Some dogs show behaviours towards their toys that resemble behavioural addictions in humans, such as gambling and internet gaming, according to a study of 105 dogs published in Scientific Reports. go.nature.com/4odqkFw 🧪

Free speech is when I encourage people to send you death threats; hate speech is when you tell me to stop.

@cydharrell.bsky.social What they said.

The message from Trump's DOJ to every prosecutor in America is clear: Investigate me or my allies, and we will use the full power of the federal government to destroy you.

Is there a better indication of how superficial and unhelpful mainstream media has become than that they are cutely musing about whether the domestic terrorist who changed "The Department of Defense" to "The Department of War" will get a Nobel Peace Prize—instead of reporting the fascism/terrorism.

We are witnessing the most lawless behavior by a leader in American history, just daily, extraordinary abuses of power. National Democrats must speak out in a loud and clear voice against Trump's escalating authoritarianism. It is time now.

I was working on the story and he just came out and said it

@landisweaver.bsky.social A must, tough read. ICYMI

Our Congress and Senate need to get back to the table and negotiate for We The People. Enough finger pointing, our country's health is at stake. Get back to work. You're being paid, our soldiers are not. #wtpBLUE #DemVoice1 #ProudBlue #VoteBlueforOurFuture

This is truly brilliant. Such a way to communicate, #USDemocracy #Voices4Victory

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

I love reading news from MIT & not just because I’m a student “new research is revealing patterns in the ways our bodies respond to stress and disease…. weak and robust immunomes—portraits that someday, could offer new insights into patient care and perhaps detect illnesses before symptoms appear.”

“ICE goes masked for a single reason — to terrorize Americans into quiescence,” wrote federal judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, in a ruling last week. “In all our history we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police,” he continued.

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

Voting isn’t the solution unto itself, but it’s critically important at the local level. There will be 52,000 elections held next month alone, and many will be determined purely by turnout. You know what to do.

Voters in California who live more than 50 miles from a USPS regional mail center must mail their VBM ballots AT LEAST ONE DAY BEFORE ELECTION DAY to ensure they're postmarked on time and counted. Ballots mailed on ED will be postmarked the following day, making them ineligible. shorturl.at/ctY4K

Democrats should demand the firing of Stephen Miller as a condition for reopening the government.

Republican Senators, with an assist from Sen. John Fetterman, voted down an attempt to block the Trump administration’s missile strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats. interc.pt/4o9CBur

Canada vs. America

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

This term, the Supreme Court could pave the way for states to oust 19 Black and Brown members of Congressmen by demolishing the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais Which would cripple minority representation at the federal level And gerrymander up to 27 districts for Republicans in total

"We took freedom of speech away" should be in every campaign ad moving forward.

If you are a federal worker, there are several credit unions and other financial institutions that are offering zero interest loans during the government shutdown. Please go to my website for more information: www.sanders.senate.gov/resources-fo...

This morning, Trump declared that the mayor of Chicago, Democrat Brandon Johnson, “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!” “Governor Pritzker also!” Trump added. If you think these threats are just bluster, consider that Comey was arraigned today—a longtime dream of Trump’s.

In related news, let me know if you or someone you know has any interesting work opportunities!

The Contrarian: "No other president would permit an underling to flaunt his racist rhetoric, display blatant animus toward a cross-section of Americans, and peddle his xenophobic, violent schemes." open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

I’m shocked.

NEW: Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of public schools as we know them.

You can report ICE here if you didn't get an app in time www.iceinmyarea.org/en

Aside from shattering core state sovereignty, it's saying one state's Guard (TX) is somehow more loyal to the national authority than another's (IL). It's treating the latter as something bordering on hostile, or at least alien. One part of the country and its soldiers are more America than another.

Anti-voter advocates are trying to implement the SAVE Act through the Election Assistance Commission. A chorus of the anti-voter rank and file is voicing their support for this move on the comments page. Don’t let them go unopposed! Submit your comment now! open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

In addition:

The Nobel Prizes, 5 of 6 having so far gone to US based scientists, are a reminder of why we must stand up for science against this horrid administration. Here are some great Scientist Activists to follow. go.bsky.app/14W5Rdk

In 1999, Bill Clinton announced that “the last, best unprotected wild lands anywhere in our nation” would be shielded by a new rule that banned roads and drilling. Today, these lands could soon see chainsaws and logging trucks amid a push by Trump to raze these ecosystems for timber.

I've been banging this drum for the past four months or so: DOGE and Russ Vought broke the appropriations process. What's the point of going through the arduous process of crafting 12 spending bills, clearing them through committee and getting them through two chambers if Trump does rescissions?

Oregon’s National Guard General: They’ll defend America and protect protesters. That’s leadership we need more of. 🇺🇸

Justice Jackson is everything the con justices hate. It's not that she's liberal. They can and do outnumber that. Rather, it's that she's demystifying the Court, exposing its hypocrisies and, in effect, bringing the Court down to a human & accessible level, something the cons oppose in every way.

Am suddenly reminded that Gen John Kelly told people Trump didn't know what had happened at Pearl Harbor.

He does not see soldiers as human beings. He sees props. He sees optics. He sees mirrors reflecting the hero he has always failed to become. open.substack.com/pub/jojofrom...

Call for action. Swear in Rep Grijalva #DemVoice1 5calls.org/issue/adelit...

Bob Ross paintings to be auctioned to support public TV stations after federal cuts

The #Virginia political race is heating up! Lots of information & misinformation being posted & on media. PLEASE everyone VETTE info sources before sharing. #CNN not helping!! They're only quoting ultra right/conservative sources! WE MUST ALL BE AWARE, gop knows VA IS 💙🇺🇸💙

Are furloughed federal employees entitled to backpay? The short answer is yes furloughed federal employees are entitled to backpay, but the mechanism a little complicated. And, importantly, it means the House GOP CR is insufficient for reopening the govt & needs to be amended. Thread explaining:

Pam Bondi admits she spoke to Apple to "get the ICEBlock app taken down." Sounds an awful lot like coercion to suppress disfavored speech to me. A clear violation of the 1st Amendment.

Its almost like he doesn't remember that he signed the 2019 law giving Federal Government Employees back pay. #GOPShutdown #FedStrong #DementedDon

Here’s how Trump could screw federal workers even more

@beyerstein.bsky.social Ugh. Tl;dr. FYI

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city. They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

As a resident of DC, I'm really unhappy with this occupation. My neighbors have been kidnapped, we don't feel safe going for walks because you never know if you're going to encounter ICE or others conducting Kavanaugh stops. Would be a million times better if these jerks left.