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Melissa Thompson

@melthomp7799.bsky.social
995 followers 2K following 3 posts

CJS, mental health, sociology. MN sports

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Melissa Thompson
Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Mike Pompeo has been rewarded with a teaching fellowship at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. The same school that canceled my class on media, race and international affairs. @columbiasipa.bsky.social share.google/KEvTy5yER71U...
share.google
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to join SIPA faculty
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join the School of International and Public Affairs as a fellow at SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics in March, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Tomorrow they’re holding a funeral in Springfield for the Haitian college kid Pierre Damas Bel who killed himself. On the same day in nearby Dayton Ohio suburb President trump will be there holding a fun little rally, not far from the body of the student his policies appear to have, you know, killed
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 30/09/2026
Last year, a pastor saw masked immigration agents arresting someone at her church and filmed them. DHS denied they were there. A year later, DHS finally acknowledged the incident — days after WH border czar Tom Homan claimed "no one has been arrested at a church." religionnews.com/2026/09/30/t...
religionnews.com
Do federal immigration agents make arrests at churches? Depends on what day you ask.
(RNS) — Over the past year, the Trump administration has issued contradictory and, at times, seemingly false statements about whether federal agents have conducted operations at churches.
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Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
you are paying for Trump's ads.
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Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
NEWS @status.news: The anonymous source behind one of the stories the White House cited to justify banning POLITICO was none other than Vice President JD Vance. The full story: www.status.news/p/white-hous...
status.news
The Source Behind The Ban
The anonymous source behind one of the stories the White House cited to justify banning POLITICO was none other than Vice President JD Vance, Status has learned.
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AsAmNews @asamnews.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Department of Homeland Security agents were allegedly told to “falsely flag naturalized citizens as ineligible voters in federal law enforcement records.” asamnews.com/2026/09/20/n...
asamnews.com
Trump Targets Naturalized Citizen Voters Ahead of Midterms – AsAmNews
By Edward Kissam, originally published by American Community Media At a September 14 press conference, Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unveiled a whistleblower report alleging th...
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is being done in the name of keeping Americans "safe." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Men deported from US bound and beaten in Equatorial Guinea detention hotel, lawyers say
Group trapped at Hotel Bamy after US removal as rights groups sound alarm over poor conditions and violence
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Tiffany⸆⸉ @tiffanyclay.dev · 18/09/2026
“If you’re a US citizen you have no reason to fear” – Markwayne Mullin, responding to a video of a teenage US citizen being repeatedly punched in the face by ICE.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 17/09/2026
HHS wants to relax regulations on human subject research (The Common Rule). For example, they want to redefine “undue influence” on vulnerable human research subjects (children, prisoners, disabled, culturally disadvantaged). 1/
From the federal register: The foundational framework for human subjects protection in the United States was established by the National Research Act of 1974 in response to widespread public concern over unethical biomedical and behavioral research practices. Following its passage, the then-Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued the first version of 45 CFR part 46. These regulations established institutional review boards (IRBs) as the key mechanism for oversight and ethical review of human subjects research. While these protections remain vital, the current regulatory framework no longer reflects the realities of modern research.
In 1991 the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, known as the Common Rule, was formally adopted by HHS and 15 other federal departments and agencies. Although the last major revision in 2017 introduced several changes to modernize human subject protections while reducing unnecessary regulatory burden, investigators and institutions have continued to report that the Common Rule imposes unnecessary burdens and unclear requirements, particularly for minimal-risk studies. For example, the Department has received feedback that applying the Common Rule remains cumbersome for research within Learning Healthcare Systems and for other research methods that are integrated into clinical care settings and are intended to improve the quality and safety of medical care.
Without additional changes intended to clarify ambiguities, expand flexibilities, and redirect protective measures toward high-risk activities, the rights and safety of research participants as well as scientific breakthroughs can be impeded. Examples of how this rulemaking will address these issues include expanding exemptions for certain additional types of low-risk research, incorporating flexibilities for de minimis protocol changes, and clarifying key terms such as the definition of undue influence. These reforms will reduce ambiguity and undue administr…
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15/09/2026
DURBIN: Do you still stand behind the false statements you made on social media after Marimar Martinez was shot? KASH PATEL: They are not false statements DURBIN: She's never been charged with a crime after being shot five times PATEL: You want her to be charged for being shot?
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Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Yikes! That ballroom is raidly growing. Look at the scale of this thing. The people’s house is being swallowed by one man’s monument to himself. x.com/cwebbonline/...
x.com
Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) on X
Yikes! That ballroom isn’t going to complement the White House. It’s going to overpower it. Look at the scale of this thing. The people’s house is being swallowed by one man’s monument to himself.
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Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · 12/09/2026
@rikiwilchins.bsky.social 2026 Sep The Marshall Project documents how kinds of detainees -- immigrants and transgender - and esp those who are both are targeted in ICE custody with harassment, humiliation, assault and denial of medical. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/09/12/i...
themarshallproject.org
ICE Treatment of Transgender Women Reversing Years-Long Practices
Women said they face harassment and lack proper medical care.
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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 11/09/2026
The carceral system is a traumatic and deadly place — and it's only gotten worse in recent decades. From 2001 to 2019, deaths by suicide increased in state prisons by 85%. Incarceration is a mental health crisis.
Graph showing that suicide rates in prisons have always been higher than the general U.S. population, and the gap is widening. In 2001, it was 14 per 100,000 people vs. 10.4. In 2019, it was 26 vs. 14.2.
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Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Can’t let people see how many women died from the new abortion laws before they vote
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James North @jamesnorth7.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Kudos to the #NYTimes and Frances Robles for this searing first-hand report from #Haiti. She interviews recent deportees, who arrive stunned, penniless, and in immediate danger from the vicious gangs. @ambdanfoote.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/w...
nytimes.com
Haitians Deported From U.S. Are Left Broke and Stranded (Gift Article)
Hundreds have been deported to Haiti in recent weeks, and some say they have been left with no money, no protection from gangs and no place to go.
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Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
US Attorney Matthew Evans believed the office had sufficient evidence to charge Castro with a more significant civil rights offense known as "deprivation of rights under color of law," but claimed officials at Main Justice headquarters overruled him. He was just fired. abcnews.com/US/ice-agent...
abcnews.com
ICE agent faces federal charges for allegedly lying about Minneapolis shooting: Sources
The charges against Christian Castro, 52, come just one week after he was released from jail by authorities amid an extradition dispute over separate state-level charges.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
All part of the plan zeteo.com/p/trump-ice-...
zeteo.com
Inside Trump’s Plans To Protect Killer ICE Agents ‘No Matter What’
Minnesota officials want to investigate ICE’s killing of a mother in Minneapolis. Team Trump has been planning for a moment like this.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A heartbreaking tragedy. Driven by racism and cruelty. Historians looking back on this shameful period will wonder how this was allowed. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/spring…
nbcnews.com
Haitian student dies by suicide after ICE issued him an ankle monitor
Pierre Damas Bel, 20, of Springfield, Ohio, expressed feeling “shame and humiliation” at having to wear an ankle monitor
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marymoriarty.bsky.social @marymoriarty.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
“But now, it looks like at least one Republican governor is willing to violate express constitutional, federal and state laws to provide sanctuary for federal officials charged with harming people in Democratic-led cities or states.”
ms.now
Opinion | Greg Abbott is blocking Minnesota from holding an indicted ICE agent accountable
John Pfaff: Extradition between states is part of the Constitution. But all bets are off with Trump’s immigration crackdown.
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Tuesday: The US govt offers its “deepest condolences to the victims and their families” after armed gangs storm a mountainside town in Haiti, killing dozens and kidnapping more than 50, including infants. Thursday: The govt deports 57 people, including a 3-year-old born in the U.S., to Haiti. 1/
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The situation in Haiti is terrifying. On Sunday, 150 gunmen swept down on a town to kill, rape, loot, and burn. 22 people were executed in a churchyard. 52 were taken hostage. Stephen Miller mockingly says Haiti is safe and ICE just sent its second deportation flight this month; with kids on board.
They arrived in silence, under cover of darkness, heavily armed as they surrounded the town and moved through Kenscoff’s rugged terrain and towering forests in the mountains above the Haitian capital. Numbering around 150, the gunmen swept through several locations as they made their way toward the center of the town, opening fire on resident who tried to flee. At least 13 people were shot and killed as the gunmen ran through downtown, according to an account by the United Nations human rights office. As more than 50 others sought refuge in L’Arche de la Nouvelle Alliance, a Protestant church that had been sheltering people already displaced by the violence, the gunmen pursued them. When they arrive, they forced residents from the church and executed 22 of them in its courtyard. A dozen others were killed behind the sanctuary. The attackers didn’t just stop there. Before withdrawing from downtown, an area encompassing City Hall and a Haiti National Police substation, they abducted at least 52 people, including a mother and her five children, as well as another mother and her infant. Children and elderly who could not run were killed inside their homes. Others were burned alive after gunmen set at least a dozen houses on fire, witnesses told the National Human Rights Defense Network. The attackers also shot horses and other livestock inside the rural enclave.
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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 28/08/2026
The lawyers at Trump’s DOJ are filing briefs with riddled with the kinds of weird malapropisms and baffling typos that would be embarrassing for a sophomore English major. Government by an LLM trained on Truth Social posts.
ballsandstrikes.substack.com
The Trump DOJ Is Running Out of Ways to Humiliate Itself In Public
Another week, another argument from your federal government that would be kind of embarrassing if a high school sophomore tried to make it.
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❀°。Der Siebenschläfer *.゚✿ ⋆ @sababausa.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The dude was caught planning to flee to Mexico, and the judge even acknowledged this, and yet he is free to go Minnesota could ask Mexico to extradite Castro, but would need the co-conspirator Trump Administration’s cooperation to do so They’re aiding & abetting a fugitive bsky.app/profile/saba...
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Reposted by Melissa Thompson
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
An incredible story. The Iranian Christian woman who wrote “help” on the glass on the hotel in Panama has finally found permanent safety; in Canada. The Trump admin deported her to Panama soon after taking office, rather than let her seek asylum. Read her story 👇 www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/w...
nytimes.com
Christian Convert Who Fled Iran and Was Deported By Trump Finds New Home (Gift Article)
Artemis Ghasemzadeh, who had escaped religious persecution, was deported to Panama under Trump’s immigration crackdown. Now, Canada has given her asylum.
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tomwellborn3rd @wellborn.net · 24/08/2026
Congress funded the CDC's Alzheimer's work, the sickle cell and epilepsy data programs and a rape prevention unit, and Vought simply will not release the money. Grassley told him to his face he lacks the authority. The pocket rescission alone took 4.9 billion.
alternet.org
Republicans furious as Trump’s budget director goes 'rogue'
The director of the Office of Management and Budget is infuriating Republican lawmakers by "going rogue" on what appropriations were approved by the House and Senate.
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 20/08/2026
Earlier: In an attempt to overcomply with Texas law, the University of Houston will eliminate over 100 women's studies, gender and sexuality courses from the core curriculum. It won't be enough to appease extremist Republicans.
texasobserver.org
University of Houston Is Gutting Its Gender and Sexuality Classes. That Won’t Stop Texas' Crusade Against Higher Ed.
College administrators wrongly hope that anticipatory obedience will satisfy a GOP-run Texas Legislature that is increasingly hostile toward education.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Finally, this has gone a bit under the radar, so I want to highlight it: The social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate (SBE) has simply ceased to deliver grants to many of its subareas. Any topic not specifically OK'd by the Trump administration is receiving zero new awards.
All of the NSF’s directorates are awarding fewer new grants, but the hardest hit is the social, behavioural and economic sciences (SBE) directorate, which the White House proposed eliminating in its 2027 budget request to Congress. SBE has so far awarded 84 new grants this year, about 11% of its average, mainly in areas of artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience and decision-making. Much of its portfolio, such as sociology, archaeology, political science, economics and geography, has received zero new awards. “I don’t think they’ve realized yet that there’s no awards,” one NSF staff member says of researchers in those fields. “That’s going to be clear soon.”
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Dan Silverman @dmsilverman.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
In case you weren’t troubled enough by the consequences of the USAID demolition, a recent study in Science shows it caused significant political instability and increased the amount of political violence occurring in affected areas of Africa.
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David Cochrane @davidwcochrane.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
21 days before the 25th anniversary of September 11th, the United States imposes 50% tariffs on the country that gave its citizens refuge during the worst terrorist attack in US history.
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Among other reforms, it cannot stand that the President can sue everyone all the time but never face any lawsuits or criminal charges himself because he’s president. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Threatens Defamation Suit Over National Guard Report, Aiming to Intimidate a Critic (Gift Article)
It was the latest example of President Trump’s bid to use the legal system against those who voice unflattering facts and opinions generally protected by the First Amendment.
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Nick Benson @ottergoose.net · 21/08/2026
Thank you to @wcconews.bsky.social for covering the news that we observed our 5,000th detainee boarding at ICE flight at MSP this week.
cbsnews.com
5,000th ICE detainee flown from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, flight tracker says
"These are mothers who aren't going to be home tonight for bedtime snuggles with their kids," said Nick Benson.
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Nancy Levine Stearns @nancylevinestearns.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
🔥 NEW NYT: Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts: GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign. A subsidiary donated more than $1.4 million to the president’s super PAC last month. $GEO www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/u...
nytimes.com
Prison Firm Donated to Trump’s PAC After ICE Gave It $165 Million a Year in Contracts (Gift Article)
The GEO Group has profited from the administration’s mass deportation campaign. A subsidiary donated more than $1.4 million to the president’s super PAC last month.
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George Pearkes @peark.es · 20/08/2026
*INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS TO US COLLEGES FELL 10% THIS YEAR
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
"The Trump administration has been quietly deporting migrants from Mexico to different countries in Central America despite the Mexican government's willingness to accept the return of all its citizens..."
cbsnews.com
U.S. quietly deporting Mexican migrants to Guatemala and Honduras, angering Mexico
The Trump administration has been quietly deporting migrants from Mexico to Central America, despite the Mexican government's willingness to accept the return of all its citizens.
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Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
After Alex Pretti was shot while peacefully witnessing during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, the US government did not investigate his murder; they investigated groups that were supporting efforts to witness and document, calling them agitators. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/u...
nytimes.com
U.S. Investigated Left-Leaning Groups During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown (Gift Article)
The government conducted expansive surveillance, infiltrated group chats and obtained financial records of organizations never accused of crimes.
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Brian Kaylor @briankaylor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Here's my write-up on five churches (4 in the Twin Cities & 1 in Michigan) where DHS sent undercover agents into events to secretly spy on people (including church members who weren't targets of any investigation): publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/department...
publicwitness.wordandway.org
Department of Homeland Security Spied on Churches in the Twin Cities
According to documents filed in federal court this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent undercover agents into church buildings to track activists attending events at Lutheran, Baptist,...
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Reposted by Melissa Thompson
ProPublica @propublica.org · 14/08/2026
Some children in Dilley were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, parents told ProPublica. They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick. (Published February)
propublica.org
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
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Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Immigration judge to my client in court today: "Ma'am, the children will need to wait outside--but this shouldn't take long. I don't want you to be separated from your children." given what the order I knew she was about to issue, the cruelty of this phrasing stopped my breath
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Tina Smith @smith.senate.gov · 13/08/2026
The White House normally gets $2.5 million a year for maintenance. Trump’s team has allocated $875 million.   That’s 350 years’ worth of the usual budget spent by a single administration.
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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 12/08/2026
NEW: Harmeet Dhillon swore in 100+ new Civil Rights Division lawyers as "civil rights warriors" for "ALL Americans" — then named exactly none of them. So we did. Court filings let us ID 11. At least 5 arrived with records of misconduct, controversy, or hiring irregularities. 1/
citizen.org
Meet the attorneys Harmeet Dhillon installed to turn the Civil Rights Division against its mission - Public Citizen
Introduction  On July 8, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon tweeted that she had sworn in more than 100 new…
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
RBADVISERS: “.. Yet another inflation impulse. The US basically has NO STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE (SPR) anymore.”
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
STUNNING: Trump left the White House press corps in Turkey as a decoy to be attacked by Iran—and instead flew out on a secret plane: wapo.st/4i1OByh
wapo.st
Contradicting public statements, Trump took secret flight from Turkey amid Iranian threat
The White House said the president was aboard Air Force One as he left a NATO summit. Instead, his departure included an elaborate ruse that concealed his travel.
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Yael Schacher @yaelschacher.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
So many immigrants I've interviewed break down about this. "Monsanto Maler was one of several Haitian immigrants who traveled from Springfield for a check in...after an ankle monitor was attached to him, Maler was seen collapsing to the ground and crying." www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/hundre...
springfieldnewssun.com
Hundreds rally at site were Haitians required to check-in, get monitors after end of TPS
Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal immigration office Sunday morning to show support for Haitian immigrants from Springfield who were called to report for immigration check-ins.
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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 07/08/2026
Confronted with an obvious need for renewable energy, Trump admin officials used taxpayer money to scuttle an offshore wind project. Then they did it again. And again. And again. And this week, again. Total price tag in wasted taxpayer money: ~$4 billion and counting www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
ms.now
Team Trump uses taxpayer money to scuttle yet another renewable energy project
As one key Democratic member of Congress summarized, “It is hard to imagine a more backwards use of taxpayer money.”
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
They had contracted Blue Angels for 43 years; 43 years The owner says she never received a personal notice that Hegseth was canceling her or any reminder that her contract renewal was coming up This is how the Trump administration treats people, especially Black people
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MPR News @mprnews.org · 04/08/2026
Recent reporting by the Washington Post found that the Trump administration's DOGE effort last year delayed a $10 million grant that was supposed to help thin out dead trees in the Superior National Forest as a way to reduce the fire risk.
mprnews.org
DOGE cut delayed northern Minnesota wildfire prevention funding
MPR News host Emily Bright spoke with Washington Post reporter Brianna Sacks about the DOGE cuts and their impact on the Superior National Forest.
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Melissa Thompson @melthomp7799.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Exactly! Sadly 100% accurate
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Do you know how much money we spent on the stupid Reflecting Pool: 16.4 million. Waste: Every expert was like the Reflecting Pool cannot be fixed this way. Fraud: A No-Bid Contract Awarded to a Pool Guy. Abuse: 7 people—who had to pay lawyers—criminally charged and nationally embarrassed.
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Scott MacFarlane @macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
FLASH: Justice Dept seeks to dismiss Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn Trump Admin acknowledges: "Damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor"
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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
Trump has denied most disaster requests from Democratic-led states

A graph  showing Presidential approval rates for disaster requests from Democratic-led states and Republican-led states

Source: POLITICO's E&E News analysis of FEMA records
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