Diana in Palo Alto
@dianainpaloalto.bsky.social
Former "people person". Geopolitics, public policy, human rights. Mother of cats. Fan of Scandinavian mysteries. Wife of a geek. Lives in a redwood forest.
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
This is true. It is the best email I got this year.
November 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
This is true. It is the best email I got this year.
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
Meanwhile in Russia: Dimitri Simes said that Trump never even read the "peace plan" he wanted Zelensky to sign. Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov said Europeans will have to kneel before Russia if it wins in Ukraine.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRVc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRVc...
Andrey Kartapolov says Europeans will have to kneel before Russia if it wins in Ukraine
YouTube video by Russian Media Monitor
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Meanwhile in Russia: Dimitri Simes said that Trump never even read the "peace plan" he wanted Zelensky to sign. Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov said Europeans will have to kneel before Russia if it wins in Ukraine.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRVc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRVc...
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record. - ProPublica
November 25, 2025 at 4:37 AM
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record. - ProPublica
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
November 20, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
About that exclusive, "closed-to-press" MAHA summit last week with RFK and JD Vance: I got in.
Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
About that exclusive, "closed-to-press" MAHA summit last week with RFK and JD Vance: I got in.
Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"I should be even clearer: Schickler points out that US’s comparatively decentralized institutions and *decentralized civil society* (firms, unions, universities, guilds like lawyers, etc) were assumed to be hard to take over. Trump II took over both"
The Eric Schickler essay in Larry Bartel's symposium on "What Trump Has Taught Us About Political Science" is one of the most insightful pieces I've read in 2025.
US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom.
open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom.
open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
November 20, 2025 at 6:39 AM
"I should be even clearer: Schickler points out that US’s comparatively decentralized institutions and *decentralized civil society* (firms, unions, universities, guilds like lawyers, etc) were assumed to be hard to take over. Trump II took over both"
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
Important piece on how we got here.
Brownstone raised millions to undermine COVID prevention policies.
Now at least 8 people with ties to Brownstone hold senior positions at federal health agencies, where they are restricting vaccines and cutting science funding.
Brownstone raised millions to undermine COVID prevention policies.
Now at least 8 people with ties to Brownstone hold senior positions at federal health agencies, where they are restricting vaccines and cutting science funding.
A Small Texas Think Tank Cultivated Covid Dissidents. Now They’re Running US Health Policy. - KFF Health News
Fueled by covid backlash, a libertarian author created the Brownstone Institute in 2021. In recent months, people with ties to the group have catapulted to the highest levels of U.S. government, exerc...
kffhealthnews.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Important piece on how we got here.
Brownstone raised millions to undermine COVID prevention policies.
Now at least 8 people with ties to Brownstone hold senior positions at federal health agencies, where they are restricting vaccines and cutting science funding.
Brownstone raised millions to undermine COVID prevention policies.
Now at least 8 people with ties to Brownstone hold senior positions at federal health agencies, where they are restricting vaccines and cutting science funding.
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
Intuit is integrating ChatGPT into their TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, & Mailchimp services, & vice versa. Which is to say, I think a SHIT TON of people are about to get audited.
They also claiming no bleedover btwn your financial data & ChatGPT, which… okayy… 😬
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/i...
They also claiming no bleedover btwn your financial data & ChatGPT, which… okayy… 😬
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/i...
November 19, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Intuit is integrating ChatGPT into their TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, & Mailchimp services, & vice versa. Which is to say, I think a SHIT TON of people are about to get audited.
They also claiming no bleedover btwn your financial data & ChatGPT, which… okayy… 😬
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/i...
They also claiming no bleedover btwn your financial data & ChatGPT, which… okayy… 😬
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/i...
November 18, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
The UN Security Council voted to adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza and authorizing an international stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave reut.rs/3JQLj2n
November 17, 2025 at 10:31 PM
The UN Security Council voted to adopt a US-drafted resolution endorsing President Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza and authorizing an international stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave reut.rs/3JQLj2n
November 16, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
Worth pointing out that researchers say there's no concrete evidence of an actual organization or cartel by that name.
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
November 16, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Worth pointing out that researchers say there's no concrete evidence of an actual organization or cartel by that name.
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
I Am a Drug Historian. Trump Is Wrong About Fentanyl in Almost Every Way. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/o...
November 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I Am a Drug Historian. Trump Is Wrong About Fentanyl in Almost Every Way. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/o...
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
A worthwhile read.
For those interested, last night I wrote about what's in the CR deal for Congress. If you want a slightly more coherent take...
firstbranchforecast.substack.com/p/whats-in-t...
firstbranchforecast.substack.com/p/whats-in-t...
What's in the CR Deal for Congress?
With a vote as early as tonight, we quickly ran the numbers
firstbranchforecast.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:28 AM
A worthwhile read.
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
if you are food insecure for both the humans and pets in your household there is a tool called Pet Help Finder that can help locate pet food banks nearby and other free or reduced price assistance and supplies for pets.
no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, should have to give up their pet bc of this.
no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, should have to give up their pet bc of this.
November 8, 2025 at 6:35 PM
if you are food insecure for both the humans and pets in your household there is a tool called Pet Help Finder that can help locate pet food banks nearby and other free or reduced price assistance and supplies for pets.
no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, should have to give up their pet bc of this.
no one, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, should have to give up their pet bc of this.
"Watson had a very particular view of science—as built on the intuition of individual (white male) geniuses— and you can't see why that was wrong without talking about how he was awful (not just how he was great.)"
really an exemplary obit, which demonstrates I think why it's really important to remember influential people's worst traits and moments as well as their best. 1
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
November 9, 2025 at 6:57 AM
"Watson had a very particular view of science—as built on the intuition of individual (white male) geniuses— and you can't see why that was wrong without talking about how he was awful (not just how he was great.)"
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
The gift of life is something I’ll never take for granted or forget
November 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The gift of life is something I’ll never take for granted or forget
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
Criminal organization attempting to conceal evidence bsky.app/profile/brad...
DHS confirmed it has stopped automatically storing officials' text messages.
Instead, officials are supposed to take a screenshot, send that to their work email, download it onto their work computer and run a text-recognition program on it. Every time.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Instead, officials are supposed to take a screenshot, send that to their work email, download it onto their work computer and run a text-recognition program on it. Every time.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Criminal organization attempting to conceal evidence bsky.app/profile/brad...
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
Reports across the Middle East that Syria has given the US an airbase outside of Damascus and has given the Trump organization exclusive rights to build a new hotel there. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
November 7, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reports across the Middle East that Syria has given the US an airbase outside of Damascus and has given the Trump organization exclusive rights to build a new hotel there. www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
It’s because we all signed the filmworkers for Palestine pledge that we oppose genocide and are participating in a boycott.
Which, oh no, whatever shall I do to not work for the MAGA corporation that has stripped CBS News down to parts and install Bari Weiss:
newrepublic.com/article/2022...
Which, oh no, whatever shall I do to not work for the MAGA corporation that has stripped CBS News down to parts and install Bari Weiss:
newrepublic.com/article/2022...
November 7, 2025 at 3:44 AM
It’s because we all signed the filmworkers for Palestine pledge that we oppose genocide and are participating in a boycott.
Which, oh no, whatever shall I do to not work for the MAGA corporation that has stripped CBS News down to parts and install Bari Weiss:
newrepublic.com/article/2022...
Which, oh no, whatever shall I do to not work for the MAGA corporation that has stripped CBS News down to parts and install Bari Weiss:
newrepublic.com/article/2022...
“This is the latest embarrassment for the United States. This reinforces the idea that the United States does not care about human rights, that all it cares about is itself, and that, from its point of view, what applies to others does not apply to it.”
For the first time, the United States refuses to submit to scrutiny of its human rights record.
November 7, 2025 at 5:01 AM
“This is the latest embarrassment for the United States. This reinforces the idea that the United States does not care about human rights, that all it cares about is itself, and that, from its point of view, what applies to others does not apply to it.”
Reposted by Diana in Palo Alto
I remain absolutely confused that people *ever* thought screwing with the abyssal sea floor would "get better" after mining.
In 1979, a Mining Test Ravaged the Pacific Seafloor— 44 Years Later, New Evidence Reveals It’s Likely Forever
dailygalaxy.com/2025/11/in-1...
dailygalaxy.com/2025/11/in-1...
In 1979, a Mining Test Ravaged the Pacific Seafloor— 44 Years Later, New Evidence Reveals It’s Likely Forever
A 1979 deep-sea mining test left marks on the Pacific seafloor that remain nearly untouched over four decades later. New research uncovers what really happened in the ocean depths—and why it matters m...
dailygalaxy.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I remain absolutely confused that people *ever* thought screwing with the abyssal sea floor would "get better" after mining.