clappstar

The Bubble-Wrapped President Trump surrounds himself with those who flatter him in places where he is comfortable.

Trump’s echo chamber:

Very little U.S travel

No rallies or contact with supporters

Right-wing media

Dinners with rich donors and billionaires

Truth Social

Lack of staff to tell him no www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The associated photo with the post about Boeing is of an Airbus A350.

Modern monetary theory (MMT). Restrictions on government payments are self imposed limitations. If we are really governing for the people then fed rate use for employment targets leaves a lot of people behind. Can still maintain a sound currency measured by inflation while increasing money supply.

I can criticize, and accept criticism of, Democrats without saying “whatabout those Republicans.”

The MAGA Right can’t accept criticism of Trump without saying “whatabout those Democrats.”

Whataboutism is one of the laziest and most dishonest political positions - and it dominates the Right.

On Resisting and Persisting How I Decided to Speak Up and Fight Back

"Once MAGA brands you as an enemy, your fortunes shift. No amount of strategic silence will change your new identity, so you may as well lean into it."

I wrote about why I chose—and keep choosing—to speak up and fight back. wiczipedia.substack.com/p/on-resisti...

Inside the USAID Fire Sale Around the world, defibrillators, motorbikes, and water towers are being donated, sold, or simply abandoned.

The fire sale at the end of the empire
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

Perfectly normal and OK. Right?

Hey Albert Bourla and all the other biopharma CEOs who have been trying to butter these people up: how goes it? You liking what you see, from Trump and from RFK, Jr.?

The only thing I can say about this paragraph is read it. Sit with it. Read it again. @michaelharriot.bsky.social

Rick Steves finishing his speech in Edmonds. This is about halfway back in the crowd and to the side. The patriotism of this crowd was something else. And Steves' point is right -- change is going to come from an engaged center that stands in *solidarity* with the most vulnerable.

Thinking about devastating cuts to NSF: US gov-funded science has been the engine upon which most of the tech wealth was generated. But the oligarchs (currently hoarding much of that $) think it’s their own brilliance & not the accident of standing close to the scientific engine that made them rich.

YouTube video by UW (University of Washington) A Spotlight on Rumors

On Feb 24, I gave a lecture at UW explaining what my team's decade-plus research on online rumors during crises reveals about the right wing "bullshit machine." Fittingly, a lightning strike impacted the original audio. Here's a fixed version w/ the full transcript: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiG...

If you have the time, this is really good. If you don't, just skip through and watch a few parts and you'll see how good it is.

Germany had its own January 6-style attempt at a coup. It also failed. But Hitler was sent to jail.

Stream my hour-long special “Rick Steves’ The Story of Fascism in Europe” at www.ricksteves.com/fascism.

Work in Progress: What Trump Took Away - emptywheel A preliminary list of the things Trump has taken away.

Reup: I've been trying to track the things Trump has taken away. This is VERY much a work in progress, imperfectly presented.

But please let me know what is missing (or better yet, steal my work)!

www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/18/w...

Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization Since 1974 substantial gains in childhood survival have occurred in every global region. We estimate that EPI has provided the single greatest contribution to improved infant survival over the past 50...

Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.

Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Trump and Elon Don't Know Who They're Firing - with Max Stier Podcast Episode · Factually! with Adam Conover · 03/12/2025 · 1h 9m

Check out the full Factually! episode with Max Stier wherever you get podcasts.

» Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

» Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4spA...

» YouTube: youtu.be/bC-0q5rUoSU

‘Silence is complicity’ — universities must fight the anti-DEI crackdown Higher-education establishments must not be bullied into abandoning their mission of diversity, equity and inclusion.

DEI is under attack, but the stakes are higher than many realize. Universities *must stand firm* in defending it. I lay out why in my latest piece for Nature.

Silence is complicity. Without DEI, we fail our students, our research, and our future.

www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

They try to silence us, hold us back, and strip away our rights, but women always fight back. This #WomensHistoryMonth, we’re doubling down, because when women lead, we all move forward.

Pseudoscience seeks to control you. Science seeks to empower you. That's the difference.

At first glance, wellness misinformation and pseudoscience, with their unproven remedies, vaccine fear, and distrust of "big pharma," seem financially driven—but there is a far more insidious motive.

YouTube video by Seattle Sounders FC Spirit of the Salish Sea

Spirit of the Salish Sea

For Danielle Morsette of the Suquamish Tribe, weaving connects to a tradition that spans generations. 💙

Stand Up And Be Counted

Biopharma companies and CEOs are keeping their heads down at their own peril. They should speak up about what’s happening to the NIH and other science agencies before it’s too late.

Silence gives consent. And no one should consent to this.

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Equal Rights Amendment | The White House I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their

BIDEN: EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT HAS BEEN RATIFIED www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...

20 mph in neighborhood and urban village setting is great for everyone. Do the math - going 30+ versus 20 mph for 1 mile in dense, pedestrian space only saves 1 minute travel time (2 min versus 3 min). But everyone feels safer including cats when 20’s Plenty.

A conveyer belt of airliners constantly appearing, one after the other, inbound to the burned out hellscape that is Seattle. Nobody comes here any more.

Send Zuckerberg a signal by *blocking* him on all the Meta socials.

Send Zuckerberg a signal by *blocking* him on all of the Meta socials.

I don’t think it was necessarily planned in advance, but yes, these are some of the dynamics that we have been talking about. Heroes need villains to keep the show going. bsky.app/profile/kate...

Writing is thinking.

It’s not a part of the process that can be skipped; it’s the entire point.

Morning sunrise paints the fresh snow covered Olympic Mountains viewed from across the Salish Sea. #WashingtonState #OlympicMtns #EdmondsWA #SalishSea