Why Did You Leave the Department of Veterans Affairs? ProPublica wants to hear from doctors, nurses and other front-line medical providers who recently left positions at a VA hospital or clinic.

#MedSky: In August, we reported that the VA lost more than 600 doctors and nearly 2,000 nurses this year.

We know that for many of you, the decision to leave the VA could not have been easy. Here’s how you can share your story with us ⤵️

Screenshot of a post on X from Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s verified account. The post reads: “US government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters. Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing. The Colombian boat was adrift and had its distress signal up due to an engine failure. We await explanations from the US government.”

🚨 NEWS: Colombian President Gustavo Petro accuses U.S. government officials of murder and violating Colombia’s sovereignty and says the Trump-ordered strike of a boat in the Caribbean killed a fisherman named Alejandro Carranza.

If Tom Homan did nothing wrong, the Department of Justice should have no issue releasing the Homan files and the video of the alleged bribery to clear this up.

And while they’re at it, go ahead and release the Epstein files and clear Trump’s name.

Shouldn’t be hard!

A Doctor at Cigna Said Her Bosses Pressured Her to Review Patients’ Cases Too Quickly. Cigna Threatened to Fire Her. Cigna tracks every minute that its staff doctors spend deciding whether to pay for health care. Dr. Debby Day said her bosses cared more about being fast than being right: “Deny, deny, deny. That’s ho...

Dr. Debby Day said her bosses at Cigna gave her a stark warning: Work faster, or the company might fire her.

She said her bosses cared more about being fast than being right: “Deny, deny, deny. That’s how you hit your numbers.”

(Published April 2024 w/ @capitolforum.bsky.social)

Nope!

Extreme closeup of Mr Cardinal on birdcam. Thanks for standing still, buddy.

#birds

My, my, my. How the tone has changed.

Screenshot of article excerpt: The Education Department also was concerned about other words in the application, said Adrian Klenz, who works with deafblind adults in the state. He said he has talked with state officials about the discontinuation of the grant. “I was told that apparently the administration is going through past grants and two words were flagged: One was transition and one was privilege,” Klenz said. “Transition — transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Privilege came up because a parent wrote a glowing review of staff that said what a privilege it was to work with them.” ProPublica obtained a copy of the grant application and confirmed that those words were included.

The Dept. of Education has pulled funding for programs in 8 states that support students with both hearing and vision loss.

A staffer at one program says he was told the Trump admin. took issue with 2 words on the grant application: “transition" and “privilege": www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Why your health insurance may soon cost a lot more Millions will be paying substantially more for health insurance next year, according to multiple surveys. Insurers cited tariffs and demand for obesity drugs.

“Health insurance costs in the United States are on track for their biggest jump in at least five years…

“For the 24 million enrollees of Affordable Care Act insurance plans, costs are expected to rise by more than 75 percent next year…”

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Seems really torn up about it.

Julia Parsons, U.S. Navy Code Breaker During World War II, Dies at 104 Soon after her officer training in Washington, she was recruited to a classified code-breaking team. She kept her work secret for decades, even from her family.

Julia Parsons, a U.S. Navy code breaker during World War II who was among the last survivors of a top-secret team of women that unscrambled messages to and from German U-boats, has died at 104.

Kilmer has been kidnapped and is now forcibly being kept against US and international law on El Salvadorian soil. Go with a whole delegation.

Welcome !

Speaker Mike Johnson Is Living in a D.C. House That Is the Center of a Pastor’s Secretive Influence Campaign The Capitol Hill townhouse is owned by a major Republican donor. It’s the headquarters of a little-known political influence project that has reached a number of powerful Republican politicians.

#ICYMI: Speaker Mike Johnson lives in a $3.7 million D.C. townhouse with evangelical pastor Steve Berger, who has attacked the separation of church and state as “a delusional lie."

Berger's project: ministering to members of Congress so that what “they learn is then translated into policy.”

Oops!

#HANDSOFF #NYC

This is super smart Steve. Wish I had thought of it first ! Stocks have been crushed. The next trump move is uncertain. Best move ? Buy back stock. No question about it

Workers at one of the US's largest baby formula plants say the Abbott Labs facility is engaging in unsanitary practices.

Tbt to my vid on @heathervogell.bsky.social's investigation into Abbot & Mead Johnson's efforts to protect the US's formula biz abroad at the cost of young children's health.

Microsoft Hooked the Government on Its Products With Freebies. Could Elon Musk’s Starlink Be Doing the Same? The tech billionaire and Trump adviser “donated” Starlink service to the White House. The move resembles a previous maneuver by Microsoft, which used “free” trials to lock in costly upgrades across…

NEW:The tech billionaire and Trump adviser “donated” Starlink service to the White House. The move resembles a previous maneuver by Microsoft, which used “free” trials to lock in costly upgrades across the federal government.

By @reneedudley.bsky.social

They won the election in 2024 because prices were too high.

As political communicators, we don’t need to complicate this.

Just hammer them for destroying the economy and raising prices on everyone.

Repeat creatively and consistently through Eday next year.

There are 32m small businesses in the USA

“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers. But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalizations, no one could fi...

Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers.

But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalizations, no one could find him a therapist.

(Published Sept. 2024)

Cross-border travel from B.C. to Washington State plummets Data shows the number of people crossing the border into Washington in March fell by nearly half compared to the same period last year.

I feel bad for so many people in border towns who have been nothing but hospitable over the years, but this isn't going to change.
vancouversun.com/news/bc-wash...

Senator Cory Booker -- nearly 23 hrs into this -- is more coherent than your average elected official speaking (while seated) at an average legislative hearing.

Even if you haven't been watching all along, dip in for a moment -- he is making considerable sense:

www.c-span.org/event/us-sen...

"IRS Predicts DOGE Lost Half a Trillion Dollars for the USA"

"in about eight weeks DOGE managed to lose the U.S. government — more or less light on fire — more than half of what goes to all non-defense discretionary spending..."

talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/irs-p...

Immigrant women describe 'hell on earth' in ICE detention No shower for days, cameras trained on the toilet, women crammed into cells 'like sardines,' among the allegations.

"There was no access to a toilet, so guards told the women – whose accounts in some cases occurred on different days or different buses – to urinate or defecate on the floor... "

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Great question! Too early to tell. But in 2 yrs we will be hearing more