Jessica Castillo Vardaro

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

Why Did You Leave the Department of Veterans Affairs? ProPublica wants to hear from doctors, nurses and other front-line medical providers who recently left positions at a VA hospital or clinic.

Our reporting has shown that recent policy changes at the VA are having an impact on working conditions and on patient care, but we need your help to understand the full picture.

If you recently left the VA, here’s how you can reach us:

a girl with glasses is talking on a phone Alt: Scene from stranger things where they sing the never ending story theme

⚾️

How Trump is Building a Violent, Shadowy Federal Police Force Trump’s DHS appointees have dismantled civil rights guardrails, protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks, threatened groups that stood in their way, and overwhelmed legal challeng...

When ICE stormed through Santa Ana, CA, panicked calls flooded into the city’s emergency response system.

Recordings obtained by @propublica.org captured the terror residents felt as they watched masked men ambush people and force them into unmarked cars. / Story by @davidmcswane.bsky.social

A nearly microscopic bug that has a bulbous body, an ant-like head, and two long antennae crawls on a thin piece of wood which has a slime mold growing on it. The slime mold has a short white stalk and the top is a long cylindrical-shaped, reflective thing. It looks like a small bean but reflects a faint blue, green and purple in the light.

A cute springtail hangs with its white-footed slime mold friends

📷 Canon R5
Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM
M, f/4, 1/2, ISO 640
Stack of 9 images
8/29/25
Northern Oregon Coast

#mushroom #fungifriends #mushrooms

🍄📷 📸🎞 🌿🌱 🟢 🍄 🍄‍🟫

Frogs for freedom. #NoKings

Lab dog with a sign that reads yes to treats no to kings

Person in inflatable unicorn suit with sign reading “affordable healthcare is not a myth” next to an inflatable axolotl with a sign reading “axolotl questions about the epstein files”

Person in an inflatable anglerfish with a sign reading “be the light you wish to see in the world”

Sign of a poop emoji with a trump face and caption “turn reich”

Oakland today

Small sandal-shape object magnified under a microscope. Has a few light brown splotches on cream background.

Small sandal-shape object magnified under a microscope. Light cream color with impressed lines around the edge.

Small sandal-shape object magnified under a microscope. Side view showing a cream top part connected to a brown-black bottom half.

Anyone know what this might be? Egg case? Seed? Some sort of weird Sternorrhyncha? I keep seeing them in my sifted litter, sometimes with a hole in it. Leaf litter collected in Southern VA in September.

The Obama Hope poster, but it's a frog and it says "Hop"

I saw a tragically AI-generated version of this poster, so I have recreated a 100% human-made version for all your protest sign needs.

Pretty sure they would melt and/or fall apart 😕

Federal agents knock down elderly couple during Portland protest An 84-year-old said she sustained a concussion and was hit with a projectile after she and her husband, a Vietnam vet, were knocked down by federal officers.

An 84-year-old said she sustained a concussion and was hit with a projectile after she and her husband, a Vietnam vet, were knocked down by federal officers.

What about my dog?

And look at this graphic abstract….. 😱🤯

😮

That jar was full to the brim of juice. I may just drink the rest

A photo collage of a passionflower, a passionfruit, a jar of passionfruit juice, passion fruit jelly, chocolate truffles in prep, and a finished truffle. The final product is dark chocolate with gold powder outside, chocolate ganache and passionfruit jelly inside

Been feeling low lately so I did a creative/delicious activity that took most of the day. Juiced ~50 fruits from my plant, made vegan passionfruit jelly, dark chocolate ganache, and super fancy looking truffles. My 2nd time making ganache and 1st time doing the rest. I’m extremely happy with the day

The MLM Presidency.

Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research - KFF Health News The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to po...

Even though it's crisis #192308 in our current time, I don't think it's sufficiently sunk in with ppl in the academic community that getting federal funding for your research will primarily depend on whether Trump political appointees find you and your work useful
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

🤢

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

I was sent this by a Georgian this morning. 2025 premiums vs 2026 premiums for someone making $65k a year.

Republicans in Washington did this.

This is what I'm fighting to stop. This is what’s at stake in this shutdown fight.

Looks super fancy now!

I get irrationally angry when I see “organic sea salt” in the store. Like, it is literally inorganic! 😡

CALIFORNIANS— call this number for Senator Padilla, I was actually able to give my comments to a human being. That number is 310-231-4494

This.
If we as profs are supposed to be preparing our students for this uncertain world, then it is ever more our job to teach them our subjects and how to think, read, and write WITHOUT the planet guzzling thieving machines owned by some of the worst people on the planet.
THAT is what students need

Action Needed: Urge Governor Newsom to Sign Five Critical Trans Rights Bills TransFamily Support Services is proud to co-sponsor five critical trans rights bills that have officially passed the California Legislature. This is a major victory—one made possible through a powerfu...

A huge win for trans people in California: the state legislature passed five bills protecting our rights!

Now it's time to call on Governor Gavin Newsom to sign them. Contact him before October 12th: transfamilysos.org/action-neede...

#TransRights #TransYouth #TransCalifornia

Death rates rose in hospital ERs after private equity firms took over, study finds After hospitals were acquired by private equity firms, patient death rates in the emergency departments rose by 13% compared to similar hospitals, a study says.

This is my shocked face /s

The GRFP announcement from NSF cuts out an entire cohort of 2nd year students from consideration, without warning. This is so deeply unfair that it warrants a formal protest from the scientific community. If someone wants to work with me to craft an open letter and solicit signatures, LMK.

On a black and white game cam, three javelinas are browsing corn while a raccoon sits on one of their backs. The lighting produces laser-eyes in the raccoon, who is secretly one of the X-Men.

A raccoon knight on a javelina steed. "Onward, Pigasus! Let us show them the meaning of haste". Motion blurred, black and white game cam shot.

South Texas game cam catches a raccoon riding a javelina (Dicotyles tajacu).

The deer feeder corn attracts a lot of other species, but maybe we should worry about them all teaming up against us?

(📷: Jeff Davis, TAMU-Kingsville alumni forum)