Lauren
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lrnbrtn.bsky.social
Lauren
@lrnbrtn.bsky.social
Reposted by Lauren
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Lauren
What we are living through is the PEAK of "drained pool politics"

Drained pool politics is the termination or defunding of public resources due to the will of one group, whether they also use the resource or not.

Think the end of public pools nationwide b/c white people refused to integrate
July 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Dachau in July 1933... reported in the New York Times

timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine...
July 2, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by Lauren
A new paper in The Lancet, one of the world’s foremost peer reviewed medical journals, estimates that USAID prevented 91 million deaths across 133 countries over 20 years.

The paper estimates that Elon Musk’s DOGE funding cuts to USAID will lead to 14 million deaths by 2030 (4.5 million children).
Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis
USAID funding has significantly contributed to the reduction in adult and child mortality across low-income and middle-income countries over the past two decades. Our estimates show that, unless the a...
www.thelancet.com
July 1, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Lauren
This is good to see. People have a lot of trust in their local weather reporters and they have a responsibility to warn their audiences that they can no longer make timely and accurate predictions. And this is a great opportunity to tell them exactly why.
Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺
June 3, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Some sad confirmation from @bcgl.bsky.social while I was at UW last week—the National Digital Newspaper Program—which builds Chronicling America—has been shut down

Historical newspapers are probably the archival material most used by the general public—for genealogy, local history—it’s such a loss
About this Collection | Chronicling America | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
Search America's Historic Newspaper Pages through 1963 Please Note: The Library of Congress has transitioned the longstanding Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers website to this new digi...
www.loc.gov
May 12, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Lauren
I see the already historically unpopular president is exploring how to get the military invovled in “assisting” local law enforcement just a few weeks before the real shortages caused by his inept economic policy start hitting. Probably nothing to worry about.
April 29, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by Lauren
Sometimes it seems like all that "what other people should be doing/they aren't doing enough/not doing it right" is synonymous with "not my job; not actually doing anything myself." Sometimes as in a lot lately.
March 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Lauren
there’s this very american idea that everything we do to fight facism must be “productive” and “results-driven” in order for it to be meaningful as if the act of calling out injustice is not worthwhile on its own.
March 11, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Reposted by Lauren
if you find yourself reluctant to support the guy at Columbia because you find some of the politics he espoused distasteful or even abhorrent, you should know that this is exactly the reaction that they hoped for in choosing him as a target for unlawful detention based on political speech.
March 10, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Lauren
It is critical Polis not fold on this, because the message they want to send is that you may commit crimes with impunity—including under state law—if they're crimes in service of Donald Trump.
March 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Lauren
I worry that the focus on NOAA's weather predicting value is ignoring the millions of other ways NOAA researchers enrich communities and local economies.

There are no oysters without NOAA. There are no blue crabs without NOAA. NOAA trains teachers. NOAA is the lifeblood of coastal communities.
March 1, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Slava Ukraini
February 28, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.

Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
February 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Follow us, share our stuff, add stuff we should know about. What I know now is THERE IS A LOT GOING ON, and we want you to know it. There's strength in seeing that we're not alone, not all passive in the face of this.... bsky.app/profile/resi...
If you're looking for some great databases of the ongoing resistance (as well as some other useful resources) here's a thread of where to start.

1. Check out Choose Democracy's website with incredible guides on action you can take: choosedemocracy.us
Choose Democracy: resources to promote democracy
Regular people can stop an undemocratic power grab, but only if we prepare and together, we choose democracy.
choosedemocracy.us
February 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Lauren
If you're looking for some great databases of the ongoing resistance (as well as some other useful resources) here's a thread of where to start.

1. Check out Choose Democracy's website with incredible guides on action you can take: choosedemocracy.us
Choose Democracy: resources to promote democracy
Regular people can stop an undemocratic power grab, but only if we prepare and together, we choose democracy.
choosedemocracy.us
February 20, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Reposted by Lauren
Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)
February 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Yes. “People are doing things. You will meet them when YOU start doing things.”

Lots of information and resources in this one.

open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
Democracy is Crumbling. Is Anybody Doing Anything?
Yes. And You Can Too.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner and Chair of the FEC. There's a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn't it. I've been so fortunate to serve the American people and stir up some good trouble along the way. That's not changing anytime soon.
February 6, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Lauren
"Meanwhile the difference between reducing and eliminating all the leased space seems more or less like the difference between a haircut and the guillotine." meditations-in-an-emergency.ghost.io/maybe-you-sh...
February 5, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Our congressional delegation pursuing oversight on reports of Elon Musk’s illegal activity at USAID was just barred from entering the building on the orders of Musk and the Trump Administration.

Nobody elected Musk — this is illegal and corrupt and we will keep fighting it.
Members of Congress with @beyer.house.gov @vanhollen.senate.gov now seeking entry at USAID
February 3, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Lauren
Jasmine Crockett: "The problem is that Americans thought it was okay to take a full fledged criminal and make him the President of the US and then they want to act aghast when he does criminal things. Let me tell you, we have a thug in charge of the US and if we don't wake up we may not have a US"
February 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM