Karen Wickre

Hi, former Foreign Service Officer here

The Secretary of State might be interested to learn that visa requirements and terms are generally reciprocal. We do it to them, they do it to us.

Until we pass a nationwide ban on gerrymandering (which we need), Democrats should gerrymander every state to the fullest extent. 52-0 in CA, 17-0 in IL, and so on. No more unilateral disarmament. Time to get serious about fighting back.

these ladies just released the song of the summer

This would more or less halt the ability of scientists and academics from visiting the US to give talks, attend meetings and workshops, collaborate with peers on research and I think that is the primary point. 🧪

It’s the difference in info environments. When we had a media that could cover a story w/ few distractions, democracy couldn’t have died in daylight. Now, democracy can be slaughtered at high noon because 90% of the country will be scrolling through reels and looking for something to be angry about.

Closeup of white and dark grey pit bull dog peering straight ahead at the photographer with a cool assessing look.

Finally, a united nation.

In China, the projected GDP-growth rate, and province-by-province output rates, always proved to be exactly correct!

The party would forecast 11.3% annual growth for a given province, and—surprise!—the provincial officials would report 11.3% at year's end.

Somehow this comes to mind today.

Lisa Murkowski Suddenly Realizes She Got Played on Trump Budget Bill The Alaska senator clearly thought the leopards would never eat her face.

Remember all of those hefty handouts Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski won in exchange for sealing the deal on Donald Trump’s behemoth budget bill? It looks like the president has found a way to get out of delivering.

“I feel cheated."
https://trib.al/3ymBhJU

The Media’s Urge to Be “Fair” to Trump Is Killing the Republic Seventy percent of Republicans understand that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices. Why is the press acting like they’re a huge success?

The Media’s Urge to Be “Fair” to Trump Is Killing the Republic.

Seventy percent of Republicans understand that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices. Why is the press acting like they’re a huge success?

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

When you lose your job and your healthcare, but Trump promises a steel mill that never shows up.

Full story here 👇

www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

Court docs: Voice of America director fired for failing to accept demotion The U.S. Agency for Global Media has dismissed Voice of America's Director Michael Abramowitz for failing to accept demotion, according to court filings.

NEW: The U.S. Agency for Global Media has fired Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz after he refused to accept a new job that would have been an effective demotion that came with a relocation from D.C. to North Carolina.

Uncomfortably familiar

WaPo is hitting the “final hour of Titanic” stage of its management.

This is beyond cruelty.

Also, where are all the FREE SPEECH right-wingers right now?

America First?

Bari Weiss and the Free Press?

I'm waiting...

...What?

Tech Billboards Are All Over San Francisco. Can You Decode Them?

Oof, I only got 1 out 5! Must be in the fog of AI. Thanks (?) @mikeisaac.bsky.social — this must have been fun to put together.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/b...

The counts below size up the one-year effect of “150,000 fewer students [arriving] this fall.” Now consider the cumulative damage after two subsequent years of suppressed enrollment, as older cohorts graduate with no newcomers replacing them.

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils.

President Trump didn't like the jobs numbers, so he fired the person responsible for producing them.
It's a move that has been tried before, by leaders of countries from Argentina to Greece to the Soviet Union. It rarely ends well.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b... #EconSky

Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz: Trump firing BLS head ‘like driving a car with no odometer' After a weak jobs report on Friday, Trump responded by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But as Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz tells Ali Velshi, ignoring bad numbers doesn’t make the problem go away. Instead, it’s more “like driving a car with no odometer,” Stiglitz says. He shares an anecdote from his time on the Council of Economic Advisers, advising President Bill Clinton. Stiglitz explains that Clinton once attempted to influence his analysis, to which Stiglitz says he replied “the preservation of the independence of the statistical agencies is of first order importance, and you, Mr. President, cannot change this.” Clinton accepted this, but Trump, Stiglitz says, does not. Because of Trump’s political pressure on independent economic agencies like the BLS and the Federal Reserve, Stiglitz warns, “confidence in the US dollar and confidence in the US economy will erode.”

From the firing at the Bureau of Labor Statistics to public pressure on the Fed, Trump wants to bend economic numbers and institutions to his whim. Nobel Prize-winning economist @josephestiglitz.bsky.social calls these actions "unconscionable," warning “confidence in the US economy will erode.”

This interview is so clear & quietly devastating. Public media as we understand it is over.

This is not about the end of NPR & PBS. They might be able to find ways to continue to make programs. Instead of content, this is about the capacity to broadcast at all - antennae, transmitters, licenses. 🧵

Deeply unserious

How Scientific Empires End And what it means for America

The rapid decline of American science has few precedents in history, argues @rossandersen.bsky.social. We are witnessing an unparalleled act of self-sabotage:

Opinion | The road map to making America a crypto superpower The Trump administration is making America the “crypto capital of the world.”

I didn't think an intelligent person could possibly write about crypto without mentioning "fraud," "conflicts," or "crime." But Scott Bessent, with the help of whoever edited this op-ed at the Post, managed.

The road map to making America a crypto superpower

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

My friend works for Seattle PBS station and they were bracing for the cuts. They won’t be hit as hard as smaller broadcast channels who rely on federal funding for more of their budget. If you’re able, consider being included in the Viewers Like You thanks at the end of shows by pledging a donation

Trump administration doing what it can to increase gun violence Two mass shootings on Monday claimed a total of seven lives, just as it was revealed that the Trump administration has cut millions in funding for groups working to prevent gun violence. Reuters…

Monday’s two mass shootings be damned.

www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

Oy vey x 1000

Absurd framing. How hard is it to say, “Trump Responds with Lies and Vengeance.”

Trump Gets Rid of Those Pesky Statistics The numbers were simply not patriotic enough.

Donald Trump Declares Victory Over Statistics

It has been the honor of my life to serve as Commissioner of BLS alongside the many dedicated civil servants tasked with measuring a vast and dynamic economy. It is vital and important work and I thank them for their service to this nation.