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Dan Phiffer

@phiffer.org
1.9K followers 655 following 106 posts

Web developer at @propublica.org and member of @propublicaguild.org. Lives in Troy, NY. He/him. More active on Mastodon: social.coop/@dphiffer

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
scott b. weingart @scottbot.net · 11h
Really classy to end with Dr. Hayden, and with that quote specifically.
A lady came in, and as you know, in public libraries, there are a lot of people who are homeless, so they just need a place to be. She comes into the central library and goes up to the information desk.

She has very interesting attire, and this big bag. She asks to see the head of the library. I was the head of the library. The librarian — and this is what they do — tried to get more information from the person. They said, “Well, what would you like to see her for?” She opens the bag and she puts out on the table an injured bird.

And the librarian says, “Oh, what would you like her to do?” And the woman said, “Somebody’s got to care.”
Carla Hayden, Washington, D.C.
14th Librarian of Congress
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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
She told an officer, “I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped.” He cut it from the report. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/n...
nytimes.com
Statement Written by Police in Cornell Assault Case Omitted Her Claim She Was Raped (Gift Article)
Documents obtained by The New York Times show that the campus police at Cornell University sent a condensed statement to a prosecutor, who then declined to bring charges.
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Julie Novkov @jnovkov.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The very visible and vocal discussions about sexual assault at Cornell are reviving ugly memories and testing how far recovery has progressed for many people out there, particularly those of you in higher ed. For everyone who's been unwillingly dragged back to a dark place, please take care.
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Most state attorneys general released Meta from Cambridge Analytica-related claims as part of the child safety settlement. New Mexico wasn't part of that deal, and a jury there just found 26 of 29 past claims about Cambridge Analytica, hate speech and misinformation willfully deceptive.
techpolicy.press
Eight Years On, Cambridge Analytica Scandal Catches Up With Meta in Santa Fe
A jury found that Meta—then Facebook—misled the public in statements about Cambridge Analytica and its policies on hate speech, violence and misinformation.
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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A federal jury in Houston has found that sheriff's deputies in San Antonio conducted an illegal traffic stop when they stopped and searched a Houston man as part of a secretive U.S. Border Patrol surveillance program. ij.org/press-releas...
ij.org
Federal Jury Strikes Down Texas Sheriff’s Surveillance-Driven Traffic Stop Program - Institute for Justice
SAN ANTONIO—Today, a jury in federal court found Bexar County liable for running an unconstitutional traffic stop scheme that turned mass surveillance of American drivers […]
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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pathetic collapse of journalistic solidarity. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/business…
nytimes.com
TV Networks to Resume Trump Coverage, Even as White House Excludes CNN (Gift Article)
The White House TV pool went dark this past week amid a standoff between CNN and the president. Network leaders, however, believe an indefinite suspension may be untenable.
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Victor Pickard @victorpickard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A major structural hazard with extreme media ownership concentration is that oligarchs impose their ideological agendas--which almost always skew to the far right--on everyone. This capture of core info and communication infrastructures must be dismantled if we're to have any semblance of democracy.
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William Turton @williamturton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEW STORY: Susan Collins Dismissed Our Reporting as Old News. Some of Her Claims Aren’t True. www.propublica.org/article/debu...
propublica.org
ProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe
ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until President Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series o...
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AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.
apnews.com
https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d
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Faith K. Falkner @faithfalkner.com · 23/09/2026
Everyone should be listening to @onthemedia.bsky.social.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 23/09/2026
ICE are currently chasing and kidnapping immigrants in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a town that is at this point probably most famous for being the starting point for Ishmael’s journey in the great American novel Moby-Dick, which portrays a multiracial crew including many immigrants, working together
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William Turton @williamturton.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In 2024 the former CEO of a defense contractor made a stunning confession to two FBI agents. He alleged that was the ringleader of a massive pay-to-play operation, bribing senators with campaign contributions in exchange for govt contracts. www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...
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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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026
Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵
Martin Kao, CEO of defense contractor Navatek, poses next to Sen. Susan Collins for a photo. Collins is holding a model of a boat in her hands. Behind them is a large sign with the Navatek logo.
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Candice Bernd @candicequestions.com · 21/09/2026
NOW: Just arrived at the intersection of Research Blvd and Anderson Lane—near where ICE shot & wounded 29-yr-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez earlier today. Between 300-500 people still holding intersection here. ICE is reportedly not letting Garces Perez’s family access him at the hospital.
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
He is not wrong. "There are reasonable grounds to believe that the reported 68 attacks that killed 223 people constituted crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law" - United Nations Special Rapporteur on U.S. Killing “Narco-Terrorists” at Sea www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"I have studied propaganda for decades, including authoring a book on Italian Fascist propaganda cinema, and I can tell you that a merger that would create a propaganda megastructure encompassing entertainment content and news would be devastatingly effective..." substack.com/inbox/post/2...
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"She *lived* for her job. "For 40 years. "And now it’s gone." -- Dave Barry, writing about how his wife, longtime Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman, just got laid off by "two corporate guys she did not know, who did not know her." davebarry.substack.com/p/michelle
davebarry.substack.com
Michelle
A tribute.
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 18/09/2026
A thought exercise for transphobic Democrats: replace the "transgender" with "Jewish" in the ads and notice how uncomfortable you suddenly get. There is slightly more trans people in the U.S. (0.95%) than German Jews (0.75%) before the Holocaust. Can't you see how dangerous your slippery slope is?
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Jesse Eisinger @jeisinger.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.” A Russian oligarch close to Putin bankrolled Don Jr.’s wedding. www.propublica.org/article/dona...
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
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Howard Lee @hlee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"The United States is replacing every official latitude, longitude and height it publishes. Existing coordinates will move by as much as four meters, and the million survey marks in the ground will no longer be what the system is measured from" spacedaily.com/s-the-united...
spacedaily.com
The United States is replacing every official latitude, longitude and height it publishes, existing coordinates will move by as much as four meters, and the million survey marks in the ground will no ...
The National Geodetic Survey has spent years building a replacement for the reference system that fixes every published position in the country. New geodetic-control submissions into the old system st...
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Louigi Addario-Berry @louigi.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I'm proud to announce the creation of the Association for Human Mathematics. We aim to protect mathematics as a human endeavour against the threat of AI and to maintain the independence of the mathematical community from corporate interests. www.ahmath.org
ahmath.org
AHM
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Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Happy 72nd Birthday to Ruby Bridges, who at the age of 6 desegregated the New Orleans public schools. She’s younger than 30 senators and our last two presidents—and only 7 years older than Barack Obama. The past isn’t past.
Ruby Bridges, age 6Ruby Bridges flanked by three U.S. Marshals on the steps of her schoolNorman Rockwell’s painting depicting the event, “The Problem We All Live With,” originally published as a centerfold in the January 14, 1964 issue of Look magazine. Ruby Bridges talking with President Obama as they look at Rockwell’s painting while it was temporarily displayed at the White House in 2011.
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Violet Fox 🦊 @violetbfox.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
📣 Brand new zine published to celebrate Labor Day: "Don’t Cross the Picket Line : Strike Solidarity for Beginners." Free to print or read online at violetbfox.info/dontcross/. This 24-page zine was created for anyone who's *not* part of a union and doesn't know much about unions or strikes.
Cover of a zine
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NANCY COMICS BY ERNIE BUSHMILLER @nancycomics.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller Monday, September 07,1953
P1- NANCY AND SLUGGO ARE WALKING DOWNTOWN 
SLUGGO: I HAVE AN IDEA, NANCY 
P2- THEY WALK BEHIND A WOODEN FENCE 
SLUGGO: LET’S STAND BEHIND THIS FENCE 
NANCY: WHY?
P3- SLUGGO: THIS IS LABOR DAY ---
LET'S GIVE THE BOSS AN EASY STRIP TO DRAW
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the moon report 🌖 @seachanger.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I’m happy to have Labor Day twice but let’s remember why en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
President Grover Cleveland was one of those concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would tend to become a commemoration of the Haymarket affair and would strengthen socialist and anarchist movements that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe.[18] In 1887, he publicly supported the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative,[19] formally adopting the date as a United States federal holiday through a law he signed in 1894.[2]
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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The Internet Archive needs a lot of 18TB and larger hard drives. As quickly as this administration is erasing stuff, archivists are trying to capture it faster. As fast as crumb-bum publishers delete decades of journalists' and artists' work, IA is rushing in to grab it. @archive.org Can you help?
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
"The [Iranian] artists... couldn’t travel. Their works couldn’t travel either.... And for “To Share a Stomach,” [an] exhibition at the nonprofit art center The Brick, Moshayedi found an original alternative: have LA's deep bench of artists (plus a few from outside the city) make the work for them."
nytimes.com
Through the Hands of Strangers, Missing Iranian Artists Put on a Show in L.A.
Isolated by war, they nevertheless are taking part in an exhibition at The Brick, paired with local artists who interpreted and realized their work.
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Astra Taylor @astra.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Hi NYC WHO MOVES AMERICA a fabulous doc I EPd is opening Sept 9 at the IFC CENTER The film tracks UPS workers in New York, Kentucky, California and beyond navigate the challenges of building solidarity with their 340,000 co-workers. Lots of Q&As and more -- GO! www.ifccenter.com/films/who-mo...
ifccenter.com
IFC Center - Who Moves America
Wednesday, September 9: Q&A w/dir. Yael Bridge, prod. Jeremy Flood and UPS Teamster Antoine Andrews moderated by journalist Alex Press after the 6:30 show! Saturday, September 12: Q&A w/dir. Yael Brid...
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Jessica Lussenhop @jlussenhop.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
🎧NEW EPISODE🎧 As a Minnesotan and the daughter of a former 3M scientist, this one was a little bit personal. The incomparable @fastlerner.bsky.social asks the question, how does a multibillion dollar corporation keep a planet-sized secret... a secret? Listen here: www.propublica.org/podcast/fore...
Photo of Kris Hansen, former 3M scientist, in front of snowy scenery
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Robert Komaniecki @komaniecki.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
How do I explain to small business owners that the menu on the left is one billion times more appealing than the one on the right
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Lisa Song @lisalsong.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
What an amazing correction.
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
New: ICE plans to spend millions of dollars on Boston Dynamics dog robots. ICE says this is to improve "officer safety." The robots can open doors, pick up objects, have 360 cameras, infrared vision, etc. Boston Dynamics didn't respond to question on its stance on ICE www.404media.co/ice-plans-to...
404media.co
ICE Plans to Spends Millions on Boston Dynamics Dog Robots
ICE wants the robot dogs to improve “officer safety.”
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Mario Trujillo @mariotrujillo.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
There is no comprehensive tally of ICE subpoenas to tech companies in the second Trump administration. But this is a start www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
eff.org
A List of ICE Subpoenas to Tech Companies
This is likely an undercount. The full scope is hard to pin down because these subpoenas typically only come to light when a user is given notice and challenges them in court, or when a company docume...
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
“When a third of the stock market is vaporized and takes the savings of everyday people with it, when the S&P 500 loses a third of its value overnight, it's going to make 2008 look like a walk in the park,” @doctorow.pluralistic.net said.
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Debt Collective 🟥 @debtcollective.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
You may have heard of Greystar—the largest corporate landlord in the U.S. Until a week ago. Two corporate landlords—Equity Residential and AvalonBay—just announced a historic $70 billion merger. The newest biggest landlord you've never heard of is now 'Vivmark Residential'.
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The words of @karenattiah.bsky.social are just devastating for the Washington Post. Read the whole thing. www.cjr.org/the-intervie...
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Michael LaFrance @mlafrance.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A massive flash flood in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and ‌China's Tibet. Initial report say it may have been caused by a glacial lake rupture.
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Tyson @lscpunk.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
If Dolly was our constant reminder that it was Good to be Good, Tim Curry was our reminder that it was Good to be Weird. Embrace your strangeness, sing with Muppets, wear your lingerie with a leather jacket, and fuck with uptight people who hate anything that makes them remotely uncomfortable.
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
LOL they literally settled as I was typing. Only $17 billion but product changes are major: •limit minors’ access to 2 hours/day •blocks from midnight-6am •Notifications blocked between 10pm-7am & during school hours •concealing likes for minors •banning beauty filters •can deactivate the news feed
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Lisa Song @lisalsong.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"In any Idaho household not steeped in faith-healing, those two deaths would be investigated as crimes." Guess what happened to the families who belong to faith-healing sects. Absolutely outrageous story by @audreydutton.bsky.social
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Starbucks Workers United @sbworkersunited.org · 25/08/2026
🚨BREAKING: Our union of over 12,000 baristas are officially calling for a Starbucks boycott. Read this statement penned by Starbucks workers on why a boycott from ALL customers, allies, and organizations is necessary to fight back against corporate greed:
BOYCOTT STARBUCKS is written inside a zig-zaggy speech bubble against crumbled paper. Beside it are the Starbucks Workers United logo and an image of a coffee cup being poured out.We, the 12,000 and growing members of Starbucks Workers United, call on everyone who stands with working people to boycott Starbucks until they finalize a contract with union baristas and stop union-busting.
What we’re fighting for is simple: a minimum $17/hr wage, enough hours to live on, better staffing in our stores, and basic workplace protections. Every year, our living costs rise but our wages don’t keep up – a growing pressure many American workers are feeling as corporate greed accelerates unchecked in our country. 
Starbucks is banking on customers' blind loyalty to the integrity and values this company once stood for in order to keep squeezing them for profits. At a time when working-class people across the country are struggling in a challenging economy, it is no longer possible to be both a Starbucks customer and in support of workers; choosing to spend money at Starbucks is choosing a law breaking corporation over the baristas who make your coffee everyday exactly as you ask for it.
Starbucks has violated U.S. labor law more than any other company in modern history–the NLRB and its judges have found that Starbucks committed hundreds of labor violations and there are currently more than 550 unresolved unfair labor practice charges still pending against the company. Instead of finalizing a fair and reasonable union contract, Starbucks has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of care for the workers who fuel the company’s profits by wasting millions of dollars on AI and technology that doesn’t work, launching countless gimmicky drinks designed to distract from real problems, and inventing pointless policies that do nothing but make our jobs harder. 
This ongoing, irrational behavior by Starbucks and its refusal to settle a fair union contract with workers leaves us with no other choice than to call for a boycott. We know when working people stand up together, we win. 
No Contract? No Coffee.
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molly taft @mollytaft.com · 25/08/2026
NEW: gas power in development in the US explicitly for data centers have nearly doubled in less than a year, soaring from 97GW at the end of 2025 to more than 189GW mid-2026, according to shocking new figures from @globalenergymon.bsky.social that's up from just 4 GW in 2024:
wired.com
Data Centers Are Driving an Alarming Gas Power Expansion in the US
There’s no clearer sign of the data center boom than rampant gas projects that have been proposed or that are already under construction.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Two people have died in Pennsylvania from measles, the state health department said. Both were unvaccinated. These the first deaths related to measles within the state in 35 years, it reports
abcnews.com
2 people die from measles in Pennsylvania
Two people have died in Pennsylvania from measles, the state health department said Tuesday.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Federal immigration authorities took the father of a U.S. Navy sailor into custody just as his son was set to return from deployment on the USS Lincoln. Joshua Aviles says his father has a driver's license, social security card, and was in the process of getting a green card when he was arrested.
apnews.com
He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him
The father of a man serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln has been arrested by immigration authorities.
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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
BREAKING: After the Washington Post fired me last year for speaking the truth in the wake of the Charlie Kirk killing, I fought back. And I'm happy to announce: I won my case against the Washington Post. They have been ordered to reinstate me immediately. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/b...
nytimes.com
Washington Post Ordered to Rehire Fired Columnist Karen Attiah
An arbitrator ordered the newspaper to reinstate Karen Attiah, who was fired after posting about “white men who espouse hatred and violence” following Charlie Kirk’s killing.
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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
per the article, NSF is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project grant (and grand) theft in broad daylight
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 18/08/2026
On Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 4 p.m. ET, join ProPublica’s Mark Olalde and environment journalists @scribeguy.bsky.social, Tony Briscoe and @halleparker.bsky.social to discuss the unprecedented rollback of the Clean Air Act and what it means for public health in urban and rural communities nationwide.
events.propublica.org
Clean Air Act: Dismantling One of the Country’s Bedrock Environmental Laws
Join us for a discussion about the rollback of the Clean Air Act and what it means for public health in communities across America.
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cageyratfish (UTC-7) 🐟🏳️‍⚧️ @cageyratfish.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
just in case anyone's not already aware, horg.com is an amazing & hilarious website that classifies bread-bag clips as if they were living organisms, using the rules & conventions of modern taxonomy Definitely one of my all-time favourite weird Internet passion projects
horg.com
the HOLOTYPIC OCCLUPANID RESEARCH GROUP
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
@rachelspacek.bsky.social at @investigatewest.bsky.social examined how closely one Idaho county's probation office is working with ICE -- even going so far as to compile a "foreign born list" for ICE. www.investigatewest.org/idaho-county...
investigatewest.org
Idaho probation office compiles ‘foreign born list’ for ICE
Emails show how Canyon County probation officers are helping immigration authorities — including making a list of foreign-born individuals
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