Aysha Prather
@alprather.bsky.social
Free-range entomologist, gardener, precarious biology instructor, advocate for all things creepy-crawly, slithery, or slimy. In a complicated relationship with Oklahoma.
Trofim Lysenko is going to have to cede his position as the dumbest motherfucker to convince the leader of a superpower to kill his own people by turning state science upside down.
Adrienne@skybird75.bsky.social · 2h agoKennedy Assures Vaccine Skeptics That They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/h... The man is dangerous.
Abortion, Every Day spoke to a woman whose state refused to let her cross state lines for an abortion. Don’t tell me Republicans will never criminalize travel—they already do. Pieces like this make me so proud to work with @kylietcheung.bsky.social
She Wanted An Abortion. The State Wouldn’t Let Her Leave
Travel bans are already here—we just don’t talk about them
jessica.substack.com
This is the best written piece I have seen on this topic. Until Dr. Craig exposed me to this way of thinking on the topic, I admit that I didn’t see the harm in candidates conceding some space if it meant winning an election. Very happy to have been straightened out, at any rate.
A.R. Moxon@juliusgoat.bsky.social · 5d agoI wrote about the necessity of persuasion (and its pitfalls), a disappointing statement from a national figure, and how we might disrupt traditional popular exclusionary and bigoted stories of Them, by challenging them with open and expansive stories of Us. www.the-reframe.com/us-and-them/
i am incredibly excited to share our research about how paying people’s rent through mutual aid made an impact on minnesota this year we accidentally collected more data than anyone ever has for an effort like this, and can very seriously say we prevented an eviction bubble that everyone expected
Aaron Sojourner@aaronsojourner.org · 6d agoProgram's up! 30+ teams share evidence abt impacts on health, educ, & econ + community response. Great folks @ziibiing.com @ottergoose.net @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social @chrisuggen.bsky.social @casemcnich.bsky.social @ngraetz.bsky.social @craigstetter.bsky.social docs.google.com/document/u/1...
Texas is delaying its typical September 1 release of maternal mortality data until December 1, conveniently timed to be after the midterm election. Recent reports have shown a sharp rise in ectopic pregnancy deaths after the abortion ban went into effect. www.austinchronicle.com/news/texas-p...
Texas’ Pregnancy Death Report Set to Release After Midterms • The Austin Chronicle
Texas’ Pregnancy Death Report Set to Release After Midterms
austinchronicle.com
Once you understand the corporate culture of AI hyperscalers is everyone cooking their brains by locking themselves in the bathroom, holding flashlights under their chins, and saying "Aaaaaaaaaay Eyeeeeeee" until they wet themselves in terror, things snap into focus: pluralistic.net/2023/06/04/a...
This could be a lovely little house for someone www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/9...
Check out this 3 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove
3 bedroom detached house for sale in Station House., Station Road, Bleasby, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG14 7GD, NG14 for £75,000. Marketed by Auction House, Covering Notts and Derby
rightmove.co.uk
🔆 Good morning! Wake the %*&# up! Study reveals cursing to be the perfect low-calorie, no-cost performance enhancer. Cursing is like hitting a “power-up button.” “Don’t Hold Back”: Swearing Improves Strength Through State Disinhibition🧪 psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
A new study shows the steep economic cost of 2025's ICE raids in Chicago. Fear kept many immigrants home, draining the area of more than $1.26 billion in lost retail, restaurant, and sales-tax revenue. n.pr/3VjoQA5
New report shows the economic toll of ICE raids
A new study shows the steep economic cost of 2025's ICE raids in Chicago. Fear kept many immigrants home, draining the area of more than $1.26 billion in lost retail, restaurant, and sales-tax revenue.
n.pr
Real missed opportunity to not include a photo of the homemade tick costume. I live in alpha-gal alley. I know several people who've had RMSF. I find ticks on myself all the time. I take them seriously. There was a tone to this piece that went beyond responsible awareness-raising.
Bill Schutt, Author@billschuttauthor.bsky.social · 2w agoThis is an extremely important and informative NYTimes article on the serious tick problem we now face. I also wrote about it in "Dark Banquet"my pop-sci book on blood-feeders, but since then things have gotten far worse. 🧪🦠🦌📚
Some of these are accurate descriptions of my Okie in-laws, or my rural neighbors. I don't actually care how many kinds of camo you own, if you wear it for hunting and not for dressy occasions. Hooters Discover Card, though, is a complete portrait.
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2w agoMy man looks like he owns a Hooters-branded Discover Card
It's true. Our local county election board always needs poll workers (because most are QUITE old and no one lives forever). You get to meet some of the most public-spirited and upstanding folks in your community AND do something very practical to protect democracy.
Sarah Taber@sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2w agoFacts! There's nothing that stops the doomscrolling dead in its tracks like "Go out & do something very direct & hands-on about the problem." And they'll pay 👏 you 👏 to 👏 do 👏 it! powerthepolls.org/creator-sara...
Alpha School is set to get a financial boost from Texas’ school voucher program. Alpha’s model centers on the idea that students can “crush academics,” like reading and math lessons, in just two hours a day. AI software teaches the lessons. w/ @texastribune.org
Several States Rejected This Private School Chain as a Charter. Now It’s Eligible for Texas’ Taxpayer-Funded Vouchers.
The Texas education board, which typically approves most charter applications it reviews, rejected Alpha School’s request last year. Then Alpha quadrupled its Texas private school campuses, most of wh...
propublica.org
This is a terrifying story.
ProPublica@propublica.org · 2w agoNEW: Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division can take months or even years to issue formal safety warnings about marijuana products even when it receives reports that the products are harming people’s health, @denvergazette.com and ProPublica found.
UW-Madison professor engages in multiple sexual relationships with students, disparages another over their sexual orientation and appearance, creates hostile environment, and department leadership covers it all up. And in true “pass the trash” fashion, moves on to ASU once forced to resign.
UW-Madison students, records detail investigation of professor
Dietram Scheufele resigned after investigators determined he had sexual relationships with two students and engaged in unwelcome sexual conduct with one.
captimes.com
Yet the university doesn’t think “I won’t be your advisor if I can’t fuck you anymore” counts as a quid-pro-quo.
For my non-Minnesotan friends: the MN State Fair has a llama costume contest. Pretty sure this is just a very big chicken, though.
Christy Klancher@stpauligrrrl.bsky.social · 2w agoI’m rooting for this awesome chicken
You thought 20th century James Bond villains were over the top and cartoonish. Turns out they were extremely accurate predictions of early 21st century billionaires.
Is there one obscenely wealthy guy out there who's read even one of the many, many end-of-the-world novels to the end _and_ accurately comprehended the book? Smart people have thought this shit through.
Jeff Sharlet@jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 3w agoAnd even this is a delusional fantasy of the 1%, who in the U.S. alone number a couple million, far more than any bunker would hold. The infinitesimal number who’d fiddle while the world burns in a nuclear Holocaust wouldn’t be sufficient to do anything but die somewhat slower, even stupider deaths.
If you're in Norman, OK, today is the quarterly Mutual Aid Fair at Irving Rec Center. www.instagram.com/p/Db4UcNSS8y...
Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty My old drafty house in the country with incompetently installed cupboards: there's a spider floating on the surface of your drink
Zandra Fagernäs@zandraselina.bsky.social · 4w agoOptimist: The cup is half full Pessimist: The cup is half empty Lab manager: WHY IS THERE A RANDOM CUP OF UNLABELLED LIQUID HERE?! WHO DID THIS?!?!
Thinking a lot about the recent high-profile cycling deaths and the saying, “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” “Drivers are afraid that cyclists will slow them down. Cyclists are afraid that drivers will kill them.”
In a Heat Wave, Schizophrenia Is So Much Deadlier Than Any Other Medical Condition @wired.com www.wired.com/story/heat-w...
In a Heat Wave, One Medical Condition Is So Much Deadlier Than Any Other
People with schizophrenia face a perfect storm of dangers on a hotter planet.
wired.com
If i had kids entering school now, i'd want the completed vax rate for their school prominently posted on the front door. If it's below 95%, they should be granted transfers (and transportation) to a healthier school.
Dr. Lucky Tran@luckytran.com · last mo.Want to know MMR vaccination rates for kindergarten classrooms in your county? Use this @washingtonpost.com tool (gift article):
I sincerely believe they could have ridden “They Weird, Yo” all the way to the White House.
molly conger@socialistdogmom.bsky.social · last mo.it was a generational fumble for the dems to pull back on letting coach tim, our gentle midwestern uncle, stand in front of a mic and express disgust and bewilderment at what an absolute grab bag of misfit freaks this admin is. this is weird! these people are fucking weirdos!!! it’s yucky!
The Texas committee tasked with reviewing maternal deaths has decided to forgo analyzing the two years following the demise of Roe v Wade. Health care advocates and lawmakers believe politics played a role, at least tacitly. My latest for @texasobserver.org: www.texasobserver.org/maternal-mor...
Texas Maternal Mortality Committee's Next Report Will Skip Post-'Roe' Deaths. Lawmakers Suspect Political Influence.
And one Texan says the body’s decision “retriggered” the pain of losing his wife, who counts among the preventable deaths that soon followed the state’s abortion bans.
texasobserver.org
@adambonica.bsky.social is dropping bombshells on Substack. He has uncovered astonishing predatory practices in Democratic fundraising, which has been sold out to consultants. AND his NYT invitation to publish has been rescinded bc of legal threats. 🚨👀❗🔥 data4democracy.substack.com/p/hook-and-s...
Hook and Squeeze
How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.
data4democracy.substack.com
"I think the biggest misinformation spreader in the U.S. is the President of the United States himself. [...] Even if you don’t like him, or you don’t like what he says, even if you know that whatever he says is not true, it’s impossible to avoid seeing his content."
This Doctor Is Battling Health Misinformation One Wikipedia Edit at a Time
"I think the biggest misinformation spreader in the U.S. is the President of the United States himself. When he says something, it gets echoed in different magazines, newspapers, everywhere. And…
thexylom.com
Obviously, you have to vote for the worm
Danna Staaf@dannastaaf.bsky.social · last mo.I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do not endorse the cephalopod. Look, everyone already knows how cool neon flying squid are. They're basic. Vote for an animal you've never heard of. Vote for a PHYLUM you've never heard of! www.theguardian.com/environment/...
