I wish more educators and fewer lawyers would run for public office, in part b/c the best ones are naturals at explaining the whys of things.
We could use more people in public life who cultivate understanding and bring people along together instead of "voters are too dumb to appreciate language"
Highlighted in red: "Political interference is inappropriately shaping or interfering in the conduct, management, communication, or use of science for political advantage or such that it undermines impartiality, nonpartisanship, or professional judgement"
"HHS works to promote a culture of scientific integrity by creating an empowering environment for innovation and protecting scientists and the process of science from inappropriate interference. Scientific findings and products must not be suppressed, delayed, or altered for political purposes and must not be subjected to political interference or inappropriate influence. The responsible and ethical conduct of research and other scientific activities requires an environment that is safe and free from harassment and discrimination" Highlighted in red are "suppressed, delayed, or altered for political purposes", "subjected to political interference", and "inappropriate influence."
"HHS works to promote a culture of scientific integrity by creating an empowering environment for innovation and protecting scientists and the process of science from inappropriate interference. Scientific findings and products must not be subjected to interference or inappropriate influence and must not be inappropriately suppressed, delayed, or altered. The responsible and ethical conduct of research and other scientific activities requires an environment that is safe and free from harassment and discrimination." Highlighted in green are "subjected to interference or inappropriate influence" and "inappropriately suppressed, delayed, or altered."
Text, with "political" highlighted in red to indicate removal: I. Protecting Scientific Processes Scientific integrity fosters "honest scientific investigation, open discussion, refined understanding, and a firm commitment to evidence" (OSTP 2010). It also enables consideration and documentation of differing scientific opinions. Practices that support scientific integrity may include peer review and open science. Science, and public trust in science, thrives in an environment that prevents political interference and inappropriate influence from impacting scientific data and analyses and their use in decision making. It is the policy of HHS to: 1. Prohibit political interference or other inappropriate influence in the design, proposal, conduct, review, management, evaluation, communication about, and use of scientific activities and scientific information. Prohibit inappropriate restrictions on resources and capacity that limit and reduce the availability of science and scientific products (e.g., manuscripts for scientific journals, presentations for workshops, conferences, and symposia) outside of normal budgetary or priority-setting processes or without scientific, legal, or security justification. 3. Require that leadership and management ensure that covered individuals engaged in scientific activities can conduct their work objectively, free from political interference or other inappropriate influence, and free from retaliation.
HHS just published an update to its Scientific Integrity Policy. Notably, it has removed the concept of political interference, and no longer calls it out as something specifically to be prevented.
www.hhs.gov/sites/defaul... (deletions in red, insertions in green)
Newsrooms should not block the Internet Archive. Any public service publisher should not block the Internet Archive. If anything, we should all be directly supporting the Internet Archive.
My god. Essential, horrifying reporting here.
The Constitution and a court order both say that the Everglades detention facility must allow people access to their attorneys.
Instead of complying, guards are cutting off people’s phone access and beating people who speak up.
Man Who Threw Molotov Cocktail At Sam Altman’s Home Claims He Was Following ChatGPT Recipe For Risotto
Man Who Threw Molotov Cocktail At Sam Altman’s Home Claims He Was Following ChatGPT Recipe For Risotto theonion.com/man-who-threw-molotov-co...
ICE just released new detention statistics. First update in about 2 months.
As of April 4, 2026, ICE was detaining 60,311 people across the United States.
www.ice.gov/detain/deten...
Jan-15 45.4% Feb-15 52.4% Mar-15 51.0% Apr-15 49.8% May-15 48.0% Jun-15 47.6% Jul-15 49.5% Aug-15 54.8% Sep-15 53.1% Oct-15 52.1% Nov-15 52.8% Dec-15 53.3% Jan-16 57.2% Feb-16 58.3% Mar-16 56.7% Apr-16 54.2% May-16 55.3% Jun-16 51.9% Jul-16 56.9% Aug-16 56.6% Sep-16 50.3% Oct-16 56.2% Nov-16 55.6% Dec-16 55.1% Jan-17 56.3% Feb-17 59.4% Mar-17 60.3% Apr-17 59.4% May-17 59.9% Jun-17 61.7% Jul-17 65.9% Aug-17 64.2% Sep-17 63.0% Oct-17 63.5% Nov-17 62.3% Dec-17 63.7% Jan-18 62.0% Feb-18 64.5% Mar-18 64.5% Apr-18 61.8% May-18 64.6% Jun-18 66.9% Jul-18 68.6% Aug-18 67.6% Sep-18 68.0% Oct-18 68.5% Nov-18 66.5% Dec-18 67.7% Jan-19 74.1% Feb-19 68.1% Mar-19 69.8% Apr-19 68.4% May-19 65.1% Jun-19 66.0% Jul-19 65.7% Aug-19 68.3% Sep-19 68.5% Oct-19 69.5% Nov-19 67.7% Dec-19 67.0% Jan-20 69.5% Feb-20 70.7% Mar-20 69.3% Apr-20 61.0% May-20 63.7% Jun-20 66.3% Jul-20 59.7% Aug-20 55.7% Sep-20 63.6% Oct-20 63.0% Nov-20 64.9% Dec-20 65.4% Jan-21 62.9% Feb-21 56.7% Mar-21 56.4% Apr-21 58.7% May-21 61.4% Jun-21 55.3% Jul-21 43.7% Aug-21 45.8% Sep-21 47.2% Oct-21 49.3% Nov-21 44.4% Dec-21 44.4% Jan-22 46.7% Feb-22 51.7% Mar-22 49.7% Apr-22 43.8% May-22 41.2% Jun-22 45.8% Jul-22 52.7% Aug-22 55.5% Sep-22 54.0% Oct-22 52.7% Nov-22 50.6% Dec-22 46.8% Jan-23 47.1% Feb-23 49.8% Mar-23 47.8% Apr-23 49.7% May-23 45.8% Jun-23 45.6% Jul-23 45.2% Aug-23 43.4% Sep-23 42.9% Oct-23 44.2% Nov-23 45.5% Dec-23 46.5% Jan-24 47.9% Feb-24 46.4% Mar-24 47.5% Apr-24 49.3% May-24 50.8% Jun-24 50.8% Jul-24 52.1% Aug-24 56.6% Sep-24 59.2% Oct-24 59.1% Nov-24 62.0% Dec-24 60.3% Jan-25 64.1% Feb-25 71.2% Mar-25 73.0% Apr-25 75.1% May-25 75.4% Jun-25 72.0% Jul-25 73.9% Aug-25 74.8% Sep-25 78.3% Oct-25 78.8% Nov-25 78.2% Dec-25 84.4% Jan-26 90.5% Feb-26 94.7%
Hey, has anyone visited TRAC Immigration and looked up asylum denial rates in US immigration courts?
October 2000-January 2025: 56% of cases denied
February-November 2025: 75% denied
December 2025: 84%
January 2026: 91%
February 2026: 95%
tracreports.org/phptools/imm...
Since discovering that today is the anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s execution by the Nazi regime (Apr 9, 1945), I thought it would be appropriate to repost this thread of some key, and timely, lines from his Prison Letters. 🗃️
Ever since 2016, I've wondered not if but when it will be truly time to go full South Korea, with a million or more of us surrounding the White House until something is done to get him out
I had been betting on fighting against a midterms coup. but now I'm thinking maybe that time is...
NOW?
So this is what the Cuban missile crisis must have felt like.
What a beautiful moment.
Earth and Moon from DSCOVR NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured this unique view of the Moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. This view shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. Ian Regan processed this version of the image to account for the Moon's motion. NASA / NOAA / Ian Regan
I hadn't seen this before. This is pretty remarkable.
Earth and Moon in one NASA photo.
ht @astrokatie.com
BREAKING: Artemis II astronauts are more than 248,655 miles from Earth, breaking Apollo 13's record for the greatest distance humans have traveled from the planet.
There is no excuse for downplaying or eliding the insanity of Trump’s morning post. It is the most unhinged public comment by a president in US history and should be reported and remarked upon as such.
NYT: President Trump on Sunday escalated his threats to bomb Iranian power plants within the next two days and taunted the country’s leaders in an expletive-laden social media post. Mr. Trump, seemingly emboldened by the successful U.S. rescue of an American airman in Iran over the weekend, issued a new ultimatum to Iran to end its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, a major Persian Gulf waterway for the transport of oil and gas, by Apr. 6. If Iran’s government did not, he said, U.S. forces would target the country’s energy infrastructure, which supplies power for millions of civilians. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media. The president has previously postponed his deadline to attack twice and the Omani foreign ministry said on Sunday that officials had discussed how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian counterparts without reaching a definitive agreement. “Praise be to Allah,” Mr. Trump added, before signing off in all caps.
The NYT literally rewrote Trump saying “open the fuckin’ strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in hell” as:
“Mr. Trump issued a new ultimatum to Iran to end its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz”
"The leader of all Catholic chaplains in the United States’ armed forces has questioned how righteous the US military’s campaign in Iran is, saying that 'under the just war theory – it is not'."
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …
The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.
It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."
Picture of Earth in space, courtesy of NASA
Artemis looks back at the home planet. www.nasa.gov/image-articl...
This chart, from YouGov, shows non-MAGA Republicans (about half of the party) moving 50 points, from +25 to -23, against Trump’s war in Iran over the last month.
I wrote two weeks ago why this was the group to watch:
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/forget-the...
As someone who studies politicization of democratic militaries this statement on X is a five- alarm fire. It creates an undeniable permission structure for overt partisan behavior by mil. It's part of a concerted effort by civilian leaders to turn the U.S. military into a partisan aligned force.
"ICE agents will be stationed outside graduation events for the nation’s newest Marines to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented, according to the Marine Corps."
the reason hegseth lobbied trump to pardon war criminals in his first term and why he has done everything possible to make war crimes more likely is that hegseth believes war crimes to be Objectively Good. war to him, in fact, consists of committing indiscriminate war crimes.
Same.
Stop scrolling & post two characters who bring you happiness
I think often of a New York Times photo of a little Iraqi girl tending to her parakeets in a bombed house, probably from 20 years ago now. I will think of this man and his sweet dog often now too. People just want to love what they love, care for their little beings, and instead we do this to them
You would get so many more amazing books if you had Universal Basic Income. Not even the most dream-scenario AI could compete with the creativity of a world of authors no longer afraid of affording rent.
a fuckton of people filling 7th avenue as far as the eye can see with billboards in times square
NYC No Kings march today photographed by Adam Gray: www.instagram.com/p/DWcf2Xmj-UL/
Holy New York.
🚨 THIS JUST IN: With over 100 protests still to come, we can already estimate that at least 8 million people participated in No Kings protests today.
That makes No Kings 3 the largest single day of protest in American history. #NoKings
