Mike Makowsky

Important to remember that stories about children killed by vaccine-preventable diseases when they're too young to be vaccinated are, beneath that, stories about the loss of herd immunity.

This baby caught whooping cough from somebody. That somebody was probably old enough to be vaccinated.

ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’”

It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.

"Many people still have an elderly relative who survived a bout of severe childhood illness; not one of us has an elderly relative who did not."

This is the best and perhaps most important illustration of sample selection i have seen in a good long while.

There's arguably no greater inflection point in a constitutional crisis than if and when a general refuses to follow an unlawful order from a President. They have a "duty to disobey", but the due process and fallout will determine the future of the country. That's all. Just, you know, everything.

No Liberal or Conservative President has authority under law to pervert our federal law enforcement into a weapon against his political opposition—explicitly!

If you wondered what life under Orbán was like, it has arrived. Americans will suffer from authoritarian rule and we reject it.

What can I say, folks love a purge.

They're racists & they're fascists but above all they are the pettiest two-bit criminals you've ever seen

You can't hide players in modern basketball who can't shoot, modern hockey who can't skate, and modern soccer/football who can't pass. They're always net negatives.

i don’t think people on bluesky understand the severity of this situation.

i woke up to literally hundreds of texts from friends and family thinking about either moving back home to india or applying to other countries for jobs. this includes me.

It took an entire global pandemic for the algorithm to lighten up on local lawyers who could get me out of a speeding ticket...

Tariffs and economic uncertainty are hitting US musical instrument exports From January through July 2025, US exports of musical instruments were 8.4 percent lower than the average over the same months in 2021–24, with even steeper year-on-year declines in key markets such a...

Anxiety and indirect tariff impacts are contributing to a decline in a visible area of American softpower, musicial gear: "The combined effect is eroding demand for US musical instrument exports, an industry where US firms are undeniable leaders in brand recognition and product innovation."

California passes ICE mask ban in closing days of legislative session In response to L.A. immigration sweeps, the Legislature passed measures meant to force law enforcement officers to be identifiable.

BREAKING: "After a summer characterized by masked federal agents detaining immigrants in Los Angeles, the California Legislature passed two measures Thursday that seek to force law enforcement officers to identify themselves."

Political violence is bad. It usually begets more political violence.

Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets.

Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe.

It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.

My parents took me out of a country where this was the norm and where it led to the execution and imprisonment of millions of innocent people. They brought me here, to America, believing that it would not happen here. And yet here we are.

As the failed war on drugs winds down, the DEA is happily be absorbed by ICE into a newer, crueler, dumber war on ourselves.

The Trump administration is like a cartoon that uses over-the-top plotlines and imagery to teach a child what a dictatorship is, but a lot of people can't figure it out

I've noticed a steady creep up in people making fun of others' physical appearance on here and I don't like it. I'll allow for making fun of Trump's grotesquerie since childish cruelty is part of their brand, but it is otherwise a bad look I don't like seeing amongst those who are ostensibly allies

3 to 5 state blocks need to start their own regional NIH's, NSF's, CDCs, etc. Major government institutions can't function if they are turned off every 4 or 8 years.

You've got 97 seconds to summarize the labor econ literature on how to obtain causal estimates of the returns to education. Go.

This is the way.

If I was a cynical manager of a bottom 10 EPL club, I would kick it deep, press hard, grab/kick/foul the whole game, and never stop faking injuries. 100% optimal strategy given how the league is refereed.

my father-in-law is a “I know a guy” Guy. sadly all the old Guys are aging out of the Guy Economy. Guys are fundamentally incompatible with Hustle Culture because it’s not about “winning” a deal, it’s about collecting favors and goodwill in a mutually-beneficial cycle. protect your local Guy Economy

Your Guide to the 2025 Prosecutor Elections Key races will shape the politics of criminal justice from Philly to Seattle—plus a wild card in New Jersey. But most of November’s 66 prosecutor races feature just one candidate, as usual.

A Democratic candidate for prosecutor in Virginia wants lawmakers to ban ICE agents from operating while masked or while concealing their identities; she says she’d then prosecute those who don’t comply.

“End-run”
“Pushing limits”
“Unusual”
“Redefining”
“Challenging norms”
“Boldly upending”

Sounds heroic, muscular.

Our English language already contains the word illegal. No need to craft misleading/laudatory synonyms for suspending our Constitution. In this dangerous moment, we must speak clearly.

This came to me in a vision

Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students Trump officials have proposed a new rule limiting international students to fixed periods of entry, making a U.S. education more precarious.

Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew
Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.

seeing the "brand new, next generation, super futuristic" acela cars fitted with usb A ports is making the US look so washed

Monarez is playing her weak hand perfectly, and should be a model for institutional resistance for the next four years:
1. Make them fire you
2. Don’t go along to get along
3. Don’t apologize, have confidence in your own integrity and the importance of your role
4. Always escalate the conflict