About a year ago I finished a book proposal about how our political institutions are not equipped for 21st century technological disruption. It still sits in my laptop.
This week's comic on the folly of triangulating with oligarchs
#comic #cartoon #voting #uspol #oligarchy #democrats #elections #authoritarianism #corruption
Dismantling the Roadless Rule threatens to disrupt wildlife and water in US arstechnica.com/science/2026/0…
#UnitedStates #USA #US #environment #RoadlessRule #wildlife #water #USpol #Trump
Lands free of roads are under threat from the Trump administration’s proposed rollback.The Conversation (Ars Technica)
Residents in Gary, Indiana have been without power for nearly two weeks
Many are under a boil water advisory, which is nearly impossible without electricity
Thousands without power or safe water… and it’s barely a blip on the news
The richest country in the world is choosing to let people suffer
Please remember to check on the disabled and elderly … they are the first to die during catastrophic events like this
nbcchicago.com/news/local/what…
#gary #indiana #uspol #disability #poverty #ableism
Across parts of northwest Indiana, thousands have been without power for more than 10 days -- and counting -- leaving many in desperate need.Alex Dvorak (NBC Chicago)
"NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades."
nature.com/articles/d41586-026…
"The US science-funding agency is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project."
#DefendResearch #Funding #NSF #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
Throttling of science funding is utterly unprecedented and radical when compared to the past 50 years.Grant Witness
In my microbiology class I always talk about how algae can do such amazing things
Algae thwart Trump’s $14.2m attempt to turn reflecting pool ‘American flag blue’
theguardian.com/us-news/2026/j…
Green algae have proliferated amid warm weather after Lincoln Memorial pool renovation turning water greenCallum Jones (the Guardian)
Analysis: "Israel makes no secret of the fact that it is opposing [the US-Iran] agreement & will do whatever it can to sabotage it."
"Netanyahu spent decades pushing US presidents towards military action against Iran. Finally he found one president who was willing to do it, & it is a total failure."
"We are now in the same position right before the war, & maybe even worse".
~Gideon Levy
aje.news/y3hc1w?update=4658013
#USPol #EUPol #IranWar #news #Netanyahu #IsraeliCrimes .
These were the updates from the US-Israel's war on Iran on Sunday, June 14, 2026.Alex Milan Durie (Al Jazeera)
A “rare moment of justice”, says Craig Mokhiber, after Germany lost its bid to return to the UN Security Council.
Germany's failed bid is due to “Germany’s scandalous support for genocide in Palestine & aggression against Iran, & its repression of human rights defenders inside Germany”.
“Germany’s money can no longer erase its responsibility for genocides in Namibia, Europe, & Palestine."
Only 104 members voted for Germany
aje.news/dud2nk?update=4625033
#USPol #EUPol #GazaGenocide #Germany #news .
Lebanon's Health Ministry reports 3,516 people have now been killed in Israeli attacks since March.Federica Marsi (Al Jazeera)
Why did Trump pardon drug trafficker and Honduran president Juan Hernández? According to leaked audio tapes, it was an initial payment in part of a agreement between Trump, Bibi, and others to take down Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum.
El Pais: ‘Hondurasgate,’ the alleged US and Israeli interference plot to destabilize Mexico and other progressive governments
english.elpais.com/internation…
#USpol #Mexico #Honduras #DrugTrafficking
A leaked audio recording points to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Javier Milei, and Donald Trump as attempting to create a platform to spread fake news about the administrations of Claudia Sheinbaum, Lula, and Gustavo PetroAndrés Rodríguez (EL PAÍS English)
Comic: "Dems should move to the right"
Report: Shipping data contradict US claims of blockade success
US Centcom commander Brad Cooper said that “US forces have completely halted economic trade going in & out of Iran by sea.”
cnbc.com/2026/04/15/us-strait-…
But shipping data show that 14 ships on the US sanctions lists crossed the strait, 7 from Iranian ports.
In addition, TankerTrackers said Iran shipped 9m barrels of crude oil since the start of the blockade.
aje.news/060cxq?update=4497654
#USPol #EUPol #Hormuz #USBlockade #news #iranWar .
These were the updates on the US-Israel war on Iran and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon for Thursday, April 16, 2026.Lyndal Rowlands (Al Jazeera)
This map shows the cost of charging an EV at home across the U.S. Home-charging is significantly cheaper in all 50 states than fueling a car with gasoline.
Source: Yale yaleclimateconnections.org/202… #energy #uspol
Here’s the answer for every U.S. state.Karin Kirk (Yale Climate Connections)
This week's comic on the authoritarian takeover of US media
#media #uspol #democracy #journalism #authoritarianism #oligarchy
Will future generations remember the principles upon which American democracy was founded?Sheril Kirshenbaum (Unelected Representative)
In my new op-ed at The Hill, I describe a shift in how staffers & citizens perceive American democracy through the concept of “shifting baselines.” thehill.com/opinion/congress-b…
This term from ecology illustrates how each generation tends to view the environment of their youth as normal, regardless of how degraded the system may be. I wonder whether future generations will recognize when it’s necessary to push back if their firsthand memories are only of political upheaval. #uspol #science
“This is the systematic elimination of scientific stewardship at the world’s largest biomedical research funder.”
open.substack.com/pub/elizabet… #science #health #uspol
How NIH went from 756 funding announcements to 14 in two years — and what it means for every disease that depends on federal researchElizabeth Ginexi
"Do you think it's inappropriate in any way that someone w/ no experience w/ grants for the federal government was making personal judgment calls about what grants to cancel?" an attorney asked.
"Um, no. I don't think it's inappropriate," Cavanaugh said, arguing that he did not need formal education or experience to make informed judgments. 🤔
abcnews.com/Politics/2-doge-st… #science #uspol
The DOGE employees defended the effort to cut "useless agencies."Peter Charalambous (ABC News)
Scientists often assume the main challenge in policymaking is ensuring that legislators have access to high-quality evidence.
But Capitol Hill is fast-paced, resource-constrained & shaped by competing considerations. sheril.substack.com/p/beyond-t… #science #uspol
Science policy isn't just about high-quality evidence.Sheril Kirshenbaum (Unelected Representative)
This week's comic: The Big Dumb War Cycle
#war #foreignpolicy #uspol #cartoon
Latest comic: Hollowed out shells
Even when there’s no accountability, the record matters. Credit to the Wikipedia editors maintaining this page.
You can’t detain a 5 year old child.
If a masked man grabs a kid off the street and puts him in an unmarked car… that’s kidnapping.
If that child is then sent to another state? That’s trafficking.
Language matters here.
What happened to Liam Ramos should outrage us all.
The revelation comes as part of a series of corrections in a legal case over DOGE’s access to Social Security Administration data.Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai (TechCrunch)
"The Social Security Admin🚨has referred two DOGE employees for Hatch Act violations after discovering contacts with a political group seeking SSA data to overturn election results.
In a remarkable court filing, #DOJ🚨also revealed that DOGE employees traded Social Security data on an unapproved third party server — #Cloudflare — & may have sent private SSA info to a top DOGE adviser.:
-K Cheney
#Musk #DOGE #SocialSecurity #Betrayal #Fraud #TrumpRegime #Elections #USPol
politico.com/news/2026/01/20/t…
A comic from 2022. I want to make a distinction between the Democrats who are speaking out forcefully against authoritarianism and those whose overcautious approach enabled the extremist takeover of our institutions. This is about the dangers of unaccountability and kicking the can down the road. As recent elections demonstrate, voting is still extremely important.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has voted to dissolve after Republicans rescinded $1.1B at President Trump’s behest.
This ends the 58-year-old agency that distributed federal funds to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local public radio & television stations. apple.news/AXdo2-zPuRCiJSiIVd3… #uspol #news
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans succeeded this summer in stripping federal funds from public media. Now the 58-year-old organization is gone.apple.news
careful, the numbers given in the screenshot might be misleading.
If current CDC data are still trustworthy, there seems to be some kind of seasonal pattern in measels cases[1].
Measels cases seem to increase over time, but that seems to start in the early 2000s. Maybe vaxx-reluctance started to kick in then ... maybe because there hasn't been many outbreaks in the 90ies.
but still: the current admin is a problem.
[1] cdc.gov/measles/data-research/…
#measels #MeaselsOutbreak #uspol
Find the latest numbers of confirmed U.S. measles cases. CDC updates this page weekly.Measles (Rubeola)
Cruelty by #StephenMiller, #KristiNoem, #JDVance, & #DonaldTrump. This is what #MikeJohnson, alleged #Christian, & the cowards in Congress & the fascists on #SCOTUS are doing.
"Islas pulled out a brown teddy bear to ease the toddler’s nerves while she faced Judge Irene C. Feldman. Islas is not formally representing Lucy, but provided Feldman w/information regarding Lucy’s case due to her age & inability to understand #immigration proceedings."
coppercourier.com/2025/12/05/c…
More than a dozen undocumented minors were forced to make their case in front of an immigration judge as the Trump administration ramps up removal proceedings.Sahara Sajjadi (Copper Courier)
Latest comic: Climate Silence
#climate #climatechange #cop30 #media #journalism #uspol #oligarchy #climatecrisis
The National Institutes of Health has canceled funding for at least 383 clinical trials in the last year, affecting some 74,000 participantsDan Vergano (Scientific American)
The government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. sheril.substack.com/p/shutdown… #uspol
So why does the 21st disruption of federal funding since 1976 feel... normal?
Why this routine "crisis" should serve as a warning.Sheril Kirshenbaum (Unelected Representative)
This week's comic on the US government shutdown
