Tina Bessias
@tbessias.bsky.social
Teacher, sustainability coordinator, beekeeper. Enthusiastic e-bike commuter ever anticipating the return of the wind-blown look.
If only there were a law that said: "Whoever makes or offers to make an expenditure to any person, either to vote or withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned" We could call it 18 U.S. Code § 597 - Expenditures to influence voting
When we know who has the power, we can organize and make our voices heard. #blacktiktok #fyp #votingmatters #fypシ
Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.
Plenty of evidence that this is a negative policy step. Doctors, scientists: don’t just roll your eyes - call it out. The attack on truth, on institutional trust, is cynical and calculated. We must respond. 🧪 #medsky #episky #academicsky www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump signs order attempting to override CDC vaccine schedule and break up MMR shots
Order also recommends all shots be given at separate medical visits though cost of doing them together is lower
theguardian.com
Congressional stock trading should be illegal. As your Senator, I’ll ban it.
This is morally monstrous behavior. These are ordinary, innocent people that Trump is condemning to suffering & death out of political vindictiveness. Every decent human being, regardless of political party, should condemn it. Where is the fucking *anger*? From the press? From civic leaders? Pols?
FEMA said yes to Democratic disaster requests. Trump killed them anyway.
President Donald Trump cast aside bipartisan precedent when he rejected eligible disaster requests from four blue states.
eenews.net
The power of a world power that has suddenly reduced its reliance on oil. Fascinating read.
Nearly 700 artists have signed our letter to @mayor.nyc.gov including the brilliant @mollycrabapple.bsky.social calling for a moratorium on AI. NYC kids deserve schools that foster their creativity and critical thinking. AI does the opposite. bit.ly/ArtistsSayNoAI4Schools
The U.S. can mobilize billions overnight for war. $37.5 billion spent. Another $67 billion requested. But when children are hungry, families are struggling, and communities need support, suddenly we’re told to debate what we can afford. We have to be honest about our priorities.
What if we mapped the U.S. without state boundaries? An article co-authored by #NASmember and archaeologist Torben Rick explores how nature’s maps—from ancient seas & migration routes to watersheds & biomes—reveal the connections shaping our landscapes. theconversation.com/where-nature...
Where nature draws the map – here are 5 ways to look at the US, without state boundaries
State lines are one way to picture the US, but natural history provides another – one that shows the ancient and living connections running across the landscape.
theconversation.com
Most governments find the loss of entire world regions to uninhabitable climate scenarios and the untold suffering of humans - and animals - easier to imagine, than the transition away from oil and gas. As Amitav Gosh said, the climate crisis is a crisis of our imagination.
For more than a decade, the all-white judges of a Louisiana appellate court ignored thousands of petitions filed by prisoners, most of them Black, who claimed they had been wrongly convicted. Efforts to expose the injustice went unheard. (Published Nov. 2023)
They Tried to Expose Louisiana Judges Who Had Systematically Ignored Prisoners’ Petitions. No One Listened.
The all-white judges of Louisiana’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeal systematically ignored thousands of claims from prisoners, most of them Black, who said they had been wrongly convicted. Efforts to expo...
propublica.org
From 1925: a prediction that, as more people choose to drive to the countryside, cars will end up destroying the very beauty that people go to see.
Does it ever hit home that the ascendancy of AI is taken to be assured, but the shifting of human society to fit into earth system limits is seen as everything from a head-scratcher to a longshot to an impossibility?
Talarico: Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life. They don't sell their soul to the highest bidder. Real men serve others, weak men serve themselves. So I welcome this debate. I don't think Paxton or Cruz are in a position to tell anyone what a real man is.
Once again, the Times blames Democrats for Trump's choices. California is not damaging faith in government. Trump's lies about California are damaging faith in government. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/o...
Opinion | California’s Excuses Are Damaging Faith in Government
nytimes.com
I’m so sorry to hear this, @splitrailfence.bsky.social. Trees are my friends, too. Life will grow out of all this death, but it will be slow and subtle and different from what was there before. I hope you will come to love it when the grief recedes.
Ora Tor@splitrailfence.bsky.social · 3mo agoI live in Maine. We're losing our Ash & other trees. The drought & infestations grow stronger. I've never seen so many trees remain naked like this spring. Just dead. Drained sometimes, I cry and be sure to wear sunglasses when I walk the dog around town. The trees are my friends, & they're dying.
Read this whole piece.
Austin Kocher, PhD@austinkocher.com · 3mo agoICE Reports 19th Death of 2026: Georgian National Mamuka Artmeladze dies at Winn. Mamuka was not a public safety threat, may not have broken a single law, couldn't be deported, and shouldn't have been arrested. austinkocher.substack.com/p/ice-report...
Devastating analysis of SCOTUS decision on Alabama congressional districts by the great Sherrilyn Ifill: We are now facing the most consequential loss of Black political power since the end of Reconstruction.” substack.com/home/post/p-...
After Emily Waldorf was denied care for a life-threatening miscarriage, her mother and stepfather were outraged: “If I took my dog to a vet and it had this problem, that dog would get better treatment.”
She Faced a Life-Threatening Miscarriage. Under Arkansas’ Abortion Ban, Even Calls to the Governor’s Office Didn’t Help.
Her case shows how abortion bans have left hospital lawyers, not doctors, deciding who gets care — and how lawmakers and regulators have failed to change that.
propublica.org
I’m a climate scientist. Let me fix this headline. “Nearly a century ago, scientists showed that burning fossil fuels warms the planet. Today, we know human emissions account for over 100% of the warming. Yet dark money and disinformation still work to keep Americans addicted to fossil fuels.”
Forbes@forbes.com · 4mo agoScientists have reached a consensus that human behavior is a big driver of climate change—but Americans aren't buying it.
Today would be Coretta Scott King’s 99th birthday. CSK was a lifelong freedom fighter & more of an activist than MLK when they met. As a student she’d supported the Progressive Party’s 3rd party challenge for president opposing US militarism, racism & economic inequality. We need to know her.
🔥 @repcohen.bsky.social : “Don’t tell me, John Roberts, The Supreme Court is not political. It is an arm of the White House. 🇺🇸 is being destroyed from within 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” #Memphis #JimCrow #RacistRedistricting
Mitch McConnell is one of the main players who is responsible for degrading American democracy in current version of competitive authoritarianism by turning the SCOTUS is a John Roberts led MAGA Super Senate without any accountability. He owns this mess.
McConnell's legacy: Conservative courts for a generation
McConnell called blocking Merrick Garland one of his proudest moments.
axios.com
