Alaina Kinol

I would love to see a project of visions for what a future for US gov could be, like collectively building a lighthouse for humane & democratic government

But not sure that a post-expertise (abandoning technocracy?) approach makes sense for providing necessarily science-dependent evidence-based policy eg healthcare or environmental regulation as much as it would for immigration enforcement
(+re an agency in NC: see EPA in research triangle park)

Rebuilding State Authority In A Post-Trump America In the ruins of the administrative state after Trump, many on the left see an opportunity to design a New Deal-type reconstruction agenda. But building state capacity requires a government that is…

I've been desperate to hear discussions of what building a US gov looks like after this admin and @beaubaumann.bsky.social 's piece was thought-provoking in a parallel direction. Genuinely though, can we do post-trump with current political parties? lpeproject.org/blog/rebuild...

Supreme Court Live Updates: Justices Seem Set to Rule Against Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy

Yet another day of needless cruelty towards queer kids, who are perfect just the way they are. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Great go do it

Wiley set to earn $44m from AI rights deals, confirms “no opt-out" for authors The US publisher is the latest to capitalise on deals to give tech firms access to its authors’ content to train their Large Language Models (LLMs).

Everybody makes money out of academic authors except the authors...News.

Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.

ICE Agents Rappel from Helicopter in Overnight Chicago Raid, Dragging Kids from Beds to U-Hauls Overnight on Tuesday, Sept. 30, federal agents from different agencies raided an apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, pulling men, women and children — some of them allegedly naked — from ...

Trump’s regime is deploying unaccountable masked men into the hearts of our communities to spread fear.

We must stand together against fascist ICE raids. Join an event near you for the biggest day of peaceful protest in American history: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings

Notably mothers are known to not have to make important decisions

you just can't understand modern US policy processes without obstruction: willful denial & delay of science/narratives/policies that reduce harm to instead increase short-term profits for the ultra wealthy

so disingenuous to place blame for bad politics but not talk about who's materially gaining

Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change. Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.

“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.”

Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability & quality of life.

Common sense.

Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.

How to track the super polluters next door | CNN A new tool allows people in the world’s largest metros to track their air pollution exposure and who’s doing the polluting.

So, this is awesome. A new interactive map and database lets you track the largest polluters where you live, including the biggest sources of fossil fuel-climate-destroying emissions. @climatetrace.org
www.cnn.com/2025/09/24/c...

Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations, according to a new KFF analysis. This puts the U.S. far ahead of peer nations in child and teen firearm deaths. Data show that U.S. firearm deaths for children and teens again surpassed motor vehicle deaths – the second leading cause of death – and that the increase has been primarily driven by gun assault deaths. On a per capita basis, the firearm mortality rate among children and teens in the U.S. is over 9.5 times the rate of Canada, the country with the second-highest child and teen firearm death rate. If firearm deaths in the U.S. had mirrored Canada’s rates between 2010 and 2021, approximately 30,000 U.S. children and teenagers would still be alive.

If you think Tylenol is bad for children’s health, wait until you see what guns do.

The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We’re not OK with our babies being born into poverty’ Infants in Rx Kids in Flint, Michigan, saw lower rates of prematurity and other issues, saving millions in NICU visits

A program in Flint, MI, gave $1,500 to any/all pregnant people and $500/month for the first year of their infant’s life.

Among the benefits, those babies experienced lower rates of prematurity and low birth weight, which resulted in fewer NICU admissions, saving the city of Flint $6.2 million/year.

🔌💡 This slide from the Electrotech deck is analogous to a point that @georgemonbiot.bsky.social makes: if alt proteins can displace the low-value parts of a cow used as ingredients, that raises the price at which meatpackers needs to sell high-value parts of cow in order to break even.

Question:
What do Zohran Mamdani, Hakeem Jeffries, Vito Fossella, AOC and the Adams administration agree on?

Answer:
Stopping the Williams NESE fracked gas pipeline project, which would raise utility bills & super pollutes.

Hey @governor.ny.gov Hochul, are you paying attention? #NoTrumpPipelines

A court order from the United States District Court, dated September 9, 2025, in case 1:25-mc-91324-MJJ. The order grants a Motion to Quash a subpoena. Highlighted text explains the judge's reasoning: that the subpoena reflects the administration's disapproval of the transgender community, and its true purpose is to interfere with gender-affirming care in Massachusetts, harass the hospital, and intimidate patients. The judge finds the government failed to show proper purpose and that the subpoena was "motivated only by bad faith." The order is signed by Judge Myong J. Joun.

JUST IN: A judge quashed the subpoena to Boston Children's Hospital by the DoJ that sought the records of trans patients.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about Researchers have linked phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, to premature birth, infertility and ADHD.

“We’re just constantly exposed to a soup of chemicals."

Amazing reporting by @shannonosaka.bsky.social & co. on the plastic pollutants that are almost impossible to avoid -- and whose potential harms we're just beginning to understand.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

No money to complete ongoing pediatric cancer research but $40B to prop up the dying fossil fuel industry is 👍

If only there was a document that said that people have a right not to be discriminated against based on their race etc. It would be so nice to have a document like that that could guide our legal decisions!

New research demonstrating a shift in online climate misinformation

Rather than denying climate science, this 'new denial' comprises "attacks that seek to undermine and cast doubt on proposed climate solutions and those who support them."

resolve.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Look guys, the martial law is temporary. It’s just a brief vacation from having any rights.

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, scholars' association says The world's leading genocide scholars' association has passed a resolution saying that the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday.

"Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)".
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, genocide scholars' association says - www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Lukes called this the 2nd face of power. Although arguably controlling the media environment means they also have hegemonic control of people’s understanding of reality, the 3rd face of power

Law Firm Pressures Brown University to Erase Research on Anti-Wind Groups

My lab's been attacked by an anti-wind group and their lawyers. They threatened the science funding of my whole university, to shut me and my undergraduate research assistants up.

NYT just covered it. 1/n

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...

Screenshot of title/subtitle of GirlsUnited/Essence article. Copy: “Poisoned For Progress: How Al Is Quietly Draining Black Communities” | “As Al demands skyrocket, so does water and energy use. In Black neighborhoods, the environmental cost is real-and rooted in a legacy of systemic neglect.”. Photo: Construction vehicles stand on the building site of a future chip factory

“Elon Musk's xAl is constructing one of the world's largest Al supercenters in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. This mirrors a long history of environmental racism where polluting industries and hazardous developments are placed in communities with the least
political and financial power.” 🧵

🚨ACTION OF THE DAY🚨
@standupforscience.bsky.social

Day 21! QUACK-O-GRAM THURSDAY!

For $3 we will hand deliver an "IMPEACH THE QUACK" rubber ducky to your House Representative! (By one of our team members in a duck suit!)

DO IT (AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS)

act.standupforscience.net/fundraising/...

New York’s blocked gas pipelines may move forward under Trump-Hochul energy deal Hundreds of New Yorkers rallied last week as two previously rejected gas pipeline projects resurfaced amid a potential backroom deal between Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Trump administration.Deep Vakil r...

So embarrassing for NY, used to be an environmental leader next to CA/MA

but now Hochul is working with the White House on bringing back fracked gas against NY climate policy.

Shame @governor.ny.gov

www.ehn.org/new-yorks-bl...

Fuck you

clear line of attack, no begging or pleading for the good republican. approve.

INCARCERATING NON-VIOLENT OFFENDERS PRE-TRIAL BECAUSE THEY ARE POOR WAS UNJUST AND BAD PUBLIC POLICY AND THE DATA SHOWS IT.