‘Extortion’: Newsom Threatens to Sue After Trump Fines UCLA $1 Billion | KQED University of California President James Milliken said President Donald Trump’s proposal would “completely devastate” the system.

Newsom: “[President Trump] has threatened us through extortion with a billion-dollar fine unless we do his bidding. So as long as I am governor, I will stand tall and push back against that, and I believe every member of the California legislature feels the same way.”

www.kqed.org/news/1205152...

If the federal government can simply seize privately held patents then that is the end of the U.S. patent system, the legal basis for American innovation.

A colorful nebula. The image’s top-left is filled with layers of fluffy pink and greenish clouds. Long strands of green clouds stretch out from here; a faint layer of translucent blue dust combines with them to create a three-dimensional scene. A sparse network of dark dust clouds in the foreground adds reddish-black patches atop the nebula. Blue-white and orange stars, from our galaxy and beyond, are spread throughout the clouds.

TODAY’S NEW HUBBLE IMAGE OF THE GORGEOUS TARANTULA NEBULA!!!

Patient seeking care at NIH hospital detained by ICE NIH officials called immigration authorities after the patient presented a non-real ID while passing security at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

This is shameful. New at the NIH, ongoing through the country. Shameful everywhere.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Timeline cleanse #wedontdeservedogs

This story in particular is a great resource to read, bookmark, and share with your networks outside of Bluesky. Let's make Lex's dream come true by clicking through and sharing widely!

www.teenvogue.com/story/ice-ra...

Let me expand on this point. The Constitution is quite clear that you can't distinguish between kinds of persons in running the Census. And that is especially about apportionment for Congress. The original language makes it pretty clear when it talks about "free persons". But the 14th amendment ...

Not only does Trump not have the power to call a new census - it’s also worth noting this authoritarian precedent: Comrade Stalin didn’t like the results of the 1937 Soviet census, so he purged the statisticians and ordered a new census, undertaken in 1939, which yielded numbers more to his liking.

Patient Numbers at NIH Hospital Have Plummeted Under Trump, Jeopardizing Care - KFF Health News The renowned research hospital that cares for people with rare or life-threatening diseases has been pummeled by an employee exodus and the gutting of research, both driven by the Trump administration...

The number of people receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center — which cares for patients with rare or life-threatening diseases — has tumbled under the second Trump administration. My story based on interviews w/workers and gov’t docs kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Why you might not know that 2024 was America's safest year since the 1960s An overwhelming majority of Americans, 64 percent, believe that crime increased across the country in 2024, according to a Gallup survey conducted late last year.

1. This week, the FBI released its comprehensive crime report for 2024, which revealed that both VIOLENT CRIME and PROPERTY CRIME reached their LOWEST LEVELS SINCE THE 1960s

This a massive story. But you might not have heard about it, even if you follow the news closely.

Here's why.

States, cities face loss of vaccination programs and staff after ‘baffling’ cuts to federal funding | CNN Millions of dollars have been pulled from state and local vaccination programs with no explanation after a review of the funding agreements by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

ICYMI: U.S. federal government is main funder of state level vaccination programs & main funding source for vaccinating Americans. These programs are feeling neglected & funding is being held.

"Pocket rescissions” are really illegal impoundments.

#VaccinesSaveLives

HOW MUCH WILL YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT LOSE? Federal budget cuts to public education will eliminate afterschool and summer programs, arts and technology classes, teachers, emergency preparedness, mental health services, and more. Search for your state and school district to see how much your child’s education will be impacted. DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT will lose $8,175,391 in federal funding.

You can use this tool to find out just how much funding your local district (or any district in the country) will be losing in the new federal budget:

"DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT will lose $8,175,391 in federal funding."

public.tableau.com/app/profile/... #EduSky #EdChat

A Single Poisoned Document Could Leak ‘Secret’ Data Via ChatGPT Security researchers found a weakness in OpenAI’s Connectors, which let you hook up ChatGPT to other services, that allowed them to extract data from a Google Drive without any user interaction.

Security researchers found a weakness in OpenAI’s Connectors, which let you hook up ChatGPT to other services, that allowed them to extract data from a Google Drive without any user interaction. www.wired.com/story/poison...

As I said more earlier and as the WSJ Editorial Board says now,

“RFK Jr. indicated last week that he plans to lower the standard of evidence so more claims can be compensated. **He also wants to let attorneys collect bigger payouts**”.

And by “attorneys” I mean RFK Jr. himself. Corruption.

Trump Administration Begins to Strip Federal Workers of Union Protections

400,000 VA workers lose their union. [Free link.]

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/u...

The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University is hiring an Assistant Professor to study cereal pathogens

The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University is Hiring!

So good.

"It was a generation that uniquely understood that the natural state of the world & geopolitics was Hobbesian—freedom, democracy, & peace were not natural conditions of the world. They required active involvement, reinforcement, & hard, grinding, day-in, day-out effort to secure & extend."

‘Horrific’: report reveals abuse of pregnant women and children at US Ice facilities Report from senator Jon Ossoff’s office found 510 credible reports of human rights abuses since Trump’s inauguration

New report reveals human rights abuses in US detention camps, including:

-a 10-year-old US citizen child recovering from brain surgery denied follow-up medical care

-a 4-year-old child suffering from metastatic cancer deported w/o ability to consult a doctor

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

SOCIAL SECURITY Office of the Chief Actuary August 5, 2025 The Honorable Ron Wyden United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Wyden: I am writing in response to your request for our estimate of the financial effects on the Social Security trust funds of Public Law 119-21, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA), which the President signed into law on July 4, 2025. Among many other provisions, this law makes permanent the lower ordinary income tax rates and adjusted tax brackets originally enacted under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and temporarily changes certain standard and itemized deduction amounts. Because the revenue from income taxation of Social Security benefits is directed to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, implementation of the OBBBA will have material effects on the financial status of the Social Security trust funds. The balance of this letter provides our understanding of the provisions of the OBBBA with material effects on Social Security program cost, followed by estimates of the program cost effects of the law change. All estimates reflect the intermediate assumptions of the 2025 Trustees Report. Effects of the OBBBA are determined by comparing to the law in effect prior to its passage (i.e., a current law baseline). Specification for and Effects of the Law Change Before the OBBBA was signed into law, the marginal tax rates and tax bracket amounts were set as specified in the 2017 TCJA; those values were scheduled to revert to pre-TCJA levels in 2026. However, implementation of the OBBBA makes permanent the rates and bracket amounts specified in the TCJA. The OBBBA also increases the standard deduction amounts for those age 65 and older for years 2025 through 2028 and includes other tax changes with relatively smaller effects on Social Security beneficiaries. The combined net effect of these income tax provisions results in less overall tax liability for Social Security beneficiaries. In turn, the trust funds will …

Page 2 - The Honorable Ron Wyden Given the uncertainty about possible future effects on Social Security due to other provisions included in the OBBBA, we have limited our analysis to the effects of the income tax changes and their resulting effects on taxation of benefits revenue to the trust funds. We will continue to monitor incoming experience and modify our projections as appropriate. DASDI Program Cost Effects We estimate that implementation of the OBBBA will result in net increased program cost starting in 2025. Over calendar years 2025 through 2034, the total net increase in OASDI program cost is estimated to be $168.6 billion. In addition, the timing of combined OASI and DI Trust Fund reserve depletion is accelerated from the third quarter of 2034 under the 2025 Trustees Report baseline to the first quarter of 2034 following implementation of the law. Considered alone, the reserve depletion date for the OASI Trust Fund is accelerated from the first quarter of 2033 to the fourth quarter of 2032. DI Trust Fund reserves are not projected to become depleted during the 75-year projection period. Over the long-range projection period, implementation of the OBBBA will decrease (worsen) the 75-year OASDI actuarial balance by 0.16 percent of taxable payroll, from -3.82 percent under the 2025 Trustees Report baseline to -3.98 percent following implementation of the law. Table 1, attached, indicates that the net effect of the changes in the law will decrease annual balances for the OASDI program from 2025 through the end of the 75-year projection period, decreasing the annual balance for the 75" projection year (2099) by 0.17 percent of taxable payroll. Tables 1b and lb.n show the effects of enacting the OBBBA in present value dollar and nominal dollar amounts, respectively. Finally, note that we will be using the results provided in this letter as an updated baseline for evaluating the effects of proposals that affect the OASI and DI Trust Funds, and particularly prop…

NEW: @wyden.senate.gov asked the Social Security Admin’s Office of the Chief Actuary what Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” would do to Social Security’s solvency — and as expected they said it will cause Social Security to run out of money more quickly: 2032Q4 instead of 2033Q1 (4-5 months earlier).

As end-of-empire scenarios go it is so much more dignified to get your capital city sacked by the Visigoths than to have a bunch of illiterate rich people in their 70s doing it through a series of incomprehensible tantrums because their brains were defeated by their phones.

A “Striking” Trend: After Texas Banned Abortion, More Women Nearly Bled to Death During Miscarriage A new ProPublica data analysis adds to the mounting evidence that abortion bans have made the common experience of first-trimester miscarriage far more dangerous.

More women have nearly bled to death during miscarriage under Texas’ abortion ban.

Experts say the trend paints a troubling picture of the harms of unnecessary delays in care.

“This is striking,” one doctor said. “The trend is very clear.”

This is not unrelated to my essay of today: “Crack-pot science-conspiracy theorists who have grown up in the most peaceful, prosperous, and healthy age in human history [are] undo[ing] some of the most magnanimous things humans have ever done for one another.” www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/what-we-lo...

Hello. The president's continued insistence that the BLS numbers are rigged, political, or otherwise manipulated is a lie. Please stop saying 'baseless claim.' Thank you.

Kentucky hospital group warns of closures, reduced services, job losses due to Medicaid cuts Healthcare in Kentucky is facing a tough future with billions in Medicaid cuts on the horizon, according to the Kentucky Hospital Association.

“The Kentucky Hospital Association warns that without state and federal intervention, healthcare facilities across the state will be forced to reduce services, lay off medical staff, and in some cases, shut down completely…That's not fearmongering. It's simply a fact”.

White House Orders NASA to Destroy Important Satellite The White House has instructed NASA employees to destroy two major, climate change-focused satellite missions.

i continue to think that “family annihilator” is a useful frame for the trump administration futurism.com/white-house-...

Health secretary RFK Jr. shuts door on U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news that RFK Jr. has shut the door in U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research.

Pandemic preparedness in the US has been leveled a crippling blow with the cancellation of multiple #BARDA contracts to help develop mRNA vaccines. No other vaccine platform produces vaccine so quickly; without mRNA, Americans will have a long wait for pandemic vax. www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/m...

2025 AAUP Faculty in the South Survey The Georgia conference of the American Association of University Professors [AAUP] and its partners in states across the South have been at the forefront of fighting attacks on higher education. To as...

The 2025 @aaup.org Faculty in the South Survey is live. If you are a professor in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, or Texas it's for you. Ends 8/29 at 5pm Eastern forms.gle/v7T3BH2w9LXs...

Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts

I truly cannot emphasize enough how this is straight up Lysenkoism.

Because of the incredible work of our nation’s scientists, we have our finger tips on the closest thing humanity has ever come to “a cure for cancer”, but brainworm over here doesn’t believe in it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/h...

Florida officials warn about risks of drinking raw milk after 21 infections There have been 21 cases of Campylobacter and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections linked to raw milk from the same farm, health officials said. Of those, six have been in children under the age o...

🛎️Simply put... Pasteurization kills bacteria (germs) in raw milk.

🛑Stop drinking raw milk. Raw milk can make you sick. We said before, JUST SAY NO to diarrhea, vomiting, & stomach cramps.

RFK Jr's messages are hurting our children. 6 of those sick in FL are under the age of 10 yrs.

Think of all the hungry people this could have fed in this country alone, and now it's slated to be destroyed.