How plants sense gravity! (They have gravity-detecting starch granules in their cells, and use hormones to coordinate gravity-appropriate shoot and root.)

This was a hoot to read. Thanks!

Alright, I’m home now so here’s the Norm update. Yesterday at 4pm, I got a text from a family I’ve been helping who had a loved one abducted a couple of days after Renée Good’s murder. This was the family that Norm Nation kept from being evicted (and you delivered). ICE had released their loved one.

I'm not joking when I say mRNA technology is more important than "AI" and it's a tragedy we're throwing billions into one while our government is aggressively defunding the other.

Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.

"Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial: Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later."

Okay, that was me in high school and now I lead a Scout troop (so many folk songs!) and go to sea chantey sings

For the record, this lasted FAR longer than “briefly” in parts of the US. In Seattle, school playgrounds were locked for a year and a half. Parks had parking lots closed for a year and a half to discourage people from visiting them. It was terrible and oppressive and absolutely fuckwitted.

the president of the united states is personally looting the treasury to the tune of literally billions of dollars and that he is not being immediately removed from office and tried for high crimes against this country is a devastating indictment of every part of our political system

If You’re Pregnant, Here’s What You Should Know About the Medical Procedures That Could Save Your Life Women experiencing pregnancy loss in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds themselv...

We created this guide for anyone who could experience a miscarriage in a state with abortion restrictions.

We wrote it in consultation with dozens of doctors, including those who regularly treat patients who are miscarrying 👇

It’s been overshadowed by Venezuela and especially Iran, but the deadly boat bombing campaign is still going, even though:
-There’s no war
-The US wasn’t attacked or under threat
-Drug traffickers aren’t terrorists
-These may not be traffickers
-It’s blatantly illegal
-With no clear strategy either

axios: seattle board rejects gas works tower changes after fatal fall

pioneer square obstructs new housing to preserve parking garage

historic wallingford attempts to block new housing

giant truck in pike place. photo by QAGGGY

In recent years, Seattle historic preservation groups have:
🪜 blocked removing ladders at Gasworks where 3 have died
🅿️ blocked housing to keep a historic parking garage in Pioneer Square
🏠 blocked housing in wealthy neighborhoods because of "historic" Craftsmans
🚙 tried to keep cars in Pike Place

Barrera said her husband said the smell of human feces in the toilet caused a fellow detainee to vomit and, in turn, created a chain of people vomiting. She said her husband is asthmatic and has not received medication to treat his condition. The lack of medicine and the stress of the overcrowded holding cell has left him short of breath and teetering on the edge of an asthma attack, Barrera said. ICE did not immediately respond to questions on April 10 about the conditions of the Mesa or Phoenix facilities. After the publication of this article, Barrera told The Arizona Republic her husband was transferred to the ICE facility at San Luis Regional Detention Center at about midnight. The San Luis Regional Detention Center is in Southwestern Arizona and has the capacity to hold 700 people.

This is horrific. A U.S. citizen describes the facility in Arizona that her husband was brought to while he waited to be put on a deportation flight. Dozens of people were crammed into tiny cells, there was a "chain of people vomiting" from filthy toilets, no medical care, and only one meal per day.

“The overcrowded conditions she described at the ICE facility in central Phoenix mirror the overcrowded conditions at a holding facility in Mesa, where three Democratic lawmakers said detainees awaiting deportation flights were treated worse than ‘animals’ after a surprise April 9 oversight visit.”

Popesplaining

Dang, good call!

Dilley is evil and must be closed. It's a goddamn concentration camp. A moral abomination. People are going to Hell over this.

The Return of Family Detention Under the Trump Administration, thousands of immigrant children have been detained, and many have suffered from medical neglect.

Haunting stories that raise the haunting question: “If these are the horrors we know about, what are the ones we still don’t know about?” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

How a Texas City Became the Far Right’s Next Example of the Great Replacement Theory FRISCO, TEXAS – Far-right activists are seizing on a new example of...

The next Springfield, Ohio: How the far-right has turned its sights on South Asians in this Texas city talkingpointsmemo.com/news/frisco-...

Canadian mother held by ICE with daughter, 7, speaks out on families ‘suffering greatly’ in detention Tania Warner and her daughter were detained in Texas facilities deemed ‘unsafe and degrading’

"She is from British Columbia but moved to Texas in 2021 when she married her American husband.

The family was driving home from a baby shower when they were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint. She and Ayla, who has autism, were fingerprinted and detained..."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Disappointed, though not surprised, I began to describe various life- saving components of USAID’s global health portfolio, highlighting how we prepare for and respond to emerging pandemic threats; support the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV; and immunize millions of children from the deadliest childhood diseases. I spoke for about five minutes, focusing primarily on our infectious diseases work and hoping to keep the attention of people who seemed to have no experience—or interest—in global health. When I finished, the room was silent, the political appointees looking at one another in what appeared to be disbelief. The silence was broken by Ken Jackson, who chuckled softly and shook his head. “Wow, there really is so much that USAID does that we never knew,” he said. “This is the story that needs to get out there.” Joel, also smiling, chimed in next, echoing Jackson’s amazement. “I had no idea you did all this,” he said. “As a Republican, when I think of what USAID does in global health, I assumed it was just, you know, abortions.”

This is NUTS

www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-usai...

Mayor Wilson Announces Summer Schedule for Bicycle Weekends on Lake Washington Boulevard  - Office of the Mayor SEATTLE, WA — Today, Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson announced that Lake Washington Boulevard will open for Bicycle Weekends every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  “Seattle summers are beau...

Grab your helmets, wheels, or running shoes and head to Lake Washington this summer!
Seattle Parks & Recreation (@seattleparksandrec.bsky.social) is bringing Bicycle Weekends to Lake Washington Boulevard every weekend this year from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
wilson.seattle.gov/2026/04/13/m...

This is so damn exciting.

Off to organize a LWB ride for my Scout troop!

One advocate “was aware of at least two families in the facility who’d been there for longer than a hundred days—more than five times the legal limit for holding a child in immigration detention, as indicated by a settlement called the Flores agreement.”

“Court filings of abuse against children have included refusals to provide clean water, rotten food contaminated w/worms, dangerous medical neglect, sleep deprivation, denial of legal counsel, the separation of children from their families, & retaliation against families protesting … conditions.”

I remain convinced that one of the most important things the next Democratic president can do to avoid falling victim to a Biden-style vibecession is to mercilessly, relentlessly crack down on crypto and organized gambling. Just go full scorched-earth.

<washington state has entered the chat>

The chilling role of ChatGPT in mass shootings and other violence Several attacks involving OpenAI’s chatbot—including Tumbler Ridge and FSU—raise urgent questions about the technology.

ChatGPT and other AI chatbots are helping troubled people plan mass shootings, our new investigation shows

An mRNA treatment for PANCREATIC CANCER was in trials, among many other uses. Choosing to end this research is choosing to sentence millions to an early, painful death

Nope.