A green heron sitting on a fallen branch above the water at a lake.

Green heron sitting on a branch. #greenheron #bird #birds #lowershakerlake #ohio

Cute raccoons!

1/ Congress just passed the largest #Medicaid cuts in U.S. history: $1 trillion over 10 years. Only 8% of Americans are aware that this was included in the “Big Beautiful Bill." There’s also been a stunning lack of plain-language explanations that don’t answer the basic questions: How? Why? 👇

They do not care.

Amazing. NYT has more confirmation that Trump's decision to bomb Iran was motivated in large part by the way the Israeli strikes were "playing" on Fox News, which drove him to want credit for it

I get calls from the ‘tax resolution unit’. I wish I could get to the individuals who set these up.

No kings!
CLE

Trump team set to destroy $12m worth of HIV drugs and contraceptives bought by USAID The life-saving drugs and contraceptives have been sitting in warehouses since January

"These supplies include more than 26 million condoms, 2 million doses of inj birth control, millions of packages of oral birth control, hundreds of thousands of implantable contraceptive devices, and over 50,000 vials of a drug that prevents HIV contraction"
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Maybe the cheese is wrapped in red wax.

NIH scientists call on director to protect biomedical research In a public letter, hundreds of scientists expressed their dissent to the Trump administration's policies affecting the National Institutes of Health and called on its director to support the agency.

"Horror show doesn't even come close actually" to describing the situation," Berg said. "It's tremendously damaging to the United States' ability to do research, the U.S. economy, our competitive position in the world."

@jeremymberg.bsky.social
#bethesdadeclaration

"It's a Yes or No Question"

A whole generation of young scientists and researchers seeing this unfold around them and figuring out how to change course. It's such a loss, and we will feel it for decades.

It will also kill a lot of people.

Trump is pardoning Todd and Julie Chrisley, the reality TV couple convicted of fraud Todd and Julie Chrisley, who rose to fame in a reality show highlighting their lavish lifestyle, had been serving yearslong prison sentences after 2022 convictions on bank and tax fraud offenses.

Pardon fellow fraudsters. ✅
Trump pardons reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley

www.npr.org/2025/05/28/n...

Great blue heron walking on dam edge. #greatblueheron #ardeaherdias #addBirder
#bird #aves #lowershakerlakes #cle

DOGE cuts to weather balloon sites leave U.S. without crucial data, some meteorologists say Some meteorologists say they were unable to accurately forecast an ice storm that hit Northern Michigan in March because National Weather Service balloon sites were cut or reduced.

🧪Making the U.S. unsafe from dangerous weather events again!
www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-cu...

Justice Department cuts to public safety grants leave police and nonprofits scrambling Hundreds of public safety grants cut, worth $500 million, funded initiatives like drug treatment and gun violence prevention programs.

Hundreds of public safety grants cut, worth $500 million, funded initiatives like drug treatment and gun violence prevention programs.

America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don't align politically with the current head of the government.

Bad people know that one way to control people is to make them feel economically uncertain, so more of their time is spent worrying about their own precarity and less on the general welfare and/or what the bad people are doing. There's a reason the current administration is undermining the economy.

100% decrease in graduate education funding (80% decrease in overall education funding) means we will not have scientists. Between this and the brain drain, you can say goodbye to American science. But the wealthy will have their tax cuts, and that’s what’s important /s

Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself

New Forbes story about the economic consequences of science cuts.

www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

Thoughtful and thorough analysis.

1/n

Had a great time at #PyConUS! So many great people, conversations, and presentations!

Yeah, got to agree. Amazing group of people, very accepting, welcoming. It’s a lot, but in a good way. And many of us know how you feel.

Thanks for the notice! Reminds me of www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture...

Most Americans use federal science information on a weekly basis, a new poll finds Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.

Poll: weekly, more than 90% of ppl use weather forecasts, job market reports, food safety warnings, & other info based on fed sci.

But only *10%* concerned cuts to fed support for science might impact their access to that info.
🛟📈🧪 Policysky sociology

The Most Violent Solar Storm Ever Detected Hit Earth in 12350 BCE A huge cosmic event some 14,300 years ago was so powerful, it left a discernible mark on our planet.

Tree rings show Earth was hit by an extreme solar storm 14,300 years ago, likely caused by multiple CMEs striking in succession. It flooded the atmosphere with radiation, far beyond modern levels, and shows how intense solar activity can become.
🔭🧪⚒️
#SolarStorms
#SpaceWeather
#Paleoclimate

Moody’s downgrades U.S. credit as Congress considers bill that could add to deficits Moody’s knocked the government’s credit rating down a notch as debt soars.

Moody’s Ratings downgraded the United States’ credit rating, as the country’s debt soars and interest rates remain high.

The downgrade, from the highest rating to one notch below, comes as the president’s budget bill suffered a blow in Congress.

E&E News: USDA, reversing course, will post climate information for farmers Facing a lawsuit, the Department of Agriculture says it will restore climate-related websites the agency erased after President Donald Trump took office.

We must keep fighting!

News here via @lizneeley.bsky.social about some climate datasets that are being restored to the public after farmers’ groups fought for them in court.

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

I thought this was a cool lightning talk. #PyConUS
Also made me think of the newish book I heard discussed on NPR (yet to read) Killed by a Traffic Engineer.