iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alexander Cohen

This thread has been updated and reposted to correct a previous post that erroneously described a May ruling by Judge Ana Reyes. Full correction note can be seen at the bottom of our story. www.bellingcat.com/news/us-cana...

bellingcat.com

Satellite Images Show Extent of Trump Admin’s Tree-Felling at DC Golf Course - bellingcat

Satellite imagery lays bare the extent of tree-felling at a Washington DC golf course that President Trump is reportedly seeking to transform, despite moves to protect the site by conservationists.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 18h

New satellite imagery reveals the full extent of tree felling on a Washington DC golf course long eyed for development by President Trump. 430 trees were reportedly cut with little notice over the weekend, undermining attempts to protect the site. www.bellingcat.com/news/us-cana...

A satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the East Potomac Golf Links on October 8 before tree felling.

A satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the East Potomac Golf Links on October 13th after tree felling.

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Arizona Right Watch @azrww.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Border Patrol agents tried to kill this protester at the Lochiel tree-sit blockade and there’s really no other way to read that.

One protester, who had chained themself to a gravel hauling truck for more than seven hours, shutting down wall construction yesterday, was covered in a Mylar blanket by contractors last night. Border Patrol agents started the truck, forcing the protester, who was chained near the back of the vehicle, to inhale carbon monoxide fumes for several minutes under the blanket. "Trying to suffocate them," said Kate Scott, one of the organizers who witnessed the incident.
"Then to make matters worse they began to drive the truck" Scott said, adding that she called 911 for help. A fire truck arrived but Border Patrol sent it away.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/10/2026

The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. We are. 500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term. Our tally is almost certainly an undercount. THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Liz Highleyman @lizhighleyman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I don’t necessarily trust Russia — or any government, really — to provide info it considers to be not in its interest, but there’s no evidence so far of an plague “outbreak.” One scientist died — everything else has been social media & tabloid spin. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

reuters.com

No plague cases detected in Siberia, Russia says, and locals play down scare

Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come ‌into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and lo...

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Unbiased Science @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A few plague cases show up in the western US most years. When a man in Arizona died of pneumonic plague in July 2025, 46 people who may have been exposed got preventive antibiotics, and none got sick. A 2021 pneumonic plague case in Wyoming had 22 close contacts, including 19 healthcare workers.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Unbiased Science @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

We're getting a lot of questions about the reported plague case in Russia, and we understand why headlines about "the plague" are scary. Let's go through what we know, and what we don't. This deserves close attention, but the chance of it becoming a wider outbreak, let alone a pandemic, is very low.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Dave Troy @davetroy.com · 06/10/2026

🛑 NEW: Reports of 'plague' in Irkutsk, Russia have set off a wave of speculation and anxiety. To help combat misinformation, we have setup a live tracker to continuously assess new claims. As of right now: reports have LOW credibility. Read more here. irkutsk.america2.news

irkutsk.america2.news

The Irkutsk Plague Report — live credibility tracker

What is confirmed, what is not, and who is spreading which claims about the reported plague death in Irkutsk, Russia.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Here's a site that has put together a pretty good timeline of what happened, the "official version" and what local reporting indicated before it was altered to reflect the official line. plagueintel.com/irkutsk-2026

plagueintel.com

Irkutsk Plague Case 2026: Timeline, Contacts and What Is Confirmed | PlagueIntel

Live briefing on the suspected pneumonic plague death at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, Russia: 197 contacts, hospital quarantines, official statements vs media reports, rumour check.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The illness wasn't handled by the local or even national ministry of health. Instead, the FSB, which is the successor the KGB, rounded up evey employee in the unit and ushered them off to...??? The 12th main directorate of the FSB is in charge of security at WMD plants.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret) @portlandken.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It is now almost certain that the 28-year old Russian bio-weapons lab researcher who suddenly died succumbed to pneumonic plague, the most dangerous and easily transmittable of all plague variants. This means that Russia continues to produce, and likely enhance, weaponized pneumonic plague. 1/3

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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

What's going on with this plague death in #Russia? Whatever it is, don't count on Moscow to be honest about it: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.com

Russia Needs to Tell the Truth About a Plague Death

After an apparent lab accident in Siberia, Moscow is reverting to its old Soviet ways.

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John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

One thing we know for certain. Russia is the best in the world at lying and hiding these things. saltypolitics.substack.com/p/breaking-w...

saltypolitics.substack.com

Breaking: What Russia May Be Hiding About the Plague

A likely case of pneumonial plague is prompting questions the Kremlin won’t answer

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 06/10/2026

Any Texas pediatricians want to talk to me for a story?

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This is the first OMB Director who, when you hear the President mention his name, you start pondering what illegal abuses of power will be coming soon. My guess: some systemic bribery efforts as well as punishments to blue states.

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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

apparently the actual status of these pianos is unclear? unfortunately, the administration has demonstrated no transparency or good faith, which makes it more likely people will infer the most extreme case is the correct one

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

DKarfs @dkarfs.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Valuable thread on parenting boys to respect others. This thread is also for non-parents. It’s for the entire village. All of us.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Erin Kissane @kissane.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

✅ also got ChatGPT condolences from the attorney who fed my personal information to his rebot to generate a high-pressure ChatGPT email about using his services

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Alexander Cohen @capitolmuckrakr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

In the interest of full disclosure, I have never been to an Atlanta Hawks game.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Back at the bad place during the first Trump administration, the biggest flurry of threatening replies and DMs (many of them antisemitic) I ever received was when this Kurt S jackalope quote tweeted me and sicced his army of flying MAGA monkeys on me.

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Just because we played footsie with these creeps for decades doesn't mean we wanted to marry them" ...but also: good for him. Due to the US's two-party polarized politics, fragmenting our authoritarian coalition requires high profile breaks like these from within the Republican Party.

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Scott MacFarlane @macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

THERE IT IS: Group of January 6 riot defendants have filed each filed federal civil lawsuits in DC seeking taxpayer-funded compensatory and punitive damages for alleged violations of their righrs They claim they were "targeted..and punished" for "protected expressive" activity

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Jessica Luther @jessicawluther.com · 28/09/2026

"Schools now must go back to the Title IX code as held under the previous Trump administration in 2020. ... Opponents of the move say it will harm transgender athletes and weaken protections for sexual assault victims."

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Alexander Cohen @capitolmuckrakr.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“I updated how I comparison-shop. I look at brick and mortar, on the app, logged in, logged out. I try not to buy in-app. I run experiments. Call your friends and say: “What price are you seeing?” My husband and I sit in bed with our laptops open, figuring out which of us gets the better deal.”

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Whenever you see a pollster or consultant give a take like this, it’s always worth following the money. In this case, Emanuel has paid Anzalone’s firm nearly $300k (maybe more but that’s what I found so far). A consultant class is devouring the Dem Party www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisc...

John Anzalone &
@JohnAnzo
X.com
Underestimate @RahmEmanuel at your own risk.
He knows how to win. He knows how to fight.
And he knows how to message.
And no one will out work him. Regardless of whether he wins the Democratic nomination in 2028 he will make an impact on the race. You can be sure of that. Don't take your eyes off of him. At the minimum, learn from him.
Rahm Emanuel Makes His 2026 Play
Rahm Emanuel Makes His 2026 Play
From nytimes.com
6:47 AM • 9/26/26 • 274K Views

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Will Craft @wcraft.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This story was a big collaboration between graphics, data, photo, and immigration. A story with bylines across 4 desks, which I think shows the seriousness with which The Guardian takes covering this

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The masculinity politics beat continues to be very necessary. goodauthority.substack.com/p/republican...

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Matt Waite @mattwaite.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Do you, like me, still think about the 2010 Winter Olympics interactive graphic from the NYTimes where they turned finishing times into sound? Good news: I burned some tokens and created soundeR, an R package that sonifies data in a very beginner friendly way: www.mattwaite.com/posts/2026-0...

mattwaite.com

Announcing soundeR, an R package that turns data into music(?) – Matt Waite

Announcing the soundeR package, that turns data into sounds. It’s made for people with basic tidyverse skills and a rudimentary understanding of music. You can make sounds with very little, and there’...

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Eoin Higgins @eoinhiggins.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

By giving AI agency it can’t claim, we’ve turned it into a sentient being made of code, one that has hopes, desires, and the capability of deceit.

eoinhiggins.substack.com

There are no “rogue” AI agents

Identifying them as such only lets companies like OpenAI off the hook.

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Rebecca Williams @rebeccawilliams.info · 28/09/2026

I tried this Signal registration w/ no phone number option 1) it was easy 2) it requires $2.99 payment to reduce scams, you can pay w/ a Google Gift Card (that you can buy in cash) if you took every other precaution (fresh phone/google account/delete logs, wifi only) that's close to a real burner

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 28/09/2026

"These MAGA weddings are Mos Eisley cantinas for counterintelligence." –@michaeldweiss.bsky.social

Screenshot of a quote-tweet by @michaeldweiss dated 27 Sep 2026. The original tweet is from "Sigal Chattah" (@Chattah4Nevada), and reads "Love is in the air [two heart emojis] Congrats [champagne emoji] to our amazing @AlinaHabba & @turhanmildoin [three emojis showing the Hamsa, a blue hand with an eye in it]." That text appears above a picture showing Kash Patel, Alina Habba, and others at a wedding ceremony. In his quote-tweet, Michael Weiss writes: "Why, that’s Ali Abdelaziz is on the far left. Manages a lot of Russian, Belarusian and Chechen MMA fighters including Khamzat Chimaev, who is close to Kadyrov. Abdelaziz was an FBI informant until the Bureau dropped him because they suspected he was a double agent. Looks like Ka$h (far right) has forgiven and forgotten. These MAGA weddings are Mos Eisley cantinas for counterintelligence."

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Stephen Stirling @sstirling.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Crazy satellite for a nor'easter. Are there clear skies on LBI as the 'eye' makes landfall?

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Melody Joy Kramer @mkramer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you’ve bet on sports with FanDuel or DraftKings, you can help ProPublica understand how these apps respond to their users’ betting behavior.

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Alexander Cohen @capitolmuckrakr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“The products subject to recall bear false marks of inspection with establishment number “EST. 1363,” which does not have a federal grant of inspection. These items were shipped to A&D Foods, a distributor in Georgia, for further distribution to retail and restaurant locations nationwide.”

fsis.usda.gov

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Reposted by Alexander Cohen

Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It's time to stop letting a small number of white American journalists who write airport books about scary diseases set the policy frame for pandemics. And it's unbelievably galling to do it - and this is always how it happens - in the middle of an ongoing Ebola virus epidemic.

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In addition, one of the most important open questions in our field is whether these changes are reversible. I'm persuaded that land use changes going back to the 1940s may have changed viral dynamics in wildlife - but that might just be how things are now, even if we stop deforesting.

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

David Quammen's essay in The New York Times today closes with this paragraph. It's both a scientific falsehood, and an incredibly dangerous narrative. If you're willing to give me five minutes of your time, I'd like to explain why.

The Ebola virus doesn’t need to spill back. It abides in its reservoir host, and awaits its next opportunity. A virus can’t climb out of a bat or a monkey and fly off in search of human prey. It can only spill over. If humans left the reservoir host alone — not hunting it, not capturing it, not eating it, not exporting it live, not disturbing its forest habitat — the virus wouldn’t re-emerge in humans. It would remain where it is, harming no one. But of course that’s not what happens. And when viruses spill, they often spill into us, because the human population is such a big, busy target.

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jenna ruddock @ruddock.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“going rogue” is like “hallucination”: a descriptor that is both technically inaccurate and obscures culpability

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Alexander Cohen @capitolmuckrakr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“We were told he would be unconscious in seconds. Yet his veins kept rising against the skin. Saliva, mucus and other fluids kept pooling. His eyes looked like they might explode. I took off my glasses. I sobbed. I had never felt further from God.”

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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Please don't overreact to the SCOTUS SAVE database decision today Page 6 of the decision makes clear that we are in the 90 day statutory window when mass changes cannot be made to voter lists! Yeah it's a shit decision for the reasons the 3 dissenters say but we can deal with it. More to come...

nytimes.com

Supreme Court Allows Expansive Voter Screening Tool Ahead of Midterms (Gift Article)

Critics of the Trump administration system to monitor the citizenship status of voters had raised alarms about privacy and improper voter purges.

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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”

APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.

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Cedar Attanasio @viacedar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Seattle became the first place in the US to ban algorithmic pricing in grocery g stores #airegulation To do so, they had to reject a red herring: (Why not ban price hikes, but not discounts?) My latest for @thestranger.com www.thestranger.com/news/seattle...

thestranger.com

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