"As of October 2026, 28 states and the District of Columbia required employers to grant employees time off to vote." The 28 states differ in if the required time off is paid or unpaid, AND some states require time off PRIOR to election day for early voting. Knowledge is power! VOTE!

Happy National Coming Out Day to those who have come out, those who will come out, and those who can’t (just yet). You are loved!

It sounds like a wild conspiracy theory, but here is a notable example of how fighting for democracy anywhere is fighting for democracy everywhere: Ukraine hits Russian data centers...and election related misinformation, Trump trolls, and bots drop off social media in the US.

Alina Pereverzieva 🇺🇦@perevaa.bsky.social · 8h ago

And now the best part: Bot traffic from the #Yandex network has plunged to near zero following the strike on its Vladimir data center. Bot traffic includes automated requests from search crawlers, scrapers and other online services. Twitter must be a ghost town by now.

And what does this have to do with scientists in the US? WE DEVELOPED MUCH OF THIS TECHNOLOGY AND RELEASED IT INTO THE WORLD WITHOUT GUARDRAILS. ✨science IS political✨

My quote of the day You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ Eleanor Roosevelt

Citizens of a nation as powerful as ours cannot escape our responsibility to vote with a conscience and a well informed plan. Voting is not just a right, it’s a responsibility.

Way past time for America to have a decent president... 'Time for Ukraine to get new president,' says Trump after Zelensky condemns diesel deal share.google/VyAHYJVUSbEj...

'Time for Ukraine to get new president,' says Trump after Zelensky condemns diesel deal

Ukraine's leader had said the deal with Russia to release diesel into the US would help Moscow fund the war.

share.google

The countless people who glossed over disinformation and normalized MAHA in any way should recognize this the result of their actions. We no longer have to wonder how the Tuskegee experiments were allowed to happen. We are seeing it for ourselves.

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 2d ago

This is a disaster. The ethics committee in Denmark that approved the Guinea-Bissau study which will withhold the birth dose of HepB vaccine “had never considered medical studies before but it changed the rules in order to vote on this one”. Four members of the committee have resigned in protest.

Ahem. impeachvought.com

Impeach Vought

We are current and former federal workers from across the government. We have witnessed first-hand the harm Russell Vought has inflicted on American communities. We are urging Congress to act now to p...

impeachvought.com

Paul Marvin@paulmarvin.bsky.social · 2d ago

Be of good cheer, everyone. If we continue to stand up for others and for humanity, we will win. We face real challenges, and it will not be easy, but the values of liberal democracy and equality an freedom are better for humanity and that is becoming more clear by the day.

All of the traitors who went along with this administration at every turn shall be held accountable. Donors. Senators. Congresspeople. Judges. Civilians. Everyone. No one must slip through the cracks. No one. That would mean total abject failure. Every. Single. Person. No forgiveness. None.

Who’s up for an #AskMeAnything? Still 17 followers shy, but tonight seems like a good night… #AltGov

Good writeup by @boghuma.bsky.social: bktitanji.substack.com/p/how-unethi...

How Unethical Research Seeds Medical Mistrust

The absence of equipoise can turn research into harm

bktitanji.substack.com

This is partially inaccurate; 18F partnered with Truss and Coforma as contractors to research, design and build Direct File.

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · yesterday

New open-access paper: Direct File showed that govt could build its own user-centered platform without relying on contractors. But the product was killed after a DOGE lead spoke with the private tax preparation industry lobbying against a private option. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I wish I had re-posted this sooner, but there are still voter registration deadlines approaching in multiple states. We must all vote. #IWillVote #AltCitizen #AllOfUs

Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 6d ago

TODAY is the last day to register to vote in several states. I urge you to double check your state's deadline, verify that you are registered, and make changes to your registration if needed. Then contact three friends or family members and have them do the same. https://whenweallvote.org/

Just a reminder

Xela Hart@xelahart.bsky.social · 4d ago

Hope this is on your radar, @drpanmd.bsky.social @maiforus.bsky.social

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · yesterday

One key point @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social makes here is that if Dems win the midterms (and win in 2028), deploying congressional power creatively to unwind Elon Musk's sway over the government (contracts, etc) will be essential to any reconstruction: www.ms.now/opinion/elon...

Just a reminder that whenever Trump says that inflation started with Biden, what he neglects to say was that it was a result of efforts to offset his incredibly botched handling of COVID and the economic consequences it triggered.

Exactly, though that should have been their fate years ago. The evidence was there already.

Protik Islam-Jakobsson@protik.bsky.social · yesterday

Everyone who planned or signed off on this must be made academic pariah and condemned by their peers

The Nobel Prize committee should have and maintain a list of people who are permanently disqualified from consideration. Could be called the Ignoble, may be cross indexed with the Darwin Award.

Correct. Vought and Bhattacharya want to do to NIH what they have gotten further with at NSF- turn it into a slush fund for their political preferences. But peer review is popular, and it is required by law. So they are slowly chipping away at peer review process in an effort to break it.

Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦@merz.bsky.social · 2d ago

Note that NIH peer review is statutorily REQUIRED by Congress. This rule change is an attempt to weaken and ultimately bypass that legal mandate.

Health officials are raising alarms about loneliness and isolation. Can researchers identify what helps? Learn more on #WorldMentalHealthDay: https://scim.ag/4dsaPXb

Why does the same blood thinner drug work for one patient and fail for another? Let's talk about one of the most widely sold medications in the world and how it's development changed the game forever. 🧪 🧵

This is a great reminder for people interested in NIH grant selection that there are elements that are codified in the law by Congressional action. ecfr.io/Title-42/Par...

Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦@merz.bsky.social · 2d ago

Note that NIH peer review is statutorily REQUIRED by Congress. This rule change is an attempt to weaken and ultimately bypass that legal mandate.

Neutrality in the face of human rights abuses isn’t neutrality. It is siding with the oppressor and if our jobs, salaries, organizations, or institutions pressure us to be quiet—that’s on them and it is our job to deconstruct systems that force us to “be neutral” in the face of human rights abuses.

If you are an NIH funded scientist and have not commented, you are agreeing that this change is a good idea. If, you, like me, think ditching peer review is a bad idea, take the 5 minutes and post a comment.

Coalition for Life Sciences@c4lifesciences.bsky.social · 2d ago

The deadline is approaching! NIH is proposing changes to how peer review is used in funding decisions and how outcomes are reported and they want to hear from you. Comments are due by October 13! Comment here: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

Today is World Mental Health Day! How are you taking care of YOUR mental health? Some approaches: therapy, medications, meditations, exercise, centering joy and gratitude, hanging out with friends/family/pets, artistic endeavors… Take care of yourself so you can help take care of those you love.

Important article here. Russell Vought is not done trying to destroy the NIH. jmwidder.substack.com/p/trumps-omb...

Trump’s OMB is Winning the Ground Game Against American Science

The NIH veto board got the headlines. The quieter plays are the ones moving the ball.

jmwidder.substack.com