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 · yesterday

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

In the last several weeks, @courtwatch.bsky.social has been behind two HUGE scoops on surveillance and security. First, they discovered Trump had resuscitated an old never-used terrorist deportation court. And today, a judge ruled cell dumps unlawful--which we know bc of CW's push last year.

1. The Los Alamos Bear Incident. A juvenile black bear wandered in through an inadequately secured loading dock door and stole several lunches. Left without further incident. Security forces had fun with that safety briefing.

Tom Nichols on Hegseth: “We’re losing a war, morale is bad, our men and women out there are suffering, and he is putting out TikToks of himself doing sloppy chin ups.” @radiofreetom.bsky.social

PANTONE 448 C FTW

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 6h ago

This is low key one of the most important popular studies that supports the societal importance of art history. So much so that I am doing everyone here a solid by not allowing the article preview to show, the images of which will haunt you for life. english.elpais.com/health/2026-...

Invisible Rulers is ab how influencers, algorithms, & crowds shape public opinion. The Twitter Files was profoundly impactful BS. Media never reckoned with what it really was: a very effective propaganda campaign led by election deniers to dismantle state capacity. Read more: invisiblerulers.com

Beginning to feel like I need to budget a week on the blog for a military primer on 'how the US Navy is the load-bearing pillar of your ability to eat bananas and of folks in developing countries to eat at all.' Not saying that is an optimal situation, merely that it is the situation.

Today, The Steady State published an article titled, "The 51 Were Warning. Trump Calls It a Lie." Here, Executive Director of The Steady State, Steven Cash talks about why this article is so important. Read the full essay below: zurl.co/wZmiz

Do you have questions about Ebola symptoms, lab testing, waste disposal, or others? CDC has developed comprehensive webpages for clinicians and public health practitioners 👇 www.cdc.gov/viral-hemorr... www.cdc.gov/viral-hemorr...

There may well be active duty troops in the Middle East right now who have family members locked in ICE jails. Congress authorized Military Parole-in-Place specifically to avoid this situation. But the Trump admin has shown little care to families caught in this situation.

AILA@aila.org · 15h ago

"President Donald Trump’s administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops as it rolls back immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda." https://bit.ly/4br4M4m

NEW: People with Long COVID have started a petition to pause a clinical trial at Canada's McMaster University that aims to test a controversial, branded behavioral intervention, that has been accused of exploitation. www.change.org/p/long-covid...

Sign the Petition

Long COVID Patients Deserve Better: Pause McMaster’s FALCON Lightning Process Trial

change.org

Today the New Mexico Truth Commission issued their first interim public report on their investigation into the Epstein case in New Mexico and Zorro Ranch. There is a long way to go & we will continue to stand with survivors. You can read the report here: static1.squarespace.com/static/6a075...

Exclusive: Senate inquiry suggests Trump administration softened kratom and tobacco policies in quid pro quo. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at the center of a new investigation launched by Sen. Ron Wyden. www.statnews.com/2026/08/05/s...

Senate inquiry suggests Trump administration softened kratom and tobacco policies in quid pro quo

The Senate investigation includes RFK Jr. as well as the heads of Reynolds American and kratom company Botanic Tonics, asking for written responses and documentation by Aug. 31.

statnews.com

Anti-vaccine wins cost lives, harms, and money. "Among 100 confirmed measles cases and 2,946 identified contacts, the total societal cost of the outbreak was estimated at $5.4 million, equivalent to approximately $53,500 per case and $1,800 per contact. ." www.2minutemedicine.com/new-mexico-m...

hoooooo buddy

I don’t trust Bluesky (see, e.g., my recent ban). I don’t trust Meta. I don’t trust X. That’s why we’ve been improving ShouldntNeedToBeALawyer.com (aka patreon.com/mattbc) — it is the best place to find my work. If you sub (there’s a free tier) you can opt to get posts sent directly to your inbox.

NEW: DHS wants to pay private contractors bounties to hunt down people who already left the country, photograph their homes, and demand money. It told them leaving the US would wipe out fines. It was the pitch for self-deporting. Experts tell WIRED this is a pointless escalation of tactics.

DHS Is Hiring Bounty Hunters to Find and Photograph Deported People’s Homes Abroad

Homeland Security told immigrants that leaving the US would wipe out fines it claims they owe. Now it wants private investigators to find them in their home countries and collect.

wired.com

@davidsanderssci.bsky.social

Jim Waterson@jim.londoncentric.media · 9h ago

Scoop from Black Current News, Jason Arday has resigned from the University of Cambridge. www.blackcurrentnews.co.uk/p/jason-arda...

Scoop from Black Current News, Jason Arday has resigned from the University of Cambridge. www.blackcurrentnews.co.uk/p/jason-arda...

Exclusive | Professor Jason Arday resigns from Cambridge University, citing toll of ‘public scrutiny and personal attack’

The academic, who became the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s history when appointed, said he had reached “the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure"

blackcurrentnews.co.uk

WASHINGTON (AP) - Trump administration has detained more than 50 spouses, parents of US troops in immigration crackdown, AP review finds. @apnews.com apnews.com/article/mili...

AP Exclusive: Trump's immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents

An Associated Press investigation reveals that President Donald Trump’s administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops.

apnews.com

I'm calling it: "Start smoking" is going to be mainstream MAHA / Republican health advice by 2028. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The continued inability of US senior leaders to understand that constantly overextending military units for wars & ops of choice is destroying readiness for future contingencies (of potential necessity) remains baffling to me This is the exact opposite of deterrence 😑 www.ms.now/news/conditi...

Moldy showers and no soap: Military families are outraged by conditions on USS Lincoln

The aircraft carrier's long deployment in the Iran war is raising concerns that the sailors and Marines on board are facing poor conditions, low supplies and fatigue.

ms.now

This is an astounding loss for the US if it comes to fruition. One of the biggest strategic losses the US has ever endured—perhaps biggest?—and all from a war the US chose to start for no reason, illegally.

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 12h ago

Iran and Oman have reportedly agreed that all ships transiting Hormuz have to go through an Iran-controlled corridor, and are finalizing tolls of 3, 5, or 7%. This would close off the path outside Iranian waters the US encouraged ships to use during the MOU, then started bombing again to keep open.

His ignorance is staggering.

Infectious Diseases Expert Bluntly Factchecks RFK Jr. After He Claims Lyme Disease Was Developed In A Lab

comicsands.com

No, this is not WW3. It's a "conflict in Ukraine".

Savchenko Volodymyr@savchenkoua.bsky.social · 19h ago

🇰🇵🚀🇺🇦 Update: North Korea is transferring a missile unit of about 90 people to Russia for strikes on Ukraine, - Reuters DPRK military can be armed with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers. Pyongyang has already delivered a new batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles.

New Yorker cartoon feels about right

There was a CG memo in 2003 requesting a review related to this... as far as I know, nothing happened with it at that time. The CG could have and should have done something sooner. It's disgraceful that it took this long to figure it out. Link to PDF with more info. www.facebook.com/groups/55933...

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · 2d ago

You should read this article, today. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...

With a 50-50 Senate Schumer passed more progressive legislation than anyone since FDR, but you hated him anyway. American Rescue Act Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Inflation Reduction Act CHIPS & Science Act PACT Act Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act USPS Reform Act Safer Communities Act 235 Judges

Better late than never, sorry about that! Yesterday was the 236th birthday of the USCG. Hope all the other Coasties out there had great unit celebrations! Happy CG Day!

Barry Butler Photography@barrybutler9.bsky.social · 2d ago

Today is National Coast Guard Day

I feel like there's a sociological analysis begging to be done about the prevalence of gambling in a society & when it stretches into damn near everything like in the US.

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 24h ago

These betting markets sites are so socially corrosive. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...