@melaniestebbins.bsky.social
Looking for smart.
Reposts = My Read Later List
The sky is bluer here!
Reposts = My Read Later List
The sky is bluer here!
Reposted
Trump is weak at home, and he can be stopped – so long as the domestic political logic of foreign intervention is recognized and turned against him. This act of war is about regime change in the United States. It only succeeds if Americans allow it to do so.
January 4, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Trump is weak at home, and he can be stopped – so long as the domestic political logic of foreign intervention is recognized and turned against him. This act of war is about regime change in the United States. It only succeeds if Americans allow it to do so.
Reposted
“‘If a fire occurs in the cabin ... don’t check on the immigrants. Just make sure that you and the guards and the people that work for the government get off," one flight attendant was told.
“It was as if the detainees’ lives were worthless,’” said another.
Our #3 most-read story of 2025:
“It was as if the detainees’ lives were worthless,’” said another.
Our #3 most-read story of 2025:
Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time”
Current and former flight attendants for GlobalX, the private charter airline at the center of Trump’s immigration crackdown, expressed concern about their inability to treat passengers humanely and t...
www.propublica.org
January 5, 2026 at 4:00 AM
“‘If a fire occurs in the cabin ... don’t check on the immigrants. Just make sure that you and the guards and the people that work for the government get off," one flight attendant was told.
“It was as if the detainees’ lives were worthless,’” said another.
Our #3 most-read story of 2025:
“It was as if the detainees’ lives were worthless,’” said another.
Our #3 most-read story of 2025:
Reposted
History shows us where we've already been...and may be going. @hcrichardson.bsky.social gives us a lesson in our country's birth of democracy...it's never been easy!
#ProudBlue #DemVoice1 #DV1 #Pinks
youtu.be/G0WXr_Uvl2Y?...
#ProudBlue #DemVoice1 #DV1 #Pinks
youtu.be/G0WXr_Uvl2Y?...
Ten Steps to Revolution | Journey to American Democracy
YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson
youtu.be
January 4, 2026 at 12:10 AM
History shows us where we've already been...and may be going. @hcrichardson.bsky.social gives us a lesson in our country's birth of democracy...it's never been easy!
#ProudBlue #DemVoice1 #DV1 #Pinks
youtu.be/G0WXr_Uvl2Y?...
#ProudBlue #DemVoice1 #DV1 #Pinks
youtu.be/G0WXr_Uvl2Y?...
Reposted
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air.
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak. Here’s how we did.
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak. Here’s how we did.
How ProPublica Investigated a Bird Flu Outbreak in America’s Heartland
Early this year, bird flu ripped through 80 farms in Ohio and Indiana. Using genetic markers, wind simulations, satellite imagery, property records and more, we found that the virus could’ve been airb...
www.propublica.org
December 31, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air.
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak. Here’s how we did.
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak. Here’s how we did.
Reposted
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
December 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
Reposted
“The New York Times contacted Ms. Farmer about a report stamped with the date of Sept. 3, 1996. She broke down in tears.
“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
HUGE NEWS from the new Epstein files:
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Epstein Files Include 1996 Child Porn Complaint That F.B.I. Ignored
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
“The New York Times contacted Ms. Farmer about a report stamped with the date of Sept. 3, 1996. She broke down in tears.
“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
“I’ve waited 30 years,” she said. “I can’t believe it. They can’t call me a liar anymore.”
Reposted
🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans and Forward Latino my law firm has filed a motion to intervene as defendants in the DOJ's lawsuit seeking Wisconsin's complete statewide voter registration database. www.democracydocket.com/cases/wiscon...
🚨 United States of America v. Wisconsin Elections Commission
Learn more.
www.democracydocket.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans and Forward Latino my law firm has filed a motion to intervene as defendants in the DOJ's lawsuit seeking Wisconsin's complete statewide voter registration database. www.democracydocket.com/cases/wiscon...
Reposted
We created a new tool that uses prescription label information to identify where your drug was made.
It also lets you see if and when that factory was inspected for quality and safety violations.
Try it out 👇
It also lets you see if and when that factory was inspected for quality and safety violations.
Try it out 👇
Where Was My Generic Prescription Drug Made? - Rx Inspector - ProPublica
The FDA won’t tell Americans where their generic drugs are made, so ProPublica did it instead. Use information on your prescription label to locate the factory and see inspection reports.
projects.propublica.org
December 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
We created a new tool that uses prescription label information to identify where your drug was made.
It also lets you see if and when that factory was inspected for quality and safety violations.
Try it out 👇
It also lets you see if and when that factory was inspected for quality and safety violations.
Try it out 👇
Reposted
Off topic a bit, but this eye-opening conversation between noted author @tommueller.bsky.social and @trevonoahtoday.bsky.social covers the scandalous state of dialysis care in the United States. ://youtu.be/62d9iBDfHKw?si=fFR3LtZxZj9oYWBG
Tom Mueller: The Most Dangerous Part of America’s Healthcare System Isn’t What You Think
YouTube video by Trevor Noah
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Off topic a bit, but this eye-opening conversation between noted author @tommueller.bsky.social and @trevonoahtoday.bsky.social covers the scandalous state of dialysis care in the United States. ://youtu.be/62d9iBDfHKw?si=fFR3LtZxZj9oYWBG
Reposted
Full vidoe here. Definitely worth a watch... www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-y...
Palantir C.E.O. Alex Karp Defends Aiding Trump’s Immigration Policies
YouTube video by The New York Times
www.youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Full vidoe here. Definitely worth a watch... www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-y...
Reposted
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people's bodies. Her bosses halted her work.
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles wit...
www.propublica.org
November 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people's bodies. Her bosses halted her work.
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.
(Published May 2024)
Reposted
Boston's Mayor Wu playing with Yo-Yo Ma at Symphony Hall
November 23, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Boston's Mayor Wu playing with Yo-Yo Ma at Symphony Hall
Reposted
"How does a country burst? To answer this question, it helps to see matters as do the president and the vice-president: from inside a grift bubble."
"The Grift Bubble: A Political Theory of American Collapse"
"Those who work against the grifters... may be acting from love, or from law, because they know that these things are real. And so they should also know, in acting thus, that they are the patriots."
snyder.substack.com/p/the-grift-...
"Those who work against the grifters... may be acting from love, or from law, because they know that these things are real. And so they should also know, in acting thus, that they are the patriots."
snyder.substack.com/p/the-grift-...
The Grift Bubble
A Political Theory of American Collapse
snyder.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:59 PM
"How does a country burst? To answer this question, it helps to see matters as do the president and the vice-president: from inside a grift bubble."
Reposted
Unprincipled and weak. The murder of journalists is perhaps the single most direct violation of the right to freedom of speech. (1/2)
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 20, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Unprincipled and weak. The murder of journalists is perhaps the single most direct violation of the right to freedom of speech. (1/2)
Reposted
Extraordinary that the Texas government would be so corrupt that it would have to black out more than 80% of its emails with Elon Musk.
NEW: After fighting to keep emails between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and billionaire Elon Musk’s companies secret, officials have released nearly 1,400 pages of documents to The Texas Newsroom.
All but about 200 pages are blacked out.
All but about 200 pages are blacked out.
Gov. Greg Abbott Was Ordered to Release Some of His Emails With Elon Musk. Most Are Blacked Out.
Months after fighting to keep secret emails between Gov. Greg Abbott and Elon Musk, Texas officials released 1,400 pages of records. But they reveal little about the two men’s relationship or Musk’s influence over state government.
www.propublica.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Extraordinary that the Texas government would be so corrupt that it would have to black out more than 80% of its emails with Elon Musk.
Reposted
This Texas woman developed preeclampsia, leading to still-birth. She DIED, leaving her young son behind.
This happens while an all-male panel in South Carolina is deciding whether women should be charged w/ murder for their pregnancies.
Abortion is healthcare.
How many more women have to die?
🧪
This happens while an all-male panel in South Carolina is deciding whether women should be charged w/ murder for their pregnancies.
Abortion is healthcare.
How many more women have to die?
🧪
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:17 PM
This Texas woman developed preeclampsia, leading to still-birth. She DIED, leaving her young son behind.
This happens while an all-male panel in South Carolina is deciding whether women should be charged w/ murder for their pregnancies.
Abortion is healthcare.
How many more women have to die?
🧪
This happens while an all-male panel in South Carolina is deciding whether women should be charged w/ murder for their pregnancies.
Abortion is healthcare.
How many more women have to die?
🧪
Reposted
The White House is close to implementing a new rule that would effectively eradicate congressionally approved whistleblower protections.
newrepublic.com/post/203409/...
newrepublic.com/post/203409/...
Trump Guts Federal Protections for Whistleblowers
Donald Trump is about to make it a lot harder for whistleblowers to come forward.
newrepublic.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:58 AM
The White House is close to implementing a new rule that would effectively eradicate congressionally approved whistleblower protections.
newrepublic.com/post/203409/...
newrepublic.com/post/203409/...
Reposted
OMG 😳 Last week I wrote about Russia’s Orthodox Church being an arm of intel (part of my new series on the far right) and just read that the White House will meet clergy with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church this week thehill.com/policy/inter...
Chapter 2: Russia's Orthodox Church
Welcome to my new series, Inside the Kremlin’s Global Far-Right Operations.
open.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:21 AM
OMG 😳 Last week I wrote about Russia’s Orthodox Church being an arm of intel (part of my new series on the far right) and just read that the White House will meet clergy with ties to the Russian Orthodox Church this week thehill.com/policy/inter...
Reposted
“There are about 1,000 of us.”
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 17, 2025 at 1:09 AM
“There are about 1,000 of us.”
Reposted
Records obtained by ProPublica indicate that food banks across the country were expecting more than 27 million pounds of chicken, 2 million gallons of milk, 10 million pounds of dried fruit and 60 million eggs that never arrived.
(Published October)
(Published October)
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
November 12, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Records obtained by ProPublica indicate that food banks across the country were expecting more than 27 million pounds of chicken, 2 million gallons of milk, 10 million pounds of dried fruit and 60 million eggs that never arrived.
(Published October)
(Published October)
Reposted
If you watched and haven't read this, you really should. If you didn't watch because you can't stand the sound of his voice, you should read this, too.
Then we can all stop watching @cbsnews.com until they put journalists back in charge.
Then we can all stop watching @cbsnews.com until they put journalists back in charge.
November 4, 2025 at 4:06 AM
If you watched and haven't read this, you really should. If you didn't watch because you can't stand the sound of his voice, you should read this, too.
Then we can all stop watching @cbsnews.com until they put journalists back in charge.
Then we can all stop watching @cbsnews.com until they put journalists back in charge.
Reposted
When the Supreme Court allowed immigration agents to consider race during sweeps, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that citizens shouldn’t worry because if they’re detained, agents will “promptly let the individual go.”
For these Americans, that wasn’t true.
For these Americans, that wasn’t true.
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And…
www.propublica.org
November 3, 2025 at 2:02 AM
When the Supreme Court allowed immigration agents to consider race during sweeps, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that citizens shouldn’t worry because if they’re detained, agents will “promptly let the individual go.”
For these Americans, that wasn’t true.
For these Americans, that wasn’t true.
Reposted
I thought maybe reading the transcript of tonight's @60minutes.bsky.social interview would be easier than listening to him, but it wasn't.
Here it is ... exactly what you'd expect: incoherent lies, one after another, with no pushback. Utter failure of journalism.
www.cbsnews.com/news/read-fu...
Here it is ... exactly what you'd expect: incoherent lies, one after another, with no pushback. Utter failure of journalism.
www.cbsnews.com/news/read-fu...
Read the full transcript of Norah O'Donnell's interview with President Trump here.
Read the full transcript of Norah O'Donnell's interview with President Trump here.
www.cbsnews.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:27 AM
I thought maybe reading the transcript of tonight's @60minutes.bsky.social interview would be easier than listening to him, but it wasn't.
Here it is ... exactly what you'd expect: incoherent lies, one after another, with no pushback. Utter failure of journalism.
www.cbsnews.com/news/read-fu...
Here it is ... exactly what you'd expect: incoherent lies, one after another, with no pushback. Utter failure of journalism.
www.cbsnews.com/news/read-fu...
Reposted
“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”
We didn't. Read the story that he wanted dropped:
We didn't. Read the story that he wanted dropped:
“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well be...
www.propublica.org
November 2, 2025 at 3:00 AM
“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”
We didn't. Read the story that he wanted dropped:
We didn't. Read the story that he wanted dropped:
Reposted
Way back in 2019, Trump wanted to prevent anyone from following the money when it came to Epstein.
When JPMorgan alerted the Trump administration to the existence of $1 billion in funds Epstein held which were clearly connected to child trafficking, Trump responded by suppressing the information. Why?
JPMorgan flagged $1B in ‘suspicious’ Epstein-linked deals to Trump administration
Over 4,700 transactions, including wire transfers to Russian banks raised red flags in 2019, new documents reveal
www.independent.co.uk
November 1, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Way back in 2019, Trump wanted to prevent anyone from following the money when it came to Epstein.