The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.

So much to read today! First - yuck! Ew. But great reporting by the amazing @robert-faturechi.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/andr...

watch. The gov doesn't track how often citizens were detained by immigration agents, so ProPublica did.

😞

www.youtube.com/shorts/A53uW...

Close Friend of JD Vance Skirts Normal Channels to Take Over NIH Environmental Health Institute - Inside Climate News Despite a federal hiring freeze, the Trump administration just appointed a scientist who calls Vance one of his “closest friends” to head the nation’s key environmental health research arm.

insideclimatenews.org/news/2110202...

Idaho Banned Vaccine Mandates. MAHA Activists Want to Make It a Model for the Country. YouTube video by ProPublica

vaccines prevent disease and death. MAHA activists are trying to reverse vaccine requirements in the name of "health freedom"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l4t...

Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and childhood autism-related outcomes Epidemiological evidence linking prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) with altered neurodevelopment is inconclusive, and few large studies have focused on autism-related out...

a few of you have brought up autism here.. and actually there IS a link between PFNA and autism

PFNA "showed the strongest and most consistent association" with autism-related traits

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It. Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the ...

NEW An EPA report found that PFNA, a chemical in the drinking water of some 26M people, interferes with development and likely causes liver problems & male reproductive harms. The report was done in April, scientists told me. But the agency hasn't released it

www.propublica.org/article/epa-...

Industry-Backed Legislation Would Bar the Use of Science Behind Hundreds of Environmental Protections Two bills in Congress would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from using hundreds of chemical assessments completed by its IRIS program in environmental regulations or enforcement.

Known for their scientific rigor, IRIS reports are used around the world to protect health.

But IRIS is also a target of industry. Project 2025 called for its elimination.

And this year, Republicans introduced a bill that would stop EPA from using IRIS reports

www.propublica.org/article/legi...

Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It. Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the ...

This story is about the report that hasn't been published - but it's also about IRIS, the part of EPA that wrote it and has been assessing the toxicity of chemicals for decades.

Of 55 scientists who worked on recent IRIS report, only 8 remain in their posts.

www.propublica.org/article/epa-...

A Community Burdened by Chemical Waste Is Demanding Cancer Data. Texas Health Officials Won’t Give It to Them. - Public Health Watch Last year, state epidemiologists studied an industrialized region east of Houston. They reported finding high rates of cancer, but refused to release key geographic details — a decision some experts s...

publichealthwatch.org/2025/10/09/t...

The stars of HBO's 'Somebody Somewhere' reveal how they mine dramedy gold Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller have long made people laugh, but their biggest accolades have come by stretching beyond the comedy comfort zone.

Jeff Hiller winning an Emmy is so lovely, and so well-deserved. What a gorgeous show. I knew I had to interview them after the first season. Here it is, with apologies for any paywall: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

I wish the press would ask him to name one Black person he knows who lives in DC.