Shel B ⚓

A male Wood Duck with the light bringing out the colors in his fancy mullet. These ducks are my favorite waterfowl to photograph.

An Algorithm Deemed This Nearly Blind 70-Year-Old Prisoner a “Moderate Risk.” Now He’s No Longer Eligible for Parole. A Louisiana law cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that bars thousands of prisoners from a shot at early release. Civil rights attorneys say it could disproportionately harm B...

Two months before Calvin Alexander’s parole hearing date, he was told he was no longer eligible.

Why? An algorithm had deemed the nearly blind 70-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, a “moderate risk,” barring him from speaking to the parole board.

(Published April w/ @veritenews.org)

More pointedly, the pope said, "Someone who says, I'm against abortion, but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life. Someone who says, I'm against abortion but I'm in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro-life."

What a line from the Pope! I am so pleased he is carrying on Pope Francis’ advocacy for immigrants.

How Ordinary Americans Can Stop Trump’s Revenge Spree The Founders intended jury nullification to be a tool to resist tyranny.

“Now that President Donald Trump is perverting the Justice Department into an instrument of political persecution, jury nullification may be one of the only mechanisms that everyday Americans have to protect the rule of law,” Adam Serwer argues:

A Red-winged Blackbird wearing a small stick on his noggin. Very fashion forward.

Veterans’ Care at Risk Under Trump as Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals Amid concerns about the stability of the agency, records show nearly 40% of the doctors offered jobs at the VA from January through March of this year turned them down — quadruple the rate of rejectio...

The VA is down 600 doctors and about 1,900 nurses so far this year, the first time the agency has seen net losses in years.

At several facilities, more than a third of the positions for doctors are unfilled.

By @davidarmstrongx.bsky.social @vernalcoleman.bsky.social @ericumansky.bsky.social

Who to Trust If You Can’t Trust the CDC No American institution is equipped to replace the agency. But a few trusted resources can help.

"...professional medical organizations are among the most trustworthy sources for vaccine information right now... Medical organizations form their recommendations based on their review of the scientific evidence, not the CDC’s"...

www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...

There are 600,000 of you who now follow us on Bluesky 🦋

As journalists ourselves, we understand that regularly reading stories about broken systems can take a toll, and we never take the community here for granted.

Thank you to all of you who care deeply about the work we do.

Decrying violence against political opponents rings a bit hollow when you pull Secret Service protection from your political opponents.

I know Charlie Kirk valued debate and free speech because he blocked me for fact-checking his lies on Twitter and then put me on his organization's Professor Watchlist for writing a book he didn't like.

/7 So I question the proposition that just because Charlie Kirk didn't go around killing people, but went around belittling and demeaning and dehumanizing them instead, that he's inherently admirable. Would I be a hero if I said I will debate ANYONE about whether black people are human? No.

Vase with Zinnias and Geraniums - 1886 #artbots #vangogh
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/3109348

settings > content & media > autoplay video & gifs = off

Shooting down the drones is the minimalist response.

NATO has no teeth and Putin knows it. Put some action behind your words of condemnation, you pansies.

Arguably the most anti-religious administration in history. Just nakedly hostile to those who wish to practice their faith.

Swaggart, MacArthur & Dobson in less than two months. #theycomeinthrees

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London

Solomon R. Guggenheim by Richard Hamilton, 1967 #artbots #guggenheim
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137212

It’s gone completely under the radar but Trump is set to start kicking out Ukrainians who came here legally under Biden as part of a program for people fleeing the war.

Donald Trump Shoots the Messenger Classic authoritarian move: When reality doesn’t go your way, deny reality.

Trump's move to fire the government’s statisticians over bad jobs numbers won’t make voters any happier with the economy, Jonathan Chait argues.

Great podcast that outlines so many reasons Trump's tarrifs will hurt the poorest Americans the most, *then* the middle class... and benefit the rich and those that get favorable treatment for sucking up (buying Trump meme coins).

Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose…

By slashing teams that gather critical data, the Trump administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose consequences could ripple out for decades.

(Published April)

What Will It Cost to Renovate the ‘Free’ Air Force One? Don’t Ask.

Qatar's gift to Donald Trump of a luxury jet for his post-presidential use will cost taxpayers almost $1 billion in carefully concealed Pentagon funds. That's money straight from your taxes to Trump's personal benefit. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/u...

ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account The Observer has identified the operator of “GlomarResponder,” an overtly racist social media account, as ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.

REVEALED: we identified the operator of an overtly racist X account, "GlomarResponder," as ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.

World Vision CEO: Foreign Aid Cuts Can’t Be Replaced Overnight - Christianity Today Edgar Sandoval opens up about government funding, layoffs, and logos.

World Vision US is losing $170 million in government aid grants this year and has cut 11 percent of its staff.

@christianitytoday.com's @andyrolsen.bsky.social interviews the humanitarian org's president about the changes:

www.christianitytoday.com/2025/07/worl...

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

Andry Hernández Romero, the innocent make-up artist imprisoned without trial for 4 months in El Salvador by the Trump admin, is FREE.

He was wrongfully accused of being a gang member because of his “mom” and “dad” tattoos, and illegally sent to El Salvador without due process.

CONFIRMED: Neri Alvarado, the Venezuelan man imprisoned by the Trump admin without due process for 4 months in El Salvador because of bureaucratic errors stemming from his autism awareness tattoo honoring his brother, is FREE.

CONFIRMED: Arturo Suárez, the musician imprisoned by the Trump admin without due process in El Salvador for 4 months is FREE.

A video shows him telling his brother that while they were imprisoned, they were beaten daily by guards. Remember: this is the first ever mass release from CECOT.

Coleus Plant in a Flowerpot - 1886 #artbots #vangogh
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/13898