HoofbeatsEqualZebra

Will the Senate Save NIH? Rescuing biomedical research is every bit as important as saving Medicaid.

It seems that only the science community is noticing that NIH and NSF budgets are cut 40% and 55% in the budget bill, respectively. If you live in Maine, West Va, Pennsylvania, Alabama, or Louisiana, CALL YOUR SENATOR as they could make a difference. See below.

prospect.org/politics/202...

Dark Bailey Park is going to get crowded.

I’m already stressed about my older sibling’s rapidly worsening respiratory/cognitive issues. This is the stuff of nightmares.

Excellent 🧵

Noop! It’s a puzzlement, @nbcboston.com!

Someone quote-posted an NBC 10 Boston story, earlier this week, and it had a preview image. Let’s see if that works! bsky.app/profile/nbcb...

Screenshot from NBC 10 Boston’s home feed, showing 2 posts that only contain text, over a box with no preview image, just a trib.al link to the story.

@nbcboston.com I’m genuinely curious why all your posts look like this in my feed. I don’t think they always have, but they have for quite a while. It’s not the trib.al link; other outlets’ posts with those display the expected preview image. Just jarring when visual media doesn’t have visuals.

Perfect weather for it!

Purple Hairstreak with wings partially open.

Almost didn’t go to see the Purple Hairstreaks this evening given the dull conditions, but that would have been a mistake. Multiple individuals on the wing and, best of all, we got to see some purple! #insects #nature #wildlife #UKWildlife #photography #bugsky #UKButterflies #butterflies

Still wondering what’s happening with the remainder of last winter’s LIHEAP (energy assistance).

Important thread.

While expanding home- and community-based services has long been a priority for disabled folks, the Senate bill claims to do so while slashing funding.

It’s like telling an individual that they have the right to hire private services. Without money, the “right” is meaningless.

I made this mini spring ride toy of a bunny and whale. It’s part of my list of projects where I’m exploring motion and animation in different ways.
#art #toy #needlefelting #stopmotion #bunny #whale

Let’s be very clear: even if you are not a Medicaid recipient, cuts to the program will impact you.

Without Medicaid funds, rural hospitals, maternity wards, and nursing homes will be shuttered.

Having private health insurance won’t do you much good when there’s nowhere to go.

Machine-embroidered Led Zeppelin patch featuring a white Swan Song Records Icarus logo with black outline silhouetted against a black, tan & white stylized sun.

Dark tortoiseshell cat stretched out on her left side on tan Berber carpet.

<ADHD-brain clicks rapidly>

A watercolor painting of a galaxy contained within a feather.

#watercolor
#feather
#galaxy
#space
#stars
#bskyart
#traditionalart
#sciart

Emphasis on “was.” 😔

This is hilariously accurate (except it wasn’t just Facilities, it was all of us).

Peak mid-`80s, when the cops cleared the park in the wee hours by blasting ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ over the PA. 🙄

Loaves of bread could shoot better sex scenes.

*signal boost*

It’s been a while, but iirc, it wasn’t the serial killer interviews that fazed me, it was the agents’ home lives. Was it a plot device, or horrendous writing? Maybe both? 🤷‍♀️

Walking back to my dorm very drunk, late one summer night, a ball of snarling, fighting rats rolled from under the bushes on Washington Sq North & right across my sandaled feet. They were too busy biting each other to bite me, but the feel of warm rat on bare toes was Not Good.

The shooting occurred at Champagnie’s apartment on Dana Avenue in Hyde Park on June 14, 2023. Another BPD officer, identified as Eric MacPherson, was also present although “he was in the shower at the time of the discharge.” So as his pal was taking a shower, Champagnie was for some reason handling his buddy’s gun – a loaded Glock 43X. “Officer Champagnie accidentally discharged one round, which went through the wall and into the neighboring apartment. The round traveled through the headboard where (neighbor) Ryan Kluska was sleeping, through the comforter, and another wall before striking the stove and stopping.”

Where to even begin? 🤯

Oh, and that accidental discharge happened about a 5 minute walk from here. You gotta see the screenshot in the next post. archive.is/2025.04.18-1...

Archived version of that Boston Herald piece: archive.ph/2025.06.25-0...

What. The fuck.

The OBBBA will accelerate Social Security's trust fund depletion by 2 years, moving it up to 2032--just 7 years away--according to a new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. H/t @marcgoldwein.bsky.social

With bar advocates on strike, more than 1,300 people lack defense in Mass. courts The state’s high court will rule on whether to release people being held in custody with no defense.

On May 27, private attorneys who are paid by the state to represent indigent defendants stopped taking on new work, citing low wages. The attorneys, known as “public defender bar advocates,” typically make about $65 an hour in the commonwealth, the lowest rate of any state in New England.

U.S. wants to deport FBI informant who was set to testify in gang case in Mass. The FBI brought a man from El Salvador to the U.S. to testify in a Massachusetts case against members of the notorious gang MS-13. The informant says he was promised refuge in the U.S. — but his ident...

The FBI brought a man from El Salvador to the U.S. to testify in a Massachusetts case against members of the notorious gang MS-13. The man says he was promised refuge in the U.S. — but his identity was exposed, and now he faces deportation.