“Freedom is not free. We have to work at it. Nurture it. Protect it. Even sacrifice for it.”

Watch this video if you want to cry over overwhelming decency rather than over rage about what some are trying to turn our country into.

Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."

Special Address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada | World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 YouTube video by World Economic Forum

To put it in words maybe even Trump could understand: the US is sabotaging itself and we shouldn’t go down with them

“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well be...

“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”

We didn't. Read the story that he wanted dropped:

If I were running the DNC, there would be Democratic Party sponsored food relief banks across the country right now that specifically welcomed anyone regardless of party affiliation.

Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net

4,000 gone: Inside NASA’s brain drain In exclusive interviews, ex-NASA scientists speak out on the impact of the agency's mass departures.

"The secret sauce has been poured down the drain," says David Draper, former Deputy Chief Scientist of NASA, over the recent firing or departure of 1000s of NASA employees, which will be catastrophic for the legacy of the US🇺🇸😖🚀

www.planetary.org/articles/400...

h/t @floragraham.bsky.social 🧪

Take note of all these people turning out for protests in small towns in red states.

Remember them the next time you’re inclined to write an area off because “they voted for this.”

NASA unit JPL to lay off about 550 workers, citing restructure The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a research and development lab funded by NASA — the federal space agency — and managed by the Caltech.

NASA unit JPL to lay off about 550 workers, citing restructure

Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy

Scientists Say New Government Climate Report Twists Their Work A new Department of Energy report “fundamentally misrepresents” climate research and leaves out key context, multiple scientists cited in the report tell WIRED.

NEW: i spoke to nine (!) scientists across several disciplines whose work was cited in the new Department of Energy report that downplays the severity of climate change. all of them say their work was misrepresented, cherry picked, and/or lacked context —

I'm just glad one of these men has the nuclear codes and the other has all our personal data.

Among many other things, we need to go tell everyone we know that Trump wants to cut the National Cancer Institute funding by 37%. Cancer has a tangible/ emotional connection with people as many have lost loved ones and friends to it

The reality is: Kids’ health is poor in the US because Republicans have systematically defunded hospitals and medical care for kids, and Republicans’ corporate allies have gutted parents’ pay, left many areas as food deserts, and concentrated wealth into a billionaire oligarchy.

👋 Hi, we’re Unbreaking, a volunteer-run collective working to document our current moment of institutional collapse and its human costs—as well as the pushback and resilience work already underway. We believe this is critical work for building and retaining political agency.

NEW: A federal judge raised alarm Friday that the Trump administration appeared to have deported a 2-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras with "no meaningful process" — even as her father was fighting to keep her in the country.

Details w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Let me say this again:

If a president can illegally deport someone, conspire with that country’s leader to abandon them to human rights abuses, and face no consequences, we are in a hellish authoritarian moment. What a fucking evil, illiberal government this is.

Alright, I think people knew of the tariff pause and traded it beforehand.

You can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls

RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those calls are up 2100% in one hour.

Listen to this audio, it's more powerful than print. Gawande and Remnick are not prone to hysteria, making this more potent.

Evolving a plant-beneficial bacterium in soil vs. nutrient-rich liquid culture has contrasting effects on in-soil fitness | Applied and Environmental Microbiology Innovative solutions are needed to address emerging challenges in agriculture while reducing its environmental footprint. Management of soil microbiomes could contribute to this effort, as plant growt...

Evolving a plant-beneficial bacterium in soil vs. nutrient-rich liquid culture has contrasting effects on in-soil fitness

i.e. Priestia megaterium [note: no plant experiment in paper]

#ApplEnvironMicrobiol by Laura Kaminsky et al from Terrence Bell

journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....

ATTN: Pennsylvania science folks! @laurenkreeger.bsky.social and I visited Senator McCormick (PA) yesterday and spoke to him about NIH cuts. He *did not know* there were active cuts to grants in part because he does not currently have a health care or science legislative aide to brief him. (1/2)

UNITED24 - The initiative of the President of Ukraine UNITED24 was launched by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. Funds will be transferred to the official accounts of...

You can donate to support Ukraine's defence, humanitarian demining, medical aid, the rebuilding of Ukraine or education & science here: u24.gov.ua

I just donated. Slava Ukraini!

I am told the cuts include new tenure track investigators (intramural equivalent of assistant professors at an R1 university)

people who were hired after an intensely competitive hiring process

labs were renovated, supplies equipment bought, staff hired

startups easily exceed $1M

all wasted now

What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF

A long post about what’s happening to the science funding agencies in the US and why. As mentioned, this one just kept getting longer even as I kept stripping curse words from it.

www.science.org/content/blog...

One More Time: Why Diversity Leads To Better Team Performance Discussions on diversity in the workplace can be heated and contentious. But the data still shows more diverse teams outperform their less diverse peers. Here's how.

www.forbes.com/sites/roncar...

This is a great resource!

They set up a snitch line for DEI in the federal government. If you feel like sending your best copies of the bee movie script or some queer smut, have at it.

DEIAtruth@opm.gov