Aaron Mendelson

The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.

"a system designed not for political impact, but for enriching the consultants who operate it" data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mother...

Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after weak jobs report The president implied that the BLS commissioner, longtime federal employee Erika McEntarfer, manipulated the data "for political purposes."

yikes www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...

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just a few years late to both of these

Hey my care package from @intlanthem.bsky.social showed up!

Newest CDC Data Confirms Gun Deaths Fell in 2024, But Were Still Higher Than Before the Pandemic Annual gun deaths came in below 45,000 for the first time in five years. Until 2020, the country had never surpassed 40,000 gun deaths in a single year.

"gun suicides rose for the sixth year in a row, to nearly 27,600, or almost two-thirds of all gun deaths last year" www.thetrace.org/2025/07/gun-...

Federal Agencies Reject SIG Sauer P320 Amid Growing Safety Concerns ICE and the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command are the latest to stop using SIG Sauer's popular pistol, following law enforcement agencies across the country.

ICE and the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command — which handles nuclear weapons — are halting thew use of the SIG Sauer P320 pistol. That's the gun that allegedly has fired without the trigger being pulled.

New story up on @thetrace.org
www.thetrace.org/2025/07/sig-...

The evolution of the Tour de France | Datawrapper Blog In this Weekly Chart, we're looking back at the evolution of the Tour de France.

Whether you're a long-term fan or wondering what the hype is all about, Jonathan's Weekly Chart might give you a new perspective of the famous Tour de France, about to reach its finish line this Sunday. 🏆 🏁 🚴‍♂️

www.datawrapper.de/blog/the-evo...

This might be the most offensive AI hallucination I've seen yet (see Wiki summary just below). Please apologize @newsfromgoogle.bsky.social

Gavin Newsom got a gun. But getting it to California will be tricky Newsom accepted the gun from a conservative podcast host in Tennessee. One gun owner in California called the governor's new gift the “height of hypocrisy.”

Gavin Newsom will have to clear several hurdles to bring home the Sig Sauer P365-Xmacro pistol Shawn Ryan gave him the other day. Good one from @hannahcwiley.bsky.social
sfstandard.com/2025/07/18/n...

LAPD shootings are up this year, even as violent crime plunges www.nbclosangeles.com/investigatio...

All Things Considered Clipse, The-Dream, Pharrell Williams, Pusha T, Malice · Let God Sort Em Out · Song · 2025

It's with a heavy heart that I report that the Clipse song "All Things Considered" has nothing to do with afternoon public radio programming open.spotify.com/track/3iXd1Z...

Some good news: Homicides are way, way down in Los Angeles this year www.latimes.com/california/s...

The greatest film of all time in any genre

"The Trace analyzed fatal shootings between 2010 and 2024 and learned that of the 2,700 cases Chicago Police declared closed, almost a quarter of them were cleared because prosecutors declined to file charges" www.thetrace.org/2025/07/chic...

Senate GOP tax bill includes largest cut to U.S. safety net in decades The Senate Republican tax bill speeding to passage includes the biggest reduction of funding for the federal safety net since at least the 1990s.

"the legislation appears on track to cut Medicaid by about 18 percent and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by roughly 20 percent" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

California ghost gun data now includes CY 2024! It's available by county and by law enforcement agency.

Just updated this on @thetrace.org's Gun Violence Data Hub, check it out here ⬇️
datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/cali...

If the Pacers win this game...

Coming up at 2:30 at #IRE25! Learn how to localize @thetrace.org's data on gun violence for your community

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A Decade of Impact on a Crucial Issue The Trace launched 10 years ago. We look back at some of the impact generated by our work.

1/ Today is the 10-year anniversary of The Trace’s founding. To mark this milestone — a decade of covering this preventable public health crisis — we’ve rounded up some of the Trace stories that have had the greatest impact.

Also! For anyone at #IRE25 interested in data visualization, I'm doing an intro-level class tomorrow. We'll be mapping and charting New Orleans and Louisiana-specific data. Don't miss out!
schedules.ire.org/ire-2025/ind...

Hello #IRE25! I'll be presenting tomorrow on a panel about localizing data for investigative reporting. @cephillips.bsky.social, Samantha Sunne and Nicole Lewis are all on the panel as well! Not to be missed.
schedules.ire.org/ire-2025/ind...

It has a 20 foot tall statue of Watto

here's the segment laist.com/shows/airtal...

I will back back on the @laist.com 89.3 FM airwaves today talking about this lawsuit. Just after 10 a.m. on AirTalk. Tune in!

Minnesota House DFL leader Melissa Hortman, husband killed in apparent 'politically motivated assassination' Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were fatally shot Saturday morning in Brooklyn Park in what Gov. Tim Walz said “appears to be a politically motivated assassination.”

BREAKING: Gov. Walz says Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed. Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and are out of surgery.

Also includes a statement from Nijjar's attorney, Stephen Larson: "The allegations in the complaint are false and misleading, and its claims are legally erroneous."

State Attorney General files lawsuit against Mike Nijjar, landlord at the center of LAist investigation One of the state’s largest landlords — the man at the center of an LAist investigation — is being sued for allegedly letting his properties fall into dangerous disrepair.

Here's @dwagner.bsky.social on the lawsuit: "Nijjar and his affiliated companies own and manage more than 22,000 rental homes ... Bonta alleged that Nijjar’s operation has treated stacks of code violations and regular lawsuits from tenants as “the cost of doing business.” laist.com/news/housing...

In a note to readers today, @laist.com's EIC writes:

"impact is not always instantaneous. Just today [Bonta] sued a 'notorious' landlord ... The lawsuit follows a major 2020 LAist investigation that untangled complicated records to report on dangerous conditions"
laist.com/brief/news/e...