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What happened to February? The shortest month seemed shorter than ever this year — even though January feels very long ago. This #NewstodonFriday, to counter the doom and the gloom, we’re watching Jane Fonda’s SAG Awards acceptance speech on repeat (it’s the last item in this thread). Please do read and boost the whole thread of stories from newsrooms with a presence in the fediverse. It makes a difference to our brave independent media friends.
Brooke Binkowski is a former radio reporter and a fact checker and debunker. She writes for @damemagazine about how to steer clear of disinformation and protect yourself in Trump’s second presidency. “Do not waste your time appealing to authority that has demonstrated they are unwilling to fight for you. Fact-checking is always important, but it is only effective on its own in a healthy democracy. We are not in a healthy democracy.”
https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/02/26/this-is-how-to-debunk-the-onslaught-of-disinformation/
Federal job cuts are affecting people across the United States. Here’s @gbhnews’s story about how DOGE’s work will affect vulnerable groups. According to one former staffer who worked on SNAP, which serves one in six Massachusetts residents: “That is going to trickle down to folks that are on these needed programs and benefits … We work with the most vulnerable populations — children, veterans, seniors, homeless. ... That’s why we do the work we do.”
The received wisdom has always been that spacecraft need to be as microbe-free as possible, but our @ScienceDesk shared this New Scientist story that says the situation might be more complex. “On the space station, astronauts often get rashes, unusual allergies, fungal or bacterial infections, as well as activation of latent viruses such as Epstein-Barr,” writes Michael Le Page. Professor Pieter Dorrestein of the University of California San Diego told Le Page his theory is that the immune system needs to be periodically “pinged.”
Buried in Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order on “Unleashing American Energy” is a directive that would effectively transfer financial responsibility from oil drillers, auto manufacturers and other polluters directly to Americans. @ProPublica explains how.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-climate-change-social-cost-of-carbon-executive-order
Right to repair laws make it easier for individuals and organizations to fix their own stuff. They do this by, for example, requiring companies to sell parts and make manuals available, and banning “software locks” that limit who can carry out repairs. Now, @jasonkoebler reports for @404mediaco, the grassroots movement has hit a tipping point in the U.S.
https://www.404media.co/all-50-states-have-now-introduced-right-to-repair-legislation/
An update on the @TexasObserver story from last week about Jim Rodden, the ICE prosecutor who appears to be running a racist X account: Three members of Congress have written to ICE Acting Deputy Director Kenneth Genalo and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding that the allegations be investigated. A Massachusetts lawyer has also filed a complaint with the District of Columbia Bar, through which a James J. Rodden holds a law license.
https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-ice-prosecutor-racist-x-account/
Misinformation was rife as the wildfires spread across Los Angeles last month, and that wasn’t just happening in English language media. For @thexylom, Aorui Pi explains how platforms like WeChat and RedNote served as a vector for fake news, which may have made life harder for Chinese immigrants living in fire-affected areas.
Over the past few years, a few people in the U.S. and China have benefited from xenotransplantation — inter-species transplants — but getting the organs to function correctly is a challenge. @KnowableMag takes a look at the current state of things: Which animals provide the best match (minipigs), techniques to avoid organ rejection, ethical issues, concerns about virus spillover, and who will pay for transplant procedures.
Indiana has practically the lowest voter turnout in America. @bolts’s @taniel reports on efforts that will probably make it even lower. “Legislation banning the use of student IDs for voting passed the state Senate with near unanimous Republican support in early February and now sits with the GOP-run House,” he writes.
Ukraine just entered another year of war. The team at @timkmak’s Counteroffensive shares photos that they took during the past three years, and why these are meaningful. These images tell a story: Amidst the explosions, there are weddings, cats, chats, clouds and more.
https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/the-photos-we-took-that-illustrate
And another story of life in a war zone: This time in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a militia group called M23 has seized control of Goma, which borders Rwanda. It’s easier to cross the border now, but the banks in Goma have closed, and small-scale women traders are struggling. @thecontinent tells the full story.
https://continent.substack.com/p/selling-tomatoes-in-a-war-zone
“Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?” the late Henry Kissinger supposedly said when he was U.S. Secretary of State. @TheConversationUS looks at how a united Europe could counter threats from Trump, Putin and far-right forces, and who might provide leadership.
Last of all, ahead of this weekend's Oscars ceremony, our @CultureDesk shared some inspiration for winners giving speeches: Jane Fonda’s absolutely barnstormer from the SAG Awards, where she received a lifetime achievement award. “We are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal. And we mustn’t for a moment kid ourselves about what is happening,” she told the audience.
@Flipboard@flipboard.social @TheConversationUS@newsie.social
Might be in Europe's best interest to not play too hard to get when it comes to accepting the UK back into the common market: might help with getting more than France to participate in a European "nuclear umbrell" effort.