Rita Butterfield

Charlie Kirk’s Watchlist Made Some Professors’ Lives a ‘Living Hell’ His murder conjured up for targeted faculty mixed emotions ranging from empathy to contempt.

I love listening to all of you talk about the law! But I want to correct something that was said in the latest pod. There has been a lot of commentary stating that Charlie Kirk was a free speech warrior. He was not. www.chronicle.com/article/char...

Right, but you need a down payment. That, not the monthly payment, is what locks a lot of people out of the housing market.

How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemic | CNN The public discourse around the origin of the pandemic has increasingly been shaped by political agendas and conspiratorial narratives. Some of this has vilified experts who have studied this question...

Our understanding of the origin of COVID-19 is increasingly being polluted by conspiracy theories. Many, presented in OpEds in places like the NYT, WaPo, and WSJ.

It's time to drop the nonsense and refocus on the science - it's long overdue and the data is in.

edition.cnn.com/2025/07/31/h...

It's telling that Donald Trump's takeaway from Jeffrey Epstein hiring Virginia Giuffre away from Mar-a-Lago is to feel sorry for Donald Trump because he lost an employee, not to feel sorry for Virginia Giuffre because she was trafficked and raped.

I recently prepared a progress report for a grant from the National Institute for Mental Health. One of the phrases on the list of taboo words is “mental health.” It would be funny if it weren’t horrifying!

Refurbishing that massive Qatari plane according to Trump’s personal taste will cost us, the American taxpayers a billion dollars. And he is going to keep the plane when he leaves office

I’m Roy Cooper, and I am running to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina. I believe that our brightest days are still ahead, but we have to work together to fix what’s broken in Washington.

I need you with me.

It's Not My Fault: When and Why Attributions to Prejudice Protect Self-Esteem - Brenda Major, Cheryl R. Kaiser, Shannon K. McCoy, 2003 This study tested the hypothesis that awareness of the possibility of being a target of discrimination can provide individuals with a means of self-esteem prote...

This is interesting, and not at all surprising. All types of people use attributions like this to protect their self-esteem. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Hey, @jenpsaki.msnbc.com and @danpfeiffer.bsky.social, please don’t cede branding to MAGA. Say, “Medicaid cutting bill” and “FL concentration camps,” or something clever. I don’t know. I’m not in marketing. But saying, “the so-called…” still gives them the power. #PodSaveAmerica

I’m watching the second episode of Smoke on Apple TV. The scene with Freddie at the salon is heartbreaking. 💔

Today I got the official notice from my boss that my position will end 8/31 because of funding cuts at the NIH. Important, life-saving work is being cut because the administration doesn’t understand science.

I think we started using it in research because not all men who have sex with men identify as gay.

I’m so glad you’re still living with HIV! Science/ medicine is a miracle. (I can say that cuz I study behavior, not medicine).

Men who have sex with men.

I remember. It was so stupid. Now people act like everyone believed the intelligence reports, but we didn’t. There was plenty of evidence reported in the MSM to refute what the admin was saying.

I work in HIV prevention, where MSM means something very different. It always takes a minute for me to reinterpret.

I’m surprised. The second time I had COVID, I knew what it was before testing because it felt like my throat had been scrubbed with a Brillo pad.

Thank you, Sen Warren, for your steadfastness in the face of this administration and for keeping our eyes on the prize. You are a national treasure. I wish I lived in an alternate universe where you were in your second term.

That sounds about right.

TOMORROW: My office is holding Mobile Office Hours at the Chatham County Historic Courthouse on June 11th from 11AM to 1PM.

If you’re experiencing issues with a federal agency, come by to speak with a member of my constituent services team—we’re here to help you!

"Is this a pigeon" template, an edited version of an earlier Earl meme, with the character labeled "Star Trek Fans" and the butterfly edited to say "any civil disturbance..." with bottom text: are these the Bell Riots?

My cat , Olympia, drinks water out of the bathroom sink in the weirdest possible way. #

YouTube video by Congresswoman Valerie Foushee Rep. Foushee Demands Action Against Gun Violence

For National Gun Violence Awareness Month, I joined the Congressional Black Caucus on the House floor to demand action on lifesaving gun violence prevention legislation.

With each day of inaction, lives are lost. Congress must pass commonsense reforms NOW.

My full speech👇🏾
youtu.be/Elljl3VixpY

This is excellent news! Some people in the comments seem convinced that it’s a lie. They seem to want to believe things with COVID haven’t gotten better.

When Americans raised concerns about RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine views, he said he was "not gonna take away vaccines from anybody."

But now he's taking them away from millions of mommas and babies.

Vaccine recommendations should be based on science, not RFK Jr.'s political agenda.

When did June become so religious? And how is Lydia able to go back to Gilead? #HandmaidsTale

Just finishing episode 3 of season 6 of The Hsndmaid’s Tale. I’m not sure is up to snuff. Maybe, though, it’s just all the slo-mo shots of Elizabeth Moss’s face. #Handmaid’sTale

My girls are taking well deserved naps.

He had no idea who his customers were. Idiot.