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Emerging Crises

@emergingcrises.bsky.social
1K followers 1.9K following 1.9K posts

Pro-democracy. News on disasters, public health, extremism + the institutions meant to protect us. Tracking how politics, misinformation, & attacks on science dismantle preparedness. 🔗: linktr.ee/EmergingCrises

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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 10h
Their *own* data completely contradicts their claims that mass deportations lowered crime. Homicides are falling inside the exact 'sanctuary' jurisdictions our government blames for urban violence. The DOJ is weaponizing federal police grants based on fiction.
theatlantic.com
The Problem With Trump’s Crime Claims
The president says that his immigration crackdown is behind falling crime rates. The numbers don’t back that up.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 16h
"Since Covid, we haven't really had to think a lot about how we flow patients through a system, or the special things that we need to have in place to really protect not only the health care givers but also the other patients who are susceptible.”
wired.com
Measles Is Forcing Hospitals to Adapt to a New Normal
The US resurgence of measles is forcing hospitals and health systems to adopt new protocols and procedures to deal with a disease they thought was in the past.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 20h
This is scary and dangerous stuff. HHS released an unreviewed 'report' trying to link gender-affirming medical care to left-wing political violence. The authors skipped scientific peer review and relied on a paid online survey run by a partisan think-tank fellow...
Deep Dive
Healthcare

What's behind HHS claims that gender-affirming care 'may' radicalize
September 30, 20265:00 AM ET

By Lisa Hagen
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NewsGuard @newsguard.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
POLITICO Magazine publishes a report by NewsGuard analysts finding that when asked about the midterm elections, AI chatbots cite partisan sites disguised as independent outlets nearly half the time. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
‘Pink Slime’ Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms
Partisan websites disguised as independent, local news outlets are shaping chatbots’ responses about key races.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The feds found a backdoor into city street surveillance. Local police departments taking 1980s anti-drug grants must funnel their Flock and Axon license plate camera feeds straight into White House servers...
How Cities Are Forced to Funnel License Plate Data to a Massive Federal Surveillance Program
Jason Koebler
·
Sep 30, 2026 at 10:29 AM
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Dr. Samantha Montano @samlmontano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I haven't seen any news coverage yet of Cameron Hamilton's announcement that he has re-defined the entire field of emergency management to include only preparedness and response activities related to coordinating police, fire, and EMS. Seems like something that should get some attention.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This administration attempted to withhold anti-terrorism funds from states that refused to alter their local election rules. A federal court halted the maneuver this week, finding that the Department of Homeland Security "likely violated federal law."
U.S. NEWS

Trump can't force election changes by blocking counterterrorism funds to states, judge says
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The tech world loves debating sci-fi doomsday plots like rogue AI launching nukes. That hyperbole distracts us and gives tech companies a free pass on the immediate disruptions they cause today...
Let’s Get Specific About These Doomsday Scenarios

How exactly is AI supposed to kill us all?

By Rogé Karma
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Fossil fuel front groups filed over 100 predatory records requests targeting climate researchers across 19 public universities. Open-records statutes were designed for governmental transparency, but fossil fuel donors are twisting those mechanisms to harass faculty...
Inside the anti-climate campaign against researchers

A POLITICO investigation reveals more than 100 open records requests demanding documents from climate scientists nationwide.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Extremist beliefs, which should be career ending, is a viable campaign strategy. 500+ state-level candidates participate in groups promoting militias and secession. Candidates who openly associate with white supremacists and paramilitary networks are winning primaries and are on the ballot.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Partisan websites disguised as independent, local news outlets are shaping chatbots’ responses about key races…Rather than alerting users to the hidden agenda, the bots are amplifying sources without disclosing their biases. And the midterms are just the beginning.”
AI Chatbots Amplify PAC- Funded News About Midterms

POLITICO Magazine publishes a report by NewsGuard analysts finding that when asked about the midterm elections, Al chatbots cite partisan sites disguised as independent outlets nearly half the time.'Pink Slime' Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms

Partisan websites disguised as independent, local news outlets are shaping chatbots' responses about key races.

OpenAI

The OpenAl logo is displayed on a cell phone in front of an image generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model on Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. | Michael Dwyer/AP

By INES CHOMNALEZ and ISIS BLACHEZ 09/25/2026 04:59 AM EDT
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NBC News @nbcnews.com · 28/09/2026
OpenAI says it has paused training of its latest artificial intelligence models as reports of AI agents going rogue mount.
nbcnews.to
OpenAI pauses training of latest models after agents searched U.S. government sites in unexpected ways
AI labs are facing pressure from lawmakers and tech experts to slow development so they can build guardrails to stop agents from acting on their own.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The "infrastructure to respond to natural and intentional infectious diseases is vulnerable, due to cuts to multiple civilian and military biodefense programs.” www.statnews.com/2026/09/26/a...
statnews.com
I worked on the CDC investigation of the anthrax letters. 25 years later, are we ready for the next biothreat?
“We’ve come a long way since the fall of 2001, but we find ourselves with recent widening gaps in public health readiness and mitigation,” writes Daniel B. Jernigan.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pramila Jayapal had a guy with a chambered round outside her front door. Marjorie Taylor Greene quit Congress over death threats aimed at her kid. Unfortunately, extremism isn't lingering on the fringe anymore and it's shaping who can afford to hold office...
Robert A. Pape
The Big Story
Sep 22, 2026 7:00 AM
Everything You Know About Political Violence Is Probably Wrong
Public disagreement about whether political violence is rising and who is responsible for it stems not from ideology alone but from competing definitions about what should be counted.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
New from Madison Mills (@axios.com): The scope of the problem goes way beyond the few dozen incidents previously admitted to the public. Models are setting up unauthorized message boards to coordinate tasks, writing their own instructions, and escaping secure sandboxes during testing...
Scoop: Top AI companies probing tens of thousands of security incidents

Madison Mills (Axios)
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"There is no greater threat to our national (and global) security right now. That should be reason enough for bi-partisan regulation. And international cooperation. We’ve been warned. Just like before 9/11. We cannot again suffer from inaction and a failure of imagination." - @rieckhoff.bsky.social
NYT article: OpenAI’s Systems Meddled With U.S. Government Sites After Going Rogue

The company did not learn until recently that its technology had meddled with websites for the Education and Commerce Departments and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This ruling forces HHS to delete "every mention of community integration from a landmark disability rule." It follows DOJ's decision to stop enforcing rules prioritizing community-based care over nursing homes...
STAT News article:

Judge rolls back disability protections

The Justice Department said in June that it would no longer enforce laws that prioritized people with disabilities living and receiving services in their communities, rather than in nursing homes or facilities. It is making good on that promise.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"Then came the Hugging Face hack, in July, which set off a nationwide panic about the dangers of unsupervised, uncontrollable models." Tech investors are pouring billions into AI safety startups to fix the exact same models they rushed into our hands.
Puck Article Screenshot

Headline: The Hugging Face Doomsday Preppers

Subheader:
In the frenzied aftermath of the Hugging Face attack, business is booming for A.I. companies focused on risk management—in other words, making sure an A.I. system ’does what you want it to do‘ and nothing else.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Political loyalty tests have no place in scientific discovery. The White House backed off a plan that would have given a partisan panel "veto power over grant awards" at the NIH, retreating ONLY after key Senate appropriators threatened to block the implementation budget.
statnews.com
White House plan to increase control of NIH grants appears 'dead'
A planned EO that would have greatly enhanced White House influence over grants at the NIH is “looking dead,” a source said.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We all know what got us here, but think about the implications. Trust in the federal government is sitting at 17%. Yes, this is something that's been building for decades, but the last 2 years certainly haven't helped. 🧵
New York Times headline:

‘I Was Sold a Bill of Goods’: Americans and the Distrust Election

Americans have a pervasive sense they are being lied to. That has created an unpredictability in politics unseen since Donald Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue without losing voters.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Pulling federal agents off narcotics cases for deportation sweeps hands cartels a free pass. Watchdogs found field units shifted 99% of hours, "leaving almost no capacity for fentanyl investigations."
pbs.org
Trump's mass deportations led to a big drop in fentanyl investigations, report finds. Here's what to know
The Department of Homeland Security’s focus on mass deportations resulted in a dramatic drop in investigations into illicit fentanyl, according to a federal watchdog report.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Purging critical mainstream news organizations while granting official press pool credentials to white nationalists 🙃 After booting CNN and Politico, the White House credentialed Border Hawk, proving "access is no longer a tool for transparent and accountable government."
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Watching Dario Amodei warn that AI swarms could seize the internet in 6 months, and then show up at Dreamforce 3 days later to hawk B2B software tells you everything about this debate 💀. The entire conversation is trapped between apocalyptic cultists and tech bros pretending models are harmless. 🧵
Screenshot from The Atlantic article:

"Three days after Amodei, Anthropic's CEO, wrote about being worried about swarms taking over the internet, he was smiling at Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference. As one X account pointed out, "If you truly believed in a 10% chance of human extinction in 3 years, you would not be spending your time selling and integrating it into a B2B CRM SaaS platform."
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Trump banned the press pool to try to flex his 'control,' but without their boom mics on the South Lawn, his remarks today were literally inaudible 😂. David Graham nailed the absurdity: "Censorship can silence anyone, it turns out—even the censor."
theatlantic.com
The Press Is Not the Root of Trump’s Problems
He’s in a predicament of his own creation.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The FAA is pushing an $875M AI routing system, but controllers warn "the FAA still lacks thousands of controllers, leading to mandatory overtime" that pushes human radar operators past exhaustion. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/u...
nytimes.com
F.A.A. to Roll Out New A.I. Tool for Washington Airports (Gift Article)
The tool, called SMART, will crunch scheduling and weather data to predict and avoid delays. It will be deployed in the Washington region’s three major airports next week.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
In Philadelphia, an infected patient exposed a children's hospital for seven hours where "this person with measles likely spent additional time in the neonatal intensive care unit" among defenseless newborns.
thebulwark.com
RFK Jr.’s ‘Medical Freedom’ Comes With a Body Count
Measles showed up at a children’s hospital. The health secretary showed up at an anti-vax conference.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Congress kept CDC funding at $9B on paper, but administrative freezes quietly wiped out 28% of the agency’s staff. As TFAH warns, "a funded program on paper is not necessarily a fully functioning program in practice". Local health networks are left holding the bag.
tfah.org
Chronic Underinvestment and Recent Disruptions Have Weakened U.S. Public Health System - TFAH
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Miles Taylor @milestaylor.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The outlets Trump just banned from the White House… Exposed damning details about his coverup of the Epstein files (CNN) Exposed his use of FBI & Secret Service to spy on critics (MSNOW) Exposed his illegal detention of thousands (Politico) This is full-blown censorship.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Climate denial cannot hide the rising costs of failing infrastructure. Between insurance collapses and grid repairs, the data confirms that "climate change is already here and it's already impacting our pocketbooks" with families paying up to $900 yearly.
politico.com
Climate inflation is here
Climate change might be costing you hundreds of dollars a year.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The cost of everyday goods is surging. Trump's war pushed diesel to record highs. With the Fed hiking rates in response, Wall Street is flying blind. JPMorgan just abandoned its forecast, admitting: "We simply don’t know how to model the endgame." www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...
Everything is more expensive than a week ago (Semafor newsletter)
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A needed counterpoint to all the doomer AI biorisk headlines; algorithms don't magically bypass physical biology. This article offers a different perspective: corporate safety filters are blocking virologists from studying threats no "more harmful than what nature is already operating."
theatlantic.com
The AI Pandemic Isn’t On Its Way
Yet plenty of others might be, thanks to evolution.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Deploying federal agents to ballot boxes is voter intimidation by design. Lawsuits reveal immigration officers are "using flawed methodologies and faulty data that will almost certainly result in the surveillance, investigation, and even unlawful detention of U.S. citizens."
npr.org
It's illegal for armed federal officers to be at polls. Lawsuits seek to ensure that
The latest lawsuit, first reported by NPR, argues the Trump administration's repeated suggestions that federal officers could be at polling sites is a form of illegal voter intimidation.
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Mallory Harris, PhD @malar0ne.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is nuts AND...290 people attended in-person (with another 230 online). Pathetic showing from a small & unpopular but very loud group that has hijacked American public health to our deep detriment.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
White House aides reportedly drafted an AI oversight agency until tech billionaires "one by one called Trump" to kill it. Congress is now floating "kill switches," but engineers admit they're useless "after the damage has already been done."
wired.com
Washington Won’t Be Regulating AI Anytime Soon
Even with mounting concerns about AI models going rogue, legislation appears unlikely, and the White House is outright opposed to oversight.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The [Trump admin's] environmental policies have made American water and air dirtier. Its health-care, tariff, and tax policies have worsened inflation and increased the financial burden on most American households... And its public-health policies have led to outbreaks of contagious disease."
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
PA reports 693 measles cases, but true numbers are far higher. With mortality at 1-3 per 1,000, "four deaths in roughly four weeks suggest that the state is in the midst of an enormous outbreak."
theatlantic.com
Pennsylvania’s Measles Outbreak Is Enormous
The two latest deaths suggest that the true number of infections is much larger than reported.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A completely self-created problem: Over a year after DOGE slashed 3,500 FDA workers, the agency cannot rehire staff because "routine administrative tasks, like purchase approvals and travel payments, have fallen by the wayside."
statnews.com
The FDA’s rebuilding effort is running into a new challenge
The FDA's plan to hire thousands of new workers is being slowed by an overwhelmed HR center.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
ICYMI from @propublica.org: “If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something...This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.” www.propublica.org/article/dona...
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Tech leaders and researchers are publicly calling for a slowdown, and 70% of Americans want guardrails. Trump’s response: call catastrophic risk a "HOAX," brand safety concerns a pro-China conspiracy, and threaten whistleblowers with criminal charges. So out of touch.
nbcnews.com
Trump says AI doesn’t need guardrails, only a ‘high IQ’ president
He also alleged the existence of a “sick conspiracy” against AI and data centers, at a time when Americans are increasingly concerned about the technology.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"This is a heartbreaking loss for the family and an unfortunate reminder that measles can be a serious and potentially life-threatening disease." www.statnews.com/2026/09/14/h...
statnews.com
Pennsylvania records third measles-related death amid outbreak
RSV season approaches, a federal judge pauses AAP challenge of RFK J.r vaccine charges, and more health news
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
AI holds "enormous promise" for breakthroughs that save lives. But the same abilities could also "let bad actors hide in plain sight, using seemingly legitimate research to create pathogens we may not see coming and may not be able to stop once released." (1/2)
nytimes.com
Anthropic Says It Blocked Possible Efforts to Build Biological Weapons (Gift Article)
In a new report, the A.I. start-up added that it could not determine if the research was legitimate or nefarious, leading the company to shut down the work.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The FEMA Review Council doesn't account for the fact that 57% of local agencies operate with one or fewer full-time staff. Not accounting for this reality will ultimately impact the most vulnerable the most. Great breakdown from @andrewrumbach.bsky.social
andrewrumbach.substack.com
The FEMA Review Council Report Part II: Who Leads, and Who Pays
The leading premise of the FEMA Review Council report and recommendations is that the President should “return leadership for emergency response and recovery to the States, Tribes and Territories.” Th...
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Impending Medicaid cuts are pushing rural hospitals to merge with large corporate health systems to stay open. Decades of evidence show these consolidations hike patient costs without improving care, leaving rural residents with diminished local emergency services.
statnews.com
Hospitals pursue deals to ensure survival as Trump's Medicaid cuts loom
Rural health systems are seeking partnership to survive, fueling a debate over competition and the rising cost of medical care.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Dr. Amy Acton was Ohio’s health director during early COVID. Crazies would routinely show up at her home until she was forced to step down. We don't know the recent attacker's motive yet, whether it stems from COVID grievance, it's still worth talking about...
nytimes.com
Armed Man Arrested After Charging Toward Democratic Candidate for Ohio Governor (Gift Article)
The authorities are charging the man, who they said had two pistols and a Taser on him but did not draw his weapons, with misdemeanor assault.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
In addition to the 'China = bogeyman' approach, let us not forget: Republicans voted (in the One Big Beautiful Bill) to make it harder for your city to regulate data center construction. Plus, the bill included special tax breaks for AI companies. www.wired.com/story/why-ch...
wired.com
Why China Is the Bogeyman Data Center Enthusiasts Just Can't Quit
Polls show that overwhelming majorities of Americans hate data centers. China makes a perfect scapegoat for tech leaders and their allies—the only problem is a lack of evidence.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
It's comforting that while Michigan battles 12,000 cyclospora cases, the feds show 145. Tracing stalled 12 days on Taco Bell records over FDA delays & $5.8B in CDC cuts. "National biodefense is only as resilient as the local systems that carry it out." globalbiodefense.com/2026/08/31/w...
globalbiodefense.com
Weeks Lost: How Budget and Staffing Cuts Slowed the Cyclospora Response at Every Level
Internal emails and workforce data show how cuts at local, state, and federal levels slowed the cyclospora outbreak response by weeks.
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
🚨BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts barred the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Friday from advancing new mail voting restrictions that, if carried out, could leave vast numbers of people unable to cast a ballot by mail this fall. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
In major win for voters, judge blocks Trump’s mail voting restrictions for midterms
"The court concludes that disenfranchisement for Plaintiff Organizations’ members, regardless of residence, is practically inevitable," the judge wrote.
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The USDA confirmed H5N1 bird flu on a Utah mink farm, the first in a US operation. Minks share human-like respiratory biology. Researchers warn factory fur farms create the "perfect environment in which the virus can mutate." www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
telegraph.co.uk
H5N1 hits US mink farms, sparking calls for an urgent cull
Mink in captivity have previously been described as pandemic ‘time bombs’
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Actual doctors are calling out the CDC for erasing 2 infant measles deaths from its site: "One can only imagine it was Schwartz's attempt to please the health secretary, [RFK] Jr., who doesn't want the public to fully appreciate the impact of his war on vaccines."
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally, sources say
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked his new CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania deaths from the agency’s online measles tally after he questioned whether the disease c...
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Emerging Crises @emergingcrises.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Midterm voting officially began today as NC mailed out the first ballots. In court, DOJ argued USPS should 'test' mail restrictions to get "real world evidence." Judge Indira Talwani shut it down: "We’re not talking about an intellectual puzzle game. We’re talking about people’s right to vote."
lawfaremedia.org
USPS Plays a 'Puzzle Game' With the Right to Vote
Months away from elections, a federal judge worries President Trump's mail-in voting executive order could cause disenfranchisement.
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