Dreaming Beetle
@dreamingbeetle.bsky.social
A scientist with an art habit.
DreamingBeetle.redbubble.com
DreamingBeetle.redbubble.com
Pinned
A scientist with an art habit. I like big data and posting articles and comments that I think are important. I use data from #USGS #NOAA #NASA #CMIP6 #LibraryofCongress #Smithsonian #NIH #NIAID #DOE #GEBCO #Hydrosheds to promote #Science and #SciArt
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
One thing about "original intent" is that the original Constitution was so hostile to the President that their rival was made Vice President, but now we have SCOTUS "originalists" happily giving the President absolute power over everything.*
* So long as they're a Republican.
* So long as they're a Republican.
the whole structure of this argument — independent agencies are politically unaccountable therefore the president must have removal power — treats congress as if it were a total nullity, or as if only the president truly represents the public.
December 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
One thing about "original intent" is that the original Constitution was so hostile to the President that their rival was made Vice President, but now we have SCOTUS "originalists" happily giving the President absolute power over everything.*
* So long as they're a Republican.
* So long as they're a Republican.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Justice Jackson to Solicitor General Sauer (just now, in Trump v. Slaughter arguments):
December 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Justice Jackson to Solicitor General Sauer (just now, in Trump v. Slaughter arguments):
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
SCOTUS is literally in a hearing rn where the likely outcome is that they will tell us that it is illegal for Congress to appoint independent and non-partisan figures to oversee public decisions in areas where there are obvious conflicts of interest for politicians
Trump attacks the new Ellison-owned Paramount, saying "THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP" of CBS. Paramount is biding for Warner on the premise that it has a good relationship with Trump.
(The rest of Trump's post is a complaint about Marjorie-Taylor Greene.)
(The rest of Trump's post is a complaint about Marjorie-Taylor Greene.)
December 8, 2025 at 3:20 PM
SCOTUS is literally in a hearing rn where the likely outcome is that they will tell us that it is illegal for Congress to appoint independent and non-partisan figures to oversee public decisions in areas where there are obvious conflicts of interest for politicians
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
NEW:
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
NEW:
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Trump-branded industrial parks...
Built on federal lands...
And owned by the federal government?
Yikes. www.wsj.com/tech/trump-s...
Built on federal lands...
And owned by the federal government?
Yikes. www.wsj.com/tech/trump-s...
December 8, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Trump-branded industrial parks...
Built on federal lands...
And owned by the federal government?
Yikes. www.wsj.com/tech/trump-s...
Built on federal lands...
And owned by the federal government?
Yikes. www.wsj.com/tech/trump-s...
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
December 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
"Extreme wealth is never earned; it is only enabled."
"Because working people have been shunted into defined contribution, self-funded retirement schemes, their futures are wedded to stock market returns in a way that people in similarly wealthy democracies find unimaginable." Inequality in the US is obscene. My thoughts:
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
The case for a 100% tax bracket for billionaires
I was looking through my photos, stumbled upon this image, and realized that I had to get out a seasonal newsletter today with a wish for 2025. Caption....
buttondown.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:12 PM
"Extreme wealth is never earned; it is only enabled."
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
We reviewed Gregory Bovino and his agents’ tactics in Chicago. From a shooting to Slim Jims, the feds’ poor tactics made for needless safety risks for the public and the officers themselves. “Simply reckless,” former police superintendent said.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/07/e...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/07/e...
Experts: From shooting to Slim Jims, immigration agents’ poor tactics made for needless safety risks
A Tribune review found Immigration agents routinely broke urban policing protocols meant to limit danger to themselves and others.
www.chicagotribune.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:10 PM
We reviewed Gregory Bovino and his agents’ tactics in Chicago. From a shooting to Slim Jims, the feds’ poor tactics made for needless safety risks for the public and the officers themselves. “Simply reckless,” former police superintendent said.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/07/e...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/07/e...
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
At some point someone just needs to say “you are an indecent person, you are lying to cover the slaughter of defenseless men, you know you are lying, and even under the tenets of your own professed faith you will certainly burn in hell if you continue down this path”
WELKER: Isn't it possible that even the act of taking off a t shirt could've been part of an attempt to get attention for help?
TOM COTTON: Or it could've been an attempt to signal to another cartel boat to come pick them up and pick up the cargo
TOM COTTON: Or it could've been an attempt to signal to another cartel boat to come pick them up and pick up the cargo
December 7, 2025 at 3:55 PM
At some point someone just needs to say “you are an indecent person, you are lying to cover the slaughter of defenseless men, you know you are lying, and even under the tenets of your own professed faith you will certainly burn in hell if you continue down this path”
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
What Senator Cotton says here would be a bad defense for the Germans convicted in WWI and WWII war crimes trials -- including for firing on shipwrecked in fully operational lifeboats.
This line of response hurts the US and US servicemembers. It will cause long-term damage unless we get this right.
This line of response hurts the US and US servicemembers. It will cause long-term damage unless we get this right.
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
December 7, 2025 at 4:10 PM
What Senator Cotton says here would be a bad defense for the Germans convicted in WWI and WWII war crimes trials -- including for firing on shipwrecked in fully operational lifeboats.
This line of response hurts the US and US servicemembers. It will cause long-term damage unless we get this right.
This line of response hurts the US and US servicemembers. It will cause long-term damage unless we get this right.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Interpreting the 14A as narrowly as possible—as SCOTUS has done recently in Dobbs & Trump v. Anderson—aligns neatly with the larger GOP goal of destroying the New Deal state & reviving the overtly white nationalist apartheid regime of the Jim Crow era.
There has been no debate here among constitutional scholars, historians, political scientists, anyone with a pulse really.
Any telling you that this very straightforward point, one that has been universally accepted for a century and a half, is now an "abstruse" issue is just a liar and a hack.
Any telling you that this very straightforward point, one that has been universally accepted for a century and a half, is now an "abstruse" issue is just a liar and a hack.
Anyone who knows this history should know there’s no contested issue.
December 7, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Interpreting the 14A as narrowly as possible—as SCOTUS has done recently in Dobbs & Trump v. Anderson—aligns neatly with the larger GOP goal of destroying the New Deal state & reviving the overtly white nationalist apartheid regime of the Jim Crow era.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
"The Trump administration’s vision of American greatness is making the country poorer, weaker, and meaner. The new strategy document will do its own little bit to accelerate that process."
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:32 AM
"The Trump administration’s vision of American greatness is making the country poorer, weaker, and meaner. The new strategy document will do its own little bit to accelerate that process."
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
“Traumatized, humiliated, degraded.”
The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.
It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.
Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.
It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.
Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Exclusive: Woman detained by feds in Keys says she was following agents’ orders
“This is not the America that I grew up in, and this is not the America that we represent.”
www.miamiherald.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:55 AM
“Traumatized, humiliated, degraded.”
The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.
It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.
Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.
It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.
Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
I wonder if Brett Kavanaugh will rethink his cavalier attitude towards these things once he sees a white blonde woman can be targeted repeatedly as well?
“Traumatized, humiliated, degraded.”
The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.
It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.
Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
The nurse, a US citizen, 4’11”, 85 lbs, says she was following orders when she was dragged out of her car by masked immigration agents in Florida.
It was the 3rd time she had been stopped and told to produce ID.
Free link ⤵️
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Exclusive: Woman detained by feds in Keys says she was following agents’ orders
“This is not the America that I grew up in, and this is not the America that we represent.”
www.miamiherald.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:18 PM
I wonder if Brett Kavanaugh will rethink his cavalier attitude towards these things once he sees a white blonde woman can be targeted repeatedly as well?
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
There’s no telling how many similar stories are not being told for fear of retaliation.
By now, everyone should realize Trump is not going after violent criminals or the worst of the worst—he is terrorizing everyone, including U.S. citizens, and their loved ones.
By now, everyone should realize Trump is not going after violent criminals or the worst of the worst—he is terrorizing everyone, including U.S. citizens, and their loved ones.
Senator Murray Condemns Egregious Use of Force by ICE as Constituent is Mauled by Attack Dog, Demands Release from NWIPC to Receive Appropriate Medical Care - Senator Patty Murray
***(WARNING: Graphic Content) Photos of Wilmer’s injuries, photos of Wilmer and his children, and partial video of his detainment are available to the press HERE*** Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen...
www.murray.senate.gov
December 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
There’s no telling how many similar stories are not being told for fear of retaliation.
By now, everyone should realize Trump is not going after violent criminals or the worst of the worst—he is terrorizing everyone, including U.S. citizens, and their loved ones.
By now, everyone should realize Trump is not going after violent criminals or the worst of the worst—he is terrorizing everyone, including U.S. citizens, and their loved ones.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
December 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
The CDC is compromised and is advocating against evidence-based public health.
This is a pro-death and pro-disease recommendation.
This is a pro-death and pro-disease recommendation.
This regressive move will literally kill people. It's making kids' liver cancer great again. And it's a sign of more harm to come.
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine
The CDC's ACIP panel voted to recommend delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, ending a policy that has reined in the virus.
www.statnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The CDC is compromised and is advocating against evidence-based public health.
This is a pro-death and pro-disease recommendation.
This is a pro-death and pro-disease recommendation.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
No "two different realities" bullshit. One side is calling for release of the video, and the other is not.
NEWS --> Tons of fresh detail on what video of the strike shows: Rep Adam Smith says two men are sitting on capsized boat, drugs aren't visible. Rationale officials gave for killing is they *may* have been able to keep trafficking.
"It's bad," Smith says.
Read here:
newrepublic.com/article/2039...
"It's bad," Smith says.
Read here:
newrepublic.com/article/2039...
Hegseth Defense Collapses as Dems Reveal Horrific Video Strike Details
The ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services committee tells TNR after watching the video: “This is a big, big problem.”
newrepublic.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:03 PM
No "two different realities" bullshit. One side is calling for release of the video, and the other is not.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Look at these ICE thugs with their masks on chasing this woman down the street. Terrifying and grotesque.
www.wwltv.com/article/news...
www.wwltv.com/article/news...
‘It’s attempted kidnapping’: Video shows masked agents chase US-born woman back to her Marrero home
The woman told CNN she was born and raised in the New Orleans area.
www.wwltv.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Look at these ICE thugs with their masks on chasing this woman down the street. Terrifying and grotesque.
www.wwltv.com/article/news...
www.wwltv.com/article/news...
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Maps of Manhattan based on 1609 survey data. Originally by Townsend MacCoun, 1909. Modified by Dreaming Beetle LLC. Restoration and playing with color.
December 2, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Maps of Manhattan based on 1609 survey data. Originally by Townsend MacCoun, 1909. Modified by Dreaming Beetle LLC. Restoration and playing with color.
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
🚨🚨🚨This collapses the one 'argument' Hegseth had against it being a war crime:
"The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat .. DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RADIO OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers."
1/
"The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat .. DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RADIO OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers."
1/
Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn’t radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawmakers | CNN Politics
The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications device...
www.cnn.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:49 AM
🚨🚨🚨This collapses the one 'argument' Hegseth had against it being a war crime:
"The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat .. DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RADIO OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers."
1/
"The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat .. DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RADIO OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers."
1/
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Double-tap is very misleading here, it implies strikes in quick succession. They scratched their loathsome chins about it for 41 minutes, watching these two guys struggle to overturn their wrecked boat, before deciding nah, hit 'em again
December 5, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Double-tap is very misleading here, it implies strikes in quick succession. They scratched their loathsome chins about it for 41 minutes, watching these two guys struggle to overturn their wrecked boat, before deciding nah, hit 'em again
Reposted by Dreaming Beetle
Nobody involved in this should draw a free breath for the rest of their lives
December 5, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Nobody involved in this should draw a free breath for the rest of their lives