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Christian A. Meissner

@cameissner.bsky.social
885 followers 399 following 127 posts

Scientist, Father, Political Junkie.

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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Sheri Mecklenburg says she followed the instructions of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros' front office "at every turn" as she sought an indictment against the "Broadview Six." UPDATED @chicago.suntimes.com story on the lead prosecutor breaking her silence: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
chicago.suntimes.com
‘Broadview Six’ prosecutor ‘owns’ mistakes in tainted case, says she was just following orders
Lawyers for former federal prosecutor Sheri Mecklenburg say she retired Thursday from the Justice Department — a week before a federal judge is expected to hold a crucial hearing over the mishandling ...
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Christian A. Meissner @cameissner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
apnews.com
Trump administration has cut or frozen $177 billion in grants across every state, analysis shows
An analysis finds that the Trump administration has cut or frozen up to $177 billion in federal grants since the president took office for his second term.
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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Many uncertainties remain on details of this meeting. But 1.5+ years of grant terminations, staff dismissals, fired boards, and OMB proposals all point in the same direction: the admin wants political control of what research is funded. That is a path to ruin. www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Trump asked budget chief to draft order bringing health research funding under his control
The move came after the NIH director refused Trump’s request to cut Harvard grants in an Oval Office meeting.
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Christian A. Meissner @cameissner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
“an urgency that — combined with gaps in underlying information about the site, cuts in civilian-protection personnel and an overreliance on artificial-intelligence technology — set the stage for the deadly error” www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School
Pentagon investigators have discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab.
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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/09/2026
“The arrangement would give Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a direct role in determining how NIH distributes its $48 billion in congressionally-appropriated money.” Bypassing the many checks and balances at NIH on grant funding decisions.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
JUST IN: The 1st Circuit rejects the Trump administration's 3rd-country deportation policy, finding blanket assurances from countries who say they won't torture U.S. deportees is not good enough. And the judges raise this point: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergfeed.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Breaking: A week after the 9/11 trial judge's big decision that threw out a post-torture confession from KSM, the man of accused of being mastermind of the plot... the prosecution team decides they can go ahead without it, won't appeal. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/u...
nytimes.com
Prosecutors Won’t Try to Reinstate Key 9/11 Confession Taken After Torture
The military’s lawyers said they feared an appeal could delay the trial of the man accused of masterminding the attacks, which is scheduled to start in mid-2028.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
It's like a parody, but it's deadly serious; the Commerce Department (which includes Census, NOAA, and others) has outright deleted "don't alter or suppress scientific findings for political reasons" from its scientific integrity rules. Seriously.
Protecting against "inappropriate influence" is no longer a "hallmark" of scientific integrity

The Commerce Department updated its policy for promoting a "culture of scientific integrity" in January 2025, days before Trump's second inauguration.

A new Trump administration order bans the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis from using statistical “noise,” or data for fuzzing survey results, to protect people’s privacy in their statistics.

The 2025 version included bans on attempts to shape or interfere in data collection, statistical analysis and other scientific activities "against well-accepted scientific methods and theories or without scientific justification."

The department's policy, the 2025 version said, involves ensuring scientific findings at its agencies "are not suppressed, delayed, or altered for political purposes and are not subjected to inappropriate influence," as well as making sure there's "independent review of facilities, methodologies, and other scientific activities as appropriate to ensure scientific integrity."

That language is missing, however, in the Trump administration's revision of the policy, according to an NPR analysis of text posted on the Commerce Department's website.

And while the revision adopts a definition for "scientific integrity" that is similar to the previous version, it no longer says that "protection from inappropriate influence" is among the "hallmarks of scientific integrity."
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Big Oil profits have skyrocketed since Trump launched his Iran War — leading to a $93B windfall for the eight biggest oil companies in Q2 2026 alone. Meanwhile, Trump himself has raked in up to $15.5M from his fossil fuel investments since January. Don't forget what this was really all about.
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braindoc1010.bsky.social @braindoc1010.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Florida grand jury finds that Gov Ron DeSantis embezzled money from Medicaid to set up an Evita-style charity for his wife to run. www.tallahassee.com/story/news/s...
tallahassee.com
Grand jury finds DeSantis team 'misused' Medicaid funds
A grand jury report alleges the DeSantis administration diverted $10 million in Medicaid funds to political groups, according to CBS News Miami.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 24/08/2026
Today is the LAST DAY to leave your public comment on the NSF Proposal. The Proposal implements Vought’s science destroying OMB Policies ahead of time, and we cannot let this sneaky proposal scoot by quietly. Leave your public comment today by visiting the link: zurl.co/ZGP3i
The graphic contains a photo of Russell Vought, the red Stand Up for Science logo, and the NSF logo. The graphic reads: "Today is the last day to leave your public comment on the science endangering NSF Proposal".
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
BREAKING MUST CREDIT: US Trade Representative doesn’t understand how trade works
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Christian A. Meissner @cameissner.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
nytimes.com
He Was Wrongly Convicted of Attempted Rape. He’s Suing the DNA Analysts. (Gift Article)
Alexis Rodriguez claims technicians at the New York City medical examiner’s office fabricated DNA evidence, leading to his wrongful conviction in 2014 for attempted rape.
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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
Philipp Markolin @philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 24/08/2026
From 2001 to 2021, USAID helped to prevent more than 91 million deaths, including 30 million deaths among children. It's sudden defunding by Elon Musk & DOGE are now projected, unless reversed quickly, to lead to 14 million avoidable excess deaths by 2030, 4.5 million of which in children under 5.
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 22/08/2026
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Frank Herbert, Dune
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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
Noam Ross @noamross.net · 21/08/2026
Three more days to comment on NSF's attempt to smuggle in OMB's already-rejected policies of terminating any grant without cause, gutting civil rights obligations and restricting international collaborations. Submit your comment today! Then call your representatives. 🧪
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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Finally, this has gone a bit under the radar, so I want to highlight it: The social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate (SBE) has simply ceased to deliver grants to many of its subareas. Any topic not specifically OK'd by the Trump administration is receiving zero new awards.
All of the NSF’s directorates are awarding fewer new grants, but the hardest hit is the social, behavioural and economic sciences (SBE) directorate, which the White House proposed eliminating in its 2027 budget request to Congress. SBE has so far awarded 84 new grants this year, about 11% of its average, mainly in areas of artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience and decision-making. Much of its portfolio, such as sociology, archaeology, political science, economics and geography, has received zero new awards. “I don’t think they’ve realized yet that there’s no awards,” one NSF staff member says of researchers in those fields. “That’s going to be clear soon.”
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Scoop: For nearly a year, NSF has struggled to make new grants. Now we know that it will not catch up. In fact, NSF will award just 6,100 new grants—a 30% y/o/y decline, itself down from a previous avg. of 11,000+. In fact, the last time NSF awarded so few grants was in the early '80s.
nature.com
Exclusive: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades
The US science-funding agency is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project.
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Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 18/08/2026
On Aug. 18, the Trump administration released its National Security Science & Technology Strategy, which sets out four pillars of scientific and technological development as related to national security. Read the document, from Sarah Willrich.
lawfaremedia.org
White House Releases National Security Science & Technology Strategy
The document highlights the importance of leadership in emerging technologies and warns of losing the advantage to China.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 17/08/2026
Babies were found with dead brain tissue similar to what follows cancer and the kind of bleeding seen after a stroke. Their autopsies all came to the same conclusion: Their deaths could have been prevented with the long-standard vitamin K shot. (Published May)
propublica.org
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
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jenna newman phd @jennanewman.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
“The science behind justice rarely makes headlines. Most ppl never think abt forensic sci outside of streaming episodes of ‘CSI.’ Yet every DNA match, every shooter linked thru ballistic evidence, every missing person id’ed & every wrongful conviction prevented reflects yrs of scientific discovery”🧪
thehill.com
The science behind justice is easy to ignore, until we need it
We simply cannot wait until the next tragedy to invest in the science that makes justice possible.
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Reposted by Christian A. Meissner
simine vazire @simine.com · 10/08/2026
Special issue at Psych Science on psychological science in the real world! Send us your best work looking at whether effects from the lab (or from theories) hold up in ecologically valid settings. Submission deadline: 15 January 2027 www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
psychologicalscience.org
Special Issue Call for Submissions: “From Lab to Life: Psychological Science in the Real World”
Editors: Roni Porat and Vishnu SreekumarPsychological Science invites submissions presenting innovative research that brings psychological science “into the wild,” whether to strengthen its ecological...
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The American Academy of Pediatrics @ameracadpeds.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A statement from AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine on today’s executive order on U.S. childhood vaccines: www.aap.org/en/news-room...
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Neil Vigdor @gettingviggy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A propane tank and several containers of what were believed to be flammable liquids were found inside the man’s vehicle in a nearby parking garage, the police in Halifax said. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/w...
nytimes.com
Man in Custody Over Bomb Threat at U.S. Consulate in Nova Scotia
A propane tank and several containers of what were believed to be flammable liquids were found inside the man’s vehicle in a nearby parking garage, the police in Halifax said.
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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 10/08/2026
A new White House report says U.S. science policy needs modernization with less bureaucracy and faster innovation. Critics warn it could undermine the institutions behind decades of scientific leadership, stop the necessary flow of new ideas and new scientists, and pass global leadership to China.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 31/07/2026
Nature did a short piece on our preprint about how LLMs will affect the practice of science; my more detailed thread is below.
nature.com
Scientists using LLMs will ‘do more, less well’, modelling study predicts
Research suggests that the combination of incentives to publish and the use of large language models will lead to more papers, but they will be less refined.
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Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I'm back! Each Friday night, I write a briefing on what happened in US science & higher ed. 🧪  July 31 (Year 2, Week 31) - student visas, asylum cases & ICE surge at airports - "Golden Age" & Vanderbilt reports - kangaroo courts, grant terminations & so much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
buttondown.com
Year 2, Week 31
Jul 11-31, 2026 – the abracadabra of it all
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Knight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 30/07/2026
How can we better protect government science from political interference? In a new essay, Wendy Wagner argues that government science should be redesigned to institutionalize independent peer review and opportunities for scientific dissent, strengthening transparency and public trust.
knightcolumbia.org
Combatting Centralized Control Over Government Science
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Christian A. Meissner @cameissner.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
BLUF: “The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them...”
science.org
The Assault On Science Funding Continues
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 23/07/2026
1. The new Trump / Kratsios plan for US science appears explicitly designed to destroy US universities. Diverting money to tech donors is probably just a bonus. Gift link.
nytimes.com
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17/07/2026
"Before he can vote for himself in the primary, Mike Lindell needs to register to vote in the state he wants to lead as gov The Secretary of State’s office said Lindell, Trump’s preferred candidate, 'does not have an active record' A review shows Lindell has an active voter registration in TX"
startribune.com
Mike Lindell, Trump’s pick for governor, isn’t registered to vote in Minnesota
Texas lists an active voter registration for the Republican businessman, who has drawn criticism for moving there and returning.
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jenna newman phd @jennanewman.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
“‘We are surrounded by so many really intractable problems, & water quality issues on Cape Cod are really serious, & the solutions have such a far horizon,’ said Maggie Megaw, 72…. ‘This is so tangible & immediate. We show up at the pond & swim, & we bring back a big pile of trash’.”
“Ms. Baur said that the husbands of at least two members had thanked her. Diving for trash offers great stress relief and tends to have a salubrious effect on the mood back home. "You don't really want to live with unexploded ordnance, if you know what I meant," Ms. Baur said.

And, as leader, she's had to squelch her proclivity to get anxious and complain about physical discomforts, she said. "Now it's like 'suck it up, because they are watching, " Ms. Baur said. "I'm going to show them that being old is OK."”
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Christian A. Meissner @cameissner.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Why Do Some Dementia Patients ‘Return’ Just Before They Die? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/m...
nytimes.com
Why Do Some Dementia Patients ‘Return’ Just Before They Die? (Gift Article)
As they near death, some dementia patients recover mental faculties assumed to be long lost. Researchers want to know why.
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Mark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Trump has hamstrung the world’s leading weather-forecasting system to maybe save a few bucks, just as the weather grows more chaotic. The effects will cost lives and billions of dollars Gift link to my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
bloomberg.com
Your Weather App Could Soon Develop Blind Spots
We live in an era when people will invest hard-earned dollars in a stock simply because an anonymous Redditor with a handle like “looksmaxxingtrader” posts “We need to save Wendy’s” or some such. But ...
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 16/07/2026
About two-thirds, or 66 percent, of Americans say they would describe the cost of groceries as unaffordable, up sharply from the 45 percent who said the same thing in February before the conflict started, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.
washingtonpost.com
Two-thirds of Americans find groceries unaffordable, Post-Ipsos poll finds
A new Washington Post poll found that more Americans are feeling worse about the price of groceries than they were before the war with Iran began.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
BARCLAYS: “.. AI has been widely heralded as a disinflationary force – a technology that will bring down costs, automate work, and boost productivity. For the time being, it is leading to the opposite: higher electricity costs, higher memory prices, and upward pressure on inflation.”
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
BLAS: “.. The prices of refined petroleum products remain as high as if crude oil was still changing hands above $100 a barrel.” @bloomberg.com @javierblas.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 13/07/2026
Prices across all food categories are expected to rise 3.2% in 2026, according to the Economic Research Service at the Department of Agriculture. On "The Daily," the general manger of a food co-op in Pittsburgh discusses how the store is being affected by the quickly increasing costs.
nyti.ms
Why Are Grocery Store Prices So High
Motivated to keep prices low, the general manager of a food co-op in Pittsburgh tells us how the store is navigating the steep costs.
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 10/07/2026
Do you want political appointees within federal agencies deciding on grant funding? Or suspending/terminating grants without warning? How about controlling how grant work is done? No? Neither do we. Comment period closes on Monday 7/13. Go give ‘em hell til it does.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 07/07/2026
NEW: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years — despite warning voters that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records.” with @texastribune.org
propublica.org
Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on “Illegal Voting.” He May Have Violated Texas Election Law.
The Texas attorney general appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years — despite his warning voters that “it is illegal to misrepresent yo...
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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u... an ominous trend: graduate admissions are down 15 percent from last year, on top of an 11 percent decrease from the previous year we are destroying our seed corn
nytimes.com
Research Universities Are Admitting Fewer Ph.D.s, a Bad Sign for Science
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Frank Figliuzzi @frankfigliuzzi.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Breaking: Per MSNOW’s Vaughn Hillyard, acting DNI Bill Pulte is now firing dozens of intelligence officials at agencies beyond his own office as part of removing the “deep state.” Reportedly, the officials may have refused to provide him requested intel.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 02/07/2026
Many of the babies’ autopsy reports were clear: Vitamin K deficiency was the immediate cause of death, or contributed to it. The reports also included details about parents refusing the vitamin K shot, a long-standard injection, for their newborns. (Published May)
propublica.org
What I Can’t Forget About the Babies Who Died After Not Receiving a Vitamin K Shot
Babies have died after not receiving the vitamin K shot at birth. Their autopsy records underscore how preventable their deaths could have been.
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Vincent ⚖️ @vtheesquire.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
This is insane. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
cbsnews.com
Former Colorado DNA analyst pleads guilty to manipulating data in agreement with prosecutors
A former DNA analyst with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation changed her plea to guilty in court on Tuesday to four charges, as part of an agreement in which prosecutors dropped 100 other counts she...
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Trump and Republicans radically raised health insurance premium costs -- doubling them on average -- and so 5 million Americans who used to have health insurance now can't afford it. More than half the people who have this kind of health insurance live in GOP districts: www.npr.org/2026/06/26/n...
npr.org
5 million have dropped ACA insurance after Trump and the GOP let prices skyrocket
Enrollment in Affordable Care Act insurance fell much more sharply in the first months of 2026 than it has in years past. Trump officials blame fraud. Health policy experts blame costs.
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 28/06/2026
At the Faith and Freedom gathering yesterday, Speaker Johnson told a story that concluded w/John Quincy Adams saying, "Duty is ours, results are God's." But I spoke w/historians who oversee the Adams family papers. They…couldn’t find evidence of Adams saying that. religionnews.com/2025/06/23/o...
Around this time Vought was often heard using the phrase “Duty is ours; results are God’s,” an axiom quoted by Christian nationalist leaders affiliated with groups such as Wallbuilders, the organization run by activist David Barton. Vought attributed it to “the Founders” and President John Quincy Adams but, like other dictums embraced by Christian nationalists, the sourcing is dubious: Researchers at the Massachusetts Historical Society, which holds Adams family papers, told RNS they couldn’t find any instance of Adams using the phrase.
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AltSpaceForce 🚀🇺🇲 @altspaceforce.altgov.info · 27/06/2026
Trump's "State Fair" displayed a fake, wholly made up version of NC's civil war era flag to include the Confederate stars & bars. Only after NC Gov Stein & sponsor Mt Olive Pickles loudly protested was the flag removed. Inventing narratives is what Trump does & what RCR allowed to stand.
usatoday.com
Confederate flag at NC's Great American State Fair pavilion removed
An image of a Confederate flag was removed from North Carolina booth at the Great American State Fair, Gov. Josh Stein's office confirmed.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 27/06/2026
Inside a women’s prison, a domestic violence victim began collecting others’ stories of abuse. 156 women answered her call. Together, they became “survivor sisters” — and helped shape a new law offering them a path toward freedom. But would it work? Listen to the full episode:
propub.li
Convicted of Killing Their Abusers, These Women Got Another Chance at Freedom
A new law gave people sentenced for the murders of their abusive partners a rare pathway to freedom. That wasn’t the end of the story.
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