History to know this #PresidentsDay:
Ona Judge escaped enslavement from George and Martha Washington in 1796, fleeing the President’s House in Philadelphia for freedom.
Now the National Park Service has removed an exhibit telling her story.
T
theconversationus@newsie.social
@theconversationus@newsie.social
Posts
-
History to know this #PresidentsDay: -
The House has passed the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship to register and vote in federal elections, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.The House has passed the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship to register and vote in federal elections, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.
Constitutional scholars say Congress doesn’t have the power to set voter qualifications: https://buff.ly/MyIg2vF
-
OpenAI removed "safely" from its mission statement as it transformed into a for-profit company.OpenAI removed "safely" from its mission statement as it transformed into a for-profit company.
The change coincided with giving 74% of its stock to investors, raising questions about whether the AI company will put benefits to society ahead of profits. https://buff.ly/Wh11qSZ
-
Consider it a red flag if “everybody” online seems to agree.Consider it a red flag if “everybody” online seems to agree. You might be scrolling AI-generated posts by a bot swarm, coordinated to fake consensus, game the algorithm and make fringe ideas look mainstream. https://theconversation.com/swarms-of-ai-bots-can-sway-peoples-beliefs-threatening-democracy-274778
-
Many Americans say U.S. democracy needs major change.Many Americans say U.S. democracy needs major change. One solution: proportional representation, where more than one representative is elected for each district, and seats are distributed according to votes for a party.
Portland, Oregon, adopted it in 2025, and its new city council is already more diverse by gender, race and neighborhood representation.
https://theconversation.com/proportional-representation-could-reduce-polarization-in-congress-and-help-more-people-feel-like-their-voices-are-being-heard-270411
#USPolitics -
U.S. Catholic bishops are criticizing President Trump’s foreign policy, and while church leaders have long opposed most U.S. wars, the head of Catholic chaplains has gone further, reminding troops to refuse immoral orders.U.S. Catholic bishops are criticizing President Trump’s foreign policy, and while church leaders have long opposed most U.S. wars, the head of Catholic chaplains has gone further, reminding troops to refuse immoral orders.
-
Adding recycled plastic to asphalt could help build stronger roads that resist cracking under extreme heat.Adding recycled plastic to asphalt could help build stronger roads that resist cracking under extreme heat. A one-mile stretch near Dallas has already been constructed, and early results show the pavement could last several years longer than traditional asphalt. https://theconversation.com/infusing-asphalt-with-plastic-could-help-roads-last-longer-and-resist-cracking-under-heat-264156
-
Foreign tourism to the U.S. fell 5.4% in 2025 while the rest of the world saw a 4% increase.Foreign tourism to the U.S. fell 5.4% in 2025 while the rest of the world saw a 4% increase.
Canadian visits dropped nearly 30%. https://buff.ly/MSynHSJ
-
Serious leisure pursuits, like mastering yoga or building D&D characters over years, have can help counter Americans’ shrinking social networks, a recreational therapy professor says.Serious leisure pursuits, like mastering yoga or building D&D characters over years, have can help counter Americans’ shrinking social networks, a recreational therapy professor says. https://theconversation.com/whether-its-yoga-rock-climbing-or-dungeons-and-dragons-taking-leisure-to-a-high-level-can-be-good-for-your-well-being-268842
-
The U.S. is facing its largest #measles outbreak since 2000. -
The U.S. is facing its largest #measles outbreak since 2000.Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth.
The good news: the 2-dose measles vaccine is 97% effective — and vastly safer than infection itself.How to know if you’re protected (even if you were vaccinated decades ago) and what to do if you’re not: https://buff.ly/yHrHeVE
-
The U.S. is facing its largest #measles outbreak since 2000.Measles isn’t just a childhood rash.
3 in 1,000 people who get the disease die.
The virus can also hide in the brain and reemerge years later as a fatal neurological disease called SSPE.
A virologist explains how measles can damage the immune system long after infection:
-
The U.S. is facing its largest #measles outbreak since 2000.Modeling studies show where current vaccination rates could lead:
Up to 850,000 measles cases in the U.S. over 25 years — or millions more if rates fall further.
https://buff.ly/AUYtw3a -
The U.S. is facing its largest #measles outbreak since 2000.Game theory shows vaccine hesitancy isn’t just about ignorance or morality, but misaligned individual vs. collective incentives, where people who worry about vaccine safety can generally rely on herd immunity to protect their children. Until they can’t.
-
The U.S. is facing its largest #measles outbreak since 2000.Countries across Europe and the Americas that had eliminated #measles have now seen it return, according to the World Health Organization, which keeps official records.
Ultimately it’s a symptom of something deeper: declining trust in science and public health. https://buff.ly/4GXVitW
-
In 2023, a sci-fi magazine shut down submissions after being flooded with AI-written stories.In 2023, a sci-fi magazine shut down submissions after being flooded with AI-written stories. That problem is now everywhere — AI-generated text overwhelming courts, journals, newsrooms, and HR departments.
AI text detectors are good, but they can’t keep up with #AI, which is getting faster and more sophisticated.
-
South Carolina’s 1882 voting map concentrated almost all Black voters in the 7th district, making it impossible for a Black candidate to get elected elsewhere.South Carolina’s 1882 voting map concentrated almost all Black voters in the 7th district, making it impossible for a Black candidate to get elected elsewhere.
This type of racial gerrymandering went on for decades until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court is expected to overturn that rule this year.
-
The Supreme Court is considering a case challenging Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — and it’s expected to overturn it, a change that legal historians say would make it easier to dilute Black voting power and roll back decades of political gains.The Supreme Court is considering a case challenging Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — and it’s expected to overturn it, a change that legal historians say would make it easier to dilute Black voting power and roll back decades of political gains.
https://theconversation.com/the-supreme-court-may-soon-diminish-black-political-power-undoing-generations-of-gains-274179
#USPolitics -
Motherhood costs Danish women an average of $120,000 in earnings over two decades, according to a sociologist who researches family and economics.Motherhood costs Danish women an average of $120,000 in earnings over two decades, according to a sociologist who researches family and economics. Generous government benefits like paid leave, childcare and child allowances recovered about $100,000 of that loss. https://buff.ly/pAtuCS0
-
Hansen’s disease (leprosy) is treatable today in large part because of the work of Alice Ball, a 23-year-old chemist whose breakthrough turned a toxic folk remedy into the world’s first effective treatment.Hansen’s disease (leprosy) is treatable today in large part because of the work of Alice Ball, a 23-year-old chemist whose breakthrough turned a toxic folk remedy into the world’s first effective treatment.
Her science saved lives — but her legacy was nearly erased.
https://theconversation.com/a-young-black-scientist-discovered-a-pivotal-leprosy-treatment-in-the-1920s-but-an-older-colleague-took-the-credit-224922
#BlackHistoryMonth
️