B. Safarik
@bradsafarik.bsky.social
PhD, Associate Professor in Poli Sci, interested in political systems of the Global South, increasingly concerned about democratic backsliding in my own country. Polyglot. Eyes wide open. Reposts are sometimes endorsements
First, the Trump Administration tried to eliminate Head Start altogether. When that failed, they apparently decided to make it worse instead.
Trump Administration Plans to Upend Head Start by Deregulating It (Gift Article)
The White House tried but failed to block funding for preschool for poor children. Instead, it will seek to strip away standards on health, literacy — and brushing teeth.
nytimes.com
A sentence I would rather never hear, yet here we are: "Global Warming Has Accelerated Significantly". #ClimateChange 🧪 Link: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL118804
detailed, well-reported, this makes for astonishing reading cowardice + dishonesty + greed + hunger for power = poisonous cocktail www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/u...
How a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee
Paul Weiss was a progressive stalwart for decades and led the legal resistance against President Trump in his first term. Then it surrendered without a fight. This is the inside story of its transform...
nytimes.com
"This can only continue as long as their is enough ice. In just 24 years, Swiss glaciers have lost about 38% of their volume. And over the past 50 years about 1,200 smaller glaciers have disappeared completely." "If global warming continues, only small remnants of ice will remain by the year 2100"
Record-breaking snowmelt in the Swiss Alps
Extreme heat is taking a toll on the glaciers of the Swiss Alps. Experts warn that melting is starting earlier and becoming more severe, with far-reaching consequences for the environment and water su...
dw.com
The UN paid roughly $10 million last year to companies formerly linked to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, continuing business relationships after the regime's fall
Companies once tied to Assad kept winning UN contracts under Syria’s new rulers - ICIJ
An ICIJ analysis found that at least 11 firms received roughly $10 million in 2025 after opaque deals and seizures reshaped their ownership.
buff.ly
This is what book burning looks like in the AI age.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 6h agoWhy is Anthropic destroying books? | Kathryn James
Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending). Per-household cost now exceeds $600. iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
From today’s “Letters from an American” by @hcrichardson.bsky.social heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-4-2... Full carousel on Instagram. www.instagram.com/p/Dbp-BzpFoR... #lettersfromanamerican #heathercoxrichardson #protectdemocracy #factsmatter
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration has detained more than 50 spouses, parents of US troops in immigration crackdown, AP review finds.
This is the guy in charge of overhauling the Pentagon's security clearance program. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Oh look, another far-right extremist at the Pentagon
He oversees defense intelligence and security agencies and helps shape military operations.
motherjones.com
Does lying to Congress carry penalties, or is it just another casualty of our sunsetting? We'll wait for maybe 2 years to find out!
Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · 6h agoTrump energy chief lied to Congress about canceled clean energy funds, lawmakers allege
Kansas is the only red state where Democratic appointees are a majority on the state Supreme Court, and it will stay that way for years to come after voters rejected this GOP power grab in a landslide. Kansas voters have repeatedly rejected Republican attempts to ban abortion since the Dobbs ruling
Stephen Wolf@stephenwolf.bsky.social · 17h agoNEW: Voters have rejected Republicans' scheme to unseat the Kansas Supreme Court's Dem-appointed majority and overturn abortion rights. Amendment 1 would have let the GOP replace the system of a nominating commission, gubernatorial appointment, and retention elections with direct partisan elections
Great Substack about UPA, the animation studio that revolutionized cartoons in the 1950s. Founded by the leftist animators who were purged by Walt Disney during the infamous 1941 strike, it was UPA that dragged animation into midcentury mod. Mr. Magoo was their big hit.
Animation Obsessive@ani-obsessive.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe book Inside UPA is a visual tour of one of the greatest animation studios of all time. With its author's permission, we've shared the whole thing online for free. Our latest issue dives into the book and UPA's place in animation history: animationobsessive.substack.com/p/stepping-i...
It’s about abortion rights & also public school funding. KS Const entitles all kids to “free & appropriate” public ed. Based on that provision, our state supreme court has required adequate funding. The funding formula expires this year & there’s a big fight coming in the ‘27 ksleg.
Jay Willis@jaywillis.net · 2d agoWhat's acutally going on here is a cynical anti-abortion power grab by Republican lawmakers. In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court held that the state constitution protects abortion rights. In 2022, voters *overwhelmingly* rejected a GOP-backed ballot measure that would have overruled that decision.
Co-host of Charlie Kirk’s podcast whose book was blurbed by DJT, Jr and JD Vance. Don’t call them fascists though.
The State of Mississippi is denying 170 Mississippi foster students full-ride scholarships to colleges across the state, with many would-be freshmen finding out only weeks before their move-in date. Nick Judin reports:
‘Soul-Crushing’: 170 Foster Students Denied Scholarships at Last Minute Across Mississippi
The State of Mississippi is denying 170 Mississippi foster students full-ride scholarships weeks before classes begin due to lack of funding.
mississippifreepress.org
House GOP said Spanish territory 'belongs' to Morocco. Two weeks later, tens of thousands of Moroccan migrants stormed the border.
House GOP Backed Moroccan Claim to Spanish Territories Two Weeks Before Ceuta Migrant Crisis
Hypocrisy on full display as MAGA Republicans decried the "invasion" of Europe from Morocco only days after lending taxpayer support to the Moroccan claim to Ceuta
meidasnews.com
To be clear: Senate Republicans are caving on a deal that gives Donald Trump and his family immunity from tax audits potentially worth $100 million.
NBC News@nbcnews.com · 3d agoBREAKING: Todd Blanche reaches a deal with the GOP senators blocking his AG nomination, signing an order to end the “anti-weaponization” fund.
We've gotten to the sci-fi fascism future where government charges you with a major felony if you give them a code to your phone that auto-wipes the device's data. Privacy or bust? More like Big Brother or bust. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/u...
A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone’s Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge.
Federal prosecutors charged a man returning to the United States with obstruction because he gave them a passcode that erased his smartphone during a customs search.
nytimes.com
"The Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle the ICC could weaken any hopes of justice for the victims of mass atrocities in Darfur." Reasonable Republicans should revolt. The referral of Darfur to the #ICC in 2005 was their cause. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
U.S. campaign against international court threatens to jeopardize Darfur probe
ICC’s investigation will face new obstacles if Chad goes ahead with its planned withdrawal from the court
theglobeandmail.com
Who owns Belize's land? New records show Mennonite communities using collective trusts to buy large properties faster than competitors, while nearby residents survive on small plots. Learn more in this investigation by Maxwell Radwin for #Mongabay. 👇️ mongabay.cc/10eQ8x
Land records reveal how Mennonites are reshaping Belize’s forests
SPANISH LOOKOUT, Belize — When the Mennonite community here purchased a property four years ago in the middle of the Maya Forest Corridor, a government-recognized stretch of land designed to connect…
mongabay.cc
This is how the fossil fuel industry takes away places and activities you love. Who should pay for that?
Fishing closures are becoming routine in Colorado, throughout the West as record heat warms rivers
The restrictions aim to reduce stress on species including highly-prized trout
coloradosun.com
Trump Media’s idea was so plainly ridiculous — selling special access to his tweets to Wall Street for $100k per month — that it seemed hard to believe the plan would ever be implemented. And yet, as of now, it’s live. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Democrats eye investigations as Trump Media starts selling access to president’s posts
“Truth API is the exact definition of insider trading,” Chuck Schumer explained. “It’s textbook pay to play.”
ms.now
As Viktor Orbán’s government-backed Danube Institute is dismantled, its leaders are quietly moving its international network to the U.S. The new entity includes Heritage Foundation allies, MAGA figures, and associates of Elon Musk’s lawyer. GPAHE previously reported on the group's expanded board:
As Orbán-allied think tank is dismantled, leaders shop its network to MAGA – English
Danube Institute, a state-funded Orbán-era think-tank quietly set up a US entity to salvage their network, apparently represented by Elon Musk’s lawyer.
english.atlatszo.hu
"Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo, who we’re told had been in America for 20 years and came here as a child, died on Saturday, August 1. He had a 12-year-old daughter." Justice for Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo and his family.
Status Coup News@statuscoupnews.bsky.social · 2d agoBREAKING: Another ICE Prisoner Has Died at Delaney Hall in NJ via our @jordanchariton.bsky.social www.statuscoupsubstack.com/p/breaking-a...
Feathered phenom 🐦 Kagus suddenly splay their head crests and wings to make themselves look larger, scaring away predators and defending their territory. Known as the "Ghost of the Forest" for their pale plumage and eerie calls, these flightless birds are actually quite gentle and docile.
Spewing hate makes money. It doesn't make you loved or respected, and nor does it add to the sum of human happiness. But it can make you hard cash and you can pop the kids through private school and drive an expensive car and live in a nice house. And frankly fuck anyone who is so shallow.
Capital One quietly closed Trump's accounts over money laundering concerns — and kept it secret for five years. Now, Trump's lawsuit forced it into court, but acting AG Todd Blanche is trying to shield Trump from IRS audits.
Trump's lawsuit backfires as filing reveals accounts closed over money-laundering fears
Court documents revealing that President Donald Trump was de-banked after a money laundering probe have been linked to a reinvigorated effort to protect him from prosecution by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.Capital One's July 31 filing marked the first time a bank formally tied anti-money lau...
bit.ly
