Michael Mechanic

The Frog of War When biologist Tyrone Hayes discovered that a top-selling herbicide messes with sex hormones, its manufacturer went into battle mode. Thus began one of the weirdest feuds in the history of science.

The Frog of War, by Dashka Slater. Totally weird and worth reading.

A new California bill aims to ban paraquat. Yep, that toxic stuff is still around. Banned by 60 countries, the herbicide behind a 1970s marijuana scare persists in the US.

Syngenta just announced it's gonna stop producing paraquat, which I thought was a throwback to '70s Mexican weed before learning that US growers still use it. Syngenta, btw, was the subject of a wild story with one of my favorite headlines. See addendum to this post.

Last I heard, any new spending has to be passed by CONGRESS

You Break It, You Own It? Not for Trump When It Comes to Iran.

The president who was so afraid of going to Vietnam he got his rich daddy to intervene wants everyday Iranians to somehow rise up and overthrow the people with all the weapons. But that's not how the real world works.

How Anonymous Bettors Cashed In on the Iran Strike, Just Hours Before It Happened

The DOJ should look into this.

Hahahahahaha.

No, it's them.

Exclusive | Mark Zuckerberg’s $170 Million Mansion Buy Breaks Miami Price Records The Meta CEO’s under-construction Indian Creek home is one of the priciest ever to close in the United States.

Nope. Definitely no oligarchy in the United States.

The Texas Senate primary is a battle for the Democratic Party's soul. James Talarico is a "choir boy." Jasmine Crockett is a "street fighter." Their race will set the tone for the midterms clash to come.

After reading Tim Murphy's excellent @motherjones.com profile, I'm super interested to see the outcome of today's Talarico vs Crockett Senate primary in Texas. Very different, and both intriguing, candidates—and very high stakes.

The oligarchs got Trump elected, so it should be them who pays for all of this Middle East mayhem. This would be nothing new. Throughout US history, taxes have been imposed on the most affluent specifically to pay for wars.

Scenes from a personalist regime

Mother Jones, too!

The United States sacrificed $35 billion in clean energy projects last year Trump's policies led to canceled investments and tens of thousands fewer jobs, a new report indicates.

You know what isn't affected when you start an all-out war in the Middle East?

The sun. The wind.

Talk about backing the wrong horse.

Yeah, so, about that whole "401(k)s are doing great" bit...

Treasury Department terminates union contracts for IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service workers The Treasury Department says it has ended its collective bargaining agreement with unionized workers employed at the Internal Revenue Service.

Trump just stripped yet more federal workers of collective bargaining rights, at the IRS no less. This administration is every oligarch's wet dream.

Strike on Girls’ School Kills 115, Iranian State Media Says

It sounds maybe like someone was using out-of-date images that made it seem like the school was part of a military base. My god, what a colossal fuckup. Is this what "lethalitymaxxing" is? Slaughtering little girls?

Nearly 1/4 of US families are mere millionaires. These people are hectomillonaires.

Why wait. Just charge the fuckers with contempt

Gerald Clarke, Continuum Basket.

Zoom in. Pretty cool, huh?

Trump officials move to kill system that protects US from chemical disasters EPA rolls back rules as chemical firms claim provisions in RMP protection system too expensive to implement

Because of course they do.

ICE deportation flights are getting longer and crueler A private equity–owned airline profits off Trump’s migrant crackdown.

"It’s hard to know how much Stonepeak makes off this misery..."

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Yes.

Every senator who voted to confirm RFK Jr owns this tragedy. Every single one.

For CNN, a Change in Ownership Means a Suddenly Uncertain Future

There's nothing "uncertain" about it. Larry Ellison is building an autocrat-friendly propaganda machine and whatever shaky journalism originated from this place will soon be dead.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

Over my dead body.

Trump's war on national park signs is even dumber than you think Inside the administration's covert campaign against "negative" placards.

History is written by the winners. But these people are losers.

How Congress made sure the rich retire in luxury—at our expense Savings plans pitched as helping the middle class have turned out to be a gold mine for the wealthy.

In #SOTU, Trump implied he'd institute a new federal $1,000 retirement savings match. Actually, it's kicking in next year. Passed under BIDEN, it is means tested and will help those folks very little--$1,000 is peanuts. US govt now spends $500B a year on retirement tax breaks, mostly for the rich.

Casey Means, Critic of Mainstream Medicine, Poised to Become Nation’s Top Doctor

America, 2026. A wellness influencer. Honestly, wellness is just a buzzword to make affluent women feel less guilt about this and that.

Whereas the US women totally dominated.

In any case, Canada had a better team, except for the goalie.

Warehousing people used to just be a metaphor, so Stephen Miller was like, hey, let's actually warehouse people.

We now know what Trump's "locker room banter" looks like The locker room, in the mind of the president, is where misogyny is not only permitted but protected.

As a man, I've heard plenty of offensive banter. But to hear the a president diss our national heroes goes beyond locker room talk. It's kind of a big deal. It's not funny, and it tells us exactly who this guy is--as if we didn't know. I liked this thoughful analysis from @inaeoh.bsky.social.