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Amanda Fanniff, PhD

@amandafanniff.bsky.social
2.3K followers 2.9K following 331 posts

Associate Professor of Psychology. Research focuses on culturally informed forensic mental health assessment. Posts reflect my own views, not my employer's. She/her.

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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
This is a powerful piece. "Flailing regimes dehumanize minorities to distract from their failures...This is how it’s gone in Iran. Hungary. Russia. I wrote PDBs about it. This will not stop with trans people. It never has. But that caricature works only if people like me don’t exist—and I exist."
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
This NY Times piece shows the human cost of the changes to the SNAP program and it is heart breaking. Again, SNAP benefits not only improve health outcomes but have large economic benefits. Reducing access to SNAP benefits is a cruel, senseless policy.
nytimes.com
Faced With Piles of New Paperwork, People Are Losing Food Stamps (Gift Article)
Arizona’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rolls have plummeted, offering a possible preview of national trends as states try to avoid new federal penalties.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
From @theguardian.com "15 of the 26 people accused of vehicle attacks never faced federal criminal charges... 8 people who were charged had their cases dismissed... Cases were dropped or never charged in California, Colorado, Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Maryland & Washington DC"
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NPR @npr.org · 22/07/2026
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was fatally shot by an ICE agent two months into President Trump's second term. His mother says her family has yet to receive justice. n.pr/4ffCfAV
n.pr
Her son was killed by ICE at a traffic stop. She says she's still waiting for justice
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was fatally shot by an ICE agent two months into President Trump's second term. His mother says her family has yet to receive justice.
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Laurie! Live! @laurie-merrell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Here is an account of the police shooting in Madison today that does not directly contain any video but does contain eyewitness accounts, if that's something anyone is looking for www.wpr.org/news/man-sho...
wpr.org
MPD: Man shot, killed by police on Madison's east side after officer was injured with knife
A person was shot by police on Madison's near east side Wednesday.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Not collecting data doesn't stop discrimination, it facilitates it. Reminds me of John Roberts saying "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race" in a decision that undermined the ability of school boards to implement desegregation policies.
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Samantha Joel @datingdecisions.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
We made an open repository of close relationships measures. Our goal is to catalogue all of the published self-report measures in relationship science. You can help us expand the database by suggesting measures you tend to use in your research, or by uploading your own measures! relascale.com
relascale.com
RelaScale - Psychological Measures and Constructs
RelaScale is a searchable database of psychological measures and constructs for relationship researchers.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Health Council of the Netherlands: "Non-treatment is therefore not a neutral option...delaying or withholding care also has consequences for young people's lives and their developmental possibilities" The consequences are "morally relevant" thus"shortening the waiting times is morally urgent"
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Jim Acosta @jimacosta.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Epstein survivors released this video today urging senators to block the confirmation of Todd Blanche for Attorney General. They’re trying to get to 20,000 signatures on their petition to send a message to the Senate. ujoin.co/campaigns/45...
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
SNAP benefits reduce food insecurity and improve health outcomes (e.g., www.cbpp.org/sites/defaul...) & have large economic benefits www.ers.usda.gov/publications... doi.org/10.1093/rest... On top of the moral and humanitarian reasons to fund SNAP, it is a win-win program in terms of economic impact
cbpp.org
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
It took DHS 12 hours to come up with this statement, And the best they could come up with is that ICE shot and killed an unarmed man who didn’t present a threat to the agents. They know they fucked this one up. And it’ll be up to state and local prosecutors—not the feds—to make the case
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This is a tremendous piece by Judy Stone at @forbes.com. This new OMB rule is going to hurt communities from coast to coast. Federal grants are not just about research! www.forbes.com/sites/judyst...
forbes.com
How The OMB Rule Could Hurt You And Your Town
The OMB proposal threatens scientific research and ALL federal funding for states, cities, and nonprofits. It politicizes ALL funding. Call your reps and write an objection.
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David Burbach 🇺🇸 @dburbach.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
For this new OMB rule I had mostly been thinking of "grants" in the science and arts sense but as OMB defines it I gather also includes a lot of what until now has been considered routine transportation, education, and healthcare transfers to to state and local government.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
If you you want to help protect scientific progress, you have until midnight Eastern to submit your comment if you haven't done so yet. For help, check out elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of... or ombcomment.netlify.app (they make it easy!) AND see @samwang.bsky.social's post about next steps
elizabethginexi.substack.com
Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Russell Vought is going to destroy American Science
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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Also, their initial claim had been the usual “weaponization of the vehicle,” which IS about officer safety. So are they backtracking on their claim already? Just adding fuel to the “ICE initial accounts can never be trusted“ fire?
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Project Salt Box @projectsaltbox.com · 13/07/2026
Reposting for the Monday morning crowd. Over the weekend, ICE made an about-face on its Roxbury, NJ warehouse. Despite telling a federal judge on June 29 it was no longer converting the site into a detention camp, ICE said Saturday it's now moving forward with "considering" the conversion.
projectsaltbox.com
DHS Reverses Course on Roxbury, N.J., Warehouse, Telling Court It May Convert the Site to Detention After All
Eleven days after telling a federal judge it would sell the $129 million warehouse, the department says it is again considering retrofitting the building to hold up to 1,500 detainees.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12/06/2026
"So this very much looks like a deliberate war crime. It's an attack I fear the USA will regret for a long time. It is no different than Al-Qaeda deliberately targeting civilians. If the US gets attacked in return, it will only be served what seems to be official American policy on a cold plate."
phillipspobrien.substack.com
War Crimes Seem To Be Official US Policy Now
We Will Rue The Day
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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Sam Alito in Callais: the 14th/15th amendment only care about intentional discrimination! SCOTUS today: jk! not even that! (unless the “intentional” discrimination is attempting to comply with the voting rights act, in which case it’s unconstitutional intentional racial discrimination)
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
@mcsweeneys.net does it again. Brilliant. “We solemnly vow to dismantle systemic barriers to inclusion—such as shared governance, apolitical job searches, and the discriminatory practice of vetting ideas—and to ensure that all viewpoints, however dubious, enjoy equal footing in the academy.”
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Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
This is absolutely outrageous. SCOTUS reinstated Texas gerrymander 15 weeks before primary because they claimed it was too close to election to block it but now allowing Alabama to gerrymander one week before primary after trial court found map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
@stevevladeck.bsky.social Maybe someone will try to explain "why the Court correctly intervened to allow Alabama to use an unlawful map in 2022, and yet it’s been justified in intervening to prevent NY & LA from using unlawful maps in 2026. Suffice it to say, Justice Alito didn’t provide one."
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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
remember when justice Alito said Milligan (the 2023 voting rights act case from AL) was TOTALLY DIFFERENT from Callais (the recent voting rights case from LA)?? 🫠🫠🫠🫠
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
It will take decades to recover from the damage already done to science infrastructure in the United States. We will never know what opportunities & innovations we missed because of funding cuts. But we should take every action we can to stem the tide #standupforscience #defendresearch #academicSky
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Palo Alto University is hiring a Library Director! Come work with amazing students, faculty, and staff who are committed to improving mental and behavioral health and advancing social justice #lisjobs #libjobs #libraryjobs #critlib #librarysky #academiclibrarian www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/44...
linkedin.com
Palo Alto University hiring Director of University Library in Palo Alto, CA | LinkedIn
Posted 2:37:51 AM. Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private, nonprofit university located in the heart of Silicon…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 07/04/2026
The receipts. A complete timeline of the shifting rhetoric. More: www.meidasplus.com/p/today-in-p...
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 06/04/2026
Q: Are there certain kinds of civilians targets like schools or hospitals that are off limits? TRUMP: I don't want to tell you that. We have a plan where every bridge and power plant in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow night
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Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
This is an actual post. This is not funny. This is beyond desperate. This is a deeply unwell man who doesn’t belong anywhere near the levers of power. Every member of his cabinet and Congress is complicit in not demanding his removal now.
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Georgia election officials have less than three months to convert the state’s entire voting system from touchscreen machines to paper ballots, after the state Senate failed to vote Friday on legislation that would have delayed the conversion until 2028. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
GOPers ignore election officials’ warnings, leaving Georgia little time for paper ballots switch
The rushed system switch risks compromising election security and will complicate ballot counting, delay reporting results and create “widespread confusion” for voters and election administrators, cou...
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
“We cannot do nothing and expect the republic to make it through. Indeed, Trump’s one chance to succeed, in any of these scenarios, is our own silent collaboration.“
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Action Item...Action Item...Action Item Time to comment on the Framework for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan grants.nih.gov/grants/guide... Comments due by May 16, 2026
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-26-047: Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments and Suggestions on a Framework for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2031
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments and Suggestions on a Framework for the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fis...
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
The Law & Science Program of NSF's SBE Program has funded "social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules, as well as studies of how science and technology are applied in legal contexts" 1/
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few isn't just bad for our economy. It's corrosive to our democracy. When the super-rich control our political system, regular people don't have a voice. The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
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Andrew Weinstein @andrewjweinstein.com · 02/04/2026
It’s increasingly clear that Donald Trump has declined in alarming ways. His vocabulary is shrinking, his cadence is slowing, his speech is often slurred. Nothing in his recent appearances suggests the capacity expected of a president. The only question is whether those around him will confront it.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Therapists should not be allowed to use practices that harm their clients As a result of this decision, states cannot bar conversion therapy. Prof associations for all disciplines should make clear that such practices are unethical www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq... #ProtectTransKids #transdayofvisibility
apa.org
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Declining vaccination rates are *already* having massive negative impact We cannot put the vaccine issue aside in any conversation on #publichealth Since Jan 2025 "there have been 3,564 confirmed cases in 46 states, mostly among children and teenagers" - more than any outbreak since 2000
health.harvard.edu
Measles is making a comeback: Can we stop it? - Harvard Health
In the US, widespread vaccination halted the ongoing spread of measles more than 20 years ago, but recent outbreaks have flared in over 20 US states, leading to hospitalizations and at least two de...
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
There are many inhumane aspects of the administration’s actions against immigrants. The violation of the human rights of adults is terrible.The detention of children, and on top of detention, their placement in such sub standard conditions - is so horrifying that I can’t find the right words.
propublica.org
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Safer Society is hosting a FREE webinar 3/18/26 on prevention of #childabuse at the organizational level. This is the future of #publichealth #prevention of abuse. Elizabeth Letourneau from @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social & her colleagues are at the cutting edge of research & implementation Link below!
safersociety.org
How Your Youth-Serving Organization Can Be An Effective Agent of Prevention: Insights from Prevention Global
Child abuse is preventable, and youth-serving organizations are essential allies in that prevention. Every year, these organizations engage tens of millions of children worldwide, creating opportuniti...
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
This is BLEAK. And illustrates why we didn’t celebrate the funding “wins”.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Thank you @padilla.senate.gov & @schiff.senate.gov for opposing the SAVE Act From @brennancenter.org This act would disenfranchise millions, including women whose married names aren’t on their birth certificates or passports www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
brennancenter.org
New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting
The “show your papers” requirement is an attack on the freedom to vote.
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
"There is a method to how these decisions historically have been made-a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements. Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions." #publichealth #defendscience
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
"A pivot has occurred: the nation’s inaction in addressing the US health disadvantage has been replaced by something worse, government actions that—intentionally or not—endanger population health" @shwoolf.bsky.social in @jama.com jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #publichealth #defendscience
jamanetwork.com
When Disregard for Population Health Becomes US Policy
This Perspective discusses the consequences on population health of recent US policies, such as those that limit funding for scientific research or affect vaccine access.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face. If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.
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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
This YouGov poll on ICE is really eye-opening. Public opinion has really swung against DHS/ICE and their terror regime. d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/IC...
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
And, the word of the day is now "perfidy." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
By Charlie SavageEric SchmittJohn IsmayJulian E. BarnesRiley Mellen and Christiaan Triebert
Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt, John Ismay and Julian E. Barnes reported from Washington; Riley Mellen and Christiaan Triebert reported from New York.

Jan. 12, 2026
Updated 6:47 p.m. ET
The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first attack on a boat that the Trump administration said was smuggling drugs, killing 11 people last September, according to officials briefed on the matter. The aircraft also carried its munitions inside the fuselage, rather than visibly under its wings, they said.

The nonmilitary appearance is significant, according to legal specialists, because the administration has argued its lethal boat attacks are lawful — not murders — because President Trump “determined” the United States is in an armed conflict with drug cartels.

But the laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status to fool adversaries into dropping their guard, then attacking and killing them. That is a war crime called “perfidy.”U.S. military manuals about the law of war discuss perfidy at length, saying it includes when a combatant feigns civilian status so the adversary “neglects to take precautions which are otherwise necessary.” A U.S. Navy handbook says lawful combatants at sea use offensive force “within the bounds of military honor, particularly without resort to perfidy,” and stresses that commanders have a “duty” to “distinguish their own forces from the civilian population.”
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WIRED @wired.com · 08/01/2026
Law enforcement has more tools than ever to track your movements and access your communications. Here’s how to protect your privacy if you plan to protest. www.wired.com/story/how-to...
wired.com
How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance
Law enforcement has more tools than ever to track your movements and access your communications. Here’s how to protect your privacy if you plan to protest.
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San Francisco Chronicle @sfchronicle.com · 10/01/2026
Several hundred people form a human banner spelling out “IT WAS MURDER — ICE OUT!!” at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach during a protest Saturday in response to the recent fatal shooting in Minneapolis of Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration agent. 📸: Erik Castro/Special to The Chronicle
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
We need to get it lodged more firmly in the discourse that Trump and Stephen Miller are prioritizing removing nonviolent immigrants over public safety. They are sinking so many resources into their ethnic purification project that they're putting us in more danger. newrepublic.com/article/2041...
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Amanda Fanniff, PhD @amandafanniff.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
If this were to pass in the Senate, it would do so much harm Gender affirming care is evidence-based. It is safe. It is effective. It is a decision for the person, their parents, & their doctor If that’s not enough, actions like this are a step toward controlling & restricting rights of more of us.
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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 18/12/2025
Another boat strike today. Let's dedicate this one to the 214 Republicans and 2 Democrats who voted against stopping these illegal murders. The death toll from 26 attacks now stands at 99.
Known Lethal U.S. Attacks on Civilian Vessels in the Caribbean
26 reported attacks. Total reported killed: 99 people
Notification Date	Number Reported Killed	Approximate Location
2-Sep-25	11	"in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility" (later revealed as between Sucre, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago)
15-Sep-25	3	"in International Waters… in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility"; Colombian president claimed it was a fishing boat in Colombian waters
19-Sep-25	3	"in international waters… in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility" near the Dominican Republic
3-Oct-25	4	"in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela"
14-Oct-25	6	"in International Waters… just off the Coast of Venezuela"
16-Oct-25	2; 2 reported survivors	"in the Caribbean"
17-Oct-25	3	"in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility"
21-Oct-25	2	"in the Eastern Pacific"
22-Oct-25	3	"in the Eastern Pacific"
23-Oct-25	6	"in the Caribbean Sea"
27-Oct-25	8 *	"in the Eastern Pacific"
27-Oct-25	4 *	"in the Eastern Pacific"
27-Oct-25	3 *	"in the Eastern Pacific"
29-Oct-25	4	"in the Eastern Pacific"
1-Nov-25	3	"in the Caribbean"
4-Nov-25	2	"in the eastern Pacific"
6-Nov-25	3	"in the Caribbean… in international waters"
9-Nov-25	3	"in the eastern Pacific… in international waters"
9-Nov-25	3	"in the eastern Pacific… in international waters"
10-Nov-25	4	"in the Caribbean… in international waters"
15-Nov-25	3	"in the Eastern Pacific… in international waters"
4-Dec-25	4	"in the Eastern Pacific"
15-Dec-25	3	"in international waters… in the Eastern Pacific"
15-Dec-25	2	"in international waters… in the Eastern Pacific"
15-Dec-25	3	"in international waters… in the Eastern Pacific"
17-Dec-25	4	"in international waters… in the Eastern Pacific"
* One individual survived one of these three attacks, but was not recovered and is now included in the death toll.
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Vanity Fair photographer Christopher Anderson is the hero we need. Brilliant work. The photos were perfect. Exposed the ugly that's been there the entire time.
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