Ben Plume
@pittbaster.bsky.social
I like nature, sci-fi, books, and being Dad. Live in the Maryland DC suburbs with a pretty cool spouse. Admittedly tired.
A day later and it hasn't gotten any better, these readings are insane
Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · yesterdayThe entire continental US is covered by smoke plumes and there are spots in the northwest that are absurdly toxic, do NOT go outside there. For reference, "hazardous" starts at an AQI of 300. fire.airnow.gov
The govt has fired *all* the immigration attorneys representing detained children and given a $150 million contract to a 26-employee law firm in Texas with ONE immigration attorney. @theyoungcenter.bsky.social's Child Advocates are now the last line of defense for kids in deportation hearings.
Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins@ajcousins.bsky.social · 7h agoWanna help? Become a Waymaker! We're running, walking, cycling 20,000 miles in September to raise money to get immigrant kids out of detention and back with family. Someone who kayaks to work is dedicating his miles to Waymakers! A salsa dance class is counting steps! It all counts! #BeAWaymaker
Beaver Close, Bonar Road and Spankers Hill Wood: Do you live in one of London’s rudest places? www.cityam.com/beaver-close...
Beaver Close, Bonar Road and Spankers Hill Wood: Do you live in one of London's rudest places?
Britain is a funny old country, with lots of places whose names sound distinctly rude. If you're the sort of person who giggles at Cockfosters on the Tube map, then you will love this new contender fo...
cityam.com
There is no way that betting on wildfires should be legal. www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/20...
As Oregon burns and gamblers bet, lawmakers push back against wildfire betting markets drawing millions
Wyden and Merkley are urging federal regulators to crack down on prediction markets that allow users to wager on how long wildfires will burn and how much damage they will cause
oregonlive.com
BOMBSHELL story by Olivia Carville @bloomberg.com Internal Report Shows TikTok Kept Safety Feature From Millions A confidential document says an algorithm adjustment was kept from many users “by design,” as part of an experiment to measure engagement NO PAYWALL www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
TikTok Withheld a Safety Feature From Millions. One Died by Suicide
A confidential document says an algorithm adjustment was kept from many users “by design,” as part of an experiment to measure engagement.
bloomberg.com
Your regular reminder that normal pro-democracy political parties do not make restricting suffrage the central pillar of their policy platform, & the fact that we tolerate this authoritarian behavior as a permanent feature of 🇺🇸 politics is a sign of just how deeply broken our democracy is.
Brandon Friedman@brandonfriedman.bsky.social · yesterdayTexas Republicans know this is the year they lose unless they take active measures to suppress the vote. So that's what they're doing.
I don’t get the standard. The op-ed page is the place to lie? The Ellisons’ political donations are public knowledge. As is their pitch to Warner that their White House connections can get them around regulations. Turning CBS into something more like state media has happened in front of everyone.
Weird for NY Times to give David Ellison space to lie about Paramount-Warner. News "requires independence" and must "answer to the facts...not any party or cause"? He's done the literal opposite with CBS. Nonpartisan with a mix of views? Larry Ellison spent over $45M helping elect Trump in 2024.
Once again for those at the back: ‘Don’t speak ill of the dead’ is about your great aunt Elsie, who liked a long gin with a short tonic at elevenses, and blew your inheritance money betting on the horses. Speaking ill of absolute monsters is a moral obligation, actually.
Mitch McConnell’s communications director’s silence and smirk speak volumes. If he were fine, or even improving, she’d just say so. There’s no way this man is coming back.
Too bad we don't have a press corps that can simply find out and report the truth of the matter instead of just telling us what both sides are saying
An initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play
RFK Jr said these words today on national television "There were ICUs that were empty all over the country including in New York at the height (of the pandemic)" hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha You are a fucking idiot hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha <sobs silently>
My doctor said that non-emergency surgeries in our region (South Bay LA) were suspended because there were no ICU beds for surgical recovery. LA County Dept Public Health published daily lists of ICU occupancy in every hospital in the county. Doctors were chasing scarce ICU openings
Gabriel Bosslet@gbosslet.bsky.social · 3d agoRFK Jr said these words today on national television "There were ICUs that were empty all over the country including in New York at the height (of the pandemic)" hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha You are a fucking idiot hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha <sobs silently>
Their own words: "We show no evidence of positive effects on the labor market outcomes of US-born workers." Not modest gains. Not mixed results. None. Worse, actually. "ICE activity lowers the employment rate of US-born male workers." The raids didn't open doors. They shut them.
Trump Doesn't Want You To See This Jobs Study Trump swore deporting immigrants would open jobs for everybody else. A new study proved him wrong. Nobody wins. Not the immigrant. "ICE activity lowers the employment rate of US-born male workers." Thread. 🧵 www.commondreams.org/news/is-ice-...
Study Shows How Trump's ICE Raids Cost Americans Jobs | Common Dreams
Trump's aggressive immigration raids are not only tearing families apart, but they're also destroying jobs for both immigrants and US-born citizens. How can we stand by as our communities suffer from ...
commondreams.org
"The results hold promise for farmers, as insects found grazing on wildflowers near solar panels were also seen alighting on soybean flowers on adjoining farmland... growing native plants at solar installations could help not only insects, but the crops they pollinate" e360.yale.edu/digest/solar...
At Solar Farms Planted with Native Vegetation, Insects Flourish
e360.yale.edu
But sure, let’s keep catering to people who want to maintain the status quo or worse, weaken regulations even more instead of working aggressively to save ourselves. Then again, sometimes I think we as a species don’t deserve to be saved.
RogueNOAA@roguenoaa.altgov.info · 4d ago“A strengthening El Nino has already broken records for intensity at its early stages, and it likely will spark even more wild weather worldwide as it grows, “adding fuel to a planet already on fire,” United Nations officials warned Friday.” apnews.com/article/el-n...
Every human soul has been through some kind of pain, or grief. And so we can recognize it in each other. When we do, in general, we don't first ask "which party do you belong to?". We simply offer an ear, a shoulder, support. It's what MAKES us human. Don't let yourself be stripped of compassion!
It is so cool that this exists. Hope folks have a blast!
DC Public Library@dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social · 5d agoSpend the afternoon playing Wingspan with the Feminist Bird Club DMV at MLK Library. Whether you're a seasoned player or trying it for the first time, everyone is welcome. 📅 Saturday, August 15 | 1–4 PM 🔗Register to play: https://bit.ly/4wgia3F
I am pretty skeptical of LLM-based technology; I think a lot of it is very bad for a whole lot of reasons. But this Hank Green thing… this shouldn’t be a pile-on. This is an influential and seemingly decent and thoughtful person who used the tech a little bit and came to realize some of its 1/2
To be making the argument in 2026 that immigration is a Republican leaning issue so Democrats shouldn’t campaign on it, and especially Trump’s overreach on deportations, is to be completely ignorant of the data and events of the last 18 months
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 5d agoThis is the problem with the idea that Dems can't go on offense on immigration. It's not okay for Collins to have a clear field on TV to sell herself as a moderate on ICE. CNN has Trump 22 points underwater on this. Two other polls have Ds *tied with the GOP* on it! newrepublic.com/article/2138...
Reminder that we don’t need to let this fucker be a contender for the Democratic nomination for President. We. Simply. Do. Not.
Karl Bode@karlbode.com · 5d agodipshit nice sneak peak of the sort of media policies you can expect under his presidency
Family portrait. These two were the cutest little coyote puppies. I was so lucky to be able to watch them from my kayak. #mammals🌿
First, thank you to all the front line workers, especially the nurses , doctors, respiratory therapists, etc. Lex was verbally beaten down, carries trauma most can’t (blessedly won’t) and is still standing. The US wasn’t given time to process the pandemic. We went from pandemic hell to Jan 6th.
You know how you can tell that the Stevens campaign knows this is a racist strategy? Because they’re posting like this on X/Twitter (where racism is applauded) and not here (where she knows it would go viral while being called racism). It’s a strategic choice.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌@chanda.blacksky.app · 5d agoCame over here to make sure everyone saw Haley Stevens use Jews as a weapon to be an anti-Arab piece of shit bsky.app/profile/thej...
