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“The Alarm Bell”: Arizona’s Drop in SNAP Participation Signals Potential Nationwide Impact of Trump Legislation Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes stricter food stamp work requirements and shifts a larger share of the costs to states. Arizona’s swift implementation has made it more difficult to apply an...

Nearly half of Arizona’s SNAP participants have lost benefits since the state implemented new Trump legislation.

“Arizona is just the alarm bell,” one expert said. “This is likely going to happen in every state.”

Inflation pressures were firming before the war.

The core PCE index rose 0.37% in February and was +3.0% on the year.

The 6-month annualized rate was +3.4%, the highest since June 2024, before the Fed began to cut rates.

The 3-month annualized rate was +4.4%, the highest since March 2024.

UW graduate student deported through SEA as protesters demand answers A union representing University of Washington graduate student workers says Kennedy Orwa’s student visa was rescinded without explanation.

Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel.

King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.

This is an account close to the Iranian leadership. We are now seeing the shape of why Iran agreed so enthusiastically to this "ceasefire".

They will control and toll the Strait for the first time. They keep their nuclear program. They keep their missiles.

What a disaster.

Text on graphic reads: The Department of Justice has dropped 23,000 criminal cases while prosecuting 32,000 new immigration cases in just the first six months of Trump’s second term. -Nearly 5,000: federal drug cases, including trafficking and money laundering -Over 900: cases of federal program or procurement fraud -More than 1,300: cases involving terrorism and national security

The DOJ quietly closed 23,000+ criminal cases in the first six months of Trump’s second administration, abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses as it shifted resources to pursue immigration cases.

🔗 Full story: https://propub.li/4e5vZLL

U.S. panel votes to exempt Gulf of Mexico drilling from Endangered Species Act In its first meeting in three decades, the Endangered Species Committee voted to revoke protections for the endangered Rice’s whales and sea turtles.

After 15 whole minutes of discussion, the Endangered Species Committee (100% Trump appointees) decided that oil & gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico don't need to exert any caution anymore to protect endangered whales, turtles, or other wildlife.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

@sethcotlar.bsky.social mentioned this in his various posts about Walter Huss and his MLMs, but it is remarkable the degree to which sophisticated business persons will gut protections and allow risk (and fraud) to be distributed downward. Just major backwards steps.

The NSF 2027 budget has noted that they will close out the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science Program (SBE). This is not a good thing. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/FY-202...

A table showing how many more cases Bondi's DOJ has dropped as compared to previous Administrations. The top three are Labor (+129% dropped), National Security (+93%), Organized Crime (+86%), and White Collar Crime (+59%).

Pam Bondi dropped the cases against 4 accused drug dealers for resource reasons in MN, even as the entire office focused on processing snatched grannies.

Turns out she did the same on much larger scale last year.

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

"The way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace... I think what’s going on in our country — what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants, is really unfortunate and it’s really sad." - Charles Barkley on CBS

Taxpayers’ Tab for Donald Trump’s Golf Habit Crosses $100 Million This is Trump's 56th visit to his course in West Palm Beach and 110th golf day in just over 14 months in office, keeping him on track to spend $300 million on golf.

Taxpayers’ Tab for Donald Trump’s Golf Habit Crosses $100 Million

This is Trump's 56th visit to his course in West Palm Beach and 110th golf day in just over 14 months in office, keeping him on track to spend $300 million on golf. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

You don't have to gamble for gambling to ruin your life How gambling is eroding empathy, destroying relationships, and changing our culture — even for people who never bet.

"A University of Oregon study found that when states legalize sports betting, intimate partner violence increases by roughly 10 percentage points after upset NFL losses." yourbrainonmoney.substack.com/p/gambling-i...

What a ‘Spiral of Silence’ Can Do to a Democracy Protests show people they are not alone in caring about an issue.

“The fact that organized protest can break the spiral of silence, and correct our impressions of what other Americans think, is one of the most immediate and important values of protesting in the first place. Scientists have [shown] protests update our impressions of what other citizens believe.”

Helluva 2026 pic by Megan Varner.

Hi, political scientist here. Did you know we have an extensive body of research and theory that says if people believe you will violently betray them, they are less likely to enter into an agreement with you?

I swear to God I have a real, non-bullshit job.

"the decline in [academic freedom in] the United States has been more rapid and pronounced, particularly in the last year. It has deteriorated by 50% from 2015 to 2025 and is now evaluated as moderate autonomy by country experts" academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...

As if any of these fools know our history.

The Incredible Story of the Cartel Olympics A Mexican athlete said he was kidnapped and forced to compete for his life in a tournament of gangs. But was he actually playing a different game?

This strange story is well worth your time. Have a coffee and sit down with it
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The world energy shock is coming — it will deepen inequality in ways we've seen before. Our new
@newstatesman1913.bsky.social piece argues that without urgent government action, the Strait of Hormuz crisis will ripple through our economies and rip apart our societies. Here's why. 1/

3/ This is not just a commodity price story. Years of research with my collaborators showed that cost shocks don't just pass through markets neutrally—they give dominant corporations cover to hike prices, protect margins, and *increase* profits. We called this sellers' inflation.

NEW: This new report, from BBC, is the best takedown of the insanity of Trump you will see anywhere.

Calm, coherent and repeating only Trump’s own words. Devastating.

Brilliant work once again from Roz Atkins.

(🎥 BBC News)

A Strategic Failure in Iran Washington has proved incapable or unwilling to learn from its past mistakes in the Middle East. Trump should cut his losses and get out while he still can.

"After more than two weeks of consistent bombing, new US intelligence suggests Iran’s regime is now consolidating power, unlikely to collapse, and led by a cadre more extreme than before." 😬
www.cato.org/blog/strateg...

TACO King

POSTDOC OPPORTUNITY 🌍
Are you an early-career researcher interested in working at the interface of climate science, law, and policy?

A new opportunity at @granthamicl.bsky.social at @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social 👇

I believe this. Back in 2023 I did a story w Diane Lincoln-Estes for @pbsnews.org about the mini baby boomlet that had happened among college-educated women. At the time seemed related to remote/hybrid work flexibility for white-collar workers
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Trump’s DOGE Cuts Slashed Staff That Handled Middle Eastern Oil and Gas Crises Six months before going to war in Iran, the U.S. government cut staff that would have been central to the current situation.

6 months before bombing Iran and closing the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump admin fired the State Dept. oil and gas experts.

The people who modeled exactly this scenario.

The ones with contacts at Gulf energy ministries.

Now nobody knows who to call.

You can't make this up.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Does the publication disclose use of Claude in the writing and idea generation process? Did reviewers know of this when evaluating?

So Trump TACOs again…what a loser

Anyone surprised? The grift in this administration is off the charts.