KMDT

Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social

Are you anxious or are you simply correctly assessing the numerous threats

We don't need book reviews. What if we skywrite the best lines from our books in the air? Everybody gets one loop-de-loop in the airplane

I’m thinking of you Chris. Hugs to you and pups.

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

I’m moved and enchanted by this poem by Meghan O’Rourke from the latest @newyorker.com which came through the letterbox earlier and which is trying to stop me getting on with my writing. I shouldn’t have opened it!

Indie bookstores are making a shocking, triumphant comeback Since 2020, the number of independent bookstores in the U.S. grew by 70%.

Outstanding news!
www.fastcompany.com/91461983/ind...

Since yesterday, many people have DM’d to say that they were strongly affected by my essay & wished they could share it.

So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon.

Please feel free to share.

www.patreon.com/posts/this-i...

catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...

Ladies and gentlemen... the weekend. (also: you are important and are not alone 🧡)

Please don't let the fear of not doing something well stop you from trying it for the first time. Write a messy story. Paint a crappy flower. Whittle the worst wooden bear of all time.

The best gift you can give yourself is to have fun and grow.

Dear Google,

Stop suggesting your AI nonsense to me. I do not want it. I have never wanted it, and never will. The suggestions are disruptive and enraging and make me want to never use your services again. Just because you sunk your fortunes into AI slop doesn't mean we have to use it.

Love,
Us.

😩

Picture of the East Wing demolition of the White House taken on my flight out of DCA.

Supporting people's capacity for joy and connection is important work. One little thing at a time. Your delight is not frivolous.

the president has destroyed the east wing of the white house without so much as a word of input from anyone else to build a royal ballroom paid for with bribes

White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.

Well this sure feels on the nose www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

My kindergartener reports that their teacher is fed up and is now taking a “dolphin dollar” (school reward system) any time a kid says 6-7.

I haven’t made it to Loyalty in person yet but these Comfort Reads panels have been absolutely wonderful.

Small DC bookstore reports 60% decline in business since federal surge A bookstore in the Petworth neighborhood reports sales are down a whopping 60% since the federal surge in D.C. began. The small but beautifully arranged Loyalty Bookstore on busy Upshur Street near Ge...

A friend of mine co-owns this bookstore. This is not great.

www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/d...

I see yet again people are pretending antifa is a real thing as an organized group in the world when the things far left activists are best at organizing are: feeding people, loaning each other the same $20 constantly, & arguing amongst themselves. Oh & assigning reading.

So yes, lots of bad shit happens, we are set back frequently by assholes and bad luck, but we still keep staggering forward toward a better world.

I hate so much of what is happening in the US, but it’s actually still a really good time to be alive compared to all the others.

Sedation dentistry is no longer weird. Phone cameras are really good. The price of solar panels has dropped by tens of thousands. Southern white rhinos, giant pandas, Arabian oryx and Stellar sea lions are no longer endangered.

And, I can testify, modern cancer treatments are fucking amazing.

How Are You Supposed To Get The COVID Vaccine Now? An Explainer | Defector As the muggy malaise of summer winds down, you might find yourself interested in taking advantage of one of several safe and proven vaccines to help protect you from the inevitable brumal surge of res...

We took the paywall down on this one. defector.com/how-the-fuck...

i don't know what if anything is actually going on but boy shit is weird right now

We built a calculator that doesn't work, but don't worry, it's also a plagiarism machine that will tell you to kill yourself. It runs on the world's oceans and costs 10 trillion dollars.

We are on a bullet train to the end of US science, and possibly the country as a whole, when political appointees are reviewing every scientific grant submitted to NIH to determine if The Regime finds the science acceptable.

Cardboard box on a rock in a garden that says free plums & propaganda. Inside the box are French plums and postcards by Marc Fischer that say Losers Attack Our Libraries, Fight for Librarians

Free plums and propaganda.

There is absolutely no excuse for any Democrat asked about trans athletes to ever respond with anything but “why are you wasting my time asking about FEWER THAN FIFTEEN CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WHO WANT TO PLAY GAMES WITH THEIR FRIENDS. What is wrong with you?”

World Central Kitchen | WCK Resumes Limited Hot Meal Service in Gaza After 5-Day Pause After a five day pause, limited cooking operations resumed today at World Central Kitchen's Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen in Gaza.  This marks the second time in 2025 our hot meal program has been force...

After a five-day halt due to a lack of supplies, our team at WCK’s Deir al-Balah Field Kitchen has resumed limited hot meal service in Gaza. #ChefsForGaza (1/3)

It's become clear that this administration is just a protracted war on anybody who's read a book without pictures in it. It's a miracle we're all still getting up and going to work every morning. The psychological drain is the point, and I'm increasingly grateful to the people who are still decent.