Cheryl Rofer
banner
cherylrofer.bsky.social
Cheryl Rofer
@cherylrofer.bsky.social
Retired nuclear scientist. Worked in Estonia, Kazakhstan, and Los Alamos.

Posting on nuclear issues, war, nature, science, and women's issues. Also cats. She/her.

Blogs at Nuclear Diner and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Banner: The invincible summer within
Pinned
Solidarity, people!

Not recriminations

Not "I told you so."

Solidarity.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Just in case someone doesn’t know this: one reason individual health insurance was so expensive before was that it’s generally a lot cheaper to insure groups. (Not just bulk discounts but the fact that you don’t need to do individual underwriting.) The ACA turned individuals into a big group.
Trump: "I want the money to go into an account for people where they buy their own health insurance. It's so good. The insurance will be better. It'll cost less. Everybody is gonna be happy. They're gonna feel like entrepreneurs. They're actually able to go out & negotiate their own insurance"
November 11, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
It seems like local, state and federal lawmakers think the Trump administration would like to open a new ICE facility in the coastal town of Newport, Oregon.

Trading Portland frogs for real frogs? Who knows for sure!
Newport officials raise alarm about possible new ICE facility
Rumors have spread since last week that the Trump administration is planning an outpost on Oregon's central coast.
www.opb.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
I want to hear from Elon Musk's former undergraduate physics lab partners.

I really, really want someone to find them and interview them.
November 11, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Ghislaine Maxwell is an unrepentant child sex predator. So why would an American President even consider commuting her sentence? This would be a national disgrace.

@democrats-judiciary.house.gov want answers.
Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell plans to seek commutation from Trump, whistleblower says
The whistleblower came forward with the information to Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.
www.nbcnews.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Update: this is no longer included in the final funding deal. I'm going to keep fighting to lower premiums and ensure Republicans can’t get away with a backdoor national abortion ban.
Senate update: Republicans are now trying to sneak a backdoor national abortion ban into their government funding bill. Republicans will stop at nothing to control women's health care decisions.
November 10, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
WIN: A Wisconsin judge vacates his previous order requiring mass citizenship checks for voter registration, after both parties agreed to its withdrawal. The ruling means there will not be a new citizenship verification requirement ahead of the 2026 elections.
In a Win for Voters, Wisconsin Judge Withdraws Anti-Voting Order on Proof of Citizenship
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Nancy Drew!
Note that this is the US public domain. Some of these are already public domain elsewhere, and some will not be for a while. Be sure to check local laws before putting a film into production based on your Miss Marple/Betty Boop slash.
Looking at what's entering the public domain in January, and it looks like 2026 belongs to the girls.
November 10, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Starting now: Press conference announcing a motion for a temporary restraining order challenging USDA's unlawful attempt to withhold SNAP benefits, featuring Attorneys General of CA, NY, MN, NJ and leaders from City Harvest, Food Action Research Center and No Kid Hungry.
November 10, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
The sneering about "socially distanced" is the real tell here. As NYC was suffering through the worst of the pandemic, Silver was whining that he couldn't go out to bars and restaurants. People rightly called out his ghoulish self centered views at the time and he'll never let that go.
the hipsters, they’re ordering double frufru mocha soy frappuccino. doesn’t anybody order a black coffee anymore
November 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
California AG Rob Bonta:
November 10, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Making fun of our neighborhoods and communities is disgusting.

Greg Bovino and his masked agents are not here to make Chicago safer. As children are tear gassed and U.S. citizens detained, they are posing for photo ops and producing reality TV moments. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
Border Patrol Agents Pose At The Bean For Apparent Photo Op
The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, "Everyone say, 'Little Village!'"
blockclubchicago.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Regular people think. A lot.

And tend to be very curious.
Regular people are thinking about this, and they feel so relieved to know that they're not the only ones. When you're telling your audience all this cool stuff about space, they're placing that knowledge in the context of their lived experience! Trust them enough to have these conversations!
November 10, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
The Mississippi Free Press is looking for new Voices writers. Submit opinion columns to the MFP at voices@mississippifreepress.org.
November 10, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Public health depends on citizens accepting scientifically-grounded guidance. When official institutions produce politically-determined science and independent verification infrastructure is eliminated, the capacity for evidence-based health policy collapses, writes Renée DiResta.
How Political Power is Capturing Knowledge Systems and Manufacturing Structural Ignorance | TechPolicy.Press
We're witnessing the simultaneous capture of knowledge-producing institutions and the elimination of independent verification mechanisms, writes Renée DiResta.
www.techpolicy.press
November 10, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Hopefully our version of “Nuremburg” trials will be “Little Village” or “Broadview” trials and every one of these ghouls lives out their last days in prison.
Sadistic, marauding fascist monsters having a tourist moment. “The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, ‘Everyone say, “Little Village!”’”
Border Patrol Agents Pose At The Bean For Apparent Photo Op
The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, "Everyone say, 'Little Village!'"
blockclubchicago.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
The goal is to make all of us afraid to speak up about (or report on) whatever he does next...
November 10, 2025 at 3:56 PM
"In a Western democracy, that's unheard of. It's every day in Russia and China."

Patel withdraws collaboration with Five Eyes in order to focus Trump's repression at home.
F.B.I. Director Is Said to Have Made a Pledge to Head of MI5, Then Broken It
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Okay I am getting creative. Snails are everywhere 🐌

2350m up in the Alps, under da sea, and in between. Heliciniae indet, Doriprismatica atromarginata, Aplysia californica
November 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Sorry I keep quoting with moar snailposts but I couldn't forget the OWL LIMPET, Lottia gigantea! 🐌
November 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Hegseth is now responsible for 75 murders in 19 attacks.
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Supreme Court rejects call to overturn its decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide
The justices turned away an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
www.inquirer.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
A Quick Take on Team Cave’s Big Win talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-qui...
A Quick Take on Team Cave’s Big Win
I have what I suspect is a somewhat counterintuitive take on the...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
BREAKING

The 1st Circuit REJECTS Trump DOJ's request to pause a judge's order to pay up Nov's SNAP funds to the states.

The SCOTUS stay will expire within 48 hours absent further action from the justices, per its terms.

Doc ecf.ca1.uscourts.gov/n/beam/servl...
November 10, 2025 at 5:11 AM