Links 4/12/26

Posted on April 12, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

Countries are negotiating rules to mine the deep sea. The U.S. is pushing ahead alone
“The fish life has exploded”: 400,000 corals planted on dying reef in Bali. What happened next was remarkable
‘We’re constantly surprised’: The strange deep-sea creatures that eat whales
National survey of NIH-funded researchers shows precarious state of U.S. science — ‘This is like the Titanic’
Noticing more lizards running around? Here’s the likely reason
San Francisco’s Revamped Seawall Will Teem With Life

Other:

Iran Is Winning the AI Slop Propaganda War
IOC Reinstates Chromosome Testing, Banning Trans Women From Competition
The Art of Looking
Anduril Wants to Own the Future of War Tech. Mishaps, Delays, and Challenges Abound
Why America is Obsessed with Protein (And War)
Putin’s Post-Iran Paranoia
This Web Tool Sabotages AI Chatbots By Making Them Really, Really Slow
Trump’s Endless War Games
The Pussycat Dolls apparently won’t suffer an anti-vax member
Adam Schiff’s Hollywood Hail Mary
Big Country Drummer Must Stop Touring As Big Country, Say Rest Of Big Country
Wall Street’s Iran “Bear Trap”
Known Horrors: The conspiracy theories are not helping
The A.I. “Hope & Change” Election
Lewis George aims to reassure Jewish leaders after ‘Zionism’ response in survey
Alarming Study Finds That Most People Just Do What ChatGPT Tells Them, Even If It’s Totally Wrong
Trump’s first surgeon general tries to stop nominee from becoming his second
After 20 Years of Resistance, Trump Is Walling Off the Rio Grande Valley
People Who Left ‘MAGA Christianity’ Share What It Really Took To Step Away
AI bug reports went from junk to legit overnight, says Linux kernel czar
The First Post-Reality Political Campaign
Republican Brutally Rips White House’s ‘Porn’ Parody Site For Farmers
Invoking faith in wartime, Pete Hegseth breaks norms and worries critics
ICE Lied About Its Authority to Make Courthouse Arrests
Trump is the biggest threat to D.C.’s architectural splendor since War of 1812
Disorder in the Liberal City. On Individualism and the Failure of Urban Order
American Airlines passengers shocked to learn their ‘flights’ were actually bus routes: ‘There’s no plane’
U.S. Army opens investigation into attack helicopter activities at Kid Rock’s home, No Kings protest
Mary Beth Hurt, Who Starred in ‘The World According to Garp,’ Dies at 79
Bluesky leans into AI with Attie, an app for building custom feeds

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Links 4/11/26

Posted on April 11, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

The Problem With Trump Promoting “Gold Standard Science”
Common weedkiller could fuel a rise in superbugs
Genes from giant viruses help polar algae survive frigid waters and harsh sunlight
Giant dragonflies once roamed Earth’s skies. New research upends the textbook theory of why they went extinct
The world’s great fish migrations are collapsing – that’s a problem for millions of people
The Horrors That Could Lie Ahead if Vaccines Vanish

Other:

Why Dems Keep Saying Trump Has “No Plan” Instead of Calling to End the War With Iran?
America’s Diminished Place In The World And The Consequences Of Not Impeaching
Here We Go Again: A War That Makes Me Ashamed to Be an American
Trump and RFK Jr touted leucovorin as a treatment for autism. The FDA quietly walked it back
Procurement, Capacity and Soverignity. When your contractors are also your enemy
Tell Your State To Pass This No-ICE-At-Our Precincts Model Law. NOW.
Blue Governors Are Tacking Rightward on Fossil Fuels
US Presidential Party switches are mirrored in global maternal mortality
Mike Johnson’s Institutional Betrayal
HERE’S WHY OLD TRUMP DOUBTERS WILL STAY LOYAL TO THE GOP AND YOUNG TRUMP DOUBTERS WON’T
Federal government employees are not ok
Israel Air Force Officer Charged With Leaking Iran Strike Date for Polymarket Bets, Court Reveals
The Federal Employee Crisis Nobody’s Talking About (video)
No Kings protests draw crowds, with record number taking place across U.S.
The Nap Room Didn’t Love Me Back
D.C.’s speed cameras are catching super violators. Most have Va. and Md. tags.
Marines in the Strait of Hormuz won’t fix this war
Post reporters called the White House. Their phones showed ‘Epstein Island.’
What Caused History’s ‘First Pogrom’? New Study Points to a Lurid Personal Rivalry
RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz have a plan to save rural health care. Here’s the catch.
A critical political season could decide if Alaska is a failed ‘petrostate’
A New Guy for Us All to Be Mad At
Donald Trump Is A Bad Fighter
A Grand Juror in New York City
Old and weak president is losing war, because he’s old and weak
In Your Hearts, You Know Pete Hegseth Is Right
They Don’t Have Lip Filler, They Just Have Lip Filler Accent
A Doctor Claimed He Knew Why I Got Cancer. When He Told Me, I Was Horrified And Embarrassed.
Ultraleftism Has Never Ended a War
Why I Got Out Of The Gambling Business

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Links 4/10/26

Posted on April 10, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

Trump staffs science and technology panel with non-scientists
‘Predators that just run in and grab, stab and kill’: The deep cave bacteria resistant to modern medicine
Key Adviser Quits Federal Vaccine Panel
A measles outbreak in Florida is simmering, but we know almost nothing about it. We went to investigate
Officials ‘missed 99% of data’ before ending Covid vaccine recommendation, memos reveal
Yep, a mom’s COVID shot during pregnancy protects her baby, a large study finds

Other:

Expose ALL Of Trump’s War Profiteering
Before Iran, there was Covid: Trump falls apart in a crisis
Trump imagines negotiation with Sharpie maker for $5 signature pens. Trump told a lengthy story about negotiating over the price of Sharpie pens. The company says it has no record of any such conversation. (narcissists gonna narcissist)
Legacy outlets that bent the knee to Trump haven’t just lost credibility — they’re bleeding readers and viewers
Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them
ICE says it provides ‘proper meals.’ Detainees see crystalized jelly, rancid beans and iced bologna
Hegseth Strikes Two Black and Two Female Officers From Promotion List
It’s 3 times harder for blue states to get disaster funding under Trump (this should be grounds for impeachment or resignation)
DC Council considers proposals to limit utility shutoffs and increase bill transparency amid growing customer complaints
One crazy day that defined the decline and fall of the American empire
How American Camouflage Conquered the World
As Metro turns 50, transit diehards are keepers of its history, quirks, and identity
Donald Trump to Add His Signature to US Currency, a First For a Sitting President
D.C. healthcare cuts leave low-income residents with fewer options and worse care
GGWash endorses Robert White for US delegate and Markus Batchelor for shadow senator
After the city tells Alan’s Oasis to move, its future is uncertain
The flog of war: There’s wartime lying and then there’s whatever this is
‘Visibly upset and struggling’: Acting ICE head hospitalized twice over stress, officials say
Joint Statement by J Street and the Muslim Public Affairs Council On Rejecting Antisemitism and Islamophobia – and Ending Endless Wars
Elon Musk’s Grok ordered to stop creating AI nudes by Dutch court as legal pressure mounts
FBI Files Counter Government Argument in Texas “Antifa” Trial
‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI
Jury Decides Afroman Songs Mocking Cops Are Too Funny to Be Defamatory
Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence
America’s Smoking Habit Just Hit a Wild Milestone That Once Seemed Impossible
The Supreme Court Is Scaring Off State Criminal Charges Against Federal Agents
Minnesota GOP legislator, auditor candidate arrested on suspicion of DWI
And We Will Forget This Tomorrow
Welcome to a Multidimensional Economic Disaster
Kat Abughazaleh on Losing, Mutual Aid, and What Comes Next

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More Good News on the D.C. Crime Front

Posted on April 10, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

As always, one should point out when communities are getting the job done. Since we last checked nearly two weeks ago, D.C. still has a historically low number of homicides, eleven*. The most recent case involved a murder-suicide with two Maryland residents outside the Friendship Heights Metro station and is thought to be “domestic related.”**

As before, all crimes, except for Assault with Dangerous Weapon, are down dramatically compared to the same period in 2025, and the increase in that category might reflect how crimes are being recorded. We have not really started “murder season” yet, but here’s to hoping that this spring and summer are relatively calm.

Good job, D.C.!

*It is now clear that two of the homicides ‘charged’ to 2026 occurred in other years, so I am not counting those.

**One of the people involved appears to have lived a short walk away in Bethesda, MD (the other lived farther away in Maryland). Had they walked a little farther before the tragedy unfolded (about 400 ft), this would have been called a Maryland homicide. Also, it is worth noting that a “domestic related” murder is not what people typically think of–or more accurately, what they fear–when discussing urban crime.

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Links 4/9/26

Posted on April 9, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by ethnicity
The System That Decides What Science Gets Published Is Breaking Down (paper here)
Prominent Climate Scientist Resigns From NASA, Citing Trump’s Attack on Science
Can you clone a clone forever? Landmark 20-year study reveals horrifying verdict
New Tongue-Swab TB Test Could Help Eradicate The Disease, WHO Says
CDC vaccine adviser Malone steps down to avoid ‘drama’: Physician and biochemist has questioned the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic

Other:

How the spreadsheet reshaped America
We Live In A Society (Really)
DOGE Damage Drags on in DC, Where Inequality is Widening as a Result
Mayor Muriel Bowser Signs On For Half Transparency Into Actions of Trump’s Cops in D.C.
Former NYPD Chief Admits Giving ‘Free Pass’ to City Workers, Right Wing Allies
Canadian woman held with daughter by ICE warns all immigrants to ‘lie low’
What If Iran Doesn’t Want the War to End Yet?
ICE Lied About Its Authority to Make Courthouse Arrests
Candidate Mamdani Backed Expanding Housing Vouchers. As Mayor, He’s Appealing a Court Order To Do So.
Dupont Circle’s Long-Vacant Pakistani Embassy Is Going Residential (finally…)
Musk Rips Twitter Verdict, Claims Jury’s $4.20 ‘Joke’ Mocked Him
Your data is everywhere. The government is buying it without a warrant
Mike Johnson Announces, ‘We Have Created a New Award’ To Give Trump: ‘This Beautiful Golden Statue’
DHS ‘100 Million Deportations’ Claim Was No Joke. Bovino Had ‘Master Plan’ to Purge Nearly a Third of the Country
Choctaw Nation Buys Former Big Lots Warehouse, Closing Off Oklahoma ICE Detention Site
Fakery Is the Key to the Right’s Cultural and Political Dominance
She Made $1 Million in 3 Hours on OnlyFans. Then, the Headaches.
Cringe Is Good, Earnestness Is Strength
The IOC’s New Policy Isn’t Really a Trans Story
The In Living Color Effect: How a radical sketch-comedy show helped usher in the cultural boom of Black comedy in the 1990s
How Epstein Helped Solve a Billionaire’s Problems With Women
Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content
How Trump’s Plot to Grab Iran’s Nuclear Fuel Would Actually Work
‘I will not comply’: Tennessee librarian refuses to move LGBTQ+ books
Trump is the biggest threat to D.C.’s architectural splendor since War of 1812. The president’s garish and piecemeal changes to the capital city’s urban design are poised to destroy symbolism upheld for centuries.
Meet the man pledging to donate $16 million to help Minneapolis residents pay rent post-ICE surge
Alex Jones’ Infowars is shutting down, but his disinformation legacy lives on
ICE officers are taking DNA samples from protesters they’ve arrested
Maine Could Determine Abortion Rights for the Nation. Why Aren’t Reproductive Rights Groups Acting Accordingly?
MAGA Faithful Furious at Plans for Mega-Jail in Red State

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Trump’s Massive Strategic Failure in Iran: Will It Be Seen as One?

Posted on April 9, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist


Trump’s negotiating strategy

While it’s hard to say what is definitively happening regarding Iran, as much of it relies on the social media feed of the narcissistic liar and adjudicated rapist known as Donald Trump, it really does appear that Trump lost here–and hugely. At best, the Iranian regime will still be in place, it will be collecting tolls for shipping traffic (and Trump has claimed there might be some kind of joint tolling with the U.S., but who the hell knows with that pathological liar), and we might have some kind of nuclear agreement,which might not be as favorable as previously negotiated (never mind the deal Obama made and Trump tore up in his first term).

Importantly, our Gulf allies, such as they are, now realize the U.S. cannot effectively deter the Iranian regime.

This must be construed as a massive strategic failure, one that was entirely of Trump’s doing. Yet my admittedly myopic (as we all are) perusal of The Mainstream Discourse suggests this is not being cast as such, especially by Democrats. A competent Democratic Party that is not Shor-pilled (but I repeat myself) would be going on the offensive about Trump’s failure. Hopefully, they’ll start to do that.

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Links 4/8/26

Posted on April 8, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

Inside the Turmoil at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s C.D.C.
Drought drives elevated antibiotic resistance across soils
Claims about genetic superiority ignore the real drivers of human inequality
You’re likely already infected with a brain-eating virus you’ve never heard of
Administration Targeted Climate Lab in Effort to Free Trump Ally, Lawsuit Claims
If states ban fluoride, more kids will get cavities and Medicaid costs could soar, study finds

Other:

Trump Cannot See That the Opposition Is Real
Does Generative AI “Work”? That’s a Misleading Question.
A Dunning-Kruger War, Courtesy of the Dunning-Kruger President
How DC’s mayor and council chair thwarted every effort to better the streetcar
The Trump Administration Turns a Blind Eye to White-Collar Crime. The failure to prosecute elite wrongdoing is a bipartisan trend that’s hastening under Trump.
Trump casts a mail ballot again in Florida even as he calls the method ‘cheating’
It’s time to stop posting on X
Trump showed classified map to passengers on his plane in 2022, memo says
It’s not just vaccines: Parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns
Elon Did Some Securities Fraud. Also AI inequality, Tesla/SpaceX Terafab, JPMorgan monitoring and AI startup parties.
Waiting for Liberal Democracy in the American South
Democrats Flip Florida Statehouse Seat That Includes Trump’s Mar-A-Lago
This Is Why Flying Is So Awful
1930s mural by famous S.F. artist uncovered in Pacific Heights home
Our Experience with i-Ready
Inside Trump’s daily video montage briefing on the Iran war (he is so stupid)
Transportation lobbyists have donated thousands to Sean Duffy’s son-in-law as he runs for Congress
Speaking of Good Republicans
Trump’s new Homeland Security chief is worse than you thought
The AI Industry Is Lying To You
The Throne: What happens when we say, “When it finally happens…”
All of DOGE’s work could be undone as lawsuit against Musk proceeds
Trump appeared to have business motive for keeping classified documents, Jack Smith finds
American Jews Won’t Be Silenced. We Have Every Right to Oppose the Iran War
Bizarre stupidity of the Hatzola ambulance ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories
The ugly history behind Trump’s birthright citizenship case in the Supreme Court
Disney’s Sora Disaster Shows AI Will Not Revolutionize Hollywood
TV antennas are making a comeback in the age of digital streaming
Why Trump Wants ICE to Ditch the Masks at Airports
Landmark L.A. jury verdict finds Instagram, YouTube were designed to addict kids
Netanyahu aide’s racist slurs about Mizrahi Jews spark outrage
Imagining a 2028 Presidential Campaign for a Limited Presidency

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Is Even Trump This Stupid?: The BLS Data Leak Edition

Posted on April 8, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

In what is a very good, if disturbing, article about the Trump administration’s assault on national data, I noticed this tidbit (boldface mine):

On January 8, 2026, Donald Trump broke a foundational norm of American politics and barely anyone noticed. The political press corps, quite reasonably preoccupied with the administration’s numerous other entanglements, mostly turned a blind eye when Trump posted unreleased economic data to his Truth Social account the night before it was scheduled to be released….

A former Bureau of Labor Statistics employee with knowledge of the incident, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, described the statistics agency’s handling of the imbroglio to me. By their account, after the improper release, the acting commissioner of BLS called the acting chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, who shares the prerelease data along with analysis to the president, and threatened to revoke the White House’s early access if Trump flouted data release procedure again. The two eventually came to an understanding that the issue arose because only the first page of the prerelease materials bore an embargo label, and so the president assumed that all subsequent pages were available to publicize. Going forward, the acting CEA chair and acting BLS commissioner agreed to include an embargo note on every page to prevent confusion. (BLS did not respond to a request for comment.)

So do we really believe that explanation? While it is quite possible that Trump lacks object permanence to the extent he needs THIS IS TOP SEKRIT written on every page, I have doubts that even Trump is that stupid.

Anyway, Trump should resign or be impeached.

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Links 4/7/26

Posted on April 7, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science:

Even After Being Eaten, This Beetle Has Two Ways Out Alive
Scientists Narrow Down the Hunt for Aliens to 45 Planets
SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic Surge in Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease
NIH grant terminations affected women scientists more than men, study finds (paper here)
PhagePickr: A bacteria-centric computational tool for designing evolution-proof phage cocktails
Was Life Seeded from Space? ‘Complete Set’ of DNA Ingredients Discovered on Asteroid

Other:

RIP Metaverse, an $80 Billion Dumpster Fire Nobody Wanted
Life Behind the Liquor Counter
A devastatingly unambitious draft
Inside the Culture of Silence in Washington
Trump’s MAHA pick for surgeon general flounders amid GOP doubts
Google Just Patented The End Of Your Website
MAHA’s political power tested as surgeon general pick stalls
Trump Must Resign. And everyone should say so.
How a media campaign of lies and innuendo created the myth of ‘Iran’s nuclear weapons’
Baltimore is first U.S. city to sue over Grok deepfake porn as legal pressure mounts on Musk’s xAI
Treason in the Futures Markets
Who Will Govern AI?
Delivery Robot Drives Through Bus Stop Shelter, Shattering Glass Everywhere
Air Force Academy Prepares Ideological Overhaul, With Erika Kirk Bringing “Bold Christian Faith”
Altman’s Secret Agents
When Hyperglobalization Meets Chaos
Could Iran Be A.I.’s Black Swan Event?
This New Wave of Anti-Trans Legislation Threatens Us All
The Quiet Americans: Republican veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan used to be among the most vocal critics of new military adventures in the Middle East. Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, a veteran himself, wonders where they all went.
7 On Whose Side? WJLA’s ‘Squatter’ Narrative Highlights Landlord Woes, Demeans Low-Income Tenants
American Aviation Is Near Collapse
Senate blocks amendment on transgender athletes during weekend session on voting bill
“Unforgiven” is about an incompetent
‘We Warned About It’: Doctors Are Leaving Israel in Growing Numbers
Major League Baseball can now call balls and strikes with 100% accuracy… but will only use the system in the most annoying way possible
Horror Novel ‘Shy Girl’ Canceled Over Suspected A.I. Use
ICE at the airport reminds affluent white Americans of the consequences of politics
Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here’s How to Use It.
Bike lanes that greatly reduced crashes on National Mall set for removal
The Dreaded NYC Library Budget Dance Continues…

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Trump Should Resign

Posted on April 7, 2026 by mikethemadbiologist

And every professional Democrat should be saying that. In light of Trump’s incessant babbling about the Iran War (at yesterday’s press conference, among many other doozies, Trump said the U.S. should place a toll on the Strait of Hormuz), there have been many calls for Trump’s impeachment–which is a good idea. But I also realize many professional Democrats are reluctant to call for impeachment for various reasons.

But there is no reason at all for Democrats to avoid calling for his resignation: he is increasing incoherent, even by his standards*, and he has created multiple crises, with the possibility of his latest one, Iran, spiraling out of control.

And calling for his resignation is like Temu impeachment: while a formal process that would mandate attention would be better, it still allows Democrats to question his inherent incompetency.

Update: This morning Trump posted on Truth Social, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

*While his aging has made him more decrepit and sloppy, much of his dysfunction should be attributed to his narcissism.

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