skywatcher08.bsky.social

so according to the CDC, *foodborne illness* is responsible for about 930 deaths a year. "food-induced illness" is a made up term RFK is using for basically every cause of mortality minus suicide.

Hi Internet! I'm Drew and THIS IS MY FACE. If this GIF has ever brought you joy in the past, I humbly ask you to consider making a donation to the National MS Society. It would mean a lot to me and to those I know affected by the disease! Donate at blinkingguy.com

Admirable clarity @science.org

1000 evaluators given identical resumes & told candidate used AI. Only difference on resumes was candidate’s name: Emily vs James. Study found women using AI are evaluated as less competent than men who use AI...To evaluators, women’s AI use signaled inability, while men’s AI use signaled initiative

101

NASA isn't why the US doesn't have universal healthcare, or a social safety net. The US doesn't have those things because politicians with the power to provide them choose specifically not to (with varying levels of support from voters). Enthusiasm for human spaceflight doesn't drive that choice.

The US government collected over $1 billion in immigration fees then refused to process the applications. No denials. No refunds. Just silence. This is the largest fee fraud in the history of the American immigration system. Here's what's happening. 🧵

Fun reminder before ICE inevitably hurts someone at an airport that the Democrats offered to fund the TSA as they still negotiate about the DHS and the republicans refused. thehill.com/homenews/sen...

regardless of what happens to the tariffs, they're doomed from the start because the average conservative holds all three of these positions at once: — virtue signals about supporting US manufacturing — against increasing the minimum wage — buys foreign imports because they're cheap

Don’t trust the experts”? That’s not democracy, that’s recklessness. On a plane, I want a pilot. In a hospital, I want doctors and scientists who understand the evidence. Expertise isn’t religion or authoritarianism — it’s training, accountability, and data. Ignore it and we all pay the price.

If you are an enemy of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting you are a villain. There’s nothing good about you.

I'd just like to point out how weird it is that places with hundreds or even thousands of reporters — the NYT, WaPo, CBS, NBC, AP, etc. — are all getting pummeled on every major story by the dozen computerboys at Wired. To fumble the bag this consistently is, at some point, cowardice and a choice.

yes, those medicaid recipients should just inherit their father's business and then sell it for a fortune, like sen. mullin did

I still can't get past the idea that people in America are now supposed to accept that this is a valid form of law enforcement and just assume it's fine when random dudes in groups with face-coverings, no ID, no warrant, & no uniform grab people off the street and force them into unmarked vehicles

The new @lastweektonight.com piece on juvenile incarceration featured several @ProPublica stories. First up was our 2021 investigation with @wpln.bsky.social about young Black kids in Tennessee jailed for a crime that doesn't exist: www.propublica.org/article/blac...

political press is doing a real disservice by basically not reporting the nuances of public opinion on deportations, and creating the appearance that most americans support the stephen miller-style gestapo tactics

everyday we see authoritarianism in broad daylight, fascists telling us they are fascists to our faces. cops and soldiers obeying a dictatorship as mindless tools. they bully us with force, violate our human rights without consequence, and perpetuate lies to feed their mindless followers.

hey. my bag with my laptop and a bunch of other gear was stolen yesterday while at the vgbees mixer. i need help replacing my stuff. gofund.me/959ad2c0

SPACENEWS: NASA budget would cancel dozens of science missions, lay off thousands (But sets aside nearly $2 billion effectively earmarked for SpaceX) spacenews.com/nasa-budget-...

Breaking from @science.org: The Trump administration wants to kill off a host of active and healthy NASA climate and planetary spacecraft. It would be a "leaner, more focused" agency, they say -- and one far less capable of studying the Earth and exploring space.

TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR, THE PROPOSED NSF BUDGET CUTS NEARLY A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE FROM NSF ACTIVITIES. FOR INSTANCE, JOBS.

Someone better hire me before I'm forced to write this proposal bc I really don't know if I have it in me to write this proposal.

Can't prove it, but the downfall of civilization started with Snapchat.

And I was just starting to regret not buying Giant Bomb merch when I could

Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.

the president’s policies will carpet bomb the economy and ruin millions of lives but don’t worry, he and his failchildren will come away from everything as rich as ever

The VA has abruptly ended the only low-interest, affordable loan modification option for thousands of vets who are behind on their mortgages. If you're a vet at risk of foreclosure, we want to hear your story.

I don't love doing self-promo since I'm fortunate to work with people who get my name out there organically. But since I don't know what the future looks like & people specifically asked how they can support: Streams will be back soon-ish & feel free to buy me a coffee if you appreciate what I do ❤️

Do me a solid:

On no Bakalar's fantasy critic just got torpedoed

Thanks for everyone who's been supporting me on this increasingly weird journey. If you'd like to get on board and get an ad-free podcast, a weekly bonus podcast, additional writings and shows and early access to the Jeff Gerstmann Hall of Fame, that's all waiting for you right here on Patreon.

Nothing but love to my Giant Bomb friends. Nothing but love to everyone at Polygon. Everyone deserves better than whatever the fuck is going on right now.

Needless to say I will no longer be contributing to Giant Bomb. Nothing but love to all the wonderful people from there and GameSpot. Jeff was a workhorse and a hero for the way he shouldered so much responsibility there, and I am furious with the way execs treated him. We aren’t going anywhere.

Getting a job in games media seemed almost unattainable when I broke in back in 2005. In the years since, it’s become almost impossible and ultimately inadvisable. I can’t imagine trying to break in today. Independent is pretty much the only option now. Support your favorite creators directly.

polygon and giant bomb dead in the same week is just unfathomable

Killing all gaming media on the eve of a big console launch and a few months before what will likely be the biggest video game of all time is smart and well thought-out business from people that definitely do not spend all day eating their own shit.

Well, that was a dream come true. Knew it wouldn't last, though. Out of a job at the moment. But I'll always be doing patreon.com/gamemess

A LOT of people do not want to hear it but in the United States at least, food has never been safer to eat, not to mention tastier

Despite knowing the people on the search warrant weren't there, the ICE arrest team STILL took this family's phones, laptops, and life savings — and refused to leave a BUSINESS CARD so they could ask to get it back! This stuff is sadly not unique to ICE; it happens with regular police raids too.

Update: 96-year-old’s bank account was cleaned out by Social Security on the grounds that he had been dead for a while and they were reclaiming benefits SS had paid to the allegedly but not actually dead man. He now has no money. DOGE strikes again. Anybody know a lawyer for this?

Video of a student in my town who wrote a political op-ed being grabbed off the street by government agents bsky.app/profile/pale...

He has little understanding and absolutely no curiosity, and massive contempt for people who genuinely care about things other than power. I think science and research baffle and offend him, and he doesn’t have any notion of their value.

of all the things the administration is doing, i am a little mystified by this effort to completely destroy the science, technology and medical research sector in the united states

The Republican Party is explicitly supportive of violence against women

This is a very important point. Breathlessly vague headlines and summaries of these executive orders created for the executive powers it does not have. This kind of press contributed to authoritarian regime change.