Patrick Malone

Get well soon!

Nuclear weapons safety oversight in decline with Trump, Biden inaction The lone independent safety agency overseeing Hanford and other U.S. nuclear weapons sites is at risk of becoming ineffective after two presidents let it lapse.

The US's only independent agency with an eye on nuclear weapons work could soon lose authority to recommend safer work after two presidents neglected to appoint members. Its work in Washington state led to $180M in corporate fraud settlements. @seattletimes.com www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

The officers involved were acquitted.

Tacoma agrees to $6M settlement in Manuel Ellis’ police custody death The family of Manuel Ellis sued the city after his 2020 in-custody death. They also sued Pierce County, which settled in 2022 for $4 million.

City of Tacoma to pay $6 million to settle a wrongful lawsuit brought by the family of Manuel Ellis, who repeatedly told police he couldn’t breathe. @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Advice For Getting Through Father's Day From People Who Lost Their Dads Here's how to deal with Father's Day if you're part of the "Sad, No Dad Club."

If you're in the 'Dead Dad Club,' consider this your permission slip to feel whatever you want to feel on Father's Day: Sadness over the loss, joy that he was in your life for however briefly, envy toward friends who still have their dads, even absolutely nothing.

Worth a reshare come this weekend:

There’s Growing Anger Over Mexican Flags Flown At LA Protests. Here’s What Everyone Is Getting Wrong. Who gets to tell oppressed people how to resist their oppression?

What flag they’ll bring to the function probably isn’t the top priority on the minds of most people at these protests

“More than anything, these folks are out there trying to keep their families and friends from being illegally kidnapped by a secretive federal agency,” Lechuga said

My story today:

Mark Zuckerberg Thinks AI 'Friends' Can Solve The Loneliness Crisis. Here's What AI Experts Think. The tech billionaire also suggested there may be untapped potential in AI girlfriends and therapists.

“As humans, we want to be seen and recognized by others. We care about what other people think about us,” said Sven Nyholm, a prof of the ethics of AI. “Other people have minds, whereas AI chatbots are mindless zombies”

My story today, on the limits of AI companions
www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-z...

The WA businesses (including Microsoft, Amazon) & people who gave to Trump's inauguration (via @pmalonejourno.bsky.social)
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

My mom volunteers with a group that does vision screenings for kids. Head Start is one of the places they go a lot. So many kids vision problems have been discovered and managed early because of Head Start. It would be hard to reach those kids without Head Start.

Labor Leaders Fear Elon Musk and DOGE Could Gain Access to Whistleblower Files Companies tied to Elon Musk have dozens of workplace health and safety cases open at OSHA. Unions leaders and former OSHA officials are concerned.

NEW: One of the largest federations of unions and several former officials have raised concerns about the possibility that Elon Musk and DOGE could potentially gain access to sensitive information shared with OSHA and the Department of Labor by whistleblowers at the centibillionaire’s companies.

'Adolescence' Is A Must-Watch For Parents Of Young Boys. But Here's What It Gets Wrong About Incel Culture. 'Adolescence' became the ninth most-watched Netflix series of all time in three weeks. Is it a teachable tool, though? Let's discuss.

"Adolescence" is a terrifying, almost horror movie-level depiction of how incel culture and online misogyny can warp a child.

I talked to therapists and incel researchers about what it gets right (and wrong) about how young men fall into the manosphere rabbit hole.
www.huffpost.com/entry/adoles...

Trump Administration Begins Layoffs at CDC, FDA and Other Health Agencies The cuts were part of a Trump administration plan announced last week to dismiss thousands of employees and drastically overhaul the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Robert F. Kenn...

Staff of key regional food testing labs in San Francisco and Chicago were among hundreds of FDA food program employees fired yesterday

“The F.D.A. as we’ve known it is finished," said its previous commissioner Robert Califf
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/u...

Since being given clemency by Trump, Braun has been accused of punching his wife and father-in-law in the head, groping a woman’s breast while touching himself, assaulting a nurse, and threatening a synagogue attendee who requested he be quiet during a service.

Braun has ties to the Kushners.

Boeing blamed for whistleblower’s death in new lawsuit The family of John Barnett, a Boeing whistleblower who died by suicide last year, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.

New from me: #Boeing faces a new wrongful death lawsuit, filed today by the family of John Barnett, a longtime #whistleblower who died last year by suicide. @seattletimes.com www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Elon Musk Has Brought 'The R-Word' Back — And It's Part Of A Disturbing New Trend It fits in with a "politics of cruelty" that's been running rampant in the White House.

I wrote about the disturbing resurgence of the R-word -- seemingly Elon Musk's favorite word -- and how it fits in with the politics of cruelty.

A recent study out of Montclair State University found that the use of the slur triples on X when Musk tweets it.
www.huffpost.com/entry/the-r-...

Armor Plates for US Army Vehicles Never Passed Required Test An internal probe by Evraz North America found that employees at a Russian-owned steel plant in Oregon sometimes bypassed a key test meant to ensure that armor for one of the Army’s most commonly used...

Exclusive: Employees at a Russian-owned steel plant in Oregon bypassed tests meant to ensure armor plates regularly used on US Army Joint Light Tactical Vehicles could withstand enemy fire, an internal probe found

New DOGE Staffer Has Ties to a Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Corcos, a new member of Elon Musk’s DOGE team, reportedly showed up at the IRS demanding detailed info about American taxpayers to hunt for fraud.

SCOOP: The new DOGE official seeking private taxpayer information at the IRS has ties to a sanctioned Russian oligarch considered part of Putin's inner circle.

Sam Corcos is married to a woman who partnered w/ a VC firm handling Suleyman Kerimov's money.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

What Trump tariffs mean for Amazon, Boeing and WA’s very global economy “It's a double whammy for us,” Port of Seattle Commissioner Sam Cho said of the tariffs targeting Canada, China and Mexico. “It’s going to be really, really harmful.”

Donald Trump believes his trade war will only affect countries abroad, but his overly broad tariffs will hit Washingtonians hard. Slower exports could result in lost jobs, while more expensive imports may spur inflation.

How premature was this? Signs were designed for this site with the expectation that in thousands of years humans will encounter it and need to be aware of the radioactive risks. This is/was a forever facility for this unique mission. This risks crimping nuclear weapon production and dismantlement.

Scatterplot titled “Empirical Evidence of Ideological Targeting in Federal Layoffs: Agencies seen as liberal are significantly more likely to face DOGE layoffs.” • The x-axis represents Perceived Ideological Leaning of federal agencies, ranging from -2 (Most Liberal) to +2 (Most Conservative), based on survey responses from over 1,500 federal executives. • The y-axis shows Agency Size (Number of Staff) on a logarithmic scale from 1,000 to 1,000,000. Each point represents a federal agency: • Red dots indicate agencies that experienced DOGE layoffs. • Gray dots indicate agencies with no layoffs. Key Observations: • Liberal-leaning agencies (left side of the plot) are disproportionately represented among red dots, indicating higher layoff rates. • Notable targeted agencies include: • HHS (Health & Human Services) • EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) • NIH (National Institutes of Health) • CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) • Dept. of Education • USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) • The National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE), despite its conservative leaning (+1 on the scale), is an exception among targeted agencies. • A notable outlier: the Department of Veterans Affairs (moderately conservative) also faced layoffs despite its size. Takeaway: The figure visually demonstrates that DOGE layoffs disproportionately targeted liberal-leaning agencies, supporting claims of ideological bias. The pattern reveals that layoffs were not driven by agency size or budget alone but were strongly associated with perceived ideology. Source: Richardson, Clinton, & Lewis (2018). Elite Perceptions of Agency Ideology and Workforce Skill. The Journal of Politics, 80(1).

The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️

A filing error put more than 90,000 acres of Yakama Nation land in the hands of Washington state More than 170 years later, the Yakama are still trying to get their land back.

Wiped Off the Map.

A federal clerk’s error put more than 90,000 acres of Yakama Nation land in the hands of Washington state. The tribe wants it back.

grist.org/indigenous/s...

#WA #Washington #Yakama #Tribe #Indigenous

Seattle Times sues Seattle police, alleging public records violations A former Seattle mayor's policy let police "group" record requests from a single person — in effect delaying release of many time-sensitive documents for years.

Seattle Times sues Seattle police, alleging public records violations

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

‘Did the plane break?’ Terror of blowout lingers for families on Alaska Flight 1282 The Alaska passengers are in the middle of a massive fallout — lawsuits, federal investigations, intense media interest. They're also traumatized individuals.

On Jan. 5, 2024 - a year ago today - a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX. Alaska flight 1282 passengers still struggle with hearing overhead planes or fire alarms, and feeling rushing air.

After thinking you were going to die on a plane, how do you fly again?

www.seattletimes.com/business/boe...

Aviation whistleblowers risk upending their lives, but most complaints go unchecked In a system critics compare to a casino, an FAA whistleblower program meant to aid insiders from Boeing and other aerospace giants is proving a bad bet for some.

Whistleblowers against Boeing, suppliers, FAA risk it all while most complaints go nowhere. @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social

www.seattletimes.com/business/boe...

Alaska Airlines crew, passenger injured during turbulence on flight out of Seattle The airline says that to protect individuals' privacy, it is not providing details on the severity of the injuries.

Alaska Airlines crew, passenger injured during turbulence on flight out of Seattle. Via @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social

www.seattletimes.com/business/boe...

YouTube video by KUOW Week in Review December 20th, 2024

I had a great time talking with some smart co-panelists and host Bill Radke on KUOW's Week in Review today about Seattle's police chief scandal, taxing billionaires and public transit in light of a bus driver being killed on the job. With video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PulV...

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism Leaked internal documents show that the insurance giant is culling providers of applied behavior analysis from its network and scrutinizing the medical necessity of therapy. Advocates say the company’...

NEW: After reviewing leaked documents, we have found UnitedHealth is strategically limiting access to a treatment for thousands of children with autism across the country in order to cut costs.

Advocates say the company’s strategy may be illegal.

www.propublica.org/article/unit...

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Every single school should have a library & a librarian, to help every single child find the books that will make them readers, and give them all the lifelong benefits of literacy. Libraries & librarians change children's lives FOREVER!
#literacy #libraries #librarians

“In The Distance” by Hernan Diaz