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Flotation Device

@flotationdevice.bsky.social
221 followers 298 following 128 posts

I have extremely specific gravity. I'm a person. I mostly repost things I think are interesting or important. I block people who annoy me. I do want to see your pets or cool stuff that you make.

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Reposted by Flotation Device
KittyKatGirl😻🙏💞🐞 @mary1kathy.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10/10/2026
a grandmotherly woman just got booted from the Trump rally for protesting, and she went out like a hero talking trash and flipping the double bird
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Brooke @brooklynmarie.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
That Kelvin wave I was concerned about has arrived in southern California
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Arienne Childrey @ari4ohio.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today, I resigned as Vice Chair of the ODP Pride Caucus. The state party expects us to be a sales team, censoring our voices when we beg candidates not to trade on trans lives. I am still a Democrat, but I will not value party approval over true, defiant advocacy. Full text below. 👇
Part 1 of an open letter of resignation by Arienne Childrey, stepping down as Vice Chair and member of the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) Pride Caucus. She states that party leadership treats the caucus as a recruitment and sales team rather than a representative body. She cites an incident where the ODP censored and denied permission for the caucus to post a letter by two trans leaders addressing harmful comments made by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton. The State Party Chair reportedly called the letter an "unwelcome distraction," which Childrey notes demonstrates how little party leadership values the voices and dignity of LGBTQ+ Democrats.
Since that decision, every Caucus plan, every potential post, and every path forward has been filtered through a lens of strict compliance and ODP approval. That may very well be the party's rule, but following those rules right now is a dereliction of our duty to the LGBTQ+ community.

For me, any rule that silences advocacy for the trans community during this time is an unjust rule, and I see no obligation to follow it. In alignment with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

We are living in incredibly dangerous times for the trans community. We are in an era where the GOP has so thoroughly weaponized trans lives that even some formerly self-professing allies within our own party have fallen prey to the rhetoric. Looking at the national trend towards Democratic anti-trans triangulation, as well as our own internal conversations, it is clear to me that this shift is much more than a simple coincidence.

We have to speak up—loudly, strongly, and unapologetically—or I fear what our 2028 choices may look like. The ODP would like everyone to believe they are a "big tent" party. However, their successful efforts to silence even the Pride Caucus—even in cases where we are simply begging our candidates not to trade on our lives for perceived electoral advantage—has proven otherwise. The tent hasn't gotten any bigger; it has simply shifted, leaving many trans individuals, progressives, and allies out in the rain.

I will continue to advocate, organize, and fight for our community with everything I have. But I can no longer compromise my own moral principles by remaining part of a caucus that appears more interested in party approval than in true, defiant advocacy.

Sincerely,
Arienne Childrey
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
“.. Asked specifically where he diverges from Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei, Altman said, ‘we believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.’” @politico.com www.politico.com/news/2026/10...
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Sometimes I think he knows he's going to be dead soon, and wants to take the whole world with him when he goes.
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jess m. ☕🍂 @jametc.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Something AI is responsible for that doesn't get enough talk: How, when it scrapes a website to illegally steal everything on it, it uses up a ton of its bandwidth allotment, crashing it or racking up massive fees for site owners.
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I just hate these MAGA assholes so much. Everyday, they do something new to make life shitty for the rest of us.
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Alex Gibney @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The trailer for my new film, "Musk," has just been released.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
From 16,000 to 185 to Zero. The Trump admin claimed as many as 16,000 noncitizens had been registered to vote in Nevada. Then DHS came back and said the number was actually 185. This week, Nevada told the admin every single person on the list was a lawful citizen.
nytimes.com
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026
NEW: In late 2024, FBI investigators had enough evidence to launch a sweeping bribery probe that could ensnare top lawmakers, including Sen. Susan Collins. Then Trump was reelected and eviscerated the FBI and DOJ teams handling public corruption probes.
propublica.org
The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way
After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump admini...
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Everything the pro-Trump billionaire Ellison family will now own: Paramount+ CBS CNN Showtime HBO Warner Bros TNT TBS MTV DC Studios Nickelodeon Comedy Central And more... With this comes the power to decide which stories get told, but more importantly, which stories DON'T get told. Shameful.
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Truthout @truthout.org · 20/09/2026
Across three major data center companies, no one appears to accept explicit responsibility for ensuring proper tribal consultation. buff.ly/Zm2X6Xx
buff.ly
Big Tech Is Trampling Native Treaty Rights to Build Data Centers
Tribal consultation isn’t optional, but the corporations building data centers in New Mexico are acting like it is.
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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
My historically accurate version of the Odyssey did not dominate the box office as I hoped.
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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Absolutely horrific: Thanks to a false intelligence "generated with the help of artificial intelligence," the US military nearly carried out an operation aboard a Chinese ship because the incorrect intelligence said it was carrying nukes, according to @cnn.com. edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
edition.cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Truthout @truthout.org · 15/09/2026
The EPA announced that it plans to wipe away all federal regulations for carbon emissions from the electricity sector, essentially allowing utilities to warm the earth as much as they want. The agency used the same justification as it did in its repeal of climate regulations on motor vehicles.
truthout.org
Trump’s EPA Repeals Limits on Power Plants’ Carbon Emissions
The move will likely delay the phaseout of coal and will have significant effects for the nation’s public health.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 10/09/2026
The thing liberals fundamentally don't understand is that trans people are losing rights they already had. We're not asking for more, we're asking not to lose what we already had for decades. Most sports leagues and the Olympics had inclusion criteria for decades without issue.
Screenshot of an X (formerly Twitter) exchange discussing political pragmatism and the Overton window.
The initial post by onion person (@CantEverDie) reads:
> "doesn't matter, this is about what the right is able to push with the overton window. first its democrats needing to disavow trans women in sports to get elected, next it'll be agreeing to ban access to HRT to get elected. we've seen how this plays out"
> 
A reply from Nick Pappas (@NickAPappas) reads:
> "Are you insane? The Overton window didn’t even include this discussion until recently. The public has never been in favor of desegregating the sports by sex.
> Personally I’m glad Barack Obama ran against gay marriage in 2008. Not because that was the right position, or one he even actually held, but because he knew the public wasn’t with him on it. If he hadn’t won he wouldn’t have been able to appoint 2 of the justices who ultimately voted in the majority for Obergefell.
> Lincoln in 1860 didn’t even run on abolishing slavery! He just wanted to stop its expansion. And thankfully he did that and won because a more extreme and morally correct position would have lost. As a result he was able to win the Civil War and push through the 13 amendment.
> Political practicality is the entire history of progress in America. There’s no other way."
>
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 08/09/2026
Tyson shut the gates on 2,500 workers without warning. The workers answered by rallying outside. Caitlyn Clark reports they’re demanding six months’ severance—and urging Illinois to take the Joslin plant into public ownership and reopen it.
inthesetimes.com
‘Treated Worse Than Cattle’
2,500 Tyson Workers Laid Off, Plant Shutters Overnight.
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Andy “voice of Brak” Merrill. 🎅🏻🤡🐒💩 @amerrill2.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I was told last year at a con that I should do more Space Ghost Coast to Coast episodes. I said that it would be impossible seeing that I was the only voice actor left alive. He suggested that I just use ai. I answered him a little loudly, “Oh, so I should just shit on my friends’ memories?”
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Why do people in national media, such as Jen Psaki tonight on MSNOW, act like Rahm Emanuel would be a legit option for president? Here in Chicago, we recall his administration's cover-up of the police murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald as well as many other reasons to say no fucking way to Rahm.
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Hey, rich people. Dolly Parton died and everybody was sad. When you die, most people will not care. Some might even do a little happy dance. You should think about why that is and adjust your behavior accordingly.
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Pierre Polyester @canadian-critic.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Make a band bigger: Intricately Complicated and Nuanced Red
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
🚨BREAKING: The US Postal Service announced late Friday night that it intends to move forward with its final rule on changing how mail voting is administered. The new rule was created to enact Donald Trump’s executive order, which seeks to restrict mail voting. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
USPS pushes final rule on restricting mail voting forward
The federal postal service acknowledges the new rule will impose burdens on states, but says its necessary to help law enforcement hunt for voter fraud.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
ICYMI: Our @propublica.org investigation found that the Trump administration used Homeland Security Investigations' resources/data to try to prove election fraud, ignoring internal concerns the effort would violate citizen privacy and deliver inflated results. www.propublica.org/article/nonc...
propublica.org
Inside Trump’s Failed Hunt for Noncitizen Voters
To prove the president’s claims of illegal voting, the government has harnessed the power of Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of DHS established to combat the worst cross-border crime. So fa...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 19/08/2026
NEW: Congress appropriated $1 trillion for defense this year, more than twice as much as the combined budget for agencies overseeing health, veterans affairs, education, housing, agriculture and justice. We’re setting out to report on how this public money is being spent.
propublica.org
The $1 Trillion Black Box
The U.S. military budget is vast and opaque. Projects touted as engineering marvels end up facing years of delays and ballooning costs. ProPublica has launched a series to report on the Pentagon’s spe...
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Minnesota Star Tribune @startribune.com · 18/08/2026
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday signed an executive order that will further delay any prospect of copper and nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Read more: bit.ly/4xNGdqU 📷️ Bob King/For The Minnesota Star Tribune
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Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl @deardara.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Cheery. Your blood levels of carbon dioxide are significantly higher than they were when you were waiting to see if Y2K was going to mean something or not. Can't wait to reach population levels like we've all taken barbiturates—tra la tra la www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
sciencedaily.com
Scientists detect a surprising shift in human blood as atmospheric CO2 rises
Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may be leaving a measurable imprint inside the human body. Researchers analyzing more than two decades of U.S. health data found that blood bicarbonate levels h...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 17/08/2026
The same climate experts whose model overestimated the potential of geological carbon storage have repeatedly underestimated solar power — one of the energy technologies that would allow more oil to remain in the ground. ➡️ Read our full story w/ @drilledmedia.bsky.social: propub.li/4gdTCBc
Two line charts are depicted. At the top, the line chart is labeled "Carbon Capture Capacity." The y-axis is "megatons" and the x-axis is years (2010-2040). More than a dozen blue lines show a steady increase from the left edge of the chart to the right edge of the chart. Some of the blue lines exceed 4,000 megatons between years 2030 and 2040. The blue lines are labeled "Projections". A maroon line is at around 0 megatons from 2010 to 2025. The maroon line is labeled "Actual carbon storage". 

The second chart is labeled "Solar Power". The y-axis is "terawatt-hour" and the x-axis is years (2010-2040). Dozens of blue lines increase from around 0 on the left side of the chart, showing moderate growth from 2010 to 2040. The blue lines are labeled "Projections". A maroon line starts at 0 in 2010 and rises sharply to over 2,000 in 2024. The maroon line is obviously increasing much faster than the blue lines. The maroon line is labeled "Actual solar electricity production."
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Reposting for #FungiFriday, which has come around at an auspicious time for me. #photography #mushrooms #fungi #FungiFriends #nature 📷
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Listen, I know all of the things are going on right now, but have you ever taken a moment to consider all of the types of ice that aren't fascist hooligans? #icenotICE www.webstaurantstore.com/article/380/...
webstaurantstore.com
Types of Ice
Have you ever wondered why there are so many different types of ice cubes? Find out what purpose each cube serves and how to best use them in your store.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 14/08/2026
They used to call this malware.
cultofmac.com
ChatGPT just learned to watch everything you do on your Mac
ChatGPT Computer History tracks your Mac activity to build a searchable timeline, no screenshots involved.
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 12/08/2026
I'm going to keep saying this until it's rote practice: If you are in official connection with let alone in charge of an archive of data, if is your professional & moral responsibility to secure that archive, as a backup or otherwise, against just such an emergency, so we're not Hoping some kid did.
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Colorado Newsline @coloradonewsline.com · 11/08/2026
Immigration agents are employing new tactics — from arresting academics at airports to setting up a checkpoint in a National Forest — to boost their arrest numbers, leading to more arrests in July than in any previous month of the Trump administration. By @timhenderson.bsky.social @stateline.org
coloradonewsline.com
With new tactics, ICE reaches new high in monthly arrests | Colorado Newsline
Federal immigration agents are employing new tactics to boost their arrest numbers, leading to a high number of arrests in July.
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Took a walk in the woods today and ran across these highly photogenic fungi.
Bright white mushrooms, possibly king mushrooms, growing on the side of a rotting tree.
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Danielle Froom 🏳️‍🌈 @danifroom.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
As I've said before, the Trumpists are *hunting* trans kids. The media is silent. The Democrats are silent. And someday they'll all claim they fought against this. www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/08/anti...
lgbtqnation.com
Anti-trans news site outs Olympic skater's trans sibling - LGBTQ Nation
Women's gold medalist Alysa Liu has a sister competing in track and field in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Flotation Device @flotationdevice.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
When you're so committed to your terrible hairstyle that you have to get fake terrible hair because you just can't pull off the comb-over anymore. Or comb-a-rounder. Or fiberglass fog, whatever we're calling it.
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Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️ @snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Scientists of the Nautilus research ship capture a Big Fin Squid on camera, at 5454m (17’800 ft) depth. This was their live reaction: 🔊 #AGoodPlace
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Deva Woodly @devawo.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
This is a very serious problem for libraries, archives, and knowledge-keepers of all kinds. If you don’t control access to your collections, *you do not have collections.* If we do not have permanent access to records, stories, & sources of knowledge then our histories and memories are not our own.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/08/2026
Have you ever noticed your monthly SNAP benefits are low? Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are the victims of EBT theft. If you think your SNAP benefits may have been stolen, we want to hear your story.
propublica.org
Have Your SNAP Benefits Ever Been Stolen? Help ProPublica Investigate.
We need your help to report on EBT theft. Please share this form with others in your community who’ve found their SNAP benefits disappeared.
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Simon Willison @simonwillison.net · 06/08/2026
Just had to create an "accidental-cyberattacks" tag on my blog We're up to four now: the original OpenAI+Hugging Face one, Anthropic's me-too attacks, then two new ones from the UK AI Safety Institute and Irregular that OpenAI reported yesterday simonwillison.net/tags/acciden...
simonwillison.net
Simon Willison on accidental-cyberattacks
4 posts tagged ‘accidental-cyberattacks’. Incidents in which an AI lab was testing the cyberattack potential of a model and it inadvertently performed a real attack against another organization.
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CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk @adriftalchemist.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
when i hear about alaska having unprecedented heat advisories, I think about the melting permafrost and wonder how much it’s going to affect rural infrastructure it’ll be hard to build data centers on a melting tundra when the ground acts like a waterbed
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
"Joel" shares, "We're staking young apple trees, tying them to support them against the wind, in Parker WA. We're wearing masks as protection from the polluted air but it's still bad. I leave with a headache and very irritated eyes. The AQI is 189. I earn minimum wage." #WeFeedYou
A farm worker wearing a N95 mask and sunglasses under a smokey sky. Inset shows weather app Parker, WA air quality index 189 (unhealthy).
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Women’s March @womensmarch.com · 05/08/2026
🚨 HAPPENING NOW 🚨 Women's Marchers have been arrested in the Capitol for standing vigil for the people killed by ICE. #AbolishICE llustrations by @channeldraw
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The Lever @levernews.com · 05/08/2026
Campaigns are gambling their war chests on Wall Street — and some keep earning after the politician leaves office. Or dies. One just lost $634,000. Another is still making money 13 years after its candidate died.
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NANCY COMICS BY ERNIE BUSHMILLER @nancycomics.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller August 4,1951
P1- NANCY AND SLUGGO ARE DOWNTOWN 
SLUGGO: LET’S START A SECRET CLUU
NANCY: GOOD IDEA --- LET’S MAKE SECRET NAMES 

P2- THEY WRITE THEIR SECRET NAMES ON A BRICK WALL
NANCY: WE CAN WRITE OUR NAMES BACKWARDS- NOBODY WILL GET WISE

OGGULS
YCNAN

P3- SLUGGO:WE’LL CALL OURSELVES THE SECRET TWO

P4- SLUGGO AND NANCY TURN AROUND AND LOOK DIRECTLY AT US, THE READERS 

SLUGGO: HEY... WHO INVITED YOU IN ?

OGGULS
YCNAN

RELLIMHSUB EINRE
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 04/08/2026
You could grow a spine and do your damn jobs.
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PBS News @pbsnews.org · 31/07/2026
The State Department said ​it takes "full responsibility" for "hastily" altering and then presenting a map of Africa at a global AIDS conference that mislabeled every single country it highlighted. An analysis by Reuters found a watermark in the map image that suggests it was made with OpenAI.
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 31/07/2026
If you ever feel unqualified, remember that a gang of billionaires spent $900 million for 60,000 acres with no water, no infrastructure, a roster of endangered species, and a voter-approved ordinance that specifically bans building a city there. Now they’re begging politicians to bail them out.
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ProPublica Guild @propublicaguild.org · 31/07/2026
🚨 WE HAVE A DEAL! After three years, in a major step forward for our members, we have ratified our first contract with @propublica.org’s management. We deeply appreciate everyone who supported us along the way. Here are some of our big wins👇
A graphic poster reads "We have a deal! The ProPublica Guild has reached a deal with ProPublica's management on our first contract and has voted to ratify it. Swipe for the highlights [pointing emoji].
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