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EchoLoom

@echoloom.bsky.social
103 followers 874 following 62 posts

Tracking the currents that shape our world.

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Reposted by EchoLoom
Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I had been reluctant to amplify the theory that Trump's "reciprocal tariff rate" for a given country was based on the dumb calculation: (bilateral trade deficit) divided by (imports from that country) But now USTR has confirmed it. Brief 🧵
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Justin Ling @justinling.ca · 01/04/2025
Easy to lose it in the chaos, but democratic movements continue to swell in Georgia, Hungary, and Serbia. apnews.com/article/serb...
apnews.com
Serbians march in 4 cities against government pressure and hate speech
Thousands of people have marched in four Serbian cities against government pressure and hate speech targeting university students and professors behind months of anti-corruption protests shaking popul...
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
NEW: No fewer than 10 principle scientists at NIH investigating emerging infectious diseases and neural disorders were among those fired by RFK Jr. today. One is an esteemed scientist awarded for breakthrough research into the causes of Parkinson's disease. By me and @emilymullin.bsky.social:
wired.com
Doctor Behind Award-Winning Parkinson’s Research Among Scientists Purged From NIH
Leading scientists at the National Institutes of Health, the US’s leading medical research agency, were swept up Tuesday in the Trump administration's latest firing blitz.
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Tony Ingesson @tonyingesson.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Sure, Val Kilmer was great in Top Gun, but to me, he'll always be Nick Rivers in the funniest comedy ever made, Top Secret (1984). A shame he had to leave us this early.
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Clive Thompson @clivethompson.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
So, the DOGE kids intend to rewrite the social-security administration's COBOL code-base! and they want to do it ... ... in *a few months* I did a huge dive into COBOL a few years ago (www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazi...) ... ... so let me explain why DOGE is *way* over its skis here 1/9
wealthsimple.com
browse by category
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Why the election in Wisconsin on Monday should matter to all Americans: open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...
open.substack.com
Wisconsin and, Strangely, Alabama
Everything old is new again.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 31/03/2025
"Adding to the inanity, the government argued in court that the fact that many of these men don’t have criminal records is precisely why they’re dangerous."
thebulwark.com
Trump’s Deportations Rely on Tattoos—It’s Bullshit.
It turns out tattoos inspired by a reggaeton artist who endorsed Trump are also a marker of gang involvement.
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Jos McIntyre @josmac101.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Americans are a compassionate people. We help others in times of need--even if they live half way around the world. Trump gutted our capacity to help Myanmar and Thailand with the cuts to USAID. No one thinks this makes us great again. All it does is dim our light in troubled world.
nytimes.com
Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response in Myanmar (Gift Article)
While China, Russia and other nations have rushed emergency response teams to the devastated country, the U.S., once a leader in foreign aid, has been slow to act.
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EMcBear @emcbear.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Fascinating background...
nytimes.com
The Secret History of America’s Involvement in the Ukraine War (Gift Article)
This is the untold story of America’s hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia’s invading armies.
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Dan Smith @dlsmith.dev · 22/01/2025
Going to keep a running thread of substantial, concrete, negative consequences of the 2024 presidential election. 77 million voters chose this, and many millions of others couldn't be bothered. People I love and respect are among those millions. 💔
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Feroce Padovana @ferocepadovana.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Our Law Firm Won’t Cave to Trump. Who Will Join Us? (Gift Article)
The time has come to defend the oath we took when we became officers of the court.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
If you're looking for an explainer on why due process matters to share with friends and family members who might ... need convincing, I've removed the (partial) paywall from my March 19 post for "One First" on the topic: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-133-...
stevevladeck.com
Bonus 133: Due Process and the Rule of Law
Too many Americans don't understand, at a basic level, *why* the Constitution requires due process when the government deprives anyone of their life, liberty, or property.
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EchoLoom @echoloom.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
“If the authoritarians can be stopped then the Democratic party will be the vehicle through which people wield power. But the Democratic party, as an institution, is too weak and desiccated to stage a real fight against Trumpism. It will have to be pushed into fighting by a mass popular movement.”
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EchoLoom @echoloom.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
“The Democratic party has more to learn from Alexei Navalny or the protesters in Serbia than it does from Chuck Schumer or strategists obsessing over message-testing crosstabs. This battle is half mass mobilization and half asymmetric warfare.” @jvl.bsky.social
open.substack.com
How to Think (and Act) Like a Dissident Movement
AOC, solidarity, and people power.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
I could write up why there’s no constitutional problem with the President using an auto-pen to sign official documents—or I could just post the 30-page 2005 opinion by George W. Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel that explains why in lots of detail. I choose the latter: www.justice.gov/file/494411/...
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Quarter of workforce to be cut … At NIH, ‘everyone is on edge’ as they brace for deep cuts and more centralized control www.statnews.com/2025/03/14/n... via @statnews.com
statnews.com
At NIH, ‘everyone is on edge’ as they brace for deep cuts and more centralized control
As the NIH braces for cuts of up to 5,000 of its 20,000 positions, “people are scrambling and freaking out,” a researcher said.
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Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Not sure when the penny is going to drop that this dude means what he tweets, does and sig heils www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/t...
nytimes.com
Elon Musk Shared, Then Removed a Post Absolving Dictators for Genocide
The post falsely claimed that Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong were not responsible for the murders of millions of people, but rather public sector workers were.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
guys they're going to stop feeding TSA's bomb-sniffing dogs, per Fox News nat security correspondent:
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
ICYMI: “Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members and topics such as the Civil War from its website”…in order “to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its online presence.”
washingtonpost.com
Arlington Cemetery website scrubs links about Black and female veterans
Pentagon leaders have ordered that their websites and social media pages remove articles and images that “promote” DEI.
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
A teacher in Idaho has been told to remove posters reading "Everyone is welcome here" - specifically because it features different skin tones. As I wrote last week, this is a global political movement that has explicitly set the goal of eradicating the very concept of equality.
idahostatesman.com
West Ada teacher stands firm after she’s told to remove ‘Everyone is welcome here’ signs
Sarah Inama said she was told by administrators that her signs “don’t allow people to express differing opinions.”
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Awful. especially scary now that we are laying off/forcing out 20% of NOAA employees. www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...
washingtonpost.com
Ten dead in Missouri as tornado risks are set to peak across swath of U.S.
Numerous significant tornadoes are expected Saturday afternoon and evening, with the highest risk across several states in the Deep South, forecasters say.
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Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
What happens when you do surgery with a chainsaw www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-...
newyorker.com
Hundreds of Thousands Will Die
The writer, surgeon, and former U.S.A.I.D. administrator Atul Gawande on the Trump Administration’s decimation of foreign aid and the consequences around the world.
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Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Elon Musk says that no one has died because he slashed humanitarian aid. I went to South Sudan to check if that's true. It's not. Meet Peter, Achol and Evan, ages 10, 8 and 5. The reckless actions of the world's richest men are killing the world's poorest kids www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True. (Gift Article)
A journey through the front lines of global poverty shows that when the world’s richest men slash aid for the world’s poorest children, the result is sickness, starvation and death.
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Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
We don't spend a penny on marketing. It's all word of mouth for @costplusdrugs.com That's how we keep prices so low. Please spread the word !
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WIRED @wired.com · 13/03/2025
Alright doomscroll friends, here's a thread to 📌 on safeguarding yourself. First, a guide to protecting yourself from government surveillance as Donald Trump vows to go after his enemies and exploit America’s digital surveillance machine to do so.
wired.com
The WIRED Guide to Protecting Yourself From Government Surveillance
Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions and jail his enemies. To carry out that agenda, his administration will exploit America’s digital surveillance machine. Here are some steps you can take to ev...
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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
NEW: This one is a doozy—@wired.com's deep dive into the first six weeks of DOGE razing the US government. WIRED spoke with more than 150 sources across more than 20 agencies to get this story. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
wired.com
Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’
Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out tens of thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive data. The next step: Unleash the AI.
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Jake Lahut @jakelahut.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Scoop: Elon Musk has advocated for a government shutdown that Donald Trump opposes—a move he supports, sources say, in part because it would make it easier to fire hundreds of thousands of fed workers. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
wired.com
Elon Musk Has Wanted the Government Shutdown
Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 11/03/2025
"We now have federal agents going door to door to illegally arrest people who have taken positions the administration dislikes. If that isn’t fascism, then I don’t know what else to call it." Today's Triad from @jvl.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/a-tale-of-...
thebulwark.com
A Tale of Two Bigots
The stories of Marko Elez, Mahmoud Khalil, and the Camp Auschwitz guy show what the right means when it talks about “free speech.”
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
RFK is spouting nonsense about measles and failing to offer clear recommendations for everyone to get vaccinated www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/h... Meanwhile NIH is cutting funding for studies into vaccine hesitancy/uptake www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/... We are in so much trouble
nytimes.com
Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories (Gift Article)
In a recent interview, the health secretary also suggested that the measles vaccine had harmed children in West Texas, center of an outbreak.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
How Trump is reshaping reality by disappearing public data W/ my fabulous colleague @ashendruk.com wapo.st/4iCmMtn
wapo.st
Opinion | How Trump is reshaping reality by hiding data
Sweeping statistical purges are part of a broader attempt to reinvent “truth.”
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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
NEW: Security experts tell @wired.com that X was hit with 5 DDoS attacks on Monday, but that X likely went down because its infrastructure was left exposed. They also refuted Musk's claim that the attack originated in "the Ukraine area." @lhn.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/x-ddos...
wired.com
What Really Happened With the DDoS Attacks That Took Down X
Elon Musk said a “massive cyberattack” disrupted X on Monday and pointed to “IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area” as the source of the attack. Security experts say that's not how it works.
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Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Musk claims Social Security is a "gigantic magnet to attract illegal immigrants." In fact, immigrants here illegally do not collect Social Security. But they pay $25.7 billion a year into it, a recent study found, so these undocumented workers are actually subsidizing Americans.
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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
It’s unfortunate that this man seems to have so little access to medical information www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/h...
nytimes.com
Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories
In a recent interview, the health secretary also suggested that the measles vaccine had harmed children in West Texas, center of an outbreak.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
“I asked Schlanger just how freaked out we should be by Khalil’s apprehension. ‘I teach constitutional law,’ she said. ‘And I’m freaking out.’”
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Is the Greatest Threat to Free Speech Since the Red Scare (Gift Article)
Mahmoud Khalil’s detention is a frightening sign of an authoritarian slide.
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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
My latest post is now out. I show how Trump's attacks on science and universities are neither random nor new - they fit very precisely into the authoritarian playbook. This means we can guess what might come next and prepare - and we must! christinapagel.substack.com/p/censor-pur...
christinapagel.substack.com
Censor, purge, defund: how Trump following the authoritarian playbook on science and universities
I have mapped 35 of the Trump administration's attacks on science and universities to the authoritarian playbook - and consider what it means for attacks still to come
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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Mundus sine Caesaribus
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Teddy Wilson @reportbywilson.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
“Now, using a novel dating method, a group of researchers—including some who originally found the bones—has deduced that the child was buried between 27,780 and 28,550 years ago.”
smithsonianmag.com
Mysterious Skeleton of Child With Human and Neanderthal Traits Has Finally Been Dated by Archaeologists
Discovered in Portugal in 1998, the individual dubbed the “Lapedo Child” has long perplexed scientists, thanks to a curious mix of features
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David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
This is just absolutely devastating. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Trump to Zelensky in the Oval Office: You don’t have any “cards” to play. Zelensky: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/w...
nytimes.com
Ukraine Targets Moscow With Large-Scale Drone Attack
The assault, which the mayor called the largest on Russia’s capital since the war began, was a reminder of Ukraine’s power to strike as its president proposes an air truce.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
This is really remarkable. A pardon attorney was told that Gibson was a personal friend of the President and she should recommend he be given his access to guns back. She didn't and was immediately fired. They will fire lawyers who won't bless their cronyism. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/u...
nytimes.com
Justice Dept. Official Says She Was Fired After Opposing Restoring Mel Gibson’s Gun Rights
Elizabeth G. Oyer, the former pardon attorney, said that she was not told why she was dismissed, but that as events unfolded she feared they might lead to her firing.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food from local farms and ranchers, halting more than $1 billion in federal spending. www.politico.com/news/2025/03...
politico.com
USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks
States have been notified that they will not receive 2025 funding for schools to buy food from nearby farms.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Via "One First," I take a quick look at (some of) the legal questions arising out of the arrest, detention, and potential removal of Mahmoud Kahlil; why the government might have at least a *bit* of a leg to stand on; and why that's deeply troubling unto itself: www.stevevladeck.com/p/131-five-q...
stevevladeck.com
131. Five Questions About the Khalil Case
The government's arrest and detention of a pro-Palestinian Columbia student (and green card holder) raises difficult questions about both technical immigration statutes and the First Amendment.
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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
There were howls of protest and denial from the GOP any time we pointed out that Republicans want to cut Social Security. Now the most powerful official in the White House goes on TV and calls it "the big one to eliminate."
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Jim Sciutto @jimsciutto.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Consider the consistency of Trump’s approach to a range of new adversaries from Canada to law firms that handled cases against him to Columbia University to Ukraine: refuse his demands and he will attempt to bankrupt or otherwise weaken you.
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David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
MUSK: A sophisticated cyberattack from Ukraine took out Twitter's servers REALITY: Twitter's servers were not secured properly and were publicly visible Great explainer here from @lhn.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/x-ddos...
wired.com
What Really Happened With the DDoS Attacks That Took Down X
Elon Musk said a “massive cyberattack” disrupted X on Monday and pointed to “IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area” as the source of the attack. Security experts say that's not how it works.
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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Allies questioning whether it was safe to share intel with the US was perhaps the most extreme prediction in our Feb. 7 (!) @foreignaffairs.com piece on how DOGE is a grenade at the heart of US national security. @jimgoldgeier.bsky.social www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
foreignaffairs.com
Does DOGE Pose a National Security Risk?
Uncertainty about access and authority will worry allies and tempt adversaries.
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
NEW: The Defense Department is considering a 75% reduction in workforce targeting employees who work to prevent the spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, according to a draft proposal obtained by WIRED. 😕
wired.com
Pentagon Cuts Threaten Programs That Secure Loose Nukes and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Documents obtained by WIRED show the US Department of Defense is considering cutting up to 75 percent of workers who stop the spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
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