Wow. New NBC poll finds 78% support vaccines, including 72% of independents and 67% of Republicans. As I keep trying to argue, Democrats should polarize the shit out of the vaccine/public health debate. Make people take sides. It will split Republicans and MAGA. See this:

Do you work at the Office of Management and Budget? Do you know someone who does? Are you a current or former federal worker with information that you can share about Russell Vought? If the answer to any of these is "yes," please contact @andykroll.bsky.social www.propublica.org/tips/

Like the Koch brothers and other conservative billionaires, Dunn and Wilks want to slash regulations and taxes. Their endgame, however, is more radical: not just to limit the government but also to steer it toward Christian rule. (Published Oct. 2024)

When you strip away humanity

PBS News is not going anywhere. We will continue our work without fear or favor, as we have for nearly five decades on the air. We are profoundly grateful to Viewers Like You for your loyalty and unwavering support.

RFK Jr. wants HHS employees to inform on their colleagues who have supported Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It seems that the form is open to anyone. 🧐 forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Kerrville and Hill Country folks and anyone in Texas impacted by the floods, we are spreading word that my Pediatric Psychology team is available to children and families asap. 210-704-0406 in San Antonio or call CHRISTUS Children’s or message me. We can see you over telehealth.

movie you've watched more than 6 times using gifs (no sw, st, or lotr)

Did you know it’s not a crime to overstay a visa, the most common way that immigrants end up in America without authorization? Also, they are not undocumented. It’s an administrative violation, like filing your taxes late.

The US Supreme Court has afforded the President absolute immunity for "official acts" and has also empowered the president to have individuals whisked away to other countries before they can sue to stop them. A future president should have members of the current regime whisked away to the Hague.

Make sure your friends and family who are still on Facebook know that it's getting even more invasive. I walked away from Meta services for good in February and life goes on! The more of us who leave, the less sticky it becomes for everyone else who is still there.

In the spring of 2008, I feared America was on the verge of war with Iran — and, believing that it’s good style to get to know people before you bomb them, I made “Rick Steves’ Iran,” a one-hour special that could (and would) only debut on PBS. Sadly, this special has become pertinent again today.

Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government. That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.

In order to eliminate any inconvenience to cars, we’ve made it illegal for children to be children

If you see this quote post a show with an awesome theme song.

A new era of government censorship has begun. It started with the silencing of scientific speech, when the admin blocked release of research on bird flu. But MAGA has also cracked down on other wrongthink—on race, geography (!), and of course Trump himself www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

I need you all to see the hype video that this person made to sell their 1994 Geo Metro

Do not listen to RFK Jr. on covid vaccines for pregnant people. Listen to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which STRONGLY recommends a covid vaccine during pregnancy, for the health of the pregnant person and the fetus. 🧪 www.acog.org/covid-19/cov...

Not to mention that in the actual elections that have occurred in the last 6 months Democrats are over performing in Trump districts. Which says to me that any national dissatisfaction is because they aren't mounting a strong enough resistance to fascism, not because they are culturally out of step.

🚨 A new rule would let career scientists like NSF/NIH program officers be replaced by political appointees Already 14,000+ public comments, deadline is Friday 📣 Comments can be short. Courts consider them—and scientists with NSF/NIH experience are especially impactful Speak up! shorturl.at/WKuBj

I asked my Republican colleagues to explain why they’re jacking up health care premiums on their constituents while giving billionaires a tax break. Silence. youtu.be/xPhpz4jpphM

Among the many horrors, Republicans snuck a $20 billion voucher scheme into their tax bill—despite voters rejecting such plans every time they’ve been on the ballot. I opposed the GOP's shameful attempt to defund public schools and divert resources from students and teachers who need it most.

It’s 2 am and we’re still marking up massive cuts to Medicaid. While their constituents are asleep, Republicans are trying to take away health care from 13.7 million people to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. They want you to tune out. Don’t ⬇️ x.com/i/broadcasts...

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

They’re arresting judges now

Reminder that words matter. You can’t “deport” a US citizen. You might be kidnapping, disappearing, exiling, expelling, illegally removing, etc., but you’re not “deporting” a US citizen.

I don't get how anyone can possibly be okay with ending the WHI. This study has accrued decades of data from 42000 women and it is still going. It helps to address critical research gaps that have been allowed to go unfilled because of durable misogyny and provides invaluable insight into aging.

The Fourth Circuit is famously succinct. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

@npr.org this morn: "President Trump is building an economic barrier designed to limit imports and encourage domestic manufacturing." That's a generous framing! Try reading @hcrichardson.bsky.social to be sure you're reporting on what it's really designed to do. @chrismurphyct.bsky.social nails it.

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. 1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.

Many at USIP have told me from the start that the reason the Trump administration has gone after them so aggressively is because of their really beautiful building.

Trump is threatening to bomb Iran if it doesn't make a nuclear deal that Trump previously pulled the US out of in 2018. This is like the tariff war but Trump gets to directly murder civilians as he flip flops and does Israel's bidding in the region. www.reuters.com/world/trump-...

NEW: When ProPublica and @texastribune.org asked the Valere Public Schools board whether it had any plans to make changes to the pay that Salvador Cavazos receives on top of his base salary, the board sent a one-word response: “No.”

👀

Over the last three years, the head of a small charter school network that serves fewer than 1,000 students has taken home up to $870,000 annually, a startling amount that appears to be the highest for any public school superintendent in Texas. By @emsimani.bsky.social and Lexi Churchill

🚨SOS!!🚨 a whistleblower who works in the federal govt just got this info to me. You guys they are dismantling Social Security. It’s happening right now. Like, NOW. With an interruption in services in 2-3 months. I can’t say who this person is but they’re in a position to know. SPREAD THE WORD! 🧵

Looking to speak with federal workers who've been fired from NOAA in Alaska. Please reach out! DMs open or [email protected]

We're continuing to examine the Trump administration's purge and its effects, and we need your help. If you work or have worked at a government agency, we want to hear from you. You can reach me on Signal at 347-549-0332 or reach out to ProPublica's tip line: www.propublica.org/tips/#signal

The Trump official currently dismantling USAID was caught in a secret meeting with a group of pro-Russian separatists in the Balkans. Those he met with are under American sanctions for trying to restart the Bosnian war in the name of Christian nationalism. 1/

Re: gutting federal agencies - This gov thing some people see as a sponge on society is also padding for the economy (among many other useful things). It can be both, but if you take away one you take away both. Volatility we've never seen in US currency, equity, and commodity markets will ensue.

@bsky.app one small feature on mobile web that would be so great is if when clicking in to view an image, it behaved like Twitter - you can swipe back to return to the post, double tap to zoom, and last but not least - make the little left/right arrows more transparent - they block text in images

Measles requires 95% vaccination rates for herd immunity. It has a 16.2% case fatality rate for unvaccinated children under 5 years and 24% for children under 9 months (who are unable to be vaccinated). 30% of the survivors experience severe complications like blindness, deafness, or encephalitis.

The Acting Solicitor General has notified Congress of DOJ's intent to ask #SCOTUS to overrule Humphrey's Executor—a major 1935 ruling upholding the independence of agencies like the FCC, FTC, NLRB, etc. fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldoc... Because *less* independence is what we need...

How much Elon Musk makes from the government a day: $8 million. How much a senior on Social Security gets a day: $65 Guess which budget Musk and Trump want to cut?

I told the country as an academic Middle East expert not to invade Iraq. If they had listened to me it would have saved several trillion dollars . What return on investment would that have been?

The General Services Administration, staffed at its upper levels by Elon Musk associates, plans to sell 500-plus buildings—some of which house government agencies and the offices of US senators.

Wow, timeline algo serving up serious Klingon vibes

I know I'm a little behind (my library hold finally came in!), but Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Message should be required reading. The historic parallels he draws are enlightening. It's well reasoned, clear eyed, and beautifully told. And he has a great voice if you're into audio books!

HEADLINE: CDC posts, then deletes, data on bird flu spread between cats and people. The data which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. It is evident the CDC is being muzzled SO let’s talk about what YOU can do to PROTECT yourself AND your pets. 🧪🧵 ⬇️