Elon Musk first, right? And Melania too?

Former NASA astronauts launch new group to promote U.S. constitutional values More than 100 NASA astronauts have signed on to a nonpartisan effort to promote “the principles that have propelled our nation for 250 years”

"the rule of law, checks and balances and the peaceful transition of power..."

www.scientificamerican.com/article/ex-n...

Your Guide to NASA's Budget How big is NASA's budget right now? What was it like in the past? How does it compare to the rest of government spending? These answers, as well as…

While we're talking percentages, let's talk about the proposed cuts to NASA's science budget.

NASA is currently 0.36% of US federal spending. www.planetary.org/space-policy...

The proposed budget cuts NASA science by 47%.

NASA science is already on a shoestring, and that string is about to break

Nature Prevails! Wild violets growing from a tree. Heart-shaped green leaves and five purple flowers with white throats. These are called Common Blue Violets but the flowers look purple to me. #ShowHeart

#WeekPforPurple
#AlphabetChallenge

Happy Earth Day! 💜🌎

Elon Musk and Peter Thiel routinely kick their critics off the X platform. Which is an excellent reason not to use it. Ever.

This is what a completely rotted grifter looks like. As if Nazis aren't bad enough, Nazi-ing for the highest bidder is a heck of a choice.

Wind farms and solar looking at the world right now and saying “we told you so”.

large orange cat in good health is sleeping soundly with an angelic smile on his cat face

“Jorts is an 18 lb neutered male domestic short hair. Evaluated for extensive evening screaming. In good health; behavioral. Very affectionate. Vet enjoys visiting for fun”

A diagram showing the VDA framework and the Arc of Democracy. At the top, three icons label the essential elements of democracy: Verification (tick), Deliberation (speech bubble), and Accountability (magnifying glass). Arrows descend from each through three horizontal bands representing the arc: Substantial (truth tested, voices included, power constrained), Performative (forms remain but substance is weak, rituals without consequence), and Simulated (appearance maintained but functions inverted: propaganda as verification, polarisation as deliberation, scapegoating as accountability). A vertical arrow on the left marks the arc's direction: improvements, decline, collapse. A column on the right maps counterpublics onto the same three states: functional counterpublics act in a substantial way, hollow counterpublics in a performative way, disordered counterpublics in a simulated way. The bands shift from grey through pink to red as democracy moves toward simulation.

I've set out the framework I'm using here in an earlier thread, on VDA, the Arc of Democracy, and the moral-epistemic stacks idea, what follows applies that framework to the Palantir document directly. skywriter.blue/@eliothiggin...

Woke 2 is coming.

(That’s a threat)

The Little Probe That Could: Why Voyager 1 Matters, and Why NASA Just Switched Part of It Off This week, NASA announced it had shut down one of that spacecraft's remaining science instruments — not because the mission has failed, but to keep it alive a little longer.

The Little Probe That Could: Why Voyager 1 Matters, and Why NASA Just Switched Part of It Off www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-np...
#NowReading #Science #Space #Tech #Voyager #NASA

Extremely normal and fine for a company to put this in a public statement

Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80% A study confirms the vaccine gives excellent protection for babies against life-threatening chest infections.

Vaccines are humanity’s greatest scientific achievement.

Only US Votes Against Women’s Rights Document At UN Commission - Health Policy Watch President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock told the opening of CSW that the backlash against women's rights "feels as though we are forced to

For the first time in decades, consensus broke at the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The United States cast the lone “no” vote on a document aimed at improving justice systems for women and girls worldwide. Misogyny is the official policy of the US under Trump.

When I think about packing light, the first thing I like to eliminate is the garment that takes up almost no space, weighs almost nothing and is essential to personal hygiene

The American gestapo abducted an 85 year-old widow.

Was she one of the worst of the worst? No, her step-son, a retired Alabama state trooper, got ICE to put her in a detention center to deport her because he wanted all of his father's inheritance.

Sounds like the son is the worst of the worst.

Trump illegally coerced Apple and Facebook into removing ICE tracking devices that citizens have every right to use, rules federal judge. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Trump’s Sycophants Just Approved the Tackiest Monument to Him Yet The Arc de Trump isn’t about America. It’s about one man. It must die.

Washington ceremonial architecture, like the government itself, must be returned to the purpose for which it exists—to promote democracy, not the demented, bruised ego of one sick man. trib.al/OAkGK7b

Unbelievable corruption right in front of our faces.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Conclusions:

1) #USWNT A team beats Japan A team
2) Japan B team beats #USWNT B team
3) #USWNT A team + tape beats Japan A team + tape by a MILE

Yesssss. Seeing besties Soph and Naomi giddily celebrating togehter earlier was delightful too.

Unbelievable ball in and finish. #USWNT

the #uswnt is better logistically, strategically, and tactically than the DoD, and actually has end product

I love when defense scores. It means you’re playing the game as a team.

#USWNT

First a Wesley assist, and now a score! Off really nice outside-foot strike. #USWNT #USAvJPN #woso

Take THAT, crossbar. You have no power here. #USWNT #WoSo #USAvJPN

And yet its better than the stripes kit. *sigh*

It’s impossible to not love Naomi Girma. What a legend. #USWNT #USAvsJPN

Gleeeeeee. That Wesley cross to Girma header goal. Such ensuing happiness. #USWNT #USAvJPN #woso