Toni
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datagoddess.bsky.social
Toni
@datagoddess.bsky.social
Queer. Autistic. Polyam. Bleeding edge of GenX. Childless, no cats.

She/her

ME/CFS, Fibro, POTS

A former Hoosier now in Kentucky via Pennsylvania and Colorado.
Reposted by Toni
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 AM
Reposted by Toni
I've reread this like 3 times. Freed herself from slavery by running away, *went back a week later bc the slaver was talking shit, set his house on fire, and then escaped again is absolutely incredible queen shit
As an aside, Rachel is a legend. (From Fischer’s “African Founders”)
February 4, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Toni
I teach a science media literacy module in all my courses.

It includes knowing the difference between a press release and a reported news story.

Here's a really interesting new research paper about public understsanding of that difference! #SciComm 🧪

jcom.sissa.it/article/pubi...
Science News Agencies in science communication: an exploratory index for evaluating and enhancing public interest in mass-distributed press releases
Scientific press releases are reaching the public directly through press reproduction and institutional dissemination. Science News Agencies (SNAs) mediate this process, distributing texts to thousand...
jcom.sissa.it
February 4, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Toni
One problem with billionaires is that they're so rich they no longer have rational incentives. To someone like Bezos, the financial performance of WaPo is wholly irrelevant, and so the only "incentive" is to satisfy emotional urges, such as breaking something just to show he can.
WaPo's Matt Murray told staff the paper is shuttering sports, moving remaining staff to features, shrinking foreign coverage, restructuring metro, closing books coverage, suspending Post Reports podcast

“Whole company now waiting for a live or die email” one staffer said

More in tonight’s Status
February 4, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Toni
Well now, would you look at that? A massive, 4-YEAR-LONG study of NEARLY 30 MILLION people in France found that individuals who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine had a 74% LOWER risk of death from severe COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated individuals and ZERO increased risk of all-cause mortality.
February 3, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Toni
I live in Iowa so if you wanna see a cow up close, you have plenty of opportunities to do so. And when you do you understand exactly why pasteurization is an essential, life-saving process.
February 4, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Reposted by Toni
No shade to anyone else who has ever written a TCM Star of the Month piece, but I had the great honor of writing about AN IMMORTAL LEGEND:
Star of the Month: Bugs Bunny
www.tcm.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Toni
Noem: We're putting cameras on the gestapo

Me: How about no gestapo

Noem: We're putting reflectors on the gestapo

Me: I said no—

Noem: We're putting bells on the gestapo
February 3, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Reposted by Toni
Liam Conejo Ramos is on an airplane on his way home to Minnesota. How wonderful.
kstp.com/kstp-news/to...
5-year-old and father detained by ICE will return to Minnesota Sunday morning
5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father have boarded a flight back to Minnesota, nearly two weeks after being detained by ICE.
kstp.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Toni
So what I’m gathering is a pedophilic billionaire successfully worked to destigmatize race science among the academic, political, and business elite partly by sex trafficking girls. Is that the shape of it so far?
January 31, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Toni
NEW: The @wired.com Security desk put together a comprehensive guide to filming ICE—with tips for reducing risk at the forefront. No paywall, but please consider subscribing to help find these kinds of resources. And stay safe out there. www.wired.com/story/how-to...

www.wired.com/v2/offers/wi...
How to Film ICE
Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.
www.wired.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Toni
In 2023, CBP killed a young Black girl that they imprisoned by incarcerating her and failing to provide the needed medical care for her sickle cell anemia

You cannot reform this apparatus which kills people no matter which party is in charge

Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, who was 8 years old
Official concedes 8-year-old who died in U.S. custody could have been saved as devastated family recalls final days
The parents of 8-year-old Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez told CBS News that their daughter died in Border Patrol custody because of negligence and discrimination.
www.cbsnews.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Toni
Of course. Who else would be especially drawn to a job where you get to grab people off the street and take them to unmonitored locations? Especially if you're hiring from the ranks of cops and prison guards, themselves in jobs that attract abusers.
January 29, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Toni
If you ever wanted to know what the heart and soul of community looks like, it was her.
Shirley Raines, the beloved nonprofit founder and CEO who helped care for the homeless on L.A.'s Skid Row, has died. The mother of six worked a full-time job, but somehow, she managed to find the time to cook for 400-600 people every week in her one-bedroom apartment. Story via ABC7.
Shirley Raines, Beauty 2 The Streetz founder who cared for Skid Row's homeless, dies at 58
Shirley Raines, the beloved nonprofit founder and CEO who helped care for the homeless on L.A.'s Skid Row, has died, her organization said.
abc7.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Toni
Powerful poetry and I love the use of actual rally audio.
Can we get artists one-upping each other on the song front? Dominate the non-charts?
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Toni
What happens when execs and producers (and thus writers, directors, actors, etc) are only drawn from the ranks of rich white people. Any other stories becomes “genres” that need to be “elevated”. Fucking dorks…
January 28, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Toni
This is really interesting! 🧪
In 2022 I started tracking changes in how news outlets were describing trans people, and set up a bot to record every article pushed to the Google News index based on a handful of search phrases, including “biological sex” in both the US and UK. The amount in 2023 alone was absolutely staggering.
January 28, 2026 at 1:00 PM
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It would be nice if ppl recognized "keeping track of" as a synonym for surveillance.
January 28, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Toni
Jewish descendent of holocaust victims and survivors here.

What he said was fine.

Neighbours hiding minority children from uniformed government thugs in service to a nativist agenda is bad enough.

I'm sure Anne would have preferred people spoke up BEFORE the Nazis got to the death camps stage.
January 28, 2026 at 12:06 PM
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Imagine a paramilitary gang kills 2 observers over 2 weeks, then shows up at your home to say, "You, observer, we know where you live."

That's a death threat.

If it happened to me or a colleague when I was a human rights observer in N. Ireland, we would've lodged complaints with three govts.
One human rights observer in Maine said agents followed her home, blocked off her street, and came to her door to say they know where she lives. Her children are now staying elsewhere, to keep them safe.
Now in Maine: ICE watchers say federal agents are coming to their house to threaten and intimidate them.

www.pressherald.com/2026/01/23/i...
January 27, 2026 at 5:38 AM
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I have used literally EXACTLY this tactic, it works as perfectly as if it were tailor-made for the purpose.
I once read a thread on sexism in international relations/spying where women were instructed to make wrong claims about X whenever they wanted to get secret information on X; a man would just disclose the key info by means of mansplaining
January 26, 2026 at 9:28 AM
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The notion of charging a black journalist under the KKK Act because he covered a pro-immigrant protest at a white Christian nationalist church is just so cartoonishly goddamned sinister. It also won't go anywhere.

But they're absolutely relishing it.

www.yahoo.com/news/article...
DOJ Says It May Use KKK Act To Prosecute Don Lemon For Reporting On Church ICE Protest
"It’s notable that I’ve been cast as the face of a protest I was covering as a journalist," the former CNN host said.
www.yahoo.com
January 22, 2026 at 11:26 PM
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The reason rank and file Dems are pissed at their party is because their party doesn't lead in key moments. The good news is it's primary season, and now's when we get to demand better leadership. I recommend everybody adopt 1 or 2 DINOs and dedicate yourself to replacing them with Dems who fight.
DHS spending bill passed 220-207

7 Democrats voted in favor:
Henry Cuellar
Don Davis
Laura Gilles
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
Jared Golden
Vicente Gonzalez
Tom Suozzi

Massie voted No
Andy Harris didn't vote

Might not have passed if every Democrat voted No, but leadership wasn't whipping them to do so
January 22, 2026 at 11:21 PM
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It is extremely exciting to be goverened by people who literally do not understand how computer make beep.
January 23, 2026 at 7:48 AM
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You don’t know your role yet maybe, but we are all finding out just what we have to offer.

In Minneapolis, one man knew immediately what he could offer and said “Bring me your clothing”.
January 23, 2026 at 2:57 AM