curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
James Eagle:
Measles has now returned to the US
… The cause is declining vaccination rates, which have made some parts of the country vulnerable to a disease that was effectively eliminated in 2000.
… Before 2025, cases of measles around the United States were fairly insignificant. Since then, the number of cases has increased dramatically.
The point to note here is not the absolute numbers, which remain on the low side. It’s the risk that this growth is exponential. This can lead to a sudden large rise in cases from recent low levels, and this can happen very dramatically and quickly, as it did during the pandemic.
Jeremy Olson @ Minnesota Star Tribune:
Measles cases reach 42 in rural Minnesota amid outbreaks
All 18 cases confirmed in the past week were in north-central Todd County, which has Minnesota’s lowest vaccination rate. Officials say case counts are still growing.
Howard Koplowitz @ al.com:
RFK Jr. blames measles outbreak on Anthony Fauci
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Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – October 16, 2026…
And so, the chaos of Trump’s MAGA administration continues.Chaos continues as well in Trump’s approach to Ukraine, and it has a deadly pattern.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Maira Butt, Alex Croft @ Independent:
Zelensky defies Trump over oil refineries attack after accusing US of ‘betraying’ UkraineConstant Méheut @ NY Times:
Ukraine’s Exposure Grows as Satellite Use Is Restricted and Russia EscalatesA huge attack cut power to 600,000 people in Kyiv, and a Pentagon-funded satellite internet program appeared to be curbed without warning.
Reuters:
Order to Limit Starshield for Ukraine Came From Inside White HouseJennifer Rubin:
Undaunted Troops Who Uphold Honor18 Days to the Midterms
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Alan Rappeport @ NY Times:
U.S. Budget Deficit Nears $2 Trillion, a Reality Check for Trump’s Cost CuttingHigher interest rates are inflating borrowing costs as the Trump administration spends on the Iran war and tariff refunds.
(Alan Rappeport @ NY Times more…)
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Frank Yemi @ AlterNet:
“Clearly, this demand is devoid of any factual basis.”
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Michael Wriston @ Project Salt Box:
DHS letter points to a new ICE enforcement office in Austin suburb
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Marcy Wheeler:
DOJ Is Still Withholding Evidence DHS Entrapped LaMonica McIver
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Hunter Schwarz @ Fast Company:
Trump’s new ‘superintelligence’ website is a rebrand fail… Its messaging is out of sync with public opinion.
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Leslie Kaufman, Will Wade @ Bloomberg:
Clean Energy Is Poised to Set New Records in the USThe US is on track to install record amounts of clean energy this year and next as developers race to claim expiring federal tax credits and as soaring data-center electricity demand stimulates growth.
But the same data-center boom is also driving a major expansion of natural gas, undercutting the climate benefits of the renewables buildout.
(Leslie Kaufman, Will Wade @ Bloomberg more…)
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:
The True Value of Trees“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.”
William Blake (1757-1827), English poet, painter, and printmaker
(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar more…)
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Mike Brock:
separating the humanities from STEM encourages us to mistake technical competence for understanding
ICE Detention Expansion Tracker
A field guide to claims
Last Days in Two Nations
Climate.us
formerly Climate.gov
Climate Solutions Explorer
Have I Been Flocked?
Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting
resources tracking the “Andes” hantavirus outbreak
Apocalypse Early Warning System
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
Mike Ludwig @ truthout: ICE Says 51 People Died in Custody Under Trump. Experts Say That’s an Undercount.
ICE Accountability Project
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
- September 18: Carlos Josue Marchena Marchena
- August 31: Pierre Damas Bel
- August 1: Edwin Lopez-Cornejo
- July 19: Jose Chajon-Raxon
- July 14: Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran
- July 13: Joan Sebastian Guerrero
- July 7: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
- June 4: Mamuka Artmeladze
- April 16: Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt
- March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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