@aunttracey.bsky.social
Reposted
It all started in 1955 with a misprint in a Colorado newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret military hotline. Shoup played along with the tiny voice who called, and a tradition was born.
From the NPR archives.
From the NPR archives.
NORAD's Santa Tracker began with a typo and a good sport
It all started in 1955 with a misprint in a Colorado newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret military hotline. Shoup played along with the tiny voice who called, and a tradition was born.
n.pr
December 24, 2025 at 5:59 PM
It all started in 1955 with a misprint in a Colorado newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret military hotline. Shoup played along with the tiny voice who called, and a tradition was born.
From the NPR archives.
From the NPR archives.
Reposted
Here it is
December 23, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Here it is
Reposted
“They want us to be overwhelmed. They want us to become benumbed to the mounting horror. They want us to think their success is inevitable & there’s nothing we can do about it. This is how they win. It’s our job in the coming year to prove how wrong they are.”
www.americaamerica.news/p/we-cant-st...
www.americaamerica.news/p/we-cant-st...
We Can't Stop Caring
It remains in our power to create a more just future
www.americaamerica.news
December 22, 2025 at 3:11 PM
“They want us to be overwhelmed. They want us to become benumbed to the mounting horror. They want us to think their success is inevitable & there’s nothing we can do about it. This is how they win. It’s our job in the coming year to prove how wrong they are.”
www.americaamerica.news/p/we-cant-st...
www.americaamerica.news/p/we-cant-st...
Reposted
60 Minutes journalist Sharyn Alfonsi sharply summarizes the appalling decision of Bari Weiss not to run her CECOT story: “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”
December 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
60 Minutes journalist Sharyn Alfonsi sharply summarizes the appalling decision of Bari Weiss not to run her CECOT story: “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”
Reposted
This is a great example of a major failure mode of offloading your research to an AI assistant. Another is a lot of us are hard-wired to think we understand something when we get a summary, but that’s often just fooling yourself. Summaries miss subtleties, hide complexities, avoid contradictions.
Not a historian but like to research. The AI might summarize what I'm looking for, but it doesn't find what I'm *not* looking for. The book on the shelf next to the one I wanted. The insight in chapter 6 based on the quote I needed from chapter 4.
December 22, 2025 at 1:53 AM
This is a great example of a major failure mode of offloading your research to an AI assistant. Another is a lot of us are hard-wired to think we understand something when we get a summary, but that’s often just fooling yourself. Summaries miss subtleties, hide complexities, avoid contradictions.
Reposted
The Education Department was investigating a Texas middle school for allegations that Black students were being harassed with racial slurs and monkey sounds.
Then Trump closed the civil rights division’s Dallas office, indefinitely stalling the case.
Then Trump closed the civil rights division’s Dallas office, indefinitely stalling the case.
Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump
Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discriminat...
www.propublica.org
December 22, 2025 at 1:00 AM
The Education Department was investigating a Texas middle school for allegations that Black students were being harassed with racial slurs and monkey sounds.
Then Trump closed the civil rights division’s Dallas office, indefinitely stalling the case.
Then Trump closed the civil rights division’s Dallas office, indefinitely stalling the case.
Reposted
Watching 60 Minutes as a kid is a big part of why I became a journalist.
I hope we get it back one day.
I hope we get it back one day.
December 22, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Watching 60 Minutes as a kid is a big part of why I became a journalist.
I hope we get it back one day.
I hope we get it back one day.
Reposted
the best two minutes you'll spend all day 🐾
December 20, 2025 at 10:42 PM
the best two minutes you'll spend all day 🐾
Reposted
Probably just a coincidence www.thedailybeast.com/60-minutes-s...
'60 Minutes' Suddenly Drops Segment on Major Trump Controversy
The show announced a programming change just before its Sunday night timeslot.
www.thedailybeast.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Probably just a coincidence www.thedailybeast.com/60-minutes-s...
Reposted
All of these links went to promotion of this story earlier today. All these links are dead now — that's how thoroughly they've scrubbed this.
December 21, 2025 at 10:57 PM
All of these links went to promotion of this story earlier today. All these links are dead now — that's how thoroughly they've scrubbed this.
Reposted
Why did CBS delete this promo and cancel this from airing in full?
December 22, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Why did CBS delete this promo and cancel this from airing in full?
Reposted
Commentary: "It’s never a good sign when the United States’ national security plan is praised by Russia as being 'largely consistent with our vision.' But that’s the bizarro world we’re living in."
Trump Shares Russia's Twisted Vision of 'Peace' in New National Security Strategy
bit.ly
December 21, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Commentary: "It’s never a good sign when the United States’ national security plan is praised by Russia as being 'largely consistent with our vision.' But that’s the bizarro world we’re living in."
Reposted
NIH funding is like pizza 🍕. Usually, the NIH gives many researchers a slice of the pie, but this year they decided to just give a few researchers the whole pie. The data show that, disproportionately, early career researchers went hungry. We need Congress to stop NIH multi-year funding mandates.
A Trump administration change to how the National Institutes of Health awards grants has sharply reduced early-stage investigators’ odds of securing funding, new data from the agency show. Teamed up with @aniloza.bsky.social for this @statnews.com story
www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/n...
www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/n...
NIH funding rates for early-career researchers plunged in 2025, new data show
A Trump administration change to how NIH awards grants has sharply reduced early-stage investigators’ odds of securing funding.
www.statnews.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
NIH funding is like pizza 🍕. Usually, the NIH gives many researchers a slice of the pie, but this year they decided to just give a few researchers the whole pie. The data show that, disproportionately, early career researchers went hungry. We need Congress to stop NIH multi-year funding mandates.
Reposted
More of this kind of rich person, please.
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
🧵 1 of 9
🧵 1 of 9
December 21, 2025 at 3:05 AM
More of this kind of rich person, please.
Reposted
I feel like that makes it worse, bc it underscores that it's not just (using just loosely) RFK Jr randomly being a conspiracy addled eugenicist wackjob -- this catastrophe was coordinated and had the backing of the conservative legal movement
It is utterly catastrophic that RFK Jr. plans to end CDC recommendations for most childhood vaccines.
It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.
And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
It’s a betrayal of science, ethics, compassion, and the people of the United States.
And it was also a specific goal of Project 2025 (page 254).
December 20, 2025 at 6:02 AM
I feel like that makes it worse, bc it underscores that it's not just (using just loosely) RFK Jr randomly being a conspiracy addled eugenicist wackjob -- this catastrophe was coordinated and had the backing of the conservative legal movement
Reposted
"Jobs including doctors, nurses and support staff," it says.
They intend to drive up patient wait times to create dissatisfaction with VA, leading veterans to, presumably, call for privatization.
They can't suggest privatization now because veterans love VA. So they intend to turn vets against it.
They intend to drive up patient wait times to create dissatisfaction with VA, leading veterans to, presumably, call for privatization.
They can't suggest privatization now because veterans love VA. So they intend to turn vets against it.
Exclusive: The Department of Veterans Affairs will abruptly eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, mostly unfilled jobs.
The cuts come after a massive reorganization effort already resulted in the loss of almost 30,000 employees.
The cuts come after a massive reorganization effort already resulted in the loss of almost 30,000 employees.
VA plans to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs
Strains on the Veterans Affairs system could grow with the elimination of as many as 35,000 mostly unfilled health care positions, including doctors and nurses.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:53 PM
"Jobs including doctors, nurses and support staff," it says.
They intend to drive up patient wait times to create dissatisfaction with VA, leading veterans to, presumably, call for privatization.
They can't suggest privatization now because veterans love VA. So they intend to turn vets against it.
They intend to drive up patient wait times to create dissatisfaction with VA, leading veterans to, presumably, call for privatization.
They can't suggest privatization now because veterans love VA. So they intend to turn vets against it.
Reposted
The amount of time and psychic energy I've spent on figuring out our healthcare going into next year has been engaging and revealing.
The lack of widespread anger says to me that a lot of folks do not understand what is about to happen
The lack of widespread anger says to me that a lot of folks do not understand what is about to happen
I don't expect them to operate with compassion but it's like the ideology has totally hijacked even their most dim sense of political survival
December 10, 2025 at 3:19 AM
The amount of time and psychic energy I've spent on figuring out our healthcare going into next year has been engaging and revealing.
The lack of widespread anger says to me that a lot of folks do not understand what is about to happen
The lack of widespread anger says to me that a lot of folks do not understand what is about to happen
Reposted
Trump: "You can give up certain products. You could give up pencils. Because under the China policy, every child can get 37 pencils. They only need 1 or 2. They don't need that many. You always need steel. You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter. 2 or 3 is nice. So we're doing things right."
December 10, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Trump: "You can give up certain products. You could give up pencils. Because under the China policy, every child can get 37 pencils. They only need 1 or 2. They don't need that many. You always need steel. You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter. 2 or 3 is nice. So we're doing things right."
Reposted
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which runs major research archives, warned that AI models are fabricating research papers, journals, and archives (Dan Vergano/Scientific American)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
December 9, 2025 at 2:50 AM
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which runs major research archives, warned that AI models are fabricating research papers, journals, and archives (Dan Vergano/Scientific American)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Reposted
#ICYMI: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detailed the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.
(Published Oct. 2025)
(Published Oct. 2025)
Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived.
ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...
projects.propublica.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM
#ICYMI: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detailed the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.
(Published Oct. 2025)
(Published Oct. 2025)
Reposted
"We can't allow fact checkers into the country" is late-stage USSR shit, real end-of-empire stuff
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 8, 2025 at 9:23 PM
"We can't allow fact checkers into the country" is late-stage USSR shit, real end-of-empire stuff
Reposted
Heartbreaking. The University of Nebraska will terminate its entire Earth science department.
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
It's over.
Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.
www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.
www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.
www.dailynebraskan.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Heartbreaking. The University of Nebraska will terminate its entire Earth science department.
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
Reposted
A remarkable threat from the Deputy AG: DOJ’s No. 2 official suggested Thursday that lawyers might have a harder time winning lenient treatment for corporate clients if they’ve publicly accused the Trump administration of being lax on white-collar crime www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Blanche warns lawyers who criticize Justice Department
DOJ’s No. 2 official said says prosecutors see "inconsistency" in attorneys’ private pleas and public commentary.
www.politico.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:48 AM
A remarkable threat from the Deputy AG: DOJ’s No. 2 official suggested Thursday that lawyers might have a harder time winning lenient treatment for corporate clients if they’ve publicly accused the Trump administration of being lax on white-collar crime www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Reposted
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. n.pr/4pGmc1n
Trump plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
n.pr
November 29, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. n.pr/4pGmc1n