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Melissa Lewis

@melissa.news
13K followers 1.1K following 675 posts

data reporter, Center for Investigative Reporting (@motherjones.com + @revealnews.org)

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Melissa Lewis
sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
girl dinner
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Reposted by Melissa Lewis
Reveal @revealnews.org · 16/09/2026
The treatment for a fatal cat disease wasn’t legally available. So cat lovers created an international black market. The cat drug black market, and why we needed it in the first place, on the next Reveal.
revealnews.org
The treatment for a fatal cat disease wasn’t legally available. So cat lovers created an international black market.
A fatal cat disease was finally cured, but the treatment wasn’t legally available. So a group of cat lovers created an international black market.
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Reveal @revealnews.org · 09/09/2026
Last month, a jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty in the 1996 fatal shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur. Author Jeff Pearlman calls Tupac’s killing “the dumbest death ever.” Hear why on this week’s “More To The Story.” Listen here: tinyurl.com/3u9svyuz
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public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
i’m dying. i’m dead
zohran holding a the power broker book up in front of his face. caption reads “but robert moses is another video entirely)
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 18/08/2026
Is there a “Black Mirror with Tim Robinson” bingo card nobody told me about?
Compliant Technologies was founded in 2018 by Jeff Niklaus, a former Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Afghanistan and Somalia, who believes that President Donald Trump has been “anointed” by God. He is also a sometime conspiracy theorist: In a podcast interview in 2025, he blamed the fatal crash of a passenger plane and a military helicopter on “the vaccines,” and on the Biden administration’s inclusion of women and LGBTQ people in the military.
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Maddie Oatman @moatmanjourno.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Zach Lahn is running for Iowa governor on MAHA-backed promises to bust up Big Ag and hold pesticide companies accountable. But some farmers wonder if he’s for real. Our collab w/ @thefern.org www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Zach Lahn is MAHA’s great farm country hope. Is he the populist hero he claims to be?
He’s running for Iowa governor on promises to bust up Big Ag. But some farmers are questioning his authenticity.
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 31/07/2026
Bellingcat's @godin.bsky.social spoke with NPR about Google's now paused new feature that allowed users to create AI-generated satellite images.
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 28/07/2026
Nothing says summer blockbuster like Lars von Trier at the helm of “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota”
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Reposted by Melissa Lewis
404 Media @404media.co · 23/07/2026
It is rare for the public to see such a large list of ICE’s technology capabilities in a single document. 404 Media has published the whole document, called “ICE Wide Analytical Tools," here: www.404media.co/leaked-docum... @josephcox.bsky.social reports:
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 23/07/2026
Man, I wish I saw this more often on news websites, but of course I simply wish more news organizations had a data desk. That said, sadly, the most recent version of the HTML cookbook it mentions was archived June 2019. 😢 web.archive.org/web/20190606...
The head part of the HTML underlying a Los Angeles Times page with ascii art at the top depicting an eagle flanked by the words "DATA DESK," followed by the message "Created using v1.2.2 of the Los Angeles Times Data Desk's base templates
Learn more at cookbook.latimes.com
Good with data?
Tired of grinding on the same old apps?
Want to use your skills in defense of truth, justice and the American way?
Email datadesk@latimes.com and let us know you're out there.
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Reposted by Melissa Lewis
WIRED @wired.com · 22/07/2026
Federal lawyers say anti-mask laws would endanger immigration agents, citing an ICE face-recognition art project that doesn’t actually work. www.wired.com/story/states...
wired.com
States Want ICE Agents to Show Their Faces. The Trump Administration Is Blocking Them
Federal lawyers say anti-mask laws would endanger immigration agents, citing an ICE face-recognition art project that doesn’t actually work.
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 22/07/2026
Least expected outcome of finally starting Something Wicked This Way Comes: Learning Paul Giamatti has a beautiful singing voice?? I got the audiobook so I can continue it even during chores and, ~12 chapters in, it seems it was a very good call.
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s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 15/07/2026
Comrades with wildfire smoke: Really do wear respiratory protection, that shit isn't just bad in the moment, it has serious long-term health implications and not just for your lungs! If you don't have an air purifier really do try to get one, if possible, and REMEMBER TO CLEAN AND CHANGE FILTERS.
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
NEW: SFPD exposed its live police drone feeds to the open internet. Color + thermal, 5,000 GPS points over 44 miles + pilots’ names and emails. No authentication. Found by a routine scrape of the manufacturer’s domain.
wired.com
A Leak of San Francisco Police Drone Footage Exposes the New Reality of Urban Surveillance
The SFPD’s exposure of hours of videos from drone platform Skydio reveals how broadly it’s watching the city from above—and how the results can spill online.
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ProPublica Guild @propublicaguild.org · 01/07/2026
Ruth Talbot works on the news apps team at ProPublica: “I work with absolutely incredible, driven, dedicated, talented people here, who I trust to get their work done wherever works best for them.” Support our fight for an RTO policy that preserves flexibility: www.propublicaguild.org
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Heather Hogan @heatherhogan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Older lady peeped the rainbow flag on my bike, asked in a thick Russian accent “It’s your Pride?” She told me her youngest grandchild is “not she berry or he berry but no berry.” I said “Nonbinary?” She got so excited. Yes! Yes! And “Is a secret, but they are my“ *looks around, whispers* “favorite.”
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@cjereneta @cjereneta.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The mail still gets delivered
Front cover, above-the-fold view of the June-July 2026 issue of The Onion, with the headline “CDC Successfully Eradicates Children”
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 24/06/2026
Not actually sending this response to the Audacity user survey because it doesn't answer the question for them, but I feel it with my whole heart
Image of a survey. Question: "If applicable, would you be interested in using your AI service together with Audacity?
If, for example, an AI could generate audio, help with editing tasks, or work with your project."

Response is selection of radio button "Other" with the text "If I start seeing AI popups in Audacity I will walk into the ocean"
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 17/06/2026
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association received >$7 million 2017–2022 (when Dobbs was decided) from funders we tracked. From the amicus brief it filed in that case: "Like a seven-year-old, the unborn person has *life*, and that is what is expressly protected by [the Constitution]."
Obviously, context dictates that almost all of the Constitution’s references to persons refer to those already born, because only an adult can, for example, run for office or commit a crime. But no one has ever suggested that, because a seven-year-old girl may not be President, she is not covered by the Constitution’s protection of her life or cannot insist upon the equal protection of the law. Like a seven-year-old, the unborn person has life, and that is what is expressly protected by the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
“.. Claims about Hormuz reopening are exactly why we built this: If ships start moving through the Strait with AIS transponders on, you’ll see it in the index — updated every 30 minutes ..” @bloomberg.com
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Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
I've reported on Musk for around 8 years. I've co-authored a book on him. I don't think folks understand the rate of his wealth accumulation. Shortly after he helped elect Donald Trump in Nov 2024, his net worth was around $350 billion. That net worth has nearly tripled in less than two years.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 10/06/2026
"We are deeply concerned by the alleged use of the herbicide and lack of information,” two lawmakers wrote to the Forest Service, demanding answers about Roundup use on public lands after our investigation revealed widespread spraying. www.motherjones.com/environment/...
motherjones.com
Lawmakers demand answers after we revealed Forest Service spraying Roundup all over public lands
“We are deeply concerned.”
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 08/06/2026
Prefatory to this harrowing litany by @cjcmichel.bsky.social: "Despite Kushner’s insistence during the 2024 campaign that he would have little involvement in a second Trump term, he is once more at the center of almost every major geopolitical event."
In the occupied Palestinian territories, he’s point man for what should supposedly emerge from the rubble—a “New Gaza” that promises to restore jobs, prosperity, and peace. He was dispatched to Moscow with special envoy Steve Witkoff to seek a diplomatic solution to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. In January, he and Witkoff were appointed executive board members of Trump’s new Board of Peace, itself a breathtaking attempt to monetize foreign relations. The following month, Trump named Kushner his “special envoy for peace,” shortly before dispatching him and Witkoff to lead the administration’s disastrous negotiations with Iran.
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Gerry Doyle @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
hey quick question, am I having a stroke
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
This is an outrageous story. A farmer donated 87 acres to a small Texas city on the condition it be used as a public park. Years later, the farmer has passed away, the city sold the land to a developer, and now it will be the site of a 135,000 square foot data center www.404media.co/a-farmer-don...
404media.co
A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Massive Data Center Instead
In 1999, a farmer gave away 87 acres of land to a small Texas town to use as a park. The town sold to a data center developer for $10 million.
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Reveal @revealnews.org · 06/06/2026
Local newsrooms are drying up across the country, making it harder for people to stay informed and exacerbating a crisis of trust in the news media. How American journalism got here and what can be done about it, on this week’s Reveal.
revealnews.org
American journalism is in crisis. But is the problem what we think it is, and what would a more democratic media even look like?
A majority of Americans say they don’t trust the news media. But what if people are wrong about what’s really wrong with journalism?
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Erica Joy Astrella @ericajoy.astrel.la · 01/06/2026
california is gonna have so many mail in ballots that don’t get counted because people don’t know the new USPS rules that are impacting mail in voting. tl;dr don’t put your ballot in the mail today, find a ballot drop box. www.kqed.org/news/1208537...
kqed.org
Still Need to Mail Your Primary Ballot? Don’t Rely on USPS, Officials Say | KQED
State officials are warning that some ballots mailed too close to Election Day might not be counted. Here are other recommended ways to submit your ballot instead.
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 02/06/2026
Fun feature of workplace harassment training: The state-level note stating "Please see the January 2025 Executive Order that may contradict legal protections in some states, in which case the protection exists at the state level but not at the federal level."
Oregon (OR)
Race, Color, National Origin, Sex (including pregnancy-related conditions), Religion, Prohibition on Genetic Information, Age (18+), Military Status, Veteran Status, Familial Status, Victim of Domestic Violence, Harassment, Sexual Assault or Stalking, Disability, Credit History, Expunged Juvenile Criminal Record, Unemployment Status, Disability, Marital Status, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, Lawful Tobacco Use, and other additional classes protected by Oregon Law

There is personal (individual) liability for harassment.

Visit the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries for more information.

Contact by Phone: 971-673-0761

Please see the January 2025 Executive Order that may contradict legal protections in some states, in which case the protection exists at the state level but not at the federal level.
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Reposted by Melissa Lewis
Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 30/05/2026
I’m a climate scientist. Let me fix this headline. “Nearly a century ago, scientists showed that burning fossil fuels warms the planet. Today, we know human emissions account for over 100% of the warming. Yet dark money and disinformation still work to keep Americans addicted to fossil fuels.”
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Quebecoiswolf 🔜 Furpoc @quebecoiswolf.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Being an American during the 250th Aniversary of the United States feels a lot like if the terrorists in Die Hard demanded that the hostages continue having their Christmas party.
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
NEW: Trump's gross Aliens.gov site claims to map where immigrants have been taken into custody, but it includes more 83 spots where Americans alone were arrested. Over 700 locations include citizen arrests. The counter is fake. The music was ripped. And Puerto Rico is listed as a foreign country.
wired.com
The White House’s Aliens.gov Site Brags That ICE Arrested More Than 700 US Citizens
The website, which compares human beings to extraterrestrials, touts arrest numbers from the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown. But some of its details are really out there.
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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/05/2026
They’re turning the entire federal internet apparatus into a galaxy of phishing sites that are controlled by the president and do not adhere to any federal privacy or disclosure rules.
While I was finishing this piece, I typed passports. gov directly into my browser, just to see what was there. A sign-in page came up: enter your email and we will send you a six-digit code. No State Department seal. No agency name. No privacy notice. Just a black button that says Send code. The owner of passports. gov is the Executive Office of the President, White House Office. The State Department does not own this domain. The security contact field is blank. The first certificate was issued May 5, three weeks ago.
Based on what I can see in the staging environment, the next step will ask Americans to upload their passport photo through a White House-controlled website, on the same Cloudflare account, by the same people, with no privacy notice on file. A passport photo is biometric quality. Linked to your identity through Login.gov. Collected through infrastructure the White House owns, sealed from public view. They are building it this week.
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Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Someone emailed the show host to explain that raw milk is good, actually, according to the AI chatbot she consulted. Every story lately is just one, singular story tied together in different places.
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Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The federal government circulated a "Be on the Lookout" alert to law enforcement across the country targeting comedian Ben Palmer. He didn't know about it until I told him. New story with @injusticewatch.org, co-published with @us.theguardian.com:
injusticewatch.org
DHS placed a comedian on law enforcement’s radar. Illinois spread the word.
Illinois State Police distributed a federal “Be on the Lookout” alert for comedian Ben Palmer over a satirical immigration tip line that went viral.
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Many autistic adults have spoken about how traumatic they've found ABA therapy to be. What sucks is it often the only type of early intervention that's covered by insurance for autistic kids.
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Anil Dash @anildash.com · 23/05/2026
Just an annotation relevant to the headline on this piece: all of my devices have had (variously) DuckDuckGo or Kagi as their default search for literally *years*. And I’m not an amateur internet user. A better internet is possible.
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Robert Simmon @rsimmon.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The relative index is important not just because the original index exaggerates current El Niños, but it also minimized La Niña.
Graphs comparing the relative oceanic niño index (blue line) to the oceanic niño index (red line) from 1950 to 2025. Over time the original oceanic niño index was rising, exaggerating the magnitude of El Niño events, while minimizing La Niña events. 

A second graph shows the difference in the two indices, and show the original oceanic niño index creeping up over time.
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Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
NEW: HHS and RFK Jr. still refuse to say what an anti-vaccine activist is doing after being hired as an analyst at the agency. Kennedy promised to give the Senate Finance Committee a copy of David Geier’s contract; I learned he has not actually provided it. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
HHS Refuses to Say What An Anti-Vaccine Activist Is Doing at the Agency
Senators demanded to see David Geier's contract last month. HHS still hasn’t produced it.
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Hydro @the-hydroxian.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
"Time heals all wounds" mushy, sentimental, naively presents healing as inevitable entropy, external locus of control "All fires die but the ones you feed" logical, makes you sound like a jrpg villain, internal locus, gives merit to acceptance but also more healthy things like revenge and hatred
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jenny tightpants @jtp.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
optomistic 20th century sci fi writers: the future will have flying cars pessimistic 20th century sci fi writers: the future will be the torment nexus 2026: don't type the word "you" into the search bar or the machine will try to roleplay with you
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 20/05/2026
Dodd-Frank introduced a ton of financial regulatory changes, but among the better-known might be its creation of the CFPB. I’m not an expert on financial law, but it had a huge impact on my despair about the financial crisis as a youth. Both it & its co-sponsor Barney Frank are worth reading about!
en.wikipedia.org
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - Wikipedia
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
this is a masterpiece
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Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 18/05/2026
Everlane, a millennial clothing brand known for sustainable fashion, is selling to fast fashion giant Shein, according to multiple reports.
inquirer.com
Everlane is reportedly being bought by Shein, and getting dragged for it online
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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
This J6 insurrectionist was sentenced to life in prison for child molestation. He tried to keep his victims quiet by promising them a share of the millions he was going to get from Trump. Maybe he knew something we didn't.
npr.org
A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by Trump was sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse
Since receiving presidential pardons, dozens of former Capitol rioters have gotten into more legal trouble. In Florida, Andrew Paul Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse.
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wint @dril.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
sitting in traffic when a smart beautiful woman, w/an amazing personality, walks close by—about 5ft away. i lock my car doors out of respect
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Ben Welsh @palewi.re · 16/05/2026
ABC killed fivethirtyeight.com, pulling down thousands of stories and dashboards. I can bring them back, but I can offer you fivethirtyeightindex.com, my new index of everything captured by archive.org.
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Melissa Lewis @melissa.news · 16/05/2026
Very cool Oregon Health Authority news release from yesterday: Measles exposure in Clackamas County! www.oregon.gov/oha/ERD/Page...
May 15, 2026

Health officials urge people who were at Providence Immediate Care – Happy Valley during exposure period to talk to a health care provider

A new measles exposure location has been identified in Happy Valley, and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Clackamas County public health officials are urging people to talk to a health care provider about their risks if they believe they were exposed.

People might have been exposed if they were at the following location at this date and time:

Providence Immediate Care – Happy Valley, 16180 SE Sunnyside Road, Suite 102, Happy Valley, between 11:05 a.m. and 3:47 p.m. Tuesday, May 12.
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