are increasingly collaborating to establish regulatory frameworks centered on safety, scientific rigor, and medical responsibility.
Americans for Ibogaine (AFI) has become a key resource within this growing landscape, supporting state-level decision-makers as they explore ibogaine’s potential for treating substance use disorders, trauma, and related mental health conditions.
Arizona: $5 Million for Ibogaine Research
Arizona has opened applications for state-funded clinical trials following a $5 million allocation to study ibogaine’s safety and efficacy for neurological disease. The effort, championed by former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, highlights Arizona’s expanding role in psychedelic science. Dr. Sue Sisley of the Scottsdale Research Institute described the initiative as a crucial investment in addressing trauma and substance dependence, particularly among veterans and first responders.
California: Streamlining Psychedelic Research Approvals
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1103, which accelerates state approval of psychedelic research by reducing delays within the Research Advisory Panel of California. The law—supported by Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)—is expected to facilitate faster approval of FDA-authorized studies, including future ibogaine trials.
Colorado: Toward Regulated Therapeutic Access
Colorado is on track to become the first state to establish regulated therapeutic access to ibogaine through its Natural Medicine Health Act. The Natural Medicine Advisory Board has voted in support of adding ibogaine to its definition of “Natural Medicine,” pending compliance with international sourcing rules. Governor Jared Polis has publicly signaled support as rulemaking and budgeting begin.
Indiana: Dedicated Funding for Emerging Research
Indiana’s biennial budget includes $300,000 annually to support ibogaine research, expanding the state’s existing Therapeutic Psilocybin Research Fund. While this does not authorize treatment or patient trials, it marks another meaningful step toward advancing evidence-based research.
Kentucky: Renewed Discussion After State Testimony
Following testimony before the Kentucky Senate Health Services Committee and a public address at Centre College, lawmakers are reassessing how ibogaine research could be incorporated into the state’s opioid response strategy. Legislators are now evaluating options to join other states pursuing ibogaine-supported research initiatives in upcoming 2026 legislation.
Louisiana: State Task Force Examines Psychedelic Therapies
Louisiana’s Task Force on Alternative Therapies for Veterans recently heard expert testimony—including accounts from AFI ambassadors—on psychedelic-assisted treatments for trauma, depression, and co-occurring mental health conditions. The task force will deliver recommendations to the legislature by February 2026.
Massachusetts: Laying the Policy Foundation
Massachusetts continues developing its framework for psychedelic-assisted therapy through Senate Bill 1400, which would authorize a pilot program for research and treatment involving substances such as ibogaine and MDMA. The bill received a favorable recommendation from the Senate Ways and Means Committee and could position the state alongside national leaders in clinical evaluation.
Mississippi: Landmark Legislative Hearing
Mississippi lawmakers held a three-hour committee hearing on ibogaine research, featuring testimony from AFI leadership, veterans, and survivors. A proposal is now under consideration to allocate $5 million from opioid settlement funds toward FDA-approved trials.
New Hampshire: Joining a Multi-State Research Consortium
New Hampshire has pre-filed a bill that would allow the state to participate in a multi-state consortium exploring ibogaine as an investigational treatment for substance use disorder and related conditions. The potential collaboration follows similar initiatives in Texas and other states.
Ohio: Establishing an Ibogaine Study Committee
Ohio enacted legislation in June 2025 to create a study committee focused on evaluating ibogaine for substance use disorder and PTSD in veterans. Recommendations for legislative next steps are expected by the end of 2027.
Texas: $50 Million for FDA-Approved Clinical Trials
Texas has made the largest public investment in psychedelic research in U.S. history—$50 million dedicated to establishing FDA-approved ibogaine clinical trials. The state is now building the program infrastructure, developing safety protocols, and partnering with researchers to move toward participant enrollment.
Looking Ahead: American Ibogaine Meeting (AIM 2.0)
The second American Ibogaine Meeting (AIM 2.0) will take place November 6–9 in Aspen, Colorado, bringing together policymakers, researchers, and state representatives working to build coordinated, responsible pathways for ibogaine research nationwide. Sessions will focus on regulatory planning, public education, and infrastructure development.
As 2026 approaches, the United States is poised for significant advancements in psychedelic science. The emerging state-level momentum reflects a growing commitment to investigating ibogaine’s potential through transparent, research-driven processes.
Learn more at: http://www.americansforibogaine.org/
Universities in Gaza Devastated Amid Ongoing War
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October, every university in the enclave has been either damaged or completely destroyed. Human rights groups have described the systematic targeting of higher education as part of an “ongoing crime of genocide,” with long-term consequences for Palestinian students and academic life.
More than 95 university professors have been killed, including 68 senior academics, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. For Gaza’s 90,000 students, the collapse of the higher education system has left the future of an entire generation uncertain. Below is a summary of the institutions affected.
Islamic University of Gaza
Founded in 1978 and once home to over 17,000 students, the Islamic University was destroyed on 10 October after Israeli forces alleged weapons production on campus—an accusation for which no evidence has been presented. The university had previously been hit in 2008–2009 and 2014.
Al-Israa University
The youngest university in Gaza, established in 2014, was preparing to open a public museum for its 10th anniversary. Israeli soldiers occupied the building for 70 days before demolishing it with explosives on 17 January.
Al-Quds Open University
Once Palestine’s largest non-campus university with 60,000 students across the West Bank and Gaza, its Gaza branch was turned into a military barracks and later bombed on 15 November.
Al-Azhar University
Founded in 1991 during the First Intifada, Al-Azhar hosted 12 faculties and 17,000 students. Its campus south of Gaza City was bombed on 6 November, leaving large sections destroyed.
Palestine Technical College
Established in 1993 and serving around 1,800 students, the college in Deir el-Balah has now become a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS)
Founded in 1998 with 8,500 enrolled students, UCAS also operated a donor-funded start-up incubator. On 22 January, Israeli forces shelled the campus while it was sheltering displaced families.
University of Palestine
Founded in 2005 and located in al-Zahra, the university has served as a shelter during the war. On 17 January, more than 300 mines were detonated on its grounds.
Al-Aqsa University
Originally founded in 1955 as a teacher training institute, Al-Aqsa University had 26,000 students and 32 lab spaces by 2022. Israeli forces shelled the campus on 22 January, despite it being used as a shelter.
Gaza University
Established in 2006 with ten faculties, Gaza University was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in December.
Hassan II University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences
Founded in 1992 with support from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, this institution in Beit Hanoun was destroyed in December.
Dar al-Kalima University: Gaza Training Centre
Opened in 2020 to support young artists and cultural programming, the centre hosted workshops, exhibitions, and art therapy for children. Israeli forces destroyed the facility in late March during Holy Week.
The destruction of Gaza’s universities represents a profound blow to education, heritage, and professional development in the region. Rebuilding these institutions will take decades, with long-lasting repercussions for students, faculty, and the future of Palestinian society.
Learn more here:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainer-gaza-israel-palestine-war-university-destroy
RefugePoint Marks 20 Years with a Landmark Anniversary Gala
RefugePoint marked its 20th anniversary with a major celebration titled Finding Refuge Together, bringing together supporters, partners, and global advocates for refugee protection. The event highlighted two decades of the organization’s work advancing lasting solutions for refugees and set the stage for an expanded vision for the years ahead.
The evening featured a prominent conversation between Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad and acclaimed actor and activist Don Cheadle, both honored with RefugePoint’s Champion of Change recognition. Their dialogue explored themes of justice, displacement, and the global responsibility to protect vulnerable communities.
Speakers throughout the event reflected on RefugePoint’s founding mission and its evolution. Founder and CEO Sasha Chanoff reiterated the ongoing urgency of refugee protection, emphasizing what he called “a new pledge: a promise of belonging for those who are displaced… a promise that no one will be left alone or forgotten.”
Guests also heard from members of the refugee community, including Mangok, a former RefugePoint client now resettled in Boston, who underscored the shared obligation to extend protection:
“The burden of freedom is that you can’t endure someone else not having it.”
The gala program included video storytelling, reflections from partners, and a closing celebration that underscored both the seriousness of the work and the strength of the community supporting it. Early footage from StopGoLove Films offered attendees a preview of a forthcoming short film documenting the evening.
Donations and pledges from the event continue to be tallied, with RefugePoint noting that contributions will directly support expanded pathways and services for refugees in the coming year.
A short video highlight from the celebration is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KLg9EcKlyRc
Click here to donate.
River Traveller — A Majestic Journey Along the Brahmaputra
Speaking Tiger Books brings forth a remarkable new work by acclaimed journalist and author Sanjoy Hazarika — River Traveller, an epic narrative that traces the life, history, and mysteries of one of the world’s great rivers: the Brahmaputra.
The Brahmaputra is no ordinary river. Rising in the Tibetan plateau, sweeping across three nations, and travelling more than 2,900 kilometres before emptying into the Bay of Bengal, it stands among the longest and widest rivers on Earth. For centuries, it has nurtured civilizations, shaped cultures, and sustained agrarian systems — while its unparalleled force has also reshaped landscapes and humbled human ambition.
In River Traveller, Hazarika draws on over two decades of journeys along and across the river, documenting its power, its beauty, and the diverse worlds it touches. Part reportage, part travel narrative, and part historical reflection, the book captures the river as both a living entity and a silent witness to the passage of empires, conflicts, and communities.
Hazarika’s chronicle takes readers through:
Tibet’s cultural resilience, as communities confront modern pressures under Chinese rule
Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, where the river’s shifting channels shape both daily life and regional identity
Bangladesh, where the Brahmaputra’s vastness meets the delta’s delicate ecosystem
Stories of explorers, map-makers, spies, kings, and colonial administrators who sought to understand and command the river
Accounts of natural disasters, political turmoil, and environmental challenges that continue to define the region
Balancing a journalist’s sharp eye with a storyteller’s depth, Hazarika examines everything from extremism to ecological stewardship, from ethnography to the river’s enduring cultural symbolism.
River Traveller is ultimately a sweeping study of human life intertwined with one of the planet’s greatest waterways — a portrait as expansive and powerful as the Brahmaputra itself.
For readers interested in travel writing, South Asian history, environmental studies, or the complex interplay between nature and society, this book is an essential addition to the shelf.
Learn more or get your copy: https://speakingtigerbooks.com/product/river-traveller/
Defending Academic Freedom at the University of Texas
A powerful and urgent conversation is unfolding at the University of Texas, where faculty, students, and academic freedom advocates are responding to President Donald Trump’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” The pact, sent to UT and eight other universities, offers increased federal funding in exchange for adopting politically driven restrictions — including defining gender in narrow terms and banning academic units that “belittle” conservative ideals.
In an important opinion piece, longtime UT professor John Hoberman warns that accepting the compact would compromise the university’s integrity, independence, and commitment to free inquiry. Hoberman, who has taught racial and cultural studies courses at UT for more than four decades without any administrative interference, argues that the compact represents a dangerous break from Texas’s historical respect for academic freedom.
A Clear Threat to University Autonomy
Following the proposal, UT System Board of Regents Chair Kevin Eltife expressed willingness to collaborate with the Trump administration, making UT the only institution so far to publicly welcome the plan. By contrast, universities such as MIT and Brown swiftly refused to sign, citing grave concerns about violating academic independence.
Hoberman notes that the compact effectively functions as political extortion: comply with a loyalty oath or risk financial punishment. The proposal would:
Impose externally defined ideological conformity
Restrict academic units based on political preferences
Demand student selection based exclusively on standardized metrics
Allow government intervention in faculty speech and research
These measures, Hoberman writes, would erode the core conditions that allow great universities to flourish — namely, freedom of thought, open inquiry, and resistance to political coercion.
Scholars of Academic Freedom Speak Out
A bipartisan group of six leading scholars — Robert P. George, Tom Ginsburg, Robert C. Post, David M. Rabban, Jeannie Suk Gersen, and Keith E. Whittington — issued a joint statement reaffirming why such a compact is incompatible with the mission of truth-seeking institutions.
Their key concerns include:
Restrictions on foreign students based on politically defined ideology
Mandated political “diversity” within academic departments
Standardized-only admissions requirements imposed by government fiat
Limits on faculty autonomy in teaching and research
Censorship of speech related to U.S.-designated terrorist organizations
They emphasize that no idea — conservative or liberal — should be immune from scrutiny, and that universities must be spaces of debate, critique, and intellectual challenge. Government-directed ideological insulation, from either side, runs counter to the spirit of higher education.
The Stakes for the University of Texas
Hoberman warns that endorsing the compact would send UT into “free fall,” reversing decades of academic progress and damaging its national reputation. The compact’s intrusion into academic life — from dictating curriculum boundaries to punishing extramural speech — would dismantle the very foundation of scholarly independence.
He argues that professions draw people with particular temperament and values. Universities naturally attract those committed to open inquiry, just as policing attracts more conservative temperaments. Attempting to forcibly reshape academia into a MAGA-aligned space is not only authoritarian but unrealistic.
A Call for Collective Action
Hoberman concludes with a simple message:
It is not too late.
All nine targeted universities must stand together to reject political interference and defend academic freedom — before it disappears.
Read the original article by John Hoberman:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bLu3mTidXAKplIreQZ-aIDRzQmTIEOUu/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111033924517633597069&rtpof=true&sd=true
Read Hoberman’s published article here:
https://www.statesman.com/opinion/columns/your-voice/article/opinion-ut-not-trade-academic-freedom-political-21103031.php
Learn more about John Hoberman:
https://www.the-trebuchet.org/blog/johnhoberman
MCAAD Launches New Site, Bluecadet Heads to MCN 2025, and a New Hiring Opportunity
The Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD) has officially launched its new website — a milestone moment shaped through a close partnership with the Bluecadet team. From early strategy and content development to design and build, the new platform reflects MCAAD’s mission to broaden access to opportunity in health, education, entrepreneurship, and financial empowerment.
Explore the new MCAAD site here:
https://www.mcaad.org/
Bluecadet at MCN 2025 — Minneapolis, October 20–22
Bluecadet will be part of the Museum Computer Network (MCN) 2025 Conference, held in Minneapolis from October 20–22.
Creative leader Rob Hassler will join the Ignite Reception on Monday, October 20, alongside other innovators across the museum and experience design world.
If you’ll be attending MCN and want to connect, Rob welcomes outreach: rob@bluecadet.com
Bluecadet Is Hiring: Creative Director, Web
Bluecadet is also searching for a Creative Director, Web — an opportunity for someone who moves confidently between design excellence, UX strategy, and team mentorship.
This leadership role focuses on creating accessible, content-rich, and mission-driven digital experiences for clients across the nonprofit and cultural sectors.
Ideal candidates bring:
Strong UX and responsive design expertise
A commitment to accessibility
Experience leading multidisciplinary creative teams
A collaborative, thoughtful design philosophy
Apply for the Creative Director, Web role here:
https://bluecadet.bamboohr.com/careers/92?source=aWQ9MjA%3D
For more about Bluecadet’s work and mission, visit here.
A Powerful Conversation on Chicago’s Street Outreach You Need to Hear
A new episode of the Healthy Chicago Podcast is making waves — and for good reason. This 30-minute conversation is one of the clearest, most honest windows into the reality of street outreach, a cornerstone of Chicago’s community violence intervention (CVI) strategy.
The episode features two leaders who began their journeys on the front lines:
Sam Castro, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
Elvis Ortega, Street Outreach Lead at the Community Safety Coordination Center and the Mayor's Office of Community Safety
Both are former outreach workers who now help shape the city’s CVI landscape. Their conversation is candid, grounded in lived experience, and full of insight into what makes street outreach not just important — but essential.
What the Episode Covers
Castro and Ortega open up about:
A street outreach worker’s “license to operate”
How exposure outings shift participants’ worldviews
The professionalization of the CVI field
Healing from trauma and supporting frontline workers
The unique ability of outreach workers to reach individuals at the highest risk of gun violence
Their reflections underscore a powerful truth: former drivers of violence have become some of the most effective agents for peace. Working with residents, community groups, and law enforcement, outreach workers are helping reshape safety in neighborhoods long impacted by gun violence.
A Conversation Everyone Should Hear
The episode is under 30 minutes — perfect for a lunch break, your commute home, or even while prepping dinner.
More importantly: share it.
Send it to anyone curious about street outreach, skeptical about CVI, or unfamiliar with the work happening across Chicago to prevent violence before it occurs.
As Sam Castro reminds us:
“We need everybody. We can’t do this alone.”
Ending gun violence is a shared responsibility. Listening — and sharing — is a powerful first step.
Choose Peace.
Watch the episode here:
Healthy Chicago Podcast – Sam Castro & Elvis Ortega
Slaughter for Hire: The Wagner Group’s Global Legacy of Violence
In The New York Review of Books, journalist Joshua Hammer exposes the chilling trajectory of the Wagner Group — a shadow army whose rise and fall mirrors Russia’s evolving use of mercenary warfare to project power, exploit resources, and instill fear from Africa to Ukraine. His piece, “Slaughter for Hire,” traces the group’s operations across continents and the violent legacy of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former restaurateur turned warlord whose death in 2023 marked the symbolic collapse of his empire.
Hammer recounts firsthand testimony from a contact in Timbuktu, Mali, who described the terror unleashed by Russian mercenaries—extortion, arson, and executions—forcing thousands to flee to Mauritania. Once welcomed by Mali’s regime to replace departing UN peacekeepers, these fighters now operate as the Africa Corps, under direct control of Russia’s Defense Ministry. Yet their tactics and brutality remain unchanged, a continuation of Wagner’s unchecked reign.
From its beginnings in 2017, Wagner entrenched itself in nations such as Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic—backing dictators, suppressing opposition, and bartering violence for access to gold mines and oil fields. The group also gained global infamy for its ferocity in Ukraine, from the Donbas to Bakhmut, where Prigozhin’s men—often recruited from prisons—became synonymous with bloodshed.
Prigozhin’s audacious rebellion against Moscow in 2023 briefly exposed the fractures within Vladimir Putin’s war machine. His sudden death in a plane explosion later that year, widely viewed as retribution, closed a dark chapter of state-sanctioned mercenary warfare. Still, as Hammer notes, Wagner’s operations live on in different guises, continuing to shape conflicts where accountability is nonexistent and profit fuels power.
The article reviews three new books that investigate Wagner’s evolution and Prigozhin’s life—from petty criminal to Kremlin proxy to mutineer. Among them is The Wagner Group: Inside Russia’s Mercenary Army by Jack Margolin, which provides an in-depth look at how this network blurred the line between private enterprise and state violence, leaving behind a legacy of chaos and exploitation.
Learn more here: Slaughter for Hire – The New York Review of Books
Feromics: Redefining Discovery Through Functional Immunomics
Feromics, a cutting-edge biotechnology company based in Boston, is pioneering transformative breakthroughs in functional immunomics—a frontier science dedicated to uncovering key immune cell pathways that could revolutionize the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
At the core of Feromics’ innovation is its proprietary Intelligent Design™ technology, which merges AI-driven bioinformatics with deep biological insights. This unique approach enables the identification of function-specific immune pathways that regulate cellular behaviors such as cancer cell killing, guiding the design of safer and more effective treatments.
A Mission Rooted in Precision and Personalization
Feromics' strategy focuses on precision, personalization, and innovation. By creating proprietary libraries of interacting disease and immune cells, the company’s AI-integrated analysis uncovers novel therapeutic targets that enhance CAR-T and CAR-Treg design, optimize donor cell selection for allogeneic immunotherapies, and streamline the transition from research to clinical application. Their approach tailors treatments to each patient’s immune profile—an essential step toward realizing the promise of personalized medicine.
Partnerships and Recognition
Feromics believes in the power of collaboration. Through strategic partnerships, they aim to empower discovery across the biotech and pharmaceutical landscape, expanding the reach and impact of immunotherapy innovation.
The company’s groundbreaking work has been recognized by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which awarded Feromics a $4 million, three-year contract to develop precision medicine technologies that improve patient treatment selection in cancer immunotherapy. Supported under Contract No. 75N91024C00036, this initiative underscores Feromics’ growing influence in shaping the future of biomedical science.
The Founders Behind the Vision
Feromics was co-founded by Shai Schubert, Ph.D. and Tania Konry, Ph.D., whose collaboration traces back to Konry’s laboratory at Northeastern University. Beginning in 2013, their research team of engineers, biologists, and computer scientists developed the single-cell assay models that now drive Feromics’ technology.
Dr. Schubert, who serves as CEO, brings extensive experience in biotechnology and medical device innovation. His mission centers on developing transformative treatments for underserved patient populations, guided by a career that bridges scientific excellence and entrepreneurial leadership.
A Legacy of Innovation
From more than 52 scientific publications and patents to collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies, Feromics continues to build on a decade of rigorous research and discovery. With a vision to transform how immune pathways are understood and harnessed, the company is driving biomedical innovation from concept to clinic.
To learn more about Feromics and its groundbreaking work in functional immunomics, visit here.
Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money: HRF’s Latest Contribution to the Journal of Democracy
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced the publication of a powerful new essay by Alex Gladstein, HRF’s Chief Strategy Officer, titled “Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money,” in the October 2025 issue of the Journal of Democracy (Volume 36, Number 4, Johns Hopkins University Press).
In this thought-provoking piece, Gladstein explores how Bitcoin serves as a tool of financial freedom in authoritarian societies, where governments often weaponize banking systems to surveil, silence, and punish dissent. In many such regimes, activists, journalists, and civil society groups are denied access to traditional financial channels, making it nearly impossible to fund essential human rights work.
Drawing on real-world examples from Nigeria, Cuba, Russia, Togo, and beyond, the essay demonstrates how Bitcoin enables individuals to transact freely, securely, and beyond the reach of state control, offering a lifeline to those resisting repression. Gladstein argues that in an age where governments can track, freeze, or devalue citizens’ money with a click or algorithm, decentralized digital currencies represent a new frontier of human rights and autonomy.
He writes:
“What you spend says more about you than what you say. Governments can see who buys what, who pays whom, and who donates to which cause. Enemies of the state can be shuttered with the arbitrary click of a button—no court warrant needed.”
The essay also highlights the destructive economic policies of authoritarian leaders—such as Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose repeated devaluations of the Egyptian pound have eroded public welfare—underscoring how Bitcoin offers citizens an alternative to manipulated and collapsing state currencies.
Read the full essay here: Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights globally, with a particular focus on closed societies. Through advocacy, education, and innovative initiatives like this, HRF continues to illuminate how technology can safeguard the most fundamental of freedoms — including the right to think, speak, and transact without fear.