Jean-Marie

Homeschooling mom keeping an eye on education, literature, STEM, art, history, the present, and future. Encouraging young people to explore & create.

[Prof. Katharine Hayhoe @KHayhoe]

Climate change is canceling July 4 celebrations.

Philadelphia, the birthplace of American independence, just called off its 250th birthday parade because it's too hot to march. Yesterday tied Philadelphia's all-time record of 103°F and with humidity, it feels like 118°F there right now, according to AccuWeather.

First, organizers shortened the route; then they moved up the start time before finally sending out the notice overnight. (Floats alone were allowed to drive down the street, and Historic District venues have stepped up and are hosting as many events indoors as they can.)

In DC, the Great American State Fair has closed until 5pm due to extreme heat.

Heat waves aren't new. But I'm a climate scientist, and I can tell you heat waves like this are virtually impossible without fossil fuel pollution.

Not only that, but when extreme weather hits, research shows that connecting it to climate change helps people understand why it matters.

And you know who the most trusted people to do that are? Not scientists. You! Yes, people we know are the most effective messengers to have these conversations.

So if you're worried about what's happening and how extreme heat puts us at risk -- talk about it!

https://t.co/hvQCeplmeW

[BBC Politics @BBCPolitics]

"Officials that were in the room were barely able to contain themselves"

Morgan McSweeney gives @bbcnickrobinson an insight into US President Donald Trump's first phone call with Keir Starmer

Listen to the latest #PoliticalThinking on BBC Sounds

🎧 https://t.co/cT8uci43xs

[Scott Maxwell @Scott_Maxwell]

A Florida university is threatening to withhold students' diplomas unless they record a 2-minute video apologizing for a silent protest they staged against ICE actions on campus.
Such is life in the "Free State of Florida" ....
https://t.co/lXGQO7PqOc

[Travis Akers 🇺🇸 @travisakers]

In the past hour, the Trump admin has deleted their web page that recommended setting thermostats between 75-78 during heat waves, and 85 if you are not home, after the GOP learned that Mayor Mamdani was urging New Yorkers to follow White House guidance.

[Kerry Burgess @KerryBurgess]

Just what kind of people are running the United States?

[Acyn @Acyn]

CNN montage of Trump attacking others claiming they have profited from being in office.

[Danny Boy @Care2much18]

Quote: "This is how USAID spent your tax dollars"

I think people have lost the will to try fact-check this guy due to the volume of lies he spreads.

Also it's actually pretty difficult with this image and quite time consuming.

It just happens I had nothing better to do. /1

[Mike Nellis @MikeNellis]

Four Supreme Court justices have argued that Donald Trump can change the Constitution with an executive action, BUT JOE BIDEN CAN’T FORGIVE YOUR STUDENT LOAN DEBT.

It’s rigged. Burn it all down.

[Homeland Dems @HomelandDems]

ICE promised to target the “worst of the worst”.

They’re arresting nuns.

[scary lawyerguy @scarylawyerguy]

I look forward to reporters grilling Marco Rubio incessantly about his use of a private messaging app that disappears your communications to conduct government work as Secretary of State when he runs in 2028 and demand a criminal investigation into his actions.

[The Associated Press @AP]

Most people walk through Central Park without noticing what's growing around them. "Wildman" Steve Brill sees lunch. After 40 years of foraging tours, Brill is still teaching people how to identify edible plants — from sassafras and mushrooms to wild garlic and mint — in the middle of urban areas like Manhattan.

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

As George Washington intended.

[The Associated Press @AP]

BREAKING: The Supreme Court rules states can count late-arriving mailed ballots, rejecting a challenge led by the Trump administration. https://t.co/7EBOTz1vTt

[David J. Bier @David_J_Bier]

Just a reminder that the Republican Ohio governor and the Republican mayor of Springfield are against deporting the Haitians. Even though this could kill their political careers, the people actually affected are against your "help" to "save" their communities.

[Melanie D'Arrigo @DarrigoMelanie]

The top 50 mega-donors already spent over $1.3B on the midterms.

Only 20% of that is for supporting Dems.

9 of the top 10 mega-donors are supporting Republicans.

Last cycle, Elon Musk alone spent $290M supporting Trump and Republicans.

But you wouldn’t know that by reading the Republican-billionaire-owned NY Post.

This is what a system rigged for fascism, backed by propaganda, looks like.

How much billionaires spend in an election isn’t a conversation that should be had in a Democracy — it’s time to overturn Citizens United.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Let me tell you what just got reported, because you will not believe it until you see it laid out.

The Trump administration cut a billion-dollar tungsten deal with Kazakhstan. Tungsten is the metal we need for missile warheads, fighter jets, and computer chips. Trump himself got on the phone to close it. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick worked it from the inside, sending letters, leaning on the Kazakh president, lining up as much as $1.6 billion in federal financing.

Within weeks of those negotiations, investors tied to a firm partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump took a 20% stake in an entity connected to the very same Kazakhstan project their father was negotiating. Around that same time, Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm run by Lutnick’s own sons, raised $210 million for a partner in the deal and pocketed the fees.

The fathers set the policy. The sons cashed in.

Six days after the Trump sons and their partners moved their money, Lutnick signed the final deal.

The reporting found one or both families have financial ties to at least 14 companies working with the government on critical mining deals.

The total federal funding flowing toward those companies tops $8.9 billion.

This is your tax money.

It is supposed to secure our supply chains and protect our troops, not pad the portfolios of the President’s children and the Commerce Secretary’s children.

This is the most corrupt administration in American history. It is not close.

We must keep digging, and keep asking the questions they do not want asked. Republicans in Congress are unwilling to lift a finger. Mike Johnson is running a protection racket.

Either we will end the corruption, or the corruption will be the end of us.

https://t.co/yFOl7zvOhC

[Erika D. Smith @Erika_D_Smith]

“This previously undisclosed spending is part of an enormous shift of taxpayer cash away from national parks... In order to pay for the president’s projects, the parks have had to cancel needed repairs, slash their budgets, and operate with fewer employees.”

[Matthew Cappucci @MatthewCappucci]

Have weather forecasts seemed less accurate lately? There's a major contributing factor: nearly half the morning weather balloons in the Lower 48 are "missing."

This is an ongoing crisis that is degrading critical severe weather forecasts that we all rely on. It's having real, tangible impacts on degrading forecast quality.

If you work in transportation, agriculture or commerce, this should matter to you.

Regardless of the causes, this negatively affects people of ALL political backgrounds. Weather affects everyone. And it's impacting ALL of us negatively.

We can't look at weather balloon data that doesn't exist. We can't pump nonexistent data into models. We can't rely as heavily on models that don't "know" what's happening above our heads.

This is especially concerning for severe weather forecasts. We can't go 18 hours without ascertaining how the atmosphere is layered, how much storm fuel has built up and if severe thunderstorms are going to erupt. The Storm Prediction Center has even acknowledged forecasting frustrations in at least one public bulletin.

As an atmospheric scientist myself, I can say firsthand – the forecasts I'm able to offer you are less accurate than they would otherwise be. I'm not able to predict severe weather with the confidence I normally would. That is extremely concerning.

The United States is "supposed" to launch balloons at 0Z and 12Z ideally – a.k.a. around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time. That's not happening. Many sites, due to staffing issues stemming from broader political and organizational issues, have pushed to 18Z, or early afternoon. That's not helpful for morning severe weather forecasts. In other words, you get less lead time. Less advanced notice. Quicker ramp-ups and ramp-downs to the forecast.

We're not able to get jet stream, temperature, moisture or wind profiles of the atmosphere each morning like we otherwise would.

Moreover, the World Meteorological Organization encourages 12Z soundings; that data is shared via the Global Observing System (GOS) under the World Weather Watch (WWW). That's not happening.

[David Axelrod @davidaxelrod]

How can you not smile?

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

Maybe Vance doesn't know this history because it's in one of the books his administration banned.

The difference between Watergate and now is that back then, Republicans actually did something about a law-breaking president. Today, they only roll over for their cult leader.