On this day in 1944, the Gestapo found Anne Frank and her family in their Secret Annex. Her diary stands as a warning against hatred and persecution. Eighty years later, we should recognize the warning signs before it’s too late.🙂↕️
Heather Lynn Weaver
@heatherweaverdc.bsky.social
First Amendment attorney, poet (not necessarily in that order). @ACLU. Views expressed here are my own.
Early COVID mitigations showed us the power of collective action. The environment began to heal. People with disabilities were accommodated. An entire flu strain was eradicated. Folks reconnected with their local communities. We worked together & saved lives.
I had to have surgery when I was 7, and my dad bought me a children’s dictionary to read while I was in the hospital. It was the perfect gift for me!
Monica Iyer@monicavisalam.bsky.social · 6d ago(complimentary)
❗The ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief is hiring a paralegal. It's an extremely cool job, made ever cooler by the fact that you get to work with me!
Careers at ACLU
Join our team! We’re looking for committed, passionate people for open roles at the ACLU.
aclu.org
1. Two country music legends, Willie Nelson and Tanya Tucker, are speaking out about different pieces of the same enormous industrial buildout in Texas. Tanya Tucker is speaking out against the massive transmission lines crossing private land to accommodate the state’s surging electricity demand.
This is a well-produced segment. I encourage you to watch so you can hear the noise for yourself. The professor of environmental health science that they interviewed called it an “unprecedented new noise source.”
Neighbors say noise from Michigan data center is 24/7 and upending their lives
One Michigan community has been experiencing the reality of a data center next door for a couple of years now, and they say the sound has changed their lives.
wxyz.com
And I thought it was bad when I dozed off during the multiple choice part of the Cal Bar exam!
David Ziff@djsziff.bsky.social · last wk."Dear Applicant, With deep regret, I write to inform you that Washington’s July 2026 administration of the NextGen bar exam has been cancelled. We will not continue tomorrow. . . . We do not have sufficient confidence that the technology issues have been resolved . . . . We sincerely apologize."
🚨Cool job alert! The ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief is hiring a paralegal. Apply to come work with me. Love for the Oxford comma, em dash, and Times New Roman font required. (Just kidding … but not really.)
Careers at ACLU
Join our team! We’re looking for committed, passionate people for open roles at the ACLU.
aclu.org
My kid works at a library and found this note sticking out of a book. Dear Scarlett's parents, good job raising a rockstar. 😁
"The founders despised religious coercion. They despised official denominational preferences by the government," said @heatherweaverdc.bsky.social. "And posting the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom manages to do both of those things." www.courthousenews.com/founders-vie...
Founders’ views on church-state relations face new scrutiny as Ten Commandments case heads to SCOTUS
The Supreme Court’s originalist jurisprudence could put the justices in the middle of a debate over the founders’ views on religion in public life.
courthousenews.com
I recently spoke with @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social of Courthouse News about our litigation challenging Texas S.B. 10, which requires public schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
Founders’ views on church-state relations face new scrutiny as Ten Commandments case heads to SCOTUS
The Supreme Court’s originalist jurisprudence could put the justices in the middle of a debate over the founders’ views on religion in public life.
courthousenews.com
I’m going to go really old school and say, “Have you checked the card catalog?”
Mark Harris@markharris.bsky.social · 2w agoI'm actually fine with sounding old.
I just spent 3 hours talking to nearly 100 high school students about the separation of church and state in public schools as part of the @aclu.org Summer Advocacy Institutes. The students were so engaged and impressive. Gives me a lot of hope for our future!
"Four months into an appeal, Ms. McDonald, a cancer survivor who weighs 69 pounds, bustles to food banks, stretches ground turkey with oatmeal, and skips meals to feed three teenage boys." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/u...
Faced With Piles of New Paperwork, People Are Losing Food Stamps
Arizona’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rolls have plummeted, offering a possible preview of national trends as states try to avoid new federal penalties.
nytimes.com
And at Outback Steakhouse, you have to submit your fingerprints before you can order a Bloomin' Onion.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w agoScalise: "For God's sake -- you can't get pasta at Olive Garden without a picture ID! Why not be able to show a picture ID to vote?"
I apologize in advance, but this matter requires your immediate attention.
Erica 🐱 📚 🐶 🍞@ladytea.bsky.social · 3w agoHere is a kitten in pajamas
RFK Jr. made Cyclospora tracking optional, gutting a CDC program used to detect outbreaks. Now cyclosporiasis has hit 31 states. That's what happens when you dismantle the systems designed to keep us safe. www.npr.org/2026/07/12/n...
What to know about cyclosporiasis, the intestinal illness hitting the U.S.
A surge of cases of the intestinal illness that causes diarrhea and fatigue has been detected in 34 states. Here's how what to do if you suspect you have it and how to avoid infection.
npr.org
It has been criminally underreported but Kelsey Pfendler has just rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean from the US coast to Hawaii in record time. A 2,400-mile unsupported journey in 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes. Notably beating the Men’s record by 9 whole days.
Tetanus is returning. In the 1930s, Tetanus was widespread in the US. The development & deployment of vaccines reduced annual cases from ~ 600 in the 1940s to 17 in 2020. Mortality dropped 99%. There is no cure for tetanus. We have forgotten how life was before vaccines. 🧪 archive.today/c6QVx
Tetanus is making a comeback. There’s an easy way to fight back.
It's easy to dismiss, but more Americans died from tetanus last year than any year in nearly two decades.
nationalgeographic.com
This is a really moving and thoughtful interview
Man in viral D.C. Metro photo says he was ‘terrified’ as masked white nationalists surrounded him
Roswell Encina, a gay Filipino American civic leader, said the Fourth of July encounter with Patriot Front was frightening and impossible to separate from American history.
advocate.com
Gabe Ortíz@tusk81.bsky.social · last mo.“In his Instagram post, Encina thanked Gomez, the Getty photographer, whose presence on the train he said was ‘quietly reassuring.’ In the interview, he said seeing a photographer there gave him some comfort because someone was documenting what was happening.”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman flew a vintage jet fighter at the Fourth of July air show over Washington, D.C., despite objections by federal air-safety regulators. The FAA initially denied his request, calling the aircraft too dangerous for densely populated areas. on.wsj.com/4eM6fEr
Exclusive | NASA Leader Flew His Vintage Jet at DC Air Show Over FAA Objections
The regulator initially denied Jared Isaacman’s request to fly in the Freedom 250 celebration, calling the aircraft too dangerous for densely populated areas.
on.wsj.com
Happy Fourth. On this day, I like to revisit Frederick Douglass’ “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July,” and in particular, this video NPR produced a few years back of portions of the speech being read by Douglass’ descendants. youtu.be/NBe5qbnkqoM?...
‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass' Speech | NPR
YouTube video by NPR
youtu.be
Today is the 250th anniversary of Boston’s mass inoculation against smallpox on July 3, 1776. The city was effectively closed to commerce from July through September 1776. The mass immunization effort was cheered as evidence of true independence. Here's how I described it in my book:
Very thankful for this letter to Becky Pepper-Jackson (the 16 year-old trans girl SCOTUS ruled against yesterday) from James Dale, a gay man whose expulsion from the Boy Scouts was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2000.
To the Trans Girl Who Just Lost at the Supreme Court: So Did I 26 Years Ago
A letter to Becky Pepper Jackson about her trans sports case defeat at SCOTUS yesterday
medium.com
Danville had a tough 20th century of manufacturing loss. Dr. Miller has been practicing cardiology there since the 70s, and when I interviewed him a decade and change ago, his stance was that a heart-healthy city walks, and walking should be part of its recovery. Fantastic guy.
gamera obscura@ohrobin.bsky.social · last mo.This Danville, VA city council candidate made a very dramatic video about sidewalks and public safety, and I love it and him. Worrying about a possible milkshake duck situation, I looked at his FB page, but he seems ok. Juneteenth celebrations, community outreach, Methodists. A solid old gent.
Just hit # 11 and I still have a lot of work to get through. So. much for taking today off!
Heather Lynn Weaver@heatherweaverdc.bsky.social · 2mo agoHow many mini Diet Pepsis are too many for one day? (Asking for a friend.)
