Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales Michael Weiss and colleagues report on wild orcas using kelp as a tool for social grooming.

Very interesting observations on orcas "kelping" each other. They manipulate the kelp and groom each other with it, perhaps for skin maintenance. Most work on tools, allogrooming and culture focuses on terrestrial animals. So cool to see this study on a marine mammal! 🧪

www.cell.com/current-biol...

This kind of social science has never been more important than now.
🧪

True patriotism is knowing the truth about how your country was founded.

True cowardice is lying about it.

Add to that the steep cuts in Medicaid, SNAP, etc. coming in the reconciliation bill and you have a prescription for triggering the biggest increases in poverty, hardship, and human suffering in the US - and the biggest losses of health coverage - we've seen in our lifetimes

Massive cutbacks in rental assistance for low-income families, elimination of aid with high heating/cooling bills, elimination of programs to spur development of affordable housing and - despite claims of wanting people to work - elimination of Job Corps & big cuts in education.

The Trump budget cuts in program after program for people struggling to get by are unprecedented and far exceed the proposals from his 1st term, seen as Draconian then. Some specifics in the thread below.

Trump Is Pretending to Be Weak When It Comes to El Salvador Does the president remember he’s already freed many people wrongfully detained overseas?

Column: Trump is pretending to be weak when it comes to El Salvador, writes our senior foreign affairs correspondent
@nahaltoosi.bsky.social.

All the ways the president could help bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia👇

ICE detains 2 men in Charlottesville courthouse raid Three men who identified themselves as Homeland Security officers raided a courthouse in downtown Charlottesville Tuesday, detaining two men without explanation.

People trying to obey the law abducted by masked men in unmarked van.
dailyprogress.com/news/local/c...

Close-up of a tiny bird perched on a green stem. It has an iridescent green head with fine whisker-like feathers, a striking pink-red bill, and a distinctive spotted pattern on its white chest. The bird's neck features black stripes with cream accents, and its body shows metallic green and gold hues. The background is softly blurred in muted green tones, highlighting the bird's intricate details and colorful plumage.

Another understated bird, the male Black-crested Coquette hummingbird at @tapirvalley.bsky.social #CostaRica

#birds #nature #hummingbirds 🌿

DCA tower staffing was 'not normal' during crash, preliminary FAA report finds NBC News' Tom Costello reports on how the air traffic control staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was "allowed, but not ideal," under the FAA’s safety standards.

Reminder that Musk pushed out the FAA director (because he didn't want to pay SpaceX fines) and Trump admin put on a hiring freeze. Now... www.nbcnews.com/video/dca-to...

The richest man in the world who is about to shutdown our government tweeting support for a German neo-nazi party in the middle of the night

I'm going to post this video every day so we never forget

Why I Just Resigned From The Los Angeles Times By Harry Litman

Read this powerful statement by Harry Litman, explaining his resignation as the senior legal analyst for the Los Angeles Times. I have watched the Times sink to second rate status. Harry’s departure suggest it is quickly becoming a red rag in a blue state.

harrylitman.substack.com/p/why-i-just...

RBG PAC’s $20M last-minute pro-Trump abortion campaign wasn’t just shady (and completely opposed by RBG’s surviving family members)—it was fully bankrolled by Elon Musk, new campaign finance reports show. Billionaire meddling in our elections must be stopped.

Meanwhile: U.S. hiring surged in November, with employers adding 227,000 workers, exceeding economist expectations of 214,000 additional jobs, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Friday showed.

Jeffries: "We've seen repeatedly amongst my extreme MAGA Republican colleagues that they say one thing to the American people before the election and then do something different after the election. House Republicans said they were gonna protect Social Security and Medicare ... "

Virtually every question today at the WH Press briefing was about the Hunter pardon, as if that is the thing the American people care about most right now. The DC press is so disconnected from the American public and serves them poorly more often than not.

Pete Hegseth Suggested Women Share Blame for HIV Exposure When Sexually Promisicous Partner Hides Diagnosis Trump's Defense nominee: "Did these woman really think they were going to get a clean bill of health dealing with Charlie Sheen at this point?"

In a clip uncovered by MeidasTouch, Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, suggested women share the blame for HIV exposure when a sexually promiscuous partner hides his diagnosis.

YouTube video by MeidasTouch Martial Law in America? South Korea’s Warning and Trump’s Threats | On Democracy

The declaration of martial law in South Korea this week should sound the alarm in the U.S. about what could happen here. Here’s how we can best prepare for Trump’s threats. Watch a new On Democracy out now!

Wow. Just noticed we’ve crossed 300,000 followers on Bluesky. Thank you for joining us here and for this incredible new pro-democracy community you are creating. Let’s keep building!

Professor Peter Arenella post on X:
I just got off the phone with a life-long Brit friend who works for their intelligence service. The Brits and the Israelis both believe Trump is doing Putin's bidding as his absurd cabinet appointments are all hostile to the agencies they might be heading. My

Professor Peter Arenella @arenella1 [UCLA criminal law Prof, former TV legal analyst ABC news]
x.com/arenella1/st...
I just got off the phone with a life-long Brit friend who works for their intelligence service. The Brits & the Israelis both believe Trump is doing Putin's bidding as his absurd...

"We need a modern Paul Revere to tell Americans that the fascists are coming."--Professor Peter Arenella.
The fascists aren't coming. The fascists are here. x.com/arenella1/st...

I'm going to post this video every day so we never forget

This will be wild

Trump administration budgets and social programs - The Hamilton Project Robert Greenstein explores budget proposals from the Trump administration that would have affected social safety net programs.

Bob Greenstein (Brookings/Hamilton Project) examines how the 4 budgets Donald Trump proposed as president would have markedly changed programs for Americans with low or modest incomes, as well as Social Security Disability Insurance. www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/... #econsky

We should plug the safety net’s biggest hole Other affluent countries generally do more to ensure that such individuals have a roof over their heads, food on the table and basic health care.  We should as well, for their benefit as well as ou…

“We have significantly reduced poverty in recent decades for the elderly and children (though we need to do significantly more), and we can do so as well for non-elderly adults who aren’t raising children,” THP’s Bob Greenstein writes in The Hill. thehill.com/opinion/4666...