don't forget

SCOOP— FEMA essential functions are at "high risk" of not functioning properly just days before hurricane season because of staffing shortages, per a recent internal memo obtained by The Handbasket. These deficiencies "may disrupt life-saving and life-sustaining program delivery." Full story here:

NEW: Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.

Breaking: RFK Jr. has forced out PETER MARKS, the nation’s top vaccine regulator. In his resignation letter, obtained by the Post, Marks said he was willing to work with RFK Jr on his vaccine concerns — but said Kennedy wishes “subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”

Dozens more pregnant and postpartum women have died in Texas hospitals since the state banned abortion, our analysis shows. As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, it rose in Texas by 33%.

I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress.

The whole point is not just the state disappearing whoever they want, it's you being in the habit of accepting the state choosing whom to disappear, without question. It's submission to the state. Same as with Gitmo after 9/11. The state's judgment must not be questioned.

NONE of this is normal

A friend drove two hours today for her breast cancer chemotherapy only to learn it was canceled due to NIH cuts. Clinical trial ended midstream. No treatment, no restart, no plan, no information. Her bro-in-law's chemo was also canceled.

INCREDIBLE Ruling! Judge Reyes just ruled that transgender people have served honorably in the military, judges Trumps trans military ban - which states trans people are inherently dishonorable - as unconstitutional and motivated by animus. Trans military members may continue to serve.

Dictator shit

Every person on Bluesky should know: * Every post on Bluesky is PUBLIC forever * Every post on Bluesky is archived by ICE, NSA, and many other agencies * Even if you delete a post, it’s already been captured * Judges don’t care if you were “kidding” or being ironic www.404media.co/the-200-site...

Among the material devastation to everyday people, Senate Dems have now blown a hole in their ability to work with the House. We had an agreed upon plan, House took immense risk, then Senate turned around midway and destroyed it w/ a fear-based, inexplicable abdication. They own what happens next.

I think some in the Senate have convinced themselves that the backlash to folding will be limited to “the left” and therefore ignorable. Those people are deeply and profoundly misreading the moment and the stakes. Virtually every swing district House Dem walked the plank to vote NO for a reason.

Right now there is clear, overwhelming opposition to Mahmoud Khalil’s abduction across the moderate, liberal, progressive & left spectrum. This kind of loud unity is what authoritarians are afraid of. To keep it up we need every institution & public leader to join the chorus.

A crowd has gathered for the NYC protest against the illegal ICE arrest of Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil. Protesters are chanting and calling for his immediate release. Multiple helicopters overhead.

I need y'all to sit with this headline and understand what is being done to our community. They're trying to criminalize our very existence. This is a campaign of eradication. www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/rcna...

“Trying to appeal to a voter who will congratulate you for scolding a member of your own party for peacefully protesting fascism is a losing game because that voter does not exist.”

I got your waste, fraud, and abuse right here

They want federal employees to suffer psychological abuse and not speak to press about it. It’s not difficult to imagine them coming after members of the media next. Scary shit, but silence is not an option.

Yes, my economic plan will cause short term pain. But after that you won't feel the pain anymore because you'll be dead

1. Today, powerful speeches from trans representatives in Montana SJ Howell and Zooey Zephyr flipped 29 Republicans, killing anti-trans bills. While some Dems like Newsom abandon trans people, these reps show the power of representation. Watch their speech. Subscribe to support our journalism.

REPORTER: Are you considering revoking the TPS status for the more than 20,000 Ukrainians who live here in the US? TRUMP: What are you saying? REPORTER: TPS status. TRUMP: On GPS?

SCOOP: FEMA's top lawyer was forced out yesterday after less than a week on the job—and sources tell me it was because of his unwillingness to write a memo providing legal cover for the agency's impoundment of $80 million from NYC migrant shelters. Full story:

Last night I stood up for those who need Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Democrats will never abandon the fight to make sure every American has a safe, healthy, and financially secure life. #ISaidWhatISaid

I spent last week in Taipei with hundreds of human rights organizations, many of which had been impacted by the US aid freeze. While we were there, news came down that even more grants had been canceled, some of which were then reinstated. "Total chaos." @wired.com www.wired.com/story/rights...

To any future author writing the book on this, hear me out: "Atlas Rugged"

Trump thinks anyone protesting must be from another country when the right and will to protest our own government is a foundational American value.

The final vote: 51-45, with 4 people absent. CLOTURE FAILS, A CONGRESSIONAL SPORTS BAN WILL NOT HAPPEN. Democrats hold firm, not a single dem voted for cloture. MAJOR victory for everyone who called in today and this week in support of trans people.

NEW: Trudeau says if US tariffs come into effect tonight, Canada will, effective 12:01 am EST tmrw, respond w/ 25% tariffs against $155 billion of US goods starting w/ $30 billion worth immediately, $125 billion in 21 days’ time. Canada's tariffs will remain in place until US trade action withdrawn

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Friday's Oval Office betrayal was to create a pretext for this move. As long as Trump is in office, America will be on Putin's side.

SCOOP: Now that Linda McMahon is confirmed/sworn in as secretary, Trump will be imminently issuing an executive order eliminating the Department of Education. I’ve obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department’s “final mission”. Here is a portion:

It took a lot longer than I'd hoped, but I've finally made the move away from Substack and set up shop on Ghost instead. The newish and improvedish CAMPAIGN TRAILS: campaign-trails.ghost.io/post-to-the-...

Best Picture - ANORA Read @tomilaffly.bsky.social's review: www.rogerebert.com/reviews/anora #Oscars

"Our film has the power to change the hearts and minds of people. I hope it gets seen by millions of people in the US." NO OTHER LAND, an urgent, undistributed exposé of Israel's war crimes in the occupied West Bank, has won the Oscar for best documentary feature: www.rogerebert.com/interviews/b...

Best Documentary Feature Film - NO OTHER LAND Read @sheilakathleen.bsky.social's review: www.rogerebert.com/reviews/no-o... #Oscars

I went to the tesla protest for a thing I'm working on and I talked to several onlookers - not protesters - and asked them what they knew about Elon and Doge and I'm telling you people don't know

As an offshoot of this thread, let’s talk about what happens if federal, state, or local officials text, email, call, or show up at your door wanting to talk to you about what you said about the President. I have a theme, a thesis, a throughline, a leitmotif, which is SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH. /1

No, the meeting did not go badly for Ukraine. It exposed in the most undeniable, unequivocal way possible the pro-Putin commitments of the president and vice president. That was information Americans and allies needed to have clear before them.

This was a disgusting display by the soft, uninformed VP Vance trying to school Zelensky, the man who has led his country through the most surprisingly resilient and effective fight for sovereignty against a global superpower. Every negative stereotype about America is confirmed in this exchange.

Part of the lesson here is that Trumpists, like many bullies, don’t handle it well if you stand up to them rather than caving. If Trump or Vance or their supporters had any character this petulant display and Zelenskyy’s defiance would be humiliating to them.

Watching Putin’s little stooges try to bully Zelenskyy in our goddamned White House is pretty repulsive.

"Cuts have no apparent regard for civil society or opportunity costs or long-term strategic thinking. Their targets are Elon Musk’s and Project 2025’s targets. They have found no fraud, just democracy at work. They’re apparently eager to see what happens when it no longer does." Brian Barrett:

Per Dr Atul Gawande, ex USAID: “All malaria supplies protecting 53 million people, mostly children, including bed nets, diagnostics, preventive drugs, and treatments – terminated.” There are no words that sufficiently describe this level of cruelty and sadism.

Please enjoy my last ever post at Climate.gov/ENSO Blog. This afternoon I was fired by the Trump Administration 15 days before my 2yr probationary period ended on March 13. I have worked at NOAA since 2010, and I'm so incredibly proud of the work I did. If anyone wants a quote, let me know.

1. Today, the Iowa Legislature shamefully stripped transgender people from the State Civil Rights Act. It becomes the first state to ever strip any group from a civil rights act. There were powerful speeches, and huge protets. The latest from Mira Lazine. Subscribe to support our journalism.