Adam S. Hersh, Ph.D.

a drawing of a rabbit eating a cake with chinese writing ALT: a drawing of a rabbit eating a cake with chinese writing

Happy Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival, all! 祝大家中秋节快乐！

Only 0.03% Opt Out Of LGBTQ+ Education In Maryland After SCOTUS Gives Them A Right To After SCOTUS gave families a right to opt out of LGBTQ+ education, Montgomery County, Maryland is reporting only 43 families took them up on it.

"99.97 percent of families, even when given the option, chose to let their children learn about LGBTQ+ people."
Nice result, and it reinforces everything Montgomery County said to SCOTUS before its theocrats made their dehumanizing ruling. open.substack.com/pub/erininth...

"mine baby mine" works on multiple levels here

👆

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

It is not clear what is behind the move by Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist. A legal ethics specialist said it could raise conflict-of-interest issues.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

Conflict of interest, you say?

The Trump administration just took yet another equity stake in yet another private company, this time 10% in Alaskan miner Trilogy Metals. Sheesh. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Hi all! We're still waiting on the official posting - but @budgetlab.bsky.social is looking for a new macro hire to add to our team! We're agnostic on level (Recent PhD, decades of experience, MA+ research experience, who knows?) - we care more about flexible thinking and curiosity

As if everything would be fine with the Trump government if congressional Republicans just put the money back in health care....

#OtD 5 Oct 1976 US autoworkers won a three-week strike against Ford for more vacation days and better retirement and unemployment benefits stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1057...

Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows

The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.

YouTube video by The Selecter - Topic Everyday

Something to keep you busy since you're not reading the BLS #jobsday report we would have gotten today. youtu.be/xl7KaZr4C24?...

#numbersday #econsky

MAGA’s “Voter Fraud” Watchdog Votes in a Swing State. He Doesn’t Live There. A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec casts a ballot in one state and lives in another.

Well, well, well. Jack Posobiec, the loudest voting-fraud conspiracy theorist, lives in Maryland.
He votes in Pennsylvania.
slate.com/news-and-pol... By @jsweetli.bsky.social & @marisakabas.bsky.social on @slate.com

Was anyone really expecting TSA to show up and not get paid?

We're all cubic smoothing BLS payroll employment data now. #jobsday #numbersday #econsky #ThanksKevinHassett

Shorter Mississippi: Someone has to be ranked 50th in infant mortality. Damn the pertussis, full MAHA ahead!

ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’ Apple removed ICEBlock reportedly after direct pressure from Department of Justice officials. “I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never t...

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff

www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

YouTube video by Roxette Roxette - It Must Have Been Love (Official Music Video)

Ear worm of the day: Not sure why I woke up with this on repeat in my brain. youtu.be/k2C5TjS2sh4?... #ItMustHaveBeenLove

One way to deal with #Trumpflation.

Two Delta planes collide — ripping off wing — while taxiing at LaGuardia Airport as passenger describes moment flights ‘absolutely smashed’ The saga unfolded when the wing of an aircraft carrying 32 people that was departing for Roanoke, Virginia, suddenly collided with the fuselage of an aircraft

Who needs government workers anyways? nypost.com/2025/10/02/u... #Governmentshutdown #Shutdown2025 #ETTD

Meanwhile, Republican agencies will put you in jail and empower giant corporations to steal from you and make your life worse.

Welcome to the occupation, #PDX: youtu.be/PrR6qQ3I4e0?... @voodoodoughnut.bsky.social #ORpolitics #Oregonpolitics

Everything Trump touches dies. #ETTD

Energy Department Announces Termination of 223 Projects, Saving Over $7.5 Billion The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects, resulting in a savings of approximately $7.56 billion dollars for American taxpayers.

Terminated projects range from spearheading the development and deployment of grid and generation technologies that can lower costs for Americans, to new manufacturing and energy projects that would strengthen national energy security and grid reliability. www.energy.gov/articles/ene...

Asian factories struggle as soft China and U.S. demand takes toll Export powerhouse Japan and global tech hub Taiwan saw manufacturing activity shrink in September, leaving businesses in Asia on fragile footing.

Factory activity shrank in most of Asia's major economies in September as signs of a slowdown in U.S. growth and the expected impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs added to pressure from weak Chinese demand.

Aluminum worker: tariffs helped "to bring the industry back from the brink. And that helped in the reopening of the former Noranda aluminum smelter. But without tackling the real problem — the crushing cost of electricity to run a smelter — tariffs alone will not cut it."
thehill.com/opinion/5524...

It may not (yet) be the Skynet Defense Grid, but AI is already hurting regular human beings.

Government shutdown means no data for you.

Pritzker: “Over the weekend, we received numerous confirmed reports of federal agents…abusing their power, intimidating innocent civilians, and waging war on our people…What I’ve been warning of is now being realized.”