Deborah Blum
@deborahb.bsky.social
Book author, toxicology journalist, fascinated by poison and murder (current book project), and, oh yeah, I'm the former director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT.
Bluesky is a "liberal bubble" because fascist chuds can't get traction without algorithmic assistance and because people here trained themselves to block "debate me" trybois the instant they roll up
The Verge@theverge.com · 2d agoBluesky's new CEO Toni Schneider on the platform's reputation for being a liberal bubble: "Yes, we definitely want that to change. It is already changing. It certainly wasn’t designed to attract one specific group of people."
On July 1, 2025, RFK Jr's Dept of Health announced that the CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), would stop surveilling illnesses caused by Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia as part of an effort to reduce federal funding. 13 months later:
Deborah Blum@deborahb.bsky.social · 2d ago
CARTOON OF THE DAY (if you know who made this let us know)
#OldTrailsFire in Spokane now appears to be most destructive wildfire in WA State history by wide margin (650+ structures lost), w/additional TBD losses nearby. Other PacNW fires actively burning, though less destructive, are far larger & could burn for weeks amid severe drought.
The diarrhea lettuce company, Taylor Farms, uses slave labor contracted from the Arizona Dept. of Corrections. The backbreaking labor is often performed by imprisoned Mexican nationals who would be otherwise ineligble to work in the US. They are paid $1.50 an hour.
The Diarrhea Lettuce Company Has Been Linked to Forced Labor
The lettuce-producing Taylor Farms was linked to the widespread use of prison labor before its involvement in a cyclospora outbreak.
futurism.com
England received only 7% of the long-term average rainfall for July. Southern England, just 1%. Factoid: There has been a weather station in Kew Gardens for 155 years. This July was the first month ever to record 0mm of rain. Tomorrow, London will again hit 30C+ www.theguardian.com/environment/...
July set to be driest on record for England and Wales after relentless heatwaves
Climate scientist urges better planning as southern England had just 1% of long-term average rainfall last month
theguardian.com
They lied about the whole thing and now admit the contractor screwed up the Reflecting Pool installation. And because they were in a rush to indict to please Trump, they presented false evidence to a grand jury. meidasnews.com/news/doj-see...
DOJ Seeks to Dismiss Charges Against Olympian It Indicted for "Vandalizing" the Lincoln Memorial.
meidasnews.com
In one California town, Flock misread license plates in 71% of the time. Out of a sample of 1,427 alerts that Flock sent to police in the town of Roseville, alerts that flagged vehicles as stolen or used in a felony after they passed one of the city's Flock cameras, 71% were inaccurate.
Flock misread license plates in 71% of the alerts it sent to police in one California town
Flock sent 1,427 alerts to Roseville police over two years, flagging cars as stolen or used in a felony. In 71% of them, Flock read the plates wrong.
businessinsider.com
It takes years to build an institution, a very short time to break it, and years more to rebuild it.
Natalie Korach@nataliekorach.bsky.social · 5d agoNew: Washington Post Opinion editor Adam O’Neal is leaving, he announced in an internal memo Friday
"The President has spoken once. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked him when it would be safe to eat lettuce again. He said he did not know, that he had “not thought about it, that it was the first time anyone had asked him” — and he asked Doocy whether he had been eating lettuce lately.
Publisher's Platform: The Fifty-State Cyclospora Count Is 20,927 This Morning. The President Has Said One Thing About It. The Secretary Says It Is Under Control. Here Is What They Should Have Said Ins...
Ohio released new numbers today — 4,013 cases in 80 counties, up from 2,576 a week ago. Add the states up, one by one, all fifty of them, and the floor under this outbreak this morning is 20,927 peopl...
foodsafetynews.com
Ebola may have been spreading for months in the DRC before anyone recognized it. A new reconstruction suggests the outbreak was already widespread in the gold-mining town of Mongbwalu by January. It wasn’t officially declared until 15 May. Why did no-one raise the alarm? My story for @science.org 🧪
EXCLUSIVE: Congo’s Ebola epidemic started at least 4 months before it was detected
A remote mining town gripped by fear saw hundreds of suspected cases before the government declared an outbreak, report says
science.org
Danube's record low levels force shutdown of Hungary's only nuclear plant. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Danube's record low levels force shutdown of Hungary's only nuclear plant
Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are also grappling with the effects of a series of prolonged heatwaves and low rainfall.
bbc.co.uk
I've been seeing a lot of people responding to this with "there ought to be a law," but importantly, we haven't needed a law for this sort of thing because no prior president wanted to be known as a leader who would literally kill people in their hour of need for not voting for him
Seth Masket@smotus.bsky.social · 6d agoThis is honestly one of the most shocking images coming out of this administration and that’s saying something
"Whoever created and approved this slide did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work"
Eric Geller@ericjgeller.com · 6d ago"A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online."
If you find food safety baffling at the moment, so do our underfunded federal agencies. In the FDA investigations list below, you'll see that there are 9 outbreaks (5 cyclospora, 2 salmonella, 1 listeria, 1 E.coli) with no source yet identified.
Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
The following is a list of outbreak and adverse event investigations primarily being managed by FDA’s CORE Response Teams.
fda.gov
“I am running out of ways to explain to my constituents why the service they trusted with their community continues to treat them this way.”
Bipartisan Anger Grows at Pentagon’s Delayed ‘Forever Chemicals’ Cleanups (Gift Article)
Hundreds of bases are contaminated with PFAS, which are linked to low birth weight and other risks. Politicians from both parties are demanding explanations.
nytimes.com
“One of the things I’m personally concerned about, we’re starting to have more and more of these outbreaks here in the United States,” said the senior director of food safety and quality at Fresh Express.“I am concerned that we may not have really hit the peak of the outbreaks.”
As Cyclospora Cases Climb, FDA Official Says Food Supply Is Safe (Gift Article)
The acting deputy commissioner for food said the agency was taking action even though finding the root cause of the outbreaks is difficult.
nytimes.com
@sulliview.bsky.social with a brutal critique of the WHCA dinner debacle & the failing coverage of Trump. "Because he's president" is no excuse for any of it. I'd add that 'rethinking' the dinner isn't the answer, rethinking the DC press corps is. A must read: open.substack.com/pub/margaret...
The predictable disgrace of the White House Correspondents Dinner
And why I reject every specious argument that encourages the media to keep normalizing Trump
open.substack.com
Happy Shark Week! Want to help these threatened and ecologically important animals? The number one threat to sharks is unsustainable overfishing, which means the best thing that people can do to help is not to support unsustainable fishing practices.
Why Sustainable Seafood Matters
Making Environmentally Conscious Choices
press.jhu.edu
Great take from @sulliview.bsky.social about the cowardly Washington press corps sucking up to Trump. When Trump subpoenaed Times reporters to coerce revealing sources, the dinner should have been canceled in protest. open.substack.com/pub/margaret...
The predictable disgrace of the White House Correspondents Dinner
And why I reject every specious argument that encourages the media to keep normalizing Trump
open.substack.com
This is such a smart assessment of the public health failures regarding food safety today. (And I am honored to make a small appearance in it!)
@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze)@newsjennifer.bsky.social · 2w agoThe Trump admin's handling of the explosive diarrhea outbreak has been appalling. RFK Jr is too busy talking about orange juice while Americans try to figure out what's safe to eat. Thankfully the local & natl news coverage is providing some answers. My latest: open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...
A couple paid more than $800,000 for a gene-editing therapy for their daughter. She died, and it wasn’t made public. An exclusive from us and @science.org.
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals
science.org
