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Kate

@katastrophe98.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.2K following 2.2K posts

She/Her. Environmental scientist. Aspiring worthwhile human being. Solidarity is the only way. South Jersey. Yes…it’s the best state.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Kate
Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 8h
This is just a relentlessly horrific story. It’s hard to adequately contextualize the moral desolation of this unfolding in the midst of a midterms against a ruling party helmed by inveterate rapists and rape apologists. www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/congres...
phoenixnewtimes.com
Congressional candidate is raped while repairing her campaign signs
Embarrassed, she initially didn’t want to report attack. Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office's investigation is ongoing. A Phoenix New Times exclusive.
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e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 07/10/2026
there's a lot going on right now, but the ability to buy elections in order to stay out of prison is on the ballot whether you realize it or not
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 7h
No AI for kids. Full stop.
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Steve Rattner @steverattner.bsky.social · 13h
Corporate profits and tax revenues grew together until the Trump tax cuts. Now corporate profits are at an all-time high while tax receipts are at their lowest since 2021.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 12h
This is…something. I don’t think it’s gonna go over well in Philly
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Micah @rincewind.run · 12h
the supreme court: "stop saying we declared trump a god-king, presidential immunity was a limited and reasonable ruling" trump, constantly: "I am absolutely a god-king and I can do anything I want at any time"
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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
a little louder for the cheap seats in the back
One of the biggest myths is that men rape by mistake. Like, "Oh, they need consent training." But research is very clear: Sexual violence is not a mistake. It is an intentionally made decision by people who know they don't have consent. They just don't prioritize consent over things like status, power, domination, and sexual gratification.
For my research, I got a certificate of confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health, so my notes couldn't be subpoenaed. One of the reasons I call them perpetrators in my work is because every single person I interviewed confessed in that context. The first question I would ask them was, "When you received that email from Title IX that you were under investigation, did you know what it was about?" Every perpetrator I interviewed said "yes." If sexual assault were a miscommunication, you would be wondering, What have I possibly done wrong? That is not the way that any of them reacted because they knew.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 16h
Reddit out here putting us in a nursing home! The comments!!
A pic of a coaxial cable wall port on a post from Reddit with a young person asking: 

What are these plug-ins on my wall?
New, what is it?
This might be showing my age, but I recently moved into a new apartment and they have these weird looking plug ins all over the walls at my new place. My old apartment didn't have these, so I'm just curious as to what they are.
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
imagine if the mainstream media covered Republicans' number one donor — the biggest political donor in US history! — and his controversial views with as much scrutiny as they covered Hasan Piker's
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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I'm just gonna bookmark this for future reference when Dem pundits complain about how the party has trouble communicating its message to voters. The reason you keep running into trouble with your branding isn't campus radicals. The reason is that your opponents purchased all the media outlets.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
When you don’t know what an obligation or a hobby is…
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Mexico’s overwintering monarch population grew 64% this winter, with butterflies covering their largest area of forest since 2018. The recovery remains fragile, but suggests there’s been a positive impact from conservation efforts in the butterflies’ core habitat. buff.ly/XoPKQ9d #ShareGoodNewsToo
buff.ly
Mexico’s monarch butterfly population jumps 64%, offering hope for at-risk species
The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticides
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Here’s hoping my late boomer makes it’s way to Mexico!
Pic of a monarch butterfly just after emerging from its chrysalis. Wings are fully inflated and chrysalis husk is next to it. Pic of a monarch butterfly just after emerging from its chrysalis. Wings are fully inflated and chrysalis husk is next to it.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I do every year and it’s sooo neat and really rewarding. I had a late bloomer come today and I’m hoping it will make it to Mexico!
Picture of a monarch butterfly just after it emerged from its chrysalis
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Jared Holt @jaredlholt.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Forum boards are the best form of internet, full stop, and the internet began to suck more and more as we strayed from that light
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I can’t understand how anyone would take any pleasure in winning this way. You didn’t even get the pleasure of playing. WTF is the point?
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination. She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth. Because he’s a goddamned coward.
ms.now
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Hustle culture reaches its inevitable conclusion - you shouldn’t get to choose who governs you or how it’s done because it’s too inefficient. We’ve got share prices to raise…
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
(angry goose meme) "Efficient HOW?"
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Michael Froomkin @mfroomkin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Relative got a $500 check from US Treasury and a shocking letter full of lies signed by Trump and ending with "May God bless you". Basically a pre-electoral bribe. News reports say they're sending almost a million of these. Full text in alt below. (I told him to cash it quick before it bounces.)
Dear [name],

For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov. That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!

With this Historic Action, my Administration is taking the surplus funds that accumulated from the Obamacare ''Premium Tax" and issuing a one-time $500 REFUND to Americans who use the HealthCare.gov platform to purchase their health insurance, but who do not receive Taxpayer Subsidies to help pay for their Coverage. You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back.

Healthcare Dollars should benefit Patients, not Insurance Companies or Government Bureaucrats. Since returning to office, I have fought to lower Healthcare Costs, increase Accountability, and Put Patients First. Through TrumpRx, we are delivering massive discounts on Household Prescription Drugs, and my Most-Favored-Nation Pricing Agreements have already saved Americans more than 1 Billion Dollars on much-needed Medications. We also secured an unprecedented 50 Billion Dollar investment to transform Rural Healthcare, expanded access to Health Saving Accounts for millions of people on Obamacare, and restored Pnce Transparency, all while roofing out the Waste, Fraud, and abuse across our Healthcare System.

I am proud to return your money to you, and I will never stop fighting to put the American People FIRST, restore Affordability, protect your hard-earned money, and lower the Cost of Healthcare.

May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America!

Sincerely,

[signed] 

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 05/10/2026
Sam Altman: Bad things will have to happen to other people for us to succeed www.politico.com/news/2026/10...
“I think there’s a lot of daylight,” Altman told Decoded co-author and POLITICO senior tech reporter Brendan Bordelon. 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.”
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Joshua Foust 🪖🎮 @joshuafoust.com · 05/10/2026
I’d suggest the genre of profile journalism has some shortcomings
The cover of Fortune Magazine that calls the convicted fraud Sam Bankman-Fried “the next warren buffet” because of his crypto-scamThe cover of Forbes, where Elizabeth Holmes holds a capsule of blood for a cover story extolling her genius, shortly before she was convicted for fraud and sentenced to a long prison sentence.A glossy photo spread extolling the glamour and taste of Asma al-Assad, weeks before her husband committed multiple war crimes and eventually had to flee to Russia to avoid being hacked apart by an enraged rob.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Used to make my sister turn the radio off if it came on around bedtime! Vincent Price’s voice man….
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Americans picked Trump II, and their biggest objection is high prices. Hungary chose Orban, and their eventual big objection was corruption. Erdogan and Modi won multiple terms. Brazilians about to go Bolsonaro again. Not always free and fair, but yeah, millions want it. Wouldn’t work otherwise.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 05/10/2026
NEW: Remember when John Oliver opened a church to expose how easy it was to get tax exemptions? This year, ProPublica reporters set out to establish private schools to test if, truly, anyone could open one. We founded two. Here’s how.
propublica.org
How ProPublica Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours
The reporting experiment demonstrates how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. No credentials or background checks required.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A 10K contribution and a $900 million return. The scale of the graft in Homeland Security is a) off the charts and b) possible because no-one believes they will face any accountability
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 05/10/2026
All prisoners should have the right to vote while in prison
Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A whole political movement should be stood up against this arrogant and sociopathic bullshit www.politico.com/newsletters/...
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Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
major democracies electing far-right populist governments
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Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 04/10/2026
Immigrants including refugees, human trafficking survivors and people who’ve been granted asylum but don’t have green cards are losing their Medicaid coverage under provisions of HR1, also called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
chicagotribune.com
About 9,300 immigrants in Illinois to lose Medicaid this week because of One Big Beautiful Bill
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
My list has always been Hegseth, Miller and Vought. All three are have encouraged “high crimes and Misdemeanors” that go to the balance of separation of powers.
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Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 03/10/2026
JUST POSTED: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have pushed a multibillion oil deal with Russia as part of peace talks that will bring profits to their family business partners. A new front for Trump-era conflicts of interest. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Endless corruption.
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 03/10/2026
You'd think that the Democratic party would be making hay over their opposition's biggest donor fighting to let his bot keep making revenge porn.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This. Tell my dad who worked manual labor from the time he was 15 until retirement that he should just work longer. Soft, privileged-assed people.
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens." There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
Screenshot of article which reads: From this perspective, the “both sides” frame falls apart. The prob-
lem is not that the parties are divided. The problem is the existential 
threat that a reempowered ethnonationalist strain poses to pluralistic 
U.S. democracy writ large. The current level of political animosity is 
exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted 
to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s 
citizens. The only way to re-oppress most of a country is to use anti-
democratic and authoritarian tactics. And the only way to oppose those 
tactics is to push back as a population and clearly reject them. This is 
the argument happening in the United States, and its pathology is not 
anger—it is the movement to undermine a generation of rights.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Best case is they make everything so toxic to the public the administration is forced to act. 🤷‍♀️
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Similarly, people keep asking me if immigration will get much better if Democrats retake Congress and the answer is "probably not." ICE is largely insulated from Congressional pushback (the 2026 budget reconciliation bill funded them through 2029) and hearings and subpoenas can only do so much.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I just want all these innocent boys to tell me what they thought “free pussy” meant. That’s all. Explain it to me like I’m 5.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
They're holding up a major escalation in Iran and a crackdown on abortion until after the midterms to limit political damage. To the extent that the last two years have been a right-wing smash-and-grab operation, the next two will be worse.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Renee Good's death was a moment where the pro-ICE movement lost standing by demanding people ignore the evidence of their own eyes. Reality mattered. So they will reshoot it as fiction.
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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 01/10/2026
Man, imagine you're minding your own business, getting kind of drunk with your friends at a picturesque brewery in Maine, when suddenly John Roberts walks by and you get to start heckling him. Must have felt incredible. That's the dream. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...
The chief justice used to preside over a Supreme Court whose members were afforded more privacy and freedom than many other public officials. Once, years ago, Mr. Lipson and the chief justice found themselves up the peninsula from Port Clyde without a car, Mr. Lipson recalled in an interview. So he stuck out his thumb by the side of the road and a pickup truck pulled over. He and the nation’s top jurist hopped in the back and hitchhiked back to town.

Now, Mr. Lipson said, he is cautious about introducing his friend to strangers. This year, on an outing to nearby Monhegan Island, people recognized the chief justice as he walked by a brewery and started to chant: You should be ashamed.
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For a long time I've wanted a sense of how trump has or hasn't interacted with chatbots (we know he posts a lot of slop sure). And this TIME anecdote about Grok arguably leading Trump into war is just extremely bracing
Since returning to office, Trump has marveled at AI’s capabilities. He is increasingly in thrall to the tech executives courting him. In December 2025, Elon Musk returned to the Oval Office for a clandestine meeting. Trump spent hours asking Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot, questions about his presidency and legacy, according to an official present. At the time, Trump was ordering missile strikes against Venezuelan boats he alleged were smuggling drugs into the U.S. He asked Grok how Venezuelans would react if the U.S. captured Maduro. According to the official present, the chatbot responded that Maduro was a repressive and deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. After Trump ordered the mission to seize Maduro, the following month, celebrations broke out in the streets. Trump, according to officials, came away thinking Grok was ingenious.
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Joshua Foust 🪖🎮 @joshuafoust.com · 01/10/2026
Hard to overstate just how much blood Elon Musk has on his hands, and how dismaying it is to see this legacy of violence and death swept under the rug because spaceships go zoom real good.
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Kate @katastrophe98.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Is anyone going to do anything about this?? JFC
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Washington Post Data Team @wpdatateam.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Since President Trump took over the Kennedy Center, the institution has borrowed everything its bank would lend it, dipped into money donors had given on the condition it never be spent and written off pledges from supporters who stopped paying. By @federicacocco.bsky.social & @naemas.bsky.social:
washingtonpost.com
The Kennedy Center was solvent when Trump took over. Then its finances collapsed.
The Post examined 15 years of the institution’s financial records to see why it went south after the president took over.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
the democrats who put themselves in a panic over hasan piker are the same democrats who push the party to be anti trans, and a generation ago were the ones saying we cant oppose the war in iraq these people are never right they doom the party they hurt america stop listening to them
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is the 59th death in ICE detention since Trump took office.
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