The U.S. Attorney believes that a "public rebuke" and an internal review are sufficient for egregious prosecutorial misconduct that put my family through hell. My seven-year-old is still having nightmares and panic attacks related to this case. Justice requires transparency and accountability.

Jon Seidel@jonseidel.bsky.social · 4h ago

Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros acknowledges 'mistakes' in 'Broadview 6' case but says sanctions, special counsel aren't needed. From @schuba.bsky.social: chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0...

SCHIFF: You told my staff you stood by your article in white nationalist website VDARE where you wrote, 'Muslim immigrants & their kids seem prone to terrorism' C: I wrote that article in support of Trump's travel ban S: Do you stand by it? C: I stand by that article S: That's all I need to know

Ben Shapiro has recreated Judeo-Bolshevism from first principles, just replacing "Jew" with "Muslim."

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · 1h ago

Ben Shapiro probably does not know enough history to even know this, but the way he is talking about Muslims as a nation within the nation who can never be integrated is almost verbatim what European nationalists said about Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Yeah, this is not some otherwise respectable professional who leans towards 'lab origin' as part of a passive elite consensus. Quay has written (and published!) pretty much every insane false CT on SARS-COV-2 origins you maybe have only heard in passing. Dude has dined at the lab leak buffet.

Alex Crits-Christoph@acritschristoph.bsky.social · 15h ago

So, something that the media will sanewash as this story develops is Quay isn't just a lab origin proponent. He has for 5 years sold an endless stream of very specifically wrong and silly ideas on the topic. He's not right, but even if he was, that wouldn't excuse his fabrications along the way!

Also, Quay found it OK to publish COVID work in a clearly predatory journal (Fortune Journals), with people like Daoyu Zhang (aka Flavinkins aka AlmanaLepiz), a person flagged by Bellingcat in 2020 as central in anti-WHO disinformation▫️9/ #covidorigin #quayniaid www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/08...

WHO Director-General Attacked on Twitter with CCP-Related Memes - bellingcat

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), tweets daily out of WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. But within minutes of many of his tweets going liv...

bellingcat.com

Flo Débarre@flodebarre.eurosky.social · last yr.

It seems that the German Federal Intelligence Service and the Swiss newspaper NZZ do not know about predatory publishers... Maybe they are not alone, so, a thread: ▫️1/

So, something that the media will sanewash as this story develops is Quay isn't just a lab origin proponent. He has for 5 years sold an endless stream of very specifically wrong and silly ideas on the topic. He's not right, but even if he was, that wouldn't excuse his fabrications along the way!

Steven Quay, in line to be NIAID director, is not just any lab leaker. He is of the type of leakers who still talk about "HIV inserts". He has deleted his tweets from 2021-2025, so here are some screenshots to give you an idea of who Quay is: ▫️1/🧵 #covidorigin #quayniaid

Gregg Gonsalves@gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 20h ago

This is just bat-shit crazy. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

They could always sign up to give comment at a public meeting.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 17h ago

New York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

An analysis finds that New Mexico's measles outbreak cost $5.4 million last year. NM had 100 cases. AZ outbreak is more than 3x larger; Utah's is more than 7x larger. TX and SC are each 10x larger. Welcoming back measles is going to be very expensive. www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...

Economic Impact of the 2025 New Mexico Measles Outbreak: Highlighting the Cost of Efforts to Prevent Future Outbreaks | Annals of Internal Medicine

Background: In 2025, the United States experienced its highest measles case count since 1992. In New Mexico, 100 confirmed measles cases (99 outbreak-related cases), including 1 death, occurred across...

acpjournals.org

This is how political interference works. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

RFK jr overrode the NIH recommendation for NIAID Director to appoint his own preferred candidate (who applied, but NIH declined to interview), per @politico.com. Institute directors have final say on funding decisions and are critical to the integrity of NIH. 🧵 www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

A lab-leak proponent is in line for Fauci’s old job

Steven Quay is in final vetting to run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

politico.com

Ray Rice defender is just 'protecting women, protecting girls'.

Razzball@razzball.bsky.social · 21h ago

Did we ever find out if the A is for Asshole?

Nobody wants to talk about those things… because they don’t exist? The current average price for a dozen eggs is $2.14. For a gallon of milk it’s $4.32. fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU00... fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU00...

Average Price: Milk, Fresh, Whole, Fortified (Cost per Gallon/3.8 Liters) in U.S. City Average

Average Price: Milk, Fresh, Whole, Fortified (Cost per Gallon/3.8 Liters) in U.S. City Average

fred.stlouisfed.org

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 22h ago

Tom Emmer on Republicans trailing Dems by 8 points in the generic ballot: "Right now there are great things happening in our economy. Nobody wants to talk about 78 cent eggs, nobody wants to talk about milk that's under $2. No no. They want to focus on gas prices."

Massive earthquake detected beneath Montpelier Station, VA.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterday

Cornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"

Yup. The reason Bobby has problems with The System is it neither sufficiently immiserates the less desirable, nor allows him and his grifter pals to take a larger cut of health anxiety spoils (due to 'regulation' of snake oil).

Nick (derogatory) ✨@slothropsmap.bsky.social · 23h ago

To the extent there are problems with The System, they’re largely (1) poor people suffer, (2) women suffer, and (3) people of color suffer. These are all things RFK likes about The System. To give him credit for “shaking things up” is to out yourself as either a eugenicist or a dumbfuck. Or both.

Depicting Jewish people with horns is a centuries-old, dehumanizing, antisemitic trope. Democratic Gov nominee Phil Weiser is outspoken about his mother’s birth in a Nazi concentration camp, his family members killed in the Holocaust, and the threat posed by antisemitism today.

Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.

This is the tragic yet logical result of a decades-long project—undertaken by rightwing politicians and “business-minded” administrators alike—to distort the meaning of higher education, to deny the intrinsic value of the pursuit of knowledge, to deprive us all of richer, more purposeful lives.

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d ago

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v

NEW: Todd Blanche doesn't believe in the rule of law, and John Cornyn and Thom Tillis don't care. Blanche's Sunday night moves should not save his nomination. The reaction from the pair of soon-departing Republican senators is not oversight and not principled. Tonight, at Law Dork:

Todd Blanche doesn't believe in the rule of law, and John Cornyn and Thom Tillis don't care

Blanche's Sunday night moves should not save his nomination. The reaction from the pair of soon-departing Republican senators is not oversight and not principled.

lawdork.com

I'm starting to suspect that my tax dollars are going to munitions I'll never use, either

USA TODAY Opinion@usatodayopinion.usatoday.com · 2d ago

Opinion: Mamdani's idea may sound appealing, but it's NYC taxpayers who will take the hit, subsidizing discounts they may never even use.

Thrilled to post thread re: new single-cell lineage of mouse embryo reconstructed w/ DNA Typewriter. One animal, zygote to late organogenesis (E13.5). Tree has 1,340,794 transcriptionally profiled, annotated tips (cells), 1,142,588 dated internal nodes, rooted at zygote 1/n

Someone pointed out that I do it (and no one else around me out East does) -- and so now I notice that its probably ~33% of all sound from my vocal chords.

Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · 2d ago

Y’all, midwesterners have the best Interjection for almost any situation (akin to how allora in Italian is an interjection that can mean almost anything): Ope! Surprised? Ope! Made a mistake? Ope! Calling to someone at a party from across the room? Ope! Accidentally offended? Ope! It’s great.

Y’all, midwesterners have the best Interjection for almost any situation (akin to how allora in Italian is an interjection that can mean almost anything): Ope! Surprised? Ope! Made a mistake? Ope! Calling to someone at a party from across the room? Ope! Accidentally offended? Ope! It’s great.

<Annotated for clarity> "[r]eexamining admissions practices <bad affirmative action, non-white>, hiring more conservative faculty <good affirmative action, white!>”

Adam Harris@adamhsays.com · 2d ago

“The letter, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News, asks schools to publicly pledge to make sweeping changes that include reexamining admissions practices, hiring more conservative faculty, cracking down on student protests, combating grade inflation, reducing foreign donations and lowering tuition.”

I can’t believe we’re doing another cycle of pretending to have a deal with Iran. This is so stupid.

This is an outstanding result, but we’re not done yet! The NSF update is still open for comment and not directly impacted. Keep the pressure up! fight2win.standupforscience.net

Stand up for Science

Stand up for Science

fight2win.standupforscience.net

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · 3d ago

THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE POWER ACCOMPLISHES! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who wrote comments, contacted Congress, and yelled! This is OUR WIN! @standupforscience.net www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

stripping OMB of the ability to dole out grants is an enormous win, this nukes the SAVE act, it prohibits further ICE bailouts, adding a "no, really, trump can't break already on-the-books laws regarding elections the federal government doesn't run" clause would be both unnecessary and unproductive

Murshed Zaheed@murshedz.bsky.social · 3d ago

Patty Murray and Chuck Schumer decide to strike a “bipartisan” deal with … checks notes … Susan Collins to fund the Trump regime through December which appears to not to any include any safeguards against Trump’s meddling with midterm elections.

“If this was true, I would be in jail” is not a real profession of innocence; it is a brag about how strenuously the state protects the male right of private sphere violence against women and children.

Rebecca Solnit@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 3d ago

Those who believe things like this are working hard at not understanding the finite options available to someone whose abuser has not been prosecuted, found guilty, etc. by the law. And how rarely those things happen to abusers, esp. high-status white male abusers.

Those who believe things like this are working hard at not understanding the finite options available to someone whose abuser has not been prosecuted, found guilty, etc. by the law. And how rarely those things happen to abusers, esp. high-status white male abusers.

The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3d ago

Rep. Max Miller: "These are incredibly serious criminal accusations. If these accusations were true, I would be in jail — I would be. My former wife would not have been offering to cook me dinner and inviting me to playgrounds. Think about that."