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anjali dassarma

@dassarma.bsky.social
218 followers 242 following 24 posts

phd candidate at @asc.upenn.edu | she/her studying history, race, colonialism, capitalism & journalism “the ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition of its roots.” - michel-rolph trouillot

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anjali dassarma @dassarma.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
brilliant piece- “Learning is a strange and discomfiting experience; it’s a struggle and a frustration… It is not always pleasure in its easiest sense… we also need to talk to young people about reading … for liberation and emancipation… and to have the strength to fight in the arenas of the mind.”
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AAUP @aaup.org · 05/08/2026
“A bureaucratic restructuring that leads to the selective elimination of faculty members really puts academic freedom in jeopardy… particularly for professors who have displeased admin, trustees or donors.” — Mark Criley, Senior Officer in the AAUP Dept of Academic Freedom, Tenure & Governance.
nytimes.com
He Had Tenure. The New School Laid Him Off Anyway.
The professor, a longtime critic of the university, was among 19 educators who lost their positions as the institution navigated financial woes.
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Annette Yoshiko Reed @annetteyreed.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
August as an academic
Tabbycat in tie say he hopes he doesn’t have a lot of meetings… while in the background is a lots of meetings factory
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Hanaa’ Tameez @hanaatameez.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
NEW: At least five media companies are using algorithmic pricing to decide how much news subscribers should pay. If you've been told that your news subscription price was determined by an algorithm using your personal data, please take the survey at the end: www.niemanlab.org/2026/07/this...
niemanlab.org
“This price was set by an algorithm”: News subscribers are surprised by a new line in their renewal emails
Outlets like Wired, NJ.com, and The Wall Street Journal are setting renewal prices just for you — and being forced to disclose it.
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Nora Benavidez @attorneynora.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Another killing by ICE today in Maine. The third government killing of a civilian in less than a week since Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Tyrin Johnson.
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Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This is the dirtiest type of research. Princeton scientists took $15 million from BP and shaped their research on carbon capture in consultation with the oil company: www.propublica.org/article/wedg...
BP executives were deeply involved throughout the paper’s creation, according to an investigation by ProPublica and Drilled. Socolow and Pacala, the authors of “Wedges” and the new center’s co-directors, not only discussed ideas with the company but, in a departure from academic norms, passed drafts back and forth and welcomed extensive feedback.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Federal immigration agents have fatally shot 10 people in Trump’s second term. 10 human beings. 10 people with families, friends, hopes, and dreams. 10 people who should still be alive today. Everyone carrying out Trump’s deadly agenda must answer for their crimes.
theguardian.com
‘New terrifying levels’: 10 people fatally shot by immigration officials in Trump’s second term
As Trump’s immigration crackdown continues, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s death marks another high-profile killing by ICE off
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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 08/07/2026
NEW: He was picking up a work crew to take them to construction site at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. ICE showed up. And now this small business owner, the father of three American citizens, is dead. www.thebulwark.com/p/he-lived-h...
thebulwark.com
He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was picking up a crew for a construction project when ICE shot him. It now claims he was the aggressor.
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Rebecca Nagle @rebeccanagle.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"We have been told the Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But the last entry in the Declaration of Independence—the climax of our founders' reasons for rebellion? It's about 'merciless Indian Savages.'" Listen now: nv1.org/first-america
nv1.org
First America » Native Voice One
First America uncovers the Indigenous history at the heart of America's founding and how it continues to shape the nation today.
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anjali dassarma @dassarma.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
In 1776, the Evening Post also advertised for Margaret, described as having “something of an Indian look,” suggesting that the paper also advertised for Native unfree people. These concurrent semiquincentennial memories demand that we ask: Freedom for whom? www.tandfonline.com/eprint/BA25R...
tandfonline.com
The Sinews of Colonial Hypocrisy: Indigenous Unfreedom in Newspaper Advertisements in 1776
In 1776, Indigenous freedom seekers Sim, William, and Margaret escaped the enslavement or unfreedom forced upon them by colonists. Advertisements announcing their departures and rewards for their c...
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
This is the legal defense fund for the 15 anti-ICE organizers who were recently arrested in Minneapolis. Please contribute generously. They are going to have millions of dollars worth of needs. chuffed.org/project/1865...
chuffed.org
Legal Defense Fund for MN Anti-ICE Organizers
On the morning of June 16th 2026 fifteen anti-ICE organizers were indicted on federal conspiracy charges in Minnesota, 12 of whom were arrested in aggressive raids across the Twin Cities. This fundrai...
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
propublica.org
More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program
Republican backers of Trump’s signature domestic policy bill repeatedly claimed that revisions to the food benefits program wouldn’t affect the most vulnerable. But reports from a dozen states show ch...
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The Objective @objectivejournos.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
"Media is not neutral, it's always shaped by power." New book A Second Sight, by @sjjphd.bsky.social, maps the history of the U.S. through the lens of Black storytellers, who have documented what has been at the margins of official historical record. objectivejournalism.org/2026/06/qa-a...
buff.ly
Q&A: 'A Second Sight' tells U.S. media history by Black journalists
'A Second Sight' author Sarah J. Jackson on how Black media-makers have used second sight to push democracy forward in the U.S.
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Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
We're hearing reports that police have tear gassed a group of protesters outside the Senatobia Walmart where an officer shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/06/2026
Why is the US bombing Somalia – and who are the airstrikes killing?
theguardian.com
Why is the US bombing Somalia – and who are the airstrikes killing?
Washington has been stepping up its airstrikes in the campaign against al-Shabaab, but the militants make continued gains and civilians are increasingly the victims
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 13/06/2026
The death of a woman from Haiti seeking asylum in the U.S. who died from hypothermia days after her release from federal custody was ruled a homicide by a Pennsylvania county medical examiner's office.
bit.ly
A woman's hypothermia death in Pittsburgh after her release from ICE custody is ruled a homicide
The death of a woman from Haiti seeking asylum in the U.S. who died from hypothermia days after her release from federal custody was ruled a homicide by a Pennsylvania county medical examiner's office.
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Internet Archive @archive.org · 12/06/2026
On #LovingDay, explore the legal records behind Loving v. Virginia (1967), the Supreme Court case that struck down laws banning interracial marriage. The Internet Archive has digitized and made available the briefs, lower-court opinions, and related documents. archive.org/details/micr...
archive.org
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) (No. 395) : Supreme Court of the United States : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Case name: Loving v. VirginiaOpinion filed: 1967-06-12Docket No.: 395Citations:• 18 L. Ed. 2d 1010• 87 S. Ct. 1817• 388 U.S. 1• 1967 U.S. LEXIS...
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Joshua Erlich @joshuaerlich.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
welcome to fully automated mechcapitalism where your revolving credit borrows money at 25% APR on its own initiative
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Victor Pickard @victorpickard.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Thrilled to announce the publication of our @rooseveltinstitute.org report that uncovers the policy roots of the current crises facing our news, information & communication systems. We argue that media reform must become central to a US pro-democracy movement. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
rooseveltinstitute.org
The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis - Roosevelt Institute
Bilal Baydoun, Shahrzad Shams, and Victor Pickard trace the roots of the US media crisis to decades of deregulation and commercial capture, outlining how consolidation, news deserts, and platform domi...
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AAUP @aaup.org · 05/06/2026
Lots of special guests lined up for the AAUP Biennial next week in Chicago! 🔥🔥🔥 Hope to see you there! #AAUP2026
JUAN GONZALEZ
Democracy Now Cohost
"As the united voice of the scholars and teachers at our nation's colleges and universities, the AAUP has never been more needed than it is today and more crucial to the fierce debate raging across the land""
-Juan Gonzalez, who will speak on threats to democracy and labor at the AAUP Higher Ed Summit on June 11.
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Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 10/06/2026
"We are in extreme danger," says climate scientist Peter Kalmus @climatehuman.bsky.social. He warns that this summer "could be the hottest summer we've ever experienced in our lives, but it could also be the coolest summer for the rest of our lives."
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Polity @politybooks.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
A concise conceptual summary of the key elements of #capitalism and how these operate in the #media and #tech landscapes. Des Freedman’s ‘Capitalism and the Media’ is out now in the UK @desfreedman.bsky.social See more: www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 09/06/2026
Hey NYC pals, we will send you whistles in quantities from 100-thousands to prepare your neighbors and community for this oncoming onslaught. Free! linktr.ee/3Dwhistles
linktr.ee
3D Printed Whistles | Linktree
We ship community protection whistles for free. Need some? Click the email link below & tell us how many you need (between 100 - 3000) & where to send them.
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Forbes @forbes.com · 22/05/2026
UC Berkeley Law School Adopts New, Strict Ban On AI Use By Students
forbes.com
UC Berkeley Law School Adopts New, Strict Ban On AI Use By Students
The University of California, Berkeley Law School has adopted a new, strict policy governing students’ use of AI. It forbids the use of AI for work submitted for credit.
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Ross Floate @rossfloate.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Oh my. This is spectacular. sinceyouarrived.world/taken
sinceyouarrived.world
taken.
A web page that tells you what your browser gave away the moment you arrived. No login, no form, no permission. Most pages do this. None of them tell you.
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Here's a transcript of this portion of Trump's speech. Startling to see such unabashed, settler colonial blood and soil stuff being spoken from a WH podium in the 21st century. FWIW, roughly 20% of the population of the colonies in 1776 was comprised of enslaved people of African descent.
Long before Americans had a nation or a constitution, we first had a culture, a character, and a creed. Before we ever proclaimed our independence, Americans carried within us the rarest of gifts: moral courage, and it came from a small but mighty kingdom from across the sea. For nearly two centuries before the revolution, this land was settled and forged by men, women who bore in their souls the blood and noble spirit of the British. Here on a wild and untamed continent, they set loose the ancient English love of liberty and Great Britain's distinctive sense of glory, destiny, and pride, and that's what it is: glory, destiny, and pride.
The American patriots who pledged their lives to independence in 1776 were the heirs to this majestic inheritance. Their veins ran with Anglo-Saxon courage. Their hearts beat with an English faith in standing firm for what is right, good, and true.
In recent years, we've often heard it said that America is merely an idea, but the cause of freedom did not simply appear as an intellectual invention of 1776. The American founding was the culmination of hundreds of years of thought, struggle, sweat, blood, and sacrifice on both sides of the Atlantic.
Fate drew a long arc from the meadow at Runnymede to the streets of Philadelphia that ran through the lives of people born and bred on the British code that no man should be denied either justice or right. American patriots today can sing, "My country 'tis of thee / Sweet land of liberty," only because our colonial ancestors first sang "God save the King."
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Linford Fisher @linford.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
People, it is PUBLICATION DAY for Stealing America!! It is officially available to purchase online or in your favorite local bookstore. Come snag your own book cover cookies at RiffRaff in Providence this evening! I'll be joined by my friend and colleague, Mack Scott @ 7 pm.
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ohpipedown.bsky.social @ohpipedown.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her.
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anjali dassarma @dassarma.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Journalism History has just published my essay reflecting on the role of the press during the American Revolution. as we approach the semiquincentennial, i challenge journalism historians to consider what gets left out from memories of this era. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
The Sinews of Colonial Hypocrisy: Indigenous Unfreedom in Newspaper Advertisements in 1776
In 1776, Indigenous freedom seekers Sim, William, and Margaret escaped the enslavement or unfreedom forced upon them by colonists. Advertisements announcing their departures and rewards for their c...
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Michelle Cyca @michellecyca.com · 15/04/2026
an incredibly important project by Connie Walker — most Canadians don't know that the government has an archive of 38,000 residential school survivor testimonies, which are slated to be destroyed next year www.cbc.ca/news/indigen...
cbc.ca
Journalist plans to create new archive of residential school survivor stories — before it's too late | CBC News
A new project from award-winning journalist Connie Walker aims to create an archive of testimonies of abuse at residential schools before the accounts are destroyed in September 2027.
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anjali dassarma @dassarma.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
it was an absolute pleasure to host @linford.bsky.social at @asc.upenn.edu yesterday for a brilliant book talk on his new monograph, Stealing America, which rigorously unpacks the colonial conditions and dispossessive practices of Anglo-American enslavement of Indigenous people.
Dr Linford Fisher and Dr Kathy Brown discuss Stealing America.
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Emanuel Maiberg @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
after much deliberation and giving AI the benefit of the doubt, Wikipedia editors have had enough of AI slop. New policy bans LLM generated content, periodt www.404media.co/wikipedia-ba...
404media.co
Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content
“In recent months, more and more administrative reports centered on LLM-related issues, and editors were being overwhelmed.”
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
An unaccounted for part of the economy is how much young people virulently hate AI, despite how aggressively it's being forced on them. They realize it's making their friends dumber and ruining the world and they want nothing to do with it. From the Penn student paper: www.thedp.com/article/2026...
Goldman Sachs reports that 300 million full-time jobs could be replaced by AI by 2030. Labor turnover is high and hiring has slowed. 71% of Americans worry that AI will cause permanent job loss. As young people about to enter the workforce for the first time, the fear of unemployment is understandable, but we cannot save ourselves with the very tool that is putting us at risk.

The irony is that as Penn pours endless money and energy into AI advancement in its attempt to get ahead, the University is only quickening its own demise. AI cannot coexist with education — it can only degrade it. As technology advances and workers are replaced by machines, schools are some of the only places we have left to explore and wrestle with human thought. With our own university leading the charge, AI is now corrupting those few sacred spaces and leaving us with nowhere to engage in true scholarship. 

Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board who meet regularly to discuss issues relevant to the Penn community. This body is led by Editorial Board Chair Jack Lakis and is entirely separate from the newsroom. Questions or comments should be directed to letters@thedp.com.
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anjali dassarma @dassarma.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
suuuuuper excited to have Lin here at @asc.upenn.edu. If you're around in philly, swing by!!
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Annenberg School at Penn @asc.upenn.edu · 12/03/2026
Ph.D. candidate @dassarma.bsky.social won runner-up in the '25-26 Journalism History essay contest. Her essay, "The Sinews of Colonial Hypocrisy: Indigenous Unfreedom in Newspaper Advertisements in 1776," examines announcements of Indigenous freedom seekers’ departures and rewards for their capture
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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Thrilled to have galleys of my book in hand! Final corrections & index pending. Please consider preordering, gifting, & teaching. Via the archive, interviews & more I show how the crisis we face now reflects failure to listen & act on the democracy Black folks have envisioned, but we still can.
Two copies of a black, white and red book cover. The cover reads
UNCORRECTED PROOF
NOT For SALE

SECOND SIGHT: HOW THE WONDER AND VISION OF
BLACK MEDIAMAKERS
PUSH AMERICA
TOWARD FREEDOM

SARAH J. JACKSON

My light brownish hand with chipped purple glitter nail polish holds the books
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Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 01/10/2025
ICE Agents Assault Group of Reporters Documenting Arrests at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan
democracynow.org
ICE Agents Assault Group of Reporters Documenting Arrests at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan
A journalist was hospitalized after masked federal agents assaulted a group of reporters documenting ICE arrests outside immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. Video footage of Tuesday's attack…
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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
BIG NEWS this morning! medium.com/@TheRefoundi...
medium.com
Introducing “The Refounding” from the 14th Amendment Center for Law and Democracy
Far too many Americans still do not know about the promise and potential power of the 14th Amendment, or its role in transforming America
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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
This is why we need @baltimorebeat.bsky.social.
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Catherine D'Ignazio (she/her/ella) @kanarinka.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
📣 In this short essay, I describe how actions of the current administration constitute ➡️ state terrorism ⬅️ and outline how US universities (and professors and students and staff) can survive state terrorism, as people before us have survived. academeblog.org/2025/08/05/h...
academeblog.org
How US Universities Can Survive State Terrorism
BY CATHERINE D’IGNAZIO As a professor at MIT, I find myself navigating strange waters these days. Last semester, I advised the thesis of a student who left the country because she did not fee…
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Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · 03/08/2025
“The thought of losing that history, particularly in this political moment, was devastating.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/miss...
niemanlab.org
Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore just closed. The Kansas City Defender plans to reopen it as a newsroom and public archive.
“The thought of losing that history, particularly in this political moment, was devastating.”
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Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
The “deal” that Brown made with the Trump admin is much more extreme than is being reported. It includes government oversight of course evaluations and no barrier to government interference in faculty hiring. Read it for yourself here: www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...
brown.edu
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dr. hazel 🕯️ @hazelmonforton.com · 31/07/2025
"ChatGPT is great for brainstorming!" Actually we have a tool for that already! It's called thinking. We use our brain. It's called brainstorming! Clue is in the name.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
going to keep saying: important for a society that would like to keep functioning to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities
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Liz Hallgren @lizhallgren.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Super proud of this pub with an excellent mentor and collaborator @sjjphd.bsky.social Read this, and then make sure to read "News Inside" from @themarshallproject.org, too!
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Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 21/07/2025
"I Do Solemnly Swear": Audio Series Highlights Federal Workers' Voices on Trump's Unraveling of Gov't
democracynow.org
“I Do Solemnly Swear”: Audio Series Highlights Federal Workers’ Voices on Trump’s Unraveling of Gov’t
A new audio series published by the group Federal Workers Against DOGE looks at the plight of fired federal workers whose jobs and careers were cut short by the Trump administration’s systematic defunding...
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Miriam Elder @miriamelder.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
"I don't have the power to cover media anymore. My body is lean and I no longer have the ability to walk” www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-ea...
aa.com.tr
AFP journalists in Gaza at risk of starvation, warns journalists' association
'We have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had wounded, prisoners in our ranks, but none of us can recall seeing colleague die of hunger,' says French news agency's journalists' association - Ana...
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molly taft @mollytaft.com · 21/07/2025
NEW from me: after EPA announced it would officially do away with its scientific research arm Friday, officials at the Office of Research and Development had few answers for employees on a Monday call about how many of them will be reassigned to other offices—and how many will lose their jobs
wired.com
EPA Employees Still in the Dark as Agency Dismantles Scientific Research Office
On Monday, some employees at ORD, the largest office in the agency, began receiving emails detailing that they had been assigned new positions within the EPA. "There is no action you need to take the ...
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