How is that Satire?... its pretty much what news headlines of serious media should be saying.

RFK Jr.'s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research NIAID's Integrated Research Facility is one of the few federal facilities charged with studying Ebola. Tuesday afternoon, all of its work was put on indefinite pause by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s departm...

RFK Jr. ordered the NIH’s Integrated Research Facility in Frederick to stop all research on serious infectious diseases yesterday at 5:00 PM.

They study pathogens like Ebola there. You may be familiar with it from The Hot Zone.

www.wired.com/story/hhs-ni...

I'm munching on my normal celery , pecans, blueberries and cherries as I query databases and write code over a VPN... Leaves, nuts and berries gatherer diet while working a 21st century tech job... and that's LUXURY snacking by todays standards. (will have some shrimp and salmon later )

USA: Remember who the hell you are. If this shit wasn't tolerable before we became the United States, it shouldn't be tolerable now! Benjamin Franklin hated this shit, so if we want to be great again, FIGHT BACK!
#history

weirdly the NPR article doesnt seem to post to Facebook...

Trump administration set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas That's according to a public State Department procurement document. It comes as ethics experts raise conflict of interest questions about the chief executive of Tesla, Elon Musk, who is a top White Ho...

www.npr.org/2025/02/13/g...

image of security guard wearing insignia of Stellantis Corp. Image of corporate history of Stellantis noting it is the merger of Blackwater and Triple Canopy. Image of Reuters article on Trump Pardoning Blackwater operatives. TOP CAPTION is "Trump and Musk are using Mercenaries on American Soil as Jackboots to enforce illegal orders"

Trump? Musk? who knows who's paying them or giving them to orders.. but the EXECUTIVE BRANCH is using MERCENARIES to enforce their ILLEGAL ORDERS and if they can get away with doing that.. they won't have to CARE what courts have to say about ANYTHING. THIS SHOULD BE A TOP STORY.

Is there any possibility that the Musk team.. *didn't* violate HIPAA and a ton of other statutes in the course of their ransacking of federal data? and who has standing in the case? everyone ? no one? just the folks under executive authority who will be told to do nothing?

Well there was that ghost thing we talked about....

The real war is and always has always been between the people who believe there are masters and slaves... and those who think we are citizens in a society. That's it, that's all of it. the rest is details. And way too much smoke and mirrors.

Is facebook getting hinky for anyone else today? been trying to share youtube to FB and just getting error messages...

I think getting the 35 major metro areas in the US to opt for statehood is.. more likely. Not VERY likely but still doable. After the first one does it.. I imagine there would be a cascade.

Nuclear non-proliferation depends ENTIRELY on the premise that America is a reliable security partner. With Trump talking about quitting NATO how long before Poland becomes a Nuclear power? Finland? Sweden? JAPAN? and thats just starters. How do you think THAT affects US in terms of Security?

Interlibrary loan depends on Federal Funding from the IMLS.

Trump proposed eliminating IMLS all 4 years of his previous administration.

Our first opportunity to support IMLS for 2025 is RIGHT NOW.

Sign the petition today! action.everylibrary.org/imls2025

This wouldn't change the the house of representatives, but we'd have a very different and much more representative senate, WITHOUT any cause for smaller states to cry about lack of representation. I can only imagine this would also have serious and POSITIVE effects on the electoral college system.

"no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state… without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as Congress.” So, if its State wanted it, and Congress approved, then a City could become its own State.

The 35 U.S. Metro areas with populations over 2 million should Apply for statehood.
They're already more populous than 14 states that already exist and growing faster anyway. THAT would put the senate back in balance and probably be more efficiently governed that way.

Musk Unleashes Online Army on Federal Workers. ‘A Tough Way to Find Out She’s Losing Her Job.’ As Trump efficiency czar, the billionaire is targeting employees by name on X—sparking pushback.

Revolting mob rule, Stalinist, Maoist, fascist, call it what you want, it is disgusting, with the power of the state and social media to mobilize the US version of China's Red Guard to target civil servants, professionals doing their job.
Gift article. Please repost.

www.wsj.com/tech/musk-un...

A reminder courtesy of @hcrichardson.bsky.social that one of the most violent riots over identity politics in the last century took place 61 years ago yesterday.

when Lorenzo De Medici was wounded in the assasination in church that got his brother he staggered into the street and shouted "BALLS!" .. the rallying cry of the family (based on their heraldry but I cant imagine it didnt go both ways)

So to prevent a “communist take over of USA” Elon had you vote for him to be an agent of influence for Chinese Communist Party controlled platforms.

Trump team warns Republicans to support Cabinet picks or face primary funded by Musk As controversy continues to cloud some of Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, his team has a sharp warning for Republicans who don't fall in line, ABC's Jonathan Karl reports.

When people complained about Citizens United, I doubt they even had this in mind as a possibility. One man, not a corporation, able to fund primary challenges against anyone who fails to fall in line. Absolutely grotesque.

well if you've GOT a copy it would be helpful if you POST or at least QUOTE it . clicking your link then having to go through the request form at Princeton and hoping they'll send it to you is kind of paywall++ ish

Georgia Dismissed All Members of Maternal Mortality Committee After ProPublica Obtained Internal Details of Two Deaths In a letter, the state’s public health commissioner said the action was taken because “confidential information provided to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee was inappropriately shared with outs...

After @propublica.org reported on the cases of two women — Amber Thurman and Candi Miller — who died after they couldn’t obtain timely reproductive care in Georgia, the state has dismissed the entire maternal mortality board. www.propublica.org/article/geor...

With minimal time left in the Democratic majority, the Senate has now confirmed a new head of the Office of Government Ethics. In a 50-46 vote, senators voted to confirm David Huitema as the new ethics czar for a 5-year term. This means the Biden pick will serve throughout Trump's presidency. The move shines a light on the recent issues with the transition of power. Trump thus far has refused to sign any transition-related ethics agreements with the Biden administration. Without these agreements, Trump's teams are unable to transition to office or receive access to federal agencies. The Office of Government Ethics is not only responsible for overseeing the executive branch ethics program and preventing financial conflicts of interest but is also heavily involved with reviewing Cabinet nominations. The Senate's confirmation comes at a time when many are questioning the validity and ethical standards of Trump's proposed appointees.

For the next 5 YEARS!!!🤣🤣🤣😭🤣😭💀

Good to rewatch with the kids.. Civics learned easy. Also 1776 The Musical.. its better than most college courses on the subject and much more enjoyable and memorable.

Next time you're up I'm loaning you my box set of "The West Wing" (Complete 7 season series).. its an altenative reality that will help you hold hope and sanity in this one. ALSO some of the best writing to ever hit TV.

And I have to remind myself this is a TWITTER/X substitute.. not Facebook. But I haven't had a twitter in *ages* and its Facebook I want to replace. What I really miss is LIVEJOURNAL. but that got bought by a Russian Company right after the wall fell. Guess what happened to all those secrets?

You're young yet (believe it or not, as authors go).. and still honing your craft.. learning promotion (and sales) come later but .. you WRITE so I have confidence you'll get there.