Panem et Circenses

Your all-too-regular reminder that Republicans in Congress think this is just fine.

Chinese hackers impersonated ex-US official to steal emails from AI experts reut.rs/46Z52or

NEW: Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs. In other parts of the world that have let their guard down to vaccine-preventable diseases, long-forgotten scourges have roared back and killed and disabled children.

"the farming conglomerate missed a regulator-imposed deadline to take action. At some point Taylor Farms directly spoke to the White House, and later the FDA and [CDC] were asked to defend their evidence. The back-and-forth ultimately kept the public in the dark an additional 60 hours"

I hate having to scan the comments of every video to see if it’s AI.

Trump on the Reflecting Pool: "It's very strong. You couldn't, if you had a knife — I don't want to give anybody ideas — if you had a knife, you can't even cut it. So strong, so powerful."

⛽ Average U.S. gas prices per gallon on May 2, per AAA ⛽ • Regular: $4.43 (⬆️ $1.45 since war in Iran began on Feb. 28) • Premium: $5.29 (⬆️ $1.43 since war began) • Diesel: $5.63 (⬆️ $1.87 since war began)

Average U.S. gas prices per gallon on April 29, per AAA: • Regular: $4.23 (⬆️ $1.25 since war in Iran began on Feb. 28) • Premium: $5.09 (⬆️ $1.23 since war began) • Diesel: $5.47 (⬆️ $1.71 since war began)

Farmers are ringing the alarm bells: 70% can't afford enough fertilizer. "[N]itrogen fertilizer prices have risen more than 30%, while combined fuel and fertilizer costs have increased roughly 20% to 40%. Urea prices have increased by 47% since the end of February." www.fb.org/news-release...

Trump’s VA killed a home loan program. Vets are now losing their homes, from @npr.org ⬇️ www.npr.org/2026/04/02/n...

Economists worldwide have increased their inflation forecasts for the United States in the wake of the Iran War’s impact on energy markets. The OECD estimates inflation could reach 4.2% this year. @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social

This is completely asinine. Mercury damages babies’ brain development and harms pregnant women and children. Sacrificing children’s health to prop up aging coal plants is reckless, indefensible, and a betrayal of basic moral responsibility. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

open.substack.com/pub/heatherd...

Shamp’s Senate Bill 1070 would direct the #Arizona Dept of Health Services to conduct or support research to “advance the understanding of Trump Derangement Syndrome, including its origins, manifestations and long-term effects on individuals, communities and public discourse.”

Well well well if it isn't the thing I have been talking about all week. If ice will not identify themselves how do we know that they are actually real ice agents? How can we possibly be resisting arrest when we believe we are trying to escape a kidnapping by masked and identified men w/o warrants?

We were actually getting somewhere, too. 😞 @sbmitche.bsky.social www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...

We couldn’t possibly be in a worse information environment for what’s happening. Which is probably, in part, why it’s happening.

re-upping this one

I’m going to say this again The president is taxing American consumers to try to do a favor for one of his political allies

The US dollar has — thus far — put in this century's worst performance:

The Trump administration has officially begun meddling in reports it doesn’t like. https://trib.al/r5SNdSA

Two years ago, my amazing big brother Niall walked the length of New Zealand to raise money to build an eye clinic in north-west Tanzania. This summer he's walking Lands End to John O'Groats to raise money to equip the clinic. His journey started this week: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT0A...

It would be great if you subscribed to his YouTube channel. He doesn't mind if you don't watch the videos, but letting them run to the end helps: "let them play while you make a cup of tea"! And if you can, do chuck a few pennies his way. www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...

Oh you don’t say economist.com/leaders/2025...

A useful way to think about his tanking poll numbers is that they would be far worse if more people knew what he is doing

I don’t understand how we so quickly forgot the supply shock lessons of Covid. Do people not remember what it was like to just not be able to get ahold of stuff required for daily existence? I am telling you, manufacturers that can’t absorb these tariffs are going to simply stop assembly lines.

Um — Trump just turned over management of our 🇺🇸 strategic petroleum reserve to a mystery company, who will get $1.4 billion to run it? 🤔 www.devdiscourse.com/article/head...

I did not make this and don't know who did, all the same - lmao

One part of this EO that hasn't received as much notice yet, is that it charges DOGE aka Elon Musk with reviewing Americans' voter registration status and how states maintain their voter registration rolls. Can't even put into words how scary that is...

More on Trump’s unconstitutional voting EO yesterday that would essentially allow only citizens who travel internally, aka who have a passport, to vote. 146 million Americans don’t have a passport & it’s red + rural states where passport ownership is low. In WV 80% of citizens DON’T have a passport.

Here is the 2025 Atlantic hurricane forecast and the regions of the US facing the biggest risk

(WaPo) - The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts .. @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

This will impact veterans' health care, their access to benefits, the suicide hotline, and critical medical research. How is a mass firing of this magnitude—for the sake of billionaire tax cuts—not a betrayal of veterans?

Being a historian, people ask me if I think the US is living through Germany 1933. I answer no, analogies are always imperfect but to me it feels more like Russia 1999: a blatant theft of state assets and liberals in a fugue state, refusing to believe the arc of progress is bending against them.

NEW: The Social Security Administration is cutting staff. Field offices will be affected. The same thing happened in the 80s, when 21% of field office jobs were cut. And a new research paper finds that it resulted in 80,000 eligible Americans not getting earned benefits. prospect.org/health/2025-...

Propaganda is the act of repeating a lie, continuously. Journalism is the act of publishing the truth, once. Lies are gonna win until we figure out that the truth needs repeating and defending.

I do not understand how a single member of the military supports this administration.